#I’m still paranoid that I left in a tense shift by accident even after I edited if

[noneuclideanwhimsy]

Edited my half-life fic!

A short explanation for my headcanon that the events of Half-Life: Alyx were not the first encounter with the being we know as ‘the G-Man’…

[luimagines]

You React to Him Getting Sick/Injured Part 2

Masterlist

Part 1

This one will included Wild, Legend and Warrior!

Content under the cut!

Wild

Wild came back to camp after hunting with questionable stains on his clothes. It was all over his wrists, all the way up to his elbows. It was all over his chest and it stained the entirety of his left leg. 

Out of curiosity, you poke him as he passes you and quickly retract your hand by how slimey it felt. He pauses at your touch and raises an eyebrow at your actions. “Yes?”

“What on this sweet Earth is that?” You wipe our finger off onto your shirt and try to get the last of the residue off.

Wild blinks and looks down to where you’ve poked. “Oh. I didn’t realize it was that bad. I ran into some chu chu’s. They explode when you kill them. It’s fine.”

“Ok.” You hide your grimace at the information and nod. “Well, you might want to get that cleaned. ...Before it actually stains your clothes and all that.”

“Will do.” He grins and continues through the camp.

You bite your tongue at how the stains look from behind and continue on with your little hand held project.

The hours pass and Wild does eventually change out of his clothes and into some cleaner ones. You don’t know if he actually got around to washing them but you have faith in him to take care of himself.

Wild however, seems to be a little off as the day progresses. It wasn’t that bad in the beginning and was very subtle, but by the time it was time to go to bed, he checked out early and quietly got out of everyone’s way.

You had the second watch for the night and it all seemed normal. No monsters, not threats and all was quiet. Wild kept tossing and turning all night compared how silently he normally slept but it could have easily been a nightmare.

With your heart bleeding for him, you make your way over to him and shake him by his shoulder. “Wild. Wild. Wake up.”

Wild doesn’t open his eyes, his face contorted in discomfort but he does whine at your call. “Is it my watch yet? I was supposed to go after Twilight.”

“Are you ok?”

“I don’t feel good.” He groans and turns away from you, curling up into a fetal position.

You frown and place the back of your hand against his forehead.

It’s burning hot.

“You’re sick. You’re burning up.” You gulp and pull his blanket higher over him. “Don’t worry about your shift. I’ve got it covered.”

“You’re gonna go twice?” Wild is starting to fall asleep again even if he’s trying to  keep a conversation with you.

“I’ll take an extra long watch.” You shrug. You go to move away to go get something to cool him down but you place your hand on his leg by accident.

It’s also burning up.

Now you’re even more concerned.

With Wild no longer being responsive, you move the blanket out of the way and check his leg. You realize he’s only changed out of his shirt and kept the stained pants from earlier. When you roll it up you see a long, shallow cut, right where the chu chu jelly was.

It’s obviously infected.

You bite back the scream of frustration that wants to build up within you and instead go to your pack. You try to find something to help fight the infection and also to help with his fever.

It’s a quiet endeavor as you tend to him. You take care of the leg first and wrap it up with your personal bandage roll. You go to place a wet towel on Wild’s forehead.

You also try to scrounger up a kettle or something similar to make him some tea to help. But at this point you’re a little louder than you’d like and you wake up Hyrule in the process.

Which is fine. Really.

His watch was up next anyway.

“What are you doing?” He rubs his eyes and sits next to you.

“Wild got himself sick because he let a cut get infected.” You sigh. “I’m making him some tea.”

“He’s sick?” Hyrule sits a little taller. “He’s hurt?”

“Not much we can do about it now. Just watch and wait it out.”

“Do you need help?”

You pause what you’re doing and look at him. Wild is actually being very mellow despite his condition, but he could also just be very exhausted from the day and his disease. You need someone to check up on the cut soon and someone to change the towel so he can keep cool. But you also need to keep an eye on the tea so that it doesn’t scorch and you’re pretty sure breakfast is going to fall on you since in the morning since the resident chef is out.

“Yes, I’d like that a lot actually. Thank you.”

Legend

There was nothing out of ordinary with the day but you couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding. Your stomach was up in knots and you had no idea why.

Something bad was going to happen.

You kept looking all around you, trying to spot anything in the distance that would be the cause for your discomfort. But you see nothing.

“Everything ok?” Legend tilts his head. “You’re spinning around like a concerned goffer.”

“I...Don’t feel good.” You admit.

“You can go vomit in the bush. I’ll watch over ya.”

“No, not like that.” You correct him, waving the idea away like a dog fart. “I feel like something bad is going to happen.”

“Why?” He glares at you momentarily. “Why would you tell me this? I was having a good day. Now I’m going to be paranoid with you.”

You snort. “Sorry man. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Well next time, think about it and we’ll have to- AUGGHHH!!” An arrow imbeds itself into Legend’s shoulder, knocking him onto the ground.

More fly after it, two more imbedding themselves into your friend before you’re able to lift up your shield and jump in front of him, blocking any more from injuring him. The shots rain down above you both and you’re forced to hunker down so the that the shield covers you as well.

You look down at Legend as he tries to get up his feet. There’s an arrow in his main shoulder, in his torso and in his thigh. You very quickly notice that he’s collecting a lot of blood on his clothes.

He’s in no condition to fight this.

He’s out before he can get in. 

You groan and try to reach for your weapon. The others are quick to come over and help out. Wild retaliates with his own shots and Twilight and Time are quick to give the two of you cover. 

“Get him out of here!” Time commands over his shoulder.

You nod and put your shield arm down, getting onto your knees and wrapping your arms around the Hero of Legend. 

“I can stand on my own!” Legend snaps at you but he’s too locked with his own pain to do much to fight you off.

You growl at his rapidly growing blood stains and bite the bullet. In one swift move, you’re quick to pick him up bridal style and run away from the chaos.

“Forget about me! The others are going to need your help!”

You put him down behind a large enough tree and kneel next to him. “The others can handle themselves. You’ve lost your dominant arm and are bleeding profusely from three separate locations. I’d argue that you need the help right now.”

“I blame you.” He hisses, leaning back against the tree as you take out your spare health potion. 

“Why?” You keep him talking, making quick work off the arrow in his leg and in his shoulder. “How is this any way my fault?”

“It’s- aaugghh - you’re fault because you- aaugghh-  told me about your stupid accurate gut feeling of doom.” Legend pants and places his good hand by his shoulder. It’s not much but you can tell that he already feel marginally better about not having a piece of flint and a sharp stick stuck inside of him.

You uncork the potion and give it to him. He takes it although his grip is weak and there’s still one more arrow you have to go through before he can drink it.

“I’m not done. Just hold that, ok?” You move aside the folds of his tunic and can feel Legend tense up from underneath your hand. 

“This is going to suck so bad.”

“It’ll be quick, then you drink the potion and you’ll be good as new again.” You take a breath and brace yourself against the arrow and his body, anchoring your weight onto the mossy ground. “On the count of three, ok?”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t think you have a choice.”

“Ok.”

“One.”

Legend curses.

“Two.”

He takes a breath and you pull it you of him. Legend is quick to scream and fill the air with profanities even as you guide the potion to his lips. He drinks out of pure spite and rips himself away from you.

“What happened to three?!” He shouts, potion half gone and dribbling a little down his chin.

“I counted that in my head.” You shrug and begin to dig out a cloth and your water skin.

“I hate you. You suck. That was awful. I’m never speaking to you again.” Legend whines and keeps sipping the potion as you start to clean up the blood to the best of your ability.

“You don’t mean any of that. I know for a fact that you actually love me very much.” You try to grin and ignore how the sounds of battle are continuing on without you.

“I’ll never forgive you.”

“Let the potion do it’s job and then you can talk to me again.” You smirk and shift your weight to get onto your feet.

“Are you going to help the others finally?” He looks up at you, taking deep breath to calm his heart and blood pressure.

You bite your lip and think about it for a moment. “You’re not jumping into that fight.”

“Do you think I can?”

“After that potion, I don’t think I can trust to not do that. I’ll stay here. Someone has to make sure you don’t throw yourself head first into battle.” You take a step and move to sit by Legend’s side behind the tree. “I don’t know about you but Hyrule will have my head if we waste a potion on you, only for you to get hurt again.”

“He wouldn’t. He’s too nice.” 

“Time will though. And I don’t think I’ll survive their collective disappointment.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“All Links need a babysitter.” You counterargue. “It’s like herding cats. I’m staying.”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

A moment passes.

“...Thank you” Legend says it like you’re still fake arguing but you know he’s trying to be genuine.

You hold back a snort and only succeed by a hair thin margin. You copy the tone and grin to yourself. “You’re welcome.”

The others are fine.

Warrior

Warrior was a little more jumpy than you would have given him credit for. You had always considered him calm and collected- if only a little full of himself. But your consolation was that he could put his money where his mouth was. Whatever he claimed he could do- he proved it soon after.

So you let it slide most of the time.

Except for this.

“What is happening right now/” You ask him, eyebrow raised and full of judgement.

“Don’t question it!” He screeches and runs by your side in the opposite direction.

“Charming.” You deadpan. “The Hero of Courage, ladies and gents.”

You sigh and knock your arrow, aiming at the skulltula in front of you. You kill it in a single shot and wait for Warrior to make his reappearance.

“You killed it right?”

“Yes. I did.”

“Ok. Good. Cool. Thank you.” He takes a breath and comes back to your side, dusting the none existent debris from his tunic and scarf. “That’s great. Where do we go from here?” 

“Are you actually afraid of spiders?” You frown and let him lead the way again. “Because this place is bound to be full of them. You shouldn’t be the one to take the lead this time.”

“Really?” He stops mid step to look at you. It’s the most panicked you think you’ve ever seen him.

“Yes.” You snort and move past him. “Just follow me Soldier Boy. It’s bound full of spooky scary scalies.”

“Don’t joke about that please...” Warrior grimaces and falls into step behind you. “Look I’m not afraid of spiders.”

“You’re terrified.”

“OK! No. I just... I just don’t like bugs... or things that can crawl on the wall.... Or just jump down on you with no reason or prior warning.”

“Spiders aren’t bugs actually.” You grin. “They’re arachnids. Only two body segments and eight legs negate anything they would have in the insect category.”

“Thank you for that unnecessary information.”

“It’s not that ba- LINK LOOK OUT!” You scream and are powerless to watch as a blue wizzrobe appears from the ground and fires directly at Warrior.

He’s quick to dodge out of the way but he’s misjudged the distance between him and the attack. While Warrior sends himself careening into the wall, head first, the magic shot goes straight to you and you’re quick to grab your weapon and parry it back in the direction it came from. 

The wizzrobe makes the unfortunate decision to reappear right as it’s sent backwards and is stunned in place with its own magic. You jump over Warrior, who’s now slumped against the wall with a hand on his head, and slice at the magic creature before it shakes off the magical effect.

Your attack unstuns it but it disappears instantly and you’re left alone for the time being.

You don’t have a lot of experience with wizzrobes but you doubt they go down that easily so you stash away your weapon and make a mad dash toward your friend, aiming to make a quick getaway towards the end of the dungeon corridor. “Are you ok?”

“No.” He answer immediately and pulls his hands away. His gauntlets and fingertips are coated in blood and it’s beginning to slowly trickle down his face.

“Why on earth did you do that?” You scold and gently take his hands away, placing your own on his cheek to turn his head ever so slightly to the side to get a better look at it.

“And what would you rather have me do? Get hit by the magic bullet?”

“You didn’t have to ram yourself face first into the wall.”

“I wasn’t trying to.”

You snort and pull your sleeve up, holding it gently in your fist. You brush away his hair and dab at the wound. It’s mostly superficial and you doubt it would scar. But head wounds are always worrisome.

“Well at least you’ll get to keep your pretty looks. Legend would never let you hear the end of it. Your reputation is on the line.” You smile and poke his nose. “It’s nothing serious. Are you ok to keep going?”

“I think so.” He mutters and pushes himself off the wall and back onto his feet.

The wizzrobe comes back in tandem with Warrior’s movements and fires again. Warrior growls and blocks it with his shield. You attack again as it’s stunned and watch as it dissipates into the cloud of purple smoke they all do what they die.

“That was anti-climactic.” You mutter and kick the remaining cloths that it left behind.

“Please don’t temp anything else.” Your companion whines.

“Sorry.”

“I hate this.”

“I know.”

“Let’s go.”

“Ok.” You shrug and lead the way with Warrior quick on your heels and close by. But you don’t want him to go flying into another brick wall for any other reason so you grab his hand and together you walk further into the darkened dungeon.

He’s surprising a bit calmer after that.

Part 3

[a-detraque-barista]

Chocolate Strawberry Milkshake Part 2

Serial Killer Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Gore, yandere, fluff

Word Count: 3.4k

Warnings: Suggestive actions, bloody gore, yandere themes and all that

A/N: The long-awaited part 2 is here!!!! I am so  s o r r y for how long this took but it’s here now and I hope you all enjoy!!

Part 1

Summary:  Jungkook is one of the most infamous killers that you’ve taken an interest in. You just don’t know your new friend is that killer and he’s very subtle about being obsessed with you.

   Knocking interrupted Jungkook’s assault on your throat, “Hello? You had blankets sent to your room?”

   You gave Jungkook a look before he got up to answer the door with you right behind him. Once he opened the door there was a woman with neat brown hair tied into a low bun to go with the bland beige house-keeper uniform.

   From where you were standing, you could see the woman’s expression change from fake to sultry once she laid her eyes on Jungkook. But he interrupted her little daydream.

   “We didn’t ask for these,” Jungkook’s voice was clipped and irritation was evident.

   The hotel employee shifted the blankets to her left hand and rest her weight on her right leg to pop her hip out. You rolled your eyes so hard, you were sure you saw your brain.

   “What do you say we go down by my room and put the blankets to use?”

   Grabbing the blankets from the lady’s arms Jungkook gave her one of his fake smiles and said, “How about no.” And closed the door in her face, making sure to lock both the deadlock and the safety latch for good measure.

   You chuckled after seeing her hopeful face fall at Jungkook’s words. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Jungkook to get hit on. But now you were concerned about the random blankets being sent to the room. You decided to sit in the desk chair now that you were interrupted and you didn’t feel like laying down in the only bed in the room. Jungkook dropped the blankets on the floor by the foot of the bed to sit on the edge. Looking down at the pure white fabric, his hair fell into his eyes.

   Being a killer, he’s become paranoid. And these random blankets being sent to the room put him into a paranoia frenzy in his head.

   “It must’ve been an accident. Whoever asked probably told them the wrong room number by mistake,” you turned the tv on and began to switch through the channels. You didn’t really want to think about it in a way that would eat away at your mind during the trip.

   Your reassurance did little to calm him down. Was someone after him? Did someone know what he was? Or even worse… were they after you? The thought alone made him infuriated. Why would anyone want to hurt you? Or were they obsessed with you?

   So many questions swirled around in his head he began to get a migraine. Feeling the pressure build behind his eyes, he got up to look through his bag for his Excedrin. Of course, he forgot them on his nightstand. Sighing he looked to you to see you gazing at him with curiosity.

   “I left my Excedrin at home,” Jungkook went to continue but you raised your hand and said, “Say no more.”

   You reach into your bag and take out the bottle of the green and white migraine pills you always had on you.

   “Thanks,” Jungkook smiled thankfully and you turned back to the tv after returning a small smile.

   How could he have forgotten you had the same problem he had? Suffering from a life full of migraines, he knew how painful they could get. Imagining you groaning in pain as you held your head in your hands, his heart was breaking and adrenaline pumping at the same time.

   Damn it. No matter how hard he tried to not get pleasure from the thought of you crying, it couldn’t be helped. Jungkook wanted to see you cry. He wanted to see you in pain. Only to want to comfort you afterward. His thoughts were contradicting and he didn’t know what to do.

   Being lost in thought Jungkook didn’t notice how you fell asleep in the desk chair.

   Your head smacked the desk causing you to wake up with a groan and Jungkook to tear away his stare from the floor to you. He was confused until you looked around with tired eyes and laid your head down slowly onto the polished wood.

   Jungkook chuckled and stood up to walk over to you and carefully help you stand. Walking you over to the bed, he helped lay down and covered you with the large white comforter. You were still pouting from the pain as your forehead began to turn red.

   You just looked so damn cute he couldn’t help but lean down towards you. But he stopped. It took everything in him to not kiss you. Moving up to lightly brush his lips over the red mark on your forehead.

   Jungkook saw you wince slightly and he smiled.

   It took longer for Jungkook to fall asleep but the exhaustion finally caught up to him, making his eyelids heavy.

❀❀❀❀

   Jungkook woke up to the stench of mold. Feeling the surface underneath him was no longer soft but stiff and unpleasant, his eyes snapped open to take in his surroundings. Dim lightly illuminated the cold room. The walls and floor were concrete and the moldy smell made his nose scrunch up.

   His eyes landed on another body laying not too far from him. The familiar slope of their neck and waist made him realize it was you. Scrambling to get to his feet, he hurried to you. Jungkook gently laid you on your back so he could examine you for any injuries. There was nothing that he could see but he placed his hand on the side of your head and you winced.

   Jungkook cradled your head and slowly he slid his legs under your head. After achieving this without hurting you further he relaxed. He felt a migraine forming but he didn’t care. All he cared about was you.

   He kissed your forehead softly so he wouldn’t add any more pressure. Your eyes began to flutter and Jungkook held his breath.

   As your eyes focused on him you saw how concerned he was. Looking around all you saw were dark walls and one door. You felt your heart beat faster and faster as you realized where you were.

   Beginning to hyperventilate you tried to curl up into Jungkook’s arms. He wrapped his arms around you even tighter. He didn’t understand what was happening until your body began to shake violently. Even after he knew what was going on, he had no idea what to do. He almost went into a panic attack with you but he didn’t want to make things worse so he just held onto you tighter. He whispered reassurances into your ears sweetly. Always making sure to call you his little strawberry.

   With Jungkook’s help, your panic attack passed in a half an hour. Your breathing had steadied and your body relaxed. Jungkook had your head to his chest and his face nuzzled into the top of your head. Silence and both of your breathing were the only sounds that could be heard.

   “I know who sent us those blankets.

   Jungkook didn’t respond. Waiting for you to reveal who they were dealing with. So, someone was after you.

   “Do you remember last night, when I got a call from someone?”

   Still, Jungkook gave no response.

   And still, you continued, “Well, he’s not a good guy. I did favors for him so he would help me out when I was through a rough patch. Why he wanted to help me in the first place, I’ll never know.” You’ve never told anyone this. Afraid they would look down on you for doing things that society frowned upon. “I stole, I tricked people and lured them to their death beds. Just to get out of debt or to even shop for groceries.” Laughing, you sat up and looked into Jungkook’s steely iris’ with your glassy ones.

   “I understand if you want to stop being friends. He always said no one would like me after what I did,” your voice cracked as you brought your knees to your chest.

   Jungkook tackled you to the ground and hovered over you. He looked into your eyes, “God, I love you.”

   The door slammed open, letting in light from the hallway and the man that had brought you two here.

   “I’ve heard enough,” he stepped closer to the two of you. “Don’t you think you should get off her?” It was a rhetorical question but Jungkook still answered to get on his nerves.

   “Nah, I like it here,” Jungkook smirked up at him.

   The man snarled and reached inside his jacket when you spoke up, “Yoongi.”

   At the sound of your voice calling his name, he dropped his arm down to his side. Sighing he motioned for one of his men to grab Jungkook and pull him up from above. Jungkook began to kick and struggle.

   “Kookie,” he stopped to look at you. “It’s best if you don’t struggle,” your voice was soft. You’ve been through this before. You knew the only way in and out of this building was guarded by men armed to the teeth.

   And so Jungkook complied and Yoongi held out his arm for you to take like he was escorting you. Following him down the hall and into the elevator.

   You’ve been in this elevator many times already knowing which button Yoongi was going to push. But his finger pushed in the one above that. The top floor. Yoongi’s penthouse. Now, you weren’t so sure what he wanted.

   Yoongi could feel you get tense and he grinned. He loved your reactions. Leading you into the living room to leave you with Jungkook, two of his men, and a gun on the coffee table.

   The man let Jungkook go and he went to stand next to you. He asked you, “Are you ready?”

   You looked at him confusedly and Jungkook just smiled before reaching out for the gun on the table and shooting both men.

   “Oh, that’s what you meant,” you said and Jungkook snickered.

   “I’m sure he wanted me to do that. He’s not dumb enough to be that careless. Right?” Jungkook looked at the heavy weapon in his hand and smirked when you confirmed his suspicion.

   “So you are smarter than you look,” you turned to look at Yoongi.

   Your eyebrows furrowed as you saw his casual attire. Unbuttoned dress shirt, normal dress pants, and no shoes. He never looked anything but business-like around people.

   “Y/n my dear,” he walked over to you and reached his hand out for you to take. You took it and his smile showed content, sadness, exhaustion. “The favor I wanted to ask of you, is my last and final request.”

   You froze. He couldn’t possibly mean that today was the day.

   “It’s okay, my dear,” Yoongi brought his hand to the side of your face to gently stroke your cheek with his thumb. “You knew this day would come.”

   “And yet, it’s still hard.”

   “I know.”

   “Jungkook, right?” Yoongi turned towards him and gave him a slanted smile. “The gun please.”

   Jungkook pointed the gun at Yoongi, “Jungkook, it’s okay. Give it to him.” He hesitated. “I promise it’s okay.” With that Jungkook handed Yoongi the gun.

   “Not much of a talker, huh?” Yoongi chuckled. “Take good care of her for me,” he passed the gun into your hand.

   This is why you didn’t want to do any more favors. But you made a promise.

   You hugged him one last time before slowly raising the gun to the side of his head. A tear slipped from your eye as you pulled the trigger.

   Your ears rang as Yoongi’s body fell to the floor. Taking the handkerchief, you knew to be Yoongi’s favorite, from the table you wiped down the gun before placing the weapon down on the table. You tucked the handkerchief into your pocket.

   “Let’s go home. I think that’s enough excitement for today,” you smiled at Jungkook and grabbed your bags from the corner. “Rest in peace, Yoongi.”

   Handing Jungkook his bag you took his other hand and rode the elevator down to the first floor. As expected, you were greeted by Yoongi’s right-hand man, Hoseok. In his hands, he had a box of matches and car keys. At his feet was an empty gasoline canister.

   “Take care Y/n,” his smile was like the sun was shining in your face.

   “I will.”

   Hoseok handed you the matches and car keys and watched as the two of you exited the building. The all-black SUV was where it always was. You unlocked the car and you and Jungkook set your bags in the trunk.

   Walking up to where you could see the end of the gasoline trail, you lit a match. Then you dropped it and created a trail of flames as you heard a gunshot from inside the house. It took seconds for the house to become a beacon of fire.

   “I’m sorry,” you apologized as you watched the building burn.

   “For what?”

   “For not telling you. For putting all of this on you in just one day. For not finding the right way to explain.”

   “There’s no need to apologize, but since we’re revealing secrets today, I might as well tell you mine,” Jungkook turned towards you and gazed into your eyes. He was hesitating. What if you would reject him?

   “It’s okay, you can tell me,” you grinned and held his hand as you waited patiently for him to tell you.

   “I masturbated to your bra before breakfast.”

   “Huh?” you dumbfounded at first but then you bursted into laughter. “Jungkook, I thought- I thought it was something serious,” You kept laughing and Jungkook smiled at you fondly.

   He didn’t want to lose this. He didn’t want to lose you.

   “No, that’s not it. So tell me,” you wiped your tears away and looked at him expectantly. “There’s no judgment here.”

   Jungkook took a deep breath and confessed, “I’m the killer. I’m the one that’s been killing all those people. The one that you’re so fascinated with.”

   Your eyes widened as you stared into his dark eyes. He wasn’t joking. You turned back to the flaming building. You let out a huff of air that almost sounded like a laugh, “It actually makes a lot of sense.”

   “You’re not disgusted? Scared? Disturbed?” Jungkook had a look of desperation. He didn’t know what he would do if you ended up hating him.

   “No, surprised and shocked but not any of those things.”

   Jungkook’s whole face lit up and he once again tackled you to the ground. He peppered your face in kisses and once he got close to your ear he whispered, “Let’s go home.”

❀❀❀❀

   It was still dark as you got closer and closer to your apartment building. The flashing blue, white, and red lights were practically blinding both of you. You tried to see what apartment door they were all at through the open walkway. To your dismay, your unhinged door stood crooked and broken as officers entered and exited.

   Jungkook only had to take one glance before deciding to continue driving. Fortunately, his apartment building had no one outside. After parking, you both hurried upstairs and into his apartment.

   You’ve only been there a handful of times. Jungkook preferred to go to your apartment. His didn’t feel as cozy as yours did, according to him, but you had nowhere else to go.

   You always loved seeing Jungkook’s place. The posters, the Iron Man figurines, and the gaming systems. They all showed a side to him that he didn’t show a lot of people.

   “It seems they found Jooheon’s body,” Jungkook peeked out of the curtains. Closing them again he turns to see you staring at him.

   Jungkook grinned and walked closer to you, taking your hand in his. Almost like the first night he met you.

   He couldn’t believe it’s been that long and if the cops found him it’ll all be a distant memory. He would get the death penalty and he’ll never see you again.

   “Why’d you kill him?”

   Jungkoook looked up at you and sighed. He couldn’t really blame you for asking.

   “Because he was trying to take away what’s mine,” Jungkook brought your left hand up to his lips to kiss the back of it. He kept it there as he gazed into your eyes.

   “What was it?”

   “You,” he spoke softly, almost whispered. Taking your ring finger he bit into it, making you wince. “Just until I can get you a real one.”

   Chuckling you said, “We haven’t even had our first kiss.”

   “Hm,” he brought your hand down to your side but still had a firm grip on it. “That does pose a problem, doesn’t it?”

   Jungkook trailed his hand up to your jaw and his other hand came to rest on your hip before pulling you closer. Being so close, you realized how Jungkook’s pupils dilated. From far away his iris’ seem almost black. But from right here, they were a deep brown.

   “Your eyes are pretty,” you blurted out causing Jungkook to laugh.

   “That’s not what I was expecting,” he giggled with you and you rested your forehead against his. You felt his eyebrows furrow.

   “What’s wrong?”

   “Are those sirens?”

   Listening, you could hear the faint echoes of police sirens. Jungkook clicked his tongue and pulled away from you causing you to pout. He lifted your chin up with his index finger to give you a peck on the lips.

   “There. Our first kiss. Now we need to go,” he quickly disappeared into the hallway while you stood there blushing.

   You snapped out of it and quickly grabbed your bag, phone, everything. Jungkook didn’t take long before coming back with a set of keys you’ve never seen before. Grabbing his bag he lead you out and locked the door, even though he knew it was going to be kicked in. He had a reason for doing it. Jungkook took your hand and sprinted to where he had hidden an expensive-looking car for emergencies.

   Setting the bags in the trunk, Jungkook turns to you over the roof of the car, “Wanna go get milkshakes one last time?”

   To anyone that would seem like an ordinary question. You weren’t anyone. He was asking if you wanted to run away with him.

   “Of course,” you said.

❀❀❀❀

   Just like the night you and Jungkook met, you sat at the same booth, same milkshakes, and the same comfort around each other.

   Halfway through your milkshakes, you overheard the owner and an employee talking not-so-quietly about Jungkook and Jooheon’s body being found. Jungkook met your gaze and saw a look in his eyes you couldn’t describe. It sent shivers down your spine. His eyes switched over to the approaching owner and employee.

   The young worker was fidgeting and there was sweat on the owner's temples. They were obviously scared and both of you could tell. You kept sipping on your milkshake as Jungkook greeted them.

   “What-what did you do after I gave you Jooheon’s address?” the overweight owner stuttered.

   “I paid him a visit.”

   All you saw was red. Not the red where anger takes over your vision. It was red and sticky that splattered all over you. The table, the floor, and Jungkook were drenched in bright red blood. You were absolutely stunned. It all happened so fast, you were barely able to process what had happened before Jungkook grabbed your arm.

   You looked down to the floor to see the dead owner and the almost dead employee. She tried to stab Jungkook’s ankle with the small pocket knife she placed in her apron. Her attempt failed as you stepped on her wrist making her drop the knife and yell out in pain. You made sure to put as much weight as possible on her wrist.

   Stepping off of her, you looked to Jungkook to see him staring darkly at you. You froze. Did you do something to anger him? Did you-

   Your thoughts were interrupted when Jungkook kissed you passionately. His blood-soaked hands held your blood-spattered cheeks. You could taste iron and so did he.

   You pulled away, breathless, and whispered, “We should leave.”

   Jungkook nodded and took your hand as you both walked back to the car. Sitting there you both realized what would happen next.

   You will be wanted, hunted, and runaways. Always on the move.

   “Don’t worry, my little strawberry. I know a place where we’ll be safe,” he smiled at you before quickly looking back to the road.

   “I wanna get married in the fall,” you say as you watched the passing buildings through the dirty window.

   “My favorite time of year.”

❀❀❀❀

   As you and Jungkook passed through a small town the police knocked down the door to Jungkook’s apartment. As they filed in the quiet ticking wasn’t heard until they all stopped.

   Tick Tock

   Tick Tock

   “The clock stops,” Jungkook muttered.

[tetsuroyaoyaoya]

A Crow Without Wings

tsukishima kei x reader - part four

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It was too early for you to be roaming the halls of the school.

Despite not being due to officially start your manager duties until the practice match, you had decided to see if you could catch the end of the boys’ morning practice just to check in and ask if they needed anything from you, so that you could prepare for it later on. Since Kiyoko was still their main manager and she’d been doing this for years, you doubted that they would, but it gave you the excuse to tease your brother after the argument you had the day prior.

It wasn’t really that early, and you had only gotten to school twenty minutes earlier then you usually did, meaning there were already quite a few other students wandering around, waiting for the day to begin. At first, you didn’t pay them any mind, but then you began to notice the staring, and the whispers, and the looks.

It was as if you were back at Shiratorizawa again, walking the halls just as you had a few months ago, after the accident. You weren’t dreaming, right? This was definitely Karasuno, where nobody knew who you were?

Pinching yourself with quite a bit of force, you winced, confirming that you were, in fact, very much conscious, and very much confused. It could have always been something completely unrelated to you, or you were just paranoid. But no matter what you told yourself, you had an extremely bad feeling about whatever was going on.

Deciding to put the matter aside for now and ignore everyone else, you carried on through the building and out towards the gym, where it seemed to be uncharacteristically quiet to say there was meant to be a morning practice.

Quickening your pace slightly, just in case you had managed to miss them, you bumped into someone at the door of the gym.

“Rei?”

“Yams?” He looked panicked, eyes darting about as if he didn’t know where to look and not-so-subtly trying to steer you away from the building. If it was any other day, you would have just brushed it off as him being anxious like he usually was, but it felt like he was purposely trying to distract you, which concerned you.

“Let her in, Tadashi.” Looking up, your eyes met Tsukishima’s as he walked up to stand just behind the other first year that was blocking your way. Frowning, you noticed an unusually hard look on his face, and he, too, was avoiding looking at you. Letting out a huff of annoyance, you rolled your eyes at them both, thinking that it was just Tsukishima’s new plot to try and get on your nerves.

If it was, it was working.

“What? Is this some kind of joke? It’s really not funny.” Purposely brushing shoulders with Yamaguchi as you passed, you entered the gym to find that none of the team were actually playing, and they were instead huddled together at the bench.

“Rei-chan…” Sugawara looked at you with his signature warm smile, but his eyes were glossed over slightly, and he looked tense.

“Okay, what is happening today?” You were exasperated. The team had literally only just seen you last night, and yet this morning was so different.

“Is it true?” Your gaze shifted slightly to the right of Suga, seeing the normally excitable tangerine sat completely still, staring at you with wide eyes and furrowed brows. You never even thought that Hinata could make such a serious expression.

“Is what true?” The group of boys parted slightly as you approached to let you through and Suga handed you a tablet, presumably the coach’s.

“This was posted over every local news and sport site imaginable this morning.” Your heart dropped to your feet as you saw your name in bold, front and centre, in the article title.

This could not be happening.

People finding out who you were and what happened to you was frankly inevitable, and you knew that, but you didn’t expect ti to be posted across the news for the entire country to see.

“Holy shit,” Daichi never even opened his mouth to chastise you, in complete disbelief over what Suga had just read out to them.

Hurriedly, your eyes skimmed over the beginning of the article as you felt tears well up in your eyes. It only got worse the further you read on. Whoever their ‘exclusive source’ was, they had strung the most detailed web of lies you had ever come across, and if it wasn’t about you, you would have believed it.

‘Kageyama Rei used Ushijima Wakatoshi for his reputation, to pull herself to the top of the social chain at Shiratorizawa in order to gain a place on the volleyball team. She has absolutely no talent. The only reason she was even on the team was because she blackmailed the coach and forced Ushijima to threaten to quit the boys’ team if she didn’t get a place. Kageyama dragged the entire team down and completely ruined their chance to go to nationals, even going as far as causing another player to get injured due to her recklessness on the court.

‘When Ushijima found out what she was really like, they broke up, and since he wasn’t there to threaten the coach and the team for her anymore, she lost her place and was expelled. Nobody has seen her since, and I’m not surprised. It was embarrassing for everyone involved.’

This really did have to be a dream.

“No! None of this is true!” This wasn’t meant to happen. You were meant to have a new start. You were meant to be happy.

“Look, I’ll show you why we didn’t go to nationals.” Opening a new tab on the tablet, your hands trembled as you searched for the video you had ingrained into your brain by this point from having watched it so many times.

“Watch. Keep your eyes on number thirteen.” Turning the tablet around, you made sure that the whole team had a clear view of it as the video began to play. Even Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had moved over to watch, as they’d never seen it before.

They began to get excited as they watched the first few spikes, and you bit your lip as you heard a few of them gasp in awe as they followed the player.

But you knew what was coming.

You closed your eyes.

And flinched.

That scream haunted your nightmares, even now, and you could still hear in ringing in your ears as the video came to an end, a tear rolling down your cheek.

Opening your eyes, you looked over the many expressions of horror before you, each member still staring at the tablet in shock. You handed it back to Suga and felt his hand shake as he took it from you.

“Number thirteen was taken out of the game and Shiratorizawa withdrew from the competition altogether. Seijoh won by default. She wasn’t expelled, or even kicked from the team; she spent two weeks in the hospital, three months unable to walk, and another two in a leg brace on crutches. The doctor told her she could never play again.” A few gasps were heard, and you sighed.

“How do you know so much?” You gave Asahi a sad smile and fumbled with your fingers as you tried to think of a way to finally tell them your secret.

“Rei, you don’t have to do this.” Tsukishima was staring you down from the other side of the group, his glasses positioned further down the bridge of his nose than you had ever seen them before, him having not bothered adjusting them, and you resisted the urge to tease him about it.

“Yes, I do.” Reaching down, you pulled your sock down from over your knee, you revealed the compression sleeve that you were still required to wear. Taking a deep breath, you pushed that down as well, showing them all your injury.

The skin of your knee had healed considerably since the operation, but you still remember very vividly how it was mangled and out of place, and now all that remained were the deep pink indents, scars littered all over. The ones from the stitches were the most prominent; little raised bumps in neat lines down the sides of your knee.

I was the one that was injured.” Some of them had to look away from you, swallowing down the lumps in their throats that had formed, blinking their tears away.

“I’d been friends with Ushijima since we were kids, and we did date last year, but he was the reason we split up, not me. I got onto that team, and the All-Japan team, all by myself. We never threatened the coaches, and I left on my own accord. This entire thing is complete bullshit.” There was silence for a few moments, and you let yourself calm down slightly before pulling your sock back up. None of you really knew where to look or what to do next.

Someone, obviously who you knew, had created an entire fabrication of the past year of your life, and no one at your new school would be able to tell if it was a lie or not.

“Rei? Rei!” You spun around as someone stumbled into the gym, breathing heavily, clearly having run over.

“Pinch?” He looked up at you with a relieved smile, but quickly saw the tears on your face and rushed over.

“Kitten, oh fuck.” You barely had time to register it as he dragged you into a hug, but it definitely didn’t take you long for you to relax into it, enjoying the comfort of his arms. His hand ran over your hair and you turned your face inwards, resting in the crook of his neck.

“Are you okay?” He pulled away and gave you a quick once over, making sure that you were fine.

“What are you doing here?”

“I saw that disgusting article and couldn’t help it.” Shaking your head in amusement, you giggled, even through the tears.

“You could have just called, dummy.” Realisation dawned on his face and it made you laugh even more. You were interrupted by a cough, reminding you that the team was still huddled not far away.

“Oh, um, this is Semi Eita. Eita, this is my new team.” He bowed and the rest of the boys nodded their heads back at him in greeting.

“Sorry for barging in.”

“No, it’s totally fine. We just found out about it ourselves.” Daichi was trying is best at being nice but was obviously trying to profile the poor boy next to you, especially seen as he was wearing his Shiratorizawa uniform. Semi tensed beside you and your eyes landed on Tanaka and Nishinoya creeping closer, clearly trying to intimidate him.

“Boys,” you glared at them in warning and they paused, not taking their eyes off of their target. “Behave!” They backed off but made a point to stare from a distance.

“Where’s Tobio?” Due to all the chaos, you had only just noticed that your brother was the only one missing from the gathering, and you were surprised at yourself for not realising that he wasn’t there.

“He stormed out as soon as we saw the article.” You sighed, running a hand through your hair as you tried to come up with a way to deal with him.

“Nice.” Semi placed a hand gently between your shoulder blades in an attempt to calm you down a bit.

“Right, I’ll deal with him later. You boys better clean up and get ready for class before Kiyoko sees. Do not be late to the match after school, and I will see you all there, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am!” It brought a smile to your face and tension in the air began to disperse. They got to clearing up the equipment and Semi handed you a tissue to wipe your remaining tears as Sugawara approached.

“If you need anything today, no matter what, you can come and find one of us. Even Kiyoko.” He placed a hand on your arm to comfort you and you nodded back at him.

“Thank you.” It was barely a whisper, but he understood, giving you one of his toothy grins before going over to join the other boys.

Today was not going to be your day.

~~~

Handing Semi a drink from the vending machine, you placed yourself next to him on the bench behind the gym. Daichi had assured you that none of the teachers check there on their rounds and you could chat with your friend in peace for a while.

So here you both were, skipping the morning period, avoiding teachers, and drinking juice.

“If he’s seen it, he doesn’t care. I found out from Tendou.” He answered your unspoken question and confirmed your suspicions. You knew the article would have no effect on Ushijima, whether it was true or not. He was basically a household name at this point, and anyone would believe that he did nothing wrong, especially with how the article made him out to be a victim of the situation, despite the situation never existing at all. It also showed he was long over you; he didn’t care about you anymore.

Shuffling closer to Semi, you came to rest your head on his shoulder. You had missed having close friends around like this, and while the two of you hadn’t spoken since you left, it felt as if you had seen him just yesterday.

“Well, the peace was nice while it lasted.” You tried to joke, but he could sense the slight tremble in your voice. You were afraid of what was going to happen next, knowing that some people would never believe you if you told them what really happened.

“It was someone close to me, it had to have been.” Semi’s mouth was set into a firm line, having realised that himself. There were details in that article that not just anyone knew, and it was unsettling to know that the entire thing was possibly planned by someone you called a friend.

“You’ll be okay.” He brought his hand around you and lent his head on yours.

“I hope so.”

~~~

You were exhausted.

Luckily, Aihara and Sasuke had already known about your accident for a while now, so at least they weren’t suddenly against you like everyone else seemed to be. They had stayed by your side for the majority of the day, making sure that you were okay and warding off anyone that might try something on you.  

Even so, you couldn’t get the article out of your thoughts. Apart from the excerpt you had read this morning, you hadn’t seen any more of it, so you couldn’t even begin to imagine what people thought of you since you hadn’t read the entire thing. All you knew, according to your two friends, and Semi, was that everything that this mysterious person had said about you was absolutely awful and completely untrue. You were curious, but you knew reading more would only upset you further.

The school day finally ended, and you met up with Kiyoko to start preparing for the practice match. She didn’t question you about anything, which you were grateful for, and you both had a pleasant chat as you gathered paperwork and set up equipment.

Soon enough, the boys also started to arrive at the gym, rushing to get into uniform, and you greeted them as Kiyoko returned from going to speak with the other team’s manager.

“Ouginishi will arrive at 4:30!” She announced, receiving a chorus of responses. Coach Ukai caught your attention and he waved you over to speak to him.

“Kageyama, I want you to sit out of this one.”

“What? Why?” It was meant to be the first match with you as their manager. You wanted to see them play a real match.

“You need to go and clear your head. I can see from the other side of the court that your mind is in the clouds. The boys told me what happened, and they agreed that it can wait one more day for you to start.” Clearly upset, you frowned at him, but you understood. You had been out of it all day, and volleyball was merely another distraction to add to the mix.

“You can’t tell them how to improve if you aren’t fully in the match, so go home, and rest.” Bowing your head, you gave him a weak nod. He didn’t seem too concerned about the article, but he had known who you were from the start, so obviously it wasn’t important to him.

Picking up your bag from where you had dropped it down next to the bench, you turned to leave but was stopped as you bumped into someone for the second time today.

“Giving up already?” That sneer. There was only one person that it could be, and you rolled your eyes, looking up at the blond who was staring you down, a sly smirk sitting happily on his face.

“Shut it, Tsukki.” You huffed, and he dropped the smirk.

“Oi,” Raising an eyebrow at him as he glared at you, you couldn’t help but realise you were really getting sick of his hot and cold attitude that he’d been showing you over the past few weeks. It was a wonder how Yamaguchi stayed friends with him.

“Get over it already.” You couldn’t help but let your jaw drop at his words, not even being able to form a response as he left you dumbfounded.

“Excuse me?”

“There’s nothing you can do about it, so there’s no use moping about, is there? So just get over it.” You hated it, but he had a really good point. It wasn’t like you could change what had already happened, and there wasn’t really a point in trying to change what people thought about you right now, so what was the point in being distracted by it?

“Get over yourself, beanpole.” Chuckling as his face scrunched up in annoyance, you readjusted the bag on your shoulder and walked out of the gym, not even bidding farewell to the other boys.

The fresh air was nice as you walked, but you found it difficult to clear your mind. Taking Tsukishima’s advice was easier said than done. It wasn’t like you could just be fine with the article straight away, especially after getting so worked up over it through the day.

Even if you didn’t care about the stupid thing anymore, that interview had still been given by someone very close to you, and the fact that you had been stabbed in the back like that by one of your friends was going to weigh on your mind for a while, whether you liked it or not.

You just hoped that you would never find out who did it, for your sake and theirs.

~~~

Cursing at no one in particular, you hurried your pace as you rushed for the train. If you made this next one, you could get to Tokyo earlier that you had thought you were able to, and you could hopefully get there before dinner.

The team must have already arrived by now and were probably in the middle of a game. It was a shame that you weren’t able to travel with them, but it lifted your spirits to know that your brother and his orange sidekick were going to be late as well.

You had known they were hopeless, so you weren’t surprised when they failed their exams; you had laughed at them, in fact, earning a slap over the head from Daichi. However, you hadn’t expected for them to actually try and still make it to the training camp, despite the make-up exam being on the first day. It really didn’t help that Tanaka had encouraged them and offered for his sister to pick them up from the school and drive them all the way over from Miyagi.

Your excuse for being late was that you doctor’s appointment had been rescheduled at the last minute, to just after midday, so you couldn’t be there for the start of the camp.

It was so worth it though.

The doctor had cleared you for minor practice, meaning you could play volleyball again. There were restrictions of course, a lot of them, and you knew your brother was going to be less than pleased about it, but you were just so excited to be able to spike a ball once again. That serve last week had left you buzzing, ready to feel the rush of adrenaline you got from seeing the view of the other side of the net being revealed to you finally, after so long.

You were also ready to kick the boys’ asses and knock them down a few pegs, that’s if the teams at the camp weren’t doing that already. Smiling at the thought, you took a seat on the train you had barely managed to catch and prepped yourself for the two-hour journey to the capital that you had ahead of you.

It was so easy to get lost in your thoughts as the train sped through the country, and your place next to the window was greatly appreciated as you looked over the mass of beautiful scenery. For once, there was nothing important on your mind, and you could finally relax and just space out. Even though your heart was pounding against your ribcage in anticipation of playing again, you kept your cool, even as the train pulled into the station, signalling you had arrived in Tokyo at last. You still had another train to catch, but you had already noticed the difference in atmosphere here.

You hadn’t been to Tokyo since you pulled out of the national team, and despite the memory, you were smiling. You felt free again; not worrying about your knee, or what people thought of you.

You had finally let go of it all.

Admitting that Tsukishima had helped you do it was out of the question though. You hadn’t spoken to him since the practice match, but he had begun to glance at you every so often when you crossed paths. He looked as if he was checking up on you, but his expression always remained stoic, so you could never tell what he was thinking. He was difficult to read, but you guessed that was what made him such a good player, even if he didn’t realise that himself.

It was almost dinner when you arrived at Nekoma, just as you had expected. Kiyoko met you at the gates and showed you to the managers’ room, informing you that there were still a couple of matches to be played yet, so you weren’t too late.

You had brought your old practice gear since it was the only thing you had on hand that was suitable for exercise. It was merely a pair of black shorts and the training shirt you wore while on the national team, but having that number and name displayed on your back again felt unreal. It was like you really belonged on the court again. Your heart ached as you looked at the flag on your chest and your sleeve as it reminded you how close you were to success, but you refused to let it ruin your excitement. You still had to wear your compression sleeve, but luckily, your kneepads covered it almost perfectly, so no one would even notice you wearing one.

You were ready.

Kiyoko brought you up to speed quickly on the team’s matches so far, and you were surprised to hear that they had lost every single one. Although, right now they were the small fry in the big pond of nationals-worthy teams, so it wasn’t exactly unexpected. While the team had improved by leaps and bounds since the start of the year, these teams had already been great for years, and Karasuno wasn’t just going to catch up overnight.

“Ah,” Kiyoko sighed.

“I left my clipboard back there. You go ahead without me.” Nodding, you watched her back for a few seconds as she hurried back to the dorms.

As you ended the gym, you noticed that Karasuno was just finishing up a game, but you couldn’t really tell who they were playing against. Though, judging by the scores, they looked like they were actually winning for once. The coach and Takeda were easy to find, and they seemed happy to see you.

“I’m cleared for practice!” Ukai grinned at you and patted you on the back.

“Good. They deserve to be taught a lesson after today.” You watched on as Hinata and your brother set up their freak quick, your eyes barely managing to keep up with the boy as he reached the opposite end of the court, suddenly in the air. The opponent managed to barely just get their fingertips on the ball, but it wasn’t enough. It slammed down on the floor, one of the other players missing it by mere centimetres.

“Hey, Hey, Hey! What do we have here?” Turning your head, you noticed a familiar two-toned head of hair with his eyes trained on the power duo stood not too far away from you.

“Tarō!” His head shot around until he found you, and you giggled as he began to run over.

“Rei-chan!” You barely had time to blink before you were in his arms as he spun you around.

“Bokuto-san, you’ll scare her off.” You were brought back to the floor and you stumbled a bit, a new pair of hands keeping you steady.

“Keiji, nice to see you again.” He made sure you were upright and stable on your feet before letting go of you and giving you a nod in greeting.

“And you, too.” They quickly took notice of your manager’s jacket and shared a look of confusion.

“You don’t go to Shiratorizawa anymore?” Shaking your head, you nodded over to your new team.

“Didn’t you hear what happened? I couldn’t stay.” Despite the shift in mood, Bokuto still had a grin on his face, and it cheered you up straight away.

“Actually, I need to go put those boys in their place.” Akaashi smiled as he caught onto what you were getting at and both of them followed you over to where your friends were resting by the side of the court. They noticed you approaching and greeted you, eyeing the two beside you.

“Do you just know all the top players, or what?” You shook your head, smiling at Suga’s comment.

“Do you think you guys would be up for one more set? No punishments this time?” As expected, Hinata was already bouncing about, a bright grin on his face.

“Ooooh! Against who?”

“Me.”

“Absolutely not!” Your brother appeared in front of you in an instant, glaring you down. The two of you had barely spoken since the article was released, and you had a feeling that your first conversation of the day was about to be an argument.

“I’ve been cleared for practice, so I’m good to play now. One set won’t kill me.” He huffed in your face and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. He was being stubborn, as usual.

“I promise to tap out the second it starts to hurt, okay?” Averting his eyes, he sighed, which was permission enough for you. You smiled and Hinata cheered, bounding up to you.

“Rei-chan! Can I be on your team?” Hearing Bokuto chuckle behind you, Hinata glanced at him in question.

“Sorry Hinata, but the other team is going to need all the help they can get.” Tanaka and Noya began to get riled up at your confidence.

“If that serve the other day was anything to go by, then she’s right. I want to be on the other team. I want to receive a spike from that hand.” Noya stood proudly with his hands on his hips, grinning at you devilishly.

“I’d expect nothing less from you, Noya.” With a smile, the team began sorting themselves into two teams as you quickly warmed up. Yourself, your brother, Tanaka, Daichi, and Ennoshita ended up on one team, and Noya, Asahi, Sugawara, Hinata, and Tsukishima were placed on the other.

It was definitely strange standing on a court like this again, especially on an all-boys court, but as soon as the coach tossed you a ball, you felt the adrenaline rush through you. Catching wind of the little independent practice match, and Bokuto’s cheers, some players from the other teams had idled towards your court to watch, intrigued by the fact that you were playing when you were clearly not on the boys’ team.

You began to hear whispers; your name, your reputation, the national logo on your shirt, the article, but you blocked them all out and got ready to serve, spinning the ball between your hands a few times.

It was just like last time; you felt alive.

Taking a few steps backwards, you adjusted your body to take your signature position, facing the left, the ball balancing on the palm of your right hand which was outstretched to face the other side of the court.

With a deep breath, you listened as Ukai blew the whistle, and you tossed the ball high up into the air. One second you were running forward, the next you were up in the air just like the ball, high above everyone else, beaming at the sight of the other side of the net. With every ounce of power you could muster, you hit the ball, feeling the sting of contact as you sent it flying towards the other end of the gym.

It hit the floor before Noya could even flinch, flying past him so fast that he could feel the air shift as it sped by.

“A service ace! On the first serve! Woah…”

“That… was… wow.”

“Nice one, Kageyama! Do it again!” You giggled at their surprise, your eyes skimming over the faces of the watching players. A lot more had noticed the game now, the crowd expanding.

“I’ll get it next time, Rei-chan!” Sending a thumbs up to Noya, you reset your position and Ukai tossed you another ball. You positioned yourself in the exact same way and sent another serve towards the other side of the court, not exactly as powerful, but shocking none the less. Although, this time, Noya just managed to dig it.

However, he sent it back to your side of the court.

“Sorry!”

“Chance ball!” Daichi shouted as he received the ball. He sent it over to Tobio and you and Tanaka both ran up to the net to spike.

You jumped and the other side’s blockers jumped with you, but as Tsukishima’s face levelled with yours, you smirked, causing him to look over just as Tanaka spiked the ball. Asahi dove to save it, but it was too late, letting the ball hit the floor, your team gaining another point.

The relay carried on for some time, both teams gaining a healthy amount of points. Most of the watchers had ditched the game, more interested in their food than anything else, but both sides refused to give up until they won.

Your side hit twenty points first, still a good five points in the lead over the others. Tsukishima had yet to block you, and despite his collected exterior, you could tell he was slowly getting more and more irritated by your tactics. No matter how much he studied you, observed your movements as you played, he could never get a read on you. He was usually fairly good at predicting movements this far into the game, but he couldn’t keep up with you. He absolutely hated it, but he was unbelievably impressed.

Was this what national players were like?

Even with you out of commission, you were wiping the floor with them. All he could tell was that you weren’t finished just yet. You still had a trick up your sleeve; you were too calm. The spikes you were hitting were amazing, but somehow not as good as your serves and he couldn’t figure out why they were so different. For the most part, you had been acting as a decoy because you had figured out that him and Hinata were paying more attention to you, but Tsukishima knew that wasn’t your position. You were a wing spiker; you had said so on that very first day he had met you. And for the wing spiker for a national team, it didn’t seem like you were putting in one hundred percent of your effort, and he couldn’t for the life of him think of a reason why you wouldn’t.

Were you that confident?

You clearly didn’t need to put in maximum effort, you were doing just fine at winning without doing so, but for someone who loved volleyball as much as you did, he had expected you to spike in the same way as Hinata, who cherished every toss he was given. There was definitely something off about it.

Tsukishima was so busy caught up in his thoughts, he missed the subtle nod that Tobio sent your way, as well as the smirk that it brought to your lips.

Asahi served the ball, which was neatly received by Ennoshita, who sent it straight to your brother. Once again, you ran up to the net, with Tsukishima and Hinata ready to block your spike. There was only one problem.

As you crouched down to jump, you smiled at them through the net. And then suddenly, you were gone, somehow already at the other side of the court, where Tanaka was meant to be right now. The other team merely blinked, and the ball was in their side of the court, rebounding off of the gym floor.

“Huh?” Pretty much every player left in the gym were stood with their jaws practically on the floor, gaping at you as you laughed.

“I was waiting for that!” You high-fived your brother, who actually looked a little shocked himself, but not as much as the rest of the team.

“Ooooh, I haven’t done that in so long! That was amazing!”

“That- that’s my spike!” Hinata rushed up to face you through the net.

“But it’s better?” Tsukishima joined in, with a little ‘hey’ from Hinata. You nodded, giggling as you looked over to see Ukai, Takeda, and Kiyoko all staring at you and Tobio in awe.

“Is this another move of ours that’s actually yours?” The blond smirked at you, actually joking with you for once.

“Technically, yes. But it’s not the spike that’s the move.”

“It’s the toss.” Ukai finished for you and you nodded.

“While the serve is actually my move, which I taught Oikawa, who taught it to Tobio here, the toss is all his.” You poked the boy in the side, and he squirmed away from you.

“I did actually teach him how to toss because that was my original position, but it’s his genius that makes it what it is. When I realised he was so good at it, I switched from setter to wing spiker so that we could both practice at the same time and benefit from it.”

“And you both got so used to each other and your abilities that there was no one that could hit his tosses like you could, until Hinata came along.” You gave the coach a thumbs up in affirmation and Hinata gaped at you.

“Two geniuses in one family, huh?” Suga still looked shocked, but he had his usual uplifting smile on his face.

“So basically, you can play any position?”

“Yup!” Giggling, you rested a hand on the back of your neck, suddenly conscious of the amount of attention that was being directed your way.

All of a sudden, a growl echoed through the gym and you sheepishly wrapped your arms around your stomach in embarrassment. The coach let out a chuckle and the team dispersed, returning to their positions.

“Okay, let’s get this wrapped up and get some food!” The whole team cheered, and you heard Bokuto join in. Shaking your head in amusement, you locked eyes with him and grinned as he and Akaashi sent you a thumbs up. You sent one back and got into position, ready to receive.

The match didn’t last much longer, you being the one to score the last four points consecutively, ending the match with your victory.

“A whole ten-point lead?” You were walking over as a new boy approached where Bokuto and Akaashi were stood. Recognising the Nekoma uniform and the severe bedhead-looking mop of black hair, you assumed this was their captain, going off what Hinata had gushed to you about their team in the run up to the camp.

“Was it the shrimp’s quick?” Akaashi nodded at you in greeting as you came to stand beside him.

“Actually, no.” Looking at him curiously, you resisted a smile as he did a double take after glancing your way.

“It was mine.” His face was a picture of pure panic, and it was hard not to find it funny.

“Kag-Kageyama Rei?” Oh, so he knew you.

“Nice to meet you.” You reached out your hand and he shook it eagerly, bowing slightly.

“Rei, this is Kuroo Tetsurou, Nekoma’s captain.” Good, you had guessed right.

“Shouyou and Tobio have told me a lot about your team.” He chuckled nervously and shuffled to stand slightly behind Bokuto, an action you raised your eyebrow at. This didn’t seem like the ‘big scary captain’ that Hinata had told you about.

“I’m actually a really big fan of yours. It’s a shame about what happened.” He was cautious about it, probably assuming that it would upset you, but you shook it off and smiled.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Rei-chan!” Turning your head, you saw Suga waving you over as the rest of the team were beginning to walk out of the gym. You nodded at him and he started to leave as well.

“Right, I’ll see you guys later?” They all nodded, and you waved at them as you jogged away to catch up with the team.

The cool breeze on your neck felt amazing as you stepped out of the gym and you closed your eyes, only for a cough to interrupt your peace. Opening one eye, you noticed the blond straight away, and you sighed as he approached you.

“What are you doing still stood here?” His hands were shoved in his pockets and he looked more worn out than he usually did.

“Waiting for you so you wouldn’t get lost.” You scoffed as the two of you started to walk towards where you assumed the cafeteria was.

“I’m not that stupid.” He rolled his eyes and smirked at you, his signature condescending expression slowly making its way back onto his face, where it belonged.

“You’re related to Kageyama, so I doubt it.” You laughed, and he was amused at how much more difficult it was to rile you up compared to your brother.

“Your blocks were really good today.” He merely hummed, and you glanced over to see him looking away from you, no quip or snide comment at the ready.

“Not good enough to stop you, apparently.” Nodding, there was a pause, the silence slightly heavy.

“Maybe so. But you have time to improve. I’m sure this camp will give you a lot to think about and work on.”

“What if I don’t want to?” You were a bit shocked, and slightly concerned.

“Don’t you want to go to nationals?” His gaze shifted to the floor, his hands finding themselves deeper inside of his pockets.

“I… don’t know.” He mumbled, and lifted his head to look at you, only you weren’t by his side anymore. You had stopped and you were looking at him with a hard expression on his face.

“Tsukki, why do you play?” He had no answer for you. He could only stare at you, eyes trained on yours as you stepped forward to stand in front of him.

“Are you scared?”

“Of what?” It was harsh, and he knew that. He didn’t mean it to be, but either way, you weren’t backing down.

“Hinata?” He laughed as if you had said the most ridiculous thing in the world, but you could see straight through it.

“You don’t think you can ever be as good as him, do you?” You knew you’d hit the nail straight on the head when he rolled his eyes, turning to continue walking off toward the cafeteria.

“You know what? Maybe you never will be as good as Hinata at attacking. But do you think he’ll ever be as good as you at defending.” He stopped once again, glancing over his shoulder at you.

“He attacks, you defend. That’s called teamwork, Tsukki. You’re good at defending, that’s why you’re a blocker. Everyone has their role. But Hinata can’t carry one attacking like he does it you can’t be bothered to improve. If you don’t get better, the other team will be able to score, and then you won’t be able to stay on the court and Hinata can’t attack at all. Karasuno will lose, and you’ll go back to being just the ‘flightless crows’ like you used to be. Do you want that Tsukki?”

“Of course not!” He turned to face you fully, stepping closer as if he was trying to intimidate you.

“Then get over it.” His eyes widened at your words; the same words that he had spoken to you only a few days earlier.

You were right. God, you were so right. And you even hit him with his own advice. You were really pushing his buttons today.

“Whatever.” Chucking to yourself, you knew that you’d managed to get your point across. It was satisfying, really, to shut him up like that.

“Do you think they’ll have any sushi?”

“Are you being serious right now?”

The two of you bickered the entire way to the cafeteria, and continued to do so as you both got your food and as you sat down at a table with him and Yamaguchi, completely unaware of the shocked glances that you were getting from the rest of the team.

For once this year, there was not a single thing you were worried about. You could play volleyball with a team of people that you were lucky enough to call your friends, and there was really nothing that could go wrong.

Finally, you were happy.

taglist: @tchalameme, @iamthepenguinwhosearseisonfire, @loreblackthorne, @lorentime, @influxencer​

[perspective-series]

Werewolf Perspective (3/10)

By @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: None

(Check the reblog for links to the previous chapters!)

————————————————————————————————

 Oh, Virgil was not going to be happy about this. And who knew how Logan was going to react. Oh, wait, Logan was still waiting for an answer. Well, he couldn’t just tell him about the bond. Not yet anyway.

 “Oh, well uh...I’ve never really interacted with humans before. And I’m always willing to help people out.” Roman said, putting on a semi fake smile.

“That’s very kind of you, but I doubt I will be able to repay my debt to you,” Logan said this with a slight frown, not sure what exactly a werewolf would want.

 “Oh, you do not have to worry about paying me back,” Roman said, waving that notion away. “Your company is more than enough.” Now that Roman could see the bond for what it was, everything made sense now at least. Though Roman was still having a hard time figuring out how the bond had happened so fast. Sure, bonds worked in mysterious ways. Some took time and others happened soon after meeting but no wolf had ever been known to bond with a non-werewolf. 

 Roman shook his head and walked over to his dresser to look through his clothes.

“Well, then I suppose, you’re welcome?” Logan was quite confused by this notion. “I don’t think anyone has ever viewed my company as a gift.”

 Roman felt the start of a growl coming up his throat but he stopped it. Instead, he smiled. “Well, then they don’t know what they are missing out on.” Roman stopped looking through his clothes, realizing he didn’t really feel like sleeping as a giant tonight anyway. He closed the drawer.

 Roman turned back towards Logan. “Are you hungry? I can get us something to eat before we head to bed?”

“I could eat, yes.” Logan agreed before thinking it through, not actually aware what a werewolf diet consisted of; would Logan even be able to stomach it? “Ah, what exactly is it that you consume?”

 “Lots of meat.” Roman grinned. “But don’t worry. We usually cook our food, unless it’s near or on the full moon. I think we have some moose on ice or cow if you prefer that?” He wasn’t actually sure what humans ate either.

“Either is acceptable for me,” Logan said, having lived off mostly bread and other meals brought to him by Patton while he stayed out late working.

 Roman nodded. “Alright! Would you like to come with me or stay here?” Roman asked.

Logan pondered both options. “Perhaps it’s best if I stay here, to avoid crossing paths with your packmate.”

 Roman thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, that might be for the best. Alright then, I’ll be right back!” Roman left Logan in his room as he went downstairs to start the fire in the stove and cook the cow they had. As it sizzled, he couldn’t help but think up ways on how he was going to tell everyone about the bond.

“Where’s the human?” Virgil asked, having snuck up behind Roman.

 “Ah!” Roman placed a hand on his heart and he turned to face Virgil. “Don’t do that!” Usually, it would be impossible for them both the sneak up on each other but Roman had been so lost in thought he hadn’t paid attention to the signs. 

 Roman huffed, turning back to cooking. “Logan is upstairs in my room while I make dinner.” He answered. 

“Glad I haven’t lost my fear factor.” Virgil teased, but the way he was looking Roman up and down was more suspicious than anything else. “What’s gotten into you?”

 Roman tried hard not to tense. “What? I have no idea what you are talking about.” He continued to watch the meat sizzle, not meeting Virgil’s eyes.

“You’re never this jumpy.” Virgil squinted, leaning closer. “It’s like the human’s rubbing off on you or something.”

 Roman frowned. “He isn’t and I am perfectly fine. You are just being your paranoid self.” Roman flipped the meat to darken the other side, hoping this would cook faster so he could get away from Virgil’s questions.

“Yeah, and my paranoid self is what keeps us out of danger when you rush in.” Virgil reminded him.

 “Okay, well...yes, but look I’m fine. I just wanted to help a poor human out. Is that a crime?” Roman put out the fire as the meat was done cooking and slid it on a plate. “Now, I am going back to my room for dinner. Goodnight.”

“Where’s my food?” Virgil raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and stepping to block Roman’s path.

 Roman paused, forgetting to make enough for Virgil as well. He sighed. “I’m sorry but can you make your own tonight? I promise I’ll make dinner for the next week, I just need to get back to Logan.”

Virgil growled at him, but with a roll of his eyes, he seemed to accept this agreement as he sulked over to feed himself.

 “You’re the best!” Roman called out before running up the stairs. He took a deep breath, thankful he was able to lie out of that whole conversation and then opened the door to greet Logan with a grin. “Dinner is served!” Roman said, putting the plate down on the desk next to Logan.

“Oh, ah, thank you.” Logan’s eyes widened at the sight of such a massive steak. Although he should have figured: Giant werewolves would eat giant animals. “Which portion is mine?”

 “Hmm? Oh, right.” Roman looked from the steak to Logan sheepishly. “Here, let me just-” He used a knife to cut off a small corner and then handed that to Logan. “There we go.”

“...Thank you.” Logan held the dripping meat slightly away from himself, trying not to drip onto his clothes.

 Roman nodded and then started ripping into his own portion. Quite literally, as he picked up the entire steak with his hands and used his fangs to rip it apart and eat it. 

Logan paused, trying not to let his surprise at Roman’s actions show. He regarded his own piece of steak, realizing then that he did not have any proper dinner utensils.

Well, when in Rome. Logan shrugged and bit into the meat as best he could, tearing off a chunk.

 Roman finished the steak in record time, sighing in contentment as he felt full. He looked down at Logan to see that he was still working on his piece. He smiled, letting his head fall into his hand as he simply watched Logan with a small smile.

Logan noticed Roman was watching him, giving him a strange look. “What?” Logan asked, looking to see if he had made a mess.

 Roman realized what he was doing and let out a fake cough to hide his red cheeks. “Um, nothing, sorry.” Curse this bond. He turned back to Logan once his cheeks were back to their original color. “So, where would you be comfortable sleeping tonight? My bed has more than enough room, or I could always give you a blanket and you can sleep on the desk?”

“The desk should be fine,” Logan answered, not wanting Roman to accidentally roll over in his sleep or any other number of accidents.

 Roman nodded and dug around for a blanket, setting it up in a sort of nest type thing on the desk next to Logan. “There we go.” He then went to change for bed but stopped. He realized that he might need to warn Logan first.

 “Hey, um, so...are you okay with me turning into a wolf for bed?” Roman asked, wanting Logan to feel comfortable.

Logan’s eyebrows raised. “You can do that? I thought werewolves only transformed during a full moon.”

 Roman actually laughed at that. “That’s just an old myth! No, we have no choice but to transform during the full moon but any other day we have full control whether we do or not.” Roman explained. “And you don’t have to worry about my wolf form either. I may not be able to talk but I am in complete control.”

“Good.” That had indeed been Logan’s next question. “Well, then, by all means, go ahead. Frankly, I’m intrigued by the process.”

 Roman grinned and nodded and then closed his eyes as he let the transformation take over him. His bones began to shift and slowly fell to the ground, onto all fours. His fur grew and his face formed a snout. In minutes, where Roman once stood was now a giant wolf. He shook himself before coming up to the desk to see Logan.

“Extraordinary.” Logan murmured, leaning further towards the wolf and reaching out a hand. “Roman, can you understand me?”

 Roman let out a little ‘boof!’ and nodded his head. He then put his hand forward so Logan was now touching Roman’s snout.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Logan chuckled, rubbing his hand along Roman’s coarse fur.

 Roman panted happily and then licked Logan’s face.

Logan was frozen in shock for a moment, only able to stare straight ahead with his arm still outstretched.

...did that really just happen?

“I should have expected that.” Logan muttered to himself, leaning back to wipe the drool off his glasses. He looked at the wolf, putting them back on with a stern look.

 Roman was grinning as best he could in wolf form. But he took pity of Logan and walked over to grab a cloth in his mouth. He set it in front of Logan to use to get cleaned off a little better.

It took Logan a moment to realize what Roman was doing. With a grateful nod, Logan wiped his glasses off on the cloth. 

“Goodnight, Roman,” Logan said, tucking himself into the blanket.

 Roman barked a goodnight himself before jumping up onto the bed and settling in for the night.

[thegayagenda-forkids]

Teen Wolf

AO3 Link

Buffy kept her eyes trained on T.J. Kippen. She didn’t fully trust him. He had been dating her best friend for five months now and of course she was happy that the two seemed to care greatly for each other, and that’s all she wanted, but she was afraid for Cyrus. T.J. always acted weird once a month.

T.J. would retreat from everyone in the world except for Cyrus once a month, and at first, Buffy suspected that he was trans like her own boyfriend, but that was disproved since all of the people in their friend group were quite open about their gender identities and sexualities. Then Buffy started paying more attention.

She would look over his shoulder whenever he was online and see moon phase calendars, and there was always a date circled in his locker, which Buffy started looking up. Why was he always circling the date of the full moon? Then she noticed more weird things. One day, she saw a pair of handcuffs fall out of his backpack and he quickly shoved them into his locker, thinking nobody saw them. He always got extra protein at lunch and one time she saw no less than fifteen packs of beef jerky in his locker and four more in his backpack.

“Okay, Kippen, speak,” she said cornering him one day.

“Woof woof,” he said dryly.

“Funny, but seriously, talk.”

“What would you like to talk about? Politics? Current events? How climate change is real and politicians denying it is causing a rapid end to life as we know it?” He was changing out his history book for his math book and putting it in his bag.

“I’m talking about how weird you’re acting…” she said, looking at the calendar he hung up. “Two days before the full moon.”

T.J. paused a little and looked at her. “How do you know it’s the full moon in two days?”

“How do you?” She asked. “It’s circled one your calendar. And I know you were looking into it on your phone...it’s really easy to read over your shoulder.”

“Okay...and?”

“Why are you looking that up?”

“Ever thought to consider that I just like astronomy?”

“If Cyrus said that, I’d believe it.”

“Then why not consider that I’m taking Cyrus out for stargazing and a full moon is one of the best nights to stargaze?”

“Because it falls on a Wednesday and Cyrus hates staying up late for the next day at school.”

“Maybe you don’t know him as well as you thought. He’s sleeping over.”

Buffy scoffed. “He wouldn’t sleep over in the middle of a week.”

“Ask him yourself,” he said. “We already made plans.” He closed his locker and he walked off to class.

________

Buffy did ask Cyrus. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m staying over at his house on Wednesday, why?”

“You never stay over on a weekday! You never have!” She said. “That’s what you always told me and Andi when we invited you over.”

“Things change,” he said. “And you’re not my romantic interest.”

“Ugh, don’t tell me you two refer to each other like that,” Buffy mock-gagged.

“No, we use proper pet names, like babe, sweetheart, muffin, teddy.”

“Muffin and Teddy are not proper pet names,” she said.

“To us they are. Muffin for me, Teddy for him.”

“You two are undeniably and irritatingly sweet,” she said. “But...have you not noticed T.J. acting weird?”

“He’s not acting weird.”

“He’s tracking moon phases.”

“He’s interested in astronomy.”

“Lie.”

“I’m interested in astronomy.”

“More believable lie,” she relented slightly. “But a lie nonetheless.”

Cyrus got a text and he read it before putting his phone away. “We’re going stargazing.”

“Cyrus...I’m not sure if I trust T.J.”

“You just hate him,” he sighed. “You have since the seventh grade.”

“I actually stopped hating him,” she said. “Remember? He rapped the apology, I accepted him, I said he used to be the worst but now he’s the best?” She stepped in front of Cyrus. “I’m worried about you. I don’t want him hurting you.”

Cyrus sighed. “Trust me...you shouldn’t be worried about him hurting me.” He stepped around her and went to class.

________

Even Andi, Marty, and Amber were saying that she was being too paranoid. Jonah had no opinions. “You guys say I’m too oblivious, so I don’t see anything, but I don’t see anything in general.”

“Jonah, no offense, but you’re no help here,” she groaned. “Come on, guys, nobody acts that way! And handcuffs?!”

“She you sure that you saw handcuffs?” Andi asked.

“Maybe Cyrus wanted handcuffs?” Marty asked, and everyone threw their napkins at his face.

“No dirty jokes about Cyrus!” Andi said.

“It wasn’t even a joke! But I won’t suggest it again,” he said, putting his arms up.

“Look,” Buffy said. “Amber, you know T.J. better than anyone. What’s going on with him?”

“No clue,” she said. “He asked me if I could sleep over at Andi’s on Wednesday, and I’m not one to complain. Every time Cyrus is over at our place, mom is always on the night shift now and I’m at Andi’s.”

“You go to Andi’s every full moon?” Buffy asked suspiciously.

“I don’t exactly pay attention to the moon phases either,” Amber said. “But about once a month.”

Jonah stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Buffy...are you accusing T.J. of being a werewolf?”

Buffy stopped and looked around her friends sitting at their booth in The Spoon. “Yeah that does sound crazy...doesn’t it?”

“Completely,” Marty said. “Please tell me you don’t think that.”

Buffy looked down. “I wasn’t….”

“Oh my god, that's what you’re thinking now!” Jonah gasped.

“You put it in my head Jonah!”

“Buffy, T.J. may reek like wet dog,” Amber said. “But he’s not a werewolf.”

________

Buffy couldn’t get it out of her head as she watched him right up until he and Cyrus were supposed to be sleeping over. Werewolf made no sense but it also made all the sense in the world. The handcuffs were for T.J. to keep himself chained, probably...right? Unless…

Buffy’s next search was if werewolves ate humans. All search results said that humans could be eaten by werewolves, but that werewolves didn’t seek them out specifically. That didn’t help ease Buffy’s head.

“Cyrus, you just gotta trust me! You can’t go to T.J.’s house tonight!”

“Buffy, I already made plans,” he said, packing his bag for his homework. “We’ve had this planned for weeks.”

“Yeah...but who knows what he has planned?”

“Probably stargazing and watching movies, like we usually do.”

“I saw handcuffs!”

“Maybe we want to go past PG-13…?” His red face made Buffy absolutely sure that nothing like that would happen.

“Cyrus, I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“And neither was I,” he said. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” He closed his locker and met up with T.J., holding his hand as they walked back to the Kippen house.

__________

Buffy wondered if she was going too far as she sat in her car outside said Kippen house watching the two boys sit on the porch just talking and laughing with each other. Then she watched the sun start to go down and both of them go inside. She saw T.J.’s bedroom window was open and the two kissed before there was strange movement. They both went down to the floor, but then only T.J. got up and left the bedroom.

The moon started going up and Buffy panicked. T.J. was alone in a house with Cyrus on the full moon and he was acting too weird for nothing supernatural to be happening. She opened the door and heard the growling, and then a howl. Buffy slammed her car door in a panic and ran inside the house, thankfully the front door was unlocked.

T.J. was in the kitchen with bags of beef jerky in his arms when Buffy ran in. “Don’t hurt him!”

He stared at Buffy like she had grown a third head...though to be fair she was standing in his kitchen after throwing the door open.

“What?! Driscoll what the hell are you doing in my house?!”

“Don’t hurt Cyrus! I uh…I dunno…” she looked in his kitchen drawer nearest her and found a little Chinese take out packet and tore it open, revealing chopsticks, and she held it in her hand like a weapon. “I’ll stake you!”

“Buffy, you think I’m a vampire?!”

“Wait...stakes are vampires...uh…” she took off her earring. “I’ll stab you with silver.”

T.J. groaned. “You think I’m the werewolf.”

“You aren’t a werewolf?”

“No I’m not a werewolf!”

“But the handcuffs...beef jerky...moon calendar?” She heard the howl again and tensed up. “THAT NOISE?!”

He sighed. “Clearly that didn’t come from me, did it?”

“Cyrus...he’s upstairs...he could be in danger! Cyrus!” She bounded up the stairs and T.J. had to run after her, dropping a few bags of jerky.

Of course anyone else would have put two and two together earlier, and in hindsight, Buffy knew she should have thought of this sooner, but she was too busy wanting to save her best friend that she opened the door and screamed at the wolf man sitting where she saw Cyrus last.

The wolf snarled, handcuffed to the radiator and started to lunge at her when T.J. pulled her back and out of the room. “Cy...it’s okay...it’s okay…you’re just hungry.”

The wolf man kept snarling as T.J. slowly approached, keeping a hand up to warn Buffy to stay back. The wolf man...Cyrus...sniffed and seemed to recognize the scent. T.J. left an open bag of jerky in front of him then walked away, grabbing Buffy and pulling her outside his bedroom before closing the door.

She stared at the closed door. “Cyrus is the werewolf?!”

“Yeah…”

“Since when?! Why didn’t he tell us?!”

“He didn’t want to tell anyone,” he said. “And you need to calm down. His ears are super sensitive.”

“Right...right...since when?” She asked, a lot more quietly but still freaking out.

“Remember when his step-dad insisted on an RV trip? Sometime then, he got attacked by a werewolf but doesn’t remember it.”

“How come we don’t know but you do?” She asked. “Doesn’t he trust us?”

“He trusts you, but not himself,” he said. “I found out by accident. I saw him eating our neighbor’s cat a few months ago, and I locked him in the garage until sunrise.”

“He was eating a cat? That doesn’t sound like Cyrus…”

“He made me hold a funeral for it the next day.”

“...That sounds like Cyrus…”

“The next morning, he told me everything but said he didn’t know how you guys would react. He didn’t want you to be afraid of him.”

“How come you’re not afraid?” She asked. “That’s a werewolf.”

“That’s also Cyrus,” he chuckled. “You don’t think he’d act like a puppy once you get over his big scary look and scratch him behind the ears?”

Buffy couldn’t help but laugh a little. “That’s true...but he looked ready to attack…”

“Because you looked ready to attack,” he said. “He’s very defensive. And he has no human memories in his wolf form, and no wolf memories in human form. I’m the one that has to tell him everything he does on full moons.”

“So all the research? It was for him?”

“Yeah...didn’t you do a ton of research when Marty came out to you?”

“Yeah...my parents thought I was trans for two weeks until he let me tell them,” she laughed a little.

“Well, it’s only fair that you thought I was the werewolf and not my boyfriend then,” T.J. said. “I was only trying to figure out what’s best for him when he’s like this.”

Buffy looked at the door again. “So...what now?”

“I just take care of him. He gets really hungry and he likes meat like this. And, unsurprisingly, baby taters. I ordered some for delivery later.”

“And what about the rest of us?” She asked. “Andi, Jonah, Marty? Even Amber?”

T.J. shrugged. “Up to him. You gotta treat it like his coming out. In a way, it is…”

“You’re right…” she sighed. “Mind if I stay too?”

T.J. smiled. “Not at all, might be nice to have a human conversation while my werewolf boyfriend controls himself from eating any other household pets. But I should warn you,” he said. “He tends to try a prison break around 2 a.m.”

Buffy laughed. “He may be a stronger and bigger dude as a wolf, but that’s if still Cyrus Goodman, I can handle him.”

[chuffyfan87]

Hiding. Part 47a

Cowritten with @disastrousintention.

-x-

Bonfire night was always a "all hands on deck" kind of shift in A+E so both Charlie and Duffy were working. The girls were spending the night with her mum, Peter was going to a local display with Sarah's family and Duffy had reluctantly agreed to let Jake spend the night with his dad. Things had improved substantially since Andrew had attended the court mandated anger management course but Duffy was still apprehensive. But she knew that she owed it to Jake to let him make his own decisions regarding his dad.

Jake hadn’t forgotten about all the bad stuff his dad did to his mum but sometimes he missed him. So far, their relationship was better. But for how long, nobody knew.

Charlie hated bonfire night. The amount of casualties that attended A&E was horrific.

Duffy spent the early part of the evening in cubicles treating burns, mainly to hands and and arms. It always hated it when the incidents involved little kids, it made her nervous and paranoid.

Charlie was in Resus dealing with the worst of the accidents. Like Duffy he too was nervous, he hated fireworks with a passion. They were dangerous but not everyone was aware of the dangers, it would seem.

Just after 9pm a young boy was brought in after being caught up in an explosion where a firework had been thrown into a bonfire. He was accompanied by a terrified young woman who couldn't have been older than her early twenties.

The woman looked like she was going to pass out any minute, the colour drained from her face. “Is he going to be okay?” She asked.

"Are you a relative?" A nurse asked the young woman.

"No, he's, um.., he's my boyfriend's son."

“What’s his name?” The nurse asked.

"Jake. I swear we didn't realise he was next to the bonfire."

“His surname and date of birth?”

"I don't know. He's ten I think."

“Right, if you want to sit in the relatives room, I’ll pass the information on. Where’s his father now?”

Charlie was in Resus dealing with a patient when he heard Jake’s name. He froze for a minute. Now, it couldn’t be...?

"He had to go to work. He asked me to keep an eye on the kid. My brother and his mates were helping me."

The nurse nodded and took her to the relatives room. “I’ll come and find you, when we know more.”

“Jake?” Charlie turned around. “Jake?”

"Do you know who he is? We need to contact his parents immediately." Harry replied urgently.

“Duffy’s his mum.” Charlie replied to Harry. “I... should go and tell her.”

"Don't bring her in here Charlie. I'll come and speak to her as soon as I can."

“How bad.. is it?” Charlie asked.

"The burns are pretty bad but it seems he was turned away when the firework went off so it didn't hit him full in the face and chest."

Charlie nodded. “You have to make sure he’s ok, Harry. Please.” He brushed away the tear that rolled down his cheek before leaving to find Duffy. How had this happened?

Duffy was in admin when Charlie approached her. "Why are people so irresponsible?" She sighed.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

"Every year we treat kids who've been allowed to play with fireworks. What kind of parent let's their kid do that?"

“Irresponsible ones.” Charlie swallowed, “Darling, will you come to my office for a minute? Please?”

"I'm OK, I'm just ranting. I don't really have time for a break right now."

“No. I need to talk to you, privately.”

"What is it?" She asked, puzzled.

“Not here darling.” He offered her his hand.

"Charlie what's going on? Just tell me and stop messing around!"

He didn’t say anything until he got to his office. “Sit down. Please.”

"What have I done wrong now?" She sighed as she took a seat.

Charlie crouched down in front of her and took her hands in his. “I...” He paused for a minute, “Jake’s had an accident.”

"What kind of accident? He's not broken his arm again has he?"

“No. He’s— he’s been caught up in an explosion at a bonfire.” He squeezed her hands, “He’s got pretty bad burns but the firework didn’t hit his chest or face. I don’t know anything else. I’m sorry. He’s in Resus, Harry’s treating him. He said he’s going to come and talk to us. I— I had to tell you.”

"What?!" She pulled her hands away and tried to stand up but Charlie was blocking her path. "I need to see him!" She cried.

“Harry said not to. Not yet, please.” He swallowed and pulled Duffy into a hug.

"I want to see my son!" She sobbed.

“And we will. Just not yet.”

"He'll be scared, he needs me." Her head was starting to spin. This wasn't happening!

He made her sit down again. “Look at me?”

She was shaking, her eyes wild with fear.

“Focus on your breathing for me? Please? In and out...”

It took several minutes but Duffy finally got her breathing back to normal and was able to speak. "Was anyone else hurt?"

“Not that I’m aware of. Just Jake.”

"Where's Andrew? I want to speak to him now!" Her fear had started to morph into anger. How could he have let this happen?

“I’ve not seen him.” Charlie admitted. “I don’t think it was him who brought Jake in.”

"Well who did? I want to speak to them!"

“I don’t know.” He answered.

She suddenly had a thought. Taking Charlie by surprise she got past him and headed out the door.

“Duffy, come back. Please.” He followed her.

She ignored him as she strode across reception and burst through the relatives room door.

The young girl stood up and swallowed. “Is Jake ok?”

“Darling, please.” Charlie warned Duffy quietly.

"Who the hell are you?" Duffy demanded.

“Isla.”

"Where is Andrew?"

“He had to work. I’ve tried to call him but I can’t get hold of him. I’ve left messages with reception though.”

"So he left my son with you?"

Isla nodded. “You're Jake's mum?”

"Yes and unfortunately that waste of space you call a boyfriend is my ex husband."

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Jake was near the bonfire. I took my eye off him for a minute. I—I moved him before the firework exploded but he already had some burns. I’m really sorry.” Isla replied, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Duffy could see that the girl was genuinely terrified. "Did you get hurt?"

“My hands but...” Isla shrugged, “Jake’s more important.”

"Show me." Duffy encouraged.

Isla held her hands out. She had second degree burns to her hands, “It doesn’t hurt.”

"You need to get those treated."

“I’m really, really sorry.”

"How did it happen?"

“Someone threw a firework into the bonfire. It just exploded. I was moving Jake just as the firework went off."

"Of all the idiotic..!"

“I...” Isla was about to say something when she suddenly sat back down, feeling really dizzy and sick.

"Isla?" Duffy stepped forward to take hold of her wrist to check her pulse.

“I just feel a bit dizzy.”

"How long have you been feeling dizzy?"

“Since the bonfire started.” Isla admitted.

Duffy turned to look up at her husband. "Charlie?" She was torn - the young girl clearly needed medical attention but Duffy's thoughts kept straying to Jake.

He stepped towards Isla, “We need to get you checked over, ok?”

Isla sighed, “I’ll be ok in a couple of minutes.”

"You need to go with Charlie and get checked over." Duffy insisted.

Isla nodded. “Will you please keep me informed about Jake?”

Duffy nodded.

“Thank you.” Isla stood up and went with Charlie to be treated.

Duffy waited til they were out of sight before she got up and headed towards resus. She burst through the doors. "Jake!"

“Mum?” He whispered. He was tired and sleepy from the pain and morphine.

“Duffy, please.”

She ignored Harry and went over to Jake. "Oh sweetheart!"

Harry sighed. He’d told Charlie to keep Duffy away from Resus for the time being.

“Hurts.” Jake said quietly.

"I know. But you're going to be OK I promise!" She stroked his forehead.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

"Its not your fault."

“Is.” He nodded, “Went near the bonfire.”

"It doesn't matter. Don't think about that now."

“Can I sleep?” Jake asked, “I’m tired and it’s sore.”

Duffy looked at Harry.

Harry smiled slightly and nodded. “I think he should rest, yes.”

"Can I stay with him?"

“Yes.”

Duffy wasn't sure how long she'd been sat with Jake when suddenly Andrew burst through the resus doors.

“Is he ok?” Andrew asked stepping towards the bed.

"Like you care!" Duffy replied angrily.

“Of course I care. I came as soon as I could.”

"You left him on his own at a bonfire!"

“I left him with Isla.”

"She couldn't look after him, she's practically a child herself!"

“She’s twenty three. Hardly a child.” Andrew pointed out.

"And you're nearly fifty!" Duffy pointed out, the disgust clear in her voice.

“Who I choose to see is none of your business, Lisa.”

The atmosphere was increasingly tense. It had been several months since she and Andrew had seen each other in person. Usually she avoided being the one to drop off or pick up Jake when he saw his father. She stood up. "Let's talk outside, I don't want to disturb Jake."

He nodded and they went outside to talk. “I admit, in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have left Jake with Isla.”

Duffy sighed, rubbing her lower back. "He could have died!" She cried.

“I know. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

"Everything was just getting settled and now this." She sighed, leaning against the wall.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to let him down.”

"Have you been to check on Isla?"

“She’s hurt too?”

"She pulled Jake out the way."

“No I haven’t. I’ll go and see Isla and then come back?”

"OK. Can you tell her that Jake is sleeping?"

“I will.” He smiled sadly, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

[no-time-to-obsess]

Here With You{Jung Se-Joo} {Prologue}

Pairing: Se-Joo X Reader

Drama: Memories of the Alhambra

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance

Words: 8k+

Summary: You never knew how much a game can bring such danger to you and others, but it has brought you and your boyfriend closer then ever. Your relationship going into a deeper level that’ll last forever.

A/n at the end

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Barcelona wasn’t all that quiet at night, Spain was still slightly crowded when the sun came down. It was the home of many, no chaos it was peaceful. Unfortunately it didn’t last for long.

“Hurry!”

The hearing of running footsteps was heard, two people had pushed through the crowd walking down the streets. The H/C girl yelped an apology in a frantic voice. Hand in hand with the young man next to her, they stopped at one of the phone booths that was unoccupied. Y/n stopped to catch her breath, bending her knees. Saliva caught up in her throat. How long had they been running? ..What were they even running from? Only they knew. She cursed under her breath, lifting her head. “Do you still have his number?” Se-Joo nodded and quickly took it out from his bag, letting go of her hand. Y/n looked behind her, going on her tippy toes, heat racing. She didn’t see any signs of.. Him. Gulping, she looked back. Se-Joo had already dialed the number, mumbling and pleading for the person to pick up.

They had to go soon before it’s too late.

“Hello..?”

Y/n sighed in relief but kept quiet, as her boyfriend started to talk, in a stuttering and afraid tone. She bite down on her lip, guarding them, checking every few seconds paranoid he might have been right behind them. She didn’t hear the first few words of the conversation but she had her ears open. Se-Joo was still a stuttering mess but she couldn’t blame him. “We meet Mr. Cha Hyeoung-seok here. You know him, right?” Y/n muttered a ‘calm down’ to him. She rubbed his arm for comfort, only receiving a glance from him before he continued.

“...He offered us Ten billion won...We won’t take his offer.. I sent you an email..”

That was all she heard, small bits of pieces due to the loud chattering around them. Se-Joo scratched his head in frustration. “I’d hate to sell it to that guy!” He gripped on the small paper having the number of the man on the phone. “Damn it, we have to decide by tomorrow-” The both of them froze. “Se-Joo..” Y/n pointed. “We have to go.. Now!” She said. “L-Let’s meet in Granada. Please wait for me at Hotel Bonita, i stay there occasionally.” He slammed the phone, quickly taking the girl’s hand beside him as they started running once again. The phone left hanging with the other still on end.

“Shit!” Y/n almost got ran over, as they ran out on the road. “I’m sorry!” Y/n yelled, following Se-Joo. The two were in a sprint to get to the train station. They didn’t had much time. At point, Se-Joo had even fell on accident but with some help, they managed to sneak up inside the train in time. Y/n almost fell over in a pant. God. She hadn’t ran that much in so long. The train had started to leave Barcelona behind. Finding which shared compartment, they were staying in. She slide the door open, only two men were inside sharing the same bunk bed, leaving one for Se-Joo and her to share. Y/n quietly walked inside, ignoring their stares. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, putting her bag on the top bunk. She climb and sat, her back lay against the wall, coughing.

In English the bottom bunk man asked. “Hey. Were you two going?” Y/n gulped down, her breathing slowing down. “Granada” She answered, in her best voice. “Oh great! I’m going there too.” He seemed friendly at least. She gave him a small smile, trying to push the conflicting thoughts she had in the back of her mind. “Uh.. Would you wake me up if i fall asleep?” Se-Joo nodded at him, looking back down. “Thank you.”

The start of the ride was slient, Y/n made herself comfortable but she was still tense from what had happened, staring at the ceiling didn’t help either. She rummaged through her stuff to find at least something to do, Her hand felt something rectangular. She smiled softly taking the book out. Finally, at least she wouldn’t be bored the entire way to Granada.

About what seemed like an hour had passed, the man had fallen asleep. Y/n sighed rubbing her head and closing her book quietly putting it away. She felt the bunk shake lightly hearing ruffling from the bottom. She looked covered, eyes meeting hers. “..I can’t sleep.” Se-Joo said, averting his eyes slightly. Y/n chuckled, sitting up. “I can’t either..” She mumbled, thinking before going down from the upper bunk bed. “Everything about what’s happening bothering you?” She whispered, when seeing the man shift in his sleep. Se-Joo nodded, saying nothing. “I know.. me too” Y/n sat down on his bed, next to him.

..Silence occurred, but it was comforting.

“I..” Y/n lifted her head up, she raised her eyebrow. Se-Joo breathed out a shaken sigh. “I’m.. sorry..” Y/n tilted her head. “What for?” She asked. “I-I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean to drag you into this.. From what I did.. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen-“ “You didn’t knew any of this would happen in the first place” Y/n sternly said, moving closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. “None of this is your fault. It was my choice to help.. because I wanted to. I couldn’t leave you alone to do this. I couldn’t.” She raised her voice a bit but not enough for it to be loud. Se-Joo was quiet, playing around with his thumbs ignoring her gaze.

Y/n sighed, ruffling his hair with a small smile. “Just get some rest okay? We’ll talk in the morning.” She kissed his cheek before standing up. Just when she was going to climb back up, a hand grasped around her arm. “W-Wait..” She looked down. A blush rose up her boyfriend’s cheeks as he shyly said. “Can you.. Can you sleep with me?” Now it was her turn to become flustered. This was sudden. All she could do was giggle softly. “Sure, you adorable bean” She teased him and joined in, laying down next to him in his bed. Se-Joo laid down beside her, looking at her as she adjusted her position. She froze. “What?” The bed was a bit small for the both of them, Se-Joo felt his back pressed up but he didn’t mind.

“Nothing. It’s just- .. nevermind” He said, hesitantly wrapping an arm around her waist pulling her closer. Which was a bold move. The two said nothing but cuddled each other, Y/n gripping onto Se-Joo like he was going to pull away at any second. She could smell his scent, it wasn’t in a creepy way since she was close to him. With each second passing, she could feel her eyelids dropping more. She softly yawned and closed them, falling asleep. Se-Joo was the only one awake watching her peacefully sleep. She had a small smile on her face, it made him smile too. He planted a loving kiss on the temple of her forehead while rubbing her back.

He prayed that no harm will come to her. After all that was happening, he truly hoped she will be alive and well when they were done with everything. He can still remember the first time he met her, their first experiences together. Se-Joo felt his heart race as the girl snuggled up to him. He chuckled. “Goodnight Y/n.” He whispered, closing his eyes. The next moment he had fallen asleep.

“Ladies and gentleman, we’ll be arriving at the Granada station shortly.” The announcement said in Spanish first then repeating it again in English.

It had woken Se-Joo up. He looked out the window, seeing as they were already in Granada. He had felt some hope in his chest. He shook Y/n whom was sleeping next to him up. She groaned softly, face-palming against the pillow. “Mm..” Se-Joo shook her again. “Wake up. We’re almost at the station.” He said causing her to wave a hand as if to shoo him away. Se-Joo kissed her nose finally making her wake up in a blushing state. “A-Alright! Alright! Geez..” She hugged herself, looking around.

He lightly tapped the man on the bunk next to them. Oh right, they promised to wake him up if he fell asleep. “Wake up, We’re in Granada.” Se-Joo said in Spanish, the man nodded and turned his other side, his back facing them to get more shut eye.

Se-Joo looked to the side, Y/n was making a face with entirely red cheeks. It almost looked like she was pouting. “..What’s the matter?” Y/n ignored his stare. “It’s just when you speak Spanish.” “Is something wrong with it?” Y/n shook her head and just hide her face in her knees, saying something mumbled. “Wha-“ Y/n lifted her head up, blabbering it. “Ijustlikeitwhenyouspeakspanishokay-“ “S-Sorry..?” Y/n sighed. “I like it when you speak Spanish okay?” She said it again in a clear tone this time. Se-Joo’s face went red. In order to distract himself, he grabbed his backpack from behind Y/n and grabs me stuff to put in his pocket.

Suddenly, they heard a loud boom coming from outside. The clear and sunny sky was replaced with one with dark clouds and lighting. An eerie song played through their ears, as It started to rain hard. Y/n’s eyes widened. “No.. No no no no no.” The two looked at each other, they ran to the compartment door, Se-Joo stood in front and stopped. A figure stood in front of them, raising the gun at them before firing.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

What’s only left was the blood splattered on the window. Their bags left behind before they disappeared

A/n: To understand what song was playing, please listen to:

https://youtu.be/_GROIwDIs3M

[pyre-prism]

Creepypasta Story - Never Meant to Be

I wanted to play a little with LJ, mainly to see how I might write him for any other project. As a character, I find him to be very interesting, so... yah. I actually wrote this a little while ago, but wasn't sure whether to actually post it.

This is a 'what if?' of the angel who made him (deliberately left rather ambiguous) finding him after the events of the origin story. What happens after this one finishes, I'll leave up to the imagination of those who read it, at least for the time being.

Story below

~*~

The box had changed a lot over the years; once-pristine paint had chipped and flaked, mahogany wood that had originally been firm and straight was now warped, the bright and cheery designs and lettering emblazoned across every surface had dimmed… becoming something that made her throat constrict. The crank handle still jutted out of one side, the lid’s hinges still moved without a sound, and the music-box mechanisms inside the box still worked just fine…

All of these, she expected to some degree. Time had a habit of making objects wear down, a phenomenon that effected practically all forms of life as well, and she couldn’t fault them for falling prey to such a powerful force as that.

She did, however, find the room she was in to be nothing like what she’d hoped it would be.

Watery eyes swept over the room yet again… The walls looked almost identical to the last time she’d been there, over a decade ago, if she ignored the tattered cobwebs and thick layer of dust mixed with splatters of blood and bits of flesh. The shelves that she remembered being on one wall had collapsed –that was where she’d found the neglected toy– and the bed had been converted into some manner of torture-table.

What she had yet to truly investigate, however, was the throne-like chair in the corner. The glances she’d either been unable to stop or had given it by accident had told her more than she ever wanted to know. It stood as a proud but twisted declaration of something that she couldn’t understand, and –more than anything else– it made bile rise in her throat, which she had to swallow back down several times while she simply stood there and stared forlornly at the box in her hands.

A sigh came unbidden from her mouth, and she knew what she had to do next. Her eyes closed as her hands started to glow and she disappeared from the agony-filled room; when she reopened them, she had been transported to a lonely carnival, and –just as she had with the dusty bedroom– she found herself staring around the fairground with her jaw hanging open, her eyes wide, and her brow deeply furrowed.

She knew intimately what the place was supposed to look like… It was supposed to be cheery, fun, and inviting… it was supposed to be somewhere that anyone with a sense of childish wonder could feel as if they belonged… Most importantly, however, it was not supposed to be silent, nor were any of the rides or stalls or tents supposed to look more than ready to collapse into themselves.

Chills prickled at every nerve in her body as a lilting voice wavered its way into her ears, singing a song that she had personally woven into the workings of the box. Ignoring the unease tightening in the pit of her stomach, she raced towards the sound, hoping to find something in the whole mess that she may still be able to salvage.

The voice cracked and dipped into silence more than once while she tried to find the source, eventually locating it in the shockingly-barren big-top. Sitting cross-legged in the performance ring and holding a stuffed toy with the delicacy of someone paranoid of breaking what they were touching… was the jack of the box. She paused long enough to steady her breathing before taking careful steps towards the lanky creature, trying to keep herself from panicking at the changes wrought upon the being she’d crafted over a decade before…

When she made the jack-in-the-box toy, everything had been colourful and the jack himself had been covered in a plethora of gaudy rainbows… now, however, her heart was twisting in sympathy for the monochrome creature before her, every colour bled out of his form as if he no longer knew any form of joy or even love.

As she drew closer to him, his voice hitched. As she knelt down beside him, the song stuttered to a halt. As she reached out for his feathered shoulder, his malleable body twisted away from her touch –the pied feathers lifting slightly as if they were hackles– at the same time as his head came around to face her. She shuddered at the wild yet lost expression on his face, then sheepishly withdrew her hand and offered him a small smile.

“Hello, Laughing Jack.” Almost as if hearing a voice other than his own had flicked a switch in the creature’s brain, his entire frame jolted, and a few seconds later found him moulding his expression into an insincere grin –she suppressed another shudder at the sight of sharklike teeth in his mouth. “It seems this visit is a bit overdue… How are you?”

The question seemed to catch him off-guard and his grin faltered for a moment. “What a strange thing to ask… Why, I’m perfectly fine, how are you?” His voice came out just as shaky and raspy as the singing had been, making the knot in her stomach tighten and sink into her gut.

It was such an obvious lie that she had to force herself not to berate him for it; now wasn’t the time to pick apart the creature’s word choices, and –taking the deflection in-stride– she widened her smile a bit. “I’ve been quite busy lately, and haven’t been able to stay on top of things. I’d have to say that I’m feeling a little confused today, though. Think you might be able to help me work a few things out?”

He blinked slowly a couple of times, tilting his head to one side as if to literally look at her from a new angle, making her smile gain some comforting honesty. “…Like what?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his new claws digging into the stuffed toy in his grasp, but –just like her other observations– she decided not to mention it. Instead, she tried to come up with how to phrase the questions burning in her brain. “Well… I suppose I should start with what’s that you’ve got there?” She gestured at the stuffed toy, and his gaze followed hers, giving a low hum in the back of his throat.

A strange sort of fragile quiet descended over them while she waited for any sort of response, and after a while, he finally heaved a sigh. Those long fingers that she had wanted to create wonder tightened around the soft fabric, twitching as if the jack was fighting with himself as to what to do next… Suddenly, with a feral-sounding snarl, he threw the toy at the side of the tent with all of the force that he could muster. “It’s nothing,” he hissed, curling in on himself for a moment before bounding to his feet and giving her another wide grin –this one even less sincere than the last.

“I… see. Uhm…” She allowed a small frown to appear on her face. “Alright. Then… can you tell me what happened to the carnival? When I was here last, it looked… well, newer?”

He bent his body to one side, bringing a hand up to his face to tap at his chin. “Hmm? You were ever here…? When was that? I don’t remember…” The playful tone that she’d originally expected to hear in his voice had finally shown itself, but concern soured the relief she felt at the change, and he must have seen it because his expression changed… although, not to what she’d expected it would. The creature’s grin widened even further than she’d thought possible, and he let out a quiet snicker.

She stood and brushed the sawdust off of her clothes, straightening her back, squaring her shoulders, and locking her eyes with his. “You didn’t answer my question, you know.”

“You didn’t answer my question, you know,” he parroted back at her with a short giggle as he righted his lanky form.

“I came here once, when you were still very young. When I last saw you, your nose was in the process of developing its colours.” She stated, pointing at the striped cone-shaped nose set in his pale face –the gesture had him crossing his eyes to blink owlishly at it for a second or two, then he shrugged and let out another low hum. Undaunted, she continued with the next question, the one that demanded an answer the most. “I left your box for a boy named Isaac… What happened to him?”

A frightening change came over the jack standing in front of her at the sound of the boy’s name –in truth, the child was also supposed to be his charge, not just hers– and the shift had her heart beginning to pound against her ribs. The nearly-relaxed ragdoll-like nature of his whole body tensed and he even started to curl his fingers into claw-like shapes, making the actual claws he possessed somehow seem even sharper. His pale eyes flickered from narrowed to wild and back again. His lips pulled away in all directions they could, baring even more of those unnaturally-sharp teeth…. and from behind the animalistic barrier, a full-blown cackle bubbled out into the air.

“What happened to Isaac?” she pressed, taking a step closer to her mutated creation, barely paying any mind to the hard glint materialising in the jack’s eyes. He wrapped his overly-long arms around himself as his laughter grew in volume and force, to the point that he was forced to bend over to keep from falling back to the floor. The noise was raucous and unsettling, but she stood her ground, shaping her expression into a firm grimace.

All of a sudden, the laughter stopped. The jack stayed doubled-over for a few moments before straightening and cocking his head to one side, a quiet chuckle starting to build up. “Oh, you want to know what happened to the kid? Do you really? Well, that’s a story and a half! You sure you’ve got the time for such a mundane little thing, Miss Important?” he jeered. He didn’t allow her to reply, raising his arms and making an overacted show of shading his eyes to look around the interior of the big-top. “He’s not here, that’s for sure! But then…”

She forced herself to swallow the lump that was trying to grow in her throat when he trailed off and seemed to become oddly blank, until his feathered shoulders puffed up and he hissed through his teeth. Cautiously, she urged him to continue. “But then… what?”

That brought his focus back to her from the nowhere that it’d retreated to. “He never did come here… not even once.” The monochrome creature paused, narrowing his eyes at her in a speculative manner and then –once again, before she could properly respond– he let loose another bark of laughter. “Bloody hell, that wasn’t what I wanted to say! See, the thing is… Isaac’s gone. He’s gone, gone, gone, gone! Went off to school and… never came back.”

“Never?” she interjected, frowning slightly. Had the most obvious changes to her charge’s childhood bedroom been done by someone else, then? She needed to know, but the jack’s strange behaviour unnerved her, switching gears at less than the drop of a hat and incorporating facets that she just couldn’t understand the source of.

“Nope!” he crowed, leaning in close to her face. “Sure, there was someone who looked a lot like him, but they weren’t my Isaac –far too old and grumpy. Not his father either, that waste of air went and got himself killed, I’m pretty sure…” A spark of sheer glee entered into his expression. “That reminds me! Isaac taught me this really interesting game… do you want to play?”

A cacophony of warnings rang in her head and she took a few steps back –away from him– before she’d even realised what her body was doing. At her reaction, he burst into a fit of giggles, sauntering around to her side in a couple of springy strides; she turned, determined to keep the creature in her sight for the time being, no matter what it took. He circled, she pivoted, and the cycle continued. “I thought you said that he never came back? Did Isaac teach you the game before he left?”

The jack’s movement faltered, resuming quickly as if nothing had happened. “Did I? Silly me, then. I meant to say that ‘my Isaac’ never did… That man, he wasn’t ‘my Isaac’, though I guess you could say he was ‘an Isaac’…?” His shoulders jerked in what she could only assume was an awkward shrug. “That one taught me the game, though I don’t think he knew I was watching for the first few playmates he had.”

It was now crystal-clear to her… if she wanted to know what had happened, she needed to take the risk and at least pretend to be interested in this ‘game’ he was talking about. With a small smile, she dipped her head in a tiny nod. “Tell me about the game you learned. I’d rather know how it goes before I play.”

“Ooh, goodie!” The childish shout was accompanied by the first true sign of the toy she had left in Isaac’s bedroom all those years ago –honest and even innocent cheer… it made her eyes start to water. He ignored the tears dribbling down her cheeks and looked around the tent with more purpose than his play-acting earlier. After a couple of seconds of this, he stuck out his tongue at the emptiness of the big-top and plopped himself back down into the sawdust, gesturing for her to do the same. “Now, I’m not entirely sure of the rules of the game, but I certainly know how to play it… It’s pretty simple, really, now that I think about it… very artsy too.”

She was confused, and felt her forehead crease. “I’m not sure I follow…?”

“I’m getting there,” he replied with a snicker. “I think you need at least two players, so we’re set. You also need… hmm…” Sharp claws tapped his chin once, twice, and then he shrugged and held out his hands; a long metal spike materialised an inch above his palm, which was held out for her to take –she did, but only once the eagerness in the jack’s face had slipped a little. “I used these, along with a few other things, to play with the ‘other Isaac’, just a… day… or two? I think? Not important! Anyway, things that break skin are really useful, it seems, though if you want to make anything out of it then it’s probably best to avoid too many holes—…”

Her stomach twisted and her hands dropped the spike to the floor before she could come up with a convincing reason not to. “H-holes? In skin…?” she asked, wincing inwardly at the way her voice shook.

The creature stared at her in wide-eyed surprise, his gaze flicking between the spike and her face. “…Yes? How else are you supposed to get it off? Or keep them from struggling?” He paused, letting out another laugh. “Oh, wait, I guess tying them up works, too, for that part. Silly me, that’s what the ‘other Isaac’ did, anyways.”

“And… then what…?” She didn’t really want to know the answer, but at this point she was far too deep into the situation to just get up and leave. Isaac was her charge, the jack of the box was her creation… Whatever had happened… was her responsibility.

He hummed. “You’re supposed to pick them apart like they’re huge presents and then make them into something nice. I made the ‘other Isaac’ into a sort of sock filled with sweets.”

She couldn’t take much more of it, knowing that the jack was referring to people with each and every statement… “That’s not what I made you for… I made you to make Isaac happy, not… that.” She turned her head away, unable to bring herself to watch the creature’s expression twist –first in confusion and then in boiling hatred– but she could feel the emotions rolling off of him in toxic waves. “You were supposed to be a perfect match for him, the best friend he could ever ask for, and you—…”

“Don’t say it like it happened all in one night, you goddamn twat!” the jack snarled, shifting his body into a half-crouch. “Thirteen years! It took thirteen bloody fucking years for him to come back!” He took advantage of her startled silence to lean in close to her face. “I was all that, and more! I was… but he… He forgot me. So I made sure he couldn’t forget me, ever again…”

“…You can’t forget anything if you’re dead, is that right…?” she said, barely above a whisper, eying him with open wariness.

To her surprise, the creature cocked his head to the side. “Dead? Nah, gone, but not dead.”

Her entire body felt cold as a horrific idea struck her. She scrambled to her feet, searching for the discarded stuffed toy. Behind her, the jack’s laughter had turned malicious and mocking, rising in volume with each and every peal that left his mouth. She found the toy in the folds of the tent walls, half-buried by the black-and-white striped fabric where the wall met the ground. Picking it up with trembling hands, she inspected it properly for the first time.

It looked like any other stuffed toy, taking the form of a dog if her idle guess was correct, and there wasn’t even anything that special about the materials it was made from… What made her blood run even icier than it had at her creation’s statement, however, was the definite impression of… another being, inside the velveteen exterior –a very familiar being, at that.

“This is Isaac…” she breathed out, certain that the jack wouldn’t hear her over the discordant mess of painfully-mirthless laughter he was producing.

The noise stopped entirely.

“What was that?” he hissed, mere centimetres away from her right ear, making her jump and step away from him before turning to face his frosty scowl. “I’m not quite sure I heard you, there… Could you repeat that?” When she did, more sickeningly-certain that she wasn’t wrong, he actually looked confused behind the anger. “Not sure where you’re getting that from, but… if it is, it’s only what’s left of him…”

The tenuous confirmation was too much, despite only reaffirming what she’d suspected in the first place. She cradled the toy dog to her chest and let out a small hiccoughing sob. Followed by another, and another, until she sank to her knees and was bawling at the monochrome jack’s feet. He watched her with an air of frustrated bewilderment, clicking his tongue a few times and cocking his head so far to the left that his torso had bent at a right-angle.

“I don’t see why you’re crying, Miss Important…” he stated flatly, squatting down and wrapping his arms around his legs. “You can’t’ve been that invested in this whole situation…”

Between the sobs, she managed to control her breathing enough to get out, “It was my job to keep him safe… my job to keep him happy, through you…” She didn’t notice one of the jack’s hands reaching out towards her until it came to a rest on top of her head; when he started to stroke her hair as if she were a child, it lit a spark of hope in her heart –maybe the creature was still salvageable if he could show such care to someone he clearly didn’t like that much.

“Oh, poor, poor little weasel… You’ve been chased a little too much, hmm?” the jack crooned. “Don’t worry, I’m sure this here monkey’d be glad to help out…”

She felt his fingers slide down to the back of her neck and curl around it until the tips of his claws tickled the thin skin of her throat, making her body freeze. “L-Laughing Jack…?” The tears still streamed down her face, and her chest still spasmed, but her mind had finally latched onto the potential danger being posed by their positions.

He shushed her, flexing his fingers for a bit before releasing her neck entirely, then grabbing her chin and tilting her head up to look at him. “Let go of the toy, little weasel, all the other children may need it…” Her confusion must have shown through her tears, because he snickered. “Simple… ‘My Isaac’ is gone, so… I’ll find more friends to play with.” He shifted his grip to encompass her entire lower jaw. “I’m not going to be left alone, trapped in that bloody box for years and years and years ever again!”

At last, she understood –not all of it, but enough to feel fresh sobs clawing at her throat. “This was never supposed to happen… I never wanted this, and I don’t know how to fix it… to fix you.”

“If only wishes actually mattered, eh, little weasel?” was the last thing she heard before her head was snapped to the side with a loud and painful crack.

[vulpinesaint]

Nyctophobia - Ch. 3

A tale of assassins, amnesiacs, and probably something else that starts with a.

Sebastian explicitly trusts one person—and it’s certainly not the strange boy who washed up on the shore of his island kingdom.

link to chapter one

Chapter Three - The Men in the Alley

Marin had asked to check in on Robin once a week and so, seven days after Robin’s arrival to the castle, Sebastian and Raymond were escorting him through the marketplace once more to the healer’s home.

Not much had happened in the week that had passed. Robin had asked more questions about the history of Mendacium than Sebastian had been willing or able to answer, so the prince had given him a history book, which Robin had immediately buried his nose in. He had a habit of reading the book as he walked from place to place, which wouldn’t have been a problem, except that his footsteps were quiet, and he’d surprised Sebastian several times by walking around corners unannounced. The prince had almost stabbed him at least four times in the past week, and he knew from tired of recountings of the story that Marianna and his mother had almost done the same.

Sebastian wasn’t used to having another person in his home. The new presence was unsettling. The little sounds that an extra person made proved to be extremely stressful, and he often had to check that it was Robin in the other room and not an attempted murderer. He was tired from the stress and sudden lack of sleep, and he wouldn’t have escorted Robin at all if he hadn’t been going stir-crazy in the enclosed, twisting hallways of the castle. The layout of the castle had made him feel safer in the past, but at the moment, it only elicited the feeling of being trapped.

The marketplace felt more crowded than usual, and Sebastian got a strange feeling as he was walking through the stalls. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. He’d been absurdly tense for a week. It made sense that he’d still be feeling a little paranoid, but he had to let that go.

“I’m afraid Marin’s going to be disappointed,” Robin commented, with a small smile that was more sad than cheery. “I’m alright, physically, but I still haven’t been able to remember anything before waking up with you all.”

Sebastian glanced over for a moment, unsure of how to respond. “I’m sure that she doesn’t expect that,” he said, trying to think of something to say. “I mean, it’s only been a week. Someone got hit with a rock once, and his memory was never really the same after that—” he broke off, quickly realizing that he’d said entirely the wrong thing as Robin fell quiet. “It wasn’t like you, though,” he continued, trying to salvage what he could. “He just couldn’t quite remember things after the accident. I’m sure it’s different,” he said, aware of the lie on his tongue and his lack of qualification in affairs like these.

They walked in silence for a few moments longer, surrounded by the bustling sounds and colors of the marketplace.

“The woman selling fish is still rather concerned about that fisherman,” Robin quietly pointed out. The circles of stalls and shops were buzzing with people, and Sebastian had to search through the crowd of milling bodies to find the woman that Robin was referencing. When he caught a glance of her, he hummed his agreement. It must have been her that he’d heard the last time he was in the marketplace.

That strange feeling proved persistent, and again he took a deep breath and tried to let it go. It was a marketplace. Of course there were people watching him. He couldn’t keep being overly paranoid.

“Marianna thinks he’s cheating on her with some girls on the other side of the island,” Raymond put in. “They’re married,” he clarified. He maintained his usual place a few steps behind Sebastian, while Robin walked to the left of the prince, also in view of the guard.

“I hope that’s not true,” Robin said, looking back at Raymond with concern in his expression.

“Well, we can’t really do anything about it, no matter what he’s doing,” Sebastian said. The crowd thinned out as they reached the other side of the marketplace, and he found himself breathing a bit easier. “When does Marianna get the time to gossip, anyway?” he asked, turning over his left shoulder to address his guard.

“The young people in the kitchen—” Raymond started to say. He was cut off by a scream from the crowd.

“Sebastian!”

The prince turned in surprise as Robin pushed him aside. He stumbled for a moment, but regained his balance just in time to see a dagger push through Robin’s shirt.

Raymond’s sword was already halfway out of its sheath. Sebastian ducked down to retrieve his daggers from their sheathes in his boots. There were three attackers. One had a shortsword, another a dagger, and the last one had a butcher’s knife. None of them held their weapons with anything resembling competency.

Sebastian’s first thought was that this would be quick, but his gaze fell onto Robin as the assailant with the sword stepped closer. The young man was staggering, likely in shock, and his shirt was getting redder by the moment.

Sebastian swore under his breath and shot forward to defend Robin. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he ducked around to the side of his attacker, aiming a slash at their side. They were quick. They brought their sword down to deflect the blow, and Sebastian pulled his other knife up to slash their throat. On instinct, the masked attacker brought their arm up to defend, which protected their throat but let Sebastian’s knife bite into their forearm. He felt the blade hit bone. Robin fell in his peripheral vision.

The attacker cried out in pain, and Sebastian used the distraction to stab their other hand. They dropped the sword. He moved to slash open their throat once more. Behind him, there was the sound of a blade whistling through the air, and he ducked just in time to avoid the butcher’s knife landing in his own throat.

He backed off, enough to get both assailants in his field of view. The one with the sword moved to pick up their weapon again, and the one with the dagger ran forward to attack once more. Sebastian moved to the side at the last moment and kicked out a leg from under them. He glanced over and saw that Raymond was holding off the one with the butcher’s knife, which was proving difficult. The guard’s sword was not very efficient against the cleaver. A second more, and he saw the attacker with the shortsword move to stab Robin, and his heartbeat kicked up again. The one he’d just tripped grabbed his ankle, and he kicked them off, kicking their head as hard as he could. He saw blood in the moment before he ran to Robin’s defense once more.

This time, the attacker wasn’t fast enough—they raised the sword with both hands, but Sebastian drove the dagger in his right hand into the assailant’s shoulder, using it as an anchor to pull their body away from Robin and keep it in place as he drove his other blade through the side of their throat and pulled it back through the front. The attacker gurgled as they fell.

A scream of pain sounded from a few feet away, and Sebastian surmised that Raymond had been able to defeat the one with the cleaver. In the meantime, however, he bit back his own shout as he felt a stinging on his calf. He turned, finding that the one with the dagger had crawled over with a bleeding head from hitting the cobblestone and slashed his leg. He brought his foot down on their head once more, and heard an audible crack against the stone street. He knelt for a moment and slashed their throat for good measure.

He glanced over at Raymond. The guard had indeed won his own battle, leaving a body on the street, and was making his way over to Sebastian. There was a cut on his upper left arm. The crowd in the marketplace was watching, stone faced, and as Sebastian rose once more, he heard a call of “Good one, your highness,” from someone behind layers of townspeople. He glared. He hadn’t expected help, and at least nobody had jumped into assist his would-be murderers, but he felt that he was justified in his anger with the idiotic system that allowed things like this to happen.

“Well?” He yelled to the crowd, as if daring anyone to say anything. The crowd dispersed, and the marketplace buzzed slowly to life once more. He turned his attention to Robin. There was blood on the cobblestone around him, and Sebastian realized that the young man’s injury was more than just a stab wound. The knife had to have dragged across his skin, because it’d left a long cut along his stomach.

Robin wasn’t in good shape. He’d managed to stay sitting up, but the cobblestone around him was slick with blood. His face was pale.

Sebastian helped him up, and Robin swayed on his feet. “I’m alright,” he said, “just have to get to Marin’s.” He took a step forward, and Sebastian could see the red stain on his shirt spread even further.

Sebastian sighed. He knew the basics of medical care—it was common sense, for someone in his position—and he knew that Robin’s injury would keep bleeding and needed to be elevated before more blood could drain through the gash. “No, you aren’t. You aren’t walking, either. Not with that wound.” He could feel his own wound, but it felt superficial enough that he wasn’t worried. He glanced over at Raymond’s bleeding arm and sighed again. “I’ll carry you.”

He normally would have stopped to identify the bodies, but Robin was a time sensitive issue. Raymond might have stayed behind to check, but Sebastian hated the idea of being left without any line of defense. Especially if his hands were going to be occupied with carrying a casualty.

Robin looked as if he was going to protest, but he nodded after a moment more. Sebastian stepped closer and lifted him into his arms. The young man was decently light, and the prince wasn’t worried about maintaining the strain of carrying him. “Lucky we’re already going to the healer, hm?” Robin made a noise of pain as he was shifted, before attempting to regulate his breathing.

Raymond kept his sword in hand, following close behind as always. Blood ran through the divets in the cobblestone, following the trio down the sloped street. Most of it drained from the bodies of the attackers, but Robin’s wound had left a stain on the stone as well. Sebastian didn’t pay much attention to it. It would wash away. It always did.

Marin was almost livid when Raymond pounded on her door. “What d’you think you’re doing, trying to knock my door down—”

At the sight of Robin, ashen-faced and pressing on his bloody shirt to try and stem the bleeding, she went silent. “Skies,” she muttered, still irate. “Come along, then. Come on!”

It didn’t take long for Robin to be situated, once again, on the table in Marin’s back room. Anna rushed in, smelling of fresh bread, and took only a moment to process the injury before rushing back off. She returned a moment later with a bucket of water, as well as strips of cloth to serve as bandages.

“We were attacked on the way down,” Sebastian explained, as Marin went about separating the bloody shirt from Robin’s flesh. She cut away a large square of the fabric, before starting to pull it away from the wound. “Bastard managed to get a dagger through his stomach.” Robin may have wanted to add something, but his grimace of pain wasn’t quite indicating ease of speech.

Anna, noticing the cut on Raymond’s arm, took a moment to clean it and bandage it before returning to her mother’s side.

“Doesn’t seem as if anything important was stabbed,” the healer muttered. She raised her voice to address Robin. “Can you hear me? You with us?”

Robin nodded. “I’m alright, it just—” he hissed in pain as Marin pulled the remaining fabric away from the bloody injury. “Just feel a little light-headed, that’s all.” His words drifted as he spoke.

“Hey. Try to stay present,” Anna said, clasping Robin’s hand. “You’ve lost blood, so you’re going to feel woozy. Just squeeze my hand if it hurts.”

Sebastian didn’t like standing idly by, but what else could he do? He tapped his foot and gritted his teeth. This felt too familiar. He distracted himself with bandaging his own wound, bracing his foot against the wall. Anna noticed, mouthing an apology. Sebastian waved her off.

“He’ll need stitches,” Marin said to Anna, after cleaning the wound. Her daughter nodded and let go of Robin’s hand with an apologetic expression, moving to a shelf to retrieve a needle and thread. When she had delivered what she needed to her mother, she resumed her position by Robin’s side. “I hope you don’t intend on making a habit of this,” Marin muttered.

“It’s going to hurt,” Anna warned. “Hold on.” She looked up at the prince and his bodyguard. “So… You were attacked?” she asked, possibly in an effort to distract Robin with conversation. She seemed to be addressing Raymond more than Sebastian, and the guard answered as such. Sebastian drummed his fingers against his leg, annoyed to have nothing to do, even if it was something as small as recounting the attack.

Raymond nodded, expression grave. “Must have caught word of us visiting here. They were waiting in an alleyway. Lucky here—” he gestured to Robin— “saw them first and jumped in front of his highness.” Sebastian clenched his fists at his sides. The insinuation that he needed someone to protect him like that struck a chord with him. “Good thing he did, too, because that blade might’ve done some real damage to the prince. Must’ve… uh… what’s the word? Diverted? Must’ve diverted the attack so it didn’t hit anything vital.”

“Good thing you were there, huh?” Anna smiled down at Robin, who half-laughed; an aborted sound that ended in a groan of pain as he inadvertently flexed his stomach muscles. He gritted his teeth as Marin’s needle pushed through his skin once again.

“Watch it,” Marin warned.

Sebastian turned and left the room, intending to pace the length of the hallway. He would have gone outside, but he wasn’t stupid enough to go outside with no backup, especially in lieu of recent events. Still, though, he couldn’t stay in that room. He hated feeling useless. Besides, he didn’t need Robin to defend him. He could have taken those thugs out himself.

He should have been paying attention. He cursed under his breath, turning sharply on his heel to turn back down the hallway. He’d gotten sloppy. He’d let Robin get stabbed, and now he just had to stand there, doing nothing useful, listening to his own guard ridicule him for letting someone who was more or less a civilian save him.

A voice in the back of his head told him that Raymond hadn’t meant to ridicule him. He brushed it off in favor of being annoyed with his current state of affairs.

Glancing at the door, he was tempted to just storm off, to go out on his own and find out who the bastards were who had tried to kill him this time. He’d be able to prove himself, he thought, that he could function without a guard or a self-sacrificing amnesiac to jump in front of a sword for him. He dismissed the thought a moment later, but not without hesitation. He wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t chance something like that, especially not if there was a chance that those thugs had called for backup.

This wasn’t his first time resenting the fact that he had to be protected by his guard. The feeling hadn’t gotten any less resentable, though.

Raymond called him back from the hallway after a few more minutes had passed. Marin was still talking when he entered the room, giving Robin advice on how to handle his injury. She turned when she noticed Sebastian. “Your highness. Good. I know it’s not preferable to you,” she said this with a raised eyebrow, “but you’ll have to take the young man with you. It’s safer in the castle, and we can’t risk an attack here from hosting someone associated with you. You understand.”

Robin attempted to sit up. Anna gently but firmly pushed him back down.

Sebastian sighed irritably, less from annoyance at having an injured Robin in the castle and more from frustration with the situation. He understood. Leaving Robin, unable to fight, could very easily end with the young man’s death. Not that hostage situations were common, but they were a valid worry if the noble houses got desperate enough, and Sebastian and Ceola certainly wouldn’t do anything about it. Not that Sebastian wanted Robin to die; but there were certain understandings in his family, and one was that power was never given up under any circumstances. “Of course.”

Anna spoke up next. “When you do leave, I’ll be accompanying you, to provide extra security. Robin can’t walk on his own right now,” she said this with a pointed look at Robin, who smiled sheepishly, “and he’ll need someone to support him, so you’ll need another person with a weapon besides Raymond in case you do get attacked again.”

This didn’t reassure Sebastian. “So I’ll be the one carrying him?” He asked, almost incredulous. Robin’s expression looked almost hurt by this, but Sebastian willfully ignored that in favor of focusing on his anger.

Anna looked apologetic. “No offense, your highness, but swords are a bit more effective when holding off groups of people than knives. Besides, if something happens, it’ll be easier for you two to escape together while Raymond and I hold any attackers off. You’re always the priority, sire.”

“Well, my most sincere thanks for deciding all this without me,” Sebastian said, his poisonous tone dripping with sarcasm. Marin narrowed her eyes at him.

“Your highness,” Raymond murmured, from just behind the prince. “It’s understandable that you’re on edge, but don’t take it out on her.”

“I didn’t ask you, Raymond.” Sebastian turned just enough to glare at his guard, who was visibly taken aback.

“Your highness—” Anna began, her voice soft and consoling, and Sebastian’s glare turned on her just as quickly.

Marin was glaring at him with an expression that warned him not to yell at her daughter further, and Sebastian was becoming more aware by the second of how foolish he was being. It was too late to stop being mad now, however, and he refused to apologize.

He sighed irately and looked staunchly at the wall in front of him, avoiding eye contact with anyone in particular. “Might as well get going, then.”

“I’ll get my sword.” Anna bowed out of the conversation and hurried out to the hallway.

Marin was still glaring, from the other side of the table that Robin was laid out on. “Watch how you speak to my daughter, please. I’ll remind you that there’s nobody else in this skies-forsaken kingdom that can heal like her or myself.” It wasn’t quite a threat, but the connotations were obvious. Especially for someone in Sebastian’s position, it was never a good idea to get on a healer’s bad side.

Sebastian steeled himself, speaking through gritted teeth. “My apologies.”

They set off soon after. The group took the back roads, a winding set of narrow, interconnected streets that were less direct but harder to be tracked through. Sebastian had Robin’s left arm hooked around his neck. The prince held on to the young man’s hand to keep it there, and to somewhat counterbalance the rest of his weight. His right arm was around Robin’s waist, careful to avoid the bandages on his torso. This method of half-carrying the young man wasn’t as effective as just straight-out carrying him, but the castle was father from the healer’s than the marketplace, and at least in this position Sebastian had some way to reach his knives. He still felt extremely exposed without easy access to his weapons.

Robin was obviously having a tough time of it, despite his insistence that he had been able to walk. He had a tight grip on Sebastian’s right wrist, which tightened momentarily when he tripped or was jostled in some way. He was still pale, and stayed silent for most of the walk.

Anna walked in front, hand on the hilt of her sword, and Raymond walked behind. Aside from Robin’s heavy breathing, the group was silent.

The back streets were formed mostly from the backs of houses, and as a result, everything was enclosed and covered in shadow. The walls surrounding them were unsettling, but it was better than stumbling through an open marketplace.

Footsteps sounded from a side street ahead of them. All four of them froze—Anna’s sword was immediately two inches from its sheath. Sebastian’s fingers instinctively tightened around Robin’s waist, and his left hand abandoned Robin’s to reach as far as possible toward his boots.

A man dressed in a dark blue silk tunic stepped out in front of the group, an amused expression on his face. “Your highness,” he said, grinning smugly. “What a surprise.” He was taller than everyone but Raymond, and he easily looked down his nose at everyone present. He was a bit younger than Sebastian’s father would have been, if Sebastian’s father had still been alive.

Anna drew her sword further. Sebastian lifted his chin for a moment before answering. “Caulman. I don’t believe we have anything to discuss at the moment. I’d ask that you move.”

“Oh, of course,” the man said, mockingly gracious. “It’s just that I heard about the…” he drifted off, pressing a finger to his chin in an exaggerated show of searching for the right word. “Incident. Earlier. I wanted to express my sincere condolences to our young survivor, there.” His gaze turned on Robin. Sebastian felt his body tense.

“It’s rather unfortunate that you’d have to go through such a harrowing experience so early on in your stay here,” the man continued, his speech far too formal. “I had nothing to do with those hooligans, I can assure you.” He got a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “It was quite unprofessional of them, attacking you with such a lack of planning and training. I have to say, though, your little display of loyalty was frankly adorable.” He smiled again; a pointed expression.

“What are you doing in the city, Caulman?” Sebastian didn’t have time for his games. He didn’t expect an attack—not now, not with this particular noble, but he wasn’t eager to have a conversation.

Caulman grinned. “Well, I got a rather interesting message, you see.”

“And what would that message be about.”

Caulman laughed. “Oh, nothing important. I have heard good things about some of the fishermen here, though. I thought I’d come check it out.”

Before Sebastian could respond, the noble bowed, a movement that was obviously mocking. “Luck be with you, your highness. Congratulations on finding your little friend there. Let’s hope he manages to stay alive. Oh, and Anna, dear?” he paused. “Give my regards to your mother.” Anna glared at him. With a wink, he turned away, and disappeared down another street.

“Might be wise to walk a bit faster, your highness,” Anna warned, voice low.

“Let’s get going,” Sebastian agreed, taking hold of Robin’s hand once more.

-

sorry for the wait, everyone. there were lots of extrenuous factors, like finals and scrapping this entire chapter twice. jesus heck. it wasn’t fun.

it’s here now, though! finally! so i hope you enjoyed it.

in the offchance that you’re actually invested, just let me know if you want to be added to the tag list.

~ love from rai ~

TAGS : @virgils-jacket , @deathshadowrules , @nemothesurvivor , @yayroos

[rollinggirlrunahika]

inferniusflashfire replied to your post: (( -Wants to do an angsty thing- )) (( -But is...

tell me about it I love angst

(( Er-- well-- It’s essentially a big thing that Runa has been keeping secret for a while, or at least she hopes she is. It’s not even in her Bio here. It’s on her Bio on facebook, but when I moved here, I got a bit scared that people wouldn’t interact because of this thing. But the longer I’m here the more I realize I can’t pull THAT part out of her story. I mean sure I still need to fix it and make it flow better but, the idea is still there! There is, however a verse or two that hints towards this and I’m planning to take that single one out because if I put this back, I wouldn’t need it.

This is big part in Runa’s character, mainly playing into how she acts and her personality. Why she cares so much about her friends and why she would go to such lengths to keep them out of harm’s way. It takes place towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 1, and ends towards the end/middle of 365/2 days.

I had the “bright” idea to make Runa suffer some more and plopped right into the middle of the plot of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When the Cicadas Cry). And what essentially happens is that (Read More):

Runa finds herself waking up after being brought back from being a Heartless in a forest. She walks a bit and finds a small mountain village named Hinamizawa and finds refuge with one of the citizens. With no means of getting off this world, which she recognizes to be Earth, but set in a different time (1983), she ends being stuck there for a while. Which means she goes back to school, and then she meets Mion and the others, becoming friends with them and starts to fit in rather easily. Then the village looks to be getting ready for something, an upcoming festival called the Cotton Drifting. Obviously the students get excited and Runa and her friends make plans on what to do there. Come the festival, everything’s all fine and dandy until she overhears some rumors about an accident happening again tonight.

Brushing it off, she continues to have fun with her friends. The following day, whispers of Oyashiro-sama’s Curse are all over the town. Whispers about how this is the 5th time in a row that it has happened. That one person had died and the other disappeared. Runa decides to bring this up with her friends, asking about what exactly was this “curse”.

But they don’t tell her.

They try to shift the subject off and talk about something else. And when she later tries to confront either Rena or Mion, they act cold and distant. And Runa feels-- betrayed, shut out, untrustworthy.

They--These guys were her friends right? Why would they lie to her? What do they have to hide?

So Runa can only resort to old magazines on the events and what she finds is-- well, concerning. 5 years ago there was a dam project that threatened to wipe out the village, obviously the villagers fought back and eventually won. But there was a murder that happened, in where the dam manager(?) was killed and hacked into different limbs, the culprits all taking a piece and making a run for it. There was a total of 6 limbs, and only 5 of the culprits were found. The sixth one going missing. This starts the chain of mysterious deaths titled “Oyashiro-sama’s Curse”

She continues reading about it, learning that all her friends had all been involved/related to the mysterious murders. So she tries to ask Mion about some of it, only to be met with the same cold distant response. And when she tries to push it, Mion snaps at her to drop it. Startled, Runa apologizes and drops the conversation.

She later then goes up to Rena, hoping that maybe she’ll tell her something. So she asks about Satoshi, one of their underclassman’s older brother, who was taken away by the Curse. Rena tells Runa that he had transferred, but then Runa asks why if it meant leaving his little sister behind, Rena just says that he transferred. 

And that she should stop asking questions about him and the other accidents is she doesn’t want to be transferred away too.

Runa trusts these people, and the longer this goes on, she can’t help but feel-- paranoid. Suddenly, everyone’s suspicious. And it doesn’t help that the villagers have an uncanny habit of demonizing “outsiders”. Which she realizes also includes herself. Hell, heading back to the people she was staying with, as kind as they were, Runa can’t help but feel off around them.

A few days past and the police come to the school and start pulling kids out to ask what they were doing. Not everyone was interviewed nor was it announced to the class, simply under the guise of “there’s a person waiting for you at the door”, but the few that were had been from her group of friends, herself included. 

It’s here that the police officer reveals who had been murdered: A freelance photographer named Jirou Tomitake, had appeared to have taken his own life by clawing/scratching at his throat until it ripped open and bled to death. Then she realizes why she was called in. She and her friends had seen Tomitake just a few days before the festival while he was taking photos of birds. Apparently Tomitake didn’t live in Hinamizawa, but visits when he can every year, especially during the festival season. Runa explained that Tomitake didn’t seem to be that kind of person, and if he was, that it was a strange way to go. 

The officer asks what she was doing on the night of the festival, asking who she was with. Runa is taken aback at the questions, coming to the conclusion that she was a suspect in the act. She explains that she was with Mion and her friends the whole festival and all they did was play games, watched Rika’s performance and participated in the Cotton Drifting. 

The officer then asks of what happened after if she saw anything. To which she claims no, until he pulls up a photo a young blonde woman. He asks if she saw her and Runa feels a cold chill. Because she did. The officer explains that, just like the curse says, this person went missing and her body was eventually found burnt to a crisp in one of the nearby mountains. Runa tells him that she did see her with Tomitake afterwards, but all they did was talk for a bit before heading their separate ways.

Runa then apologizes for not being able to provide enough evidence, but a small part of her couldn’t help but panic at the idea of her being suspected in any way. The officer tells her that it’s alright and then asks if it’s alright to ask one more question.

“What’s your full name again?”

Runa’s heart raced-- her name..? You can’t really find a way out of it and she knew just exactly what he planned to do with it. Check her records. But-- she didn’t have any. She told him what it was and then dismissed her.

Later that day as she was walking back to where she was staying with Rena and Keiichi, Keiichi heads off ahead saying that his parents needed his help as soon as he got home, leaving Runa and Rena alone.

As they walk together, the normal silence between the two of them, which would normally go by unnoticed, felt oddly tense. Runa couldn’t help but feel like Rena was staring at her, keeping an eye on her-- watching her. Which-- is normal.. right? So why didn’t it feel that way? Maybe Rena just wanted to speak with her, so Runa tries to start a conversation.

But, Rena beat her to it. 

Rena asked about what happened when she was pulled out of class. Runa noticed the tone her voice and the air felt tenser all of a sudden. Runa lies and says that it was one of the people she was staying at, giving her a book she left at the house. Rena angrily calls her out on it immediately, calling her a liar. The girl the steps closer to the brunette and she’s scared.

Rena tells her that she knows that Runa was talking to the police officer in his car. Which, shouldn’t be possible from the window since they were parked on the far side of the school. She asks about what he had said and why was she called in. Runa tries to brush it off and say it was nothing, but Rena quickly interrupts wondering why she’s hiding something from her friends.

Runa immediately calls her out on how she wasn’t being told about anything either by her and the others. To which Rena just smiles and laughs, saying that she told her what she knew about Satoshi. That he had transferred, but that only makes Runa frustrated and shouts at her that it doesn’t make any sense.

Rena steps closer with a giggle, leaning close towards her and sending chills down her spine.

~Just like how you have your secrets, we have ours too~

END OF PART ONE BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT AND I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT

[daddymenrah]

Better: Elliot x Reader

A/N: Pre-warning, abusive/unhealthy relationship. Lots of language and some sexual references.

I HAVEN’T WRITTEN ELLIOT IN SO LONG MY BB<3 (Also I’m still iffy about this one shot so critique is welcome)

 "Get the hell out before I do something I’ll regret!" I screech. Elliot grabs my wrist roughly, his eyes boring angrily into mine. I try to wrench my arm out of his grip, but he's too strong. "Let go! I swear to god Elliot!"

I twist and thrash until his hold loosens enough for me to escape. I shove him hard in the direction of the door, the alcohol in our systems lengthens his reaction time and his back thumps against it and it makes an unpleasant noise.

 It must have hurt. He charges towards me angrily.  "Stay the fuck away from me!" He yells. I’m shocked by the sudden raise in his volume, Elliot rarely shouts. I raise a fist but he grabs onto it and flings me onto the ground. I'm too drunk to really feel it, but the action itself hurts me emotionally. Furious tears spill down my cheeks and I let out a scream of frustration. 

"I hate you!" I shriek. He freezes, glares at me, then spins on his heel and storms from the room.

 *

"Hey, hey mama said the way you move,  Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove, Ah, ah child the way you shake that thing, Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting."

 I smile sourly, I always loved this song, but it was poisoned by memories of him. Taking a deep swig of my straight vodka that made the bartender wince, I let myself remember him. The drunken lap dances that would inevitably lead to sex, and bathing in the afterglow. God, I miss the feel of his strong arms. I miss his olive skin and the way his stubble scratched my thighs when he neglected shaving. I miss his voice.

 It's been about five years since I've seen him, so many things have changed, but not my feelings for him. No one can take his place in my heart. After the night I kicked him out, we'd had sporadic contact, tearful phone calls, opportunistic hook ups, and then... Nothing. We were so bad for each other, we drained each other in every way.

 He was angry, he was vengeful. He had no time to love me, only time for revenge. He was scary, he was paranoid. He had no trust to give me.

I was angry, I was an adrenaline junkie. I couldn't slow down to love him, only to drink my next shot. I was drunk, I was depressed. I had no happiness to share with him.

 But we were in love with the idea that one day we could work.

 *

 “Ready, let’s roll onto something new,

Taking its toll then I’m leaving without you,

‘Cause heaven ain’t close in a place like this,

I said, oh, heaven ain’t close in a place like this,

Bring it back down, bring it back down tonight."

 I smile wryly at the memories we’d shared to this song. I wonder as I sip my drink where she might be right now, and why I’m sitting in a bar that plays The fucking Killers. Knowing her, she could be absolutely anywhere doing absolutely anything. She was so unpredictable. I wonder if that messed up eighteen-year-old I'd met seven years ago had grown up at all.

 It's been five years and two months since I've seen her, so many things have changed, but not my feelings for her. The times we saw each other before the complete loss of contact, we did what we did best, fucked each other mentally and physically. We were so fucking bad for each other, we bruised each other in every way.

 She'll be twenty three in a few weeks, I hit twenty nine roughly two months ago. She's a real adult now, and... I'm getting old.

She could be dead, I'm surprised I'm not. I'm still hacking the human filth of the world, and she might be the only person that didn’t stab me in the back. 

I wonder if she's still in love with the idea that one day, we might have worked.

 *

 I'm driving through Alexandria when I get the call. I hope to god it's not my mom telling me I’ve forgotten something as I really can’t be bothered to drive back. The number isn't saved but I answer anyway.  "Hello? You’re saved in a man named Elliot Alderson’s phone as an emergency contact under the name zero, zero, one?"

 I almost drop the phone in shock. 001 was the name Elliot had me saved in his phone in case any unsavoury characters got hold of the device and saw I was an emergency contact and... Yeah. I close my mouth that's dropped open, and pull over. I'm shaking and I feel sick with nerves.  "Uh, yes yes it is. Who's calling?" I reply.

 "This is Debra Richmond from Lower Manhattan Hospital." She explains, my eyes are stinging, I swallow down a sob. "Not to be rude, but why are you calling me?"  "You’re the only emergency contact we could find in his phone. He’s in bad shape."

Jesus fucking Christ. It's really him. My heart is hammering so hard I'm struggling to breathe evenly. 

"Is he alright? Well, obviously not he's in fucki- hospital. Sorry. What's happened?" I babble. I'd hate to know what this Debra Richmond must be thinking right now.

"He had an accident and has sustained a few broken bones and a concussion." Debra tells me. "He was very stubborn about it, insisting that he didn't need anyone to come and get him but we're very concerned that he doesn't have anyone to care for him." She explains.

 God, he hasn't changed. My first thought is to refuse, I doubt he'd want to see me, but at the same time I'm worried.

He's not like other people. He doesn't have anyone to make sure he recovers properly, he has more enemies than Donald Trump.  "I'll be there, give me a few hours."  "Thank you very much Miss…?"

“Y/S/N.”

 *

 I thought I felt sick in the car when they called about Elliot, but it doesn't compare with the feeling of being about to collapse as I walk through the hallways of the hospital hours later. I hadn’t even stopped home after reaching New York. I approach the reception area of the E.R., a smiley woman greets me. 

"I'm here for Elliot Alderson?" I say, hating the feel of his name on my tongue.

Her face brightens even more.  "My my, he’ll be glad to see you!" She exclaims, smiling warmly at me.  "Oh, we're not, we're just, well... It's complicated." I stammer. She smirks, her eyes twinkling with mischief.  "Don't worry about labels sweetie, I'm sure he's falling over his feet for you."

I'm completely thrown. 

"Does he know I'm here?"  "No, he's had a hard few days so the doctors thought it'd be best he caught up on his rest." She explains, but this only confuses me more.  "I thought you said he was admitted last night?"

She waves me off, pointing down a hallway.  "The doctors will explain everything. He's in room 101, just down the hall to the left."

 I reluctantly nod, then head off in the specified direction. I rack my brains, what am I going to say? Will he even want me there once he wakes up and sees his tornado of an ex-girlfriend? I know I wouldn't.

Thanks to my brainstorming, I reach the room far sooner than I'd like. The room has no window, only a rectangular one on the door, but I can only see the end of the bed through it.

 I take deep breaths, tense and un-tense my muscles, then realise none of this is doing anything for how fucking scared I feel. I want to say I've faced worse, but Elliot Alderson hurt me more than any of the other shit life threw at me.

I open the door, and see him lying on the bed, his leg elevated and wrapped in a cast.

 His face is littered with bruises and his facial hair is longer than I've ever seen it, his long eyelashes still scrape the tops of his cheekbones and his skin is still a deep olive tone. He's still painfully gorgeous.

 I step slowly over to him and reach out a hand to touch his shoulder, hesitating momentarily. I shake him lightly, jumping at the spark I feel when I touch him. His eyelids flutter, then drag open. He mutters unintelligibly before waking up properly, I could laugh if I weren't so nervous.

His eyes open wide when he doesn't receive a response, he looks up at me and his expression becomes unreadable. Which is pretty normal for him.

"I forgot you're still 001." He sighs.  "If it helps, you're still my 001." I practically whisper.

His eyes close and a pained smile stretches across his features.  "Christ, you're not eighteen anymore."  "I think I've aged alright." I joke.  "I can't even look at you." He murmurs.

 My hand drops from his shoulder and the uncomfortable lump rises in my throat. Does he hate me that much?  "You're so beautiful." He says, I nearly choke. He stares at the wall, I shift on my feet, unsettled by the entire situation. "Y/N." He says blankly, seemingly testing out my name.

 He turns his head to look at me properly, I feel so uncomfortable as his eyes travel up and down my form.  "Listen Elliot, if you don't want me here I can leave, but please don't be alone while you're this vulnerable." I reason with him, unable to hide the desperation in my voice.

 "I'm shocked you care."  "I'm sorry, what?"  "You hate me."  "If I hated you, I wouldn't have driven seven hours the second they called me you massive bag of dicks."

He smiles weakly, and I see wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. He's a year off thirty but the stress of his lifestyle seems to be hitting him hard. 

"Potty mouthed as ever."  "Minus the actual pot now though." I add and he actually laughs. He gestures to the seat next to his bed and I take a seat.

I suck in a breath. "I've missed you." His eyebrows raise. "Really."  "I've missed you too." He admits. I feel less stiff now it's out in the open. 

"We need to get you out of here. Since your real names in the system, dick move by the way, you still have a lot of enemies, if not more." I say.

He groans.  "No such thing as a break."  "Oh there is, and you'll be on one until that leg gets better." I tell him, my tone firm.  "I guess I can't run away from you now." He deadpans. "Fuck you."

 *

 It was weird at first, waking up in that little apartment again. Making Elliot breakfast, cleaning the place, helping him dress and... Bathe. But I could never have foreseen the way we simply erased the time we'd lost together. We were so much more mature, our issues pushed to the backs of our minds.

There were no screaming matches, only arguments about Elliot refusing to eat when I tried to cook him balanced meals.

 There were no physical altercations, only gentle shoves and playful punches. There were no insults, only teasing comments and compliments in disguise. There was no hurt, only a love that was finally able to flourish the way it should have five years ago.

 The U-turn my life had taken was crazier than any three AM adventure I'd ever embarked on. I was living in an apartment nursing the love of my life and his broken bones. I took him to physiotherapy and tried to bat off Debra's constant questions about whether or not we were together yet. Somewhere along the line I stopped sleeping on the couch and falling asleep with an inch between myself and Elliot then waking up tangled in his limbs.

 And it eventually reached a point where he was no longer wearing a cast and could do everything himself. But we were in a difficult situation. Of course there were times when he allowed or initiated unnecessary physical contact and our eyes connected, the very same memories and thoughts of reviving them passing between us. Of course there were kisses when we'd been half awake in the warmth of the duvet. The love was still there, but no words were spoken about it.

 Until tonight.

We're sitting on the couch, watching trash TV on the tiny set. I glance over at Elliot, who has a small smile on his face, clearly entertained by the shitty acting. I nudge him slightly and he looks down at me curiously.  "What are we doing?" I say experimentally, not quite sure how to start the conversation that needs to be had.

 "We can watch something else if you-" "That's not what I mean." I interrupt, and his features shift. I'm pretty certain he knows what I'm talking about. "You’re better. Pretty much." He still doesn't reply, just stares at me. "Are you... Are we going back to before or-"

"Y/N, this conversation doesn't need to be any more uncomfortable than it already is." He cuts in, I can't say I'm not shocked, Elliot is virtually never this straightforward.

  "I can’t take you leaving again." He finishes, his voice barely reaching my ears. But I see the flicker of desperation in his eyes.

"I won’t." I say firmly, and he squeezes my hand in his cold one.  "Thank you." He whispers, staring intently at the screen. We're silent for a while, until he speaks again, still avoiding my gaze.

 "I never stopped." I know why he won't finish the sentence, because he's scared. I know because I'm scared too.  "Neither did I." I guess we'll never work like other people, but we're better, and that's all that matters.

[awkwardly-romantic]

Patsy and Delia prompt - Patsy is asked to help out at the London while Delia is hospitalised. Delia needs a bath - Patsy has to help. Awkwardness ensues !!

Hi hi! I hope this satisfies ^.^ 

It seriously ran away from me this time and is almost 4000 words, its a little more serious than awkward but I tried to include some of that too. 

Also to the Anon from a while ago who asked for a story about Delia getting hurt and Patsy’s reaction this may fit that as well. 

Hope you all enjoy, let me know what you think!

“There’s been a slightchange to the rota today,” Sister Julienne announced as she entered the diningroom where Trixie and Patsy are quietly enjoying a cuppa before rounds. “NurseMount I know you have only just started here a month ago but you are neededback at The London. It seem like one of their nurses on Male Surgical hasinjured herself during a shift and will be out for the next few days. Trixieand I will handle your district rounds for the duration.”

           Patsyimmediately sat up straight, as if struck by lightening. It couldn’t possibly be her, she tried to reassure herself, I had only just seen her three days ago atthe Silver Buckle… “*Ahem* Sister Julienne did The London say who it wasthat was injured?” Patsy asked in the hopes it wouldn’t be who she feared.

           “I believe I remember the Matronsaying it was a Nurse Busby. Matron sounded horribly put out by it all so shemust be an exceptionally good nurse.” Sister Julienne answered briskly beforeheading off to the kitchen.

           Patsy felt her face drain of coloras her fears were confirmed. She wanted to ask the Sister for more information,how was she hurt, how did it happen, and where was Delia now, in the hospitalor merely resting back at the Nurses’ Home. But she bit her tongue, not wantingto arouse any suspicions. She was still finding her footing here at Nonnatusand making the best impression was paramount for the young woman.

           “Dear me, Patsy you’ve gone awfullypale, is Nurse Busby a friend of yours?” Trixie asked innocently.

           “Oh no… I mean yes, we were causalacquaintances. I just hate to think of someone getting hurt while on the job,it is never pleasant to do in front of the patients. They can be a ratherunfriendly lot.”

           “I cannot imagine,” Trixie shivered,“I think the most unpleasant patients I’ve had were merely in the throws of adifficult labour. From the stories you’ve shared some of those men soundghastly.”

           Patsy could only nod in agreement aspanic quickly settled in, I need tocontact Delia. If I leave now I may be able to stop by the Nurses’ Home to seeif she’s there. Please don’t let her be in the hospital… Patsy’s mindwhirled.

           “Well I’d best be off then. It’smore than a bike ride away to The London and I’m sure that Matron will want meto borrow a uniform for the term.”

           “Best of luck to you Patsy! I’llwant to hear all about any cute gents or terrors you might meet. Here’s tohoping it’s the former!” Trixie called out as Patsy headed out the door withher bag and cape.

~        

           Delia…Delia… Delia… Was Patsy’s silent mantra as she hopped off of the bus infront of the Nurses’ Home. She hadn’t seen the welsh nurse since their date threedays ago, while not a date exactly more of an apology tea. Patsy had talked toDelia extensively about her decision to switch fields and how she would try herbest to see Delia regularly but on that she had fallen behind. It had beennearly three weeks after the move until she saw her again and then it was onlyin brief passing. From Delia’s cold glare Patsy knew at once she needed to makeup her absence with the woman.

           What had started as a rather tensetea ended rather pleasantly, Patsy recalled, with Delia kissing her against herdorm room door. “Making up for lost time,” Delia had claimed. Not that Patsyhad minded one bit. Living across town from her love instead of only across acorridor had left the redhead with a severe lack of kissing or any intimatecontact for that matter.

           Patsy had been so paranoid andcautious after they started their clandestine relationship that being any moreintimate than kissing or heavy petting was a rare occurrence. When it didhappen – on nights the rest of the house was out dancing and they both claimedheadaches – it was still a hurried affair. Shirts untucked and skirts roughly pushedup for easier access were the only luxuries they afforded themselves. As muchas Patsy longed to see all of Delia, kiss every freckle, and caress every barecurve, she was too fearful of the consequences to risk exposure.

           Walking quickly inside she headedstraight towards Delia’s room. When her knocks received no answer and she foundthe room empty her anxiety levels soared.Where is she?

~

           “It’s nice to have you back with usNurse Mount, if only for a short time and under unfortunate circumstances.”

           “Of course Matron, I am more thanhappy to help. Being short staffed is never an appealing option for a busyhospital like The London. If you don’t mind me asking how is the nurse thathurt herself, hopefully she isn’t too badly injured.” Patsy tried to hide herdangerously high anxiety behind a mask of professional concern.

           “It was fairly nasty encounter witha misplaced bedpan. A minor concussion, dislocated shoulder, and some bruising.Nurse Busby has been monitored overnight but is being released this evening.”Matron tells Patsy as if reading any other patient’s chart. “If I recall youand Nurse Busby were friends here on the ward correct?”

           “Yes we were friends, by justacquaintances from training really. I hope she is recovering comfortably.”Patsy brushed off her fears, settling into her Nurse Mount façade.

           “I imagine it is going to be anuncomfortable couple of days as her shoulder heals, particularly bathing.Dislocations make it quite difficult to get in and out of the bath on ones own,I saw my far share during the war and had to assist with one too many spongebaths.” Matron shivered at the memory. “But enough about that, here is yourassignment for today Nurse Mount and there are spare uniforms in the changingrooms.” With that Matron as off to make her morning rounds, leaving Patsy tostress and count down the hours to the end of her shift and Delia’s release.

~

           To say Patsy was distracted duringher shift would be an understatement. She coasted through her shift onauto-pilot, ignoring the come-ons from her patients and keeping hersocialization with the other nurses to a minimum. Her mind was already occupiedthinking of the worse case scenarios. Delia’s concussion causing more damage thanbelieved, Delia developing seizures, Delia’s shoulder being set wrong andloosing mobility and then possibly her livelihood. And on and on Patsy went,inventing one terrible possibility after another for her love.

Shecouldn’t help it if she was a pessimist. Delia was the first good, happy thingto happen to her since she was eight years old; of course she was reluctant tobe optimistic when misfortune seemed to haunt her. She knew that if somethingwere to happen to Delia she would be a lost cause. Reverting back to the emptyshell she was after the war. Functioning, but no will or motivation to live.

Patsyhurried to complete her final rounds as the end of her shift neared. She hadhoped to run into Matron again to ask, causally of course, where Delia wasstaying in the hospital but it seemed like the once ever-present warden was nowhere to be found today. So Patsy hoped she was already back at the Nurses’Home and headed there again after her shift.

Knockingonce more on the Welshwoman’s door, Patsy felt her heart rate rise in anticipation.

“Comein,” croaked a weak voice from inside.

“HelloDeels,” Patsy replied as she shut the heavy door behind her. Looking down atthe younger woman laid up in bed. She seemed smaller than normal, pale andtired with dark circles under her eyes.

“Patsy!”Delia tried sitting up to greet her girlfriend only to groan in pain.

“No,no don’t sit up love.” Patsy rushed, knelling down beside the bed, gentlybrushing stray hair from Delia’s fringe. “You gave me such a fright. Matroncalled Sister Julienne to have me cover someone’s shifts for the next few daysand when I heard it was you I came straight over but you weren’t here.”

“Cariad,you must have been so worried. I’m sorry, it all happened so quickly and Ididn’t know how to reach you at Nonnatus, I mean what if one of the nuns hadpicked up.”  

“Don’tapologize, Deels, I’m just glad you’re okay. You are okay right?” Patsy asked,making a quick visual scan of the woman.

“Yes,just a minor head bump, a busted shoulder, and some bruised knees. I supposethat’s the best thing I could hope for when an angry patient accidently nudgesyou down some stairs.”

“Anangry patient did what?!!” Patsy raged, catching herself as she quieted hervoice. “What happened Delia?”

“Mr.Page was upset that I had turned down his offer to share a dance once he’s outof the hospital, poor man doesn’t realize he’s probably never going to be ableto walk without a cane much less dance a foxtrot. So he stuck out his cane as Iwas walking by the stairwell and one thing led to another and I was at thebottom looking up at a rather smug old man.”

Patsyhad almost no words. Well she had quite a few choice words for this Mr. Pagecharacter and they were all rather unflattering for a woman of her standing tosay. Taking a deep, calming breath Patsy looked back at her slightly batteredgirlfriend.

“Butreally, I’m okay Patsy.” Delia assured her, reaching out with her good arm tostroke the redhead’s cheek.

“Heyyou shouldn’t be comforting me, I’m here for you. How can I help? They aren’texpecting me back at Nonnatus until later this evening. Do you need me to getyou anything? Dinner, tea, water?”

“Thereis one thing you may be able to help me with, that is if you don’t mind.”

“Anything.”Patsy said sincerely, marveling at the depths of Delia’s blue eyes, once againin awe that this woman found her, rescued her really.  

“Wellits been almost three days since my last wash and I fear my hair is well andpast the healthy amount of oily… Would you be able to help me? … With that?Probably just carrying my things for me, I mean I should be able to wash on myown…” Delia almost whispered the question as a warm flush covered her cheeksand ears. “Matron gave me the key to the private bath on the floor so I wouldhave some privacy,” she tacked on in hopes it would convince her cautiouspartner.

Tobe honest Patsy hadn’t heard the last part of Delia’s request all that clearly,her mind was too busy conjuring up images of Delia undressing, Delia slippinginto a steaming bath, Delia completely bare to her, just Delia. Shaking herselfback into reality from her fantasies, Patsy realized she had yet to respond.

“Ofcourse I can help!” Patsy tried to tone down her eagerness, turning on herpractical, nursing persona, “I mean, of course Deels, whatever you need. Aslong as you’re sure we’ll be safe.”

“Noone ever uses the private bath, plus there’s only one key,” she says, lifting achain from her bedside table. “No if you could help carry my wash things, Ishould be able to make it down the corridor alright.”

~

Aftersome very painful sounding groans, Delia made it out of bed and down thehallway with Patsy on her tail, keeping a look out for other nurses who mightbe staying in on this Friday night.

Oncethey unlocked washroom, relocking it behind them just in case, they quicklyrealized they had a problem on their hands. The bathtub was a massive thing,claw feet and all. There was no way Delia could maneuver in and out of it withher bruised knees or her healing shoulder.

“UmmPatsy… I think you may need too… if you’re comfortable that is, you may need tohelp me in to the bath. I swear this thing is bigger than our pond back inWales.” Delia chuckled nervously, avoiding eye contact with the older woman.

Upuntil this point the couple had never had the freedom to fully explore oneanother. Sure there would be a longing gaze here and a meaningful glance therebut in most cases clothes remained firmly in place in case a hasty exit neededto be made.

Butnow here they were, together, alone, in a locked room, and suddenly thepossibility became all that more tangible.

Gatheringwhat little courage she had Patsy hesitantly approached this unforeseenopportunity. “It may be easier if I got in as well… That is, I’m not sure howI’d be able to help you out of that goliath if I wasn’t also inside of it…”

“Thatwould mean that you would…”

“Yes.”

“Thatyou and I would be… in there… together?

“Yes,I think that is exactly what that means.” Patsy almost giggled at how shy hertypically forward girlfriend had become at the suggestion. She didn’t seemopposed to the idea and that alone gave Patsy the last bit of courage needed toclose the distance between them, gently cradling the shorter woman’s face inher hands.

Bluemet blue and for a moment the whole room was still.

“Deliawe don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with, we can try figure outa way to make it work and I’ll turn my back if you’d like.”

“No.”Delia said, more assertively covering Patsy’s hands with her own. “No, I thinkI rather like the idea of sharing a bath with you Pats.” She looked up softlyat the redhead, watching as excitement, joy, and anticipation flashed in thewoman’s eyes.

“Wellthen Nurse Busby, let me get this bath going. Do you prefer you water on thewarm or the hotter side?” Patsy asked, moving to fill the massive tub.

           “The hotter the better I alwayssay.”

           Patsy was glad her back was turnedon the flirtatious Welshwoman in that instance or else she would have seen thered flush that quickly spread across her cheeks at that remark.

           “Hotter it is then.”

           “Patsy?”

           “Yes?”

           “You’re going to have to turn aroundto help me out of this dress. The nurses in the women’s wing helped me into itand with my shoulder I’m not sure I can do it on my own.” She rushed the lastpart, covering up her forwardness with an explanation.

           “Of course Deels.” Patsy took a deepbreath before moving around to unzip Delia’s dress. “Why they put you insomething that zips in the back is beyond me, don’t they know you injured yourshoulder? What type of nurses were they?”

           “That doesn’t matter now, I think Iam in more than capable hands, don’t you?”

           “Uh. Uh huh,” was the only responsePatsy could provide as she slowly watched more and more skin reveal itself asthe zipper reached the end of its line. Pushing the capped sleeves off of theinjured woman’s shoulder the dress quietly pooled at her stocking-less feet. Itwas only then that Patsy realized Delia wasn’t wearing any undergarments,except for her pale pink panties. A bra would be too vexing for a shoulderinjury like hers.

           Patsy’s hands lingered on theDelia’s shoulders. Unable to move them from their safe location to explore thenewly uncovered and partially bruised skin she so wanted to caress and comfort.

           “Patsy,” Delia whispered. “You cantouch me if you want.”

           Not trusting herself to responseverbally, Patsy bend down to place the most delicate kiss at the blooming blackand blue covering Delia’s right shoulder before moving on to her left and thenthe back of her neck. She ghosted her hands over her arms, breasts, and sidesbefore softly grasping her waist. “You are so beautiful Delia,” Patsy whisperedinto her ear, causing the younger woman to shiver. Patsy turned around and withone hand shut off the steaming water, making sure there would be just enoughfor the both of them.

           Delia sighed, tightly grasping thehand on her waist. “I think you’re wearing far too many clothes for bathCariad.”

           Patsy almost shut her eyes, out ofinstinct, when Delia slowly slipped out of her panties and turned towards her,exposing herself fully to Patsy. But she managed to keep them open and for goodreason. She had never seen anything as beautiful as the woman that stood infront of her. From the long brown hair that perfectly framed her face and her breastswith their rose colored nipples, to the subtle curve of her hips and dark patchof thick curl at the apex of her thighs. She was an absolute goddess. Patsyknew nothing she would ever see in this world would compare to the beauty thatis Delia.

           She was so lost in the vision infront of her, she didn’t realize she had already been stripped of her shirt andsmall hands were working on the buttons of her trousers.

           “I’ve got this Delia,” shakilystepping out of her pants Patsy prompts shifted out of her underwear leavingboth women finally equal in their nudity.

           Patsy felt Delia’s eyes roam up anddown her body, the same one she had grown indifferent too. But under Delia’sloving, longing gaze she felt beautiful, and worthy of this love and attentionin a way she had never felt before.

           Knowing the limitation of theircurrent situation – they wouldn’t be able to explore each other as thoroughlyor aggressively as they both knew they wanted too – Patsy wordlessly guidedDelia towards the tub and then helped her slip into the heated water. Decidingthat sitting behind the injured woman would be ideal for washing her, Patsysettled in, resting her chest against Delia’s back and her long legs alongsidethe shorter pair.

           Delia leaned back into Patsy with asigh, running her hands up and down the taller woman’s legs. “You’re so muchsofter than I expected.”

           “As are you,” Patsy breathed as she latheredup the soap to begin washing Delia. Starting with at her chest and working herway down. She only just brushed the top of Delia’s thighs, igniting a string ofsighs from the woman. “I want to make you feel better Delia, is this alright? Doyou want me to…?” Patsy asked, indirectly.

           “I want you more than you know Patsy,”Delia replied, grabbing the redhead’s hands underwater. “But I don’t think mycurrent injuries would allow for that tonight. Can you just wash my hair andhold me?”

           “Of course darling.” Patsy beginswashing the long brown hair, massaging her scalp, and leaving delicate kissesalong her neck as she rinses the strands.

           “I don’t ever want to leave here.”

           “Neither do I. I love you DeliaBusby.”

           “I love you Patsy Mount.”

           The two of them sat quietly for thenext half an hour, holding each other as the water grew cold, not wanting to getout of the tub or their shared, unspoken fantasy of being this close, this togetherevery day, without fear. One day they’d have this again. One day.

[asunafairywizardessheart]

Slippery Ice

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS PROMPT

Elias/Asana

Requested by: Anon.

Summary: Working the holidays, Asana’s colleague is trying to wedge between her marriage with Elias. She doesn’t believe it and in a fight he slips on slippery ice stairs breaking his leg.

Gathered with his family watching a movie in the entertainment room, Elias pouted unhappily, his face rested on his clenched fist pushing up part of the skin. Making his mood worse was the topic of the film, a romantic Christmas comedy about a man being in love with a married colleague. “Who chose this garbage?” he wondered.

“Your mother won the right to choose the first movie,” Walter, sitting to Elias’ left, said, feeling the same way about being forced to watch the cheesy film, “Just be quiet and watch the film.”

Julius was the other side of him, cuddled up with Elaine on the lounge, “How did Asana get out of this?” he whispered to his annoyed youngest brother.

“She’s working the night shift at the hospital, she’s doing a double stint today,” Elias replied, reaching for the phone in his pocket to check the time. “Why has she not called?”

Walter chuckled at him, “She’s likely busy. Christmas time means the hospital is understaffed and there are plenty of patients who need to be attended to,” he assured him, catching wind of their argument earlier that day before she headed to the hospital, “Though, I have noticed you two have been fighting lately. Is there a problem?”

Julius looked over to him curiously too, and figured it had something to do with a colleague. “That guy we ran into while gift shopping? You said he is a colleague of Asana’s but you do not like him.”

He sighed with irritation, “Riley Brooks, he’s a resident surgeon at the hospital. Clearly has feelings for my wife but she does not see it. Whenever I go there, he is talking to her and making her laugh, then the other day when I went to walk her home he said to me I have a good woman and he’s jealous. Hence why we were arguing earlier. He is working tonight too.”

“Trust your wife, would you?” Walter smartly told him.

“I do trust her, I do not trust him.”

He fiddled with the side buttons on his phone, and each time the clock indicated only one minute has passed. On the screen, the husband of the married woman, went to her work to give her a bouquet of jasmine flowers to remind her of how much he loved her, and after that fight earlier, the movie inspired him. “I have to go,” he said, and ran out of the house.

Julius laughed at him, “He is paranoid about nothing.”

Outside, the snow had turned ponds and roads into ice, dusted the trees and green gardens with snow and blanketed the ground in a thick layer of ice. Snow fell to the ground once again, and people walked the streets since driving became too risky.

Eventually, he found his way to the hospital and made his way up to the ward she managed. He found her at the desk looking over documents and Riley distracting her, “How about we go out after our shift has ended?” he asked her but she started laughing.

“Thank you but after work, all I want to do is cuddle up with my man,” she admitted and Elias felt triumphant when he heard her say that, “Besides, Elias and I had an argument earlier and I should talk to him.”

“If he truly loved you, he wouldn’t argue with you.”

“He does love me Riley, and I love him, and all couples argue even if they love each other like my husband and I do,” Asana explained, flipping a page over to write notes on a patient.

Elias had an idea and covered her eyes with his hands and looked across to Riley, “She has plans after this, take a hint man,” he smiled, but it wasn’t a kind smile. He was mad and jealous, which is why he had covered her eyes. With her eyes covered, he placed a kiss on the nape of her neck, “Get it.”

Uncovering her eyes, Riley gave Elias a black look and moved off to give them privacy. “If you need help Asana, I’m a good friend that will listen to you,” Riley turned around to say so, giving another look to Elias.

She turned around, she folded her arms, “Was that necessary?” she asked, giving him a maddened stare.

He couldn’t believe she was getting mad at him, and felt hurt that she didn’t defend him when Riley had insulted him. “I only came down here to see if you wanted dinner,” he rested a clear container of sushi on the bench and left before he got angry, “Bye,” coldly, he left.

When he returned home, he slammed the front door and headed for the kitchen to be alone. He waited until she came home but he didn’t want to fight and in his heart wondered if she still loved him. It bothered him, and he just wanted to talk to her and be put out of his misery if she decided she no longer loved him.

Dead on midnight, and the beginning of Christmas, she arrived home and poked her head through the entertainment room. The movie had changed, and they were watching a comedy Christmas movie. “Do you know where Elias is?” she asked. “Kitchen or he’s outside,” Klaus answered her.

She headed that way and found him slouching over the ice cold marble railing on the back porch with a drink in hand. She knew he felt hurt, “Hey,” she approached him and leaned against the pillar.

“Hi,” he replied, though not looking at her and taking a sip of his drink.

Decked in holiday decorations, the back porch lit up with golden and lavender fairy lights strung around the pillars, over railing and dangled from the roof. Ice dragged up onto the steps, reflected the romantic setting but the air was tense. They waited for each other to start talking.

“Thanks for the sushi earlier. After you left we had two patients involved in a car accident come in, and that energy booster is just what I needed,” she broke the tension by thanking him for dinner.

He stayed silent for a moment, “…That’s not what you want to discuss, is it?”

She shook her head, “No, it’s not.”

Finally, he looked over at her, “Are you happy with me?” he suddenly asked, and she was stunned by the question.

“Of course I am,” she immediately replied, “I know I should have defended you more when he insulted you like that and made those baseless and untrue insinuations that I’m unhappy. But, please Elias, stop being jealous of him, he’s a colleague.”

“When are you going to wake up and see that he could careless that you are married or that he wants something more than a friendship with you?” Elias bitterly questioned.

“I have confronted him about it and he has no feelings for me,” Asana answered growing mad at him for the same argument they had earlier, “Even if he did, it doesn’t matter to me because I love you.”

“Of course he would say that, Asana!” his frustration boiled over, “You are an attractive and smart woman, but it is that kind and trusting nature which allow playboys like him to manipulate you to believe they don’t have feelings for you!”

“What difference does it make if he does?! I love you, I married you, so you can quit being so jealous!”

“He is trying to get between us, Asana! Why can’t you see that?!” Elias started walking away, “Starting to think he’s succeeding.”

Tears threatened to overflow, but as Elias, lightly drunk, stepped on the slippery steps, he fell. He tumbled down the three marble and ivory stoned steps, Asana quickly rushed over to him, “Elias!” he moved but growled in pain, “Don’t move,” she instructed him.

“That…was not cool,” he joked, “Ow,” he reacted as she examined him.

“Looks like you’ve broken you leg. Klaus! Julius!”

“No, don’t call them over here,” Elias begged.

“I have to, I can’t get you to the hospital by myself or hold you up against me,” she said, letting him rest his head on her knees. She brushed his hair out of his eyes, and smiled, “You are a very silly man sometimes Elias Goldstein,” she lightly kissed his lips as his brothers rushed out.

“Did you beat him up?” Julius joked.

Asana, though, glared at him, “No, of course not!” she retaliated, “He slipped and fell down the stairs, he’s broken his leg. I need to get him to the hospital for an x-ray and treat him properly. He’s too heavy for me to lift.”

They got the picture. Julius and Klaus went either side of him and carefully hoisted their brother up without putting pressure on his leg, “We will have to drive,” Julius said.

“Yeah, no way we will get him their on foot,” Klaus agreed.

They loaded him into the car, and carefully drove towards the hospital. She put her tag on the dashboard so they wouldn’t be in trouble for parking in the staff park. Klaus and Julius followed Asana through to emergency, and thankfully, all other patients were being attended to that her boss allowed her to take him through.

“Lay him down on that bed,” Asana opened the door to her office, and went to the desk to request his medical file. “Schedule an x-ray too, please,” she requested at the front desk.

Klaus stood beside her, and just as Riley came over to her, “His leg is not too badly broken is it?” Klaus asked.

“This is standard procedure Klaus to ensure we treat it correctly.”

Riley smiled, and came to stand the other side of her, “What are you doing back here?”

“Oh, um, Elias fell down the stairs and broke his leg,” Asana answered him but concentrated on her Elias’ health not looking at Riley.

Riley smiled and laughed, “Gosh, that man causes you too much grief. You would be better off with somebody who made you happy,” his hand moved to hug her shoulder but Klaus glared at him, and he backed away immediately.

After their argument, before he slipped and broke his leg, she remembered the pain in his eyes and decided to confront Riley again, trusting Elias’ judgement. Also, this time, she didn’t appreciate him mocking her husband. “Riley,” she slammed the file she had open shut, and spoke bluntly, “Give me a straight answer, are you deliberately trying to wedge between us?”

He laughed at her dead on accuracy on his intentions, “How much did you and your husband argue for you to finally figure that out?” he mocked her, and leaned in but Klaus stepped between them.

“Keep your distance,” Klaus threatened.

“Listen Riley, you and I are going to be nothing more than professional colleagues. I love my husband, he has been my best friend and soul mate since college and our marriage is very happy. Nothing and no one will ever change how I feel about him,” she strongly stated, and walked away.

Klaus could see his mind ticking away, and reiterated her point, “Forget about it, their love has been tested time and time again and a small problem like you is not going to break them now.”

After she had treated him and helped his pain, Klaus and Julius drove them home and they went straight to bed. Grabbing a mistletoe off a garland of decorations, she ran up the stairs to their chambers, tucking it safely in her pocket. She helped him into bed, and felt guilty about him having broken his leg because she didn’t listen to him.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked him.

“Stay with me,” he requested, patting the space of the bed next to him.

Not hesitating for a second, she climbed in next to him and pulled the blankets over them. He rested his head on her shoulder, which she naturally started to stroke his golden locks of hair.

“This is all my fault, I’m so sorry for ruining our Christmas,” she whispered and kissed his forehead, “I should have listened to you from the start. If I listened to you, we wouldn’t have argued, if we didn’t argue you wouldn’t have fallen on the steps and broken your leg,” she started to cry, “I’m so sorry, Elias.”

He could see the mistletoe sticking out of her pocket and grabbed it. Reaching up, he plopped it on the base of their bed. Bringing his attention back to her, he wiped away her tears, “I’m sorry I became so angry,” he apologised too, “Did he say something at the hospital?”

“Yeah, he admitted it when I asked him when I was organising your x-ray,” she answered, and looked up to where he had placed the mistletoe above their heads on the headboard of the bed. “I’m sorry for hurting you Elias, and I will do anything to prove to you that I only love you,” her eyes drifted from the mistletoe above to his beautiful violet eyes, she couldn’t help but think how adorable he looked right now.

His eyes, though, were focused on her lips, “Kiss me?” he whispered, “Since you brought the mistletoe.”

“I will kiss you and cuddle you all night,” she smiled, and lowered her lips to his. What started as a light kiss turned deep and passionate, “Mnm…,” at some point the kiss she had started had been hijacked by Elias.

He was the first one to break away and his face hovered above hers, his body half twisted to not disturb his broken leg, and then he bumped his forehead against hers, “Christmas is not ruined because of my broken leg. That was my own fault, I should have been more careful but for a second there I thought you stopped loving me,” he admitted.

She put her left hand over his heart and his left hand over hers, “Before we married, someone asked me what does true love mean? My answer: true love is not being able to live without that person, when every movement and decision you make you to so with the other person in mind, and when you love a person’s flaws and strengths. I married my true love, and our love has been tested so many times but nothing has ever broken us apart. Then, I remember something my Mom said when I was little, and that was true love will always find a way and it will win. I love you, Elias…because you are my true love,” she smiled at him and kissed his lips, “And I never will stop loving you.”

Flipping onto his back, he pulled her gently over his lap. He brought her close enough so he could kiss her neck with ease, Asana used the headboard to balance herself, giving into the pleasure of his touch, “Elias…you should rest.”

Digging his teeth into a visible spot on her neck he left a love bite to mark her as his, making it clear to Riley tomorrow when she had to work. “Elias…seriously you need to…rest,” she protested, but he only locked her in.

“So, help me rest real good tonight,” he challenged, untying the bow tie collar and buttons down the middle. There really was no winning when he looked this adorable.