#(listen he used to hang around so many people who enjoyed climbing buildings)

[fishymedic]

Okay but- when is somebody going to climb the bridge between zaun & piltover with him at night for fun

[aimless-imagines-for-fun]

Racing Heart

Pairing  ::  Clark Kent  x  short/petite fem!Reader

Warnings  ::  Smut, Size Kink

Word Count  ::  4,265

Summary  ::  You never knew why, but whenever you were around Clark, your heart always raced.

A/N  ::  Just an fyi, I used Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent, but I used the comic book height of Clark, which is 6′3′’, versus Henry’s 6′1′’

You never quite understood why, all you knew was that your heart always started racing when you were close to Clark. It wasn’t whenever you saw him, or when you were just in the same room as him. It was only when you were able to notice how small you were compared to the 6’3’’ man. 

There were many occasions when this happened. Whenever Clark hugged you, helped you grab something on a top shelf, or even when he was standing so close to you, you two almost touched, your heart began racing. It had gotten to the point where you went out of your way to avoid getting close to the man, making sure you were always on the opposite side of the room from him.

There were three specific times though that made your face heat up just thinking about them.

-

The first one was in the break room.

You had managed to open the cabinet doors right above the refrigerator, but were struggling to grab the box of plastic utensils. You always forgot to bring a fork or spoon from home for your lunch, though you never had to worry about it because The Daily Planet had some. Of course, in an office full of tired reporters, others were bound to forget their utensils as well, and thus the box that was placed on the counter was now empty.

You stood on your tippy-toes, fingers barely grazing the corner of the box. The heels your wore offered no help, only adding a mere inch and a half to your height. You open the cabinet with ease, and a huff of annoyance left you when you saw the box of forks was on the second shelf. You had grown so frustrated, you began hopping just to try and hit the box that you now believed was taunting you. However, your hopping was working, as you managed to hit the corner repeatedly to make the box slowly come out. You didn’t care if you were wearing a skirt. It ended right before your knees and you were wearing black tights so it was fine.

You just needed one more good hop and you knew you’d be able to grab the box. You bent your knees only slightly, and then-

“Do you need some help?” A deep kind voice asked, followed by a large hand reaching past you and grabbing the box.

You whipped your entire body around, now facing a tie and button-down plaid shirt. You tilted your head up, seeing the man from Kansas, Clark Kent. He was giving you one of his classic golden boy smiles, looking down at you.

You gave him a small smile in return, and you could feel your heartbeat begin to grow faster. Perhaps Clark sneaking up behind you startled you, and he seemed to notice.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I just saw you were struggling for a bit,” He commented, holding the box out for you.

You grabbed it, thanking him quietly before a small idea popped into your head. “Were you watching me?”

You swore you saw a small tint on Clark’s cheeks as he let out a cough to clear his throat. “Um, no, I had walked by earlier and saw you struggling then, and, well, when I came back I saw you were still here so I decided to help.”

You let out a small giggle. “I’m teasing Clark.”

You saw him visibly ease up, letting out a small exhale. Little did you know he had been staring at you for a small while before he helped you. Watching you hop up and down had brought a small smile of amusement to his face. 

-

The second one was in the supply room.

Some people bought their supplies, and that was their stash. Others, such as yourself, helped themselves to the abundance of the supply room. What you had just ran out of only moments ago were sticky notes. You used them quite often, not only for notes but also for little drawings you did to pass the time. As a matter of fact, your entire desk was nearly covered with either small memos or doodles of random characters.

The sticky notes, unfortunately, were located on the top shelf. To add to your bad luck, there was also no stepping stool or ladder. Now, you could’ve been rational and go get someone taller to help. ‘Nah, I got this,’ you thought as you carefully began to climb up on the shelves. You believed in your climbing abilities, even in your heels. Admittedly, it was a bit awkward trying to grip onto the shelves, and the heels of your feet were hanging off, but you felt secure enough. 

You reached the top shelf with relative ease, only needing to step up two shelves. Then came the matter of the box of sticky notes that had yet to be open. There was no way you could open the box to grab the small number of notepads you needed, not without both hands though. You could throw the box down, but what were the chances of it breaking open and creating a mess? ‘I really should’ve thought this one through a little better,’ you regretted.

Busy thinking of how to get the sticky notes down(along with how often you found yourself in this sort of ‘you’ve made your bed now lay in it’ situations you’ve been in) you didn’t notice the door open and close once again. “(Y/N)?” 

“Wha- Ah!” You let out a squeal, losing your balance from being pulled from your train of thought. Your eyes widened and your heart froze, feeling your feet slip off along with your grip.

You squeezed your eyes shut, ready for the oncoming impact from the floor, along with the pain. Thankfully, the person who had caused your fall was quick enough to save you. Instead of feeling the hard tiled floor, you felt a pair of strong arms catch you. They held you close, almost squeezing you a bit too tight, but you felt safe in the embrace. You opened your eyes, blinking a few times to make sure you were indeed okay. You looked up to see who had caught you, your (e/c) eyes locking with blue ones behind a frame of glasses.

There was a clear worried look on Clark’s face. “You need to be careful (Y/N), you can’t just climb up shelves. If you need help, ask for it,” He continued to scold you, but you couldn’t focus on a thing he was saying.

Your heart was pounding, though you thought it was from the adrenaline of almost falling, and your mind was elsewhere. You couldn’t listen to him with him still holding you, it was all your mind was focused on. His grip on you was frim, and you were so close to him you could smell his cologne, citrus with a hint of musk. You always knew you were petite in build, but being held like this made you feel tiny. ‘His arms are so big. Am I really this small? He doesn’t look like he’s struggling at all. When does he have the time to work out? How-’

“(Y/N) are you even listening to a thing I’m saying?”

You blinked once, looking at him with big eyes. “Um… You’re still holding me…” You pointed out, a small blush coming to your cheeks. Unable to look at him any longer, your eyes darted down, missing his flustered face.

He put you down quickly, apologizing, and you told him not to just as quickly in response. After, you thanked him and rushed out without even taking a single sticky note with you. Later on in the day though, when you had walked away and returned to your desk, there were two sticky note pads on your desk.

-

The third one was at a charity event.

You and Clark were assigned to the event together as it was a rather large event. The money being raised was for meta-human teens and children, to help them better understand their abilities safely.

After hearing the guest list, you knew you had to wear the one forest green dress you wore to every fancy event. It was the nicest, and expensive, dress you owned. You paired it with three-inch black heels and a simple opal pendant. You never like dressing up too much. Clark wore a simple muted dark brown suit, with a navy blue button-up and blue tie to match it.

Now, it was rather tricky to keep your distance from Clark this time, and you really didn’t want to get flustered during work. Before it was at work, now it would be during work. There was a difference, granted a small difference, but still, a difference. At work, you just minded your business, and on occasion, goofing off when you weren’t writing an article. Here you were supposed to be interviewing and taking notes of everything happening. You couldn’t miss something important because Clark wanted to dance and you couldn’t keep your mind straight after. He didn’t ask you to dance, but, if he did you’d refuse.

“So, Mr. Wayne, Mr. Queen-”

“Please, call me Oliver,” The blond said.

Before you stood Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen. You were intending to speak to Mr. Wayne alone, but just as you approached him, Mr. Queen also got to him. You were about to apologize and walk away, however, Mr. Queen, or rather, Oliver, insisted you interviewed them together. You had to admit, it was rather nice having Oliver around as Mr. Wayne, even though he was known as a playboy, gave you a rather intimidating aura. 

You began interviewing the two, asking them the same questions you had asked all the millionaires, but ended up talking with them and enjoying it. Mr. Wayne wasn’t as intimidating as he had seemed, and Oliver was rather humorous. It was clear to you the two were friends.

You were in the middle of laughing at a joke Oliver had told when you felt a gentle hand on your shoulder. You turned your head, seeing Clark, standing right beside you with a smile. 

“Well you most certainly are having a good time,” He commented before turning his attention to the men in front of you. “Mr. Wayne, Mr. Queen, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He reached out with his free hand to shake theirs.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well…” Mr. Wayne’s voice trailed off as he looked down at Clark’s badge from the daily planet, “...Mr. Kent.”

“Call me Oliver,” He said as he shook your coworker’s hand. “I take it you two were sent together?”

“Yes,” You said in sync.

The conversation continued, and the entire time Clark kept his arm around your shoulders. You nodded along, even humming a few times in response to make it appear as if you were listening as your mind wandered. ‘Why is my heart racing? Why is he still holding me? Should I say something? What if I seem rude? I don’t want him to let go though.’ Even though you didn’t want to acknowledge it, you knew there was a small part of you that always liked how petite you were compared to Clark. 

Then, you felt his thumb begin to rub small circles onto your bare shoulder. Without thinking, you slowly leaned into his larger frame. Now, you couldn’t see it because you were still looking ahead at the two millionaires, but Clark glanced down at you, happy you had come closer.

-

You couldn’t avoid Clark forever though, despite your best efforts.

You walked down the sidewalk, holding four large reusable grocery bags each full to the brim. You lived alone, but you liked to shop in bulk so you wouldn’t have to go out often. You were struggling a fair amount though. Normally, you had a friend who’d come with you to help you out and then the two of you would hang out. Sadly, all your friends were busy for the next few days and you were beginning to run out of your favorite conditioner, not to mention you were low on food.

You didn’t drive to the grocery store either, adding to your struggle. It was only three blocks away, why waste gas? You wouldn’t be struggling much longer though.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N)!” A male voice called out.

You stopped, eyes darting everywhere to find the owner of the voice. It took you a moment until you eventually spotted Clark in front of you, a good distance away.

“Oh, hi Clark!” You placed two of the bags down to give him a large arm wave.

It took him a moment to get to you, and when he did he looked down at your groceries puzzled. “That seems like a lot for one person to carry.”

“Yeah, I tend to bite off more than I can chew.”

“I’ve noticed,” He said with a chuckle. “Do you want some help?”

You shook your head. “No. I couldn’t possibly drag you away from your day off to help me.”

“It wouldn’t be a hassle at all,” He reassured you. “Plus, it’d eat at me all day knowing I left you struggling.”

Knowing he wouldn’t take no for an answer, you let out a sigh, agreeing to his help. He took three of the bags, leaving you with the one bag filled with two bags of chips, three loaves of bread, and two dozen eggs. You tried to hold two bags, make the work even between the two of you, but he insisted. He tried to carry the bag you held as well, but you were adamant you held at least one.

Walking down to your apartment complex, the two of you mainly talked about work. At least you did, and Clark more so listened. This was the first time your heart didn’t start racing as you stood next to him, probably because you wouldn’t shut up about the deadline for your new article. You refused to look up at him, eyes fixed only on what was in front of you. It didn’t take long for the two of you to get to your apartment. You thanked him and told him he could go on with his day, but he insisted he helped you carry the bags up to your apartment.

You were quiet from then on, listening to Clark talk about the building. He lead you all away to your front door, standing patiently for you to unlock your door. Then, it hit you. You noticed his shadow over you as you faced your front door. Your heart quickened a bit, still, you ignored it as you opened your front door.

You speedily guided him to the kitchen to place the groceries down, and just as fast you tried to rush him out. His brows furrowed, confusion written all over his face.

“(Y/N), why are you in such a rush to show me out?”

‘Because I can’t think straight now with you around!’ You thought. Instead, you said to him, “Because I’m tired and I want you to enjoy your day off!”

He didn’t seem to believe you. He stood in front of you, a small frown on his lips. “Do you like me?”

Your eyes widened, mouth left ajar at his question.

“Because sometimes I get the feeling that you don’t like me.”

‘Oh-’ “What- No. I think you’re a great guy Clark.”

“Then why are you always avoiding me?” You didn’t think he had noticed. “Whenever I get close to you, you scurry off, and when you can’t you look uncomfortable.”

Like a child who had just gotten caught, you covered your face, too embarrassed to look at him. You didn’t want to tell him the real reason you were avoiding him, but, you also didn’t want him thinking you disliked him. It was the exact opposite.

“I’m not avoiding you because I don’t like you, Clark,” You said through your hands. You spread apart your fingers so you could look him in the eyes. “I… I avoid you because you’re… you’re so big.”

Now Clark was taken aback, a brow raised. “What?”

With a long exhale, you lowered your hands. “I said, I avoid you because you’re so… so big, and it makes me feel really small, and I can’t think straight.”

“You avoid me because I’m too big, and it makes you feel small, and you can’t think straight?” He repeated.

You nodded.

He was silent for a few seconds, tilting his head to the side. “In a good or bad way?”

“What?”

“In a good or bad way?”

You could feel your face heat up, and it wasn’t the only spot on you beginning to grow warm. Softly, you answered him. “In a good way, I guess.”

Clark took a step closer to you. “So you like the fact that I’m larger than you?”

“Yes, I just-”

“No.” His normally bright blue eyes seemed to darken, his eyes narrowed on you. “I want you to say it.”

You closed your legs closer together, feeling a heat rise in between your thighs. “I like that you’re so much bigger and stronger compared to me.”

Swiftly, Clark scooped you up, hands just beneath your bottom to raise you to his face. With how fast your heart was racing now you were sure he could hear it pounding in your chest. 

You looked into his eyes as you carefully took off his glasses and tossed them onto your couch. Then, you placed a hand on each side of his face and gave him a long soft kiss. He returned the kiss gently, though after a few minutes you could tell he wanted more, his kiss began to grow rough. 

You had wrapped your legs around him to be more comfortable, giving him a better grip on you. He squeezed your ass and in response you let out a soft moan. He lowered you a bit, only enough for you to feel his growing erection against your fully clothed core. He held your hips close, moving you against him for a bit of friction. You whimpered, lowering your head into his chest and gripping his dark grey shirt.

“Clark, please,” You whined.

“Where’s your bedroom?” He asked, voice deeper than usual.

You pulled your head away from his chest, nodding over in the direction of your bedroom. “Second door to the right,”

Almost hurried, he carried you straight to your bedroom. He stopped right at the edge of your bed, letting go and letting you fall back onto your mattresses. He crawled on top of you, placing a knee between your legs. Gently, he peeled away your clothes, tossing them to the side and leaving you in your underwear. He began peppering kisses around your neck, slowly moving down to your collarbone. As he did, his hand crept its way behind your back and undid the clasp on your bra. He pulled away from his kisses to watch your breasts bounce free, eyes fixed on your bare chest. 

Feeling embarrassed, you moved to cover your chest with your hands, but he pinned your hands above your head with one hand.

A low chuckle escaped him. “Aw, are you feeling shy?”

You were about to turn your head away when Clark dipped his head down, capturing your lips again. You could feel his free hand slowly trail up your side, humming as a shiver went down your spine. He cupped your breast firmly, beginning to knead it in his palm.

Small moans left your lips, arching your back, body begging for more. You already knew your panties were wet, and you needed him, but he was still fully clothed. All the while you could feel his denim-covered erection against your thigh.

“Clark,” You groaned against his lips, “It’s not fair.”

He pulled back, brows raised. You struggled to pull your hands free, to no avail.

“You’re still dressed,” You said with a pout.

He gave you an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, how about you take care of that for me?”

He let go of your hands and you eagerly reached for the end of his shirt, pulling it off of him. You almost started drooling seeing him shirtless for the first time. Your hands began to wander around his chest, tracing the lines of his muscles. Your hands wandered down further, to the hem of his pants. Just as you were about to reach for his belt, his hand stopped you.

“You’re not ready yet sweetheart,” He warned you. 

“Clark-”

He pressed his mouth against you, silencing you before you could complain. Even though you weren’t allowed to undo his pants, he slid them off with ease and you felt his long hard member pressed against your thigh. You momentarily pulled away to glance down, gasping loudly when you saw his length.

Worried, you looked back up at him. “It’s not going to fit.”

He dipped his head back down to your neck, peppering kisses across your jaw. “That’s why we need to get you ready.”

His hand moved down to your soaked panties, pushing them down so you were completely bare now. Your breathing hitched, feeling him stick in a finger and begin to move it in and out of you slowly. He picked up the pace with his finger, eventually sticking in another and he could already feel your pussy tightening.

You were growing close and he was only fucking you with his fingers. Granted, his hands were larger than yours, so two of his fingers felt much larger than two of your own.

To add on, he lowered himself so his head would be right at your dripping cunt and began sucking on your clit. 

“Ah!” Your hands went straight to his hair and began to tug. You were a mess in his hands.

It didn’t take long for your body to shudder and your hips begin to spasm as you hit your high. Clark licked up your pouring juice, humming at your sweet taste. He looked up at you, two fingers remaining and now scissoring inside of you.

“You know, you really should ask for help if you can’t reach something,” He began. “It’s hard trying to hold back when you reach for things in those tight skirts of yours.”

“Well, now you don’t need to hold back,” You teased.

You propped yourself up on your elbows, grabbing his face with one hand and guiding him back to you. You could taste your juices in the kiss, humming in delight.

He pulled his fingers out, your core aching to be filled again. Luckily, you soon felt his already dripping tip at your entrance. Slowly, he pushed himself into you and you could feel your walls stretch around him. You nearly cried, your body in a mix of pain and pleasure. Your back arched, breasts pressing against Clark’s chest. Your hands gripped his arms as tight as you could, and you were sure you were digging your nails into him.

It was so much. You could feel your eyes water and tears prick at the corners of your eyes.

Clark kissed your forehead, muttered against it, “Just relax.”

He gave a small moment to adjust, noting how your breathing changed when you had gotten used to him. He pushed himself further in though, and you cursed under your breath, body growing tense again. 

Again, he gave you a moment to adjust, despite how painfully tight your walls clamped around him. He pulled out a small amount before pushing back in, bucking his a few times to get you used to him. Eventually, your quiet whimpers turned into small moans.

“M-more,” You breathed out, breath shaky.

Like a switch had been flipped in him, Clark pulled out almost all the way and speared you, no longer as gentle as he had been before. He did this again and again, going a little harder each time at a constant rhythm. Then, with one thrust you shouted his name loudly and your cunt squeezed around his cock.

“Ah! Clark again! Right there, please!” You begged him.

Knowing he had found your g-spot, he pulled out all the way this time and pounded that same spot, earning another cry of pleasure from you. He did this repeatedly now with a faster rhythm, leaving you gasping and clenching with each thrust. With each of your breaths growing ragged, it was clear you were both close to your release. 

You wrapped a leg around his hips to try and bring him closer, and he gripped your thigh harshly. He squeezed it so tightly, you were sure there’d be a faint bruise. 

With a few more thrusts, you shuddered, juices flowing out of you again and around Clark’s cock this time. You swore you heard Clark curse, feeling you squeeze around him and juices cover him. 

His rhythm was growing sloppy, and he pumped in and out of you until he let out a low groan of relief. You took a sharp breath, feeling his warm seed enter you. He continued to buck his hips, riding it out until he finally stopped, breath heavy.

He looked at you with now clear eyes and a smile on his face. “So… Do you need help putting your groceries away?” He asked cheekily.

You giggled. “Only if you don’t put anything important on the top shelf.”

“Why not? I’ll be around to help you now.”

[taestefully-in-luv]

The Island | KTH (One)

Summary: You’re just two strangers waking up in a room on a lonely island where a company in the business of love has placed you. They believe that thanks to their in depth research you two are destined soulmates. What happens when your ‘soulmate’ and you want nothing to do with each other but falling in love is the only way to leave?

Pairing: Taehyung x Female reader

Genre: strangers to lovers, slight enemies to lovers, soulmates au, roommate au, slow burn, fluff, smut, angst, slight crack, and drama.

Word Count: 9.3k

Warnings: swearing

Notes: Alright here is the first ch to my new story! I am super nervous to post this because it is a completely different vibe. But I hope you guys enjoy! Don’t worry, it turns fluffier later:) let me know if you want to be added to the taglist, or send an ask if just want to chat!:)

Taglist: @ggukkieland @monvieesdaebak @707sblog @peacedreamer14

© taestefully-in-luv

Next

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

Your room is blinding from the soft yet striking sunrise, each beam of light swims through the blinds in piercing waves. The intense glow hits you in your sleepy state, causing you to wake from your glorious slumber. Too bright. You sit up in your bed, attempting to rub away the sleep that crusts your eyes. You begin to slowly open one lid at a time, taking in the neat appearance of your room. Your room looks the same as always—there is a nightstand next to your wooden framed bed, it holds a pale lamp and a photo of mountainous scenery. A dresser sits comfortably in front of you, it is dressed in simple décor and a large mirror. Yup, the same as always. You glance over to your sheer curtained window where the sun very offendedly washes over the room—wait. Hold on a god damn second.

Quickly, you begin to open your eyes just a bit wider—where is your royal purple ottoman? The art that hangs on your walls? Your dresser is brown not black for Christ’s sake! You ball your hand in the sheets…these don’t even feel like your sheets, yours aren’t this silky. This is not your room. Your eyebrows climb to the top of your forehead as you jerk your head around. Where the hell are you? Suddenly, you feel something rustle against your side. No…not something—someone.

Your eyes dart to the right of you, where this someone moves against the sheets. Not just someone. A man. His dark, ruffled hair sticks out between the sheets and pillow below his head. Why is there a man in bed with you? Is it…his bed? Oh god. Immediately, your mind tries to recall the night before. Did you go out and drink too much? Go home with a rando? Super unlike you though. You pull your hair as your mind races.

Sitting up in bed, worry crosses all of your features. You try to face all the possibilities that could maybe end up being your reality. But going out and partying is nowhere in your memories. You begin gnawing on your bottom lip, knowing you stayed home last night. And that you fell asleep in your own bed…alone, you might add. So where the hell are you? And why is there another person? Fear enters the picture now, this is the last place you wanted to go. You know, that horrible, terrible, dark place? The one that says your reality is that some creepy man kidnapped you and plans on doing murder-y type things to you. Yup, that place.

You tug on the end of your hair again, you know, you know, a bad habit. But you can’t help it as anxiety grows deeper within you. Were you really kidnapped? Fuck. You have to think. You’re trying to, at least. But breathing is becoming a chore. Your breaths are quick and sharp like you are on the brink of a panic attack. Shit, maybe you are. You try to eye the room again, taking in its appearance more carefully. You can’t help the shiver that speeds down your spine when you notice how perfect this single bedroom is…it actually almost resembles your guest bedroom at home. Which is creepy in itself. You continue to eye the room curiously, while staying absolutely frozen.

The dresser has more photos of pretty scenery sitting on top, as well as a few small vases that complement the rest of the décor. Anxiety continues to grow within you, shaking you to the core. You hate the way your hands tremble in your lap. You want to do something. You truly do but fuck, you can’t even move a muscle. Your breathing begins to pick up even more. Where are you? Why are you here? Who is this man sleeping so fucking peacefully next to you? Your thoughts are going 100 miles per minute, screaming at you, taunting you, giving you the middle finger.

Before you can think through your many obvious questions and answer them, the man next to you begins to stir in his sleep. You watch with wide eyes as he slowly moves to his back from his side. You stare down at him, too scared to move. Too scared to scream bloody murder. Too scared to do anything. And nothing disappoints you more. That you are nothing but a coward. You look down at your future murderer and wait for him to wake.

Future murderer slowly opens his eyes but he shies away instantly from the beaming sunlight.

“Ahhhh.” He lets go in one long breath, rubbing at his eyes in a sleepy manner. You sit still, your own breath caught in your throat. You want to move but fear has you frozen like an evening in the arctic. The man, or Future Murderer as you seemed to have named him, begins sitting up, stretching his arms out above him and yawns a song of sleep. He finally opens his eyes fully and soaks in the room before him. His head moves around quickly, his expression becoming rather…confused.

“What the fuck?”

Yup, those are his first words. Should have been yours too, if you’re being honest. This guy gets it.

Future Murderer’s facial expression grows bewildered as he looks around the room and when he finally feels your presence, he turns his head your way.

“Uh…” the Murderer narrows his eyes at you, “Hi?”

You don’t even realize the sigh of relief that pushes past your lips, but his confusion seems…genuine. And this allows you to relax your shoulders a little bit. Maybe he is a victim to whatever is going on too? You take in his disheveled appearance; he has brown wavy hair that rests above his brow line, eyes darker than the deepest part of the sea and full pouting lips. You would totally admit he’s attractive as hell but considering the fact you’re trying to convince yourself he isn’t going to murder you and the state you’re in, you’re going to push that thought away.

“Uh, who are you?” His brows knit together as he expectantly waits for an answer.

“No, who are you?” You squint at him. How dare he ask like you aren’t the one totally frazzled here? But somehow it’s comforting that he seems as confused as you are. Mystery man (his new name, since he doesn’t appear to want to murder you) (maybe) raises a single brow at you before answering,

“Taehyung.”

You listen to his name roll off his tongue and absorb it. Taehyung, huh? You hesitate for a second before finally giving your own name.

“y/n.”

Taehyung then, has the audacity to pinch his nose in annoyance. To be fair, it looks like the one he’s annoyed with is himself and not you.

“Look, sorry…” he begins, “If we hooked up last night, I don’t really remember and I—"

Your eyes widen at his words and you begin to frantically shake your head,

“No! We didn’t—we didn’t…”

“Oh?” Taehyung gives you a curious look then has the audacity to scoot several inches away from you. Then you feel his eyes on you, they search you from head to toe. You’re wearing your cat printed PJ shorts and a simple purple t shirt. You admit your hair is probably pretty wild, so you card your fingers through your locks. You start to feel insecure under his gaze as he so shamelessly eyes you.

“I don’t know who you are or where I am…do you know where we are?” you question, looking off to the side.

Taehyung pulls his eyes away from you, his head moving around to look around the room, his arms flailing.

“Does it look like I know where I am?”

You only blink at him and he rolls his eyes, “No, I don’t.” he admits.

Moments of silence pass between the two of you. You don’t know what to say at this point even though you have a million things you would like to say. But you can’t form one, coherent sentence apparently. You don’t know anything. You’re fucking clueless and you hate it. You’re trying to gather your thoughts when you feel Taehyung rise from the bed, startling you like he just committed a crime. God, you are such a coward. What? Do you really think the bed is apparently some super safe place that will protect you from the evils of the world? Taehyung walks toward the dresser and other corners of the room, inspecting it carefully.

“Fucking weird, but nice room, right?” he asks under his breath. Taehyung throws a glance over at you. “You don’t know where you are…I don’t know where I am…we both wake up in a strange room and neither of us have any recollection of how we got here.” Taehyung takes a pause to gather his thoughts. “Have you heard anything? You know, from outside the room? There could be other people.” He waits for you to answer but you stay quiet. Yes, you are on that level of coward.

You stay in the bed, anxiety building up, growing fiercer by the second. While it seems Taehyung’s attention is being stolen by the large window where the sun invites him to come take a peak. He tip toes over to the window, lifting the blinds and exposes something you imagine takes his breath way due to his audible gasp.

“Where…the fuck are we?” he asks breathlessly.

Instead of looking for yourself, you stay seated. But are we surprised? You study Taehyung’s expressions, watching for his reactions. His face falls into one of awe but after only a few moments in settles back into confusion. He reaches for the bottom of the window sill and lifts upwards, opening the window and releasing the sound of…is that waves? You continue to observe him, too afraid to see for yourself. He stands there for several long moments before turning your way and he clears his throat.

“I—I don’t…I don’t know where we are, like, really.” He takes a hesitant step towards the bed. “But something tells me neither of us are from here.”

You need a minute. Yeah, you need a minute to process his words. Because what the fuck does he mean by that? You aren’t ‘from here’? Are you on another planet or some shit? This man needs to work on his wording, for Christ’s sake. You feel your hand move just the slightest. Then your other hand. Your toes curl in and out. Seems you aren’t so frozen anymore. Things are, yes things as in waking up with a total stranger and him saying you are in an unknown place, are starting to wake you up. You’re so ashamed your solution to all of this was to stay seated in bed…but for some reason a rushing sensation of bravery washes over you.

You rise from the sheets and step one foot on to the floor. It’s not lava. So you step down with both feet and make your way over to Taehyung. You stop in front of him, tilting your head up since he has several inches over you—but nothing too intimidating, you decide. His eyes find yours and you lock eyes for a few moments. Both of you trying to search the other for answers. You break contact to face the window and wow. Your eyes animatedly widen at the sight. Palm trees and water for miles and miles it seems. No other buildings or sign of life. An island? But not the kind of island where this room is a part of some fancy resort, no, not that kind. Instead the kind where a plane crashes and a group of people have to survive.

You blink down at your new reality. First of all, you live nowhere near an island, so there’s that. You feel the anxiety and frustrations begin to surface again and you can’t help that your eyes begin to gloss over. You snap your head back to get a look at your fellow victim and he looks just as lost as you feel.

“We need to find out what’s going on.” Taehyung takes a deep breath, lifting his head up. He locks his eyes with yours again but you break contact to look at your feet.

“We don’t know anything…would if it’s not safe?” you quietly try to reason.

“Exactly, we don’t know anything and that’s a problem. You don’t expect us to stay in this room forever, do you?”

He has a point and you know it. You want to follow him out of this room but your feet seem to be glued to the floor.

“Well, no. But—”

“Didn’t think so.” He turns away from you, his body shuffling towards the bedrooms door but before he can become out of reach your hand flies to his shirt sleeve, tugging it softly.

“Wait! Just hold on—” Your voice wavers and Taehyung rolls his eyes. Rolls his fucking eyes at you!

“Listen, come. Or don’t. I don’t really care.” Taehyung releases your hold on his shirt, unsticking your fingers and throwing your hand towards your body. “Decide.” He states before swiftly turning around to head towards the door.

Oh. So this guy is a fucking asshole. Noted.

You end up following him because although he was rude about it, feeling someone’s touch when you feel so scared was slightly comforting and yes, you are aware of how fucking pathetic that is.

Taehyung stands in front of the door, his hand reaching for the knob when he turns his head to say, “Just trust me.”

And now you are the one rolling your eyes. Trust him? You just met the dude! 10 minutes ago his name was Future Murderer. How could you possibly trust this asshole?

“How can I trust you? I literally just met you.” The scowl on your face deepens when he smirks.

“Are you always such a fucking baby?”

“Are you always such a fucking baby?” you mock, eyes rolling so far into the back of your head. Okay, you admit you aren’t being the most mature here. But Taehyung doesn’t seem to take offense to it by the way he gasps and throws a hand over his heart as if wounded.

“Oh? She’s got some sass?” His question and raised brows only piss you off.

“Whatever. Let’s go.” You aren’t entirely sure where the confidence comes from but you don’t question it. You’re breezing past him, your shoulder knocking into his as you approach the door.

You feel Taehyung’s eyes on you and hear him mumble a lame, ‘that’s the spirit’ from behind you. And with that, in one swift action you are opening the door.

You stand in the open doorway, once again frozen in place. Not feeling as confident as you were 15 second ago—maybe you just need this dude to piss you off again. Speak of the devil, Taehyung steps besides you, poking his head out into the hallway searching for any sign of life.

“It’s quiet.” He takes a few steps forward, now in the middle of the hall. You glance around, the hallway has walls full of beautiful artwork, and to the right is 3 doors and to the left is a wide staircase. An exit. Bingo.

“Let’s check each room.” And of course he wants to do the opposite.

“No, let’s just get out of here.”

You turn on your feet towards the stairs and stop at the first step and raise a brow over your shoulder, “Aren’t you coming?”

Taehyung looks conflicted to say the least. He exhales deeply, looking between you and the 3 doors.

“Shouldn’t we just—”

“No! come on…” You must sound pleading and convincing because you can see him falter, just a bit. “I just want to go home…” You say, averting his gaze. Taehyung only stares at you for what feels like an eternity before he’s finally agreeing with the nod of his head.

The two of you very cautiously step down the stairs, each foot that follows the other slightly trembles in the fear of the unknown. You two finally reach the bottom and your eyes go wide at the sight. This is basically your fucking dream house. The floor plan is very open. At the center is a gorgeous grand piano, you don’t play but it’s aesthetically pleasing you guess? To the right is a long table with picture frames and décor and down the hall there seems to be more rooms.

You scan the downstairs as you slide your fingers along the edge of this table and stop when you come across a framed photo. What the actual fuck. Your eyebrows rise and your eyes grow twice their size. You very hesitantly pick up the picture as your eyes blink down at the frame in hand when your breathing begins to pick up again. It’s a framed photo of you and your sister . Now why the hell would this be here? Why is there a picture of you and your sister?? Why would someone have this? The framed photo sits in your trembling hands as you stare down at it. Taehyung notices your shaky grip on this picture and takes it from you to take a look himself. His eyes also go wide…you look between him and the picture.

“Why…why the hell is this here?” your voice betrays you as it shakes with every word.

Taehyung glances down at the table and notices his own photos with friends and family that are disgustingly and proudly displayed.

“What the actual fuck?” Taehyung whispers to no one but himself. What the hell is going on? Why does this house have pictures of the two of you? Who is doing this? Is this some sort of sick joke?

“What’s happening Taehyung?” you step closer to him feeling entirely…creeped out.

“Does it look like I fucking know?” he snaps. He sees you flinch and his eyes soften, “Sorry…Its just… this is going too far.” He finally looks as disturbed as you feel. The two of you stay quiet for a few moments, neither of you knowing how to react to this eerie discovery.

You shudder at how ominous this all is. This is becoming way too much. How much more of this can you handle? You almost want to jump into this assholes arms and sob into his navy blue t shirt.

“We should…” Taehyung wipes his sweaty hands on his sweats, “keep going.”

The two of you nod your heads in unison and turn to your left where there is an entry way to the kitchen and living room. Taehyung stops before stepping through while you join him at his side. You two glance around to soak in your surroundings—it’s also an open space, the two open areas sharing a space. The kitchen is covered in black granite and wooden cabinets with a door that probably leads outside. The living room has two matching sofas, a wide screen TV that hangs on the wall over a fireplace and built in shelves on either side, full of books, movies and games.

Taehyung and you share a look before walking through to the kitchen and living room. You approach the rooms slowly and carefully, afraid of what you might find. What surprises could be lurking. Suddenly the white glow of the TV can be seen, making you jump with its sudden brightness. Why the hell did the TV just turn on? Is this like, a haunted house? Are you being fucking haunted? Okay, maybe that’s dramatic.

The screen is bright white with nothing else on it. You turn to face Taehyung who is already staring at you with brows pinched together in confusion. Same Taehyung, same. The two of you decide to walk closer to the TV when dark, bold numbers appear.

“10….9…8…..”

The sound of soft music can be heard playing from the TV, similar to the music that’s played in an elevator, as numbers counting down from 10 begins. You feel your insides twist and turn.

“….7….6…..”

Panicked, the two of you inch closer and closer. You two stand here waiting for something, anything to occur because these might be the longest 10 seconds of your life. The millions of questions you have only multiplying. With the seconds counting down and getting closer to zero, your breathing about fucking stops. What is going to happen? You can feel your palms grow sweaty as your heart beats out of your chest. It feels like the countdown to the end of the world.

“….5….4….3…”

You don’t think Taehyung realizes just how close he is to you, his shoulders bumping into yours. You guess fear does funny things even between strangers.

“….2…..1…….”

And then it finally happens. The timer finally reaches fucking zero. And it is safe to safe your attention has been caught…anyone’s would be if a screen greets them with their god damn names.

“Welcome Kim Taehyung and Y/N Y/LN”

Your names on the screen has you automatically feeling nauseas. What sort of sick game is this? Is someone setting you up? Pranking you? If so, shits not funny. But also, why is Taehyung here? Your eyes focus on the screen as it moves to the next slide.

“It is a great honor that you two have made it this far. You have been carefully selected in this company’s project. After a lot of consideration and impressive results—we have decided to move you to the next phase.”

Naturally, very naturally you become even more confused than you fucking started. What projects? What company? You can hear Taehyung swallow hard, his nerves spiking with each word he reads. Then the slides continue.

“To put it simply, we are in the business of love.”

Huh? Huh?

Taehyung and you break your focus on the screen to steal a glance as one another very briefly before turning your heads back to the TV. What the hell they mean love? What is this absolute nonsense?

“Our use of science, technology and logic has got us here today. We test and heavily observe our chosen subjects and decide if they are the perfect match. We then move them to the final phase: The Island. This is where the two subjects meet and get along for the first time. The place they will undoubtedly fall in love.”

You can’t help that your mouth falls open, you are sure your eyes are bulging out of your head. You dare to turn to look at Taehyung and he isn’t looking much better.

Before you can really gather any thoughts the slides continue.

“Our success rate is 99%. You WILL fall in love here, it is most probable. Other subjects will come to fall in love quickly, other will take their time. BUT don’t take too long~ If two subjects are taking too long to make progress we will send a ‘Request’ to move things along and if you fail to meet said request there will be a penalty. And you have 24 hours to complete the request. This is to help you.”

You shiver while reading the words before you. You are now too anxious to even look at Taehyung right now…you don’t want to even see his reaction to all of this. Is he anxious like you? Is he laughing because there’s no way this is real? Is he nodding along taking notes because he believes it? You don’t want to fucking know!

“We give soulmates the opportunity to meet and thrive. This particular project has been in the works for well over a year.”

You blink lazily at that. Well over a year? WELL OVER A YEAR? They’ve been watching you for over a year?!

“We have carefully observed each one of you in great detail. There is nothing we don’t know. We have matched you two to be most compatible.”

Nothing they don’t know? What the hell does that mean? How exactly did they fucking observe you two? You stand here with eyes wide open and mouth agape. Taehyung mirrors your expression. He doesn’t want to believe this either.

“And you two are finally ready to proceed with The Island.”

The two of you stand in the living room, dumbstruck. Absolutely dumbstruck. You aren’t even able to look at one another for more than a hot second. A harsh blush creeping on your face and you cringe because there’s no way you could blush for this asshole.

You just…you cannot believe any of this. You refuse to. This is ridiculous. Insane.

“This island is only for the two of you. Designed specifically for you. You are being constantly monitored. Hidden cameras are placed all around the house. Minus the bedrooms and bathrooms. The décor and food is to each of your likings, we want you to feel at home as possible. Everything including books, movies, games and rooms are to your likings and match your hobbies.”

Wait a minute. You frantically shake your head, blinking furiously. Constantly being monitored? AKA you’re being fucked spied on? How are you supposed to do anything knowing you’re being watched?

“Your families have already been notified of your absence.”

You feel your heart drop. You didn’t even consider how they might feel.

“You will return safely once we feel we are satisfied with the results. This can be 3 months, 6 months, a year or even more.”

You feel Taehyung spin to face you in complete shock.

“We understand this may seem awkward at first but things will evolve naturally. So you should not worry.”

These words do not bring the least bit of comfort.

“Besides the ‘Requests’ we will not interfere. This is YOUR time to fall in love.”

“Thank you so much for your ongoing participation and please enjoy your new home and of course, each other. <3”

The added heart at the end of the last slide has both of you scrunching your faces in disgust. With that, the TV shuts off, showing nothing but the dark black screen and the reflection of two ghosts. What. The. Fuck.

You’re sure your expression is as clear as day; a mix between anger and hopelessness. You don’t want to look at Taehyung, not after everything you just read but you know you should. So you tip your head to the side to get a good look at him. Worry. All you see is worry. Look, he might be hot as hell but there ain’t no way you can fall in love with this dude. But also, you don’t know anything. You gulp, there is one thing you know. You’re going to be sick.

Your nausea is so built up, it’s at the entrance of your throat begging for release. You stand here, running a clammy hand through your hair. You are going to puke, you know it.

Without any further thinking, you run towards the back door in the kitchen that thankfully leads to outside. You run down a path that you pray to the God’s that this path does lead to the ocean so you can drown yourself in some good ol’ waves. Your anxiety has you out of breath before the run does. You finally reach sand that is warm and grainy under your bare feet and follow it to the shore.

It’s beautiful actually. The view. You wish you could really take it all in and let the calmness of the waves relax you but you are seconds away from upchucking last night’s pizza rolls. But it never comes. Your guts never make it out of your body but the anxiety remains. Falling to the ground, you pull your knees into your chest, trying to breathe and most importantly trying not to cry. This is no use though and to be honest you don’t try very hard because tears are cascading down your face within seconds. You can feel the burning in your chest as hot tears fall onto the warmth of your cheeks and it breaks you further. You sit here and wonder if you are really stuck here in this place and with a complete and total stranger. The same thought stays with you as you ball into yourself.

You sit here, indulging in quiet sobs until they finally ease into soft sniffles. You reach up to wipe your eyes, ridding yourself of tears and the thoughts that came along with them. You need to think more clearly. Okay, positive thoughts. Come on y/n, you can do this. Positive thoughts. First off, you’re not alone. You are not the only victim here. You have an acquaintance here who you are sure isn’t very pleased about this either. But wait—would if this guy is a total weirdo? A psycho? Okay, maybe being positive is harder than you thought. Plus he was a total asshole to you earlier. But maybe that will change?

You stand to your feet, feeling more determined than before. You are going to try to make the best out of this shitty situation. You brush away the annoying leftover grains of sand from your legs and your behind and turn around to make your journey back to the house, your ‘home’. Ew, you did not just call it that, you shudder at the thought. Before you start walking, you spot Taehyung aka your ‘soulmate’ ew, you did not just him call him that— sitting, leaning against a tree. Yup, right next to where you just had snot running down your nose. Before spiraling into embarrassment, you take a good look at him and oh. You step towards him and his eyes follow your movements until you are seated next to him. He’s tense, that’s for sure. But you can’t really blame him, now can you? You are a little bit selfish, aren’t you? He is clearly freaking out too yet you ran out on him. You can see his expressions now: confused, anger, upset. And something you can’t quite figure out.

Taehyung looks your way and offers you a small, tense smile and then turns his head away from you to face the ocean again, a sigh escaping his lips.

“I’m not going to fall in love with you.”

You really don’t want to feel offended because hey, that’s fair. But still, this asshole doesn’t even know you so you roll your eyes.

“I’m not going to fall in love with you dude.”

Taehyung glances at you and gives you a look, like he knows that’s impossible.

“Sure.” He says.

“You don’t fall in love with me.” You snap back, feeling like you won something.

“Yeah, that won’t be a problem.” He deadpans.

“Listen…you’re not a psycho, are you?” You narrow your eyes at him. Taehyung stares at you for a second before he dramatically rolls his eyes at you, then he narrows his own eyes.

“I’m not a psycho,” he defends, a serious expression drawn on his face. “But how do I know you’re not?”

You bite down on your lip as if really contemplating,

“Fair point.” You smile cheekily but then your face falls into a frown. “This isn’t…real, right?” you try to brush back your hair behind your ear but the wind makes it difficult. “The TV…this is a joke, right?”

Taehyung looks on towards the ocean, the big blue waves crashing in the distance. He is silent for several long, annoyingly long moments. You can’t help but wonder what goes inside his head, what is he thinking? What is he feeling? It’s got to be similar to you, right?

“Let’s say it is real. There’s a company who…who…spied on us for a year. What does that mean? They hacked our phones? Hacked our homes? How far did they go? They said they know everything…” Taehyung pauses, flinching at his own words. “So, say they do. They believe after all their research we make a good match…the perfect match, apparently.”

“Yeah, I highly doubt that.” You cut in. “We couldn’t even get along in the first 10 minutes—”

“That’s because you were being a baby.”

“That’s because you were being a—Shut up.” You huff.

“Who’s being rude now?” Taehyung smirks. “Listen, I think it’s best if we just play it safe. But I am serious…I won’t be falling in love with you. And I am not a psycho.”

“And I am serious too, I won’t.” you remind him, annoyed. “It’s you who should be careful.” You poke your tongue out and Taehyung rolls his eyes.

“So do you like pancakes? Mister Not Psycho.” You look at him with a playful smirk and he wastes no time to curve his lips downwards.

“Pancakes?” he lifts his brows but then a scowl takes over, “I’m not falling in love with you even if you make me pancakes. I still can’t get over this…they spied on us for a year y/n. Invaded our privacy…this is too much. Too much to be thinking about god damn pancakes”

“Yeah but it seems like we’re stuck together,” you reason, “Whether we like it or not. So you can maybe try not to be such an asshole to me? When I’m just as much of a victim as you are. And we still have to eat.”

Taehyung’s mouth drops a little, then he closes it, screwing his eyes shut. “You’re right…I’m sorry,” he stands to his feet. “This is all just so crazy and a lot to take in…”

“I know…” you pause, “It’s sort of like being on a vacation—”

“Just stop.”

Taehyung walks past you, heading back inside the house. Leaving you alone with nothing but the ocean.

You stare off into the wide unknown, the oceans blue emptiness swallowing you whole. This looks like a dream vacation spot, if you’re being honest. But this? This was about to be the vacation from Hell.

~~~~~~~~

You and Taehyung walk through the door back into the kitchen, a look of grimace on his face while you frown. You two decide to check out what this place has to offer. You’re both clearly skeptical of this whole entire situation, well at least he is. He feels like the only one who is acting appropriately. But he can safely assume you probably are feeling a bit skeptical yourself. You two check to see is there is anything safe to eat—if there even is food. He doesn’t know what to believe. Was this situation, he doesn’t know…real? True? Every word he read, is a loud echo in his mind screaming at him. How could he even take this seriously? How could you take this seriously? This is fucking insane! He looks over at you, who is rummaging through cabinets, you look the same as a few minutes ago—calm with an unsure expression painting your features. He hates how calm you look, he can’t help but feel so annoyed by you.

He takes a look in the large, silver fridge and is pleasantly surprised to see many foods that he likes; lots of fresh fruits, juices, milk, sandwich meats, so on. It is fully stocked. He reaches inside the fridge for a bowl a fresh fruit, his other hand grabbing for a can of whipped cream. He gives you a look and nods towards the bowl.

“Should we test them? See if we die from poison or some shit?” he half jokes, his bitter tone shining through. You try to ignore his bad attitude and smile.

“We’re testing them with a can of whipped cream?” you go for a lighter approach but he just rolls his eyes.

“Go big or go home, am I right ladies?”

You snort. Real life snort. And you consider being embarrassed but you see Taehyung’s eyes light up in amusement before they’re darkening again.

You reach for a strawberry and pop that thang in your mouth, so he does the same. You two chew cautiously, the flavor and juices bursting. These might be the best god damn strawberries either of you have ever had. Such a shame they are being enjoyed in such a situation. He turns to face you, the you who is now stuffing your face with strawberry after strawberry, he can’t help but let a chuckle slip between his lips.

“What? Go big or go home…” you pause, a smirk playing at your lips. “Right ladies?” Taehyung only rolls his eyes at your smart mouth, he won’t allow himself to laugh.

Taehyung is still trying to gather his impression of you. When you first met you were a total cry baby, then you were just annoying and now you’re trying your best to be calm. He recalls how you ugly cried just outside—god, you have been a roller coaster of a person but considering your situation he understands why.

He believes he was more unbothered and brave after having first woken up…but after seeing those framed photos he got freaked the fuck out, to put it simply. Then the TV…everything just went downhill from there. And he sees what you’re doing…you’re trying to be strong. And he hates you for it. Why is he being the weak one here? How are you doing it with such ease? He’s spiraling. His whole life just got put on pause. His dreams and aspirations? Pause. Friends and family? Pause. His love life? P-Pause? He can’t help but worry over every detail, not to mention…is any of this the truth? Are you two just supposed to believe the god forsaken words that you read on the TV screen? And you went on about this being like a damn vacation. Unbelievable! But all he can do right now is breathe in and breathe out and try to be himself. Which at the moment is a really unhappy person.

You and Taehyung continue reaching into the bowl for more refreshing fruit, your fingers brushing against one another like this is a god damn Hallmark movie, but you don’t seem to be fazed by it so he won’t either. Even though it’s driving him crazy, he doesn’t want to touch you. He wonders what your thoughts are on the whole ‘love’ thing? It’s ridiculous. Don’t get him wrong, in a different situation he could see himself getting along with someone like you, maybe even hook up…but fall in love? Not likely. Plus he already has someone. Sort of.

“Ah, wait…” He pauses mid bite.

“Hm?” you hum, mouth full.

“Aren’t we like, supposed to be finding pancake mix or whatever shit you wanted to find?”

With a roll of your eyes, you lick your fingers clean while the other hand lays rest on you hip. (And no, his eyes did not linger when you sucked on your fingers and no, they did not travel down to your hand that rest comfortably on your nice hips.)(And no, he did not just think your hips are nice.)

“Couldn’t find any!” you dramatically yell out, “You guys FAILED us!” you then look over at him with a smirk, “So much for being experts right?” you scoff, he almost wants to laugh at your dramatics but he just stares at you blankly.

But soon that blank stare is changing into a sour one when he realizes just who you are talking to…the very company that trapped you here. The one that’s watching over you right now. Or so they say.

“We should inspect the whole house.” He says seriously, “You know, get to know this ‘vacation home’ or whatever bullshit you said.”

You look down at your feet, feeling fucking embarrassed.

“Sorry for calling it that I—”

“I know,” Taehyung kind of smiles, “You were just trying to make us feel better. I get it.” His tone is softer than even he intended.

“It didn’t really help, did it?” you scratch the top of your head, feeling sheepish.

“Not really.” He answers honestly, with hard eyes. “Now come on, let’s check things out.”

You nod your head with an eye roll, he still chooses to be dickish.

The two of you walk into the living room to the entertainment center. The TV is surrounded by shelves of books, movies, and games. Apparently all to your liking, so you guess you will see how true that is.

“Woah, there’s Mortal Kombat. Sweet.” You comment, the game case in your hand.

“Woah, I can kick your ass at Mortal Kombat. Sweet.” Taehyung plainly responds while shuffling other games between his hands.

“Don’t even. I will play you right now.” You try lightening the mood but he just rolls his eyes.

“We have other important things to do, need I remind you?” he begins lecturing you and you scoff.

“You don’t need to remind me our shitty situation. Your stupid face is reminder enough.” You bite.

“Oh?” Taehyung continues to look through cases, barely paying attention to you.

“Anyway,” you clear your throat. “There’s tons of movies here and TV shows as well,” you gesture toward the bottom of the shelf. “Some I have never seen before,” you squat down, your fingers brushing against DVD cases until you stop at one in particular, pulling it out. “Like, what the hell is ‘Castaway on the Moon’?”

Taehyung’s eyes widen, “UH, only my most favorite movie ever?” he says, taking the case from you.

“Looks weird.” You comment plainly.

“Weird—it’s not weird! It’s actually really good I swear, actually you know what?” Taehyung huffs out, it’s the first time you’re seeing him get so worked up. It’s amusing. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.” He pouts, clearly wounded you would think to call his favorite movie ‘weird’.

“Plus, who’s weird?” he asks, “What’s with all this anime? I know it ain’t mine.”

You jut out your bottom lip in guilt, your cheeks turning a rosy pink.

“Well, well…”

“Well, well…” he mocks, feeling satisfied.

You raise your eyes to meet his and walk an inch towards him, never breaking contact.

“I’ll give yours a shot, if you give mine a shot?” you challenge, sticking out your hand. He guesses you want him to shake it.

He takes a moment to let his eyes linger on yours. They’re dark. Plain. Boring. Nothing special. He looks away and scoffs but the idea of sharing his favorite movie with someone does pique his interest.

“Deal.” He says, going in for the handshake. He feels your hand in his and doesn’t expect your skin to be so soft.

“Deal.” You say with an evil glint in your eye. “I’m going to make you watch so much good shit.” You continue to hold on to his hand, you look down at them and become slightly shy. You just remembered your situation. You keep staring for an odd amount of time before you drop his hand and shake your head.

“Should we check out the other rooms?” you start walking towards the entry way back into the main area of the house, but stop to turn and look at him.

“Yeah, I suppose we can do that.” He answers back, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

The two of you walk back into the main area where the rooms are located. He hesitantly creaks open the first door. He’s met with a room so fitting. A room full of art supplies. Drawing boards, brushes, paint, etc. He feels his palms pool with sweat.

“Do you make art?” you question, looking up at him.

“Yeah.” He gulps, feeling creeped out all over again. “They really did their research, huh?” he whispers to himself.

You two stand in the doorway, taking it all in. Taking in what this could really mean for you two. It begs the question: Were they really spying on you for over a year? Do they really know everything there is to know about you two?

You softly nudge Taehyung, “Why don’t we move on to the next room?” you suggest. He turns his head to face you as he swallows hard, nodding his head in agreement.

The next room is nothing spectacular, just a home gym.

“You work out?” he asks.

“Barely,” you admit, a small smile tugging at your lips. “I always have the excuse of not having time or not wanting to go all the way to a gym. Guess I have no excuse now.” You look up at him with a sheepish grin. It’s hard to believe you don’t work out, Taehyung thinks. You have great legs.

“I see.” He turns his back to you, exiting the room.

The next room really wows Taehyung. He doesn’t mean for it to. He wants to hate this place.

It’s a room full of musical instruments and recording equipment.

“Holy shit.” He accidentally lets out. He walks around the room, touching things with just his fingertips. “This is like grade A equipment, I could only dream of owning shit like this.” He truly does not mean to be in awe of the music room, you know, because the enemies gave it to him but holy shit!

There’s only one room left and you swear to god it better be for you. You two slowly open the door together to reveal an interests of yours.

“Is this…? Like, a dance studio or something?” He questions, glancing around the room, “Are you a dancer?” he finally looks at you and he seems quite impressed.

You look…surprised, to say the least. Your brows shooting up all the way toward your hairline, your eyes darting all around the room.

“N-Not exactly…I mean, kind of?” you admit, your eyes falling to your hands. He tilts his head in confusion.

“I…I just have a serious interest I guess you could say,” you look all around the room again, “But I,” you play with your fingers. “I have never said it out loud to anyone.”

“Oh.” Taehyung breathes out in understanding. So, these fuckers really did spy on you guys. In depth. You both feel goosebumps rise on your arms, making you both feel a chill.

“Let’s head upstairs. Shall we?”

The upstairs has 4 doors in total. You both know the door closest to the staircase is the bedroom you woke up in.

“There’s no bathroom in this room,” he motions towards the door. “And the closet was empty. So, it’s not the master and that—”

“That means there’s multiple bedrooms.” you finish for him, and you both sigh in relief.

He means, this place has a goal of getting you together, so he wouldn’t be surprised if they only offered you one bedroom, but thank the God that he doesn’t believe in that there’s more than one bedroom.

“Yeah exactly,” he breathes out. “I’m willing to bet the door at the end of the hall is the master. Wanna just skip ahead?”

“Sure,” you agree, walking past him to beat him to the door at the end of hall. But you wait for him to reach the door as well before you’re reaching for the knob and slowly turning it, swinging the door open.

The room is big, a huge king size bed in the center of the back wall. Thankfully, the drapes are dark so not a lot of natural sunlight enters the room, Taehyung thinks.

“Hell yeah, dark curtains.” You say excitedly. Obviously reading his mind.

He follows behind you, keeping his comments to himself as you ooh and aah at your surroundings. He is impressed by the rooms simple yet he guesses you could say intriguing décor. Definitely fits his style, but he won’t say that out loud. As an artist himself, the paintings on the walls are very pleasing to the eye. He wonders if they suit you as well. If you’re his ‘soulmate’ they would, he thinks bitterly. He could see himself adding his own artwork to this room. He wonders if you would be okay with that as well—wait. What is he saying? It’s not like you two will be sharing this room!

You drag your fingers across the comforter on the bed.

“Soft.” You mumble to yourself.

He chews on his lips for a moment before speaking, “You can have it…” he shifts from one foot to the other. “The room, I mean. I’ll just take the other bedroom.”

“Really? You sure?” The excitement is evident in your voice. “Wait no—that’s not very fair. We could thumb wrestle for it or—”

He raises a brow, “Thumb wrestle? Really?”

“Mortal Kombat?” you offer.

“That just wouldn’t be fair, I would win too easily.” He says, not impressed. “Just take the room. I’m sure.”

“Fine…thank you.” you bow your head down in defeat.

The two of you walk towards the master bath and your eyes come close to popping out of your heads. It is huge! And super fancy! He’s not good at fancy words but he’ll put it simply, the countertop is long with two sinks. Two sinks. The shower has one of those rain shower head things and woah. That’s for like, rich people. The way you are gawking at this bathroom tells him you’re having the same thoughts as him. Yours are probably fancy like, “This extravagant marble bathtub looks exquisite against these cream colored walls. Very…dashing.” Or some wild shit like that.

The closet is next, He’ll be completely honest. He forgot you would need clothes and shit. But holy moly, there are rows and rows of clothes, both yours and his. There is jewelry (Not really sure why that’s necessary but like, okay) and shoes on shelves against the walls. It was more than he owned himself back at home.

“Honestly I forgot about needing clothes…since we like…live here now.” The words are sour leaving your mouth, he can tell. But also, you are obviously reading his mind again.

“What? You thought you would be wearing your cute little PJ’s 24/7 or what? Wear nothing at all maybe?” he asks, shuffling from one foot to the other. He’s uncomfortable.

“ha-ha.” you deadpan. “I just haven’t really thought about what this all entails is all.”

He frowns at your words,

“We should probably talk about it, right? What this all means, I mean.” His questions causes a shift in the atmosphere. The air becoming a little thicker.

You only nod and turn on your feet to head back into the bedroom. He quickly follows behind you, both of you stopping at the foot of the bed.

“Let’s talk then.” You bite your lip, swaying side to side.

He needs to be honest. He is clearly so confused about all this. Fucking puzzled. He means, what if just what if this company was real? And this company was…right? Are you really a match made in heaven? No, that can’t be. That would be fucking ridiculous. He’s being ridiculous for even considering it. But you two obviously need to talk. Have a fucking chit chat.

You plop down on the edge of the bed and he follows your lead, finding a spot right next to you. Your knee shakes up and down quickly while you play with the hem of your shirt. You’re obviously nervous as fuck, which he can’t really blame you. He watches you for a few moments before hesitantly placing a hand over your shaking knee, trying to stop the anxious movement and hoping to God he is not crossing any serious lines, he’s just really getting annoyed by your shaking knee and needs that shit to stop. You turn your head to face him and he is met with a look of frustration. He turns his head to face straight ahead and with a heavy sigh he says, “I feel that way too.” Because it’s true, you both must feel the same. It’s not like you want to be stuck here with him either. Right?

You finally let out a long breath, “How long?” you whisper. “How long will we be stuck here?” you begin to sniffle as your eyes become wet. Shit. He brings his hands to his lap and interlocks his fingers together.

“I…I don’t know.” He answers honestly. “But what are your thoughts? On what we read…” he clears his throat, clarifying as if it wasn’t already obvious.

You suck in a sharp breath, “I don’t know what to believe.” You admit. “But we are…” you gesture between you two, “This is—This is not happening.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes as if that wasn't the most obvious statement in the world. He. Could. Not. Agree. More.

You continue, “Someone deciding for me? On this part of my life? That doesn’t sit right with me. No fucking thank you.”

“Yeah, me either.”

“I mean,” you turn to face him, “You seem decent and all, when you’re not being an ass, but this is all insane. Just insane.” You wear an annoyed expression, shaking your head in disbelief. He breathes out of his nose in attempt to laugh.

“Yeah, you’re telling me.”

“But…” you pause, choosing your next words carefully…you have to be careful with this next part. “But if it’s real? What are we—” and yup, just as expected, you are cut off with just a look. He furrows his brows together and pushes his head back in surprise.

“This can’t be forced y/n.” he states firmly. You raise your hands up in surrender.

“Oh my god, Taehyung. I know that! I fucking know, jeez. But we have to talk about all the possibilities.” You say firmly, “We’re stuck here for who knows how long and you read the same thing as me, right?” you push on, “3 months? 6 months? A fucking year?” you drag a heavy hand down your tired face. “And don’t even get me started on these damn ‘Requests’ and whatever they are!” You are clearly very frustrated…Taehyung looks at you with the same pity you’re sure he feels for himself.

“Okay, okay.” For the first time Taehyung speaks to you much more softly. “Listen, they can’t keep us here forever? We are going to prove we are that 1%. We just got to stay out of one another’s way and just wait it out until they return us home.” Then his frown deepens, “But wait, what about the ‘Requests’?” he asks, concern lacing his voice.

You strum your fingers on your thigh, staring down at your lap, in deep thought.

“I know this is weird but…” Taehyung starts.

“I know, we have to talk about it.” You finally look up at him and your entire face has gone pink.

“If the ‘Requests’ are, I don’t know, “pure” enough, we could just like do them?” you look at him with doe eyes, “Or like, if the penalty isn’t that bad…. I don’t know.” You ramble on.

The thing is, neither of you know what to expect from these ‘Requests’ and their penalties. It’s one huge mystery. And neither you nor Taehyung are a fan of mysteries. Taehyung watches as you begin shaking your knee in total panic again when he clears his throat.

“Hey…I think we can worry about that when or if the time comes, okay?”

“When or if…” you repeat slowly. “Okay.”

He stands from his place at the bed and begins walking towards the bedroom door.

“As long as we stay out of each other’s way, we should be good.”

“Stay out of each other’s way…” you nibble on your lips, “Like, we don’t talk or anything?”

“Precisely. You do your thing, I’ll do mine.”

“But—”

“That’s just the way it’s got to be.”

“Fine.” You speak bitterly, “Fine by me.”

Stuck on a beautiful island in a beautiful house with a beau—with a man. What could possibly go wrong? Vacation from hell, here we go.

[cherrycocaineee]

14. Naruto Uzumaki - Best Friends

I strapped my bag over my shoulder before throwing on my sweater before heading for the front door of my apartment. It was time to go grocery shopping for the month with the small amount of change I had left from paying rent. The roads weren’t busy today, probably because in just a few moments it would be raining. Wanting to avoid the villagers all together, despite there being few of them wandering around, I hopped on top of one of the multiple roofs and jumped around to find the market. When I arrived, I jumped off the roof and bolted inside just as it started to pour. Thunder rolled against the gray clouds, lightning only poking out a bit through the blankets of puffy, rain clouds. I was thanking the stars that I had made it inside before I got rained on, and sending out another silent prayer that the rain would stop before I had to head home.

   The few people inside were giving me side glances and mumbling to one another, however, I didn’t pay attention to them and just did my shopping. After grabbing a bunch of things, I paid for my food and left the store, wanting nothing more than to get home. Luckily for me the rain had stopped, allowing me to make my way home. Once again, I took the roofs to avoid the villagers, however, I didn’t rush home like I had rushed to the market.

As I got closer to my home, I jumped off the roof and started walking past the windows. Most of them were covered with curtains, but some weren’t. I did good to keep my eyes forward, not wanting to make eye contact with someone who may have been looking out the window. But my eyes betrayed me as I passed the open window of a young boy’s home. He was laying on the bed, arms sprawled out, staring at the ceiling with his blue, teary eyes. He looked sad. And even from all the way over here, I could hear his stomach growling. I could see inside his home, and saw that there was no food inside his building. He was hungry.

  Having an idea, I ran home as quickly as I could and practically slammed the door closed behind me as I headed to the kitchen with my groceries. I started digging through my pantry until I found a basket holding all of my hand towels. Dumping the towels out onto my counter, I started going through my food to see what I could give to him. Packages of cup noodles, giving him most of them since ramen wasn’t my favorite dish, some fruits and vegetables, one of the two loaves of bread I had bought, eggs, milk, and some of the other things. Once I was finished packing everything together, I didn’t waste time leaving my home again and headed back towards that young boy’s home.

  When I arrived at the window from earlier, I noticed that he wasn’t inside anymore. So I decided to sit on the ledge and wait for him. It must have rained while I was inside my apartment because there were drips of fresh water falling from the ledge of the open window. I was surprised that his bed wasn’t wet. Thirty minutes passed before I heard the opening and closing of the front door behind me. I swirled around and came face to face with the blue eyed boy. He was staring right at me when he entered.

  “Who are you?” He inquired, his eyes narrowing.

  “My name is Akiko Haninozuka,” I introduced, “I was walking by earlier and heard your stomach growling so I went home to make you this.”

  I held up the basket of food. His eyes widened and he came bouncing towards me, a grin spreading across his face as he took the basket from me. After taking the basket from me, he waved for me to come inside; his grin still plastered on his face. That’s when I really took his face in; there were these whisker-like things on his cheeks. I climbed into the window, avoiding his bed all together so I wouldn’t get the bedding dirty.

  “What’s your name?” I inquired curiously.

  “I’m Naruto Uzumaki,” he informed cheerfully.

   The name sounded familiar and I tried to think hard about where I had heard the name from. Then I remembered that many of the villagers, when they weren’t talking about me, were speaking about another kid named Naruto. This must have been him. Naruto began putting the groceries away while I walked around his home. It was a bit untidy but not a lot. When Naruto finished putting his food up, he turned towards me.

  “Thank you for bringing me some food,” he said, “I really appreciate it.”

 “It was no problem at all,” I smiled.

   The two of us decided that we’d hang out for a little bit. He wanted to go to the park and play like all of the other kids did when they weren’t in school. So that’s where we were headed, Naruto was holding a bouncy, red ball as we walked. The entire walk home we conversed about ourselves, learning that we had many things in common. Both of our parents weren’t in the picture and we lived alone.

By the time we got to the park, the rain clouds had finally dispersed, and there were tons of children our age already enjoying the welcoming, hot sun. Most of the kids avoided us while staring with slight disgust but others just did what they were doing before we even showed up. Naruto and I went to a small area of the park and started rolling the ball with each other. We shared a laugh as the rolling turned into kicking the ball back and forth.

   Soon we started doing other things like swinging, chasing the butterflies, playing chase, and running towards some type of lake or river. We were having so much fun that we didn’t even notice that the sun was going down until it was completely pitch black. Now we were sitting in the dark while Naruto was trying to start a fire to warm us up, neither of us wanting to go home to absolutely no one.

  “Ah-ha!” Naruto cheered as the flames erupted making me smile and clap my hands.

 “You did it!” I giggled, “you’re awesome, Naruto!”

  Naruto’s head snapped up as he faced me, a sheepish grin plastered on his face.

  “Thanks, Akiko,” he said.

*Time Skip*

       Faded steam rose from the pan on my stove as I stirred all of the vegetables inside. From the other room, I could hear Hanako and Takashi playing a game with Kakashi causing a smile to appear on my face. Having my family sitting in the next room and enjoying each other's company. As I was finishing up some of the cooking, there was a knock on the front door.

  “I got it,” Kakashi called from the living room.

 “Thank you,” I hummed back.

    A few moments passed before Kakashi walked in with our guest, Naruto Uzumaki. Or technically now, the Seventh Hokage. I smiled kindly.

 “Naruto,” I greeted, “what brings you here?”

  “I was wondering if maybe you and I could speak,” he said, “it’s been a while since we’ve just been able to talk.”

  I nodded my head, “just give me a few moments so I could finish up dinner.”

 “It’s alright, honey,” Kakashi said, touching my shoulder, “I’ll finish up. You go with Naruto.”

After making sure that my husband was actually okay with me leaving, I followed Naruto out the front door while waving goodbye to my kids. While we walked, I asked Naruto how everything at home was going for him. He wowed me with stories of how his family went on picnics together, how his day with Himawari went during Parent Day, and so much more. I was genuinely happy for Naruto; he finally had everything he could possibly want in life. We both did.

  Somehow, Naruto and I managed to make our way back to the lake where he started the fire so long ago when we first met. No one knew how much the two of us would later depend on each other, how we would grow up to be practically inseparable even into our adult years. I’m sure plenty of people were shocked when we didn’t end up getting married but our love for each other was much different than his and Hinata’s or mine and Kakashi’s. It was pure family love.

   Naruto quickly started a fire to keep us warm and joined me on the log we had placed here long ago. It was silent for a while, listening to the sound of crickets and toads in the background. My blue-eyed friend looked up at the darkening sky, the stars twinkling, and the moon that illuminated over the lake.

  “Remember when the moon was falling?” He asked, eyes still staring upwards.

 “Well, of course,” I muttered, “I almost died so it’s not something that I would easily forget.”

  The two of us laughed.

  “I sure do miss the old day,” he continued, “team 7 going on missions with Kakashi. The many team dinners we had together when we were away. And I especially miss Pervy Sage.”

  “Me too. But now look at us. We’ve got beautiful kids and loving spouses, our friends are still around and they’re supportive. Our lives are great now just as they were when we were younger.”

  He laughed again and scratched the back of his head, his eyes were closed. I giggled too.

  “You’re much more optimistic about our childhood than I am.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

 Naruto folded his arms in front of him and sighed.

  “Thank you, Akiko.”

  “For what?”

  “For being there for me. Back then, everyone shunned me and kept me at a distance while telling their own kids to not play with me. But you were there for me, no matter what. Even when we were both bullied much worse after we started hanging out, after I told you that I didn’t want anything to happen to you, you still told me that you’d never leave.”

  I remembered that day. Three kids had come up to us while we were playing a board game outside to enjoy the nice weather. They walked over to us and kicked our game pieces before they started harassing the two of us. Calling us freaks and saying how neither of us should hang out with one another because together we were dangerous. At the time, neither of us knew what they meant at the time. But it didn’t matter. After the three of them finished shouting insults at us and hitting us, Naruto had told me that if I didn’t want to be his friend anymore because of it he’d understand. However, I told him that was ridiculous and that I liked hanging out with him. So the two of us continued our friendship.

  “Things were different back then,” I whispered, “and I’ll never forget it because it made the two of us closer.”

  “It sure did. Our parents would have been proud.”

 “Our parents, our teachers, everyone who stood by us.”

  Naruto wrapped his arm around my shoulder and hauled me up in a swift motion.

  “Let’s get home to our families, huh.”

 Nodding my head, I followed Naruto out of the lake area, letting the fire finish burning down what was lit. The ashes, soot, and smoke all collected in the air as we got further and further away. I was smiling the entire way home, feeling absolutely lucky to have a great friend like Naruto by my side. And I knew he felt the same way.

[ray-ray-writings]

Protect You-Technoblade

#349 from this prompt list. Check out my masterlist here!

This is a Technoblade x gn!reader in the dreamsmp! I hope you enjoy!

Side note, this will not have the correct dialogue that happened in canon at all lol. I have a really hard time writing things like that, so most of the dialogue will be my own. 

Y/N tries to warn their boyfriend about the Butcher Army. The prideful man that he ignores their attempts of getting him to flee. By the time he realizes they were right, it’s too late.

Y/N’s POV

“Techno! I shouted, pounding on the front door of my boyfriend’s ‘retirement’ home. I had been hanging out at Phil’s house when Tubbo, Fundy, Ranboo, and Quackity lowkey burst down his door demanding to know where Techno was. Phil, wanting to keep his son safe, refused to tell them. It didn’t matter though, they found the compass that Techno gave his father so that he could always find Techno’s house. The older man was put under house arrest for refusing to help, meaning that he couldn’t go warn his son. Luckily, I was in the backroom when they were questioning Phil, they didn’t even know I was there. So as soon as they were out the door, I said goodbye to Phil and rushed outside, climbed on my horse, and galloped as fast as I could to Techno’s house to warn him. 

“Techno! Open up!” I shouted, pretty panicked about what was going to happen to the man. The front door opened to reveal my very confused boyfriend. “Y/N? What’s going on?” He questioned. “We have to go” I rushed out, “You’re being hunted by Tubbo, Fundy, Quackity, and Ranboo. They’re calling themselves the Butcher Army. They have Phil’s compass that they stole and they’re on their way right now to take you to L’Manberg, what for? I don’t know. We have to leave!” Techno grabbed my shoulders forcing me to focus on him, “Y/N, take some deep breaths and calm down. Now I want you to think about who you’re talking to. I’m Technoblade. I’m the Blood God. I think I can handle a couple of wimpy kids coming to drag me many many blocks away. I think I’ll be fine.” His words frustrated me. Why wasn’t he taking this seriously. I wasn’t able to respond to his prideful words because they arrived. 

“Technoblade!” Tubbo yelled as the four charged forward. Techno pushed me slightly behind him and descended the stairs to greet the four boys. “Gentleman!” He greeted loudly, “To what do I owe the pleasure.” The Army glared at Techno, their eyes watching his every move. “Technoblade, for your crimes against L’Manberg, you have been summoned to the L’Manberg’s court house so that you may be put on trial.” I slowly descended the stairs, getting closer to them, trying to hear better. That seems a lot more civilized than I originally planned. 

Techno let out a deep chuckle, “Yeah, I think I’m good. I owe you people nothing. You took everything from me and so I think I’ll just stay here.” The sound of swords unsheathing filled the air as the four of them got into a defensive stance. “I don’t think you understood Blade,” Quackity hissed. “It wasn’t a question. Now drop your armor and weapons and come with us.” When Techno made no moves to follow orders, Quackity laughed. “We can do this one of two ways, the easy way or the bloody way. Which would you prefer?” Now it was Techno’s turn to laugh. “The bloody way? Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m the Blood God. I’d love to see you try” Techno taunted, moving closer to the three… Wait a moment. There were only three in front of him now. Where did Ranboo g- 

“I didn’t want to do this Techno, but you leave me with no choice. GRAB THEM!” Tubbo yelled out. I was confused, grab what? I didn’t have to wait long for my answer. I let out a short scream as I was grabbed from behind. A sword pressed itself against my throat causing me to gulp. “Sorry Y/N” I heard Ranboo whisper in my ear. It was then I realized that the reason I lost sight of him earlier was because he was sneaking up behind me. 

I glanced around and found Quackity had a hold of Carl. My eyes met Techno’s. His face was still stoic, but his eyes were swimming with fear. “Now you have two options, Techno. Either come with us or watch the two things you love the most be killed in front of your eyes.” Tubbo announced. Techno’s eyes flickered between Tubbo and me for a moment. I silently begged him to stay strong. I had all my canon lives, if I died once, I’d be fine. But Techno didn’t get the hint. “Okay,” He conceded, “I’ll go with you.” 

My chest felt heavy. Oh how I wish that he had listened to me earlier. A wicked smirk found its way onto Fundy and Quackity’s faces. “Perfect, now drop your armor and weapons.” Techno did as he was told. His shiny purple armor falling onto the snow and his weapons of the same description followed suit. “Let’s move,” Tubbo commanded. Ranboo moved the sword away from my neck, but still had a tight grip on my shoulder. He nudged me forward a bit and the six of us, plus Carl, began the trek back to L’Manberg. 

*Small Time Skip*

Once we got into L’Manberg, Carl and I were separated from Techno. Techno immediately protested and made an attempt to get to us, but once a sword was placed not only at my neck but his own, he settled and complied with the instructions. Carl and I were escorted to a nearby building that had iron doors and bars, so that once we were inside, there was no getting out from the inside. Someone would have to let us out. 

The door slammed shut as Ranboo exited the room, leaving me alone with Carl. My eyes filled with tears as I turned to my boyfriend’s beloved horse. Carl, seeming to sense my sadness, bumped his head against my hand causing him to pet him. I did as he asked with a watery laugh. “I’m really worried about him,” I spoke aloud. Carl let out a huff answering me. “Well I know it’s just a trial, but I can’t help but worry about something much more sinister. I mean they named themselves the Butcher Army. That doesn’t seem very diplomatic to me.” Carl let out another huff, looking at me almost annoyed. “I’m well aware he can take care of himself, but I fear he may not defend himself if he thinks we’re in danger.” Carl conceded and didn’t “say” anything else. 

The sound of the iron door creaking open, broke me out of the moment. My head snapped to the doorway and was shocked at the sight. “Dream?” I whispered, stunned at the sight of the green cloaked, white masked, man. “Yeah it’s me. Come with me, now. I’m going to get you out of here.” He urged, motioning for me to do as he asked. I was hesitant. Why would Dream help us? But then again, what would I rather? Stay here and wait for the butcher army to come back. Or escape now? I decided on the latter. 

I grabbed Carl’s reins and pulled him out of the house, following Dream as we snuck down the prime path. “Are we going where I think we’re going?” I asked aloud as I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Dream chuckled at my tone, “Yeah. We are. It’s where I told Techno to meet me.” I let out a sigh but nodded, “Great” 

The Final Control Room. I remember like it was yesterday. Eret’s betrayal shocked us all. I shook the thoughts from my head as we made our way inside. “Techno!” I breathed out, rushing forward and hugging him. Techno instantly returned the hug and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Y/N. I’m so glad you’re safe.” “What happened?” I questioned, pulling back from the hug. “I’ll explain later, but we’ve got to go now.” He muttered, turning to Dream. I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Oh how the turn tables….

“Thanks Dream” Techno thanked. I turned and found Techno handing Dream a bunch of items. “Anytime Techno. Pleasure doing business with you.” Then Dream was gone. Techno turned back to us with a slightly worried face. “I can hear Quackity calling for me. He’ll be here any second. I’m going to have to fight him and I really don’t want him to know that you two are here. I’m going to block you in. Hang tight for a minute.” I nodded and moved so that I was standing next to Carl and made it so we were taking up as little space as possible. “Okay here we go.” Techno quickly put cobble down and blocked the two of us in. 

Techno finished just in time because I heard Quackity yell his name. I could barely hear what was happening through the cobble, but I got the gist of it all. After a few minutes, I got a notification. I held my breath as I read it, praying it wasn’t Techno. It wasn’t. Quackity was slain by Technoblade. I let out a sigh of relief and began breaking the cobble wall down. It went pretty quick as both my boyfriend and I were both breaking the wall. After most of the wall was down, I was able to wrap my arms around my boyfriend. We squeezed each other really tightly for just a moment before breaking apart. “Let’s go.” 

Techno hopped on Carl and then helped me on as well. Techno gave Carl a swift kick and we were off. As L’Manberg fell behind me I felt all of the stress fall off of my shoulders and the air fill my lungs. The clops of Carl’s footsteps and the constant rocking motion of the horse caused me to let out a yawn. I buried my face into Techno’s back as he looked over his shoulder. “Tired?” he gently asked. I simply nodded and closed my eyes. “Sleep then. I’ll wake you up when we get home.” I smiled at the terms used. Home. He didn’t say his house. He called it home. 

*another small time skip*

I was woken up to my body being set down on something comfortable. I let out a groan as my eyes fluttered open. Techno stood over me with a small smile. “Hey there love. We’re home.” He mumbled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my lips. I hummed in contentment as I kissed back. Techno broke the kiss as he moved to the other side of the bed and crawled in next to me. I gently rolled on my side to face my boyfriend. The two of us just stared at each other for a moment, soaking up each other’s presence after the crazy day we had. 

“You want to talk about it now.” I asked softly, tracing random shapes on Techno’s chest. Techno let out a sigh as he pulled me close to his chest, “It wasn’t a trial. They lied to me. There was never a trial. They took me to L’Manberg to execute me.” Techno breathed out. I let out a small gasp at his words. Those boys planned on executing someone? “I knew something was up because Dream came to me with a woodland mansion map and told me it would be worthwhile to go find it. So I did and got a few totems of undying. That’s how I survived today.” I wrapped my arms around Techno and squeezed him tightly to my chest. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through that.” I murmured into his chest. I felt Techno’s shoulders move in a shrug. “It is what it is….” “Well then I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner today to warn you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you better.” 

Techno’s chest rumbled as he chuckled, “You know, as long as I’m alive there are going to be people hunting me and wanting me dead? You can’t protect me” He murmured in my ears. I rolled my eyes at his response and peered up at him. “I can do my best. I love you so much and I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.” I whispered, bringing my hand up and stroking Techno’s cheek. Techno’s eyes fluttered closed at the gentle contact. 

A silence fell over the room as the two of us cuddled together, falling asleep after a long and stressful day. I closed my eyes and snuggled into his chest. As I fell asleep, I felt Techno’s breath on my cheek as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “For what it’s worth. I will always protect you. I love you so much Y/N. I would burn the world if anything ever happened to you.” A gentle kiss was pressed to my cheek and then to my lips before he settled back down. I fell asleep that night wrapped in my boyfriend’s arms with a soft smile on my face. 

I suck at endings so so much. But I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please leave a like and maybe even tell me what your favorite part was!

[lostinthewiind]

3AM in the City

Tetsurō Kuroo - Haikyuu

Synopsis: after high school, you don’t see Kuroo as much as you used to, and not nearly as much as you would like. The only exception is when he calls you up at 3AM to go for a drive—an offer you never turn down; and tonight’s events are exactly why you don’t. 

Rating: PG

Warnings: some kissing, nothing you haven’t seen in the movies before kids. A little angsty if you squint?

As far as you knew, it was just another Friday night you would be spending at home alone, which you didn’t mind in the slightest. As much as you enjoyed going out just as much as the next person, you still knew how to appreciate a quiet night in by yourself.

Scrolling through your phone, the bright, white light illuminating your face in the otherwise pitch black room, you glanced up at the corner of the small device in your hands and took noticed of the time. 3AM. 

Letting out a yawn, almost as if in response to realizing just how late it was, you shifted in bed a little, trying to decide if you should try to get some sleep or keep mindlessly prowling social media for a little while longer.

Before you could make up your mind, however, a notification for an incoming phone call took over your entire screen, startling you a little more than you would like to admit. A small smile toyed at the corners of your mouth as you read the caller ID and answered the call.

“Hello?” You pressed the phone to your ear and sighed, body ready to climb out of bed. You already knew why he was calling . . . it was the only reason he called anymore.

“Hey.” His voice was smooth and casual over the phone, indicating that he hadn’t just woken up, meaning he hadn’t slept at all yet; which wasn’t exactly uncharacteristic of Kuroo. “Did I wake you?”

You shook your head instinctively, even though he couldn’t see it. “No,” you answered. “Just lying in bed.”

There was a short pause before he spoke again. “Wanna go for a drive?”

You had already known before you answered the phone that you would be saying yes to his proposition, but instead of responding right away, you hummed softly, pretending to think about it—pretending you weren’t as eager to see him as you actually were.

“Sure.” You swung your legs over the side of your bed and started searching for some clothes in the dark, unwilling to turn on the bright overhead light and ruin the late-night trance that you enjoyed so much. 

“Meet you in ten,” he said before hanging up. 

“Yeah,” you sighed, even though he was no longer on the other line. Thankfully, you knew this was just the way that Kuroo was—he was just bad at talking over the phone—but you still wished he sounded even a little excited to see you after so long.

Pulling on the same outfit you had been wearing that day, purely because they were sitting at the end of your bed and had been easy to find, you tucked your phone into your pocket and fixed yourself up a little before heading out the door. 

Like always, you waited at the street corner for Kuroo to drive up and pick you up. When he arrived almost exactly ten minutes after he had ended the phone call, you jumped into the passenger’s seat of the incredibly expensive and lavish car he drove. That vehicle was his pride and joy and sometimes you were honestly surprised he even let you inside of it considering how little he seemed to care about you lately.

Before you could even get your seat belt on, he was speeding away from the curb and heading out of your neighbourhood. Glancing over at the man you used to consider your best friend, you noticed the creases between his brows and the way his lips stretched into a thin, tight line. Something was bothering him, but then again, he didn’t ask you to accompany him on mindless cruises at 3AM when all was well in his life.

Knowing that it would be a couple of minutes before he warmed up to your presence and wanted to talk, you turned up the radio and watched the scenery pass by out the window. In the distance, you could see the glowing lights of downtown Tokyo, the bustling hub of the city that you usually avoided due to how busy and crowded it was. 

The city in the middle of the night was a completely different story, however. Maybe it was the way the many colourful advertisements and store signs illuminated the dark night sky, or maybe it was the way the streets emptied out enough for the overwhelming aura to dissipate just enough, but driving through the streets at night brought you a sense of euphoric calm that simply couldn’t be obtained during daylight.

Looking back at Kuroo, you took note of how his face had relaxed, even if just a little. You watched his hands tense around the steering wheel, griping tight before relaxing and tapping his fingers against the leather. Feeling your eyes on him, he finally looked over at you and acknowledged your presence.

“How have you been?” he asked seemingly out of nowhere, as if he just realized he would have to make conversation with you eventually.

Your heart fluttered slightly, joy spreading through you at the thought that he genuinely cared about how you were doing. “Fine, thank you,” you told him. “And you?”

“Okay,” he lied. You knew it was a lie, because even though he had changed drastically since high school, he was still just as bad at bending the truth, especially when it came to you.

“That’s good.” You rested your head against the window and observed the passing buildings and how they grew taller and taller the further into the city Kuroo drove.

As silence consumed the inside of the car once more, you became keenly aware of the music playing in the background; so, when a certain song that brought back a lot of memories started playing, you noticed it before Kuroo. 

Your eyes widened a little as you looked from the radio to Kuroo, waiting to see if he remembered it as well—hoping he remembered it. 

Feeling your eyes on him once more, he cocked a dark brow in your direction. “What?”

“This song.” You gestured lazily to the speaker. “Do you remember it?”

Kuroo chewed on his bottom lip as he listened, and for a moment, you thought he had actually forgotten. Then, a wondrous smile spread across his dimly lit face and he nodded. “Yeah, course I remember.” His spirits seemed to have increased ten-fold. “You always insisted we play it, and every time we did, you would sing every single word. Without fail. Every. Single. Time.” 

A soft chuckle escaped your lips. “What can I say? It’s a good song.” You turned up the volume a couple more notches. 

This time, when the conversation ceased, the vehicle wasn’t filled to the brim with thick tension. Instead, you found yourself thinking back to your days in high school—those incredible three years that you would give anything in the world to return to. Back then, you and Kuroo had been nearly inseparable. Back then, you hadn’t had to fight for his attention.

Back then, you genuinely felt like he wanted to be around you.

Looking to your former-friend and now casual acquaintance, you watched him carefully as he drove, his eyes glued to the road in front of himself. You wondered what had happened. What had gone so wrong that he felt the need to distance himself from you? Had you done something to push him away . . . or was that just the way high school friendships played out?

The question as to what series of events had taken place to get you to where you were now was one that you were unable to answer. The only thing you knew for sure was that you missed Kuroo . . . more than you probably should, but you missed him nevertheless.

Feeling a sudden burst of confidence, either from the inspiring city lights or the nostalgic song, or maybe both, you shifted in your seat to face the man beside you and cleared your throat. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s been bothering you?” you asked matter-of-factly.

Kuroo glanced over at you for a split-second, blinking a few times in response. He was clearly taken aback by your sudden and direct inquiry, and you completely expected him to ignore you altogether or change the subject. What you didn’t expect was for him to turn into the nearest parking lot, park the car, and let out a long, exasperated sigh.

Worry and curiosity coursing through your veins, you sat silent and still, waiting for him to speak or move or do anything.

“I feel lost,” he finally said, his line of sight falling to his lap. There was a pause, and you were unsure if he was going to elaborate more or leave it at that. When you opened your mouth to respond, however, he continued. “Work takes up all of my time . . . so much so that I’m starting to realize I’ve cut ties with everyone I used to know without even noticing it; not until it was too late. And the worst part is, work isn’t even going well. This corporate ladder bullshit is way harder than I ever imagined. I feel stupid for throwing away everything I had for something I might not ever be able to obtain . . . for something I don’t even enjoy. It feels like it’s all for nothing.”

Your jaw dropped slightly. Kuroo had never been that open about his feelings with you before; not unless you had pried for days-on-end or he was plastered drunk. 

You were unsure how to respond at first, so you did what you usually did when people came to you with a problem; you tried to put yourself in their shoes and then give the advice you thought you would want to hear.

“Well, I’m sure it’s not all for nothing,” you told him. “You didn’t get into business because you hated it. Sure, maybe the spark is a little dimmer right now or you’re going through a really rough patch . . . but don’t doubt yourself over one little bump in the road.”

Slowly, Kuroo turned his head toward you, his dark eyes landing on you for more than a few seconds for the first time that night. “But how do I know if it’s worth throwing everything else away over?”

“It’s not,” you said simply. “No job is worth throwing everything else in your life away over. But the best part is, you don’t have to choose between a career and a social life, and anyone who says you do is just plain lazy or insanely bad at time management.”

Kuroo cracked a smile at that and a puff of air that could be interpreted as a soft laugh passed his lips. 

“So my advice is just try to do better from here on out.” You smiled back. “Everyone has a hard time every once in a while. If the people in your life truly care about you, they will understand.”

“Do you understand?” he asked.

This time, you didn’t hesitate at all. There was no need to play coy or pretend like you cared less than you really did. “I do.” You nodded. “I’ve missed you.”

Kuroo’s eyes softened and his small smile faltered for half a beat. “I’ve missed you too.” 

Before you knew what was happening, Kuroo’s large hand was caressing your cheek and his lips were pressed against yours. Even though it was the middle of the night, you swore your entire world lit up at that moment. You had known you had wanted your best friend back, but this was so much better. This was more than you could have ever hoped for.

“I’ve been horrible to you.” Kuroo whispered against your lips, his fingertips trailing down the side of your neck and sending shivers up your spine. “I know this is a lot to ask . . . but can you ever forgive me?”

“Just promise to call me more than once a month . . . and maybe during the day sometimes,” you chuckled. 

He laughed, his hot breath warming your face. “I can do that.”

“Then yes, I forgive you.”

[miki-snake]

Cockwarming with the HQ Boys

📖: Just some quick random thoughts on how some of the hq boys would be while cockwarming you

🧡: Kenma x reader, Bokuto x reader, Matsukawa x reader and Tendou x reader

⭕️: SMUT, nsfw!, 18+, cockwarming, some degradation, not proofread and maybe kinda rushed at the end idk? 

🔍: 3.3k+

A/N: it got longer than expected;; i need help pls, sm show me how to write short thingz

Kenma Kozume

he doesn’t have a high libido and most of times isn’t the one to initiate things

especially on days when he was exhausted from college and streaming

the first time cockwarming came up wasn’t planned

he was lying on his bed with his switch in his hands playing ac

it would be a lie if you said that u weren’t a little needy but you were also tired

u just wanted to cuddle with him

so u slid up between his arms, head nuzzling against his neck, arms wrapped around his torso and your legs on either side of his waist

for some minutes you two just lay there like that

somehow you unconsciously grind yourself against him and of course it doesn’t go unnoticed

he just lets you do as you wanted and continued playing his game

you realized how you were already dripping wet and started to grind yourself harder against him

it wasn’t unusual for you to dry hump your boyfriend to make yourself come (easiest way for a lazy evening)

the feeling of his cock hardening underneath you sent shivers up your spine

you couldn’t handle it anymore and sat up a little

in a fast pace you slid down your shorts and soiled panties, throwing them across the floor

you looked at Kenma and grabbed the hem of his boxers, desperately wanting feel his hot skin

he nodded his head and in a fast motion his boxers were out of your way

going back to your previous position you wrap your legs around his waist

you sat back down in his lap, his now fully erect cock between your pulsing lips

slowly you moved yourself forth and back

both your juices already mixing with each other

Kenma was still focused on his game but you could hear him letting out some low moans

the slow pace wasn’t enough anymore and so you moved your hips faster and harder against his leaking cock

though you still craved the feeling of being filled by his cock

so suddenly you raised your hips, grabbed his dick and sunk down on his shaft 

you both let out a loud moan and Kenma’s head fell back into his neck

somehow the feeling of being filled by him made you feel warm and the tiredness came back to you

so you just wrapped your arms around his neck, head on his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of being one with your boyfriend

Kenma asked you why you wouldn’t move

you just shook your head and nuzzled deeper into his neck

he didn’t mind it and went back to playing with his switch

so you two sat there in the silence except from the quiet game music and occasionally you would clamp down on him or he would give a little thrust into your cunt

since that day it became a normal habit in the evening for the both of you but not every time would be as peaceful

It was six o’clock which was Kenma’s usual streaming time and after many requests of wanting to see his girlfriend or for him to play against her, he finally gave in and so you found yourself in his streaming room.

Instead of sitting next to him like any normal person would do, you were sitting on his lap. The chat was filled with comments on how cute you were, how you two look good with each other and some of them asked why your face was so red. You just told them that you were a little embarrassed because it was your first time streaming and you were excited. You were indeed excited but not because of the stream. How could your cheeks not be flushed when your boyfriend's cock was buried deep inside of you while thousands of people were watching you two through a camera.

It was Kenma’s idea because he somehow felt needy that day but he couldn't postpone the stream and who were you to deny your beautiful and cute boyfriend when he was asking you to cockwarm him in the public eye.

So after you two answered some questions he started a game so you and him could play it on stream. His voice was calm as he was explaining the controls but you sure as hell were too distracted to understand what he was telling you. When you would die during the game he would thrust up into you and you’d mask your moan as a groan of disappointment because of your death. He would tease you, telling you to answer some questions in the chat while you waited for the next round to start. Sure it wasn’t easy to be quiet but you couldn’t help and constantly grinned yourself on his cock.

When Kenma died in one round, right before his team won (you were already dead), he thrusted his hips up into you, his cock going even deeper and hitting a spot inside of you that made you lose your mind. You bid yourself hard on your lip, head facing away from the camera and eyes shut, while they rolled back into your head. It was so hard to not let a single noise escape your lips and you weren’t sure if a small whimper maybe left your mouth but in the moment you didn’t care. You just basked in the feeling of your orgasm, trying to ride your high as long as possible but you knew that it couldn’t be that long.

You felt Kenma’s hand on your head and finally you opened your eyes and turned your head back to the audience again. You saw how the viewers were asking you if everything was all right and you told them it was fine and you just felt a little nauseous back there but it already settled down again.

Kenma kept on stroking your hair and he proposed to change the game to Animal Crossing so it was more relaxed for you.

And so you continued the stream and showed them your island, but you didn’t forget Kenma's hard cock that was still filling you up.

Bokuto Kotarou

this man lives for cockwarming

he knows that he is packing and he loves to see how you struggle to take him all in

he’s not only long but also thicc

his cock head spreading your dripping lips until it felt like they’d be torn apart

he lets out a guttural groan when he’s fully seated inside of you

praising you for being such a good girl, his good girl

it would be totally random when he would tell you to come and sit on his cock

like when you two are eating, in the pool or in the car

you two would swim in the pool on a hot summer day

while taking a break he would suddenly grab you by your hips

he’s hauling you over on his lap

fast motion swiping your bottoms to the side

it might be rushed but he’s still careful of not hurting you

teasing you a bit and letting his tip run up and down your gaping hole

also circling around your clit

finally he’s pushing the fat tip into you

slowly so you could feel every vein on his cock that was grazing ur walls

loves to suck on your nipples while pushing u down

still keeping his eyes on ur face tho

he needs to see ur needy and strained face

watching how your eyes roll back, mouth open and the tip of ur tongue hanging out

you do try to tell him that it’s too much (even though u don’t wanna stop)

and he just chuckles at you

keeping a firm grip on ur hips and holding you down

after what feels like hours you reach the base of his dick

he’s pulsing inside of you and can’t help but clamp down on him

you were outside in the pool do you tried to keep ur voice down

but not possible

you whimper and moan and groan etc.

so when he’s completely inside of you he starts walking out of the water

with you in his arms he climbs out as if you were a part of him

he sits down on the sun bed and just keeps you in place

sometime he would even doze off like that

Bokuto is impatient tho so it won’t stop at just cockwarming

You now found yourself on the floor of your living room with your boyfriend hovering over your body and his hard, thick cock buried inside of you. After he woke up from his little nap he wasted no time to grab you at your hips and move you up and down his cock. You, still half in your sleep, couldn't help but let out a low groan. He sat back up  and used the new position to drive his cock even deeper into you. His eyes were still a bit unfocused from just waking up but it didn’t stop him from looking at your beautiful face that slowly twisted into a mask of pleasure. Even though you enjoyed the work out you two did at the moment, you asked him to stop for a moment. Bokuto listened to you and asked you what was wrong and you told him that you two should go inside to continue the little fun you had. He didn’t respond and just picked you up and sprinted into the house. He nearly tripped and fell down the floor but that was when he decided to just lay you down and continue in your living room.

Mattsukawa Issei

“Come on y/n, we both know how much you need me to move my cock in your sweet, little, juicy cunt. Just tell me what to do and how you want it, so I can give you your deserved pleasure, my baby owl.”, he said to you with his low scratchy voice and you just squirm underneath him. “I need you to move, please fuck me with your thick, fat cock, I need to feel it. I need to cum, please.”, you cried out to him and without a warning he started to pound into you at a fast pace, rocking your body against the hardwood floor. You could already feel the familiar coil building up inside of you, the previous hours of cockwarming already making you feel  sensitive and stimulating you to no end. Bokuto didn’t slow down and just kept on rolling his hips into yours, occasionally grazing against your oversensitive clit. “Ko- Kotarouuuu I need to come, please let me come, I can’t take it anymore!”, and so you felt how his thumb went down on your clit, rubbing and twisting it. His lips found your hard, rosy buds again, tonguing and sucking on them, his teeth scraping the prickling skin. All of the stimulation made your head spin and your orgasm hit you like a shockwave. Your mouth wide open, a silent scream coming out of it and your nails digging into Bokuto’s back. As you slowly came out of your orgasmic state, you realized that Bokuto’s still humping you and desperately chasing his high. He was overstimulating you and you needed a break, so you spoke up to help him reach his climax. “Kou please come for me. I need you to come for me, need to feel all of your hot and sticky cum flooding my pussy. I want it all deep inside of me, come on Kou wanna feel it dripping out of my little cunny.”

And with that he lost all of his control, hips moving erratically and a loud moan leaving his mouth, while you felt how your insides were filled with his hot cum. He fell down on you and buried his face in your chest, you both stayed like that, relaxing in the afterglow.  

if you think that Bokuto would tear you apart, this man is going to break you

he is the epitome of a thick and long cock

there is no way that you could just cockwarm him randomly

usually you two do it in your bedroom

you still need to get prepped beforehand

so some fingering has to be done or you’d only be able to get the tip in

like Bokuto he loves to see you struggle and knows how much you have to take

he takes it slow on you at first

prepping you with his long fingers and maybe even eating you out (if you’ve been a good girl) 

he’d take his time, enjoying how you’d mewl above him 

he would get you sloppy wet but wouldn’t let you come 

when he thinks you’re ready to take him he sits back up 

he’d still take some lube and spread it on his cock just to be sure

he might like to add a little pain in the play but he’s aware of his size and it shouldn’t hurt more than necessary

so you’re slowly sliding down his cock 

you already feel the stretching and straining 

your walls are instantly clamping down on him which makes it harder to move

he tells you to relax and rubs your clit to distract you from the pain 

taking a deep breath you try to regain your composure

his tip was already in and you start to move a little up and down a bit

that way you can slowly get him deeper inside of you 

half way in you beg him to just leave it that 

you already felt too full 

but he won’t stop there and grabs your hips to push you down 

when he bottoms out you felt tears prickling in your eyes

Mattsun comes ups and kisses them away

he looks down on your belly and nearly comes at the sight 

your stomach was bulging from his long cock 

you felt it, the strain against you belly button 

you still felt a bit pain but it was overshadowed by the pleasure of being filled 

you two just lie there and enjoy each others presence 

but it was sure to end soon

Tendou Satori

Even though he was only inside of  you and not moving, you felt completely stimulated. The veins of his cock were pulsing against you inner walls and his trimmed hair was pressed against your clit. “What is it? Is having my cock deep inside of our slutty hole not enough for you?”, he asked you with his deep voice in a taunting manner. You don’t react to him and so he thrusts his hips up in a fast motion and you nearly screamed. Even after spending some time with his cock inside of you, you won’t ever get accustomed to his size. “If you want it all you have to do is beg for a it like a little slut you are, alright babygirl?”, he moved his hands up to cup your face and you have no other choice but to look him right into the eyes. His eyes were devouring you already, full of desire and making you feel all hot and bothered. 

You felt like a dam broke inside of you and the words just came rushing out of you. “Please daddy, I need to feel more than that. I’m your little slut and your pussy needs to be filled with all of your cum, please.”, you whined and slowly moved your hips on his cock, the feeling of being stretched still accompanying you. “Well said babygirl. Alright I guess I can’t leave you hangin then right?”, he smirked and thrusted into you from below. The tip of his cock kept on pushing against the inside of your stomach, reminding you of how big he actually was. He moved in a fast pace and circled his thumb around your clit. You had to hold onto him or else the impact his thrusts might have thrown you off of him. To say that he was wild was an understatement. He flipped you around on your back, his cock never sliding out of you and got back to his frenzy pace. His pants were fanning your face and you felt how he was slowly pushing you off the tip. He could feel how your walls were clenching down on him even more than usual and he knew you were close. His thrusts also became irregular and he landed a slap on your clit. That was what you needed to fall off the cliff, full speed into your sexual heaven. Mattsun followed you into his own high and spurts of cum were painting the insides of your now wrecked pussy white. 

He circled his arms around your body and rolled off to the side, so he wouldn’t crush you. He pulled you into his chest, nose buried inside your hair and you two doze off into the dreamland. 

he’s a fucking tease

cockwarming is smth you two casually do 

like when you lounge on the couch and watch anime together

he was the first one to initiate it 

but now none of you has too really say anything and it just happens

most of the times just cockwarming isn’t enough for you tho 

he knows that but he wouldn’t move in any way 

you would have to do all of the work

teases you and makes fun of you being so needy 

you two started to watch the new season of bnha 

somehow along the way you moved onto his lap and slipped his dick into you

just happens you know

so you two continue to watch the movie but you start to feel the tingle inside your stomach

you think you’re sly and moved forward to grab your drink so you could feel him moving inside of you

the problem was

you did that like every five minutes

so he picked up on our habit and just told you to give him your drink he’s gonna hold it for you

that ass

so you started to get impatient and squirmed on his lap 

you could hear him chuckle 

so you turned around and glared at him 

he just shrugs at you and is like:

you wanna get off? do it yourself

“What’s going on? You look so troubled.”, you knew he was teasing you and you already knew that if you want something to happen, you had to do it yourself. So, you turned around until you were facing him, your hands on his shoulders and you started to move your hips. “Oh! So that’s what was keeping your mind occupied? I already knew that you weren’t focused on the tv but I didn’t think that you were thinking about fucking yourself on my cock.”, he laughed at you but that didn’t stop your movements. No, you even started to move faster so you could see him pant and flustered as you felt. Well, it won’t be that easy because he knows which buttons to press for you to break first. “So, you’re just using me like a fucktoy? Oh, you’re such a desperate little bitch, you couldn’t even watch the movie without thinking about stuffing your stupid cunt full of my cock?”, he knew how much his dirty talk was affecting you and your pussy clenched down on him at every word he said. Your juice was already dripping down o his cock and thighs, the whole scene a complete mess. That was fine with you though because you wouldn’t describe yourself other than a mess at the moment. A moaning mess, a hot and bothered mess, just a fucking mess for none other than Tendou Satori. The knot in your stomach was starting loosen and you felt how even more slick dripped down your thighs. Suddenly he thrusted his hips upwards into you and the climax came crashing down on you. Your body tensed up, thighs pressed against Tendou’s legs and eyes rolled back into your head. He’s following suit and thick squirts of his heavy creamy cum are rushing into you, making you feel even fuller than you already are. The episode was still running in the background, while you two panted from the exercise and you just sit there, taking your well deserved break. 

[niragibitch]

The Killer Girl - [ Niragi X Reader]

This is the first Niragi fanfic that I write, and my first smut, I hope you like it Perhaps there is an error of agreement or spelling, as it was initially written in Portuguese and passed to English late at night

Niragi X Reader

Warnings: Violence, weapons, blood, sadism

Number of words: 2k

It was a completely degrading situation for her, handcuffed in the bed of that complete crazy man.                                                                                         She of all the people in the world, a murderer.She had an organization just like a beach where she was a leader, the purposes were completely different though. She and a group of around 50 people where she was the leader closed a complex of buildings, got fast, luxury cars and supplies to stay alive, gathered weapons heavier than the beach and were just there to cause chaos and having fun with the games, almost none of those who were with her wanted to leave this world, people with empty lives and no hope in the real world were very well there, criminals and murderers just like her too.

A hired killer, eventually hired by governments to eliminate people or even torture them for answers, her life was reduced to death in the real world and would continue to be reduced to it in this one, she killed whoever she wanted and moved on, she didn't see much felt in normal life like the others, it all seemed very pathetic.His organization eventually became a mini city of troubled people who followed some rules of good coexistence and obeyed it, nothing more. Anyway going to the point where she was captured by the sniper's guy.

Hours before she was in a game where her entire group was extinguished, she herself had to kill some of them in order to stay alive but something she didn't count on was that her munition would end. At the end of the game she was alive but slightly injured, and a guy with black hair and piercings found her, intrigued by where she got weapons, cornered her with other militants and took her to the beach. She reminded him of someone he knew many years ago.

After the hatter's talk about answers and death to the traitors and things she didn't care about, she handed them her cards and tried to leave, but being unarmed and injured she was dragged by Niragi to where she was currently.He looked at her for a few moments with an teasing smile, showed his tongue with that tongue piercing that gleamed with the light in the room.

He was about to climb on top of her to do who knows what when someone appeared at the door and he had to leave taking his inseparable rifle.What was a lot of innocence on his part, in seconds as handcuffs were loose and she was walking around the room looking for something, she didn't know when he would come back and needed a plan, which soon came up when she found ammunition and a revolver in a drawer.

Now she had some options but she didn't know which one would be more viable, the injuries no longer bothered her, pain became tolerable and easy to ignore , the current problem would be to go through the armed guys without getting into trouble. She leans against the wall, but soon she sees the doorknob moving and has to think about something, hiding in the bathroom she expects some commotion in the room.

Just as, through it, the door opens and after that it closes, that is to say he did not notice that it is loose yet, he turns around.

''That damn bitch! '' he exclaims and she hears some steps, deducing that he took steps forward by the direction of the noise she silently appears behind him, she had a chance.

She hits him in the neck hard enough for him to fall to the ground, taking advantage of the fact that he dropped the gun.

She steals the rifle, fastens the revolver to his waist and points the gun at him, unlocking it and holding the trigger.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" - he says in an automatic tone and just receives an empty stare from her

"I don't advise you to make any sudden movements or I'll have to put a hole in that pretty face of yours, dear."

he puts his hands up and slowly gets up.

"You know that if you kill me now there are going to be armed militants out there, don't you?" - He smiles implicitly and a challenging face.

"But if I shoot you now, they'll think it's just you being a complete insane, and shooting me and not the other way around, I can buy time and run away in the crowd."

‘'well thought ‘'

He approaches and in a quick movement taking the rifle and aiming it at her neck, she pull the revolver and put it on his neck in response, and inevitably end up smiling, it was the first time in a long time that things started to be interesting, probably because her life was at stake.t

The feeling of adrenaline was something incredible to the girl, she felt like she under somo drug effect .

''You're smiling, it's the first non-empty expression you've made since I met you, why? ''

Niragi can't help feeling attracted to her, someone with the courage to face him that way

"I imagined your blood running down that pretty face of yours" and inevitably she looks at his mouthIt

Seemed crazy, but she couldn't help but think about his tongue piercing, and to be honest he looked attractive since when she first saw him, shooting like an insane in the game hours ago .

He looks at her a little longer and ends up kissing her, using his free arm to grab her waist, who in response uses his free hand to pull his hair. Neither wanted to be the first to surrender and be the first to drop the weapon. Both fight a fierce battle to control the situation until he pulls her in a sudden movement, placing her against the wall, listening to her moan in response, her head had hit the wall but she didn't seem to bother with it. He holds her wrist against the wall, pulling out of the gun's direction and calmly drops the rifle on the floor.

"Drop that gun," he says in a husky voice next to her face.

"Kick that rifle away and I'll drop the gun" - She says imposing and he surprisingly complies, she fulfills her promise by releasing the revolver that makes a loud noise when falling on the floor, but that doesn't bother them.

Now, without being a big risk to each other's lives, they kiss again. He remains holding her wrist tightly against the wall, and she continues to pull his hair to the point that it hurts, she wanted him to be in pain.

He pulls away from the kiss and starts kissing her neck.

"What do you want me to do with you?" He mumbles, but he doesn't get an answer making him irritate by biting. "You're a sick bitch, you're enjoying this, aren't you?”But again he doesn't have an answer, the grip against her wrist weakens and she takes the opportunity to loosen her arms and inverts her positions placing him against the wall this time, with one hand she scratches his neck and with the other she pulls his chin making him look at her and kiss him biting his lip hard enough to bleed. He is initially frightened by that, but she kisses him again, normally feeling the taste of his blood in her mouth.Glad to have made him bleed, she separates her lips from his .

"About your first question," she whispers in his ear. "I want to see you like this, hurt and in pain, with blood running down your beautiful face, and about the other I'm really loving it.”

He holds her thighs by pulling her towards him, she hugs his neck and curls her legs around his body, which carries her to the bed, where they both start to undress each other.

When they realized he was already making aggressive penetrating against her who tries to make his back and neck bleed as much as possible. He tried and failed miserably to hold his moans, the physical pain mixed with the pleasure of it, it was maddening, he was getting lost in her. eventually she put her hands against his neck hanging him until she felt he could not take it anymore, and he slapped her ass with no measure of strength and pulled her more closer making her hips as close as possible to his.

Both were lost in each other's reactions, their breathing changed, the blood and marks they had caused on each other, and in the midst of it they both reached ecstasy.

He fell on top of her, practically dead from fatigue after such an act and with no idea what would happen next.

"You still haven't told me your name, dear''

''Neither you said yours, we are even ‘' - she replies arrogantly making him roll his eyes but ends up answering- ''(Y / N) ..’’

"Huh?" He grumbles in a questioning way, he couldn't formulate coherent sentences at the moment

''That's my name, asshole''

"You are lucky that I am not close to my rifle right now," he replies slightly irritated.

''I say the same, or you would be dead now’'

"Niragi ... that's my name ..." he says in a sleepy voice and ends up erasing against her shoulder that despite knowing that he is a crazy and insane guy, she couldn't help but find him cute.

She could get up and shoot him right then and run. There was also the possibility of getting up wearing her clothes and just walking away, he didn't seem to sleep for some time and he probably wouldn't wake up. However she chose to leave to think about this problem the next day and soon fell asleep too.

[…]  

The next day the girl was the first to wake up, getting up carefully so as not to wake her bedmate, while thinking about what to do. The easy answer was the handcuffs, the handcuffs were still on the headboard.The next day the girl was the first to wake up, getting up carefully so as not to wake her bedmate, while thinking about what to do.

The easy answer was the handcuffs, the handcuffs were still on the headboard.    

She approaches him by carefully pulling his arms up, placing them against the cold metal of the handcuffs and adjusting them so that they are as tight as possible.

She couldn't help analyzing the bruises left on his body, his neck was a little red, some of the places she scratched looked more like they had been cut and could take a while to disappear due to the depth, not to mention the wound on his lower lip . In general nothing there was very drastic, with ointment and ice he would quickly be fine.Not that she was going to take care of his wounds or let him go for now.

Anyway, the calm expression he had while sleeping was cute, he looked so vulnerable.

She stops looking at him and starts to martyrize herself with her own thoughts and gets up wearing her clothes and walking to the bathroom.

It doesn't take long before he wakes up, a little sluggish from sleep he doesn't notice the situation until he notices his trapped wrists.He looks for her with his eyes, and not seeing her there irritated him completely.

He struggles to get of the cuffs, making her hear the sound of metal against the bed. And then she takes a deep breath, leaving the bathroom and facing him.  

"If you don't let go of me now, you'll regret one day being born, when I'm released," he says in a menacing tone.

''What makes you think that someday you'll be released? I can kill you here and now, so be sensate and measure your words, ” retorts in a monotone voice

She leans against a wall with her mind racing, she needed a decision on what to do. A plan.

At no time did his eyes deviate from her, he analyzed her as if his life was at stake and in a way it was .

"What do you plan to do with me?" He says in a fake monotone voice, he wanted to stay calm as she was but it was difficult.He didn't like to feel vulnerable, and the situation at the moment left him on the fine line between frightened and angry.

''Sincerely? I have no idea, ”she says and smiles, approaching the bed and smiling sarcastically.“ What did you plan to do to me when I was handcuffed?''

"Do I really need to say it?” The smirk said it all, and as usual he sticks out his tongue with that piercing. "Are you blatantly staring at my mouth, if you're a good girl and let go we can repeat what we did yesterday’’ he tease

"Temptant" - she climbs on the bed, putting one leg over him, sitting on his belly ''but whoever is trapped is you and I can do whatever I want anyway ‘' She shrugs and can feel him shudder despite trying to control his emotions. reactions not wanting to appear helpless .''This situation is being really fun and stuff, but I think it's time to reach an agreement ... '' she passes her hand carefully over the marks on his neck '' I will give the cards and we will play from there, if you scream they will find you pathetic because of the current situation, you will lose your reputation ''he starts to get angry and that just amuses you even more ''So promise me that if I let you go, I can stay alive, with that gun and walk around freely .’'

"Do you think I'm stupid? You will definitely try to escape and I already saw that you are no amateur with guns ..''

"If you are afraid of dying, know that I have been able to kill you several times, including when you were sleeping, you need not be afraid of me, kitten. I do not bite most of the time .." she blinks. "Now give me a definite answer before I get piss ‘'

"Okay, I'll agree to your terms, though…”

"What?" She asks, starting to lose patience. "I'm starting to think that shooting you would have been a lot more practical.”

"You're going to live in that room with me" and after saying that he sees her expression change to something indecipherable "I'm going to need to keep my eyes on you so you don't do anything suspicious

"Was that it? Okay then, we have a deal" and so she gets off him by letting go of his wrists  ''But know that dealing with me is something almost unbearable and that if you irritate me you might end up not surviving’’

He is relieved to have his mobility again, his wrists were marked and would be purple for a long time.

"I advise you to put an ice on your bruises." She kisses him on the cheek, picks up the gun and walks away towards the door."

Where do you think you're going?"

''Analyze the perimeter since I'm stuck here, go get dressed before worrying about my life, I'll see you around ‘' and she leaves slamming the door

Niragi stays there without knowing exactly what to do, she was an intriguing woman. She drew his attention by making him want to keep her close and shoot her head at the same time. It was only a matter of time before they trie to kill each other.

[thebookreader12345]

Stories

Pairing: Blake Gallo x reader

Summary: Being the youngest member at the firehouse, Y/N wants someone her own age to fill the open spot on truck, and when she meets Blake Gallo, she instantly knows that he’s the one

Requested: No

Warnings: mentions of death by fire

Word Count: 1,408 Words

Note: Pulls from the events of Chicago Fire, Season 8 Episode 2, A Real Shot in the Arm

“Casey! Hey,” I greet. “I was just wondering how the search for the new firefighter for truck was going.”

“I haven’t found the right person yet if that’s what you’re asking,” Matt said.

“That’s great. Well, not great because we really need a new member and all but- okay the reason I asked is because I was hoping you would consider getting someone around my age,” I tell him.

Matt laughed and shook his head. “Now why would I do that?”

“Because, no offense Captain, a lot of the people in this house are way older than me, and while I appreciate everything you and the rest of Firehouse 51 have taught me, it would be nice to have someone I can really connect with. All I ask is that you consider it,” I exclaim. Just then, the alarm blared throughout the firehouse, and someone came over the speaker.

“Truck 81, Ambulance 61, person trapped, 9724 North Dayton.” Matt and I sprung into action immediately, running from our spot in the sleeping corridor to the apparatus floor where we put on our gear. After that, we climbed into the truck along with everyone else and sped off towards the scene. At the address, we found a guy tangled up in some rope hanging from a building. There was another truck company there, but apparently, their ladder wasn’t long enough to reach him. As I was standing around waiting for orders, a younger firefighter whose coat read Gallo ran over to me.

“Can you give me a hand?” Gallo asked.

“Uh, sure,” I respond. Gallo lead me over to a ladder, and we both picked it up, bringing it over to the side of the building. He then started climbing the ladder to get up to the balcony, and when he was at the top, he turned around and gave me a smile. 

“You coming?” 

I returned the smile and stepped onto the first step of the ladder. “Definitely.” It came to me soon after about what Gallo was trying to do. He was going to scale the balconies so that we could get up to where the man was quicker than the ladder on the truck. I grabbed onto the balcony above me and pulled myself up, then attempted to grab the rail at the top, but I missed, and my hand fell away from the metal. I let out a small shriek as I hung one handed from the balcony. If I let go, I would fall to my death. And I couldn’t reach the top railing any more since I was hanging down. That’s when Gallo appeared above me and offered me his hand. I reached up as high as I could and grasped it, resulting in him pulling me up and over the balcony. Gallo instinctively pulled me to his chest, and when my feet touched solid ground, I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I breathe out.

“No problem. You okay to keep going?” Gallo questioned.

“Yeah. I’m good. Lets go,” I murmur. Gallo and I scaled the rest of the balconies fairly quick, and just as we got to the one at the same height as the man, Matt and Kelly started climbing up the ladder. There was a balcony separating Gallo and I from the man, meaning we had to jump across. I climbed onto the ledge and grabbed the pole connecting the next balcony to the wall before leaping over the gap. Gallo followed my lead, and now we were both right by the man hanging from the roof. Gallo jumped into action and slid himself between the poles connecting our balcony to the wall, and then wrapped his legs around the man to keep him in place. I came up from behind and hooked my arms under Gallo’s armpits to keep him steady, and to make sure he didn’t fall. Seconds later, Matt and Kelly appeared on the ladder and helped get the man down. As soon as we all got to the ground, I pulled Matt aside. “Look, I know I don’t have any say in picking the new firefighter, but I think you should consider him,” I say and gesture to Gallo. “He saved my life, so he’s already earned my trust. And yeah, he may be daring, but inside, all of us are. I think he’d be a great addition to Firehouse 51.”

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

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet our new candidate, Blake Gallo,” Matt spoke and gestured to Gallo, who was at his side.

“Well, if it isn’t my knight in shining PPE,” I announce. “It’s nice to finally get to officially meet you, Blake. I’m Y/N. Y/N L/N.” Blake shook my outstretched hand, and as soon as our skin touched, I felt butterflies in my stomach.

“Y/N was our previous candidate, so she is going to be keeping an eye on you. Y/N, I want him on a short leash,” Matt ordered.

“You got it, Captain. Come on, Blake. Let me give you the tour. Oh. And welcome to Firehouse 51,” I add and give him a small smile. That night, after our first shift, I invited Blake over to Molly’s to get better acquainted with him. We were sitting at a table with two beers in front of us, and Blake was telling some funny story about his last firehouse. I laughed and took a sip of beer, enjoying the liquid’s taste as it went down my throat. For awhile, we just talked, and I felt so comfortable around him already even though we just met a few days ago. “So,” I say and take another swig of beer. “What’s your story, Blake?”

“My story?” Blake questioned.

“Yeah. Your story. Every person has one, and they’re all different. Our stories are what make us unique.” Blake still seemed confused by what I had said. “The reason you became a firefighter,” I clarify. Gallo hesitated, and I could tell that he had a big story, but by the looks of it, it definitely wasn’t a happy one. “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable. We just met. I don’t want to push you.”

“No. It’s uh, it’s fine. When I was 12, there was a fire at my house. I hid in the closest when the smoke started making it’s way into my bedroom. When I was finally rescued by firefighters, I found out that the rest of my family was dead. I lost my mom, dad and little sister that night,” Blake confessed.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I also want you to know that you’re not the only one,” I tell him.

“You mean.....” Blake trailed off.

I nodded. “I was 16. My older brother, he was 18. It was the summer right before he was going to start college, so my parents wanted to have a nice family vacation to send him off. We rented a log cabin in Wisconsin right on the lake, and we were going to spend the week there. The last day of the vacation, my brother and I went into town to see if we could find any neat souvenirs, and when we got back, the cabin had been burned down. There were firefighters everywhere, along with two body bags. My parents, they didn’t make it. It happened awhile ago, but the pain never really goes away.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling,” Blake agreed and downed the rest of his beer. “Listen, I know we just met and all, but uh, I um.....” It seemed that Blake couldn’t find the right words to say. Finally, he took a deep breath, and looked up at me. “Would you maybe want to go on a date sometime?”

“You do know that there aren’t supposed to be in-house romances, right?” I ask, a playful tone hidden in my voice.

“But I thought Severide and Kidd were-” Blake cut himself off when he saw me trying to hide my smile. “There’s no rule, is there?”

“Oh, there is,” I admit. “But so many people have broken it that Boden doesn’t care anymore. And I would love to go on a date with you, Blake Gallo. How does after next shift sound?”

“That sounds great,” Blake replied. “I will text you with the details when I have them.”

“I can’t wait. I’m really excited to see where this goes,” I disclose.

Blake smiled. “Yeah. Me too.”

____________________

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[anyoneseenadam]

Home: Chapter Six

azriel x reader (acotar)

summary: (y/n) is a daughter of Persephone, still recovering from the trauma of her fall into Tartarus and doesn’t have time for a stupid, handsome, annoying, stunning, injured man. But now they’re stuck together in the middle of nowhere and there only chance of getting home is if she can heal him, and fast.

warnings: big spoilers for mark of Athena and house of Hades, also for the acotar series, eventual smut, blood, PTSD, graphic descriptions of violence, injuries and torture, enemies to lovers so az is a bit of a dick to start, swearing, THIS PART HAS SMUT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED but it is very soft 

word count: 3.2k

dress featured: x

a/n: this part was gonna be super fluffy and lovely but of course i cant do that so it’s quite angsty lol sorry. BUt Percabeth make an appearance and we love them so I think that evens it out :) I also apologise if there are any mistakes I wanted to get this out ASAP because I have exams coming up :( pls comment it genuinely makes my day i get so happy when people comment, anyway enjoy!

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Azriel wasn’t entirely sure he would ever get over ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, or any other Marvel movies for that matter, having cried when Bucky was revealed, or when Pietro died making you practically piss yourself with laughter as you muttered something along the lines of “Just wait.”

When the sun began to rise you had turned the laptop off, pulling him in tightly as you pulled the thick duvet over you and proceeded to snore softly with your head pressed over his heart and your other hand reaching out and clutching your favourite soft toy. He thinks he maybe got three hours of sleep, but he laid with you the whole morning, addicted to the heat emitting from you and the way the whole room seemed to be resting as you slept, the breeze swaying the curtains matching that of your gentle breaths and the plants drooping as they too relaxed.

When you did wake, Azriel found his way between your legs, determined to wake you up properly. Your soft cries were like music to his ears, and he made you cum three times before you were pushing his shoulders away, shaking from over-stimulation, and climbing on top of him, sinking down slowly, letting yourself feel every inch. As he sat back, his hands resting on your waist to guide you when you became breathless, holding tightly and occasionally thrusting up into you when the pace became to slow for his taste. You reached a hand to his wings as his thumb found your clit, and you kissed sloppily as you searched for release.

Soon, you fell on top of him as he grunted, hips stalling as you whined into his open mouth. He slowly pulled out and wrapped his arms tightly around your middle, the two of you laying silently simply enjoying the others presence. You soon looked up at him and gave him a breathless smile, pecking his jaw, before swinging your legs over the side of the bed and grabbing a robe of the floor. You made your way to the record player and filled the room with the sound of the Bee Gee’s, Azriel closing his eyes and letting the foreign sounds consume him. You sat down at your vanity and started putting on your jewellery, all the movements practiced, and he cracked open an eye watching you string necklaces with crystals hanging from them around your neck. He laughed as you sang along to the song, flirty eyes catching his as you swayed from side to side.

“More than a woman…” you sang softly as you pulled lacy panties up your legs and rubbed fruity lotion into your legs and hands, waving your hands to dry them before pushing of numerous rings. He sat up in bed, watching you intently as you moved to your wardrobe and pulled out a pretty off-the-shoulder, white dress with frills and faint flowers decorating it. You dropped your robe and pulled on the dress, shaking your hair out and turning to walk over to him. The golden light from the window coated you and you look like you belonged in the Day Court as your skin was cast in the glow, it seemed to weave around you alike a halo and he was struck by how angelic you looked.

“I’m gonna go wash my face,” you said, pressing quick kiss to his lips and giggling sweetly when he tried to chase your mouth for more, pulling away and leaving the room, blowing a kiss in his direction.

He stood, a love-drunk smile on his face as he went about finding his boxers from the night before and pulling them on, grimacing at the tight fit, before he wandered to the drawer you had pulled them from, laughing when he found men’s joggers as well and pulling them on. When he turned to find a top he was instead greeted by a middle-aged man in running gear. He reached for truth-teller, moving into a fighting stance, his shadows swarming around him menacingly and silently begged that you would stay in the bathroom to avoid seeing any blood.

“At ease Azriel, I won’t hurt you.” The strange man said, not actually looking at him and instead typing furiously on his phone.

“How did you get in here?” Azriel asked gruffly, assessing the man to see if he had weapons.

The man waved a hand through the air dismissively, “You are not supposed to be here you know.”

“What do you mean?” He was still uncomfortable at the fact the man knew his name, and now he was insinuating that he knew that Azriel wasn’t from this world.

“Stupid Aphrodite and her hopeless ideals messing up the routes so you could meet (y/n). The fates won’t be happy if you don’t return soon, and even worse Persephone will lose it if she thinks her daughter has been dragged into any messy situations like this, so you boy, are going home, come on.” He beckoned to Azriel, but he didn’t budge.

“Who are you?” He demanded as the man rolled his eyes.

“Hermes, messenger God, now come on I don’t have all day.”

“What did you mean by the fates?”

Hermes sighed deeply, muttering something about a pay raise under his breath before he finally looked up at Azriel. “Some soulmates simply just aren’t meant to meet I’m afraid, why do you think we wrote so many tragedies. If a Greek is born lucky enough to have a soulmate they will likely be from another world, and that means they cannot be together. I know you think she is your mate, but she must stay here, she’s not even immortal it would be cruel. I told Aphrodite to not let you two meet and that it would just end in heart-break, but she didn’t listen, felt bad for the girl or something, but either way you need to leave now.”

Azriel opened his mouth to reply but couldn’t find the words, you really were his, his mate, but now he was being told that he couldn’t be with you. He tried to reply again but before he could you were floating back into the room, smiling widely when you saw Hermes.

“Hermes, long time no see. What calls you to my humble abode?” you asked, moving to Azriel’s side and laughing when he still didn’t put down his dagger, “It’s okay Az, Hermes is actually one of the nicer ones.”

Hermes laughed at the compliment, but sadness shone in his eyes as he looked upon you.

“You look happy,” he said, a regretful look suddenly over-coming his features, yet Azriel couldn’t feel any sympathy for the man that was going to hurt his mate.

“I am.” You said, gazing up at Azriel with soft eyes, and Hermes placed his buzzing phone in his back pocket.

“My child, it’s time for Azriel to leave,” he said softly, your head whipping around to look at him.

“What?” The sharpness of your tone surprised Azriel. He had grown used to your soft side that spoke to flowers and baked homemade bread, but now he was remembering the broken part of you that was part God and build walls up in seconds. He placed a hand on your lower back as the room suddenly shuddered under your power, all plants awakening.

“You two were never meant to meet, Aphrodite just wanted you to meet him after your fall, but she forgot that he would have to return, I’m so sorry.” Your eyes filled with tears as you tried to make sense of what was happening, snarling at the God.

“No but this has nothing to do with the Gods, it- he got here on his own, we met by chance,” You were shaking as you tried to explain, sadness and confusion battling anger, and Azriel thought he could hear his heart break.

“I’m sorry child, I have to take him back. He only got here because of Aphrodite.” You were shaking your head, tears flowing freely now, gripping his arm and Hermes approached.

“NO, no there must be another way, please don’t take him from me! I need him, I love him, please don’t do this!” Hermes, shockingly, also appeared to be close to tears as he rested his hand on Azriel’s shoulder, his body going numb as he was pulled from you, unable to fight back.

“(y/n), baby, I’m sorry, I’ll figure this out okay I promise. I’m not leaving you here.” He didn’t think he would ever feel this much pain again as he watched the woman he loved sob, trying desperately to hold onto him as he was pulled from her world, the image of her collapsing to her knees as he was wrenched from her grip becoming imprinted in his mind.

--

He was gone. He was gone and you were alone again.

The scuffed wooden floor below you was cool as you pressed your forehead against it, sobs racking your body. You pushed yourself up and sat against the wall, checking the time on the clock. 15 minutes. You would cry for 15 minutes and then you would get him back. To many times you have just accepted your fate, but you couldn’t this time, you and Azriel met for a reason there had to be something. You wouldn’t let the anger and fear swallow you again.

When 15 minutes had past you forced your self to stand, wiping your eyes with your hand before searching for tissues. When you had blown your nose, you found an old notebook and grabbed your pen. A list, a list would organise your thoughts, you could find a loophole something had to work. You wrote down every theory you had, every book you would have to look in and every person you had to ask, sniffling, and rubbing the tears from your eyes. When you were done you found the backup burner phone you kept for emergencies and found Annabeth’s number. She picked up on the third ring and you took in a shaking breath.

“I think I need your help.”

--

Hermes left Azriel on the outskirts of Velaris, strangely back in his Illyrian leathers, he had apologised again, true sadness shining in his eyes, but Azriel just growled as feeling returned to his limbs. Hermes looked as if he wanted to say something but decided not to and with that left.

As Azriel shot off the ground he was struck with a sharp pain in his chest, as if being apart from her was physically paining him. He flew over his home, the city he had grown to love but even the feeling of coming home couldn’t distract from the cold that was seeping into his bones. He would destroy the Gods themselves before he let them take you from him and he fought a snarl as he pictured the hell he would make them pay for making you cry.

He landed outside the town house but before he could even open the door the wind was knocked out of him as Cassian barrelled into him in what was either a really rough hug or a tackle, it was hard to tell with Cassian sometimes.

“WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN IT’S BEEN WEEKS?!” he winced as Cassian yelled right in his ear, shoving him off him as the rest of his family, minus Amren, surrounded him. Feyre was next to hug him and he returned his High Lady’s embrace, when she pulled away he met Rhysand’s eyes, and he saw the sadness in Azriel’s, shocked as Azriel rarely let any emotion show on his face.

“C’mon lets go inside,” Rhys said, outstretching an arm for his wife. Mor, holding Nyx, followed them in and Cassian who was still glaring at Azriel grabbed his arm and tugged him in, grumbling under his breath about how Azriel hadn’t even sent a letter.

When they were all sat, including Amren who apparently just couldn’t be bothered to come greet him as she knew he was coming her way anyway, Feyre asked him what happened. His eyes instinctively found Elain where she sat huddled in the corner of an armchair, and as he took in her spectacular beauty, all he could think of was how no one compared to you. No one compared to your callused hands that had seen many fights and handled many weapons, or your scarred back that only proved how strong you truly were. No amount of beauty could ever compare to you when you had completely stolen his heart, it didn’t help that you were also the most beautiful woman he had ever met.

He paused, a small part of him wanting to keep you a secret as he feared Cassian’s flirting and the prospect of losing the woman he loved again, but as he looked upon where Cassian sat with nothing but worry for his brother in his eyes, Nesta perched next to him, back straight as usual but a hand in his brother’s, he realised he was being ridiculous. He rubbed his temples and took a deep breath, fiddling with his hands as he told his family everything.

--

Percy had forgotten how much he loved (y/n)’s cottage. It always smelt of cinnamon in winter and roses in summer and it usually had the second-best homemade goods her had ever eaten, their only flaw being the lack of blue food colouring. But he didn’t have time to dwell on how he had missed the house too much as Annabeth pulled him through the door and into (y/n)’s kitchen where she sat staring with the blank look on her face that Percy knew meant something had gone horribly wrong. She looked up when they entered and stood, practically falling into Annabeth’s arms, hugging her tightly before Percy tugged her into his own, a hand resting protectively on her head. She had always been like a little sister to him even though she was only a few months younger than him, and consistently beat him in training exercises. The first few months after they escaped Tartarus, he had brought her meals and held her when she sobbed and threw up due to nightmares, helping her through the trauma and trying not to throw up himself when Annabeth applied the ointment Will had given you to her back. When she told him of the fraught relationship she had with her father he decided that she needed someone who would be like family and had practically adopted her after they defeated Kronos, the seven, Nico and Will becoming the loving family she had always wanted.

When she pulled away, he nudged her to sit down as Annabeth started preparing chamomile tea for her in the hopes of relaxing her.

“What happened kiddo?” he asked softly, and she huffed a laugh at the nickname. He smiled when he remembered her reaction when he first said it.

“We’re literally the same age!” She threw her hands up as he laughed at her reaction.

“Doesn’t matter you’re technically younger than me.” He argued as she glared at him playfully before waving her hand, laughing when he was strung upside down by a thick vine encircling his ankle.

“Right that’s just unfair!” he laughed before adding “kiddo,” at the end, flipping her off when she rolled her eyes and let him fall and land in a heap, sitting up and rubbing his elbow.

“Rude.” He muttered but she just laughed, picking up the swords she was training with and moved to continue with her training.

They sat and listened as she explained what had happened, taking small sips of her hot tea as she went. When she finished Percy let out a soft curse.

“So Hermes just took him?” Annabeth asked, her eyebrows furrowed in a way Percy knew meant her mind was going a million miles an hour.

She nodded sadly, “there has to be something I can do right? I was finally making progress; I watched all three Iron Man movies with him.”

“That’s a lot of red,” Percy noted, and she bit her lip, nodding sadly.

“What if I never see him again?” She asked, the way her voice broke hit something inside him as he remembered how much it sucked being separated from Annabeth.

“You will.” Annabeth said with such certainty, Percy expected this faerie boyfriend to appear in the seat next to him. Annabeth lifted her bag and started pilling the books she had brought with her and (y/n) stood and moved around her living room, grabbing ones of her own.

“I figured old myths of my mum might help, y’know forbidden love and all,” she said the joke not quite reaching her eyes, but Annabeth nodded.

“I thought the same, but I also figured maybe something to do with Eurydice and Orpheus given he went to the underworld to get her back when they were separated.”

“Didn’t they both die at the end?” Percy asked and (y/n) laughed sadly.

“Shush,” Annabeth said, passing him a book and highlighter. He groaned.

“Why did I agree to this?” He asked but no one answered, and he looked up to see the two women already reading, determination covering their features, so he instead cracked his neck and picked up his own book.

--

Almost 10 hours later you slammed your book down in frustration, wiping your eyes roughly.

“Nothing, there isn’t one thing here. Either I do something stupid and we both die, or I need to find a way to be allowed to live in his world half the year and this one the other half.” Your shoulders slumped, “And that’s presuming I ever get to see him again, and then! Even then, I have what 70 years with him if I’m lucky. That’s nothing to him, he’s fucking five hundred years old.”

Annabeth looked up sympathetically, one hand woven in Percy’s hair as he slept with his head in her lap.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t think this has ever happened before. We might have to start looking elsewhere.”

“I just miss him. I know it’s not even been a day, but he was my soulmate, Hermes said so, he thinks I didn’t hear, but I did and now my chest actually hurts now that he’s gone. He’s gone and I don’t think he’s coming back.” You didn’t know how you had any tears left but they were flowing down your cheeks, hot against your cold hands as you wiped your face.

“You will, I promise we’ll figure something out, even if we have to go to the Gods themselves.” Annabeth smiled at you.

“WAIT!” Percy jumped up suddenly, surprising you both, given he appeared to be sleeping. “The Gods, (y/n) you never got your reward.”

“What?”

“After the battle and the fall, you were offered a reward, but you said no because you sensed you would need it in the future. This is the future you need it now you can be with him!” Percy was practically running circles around your living room, gesturing widely as his arms flailed but Annabeth had gone wholly still, doing the math in her head.

“He’s right, that could work.” You felt hope rise in your chest as Annabeth spoke, “But you would have to be specific, if we’ve pissed off Zeus he’ll try trick you, he’s kinda like a genie.” You let out a genuine laugh.

“I think I need to visit my mum,” you said, eyes bright with hope.

“But it’s September.” Percy said, and you gave him a pained smile, grimacing as you realised where you were going.

“I think Nico and I are overdue for a family dinner.”

[otterbagel]

The Reunion (Part 2) Simon x Reader

Reader makes a rash decision, one that has long lasting consequences.

(Notes: Link to part 1! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story. :) )

The air in the building was tense as you stood in the elevator, watching the numbers slowly rise.

   The police had mostly left by now, all that remained were a few cleanup crews who were, for the most part, still here just to avoid going to their next assignment. Not that you blamed them; this had been quite a scary day.

   Since you weren't in charge of anything big, you hadn't even known anything was going on until the broadcast had nearly finished. You had been… what had you been doing? Vetting some stories you had found to be a bit too mundane for publication. Even though the strange interference had originated from a few floors above you, it took a panicked employee yelling at the TV for you to notice.

   There wasn't much anyone could do; police and security had already been notified. Just watching the skinless android on screen was the most productive thing your team could possibly do.

   And watch they did. A few were visibly jittery, talking about barricading the doors just in case they decided to come down here— although the thought of an android group demanding an entertainment piece be written about their exploits almost got a chuckle out of you— others were more frustrated and annoyed. Older employees trying to figure out how the topmost office was sieged so quietly, annoyed that they might have to stay late, even discussions about who sent the androids.

   Through it all you had remained calm, trying to lead the group as best you could through the confusion.

   The elevator dinged.

   But despite how you tried to compose yourself, you couldn't help but feel a sense of fear… and a deep longing.

    You stepped out, the hallway devoid of any life. The usual guards up here had been knocked out and were probably taking a very long vacation.

   At the very end of the hallway, right before the broadcasting room, stood a couple of human guards; you doubted they would risk using any androids up here for the foreseeable future.

   With the hallway as empty as it was, the guards immediately took notice of you.

   "Hey, what's your business up here?" One asked in a gruff voice.

   You held up your keycard, a passive way of showing your status. "I wanted to get a better look at the room," you pulled out your cellphone, gently shaking it in the air in an attention attracting manner. "Wanted to get some photos too— we don't have any good ones to use for our article on it."

   He appeared to ponder it for a moment before stepping aside, his partner following suit. He gave a nod.

   With a quick stride you entered the room.

   It appeared to have been deep cleaned, no trace of what had occurred. Some furniture had been moved aside, likely for cleaning. 

   Angling some of the less disturbed areas into the view of your phone's camera, you snapped a few quick pictures through the thickness of your throat.

   It felt eerie to be standing here.

   That android had been standing in nearly this exact location just hours ago, demanding rights and freedoms… that sort of talk would have him destroyed.

   And yet… you completely agreed with him.

   Your hands tensed on your phone as you looked to the floor.

   Why couldn't this have happened two years earlier?

   Why couldn't it have happened before that day?

   

   ...It didn't matter. He was far away, and safe from this sort of persecution. Maybe in Canada where no android laws existed… or maybe he was still in the States, just in a rural place and pretending to be human. 

   At least, that's what you told yourself to help you sleep at night.

   You shook the thought away. There was no use thinking about him now. 

   Bringing yourself back to reality, you took a cursory glance around the room. You didn't get to come up here very often, maybe once or twice in the year you had been writing for them.

   With the TV screen off, it was oddly empty looking in here.

   There seemed to be a couple of points of interest: a darkened break room and a stairway to the roof.

   Wasn't the roof where the deviants jumped?

   That would be an interesting photo. You doubted there were many before the incident.

   You climbed the dark stairs, taking in a deep, cold breath before you opened the outside door. 

   Chills ran down your hand and up your arm before you even had the door fully open.

   You let the door shut behind you, as you crossed your arms to ward off the cold. Being this high up made the wind much rougher than you were used to.

   The edge of the building was daunting. You hesitated to even approach it, lest a stray gust of wind send you sailing over. Without those parachutes, the intruders would've never made it back down in one piece.

   The wind was a bit much. You took a few quick pictures before stepping closer to some of the walls. At least it would give some sort of protection.

   There was a loud clanging noise nearby that made your phone fall out of your hands.

   After you got over your moment of frozen alarment, you kneeled down to scoop up your phone, eyes wide and looking for the source.

   Had that been the wind? Wouldn't you have heard it earlier if it was something that continuous and natural?

   You crept around the large, metal ducts. Had to be from one of those.

   There was an entrance to one of the metal compartments. That seemed to be the only place left for anyone to hide.

   A worried thought crossed your mind: had someone been stuck up here during the panic?

   Heading towards the door at a more brave pace, you stood a foot near the entrance with your hand reached for the handle. You paused, your more cautious nature pulling your hand away ever so slightly.

   "H-hello?" You questioned quietly towards the door.

   Silence.

   You exhaled a tense breath, your hand making its way to the metallic door.

   You knocked against it.

   A loud fumbling noise from inside and the clicking of a gun sent you stumbling backwards and into a panic. This had to be a deviant, somehow left behind in the chaos.

   "You don't wanna shoot me," your voice was higher pitched than usual as you fought against the wind and deep seated terror for breath. "The shots will be really loud. People will hear."

   

   "Just," the android's voice was hard to make out, the echo in the compartment distorting his words. "Just go away. Leave me alone. I just want to be left alone."

   After an extra second to make out what he said, you rose to a crawl and sat beside the door. "Why are you still up here?" You questioned. He didn't seem hostile.

   He was quiet for a while. "I was injured," he explained. "I couldn't make the jump. I wanted to see if I could get back down tonight."

   You nodded to yourself in understanding. "So… you're a part of that group of deviants? Are there a lot of them?"

   Things went uncomfortably quiet until he spoke up again. "...why would you like to know?"

   You licked your lips, struggling to verbalize the thoughts you had had bouncing around in your head for two years. "I… was friends with an android," you began wistfully and with a small chuckle. "I was wondering if he was okay, that's all."

   The android went quiet again, the sound of what seemed to be him shuffling around inside to get more comfortable filling the silence. 

   "I… well I find it hard to believe," he remarked softly. "A lot of humans are very cruel… few seem to care about what happens to us."

   He was right. It seemed that nobody cared about androids or bonded with them the way you had Simon. You couldn't understand the cruelty they could have towards androids if they did.

   You placed a hand to your chest. "I know that humans are normally cruel," you began. "B-but I honestly cared about him so much. I would've given anything for us to be together. I swear it."

   You stared at the ground while the android thought to himself.

   "I was lucky," the deviant began. "The human I knew was very kind. I had been discarded over and over… and reset every time. I wasn't as useful as other androids."

   You let your head rest against the metal as you listened. 

   "Then… they bought me. I knew I had been reset a lot… and expected they would do it too after they got bored of me…" his voice trailed until it was interrupted by a halfhearted laugh. "But they didn't. They treated me like a person. They… respected me. I felt like I might have had a future with them. A future where I wasn't just an object or a maid, but someone who brought meaning into the world."

   You let his story hang in the air while you thought of your own tale. You could only hope you had made Simon feel the same way.

   "When I… bought him," you felt gross saying it. "I didn't know much about androids. But after spending time with him, I knew he was so much more than what everyone tried to tell me. Just how… how beautiful of a person he was. He had to be more than that. I was excited to see him when I got home, to tell him about my day and to hear about his. He meant everything to me."

   The android's tone was calm. "It sounds like you loved him."

   You smiled to yourself, rubbing your hands together to warm them. "I still do," you responded, before the torrent of regrets washed over you like an unforgiving wave.

   It had been such a dumb mistake. But even the simplest slip-ups can destroy lives.

   You collapsed into sorrowful laughter, covering your face with a tense hand as you tried to hold back your overflowing emotions. "It was so stupid!" You exclaimed, lost in your own thoughts. "I… he needed repairs— his previous people were horrible… if I ever…"

   You shook away the thought to get back on track.

   "He… he needed skin repairs, so I thought it would be okay to go to a Cyberlife repair shop. But I didn't even think about whether they would check who his real 'owners' were," you spat. "When they found out how we had met, they were going to take him away. He had no choice but to run away. We were out of options."

   The android was quiet, but you were too emotional to pay much attention.

   "It was just one mistake! If I had just gone anywhere else… we could still be together." Your sorrow was brief before passion returned to your heart, directing your attention back to the metal door that was separating you and the android. "You have more androids with you, right? You don't have to tell me anything else, I just want to know if he's okay. His name is Simon. Have you met him? Please, tell me you have!"

   Loud, metallic fumbling came from the other side of the door before it flung open. You scuttled backwards in alarm.

   The blonde android nearly collapsed out of the doorway, his arm sliding off the door and onto the ground as held himself up to get a better look at you.

   It was him.

   He appeared troubled, but was fighting off a smile. "How… what are you doing here?" He whispered.

   "S… Si…" you stuttered, unable to get out his name in case it separated you two again.

   You snatched him up into your arms, enveloping him in a tight hug. He fumbled to return the gesture, letting his head rest on one of your shoulders.

   "I… I can't believe it," you sobbed. "It's you! You're here! You're actually h-here!"

   His hands gripped your clothing as if he was worried you would slip away. "But how are you here?" he asked, his voice shaking.

   "I work here now," you choked out through a laugh. "What are the odds?"

   "I can't believe this!" Simon fell into a bout of laughter himself. "I get to see you again!"

   You knew that whatever lied ahead for the androids and humanity, nothing would separate you two again.

[atiny-dazzlinglight]

Red Strings of Fate - Chapter 3

Genre: Fantasy, Fluff, Angst, Slight Humor, Romance

Rating: PG-13

Au/Tropes: Supernatural AU, Demons AU, Monster AU

Pairing: No pairing, Eventual OT8

WC: 14.9K

Chapter Warnings: Symptoms of PTSD mentioned, Jealousy, Manipulation, Implied Smut (at the end but no graphic details)

Ao3 Link

Notes: As I said in the last chapter notes, we are back into Hongjoong’s pov and we are continuing from where we last left off. So please enjoy!

Taglist located at the bottom. Fill out this form if you want to be added.

Last Adventure☜︎☜︎ Next Adventure☞︎☞︎

Hongjoong eyes widened as he felt the other male bring his arms in front of him, stretching them both out in front of him.

He watched the prince’s hand touch the hilt of his sword and that’s when Hongjoong squirmed.

“ I asked a question. Your left hand or your right hand?” He drew his sword closer as he bent down.

“ Please! Don’t do this! I do anything else! Just don’t cut off either of my hands.” Hongjoong pleads, his heart beating fast and damn near in his throat. He hasn’t felt this type of fear since Liam and Elijah. His body started to feel numb as Seonghwa sat there as he decided which hand he wanted to cut.

Hongjoong squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to think of something other than the fact that he’ll be losing a hand. The advisor was holding his forearms firmly and out the way as his sword hovered before selecting his left hand.

Seonghwa nearly brought the sword down and through the flesh and bone of his wrist when he stopped. The faintness of aura seeped into the air and had his body hesitate. It was nothing great from the array of beings he dealt with before, but it’s more so the fact of that type of malicious aura coming from a human.

The prince used his free hand to lift Hongjoong’s chin, “ What are you?”

Hongjoong was confused as he looked up at is blue eyes, “ What?”

“ Don’t try to lie to me. I asked you what you are?” He watched his brows get furrow, clearly a tad annoyed from his first answer.

“ I’m a human.”

“ Don’t lie to me.” Seonghwa grit through his teeth as Hongjoong shook his head back and forth.

“ I swear! I’m just a human man who has human parents and average human strength. There is nothing else to me. A simple peasant boy and nothing more!” Hongjoong yelled at him, his voice firm as he felt his head get pushed down near the ground.

“ Watch your tone.” The man above him said as Hongjoong tried to shake his hand off of him.

Seonghwa had glanced at his advisor. Hongjoong watches them have a silent conversation through their eyes for a minute before Hongjoong gets pulled up off the ground and made to stand on his feet. The bag he stole snatched off his hip as he watched the prince hang it from his belt.

He walked past Hongjoong, and the shorter male watched him before he shoved him to follow. The brown-haired elf gave him a look when he turned around. Hongjoong huffed as he just followed him, knowing very well that he can’t outrun them again. His legs were still screaming at him due to their soreness.

Hongjoong walked through the less crowded area that he ran through just some moments ago. He looked around at the brick structures, covered with vines, a few flowers blooming that he didn’t notice before that he found pretty.

“Don’t even think about trying to escape from us again.” He heard the elf behind him say as he turned his head behind to look at him.

“ Can I have your name?” Hongjoong asked, and he can tell that he threw the wood elf off. His brows raised enough to give himself away.

“Why would you want to know?”

“Well, it’s annoying to try and talk to someone without addressing them with at least a name. I was raised better than that.” Hongjoong watched the man’s face before he slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s Yeosang.”

“Well, Yeosang, I would like to tell you that I have no plans to escape because my legs are still screaming at me even now as we walk, so no, I don’t plan on escaping,” Hongjoong spoke, watching him all the same as he noticed they made it back to the Main Street of where he first ran from them.

Hongjoong watched the prince head back to the stands, and when Hongjoong went to follow, his shoulder was gripped tightly and turned in the opposite direction.

“I thought we were following the prince,” Hongjoong asked as he forced him to go in the direction of a carriage, opening the door to move him inside. He watched the elf say something to the driver before getting in himself and shutting the door.

“ We will be staying here until the young prince comes back from finishing his errands he was supposed to do before you foolishly stole from him.” Yeosang spat out, obviously still passed that he had to bring him here.

“Again, I am sorry for what I did, but I truly needed the money.” Hongjoong watched as that only made the other man more upset.

“You don’t have to steal from people to gain money. There are always other options. It’s the lowest of lows to steal from others.” Yeosang criticized him, and it slowly started to make him irritated.

“You know I have been trying to get a regular job since I traveled here three years ago. I did everything I could for a job and was denied every second I tried. I was forced to be homeless for six months, and I still struggle to find a solid job, even after someone was kind enough to offer me a home. I wasn’t raised to steal by my parents, but when the people and the city are so unforgiving to me every chance they get, am I supposed to accept it?”

Yeosang wasn’t expecting him to speak to him like that, and he tried his best not to have that shred of pity for him show on his face, “ Everyone has a hard time at some point in their lives. You haven’t seen anyone steal here.”

Hongjoong scoffed, and it made Yeosang turn his attention back to him, “ Just because you don’t hear or see anything doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I’ve seen plenty of them because we can all recognize each other.”

“It’s not that many of them. There’s always a group of bad people in a sea of good.” Yeosang rebuked, but Hongjoong was quick to respond.

“The line between good and evil and what is right and wrong can be blurred, and if you work in that damn castle, then you should know that very well. Not all the people who steal are bad because they have to choose to steal to make ends meet simply. If stealing were such an issue, there would have been reports about such, yet they never make a fuss because what’s pocket change to you is a fortune for us. Our values and lifestyles are the opposite of each other, so just because you can’t fathom the idea doesn’t mean you are right.”

Hongjoong didn’t care how reckless his tongue was. He wasn’t going to let some uppity wood elf, who only knows how to kiss the ass of the rich that has gold endlessly, fall into their hands. He can royally fuck off.

He saw it in his face.

He saw that he wanted to argue back with him, and he was ready for him to, but then the door of the carriage opened to reveal the prince holding a few things. He looked between the two of them with a raised brow.

“ Was there something that I missed?” He asked, looking at Yeosang, waiting for a response.

Yeosang gave him another look before turning back to the prince, “ Everything is fine. Do you need any help?”

Seonghwa nodded, passing the flowers and bags of fruit to Yeosang, telling the driver to head back to the castle before climbing inside next to Yeosang. Hongjoong felt the carriage move as he huffed.

He should have just listened to Eden. He told him not to get too greedy, or he would deal with the consequences.

But what else was he supposed to do?

Eden stuck his neck out to help him instead of living on the street for the rest of his life. Eden started by stealing until he could have enough to open his tavern. Since then, he had a simple life, and even when following the proper protocols, the city takes most of his earnings and barely has enough for his expenses.

He even makes sure to feed him and make sure that he’s well-nourished and is clean.

All he wanted to do was give the man that helped him start a new life after being forced to start over again, and he couldn’t even do that.

Hongjoong didn’t want to look sad in the carriage with the two elves, but the shift in his demeanor and facial expressions didn’t go unnoticed by the prince that stayed silent.

Seonghwa couldn’t wrap his head around what gave off that malevolent energy from the supposedly human male. It didn’t look like he could use magic, and he gives off no type of physical distinctions of being nonhuman. So what could it be?

He couldn’t help his c,urious nature about it. He hasn't come across someone like him, and he just had to figure it out for himself before he disposed of him.

The carriage stopped and Yeosang was quick to open the door for the prince and Hongjoong tried his hardest not to roll his eyes at his eagerness. The Prince stepped out first, and Hongjoong followed after Yeosang retrieved the purchases they made in town.

Hongjoong eyes scanned the massive structure in front of him, eyes glancing at the fountain in front of the building, slowly walking along the perimeter, mouth slightly agape.

He has always seen the manor from the tavern, and it was always quite beautiful from there, but seeing it in person was something different.

It was elegant and refined. It was truthfully exquisite, curious and Hongjoong found himself angry that he would have dreamed of something like this.

“If you're done daydreaming, follow me,” Yeosang said, making the smaller man turned to him. They both started to walk inside, and Hongjoong rushed to follow behind them, ignoring the side glances that the guards had given him.

The walls were massive, ceilings high with the sun gleaming on the stained glass from the colorful windows above them. Paintings of other high elves mounted on the wall that Hongjoong admired before he nearly bumped into the back of Yeosang.

He watched Seonghwa walk away down the hall, hair flowing behind him as Hongjoong found him watching the prince's body get smaller before he was plucked in the center of his forehead. Looking up, he saw the wood elf scowl at him.

“ Follow me, and don’t you dare try any unnecessary crap.” He scolds, and he ticked Hongjoong off for how he acted towards him.

“ I’ll follow if you tell me where exactly we are going.”

“ I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“ Then I’ll stay right here in this hall.” Hongjoong moved to the wall before sitting down on the floor, enjoying the irritated look on his face.

“ By the Gods, why are you humans so damn difficult?” He berated and it made Hongjoong give a dry laugh.

“ By the Gods, why are wood elves so damn stuck up?” Hongjoong retorted with a smile as he watched him get angrier, “ I promise I can be such an easy guest here and for you, but if you continue to be such a prick to me, I’ll make everything worse for you.”

Yeosang walked over to him and reached for his arm, pulling him up, “ I promise that I’ll cut your tongue off with my sword if you keep running your mouth like this.”

“ If you or the prince wanted to do something, you two would have done that by now. But instead, you brought me here. I don’t know why you both had brought me here against my will, but I do know that if he didn’t tell you to do anything to me, then you can’t.” Hongjoong shook out of his grip as they both stared at each other, “ Now start treating me with some common decency and then this can be easier for us both.”

Yeosang looked at the man up and down, thinking over what he said before mumbling something that Hongjoong couldn’t hear and walking away from the human, “ Just follow me to the living quarters.”

Hongjoong taking his time to follow behind him, a few feet behind him as he stared into the back of the wood elf’s head, “ Why am I going to the living quarters?”

“ Would you prefer the dungeon instead? You living with the other servants of the family sounds too generous in my eyes.” Yeosang looked over and nearly laughed as Hongjoong quickly shook his head, “ So, as I said, that is where I am taking you for now.”

Hongjoong was confused. He tried to steal from the prince and he didn’t lose any limbs. The dungeon would be the most appropriate place for him to be, but he will stay around the other workers who also live in this massive estate. It didn’t make sense to him, and it made him a bit uneasy since he feels that there’s an ulterior motive for doing this.

Hongjoong was led far down the corridor, passing other workers that greeted them and waved at Yeosang or ask him for quick advice that he happily answered. He could tell that they all looked up to the elf and valued his input. Yeosang also looked genuinely happy and satisfied to help them. So maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t as bad as Hongjoong seemed.

Yet again, the harsh behavior could be due to his sticky fingers grabbing the heavy bag of gold and running away when they gave him a chance to return it with no issues.

“ This will be your room until the prince says otherwise.” Yeosang pushed a door open and stepped to the side to let Hongjoong step inside. Hongjoong quietly walked inside, mouth slightly open as he looked at the beautiful room. He walked around the bed, admiring its size as Yeosang watched him from the door. Hongjoong hand touched the sheets and was amazed by how soft they were.

Hongjoong felt like this room cost way more than his life and his next two lives too.

He’s never been in such a place before and he couldn’t help but be stunned by its elegance.

“ Thank you.” Hongjoong’s voice was low, but Yeosang heard him, a tad intrigued by his reactions.

“ If you plan to thank anyone, then thank the prince when he comes by the room. Stay in this room until he comes back and tells you what you can and cannot do. I have other tasks to take care of, so I will be leaving you here alone. However, that doesn’t mean that you can do anything stupid and try to escape. If you try to leave, I will personally come after you myself. Do I make myself clear?” Hongjoong nodded as Yeosang spoke to him.

Hongjoong watched Yeosang close the door and his footsteps leading down the hall before it got quiet.

Hongjoong let out a deep sigh as he took his boots off as he looked around the room, his toes wiggling in the plush carpet underneath his feet as he never felt something this soft. He wondered what animal the fur came from.

He pushed it all to his mind as he walked around the perimeter of the room, hands dragging across the wooden dressers.

He pulled open the drawers to find some clothes sitting inside. He wasn’t sure if he should touch them or not. He doesn't want to give the tawny-haired elf any type of motivation to yell at him. Not that he cared, but more so that he didn’t feel like dealing with that.

So Hongjoong silently walked back to the bed and hesitantly sat down on its expensive sheets. They were soft to his touch. Fingers gliding with ease as he somewhat became enthralled with the material that he never experienced before. It was then that he decided to lay down on the bed completely.

He felt his body slightly sink into it, almost welcoming him with such ease that he closed his eyes for a minute.

Maybe it’s because he doesn’t know how long he would be able to touch such luxury. He exhaled before inhaling the strong smell of fresh cotton from the bed, and Hongjoong felt his aching muscles from running sigh along with him.

He would do anything to be with Eden and laugh around with the patrons of his tavern because that’s his home, but he can’t help but wish to be entangled in this lifestyle just a bit longer.

The moment Hongjoong’s body started to quiet down and convince him to relax in this unfamiliar place, the door opened suddenly, and it made him open his eyes and immediately sit up in the bed.

He greeted him with the face of the prince, who happened to be alone this time. You couldn’t see Yeosang at all from where he sat, and he didn’t see him in the hall either before he shut the door behind him.

It was quiet.

Both of them were staring at each other. Hongjoong, not knowing what to expect from the prince, sat back near the headboard of the large bed. Seonghwa's eyes were piercing him as it felt like he was planning something that Hongjoong had no idea of.

“ It’s good to see that you got comfortable enough for a nap here, but now I have business to talk to you about.” His tone was harsh, and Hongjoong knew that he better pay attention to what he had to say. “First off, I’ll introduce myself. I am the first prince of Crescent Hill and next in line to the throne, Park Seonghwa. What is yours?”

Hongjoong swallowed before answering him, “K-Kim Hongjoong.”

“So Kim Hongjoong is the name of the man who was foolish enough to steal from me in broad daylight?” Seonghwa started as he walked away from the door and made his way to the center of the room. Hongjoong’s eyes following him the whole time he moved, “ But this is now besides that point of you being a petty thief.”

“Then what is this about?” Hongjoong asked him as he adjusted himself on the bed. Hongjoong admiring his side profile before he stopped his pacing and turned his head in his direction.

“ What did I ask you out in the alleyway?” Seonghwa hinted at and watched Hongjoong rake up his brain for the answer before looking back up at the high elf.

“ You had asked me what I was?”

“ And I still need an answer to the question.” Seonghwa turned his body to face him completely.

Hongjoong huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “ I did give you an answer. Whether you find the answer I gave earlier efficient enough is a problem for you and not myself.”

It was then that Seonghwa crossed the room very quickly and had slammed his hand beside Hongjoong’s head on the headboard. It startled Hongjoong enough to jump and stare up at the prince with wide eyes. His blonde brows were furrowed and his eyes were sharp.

“ You may have human strength and some human agility, but your aura says differently. I know I’m not wrong in this.” Seonghwa argued and he saw the confusion in Hongjoong’s expression once more.

“ What is an aura?” He questioned, a slight tilt of his head as he waited for an answer from him.

“ Aura is this very distinctive atmosphere that surrounds and is generated by a person, place, and thing. Whether it is small or big, there’s some type of aura surrounding everything around us. So that also includes humans, but usually, it’s a tiny amount of aura that’s produced from them, and they are all generally the same.” He explains in great detail as Hongjoong listens.

“ So, what is the problem with my aura?” Hongjoong looked up at the elf, now curious in his reasonings.

“ Despite it being faint, I sensed such evil and tainted aura coming from you that wouldn’t be possible for a regular human to generate. As much as history knows, it’s completely unheard, yet here you are.” Seonghwa gritted through his teeth, and it made Hongjoong glance down.

None of this made any sense to him. He was strictly human and nothing less.

How could he be walking around with a ‘tainted’ aura like this?

It made his head spin as the back of his head rested against the headboard. Seonghwa pulled his face away but was still fairly close as he sat down on the bed. He was still staring at him when he looked up.

“ I seriously don’t know how to answer your assumptions about me. I was born by human parents and was surrounded by nothing but humans for the most part. I wouldn’t know how this could happen.” Hongjoong’s eyes were cast down, still lost in thought as Seonghwa tried to think of some possible explanation.

“ You said you were surrounded by humans ‘ for the most part.’ So I can assume that you are around other beings besides them. If that is true, then can you tell me what type of species you commonly stayed around.”

Hongjoong gave an empty laugh as he looked back up at the prince, a look of agitation in his eyes, “ My old home had a small number of nonhumans who lived there peacefully, but there was a pair of demons who decided to make my life a living hell because I stopped them from hurting someone.”

Hongjoong crossed over his chest as he chewed on his bottom lip as he thought about, “ It was always stupid things and nothing serious, but the last time, they crossed the line and hurt me real bad.”

His mind flashed to that brutal beating. He heard their morphed voices and laughter echoing in his head until it overlapped, and he wanted to leave his mind. He was hearing Ava screaming for them to stop and to leave him alone. He was feeling incapable of breathing since he got slammed down. Remembering how weak he felt, how tiny he truly felt, and how hopeless he felt.

Seonghwa watched the look of pain and terror rise to his face, and it took him by surprise. The smaller male was squeezing his arms so tightly that he could see his blunt nails slowly dig into his skin. He could see him holding his breath and never exhaling.

“ Kim Hongjoong?” He questioned, hesitantly reaching forward to tap his leg.

Hongjoong was so deep in the nightmare replaying in his head that when he felt something touch him, he jumped back. Panicked, he looked forward and realized who was in front of him.

Wasn’t he in the alley?

“ Are you okay?” Seonghwa grew concerned for him. He knows nothing of what those demons did to him, but for them to cause a reaction like this from just thinking back to it.

Hongjoong finally took a deep breath and released his hold on his arms as they fell to his sides. He couldn’t find the strength to look up at him after all of that. His hand reached up to wipe away the tears that almost threatened to fall in front of the prince. It made him angry with himself.

Hongjoong didn’t want to show this man his weaknesses, but I’m guessing he couldn’t control himself as his mind had spiraled out of control. But maybe it had brought some clarification to him.

He was a human, but his aura was ‘supposedly’ evil.

Hongjoong had finally looked up at Seonghwa, who was patiently waiting for him to respond to him, “ Could aura be transferred to another person?”

Seonghwa brought up his hand to rest his chin in, “ Most of the time, beings that can control their auras usually place them on valuables or their territories, so no one bothers them. I haven’t heard of them placing their auras on other people.”

Could that explain everything? It could be the reason why it is so faint and why most people wouldn’t notice it. But again, what if he is just trying to trick him into escaping? Seonghwa doesn't think that he is that much of a fool, but he did steal from him.

Seonghwa looked back up at the man, “ When did that situation happen?”

Hongjoong ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to calm himself down slowly, “ I was 18 when it happened, and I’m 21 now.”

“ That sounds more than just aura. Do you regularly hang around such demons?” Seonghwa questioned him, watching his body finally ease itself against the wooden bed frame.

“ Demons and nonhumans never really scared me before, even after that incident. I haven’t been around any of them since I was here, but then again, some kinds hide in plain sight, and I wouldn’t know. Does aura not stay attached for that long?” Hongjoong tilted his head, and it made him look more childlike to the prince.

“ It’s unheard of as far as my knowledge, but I’ll figure that out for myself,” Seonghwa stood up from the bed and walked back to the center of the room, “ Because of my need to learn and comprehend everything, I want to figure out the mystery of this dark aura that surrounds you. You’ll be under surveillance for as long as that takes. I won’t bind you to this room and you're allowed to walk throughout the premises and you will be fed and bathed. Try and escape and I will put you down and just examine your corpse if need be. Do you understand, Kim Hongjoong?”

“ B-but what about my life outside of here? I can’t just stay here!”

Hongjoong is grateful that they aren’t killing him or taking any limbs from him, but he would rather be back in the tavern with Eden and the rest of the tavern’s patrons.

“ You should have thought about that before you committed the deeds that you did. Try if you must, but it would only result in death.” Seonghwa gave him a stern look. He knew he was serious.

Hongjoong couldn’t just run like how he did in town. This was a heavily guarded place with trained guards. He was royally screwed.

“ Oh, before I forget,” Seonghwa watched the smaller man process his words as he walked back to the door before looking over his shoulder. A grin that gave no sense of calm to Hongjoong’s nerves

“ Welcome to the Park Estate, Kim Hongjoong. I do hope you enjoy your stay.”

THREE WEEKS LATER

Several days had passed since he was invited ( very much forced) to stay in the royal family’s estate who ruled over the town he lived in.

It was honestly better than what he had initially imagined. The staff was told that he was new help, so he simply joined in with some of their duties.

With him joining with the help, he traveled throughout the massive home and had a bit of an idea of where everything was.

The left side of the estate was where the King and his family, meaning Seonghwa, lived. Some higher-up employees, such as Yeosang and some generals in charge of warriors, stayed there as well. There were some standard rooms like the study, the library, and meeting halls, but he knows nothing as far as anything else.

The center of the estate is where the main hall room was located and the kitchen and a few other rooms that he didn't know about. He only passes some of these rooms because he has to go clean some of these areas.

The right side of the estate was where he and the other staff members lived. Everyone had a bedroom, storage, and bathrooms, while some shared a common area. It was shocking to see so many staff there that were genuinely eager, let alone happy, to work for the prince and the family. Even though Hongjoong says that he can’t blame them when he bears witness to how well they are treated.

While Hongjoong truly wants to be back home with Eden, he did make friends with some of the other staff that managed to keep him hopeful and happy.

One of the friends he made was a young man named Subin. He’s been working there for a little over a year. Even though his main job is cleaning-related, he never voices any compliments and is usually in a good mood whenever he speaks. It’s always nice talking to him, and he gives him a good laugh when he needs one.

Hongjoong pretty much did a little bit of everything, even though he wasn’t supposed to. He was usually just supposed to clean a particular area that he was assigned for the day, but he would always end up helping the staff in the kitchen or tending the vast gardens. He even helped some of the warriors polish their weapons after battle and sparring.

Neither Yeosang nor Seonghwa predicted how fast Hongjoong would become well-liked at the estate, but that was just Hongjoong’s personality and friendly nature.

It was just another day Hongjoong had finished his tasks for the day and bored out of his mind. He was walking by the stained windows as he gazed outside into the town, wondering if he could see the tavern again before he heard loud giggles echoing the halls along with fast pitter-pattering of feet.

Hongjoong turned his head in the sound direction before he felt something bump into his legs and let out an ‘oof. Looking down, he saw two children, one on the floor and the other one catching up the other.

“I told you to be more careful!” The taller one yelled as the other one rubbed her nose.

Hongjoong squatted down to be her height as he tried to make sure she had no wounds or marks on her body, “ Hey, are you okay?”

The tiny child looked up at him and nodded, “ My nose hurts, but I’m okay!” She rubbed her nose before looking up at Hongjoong.

Hongjoong gave her a soft smile and also offered his hand to help her stand. The bigger child had watched Hongjoong help her up, “ Are you new?”

Hongjoong nodded as he looked at her, noticing how the younger of the two stared up at his face, “ I’m Hongjoong. What’s your name?” Hongjoong kept his tone light and friendly as the little girl smiled at him.

“ Elva!” She yelled, and it made Hongjoong giggle.

“ What a pretty name,” He looked up at the other child, “ And yours is?”

“ I’m Estel. She’s my little sister.” Estel watched her younger sister reach for him; arms stretched that had Hongjoong shocked himself. She watched him hesitantly lift the girl, and she smiled the moment that he did. Hongjoong had her body resting on her forearm.

“ Can you take us to the kitchen, please? We were on our way to get us some snacks.” Elva giggled as she waited for him to answer.

“ Well, you asked so sweetly, so how could I say no to you?” Hongjoong said as he started to turn his body before looking at the older of the two, “ Will you still be joining us?”

Estel shook her shock as she nodded as Hongjoong started to head for the stairs, Estel looping her arm when he walked. Estel watched her sister talk the man’s head off, still shocked that she trusted and got comfortable with the random man so fast in so little time.

Estel knew her sister was usually wary of any new person for a while, whether she met them or not. But this was the first time either of them had seen the man Hongjoong, yet there she was in the kind man’s arms.

Hongjoong didn’t notice the other sister’s stare as the younger talked his head off about the different foods she liked to eat, nor did he notice how some of the staff glanced at him to see the sister’s so close to him when he was barely in the castle for a month.

But they continued to walk down the stairs and made their way to the kitchen. Hongjoong used his shoulder to push the door open and peek inside, seeing a familiar face. The man turned his head after hearing the door, and he watched the man sigh.

“ What do you want now, Hongjoong?” He put down the knife he was using and stared at him.

“ Well, I missed you too Jin, but I wanted to get some snacks for myself and these two,” showing both sisters, and it made Jin widen his eyes.

“ Didn’t I give you two snacks earlier? Why are you back here, and you brought him back too.” Jin pinched the bridge of his nose as Hongjoong put Elva down.

“ Can’t we have a bit more Mr. Jin? Please?~” Elva ran over and clung to his leg.

“ If I keep giving you sweets and you fatten up, your mother and the prince will have my head!” Jin exclaimed as he rubbed his throat, and it only made her giggle.

“ We would never let him hurt you” Estel smiled as she eyed the desserts on the table that Hongjoong’s eyes also caught as he moved closer to the tray.

“ Jin, what type of dessert is this? I haven’t seen those before.” Hongjoong tore his eyes away for a split second to look at Jin with a childlike gaze.

Before Jin could speak, one of his assistants, Jaemin, came inside with an empty tray, “ Those are peach puffs.”

“They look fluffy and soft and look delicious~” Estel added as she and Hongjoong stared at each other and looked back at the tray. Elva was heading back to them, asking for Hongjoong to pick her back up, and he did.

Hongjoong knew the look that she had. It was the very same look he gave when he decided to steal from the prince.

Without a second thought, Estel snatched two puffs in her tiny hands, “ Grab one for Elva!” Estel yelled as Jin tried to run over to them.

Hongjoong hesitated for a split second before taking a puff as well and rushing out the door, hearing Jaemin’s laughter and Jin’s nagging.

“I make it up to you tonight, Mr. Jin!~” Hongjoong shouted as he followed behind the girl with her giggling as they ran. He knew Jin wasn’t going to chase him and just smack his hands when he sees him again.

They slowed down and sat down in the hall by the steps on the floor. He gave Elva her puff before placing her in his lap, smiling when she started munching on it. Estel handed Hongjoong his own, and you all ate the puffs quietly in the halls.

There was a sort of peace as you three ate the stolen food on the floor enjoying the silence as they enjoyed the sweet treat. The peaches were fresh, and the cream was fluffy. Hongjoong was enjoying his time with the sisters as his eyes were closed.

“Ddeonghwa!”

Hongjoong’s eyes opened as he watched Elva scurry out of his lap and run towards the blonde prince; his blue eyes were staring at Hongjoong, a stoic look on his face until Elva drew closer and he gave her a sweet smile.

A smile that Hongjoong didn’t know the man could take.

“ Now, what are you doing out here? Are you and Estel causing trouble? ” The prince’s voice was soft, maybe even delicate as he crouched down, opening his arms as she ran right into them.

“ We ate some peach puffs with Hongjoong!” She yells as she goes to feed the last bit of puff she had to Seonghwa, who chuckled and opened his mouth.

“ It does taste delicious.” Seonghwa smiled as Hongjoong watched with wide eyes.

Estel had gotten up as well, a big smile gracing her face as she ran over to hug him as well, “ Are you busy with duties for the rest of the day?”

“ No, I just came back from finishing my tasks for the day.” Seonghwa tucked her dark hair behind her ear as he spoke.

“ Can we go to the gardens then?” Elva asked with big doe eyes, hoping that the man would say yes.

“ Of course we can go. Would you like to go now?” Seonghwa tilted his head as she jumped up and down with excitement, a clear yes by her actions.

“ Oh! Can we bring Hongjoong with us too?” Estel asked and both Hongjoong and Seonghwa weren't expecting her to ask that. They both had looked at each other, not initially knowing how to answer it.

Hongjoong tried to help the prince as he’s stood up, “ Maybe I shouldn’t go with you all-”

“ Nooooo,” Elva runs over to him, clinging onto his leg, “ Please come with us, so can I show you the flowers there pleaseeeee.” She begged and Hongjoong felt like he couldn’t tell her no.

“ Join us, Kim Hongjoong. It’s quite hard to tell the little one no.” Seonghwa spoke, looking at him with eyes that were unreadable as Hongjoong eventually agreed.

The sisters eventually pulled both of them out towards the gardens, Seonghwa sitting on one of the benches as the sisters pulled Hongjoong around to the flowers that they found were pretty. Hongjoong stared at the white camellias and pink roses that Hongjoong found himself getting so enthralled in them as he reached out to touch them all.

Seonghwa watched from where he sat, watching Hongjoong’s movements as he noticed the childlike gaze he had just for the flowers, and Seonghwa found his face softening a bit.

They were just flowers. They weren’t too memorable or unique, but here was the tiny human being memorized by some vibrant flowers.

Seonghwa immediately found it foolish and childish in his mind, but something in the back of his mind found his reactions adorable, and the moment that it crossed his mind, he froze and shook his head back and forth to get rid of the thought.

He looked back up and realized that the sisters were pulling the man before, having him sit right beside him. He smiled at them as they told them they would get them both a surprise and ran away before either of them could say anything.

The moment the girls were far enough away from them, Seonghwa’s smile dropped, and he turned to face the shorter man, “ What ulterior motives do you have, Kim Hongjoong?”

Hongjoong giggled, his legs crossed as he leaned back onto the bench before turning to look him in the eyes, “ I was waiting for you to say something to me. I wasn’t expecting you to do it so soon, though.”

“ Answer my question.”

Seonghwa watched him roll his eyes before looking back at him, “ There’s no motive or planning. I like my life very much. Those lovely children ran into me in the halls after I finished my duties for the day. Elva asked for me to come with them to the kitchen.”

Seonghwa stared at him, nowhere near satisfied with his answer, “They don’t usually warm up to any new faces so fast. Perhaps, you used some type of magic on them.”

“ Wouldn’t such a high-ranked elf like you would have noticed any magic traces on them as you did with the tiny amount of dark energy on me?” Hongjoong raised his brow and it took everything in him not to laugh at the look on the prince's face.

It was a mix of shock and maybe a pinch of flustered as he watched him scramble to try and respond to him, his mouth opening and closing, not knowing what to say.

Hongjoong found that face more fitting on him than the stoic one he walks around with.

It makes him look younger. It made him look youthful.

It made him look cuter.

Huh?

“ I guess you're right….” The prince mumbled, not looking at him anymore

Hongjoong, being lost in his thoughts, nearly missed what he said, “ Did you just say I was right?”

“ I did,” Seonghwa answered, feeling Hongjoong lean closer to him.

“ Say it again.”

“ What?”

“ Say that I was right again.” Hongjoong pushed, moving closer to the elf, feeling their thighs touch.

“ No,” Seonghwa turned to the side. He felt the man close the distance between them again, and he was ready to yell at him when he turned his head around, but his voice died down when he noticed how close their faces were.

Hongjoong wasn’t expecting him to turn around either, and he knew the prince could see him visibly swallow as he also took note of their closeness. The last time he had his face this close to his face was when they were in his room, and he was threatening him with the sword.

But now, there were no weapons in sight. It was just the two of them, up close and personal. Hongjoong couldn’t stop his eyes from looking over the handsome face. He found himself admiring his cheekbones, the shape of his nose, and daringly eyeing his lips.

They looked pretty and soft before his eyes glanced back up to catch the pair of bright lapis staring back at him.

He was waiting for the man to yell for his staring and the lack of personal space, but it never came. He just kept eye contact with him, and Hongjoong wasn’t sure what he should do. He knew that he could see the faintest of blush coat his cheeks, and he was going to lose it.

By the gods, he was lucky to be broken from the trance as he heard the sisters yell for them as they got remotely closer to them.

Hongjoong was quick to move back to where there was a reasonable amount of distance between them, and he heard Seonghwa clear his throat and turned his head back away from him.

Hongjoong smacked his cheeks a bit before quickly putting on a smile as Elva ran over to him, her hands dirty from the soil as Estel came over with some flowers in her hands. Hongjoong picked the younger sister up and sat her on his lap, and Estel sat in between him and Seonghwa, which he was grateful for. “ What were you two up to for you both to have such dirty fingers?”

Hongjoong’s tone was light and bubbly as he took out a cloth from his pants pocket and gently took her tiny hands to clean them.

“ We found some pretty flowers and we pulled two up for you both!” She squeals as Estel hands them both a flower. It was a red Gardenia and Hongjoong brought it to his nose to smell, smiling when he did.

“ This is a beautiful flower. Thank you.” He gave them a big smile that they quickly returned, not catching Seonghwa looking at him once more with a smile that went unnoticed by the party as the children talked both of their ears off, but they didn’t mind as they sat in the gardens with them.

They both stayed there with them, idly talking and playing with the children, as they were watched from the window, their earlier interaction not going unnoticed as a brow twitched before walking away.

ONE MONTH LATER

It’s been about six weeks since Hongjoong was made to stay there in the castle, and the time he was having there was completely different from that initial week.

Especially when it came between him and the prince of the estate.

He found his eyes lingering on the prince whenever he walked past him, or he caught him after a lesson or meeting. Sometimes, he would see the prince meeting his gaze, and it would immediately make his face flash and have him quickly walk away.

He didn't know why he started to get so nervous around the elf prince, but he did. Ever since their trip to the gardens with the children, he hasn’t been able to look at him calmly.

Speaking of the sisters, Estel and Elva always tried to steal him away while he was doing his tasks for the day. Whether it was bringing in shipments from other cities to him having to clean the floors and windows thoroughly, they tried their best to steal him away.

The other workers found it amusing, never really minding if they stayed out, not as they worked since they never really caused anyone trouble, but they did find it odd how much they went to strictly Hongjoong and no one else.

Hongjoong had just managed to avoid the sisters, both feeling mischievous as they were messing with Subin before quickly asking where the small brown-haired man was.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love their company, but he just didn’t have the energy to play with them. Sadly, they didn’t give up that easily, and they were chasing him.

Hongjoong had some reasonable distance between these girls, them both giggling and smiling as they were trying to catch up. “ Hongjoong, where are you going?” Estel giggles and it took everything in him not to laugh.

He glanced around the halls, spotting a wooden door and quickly opening and shutting it silently as he pressed his ear against the door. Hongjoong heard the girls go past the door, quickly stopping when they couldn’t hear his steps or see him since it was a long hallway.

“ Where did he go?” Elva asked, confused as Hongjoong backed away from the door. He knew their hearing was better than his, so he tried his best not to make any sounds. His eyes never leaving the door until he bumped into something and a hand quickly covered over his mouth.

Hongjoong’s heart jumped into his throat as he tried to turn around and was greeted by those same hypnotizing blue eyes as he leaned to his ear, “ Say calm if you want the girls to leave.”

His voice was low and it sent a shiver down his spine, but he stayed still and quiet. He could still hear the girls talking right outside the door.

“ You think he went into here,” Elva asked, pointing to the door that indeed had Hongjoong right behind it.

“ I don’t think he did. No one is allowed in there and that includes Hongjoong,” Estel thought for a bit before the two heard a sigh. “ We lost him, Estel, so let’s go and get some snacks from Mr.Jin!”

Hongjoong heard Elva make this happy noise as she started to run off to the kitchen, Estel right on her tail as the footsteps and laughter slowly went away, and Hongjoong let out a sigh, unconsciously resting his head against his body and Seonghwa stiffened a bit.

Seonghwa stared to the top of his head, staying completely still and not knowing what to do for a minute.

Hongjoong, unknowing of him stiffening behind him, turned around to face him for a split second before looking past him, “What room is this?”

Seonghwa snapped out of it for a split second before turning around to look in his direction, “This is the castor room. This is where I study and learn new magic.”

Hongjoong walked deeper into the room, eyeing the tree and wood decor in the room, his eyes trailing to the colored glass that brought in the light that illuminated the room. Hongjoong eyes landed on the book that must have been where Seonghwa was sitting.

“So you plan on staying here, even though the young ones left you alone already?” Seonghwa walked past him as he sat back in the chair that Hongjoong was eyeing. He turned in his seat, leaning back to look at him and wait for his answer.

“ I won’t touch anything. I just want to watch you work. I finished my task for the day and I have never seen magic before, so I’m a bit curious.” Hongjoong admitted as he eyed the chair that was next to him.

Seonghwa thought it over, tempted to send him off so he could enjoy his time alone like he usually does. But glancing at the look on his face and eyes made him sigh and turned back around. “ Sit in the chair and don’t touch anything.”

Hongjoong sat in a chair, far away from Seonghwa and his work. Hongjoong eyes scanned the table and saw the books and vials that were over most of the table. His eyes were trailing up to look at the elf prince, who was focused on the text in the book.

His blonde hair pulled back this time in a ponytail, a few loose hairs as his eyes scanned over the text. His hand reached for the feather and dipped it in ink before writing some notes on his own, him noting how pretty his handwriting was as well before looking back up to his face.

Hongjoong doesn’t know how he found himself staring at his profile as he worked, despite wanting to bother him just a bit. He was just enamored with how the gods decided to sculpt such a beautiful-looking man.

He had to be honest. He found Seonghwa attractive. Yeah, he tried to kill him and take his fingers from him, but he was still hot.

Hongjoong chuckled to himself and the sound drew in Seonghwa’s attention, “ What’s so amusing over there?” He asked as he got up, grabbed some materials from a shelf, and brought them back to the table.

“ Would you prefer that I be honest?” Hongjoong asked.

“ I don’t like being lied to, so yes.”

“ I was sitting here thinking about how handsome you are.”

He almost dropped the materials in his hands.

“ Pardon?”

“ You told me to be honest and I said I was sitting here thinking about how handsome you were. Do you not know that you are handsome?” Hongjoong tilted his head, eyes glancing back at the other vials, his fingers tempted to reach out and touch them.

“It’s not that I don’t know that I have good looks, but that’s not what I was expecting to hear. But why would that have made you laugh?”

“ I thought that despite you threatening to take off any type of limbs, I couldn’t lie and say you aren’t attractive. I don’t think I can be good-looking anymore if I lose an arm.” Hongjoong smiled as he dragged his fingertips over the vials, despite being told not to touch anything.

“ A missing limb wouldn’t make you less attractive,” Seonghwa said bluntly, and Hongjoong wasn’t expecting that type of response. It made him stare at the icy blonde prince.

“ I’m sorry, what was that?”

“ I know you heard me loud and clear, but maybe those human ears of yours aren’t too good, so listen closely,” Seonghwa grabbed his collar, making Hongjoong yelp as Seonghwa ghosted his lips by the shell of Hongjoong’s ear, “ I said a missing limb wouldn’t make you less attractive, Kim Hongjoong.”

Hongjoong felt the blush cover his cheeks and a shiver run down his spine from having his voice and breath so close to him. His voice sounded more profound than usual, or was that just his mind playing with him? But this man. This prince had called him attractive and he didn't know how to react to that.

Seonghwa enjoyed the silence from the man as he let go of his collar and went back to focusing on the magic in front of him. He watched from the corner of his eye at how Hongjoong adjusted himself before getting comfortable and watching him work once more.

He enjoyed the sort of “ peace” that befell them both. It was comfortable and relaxing as the only thing Seonghwa could hear was him mixing the elixirs and potions and the glasses occasionally clinking together. But then his ear picked up on a sound that made him look over again.

He saw the tiny man with his head resting in his arms, lightly snoring. He watched his shoulders rise slowly with every breath, and tossed his hair slightly to the side.

Seonghwa marked where he was at last and closed his book before turning to face him fully. He slowly reached over and moved his hair out of his eyes. He pulled his hand back when Hongjoong moved before going still again.

Seonghwa found himself gradually leaning closer, basking in the scent that was rolling off of him. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He never had the chance to figure out what his smell was when he got close the last few times.

Seonghwa didn’t even realize how close he had gotten to Hongjoong’s sleeping face. His nose was almost brushing against him, and he didn’t fully grasp the idea that he wanted to kiss his forehead. But that sounds….wrong.

He shouldn’t desire to do such a thing, especially someone who should just be treated like a common thief. Everything in Seonghwa’s mind told him not to do it, and he knew his lips were inches away. All he had to do was inch a tiny bit forward and he would do it.

Just a tad bit closer and that’s it. Just that simple. But it still felt wrong.

It took a few seconds, but Seonghwa relaxed and looked back at the sleeping man before backing up in his seat. He knew better and he wouldn’t. Whatever urge he had will be swallowed and locked away since he knows it was wrong.

But at the very least, he petted his head and couldn’t stop the small smile as he leaned into his hand a bit.

Seonghwa enjoyed the feeling before he heard a quick knock on the door before it swung open. Seonghwa pulled his hand away fast and went back to grab his book, almost doing it in such a calm and collected manner as if he wasn’t petting the sleeping man.

Yeosang turned around and brought Seonghwa his tea with a smile before he stopped, his eyes immediately locking on the Hongjoong.

Yeosang did his best not to have his face falter as he walked over to the table, sitting the tray of fruits and tea down on a nearby table, “ I brought you some fruits and tea. I didn’t know you would have a guest, or else I would have brought another cup of tea.”

“ This wasn’t planned, but there is no need for that,” Seonghwa reached over and grabbed a strawberry and took a bite from it, letting out a tiny hum as it touched his tongue, “ But I appreciate the snacks. I was a bit famished.”

“ Then you should be eating something more filling.” Yeosang quipped, boldly stealing a grape for himself and popping it into his mouth as he saw the prince smile.

“Then do you know what is being prepared for lunch, Yeosang?.”

“ I can find out if you’d like.”

“ There’s no need for that,” Seonghwa stood up and went for another book on the shelf, “ You do enough for me as it is.”

Yeosang looked back at Hongjoong, sending the sleeping man a look that Seonghwa couldn’t see before fixing it as the prince turned around. Yeosang watched the head back to the table, seemingly comfortable with having Hongjoong stay beside him like that.

“ Yeosang, do you know what the rest of my day looks like? I didn’t meet with the King recently.” Seonghwa asked, eyes glued to the new book in his hands.

Yeosang stepped forward, on the opposite side of the table from Hongjoong, “ As far as today, you have to spar with the general and Lady Nora before dinner. Your schedule is quite free beside the event the King had planned that needs your actual attendance.”

Yeosang watched the man tsk as he looked at him, “ It is coming up, isn’t it? I don’t want to be there.”

“ I don't either, but you know we have no say for this one. You already have some attire being made; the seamstress is almost finished with that. You have the fitting tomorrow, and then the event is two days from now.” Yeosang explained as he heard another deep sigh from Seonghwa.

“ I don’t want to be in the faces of so many nobilities, especially with most of them being fools and not wanting to listen. You ask how to improve things, I tell them, and they don't listen or just resort to saying I’m a spoil and know-it-all brat that understands nothing. But if that's the case, why ask me for my input to begin with? This happens all night long, and you know this.” Seonghwa allowed himself to slip into his chair just a bit and Yeosang gave a small smile at the action.

“I’ll assist you the best way I can.” Yeosang bows slightly and Seonghwa gives a smile of his own before his head turns around when he hears a groan coming from his left. He watched Hongjoong stretch and sat up from where he was, yawning and stretching his arms. Hongjoong turned and looked over at Seonghwa before his eyes turned to look at Yeosang.

“ I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep here.” Hongjoong rubbed his eyes a bit and the prince thought it made him more childlike as he watched him.

“ I would have woken you up if it was a nuisance for me.” Seonghwa pointed out a comment that didn’t go unnoticed by the advisor, “ Also, while I’m thinking of it, there is an event that will be happening in two days, and you will also have to attend.

“Why?” He wasn’t expecting both Hongjoong and Yeosang to say it at the same time.

“ Only you and I know the real reason why Kim Hongjoong is in this castle, but to others, he is a mere worker. Just like the rest of them, he will be working and most likely be a server to the guests.” Seonghwa pointed out and Yeosang got quiet. Choose to say no.

Hongjoong knew he was right, and he didn't have a choice to say no in this type of situation. “I’ll do my best during this event.”

“ I expect you to.”

TWO DAYS LATER

“Never knew you could clean up so well, Hongjoong. Almost didn’t recognize you.” Subin teased, adjusting his clothes as he smiled at him.

The two of you had spent the day together getting everything ready for the event that’s happening tonight. You expected not to see the Prince and his advisor until the evening, and so far, you’ve been correct. After all the necessary preparations, the workers were all told to change and hurry back before the guest arrived.

Hongjoong eyed himself in the large mirror, admiring his appearance. He never dressed in something like this before, primarily to him not being able to afford something like this. He was dressed in white. A long-sleeved flint-colored top that was buttoned as that top before split down the center passed his belly button and stopped at his knees with delicate gold details that could go unnoticed. White pants that were a bit scrunched at the ankle due to his height, but nothing too bad to where he would walk on them. A high necked vested jacket latched at the top before flowing down and stopping at his thighs. The latch was gold, the edges of the material, and some white and gold shoes to match.

It was pretty simple in appearance, but it indeed was the fanciest thing he had worn. Subin was wearing the same color scheme but was designed differently. “ So funny, now let’s hurry up because we have to go back.”

“ Do you remember how to get there?”

“ No, not at all, so hurry up so you can show me how to get there.” Hongjoong laughed with Subin as they walked out of the room, following other staff that had to work.

If Hongjoong was honest with himself, he didn’t want to help any rich and stuck-up assholes tonight, but he knows he can’t say that out loud. Luckily, Subin would be there with him to brighten the mood.

Jin told them to station a table on the end, and you two were happy to be stuck together.

You both watched how quickly the hall filled up, countless demons, monsters, and humans all dressed in the finest of silks and fabrics to impress each other, and it took everything in Hongjoong to not roll his eyes. He believes that they might get stuck in his head if he did so.

But he did what he was told along with Subin, serving any and everyone that approached their tables. He was a bit shocked when some thanked them but wasn’t surprised by the judging looks he did receive.

Hongjoong found himself getting tired fast, having Subin kick his shin once in and while to keep him up. But soon enough, that kick felt like nothing.

“ Hongjoong, wake up! The prince has arrived!” Subin whispered yell as they both turned towards the more oversized doors.

Hongjoong straightened up and had his eyes glued as he finally got his first look at the King and Queen, Seonghwa’s parents. His father gave off a regal aura; His hair flowed down to his mid-back. He was dressed in black, white, and gold. Hongjoong could see some of the finest jewels adorning his neck apart from his attire.

His eyes went to Seonghwa’s mother and she must have been the most elegant woman he has ever seen, dressed in layers of silk and expensive fabrics that flowed around her beautifully. Her beautiful headdress and intricate hairstyle made her shine like an actual jewel.

But then his eyes landed on the prince, and it felt like his breath got caught in his throat. He was adorned in all black, a great contrast to his pale skin and blonde hair. His attire was flowy as well, similar to his mother’s. As he saw them walk past, he noticed embroidery of dragons on the sleeves and along the collar and hem of his clothes.

His eyes followed him as he walked behind his parents, having Subin smack his arm once more to gain his attention once he noticed some guests walk to their table. But no matter how many times Subin had to slap his arm, he found his eyes going back to Seonghwa.

Maybe it’s because admiring the prince’s beauty made him focus enough to stay up now after seeing countless forgettable faces. But then it became something more familiar when he noticed Yeosang heading to the table.

His pants were plain and straightforward and just white in color. He was dressed in this black vest with a high collar. The seams are traced in white trim, and wearing black and gold cuffs on his wrists. This other piece was a fabric matching his shirt and had a white border and some gold.

“ Mr.Kang, I wasn’t expecting you to come by,” Subin said with a smile, and Hongjoong watched the corners of Yeosang’s lips curve upwards.

“ It’s good to see you as well, Subin.” Yeosang turned his head to look at Hongjoong, and he noticed a slight change in his gaze, “ Nice to see you too, Hongjoong.”

“Anything that you would like?” Hongjoong asked him as Yeosang’s eyes scanned over the array of foods, leaning over to look at it all before standing up once more.

“ I’ll come back later since I’m not quite hungry yet. I plan on seeing you two later then, so make sure you two enjoy yourselves later on.” Yeosang told them before heading off just as quickly as he arrived.

Subin was distracted for a split second when another guest missed the quick change in Yeosang’s face. His eyes narrowed, a frown on his lips before turning his head once more to head back to Seonghwa.

Hongjoong found it odd. He knew the advisor wasn’t fond of him and would prefer if he was dead, but the look in his eyes this time seemed more intense than before.

He just pushed it to the back of his head before he felt Subin smack his arm once more, this time to get his attention as Jin arrived. “

“ You both are done for now. Eat and relax. Just don’t cause any trouble for me, or I’ll have your head. “ He threatened before pushing both of them away, Hongjoong laughing a bit.

“ Now you know you would mourn my death. I’m quite fun to be around.” Hongjoong joked as Jin kicked his ankle as they both stumbled away laughing.

Hongjoong and Subin had made their way to some of the other workers that were switched out to eat. It was away from the more high-status guests, but Hongjoong preferred that.

He has fun and enjoys his time with them. Maybe it’s because this was something that he wished he could have back in his hometown with Ava. Perhaps he’ll get some money and get her to visit.

He knows that’s not a realistic plan, but he could dream.

“ Did he zone out? Oi Hongjoong!”

Hongjoong looked up and realized that Eric, one of the other coworkers that he has made friends with, was calling him. “Hm? What is it?”

“Did you hear anything that I just said?” The younger asked and Hongjoong gave a sheepish laugh before saying no. The boy rolled his eyes before giving him a look.

“ I said that soon with have to go from table to table and collect and dishes and trash from them,” Eric explained, and Hongjoong couldn’t stop the look that appeared on his face.

“ Why can’t they get rid of their trash?” The words flew from his lips quicker than necessary.

“ Look, it's a party for the rich and they are all guests of the family. They aren’t supposed to lift a finger for anything as trivial as cleaning up after themselves.” Eric says sarcastically, a grin on his face as he ate more food, “ You knew what you were getting into when hired here, Hongjoong, so don’t get stupid now.”

“ Aren’t I older than you? Who are you calling stupid?” Hongjoong brow raised and gave him a look that Eric wasn’t fazed by.

“ If you know you aren’t stupid, don’t get offended by it. But seriously, Jin or someone higher up will have your head if you're disrespectful to them. So even if they do something, bite your tongue.” Eric gives him an honest look and Hongjoong huffed.

Subin pats his shoulder, “ It should be fast since most of us are doing that, so don’t worry too much. Okay.” Subin gave a dimpled smile and Hongjoong let out a small smile of his own.

He enjoys this. Bickering and smiling with each other felt very on end and it’s a bit bittersweet that it’s with people that he just met and not his parents. Well, with his mother, yes, but it would be nice if his father were included in that as well.

Before he knew it, they were all splitting up which tables they were going to and grabbed some carts before heading off.

Hongjoong took a deep breath before putting on a fake smile and approached the first table. His greeting was friendly and respectful as he asked if anyone was done with their plates. Some raised their hands and he came over and collected everything that they were finished with. He made sure not to make eye contact with them despite a few leering into the side of his head.

Hongjoong was quick to bow before leaving and dropping his smile the moment he was gone. He nearly mumbled something under his breath before remembering that no humans were sitting at these tables.

So Hongjoong continued this pattern with a fake smile, cleaning and leaving until he reached this last table. He could tell that he was an elf by the pointed ears, and the man was sitting there all alone.

“Excuse me, sir, but are you finished with your food? I'm here to collect your dirty dishes if so.”

The man tilted his head up and gave a light smile, “ Don’t your cheeks hurt from smiling like that? I gave you no reason to smile and neither did those other snot-nosed nobles. Relax and treat me like normal.”

“ I’m sorry, but I-”

“ I may be a royal, but I'm nobody to them. I would rather be treated regularly than a noble,” He turned in his seat before putting his dirty plate on himself as Hongjoong just stared at him, “ I didn’t catch your name. What is it?”

He shook his head as he looked at him, “ my name is Hongjoong.”

“ Hongjoong. That’s a different name, but I like it. I’m Prince Gerold, but I don’t need any formalities. Gerold is just fine.”

“ How could you tell that my smile was fake?” Hongjoong asked, stepping a bit closer to the man.

“ Cause you gave the same type of smiles that I do.” He rested his head in his hand as he glanced back to Hongjoong, “ Please sit, or you can’t waste any time chit-chatting with me?”

“ Well, I’m not supposed to do anything that would upset the ‘royals,’ but since I’m not upsetting you, it should be fine.” Hongjoong watched the smile grow a bit bigger on his face.

“ Well, then let’s sit and chat only for a little while. Maybe this event won’t be as boring as anticipated.”

༄༄༄

Seonghwa was tired.

He was ready to call it a night the moment he stepped into the grand room. But of course, being the son of the current king kept him occupied and busy.

He had to answer to some neighboring townships as well, as they praised him with cheers about what a great king he’ll be, and by the gods, was Seonghwa tired of the repetition.

There were questions on what he would do once his father steps down and how many children of his own he plans to have or if he has selected a queen.

Soon to Seonghwa ear’s, their voices became inaudible and would only pick up a few words that would remind him of what the bloody hell they were talking about.

While some of the guests started to talk to themselves, Seonghwa’s eyes swelled across the crowd as he was quick to stop once he saw a familiar brown hair at a table.

He watched him talk to one of the nobles. It didn’t seem like it was anything terrible because Hongjoong looked utterly relaxed.

But the more he stared, the more he realized that he looked a tad bit too relaxed.

He was able to see how close they were to each other as they talked about whatever. He could see the other person putting his arm on the back of Hongjoong’s chair and give a grin.

He couldn’t read their lips, but he did know that something had made Hongjoong laugh, and the smile was genuine. It made his heart jump a tad bit before remembering that it wasn’t directed towards him. It was someone that he just met and made him smile big like that.

Fascinating.

“ Prince Seonghwa?”

Seonghwa turned back to look at the guests in front of him, “ Yes, what is it?”

They pointed to the glass in his hand, and his eyes followed suit and noticed how tight his grip was on the glass. It caught him off guard cause he never saw his grip tightening. He placed the tall glass down on the table.

“ Are you okay, Prince Seonghwa? Did we say something to upset you?” Seonghwa could see the concern on their face and he snapped out of the slight haze he was in.

“No, it wasn’t you. However, I do have some business that I need to handle. Please enjoy this event to the fullest.” The prince gave a slight bow and smiled before quickly heading off, his feet with a mind of his own.

༄༄༄

Maybe nobles weren’t all too bad.

Hongjoong knew he was supposed to be working, but he couldn’t find himself getting up and ending this conversation. Prince Gerold had a charm about him that just made him stay. Maybe it’s because he was somewhat of an outcast among the nobles and he just seems a bit more humble in a sense.

He found himself smiling and laughing as they talked, not noticing how close the man had gotten or how friendly they would look to any guests. He was just hoping that he wouldn’t get into too much trouble.

“ Hongjoong, can I asked you something?” Prince Gerold tilted his head as he looked at him.

“ Of course. What is it?”

“ Would you like to leave this party? It’s not quite as interesting as you.” Prince Gerold grinned.

Hongjoong wasn’t expecting him to ask such a question. He wouldn’t mind being with him a bit longer, but he knows very well that if he leaves after all this, he might get killed by Jin. or even worse. Get killed by Yeosang.

“ Oh, I don’t think I can. I’m supposed to be working right now, to begin with, so if I leave, I’ll get in tro-” Hongjoong breath hitched when he was pulled a bit closer to him by his chair, catching him off guard.

“ Come on~ We could walk through the city or the gardens and just have a good time. You don’t wanna spend that time with me?” Prince Gerold’s smile was sweet, but maybe it felt a little too sweet that made Hongjoong want to leave, but he couldn’t. It felt like his legs were made of steel.

“ B-but I have to-”

“ I thought we were having fun together. Just for a little bit. I promise to bring you back before this shit of a party is.” Prince Gerold grabbed his hand gently, a complete opposite from the tone, despite being laced with sweet words. His thumb rubbed over his knuckles before bringing his hand to his mouth. He placed tender kisses on each one. Hongjoong wanted to pull his arm away, walk away and deal with all forms of scolding from Subin and Jin, then stay here. Even though he thought that he couldn’t move. Was it fear? Was he scared again? He just wanted to leave.

“Let’s go. I’ll sneak you out to avoid any trouble.”

“Well, it’s a bit too late for that now, is it?” Hongjoong watched how quickly his eyes looked up and passed him, and despite still not being able to move, he knew who was behind him. He knew that voice well enough.

“Ah, Prince Seonghwa. A great party you have here. Not my cup of tea, though, so I planned to leave here with this lovely muse, so if you don’t mind.” Prince Gerold stood up, still holding Hongjoong’s hand. He wasn’t expecting to stand up with such ease when he struggled to do it with his willpower. Hongjoong finally glanced over at Seonghwa as Prince Gerold tries to walk past him.

Hongjoong felt his shoulder get gripped on, and it felt like lightning struck him the moment the elf prince touched him. It made his ears ring, then his spine tingled, and his toes curl before he was finally able to pull his arm away. He faced Seonghwa in shock, but his gaze was rigid set on the other prince in front of him.

“ You went out of your way to compel him? You lured him in with such a fake smile and tried to snatch him off somewhere else. Truly pathetic.” Seonghwa's voice was cold, and he enjoyed the way his lip twitched as he spoke to him, “ You have some nerve bothering my workers.”

“ Now you're saying that as if you care about all of your workers.” He smirks as he crossed his arms.

“ Why wouldn’t I? Their hard work made this event as successful as it is. I owe them all some proper gratitude for their efforts, and it’s just a shame that they still have to deal with something as rotten as you.” Seonghwa stepped forward, right in front of Hongjoong and gave him such a cold glare that made the smirk fall from his face and replaced with a scowl.

“ You watch who you're talking to!” He growled out and Seonghwa laughed in his face.

“ Oh, and what would you do? Did you forget that part of the land that your father owns was a gracious gift from us? Did you forget how much we helped you and your father get to where you are? We hand-fed you everything, and it would be just as easy to make you starve. Be foolish enough to doubt my bluff, and I will personally ruin you. You need us. We don’t need you.” Seonghwa’s aura crackled, and it made the other Prince step back even more from them.

“All of this fuss and threats over one of the hundreds of workers?!”

“ For your information, I hand-picked this one, so yes. Now I suggest you leave like previously intended,” Seonghwa grabbed Hongjoong’s rest and started to walk away. Hongjoong turned around to at him before Seonghwa’s voice cut through the air, “ Don’t look at him.”

Seonghwa walked fast and scouted the area before stepping up to Subin and tapping his shoulder. Subin turned around and nearly dropped the plates he had in his hands. “ Prince Seonghwa! W-what can I do for you?”

“ Take care of the rest of Hongjoong’s work if you don’t mind. I need him for something else more important.” It was then that Subin noticed Hongjoong behind him, and it looked like Subin was trying to get a sense from him about what happened, but Hongjoong sheepishly looked away.

“ Of course! I’ll get right on it.” Subin bows before heading past them and Seonghwa continues to pull Hongjoong out and out the doors, not going unnoticed by the prince’s advisors as he gives a sharp gaze with furrowed brows.

Once Hongjoong believes that they were far enough from anyone, he spoke up, “ Seonghwa, where are we going?….”

“ Just wait. We're almost there.” Seonghwa gave a short response as he guided them through halls that Hongjoong had never been down before; he opened a door and pulled them both inside before shutting the door. That’s when Seonghwa finally let go of his wrist and slumped against the door.

Hongjoong watched how the prince’s back and shoulders slouched before looking up at him. “ Are you okay?”

Seonghwa made a small smile, “ I should be asking you that. A nonhuman just compelled you. The longer you stayed there, the more control he would have had on you.”

Hongjoong looked at his hands and legs, moving them slightly, “ I thought it was fear again. I thought I was that scared and couldn’t move. Not because of magic.”

Hongjoong missed the soft look he gave him as he stayed by the door, “ No. It was magic that a good variety of nonhumans know. If you can use magic or have any items to help you comply, it is quite easy to do. Humans usually fall prey to it naturally. Folks of magic sense other magic, so it would never have worked.”

Hongjoong gave a tiny smile, “ That’s good to know, but that just reminds me of how much weaker I am to everything.”

Seonghwa pushed himself off the door and stood in front of him, “Humans can learn magic too if they practice hard enough. The only way you can stop being weak is if you put the time and effort into being strong. You don’t just need to be physically stronger to beat someone. There are other ways, and I'm sure you would be capable of it.”

Hongjoong looked up at his eyes and let out a laugh, “ Who would have thought that your words would give me some comfort,” Hongjoong rubbed the back up his neck and stared at the ground, “ Thank you.”

“ There’s no need to thank me.”

“ Yes, there is. I found myself in some trouble and I was lucky enough that you were there to help me. I’m sorry for causing trouble and making you leave the party. I’ll—I’ll take whatever lecture or punishment for everything.” Hongjoong stared at his hands.

It could have gone a completely different way and Hongjoong didn’t even want to think what would happen if no one came over to stop him.

“ I was forced to attend this party. I’m the next in line to the throne, so of course, I had to be there. I would have rather hid than talked the same nonsense with all of those guests. And did you think I dragged you all the way here just to lecture you?” Seonghwa raised a brow as he gave him an amused look.

Hongjoong looked back with a confused look, “ Then why did you drag me here? Was it just a chance for you to get away from this event?”

Seonghwa walked past him and headed towards the window, the moon illuminating his skin in hair and almost making him glow, “ Maybe you do have some magic because I don’t know why, but you have been compelling me all on your own.”

Hongjoong slowly walked towards him but kept some distance, “ What does that even mean? Whatever you have to say, just say it.”

Seonghwa never turned around, “ I’ve developed some feelings for you.”

It was silent. No sound was made as they both stood in the same spot. Seonghwa expected this type of reaction and silence, so it took the silence to elaborate more.

“ I don’t know when it started, but I can be honest enough to say that I have developed some type of feelings for you. Maybe it started when I watched how caring and nurturing you were with Estal and Elva and how much they genuinely adored you. I was worried about you manipulating them, but they seem smitten with you. Most people don’t like them because of their mother, but they’re innocent in that matter.”

Hongjoong quietly walked over as Seonghwa continued to talk, just listening to the words that came out of his mouth.

“ Then I started to notice the little reactions and thoughts I would have about you. I didn’t think I could do it after stopping the last time I had feelings for someone. But then you came along, stealing from me in broad daylight and slowly stealing away my heart before I even knew it.” Seonghwa turned slightly to see Hongjoong just a couple of inches behind him.

The prince turned to face him, “ I came over there not because I knew you were in danger. I originally came over there cause my heart couldn’t stand the image of you smiling at someone else. I nearly shattered a glass when it ran through my mind. Like I couldn’t allow it and that’s out of character for me.”

Seonghwa could sense it. His honesty was overwhelming Hongjoong and that’s not what he wanted at all. He could feel and see how tense he was as he stood there.

“ I’m not asking you to recuperate my feelings. I threatened you into staying here and I can’t blame you for hating me. I…I just wanted to get these words off my chest. Don’t feel inclined to return them. You have my word on that.”

Hongjoong finally looked up at him, “ I don’t hate you.”

“ You don’t?”

“ I don’t. Everything you did was logical, especially after what I’ve done. I just don’t know how to take someone saying they ‘care’ for me.” Hongjoong walked towards the window, looking out at the moon-casted town as Seonghwa watched him.

“ Did you not come from a loving home?” Seonghwa asked as he saw Hongjoong frowned at first before giving a smile.

Hongjoong pressed his hand to the glass, “ In the end, my mother cared the most about just one other person and me. So in a sense, yes, I did. But I’ve never had someone admit having feelings for me. I just don’t know how to respond.”

“You don’t have to. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Seonghwa gently placed a hand on his shoulder and was happy that he didn’t tense up from it.

“ You sure?”

“ I swear on it.”

Hongjoong turned around to face him. They both stared down at each other, but Seonghwa’s eyes glanced down to his lips before forcing himself to look away, “ What is it?”

Seonghwa shook his head, “ I don’t want to ask that of you. I can’t ask that from you.” He was speaking more to himself and was about to ramble until Hongjoong gripped his chin and made him look back at him.

“ What did you want to ask me?” Hongjoong’s voice was as firm as it could be as he looked up into those ocean eyes of his.

Seonghwa stares for a while longer before letting out a sigh, “ Can I kiss you?”

Hongjoong was hesitant as he twiddled with his thumbs, “ I haven’t kissed anyone before...”

“ Then maybe you shouldn’t waste that on me. I just wanted to ask.” Seonghwa turned around and started heading towards the door, “ You can stay here until the party ends. I must head back to-”

“ It wouldn’t be a waste….” Hongjoong shifted on his heels

Seonghwa stopped, “ That’s not a yes. I’m no creep. I won’t do anything to you unless you give me a solid yes.”

“ That’s embarrassing for me to say!”

“ Embarrassing to want consent?” Seonghwa raised a blonde brow and Hongjoong grew quiet. He took the silence as an answer and as his hand reached the doorknob.

“Please!”

Seonghwa looked back at the man and noticed the faint blush on his face.

“ You...you can kiss me.”

Hongjoong listens to Seonghwa’s footsteps as he walked towards him again. “ Look at me.” He heard Seonghwa’s voice as he slowly looked up at him. “ Are you sure about this?”

Hongjoong hasn’t felt this nervous before. He wasn’t being pressured into anything. He had complete and utter control of this situation, and as much as he was worried about this, he found himself wanting it as well. “ I am, but you might have to guide me.”

Seonghwa gently tilts his face up and Hongjoong’s eyes looked up at him, “ You can tell me to stop at any time.”

Hongjoong nodded as Seonghwa slowly closed the distance between them. His eyes fluttered close when he felt his breath against his lips. He knew he could probably hear his heart pound. Seonghwa stroked his cheek with his thumb as his lips pressed to his.

His lips were soft against his. Hongjoong felt himself relax as Seonghwa pulled back slightly, opening his own eyes, and found Seonghwa staring back at him. They were quiet as they looked back at each other before Hongjoong leaned forward and Seonghwa leaned back in to kiss him again.

Seonghwa moved his lips slowly, so Hongjoong could learn how to kiss. Hongjoong tried his best to follow him, steadily getting better as Seonghwa cupped his face. Hongjoong found himself slowly reaching up to grip his shoulders. He relaxed more as he started to kiss him with a bit more force, catching Seonghwa off guard a bit.

He pulled away to look at Hongjoong, panting a bit as before speaking, “ Maybe...that’s enough for now.”

“ B-but…”

“ I’m afraid that I’ll do something more if we keep going, so let’s not continue this.” Seonghwa put some more space in between the two.

“ I want to keep going, though.” Hongjoong found a small amount of confidence as he looked at him and Seonghwa gave him an unreadable look.

“ Don’t say something like that to me. I’m trying to have some self-control. Don’t do this because of me admitting my feelings. What you're doing is more than enough. Don’t feel pressured to do anything with me.” Seonghwa's voice was harsh sounding, but Hongjoong wasn’t offended by it.

“ I’m not asking you to have self-control. I want more too. I’m not pressured. I feel comfortable and relaxed right now. I have the confidence right now to say this out loud, so don’t let it go to waste.” Hongjoong stared at him with flushed cheeks before slowly walking to the bed and sitting on it, “ I’ll tell you to stop if I have to. Just make sure your self-control is as good as you say it is.”

Seonghwa gave him a look before walking to him, standing in front of him, slowly pushing his body down on the bed and hovering above. Seonghwa could see how relaxed he was and could sense how confident he was in his choices right now. He feels hesitant, despite Hongjoong giving him all the consent he would need. His fingers flexed beside his head, and now he felt his heart pound. It was only when Hongjoong gently grabbed his wrist, forcing him to look at him.

“ It’s alright. I told you it’s okay. Don’t chicken out on me now, or I’ll feel silly about all this.” Hongjoong gave him an awkward chuckle as he reached to cup his face and brings him closer to him.

Seonghwa closed his eyes for a split second before looking back at him with a soft smile, “ Don’t go regretting this in the morning, Kim Hongjoong.”

༄༄༄

Tagging: @atiny-piratequeen @gettin-a-lil-hanse @queen-of-himbos @jacksons-goddess-gaia @kimnamshiks

༄༄༄

©atiny-dazzlinglight 2021. do not repost, translate, or use my works without permission

[collapsingintojupiter]

Lost In Time

Wrote an angsty lil Karl fic. Enjoy.

Characters: Karl, Sapnap, Quackity, and Foolish (briefly)

Relationships: it’s the fiances babey

---

Karl clutched a dandelion between his palms, curled up in the shade of the dragon statue as he looked out over Kinoko Kingdom. His eyes were half-closed, and even though it was hot outside he shivered. The land around him blurred and spun, in his hands was a wither rose; a tulip; a dandelion. 

He wanted to stand up and find Cletus - they were supposed to go fishing today with Charles and Ben, but he felt too dizzy to move. Maybe they’d find him? He hoped so, he didn’t think he could stand alone. Maybe if he called for them...

He looked down, but instead of a mushroom forest and green grass he saw a cheering crowd and hot sand. And - was that John? - he was climbing up towards him, surely he knew Porkius wouldn’t like that (he had a terrible temper). Karl sighed; what an idiot. 

“Karl!”

“John?” He tried to stand up and immediately collapsed, though before he could hit the ground strong arms caught him. He blinked as John hauled him upright. 

“Didn’t think you were so strong,” he mumbled. He looked at John and sighed. “‘m sorry for calling you Ugly.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Karl, it’s me, Sapnap.” 

“You have to fight Jackie next, ‘t says on the schedule. You have to go.” Karl tried to push him back towards the arena, before Porkius came after them both.

“Karl, I’m not fighting anyone.” He felt a hand on his forehead, and saw worried brown eyes staring into his. “You have a fever, what are you doing out here?”

“Mason?” He blinked, and the sun was the same but the sand was different. “Where’s all the others…” he remembered the gunshots and looked away. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Mason?” Karl looked back at him; smiled sadly. 

“You remind me of him.”

“Of who?”

“Sapnap. And Jack...Quackity. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to kill you, but I had to.” He slipped, and instead of righting him again Mason picked him up and started carrying him down from the dueling grounds. Was this another timeline? A dream? Had he somehow gone again to take part in the story differently?

“I’m sorry,” he murmured again. 

“Just hang on, Karl.” Mason’s voice was strained, and his eyes fluttered closed again. 

---

Sapnap sat at the foot of Karl’s bed, fidgeting with an old axe. He’d thought Karl was doing better, that his memories had steadied under Kinoko Kingdom’s warm sun, but now he couldn’t even seem to remember who he was. He kept mixing him up with these other people Sapnap had never heard of: someone named James, someone named Mason, and someone named John. 

And Quackity…

He wanted to see him, Karl said. Or...Cletus, or Drew, or Jack. 

So many names. 

Who did they belong to?

Karl woke up again after dark, and in a terrified voice he stumbled out of bed and grabbed Sapnap’s arm. 

“James, we have to hide!” he hissed. “The killer’s gonna get us next!” He yanked open the trapdoor at the foot of his bed and tried to pull Sapnap down to the basement; he picked him up again, bringing his weakly-struggling fiance back to his bed. 

“Karl, you need to rest,” he insisted. “Please, please just calm down.”

“We can’t rest! It...the Red, the Egg! We can’t trust Sir Billiam!” Karl grabbed Sapnap’s arms and he sighed as he shook him. “We have to find Drew before they kill him too!”

Drew. Quackity. Somehow...they were connected.

But Quackity was gone. He’d left for the desert and hadn’t come back.

He’d left them. 

Both of them. 

“Karl, we can’t get Drew,” Sapnap said. “He’s...he’s not here.”

“He’s dead?”

“No-no he’s not dead, he’s just gone. He...left.” Karl sank back into his bed, curling into a ball against the headboard. 

“...not right,” he whispered.

“What’s not right?” Sapnap asked. Karl didn’t answer him. He shivered again, even though there was a fire going in the fireplace for him. 

When Karl did finally fall asleep, it was fitful. He jumped awake in the middle of the night, the name Ranbob tearing from his throat in a panicked scream. Sapnap was by his side in an instant. 

“What happened?” he asked. “Are you okay?” Karl looked at him, tears streaming down his face.

“He stabbed me,” he said softly. “Right here.” He placed his thumb on his chest and sniffed. “I see him in Ranboo’s eyes, but...they are not the same.”

Sapnap didn’t know how to respond to any of that, so he didn’t.

“Sapnap? Are you...are you my Sapnap?” Karl suddenly asked after a long silence. Sapnap nodded and Karl leaned forward, hugging him tightly. 

“Thank God,” he whispered. 

Sapnap somehow fell asleep after that, arms wrapped around Karl.

---

Time rolled around him like waves, tossing him from one moment to the next in a dizzying array of blurred color and sound. Karl twisted and turned in his sleep, trying to stay afloat; his skin burned one moment and felt frozen the next. He felt like he was falling, like time was slipping and there was no one to catch him as he plummeted.

Someone was there with him, but he didn’t know who it was. He clutched the bedsheets in his hands and his heart pounded sharply in his chest, but he still felt like he was falling. Like the world around him could dissolve at any second; leave him floating in nothing. Was that fire? Was the house...or was that just a fireplace? Where was he?

When was he?

Please, not the Inbetween, not again… Karl leaned forward, grabbing his head in his hands. His shirt clung to his skin but he shook with chills; with fear.

“Don’t stray from the path,” he murmured, as the room spun. “Don’t stray from the path.”

Something was grabbing him; he struggled against it. 

“Please!” he cried. “I just want to go home!”

Whatever grabbed him said something, but the voice sounded like it was underwater. He couldn’t understand. 

“Don’t stray from the path,” he repeated, as strong arms once again picked him up. “Don’t stray from the path. Don’t stray from the path.” The garbled voice spoke to him again - he tried to listen, tried to hear what it was saying, but he couldn’t make out any words. He realized suddenly that he wasn’t inside anymore; he pulled his hands away from his face and saw another face; saw darkness behind it. 

“Don’t stray from the path,” he said. The other face said something and he leaned against the person’s chest, gripping their shirt in his hands. His shoulders shook. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Don’t stray from the path. I’m sorry.” I don’t want to lose my memories.

“Just hold on,” he heard the voice say, and tears slipped down his face as he realized he could make out the words. 

“Hold on,” he repeated. “Hold on.”

---

Sapnap struggled to remain upright as the grass beneath his feet gave way to sand, which sank beneath his weight as he carried Karl across it. His fiance continued mumbling in his arms, shaking and shivering and sometimes panicking so violently that he almost pulled both of them to the ground. 

His gut was doing flip flops as it was, and that wasn’t helped by the giant sign that soon appeared atop a dune some distance away. 

Las Nevadas. 

Sapnap hated to think he was coming here now, when he’d honestly rather be anywhere else, but he didn’t know where else to go. Dream was in prison, George was who-knew-where, and he was too scared to ask anybody else to help. 

So, here he was. Going to Quackity.

Who’d left them. Alone. 

But if he still cared about Karl...Quackity was one of the most powerful people around after Dream had been locked away. If there was anybody that could help Karl, it was him.

The question then, Sapnap supposed, was whether or not he would. 

They made it to the sign, but before Sapnap could go any further a golden figure appeared on the road ahead. 

Foolish. The god approached him with narrowed eyes, though they widened slightly when he recognized Sapnap and saw the other he held in his arms. 

“What are you doing out here?” he asked in an even tone. Sapnap glared at him; he didn’t care if Foolish was a god or not. 

“Where the fuck is Quackity?” he demanded. 

“He’s sleeping, I don’t think-”

“Get him, now.” For a second Foolish seemed to consider arguing with him, or perhaps even drawing his axe to fight, though after looking at Karl again he seemed to change his mind and disappeared back into the city. 

A short time later Quackity appeared, jogging down the street to where Sapnap still stood. He looked both worried and angry. 

“What the fuck happened?” he asked sharply.

“He’s got a fever,” Sapnap said. “I don’t know what’s wrong, he’s...he was fine this morning…”

Quackity came closer, making a face at Karl.

“He’s fine,” he grumbled in a low tone. “He needs fucking sleep, not to be dragged around the desert all night. Get out.”

“Quackity, for fuck’s sake,” Sapnap snapped. “Stop being so fucking selfish for two minutes and look at him! I can’t just not do anything!”

His (ex) fiance glared at him for a long moment. Then he reached out, putting his hand on Karl’s forehead. He frowned; Karl opened his eyes, reaching out and grabbing his arm. 

“Jack?” he whispered. Quackity’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked up at Sapnap again. 

“What the fuck is going on?” he asked. Karl muttered something about a duel and closed his eyes again.

“I don’t know,” Sapnap hissed through gritted teeth. “That’s why I brought him here!”

“What, does Kinoko Kingdom not offer healthcare?” Quackity asked bitterly.

“What the fuck is your problem?! You’d rather be a selfish prick than give a shit about him?!”

“I fucking built this place for you!” Quackity burst out, his voice suddenly rising to an almost-screech. Sapnap stepped back in surprise, but his eyes remained narrowed (Foolish had wisely chosen to make himself scarce). “All of this shit was for you! For both of you! What the fuck did you think it was for?!”

“For your own selfish gain, just like everything else is with you!” Sapnap felt the anger welling back up inside him, and he let it loose. “You’re the one who disappeared, you’re the one who left us alone to build fuck-all-knows-what out here, you’re the one who didn’t tell us what was happening, who didn’t come by, who abandoned us. We waited for you, we wanted you to come back, but you never did!”

“I wanted you to be safe!” Quackity shouted back. “Because you meant fucking everything to me! But no, you just went off and built your own fucking kingdom for yourselves! Without me! You cast me aside, when I did everything for you!”

“If you couldn’t be bothered enough to even talk to us, then it wasn’t for us,” Sapnap said lowly. “I’ve done everything to help Karl, but he’s only been getting worse - I thought it was better, I thought Kinoko Kingdom had helped with his memories, but it didn’t. He can’t even remember who I am now.”

Quackity was shaking. His chest heaved, his eyes shimmered with tears, and he held his trembling fists tightly at his sides. He looked like he was about to say something, but stopped as Karl let out a shout, shoving Sapnap away and collapsing into the sand while he struggled to regain his balance. His hands also shook. 

“It’s a trap!” he shouted, scrambling to his feet and falling again not far from where Quackity stood. “Please, Cletus - get away from the tree, you’ll die! Don’t listen to the others!” 

“Hey, whoah.” Quackity was by his side in an instant, kneeling bside Karl and putting a hand on his shoulder. Sapnap froze, though he didn’t try and stop him (He knew they had nowhere else to go). “Karl, hey, it’s alright.” Karl reached out, gripping his shoulders. His eyes were full of tears. 

“Don’t stray from the path,” he whispered. “It’ll take your memories, like it took mine.” He sniffed, swiping at his face with a sandy palm. “I just want to see Quackity and Sapnap again...Jack, I know it doesn’t make sense, but you’ve got to help me…”

“Don’t worry, Karl. I’ll help you.” Quackity’s voice was impossibly gentle as he helped Karl up. He used his wings to support them, turning back towards the city. “Foolish!”

The god returned in a flash of golden light, blinking down at Quackity with emerald eyes. “Whatcha need, big Q?”

“Can you take Karl to my quarters?” he asked. “Put him in my bed and get him some water. I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Sure thing.” Foolish gently lifted the delirious boy from Quackity’s arms, and Sapnap watched the god leave before turning to go. He’d check up on Karl tomorrow, he decided.

“Sapnap.”

He stopped, glancing back at Las Nevadas. Quackity hadn’t followed Foolish; instead he remained by the sign, perfectly still except for the wind that ruffled his feathers. 

“Come on,” he said. His voice was strangely quiet. “Karl he...he needs both of us. You can stay here tonight.” Sapnap didn’t movel, keeping his gaze focused on the man he thought he’d known (and loved) once upon a time. After a moment, Quackity looked away. His tense shoulders loosened, and suddenly he seemed so very small in the shadows of his city lights.

“Please,” he whispered. “I-I’m sorry. Just please stay...for him. For both of us.”

The stars shone on a quiet desert; a quiet space that was so small and yet felt like an infinity between them. 

Sapnap let out a tired sigh. He looked at the distant green hills that held Kinoko Kingdom; an empty country made by two sad, empty people. He looked back, at Quackity. At Foolish behind him, cradling Karl in his arms. Another country, built by another empty man.

And perhaps, the walls wouldn’t come down tonight. Or ever.

But...

He started towards Quackity.

Maybe it was worth trying.

[bittydragon]

The Problems Arising (The Election)

Next

Notes: Here it is! This is the start of that big project I told you all about yesterday! This story is based off of the request by @potatonugget7 - “I was wondering if you could do like, the whole Schlatt arc of L’Manburg but with borrower Tubbo?” (Just in case the picture decides to not load for some dumb reason.) (Also, only reason I’m not answering this as the ask itself is purely due to formatting reasons) Let me tell you, this has been a blast to create. I have actually been talking with the person who sent me this ask and they helped me develop the story. Personally, I think this is turning out amazing. I am very excited to share this project with you all and hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

“Wilbur, relax! We’ve got this in the bag! There’s no way we could lose this thing, not after all the work we have put into this.”

“But Tommy! SWAG2020 has begun gaining a following and Schlatt’s sudden entrance to the election could send this all for a loop. Can we really still win?”

Tubbo watched as his best friend and his brother argued over what the outcome for this election would be. 

Wilbur had only become increasingly anxious over the results whilst Tommy was completely confident in their abilities to win the election. 

Tubbo wished he could help, but it was rather difficult when he was only a few inches tall. All he could do was sit there and give whatever words of encouragement he could think of to help calm the two humans’ nerves. 

But in this moment, Tubbo couldn’t even think of what he could say. Wilbur was rightfully worried, Quackity had begun to gain a following and Schlatt’s sudden entry to the election threw everyone off. 

Though, Tommy’s optimism had its own truth behind it. The two brothers had put a lot of work into their election campaign, and that isn’t even considering the amount of work they  put into building the country as a whole. 

With all this in mind, Tubbo still had high hopes that Wilbur and Tommy would still win.

“Guys, at this point it’s useless to argue about the outcome, the votes are all in already. Nothing is going to change the outcome now.” 

Both humans went silent and turned to Tubbo, who barely flinched at the sudden attention. He was used to it at this point. He was just happy that they actually listened to him instead of ignoring him because he was different. 

“Though, I do want to ask a favor of you Wilbur.”

Wilbur sent him a questioning gaze. “And what would that be, Tubbo?” Tubbo took a deep breath. He just hoped that they would be alright with this.

“Could I come and watch this time? I could just hide in your pocket!” He took a deep breath as he noticed Tommy was about to say something and continued. 

“I just feel as if I don’t get to see what happens with you guys. Plus, I want to be there to celebrate with you two afterwards!” He sent them a wide smile, which thankfully seemed to calm both of their nerves.

“Of course, Tubbo. I’d be happy to-”

“Wait! Why don’t you want me to carry you? Why the hell did you ask Wilbur and not me, your best friend if I may add.”

“Tommy, I wouldn’t trust you to actually keep me hidden either if I were Tubbo, dumbass.”

Tubbo giggled as Tommy began sputtering out various curses and insults. Wilbur only looked on in amusement. Tubbo enjoyed these little moments with them. 

They were like a family, something Tubbo hadn’t really had before meeting Tommy.

All too soon, their fun was stopped by the distant ringing of a bell. All three of them knew what this bell meant; the time to announce the results of the election. 

They all stood there in silence for a brief moment to let it sink in. Eventually, Wilbur turned towards Tubbo and extended his hand out to him with a smile.

“Shall we?” Tubbo nodded and quickly climbed onto Wilbur’s hand. 

His grip tightened ever so slightly to keep himself balanced as the hand moved upwards. It seemed to take no time at all before he reached the pocket of Wilbur’s uniform and slid into it. 

He began situating himself inside of the pocket as he felt Wilbur lean down to pick up the envelope that contained the final results. 

When everyone was ready, they left towards the podium with a heavy silence hanging between them.

The walk was uneventful and quiet, all three too caught up in their own thoughts. As they approached the podium, they could see many of the citizens of L’Manburg had already begun to gather below. With a heavy sigh, Wilbur walked up towards the podium with Tommy trailing behind him.

As soon as they reached the podium, Tubbo ducked back into the pocket. He’d rather not be seen by others. He’d be content with only listening to the results, they really weren’t something he needed to see to know the outcome.

Tubbo heard faint conversation around him as Wilbur prepared to announce the results that were located in the envelope from earlier. A moment later, Wilbur tapped the microphone and cleared his throat; everyone went silent.

“Hello everyone, and welcome to the L’Manburg election results! In my hand are the final votes for the election, the deciding factor on L’Manburg’s next president.” Tubbo felt Wilbur take a deep breath as he lifted the envelope for everyone in the audience to see.

“This envelope contains the popular votes for the four running parties: POG2020 consisting of Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit, SWAG2020 consisting of Quackity and George, Coconut2020 consisting of Fundy and Nihachu, and Schlatt2020 consisting of Schlatt. With that said, I will now read out the results of the election.”

Silence was all that met Wilbur’s words. Tubbo assumed everyone was anticipating the results with baited breath because even he felt his own doubts creeping in. 

However he shook it off as he heard Wilbur tear the envelope open and pull out the sheet of paper.

A few seconds later, Wilbur suddenly tensed up. It felt so slight that he was sure that no one watching would notice, but Tubbo could feel it from inside the pocket. 

He was confused, POG2020 was the clear favorite, at least, he thought they were the clear favorite. But the way Wilbur tensed up made his doubts increase tenfold.

“In fourth place with 9% of the vote, we have Coconut2020!”

Cheering suddenly erupted from beside Wilbur, and Tubbo made a quick guess that it was Fundy cheering. At least he still seemed happy despite losing the election.

“In third place with 16% of the vote, we have Schlatt2020!”

An astonished silence followed the announcement. Tubbo shifted in surprise as well. Schlatt had been such a late entry to the election as a whole, and yet, he didn’t receive the lowest amount of votes. He had actually managed to gain a decent following for only being in L’Manburg for a few days, prior to the election.

“That leaves us with the last two parties: POG2020,” he paused for effect before continuing on, “and SWAG2020.” Silence hung in the air, only broken by a small cheer behind Wilbur that went ignored by everyone. 

“In second place with 30% of the vote,” Wilbur paused, raising the suspense.Tubbo held his breath, hoping that POG2020 came out as the elected party. 

“SWAG2020!”

Cheer erupted from all around, the loudest being Tommy who was standing right beside Wilbur. Even Tubbo couldn’t help but let out a relieved laugh, they had won the election.

“That leaves POG2020 with 45% of the popular vote.” Tommy’s cheering increased tenfold at the new statement. Tubbo knew that if he wasn’t in Wilbur’s pocket at that exact moment, Tommy would be all over his brother in excitement. 

Tubbo was about to tap Wilbur to show him how excited he was when he began to speak again.

“Tommy, Tommy please settle down. I need to announce one other thing.” Tommy lessened his cheering but Tubbo knew he was probably still smiling like an idiot. They had won, they did it!

“Two days ago, a deal was made between candidate Quackity and candidate Schlatt. They both agreed to create a coalition government based off of both of their respective followings. Therefore, the new party of Schlatt2020 has 46% of the popular vote. Meaning that Schlatt2020 has won the election by 1% of the vote.”

Tubbo could no longer pay attention to everything going on around him, all of the words around him blending into white noise. 

They had actually lost the election. 

Wilbur and Tommy didn’t win when it should have been an easy victory for them. The only reason they lost was because of the new coalition government pooling their votes together.

So what was going to happen now? This Schlatt person was the new president of L’Manburg? 

He had only been in these lands for around a week prior and the people had already decided that they preferred him over Wilbur. Wilbur hadn’t done anything wrong, he had done nothing to cause a dislike towards him. 

And L’Manburg chose a new member over one of the original founders.

Tubbo eventually let himself tune back into the happenings around him and risked a glance over the edge of the pocket as Schlatt began his inauguration speech. 

He hadn’t noticed when they moved down from the platform to stand with the rest of L’Manburg’s citizens. He really was lost in his thoughts it seemed.

He glanced over to Tommy who sent a small worried look back. Tommy had done so much for this country and he was now nothing more than another citizen. 

Tubbo hoped that Schlatt would at least honor Tommy’s contributions to the country at the very least. 

“My first decree, as the president of L’Manburg, the Emperor of this great country!” Tubbo turned his gaze to the podium where the ram hybrid began giving his first decree. 

That first line alone made a small chill run down Tubbo’s spine. 

“Is to revoke the citizenship of Wilbur Soot,” Schlatt paused for a minute and his smile grew bigger. “And TommyInnit!”

Time seemed to stop for Tubbo as he registered the new president’s words among the now growing cheers and screams. But that meant they couldn’t be on L’Manburg lands. 

They weren’t allowed to stay so what are they going to-

“Get ‘em outta here!”

Suddenly, Tubbo felt Wilbur jerk as he turned tail to run. He faintly heard him yelling at Tommy to run, over the roaring blood in his ears. 

He ducked into the pocket as soon as Wilbur lurched forward, like he’d been struck by an arrow. 

Tubbo ducked as low as he could in the pocket to avoid falling out in the commotion, especially when Wilbur whipped around to check who was behind him. 

He then heard Wilbur chug a potion and noticed as the effects began taking place, making Wilbur’s body seemingly disappear into thin air.

Before he was completely out of sight though, another arrow hit Wilbur and next thing Tubbo knew he was free falling toward the ground. 

What just happened? 

He attempted to prop himself up on his arms in the tall grass, only to see items littered around him. 

The sound of people running fell on deaf ears as Tubbo attempted to regain his bearings. It had all gone so fast, he wasn’t exactly sure what had just happened.

“Well this is unexpected. The fuck are you supposed to be?” 

Tubbo stared wide-eyed up at the figure that was now towering over him. 

It was the ram hybrid, the one who beat Wilbur in the election. At Tubbo’s silence, Schlatt’s eyes narrowed and he let out a small noise of annoyance. 

Before he could register what was happening, a large hand reached down and snatched him up in a tight fist.

Tubbo began trying to squirm out of the suffocating grip to no avail as he was lifted off of the ground. The fist only squeezed harder, pushing Tubbo’s breath out of him. 

He stopped struggling in hopes that he would be allowed to breathe easier and possibly get a chance to escape. 

One glance at his captor however, dashed all hope that Tubbo had. He watched in horror as the ram’s expression changed from confusion to a sinister looking grin.

“You belonged to Wilbur, didn’t you?” Schlatt smirked and began twisting Tubbo around in his grip. “If that’s the case, you might be useful.”

Tubbo tried to steady himself in the man’s hands but was constantly knocked over by Schlatt twisting and turning him. 

With the implications Schlatt made and the constant twisting; Tubbo felt sick to his stomach.

The movement finally stopped, only for Tubbo to be trapped in a tight fist once more as Schlatt bent down to pick up the potions that Wilbur had dropped. 

He seemed uninterested in most of the things Wilbur dropped when he died, he only seemed to be interested in the potions and Tubbo.

That did not bode well for Tubbo at all.

A few seconds later, Schlatt stored the potions on his person and began walking towards the White House with Tubbo in hand. 

Schlatt didn’t even look at him as he began shifting Tubbo around again, further disorienting the tiny boy. A quick glance at the ram however, heavily implied that he was doing this on purpose.

It felt like forever before they reached the White House, at least for Tubbo it did. He felt dizzy and sick by the time they stopped walking, anymore and it may have caused him to throw up. 

He was so out of it that he didn’t even notice Schlatt creating a small glass box on the table until he was dropped into it.

Tubbo landed on his butt inside the enclosure with a grunt of pain before looking up in fear. Schlatt smiled and propped his head up on his hand atop the table.

“There you go, pet. Just like home, right? Of course it is!” He leaned in, not giving Tubbo a chance to respond. “‘Cause little fucking things like you are nothing more than pets.”

Tubbo scooted backwards, hoping to put as much distance between himself and Schlatt despite the glass enclosure. He shrunk back further as Schlatt laughed at his actions.

Before either of them could do anything else, someone else entered the White House with a loud, excited cheer.

“Eyyyy, Schlatt! Mr. President! How does it feel to have all this power in your new nation?” Tubbo glanced over to see the newcomer. 

He quickly deduced that this was Quackity, Schlatt’s vice president and the reason Schlatt became president. 

Tubbo knew that Schlatt wouldn’t have won if Quackity hadn’t pooled his votes with Schlatt, meaning he already had a bitter feeling towards him.

“So what’s our first plan of action- Schlatt? What the fuck is that?”

Tubbo was now extremely aware of the new pair of eyes on him, the attention was too much. Unfortunately, in his situation there was nothing he could do to escape the attention. 

Tommy and Wilbur at least respected his privacy whenever he felt overwhelmed, these two however, most definitely did not.

“Dunno, but it was sitting amongst Soot’s stuff after he was killed. Brought it back here as soon as I realized that this weird creature could be used against him if he tries any funny business.” Schlatt never took his eyes off Tubbo as he spoke, unnerving the tiny boy even more.

Tubbo switched his gaze towards Quackity and noticed a small unease forming in his expression. It was almost as if the idea of Schlatt using a small person as nothing more than a tool unnerved him. 

It made Tubbo feel a bit of hope for his situation.

“As weird as this is, I’ll be fine with this ‘cause you’re right, it does give us the upper hand against Wilbur and Tommy!”

And with that, any hope Tubbo had left was shattered. The new vice president wasn’t going to do anything to stop Schlatt, he was too loyal to the president.

“That’s what I thought! This is why you’re my vice president! Come now, we have much to figure out with my new country!”

“Yessir!”

With that, they left the room, leaving Tubbo alone in his glass enclosure. He curled up into himself as tears threatened to fall. 

He knew he wasn’t going to be able to escape this situation easily, if he could even escape at all. All he wanted was to end this new nightmare.

He just wanted to be back with Tommy.

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

This is something I’ve been planning for a long time and I hope you all enjoy this story.

Also, what do you think of title of the fic? Should I change the title or is it good?

Prologue

Thana, all of two years old and already so smart, laid awake at night, every night, listening to her mother pry open her bedroom window and slip out into the night. Thana, a spry little slip of a girl, would lie awake all night waiting for her mother to come home.

Thana took several naps during the day, knowing she’d need to be awake to listen for her mom.

---

Thana, all of three years old, stared up into the blue eyes of the man her mother claimed was her father. She took in his features, seeing only slight similarities between his face and her own. She saw her mother’s tense form hanging in the doorway, observing the interaction. She focused all of her attention on the man, Tetch. She narrowed her eyes and straightened her shoulders. “I don’t like you and I don’t like what you’ve been doing to my mom.”

Tetch’s face broke out in a face-splitting grin. “She’s definitely mine. Oh my dearest Alice,” he turned his attention to Thana's mother and made to take a step towards her but was stopped by Thana, “she’s just like you but just like me.”

Thana stared at the blue eyed man and continued to glare at him. “No I’m not. I’m my own person.”

---

Thana, a few months past her third birthday, refused to let the tears fall over her rapidly bruising cheek. She held her head high, feeling blood trickle down over her lips, as she bared her teeth to the man who called himself her father. “You can hit me as many times as you want, you will not break my spirit. You will not make me into one of your Alices.”

Jervis Tetch’s face split into a manic grin. “Perfect.” His voice was full of a dark glee and would have sent shivers down Thana’s spine if she hadn’t already desensitized herself to his particular brand of dark glee.

---

Thana, a few months shy of four years old, stood behind their apartment’s door her hand still raised to wave her mother off. Thana felt Tetch’s hand land on her shoulder, his grip tightening to an almost bruising hold.

---

Thana, barely four years old, picked up her mother’s cell phone in her shaky, blood covered hands. She dialled the number for the GCPD and waited anxiously for someone to pick up the phone.

“Gotham City Police Department. This is Stacy. How may I direct your call?”

“My mommy’s dead. I don’t know, I didn’t know who else to call?”

“Oh sweetheart. Give me one second. Can you stay on the line while I connect your call to one of our detectives?”

Thana nodded before remembering that she was on the phone. “Yes ma’am.” Thana waited all of maybe a minute before a second voice sounded from the phone.

“Hi. I’m Detective Donald Peak. Can you tell me your name?”

“My mommy’s dead. Can you help?”

“Sweetheart, what’s your address?”

Thana rattled off her address, something her mother had made her memorize in case of any situation.

---

Thana, a month past her fourth birthday, packed her belongings into a backpack she found in the back of her mother’s closet before she climbed out of her bedroom window. She clung to the side of her building as she slid her window closed before looking down at the alley under her feet.

Thana let go of the building and successfully landed in the, thankfully, full dumpster that had, conveniently, been left open. She scrambled out of the dumpster and flung herself at the pavement beside the dumpster. Thana glanced back up at her bedroom, remembering all of the days she spent playing with her mother in her bedroom, before she turned around and dashed into the night.

---

Thana, eyes wide to what goes on in the world, knew there was someone following her as she ducked in and out of alleyways. Thana shrunk back into the shadows and waited for him to get close enough for her to control the situation.

The boy, because he couldn’t be too much older than she was, ducked into the alleyway she was hiding in and walked right in front of her. She stuck out one of her legs and tripped him, because he hadn’t been expecting it.

“Why have you been following me?” Thana planted her foot in the middle of his chest, fully aware that he could break out of her hold.

“You’re so small. How old are you?” He looked up at her with his eyes searching her face in the limited light streaming into the alley from an oddly placed window.

“Why. Have You. Been. Following. Me?” Thana growled out before her body froze and she hauled the boy to his feet and pushed him back into the shadows. Thana turned to glare at the boy when he made a noise.

“Oh Alice! My little Alice! Come out come out wherever you are! Daddy wants to play!” Tetch’s voice bounced around the alley, causing Thana to sink back deeper into the shadows, and unconsciously into the boy’s arms. “Wherever did my little Alice run off to?!”

Thana waited until she couldn’t hear his voice anymore before she grabbed the boy’s hand and ran out of the alley in the opposite direction that Tetch had walked in.

They ran the length of three city blocks before Thana turned and dragged them into a different alley.

Thana slumped against a wall beside a dumpster, pulling her knees up to her chest and forgetting the boy was there for a moment, until he opened his mouth.

“Your name is Alice?” The boy asked as he crouched in front of Thana. “And Mad Hatter is your dad?”

“My name is Thana, and Jervis Tetch is just the man who knocked up my mother.”

---

The boy, who Thana learned was named Jason, stuck around and helped her with her homework. He even shared his last name with her, Todd, and said he was okay with her using it as her own.

Thana walked the streets of Gotham unafraid with her brother at her side.

---

Thana smiled up at her big brother, happier than she’d been in a long time. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling him wrap his own arms, encased in the red sleeves of his hoodie, around her in return.

“I love you Jay-Jay.”

“I love you too Pixie.” Jason smiled and pulled back from his sister. He pulled out a bag from some hidey-hole and his smile grew as he handed the bag to his sister.

“Is this?” Thana opened the bag and looked up at her brother with tear-filled eyes. She gently lifted the red hoodie out of the bag and pressed it against her chest. “Jay-Jay?”

“Surprise.”

---

Thana walked out of the elementary building late one night, and was surprised when she didn’t find her brother. She simply shrugged, he had been missing the day before too, but startled when a boy in a cape landed beside her.

“A little birdie told me that you would need my assistance.”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, my brother usually walks with me but I’m not sure where he- you’re not Robin. Who’re you?”

The boy in the cape awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his green glove covered hand. “I’m Robin, just not the original. He decided to go out on his own.” He held out his hand and in the faint star light exposed the red sleeves covering his arms.

Thana looked from the red sleeves up into the face of the boy in th- Robin. “Jay-Jay?”

Robin’s eyes widened and he quickly looked around. “Pixie. You’re not supposed to be able to tell who I am.”

Thana smiled and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Only Jay-Jay knows that I trust people in red sleeves more willingly than people in sleeves of any other colour.”

---

Thana screamed and cried, punching and kicking the adults dragging her away from her brother.

“We’ve found a relative of your mother’s! Isn’t that exciting?!” The lady was overly cheerful, ignoring the heart-wrenching sobs pouring out of Thana’s tiny body.

“No! I want to stay with my brother!”

---

Thana stared up at the Asain woman who had introduced herself as Sabine Cheng, a cousin of her mother.

“My husband, Tom, and I run a bakery in Paris. We’d like you to come live with us. We’d like to take care of you.”

“I don’t get an option here, do I?” Thana looked from the Asain woman to her husband, a large man with a mustache. “Why’d you even drag me down here if you weren’t going to give me an option?”

---

Thana, now called Marinette by her French family, adjusted the straps on her book bag as she looked at herself in the mirror. Thana, dressed in clothes her new parents approved of, tried to smile. “Hi. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Thana let the false smile fall from her face and shook out of her hands.

Thana walked down the stairs, a smile on her face to appease her new parents, and grabbed the box of macarons Tom made so she could impress her new classmates. “Thanks.”

Thana walked out of the bakery, the box of macarons held in her arms like a precious package. She walked to the school and counted the sidewalk blocks as she walked. She let out a breath as she reached the entrance of the l’école élémentaire Tom and Sabine had enrolled her in.

Thana’s first impression of the school was that it was too big and scary. Her second impression of the school was that she was terrified that she was starting a new school and her brother wasn’t at her side.

“My name is Marinette now. I need to stop referring to myself as Thana.” Marinette thought to herself as she walked into the courtyard. She glanced around the courtyard, saw all of the kids, and felt her fear return full force. She gathered up her courage and walked into the courtyard and instantly felt all of the students’ eyes on her.

Marinette let it wash over her, pushing her fear back as far as it will go, and straightened her shoulders. She strode through the courtyard and into the building, hoping to find the principal’s office without having to ask anyone.

Marinette strode into the principal’s office and smiled at the man. “Hello. I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I believe my parents Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng called you and enrolled me in your school?”

---

Marinette didn’t make a lot of friends while enrolled in the l’école élémentaire, but the ones she did make were ones she was planning on keeping.

The first friend she made was a boy named Lê Chiến Kim. She only befriended him because he wore red sleeves and reminded her of her big brother.

The second friend was a boy named Nino Lahiffe. He played music that reminded her of home, the street music in Gotham was very similar to the music Nino played.

The third, and final, friend she made was a girl named Chloé Bourgeois. Chloé reminded Marinette of Robin, her brother’s alter ego, with the way she commanded respect.

---

The four ten year olds pushed through the glares directed at them by the other students, they didn’t care. They had each other and that was enough.

---

Marinette’s eleventh birthday came and went, and for the second year in a row she didn’t receive anything from her brother in Gotham. She put a smile on her face for the sake of her new parents and her new friends, despite the fact that she felt like she was dying.

---

Marinette had just turned thirteen, Jay-Jay was sixteen, and she searched the internet looking for anything that would let her know what her brother had been up to. Marinette shut down when the biggest trending news story was the death of “Billionaire Bruce Wayne’s sixteen year old son”, no one could get her out of her depressive state.

---

Chloé, Nino and Kim helped Marinette through it all, the arrival of Lila Rossi and the appearance of tiny gods called Kwamis.

It was the strength of that friendship which allowed the four of them to succeed in everything they set their minds to, the strength of the love they shared that allowed them to tackle any situation in front of them.

Taglist

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss

[writtenjewels]

Jacob’s Desire

Previously

Jacob tried to keep his breathing calm despite his racing heart. He learned about all of the past Assassins from his father but the two who captured his attention the most were Ezio and Edward. The way Ezio had risen to become Master Assassin was an inspiration, and his rallying of the people in Rome was particularly admirable. Admittedly, he took a lot of his inspiration for his gang from Ezio's example.

As for Edward, Jacob loved the rebellious ways of the pirate. He and his Jackdaw sailed free of any rule other than that of the ship. Robbing and pillaging all along the West Indies, and killing Templars along the way. It sounded like an amazing life.

It was thanks to those two that Jacob discovered he was attracted to men as well as women. He found drawings of both of them among his father's possessions and felt a stirring of desire.

Now through some strange and fantastic turn of events, here he was being undressed by them both. Every time a new piece of clothing was removed one or both of them would caress his skin with their hands and lips. He tried to do the same. He watched them reveal their bodies with growing hunger, groaning a bit at the build of them.

“Our young friend's getting eager,” Edward observed with a brush of his lips along Jacob's neck. Ezio's fingers swept up his sides. Jacob used one hand to run along Edward's hip and the other to squeeze Ezio's shoulder. Why did they all have to wear so much?

Jacob was naked first, which was no surprise. The other two took turns appraising his body. Hands squeezed his ass and thighs, keeping clear of his crotch for now. Jacob watched them back, itching to take off their trousers so he could get a full look, too. Ezio caught his face by the chin, caressing his lower lip with a thumb.

“You have wanted this for years, no?”

“Yes,” Jacob gulped. The Italian rhythm of that voice was so goddamn hot. Edward stood at Ezio's side, propping an arm on the other man's shoulder.

“So, lad, what first?”

Jacob's eyes darted between them for a moment. But of course he already knew what he wanted most. He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to Ezio's mouth, probing until the Italian's lips parted for him. He felt those hands sliding down his body to his ass and he gasped. His own fingers dug into Ezio's shoulders, dragging down his spine. He could hear some rustling and parted from the kiss. Edward was standing behind Ezio working off his trousers. He pushed the clothing down and got a hand on the older mentor's cock.

“Don't mind me,” he hummed. “Just helping along while enjoying the show.”

“Grazi,” Ezio said in a heated breath. He seized Jacob again and brought their lips back together. His lips were hot and hungry, his tongue probing just right. He felt a rough hand on his cock and thought it must be Edward's as both of Ezio's were already caressing his body. The pirate pumped and squeezed, encouraging him to grow erect. There was a momentary pause in the action that made Jacob pull back again to see what was happening.

Edward was passing a bottle of lube to Ezio. Ezio caught his eye and raised a brow. “Do I assume too much?”

“No, I... shit.” Jacob gulped. He never thought this might happen. “You'd be the first man... But I want it, I want you.”

“Bene.” Ezio gave him a swift kiss across the lips. He got lube on his hands and handed it back to Edward, who coated his own hands.

“You're damn eager to have him fuck you,” Edward smirked at Jacob playfully as he started coating Ezio's cock with the lube. Ezio meanwhile was prodding his ass with his fingers, finding the tight little hole and pushing through. “What about me?”

“Fuck,” Jacob hissed, shuddering at the feeling of Ezio's fingers going deeper.

“Oh, you want me to fuck you too.” Edward moved the fingers of his free hand through Jacob's hair, turning his head for a kiss. “I can manage that. I'll let you two have fun first, then I'll bend you over and have mine. And you can get a nice taste of Ezio's cock while you're at it. How's that sound?”

“Uh, huh,” Jacob gulped, finding it hard to form actual words. He should have guessed Edward would be the one to have a dirty mouth.

Eventually they made it to Ezio's bed. All three of them climbed in, Edward making himself comfortable so he could watch. Ezio stretched Jacob out on his back, the younger Assassin wrapping his legs around the Italian.

“Quick learner,” Edward noted in approval.

“But of course,” Ezio smiled. He gazed down at Jacob, adoring, admiring. “He is an Assassin.”

And then his cock was sliding its way inside Jacob. The girth of it was surprising and he jerked a bit, almost forcing the older Assassin to pull back out again. He took a few breaths and insisted he wanted to keep going. The two men praised him, kissing him and then each other. Ezio moved inside slow and steady, murmuring encouraging things in Italian. Jacob glanced over to Edward and saw the pirate stroking himself.

“For your first time, you're doing well,” he commented. “Ever fuck yourself with your fingers, Jacob?” Jacob nodded dazedly. All his vocal energy was going into gasps and moans as Ezio thrust inside him. “Did you imagine this?” Edward continued. “Think a lot about Ezio's big cock fucking your ass?” Good lord, the man had a filthy mouth. Jacob loved it. He gave another nod in answer. “I bet you did,” Edward smirked in approval. “The great Italian mentor spreading you wide, fucking you hard. That was a hint, Ezio.”

“Hm?” Ezio's lips were currently making a path along Jacob's neck to his shoulder.

“Jacob wants you to fuck him harder. Isn't that right, Jacob?”

“Yes,” he gulped. “Fuck me harder, Ezio.”

“You do not have to listen to him,” Ezio purred against his neck. He pushed himself in deeper but not harder. “It is your first time; you should not be so hasty. And you,” he added to Edward, “should be quiet.”

“He likes it,” Edward insisted. “Just look at him. How many fingers did you put up your ass to try matching this cock, Jacob? Were they enough? He's filling you up good, isn't he? Being your first, he must feel big and thick to you. Mm, yeah, just close your eyes and feel him stuffing you full. He's got quite the cock. Good, because I'm going to need you nice and open for when I pound your ass.”

Bloody hell, Jacob didn't know what was going to make him lose it first, Edward's chatter or Ezio's thrusts burying deep inside him.

“You may be right,” Ezio huffed in a strained voice. “He's leaking precum already and I have not touched his cock.”

“Touch him, then,” Edward urged, and to Jacob's relief Ezio complied, stroking the throbbing erection. “Fire away, Jacob. I'd love to come all over you but I'm saving my load for your ass. Once our illustrious mentor is done I'm going to get you on your stomach, spread you, and just start fucking you hard. Then I'm gonna come into you and lick my own seed out of your ass.”

Jacob let out a helpless, gutteral cry. Yes, fuck yes, he wanted to cry, but he couldn't manage it. Meanwhile Ezio was moving faster, finally putting more force behind each thrust. “Come... inside me... M-mentor,” Jacob begged.

“Turn him over,” Edward suggested. “Let him ride it out. I think he's got the hang of it.”

“You just want him there so you can lift him from my cock and straight onto yours,” Ezio grunted.

“Of course I do. Can't leave him empty for too long.” Jacob made a groan that he hoped sounded like he was agreeing. He didn't want either of them to stop fucking him. He didn't know how much longer this was going to last-- having them both here. He lost track of all he was feeling but he was greedy and wanted more of it. All of it.

Ezio's fingers threaded through his hair, tilting his head so their eyes met. “You are nearly there, Jacob. Come for me, bello.” Jacob felt compelled to obey, spilling hot against the older mentor's chest. He watched it with wild eyes. Edward reached between them to wipe some up and taste it.

“Not bad,” he hummed. “Here.” He offered his cum-slick fingers to Jacob. He thoughtlessly took them in his mouth and sucked. He was in a daze and Ezio hadn't stopped fucking him. “Hah, Christ, still so eager. You're gonna love his mouth, Ezio. Now quit taking your time so I can have a turn.”

As far as Jacob was concerned, Ezio could keep fucking him as long as he wanted. His cock felt so damn good. But eventually the mentor spilled his load. He pulled out, making Jacob whine. But in the next moment Edward's hands were on him, flipping him on his stomach, pulling him up so his ass stuck up in the air. He was spread open just as Edward promised and a new cock thrust inside him.

Goddamn. He could do this all night, just being passed back and forth between them until they were all exhausted. Maybe whatever allowed this would happen would end soon after that, but Jacob was going to enjoy every minute until then.