#ANYMORE AND JUST HOLD HIM AT ARMS REACH. HE FEELS ALONE AND HOPELESS

[rakkuntoast]

i swear if qforever doesnt get a nice and healing reunion with richas and tallulah i am exploding that server myself

[jakesyluslly]

summary: you're going through a stressful time and you surrender yourself to sylus

𖹭𖹭𖹭

you were going through a stressful time. your mind was too full, you couldn't think clearly. your depressive mood was eating and draining you from the inside. maybe stress was normal, but you couldn't control it. at some point you couldn't even tolerate yourself. you wanted to do nothing, literally nothing.

you sat on the bed, wearing a thin nightgown that reached down to your knees. you pulled your legs up to your chest, put your chin between your knees and just stayed like that for a while. times like these came and went, yes, but it didn't make you feel good at that moment. besides, you didn't want to talk to anyone. yes, not even to him. you didn't want to overwhelm sylus with your problems, you didn't want him to have to deal with your problems when he already had enough of his own. you pretended that everything was fine, forgetting how well he knew you.

sylus opened the door slowly and walked in. he knew something was wrong, of course he did. he sighed when he saw you curled up in a ball on the bed. seeing you upset made him even more upset, you kind of set the mood for him. he approached you slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed. ''sweetie…'' he gently brushed your hair out of your face, he wanted to look at you. he grabbed your chin and turned your face towards him, he could read everything in your eyes. ''i'm fine.'' you mumbled, but he didn't believe a word you said. ''don't expect me to believe you.''

he put his hand on your cheek, his thumb stroked under your eye. “if you don't want to tell me what happened, then don't.” he whispered. he took you in his arms and sat you on his lap, made you rest your head on his chest. “but let me keep you company. let me share your silence, your pain.“ his words brought tears to your eyes. all the emotions you had repressed were coming out. you were unable to speak, as if someone was squeezing your throat. ”sshh…” he stroked your hair, massaged your scalp. it was killing him to see you like that. he closed his eyes, lowered his head and inhaled the scent of her hair. ''you don't need to hold yourself back. let your emotions come out. you want to cry? cry.'' you felt his breath in your hair, his presence reassured you. you wrapped your arms tightly around him, you needed him, more than anything. you rubbed your nose against his neck and finally tears started to stream down your cheeks.

sylus held you tightly, rubbing soft circles on your back, stroking your hair. ''everything will pass. everything will be fine.'' he held you close to him, feeling your tears on his skin. you trembled like a wounded bird in his arms, and his heart trembled to see you like that. ''this won't last forever, my love. no pain is permanent.'' he continued to tell you what was in his heart. you were crying as you listened to him, but you felt yourself relaxing. it was as if tons of weight were slowly lifting off you. ''sometimes i feel so helpless.'' you murmured through your tears. ''i feel hopeless, a failure. i… i can't help myself.''

sylus listened to you carefully, pressing soft kisses into your hair. ''you're so strong.'' he whispered in your ear, you could feel his voice deep in your soul. ''you can't imagine what you've been through. you'll get through this, you'll overcome everything. but…'' he held your chin and lifted your head, looked into your eyes for a while. he stroked your lower lip with his thumb as he looked into your eyes, swollen and red from crying. ''…but you don't have to go through it alone. you're not alone. i'm here.''

he took your cheeks in his hands and wiped away your tears. ”i can't take your pain away from you, but i can make you share it with me. i don't want to see those beautiful eyes of yours crying with sadness anymore. haven't you cried enough already?”

you didn't understand his last sentence very well, you weren't sure what he meant, but you couldn't dwell on it. ''i will always hold your hand, no matter what.” he said, smiling softly. he took your hand and brought it to his lips, turning his head to kiss the palm of your hand. you felt your heart soften as you looked at him, you were glad you had him.

“get some rest. sleep will do you good.” sylus was about to put you to bed when you stopped him, you had other plans. “sylus… can i sleep on your lap?”

sylus' curious expression was replaced by a smile, his eyes softened. ''of course, of course, my darling. come here.'' he took you in his arms, held you like a baby and placed a tender kiss on your forehead. ''I'll be here when you wake up, right next to you.'' he hummed a soothing melody to help you fall asleep easily, stroking your hair. you felt your eyelids feel heavy, your eyes were already hurting from crying. there was an indescribable pleasure in sleeping after crying. soon your body relaxed and you fell asleep in sylus' arms.

he kissed you from your cheek to your chin, his eyes never leaving you for a moment. “my most precious treasure. from now on i will be with you every moment, i promise.”

[aurynsia]

Unrequited, Terrifying Chapter 6

James Potter x Reader

Summary: Your secret admirer is not so secret anymore…

Warnings: Extremely fluffy, nervous!james x shy!reader, idiots in love, lovesick!james, no use of Y/N, reader is referred to with she/her pronouns and presents femininely, James is head over heels in love, quiet!reader, NOT EDITED!

Word count: 1.6K

Series Masterlist

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

——————— ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ———————

A cool air occupied the Astronomy Tower, gusts of gentle breeze slipping in and out. A picnic blanket lined the floor, visible under the soft glow of an assortment of candles lit in the room. On it sat a basket of food, sweets, and a bouquet of flowers with your name on it.

It was all going smoothly, in fact, James would argue it was perfect. He had planned this night years ago, making the first date comfortable and private but still a solid display of just how much he’s willing to give you.

Wearing his crisp button down tucked into some black slacks, messy hair somewhat managed with a comb, and a bubbling feeling of nerves and excitement, James stood at the top of the stairs and waited.

The soft press of heels to concrete echoed up the staircase, slowly approaching the top of the tower. You rounded the final corner, immediately beaming at the boy stood waiting for you. Your subtle makeup shined in the candlelight as your dress fit you in all the right ways.

“He’ll go feral when he sees you,” Charlie had joked when you were getting dressed.

She might have been right.

James’ heart caught in his throat, holding out an arm for you to grasp as he escorted you across the short distance to the blanket. “You look so amazing, I mean…you’re just so perfect,” he praised, gaze tracing your figure like he was committing every inch of you to memory. “Thank you, Jamie, so do you,” you grinned in reply, standing close and peering up at the bashful boy in front of you.

He helped you to the ground as he began to pull out an assortment of food and drink. “I knew some of the things you like already, but I wasn’t sure if it was enough…so I kind of just bought the whole of Hog’s Head,” he explained with a nervous laugh, sitting on his knees to reach further into the basket and present even more food.

“Oh, Jamie, I…this is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me! And probably the most food anyone’s ever given me as well,” you giggled, glancing around the space in awe at the atmospheric romance.

“I’m sorry if it’s too much, I just- Sirius says I’m always such a hopeless romantic,” he rambled bashfully in reply, “I hope you like it, love.”

He started to make you a plate of all your favourite foods, adding a few new dishes too. He poured you some butterbeer before serving himself, rarely looking away from you. His heart was on fire, lit alight by his sheer magnetic attraction to you. He knew his younger self would be beaming to know he actually finally got to sit like this with you, alone with the stars and a candlelit dinner. He was in heaven.

The quiet sounds of eating consumed the room, both of you meeting each other’s gaze at a particularly loud crunch of food under teeth. You both burst out laughing, falling over yourselves as you finally relaxed into the date.

“So, quick question,” James began after finishing half of his plate, “the other night, when we confessed, you said I was surprisingly kind?”

“I did, and you are,” you replied, covering your mouth full of food as you looked at him curiously.

“Well, I was just wondering…why did you find that surprising? Have I ever done anything to make you think otherwise?”

You thought over your answer, swallowing your mouthful. After a beat, you responded. “I suppose I only really knew you for your pranks, outside of classes and common room parties. The early stuff was never concerning, I mean, I found it quite funny the way you’d give bullies a taste of their own medicine. But I suppose as the years went on, and the pranks got harsher, and the targets became more innocent, I started to believe you were sort of…mean.”

James glanced at you with an embarrassed smile. “Oh…right…yeah that makes sense. We, uhh- had our reasons for hexing people, but I suppose it’s been pretty harsh recently…” James was bright red, biting his lip and glancing at the floor. You did the same, resuming eating as the boy’s face cooled down.

“Do you remember that Slytherin boy last year? The one in the year above who tried to chat you up at dinner?” You stopped chewing, raising your eyebrows. “Yeah, I do actually…what about him?”

“Well, do you remember his hair turned bright green the next morning…?”

A moment passed in awkward silence. Then, “James! You hexed someone over me!?” Your jaw was slack, and James refused to meet your gaze. “He was being too pushy…besides, I thought you might’ve liked him and, well, I was pretty upset that night. Sirius just decided to…cheer me up,” He explained cautiously.

You snorted, covering your mouth to conceal a laugh. Soon James was laughing too, mostly from relief that you found his infatuation amusing.

——————— ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ———————

A few butterbeers later, you were sitting close and leaning towards each other, whispering about your interests like they were the best kept secrets on earth.

“I didn’t think I really belonged in Gryffindor when I was sorted,” James began, “I thought I wasn’t self-assured enough to fit in. I think over the years I just developed an act of cocky confidence to hide that insecurity.”

You gazed at the boy in affection, basking in similarity. “I thought the exact same thing, though I didn’t show any real bravery until I decided to investigate your little letters this year,” you giggled in reply, “We have so many expectations to live up to under this house. Although, I think it’s the same for every house.”

James hummed in agreement, smiling as he inched slightly closer to you, brushing your hand with his. When you didn’t immediately flinch away and smack him, he moved his hand over yours as you intertwined your fingers with his. You sat in comfortable silence, gazing at each other with shy adoration, before continuing your conversation.

“What do you want to do after school?” You asked, still staring at the boy with a soft blush. “I want to be an Auror, protect the people I love. I’m getting relatively good grades in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but I might have to convince my parents that it’s not too dangerous,” he laughed while beaming down at you. You smiled, opening your mouth to respond before-

“I also want to spend my future with you.”

The words came with a dousing of flustered rambling, James forcing himself to hold your gaze despite the growing heat in his face. “I really, really do,” he emphasised.

The Astronomy Tower made the two of you feel like the only people left on Earth, blocking out any other sign of life on the romantic evening. You were lost in thought.

Your breath hitched when you finally noticed how close James was, nervously glancing between your eyes and lips. You mirrored his movements, leaning towards him with a final glance at his eyes, illuminated by a golden glow.

After years of pining, wishing and waiting, he pushed his lips on yours. The kiss started soft and slow as James hesitated the urge to deepen the connection, something you then initiated. Your lips locked with his in a firm display of passion and affection, hands moving to his hair and reversing the hard work of his comb. His hands trailed down your sides to rest on your waist, pulling you impossibly closer.

James hummed against your lips, forcing a smile down as to not break the kiss. It was everything he’d ever dreamed of, the taste of butterbeer lingering as your lips melted against each other.

After what felt like hours, you finally parted to take a breath. James was bright red and grinning ear to ear, glasses askew on the tip of his nose and hair messier than ever. He pushed up his glasses before returning his hand to your waist, looking down at you as if you were the solution to eternal happiness.

The goofy expression finally melted off of his face, now staring at you with a lovestruck glint in his eye and a soft smile as he drew little patterns on your waist with his fingers.

Silently, you both laid back against the blanket, staring at the stars that were scattered across the sky.

——————— ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ———————

After an hour of whispering sweet nothings under the night sky, lying on James’ chest as he rubbed soothing circles into your back with the palm of his hand, he sat up with a grunt.

You were drunk on the feeling of stolen kisses and sweet talk, gazing hazily at Gryffindor’s head boy as he reached into the picnic basket.

From the woven wood emerged a baby blue envelope, your name scrawled on the front in that familiar, boyish hand.

You joined him in sitting up from the blanket as he held the letter out to you, along with the bouquet he had bought especially for this moment.

You stared curiously at the letter, plucking it from his hands and placing the bouquet in your lap, quietly thanking him for the gesture.

You carefully peeled open the letter, peering into its depth. Pulling your final love letter from its fold, you slowly laid the page open.

“Be mine?

- Forever yours, J.P.”

——————— ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ———————

A/N: YAYYYYYY!!! I’m planning on writing one more chapter about these two during the early years, before wrapping it up with some fluffy relationship goodness <3 I’m also starting one for James fic and a few miscellaneous characters!

——————— ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ———————

Tag List: @1-queenofpotatoes-1 @caspiankingofnarnia @thesuitelifeofafangirl @moonydoodlez @fionnalopez @kawaiiarbitervoid @kc2sstuff @rafeyswrd @mads12043 @spicybearnaise @ch3rry-vine @probabydeadbynow @ilovejamespottersomuch @mqg125 @sofiacblair @valenftcrush @revesephemeres @louweenier @the-lavender-girl

[spidermans-l-o-v-e-r]

Better Than Revenge

Pairing: Eddie Diaz x Reader

Word count: 3.6k

Notes: uhhhh in accidentally posting the wrong thing I think I wrote the wrong request at some point so you know what there’s gonna be a bonus story okay. OKAY now that I’m reading this I’m- I think- I did the request wrong and uhhh….. well here’s you know evidently another bonus fic I hate everything 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Eddie can literally hear Buck laughing all the way to the truck, okay maybe not all the way but a damn good ways down the hall that’s for sure

He has no fucking clue how he got locked in a closet, but he did. At least he wasn’t alone… he looks over at you, sitting with your ankles crossed on the floor. Your head hung so low he can’t bear to look at you anymore without asking 

And he really shouldn’t. 

He should just keep to himself, he should just-

“Are you okay?” 

Dammit Eddie. 

“Huh?” You look up at him, your face stained with tears and it breaks his heart, his Mexican, telenovela, hopeless romantic heart. Because you’re so pretty and you smell so good and is this stupid room getting smaller?? 

Okay, that was a bit much but you get it. He gets on one knee, pulls his glove off with his teeth, and reaches for you, tilting your head up

“Hey… hey what’s going on? Are you hurt? Did something happen??” 

His inner hero is practically clawing at its enclosure to save help girl, this really really, pretty girl. 

And your inner…. Uh, something is clawing at its enclosure to jump this man. 

“No! No, it’s- not it’s nothing like that” you laugh awkwardly, wiping at your tears quickly. “I- I'm sorry” You shove those thoughts very very (not) very far away as you try to control your tears 

“No please, don’t apologize… are you okay?” Eddie comes to sit next to you, plopping down on the cement floor. He takes his helmet off along with his other glove and gets comfy… they’re gonna be there for a while. 

“I’m… yeah I’m fine” you sniffle, shrugging your shoulders weakly. He nods slowly, looking down at his helmet in his hands 

“You know…. If you tell me the truth-“ he picks it up, setting it down carefully on your head “I’ll let you wear the helmet” 

You snort, nudging him with your shoulder and shaking your head slowly “I’m not five oh my god” you giggle as you hold the helmet on your head and look up at him 

“Yeah, but it got you to smile didn’t it?” He shrugs off his jacket, the room may be small but it is entirely concrete and entirely underground, he can feel the chill in the air as he puts it over your shoulders, the frayed, distressed shorts and oversized crop top not really cutting it down here. 

You hug the jacket to your body, sticking your arms through the holes. It smells good, kind of smokey, kind of earthy, definitely something that’s probably signature him.

“Alright, I’ve given you my coat, and my hat. Now you gotta tell me what’s wrong” he nudges you back and you smile a little more, rolling your eyes 

“Okay fine. I came to visit my boyfriend? He’s got an office near almost the top floor. Well… uh- it was supposed to be a surprise! But you know… imagine my surprise… when this fucking asshole has his secretary bent over his desk!” 

Eddie’s mouth drops open when you say that, he splutters, gesturing wildly and you nod vigorously 

“Yeah!!! And she knew he had a girlfriend! She knows me!!!” 

He gasps so loudly it echoes around the room

“Are- are you?!!! Are you shitting me?!” He grabs his radio from his jacket, clicking it 

“Buck?… oh my god Buck I have tea” 

You fall against him laughing as Buck answers back 

“Oh my god, spill” 

Eddie repeats back what you said, and Buck is gasping wildly, reacting absolutely ridiculously 

“Oh you tell me what the fuck this asshole looks like”

“No no I-“

“I’m not gonna beat his ass yet. I just want to know if he even stuck around” 

You roll your eyes, describing him and Buck scoffs “Oh. That guy.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“He was worried about his office. Said he’s got a nice set of golf clubs he’d gotten for his birthday in there, his prized possession”

Eddie looks at you as you blink back tears “T-that’s all he said? That’s all he’s worried about?” You ask, your voice cracking and Eddie has to look away for a second 

“Uh yeah… I’m- I’m sorry kiddo, maybe he doesn’t know you’re in there. Let me find out okay?” 

“Okay” 

You set the radio down and stare at the wall, just waiting quietly. Eddie reaches out for you, catching a tear as it falls down your cheek 

“He probably doesn’t know” 

“He does” you sniff, wiping at your tears and sighing loudly “No. he uh- he fucking knows.” You laugh bitterly 

“Y/N come on there’s no way he-“

“He fucking knew” Buck growls back into the radio and Eddie picks it up 

“Are you shitting me?!” 

“It’s okay!” Buck perks up “I punched him in his stupid fucking face!!” 

Your head whips to the radio as Eddie laughs “You did what?!” You squeak your face lighting up 

“Oh, Buck I could kiss you!!” 

“Give it to Eddie for me, I’m sure he’d love that” 

“Oh my god she’s not gonna-“

“Bet” 

You pull him toward you, kissing him slowly, his hands come to your waist immediately, squeezing lightly as he kisses you back. He moans quietly into your mouth, his lips moving in sync with yours and you purr softly. You pull away a little and he follows you, making a little “nuh huh” noise, and you giggle, letting him cup the back of your head, kissing you deeper. Your hand comes up his chest, fingers pulling at the bottom of his hair when Buck clears his throat 

“A-are you guys actually kissing?” 

Eddie lets you pull away this time, letting his head rest against the wall behind him as he stares at you. You stare back, your cheeks pink as you wet your lips 

“Uh- no?” Eddie answers back and you snort 

“That was not very convincing,” You and Buck say in unison. You giggle and go to stand up to stretch your legs out when there’s a sudden loud rumbling noise 

“Edd-“ the radio buzzes as the sound gets louder 

“Y/N! Come over “ He yanks you down into his lap, pulling you tight into his body as he turns you both over, shielding you. A few panels fall loose from the ceiling around and you scream when something giant hits the door, putting a large dent in it  

“Eddie?? Eddie, are you okay? Y/N?? Anyone??” 

You sneeze as the dust settles, and Eddie pulls away from you 

“That’s your sneeze?” He coughs a little and you punch him in the shoulder 

“What’s that supposed to mean!” 

“Oh nothing… little kitty” He coos and you pick up one of the ceiling panels and threaten to hit him with it 

“Please, please anyone??” You hear Buck’s voice. Watery and worried 

“Buck? Hey, it’s us we’re okay it’s us. What happened??” 

“Oh thank god. Oh god Eddie the building settled, you guys are…. A bit more stuck. Is everything okay in there? Is Y/N okay?”

“Yeah, she’s okay. We’re both okay, just a little dusty… how much is “a bit”?”

“We’re gonna need a crane,” he says bluntly and Eddie groans 

“And we’re not high enough on the list are we?” 

“List?” You ask quietly 

“As long as neither of you are hurt and everything is still structurally sound? No.” 

Eddie sighs and looks at you “Other people need that crane more than you and I do”

“So now we’re really really stuck huh?” 

“Yup” 

It’s been two hours since the door had been blocked. You’ve got your head in Eddie’s lap as he strokes your hair slowly, listening to you talk. You’ve both gone back and forth, discussing a lot of different things, a lot of deep things that a stranger knowing wouldn’t really hurt anything…

“You think one day you’ll feel normal?” You ask quietly, picking at his pants and he shrugs, looking down at your hair around his lap 

“I don’t know” 

“For what it’s worth? I hope you find your peace Eddie… I really do” you mumble and he smiles softly 

“I dunno… this has been pretty peaceful” He chuckles quietly “Thanks uh… thanks for listening”

“Hey? What are “locked in a closet” buddies for?” 

You sit up, giving him a little kiss on the cheek, and push yourself up. He looks at you as you stretch above him, admiring your plush curves from his position on the floor. 

It wasn’t the first time the conversation had turned a little steamy, a little flirty. But it was the first time he’d felt a little bit of a pull toward you. Especially after the things he’d just told you, for the first time, he felt heard… he felt seen. Not to mention that freaking kiss, he couldn’t take his mind off of it, the feel of your lips against his, the way your body felt against him. 

“You know uh… you’re really beautiful. I can’t believe Jared fucking cheated on you.” 

Your cheeks flush as you look down at him, he’s sat between your legs, his ankles crossed. There’s no harm in letting you know how pretty he thinks you are…

“You uh… you really think so?” You blush and he nods slowly 

“He’s never seen you in a fireman’s uniform huh? Never seen the way it drowns you.” 

“Well I mean- he’s not as big as you are” 

You mean how tall he is, how… big his arms are, how broad his shoulders are- 

“I didn’t think he was… leaving such a pretty little thing like you”

“Are you flirting with me?” You turn away, toward the blocked door, and you hear his legs uncross, widening his stance. 

“Maybe? Would you mind if I was?” He twiddles his thumbs and you turn back, reaching down and grabbing his gloves, he watches you slide them on, drowning in his work outfit and it’s doing things to him if he’s being honest. Is this a kink? It feels like a new kink. 

“It’s helpful… in- in a moment where I’m not feeling so hot you know?”

“Are you joking?? You’re gonna let that asshole make you feel like you’re not the hottest damn thing I’ve ever seen? To ever exist??”

You laugh a little “Oh come on Eddie? The-“

“Hottest.” He interrupts you not even giving you room to fight him 

“I still think you’re just saying that. But thank you” You give him a little bow and he pulls you down by the jacket and you stumble onto his lap 

“Hey be careful! You might-“ 

He presses his lips to yours, his hands coming up and cupping your face. You shortcircuit for a second and he smirks against your lips. He takes your hands one by one sets them on his chest and nips at your bottom lip when you curl your fingers around his shirt 

“Now you’re getting it” He whispers breathily before slipping his tongue past your lips, taking full advantage of your floundering and exploring your mouth. His hands start to roam, sliding beneath the oversized coat and gently across your bare middle. He hums appreciatively as they come up under your shirt, the tips of his fingers trailing across the bottom of your bra 

“You can tell me to stop” He kisses down your jaw, biting on the nape of your neck and you gasp softly, melting into his body 

“N-no fucking chance. God, you’re kissing me better than he ever did” 

Eddie looks up at you as he sucks and nibbles at your collarbone “Bet there’s a whole lot of things I can do better than he ever did…” His hands cup your breasts, squeezing gently and massaging them slowly 

“We’re alone… and it seems like we’ve got time…” You trail off, your cheeks blushing and you feel him grin against your skin 

“Are you suggesting what I think you are?” 

“That depends on what you think I’m suggesting” 

Eddie takes the radio from his jacket again “Hey Buck, you there?” 

“Always” 

“Is Jared out there?” 

The line is silent for a moment and you take that opportunity to surprise Eddie, rocking your hips forward on him and attacking his lips. You kiss him frantically, your hands threading through his hair and pulling him closer. He chuckles wickedly, pushing you back onto the floor and settling between your legs, you struggle out of the coat and he laughs, helping you get it off 

“Eddie?” Buck's voice comes through the radio and he stretches to reach for it while unbuttoning your shorts at the same time 

“Here” He answers, watching you desperately unbutton his shirt 

“Why do you have so many!?” You hiss and he snorts, just ripping it open the rest of the way 

“Better??” 

You’re practically drooling over his chest, his skin smooth and tanned. You blink slowly as Buck comes back 

“Yeah, he’s definitely still here. Trust me, I’ve been making him feel as guilty as possible. I gotchu Y/N”

You pull your shirt over your head, and Eddie bites his lip 

“Damn…” 

you grin wickedly as you pull your arms from your bra straps, pushing it further down your waist and out of the way, the cool air around you causing your nipples to pebble 

“Jesus fuckin-“

“Eddie?? You there?” 

You reach forward and click the button “He’s here. Thanks for making Jared feel guilty!” 

Eddie takes your breasts in his hands, kneading them slowly, squeezing and teasing your nipples. He leans forward, kissing the valley between your breasts, pulling them together, and rubbing his face against them. He bites the sensitive skin gently, leaving teeth marks and little bruises behind. Your breath hitches, tugging at his hair and egging him on to do it again and again. 

“Fuck you’re hot” His hips grind down into yours and your thighs shake 

“I want you, Y/N” 

“Hey guys if you’re doing what I think you’re doing, Revenge sex is the way to go. Trust me I’ve been telling Jared all about how amazing and cool and sexy Eddie is!” Buck squeals through the radio and Eddie rolls his eyes as you giggle 

“Thanks, man. Thank you, uh we’re just- we’re-“ You shimmy out of your shorts, revealing the tiny thong you’d put on as a surprise and now it’s Eddie’s turn to short circuit. He stares at the sheer material covering your dripping sex. He drags his finger over the top of them, enjoying the way your slick coats his finger 

“You’re???” Buck radios and you reach forward, taking the radio back 

“Let that asshole know he’s been replaced” 

You toss it aside, Buck is making some weird strangled screaming noise and screaming at Jared when the radio cuts off. Eddie’s pants are off as fast as he possibly can and he’s stroking his cock between your thighs 

His eyes darken as he lines up his cock with your entrance, pushing inside you slowly. You’re tight, and he relishes the feeling of being inside you.

“O-oh my god- Fuck” You wriggle under him, adjusting to his size as best you can “H-holy sh-“

“Bigger?” His voice is so haughty and confident and you nod quickly, squirming 

“Sooooo much bigger” 

“You gonna be okay?” He puts his hand on your tummy, pushing you back down and you gasp loudly “Need more time?” He asks teasingly as his hips start to move slowly.

You shake your head, reaching for him and he grins, leaning into you as you rip off his gloves and claw at his back, your body arching into him eagerly 

Fuck, you’re tight,” he grunts, his hips moving in slow, deep thrusts. He kisses your neck, his other hand gripping your ass, guiding his cock in and out of your wet heat.

“You feel so good,” he pants, his pace picking up. He’s relentless, his cock hitting your G-spot with each thrust. Your legs fall open wider, your body bouncing with each snap of his hips. 

Eddie grins, feeling your legs spread wider, giving him better access. He picks up the pace, his thrusts now brutal, his cock slamming into you with every movement. “You like that, don’t you? You like it rough?” He growls, his hand gripping your throat, squeezing gently.

You’re so close, the building tension threatening to explode. Eddie can feel it too, his own release building with each thrust. He pounds into you, his grip on your throat tightening, the combination of pain and pleasure driving you both over the edge.

Eddie moans your name, his cock pulsing inside you as he comes. You cry out, your body convulsing as you reach your own climax. He holds you close, his breathing heavy as he rides out the aftershocks.

“Damn, that was hot,” he pants, his cock still buried inside you. 

“S-so- so-“ You sound delirious as he releases your throat and pulls out, leaving a trail of cum between your legs. 

“Fuck” He mumbles as he falls next to, pulling you into his arms. You curl into his body, nuzzling your nose against his chest and he buries his face in your hair 

“Uh huh” you giggle, your voice muffled 

“I- I realize” he clears his throat “We uh- we did this a bit backward… but Buck is having a cookout this weekend…you wanna be my date?” 

“Will there be other sexy firefighters?” You look up at him and he rolls his eyes, chuckling and giving your butt a little spank 

“Not as sexy as me… will you do me the honor? Y/N” 

“I’ll be there… you want my number?” You grin sleepily 

“Mhmmm” He turns over, covering you more with his body to keep you warm “Need your address too so I can pick you up” 

“What a gentleman” You giggle and he kisses your nose 

“Can I ask you somethin else?” 

“Uh-huh” 

“You uh…. Think you might be okay with just skipping to being my girlfriend?” 

“That depends” You murmur, your voice becoming a lot softer as you start to fall asleep 

“On?” He gives you a little nudge so you wake up 

“If you don’t mind skipping straight to being my boyfriend?“

“Oh hell yes” 

You’re not really sure how long you've been asleep, but Eddie is shaking you gently. Your clothes are back on properly and you’re wrapped up in his jacket still. He’s got his clothes back on and his shirt is as closed as he can get it. You can hear the sounds of the crane working to get you two out 

“Time to leave?” You ask, rubbing your eyes and Eddie gives you a thumbs up 

“Time to leave baby girl” 

Your cheeks flush deeply, It had felt like a dream honestly, you weren’t even sure it had happened. But when Eddie grabs your hips and kisses you again desperately you know it wasn’t. 

The door flies open and slams against the wall, you shriek as you pull away, covering your eyes from the sunlight on your face

“Y/N!!!, Eddie!!” 

You recognize the voice from the radio as he comes over and scoops you up, hugging you as tightly as he can 

“You’re okay!!” 

Eddie gets up from the floor, groaning loudly and stretching his back “I am too damn old for this” 

You snort as Buck picks Eddie’s helmet up off the floor and sets it on your head 

“You ready to get out of here cutie?” Buck takes your hand and you look up at Eddie who shrugs his shoulders 

“I’m ready” 

Buck helps you out carefully, climbing over a few pieces of debris left in the way. 

“Hey, you sure you didn’t get hurt?” He’s standing in front of you, his hands on your hips as he steadies you. Eddie lands on his feet easily, adjusting his shirt again to try and keep it closed 

“What uh- what do you mean?” You ask as you shrug off Eddie’s coat and hand it to him 

“You’re walking funny, honey. And you wince every time-“ He stops for a minute, his eyes widening 

“Did- did you guys actually-“ 

He’s interrupted by a man calling your name, he’s got a black eye and you slap your hand over your mouth 

“You seriously punched him?!” You laugh to Buck as Jared comes over 

“And it’s so worth the amount of trouble I got in” He snickers as Jared stops in front of you 

“Baby?? Baby, are you okay?” He holds your arms, looking you over and you blink slowly

“Are you kidding?? I thought when I ran out of your office screaming that we were over? That was enough to let you know Hey! We’re over!” 

“Baby, what are you talking about?” Jared chuckles awkwardly “That- that didn’t happen, honey”

Buck whirls on him and he flinches a little but keeps his eyes on you. Eddie is sitting quietly in the back of the ambulance being looked over 

“Uhhh what??” You scoff in bewilderment 

“Gosh Baby” he laughs, “I think you hit your head, sweetie” 

Your mouth drops open and you shove Jared away 

“I know- I fucking know” you shout “You are not trying to convince me I didn’t see you fucking Angela!!!!” 

“Y/N honey you need to calm down. This is not the way my girlfriend should be-“

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence before Eddie is up and he’s on the ground. It happens so fast you’re not even sure you saw it, Eddie punched him right across the face, sending him spinning to the ground 

“I think you mean my girlfriend. Come on gorgeous let’s go get something to eat I’m starving.” 

Buck runs in circles screaming and pointing at Jared as Eddie puts his arm over your shoulders and you proudly lead him over to your car. 

“Yo you just got yo ass WHOOPED” 

[dazed--xx]

SKZ Break-Up Reaction (Hyung Line)

A/N: just decided to do a reaction there will be a another version for the rest of the members soon just a small thing to hold you guys over hope you enjoy. I can’t seem to do the keep reading link so I’ll fix it when I get to my computer so sorry about that

Chan:

You stare at your lock screen, NO NEW MESSAGES, it reads. You should have expected as much. Chan never responded anymore. You look at the time 2:36 a.m. the small clock reads, the wallpaper photo laughing at your loneliness as you stare at the smile plastered on Chan’s face on the screen. You couldn’t remember the last time you had actually heard from him, a month ago? Maybe two? You weren't sure, only thing you knew was your phone was filled with unanswered calls and ignored messages on his part. You stare around the room, now void of all of your things. Your bags packed away in your trunk. You don’t know why you’ve stayed that way for the past two days. Your life packed up and ready to be started somewhere else. But something kept holding you back.  

Maybe it was your need to see him one more time before you left. Maybe it was your hope for him to beg you to stay, but he’d have to come home to even know what's going on. You knew he didn’t even read your message to come home and talk yet, here you were alone. You bit your lip, maybe it was hopeless, waiting for him to come home; still here you sat on what was now his bed, in his home waiting for him to come back so you can inform him of your departure. Your heart sank as a small ping rings through the air.  

NEW MESSAGE: CHAN ❤️ 

I'm sorry, I'll come home tomorrow night. I miss you so fucking much  

You felt the tears run down your face. Opting to ignore his message, you sob to yourself. It was always the same thing and tomorrow never came for the past month that was always the only thing you heard. You were tired of waiting for tomorrow night, you were tired of waiting for him. So, with a heavy heart you lift yourself from the bed. Taking one last look at the memory of you two, you make your way to the door. Your hands are shaky as you grab your purse. Pulling your keys, you take the house key off placing it on the key ring on the wall. You grab your jacket; something reflects off the light. You stared at your right hand, there it sat, the last thing that would tie you to him. Your promise ring, your heart cracks as you fiddle with the object, circling it around your finger a few times before taking it off and placing it on the wooden shoe rack next to the door. You give one last look at your former apartment before making your way to your car and driving away with tears in your eyes.

Chan felt his heart soar as he finally parked in the driveway.  He felt like he was going to cry as he pulled himself out of the car, he needed to see you. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he had drowned in your presence. He needed to feel you in his arms whilst he finally lay in his bed and get some much-needed sleep. He let out a heavy sigh as he unlocked the door, placing his keys on the ring, he noticed a single key. His eyes scrunch in confusion as he takes his shoes off, something catches his eye shimmering under the light. His heart drops as he recognizes the ring that once adorned your finger. Only then does he notice your presence is gone. Your blanket that once lay on the couch with your books on the coffee table completely missing. His eyes flash toward the bedroom “Babe?!” He called as he took slow hesitant steps toward the door “please….” His eyes watered his breath was trapped in his throat “….be here” he begged to himself. With heavy breath he opens the door, the bed is made, little reminders of you completely erased. He rushed into the room pulling out the drawers that once contained your clothes “No…” he cried as he stumbled back toward the bed. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Immediately dialing your number as tears burned his eyes. “Answer…. Please…answer” he begs into the phone his heart cracks as he’s greeted by your voicemail. “No....fuck please...” 

To: Y/N 💕 

  Where are you?  

Please just answer my calls 

I’m sorry whatever I did whatever. happened please just tell me  

Come home please come home  

I’m sorry fuck answer please don’t do this to me I love you  

I love you so much I’m sorry I’m sorry please I’m home now please come back I won’t leave again I can be here with you now please answer me  

I need to hear your voice I need to know you’re okay come home to me please I’m sorry without you im nothing  

     Seen at 11:32 pm

Minho-

” Why can’t you just get out of my way for fucking once!” Minho exclaimed. You rolled your eyes as you silently fumed. You couldn’t possibly see how it was your fault as he had run into you, you let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry…” you pout, taking slow timid steps toward him “D-do you work today?” You ask timidly, placing your hand on his shoulder softly only for your hand to be shoved off, he nods in response not looking at you. You could feel the heat radiating off your cheeks as you bite your lip softly, “C-can we d-do something if you don’t get out too late? I miss you” you ponder, wrapping your arms around his waist from behind “Why are you always up my ass like honestly Y/N, can you ever just stop being so damn clingy?! JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE” He states as he pulls your arms from around him and stomps his way toward your bedroom. 

You nod with tears in your eyes as you make your way toward the bathroom you could feel his eyes on you as you closed the door behind you. Locking it, you feel your breath is shaky. You were used to it. He continuously reminded you of how much you were a burden on his life. You could remember the days he begged you not to leave his arms in the early mornings before his practices. You don’t know what had changed, he was always a little standoffish, but he was never this blatantly cold and mean. Your heart sang praises as you entered the shower. The warm water kisses your skin. You could hear the front door slam closed signifying Minho’s departure. You sigh to yourself as you pull yourself out of the shower and into your shared bedroom. You had a few hours to give Minho what he wanted. You pull your clothes on and begin packing your things. If Minho wanted to be left alone then you would give that to him. Your presence seemed to ruin his mood every day and you couldn’t make him happy anymore.  

You were grateful that you had finished packing the few things you had brought into the relationship only a couple hours later. You were trying to do everything quickly before Minho came home so you could avoid the tears that would fall from your eyes at the satisfied look on his face at your departure.  Hearing a low honk from outside, you let out a heavy sigh as you pick up one of the bags. You make your way to the taxi you had called. Placing bag after bag into the trunk. “I'm sorry I think there's just one more” You apologize to the driver who sits in annoyance at your lack of speed. Rushing back through the door you take one final look around, checking for anything you could have missed. Your eyes land on the picture placed on the side of the bed. You and Minho, with a big smile on your faces, caked decorating Minho’s lips and cheeks whilst his members squeezed you two together in attempts to get in the photo. A sad smile is held on your lips at the memory, your heart cracks as you stare at Minho’s smile.  

A look you haven't seen for a long time, you wished you could go back to that time and cherish every bit of happiness he showed you. The taxi driver honking pulls you out of your thoughts. Placing the photo back on the nightstand, you take your final trip out the door with the last bag. Opening the back passenger door, you place the bag on the seat behind the driver before you feel a hand encasing your wrist. You jump in shock as you turn to face the culprit, you're met with a wide-eyed Minho. His mouth hung open; eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “W-what’s going on? W-where are you going?” He stammered. Your eyes drift to the ground as you shuffle on back and forth on your feet “I'm sorry, I thought I would be gone before you got back, I'm going now though” your bottom lip, you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. “Goodbye Minho” you whispered as you pull your wrist from his grip and close the door telling the driver your parents address. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him as you drove away.  

Minho stood in shock not comprehending your words as he stared at your crying figure in the vehicle. So many questions circled around in his head. Why had you left? Where were you going? Why hadn't you told him you had planned a trip somewhere? Why did you want to leave before he got back? Did you take him seriously earlier? His heart clenched at that one, you didn’t---you couldn’t have. You know he didn’t mean it; you must know he didn’t mean it. He loves you, fuck he loves you he doesn’t want you to leave him alone, if anything it was the opposite. He was the clingy one, he needed you around him all the time to even be able to get out of bed and you had to have known that he was just mad, you wouldn’t leave him over it, right? Right? You love him you couldn’t leave. His eyes watered as the cab drove away. His breath got caught in his throat. You were leaving, you were going to leave and not come back. His legs acted of their own accord as he chased after the car, tears streamed down his face as he called your name. His legs felt like jelly as he felt his ability to breath dwindle. Please...just keep going Minho he begged himself. Sobs ripped through his chest as he collapsed to his knees. Fuck come back...... he cried to nothing.  

Changbin:

“You never listen! Like seriously Y/N! I’m tired of telling you shit only for you to fucking ignore me!” Changbin exclaimed. You couldn’t remember how the fight had started some hours ago, the only thing you were sure of was that it was over, something that wasn’t as important as both of your anger had suggested. “Oh, I never listen?! How many times have I asked you to pick me up from work only to walk home…in the rain I might add? You continuously ignore things I’ve asked of you, and you are rarely ever here!” You scoff, crossing your arms over your chest as you roll your eyes. You could feel the fire from Changbin’s glare burning into your face. “Did you ever think that maybe I didn’t want to be around you?  You’re fucking infuriating! You never even try to listen to my point of view! You continuously go against me every chance you get!” He growls his eyes in a scowl. You feel tears welling up in your eyes as he continues his rant.  

“So why are you even with me then?!” You spit. He shakes his head in response “honestly, I have no clue…this is a waste of my time and a mistake” you feel your heart clench at his words, you scoff “good to know…”  with a definitive nod you stomp toward his bedroom grabbing your keys phone and purse. You saw nothing but red as you barreled your way to the door. As you exit his room you give him one last look “I won’t waste anymore of your time Changbin, let’s not keep making this mistake then” you state, tears running down your cheeks. You stare at him; his eyes wide and full of guilt. “Baby—no please just—just don’t. I’m done since this is such a mistake to you then I think you should just forget about me” you cut him off. His eyes fill with tears at your words as he shakes his head rapidly, his hands reaching out for you “N-No, c-come on this is stupid. We can fix this I'm sorry I didn’t mean that I was just angry” his voice is panicked, you stand in place shaking your head at his words. “Those aren't things you say just because you're mad, it's how you’ve felt for a while.” You respond dejectedly.  

His figure is shaking as he looks around the room, tears flowing down his cheeks. “I-it's not like that! I'm serious please believe me, you're not a mistake, were not a mistake I'm just stupid please don’t go” He begs. “I'm sorry Changbin, but I don’t think I’d be able to get over this. I'm always going to feel like you feel trapped with me, and it wouldn’t be healthy for us.” he gives you a small nod “I love you; I need you to believe that. Please believe that my love for you can help. I don’t want you to go, I don’t want to lose you. Fuck you're the best thing that’s happened to me in so long. Please don’t leave me.” Your face is warm at his words. Your tears still streaming down your face, as you release a sigh from your throat, “I'm sorry I just need time” you state with a whisper as you make your way out the door.  

Hyunjin:

Your hands were clammy and shaking around the basket, as you made your way through the JYPE building. You had only been here a select few times, and you were always able to figure out where you were as you usually went with Hyunjin. Whilst you were sitting in your dorm you felt the rush of loneliness, so you decided to surprise your boyfriend and his members with Tteokbokki, Bulgogi, and Chuncheon Dakgalbi. You knew they practice for hours without a break, so you figured they’d appreciate not having to order out for once. You were also excited to see Hyunjin as you haven't seen him other than in videocall for weeks. You were excited for their comeback, but you also hated that it took time away from you to spend with him. A smile forms on your lips as you see the familiar practice room. You can hear their voices booming through the door. Reaching for the handle you freeze as you hear Jeongin ask “Hyung, what's going on with you and Y/N?” your ears perk up at the mention of your name. What did he mean? “What do you mean?” You hear Hyunjin respond, annoyance lacing his tone. 

“Well...it's just we haven't seen her in a while, and I could just be guessing here but it just seems like something's off. You always seem annoyed when we mention Y/N. I was just making sure you guys didn’t break up or something and we were making it awkward by bringing her up” He states shyly. You smile to yourself. Jeongin had been the first member you had met from Stray Kids, long before you began dating Hyunjin. You appreciated that he felt like getting answers for you. You went to push the door fully open when you heard Hyunjin’s voice grow a little louder “You want to know what's actually awkward? Y/N.” Your heart sinks at his words. You were awkward? “What do you mean by that Hyung?” Jeongin questions. “I mean everything in our relationship is fucking awkward right now. She won't leave me the fuck alone; she calls me all the time not realizing that maybe I don’t want to talk to her if I don’t answer. She just doesn’t understand how the world works. She has this misconception about sex, so that’s completely off the table. Shes a foreigner so her Korean isn't the best, she doesn’t dress like someone who’s exceptionally a prude, but she is....” You look down at your current outfit at his words, a tight crop top and sweatpants. Tears make their way down your cheeks; you decide you don’t want to hear anymore. You place the basket on the ground in front of the door. Your vision is blurry as you knock on the door and make your way down the hall.  

You can hear the door open, making you pick up your pace. “Y/N?!” you hear Jisung’s voice call out, bringing you to a halt you turn to face him, bow slightly “I made a lot for you guys please eat” You call back from your place down the hall as you run toward the exit and out the building. You let the tears fall freely as you trudge your way back home. You felt stupid, you didn’t know Hyunjin felt those things. He never told you any of those things. Your bottom lip makes its way between your teeth. You didn’t know your Korean was bad, or that your no sex policy was such a deal breaker for Hyunjin. Youre pulled out of your thoughts by a hand tugging at your wrist. Your eyes connect with the culprit. You look away quickly as you see your boy—soon to be ex-boyfriend staring at you confusion etched onto his face. “Why’d you just drop food off and leave?” he questions sadness laced into his tone. “Please don’t touch me....” You state coldly ripping your arm from his hand. “D-did I do something?” He questions his voice filled with worry. Shaking your head “Just please don’t touch me.......I don’t think this is working out.......” your voice is practically a whisper. Hyunjin’s hands wrap around your arms “What's not working out?” his voice is panicked. You bring your eyes to meet his once again. “Let’s.......Breakup” You state definitively. Hyunjin’s eyes widen his mouth hung open as he shakes his head rapidly. “What?! No—why—why would we? --I don’t understand, what did I do?” he cries, tears filling up his eyes. You pull yourself from his arms as he stands there in shock. Turning away from him you restart your journey back to your dorm.  

“Wait! ” He calls “Wait! Please! Don’t go!”  

Your pace picks up, your heart racing. You notice the large crowd on the crosswalk, you escape into it. “Please wait for me! Don’t leave—fuck—come on please!” You hear him shoving his way through the crowd. “Y/N! Stop! Don’t go please come back I love you please come back; I'm trying fuck I'm trying please don’t leave me here like this! I don’t want to break up please stop!” He cries. You notice his eyes focused on nothing but you; tears streaming down his face as he continues to try to get to you. You almost stop at his declaration, until his word to Jeongin replays in your mind. Shaking your head, you break out into a run to your dorm. 

[deathbxnny]

well since we are requesting angst.. i will request one too >:]

aihoshino!teenreader dying in the same way as ai hoshino

so for more context; a fan/admirer comes to them one day, they bring them white lilies and then stab them in the stomach, as [insert character] goes to check up on them, they see the reader bleeding from the stomach and the fan holding a bloody knife throwing insults at them, despite being brutally stabbed, the reader still goes on a monologeu to explain themself to their admirer, the fan gets into panic after this and runs away, the reader had abdominal aortic tear so it would be impossible to save them without proper treatment, as their stomach bleeds, they tell [insert character] that they love and appreciate them (platonically) as they die in their arms, dying with a smile on their face

the characters are stelleron hunters, yeah im sorry (for blade especially)T-T

-----♡

A/N: What better way to come back from a small break, than with heart-wrenching angst? But in all seriousness, thank you for the great request Anon!

Content: Reader dies, teen reader, hurt/no comfort, angst, mentions of severe injury, mentions of blood, platonic relationships, just pain really

Reader has no set pronouns!

((Not fully proofread))

-----♡

》Kafka

Kafka wasn't home when it happened. She left you alone for a couple hours to run some errands and told you to never open the door to anyone. But you were still so young and naive, that you didn't think twice when opening the door anyways to the man, who told you he was an assistant of the Stellaron hunters.

Kafka should've known better, than to leave you alone and now that she held you bleeding out in her arms, she realised that it was useless to think about anymore anyways. You were about to die. Your breaths were shallow and no amount of pressure to your injury seemed to make it better. The medic team would take an eternity to arrive and by then it would be too late. It was hopeless and you both knew it.

And so you decided to comfort her, gently apologising for being so foolish and not listening to her. She tried to shush you, but it was a weak attempt, as tears of agony brimmed in her eyes. You continued to speak, words becoming softer and softer by the second, as your life ran out of your eyes. You smiled, thanking her for everything and telling her that you'll see her again in another life, before finally letting go. Your smile was etched eternally onto your face, as the silence was filled with Kafka's soft cries for you to come back.

-----♡

》Blade

Blade left the home out of anger. He was sick of you being a brat and not listening to his warnings, which made him overwhelmed and just leave for a moment to cool off. He never wants to get angry to the point of yelling or insulting you, as he did understand that you were just a kid, who hasn't experienced as much as he did. But with leaving you so enraged, he left you feeling guilty and lonely. So guilty and lonely, that you opened the door expecting it to be Blade, only to be stabbed brutally by a man you didn't know.

And Blade came home to you at the brink of death, an excited, weak smile gracing your lips like it always did when you saw him. You tried reaching out to him, wanting to at least apologise, but he was frozen at the door, his eyes wide in terror. He didn't know what to do, his mind for once empty at the sight of the kid he took care of for so long, just dying. But then he just fell to his knees and slowly engulfed you in his embrace. He couldn't say anything.

And it was alright, because you were glad to at least die in his arms now. You apologised to him, told him he was right, told him that you loved and appreciated him. You felt something warm drop onto your cheek and you noticed he was crying. He's never done that before. Him crying over you made you smile wider, happy to know that he did care for you even now. He finally eventually opened his mouth to speak, apologising for leaving you. But by then it was too late. Your eyes were empty.

-----♡

》Silver Wolf

Silver Wolf was in her room finishing up some work, when you told her that the doorbell rang. She indifferently told you to open it, not looking away from her screen, to which you obliged and left again. After a while, she noticed that it was too quiet. Pulling off her headphones, she sat there for a moment, before hearing you call her name weakly. Her body moved faster than her brain could process, as she practically ran downstairs to see you lying in a pool of your blood, clutching onto a lethal injury.

She immideatly scrambled to your side, couple screens opening up before her, as she tried typing and applying pressure onto your injury at the same time. If she could get a medic team to arrive, maybe there is still a chance to save you. But your bloodied hand stopped her, knowing it was too late. Tears welled up in her eyes as she just hugged you in defeat, the screens disappearing.

She pathetically listened to you gently comfort her, telling her that it was alright and that you were thankful for having her in your life. She didn't understand what you were thanking her for, especially when she couldn't even save you from dying like this. Hearing you take your last breath must've been the worst part to her. She hugged you for a moment longer, before slowly raising her head, seeing your cold smile and empty eyes. The silence was deafening, as she just dropped her head again and cried in shame.

-----♡

A/N: Alright, I hope this was okay and angsty enough! Thank you again for the request!<33

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Arcana HCs: How the M6 cry and how MC comforts them

Asra

He's been through some shit

Adapts so. Quickly. to difficult things, and runs away from what he can't. (His little haven when he was homeless as a kid? Immaculate. When the apprentice didn't remember him? Lots of trips.)

Only cries when he can't do either of the above and there's no option but properly feeling the emotions (he hates that)

Surprisingly messy crier, red faced, fluids everywhere, bloodshot eyes, twisted face

Hates being vulnerable in front of anyone/at all, but if it's reached this point they don't care anymore, he's being suffocated by all the things he's worked around/avoided

Would try to cheer himself up/snap himself out of it/get distracted except the only way out is working through it until everything's been acknowledged and they know that

How the MC comforts them:

Physical touch. Asra's already a cuddly person, if you put your arms around him and give him something to hold on to (hand/clothing/you, depending on your comfort level) he'll hang on like it's a lifeline

Loud sobbing/hiccuping as soon as they realize it's safe for them to hurt and they're not alone

MC is their anchor to reality/grounding

Maybe asking questions so he can have words for what they're feeling, but maybe they just need to know he's not alone through whatever they're reliving

Once it's all worked out they don't want to dwell on it and are tired out, he just wants to move on to the next thing

"How about some tea, MC? You stay there, I'll make it for us."

Uses the break to collect themself a little

Tells you tall tales until you've both got the giggles

Naptime

Will walk around like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders for the next 24 hours

Julian

Champion of crying

This man cries like he breathes, Malak was an asshole/his favorite shirt tore/Pasha did something that reminded him of her as a toddler, the tears are out and proud

Surprisingly tidy crier, he has a special handkerchief and knows how to use it

Knows how much dramatic potential tears have and takes full advantage of that

Unashamed of emotions and unafraid of his feelings, MC is starting to wonder if they are even needed

Until it's about something serious

Maybe he lost a patient or saw someone who looks exactly like his dead grandmother, maybe he can't shake the dread of the plague coming back, maybe someone was teasing him and touched on a really deep insecurity and he's internalized it for weeks until it wove itself into all his trauma but he doesn't know how to say that with words so he sits with a growing amount of pain that he isn't sure exists and doesn't know how to unravel

When this happens he isolates

He'll wait until midday and everyone's out to climb into the hole under Mazelinka's cottage and choke on his sobs

Curled up as small as he can get with his hands pressing into his eyes

How the MC comforts him:

Getting right up into his space to pull him out of his head

Maybe some lighthearted grumbling about him picking the worst places to have a crisis in, but climbing into the hole anyway

Talking it out. Somehow MC is always able to unravel his thoughts, help him sort through the reasons behind his feelings, bring a new perspective to something that seemed hopeless

The longer you two talk the smaller the problems become until they're back to the size they were before they entered his brain

Julian's feelings are both intense and quick to change

By the time you've worked out 2 of the 3 problems, he's got ideas for a new play based off of the first problem and he wants you to star in it with him

Too excited about his new passion to sort through the 3rd thing, but don't worry, that can sit and fester until next time

Nadia

She doesn't cry. Seriously. She doesn't. She must show No Weakness.

More likely to express sadness through a secondary emotion like frustration or annoyance

Does not cry until someone will logic her into it (refer to her conversation with the high priestess, when she had to stop thinking about the next step and actually ask herself what she desired and why)

MC is one of the only people who knows her well enough to logic her into it, therefore MC is one of the only people worthy of witnessing her crying

Frustrated crier to relieved crier, first she's angry that she's even crying in the first place, then she's relieved that she finally gets to let it out and reach the realizations that she needs to

Frustratingly composed, no snot to be seen, only tears silently rolling from the corners of her eyes

Maybe a few quiet sobs

Crying for her is a moment of acknowledgement and breakthrough, it's almost sacred

How the MC comforts her:

Little to no touching, she wants to know you're there, but she doesn't want to be coddled and she's working very hard to do something so uncomfortable/unnatural

Seeing you helps, as long as MC is in her line of sight she can do this

Since this likely started in a conversation, she'll want to tell MC what she is thinking and feeling because you started it

You'll pay attention, reacting so she knows you're listening and understanding and ready to follow through with whatever she's figured out

Somehow she is refreshed and energized afterwards

No time to waste, let's take the first steps of the plan she's made based off of what she's figured out

MC is going to be publicly acknowledged and showered in gifts for the next month

Muriel

Surprisingly comfortable with crying, though it only becomes a semi regular occurrence after MC becomes a regular part of his life

This wonderful hulk is the king of dissociation, learning how to live inside your body again is tough but he's way more frightened of his memories than he is of his feelings

He has two types of crying, he's either grieving the family and community he lost or he's stuck in the coliseum again

The first kind is kind of bittersweet, he'll happen upon some forget-me-nots in the forest or he'll be tracing the pattern on his cloak and he'll feel the whispers of his family there and he'll have this wave of homesickness for something he can't even remember properly

He'll cry like a summer rain, with a small smile on his face, completely silent while he continues with whatever task he was working on

The second kind is way way worse

There's no sweetness to this, he snapped a branch too hard or his hair fell in his eyes or he stepped on a sand patch of ground, and he's whisked right back

Each time he remembers a different face

He's reminded that he's stuck in a body that crushed people and he feels sick

The kind of sobs that leave you retching

All he wants to do is escape

How the MC comforts him:

If it's the first kind, hand holding. Maybe reminiscing about meeting Khamgalai and the patterns in the tapestries he's collected

Helping with whatever task he's doing, and talking about plans for the rest of the week once the wave passes

Second kind? All hands on deck

He doesn't want to be touched. At all

Get him somewhere that feels safe and wrap him up in some of his furs

Get the whole place smelling of mrryh

Slowly help him work his way back to the present

So many words of affirmation, dude needs to be told it's not his fault and he's done far more good than harm

He needs to eat and sleep after this

Will tend to your every need for the next week. Breakfast in bed. Footrubs. A growing collection of protective charms and carved animals. Will only stop when you start insisting on repaying every favor.

Portia

Angry crier

Half the time it's Ilya's fault

You totally use that to blackmail him

Portia always has at least four different trains of though running at all times, full speed

She is so determined to see good in the world that it takes a mountain of nasty things to bring her down

Unfortunately she's so busy that that happens often enough to sometimes break her spirit

Which is heartbreaking, her spirit is goddess-tier

This only happens when she's dealing with enough to cause every negative emotion: frustration, anxiety, anger, regret, hopelessness, inadequacy, etc

Eventually she reaches her limit and drops everything and runs away somewhere more secluded (most likely her garden) to let it all out

Rage gardening

Ripping every weed out of the ground until her fingers bleed while she grinds her wails through her teeth

Accidentally smacks a concerned Pepi in the face with a flying tangle of vines and breaks down bawling

How MC comforts her:

Starts by grabbing her hands and holding her close so she can sob into your clothes

Bring her into the cottage once she's ready and clean and bandage her fingers

Encourage her rant while you perform every act of service available (do her breakfast dishes, pull out a change of clothes for her, detangle her hair, sweep the floor, lure Pepi into her lap with a treat so they can make up)

She spends all day being one of the most competent people in the room in service to everyone around her, let her put her feet up and describe her feelings in every curse word she knows in multiple languages

Have a bath drawn for her when she's done

Contact whoever you need to (Nadia) while she's in the bath to make sure she has the rest of the day/the next day off

Take her on an adventure that reminds her just how incredible she is, and hopefully shows off some good in this world

Maybe you go down to the rowdy raven and get her to dance on the tables with you

Maybe you go into the woods for some magic lessons

Maybe on your way to do either of those things you bump into something entirely unprecedented and let her take the lead

You are going to receive cuddle attacks every time she lays eyes on you for the next few days

Lucio

Lucio generally only cries when the weight of everything he's done finally catches up with him and he can't blame someone else or brush it off

Probably good for him, tbh

But he's so used to living in the moment he doesn't know how to look forward

Regret can quickly turn into despair when he feels trapped in everything he's done

He knows his bravado doesn't mean anything here

He knows he deserves far worse than what he got, and right now he can't get control of it by ignoring it

He doesn't know how to handle this

Panicked sobs, like a small child that looked up and couldn't see his mom anywhere

Constant stream of tears, his whole body is shaking and he looks and feels so weak and helpless

Curled up as small as he can get, fist in his mouth, tucked into a corner where no one can see him break down and mock him/exploit his weakness

So very scared

How MC comforts him:

The tricky part is cheering him up without brushing off what he's experiencing

The best way is to make him feel loved without letting him get up on a pedestal

Hold him close and maybe sing to him gently to get his mind out of the haze

Get him to talk about what made him upset as soon as he's coherent

Work on finding appropriate ways to address the issue and move forward

Don't let him brush it off

Get it down in writing or take the first step, so he'll commit to it even after he's back to his normal self

Once you've made it that far, you can boost his ego a bit.

Tell him about the good qualities you admire in him (he's generous, he's a quick learner, he's a good fighter whatever his mother says, etc)

He will strut like a peacock for the next week to make up for his moment of lameness

He will also follow through on what you two worked out and bit by bit become the better person he was meant to be

Deep down, in his mind, all the credit for that goes to you

[thewinter-eden]

psycho | han jisung (5/20)

5 : the first one

Pairings: HAN JISUNG x OC | LEE MINHO x 2nd OC

Rating: mature

cross posted on AO3 under the_winter_eden and wattpad under alone-at-last.

Warnings: graphic depictions of murder, torture, pain, light language, hopelessness, dark themes.

psycho masterlist

< last chapter | next chapter >

Anna wakes from a dead sleep to her door slamming against the wall, light flooding her room broken only by two shadows from the doorway. Instantly wide awake, Anne jerks herself upright so quickly that it seems like she can feel her fractured ribs actually creak in protest. Pain rushes from the bones to her skull, a wave of nausea soon to follow.

Cain is in her doorway, holding a young girl by the hair.

She’s one of the younger girls—the one other than Jackie who was still too young for high school. Blood is streaked down her face, from cuts on her cheeks and brow, and her left arm is disfigured and mangled, as though it’s been broken in several places.

Worst of all, she’s just dangling from Cain’s hand. Her gaze is unfocused, falling where it lands, with no recognition in her eyes.

For a second, Anna thinks she’s dead.

Horror fills her as she watches the girl’s bloodied fingertips scrape the floor as her arms sway with Cain’s movements.

But then her chest moves as she takes in a breath, and Anna realizes she’s simply unresponsive. It almost seems worse. Whatever she’s just been through has pushed her beyond her capacity to react to the present, and she’s instead shut herself off to the world.

Anna is scrambling back on her bed to press herself into the wall as Cain drags the girl by the scalp further into the room, his chest heaving as he pants.

The girl had been at dinner with the rest of them, Anna remembers. She had been sitting with some of the older girls on the other side of the room, eating and laughing and getting along just as well as or better than the rest of them.

Now, she’s all but unrecognizable.

Cain swings his arm and flings her forward.

The girl falls limply, not even trying to catch herself as her face collides with the stone floor. She lays there, unmoving, and Anna can hear her tiny gasps of breath as her body just barely remembers to keep itself alive.

There isn’t time to check on the girl or to question Cain before he comes rushing forward, seizing Anna by the arms and binding her hands behind her back with a piece of rope, looping it around her neck to further immobilize her. “Sit back and watch,” He snaps. “It’s important that you see this.”

She’s already crying by the time he lets her go and steps back a second later, fear gripping her with icy claws. He forces a palm to her chest, shoving her back against the wall once more.

Before he moves away, he reaches out again and grips her by the chin. Cain’s eyes are burning with anger as he pins her down, huffing ferociously in her face. “Keep your eyes open. If you look away, you’ll be the next one I play with.”

She’s nodding before she can stop herself.

He lets her go with a shove and her head cracks back against the wall.

It shocks her out of her panic for a second. Cain is moving away from her, ignoring the way she gasps behind him. A sharp sensation immediately settles behind her brow that makes her want to lay her head down and shut out all of the noise. It takes her a moment to realize that the noise is only her own sobs.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Cain bend over and his threat comes back to her.

Anna forces her eyes open, forcing them to come into focus.

Cain’s wrapping his hand in the girl’s hair again, pulling her up to her knees. She hangs from her scalp just like she did a few minutes before, endless nothingness in her eyes. Not a sound leaves her mouth, not even when her fingers twitch at her sides.

“Please, don’t hurt her anymore.” Anna hears herself begging. “She’s had too much, please.”

Cain gives a nod, and all of a sudden he’s holding a knife that glints in the dim light. “You’re right, unfortunately. I can’t hurt her anymore.”

Anna falls silent, all except for the thunderstorm of her heart in her ears.

The knife is pointed at her, waving in the dark. Cain is saying something, sneering at her, but she can’t hear him. It’s like she knows what’s going to happen, and her brain is already working to block it out.

Because in the next second, the blade is sinking into the young girl’s throat, and the light blinks out of her eyes.

The room is reverberating with a woman’s screaming. When Anna’s voice breaks, she realizes the scream is hers, and the girl is lying on her back in a spreading pool of blood at Cain’s feet.

He retrieves his knife and wipes it clean on the girl’s shirt. For a second, he just stares down at the body and breathes heavily as silence falls around them. His eyes snap to Anna’s, who has gone completely still. In a few movements, he’s next to her bed. “Remember this, when it’s your next turn in the chair.”

Her wide eyes blink at him, tears spilling down her cheeks. She’ll never forget this.

He leans closer. “When I stop seeing you,” He gestures back to the girl, now long gone. “I no longer have any need for you.”

Cain leaves the girl in Anna’s floor, kicking her legs out of the way so he can shut the door. Anna curls up against the wall in the dark, sobbing into her pillow until she can’t breathe. Her hands are still tied behind her back, the rope digging into her wrists and burning against her throat.

All she can think about is the little girl’s body on her floor. Even though she watched the knife land, even though she saw the lifeblood spill, it’s the fact that she can no longer hear the girl breathing that fills her with wretchedness until she thinks she’ll be sick.

Through the walls, she hears someone else crying.

She doesn’t want to know why.

She doesn’t want to know if someone else died, or how many girls were forced to watch a friend be murdered in front of them.

Anna buries her face in her pillow as the smell of blood suddenly fills her nose. It overwhelms her senses, the blood seeping from the girl’s throat.

She can’t even remember her name.

All of the girls had told her their names. Why can’t she remember this one?

It feels like hours before her door opens again, but the preceding knock tells her it’s just Han. She blinks as the light cuts into the room, her eyes stinging and dry. Han’s shadow is standing before her, stock still as his eyes fall to the girl. “Oh my god,” He breathes, and immediately bends over to reach for her face. “Lily,”

Lily.

Anna’s throat tightens, her eyes flooding again. She sniffles, choking against the rope. “He killed her.” She croaks. “He killed her right in front of me and just left her there.”

Han’s head snaps up, the shadows consuming his face so she can’t see, but he’s across the room in a second, turning her over. “It’s okay,” He says, but his voice cracks with emotion. “You’re okay.” The rope falls away from her wrists and loosens from her throat.

He pulls it away from her and tosses it to the floor.

Anna sits up, the light from the hallway allowing her to see Lily’s pale body still laying in her own blood. Her face crumples, emotions rushing up her throat all over again.

She feels Han’s hand on her shoulder, gripping just tight enough to ground her as she presses her hands to her mouth and weeps, tears blurring her view of the little girl. “Why would he do this?” She cries into her hands. “Why did he do this?”

“This is what he does,” Han responds tightly, his own voice breaking. He hasn’t looked at Lily since he first entered, and she realizes that she’s one of the little girls who used to cling to him like a little sister. “When he stops getting the reactions he wants, he gets bored.” His fingers lift from her arm to push her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “He always makes someone watch. He likes the reactions.”

Anna feels sick.

Han’s shoulders shake and she knows he’s crying, too.

“He just killed her.” She repeats, finally looking to his face. “How many of them has he killed?” She’s the ninth of the prisoners in the terrible dungeon where she’s now lived for over a week. She’s only just now realized what a fool she’s been to think there have only ever been nine.

Han just shakes his head. The light reflects in a tear as it drips from his chin. “I just didn’t think it would be Lily.”

Fresh in her mind’s eye, the knife crushes into Lily’s throat, blood blooming around the blade.

Anna crumbles and feels Han catch her, his hands gentle against her back. “I’ll take care of her,” He promises. “I’ll take care of her.”

She feels miserable, hoping he’ll drag the body away and clean the blood when he’s clearly just as devastated as she is, but she doesn’t offer to help. Thoughts of a cold body in her arms worm their way into her soul and settle just beneath the surface of her skin, like the itch of a dozen spiders crawling across her body, until she fears she’ll never rid herself of them.

Anna hears herself apologize, and she doesn’t know why.

“It’s okay.” Han whispers. “I’ll take care of her.”

[the-forests-blessing]

Chapter 24

This night of sleep had begun with ease, head to pillow and the comfort of another cold night underneath the hotel comforters. Dreams and dreaming itself were a rarity for Lukas, never falling deep enough into his subconscious as he slept. Although deep in his heart lies an even deeper ocean of newly acknowledged on set emotions that pulls him in and sends him to a place he’s never been.      The scholar comes to a dramatic stop, his heart racing as he meets dark obsidian.. His hands drop down to hold his aching knees just as his burning lungs yearn for a break, all this needless running has sent him into a panic. Panting, he’s drenched in sweat, staring down at the pointless path below in horror while all is starting to feel utterly hopeless. 

     This path has become an endless maze full of nightmarish mobs. Black creepers with bright red eyes and long spider legs that have given chase like nothing he’s ever encountered before. Above, the obsidian walls reach toward the sky, signifying his ill-fated future. Above the walls and the smoke-like clouds floats a giant discolored ghast with multiple heads. It is a haunting dark gray and its eyes are streaming with blood. Its noises are terrible and shrill, louder than any ghast in existence. 

     Lukas continues to watch the orange colored sky as more ghast flock around their giant counterpart. The deeply unsettling hiss of one of these spider creepers startles the blond and he immediately stands straight, continuing this endless chase.  

     The high walls begin to close in the further he runs and the path narrows beneath his feet, the mobs grow louder, gaining on him rapidly a stroke of misfortune, the author trips, beginning to fall face down, but he never hits the ground. Instead, the world turns with a sickening sharp twist and stops. His body is hurtled forward through the turning space, landing suddenly on his back against cold stone floors. 

      Ahh… Ow. He groans through his teeth, seething and sitting up. He raises head and takes in the new surroundings as well as he can as he rubs the sore spot where he hit the back of his head. Reality has shifted, he now resides in a place where nothing lives. The hues of dark red and black keep him in the dark of where he truly is. Metal bars, filthy cells, and crumbling walls all around. There is only one way forward and it promises more ominous loneliness and an encroaching fog. 

     The fog weighs heavier with every breath Lukas takes until it encompasses the terrifying prison he’s found himself in. While his body drags, he struggles to stand, stumbling over himself as his legs and arms both tremble with exhaustion. Panting, aching, and creeping with unsettlement, the scholar shuffles over to the bars of the cell, grasping the cold iron and staring outward. 

     What is this place? He wonders. From a monster infested maze to a cold, hollow prison. He isn’t being chased by monsters anymore at the very least, but to be imprisoned? Why? What have I done? Did I hurt someone? He glances around, noticing noteblocks nestled in random corners of the ceiling in the outer room, a few wooden tables too. There’s also a pit full of dirt, a single mushroom sprouted in the center. Lukas squints. Mycelium? Oh, and an easel posted up with a blank canvas across the pit. Strange..

     “Are you lost?” 

     Lukas jolts, his heart skipping as he believed he was entirely alone. He whips his head around, searching for the source of the omnipotent voice. Then he finds it looming in the shadows of his enclosed space. There’s something or someone… else in the corner of his musty old cell. Lukas stares at the fuzzy black splotch, taking his time to study it before responding. Even as it strained his psyche to acknowledge the impossible form, he sees it as humanoid in shape, but completely vantablack and visibly twitching with distortion. 

     He rubs at his eyes to make sure he wasn’t just seeing things, but no, this strange static-like figure is very much in the vicinity, and the source of the distorted voice. Lukas turns toward the bearer of the voice, keeping one hand gently grasping the iron bar. 

     “I… think so?” I can hear myself!

     There’s this eerie breathing sound that comes from the distorted person, almost like a laugh that’s been silenced for a lifetime… Lukas can feel the hair on his body standing on end and goosebumps encasing his skin as the entity stands. To his surprise, it's shorter than him. Nonetheless, he is weary and creeped out, if not a little curious as well.

     "You don’t look like you belong here.”  

     With the voice laced in distortion, Lukas can hardly make out what it's saying. Taking a moment to think and absorb until it dawns on him moments later. “In prison?” Lukas looks around, feeling rightfully overwhelmed with the filthy cracked walls and putrid smell of decay that comes from the old, wet mycelium. “I don’t think so either…” 

      “It will be okay.”

      The entity reaches out. Lukas’ hand falls away from the iron, his eyes widening as he looks down at the trembling distorted hand that proves to be unstable as it shifts in and out of reality. Bright teal and red flashing as the arm extends. Lukas’s breath holds, making his heart beat hard. The hand touches his own. First it begins with a buzzing in his hand, traveling up his arm until his body is overcome with warmth. It's as if his heart has been embraced. Hugged from within, his heartbeat calms and falls into a sense of relief. Breathless, the world begins spiraling as his vision is streaked with endless colors. The entity has gone, and when Lukas blinks, he’s in an entirely new space.

      Oh.. Lukas laments in silence as he stares forward. One after another, of all different materials and colors, he’s lost in a very long, expansive hallway full of portals! Our dedicated ecologist is in awe at the sight. An endless room full of doors to entirely new worlds! Full of who knows what, There are all kinds of ecological discoveries just waiting to be unearthed. But… where did the prison go? Or that crazy maze? I’m alone again..

     There’s a strange, distant sound coming from somewhere deeper in the hall. 

     Lukas takes a few cautious steps forward before gaining confidence, each scuff of his shoe echoes throughout the empty hall.  He can’t help but stop and examine each portal he passes by, the temptation of knowledge keeping his curiosity alive. But his caution keeps him from jumping through the wall of swirling bright colors and ominously soft wailing. There’s strange particles blinking in and out of existence, dust-like particles when the sun hits just right, but these chipped fractals are of interchanging colors. Red, purple, and blue. Lukas had not realized how he stopped here for more than a moment to study the strange room. From the corners of his vision, there’s a clouded, warbling edge of reality that makes the room shrink even as it doesn’t change in size. The unstable distortion makes some areas of the room glitch, jolting in and out of reality leaving a patch of flat bright color.

       That noise.. Lukas travels deeper down the hall of twisting distortion. Eventually he comes to a stop, his nerves frying with unease, making him feel tense and unnaturally disturbed. Right next to a portal surrounded by redstone, sits the entity from before. It’s void-like body curled in on itself, and that brittle staticed voice of it is heard making what sounds like quiet, pained sobs. 

     “Hey… Are you… okay?” Lukas asks, taking very cautious steps towards the entity. 

      “I don’t want to be here anymore.” 

      “...Here?” Lukas says, then looks around. A sense of anxiety amplifies his worry. “Where is here ?”

      “I just want to go home.”  

     Lukas’ mouth closes, unsure of how to respond to this voided person. Instead, he kneels down, attempting to get a better look at their face, but the closer he gets, the more he begins to realize that this entity lacks human features entirely, despite the static-like fuzz that creates a humanoid shape. 

     “Hey…” The author is careful as he gets closer, feeling that the closer he gets, the more his body reacts to an invisible field surrounding the entity. Something that makes Lukas’ skin crawl and his blood temperature freeze. Despite these things, he can tell when someone needs comforting. 

     “Hey, it’s going to be okay. You’ll go home soon.” He attempts to reassure, but he is entirely detached from this entity's situation, what it is or what its home is supposed to be. There’s nothing but hope in his words, lacking the confidence to truly believe in the truth within them. He has no idea who this is, or where they belong. 

      “You really think so?” They say.

     Lukas reaches his hand out, settling it down atop the figures ‘shoulder’. It’s freezing cold and buzzes like electricity throughout his arm. Uncomfortable, but the kindness of his own heart keeps him in place. “Yeah. Maybe we can help each other.”

      “...I’d like that.”

     That fuzzy feeling engulfs Lukas once more, and the next space he enters is something… ethereal. He has no idea, he feels as if he’s traveling well beyond the scope of his own mind. He feels.. Far away and out of his depth. The vast destroyed products and emptiness of this new realm renders him breathless.

     In the waking world, Dewey perks out of sleep. The ocelot shoots his head up and looks over to the desk where his owner does his work. There, sitting atop the desk next to dozens of books and copious amounts of papers… The lantern that the Admin had given Lukas is lit. The blue flame flickers with life, yet Lukas sleeps by Dewey’s side. The unsettling illumination of the flame reflects in his emerald eyes. Dewey looks back at Lukas, seeing the way he holds his pillow close to his chest, his eyes closed as he calmly sleeps. 

     Dewey’s ears flatten and he looks back at the flame. He lays his head back down atop Lukas’ covered legs, gazing sleepily at the blue light until his world too draws back to that of unconsciousness. 

     It doesn’t look real. An endless void with nothing except huge foreign constructs littered throughout it, floating with absence of gravity. Lukas glances around himself, realizing now that he’s still kneeled down the way he was beside the lonely entity. Standing up, his gaze travels all over… This place looks like it could be in outer space! There’s vague bright circles reminiscent of stars in the far distance, but he’s not certain that’s what they are. The star lights do not twinkle, and there are no visible planets.

     Glancing elsewhere, he recognizes a weirdly familiar clock floating high above with the other floating misshaped objects. Broken up builds? Where have I seen that clock before again? He can’t quite remember as he walks down a circular spiral of prismarine light fixtures. The light flows from one to another, creating an enchanting light show that beckons him further across an expansive bridge across space. 

     There’s so many obscure structures here.. Like a colossal human-like building that gives Lukas the creeps. He averts his eyes from it, peering at something elsewhere along the path. A tower structure reminiscent of those that stick out like sore thumbs in BeaconTown. Another one of those red and black buildings that fails to capture the rainbow pallets BeaconTown promised of. 

     Suddenly a warmth overcomes his right hand. Lukas stops and looks down, finding that… There’s nothing there.

      We have to hurry. 

     Lukas’ brows furrow at the utterly strange feeling surrounding him. That’s definitely not his inner voice telling him to hurry. That’s a different voice entirely. It sounds masculine in tone. Stressed with urgency.

     “Hurry where?” Lukas asks out loud, but there is no answer.

     Just like that, the floating prismarine lights begin to fall one by one and a sickening sense of urgency churns in Lukas’ stomach. He gasps and shields himself, bracing for impact. All of the buildings and prismarine towers around him are crumbling as the stars dim and the void rapidly darkens. Darkness creeps on the scholar, a terrible black smoke surrounding him as the stars disappear, being swallowed faster and faster as the darkness closes in and suddenly everything vanishes. 

      Pound pound pound! 

     “Lukas! Open up!” 

     Lukas darts up from the covers of his bed. Panicked from his intense dream, he’s covered in sweat and his heart is pounding much like the knocks that disturbed him from his slumber. More pounding sounds from outside the door, urging Lukas up and out of bed, the sheer loudness to the booming voice, the aggression with every wood splitting knock wakes the blond instantly. 

     “H-hold on a second!” He snaps. In a rush, he throws on his clothes and, to his shock when glancing at the clock, he registers that not only is it still very early in the morning, but it’s not even daylight out either! 

     Dewey’s already arching off the bed, puffed with alertness to the sudden chaos happening outside the door. Lukas quickly approaches his desk, grabbing up all his most important items– only to stop and notice the thin layer of smoke drifting out of the lifeless lantern. Confusion takes a hold of him, but his attention cannot last. 

     “Lukas! Open up right now or I’m breaking this door down!”

     Lukas snags the lantern too, hiding it away in his inventory before rushing towards the door. Grasping the handle, the lock unlatches as he opens it, only to find himself nearly getting smashed between the wall and the door as a heavy hand shoves it up against him-! The loud presence passes through the doorway, causing Dewey to snarl with a curled lip, every strand of hair on his back spiking and making himself look twice his size. 

     With a groan, Lukas grasps the door frame and gives it a light push away from himself. The door is yanked, then the chest of his turtleneck is grabbed and he’s subsequently shoved against the wall behind him by none other than the mayor herself. “Ah–!” He shouts, startled. Lukas gawks openly, utterly shocked with the fuming redhead’s arrival as well as the aggression in her clenching fists.

     “What in the world are you doing?!” Lukas snaps again, hiding none of his anger with the outlandishly unfair treatment. 

     “What am I doing?” Petra barks. “What are you doing out there with the alloy?!”

     “...Alloy?”

     “Don’t play stupid with me, Lukas. We are far from playing calm and cordial.” 

     Lukas squints, now paying little mind to the hands pinning him to the wall. Instead, he searches the mayor’s scarred fury. Alloy… Does she mean… “Wait… Do you mean the allay?” He asks casually, so as not to show the effects of Petra’s physical method of interrogation.  

     “Whatever! Spit it out, blondie!” She gives him another rough shove and this time, Dewey hops down from the bed and snarls, unsheathing his claws and ready to make a mess of a certain red fox. 

     “Dewey, it’s okay.” Lukas attempts to soothe in a pleading tone, hoping with every fiber of his being that his precious ocelot stays back and out of harm's way. “Just let me handle this. Everything will be alright.” 

     “Enough!” Petra barks again, turning her attention back to the author. “I hate to admit that I trusted you, Lukas! I truly believed that you weren’t going out of your way to lie to my face, but you–”

     “Hold on, hold on… What are you talking about?”  Lukas asks, making the redhead falter.

     “Wha– What do you mean? That little pest is connected to the Admin… Ghhrr somehow, we just know that it is and you– you were seen with it last night! Out in the field!” Petra gives him another shake, this time a little less violent. “Explain yourself!” 

     Lukas is frozen in place. He… was so confident that nobody had seen him or Berry. There was nobody! He’d made sure to glance around every corner of the halls here at the BeacInn, as well as out in the alleyway before leaving the wall. Where else could he have missed? Who else could have possibly been up so late in the evening? Most of the town slumbers once the mobs return to walk the earth until the sun rises and burns them to ashes. 

     How does he explain his presence with the allay? How much was seen? He has to tread this interrogation as calmly and carefully as possible. 

     “Wha– Ooohh,” Lukas expresses as though he’d just come to an understanding. “Haha, you had me really confused for a second there, Petra. Jeez, if you wanted me to tell you, you could have just asked… a little nicer…” He says, glancing down at his current predicament. Petra only quirks her scarred brow, waiting for his explanation. 

     “That allay is what led me out of the forest the other day. It was very kind, I wouldn’t have been able to find myself back in the safety of the normal forest without it. I guess I couldn’t help myself and kind of became friends with it on the way. Can you blame me though? It’s so cute.” Lukas shrugs, sheepish and honest. 

     Suddenly he’s dropped and he feels as though a massive weight has been lifted from his form. He takes the moment of freedom to breathe, but Petra does not back off any bit, in fact, she takes a step closer and towers imposingly over him. 

     “Why didn’t you stay put! Dammit Lukas we weren’t going to be gone that long.” 

      So that means Jack kept his word then . Lukas sighs with relief, taking Petra aback quite a bit with his overall relaxed posture. 

     “I don’t know, I guess I got caught up in my studies. I started wandering and wandering and next thing I know, I got lost. I called out for you guys but nobody responded, except the allay.” 

     “Lukas that thing is connected to the Admin! Do you have any clue at all what mess you could have made of yourself– or for us here in BeaconTown by bringing that thing here?” 

     “Well– I– Uh… No. Actually, I don’t.” 

     “How? Are you truly that dense?” Petra growls, making the author's casual expression fall into firmly contained anger. Her eyes flash with hatred as she snarls out her next words. “Everything on that side of the forest is fueled by the most vile.. the most evil,” her eyes fall to the floor, searching for more words, “the most despicable, horrible and hate fueled heart ever known! And that includes that allay.”

     Lukas locks in with her intense glare, sharing a piece of his own attitude towards the distrust he feels for every word falling from her scarred mouth. He scoffs, choosing the bold move to give the mayor an eye roll. “Uhm, actually Petra, allays are pure of heart and only attach themselves to other creatures they deem of complete purity. If this Admin guy is so evil, that allay would have turned into a vex by now.”

     Petra reaffirms her ground with a stomp. “You’re really just going to stand there and question me about what I know about the Admin?” 

     “Yeah? So what if I am?” Lukas stands up straight. He's nowhere near as tall as her, but he's had enough experience standing his ground around the seven foot tall Admin to feel more than comfortable taking on this heated redhead. 

     Petra is once again shocked to see Lukas stand up to her. He watches as his confidence seems to make her back pedal, blinking in surprise before returning to her furious scowl. 

     “Tell me what you know.” She demands. “Right now, Lukas.”

     Lukas’ eyes narrow. “I don't know anything,” he replies with a sharp retort. “If you've been listening to that good for nothing bully, Aiden , then I'll gladly remind you that he's been throwing around nothing but false rumors about me since I arrived here in BeaconTown! Admin this– Admin that– I get accused of knowing all these things about him yet nobodies even willing to tell me anything! Every time I ask, it's, oh don't worry about it, or it's not your business, or you're safer staying out of it. Well clearly not! Not when I have all these crazy accusations being thrown my way and I don't even know what to make of them! So why don't YOU,” he jabs her with his index finger right below her collar bone, “tell me what's going on, Petra! Because I've seriously had it with this ridiculous town!”

      A charged silence fills the room. Petra and even Dewey too both look shaken at what brutal honesty just barked from the blond’s mouth. Lukas takes in a deep breath, standing back a bit and straightening himself with a look of self-assured expectation. 

     After a few seconds of silence, Petra adjusts her footing and steps back. Crossing her arms, she gazes down upon the frustration that stays knitted into Lukas’ features. “So then what exactly do you know about the Admin?” She asks carefully. 

     “Nothing! Other than that he exists and is supposedly this all powerful dangerous monster. But no one would give me any details or backstory because they say talking about him is just forbidden or something.” Lukas explains irritably. 

     “Huh, oh yeah,” Petra turns away awkwardly. “Forgot I incited that rule.” 

     …Lukas doesn’t even know how to respond to that. That is just so… unbelievably– “Do you even realize how horrible of a mayor you truly are?” 

     Petra laughs at that. “Trust me, Lukas, that's all I think about.”

     Lukas is beyond himself right now. Come here to immediately launch into a physical interrogation? At– what is it– he glances at the clock. Four in the morning?! Just to laugh and return to casual conversation as if nothing that had just been done was wrong. Lukas scowls at her, finding no humor in any of it.

     “You also seriously need to practice your methods of interrogation because coming here and pinning me against a wall with absolutely zero knowledge of what’s going on is crazy.” 

     Petra just shrugs. “Come with me.” She says plainly, then grabs the door and heads out of it, leaving Lukas in a state of disbelief as the door closes behind her. 

     He looks at Dewey, who seems just as perplexed by the entire thing. “Can you believe her?” Lukas asks. Dewey just growls with a thrash of his tail, unable to find any trust in her. He paws over to the doorway and looks up at Lukas with an expectant meow. The blond simply sighs. “Yeah I hear you. Let me get my coat on.”

     Outside of his room, Lukas finds Petra waiting for him. Leaned up against the wall, she raises a brow when the two of them come out, staring down at Dewey in particular. “You put a bandana on your cat?” She asks.

     Dewey looks mildly offended by the question, while Lukas actually facepalms hearing it. It is… far too early in the morning for such asinine questions. “One, he’s an ocelot. Two, he has always been wearing this bandana. Three, for the hundredth time, his name is Dewey.” 

     “Dewey. Ocelot. Always wearing. Got it. Let’s go.” Petra turns away and begins walking, her boots thumping loudly against the carpeted floor with every step. 

     “This is going to be a long day…” Lukas mutters, following after her. Dewey follows along, sticking close to his owner’s side. Once he’s caught up with the town’s mayor at the stairs, he stops. “Where are we going exactly?”

     “You want to know more about the Admin right?” Petra asks, passing by him and heading down the stairs. 

     Lukas’ heart snags in his chest, feeling an uncomfortable drop in his stomach. He’s been waiting so long for this moment. To finally learn some backstory about his friend in the woods, and to finally find some deeper understanding to him that will only change the tides of their… relationship. Lukas feels his feet weigh heavier with every step down the stairs. Uncertainty floods his mind as he continues to follow Petra out of the BeacInn. 

       Petra and the rest of BeaconTown hate him. What if what I’m about to learn… destroys all the feelings I’ve built up with him… 

     Is it too late to say no? Is his ignorance to the Admin’s true identity sweet bliss, or a nightmare waiting to unfold? 

     Under the stars of twilight, the author and his ocelot follow Beacon’s mayor. The town is desolate, void of any life. Only the dim glow of torch light within the abundant homes remind Lukas that there is still life here in BeaconTown. He isn’t quite sure where Petra is leading him, because it seems like she’s exiting the town through a gate east of the wall, one that can only be reached by traversing the parts of town that are hardest to look at. 

     “So… Who exactly saw me with the allay?” Lukas asks just to get rid of this uncomfortable silence.

     “Maya and Gill told me,” Petra replies dryly. “We are constantly watching the forest from the tower in case the Admin ever decides to return and wreak havoc here again.” Lukas stiffens up hearing that, but stays quiet as she continues. “We see you going in there all the time, but nothing ever seemed out of the ordinary. Not going to lie, the first few times we watched you go in, I half expected you to never come back out.”

     “...Why is that?” 

     “Duh, because the Admin would have killed you for re-entering his stolen part of the woods.”

      Stolen? Lukas repeats that in his head over and over. Wreak havoc in BeaconTown? Steal the woods? He’d ask what that all meant, but he’s certain he’ll be finding out soon. Besides, where Petra leads him next only confuses him further. 

      It’s a farm, from the looks of it. Not so far from BeaconTown’s wall, placed accordingly in the middle of the grasslands for livestock to roam around in. Lukas looks back up at the mayor. “A… farm?” 

     “Yep, but we’re going to the stables. Got to grab some horses.” 

     “What! Horses? Why?” Lukas blurts out. 

     “What’s the matter? You’re a nature lover. I thought you’d be thrilled to hear the word ‘horse’ or something.” 

     “I mean… Yes, they are beautiful and graceful animals, I admire that a lot about them, but why do we need horses?” He asks.

     “Because the place I’m taking you is a bit far from town, and it will be safer to ride horseback while the monsters are out.” She responds. 

     Lukas sighs, reluctantly following Petra into the ranch. Once at the stables, Lukas enjoys himself seeing all the diverse colors and patterns on the horses here. He can’t help but attempt to greet and pet each one, finding himself particularly fond of the dark brown one with a white diamond on her face. 

     “Lukas! Let’s go!” Petra shouts from outside the stables. 

     “See you guys some other time.” Lukas jogs out of the stables, coming to find Petra outside with two horses saddled up and ready to go. Lukas stands awkwardly, uncertain as the mayor puts herself onto the black one with ease. “Uhh…” The ecologist is entirely inexperienced with horse riding, feeling entirely too intimidated to mimic Petra’s action. 

     “Well? What are you waiting for? Hop on.”

     “Oh, I uh— I’ve never–”

     “You’ve never ridden a horse?” She deadpans. “What kind of ecologist are you?”

     “The kind that respects the freedom and preservation of wildlife.” 

     “Just get on the horse.”

     “I don’t know–”

     “ Now , Lukas.” 

     “Okay! Okay.” He puts his hands up defensively. “Come on, Dewey, you first.” Lukas looks down, just to find his ocelot nowhere near his side. The blond looks around, seeing Dewey stalking far too close to one of the chicken coops! “Dewey!” Lukas shouts, making the jungle cat flinch and duck his head down, knowing he’s been spotted. “Dewey. You leave those chickens alone.” Those chickens clucking away in their coops are just too tempting for the poor little guy. When Dewey pads guiltily back up to him, Lukas emits an amused little laugh. “Come on buddy, up you go.” 

     Getting up on the horse is definitely one awkward experience. With Petra right beside him, refusing to withhold her commentary, it made it even harder for him. Once he gets up on the animal, he finds the saddle uncomfortable and the elevation off the ground a bit disorienting. Petra goes over with him how to control the horse with its reins, which he did appreciate in the end, because once they were finally on the move, the wind felt amazing, and the ride felt completely unreal. 

     Dewey keeps his claws dug into the saddle and his body pressed against the author's stomach. He follows Petra, watching the way her cape flaps against the wind behind her, her red hair bouncing with her stallion's graceful movements. Just beyond the grasslands, Lukas can see the sun beginning to pass over the horizon, filling the sky with soft colors. Colors… that bring him back to his dream.

     Lukas’ eyes widen upon remembering the strangeness of his dream. It was extremely vivid and felt entirely too real, down to the touch and feel of the world around him. That entity enveloped in darkness, its voice laced in distortion… Lukas’ eyes narrow, allowing himself to be buffeted by the wind as he recalls it all.

     The maze, and that disgusting prison. He can remember the stench of decay. He shakes his head, continuing to look deeper into the dream. He recalls the portal hallway, as well as the entity there too, then that otherworldly part of space. He remembers the voice. We have to hurry. He remembers the fear laced within the trembling tone… and then the void collapsed around him, and he woke up.

     “We’re here.” 

     Lukas straightens, easing himself out of his thoughts. He hadn’t been keeping track of how long they’d been riding. So focused on experiencing this new feeling, as well as taking the time to recall his dream, it led him to drift out of reality for a bit. He looks up, seeing now the sun has begun peeking over the horizon, washing the landscape in morning light. The grass glistens with dew drops and distant monsters catch flame, walking through the agony of burning until death brings them to the ground in a pile of ashes, to be caught by the wind and forgotten until nightfall comes once more.

     What catches his attention now though is the massive structures surrounding him. Following Petra, Lukas and Dewey find themselves in what looks to be an abandoned city. The morning sun catches the vines growing out of the old, crumbling buildings. Flora has overtaken what used to be a place of civilization. Every broken down build has lost the colors of life they once held, with broken glass shattered everywhere the horses step. Lukas is careful to steer his horse from the path of any broken shards. 

     “Where are we?” Lukas asks.

     Petra pulls her reins and guides her horse to a stop. In one fluid movement, she turns and steps down upon the ground with ease. Lukas looks around himself, considering doing the same motion. She makes it look so easy, but as he turns, he struggles to find steady preparation for the drop. He ends up sliding off his horse, landing with a grunt on the old path, overgrown with grass and weeds. 

     “This is all that remains of Champion City.” Petra says grimly. She watches the author reach up and grab Dewey, placing the ocelot on the ground and reminding him to watch his step. Averting her gaze, she puts her hands on her hips and looks over the city that once stood strong and mighty… even with that unbearable leader. 

     “Champion City?” Lukas walks over to her. “Never heard of it.” 

     “Probably because it’s been laying in its own collapse for the past decade.” 

     “Collapse?” Lukas repeats. “What happened to it?”

     Petra looks over her shoulder at him, with pure fury etched into her freckled features. “The Admin happened.” 

     Lukas stands stock still. His heart rate accelerates rapidly. Breathless, he asks, “what did he do?” 

     “Everything!” Petra suddenly turns on him with a shout. Dewey dives back behind Lukas’ legs, staying low to the ground as the mayor gets progressively louder and louder, gesturing towards the devastated city around her. “He destroyed this city and all its people with a single clap of his hands!”

     Lukas looks around him, staring and holding focus towards all of the destruction in this vast lush landscape of grief. The rubble is immense, and it would take something absolutely catastrophic to do what has been done to this city. Lukas has never seen anything quite like it, not even when visiting old ruined temples deep in his favored rainy jungles or out in the dry desert.

     “The… Admin did this?” He speaks softly.

     “Yeah. A long time ago.” Petra grumbles and turns away, her heavy steps carrying the weight of her emotions. Lukas looks down at Dewey, both meeting each other’s eyes with fearful looks. The horses are left to graze by Champion City’s destroyed archway entrance. The further he travels in, the more sickly he begins to feel. 

      There’s… There’s no way he could have done something like this… right? 

     “What I’m about to tell you is all the truth, Lukas.” Petra stops in a grassy garden, centered right in the middle of the city. Wild flowers bloom here amidst the destruction. Every step he takes, there’s more chunks of debris in differentiating sizes. The sun continues to rise further above the city, shining beams of light through broken windows and gaping holes in the buildings that once pierced the clouds themselves. What used to be beautiful skyscrapers, built with perfection in mind, have deteriorated to nothing but broken shards of the past.

     The story Petra details is one of horror. Something that shakes Lukas to his core, and the sickness in his gut has him collapsing to his knees. 

     She talks of a magic gauntlet, found by her and her late best friend Jesse down beneath BeaconTown itself. The gauntlet was made of prismarine, one of the world’s most precious materials. It stuck itself around Jesse’s hand and refused to let go. Soon enough Jesse apparently began hearing voices coming from the gauntlet, an eerie projection of the gauntlet’s desire for a suitable champion. The two of them went to Jack for help, him and his husband Nurm inevitably taking the plunge alongside Petra and Jesse into a far off water temple. A colossus followed them home. One made of the prismarine that the sea temple was built with. 

     Lukas faintly recalls something similar to that in his vivid dream from this morning. 

     Then she tells more tales of the colossus coming to BeaconTown, trampling its building’s while it challenges Jesse to face off against it. Then there’s mention of a snowman– which confuses Lukas– but he’s listening, and all the more confused and concerned when Petra says that those things were only just two of the Admin’s forms. 

     The admin Petra tells of sounds chaotic with his schemes, caring little about the human lives it's pulling the strings of during his little games. Those… just don’t sound like the admin he knows. Lukas continues to listen.

     Clock… Ice palace-!? Lukas recalls those from his dreams too, but he's never seen, let alone heard of them before now.

     Then Petra speaks of coming into contact with the Admin’s true form. A man imbued in red and black color schemes, very unstable, and the utter definition of evil when it comes down to lives at stake. She talks of a prison, the Sunshine Institute, she calls it, and a huge maze of monsters; products of the Admin himself. That left Lukas breathless, staring down at the ground in a constant state of shock as more and more overwhelming information sent his mind into a state of horror. 

     Next comes talk of escaping the Sunshine Institute, Petra, Jesse, Jack, and Radar too, finding themselves in an entirely new place called the Underneath. Lukas is beyond disturbed to hear that there has been a world beneath theirs all this time. A world beneath the stone and all the ores that can be found within it. The cave systems to mine through and call it an end once bedrock is struck with a determined pickaxe. To think… All this time there was an actual world beneath it all. A desolate wasteland full of monsters and never ending storms. Rogues who wander the nightmare world and pursue trickery and thieving to survive. 

     “That’s… My god that’s… Awful.” Lukas is in the grass by now, sitting criss-crossed with his head in his hands. His eyes stare down at the grass, unblinking even as they tear over with wet emotion. “The– the Admin really caused all of this? Left all those people down there to suffer?” 

     “Mhm. Trust me, Lukas. I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing either.” Petra turns away again, this time looking up towards where the sun’s rays scatters through the crumbling buildings. “Then it all came back to BeaconTown.” 

     According to Petra, the Admin had far more tricks up his sleeve than just sending her, Jesse, and the others down to the Sunshine Institute as punishment for their actions against his evil ideals. Tired of dealing with them, he chose to take the form of none other than the mayor himself, Jesse , and return to the surface wearing his face, causing who knows what kinds of trouble. That is, until they finally made it back home of course.

     The BeaconTown Petra paints a picture of is the exact same BeaconTown Lukas sees now, except there is no unhinged tyrant running around, causing all of the town’s citizens to cower in fear at the mere sight of him. There is sadness, and there is a depressing cloud that hangs over the gloomy town that was once so world renowned, just the mention of it would bloom bright and cheerful conversations amongst those who’d been lucky enough to experience it in its golden days before the collapse. 

     Apparently Champion City had a leader too, going by the name of Stella. She’s been mentioned a few times throughout Petra’s recollection of the story, but never in good taste. She seems to have a particularly negative outlook on the woman. 

     “She was standing right there with him, the Admin, when he clapped his hands and blew up this entire city.” Petra sulks, shaking her head as she remembers it all like it was yesterday. She turns to Lukas with a genuine expression of sorrow on her face. “Me, Jesse, and Jack all saw it with our own eyes. You’ve been all over the world Lukas, have you ever seen anything like that?” She asks with a shake in her voice. “Had to witness hundreds of people die all at once, and have nothing you can do to save even just one of them.” 

     Lukas feels his heart clutch in his chest. He opens and closes his mouth, unable to speak. The block in his throat is so tight, his stomach feeling so sick and uneasy, he fears for a moment he may throw up hearing all of this horrifying news of… of the man he considered his one and only friend.

     Something just feels so… off about the situation though. The admin he knows in the forest doesn’t at all match any of the descriptions Petra uses to describe the admin and his treachery. The Admin he knows is quiet, gentle in nature, and very much adamant about keeping the life inside his forest safe and sound. Even with the friendship they share, Lukas can see the distance Admin puts between them, and has put between them ever since they met. Even with the special moments they’ve shared, like the night he spent stargazing with him, or his time with him down by the river, or even just the other day under the willow. 

     This admin Petra speaks of sounds obsessed and downright insane . Someone who doesn’t know anything about boundaries, and his obsession with Jesse is no doubt fueled by jealousy. Someone who respects boundaries, and someone who doesn’t at all. Something just doesn’t feel right about any of this. Lukas doesn’t speak his concerns though, instead he continues to listen intently to the rest of Petra’s story.

     JesseCon? He dedicated a con to himself– in the stolen body of Jesse himself? What a creep. What kind of deflated ego did this guy have in his true form? What? All he wanted was attention? Yeah, because killing people mercilessly and bedrocking over an entire world is a great place to start. Locking people up for decades because they didn’t agree with your insanity sure doesn’t help either. 

     The more Petra talks about this guy, the more Lukas begins to seriously form doubts. 

     “So… Did Jesse… Not defeat him?” Lukas asks carefully.

     Petra crosses her arms. From the side, he can see her face scrunch up as she shakes her head, slowly, slowly, then a bit more and once again Lukas is witnessing the woman’s head tick and clench her fists at the physical reaction. Petra seethes through bared teeth, her sadness falling away into anger. 

     “No.” She responds in a deep, flat tone. 

     The wind stirs around them, making the grass sway. The acute feeling of distress strengthens in Lukas. His silence waiting for her to continue makes the redhead chuckle a bit. 

     “You know, I don't know if I said it before, but Jesse would have liked you.” She says out of nowhere, making the blond’s brows knit with confusion. “I see so many similarities between you two. Wanting to put effort into understanding people and their motives. Your first instinct isn’t to attack, or to kill, but to engage in conversation, seeking a deeper connection, even with the people you dislike.” Her smirk turns down into a deep frown. “But that will always be your greatest downfall, Lukas.” 

     Lukas isn’t certain how to respond. “What do you mean?” He asks softly. 

     “Jesse refused to kill anyone. He’d fight for his life, and he was so damn good at it. He was skillful with any weapon you handed him, and he would still drop it at the end of the day. He always saw potential in every life we came across. He believed in people atoning for their actions, rather than stripping them of the life they were so willing to take from others.” Petra shakes her head. “You are both so much better than me. I don’t hesitate. Not anymore.” She turns to him. 

     “Some people truly deserve to die, Lukas. The Admin was one of them, and in my heart, I truly believe Jesse knew it too.” Petra grits her teeth, sucking in a deep breath before expelling it with a heavy sigh.

     Lukas’ eyes widened. “So what happened?”

     Petra grimaces, turning away. Lukas can see the mayor having difficulty with answering the question. She drags her gloved hand up and down her face and stops to pinch at the bridge of her nose. The next few seconds are filled with silence until she chooses to speak again.

     “We made it through the portal at the top of the tower just before the world bedrocked over completely. Inside it, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Petra’s hand returns to her hip. “It was like we were stuck in some kind of place in outer space.”

     Lukas sucks in a sharp breath.

     “There were all these reminders of what the Admin had done floating around us. The colossus, the clock, and all these other fragments of his past that he more than likely used to torture poor, innocent people with. A floating spire of prismarine lanterns guided us down this crazy long bridge, and that was where we made it to Fred’s gauntlet– terminal– thingy.” 

     “Fred… The other admin?” Lukas asks, remembering his name being mentioned multiple times as Petra talked of the Underneath, as well as the third admin, Xara. Coming to learn there’s three of these deity’s is both alarming, and somewhat exciting to Lukas. To think that their world is capable of producing such unimaginable power, only to be wielded by three trusted souls. He wonders who chose to give them the powers. Was it given to them, or did they maybe just spawn that way? 

     “Yeah, him.” Petra shrugs.

     “Waitwaitwait, hold on.” Lukas stops her, coming to a stand now. “If the other two have names, Xara and Fred, then who’s… The Admin?” 

     Petra’s nose scrunches with disgust, clearly feeling an immense displeasure thinking of her response.

     “Romeo.” She says.

     …

     Lukas deadpans.

      What… That’s it… Seriously? 

     “ Romeo?” Lukas repeats, feeling himself succumb to a tidal wave of disappointment. “That’s seriously his name?” 

     “Yeah.” Petra shoves her hands into her pants pockets, then glances over, eyeing Lukas’ strange demeanor with a look of puzzlement. “What, were you expecting something else?”

     “I– Uh… I guess I had no idea what I was expecting.” Certainly not that. Not only does it not at all fit the Admin he knows, but it's also extremely unappealing. Sounds like an overused name in a corny romance novel.

     Petra just turns away, finding no reason to linger on Lukas’ usual weirdness. “Anyways, yeah, Romeo– gah,” she shakes her head before continuing, “I hate saying his name.” 

     She goes on to detail Jesse receiving a golden version of the gauntlet, one that Fred supposedly designed as a failsafe just for taking down Romeo if all else seemed hopeless. 

     “Jesse fought with his heart, and in the blink of an eye, they were both gone.” Petra drops to her knees in the grass. The wind flowing around her, tussling her cape and pulling at her short, choppy hair. “Jack and I waited and waited, and suddenly–” Petra pauses to watch Lukas step beside her and sit down. “The terminal space started collapsing. Jack and I had to run out of the terminal room and we made it back to the bridge just in time for the entire place to cave in. The space was destroying itself and–” 

     Lukas watches her closely, seeing now the unspoken emotion that coats her amber eyes and makes them gleam bright in the sun. 

     “We had to run. We had no choice. Finally I look back and Jesse was there. He was right there on the bridge running to us. I remember being so overcome with relief, that I didn’t think twice about rushing into the portal. Jack went first, and I went in after making sure Jesse was going to make it… But once we made it out, the portal distorted and– and twisted in on itself as it blinked out of existence.” 

     “Petra…” 

     “He never made it out of that portal…” Petra laments, scrunching her face up as warm tears spill down her cheeks. Suddenly the mayor’s hand is rising. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” She hits herself in the head repeatedly and in a frantic rush, Lukas moves in grabbing her hand. 

     “Woah, woah hang on!” Lukas can feel how horribly tense the woman is as he holds her down by her wrists. Heart racing, he looks up to see a harsh red mark forming where she’d hit herself. “ Petra..” He adjusts his hands and holds hers in his own, clutching them tight. 

     She ticks again, moving her head slowly to shake it off. “Ghhraah no! No!” She barks and rips her hands away from him. “Romeo kept him there! I don’t know how but I know it was him who did it! Jesse couldn’t survive something like that! He– He died and– and Romeo lived, and now he’s… He’s haunting me!” Petra reaches out, clutching onto Lukas’ shoulders and digging her fingers into his coat. The paranoia in her eyes frightens Lukas into leaning back some. “He’s haunting me! He’s out there in those damned woods! Haunting me and wearing my best friend’s face!"

      "What!?"

      “He’s out there m-mocking me! He killed Jesse in that terminal space and he came back just to make my life a miserable living hell!” She gives Lukas a violent shake.  “He has to die, Lukas! He has to die! I cannot sleep! I cannot eat! I cannot live my life until I know Romeo is dead!”  

     “Wha-what m-makes you think it’s really Romeo out there!?” Lukas blurts out. “And if it really is him, why isn't he using his powers to just.. destroy the town or something??”

     “What makes me–?” Petra pauses, looking genuinely deranged as she stares at Lukas into what feels like his very soul. “Lukas. Romeo wore Jesse’s face like a trophy. He wore his face and made a mockery of him! Made him out to be the villain! He turned everyone against him and– and destroyed the love and trust in Jesse’s name! Why would he come back as himself when he knew he could come back and torment us all as the one person we all looked up to! He wants to torture us with the knowledge that Jesse is dead and he killed him and he is what remains of his image!” Another rough shake and Lukas is starting to feel genuinely sick and dizzy with all this horrifying information. 

     With a deep, grounding breath, she continues with a more controlled tone. “Why hasn't he come to destroy the town? We believe it's because with the loss of the terminal space, Romeo has weakened exponentially. Only a small fraction of his powers remain, which is why he chose to steal our woods and hide away in them. He cannot function the way he used to.”

      Okay… I guess that makes sense… But…

     “Y-you’re sure Jesse died?” Lukas begs the question. “Was there ever a body? Anything!?” 

     “GAHHH NO!” Petra screams and suddenly stands, gripping both sides of her head and pulling roughly at her hair. “No! There was never a body! There wouldn’t have ever been a body. Jesse was only a normal human like us! The only way out of the terminal space was the same way we got into it! And it’s through that damned portal! Only Romeo was the one that could teleport through different worlds! He was stuck there, and if Romeo didn't kill him then– then he died of starvation or– or suffocation! He's gone! My best friend is dead and this is why Romeo has to die! I will not stop until he is dead! ” 

     “Good creative gods Petra, how on earth do you plan to kill him if he can't be caught?” 

     Petra’s heavy breathing begins to unwind, the mayor staring wildly at Lukas. “We have a weapon. Something that will kill him. Destroy him for good.” Her voice darkens into something truly grim, just as her leather gloves audibly tighten with her closing fists. “We've been working for nearly a decade with some of the world's greatest redstone engineers and even the man who curated the original product of what we're going to use to finally get rid of that monster. All we need to do is keep him back. To keep setting those traps. To remind him we're here. We're here and we're never going to leave until the time has come to end his pathetic life for good.”

     So… This is it. 

     This is what it’s come to. 

     Lukas averts his gaze away from Petra, staring outward towards the decomposing buildings. What does he even begin to do with this information? His eyes water with unshed tears, feeling his heart drop hearing the devastation the man that he’d thought all along was actually his friend , has truly caused this town. Lukas closes his eyes and keeps them shut, letting the silent tears fall down his cheeks. 

     What has all this been then? What has the Admin been doing to him? And why? Why did he save him? Is he just a pawn in all this tension between BeaconTown and the Admin himself? Has the Admin been using him as a tool to gather information of what happens in town all along? So he could further plot ways of haunting these people in the image of the person they grieve the most? 

     All this time… The man he’s been looking at is a reconstructed, deformed version of Jesse? The hero of BeaconTown himself? Lukas attempts to envision the man in the painting he saw back in the Order Hall, doing his best to compare the Admin in the woods to the man in the painting. Perhaps the face shape and fluffy hair are similar, but Admin is massive , a towering seven feet, and Jesse is… Well… Tiny. But perhaps that is just one of the Admin’s– Romeo’s tricks of deceit. One of his methods of haunting the people in town by imposing on them with a… monstrous version of their hero. 

     Lukas comes to a stand, stumbling on his feet as he begins to quickly make his way back towards what’s left of the crumbling entrance to Champion City. 

     “Where are you going?” Petra calls after him, but the author’s too anguished to respond, turning just to hold his hand out.

     “S-stay back!” He shouts, turning away from the mayor, picking up his feet to walk faster. Petra is quick to collect herself behind him, sucking in a sharp breath and following the author and his ocelot with quick haste. When Lukas makes it back to the horses, he’s fumbling in his attempts to get on the saddle, so much so that it fails to go unnoticed by Petra. 

     “Are you crying?” The redhead asks, narrowing her eyes on Lukas’ flushed face. 

     “Just leave me alone , Petra. I’m going back to town,” Lukas says with a tremble in his voice. Dewey awaits Lukas atop the horse's saddle, looking worried as his owner finally makes it up there with him. The jungle cat’s green eyes are wide with worry. 

     “What the hell has gotten into you?” She snaps, now standing by Lukas’ side. “Lukas, stop–” 

     Lukas smacks her hand away, shocking the both of them. Petra’s eyes widened and she holds her hand as Lukas grabbed his horse’s reins and snapped them, making his horse turn around and with the proper steering, gallops until it makes it out into the grasslands where it then turns into a full blown run. 

      “Lukas!”

     Petra stands by her horse and watches him go. Shock, then confusion… suspicion… then a dreadful feeling of understanding overcomes her. “No way…” She mutters, feeling her heartbeat pound with rising blood pressure, adrenaline spiking like blistering flames inside her very core. Betrayal stabs her like a bolt of lightning, striking her heart directly and fueling an unfathomable rage like no other. Shaking… Tensing… Until all comes to an eerie calm. She grabs her horse's reins and follows the path back home.

     When she makes it back to town, she doesn’t waste time bringing the horse back to its stable, instead leaving it outside the Order Hall for some random citizen to take care of as the day progresses. Lukas is nowhere to be found, and she knows she isn’t going to need to waste her time looking at the BeacInn. 

     “Jack. Aiden.” The mayor announces her return to the grand office up in the tower. Jack has his legs lifted up on the desk as he files through papers while Aiden was aggressively taking out his frustrations on one of the armor stands. His diamond sword striking the netherite comes to a halt upon hearing Petra re-enter. Jack peers up from his papers, watching the heavy footed warrior approach the desk. 

     “Petra!” Jack sits up a bit to greet his leader. “How did it go? Is Lukas okay?”

     “It’s time to go hunting.”  Her tone is dark, and her face expressionless. 

     Jack blinks, taken aback. “What? We’ve barely breached the crack of dawn. It'll be danger–” 

     “Jack.” Petra warns.

     Jack sighs, putting down his papers. “Very well, I’ll go fetch my equipment.” 

     “No.” 

     Jack raises a bushy brow. 

     “It’s time we tested them.” 

     Jack’s expression brightens with surprise. “You sure, Petra? What makes you so confident?”

     “I’ll tell you on the way.”

     Jack’s mouth turns down into a frown. Boy, he doesn't like where this is going.

     “Aiden. This is the real deal. It’s time to gear up.” Petra says and turns away, making her way back towards the heavy doors. “There is no time to waste!” 

     Jack’s shock remains as he sets his feet back down upon the floor. Aiden’s expression twists with a nasty, determined smirk. With one last swing of his sword, he strikes the armor stand on its side and sends it tumbling and clattering on the floor before following after Petra. 

     Jack sits up and out of the mayoral chair, muttering a soft, “this can’t be good.” He too then follows after his comrades, letting the doors shut behind him. 

[deranged-chinchilla]

silver foxes my beloved 💞

since my head has been rotting with the thought of being between these two fictional men, here’s a pair of one shots

Alan Grant |

(also it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie so if the timing of everything isn’t as accurate, that’s why, anyways, enjoy! ✌️)

You thought going on a sponsored trip with your Paleontology mentor would be a fun time, but how silly you were to think such a thing.

Thinking you’d spend some possibly romantic and passionate alone time with the man, you had to suppress your disappointment along with your screams of absolute terror when the jeep you had chosen out of spite had been flipped over.

By what exactly?

A forty foot long tyrannosaurus rex, with sharp teeth filling its gigantic head.

You could see that in grotesqe detail as it curiously sniffed at the overturned vehicle’s now shattered windows, terrifying the children you were trapped with as you quietly shushed them and held them close to keep them from getting the giant creature’s attention once more.

“I know, I know it’s scary. But we’ll be okay.” You whisper in both Tim and Lexi’s ears as they whimpered, covering their mouths.

Then you looked up and, almost letting out a sigh of relief, you saw Alan getting out of his separate vehicle he got in with Ian, armed with a flare.

“Over here!!” Grant waved his arms as he shouted, earning the rex’s attention.

A pang of fear for him filled your chest but was quickly turned to pride as he opened the bright red light, waving it around to see if the dino would follow. And when it did, Alan threw it far away into the trees making the Rex follow after it.

That was when he made his way to your vehicle.

And though you felt a dulled pain in your lower leg from where the Rex had trapped you under one of the seats after nearly crushing the car, you made sure a sobbing Lex was out of there first and into the safety of Grant’s arms.

But before you could get Tim out as well, you heard Lexi scream and both you and the young boy froze in panic. Looking out again, you briefly saw Alan covering Lexi’s mouth as they remained stone-still beside the car before the Rex was right at the window again making Tim nearly scream as well before you covered his eyes and mouth.

Then the Jeep was spun around by the dino’s powerful snout making you and Tim involuntarily shriek as the car was pushed closer and closer to the ledge leading to long drop just before the dark forrest below.

Then pulling your foot free from the seat followed by a pained grunt as you gritted your teeth, you hurried Tim to the back of the Jeep in attempt o keep the vehicle in balance.

But the mud and rain made such a feat impossible and next thing you knew you guys were falling.

You held onto Tim with one hand while the other gripped what was left of the back window to ensure neither of you fell through where the windshield once was.

And luckily you didn’t fall for long when your car got caught on some branches and vines, suspending you in midair.

You quietly reassured the trembling Tim who seemed just seconds from throwing up as you looked around for any chance of escape.

But after a few minutes of what felt like total hopelessness, you soon felt the feeling lift from your shoulders when Alan was beside you on one of the tree branches.

“You guys alright?” He softly asks, looking around to make sure you were secure. While you gave him a relieved nod, Tim couldn’t hold back his bile anymore and puked, sending any food left in his system out the windshield.

After he was done, you helped the small boy to Alan and onto the safety of the branch before you carefully crawled your way to him to do the same.

But as soon as you were within reach, the car began to slip and your eyes widened, prepared to accept your fate.

But Alan wasn’t and quickly grabbed onto you, pulling you up into his chest right as the car fell.

You looked up at him as you tried to steady your breathing, but the proximity only made it harder as the air seemed to thicken.

That also may have been your injury and how high up you all were but same difference.

“I got you. I got you…” With his chest rising and falling heavily, and his voice soft with relief, you found him reassuring you and himself in that moment.

You squeezed him graciously, looking up at him.

“Thank you… but I think I might’ve bruised my ankle pretty bad.” You told him before he looked down and pulled up the pant of your leg to see a red bruise forming just above your ankle where the seat had almost crushed it.

Gently feeling it to check for any misplaced bones or fractures, you sucked in a breath through your teeth as Alan checked on it.

“It doesn’t seem broken but if it’s worse to walk, I’ll carry you.” He offered, and though it was tempting you shook your flustered head.

“I should be okay. Let’s just get back to the ground.” You panted before with the help from both boys, you all safely made it to the ground with Lexi meeting you there.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs |

Being a good friend of Abby’s, you spent quite a bit of time at the NCIS headquarters.

At first it was secret and she would sneak you in through one of the windows to her lab, but that was short lived with all of Gibbs’ surprise visits.

But when both you and Abby thought he’d for sure kick you out and forbid such a meet up from ever happening again, he surprisingly approached you without a scolding word.

Then he took hold of the collar of your shirt and clipped a visitor’s badge on it.

Then sending you a ghost of a smile, he commented on how Abby got a lot more done with you around and left.

But one night, just after the heartbreaking death of one of Abby’s coworkers, Kate, Abby was mourning and had run to the bathroom to fix her makeup after some reassurance from you.

While she was gone, however, and you held the fort, you were scared shitless out of your seat when a window suddenly shattered.

You ducked behind the metal desk in terror, clutching your racing heart in fear not knowing if that’d been a rock or a lucky gunshot that missed you.

Your question was answered however when the lights were shut off and you looked towards the door to see Gibbs rushing in to darken the room.

Then he crouched and made his way to you, not taking more than a second to be at your side.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He asked as you gripped his calloused hands with your own shaky ones.

“I wasn’t hit, I wasn’t hit.” You murmured, the second time you said it more for your own assurance as Gibbs let out his own sigh of relief.

“I knew I should’ve sent you home.” His comment seemed a bit backhanded at first, slightly offending and embarrassing you, before he embraced you warmly, rubbing your back soothingly.

You melted against his touch, resting your head against his shoulder as you sat side by side behind the safety of the desk.

“Where’s— Where’s Abby?” You asked, anxiety coursing through you at the possible grim answer.

“Safe, DiNozzo and McGee made sure of it.” Gibbs told you making you sigh with relief.

“Thank you.” You said, your body relaxing a bit as you stared off into the dark room.

His presence being enough for the lack of light to not scare you further.

There was a desolate moment of silence between you two, not tense like you would think, but comfortable.

“Why did you want to send me home?” You finally gather the courage to ask.

And hey, you were almost sniped, you had the confidence for just about anything now.

You couldn’t see his features all that well but you could sense him shift a little, turning to face you.

“Because you may not be hired as an NCIS agent, but I see you as part of the team. Hell, the whole team does. Kate did too.” He softly told you, his warmth carrying to you as you kept your head on his shoulder.

“I wish I got to know her better then…” You weren’t as close as her and Abby were due to your schooling schedule, but the few times you guys had run into each other when she wasn’t on missions were never short of heartwarming.

It was bittersweet looking at it now.

“I miss her…” You admitted, turning to look at him too. “I don’t want to miss out on anything with the rest of you.”

While it was more aimed then intended, Gibbs got the idea and you could hear him make the noise he usually made when he smiled.

“Tell you what,” He started, and you could still hear his grin. “We get out of this and you still feel the same way tomorrow, I’ll see what I can do.”

You smiled at this, relaxing once more at his side as he kissed the top of your head.

While at the time you thought it was just something Gibbs did, a protective kind of thing, it turned into much, much more.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sorry if it’s bad this is my first time writing something public for Tumblr, but I hope someone finds this fitting of their taste and enjoys :D

[unovanhunny]

[Finally getting around to more ficlets. This'll be my solution since I can't edit asks anymore]

I gotchu anon! Here's the post!

Ingo's the one who reached out to Emmet and so he gets "Captured" when they're found together, and Ingo is going against his country's wishes to even be there at the rebel camp. It's most certainly a twisty business.

It was a mixed reaction when Ingo pulled back the flap of the tent and entered the space his brother alone occupied. Initially, he had his head covered by his cloak's hood, dull grey and inconspicuous. But as he pulled it down, sure now that Emmet was truly alone, Ingo hoped he would be given the chance to do what he came here for.

Emmet was used to people coming into his tent at all hours to discuss strategy or talk, so the fact that someone entered wasn't unusual. The hood puzzled him, made him slightly wary. But with the hood pulled down and the intruder exposed, he stared at Ingo with an expression of surprise, trepidation, relief and maybe just a hint of happiness. It didn't last long as he drew his sword and pointed it at the leader he and his people were trying to defeat. Ingo put his hands up defensively, taking a step back, tossing open the cloak to show he was entirely unarmed and not a threat.

"Emmet, please... I'm just here to talk."

Blade still held aloft, Emmet narrowed his eyes at his brother. "What? What could you possibly have to talk to me about if it is not your unconditional surrender. Or at least a ceasefire to this."

There was conflict in Ingo's expression, a kind of sad desperation in his eyes, worried grinding of teeth against his bottom lip and a nearly hopelessness in the way his shoulders sagged. "I... I can't do that."

"Then I have no business with you and you should leave while I still give you the chance-"

"Please! Don't! This is the only way I could think to have a conversation with you! It's completely impossible to do so on the battlefield and no one knows I'm here. I really do just... Want to talk. I've missed you."

A silent standstill, unwavering arm still holding the blade. It was clear who had the upper hand here. Their eyes bored into each other, taking in every detail of the other they could, reading the intentions, feelings, story, on the other's face.

Finally Emmet lowered the blade and let out a sigh through his nose. Sword stored back in its sheath, he gestured to one of the chairs that circled a table with papers and maps for Ingo to take a seat on. He didn't fully trust him, how could he? But he couldn't find it in himself to turn away his brother despite being on opposite sides of this conflict. Clearing the table so Ingo couldn't see anything important, Emmet sat across from him with an expectant look, the edge of apprehension clear.

"So. You wanted to talk."

"Yes. I haven't seen you in so many years... You've changed so much, I almost didn't recognise you!"

"Yes, well, working to overthrow a twisted and corrupt regime that touts itself as righteous will do that."

Ingo whithered visbly at the comment. He had hoped that they could have a pleasant conversation, but he had the feeling Emmet would do this with anything he tried to say. His heart squeezed.

"I... Never meant for this. You must understand that, right? I would never want to fight you. If I had any choice I-"

"There is always a choice, Ingo. This conversation will not go the way you wish. I will not say I hate you, but we can never be brothers the way we once were. Everything is different now. You must understand that."

Ingo was quiet for a long time after that, gaze burning a hole in the table to hold back the burn of tears threatening to fill his eyes. Finally, he sighed.

"Yes... I know. Of course. It's foolish to pretend otherwise. I had... Maybe I was deluding myself. But I still wanted to try."

Once again it was silent. It made the space that stretched out between them painfully obvious. Impossibly vast and insurmountable.

"Did you really risk so much to simply speak with me? If anyone else had seen you, you know you would have been captured and made our bargaining chip." Emmet spoke cooly, ignoring the anxious itch at the back of his mind over that.

"We already said it was a foolish and fruitless endeavor, but it was genuine. I really did risk so much to get a moment with you.... I'm glad you don't hate me. You could and I wouldn't be able to fault you." Ingo's gaze wandered, looking anywhere that wasn't Emmet. "I am not as in charge as I may seem. Yes, I'm the face of the nation, the one who speaks the rallying words. But I'm not the one making the decisions. If I were, as soon as I knew you were involve, things would have gone very differently."

That had been the suspicion for some time. That Ingo was merely a figurehead. The Young King, so dedicated to his country, appointed by God to bring their nation to Greatness, could easily rally his people around him, words convincing them to follow orders that others had issued. An appealing mouthpiece.

".... I will tell you what. It is dangerous for you to stay for long. I know that someone will stop by sooner or later and the only option for you then is surrender. Go home, go back to your advisors and your palace. But... If you were to come by again at the same time tomorrow or the day after, I may be alone again."

Was this the beginning of a plan forming? Yes. Ingo was beloved. If they, he, could find a way to pry the claws of his advisors out of him, there was a chance they could get him to speak of peace, to change the public's view of the conflict, want to stop the fighting. Come to an understanding. So if his brother wanted to stop by and start to build a relationship with him again, then so be it. It might just solve all of their problems.

---

The plan was to give Ingo enough to keep him coming back, understand his thoughts and feelings and turn them towards a more favorablr outcome, find ways to go behind the backs of his advisors. And it was working!

But something else was happening. Something they both felt acutely. Emmet had been right, they could never have the same brotherly relationship they used to. The way their hearts ached for each other, the way it felt natural when their lips touched, their tongues tasted, it was far from what they once had.

And they indulged.

Of course Ingo was so easy to influence when he wanted to just spend time with Emmet without risking life and limb every time. This had to end. And his slowly cooling passion for the righteous rhetoric he fed to the people had started to make its impact.

It was on a morning where they pushed their luck too far that it finally fell to pieces. Neither of them wanted Ingo to leave, so he convinced himself to stay later and later until they were awoken by an indignant voice.

What was the enemy leader doing there? In their own leader's tent? If not for the fact that they were twins, they would think he was trying to seduce their leader into surrender. But he must be using their shares history to his advantage. Why else would he be there? And that he was still there only solidified that his tactic must have started to work! Emmet had gotten weak to him!

Everything felt like it was going too fast and too slow in the same moment. Separated, Emmet kept far away from the king that wasn't his but who had his heart. He had been manipulated, he was in no fit state to make rational decisions about Ingo now!

It was with desperation Emmet tried to explain his tactics, his plan. He wasn't manipulated, he was the one doing the manipulation! Ingo was integral to finding an end to this, finally! One where no one else had to die!

"Emmet, do you really think that's the way this ends? With peace? I didn't realise you were such an idealist."

The words struck a cord within him and he felt a sick twist in his stomach. "What do you mean..."

"This doesn't end until all the ones in charge are dead. Of course this King of theirs is just for show. We use him as bait so we can draw out the ones really pulling the strings. And then we kill them. Then and only then will it be safe for us. Sure, they're more likely to send armies after us before they submit to any demands, but morale will take a hit as more soldiers die without their King to guide them."

"Or... They rally their armies to avenge and recapture their King and use him as motivation!"

"That's a risk we're willing to take at this point. You've done the best you could until now trying to lead us, but this conflict won't end until we do something decisive. And you just so happened to have the most decisive piece of this entire thing conveniently stowed away in your tent. We can't rest until the advisors are dead, and by then maybe we'll even spare your King brother. You'll be the one to take over, though. After all, you have as much right as him don't you?"

It was a cold feeling, knowing the ones he trusted most had an entire plan they came up with involving him without ever consulting him. And that things were out of his hands now. The bloodshed that may ensue from this would be worse than that leading up to it, and it was his own fault.

"Can I at least see him?" Despite being at war, only now did it feel as though his world was moments from crumbling and falling apart. Ingo had become so integral to his life that the thought of being kept away from him burned a hot painful hole in the pit of his stomach.

"Eventually, and under supervision. We can't allow you to jeopardize any of our plans now. But you played your part perfectly, so we can give you a little lenience."

To think he thought Ingo was the only one to have been nothing but a symbol to be used as a face for this war. They really were twins in the end, weren't they?

[cobalt-the-sonic]

[...where was...he...? it was all so... different... so hazy... hard to... remember, what... what was he doing... he couldn't remember... he focused.. and saw a few images. He used to be able to run, spin, jump, until His Enemy made The Virus.]

[that horrible, horrible virus. That chrome liquid that was cold to the touch, it haunted his nightmares, it pushed through his skin and tried to spread across the world... It made him angry. It made him boil with hatred and fear.]

[It was all because of a single person. His Enemy... Doctor Eggman... The one who had hurt him so much, who tortured him for six months, who kept trying to destroy the world he kept fighting for... It was so tiring... he just wanted all to stop, and it stopped... in a way.]

[He fell to the virus too. but... that wasn't all. He wasn't alone, was he? No, he wasn't at all alone in his quest to destroy his world. Mr Tinker was turned back to an evil conqueror because of this... person he could barely remember.]

[it was all because of him. What was his name... he could only remember lines of stars]

********

[Lines of Stars... Star Lines... His name... StarLine. That name made him angry. Starline is the reason everything happened, if it wasn't for Starline, Eggman would've never returned. Everything would be fine. Everyone would still be alive. HE would not be INFECTED.]

[because of him, his body withered into metal, his friends were lost in the steel, his home swallowed by iron. he would not rest until Starline paid... and that thought brought back complete memories, of his fall.]

[He was fighting the virus, and someone else. Jumping across buildings until he slipped with a metallic puddle, but he managed to strike a final hit, before everything went black, he heard a scream before he fell into the ground.]

[when he woke up, the virus had already taken over him, it felt horrible, he wanted to scream as the very last of his cells turned into metal, his mind crumbling, he could only focus on a white platypus.]

[The platypus was scourging some sort of machine until he noticed the approaching zombot, this made him change his expression, trying to get... things... from the machine, before running away from the zombot, leaving a trail behind from an orange gemstone in his hand.]

[He ran after him, as fast as he could, following him for an unknown time... when he reached him... he'd make sure he would feel as hopeless as he did. he'd take all exits, he'd leave him no escape, he'd made him want to scream, and take his voice.]

[And now, he had him in his claws. Helpless. Scared. Fearing for his life, holding onto everything like he did, trying to escape the zombot, hitting a wall. It was over. And just as he was about to inflict the virus on him... a portal opened, they both fell, and then... everything was hazy.]

[And then... He woke up. In this strange... Hazy... void... Just to have his arm pulled by something -- Things began to get overwheling -- Loud Noises -- Voices -- Feelings]

[ANOMALY CORRECTION ATTEMPT A--UNKNOWN ERROR--RESTARTING CORRECTION ATTEMPT--STAND BY--ANOMALY SUCCESSFULLY NEUTRALIZED]

[and then things finally stopped. The overwhelming feelings washed away... but he couldn't react anymore... those seconds hurt so much, he could barely move... Why did they keep hurting him?]

[He was now no longer alone.]

"Wh... Where... Am I? urgh... My head hurt-- Wh-Who are you two?"

"arghhhhh... huh? w-What happened?! Where Am I-- Blue?! Where the heck am I?! H-How are there two of you?!"

"Blue? M-My name is Nick, Nick Parlouzer. A-And... I don't... know? As far as I knew... I was the only 'Sonic'?"

"PFFT! What on mobius' sake is with that last name? It's so ridiculous... As for bein' the only Sonic, Yeah right, don't make me laugh 'Nick'."

"What on Earth are you talking about?"

"(earth??) Come on, don't tell me you don't know about the other zones, you're at least aware of the Cosmic Interstate, right?"

"... uh... nnnno? I'm... not getting anything you're saying."

"... You can't be this stupidly clueless. (I swear if I got myself in a trap from the Zone-Cops I will kill someone.)"

"... Uh..."

"Sigh. I need. A moment to process all of this."

"... ... ... So, what is this place anyways? Do you know? (You seem to know a lot of things, weird things but...)"

"Judging by your presence, and that weird guy over there, The empty black void... Hell, probably. I died and this is my punishment."

"I- ..."

"For a 'Sonic' you really can't take a joke."

"..."

"Whatever... Hrmm... Blue over there has just been silent, huh. Not even moved an inch... creep."

"He kinda... looks made of metal, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, fucked up, ain't it...?"

"uh-huh."

[Starline... He has to find Starline...]

"...S...tar...line..."

"Uh-"

"...Wuzzat"

[siriusblackisdead]

Easthaven

Winter break

The room was cold and dark despite its white walls. There was something lurking in the shadows, creatures from his nightmares full of hands trying to reach him, to touch him and take him apart piece by piece, ruining everything he worked so hard on for the past few years to put together. He tried to ignore them, but every time he closed his eyes he could feel their deathly touch burning imprints into his skin, pressing him deeper and deeper into the stiff mattress. He tried to move, get away from them or fight, he havent decided yet, but it was meaningless. The leather straps around his arms and legs were firmly holding him in one place, not letting him move, not letting him to do ANYTHING other than endure what was about to come, what Andrew KNEW was about to come. They became his trap, his own twisted cage and Andrew couldnt get away, he couldnt get away, he couldnt get away, he couldnt get away…

A voice echoed down the hallway, Andrew could hear it clearly even through his ragged breath. A voice which could not belong to a human being, no, it couldnt. It was a nightmare, a living fucking nightmare, one of the worst kind. A hallucination, he thought at first, naive and desperate as he was. A hallucination from the withdrawal, it must have been. But luck was never really on Andrews side and he soon had to realise that the demons werent only haunting in his head anymore.

The door opened with a disgusting creak, letting some light into the room, making the shadowy hands dissapear, only for them to be replaced with real ones. The light dissapeared and the world became dark again as the old man started to undress and Andrew was seven and eight and nine and ten and eleven and twelve and thirteen, scared and desperate and hopeless all over again. He was hiding under the kitchen table, praying to whatever gods would listen, for Drake to not find him. He was praying to them, for him to not take him to his bedroom, to not throw him onto his bed, to not touch him. He was praying to them for him to not press on his gashes, pulling on them until they were bleeding again and the only thing Andrew could feel was the pain of old wounds being open again, ripped apart.

None of those gods ever answered though and Andrew was left alone, as so many times before. To bleed out, if he had to. Die of a broken heart, broken body, broken soul.

He didnt scream “no” that night. He didnt scream anything. He couldnt; not anymore, not after everything. The only thing left for him was to feel the hot blood running down his hands and the burning of a touch that didnt belong to his family, that didnt belong to Neil.

Hes been through this too many times to not get used to the pain, used to the idea of being “Andrew Doe” again, the child he tried to kill so hard for the past years, but failed miserably.

Somehow, he got used to the pain; and even if he didnt, there would be more to come, because there always was. Just when he finally started to believe - such a stupid thing do to, really -, just when he started to hope and live again, his demons woke up and came back again to try to finish what they couldnt, what they failed to do before. To kill him, because thats what was going on here, wasnt it? To break him, over and over again until there was not enough left of him to put together, until the pieces were too tiny and worn out to fit, until their edges were too sharp to touch, and Andrew would bleed out trying to save them. To save himself.

He shouldnt have hoped. He never will, not again, he knew that for certain. He couldnt. He was smarter than that. So sad he wasnt smart enough to save himself when he still could.

When the man finished, he put his jeans back on and left without another word, without another glance, leaving him behind broken and lifeless. Not like it was the first time and not like it was the last. And then, a single tear rolled down Andrews cheek, something so strange he didnt even recognise it at first.

But just like his screams, just like his desperate ‘no’s and ‘please’s, his tears werent heard out. They didnt matter anything more than another weakness.

They didnt stop the man from coming back.

They didnt stop the shadow hands from torturing him.

They didnt help at all, and all Andrew wanted at that moment, was to die. To stop existing.

And so he did.

[serendipminie-writes]

hii minie! trick or treat?

Hi Cristie!!!! Thank you so much for the ask!!! I will give you a treat!

You get... Swedish gummy raspberries!

And... a snippet from Love and Other Lies!

I'll finally be alone, Prince Ryn thinks as he quietly heads down to his garden. But does he want to be? He doesn't know anymore. 

What he does know is that flowers are his world. Flowers are what ground him, what calm him, what refresh him. 

And so that's what pulls him back to the beautiful place, a garden just for him that he had planted himself after begging his father.

He opens the gate, and walks inside, along the flower-lined path that leads to the centre of the garden.

The moonlight shines beautifully above, painting all the flowers in a majestic silver glow, lighting his path and his surroundings, making allusion to a shadow bent over in front of the ornate bench Ryn so dearly loves.

This gardener loves to defy him so, Ryn notes, so much that he had stayed here- or had he come back? The prince couldn't be sure.

As Ryn gets closer and closer to the garden's centre, he's able to hear it. Someone coughing. Kahlen coughing, it couldn't well be anyone else. He can't exactly explain why, but his footsteps speed up. Ryn stops when he reaches the edge of the centre, observing the sight in front of him.

The gardener is bent over in front of Ryn’s bench, coughing violently. He is surrounded by a bunch of beautiful ice blue flower petals, some tinted red or completely coated by a viscous liquid. Ryn gasps, rushing towards Kahlen.

Ryn doesn't think twice, just kneels down in front of Kahlen, and wraps his arms around the gardener, lightly, as Ryn knows not the reason he's coughing.

"Kahlen," he speaks softly, voice wavering slightly, "Are... Is there anything I can do to help you?" He skips over the "are you alright?" Because Ryn can clearly see that he's not.

"I-" Kahlen coughs again, voice weak, "I don't know what's happening to me."

Oh, goodness. Kahlen actually sounds scared, and Ryn has no idea how on earth to deal with that. He almost feels his own heart flutter brokenly at the sound of Kahlen’s voice so full of fear.

"I- me neither, alright," Ryn blinks a couple of times, "but we'll fix it together, okay?"

"R-Ryn..." Kahlen mutters softly. "It... it hurts."

Ryn has no energy to chastise him, to correct him for not using his proper title, just enough to hold him and pull him closer because his name coming out of Kahlen’s mouth makes everything seem like it's not hopeless after all.

"I... I know, Kahlen," Ryn whispers, picking Kahlen up and carrying him over a few steps to the bench, carefully sitting Kahlen on top of his lap.

"But I'll try to help you, okay?" Ryn cups Kahlen’s face in his hand, carefully stroking the side of his face, feeling the slightly feverish skin. Oh, how he has dreamed of this, if only in slightly different circumstances.

Kahlen coughs again, and a mix of the beautiful petals and blood land on Ryn’s chest.

So the flowers are coming from Kahlen.

Ryn is worried, he knows he is, but he is also enthralled at the beauty of the petals, such a perfect, beautiful colour, probably Ryn’s favourite shade of blue in the universe. But then Ryn sees the blood, and he loses his calm all over again.

"Who did this, Lennie?" Ryn utters mournfully, "Who did this to you?"

I hope you enjoy! Happy Halloween!

Tagging @worldsfromhoney because I know you were curious about this wip :)

[asukamood]

Rule number 4: Never question Blue during a hangover

Pairing: Drueswap

Multiverse: Dreamswap

Warnings: Past alcohol use, I think that’s it.

Synopsis: Wine hangovers are the worst.

***

When Blue woke up the next morning, he could only describe his state as pitiful. His head was ringing loudly as if someone had introduced a bell inside of his skull and was currently in the process of banging it as hard as they could against his bones. His eyes were hardly movable and keeping them open was painful anyway, he was susceptible to the light and just a sparkle was enough to make him feel like his irises were burning.

It wasn’t just his eyes though, his whole body felt so heavy compared to what it usually felt like and there was that thing surrounding him that made him uncomfortable. After risking yet again a look at the outside world and immediately regretting it, Blue groaned and buried his face into Dream’s shoulder.

“I don’t like this at all.” He squeezed Dream tighter, who just let out a sigh in response.

“Wine hangovers are the worst, I agree.” He let one of his fingers trace the bone of Blue’s back, who basically melted, and leaned even more into the winged man.

“Having them isn’t something I regret lacking.”

“I still don’t understand how you could like that. It doesn’t even taste that good and the aftermath is a nightmare!” Dream laughed at his hopeless tone.

“That’s what happens when you’re in a really bad state- Now get off of me, I need to go make breakfast.” Dream tried to straighten up, making the blanket slightly slip off Blue’s body.

The latter whined into his neck, not letting go. If anything, he was holding him even tighter now. “Stay with me…” He slurred, trying to push the other down to the mattress again. “I would tie you down if I have to…” He mumbled, still half asleep and entirely in pain.

“Ah.” Dream sighed, flopping back down, much to Blue’s happiness. “So you don’t want me to go huh?”

A hiss escaped the shorter one. “Oh no, of course, I want you to leave me alone in my misery, silly me! WHAT DO YOU THINK?” His voice cracked in the middle of his second sentence and he absolutely wanted to die at that moment.

Dream hummed, one of his hands reaching up to pet the other’s hair to calm him down. It seems to work since Blue slouched back down against Dream’s body again. His leg brushed his own and he stifled out a laugh, that contact felt like a tickle.

“So you’re unusually sassy and get mad easily during a hangover, got it.” Blue groaned again, shifting. He felt so tired but he didn’t want to sleep either. That sucked.

“You don’t need to remember that.” His arm was starting to feel numb because of being stuck between his and Dream’s body. He wiggled it out before resting it on Dream’s chest. That felt better. “I’m not planning on touching any drop of alcohol ever again.”

Dream smirked up at him, rubbing small circles on his nape. “Maybe you shouldn’t have touched my stash without asking me first Hmm?”

Blue slightly tilted his head upward to weakly glare at the other. “Oh shut up, I don’t wanna hear about this anymore.” He flopped his head back down in defeat.

After that, the two fell into a comfortable silence that was only broken by Blue’s soft purring and whimpering when Dream stopped touching him.

Another mewl escaped him before Dream started speaking again.

“Hey Blue, do you remember anything that happened while you were drunk?” Blue froze, his purrs momentarily stopped as well. Even if that happened, Dream kept rubbing small circles on his nape with his finger, albeit a bit slower now.

“... For my sake, it’s better if I pretend I don’t.” He let out after a few, feeling even worse than he initially did. That was a record on its own. “I’m sorry, but could we talk about something else?”

Dream’s finger went back to its original speed. “Of course, that’s totally fine. Don’t hesitate to talk to me though if you need it alright? I promise I’m a good listener.” Blue almost wanted to tear up at how sweet that was. Perhaps, this kind of behavior was normal and there was really nothing to get emotional about but he couldn’t help it. It was one of the first times someone had truly cared for him like that and he can’t deny how good it feels to know someone cares.

“Anyways, I found what happened shortly after you fell asleep really cute.” Blue’s eye twitched. He didn’t know what happened exactly but just by Dream’s teasing tone, he was not going to like it very much, he could feel it deep in his soul.

“... What are you referring to exactly?” While the words were leaving his mouth, his brain had been furiously searching for any kind of memory it could get its hands on. What could he have possibly done then? Or said? He has seen drunk people do crazy stuff numerous times and he wasn’t quite sure what he was able to do. After all, it was the first time he had ever drunk anything.

“Oh, you know…” Blue swore Dream’s smirk was just getting wider. “When you asked for my hand after forgetting we were together?”

Blue took approximately ten seconds to register and comprehend the information. Once he did, a loud screech escaped his throat. “WHAT?!”

The winged man’s chuckles turned into downright hysterical laughter when that happened, his chest vibrating with the action.

“There’s no way I did that!” The shorter one shouted, his cheeks tainted a faint cherry red. “I don’t remember that happening at all, you’re just teasing me!” Dream was unresponsive to his protests, keeping on laughing.

His boyfriend got slightly angry, weakly hitting his shoulder. “Stop laughing!” He wasn’t strong enough to actually make those hits hurt, he didn’t want to anyway, but that seemed to make Dream’s laughter calm down.

“Haha…” Dream wiped a lone tear that was threatening to escape his eye. Was that really this funny? “Sorry.” He didn’t look sorry at all.

“Although it did happen, look, I have a video.” Blue’s eyes widened in horror.

“You what?” Seeing Dream swipe his screen with his finger felt like watching the guillotine getting ready to behead him and him handing him his phone, the equivalent of walking toward said guillotine.

He took the device with a slightly trembling hand, praying to every God there is that this didn’t actually happen, that it was actually a bad prank Dream was pulling on him.

Then he hit the play button.

***

Some shuffling was noticeable when the video started, the screen alternating between white sheets to blinding white light. A hiss was heard not too far from the mic, the sound slightly picking up.

After a few seconds, the image finally got cleared and the camera was turned to something that was actually interesting. Dream’s face.

“Finally.” He groaned, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. “That took way too much time to do.” A sigh escaped him. “I’m gonna have to be faster later, I can’t deal with needing 5 minutes just to get a dumb video started.”

While he was talking, a sleepy Blue stumbled out of the bedroom in the background, rubbing his eyes with one hand absently.

Dream looked back at the screen and frowned when he noticed Blue in the camera’s shot. He twisted his neck slightly to look at him, a questioning look on his face.

“Blue?” He called, grabbing the other’s attention. “What are you doing up already? It’s still late, go back to sleep.” The words that came out of Dream’s mouth seemed to pass over Blue completely who just stopped to stare at the winged man, his jaw wide open.

Dream tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Uh… Blue? You alright?”

“Wow…” The latter responded, quickly making his way over to Dream and sitting right before him. His hand reached for one of Dream’s wings, which rapidly ducked out of his reach. That rejection only seemed to increase Blue’s newfound admiration for them, his pupils looking seconds away from stars. “Are you an Angel?”

The question seemed to throw Dream off, who basically choked on his spit. “Wha- Blue, you know that I’m not an Angel, I told you many times before, don’t you remember?”

It was Blue’s turn to look confused. His dilated pupils looked up at Dream. “Have we met before?” Dream’s mouth opened and closed without any sound coming out of the action. He looked conflicted on what to do next, probably not used to this kind of behavior from Blue.

“Of course not.” He shook his head, not waiting for Dream’s reaction to start speaking again. “I think I would have remembered if I had seen such a handsome face.” He shifted closer as Dream sputtered, his hand coming up to cup Dream’s cheek. “Your eyes are so pretty too… Are you single?”

The camera started shaking, it looks like Dream was as sensitive to Blue’s flirting as when he’s sober.

He started to scoot even closer, his eyes boring into Dream’s. “You look so good blushing… Oh screw it all.” He sat on Dream’s lap without warning, holding his collar with two hands. “Marry me, please.”

He sounded so desperate that Dream’s grip on his phone loosened and it fell, the loud thud shaking the device. A few minutes of muffled sounds later, a hand finally appeared on camera before it was grabbed and taken back into the light.

“He fell asleep.” Dream looked dumbfounded as he said that, Blue curled up to his side like a cat and his eyes closed. “I'm going to show him this when he wakes up tomorrow. I just have to.”

Then the video stopped.

***

Dream was waiting patiently for Blue’s reaction.

“…” Blue inhaled deeply. “Show this to anyone and I swear to god I will make out with you in front of the journalists.”

Dream burst out laughing again.

[casspurrjoybell-27]

Claimed by the Beast - Chapter 22b

*Warning Adult Content*

MINE - Part 2

"Five minutes."

"What?"

"We're waiting five more minutes and then we'll go in there together if the Doc hasn't already come out with some news," Josie says, softening her tone. "I got your back, okay? Always."

Knox nods and bites the inside of his jaw to keep from getting choked up.

It's been a long time since he's felt this... low.

This worthless.

This hopeless and utterly exhausted.

Like nothing will ever go right no matter how hard he pushes himself.

The last time he felt like this had been when his mother passed away and that was several years ago.

He'd felt whatever it is that was beyond numb, and the support that he desperately needed was nonexistent.

These days, he feels like he's barely holding on but he's grateful because he doesn't have to go through life's dips alone anymore.

His brothers are great but they're also the opposite of sensitive.

Their advice usually falls along the line of 'You'll get over it, bro. Drink a beer and stop stressing.'

By far, Josie is the best at providing comfort and encouragement.

Knox would always joke about how she should go back to school to become a therapist.

"Oof. Somebody just woke up," Josie giggles, reaching for Knox's hand.

She places it where hers had been on her stomach and his eyes light up when he feels a little kick.

"It still boggles my mind that there's a human being growing in there."

"You ready for them to come out?" Knox asks.

"I don't know. Some days I think I'm ready for motherhood, and some days... I... I feel like a hot mess who doesn't deserve to be anyone's mother," Josie confesses, tears welling up in her eyes. "Sorry. My hormones are all over the place right now."

Knox doesn't have a therapist hat that he can put on, so he's shit at giving advice.

He does the only thing he can think of and pulls Josie in for a brief hug, allowing her to have her moment.

They separate when the door to the bedroom opens and the doctor steps out with his supplies.

"How is he?" Knox blurts out.

"Stressed," Keith answers. "And mildly dehydrated but Mr. Robinson will live to see another day. I gave him my wife's card..."

"Great. You think he's going crazy," Knox mutters, growing uneasy. "This is bullshit."

"No, it's real life. My wife is a licensed psychologist who specializes in trauma, which he exhibits symptoms of," Keith clarifies, defensively. "She can help him. I told Mr. Robinson the first five sessions will be free. She's spoken with a few of you before, so of course everything will be kept off record. Whether Mr. Robinson reaches out or not is up to him but in the meantime, keep fluids in him and... uh, try to keep your 'club business' out of his sight."

Feeling unrightfully judged, Knox narrows his eyes and steps forward with clenched fists.

"Thanks for coming out on such short notice, Doc," Josie moves to stand in front of Knox while waving for Keith to hustle his ass down the hall. "Your money is waiting for you in the kitchen with Gavin. Safe travels back home. Goodbye."

"You all take care now," Keith nods, then speed walks down the hall without looking back.

"I know you're itching to get in there, so tell Everett I'll check on him later," Josie squeezes Knox's arm, pulling his attention back to her. "If you need anything, you know where to find me. And don't forget about what I said earlier..."

"Your sermon is saved, Red," Knox taps at his temple.

They share another hug before she turns around and leaves.

A good portion of the tension that'd been wrecking his body dissipates when he enters his bedroom and sees Everett sitting up going through one of his many shopping bags.

"Hey. You should be resting, not... doing whatever the hell you're doing."

"I've got to find it."

Everett ignores him and continues with his search.

He doesn't hear the door close or the lock switch.

He doesn't acknowledge Knox's presence when he sits on the bed, not until the bag gets snatched away from him.

"Hey. I was..."

"Not resting," Knox interjects, his voice soft but firm. "You should shower and get some sleep. It's been a long fucking day for the both of us."

Everett nods in agreement, breaking eye contact as he nervously fiddles with his hands on his lap.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "For sneaking off like I did. Today wouldn't have... Everything that happened today is all on me. I almost got my friends killed. I almost got you killed," his voice cracks and his pretty brown eyes glisten with fresh tears.

He quickly wipes them away before they fall.

"I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass. If you... If you want to send me back home, then I'd understand. I wouldn't hold it against you, I swear."

"Look at me, Everett."

"I am not sending you any fucking where. The thought has never crossed my mind," Knox places his index finger underneath Everett's chin, gently forcing his head up until their eyes meet.

"You're mine, do you hear me? Mine to protect. Mine to care for. Mine to..." the four letter word dies in Knox's throat.

He swallows hard before continuing.

"You're mine, kitten. I'm not letting you go."

'Not Yet.'

"Do you believe me?" Knox asks.

"Yes," Everett responds, reaching for Knox's hand.

He pulls it away from his face to kiss Knox's bruised knuckles.

"Are you in pain right now?"

"I..." Knox's heart swells with emotion at the tender gesture.

He shakes his head.

"I'm fine. How are you feeling?"

He can deal with a few bruised knuckles.

What he can't deal with is Everett's pale appearance and the absence of his smart mouth.

"Doc said you're stressed out, which I get but also dehydrated."

"Yeah, I'm a little lightheaded but other than that, I'm okay. I drank a bottle of water but I probably need to drink a few more before I go to sleep."

Knox nods in agreement.

"I was going to suggest the same thing."

"Also, I don't want to sleep in that other room anymore," Everett confesses. "Want to stay in here with you. Can I?"

Knox smirks.

"I planned to move your shit back in here after you went to sleep, so we're on the same page."

They share a laugh.

"Need you to be honest with me, kitten. Will you?"

Everett nods.

"What's on your mind?"

"I want to know what you and Finn argued about."

Everett doesn't hold anything back as he tells Knox about the argument he had with Finn.

Knox sits quietly and listens, his blank expression giving nothing away.

"I get it now. He was just looking out for you," Everett finishes. "Please don't be pissed at him whenever you see him again, okay? We've already apologized to each other through text. I'm over it."

"I'm not. He never should have let you out of his fucking sight," Knox grumbles.

"I almost knocked his head off with a hot frying pan. I would've let me leave if I were him," Everett laughs.

Knox grunts in response, softening a little.

"Can I have my bag back now? I was looking for something important before you rudely snatched it away."

"Looking for what?" Knox raises a brow, curious.

"I'm not telling you... yet," Everett grins, mischievously. "Now give me the damn bag."

Knox responds with a playful eye roll but does as he's told.

Everett resumes his search, soon letting out a high-pitched squeal when he finds the item that he had been looking for.

"Close your eyes," Everett orders. "Now."

Knox sighs.

"What the hell are you planning?"

"Just close your damn eyes, man."

Knox huffs and obeys, then Everett proceeds to rummage through his pants pockets.

When he finds Knox's keys, they jingle for several seconds and then Everett grabs Knox's left hand to give him the keys back.

Knox can't tell the difference in them until after Everett tells him to open his eyes.

"I saw it and immediately thought of you." Everett holds his breath as he watches Knox inspect the small keychain with a mixture of amusement and affection. "I-I know you're not really an accessories kind of guy, so you don't have to keep it on there if you don't..."

"I love it," Knox lightly traces his thumb along the tiny panda's head, unable to stop the blush from settling in his cheeks. "Can't even remember the last gift I received, so this is..."

A cute little panda with a beaming grin and one paw lifted in greeting.

A simple gift to some but a priceless gift to Knox.

"It means a lot. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Everett can't help but feel a sense of warmth spreading throughout his body.

He figured Knox might get a kick out of the silly keychain and laugh.

Nothing could've prepared Everett for this type of vulnerable reaction.

"There's one more thing I want to give you, though."

Knox finally looks up.

"What's that?"

"Me."

Everett places a hand on Knox's cheek, his heart pounding in his chest as he closes his eyes just before leaning in to press their lips together.