#HEY CLOUD GUESS WHO ELSE GETS A NEW GAME :D

[kiloude-city]

SO ANYWAYS HAPPY KALOS WIN DAY

[codenamehazard]

.:Breaking the Shackles:.

.:InFAMOUS: No Man's Land Chapter 1:.

Hey guys! This is the first time I've posted a proper story onto here, so I am both nervous and excited to share it with you!

Since we probably will never get an InFAMOUS game that takes place after the evil ending of InFAMOUS 2, I figured why not throw my hat into the ring and have some fun with it?

Huge thanks to @rogueshadeaux for helping me out. She's a super talented writer and has her own InFAMOUS story, InFAMOUS: Erosion. Check her out, she's awesome and I have been learning a lot from her guidance.

I don't know if this is needed, but I'm putting it here anyways. MAJOR SOILER WARNING!

The story is from Cole's point of view, so be aware of that.

Buckle up and enjoy the read!

The night sky was clear, save for the odd cloud that passed overhead. The wind lazily blew as the fire before me crackled and popped. I warmed my calloused hands and closed my eyes, letting out a sigh. It had been a couple of weeks since I splintered off from the army I once begrudgingly led. A couple of blissful and quiet weeks of pure freedom.

It is in these times of quiet that I am able to think clearly, able to work out and make sense of all that happened over the past god knows how long. It’s hard to keep track of time when the only thing you can look at is the rising and the falling of the sun. I tossed a piece of splintered wood onto the fire as I began to think back. Think back to where it all began.

To when the shackles of the Messiah were forced upon my neck, arms and legs.

—-

I remember the day I became the Beast. After all that happened, all the pain, John just… Gave up and thrust his powers onto me. It was overwhelming, every nerve-fiber alight. The sensation was… Indescribable. It was heaven and hell all at once. It was… Incredible.

It’s a real shame that this buzz had one hell of a hang-over, the responsibility that John now shirked onto me. The task of raising up the next generation of Conduits. A burden I was now forced to bear, an expectation of greatness. Gee, doesn’t that sound fucking familiar?

In the beginning, everything was… Okay, I guess. I didn’t want to lead, never did and never wanted to, but who else would these people turn to? To them, I was their savior. I cured them of the plague that was ravaging their bodies and gave them powers, of course they were gonna look up to me. As much as I didn’t want to, I had to. I had to be provider, protector, teacher, mediator and all the lovely bullshit that comes from being a glorified baby-sitter of grown ass adults. I never sugar-coated anything; if they couldn’t follow me as I am, they won’t follow me at all.

God, and I thought dealing with Kuo and Nix butting heads with each-other was a real headache…

The only thing that made this hell tolerable was the fact that Kuo wasn’t riding my ass all the time, most likely thinking I’ve “turned a new leaf” and I'd suddenly become a changed man. I couldn’t help but scoff at the stupidity of it all, but who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

It wasn’t as bad in the beginning, the small group of fledgling Conduits all indebted to me was easy enough to manage. I could stay on top of everything and make sure they didn’t kill each-other while still having a tiny sliver of time to care for my own needs. Over time, as the numbers grew, so did the headache. It seemed like there was always something that needed my attention and if I ignored it to let them sort it out like adults, Kuo would be oh so helpful and “remind me” to go take care of it. I couldn’t get a moment’s peace, more and more I found myself unable to care for my own needs.

It. Was. Hell.

The responsibility of a savior, the nagging of Kuo, the neglecting of my own needs- God it felt like college all over again. My parents bore down on me when all I wanted was the freedom to do as I wished. A hunger started to grow inside, a need that I sated greatly when I had taken over Empire City and made it my own. A hunger for destruction, a need to take what I wanted. This hunger only grew the more I suppressed it. Every now and again, I would try and sate my hunger: toying with enemies, letting loose with my powers, instilling fear into those who followed me, but every time I tried, that icy bitch would get on my ass. If anything, she seems to be much worse than she was before.

It’s easy for her to say. Easy for her to bark at me from her pedestal and scold me, she’s not the one sacrificing anything and she thinks she has the right to judge me? HA! She abandoned her morality when faced with her own mortality, what high ground does she even have? She doesn’t have a fucking leg to stand on.

While infuriating as it was, as much as I wanted to leave, I felt like I couldn’t. I hated this role I was forced to play. Again and again, I was found in the role of the errand boy. Even with my choice, my choice to go against the “destiny” that Kessler groomed me to have, the greatest act of defiance I have ever committed to finally, finally free myself from this vicious cycle. All I seemed to do was to swap one set of chains for another. The breaker had been tripped and I was done!  I wanted to be free!

Yet, I couldn’t be free, as without me… All of my hard work would go to waste. I was the only one who could awaken these dormants, the only hope that some people come out of this alive. Without me, these people would die. It was a burden I didn’t want, but it was one that must be shouldered, one I was forced to bear. These shackles I must wear until the end. This was fact, whether I liked it or not.

That is… Until one day.

The small army of fledgeling and newly fledged Conduits and I had gone through Lawton, Oklahoma. I had leveled the city down to the ground and awakened the Conduits within, but I had noticed that there were… Less Conduits than I thought would in a population of around 90k or so. This had spooked Kuo a bit, making her frantic. She believed that the reason for the lower numbers was due to the Ray Field Plague picking up steam and starting to kill faster. A reasonable train of thought. I would have believed it to be the why had there not been something else that I had noticed before Lawton. Something that had been starting to gnaw at the back of my head.

While Kuo was too busy harping on about me not keeping every Tom, Dick and Harry in line because… Oh I don’t know, I’m only one person. I had been paying attention to what was around me and I had started to pick up on some interesting… Discrepancies, if you will. The kind of disturbances that only Conduits could make: scorch marks with no true source to be seen, areas that looked damaged by various elements with no cause, a slight echo of energy in certain spots. These oddities reminded me of the damage I caused back in the beginning, those two weeks in Empire when I was trying to figure out my powers on my own. It made me start to wonder. Was there something else going on? It couldn’t be another Beast or someone running around with a third Ray Sphere… Could it?

The thoughts only continued to grow as I traveled westward. More signs of Conduit activity, but no Conduits in sight or any signs of an activation method. I started to ponder heavily, was it possible for a Conduit to activate themselves?

I got my answer as I traveled deeper through the Great Plains.

It was there I saw them, the “missing Conduits.” I stood in shock as I watched as two small gangs of super-powered humans clashed. Powers of all kinds and creeds striking and igniting the area with colors and damage. If that wasn’t enough, these Conduits weren’t rookies either, the way they used their powers reminded me a bit of the gangs back in Empire City. They had experience.

They had been awakened long before I came. Now the pieces were falling into place as I gawked at these… Free-Ranged Conduits as they fought. For what, I didn’t know, but all I knew was it looked like one hell of a party and I wanted in. That feeling, that urge, my hunger, it now burned hotter than before. I was about to rush down before I felt a cold hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

I turned my head and let out a low growl when I saw it was Kuo, stopping me. “Leave them be, Cole. It’s a good thing we figured out the mystery, but we still have a job to do. There are still people who need you.”

We? HAH!! There is no we. The only time she ever lifted a finger was either to bitch at me or when I had to twist her arm to actually get her to be useful and actually help for once. I pull my shoulder away from her touch. “Don’t touch me, Kuo.” I had hissed out at her before continuing onto the next city.

That day, that moment… It never left me.

I continued to see these Wild Conduits as I traveled on. Seeing how free they were. Able to live their lives however they saw fit as they roamed in roving gangs, taking what they wanted, doing as they pleased. Having the freedom that for years I have been starved of. How they turned the Great Plains into a post-apocalyptic playground. Absolutely lawless. Seeing them made my blood boil. They got to be free while I was stuck in a cage. Such thoughts made me grow bitter and even more resentful than I already was. Even nature was reflecting the mounting rage. The clouds darkening and rumbling with thunder as the storm in my heart builds.

I slipped into my old Empire City habits, no mercy, no care. Why should I? It’s not like the world ever gave a damn about me, the only people who ever did are dead. Kuo only cared when I was doing the things she wanted me to do and the people I commanded didn't give a shit either. The hatred burning and gnawing away at my chest like a rabid animal, demanding I do something, anything, to let it free. To sate my long suppressed needs, to take care of myself for once, just as I had done before. I started to do just that, little by little. My attacks on cities became more brutal, my training and sparring more harsh and unforgiving, my temper growing shorter. The relief I felt was welcomed, but short-lived as soon afterwards; the screeching icy harpy would be at it again. Bitching at me, screaming at me, interrogating me, undoing all of the progress I made. One step forward and ten steps back. It doesn’t take a genius to see the obvious, I was a ticking time-bomb. All Kuo was doing was adding more gunpowder to the mix and shortening the fuse.

It was only a matter of time before I blew a gasket, and that day came sooner than anyone thought.

It was only two short weeks after that moment, I remember it well.  A pained scream rang out as I had thrown a pair of Fledged Conduits onto the ground, having beaten them senseless. They were getting into an argument about something; what it was, I didn’t give a shit. If they wanted to fight so much, I'd give it to ‘em. Now the two lay in the dirt, battered, bruised and pleading for mercy. I was about to knock them out when I heard the ear-piercing screech of that ice bitch. I felt the temp drop as she teleported over.

“What in the HELL do you think you’re doing??” She screamed indignantly at me. I turn my head to look at her, my eyes glowing with fury.

“What does it look like I’m doing? Dweedle Dee and Dweedle Dumbass wanted to have a scrap, I just gave them what they wanted. Is that a problem, Kuo?” My voice dripped with venom as I said her last name.

“What in God’s name has gotten into you? I shouldn’t have to tell you not to take your anger out on these people!” Her voice was like a fork on glass, piercing and painful. “You're a leader to these people! You can't just beat the shit out of them just because they piss you off!”

My face curled into a snarl as I walked up to her, I could feel the electricity in my arms building up as I got closer to her. “I can’t fucking win with you, can I?” I growl at her as I loom over her. “If I do something, you’re bitching and if I don't do something, you’re bitching! So which is it, huh? Do you want me to do something when these idiots act up or do you want me to let them sort out their shit on their own?” 

“What I want you to do is to be responsible for once in your life!” Kuo screeches out. “These people rely on you, Cole! You can't just do whatever you want! You saved them, you must protect them! It's your duty!” Those words. Those fucking words. It felt like my blood was replaced with hot plasma hearing the pure and utter audacity she has. She was a hypocrite.

A crash of red lightning overhead as I finally snapped. That’s. It.

Before she could speak another word, I raised my hand and unleashed a torrent of electricity dead center in her head. The force of the shock sent her flying backwards as the crimson glow of the bolts changed to a color I haven’t seen, a hue I had missed.

Black and red.

I walked over to Kuo as she laid on the ground, her eyes looking up at me dumbly. I could see it in her face, she was gobsmacked. She tried to get up to shout at me again, her hands forming the tell-tale mist that she was going to fire back a volley of her own ice, but I shocked her again before she got the chance. She writhed in pain on the ground as I stared at her, electricity arcing off of my arms and thundering rumbling above us. She slowly tries to get to her feet as she gets control of her body.

“Cole! Have you lost your mind??” Her voice screams out, full of fear and indignation.I couldn’t help but to scoff. 

“Lost it? No Kuo, if anything. I have found it.” I growl out with a sneer. “I’ve put up with your bitching and hypocrisy for far too long and I’m done.”

Kuo looks at me with that stupid shocked look, like she hadn’t known this had been a long time coming. “Are you giving up?” She gasps. “Wake up, Cole! This isn’t something you can-” I zap her again before she can utter another word. 

“No! You’re the one who needs to wake up, Kuo! It must be real easy barking demands and telling people what to do while you get to sit on your ass. Not even lifting a finger to help unless I force you to help me.” My voice dripped in malice and hatred as I got into her face. “It’s so easy to yap and bitch while not having to do any of the hard work or make any sacrifices.” I can tell she wanted to say something, but she seems to have enough sense to shut up, especially since the Beast is staring her down.

“What? No retort? No backtalk? Good!” I snap. “It’s high time you shut up and truly listen to me for once in your damn life.” I could feel eyes around me as I could feel the others coming around and spectating in fear. “They way you talk and act; you think being a leader, being a messiah, is a walk in the fucking park. You’re not the one sacrificing. You’re not the one bearing the weight of everything on your shoulders, having to neglect your own needs and go against your very nature because there’s always somebody who needs your help.” I could feel the static building on my skin as my mind rushed with thoughts of the past. Of all the moments I had been denied the ability to choose my path. “ You never had to deal with the pain of being forced into a role you never wanted, the feelings of being an animal trapped in a cage.”

“But, Cole…” I hear the harpy’s voice speak up, much meeker than before. “John gave you those powers for a reason, you have a duty to fulfill, a moral obliga-” I hold my hand up and she shuts up again.

“Oh no, don’t you even think about going there with that “moral obligation” bullshit. You don’t have a leg to stand on!” I hiss out, teeth bared. “You’ve always been like this, Kuo. You act all high and mighty but when it came down to the wire, you sold your soul to the devil. You’re no better than me, but at least I’m not a hypocrite like you.” I spat out those words as if they were acid in my mouth. “I know I’m no saint, I never have been and you’re a fucking idiot for even entertaining the thought that I had become a changed man after John shrugged off his responsibility onto me.”

“Look! I get it!” Kuo squeaks out. “You were hesitant to take on this responsibility, but I was trying to help you! Regardless of whether you wanted to be a leader or not, you are now! You have to step up to the plate and be better!”

Was she serious? Was she that dense? Did she not hear anything I said?? “Oh, you don’t like how I do things??” I snarl as I grab her shirt. “You think I’m such a terrible leader! You think being a messiah is so easy, Why don’t you try it!?” Venom dripped off of my words as I growled. “You think you know how to be a better leader, be my fucking guest!” I pushed her back, knocking her onto the ground. “I’ve had it with you, I’ve had it with all of this. I’m done.”

I turned around and began to leave, leaving Kuo in the dirt as terrified onlookers watched me. Hearing Kuo stand up and reach to grab my shoulder, I turned around and unloaded several thousand volts of “fuck you” into her. It wasn’t enough to kill her, but it was enough to hurt like hell. I wanted to make sure my message to her was loud and clear, I was done playing nice.

I stand up on a rock to address the crowd of onlookers. “I’m taking my leave of this hellhole.” I stated, my voice firm and matter-of-fact. I wasn’t going to pussyfoot anymore. “If you want to continue to follow me, I won’t stop you. That’s your choice to make. Just know that if you do, I’m not gonna hold your hand anymore. You sink or swim and you take care of your own shit like adults.” With that, I step down and I walk out into the open plains.

I walked, then I ran, then I sprinted. I could hear Kuo’s voice calling out for me, but I didn’t pay it any mind. My body was filled with adrenaline as I made my mad-dash towards the very thing I have been denied time and time again, like a wild animal broken out of its cage. Freedom.

I ran out into the wildlands and I never looked back.

—-

The fire was starting to dim as I slowly came out of my moment of reminiscing. I had been on my own for a couple of weeks and it was goddamn heaven. I was now doing what I should have been doing from the very beginning; whatever the fuck I wanted. The shackles of the messiah were finally broken and I revel in every second of pure freedom I have. For once in my entire life, I was now truly a free man. I answered to nobody but myself.

I tossed a piece of wood onto the fire to give it a little bit more fuel before I looked out onto the horizon. My lips curled into a genuine smile, the first time in forever. Endless possibilities now at my feet. My eyes catch sight of a small band of roving Wild Conduits and my smile turns to a grin. What lay before me was a lawless world, full of people just as lawless as I.The world before me was a chaotic Eden. Ripe for the picking and now it was time for the Beast to come and play.

I just hope, for their sake, that they’re ready for the storm that is now coming. After all, it wouldn’t be much fun if I broke my new playmates, now would it?

[pesterloglog]

John Egbert, Jade Harley

Act 5, page 3415-3419

-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

EB: hey jade, are you there? i have a computer now.

EB: this boring guy keeps blinking at me though, and it's weird.

GG: john!!! :D

GG: wow, finally!

EB: hi!

EB: sorry i disappeared after you entered the game...

EB: but from what i have seen in the clouds, it doesn't look like you have had much trouble making progress!

GG: nope!

GG: dave was able to set up as my server player

GG: he is building up my house right now so that we can deploy some equipment up there

EB: oh, nice!

EB: dave is serving ALL the ladies, isn't he?

GG: yep!

EB: he is like a dude on butler island.

EB: i mean, a dude who happens to be one of the butlers...

EB: doing a lot of serving, to various ladies who are vacationing at this snooty resort.

EB: wait, i am fucking this up.

GG: :o

GG: thats ok, i wont tell him about it

EB: ok, good.

EB: all i am saying is, why can't i have a dave butler too?

GG: well, maybe you can.....

GG: i will try to put in a good word for you B)

EB: thank you.

EB: what is the equipment you're deploying?

GG: im not sure!

GG: something to do with cloning i guess? it serves some purpose in my quest as witch of space

GG: a nice troll named kanaya has been advising me on stuff about that

GG: have you talked to her?

EB: hmm... i don't think so. not recently anyway.

GG: you should!

GG: a bunch of trolls are not nearly as bad as i thought

GG: even karkat! he has been helping me too... sort of, hehe

EB: he has? but i thought he "hated" you!

GG: oh yeah, he said plenty of stuff like that, but i dont think he ever actually meant it

GG: flying off the handle is part is of his charm in a funny way, once you know that about him

EB: yes, this is what i have concluded about him as well.

EB: he is a pretty great guy. i am really looking forward to more of his outbursts, especially his first conversation with me, which i am to understand will be legendary.

EB: but we shouldn't tell him we said any of this, or he will be "furious"!

GG: heheheh

GG: shhhhhhhhh

EB: so what else have you been up to?

EB: we should try to catch up as much as possible!

GG: yeah!

GG: hmm what else... theres been so much going on, its been a little hard to keep track of it all!

GG: why dont you tell me what youve been up to first?

EB: oh man.

EB: you will never guess what i am doing right now.

EB: go ahead, try to guess, you will not succeed.

GG: ..............

GG: whoa :O

GG: john where did you get that nice flying car??????

EB: oh god dammit!

EB: how do you know!

EB: do you have rose's crystal ball?

GG: sort of!

GG: she gave me the code, and i made a cool pair of goggles with it

EB: argh, i am surrounded by real life witches!

EB: everyone i know is turning magic, it's ridiculous.

EB: including me! i'm magic now.

GG: it certainly seems so! what with your fancy magic car

GG: and your chauffeur familiar, i guess?

EB: no, he is neither a chauffeur, nor a familiar...

EB: he is just a new friend!

EB: also, this is not a magic car, it is an ordinary car.

EB: i found it in my dad's wallet.

GG: you did???

EB: yes, i just found his wallet on the ground.

EB: but my dad was nowhere to be found. :(

GG: :(

EB: the clouds led me to the wallet though, so maybe they will keep leading me to him?

GG: hmmmmm...

GG: maybe, but hang on let me try something

EB: ok.

EB: i have seen lots of interesting things in the clouds...

EB: i guess you used to see things like that all the time, right?

GG: yes!

GG: what have you seen?

EB: wow, uh...

EB: well, lots of things that were mysterious and didn't make much sense...

EB: but also lots of things i recognized.

EB: like stuff i have done before. and also stuff i will do in the future.

EB: and things that rose and dave have been up to...

EB: and you too!

GG: :O

GG: like what, what did you seeeee?

EB: well, i saw you on your island, and saw you sleeping in a floating bed, and...

EB: i saw your pretty snow planet...

EB: and i saw you with some frogs...

EB: have you found any frogs yet?

GG: frogs?

GG: no...

EB: well, i saw you once in a neat outfit...

EB: it was kind of like you were torn from the pages of my favorite japanese mangas.

EB: and the snow was melting.

EB: and you were surrounded by frogs for some reason!

EB: heh, now it sounds like i am describing a weird dream i had about you.

GG: sure does!

EB: which i guess is sorta true?? anyway, i guess that must not have happened yet.

GG: nope! but that sounds pretty interesting

GG: i wonder why i would be surrounded by frogs?

EB: dunno! but you are a witch, remember.

EB: witches LOVE frogs.

GG: hahaha thats true!

GG: i hope i am not planning on putting them in a cauldron or anything o_o

EB: i doubt it, it looked to me like a friendly gathering.

GG: whew!

EB: oh, and one time i saw a green version of you with pointy ears, and you were crying!

EB: did that happen yet?

GG: bluh. yes :|

GG: i prototyped my dead dream self and tried to get her to fight jack

GG: but it turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE

GG: god i cant believe how dumb that idea was, she was an emotional wreck

EB: oh no!

EB: what happened? where is she now?

GG: oh, she went off to cry somewhere else... good riddance!

EB: wow jade, you really have been up to a lot!

GG: hehe i guess so

EB: and i have just been staring at these dumb clouds for hours or whatever.

EB: i even saw my own dead body in a cloud!

GG: what!!!!!

GG: oh noooo

EB: it's ok though, it already happened.

EB: i was sort of tricked into sleeping on my quest bed.

EB: and when i went to sleep, jack killed me.

EB: she must have known that would happen...

GG: who?

EB: vriska. do you know her?

GG: i dont think so!

EB: she is pretty cool, but just between you and me, she might be a little crazy!

GG: well if she tricked you into getting killed, then i would have to agree

EB: but, i don't think it's really like that...

EB: honestly i think dying was a necessary part of the process, and she just didn't tell me so i wouldn't get scared.

GG: what process?

GG: and how are you alive now if you died! john im a little confused

EB: well... i died on the quest bed and woke up here, as my dream self.

EB: and now i have all these sweet wind powers.

EB: which is how i am making this car fly!

GG: ohhhhhh!

GG: that makes sense

GG: dave had mentioned you reached the god tier

EB: yeah!

GG: but he did not say what it involved D:

GG: he probably didnt want to make me worried

EB: maybe, or he was just being some sort of aloof coolkid.

GG: or that!

GG: but he also said that no one else would do it but you...

GG: actually, now it makes sense that i wouldnt be able to, since my dream self is dead

GG: its too bad really

EB: yeah...

GG: i wonder what space powers would be like??

EB: hmm, i have no idea!

GG: oh well

EB: maybe you shouldn't rule it out though?

EB: i mean, you did mention your dream self isn't COMPLETELY dead, remember?

GG: !!!

GG: youre right...

GG: i suddenly dont know if i want to become a god tier anymore :(

EB: heheh.

EB: she was that bad, huh?

GG: DX

GG: i dont even want to talk about her! she is sad and cowardly.

EB: ok, i will not pry.

GG: why dont you tell me about your new friend?

GG: he sure seems to be enjoying that horn!

EB: i know, right?

EB: /rolls eyes

EB: he is just this silly guy i met when i woke up here.

EB: he seemed to be curious about me and followed me around for a while.

EB: also, i noticed he was wearing my bedsheet.

GG: haha! what is he doing with that!

EB: i don't know, there seems to be this whole cult full of people who worship my ghost sheets.

EB: i ran into a bunch of them in a salamander village, they are all completely ridiculous.

EB: so i guess he is a member of the cult?

GG: probably!

GG: you are just going to have to deal with the fact that you are becoming a famous hero john, and people everywhere will idolize you

EB: derp! they aren't idolizing ME, it's my dumb bedsheets they love!

EB: it's so stupid.

EB: OH!

EB: also, another thing about him...

EB: he has the queen's ring!

GG: :o

GG: thats great! john you have to get that ring from him!

EB: i've tried! i asked him politely for it and everything.

EB: but he is very protective of it!

GG: hmmmmmmmmmm

GG: that is a problem!

EB: actually, i think it's ok.

EB: i think he is supposed to keep it.

GG: you do?

EB: yes. once i saw something in the clouds.

EB: it was hard to tell what was going on, but i saw him!

EB: im pretty sure it was the future, and he had the ring, and...

GG: and what?

EB: and then the cloud stopped showing me.

EB: but i am pretty sure that some day...

EB: he will have to wear it!

GG: 8O

EB: so i think i will just let him keep it.

EB: for some reason, i trust him.

GG: ok john.....

GG: i trust you

GG: so i will trust in your trust in him

EB: yeah, trust all around!

GG: im going to be a supportive piece of shit all day and fall down all this trust!

EB: how trustworthy do you even have to BE to CONFIDE in someone like that.

GG: lol

EB: anyway, i guess that's enough of that nonsense.

EB: i should keep looking for my dad!

EB: maybe if i fly around in this car with this guy beeping here, the noise will get his attention and he will find me.

GG: john, i already found your dad!

EB: you did?

GG: yes i found him with my goggles almost right away!

GG: but i didnt want to interrupt you

EB: oh! well that sure is convenient!

EB: where is he?

GG: he is with roses mom

GG: they are in a castle, having some sort of tea party together

GG: they appear to be enjoying each others company!

GG: its quite adorable actually

EB: oh wow...

EB: jade, what if they get married or something???

EB: oh god, if rose became my sister too, that would wreak HAVOC on karkat's shipping diagram!

EB: as leader of this team i submit that we cannot afford to let this happen!!!!!!!!!!

EB: everyone man your battle stations!!!

GG: RED ALERT!!!!!!

EB: we have a ship to sink! arm torpedoes!!!!!!

GG: AWOOOOOOOOOOOGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EB: KA-PCHOOOOOOOOOOOOO. target destroyed. B)

EB: heheh, i am just joking around, of course.

GG: durrrr oh really john :p

EB: :P

GG: but really, they make a nice couple and i think it would be great if they got married!

EB: yes, i agree.

EB: even if it would make it awkward for me to marry rose.

GG: i guess so

EB: but maybe that doesn't matter? these are kind of special circumstances.

GG: yes they are pretty special

EB: i wonder if my dad and her mom would mind us getting married...

GG: i dunno

GG: who are they to stand between two youngsters in love?

EB: whoa, in love???

GG: yes john, two people must be in love in order to get married

GG: it is one of the rules!

EB: oh jeez, yeah i guess you're right.

GG: so what do you say john, are you in love with rose?

EB: um...

GG: and if not, are you prepared to fall in love with her?

EB: er.

GG: wellllll? :D

EB: argh!

EB: this line of questioning is making me flustered.

EB: all i know is, i was ordered by karkat to marry rose.

EB: i think we can both agree that it would be reckless to look at a crappy shipping diagram made by an alien, and ignore its message altogether.

GG: i didnt even know karkat made a shipping diagram...

EB: it's a thing of beauty, and it will save the human race.

GG: i will have to make him show me

EB: yes.

EB: btw, you will marry dave.

EB: 100% TRUE REALITY.

GG: <_<;

EB: it's ok though, i will not press you on your feelings for him.

EB: i already know you are totally into the strider anyway.

GG: whaaat...

EB: it's all in the diagram, jade.

EB: it's all in the diagram.

GG: i dont know about that!

GG: i clearly need to take a good hard look at this prophetic document

GG: and possibly tell karkat what an idiot he is!

EB: that you do.

EB: ok but anyway, who cares about his terrible shitty drawings and meddlesome romantic schemes!

EB: how do i find my dad!

GG: uh

GG: well, i dont actually know where he is relative to you!

GG: so i dont know if i can give you directions

EB: bluh!!!

GG: there might be some way to do that...

GG: these goggles are actually REALLY COMPLICATED!

GG: i will look into it and get back to you

GG: in the meantime, why dont you fly around and keep looking?

GG: at least now you know to look for a castle

GG: and maybe the clouds will give you some more tips!

EB: yes, that's a good idea, i'll do that.

EB: thanks for the help, jade!

GG: sure! <3

EB: i will talk to you later.

GG: later!

-- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

[whereisten]

True Love

A Jeno fic that’s a part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: You, an employee at an entertainment company, are immune to the charms of their biggest star Lee Jeno.

Pairing: Rockstar! Jeno x female reader

Genre: romance, drama, fantasy, suspense

Warning: alcohol use, smut mention, stalking, manipulation 

Word Count: 4.3k

(A/N: Hiya! I’m so sorry for the delay! It’s been so hectic lol! Thank you so much for your support and patience! Hope you enjoy! And shoutout to Krys for keeping me sane and for all of her love and support. I love you! :D)

___

To everyone in the world, Lee Jeno was the epitome of perfection and rock royalty. He was a gifted musician from the very young age of five, having specialized in several instruments in his childhood. However, his heart gravitated to the guitar. He became a trainee at LCF Entertainment and along with four other trainees, they became the world famous rock band, Temptation.

He was ranked in the top 23 in World Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive this year. He was a walking and talking Adonis with a heartwarming smile.

Jeno was a man of many talents but he certainly didn’t let it get to his head. He was a humanitarian, a UNICEF ambassador, fostered shelter animals, was the proud owner of three cats even though he was allergic, a great family man (funding his siblings’ college tuition and providing for his parents so they could retire early), etc. He did it all and he had it all.

How could anyone be immune to his charms?

People wondered who would be the queen that would reign beside him when he settled down. Frankly, one couldn’t be anything short of a supermodel on the verge of sainthood. So many hopeful contenders were discouraged from pursuing him.

Jeno’s dating life was non-existent, the paparazzi dreaded to inform.

But you were an employee of LCF Entertainment so you knew the truth, as well as the true nature of the famous Lee Jeno. He was basically like any other young man with an inflated ego. He was cocky, a huge flirt when the cameras were off, very picky, and demanding. But no one ever dared speak a word of his true nature to the paparazzi. And you always wondered why. Someone had to bring him down a few pegs.

You were the staff photographer and videographer, in charge of capturing Jeno’s good and “relatable but still unbelievably glamorous” sides. When the camera was on, that was when you felt at ease.

It didn’t help that Jeno liked you either. Although you’d been working with Temptation and the individual members for a few years now, it was only recently that Jeno really was set on it pursuing you.

When you switched off the camera after the recording of Jeno’s backstage vlog, he sat comfortably at his makeup chair and proceeded to ask, “Y/n, will you go out with me now?”

You answered immediately, “No.”

Jeno gave you a sad puppy dog face. “Why not?”

“We’ve gone over this. I would get fired.” You wanted to spare his feelings so that was what you always said when he asked you out.

Jeno groaned. “You would not. I wouldn’t let that happen.”

You snorted. “You think you have that kind of power, Lee?”

He liked when you called him by his last name. “That’s because I do have that power, y/n. The new company building is funded solely out of my earnings from my last solo album.”

You whistled. “There’s that humility I’m always reading about in O!What Magazine…”

Jeno smiled. “You read articles about me?”

“I do when my name is in the article, boss.” You started packing up your equipment, ready to call it a day and head home.

Jeno got out of his chair and stood over you. He smelled of Dior Sauvage, cologne from his latest brand endorsement. He wore his stage clothes from his solo concert rehearsal. A sleeveless jean jacket top that parted down the middle to show his abs. Along his abs, silver chains dangled and added a nice glimmer effect when he was on stage. The entire team was thrilled to see how the audience would eat it up.

He whispered into your ear, “Y/n.”

Truthfully? He was attractive. You’d always had a little crush on him but it was of a shallow nature. You liked him for his looks. Not so much for his personality. You’d known too much.

If Jeno had been any other regular guy, you would’ve been open to a one-night stand.

But Jeno wasn’t just any regular guy.

You tried to hide the fact that shivers ran down your spine. “Stop.”

He chuckled. “But I can see you through the reflection, y/n...You're crossing your legs…”

You’d hoped he wasn’t that perceptive but it turned out he was. You hid away the fact that you were turned on. Your panties were damp but you’d be damned if he ever knew that.

You met Jeno’s perfectly lined eyes as he looked at you unapologetically. Everyone else from the staff already left. Jeno’s manager was waiting downstairs to take him to the radio station J-423 for his upcoming interview.

You were breathless now. “Jeno, you’re going to be late-”

He pulled you into him and kissed you, easily slipping his tongue into your mouth and working magic against yours. You couldn’t help but return his kiss. His mouth was paradise and you wondered what else he could do with it.

He let you go after a few minutes and cupped your face. “So are you going to deny that there’s something going on here?”

You tried to catch your breath as you wiped your lipstick off of Jeno’s mouth. “No, I guess not...But this is where it stops.”

Jeno frowned. “Y/n…”

“I know where I stand. And you know it, too. And Jeno, I don’t like you that way...I’m sorry.” You caressed his face and grabbed your things, leaving Jeno with an unreadable expression on his face.

___

As a member of LCF Entertainment, your ultimate goal was profit. That was what you had to know from the very beginning. There was no such thing as LCF Family or truly prioritizing the idols. Everyone was after themselves. Whoever brought the most money to the company would get the most attention and special treatment. And that was Jeno.

And you, an aspiring film director, were thankful to be on his team because this experience could open doors for you in the future as a director. Sure, Jeno was a diva and he couldn’t stop flirting with you, but the experience wasn’t all that bad. And yeah it was frustrating that the media and the public perceived Jeno to be the nation’s sweetheart. But in the end, he wasn’t hurting anyone.

He was only hurting people’s wallets.

Temptation’s merchandise always sold out quickly but Jeno’s individual merch was always the first to sell out. And it was the first to get resold for twice and sometimes even triple the price. The fanbase was very merciless and selfish with each other. However, the scalpers were the true evil. That was less money going to your company, after all.

Even though frontman Jeno was the most popular member of Temptation, it was Temptation’s drummer Xiaojun that you had a massive crush on for a long time now. You even accumulated a secret collection of his merch. You were two photocards away from completing your Xiaojun album photocard collection.

Xiaojun even admitted to liking you back but you both kept it a secret from everyone else in the world, especially LCF. You two weren’t about to compromise your jobs. However, since Temptation was the biggest moneymaker in the game and the boys had been with the company for quite some time now, their dating ban was lifted.

Which explained why Jeno had been asking you out all week, not caring who listened and it freaked you out.

If Jeno’s fans ever found out he asked you out, they would pin the blame on you.

A week had passed since you told Jeno you weren’t interested in him. You felt bad for hurting him but you were also worried about his mood. He had the power to get you dismissed. You refused to believe he would be so cruel.

And up until this point, you were right. You were still employed and Jeno spoke with you like any other day, talking about camera angles and new concepts for upcoming shoots.

The end of another work week and Xiaojun surprises you on your way to the bus stop.

“Y/n,” Xiaojun pulls up beside you in his Porsche. He looked so elegant in a pale blue sweater and blue jeans. His face was concealed by a mask so he could leave undetected. But you’d recognized those eyebrows anywhere.

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

“I...I think we should finally talk…”

“About?”

He smiled. “About dating.”

You nearly dropped your phone out of your hand from the shock. “Really?”

He said, “Get in so I can drive you home!”

You nodded fervently and got into his passenger seat. Was this really happening?

On the drive home, Xiaojun told you he wanted to take it slow and have indoor dates with you first. You couldn’t agree more. He even surprised you with a brand new pair of AirPods after you told him that your brother took them from you.

The first of many gifts, he told you.

You got home that night and screamed excitedly into your pillow so as not to frighten your roommates

___

It has been a month since you and Xiaojun started seeing each other. You were on cloud nine. He would visit you at your apartment and would play with his dog Bella. Bella loved you a little more than she loved Xiaojun so you two would always bicker and end the night in each other’s arms.

Jeno noticed the spring in your step as you filmed his cooking vlog. He was showing his fans how he cooked breakfast for himself when he had down time. He was in a plain white T-shirt and a pair of drawstring trousers. He looked relaxed and for many, delectable, as his hair was wet from a shower. He was trying very hard to get your attention once again.

He anticipated you averting your eyes and stuttering at the sight of him but nothing. You whistled while you adjusted the tripod’s position.

“What’s got you so happy?” Jeno asked.

You nearly jumped at his question. You decided to be upfront. “I’m seeing Xiaojun.”

Jeno’s cool facade nearly cracked before your very eyes. “Oh?”

You apologized. “I’m sorry, Jeno. I should’ve told you that I liked Xiaojun…”

Jeno was furious. What the hell did Xiaojun have that he didn’t? Jeno was more muscular, taller, more talented, wealthier, more attractive...He was superior to Jeno in every way and everyone else knew it, too.

He honed his acting skills and replied evenly, “Why are you apologizing, y/n? So you like someone else...I’ll live.”

You realized maybe Jeno didn’t like you as much as you thought so you felt relieved to hear his dismissive tone. “Right. Good. I just...thought you should know…”

You and Jeno continued the shoot. He acted like nothing had happened and even behind the scenes, he joked with you and asked you which of the female trainees he should ask out. You berated him because female trainees were not allowed to date and he knew this very well. Jeno was back to his arrogant self and you were relieved.

___

You got a text from Xiaojun that he was finishing up a filming schedule with his bandmates. You wouldn’t be able to see him today because the schedule was running overtime.

He told you to go to dinner with some friends at Osaka Moon. His treat. He was good friends with the chef, apparently. You were on your way to the restaurant to meet your friends.

You were shocked at how down-to-earth Xiaojun still was after achieving so much fame and then he would do things like this. It gave you whiplash but you were having the time of your life with him.

However, you noticed him across the street. Xiaojun always wore different wigs and masks for his disguised outings with you.

But this time, there were no disguises. His side swept blonde hair and his thin framed glasses. There was no mistaking that it was him.

Was the filming for the show at the Downtown Hotel?

You were about to call his name when you saw another woman wrap her arms around him and squeeze his ass. She had long wavy brown hair and a slender frame. She could’ve been a model or a singer. They both entered the expensive hotel. Very bold of him to take her out so publicly when he was still intent on hiding you.

You felt like someone knocked the breath out of you. You shook your head in disbelief.

Immediately, you dialed Xiaojun’s number and there was no answer. You called four more times and nothing.

Son of a bitch, you thought.

He played you. You should’ve known he was no different than any other dickhead A-lister.

You decided to call his bandmates. It turned out that the filming they’d done today wrapped up over two hours ago.

Haechan had no idea where he was. Jisung didn’t either. Jaemin was equally perplexed. Last but not least you called Jeno.

He answered. “Hello?”

At this point, you couldn’t hold back your tears anymore. “Jeno…”

“Y/n? What’s wrong?”

“Do you know where Xiaojun is?”

“Not specifically...he did mention he had a reservation at the Downtown Hotel…”

You sniffled. “He did?”

“I thought he was meeting you…”

“No, he wasn’t…”

“Oh...Oh, shit, y/n. I am so-“

“It’s okay...Thanks Jeno. I’ll see you on Monday…”

You told your friends to have dinner without you and to make sure to spare no expense because your so-called boyfriend was buying. You told them Xiaojun finished at the last minute and wanted to take you dancing.

A total lie so you could wallow at your local bar.

You sat right by the bar and downed a few glasses of beer. Just to feel anything else besides the betrayal you felt.

A half hour later, you were even more buzzed now. A young man sat beside you at the counter.

He started, “Hello, gorgeous.”

You looked at the young man. He was stunning. Another face that belonged on television. Another one of those who was capable of seducing you and tossing you away the very next second.

You flipped the bird. “Bite me.”

The young man scoffed and tried again, “Feisty, aren’t we?”

He got closer to you and you began to feel uncomfortable. “Please leave me alone…”

“Tsk tsk. A beautiful girl like you in tears? You need someone who will bring your smile back.”

“And you’re the man for that job?” Someone interrupted.

You were shocked to find Jeno here. He looked gorgeous in a black leather jacket and dark jeans. His hair was slicked back the way you liked it most and wow, you may have had one too many drinks...A few customers recognized Jeno and started whispering and taking their cameras out.

“Jeno?” You nearly lost your balance as you got up from your chair.

Jeno grabbed you immediately before the other guy could.

The stranger said, “Why do you get to put your hands on her? Just cause you're some pretty boy with mediocre music...I’m sure she’s nothing compared to who you’ve bedded before-“

Jeno socked him in the face and escorted you out of the bar. The stranger cursed you both out as you left. Jeno led you quickly into his manager’s car that he borrowed for the night. You felt a little dizzy.

Jeno fastened your seatbelt.

You smiled at him. “Thanks.”

He looked at you in concern. “Are you okay?”

You shook your head. “Why are men scum, Jeno?”

Jeno sighed. “I’m so sorry about-“

“Don’t say his name...I...never want to see him again...God, now I have to sell all of his merch…”

Jeno frowned in confusion and continued, “I’ll take you home…”

You didn’t want to face your roommates. “No...Can I…Spend the night with you?”

It took all of Jeno’s might not to get out his car and raise his fist in the air. But he composed himself. “Are you sure?”

You nodded, wanting to forget all about Xiaojun and have one thoughtless night with Jeno. “Yes.”

Jeno drove you two to his penthouse suite. He was cautious around you and you were ready to shrug away your inhibitions.

Jeno helped you remove your coat at the entrance. “Take a seat. I’ll get you some water.”

You sat yourself on the couch and opened your legs wide, exposing your panties underneath your skirt. “Jeno, fuck me right now so I can forget his sorry ass.”

Jeno hesitated then but seeing how irresistible you were...He couldn’t help himself.

He asked again. “Are you sure?”

You nodded. You were buzzed but not that buzzed. You wanted to spite Xiaojun. You wanted to acknowledge the part of you that longed for Jeno for so long, too. You’d be stupid to deny that you fantasized about a night with him.

You hesitated before but now you said, why the hell not?  

You and Jeno made love that night. Jeno was over the moon that you were finally in his arms. Sure it was a rebound but the look in your eyes when he was inside you had to mean something. There was a promise there and Jeno held onto that glimmer of hope.

Jeno took you home the next day and he was very cool about the whole night. Right before you returned home. you reminded him about how this was a one night stand and thanked him for a wonderful night.

You were resolute in dumping Xiaojun and simply going back to work. Thankful you only ever worked for Jeno anyway. And as expected, Jeno was his usual self: cocky, flirty, sending his food back for random reasons.

Xiaojun came under the fire for going to a hotel with a potential prostitute. The identity of the woman he was seen with remained a mystery. He tried convincing everyone that the woman was not a prostitute but he couldn’t remember how he met her or what she looked like. That night and along with how crazy Xiaojun sounded caused the company to encourage him to leave. Xiaojun’s contract with LCF Entertainment was terminated.

The week after you and Jeno made love...You started catching feelings for him. Every glance. Every fleeting touch. It drove you mad. And suddenly that one night stand was something you wanted again. And again. And again.

You accompanied Jeno and his manager as he attended a gallery opening. You were in charge of his photos for his social media. He looked extremely dapper in his red suit. You just wanted to rip his clothes off and make love to him in front of all of the guests. Becoming a work of art yourselves.

These thoughts you’ve been having used to scare you but now...you owned them. Tonight, when you got him alone, you would tell him how you really felt. You hoped you weren’t too late.

Jeno’s manager excused himself to get some refreshments. Jeno observed a painting while you took some more photos.

“Stunning,” you said aloud.

Jeno’s eyes grew at your words. “Wow, y/n...All the years we’ve worked together and you’ve never made a comment about my looks…”

Your face grew warm then. “I’m feeling a little bolder these days…”

He grinned. “Is that so?”

“Jeno, I won’t beat around the bush…I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that night…”

“Y/n…”

“I know I said it was a one night stand and...You’ve moved on…”

Jeno started, “I haven’t…”

You were shocked to hear it. “Really?”

He moved closer to you and moved the camera away from your line of sight. “What are you saying, y/n?” His voice was dangerously low.

“I’m saying...that I want to be with you, Jeno.”

Jeno’s smile looked so gorgeous then. He was the true work of art at the gallery. “Well, y/n, I’ve made my feelings abundantly clear for a while now…”

He kissed you then. And the cameras started flashing.

You were on cloud nine. You finally released your suppressed feelings for the rockstar before you.

___

You’ve been together for two years now. He made you feel safe and loved. He showered you with gifts and trips to the most beautiful parts of the world.

As for the response from netizens and the company? Jeno had all the power and he could handle a few naysayers. Your job as his photographer and videographer remained intact. And you were well on your way to transitioning to your own film projects: your dream.

You and Jeno had become a couple to root for. They called you The Prince and The Pauper Turned Princess. You hated your label but whenever you looked at Jeno’s eyes, any anxiety or anger quickly faded.

Jeno had a solo performance in your city tonight and you were seated in a private booth. He was performing so well, moving from instrument to instrument. Driving people to tears with his long low notes. And then he surprised everyone with his announcement.

“Before I perform ‘Changed Your Mind’, I want to give a shout-out to the woman of my dreams, y/n, who is here with us tonight.”

The stadium roared in excitement and many heads turned to you. Your eyes never left Jeno.

“Y/n, I love you so much. We’ve come so far, baby. And I want us to never stop. Which is why…”

He got down from the stage and was escorted by security down to the crowd. He ran his hands past adoring fans as he made his way to you.

He entered your booth with his camera crew and security close by. “Y/n, will you marry me?”

You cried out, “Yes!”

Jeno picked you up and spun you around. You kissed passionately. The crowd’s roars thundered now. It was a celebration. You didn’t care that all eyes were on you now, as well. All you cared about was Jeno. And he loved you more than anything else in the world.

You truly found your soulmate and you couldn’t be happier.

___

Jeno finished his show and was backstage cooling down with a bottle of water.

“Good job tonight,” a woman said as she stood at the door of Jeno’s dressing room.

“Thank you, sis. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Jeno’s older sister Yeeun sat on the couch of the dressing room. “How does it feel to have her in your clutches now?”

Jeno smirked. “Pretty damn great.”

“And I’m here to collect my payment, little brother.”

Jeno sighed. “Really? It’s been two years.”

Yeeun looked at her manicured nails. “I’ve been busy.”

Jeno laughed. “Screwing over taken men? I’m sorry, I meant screwing taken men?”

“Nope. That task was a one-and-done deal. How is that poor boy doing these days?”

“Xiaojun? He’s back at school getting his master’s...He’s happy.”

“Has he tried to contact y/n since then?” Yeeun asked.

Jeno chuckled. “No. Why would he?”

She smiled at him. “They were sweet together. And you tore them apart because you couldn’t take no for an answer, could you?”

Jeno rolled his eyes. “And what about it? I have a right to get whatever I want. Do you know who I am?”

Yeeun sighed. “Yes, you repeatedly tell the family group chat who you are every week. And we all take it because you pay us well…”

Jeno and Yeeun had conspired against you and Xiaojun. Jeno stole Xiaojun’s phone and Yeeun charmed Xiaojun to join her for a night at the hotel. Jeno planned for you to go to Osaka Moon so you could see Xiaojun and Yeeun together.

Jeno watched you as you broke down in tears, calling each of his bandmates. He made sure he was far enough away by the time you called him. He played the part of a concerned friend very well. He had to take up acting, another field he would surely dominate. And with you as his director? It made him hard just thinking about it.

Jeno didn’t coincidentally find you at the bar. He’d been tailing and that stranger who hit on you was only an added bonus. Jeno could play the unsuspecting hero and you would eat it up. And that you did. He was satisfied to know that you wanted to sleep with him. He didn’t care about being a rebound.

Even so, he wasn’t going to take any chances. So after you left his penthouse the next morning, he took the bedsheets you came on and the strands of hair you left behind and got to work.

Did you really think Jeno amassed such success and wealth all on his own? He had a little help from his family and their friends from Hell, of course. Jeno’s family came from a long line of Satan-worshipping witches. Jeno was the youngest of the descendants.

Human sacrifice was only a small token of the Lee family’s appreciation to Lucifer. So Jeno’s deception of Xiaojun was almost nothing in the list of gruesome things Jeno has done to reach the top of his game.

Yeeun was able to literally charm Xiaojun with her own special concoction. Once she and Xiaojun had sex, she wiped his memory of that hour and left him alone at the hotel. Confused. Disoriented. Worried.

As for you? Well, you were the most irresistible creature in this world. Your immunity to his charms was only the first step in his growing feelings for you. You were brilliant and talented at your craft, always capturing his best features on camera. You were gorgeous. He was surprised you didn’t become an idol at LCF yourself. You were warm and sweet and giving. Even if the company was cutthroat, he saw how you’d be with your coworkers and the other idols. You were just a pure, loving girl. And he desperately needed you. Desired you. Craved you.

He simply had to call you his.

With your samples, he was able to create the perfect spell to make you his.

Forever.

That was what Jeno called true love.

[Fin]

[dc41896]

The Whole Time?!

Pairing: Jake JensenxBlack Reader

⚠️: Maybe a tiny bit of technical angst (🤷🏽‍♀️ lol), fluff💕

“P-Pooch?,” you stammer unable to fathom that your supposedly dead brother was standing in front of you and his wife who was about to give birth to their son in any minute.

“Hey peanut,” he smiles stepping further in the hospital room. “I’d hug you, but I’m w-,”

You didn’t even let him finish before immediately wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your face in his shoulder. Good thing he was already wet from the rain, your tears would just be a welcomed addition.

“Wait. D-Does that mean-”

“Hey babe,” the all too familiar voice speaks making more silent tears fall as you lift your head. Just as soaked as Pooch, he nervously smiles removing his hat to reveal his spiked frosted tips. He pretty much looked the same as you last saw him. Toned arms and chest shielded by his dripping jacket along with your personal favorite, his black circular frames bringing even more attention to those crystal baby blues.

There were plenty of times you thought about what you’d do if granted this moment. Cry, scream, maybe jump into his arms clinging onto him like a koala on a tree. Possibly all three even. Now, finally being granted your wish after all these months, there was one main thing on your mind.

“Wow,” he smiles as you slowly move closer to each other. “I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow you’ve gotten more beautiful.” Just as the words left his mouth, the back of your hand connecting with his abdomen in the hardest hit you could muster nearly knocks the wind out of him as he keeled forward.

“And apparently stronger too..,” he coughs.

“How could you?!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose! We had to so we could go after the guy who set us up. And why didn’t you hit Pooch?! He was in it too.”

“He’s got one coming after my nephew safely enters the world, right now though it’s your turn,” you glare before smacking him again.

“Told you she had a strong backhand,” Pooch states quickly closing the room door before his sister decided to direct her rage at him.

The rest of the team merely watch in entertainment as your hits move to his shoulders and biceps until Jensen can grab your wrists pinning them by your sides.

“I’m sorry for putting you through all that, but it’s not like I completely left! I could still see you.”

You tilt your head in confusion ready to ask what he was talking about, until seeing Clay nervously scratch the back of his neck as he and Cougar shift their gaze clues you in on what he meant.

“SERIOUSLY JAKE?!”

“Wha-? I-,”

“Did you really think that would make me feel better?!”

“...Honestly at this point I’m afraid to answer.”

Annoyed groan falling from your lips, you tried to escape his grasp, but his larger hands slightly tightening their grip on yours, along with him following your every movement, keep you in place. “When we go home I can explain everything.”

“Will you? Or are you just gonna lie some more?”

“I promise I’ll tell everything,” he whispers, leaving a chaste kiss on your temple before flashing one of his ‘please don’t stay mad at me forever because I love you’ smiles. So far, it’d gotten him out of any argument you had. Including this one.

Darn those good looks of his.

“Fine,” you reply as you cross your arms, leaving him to find a seat in the nearby waiting room.

“Any tips here Colonel?,” Jake sighs.

“I’m probably not the one you’d want relationship advice from.”

Another heavy sigh leaves his lips as he follows your path down the hall to sit next to you. That is if you’d let him.

“Okay, is anybody else stuck on the fact that Jensen actually has a girlfriend?,” Aisha states breaking the momentary silence and making both men chuckle.

———

It’s the happiest he’s ever been to walk into his small, outdated apartment. Things weren’t exactly the same as he left it with your few new decorations and pieces of furniture trying to make the place a bit of your own, but of course he didn’t mind. It actually warmed his heart that although he was “gone” you still chose to stay, sticking by his side when you easily could’ve moved on with your life.

“Jeez, the faucet always drip that loud?,” he lightly chuckles shedding his coat and placing it on the small hanger by the door.

“It started a bit after you left,” you sigh kicking off your shoes. “Think it’s loud now, it’s even louder when you’re just sitting here alone.”

Following you to the bedroom feeling like a dog with its tail between his legs, he sits at the foot of the bed looking down at his hands as you move about the bathroom getting yourself ready for bed. Your words were like the sharpest sting as his mind vividly showed an image of you just sitting in this apartment with nothing but thoughts of loosing your brother and boyfriend along with the hum of the AC. He knew for the sake of their mission, and the team, he couldn’t say anything, but it still didn’t take away his guilt of what you went through mentally and emotionally.

“I tried to write you.”

“What, your computer go down and you couldn’t watch me anymore?,” you counter over your shoulder before rinsing the soap from your face.

“That was only once okay? I was watching my niece’s soccer game and then I thought about what you were doing and kinda sorta hacked your office’s cameras, which yes I know was wrong. Speaking of, they really should update their software, a fifth grader could easily hack into it just guessing the password,” he answers making you roll your eyes with a chuckle.

“And who’s Tom?”

“Tom?”

“Yea. Curly brown haired guy, cubicle across from yours. Big head you can see a mile away.”

“I’m sorry are you somehow trying to turn things on me when you’re the one that’s supposed to be explaining why I’ve thought you were dead this whole time?,” you ask wiping the remaining moisturizer from your hands before crossing them in front of your chest as you step closer to the now nervous looking man.

“N-no, of course not! But I mean since he’s been mentioned...”

“He’s just this guy at work that apparently likes me and asked me out but I said no, because a small part of me kept hoping that you’d miraculously come back. Happy?”

“I-uh...y-yes?”

Sighing, you sit beside him tucking your bare legs under you and taking his hand in yours to trace the lines on his palm. You never knew how or why you started, but it was something you occasionally did while you two were talking or just lying next to him enjoying each other’s company. It brought a smile and giddy feeling to Jensen, just as it did to you.

“Listen, I’m sorry I’m giving you a hard time, I know you didn’t have a choice, and understand. Selfishly though, I just missed you so much and wish I could’ve known. It definitely would’ve saved some sleepless nights and tears.”

With his other hand, his thumb and index finger gently grab your chin guiding you to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry for everything I put you through having you think I was dead. The second we threw our tags in that fire you and my family were all I could think about. Like I said I wanted to write and give you some sign that I wasn’t gone, but I could never figure out how to start. Plus Clay threatened to cut off little Jensen if I did send anything back home once he found out, which only made it tougher.”

“Yea we wouldn’t want that,” you softly laugh following a short sniffle you were trying to hold back. You really were done with crying, having done so since you got that devastating call so long ago, and just wished your tear ducts would shrivel up already. “Sorry, I thought I was done with the tears.”

“Shh, don’t be.” Leaning forward, his soft as clouds lips meet the single salty droplet in the middle of you cheek erasing its presence before moving to yours in quite possibly the most delicate, tender kiss you’ve ever experienced. Any other time, you’d probably call it painfully slow, trying to take the lead to move things along. But as you both sat there taking everything in from each other’s scents to the feel of how one’s lips and mouth felt on the other, you couldn’t feel more connected.

Just barely pulling away, his swollen lips rest centimeters above yours ready to take them again as soon as he caught his breath.

“I don’t know if I should be embarrassed at myself or amazed at whatever powers you have,” he starts, a light chuckle escaping him. “But I think you just made me-,”

“Jensen!,” you laugh, playfully smacking his shoulder. “Way to ruin a romantic mood.”

“If it’s romance you want, say no more,” he smiles taking your hand in his and placing it on his chest as he clears his throat. To the best of his ability, he begins singing the opening lines to your couple’s song, as Jake proclaimed it, instantly making you fall back on the bed in laughter.

“You actin' kinda shady, ain't callin' me baby, why the sudden change. Say my name, say my name!”

“This is definitely not a couple’s song,” you laugh feeling his forearms rest on either side of your head and chest vibrate from his laughing.

“I’ll admit lyrically wise..yes, you’re right. But it’s still ours which makes it special.”

You’d never forget that day in the grocery store trying to find a pint of your favorite ice cream as the song played overhead. Without really looking, you thought you were on the freezing aisle by yourself and began singing along as you gently bobbed your head. Suddenly hearing a voice singing the background vocals made you slightly jump turning to see the taller man in a grey sweatshirt, blue and white basketball shorts, and sneakers holding up his hands.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I-It’s Destiny’s Child, I couldn’t resist.”

“It’s okay, and I mean who can?,” you respond, both softly laughing before shyly looking back at your respective sections to get your frozen desserts.

“Soo...you like ice cream?,” he asks interrupting the momentary silence.

“Yea, um my favorite’s moose tracks,” you answer briefly holding up your pint with a smile.

“You know who has a good moose tracks? Bennie & Bailey’s downtown. They make it from scratch and I don’t know what all they put in it, but it’s amazing.”

“Oh, okay thanks. I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

“Well you should definitely go one day. I mean if you want,” he nervously chuckles.

“Will do,” you smile. “Only if you’ll take me though?”

At first, being met with his shocked, speechless expression made your newfound confidence falter thinking you might’ve been too bold with the cute stranger, whom you hadn’t even asked if he was single or not. However seeing his eyes shine bright and adorable smile grace his pink lips, your excitement returned as he moved closer handing you his phone.

Years later, the rest is history as you lie in bed with the man you were sure was the love of your life.

“Hey what’s going on in there?,” he asks brushing his fingertips across your forehead noticing you become quiet. Lightly scratching his goatee, you feel your eyes start to water again causing you to blink a few times trying to keep them at bay.

“I just don’t want you to leave again,” you whisper, moving your fingers to card through his chestnut and blonde mixed strands.

“I’m not going anywhere unless you ask me too.”

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[hamiltonimagines]

I Chose You

Pairing: Daveed x Reader

Request: “hey can i do a request of love triangle between the reader, daveed diggs, and Lin manuel miranda? I don't care who the reader ends up with but i love your writing pieces where LMM or Diggs gets jealous” - @hamilpan

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: Slight angst and a mini makeout scene

“Come on Daveed, hurry up. We’re going to be late” I called out to my best friend, who had a tendency to run late. “I’m coming” I heard him call back. A minute later he came running out of his room.

“Are you ready now?” I asked him. He checked his pocket for his phone and then nodded his head. “So who’s party is this again?” I asked Daveed, as we walked out our apartment door.

“My friend Lin, I don’t think you’ve ever met him. But, he said I could bring a plus one and you were the obvious choice” he told me. “I better have been the obvious choice, I’m your best friend” I told him, sassily.

Daveed and I had met in college and really got along right away. I had always kind of had a crush on him. We had moved into an apartment together about a year ago, and every day it got harder to keep it a secret.

We got in Daveed’s car and drove to the party. We arrived and saw there were a bunch of cars parked outside. Daveed knocked on the front door and we waited for someone to answer. Then the door opened and I saw a man standing there, I didn’t recognize him.

“Daveed! I’m so glad you could make it” the guy said, as he hugged Daveed. “I wouldn’t miss it. Lin this is Y/N, Y/N this is Lin” Daveed said, introducing us. “It’s nice to meet you” I said, smiling. “Your girlfriend Y/N, or your friend Y/N?” Lin asked Daveed. “No, we’re just friends and roommates. We met in college” Daveed said. “Good, so the pretty girl isn’t taken” Lin said, smirking.

I felt my cheeks heat up and I felt really awkward. I didn’t know what to say. Daveed seemed a little shaken up by Lin’s comment as well. “Well come in come in” Lin said, breaking the silence.

“I’m going to introduce Y/N to some people, but we’ll catch up with you” Daveed said. Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me with him.

“Hey it’s Daveed” I heard someone say. Daveed pulled me over to a group of people. “How have you been man?” One of the guys asked Daveed. “I’ve been good, I want to introduce you all to someone” Daveed said.

“Everyone this is Y/N. Y/N this is Anthony, Jasmine, Oak, Renée, Leslie, and Pippa” Daveed said. “It’s nice to meet you all” I said, politely. “It’s nice to meet you too, your outfit is so pretty by the way” Jasmine said to me. “Oh thank you, that’s really sweet” I said, thanking her. All of Daveed’s friends seemed really nice so far.

“I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back. Will be okay until then?” Daveed asked me, whispering in my ear. “Yeah, I’ll be fine” I told him, and gave him a reassuring nod.

“So Y/N, how did you meet Diggs?” Anthony asked me. “Well we met back in college, I was very late to my first class freshman year. My alarm hadn’t gone off, so I was frantically running to class. Then I bumped into this guy and he spilled his coffee all over me. Turns out that guy was Daveed. He gave me his sweatshirt to wear and cover up the massive coffee stain. Then it turns out we were going to the same class, so we ended up talking and really hit it off” I explained.

“So are you guys dating or what?” Pippa asked me. “No no no, we’re just friends” I said, my face starting to heat up again. “You’re blushing! Do you like him?” Renée asked me.

“No it’s not like that” I said, but I couldn’t say it with a straight face. “You sure about that?” Oak said. “Just don’t bring it up to him” I begged them. “We've got your back” Renée said, smiling. “Well maybe” Anthony said, smirking.

Jasmine hit his arm and gave him a serious look. “We won’t tell him” Jasmine said, but it sounded more like she was telling Anthony and not me. Then I saw Lin heading over towards our group.

He winked at me as he walked over. I just hoped that no one else had seen it. “Hey guys” Lin said, smiling. “Hey Lin, have you met Y/N yet?” Jasmine asked. “Yep, I did have the pleasure of meeting this beauty” Lin said, smirking at me. I couldn’t even look at him, I felt super embarrassed and giddy.

“Woah man, you better be careful. There’s some I unconfessed love between her and Diggs” Anthony said. I glared at him. “Guess I’ll just to have to compete for her affection” Lin said, still smirking

“Oh look it’s Daveed” I said, changing the subject as Daveed walked back over. Daveed stood in between Lin and I. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. “Did I miss anything?” He whispered in my ear.

I felt like I was on cloud nine. Why was Daveed being so touchy all of a sudden? I mean, we were super close friends and were always hugging and whatnot. But this was a new level.

“No, just some small talk” I told him. “You know what would make this party more interesting?” Leslie asked. “Spin the bottle!” Anthony exclaimed, excitedly. “No, I was going to say truth or dare” Leslie clarified.

Everyone in the group muttered some form of agreement. We all grabbed chairs and sat in a circle. Daveed made sure that I was sitting next to him and not Lin. I had Jasmine on my left and Daveed on my right. And to Daveed’s right was Lin.

“Alright Anthony, truth or dare?” Oak asked, starting the game. “Give me a truth, but a good one” Anthony said. “What was your first impression of Jasmine?” Oak asked.

“Not even joking, I remember thinking She’s gorgeous, too bad she probably has a boyfriend” Anthony answered.

“Alright Lin, truth or dare?” Anthony asked Lin. “Dare, I’m not one to shy away from a challenge” Lin said.

“Alright, you have to act out a scene. You’ve just found out that your girlfriend is leaving you for another guy. Y/N is playing your girlfriend. Action!” Anthony said.

I froze and I also saw Daveed kind of freeze up. Lin jumped out of his seat and ran over in front of me. He kneeled in front of me and right away was in character.

“Y/N how could you? After all we’ve been through?” He asked, very emotionally. He grabbed my hands and cried out. “How can you leave me for him? What does Hubert have that I don’t?” He asked me.

I giggled at his name choice and he kept going. “Y/N, my true love, my soulmate, the sun to my shine. How can you leave me?” He cried out.

“Andddd cut” Anthony called out. “Nice job” I said, laughing and giving Lin a high five. “Bravo” Renée said. “Thank you thank you” Lin said, bowing.

“Y/N, you’re up next. Truth or dare?” Lin asked me. “Well I’m the only one here who’s not an actor, so I don’t want to have to do whatever that was. So I’ll pick truth” I said, nervously.

“What is your dream date? In other words, where am I taking you after this party?” Lin said, flirting. I saw Daveed glare at Lin. I ignored the comment and answered the question.

“This probably sounds really lame, but maybe like just staying in. And drawing in coloring books, listening to music, and baking cookies. It’s the simple stuff” I answered, honestly.

“I’m with you girl, those are the best dates” Jasmine said. “In other words, take notes Anthony” Pippa said. “I’ll be back” Daveed said, standing up and leaving the room. He seemed like he was in a bad mood, but I wasn’t sure why.

“Jasmine, you pick someone for me, I’m gonna go check on him” I told her. I heard her asking Pippa as I walked away. I followed Daveed upstairs into a guest bedroom.

“Hey what’s going on?” I asked him, I saw him sitting on the bed. “Oh it’s nothing, how’s your date with Lin going?” He asked, angrily. “Date with Lin? D, what are you talking about?” I asked him. “I’m talking about all the flirting, it’s been nonstop since we showed up. What’s going on with you two?” He asked me.

“Nothing, and even if there was, it’s none of your business. I don’t know why you’re so concerned about this” I told him. “I don’t want you to get hurt” he told me. “Well I’m a big girl, I can handle myself” I told him.

I really didn’t understand why he cared so much. Why was it any of his business?

“I’m not trying to run your life or anything, he just doesn’t feel like your type to me” Daveed said. “What do you know about my type?” I asked him. “I know that it should be me” Daveed said, under his breath.

“You should be my type?” I asked, confused. “Y/N, I like you” he told me. “You like me?” I asked. “Are you just going to repeat everything I say?” Daveed asked, he sounded frustrated. “I’m sorry, I’m just shocked” I said. “Well it’s fine, you don’t have to say anything back. I can tell that you clearly like Lin” Daveed said.

“You don’t know that” I argued. “Oh really? You’ve been staring at him all night, and he clearly is interested in you. He hasn’t made that a secret. And you’ve made no effort to stop his advances” Daveed said, and he sounded really upset.

“What do you want me to do? Yell at him and tell him off. He’s one of your friends, I’m not going to start a fight with him” I explained to Daveed. “Whatever, I’m going home. I figured maybe tonight would be the night I finally asked you out, but it’s clear Lin has ruined that for me” He said, starting to leave.

“News flash, I like you too” I confessed. “What?” He asked me, speechless. He turned and looked back at me and he looked so confused. “Daveed, I like you” I repeated. I walked up to him and held his hands.

“But what about the flirting with Lin?” He asked. “It feels nice to have a guy flirt with you sometimes, and I’ve been dropping hints to you forever and you’ve never noticed. And maybe I wanted to make you jealous, but it’s just because I’ve liked you forever and you never even paid attention” I explained to him.

“I thought you just saw me as a friend” Daveed said, still kind of confused. “Would I do this if I saw you as a friend?” I asked him.

Then I cupped his face and leaned in and kissed him.

Daveed seemed to be in shock, but after a second he kissed me back. It was perfect. I had imagined kissing Daveed a thousand times, but it was better than any of those fantasies.

His lips tasted like the beer he had been drinking. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I felt like a school girl, who was having her first crush.

He placed his hands on my hips. One of his hands slipped under my shirt and massaged my side. I wrapped my arms around his neck and lightly tugged on his hair.

I pulled away for a second to catch my breath, but Daveed didn’t seem satisfied yet. He let me take a breather and started to suck on the side of my neck. I pulled harder on his hair. “Wanted to do this for so long” he mumbled as he kept kissing my neck.

He started to try and pull my shirt off. He got it up to where my stomach was exposed and then the door opened.

We both pulled away quickly and pretended as though nothing had been happening. I saw that Lin was standing stunned in the doorway.

“Oh...uh hey Lin” I said, pretending like this was a normal situation. “Guess I missed my chance” Lin said. “Yep, you sure did. Y/N’s mine. So did you need something?” Daveed asked, sounding frustrated.

“No, I just had some voice in the back of my head that thought maybe Y/N was waiting up here for me. I thought maybe we had something going, but that’s alright. You two seemed to be made for each other. Really you seem to be a good couple” Lin said genuinely, as he left the room.

“So you promise there’s nothing between you two?” Daveed asked me. “Daveed, stop worrying. I chose you. That’s all you need to know” I said, leaning in to kiss him again.

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[theimprobabledreamersworld]

While I’m here... I’ve finally updated My Past Became Our Future! :D

Taglist: @psychedelicships @jwillowwolf @lost-in-thought-20 @stardustlv (I can’t remember if anyone else was on the taglist for this one... Let me know!)

Read it here! 

Chapter 10: How Did It Come To This?

‘The world’s got a funny way of turnin’ around on you.’

As the video call cut out, Thomas couldn’t even raise his head. The way Virgil’s voice trembled as he called out their names, the pain in his voice stabbed him right in the heart. He glanced over and saw tears welling Nico’s eyes. They never thought it would come to this. As Patton smiled at them with a new level of malevolence, it was clear that he had lied to them all along, he made it seem like he only wanted to keep Virgil safe. In all the years they’ve been part of The Family. This was the first time both of them have become consumed by emotion when it comes to a job.

Thomas remembered the first time they met at that restaurant. The first night in months where they could just be themselves and they weren’t assassins. Virgil and Logan walked in so apprehensive, so nervous about how people would view them. Thomas should have guessed that Virgil was one of them from the way he looked around the room for threats, the brief glimmer of a dagger just poking out of his pocket, but he just didn’t think of it at the time. That’s why Thomas felt so happy when they were sat next to them, a normal couple. A small slice of a normal life that Thomas and Nico couldn’t have. It was clear that tonight was their first real date, which was why Thomas decided to call out to them, to get rid of some of those nerves. Nico glared at him, but when they all got talking, it was the best decision he could have made. They were wonderful and despite their job, they were determined to make these two lovebirds their best friends. The four of them talked and talked through the evening until it was closing time. Nico ran across the restaurant to get their poor server to take a picture for them. His phone pinged with a message from Patton, but he shut it down ready to take the photo. It was one of their most treasure photos, it’s even the wallpaper on their phones. As they parted ways, they both took out of their phones looking at the text from the boss.

‘Hey kiddos! I’ve got a new mark for you to keep an eye on. We go waaaay back. He used to be a part of The Family believe it or not! I received word that there’s a threat on his life, I don’t want anything to happen to him… So can you keep an eye on him and report back to me whenever you see him? The photo of him is attached. Bye kiddos!’

“You know, I really wish he would stop calling us that… I mean, I think we’re older than him and we’re married.” Nico sighed as he opened the photo as Thomas chuckled and did the same on his phone. They both fell silent and stared at the image.

“Virgil?” The shock was palpable between the two, they looked at each other and both had the exact same thought. They would protect him with every fiber of their being.

Their game plan was simple. Meet with Virgil and Logan on a regular basis but keep it in one place to watch out for any unusual characters. Their weapons would be tucked away in their bags just in case they were needed. There was no way they were letting anything happen to their new best friends, if Virgil was in danger- then Logan could be too. Every time, they would give Patton a detailed amount of information which he was grateful for… almost too grateful for in hindsight.  As time went on however, they started to become more and more slack on information. They even began to lie about seeing them. Virgil was no longer a mark, someone to monitor. He was their friend and each time they reported to Patton, there was a guilt that they couldn’t shake.

Thomas’ biggest regret is that it was him that told Patton about the engagement and consequent wedding. In his defence, he thought he was it would be handy to have them all there as a protection team. After all, him and Nico still thought Virgil was in danger. They put all of their effort into planning the dream wedding, one they couldn’t have. They wanted their best friends to have a perfect day together, damn the consequences. It happened when they were out one day buying wedding supplies.

“Have we lost track of the mission?” Nico asked while they were looking at flowers for the wedding one day. “I mean, we were supposed to be monitoring and reporting back every time. I know I’ve been slacking, I haven’t wanted to report anything, but… are we… getting too close? I think we’re letting our emotions cloud our judgement.” He wasn’t talking in a harsh way. It was almost as if he wanted reassurance that what they were doing was okay.

“You know what? If we have… who cares? I care about Virgil, and Logan. We might not be reporting back as frequently as normal, but we’re doing our best to look out for threats and we’re protecting the two other people that we care about.” He took Nico’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. They continued to pick flowers, Nico went to buy the ones that they had picked and to order more. Thomas checked to see if he was out of sight before taking out his phone and texting Patton. He told him everything, the engagement, the wedding preparations as well as the date and location of the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful and the gratitude from Virgil and Logan was staggering. They’ve never been loved by other people before, but having these two in their lives made their roles as assassins more worthwhile. Both of them saw The Family walk in and sit at the back, but they made sure to ignore them. There was no reason to raise suspicions. Nico looked confused as to why they were here, and Thomas shrugged back in response. However, when he saw the colour drain from Virgil’s face at the sight of them, he knew that he had probably made a costly mistake. He pushed that thought aside and linked hands with Nico as they watched the two exchange vows. Nico leaned over and whispered in his ear.

“You know, maybe one day we could renew our vows. Have a proper wedding.” He smiled and softly kissed Nico in response. They were the first ones to stand up, clap and cheer when they were officially declared as married. When they both briefly turned around, they saw a gleam in Patton’s eye. He was definitely going to try and get Virgil on his own.

Nico ran up to the two newly-weds and hugged them tightly, then Thomas followed suit. Logan told everyone how to get to the party in the garden, then Nico and Thomas guided everyone through. They knew The Family would have already gone to find somewhere to wait for Virgil, and it was no surprise when Virgil had disappeared, but they couldn’t help but panic when Logan was nowhere to be seen. They searched the whole party and then every room in the building. As they heard voices, it was clear where The Family were… but they weren’t expecting Logan to be standing outside watching everything. Thomas went to walk over but Nico grabbed his wrist and shook his head. When they saw Janus’ crook wrap around Logan, they knew that they would eventually give him the memory repressor and there was nothing they could do about it. Time seemed to slow and when The Family finally came out of the room, the look of anger on all of their faces showed that the meeting didn’t go according to plan. Patton stormed up to them and even they had to admit they were pretty scared.

“Get that mess cleared up.” His voice was filled with pure rage as he pointed to the room behind them. “And trust me, kiddos. We’ll be having words soon.” He then smiled and waved them off as the others followed behind. Thomas took Nico’s hand and they both walked down the corridor playing dumb. They pretended to believe Virgil’s lie about Logan falling over and they all carried on with the evening like nothing had ever happened. Everyone in the party had been drinking too much to realise that the two guests of honour were not there that whole time.

Ever since the wedding, they both agreed that they wouldn’t report back to Patton with any form of frequency. They also stopped giving information like their location, that would stay just between them. They still had their fortnightly meet ups with the boys and the bond they built was the strongest thing ever. The boys came to them for everything; good news, help with arguments, dealing with bad days, just to meet up to get away from the everything. They appreciated the time to be normal. That all changed when Patton called them in not too long ago. They went to the house and entered the dark, desolate room in the house hand in hand, both of them unsure what was going to happen. Remus entered first and growled at them to sit down. Then Patton strolled in with a neutral expression on his face.

“You’ve got too close boys… but don’t worry. I have the perfect way to fix that.”

Thomas never forgot the smile that Patton gave them as he left and put the call with Virgil on loudspeaker. Him and Nico stared at each other in shock when they heard Patton’s ultimatum. Then when Remus pushed them into the room, they both realised they were going to be used to enforce Patton’s threats against Virgil if he refused to make a choice.

Nico looked over at Thomas, and Thomas nodded as a response.

“Don’t let me down, kiddos.” He walked over and handed them the files with all the details, even though they knew everything already. Patton grabbed both of their wrists menancingly.

“Or I’ll make sure you live to regret ever joining me in the first place.” He smiled and left them too it.

Thomas wrapped Nico in a firm embrace after he saw his husband shaking from that last remark. Nico gave him a tight squeeze and removed himself from the hug. They looked at each other, then nodded.

They were going to go and save their friends.

Whatever the consequences may be.

[xbaepsae]

the ebb and flow | part four

“In the five years you’ve known him, you’ve never really stopped to notice how much he has changed. Long gone is that awkward thirteen-year-old boy.”

[demigod!jeongguk x demigod!reader]

genre: percy jackson!au, mythology!au, demigod!au, enemies to lovers!au

word count: 1.9k

rating: pg-13

warnings: the usual character tension, nothing really too crazy...besides a shirtless jk lol

a/n: omg i love this chapter so much! eeek. it’s just very exciting imo lol. hope you all enjoy :) xoxo

→ series masterlist!

the fifth summer – in which you come to a realization

“How come I’ve barely seen you these last few days?”

It’s the third day of you fulfilling out your punishment with Jeongguk, and surprisingly it hasn’t been that awful. When you both are busy cleaning, you guys rarely talk. There is just always so much to be done, it leaves little room for conversation. But this is ideal anyway; the less you have to interact with Jeongguk, the better.

Looking up from your lunch, you see Haru blinking at you. She’s the head counselor for Aphrodite’s cabin now. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

Even though she’s technically not supposed to, she takes a seat at your table anyway and gives you a concerned look. However, on her pretty face, even concern looks beautiful. “There’s a rumor going around that your cabin got in trouble.”

You freeze. “Who did you hear that from?”

“I heard some of the younger Aphrodite girls gossiping last night,” Haru says, “and they mentioned your name and Jeongguk’s.”

“Oh,” you don’t even know what to say. Styx. If the Aphrodite cabin knew, then everyone is bound to find out sooner or later. “Yeah, it’s a long story.”

Haru cocks her head. “Well, good thing I’m a great listener.”

As one of your closest friends here, Haru knows much about the history between you and Jeongguk. When you tell her about the attempted capture the flag game and how you’re stuck cleaning stables with your enemy, you can tell she’s struggling not to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing,” she lets out a giggle. “This is all just too perfect.”

“What do you mean?” you ask, getting up to throw the rest of your meal as an offering. Walking out of the dining pavilion, Haru follows you closely behind.

“What I mean is,” she begins, looping her arm through yours, “that I can’t be the only one here who notices something.”

You have zero idea what she’s talking about. “Notice what?”

Haru suddenly forces you to stop in your tracks, angling your body towards the volleyball courts. “Notice that.”

Narrowing your gaze towards that direction, you notice there are a number of people there—especially girls. Rarely does a large crowd like that gather during this time of day; it’s the afternoon and an incredibly hot summer in Long Island this year. Your eyes move from the crowd to the players, and that’s when you see what Haru was talking about. You realize Ares’s cabin is playing against Poseidon’s, which means Jeongguk is—

“Why does he have to be so hot without a shirt on?” Haru muses, fanning herself.

From this angle, you can see the way his shorts ride dangerously low on his hips and the sweat that glistens across his skin. His hair has grown considerably long recently, and he has to continuously brush it back to reveal his eyes. As he moves to receive the ball and jumps to land a spike, you can understand why the girls are looking at him like he’s a god and not just a half-blood.

In the five years you’ve known him, you’ve never really stopped to notice how much he has changed. Long gone is that awkward thirteen-year-old boy. Obviously, training here at Camp Half-Blood makes campers leaner and more muscular, but Jeongguk looks…good—really good—which you hate to even think about.

“He looks okay,” you manage to say before you tear your eyes away from him.

Beside you, Haru huffs. “You’re so lame, y/n. Can’t even admit that Jeongguk is hot.”

“He’s annoying, that’s what he is.”

“Whatever you say,” she rolls her eyes. “I think he looks especially delicious these days.”

After you drop Haru off at Cabin Ten, you walk towards yours and proceed to finish some summer work. Well, it’s not really work per se, but more like something you just really wanted to do. Since you’re going to college in New Rome this fall and majoring in architecture, you’ve been redesigning a few buildings and even creating your own. Like most Athena children, you love creating and can’t wait to see what your future holds in the field.

You are so caught up in your work that you don’t even notice that much of the day has already passed by, and you should probably grab a quick dinner before heading to the stables. As you rush through dinner, a few of your half-siblings bring up your punishment, clearly feeling bad that you’re the one who’s taken responsibility for everything.

“As head counselor, I had to,” you explain.

“Yeah, but it’s not really fair,” one of them says. “I mean, we all wanted to give Poseidon’s cabin a run for their money.”

“They’re all so arrogant since their godly parent is one of the big three.”

“Zeus and Hades campers are the same.”

You listen as your cabin begins complaining about all the other cabins and their various faults, but their voices fade when Jeongguk passes by your table. He’s walking with Jimin and gives you a look that you can’t decipher. But before you can delve too deeply in it, Aphrodite’s table calls him over. Flashing them his signature smirk, he leaves without another glance.

“How’s it been having to work with him?” Namjoon sets his plate right in front of you, breaking your attention away from Jeongguk.

You shrug. “He’s an asshole, but it actually hasn’t been that bad. Could honestly be worse.”

“Think you’ll last the rest of your punishment?”

“I hope so,” you sip from your goblet. “Or else Chiron is going to have my ass, and not to mention Mr. D is supposed to come back next week.”

“Oh yeah,” Namjoon muses like he forgot that the god of wine runs the camp. You don’t blame him—you often forget that too. “Where is he anyway?”

Thinking back to the head counselor meeting you had a few weeks ago, you try to remember what Chiron had told you all. “I think he just had some business to take care of in Olympus. You know, twelve stuff. Meetings perhaps?”

Namjoon nods before you tell him that you have to leave. “I’ll see you guys at the campfire later.”

“Sure; see ya.”

***

You finish your portion of the stables quick—cleaning has gotten easier as the days have gone by—and wait outside the stables.

It’s not like you want to wait for Jeongguk’s slow ass, but you have the key anyway and there’s no way you trust him enough to just leave it. So, you settle for watching the last remnants of the sunset in the sky. From here, you can begin to make out the smoke from the nightly campfire. And slowly, the smell of burnt marshmallows begins to fill your lungs and thought brings a smile to your face. 

For a moment, you’re so caught up in your thoughts that you don’t even realize that Jeongguk is already beside you. When you realize that he’s awfully close to you, a gasp leaves your lips. “Holy Styx, you scared me!”

You except him to respond with something snarky, but he doesn’t. Instead, he begins to walk away, and you frantically attempt to lock the gate and follow him. On the way to the campfire, you stay a few feet behind Jeongguk, and you can’t help but think about Haru’s words from earlier today.

As much as it pisses you off, Jeongguk is super attractive these days. However, although he looks good, you can’t get over his attitude that often clouds your judgement. He’s a pain in the ass, and you can’t wait for the rest of the punishment to fly by.

When you both arrive at the campfire, the singing has already begun. Well, the singing by Apollo’s cabin at least. You try to get as far away from Jeongguk as possible, finding a seat beside Min Yoongi, son of Hades. The pale boy gives you a weird look, probably wondering why you’re sitting beside him.

“What in Zeus’s name do you think you’re doing?” he asks, confirming your thoughts.

You feign innocence. “What do you mean?”

“Y/n, you never sit here.”

He is partially correct—you usually sit beside your own cabin or Haru—but you two are friends…right? You voice this thought to him, but Yoongi just rolls his eyes—clearly not enthused by you or Hoseok’s lyre playing. “Oh, don’t be like that, Yoongi. We are friends.”

“What have you been doing with Jeongguk?” he suddenly changes the subject, and everyone’s singing seems to fade into the background. “You two aren’t…sneaking around, are you?”

The suggestive look on Yoongi’s face would be hilarious any other moment—because he rarely shows any emotion—but you choke at his assumption instead. “Oh gods no. Why would I do something like that?”

“Beats me,” Yoongi shrugs. “All I know is you both look suspicious as fuck.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” you huff, “Jeongguk and I aren’t sneaking around. That’s disgusting.”

“Then what are you two doing coming to the campfire together?” If Yoongi doesn’t know about your punishment, then most people probably don’t know either. That brings you a little relief.

Although you don’t want everyone to know, you also don’t mind telling Yoongi. As a Hades kid, he mostly keeps to himself anyway. So, you answer his question and reveal that you actually got in trouble, which is why you’ve been spending extra time with the son of Poseidon.

“So, yeah, Chiron’s making us build teamwork skills,” you practically spit out.

Yoongi hums, eyes moving from you to glance at the fire. You take a moment to observe him, glancing at his dark hair and dark clothes. How does he manage to get away with not wearing the camp t-shirt? Maybe he just doesn’t care.

“Interesting,” is all he says.

“How so?”

Yoongi doesn’t answer your question; instead, he asks, “So, how’s it been building teamwork skills with Jeongguk?”

“I mean,” you begin, “it could be worse, I guess. Jeongguk and I usually fight all the time; but we really haven’t these last few days.”

“That’s some progress, yes?”

You nod. “I suppose.”

“Think you’ll hate the poor kid forever?” Turning your head to face him, you notice a weird expression in his eyes. You don’t really know what it means.

“I don’t know,” you answer truthfully. “Forever’s a long time.”

Silence passes between you after that, the both of you paying attention to Chiron’s announcements. Afterwards, more music is played, and more singing is done—some campers even get up to dance with the nymphs. Eventually, the night ends and everyone slowly begins to walk back to their cabins. You’re about to join Namjoon and the rest of Athena’s cabin when Yoongi’s voice holds you back.

“I think you should give Jeongguk a chance.”

You raise a brow at that. Is he being serious? “What?”

“He’s not as horrible as you make him seem,” Yoongi says, which causes you to roll your eyes. “I’m serious.”

“Are we talking about the same person?” You almost want to laugh. Where is this even coming from? “Because if so, you have a really different perception of Jeongguk than I do.”

“Maybe I do because I’m a child of the Big Three too, which means I empathize with him; but at the same time, you’ve only seen one side of Jeongguk—the side you want to see. The side he shows when you two are at odds.”

You think about this for a moment, but quickly shake your head. “I don’t know, Yoongi.”

“Trust me,” he says before leaving you to stand there all alone.

[here4theheartbreak]

Spring Fever (MinJoon)

AO3 Link Here!

✩ Relationships: minjoon (Jimin x Namjoon) ✩ Genre(s): fluff

✩ Rating: General ✩ Tags: fluff, getting together, self confidence issues

✩ Summary: Spring fever is a real thing, and Jimin is really sick of it.

✩ A/N: Written for @chimknj​ for the drabble requests, prompt #14: Vernorexia (romantic mood inspired by spring - lit. spring fever)

✩ Word Count: ~2.6k

“Did you hear that Hoseok and Yoongi started dating yesterday?” Taehyung asked, tossing the magazine he’d been skimming onto the floor. He flopped onto his back, letting his head hang over the edge of the bed.

Jimin rolled his eyes from his spot on the floor, back against his dresser. “Fucking shocker. They’ve been eye fucking for two months.”

Taehyung scowled. “What crawled up your ass? I thought you’d be happy for them.”

Jimin sighed, closing his eyes. “I am. I’m just… I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I am. They’re a cute couple. Go right along well with you and Jin.”

Taehyung’s scowl shifted to a pout. He crawled off the bed and over to Jimin, sitting next to him. “Are you jealous of Jin, Jiminie? Because you know you don’t have to be. You’re my best friend.”

“’M not jealous of Jin.” He muttered. “Not like that.”

“But you are? Kinda then?”

“And of you. And Hobi, and Yoongi. And every other fucking person suddenly coming up with a lover.” Jimin wrapped his arms around his knees, putting his chin on them. “It’s stupid. I hate this stupid season with the dumb flowers and the long days and the picnics.” He made a small ‘hmph’ noise and sunk his face into his arms.

“Ahh,” Taehyung said with a soft understanding. “Jimin… You don’t have to be lonely.”

“Easy for you to say.” He looked up at Taehyung. “You and Jin have only been dating for a month and it’s pretty fucking clear you’re soulmates. He chose you even though he got teased for liking someone so much younger. He is head over heels for you, and I’m sure Yoongi’s gonna be the same with Hobi. Nobody wants me. I’m just the ugly, angry little person tagging along with the beautiful ones.”

“Hey!” Taehyung snapped, and Jimin startled, looking at him.

“Why are you yelling at me?”

“Because you shouldn’t talk about yourself like that. You’re beautiful Jimin. Your dancing is phenomenal and you’re so clever and caring. You’re a great listener and you defend your friends with your whole heart. You get angry but it’s usually for good reason. Just because you have a temper doesn’t mean you’re unworthy of love. And you aren’t tagging along with us. I resent that. You’re just as much a part of our friend group as everyone else.”

Jimin lowered his gaze again. “I’m normally not bugged by this, you know? It just feels like lately… Even Taemin is talking about that girl he’s into. Everybody is finding their love and I’m still sitting here alone.”

“It’s Spring,” Taehyung shrugged as he spoke, “romance is in the air, that kind of crap… But you aren’t helpless, Jimin. If you want a lover, why not go out and find them? I know you like someone.”

“He doesn’t like me like that, you know it.”

“Have you ever asked?”

“Namjoon is way too good for me,” Jimin argued. This wasn’t a new argument; he’d been in love with their mutual friend for nearly a year now. And every time Taehyung brought up asking him out, the excuses flowed like water from Jimin’s pretty lips.

“Namjoon is an idiot who trips over air and burns water,” Taehyung argued.

“Don’t talk about him like that. He’s smarter than you,” Jimin grumped, and Taehyung smirked.

“You’re so so head over heels for him and you can’t see it. You can’t see him either. I swear, Jimin… They say people can’t see the forest for the trees, but you’re opposite. You’re too busy staring at the whole damn forest and the storm clouds moving in another direction to notice the beauty of the redwood right in front of you.” He sighed. “And it is one… Beautiful specimen. Tall and broad and just….”

“Dude, you have a boyfriend,” Jimin said. Taehyung grinned.

“And even with one of those I can appreciate the aesthetic appeal of a gorgeous young redwood in a forest of box elders.”

“Would you stop comparing Namjoon to a fucking tree?!” Jimin cried, laughing at the absurdity of it.

Taehyung pouted innocently. “Namjoon. Namu. I see no difference. And you don’t see the reality in front of you.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that? The redwood’s gonna fall for the boab tree?”

“Well, considering those two species don’t even exist in the same place, no. But the redwood might appreciate the beautiful foxglove growing around the base of his trunk. Deadly and stunning… But worth admiring, if you’d just give them a chance.” Taehyung reached out and stroked Jimin’s cheek. “You look down on yourself so much, Jimin. But you’re so worth it. If you’d just give yourself a chance… And if you’d give Namjoon a chance.”

Jimin shook his head, opting to stay silent. He knew he’d lose any argument about this with Taehyung; it wasn’t worth fighting it. Taehyung sighed. He elbowed Jimin lightly.

“Wanna play a game?”

“Yeah, I do,” Jimin agreed, relieved he dropped the subject. But even as they sat on the bed and bickered over who was taking the most loot in their video game, the chipper chirping of the birds outside, and the cool breeze wafting in the scent of plum and cherry blossoms left an ache of lonely longing in Jimin’s heart.

***

‘Do you wanna go hiking with me today?’

Jimin chewed his lip, staring at the text. It was innocuous; not like Namjoon had never invited him places before. They were friends. But it felt so different. Probably something to do with the discussion he and Taehyung had had only a few days before, and the incessant feeling that Jimin was being slapped in the face with others’ happiness. He considered declining, if only to save himself the heartache when the inevitable happy, sappy couple would come by them on the hiking trail. But the opportunity to hang out with Namjoon was – as always – too damn good to pass up. He loved spending time with Namjoon, especially out in nature. Namjoon loved nature, and Jimin loved seeing it.

‘Sure – what time?’ He responded back.

The two texted back and forth for a few minutes, deciding the logistics of their planned outing, before Jimin rose to dress. It was something casual, just between friends. Just a regular old hike. He didn’t need his nice shorts or his cute t-shirt. He didn’t need to wear his good cologne or apply just a little gloss to his pouty lips… He didn’t need to, but he did anyway.

Unfortunately for Jimin, all the nice dressing in the world couldn’t prevent the ache that formed as soon as he met up with Namjoon and began to walk along the quiet trail. Everywhere he looked, it seemed, were lovers, cuddling on park benches or stopped under trees as they shared quiet kisses. Laughter and shouts of joy added to the storm clouds in Jimin’s mind. It only took the constantly thoughtful Namjoon fifteen minutes to pull Jimin off the path.

“What’s the matter?”

“What? Nothing.”

“Yeah, there is. You’ve barely done more than grunt at me.” Namjoon scowled. “If you didn’t want to come, you didn’t have to say yes.”

Panic bubbled up in Jimin’s chest. “No, no,” he said quickly, waving his hands. “I do. I did, I want to be here. I like doing this with you.”

“Then why are you such a grouch?”

Jimin shrugged, lowering his gaze. “It’s stupid. I’ll work on it.” He offered a bright smile, hoping it was convincing. “Look over there, that plum blossom tree. Let me take a picture of you in front of it.” His smile wavered when a young couple holding hands approached the tree he was pointing at, taking a selfie by it.

Namjoon looked over then back at Jimin, his brows losing their knit as his entire expression softened. He looked back to the couple.

“They look happy, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jimin muttered, looking anywhere but at the couple. “Come on, I’m sure there’ll be a nice tree I can get a picture of you with up ahead.”

He started walking, entirely aware that it was now Namjoon being sullen and silent next to him. They turned down another path, filled with a variety of blossoming trees, and Jimin’s eyes welled with unexpected tears. He blinked them away, trying to keep his face from Namjoon. He didn’t exactly know why he was crying. The scent of the trees, the overwhelming urge just to grab Namjoon’s hand, the peace… It was too much.

“Jimin, can I confess something?” Namjoon whispered, his voice just audible over the wind through the branches.

“Of course,” Jimin’s voice was soft as well, trying not to show he’d been struggling against tears.

“I’m lonely.”

Namjoon’s confession fell like a brick in Jimin’s stomach. He looked over at Namjoon, who smiled weakly. “Hoseok and Yoongi got together, you know?”

Jimin nodded. “And Tae and Jin.”

“And Jungkook’s been flirting with Eunwoo… Hobi thinks they’re gonna start dating soon.”

“Yeah.” Jimin looked back down, not sure what to say. They walked in silence a little longer before Namjoon spoke again.

“Do you know why everyone gets together in the spring?”

“No.”

“It’s a phenomenon they call Vernorexia. Spring fever. Something about the melting of the snow and blooming of the flowers and trees that just puts everyone in a lovey mood. It’s also why some people get so grumpy despite the increase in Vitamin D.”

Jimin chuckled. “I get it.”

“I guess it’s nice. Everyone getting together,” Namjoon said, looking around. He sighed. “Just kinda empty feeling… Being alone during it all.” He looked over at Jimin, smiling sadly. “I’m kind of tired of being alone, Jimin.”

“Me too,” Jimin said. “I heard Ashley is single, she likes you.”

“You know I’m not into girls.”

“I don’t know any single guys you’d want, sorry.”

“I do,” Namjoon said. He grabbed Jimin’s wrist, stopping them on the path. Jimin’s heart leapt into his throat. Namjoon was so close… Before he could really process what was happening, Namjoon went forward, his eyes closing. Jimin’s eyes widened. Not him, it couldn’t be him. Instinctively, he pushed him back, and Namjoon nearly fell, righting himself.

He looked at Jimin with a shocked gaze. “Oh God, did I misunderstand?”

“What?” Jimin asked, his breath coming quickly. Namjoon had almost kissed him.

“I thought…” Namjoon shook his head. “God, I’m a fool. I’m so sorry, I’d never invade your space like that. I thought you liked me, I—Taehyung mentioned it in passing and I—I’ve had a crush on you forever but I never thought it’d work so I…” He scratched the back of his head, his cheeks pinking up adorably. “I’m so sorry, I probably freaked you out trying to kiss you like that. I’m not a creep, I promise.”

Jimin shook his head. He waved his hands, trying to get Namjoon to stop panic rambling. He finally grabbed his upper arms. “You like me?”

Namjoon’s body sagged a little. “Is that so disturbing? I ruined our friendship, didn’t I? I know I’m not much. You’re so talented and beautiful and you’re definitely going to be a star. I’m… I’m just Namjoon.”

Jimin gaped, Namjoon’s words settling like a punch to his stomach, painful and deep. “I’ve been in love with you for a year, Namjoon,” he whispered.

Namjoon looked up. “Then why—Why did you push me away just now?”

“Because you don’t want someone like me. I’m ugly and short and awkward and kinda dumb. I get angry at the stupidest things and I’m not near as slender or muscular as Tae or Jin, even as a dancer Hobi has me beat—”

“You are kind of dumb,” Namjoon agreed. Jimin blinked, surprised.

Namjoon smiled, reaching for Jimin. He stroked his face. “You’re dumb if you think any of those things are true. Or those that are, if you think they matter… You are short and you do have a temper… But they don’t matter to me. For months I’ve dreamed of dating you, holding your hand, kissing you, and… More.” Namjoon smiled weakly. “It’s gotten worse with springtime. I feel like there’s this constant stupid emptiness in my guts and I am so, so angry at all the happy couples. I just want to reach out and grab someone… You and tell you how I feel. That’s what today was about. When Tae mentioned you maybe liking me, I figured now was the time to take my shot, even though I thought I wouldn’t ever be enough for you.”

Jimin’s heart was pounding so loud he worried Namjoon could hear it. He flung himself forward, wrapping his arms around Namjoon’s neck in a painfully tight hug. “You’re more than enough, Namjoon,” Jimin whispered. “You’re my redwood.”

Namjoon laughed, hugging Jimin back. “Your redwood?” He asked, putting his mouth against Jimin’s shoulder. His breath was warm, drawing goosebumps over Jimin’s arms.

“Mhm. Tall and lean and strong… Always someone that will support me when I’m weak. Someone who can last forever. Tae mentioned it and I—He was right.”

“Ah, I see.” Namjoon rubbed his hands lightly over Jimin’s back. “And what did our Taehyung liken my sweet Minie to?”

Jimin’s breath caught when Namjoon called him sweet. He called him sweet. And his.

“Foxglove,” Jimin whispered.

“Bright and beautiful, but deadly if you don’t handle with care,” Namjoon confirmed. Jimin nodded. He felt Namjoon pulling away and squeezed tighter, not wanting to let go. He did though, and Namjoon smiled down at him. “I’ve always found foxglove to be a beautiful flower. Something to be handled delicately and appreciated for its brightness… But respected.” Namjoon curled his fingers under Jimin’s chin, tilting his head up a little. “I want to kiss you, Jimin. Is that okay?”

Jimin nodded. “Yes. If… If you promise me something first.”

“What?”

“That you won’t go away once the spring rains stop.”

Namjoon smiled wider, shaking his head. “I’ll be around much longer than that, I promise you. As long as you’ll have me, Minie.”

He closed the space between their lips, and this time Jimin didn’t jerk away. He leaned forward, meeting Namjoon’s mouth. As they kissed, he draped his arms over Namjoon’s shoulders, pressing against him. He was kissing Namjoon. Really kissing him. His mouth was soft and tasted faintly of mint. Jimin tried not to grin when the kiss deepened naturally, their tongues brushing together.

When they separated, Jimin brushed his nose against Namjoon’s. “You’re not alone anymore.”

“Neither are you,” Namjoon whispered.

“Do you want to go out tonight? A real date?”

Namjoon nodded. He straightened up, shifting over as another couple passed them. He smirked a little, looking at Jimin.

“Still make you grumpy?”

“Not even a little,” Jimin said, barely glancing at the couple. He couldn’t take his eyes off Namjoon. “I’ve got exactly what I need.”

Namjoon took his hand, twining their fingers as they began to walk again.

The sweet scent of the blossoms no longer twisted Jimin’s stomach into a ball of frustration, and the laughter of other couples was no longer grating to his ears. Now he could see the colors, the breeze was comforting and the scent of the blossoms brightened his mood further. Namjoon’s hand fit his perfectly, and the two walked in a comfortable silence as they looked for a good spot to eat the lunch Namjoon had packed.

Vernorexia, Namjoon had called it. Spring fever. Whatever it was, Jimin had found his cure. It was in the form of his beautiful, smart redwood of a man, and it was the best medicine he’d ever had.

[thornescratch]

🖊🌙 😐📝

What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

Late at night, more out of necessity than preference. It’s when I have the least amount of interruptions. Also, it’s a proven fact that the words flow best and hardest when you need to be sleeping or getting ready for bed. It’s just how it works in the universal scheme of things.

What embarrasses you most about your own writing?

When I realize that I’m projecting too much on a character or situation and making it obvious. Like, there are some tropes I don’t mind revisiting over and over, but I get twitchy when I realize, Oops, that’s my issue, not Character X’s, and it’s less realistic they’d feel that way. Or when I catch myself reusing a description or phrase too often. I need to stop limning people in gold; I do it way too often. Or focusing on sweat in weird places during sex scenes. Though, it’s my experience that you do always notice the sweat during sexytimes.

Sometimes it embarrasses me how appealing I find some really OOC or over the top trashy stuff, but everyone’s got their favorite woobie and tropes, so I’ve stopped feeling bad about that.

What is one growth area you have for your writing?

Pacing. I do outline, but for a couple of my stories that were written for exchanges, you can tell where I hit deadline and had to just get it done instead of having a few more scenes or length that might have improved it. (Or, conversely, I should have been more brutal and cut shit that I liked but which ultimately wasn’t necessary. But then again, it’s fanfic.)

Also, uh, just finishing shit. And feeling less silly about it. I don’t like posting WIPs because I like to finish them first, but then I get interested in something else or I think it’s not good enough to post, and it languishes on my hard drive for years.

Post a snippet from a current WIP.

Again, not sure what fandom you're from, so let's go back to hockey since I have it open right now.

"Hey, hi, so like, O and Backy turned into chickens, it's not my fault," Willy said, standing on his front step with a large cardboard box in his arms.

"It's his fault," Burky said from somewhere behind Willy.

"Totally Whip fault," someone else—Kuzy? said, also from behind Willy, who took up a lot of space on a normal basis and even more so when he was apparently hauling boxes around. One arm poked out from behind him and waved wildly, and then there was an unmistakable giggle, so it was definitely Kuzy. "Batya, let us in."

"Fuck you, it's not!" Willy said, and then hoisted the cardboard box up slightly. The box peeped at Brooks loudly, and he jerked back in surprise. "Here, let us in, lemme just explain," Willy added, and then Brooks had three—no, four, no, five, Djoos and Orlov were apparently quietly lurking at the back of the pack as well—teammates stampeding into his house like they were trying to outrun the cloud of youthful indiscretion that Brooks could just fucking see hanging over them.

"Curse my slow door-slamming skills," he said to his now-empty front step, and then closed the door and took a deep breath in order to prepare for whatever the hell was going on.

Most of them were all in his kitchen. Willy had put the box down on the kitchen table and he and Burky were in his pantry; Kuzy was looking in his fridge; he didn't see Djoos; and Snarls, bless his heart, was the only one being polite and standing near one of the chairs, clearly waiting for permission to sit down. Brooks made a mental note to tell Ovi about it, since Ovi believed in positive reinforcement when it came to nurturing the kids, and would probably buy Dima a new car or something.

The box on the table was still peeping. Before Brooks could deal with that, it was drowned out by an even louder noise, which was apparently directly related to Kuzy pawing through his vegetable crisper drawer.

"Batya! It's terrible!" Kuzy said, leaning out of the fridge and brandishing an eggplant at him.

"All of his crackers are wholegrain stuff," Burky called out from the pantry, muffled. "He doesn't have any chips."

"He's got two bags of Skinny Pop, though," Willy added. "Original and White Cheddar."

"Everything so healthy," Kuzy said, making a face. "It's terrible but I guess also good. I know we make best choice to come here."

Brooks took the eggplant away from Kuzy and slapped it against his palm once with a pleasantly solid noise. It had some good heft. "The last person who isn't sitting down at the table quietly in the next fifteen seconds gets to explain to Barry why they have to go on LTIR because someone beat them senseless with an eggplant."

"Like, a real eggplant, or is this a dick joke," Willy said, leaning out of the pantry before his eyes went wide. "Oh."

Kuzy was already opening his mouth with that glint in his eye again, so Brooks pointed the eggplant at him. "Sit. Down. Where's Juicer?"

"I was using the bathroom, please don't hit me," Djoos said meekly, slipping back into the kitchen and sitting down immediately, hands folded on top of the table neatly like a good little d-man. Brooks made another mental note to let Nicky know. Nicky had his own nurturing system for the kids, though that usually ran along the lines of a series of slightly less murderous than usual glares that he used for those currently in his favor.

"Can we bring some Skinny Pop?" Burky asked. "Actually, can we bring both bags?"

"I mean, actually you wouldn't really need to explain so much—" Willy said, and then Burky wiggled past him out of the narrow pantry doors with a bag stowed under each arm, and dove for the table, yelling out, "Hit him, Batya, hit him!"

"Hey!" Willy said indignantly, rushing after him and almost knocking Kuzy over in the process.

There was a briefly chaotic interval like a particularly violent game of musical chairs, but it ended with everyone sitting down in a chair, even if Burky and Djoos were sharing one. Less sharing, maybe, than Burky getting physically dumped out of two chairs in quick succession by Willy and Dima, and then Burky climbing into Djoos's lap, planting himself there, and winding his arms around Djoos's neck despite Djoos's wide-eyed expression of panic, but Brooks decided he couldn't afford to be too particular about it, and Djoos was just going to have to learn to desensitize himself to Burky-induced boners and personal space issues.

The box was still peeping.

Brooks eyed all of them, trying to decide who he had the best chance of getting the story out of the quickest, and then decided that he might as well give up on that and picked Willy, since he had a distinctly guilty expression that was only slightly marred by how he was currently shoving a double handful of Brooks's Skinny Pop into his mouth. "Willy. Explain. And no one else talk until I say they can."

Willy swallowed and licked his lips. "Okay, so. Magic."

After a minute when nothing else seemed to be forthcoming, Brooks cleared his throat. "That's it? That's all you got?"

Willy glanced around the table where all of his teammates were successfully avoiding his gaze (Kuzy and Dima were both pretending to read the nutritional info on the back of the popcorn bag; Burky was actually hiding his face against Djoos's neck; accordingly, Djoos's panic looked like it had ratcheted up by several degrees, and he was staring off into the middle distance with a muscle twitching in his cheek) and when it seemed obvious that no help was forthcoming, he shrugged. "Kinda?"

[valdrift]

hi its 3am and i wrote down dnd au shit that im putting under cut bc its. long

pre-canon is mostly the same with minor differences bc d&d magic at play

 jyl and jzx die but they're ok bc true resurrection baby. maybe it takes them a while to be resurrected bc, at the time, resurrection is a fairly new spell/VERY expensive (requires diamonds worth 25k gp in game)/no one was high enough level to cast the spell and also the spell is taxing on the caster/resurrection is taboo (not sure abt that one). anyways they live and raise jl :) jc is still angry but for different reasons and he's also Not As Angry and misses his brother. wwx doesn't know that jyl/jzx lived

wwx doesn't die. during the bloodbath of nightless city, he manages to destroy one half of the stygian tiger seal but before he can destroy the other, the siege on the burial mounds happens. he planeshifts to the 9 hells to escape taking the remaining half with him. such spells were completely unknown at the time and were of wwx's invention so ppl just assumed he died/killed himself. he stays in hell for 13 years (part cultivating his powers/part thinking he deserves it) before finally returning to the material plane thx to mxy

during those 13 years, ppl definitely try to reach him. BUT considering he's on another plane of existence, they often fail. communication spells like sending usually fail but Some do reach him, though he thinks he's just going crazy or it's just wishful thinking. (jyl successfully sends him a message like "a-xian? are you there? …well, wherever you are, i hope you're ok. i miss you. i love you. we all do. please come back." and wwx thinks it isn't real. he DEFINITELY cries when he finds out it actually was real and he wasn't losing his mind in hell)

REGARDING WWX'S POWERS: no one has done it like him!! forming a pact with a fiend was practically unheard of/extremely taboo and the fact that he managed to outgrow his patron in terms of power (lvl 20 baby) is something in of itself. wwx is like The First Warlock Ever and after his "death" many others tried to follow in his footsteps, however no one came even close in terms of power. xy maybe but fuck that guy lol

MXY LIVES!!! bc of reasons he manages to get his hands on a deck of many things from the jin vault (perhaps nhs had a hand in it :eyes:) and draws a wish card on the first try (Very Lucky). he uses that card to essentially wish a pact with the yiling patriarch into existence and over in hell wwx is like "hey wtf is going on" and pops into mxy's shed to see what's up

wq also lives!! jgs covered up her death and wn and her bust out of jinlintai when wwx calls

CURRENT-CANON:

mxy and wwx have a patron/ward relationship. wwx Knows he's not like his own patron and has no desire for mxy's soul or w/e so he's just "yea fine i guess i'll be your evil teacher :/"

wtf is wwx's patron anyway lol…..maybe it's a demon/fiendish entity that resided in the burial mounds that wwx formed a pact with to survive. it probably hangs out on another plane of existence and was partly responsible for his deteriorating mental state.

at mo manor, the mo family dies without mxy or wwx rlly having to do anything. mxy uses his fledgling warlock skills to help out the lan juniors with the arm. lwj shows up after and wwx's like AH FUCK and dips with mxy following after him

wwx uses mask of many faces to disguise himself in his humansona (bc like. he's a tiefling and also very recognizable, being the yiling patriarch and all no biggie) and has bonding moments with mxy. mxy realizes that wwx is not actually evil incarnate; he's actually a fucking dumbass ESPECIALLY when the man starts talking about lwj. (idk how this plays in but I want wwx to complain abt lwj like "i used to be taller than him, now we're the same height?? bullshit >:(" bc i am spreading my short lwj propaganda)

mxy and wwx run into jl at some point. wwx is like :'( when he finds out who it is, jl is a baby homophobe and mxy is like I Will Tell Your Mother to which wwx goes WHAT. BACK UP bc surprise, jyl's actually alive! while he's reeling with this information, mxy drags him away

at dafan mountain, mxy and wwx help out the juniors with the goddess statue. wwx summons wn and jc is like HEY WAIT A SECOND. he goes to hit wwx with zidian (still has the ability to knock possessive spirits but it also has dispel magic, not good for wwx's disguise!) however mxy deflects it with *fjord critical role voice* Eldritch Blast earning lwj's respect. anyways lwj takes both mxy and wwx back to the cloud recesses; mxy doesn't see what's the big deal, wwx is freaking out and Desperately wants to planeshift out of there but he has a ward now and disappearing like that would mean the jigs up considering no one else can planeshift

at the cloud recesses, mxy ditches wwx with lwj so the two can have a Talk to go chill. lwj is like "wei ying drop the humansona i know it's you" and wwx goes :O well. after, mxy comes back and is like "ok so here's the deal with the arm" and spills what he knows abt jgy and what he did and the 3 of them head off to get evidence

I Do Not Remember much of their whole like journey to piece nmj's body back together but it'd probably go much faster with mxy alive and knowledgeable to jgy's shit

wangxian are still gay and stupid

idk abt yi city but songxiao and a-qing get a better ending and xy eats shit

there will def be a yunmeng sib reunion.

POST-CANON:

pulling a page from cql, lwj is chief cultivator but only so he can like. actually do some good then once he's done dismantles the position or smth so he can live out his house husband dreams with wwx

wwx still goes on that journey so he can relearn what it's like to be a person in society and not someone hated and demonized. also he lived in literal hell for 13 years, dude needs time to process that. but u KNOW when he comes back, he's eloping with lwj

with all the pieces of nmj's body back together, nhs true resurrects him :)

NOTES:

wen clan are a mix of tiefling and human, with direct members being tiefling

lsz and ljy are human, jl is half-elf (half-triton), and ozz is a tabaxi (catboy rights!!)

wwx definitely used mask of many faces to entertain a-yuan in the burial mounds by disguising himself as whoever a-yuan asked. (disguises himself as lwj at their dinner date bc a-yuan said so and lwj is like Fuck…….He Would Make Such A Good Father…………)

[danganronpalimits]

chapter 1/part 2|not so hopeful beginnings

“nyaknyaknyak!!where’d you think you’re going,young lady?!”

Kaede spun around,to see no one behind her.well,that was until she looked down

“Monokuma?how’d you…”

“take a wild guess!! I’m your despairfull headmaster! of course I’m gonna know where my students are going!”

of course you will…

“well,I was just guessing that you were gonna go around to the folks of your old killing game and say that you WEREN’T the one who killed Rantaro?!”

Kaede jolted on the spot.how did he even know that she was going to do that?there really was no escape from Monokuma…he basically knew what a student would be thinking

“welp,don’t wanna ruin the fun now!try not be killed first,Miss Protagonist!!”Monokuma giggles,before running off somewhere. Kaede stood there,confused, as more memories from the killing game began to flood her head.from Rantaro’s body discovery,to making Shuichi promise to continue her wish and to her execution…did she really have the hope to try and lead everyone else out of this killing game,when she failed last time?

as she continued to walk on,Kaede still couldn’t get rid of these awful memories.on how she had failed…and from what Kokichi had told her before Monokuma appeared made her even more anxious.these clouded thoughts still covered her mind,making her unknowingly walk into a girl with silver hair and red eyes covered by glasses,with a sword holder wrapped around her back

“ah!i’m sorry! I didn’t mean to bump into you!!” Kaede apologizes immediately,waving her hands in defence. The girl gave her a small glare,before give a small nod.

“I will accept your apology,even though I felt that I was the one that had ran into you”

so cold…

Kaede gave a small,forgiving smile as she began to lower her hands

“so…what’s your name? I’m Kaede Akamatsu!”

“…Peko Pekoyama.it’s nice to meet you.”

Kaede could see that this was going to turn into some form of small talk.she felt that she could trust Peko as an ally,but she needed to know more about her to do that

“so,what’s your ultimate talent?i’m the Ultimate Pianist”

“well,I am the Ultimate Swordswoman-“

“that sounds cool!and more interesting than my talent…all I can do is play a piano”

“mhm.i learned my skills from a yakuza,where I was raised to be a tool for the young heir Fuyuhiko…but the tool part was what I believed”

“you were apart of a yakuza?that’s cool!”

The two girls continued their conversation,eventually becoming close friends.

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

during that sort time,Kaede had managed to get to know all the other students she didn’t recognise. At that moment,she stood in the enclosed outside area.her thoughts hadn’t really left her,but whilst talking with the other students helped relieve a but if her stress.she had also managed to try and explain that she wasn’t really the one who commit the first murder,but most didn’t understand it.probably for the better,she thought afterwards

“hey Kaede!can I ask you something?!” came a voice behind her.turning around,Kaede found out is was Kaito,who had just entered the enclosed outside area.Kaede gave a nod,fully turning around to face her friend

“you know that Byakuya guy,right?well,his hosting this party thing to try and relieve some of the stress or whatever.but a lot of people are disagreeing to it,saying that that how he became a victim in his old killing game…but anyways,wanna come?”

Kaede took a small while to think about it,before giving another nod.

“it’s a party,right?i don’t think that anything could go wrong”

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

to Kaede and Kaito’s surpise,not that many people turned up to the party. There was probably about 10,including themselves

it makes sense,everyone’s probably still looking for a way to escape…talk about being a bit of a party pooper

Kaede thought to herself,as she stood close to a wall,biting into a kebab looking thing.thinking back to the other students and what happened to them in their last killing game,Kaede felt as if that they two were also shouldering the same level of stress as she was.taking another bite into her kebab,she saw that Gundham was approaching her,looking a bit stressed

“greetings,mortal.have you by any chance seen Kazuichi anywhere?”

“Kazuichi?i don’t think I have no…wasn’t he with you?”

“well,I had turned my back on him to grab the two of us some nourishments,but when I had turned back around,he had disappeared”

Kaede gave a nervous look.whenever someone were to disappear in a time like this,you know that something had happened to them.taking in how nervous Gundham was,Kaede began to place her food onto the table

“i-I’ll look for him…you just stay here!”

Kaede stammers,before quickly leaving the party.

she began to walk down the hall where the party was being held,nervously sweating.she may’ve only met Kazuichi for less than a day,but that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t care about him.seeing how he reacted to the new killing game being announced,Kaede knew that he wouldn’t be the best alone.

as Kaede continued to walk,she passed a seemingly empty hall,where she heard an audible sniff.quickly turning and walking in,she could clearly see that it was a dead end,with nothing but a supply closet and an seemingly mental unstable Kazuichi sitting at the of the hall.

“Kazuichi…what are you doing here?Gundham’s looking all over for you,and…”

Kaede says,slowing approaching Kazuichi,seeing that he wasn’t in best shape

“are you okay…?”

“d-do I look okay?!how the hell are you guys so damn calm about all this?!th-this is my worst fucking nightmare come true!!someone’s gonna kill m-me soon anyways,so there’s no point!!”Kazuichi yells,cluthing his beanie with both of his hands

“I don’t care if all of ya are concerned! I-I’m gonna die!! their probably gonna aim for u-us survivors…f-fuck I can’t do this anymore!!”

Kazuichi screams,before becoming a sobbing mess once again.at that point,Kaede had fully approached him,kneeling down in front of him.gently grabbing both of Kazuichi’s hands as a strategy to try and clam him down,she gave a small smile

“i-I understand what your going through…everyone here is just as anxious as you are.i had a friend in my old killing game,he was kind od the self-loathing type,he acted a but like you.he had no self-confidence,and…”

Kaede trails off,biting her lip a little

“well,I can’t really remember but…what I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to worry.you got Gundham and i-we’ll make sure that no one trys and kill you.just remember that you’re a really great person,Kazuichi”

Kazuichi took that in,gently removing his hands out of Kaede’s grip,and rubbed his tearful eyes

“no one…no one has ever really said anything like that to me before…th-that’s the first time anyone has said that to me.th-thanks Kaede…!”he replies,as he gave some sort of a small smile to her

It was silent for a bit,before from inside the wall,a loud clanging noises filled their part of the room

“wh-what the hell was that?!”

“I don’t know…”Kaede mutters,before looking over at the supply closet. Getting up and heading to the door,with Kazuichi right behind her,she placed her trembling hand on the doorknob and opened it slowly

inside the closet was boxes thrown all over the floor, and Akane’s corpse laying against the wall,with knifes impaled in her neck and stomach,blood everywhere.

[bigfan-fanfic]

Grain Brain (Son of Demeter!Reader Headcanons)

Requested by @acoustickitten - another incredible requester - for a Son of Demeter with the relationship at my discretion.

Thanks for this one, I feel like there’s so little PJO reader-insert content for males! Anyway, I couldn’t decide, so the first part will be what life is like for a son of Demeter, and the second part will be the relationships, with Luke Castellan (for angst lovers), Will Solace (for the fluffy ones), and Percy Jackson (for a mixed bag). Hope you enjoy!

So, you’re a half-blood. 

Children of Demeter are often have it the worst: theoretically, they are the only demigod grandchildren of Kronos hopping along out there: Hestia is an eternal maiden. Hera doesn’t cheat. The Big Three has only had a few slip-ups since their big oath after WWII. Demeter’s the only child of Rhea out there still... producing demigod children. 

And your cabin might be the most ridiculed after Aphrodite and Dionysus in terms of combat usefulness.

The general insult for a Demeter kid is Grain Brain. Grain is such a rhymeable word that Cabin Four has been the result of many a scathing limerick from the Apollo Cabin.

But in the future, all those people will look at you as the counterexample.

Sure, Athena and Ares may have superiority in battle tactics and strength. Hermes might be sneaky and crafty and wordy. Apollo might have a huge number of seemingly-unrelated skills. Hephestus might have craftsmanship.

But you have... agriculture?

Woe betide anyone who underestimates the power of Demeter. Like Dionysus’ children, Cabin Four kids may develop some level of control over plants, specifically, anything cultivated. 

The dryads are okay with you, but the dryads connected to fruit-bearing trees practically worship you, calling you my lord. 

And especially powerful children of Demeter have some minor weather control ability. Demeter once stopped the entire world from getting any weather but scorching sun to hold it hostage for her daughter to be returned. Her children can access this power too.

Make a powerful child of Demeter angry? Clouds part, and the sun heats up like a thousand degrees, as concentrated rays of heat bake the opponent. It can even cross Camp Half-Blood’s magical weather shield.

Another thing Demeter kids have power over is food.

A Demeter kid can curse someone else with excessive hunger, or bless someone to be able to go without food indefinitely. They can also make anything taste like anything else. 

They are also often enlisted, along with the Dionysus kids, to help boost the strawberry harvest.

The berries go crazy for Hilary Duff, but early Justin Bieber and Cheetah Girls makes them bananas. So you have to choose the lesser of all evils, because these songs do NOT sound good from a satyr’s pipes.

I feel like a Demeter kid shares some healing with Apollo kids, but can only mainly heal exhaustion, dehydration, anything relating to malnourishment.

Demeter kids can eat whatever they want. 

Demeter Chrysaoros was the Lady of the Golden Sword, so don’t tell me Demeter kids can’t fight just as well as anyone else. Demeter’s sword was also made out of part of Kronos’ scythe, so she is powerful.

You are the most powerful son of Demeter in thousands of years. You might be the most powerful child of Demeter since Persephone.

You are the head counselor of Cabin Four, and you make sure everyone is hale and hearty.

Luke Castellan

Luke recognizes your power when he gets to Camp Half-Blood

And it strikes him as unfair that you might be just as powerful as Thalia, but since you weren’t a Big Three kid, you had to make your own way to camp - no seekers out looking for you.

So he and Annabeth adopt you into their little family.

Luke realizes he has fallen for you when he sees how much little Annabeth has taken a shine to you.

He’s known you for about a year when he sneaks out of Hermes cabin with a couple of smuggled Cokes and a Disney movie on cassette.

He asks you to sneak with him into the Big House. You watch the movie in the room usually reserved for the orientation video.

Your head leans on his shoulder because you are tired - it’s the middle of the night.

“Hey, uh, Y/N...”

“Mmm?”

“I really like - uh, this movie.” He can’t do it. He’s almost crying with frustration when he feels you kiss him on the cheek.

“I think I might love this movie.” You say hopefully.

Mr. D doesn’t sleep, and he’s right behind you. Shockingly, he doesn’t turn you both into dolphins, but instead ropes you into a late-night pinochle game with Chiron, who’s tail is in curlers for some reason.

It’s both the happiest and most embarrassing night in your life.

But from then on, you two are the “it” couple at camp.

You two become slightly distant after Luke’s quest, but you think it’s because he’s insecure over his new scar. There’s something missing when you two do seem to regain that lost ground.

When Percy comes to camp and beats Luke in a training duel, you congratulate him and boost his ego, telling him that everybody always ridiculed Demeter kids for not having any good talents, and that he can be good at whatever he chooses.

You are devastated when Luke betrays the gods.

He begs you to join him, but you refuse.

He kidnaps you aboard the Princess Andromeda, but you are rescued by Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson.

It was when you realized Luke was too far gone.

At the Battle of the Empire State Building, you yourself take on Kronos with all the might of your godly parent.

It’s not enough, and you are almost killed.

Luke takes back control for an instant, allowing you the chance to escape

Annabeth and you give the final blow together.

The last thing Luke sees is you.

And you know you will never meet again, not even in death, because Luke was always a pusher, and he’ll reincarnate to get to the Isles of the Blest.

Eventually you age out of Camp Half-Blood and travel the world, searching, hoping you can find happiness once more...

Will Solace

You two are the medicine couple

Feeling bad? Feeling blue? Visit Y/N and Will - odds are one of them will solve your problem.

You hang out with Will in the infirmary, handing out magical crackers that assist with healing.

During the Battle of the Labyrinth, your powers truly blossomed - you granted power to all the fruit-bearing dryads, allowing their trees to come to life and attack the opposing army. Will thought that was so cool - he brags about it every chance he gets.

You and Grover seal Hyperion into the tree during the Battle of the Empire State Building.

You and Will met during archery practice, because as an Apollo kid, he was booked to teach.

Among your numerous talents, archery is not.

You accidentally shoot him.

Although, the way you shot him was worthy of an Apollo kid - the arrow ricocheted off of like, thirteen different things before striking Will.

Not a good idea to have the best healer teach archery

But anyway, you felt so bad that you practically carried him to the Big House

And cried because you never wanted to hurt anyone

Especially not anyone as hot as Will

“Wait, what?”

“Oops.”

“Well, I think you might have to check for another wound.”

“What? Really?”

“Yup. I think you struck my heart with your arrow.”

They change the rule so that no two demigods from different cabins can be alone together because of you two.

You resolve this by camping in the woods overnight - the dryads have got your back.

Although a lot of them will try to steal Will from you, so I guess everything has its ups and downs.

Percy Jackson

At first, you were so annoyed by this sarcastic ball of insecurity.

He comes in here, insulting your godly heritage, making a mockery of all these camp activities, and then he met you

And his jaw drops open.

“Wow. Uh... who’s your godly parent?” he asks, almost in awe

“Demeter.”

He snickers. “The farming goddess?”

Yeah, that was pretty much one of the worst first impressions he could have made.

But he grew on you after a while. 

And you... he was gone from the moment you saw he had blue Coke and changed yours to match.

He takes you to meet his mom as soon as possible

And she automatically knows he’s in love because Sally Jackson always knows.

She approves because she sees how much you love him back.

The two of you just started being together one day - neither of you can really pinpoint an exact moment.

Just, somehow, you two held hands and it felt right, so you kept doing it.

And just like that, you were a couple.

Aphrodite once promised to make Percy’s love life interesting.

Well, it doesn’t get much more interesting than you.

[itsclydebitches]

Lovely Good Omens fandom! Many of you have asked for/mentioned having a text version of the Yelp reviews, which if I were a better person I would have remembered to include in the first place. Better late than never? So here’s a version below and I also threw this up on AO3 so there are options. For the record, I’m not at all trained in transcribing visual media, so if anyone wants to add to/edit/do whatever to this post, especially to make it more accessible, you have carte blanche to do so 👍

Also I typed this up in a hurry so, as always, apologies for any typos. 

Tagging: @lethargicdolphin, @marithlizard, @pearwaldorf

A.Z. Fell and Co. Antiquarian and Unusual Books 

Recommended Reviews 

Lindsay F. 

London, United Kingdom 

71 friends

3000 reviews

9874 photos

So I slipped into this place because I spotted my ex across the street and would have rather chugged a cocktail of bleach, lighter fluid, and a condensed solution of all my middle school years then talk to that asshole. Owner was on me the second I walked through the door and I thought he was gonna be one of those ‘Either buy something or get out’ types. Nah. I spilled the story, said I really wasn’t looking to purchase anything, and he LIT UP like nobody’s business. He gave me tea and promised I’d never run into my ex again. Which is a super sketchy promise on its own and also should have been hilarious coming from a guy a century behind in style.

...Kinda believed him though. 

Marina G. 

London, United Kingdom 

0 friends

33 reviews

48 photos

Pretty sure this guy wants a library, not a bookshop. I mean, he’s nice and all when you first come in, but trying to actually buy a book? Good fucking luck. He’s too busy to see you right now (for the record he’s super bad at pretending to be busy). Or claims that this book has already been put on reserve (then why wasn’t it in the reserve pile...?). Or the price suddenly jumped an obscene amount. Or he just straight up hems and haws until you get fed up and leave. I watched him pull a novel straight out of a woman’s hands once when she claimed that price was no object and she wouldn’t be leaving the store until she’d purchased it. You’d think she was trying to kidnap one of the guy’s kids!

So yeah. Feel like popping in to browse, maybe take pictures for your research, all while making quiet conversation with someone who quite frankly knows his stuff? This is the place for you. Want to actually buy something? Go elsewhere. Pretty sure Fell doesn’t even own a cash register. At least I’ve never seen one. 

He wants a library and I’d honestly tell him as much if he didn’t scare me just a little bit...

Aaron S. 

New York, NY

68 friends

212 reviews 

337 photos

I stayed here for three days once. Found a bathroom off the romance section and a chair hidden away in the back. Way comfier than my mattress at home. Mostly played iPhone games and kept real quiet at night. Experiment ended when I popped out for breakfast and didn’t make it back before a random 10:00am closing. Don’t think the owner ever realized what was up. 

Hana S. 

London, United Kingdom 

112 friends

115 reviews

208 photos

I really love this place. I’ve been coming here since I moved to London, about twelve years ago, and it’s one of the most soothing bookstores I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. Yeah, you hear talk of weird things going on at Fell’s, but really? We could all do with a bit more quirky in our lives. And Fell provides that in spades: Annual plants that never seem to wither, let alone die. The smell of incense mixing with cocoa. Strange books tucked horizontally into the shelves, feeling like they have a touch of magic to them. Nonsensical conversations taking place in dark corners (I’m talking candid chats about the apocalypse and whether angels could actually bless all the rains down in Africa. I swear Fell and his boyfriend are the religion Mythbusters or something.) I’m going to sound like a total nerd here for a moment, but it feels like some sort of liminal space. You know when you were a kid and you were just desperate to receive your Hogwarts letter? Or find your own wardrobe to Narnia? That’s what walking into Fell’s feels like. Like you’ve finally found that portal and can stay as long as you like, provided you don’t try to take anything back with you into the ‘real’ world. Hell, maybe that’s why he won’t let anyone buy his books. 

Robert T. 

Union City, CA

4 friends

26 reviews

3 photos

There’s a snake?? In this shop?? A reALLY MASSIVE SNAKE????? What are y’all doing talkin’ about your meet cutes and shit someone call pest control!

Malini D. 

London, United Kingdom 

0 friends

48 reviews

99 photos

I’m not gonna pretend I have anything to say about whether this is a good bookstore or not, but if you ever want knitting help you should definitely stop by. Mr. Fell knows an absurd amount about crafts for a guy who looks like my grandpa and he’s now replaced Youtube as my go-to for alleviating “Omg please fix this how the hell did I manage to reverse the pattern??” panic. For the record, I didn’t just wander up to a random bookseller one day and demand that he help me salvage the ruins of my first sweater. I’d taken a seat inside to wait out a storm, had my messy sleeve stuffed into my purse, and he’d offered the help. Bit of a bastard about things like gauge and color--not everyone wants to wear tartan, dude--but you get used to that. He means well. Said I should come back to show him the finished piece, which I did. Things just kind of spiraled from there. He’s an absolute treasure trove of knowledge once you get him talking and a muffin to boot. If he were twenty years younger and in any way straight I would have asked him out in a heartbeat. As it is I’m considering setting him up with Grandpa. 

Tiffany L. 

London, United Kingdom 

132 friends

312 reviews

34 photos

I’m not really a book person myself but I followed my wife in with our seventh-month old and was kinda embarrassed when he started making a fuss. Normally I’m full Badass Mom mode while in public--I’ve got a kid to feed, change, sooth, and you all can damn well deal with it--but this place was so quiet Liam seemed extra loud in comparison. I was about to take him back out when a man appeared out of nowhere. The owner I guess, based on how some of these other reviews describe him. Older gentleman with clothes out of some period piece. Anyway, he scoops Liam into his arms like he was born for it and started bouncing. Our fussy, temperamental, drama queen Liam settled in an instant and my wife got to browse to her heart’s content. I don’t know how he did it, but that man is an absolute angel. Full stars for that moment alone. 

Gillian L. 

The Hague, The Netherlands

283 friends

256 reviews

60 photos

Anyone know if the old Bentley parked out front is for sale? 

Update: It’s really, really, really not 

Billy H. 

Austen, TX

40 friends

2073 reviews

774 photos

QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS QUEER BOOKS SO MANY QUEER BOOKS!!!

Gabriela G. 

London, United Kingdom

3 friends

22 reviews

1 photos

Run by this delightfully frumpy guy who sometimes hands out biscuits from a sewing tin like my gran used to. He asked me if I was looking for anything in particular and I told him my name was Jared, I was 19, but sadly I’d never learned how to read. I have NEVER seen a man more confused in my life. 10/10 would meme him again. 

Colie A.

Enola, PA

201 friends

2778 reviews

10382 photos

I’m setting the record straight here since there are a bunch of reviews claiming it’s just London folklore: there is a snake at A.Z. Fell’s. Must be an exotic pet he usually keeps upstairs because I’ve only ever seen it twice. Is it big? Yes. Scary? Fuck yes, but I’ve never seen it do anything more than give a warning hiss at this drunk who wandered in and started yelling. (Are snakes good guard dogs? This one is.) The other time he was just chilling on top of one of the shelves. Snoozing, I guess. I asked Mr. Fell if I could pet him and he said maybe after he woke up, but then I had to get to class and all. 

Afraid of snakes? Steer clear. Otherwise I’d really recommend popping in and seeing if he’s around. Idk, maybe I’m just a snake fan but he looks super sweet and chill. Life is short. Boop the snake snoot. 

Jeremy W. 

London, United Kingdom 

86 friends

409 reviews

12 photos

I live down the street from A.Z. Fell’s and let me tell you, this place is spooky as fuck. All sorts of weird lights and noises coming from it. At all times of the day and night too. Either this bowtie wearing bookworm has one crazy sex life or the place is haunted. Jury’s out on which. 

Heather Ki. 

London, United Kingdom 

0 friends

3852 reviews

1 photos

This shop smells. Not that old book smell either, oh no, but like something is molding. I took my little Johnny in here to try and get him interested in something other than those damned video games and I walk into what smells like a whole cloud of toxic mold! My boy has a weak constitution as it is and if he comes down with anything I will be pressing charges, you mark my words. 

Jo. W. 

London, United Kingdom 

32 friends

410 reviews

61 photos

Hey, does anyone want to talk about the fact that this place burned down last month? As in, completely up in flames, I saw it happen, nothing but a smoking husk afterwards? Does no one else remember this??

Tiggi N. 

London, United Kingdom 

32 friends

33 reviews

24 photos

Has anyone read this guy’s opening hours? I included a photo above: “I open the shop on most days about 9:30AM perhaps 10:AM. While occasionally I have opened the shop as early as 8, I have been known not to open until 1.” Absolutely insane. This guy’s a madman and I love him. If anyone actually manages to get into this place please let me know because I need to shake Fell’s hand. 

Mackenzie J. 

City Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom 

807 friends

2592 reviews

13218 photos

I told my girlfriend this shop’s got a snake named Anthony and she didn’t believe me. Going back for proof next week. 

Update: got the snake selfie!!!!!!!!

Penny O. 

Chicago, IL

87 friends

557 reviews

16 photos

Caught the owner snogging some hot twink behind the cookbooks. Well done, my dude. 

[spicywarl0ck]

Here we are with day two of the AU-gust prompts. The prompt was college for today, so I just had to go with some fluffy romance. This will feature my fiancés Aisling Trevelyan and Cullen, since they are adorable fluff balls. (Also put a hinted male HawkexFenris in there for my own heart :D Oh, and not to mention a hinted WardenxAlistair)

Prompts are coming from @augustwritingchallenge​

There was a light breeze that brushed trough her golden hair. The wooden bench that she sat upon creaked from time to time. It was a nice day with a blue sky, scattered with only a few clouds and the sun shone onto the football field that laid in front of her. Not that she was overly interested in sport, or wanted to watch the ongoing training. No, that she was sitting here in the sun was only because the library had been too crowded for her to find a seat, and the lawn in front of Arlathan college was filled with lovey-dovey couples. She had felt rather uncomfortable in their midst, especially with those kinds of guys that tended to flirt with her, making it obvious that they were more interested in her father than herself. But even if they were honest, she often just shied away, easily embarrassed by brash flirtations.

She had thought about simply returning to the Dorm room that she shared with another girl but the sign that her roommate left on the door had spoken a clear message. In the end she hadn’t even dared to knock and had fled the scene with a flushed face, not even wanting to imagine what the sounds she had heard behind her dorm room meant.

Not that she wasn’t curious as well. She’d glimpsed in the books that her older brother bought and loved to read to a certain point. The things that were described in the ‘Sword and shields’ the series she was currently following, sounded just so adventurous and exciting. It wasn't that she didn't want to do stuff like that as well, to flirt back when someone nice tried, but every time she was just rendered to a stumbling and stuttering mess.

So her last option to find a more or less peaceful place to read had been the benches around the football field. Of course there was the shouting of the training cheerleaders and the yelling of the football players that filled the air. But she actually didn’t mind it that much. It was still better than the other options. If it wouldn't be for the noises in the background it would have almost felt like home and sometimes she missed sitting in her corner of the garden, reading in silence in midst of the plants she cared for.

Not that she couldn’t have lived easily at home and get driven to the college by a driver. She would’ve been able to have every amount of the luxury at home, but she decided to stay in the dorms like everyone else. Especially after her brother had teased her that she wouldn’t make it without her bathtub.

But instead she now sat here, dressed in her favorite fluttery summer dress and a book on her lap, probably out of place because most of the other people here came to watch the ongoing training.

Her eyes shifted to the players on the field on occasion. Especially when she heard loud thuds that indicated that two bodies had crushed against each other. Aisling sat in the last row of the stadium benches, which was why the sound always took her by surprise.

“ALISTAIR! YOU NEED TO WATCH OUT FOR THE BALL FOR MAKER’S SAKE!” someone yelled over the field, causing her to flinch in her seat.

The voice seemed to belong to a blonde haired and sturdy man. He wasn’t the tallest of them all, but he seemed to be the one in the lead. Probably the captain of the football team considering the fact that he stood on the side and observed his players. Not that she knew a lot about the game, but at least she knew there had to be a captain.

The player that had seemingly made the mistake, a guy that actually looked very similar to their captain seemed to apologize in earnest before they retook their formation to begin from start once more. At least he looked quite guilty, as did the redheaded girl in the front rows, who had probably distracted him as he strolled back onto the field.

“HEY, HAWKE! TAKE THIS SERIOUS! THE NEXT SEASON IS STARTING WITHIN A MONTH! IF YOU KEEP THIS UP YOU WILL BE CRUSHED BY OUR ENEMIES!” The captain shouted once more, this time towards a broad and dark haired man that just waved towards a dark skinned elf that leaned against the wooden stands and who seemed to effectively ignore the man.

She tried to concentrate back onto the book she read, but her eyes always flew towards the sturdy men that moved in such a barbaric way, ramming each other with full force. But she’d to admit that it looked fascinating and at least it seemed to be fun for them, even though they were drilled by the captain and her attention got drawn to him on more than one occasion.

The man surely was handsome, with the college jacket he wore, the styled hair and that rough bellowing voice. Of course, she’d only heard him shout so far and that probably didn't say much about him. Aisling found herself to move a few rows closer, and she sat down behind the elf.

But her eyes didn't linger on the slender man for long and fixed on the captain once more. He was only a few seats away, and she was able to study his profile, her eyes travelling over the carefully styled hair, the furrowed brows while he was shouting. He was rough, but that didn't make him less handsome, and she found herself watching more than concentrating on her book. "HAWKE! CAREFULL YOU..." Her head had spun around, at the sudden shout, but she couldn't even see what happened, just heard a loud thud and a pain shooting through her head before everything went black around her.

A low groan escaped her lips when she tried to open her eyes, making her head thrum in pain. Everything around her seemed to be blurry for a moment, the sunlight hurting in her eyes. She felt herself get moved pulled against something warm. “I’m so sorry. ” A deep and gentle voice rumbled right above her and when her eyes focused, she could make out the face of the Football captain. He held her in his warm and broad arms, amber eyes looking at her in concern. “That ball shouldn’t have been thrown into your direction. I’ll let him run 100 Leaps around the field for that.” he continued, his hand brushing through her blonde locks, and he looked at her, his brows furrowing again. "You have been out for a moment, but at least you are not bleeding. But we really should get something for that bruise. Hold on." Her head was spinning with those new informations, and she was barely able to process it with the thrumming in her head. Only when she got easily lifted from the bench she realized that the warmth had been his chest, that she had been laying against his body while he had examined her head. Her heart started to beat faster, and she wanted to say something, thank you at least, but her voice just didn't cooperate. As if she had lost it, like every time she tried to talk to someone she found interesting. That she got pressed against his body, felt his hands carefully holding her against him just made it worse. She wasn't very touchy usually, kept her distance with an exception to her brother but this, this was something completely different.

There was a first aid room right next to the training field, even though no one was there right now, but he seemed to know the place good enough to find the things that he needed, opening the cabinets to get out a few things she couldn't make out.

He returned, stood right in front of her, and when she looked up he smiled, making the scar that cut through his lip twitch. Aisling felt heat raise up in her cheeks, quickly looked down again and flinched when a wet cloth brushed against the bump on her forehead, taking her completely by surprise. It hurt, ached and throbbed, but she didn’t dare to move even one muscle. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest, and he was so close to her that she could smell the aftershave that mixed with the sweat from the training.

“I.. uh.. uhm..” she began to stutter, at a loss for words obviously. This all was just too much for her. From what she had understood she had been hit by a ball and it certainly felt like it, but it couldn't have hit her so hard that her brain just couldn’t function properly, right? She felt just dumb, not being able to talk to him, to not even be able to say thank you to the man that looked after her so gently.

“Sorry… I… didn’t want to hurt you. I’ll be careful.” the smile that followed his words rendered her speechless again, and the way he adjusted the cloth, now softly dabbed on the bruise, it just was so sweet and careful that her heart raced even more. There he was, such a broad guy that could’ve probably beat everyone else to a pulp. Yet, he was so gentle and caring that it made her heart flutter.

“I...uh.. it’s okay. I didn’t pay any attention either so… I guess it’s my fault too.” Aisling managed to get over her lips with a shy smile. “Th… Thank you for taking care of me.” she added, her cheeks completely flushed.

“Uh… no you’re welcome. It was my fault too, in a way. Uh… my name is Cullen Rutherford if you want to report someone. I’m the one in charge of the team.” he replied to her, the smile on his face twitching again, leaving her stare at him in fascination. She couldn’t help but to think of it as adorable.

“Aisling.” she introduced herself, not feeling the aching pain in her head anymore, thanks to the fluttery feeling in her stomach. "I...You don't need to worry, I won't report anybody." her eyes found his and for a second his soft dabbing stopped. The moment broke with the creaking of the door as the nurse entered, but glimpsing at the flushed face of the man in front of her she wondered if that ball was probably what they needed to find together, and she couldn’t help but to feel thankful for the guy who’d thrown it.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Chaos Theory

Part Four

(One boy has been found! Now what about the others? More puzzles to solve.)

If anyone was walking through the streets of the historic section of the city at 1:40am, they would’ve been surprised to see the two men sitting on the curb, staring intently at the blue screen of a laptop. Jackie had the computer carefully balanced on his knees, JJ leaning on his shoulder as he watched. “And add to the list of things this guy knows about me,” Jackie muttered. “My freaking email! Yaaaay.”

That is a bit disturbing, JJ signed, frowning. How could he know all this?

“Look, as someone who’s hacked before, I can tell you that very little on the Internet is entirely secure.” Jackie opened his email, immediately noticing a message from an email address: 4d6164@gmail.com. “But still, this guy must have some crazy skills. I’m starting to think he supplemented any cyber stalking with regular stalking. You know, following us around. Maybe placing spy cameras in hidden locations.” He clicked on the email he’d received, opening it to see it was completely blank, except for an attached zip folder called “Set 2.”

That seems a tad excessive, doesn’t it? JJ asked, but he stopped, reconsidering. Well, actually, this entire idea is excessive. If he wanted to go after you, he didn’t need to invent this entire twisted game.

“That’s true. But some people just like to fuck with others.” Jackie downloaded the zip file, then found it in the laptop’s Downloads folder and unzipped it. “What worries me is that I’ve never even heard of this guy...”

The “Set 2″ zip folder had just one file inside: 2.png. Frowning, Jackie clicked on it. What popped up was a black-and-white image of a staff, with wings sprouting from the top, two snakes twining around its length. “Oh! This, this! That’s a...uh..” Jackie bit his nails a bit, thinking.

JJ looked at him, then finger-spelled a word. C-A-D-U-C-E-U-S.

“Yes! Caduceus!” Jackie shook his head. “Man, my brain is all over tonight. More than usual.” He took a deep breath. “You know what this is? It’s a medical symbol. Henrik has a sweater with a caduceus on it, Jack got him it for his birthday one year.” Guess they now knew who the second set of puzzles was for.

Focus, Jackie, JJ implored. But is this all there is? I don’t understand what this could be pointing to, other than...who’s next.

“Well, with your puzzle I had to play around with editing an audio file.” Jackie closed the image and opened the laptop’s photo editor. “Might as well start doing the same for this picture. I mean, obviously not audio editing, but you know.”

The very first thing Jackie did when opening up the editor was click on the brightness slider and slide it all the way to the brightest setting. And words immediately appeared in the previously black area of the caduceus’s staff. Jackie leaned closer, tilting his head to the side. “ ‘Follow the skulls’...” he read out loud. His brows furrowed. “Well that means nothing.”

JJ waved his hand in front of Jackie’s face to get his attention, then signed, Perhaps it relates to some clues in the city around us?

“Maybe. But I don’t have any idea what that could be referring to.” Jackie tapped his fingers against the laptop’s edge. After a moment, he started playing around with more sliders on the editing program. After turning up the contrast, something else appeared. “Whoa, hey, what are these?”

A string of figures were now wrapping around the edges of the picture. Small words in the top left corner said “Start here.”

It must be some kind of code, right? JJ asked. They’re numbers, but they go too high to be a simple alphabet substitution.

“Yeah, but there are letters too.” Jackie began reading the string out loud. “68 74 74 70 73 3a 2f 2f...I have no idea what this is. But I guess that’s what Google is for.” He opened up the website, plugging ‘cipher decoder’ into the search bar. An overwhelming amount of results popped up. He blinked. “I...I don’t even know where to start.”

Trial and error? JJ suggested.

Jackie’s face fell, a gray cloud falling over his expression. His eyes darted to the small clock in the corner of the laptop.

Perhaps there is one that could identify the cipher when you type it in? JJ suggested. But other than that, we don’t really have much of an option.

“...you’re right. You’re right.” Jackie took a deep breath. And another. “Okay, let’s start.”

It took five minutes to find a decoder that gave them something recognizable after plugging in the code from the picture. It turned out to be a url for a YouTube video, which Jackie immediately typed into a new tab.

“Oh! Uh, there’s earbuds.” Jackie handed one of the buds to JJ. “We can listen together. I know we could just take out the earbuds and listen with the laptop speakers, but just in case...” Just in case of what? He wasn’t sure. But JJ took the earbud anyway, awkwardly putting it in.

Jackie didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t...this. He physically leaned backwards at the sound of the intro: “Yo, what’s up guys? I’m Chase, and welcome to Bro Average!” He had to pause it for a moment, just to bask in the confusion. “I-I thought...” he said slowly. “Was...was I wrong about who...?”

JJ looked confused as well. Perhaps it’s both of them?

“But there are four sets? I-I don’t...?” Jackie shook his head. “Nevermind, it’ll make sense later, once we actually get to them. Because we’re going to. In time.” Jackie laughed. JJ gave him a concerned look that he waved away. “I-I’m fine, let’s just...see if there are any clues here." He pressed play.

It looked like any other video by Chase. In fact, Jackie thought he’d seen it before. It followed the same format at first. The music, the shots of Chase hanging out, the attempts at trickshots that always failed at first. Chase once said he liked to include the fails so the viewers would know he’s no better at these than anyone else, and that anyone could do the tricks if they tried. But then—

What was that? JJ signed quickly.

“I don’t know.” Jackie paused the video. He used the arrow keys to go back, but when that failed to pick anything up, he resorted to using the comma and period keys on the keyboard to go frame by frame. Until he finally managed to capture the image that had popped up for a split second: A hollow red circle, divided into fourths, with a red skull in the center. There were also a few strange dots and dashes along the bottom.

Am I correct in assuming Chase didn’t originally have those in his video? JJ asked. But then, how did that get there? Is it possible to put images in a video on the web?

“No, but...” Jackie tapped the screen. “This is on a different channel.” Indeed, instead of Chase’s BroAverage channel at the bottom of the video, the channel name was a string of numbers with a few letters that looked similar to the encoded url that had been hidden in the .png of the caduceus. “That means the video could’ve been downloaded, then edited and reuploaded. There could be more of these...actually, there probably are. The image said ‘follow the skulls,’ I bet it meant ones in here.” He frowned. “What are these dashes? Morse code?”

JJ nodded in agreement.

“Well, great, guess we’re going to have to write these down and find another decoder—”

Jackie. JJ raised an eyebrow. I know Morse code.

“You do?” Jackie blinked. “I didn’t know that. Since when?”

Since... JJ paused. 1923, I believe.

“Oh. Okay. Well, that saves us some time. Here, I’ll just open up Notepad and write down the code on this image, then we can see if there are more images sneaked into the video.”

There were. Five more times, the image of the red skull appeared, each time accompanied by more Morse code. Jackie copied the code into a page on Notepad, and once he was sure there was nothing else hidden in the video, he passed the laptop to JJ. JJ glared at the code, then slowly began the process of translating. Jackie looked around the dark city while he worked, legs bouncing. The city was always empty at night, but it seemed even quieter than normal. He didn’t like it.

What if the gamemaster was somewhere in the darkness right now? He said he’d be watching. How? What if he was following them? Or were there cameras, invisible eyes, dangling in the shadows? Making sure they didn’t break the rules and get help? What time was it? How much was left? Though he didn’t want to, Jackie began wondering what would happen if he failed. He knew the basics, of course, he’d never see the others again. But what would happen to them? Would it end with something as simple as a gunshot? Or would it last longer? Maybe they wouldn’t be killed at all, maybe they’d vanish into a worse fate—

JJ tapped Jackie’s arm, and Jackie yelped. JJ sharply withdrew his hand, then asked, Are you alright?

“Y-yeah, I-I just was, um...thinking. You startled me. Are you done?”

JJ clearly didn’t think Jackie was actually alright, but he nodded. I’ve finished. I believe it’s an address.

“Here, lemme see.” Jackie scooted closer. It was indeed a simple address. “Spiralnest Street...that’s in the north part of the city. It...it’s dangerous there.”

Well, we don’t have much of a choice, do we? JJ signed, sighing.

“No. No, we don’t. We’re going to have to be quick, and hope we don’t attract any attention.” Jackie closed his eyes, preparing himself, then opened them again. “We can’t take public transportation, nothing runs this late at night. Neither of us can drive, and even if we could, we don’t have a car. How fast can you run?”

JJ bit his lip. Not as fast as I would like.

Jackie looked at the time on the laptop. He watched the numbers change from 1:56 to 1:57. His stomach twisted sharply. “Okay. Okay. We have time. We’ll be quick.” He shut the laptop, putting it back in the box. “Let’s go.”

He stood up, and JJ did as well. He grabbed his hand and the two of them started running.

And somewhere else in the city, a man sitting at a desk leaned back in his chair, staring at a screen on a bank of monitors. Three hours left. They were still ahead of schedule, but now only slightly.

He reached over and switched cameras, checking first on a room with two people behind a sheet of plexiglass, then another with a single man lying unconscious on the floor. Good. Nothing had changed.

He stood up. By his calculations, it would take them anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour and a half to reach their destination. Enough time to drive over there and set up the final puzzle of Set 2. He chuckled.

He couldn’t wait for this part. It was a classic, one of his favorites. Though he had a feeling Jackieboy and his friends wouldn’t appreciate it as much.