#It takes him an embarrassingly long time to realize he is a mafia boss

[gaily-daily-musings]

Accidentally kidnapping a mafia boss 😎 How often I read the opposite as teen, they probably deserve it

I couldn't decide between fluffy or serious and then I thought why not both? Both is good (link to serious version)

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The man on the curb is dressed far too nicely for an Uber. Anakin hesitantly pulls up, double checking his phone. The man starts to head in his direction and opens the back door.

“O. Kenobi?”

“Yes,” Kenobi says in a crisp British accent.

Well he'll be damned. The man, Kenobi, shuts the door behind him. Anakin pulls away and back onto the street.

“What happened to your regular driver?” He asks. He is of course kidding.

However Kenobi answers. “A bit under the weather I'm afraid.”

Anakin nods politely and looks back at the road. Internally he's screaming. Holy shit, this guy was the real deal! He even had a Rolex on his wrist! If Anakin played his cards right and turned up the charm, maybe he'd get a big tip!

Anakin switches the radio, looking for another station. He finds one playing classical music and turns it up. British guys liked classical, right?

“Could you turn it down please? I'm trying to concentrate.”

Anakin looks back to see Kenobi's head buried behind his phone screen.

“Oh sure! Sorry!” Anakin quickly turns it off. “Want some bottled water?” Anakin reaches over for a bottle of Dasani in the passenger seat and holds it up. “It's complementary!”

Kenobi eyes it with a frown. “No…thank you.”

Too good for Dasani? Well fuck him, not everyone can afford Fiji or whatever the fuck.

They come to a stop at a red light. Anakin drums his fingers on the steering wheel. He thinks about making some friendly small talk, asking Kenobi about what he did for a living. But Kenobi seems really busy with whatever he was doing on his phone. He didn't want to bother him and get a star knocked off for being nosy. Rich types tended to prefer the help not to speak.

Anakin sighs and resigns himself to a subpar tip. Oh well he tried.

His phone rings, interrupting his thoughts. Anakin reaches up, about to hit ignore, when he sees the caller and pauses. It was Ahsoka. He adjusts his wireless earbuds and hopes Kenobi didn't mind. He didn't like ignoring calls from her.

“Hey, I'm working right now, what's up?”

“Anakin! Anakin oh my god you need to–!”

It cuts the rest of her sentence off.

“Ahsoka?” Anakin's heart drops. She sounded breathless. “What's wrong?”

“A–ch–at the–....”

Anakin looks at the top right corner. The last bar disappears and drops the call entirely.

“Shit!” Anakin curses. His hands grip the steering wheel, knuckles going white. What happened? Was she in trouble?

Decision already made, Anakin yanks the wheel and does a u-turn.

Kenobi gasps, holding onto the door side for dear life. “What's going on?” he demands. His voice is hard.

“Sorry sir! My sister's in trouble! That was her on the phone just now!”

He speeds down the road whipping through traffic. Cars honk as he flies by.

“I'm sorry I really don't have time to let you out!”

There goes his fucking tip. Probably his job too.

Anakin races through the streets, heart pounding in his chest. Please be okay. She had to be okay!

He pulls up to her apartment in record time and skids to a full stop. He bursts out of the car, running up the stairs two at a time to the second floor. He pounds on the door yelling her name.

“Ahsoka! Ahsoka!”

Just as he's ready to break it down, the door opens. Ahsoka looks up at him with a confused expression.

“Anakin?”

He grasps her shoulders frantically looking her over. “Are you okay?? What happened?!”

“Nothing? What are you doing here? I thought you were working?”

“I am!” He snaps. “Then you called me sounding upset and then the phone cut off!”

Ahsoka blinks. She opens her mouth then closes it. Then a smile breaks across her face and she starts to laugh. Anakin bristles.

“What?” he growls.

“I was just calling to tell you about the new movie! I just got back from seeing it with Bariss! I was just excited to talk to you about it, is all!”

All the air rushes out of him. Anakin's hands fall to his sides. He should probably jump off this balcony now.

Ahsoka leans to the side, looking over his shoulder. “Who's that?”

Anakin stiffens. He looks back and sees Kenobi having climbed the stairs after him. Fuck.

“Uhh, this is my current customer Mr. Kenobi. I sorta, um, panicked.”

“Hello.” Ahsoka waves awkwardly. Then, quietly so the guy couldn't hear, she whispers, “Dude you totally kidnapped someone.”

“It was an accident!” He hisses back.

Kenobi, to Anakin’s complete surprise, is smiling. He would have thought the man was coming up here to curse him out and hit him.

“Hello there,” Kenobi says.

“Anyway, looks like it was a false alarm! Haha!” Anakin scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Yes, I see that. Glad to see you're unharmed. Ahsoka was it? He was awfully worried about you.”

Ahsoka smiles back, unsure what to do. She looks at Anakin for support but he's just as lost as her.

“Anakin's always jumping to conclusions,” she offers.

They all share a weird, stunted laugh. Anakin clears his throat.

“I can definitely take you where you want to go now, sir. Free of charge of course!”

Kenobi looks between the two of them then. Like he's analyzing them. Anakin suppresses a shiver.

“Yes, if you wouldn't mind.” Kenobi shifts, angling his body towards the stairs and waiting for Anakin.

Anakin says goodbye to Ahsoka and quickly heads back to the car. He cancels the previous request so that Kenobi won't be charged. And more importantly so that he can't give him 1 star in case he changed his mind about being so understanding about all of this.

“You care a lot for your sister don't you?” Kenobi asks from the back. He's watching Anakin in the mirror.

“Yes, sir. She's not related by blood but she's basically part of the family.”

“Hmm, quite loyal,” Kenobi says under his breath.

Not knowing what to say to that, Anakin chooses to ignore it. Weird comment aside, Kenobi was being very forgiving and he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

After about another minute or two Kenobi speaks up again.

“You drive very well.”

Anakin can't help the swell of pride at the compliment. “Thanks. I kinda thought I'd be a stunt driver one day. It's all I ever wanted when I was little. But that fell off and now here I am.”

Kenobi falls silent again and so does Anakin. They get to the destination about fifteen minutes later. The building is as ominous as any corporate office he's ever seen.

Anakin goes the extra mile and gets out to go around and open the door for him. He wasn't a chauffeur but hey, the guy had been through enough.

“Thank you, Anakin.” Kenobi holds out a hand to shake.

“You're welcome sir!” Anakin takes it. It was warm and engulfing. Kenobi squeezes his palm, almost lingering.

“I'll be in touch.”

He finally let's go and walks up the steps to the building. Anakin blinks after him, confused. Be in touch? The hell did that mean?

[neocityfics]

2096: Zodiac

Chapter: Chapter 2 < ❝  Chapter 3 ❞  > Chapter 4

➥ Chapter List

Genre: Cyberpunk inspired, mafia, not-so dystopian, angst, slow-burn

Pairing: Doctor! Taeyong x Reader

Warnings: Violence, stalking (last part)

Note: This chapter is mostly for getting to know Taeyong and a little bit more about the Zodiacs. Next chapter will be a lot more action packed! I’m also starting a new college term, so updates may or may not be shorter, depending on how classes go. I hope you enjoy!

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⠀

▶ Ambience

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9am again on Monday morning, the usual routine and the usual walk, but thankfully alongside Lucas this time. Though not as bustling as it is on Friday nights, the clinic is up on its feet, ready to take in an influx of patients. First thing in the morning after clocking in for the shift and prepping some equipment for the nurses, I check to see where Taeyong might be hanging around. Lo and behold, he’s already been moving hurriedly between wings tending to patients who have been admitted overnight, many for burn wounds from a big fire in one of the cell phone stores at the other side of the building. Nurses in low voices chat about what happened, though I don’t feel the desire to butt in and join the conversations. The weekend was tiresome, and I didn’t want to start my week with more exhausting things than I needed to. For a moment, Taeyong eyes me while preparing a syringe with a pale yellow liquid. It’s justifiable that I can’t look at him the same at work, right? He’s got my best friend and me wrapped around his finger. I tell myself to try to be professional at work, but the icky feelings pop up whenever I see or think about him. That split second of eye contact sends me away, walking over to the receptionist’s desk to ask for more duties until I feel a tug at my scrub. “Dr. Taeyong wants us in Meeting Room 3 in half an hour,” Lucas starts. The serious expression on his face turns into a grand smile as he says, “and he’s got donuts! The really fancy brand from uptown apparently.” I breathe out a long sigh, though a donut sounds good to my stomach right now which is close to empty. My typical breakfast consists of an apple or orange and no more than that. As if on cue, the lions in my stomach grumble. Nodding my head as confirmation, he and I swiftly work on spraying the rooms with a quat disinfectant and wiping down surfaces. 

Time’s up, I say to myself looking at the chunky clock fixed on the wall behind the front desk. Lucas and I give each other a fist bump and start towards the meeting room. When we arrive, the door is ajar and the two of us slip inside. As Taeyong promised Lucas, on the table lies a box of donuts intricately designed with fancy yet hard-to-read lettering. Taeyong sits across from us, hunched over a few documents, a small case to his left. “Close the door, please,” he asks and beckons us to sit down. Lucas gives me a reassuring look, closing the door behind us and guides us to our seats. Without another thought, he grabs two donuts, one for himself and one for me. He remembers my favorite flavor, and I happily accept it. “Glad to see you’re enjoying the donuts. Now that the three of us are here, let me show you this.” Taeyong rests his chin in his palm, the other hand sliding a document over to our side of the table. Lucas and I lean over  to see the tiny print on the paper. It seems to be a list of tools I recognize instantly. Medical equipment? Scalpel. Vital sign monitor. Centrifuge. Why does he need a centrifuge? Twenty items. I wonder what he’s scheming. Taeyong laughs and I shoot him a glare. I look at Lucas and realize that he and I just gave the same face. “Anyways,” he clears his throat, “I need you two to find all of these things by the end of today. But here’s the catch. You cannot gather them all up at once. Space it out, leave it in my office behind my desk.” He peers over our shoulders as if to check nobody would hear his next words. “If you do that, suspicion will be raised. Remember, this is a tiny clinic and we don’t have much.” Then why steal stuff if it’s important to keep up with the patients? This plan doesn’t make sense to me, but it appears I have to comply.

“So you’re saying that I,” I pause to look at Lucas and correct myself, “we have to go on a scavenger hunt throughout the day, on top of our already tiring work?” A loud scoff escapes my mouth, maybe louder than I thought since Lucas nudged me. But I don’t care, I will air out my opinions. “I’m just a messenger. Why can’t you do this yourself? Plus Lucas shouldn’t have to do it since you’re literally experimenting on him.” Crossing my arms and leaning more forward, I stare down Taeyong who seems to shrink away.

“I know I’m asking for you two to do more than you probably bargained for. But you realize… I’m one of the very few licensed practitioners, right? Most of the others are merely college degree holders.” Those words sting as they remind me that I haven’t finished, same with Lucas whose shoulders I noticed droop at his statement. “Plus, if I do this by myself, the potential for suspicion raises. I need you two.” I rub at my forehead. He makes valid points, annoyingly. Now isn’t the time to be selfish, especially with Lucas and a possible promotion at stake. Looking at it from a broader perspective, I’d be putting my own feelings over the clinic’s as well as patients’ well-being. I’m not going to let those emotions rule over me. Taking Taeyong away from his work here would make others suffer, a scenario that would only lead downhill into chaos.

Lucas finally chimes in, “We’ll get it done! Won’t we?” He looks at me with those damned puppy eyes he does whenever he wants me to be nicer. After an eye roll and a light punch to his shoulder, I agree to take on the mission. Lucas gives me a reassuring pat on the shoulder and pushes himself off the chair. “We should get started.” He stuffs his mouth with another donut and grabs another one of my favorites and urges me to get up. “Let’s make this into a competition!” he excitedly suggests. I don’t think I can turn down a good opportunity to play games, especially since shifts feel so long and tedious. I nod, looking at Taeyong to see if anything else needed to be said. The doctor simply readjusts the glasses on his face and shoos us away. Lucas and I turn and leave the room.

As we leave through the door, I slightly turn to him with a hushed “Also,” I whisper over to Lucas who’s already in a giggle fit, “you’re going down!” With that, we tend to our duties for the day, grabbing things on the way out of rooms we work in, and putting them in the designated area for Taeyong to collect. We keep a mental tally throughout the day, and I’m winning-- or so I thought. Lucas ends up winning the scavenger hunt, finding eleven items. I found nine. The prize? The rest of the donuts at the end of shift, which is a bummer. Though Taeyong, Lucas, and I are heading over to Electric Egg, my stomach growled embarrassingly loud while Lucas snacked on the extra fancy donuts. Shifts at Pearl Park drain you, but they always made trips to Electric Egg much more rewarding.

⠀

▶ Ambience

⠀

We arrive where Sicheng diligently works away at the grill, skewering bits of chicken onto kabob sticks while flames wildly dance beneath the assortment of meats. After Lucas and I hop out of the car, Taeyong drives it down a street to park, uneasy about where the food stalls are for fear of getting hijacked. Three of us place our orders, and Sicheng makes his own food to accompany us for a chat. Now a party of four, we sit at a round table and Lucas introduces Taeyong. “This is Dr. Lee, he’s the coolest doctor at Pearl Park! Smart and handsome guy,” he says, his elbow playfully nudging Taeyong’s arm. The doctor simply sits there and inhales his food, a sight I did not expect from him. But he must be hungry, having the top practicing position in the clinic. Thinking about the things he has seen working there must be nauseating at times, though he’s probably used to it. Sicheng nods, introduces himself as the Electric Egg man, ‘Eggman’ for short, and holds out his hand for the doctor to shake, maybe too unabashedly as the neon lights hovering over us highlight the shiny grease on Sicheng’s hand. Taeyong, who notices the slimy-looking texture, pinches his pointer finger and thumb around one of Sicheng’s fingers. They shake, timidly, and Sicheng lets out a laugh while Lucas hands Taeyong a napkin. The doctor roughly wipes the food oils off his hand. For whatever nostalgia I’m experiencing, this moment feels nice. Two friends, an acquaintance (or boss, whatever he may think I call him), and myself. Right now it feels… normal. 

Right after introductions, Sicheng boasts, “By the way, I stole this from a butcher’s shop, don’t tell anyone. It’s premium meat!” Lucas exaggerates a gasp which earns soft laughs from the rest of the table. Taeyong jokingly scolds Sicheng for stealing, though it doesn’t seem he’s totally against it. After all, we live and breathe in Neostone, a hot spot for crime. He shifts in his seat, checks his phone, and the screen turns off in a split second. Repeatedly poking my shoulder, he explains that he’s about to work a graveyard shift.

“Rent’s due at the end of this week, so I’m picking up an extra shift,” he says while he collects his coat. Paying rent at our micro-apartment complex has always been a rough rollercoaster. Some months are easier than others, and it’s getting harder especially with more acid rainfall than usual. Damage to buildings requires higher rent. I nod and tug at Sicheng’s sleeve to let him know of Lucas’s sudden departure. He notices and gets up to grab a container for the remainder of Lucas’s food. I help pack up some of the food while Taeyong also starts to put on his jacket. Lucas and Sicheng exchange goodbyes and Lucas takes off for the clinic. That leaves Taeyong and I next to thank Sicheng for the food, shaking hands as we leave. He deeply bows and goes back to the other customers.

Stopping outside of his car, Taeyong turns to me. “Thanks for taking me here, the food’s really good. Sicheng is pretty cool, too.” He softly smiles, my own lips reciprocating. It came as a bit of a shock hearing those words when I’ve gotten accustomed to his usual harsh tone. I’m glad he’s comfortable around Sicheng. Despite the low chance of them ever interacting further than meals at Electric Egg, it’s good to know he probably won’t involve Sicheng in our state of affairs. Plus, it must’ve been exhausting having to work, work, work all day. Living alone, too, and getting to know other people outside of the clinic bubble might be good for him, though I’m not one to dictate what and who he’s comfortable with. I still am wary of his behavior and intentions, but… I think it might be okay. He seems more warmed up than when we first met. Taeyong opens the door for me to slip into the passenger seat. He takes the wheel on the other side and drives us to his apartment where our plans will be sorted out.

⠀

▶ Ambience

⠀

Taeyong and I trudge up the stairs, lugging boxes of the equipment we gathered from the clinic earlier. Upon reaching the apartment, he sets down his boxes and unlocks the door, pushing through to the interior. The very few times I’ve visited here, there’s such a stark difference between his place and the world surrounding it. Warm, inviting, cozy, luxurious. Not like the cold streets or the dingy micro-apartments, a neverendless blanket of smog and musky smells weighing down on the mega city. But here, it felt like home, the one I used to have, and all the comforts that came with it. Taeyong gently tugs my sleeve to pull me  in, taking off a few of the smaller boxes off my stack I’ve been carrying. I utter a low ‘thanks’ before placing the equipment in the room where I first discovered his whole operation on Lucas. Since we’re alone and Lucas isn’t here to stop me from running my mouth, I decided it’s time to get to know Taeyong better. There’s no deadline, no timeframe, no plan provided, so if I have to continue this messenger job under him for a long time, I might as well get to understand him better. For future references. Taeyong plops down on the sofa. “Make yourself at home. You’ll be here a lot from now on, anyways.”

I comply, making myself comfortable on a plush chair adjacent to his seat. He seems tired out, but I decide to press on. “Doc— Sorry. Taeyong, since we’re working together, I feel like we should know the basics about each other. Where we came from, what life was like before 2094, why he’s a doctor, why I’m stuck at the clinic, stuff like that,” I pause, examining any signs from his face. But he’s blank-faced. He points a finger at me, insinuating that I go first. Well, it’s not like I’ve kept my story a secret. Pretty much everyone I’ve become close to, including friends from the food stall street, knows everybody else’s life before all went to shit. Sharing our struggle stories is what makes us closer. Plus, despite being one of the twelve megacities, Neostone felt small, like being trapped in a bubble with no way out. “Me?” Taeyong simply nods, and I begin to tell him every detail, from growing up to college to now after the disaster. I tell him about Lucas and our friendship to which he responds with no words, but a soft expression. Even for someone who’s most likely weary from the day, he seems to listen intently. His elbows perch on his knees, his torso leaning forward and head tilting at different points of my story. When I run out of words, I gesture to him that it’s his turn to spill. A long sigh fills the space.

“You already, don’t you?” I raise a brow at his question, a heartbeat in my chest skipped. “The page of my information, you have it.” I shifted nervously, playing with the trim on one of the arms of the chair. “In any case, you are only aware of my achievements. But I was pushed a lot as a young child by my parents. I do love them, but my childhood felt restricted. From then on, I never sought out others. I either let them come to me, or I never talk to them. Ever.” A faint chortle follows a brief silence. “Though I have one close friend who sticks with me even to this day. Doyoung, you’ll meet him this week when the shipment arrives.” He must have a personal and trusting relationship with this person. I couldn’t imagine this Dr. Lee being anything but playfully mean and cold. Doyoung must be a good person. Taeyong proceeds further, “Oh, also, I was part of the S.O.G Project.”

“What the hell is S.O.G?”

“Special Operations for the Gifted. It was a series of supposedly non-invasive and supposedly safe trials where children who performed extremely well throughout their early education were put to the test. How far can you go without breaking the limits? Natural law?” He removes himself from the prior position and relaxes his back against the sofa cushions behind him. “Do you know why I’m part of the Dragon Zodiac?” The answer is not as evident as I shake my head in disbelief. “Each person in the Zodiac has gone through the S.O.G. Those of similar abilities banded together, and now we have the twelve Zodiacs. Dragons are those who are able to manipulate objects in one way or another. For me, metal manipulation.”

The pieces start to fall in together. That’s why his handiwork is so seamless. Should I be shocked? Taeyong is full of surprises, He speaks again, “There are hundreds of us in Zodiacs. Some children don’t even remember they went through S.O.G. Myself included. Doyoung, who was in mostly the same tests as me, recalls everything. It’s not fun to think about.” Questions run through my mind, but the pain in his face tells me to keep quiet. “These mutations plagued us even before 2094. I don’t know about the progress made or the research done, but the project was abandoned right before the disaster.” He detects the confusion on my face to which he brings up again that he knows nothing else about S.O.G. Another heavy sigh loads the room. “I’m sure you have questions.”

As sure as he is, I don’t want him to feel like he has to expose everything about himself to me. This already appears to be a lot for him, especially now that it’s late. But I do want to say something, though not centered on him. After a small pause to gather my voice, I ask about someone who’s close to him and seems to be comforting, “So what’s Doyoung’s special power? What’s he like? What Zodiac is he in?” Taeyong tilts his head, as if expecting me to ask more about him, but he smiles at the gesture.

“He’s a Rabbit, known for their hyperawareness. Their reflexes are out of the world and their attention to details make them very clever. Doyoung is a very calm and collected person, but is very lucky with getting what he wants. It’s annoying, really.” He rubs the back of his left hand with his right thumb. “But he’s helped me a lot through the S.O.G tests.” Listening to Taeyong talk about Doyoung makes me miss Lucas, though we have not been together for as long as the other two have. But it makes all the difference having someone, especially in your roughest patches and darkest of times. I think I can start to mostly trust Taeyong. Of course, I have to keep my guard up, but listening to him talk makes me feel a bit more at ease about us working together. Taeyong closes his eyes. The ticking of the clock becomes louder as it strikes eleven o’ clock. “Anything else you want to ask?”

It’s time to call it a night, I say to myself. But in that same thought, I remember the encounter with Jaehyun and decide to ask. It might be better to ask now rather than later, to avoid a potentially bigger mess. Johnny warned me not to get myself too involved with the man, but it’s scratching at the back of my head. “Well, do you know Jeong Jaehyun?”

Taeyong’s eyes widened in an instant, snapping his head from its resting position to look at me. “Jaehyun. He’s the leader of the Ox Zodiac. Why?” I gulp. This is serious then. “Was he at Club Zone? Please tell me you did not talk to him.”

My voice lowers to a wavering whisper, “Well… Just a little,” while I hold up to make my pointer and finger close together. Maybe it was more than just a little, but he doesn’t need to know all the details. Just that I met him. The look of concern on Taeyong grows.

“He’s dangerous. You should stay away from him as much as possible.” The uneasy feeling is back. That night is a bit fuzzy from the light drinking, the noise, the dancing, the whole atmosphere. If any information slipped that I shouldn’t have, or if he caught on with what I’m doing for Taeyong, it could mean big time. Taeyong rubs his temples, lowering his chin. “He’s a very important part of our operation.” He inhales sharply and lets the built up air back out the second after, “Jaehyun and I made a promise that if I can show him I can make a fully functional prototype, a.k.a Lucas, he will provide me more of his men. The Ox Zodiac is known for extremely enhanced strength. They’re brutes, not to be messed with.” My head starts to feel dizzy from the amount of information combined with the exhaustion from work. He continues, “He’s an assassin, but covers for himself by working in real estate. Jaehyun is the closest one could get to the top. He’s our only connection that can help, unfortunately.” To my shock, he seems very distressed at this topic. “Word spreads fast between the Zodiacs, and we can’t afford to lose Jaehyun. You need to be careful when you’re doing your messenger duties. But remember, know your boundaries. You work for me, not him. Not the entire Dragon Zodiac either.” He accompanies his demanding tone with a pointer finger firmly pressed to the coffee table. Now, I understand the true gravity of the situation. I can’t risk Taeyong and the operation going under. I can’t be careless.

Speak of the devil.

My phone buzzes loudly in my pocket, lighting up through the fabric. With a vexed sigh, I pull it out and read the name flashing across the screen from the caller ID. Jeong Jaehyun. I take a peak at Taeyong who’s staring at me. “It’s him.” He simply tells me to pick up.

“Let me know what he says.” I nod. Hesitantly, I press the accept button.

“Missed me?” Jaehyun’s voice pierces through the line.

“Jaehyun. Why are you calling me so late at night?”

“So there’s a mansion party, and I have admissions for two. But as of right now, I’m going solo. I was wondering if you’d be able to come with me. It’s a really important event for real estate agents and upper class entrepreneurs.”

I quietly relay the information to Taeyong, the phone pressed against my chest to prevent Jaehyun from hearing. Taeyong rubs a finger to his chin in deep thought. “Are you okay with going? I know I said to stay away, but this is a good opportunity for us to make more connections.” I nod, but a little frazzled at the thought of being put in another uncomfortable situation. Isn’t my job simply to send information back and forth between him and other Zodiac members?

I breathe in deeply. “What time and where?” Jaehyun the describes the location, making it seem very grandeur and huge. This Saturday at 7pm. My stomach starts to hurt again from the nervousness. He says it’s formal attire, but will have something for me upon picking me up. Taeyong paces back and forth across the room. I note all the information in my head, making myself more dizzy than I already am. What makes me freeze is Jaehyun’s next query.

“Are you with Taeyong right now?”

I stood there, Taeyong and I keeping each other’s stare.

“No. Why?”

“You’re lying.”

“How do you know? I’m by myself at home.”

“I see you with him. How’s the brown sofa? Comfy right? And that green coffee table looks exquisite. It looks like it’s from that expensive brand, what’s it called... Boca Do Lobo?”

Jaehyun continues to taunt me, my eyes verifying that the coffee table indeed is from that brand, and then lowering to the floor in perplexity. Taeyong immediately springs into action. He closes the blinds and curtains and ensures all doors are shut tight. He’s locking down the apartment.

“I have my eyes on you. I’ll come pick you up on Saturday at 5PM to get ready for the party. See you soon,” he sings into the call, ending it before I could get another word out.

The blonde-headed doctor and I both have widened eyes at what just happened. My voice croaks out of fear, “How can he see us?” Taeyong presses a palm to his forehead and pushes his hair back, revealing small sweat droplets.

“I don’t know. But you can’t go home. He might follow you and find out about Lucas and take him for himself. You need to stay here.” His tone drops low and gentle as if to not wake up his neighbors in the rooms next to his. There’s no other way, and I obviously don’t want Lucas to be snatched. Taeyong, seeing that I’m visibly shaken and overloaded with information, pulls me into a hug which surprises me. At first, the wariness from the phone call heightened, but this silent embrace makes me feel a bit more relaxed. I trust that Taeyong won’t let Jaehyun hurt me, so I think staying here will be the best option.

“Okay. I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Camping here. This is your apartment.”

“But your safety is most important, I still need you for this project.” Though the reminder that I’m bound to this chaos hurts, I let loose the remaining tenseness in my body. I’m falling asleep in the warmth that radiates from his hug. My head is heavy. My eyes are closing. I feel myself being lifted up. Taeyong’s voice is merely a murmur. “I’ll put you in the guest bedroom. Rest up well.” The plush sheets underneath me feel like I’m laying on a cloud, my hands automatically circling the softness and gaining some sort of consolation. I can no longer string coherent thoughts. Taeyong pulls a comforter up to my chin, turns off the light, and leaves the door ajar. “Let me know if you need anything.”

I was not expecting such hospitality, but I’m damn grateful for it. The day has been a lot, and the rest of the week ahead will be nerve-wracking as Saturday will come closer and closer. There’s no way to avoid it now. I’m going to have to deal with Jaehyun again.

I wonder what Lucas is up to. I’d love to call him, but he’s still at his shift. I hope he comes home safely, unharmed, happy. The phone in my hand keeps slowly dropping, but I try to fight it to press on Lucas’s contact while my surroundings darken. But I didn’t get to press his name. I let the fatigue take over me, at least for now until the next day.

⠀

Jaehyun’s going to pay for this.

[the-elusive-libbin]

Ummm, do you have any Akutagawa (bsd) headcannons?

I sure do!!! Akutagawa Ryunosuke is a man who is full of bloodlust and jealousy, so much in fact that it actually kind of rules his life. I’ll admit I did have to re-watch a few Bungou clips to remember the way he acts but none-the-less I think I finally have enough of his personality in my head to get a few vore canons down. I know I spoke with the person who sent me this ask in private and they have no preference to microxmacro or same size vore so I shall write a bit for both types.

WARNING!: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE BUNGOU STRAY DOGS ANIME AND MANGA SERIES FROM THIS POINT ON!

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-As usual we find ourselves asking whether or not Ryunosuke Akutagawa would devour someone alive….He would!. Should this man find out he can swallow someone, he would probably do it a lot when ordered to do so as an effective method of disposing of the weak enemies that stand before him.

-Firstly let me just get this out there: Akutagawa would fatally digest his prey most of the time, in fact this is almost always the case. Why should he have to go through the trouble of devouring someone when he can’t digest them? Does one not devour food with the controlled mindset of ‘this is my meal, it will be devoured and give me energy?’ Precisely, one does not intentionally spit up a sandwich after it has been eaten. 

-To be totally honest, Akutagawa does not care about the life of the person inside his belly, he would have killed them with a knife, a gun or his own powers anyway so regardless of process, the outcome of death is the same. Secretly, Akutagawa does not like digesting same-size prey as it takes too long and is a hassle. Tiny prey are easy game.

-So what would make him want to swallow someone? Three reasons I can think of off the top of my head: 1. He has used vore as a method to get rid of people before and will do so again should it prove effective.This is of his own and his boss’ will of course. 2. The port Mafia orders him to devour someone or a few people. 3. The final possibility, if Dazai asks/orders him to swallow someone. I’m talking about any version of Dazai, Mafia Dazai speaks for himself but I think the concept of Akutagawa being praised by the suicidal maniac would be enough to coax him into vore even if Dazai has left the mafia by this time. This may take more thinking though.

-When committing acts of vore of his own accord, Akutagawa has devoured same-size people but he prefers swallowing tinies for reasons I will mention very soon.

Gonna split this now into two separate canon sections for Microxmacro and Same size because I know some of you guys prefer different ones~

SAME SIZE:

- This asshole struggles when it comes to same size vore. He kind of reminds me of a small, yappy dog with a loud bark and a bite to match but struggling to pull through with his threats. What I mean by this is that he’ll happily threaten to devour his soon-to-be prey with the intention of putting them into his stomach and he’ll grab his prey and go for it with force too...But he’s so small and skinny that he struggles to get the prey down into his belly.

-Even if his stomach can stretch to accommodate a single prey, that is about all he can manage. His skinny frame struggling to contain a huge, bloated mass that refuses to cease in its thrashing. Akutagawa attempts to act like he can in fact handle his meal and attempts to give orders to his men at the same time. So stubborn. It’s rather embarrassing really. 

-He wishes he could devour more than one of this kind of prey as he believes it will allow him to assert dominance by showing others what could become of them should they mess with him. Unfortunately this is not the case and the poor thing ends up a panting, humiliated mess. Of course he’ll threaten the blush away from staining his cheeks and refuse to admit his struggles. He has not been bested, he has swallowed a human whole! 

-Anyone who dares mock Akutagawa in a stuffed state will be either next on the menu to be savoured at a later date or killed on the spot. Subordinates included. Is he embarrassed by any of this? Of course! But he’s not gonna show his blush, he’ll hide it however he can. This is especially true for Akutagawa in the early stages of the show.

-The guy is quick to anger so of course he has swallowed people during a fit of rage before without meaning to do so. Imagine he’s halfway through swallowing someone and realizes that he shouldn’t have taken it that far. But he needs to save face and swallows them down anyway with a struggled ‘Gulp!’ It’s their own fault for getting in the damn way.

-Akutagawa prefers to swallow larger prey (when he has to) in the comfort of his own quarters, allowing only his sister Gin or at a push Higuchi into the room to aid him. Ultimately he prefers to be alone during this time as he finds his overly full state to be humiliating. Having the two women that care most about him fuss over his engorged stomach is less than ideal.

-Secretly the guy is touch starved and would love nothing more than to have someone rub his swollen belly to help sooth it or aid his digestion. This is Akutagawa we’re talking about here folks and unfortunately his own personality gets in the way of his belly rub ideals. Should he be tied down and forcibly have his belly rubbed (Not that one would dare) then he would be furious and possibly unable to hide his embarrassment. 

-His digestion is embarrassingly loud and obnoxious at the best of times but when he’s got an entire person to get through it is worse. Walk in on him mid digestion and hear those loud churning groans and be prepared to face the consequences of a red faced mob boss and his weapons.

-Akutagawa doesn’t care if he starts from the head or from the feet as long as the prey gets in his belly, it’s his job after all. He starts off cool, swallowing in gulps but then the prey’s head enters his stomach and he already feels full. The poor guy can’t eat much so stuffing his belly is hard for him. Eventually he manages to get the entire person down with pure willpower but his belly churns painfully and he falls to the ground, unable to support his own weight. Rashomon may emerge to hold up his bloated tummy for him. -After this, his belches and hiccups are soft and uncontrollable much to the mafioso’s embarrassment. Again, he’ll try to hide his blush if he’s not alone.

-Akutagawa is quick to anger as I may have mentioned previously and so punching and yelling at his gut would often occur. He does this when the prey inside won’t stop thrashing, when he’s too full, when he’s starving and even just when his belly is making too much noise. The most embarrassingly irritating scenario is when Akutagawa doesn’t feel hungry or full and his belly churns for no reason. There is no need.

MICROXMACRO:

-Akutagawa much prefers to devour tinies as they are easy to swallow and enter his stomach quickly. There is not much fuss and no mess. No struggled gulping and over bloating. Also a perk of this size difference is that the mafioso can erase multiple people at once.

-He will often make sure his stomach is starved before eating a tiny as he likes the idea of doing away with the prey quickly. If his stomach is craving a meal, it is more likely to digest the meal it has been longing for rapidly. He may be a murderer but he canonically hates torture and prefers to have things over with quickly. This is probably another reason as to why he doesn’t like swallowing conscious same-size prey.

-Akutagawa can’t eat much normally so I imagine five cupcake sized tinies would be enough to sate his hunger and bloat his belly. He would be stuffed and bloated after eating 10 or more. He would rather not do this because then his meal takes longer to digest in his gut.

-I imagine Higuchi has bought him a bowl of small criminals before and told Akutagawa that Mori demanded he dispose of them orally. How the mafioso’s eyebrow twitched as he glared at his subordinate in annoyance. He prefers not to overindulge. He doesn’t realise that she is staring at him for a while, and so swallows the little people down with contempt. When he does notice he will fluster before angering and kicking the girl out of the room.

-When eating tinies, he takes a few, looks them over, regarding them. He is not checking their nature, gender, age or any of the sort because none of that matters to him. Canonically he has no qualms about who he kills. The tinies he is given to devour have upset the port mafia, that is all the information he needs to devour the poor souls. The mafioso is secretly checking for dirt however and wondering about the taste.

-Let me be clear, no amount of begging will save these tinies. I think if Dazai or the boss orders him to devour these people then that is good enough for him.

-Not wanting to keep the tiny person in his mouth for any amount of time, he tilts his head straight back and drops the tiny inside. As soon as they hit the back of his throat, he swallows straight down, not bothering to follow the bulge down his throat with his finger. His stomach groans hungrily and Akutagawa wills it to hush in his mind. The prey hits his stomach which immediately wraps around them to digest, hugging the prey from all angles.

-Akutagawa likes the feeling of the prey going down his throat at this size, it’s intriguing to him. He also is able to feel the small movements inside his belly since he’s so skinny and his stomach is so sensitive. 

-Sometimes his belly doesn’t like having tinies inside it and his stomach sets off grumbling sickly and proceeding to give its owner heartburn and indigestion. This almost always occurs when he is stuffed. His stomach acid is strong and digests easily but his stomach itself is weak. Moving around with a full belly makes him nauseous.

-Belches? Unsightly to say the least. Akutagawa will stifle his belches into his fist unless he really can’t stop them. Should a loud belch escape his lips, he will be rather flustered by it and shake it off; this can be said even when he is alone. The mafioso’s belches are hardly ever loud and are usually wet and strained.

-Once Akutagawa has devoured a tiny or a few tinies, he will continue with his work business as usual, like nothing happened. He has a habit of gently placing a hand on his stomach when he has prey inside.

-”But Libbin! I hear you say.” “What about safe, non-fatal vore?” I hear you, let me think. So Akutagawa is the type to usually devour someone upon order, if he eats someone it will usually be to erase them, however should someone order him to keep someone safe inside his belly, he would have to do it. He’d be a mix of annoyed and confused at this as well. I see him actually worrying about digesting the tiny to the point where he researches the human stomach and its capabilities and eats some food beforehand to ensure his stomach has other things to digest first. He eats, touches his stomach, is this enough? Better eat some more just in case. Repeat a few times. I see him going totally overboard and eating way too much accidentally whilst overthinking. The poor thing is already full of food and then has to swallow a person he cannot digest on top of that.

-It’s not that he cares about the person he’s swallowing but if he digests someone when he’s not supposed to he’ll be scolded and he can’t have that.

-Should he decide to trust his stomach and swallow a tiny he cannot digest while it is empty he may learn how to control the digestion. If he manages that he will be happily surprised. His stomach will moan in hunger as it complains for food, upset that it cannot digest the only morsel inside.

-Self indulgent scenario time: Once Mori decided to test Akutagawa’s stomach capacity after the boss realised his subordinate could devour people to erase them for him. As a doctor, he knew his way around a stomach and performed an examination before and after Akutagawa swallowed a person. Then he filled him with tinies until he was at max capacity. Of course Akutagawa agreed to these tests as they ‘helped’ the port mafia…..In reality Mori just wanted to admire his handiwork and embarrass the younger male. Secret reports from the incident state that the younger male had never been seen so red faced and flustered. Then again, he had never before had a person place an accusing ear against his bare stomach as it digested people before. A strange scenario for anyone to find themselves in really, you can’t blame him.

So there’s some long awaited canons for you. I hope I could do him justice~ I do really want to draw him more now ^_^

[misstinfoilhat]

The Boy in the Belfry, part 13. A Bungou Stray Dogs fic

All is dark. All is calm. All is good.

The only thing he can hear is the muffled sound of his fellow agents getting to work around him, and the only thing he can feel is leather gloves carefully caressing the side of his face and occasionally swiping away the unmanageable bangs from his face.

All is okay. All is over. All is well.

His father is dead. He knows. Not even a termite like his old man, can withstand what had to be more than ten stabs to the head, and at least ten more to the chest. To be absolutely sure, he genuinely hopes that Mori will cut his head off and feed it to the pigs. Or better yet, his heart. You can never be too sure considering all the pestered animals that can keep on living without their heads. He'll let Mori do whatever he wants to the body, as long as it's not burried beneath the same ground as his mother and sisters. He'll let Mori feed his sickest fantasies, just to make sure that the motherfucker burns in hell.

All is still. All is numb. All is dead.

                                                          -xXx-

Atsushi was stunned. With trembling knees, he was able to take one step before his legs buckled under his weight, but Yosano was quick to react out and caught him before he could hit the ground. She'd been keeping an eye out for all of their younger agents during the bloodied act, knowing fully that the sight before them would be overwhelming to anyone- and especially someone as inexperienced and impressionable as Atsushi.

Even if they all knew about Dazai's past in the Port Mafia by now, Yosano (and to an extent, Kyouka) was probably the only ones who were capable of even nearly understanding what kind of measures Dazai has had to go through, to survive a lifestyle in the mafia that he did not choose for himself, but had been molded and broken into by callous hands.

The horrors he must have seen, as well as executed himself... from her own experience, she knew it was horrendous. And him, being a former executive, she could only begin to imagine how much worse he'd been through.

But he had been exposed to such cruel acts himself.

Until now, she was the only one in the agency who had seen the hideousness that had been done to his body underneath the bandages. It was nothing but evidence of a lifetime of torture.

But now, they had all seen it. What the mellow tempered jokester was hiding underneath the bandages.

Yosano got awakened from her thoughts as Atsushi ripped himself from her grip and ran out of the church. With that, she was reminded of the chaos around her. Her heart pulled her in one direction, wanting to make sure that Atsushi was okay, but a persistent Kunikda yelled for her assistance in the other.

“Kyouka,” she started to say but needed not to say more. The petite girl ran after her friend- probably a little relieved to get away from the situation. Yosano made a mental note to talk to her later. This whole event probably brought back some very unpleasant memories for her too.

Yosano hurried and ran to Dazai's aid.

                                                         -xXx-

“Atsushi-san?” Kyouka asked as softly as her already pleasant voice could muster, as she saw the boy huddled up and cradling himself right outside the door of the church. “Are you alright?”

Atsushi didn't answer, only grabbed his legs tighter and faintly shivered from the rain and sour wind.

“You should come back inside... I don't want you to get sick. They have covered the... body,” she added.

“It's not that...” Atsushi finally answered quietly. “I can take a dead body, Kyouka. I've seen blood and gore before. It's just...” he took a deep breath trying to make his voice sturdy. “I can't see Dazai like that. He's... he's supposed to be unbreakable, you know?”

Kyouka lowered her head. She knew, but she also knew. Knew a few things about the Port Mafia that Atsushi didn't. Things about Mori that anyone outside of the mafia would never know.

“You know,” he chuckled, almost humorously but couldn’t quite muster it, “...once, he carried me all the way back to the infirmary after a really bad fight downtown. He had several broken ribs, a concussion, and a pretty bad knee injury. Yosano and Kunikida literally had to tackle him to the ground and tranquilize him to treat his injuries,” Atsushi recalled bitterly. 

“Seeing him in such a vulnerable state right now... it's breaking my heart. I just can't take it. He's the closest thing to... maybe not a father, but at least a big brother, or a cool uncle, that I've ever had.” 

Atsushi bit his lip and added, “Also, seeing how he just used the remains of his energy to execute such a brutal killing... looking completely and utterly... unfeeling and unfazed by it, sends shivers through my whole body. I'm not sure I know that person...”

A touch on the arm from Kyouka interrupted him. She looked keenly into his eyes with her piercing light blue ones.

“Please, Atsushi. There's a lot you don't understand about Dazai-san. There's a lot none of us will ever understand. But, you saw the marks on his body and you heard what the preacher said. I'm not sure if any of us would have acted any other way if we were in his position.”

Atsushi knew she was probably right. He knew if he was in the same desperate state of mind as Dazai had been in then and there, and been given the opportunity to fight back- he probably would too. It wasn’t like he hadn’t fought in blind rage before himself.

Even so, he would need some time to process what he had just witnessed.

                                                         -xXx-

Kunikida hardly ever acted spontaneously. Obviously, even he couldn't foresee every possible turn of events, but it wasn't for the lack of trying.

This entire day had been agonizingly out of his control, and as Dazai fell unconscious after the confrontation and savage killing of the preacher (he wouldn't even give the man the acknowledgment of calling him Dazai's father), he decided to give in to the moment, letting go of his analytic thought process and acting purely from instinct and heart.

And his heart said to screw everything and get Dazai out of there alive.

Chuuya had already made it to Dazai. Kunikida could see him comforting and sheltering him, but wanted, all the same, to kick the vertically challenged Chucky look-a-like's face in for misusing his and his partner's trust.

“What the hell is going on?” he demanded, reaching the two, hitting Chuuya's stupid hat off, just for his own satisfaction.

The redhead didn't even flinch and was more concerned with making Dazai comfortable despite his injuries.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered. Kunikida didn't know if he was referring to Dazai, him or both of them. Probably the ladder. “I didn't know that Mori would let it go this far, but I should have. He always takes it too far.”

Kunikida looked for the Port Mafia boss, but he had already disappeared.

'That fucking coward.'

He snapped his fingers and got the attention of Tanizaki and Kenji, as he noticed Yosano being held up with Atsushi.

“Please, if you're up to it, would you mind... trying to find something to cover the body with?” he asked quietly. Even with somewhat pallor looks, they both complied, probably relieved to get a task to distract themselves, even if it was a messy one.

He turned back to Chuuya and Dazai, only to realize that Dazai's face started to look strained, fusing into a tight grimace as his body gradually started trembling worse and worse.

“He's having a seizure!” Kunikida exclaimed and pushed a frozen Chuuya away, quickly turning Dazai on his side to clear his airways. “Yosano!”

                                                             -xXx-

The ambulance drove off with Dazai, accompanied by Yosano. Chuuya had redeemed himself a little by helping them to get rid of the body before anyone else would see it, as well as cleaning up the mess that had been made. They put their trust in Yosano to come up with some kind of story to explain Dazai's (somewhat embarrassingly for both the ADA and the hospital) third disappearance (sporting an external fixing device on his leg and a broken back) from the hospital and the state they sent him back in.

“You have some explaining to do,” Kunikida stated sternly to Chuuya, as they watched the ambulance drive off.

“I don't think I'm the right person to do that,” he said simply, but couldn't hide the clear discomfort of being interrogated.

“Your namby-pamby boss vanished out of the thin air. He didn't even stick around to make sure that Dazai was okay,” Kunikida retorted sourly.

Chuuya smirked slightly, crossing his arms and started to walk towards his bike. “I don't mean Mori, Kunikida-kun.”

At first, Kunikida was confused by the statement. He watched the back of the mafioso as he walked calmly away. 

Then it dawned upon him.

Could Dazai already have known what was going to happen?

…

Of course, he could.

                                                             -xXx-

Dazai looked peaceful in spite of Atsushi's inability not to imagine the scars that lay hidden underneath his bandages. The third operation in just a little less than a month had taken its toll on his mentor, and understandably so.

Atsushi didn't know if he would ever be able to look upon the man who, despite his many flaws, he had regarded as his hero, the same way ever again. He looked the same, but somehow, he felt different.

Even so, he hadn't moved from his bedside since he'd been allowed into his room in the ICU. The others from the agency had returned to the dorms to get some much-needed rest, but something inside of Atsushi's stomach had made him unable to leave Dazai there by himself.

Dazai twitched slightly in the bed. Atsushi automatically stood up, leaning towards the railings, watching intently as his mentor started to wake up.

Bewildered hands moved towards his face, trying to remove the intruding nasal cannula before his eyes had even opened.

“Uh, no, stop it. I think you need that,” Atsushi said nervously, grabbing Dazai's hands and placed them gently back by his side.

“So annoying,” Dazai sighed hoarsely, before falling back to sleep.

Atsushi smiled.

Maybe Dazai was the same after all.