#I drew the to test my lighting skills and they were ass so now she looks like she’s standing in the dark

[minzaysart]

make sure y’all add me to the “i can’t draw for shit” squad

[kpopxx]

Spy Games [Chapter 1] : More Than It Seems

Characters: Twice Momo, Male Reader

4579 words

Authors Note: This is literally the first fiction writing I have done since I was a little kid writing stories about a town full of hamburgers. I was inspired to try my hand at writing by the plethora of amazing kpop smut writers out there right now, but by @lockefanfic​, @nsfwtwicecatcher​, @nsfwflint​, and @ggidolsmuts​ in particular. If there are any similarities between my writing and theirs, please forgive me as I’ve spent more hours than I’d care to admit “researching” their work. 

One thing that amazes me is how the hell everyone cranks out thousands of words with such frequency, as this post isn’t even 5k and it took forever to write. I can’t begin to explain how much respect I have for all the authors out there who can write so much and maintain such high levels of quality.

As a new writer, I welcome any and all feedback! Feel free to drop me a line if you have any critiques, or if you just want to chat!

***

“Coming up on the target now.” 

“Roger that, remember the office is on the top floor. Let us know when you’re inside. And remember, no elevators...” teases your handler, Choa.

“Thanks for the reminder,” you reply sarcastically.

You survey the skyscraper against the night sky--it would be impressive if it weren’t one of a hundred just like it downtown Seoul--and wonder what you had done to deserve getting the short end of the stick. Of course, you knew there was a reason to avoid the elevators: they sat directly in front of the building’s concierge and the cameras in the lobby, while the stairwell lay in a remote part of the first floor. The logic behind your impending hike didn’t make the reality any less abhorrent.

“Meanwhile, Seolhyun gets to infiltrate an organization in the Caymans. Just my fucking luck.” you grumble to yourself.

“Oh, stop whining, you big baby,” says Choa, reminding you to keep your thoughts to yourself.

You sneak past the lobby and towards the back of the floor you find the entrance to the stairwell in a poorly lit area.

“Beginning my climb.” you report, shaking out your legs as you prepare to go up.

“Sir, I-I’m getting some interference over comms,” chimes in the timid voice of the girl you knew to be your newest team member, Yoo Jeongyeon. “It could just be local chatter, but I want to make sure it’s not someone trying to listen in.”

“Probably nothing to worry about, but we’ll let you know if there’s anything you need to worry about.” Choa assures you. 

As you climb up the stairs, you wonder why anyone would want to listen in on this particular mission. This was a run-of-the-mill operation to investigate money laundering at an accounting firm. You’d infiltrated foreign governments, broken into and bugged the offices of billionaire CEOs, and tailed enemy agents. You could understand people wanting to hear those comms, but this? Either someone wanted something to listen to as a sleep aid, or this mission was more interesting than it looked.

A tip had come in through one of the new girls at the Intel Desk reporting that there was some fishy activity related to organized crime going on at the accounting firm. This was routine and you’d gone on dozens of similar recon missions before: break in, find suspicious intel, get out. But if someone wanted so badly to hear what was going on, the new girl may have stumbled onto something worthy of a promotion. Hayoung, you think her name was. Her chestnut, shoulder-length hair along with her well-endowed physique reminded you of a young mother, but her mature beauty belied her young age. You had caught yourself more than a few times fantasizing about her in your off hours…

You stop mid-way in the stairwell, scolding yourself for losing focus. Too often over the course of the last year you found yourself fantasizing about the women in your life. Sure, before the incident with Eunha you had sexual thoughts about your coworkers--you were surrounded by beautiful women, after all. But recently you noticed that your life was increasingly preoccupied with sex: both in your thoughts and the real-life exploits you carried out. 

Much longer than a few minutes later, you reach the 63rd floor out of breath and sweating, wishing more than ever that it was you and not Seolhyun lounging on the beach. You take a moment to compose yourself before peeking out into the office floor to see if the coast is clear.

“We may have a problem, boss. Jeongyeon looked into the comms disturbance and someone much more sophisticated than the average joe is definitely trying to tap in,” Choa says. “Jeongyeon’s kicking their ass right now blocking their access, but there’s only so much she can do alone. Eventually we’re going to lose control of this channel.”

“Dammit. I knew something was off with this op,” you grumble. “If they want to listen in to whatever I find, it must be important. We’ll go dark. Recon says this should be a quick in and out anyways. I’ll tag you once I’m out.”

“Be careful. Signal us if anything goes wrong. Just don’t do anything stupid.” replies Choa. 

“What do you think they pay me all this money for?” you tease, wanting to put her nerves at ease. “See you on the other side. Over and out.”

You could hear the concern in her voice. Even though keeping you safe was part of her job, you knew she cared about you. You also knew as well as she did that anything could go wrong even in the five minutes it would take you to break in, especially when it appeared that someone knew exactly what you were doing.

You switch off your comms link and head out the door and into the office.

It looked exactly as you expected--rows and rows of non-descript cubicles, with a princely office lined with glass walls occupying the far corner. Jeongyeon had retrieved the floor plan by hacking into the building’s security database earlier in the week, and you knew after her effort tonight in detecting and fending off the comms interference that Choa would want you to acknowledge the work the new girl had been putting in. She certainly was more skilled than the five previous team members you’d fired after Eunha, but you found it difficult to bring yourself to praise her. The Ops Officer position she occupied was a sore point for you, after all.

You deftly pick the lock on the corner office door and immediately sit down in front of the terminal on the desk, logging in with the security bypass Jeongyeon drew up. 

Again your thoughts drift to Eunha. Eunha was your longtime Ops Officer--highly skilled, you trusted her more than anyone. It also helped that she was your fiance. It made you sad to think about her; about what could have been, what should have been. Over the past year, you were constantly reminded of her absence by the utter incompetence of her replacements. You suppose it was nice that at the very least, Jeongyeon didn’t give you many opportunities to bemoan her performance in the same way--to remind you of Eunha.

You shake your head, compelling yourself to rise out of your funk and get on with the mission.

As you scroll through files, you stop on one with a familiar signature. Reading its contents, your eyes open wider--suddenly you understand why someone would be interested to listen in to your communications. You quickly save the file to your flash drive and stand up to leave, only to be startled by a figure in the doorway.

“Care to tell me what’s on that?” comes a familiar voice from the darkness that you knew to be Hirai Momo’s. Momo was an agent for a foreign espionage agency--you had as friendly a rivalry as you could have when working for different governments. 

“What was the point of trying to hack our comms if you were just going to show up and ask me that?”

“I had no intention of coming until you decided to ghost your girlfriends,” teases Momo. “Besides, I like showing you how much better I am at sneaking around.”

Momo flicks on the light and she comes into focus. The Japanese government made a good decision when they hired her, you think. She was built for the job of a seductive spy. Her perfectly toned legs had a lovely sheen all the way up to her short skirt, while her cleavage suggested that her tits were ready to burst out of her tight, patterned blouse. Where most of your attention was drawn, however, was her lustrous blue hair, which fell to her shoulders.

“I may actually need your help with this, once you see what’s on it,” you say, nodding your head at the flash drive.

“Oh, so you’re willing to give it to me? I thought I was going to have to fuck you for it,” she says sarcastically. You knew behind the humor was more than a nugget of truth, though. Sex had been the primary vehicle for information trading with Momo over the years. You decide to test your reading of the situation.

“Just because I need your help doesn’t mean I’m giving it for free…”

Momo brings her thumb to her mouth and bites gently as she ponders your not-so-subtle proposition. She takes her turn to look you up and down, making you feel more than a little self conscious in her gaze of judgment. After so many years in the dangerous world of espionage, there were only a handful women who could make you feel so small. Then again, Momo was no regular girl. 

Once she’s satisfied she has properly appraised your worth, Momo lets go of her thumb and straightens her blouse.

“Fine,” she says matter-of-factly, “let’s get to it,” unbuttoning her blouse as she walks towards you.

You are surprised by the lack of fight she put up, but you thought it best to keep that to yourself. Her tone reminds you of a business meeting--that is, if you hadn’t seen her pull her top off as she approached you. She sits in your lap on the chair, wrapping her arms around your neck as you meet her lips for a kiss. Momo’s mouth was familiar to you, introduced to you many times throughout your career. It seemed like every time you ran across her you had sex. One thing you adored about your relationship with her was that it was absolutely without strings attached. You fucked for work, but just because it was part of the job didn’t mean you both didn’t enjoy it. 

Momo, however, was loath to admit the pleasure she got out of her liaisons with you. Call it pride, call it being professional, whatever--Momo refused to act like sex with you was anything other than work, no different than working in a spreadsheet.

You feel her reach down to your pants, quickly unbuttoning them as she sinks to her knees in front of you. You smirk--her eagerness to please you betrayed her air of ambivalence.

Momo wastes no time getting down to business. You are certain the Japanese trained her very well in tender foreplay, but it seems she doesn’t care much for subtlety at the moment. Instead, she utilizes a more direct method to extract your pleasure--one that must have required its own fair share of training--as she spits on your cock before immediately forcing it as deeply in her mouth as she can take it. One, two, three bobs is all it takes for her to reach the base of your cock, her nose buried in your pelvis.

“Fuuuck me, that’s good,” you groan as you hold her head in place for several seconds, and Momo replies in turn with a cough that spits a healthy serving of saliva on to your cock. You release your grip on the back of her head to give her a chance to breathe, but she surprises you when she simply continues to work her mouth on your increasingly saliva-drenched cock, swirling her tongue around your base. Most of the other women you had slept with in recent months would be gasping for air by now, but Momo’s demeanor was cool, calm, and collected. Almost as if she was reading your mind, Momo paused her slurping and pulled her mouth off your shaft--but not forgetting to continue stroking it with achingly deft corkscrew motions.

“What’s the matter? Girls in your department not able to take care of your cock like a real woman?” Momo clicks her tongue and grins. “I’ve told you for years, you’d never be treated so poorly if you came to work for a professional outfit like ours.”

“Shut up and suck my cock.”

Momo shrugs, and gets back to the task at hand. Slobbering even more as she takes you into your mouth again, you pause to thank your lucky stars that you had a job that paid you in part to fuck women like Momo. You gaze upon her face, which has become just as messy as your cock. Momo’s sloppy blowjob has not only left liberal amounts of spit on your cock, but on her face as well--with strands of her blue hair plastered to her cheeks. Even though you thought it impossible, you feel your cock get harder at the sight of Momo’s messy face.

For several minutes, Momo continues inhaling your cock as you find yourself nearing the point of no return, you yank Momo’s head off your throbbing cock in order to prolong your session. A bit too forcefully, it seems, as Momo falls over onto her side.

“What the fuck!” yelps Momo as she picks herself back up, glaring at you. “I suck your cock and you thank me by throwing me on the ground?

“I didn’t mean to, I’m just not ready to cum yet. We both know you would’ve ignored me if I had asked you to stop.”

“I guess you’re right about that,” Momo replies sheepishly. You knew from previous run-ins with her that she loved nothing more than swallowing cum. Even though you had just denied her that favor, you were already thinking about how to make it up to her in a few minutes.

“How about I repay your kindness? Get up on the table and let me eat you.”

“Let’s skip the pleasantries. I’ll get up on the table, but you’re going to fuck me.”

“Someone’s eager to see what’s in this thumb drive,” you tease, inadvertently reminding yourself that this was a transactional liaison. You suspected that Momo’s interest in you extended beyond her desire for the information at hand, and part of you yearned to take her outside of the confines of work. You’re skeptical such a day would ever come, however, given how ambitious Momo was. 

You knew her story--she applied for a job in the Japanese spy agency several years ago, making it all the way through the process before being cut at the very end. She ended up receiving an offer shortly after one of the other finalists died in a ‘training accident’, but Momo lived with a chip on her shoulder ever since. She lived and worked with a pathological drive to prove the agency wrong in their original decision to cut her. Already the youngest lead operative in her country’s history, she had an eye on the directorship and seemed destined for it. So, you supposed, it was nice to be able to fuck her before she became famous.

Momo hops on up on the desk, hiking up her skirt to reveal a delicious-looking blue thong that matches her hair. She looks behind towards you with lust heavy in her eyes as she pulls her thong to the side, revealing her glistening pussy--already dripping, you noted.

“I don’t have all night.”

More than happy to oblige, you line your painfully throbbing cock up with her pussy and you can feel the warmth radiating from it. You take a second to appreciate Momo’s incredible physique as your hands graze downward from her upper back, to her hips, and finally to her ass. As you rub it, you cannot help but appreciate how sublimely taut it is. 

“Jeeze, you act like this is the first time you’ve seen a woman naked,” Momo jabs, interrupting your reverie.

You are starting to get annoyed with Momo’s demeanor. It was nothing new, really--she always carried an air of superiority--but it nonetheless grates on your nerves to see her be so dismissive. You are mature enough to understand that at least a part of this aggravation had to do with the fact that you knew Momo slept with plenty of men for work. Not so mature, however, to be able to stifle the primal urge deep inside of you that wanted Momo to see you as the best of all her lovers. More than ever, it seemed that sexual vanity mattered a great deal to your self-confidence.

With a renewed sense of purpose and your cock in hand, you enter Momo slowly with a long stroke until you fill her to the hilt. In unison with your initial insertion, Momo lets out a whine that crescendos as you bottom out.

As you begin to thrust in and out Momo settles in and widens her stance ever so little, which has the added benefit of allowing you to go even deeper into her warm, wet pussy. Momo was not a girl of surprises. Her face was gorgeous, capable of angelic beauty and fiery lust. Her body reflected the many hours she spent in the gym with ample breasts, insanely tight abs, and a toned ass to match. Her pussy feels exactly as sublime as her beautiful face and incredible body suggested. The perfect combination for a woman who used her body to seduce and take advantage of brainless men. You decide to push out your mind the realization that at this very moment, you are in fact one of those men.

You wanted to make sure Momo felt each and every drive into her hot flesh. Momo continued to moan quietly, each breath punctuated with a new thrust and the sound of your skin meeting hers.

“Looks like someone’s gotten real quiet all of a sudden,” you say, noticing her haughty attitude had subsided as pleasure took you both over.

“Oh, get over yourself,” Momo says, looking back at you with rekindled determination in her eyes, “you’re no better than half the guys I’ve been with. I’m here for the file, not for whatever you call this.” She cooly turns her head to face front again, leaving you seething.

Your twinge of annoyance was now a bubbling boil.

You slow down before withdrawing your cock from her warmth--Momo lets out the faintest whine of disappointment, betraying her dissatisfied front.

Just as Momo turns her head again to complain, you quickly slam your cock deep inside her. Momo yelps, and you notice her eyes bulge as you move your hips in a circular motion with your cock filled to the hilt, scraping deep inside her pussy. After several seconds of this you grab a makeshift ponytail out of her hair and yank backwards, causing her to gasp and arch her back instinctively. As much as she bothered you with her air of indifference, you had to admit that the image in front of you was the stuff of dreams.

Taking advantage of the highly erotic sight before you and the increased leverage offered by your grasp of her hair, you began to truly fuck her with quick and powerful strokes.

“Take it, Momo,” you grunted, beads of sweat beginning to form on your forehead.

Momo said nothing, emitting only breathless gasps from her open mouth. You noticed that their intensity was gradually increasing, so you increased the speed of your shaft penetrating her young, sinful body. You knew she was enjoying this, but you wouldn’t be satisfied until you broke her facade. You wanted her to lose herself to you.

You speed up even more, and the volume of your skin slapping together increases as her pussy drips wetter and wetter, mixing with your leaking precum. You are slamming your cock into her now, and Momo has to grab on to the table to steady herself. Slowly but surely her pretense was crumbling.

“You want it, don’t you Momo? You want more?”

“Fuck yeah,” Momo gasps hoarsely, struggling to speak with her hair being pulled, “Give it to me...o-oh...fuck, give it to me!”

Satisfied that she had succumbed to her pleasure, you relax your grip on her hair slightly and lean over to growl in her ear.

“I’ll give it to you. I’m gonna make sure you remember this, make sure every time you’re with another man you wish it was me.”

Momo acknowledges your promise with a deep groan, giving you great pleasure as you resumed fucking her gorgeous body.

Your eyes drift downward to her glorious ass, now shining with sweat and jiggling violently with each crash of your cock inside her. Inspired by the sight, you release her hair and put one hand on her hip and begin striking her ass with your other. Momo shrieks in surprise, but quickly looks back at you with lidded eyes while biting her lip to tell you she wanted more.

Again you oblige, and it was quickly becoming clear that lust and pleasure were staging a coup of Momo’s senses. She’s making lots of noise, but nothing intelligible. Nothing but guttural moans interspersed with high-pitched squeals. You continue spanking her ass, alternating cheeks--noticing a deep pink beginning to form on both. She’d most likely be dealing with soreness for several days after this, you think.

“You wanna cum, Momo? Cum for me, I know you want to.”

“Mmmmm...Ah, ah, AH! Unggghh,” comes Momo’s response.

“Come on Momo, fucking cum baby...cum all over this cock,” you shout, sincerely hoping there was no one working in an adjacent floor to hear.

“FUUUUCK!” Momo screams eloquently, suddenly dropping her head as her body begins convulsing. You knew what to expect having slept with her before, but you are nonetheless surprised to see how completely overtaken her body was by pleasure. Her upper body jerks spastically as her legs tremble with your cock plunged deep inside her pussy, all the while letting out a high-pitched whine that turns into a soft whimper. Just a few minutes before she was defiant and happy to throw insults at you...now she was a mewling, writhing mess incapable of speaking. The dark, primal part of you is satisfied by her tacit recognition of your talent.

After a short while, Momo begins to compose herself and lifts her upper body from the table. You take it as a sign to slowly resume taking your cock in and out of her. You decide to give her now glowing pink ass a rest and caress her back, tracing long lines with your nails.

“Mmmmm, that feels good,” Momo says, her eyes still closed, “you fuck me so good.”

You slowly begin ramping up the pace, rolling your hips with each stroke. You want to make sure your cock pleases every inch of Momo’s pussy, and make sure it craves you when she’s alone at night. 

After several minutes of this tender, softer version of lovemaking, Momo comes back to her senses. She arches her back again and turns her head to gaze in your eyes as you continue to take her. She begins to move her ass back and forth on your cock in unison with your own strokes.

“Oh my god, you feel so good in my fucking pussy! Every...fucking...stroke!” Momo gasps, the final words punctuated by the force of her majestic ass crashing against your cock.

“You’re a bad girl, Momo,” you tease, “you like being taken and shown who’s boss, don’t you? You like me grabbing your hair and slapping your ass?”

“Yes!” she gasps, “Yes I love it! Mmmmm...I want you to fuck me until you cum. Fuck me until you cum!”

There was no command in the world easier to follow.

Satisfied that you had fulfilled your vain, immature desire to see her acknowledge your skill as a lover, you now focus yourself on extracting pleasure from the young woman beneath you. You settle into a pace with rough strokes, fiercely pounding her over and over. Your pleasure rises with each thrust, aided not only by the mindblowing caress of her pussy, but by the incredible sight of Momo on all fours before you moaning with each strike of your cock inside her.

“Fuck Momo...I don’t think I have much longer, I’m gonna fucking cum so hard!”

“Yes,” comes the response from Momo, “Yes, yes! Fucking cum baby, I want your cum so bad!”

A few more thrusts and you can feel the point of no return coming. For a brief moment you contemplate cumming inside Momo, to truly claim her. You quickly reconsider, wanting to give her what she truly wanted--to swallow your load.

And so, you quickly withdraw your cock from Momo’s now sopping wet pussy and she instinctively turns around and drops to her knees on the floor. Stroking your cock with great fervor, her mouth wide open begging for what was to come.

“Please give me your cum, please, please! I want it...I need it! Cum for me!”

Your head tilts backward as a long groan escapes your lips. Your cum explodes from your shaft, shooting long, thick ropes of semen into her mouth and onto her cheeks and nose. Over and over, your cum splashes on her beautiful face until you finally reach the end of your orgasm, panting and exhausted. Momo’s face is a pornographic picture of lust, her eyes rolled back in pleasure as she swallows the mass of cum you deposited in her mouth.

“I fucking love your cum,” Momo says as she wipes the remaining cum off her face with her finger and promptly brings it to her tongue before swallowing it down as well.

“I’m glad we were both able to get what we wanted,” you say, struggling to catch your breath.

“Speaking of getting what I wanted…” Momo says, nodding her head to the part of the floor where the USB drive now sits, evidently thrown from the table during the session that had just taken place.

“Right,” you say, suddenly remembering you’re here for work, “make a copy and let’s get out of here.”

“Great,” says Momo, still on the floor with a satisfied smile of content on her face, “Hey, I meant what I said about having you join our team. As much shit as I give you, we could really use someone with your talent.”

“Thanks, but I think I’m better off staying put. Don’t think the Korean government would let me live if I tried defecting.”

“Probably true,” says Momo as she begins picking up her clothes, “Never hurts to ask, though.”

***

A few minutes later, you and Momo had both gotten dressed and copied the file onto a drive for her. Momo disappeared into an adjoining hallway and you set off to traverse the stairwell again. As you prepare yourself for the descent, you also steel yourself for the repercussions of giving the intel to a foreign spy agency. With the information you saw in the file, you knew the Japanese would have to be looped in sooner or later. If it was going to happen eventually, you thought it made the most sense to entrust that intel to the agent on the other side you knew would make sure things got done correctly. As logical as it seemed to you, however, you knew it wouldn’t be taken well back at the office.

You click on your comms link, now knowing there’s nothing to fear. 

“Hey Choa, I’m on my way back to the rendezvous.”

“Oh thank god! That took forever, I was about to call for a tac team!” Choa sighs with audible relief, “I take it you got everything you needed?”

“Got more than I needed, actually,” you say, nervous about Choa’s reaction to what you say next, “Listen, there’s one small thing you should know...”

“You did WHAT?!”

[nctsworld]

pedal to the metal

✩ jaemin x reader | mall au | arcade attendant!jaemin | fluff | 3.3k

SUMMARY ⇾ when the claw machine eats your money, jaemin, the cute arcade attendant, offers to play a game with you in lieu of a refund. little does he expect you to beat him. | based off of @mistymark​​’s nct mall employees post WARNINGS ⇾ fluff, bit of angst, jaemin is competitive, kissing in the epilogue     RATING ⇾ teen+ 

⇾ gif created by me, please don’t share or repost without credit!

Leaning over the glass counter filled with endless prizes, Jaemin holds out two large plushies, one in each of his hands. 

“Pikachu or Spongebob?” He swivels his head to them individually before beaming down at the little girl in front of him. 

With the alternating supervision of her parents, she’s been one of the recent regulars at the arcade and finally saved up enough tickets fo a decent prize, deciding to cash them in today. Her face lights up and targets in on one particular plushie, already inching towards it with open hands. 

“Pikachu, Pikachu!” she squeals. 

The worker’s smile deepens, “Great choice. Couldn’t have picked better myself.” 

He laughs airily as she squeezes Pikachu like it’s the last thing she’ll ever love, bouncing up and down with joy. Today, the girl’s mom is with her and she holds her ecstatic daughter close to her leg, rubbing her arm warmly. 

“So I guess I’ll see you two next week?” Jaemin asks. 

“If she gets over Pikachu as fast as she did with Olaf, then probably yes,” the mom replies with a defeated head shake. “Thanks again, Jaemin. Say bye to the nice boy.” 

“Bye, Jaemin!” 

The mother and daughter wave good-bye with wide smiles, as did Jaemin. Giving prizes out and seeing the delightful reactions on the recipient’s face was one of the best parts of his job. 

Oh, and so was being able to play all the arcade games for free. 

For Jaemin, being the arcade attendant at the local mall was a dream come true. He was once in the same place as the little girl—always coming to the same arcade every day after school. Although he loved winning prizes (who doesn’t?), he also prided himself in being the best at every game, knowing all the secrets and strategies like the back of his hand. Dance Dance Revolution, Street Fighter, Beatmania, Time Crisis, Super Bike, Pac-Man… You name it, and Jaemin can wipe the floor with anybody. It’s why none of his friends liked to play the games with him, but they still had fun nonetheless.

“That girl is insane!” Chenle exclaims with a point of his thumb, strolling up to the counter. He’s one of Jaemin’s many friends and an everyday mall-goer. Jisung comes up next to him, also a friend and works at the mall’s McDonald’s. The mall was really a second home to them all. 

Jisung bobs his head in disbelief. Then, he turns to face their worker friend. 

“You’ve gotta admit she’s really good, right?” 

The lanky figure cocks an eyebrow. “What are you guys talking about? I was busy giving out a prize to someone.” 

The shortest individual of the three widens his eyes. “There was a girl who was just playing Super Bike. She kept kicking everyone’s ass, even us.”

Jisung nods fervently, “I was telling Chenle that she’s probably as good as you, maybe even better.” 

Jaemin scoffs, running a hand through his hair. “No one can beat me at Super Bike, you both know that.” 

“You haven’t seen her play, though…” Chenle sighs dreamily, perching his chin into his palms, as he drifts off into space and replays the gameplay in his mind. 

“I don’t know, Jaemin,” Jisung shrugs. He absentmindedly fiddles with the bundle of tickets left by the little girl. “It’s about time someone beat you at one of the games.” 

Suddenly, Jaemin snatches the tickets from his hands, startling the younger boy. Said younger boy glances up to meet a pair of slitted, burning eyes. In an instant, Jaemin’s eyes melt and a cocky expression flashes by.  

“Like I always say, I never lose.” 

He begins to count the tickets, but the thought of someone being better than him makes him lose track. 

After he finishes counting the tickets, he casually checks-up on the motorcycle racing simulator to see what all the fuss was about. To his disappointment, he is met with a young boy, playing by himself.  

Jaemin makes a mental note to keep an eye and ear out for this mystery Super Bike girl.  

A few days pass. You’re at the mall by yourself to kill some time and to procrastinate on studying. You spent a while at the bookstore already, so you decide to do something a little more fun. 

At the bustling arcade, you’re quickly drawn towards the claw machine with the mountain of plushies. You know the odds of winning are low, but one round couldn’t hurt. Placing your money into the claw machine, you begin to fiddle with the joystick. However, nothing’s moving. 

Your face crinkles in confusion, so you add money again, thinking that maybe it was a one-time fluke. Nope, definitely not a fluke because the claw still doesn’t work. You’re now two dollars down and you didn’t even get the chance to play.  

Walking around the arcade, you try to find a worker, but to no avail. You stand in front of the glass counter, waiting for an attendant. While waiting, you’re peering at all the variety of prizes to be won and wish you were skilled and patient enough to obtain such things. It’s no wonder why the claw machine drew you in, at least that game filled you with a false sense of a fast and easy win.   

After finishing a supervising round in the arcade, Jaemin notices a girl at the front counter. Actually, scratch that, a stunning girl—one that he hasn’t seen in the arcade before. He’d definitely remember you if you had. The ends of his mouth stretch and he strides towards you with a wind of confidence.

“Hi, do you need help with something?” 

Jolting slightly, you’re taken aback by both the handsome figure and the question. You saw him earlier at one of the games, but it never crossed your mind that such a young, attractive guy like that would be the resident arcade attendant. You subconsciously do a double take, eyeing him up and down, causing Jaemin’s grin to become more cheeky.

“Hi, yeah,” You point to where you were previously. “I was trying the claw machine and it took my money, but it didn’t let me play any rounds.” 

“Oh?” He scrunches his face and heads toward the machine. You follow behind. “We just fixed it a few weeks ago, that’s weird.” 

At the claw machine, Jaemin feels around the machine, checking on the knobs and buttons, and even places a coin into it to test out your claim. He tinkers with the joystick, and realizes you’re right; the machine’s only taking money without allowing any plays. 

So he kicks it. Hard.  

You break out into a chortle. “Does that actually help?” 

“Always works like a charm.” 

Another kick, and more chortling. 

Jaemin shifts his head towards you and places a hand on his chest. His eyes waver, searching around him as if someone would be listening, and lowers his voice in a hush. 

“I’m a secret machine whisperer, you gotta trust me,” he says with a small wink, and you trust him by standing back and resuming to observe him with a fluttering heart.  

The attendant tries the machine with money once more, but the kicking evidently didn’t help. This only leads Jaemin to increase the intervals of his kicking. Soon, kicking evolves into desperately shaking the contraption.  

Bemused and shaking your head, you comment, “I don’t think your whispering is working very well.” 

He attempts one last time, but to nobody’s surprise, it fails. He tapes an out of order sign onto the glass. With hands on his hips, he exhales a lengthy sigh.  

“Sorry for your lost money. I can give you a refund.”

“Aw, no. It’s okay, it was only a couple of bucks. I was more so looking forward to playing the game, really.” 

A lightbulb goes off in Jaemin’s head. 

“Did you wanna play a game with me to make up for it instead?” 

Although he enunciates the question slowly, cautious of your reply and potential rejection, there’s a contrasting smug expression on his face. Your teeth tug at your bottom lip, about to answer, but then you pout.  

“Aren’t you working right now though?” 

Jaemin shrugs nonchalantly, “It’s kind of slow at the moment and I can argue that I’m maintaining the game.”

“Like what you were just doing with the claw machine?” 

“Exactly.” 

Both of you laugh in unison, gazes converging together. If only the strong sparks flying between you two could somehow fix the claw machine... but then again, you would’ve never had a reason to speak to the beautiful boy in the first place. 

“Sure, what game did you have in mind?” 

Tapping a finger on his chin, Jaemin runs the possibilities in his head. What’s a game that he can easily impress you with his skills, but is also equally fun for you to play? 

“Super Bike?” he offers. 

You nod with a small smile, “Okay, lead the way.” 

Thankfully, as the two of you arrive at the game, no one’s currently playing. You jump onto the left motorcycle, while Jaemin gets onto the right. He enjoys how you cutely sway back and forth, accustoming yourself to the fake motorbike. He gives you a quick breakdown of the controls, and tells you to focus only on the gas and brake since he’ll choose automatic transmission to make things easier for you. You hum with puffed cheeks, ready to play. 

Following Jaemin’s choices of the easiest map level and transmission settings, the race immediately starts. 

Jaemin can play Super Bike in his sleep, so he starts off the first half of the lap with his eyes on his screen, then for the second half, he looks over at you for a few moments. You’re glued to your screen. The glint in your eyes sparkles with pure amusement and an edge of competitiveness. He breathes in the enticing sight, especially as you bite your lip with heightened focus. 

But then, flashes of red flare upon your face. Jaemin’s heart knocks nervously at his chest because the flashes are coming from the sign above your screen with the words ”RACE LEADER”. He’s dragged straight into the match again, not wanting to lose.  

“Have you played this before?” he shouts over the background noises and music. 

“Only a few times,” you shrug lightly. Your eyebrows raise as Jaemin catches up, trailing almost nose to nose with the end of your motorcycle, yet the finish line is approaching fast. Narrowing your eyes, you accelerate and curve around the last bit of the map without struggle. Before you know it, you reach the finish line right before Jaemin does. 

As the first place win radiates from your screen, you pump your arms in the air and remove yourself from the bike. 

On the other hand, Jaemin’s gaze is stuck on the screen, jaw hanging. The big two taunts him with every flicker.  

“Well, that was fun. Thanks for the game—” 

You’re about to ask for his name, but his odd reaction catches you off-guard. You take a step closer to him until someone cries out:   

“That’s Super Bike girl!”

Swinging your head towards the origin of the cry, you see a boy jog over with a wave of his index finger. Chenle’s voice breaks the arcade attendant out of his frozen state. Jaemin whips his head towards you, still on the motorbike.   

“You’re Super Bike girl?!” he echoes, eyebrows knitted. 

“I already have a nickname around here?” you giggle. “I only played this game once a few days ago.” 

Chenle asks him, “Did Biker Girl beat you?” 

Jaemin avoids the inquiry, darting his eyes and pressing his lips together tightly. The friend passes the question onto you with owl eyes, and you shyly nod. 

“Oh, my God, and I missed it?!” He huffs in disappointment, but then recollects himself as he takes a few steps toward you. 

“Are you free after seven to come back and play again? Our friends need to witness this. This is history in the making.” 

Immediately, Jaemin shoots daggers into Chenle. The daggers definitely have profanities written all over. You catch a glimpse of Jaemin and can practically read every word.  

“Uhm,” you lower your voice, despite the fact Jaemin can still hear you. “Your friend looks pretty pissed. I feel kinda bad to just come back to beat him in front of people.”

“Oh, don’t worry about feeling bad,” the attendant’s friend waves his hand carelessly. “He always makes us feel bad when he constantly brags about how he’s the best at every game in here.” 

“Is that so?” You glance at the boy on the bike with a new perspective. You could definitely see this guy as cocky, but maybe he’s still sweet underneath the exterior. You also wouldn’t mind seeing him once more before you head home, and now you had a reason. 

“Well, count me in. I’ll be back at seven on the dot.” 

With a flutter of your fingers, you say your temporary good-byes to the pair of boys and head out of the arcade. Jaemin finally props himself off the motorbike, getting back to work.   

Passing by Chenle, he half-jokingly seethes, “I hate you,” into his ear. 

Without a care in the world, Chenle frantically messages their group chat to come by the mall later to witness the match of a lifetime. 

“Hey, did I miss it?” Mark pants as he puts an arm around Jeno from behind. 

“No, you got here right on time. Super Bike girl should be coming any time soon.” 

On the backend of the motorbike, Jaemin sits at the edge of it, studying the modest crowd around the racing simulator. Along with Jisung and Chenle, several of Jaemin’s other close friends are here to cheer for his downfall. For those who aren’t there, his friends are equipped with their phones in hand, ready to record the monumental event. 

Weaving through the crowd with mumbles of “Excuse me’s,” you reach your destination and appear in front of the arcade worker. 

The rising buzz of the crowd fades from your ears and into the background within his presence. You melt at him looking so coolly, bending over the motorbike with folded arms, and give him a warm smile. 

“Just because you’ve got a sweet smile, it doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you.” 

You playfully drop your mouth as the people around “Ooooh” in harmony. Your tongue is pressed against your lower teeth as Jaemin spins himself to the front of the bike. You get onto your previous seat from hours ago, grasping onto the fake vehicle as if you owned it.

You watch Jaemin enter the settings in. He’s not underestimating you this time and he executes his promise of not going easy on you—the hardest map and manual transmission are chosen, signaling you to really bring your A-game for this round.    

At first, the match is tight. You’re practically side by side on the map, even having the occasional opportunity to push him off track and vice-versa. Changing up techniques, as the second lap rings in, you switch transmission gears and ease on the brake for a brief moment, hugging the curve of the map. 

With that move, the red light flashes above him. Jaemin believes, no, he knows he’s going to win. Sweet victory is on the tip of his tongue, he can taste it. Ten seconds are left on the clock, ten seconds left until he beats you and continues to reign king of the game.

But, you suddenly speed past him and the game’s over before he can properly process it.  

The screams surrounding you engulf the entirety of the arcade.

Jaemin’s mouth is on the floor as he realizes he lost. 

No, his mouth is six feet under because you’re currently entering a nickname into the all-time best rankings. You beat Jaemin’s time on the map, seizing the new first place rank for the game. 

Everyone circles you in congratulations, but your eyes are honed in on one individual in the crowd. He hops off the bike, brushes past the crowd, and escapes to the counter, continuing his shift like nothing happened. Hastily, you go after him and find him crouching down behind the glass. He’s unpacking boxes filled with what you assume are prizes. 

On your forearms, you lean over the glass counter. “Hey, when does your shift end?” 

Your assumption is answered as you see him restock some of the plushies in the transparent container underneath you. 

“Why do you want to know? So you can beat me again at another game?” he grumbles, the bitterness blatant in his voice. Nevertheless, you persist. 

“‘Cause Super Bike girl wants to get to know the cute Arcade Boy she met today over dinner.” 

He pauses and his eyebrows perk up at the words cute and dinner in the same sentence. His ego is still sore, but he’ll bite.    

“Is it a date?” he presses further with a disinterested tone, continuing to move the items.  

You drag your bottom lip up, drumming your fingers slowly against the glass. 

“Only if you want it to be.” 

Your words bandage his sore ego quickly, but he wants to bathe in his pity a little while longer. He twists his mouth, fighting against the urge to show you his teeth.  

The boy stands up and leans over the counter too. He’s greeted by your strong aura, yet it doesn’t completely reach your eyes; your gaze is soft and gentle. “I get off at nine, so it’s pretty late.” 

“That’s okay. I can play games until then—” 

You peel yourself off from the glass and properly introduce yourself, holding your hand out. He glances at it for a second, then at your tender look. He gives in and can't help himself from grinning. The arcade attendant reaches for your hand and reciprocates the shake.  

“I’m Jaemin.”  

That day, Jaemin learned that losing at the arcade games wasn’t the worst thing in the world. 

EPILOGUE 

Clutching onto Jaemin’s waist underneath his leather jacket with your chin resting on his shoulder, you’re swaying side by side with him on the racing game that brought you two together. It’s his day off today, and both of you thought it’d be cute to spend some time at the arcade before the movie showing later that evening. 

“Ease on the gas!” you dictate. He rolls his eyes at your backseat driving.    

“No, it’s too early!” he protests and goes against your advice, accelerating further. When that makes him go off-road a bit, you sigh smugly while he groans meekly. 

“See, and this is why I’m better at Super Bike than you,” you tease before pecking a kiss on his cheek. Tingles rise to his cheeks.

“Yeah, but I’ve played this game a lot longer than you.” It’s the second lap and he’s inching towards the finish line.  

“Yeah, but who holds the record?” 

After he speeds through it, the list of the best times roll onto the screen. Your nickname still stands proudly at number one from the day you asked him out on a date. 

Jaemin smiles at the not-so far memory. He then twists and extends his neck over his shoulder, sharing a sweet kiss with you. Your grip around his waist tightens, your fingers sinking into his skin. His palm raises and cups your face, deepening the kiss.    

Breaking away for a moment, he says, “Yeah, well, I’m the better kisser.” 

You sweep your nose against his. “That’s up for debate…” 

Your lips meet once more lovingly.  

“Can you guys stop making out in the arcade again?” Jisung groans. “Kids are here, you know. Like me.” 

Chenle cuts in, “I thought you were glad someone beat Jaemin for once.”

“I mean, yeah, but I didn’t expect the same person to have her tongue constantly down his throat!” 

Still lip-locked, Jaemin and you smile into the next kisses from their remarks while Jisung and Chenle run off to play another game, far away from the new couple.

[marycecilyy]

Happy New Year!

Word count: 1687

Pairing: NathXCandy

Waning: NSFW ahead!

-x-

Nath gave his girlfriend’s hand a light squeeze while he nodded, listening to Chani as she told him some interesting stories about her time spent with Violette and Kim. The trio had grown even closer in the past months. Between painting and exercising, they were inseparable.

“And did you decide if you’re gonna accept Yael’s offer?” Candy asked, throwing a quick glance at the redhead, who was casually chatting with Hyun.

Chani fiddled with the glass on her hand, taking a few seconds to come up with an answer: “Not yet, but I’m inclined to accept. I mean, she seems to be handling Vio’s career pretty well.” 

“Yeah, you’re right. I trust her a lot and I know you’d be in good hands. Still, it’s  up to you.” 

Bzzzz

A vibration on Candy’s purse made her excuse herself from the conversation. Nath gave her a quick kiss and she went to the outside of the café to pick the call.

“Is everything okay? It 's 23:30, In twenty minutes we’ll head to the park to watch the fireworks.” 

“I’m ready, it’s just…” There were rare times when she saw Priya insecure, and this was absolutely one of them. Candy could even tell the reason why.

“Look, I know you’re nervous about Rayan being here, but you’ll have to get used to seeing him. Also didn’t he accept your apologies already?”

“He did, but still...I don’t want to ruin everybody’s night with my presence.”

Candy frowned.  This had been such a complicated issue and she had tried to be there for both of her friends. Priya resigning from the case had been a relief, but there were still things to solve.

“You won’t, and I’m sure you two will work things out.”

“...Okay. I’ll see you soon, then.” With that, Priya hung up.

Well, things could have gone worse. She was about to get back in and search for Rayan when she spotted golden locks heading towards her. Nath.

He pulled her by her waist and caressed her cheek sweetly. “I know you have this urge to solve everyone’s problems, but not today. They’re both adults, I’m sure they can figure this out on their own.”

“How did you know….”

“Intuition. I know you well, babe.”

Candy melted into his embrace at the sound of the pet name. Their lips met in a soft kiss, proper but still full of love.

“Now, let’s get back inside.”

As soon as Priya entered the Cosy Bear, ten minutes later, things got a bit uncomfortable. She found Rayan quickly, though, and they started a pacific conversation. Candy had no idea what they talked about, but both of them seemed more relieved as everyone walked to the park. 

-x-

5… 4… 3… 2...1…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Colorful fireworks brightened the night sky and, as everyone cheered and hugged each other, Candy and Nath shared their first kiss of the year. One hell of a kiss, by the way. With her lips locked on his, she wondered if that year would surprise her more than the last one.

“Hmm…” His thumb caressed her lower lip, red and swollen from the passionate make out. “You know what? I think we should head home.”

“What? But what about the others? And the champagne!” She turned her head to look at  her friends, but he held her chin so that she would face him instead.

Nathaniel’s lips curled up into a devilish smile. He approached her ear and whispered. “They had your attention all night. Besides, no champagne will leave you as dizzy as when I’m done with you.”

Damn, that man really mastered the seduction skill.

Eric noticed the couple distancing the group and abandoned his talk with Nina (good for her, his romance tips weren’t that great) to properly say goodbye.

“Aw, are you leaving already? The party has only started!”

“Sorry, but we really have to… uh… feed White.”

Eric threw a questioning look at Candy. It was obvious he didn’t buy it. However, he didn’t insist more. It was clear that the two of them were about to have some amazing sex and he wouldn’t interfere on that.  

He tried to repress the quick beating of his heart as he watched the lovebirds leave, his eyes focused on the girl’s form. Eric noticed how her eyes avoided his during the short conversation. Judging by Nathaniel’s behavior, though, she didn’t tell him anything about what almost happened and that was a relief. Damn, why did he think she’d return his feelings?

-x-

“Is everything okay?”

Candy nodded, but her frown didn’t disappear. She knew she did nothing wrong, on the contrary. However, Nath deserved to know about Eric’s interest towards her. After all, they were friends.

“Look, whatever is bothering you, I hope it isn’t too serious. I still plan to start this year with a bang, if you know what I mean, and we can’t do that if you have that face on.”

She chuckled at his pun. That sexy bastard…

“We can talk about it tomorrow, I think. You’re right, we need to enjoy our night.”

Nath pushed his girlfriend onto the bed, hovering over her and gluing their lips in a fierce kiss. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and forced his crotch against hers. The roll of their clothed hips caused a shiver to run down her spine, going directly to her lower half. 

Candy arched her back when Nath’s hand went under her dress and started touching her clothed pussy. The same moment he bit her lower lip harshly, he started drawing circles over her clit. A moan escaped her mouth and he pushed one finger in.

His digits were rough and precise, hitting with expertise all her favorite spots. He kept kissing her, swallowing all of her gasps as he fucked her with his fingers. Her high was near, she could feel it. However, as she was getting close…

“Hey. Why did you stop?” Candy opened her eyes and looked up at Nath, who was now sitting on the bed. He had pulled out from her and was taking out his shirt. 

He unbuckled and kicked off his jeans, leaving him only with his boxers. He looked at her like a beast about to eat his prey, his eyes full of utter desire.

“I think we should do something different tonight…” 

She sat back up and laughed. “What now, you want to try anal?”

As a response, Nath only grabbed her ass and squeezed it harshly. Damn, he was being serious.

“Oh....” In two seconds her face was bright red. Well, it wasn’t like she didn’t think about it before, but she never imagined he’d bring that up out of the blue like that.

“Only if you want to…” His hand drew circles over her bottom.

Candy gulped. Well, it surely would be a great way to start the year. But what if something went wrong? If she got an infection or whatever, it would be so embarrassing…

“If it helps, I bought some lube the other day. It’s in the bathroom.”

“Mmm… Well, okay. But only if you let me return the favor in the future.”

It was his time to be embarrassed. She never talked about that, why the sudden interest in pegging him? “I-I’ll think about it… I promise.”

She grinned, satisfied with his answer, and went to the bathroom to get the lube. Before getting on the bed again, she undressed completely.

“So, how do you wanna do this?” Her initial shyness was completely gone, replaced by the excitement of trying something new. 

“You tell me, love. However it’s more comfortable for you.”

Nath gave her a sweet peck that eventually turned into a long make out. She laid on her back and let him control the kiss. Without interrupting the contact, he grabbed the lube and spilled it over his index. Slowly and carefully, he pushed it into her hole.

It felt… different. A good different, though. Candy closed her eyes and focused on the pumping of his finger in and out of her. When she felt like taking more, she gave his hair a little pull and muttered encouraging words.

He put in another one. Again, he started with languid movements, curling his fingers to spread her nicely.

“Are you feeling good?”

“Yeah…”

Nath pulled out his fingers and freed his dick from his underwear. He smeared it with more lube and gave some testing pumps. He looked so sexy, hair messy and spine curved as he hovered above her with his cock poking at her entrance. 

When he finally was inside her, Candy swore she saw stars. It was a completely new sensation, something she had never felt before. As Nath slowly moved inside her, he also rubbed her clit with his hand that wasn’t holding her hips. She looked up to lock her eyes on his. He had his notorious pleasure face, eyes squinted and head tilted back. She was sure that was an amazing experience for him too. 

Nath didn’t go rough like she expected, all of his thrusts were calculated, but deep and passionate enough to have her cumming in no time. He followed suit, spilling himself into her as he grunted next to her ear. Wow. That had been…

“Amazing. This was...” He pulled out and kissed her sweetly, “I wasn’t certain you’d actually accept that. Guess you always find some way to surprise me, don’t you?” 

Candy laughed between erratic breaths. She watched as he put his boxers on and laid next to her.  She embraced him and placed a few kisses on his chest.

“I loved it. Can’t wait for my time to fuck you. Should I buy the strap-on already?”

“You won’t give up on that, will you?”

Her response was immediate. “Never in a million years. It’s called payback” 

He would still hear a lot about that subject. However, that night, the only thing that mattered was their bodies entwined and the fact that they had started the year the best way possible.

[arazialotis]

Give it Time - Part 2

Pairing: Eventual DeanxReader, SamxReader

Word Count: Around 2900

Summary: Months have gone by since the boys lost their beloved Y/N to Zachariah. She was transported to another world. That’s all they had to go on. But now that Y/N has been returned, she struggles to recall any memories of her past with the Winchesters, and the ones she does remember seem to conflict with reality.

Part 1

Warnings: Language

For me, this is just a hobby, coping skill, and a way to get silly fantasies out of my head. Maybe some of you will enjoy it too. I apologize in advance for any mistakes or grammatical/spelling errors. I appreciate any feedback or suggestions!,

----

The pillow that engulfed you may as well have been a magnet, pulling you in deeper and protesting against the morning. Though you hadn’t had a drop, your head spun with a grogginess only a hangover could produce. Afraid and unsure of what reality you’d wake to, of which one you wanted to wake to, sleep seemed the better alternative. Pending consciousness became increasingly hard to deny. Sheets that were not your own rubbed against your skin and without seeing your surroundings you knew you were still in this foreign world. 

When protesting the day was no longer relevant, you forced yourself to meet it. Sitting up and taking in the cold room around you, the shock of yesterday lingered. In a single moment, the world had tipped upside down and your dreams had become reality. Well, not all the dreams, some twisted version. Give it time, immerse yourself in the world, find your place, and remember. 

To do so, you’d actually have to leave your room. The bunker was still and quiet. Your feet padded on the chilled floor to the kitchen. You riffled through the fridge and cupboards but were left unsatisfied at the selection. There was a fresh pot of coffee on, but the thought churned your stomach. Nerves won over hunger. 

Something shuffling in the library caught your attention. You went to investigate. A smile crept over your lips upon seeing Sam with his nose stuck in a book. It was the way things should be. You sat down opposite of him, the sound of the chair scuffing the ground pulling him from the trance. 

“Oh.” He coughed and stood up to formally address your presence. “How did you sleep?” Once his shock dissipated, he realized his stance did not match yours and sat back down. 

“Fine.” You nodded, unsure of what else to say. 

“I made coffee.” He eagerly offered. 

But you shook your head and politely declined. “I’m okay.” He cleared his throat again, wanting to know if anything came back but afraid to ask. 

The awkward silence got to you, as did his gaze. “I.. um.. Maybe, if you don’t mind, you could uh, take me for a tour.” 

“Yeah!” He jumped up with a little too much enthusiasm, and toned it down. “I mean. Yeah. I could do that.” “Cool.” You followed his lead. 

In all honesty, the tour droned but you were thankful to have his lingering eyes off you. With sincerity, you did ask questions to learn more about this place. But a wintery, hollow feeling remained. Memories didn’t spark nor did feelings of belonging or attachment. 

“Well. That’s about it…” Sam wrapped up before a small chuckle. “Unless you want to see the garage.” 

Finally, a tug. “I’d love to.” He furrowed his brow at your unexpected response. “Really? Oh, okay.” He led you through steel double doors to a room shining with glossy exteriors. 

“There she is.” You beamed, running ahead of Sam to the Impala. 

Your hand caressed the pristinely waxed hood of the car as you drew closer peering inside the window. Cassettes and magazines were kept neatly in a box on the passenger's side. A necklace dangled from the rearview mirror and a package of unfinished licorice sat in the middle of the bench. 

“Can I?” You asked Sam for permission. 

“Of course.” He held out his hand encouraging you. 

You went for the handle of the back seat, the door creaked open and you slid in. Sam waited outside but shut the door behind you. Closing your eyes, you leaned your head against the back and breathed in. A musky scent warmed you finding in it the hint of leather, licorice and gunpowder. With a peaceful sigh, you laid down across the bench, imaging the vibrations rumbling through you. This was it. This felt like home. 

Sam hid his disappointment, seeing you had more of a reaction to a car than him. He chuckled. “Should I leave you two alone?” 

“Oh my gosh.” You moaned as if coming down from a high. “Would Dean totally kill me if I snuck out for a joy ride?”

“I…” Sam contemplated. “I think he would be a lot more comfortable in the driver’s seat.” He noticed the disappointment on your face as you shimmied out of the back. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you on the road soon enough.” 

You followed Sam out of the garage, glancing back at her as you went, stopping before you fully exited. “Sam? Was I a hunter?” You had naturally assumed but had nothing to confirm. 

He laughed as if it were obvious. “The most kick-ass one ever.” You blushed from his admiration. “Shut up.” You scuffed your shoe against the ground. 

“I’m serious. Rather cross a hungry pack of vamps than you any day.” He turned back to the bunker and you followed inside. “Though we won’t test it ‘til you get your feet back.” You weren’t sure if you believed it now, hearing the words come from him. But how else would you have gotten tangled up in the head-spinning lives of the Winchesters? Exploring a bit for yourself now, you winded up at the shooting range. The amount of arms on the wall shocked you. It was enough for a militia, let alone three hunters. A small ivory handgun sent a shiver down your spine.  

Your hands felt clumsy handling it, as if they weren’t met to hold such a deadly thing. Trying to muster the strength in Sam’s words, you took aim for one of the target’s at the opposite end. You braced yourself as best you could for the shot and recoil, finger resting on the trigger. Pulling back, the gun simply clicked. With a huff, you set it down on the ledge. The safety was on or it wasn’t loaded but you had no idea how to tell. 

***

The day dragged. Back home, or you know, the reality where you were trapped, the day would be filled with work, errands, chores… life. And here, well, maybe you were just bored. But it was because nothing was happening. They were dancing around you, treating you like you were made of glass, waiting for something to snap. But it wasn’t. Maybe coming back was going to be more gradual than anyone thought. Unless, you could find Zachariah and force him to reverse the whole thing. Had they considered it? 

The thoughts racing around your mind was an endless tangled web keeping you up at night. If you were going to go after an angel, maybe you should work yourself up to it first. The brightness of the screen blinded you for a moment against the dark of the room. Your thumb hovered over the screen, blanking on where to start. Typing in “murders” seemed futile but actually prompted some interesting responses. News articles popped up and you scanned a few looking for any details that stood out. 

Nothing of bite marks, animal attacks, missing hearts. You yawned and rubbed your eyes before shutting the laptop, setting it aside, and shimmied your way under the covers. Wiggling to get comfortable, you found a spot and closed your eyes, focusing on breathing. Until a twinge in your back acted out, you rolled to the side. Another. Rolling again and huffing in defeat. Your eyes found the red numbers of the alarm clock; 1:10 AM. You closed your eyes again, swirling with thoughts. 

“Y/N, no!” Dean yelled through the fog of your mind. 

But you wouldn’t listen. Angel blade in hand you charged at the unknown enemy. 

A bright flash of light. 

Opening your eyes again, the clock read 1:30. 

“This is stupid.” You muttered to yourself. 

You shuffled out of bed, rummaging around until you found a light jacket and a pair of flip flops. Although it was quiet, you slowly peeked out into the hall looking both ways, feeling as if you were a toddler asking to get into trouble. Satisfied you were alone, you turned the flash light on your phone and headed out the hall.

Cautiously, you retraced your steps through the hallway, to the kitchen, through the library until you reached the stairs in the war room. The stairs slightly creaked under your weight as you ascended. There was no intention to run, simply to get out from underground, to breathe some fresh air and let your thoughts escape rather than be trapped in. 

The door was heavy as you pushed against it freeing yourself to the outside. The night air was warm yet you pulled the jacket against you, looking up at the stars. You wandered a little, up a nearby hill to a clearing to get a better view. 

The crisp air filled your lungs and a wave of peace rushed over you. You turned your flashlight off and sat down in the damp grass. Attempting to forget your troubles, you studied the night sky; looking for known constellations, curious if they were the same stars you knew back home, wondering if that brighter speckle was actually a planet, catching a glimpse of a shooting star and making a silent wish.

As time passed, you forgot about the past, forgot about the bunker, and just felt as you were in this moment. A twig nearby snapped. Instinctively, you rolled to the ground, reaching to your back for a gun that wasn’t there. “Shit.” You hissed. “Hey, hey.” Dean’s calming voice brought you back. “It’s just me, Y/N. Just Dean.” You sighed in relief, sitting back up. “Shit. I’m sorry.” He came down and sat next to you. “No, I didn’t mean to scare you.” “It’s okay.” You said, looking at him now as he gazed up. He glanced your way and you averted your eyes, thankful the dark was concealing the blush in your cheeks. “Couldn’t sleep?” “Nah.” You stretched your arms over your head, then questioned his presence. “How’d you know to find me out here?” 

Dean yawned, you now noticed his mussed hair. “You tripped an alarm. Took me a second to realize it was you, but uh, I remembered you used to come out here at night. Sometimes.” “Oh, god. Sorry…” He cut you off with a chuckle. “Stop apologizing Y/N. It’s okay.” “Maybe you could show me, so I avoid them next time.” “Yeah.” He yawned again and laid down on his back. You joined him, the both of you staring up and the night sky. “So what’s keeping you up?” 

The dream replayed through your head. Dean’s voice echoed. “Y/N, no!”

“Oh, I don’t know. Nothing in particular I guess.” You cleared your throat. “It’s like being at a hotel for the first night I guess, just need to settle in and get used to a new environment.” 

Dean hummed as if he understood. 

His silence caused you to ramble further. “And, well, I don’t know…” You bit your lip wondering if you should continue. “I guess I thought things would be different. Like, I imagined what it would be like to be on an adventure with Sam and Dean… not like I actually thought it would happen… but, now that I am here.” You glanced sideways at him, studying the outline of his face and sighed. “Yeah, I guess I just imagined it differently.” 

Dean pondered for a few minutes. “In what ways?” 

You chuckled. As if you were going to reveal how you felt about him. “Well for one, having actual memories.” You could feel Dean’s grin through the dark, it was contagious. “I don’t know, like pie at every meal.” Dean’s smile gave way to a snicker. “I mean, I wish things were that way too.”

You licked your lips before turning to your stomach so you could better watch him. His eyes were closed yet he was relaxed and content. The constellations no longer grabbed your attention the way the starlight barely showed the freckles on his face, counting them instead. 

“I thought,” You continued. “That the bunker would be warm and cheery instead of foreign and cold. I thought I would naturally just fall into place and belong.” You sighed, wishing for his arms to wrap around you. “And I thought there’d be this epic soundtrack to everything we did.” You smirked trying to lighten the mood again. 

“Just wait until we get back on the road, there will be.” Dean assured. 

“Motoring.” You softly yet uncontrollably sang out, surprising yourself. 

Dean’s voice was soft as he went an octave or a few higher than normal. “What’s your price for flight.” 

You giggled and joined him. “In finding mister right, you’ll be alright tonight.” Dean and you sat back up. “See, you just gotta make your own.” The two of you held your gaze a few moments too long. Dean broke away first. “As for falling asleep, I might have a trick.” He led you back down into the bunker and you reluctantly followed knowing he wasn’t suggesting what you hoped for. Through the maze, the two of you found your way to a large room with a foosball table and tv. You plopped down on a big leather couch, perhaps a little too close together. 

Dean turned on the tv and scrolled through Netflix landing on Star Trek Next Gen. 

“Picard!” You exclaimed. 

“Nerd.” Dean snickered back at you. 

“Shut up.” You teasingly nudged him with your elbow. 

“You’ll be out in no time.”

You playfully gasped. “What the hell are you talking about? I love Star Trek.” 

He silently chuckled. “So you say, but trust me, there’s no way you are conscious by the second episode.” 

“Wanna bet?” You cocked an eyebrow at him. 

“What’s the wager?” Dean unconsciously licked his lips. 

“Pie. Obviously.” He chuckled again. “You're so on.” 

Dean easily won the bet. Not even 10 minutes in, you began nodding off, your head slowly starting to tilt in his direction. As soon as you became quiet, the heaviness hit Dean too, the early hours of the morning hitting hard. He yawned and stretched his arms, one settling around your shoulder drawing you in a little closer. The two of you drifted off side by side without even realizing. 

He was the first to wake finding you tangled on the couch together. Your face buried into his chest and his hand protectively over your head. He slid up careful not to wake you. The tv screen glowed as Netflix asked if you wanted to continue watching. Dean rubbed his eyes and looked for the remote turning it off. He rubbed his hand through his hair as he stood, turning around to admire how peaceful you looked asleep. He gently covered you with a blanket before leaving to scout out some coffee and breakfast. 

The bunker was quiet and stale until Dean made his way closer to the library, the sound of furious typing growing louder with each step. Dean made his way there, finding Sam on the computer with an intensity he hadn’t seen since you first disappeared. 

Dean treaded cautiously. “Mornin’.”

Sam refused to look up. “Looks like you had quite the night.” He snipped. 

“Shit.” Dean muttered to himself. “Dude, it was nothing.” Sam raised his eyebrows unconvinced and stopped typing. “To you maybe.” Dean’s face grew confused. “She’s obviously more comfortable around you.” 

“Stop.” Dean challenged. “She just needed help falling asleep so I turned on Star Trek like the old days. What happened after that was purely accidental and unintentional.” Sam scoffed unconvinced. “It’s been two days Sam. You can’t expect things to fall into place immediately.” 

Sam shut his laptop and held his head in his hands. “I’ve waited so long for this. And now, she feels farther away than ever.” “I know.” Dean agreed for sympathy’s sake. “But she’s starting to remember. I know it doesn’t feel like it but she is. Slowly.” Sam sighed and looked away. Dean fished in his pocket, pulling out the ivory gun. “I found this out in the range yesterday and unless it was you playing with it…” He handed it forward. 

Sam took it from him, a spark of hope fluttering inside. Out of all the guns, you had picked out the one he had given you. 

“She was up at her old spot last night, would’ve shot me if she had it on her.” Dean chuckled. “And uh, she had a glaze over her eyes, the one only a hunter gets. I think she’s remembering more than she's letting on.” 

Sam recalled how you had reacted to the Impala. It was the most comfortable he had seen you so far. “What if we got out on the road, maybe took an easy case.”

Dean grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. Seems kinda fast, too dangerous.” “Not with us both there, every step of the way, keeping her from any true danger.” Sam argued. “Maybe that's what she needs, to help jumpstart the progress.” 

“Let’s leave it up to her.” Dean suggested. 

“Leave me up to what?” You walked in, yawning and stretching, hair an absolute mess. 

Sam stood up to greet you, eyes wide like a frightened puppy afraid you may have overheard his frustration. “About going on a hunt?” He stammered. 

Your eyes lit up, the grogginess of the morning instantly fading away. “Yes! I’ll go pack my things!” You ran out of the room.

The boys shared a smile with each other surprised by your enthusiasm. 

“I guess we're going.” Dean stated. “You gotta case?”

“I’ll find one.” Sam dived back into his laptop, his heart racing with hope.

-----

Tags: 

Forevers: @mogaruke @deanwinchesterforpromqueen @jotink78@blushingdean @sup3r-pott3r-lock3d @dancingalone21@carryonmyswansong @atc74 @superapplepie @cassieraider@adaliamalfoy @iwriteaboutdean @spnbaby-67@monkeymcpoopoo @adoptdontshoppets @maddiepants@onceuponathreetwoone @thisismysecrethappyplace

Dean x Reader: @akshi8278 @boxywrites @its-not-a-tulpa @tacklesackles @aubreystilinski @iamabeautifulperson18@jerkbitchidjitassbutt @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @ria132love

[shhh-no-ones-home]

blood pact izzy stradlin x reader x axl rose

+++++++++

Yes this is based off the tik Tok and yes I absolutely love the idea of 'boys in skirts on skateboards'🥺

evidently im super good at fusion fics so heres another one lol, it kind of hints at a relationship with axl but its not legit, just friends type situation. also she kinda edited but if i missed anything, sorry lol

the drawing i did as inspo can be found here

Song: black sheep by metric

tag list: @cynic-spirit @satans-arse @slashscowboyboots

+++++++++

i walked through the door behind axl, closing it behind me as he fell into the couch.

"sure make yourself at home."

izzy said sarcastically, poking his head out of the kitchen. i waved, smiling at him as he waved back. i heard the fridge door close before he made his way into the living room.

"ax said you wanted to hang out today?"

i asked, looking to him for answers. when axl arrived at my house he hurried me to get ready, not really explaining why we were heading to izzys place.

"uh yeah i guess, i mentioned i was going skating if he wanted to join."

we both looked over at him, his arm over his face as he lounged, almost falling asleep.

"well that makes more sense as to why he made me bring my board."

i said, scratching the back of my neck. izzy looked at me quizzically.

"i didnt know you skated."

i laughed a little bit.

"yeah i enjoy it from time to time. its nice to get out and shred or whatever."

i joked. he smiled at me.

"are you wearing that?"

he asked, nodding to my ripped jeans and oversize black t-shirt. i shrugged.

"well the only other thing i have with me is a skirt i left in my purse from last time i spent the night at axl's. i didnt end up changing into it."

i laughed nervously, realizing how awkward that sounded.

"right."

he said, nodding.

"want something else to wear? i dont mind, im pretty comfortable with pretty girls wearing my clothes."

he smirked at me.

"thats okay iz, you dont have to do that. im sure this will be fine. if anything else i could just wear the skirt. ya know, kick your ass while looking femme as hell."

i laughed and he sent me a look.

"you think you can skate better than me?"

i crossed my arms over my chest, leaning back on my heel.

"in a skirt or in general?"

he scoffed at me.

"both?"

he said half offended and i laughed.

"hell yeah both."

i torted back and he looked a little mad id dare denounce his skill, dipping his hand into his shorts pocket and plucking his pack of cigarettes out.

"we gonna test that theory?"

he piped back putting one between his lips and lighting it.

"you two done yet?"

axl said.

"this isnt a pissing contest, youre both pretty."

i looked over at him as he sat up.

"i could skate circles around you, no problem."

izzy said at me. i laughed

"Okay, I have a challenge for you then, Mr secure."

I said, dropping my arms. He looked at me with a Stern look, puffing smoke out his nose.

"Hit me with your best shot babes."

I smirked at him before stuffing my hand into my bag and pulling the blue plaid skirt out.

"Boys. In skirts. On skateboards."

I said firmly. He drew his brows together.

"You think I won't?"

He asked, challenging me back. I pushed it towards him and he looked at it for a second, hesitating.

"What's wrong iz? Scared someone's gonna think you're less of a man?"

He made a 'psh' sound with his mouth before snatching it from me.

"Absolutely not."

i sent him a wicked smile.

"great, then i guess youd better go change. we have a skate park to get to."

he glared at me before walking off to the bathroom. i saw axl sit fully up out of the corner of my eye.

"you really making him do that?"

he asked and i nodded.

"if hes so good then it shouldnt be a problem."

he emerged a second later, the skirt sitting low on his hips and part of his ripped tank top tucked into it.

"lets do this."

°°°°°°°°°

i heard snickers from the guys at the park as we skated to the far side, the ramps resembling an abandoned pool. izzy seemed a little stern as axl walked beside us.

"still not worried?"

i asked, looking to him.

"of course not."

he said flatly, stopping and kicking his board up.

"you asked me to skate in a skirt, i have nothing to worry about."

he looked to me for a second before smiling and pushing off the edge. i watched as he dipped down into the valley of concrete, the skirt flowing in the wind he created. axl laughed a little to himself.

"do you know how many times duff has tried to get him to wear a skirt? too bad hes not here."

i laughed and shook my head, holding my board up with my foot.

"maybe he should tag along next time."

i said, smirking at him before taking off myself. i watched the other skaters around me as i rode across the concrete, smiling at the feeling of the wind in my hair.

"having fun yet?"

izzy asked as he passed me.

"you know it. its much more fun seeing that thought."

i said pointing to his skirt as he rode up the wall and came back down.

"well im glad youre enjoying yourself."

he said right as i turned, barreling straight into him. the both of us hit the ground at the same time, our legs tangled together as our boards rolled in opposite directions.

"fuck."

i said harshly as he unwove himself from me. my leg was stinging and i was starting to regret not bringing my knee pads.

"oh shit."

he said, kneeling over me. i watched him intently as he pushed my pant leg up, seeing red. i hissed as the air hit the cuts and scrapes across my shin.

"is everything alright?"

axl called, concern lacing his voice. i looked at him and gave him a thumbs-up

"yeah its no big deal."

i called back and izzy looked at me like i was crazy.

"this is more than just a scratch y/n, we should really go get this cleaned up and bandaged."

i shook my head, watching my leg turn redder.

"its fine iz."

there was blood running down my leg but it was nothing i wasnt used to by now. i shifted to stand up, him grabbing my hands to help me. i groaned as i put my weight on it, blood rushing to the surface.

"see, thats not fine. come on, lets get you back to my place and we can come back later."

i sighed, feeling the warm liquid make its way slowly down to my ankle.

""so much for a day at the skate park."

i said a little disappointing, picking up my board that had rolled back to me. izzy did the same before wrapping his free arm around my waist and helping me walk.

"theres always tomorrow."

he said and i smiled.

"you wearing the skirt then too?"

i said slyly and he sent me a testing look.

"dont push it."

i laughed as we made our way back up to where axl was still standing, a worried look on his face.

"you said it was fine!"

he practically yelled, looking over the wound. i shrugged against izzy as he still held me to him.

"it is, but iz suggested we go back home and clean it up."

axl nodded.

"yeah i think i can agree with that. come on."

he said a little protective, standing on the other side of me to help me limp back to the car.

"thanks guys."

i said as izzy packed our boards into the back. he closed it and crossed his arms at me.

"maybe the skirt wasnt a good idea, im too distracting now."

he joked, twisting his hips to make it twirl around him. i laughed, looking at axl who seemed amused and annoyed.

"worth it."

i said, lifting my foot of the ground to relieve the pressure on my leg. izzy smiled widely at me.

"im glad to hear that, now lets go fix you up."

[callmewishful]

Power and Grace

“Well, I…I have to go.”

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

“Oh, thank the Goddess.” Sylvain muttered to Ashe as they walked into class.

Ashe looked confused at his walking partner. The classroom appeared normal; most people having arrived already. He turned to look out the door they’d came in. The sun was shining brightly in the morning sky, “I mean…it is a nice day….”

“Not that.” Sylvain shook his head, “That.” He gestured to Felix and Evyanna deep in conversation at their desks. Evy was drawing out something on a piece of paper and explaining it to Felix, who seemed rather impressed by whatever she was saying.

“Oh,” Ashe nodded in understanding, “Yeah, they really hadn’t talked for a while there, hadn’t they?”

“What can I say, Ashe? Felix is a stubborn man.”

“So, I think we start with the Black Eagles, because then we can take out the ballista-“

“How do you know the Eagles will have the ballista?” Felix interrupted her. “How do you know Claude or Ignatz won’t take it?”

Evy snorted, “Over Edelgard? Please. Edelgard will break Claude’s nose for the ballista.”

“Touché.”

“So anyway, we want Ashe on the ballista, so I think you or I should take out the Eagles archer…who is…shoot.”

“Bernadetta.” Felix supplied, taking the quill from Evy’s hand and writing the girls name on the paper where the Ballista was. Despite his dedication to sword training over book training, he had fairly nice handwriting. “She’s meek and shy and squeals in fear just by looking at me. She’ll be easy to take down.”

Evy giggled, “That scary are you?”

“I think it’s the eyes.”

Evy could concede to that. He did have unusual eyes. She didn’t find them scary though, more intriguing than anything. “Okay, so we take out Bernadetta first to have control of the ballista. If you rush ahead to take her out, I can have Ashe stay behind me to get him to the spot. The Eagles and the Deer will be close together so if we want that prize we’ll have to be fast in taking them out before they cut each other down.”

“The Eagles have a lot of magic users if I remember right. Ashe can focus on them once they’re in range. Maybe we should go for them first to get them out of the way?”

“What do the Eagles focus on?”

“Bernie’s the archer, Edelgard uses an axe, I think Hubert is a magic user, dark magic if I remember right, because he’s a sketchy ass man. Petra uses the sword, Dorothea is a magic user, Caspar uses an axe I think, don’t quote me on that. Linhardt is a magic user, Ferdinand uses a lance?”

“So, we have three magic users for the Eagles and four weapon users? What about the Deer again?”

“Claude is a bow, Ignatz is a bow, Leonie is a bow but sometimes a sword user. Lysithea and Marianne are magic users. Maybe Lorenz too? Hilda uses a lance and I think Raphael uses an axe or his fists.”

“The Deer have fewer magic users then. Maybe we should go for them first? Let the Eagle’s magic users come to the center of the field and be picked off by Ashe?” Evy drew arrows from her, Felix, and Ashe to the center of the map. Then she drew arrows showing Dimitri, Dedue, and Sylvain going up close and personal for the Deer. “If we want, Ingrid could fly ahead and get personal with the Eagle weapon users. Once Ashe is secure on the ballista you and I can go for the Eagles too so she’s not alone. You’re a good dodger.”

“I wouldn’t mind going for Hubert, actually. I’ve wanted to test my skill against his anyway.”

“He’ll be parked up Edelgard’s ass though. So, if you go for him you’ll have to fight her off too.”

“Come with me, then. You can take her.”

“I can go with you guys too. Help ward off some of the magic users.” Annette piped up. Felix and Evyanna looked up from their work to see the entire class surrounding their desks viewing Evy’s drawing as well. Evy’s face turned a light pink and she immediately cast her eyes back down to the paper.

Felix took the quill and drew an arrow from Annette to the Black Eagles side, seemingly unbothered by the class listening in. “That’ll make us more even too.”

“I think it’s a good strategy.” The Professor praised, “does anyone have anything they’d like to add or change?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I yield! I yield!” Bernadetta squealed, cowering in fear.

“I didn’t even touch you.” Felix muttered, but lowered his training sword. “Ashe, get up there.”

Ashe rushed past Evy and took Bernadetta’s spot on the ballista making quick work of loading it with the training arrows. Evy watched Dimitri and Sylvain engaging with Lorenz and Hilda in the distance. She smiled proudly while her boys fought. So far, their plan was working quite nicely.

“Annette, let’s go.” Felix instructed, taking no time to admire the fight before them. Over to the east, Ingrid swooped in and began engaging Ferdinand. The three took off towards the Eagles to help their flier, Evy being pulled from her observance. She rushed in to stop Linhardt from using magic against Ingrid, forcing him to yield. Felix and Annette were tackling Dorothea together. Evy was often impressed by Dorothea. So confident and talented, both musically and magically.

“ARGH!” Evy barely dodged Petra’s swinging blade after beating Lorenz, stumbling backwards and nearly losing her footing. Petra noticed how off-balance she was and came in ferociously swinging with speed Evy could barely match with how caught off guard she’d been.

Petra was about to go in for the final blow, Evy barely holding on, “You will yield!”

“No,” Felix interrupted her with his training sword in her back, “You will yield.”

Petra slowly lowered her blade, turning to look at Felix, “I must yield?”

“I don’t see a training sword in my back.”

She nodded in agreement and sighed, “I must yield. I worked hard. You are lucky to have your sword man boyfriend to save you, Zelshire Princess.”

Evy fixed her grip on her sword and sputtered, “Oh, I-I mean…we-”

Felix’s face was bright red, not from the exertion of battle, and he quickly turned away to go back to the fight. Evy could feel her face was just as hot as Felix’s looked and she stopped trying to explain seeing as she couldn’t get words out of her mouth.

“You have the oddest of relationships with the sword man boyfriend, Zelshire Princess.” Petra looked between the two before exiting the battlefield.

Evyanna didn’t even try. She was so flustered between the conversation and Petra’s relentless attacks that she gave up. After a quick deep breath, she had to get back into the battle. Annette and Felix were coming up on Hubert and Edelgard and they’d need help.

She rushed back into the action, trying to clear her head as much as she could. One thing kept sticking out to her though: Felix didn’t deny it.

Of course, they weren’t dating, but he didn’t deny Petra’s assumption of a romantic relationship. Maybe he thought he didn’t have time for such nonsense, seeing as he’d left Annette to save Evy. Maybe he thought he had to go back to save Annette. Maybe he saw Evy was already making an attempt to clear up the confusion and didn’t see the point in him doing so also. Or…maybe he didn’t deny it because he wanted a romantic relationship.

Evyanna nearly laughed out loud at herself. Felix? Dating? She really could be quite funny.

So funny, that she mentioned the story to Ingrid on their victory walk back. Ingrid thought it was funny too that Petra would say that. Anyone who knew Felix knew he was basically emotionally empty. As far as Evy knew, the only emotion Felix had was anger.

Still, she couldn’t help the hopeful feeling in her chest when she thought about him. She knew better, really. Mother always told her to never expect a man to change. ‘If you don’t like him now, you won’t like him ever.’ Though it wasn’t that she didn’t like Felix…she just wished he wanted the same thing.

It was stupid really. Felix was clearly not interested in a relationship. He told her that his only focus was getting stronger and working on his skills with the blade. If she wanted a relationship she should focus on someone else. Dimitri perhaps….

After the mock battle, all the students had a feast together in the dining hall at Claude’s insistence, celebrating the enjoyment of the fight and the Blue Lions win. The night was a lot of fun.

Claude dropped two bags of marshmallows on the table after dinner with a smirk on his face. Evy gasped, “Are we playing Chubby Bunny?!”

“What’s that?” Claude asked, even though he brought the marshmallows.

“It’s a contest to see how many marshmallows you can fit in your mouth.” She explained, opening up one of the bags.

“That sounds ridiculous.” Felix muttered from his spot next to her.

Sylvain rolled his eyes, “You’re just mad that you’re a little man with a small mouth and can’t fit that many marshmallows in.”

“Give me one of those damn bags.” Felix snapped, reaching for the bag of the sticky confection in Evy’s hands.

“Now, now, now! Wait! We gotta go at the same time to keep track. Who’s in? Me, Felix, anyone else?” Claude gestured marshmallows to people.

All in all, Claude, Felix, Evy, Dimitri, Edelgard (after much chiding from Claude about being the only house lead who wasn’t playing), Sylvain, Ferdinand, Annette, Petra, Caspar, Leonie, and Raphael joined the contest. It was easy until around 6-7 marshmallows. Then people’s cheeks looked puffy and people started giggling. If you giggled, you were basically done for.

Annette was out first at 9 marshmallows, followed by Petra and Edelgard at 11. Evy and Leonie only got 12, while Ferdinand, to Evy’s surprise, fit 14. Evy was really only surprised because he didn’t seem like one to try during these games. He was Ferdinand von Aegir…so she heard.

Dimitri and Caspar were out next with 15 marshmallows – Dimitri awkwardly laughing about his puffy cheeks the entire time. Raphael was out at 16 because he was trying to cheat by eating them.

“Wahh Wou.” Felix tried to talk to Sylvain with 17 marshmallows in his mouth.

“Ah?” Sylvain, naturally, had zero idea what the hell Felix was saying.

“Wuak Wou.”

“Wah?”

Felix rolled his eyes and flipped Sylvain off, “Wak Wou.” Evy snickered.

Claude was trying his very best not to laugh so none of his marshmallows fell out and was failing. He was out at 17.

“Alright! Who has 18? Is it Sylvain or Felix?” Ingrid had easily taken on the role of announcer for the contest.

Felix put the marshmallow at the entrance of his mouth and used the palm of his fist to mash it in. Sylvain was trying to pry one side of his mouth open to make his marshmallow fit.

“It’s gotta be more than 50% in!” Ingrid chided Sylvain when he tried to claim victory by barely holding onto the marshmallow with the edge of his mouth.

“He’s got it! He’s got it!” Evy shouted, pointing at Felix, who had the marshmallow wedged in along with the other 17.

“Felix has it Sylvain!” Annette teased. Sylvain’s inability was not for lack of trying, he was pushing the marshmallow and prying his mouth, but it was not working. He looked hopefully at Ingrid.

“What do we think guys? Does he have it?” She asked the rest of the classes.

Evy shook her head, along with most. People erupted in their opinions. The little marshmallow was barely hanging on.

“Waa wou.” Felix grabbed one more for good measure and tried shoving it in his mouth. The class laughed hysterically as Sylvain mock-groaned with a chuckle of his own.

“You can’t laugh! Laughing is the bane of Chubby Bunny.” Evy giggled at him, handing him another marshmallow. Sylvain waved the marshmallow off. He barely made 18, there was no way he was making 19.

“Are you tapping out?” Claude asked in disbelief, “Get that marshmallow in there, son!” Claude took the marshmallow from Evy, trying to help Sylvain get it in his mouth. They both were laughing too hard to accomplish the feat. Felix barely had his 19th in but was determined to go for 20 when he saw Sylvain going for 19.

Before Sylvain could get 19 he laugh/coughed most of his marshmallows out. Felix slammed both of his hands on the table and flipped Sylvain off with both middle fingers. He spit out his marshmallows onto a plate, “Fuck off! Who’s little now?!”

“Damn! What the hell, Felix?” Sylvain chuckled rubbing his sore cheeks. Apparently one could never underestimate Felix when he was trying to prove someone wrong.

The table erupted into excited chatter about how Felix was able to beat everyone, despite thinking the game was ridiculous AND not even liking sweets (which Mercedes and Lysithea found an absolute crime).

The rest of the night was spent laughing, joking, and drinking, thanks to Claude and Sylvain. Turned out that Sylvain was a master drink mixer, raiding the Monastery cupboards and his own room stash for booze. They started the party in the dining hall, Dimitri reluctantly joining in on the drinking, though “not too much as it wouldn’t be very becoming for a King.” Once the party in the dining hall ended, the Blue Lions took their party back to the dorm rooms. Well, Sylvain’s dorm room so as not to disturb Claude, who had already been exclaiming he would be having a massive headache the next day.

The Blue Lion house shoved themselves into the boy’s room: crowding on the bed, his desk, and any spare chairs they could fit in the room. They drank, except for Dimitri, Dedue, and Mercedes, who mother-henned the group instead – forcing water on them and food as the night went on. Evy had never felt so apart of the group, wedged between Ingrid and Felix and laughing along with the rest of class. It was quite humorous to see the intoxicated side of some of their classmates.

“Evy! Remember when Lea broke his ankle, and I broke my arm that summer?” Sylvain shouted. Evy was not far enough away for him to need to shout, but he thought it was appropriate.

“How did you break your arm that summer? You refused to tell us the story.” Dimitri was sitting properly in Sylvain’s desk chair. He’d refused to sit on the desk itself like Sylvain was, because ‘that was not how desks were meant to be used.’ He did however, let Annette sit in front of his legs and use them as her back rest.

Sylvain broke out in more laughter. He jumped off his desk to dig around his dresser. Dimitri cringed, “Please tell me this story is appropriate.”

“Shh. I’m getting the demonstration ready.” Sylvain chided, pulling out an extra blanket.

“I’ll break your arm for you.” Felix volunteered, earning a jab in the ribs from Evy. Felix looked to her with a frown, “What? I would.”

Sylvain waved Felix off and grabbed all four corners of the blanket. “So, you know how when you fall, you feel all the wind blowing from the ground up at you? Well, we were like, dude, what if when you jump, you had something to catch the wind and then you could use the wind to make you fly instead of falling?! So, we got blankets like this, and grabbed all the corners and then we went up on top of the training hall and jumped off to see if it works!” Sylvain frowned at the memory, finally getting to the ending, “Turns out, you lose your grip and fall down anyway. Or if you don’t lose your grip, like Lea, you still don’t fly. Was really a bummer actually. I think I made out better though because I only broke my arm. Lea couldn’t walk for weeks.”

Dimitri sighed, rubbing his face, “Oh dear Goddess. If I’d known you were going to be so much trouble I wouldn’t have left you alone.”

Sylvain scoffed, “Please. We were conducting science. That’s hardly trouble.”

“You broke the Prince’s ankle.”

“I didn’t do it. Air did…well technically the ground when he landed.” Sylvain shrugged, tossing the blanket down to Annette who had been reaching for it.

Mercedes giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, “How did you spend that summer Your Highness? If not with Sylvain and this Lea.”

Dimitri smiled, fondly recalling the memories of that summer. He looked at his summer-mate as he answered, “I spent it with Evyanna, actually. While Sylvain and her younger brother, Lea got into massive amounts of mischief, we spent the summer exploring.”

“Exploring…” Sylvain winked, giving Dimitri a suggestive look.

The Prince’s face turned bright red, “N-not like that!” That was a slight lie. “There’s lots of beautiful sights in Zelshire.”

“Oh, I know it.” Sylvain continued to give Dimitri a shit-eating grin. While the rest of the class laughed at Dimitri’s expense, except Felix. Felix narrowed his eyes at the Prince.

Dimitri became increasingly flustered under Sylvain’s gaze and the Lion’s laughter, “I-I didn’t mean…I mean, not that the Princess isn’t…I-that’s not-“ Dimitri took a breath, “we just explored the nature trails and-“

“A happy trail, eh?”

“Sylvain!” Dimitri scolded, “We were far too young for such things.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. I’m not even sure you got a good beard coming in now.”

Evy couldn’t help the round of giggles that came through, leaning on Felix’s shoulder to help stifle them. It wasn’t really working.

“Okay, okay. You guys it is getting late!” Dimitri chided. This had to stop before things got worse. “This has been a fantastic night, but we should all be getting to be bed.”

“Fuck off, Boar Prince.” Felix, who’d lost what little filter he had during the night especially after the prior conversation, rolled his eyes at him.

Evy put a finger to Felix’s surprisingly soft lips, “Shhh, Fe. Be polite.”

“Oh, fucking kiss already.” Sylvain muttered to himself and Ashe, who he’d leaned into. He chugged the last of his drink quickly.

“Dimitri is right, Felix.” Mercedes stepped in, hoping that Felix would be nicer if she was the one to dictate, “It’s getting late and you need your rest so you can train tomorrow.”

The promise of training caught Felix’s attention and he stopped arguing. Reluctantly, and with some more mothering from Dimitri and Mercedes, they all started packing up. Mercedes took Annette and Ingrid down to the girls’ side of the dorms while Dimitri walked Ashe back down to the first floor. Evy lingered around Felix and Sylvain. Sylvain’s bed was too comfy to get up quite yet.

“Come on, we gotta train tomorrow.” Felix held out his hands to help her up. She groaned slightly but took them. Being an adult sucked sometimes.

“I just wanna take a nap.” She whined, leaning against his chest for a brief moment. Her legs lumbered her out the door and down the familiar hall. She’d give almost anything to be able to close her eyes and sleep with how tired she felt. Now that the high of victory and the buzz of her friends had worn off she was beat.

She heard Felix tell Sylvain to shut up behind her and she giggled. He was quite the character. Unlike any noble she’d ever met. He’d be an interesting heir. Part of her was really bummed that she wouldn’t get to see much of him once she left the monastery.

“Hey, Leighton.” His slightly slurred voice sounded behind her, along with slightly rushing footsteps.

Her bright leafy green eyes looked back at him, “Felix, you passed your ro-” Evy was cut off by his body crashing into hers, his hungry lips devouring her. She eagerly returned his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him closer to her. Felix picked her up under her legs and pressed her back against the wall, deepening their impromptu make-out session.

Dimitri skipped back up the steps from ensuring Ashe made it to his room safely but stopped dead when he saw the amorous display in the hallway. He let out a small gasp as his eyes widened, but the sound did nothing to deter the apparent lovers. Sylvain was behind the pair, standing in his own doorway, giving Dimitri a thumbs up and a big grin. Dimitri wondered if Sylvain had decided to challenge Felix again and now this was the result.

The prince awkwardly walked by the couple, politely avoiding them with his eyes.

“Liquid courage strikes again.” Sylvain chuckled when Dimitri was in earshot.

“I didn’t realize Felix had feelings for Evyanna that way.” Dimitri admitted, his own heart conflicted at the sight of them together. But perhaps that was just their previous betrothment talking.

Sylvain scoffed, “Please, that’s why he avoided her for two months. He was trying to get over his little crush. I finally convinced him to man up tonight.” Sylvain grinned at the couple, proud of his handywork.

Dimitri reluctantly looked back at them. They’d stopped kissing, though Felix still had Evy pressed against the wall. Their foreheads were connected as they shared a smile between each other. Both of them looked rather happy. If his friends were happy, then he could be happy for them.

“You aren’t going to watch them all night, are you?” Dimitri was just as reluctant to ask Sylvain the question, more because he feared the answer.

“Nah. I just wanted to make sure he’d actually kiss her.”

Dimitri exhaled in relief, “Well, it appears you got your wish.” And with that, he went to try and sleep.

Evyanna and Felix did quite the opposite – kissing, grinding, and teasing until they were both left tired and panting. It was too soon for sex; they were buzzed and had only just expressed romantic interest in one another. Sex could wait. Besides, Evyanna found herself dizzy just from Felix’s lips. Well, alcohol might have offered some help too.

Felix was a bit surprised to find Evyanna curled up against his chest in the morning until the memories of the night before came flooding back…Sylvain telling him that Dimitri was going to confess feelings for Evy…him being…well, pissed at the thought…stopping her in the hallway…shoving her against the wall…attacking each other with hot kisses…her breath against his skin…shit.

He ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed. Fucking alcohol, making him act on his feelings.

Evyanna shifted on top of him, hugging him tighter. The two of them on the bed was a bit of a tight squeeze. Felix supposed it could’ve been worse – at least he got to be with her, and she didn’t reject him.

“Good morning.” She whispered rubbing her face against his tunic, nuzzling against him.

“Morning.” He rubbed her arm with another sigh. Part of him wanted himself to stop ruining this moment, but the other part was irritated at himself for letting it happen. What happened to trying to forget his feelings for her?

Evy peered up at him with shy eyes, as if she could tell exactly what he was thinking. This possibility made Felix even more uncomfortable, “Are you upset?”

That was a loaded question. Of course, he was upset – he acted on emotions he had been trying for months to get rid of . But, in reality…he did like it…fuck. “No.” He muttered, trying to avoid her eyes. How pathetic would it be to bother her with his internal conflict the first night they spent together? What was he, the Boar?

“You don’t sound sure.” Evy was having none of his avoidance and propped herself up on her arm so she could look him in the face. She was so beautiful, her bright green eyes so sweet and gentle, just like her soft features, in the morning. Her hair was a mess, but Felix was 100% certain that was partially his fault as well. Even still, she was everything Felix was not: gentle, loving, open…how the hell did such a soft person have feelings for a rough-around-the-edges swordsman? Perhaps he should take her feelings while she had them; before she wisened up and ditched him.

“I-I am.” He decided. “It’s just…different.” That part wasn’t a lie. Felix had never been interested in the relationship aspect of people before. Not until she skipped her way into his life.

She smiled softly at him, rubbing his cheek with her thumb in a gentle way that made him blush. “It is different, but I think it’s a good different.”

“Good different.” Felix agreed quietly. Anything more and he’d start stumbling over his words due to her touch. She kissed his other cheek and gave him one more quick cuddle before they had to get ready. He felt cold as she left the bed and mentally he hated himself. No way he could start this lovey shit…fuck.

“Good morning, Evy, Felix. How did- oh Goddess.” Dimitri’s face burned at breakfast as he realized that he didn’t want to know the answer to the question he almost asked.

Next to him, Sylvain snickered, but the new couple couldn’t figure out why.

“How did what?” Evy asked, encouraging him to keep going while not understanding why he paused in the first place. Dimitri seemed embarrassed about something. Perhaps the fact that he’d been drinking with them the night before? Evy didn’t remember him doing anything embarrassing. He only had one mixed drink before he cut himself off. Sylvain, Felix, and Annette had been much heavier drinkers.

“Um, how did…I mean, how was…good morning.” Dimitri’s face was positively red with embarrassment. He really didn’t want to ask the question but could figure out no good way out of it.

Felix narrowed his eyes at the boy, “What’s wrong with you? You’re even more incompetent than normal.”

“Well, I…I have to go.” Dimitri blurted out, getting up and rushing out of the dining hall. Evy and Felix shared a confused look. Sylvain burst out laughing, his face red for an entirely different reason than Dimitri’s had been.

“What’s his problem?” Felix demanded, “Why are you laughing?”

“He-...” Sylvain let out another bout of hysteria, “He saw you!”

“What?” Evy prayed to the Goddess that Sylvain did not mean what she thought he meant. She could feel her own cheeks starting to tinge with heat.

“In…the…hall.” Sylvain spit out between gasps of air.

Oh, dear Goddess.

Felix jumped up from his seat and sprinted out of the dining hall before Sylvain could get out another word. He ran up the retreating blonde and shoved him against the nearest pillar, “You tell ANYONE what you saw and I-I’ll-“

“No! No! I-I would never!” Dimitri stammered out, holding his hands up in surrender. Felix’s actions were starting to draw a crowd and Dimitri was getting even redder.

“Good! Because if you do, I’ll commit treason right here in front of everyone!” Felix threatened. He released the man after another good glare and pushed his raven hair out of his face.

“Right, yes. Understood.” Dimitri straightened himself out as well, looking anywhere but at Felix. “So,” he questioned after a few moments, “does this mean you guys aren’t-“ “No, we are.” Felix muttered, also not meeting Dimitri’s eyes. Fuck, did he just admit to Dimitri that he had a girlfriend?

“Oh. Okay…?”

“Just because we are doesn’t mean you get to talk about my love life.”

Dimitri nodded in understanding, “Right, of course not.”

“Good.”

From that point on Felix and Evy considered themselves “dating” but nothing much changed about their relationship from what anyone could tell. Most people in the monastery didn’t even know they were dating aside from Sylvain and Dimitri (and Ingrid because Sylvain could hardly keep a secret until Ingrid threatened him about telling anyone else). Felix and Evy still trained daily, talked during meals and class, and hung out at night. Nothing about their daily routine had changed. No displays of affection were shared. Not since the drunken night in her dorm room.

The only noticeable difference was that Evy appeared to tell Felix anytime she went anywhere. It was never a long conversation, instead going something simple like:

“Hey, you, I’m going to get dinner with the girls.”

“Ok.”

Or:

“Hi Felix, I’m going to the market with Ashe.”

“Ok.”

The first few times were moot. Felix was indifferent about the new development in their relationship. But it became constant, Evy seemingly interrupting his training at all hours just to tell him a stupid, trivial fact. He had hoped his evident irritation would ward her off, but she seemed oblivious to his frustrations as the days went on. It was hard to train when someone was constantly yammering at him.

“Hey, Felix. I’m going-“

“I don’t care!” He finally snapped, dropping his sword and turning to face her, “I don’t care where you go. Just go and get out of my face!”

Evy’s cheerful face fell, hurt by his sudden anger towards her. She didn’t understand what she’d done to upset him so much, “Oh. I-I’m sorry.”

“Look, this really isn’t working out.” He continued fuming at her, well past the point of no return.

“Wh-what?” Evy was completely thrown off guard. She thought things had been going really well. Slow, but well.

“You keep interrupting my training and you’re getting in my way, just like I thought a relationship would. If I want to keep getting better I can’t have you bugging me every 10 seconds with stupid information. I was right all along, okay: relationships aren’t for me. This was just a stupid mistake.”

Evy felt like the wind was completely knocked out of her chest. She struggled to get the words out at a volume he could hear, “Oh…ok.”

Trying to save a shred of her dignity, she turned and walked out. She’d had plans to have dinner with Sylvain and Dimitri, but her brain could barely function let alone sit through a dinner. She walked back to her dorm room on autopilot, still trying to register what the hell happened. She thought things were going very decently. A little slow on the emotional end, but she was trying to be patient with him since this was presumably his first relationship.

Dimitri was concerned when Evy didn’t show up for dinner. Even more concerned when she hadn’t just been caught up training with Felix. Even more concerned when she was completely silent and barely functional during class the next week. He was not the most observant creature, but between her sadness, Ingrid’s glares, and Felix’s rolling waves of frustration, Dimitri pieced it together: They’d been fighting.

He was not one to pry so he tried to be supportive from a casual distance, asking her to dinner and training more than normal. In the beginning she occasionally accepted his offers, but as time went on she was more and more willing to spend time with him again. He was glad that her and Felix were slowly working things out. He knew Felix could be quite stubborn.

He thought things were much better, so he was surprised to find her crying on his doorstep in the middle of the night with a few bags packed.

“Ah...Evyanna! What’s the matter?”

“I-I have to go!” She sobbed, shoving a letter in his hands with her shaky ones.

“You’re leaving the monastery?” Dimitri panicked. How bad had things with Felix gotten if she was leaving in the middle of the night?

Evy nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks, “I-I have to go home. Just read the letter. Tell the Professor I-I’m sorry I couldn’t tell her in person.”

Dimitri caught her arm as she turned to leave, pulling her into a quick hug, “Please be safe, Evyanna. And please reconsider when you have had some time. I’m sure Felix will come around.”

“What?”

Dimitri paused, “Y-you’re leaving because Felix…”

“No, Goddess, Dimitri, Felix and I broke up almost two weeks ago? I-I dunno. J-just read the letter. I really have to g-go!” She hiccupped through her tears and waved before rushing down the hall. Her and Felix had broken up that long ago? What? Here he thought things were better. Yet here he was just as clueless as he usually was.

He opened up the tear-stained letter and read, his jaw dropping as he did.

The heir to the throne: Quentin Augustus Leighton...was dead….

[agustdomain]

A Slideshow of Road Lines {3}

Synopsis: They say oil and water don’t mix. What about oil paint and engines? He’s an artist reaching toward his dream while the girl with an engine heart is too busy trying to get her hands on the wheel. Is there a way for them to hold onto each other?

Word Count: 7k words

Pairing: Chris x Reader

Genre: college!au, artist!Chris, angst

Warnings: Language, Mentions of sickness (OC’s dad)

Author’s Note: You ready to meet Chris? (; He’s officially in the next part. Or is he? She won’t face him in the present for the while, but her past is filled with Chris. I’m really excited for you to get to know him!

! IMPORTANT NOTE ! This story is taking place in TWO DIFFERENT TIMES. When you see these flowers ❁, the story is shifting from present to past. There will also be a “Then” next to the day in order to further indicate that. If you have any questions, let me know!

> Part Two <

DAY 8

Every time she steps foot in this sacred oasis, guilt floods her vision. Every single time, the guilt’s almost enough to make her turn around and head back downstairs. Almost. 

“Hey, Y/N. It’s been a while.”

She’s startled at the familiar voice, having not seen him when she first came up the steps. Once pinpointing where he’s crouched behind the bar, she takes her time as she trudges over. It’s been too long since the last time she’s been here. What, three or four months? It isn’t anyone’s fault but her own that she got herself in a predicament like this one. 

It’s her fault she’s feeling guilty, and it’s her fault for having gotten attached to this rooftop that once held all the answers.

“Sorry, I’ve just been busy,” is her vague explanation. He isn’t the type to push.

Seungmin finally rises from behind the bar, box of tall wine glasses in his arms.

Placing them on the bar, he offers a sweet smile. Any other time, it may have eased her pain. Now, it slams her with unwanted memories.

“It’s all good- hey. You okay?”

She gives herself a moment. With each breath, she hopes to rein in her uneven breathing, for the tears and memories to subside, and for the memories she built here that are heavily stained with Chris to disappear. 

“Everyone’s asking me that. To be honest,  There’s not enough time to even pinpoint what’s wrong with me.” Yes, there is. It’s just one word. “So, instead. I’m going to sit at this bar. Hopefully, you don’t have any prior obligations. Maybe, just maybe you can make me your delicious ass Shirley Temple. And maybe I can just hear about how you’ve been.”

Seungmin studies her for a moment, continuing to wipe down the glasses one by one. Nodding in understanding, her shoulders sag, although she already knew he would agree. These past few months, in some twisted declaration of fate, she had forged a connection with the man whom Chris adored. In her memory, when Seungmin was just a foggy face in the background of some of her most intense moments with Chris, she never would’ve guessed he’d be her friend now. Life is funny that way.

At the sound of his throat clearing, her ease fades, aware he’s never been a pushover. 

“I can get behind that. First, let me finish up all the closing procedures. While I’m putting these up, maybe you can grab a broom?”

A smile she isn’t expecting finds her lips. “That’s fair.”

“Your Shirley Temple will be waiting for you when you’re done.”

Rebel Corner has stood the test of time as one of the most beautiful places Y/N’s ever had the honor of witnessing with her own eyes. It’s a family-owned, "underground” rooftop restaurant. Not many know about it, mostly because it’s exclusive and important to the owners, and she had the honor of being one of the lucky few who was welcomed. 

Even after all these years, it still drew her in like the scent of homemade cookies. 

As she sweeps the wooden floors, her eyes do what they always do on their own accord. Trailing across the floor. Left, left, left, up. To the very table that sometimes finds its way in her dreams. If she listens hard enough, she can still hear Chris’ giddy laughter. 

She forces herself to look away as the tightness in her chest returns. 

When she finishes up, she slowly makes her way over to Seungmin. He’s in the midst of wiping down the bar counter, humming a tune underneath his breath. 

An escape from her life, a confidant she never would have expected. After all, she already has enough mutual friends with Chris. Seungmin is another story. 

Several months ago, her heartbreak had snuck up on her when she had least expected it. It was a night where she had entertained Minnie’s and Yeji’s terrible advice, agreeing to being set up on a date with a stranger. 

She didn’t even remember the poor guy’s name anymore, barely even remembered what he had said to set her off. Maybe it was because she wasn’t ready, or how his eyes kind of resembled Chris’ beneath the restaurant light. Who was she kidding? No one could ever compare to the stardust in his irises.

One sentence had sent her running back to this place, her favorite spot prior to everything falling apart. 

To be honest, she figured they wouldn’t let her up here. Seungmin had an impeccable memory, seeing the past her caved in on herself and allowing her roof access without so much as a glance.  

Their friendship was unlikely, but it was born after many nights of her sorrowful solo dinners. He was a sweetheart in disguise, distracting her with trivial problems. He was a breath of fresh air from her otherwise stifling life. 

“... And I told him, ‘Look. If you don’t start using your own bar of soap, you really aren’t going to like what I have planned for you’.”

Y/N bursts into ugly laughter, almost spilling her drink all over herself. “Are you serious? You know that sounds so wrong, right?”

Seungmin feigns nonchalance as he shrugs, throwing his rag across his shoulder as he declares, “That’s why you don’t fuck with me.”

The curse word sounds wrong on his lips, not suiting him at all. They share a look before settling on a mutual distaste for his tough guy act. 

“What did you really tell him?”

Seungmin rubs the back of his neck shyly. “Well. I just started buying two soaps. He leaves mine alone now.”

“Seungmin! You can’t just let him take advantage of you like that.”

“What am I supposed to do? You know I hate confronting people!”

Y/N shakes her head, finishing off her Shirley Temple and slamming it down dramatically. “Do you want me to kick Felix’s ass?”

“No.”

“Come on. I have fighting experience!”

“Yelling at your phone screen when it freezes doesn’t count.”

“You’re insufferable,” She points a finger at him, making him giggle like a child. Silence finds them then, the kind she had been aching for since the moment her past came showing up at her door. 

Tipping her cup back, she welcomes the rough ice cube stinging her tongue as she settles into her frigid thoughts. Now that she’s calm, she figures it’s time to face her demons.

She laughs at herself. If this is how she melted down when hearing he was back, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like when she came face to face with him.

“Y/N.”

“Hm?” Something about Seungmin’s tone quickly snatches her attention, her composure dissipating at the scared look frozen in his features. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

In slow motion, he looks up from his phone in his hands, swallowing heavily. “It’s… it’s Chris. He said he’s here.”

Oddly, a memory finds her then, one she hadn’t thought of in over two years. A memory of her and Chris running down the street late at night, hands clasped tight and road lines a blur, his dimpled smile brighter than the street lamps guiding their path. She can’t remember what they were doing that night, likely goofing off, she just recalls the bliss he brought her when life was too terrifying to face. 

All she felt now was dread at the sound of his name- to the point of vomiting all of the cherry 7-up churning in her stomach.

“What do I do?” Her body moves into action, rushing to her feet and knocking the bar stool onto its side. The crash makes him wince, but he’s just as panicked as she is. “Where is he?”

“I-I don’t know. He’s probably on his way up the stairs-”

She never would have pictured the sound of a rooftop door opening being the sound to freeze her blood. The last sight she sees before dropping to the floor and crawling around the bar is Seungmin’s eyes wide with fear. 

“Chris! W-wow! I almost can’t believe my eyes!” If she could, she’d kick Seungmin for his lack of acting skills. 

“Is this a bad time?”

If she were an artist, this would be the point in the process where her hand slips and makes an irredeemable mistake across the canvas. She supposes that’s why Chris is the artist, not her. The sound of his voice is a dent in her plans, a deeper pothole in the road than she realized. No, not a pothole. A ditch. And her car is heading for it at 120 mph. 

“No! That’s silly. What makes you think it’s a bad time? We’re closed, man! I’m the only one here! Don’t be ridiculous! I’m alone!”

Squeezing her eyes shut, nausea bubbles in her stomach and toward her throat. If Seungmin blows this- no, Chris couldn’t possibly know she’s here. She’s not ready. And how is she going to explain this to him if he sees her? He probably doesn’t even know her and Seungmin are friends.

“Okay,” Chris drags it out, sounding a distance away even though there are mere feet separating them. The tense atmosphere spills into the floor and snakes around her ankles as the boys greet each other normally, sounds of reunion and happiness filling the air. How is this possible? Y/N really went and dug the ditch herself. “How’ve you been, man?”

“I’ve been… well, the same. Rebel has been booming with the usual guests. Boss hired a new hostess though and she’s a pain in my ass.”

The second worst sound-the song of her lover’s laugh- fills the night air. The same night air that offered her answers moments ago now closed in on her. “I’ll never get over seeing you mad. It’s like watching a baby throw a tantrum. Precious.”

“I see you’re your usual chirpy self.”

“I try.” There’s a pause, one that makes Y/N start sweating. As if she hasn’t made too many, she makes another mistake. She can’t help herself. Chris is here in the flesh, and it’s been two and a half years since she was last near him. Before she knows it, she’s peeking around the corner of the bar. 

Her heart nearly gives out at the sight of him looking in her direction, throwing herself back behind the bar. Her back’s painfully pressed into the wood behind her, praying silently and heart slamming. Pleading that he didn’t see her, she sighs in relief when he says, “Hey, Seung? Why is there a stool knocked over?”

“Oh. That.” Her eyes widen, sweat gathering all over her body. Clenching her teeth, she mentally spews out all of her anger at Seungmin. “Well, what do you think? You think I snuck a girl up here or something? That when you told me you were here, I told her to scram and she knocked that stool over in a rush?”

Silence. 

Her heart’s beating so loud, Chris must hear it. Instead, his laughter plays like the piano chords it is. “You’re something else.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“You should.” Chair scraping. Like a child and an electrical outlet, she can’t help tempting the danger as she peeks out again, promising herself it’s the last time. How stupid can she get? Seungmin’s blocking her vision, her heart yelling at him to move out the way and her brain telling her not to look. “I just wanted to drop by. I’ve missed you. And, well, I’ve been visiting all the people I haven’t seen. It’s been a minute. Too long of one”

“It really has. Are you back for good?”

“I am,” It’s a mistake, peeking to see him that second time. Once Seungmin moves, unveiling the man that took her heart hostage, she can’t submerge from the tsunami anymore. She’s lost at sea. 

His hair’s the color of the marshmallow cake he made for her birthday once. Cut short on the sides, bangs framing his forehead. He used to complain about having bangs. 

And she always used to tell him how effortless he made beauty look. He would only laugh it off, never one to dwell on appraisal. 

His style hadn’t changed, a dark red dress shirt with a couple buttons undone off the top. The Venus chain necklace he had never taken off still hanging around his neck and glimmering beneath the rooftop’s fairy lights. Even from here, she can recognize that necklace anywhere. 

Eyes welling with tears, she scoots back to her previous spot. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she claws at the knot around her heart, threatening her. In the span of his absence, she somehow managed to fool herself into believing she’s fine. 

“Well, that’s good to hear. I imagine you’ll be dropping by to get your usual dinner one of these days.”

“Yeah…” A stifling pause, “Shame the food won’t be perfect anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Food only tastes perfect when the perfect person is with you to share it.”

Y/N slowly raises her head, a storm spilling on her cheeks, wondering if it muddled her hearing somehow. Did she hear him right?

“Ah. I see.” Ask him, Seungmin. Ask him what he means. Ask him about it.

Ask him anything. 

“Sorry, man. I don’t mean to dump anything on you. I just got caught up for a moment. This place brings up a lot of buried memories, you know.” A clap, likely on a shoulder. “I’ll be going now. Have some other stops to make before I call it a night.”

“Alright. Don’t stay away too long. I need to hear all about what you’ve been up to. I remember how excited you were about the expedition.”

She doesn’t. All she remembers is the despair raw on his face, his pain on display like a true tortured artist. 

“Definitely. I’ll catch you later.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Even after hearing the rooftop door slam closed, she doesn’t move. It’s almost unreal, being so close to him with the distance of two years between. She wonders what it would be like if they had somehow made it work all this time. Would she have been the one to pick him up from the airport? She would have been the one to plan the party for him that she’d missed yesterday. 

She needs to move on. 

Chris Bang is her past, and even if he chooses to reappear in her present, there’s no future for them.

“Hey.”

She looks up, Seungmin kneeling in front of her with a hand outstretched. It’s a humiliating moment when she realizes she’s been lying to herself all this time. Now’s the time for her lovely friend logic to return home, gone for so long she barely remembers its voice. It’s a shame, because without logic, all of the improvements she’s made in the last couple of years go out the window. 

Without logic, how will she protect her heart?

With a watery smile, she ignores the look of sympathy on his face as she shakily grabs his hand. She answers the question in his eyes.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

                                                        ~~~~

Closing the front door chases off the small ounce of energy left. Sighing heavily, she stays facing the door for a moment. She had spent most of the ride with Seungmin in silence, thankful for his offer and taking it in her vulnerable state of mind. Just like Chuu, he always knows when not to prod, unbothered by her distance and silence.

Hearing a bag zip up, her gaze trails to the living room where Chuu’s in the middle of shouldering her backpack. Without acknowledging Y/N, she moves to walk past her and to the stairs. Odd, even for Chuu.

“Hey,” Slides from Y/N’s mouth awkwardly, confused. 

Startled at the greeting, Chuu looks at her wide-eyed before blurting, “I forgot I have to call my mom! I’m headed up to my room.”

“O-kay,” Y/N mutters, eyes following her as she rushes up the stairs. Before dwelling on it any further, Minnie comes down the stairs past Chuu, her gaze clouded and filled with warning. 

“Is Chuu okay?” Y/N treads carefully, walking over to the couch and throwing herself across it, all of her efforts in trying not to think about Chris. Trying to block his voice out, his face, him. She’s completely drained. 

“She’s fine,” Minnie’s voice is clipped, cold. Y/N doesn’t bother to figure out what she’s upset about this time. She’s surprised when Minnie hovers over her from the back of the couch, cup in hand and eyes staring down at her.

“What?” Y/N says, utterly defeated.

“Are you okay?”

“It seems like that’s everyone's favorite question these days.”

Minnie keeps on staring at her. Taking a sip of her drink, she takes her time before speaking again. “Yeji told me about Chris. Makes a lot more sense now why you got wasted and embarrassed me last weekend. I’m sorry I… haven’t been around to be there for you.”

Y/N doesn’t know what to say. Truth be told, she wouldn’t have expected this type of response from her. Ever. “It’s… fine.”

“I mean it,” Minnie walks around the couch and takes a seat near Y/N’s head. She stares at her roommate at an awkward upside-down angle, noticing her voice is uncharacteristically soft.“I haven’t really been myself. I never thought I would be one of those girls that changes when she’s in a relationship. It’s no excuse, but ever since I met Hongseok, he’s all that fills my mind.”

Sitting up, Y/N’s hand gently squeezes Minnie’s shoulder. “You haven’t done anything wrong. That’s normal. You’re in love.”

“Yeji would disagree with that. She always has something to say.” Sometimes Y/N wonders how the two of them haven’t killed each other.

“You know her. It’s not hard to make her shit list.”

“True,” Minnie stares forward, sipping from her cup every few moments. The longer Y/N sits with her, she realizes how nice it is to be around someone who’s unafraid to be themselves. Minnie can be overbearing more often than not, but on the flip side she’s as honest as they come. She doesn’t tiptoe around Y/N or make her feel like she’s a ticking time bomb. 

“It’s just been a lot to process. I feel like since I’m on the go with school and work, with all of these things on my mind, I can’t even begin to process that he’s back. It’s hard to describe. The last time I saw him was… well, it’s stained in my head like a bad tattoo. And I thought the wound had healed. I’m such an idiot. I thought I’d react well if I ever saw him again. That’s… definitely not the case,” Strangled laughter bubbles past her lips. 

Minnie peers at her for a couple seconds before lying her head on the back of the sofa. “I’ve never been in your shoes before. I’ve never dated anyone like you have, never had a bond like the one you had with him. I mean, it’s so rare these days for there to be guys like Chris…” Quickly, she continues, “I don’t mean to make it worse. I’m just bringing it all up because why are you being so hard on yourself? Everyone moves on at different paces. Even if you moved on, it doesn’t make it any easier when you see someone you loved for the first time in a long time. You’re human, Y/N. He used to be the guy that had power over your heart. It’s not something you can just bury.”

“I just wish… I don’t know.” Y/N hates that she feels the urge to cry again. 

“You’re not going to figure everything out in one night. Go easy on yourself. Just promise me that.”

Easier said than done. Regardless, she knows Minnie’s intentions are pure. “Okay.”

Minnie stands up, hand finding Y/N’s thigh and squeezing comfortingly before rising to her feet. She takes her time heading for the stairs, pausing at the bottom before looking over her shoulder. “It’s not your fault that he left.”

Those words haunt Y/N long after their conversation, repeating in her head like a jammed radio. 

As she lay in bed that night, a blanket protecting her from the smiles of her ghosts, Minnie’s words replay. 

She understands the sentiment, even recognizes the sincerity. 

Only problem is, she doesn’t agree at all. 

After all, it’s her fault everything fell apart. If it wasn’t for her, she and Chris would still be together. 

That’s what’s poking at her, why it’s so hard to imagine facing him. How can she face him when she can’t even face herself? How can she confront the reality that she’s the reason he’s left with a scar, one she imagines have darkened his hands and his paintings?

His muse? Please. She must be his worst nightmare.

❁     ❁     ❁    ❁     ❁     ❁     ❁

Day 10, Then 

The pop music flowing from different stores contrasted with the gloomy weather overhead. Glancing up at the rumbling clouds in dismay, she found herself wondering why anyone in their right mind thought it was a good idea to build an outdoor mall. 

Looking around at the passersby, it would seem like they didn’t care if it was moments from raining. Bundles of teenagers gathered, filming videos on their phone and talking way too loud. Older couples were the only ones rushing for cover, complaints falling in the space between her and them as they rushed past. 

The longer she spent wandering aimlessly, the more close she was to giving up. Yes, her dad insisted on her going out and spoiling herself. The thought only filled her with guilt. Even when he was far from being healthy, he still wanted to take care of her. He worried about her, when he should’ve only worried about getting better.

At the thought of her dad, weights built up and suffocated her chest. She couldn’t do this, not now. Sighing heavily, she turned on her heel and headed back the way she came. If she rushed, she could make the next bus back to campus. 

Right as the edge of the mall came into view, a large neon sign snagged her attention, pausing in her footsteps. 

Painters. A soft neon pink sign, more inviting than any other sign she’d seen so far. Its soft letters reminded her of pink lemonade. Unlike the name, it appeared to be a shoe store rather than an art supplies store, which is what she expected. 

Shaking her head, the rain began its gentle dance on the concrete around her. Not long after, gentle kisses found her exposed skin. Y/N moved to walk past the store, but her legs came to a stop without much thought. Glancing at the bright array of shoes in the window, she realized that maybe she might find something in there she’d like. That, and it would make her dad insanely happy when she called home tonight, telling him she already bought something for herself. 

Stepping in, she recognized the sad serenade of a Post Malone song playing overhead. The shoe shop was smaller than the more popular brand stores, colorful paper maché lights hanging low from the ceiling. The longer she studied the shop, the more she appreciated it for its individuality. Even the shoes weren’t all the same, offering varieties and brands she never even heard of. 

When she first entered, the first thing to catch any customer’s eye was the big chalkboard in unnecessarily bold letters that read FIRST COME FIRST SERVE FOR EACH PAIR. ONE SIZE ONLY PER PAIR.

“That makes things more difficult,” Y/N uttered to herself.

Wandering down the nearest aisle, an uncontrollable smile tugged her lips at the kids section. Reading the sign above the shelf, her heart tugged in fondness at the realization of just how different Painters was. 

Children designed the collection of kids shoes before being placed out in the store to be sold. More intrigued, she turned the corner and stumbled upon the next section titled Kollege Kids. Their designs were more professional but had just as much character. Personally, she preferred the kids’ designs.

She scoffed in disbelief. Prior to this moment, she had no idea stores like this even existed. Her eyes trailed to the top right corner of the shelves in front of her. A pair of high top converse, all white save for the drawings of the milky way galaxy in blue and orange ink. 

Taking them off the shelf, she was launched back into her conversation with her dad a couple nights ago, a younger version of her racing down the road holding her daddy’s hand wearing her favorite orange and blue sneakers. 

Staring down at the sneakers, she realized how important it was for her to get them now, the uncanny nostalgia from them pressuring her into the purchase. Just then, she was reminded of the obnoxious sign at the front of the shop about how each pair had one size only. 

Closing her eyes, she willed the sneakers to be her size before pushing the tongue back to see. Deflating, all hopes of having these special shoes washed away as she slammed them back down on their designated spot. 

“I understand the frustration.”

She turned then, eyes finding the guy who was staring at her from the end of the aisle. Her eyes washed over him quickly, eyebrows rising in curiosity at his button up pushed to the forearms and an art apron tied loosely around his hips. She connected the dots a beat too late that he was an employee. 

Noticing her confusion, he smiled slightly as he grasped the apron with two fingers. “This? Yeah, it’s an… interesting choice of uniform. My boss is an eccentric gal. It fits the theme, don’t you think?”

Y/N nodded, unsure of what to say. Turning back to face the shoes, all sense of desire to buy anything was completely gone. Those sneakers were it, and since they weren’t her size, there was no use. The eccentricity of the store was fresh and amazing until a person realizes the shoes they love don’t come in their size.

The employee stepped closer, putting up a pair of sneakers near her. Stepping aside a bit, she found her eyes found his again as he continued to observe her. What was this guy’s deal?

“I was just looking around. I’m not going to buy anything,” Y/N decided on, hoping it was enough to get him to leave her alone. It wasn’t.

“Really?” He sounded unconvinced. Nodding at her- well, the pair of shoes- he crossed his arms as if he were all-knowing. “Seems like your heart was pretty set on those. I can see why. They’re pretty kick-ass. I’m assuming they weren’t your size?”

“Yeah, they weren’t,” She said wistfully, ready to go back to her dorm and never come to this shop again. 

“Hate when that happens.”

Turning to him, ready to snap, her mouth shut on its own as her eyes found his face. There were no ill intentions behind his gaze, only empathy. Her eyes wandered on their own, his dark hair short and neat but his eyes suggesting a more wild existence. Even the way he wore his uniform suggested he was barely following the rules. 

Her eyes trailed to his shoes, dark maroon boots with doodles drawn on it with- was that brown sharpie? Feeling his eyes on her, they quickly jumped back to his face. Dimples appeared and softened his presence even further, catching her in the act. 

Mouth parting, trying to justify what probably looked like she was checking him out, she didn’t need to say anything as he headed back the way he came. 

“There’s plenty of magnificent shoes in here. I hope you find another pair that makes you feel the way those did,” He called over his shoulder. Stopping at the end of the aisle, he turned back and gave her a look she didn’t quite understand. “It might be hard, but some shoes just aren’t the right fit. And it’s because the ones that are will own your heart more than you realize.”

Her heart was racing after he disappeared from view and she couldn’t figure out the cause. Was it the guy? No it couldn’t have been. Was it the shoes? Definitely not. His words… how could someone be so wise when they were just talking about shoes?

Afraid to be seen by him again, she peeked from behind the aisle she was in, and once the coast was clear she made a beeline for the door. Just as her hand pushed open the door, she felt the strong urge to look back. So she did. 

The guy from before was in the middle of placing another pair of shoes on a nearby rack, arm outstretched above his head. Instead of his attention on the task at hand, his eyes were watching her as she left. 

Heart jumping, she caught the edge of his smile before she rushed out the store.

Day 14

Another day, another night of drowning in assignments.There were points where thoughts of her dad crept in, but she buried it as the stress of her work washed over. Sometimes, she craved a break.

She didn’t have the time for that. 

The break would be possible if she didn’t have a job interview in two hours with the bakery down the street. Gogo’s  was its name, and she had been looking for a part-time position that had flexible hours and leniency. Since it was nearby, she hoped she was set for the school year. To keep herself from panicking, she put all of her energy into trying to finish some homework beforehand.

For once, she was grateful for the distraction when Yeji called her. As she typed away at her laptop, she put her on speaker.

“Y/N! Come out with us!”

“I can’t today. Sorry.”

“Hold on.” There was the usual sound of crinkling and she shook her head, knowing what was coming. Like clockwork, there was Hyunjin’s signature confused sounds before he greeted her. 

“Hey.”

“Sorry, the answer’s still no.”

“Why, though? It’s been ages since we hung out.”

“I feel like I experience déjà vu whenever I talk to you these days. College has made you two really clingy,” She held back a smile at Hyunjin’s sound of disbelief.

“And college has made you really crabby and mean!”

“I’m flattered,” Y/N said, coming off a lot more colder than she intended. She hoped he understood. Being an engineering major was kicking her ass. The silence made her feel guilty, so she added, “I probably would but I have a job interview in a bit.”

“Oh. Well, why didn’t you just say that?”

“Because if I told Yeji that, she’d want me to skip it. You know her tendency to think everything’s a game.”

“True.” 

The two of them chatted for a few more minutes before she hung up, signalling it was time for her to get ready. Her stomach was a bundle of nerves as she attempted to mentally prepare herself for the interview, heading for the shower. 

When she got out, Chuu was on her own bed scrolling through her phone. Every now and then, she would glance over at Y/N as she shuffled back and forth throughout the room. 

“You seem nervous,” Chuu quietly noted.

“I am. But things will be okay. Whatever happens, happens.”

“Right.” As Y/N did a onceover of her hair, Chuu came up behind her in the mirror. Her head tilted up, nodding firmly at her. 

“You got this.”

Somehow, in the short time she had gotten to know the girl, she had the uncanny ability of making things feel okay- even if for a moment. With one gesture, with brief exchanges- Chuu’s strength filtered through her veins.

“Thank you.”

                                                        ~~~~

By the time Y/N made it back to her dorm, Chuu was nowhere to be found. Knowing her, she was probably holed up in the nearby library- she was the type that couldn’t get work done anywhere else. 

She weighed her options, knowing she should probably work on her homework. For once, she allowed herself some time to relax. Changing into her favorite pajamas, she grabbed her keys and left her dorm, heading for the convenience store downstairs. It really was handy to live on campus. 

After she grabbed her favorite Jalapeño chips and an orange juice, she got in line. Her thoughts wandered, not really paying attention to her surroundings. That was, until she heard two very familiar voices. Before she could even look for the source, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as Hyunjin’s citrus lip balm filled her nose. 

“I thought that was you.”

“Hey, Honey,” she said, pushing him off of her. Looking dejected, his attention was snatched by something nearby, disappearing as quick as he came. Yeji sidled up next to her in line, shooting a dirty look to the person behind Y/N. As if the person waiting in line was the one in the wrong. 

“How was your interview?” She asked, smacking the gum in her mouth. 

“It was good,” It really was. Y/N didn’t want to jinx it, but she was confident she got the job. 

“You probably got it. It’s you,” Yeji sighed, stretching her arms out. Little comments like that always reminded Y/N that as loud and aggressive she could be, Yeji tried her hardest to show her affection in other ways.

“Thanks,” Y/N coughed out, reaching the front of the line. As she paid, Yeji filled her in on her night. At first, she wasn’t paying too much attention to her words, expecting her to complain about Jisung again. When she realized that wasn’t her friend’s topic of choice at all, she tuned in. 

“...And I’m actually surprised. I really did have fun. I think I won’t mind if I have to spend time around Jisung, after all.”

“Glad you had fun,” Y/N deadpanned, leading the way out of the line and trailing over to Hyunjin. He  was at the dessert aisle and having trouble deciding between a Twinkie and an Oatmeal Cookie. 

“You weren’t listening, were you?” Yeji accused.

“I was!” She responded, but Yeji didn’t believe her.

“It’s kinda weird, though. I thought Jinnie here was being dramatic when he said Chris makes everything better. The guy actually does.”

Y/N nodded her head at her words, wondering what Chris could’ve possibly done to get in Yeji’s good graces. It was hard to please her. 

Hyunjin grabbed both desserts in one hand before turning to Y/N and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Bummer you couldn’t meet him tonight.”

“Come on, he can’t be that great. You’re hyping him up like he’s Tom Holland or something.”

“Okay, don’t take it that far,” Yeji gasped. 

Hyunjin shook his head at her before hitting them both with, “Well, I-” slamming down the sweets in front of the clerk- “think he’s better than Spidey boy.”

Yeji blew a breath out. “I’ll admit he’s cool but no one tops Tom.”

“Not even Tobey? Give me a break.”

“I’ll break your arm and we’ll call it a day.”

The clerk watched the two, wide-eyed, and Y/N could only pretend she wasn’t their friend as she headed for the door. As they all headed for her dorm, she listened to them continue to rave about this guy. It was almost ridiculous how much they idolized him. 

There couldn’t be anyone better than Hyunjin, at least in her book. Though she didn’t like him like that, her best friend had set the bar high for her in how she expected good guys to be. Hyunjin was kind, selfless, and did the best he could to make anyone feel like they belonged. He was the lantern that everyone was drawn to in the dark. 

So, yeah, maybe this Chris guy was cool. But to Y/N? It seemed like they were just buzzed about getting along with someone new. 

“...You’ll like him, Y/N. I know you will,” Hyunjin gave a firm nod, stuffing his entire cookie in his mouth, “Swell guy,” he added, crumbs flying out and toward the girls. Yeji shrieked, hands reaching out and slapping him hard on his arm. 

Y/N scolded him, but not before she laughed at his puppy dog face, hands up to block Yeji’s hits as he still continued to mumble with a full mouth.  She laughed, “You’re so gross.”

“And so are you! Don’t forget I have dirt on you,” He pointed at Y/N before moving over to Yeji, “And you, too.”

“Whatever,” She sighed, leading the way off of the elevator. She wasn’t surprised at all when they followed her. “Anyways, I’ll meet him next time.”

As she unlocked the door, Yeji leaned in and tried to be quiet as she whispered, “He’s so fine, Y/N. He’s going to be the man of your dreams, watch. I’m going to be dreaming of him tonight.”

Hyunjin choked on his twinkie, shoving Yeji right into the doorway. As she yelped, he shouted, “Ew! You’re so thirsty! Go find someone else to fantasize about. You’re not allowed to like my friends.”

“Why not? You gotta admit he’s hot!”

“And? You’re my cousin. I’m trying to save him from your crazy ass.”

“You’re such a brat. I don’t even want him like that. But finally you have a fine ass friend. Thought having a family member my age meant more hot friends. Guess not.”

“Both of you relax. Didn’t expect a guy to come between the two of you,” Y/N grinned at her own joke as the two of them proceeded to aim their fire at her. After a while, the fire went out on its own as they lounged lazily on her small bed, chatting about random things that came to mind. 

Even though they drove Y/N crazy sometimes, she knew that without them, her life would’ve taken a completely different path otherwise. 

“Hey, I forgot to mention! Not sure if you remember, but we made plans with the guys on Saturday to go to Kev’s. It’s for Chris’ birthday. I really want you there,” Hyunjin announced out of the blue, Y/N’s eyes leaving her computer.

Kev’s was an entertainment place that had blown up over the past couple of years. It was a mix of an arcade, sports bar and bowling alley- talk about indecisive. She had only been there once back in high school for a birthday party.

Tilting her head back and forth in thought, she eventually nodded. “I think I can make it. I don’t have much due this weekend, surprisingly.”

“Nice! Okay, I’ll ask CB if he can scoop you up.”

“Why can’t you pick me up?” She asked, not liking the sound of riding with a guy she barely met. 

Hyunjin avoided eye contact, which led to Yeji answering for him. 

“He’s picking up his new girlfriend, that’s why. He’s ditching us and handing us over to his weird friend,” Yeji blurted, before gasping and exclaiming, “I need to think of what to wear.”

“Wait, you have a new girlfriend?” Y/N asked, spinning in her desk chair to face him.

Hyunjin gave his cousin a look before he sighed and said, “No, I don’t. Not yet, at least. I’m just seeing where things go.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well-” Hyunjin looked ashamed- “I don’t know if it’s anything serious yet. I just want to test the waters, you know. And I didn’t tell Yeji, she’s just nosy and happened to overhear me talking to Jisung about it.”

Y/N nodded in understanding, turning back to her desk. It was weird, not because Hyunjin didn’t date, but because it was unlike him to not tell her these things. For the sake of her homework, she decided to let it go. 

“I think I’m going to head to bed,” Yeji yawned, “But maybe I’ll see you before Saturday.” 

“Yeah, I think I’ll head out too,” Hyunjin added, and Y/N rose to her feet to walk them to the door. 

As they said their goodbyes, Hyunjin lingered as Yeji slowly walked down the hall without noticing. Just as Y/N was about to close the door, Hyunjin caught it.

“What’s up?” Her voice came out slow, noting his nervousness.

Licking his lips, he took a deep breath as he searched her face. “I really am sorry I didn’t tell you. It wasn’t like I was hiding it from you I just… yeah, we’ve all had things to do and I just didn’t want to stress you out. You know, with all your schoolwork and… and your dad.”

Up until his last words, Y/N was pretty understanding. At the mention of her dad, she shut down. Hyunjin noticed, too, trying to backtrack.

“W-what I meant by that is-”

“It’s fine, Hyunjin. I’m not even sweating it,” She said, and even to herself she sounded cold. 

“Wait, that was insensitive of me. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. I just didn’t want to put anything else on your plate.”

“Telling me about a girl you like is something to add on my plate?”

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, before saying, “Yeah.” Even he must’ve known how ridiculous that sounded.

Wanting to be irritated, she realized he was only being considerate of her feelings, right? Even if this was the first time he had kept something from her, it wasn’t a big deal. It couldn’t possibly mean anything else. So, she decided to truly let it go.

“Don’t worry, Honey. It’s all good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

[antiquechampagne]

Absolute Zero - Chapter 1

As Angela walked up to the metal door, its presence punctuated by a garish glowing neon arrow, her heart felt like it would blow out of her chest. Goodneighbor. She clutched her thick three ring binder before her, hoping it would give her the strength she needed. Angela hadn’t traveled here alone from Amherst, but she entered the town on her own.

The door was heavy. Angela struggled with it until a ghoul carrying a tommy gun and wearing a threadbare suit topped with a rust colored fedora helped her open it the rest of the way.

“Welcome to Goodneighbor.” He sounded tired.

Before he could walk away, she quickly thanked him. “Could you also tell me where I could find… the Mayor?”

“If ya wanna talk t’ the boss,” he pointed a scarred finger across the courtyard. “Check out the Old State House.”

She thanked him again, but he had already turned away. Taking a few steps closer, she took in the tall brick building. It was stately, definitely pre-war built, but well taken care of given it’s age. It reminded Angela of some of the ruins she played in as a child, looking for long forgotten books or scraps of pre-war gadgets. Glancing around the square, she saw a friendly ghoul manning a general store. She was more surprised to see an assaultron behind the counter of the other shop, one full of dangerous looking arms. It was early evening, but not many other people were on the street.

Standing in front of the State House, Angela took a moment to straighten her bangs, combing her fingers through her chin length blond hair. She wiped some hot sweat from her forehead. Her nerves were shot, but she had to go through with it. It was the only way.

Once inside she was directed to the second floor. She wasn’t sure what to expect. All Angela knew about the mayor of Goodneighbor was that he was a ghoul with a taste for chems. She wasn’t expecting a man clad in a long red coat playing chess with a rather serious looking woman.

“Looks like we have a new guest, Fahr! And this little lady has balls!” He picked a hat off the table as he rose and plunked it squarely over his deeply ridged scalp.

She found herself staring at the hole that had once been a nose as she spoke. “I…I didn’t mean to intrude, Mr. Mayor…” Angela had never been this close to a ghoul before, much less talked to one for so long. Sure, there had been a few ghoul traders around, but she was never directly involved in any commerce activity.

The Mayor drew closer to her, a cocky smirk on his face. “Oh, now don’t be shy, sister! We’re all friends here, right?” He motioned to a pair of sofas in the middle of the large room. Angela had always been on the shorter side, but the Mayor’s bombastic personality made him seem even taller than his average stature. Sitting down across from him did little to lessen it. Angela felt like she was shrinking under his gaze.

“Now, what can this old ghoul do for you today.”

Angela thought he sounded almost predatory. The glowering giant woman with a mohawk standing behind the couch wasn’t helping. She closed her eyes and pictured her family in her head. Releasing her breath, she began.

“Mr. Mayor… my name is Angela. I came east looking for someone who might be in need of my particular set of skills and I heard Goodneighbor would be a perfect fit.”

He cocked a smooth hairless eyebrow. “Oh, really? And what would those skills be?” the Mayor purred, leaned forward on his knees.

Angela opened her binder, leafing through the notebooks, papers and pamphlets stored within. “I am a trained scientist, specializing in pharmacological chemistry. I can synthesize chems of all sorts, medicinal, recreational, even chemical warfare. I’ve spent the past 10 years collecting every formula and recipe I could get my hands on.” The ghoul was leaning farther over, trying to glimpse at the treats she teased in her pages. This was going well. “Get me in a lab with the ingredients I need, and I’ll make you whatever you want.”

The Mayor leaned back in his seat again and glanced up at Fahr, another smile teasing the edges of his deformed lips. “That is quite the compelling sales pitch you have there, especially with the issues we’ve been having lately... but how do I know you can actually deliver? Not many actual scientists around these days… unless you’ve defected from the Institute.”

Angela had no idea what this ‘Institute’ was, but from the way he spoke, it wasn’t a popular around these parts. “I grew up in the ruins of an old university out in the Amherst wasteland. My mom was the town doctor, but I was more interested in books than bodies.”

The ghoul rubbed his chin, seemingly unimpressed.

“Put me to the test, then.” If what she had heard was true, this gamble was worth the risk. “Pick out anything, give me the means to make it, and see what you think.”

“You’re kidding, right?” The woman piped up. “You come in here, and then demand caps from us… just to waste on some flaky science experiment? Throw this pipsqueak out on her ass, boss. We’ve got better things to do.”

“I barely got here with the shirt on my back! Cut me some slack!”

“Now hold on a second,” The Mayor raised his hand. “I think we can work something out.” He spread his hand over Angela’s binder, turning it towards him as he spoke. “I’ll pick a treat from the cookie jar, here… and if Squeaky here can deliver we can have some more negotiations. If not, then I get to keep the recipe.” He stared at her, freezing her to the spot. “Deal?”

She didn’t even hesitate. “Deal.”

Opening the binder to what appeared to be a random page, the Mayor read the title.

“Rocket? Never heard of it. Sounds fun!”

Twenty minutes later the pair led her to the dingy basement of the local hotel, a small crate clutched in her hand, the cola bottle clinking together between the box of Abraxo soap and Jet canisters.

“Hey, Fred,” called Mayor Hancock. “Mrs. Angela here is going to use your bench for a little while.”

A drowsy face popped out from a side room. “Yeah, well… you might want to check upstairs with that. Marowski might not like that.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have a little chat with him right now.” He turned to Angela. “In the meantime, why don’t you get set up.”

The lab was set up in the middle of the large basement. She wished she had more light but began to unload and organize on the counter when Fred appeared next to her. She tried to ignore him.

“Sooo… whatcha cookin’?” His wide watery eyes tracing over the bottles and boxes. He reached out but Angela quickly slapped his hand away from the Nuka-Cola. “Jeeze, sorry man. You don’t have to be like that. I’m just curious.”

Angela placed her binder on the bench top, her hand firmly holding the cover down. She didn’t want anything of hers wandering away while she wasn’t looking.

“Oooh, what’s that?” Fred asked, peering around her with a little hungry smile.

“Mine.” She glared at him. She was already on edge with the pressure of synthesizing chems in an unfamiliar lab, but now she had to be on her guard against possible sabotage. Great.

Just then, Hancock and Fahrenheit came down the stairs. “Okay, a few caps and that’s all squared away. You have an hour. Show us what ya got.”

“Hey, wait a minute there!” Fred stood up tall, puffing out his chest. “Are you guys looking to replace good ol’ Fred?” He shoulders hunched a little. “Say it ain’t so, Mayor?!”

The Mayor threw an arm around the greying chem dealer’s shoulder. “Nah, man. That’s not it at all. You know, with those raiders pouring out from Nuka-World it’s been hard getting a steady supply. Think of her as a possible assistant. This,” he spread his other hand out wide. “is her interview.”

Fred considered the news.

“Besides,” the ghoul continued. “You’ll get to try her goodies out… and it looks like she’s got a couple of aces up her sleeve.” He let Fred go and started towards the stairs.

“Oh, and Fred?” he looked back. “Leave her alone… she’s got work to do.”

Author’s Notes: I have decided to not put chapter titles with this fic and see how I feel about it.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Starcrossed Losers II (Josh Wheeler xReader)

A/N: Loving this thing already, seriously hoping to keep the constant of posting two chapters every week lmao

Words: 2,766

Warnings: Swearing ig

Previous Chapter // Next chapter

Of course. Of course, it was this guy.

Eli fucking Cardashyan, or as I liked to call him, the goblin under the bridge that always copied my answers on every test since we were thirteen. Just like Josh, Angelica and Wesley, I knew Eli from a while back. He wasn’t exactly popular but everyone knew him as the school’s “wanna-be”, I thought he would be dead by now, I’m glad to see I was wrong.

But I can’t believe he’s got the mall for himself. Even worse, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. The mall was neutral territory, everyone could go and hang out with their friends, so the most logical thing is to say everyone had the same right over it. And is Eli Cardashyan the one who gets to have it all for himself? I call bullshit. This kind of situation is what leads me to believe that there is really no god.

“This is who we’ve been scared of?” Angelica complains, “A light breeze could kick his ass!”

“I thought it was gonna be Hoyles,” Wesley adds in a mix of disbelief and disappointment, “this is... Who is this again?”

“It’s Eli,” sighs Josh, he walks towards the bike and examines it, then lets out a childish laugh, “it’s fine, He’s a knock-off Baron Triumph”

And yes, obviously he was. Eli could be an idiot sometimes but he wasn’t a murderer. He went off on his (honestly weird as hell) speech until Josh cut him off.

“Who else is with you? Where is Sam Dean?” Eli scoffs.

“Do I look like her publicist?”

“Sam’s not here?” 

“I’m sorry, it’s just me and my girlf, Mavis” He answers with a smirk.

Josh and I share a look, I shrug and mouth a ‘sorry’, Josh shakes his head, telling me not to worry about it.

“You have the entire mall? You?” asks Angelica.

“Right?! How did that even happen?” I ask in frustration. Wesley mumbles a ‘chill, girl’ that I decide to ignore.

Eli went on and on, and to be honest I think I only understood like fifty percent of what he was saying, part because I wasn’t listening, and part ‘cause the boy has a wild vocabulary. Josh and I looked at each other in annoyance and I knew he was feeling as done as me with the conversation. When I was starting to think this day couldn’t get any crazier, the real Baron Triumph made his entrance.

We all hurl up at the doors and Eli pulls out a set of keys from his pocket, desperately trying to open them.

“Faster, he’s almost here!” says Josh.

“Get your own mall, this one’s mine” Eli grumbles.

“Are you twelve?” I reply, “We’re on the same side here!”

“We’re finna get eaten out here...”

“Not helping, Wesley.” 

“Got it!” Says Eli. The other boys pull him aside and practically rip the chains from the handles, “Hey!”

Josh pushes me inside hurriedly before entering himself. The others soon following after. I hear the door slamming shut and I look over my shoulder to see Eli running behind us; we’re all safe.

We reach one of the halls and Josh stops in awe, it takes me an extra second to stop completely cause I’m still wearing my skates, but when I do I’m just as amazed as him. Behind me, I hear Angelica talk.

“There’s power and air conditioning...”

“Everything is so... clean”

“Still smells like cinnabon”

“Am I still alive?” I look over at Josh, “You sure I didn’t die when you hit me this afternoon?”

“I didn’t hit you that hard,” He replies, still looking around like it was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

“Solar panels on the roof!” Eli sings, “This is an island of paradise in an ocean of poop.”

“What a fancy allegory,” I snicker.

I’ll allow myself to remember, I don’t do it as often as I’d like...

-Flashback time-

What? You thought I wasn’t going to do this? C’mon, I’m a lonely child. All I have are my memories of the good ol’ times, so you’ll be forced to relive them with me. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. (I do, but I don’t wanna brag about it).

“We should go to my place, there’s nothing to do here...”

“Maya, for the last time,” I look at the girl standing next to me, “we told Alex we would meet here.”

“I know,” She whines, “but Hoyles is here and that guy gives me the creeps. I heard he tried to have sex with Ashley Miller while she was completely wasted”

“Sounds like Hoyles,” I nod in agreement, “but we can’t scatter everytime we run into them. We’re not little kids anymore, he can’t hurt us”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” She points to the opposite corner, Hoyles and his gang are terrorizing a freshman and the people around does nothing but move away.

“Can you belive that?” I start to walk towards them but Maya grabs my arm tightly, “What?”

“Don’t be stupid,” She rolls her eyes, “don’t even try to stop them, seriously, they won’t stop and you’ll get harassed.”

“It’s a freshman!” I insist, “Hoyles is like three times his size! You can’t expect me to do nothing”

“Listen,” my friend raises an eyebrow, “Y/N, those guys are crazy, please...”

I look back at the boys and realize they’re no longer there, I turn to her in defeat.

“I just really hate bullies, okay?”

“Let’s face it, we don’t have the ability to stop them all.”

“To stop what?” 

I quickly turn around and see the person I’ve been waiting for: Alex, my best friend since childhood. My mood switches instantly and I shrugg it off, already starting to forget.

“Just the usual dumbassery,” I reply with a chuckle.

“Hey loser,” Maya adds, “you’re late.”

“Yeah, I know” Alex nods awkwardly, “lost track of time again, sorry.”

“What was it this time?” I ask, “youtube or the comic?”

“Youtube,” He smirks, “vine is honestly a national treasure.”

“Sure,” I snort, “too bad is dead now.”

“Those who are great live the shortest lives,” He replies with his ‘wise old man’ voice.

“So,” Maya hops between us and puts her arms around our shoulders, “you want to look around?”

“I wanna go see the skates,” Alex adds, basically vibrating, “they have a new model and I wanna try them on.”

“The skates place, then,” My friend nods and pulls us with her.

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

A loud bang brings me back to the present and I remember why were we hiding here in the first place.

“This way, quick!” Eli tells us before he starts running. I move fast since I’m the only one with wheels on her feet. And soon most of them are behind me. Eli presses a button on the keychain he has, and the metal curtain lifts up enough for us to get in. “Go under, we’ll be safe in here...”

As soon as Josh, Angelica and I get in, the curtain comes back down.

“What the hell?” asks Josh.

“I’m not sharing my kingdom with you, sheep. No one busts into Eli’s mall. And don’t even try to escape.”

“We weren’t trying to escape, you brainless leprechaun!” This is unbelievable, I swear, I just want out of this day, “We’re running away from the monster that's on your side! You won’t make it on your own against Triumph, he’ll find a way to get in and eat you”

“Every door is locked or booby-trapped.” A laugh distracts us from the discussion and I see Wesley next to Eli... on the other side.

“Booby,” He chuckles. He’s been smoking, so you can’t expect him to behave.

Eli groans. Josh steps closer and smirks.

“Wesley Fists lead the state in sacks last season. Take him out, Samurai.”

“To fight someone so obviously inferior would be dishonorable.” He raises a brow. Eli shows us both of his middle fingers.

“Great,” I throw my backpack on the floor and walk away from the curtain, “this is only getting better and better...” 

“One punch, Wesley, come on,” Josh insists, “one punch.”

I let out a sharp breath and sit on the bench a few feet away from them to take off my skates. As useful as they are, I’m starting to feel sore and they’re not the most comfortable thing to wear after a few hours of running. While I’m doing so, another memory comes to mind and I’m unable to stop it.

Where was I? Oh, right...

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

“I think these are more you’re style,” I grab the bright, lime-green pair from the right shelf and hand them to Alex, he laughs and examines them for a moment like he’s actually considering the idea.

“I mean, they wouldn’t match any of my outfits but they’d totally be catching everyone’s eye.”

“Isn’t that the point, though?”

“Obviously,” He shakes his head pretending to be offended by the question, “though I think I’ll have to pass this time. I already made my choice.”

He shows me a pair of white-colored ones.

“Dude, are you serious?” I grab the skates and raise them to his eye level, “These are the most boring pair of skates ever”

“Now they are,” Alex moves my hand slightly so he can see my face, “but I bet that you can turn them into a masterpiece”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Please, Y/N don’t play dumb, you know I love your drawings”

I blush at his reply. Sure, I like drawing but I’m no Van Gogh at it. The best thing I ever drew was probably a worm.

“You’re telling me you’d spend your money on the newest model of skates just to ruin them with your best friend’s nonexistent skills?”

“To me, their value would go up by a thousand if they had your drawings in them.”

“Jesus, get a room!” Maya exclaims beside us, she’s sitting on a small chair, trying random pairs of skates out of pure boredom.

“Shut up!” We both respond quickly. 

He looks at me and I’m pretty sure he’s blushin but I can’t really look at his face cause I’m too embarrassed to do so.

Oh, right. I forgot to mention that I had a crush on my best friend, didn’t I? No, I wasn’t avoiding this topic. I thought it wasn’t important anymore. And it isn’t! I promise it isn’t. Alex is gone, and with him so are my feelings.

Yes, you can laugh all you want cause I was one of those basic idiots who fell in love with their best friend just cause he treats me like any decent human being should. Can you blame me, though? Compared to Hoyles and his team of dickheads, Alex was a fucking teddy bear. 

And the worst part? I’m pretty sure he liked me back. 

We never made a move.

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

A loud scream makes me drop my broken skates and I run back to were Angelica and Josh are.

“What the fuck...” I whisper, clinging to the curtain.

“What the fuck is here with us?” Angelica is the first to ask what Josh and I were wondering as well.

“Ooh, a ghoulie witch,” Eli steps closer, lowering his voice, “once upon a time, she was a normal girl who liked hanging out at the mall. But now she’s got mad powers, and she will fuck your shit up. She is unkillable and she is hangry.”

“There is no such thing as witches.”

“Well, a few months ago there weren’t mutant squirrels or ghoulies either.” Adds Angelica.

“That’s right. And when the witch eats your intestines like spaghetti, you’ll think: I never should’ve dissed king Eli...” He walks backwards and leaves us here with fuck knows what.

“I swear every time he opens his mouth I feel like I’m having a stroke,” Now that I don’t have my skates on, I realize Josh’s taller than me. I barely reach the tip of his nose.

“Don’t worry, I’ll convince him to let you out.” Wesley says, “I’mma go full Gandhi on his ass. Hunger strike.”

“Easy there, we don’t want to traumatize him for life” I reply dryly.

Angelica and Josh step back from the curtain and I follow them. We sit on the bench and I look at my skates, cursing under my breath. Josh notices and gently nudges my side with his arm.

“Sorry about that. We can find a new pair somewhere around here if you want.”

“I hope so,” I kick them and they slide miserably on the floor, the wheels almost fully worn out, “I really liked them.”

“You used to skate a lot? Before the nuke,” He asks in curiosity.

“Not at all. I didn’t even know how to use them,” I laugh lightly, “my best friend used to, though. He promised he would teach me one day but... things didn’t go as planned.”

“Is he..?” He leaves the question open but I understand perfectly what he’s trying to say.

“Fuck, no,” I feel a shiver going down my spine just by thinking about it, “we wanted different things, that’s all. He had a plan and I had another. Alex wanted to leave town and travel around the country now that we’re free to do whatever we please. I just wanted to find my sister.”

“And where is she?”

“She turned into a ghoulie, so I... I took care of it.”

“Shit,” He whispers, passing a hand through his hair and looking a little pale, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Again, I’m not gonna talk about this stuff with someone I just met.

“Did I ever meet your friend?” Maybe Josh can tell I don’t want to keep going with the hard topics, and I appreciate his effort to respect that.

“Dunno,” I shrug, softly massaging my feet, “He’s Alex Murphy. Bit taller than me, cool guy...”

“Oh, him,” He nods, then adds, “I have no clue of who that is.”

I laugh louder this time, giving him a gentle push.

“Dumbass,” I shake my head, “anyway, after Alex and I went our separate ways I decided to learn on my own and I think I did pretty well, they’re quieter than cars and definitely easier to control than skateboards.”

“Oh, so you’re still not over that?” He raises a brow, a smirk growing on his face.

“Well, I’m not the one running over innocent people on the street.”

“It was an accident! I wasn’t watching where I was going. I was too busy trying not to get killed by the jocks”

“You sure? Cause so far all I’ve seen you do is nothing but the opposite. If I may give my humble opinion, it's not something very smart considering you’re alone.”

“I was doing well until today,” He sighs.

“I believe you, Wheeler,” I eye him up, “you're not like I'd pictured.”

“Really?” He smiles, “What did you imagine?”

“Kinda like those boys who pretend to be all grown up,” I reply, scrunching up my nose, “the ones that can’t be caught having fun or they’d lose their cool, like some sort of bitter old man in the body of a seventeen-year-old boy...”

“Okay, okay! I get it,” Josh laughs, raising his hands in defeat, “jeez, thanks for the compliments”

“I am complimenting you!” I exclaim, “I’m saying I was wrong and you’re not what I thought you were”

“You did think I was, though”

“Well, at least I had an opinion on you,” I scoff, “I’m sure you didn’t even think of that after we did our school project, I probably just stopped existing in your world or something...”

“Of course not,” It was his time to act offended, “every time I saw you on the hall after our project I made sure to wave at you, remember?”

“How kind of you”

“What can I say? I’m a real-life gentleman.”

I laugh again and pull my shoes out of my bag to put them on.

“Is that the reason why Sam Dean fell head over heels for you?”

The effect was immediate. Josh’s shoulders tense and his smile disappears, he clears his throat and looks anywhere but me.

“Uhm, I don’t really know if she...”

“It’s alright,” I add promptly, “sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad”

“I’m not sad,” He shakes his head, “it’s just that I keep thinking... maybe things could’ve been different if I had said something sooner, you know?”

Trust me, Josh. I know.

Taglist.

@letsbloodmagic 

[skippie89]

Secreting Shadows #3

Aithlyn wasn’t shocked using blood magic to get into the guild, it was used quite often in Vih’thras. Raiden hadn’t appreciated her joke about using his blood since it was spilling out everywhere. As the blood loss was getting to him his flirting was coming on stronger, she had lost count on the amount of times she had to slap his hand away from her ass.

Layla had taken Raiden into another room to get him healed up. Aithlyn couldn’t help but chuckle as he clung on to her and whined that he didn’t want to leave her. His reaction was priceless and thinking back on it only made her grin wider.

“No… I don’t want to go! Aithlyn is staying here so I am too. Bring the healer here!”

Layla looked over to Aithlyn and rolled her eyes, used to his antics already, “Rai, Aithlyn is meeting the boss and you’ll only be in the way.”

“Don’t care!” he declared as he used what little strength he had left and wobbled over to Aithlyn to wrap his arms around her shoulders, “Staying right here!”

Aithlyn bit her lip to contain her laughter, “scary assassin my ass, he’s just a big baby” she thought to herself. She mouthed at Layla over Raiden’s shoulder, “I got this.” Layla just raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms, interested in how she was going to play this out.

“Raiden…” she could feel the intake of breath at her flirtatious tone. Tilting her head slightly she was able to run the tip of her nose over his ear, he shivered in instant reaction, before stopping her lips beside it and coyly whispering, “If you’re a good boy and go with Layla to get healed up, I’ll do something real nice for you.”

The response was immediate, and he lifted himself off her and staggered over to Layla, not before Aithlyn was able to get a look at the deep blush on his face. Layla’s eyes had widened in surprise, clearly not used to Raiden doing what he was told.

“What did you say to him??”

Aithlyn winked, “That’s a secret.”

“Damn!” Layla laughed, “If you can get Raiden to do as he’s told we’ve gotta keep you around.”

“Oi! I’m right here you know!”

“Yes, yes. Now let’s get you all healed up.”

 So here she was, sitting in the weapons room waiting on the Guild Master. She had sat down on the only available bench, but impatience got the better of her. To distract herself she walked around the room and examined the different weapons. Aithlyn stopped at the beautiful set of sais, picking them up she decided to test them out. They had good balance, heavy enough that they’d assist in adding impact damage but light enough that they wouldn’t hinder her speed. They were certainly well cared for, for how clean and sharp they were.

Aithlyn took up her training stance and went through the practice motions of attack. Her mind emptied as her body went through the moves. She realised that someone had entered the room and was watching, but she didn’t stop and followed through with her routine. She had been kept waiting, and so shall they. She felt much better when she finished and returned them to their stand before the person behind her started clapping causing her to turn and eyes to widen.

“You’ve improved Lyn.”

“Adri!”

Screw protocol and appearances, Aithlyn ran at the dark-haired man and jumped into a hug. It had been years since she had last seen him, and he hadn’t changed much. His hair was longer, and he kept it tied back in its usual braid. There were a few new scars, but his body looked as well trained as before. She tried not to scowl at his choice of clothing, they weren’t exactly protective and given his position there would be assassination attempts. You’d think he’d take more care of himself. She knew just how skilled he was, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. Raiden’s injury flashed in front of her eyes and her stomach tightened.

Adri laughed and caught her, crushing her in his arms. For the first time in weeks he felt relief. If she was the one who had been sent, he wouldn’t need to worry anymore. He stood her back on her feet, but they didn’t break body contact.

“Nanethe didn’t tell me that you were the one who put in the request.”

“Well he also didn’t tell me you were the one taking it up. I shouldn’t be surprised though, it’s just like him.”

“True,” Aithlyn took him by the hand and pulled him to the bench. Sitting down beside each other but not relinquishing hold of his hand, “I should have expected it though, Raiden has a lot of your mannerisms.”

“Ha! That happens when you practically raise him.”

Aithlyn smiled and squeezed his hand, “So, Viper, why do you need my help? I’ve met or know of most of your snakes, and they’re not incapable.”

Adri snickered, “That’s a compliment coming from you,” Aithlyn nudged his shoulder with her own, he smiled but then his face turned serious.

“There’s something going on with my network. I know what time the Queen takes a shit to when the Knight Commander tucks herself into bed at night, but there’s a void.”

“A void? You think one of your snakes has betrayed you?”

“It’s still a possibility, that was what I first looked into. It’s like someone stuck a knife into my system. A system that hasn’t failed for going on thirty years.”

“So, you need a fresh pair of eyes.”

“Exactly. I want you working with Raiden on this, he’s one of the few that I truly trust and his skill and intuition rivals even you.”

Aithlyn sniggered, “You don’t need to try and charm me. You can count me in.”

“Thank you, Lyn.”

They sat in silence for a moment longer before Aithlyn decided to broach the subject that they were clearly avoiding.

“He misses you.”

Adri sighs, “I miss him too Lyn, but Nanethe is the King and it’s not like I can give him an heir.”

“Cut the bullshit Adri. We both know that the heir doesn’t need to be his blood, and if it does, he can name one of Valkyrie’s kids as the heir.”

“Valkyrie has kids?!” Adri was suddenly disturbed that his network’s blank spot was bigger than he thought.

“Not yet, she got married last year and I’m pretty sure she’s expecting going by how smug Calen has been looking recently.”

Aithlyn watched as his shoulders sagged in relief and she could see the loneliness and hope in his eyes.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“Oh?”

“I’ll help solve this problem, no charge, and you go visit him.”

“Lyn I’m the Master of the Assassins Guild, I can hardly take a holiday.”

“I’ll stay while you see him, or you can nominate someone to take over things for a while. I don’t care what you do, just go see him. He’s a pain in the ass when he’s moping around missing you.”

Adri laughed, “He bugs you for information, doesn’t he?”

Aithlyn sighed in defeat and put her head in her hands, “Every damn day…”

Adri laughed heartily as he patted her back in condolence. It felt good, he hasn’t been able to laugh or act like this in so long, but then again Aithlyn had always managed to relax people.

“Deal. But can you afford to be away for so long? You’re not exactly unimportant you know?”

“Sure, I can, Calen’s in charge whenever I’m away and he’s used to me disappearing every now and again.”

“You’re a pretty shit Spymaster,” Adri snickered.

“I’m a great Spymaster. I have a nice little system going, Calen deals with the paperwork, jobs and such and I get to be in the field, keeping my skills sharp and protecting the people I love.”

“I feel sorry for Calen.”

Aithlyn laughed, “Don’t. He gets to stay close to Valkyrie so it’s a good arrangement.”

Adri chuckled, “Right, well you better go catch up with Raiden before he does something.”

Aithlyn nudged his shoulder again before standing and walking towards the door that Raiden and Layla had gone through. Adri called out her name, so she stopped and turned her head to look back at him.

“A word of warning, he’s not fond of mages.”

Aithlyn raised her eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Lifting two fingers to her forehead she gave a mocked solute and walked through the door.

 When Aithlyn entered the room she looked around, from the cluttered treasure stuffed into almost every available space she could only assume that it was a vault of sorts. The treasures certainly were interesting, and she briefly wondered if their previous owners were murdered or if they were simply stolen. Her fingers itched as she noticed what looked to be an alchemy table, some of the ingredients were very hard to come by, but then a slight shift in the air around the painting of the ocean drew her attention. Staring at it a moment she noted that she could see the sea moving and a skeletal hand slowly reaching out.

“Haunted,” she thought to herself.

She could hear Raiden from around the corner and he sounded whinier than usual, followed by the sounds of a much quieter and less whiny second person, probably the mage. She walked towards the sounds. Raiden was lying back on a bed of sorts, as the mage stood beside him, his hand glowing blue with healing magic. She noted that at this point he looked exhausted, a combination of the attack and blood loss.

Realising that she was in the room Raiden sat up and swung his legs over the bed, doing everything he could to make her believe that he was fine. Aithlyn knew better though, which was confirmed when he winced as the mage continued healing his wound.

“Well, well, look who survived the viper pit.”

“That was never a worry. How are you feeling?”

“Better for having laid eyes on you. You have nice hands, would love to get stabbed around you again some time.”

Aithlyn scoffed and rolled her eyes, “And here’s me thinking you wanted to stop being a pin cushion…”

“Ha! Honestly though, I’m fine. You get used to it after the first few.”

“I thought you assassins were meant to avoid getting stabbed.”

“We’re meant to avoid death, keep up.”

Raiden winced before turning to start grumbling at the mage and trying to wave him away. From the frustration on the mage’s face he wanted to say something, and Aithlyn was impressed by his restraint when he didn’t. She definitely would have.

“Mi dispiace per lui. È solo un bambino grande.” The mage started at Aithlyn speaking to him, clearly not having expected it, but chuckled as she finished her sentence.

“È vero. Digli semplicemente di tenere la mano sulla ferita e lasciare che la magia funzioni.”

“Lo farò.”

With that, the mage took Raiden’s hand and placed it over the wound and giving him a fierce glare. He turned to Aithlyn and gave a small smile before bowing and walking out the door. Raiden, who had been watching the entire interaction narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he looked at her.

“I didn’t know you spoke mage.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“Mages are weird.”

“Well that mage healed you, you could stand to be a little nicer. He said to keep your hand over the wound as it heals.”

No sooner had she spoken, he moved his hand back a bit to look at the wound and grimaced at the sight before looking back at her. Aithlyn realised that she’d need to distract him a bit, so she pointed at the tattoo, “Why flowers?”

Raiden lifted his arm to angle it better for him to see, “I thought the normal design was rather boring,” he blushed slightly, “there used to be a field where they bloomed, but only a few days every year, and I used to pick them as a child and bring them back to Adri.”

“Interesting that you’d gravitate towards the death flower. A bit morbid.”

“What I do is a bit morbid, isn’t it?”

At that point Raiden yawned before glaring down at the magic still knitting his skin together, “too bad this thing is as annoying as fuck, gonna take a while to get to sleep.”

Aithlyn shook her head as she chuckled, “Lie back pin cushion.”

Raiden tilted his head in confusion, and Aithlyn had to admit he looked slightly adorable in that moment.

“I promised you something nice, didn’t I?”

Raiden’s eyes instantly darkened as his face flushed but he did as he was told. Aithlyn felt his eyes watching her intently as she walked closer to him. His brow furrowed when she went to kneel at the top of the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Something nice.” Aithlyn smirked at the glare she received, “I never said it was something sexual pin cushion, you imagined that all by yourself.”

“Cheater.”

“Yep! Now close your eyes.”

“Uh huh…” Raiden quirked his eyebrow but continued to watch her.

“This works better if you closer your eyes, it will help you sleep.”

“Hopefully not sleep permanently,” he joked.

Aithlyn scowled at him and flicked his forehead, “If that’s what I wanted I’d could easily have let you bleed to death earlier. Now shut up and close your eyes or I won’t bother and will just leave.”

Raiden was startled by the look of hurt the briefly flashed across her face and quickly did as he was told. For a moment nothing happened, and he briefly thought she did it to trick him and had walked away. He was about to open his eyes again when he felt her fingers running through his hair.

“Fuck that feels good.”

Aithlyn chuckled but shushed him, telling him to just relax. He was not going to argue with her if she kept doing that. It felt amazing. She applied just enough pressure for him to melt into a relaxed puddle. Raiden fell asleep to Aithlyn playing with his hair and gently humming.

 Aithlyn smiled as she watched Roux walk away from her home. They twirled around and winked at her as they conjured a yellow flower in the palm of their hand and showed the delighted children that were chasing after them, giggling at their antics.

“So, they like daffodils huh?” she thought to herself.

Turning back into the dwelling and closing the door behind her, Aithlyn looked at the scroll that Roux had delivered on behalf of Raiden. She didn’t know why, but she was a little annoyed that he wasn’t wary enough to go out and steal the jousting invitation but was too wary to deliver it himself.

“Whatever,” she muttered to herself.

The joust would happen in two days. That was plenty of time to gather information. First things first, she had promised Roux some baked goods and she was going to deliver. Moving to her kitchen she looked at the ingredients that she had. Holding her chin with her right hand she contemplated what she could bake. Light suddenly moving in the corner illuminated the lemons in the fruit basket and she grinned. Pulling out the rest of the ingredients that she would need, Aithlyn began measuring the amounts that she would need. It was a recipe that she had made countless times and no longer needed to look at a book for the methods, especially having tweaked certain areas to get a better taste.

Many people began to slow as they walked past her window, the smell wafting on to the street was nothing short of delicious. The baker nearby had come out to see what the commotion was and once smelling what was being baked glared in the direction of Aithlyn’s home. It wasn’t the first time that she had shown to be the better baker. Intending to give her a piece of his mind he stormed up to the door and pounded on the wood, only to be shocked as Aithlyn invited him inside. Over an hour and multiple baskets later, the baker left with a delighted grin holding two baskets of goods to sell and a new recipe to start perfecting.

 Raiden had decided to meet Roux in the Pauper’s Crown mid-morning. Not many shadows would be out and about and therefore he was afforded some protection, no matter how little that was. He felt amazingly refreshed for a man who had just been stabbed. Running his hand through his hair he stopped halfway and flushed, remembering just how good it felt when Aithlyn had done it the night before.

Slamming his hand back on the bar he grumbled as he lifted his ale to his lips and took a long dreg of the liquid. He appreciated the way it warmed his stomach, although he’d have to be careful not to drink too much. He needed to keep his wits about him to get back to the guild later. A familiar presence walked into the tavern and it was solidified with the hand clapping his back before Roux took a seat next to him.

“Did you give it to her?”

Roux raised an eyebrow as they gave Raiden the side eye, “of course I did. First thing this morning.”

This caused Raiden to groan and slump against the bar, “And exactly how early was that?”

“It wasn’t that early; she was already up and making coffee.” Roux hummed to themselves as they rested their head into their hand as they placed their elbow on the bar, “she looks really cute in a nightdress.”

Raiden tensed and internally cursed himself for not dropping the invitation to her himself. Raising the drink to his lips he took another long dreg. Shit. He was going to need a second drink soon. Roux continued like they hadn’t noticed the sudden shift in atmosphere.

“Did you know she also likes daffodils? But then again that would make sense with the pattern that was on the nightdress.”

Raiden’s eyes widened and he inhaled the remaining liquid causing him to go into a coughing fit. Roux startled and began to hit his back, trying to ease his discomfort. Before they could ask if Raiden was alright, Nemesis cut in.

“Oi! Elf! I’ve got a delivery for ya.”

Roux turned to her puzzled, “for me?”

“Ai, Lyn dropped this off earlier. Said she figured you’d be here at some point today.”

Leaning down she grabbed what was hidden underneath the bar and lifted a basket covered in tartan cloth and plonked it in front of Roux.

Raiden watched as Roux’s nose twitched at the slight smell emitting from the basket.

“Wait a second! Is that… drool?!” Raiden thought as he watched Roux quickly lift the material.

Hidden under the blanket was an abundance of baked goods. They were the shape of daffodils! The pastry was a golden yellow and the filling smelled like lemon curd. Roux licked their lips as they tentatively reached forward and pulled one from the basket. Raiden watched as they lifted the pastry to their mouth and took a bite. Roux’s eyes widened and let out THE most sexual sound Raiden had ever heard from them, and Raiden had known them since he was a child.

He suddenly grasped Roux’s wrist and pulled the pastry towards him to take a bite. His eyes closed in bliss as the taste assaulted him. The filling melted on his tongue, coating his mouth in lemon that was sweet enough that you craved for more and tart enough that the pastry complimented fantastically.

“Fuuuuuuuuck…”

Roux watched him with disbelieving eyes. Before Raiden could even comprehend what was happening Roux had grabbed the basket and cried out “Mine!” as they ran out the tavern.

(Translations:

“I’m sorry about him. He’s just a big baby.”

“That’s true. Just tell him to keep his hand on the wound and let the magic work.”

“I will.”

I don’t speak Italian, so I don’t know if they’re 100% correct)

[cuthie]

Omru: Mushy Talk

Pandaria.

  Omru had never been to the island of Pandaria before his invitation to the Soju Slam. There was a currency prize for the winner of the drinking competition, as well as some neat raffle prizes. There he had bartered with some pleasant vendors, and had met some of the Alliance races he had yet to see with his own eyes. Worgen, Humans, Void Elves and even a gnome! It had been unfortunate that he misunderstood the rules of the game, however. Om had been under the impression that this would be a test of constitution. Who could drink the nastiest most vile liquid without throwing up? Living in the wastelands of Vol’dun, Om did not have sensitive taste buds. He had been confident entering his drinking bracket, but uh…

  He wasn’t the first to fall down drunk, but he had lost his lunch. Twice. Still, the experience had been worth it. He had met so many people, heard so many stories, and was eager to explore more of the peaceful paradise the bear folks called home. Just, not that night. No, he had to sleep off the booze, first.

  Morning came and he had the biggest headache he had ever experienced. He felt like shit. Usually he was fine camping, that was his preference. He could pack and unpack all his stuff in minutes, not hours. It was his nomadic way of life, laying his head down wherever he felt like it. That day, he instead checked into a Pandaren inn. His sympathetic hosts had given him herbs and some kind of tea to help in his recovery, but he wasn’t feeling up to his usual self until much later on in the evening.

  As the stars began to emerge, Om slowly stepped out of the small wooden building in a set of plated armor. In his mind he had expected that he might fall over or walk slowly, as if in a bog. In reality, the heavy armor wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. He could feel the added weight on his shoulders and pushing down his paws with each step, but with that came power and a level of security. Omru had been training with monks and soldiers, tauren and orcs alike for months and months before joining the Horde officially. After that he had joined the Sons of Varok in battling minions of the Void. Luft, his best friend, had been the first to take notice of his changing physique. Most Vulpera were scrawny scrappers, light on their feet, but not capable of taking a hit. Omru had been beaten senseless in sparring sessions and battles alike. All the training and ass kickings as well as a steady supply of nutritional food had given him a strength he hadn’t ever known. To borrow a sin’dorei term, he was kind of ripped.

  ‘And watch what happens when I assist. Try it now.’

  The beautiful soft voice of the formless elemental had been a whisper in his large fluffy ears. “Alright, here we go.” Grinning, Omru rushed ahead through a darkening meadow of foreign flowers and the scent of, what was that, honey? Again, he had expected to fall flat on his face, but he was moving so fast, it almost felt like it was nothing at all.

‘See? When we work together, it’s much easier.’

  Omru leapt into the air, a gust of wind lifting his body ten feet off the ground before his black furred paws returned to the grass. This whole thing had been her idea, of course, Luft’s. Omru had taken more than his fair share of hits in the Son’s Northrend battles. He needed better protection, and more importantly, he couldn’t rely on the shadow techniques he had learned from ancient Tortollan scrolls years ago. Stealth and teleportation had become instinctual to the fox. He could just concentrate and poof into nothing. It had saved his bacon more than a few times, but when N'zoth's visions had drawn his group of friends and allies into the shadows? It had done nothing but hurt him. He could hear a deep voice calling to him, and worse, he wanted to follow it. Shifting into the shadows was no longer a liberating trick. It had tugged on something within him, convincing him that there was no hope. For a moment he could only feel despair, until the Sons of Varok had snapped him out of it.

  Ever since then, his abilities had become unreliable. They took more concentration, and worse, seemed to tax his body and mind afterwards. It wasn’t worth it. Some people could handle the Void with expertise. Some could use a little tricky shadow magic here and there and get away with it. Whatever had happened in those visions had left a lasting mark on him, and for better or worse, he was now hanging it up.

  Instead he was going to focus on what he could control. Similar to the monks and warriors of the Horde, he would continue to train, weaponizing his body and mind to compensate for his loss of ‘tricks’. Besides, he still had a full backpack filled with helpful elixirs, potions, explosives and enchanted doodads. And now this armor? He was surprised at how natural it felt, and how proud he was. He felt like a little Hukaga in a way. Hukaga was the leader of the Sons. A mountain of a Tauren in full plated Horde warrior’s armor. Omru had watched him cleave Nerubians, Void monstrosities and spectral wolves alike with fierce swings of his mighty axe. Om would never be that tall, that large, that strong, but that didn’t mean he had to be weak. His time amongst the larger races had proven nothing but beneficial, and with Luft’s elemental magicks assisting him, there was no telling what the future Omru would be capable of.

  As the sun dipped down below the horizon, Omru ran and leapt through the grass. Long furry black tail swishing behind him, he was imagining himself clobbering his enemies left and right. Like Hukaga, like Kee, like Loh. 

‘You’re already pretty great, you know.’

  Omru allowed himself to fall backwards, knowing Luft would catch him before he hit the ground, regardless of the added weight. Softly his body was lowered into the Pandarian grass, his bright orange eyes darting from star to star in the sky. “Thanks. You’re pretty great too. You know?”

‘I-’

  Luft flew up into the sky, only a minor distortion in Om’s vision before becoming completely invisible. There was no looking at Luft, usually. Only feeling her presence and hearing her words. ‘I didn’t think I would feel this way about a mortal again. Well, not again. You’re different.’

Omru stuck out his tongue, “Well, thanks for that. Different, not funny or charming?”

‘Oh you’re definitely both of those at times. Also corny and hopeless with maps. For someone who travels a lot, you’ve got us lost more times than I can count.’

“Tell me more about how great I am, please continue.”

  There was a small pause in movement and sound. A full minute of silence, in which Omru’s gut twisted. Had she left? She hadn’t left his side since Winterspring. “Luft?”

‘I’m here. Just thinking on my words.’

“No need to do that around me. Let’er rip!”

  ‘Okay. Well, a long time ago I was summoned to this realm, this plane, against my wishes. Around twenty summers ago, I suppose. My body as I knew it had been ripped away, lost between planes as a goblin child mettled with rituals far beyond his skill or understanding.’

Omru frowned. It was a rough story, but one he had heard before.

  ‘It took me a year to forgive him, maybe longer. But afterwards we grew closer than I had ever been with any of my own kind. I saw him as my adopted mortal child, in a way. I took care of him. So when I lost him to those Naga…’

The Vulpera could feel the moisture in the air around him swelling, as if it were about to rain.

‘Anyways, I ran away. I don’t know what drew me to you, specifically, other than knowing you had that totem around your neck. But, I’m glad I did. If I’m being too forward, you may tell me.’

  Omru blinked. Too forward? She hadn’t said anything new, but maybe she was just feeling weird about the sensitive topic. He himself had felt pretty shitty at Paz’s passing, but for Luft it had to be like she said. A mother losing her son. “No, you’re not. I’d tell you.”

‘We haven’t been together for long, comparatively, but there’s just something about you Omru. I love your voice, I love your deductive reasoning, your jokes, the faces you make. You’re a great friend to me, and without you to help me cope, I may have never come out of this in one piece. I just wanted you to know how much I care for you. I think, perhaps, I hadn’t said that enough to Pazaz. So. There it is.’

  Omru sat up, one ear flickering as he scented the air with an upturned snout. Something sweet was on the wind. Typical Pandaria, maybe. Exhaling softly, Om scratched at the back of his head, “I think that’s natural. We miss the ones we lose, and so we try to do better to remember how to love the ones we still have. I- Let’s get mushy, we’re already there, right? I love you like family. I’ve never been close to anyone like this before. I’m not saying we should go snog, and I’m not even sure how that would work, heh, but uh.. “

‘I don’t think I’m capable of snogging. Being close to you is good enough for me. I wasn’t saying I’ve developed romantic feelings, that would be obtuse. We’re not compatible in that sense.’

  Om grinned, “You sure you don’t wanna have a romp in the hay sometime?” Wiggling his brow line in a corny gesture, he was unprepared for the great gust that shoved him back down into the grass. His body was then rolled through the meadow over and over, the fur around his face rustling as he laughed, “Alright, uncle, uncle! I was teasing!”

  There was laughter in the shapeless elemental’s voice, ‘Uh huh, be careful what you wish for Omru. What do you mortals say? I could rock your world.’

  As the playful display of power stopped, Omru’s head spun for a brief moment after. “Yeah, I believe it.”  Still grinning, the world around him calmed as he continued, “My family and friends are loved from a distance. I meet people, then see them once every few months, sometimes years. Distance doesn’t sap my love for them, never has never will. But this? You and me? I’ve never stayed with someone this long, and it’s been awesome. You’re my confidant, you’re my best friend, you make me feel safe and strong at the same time. And honestly, it kind of worries me that you might up and leave sometime. I’ve never had that fear before, that idea that I could lose someone. I mean, I would always treasure our time together, our stories, our talks. But-”

‘I feel exactly the same. Like you’re too good to be true, or you’ll discover some great imperfection in me that will turn you away.’

  Omru stood up, stretching under the weight of his new plated armor, “Forever is a long time, but maybe we’ll see it together. I’m glad you found me.”

‘Okay, enough mush. It’s training time.’

And with that, the little Vulpera was launched up in the air as if thrown by a mighty Tauren.

“Waah!”

--

[hypnoticnurse]

Your New Home

This update is a it late due to me getting sick last week and my beta reader refusing to let me settle for less than my best. Enjoy!

Astrid stared at the woman with gold eyes in front of her. She drew in a sharp breath when she felt the smooth and cool surface of a mirror under her fingertips. She looked once more at the stranger before clenching her eyes shut.

‘Th...that’s not...that’s me…’

Her eyes opened slowly and her reflection stared back. Astrid moved closer to the mirror until she could only see her eyes. They were completely changed. They used to be a lovely sky blue, according to every idiot that flirted with her. Draconic eyes, through and through. Her pupils were slightly slitted. Now they were a light golden yellow with no white to be seen.

They were unnatural, not something that belonged on a human. These were not eyes that people looked at and ignored. Astrid felt her heart beating faster, a rapid tattoo on her chest.

‘I can just wear a hood and keep it low. Maybe wear a piece of cloth over them. I can make it work when I’m around people.’

Taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Astrid willed her heart to slow down. She looked back into the mirror, into those gold eyes, and stepped back until she could see the rest of her face. Astrid scrutinized each feature and found them to be as she remembered. Ears were still round, a smallish nose, thin, pink lips and skin a healthy light blue.

Her face paled making her skin a thin cloud cover against the sky blue tone underneath it. Astrid tried and failed to draw a full breath. Her vision tunneled as she took in this new horror.

‘No. No. No. NO! I can’t hide blue skin! I’m marked. I’ll never be able to go into a settlement. This is a curse! This is…”

“Ow!”

Astrid rubbed the back of her head vigorously and looked around for whatever hit her. She was at a loss when she found herself alone, with no sign of anything capable of striking her. Then she heard the squawk. The dragon was angry.

“What was that OW!”

Stormfly pecked Astrid between her shoulder blades leaving a burning sting.

‘You don’t understand… how can I work, buy supplies or anything I need to in a human village looking like THIS?!”

Astrid threw up both of her hands, throwing the cloak behind her shoulders and exposing her naked form to the mirror. She looked over her body without seeing anything beyond the blue tint covering her entire body. Astrid could not breathe. She could never return to what she once looked like. She was an aberration.

Astrid flinched when Stormfly roared. She shared images of herself preening and caring for her blue scales. They shined in the sun, a testament to her beauty. The image blurred into Stormfly straightening Astrid’s hair, nudging her mentally into the safety of Stormfly’s presence. It was comforting, pushing away her concerns over her skin color and other changes. Stormfly chittered encouragingly as she took more control of their consciousness and allowed Astrid to relax and push away from her burdens.  

Feeling herself slip further into a semi-consciousness, Astrid watched through her window as her skin became a stronger tone sky blue than before. The realization was like a wave of ice water through her consciousness; Stormfly was starting to change into her dragon body igniting Astrid’s fear of losing herself. Astrid thought quickly over what she could do and chose the one option that worked before.

‘Stormfly… please, don’t change. I… I’m s… Look, blue skin and gold eyes are not normal for humans. I just need some time to adjust. Plus if we change how are we going to get you that, huh?”

Astrid grinned as Stormfly relaxed her will and settled back down. She nearly lost control. If not for Stormfly’s action, she may have surrendered to her panic. Sighing, Astrid pulled the cloak back around her body and prepared herself to find what else was different.

Stormfly caressed Astrid’s hair and breathed soothing coos. Astrid let the tension in shoulders release.

“Stormfly…”

Astrid’s cheeks warmed in embarrassment and welcomed the feel of Stormfly curling around her consciousness. Stormfly’s tail gently pushed her against the dragon’s warm abdomen, giving support emotionally and mentally. She had forgotten the one entity that would never abandon her. She would not face these alterations alone.

Astrid saw the window shutters were closed and the door to the building was closed. She could hear Merida’s soft footfalls in sync with the cloth rustling gently across the wooden floor in the back room. Tentatively Astrid opened up Hiccup’s borrowed cloak and warily examined her new body.

She started from the top and worked her way down. Her once silvery blonde hair was now a darker golden hue, windblown from her flight with Hiccup. Her face remained unchanged in the few minutes since she last looked.

She cocked her head slightly to the right. She felt Stormfly do the same.

Darker hair tone, bluish skin and new eyes. What else?

Glancing below her waist, then her legs, arms and then at each armpit she confirmed that she was indeed hairless below her neck. Her breasts remained unchanged as well. The muscle definition was even better in the mirror. Astrid gave herself an approving smile, appreciating the physical display of her strength.

So I don’t need a breast wrap, but I’m not going to walk around for perverts to ogle. I’ll figure something out.

Astrid pulled the cloak to the side, turned and admired her backside. The muscles in her back were more pronounced and her ass firmed up as well. Unable to help herself, she ran an appreciative hand down her hip. This was what she had envisioned she should look like with all the work she put into staying in battle shape. She now had a body that projected her years of dedication to training and fighting. Regardless of how much she drilled with her fellow guardsmen, there would always be that one pigheaded ass that doubted her skills simply because she had slight curves.

Running her hand back up her side, Astrid paused, as the tips of fingers lingered over tiny, almost imperceptible ridges. She moved closer to the mirror. They made an uneven circular shape, hidden by the dark shadow of the cloak against the firelight. As she ran her hands over her skin, she looked closer. She had scales.

“Huh, wonder if they give me a little more protection.”

Stormfly sent a thought of similar curiosity and together they decided to find a safe way to test the theory out.

Grabbing a log near the fireplace, Astrid tossed it onto the fire and watched the flames slowly crawl over the new fuel like a thousand tiny demons eager for the new meal.

She turned away from the fire as she heard Merida’s footsteps move closer to the door connecting the two rooms.

“Sorry abou’ tha’. Had ta make a few alterations. Had more than a few larger lycanthropes the las’ few rescues.”

Merida walked over to Astrid, a pair of pants, a long-sleeved tunic and a few pairs of boots in her arms.

“Now let’s see how these fit.” She handed the pants and tunic over.

Eschewing modesty, Astrid let the cloak fall open and pulled on the pants. They were a little loose-fitting, but had a cord running around the waist to adjust the fit. The color was a dull gray and made from a sturdy, if coarse wool. They scratched against her bare legs, but it wasn’t unbearable. Tightening them up, she unclasped the cloak and started pulling on the tunic made from the same material.

“My, my. Ah guess you take training seriously.” Merida playfully commented.

Astrid felt her face heat up and quickly jerked her tunic down. The comment was too close to what every jackass in the guard would say when she changed or was seen without her uniform on. She glared at the woman, and found her giving a friendly smile.

“Ah mean’ nothing ta offend, jus’ acknowledging yer efforts.” She handed over three pairs of soft leather boots. “Ah hope one of those works, otherwise you’ll be goin barefoot.”

It was the first time Astrid could remember someone recognizing her efforts without having their ass put in the dirt first. Mentally sighing, she chose to let the comments go.

Astrid took the boots and placed them in turn at the bottom of her foot. She found the second pair to be the closest fit and pulled them on. She looked at the mirror and figured the clothes would work until she found a way to get more. How would she get more clothes? She was without money and honestly had not a stitch to her name. It was all back in her hom… it was all gone. No money, no clothes, no axe. Astrid wiped her hands on her new pants. The room was growing warming, closer, making it hard to get a good breath of air. She was losing control of so many simple things in her life all from one night, last night. There was one way of gaining control of little things, but that took money. Astrid cleared her throat, find enough air to speak.

“I don’t suppose there’s a way to earn a living around here? I...when I…”

Merida’s hand on her shoulder dragged her thoughts back to the present.

“It’s alrigh’. Yer no’ the firs’ soul we’ve helped back ta their feet.” Her voice was reassuring, motherly. It didn’t quite fit the fire she saw in Merida’s ocean blue eyes, yet it did. Astrid was reminded of a mother protecting her child from perceived harm. It was a bit confusing; She was a stranger to Merida and yet she suspected the woman was ready to fight for her safety. She smiled and nodded at Merida, silently accepting the help offered.

“Have ye had anything ta eat since yer first time?”

“No.”

“Och, daft boy. Probably forgo’ his damn bag again! Let’s ge’ ye to tha great hall before ye fall over!” Merida gave her a warm smile and wrapped the cloak over her again. Astrid breathed in worn leather, fresh pine needles, rain, and an undercurrent of smoke permeating the cloak without a second thought and felt a strange comfort in it. She hummed softly.

“He does smell good.”

Astrid froze. Slowly peeking up, she saw Merida giving her a knowing look. She hadn’t been that blatant, had she?  

Merida chuckled and pulled her out of the hut. “Come on, ye can day dream over a hot meal.”

Astrid fell into step next to her guide, disturbed by her budding infatuation. She knew it had something to do with her joining with Stormfly, even if the Nadder had voiced her opinion stating otherwise. Perhaps it was the fact he helped her as she changed. He didn’t fear what she was becoming, there was no hate, only concern. He was concerned about her. Astrid’s cheeks grew warm with the realization. She recalled his evergreen eyes stared into hers, drawing her into the eye of her inner storm. His teeth were slightly crooked, his auburn hair was shaggy and hung just above his shoulders. Astrid remembered looking up at Hiccup when she had been brought to the village, so he was taller than her. He was lithe with lean muscles, and the definition was pleasing to Astrid’s eye.  

Astrid shook her head and took in her surroundings. They had passed a couple of homes in the village and were making their way past more. Each one was similar, a strong door and a glass window on the front, and a stone and mortar chimney coming out of the middle of the homes.

Astrid blinked and looked back at the houses. That’s a glass window. On each home. How can they afford that? It cost me half my monthly wages for a pair of glass jars and they weren’t even that well made. Those windows look high quality. Is everyone rich here?

The road was mostly dirt, but as they walked closer to the great hall the road became paved with cobblestones. She had heard of larger towns doing this, cut back on issues of impassable roads due to mud, but it was expensive. This is ridiculously expensive! How are they able to afford this, or the very least how can Hiccup afford this if he’s in charge here? Is he taxing these villagers into poverty? It doesn’t look like that, I should ask Hiccup the next time I see him, or Merida might know.

Lost in her thoughts again, Astrid hadn’t noticed she was being guided into a seat until her ass hit solid wood.

Casting her eyes about she found herself in one of the two large buildings she saw in the air.  Taking a moment she looked around the inside of the structure. Looking to the right was a solid wall with columns spaced evenly down the length. Between the columns the free space was filled with tables and chairs for villagers to eat, drink, and whatever else they would need. The ceiling arch up, making the center space feel cavernous as she looked up. More tables and benches filled in the rest of the hall all the way to the other wall where matching columns stood. At either end of the hall was a large window allowing in natural light. More glass. The wood along the walls was dark and well cared for as she saw minimal scarring and rot. There wasn’t any decorations or carvings along the walls, they were bare. This should be the center of their meetings and celebrations. Why is it so basic?

Several tables were pushed together end to end, with a growing number of people were finding seats with their breakfast. Astrid found a few couples eating together and more single individuals taking the nearest empty seat. They were mostly close to her age, perhaps few younger and one or two that were clearly older than her. They ranged in body build from slim to slovenly, and the animal characteristics were as varied.  The hall could easily be mistaken for the one she grew up eating in, save for there was no children.

Before Astrid could voice her observation, Stormfly chittered excitedly. Astrid turned her attention to the dragon and had her sense of smell assaulted with the aromas and scents of the mead hall.

“Seems tha cooks have porridge, bread, honey, fish, and chicken available this mornin’. Wha’ would ye like, Astrid?”

“Chicken!” The excitement was not hers alone, Stormfly was practically drooling.

Merida snorted. “Chicken it is.”

Soon enough Astrid found three steaming roasted chickens, each one slightly charred and dripping out their inner juices. Behind them was a fresh loaf of hot white bread, the aroma slightly sweet and welcoming. A jar of honey, and a pitcher of watered wine rounded out Astrid’s immediate breakfast selection. Stormfly was crowing, and doing her version of a happy dance throughout Astrid’s being.

Astrid watched her right hand grab the nearest drumstick and ripped it free. The meat was hot, tender and juicy and tore easily between her teeth. She found it savory, the juices coating over the entirety her tongue and running down her face, eliciting a new spike of flavor as she chewed. When she finally found the will to swallow and be parted from the joy that one bite offered, it slid down her throat like velvet. Each bite a reward. Different and the same. Stormfly crowed and eagerly grabbed the next available piece of chicken to continue the journey of devouring what had been promised and delivered.

Merida calmly ate her porridge with berries and honey, occasionally checking on her newly acquired charge, ensuring she didn’t choke on the food she was inhaling. She couldn’t help but smile at the gusto the blonde was exhibiting in consuming her meal.  

Astrid breathed out in contentment. That was the best chicken she had eaten, ever. Half of the bread and honey were gone. She didn’t even remember eating those. Pausing, Astrid looked down at the scraps in front of her in dismay. Was this another side-effect of her new body? Eating enough for eight men or was this because Stormfly loved chicken just that much?

“Ah will never grow tired of tha’ look righ’ there.”

Astrid looked at Merida’s grin, she seemed to make Merida smile a lot with her actions.

“Donnae worry.  Yer body will adjus’ ta the requirements. Tha firs’ time takes a lot out of ya. Yer whole body was transformed, it takes a lot of energy.”

Merida reached across the table and patted Astrid’s hand.

“Before we find ye a bed, mind if ah ask a few questions?”

“Only if I can ask some in return.”

“O’ course!” Merida beamed and pushed her bowl to the side. “Now firs’ things firs’, wha’ is yer soul creature?”

Astrid furrowed her brow, “Soul creature?”

“It’s wha’ some of us call the beast living inside with you now.”

“Oh. Mine is a dragon, a Deadly Nadder”

“Tha’ is something special there! Only one otha in the village tha’ has a dragon and ye already met him.” Merida gave a wink and Astrid couldn’t fight back the mild warming of her cheeks. Merida motioned for Astrid to ask one of her many questions.

“I saw the paw earlier, what is your soul creature?”

“A bear, big one. Her name is Elinor.” Astrid wasn’t positive, it passed quickly, but Merida looked slightly ashamed.

“Aside from ye pretty eyes, any other permanent changes ye noticed?”

Pulling up her left sleeve, Astrid showed Merida the pattern on her skin. “Scales. I’m not sure if it just the shape, or if they provide extra protection, but they also have given me a slightly blue coloring. My hair is slightly darker on my head, and I don’t have any hair below my neck anymore.”

Why was she opening up to this stranger like an old friend? She knew better, yet she did not feel guarded about her openness. It was like she did not know to be wary, and judge each statement and action. She felt nothing. She should be reserved, pulling out information at every opportunity and using it to keep herself safe. She was acting against her best interests, time and again. It was disorienting as she argued internally for caution and she refused to listen to herself.

“Ye mind if ah touch them? Ah only ever fel’ Hiccup’s and tha’s when he’s transformed.”

Astrid bit her tongue to prevent herself from replying without thinking. Staring at the woman across from her, Astrid could not explain why, she only knew she could trust that Merida wasn’t trying to harm her.

“Go ahead.”

Her fingers were calloused, her touch was comforting. Astrid saw a growing chasm of ignorance in her mind. She went with whatever was told to her five minutes after turning into a dragon then back human. It was easier to then to just accept what was being told and not dig deeper for understanding. That was then and this is now, she could ask questions and get answers.

“Merida.” Looking back to her eyes, Astrid pressed on, “Why should I trust you? Why are you treating me like I am harmless? You don’t know me, I don’t know you but every instinct is telling me you won’t harm me. That’s not normal. What is going on with me?”

That was way more open and blunt than she had intended. Shit.

For probably the first time today, Merida didn’t smile instead she searched Astrid’s eyes for something. She flicked her eyes from Astrid’s left to right eye, piercing each with simple curiosity at first. Astrid leaned back involuntarily when Merida’s eyes pressed down on her with an intensity she hadn’t experienced since her first day of guard training.

“When ye look at meh, wha’ does yer dragon tell you?”

Gathering her wits, Astrid took a breath. She looked at the woman before closing her eyes and seeking out Stormfly. She found the dragon laying on a grassy knoll, snoozing after the small feast of chicken. Astrid smiled fondly as reached down and stroked Stormfly’s snout. “Hey girl, I need a second opinion about our hostess. Care to help me out?” Stormfly blinked before pressing her snout in Astrid’s hand. Together they turned their eyes to Merida.

Fiery red hair, organized chaos and curly. Her milky white skin covered in freckles from her face to any exposed skin. Her blue eyes, where people held their secrets. Deeper and deeper Astrid and Stormfly went seeking out something, anything to give them a clue Merida’s true nature.

Stormfly found the answer first. She conveyed respect, goodwill, fighting spirit, an equal. The last thought confused Astrid. Stormfly found Merida to be equal to them? A bear equal to a dragon? Astrid scoffed mentally and Stormfly chided her. One final set of thoughts came across, mother and mate.

“Wha…” Astrid was thrown for a loop with the last assessment from Stormfly.

“Wha’ did yer dragon see?”

“Stormfly didn’t see anything bad. She respects you as an equal. I don’t know what to make of that.” There she went saying more than she should.

Merida nodded as she considered Astrid’s words, “More or less tha same ah got from our initial thoughts on ye.” Taking a small sip, Merida continued “Ta answer yer las’ question, what’s goin on in ya is ye have a second opinion guiding yer choices. It’ll take time ta separate yer thoughts from, Stormfly?” Astrid nodded “From Stormfly’s thoughts. Ah found our soul creature’s usually have good instincts abou’ people we meet.”

Astrid tore a hunk off the remaining loaf of bread. She slathered a healthy portion of honey on it before taking a bite. Mulling over her thoughts as she chewed.

“Wha’ did ye do in yer ol’ home?”

Astrid swallowed and downed some of her watered wine, “Town guard. Part of the scouts.”

“Did ye leave any family or loved ones behind?”

“No, family is all dead and wasn’t really one to make close friends.”

Merida hummed at that and waited for Astrid to ask a question.

Astrid was given more time to consider her next words as group of villagers stopped by and greeted Merida. Astrid watched as Merida acknowledged each in turn, offering a warm hello or quick question about their family or work. That would drive me insane, it already kinda is and I’m not even talking to them. Astrid shook her head and took another sip of wine. She choked as the last person left with a request for Merida to tell Hiccup hello.

Merida looked over at her with mild concern, “Are ye alrigh’?”

Astrid nodded. Well that solved what she would ask next.

“Is it normal for…” gods was she blushing again?!

“Normal fer wha’?”

“Normal to have… attractions… that wouldn’t have been there before the change?”

She was going to kill Merida if she didn’t get that damn look off her face. Like a cat teasing its favorite toy.

“Anyone specific?”

Astrid was convinced her glare would have set anyone else on fire.

“Ah hope ye’ll forgive meh teasin! Yer the firs’ rescue we’ve ha’ in abou’ two months.” Merida held her hands up in a placating motion.

Astrid pursed her lips and ripped off another bite of bread. Stormfly was suspiciously observant, not giving an opinion one way or the other.

Merida seemed content with Astrid’s silence and gave a smile Astrid saw mother’s give a child when they explained something difficult or abstract. Her motherly smile didn’t fade as she spoke.

“That’s hard ta sae, Astrid. Ah’ll do meh best though.”

Merida paused to refill her cup and take another drink. Astrid figured she was gathering her thoughts to explain an obviously difficult topic. At that she allowed herself a sense of accomplishment. Finally asking the right questions.

Merida looked around as the hall began to fill and the ambient noise of conversations made casual conversation difficult. Astrid watched her stand up, “Follow meh. We’ll go somewhere a bi’ less crowded.”

Astrid followed Merida out, dropping her dishes in a collecting bin by one of the columns supporting the hall. Walking slightly behind her, Astrid studied Merida and found she walked with a centered gait, never off balance.  Her hostess clearly had some training. Astrid wagered Merida was far fitter than she let on.

The sun was two-finger widths above the horizon now and with it the rest of the village was out and about getting their day underway. Astrid noticed the curious glances and outright stares at her, and reverence directed at Merida. That was not something Astrid was prepared for and only broadened the questions she needed answered. Questions she should be asking first and not about her stupid emotions and hormones not staying in check!

They came up to the west watchtower. The tower was barely behind the town wall and stood about ten feet above the wall. The four legs of the tower had planks crisscrossed between them for support, and a ladder extended down from the opening. There was a half wall going around the tower and it had a roof to keep the elements off the guard’s head. This part of the village was mostly the homes Astrid saw earlier.

“Ah’ll keep an eye ou’ while ye feel yer belly! Go on! Ah won’t be taken no for an answer.” Merida called out, her tone jovial but with an edge of gravity to her words. The guard came down a ladder and took off her helmet.

“Okay Mam. I’ll go get breakfast, as long as you keep Gerard from crawling up my backside for it.” She was a small thing. Even with her armor, Astrid could tell there wasn’t much mass to the girl. Astrid was used to being the smaller guard but this girl made her look bulky in comparison.

Merida nodded and cupped the girl’s face with her right hand, gently stroking her cheek. “Don’ ye be skipping out on any meals, ye hear meh?” The girl blushed and gave a meek smile showing off her sharp fangs. “Yes mam.” She nodded to both women and headed off.

Astrid saw the motherly action and child like reaction between the two women. There was relief at not being the only one Merida treated in such a fashion, but a slight pang of jealousy. Astrid rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Come on, we’ll be able ta talk up here withou’ any prying ears or eyes.”

Astrid stepped up onto the tower platform with Merida. The wood at her feet was worn smooth from countless boots walking back and forth. The half walls were roughly hewn, the top of them smoother at varying points from guards leaning against them. She scanned through the crenulation, inhaling the scent of dew evaporating off the pines and firs.  A veritable ocean of green with a smattering of orange and yellow of changed leaves interspersed greeted her vision. Even with her improved eyesight she couldn’t see through the thick evergreens that dominated the surroundings. She could easily forget she was standing at the edge of a village.

“Not tha wors’ thing ta see each mornin”

Astrid glanced at the woman beside her taking in the scenery as well.

“No. It truly isn’t. I guess this is something I’ll have to get used to.”

Merida turned to face Astrid as she replied, “Why would ye have ta get used ta it?”

Brushing the bangs out from her eyes, Astrid took in a deep breath, letting it out in a huff, “Because where else can I go?! I am a monster that will get killed if I show my face anywhere near my village! If I slip up and transform around the wrong person that will get me hunted or worse! I could hurt or kill someone without meaning to…”

A tear running down her cheek caused her to stop. “Then there’s this! I don’t understand why I am out of control with my emotions! My thoughts! Everything is spilling out of my mouth like a godsdamned greenhorn! I just. UUURRGGHHH!”

She slammed both of her fists into the wooden railing, the anger and confusion erupting beyond her control. The outburst, slamming her fists, spouting off, what the Hel?! She wasn’t fifteen anymore, she had better self-control than… this. She drew in ragged breaths and flinched when Merida’s hand touched her shoulder.

“Astrid. It’s okay. Ah’ve been exactly where yer at righ’ now.” Merida pushed lightly on Astrid’s shoulder, making the latter straighten up and look Merida in the eye. “Ye asked abou’ the infatuation ye normally wouldn’ have before tha change. It’s no’ unrelated ta yer other frustrations.”

Astrid watched Merida through blurry eyes. Tears leaving trails down her cheeks. She couldn’t be bothered to wipe them away, she was too tired. Tired of not having control. Tired of trying to understand. Just tired.

“It is hard ta put in words tha’ ye migh’ accept as more than a simple explanation. Basically yer mind and body is brand new. It looks tha same in some aspects and differen’ in others. Jus’ as ye have another mind workin’ along side yer’s, it’s no’ solely yer mind anymore. Nor is it yer soul creature’s either. Since yer bondin’ it is new, with traces of both yers and Stormfly’s… conditioning.”

Astrid was having a difficult time wrapping her mind the concept Merida was explaining. Her mental fatigue was taking a greater toll than she wanted to admit. She shook her head trying to chase the drowsiness fogging her mind. Why did her head feel heavier?

Merida continued, “All those years ye spent learning to temper yer emotions, desires, and curiosities is a...a lesson yer new mind has yet ta learn. Ah’m sure there will be things ye will do in yer dragon form tha will send Stormfly into fits tha ye don’ do righ even with her guiding ye.”

Merida flashed her motherly smile. “So yes yer transformation is partly ta blame fer yer blantan’ crush on Hiccup.”

Astrid balked, “I never…”

Merida chortled, snorting as she caught her breath. “Astrid, did ye know a bear’s sense of smell is it’s strongest attribute? When a creature finds someone they like, desire, or love, they put off a unique scent. Guess wha’ ye smell like at tha mention of him?”

Astrid sat down against the half wall and put her head in her hands, bracing her elbows on her knees. Embarrassment and frustration. That was why she needed to sit down, definitely not her legs feeling like she was too heavy to hold her up.

She missed Merida’s furrowed brow as the woman took in Astrid’s slumped form. “Tha same goes fer yer body. Its new too. So yer gonna have ta teach it no’ to react again. Although ah think it’s time we get ya ta bed.”

Astrid barely managed to look up through her eyelashes at the motherly concern in Merida’s eyes. Astrid managed to grunt in agreement but made no motion to stand. Merida reached down and lifted her up without any strain.

“How…”

“Come on lassie, give meh some credit. Ah did sae a big bear did ah no’?”

Holding Astrid bridal style, Merida jumped off the guard tower and landed soldily on the ground below. “Sorry fer the abrupt exit bu’ yer about ta pass out and ah wan’ ya ta see where yer stayin.”

Astrid blinked owlishly at the surprising redhead.

Merida set off at a brisk pace back to the center village, and asked a passing villager to man the watchtower till the guard returned.

Astrid found herself nodding off as she was carried. She forced her head to turn from one side of the road to the other. Taking in any landmarks that could help her navigate back to where she had been. The houses blurred together as none stood out from the other. They passed the Great Hall and she could hear the clanging of a hammer against metal growing closer.

“Ah ah, come on Astrid, wake up fer jus’ a minute.”

Merida gently shook Astrid awake. Merida stood in front of a hall with oversized doors pulled open to let in the cool morning air. Setting Astrid down, Merida took her hand and guided her into the building which turned out to be a community lodge. The building was slightly smaller than the Great Hall, an open floor allowed for multiple beds and sleeping rolls to be laid out in a passable order. Along the wall were cutouts with individual beds near windows on both the lower and upper floor. The fire pit in the middle of the hall contained a low burning fire and was lined with a variety of stones to keep the flames contained. Astrid tried to take in more, but her brain refused to cooperate.

“What… is this?”

“Where ya start gettin’ back on yer feet, by firs’ gettin’ off them.” Merida took her to an unoccupied cutout.

Merida helped lay Astrid down on the bed and pulled off her boots. Taking a blanket from a side cubby, Merida draped it over Astrid, pulling it under her chin.

“There will be more ta discuss after ye get some sleep. Jus’ find meh or Hiccup, okay?”

Exhausted, Astrid nodded. She didn’t even complain when Merida brushed her bangs behind her ear.

“Ah know it’ll take time fer it ta feel like one, bu’ Astrid, welcome ta yer new home.”

[imagine-loki]

Monsters and Magic

TITLE: Monsters and Magic

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 67/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a vampire who helps the Avengers defeat an evil seethe of other vampires, and Loki befriends you after you end up in their custody

RATING: T (again after last chapter)

NOTES/WARNINGS:  Also on AO3 click here

“Brother! What are you still doing abed at this hour?” Thor boomed far too early in the morning.  It was only about an hour after dawn.  

Loki was just stirring from sleep, still curled around you and not nearly awake enough to deal with his idiot brother.  “Thor? What time is it?” Loki groaned at his idiot brother.  Maybe if he killed Thor hard enough he could go back to sleep. 

“It’s time for weapons training!” Thor replied jovially, which told Loki exactly what godawful hour of the morning it was.  The oaf always started at the same early morning hour and always attempted to make Loki do the same.  

Loki hated it every single morning. 

Loki groaned, annoyed at his idiot brother and tried to go back to sleep.  

“Come on, brother, you do not wish to get soft,” Thor goaded, coming to haul Loki out of bed.  He was used to Loki being stubborn about coming to weapons training.  

“Your brother is loud,” you murmured without really waking and snuggled better in Loki’s arms. 

Loki growls at his brother and pulls a dagger out of nowhere without disturbing you.  “Brother, kindly leave before I decide to stab you.  And you best not wake my lady,” he snarled.

Thor chuckled and, due to his brother being half asleep at best, managed to haul Loki out of bed and thrown over one shoulder, still without waking you, which spoke to how much you needed to recover.  “I think not. Stab fandral instead.  Bucky, Sif, and the warriors three will all be there this morning,” Thor informed his brother.

Loki stabbed Thor in the back for removing him from his comfortable bed and his sleepy love.  “Brother, put me down!” he growled

Thor just sighed in exasperation.  “I really wish you’d stop doing that,” he grumbled and made absolutely no move to put Loki down. 

“I will stab you again if you don’t put me down!” Loki snarled.

Thor sighed and growled softly.  “I wish you wouldn’t. Father wants us there and you, my darling brother, are most uncooperative in the mornings,” he tried to keep his tone light and jovial, but he was worried about Odin being there. 

“I don’t care what the Allfather wants! My lady is still healing. I don’t want to leave her alone,” Loki protested, drawing another dagger.  He didn’t want to leave you alone when you were vulnerable.  Not with your previous experiences in Asgard.  

“She will be safe here, or she can come watch,” Thor countered.

You finally stirred at the two arguing males and sat up, looking up at them with bleary, sleepy eyes.  “Why are you loud?” you asked stupidly, staring at the sight of Loki dangled over Thor’s shoulder, confused.  

“Apparently it’s time for weapons training,” Loki grumbled from his undignified position over Thor’s shoulder.  He hit Thor hard on the back.  “Put me down, brother,” he snarled again.  

Thor finally set Loki on his feet.  “Only because your lady is mean when riled,” he teased, then looked you over.  “Though she does not appear awake enough to rile….” He added with concern in his tone. 

“She is still drained from the cure. She is still trying to recover,” Loki grumbled as he looked you over as well.  Thor considered that, even as you decided to lie back down because they’ve stopped arguing.  You adorably pulled one of Loki’s pillows into your arms to cuddle like a plushie.  Loki sighed in relief that you were going back to sleep.

“She seemed just fine dancing with you all night…” Thor commented.

Loki sighed heavily.  ‘She was pretending. I made the mistake of thinking she was well enough to dance when she was really too exhausted to even magic on a change of clothes. She is nowhere near fully healed yet,” there was anger at himself in his words. 

Thor sighed in exasperation at your antics and behavior, all just to make his brother happy.  Of course you knew how much Loki had wanted to dance and show off.  “She loves you most dearly indeed, brother…” Thor was glad his brother had found someone, but wanted you to take care of yourself as well.  

Loki smiled fondly at where you were sleeping in his bed.  He tucked the blanket better around you.  “I’m certainly the luckiest man in the nine realms,” Loki agreed warmly. 

Thor smirked.  “You have it just as bad,” he teased, shoving Loki’s shoulder playfully.  Loki grumbled back at him for the treatment.  “Come along, brother, the sooner you show off that pretty dagger she made you, and kick fandral’s ass while you’re at it, the sooner you can take your lady to breakfast,” he offered, knowing that was the only thing likely to convince Loki to come with him.  Loki sighed heavily, but followed his brother to the training courts, you were perfectly safe asleep in the prince’s bed in the palace.

*

“Where’s the little lady?” Fandral pouted when Thor and Loki arrived on the practice courts.  Fandral was conspicuously missing his shirt, seemingly in expectation that you would be there.  

Loki growled, noting Fandral’s lack of shirt.  “Resting and nowhere near you,” he growled as he drew the dagger you made him. With one gesture, it turned into a staff.  “Are you ready for me to kick your ass, Fandral?” he growled.  He already wasn’t a morning person and Fandral provoking him wasn’t doing anything to help his temper.  

Fandral laughed.  “No reason to growl so, like I would harm a young noble lady,” he teased a little too pointedly about how he would flirt with a young noble lady, even if she was dating his friend’s kid brother.  It was a dick move and he should’ve known it.  “You may try to kick my ass, but you will fail,” he added jovially.  

Everyone discounted Loki’s fighting ability.  

They should have known better. 

Loki had Fandral on his ass within a minute.  

“That’s an impressive piece of shiny,” Sif told Loki after the first time he kicked Fandral’s ass.  “Where’d you get it?” she added, looking like she wanted to steal the impressive weapon, though she know better than to steal from Loki.  He would still appreciate the sentiment that she desired the weapon he had.  

“My lady made it for me. Along with this,” he raised his arm to indicate the piece of tech on his arm.  He never took the thing off since it doubled his magic.  “It enhances my magic,” he explained to Sif. 

“Most impressive,” Sif replied with the proper amount of awed approval.  She nodded at Bucky.  “Can the mortal hold his own?  Thor dressed him up like a warrior, but…” that didn’t really mean anything.  Thor wasn’t always the brightest.  

“You would be surprised. He and I both have an affinity for daggers,” Loki replied.  He was impressed with his friend’s skills.  

Sif smirked.  “Wonder if he’d deign to spar a girl,” she pondered aloud while she went to find out just that, dragging Bucky away to test his skills.  Bucky grinned and was glad to go test out this warrior woman.  

They had all noticed that Odin had been visibly watching from nearby.  He’d wanted to see Loki’s new toy in action and make sure neither of his sons had lost their skill while on Midgard.  After a couple more bouts, he had seen what he wanted and left to attend other matters.

“Oh shit!” Thor exclaimed some time later.  He was on the other end of the training courts from the problem.  

Loki glanced over at Thor.  “What?” he asked.  Thor didn’t usually curse so crudely when they were home.  

Thor gestured with Mjolnir to where you had wandered in, looking for your missing Loki.  Thor was frozen as the entire practice court stared at where you were half-asleep, barefoot in your pajamas, such as they were since your pajamas consisted of one of Loki’s tunics. 

Loki cursed and rushed over to you, magicking on a dress for you so when you came to your senses you wouldn’t be embarrassed.  Also so he wouldn’t have to kill everyone there.  “Darling, what are you doing here?” he asked you, concerned.  All of the menfolk there besides Fandral, who was standing shocked and confused, have decided for their own safety that other things than Loki’s lady were extremely interesting and required their undivided attention.  

You wrapped your arms around your Loki.  “Was worried.  You were gone,” you told him and laid your head on his chest, content now that you’d found him and he was safe.  You weren’t the most logical when you were half-asleep.  

Loki smiled and wrapped you up in his arms.  “I’m just fine, sweetheart,” he told you and sat on a bench nearby, pulling you into his lap.  He was content to just sit with you and watch Sif and Bucky go at it.  The menfolk relaxed when Loki didn’t seem particularly like killing them.  

You curled yourself contently in Loki’s lap, much as you did when your naps were interrupted at the tower and you came to find him.  Loki sighed in relief that you felt comfortable falling asleep in such an unfamiliar place, especially one that held so many negative memories for you.  He pressed a kiss to your hair and hugged you tighter to him. He failed to realize that he was the comfortable place.  

Thor smirked when he came to check on you. “Should’ve known she’d only sleep when you’re around, especially on Asgard,” he commented, but softly so as to not wake you. 

“After what happened, do you really think she’d be able to sleep comfortably here without me?  I’m amazed she’s sleeping at all even with me here,” Loki replied grumpily.  He hated how uncomfortable you were with his home. Especially since it was your home now too. 

“No,” Thor replied sadly.  “I had hoped she might be able to relax some after father’s display yesterday, and mother’s kindness, of course, but you’re right…” he gave you a considering look.  “I doubt mother will let her return to Midgard yet either, so it looks like you are stuck with an extra clingy lady,” he teased and left to go rescue Bucky from Sif’s tender mercy. 

Bucky came over when Sif had finished kicking his ass.  He hadn’t seen you arrive as he’d been busy having his ass handed to him by the goddess of war. He was worried at what he saw.  “When did she get here? Is she ok?” he asked Loki.  He had a soft spot for you and was as protective of you as Loki most of the time. 

“She’s fine but still recovering. That cure took a lot out of her, as you saw,” Loki reassured him. 

Bucky nodded and relaxed.  Loki wouldn’t say you were alright if you weren’t.  “I saw.  And I’m not terribly surprised she’s asleep in your arms, hell she does that every nightmare she has back home.  How on earth did she find you, though?  This place is a maze…”

Loki’s brows furrowed at that.  “I’m actually not sure. Maybe she tracked me using one of the gifts she gave me like I did with her staff…” he considered. He’d have to ask you when you woke. 

Bucky smirked.  “So there are things you don’t know,” he teased.  

Loki glared in reply, though Bucky knew he didn’t really mean it.  Loki’s glare was different when he meant it.  “Do not tell anyone,”

Bucky laughed.  “Your secret’s safe with me, Odinson. Speaking of, let me know if you need me to keep an eye on her.  Figured you might have some kind of royal duties while you’re home,” he offered.  Loki inclined his head in acknowledgement.  He would trust you to Bucky’s care. That’s part of why Bucky was brought along after all.  “And the oaf  and his drunkards of friends are all super excited breakfast is soon so you might want to wake her before they come stomping past,” he suggested in warning. 

Loki nodded, but gave Bucky a considering look before he woke you.  “I’m curious though. Why do you insist on calling me Odinson? You do know that I’m adopted right?” he asked his friend. Bucky had done it as formal address in Loki’s home instead of the usual nicknames they had for each other. 

Bucky looked downright worried at that, afraid he’d been upsetting Loki all this time that they’d been friends.  “I… thought it was the right term…” he finally said, afraid not of Loki, but that he’d been hurting his friends feelings, especially when he’d gone out of his way to change the address to ‘Friggadotir’ when Loki was female. “Is it not?” he got up the courage to ask. 

Loki didn’t want to hurt his friend’s feelings.  “Not really, though I would prefer if you called me Loki,” Loki knew that most of the time they would stick to their annoying nicknames for each other.  Not many on Asgard were allowed to call him by his first name.  Only you, his mother, brother, and the oaf’s friend did. Though the morons did without his permission.

Bucky gave him a small smile.  “I think I can handle that, Loki,” he replied.  Some other time, he’d explain about terms of address in the army and why he, and to an extent Steve, tended to use last names if no title was available for someone.  He looks over at the morons who were packing up.  “Moron herd is coming,” he warned moments before the moron herd came stomping over, talking too loudly and generally being loud an obnoxious.

Their idiocy startled you awake and you were instantly on your feet with a dagger in each hand, standing in front of your Loki to protect him from the danger of the loud noise. Loki chuckled fondly.  “Kitten, you don’t need to defend me from Thor’s idiot friends,” he said as he took the daggers out of your hands and pulled you back into his lap.  He glared at the moron herd.  “Could you quiet down? My lady is still trying to rest,” he growled at them.  

You looked at Loki confused.  “They were loud,” you informed him intelligently.  Or at least you thought it was intelligently in your less than half awake state.  They were also loud on Asgard where you were uncomfortable, which meant scary, and that meant you had to protect your Loki, but you let him take the daggers and pull you back into his lap, where you curled with a purr, reassured by his insistence that you were both ok.

“Come on, noodle,” Fandral laughed loudly, poking at the easily annoyed Loki.  “You don’t want to miss breakfast,” he teased.  

“Fandral, are you trying to get yourself stabbed?” Sif asked as she joined the group.  “Loki already saved your ass from his lady.  It’s your funeral if you provoke either of them anymore,” she told him, reminding him that he was being beyond stupid. 

Loki growled at your nickname coming from Fandral.  It was barely ok when you said it.  No one else was allowed to use it.  “Say that again and expect a dagger at your throat,” Loki growled at him, his tone clear that he meant the threat.  He turned his attention back to you.  “Would you like to go to breakfast, little one?” he asked you gently.  He knew you weren’t really very awake and didn’t want to upset you. 

“We should eat something,” you said instead of answering his actual question.  Though you did feel like you could eat you weight in pancakes, if only they had them here.  Loki helped you off his lap and placed your hand on his arm to escort you to the dining hall for breakfast.  Bucky and Sif followed right behind you as a buffer between you and the oaf’s moronic friends.  Bucky and Sif seemed to be getting along well.  “When did we come outside?” you asked Loki as you walked.  You were more awake now.  

“I was forced out here by my brother for weapons training. You seemed to just find me somehow,” Loki replied with a warm chuckle.  He was amused at your half-asleep antics. 

“Oh.  That doesn’t sound like fun for you,” you replied while you tried to remember.  “Thor had you upside down,” you added softly when you remembered that detail.

“He did,” Loki agreed, and you could hear the grumbling in his tone as well as the amusement at how hard it was for you to remember.  “Though I did get to show off with your present and got to kick Fandral’s ass at the same time,” he added brightly.  That part at least had been fun for him. 

“Oh good.  Fandral deserves it,” you told him.  “Dagger still working out ok for you?” you asked, concerned.

“It’s amazing, darling,” he kissed your cheek.  “Thank you for such a wonderful gift,”

You smiled brightly up at him. “Glad you like it,” you tapped the tech on his arm.  “I’ll fix this up after we get home.  I did stitch it together with bootleg parts… plus it’s ugly as hell,” you knew that would grate on Loki. He liked being fashionable.  

“How did you find me anyway, darling? This palace is huge,” Loki asked, changing the subject.  

You thought that over, trying to remember things you’d done while half awake was hard.  You shrugged.  “I can always feel where you are, as long as you’re close enough.  Maybe because you’ve been teaching me magic?” you suggested.  You’d know the feel of him and his power anywhere. 

Fandral chose that moment to make a stupid comment and antagonize the Loki, because tormenting Thor’s kid brother was a time-honored game among the warrior morons.  “That was a lovely outfit the little lady was wearing this morning,” he teased about your pajamas.  

Before you could turn to defend your own honor, Thor and Bucky have both taken a turn decking Fandral in the face for insulting you.  “Surely Mother taught you better than to tease sick noble ladies,” Thor glared at the moron.  He thought his friends were smarter than this.  

Loki threw a dagger into Fandral’s side for good measure.  “Especially the sick noble lady whom I am courting, imbecile,” he growled, holding you protectively to his side. 

“Seriously, Fan? How the fuck do you think making the girl cry is going to win you her affections?” Sif demanded.  A moment later, there was a sickening crunch sound of a certain piece of Fandral’s anatomy being hit with something very heavy. “Maybe with that out of commission you’ll think with the big brain for awhile,” she growled at him. 

Loki tried his best to hold back his laughter at Sif’s treatment of the moron.  

You hid your beet red face against his chest and made a small distressed noise.  Sif came up on your other side.  “Hey, Loki, I heard the chefs are making those cinnamon pastries you pretend you don’t absolutely adore,” Sif said kindly, thinking if Loki liked them then maybe you would too.  Either way, it was a conversation other than Fandral being an idiot.  Loki gave her a small appreciative nod.  He actually liked Lady Sif.

“Pastries you love?” you asked softly, curiously.  You refused to look at any of the others since Fandral made you uncomfortable, but you were curious about something that made Loki happy. 

“You’ll see when we get there love. They’re too amazing to describe,” he started to act like a child in a candy store, excited for the pastries.  He dragged you off to breakfast excitedly.  

Breakfast was a smaller affair than dinner and the head table wasn’t used. Instead, the whole group of you sat together at one of the smaller tables, though the warrior’s three decided to skip breakfast and hide Fandral from Frigga. There was already a huge pile of pastries next to Loki’s usual place at the smaller table when you arrived. Loki pulled out your chair for you before he took his place and started munching on the pastries, moaning in pleasure at one of his favorite foods. 

You couldn’t help smiling at his obvious pleasure and took one of the pastries for yourself.  Bucky and Sif were chatting together. “I would not recommend stealing one of Loki’s pastries. Even his lady is lucky she got one without being growled at,” Sif was teasing, though her warning was real.  

Bucky was too tempted by that and reached over to steal a pastry.  Loki growled protectively, but realized it was Bucky, and since he liked Bucky, let him take one.  One.  

Bucky chuckled and did indeed take only one.  “How are you not fat with how much you devour sweets?” he teased and tried to goad you into eating more than a single pastry.  You were refusing to take more from the happy Loki.  

Loki snapped out of his happy pastry-induced daze long enough to conjure up a plate of piping hot pancakes for you before he returned to his pastries.  

“These don’t belong here,” you commented, but purred and happily dug into your pancakes.  

“How the fuck did you get pancakes here? And if you can conjure them yourself why do you keep stealing ours every Sunday?!?!” Bucky demanded indignantly.  

Loki just shrugged and continued eating his pancakes.  

Bucky glared while you giggled and enjoyed your breakfast.  Everyone looked up when Frigga entered the room and rushed to stand a moment later. It wasn’t every morning that she joined them, but she was a common sight at breakfast.  She headed straight for the table that had her sons.

Even Loki stopped eating his pastries to stand and greet his mother properly with a kiss on the cheek.  “Good morning, Mother,” he greeted her warmly.

She kissed his cheek in return.  “Good morning, darling.  I see you found the pastries I had made for you. You did remember to share with your lady, didn’t you?” she teased warmly

“Yes, Mother, I shared with my lady,” Loki replied indignantly.  Of course he would share with you. 

Frigga laughed and moved on to greet everyone else at the table.  Including you.  She placed a hand to your forehead and cheeks, always the healer and mother.  “You still need to take it easy, dear,” she told you.  Her hands felt cold, so you knew you were flushed.  “Get that son of mine to take you for a stroll through the gardens. The fresh air will do you some good,” she went to take her seat between her boys and looked at the mostly empty table.  “Where are the rest of your friends, Thor?”

Sif laughed.  “They are likely hiding fandral from you, Allmother,” she replied.  “He made the mistake of insulting a sick noble lady in front of her protectors and the man courting her. He’s losing his touch of he thinks that was supposed to be flirtatious…”

“Lady Sif is right. Fandral does not know how to hold his tongue,” Loki grumbled.

“What exactly did Fandral do?” she demanded of the table at large.  There was icy steel in her words and her demeanor.  She did not appreciate her charges being upset, especially if it could put her healing in danger. 

Loki growled.  “He attempted to flirt and embarrass my love when she came to find me in a half asleep state in her pajamas.  She was clearly unwell and he should have known not to tease her with me around,”

“I didn’t mean to cause trouble,” you murmured softly.  You’d cause a lot of trouble by going to find Loki when you weren’t awake enough to know what you were doing. 

Frigga growled and shoved away from the table. “He should have known not to distress one of my charges,”

Loki smirked at his angry mother, since she wasn’t angry with him. “He has already been handled, Mother. Thor, Sif, Sergeant Barnes, and I took care of it,”

Frigga looked over at Loki with a malicious glint in her eyes.  “And will I be satisfied with your handling of the situation?” she asked formally.  

“Quite satisfied. He was punched in the face twice, a dagger in the side, and Lady Sif took his manhood out of commission for awhile,” Loki replied with a smirk. 

Frigga nodded and resumed her seat after stealing one of the pastries from Loki’s carefully guarded stack.  

Breakfast continued in companionable conversation.  You ate your weight in pancakes and one more pastry stole from Loki’s stack because they were so good. Before your group could disband to your separate activities for the day, Odin entered the room and everyone had to stand yet again to greet him. 

He came straight over and kissed his wife on the cheek. After the greetings went made, he spoke beyond his replies to the greetings. He addressed the table at large, but more importantly Loki and you.  You were terrified to be addressed, terrified of this man after he’d hurt you, and beyond terrified at his words.  

“I would speak with lady Y/N.  Privately,”

[solivar]

WIP Ghost Stories On Route 66

In which there is an unexpected and troubling revelation.

“Team Tokki, report.”

“On station, sorry for the delay.” Hana replied a nerve-wracking ten minutes later. “Took us a minute to get all our cables in order but Kozy Kot Motor Inn Basecamp is now online.”

The topographic holomap hanging over the dining room table rippled gently as she proved it, pulsing their location in the scrubby desert flatlands between Mesa Prieta and the ruins of Albuquerque, turning their basecamp icon electric pink-and-green.

“In an amusing sidenote,” Hana continued on breezily, “You know those MiBs -- the TALON guys? Their base may be in Albuquerque Sunport but they’ve got mobile units all over the place in the immediate vicinity and some kind of stationary observation post up on the mesa itself. So yes this is me formally blaming my tardiness on avoiding the notice of scary goons who may or may not be employees of the federal government.”

“Mesa Prieta is an archaeological preserve -- it has been for decades, the petroglyphs there are thousands of years old.” Ana, seated at the opposite end of the table with stacks of airtight herb containers, a mortar and pestle, and a digital scale, observed carefully, pausing in her work. “Ownership yielded back to the Federated Southwest Tribal Government after the Crisis.”

“Meaning?” Hanzo asked, inclining a questioning brow.

“Meaning,” Ana gave the contents of her pestle another thoughtful turn, “that either the FST is acting in direct cooperation with TALON or else their actual employers kissed considerable quantities of ass to access that site for reasons other than advancing the cause of cultural preservation.”

Hanzo blinked at her. “That feels extraordinarily bad.”

“It is what it is, my young friend. Until we have better intel, we can only take matters as they come.” She spooned the contents of her pestle into a little tin container.

“I’m not so sure I like Team Tokki’s proximity to a potentially hostile unknown quantity,” Hot Vampire Jack’s tone was significantly less philosophical. “Maybe you should relocate?”

“Their base doesn’t directly overlook ours -- it’s on the far northern point of the mesa, closer to the Chamisa Wilderness Area than to us.” Jesse replied, calm and even. “We can set a drone on stealth observation if you want, but hauling off and moving again might get us seen by one of their mobile units. They’re putting up those pylon things they’ve got on the UNM campus all over out here.”

“I tried getting a look at one of those the other day but campus security waved me off.” Hana added, aggrieved.

“Whatever else they are, they’ve got a pretty hefty sensor and communications package on them -- I can see their output on our own passive monitors.” Lucio added, and the map rippled as he pushed data, added clusters of red-white-black pinpricks representing the pylons’ locations, easily a few dozen spread across the desert basin between Albuquerque and the mesa, many of them concentrated just above the Red Line along old Route 40. “I can try hacking one of their transceiver modules and skimming the data to see what they’re monitoring but that might attract some attention if they’ve got any kind of intrusion detection capabilities onboard.”

“No unnecessary risks. The pylons likely aren’t going anywhere and they’re extraneous to our own mission.” Terrifying Smoke Gabe rasped, his voice on the comms a weirdly metallic echo. “We can always try that if we can’t get intelligence from other sources.”

“Speaking of which,” Zenyatta interjected smoothly, “Team Tattoo reporting perimeter secure at Four Daughters Basecamp -- we are about to begin deploying our sensor and visual observation drones and begin transmitting.”

“El Malpais Basecamp likewise secure and ready to begin deployment.” Jamie added. “Team Helicopter Parents on perimeter patrol.”

“God, I hate that name,” Jack muttered.

“Who gave the lecture about appropriate comm discipline last night?” Gabe asked sweetly.

“Oh, shut up.”

Actual comm discipline immediately dissolved in jokes and back-and-forth smacktalk, a release of tension that even Jack recognized as necessary before any real work could get done, especially since they were waiting for Team Tokki to get up to speed. Hanzo, recognizing at as well, went and fetched tea and cakes and fussy little finger sandwiches for himself and Ana and, eventually, Reinhardt when he came in off his own perimeter patrol with the members of the pack left on guard duty. She accepted the cup he poured and the plate he delivered with a gracious smile, setting aside her work for the moment, while in the background nearly everyone they loved pretended not to be afraid.

Four days they’d been in the field -- four days of hunting the monster haunting him, four nights of sleeping rough, fanning out from Cerrillos in a gradually expanding search pattern enabled by Jesse’s practical maintenance of multiple gasoline-powered vehicles and Jamie’s purpose-built technology. Hana had dropped her presentation and then bagged the rest of her classes to assist in the physical construction of the drones, displaying a level of mechanical skill that Hanzo at least had never suspected. (“When I was a kid, my cousins and my friend Dae-hyun and I built hovertech for competition before I got into gaming -- seriously, aniki, it’s like falling off a bike, you never really forget once you know how to do it.”) Genji and Lucio had done likewise with the programming, following Jamie and Roadie’s careful instructions, working late into the night on stress-testing up until the day before their departure. Hanzo, relegated to a support role, had helped prepare the supplies and the vehicles for departure, packing MATILDA and the largest of Jesse’s off-road capable Jeeps with military surplus rations and bottled water, three fully stocked first aid kits, the heavily warded four-season tents and camping gear going with Team Helicopter Parents and Team Tokki, and extra warm clothing for everyone. He forced cardigans and sweatshirts on all of them at breakfast the morning they departed, a meal he crawled out of Jesse’s warm embrace to make for them and to which he returned before he allowed them to leave.

Jesse had taken his face between his hands, his kiss sweet and soft, and Hanzo had exercised enormous restraint by making only a few rude gestures at his brother and friends as they whistled and shouted suggestions and encouragements ranging from the mildly obscene to the outright pornographic. Jesse’s husky laughter had warmed him almost more than the kiss as he drew them together and murmured against his ear, “I’ll bring Hana and Lu back safe and sound, I promise, and Roadie won’t let anything happen to Genji and Zen.”

“I know.” Hanzo replied, soft and low against his shoulder. “I just wish...I wish I could do more.”

“You’ll have plenty to do when we find this thing. For now, you’re our lifeline. Don’t forget that.” Jesse pressed a last kiss to his forehead. “We’ll be back before you know it, darlin’. Never fear.”

But fear he did, despite Jesse’s assurances, despite his knowledge of all their skill and ability and competence, because he also knew the cruelty and viciousness and above all else cunning of the thing that they hunted, a cunning that had concealed what he had become from their entire clan, from the sister raised at his side, from the Dragon of the South Wind himself. That concealed him now, still, even as they found the telltale traces of his passage through the world, marked on the holomap in a particularly vile shade of bilious yellow, twisting tracks that appeared and disappeared without apparent pattern, growing gradually denser as the search teams moved west. Fear moved him to carry an inflatable camping mattress down to the dining room, where the communications nerve center was set up by virtue of adequate work-and-table space, and built a nest where he slept, light and restless, alert to the slightest twitch of sound on the comms, the tiniest hint of distress, which mostly came in the form of bodies shifting in their sleep and a terrifyingly vast assortment of snores.

“Drones airborne and headed to optimal scan radius,” Hana reported. “You want me to send one of our spares up to keep an eye on the MiBs?”

“Couldn’t hurt to gather a little intel at this stage of the proceedings.” Jesse opined.

“It could if your drone is detected.” Terrifying Smoke Gabe pointed out. “If you send one up, I recommend passive visual observation only.”

“Doable. Lu, you wanna handle that while I get these puppies where they need to go?” A clattering of equipment on the line as Hana and Lucio moved about in their working shelter.

“Gotcha. Temporarily disabling the drone’s sensor package just to be on the safe side.” Lucio came on the line for the first time that day. “You want me to stream footage back to HQ?”

Hanzo glanced at Ana who nodded slightly and murmured, “If they can detect our drone sensor data streams, a video stream will hardly make matters worse, and if they cannot, we will have fresh information of our own.”

“True.” Hanzo replied as his stomach tried gamely to twist itself into a Lemarchand cube of pure dread. “Go ahead, Lucio.” He clicked his own comm off and looked back to Ana, meditatively sipping her tea. “If they -- if TALON -- detects our data streams, could they trace them here, to Cerrillos?”

“Theoretically? Yes. In practice, Jack and Gabriel and Jesse have all exerted considerable effort to make this place as difficult to find as possible for outsiders.” Ana smiled dryly. “And, in any case, they may be the least of our concerns at this juncture.”

“Point.” Hanzo muttered and clicked the comm back on, applying himself to his own tea in an effort to wring some calm out of his digestive tract.

“Team Tokki’s drones on station, optimal positioning.” Hana sang.

“Team Helicopter Parents, ready to begin scanning.” Jamie replied.

“Team Tattoo, likewise prepared.” Zen added tranquilly.

All three Basecamp icons flashed and Hanzo set the countdown timer. “Ten second timer.”

At ten, the holomap blossomed as the drones’ sensor packages and associated data streams came online, populating it with a picture of local reality that overlaid and intertwined with the topography in ways that would make a cartographer’s eyes bleed. In the corner, a secondary pane opened with Lucio’s camera drone feed as it climbed out of basecamp, view panning out across the remains of the Kozy Kot Motor Inn and its eight identical “log cabin” cottages plus the motel office, set around an inner courtyard that had once contained picnic tables and grills and now held two four-season tents linked by a vestibule, a camp sanitary structure, and a warmed, weatherproof work tent, where they also ate their meals. As Hanzo watched, Jesse made is way between two of the cottages and looked up, waved for the camera as Lucio panned and zoomed away, over the cracked and crumbling remnants of a paved road, through the remains of the little tourist town that had sprung up around the motel, as fully abandoned as it was, and into the desert beyond.

There the ground was rucked up and rugged, split by arroyos and tumbled spits of dark, jagged stone, blanketed in tough, autumn-browned grasses and scrubby, wind-tortured trees and shrubs, elevation rising steadily until the drone was climbing vertically along the wall of the mesa. The top of the mesa itself was so flat the TALON installation was clearly visible miles off, a crescent of four dun-colored prefab structures clustered together, their communications uplink arrays pointed skyward, the rest of their camp’s perimeter delineated in those pylons, spaced neatly exact distances apart. Lucio dropped the drone to a few inches above the mesa hardpack and brought it in behind the largest of the structures, up the back avoiding the windows, and settled it into place on the edge of structure’s roof, cameras trained down into the camp itself.

Ana moved to join Hanzo, teacup in hand, and settled to watch. Within the relatively compact confines of the camp, technicians in khaki jumpsuits were working with obvious care among the basalt-black rocks, scanning the petroglyphs with handheld devices, taking photographs and video, neither moving nor touching anything if they could avoid it.

“I’ll be damned,” Lucio muttered. “Maybe they are doing archaeological preservation work?”

“You have to admit, we’ve seen stranger things.” Genji remarked dryly.

“But if that’s the case, why are they crawling all over the school? And why’d they interrogate Hanzo about Professor Flakes-a-Lot? And what’s the deal with those pylons? And --” Hana’s stream of questions was cut off by the sound of smashing crockery and Hanzo’s involuntary yelp of pain as Ana gripped his arm with unexpectedly fierce strength.

“Pan back,” Ana snapped over his comm.

Lucio did so and Ana’s grip tightened another degree. “Jack, Gabriel...are you seeing this?”

The pair standing together before one of the largest single petroglyph displays in the camp were not dressed like technicians. One, scrawny and unshaven and bespectacled, dark hair going gray at the temples, wore an honest-to-gods white lab coat over his cable knit sweater and gray cargo pants, hands doing as much talking as his mouth as he conversed with his companion. That companion was a solid two, maybe as much as three, heads shorter, clad in rust red coveralls and heavy hiking boots and more toolbelts and their associated attachments than seemed possible, his hugely muscled  and heavily tattooed shoulders uncovered and most of his face obscured by a genuinely impressive mass of thick blonde beard and mustaches.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jack breathed over the comm, his quiet carrying the relative force of an explosion.

“Torbjörn?” Terrifying Smoke Gabe sounded frankly stunned. “But...he and Ingrid retired years ago.”

“Apparently not,” Jack replied, grimly.

“This...changes the complexion of many things.” Reinhardt said, heavily, from the door and came to lay an enormous hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“It does?” Hanzo asked. “How? Why? What does this mean?”

“Too soon to tell on some of those, kid.” Jack said into the silence that followed. “But as to what it means? That little Viking wrench-slinger there is Torbjörn Lindholm and, once upon a time, he was a member of the same UN-sponsored special ops unit as Gabe and I -- Rein and Ana, Yanaba and Nate, too. Helped us save the world a time or six. And, if he’s involved with this bunch, TALON? That likely means nothing good and we should probably figure out what it is sooner rather than later.”

[raxlestrange]

Bury the Hatchet or Bury A Friend | Phoebe x Sam x Avery

Phoebe

Phoebe shoved a Marlboro Gold between her crimson lips as she weaved through the crowded street, waving on her newest business partner with her free hand. Their recent alliance was already proving to be lucrative with the whereabouts of the bookstore attacker secured. A little too secure for Phoebe's liking. 

"My contact’s shop's just up the road." Phoebe quipped, not wanting to waste any more time. Especially when a potential lead could turn cold, or worse get thrown into Azkaban. Upon arrival, she cast her eyes at Sam  "Let's go. He's expecting us."

Sam

Sam kept up with Phoebe’s pace with ease, though that wasn’t overly impressing considering his legs were practically the size of his new companion. He wasn’t quite she what to think of her yet, nor was he sure if she would be a reliable partner, but right now he couldn’t afford to let the opportunity slip. Besides, it wouldn’t be hard to get rid of her if she betrayed him. 

He was mostly the muscle of this operation, even if he wasn’t a vampire it wasn’t often people tried to fuck with the giant man, especially not when he was visibly pissed off. He gave her a nod and a quiet grunt in response, pulling his jacket closer to himself. As they approached the store, he opened the door, a small bell sounding, and held it for the younger woman. “Ladies first.”

Avery

Avery raised his eyes from the inventory notes he had been taking for what felt like the dozenth time in the past ten minutes. Of course, he always greeted customers when they arrived — as was the polite thing to do — but he was expecting some very important company that afternoon. When Phoebe had approached him with a lead, he was surprised to learn that the otherwise quite solitary woman would be bringing the owner of this particular lead along. The allomancer still wasn’t sure if he could trust the spitfire woman, let alone this new stranger, but he had pulled his weight thus far and he could only hope that they were prepared to do the same.Directing his employee at the front of the shop to keep an eye on things for a moment, he greeted his new... business partners. 

 “Miss Maddock—“ Avery nodded to the smaller woman before lifting his gaze to the tall stranger. “Perhaps introductions are better done behind closed doors... if you will both follow me.” He canted his head towards his office before leading the way, directing them behind sturdy wood and soundproofed walls.

Phoebe

Phoebe stamped out her light, allowing the last bits of smoke and exhaust to fill her lungs before entering. As per Sam's request, Phoebe strode through the familiar doors to Allomancy. She nodded a deliberate thanks to the taller man, taking a quick second to marvel at his impressive height. Phoebe liked to think she had seen it all, but she never seen a man quite as tall as Sam before. It was curious, and it would have to wait.

"Lestrange." Phoebe nodded back, bringing her attention to the man behind the counter. "Lead the way." She was familiar with the manner in which the eldest Lestrange had conducted his business affairs having worked with him a number of times in past. It was no surprise that they were going to keep the contents of this particular deal private as well. 

Phoebe then nodded a second time. This time at Sam as if to wordlessly say that it was all clear and then proceed to follow Avery to the more secure location. If they were going to work together they would need to develop a systematic form of communication. 

 As instructed, Phoebe waited for the door to close behind them before she began the introductions. "Lestrange, this is Samuel Prince. He owns the bookshop down the road.” Her eyes darted between the gentlemen. "Prince, Avery Lestrange. I do believe the lot of us have similar interests. Interests that involve the outcome of recent events and Lestrange’s particular skill set.” 

Sam

Lestrange was a familiar name to Sam, it was about time he met the eldest. He was unsure how the interaction would go; he was go friends with Viv, but Marius was a whole other story. Hopefully this man wasn’t as annoying as his brother, otherwise he might have to eat him, too. However, he trusted Phoebe knew what she was doing, at least for now, and Sam was too desperate to turn down her services and information. 

 His usual extroverted demeanor was replaced with an irritable and quiet mask, returning the young female’s nod and trailing after her and the eldest Lestrange silently, the only sound coming from his black boots against the floor. Sam nodded at the other gentleman, muttering a quiet “pleasure to meet you” even if he knew the circumstances were anything but a pleasure — even after all these years he couldn’t help his manners, he guessed that was his mother’s doing.

Avery

Avery nodded to each of the visitors in turn, noting how even he had to lift his gaze to meet the other man’s. He only vaguely recognized the other store owner despite his striking size and features, but he had heard plenty about his misfortune. The damage wasn’t irreparable from what he had seen, but the vandalizing had already caused a lull in business for himself— he could only imagine what such a targeted attack must have done to Sam’s. Not to mention the added drama of Potter’s mental break; from what he had read in the papers, the victim had been a friend of Prince’s. Surely that was motivation enough to team up with a vengeful Maddock, but Avery couldn’t help but wonder if there were something else driving him to such extremes. 

 “The pleasure is mine. My deepest apologies about your storefront, I know better than many how that kind of attention can influence sales... though I suspect business may not be the only reason you’ve come.” 

“Nonetheless— I have kept up my end of the bargain thus far. This room has been carefully safeguarded by yours truly, I trust we can speak freely among these walls.” The metal charmer pulled a ring of keys from his pocket, opening the cabinet behind his desk and pulling a sturdy black box from one of its shelves. He brought the box to the table, raising an eyebrow at his occasional business partner. 

 “Have you informed him what I have been tasked to do?” 

Phoebe

Phoebe scanned the room, deep brown irises narrowing with intent as she inspected the area for any ill will. It was more out of instinct than mistrust, and general good practice when it came to making these sorts of deals. Judging by their similar interests and previous work together, she didn’t have reason to distrust this Lestrange. 

 Satisfied, Phoebe nodded towards Avery allowing the pair to finish up their introductions before continuing on with more urgent matters. 

 “He has been briefed.” Phoebe confirmed, her eyes flickering towards her new ally then back to the eldest Lestrange, hunger and impatience apparent in them now. “As have you. Now, enough with all the small talk. Let’s see this prototype of yours.” 

Avery

Avery nodded his head, fighting back a wave of nerves and excitement as he took out his wand, large hands working over the box with a series of quick mutters to unseal the item from its case. He was nothing if not thorough, but he couldn’t help the concerns that had wormed into the back of his mind. Working on this new piece had left him feeling equal parts challenged and accomplished, and while he was confident in his abilities, there was always a certain risk that came with such prototypes—a risk the other two couldn’t exactly afford considering their plans. He would have loved more time to develop and test, but felt comfortable that they would find use in the piece as it was. 

 “You’ll notice it looks very simple—unassuming. Exactly what you would want for such a task.” Avery slid the long silver cord from its box, twisting and turning the enchanted metal in his hands to show how it could be linked and unlinked, extended and shrunken.

“The base metal is no longer than a standard necklace, so you’ll notice it can’t shrink beyond that length. However, the charms I have layered should allow it to wrap and extend to your bidding... but there is a catch. Such a binding charm can only be broken with certain materials. Long ago they might have used a unicorn horn, but we don’t exactly have time for such unwieldy tools..”

Sam

After living through the Middle Ages and all of the lovely torture devices of the time, the puny ass chain almost made Sam laugh. Instead, a scoff escaped his lips and his eyes rolled. Who even was this guy to be making something for their task? Phoebe trusted him it seemed, but Sam wasn’t sure if he could trust her either. 

 “Are you going to tell us what it does or would you prefer we guess?” The vampire sassed, arms crossed over his chest and dark eyes piercing into the younger male. He couldn’t help but distrust him, he was a Lestrange after all. Of course, he loved Viv, but if Avery was anything like his brother he might be the next on his grocery list.

Phoebe 

Phoebe’s eyes managed to widened at the silver chord as it resized itself several times, then regrettably sink as Avery's explanations continued on and on. Phoebe didn’t have time for all the subtle nuisance and intricacies of the product, not while Alfie's killer's still drew breath. 

In an attempt to ease Sam’s frustrations that mirrored her own, Phoebe stood on her tiptoes and placed a hand on as close as she could get to the tall man’s shoulders. She, too, was beginning to grow impatient even if she respected Avery and his craft enough to tolerate his introductory  ramblings.

But enough was enough. 

 "Perhaps a demonstration.” Phoebe suggested, darkened irises flickering towards the noise proof door.  A smirk snaked across her crimson lipstick. “I saw a few willing participants in the store front."

Avery

Avery wasn’t offended by Pheobe or the stranger’s reaction, if only because he was confident that the cord’s complex hidden utility would prove them wrong for underestimating him. He was slightly put off by the man’s attitude, but trusted that Phoebe would not take someone on as a partner if he were incompetent or not to her liking. Desperate as she may be to find out what happened to her brother, he knew his business partner was nothing if not ten steps ahead of the game. 

 “I was getting there,” the allomancer replied cooly, “Though business is already at risk as it is, so perhaps a volunteer would be more appropriate?” 

Avery raised a challenging eyebrow, extending his hands with the cord for one of them to allow him to fasten it. “You see, when the metal is melted down for production I am able to add certain ingredients and elixirs to imbibe the metal with. Only trace amounts of course—“ he reckoned they didn’t care much about how added liquid could change the composition of the metals and compromise the item, but his point still stood. “Enough to produce certain qualities, however. For example, if an allomancer were to have some veritaserum on hand...” 

Sam

A small huff escaped the young vampire’s lips as Miss Maddock’s hand met his shoulder, containing the urge to shrug it away. Be nice, he told himself, even if the gesture reminded him of Teddy and Teddy made him want to rip his heart out of his chest like a Mortal Kombat fatality, except on himself. 

Anyway, he wasn’t overly impressed by his new companion, but he was already getting attached to Phoebe and wasn’t going to let her try out Mr I-Have-A-Crazy-Brother’s new contraption. Sticking out a tan hand, he pulled up his leather jacket’s sleeve to expose his wrist, allowing the stranger to fasten it around him. 

Avery

Avery wasted no time, slipping the cord around the taller man’s wrist, wrapping the cool metal several times before attaching it to itself. He pulled back, the tail end following his own hand as he leaned against the desk. “Now, Mr. Prince... I want you to lie to me. Have you ever killed someone?”

Sam

If Sam was being completely honest, this was the only question he didn’t want to be asked. He released a breath, closing his dark eyes before mumbling a quiet no. 

Avery

Avery watched as the cord began to glisten faintly, felt as the heat began to travel from his end of the cord to the taller man’s wrist. The heat was tolerable enough to maintain his grip, though surely after prolonged exposure it would be blistering. A faint smile graced his lips, just barely concealing the pride he felt at seeing his invention serve its purpose. 

“Not to worry, Mr. Prince— there will be no judgement here. Business is business after all, and your presence here tells me all I need to know for this particular transaction.” 

“Would you like to test it for yourself, Miss Maddock? Or shall we set our friend here free?” 

Phoebe 

Phoebe leaned in watching intently as the device was fastened around the taller man's wrist. Her lips twisted into a wicked smirk once the demonstration was underway, and she nodded at Sam impressed not only with his readiness to volunteer, but with his answer to Avery's question. Having Sam in her ragtag crew was continuing to prove more and more valuable. 

 "The more lies the more pain." Phoebe confirmed. It wasn't so much a question as it was a mere admission of the facts. A simple yet effective formula.

"That will be enough. I'm not interested in injuring my associate before we get our hands on the bastard it's really for." She faced the eldest Lestrange now. "And how long are these effects projected to last? Hours..?" she trailed, matter of factly, a plan already beginning to form in her mind. "Days?"

Sam

The stranger’s chain barely phased Sam, but he supposed it would do — after all, most humans couldn’t endure the pain he did after he was sick with the plague, repeatedly cut by Medieval healers in attempt to bloodlet the disease, and then changed into the monster he is today. 

“It’ll do,” he shrugged, barely flinching at the affects. He was sure they were beginning to question his humanity, but he hoped they’d keep their mouths shut. If they ended up trying to spill his secrets like dumbass Marius, they’d end up missing and look like victims of the Guardians. At this point in time, Sam wasn’t looking to play with his food.

Avery

“Precisely—“ Avery nodded to the smaller woman. “Naturally I haven’t had the chance to test its prolonged effects, but I imagine there’s a certain threshold after which the heat ceases to increase, or else we would reach a melting point.” 

“The effects of the charm won’t fade, though they don’t seem to last for a particularly long time following each lie.    More of a detecting charm than anything, not unlike the Sneakoscope. If the lie is present it will continue to radiate heat, but you will have to get creative if they choose to remain silent — though I’m sure you’ll have no trouble with that.” 

Avery turned to grab a dagger from the box, returning to his position in front of Mr. Prince once more to gesture for his wrist. He broke the chain with the blade, the cord shrinking back to its original size. “Unicorn horn. Not the most complex, I’d have liked to work out a more functional binding system for the future... but for now it should do the trick.” 

Phoebe

Phoebe nodded as Avery rambled, committing the details to memory. The piece about getting creative was particularly of interest to her, and she shot Sam a pointed look, perhaps a bit too eager. There certainly was something deliciously peculiar about her new ally, something that Phoebe hoped would prove most useful to their future endeavors together. 

 Once Sam was set free and logistics were sorted, Phoebe pursed her lips tightly with a hand positioned at her hip and irises like draggers aimed to pierce. Nothing was ever simply handed over to the middle Maddock. There was always a deal or catch, and everything had its price. She then faced Avery, “I assume something of this value doesn’t come cheap...Name your price.” 

Sam

If he was being honest, Sam was rather bored. Sure, the trinket would be useful for their plan, but Sam didn’t need fancy gadgets to cause pain to their victim when he grew up around blood, torture, and death. But Phoebe seemed excited and interested so he tried to focus on what the stranger was saying. However, he couldn’t help tuning the pair out and becoming lost in his own thoughts. There was too much going on and too little time to process it all.

The talk of money brought him back, blinking a few times before he felt focused. He was prepared to spend on this endeavor, but he had a feeling Mr Lestrange didn’t want money, he had enough of that. 

Avery

“Ah, you always were the quick one—“ Avery set to carefully packaging the cord back into its box with the knife, setting the case free of its various security charms. “Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed this little task. I don’t get asked to work with such... complex parameters... very often. I would be happy to do this without compensation, however...” 

“I’d like to be kept in the loop. While I do have a certain image to maintain so that we can keep making arrangements such as these, I consider myself invested in your cause. I have lost in this tragedy as well, and we will all continue to do so if this is allowed to continue.” 

The allomancer extended the case out to the woman. “Perhaps we can continue to be of assistance to each other. Surely there are contacts that we don’t share... I can keep my ears to the ground if you are willing to do the same.”

Phoebe

“You have yourself a deal, Mr. Lestrange." Phoebe reached to grab the package from Avery, careful in her movements as she wrapped her thin fingers around the new toy. It's not that she didn't trust the allocmancer, she simply wasn't accustomed to such terms. Then again, information wasn't exactly cheap. 

"I believe this is the beginning of a very lucrative partnership." She offered Avery her hand, extended her it towards him. All deals needed to be sealed. "I look forward to continuing business with you."

Sam

Normally Sam would feel awkward at moments like this, however he was at a point where he genuinely didn’t give a fuck. He found himself tuning them out, fiddling with the lip ring he had gotten a few days ago. Probably wasn’t a good idea to play with it, but he wasn’t a human and he was pretty sure the piercing was already healed. 

Only when he heard Miss Maddock say they had a deal did he go back to reality. He shoved a hand into his pocket, waiting for the pair to tie up loose ends before he gave Mr Lestrange’s hand a shake. Sam kept silent, apart from a quiet grunt. He didn’t really need Avery’s toy, he was only there because of Phoebe. If they didn’t get what they wanted, Sam would have to pull strings of his own.