#Like Marcus was barely in this game aside from word of mouth and that one side mission but hes THERE to Wrench

[ohheyitsokay]

Oooooooooo I'm excited! I love a good soulmate AU and I love your writing!!! Here's what I'm feeling - choose your own adventure.

-The first time you touch your soulmate, you have to relive both the best and worst day of their life with Ezra

-Soulmates are rare/special with Ezra

-Marcus Moreno and sharing a heartbeat

❤❤❤❤❤

V, absolute light of my life, you're really going to give me 3 great ideas and expect me to choose just 1? Cruel

Thank you, really, and I hope you enjoy!! (And thank you for your patience!)

wordcount: 1.4k

warnings: mentions of trauma and violence (Ezra's arm, it's a rough life okay?), a little yearning, mostly massive quantities of fluff.

>>

Once, when he was on one of the more populated planets, Erza had seen an ad for a game wealthy children played on their monitors. There was a flash of a scene where he could see a man-like creature displaying tools and resources and gems for the hero, and he'd been dumbfounded. When he had expressed his bewilderment to his companion at the time, they had been mockingly amused. They told him that it was a side character’s job to bend down and peddle away the best of their lives to the hero for cheap return, to further the good of a greater, more interesting life.

Ezra had scoffed and scowled and swallowed hard before pushing the concept to the back of his mind. Because in truth, when he was young, he had always fancied himself the hero of his story, one of the few adventurers who still saw beauty and excitement in the gathering and the travel. His upbringing was mediocre at best, but he knew he was skilled on a number of fronts, and that alone should have set him up for grandness. Maybe his sense of justice was balanced out by his need of survival, but with his flare for drama, he hoped at least he would be one of the few the universe would bless with a soulmate. It just felt right, like a bird singing from the a branch at the top of a tree or a flower that bloomed without puffing poison into the atmosphere - beautiful.

He would dream of who you would be, how you’d find each other and he spent extra hours prospecting, hoping to save up to give you the life you'd surely deserve.

That was years ago.

He wasn’t sure at which point he became a side character in his own life, but it certainly happened at some point. Exciting things in his life always seemed to be more on the unfortunate end of the spectrum, rather than the heroic and fantastical. Cee was a main character, he thought, she certainly had as much adventure as he did, the little spitfire, and still had both arms and her youth, to boot. But him? Ezra? Not so much.

Maybe he could've been content with it, happy to live and even thrive, at times, if it weren’t for you.

Because stars, moon, and heavens above, you were beautiful.

The first time he'd seen you his mind had only supplied a single word: enchanting. Which was strange because he could barely see your form through the lumpy suit you wore, and the glass over your head was smudged with mud. Actually, all of you was smudged with mud. And you were pointing a thrower at his head.

But still, you were enchanting.

Ezra could help himself - he told you so, wondering if it would be his last gift before you took your shot. He thanked the stars Cee was off on her next chapter, because your clear, beautiful eyes might be the last thing he ever saw.

Instead, you had laughed, and his heart sung. Old books described the laugh of heroines like bells or music but yours was hearty and rich and genuine and it made him want to whisk you away to a safe, dreamy planet. Your thrower lowered and beyond all his reasoning you decided to trust him.

Traveling with you was like a dream. Plenty of things went wrong, as they always did, but you worked well together, playing off each other like you actually cared about him, which was new. And you let him talk, more often than not, and would even talk with him, sharing stories of your own and stringing words together in ways he'd never thought of. He adored it, adored you, and made it his mission to stay by you as long as you’d let him. It wasn’t an easy task, especially on so hostile a planet, but quite worth the effort.

The sound of you alone could keep him going for days, the tilt of your smile when he'd been particularly clever at least a few weeks. Ezra liked your brain, the thoughtfulness of your conversation, and the way your mouth formed the words he so cherished. Maybe the universe didn’t give him a soulmate, and maybe he couldn’t really do heroic things for you, but when your eyes were on him, did he want to.

So his personal mission became being the most outstanding partner you’d ever had, like a knight slaying dragons, he wanted to show you he was worthy of your hand. It was crucial to make his intentions clear - it wasn't about confidence or carnal needs, although both were present, he wanted you to know how seriously he considered the gift of you in his once work-a-day life. This was achieved, or at least attempted through filling the lulls with declarations of your beauty. What more romantic way to show you how magical he thought you were, than to compare the hue of your cheeks to foliage and the depths of your eyes to precious gems?

He didn't mind that you called him a liar, at first, he was used to that. But when he filed through the piles of poems in his brain to pick the ones he thought fit you, he didn't like that you brushed them aside. It made him worry, initially that you weren't impressed by him, and then frightened that you actually didn't see how ethereal you were.

When you explained, that it was hard to see when you were decked head to toe in the blandest, most frumpy survival gear, he thought he understood, though he still didn't like it. The conversation did provide a wonderful opportunity for him to press close to you, and tell you sometime he'd just have to see you without it, and enjoy the flush on your face. But it bothered him that you wouldn't just let him adore you.

The mission evolved, which was more work than he'd expected. It was hard, to slow himself down, to keep himself in the balancing act between ‘clearly interested’ and ‘respectfully trustworthy’. Less flowery language, more heartfelt explanations. More acceptance of your expertise, less showing off.

And it paid off, when you finally, finally allowed him to enter your pod, bashful and excited, and allowed him to enter your story, for real.

He all but begged you to help him take off his suit first, so he could behold your unfiltered form, and you obliged, laughing a little at his logic.

When you sloughed off your outer layer for the first time in his presence, he thought he would soak in your form with his eyes for hours. Instead, his body moved of it's own accord, his heart singing again as you reached for him as well. Ezra's hand found your cheek, touching you at long last, and for a moment, he thought he had died.

But no, he was seeing your first day prospecting, feeling your despair as you gasped for breath with a broken filter, and his hand clung to yours, confused, but wanting desperately to save you. The universe was sharing something of yours, with him, and it was strange - overwhelming. Then he was reliving the day Cee cut of his arm and as he turned his head away from the pain, he saw you next to him, tears in your beautiful eyes. You were experiencing his worst, day, as well, and he understood that such a jarringly beautiful phenomena could only mean one thing. 

In the present moment, his forehead was pressed against yours, his arm wrapping around your head, holding you to him. Your hands were gripping his wrist, and clinging to his shirt and you were whispering that he was your soulmate and that you knew it. Ezra’s mind was reeling, grasping for his words to respond to you, desperate to tell you more than just yes, yes you were soulmates. Of course you were. He didn't find them, but the universe provided another gift.

The best day of your lives was the same moment, seeing each other caked in mud as you pointed your thrower at him. Eyes holding each others, abruptly, blissfully in love.

Ezra saw in that moment that he was wrong. The best of his life was coming, now, and he need not peddle it away. You were sharing with him a greater and more interesting life.

<<

taglist:

@fangirl-316 @scribbledghost @writeforfandoms @princess76179  @mrsbentallmadge

[chilly-me-softly]

could you possibly do a part 2 for the marcus and jesse trio? i loved that one :)

Part 1

"(Y/N) are you okay?" Marcus is among the first to approach you after the collision as a grimace of pain is painted on your face holding your right hip. The knee of one of the opponents had landed right in your side causing you to miss your breath for a moment, making you stay down for a few moments longer than usual and forcing the medical team to come closer.

"Just the knock, don't worry" you grit your teeth as the staff puts cold ice on the affected spot, making sure you can continue the game. The others move away taking the opportunity to talk amongst themselves, only Marcus stays by your side helping you up not taking his eyes off you as you limp with the medics towards the sideline.

And at every opportunity he comes up to you asking you how you feel with his hand before his mouth, asking you to be honest and to be replaced if it bothers you in any way. But you always shake your head, there is little time left until the end of the first half and you are determined to see it through. In the changing room you get another look and make your points.

And you sit on the bench lifting your jersey to wipe the sweat from your face when you hear Marcus mutter something a few seats down from you.

"How can you say you're fine?!" he asks dumbfounded with his gaze pointing at you and instinctively you lower your gaze following the trajectory of his gaze, noticing that a huge bluish bruise has formed on your side. You lower your shirt but his gaze lingers there.

"It doesn't hurt"

"Don't talk shit!" he retorts immediately and you can feel the atmosphere in the room change at that very moment. Some stop talking about tactics being distracted by the two of you, others simply look at you expectantly. It was rare to see the two of you bickering, to see those fiery glances at each other. Usually Marcus was the one to calm you down or vice versa, but when one was the target of the other you just had to take cover.

"Do you want to know my body better than I do Marcus?"

"I just wish you would put everything aside for once and focus on yourself"

"Hmph look who's talking" you roll your eyes as the manager walks into the locker room right then starting to talk about tactics and how he's going to plan to proceed for the second half. You listen to him as the doctors take the opportunity to take another look at you.

Jesse didn't get involved, just watched you as a spectator like the others, but he knows he has to keep a close eye on you from then on. Because he knows you and he knows how proud you can be, he knows how you can push yourself over the edge so you don't have to hear I told you so.

In the end you had been substituted in the 80th minute, the game more than over at that point seeing you with a clear advantage over your opponents. You'd fallen a couple of times for some tackles, the opposing team certainly hadn't had as much trouble as you had. Your gaze had met Jesse's as soon as you'd sat down, but you'd quickly looked away and pretended not to notice.

"Stubborn" the boy murmured with a smirk on his face as you rolled your eyes before watching the remaining minutes of that game as you clutched your water bottle.

At the referee's whistle you had walked back onto the pitch to shake everyone's hands and chat with familiar faces and exchange your jersey, before being taken aside for an interview. For some strange reason you don't meet Marcus.

On the plane you practically only sit for the take-off and landing moment, riding the wave of victory and the good mood of everyone joking and laughing with the group. And it's when you get off the bus that took you from the airport to the facility that morning that reality hits you hard. You can't keep ignoring Marcus forever, you arrived with him that morning after all.

He's waiting for you in front of the car with keys in hand, waiting for you to greet Jesse. "Take care, tomorrow morning I want both of you alive" is the last thing he says to you before getting into his car and driving off, as you mumble something and do the same while fastening your seatbelt. Marcus follows suit after sighing before leaving.

The fatigue of the day is starting to set in despite the fact that you were so convinced that you wouldn't be able to rest that night. There isn't much traffic on the street and it doesn't take long for Marcus' car to park in front of your driveway.

You unbuckle your seatbelt, watching him out of the corner of your eye, unsure what to do. But you see him do the same and get out of the car. With a confused expression you walk around the car until you get in front of him. "You don't have to walk me"

He rolls his eyes grimacing, holding himself back from saying whatever he's thinking, before closing the car and almost blinding you with its lights. "Let's go"

So all you have to do is look for your keys as you walk those few steps to the door, but once in front of it he looks at you expectantly not hinting at leaving.

"What, you want to come in too?"

"(Y/N)"

"Marcus, you haven't spoken to me in hours"

"Can we talk about this inside?" he pleads and you put the key in the keyhole leaving the door open going to turn on the light.

You place the small backpack on your shoulder on the kitchen table as you feel the constant presence of Marcus behind you. You try to keep ignoring him, standing up on your toes to grab the box of tea you have in the cupboard just for Marcus as you're not really into it. But suddenly you feel his chest against your back, one of his hands gently resting on your waist to put you back down as the other picks up the box for you.

"Stop acting like a child" he whispers in your ear and your breath catches in your throat at the closeness, his scent, the touch.

"I don't understand" you clear your throat taking the box from his hands and stepping away to make the drink allowing you to catch your breath.

"It's hurting you isn't it?" he leans his back against the counter watching you move around your kitchen like he's done before as you don't answer making him scoffing. He'd noticed how you hadn't sat down for a second but had held back on the plane so as not to make things even worse. "(Y/N), I worry about you you know"

"Well sometimes you're a little over the top Marcus" you can't help but point this out, perhaps a little too harshly as you slam a cup down on the marble.

"What am I supposed to do? Tell me how I'm supposed to act when you'd risk your life just to prove to those guys that you're worth something"

"You're overreacting Marcus. There are different ways to handle things, you have no right to embarrass me in front of everyone like that. We're acting like..."

"Like what?"

"Like you're my boyfriend. Like we're a couple. And you confuse me every time with such damn mixed signals" you sigh, calming your tone as he looks at you with a newfound confidence.

"What if I want it? What if I want to be more than just your friend?"

"Well that's not how you show it"

"I can't help it" he sighs as he moves closer, erasing that small distance between you, "Sharing this with you is... I can't describe it in words, it's why I wake up in the morning" embarrassed you lower your gaze to the pattern on his shirt, "But you're good, too damn good, and that means everyone is trying to stop you. And it scares me because I wouldn't want anything to happen to you"

"Then you keep pushing... so call me a pain in the ass or exaggerated or whatever, but just know that I'm not going to stop worrying about you"

"You think I don't worry about you Marcus? That I don't feel out of breath when I see a pained expression on your face?" you go back to looking at him despite the fact that you literally feel yourself on fire, "but my concern goes into taking care of you, into being close to you, into-"

"Can I kiss you?" Marcus interrupts your monologue causing you to gasp, your gaze wavering from his eyes to his lips and back again.

"Geez Marcus you always have to ask for permission!" you roll your eyes in a vain attempt to hide your surprise and nervousness as he chuckles shaking his head before slowly approaching you. For a second he seems to hesitate but eventually his lips are on yours.

The kiss is slow, both of you taking time to savour the moment and keep the turmoil of emotions within you at bay. You feel Marcus' thumb caressing your cheek slowly, your arms around his neck as your side pulls slightly.

Marcus leaves you another small peck as you pull away, your lips parting in a smile. He sighs resting his forehead against yours, you closing your eyes for a moment.

"That doesn't change anything, you have no right to tell me what to do anyway"

"Just a little advice?"

"I can't assure you I'd even consider it" he chuckles, leaving another kiss on your lips before caressing your cheek with the back of his hand.

You barely hold back a yawn as you pull away to finish making the tea, he looks at you softly pulling you to him. "Let's go to sleep, it's late"

"But I didn't make you tea" you try to argue back but he shakes his head leading you towards your room. "It's not a problem, come on"

Marcus waits patiently for you to come out of the bathroom, lying on your big bed and following you with his eyes as you lie on your side next to him.

"Are you staying here?"

"If that's alright with you..." you shake your head, laying it then on the pillow and simply looking at him.

"Marcus?"

"Hm?"

"Can you get on the other side? I can't stay on my side" he laughs before circling the bed as you turn onto your other side.

"Better?" you nod as his eyes linger a little on the sore spot. "It's just a bruise, I swear"

"If it gets worse tomorrow, will you tell me?"

"Yes Marcus, yes" you sigh as he slides towards you moving a little closer.

"Because I could take your mind off the pain if you want"

"Oh yeah? How?! Can I have a little taste?"

"Mh I think so" he smiles before bringing his lips close to yours again.

Part 3

[waywardimpalawriter]

Man out of time (Marcus Moreno x Female Reader)

Man out of time

Pairing:  Marcus Moreno x Female Reader

Characters: Marcus Moreno, Missy Moreno, Anita Moreno, mentions of Miracle Guy,  

Setting: few months after the end of We can be heroes 

Rating: PG-13 for now

Warnings: few curse words, angst mostly,

 Word count: 1,610

Summary: Simple, two syllable word Dictionary.com say’s it means easy to understand, deal with, use, etc. Marcus Moreno curses its existence, wishing his katana’s could cut through with a neat slice and bring back what he’s lost.   

Notes: Written for Writer Wednesday held by the marvelous @autumnleaves1991-blog​. I’ll admit I battled with this one for a good while and with the help of @icanbeyourjedi​ decided this would be my first Marcus Moreno fic. I do hope you all enjoy and as always much love to all my doves. 

“You promised remember?” Stubborn set to her small statue, arms across with a deep glare in those normally sweet brown eyes. “What happened to that promise dad?”

Looking to his mom for help but coming up empty as she just lifts her hands and shrugs with a small roll of her eyes before turning away to head back towards the kitchen. “Thanks mom,” slight sarcastic twist to the tone. Hand resting on popped out hip studying his daughter while searching for the right words to explain. “True it’s no emergency like two months ago Missy but the mission is simple enough I’ll be back home before the weekend.”

“Take me with you then,” brow lifting in challenge remind Marcus so much of her mother the memory picking his heart.

Pushing those thoughts aside, “I can’t you have school and training,” seeing her fixing to protest he holds up a hand to stall the flow of words. “Besides it’s too dangerous, this isn’t a typical mission the Heroics would go on.”

“So they push it on you, why?” Voice rising slightly with worry and a dash of fear for her father’s safety.

Running a hand through his hair tugging the dark strands lightly in frustration. “Things are…” always searching for the right words to explain, without giving too much away and keeping Missy in the dark to protect her. “Complicated Missy I have to lead by example you know that sweetheart. Please trust me when I say this isn’t something I want to do.”

“Then why…”

Sighing Marcus steps towards his daughter crouching down so their eye level, “Because I’m the only one qualified to take the mission.” Resting a fingerless gloved hand on her slim shoulder, “Simple in and out, take out the bad guy done,” offering her, his patented half smile. “Besides you’ve got your friends now and training you’ll never notice I’m gone.”

Expressive chocolate eyes roll but the smirk is all Moreno when they lock back with her father’s. Flinging herself into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck and hugging the life’s breath from his lungs. “You’re wrong dad I’ll miss you,” trying to keep the trembling from her voice. Tears pricking the back of her eyes, nose rubbing along the leather jacket he’s wearing. “Four day’s right? No longer?”

“No longer just four days sweetheart,” pulling back to smile at his daughter catching the fear in her glassy eyes. “I promise to be safe.”

“And come home right?” She adds still clinging to her father’s shoulders. Memories of watching the alien’s wrap their mechanical arms around and pull him into the ship still very fresh in her mind. Never wanting a repeat performance of those horrible three hours.

Nodding, “Yes ma’am and I expect you to mind your abuela, do your homework and train.” Ticking off each one while giving her a smile.

“Always dad,” eyes rolling again as she lets him go, standing to his full height now. “When do you leave?”

Smiling slipping to a frown, “Once I’m packed. Intel came in this afternoon and I’ve been briefed.”

“Ah so that’s why your wear this ridiculous get up and rode in on that obnoxious two wheeled death machine,” putting her own words into the conversation, Anita Moreno rejoined her son and granddaughter leaning heavily on her cain. “Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me Marcus Moreno you aren’t too old for me to whip,” banishing her walking stick towards him affectionately.

“Mom,” wanting too but doesn’t roll his eyes at her words, heart warmed by the undercurrent of worry he picks up despite her admonishment. Knowing much like Missy, she worried about his well being and the dangers lurking around each corner for the leader of the Heroics. “Neither of you need to worry, it’s a simple mission nothing I haven’t faced before.”

Boy had he been wrong about those last few words, cursing that two syllable word with every fiber in his being while trying to adjust to these strange surroundings. Floating car honking, racing pass Marcus standing stock still in the middles of what didn’t appear be to a street.

“Hey asshole move before you get flown over,” half hanging out the window with a middle finger salute aimed his way.

Itching to use his powers on the punk Marcus shakes his head stepping back and almost tripping over the cement curb.  Mesmerized by the sheer sights surrounding him. Blinking several times thinking he’s seeing things or at the very least Miracle Guy is playing some seriously messed up trick on him.

“Lost?” Soft feminine voice questions from behind him.

Turning slowly, weary of who’s standing at his back, “You could say that.”

“Marcus Moreno?” Gasp issues from her parted lips eyes shocked wide almost like seeing a ghost. “But… but your…”

Frowning unsure of this woman with how she’s acting at seeing him. “I’m what?”

“Dead…” her words echo around him like a thick fog.

Head shaking, reaching into his jeans pocket to pull the cell phone out cursing upon finding it’s out of juice. “The rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.” Trying to make light even as a stone starts to sink in his stomach. “Miracle Guy put you up to this? Has to be some kind of simulation testing me right?”

“No… no it’s,” bitting her lip, she takes a step forward pulling a thin clear plastic looking object from her pocket. “What year is it?”

“Why?” Looking between her face and the light up piece of tech in her hand, Marcus takes a step back. Only to be honked at by another flying car. “Tech guys stepped up their game this time around.”

“Because,” swallowing harshly, “your not in Kansas anymore Toto.” Trying and failing to give a half smile. Only to have it fall with he scowl Marcus sends her. “Answer the question first then I’ll explain.”

Sighing, running a shaky hand through his hair, dread filling his veins, “2021, March if I remember.”

“I”m sorry Dorothy but you’re wrong,” glancing down eyes focused on the thin piece of plastic in her grasp. Pulling up the calendar to show him the date. “It’s March 14, 2041 and you good sir have come back from the dead.”

Gapping like a fish out of water, Marcus can’t seem to string two words together till a bubble of laughter leaves his chest. Morphing into chuckles and finally a great big belly laugh which has him doubling over holding his stomach and slapping his knee. “It’s a joke right? Miracle Guy, Tech-No he’d be able to pull something like this off.”

Glancing up at her, seeing the weariness even a touch of fear painted in those deep eyes. Turning her phone back around to pull up the news report. Male voice echoing around the two of them only slightly drowned out by the busy city still churning.

“The search has been called off for Heroic’s leader Marcus Moreno as it entered the third week with no sign. Our hearts go out to the Moreno family hit by this tragedy. Leaving so many to wonder what exactly happened and how did his last mission go so wrong.”

Shaking his head, eyes blinking several times to clear the imagines of Missy and Anita crying in each others arms. Surrounded by the children of the Heroics and the hero’s themselves, each taking the news differently. Vision filled with Missy’s red rimmed, tear streaked face breaking his heart, legs giving out from under him and crumbing to his knees.

“I don’t… I just left… it’s been two hours,” words stuttering from his mouth trying to grasp exactly what happened.

Debating with herself whether to step forward for comfort or turn to leave. The former winning as she drops beside him, returning the phone to its pocket and carefully gathering this broken semi stranger into her arms. “I’m sorry, this wasn’t the intension we had. There’s,” swallowing hard when she feels him stiffen beside her. “A plan, we had a plan but it’s changed and now you’re stuck.”

Wide with anger and shock, Marcus’s deep chocolate eyes raise to look at her. “You did this?”

Gulping for air and words, “Not me solely no, I apologize truly this wasn’t… I mean,” fidgeting under the intense stare, bottom lip caught by her tongue and drug between pearly whites. “I’m sorry Marcus so sorry,” short sob leaving a dry throat.

“Sorry for what? For taking me away from my life, from my time period or from the little girl who needs her father? Because as I see it right now this is all manner of fucked up and your gonna do something about it. Fix this shit so I can get back to my daughter.” Seething with rage Marcus stands to his full impressive height. Reaching behind to pull both katana’s from there sheathes.

Staying on her knees head bowed, “I can’t that’s the trouble Marcus.” Looking up into his pain streaked furious chocolate eyes, flinching at the sneer that contorts his beloved features. “I’m mysorry darling truly,” words whispered and barely meeting his ears as she vanishes into the thin air.

Speechless, arms hanging at his sides, stuck by the realization of her words, the video, combine with the knowledge he’s lost twenty some years with Missy watching her grow-up. Emotions swirl like a thick fog in his mind consuming thoughts and making reactions none existence to the world around him. A world that’s left him behind, while he’s stuck in the past and facing an uncertain future as a man out of time.

[hopekiedokie]

That’s Rough Buddy (Seokjin)

SUMMARY : You were invited to your friends' annual Halloween Costume Bash™ and were supposed to go on a matching couples costume but your date cancels at the very last minute. Nevertheless, you pushed through with going to the party in your costume not knowing that you would still end up matching with someone. But unfortunately, it was with that very annoying (yet very attractive) guy that you despise so much.

PAIRING : Seokjin x reader

GENRE: humor, fluff, a sprinkle of angst in the end, enemies to lovers or frenemies to lovers (kinda?)

WORD COUNT : 16.6k+ words

WARNINGS: A swear word or two or seven, Jin is a crackhead (shocker), too much halloween games, excessive use of Avatar The Last Airbender quotes and references (aka Jin channeling his inner Azula)

NOTES: I originally was gonna make y/n and Jin dress up as Team Rocket and title this AU "Prepare for Trouble" but I ultimately decided on this. It pained me to do so because I am such a simp for purple haired Jin. Even if there are SO many hidden ATLA references here, I don't think you need to see it to understand this AU. Although, what on earth are you doing with your life if you've never watched the show?? Anyways, I hope you like this even though it's well into November now. Also, this is my very first fic so hopefully you’d enjoy this! Appa yip yip!

The smell of pumpkin seems to be enveloping the entire Park residence. You have barely reached the front porch and the scent has already hit your nostrils. How could a simple scent have possibly diffused into such a huge proximity, you wonder to yourself as you knocked on your best friends' front door. It wasn't until you entered the household when things became clear to you. Dozens upon dozens of pumpkins in different sizes were littered from their front hall to their living room. Some were already carved, some were sitting idly, and some were lined up to be carved by Park Jimin and Park Luna.

You were invited here on this lovely afternoon with the promise of free food. But after being handed a plate of pumpkin muffins and a bunch of carving tools, you felt a strong urge to just go home and maybe sleep through the holiday. Of course the two gremlins sitting on the floor, seemingly a pair on a mission, did not allow that to happen. So here you are on your seventh pumpkin, scooping out its contents, definitely not thinking of a million other things you'd rather be doing now. You were just about to stab your eye out with the sharp stabbing tool due to a possible mental breakdown when you got a text from Kim Taehyung.

Taehyung is Jimin’s best friend whom you might have had a crush on for about a year now since you’ve become friends with him. The two of you are going in matching costumes for the annual Park Halloween Costume Bash™ and have been texting non stop for two weeks now. Everyone in town takes this party seriously, including the adults. Even their parents are in on it though unfortunately this year, they're out of town so they aren't really involved. But the chosen winners for best costume are still to be awarded with a free dinner at the famous Park's family restaurant.

Tae Tae 🌻 : So that's a solid no on shaving my head? Cause I really wouldn't be opposed to it if it means a free heavenly meal from Papa Park 👀👀👀

You quietly chuckle at the thought of a bald Taehyung running around. The commitment of this man amazes you. You were about to type a reply when you felt something aggressively tap against your forehead. You look up to see an annoyed looking Luna.

Feeling something is stuck to your forehead, you slowly brought your hand up to touch it and you instantly felt a bit of pumpkin mush. "Did you just hit me with your filthy ladle?!" You disgustingly shouted at her.

"Dude, now is not the time to be all lovey dovey when the party is in three days and we still have about...uhm..." She looked around, started counting and then went to add stuff with her fingers, "A total of 27 pumpkins to stab and a whole house to decorate!"

You groaned loudly and fell on your back on the floor. You feel a headache start to develop from being surrounded by too much pumpkin flavored and scented things. If your two best friends' goal is to put any pumpkin patch to shame, then they definitely have achieved it. At this point, the stench of halloween in this area is strong enough to linger until the holiday comes back next year.

"Okay, but I don't understand why I'm being subjected into pumpkin slavery as well when this isn't even my party to throw?"

"When you're this behind on everything, all hands on deck are needed. We literally have not started on any of our to do list aside from pumpkin carving." It was Jimin who replied to your question. You watch him puncture a bunch of holes on the purple pumpkin he is working on. If you hear the word "pumpkin" one more time, you just might spontaneously combust or repeatedly bash your head with the wooden ladle in front of you. (A/N: Tbh, same here. It's only been a couple of paragraphs and I've already used the word 12 times.) 

"I thought we'd be on top of this without mom and dad's help!" Luna started as she too began poking holes on her [word redacted]. "We are so behind! I mean, this guy still doesn't have a costume!"

"YAH! Stop exposing me like that! I told you, it's a…a work in progress."

Luna snorted at his step brother's remark. "In order for a work to be in progress, it must first be started-" Jimin cut her off by throwing her some [word redacted] meat. 

It effectively stopped her from further embarrassing Jimin from his lack of costume days from the single most important party of their year. But it did start a revolting [word redacted] meat fight which lasted about a good minute. For the good of everyone, you stomped over to the war zone and pried the two idiots from each other. For a bunch of fools who are supposed to be rushing to get things done, they seem to be just fine with wasting their time. 

"OPPA STOP IT!"

"I wouldn't have declared war on you if you hadn't outed me like that to y/n!"

"Well, it's not my fault you're so unready!"

"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH FROM YOU TWO!" You shouted as you yanked Luna off of him. Why on earth did their parents think it would be alright to leave these two on their own is beyond you. You gave Luna a reprimanding look and said, "Seriously, you'll make no progress if you continue with your antics." 

Her eyes widen, looking like a little child being scolded by her mom. "He started it!"

From behind you, you can hear Jimin snickering. Probably feeling smug from her sister taking all the scolding. Honestly, are they five? You faced him with a much dirtier look than the one you gave Luna and he instantly stood straight, lips pressed into a thin line. 

"And as for you!" You started, "I can't believe you still don't have a costume! This is so disappointing coming from you. How could you have let this happen?"

This may seem over dramatic, but this costume party is really THAT important. It's the highlight of the autumn season. This family really knows how to celebrate it and they do not fail to over shine what they had the year before. So this is really a bunch of steps back for these two.

"I know, I know!" Jimin yelled exasperatedly. "It's not that I haven't been planning. It's just that, how could I possibly top what I dressed up as from last year?"

He does have a point. He and Luna teamed up last year on what might be the most iconic costume ever. They both dressed up as the Wilson sisters from the movie White Chicks. They even had prosthetics on just like how Kevin and Marcus impersonated the twins. You guess you would not know how to beat that costume as well.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you're just uncreative cause I found a costume that will surely be a big hit to the people." Luna taunted her brother.

"What is it?" You and Jimin asked at the same time.

"You'll just have to wait and see!" She answered in a sing-song tone and proceeded to clear up the mess they made.

Jimin began helping her sister pick up [word redacted] mush with a long face. "Well that sucks hard for me. How about you y/n? What are you dressing up?" 

"Oh, she's going as Katara, alongside Taehyung who is dressing up as Aang!" Luna answered for you, uttering the latter part in a way that sounds like she's teasing you.

"Oh, sweet! A date with Tae! I didn't know you two were finally going out?" 

"What? No, don't listen to her. It's not a date! We're just friends." The two stared at you with a "yeah right" kind of look so you were compelled to explain further.

"Look, we were talking about The Last Airbender a few months ago and I mentioned how much I really wanted to cosplay as Katara. One thing led to another then poof! Here we are going as Aang and Katara to your party. It's not a big deal."

Jimin had a knowing sly smirk that made you somewhat uncomfortable. "Yeah, except Aang and Katara were madly in love and ended up making babies AND you obviously have a crush on each other." He said.

You reached for the nearest bowl of discarded [word redacted] meat and flung it towards the boy whose eyes have now disappeared and is in a laughing fit.

"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! Y/n doesn't have a big fat crush on Taehyung." Luna defended you. Thank God for her! Between the two goons, she really is the one you can truly count on. You were about to say thank you when she added, "It's obviously Seokjin she has a huge ass crush on!"

Your mouth fell agape.

"Wait, oh yeah it's him!" Jimin agreed and tag teamed with his sister to tease you. Sometimes, you forget that they were born with different parents. Apart from their DNA, they’re pretty much identical. And it's scary.

"Okay, you know what? I take it back. You both deserve this!" You grabbed the mushy bowl and threw gloop after gloop towards the siblings.

Needless to say, you spent more time cleaning up afterwards than working on the decorations.

The next few days went by like a huge storm. Chaos definitely ensued. You spent more time and effort on making this party possible than you ever did with anything in your life. All you see are purple and orange with a hint of red even when you close your eyes. Halloween seems to haunt you even in your sleep. Just last night, you dreamt you were being wrapped in spider webs (Which let's be honest, is pretty much just cotton) by that huge scarecrow standing in your best friends' lawn.

You were out in town with Jimin doing last minute shopping, telling him that weird and disturbing dream of yours when he suddenly told you he has something to do and pretty much dashed away to the direction of a women's shoe store. What's that all about?

He's been absolutely frazzled since that afternoon you spent terrorising [word redacted]. You can't blame the lad. It's hours away from the party and it seems like he still doesn't have a costume. You and Luna don't know how he's gonna pull this off. If he does though, you'll thoroughly be impressed and would never question Park Jimin's capabilities.

On your way to the nearest bus stop, you received a message from Taehyung. You instantly felt giddy. The fact that you're going to a party with him in matching costumes have only sunk in this morning when you finished with the party preparations. You opened the text and your face instantly fell.

Tae Tae 🌻 : Y/n! I really don't know how to say this. But I don't think I can come to the party tonight. My little sister woke up to a very bad fever this morning and both my parents are working this evening. I'm so so sorry to cancel on you. I know we've been looking forward to this for so long 😔

You know you can't be mad at him. It's not like he planned for this to happen. But you can't help but feel absolutely gutted. He's right, you've been looking forward to this for so long. Since April this year actually. If he's not coming, everything just seems pointless.

You : Aww that's a shame. Don't worry about me though. There's always next year. Worry about your sister! I do hope she'll get better soon. She shouldn't miss out on halloween ☹☹☹

Tae Tae 🌻 : I know. She's not gonna be able to go trick or treating. But I'll make sure we'll watch halloween films! 

Tae Tae 🌻 : Wait what do you mean there's always next year?? 

You : We'll just have to wait for next year to debut our costumes!

Tae Tae 🌻 : WAIT NO. Don't tell me you're not going to the party?? Just because I can't come??

You : Well yeah. It seems pointless to go.

Tae Tae 🌻 : Don't be like that! You're making me feel guilty 😭 Your costume deserves to be flaunted. Go or else I'll never talk to you again 🤧

Despite his order for you to come to the party, all desires to go left you the moment you read his initial text. The entire point of coming is to go as a pair. You both have been working hard to make your costumes as accurate as possible. To come alone doesn't make sense.

You were too engrossed with your phone that you did not realize you were going to crash into a person when you took a turn at the corner of the street. "Oww." You clutched the top of your head, as if you hit a hard wall instead.

"I'm so sorry-" the guy began to apologise but stopped short after he saw you. "Ah y/n! Watch where you're going! Don’t just mindlessly walk around!” he said, rubbing his chest where your head presumably collided with.

“Oh! I bet you're going as Wonder Woman tonight. Get it? Cause you wander too much around!" 

The hollering buffoon in front of you, laughed at his own joke so hard that people around you started looking at the both of you. Wanting to get out of this embarrassing situation, you circled around him and proceeded to walk towards the bus stop. But he unfortunately followed right after you.

"Hang on." He jogged in front of you and held both of your arms. He looked you in the eyes with such seriousness that you think he has something very important to say. But alas, you should’ve known that nothing intelligible ever comes out of his mouth. 

He opened his mouth and said, "Are you actually going as Wonder Woman?"

You made an annoyed sound and slapped his arms away as he said things like "I knew it!" and "I am such a genius!".

"No Seokjin! I'm not going as Wonder Woman.” you said as you reached the bus stop.

“Well that’s a relief! Honestly that’s super low and pedestrian even for you.” He jabbed at you but you stayed silent, not wanting to banter with him, unlike the usual. He carried on blabbering for the remaining time, telling you how “Spicy and scorching” his costume is. Whatever that means. At this point, you have half the mind to believe that he’s dressing up as a jalapeño. Knowing Seokjin, you wouldn’t put it past him to do so.

“You know what, actually, I'm not going at all." you butt in as an attempt to shut him up. His head whipped towards you at such a lightning fast pace, you were sure it would have snapped off. Oh how you wish.

"You're not going?" He said in what sounded like a very disappointed tone. Huh, why would he be disappointed, you thought to yourself.

You shake your head no.

For once, Seokjin seemed rather speechless and something else. Dare you say sad. This is really weird for him but you chose not to analyse him further and stood at the bus stop. You both just stood there in silence for a couple of seconds until a bus came parking.

You were already inside, swiping your bus card, when you heard him say, "Well that's rather disappointing. Who would go and scare the little kids away now?" 

The bus doors closed just as his infamous laugh came rolling. You weren't able to hear it but the sound of his signature windshield wiper laugh still rang in your ears. You flipped him off and hastily took a seat after an old man looked at you with such distaste. You took one last look at Seokjin giving him the finger once more but much discreetly as the bus abandoned his still laughing form.

When 8:30pm arrived, you were sprawled on your bed watching this god awful halloween film starring Adam Sandler. You, honest to god, love Adam Sandler. But this film isn’t it. You stopped paying attention half way through the movie and started scrolling through your phone when your mom unceremoniously barged in your room.

“Mom, for the last time! I’m not coming to the party!” You told her for like the thirteenth time since you got home this afternoon. It most probably wasn’t the thirteenth time and was probably just the third time. But you’re really not in the best mood.

“Are you extremely, positively, a hundred percent sure about that, honey?” 

You rolled your eyes at that. Your mom is never the one to keep repeating stuff as she is also easily annoyed just like her daughter. “Yes, mom. I am firmly, undoubtedly, and conclusively stating that I am staying in this room for the rest of the night.” You proclaimed, not even sure you can string up further words to describe how sure you are with your decision.

Your mom sighed as you closed the movie, not interested in it anymore. You look up at her with a raised eyebrow, silently asking why she’s still in the room. She fully opened the door and said, “Well, if that’s the case, then you need to tell that to Freddie Mercury downstairs.”

Not really understanding what she meant, you just stared at her dumbfoundedly until your brain finally started to function properly. “Uh, excuse me. But come again?”

She sighed once more, probably already tired from the night and the high jinks that came along with it. She never really liked halloween.

“Just come downstairs. Now.”

You hurriedly got up from your bed and sprinted out of your room. You haven’t even stepped foot at the top of the stairs when you indeed caught sight of the one and the only Freddie Mercury at your front door, rocking his iconic Live Aid outfit, topped with a lavish red robe, and a completely blinged out crown. Of course, we can’t forget the aviators and his emblematic moustache.

“Ay oh!” Freddie yelled at the top of her-I mean his lungs. It was so loud that your cat ran out of your house. Meanwhile, you shamelessly gawked at the person in front of you as you descended downstairs. You were absolutely confident that your best friend wouldn’t be able to top her costume from last year. Oh you were wrong.

“Darling, I know I’m fabulous but don’t ogle at me like that. Now do tell me, what’s this news I’ve heard from the grapevine that you’re not coming to the party??” She asked annoyedly in a pretty decent posh London accent. You on the other hand, ignored her.

“Woah that looks utterly real.” You touched her moustache and she slapped your hand away. 

“Oi! Focus, lass! How could you possibly spend the last three painful days with us on what seemed like the halloween edition of Amazing Race, only to bail on us at the finale?!" Her accent slowly slipped away as her voice progressively got much louder. Once again though, you chose to ignore her.

"Your crown is so beautiful! Is this custom made? Oooh can I touch it?" You asked while reaching for it, not even waiting for her approval.

"Y/n stop it! I asked you a question. Answer it! Why all of a sudden, you decide to not go--"

"Dude, you really hit the nail on this one! Although I have to say, I don't think Freddie had protruding boobs."

Luna dramatically gasped at your statement and covered her chest using her robe. "I do not have protruding boobs! You make it sound like they're massive!"

"Well, compared to Freddie Mercury's, I guess they kinda are."

She hit you for the second time since she got here. "This is as much squeezing I can handle to flatten them out. Nevertheless, I believe I have normal sized breasts! Besides, I'm sure Freddie would've loved to have protruding boobs anyway."

A couple of seconds passed with you two just staring at each other, feeling the weight of your conversation. Realising how stupid your topic is, the both of you burst into laughter.

"What on earth are we talking about? I can't. This is too stupid. What the heck are you even doing here?" You managed to spit out in between laughs 

Luna stopped laughing and gasped once more. She hit you for the third time now and ignored your protests of pain. "You little shit! What are you still doing here in your pyjamas! The party started 30 minutes ago! Come on, let's get you dressed up!"

She yanked your arm towards the direction of your room but you stayed planted to where you stand. "I can't. I told you, I'm not going."

She dropped your arm and took off her aviators. She had a really disappointed look which must be mirroring your own expression. "You can't be serious. We've been working hard for this. We've been excited for it since the first day of autumn!"

You didn't reply to her, you just looked at the ground. "But what about Taehyung?"

"Taehyung isn't coming."

Confusion spread across her face so you told her about his dilemma with his sister.

“Well that’s just bullshit.” She concluded with such spite. Your eyes widen at her aggression towards Taehyung. You can’t believe she would be this hostile about him choosing to care for his sick little sister. What else was he supposed to do? Abandon her for you?

“What the hell, Luna! HIS SISTER IS SICK! How could you be so bitter to him?”

“Woah! Woah! Woah!” She waved both hands up in a defensive manner, “I’m not mad at him! I’m mad at you!” 

You rubbed your face with both of your hands. You guess it makes sense for her to be mad at you but now is really not the time for you to agree with her. You're not in the best mood to carry out an argument. You just want to crawl back to your room. That dreadful Adam Sandler movie suddenly sounds so temptingly riveting. Having said that, you still made it clear to her as to why you would prefer staying in tonight. 

Luna, being the stoic person that she is, completely disagreed with your reasoning. "Oh quit being dramatic! He already gave you the heads up to go tonight. What more do you need?"

"I don't know, Luna. I just feel like I'm betraying him if I go."

She glared at you for a good second as if trying to telepathically make you change your mind. When it dawned on her that you're not conceding, she sighed the longest sigh you've ever heard from anyone, dramatically placed her aviators back, turned around while flicking her robes on your face, and then strutted away from you. 

"Fine then! If you'd rather sulk here over a boy rather than spending an astounding good time with your friends, then be my guest! I guess all that hard work you've put in will be for nothing. But that's fine! There's always next year anyway, right?"

You watch her shimmy her tush towards the front door as she spews out reprimands after reprimands. And she says you're dramatic. Birds of the feather, really do flock together.

Her hand is on the doorknob when she gave you what meant to be her last look on you. It seemed more of a plea to you though. At that moment, you felt a pang of guilt. Are you really going to abandon your best friends for Kim Taehyung? 

You gave her a small smile and said, "I'm sure you'll have a fucking marvelous party!"

Finally, she gave out a groan of defeat and opened your front door. "Oh whatever y/n! I should've left the second your mom told me you're not coming. Jimin needs my help, anyways"

Jimin. Somehow, you remembered that that boy didn't have a costume even until this morning. You wonder what on earth did he pull at the very last minute. So you called out to Luna.

"Luna, wait a second!"

"WHAT NOW?!" She yelled exasperatedly 

"I just want to know what Jimin dressed up as."

She let go of your front door knob and crossed her arms. "Why'd you wanna know? It's not like you care about this party."

"Oh give me a break! Just tell me what it is!"

The smirk she has on her face tells you that she's not giving you what you want. Which you are absolutely correct.

"I'm not telling you what he dressed up as. If you want to know, then you find it out yourself. All I'm saying is that his costume is literally everything."

Some way or another, that statement of hers stirred something inside of you. Somewhere, a few blocks down, is a Park Jimin dressed up as something "literally everything" (Park Luna, 2020). If there's something you know about Jimin is that his definition of marvelous is a normal person's definition but times ten. She could be bluffing, but your curiosity is really peaked. 

Damnit, you need to know what he dressed up. Right now.

You stood at the doorway of the Park residence living room with your mouth on the floor. 

In the middle of their room is where a really cool light up dance floor is. You already know that since you were there when it was set up yesterday. What caught your attention was the guy dancing wildly right smack in the middle of everyone. A wild Jimin was twerking, doing high kicks, and *gasp*! Did he just do a split???

Beside you, stands a preoccupied Luna, too busy taking a video of his untamed brother. “What did I tell you? Fucking everything!” She hollered and yelled at him to do some more of his high kicks.

You looked at your thick blue Southern Water Tribe coat lined with fur and then at Jimin, wearing his Patrick Star hooker costume. Suddenly, you feel overdressed. He was only wearing a tight pink sweatshirt, Patrick’s famous green shorts, fishnet stockings, and some sexy thigh high leather boots. Yet he is indeed stealing everyone’s attention. How could he possibly bust out those kinds of moves in those thin stilettos? A normal woman can even barely stand in them. Hold on, so that’s why he bolted to that women’s shoe shop this morning, you thought to yourself. It all makes sense now. 

Luna was left enabling his brother's thotty attitude as you walked to the kitchen. Luna was right, staying at home was a dumb idea. You can't help but admire all the halloween decorations the three of you have placed everywhere. Now you understand the vibes the two siblings were going when they said they wanted the house to be illuminated by jack o lanterns only. It looks really pretty here. Let's just hope and pray that this house won't burn down at the end of the night because this is definitely a fire hazard.

A guy approached you as you were standing by the snack bar. You don't really know who he is but he's dressed up as Dumbledore so you felt obligated to talk to him. "Your Katara costume is so cool! I'm a huge fan of the series! (A/N: Honestly who isn't?) Is it okay if I take a pic with you?" He asked and instantly whipped his phone out. 

Who were you to say no? So you awkwardly stood close to him and smiled for the camera. Is this what fame feels like?

"Gee thanks! I'll have to take another picture with you later but with your date too." 

Your face fell for a fraction of a second for being reminded by Taehyung. How does this guy know that Taehyung and you were supposed to go in matching costumes?

"Oh, I'm sorry! Taehyung won't make it tonight which is a huge shame." 

He looked at you weirdly. "Who's Taehyung?"

"Uh my date..?" you stated but ended up sounding more like asking a question.

"Oh, your date!" Realisation hit him and you slowly nodded. "But he did come!"

"WHAT?" 

"Yeah. I saw him arrive earlier. I must say, he looks sick!"

Taehyung came? But what about his sister? Did she magically get better? Why didn't he text you or something? You are so confused.

"Have you seen him anywhere?" You asked rather hopefully.

"Yeah! He's out back giving palm readings in his fortune telling booth."

Well now you're even more confused. That booth was meant to be a prop display only. What the hell is Taehyung doing, playing fortune teller with it? 

You thanked the guy and zoomed out to the backyard as fast as you could. There were no signs of Taehyung anywhere. You roamed around for a couple of minutes, trying to maneuver around the massive crowds towering over your pretty small form, until you heard a loud guy complaining about some drink.

"I'm telling you man! We need cactus juice up in here!" Oh, that annoying voice, you're sure you'd recognise that anywhere. It's only a matter of time until you run into him.

"It'll Quench Ya!" Hold up, that’s a Sokka line! Why would he be quoting from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”?? 

"Nothing's Quenchier, It's The Quenchiest!" You hear him say before he bust out his windshield wiper laugh. His voice seems to be coming from that large group of people by the fortune telling prop. You approached the group not for Seokjin, but to see if Taehyung was around. The two of them are in the same friend group.

It was difficult to scout around the group since everyone is a lot taller than you. You jumped around until you caught a glimpse of the hollering man in the middle, wearing something red and what appears to be a large scar on his face. Why does that scar look familiar? Realisation hit you like a ton of bricks. It seemed like time stopped for all the wrong reasons when you took in the entirety of Seokjin's costume. 

"Hey, look! It's Seokjin's date!", someone said and every single head there was in that group turned towards you at the same time. Even Seokjin, himself. It's so comical and stupid that you'd think you're in some sort of sitcom.

You looked like a deer caught in headlights, just stood frozen in front of the crowd. To be fair, how were you supposed to react anyway?

“Damn, she looks really pretty!

“Those are some fine hair loopies!”

“I don’t understand why they would go as Zuko and Katara. It doesn’t make sense.”

“ZUTARA MOTHAFUCKAS!!!”

One, you agree that you look banging tonight. Two, You also agree that if the two of you were indeed on a date, it wouldn’t make sense to go as Zuko and Katara when they weren’t even a thing. But three, yes, Zutara all the way and you would go down with that ship faster than you can say Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis The Third.

Although the crowd had valid points, you would still think that Seokjin would contradict some of them. You know, like the accusation of the two of you being on a date? So it was a shock when he approached you with open arms and a huge smile while saying, “AH! There’s my sugar queen! Flameo, hotman! I was beginning to think you’ve bailed on me.”

You stepped back even before he got the chance to hug you. 

“Uh what the heck is this all about?” You were pointing out the ridiculousness of him acting like the two of you twinning was planned but he thought you were talking about his fortune telling booth.

“Oh you know me! As a theatre arts major, I can’t help it when situations arise that forces me to slip into a different character.”

You looked at him unamused. “That’s literally a mental disorder you just described and literally, NO ONE forced you to do this. That prop was happily chilling in the background and you just have to go and torment it.”

He shushed you with a finger to your lips and it took all the will in you to not bite it off. “You’re just saying that cause you haven’t tried getting my expert opinion.”

“Expert opinion- You know what? Whatever! I don't have the patience to do this right now. I'm out here looking for my date so this night could get better. So why don't you just tell everybody here that we are not- hmmp!" Seokjin's rather large hands covered your entire face to shut you up or maybe slap you. Honestly you weren't sure. He was intending to cover your mouth but in his haste, he managed to smack you instead.

"Hey, guess what? I think you're the only person here I haven't told their fortune yet! That's just a shame, that won't do. No, no, no. What's that? You wanna go now? What a brilliant idea! Let's go, sugar queen!", he said all that in one breathing then pushed you towards "his" fortune telling booth that YOU had set up before the sun even rose this morning.

It was a very small purple tent (Actually, it was just a massive piece of cloth hanging from a tree trunk) with a little table set up and a crystal ball in the centre. He yanked the front part close for some privacy and you think you've never been more repelled in your entire life. To be stuck in such a small confinement with Seokjin and his ten foot wide shoulders is something that should be illegal.

He pushed you aside so he could sit at "his" table with you nearly falling through the cloth at the process. Once he's settled, he looks at you expectantly with a huge grin as if you actually wanted to get your fortune read by him. As if you volunteered yourself to be in this position.

His brain really is something and whatever that something is, you don't even want to try and decipher it.

Against your better judgement, you dragged yourself to sit in front of him. You're already here, might as well just try and enjoy the ride. Right? 

Your butt had barely touched your seat and Seokjin was already declaring some insights about your future.

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted.", he said in all seriousness.

And of course, this is just some mischievous way to rile you up. What else did you expect from this guy? Or better yet, why do you even bother with him? 

"You're not even gonna read my palms or bust out some tarot cards? Maybe do a little gazing into the crystal ball?"

"I didn't need to. It's written all over your face."

It took you a second to realise that he just directly quoted from Avatar again. You are quite annoyed at his childishness and slightly amused at his apparently extensive knowledge for Avatar references.

"I'm gonna give you the count of three to get the hell out of my face. If you're still here, I'll make sure your destiny ends right here." You replied, also quoting from the series.

He chuckled at your threat, finding it real cute just how easy it is for him to irritate you. "Okay, calm down. No need to get murderous."

"One."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're bound for failure!"

"Two!"

"Wait, are you actually being serious now?"

"THREE!", you yelled and lunged at the scarred boy.

He made a high pitched scream as you went and grabbed one of his shoulders. Your tiny chair went tumbling down and the crystal ball rolled off to the ground in your vicious movements. 

"Please, not the face! Anything but the face! It's too VIP!"

"Oh, I'll make sure that stupid scar becomes a permanent part of your face!"

One of his hands were on your arm while the other was held tightly around your hand that was trying to claw his "VIP" face. For a small person, you seem to be putting up a big fight against him.

The scene that was unfolding inside that small tent is a sight to behold. If anyone ever walked in right now, they definitely would think that a more salacious thing is going to go down. All of the ruckus the two of you are making can probably be heard from the outside. But the both of you are too out of it to even consider the embarrassment you might get if someone barges in. Which is why you didn’t notice Jimin’s head poke inside the tent.

"Wow you guys. If y'all wanted a room, you could've just asked. As a very supportive friend, I would gladly give you one." The voice of Jimin rang from behind you and you instantly let go of each other, feeling a bit flustered.

"It's not what it looks like!", you tried reasoning with the boy. "He's being his usual little shit self and I'm just trying to purge it out of his system!"

Jimin, equally being a little shit like his older friend, brushed your reasoning aside. "Y/n, y/n, y/n. Out of all the people here, you're really the one to mess this perfectly set up prop? Didn't us setting this up at midnight meant anything to you? Couldn't you have just let Seokjin hyung here to peacefully give you his readings?"

You rolled your eyes at him. “Can you just shut up? Also, you knew this shithead was using our prop and you just let him be?”

“Of course he did! He’s taking 25% of my total earnings tonight.” Seokjin muttered. 

“Total earnings- You’re making people pay for your made up bullshit?!” You hollered at the wide shouldered guy. Why are you even surprised about this? It’s Seokjin we are talking about. He could probably convince people to pay him just by walking past him.

“Oh you bet! But don’t fret, I’m not gonna charge you. With that kind of fate that you have, I’m sure you need every bit of kindness.”

Steam could might as well visibly come out of your ears right now with how enraged you are at him. You wanted to strangle him, bloodbend even. You didn’t have the chance to do anything though because Jimin was pulling you away. “Would you two stop with the lover’s quarrel for like a goddamned minute?”

He shoved you outside then did the same to Seokjin. “Everyone’s already inside about to play games and you two are still out here, too busy being all over each other!”

Jimin didn’t even need to say anything else or to further force you two. Just the word “games” made you both run inside at record speed. If people got real competitive with the costume contest, the halloween games are a whole other thing. Usually, after an hour or so since the party has started, the Parks hold a series of halloween themed games. The winners get various coupons. They aren’t as good as a free four course meal but that’s better than nothing especially if we're talking about the Park’s restaurant.

Sometimes, these games are done in groups but usually it’s in pairs. You weren't surprised that this year, all games are going to be done in pairs but unlike recent years, the games are going to be done in a "last man standing" manner. You knew all of this since you helped pick these games. You'd be more hyped up about them if it weren't for the fact that you don't have a pair to play with.

All these talk about games reminded you of Taehyung. You completely forgot you were supposed to look for him. But it became clear to you that he didn't really come when almost everyone who you came across with to your walk back inside pretty much assumed that Seokjin was your date. They all made some comment regarding your matching outfits which Seokjin didn't even try to deny. He was just gobbling up their compliments.

You listened to Freddie Mercury and Patrick Star explain the mechanics of this year's "Halloween Olympics". Now, what you didn't know was that they also changed the prize system. Apparently, they upped the prize since it's going to be a bit more difficult to win and there's only going to be one winning pair. This year, the winning pair is also going to win a free dinner. That got people buzzing.

With that, Luna explained that only the first 20 pairs to find a small, red, and hidden [word redacted] could compete in the games. Chaos ensued as you watch everyone scour around the house. All at once, you felt like you don't want to be competing against anyone in this room. Everyone seemed too terrifying as they went berserk. But alas, tonight doesn't seem like your night.

One by one, pairs came towards the siblings with their [word redacted] until only one was left hidden. Some guy, for some stupid reason, made the wrong decision to point and scream out the location of the last one. Obviously, everyone else made a beeline towards it. 

Everything went in a complete blur for you. All you remember was seeing a tall guy in red jump for it. Then you were yanked by the said guy. Next thing you know, you were competing in the first game. Well, “competing” is a strong word. Seeing as you were dragged here unexpectedly without your consent and were in a total daze, your partner took full control of the reins. Now that you're coming back to your senses, you think this is for the best if you want to win. For once in his life, he can finally put his frat boy skills to good use. 

The first game was announced to be a game of eyeball beer pong. It seems like the siblings are trying to get people drunk this early. You guess it’s a good strategy to easily kick people out of the games. But you and your partner ain’t going to be one of them. You watch your partner make perfect shots after shots, hitting every cup of the opposing pair. It wasn’t long before you both had won and eliminated the other pair.

“I can’t believe we lost! I really thought we had it in the bag.” One of the other guys had the audacity to say in front of Kim Seokjin, a true blue frat boy.

“Oh don’t flatter yourself! You were never even a player.” Seokjin muttered to the guy and held his hand up to you as if you were actually going to give him a high five. Instead, you gave him a long hard stare as cold as any of the water tribes. Any sane person would be decent enough to feel remorseful. He didn’t. Instead, he grabbed one of your wrists and gave himself a high five. 

You smacked him upside his head. “You insolent fool!” You hollered like a villain in a Disney movie.

“Yah! What was that for?” his feigned innocence made you want to tear out not only his hair but also your own.

“You think I want to compete with you?” 

He crossed his arms and slowly shook his head at you. Almost as if he is disappointed in you. “Tsk tsk tsk. I carried the whole bench and this is what I get from you? Just say ‘thank you’ and go.” 

You scoffed. “For your information, I didn’t ask to be paired with you. You just yanked me from nowhere!”

“Well then, you're welcome, sugar queen!”

“YOU’RE WELCOME?? I don’t want to be paired with you!” 

Your seething rage seems to somewhat alarm him. “Okay, okay, calm down!” You opened your mouth to interrupt him but he didn’t let you. “I admit that I did just yanked you and didn’t ask for your permission. Sure, that wasn’t really cool. BUT! In my defense, I was so deep in my competitive zone that I didn’t take the time to notice who I was pulling.” 

He looked at you to see if you had anything to say but the annoyance remained etched on your face so he continued reasoning with you. “Listen, we both just want the same thing and that is to win. That ain't happening to you seeing as you're all alone. So really, I kinda did you a favor here. Come on, it'll be fun!"

You hate to admit it, but he does have a point. Maybe it's not that bad of an idea to pair up tonight. You both are pretty competitive. Besides, you do need a little cheering up err- a distraction, I mean.

"I guess we could try and not tear each other apart even just for tonight. This is for a good cause. We do both really want that free meal. Fine, I'll call truce for now." You finally conceded and held your hand out to him. He took it and you shook hands.

"I'm glad you're seeing it my way. Because to be honest, you're not winning a free meal with that costume." He confidently said with a shit eating grin.

You squeezed his hand a little too tightly and ignored his yelps of pain. "And neither will you because guess what?! Your scar is on the wrong side!"

"Ah! I knew someone's gonna tell me that sometime tonight. I can't even be mad at that reference."

"No Seokjin. Your scar really is on the wrong side."

"Yeah, and tea is just hot leaf juice."

"Uh, it really is though. But I repeat, your scar’s on the wrong side, buddy!"

“No it’s not.”

“Believe it or not, it is!”

"Are you actually being serious?"

You let out a really long sigh of disbelief to what you'll have to put up with. This is for sure going to be a long night.

To your surprise, the night did not go on as a drag. The next game did start off rocky with you not being able to guess any of the given Halloween charades. Either you are not as cultured as you think you are or you just don't get the mind of a theatre major. Or maybe, it's just his mind you don't understand, to be honest.

"How on earth was that Silence of the Lambs?!"

"What do you mean 'how on earth was that Silence of the Lambs'? What else does this even mean?" He replied while acting like his arms are pinned to his sides then proceeded to cover his mouth and then did a fluttering motion with one of his hands that seemed to be coming out of his lips.

"That could literally mean anything! For all I know, that could mean The Mummy!"

He scoffed at you as if you just told him the most offensive thing in the world. "The Mummy?? Oh, you are absolutely hopeless. We are so doomed if we keep letting you guess."

"No, we are SO doomed if we let you act out the things! You dare call yourself a theatre major?" To any other person, you would think that your comment is in fact just downright offensive. But that's not the case with you two because it seems like you could push all the wrong buttons of the other person and somehow still not end up really hurting anyone. You wouldn’t admit it, but maybe both of you find this weird comfort in these silly banters and in the midst of it all, you've unknowingly built some form of bond.

You collectively agree to switch roles and just like that, the tides shifted. The two of you were suddenly getting the correct guesses each round. At the very last round, you drew the movie Caroline from the witch hat. If it were you and Luna playing, you guys would have guessed this in a heartbeat since it's your favorite movie. But you're with Seokjin and you are extremely positive that he has never even seen the movie.

When the one minute and thirty second counter started to tick down, you immediately made a circle around one of your eyes and made a sewing motion to it. You thought it couldn't be anymore obvious than that but he just stared at you. By the time forty seconds have passed, your hope for him trickled down. You could hear the opposing pair celebrating prematurely on the side which ticked you off so much.

Your sewing motions got a lot more aggressive as you gave Seokjin the most desperate look you could ever give him. He in turn, gave you a very rare apologetic look. Yup, you guys were doomed from the beginning. All you can think of is how much this night really sucks for you. You probably should have stayed at home.

Once everyone started counting down from fifteen, you bid goodbye to the grand prize. The idea of it was just too good to be true. You stopped with your motions and gave Seokjin a small nod of defeat. He acknowledged this by giving you a slow nod as well and this seemed like the end for your pair. His gaze on you, however, flitted towards something or someone from behind you. His eyes stayed there for a good five seconds, appearing to be in deep concentration. You didn't even have the chance to look back since right before the audience counted to one, Seokjin was screaming the correct answer.

"CORALINE! It's Coraline! Of course, how could I not know?" He announces while flapping his arms wildy just a second before the timer rings. Everyone cheered at this sudden victory. The turn of events left you stunned. You thought for sure he wouldn't get it. He just keeps surprising you.

Seokjin approached you with a huge smile on his face and you can't help but return it to him. Not only that, you gave him a big hug which caught him off guard. You didn't know what came over you to do that but it felt like the right thing to do. He didn't seem to show any signs of protest as well.

"What the fuck? I really thought that was the end of the line for us!" You told him after sharing a brief hug.

"You really need to put a little trust on me. What can I say? I'm a genius." Just like that, you went back to wanting to punch his face again.

Rolling your eyes, you murmured, "Did the definition of genius change in the last 100 years?"

While you turned your attention to Jimin who was already announcing the next game, Seokjin glanced towards Luna and gave her a smile. Unbeknownst to you, this so-called "genius" partner of yours actually had help. He, did in fact, was never going to get the correct guess. He has never seen Coraline nor does he know anything about it. But your best friend, Luna, decided that she wanted to keep you two in the games so she tried so hard to discreetly mouth "Coraline" to Seokjin a couple of times.

You didn't need to know that though.

He didn't mind receiving a few assistance to win, but it does hurt his pride and it will hurt more if you find out. Fortunately for Seokjin, he didn't need any further helping hands. Even from you. 

Either the games are too easy or you're just completely and utterly incapable because Seokjin pretty much breezed through them without even batting an eye. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he's trying to impress someone. You, maybe? Wait, no. That doesn't make any sense. Why would he do that? Besides, he made sure to gloat on you everytime your pair wins with you contributing nothing.

A couple of games and one harrowing round of What's Inside the Box later, just six pairs remained. It wasn't exactly all fun and games since along the way, your pair or rather, Seokjin made a rivalry against another pair. This couple dressed up as Team Rocket really got on his nerves. You can't blame him though. They kept on flirting with each other after every round and not to mention, they also kept taunting you two. You'll bloodbend them if you hear "Prepare for trouble and make it double" one more time before a game starts. To be fair, they do play very well. Actually, they seem to be the only other pair that puts up a good fight.

By this time, everyone has migrated outside for the last few games. For this one, as you already knew, you'll be playing blindfolded bean bag toss. One person would have to guide the other as they go through three different levels. The pairs that don't make it through would obviously get eliminated.

"Oh, we are so gonna dominate on this one!" You hear the girl dressed up as Jessie says.

"For sure. Why don't they all just pretend to be a tree and leave?" The guy dressed up as James condescendingly said and they both laughed out loud at his joke.

You visibly cringed at that. Can they get anymore intolerable? That's saying a lot coming from someone who knows Seokjin, arguably the most abhorrent creature in your life. Jeez, and you thought his jokes were the worst.

Seokjin made a gagging noise beside you, voicing out your sentiments. You can't help but laugh out loud with him until Patrick and Freddie approached you two.

"Okay, who's going to lead and who's the blindfold wearer between you two?" Patrick said and snickered a little after realising the other implications of his question. This little shit.

"Well, seeing as her skills are lacking, I'm gonna once again step up to the plate and handle this one." Seokjin reached for the blindfold but you snatched it from Luna's hand before he could.

You can't just let this night go down like this. Honestly, you're kind of having fun watching all the chaos ensue from the sidelines. But you're a woman of honour. You can't possibly go for a win while doing the bare minimum. You dare dress up as Katara and let some man take over?

"I'll be playing this one." You calmly but confidently declared.

"Sugar queen, I love the assertiveness. But I think you should-"

"I'm playing this one." You interrupted him with such firmness in your tone, they couldn't do anything but just nod to you.

Hell no are you gonna let Seokjin annihilate this night all by himself. You need to prove that you can match up to him. You'll show his stupidly pretty face and wrongly placed scar not to mess with your capabilities.

You took a long hard look at the three targets. Each one going higher and farther than the one before. You are to be given a practice round each level to get your bearings. Yada yada yada. You tuned the siblings out, of course you already knew all this. As the person who placed the goals, you'd think you have the upper hand. You were overly confident, bordering the line of cockiness, that you could do this. You even had the audacity to sneer at Team Rocket when they uttered their catchphrase to you.

You watched each pair try and make their shot. Surprisingly, everyone made it. That only added fuel to your fire. You were excited. You couldn't wait to finally do something. On top of that, Seokjin kept muttering things to you that if they can do it then so can you. 

When it's your time to play, you are extremely buzzing. Going last is always an overwhelming feeling. All that built up confidence died down though the second you put on your blindfold. The darkness that enveloped you instantly made you feel unbalanced and disoriented. Confusingly, it's as if all your other senses heightened but it also felt like they all shut down at the same time. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." You chant in your mind as you feel your awareness of your surroundings slip from you.

This is not good. Why did you subject yourself into doing this, again? You should've let Seokjin play when he had the chance. You clearly cannot do this.

In the midst of your swelling panic, you feel hands place on both of your shoulders. You jumped at the unexpected contact but it was just Seokjin. "You can do this, Okay? Just focus on me." He whispered in your ear with such comfort and softness that you had to shiver a little.

He rubbed small circles on your back with his thumbs, soothing you for a second until Luna gave you the go signal.

You slowly walk as straight as you possibly can even if you feel like toppling over the entire time. Please don't. The entire time, Seokjin was behind you. You halted when he told you and to the best of your abilities, you "delicately", as he instructed you to, tossed the bag to the left.

"Okay, that was shit." He truthfully told you in a nice tone as you hear the people around begin tittering at what you assumed to be such a horrible shot. You think you just heard Team Rocket announcing their victory. Shit, shit, shit, shit. You are royally fucked.

"Seokjin..." You can't help but whine, your anxiety creeping up ten fold.

"Hey, hey, hey. That's fine! What are practice rounds for?" He tried easing you.

"But everyone-'

"Forget about everyone. It's just you and me right now. Calm down and focus." The gentleness of his words and the lulling of his voice somehow allowed your breakdown to dissipate a little. If you're in a better state, you'd be surprised at how he is behaving towards you. You'd probably dismiss it and reason that he just badly wants to win. That's the only fitting explanation.

Sensing that you've calmed down a little bit, he let out a breath that he unconsciously has been holding. Your sudden mood shift made him really nervous. "Okay, sugar queen. I know you're a waterbender but mind channeling a little bit of your inner Toph for now? Just try and maybe get in tune with the surroundings? Come on, you set this thing up. Can’t you, like, use that to your advantage somehow?”

Easier said than done. But the way he’s practically cooing at you as he talks makes you want to subconsciously do anything for him right now. He could ask you to go find him a dragon egg and you’d most probably follow his orders blindly. Which is a concerning thought that you’d mull over later. For now, you focus only on his voice and try your best to toss the bean bag inside the goal.

You took a deep breath and said you're ready to attempt your shot. Seokjin instructed you to make your throw a bit more vigorous. By how much? You have no idea. Hell, you don’t even remember how hard you threw your last shot. This is literally all up to chance, if we’re being real. So you prayed to every spirit out there to put all odds in your favour. 

Around you, some people began cheering. Some people were kind of waiting for you to completely miss again to get some good laughs out of it. Other pairs were taunting you, making a distraction. But you tried your hardest to tune them all out. Right now, all you can focus on is your aim and the nice words Seokjin is throwing at you. With shaking hands, you make a swing with what you hope is enough force to get to the next level.

You weren’t aware of it but to everyone else, it’s as if time went in slow motion. People’s heads comedically followed the direction of your bean bag. Your two best friends were both wide eyed, Jimin had both of his palms on the top of his head and Luna had her mouth wide opened. Seokjin stood nervously behind you with his hands intertwined in front of his lips as if reciting a prayer. Your bean bag’s hang time felt like an eternity but it was more than enough to realise that you still weren’t going to be able to make it. Seokjin almost cried on the spot at that realisation until your bean bag hit the rim of the basket. That split second of it hitting the rim made all the difference in the world. Everyone literally went silent as the bean bag bounced off the rim and went straight inside the basket.

With your vision completely obscured, you were clueless to all the spectacle that’s happening. In contrast to everyone, everything went in fast forward to you. Right after you made your shot, you instantly heard people yelling your name and a pair of arms encaged you from the back. Seokjin lifted you up and started spinning you around, obviously a sign that you made it. 

With everyone’s reaction, you would think you made a championship winning shot. You don’t really understand the hype but you were just glad that you did it and it did wonders to your confidence.

“I told you that you were doing great! You just need to follow my voice.” Seokjin told you as he set you down and you took your blindfold off. Everyone still kept cheering wildly as Luna declared the start of the second round.

“Well, it is hard to ignore.” You joked at him but for some reason it made him blush. If his long hair weren’t hiding his ears, you would also see how harshly they’re flushing. He didn’t have a witty comeback and just avoided your gaze. He is flustered. How cute. You openly thought to yourself without even feeling an ounce of shame. It seems that the tides are indeed shifting and you’re not even fighting against the current.

The game continued with less dramatics, oddly enough. Even more odd is that you easily made it through the entire game. In the end, you weren’t even sure why you panicked in the first place. Two pairs got eliminated so you are now down to four. That’s fortunate for you. What’s unfortunate is that Team Rocket still hasn’t blasted off.

The next game was a round of Paper Dance. You were relieved that you both had to actively participate on this one and not have one of you slacking off to the side. You weren’t quite relieved when you remembered the mechanics of the game. Basically. You are given a sheet of newspaper and are forced to dance around it. When the music stops, both persons need to step inside the paper and stay there. Every round, the paper gets folded in half so the pair gets pretty close and intimate with each other. 

The thought made you nervous and you slightly broke into a sweat. You were feeling rather uncomfortable with your heavy layers so you opt to take off your outer coat. Some tall and lanky guy dressed up as a sunflower, which you believe is also one of Jimin's close friends, started hollering, “Take it off now girl, just take it off!” 

As objectifying his words are, you choose to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. A soft delicate flower uttering such promiscuous things. You thought maybe humour could divert your fluttering heart long enough for one pair to get eliminated so you could all move on to the next game. It didn’t, of course, what were you even expecting?  

As the newspaper shrank, the more agitated you became. The fact that it was taking so long for one pair to get eliminated makes you weak in the knees and you don’t know if it’s a positive or a negative reaction. At this moment, the paper is still relatively in a decent size but it could only accommodate one pair of feet inside. Due to your lack of communication, you both stepped one foot inside when the music stopped and you collided with one another rather harshly. You immediately went flying down to the ground but Seokjin managed to grab your arm and pull you towards him. Once you were flush against each other, both of you instinctively wrapped an arm around the other person to gain balance.

The action might have saved you both from getting eliminated but it definitely put you two in quite a dangerous spot. Just like when you were blindfolded a while ago, everything around you tuned out and all you can focus on is you and Seokjin. Only this time, you weren’t facing just an empty dark abyss. You were face to face with the dark abyss of his eyes. Your faces were mere centimeters away. An hour ago, you would willingly defenestrate yourself, horrified at the idea of getting this close to this guy. But right now, as you two stare and hold on to each other, you weren’t so repelled. Neither is he.

You two were just getting comfortable with each other if it weren’t for Jimin blatantly calling you out for this really personal moment. “Oi! The music is back up! You two can get back to your lovey dovey moment later but for now we game.” The actual buffoon roared at the mic. His very public comment made everyone start hollering and teasing the two of you. Just like that, you went back to square one, an awkward mess.

At one point, Seokjin almost fell off when he gave you a piggyback ride. You thought it was either because you were too tense to even jump properly on his back or you are just plain heavy. You’re not even sure which option is better. The way that you are so conscious around him has never been a problem to you. You have an inkling as to why this is happening but you refuse to say it to yourself.

While you mentally kept cursing yourself, Seokjin was having the same problems. He was too shaky to properly hold you. He too was cursing at himself for acting so muddled around you all of a sudden. This is getting pretty bad. He needed to get a hold of himself fast. By that, he means go back to being a cat and mouse with you. In other words, go back to insulting you. But his inner self is telling him to just let this moment be and to let himself indulge in it. 

Another agonising round later, one pair finally got eliminated. Thankfully for that, Seokjin was only tiptoeing on one foot at this point whilst carrying you. You, on the other hand, had other reasons to be thankful for.

Now, you were down to just three pairs. The semi finals are up next so you really need to get back to your senses. You are so close to achieving the grand prize. Remembering what the next game is, you knew you were monumentally screwed.

The semi finals, as Jimin is explaining, would be a bat doughnut eating contest. Five doughnuts shaped in a bat are individually hung on a string in their clothesline and both pairs would have to stand on either side, eating them all as fast as they could without using their hands. Both pairs are only allowed to work on one doughnut at a time. Now, that’s just on a completely different level of invasion of personal space. But you can’t blame anyone because you came up with half of these games, including this one.

“Let’s quickly push through this one.” Seokjin told you from his side. “We can’t let the others win. Remember, only the first two pairs get in the finals.”

You admire how composed he is right now. Why can’t you be as unaffected as he is? This is for the sake of the grand prize. Do you even want it? If yes, then you badly need to keep your eyes on the prize and nothing else. Definitely not on Seokjin, or on his piercing eyes, or his soft looking lips. NO STOP. Just what on earth is happening to you?

Realising you haven’t given him an answer, you simply nodded. With that, you heard the go signal and all three pairs started devouring the doughnuts. 

They are [word redacted] flavoured. Of course, what did you expect? You try not to gag at that and you also try to avoid accidentally making out with Seokjin while making sure you eat the entire thing at lightning speed. There were way too many things going on at the same time for you to handle. Your brain could not possibly keep up. It’s like your brain and body were being controlled by two separate things.

One doughnut down and you move on to the next one, then the next one, and the next one. “That’s it, keep going!” Seokjin kept on muttering motivating words whenever he could. Again, how could he be so composed at a time like this? Somehow along the way, your brain completely shut down and your body went into autopilot. The two of you fell into an unspoken strategy of having sides so to have some boundaries. The moon spirit knows you badly need that.

Your pair is on the lead when you reach your fourth doughnut. For the first time since this game started, you felt comfortable. Did you stay like that for the entire game? Of course not. Naturally, the universe just loves aggravating you tonight. 

Half way through your fourth doughnut, you accidentally brushed lips with Seokjin. The action was absolutely brief, but it was enough to halt you two and send tingles that you would feel throughout your body down to the tips of your toes. You two stared at each other for a second too long because Luna was announcing Team Rocket to have taken the lead. You two couldn’t care less though. For the third time tonight, all you could focus on is each other. 

Wide eyes filled with something you two are too embarrassed to accept, lips slightly molding into shy smiles, and faces covered with icing and powdered sugar. In that moment, you two seemed to have some sort of self understanding that didn’t need to be said.

The moment didn’t last though. As brief as your little kiss was, you two were back at the game instantaneously. The other pair seemed to have gotten past you two as well. With a new found comfortness, you find yourselves working together without anymore awkwardness. You were back to your old competitive selves. You gobbled up the doughnuts at a jaw dropping speed. All that matters now, is winning especially since Team Rocket is advancing to the finals. The two of you didn’t even bat an eye when your lips would unintentionally touch a couple of times in your haste. You certainly weren’t complaining about it now. As a matter of fact, you felt him linger a few times. So were they really unintentional? We would never know.

You amazingly caught up with the last pair even with a few cheeky antics on the side. The two of you are currently on top of the world and just breezing through. For sure, you would end up beating them. There is no need to worry about anything. 

What sealed the deal was when one person of the remaining pair mildly choked at a particularly large chunk that she had swallowed. You two took that opportunity to finish up your fifth and final doughnut. You swallowed for the last time and cheered for your partner to finish chewing. Everyone else was completely yelling at this point, it was such a euphoric feeling. Once Seokjin finished, you went and engulfed the larger man as best as you could in a bone crushing hug.

You two were all laughs, happily celebrating even if you haven’t won yet. “We are so going to come home with that prize.” You declared with such finality while you break away from the hug. You kept each other very close though.

“Oh yeah? You’re not gonna freak out on me again?” He teased you but you can’t help but just hit him. 

“Only if you keep yourself in check.” You playfully replied. You fell into a comfortable silence, once again staring at each other with shy smiles. His eyes dropped to your lips for a second and you felt compelled to lean in. When he realised what you were allowing him to do, he leaned in too. You were slowly leaning towards each other, taking your sweet time and savoring every second of it. Your lips were pretty much fully touching, you could feel the warmth and softness of his.

“You’re lucky that chick choked up.” James, whatever his real name is, from Team Rocket woefully stepped into your moment. It took every fibre in you to not punch the guy. 

“She’s obviously inexperienced. Couldn’t be me!” Jessie quipped and they both started laughing together. This time, it took every fibre in you to not bash their heads together. But as mentioned before, you are a woman of honour. You are willing to take the higher road and settle this fairly through the games.

Seokjin, well, he is Seokjin so he didn’t let the two slide so easily.

He let go of you and approached the two. He laughed along with them in such a forced and sarcastic laugh that it pained you. “Yeah, you’re right. We are lucky!” He said then squished himself in between the couple and placed his arms around them. What on earth is he on about, now?

“We definitely were just born lucky. But at least we’re not like other people who are only lucky to be born. Right, hotmen?” He said and slapped their arms in a playful manner but ended up being too hard. He left them completely offended, sauntering back to you with his windshield wiper laugh that you know all too well.

"Was that necessary?" You scolded him with both hands on your hips.

"Don't be such a Katara! I know you're dressed as her but please don't take it too seriously. Unless you really do want to be a sugar queen?" He wagged his eyebrows irritatingly. 

You rolled your eyes at his usual foolishness. Glad to know he hasn't gotten fully soft on you. You would prefer for him to stick to his playfulness even if it annoys the crap out of you.

"And then there were two." Jimin starts, grabbing everyone's attention. Yeah just two left and it just had to be with Team Rocket. Oh, it would feel even better to win knowing you were up against them.

You were one step closer from a satisfying free full course meal cooked by Jimin and Luna's parents. Is that heaven or what? In the middle of fantasising and practically drooling about the impending prize, it dawned on you that once you win, (Yes, once and not if) you'd have to go on that dinner with Seokjin. An actual dinner. As in a date???

The thought made you slightly pale. You don't get why the thought of going on a date with him made you all nervous when you were practically stealing kisses from each other just awhile ago. The idea of going serious with him is nerve-wracking when just this evening, you wanted nothing more than to punch his guts. Now, you still do want to punch his guts but also kiss him. 

You needed to snap out of it. All you did tonight is think of this guy. You were probably overthinking things. He probably doesn't even want anything serious with you. Maybe, he's just playing with you. Wait, no. That's too cruel even for him.

Your internal battle was stopped when Seokjin, himself, flicked your forehead.

"Oww! What was that for?" You grumply asked as you rubbed the sore spot.

"Your brain seems to be flying a couple hundred miles away. Y/n, now is not the time to be daydreaming about me. Did you even catch what I said?" Is he a mind reader? Most definitely not but even so, you are too embarrassed to say anything so you quietly hummed to him.

"What do you think? You agree with me?" You absentmindedly hummed again.

He clapped his hands together so loud, it made you jump out of your haze. "Good! That settles it. You're bobbing then." 

"I'm sorry, come again?" You think you misheard him but it sounded like he said you're going bobbing? As in bobbing apples? What?

He stared at your dumbfounded expression. He realised that you weren't listening to the siblings' explanation and you obviously weren't also listening to his plan of attack just a few seconds ago.

He sighed and repeated everything to you even if he didn't want to. "We're bobbing apples for the last game. Since I don't want to ruin my perfectly good scar, you're up for it." 

You scoffed. "And I want to ruin my perfectly good hair and makeup?"

"Hair dries off and without your makeup, you're still Katara. I, on the other hand, would just be some random handsome firebender without my scar. So really, it's better that you do it."

"But I don't want to do it!"

"Well boo hoo for you. You already agreed to it." He said and dragged you towards a large basin near Jimin and Luna.

"Wait, no I wasn't fully aware of the situation!"

"That's what you get for zoning out at a crucial time. It's too late now, you already agreed. A consent is a consent."

He was seriously being mean right now. You pulled your arm back to stop him but he wouldn't let go of you. So you kept your feet planted firmly on the ground. It ended up looking like he was dragging a very stubborn kid. "Y/n quit playing around! You need to do this."

"But Seokjin, I really don't want to do this." Your innocent looking eyes paired with that same whining voice that you used when you didn't make your first shot with the bean bag instantly turned him soft. 

He stopped pulling you and placed a hand on your neck. The way he is genuinely looking at you makes you think that he'll probably switch with you. He didn't. Big shocker.

"Y/n, I know you don't want to do it but you need to." He started using that gentle voice of his that he used on you earlier. You knew you were a goner now. He's definitely found your weakness and he isn't afraid to use it on you. Curse him and his captivating soothing voice. What are you supposed to do now other than obey him?

"I, without a doubt, believe that you can do this. I'm sure you can defeat those two wobbuffets over there and we'd win! Don't you want that?" You nod your head yes.

"So will you please do me the favour of winning this game for us?" You nod your head yes without thinking twice. So much for being a woman of honour.

He smiled at you and caressed his thumb over your cheek. "Good girl." He said and you'll be damned if you're not going to do whatever it takes for him to call you that again. Forget everything. You want him to call you that again.

That is why you find yourself involuntarily walking up to the water and apple filled basin assigned to you. 

"Step aside, filth." Seokjin jokingly muttered at James from Team Rocket. You hear Jimin and Luna giggle but you were too out of it to even appreciate his Zuko reference. 

To your left, Jessie stands in front of her basin. She gives you a sly smirk and winks at you condescendingly. You want to burn your eyeballs. 

You can't believe you're in this position. You can't believe you would willingly let your hair, makeup, and quite possibly even your costume get ruined. Lastly, you can't believe at just how much power Seokjin has had over you in a single night.

You stared hard at the apples. You've only bobbed for apples once when you were nine and it was one of the worst things you've ever done. You weren't even able to successfully capture an apple with how bad you were. Well, you're back more than ten years later and you're back with a newly found determination. Vengeance will be yours.

You hear Luna count down from three.

Seokjin's "Good girl" rang inside your head. No one's letting this magenta haired girl beside you win. You gripped the sides of the basin hard. Alright apples, it's time to face your doom!

"...One and go!" 

Inhaling a sharp breath, you plunge your face inside the deep basin. You tried to keep your eyes open to see the apples but it was proving to be difficult as light was barely passing through the metal basin. Nonetheless, you kept biting around until you reached one apple. You tossed it outside the basin and took another breath, repeating the same actions. 

You don't know how many times you did your little routine. All you know is that this is the longest minute of your life and you just want it to end so much. You were having such a miserable time. Your snot, your saliva, and even your sweat too were mixing with the water. Even though you avoid it so badly, you still manage to drink the water in your haste. Some of it even got inside your nose at one point. Bobbing for apples just might be one of the most disgusting things you could ever do. This must bloody well be worth it in the end.

Everytime you come out of the water, you hear the cheers of the people. You most certainly hear your partner, ear piercingly shrieking your name. It further feeds into your hunger to win. You don't care if you look absolutely ridiculous or that you were probably gonna end up throwing up later. All that matters is to win this for you and Seokjin.

At long last, Jimin blows an air horn to dramatically end the game. You came up gasping and snorting for air. How fucking graceful and beautiful. Seokjin rushes to you with a towel in his hand and wraps it around you right away. He pats you dry, careful to not smudge your very wet makeup. 

Luna began making a speech on how much fun this year's Halloween Olympics were. You didn't pay much attention to her as Seokjin kept murmuring words of affirmation while he was still gently patting you dry. In all honesty, you could've done that yourself. But after what you were just subjected to, you definitely could use a little pampering.

"Again, thank you to everyone who participated in the games. As for the rest, you've been absolutely wonderful, cheering our players. Until next year's Halloween Olympics!" Luna concluded. Well, they did more than cheer, alright.

"And now, let's count the apples these lovely ladies bobbed so we can find out this year's victors!" Jimin continued and everyone counted magenta head's apples with him.

"Twelve apples in total!" Everyone cheered wildly and you felt your heart clench. That's a lot. What if you had less?

"Twelve?? Ha! Suck on that!" James ridiculed.

Seokjin just glared at him and he grabbed hold of one of your hands. He squeezed it tightly as everyone started counting your apples. Oh please be higher than twelve, please be higher than twelve, please be higher than twelve, please, oh please, oh please.

"Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen!"

"A grand total of eighteen apples! Wow that's a lot more! Which means we have this year's victors!" Jimin announced.

Eighteen? You bobbed six more apples than her? Wow, your nine year old self would be proud of you now.

Seokjin couldn't contain himself, he grabbed you by your waist and lifted you up in an embrace. "Y'all hear that? My girl just beat your asses badly! Suck on my poké balls!" He finally cracked and straight up insulted Team Rocket while still holding you up. You ignored the sickly sweet feeling that bubbled inside you when he referred to you as “my girl”.

"You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!" Instead of a maniacal laugh, his windshield wiper laugh came out. The punchline was already perfect if only his stupid laugh didn't ruin it. As annoying as it is, you didn’t seem to be complaining about his laugh now in your head unlike always. Actually, it’s kind of endearing in a way. Crazy to think just how much one night can change. You wonder what happens now to the two of you.

Jimin and Luna called the both of you up on their makeshift stage to properly announce your rain of terror- I mean, your victory. Along with that, they are also going to announce the winner for best in costume. With all the action that’s been happening, people have forgotten that the awarding for best in costume is actually the main event of the night.

As Seokjin predicted earlier, you didn’t win. Some guy, Jung something something, dressed up as Shrek won by popular voting. You think he is also a part of Jimin’s friend group. You can’t be too sure as there are too many guys in that circle of friends for you to care. Which leads you to believe that maybe Jimin did some rigging of the results because his Shrek costume kinda deserves to be kicked out of the swamp. Not that you care though. As far as you’re concerned, you already won the grand prize as well.

“Told ya, you wouldn’t win best costume.” Seokjin says as you leave the stage. 

“Neither did you. All because your scar is definitely on the wrong side.” 

He groaned loudly. “You’re never gonna drop that, aren’t you?”

You laugh, thinking just how stupid he is for messing up his scar. For someone who seems to be able to quote directly from the show with ease, it’s really funny that he would overlook such a crucial detail. 

“Neverrr!” You said in a singsong voice.

“Whatever.” He said while waving his hand in a dismissing manner. “It’s not like anyone else noticed it. I guess you were paying too much attention to my face, huh?”

You blushed at his remark. “Jeez, get over yourself, will you?” 

You rushed your steps towards the house to leave him. You are sure Jimin and Luna are now tearing it down on the dance floor. He easily caught up with you though with those long legs of his and draped an arm over your shoulders.

Cackling at your flusteredness, he said, “Okay, then! So let’s say you weren’t gawking at me the entire time for you to notice my mistake.”

You hummed at him.

“Then I guess the only explanation why people seem to have failed to notice is because of my handsome face! They are too distracted by my beauty to notice my misplaced scar. Don’t you agree?” You elbowed him hard and left his yelping, laughing ass. What a weirdo. You giddily smiled though.

The rest of the night went by pretty fast. It was filled with dancing and laughing with people you know and don’t know. You even got to hang out a little bit with Team Rocket. You wouldn’t say you’d become friends with them but they aren’t all that bad. 

The only missing thing though is that you didn’t share any more “personal” moments with Seokjin. He disappeared off with his group of friends after you left him. Not that you were fully expecting anything to happen, but you were slightly disappointed. Luna was quite chill about it at the start. She was probably wanting to discuss it in private. You know, for your own sake. But as she got tipsier and tipsier until she was full on drunk, she was practically squealing about it every few seconds. Hence, why you decided to socialise with other people which you would never do. Honestly, what is going on tonight and who are you even?

After the party, you remained to clean up. But Jimin told you that none of you would have to deal with the mess right now. He understands that everyone is completely knackered at this point. There were still a few people left but he ushered you to go home now. He assured you that he could deal with them and his hammered sister. 

With that, you said thanks and hugged each other goodbye. 

Walking out of their house, you thought back to earlier when you were thoroughly convinced to stay at home. You wonder how things would be if you had stayed. You would have totally missed out on so much! But you also wonder what would happen now. It seemed like Seokjin was unmistakably giving you the vibes that he likes you. You were too. So why did he suddenly vanish?

“You want me to walk you home?” A very familiar voice said from behind you. Ah, speak of the devil.

You faced him and smiled a little too big of a smile. “You live in the complete opposite direction. What are you talking about?”

He chuckled and made his way to you. “I was just thinking, what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you walk home all by yourself at 2 in the morning?”

He stopped a few feet in front of you. You find yourself a bit irritated with the distance between you two. You wanted to be a bit closer than that so you made the move to get nearer to him. “I think I can handle myself pretty well.” You said as you approached him until you were inches away from him.

“Oh, I’m sure you can.” 

There was a brief moment of silence that fell between you. It wasn’t at all awkward or anything unpleasant. Actually, it was the complete opposite. You were just drinking everything in.

“Surprisingly, I had heaps of fun tonight. I never thought I would ever say that in the company of Kim Seokjin.” You said in a hush tone. You don’t know why you were speaking in such a way. The entire moment just seemed too delicate.

“I told you, you need to put a little faith in me, sugar queen.” He whispered. You smile at the term of endearment he had given you tonight due to your Katara outfit.

“I think I already have.” You said and his face started inching down towards yours.

Just the mere thought of finally getting to properly kiss him released thousands of butterflies in your stomach. You wanted to rush him to finally feel his lips but at the same time, you wanted to drag this moment as long as you possibly can. If someone told you this morning that you would be having these thoughts as you were about to kiss Kim Seokjin tonight,you’d laugh at their face. You’d probably also tell them that you’d rather slam your tongue in a car door.

He took his time with you, also wanting to milk every second of this moment. There was no need to rush anything. He was literally ghosting his lips against yours. He was probably teasing you. It annoyed you so much. So much so that you made the executive decision to take full control of the situation. You made the move to press your lips against his but before you could, someone walked out of the house and started yelling towards you two.

“SEOKJIN HYUUUUUNG!” A guy dressed up as Snoopy literally yeeted himself between you two and placed an arm around him. What is everyone’s deal with interrupting you two? At this point, it’s like the universe is telling you a sign or something. Wait, what?

You frown at the thought you just had. It’s a stupid thought. But then why are you having this sinking feeling inside you?

“Hoseok, for the last time, I’m walking home. I live just two blocks away. I don’t have a car to drive you home.” He told the guy, obviously exasperated just like you.

Hoseok started whining and arguing at the older guy. It’s clear that he was dead drunk. You wouldn’t try to argue with him right now. Seems pointless since everything will fly over his head.

“But why walk when you can drive???”

“Hoseok-ah! You’re really gonna ask Seokjin hyung to get you home when I’m here?” Another guy came out of the house. You turned to the voice and saw Yoongi approaching, dressed up as Garfield. You’re friends with him because he seemed to be the closest to Seokjin so you see him more often than not.

Hoseok immediately let go of Seokjin and went to hold on to Yoongi. Yoongi seemed to be in a rush to get home. Can’t blame him. It’s really late and it’s been a long night. So he said goodbye right away. But before they could leave, he turned to you.

“Before I forget, by the way, Taehyung wanted me to tell you to call him. He said you haven’t been replying to him all night. I think he wants to take you out later.” He made a fast but pointed stare towards Seokjin when he said the last part. It seemed like his way of telling him to do something about it. You didn’t notice though.

“Oh, okay. Thanks Yoongi. Good night and drive safely!” 

With that, the two went off.

Another silence fell between you two. This time though, it wasn’t as comfortable. You didn’t know whether to continue off from where you got interrupted and how to continue. The both of you looked like you were in deep thought. 

Taehyung. You completely forgot about him. Now, you feel really bad and shameful.

You notice Seokjin pulling something from his trousers that appeared to be two small envelopes. That’s probably your prize. 

He held them both and looked at them for a few seconds. “I want to ask you something.” He started, not looking you in the eyes. He’s nervous. Is he going to ask you on a date? Well, that just made you nervous. 

“Yeah?” 

He didn’t say anything for a while. You watch him clearly having some sort of argument with himself. It felt like an eternity when he finally looked you directly in your eyes.

“Y/n, I want to-” Once again, he got cut off. Maybe the universe really is saying something here.

Your phone started ringing. It was Taehyung, calling you. 

“I...You should answer that.” He instructed you. You should. But you didn’t make the move to. Your eyes switched back and forth from your phone to Seokjin a couple times. You were completely torn and didn’t know what to do. 

You were just going to answer his call. What’s the big deal about that? It’s not like he knew everything that happened and was supposed to happen between you and Seokjin. It’s not like he was going to chastise you for all of that.

Before you pressed the answer button, the call dropped and you became tense. 

Seokjin sensed your inner turmoil. He didn’t like seeing you like this. But he thought that this was becoming too much to handle right now. He looks at the envelopes he is holding. Sighing, he can’t believe he is about to do this.

He reached out both envelopes towards you. “Here, take them both.”

“What? Why?”

“Take Taehyung with you.” You could not believe what you were hearing right now. To say you were dumbfounded is an understatement.

Seeing as you made no move to get them, he took your free hand and placed the envelopes in your grasp.

“Listen, it’s bad enough that Taehyung didn’t get to enjoy the night. I think it’s only fair if he went with you.” 

“But you worked hard for this too. It was a team effort between us.” You told him, still not understanding why he would give up the prize just like that when he was so adamant to win them the entire night.

“I know. But it’s fine, really. Don’t worry, I could always find a way to get free food from Jimin. Besides, you deserve to spend some time with your Aang.”

You still didn’t fully understand the situation at hand. But it appears that he is not going to let you go until you accept the prize from him.

You finally conceded and pocketed the envelopes.

“It’s getting late. We should really go home. It’s been one hell of a tiring night.” You nodded at his statement. 

“Thanks for being an amazing partner tonight, Y/n. I genuinely enjoyed every single moment of it.”

“Me too, Seokjin. Me too.”

You wanted to hug him. But he didn’t make any other move. He was clearly just waiting for you to leave. You thought, maybe this isn’t the right time with him. With all the interruptions and should haves tonight, it’s most likely for the best to leave things here.

With a heavy heart, you gave him one final look and said goodbye. With an equally heavy heart, he watched you leave and disappear down the street.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Jimin’s sudden appearance from the front door made Seokjin jump.

“Yah! Couldn’t you have been a bit more careful?” He asked the younger boy while placing a hand over his chest to calm himself down.

Jimin paid no attention whatsoever to his agony. “You deserve to spend some time with your Aang.” He mocked Seokjin. “What on earth were you thinking?”

“I don’t want to- hang on. You were listening to our conversation???” Seokjin felt violated. Does this boy not know the meaning of privacy? First he kept interrupting you two all night then now he eavesdrops on your conversation and has the audacity to mock Seokjin.

Jimin did not feel nor look like he regretted what he had done. If anything, he looks really mad at Seokjin. “That’s besides the point. The point is, why are you just letting her go? You already had her!” 

“No, I don’t think I ever had her to begin with. I mean, come on! She went dressed up as Katara and I’m dressed as Zuko. I think it was never meant to be.”

Feeling utterly frustrated, Jimin rubbed his face harshly. He had half the mind to take off his boots and impale his older best friend with them.

“That’s just bullshit! You’re too superstitious. You don’t listen to these signs! You take matters to your own hands.”

Seokjin knew that Jimin wouldn’t understand his point of view. He’s the type of person to chase anything and everything if he so pleases it. Which fair play to him, isn’t a bad thing. But that’s not how Seokjin rolls.

“Listen, you won’t understand me.” Seokjin started and Jimin openly agreed with him. “All I’m saying is if it’s not your time, then it’s not your time. You need to accept that and patiently wait. I did what I had to do tonight.”

Jimin did not respond to him. Truthfully, he does get what Seokjin is trying to explain. He does not agree with it at all though and still thinks it’s bullshit. But he can’t really do anything other than to support his stupid best friends and to let them learn things on their own. When that happens, he’ll for sure throw another party.

“Wow. Just wow. That’s rough, buddy.” Is all he can reply to Seokjin. 

Indeed it was.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 10: Downtime

Authors note: Apologies for the long delay. Schoolwork has been burying us and stress from Covid-19 has been at an all time high.

Within three days, Marcus’s mood had significantly improved. With two new allies by his side, he felt markedly more secure in his surroundings, although he still occasionally looked above him from time to time out of instinct. 

He was in the back of Spyper’s van with Ari and Cally, quietly playing a game of Uno amongst themselves. 

Looking up at Intelligent, he said, "Yo, big guy. You look like you wanna ask us something." 

“I do, actually,” Intelligent said, setting aside his book. “You three seem really close. How long have you known each other for?” 

"Six years and 348 days," Cally answered, setting down her cards. 

"Technically, longer," Marcus added, "But we officially met during the summer." 

6 Years and 348 Days Ago… 

The rec center was alive with activity during the summer. It made sense that three random 10 year olds would be here. Marcus, Cally, and Ari were all there, going about their business. Marcus was busy taking boxing classes, Ari was attending choir lessons, and Cally intently watched a lecture on computer programming. 

The classes all ended early that day, leaving the three kids not knowing where to go. So they all ended up in an empty tennis court, sitting and waiting for their parents. 

To kill time, Ari fatefully began chatting with Marcus.

“Hi. My name’s Ari,” He greeted, waving to Marcus. “What’s your name?”

“Marcus. Aren’t you that short kid who sits in the front of the class?” 

“Yeah, that’s me. You’re the kid who’s taking boxing lessons, right?” 

“The one with anger problems,” Cally chimed in from the corner, reading a book. “Yeah, that’s him.” 

Marcus threw a candy wrapper at her. 

“Hey, be nice!” Ari frowned at Cally.

“It’s true, isn’t it? No point saying anything that isn’t true for the sake of one’s feelings.” 

“You sound really mean.” 

"I heard that once you get smart enough you stop having emotions," Marcus shrugged. 

"That's a lie," Cally hissed. "I just don't see the value in being dishonest." 

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and the fact that I called you a loser that one time has nothing to do with it." 

"I just refuted your theory on my lack of emotions. I can hold a grudge." 

“How do you even know he has anger issues? Because he boxes?” Ari asked. 

"My mom is the school secretary. She has me do a lot of the paperwork so she can go out. Some of that paperwork got Marcus to see the school therapist." 

“Why does the secretary have a 10 year old doing her work? Isn’t that against the rules or something?”

"Not if the principal doesn't find out." 

“So you’re being mean to Marcus even though you’re the one breaking the rules?” 

“Look. Ari, right? If the people who fed and sheltered you and could kick you out if they felt so inclined and barely gave a crap about you told you to do something, would you do it?” 

“Isn’t it against the law to kick a kid out of the house?” 

“Probably. Wouldn’t stop my parents.” 

“You sound like you have issues. Maybe you should see the school therapist.” 

“I don’t want to get landed in foster care. Too much of a risk to my psyche.” 

“And being treated like sh_t by your parents isn’t?” Marcus asked. 

Ari and Cally stared at Marcus. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Cally asked. 

“Yes, actually.” 

Ari whined. “Isn’t cussing bad?” 

“Eh. Some people don’t like it, and my parents don’t let me swear when we’re in restaurants and things like that.” 

“Wouldn’t the community rec center count as a place you shouldn’t swear?” Cally asked dryly. 

“I guess, but there aren’t any adults around.” 

Cally deadpanned. Ari pouted. 

Leaning back, the intelligent kid pulled out some gum. “Want some?” 

“What flavor is it?” 

“Spearmint.” 

“Eh, sure.” 

“I love mint!” Ari beamed. 

“Not my favorite, but I’ll take it over 5gum,” Marcus added. 

“Ugh. 5gum.” 

“What’s wrong with 5gum?” Ari inquired, popping a piece of gum into their mouth.

“Tastes like trash,” Marcus groused. 

“It’s an insult to gum.” Cally sat. “The least horrible flavor is mint.” 

“And even then, this spearmint gum beats it by a mile,” Marcus added. “I don’t see how anyone can enjoy 5gum. It’s like eating plastic.”

“Better than nothing.” 

“I’ve never had 5gum before, but I’ll take you on your word,” Ari said. 

Present 

“So, yeah. That was fun.” 

“So you three started out arguing with each other, and now you three are basically inseparable,” Intelligent remarked, leaning back in his seat. “A lot must have happened in those six years.” 

“Yeah. For one thing, we became study partners. I had to tie Cally to a chair to keep her from doing all the work for us.” 

“I was not that bad, Marcus.” 

Ari winced. “Well...” 

3 Years Ago… 

“Cally, this is a GROUP project! That means we ALL have to work on this!” Marcus shouted, taking the papers away from Cally. 

“You guys did a lot of the research. And you know I’m a better writer than you,” Cally reasoned, reaching for the papers again. 

“Yeah, right! You were the one hogging all the research, and you’re the one who’s been doing all the writing so far! I know you’re a good writer, but you can’t just hog the entire project!” Marcus protested, holding the papers out of Cally’s reach. “Just about the only thing you haven’t tried to do yourself are the visual aids!”

"Ari can do those." 

“Exactly! That’s the only thing Ari’s been able to do with you hogging everything else!” 

“I just want us to get a good grade!” 

“And we will get a good grade! But ya gotta let us help, too!” 

Cally sighed, sitting back down. “Alright, alright.” 

“Thank you. Now let's get on with this,” Marcus said, dividing the papers equally between himself, Cally, and Ari.

Present 

"Okay, maybe I was a little too overbearing. But my grade was on the line!" 

“Cally, calm down. We got a perfect A on that assignment,” Marcus assured. 

“I know,” Cally granted. “And then you almost got suspended three months later.” 

Marcus scowled and grumbled to himself, folding his arms at the memory. 

“I still think punching that guy in the face was overkill,” whined Ari. 

“It was not!” Marcus protested.

Cally raised an eyebrow. 

2 Years and 9 Months Ago… 

“Violence was unnecessary,” Cally pointed out as she wrapped up Marcus’s hand. 

“Then that kid shouldn’t have ran off with my notebook!” Marcus snapped, wincing as Cally tightened the bandages around his hand. 

“You could have taken it back. Most everyone is scared of you anyway, given how your fight with Albert ended.” 

“That kid wouldn’t give me it back, even after I asked!” 

“And you decided to punch him in the face instead of just snatching it,” Cally added. 

“Both of those are mean,” complained Ari. 

“It was MY notebook!” 

“Still,” Cally frowned. “Your temper could get you hurt.” 

Marcus grumbled something, hissing as Cally started patching up another scratch. 

“Please stop moving.” 

“But it hurts!” 

“And?” Cally deadpanned. 

“Cally,” Ari pouted. 

“I know. Sorry, Marcus. I’m just worried, you know? I don’t want your temper getting you hurt one day.” 

“I know, I know. But I’ve got it covered, alright? I’ll be fine. I can handle it,” Marcus assured. He grunted and rolled his shoulders once Cally was done bandaging his wounds. “F_ck, I’m gonna be sore in the morning…” 

“Yeah, you are,” Cally sighed. “And try not to swear in front of Ari. You know he hates it.” 

“Sorry Ar, force of habit,” Marcus apologized. 

Ari hugged Marcus. “It’s okay.” 

Present

“And now here we are. Honestly, I wish all our problems were that I was a control freak over grades and Marcus punched people out.” 

Marcus nodded. “Preach.” 

“But they aren’t. Superbeings want to rip our guts out because we apparently can stop a world-ending event,” Cally sighed. 

Marcus folded his arms and thought for a moment. “What are we even supposed to do to stop it, anyways? Is there a superweapon we have to stop? Do we have to go to space and bring down a spaceship or something?” 

“I dunno.” 

“Hmmm...Hey, big guy! Do you know?”

“Sorry, I have no idea what the others are planning. Me and Spyper have barely heard anything about this whole situation,” Intelligent sighed.

“Well, what have you heard?” Ari asked earnestly.

Intelligent paused for a moment and closed his book. “I don’t know if it’ll help much, but I have heard that the Freaks found something they could use to turn everyone on the planet into Freaks. What that thing is, where it’s being kept, or if it can be destroyed, I don’t know.” 

"Sh@t. Anyone you know who may know something?" 

Spyper glanced to the back of his van. “We do know someone who may know. She works for HECU.” 

"I count four who fit that description," Cally said, eyes taking on a pink tint. 

Spyper paused. “Is Rudra included in that count?” 

"Yes. So is the scientist everyone is scared of for some reason." 

“Oh. Yeah, that would be Anita.” 

"What's her deal?" 

Ari shifted. “Is she evil?” 

“Well...I wouldn’t say she’s evil, but she is crazy,” Spyper shrugged. 

“How crazy?” 

“She builds weapons of mass destruction for fun.” 

“And wants to dissect us for ‘science.’” 

“Hmm… don’t like that,” Marcus winced. 

“Don’t worry, she’s not as evil as Brutal and his pals.” 

“That’s good,” Ari nodded. 

“But enough about that. We need information. And to get to safety. Spyper?” Intelligent turned to his buddy, who grinned and started his van.

[silver-greedling]

Explosions

Wrench x Reader (aka im back on my bullshit, i love this guy) (i put a ton of work into this and even watched Ray's stream of the game for the dialogue and it STILL SUCKS I'm so sorry guys qwq)

"Oh, God," Josh muttered, watching the camera footage on his computer. Sitara and Marcus approached him, and he turned to Sitara. "Don't let Wrench see this."

"See what?" Speaking of the devil, he had appeared behind the other two, poking his head in between them and looking at the screen. "Is that...?"

Wrench's girlfriend was being dragged into a suspicious room at a currently unknown location. She was struggling in the arms of her captor, but it was useless. While she had reasonable physical strength, the guy clearly overpowered her.

~~~

"Let me go, asshole!" I kicked and screamed against the man that held me. His firm grip around my torso held my arms in place and prevented my escape. "Dedsec won't let you get away with this!"

The man all but threw me into a metal chair, bolted to the floor, effectively knocking the breath out of me for a moment. In that split second of shock, two other men grabbed my arms and tied them to the sides of the chair. By the time I regained my strength, I was already completely tied to the chair.

I went to start screaming again, but nothing came out. It was pointless; I was already exactly where they wanted me. Nothing would get me out of the chair. My head hung low, my eyes focused on my feet.

Gritting my teeth, I strained my ears to listen to the conversation between the three bastards. I wasn't able to make out a single word they spoke. Defeatedly, I leaned into the chair, just trying to get as comfortable as I could.

~~~

"I've got her location," Josh spoke, pulling Wrench's eyes away from the CCTV footage. He looked at another screen, struggling to erase the yelling and pain of the girl he loved from his mind. "Look. The footage is coming from a building not too far from the coast. It looks like it's also got some servers; cTOS 2.0 servers. We could save her and take those out all in one sweep."

"I'll take care of that one," Wrench offered. "Leave that place to me."

No one dared argue the topic with him, not when his voice was that somber and low. It wasn't like him to act that way, but, as it seemed, kidnapping his girlfriend was enough to piss him off. Everyone watched as he approached his usual spot at his table, picking up an old project he never finished.

"I got an idea," Sitara spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the room. "One that'll take down Blume and get our friend back."

~~~

"I scored the acces code." Sitara's voice was clear over Wrench's comm as he picked up his finished project.

"Wrench, you're up," Marcus added. "How does locating Blume's backup data farm and nuking it sound? You get to blow up all the shit you want."

"That site's pulling in too much power, hombre," Ray's calm tone said, "and it's on Blume's doorstep."

"So go flex some muscles!" Marcus came back over the comm, sounding almost excited. "Destroy the backup servers or they'll just default to a previous version of the data we're about to wipe."

The man went in guns blazing. Shoot first, talk never. The Blume ruffians never stood a chance. Wrench had a variety of weapons on him, and he put nearly all of them to use getting rid of them, but it was over almost as quick as it started.

Wrench sauntered over to one of the power boxes outside. With his phone and a little bit of hacker magic, he was downloading what looked like a shitload of data from cTOS.

"I wonder what this unlocks," he pondered, galncing down at his phone.

"I'll unlock it," Josh spoke monotonely, "you keep your eyes open."

With the data finally packed onto his phone, Wrench entered the building. It was just as boring as every other building Blume worked in. Clean white walls, boxes all over, and laptops with exposed cameras surrounding him.

One of the rooms had a suspicious exposed wall. It was almost like they weren't even trying to cover up the fact that something was behind it.

"Hey, Marcus!" Wrench spoke into the comm. "Does this room look small to you?"

"Man, I'm not there!"

"Yep, looks small to me, too."

Wrench pulled out another one of his 'goodies', a sticky bomb. He placed the little box on the exposed wall, taking a few steps back and covering behind a few boxes. A few moments passed, and there was a loud explosion. When Wrench leaned over to check. Sure enough, the wall was thin enough to be completely destroyed in the process, showing off the hidden hallway behind it.

The punk style man was moving through the hallway quickly, opening a few doors, before coming to a familiar room. Just as he thought, surrounded by servers and a generator, she was there.

~~~

If I knew anything, it was that those explosions had to be Dedsec. No one else would bring that much firepower directly to a Blume building.

Just like I knew they would, my friends had come to save me.

It started off as a couple of explosions followed by a long period of silence. Fear settled into me. Had my savior fallen? Did someone get hurt, or even worse, trying to find me?

My fears were put aside when another explosion sounded off a few minutes later, this time much closer to my position. Moments after that, a familiar figure came striding into the room.

"Wrench!" Instinctively, I went to jump out of my chair and hug him, but it was useless. I was still tied to the chair.

"Hey, careful!" He stepped over to me, moving to stand behind the chair so he could untie me from it. "There we go."

The moment my arms were free, they were wrapped around his neck in a hug, spiked vest be damned. Those spikes and the various guns in his back made it difficult, but I couldn't care less. His arms gripped my waist and pulled me close to him.

"You found the backup servers?" Marcus asked over the comm. I could just make out the words from Wrench's earpiece.

He barely moved away from me to answer the comm, sending his heart expression my way. "Yeah, turns out, she was in Blume's utility closet - with the backup servers and the campus generator." The expression on his mask changed to his winking one. "Good thing I brought extra goodies."

Wrench turned off the mic on his comm, stepping toward the door. He turned so that I was behind him as he grabbed a large gun off his back. "You might want to stand back for a minute."

I placed my hands on his shoulders, cautiously peering around him as he aimed the weapon at one of the servers. With a pull of the trigger, the server had erupted into flames. The kickback of the weapon barely had any effect on Wrench, despite it being a strong blast. Three moe shots, then the server and generator were all down.

Wrench turned on his comm again as he looked down to me. "Marcus. I came. I saw. I blew shit up." The winking espression returned to his mask. "I came again."

I heard Marcus continue speaking, but Wrench had turned off his mic as I stepped ckoser to him.

"Y'know, sometimes, I think I can't possibly love you more than I already do," I told him, reaching for the bottom of his mask to pull it off of him, "and then you do shit like that and prove me wrong."

I saw him grinning when I removed the mask from his face. He dropped the gun next to him, before taking the mask from my hand and doing the same. With his hands freed, he grabbed my face and pushed his mouth to mine smoothly. My hands were on his shoulders under the vest, pulling me ever closer to him.

"I love you, babe," I told him. Sparks flew from the broken servers, illuminating his face in weird, random ways. His hands moved down to my waist.

"I love you, too." My arms wrapped around his neck as he sighed and buried his face in mine. "God, don't ever leave my side again. I almost went crazy without you."

"You were crazy before you even met me," I joked. I felt him smile against my skin.

"Yeah, but now I'm crazier." He pulled back, releasing his hold on me and giving me finger guns. "Crazy for you."

I rolled my eyes, despite the wide grin spreading on my face. "That was awful."

He placed the mask back on his face and strapped the gun to his back again. "But you love it." He reached for my hand, and I took his eagerly, ready to go home and forget this place.

"Yeah, I do."

[btsoutsold13430]

The Oncoming Storm // BTS Hogwarts AU

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Chapter 3: Idle Hands are the Devil’s Playthings

Yoongi strapped on his shin guards tightly, muttering under his breath of how much he didn't want to be here. But, he remembered how excited Jimin was about tryouts and how much he wanted Yoongi to join. The things I do for that boy... Sighing softly, Yoongi left the locker room, grabbing his broom on the way out. He kept the broom Malfoy's family gave them back in second year when he was a chaser. He quit after one year because of how much a git Marcus Flint was as captain. Luckily, Urquhart had enough manners for Yoongi to respect him as the new captain.

Jimin was already waiting on the stands, his right leg bouncing in anticipation. Yoongi saw this and raised a brow. "You alright, Jimin?" he asked with a smirk.

The other boy pursed his lips and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "What if I don't get the position?" he finally asked quietly.

Yoongi rolled his eyes and replied, "You're a phenomenal flyer. They'd be mad not to put you on the team, I promise."

Jimin chuckled. "Don't make promises you can't keep," he said solemnly, looking directly into Yoongi's eyes. Before Yoongi could refute the statement, Urquhart blew his whistle to usher everyone onto the field. After a few minutes, all of the potential players formed a circle around the captain. He cleared his throat and said in a booming voice, "I want a clean game. We are going to be teammates; I don't need injuries before our first game. Do I make myself clear?" He looked at Crabbe and Goyle, who clutched their beater bats defensively. "We have two people trying out for seeker, so that splits evenly. We have three for a chaser position, so we'll have three short games with no seekers. The rest of the positions are currently closed, so for any of you who thought you could get another position aside from the two offered, you are sadly mistaken." Urquhart paused for people to leave the field and then, looked at the sheet for tryouts. "Okay, Min and Harper, your tryouts are first." Yoongi walked towards the middle of the pitch, his boots crunching the dry grass. Harper started walking next to him and was looking at him with a confused expression. "Why seeker? You were a chaser back in second year," Harper stated.

"Well, we're not in second year," Yoongi deadpanned, walking faster than Harper now to get away from the boy.

The rules were fairly simple for the tryout. There would be no keepers, instead two chasers per team as well as one beater. They had thirty minutes on the clock to find the snitch with the obstacle of the bludger as well as the other players. But, Harper had an advantage over Yoongi, seeing as the boy's been practicing for the position ever since second year, even with Malfoy on the team. However, Yoongi had to try, so that at least he would know what Jimin's doing in the evening one day of the week. But, if Jimin doesn't get the position and Yoongi does, then there's no way he can look after him-

"Min, get your head out of your arse, we're starting!" Urquhart exclaimed. Yoongi mounted his broom and hovered to the level of the other players. "On my whistle... 3... 2....!" He blewed the whistle, and Yoongi soared up to the sky, frantically looking for the snitch. It was getting cloudy, and his vision was obscured by the darkness. He started going to the other side of the field, when Goyle lodged the bludger at him. Yoongi dodged it and started flying away. From what he could see, Harper was equally confused. As such, Yoongi figured it wouldn't be on his opponent's side, so he dived down. And, there it was! The golden ball was zipping through the air near the stands. Yoongi saw Harper looking at him, so he pretended he was still confused. Harper bought it and started flying upwards, desperately looking around. Yoongi seized the opportunity and sped to the ball, reaching out with his left hand. The ball was trying to get away, but Yoongi caught it before it flew up. The whistle blew, signaling that Urquhart saw the move. Everyone came down from the air and approached the captain. Panting heavily, Yoongi handed the golden ball to the captain, who had a smile on his face. "You've got the position, Min. Better luck next time, Harper." Downtrodden, Harper left the field, passing by an applauding Jimin. A huge grin graced his face, making Yoongi smile as well.

Urquhart put the snitch back into the equipment trunk and turned back to look down at all of the potential chasers. "Rules of the game are the following," he bellowed. "Each team has one seeker, beater, and keeper. There are no seekers. One of the current chasers will be competing against you on the opposing team. Whoever makes the most goals at the end of the three games gets the position. Blackburn, you're up first. Following him is Greengrass. And lastly, Park." Jimin gulped and nodded, looking at Yoongi with a nervous expression. In return, Yoongi mouthed 'it's ok," but knew that his words had minimal effect on Jimin's anxiety. The two barely spoke as the games proceeded seeing as Yoongi was almost falling asleep, and Jimin was watching the other chasers closely. Blackburn got five goals in, Greengrass four. All Jimin had to do was get six, but it would be difficult if he was playing against Urquhart.

When Urquhart and Greengrass stepped down to the field, the captain opted to tap in Zabini as the opponent chaser to which, Jimin let out a large exhale. He looked to his side to see Yoongi dozing off, and he hit him sharply. Yoongi furrowed his brows, but realized why he was so rudely disrupted. He gave Jimin a thumbs up as the younger boy exited the stands and walked towards the middle of the field. Jimin mounted his broom and rose to position. He looked down at Urquhart throwing up to the quaffle and sped to the middle, grabbing it swiftly before Zabini could. Dodging the first bludger attack, Jimin zoomed passed Goyle and made his first attempt at the goal. Bletchley nearly grabbed the ball, but it made it threw the middle hoop. One goal, five to go. Diving down, Jimin grabbed the quaffle again, but another bludger attack made him drop the ball in surprise. Zabini was below him to grab it, and the chaser flew towards the other side of the pitch. But, Jimin followed closely behind and signaled Crabbe to attack. Zabini's broom was hit, sidetracking him. Jimin took the opportunity to grab the quaffle out of his hands and flew to the goals. He aimed for the left goal, causing the keeper to block it, but Jimin did a fake out by throwing it towards the right.

The game proceeded with Zabini also getting two goals, and Jimin's goal getting blocked at the last minute. Jimin was getting increasingly anxious, sweat matting his hair. From his view, Yoongi was also getting nervous. He knew that once Jimin let his anxiety reach the maximum, he was too distracted. Help him said a little voice in Yoongi's head. He rolled his eyes and looked intently at Jimin and then, at the keeper. Jimin currently the quaffle and was speeding towards Bletchley, who stood in front of the middle goal with his hand wrapped around the metal circle. Yoongi took out his wand discretely and focused on the goal. So silent that it sounded like the wind, he incanted, "Calidum metallum." Almost instantaneously, Bletchley pulled back his hand from the goal with a shriek, the heated metal burning him through his gloves. Jimin took this opportunity to throw the quaffle in. Luckily, it didn't seem like Urquhart saw what exactly happened to Bletchley. He probably chopped it up to Bletchley hitting his hand against the metal ring.

After Jimin got his third goal in, he swooped down to grab the quaffle, pushing Zabini away in the process. Zabini flew towards the stands but sped back up to Jimin who was aiming for another goal. Even though Bletchley was momentarily distracted, he was back into the game, more focused than ever. Nonetheless, Jimin did a similar fake out to his second goal and managed to achieve a fourth. Smiling now that Jimin was in the lead, Yoongi allowed himself to relax. Just one more. Zabini managed to snag the quaffle after Jimin's goal, now speeding away with it to the other side. He got a third goal in, but Crabbe managed to hit the bludger at his hand when he was going to grab the ball. Letting out a howl of pain, Zabini got distracted as Jimin grabbed the quaffle and went back to Bletchley. As Jimin focused on making the goal, Yoongi saw Goyle rearing up to JImin. Now, that won't do. Taking out his wand once more, he muttered "Impatiens," pointing his wand at Goyle. The boy was then hit with an image only he could see of what he desires most... food. Due to the distraction, he couldn't hit the bludger at Jimin, who got the goal in after coming up from the bottom of the rings.

Urquhart was now heavily engrossed in the game because if Jimin managed to get another goal in, that was it. He was the chaser, and Yoongi would make sure of it. Zabini managed to get the quaffle after wrestling it out of Jimin's hand. Yoongi could tell the opponent was furious. A newbie getting more goals than him ruined his integrity as an established chaser. He made it up to four goals, putting him only one goal behind Jimin. Jimin had to get the ball from him. Problem was, Zabini just wouldn't let the ball go. Once Crabbe got the bludger back in his area, Jimin signalled him to attack. The bludger hit Zabini's broom handle, but the bugger didn't drop the quaffle. Crabbe scowled at his mistake and went to find the bludger. In the meantime, all Jimin had to do was distract Zabini from making another goal. Jimin flew up right next to the boy and started hitting him with his body. Soon enough, the boys were near the stands, so Jimin got an idea. He flew away from Zabini and then, rammed into him as strongly as he could. The other boy flew into the stands, causing him to let go of the quaffle. Jimin seized the opportunity and went to the hoops. At this point, Yoongi had risen from his seat, his foot tapping in anticipation.

Breathing deeply, Jimin clutched the quaffle close to his chest and stared down Bletchley as he proceeded towards the rings. Bletchley watched him with equal intensity, prepared for Jimin's regular attack. When Jimin aimed for the right goal, Bletchley swerved to the left, but a clever Slytherin never repeats there moves. Jimin threw the quaffle into the right hoop and scored! Urquhart blew the whistle to signify the end. He didn't need to see anymore; he found his new chaser. Stepping down onto the field, Jimin started walking towards the stands with a smile on his face. "Did I get the position, then?" he asked excitedly.

Urquhart smirked and replied, "Don't ask stupid questions," and then, extended his hand.

Jimin looked down at the hand, then shook it rapidly. "Thank you so much." After Urquhart moved passed him, Jimin looked up at Yoongi who had a beaming smile. "I did it!" he exclaimed, running up the stands to hug the other boy. Yoongi returned the hug with equal ferocity. "Okay, I'm tired. Need to call my house elf for a massage tomorrow." Yoongi chuckled and left the field with his friend.

XXXX

"I heard Min's the new seeker. You think Malfoy knows?"

"If he does, I wouldn't want to be Min right now."

The entirety of the Slytherin common room erupted in whispers after the list of people on the quidditch team was promptly stuck onto the notice board. Malfoy was nowhere in sight, but nonetheless, Yoongi did not want to speak to the boy, especially because of his last conversation with the platinum blonde menace. This allowed Yoongi to relax, sitting on the nice sofa in front of the fireplace with Jimin on his left, chatting with the other boys of his year. His ecstatic attitude was contagious, making Yoongi smile from thinking about the fun times to come during their time on the team.

Just then, the entrance to the common room opened, but no one entered. Some people were spooked, Yoongi included, until the squeaking of wooden wheels bounced off the stone walls. Yoongi slid down the couch to be closer to the exit and saw a student in a wheelchair come into sight. "Vaisey?" he inquired, finally making out the downtrodden student. "What happened to you?'

The boy scowled at Yoongi and then, set his sights on Jimin behind him. "Be happy with your position, Park. If I wasn't in this state, you wouldn't have had the opportunity." Then, he went off, the stairs transforming into a ramp for him.

Yoongi slid back towards Jimin, who seemed shell shocked from the encounter. "Hey, don't let him get you down," Yoongi assured. "Bloke's acting like this 'cause of his injury. Merlin knows why St. Mungo's couldn't treat it."

"Giving him a muggle contraption, no less. Damn thing's creepy," Jimin remarked. Yoongi sighed at the insensitivity, but he wasn't going to ruin Jimin's mood by 'preaching' to him. However, Yoongi was curious as to how Vaisey came about that double leg injury. If St. Mungo's couldn't treat it, it had to have been malicious hex. No one thought much of it til now because Vaisey was avoiding meals and was taking piss easy classes.

Leaning closer to Jimin, Yoongi whispered, "I bet you Malfoy knows something." Jimin furrowed his brows, but didn't question him, instead deciding to go on with his night talking about the tryouts to anyone who wanted to hear. Let him bask in his glory, Yoongi told himself. Later that night, once all the boys besides Malfoy had gone to bed, Yoongi sneaked over to Malfoy's bed stand and put a tracker spell on his uniform. He thanked Merlin that Malfoy was gone, but the boy had been gone every night since they had gotten to school. At least with the tracker, Yoongi might be able to find out some secrets.

Creeping back into bed, he turned over to face Jimin's. But, to Yoongi's surprise, Jimin's eyes were wide open. "Curiosity is healthy, Yoongi, but I must say, snooping through people's things-"

"I wasn't!" Yoongi whispered harshly. "I merely went to check if he had gone to bed. He's been gone every night, you know?"

"Wow, some might say you care about him," Jimin whispered with a sigh. "If only I received that attention," he stated sarcastically, to which Yoongi threw his pillow at him.

XXXX

Notification Squad: @gyamazaki

[savannacentralperk]

...Our First Date

A/N: As always, thank you to kt_valmiri for editing and ScaraMedn for beta reading! Enjoy, everyone!

………….

Skye grinned down at her little brother who was pouting on Jack's couch. Her eyes moved from young todd to the overly excited cheetah fawning over him and Judy. The doe was grinning at their sitter, the vixen having no doubt she was just as excited about the evening as the cat.  

"Oh! Em! Goodness!" Benjamin Clawhauser gushed as he pulled out a stack of movies from his bag, adding them to his tower of board games on the coffee table. "We're going to have so much fun! I have games, music, magazines, snacks! We'll order pizza and make s'mores! We can even have a dance off! Ooooooo! I'm so excited!"

"You're a brave mammal for being willing to watch these two, Benji," called Jack from the hall. Walking into the living, the buck kept his eyes down as he straightened his sweater. "You're going to have your paws full."

The grin on Skye's face became slightly bashful when the buck looked up and saw her. His entire body went still, his ears standing straight up on his head as his eyes took her in. Once again, she applauded her mother’s skills in picking out clothes. Her black skirt and sapphire blue blouse complemented his own dark jeans and white button up. Casual, with a hint of class. He looked good enough to drag back to the bedroom for several days.  

It was only the fact that Ben's voice echoed loudly that had them remembering everyone else in the room.

"Oh, don't be silly, Jackie! Judy is an absolute delight!" Benji's fur bunched as his chubby face lit up on Nick. "Oooooohhhhhh! I don't think I've ever met such a little fox before! Fox kits are so cuuuuute!"

Nick scrunched down in his seat further, looking disgruntled. "I'm not little…" he grumbled under his breath. "Or cute."

Judy laughed at his reaction. "Oh, how the tables have turned!"  

With a glare at the bunny doe, the todd crossed his arms and looked annoyed at the situation, though a smile tugged at his muzzle. Ben merely bounced around as he did inventory on what he had brought, his smile never leaving his face. Completely charmed, Skye knew why Jack had chosen him. She just hoped her brother wouldn't make his life too miserable.

"I'm expecting you to be on your very best behavior, young todd," she lectured as Jack came to stand next to her.  

"Same goes for you, Judes." His little sister's face flashed with shocked outrage as her mouth fell open, Jack cutting her off before she could retort. "And don't give me that 'I would never!' look. I've known you for thirteen years."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"It means you're exactly like me." He smirked at Judy's frown. Turning to Skye, he gave her another look over, the skin under his fur tinged pink. "And you look… disgusting."

Skye snorted and gave him a playful push, the buck smiling.

"Seriously though," he continued, catching her paw and pulling her towards him. "You're beautiful."

With a shy smile, she put her paws on his shoulders and lowered her muzzle to his. "Thank you." Her lips lightly touched his before they were interrupted again.

"AWWWWW!"

Starting, Jack and Skye simultaneously dropped their ears and looked over at their siblings. Nick and Judy snickered at them while Ben beamed with his eyes aglow.

"Ahem…" Jack cleared his throat and ran a paw down his crimson ears. "Call us if you need anything. Judy, if you and Nick hang out in your room, door stays open. Ben, don't let them out of your sight."

"And you," Skye turned her focus to her brother. "Best. Behavior. I mean it. If you cause Ben any trouble, it's bedpans for you. Got it."

Rolling his eyes, Nick held up two fingers. "Best behavior. Scouts honor."

With a final stern glance at the teens, Jack and Skye headed for the door. As soon as it was shut, Ben bounced back in front of them, grinning happily.

"I'm so excited! Are you two ready to have some fun?"

Nick repressed a sigh as Judy sat up straight and gave the cheetah a sweet smile.

"Actually, Ben. I'm a little hungry." Nick gave her a look out the corner of his eye. Judy just smiled at their sitter whose face lit up.  

"I'll order some pizza!"  

"I think it's my sweet tooth that's really starving. I was thinking more like ice cream."

Ben looked hesitant. "I don't know, Judy. I'm trying to cut back."

"And you've been doing such a great job. So, treat yourself."

Ben's face morphed into a longing look at the idea of all the treats he had denied himself lately.

"Weeeell…" he began hesitantly. "I guess one cheat night wouldn't hurt!"

Judy grinned and bounced off the couch. "I'll get ice cream and chocolate syrup! Nick, you grab the cupcakes from the counter."

"I'll get the bowls and spoons!" Ben squealed. "And I'll put on some music!"

Nick laughed at their enthusiasm before doing as he was told. Maybe the night wouldn't be all that bad.

……….

Less than five minutes into the seminar, it became very obvious the mouse on the stage was not Marcus Lemousis. A quick examination of their tickets confirmed the spelling of his name was wrong. Deciding to stick it out, the buck and vixen shrugged and took their seats. And what a mistake it was.

Jack and Skye sat in their chairs, visibly cringing at the mouse enthusiastically speaking on stage.  

The buck leaned over to her to whisper, “I was expecting this to be a bit more…”

“Business­like,” she supplied, “and less…”

“Ponzi scheme.”

Both mammals shared a chuckle behind their paws before Jack motioned for her to leave her seat. Creeping along the aisle, Skye reached behind her and felt him grasp her paw. Giggling and keeping low, they snuck into the center aisle and darted for the exit. Thankfully, the Royal Palm Hotel had a spacious and busy lobby. No one really noticed the pair running away from the conference.

Skye was still laughing as they raced towards the lobby bar, the hippo bartender in his finery nodding a greeting to her and Jack before filling two glasses with ice and water.

“Wow!” the vixen laughed as she climbed up to take a seat on a bar stool. “That was a huge waste of time. How much did those set you back, Jack?”

With a leap, Jack landed next to her, still grinning. "I didn't pay for them. We have Sandra to thank for that." The hippo bartender gave them a confused look before he set water glasses in front of the pair. The buck winked at her before turning his grin to the larger mammal. "And no sense in stopping the party. Barkeep, a bottle of your finest Pinot Noir, please."

Nodding, the hippo turned to the wine shelf behind him.

"Very classy, Mr. Hopps," Skye grinned as the bartender set two glasses and an open wine bottle in front of them.  

"Classy is my middle name, gorgeous." With a grin, the buck poured them each a healthy amount before setting the bottle aside and raising his glass. "Miss Wilde. Thank you for joining me here tonight. It's not the fancy, romantic night of dinner and dancing that I wish I had treated you to. But I can't complain. That was a very… entertaining… Marcus LeMousis impersonator. And, after everything, I still get enjoy your company. Not a bad first date."

Her glass was still touching his as she smiled at him. "Date?"

"I mean," Jack smiled nervously and fidgeted on his stool. "I understand if that's a bit too forward… I mean, we've known each other for a couple weeks so I understand. But, being here, with you, tonight… It just feels like… well…"

"A date," she finished, leaning towards him. The paw not holding her wine glass moved to his jaw. "I think I can live with this being our official first date."

Their lips had just barely brushed when they both heard the not so quiet scoff of a mammal next to them. She was prepared to just tune out whomever the nosy mammal was, but she felt Jack's ears fall down his back as the mammal huffed again. He tensed, his lips still pressed to hers, before pulling back.

"Hey," she whispered to him softly. His brows were furrowed in anger as he began to turn his head towards the intruder. Skye's paw slid from his jaw to his cheek to keep his attention on her. "Ignore it. It's just you and me. On our first date."

A slow smile spread on his face at her words before the buck nodded and kissed her again.

"Disgusting!" Jack and Skye gently broke apart and rolled their eyes at each other before raising their glasses to sip at their wine. "Hey, perverts!"

Taking determined sips, they exchanged head shakes. "Ignore it," Skye repeated.

"Hey," came the angry, slightly slurred voice again. "I'm talking to YOU, stripes!"

"But we're not talking to him, handsome," Skye murmured to Jack, who laughed with her.

Though their laughter died when a firm nudge landed on his shoulder.

Jaw set and face fighting to stay blank, Jack turned to look at the mammal who interrupted them. "Can I help you?" he asked the burly ram glowering down at him.

"Yeah you can help me," he snapped, looking over at the vixen with disgust. "You can help me but not making my wife and I throw up our dinner. Have some respect! I’m sure bunny does can be an easy lay, but that doesn't give you the right to shove your tongue down the throat of a pred in good society! Have some decency."

"Sir," all three mammals looked to the bartender who was eying the ram sternly. "I'm going to have to ask you to return to your seat. Any issues with other patrons can be reported to management, who are equipped and trained to handle them. So, please, stop bothering our other guests and return to your chair."

Casting one last glare at the vixen and buck, the ram made his way back over to his wife, the small ewe haughtily adjusting her glasses and turning her nose up at them.

"I apologize for the disturbance," the bartender continued, bringing their attention back to him.

He gave them a small smile. "If there's anything more you need, please let me know."

"Thanks," Skye leaned forward to read his name tag, "Joseph. I think we're okay for now. Right, Jack?"

"Here's to you, Joseph!" Jack raised his glass grinning as Skye copied him. "May the world be filled to the brim with wonderful mammals like you."

Joseph grinned and nodded before moving down the bar to continue helping his patrons.  

"Sir!" The shrill voice had the couple looking over at the ewe, who shot them a venomous look while her husband stared daggers in their direction. "We would like to speak to the manager, please! NOW!"

Before Joseph could respond, a well-dressed deer buck strode up to stand next to the sheep couple.

"Hello, ma'am. My name is Derek and I'm the bar manager. What seems to be the problem."

"The problem is the lack of decency this bar seems to have," the ram began while his wife nodded in agreement. "I work hard and pull double shifts to treat my wife to a nice evening at one of the best bars and restaurants in Zootopia. And we have to spend the night with those two freaks of nature practically rutting next to us? That, DEREK, is a disgrace to this city!"

"Oh, my gods! It was one kiss," Skye interrupted, her raised voice catching their attention. Jack swiveled in his seat to face them and crossed his arms as he glared back at the sheep. Skye's paw rose to his shoulder as she drew herself up behind him. "It's not like we were ripping each other’s clothes off!"

"It was disgusting!" The ewe shot back. Even the wool piled on top her head seemed to shake with anger. "Your parents ought to be ashamed of both of you. Your relationship is everything that's wrong with this world and I live for the day when these stupid politicians wise up and finally ban you deviants from the rest of us decent mammals!"

"Oh, yeah!" scoffed Jack as he jumped from his seat and took a step towards them. "You're so decent you have to jam your nose into other mammals’ business and screech about a something you know absolutely nothing about. Yeah, you're a real hero, lady!"

Derek moved to stand between the two couples and raised he's hooves. "Please, let's calm down. I would be very upset to have to remove anyone from the hotel. So, if you'll just­"

"Don't you speak to my wife like that, stripes!" The ram jumped from his spot and stepped as close to Jack as he could. "At least I found me a lady I can spend the rest of my life with. Unlike you, who's probably just satisfying some perverted kink." His beady black eyes moved from the buck's outraged face, to Skye's shocked blues. "You heard me, sweetheart! All this bunny wants from you is what's between your legs. All these bunnies are nothing but whores­"

Jack had seen old nature shows and dramatizations of how prey and predator were before everyone became civil. He had always been impressed at the speed at which everyone seemed to move. Skye put them to shame. One moment, she was tense and angry on her stool behind him. The next she was leaping from her seat in a perfect pounce, landing gracefully on the other side of a very startled Derek.

The ram's eyes went wide with shock as she grabbed the closest filled glass and splashed in his face followed by a sharp, open pawed slap.

To his credit, the ram wasn't surprised for long. His eyes narrowed in rage as he drew back his hoof, only to have the vixen dodge, the ram's punch lining up beautifully with Derek's groin. The deer buck gasped in pain, Jack gave a gaff in amused disbelief, while the sheep couple gave bleats of horror.  

"I think we'll be going now, Joseph," Jack said, pulling some bills from his wallet and tossing them on the bar top. Skye hurriedly rejoined him, both noticing the group of security guards headed their way. "Like, now. Keep the chaaannnggge!"

The last bit was drawn out as Skye grabbed his paw and ran towards the exit, laughing as the ewe and ram were halted from following. A pair of guards went after the bunny and fox, who ginned at each other and picked up their pace.

"Hey, Jack?" asked Skye as they ran towards the hotel lobby.

"Yeah, gorgeous?" The pair of them ducked under the outstretched hooves of a waiting giraffe, the security guard uselessly shouting at them to stop as they easily passed her.

"How much was that bottle of wine?"  

The doors were in sight, blocked by a tall, burley lion scowling at them. Glancing at each other, they ran even faster towards him and lowered their heads in a charge. At the sight of the two fast approaching small mammals, the lion gave a very un­lion like squeal and moved out of the way.

Still running as they burst through the double doors and hit the sidewalk, Jack laughed and shrugged. "NO CLUE!"

Their laughter was breathless as they continued to run, the guards that had originally been after them stumbling to a halt just outside the exit. A warthog doubled over and panted before looking at the hyena next to him. Both turned to glare at the embarrassed lion.

"Thanks for your help, Tom!" growled the hyena sarcastically.  

"Yeah," agreed the warthog. "Your bravery knows no bounds."

Tom hung his head and shame. "Sorry…" With disappointed shakes of their heads, they looked at where their targets had vanished. After a moment, the trio turned from now bunny and fox free sidewalk, and headed back inside.  

………….

Skye didn't know what had come over her. One moment, they had been running away from the Palm Hotel security guards. Now they were several blocks away and ducked into the first alley they had seen. The pair gasped for breath and laughed as they peeked around the corner, the vixen vaguely amused that Nick's trouble-making streak seemed to be genetic.

Huh, she thought as she looked at Jack with a smile. Who knew Mom passed on the hoodlum gene?

The buck was panting lightly, before he met her gaze with a grin of his own. His blue eyes were bright with amusement as he looked at her. Her heartbeat sped up as their paws reached for each other. Jack pushed her against the wall, his lips capturing hers as his paws rose to cup her face. Her arms slid around his neck easily, one leg lifting to pull him close and keep him there.

They couldn't get enough of each other. Lips parting only briefly to pull air into their lungs before they connected again. A loud growl from both their stomachs had the couple giggling into the shared space. Parting and pressing their foreheads together, they smiled and breathed each other in.

"Food?" he asked with a smile.

"Food," she agreed. Jack's paws slid down her body as he prepared to push himself away. Only to be pulled back in for another kiss. When she finally released him, Skye smiled at the dreamy expression on his face. "And afterwards, maybe I'll treat you to dessert."

Gently moving passed him, letting her paw trail down his chest, she made her way back onto the street.  

"Yes, ma'am." Paw in paw, with goofy smiles on their muzzles, they carried on with their first date.

……………

Nick and Judy looked cautiously at the large cheetah collapsed on the couch. The furniture gave a small groan at his weight.

They’d had an eventful night with Ben popping in a movie that was quickly ignored in favor of new music he had put on his phone. The fox had dissolved into laughter as Judy and Ben bounced around the living room, their 'dancing' bringing tears to Nick's eyes. After a couple hours, and several s'mores and bowls of ice cream, the large cat had flopped onto the couch, panting.

"Whew!" he gasped, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back, tongue lolling out of his muzzle. "Give me a minute, guys. Just gotta catch my breath!"

Judy watched his breath even out before a loud snore cut through the silence. With snorts of laughter, the teens looked at each other.

"And he's out like a light," Nick murmured, creeping from his place on the floor to stand next to the doe. "Very clever, Carrots. Sugar him up and let him crash. So diabolical! I mean, what would Jack think if he found out?"

He grinned at her when she gave him a hip bump. "Easy there, Slick. I go down, I'm taking you with me."

"There's a threat." His smile softened when he looked over her. "So… what now?"

"I want to show you something."  

Perplexed, he watched as she made her way to the door. Following her as it was pulled open, both teens peeped downstairs. The Perk was still open, though most of its patrons were calling it a night. Turning away from the hum of the mammals closing up shop, Judy shot him a grin and crept towards the second set of stairs leading to the roof.

"C'mon," she whispered as she moved up the stairs.

Bemused, Nick closed the door quietly and followed. The bunny paused at the roof door and grinned at him.

"Ready?" she asked, her grin growing wider as he enthusiastically nodded his head. "Okay… Voila!"

She pushed the door open and stood to the side. Nick's eyes widened at the sight that greeted him. An obstacle course stood in front of them, an intense combination of monkeybars, balance beams, rope ladders, and agility tires. It was an impressive set up. One that had the todd asking a very important question.

"How the hell did I beat you?" His eyes were narrowed in confusion as he turned them to her.

With a sigh, Judy gave her head a shake. "I ask myself that question every day. Wanna go for a round?"

"Get ready to lose again," he shot back, racing her towards it.  

Nick was the first one on the rope ladder, giving a loud laugh as he landed on it, only to have it cut short by a small body tackling him.  

"Hey!" he shouted as Judy climbed up his back and stepped on his head. She pulled herself up onto the monkeybars. "That's cheating!"

But Judy just laughed from where she stood. "You know there's no shame in calling it quits! I thought you foxes would be good at this."

"Watch it up there little bunny!" came his response, giving her a mock frown. "Keep talking like that I'll have to gobble you up."

"You'd have to catch me first, Slick." And without another word, she moved further through the obstacle course. Nick was right behind her, leaping from bar to bar and climbing up and down ropes. He was always just a claw's length behind of her, something she took great pride in. But like he anticipated, she paused just a bit too long to gloat.  

"Gotcha!" The todd tackled her to the ground, earning a loud groan from her followed by laughter.  

"Get off me, you dumb fox," she exclaimed through her giggles. "You weigh a thousand pounds!"

"Ha ha ha! Knock me off if you can, Fluff!" Nick grinned down at her as his fingers dug into her sides, making her laugh harder.

"Yo­yo­ you're the worst!" Judy squirmed under him, her paws on his shoulders, trying to wiggle away.  

"Oh! You don't mean that."  

Nick laughed and eased up on his tickling. Judy's laughter died down in equal measure though her smile remained. Her paws were still on his shoulders and small body tucked under him. Nick's paws stayed still on her side, his thumbs resting lightly on her belly. Both teens smiled into each others eyes their muzzles moving closer, eyes falling shut when they felt their lips brush together­

"Oh, my gods!"

The loud, panting exclamation startled them out of their trace, both their eyes going to the roof doorway. Benji leaned against it, panting, obviously fighting to keep from doubling over. Nick and Judy scrambled to the feet, both blushing furiously.  

"You… *gasp*… nearly… *pant*… gave me… *wheeze*… a heart attack!" Pushing away from the door frame, he staggered over to where they now stood. "Don't ever do that again! Jack will kill me if he knows you two snuck off."

"Sorry, Ben," they muttered together, eyes cast to the floor. Benji finally caught his breath enough to smile happily at them.

"Oooooooohhhhhh!" he squealed, paws coming up to cover his smile. Suddenly snatching them both up in a hug, he gave a little wiggle of joy. "I just can't stay angry with you two! You're both so­"

"Don't say it!" Judy gasped out. Both teens were released just as suddenly as they were caught.

"Oh, alright!" Benji chirped, still beaming at them. "Let's get inside before Jack and Skye come back. And remember! Nothing happened."

"Right," agreed Nick, looking over at Judy who walked towards the roof door just in front of him. "Nothing happened."

Judy smiled over her shoulder at him, eyes filled with disappointment. "Nothing at all."

……………

The city was as dark as it could get. Mammals were fewer on the streets, shops and restaurants waved off their last patrons, and one by one, the lights from the surrounding homes flicked off. An early summer breeze swept through the silent streets, adding just the right amount of romance to the night when paired with glow of the street lights.

Skye was walking on air.

Paw in paw, they savored the feeling of closeness as they bantered easily. It was later than they expected to be out and part of her worried about any potential trouble Nick would be in. One never knew with her youngest brother. But those worries moved further and further away every time she caught Jack's eye.

“So,” began the buck, with a smile. “You always dreamed of be a GM for an independent coffee shop in Savanna Central?”

Grinning, Skye shrugged. “I actually never had a dream for what I was going to be when I grew up. I couldn’t decide.”

“Just kinda fell into the coffee shop biz, huh?”

“Something like that. It’s just always lively and changing. I like the work and the mammals I’ve met,” her eyes flicked over to him coyly, “ and work for.” Jack’s blush was as visible as his happy grin. Nudging him with her elbow, she moved closer to him as they walked. “So… What did Jack Hopps want to be when he grew up?”

“Ahhh…” The paw not holding hers reached up to scratch his neck as his blush intensified. “Well, I knew I always wanted to be a cook or baker. Something that had to do with food.”

“Buuuut…”

With a bashful shrug, he continued. “My Pop­-pop used to tell us his war stories. He was part of this elite team of government agents, always running around the world doing these amazing things. He made it seem like they were spies. Pop-­pop said he had code name and everything. It was all very 007.”

“I’m guessing you use to pretend to be part of the action?” They shared a laugh as he nodded.

“I had a name picked out and everything.”

Pausing her steps, Skye’s jaw dropped. “What was it?” He shook his head vigorously. “C’mon! Tell me! I’m not going to judge or laugh. I promise.”

Releasing her paw, Jack bit his lip and looked down shyly as he muttered to himself. Skye quirked her eyebrows and leaned her head in towards him. Giving him another small nudge and encouraging smile, she waited patiently for him to repeat himself.

“My code name was Jack Savage,” he said, his voice still a bit soft. Looking up at her finally, he cleared his throat and kept walking. “You’re laughing.”

“I would never,” she countered, still smiling and taking his paw again as they continued their walk. “I like it. It has a ring to it. And I think you would have been a great spy.”

“Aww, now you’re just trying to butter me up.”

“Is it working?”  

“Almost too well.” They laughed again, walking closer together.

Finally, they came to the darkened door of the Perks.  

"I had an amazing time, Skye," Jack began as he pulled his keys out.  

“I did, too, Jack.” She watched him toy with his keys, seeming to think unlocking the door would end their night. Stepping closer, her paws slid up his chest as her muzzle dipped until her lips met his. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she vaguely heard his keys drop as he pulled her closer.

“If you’re interested,” he panted when they parted slightly for air, “I know a spot really, REALLY close we go to for a night cap.”

“Lead the way then, tiger,” she purred back before nibbling his bottom lip and wrapping her tail around his waist.

Groaning, he pulled away and stooped to grab his keys off the ground. Hurriedly unlocking the door, while Skye’s paws and lips did their best to distract him, Jack stumbled through the door and disarmed the alarm. After making sure both were reset and locked, he pulled her in for another passionate kiss before dragging her upstairs.

Their desire cooled marginally at Jack’s apartment door, remembering Nick, Judy, and Ben on the other side. Exchanging one last, heated kiss, they straightened their clothing out before Jack let them in. Apologies for being late died on their lips after seeing what they walked into.

“Oh my,” Skye murmured, her voice tinged with amusement.  

Ben lay sprawled on the floor, an open magazine draped over his face barely muffling his snores. An upturned popcorn bowl lay next to him, its contents surrounding him. The coffee table was covered in empty pizza boxes and ice cream bowls, stray marshmallows and open bags of chips and pretzels. On the tv, the menu for a DVD was displayed.

Both adults turned their attention to their siblings. Nick and Judy lay asleep on the couch. The todd was sitting up against the back of it, his head resting atop of Judy’s. The little doe was snuggled against him, his tail in her arms.  

“I’ll get a blanket and pillow for Nick if you get Judy,” Jack whispered after shutting off the tv then tiptoeing away to the hall closet.  

The vixen stepped over Ben and around the coffee table. Judy barely stirred when Skye gently pulled her brother’s tail from the doe’s arms and scooped her from the couch. In his sleep, Nick grumbled in protest before falling over and settling back into sleep. Jack returned with the pillow and blanket, smiling and gesturing down the hallway towards Judy’s room. Turning his attention back to the sleeping todd on the couch, he carefully slid his paw under Nick’s head before settling it on the pillow.

Nuzzling into it, the todd was covered with the blanket as Skye came back from Judy’s room.  

“... camping trip this weekend, Dad… tent has holes…” Jack cocked his head at Nick’s sleep talk, before turning to look over at Skye. The vixen’s eyes grew distant and sad, her body frozen in place with her arms crossed.

Concerned, Jack walked over to her and put his paws on her elbows. She smiled sadly at him, grateful he didn’t ask her what was wrong.

“He was one of Nick’s scout leaders,” she explained, letting herself be led to his bedroom. Jack let her enter first, gesturing for her to take a seat on the bed. “The day he…” She shook her head and looked down at her paws. “He was going to take the pack camping that weekend. Nick said it was the last thing Dad ever said to him. I didn’t know he still dreamed about it.”

He let her go silent, let her get lost in her thoughts, but still reached out to grasp her paw. All he wanted was to let her know he was there. Something she seemed grateful for when she looked up and smiled at him. Jack smiled back and scooted up to the head of the bed, still holding her paw.  

Following after, she lay on her side facing him.

“Tell me about him?” Jack asked with a soft smile, passing his paw over her face tenderly.

“How much time you got?”  

“For you, beautiful,” he murmured back, pulling her into his arms, “I have all the time in the world.”

……………

The trauma ward at Tundra General was non­stop busy. One of the weather generators had malfunctioned, causing a section in Tundra town to warm considerably. The issue was caught fairly quickly but once it was working again, the drastic change in temperature had turned the roads into sheets of black ice. Several unsuspecting cars lost control, resulting in TG radioing for any and all available paws to help out.

Vivian was on her first shift. She had set herself up in her hotel room earlier. The same hotel, in fact, that she and Matthew had stayed in for their wedding night. Mercifully not the same room, though. But it still put her into an emotional coma.

Which, given her profession, was a blessing.  

Not long after Matthew's death, Vivian found she had problems helping her fellow foxes. No matter their fur color or stature, each one reminded her of him. Considering the area of TundraTown where the generator had failed was sixty percent fox, the vixen nurse needed that coma to survive the sea of red fur she now faced.

She was walking beside the stretcher carrying one such todd, eyes straight ahead as she and her fellow nurse headed towards the patient's new room with the doctor right behind them.  

"This one here, nurse." The lioness doctor stepped back to let the smaller predators carry on through the door. "I'm passing his chart onto Dr. Beest. He's a better… stature for this room."

Vivian smiled at taller mammal and saluted. "I'll fill him in when he gets here, too. I'm going to get Mr. Fax settled, then I'll be right back down."

With a smile and nod, the doctor went on her way leaving the patient to Vivian and a pig sow. Carefully, both females transferred him from the stretcher to the bed. The sow was paged, leaving just Vivian to take his vitals. Pressing her stethoscope to his chest, she listened closely and frowned at the rapid heartbeat.

"Don't stress too much about that," rasped the injured todd, his swollen eyes on her and pained smile on his muzzle. "It beats that fast when there's a pretty vixen nearby."

"And don't worry about my gagging," Vivian replied with a smile of her own. "It's only because I'm lactose intolerant. So, cut back on the cheese, please."

The todd gave a pained laugh. "Ouch! And here I thought it was a car accident that made me hurt this badly." Still smiling, he closed his eyes and sighed as Vivian continued to check his vitals. "So, Nurse Wilde… any relation to Officer Matthew Wilde?"

His eyes opened to the best of their ability when he realized she’d froze. Understanding bloomed when he saw her turn away from him.

"I met him once," he continued quietly. "He was a good todd. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you…" Neither spoke another word, save for Vivian explaining how the various remotes in the room worked.  

Dr. Beest had just entered when Vivian was finishing up. After briefing the badger on what had been done so far with the todd, he gave her a smile and said she could head back to the trauma ward. Giving the patient a polite nod and smile, she turned to the door.

"Nurse Wilde?" The pained voice had her pausing before she turned back to the wounded todd. "If it's not too much to ask, I'd be honored to enjoy a cup of coffee with you. As a thank you for taking such good care of me. And as a bribe to hear all about the life of one of my heroes."

At a loss for words, Vivian looked at the ground briefly before raising her eyes back to him. Dr. Beest watched with amused curiosity, slinking away from the bed to be as inconspicuous as possible.  

"Just focus on getting better, Romeo," she said finally, giving Mr. Fax a tired smile. "Then we can talk about getting coffee."

"Deal." He returned her smile before looking over to the badger doctor. "Well, doc, you heard the lady. Let's get me better."

Vivian left with a shake of her head. Moving through the halls of the hospital, back towards the trauma ward, her fingers twisted the warm metal of her wedding band. Exchanging bands was a more modern thing among foxes. Scent marks were more than enough for a married couple, bands were usually reserved for widows and widowers.  

But the look in Matthew's eyes as she had slid his onto his paw, mere moments after he had done the same with hers, kept flashing in her mind.  

It's only been three years, she thought as she rejoined the chaos. What would your kits say? What sort of wife are you to even consider having coffee with someone other than your husband?

Just…

… Stop.  

………..

Morning was never a difficult thing for a Hopps bunny. Both Jack and Judy were used to being woken up well before sunrise to get some farm work in before going off to school. The buck's internal alarm clock was finely tuned to the routine, the habit having gotten worse when The Perk was first opened.  

This morning, however, had him waking to the pleasant slide of a leg across his hip as a gentle paw slid down his chest. Smiling at the press of an inquisitive nose in his neck fur, he turned his head to nuzzle back. Getting up for the day was going to be very, very difficult if she kept doing that.

"Good morning," he murmured, Skye pulling back to smile into his eyes.  

"Good morning." Their lips pressed together in a sleepy kiss. Skye giggled as he rolled himself on top of her, pressing kisses into her neck.  

Waking up next to her was the most satisfying experience he had ever had. Even if they hadn’t gone further than just kisses and cuddles. There was clumsiness in Skye’s voice when she spoke about her father, endearing her even more to the bunny buck. Something told him she wasn’t use to talking about him, as though she had burdened herself for the sake of her family.

Propping himself over her, Jack grinned down at her before kissing her lips.

“Mmmmm…” she groaned in delight when their kiss ended. Her big blue eyes batted up at him.

“Are you always this affectionate in the morning, Agent Savage?”

Jack chuckled and kissed her again. “Only with you, gorgeous.”

“You know,” Skye began after kissing his lips again. Her paws moved to the front of his shirt, popping the buttons free. “We got a little sidetracked last night. Not exactly how I was hoping we would end the night.”

“Is that so?” Jack lifted one of his paws and moved it to her knee before sliding it down her thigh, her skirt already bunched around her waist. “And how were you hoping the night would end, Miss Wilde?”

“Well, something like thi­-”

A loud knock broke their spell, both growling at the interruption. The door swung open, revealing Nick with a paw clamped over his eyes.

“Are you two dressed?” he asked, ears flattened on his head.

With sighs, Jack pushed himself off Skye as they begrudgingly straightened out their clothing.

“Yes, Nick, we’re dressed.” Skye rolled her eyes as Nick peeked through his fingers and gave a dramatized sigh of relief.

“Good! Judy’s making pancakes and Jon wants to know if you two are still alive.”

“What time is it?” Jack asked as he reached for his phone. Sometime in the night, it worked its way out of his jean pocket. Which explained the knot in his thigh from where it had been jabbing him.  

“It’s eight thirty,” answered Nick, smirking as the pair of them sprang out of bed in alarm.  

“We’re late!” They exclaimed at the same time.  

“This is also not the morning I had in mind!” Jack said, Skye laughing in agreement.  

Her eyes landed on her brother who laughed at them before heading back to the kitchen.  

“I’m going to take Nick back to my apartment so we can change,” she planned, after making sure she had gathered all of her things. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Sure you don’t wanna play hooky?” They grinned at each other as they moved to the bedroom door. Skye’s paw reached out and grabbed him, pressing him to the door frame and kissing him passionately.  

“This is a ‘To Be Continued’, Agent Savage.” Pressing another kiss to his lips, she smiled alluringly at him before heading to the kitchen.

“Yes, ma’am,” came his dazed response, a big grin plastered on his face.

…………..

The day was actually fairly quiet. After the initial morning rush, everyone fell into their usual workday routine. Nick dutifully kept up with the pile of dishes, Judy rushed around the lobby making sure tables and floors were clean. Skye and Sandra were checking inventory while Kari and Gideon were setting up the dessert counter.  

"Ok," muttered Jack, oblivious to the amused smile Skye gave him. "I have the cookie ingredients all set up for Gid to start on, Jon is working on lemon curd for the tarts, and we need to taste test the berry compote. And that sandwich shop ordered seven loaves of sourdough, so I have to check the starter. Busy, busy day…"

Muttering and running through his mental checklist of duties, Jack walked to the order board and pulled a few down. Sorting through them, he wandered into the front and stood where Gid and Kari were finishing up.

"I hope you like cookies, Gideon. We have to make enough for us and at least five orders so far." The buck grinned at the young fox's excited expression.

"I can't wait!" The young exclaimed. Kari laughed at his enthusiasm, shaking her head as he accepted the orders Jack offered him and rushing back to the kitchen to wash up. Jack smiled after him.

"Gotta love his spirit," the buck said happily. Exchanging a look with Kari, he pulled a to-do list from his apron pocket. "Since it's slow, I want you to do a walkthrough of the lobby. Nick and Judy finished detailing the kitchen a lot sooner than I thought they would. This should keep them occupied for at least a day or two­"

The sound of the bells had both of them looking towards the door.  

"Welcome to the Perk," greeted Kari, taking her place behind the register and smiling. "How can I help you?"

Jack felt his stomach drop. Teeth clenched, he gulped audibly and turned to look through the order window at Skye. They exchanged glances before turning their attention back to the ewe in front of the register.

"Well, well, well," the short, familiar female began, her green eyes filled with vindictive amusement. A hoof reached up to adjust her glasses as she smirked at the buck. "Isn't this a coincidence."

"I don't suppose you're here for one of our famous lattes and a muffin, are you?" Jack gave her smile that was only slightly nervous.  

With a small laugh, the ewe from the bar shook her head. "Even better…" Her other paw pulled up a rolling briefcase. Bending to unzip one of its pockets, a metal clip board was pulled out and pen clicked open. Straightened up, she smiled wickedly again and adjusted her badge.

"Health inspection."

[pixelgrotto]

The horrific Resident Evil playthrough, interlude three

I just finished watching all of the Resident Evil movies I could get my hands on. When I told people I was doing this as the last part of my great year-long playthrough, they all let out groans and said something along the lines of, “Ugh, don’t you wanna end on a good note?” Undaunted by these words and fueled by my ability to tolerate crappy cinema, I moved forward, courageously making it through nine of these suckers...which, to be fair, ranged from surprisingly enjoyable to just as terrible as everyone warned me about. 

Before I begin, it’s important to note that we’re dealing with two separate film series here. There’s director Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil Hollywood films, which are the ones that most people know about. Then there are three Japanese-made CG movies that are canon and co-exist alongside the stories of the games. The Anderson movies are...mostly ass. The Japanese ones are okay. 

Let us start with the ass first. 

Resident Evil - The first RE film came out in 2002, which means that what little CG it has is laughably dated and it’s refreshingly small-scale when compared to its sequels. The movie’s a fan fiction remix of some themes from Resident Evil 1, except with none of the characters from the games present. Instead, we have Paul W.S. Anderson’s wife Milla Jovovich taking center stage as Alice, the former head of Umbrella security in a secret base called the Hive that goes to hell when some dude tries to steal viruses. The entirety of the action takes place in the Hive, and we get a surprisingly tiny number of monsters, with just your garden variety zombies, a few Cerberus and a single Licker showing up. Even though she does run up a wall and kick a Cerberus in the face, Alice is at her most realistic here (she turns into a dual wielding mutant with the ability to make the camera go into slow-motion whenever she wants in all the other films), there’s a nifty laser grid scene that all the sequels keep referencing when they want you to feel nostalgic, and the Hive’s sentient AI, the Red Queen, is compelling enough that Capcom eventually stuck her in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. Aside from this movie being full of British actors who do REALLY awful American accents, sounding like they all have mouths full of sausages, Paul W.S. Anderson’s first take on Resident Evil is probably the most watchable one he made. 

Resident Evil: Apocalypse - Okay, this one is watchable too, but in more of a popcorn-munching “lol, this shit is dumb” way. It steals the general plot of Resident Evils 2 and 3, with Raccoon City getting infected, but ups the cheese by a hundred. Alice is now a thirteen-year-old boy’s version of a BADAZZ woman, with lots of guns and a bare midriff, and she teams up with Jill Valentine, who resembles her game self in looks but not exactly in personality. Together, they’ve gotta escape Raccoon City along with Carlos Oliveira, who is possibly the only character from the games who is done a great service in these Anderson movies, which make him much more likable even if they couldn’t find an actual Hispanic actor to portray him and had to settle for an Israeli instead. Oh, and Nemesis shows up, because one of the dudes from the first movie who accompanied Alice into the Hive gets experimented on and turned into what honestly looks like someone’s Halloween costume. The writers commit a cardinal sin at the end of the flick by humanizing him, having him suddenly remember his TRUE SELF and help the good guys, but aside from that screw-up I admit that I had a goofy grin on my face throughout several parts of this movie. After Nemesis blows up the Raccoon City station and murmurs his one line of dialogue- “STARRRRRSSSS” - I even kinda felt like clapping. So yeah, Apocalpyse is idiotic fun.

Resident Evil: Extinction - Here’s where the movies stop being mildly entertaining and become varying degrees of either “meh” or just plain bad. Extinction’s biggest problem is that it makes the weird decision of having the entire PLANET be wiped nearly completely clean by Umbrella’s virus, giving the franchise the most generic setting imaginable for a zombie flick - a post-apocalyptic world. And even though this film features Claire Redfield and actually has Alice fight a Tyrant that looks the part, I feel that by turning the environment into Mad Max the filmmakers missed the entire point of the franchise. Resident Evil isn’t really about a “what if” scenario with mankind dying and zombies taking over the world. Instead, it’s about how humanity manages to cope in a time where zombies are used by corporations for terrorism purposes - hence the franchise’s “bio-organic weapon” catch-phrase for its creatures. It’s about how brave people live on in an era that just happens to feature biopunk monsters as a deadly fact of life. It’s about the evil that resides within a world that is pretty shitty, but hasn’t completely gone to shit. By turning the whole planet into the same ol’ zombie playground that we see in most popular fiction starring these workman-like horror tropes, Extinction - which probably thought it was upping the stakes - instead just feels sorta dull, and anyone who views the film today is probably going to see it as a weaker version of The Walking Dead. Oh, and it ends with Alice discovering clones of herself, which will only serve to screw with the loose continuity of these movies as they go on. 

Resident Evil: Afterlife - This one starts with Alice’s clones raiding the Umbrella facility in Tokyo, and the whole sequence - which feels like it should be the finale - is reduced to a few minutes of special effects in the beginning. (This is foreshadowing for the next two films, which both end with hints of giant, climatic battles that mostly happen off-screen, if at all.) The first thing that I noticed when watching this was how slow-mo kicked in every five minutes and how the camera seemed to linger on bullets, and I eventually remembered that this film was released during Hollywood’s obsession with 3D during the early 2010s. This explains Afterlife’s IN-YOUR-FACE-IN-THREE-DIMENSIONS action scenes, which are initially pretty in a music video sort of way but become overdone and tiresome as the movie goes on, kinda like a Zack Snyder film. (I place Paul W.S. Anderson in the same “style over substance” category of director as both Zack Snyder and Michael Bay, by the way.) Anyway, Afterlife deals with Alice teaming up with more survivors to try to find a secret ship haven free of zombies. Along the way she runs into Chris Redfield, who looks more like a janitor than the jacked BSAA agent that he is in the games, and Chris and Claire Redfield have a quick sibling reunion and fight Wesker in a scene with choreography shamelessly stolen from Resident Evil 5. It’s pandering fan service and sort of diverting, but ultimately none of it matters. Chris disappears after this movie and is never seen again, and Afterlife is more interesting as a specimen of 2010 3D excess than it is as an actual narrative.

Resident Evil: Retribution - Retribution amps the pandering fan service that Afterlife dabbled in to new levels. Ada Wong is here, played by Li Bingbing but dubbed by her original voice actress, Sally Cahill, probably because Li’s English isn’t that great. Leon Kennedy and Barry frickin’ Burton show up, both looking pretty much like their in-game counterparts. Even Michelle Rodriguez and a few other faces from Paul W.S. Anderson’s first Resident Evil flick make an appearance, thanks to the fact that this movie has clones up the wazoo and uses them to handwave away any series inconsistencies you could think of. So you’re got fan service for the people who like the games and fan service for the folks who liked the first movie, and on top of it all the film has the extreme 3D that its predecessor possessed and a buttload of battles because it all takes place in a giant Umbrella simulation facility full of stuff that can easily be wrecked. By now the plot to these things has gotten more scrambled than my eggs in the morning, but I will say that thanks to its inclusion of classic characters, Retribution is more or less tolerable. There’s even a bit of characterization this time around, thanks to a little hearing-impaired clone girl who Alice takes under her wing and begins to care for, and the movie ends on an okay cliffhanger in a Washington DC under siege, promising epic things to come in the next movie. Unfortunately... Resident Evil: The Final Chapter - I really did not enjoy The Final Chapter for a myriad of reasons. First of all, the Washington battle promised at the end of Retribution never happens. Instead, we fast forward to several months later, when Alice is (big surprise) the only survivor, and EVERYONE she was with in the last flick - Ada, Leon, the little deaf girl - is gone and never mentioned ever again. Wesker, who Alice was working with in Retribution, is back to being a bad guy for poorly explained reasons. Another bad scientist dude that Alice killed in Extinction also returns for even worse reasons, because supposedly Alice only offed his clone three movies ago. But wait, this “real” bad scientist dude is also revealed to be a clone as the TRUE bad scientist dude shows up in the movie’s last act! AND THE ULTIMATE TWIST (look away now if you actually care about spoilers) is that Alice is HERSELF a clone of the original daughter of the Umbrella corporation’s founder who died of a degenerative disease and served as the basis for the Red Queen AI. The idiotic thing is that this daughter was said to be the progeny of Dr. Charles Ashford in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, but this movie retcons her to be the spawn of Dr. James Marcus. The Final Chapter, in fact, screws with continuity to a degree I have rarely seen before in a long-running film franchise. Yeah, the framework tying this series together got weird as soon as clones were introduced, but previously it seemed that Paul W.S. Anderson at least cared about his own messy fan fiction. Here? It’s like he forgot what he’d spent the last 15 years building up to and ended on one sloppy fart. If this weren’t bad enough, The Final Chapter is edited in that god awful “shaky cam, lots of fast cuts” way that I hate. In fact, I counted something like twenty cuts in a scene of a few seconds when Alice is attacked by a creature, which means that this film won’t just baffle you with its disregard for continuity - it’ll give you a headache too. 

Resident Evil: Degeneration - After watching an array of live-action flicks that took random Resident Evil threads and mashed them together with the elegance of a splattered turd, it did feel good to switch things up and move to the CG movies that were actually put out by Capcom. This 2008 offering takes place in between Resident Evils 4 and 5, stars Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy, and deals with a virus breakout in an airport and some of the pharmaceutical company backstabbing that occurred in the aftermath of Umbrella’s destruction. It’s all stuff that feels like it could have come from a lesser gaiden game - perhaps in the same vein as the first Revelations title - and it kinda gives off that “so-so anime movie” vibe, especially because the dubbing always sounds a tad off. Nevertheless, Degeneration’s still a breath of fresh air compared to the Anderson series, and there’s a nice gag where Claire’s searching for a weapon in the airport, someone hands her a physical umbrella, and she looks at it and is like, “Hm, didn’t see this coming.” (Lollerskates.) The main issue I have with Degeneration is how “plasticky” everyone looks - it’s hard to realize how far computer animation has advanced in the last decade until you look at Degeneration’s stiff visuals and compare them to the other CG films. Also, Leon’s characterization is terrible. He’s meant to be a super serious badass, I guess, but he mostly just looks like someone rammed a Samurai Edge up his sphincter. I prefer my Leon Kennedy to be the “Don’t worry Ashley, I’m comin’ for ya!” version from Resident Evil 4, or at least a dude with a little sass to him. The guy in Degeneration is about as interesting as a board.  Resident Evil: Damnation - Damnation is a noticeable step above Degeneration, both in computer animation, which really got better from 2008 to 2012, and in all-around presentation. The dubbing’s still somewhat wonky with that same anime movie vibe, but the characterization is on point, and Leon, who’s taking center stage once more, is just like his RE6 self. Speaking of RE6, this movie channels that game’s themes of international terrorism with a plot that involves rebels in a made-up Eastern European country using Lickers and Las Plagas in an effort to fight for their freedom, only to learn that lo and behold, the nefarious female president who’s seized control of their nation has her own B.O.W.s - in the form of Tyrants - at her disposal. Leon’s caught in the middle of this mess and ends up befriending some of the rebels, and Ada Wong’s also infiltrated the country to manipulate the president. Ada and Leon’s interactions are as insubstantial as they’ve been in pretty much every game that isn’t the recent RE2make, but we do get a cool fight between Ada and the president, who for some reason knows substantial knife fu. There’s an even better battle between Tyrants and Lickers in a city hall square, and Leon gets throw against pillars, regularly takes hits that would kill a normal person and pilots a tank alongside one of the rebels who looks a lot like Chris Redfield but isn’t Chris Redfield. This dude serves as the film’s sympathetic character - a guy torn from his peaceful existence thanks to political wrangling and is tricked into using B.O.W.s to try to achieve a brighter future. It ends with the fella severely injured but learning how to live and move forward in a world infected with nefarious bioweapons, which is the very theme that the Anderson flicks ditched around movie number three. So good work for side-stepping previous failures and recognizing what Resident Evil is all about, Damnation. 

Resident Evil: Vendetta - If Degeneration’s a so-so anime movie, and Damnation a good anime movie, then Vendetta is just a good movie in general, with no “anime” distinction needed. The dubbing’s finally pretty decent, for one, and the story takes place in between RE6 and RE7, teaming Leon and Chris Redfield up with - HOLY CRAP - Rebecca Chambers, who’s been AWOL since Resident Evil Zero. They’ve gotta stop an arms dealer from bio-nuking New York and doing nasty things to Rebecca, who resembles his dead wife, and along the way Leon pilots a motorcycle on the freeway with his feet while shooting at Cerebrus with his hands. Nearly all of the movie’s considerable action segments are punctuated with rapid fire John Wick-style gunplay, and it works. It’s like the folks who made this film realized that the coolest part of Resident Evil 6 was the point where Leon and Chris point their guns at each other for a few seconds before deciding that they need to put their differences aside and cooperate, and even though you could conceivably fault Vendetta for leaning heavily towards the “action” side of Resident Evil rather than the “horror” side, it’s a well-paced film that finally gives us a substantial interaction between two series mainstays beyond the one minute they shared with each other in RE6. Also, people are still posting GIFs from Vendetta’s action sequences all across Tumblr and forums whenever arguments break out over whether Chris or Leon is TEH COoLER Resident Evil protagonist, so Capcom obviously did something right. If we get another computer animated film, I imagine it’ll lean more heavily towards horror since that’s where the series has gone recently...but hopefully the path of improvement that we’ve seen from Degeneration to Damnation to Vendetta won’t be broken. 

And with that, whew, I’m done with RE movies, at least until the rumored Hollywood reboot that’s supposedly drawing inspiration from Resident Evil 7 comes out. (It can’t be worse than The Final Chapter, I suppose.) I can’t say that my friends were wrong when they warned me that half of these would be shite, but I also can’t say that I ended on a bad note, because Vendetta was pretty good.

After all this, my grand playthrough and consumption of all Resident Evil media is about to finish Next post I make will be a last look at the franchise as a whole...and what a year’s worth of zombie headshots taught me.  All screencaps taken by me. 

[aidanchaser]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Everyone Lives AU

Table of Contents beta’d by @ageofzero

Chapter Ten The Marauder’s Map

Even though they didn’t have Defense Against the Dark Arts until Thursday, Harry stopped by Remus’s office before breakfast on Tuesday.

Remus was just pulling his cloak on as he opened the door. His face was thin, but he smiled brightly at Harry. “You’re up quite early. How are you feeling?”

Harry was a little startled by the question, not because he’d forgotten he’d been in the hospital, but because he’d meant to ask it himself. “I’m fine. How are you feeling?”

Remus stepped out of his office to walk down to breakfast with Harry. “I’m doing quite well. You don’t need to check on me so frequently.”

“Dad says someone has to, and Mum says you don’t take care of the things you should.”

Remus laughed a little as they turned a corner. “I suppose there may be some truth to that. But Madam Pomfrey took excellent care of me, and I’m quite fit for teaching today.”

Harry wanted to ask if his parents had stayed in Hogsmeade to help take care of Remus. He wanted to tell Remus about how Snape had run class yesterday, but he knew the “w” word was forbidden in both public and private conversation. He tried to think of a way to bring it up creatively. His parents were so much better at this.

“Professor Lupin,” a student called as they rounded another corner. “Good to see you’re all better.” Harry recognized her as one of the Gryffindor prefects, a sixth year.

“Ah, Anne, how are you?” Remus asked.

“Well, Professor. Tell me you have no intentions of taking ill again. Class without you was absolutely miserable.”

Remus laughed, and Anne fell in step with them as they continued to the Entrance Hall. “Professor Snape is very skilled in and knowledgeable of the Dark Arts. I’m sure it couldn’t have been —”

“He had us silent dueling! I tried to tell him we’d barely covered curses, and even Marcus said we were still practicing silent spell casting, but he wouldn’t listen to us. He spent half the time criticizing our form, and half the time criticizing your teaching methods.”

Harry noticed the corner of Remus’s jaw tighten, but his smile remained unchanged. “Professor Snape often has high expectations. I apologize class wasn’t as pleasant as you had anticipated.”

“And he assigned us an essay — four rolls on battling dark creatures. As if we’re training to be Hit Wizards just because it’s a N.E.W.T. class!”

“We can talk about it all in class,” Remus said tactfully. “I’m sure Professor Snape is only looking out for your education.”

Harry did not agree, and opened his mouth to say so, but Remus gave him a warning look. Harry shut his mouth quickly as they stepped into the Great Hall for breakfast. Ron and Hermione were already waiting for him, so he slipped onto the bench between them.

“You were gone when we went downstairs,” Ron said. “Thought you’d already be here.”

“Stopped to talk to Uncle Remus.” Harry reached for a slice of toast. “Wanted to tell him about the essay Snape gave us, but Anne Thelborne beat me to it.” It was a reasonably true excuse. “Apparently Snape was just as harsh on the N.E.W.T. class as he was on us.”

Hermione, however, eyed Harry suspiciously over her Arithmancy textbook. Harry almost asked her what was wrong with his face, but there was a sharp gasp from the Slytherin side of the hall, then a roar of laughter.

Malfoy was re-enacting Harry’s dramatic fall in the Quidditch game by climbing onto the bench and swooning.

“I hope he hits his head on a candle,” Harry muttered and spread his jam with a little more anger than necessary.

“Ravenclaw will murder Slytherin in February,” Ron assured him. “Fred and George were talking about their new Seeker. She’s supposed to be really good.”

Harry thought he should be cheered by that, but it only meant that he would have to double his efforts to beat her.

“You really are feeling alright, aren’t you Harry?” Hermione asked, and set aside her book. She exchanged a conspiratorial glance with Ron.

“I’m fine,” he insisted. “And I’ll be better once we get Potions over and done with.”

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

On Thursday, Remus informed them that they did not have to do the essay. The class sighed in relief. About half of them hadn’t done it at all, and about half had done it terribly. Hermione was the only one who looked disappointed, but Remus let her hand it in for extra credit. After the bell, when Harry tried to turn his two rolls of parchment, Remus raised an eyebrow at him.

“Harry,” Remus said gently, “You really don’t need to —”

“Please read it,” Harry insisted. “Even though I knew most of it already, from reading Dad’s books, I worked really hard on it. It’s really rude and everything.”

Remus laughed, and that alone was enough to reward Harry’s efforts. “I will hang onto it for a rainy day,” Remus said, and tucked it into his briefcase. “And you’re sure that you’re alright?”

Harry stiffened. “Fine. Why?”

“Neville and Dean came to me yesterday. They said you’re having nightmares.”

Harry tightened his grip on his bookbag. “It’s alright. I had them first year, too.” This looked like it hurt Remus somehow, and Harry instantly regretted it. “Really. It’s okay. I’ve talked to Mum about them before. It’s been off and on since I saw the… the unicorn.” Harry suddenly felt cold, as if a dementor had floated its way into the classroom.

Remus put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “If you need to talk about them….”

Harry glanced over his shoulder. He knew Lupin had first years coming in and Harry had to get to History of Magic. “Could I… come by after classes are done?”

“Of course, Harry. I suppose you’d better not be late, or I’ll have to give you a detention.” His eyes twinkled. “Then you’d be forced to spend your evening with me.”

Harry smiled as he left. He found Ron and Neville waiting for him.

“You didn’t have to —” he started.

“It’s Binns,” Ron snorted. “Would he even noticed if we didn’t show?”

“I’d still like to be on time,” Neville said meekly, and increased his pace. “Hermione’s already gone on ahead.”

“I told her to wait,” Ron said. “I think being late once or twice ought to be good for her, the way she’s carrying on.”

Harry was inclined to agree.

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Professor Flitwick let them out early as a reward for excellent behavior, so Harry quickly made his way back to Remus’s office. The third year Slytherins were just finishing up their lesson on hinkypunks. He was just in time to hear, “Yes, very good Draco. That would be an effective counter spell,” before the bell rang.

There was the sound of students’ chairs scraping the floor and Remus calling loudly over the noise, “If you wish to turn in your werewolf essay for extra credit, leave it on my desk, but otherwise you are excused from the assignment.”

Harry hung back as the Slytherin students filed out of class towards the Great Hall for dinner. He had no desire to get into it with Malfoy today. As soon as the students were gone, Harry walked into the classroom.

“You got here quickly,” Remus said.

“Flitwick let us go early.”

“Professor Flitwick, Harry.”

“Right.” Harry set his bag down on an empty desk and pulled a chair up beside Remus. He eyed the small pile of parchment on the end of Remus’s desk. “Are you really going to read those?”

“I don’t want any hard work to go to waste,” Remus said, and Harry could not detect a trace of fear or apprehension in his voice about having to read essays about identifying and killing werewolves. But he was quick to change the subject. “Did you want to tell me about your nightmare?”

Harry ran a hand through his hair, absentmindedly rubbing his scar. It hadn’t hurt recently. Not since he’d tried to cast a Shield Charm and passed out from the strain. Perhaps he was as weak as Malfoy said after all.

“It’s… I told Mum, but it’s about the night Voldemort attacked the house. At least, that’s what she said it was. You weren’t there, were you?”

But Harry didn’t need to ask. He knew the story. Hagrid and Sirius had dug him and his parents out of the rubble, gotten them in Dumbledore’s safe care, and Remus had arrived a few days later, after most of the dust of the war had settled, and Peter Pettigrew had been awarded Order of Merlin, First Class, posthumously.

“This time, though,” Harry continued, “I heard her begging him not to hurt me. I — I haven’t been able to write home since the accident,” he confessed. “I don’t know what to say. She was going to die in my place and I —” But Harry didn’t know how to explain his confusion. He was proud, sad, and terrified all at once and he didn’t know what words there were to explain himself.

Remus didn’t seem to need words to understand. “I think you have a better understanding of why your parents don’t like to talk about that night, now.”

Harry nodded.

“But your mother has always been this way. Your parents have always loved and supported you. That hasn’t always been an easy thing to do, but they did it because they love you.”

“They could have died and I —” Harry didn’t know what would have happened to him. Would he, too, have died because of Voldemort? Or would he have lived with Sirius or Remus? Who would he be if he hadn’t played Quidditch with his father or had his mother to help him with Potions?

“Why do they affect me like this?” Harry said bleakly, and took his glasses off to clean them, unconsciously mirroring his father’s habit. “Am I just….”

“You’re not weak,” Remus said quickly. “Quite the opposite, I’m sure. Sirius is actually far more similar to you, you know, especially about dementors. The thing is, they’re not Beings, and they’re not Beasts. They’re what we call Non-Beings, because they feed off of your emotions. They suck out every happy memory you have, until you’re left with only the bad. It can reduce you to something soulless, like a dementor itself. And the thing about you, and about Sirius, is that you have very bad memories, and very powerful fears. Anyone would have fallen off their broom at such a memory as the one you had. I know it took all your mother’s strength to cast a patronus at that match. It isn’t an easy thing to be brave in the face of your fears, but you have always been very brave, and that makes you incredibly strong.”

As always, Remus had the words Harry needed to hear. Not necessarily the ones he wanted, but the ones he needed. Neither dumbed down because he was young, or intricate to confuse him.

“If dementors are all that bad… Azkaban must be awful.”

“Most prisoners go mad within weeks,” Remus agreed.

“And they can’t cast a patronus, can they?”

“No. Not without their wands.”

“Then how did Regulus Black manage to escape? He was there for twelve years.”

Remus sighed heavily. “That is the question everyone’s been asking. I’m afraid I don’t have any more answers than you do.”

Harry had been thinking for a very long time about how Regulus Black might’ve managed to escape. He’d been thinking for a very long time about whether or not Regulus Black deserved Azkaban. He didn’t have any more answers, only questions he wanted to ask and the only person with answers would be Regulus Black.

“Could you teach me to cast a patronus?” asked Harry. “So if it ever happens again, I won’t —”

“It won’t happen again,” Remus said firmly. “Dumbledore would never allow it. And, besides, I think your mother might charge right into Fudge’s office and demand the dementors be removed from the grounds the instant they approached a student. She’s practically worked her way into the Board of Governors, you know.”

Harry did not know this, and the news took him a little by surprise. Then he imagined his mother in the same room as Lucius Malfoy, debating Hogwarts’ curriculum and staffing. It was a rather pleasant picture.

“Even if it doesn’t happen again, shouldn’t I ought to know?”

“It’s a N.E.W.T. level spell, Harry. You’re a talented wizard, but I’m not sure you’ve mastered the preliminary skills necessary for casting a patronus. It’s usually taught after wordless spell-casting because of how much focus it requires. You’ll be able to cast it wonderfully someday, I’m sure, but the basics —”

“Please, Uncle Remus, can’t we try?”

Remus looked him over for a very long moment. Harry held his breath and gazed at Remus imploringly. He had to work very hard to refrain from begging.

Finally, Remus sighed, and shook his head. “You and your father--” He ran a hand through his hair. “I have a lot of work to get through before the holidays, but afterwards, yes, we can give it a try.”

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Ravenclaw absolutely flattened Hufflepuff in the Quidditch game, and as a result, Malfoy’s bravado began to wane. Ron’s prediction that Ravenclaw’s new Seeker was a threat proved true. Harry couldn’t wait until February to watch Ravenclaw flatten Slytherin. It would be cathartic.

But before that, the holidays were coming. Harry had been unable to be home for Christmas last year, since his mother had been teaching at Hogwarts, so he was doubly excited to go home this year. He couldn’t wait to see his house, decorated in holly and red and gold ribbon like it had been his first year. He told Ron and Hermione they were welcome to join, and their families, too, of course.

The Saturday before the end of term was another trip to Hogsmeade. Hermione was excited to do some Christmas shopping for her parents. Harry promised if she saw anything Sirius or Remus might like, he would gladly pay her back, but he was to be interred at the castle for a second time.

Still, when that Saturday arrived, he got up to see them off.

Harry leaned against the Entrance Hall doors and watched them go. He was a little glad he didn’t have to walk past the dementors, but like last time, he was left wondering what to do with himself. He thought about walking to Remus’s office, but he thought he’d only be underfoot. Remus had exams to prepare before the holidays.

When he started back towards the common room, he was pulled into a tiny alcove under a stairwell suddenly. Harry groped for his wand in his robes, but saw it was just Fred and George.

His heart was still hammering as he said, “What was that for? Why aren’t you two off at Hogsmeade?”

“We have something for you,” Fred said imperiously.

“Think of it as early holiday cheer,” George said.

Fred snorted. “Or perhaps an early inheritance, but you’ll have to confirm our suspicions.”

Harry had no idea what that meant, but his curiosity was piqued as he followed Fred and George into an unused classroom.

Fred pulled a square of parchment out of his cloak and laid it on one of the desks. It was a very old piece of parchment, worn around the edges, but Harry could see no merit in it. He only stared at it, face as blank as the parchment.

“What’s it supposed to be?”

“The secret of our success,” George said reverently.

“We’re loathe to part with it, but we’ve agreed your need’s greater than ours at present.”

“And we suspect it’s rightfully yours anyhow,” George added.

Harry still didn’t understand. “What do I need with a bit of old parchment?”

Fred gasped, like he’d insulted Merlin or Godric Gryffindor. “Old parchment?” he gagged and mimed swooning.

“When we were in our first year,” George explained, “young, carefree, and innocent —” Harry snorted. “— well, more innocent than we are now — we got into a spot of a bother with Filch.”

“We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason —”

“So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual —”

“— detention —”

“— disembowelment —”

“— and we couldn’t help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked ‘Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.’”

“I dropped a Dungbomb to make a diversion, and Fred opened the drawer and grabbed this.” George patted the parchment again. “We don’t reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn’t have confiscated it.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. The story was grand and all, but he hadn’t gotten any answers about why the parchment was so important.

“This little beauty’s taught us more than all the teachers in this school,” Fred sighed.

“Get to it already,” Harry said. “How does it work?”

George smiled and touched the tip of his wand to the parchment. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Ink began to crawl across the parchment. Harry was reminded of the diary, but instead of absorbing ink dripped into it, the parchment spit ink back out to form letters. He was suspicious for a moment, but then the words became clear —

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present The Marauders’ Map

Harry burst into laughter.

Fred jumped up and down gleefully. “We were right, George! It is Professor Lupin and your Dad and Mum and Sirius, isn’t it?”

Harry laughed harder. “No, not my Mum, but yes to the others.” Harry was having trouble controlling his laughter. “How’d you figure it out?”

“The map? Took us a near month figuring out the right words,” George sighed.

“But the mapmakers were very helpful, once they knew we were intent on making trouble,” Fred added.

“I meant about my dad,” Harry said.

“Oh. When we stayed with you at Christmas. And again when they visited for Quidditch. Sirius called Mr. Lupin, ‘Moony.’ We figured your dad and mum were in on it too.”

Harry looked at the parchment, which now detailed the floor plan of Hogwarts, and where everyone was located. Little dots moved about in common rooms and teachers pacing their offices. Even Peeves was visible, bouncing around the trophy room.

“So why are you giving it to me? You could get into loads of mischief with it,” Harry said.

“This,” and Fred pointed to a secret passage that lead out of the castle and up to Hogsmeade. “There are several passages, but this one’s the only working one right now. Filch knows about the others, except this one that’s caved in, and the other one’s guarded by the Whomping Willow. But we’ve used this one loads of times. It’s certainly safe.”

George sighed and patted the map. “We owe them so much.”

“We’ll have to write them thank you letters,” Fred laughed. “Just be sure, Harry, that you wipe the map when you’re done, or anyone will be able to read it.”

George pressed his wand into the paper. “Mischief Managed.”

And the ink faded from the paper. It was once again just a bit of old parchment that Fred folded up and handed to Harry, as if handing the robes of St. Peter himself.

“See you in Honeydukes,” George winked and went off with Fred towards the Entrance Hall. Harry could hear them apologizing to Filch for oversleeping and assuring him their names were on the list. Their voices eventually faded as they left the castle.

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Harry emerged in Honeydukes and slipped through the crowd. He found Ron and Hermione looking at candies to buy for him, which he appreciated. When he came up behind them, Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin and Ron dropped a jar of Cockroach Clusters. Harry managed to catch it before it hit the ground.

“What are you doing here?” Hermione hissed.

They walked outside and Harry told them quietly about the Marauder’s Map. Hermione insisted he turn it in. Harry found the idea absurd. He had so many questions to ask his dad and Sirius about the map. This, if anything, seemed like an excellent way to repair his and Sirius’s relationship. Ron, once he got over his offense that Fred and George never shared the map with him, sided with Harry.

“What if Regulus Black got a hold of the map? What if he knows about the tunnels on it?” Hermione pressed.

“Regulus Black doesn’t know how to use the map.” Harry imagined if Sirius was involved with the design, the map would have a few choice words for Regulus Black. “And, anyway, Uncle Remus knows all the passages on the map, so it isn’t a problem.”

“Then Professor Lupin might catch you,” Hermione pointed out.

“Then I’ll hand the map in,” Harry shrugged. He doubted Remus would be terribly upset. Sure, he was risking his safety, but this was Hogsmeade. Regulus Black couldn’t turn up in the middle of the day, in the middle of holiday crowds, without getting caught. It couldn’t be any less safe than Hogwarts.

With most of Hermione’s fears allayed, Ron began to show Harry around Hogsmeade. Hermione, too, was unable to withhold all she knew about the small magical town, and began telling Harry excitedly about the history of each building they passed.

They ended up in the Three Broomsticks. Ron — face red from the cold or from a crush, Harry wasn’t sure — bought three butterbeers for him, Harry, and Hermione. They sat near the fireplace as they drank the warm, frothy drinks. Harry had never felt better. The thrill of sneaking out and being with friends warmed him as much as any butterbeer.

Then the door to the Three Broomsticks opened and Harry nearly choked on his butterbeer. Professor McGonagall and Flitwick walked in, followed by Hagrid and Cornelius Fudge.

Ron and Hermione shoved Harry under the table and Hermione used her wand to move the Christmas tree to hide their table from their professors. Harry tried to think of an escape route, but Professor McGonagall had a perfect view of the door. He’d never make it past her sharp eyes.

“Minister,” Madam Rosmerta said in a high, musical voice that made Harry see why Ron liked her, “what brings you down to this neck of the woods?”

Cornelius Fudge’s voice was low and weary. “What else but Regulus Black? You heard he was sighted in town just before Halloween.”

Harry wished he could look up at Ron and Hermione, because he certainly hadn’t heard that.

Rosmerta clicked her tongue and her sparkly blue heels settled near a chair at the teachers’ table. “I had heard a rumor. Unpleasant to hear it confirmed. These dementors are bad for business, you know, Minister. Scare my customers right off, they do.”

“They are… an unpleasant necessity. They’re unhappy about it too. Dumbledore won’t let them in the grounds of the castle —”

“And with good reason,” Professor McGonagall snapped. “The idea of students being subjected to that —”

“All the same, they’re protecting us from something far worse. We all know what Black is capable of.”

Harry’s ears pricked and he dared to inch closer. He didn’t want to miss a word of this.

Madam Rosmerta sighed thoughtfully. “I remember Regulus Black. He was a rather sweet boy, from what I recall. Very polite. Always tipped well. But the friends he had — It’s a right shame. A boy like that, losing such a promising future. I will always wonder if Crouch did the right thing with those two.”

The Minister grunted. “He certainly suffered for his decision. Shunted off to International Relations. Such a fall….”

“I think losing his son and his wife a far worse way to suffer for his decision,” said McGonagall. Her voice was slightly accusing, and the Minister cleared his throat. Harry imagined her turning her strict stare onto him. Good. The Minister needed more people to look at him that way, Harry thought.

“Regulus was such a wonderful student in class,” Flitwick said suddenly, in his squeaky voice. “But outside of class —”

“I think Regulus’s relationship with his brother was largely to blame,” Professor McGonagall.

Harry inched closer.

“Had to throw the Black boys out once for brawling,” Madam Rosmerta laughed. “Never saw two brothers look more alike ‘til the Weasley boys came along. Shame they didn’t get on even half as well as those boys. I’d like to think they might’ve been a good influence on each other.”

“I’m afraid they quite influenced each other in opposite directions,” said McGonagall. “I think they made their choices to spite each other, if anything else.”

“Regulus Black is responsible for ‘is own actions,” Hagrid said. “”E made ‘is choices. Can’t give ‘im a pass because he wanted ter be differen’ from his brother.”

“No one is saying that,” McGonagall said. “What Regulus Black did is unforgivable.”

“The public doesn’t even know the half of it,” Fudge said, rather loudly, Harry thought, for a secret the public didn’t know.

Harry dared to move just a little closer.

“More than torturing the poor Longbottoms?” Rosmerta said in shock. “Here, Minister, let me refill your rum.”

The sparkly heels clicked away, and Harry feared he would never hear the story. But it turned out Madam Rosmerta had as much interest in the gossip as he did, for as soon as the Minister had a fresh mug of red currant rum, she sat back down and pressed him to tell her everything.

“Everyone knows Regulus Black was missing for two years before his reappearance at the Longbottom’s home,” the Minister said.

“Hard to miss! The Daily Prophet's gossip columns did little other than report on the missing heir to the Black fortune for weeks after his father died.”

“Yes, well,” the Minister began gravely, “apparently he was very active during those two years, doing dark secret tasks for You-Know-Who. He was even responsible for what happened to the Bones family.”

Harry shrank back under the table, remembering a conversation he and Susan Bones had eavesdropped on, two years ago, before either of them had ever attended Hogwarts, about how nearly her entire family had been killed by supporters of Voldemort.

“That’s just to name one. He spent those two years selling out Muggle-born families to his master, and doing many terrible things for You-Know-Who,” the Minister sighed heavily. “Things so dark he couldn’t even let his own mother know he was alive.”

Hermione nudged Harry with her foot and he knew she was thinking of that last letter, the one where Regulus begged Narcissa, who Harry now understood to be Sirius’s cousin and Draco’s mother, to disappear. He wondered if Regulus’s disappearance had been part of a larger scheme, as the Minister suggested. But one line stuck in Harry’s mind — “I will do everything I can to bring him down and protect the people and things that I love.”

It was the one part Harry still couldn’t make sense of. He wondered if Sirius fell into the end category of “people I love.” Narcissa surely did, or he wouldn’t have sent her a letter.

But the letter closed with an apology to Sirius. For things Regulus had done, or for things Regulus was going to do?

“Edgar Bones was a wonderful student,” Flitwick said, and blew his nose.

“He came in here with his little ones once or twice,” Rosmerta said. “They were adorable. Spitting images of his mother, in miniature form.”

“Edgar’s mother was a classmate of mine,” McGonagall said quietly. “She was a very talented witch, and fought quite bravely against anyone who criticized her Muggle parents.” There was a sad note in her voice Harry wasn’t sure he’d ever heard from McGonagall before.

“I can’t believe little Regulus, who would have stolen the moon for his mother, would do anything to hurt a family like that,” Rosmerta said.

“The war was a dark time,” said Hagrid. “Lots o’ wizards did things they didn’ think they’d ever do before. I wouldn’ ta thought it of Regulus either, but if you saw ‘im duel his brother, you’da seen it.”

McGonagall hummed, and Harry wasn’t sure if it was in agreement or disappointment — possibly both.

“Drove him mad, did it?” Rosmerta asked.

“I wish I could say those were the actions of a madman,” the Minister said, “but unfortunately, Regulus Black seems to have become a cruel and calculated man after leaving Hogwarts. I happened to see him on my routine check of Azkaban this last time. No one had seen him in twelve years, mind. Not since his brother took care of the legal paperwork to make sure the Black family possessions went to him. They weren’t going to do Regulus Black much good in Azkaban, of course. I expected him to be as withered as the rest of the prisoners but it seemed — somehow, twelve years of dementors had done nothing. He was despondent, but clear-headed. He asked me for the paper, carefully enunciating and everything, as if his mother were checking his speech at a dinner party. Said he missed reading about new weddings.”

“But what could he possibly have broken out to do?” Rosmerta blurted. “He can’t possibly rejoin You-Know-Who.”

“That, or continue what his master began. It seems he’s starting with —”

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. “Minister, if you’re going to make dinner with the Headmaster, we ought to get going.”

“Oh, yes.” The party stood, chairs scraping away. Harry scrambled backwards, against Hermione and Ron’s legs.

“Careful, Minister,” Rosmerta laughed. “Lean on Hagrid if you can’t stand straight.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” the Minister grunted. “Though perhaps the cold blizzard will do some good.”

The door jingled as the adults left, and Madam Rosmerta’s sparkly blue heels clicked their way back behind the counter of her shop.