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quokkacore · 3 years

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with great power I [lee jeno]

summary: there are two things jeno loves most about his life. one being spiderman, the other being you, his best friend. there’s just one issue: after your father’s death, you decide you hate both spiderman and yourself.

pairing: lee jeno x reader

genre: superhero au, high school au, coming of age, best friends to strangers(ish) to lovers, fluff, ANGST, minor crack

warnings (for this chapter): language, violence, gun violence, the mafia, parental death, police presence, sexual references, bullying (ily san im sorry), the dreamies being dicks to each other, police corruption, towards the end jeno experiences something similar to sensory overload, americanized names, pop culture references, VERY jeno centric

song rec: we go up - nct dream // any song - zico // 21 questions - waterparks // talk (remix feat. megan thee stallion & yo gotti) - khalid // sunrise - ateez // i really like you - carly rae jepsen // dare - gorillaz // stray kids - the tortoise and the hare

word count: 10.5k

a/n: this is so late...... i blame attack on titan. but hey!! better late than never :] a huge thanks to @doderyscoffee for beta reading <3

main masterlist // story masterlist

chapter one: jeno and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Jeno despised Tuesdays. He was pretty sure that Tuesdays despised Jeno as well because all of his worst days just so happen to be Tuesdays. He was 96% sure that, if there was a god, his day off was on Tuesdays, or that the planets aligned in such a manner on Tuesdays that it caused universal despair and misery. If he was to take Donghyuck's word for it, his chakra attracted negative energy the most on Tuesdays.

When Jeno was 5, his goldfish Pippin had died on a Tuesday. When he had his ass handed to him on the playground by San Choi in the third grade, it was a Tuesday. And in the seventh grade, he'd failed his Spanish test, missed his bus and walked home in the rain only to find out that his Aunt Sunny was at work, he'd left his keys in his locker and that had to wait an hour before she got home to unlock it for him, all on a Tuesday.

And wouldn't you know it, here he was, late for the first day of senior year, which was, of all days, a godforsaken Tuesday.

In his eternal wisdom, he'd stayed up gaming with Renjun until two in the morning, and because of it, slept through his three alarms, one set at six-thirty, the other at 6:45, the last one at 7:00.

He'd woken up at 7:17, to the sound of his elderly neighbor's pet chihuahua barking at a pigeon, checked the time, immediately panicked, sped into the shower, gotten dressed in a haste, grabbed a few granola bars from the pantry, and ran out the door while trying to jam his backpack closed, and managed to catch the train at 7:40, which took about twenty minutes to get to his stop, plus a ten-minute walk to school, and class started at 8:10. Not to mention he’d have to stop by the office and pick up his schedule. At best, he’d be five minutes late to his first class. But tardies were tardies, regardless, and the last thing he needed was to lose his perfect attendance streak.

He fished out his phone while standing on the train, waiting for his stop, scrolling through Instagram, and liking random pictures. A ping! from his phone caught his attention, then two, then a third. He smiled softly when your name popped up on his screen.

[7:48 AM]

y/n: pssst

y/n: shithead

y/n: where r u ????

[7:49 AM]

y/n: i can sEE u online on ig u know

jeno: …… i'm on the train

jeno: woke up late

y/n: YOURE GONNA BE LATR

y/n: LATE*

y/n: ON THE FIRST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR

[7:50]

jeno: probably, yeah

jeno: it's the school district's fault, why would they make the first day of school on a fkn TUESDAY

y/n: ohhh yeahh its terrible tuesday

y/n: [sent an attachment!]

[7:51 AM]

jeno: SHUT UP

jeno: you're not funny >:(

jeno: how dare you laugh at my misfortune

y/n: au contraire im hilarious

jeno: meanie :(

jeno: im gonna be late i hate it here

jeno: it'll end up on my permanent record and i'm not gonna get into college and then i'm gonna die,,,

[7:52 AM]

y/n: sometimes ur worse than hyuck i swear

y/n: FIRST OF ALL permanent records dont even exist !!!!!! its propaganda duh

y/n: also ur literally never late

y/n: im sure o n e tardy wont do anything chill

y/n: dont be stupid youll be fine

Don’t be stupid. Too little, too late, he thought, already having got off the train at a previous stop. Now, he was looking for an unoccupied street or alleyway, which, for once, was easy, taking a deep breath before he did the exact opposite of what you’d told him not to do. Don’t be stupid.

The buildings are low, he thought to himself, it’ll be easier to see me.

Don’t be stupid.

Too late!

Thwip!

Jeno didn’t hesitate to use the web fluid to pull himself up onto the wall, climbing in a haste, before running and jumping onto the next building. He quickly built up a quick pace, using the web fluid occasionally to swing onto a building slightly out of jumping range.

Signs in English, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish flew past him as he seemingly flew over the Queens traffic, leaving Flushing behind and crossing quickly into College Point quicker than he would if he took the train. He glanced to his left and caught a view of the bay, and far across it, the LaGuardia airport watchtower.

Jeno had lived in New York City his entire life. He knew Queens like the back of his hand, knew every dingy alleyway, every sketchy street, which restaurants to avoid if you didn’t want to get food poisoning, which convenience store aunties were the nicest and didn’t pinch his cheeks too hard. It was his home, and most likely would be for the rest of his life.

But seeing it like this, flying past him below as he glided with ease from building to building would never cease to be a sight to him. It was like watching from the perspective of an outsider, seeing people in their cars, walking along the street gave him a brand new perspective. A Jeno’s eye view, he called it, since he was pretty sure he was the only one in New York City.

Another noise from his phone brought him back to reality. He shook his head, stopping briefly to catch his breath and fish out his phone briefly.

[7:57 AM]

y/n: let me know when u get here !!!

No time to respond, he put away the phone and continued his trek to school. He had less than ten minutes to get there. But he knew he was already at least five minutes away, much quicker than he would be if he had decided to stick to the train. He smiled a bit to himself, feeling ever so slightly smug.

The hustle and bustle of the city definitely proved challenging to find a place to land without many eyes, but he figured it out eventually, landing behind a dumpster in an alleyway behind a restaurant that he knew was about three or four blocks from the school. He figured it would be a lot better to take it on foot from here. The notebooks he was carrying in his backpack bounced up and down with every step he took.

After what seemed like forever, the gates to the school appeared in his view, and Jeno felt a joy in his heaving chest, something he would have never thought would happen upon seeing the absolute hellhole that was Samuel Morse High School.

[8:06 AM]

jeno: just did >:D

Picking up his schedule was both quick and insanely long. He couldn’t stop himself from tapping his left foot while the secretary found his schedule and handed it to him. “Kibum, please hurry,” He muttered, and Kibum raised an eyebrow at him, but his gaze was teasing. “That’s Mr. Kim to you, in school at least.”

He handed Jeno his schedule a few seconds later. “Tell your Aunt to come pick up her casserole dish, by the way. She left it at my house after my last viewing party.”

“The Bachelor?”

“Please. We’re too classy for that. Drag Race.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Jeno,” Kibum said, staring up at him from his desk, his gaze now much more serious, “Get to class. Happy first day of senior year.”

“Thanks, Mr. Kim.”

He managed to make it to chemistry class at 8:09 with seconds to spare. His eyes quickly scanned the room upon entering, hoping his friends were in the class with him. He caught a few familiar faces, most of which, like San Choi's, he wished to avoid. No one paid him any mind. Everyone was still speaking to the people next to them, no doubt exchanging stories of summer vacation.

A hand shot up towards the back, waving at him. A smile stretched across his face as he registered your face, feet not hesitating to carry him towards the empty seat next to you. His heart skipped a beat at seeing your smile, and he tried his best to ignore it.

“Hey,” You greeted, “That was fast. I thought you said you were gonna be late.”

Jeno shrugged, eyes landing on the dark shade of the lab table. “The train was a lot faster than I expected, apparently.”

You wrinkled your nose. “Why do you smell so bad?”

“I, uh… ran a little.”

You grimaced, and Jeno tried to casually sniff at his slightly sweaty clothes. It’s not that bad. “I still don’t understand why you won’t let me drive you to school. You’re literally next door.”

“I don’t know,” He answered, rolling his eyes, “Maybe it’s because when it comes to that truck, you are absolutely insane. You won’t even let me drink water in that thing.”

The truck in question, a faded red 1998 Chevrolet S-10, had been your gift to yourself for your 17th birthday. You’d spent two summers saving up to buy yourself a truck, and that was what you were able to get for what you had. To say it was a huge piece of junk on wheels was an understatement.

The thing smelled like mothballs no matter how many air fresheners you bought it, the engine sounded like an old man having a coughing fit, and there was a very suspicious stain in the backseat that wouldn’t go away no matter how many times you scrubbed it. But for some reason, you treated it like it was your own baby. The amount of times you’d yelled at Jaemin for trying to put his feet on the dashboard was too high to count.

You mirrored his movement, eyes rolling as you sighed. “At least let me drive you home after school today. Maybe you can stay and we can finally watch Blade Runner.”

You’d been trying to get him to watch the film for almost a month now, begging and pleading because you insisted that he’d love it. He offered an awkward stare, before opening his backpack and pulling out a notebook. “Can’t,” He mumbled, “I’m headed into Manhattan. I have my internship afterwards.”

“Oh, yeah,” You said nonchalantly, eyebrows shooting up as you remembered, “Park Industries.”

He was about to reply when Mrs. Baker, the chemistry teacher, finally entered. She’d been working at SMHS for 30 years and had never, apparently, been nice, if his Aunt Sunny’s stories were anything to go by. However, she had apparently always spoken as if she smoked two packs a day. She was rambling about the importance of making the most of senior year academically, adult responsibilities, college, and whatnot. You and Jeno exchanged glances often throughout the monologue, hoping it would end soon.

“Enough of that,” She said after what seemed like an eternity, “Everyone quiet down, I’m going to call roll.”

Names were quickly called, and Jeno was ready to pull out a pencil and start working with you until Mrs Baker demanded a switch in seats, beginning to call on random names in an effort to deter everyone from speaking.

"Please not with Choi, please not with Choi," Jeno muttered under his breath, glancing warily at San, who was staring ahead, looking bored.

San had had it out for Jeno ever since day one, in first grade. For some reason, everything Jeno did seemed to annoy the other boy. He wasn't funny enough, or too nerdy, or too quiet. Jeno was always too much or too little for him.

You touched his forearm, and he looked towards you.

“You’ll be fine,” You said softly, trying not to alert the teacher, “You’re not gonna get paired up with him, and you can take it to the office if you need to.” “Yeah, because I’m sure Coach Peralta would be thrilled if someone tried to get his precious midfielder in trouble.”

“Choi, San,” Mrs Baker’s voice rang throughout the room, and Jeno braced himself for the worst, eyebrows furrowing with worry.

“You’ll be sitting with… L/N, Y/N.”

Jeno’s shoulders slumped, but your face remained impassive. You picked up your stuff, and pouted silently at Jeno in apology, before making your way to the front.

“Lee, Jeno,” Mrs Baker called a few minutes later, “You’ll be sitting with Jang, Yeeun.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief. Yeeun is nice, Jeno thought to himself, I could sit with Yeeun. She wasn’t part of his main friend group, but he had tutored her in math during sophomore year in exchange for her helping him with Spanish, and they’d been pretty friendly ever since.

“Hey,” Yeeun greeted as Jeno sat down, and Jeno smiled at her.

“Remember, these will be your assigned lab partners for the rest of the semester. No changes, no exceptions.” Mrs. Baker sat down at her desk, before beginning to talk about something Jeno didn’t really pay attention to.

You exchanged glances with Jeno, and he gave you a look of sympathy as you gestured at San with your eyes. San was talking to you about something—probably bragging about some soccer achievement—but you weren’t paying him much attention. Jeno swallowed something growing in his throat as he looked at how your hair looked today.

It was nothing relatively new, the same hairstyle you used on most days. But still, there was a bit of a shine to it. He wondered vaguely if you had changed your shampoo, the other day you’d been complaining about how itchy your normal shampoo made your scalp—

“You still haven’t told her about how you feel?” Yeeun asked quietly, and Jeno’s head snapped back to look at her, eyes wide.

“W-what? Me. Like Y/N…” He laughed nervously, trying to keep his voice down. He scratched the back of his head, avoiding Yeeun’s accusatory stare. “You’re hilarious, Yeeun. Tell another one.”

Yeeun shook her head. “You’d better hurry before someone else snatches her up, Jen. She’s not gonna wait around for you forever.”

“I don’t like her, Yeeun.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Hey! Jeno Lee!”

“Hey! Jaemin Na! What do you want!” Jeno answered as he sat down, mimicking Jaemin’s tone next to him.

“Well, for starters, a million dollars, and second, a date with Yiren Wang, but I doubt you can help me with either of those, so...”

Jeno glanced at the rest of the table. Along with Jaemin, Mark, Renjun, Donghyuck, and you were watching the interaction between the pair. “Where are the munchkins?” Jeno asked, noticing Chenle and Jisung’s absence. No one could really call them munchkins anymore. That nickname dated back to middle school, before the two underclassmen had gone through growth spurts.

“Eh, they should be here soon,” Renjun said, chewing on a french fry, “How’s your day been?”

“Pretty good so far, I guess. I got AP Calc with Mr. Washington later, though. That man wants me dead.”

You rolled your eyes. “He doesn’t want you dead. I’m telling you, you and Hyuck have been spending way too much time together. You’re being more dramatic than usual and Hyuck’s being more… weird than usual.”

“And just what is so weird about being enthusiastic about senior year, Y/N?” Donghyuck asked, shaking his head, “It’s our last year in this hellhole, I’m excited that we’re finally getting out of here. And besides—”

“Please don’t bring up the fact that you’re abandoning us next year.” Chenle seemingly appeared out of nowhere, sitting next to Renjun, Jisung following quickly behind him.

“Hi, Sungie,” You said with a smile, and Jisung smiled back. “Hi, Y/N.”

“What were you saying, Hyuck?” Jaemin looked at Donghyuck, who had taken the quick interaction as an opportunity to take a bite of his sandwich. His wide eyes darted to the slim boy, cheeks stuffed with chicken.

“Oh,” He replied after swallowing, “This is gonna be my year. I’m getting male lead for the winter musical and no one is gonna stop me.”

“Do you even know what musical you guys are doing yet?” Mark asked, “What if it’s like… Shrek?”

Jisung made a face. “There’s a Shrek musical?”

Mark nodded, and Renjun laughed.

“I don’t know about male lead, if it’s Shrek. You should try out for Donkey,” The Chinese boy joked, “With those front teeth, you’re a shoo-in.”

The entire table was silent for a moment, before snorts and chortles started pouring out from everyone except Donghyuck.

“Fuck you, Huang.”

Renjun flashed the friendliest smile he could muster. “Not if you paid me a million dollars.”

The subject remained on extracurriculars, everyone in your group except for Chenle and Jisung now wary of college applications. Donghyuck had been in theater ever since middle school, Renjun was in the robotics club and the debate team with Jaemin, who was also in the student council. Mark was on the math team with Jeno, and you had founded the film club.

"You're not gonna believe who asked to sign up for film," You huffed, looking kind of confused. The rest of the table looked at you expectantly, and you pursed your lips, almost as if you were trying not to laugh.

"San Choi."

Renjun scoffed. Jaemin raised his eyebrows before letting out a single, humorless laugh. Jeno made a face, poking his plastic fork at you.

"What is San Choi doing asking to sign up for film?"

"Fuck if I know. He said he needed one more extracurricular if he wanted to get into some college in Florida and he liked going to the movies, so he wanted to try out film."

Mark rolled his eyes. "I swear there's nothing in that guy's head but hot gas. It blows my mind."

"He's a dick," Chenle grumbled, "I'm still not over how he and Wooyoung taped Jisung to the flagpole last year."

Jisung scowled. "I thought we agreed to never bring that up again."

“Do you think they’ll finally calm the fuck down this year?” Jaemin wondered, looking wistful.

You took a sip of your coke and shook your head. “Doubt it. They’re not the hateful eight for a reason.”

The mood at the table turned tense, until Jaemin frowned at his french fries, before sighing and clapping his hands together dramatically. “I would like to hear,” He mused, “About the nuance that theatre gives the cinematic masterpiece that is Shrek when converted into musical form.”

Donghyuck beamed. “Oh, it’s amazing. You see…”

If it was difficult to get Donghyuck to stop talking in general, it was impossible when it was about theater.

The conversation continued on until the bell rang, and the eight of you had to go your separate ways. Jaemin and Jeno had the same class, so they both walked together down a relatively calm hallway. Jaemin looked both ways, before finally lowering his voice.

“So, you’re going to see Mr. Park today?”

Jeno nodded, looking down at his shoes. “He said he wanted to give me an assignment. Says there’s something big going on.”

Jaemin’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Did he say what kind of something?”

Jeno shook his head, pouting slightly. “I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

Once school was out, Jeno was getting ready to get onto the subway once again, this time heading towards Midtown. It was only day one and, as Jeno had predicted, Mr. Washington probably was out to get him, because he’d swamped the class with homework.

As he left the school, he spotted you in the parking lot, leaning against your car door, texting someone. He glanced at his phone. He still had plenty of time, he figured. He walked over to you, and when you looked up, you smiled.

“Hey!” Your voice had that signature tone of enthusiasm to it, and Jeno smiled back immediately.

“Hello,” He sing-songed. “So, I was thinking… are you free on Friday night?”

You looked somewhere above his head, furrowing your eyebrows before you perked up again and nodded. “Yep! Why?”

“I’m free after nine. Maybe then I could come over to your house? So I can finally get you to stop harassing me about Blade Runner.”

You grinned, pumping your fists enthusiastically. “Hell yes,” You answered, “Do you want me to get like, some frozen pizzas or something?”

“Pizza sounds good,” He said. “Who are you even waiting for?”

You made a face that made it seem as if you’d just gotten a whiff of rotten milk. “Well—”

Your response was interrupted when the school doors slammed open, and eight figures poured out, carrying themselves with confidence Jeno both envied and despised. He frowned, trying not to react at their loud whooping and laughing. The Hateful Eight.

“Oh.” Jeno averted his gaze, meeting your eyes again.

“Yeah. If you don’t hear from me later it’s because I jumped out of my truck because I don’t wanna work with—”

“Well, hello, gorgeous!” San’s voice filled the parking lot, and Jeno took a deep breath. Your mouth stretched into a tight-lipped smile at the unwanted ‘compliment’.

“Hey, San.” Your friendly passive aggressive tone almost made Jeno smile. “I’ve been waiting here for like, fifteen minutes. You could have just given me your number and asked me to send you pictures of my notes, you know.”

He shrugged, turning his body so that his back was turned to Jeno. “Sorry, babe. Coach wanted to talk to us about the upcoming season. When he gets going, it’s hard to get him to stop. And besides, where’s the fun in just asking for pictures when I could come here, talk to you, and take the pictures myself?”

You didn’t respond, but rather pulled out your backpack and began digging through it. When you pulled out your notebook, you handed it to San, who flashed a wink at you. You barely held back a gag.

“Thanks, Y/N. I’ll just be a minute.”

He walked over to the hood of your truck, and just as you were about to continue your conversation, two figures slung their arms around both of Jeno’s shoulders, causing him to flinch.

Out of the fifteen soccer players on the team, San and his best friends—seven of them, to be precise—were the worst. The others were pretty nice. But right now, seeing two of those seven surround your best friend made you uneasy.

Wooyoung was loud. He was also a temperamental brat. His dad owned three used car dealerships over in Brooklyn, so naturally, he thought he owned the entire world. He wasn’t someone who would get too physical in fights, like San, or Jongho, or Yeosang. But when he was angry, he could easily get you to jump into the stratosphere by yelling at you once. Over the years, he’d made several teaching assistants and substitute teachers cry, only getting let off with a slap on the wrist every time.

Yunho was terrifying for completely different reasons. He was friendly, but a little too friendly to the people he wanted to control. He could read people like books and could easily manipulate whoever he wanted. But he wasn’t afraid of getting physical either, especially not when he was built like a goddamn Power Rangers Megazord.

All in all, they definitely weren't anyone you wanted near you, near your friends. Especially considering how much they had it out for your friends.

"Hey, buddy," Yunho said, looking down at Jeno with a wide smile. "How was summer vacation?"

Jeno gnawed on the side of his cheek as he considered his answer. "Um, it was okay." He looked at you to catch your eyes darting between San, Yunho and Wooyoung, like you were analyzing the situation. "I kinda stayed in and played video games most of the t—"

"Cool, cool," Yunho answered, carding his free hand through his bleach blond hair. "What about you, Woo?"

"Oh, dude, it was so cool," He bragged, "I went to Brazil for like, a month. I went clubbing with Instagram models and shit, it was wild."

You stared at him as he patted Jeno on the back rather aggressively. "Where did you go? Have you ever even left New York?"

You knew the answer. Only a few times when the debate team went to compete in different states. Jeno spoke up again. "Well, yeah a few t—"

"Doubt it," Yunho scoffed. He craned his head back. "San, you done yet?"

"Almost!" San answered. Yunho turned to face you, and for some reason his smile seemed genuinely kind. “What about you, Y/N?”

You never understood why it was that the soccer team hated your entire friend group, but seemed to tolerate you. It made no sense.

So you shrugged. “Not a lot, I guess. Did my summer reading. Hung out with my friends.” You flashed a reassuring smile at Jeno. “Right, Jen?”

Immediately, he relaxed a little bit. “Yeah.”

San appeared from behind Yunho, Jeno and Wooyoung. “Thanks, Y/N. I owe you one.”

You waved your hand, wanting them to get rid of them quickly. “Don’t mention it. But next time, just text me for my notes. I have to get to work, so…”

“Oh! My bad,” He answered with fake remorse, before unlocking his phone and handing it over to you. “Here. For next time.”

You stifled a deep sigh, punching in the numbers hesitantly. “Just for homework, got it?”

San took his phone back, holding a hand over his heart and raised his head. “On a gentleman's honor,” He declared, and you bit back a laugh. Jeno looked like he was going to hurl.

“San!” The team captain—Hongjoong—called from a few feet away, “Are you guys done yet or what?”

“Coming!” San yelled back.

“Alright, we’ll let you go,” Wooyoung said, patting Jeno on the back again, a bit too harsh for comfort. “Bye, Y/N! See you around.”

The three of them stalked off, leaving you and a very frazzled Jeno. “Dicks,” You muttered once they were out of earshot. “You good?”

Jeno shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ll be fine.”

You tilted your head, frowning. “Jeno—”

“I gotta go,” He said quickly. “I’ll see you later?”

You nodded, offering a lopsided smile. “Yeah. Be careful!”

Jeno offered a deep bow, fluttering his eyelashes. “On a gentleman’s honor,” He sighed, adding a very bad British accent to it. You burst out laughing, eyes squeezing shut.

You didn’t catch the way Jeno’s shoulders relaxed at the sound.

I want you to know now

Baby, it could go down

I don’t wanna talk about it

Baby, let’s just go now

The train ride into Midtown didn’t take too long. He spent it digging through his backpack for his Park Industries lanyard, listening to music and thinking about you.

When you talk right to me

You gon’ have to do me

Every time you think you’re leaving

You running back to me

You’d met Jeno when you were six. Truth be told, he didn’t really remember. For him it was like you weren’t there at one point and by the time you were, you were thicker than thieves. It was a difficult time for him. He had just lost both of his parents, and was moving in with his Aunt Sunny and his Uncle Jinki, who were barely out of college at the time. He’d had to move to a new school and basically restart his entire life. You were the first sense of stability in his life for months.

Your mom lived next to his aunt and uncle. So naturally, you went to the same school and went on the same bus. And somewhere along the way, you two clicked. You’d introduced him to Renjun, Jaemin and Donghyuck. You were there to comfort him whenever he got pushed off the slide by San or Wooyoung.

He was there for you when your stepdad and stepbrother moved in when you were nine and you weren’t sure how to deal with it. He was there when your mom died when you were thirteen. He’d introduced you and your friends to Mark, Chenle and Jisung.

And you were there when his Uncle Jinki got killed when he was fifteen. And because fate had an especially cruel sense of irony, it had happened on a Tuesday. You didn’t know, but at the time, he had just gotten his powers. Your comfort and words unknowingly had a secondary effect: he made the decision to use them for good, and… well. The rest was history.

Can we just talk? Can we just talk?

Talk about where we're goin'

Before we get lost, lend me your thoughts

Can't get what we want without knowin'

Just like when he met you, he didn’t recall an exact moment where he realized he’d fallen in love with you. He knew there was a world where he loved you, but wasn’t in love with you. And he knew that there was a world here he’d fallen in love with you—he was living in that world now. He realized he was living in that world maybe when he was sixteen, and had been stuck in it ever since.

You were it for him. He’d had crushes before. But never something like this, where he was so aware of your presence around him. It wasn’t the way he was hyper aware of someone like San, or like Yunho or Jongho. It wasn’t out of anxiety or fear, where a shift in mood activated his fight or flight. He was aware of you in a way that only people who truly know each other do, where he could pick up on subtle changes in your behavior, but not out of fear. Rather, out of a desire to take care of you and to not have you worry about anything.

I've never felt like this before

I apologize if I'm movin' too far

Can we just talk? Can we just talk?

Figure out where we're goin'...

As the train rolled into the station that was a fifteen minute walk from Park Tower, Jeno put away his headphones and took a deep breath.

The “Jeno Tingle” as his Aunt Sunny called it—Jeno hated the term—had taken him a few years to gain control of. And while he could never truly turn it off, he could at least tune it out enough to be more at ease. The only time he did so was at school or when he was studying, just because he wanted to feel normal, and because being aware of everything going on around him really messed with his concentration.

Jaemin didn’t understand. “If I was able to tell whenever Seonghwa was behind me because he wanted to scare me into doing his chemistry homework, I’d never turn that shit off,” He’d said once. But truthfully, Jeno didn’t really care. Because while yes, he was still slightly scared of the “hateful eight”, he knew damn well that if things got to be too much, he could kick their asses if he wanted to.

It was his friends he worried about. He couldn’t be around them 24/7. You, not so much. He knew you knew how to fight. Even worse, he knew that San had the hots for you so you were off limits to the rest of them, be it bullying or flirting. But for everyone else… Well. He couldn’t hover over them like some guardian angel.

Now that the “Jeno Tingle” was on, it allowed him to sense everyone within a certain range around him. He could zero in on certain sounds with ease, and his reflexes became heightened. Halfway on his walk up Park Avenue, he jumped away from a chihuahua on its leash a second before it started barking at him.

When he entered the first floor lobby of the Park Building, he scoured the crowd of employees and visitors until he landed on one familiar face.

He'd met Doyoung about a year after his dad started dating your mom. Things between your parents were starting to get serious, and Doyoung was four years older than you were. When they moved into your house, Doyoung as your new stepbrother became the de facto chaperone and babysitter. If you wanted to go to the mall with Jeno, he had to take you. Every time you dragged Jeno to the movies, Doyoung had to go also.

To an extent, it wasn't that bad. Doyoung was cool, and he was smart—he was the one who got Jeno interested in computers and chemistry. He graduated high school at 16, and finished his bachelor's degree at 19. He'd also interned at Park Industries, and secured a job there almost immediately after college.

To an extent, he was the whole reason Mr. Park knew who he was, because of one incident. It was relatively soon after he started the whole vigilante thing. Jeno, still figuring out how to maneuver on the webs that shot out of his wrists, had accidentally crashed into your backyard late at night, when only Doyoung was awake. He was standing in the back door while he was waiting for his dog to finish peeing.

Initially, the older boy had freaked out, thinking that it was a burglar or something. When he yelled out that his dad was a cop and was asleep in the house, Jeno panicked, and pulled off his mask, holding up his hands.

“Woah, woahwoahwoah! Doyoung! It’s me, it’s me!”

Doyoung’s eyes had widened to the size of saucers, paying no mind to the dog as it sauntered up to Jeno, before turning onto its back in a request for belly rubs.

"You're the spider guy everyone's been talking about!?"

"Spider man," Jeno had answered, voice cracking as he dusted himself off. He cringed at the sound of his voice. "...and yes."

Of course, his cover was blown, and he'd begged Doyoung not to tell anyone, especially not you. And while Doyoung had promised not to tell you, it didn't stop him from telling his boss.

That had been almost three years ago now. The rest was history, and after that Jeno didn’t have to run around in bright red sweatpants and dollar store swimming goggles. Now, he had a nanotech suit that allowed him to activate protocols of the suit through voice commands using something top-secret Mr. Park called D.R.E.A.M technology. Direct Response Engaged As Machine—yeah, Jeno didn’t get it either.

Doyoung offered Jeno a smile as he escorted Jeno past security, showing them his employee clearance pass. "Hey. How have you been?"

Jeno shrugged, recounting his day in minor detail as he was led into an elevator labeled authorized personnel only.

This elevator only went up to the 35th floor, seeing as everything past that was only cleared for a certain list of people approved by Mr. Park and his security team, and everything past the 90th floor were Mr. Park's private living quarters.

Now, as Doyoung led him to another elevator to head up to the 85th floor, which was always where Jeno got to meet with Mr. Park—which wasn't often, maybe once or twice a year—he wondered where he would be if he hadn’t surprised Doyoung that night. He would probably still be using those ugly red sweatpants as part of his disguise.

"How's Y/N?" Doyoung asked.

"Oh, she seems okay. That guy who hates me keeps coming onto her though. He's a huge douchebag."

Doyoung frowned. "He's not harassing her, is he? Because if he is—"

"He just won't stop flirting, even though she clearly isn't interested," Jeno said bitterly, "He isn't physical or anything. Trust me, it wouldn't end well for him if he was."

Doyoung wasn't quite sure how to respond to the younger boy's dark tone. He looked down, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“So… how’s the apartment?” Jeno asked. Doyoung perked up instantly.

“Oh, now that Taeyong’s moved in and did his interior design thing, it looks great. He’s really done a great job at it.”

“When am I gonna meet this guy? He sounds cool.”

“He’s really cool,” Doyoung hummed, cheeks heating up. “Things are getting really serious.”

Jeno smiled at how flustered Doyoung, who was normally so level headed and calm, became at the mention of his boyfriend.

“You guys sound like a really good couple,” He said. Doyoung chuckled, waving his hand. “Oh, well—”

The elevator dinged, and Doyoung sighed. “I’ll tell you later. C’mon.”

The hallway it opened up to was lined with pictures of the company's history, starting from pictures of black and white of people in vintage clothing, to pictures in sepia tones to finally pictures of the current CEO at locations around the world: Chanyeol Park.

Jeno walked behind Doyoung as he led him down the hallway, before stopping in front of a door, and a friendly looking man in a suit.

Junmyeon was a part of Chanyeol’s Security and Intelligence team, and often sat in on these meetings with Jeno. The chain of contact also included him. If Jeno couldn’t contact Doyoung (which rarely happened), he’d contact Junmyeon. And if he couldn’t contact either of them, or it was an emergency, only then could he contact Chanyeol. So far, that had only happened once.

"Hey, Junmyeon," Doyoung said, "Mr. Park's 4:30 is here."

Junmyeon nodded, before smiling at Jeno and giving him a wave. "Hey, kid."

Jeno offered an awkward grin. "Hi, Mr. Kim."

Junmyeon rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Kid, you're making me feel ancient. I've told you a million times, just call me Junmyeon."

Jeno shuffled awkwardly, before nodding at the older man, watching as he pressed a button on his earpiece. "Hey, Yeol. Jeno's here."

The muffled response was barely heard, but Jeno automatically understood what Mr. Park said. Junmyeon turned to open the door, and let the pair inside. The “office”—if it could even be called that—opened up to more of a lounge, than anything. A wall of glass overlooked the Manhattan skyline, but Jeno knew that from the outside it looked only like a wall, due to camouflage technology developed by Mr. Park himself. As Doyoung and Junmyeon stayed back, closer to the door, Jeno took a few steps toward the man in question.

Chanyeol was standing a few feet in front of the glass window, working on a holographic model of a new piece of tech. His face was turned downward in a concentrated frown. He barely spared the teenager a glance as he said fondly, “Hey, kid.”

Jeno was used to this. Chanyeol wasn’t cold per se, but he wasn’t warm at all. He knew that Chanyeol cared about him, even if he didn’t really show it in a conventional way. Chanyeol was a very… eccentric man, so he had his own way of saying and doing things.

“Hi, Mr. Park. Um… you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yep! Needed some help from the friendly neighborhood Spiderman… A little birdie told me about something going on in Queens.”

“Queens?” Jeno asked, gripping the straps of his backpack. “You mean, other than the usual stuff?”

“Other than the usual stuff,” Chanyeol repeated, nodding. With a wave of his hand, the hologram disappeared, and another one appeared in its place. This time, instead of a 3D model, a few pictures and another, smaller 3D model appeared. Chanyeol turned to face him, frown deepening. He pointed at the model—a long, shiny oval-shaped purple stone. It reminded Jeno of an amethyst, but instead of turning white at the base, it turned to an iridescent jade tone. “You know what this is, right?”

Jeno nodded, remembering seeing the rocks all over the news when he was a kid. “That’s… that’s a Chitauri stone. From the invasion a few years back.”

Chanyeol nodded, standing up straight. “These stones have the potential to power weapons with no need to recharge, or change them out. They’re an infinite, extremely strong power source, Jeno, and in the wrong hands can be very dangerous.”

Jeno took a deep breath, feeling his stomach sink slowly. Chanyeol sighed. “Cleanup of the city after the invasion was long, and difficult, and obviously the government and the company weren’t able to get everything. It caused a black market to pop up. Now, the NYPD has been investigating it for years, but they have their limits… that’s where you come in.”

“M-me, Mr. Park?”

Chanyeol gave him a crooked, reassuring smile. He pointed at one of the pictures, which was of a man who most likely didn’t know he was photographed. He was walking somewhere, face looking angry and stern.

“You don’t know who this is, right?”

Jeno shook his head, and Chanyeol turned his head to nod at Junmyeon. “You’re up, tough guy.”

Junmyeon huffed, before walking up to Jeno. He put his hand on Jeno’s shoulder as if he could tell that he was growing anxious.

“Jeno, that’s Henry Duke. From what we understand on the intel team, he’s one of the cornerstones of the alien tech black market. He’s one of the top dogs. From what we understand, he likes to be present for all major negotiations that his group makes. A source of ours told us that there’s going to be a negotiation on Friday night not too far away from LaGuardia. We want you to go out there and just get a feel of what’s going on.”

“Just watch them, right?” Jeno looked at Junmyeon, who patted his back reassuringly. “Just watch. Don’t engage unless you absolutely have to.”

“You can do that, right?” Chanyeol said quietly, crossing his arms. “Because if not, then it’s totally—”

“Yeah, of course I can! Friday—shit, Friday. At what time are they supposed to be meeting up?”

Junmyeon furrowed his eyebrows, before answering, “Around eight or nine.”

Jeno bit his lip, thinking about the promise he’d made to you. It would just have to wait, he supposed. Chanyeol rarely asked anything this big of him.

“Alright,” Jeno agreed, “I’ll do it.”

Chanyeol grinned, clapping his hands together.

“Perfect.”

They discussed logistics briefly after. Doyoung would be on call with Jeno, his custom made suit allowing them to communicate, letting Doyoung see everything Jeno was seeing via a video feed coming from the ultra thin lenses placed in the white eye sockets of the mask. Doyoung would then report to Junmyeon, who would report to Chanyeol, who would probably report to the FBI. Jeno was only to engage if absolutely necessary.

After that, he set out on patrol. He usually found some discreet place to hide his backpack, and then went all over Queens looking for trouble, quite literally. Around five thirty, he stopped a robbery in Murray Hill. Then, around seven, he stopped a man from stealing a woman’s purse in Elmhurst. Nothing too much.

Around eight, he finally headed home, this time dressed normally, using the train and not web fluid. He walked home, tired, knowing that he’d immediately have to do that cursed AP calc homework. When he got home, he opened his backpack pocket to look for his keys, rummaging between his notebooks and other things.

Shuffling through his stuff, he furrowed his eyebrows as he couldn’t find them. Thinking back, he remembered this morning, when he’d left in a rush… and had very obviously left his keys on his desk.

“Shit,” He muttered to himself. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, remembering that Aunt Sunny had said she’d be working overtime tonight. He could very easily sneak in through his window, but he was pretty sure he’d locked it the night before, and it was too early. People’s lights were still on—anyone could see him if they just looked up, and then he would be screwed.

Huffing and zipping his backpack up, he marched up to your house, before ringing the doorbell. He shifted his weight back and forth, from his heels to the balls of his feet, until the door opened up. A familiar man with a face just like Doyoung's, but older, with graying hair and arms scarred and muscled from years of working on the police force stood in the doorway.

“Jeno?” Your dad offered him a warm smile. “Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

“Hi, Mr. Kim,” Jeno said, smiling back. He shifted nervously. “I, um… I left my keys in my room this morning, and my aunt’s working late, so… could I… maybe wait here? Y/N’s home, right?”

The man nodded. “Of course, of course. Come in!”

Your dad had always been super friendly, even from the day Jeno had first met him. You'd told Jeno once that he was the only real father figure you'd ever had. Once everything settled after him and your mom got married, you started calling him dad altogether. And since you and Jeno were practically glued at the hip, he got along with your dad almost as well as you did.

“Okay.” Jeno stepped in and set down his backpack at the base of the coat rack next to the door, as he’d done a million times before. Jeno stepped into the living room, and sat down on the couch. He folded his hands in his lap and looked up at your dad.

"I think Y/N's in the shower, but she should be done soon. You can just wait here if you want… have you eaten anything yet?”

“Uh, I had a granola bar on the train, but that’s it.”

“We have some leftover pasta here, if you want—”

“Thanks, Mr. Kim, really! I’m fine.”

Your dad nodded, sitting down on his recliner. “So, have you started your college list, yet? Y/N said you wanted to stay here in New York.”

Jeno nodded, pushing some hair out of his face. “Well, yeah. It would make things a lot easier, I think. I might want to apply to NYU, but I think I’ll just go to community college, or something.”

Your dad shook his head. “You’re a pretty smart kid, Jeno. I think you could get into Columbia if you set out to. Plus, Chanyeol Park doesn’t give out internships to anybody. That’s your secret weapon.”

Jeno smiled. “Well, you’ve got a point.”

Your dad gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Come on, trying won’t hurt!” Your dad made a face, and then rubbed his knuckles. “Have you been working out? Those muscles weren’t there the last time I did that.”

Jeno laughed, trying to think of an excuse. “Oh, a little bit? The house needed some fixing up over the summer, and I wanted to help Aunt Sunny, so…”

“Jeno?”

He turned immediately, eyes landing on you at the base of the staircase. You’d changed into an old t-shirt and pajama pants. Your hair was slightly damp. “What are you doing here?” You asked, with a curious smile.

His shoulders slumped, and he grinned sheepishly. “Terrible Tuesday strikes again. I forgot my keys.”

You grimaced. “Brutal, dude. You wanna come up?” Your eyes moved to your dad. “Or am I interrupting guy time?”

“Oh, definitely,” Jeno answered, playing along. He took a cocky tone as he rested his hands on the back of his neck. “Your dad was just telling me about how much the NYPD needs me.”

You stifled a laugh. You dad seemed to be holding back a laugh too. "Hey, you're joking, but if you keep working out like that, and if by some impossible chance, the college thing doesn't work out… We might just be able to catch Spiderman if we finally got some brain cells on the force."

"Ugh, dad," You groaned, unaware of Jeno's gut twisting, "Not again."

"Yeah, Mr. Kim," Jeno said, scratching the back of his head, "He's not that bad."

Your dad shook his head. "Look, I don't hate the guy. In all honesty, crime rates have dropped since he started doing his thing. But he thinks he's above the law, and his methods can be a bit… unorthodox sometimes. He’s been undermining us for years and his tech is state of the art. Makes me wonder about what we should do to modernize the force."

Jeno looked downward, wondering what would happen if your dad knew the truth.

"Well, I guess we may just never find out. Jeno'd make a horrible cop. He couldn't hurt a fly if you paid him a million dollars."

But you came to the rescue as you grabbed his backpack, and soon enough he was up the stairs with you, heading into your bedroom, laughing to yourselves when you heard your dad jokingly call out, "Fifteen inch distance, you two! Door stays open!"

He sat on your desk chair while you lay on your bed, limbs splaying out.

"So you left your keys."

Jeno groaned. "Don't remind me. I was in such a rush to leave, that I… I forgot. I'm so stupid."

You rolled your eyes, rolling over onto your stomach to look at him. "You're not stupid, Jen. You made an honest mistake because you were in a hurry."

Standing up, you walked over to him and leaned against the desk. "Seriously, Jeno. What's gotten into you, lately? You freak out about every little thing. It's starting to worry me."

Jeno shook his head. "I don't know," He admitted. "I think I'm just scared about how after this year, everything changes. Renjun’s headed upstate. Jaemin’s going to Boston. You want to go to LA. I think Hyuck and I are the only ones who want to stay here. I just… I don't want things to change."

Your expression turned sad as he continued. "Everyone is expecting great things from me. You're smart, Jeno. You can get into an Ivy. Or, you have a Park internship, you'll be fine. What if I don't want things to be fine? What if I want them to just stay the same?"

You stayed silent for a few moments, trying to think of what to say. Jeno was relatively level headed for someone your age, but even he had moments of doubt and panic. It made moments like these difficult. You sighed before grabbing him by the hand. Wordlessly, you tugged him over to the bed, sitting him down and leaning your head on his shoulder. He could feel the dampness in your hair seeping slowly into his shirt.

"I guess I understand what you mean," You mumbled, trying to reason with him, "But come on. You wouldn't really want everything to stay the same. You can't tell me you want to keep getting AP calc homework. And I definitely doubt that you'd want to have your ass kicked by San for the rest of your life."

Jeno looked at the floor. "You're right. But you know that's not what I mean—"

"I know," You huffed, "I'm just saying. Change… it's inevitable. The longer you fight it, the harder it is."

Jeno nodded. "This sucks."

"It does," You agreed, taking his hand in yours. "But at least we have each other's backs, y'know?"

Something of a smile appeared on his face. You were so close to him, leaning on him, stroking his knuckles with your thumb. He hoped you couldn't hear his heart pounding in his chest.

"We really do, huh?" His voice turned quiet, with a bit of a sleepy lull to it. He allowed his head to rest on yours. "You're so comfortable. Can I like, use you as a pillow for the rest of my life?"

You giggled. "I'll consider it on two conditions."

"Oh, you'll consider. How generous of you."

"Yes, I'll consider. Now, do you wanna hear my terms or not?"

Jeno raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead," He said, before putting on his best Marlon Brando voice, "Make me an offer I can't refuse."

Snorting, you lifted your head off of his. "Okay. One, you finish your calculus homework here before Sunny gets home."

He pursed his lips. "Okay, I could probably do that. What's the other one?"

"Let me drive you to school for the rest of the year."

Jeno stared at you, and you nodded, eyes wide. "Trust me, Jen. You wouldn't need to wake up so early! And plus, you can't text the guy manning the subway asking him to give you five minutes because you need to find your keys."

Jeno gnawed on the inside of his cheek. You did have a point, and to be honest, he could probably refrain from putting his feet up on your dashboard.

"Deal."

You grinned. "Awesome," You answered, before nodding towards his backpack. "Now get to work, Einstein."

The rest of the week wasn't that bad. Yes, you were absolutely batshit insane about your truck in the morning, but he soon realized he didn't really mind. Not when it allowed you both to spend some twenty extra minutes together in the mornings, and they were spent joking around and listening to your extremely varied playlist.

On the other hand, he was saddled with more and more homework, greater and greater expectations. The looming threat of Friday's mission rolled around, and it made Jeno feel like time was passing much too slowly but also way too quickly. There was so much on his mind. He had chemistry with you on Thursdays in the afternoon, which also meant that San was there. Which also meant that sometimes, his heightened senses would pick up on San dropping a tacky pick up line which made Jeno want to punch him in the jaw.

Finally, finally, Friday afternoon rolled around. As he bid you goodbye and promised to see you later, he tried to ignore the feeling in his stomach. The feeling that something was about to go very, very wrong. He went out on patrol, ready for Doyoung to set up the call and tell him where he needed to go. It didn’t help that there wasn’t a lot for him to do that day. Crime had seemed to slow down altogether.

When the time finally came, and the sun was beginning to set, Doyoung rang in at about 7, telling him the location. An old warehouse near LaGuardia airport, hidden from prying eyes. Jeno made his way to the place, avoiding security cameras Doyoung warned him about, and found a place to hide. There was a hole in the warehouse roof, which allowed him to peer right into the building without being seen. It was about thirty feet from the ground.

“Why is it always old, abandoned warehouses?” Jeno grumbled. He heard Doyoung laugh quietly.

“Beats me,” Doyoung sighed.

And so they waited. Jeno wondered vaguely if you were still working. He wasn’t sure. They made time talking quietly, until a black SUV rolled into the warehouse. “Woah, Doyoung,” He murmured, “Hold up.”

Jeno leaned forward, but quickly realized he probably wouldn’t be able to hear what was being said. “D.R.E.A.M, activate Heightened Intelligence Protocol.”

Activating Heightened Intelligence Protocol.

The protocol allowed Jeno to use the lenses over his eyes to zoom in on specific targets, as well as use a microphone embedded in the suit to pick up audio from far away and feed it directly into his ears.

He watched as three figures got out of the car, a fourth remaining in the driver’s seat. The trio stood in front of the car, and Jeno recognized the man in the middle as the man Junmyeon had been talking about.

“Alright, there’s Henry Duke,” He said, “The one in the middle.”

“Got it,” Doyoung replied, sounding satisfied. “Now all we have to do is wait for the other party.”

“Did Junmyeon’s sources say anything about who it would be?”

“No. They weren’t able to find that out. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Jeno’s eyes never left the man. “Do you think it’s something international?”

Doyoung sighed. “I’m not sure. If it is international, then you need to be even more careful.”

“Got it. I think—Wait, here they come.”

A second vehicle, this one another black SUV, rolled up not too far away from the first car. The lights turned off and the engine sputtered to a stop, and four men stepped out of the vehicle.

Jeno’s stomach dropped, and of its own accord, his mouth let loose a quiet, “What the fuck,” as he registered the person leading them.

“What?” Doyoung asked, before realizing what—who—he was looking at. “...Is that my dad?”

“I think it is,” Jeno whispered, fingertips suddenly numb. Who was he kidding? They both knew who it was.

“So,” One of the men next to your dad said, “You show us yours, we’ll show you ours?”

Henry Duke clapped his hands together with an impish grin. “I suppose. Reagan, get the case.”

One of the two men standing beside him started off toward the trunk of the car. “It caught me off guard when I heard that the force wanted to purchase these. Almost made me wonder if this was your attempt at a sting operation.”

“What made you change your mind?” Your dad asked. Jeno swallowed at how cold he sounded. This wasn’t your dad, and it didn’t seem like Officer Kim either. This was someone Jeno had never met before.

“Honestly, Kim?” Duke raised an eyebrow, shrugging. “It was you. Your cooperativeness and willing to feed us information, as well as your… insurance agreement. And besides, you made a very interesting point when you said that the Avengers Initiative and Park’s alum Spiderman is ruining the way the law operates around here. That type of bitterness… hard to fake.”

Your dad huffed. “We’re fucking tired of it.”

The man leaning against the car your dad had stepped out of scoffed. “If this helps us catch the little asshole, then so be it.”

Jeno frowned. “I’m not little—”

“Jeno, shut up!” Doyoung snapped.

“—Alright, then.” The man holding the briefcase—Reagan—clicked it open, as if it were a prize reveal on The Price is Right. Five guns, all modified to hold glowing Chitauri stones were placed carefully together side by side.

“You know the basics. No radiation. Keep it away from security scanners and x-rays. They will blow up. And second of all, these are at half the price, along with the promise from the chief of police that my business won’t be touched, and will only be distributed to officers in on the operation and have agreed to turn off their body cameras when they decide to use these weapons. Should this not be a sting operation, we’ll be back here to negotiate.”

Jeno leaned forward, watching anxiously.

“Yes, sir,” Your dad answered, nodding. “We have the money here.”

“Hand it over, then.”

That was when Jeno made his mistake. He leaned forward too much, and proceeded to fall right through the hole, bringing down some scraps of the roof with him. As he tumbled through the air, the zoom on his lenses caused him to grow dizzy as he had no idea what he was looking at. He caught himself before he could fall, clumsily commanding D.R.E.A.M to go back to turn off the current protocol. His vision returned to normal, and he swung up onto a rafter holding the warehouse up.

“So, we have company.” Duke didn’t sound as amused as he had before. His face turned into a sneer. “Get him.”

In less than a second, before Jeno could say anything, five guns were pointed directly at him. He managed to swing away before any bullets could hit him.

“Jeno, get out of there now,” Doyoung ordered.

“What about the guns?” Jeno asked, swinging to another rafter. “They know I’m here, I might as well get them before I go—”

“No! Jeno, listen to what I’m telling you. You’ve done more than enough, and you need to let it g—”

Your dad aimed, and a bullet fired right at Jeno’s chest. For a second, he forgot that the chest area of the suit was lined with bulletproof material. While it didn’t shoot into his chest, it ricocheted right off him, and since he was in motion, it somehow caused the bullet to bounce back in the direction in which it came.

The wind was knocked out of Jeno, but it was nothing compared to watching the bullet land in the middle of your father’s chest. On the other line, he heard Doyoung yell, followed by the sound of something falling. And then, as he made his way back towards the hole he’d fallen out of, he couldn’t rip his eyes away from the body as it crumpled to the ground.

The others around him scrambled to get back into their respective cars. Jeno was back on the roof now, trying not to hyperventilate. “I’m sorry,” He gasped, “Do—Doyoung, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t want to—”

“Jeno, you need to get out of there, now,” Doyoung said, voice raspy. “GO!”

So he did, and Doyoung cut off the call once he was out of the vicinity. Jeno didn’t blame him. He swung across buildings, feeling numb as he looked for the apartment complex roof where he’d decided to hide his backpack.

When he finally did, he changed in a hurry, before slumping against the wall and forcing himself to take deep breaths.

Doyoung’s dad—your dad—was dead. And it was all his fault.

He cried on the way down the staircase. He cried on his way to the subway. The entire time, he ignored people’s stares. Suddenly everything was too loud, and if he met someone in the eyes he’d just about break down in the middle of the station.

As he got onto the train, Jeno thought about all of the things your dad had done for you, and for Jeno. All the times he'd taken you both to Coney Island in the summer when you were younger. The year Pokemon Go came out he took the both of you driving around in his car so you and Jeno could catch as many Pokemon as you could.

He’d formally adopted you when you were thirteen. You were his daughter in nearly every sense of the word, regardless of blood. And now he was dead, because of a stupid mistake that Jeno had made.

What would you say if you knew? He didn’t want to know. Checking the time on his phone, he saw he’d gotten a message from you just three minutes ago.

[8:36 PM]

y/n: lemme know when ur outside!! :)

“Fuck,” He murmured, wiping his eyes. He knew he needed to stop crying before he got to your house, and he had about ten minutes before he got to his stop, and then another five minute walk to the neighborhood. He focused on taking deep breaths and taking long swigs from his water bottle in the meantime, trying to tune out the sound of other people talking and the sound of the train on the rails.

The walk was the longest five minute walk he’d ever taken. The flashing lights of convenience stores did nothing to calm him down. As the stores in his peripheral vision began transitioning into suburban homes, he felt his heart speed up again. The constant movement as he walked meant he missed his phone vibrating in his backpack as you rang his number.

After what seemed like an eternity, two familiar houses came into his line of vision, and his shoulders slumped as he spotted you on your porch, looking small and teary, curled up into a little ball. In one hand, you were clutching your phone.

His stomach twisted as he put on a confused tone, even though he knew damn well that you knew. “...Y/N?”

You stood up, running to him and burying yourself into his chest, crumpling into his arms. You would have fell over if Jeno hadn’t held both of you up.

“Jeno,” You sobbed, “You’re n-not go-onna believe it.”

He brought a hand up to caress your hair, holding back tears of his own as he asked a question he already knew the answer to.

“Y/N, what happened?”

taglist: @decembermoonskz @itsapapisongo @lenaluvs @crescentjen

#kwritersworldnet #nct angst #nct x reader #jeno x reader #jeno angst #jeno fluff #nct au #jeno au #kpop scenarios #kpop angst #kpop imagines #nct dream x reader #lee jeno x reader #my writing

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wille-zarr · 3 years

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The Mandalorian: “I’ll Tie You Up, Princess”

In Fields of White ~ Chapter Ten ~ “I’ll Tie You Up, Princess”

masterlist / previous chapter / next chapter

pairing: din djarin (the mandalorian) x f!reader

warnings: rated M for language; canon-level violence; angst; brief discussion of hunger/starvation; themes of parent/child separation; discussion of pregnancy; flirty rough-housing; character death

word count: 15.3k

chapter summary: when a dreaded face from your past emerges, everything in your new life, including your relationship with the mandalorian, is put under threat.

story summary: fleeing from the life you wish more than anything to forget, you are left to navigate the galaxy alone as a wide-eyed wanderer. in the process of evading the dangers linked to your previous life, your destiny is forever altered when you cross paths with an intimidating mandalorian and his unusually gifted child.

a/n: I’m really, really nervous for this one. 🙃Please read using the Ao3 link below if the length causes your app to crash! Also, MAJOR THANKS TO @sana-katarn WHO WAS A HUGE HELP.

also found on: Ao3

In Fields of White

Chapter Ten: “I’ll Tie You Up, Princess”

If Grandpa was alive to see this mess, he’d roll over and die again.

No.

No-

He’d find Thall.

Kill him.

Then die again.

“Stars,” you groan, leaning both palms on either side of the sink. Lifting your head, you glare at the face staring back at you from the refresher mirror.

Your face… it feels like it’s all you recognize of yourself these days…

You grit your teeth as shame weighs your eyes low, down your bare body, down to the speckled floor beneath your toes. You wiggle them to ground yourself- to reign in the disgrace squeezing at your chest.

…Dank Ferrik.

You press your eyes against the voice pushing, pushing at your consciousness.

…

I told you so…

I know, Grandpa.

I told you Thall was sketchy.

I know! Maker! Do you have to rub it in, Gramps?

Just wanted to point it out. And don’t call me Gramps. Makes me feel ancient.

Kark off. You’re dead.

…

I love you, Grandpa.

….

Kriff.

No one warned you that the worst part of growing up would be the realization your family was blasted correct about a lot of blasted things.

Hissing through your teeth, you fling your hand through the current of water flowing from the faucet, the droplets glittering across the reflected crown of your head.

Oh, fine. Fine!

You twist away- hand snapping up your shirt from the floor.

You’re used to everything going wrong. What’s new?

Another day, another “you’ll maybe possibly probably die.” Only this time, everyone’s survival rests upon you.

Big karkin’ yay.

If you survive this, you’re writing a book.

“Thall, how about you just kiss my- erf!-” the collar of your shirt catches your nose- “kiss my butt!” You yank on the edge of the hem until your head pops free.

“Just kark off-” you mash on the control panel, and the door opens with a snap- “straight to- YIPES!”

You fling backwards.

“GET OUT!”

Face exploding with warmth, you press behind the door. “What the hell! Can’t you knock?! I’m in my underwear, for Maker’s sake!”

Your shrieks are met with silence… so you peer around the corner…

Your wide eyes are greeted by the back of your Mandalorian intruder, the ends of his cape still twirling around at his heels from his own startled spin.

“Din, get OUT!” you hiss, ducking back behind the frame. You pull on the ends of your shirt, fighting to cover the bare skin of your thighs.

A strained, modulated groan slips around the doorframe.

“….d…r -s unl-ked.”

“What!?” you squeak, head ducking around to gawk at him. “Stop garbling, Djarin! I can’t-”

“Your door was unlocked!”

His words are sharp, strained.

“Anyone c-could have come in while you were showering and- and-”

“-Go away!”

You pat around the refresher counter, fingers gripping the closest thing within reach, and you hurl it-

“Out!”

“I can’t- Ka’r’ika! Is-… fresher paper?”

You bend around the door, watching as his gloved hands pick at the ribbon of white paper trailing across his shoulder.

You can’t help but grin.

“You look like shit, Mando.”

“Damn it, girl,” he grumbles, so low you’re sure you weren’t meant to hear it. “Can- can I… Dank Ferrik. Can I turn around now?”

“Blast it- no! Go away! I’m in my underwear!”

“What are you wearing underwear for-”

“Why am I wearing underwear? Did you really just-”

“I- I didn’t mean-”

“Some of us sleep in our underwear, Din! Gosh! What- do you sleep in your armor or something?”

...

“Oh my Maker. You sleep in your armor.”

...

“…No.”

...

A smirk quirks at the corner of your mouth, and you’re grateful he cannot relax at its sight. Stars, you take too much pleasure in making him squirm…

“Y-you’re not staying in here alone-” his voice strains- “not with hunters-”

“I’m safe-”

“-get in the bed.”

…

You blink.

…

His hands rise to his waist.

“Get in the bed.”

“Hmf.” You purse your lips. “Yes, karkin’ sir.”

Sticking your tongue out for good measure, you spin on your heel to sweep your pants up from the floor.

“Gosh,” you grumble, sticking a leg in as you hop one-legged towards the bed. You glance down at the print on your underwear. “I hope you didn’t get a good look- urg!” You lose your balance, slumping across the mattress.

“Wouldn’t want this to be the way you find out I’m a horse girl…”

“What?”

…

“…nothing.”

You hook the last button of your pants. “I guess you’re free to spin around now.”

He hesitates- then turns at your words.

“Look at you,” you snort. “Creeping in that dark corner.” You slide both legs beneath the comforter, pulling it up to just beneath your chin. “I’ll never get any sleep if you lurk over there. I’ll wreck my bike tomorrow, and it’ll be all your fault.”

…

Heavy sigh.

The Mandalorian emerges from the shadow-shrouded corner, and he flicks his fingers out at his side.

“Better?”

“Hmf, fine.”

You crinkle your nose.

“You can stay, but don’t stare at me all night like some dang rakghoul-” you scooch forward, pulling the comforter up over your head like a scarf, only your face visible- “trying to scare me.”

-a puff of modulated air.

“You’re not afraid of anything.”

The Mandalorian lumbers forward, fingers hooked on his belt.

“And that’s what concerns me.”

He pauses right beside your head, visor angled down to stare into your eyes.

“Come now, Mando. You scared the shit out of me on Taek.” You dramatically flop out flat across the bed, letting the comforter crumble around your body. “Thought for sure you’d kill me for being annoying.”

…

“You were afraid of me?”

You let your weak smile speak for itself.

“Hmf.”

He re-hooks his fingers on his belt.

“Could have fooled me-” his voice is light, teasing- “you were a mouthy little thing.”

Mouthy.

Mouthy??

Oh, you can show him mouthy-

You part your lips to snot off at Din, but his hand extends, pats the crumpled comforter, ripping your response straight from your mouth. You watch, brow quirked, as he pulls, smooths out the comforter around you. His visor lifts-

Oh.

Oh Maker just cast you in the Pit of Carkoon-

He can be so kriffing thoughtful and it’s really hot and you want to die-

Lowering your eyes, you grunt, picking at a loose thread to distract from that familiar squeeze, that ache in your chest.

Stop-

Stop.

You can’t get mixed up with this man-

You’re… you’re not able to-

…Someone’s going to get hurt.

…

“I… I- uh- talk a lot when I’m nervous.”

…

He tilts his head at that.

“Fine!” You throw a hand up, swallowing quickly. “... And- and when I’m not.”

“Hmm.”

“Still-” you jab a finger towards him, eager to just talk, distract yourself from that familiar warmth blooming in your chest- “I’d rather have been killed by you in the desert than spend another day on Taek.”

With a groan reminiscent of a wounded Kath Hound, you roll over onto your stomach- away from the Mandalorian.

“Kriff, so many sand stingers!”

A second roll, this time pulling the comforter along with you.

“And you can’t even eat them!”

A third roll.

“And I would know.”

A fourth roll- you stop, satisfied with the level of burrito-wrapping you’ve achieved.

“I tried.”

The Mandalorian has the audacity to chuckle.

“My lips were swollen for two days-” you wiggle, freeing your arms from their burrito prison- “and you laugh?”

“Ah.”

A small, strangled cough slips through the modulator.

“Sorry.”

You try your best to look angry- but you can’t resist the cheeky grin.

“Well, anyhow,” you sigh, re-crumpling the comforter around your body like a nesting mother bird. “Thank the Maker you flashed that Beskar of yours around like a baited hook, reeling me in like a fish.”

“Hmf.”

The Mandalorian leans forward, hands on his hips- his body casting a light shadow across your cheek.

“You would have found a way off without me.”

Rolling your eyes, you can only huff, “Yeah, blasted, right.”

You plunge your face, your grimace deep within your pillow.

“Blast it- I was so damn hungry; I was this close-” you lift up two fingers held closely together- “to resorting to cannibalism.” Your hand drops with a plop.

…

Truth be told… you have always wondered if Toydarian tastes like Nuna…

Heh.

…

-The bed jolts.

Your head shoots up.

You blink.

…

The Mandalorian-

-sitting beside you.

Close.

Very… close.

“Din?” Your hands fumble with the tangled comforter. “Wh-”

“I’m sorry.”

His tone is…

Angry.

He turns away from you, striking his fingers against his thigh armor in rapid succession.

Your eyelashes flutter, taken completely off-guard by his harsh admission.

“Uh…”

You sit up straight, eyes glued to the gleam of his helm.

“What exactly for?”

Oh, kark, what did he do?

Did you forget you should be mad about something?

“I should have taken you back to the Crest-” his shoulders shrug forward- “…the night we made our deal on Taek.”

The Mandalorian stops tapping- balls the comforter into his fist.

…

You blink.

…

“Maker, Din!”

Flopping back, you slap your hands across both eyes.

That’s it? Damn man is fretting over that?

With a dismissive flick of your hand, you can’t help but snicker. “Oh, come on, even if you had asked me to, I would have just written my obituary first- left it behind for the sand stingers.”

Grinning ear to ear, you, again, gather the comforter up over your head like a protective cocoon-

-just like the child does with his blanket, now that you think about it…

“I must say though, Mandalorian, you could have at least lugged off those two dead dudes you killed.” Crinkling your nose, you narrow your eyes at Din as he shifts, eases back against the wall, observing your movements with careful attention.

“Leaving me all alone with dead people-” you cluck your tongue- “very improper of you, Mr. Djarin.”

The Mandalorian tucks his head aside.

“You weren’t alone.”

“Yeah, no kidding!” The comforter slips forward, consuming your head entirely and entombing you in darkness. Pushing against the quilt, attempting to free yourself, you continue, “I- erf- had two decomposing-”

“-I stayed.”

Your hands drop.

…

“The entire night... on the roof.”

…

“Oh.”

Oh.

…

You sit in darkness.

…

The bed shifts, tilting you towards the movement-

The comforter is flung off your head, and your squint is met by your own face reflected in the Mandalorian’s visor.

“Are you still afraid of me?”

His words are tentative, but you hear their teasing edge.

Fine.

He wants to play.

You can handle “play.”

It’s easier than the truth.

…

“No, Mando.”

~Yes, Mando~

“I’m not.”

~I am~

“My terror for you was eradicated from my head the moment I was assaulted by the sight of your revolting bedroom quarters.”

~My terror is you’ll learn the truth about what I am~

“Your hair might be exceptionally soft and astoundingly fragrant, as your hair conditioner collection would imply-” you tap a finger atop his helmet- “but you’re messy, Din.”

~Seven Corellian hells, my life is messy oh my stars~

…

Silence.

…

“Hmm.”

His head jerks to the side.

“You’re welcome to clean it-” he shifts forward- “if it offends you.”

A smirk tickles at the corner of your mouth.

“I’d probably find something sentient growing in a dirty sock pile.”

The Mandalorian chuckles- a rumble… deep, low.

He leans forward-

-and you scuffle to the other side of the bed.

“S-Stars! Uh, well, enough about my fears. Um, tell me-” you let your feet dangle off the side of the bed opposite from him- “what scares a Mandalorian?”

Uhg.

You tried to force a light-hearted tone; pull on one of your phony masks- but…it seems the longer time goes on-

-the more it’s impossible to pretend with Din.

This… is bad.

Especially when you have as many damn secrets to keep as you do.

You can’t help but cringe.

Kriffin’ dune worm on a stick!

Cautiously, you sneak a quick glance over your shoulder, finding Din’s position on the bed unchanged. He stares down at his hands as if lost, buried within his own thoughts.

“I’m-”

He pauses.

…

“I’m afraid of making the wrong choices...”

…

“Not being strong enough to protect... who I care about.”

…

Your lips part.

Well.

…

A light-hearted question.

A serious answer.

You take a deep breath, letting it steady, refocus your spiraling, spinning mind.

“Din,” you mumble, throwing his name over your shoulder. “If… if this is about the baby...”

Stars, the baby.

…

Hell… you- you can’t have this conversation right now.

How do you-

Do you just-?

“The- the responsibility of a child-” you reach up; rub your browline with trembling fingers- “it’s the single most…”

You pause.

“Th-the single most-”

…

terrifying-

exhilarating-

rewarding-

punishing-

fulfilling-

painful-

you- you can’t breathe-

“Ka’r’ika?”

You jolt forward at your name.

“Ka’r’ika, are you-”

“Being a parent-” put on your mask put on your mask- “you feel so… big and so… small.”

Dank Ferrik…

“You’re too small to forge the galaxy you want for them, no matter how much you fight for it.”

Your hand slips beneath your shirt, clenching the pendent you wear close to your heart. “But you’re big, so big- you’re everything to them- their whole galaxy.”

Your eyes slide shut.

Her- her voice will come back to you if you just stay quiet and- and-

…

“Mama, what this for?”

Even your excruciating exhaustion can’t suppress your grin. “Your belly button?” With a grunt, you lift Valera up from the cot, placing her down atop your legs.

“Well, you little womp rat… uh…”

Stars, how do you explain this to a kid?

“It’s… uh… how you ate food when you were growing in my tummy.”

She shoots you an incredulous little eyebrow lift.

Oh great-

She’s already picking up your sass.

Serves you kriffin’ right.

Your fingers wrap around the pendant hanging from Valera’s neck.

“Watch the attitude, kid.”

You give the necklace a few short tugs, sending her into a fit of giggles.

“Mama!”

“Ka’r’ika?”

Oh!

You jerk around-

-Din.

“Is something… wrong?”

“Yeah- uh, yeah.” You cough- clear your throat. “I just, dang it-” you slap your thigh- “get emotional thinking about little kids, ya know? So darned cute, the little monsters.”

He’s… not convinced.

But he doesn’t push it.

That’s… all you need from him right now.

“Look, Din. I- I know you’ll make the decision you think is right for the kid…” You lower your voice- make it easier to hide the waver. “It’s- it’s all we can do.”

...

“But you don’t… approve of my choice.”

No.

You don’t.

“I stand by everything I said before... mostly.” Your eyes lower, glaring down at the comforter. “Just make sure you aren’t making the choice to send him to a Jedi out of fear... fear of not being good enough for him.”

…

You glance back up.

“Because you are.”

...

“Ka’r’ika…”

So soft.

He always says it so soft-

“Your opinion…”

His visor dips away, almost bashfully.

“It means a lot to me.”

You blink.

“Really? Mine?”

It certainly didn’t feel that way during your argument on the Crest…

Sliding his fingers across the leather of his belt, he makes a slight choking sound.

“I… regret the things I said to you before.”

…

“I- you were saying things I didn’t want to hear...”

He turns, stares over at you.

“You’re not selfish.... far from it.”

You hold his gaze.

That damn daze.

…

“Well...” you mumble. “I shouldn’t have blown up on you either. I- I let my personal bias cloud my head and heat my tongue...”

You break the gaze.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

…

Silence.

…

Oh stars.

You shouldn’t do it.

…

You’re gunna do it.

“Well, Mando-” energy floods your voice- “I’m flattered you hunted me down and killed a Rancor just to apologize to me.” Crawling beneath the comforter, you don’t fight the smirk cracking across your face

“Truly, Din, it means the galaxy to me.”

You scooch over further, further until-

“W-what are you-”

“Shut up.” You shove a hand into his side. “I’m trying to sleep.”

You lean against his arm, your head drooping down…

…

“Din.”

…

“Din.”

…

“Oh my gosh, kriffin’ relax, Din!”

You pull away from him. “Stop tensing! It’s like trying to sleep next to a blasted boulder!”

“It is not.”

“Loosen up!”

“I am loose.”

Oh.

You know how to loosen him up.

You jump up to your knees, staring him down.

“Hand. Now.”

…

The Mandalorian gawks at you. Or, at least, you imagine he’d be gawking if it weren’t for the, ya know, helmet.

“Din Djarin.”

You shove your open palm at him.

“Let me hold your damn hand.”

One breath-

…

Two breaths-

…

Three breaths-

His hand, warm and- kark!- so damn large, slips into your own.

“If I die tomorrow-” you give his hand a tight squeeze- “I want you to remember me like this.”

He grunts.

“Domineering and demanding?”

“You know I can hear you.” Rolling your eyes, you sigh dramatically, “As I was saying, remember me like this.” You squeeze his hand a second time-

He returns the squeeze-

“Maybe I’d rather remember the time you fell into that mud-hole on Arvala-” his free hand reaches out- tugs on your ear lobe- “and I had to pull you out while the kids laughed at us.”

You whack away his hand. “Oh, come on, Din-”

“Or maybe I’d rather remember the time you sang to the Blurgs.”

“I was bullied into tha-”

“Or the time you fell asleep in my shirt- drooled all over it.”

“Kriff off! I did not.” You yank on his hand, drawing him forward. “How would you even know?” You lean into him, squishing your nose to his visor.

“You never-

do-

your-

karking-

laundry.”

…

Din just chuckles.

Oh oh Maker his chuckle is so sexy and damn it damn it-

…

You’ve… you’ve got it bad.

Crinkling your nose, you pull away, sinking down- down- down into the comforter. “Well, you’re being mean to me. I’m going to bed.”

A… thought occurs.

…

Oh, Banthabreath.

Life is short. Do it.

“Din?”

Your eyes twist, staring up into his visor from where you lay on the bed. He watches; does not break the gaze as you reach out- grab his hand again. With a sharp tug, his glove slips right off, revealing- stars- that hand, those fingers that have haunted your daydreams since they first brushed across your lips.

Warm.

Callused.

Scarred.

Oh Maker.

If you’re losing it over a blasted hand and voice- a kneecap reveal would have you deceased.

You sigh.

“Din, tell me- uh…”

Naked skin dusts across your jaw- “Uh… Din?” -traces your earlobe- “Do- do you really plan to, uh…” -trails down your neck- “…s-stay all night?”

-his fingers pause at your collarbone.

…

“Yes.”

He resumes stroking his fingers slowly, languidly across your collarbone.

“Humor an old man, Ka’r’ika.”

You blink at him.

Old?

Huh.

Now that he mentions it…

“How old are you?” you blurt.

He freezes.

…

Oh, you just killed the mood, didn’t you?

…

Dank Ferrik.

“I’m just curious.” You lift a brow, a slight smile upon your lips. “You do grunt and groan a lot.”

The Mandalorian makes a sharp noise- tears his hand away.

“Young enough to pull you out of mud holes.”

…

You narrow your eyes at him.

…

“…Late thirties.”

Ah.

“Sorry,” you chuckle, shoving against his shoulder. “Just trying to construct a mental image of how I think you might look.”

Din huffs- crosses his arms across his chest like a sullen child.

“I’d prefer you didn’t.”

“Come on, it’s not like I’ll ever see it!” You jump up to your knees. “I should at least be allowed to imagine.”

“I could never live up to your fanatical imagination, Ka’r’ika.”

“What, are ya ugly or something?”

“…No.”

“Are ya hot?”

“Hardly.”

“Oh my gosh don’t say that about yourself.”

“You’ve never seen my face,” he grumbles. “You don’t know what I’m working with here.”

“Shut up.”

“The helmet is an improvement.”

“It is pretty sexy,” you laugh.

…

Silence.

Oh kriffing hells-

Did you just say-

Oh stars-

…

You hope you die tomorrow.

Shaking your head, you snort. “Fine. Whatever.”

-just change the topic change the topic-

“Uh, so, uh, tell me-” you lean in closer to him- “what does Ka’r’ika really mean? You can’t lie to me anymore- I know it doesn’t mean brat.”

“You’re right.”

He, too, leans forward-

“It means pain in the ass.”

“DIN DJARIN!”

The comforter launches over your head, plunging you into darkness. You kick and roll and yell- the comforter and sheets tangling up around you- but you can’t get free-

-because the kriffing metal idiot is holding it down.

“Let me OUT!” you shriek, kicking upwards with your feet. “I’m going to KILL YOU!”

Weight lifts from the comforter.

You fling it off, and your flaming eyes immediately turn towards-

“So, you’re going to kill me?”

Damn that smug voice!

Your hand shoots out, a sharp smack landing against his unarmored thigh.

“Ouch!”

“Eat. Banthashi- OOF!”

You’re catapulted backwards- heaved across the bed. You roll, landing up on all fours.

“Why YOU-”

“Go to sleep.”

-smack-

“DJARIN!”

You grip your ass.

“Did- did you just spank…?”

…

Oh.

Oh, it’s on now-

You fling up, firing yourself at his chest, bursting into shrieks as he easily knocks you aside.

“HEY!”

But the Mandalorian goes for you this time.

His hands grasp your hips, shoves you back behind him. You pounce again- wrap your limbs around his back- you’re yanked forward with an oof. You retaliate, jabbing your hand towards his exposed side- he grabs, stops you- but then-

His arms have you pinned- trapping you against the bed with his weight.

“G-give u-up now, bounty hunter!” You wriggle; his grip only tightens. “I-I’ve- erf- got you, Mando!”

He doesn’t move, doesn’t speak…. just… stares down at you.

“Yeah.”

He dips his helmet to the side.

"You’ve got me.”

…

You both burst into giggles.

“Hell, M-Mando!” you say, gasping for air between your giggles. “I’m- stars!- crying!”

"Hm.”

A light -pat- smacks against your thigh.

“Go to sleep.”

Your grin stretches ear-to-ear. “Yes, sir.”

…

Oh Maker, you’re really done for.

You quiet your laughter, shimmying back beneath the comforter, keenly aware that you might regret every bit of this impulsive behavior in the morning…

But for now?

You roll up against the Mandalorian, curling up against his side. You tuck your face-

Safe.

His hand drops to your shoulder- moves up- stops… a tickle against the back of your neck, his fingers tracing tiny circles…

“Ka’r’ika.”

"Mhm? What? Leave me alone.”

….

“It means… ‘Dear Star’.”

…

Oh-

Oh.

...

Oh shit.

“Sweet dreams… Ka’r’ika.”

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

“See you later, Babycakes.”

“Bye, Cara!”

“The hell-” you shoot Pablo an incredulous look- “Babycakes?”

“What?”

“Please don’t answer to that in public.”

“It’s too late,” Pablo sighs, turning your racing helmet over in his hands. “I’ve answered to it twice today.”

A small smirk tickles your lips.

“Then can I call you Sweetcheeks?”

“Oh, I think the hell not-”

“Fine,” you chuckle, taking a pinch of his cheek. “Sweetcheeks it is.”

“I hate you.”

A grin cracks your face. Hey now, if he can call you Sweetheart, you can call him Sweetcheeks.

It’s only fair.

With a heavy sigh, Pablo shoves the helmet back into your hands. “Well, guess it’s back up to Thall’s skybox for me. I- uh-” his hand shoots out, pats your shoulder- “…Don’t die.”

“Pablo, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” You press a hand to his chest. “I knew you cared.”

“Yeah, well,” Pablo sighs, knocking your hand off his chest. “I’ll admit, my motivations are sullied… I might have credits down on you.”

“Oh karkin’ dunes.”

“Karkin’ dunes, what?” He throws out his hands. “That’s good! It means I believe in you!”

“Kark you.”

But your smile betrays your words.

Pablo laughs- flashes you a quick wink before turning away. “Now go- win me some credits, Sweetheart,” he yells over his shoulder. “I’ll take you to a casino and let you spend them!”

“Love you, too, Sweetcheeks!”

“Love you more!”

“You answered to it!”

“… Damn it!”

…

Heh.

Pablo really is just-

-“LINE UP WARNING.”

Oh stars-

-“REPEAT. LINE UP WARNING.”

Oh stars oh stars oh stars-

Groaning like a dying Bantha, you press a gloved hand to your browline.

Hell, that cocky, confident little shit you were as a teen?

…

Yeah, you’re not so confident right now.

“I know you’ll win-”

You spin around.

“-you always did.”

“Tesen,” you say, reaching out to accept his hug. “Dank Ferrik, man! I looked over my old speederbike this morning and- wow- you really did a fantastic job on her!”

Maker- the trouble you got into on that old bike… How are you even still alive?

Tesen chuckles- a rumble beneath your cheek. “After you disappeared, others tried taking her out on runs. But only you could get her to do the things she’s capable of.”

He pulls back.

“I kept her for the memories.”

A cheeky grin bursts across your face. “You know I’d trust no one else but you with her.”

His eyes brighten, and he opens his mouth to-

-“LINE. UP. WARNING.”

Groaning, you stare up into Tesen’s eyes.

“I’d wish you luck-” he winks- “-but I know you don’t need it.”

“Maybe not....” A coy smile turns up your lips. “But I could still do with my traditional good luck kiss. As my friend, would you mind… since Gavon isn’t here anymore to do me the honor?”

Tesen laughs- deep, hearty-

“Well, I am a good friend.”

He bends down- hesitates- hovering just above your face-

“Tesen, yo-”

Warm lips press to yours.

Oh hell yeah-

You wrap your arms around his waist.

Gosh, you’re pathetic. One friendly little kiss, and those cocky, confident teenage vibes are pulsing through your bloodstream.

Pretty sure you could wrestle a dewback…

“Aww! How sweet!”

Pulling away, you grit your teeth at Thall’s voice booming over the loudspeaker. Your eyes shoot up to the sky.

Stars, you could kill that man…

“Hello, hello everyone!”

Tesen tears away from you- meeting your eyes one final time before sweeping away-

-leaving you all alone.

Just you and your bike.

To win this dang race.

Or die.

At this point, if your friends didn’t need you to actually- you know- win, you’d accept either outcome.

“As we all know, one half of our kissing duo down there-”

“We’re just friends!”

“-is none other than our long-lost Blazing Womprat-”

The nickname snaps you into gear.

Oh yeah.

Time to play the part.

-“former champion of the Boska Springs Classic!”

Climbing up on your speederbike, you stand on the seat, throwing both hands in the air. You stare up into the cameras defiantly, as if you’d already won the kriffing race.

You wave your hands again, the crowd exploding into jests and cheers and shouts.

Dank Ferrik-

You swallow back the goofy grin itching to bloom across your face.

-don’t ruin your image.

You know you must play the part they expect to see on the circuit.

Blazing Womprat-

Brash.

Arrogant.

And batshit crazy.

Maker, how you missed this- this rush. Whether it be racing, singing, or otherwise, you love playing to the crowd…

And they’re eating it up.

“E CHU TA!”

Well…. almost everyone…

You sneer down at your fellow racers, observing their rather rude gestures.

“EAT MY BIKE EXHAUST-”

Your middle fingers jab at the sky.

“-YOU ABSOLUTE ROAD WORMS.”

The racers start towards you-

“How exciting! Back to your bikes… yes, thank you, yes, please don’t kill her… thank you!”

Snickering to yourself, you fall down into the seat, hooking your boots in position on the pedals.

“The race is simple enough- first out to the Castle Rock to run up their flag and back, wins!”

You slip your helmet on-

“I don’t care what path you take-”

You tug at your gloves, ensuring they’re snug between each finger-

“Nor do I care what you do during the race!”

You flip down the visor of your helmet, your entire head and face protected-

“It’s all part of the fun!”

You lean forward- gripping the steering-

“Now, various organic beings… start your engines!”

-and your speederbike roars to life, pulsating beneath your body like a caged racehorse ready to run.

…

Wait-

…

It… just hit you…

Din- he-

-he never showed up.

…

Why would he avoid you, especially before an event this serious? Sure, he was… strange, aloof this morning just before he left you. But to be honest, so were you.

Waking up tangled in each other’s arms tends to do that.

…

Hells… if- if your behavior last night… ruined your friendship with him…

Oh stars, you’ll never forgive yourself.

He… but he promised that he’d speak to you before the race…

…

He never showed.

He never-

“Ka’r’ika-”

You scream-

“Hey, it’s me.”

“What the kark, Mando!” You lean back, twisting your helmet around to stare up at the crowd. “Get out of my helmet! You’re ruining my focus.”

You grin.

The Mandalorian kept his word… sort of.

“Sorry… just…”

You stare up at Thall’s skybox, the teasing gleam of Beskar vaguely visible through the glass.

“…stay safe.”

The static of the connection cuts.

…

You’re alone.

…

“READY…”

Your engine revs-

RED LIGHT-

Your bike pulsates-

YELLOW LIGHT-

Your grip tightens-

…

Wait a minute…

…

GREEN LIGHT-

The speederbikes burst into the distance- gone, out of sight within a blink of an eye.

…

You stay still.

Unmoving.

Staring out at the distance.

“Uhhhh…. Go?”

You stare.

You feel it…

You… feel it…

You-

The wind lashes, nearly knocking you from your bike with a yelp. You hold on for dear life as the crowd screams, ducking down into their own seats to avoid the brutal pounding.

But more importantly-

The sky darkens in the distance-

A monstrous dust cloud swoops across the sand-

-straight for the scattered bikers blasting across the dunes.

And-

you grin.

High-pitched screams and crashing metal reverberate across the dunes.

…

…time to go.

You push forward-

-and blast off.

…

Avoiding the starving, all-consuming dust cloud, you swing to the right.

It’s a risky route.

But you’ve studied it.

You know what you’re doing…

…hopefully.

Movement catches your eye-

A miniature speederbike zooms up to your right- a creature no bigger than the baby just- screeches at you.

“What the fuck!”

A second bike smashes into your left.

“What the fuck!” you shriek, swinging to avoid another swipe.

You accelerate- push forward on the controls.

Get away get away-

Ah!

There- looming in the distance.

The cliffs.

Turning knobs with a snap, you hold your speed steady- maintaining your direction-

“OOF!”

The end of your speederbike slides to the right- the attacking biker heaves back- preparing to try again-

You blast forward-

-straight for the cliff walls.

You release a bark of laughter- the sound swallowed by the wind whooshing past.

Try following me now.

The cliff wall looms closer- closer- closer-

You drop to the right, hanging off the side of your bike as far as you can without falling off-

-shooting beneath the cliff walls and straight into a small cave that’s barely tall enough for even your bike to fit.

The handles of your bike scrape the rock formation looming mere inches above your head- you yelp at the sparks showering your body.

Well, thank the Maker this jumpsuit is fireproof…

Movement-

Your head twists to the right-

That karkin’ little creature on his karkin’ little speederbike… grins at you- waves his hand as if to say “See? I fit, dumbass.”

You growl.

Oh, hell no.

…Approaching light.

You bust out of the cave, shooting straight up in your seat. You swing to the right- kick your foot out-

-the little creature flings into oblivion.

…

You’re alone again.

You push forward, gritting your teeth, and accelerate to full throttle.

You’re coming to an intersection in the path- this is where other racers might start to- ah! There!

Three bikes, crowding into one another, swerve around a column of boulders-

The lead speederbike trails straight for you.

Oh, Dank Ferrik.

Not again-

You scream as your speederbike lurches- rolls into tight, spinning loops. The bike that smashed into you barrels past-

You grit your teeth.

Get back here, you little-

You ram the back of his bike, grinning as he flings forward over his handlebars- run over by his own bike.

And yours.

Oopsie.

Castle Rock is approaching- it should be directly to the left- on the opposite side of the cliff wall blocking your line of sight.

You cut the corner- the roar of the remaining speederbikes still howling in your ear.

You punch the booster controls on your bike- but…

You’re painfully aware of a new shake, a new tremor of the bike that wasn’t there before.

Oh dear…

Hope this doesn’t backfire- literally.

With a groan, you blast into the canyon between the cliffs- giving your bike all it’s got.

Your mind blanks-

Instinct.

…

You’re running on instinct.

You swerve to the left- right- sharp right-

The roar of the speederbikes fade into the distance, left completely in your dust.

Heh.

The Blazing Womprat lives up to her name.

Oh, heck, here we go-

-You need to take a sharp left up ahead or you’ll completely miss Castle Rock-

You lift your left boot from the pedal- slide it across your seat- throwing every bit of your weight into the turn.

Your grip starts to slip- gloves desperately hold on for dear life. With a pathetic groan, you straighten, lift-

-There, Castle Rock!

And not another bike in sight.

You hit the brakes, sputtering to a stop. The thunder of engines storm in the distance behind you- you leap from your seat-

And you run for dear life.

The flags- the flags! Up ahead! At the top!

With a grunt, you scurry, fumble your way up the boulders-

“Get out of my way!”

Your head shoots back- other bikers have arrived, parked at the base of Castle Rock.

Oh, you don’t think so…

“Oops!” You grunt, shoving hard at a loose rock with your boot. “Sorry!” you yelp as they leap out of the tumbling rock’s path, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Giggling beneath your breath, you scamper to the top, the flagpoles just within r-

-PING-

You scream- a bullet ricochets off your helmet.

“Seven Corellian hells!” you screech, stumbling to the ground.

Tuskans!

Damn it!

You clamber to your feet, pushing forward with all your might.

Bullets shower the ground, the pings mixing with the yelps of your fellow racers. “Kark off!” you scream at a Weequay as he barrels past you-

then drops dead.

Well, he karked off, all right.

Nice shot, Tuskans.

Not slowing in the least bit, you snatch up your flag color, hooking it to the-

“OOPS… heehee!”

You gasp- a Rodian- he… he cut your flagline.

You snarl at his fleeing back.

…

Fine.

Sticking the flag between your teeth, you grip the pole with your hands and begin to climb. Dank Ferrik- what the hell even is this race?

Ignoring the pings flying around you and praying they miss, you reach the top and tie off your flag.

A bell rings.

Done.

You’re first.

You’re cleared to go.

With a pained sigh, you take advantage of your height to observe the sight down below.

Grinning at the scuffle, the fight breaking out between the racers all fumbling to avoid both bullets and one another’s sabotage…

…an idea occurs.

You reposition your weight, careful to not lose your grip and slip down the pole into the chaos below… One deep breath… and you leap the gap, clasping onto the second flagpole for dear life.

“Hey!”

You stare down at a furious Twi’lek.

“Get down!”

You grin.

“Okay!”

Biting your lip, you wrap the flagline one… two… three times around your glove, tugging to ensure a good grip.

Oh, this is the dumbest idea ever-

With a grunt, you release the pole and-

You swing forward- and back- forward- and back-

…screaming like a wild Lothcat in heat.

With each swing, you feel the pole shift beneath you, loosening from its shallow base.

“WHAT ARE YOU-”

“Yipe!”

With an audible snap, the pole breaks from its foundation- cascading to the ground…

…and taking every single flagpole to the right down with it.

With an oof, you hit the ground, hard. Peeling your head up with a groan, you turn-

…

“Get her!”

Time to go.

You jump- jump- jump- down the boulders, not bothering to check the height. You just gotta to get the kriff out of there.

You’re so close.

Flinging yourself across the seat, you blast into the horizon, straight in the direction of the starting line.

You’re so close-

Engines rev in the distance.

…

You’re so close.

Thumb hovering over your thrusters- a speederbike emerges in the distance-

…it’s time for a shortcut.

A cliff to your right, it’s a steep drop, but you think you can…

Gritting your teeth, you accelerate, pushing what power is left within your bike into- you scream, sailing straight over the edge of the cliff.

Your thumb punches the reverse boosters, keeping your bike from smashing into a thousand pieces on the ground below. Speederbike clattering and clanking from the stress, you hit level ground and-

You made it.

“Holy Hutt!” you groan, the words shaky in the air from the brutal reverberations of your engine.

You’re… you’re going to win.

You keep your path straight, flying over the sand dunes.

You’re going to win.

You’re going to-

You scream-

A force-

A burst of light-

You soar through the air-

You scream-

…

Darkness.

…

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

…

Ignoring the abrupt shock of the harsh Sularian winter air, you race from your home, running straight down the mountain path.

"Starlight?”

You don’t stop at your father’s voice. You run faster- swiping at the tears dripping down your cheeks.

“Starlight!”

A hand grabs at your shoulder.

“Let m-me go!” you yell between your sobs, shoving at his hand. “I-I’m going to l-live wi-with G-Grandpa!”

“Hey, little one-” he spins you around; pulls you into his chest- “deep breaths, hm?”

“I’m- I’m not… little!” You sniff, pushing away from him. “I’m ten and r-running away!”

"Can I come?”

…

You stare at him, the sobs easing from your body.

“Huh?” -sniff- sniff- “What?”

He plops down on the snow beside you- staring up at the stars dusting the sky.

“Running away doesn’t solve anything, Starlight-” he looks at you, flashes you a lop-sided smile- “you know that, right?”

You pout your lips.

“But Mama is so… so… unfair!” You stomp your foot and flop down beside him. “She’s so mean with me! She likes Kalara more!”

He doesn’t chastise your outburst.

He just… grunts- rests his rifle across his lap.

"Starlight.”

You keep your eyes turned to the ground, shame burning your cheeks.

"What happened?”

…

“I… I hit Kalara- but she said I was mean first! And Mama took her side!”

…

A heavy sigh.

He reaches down, grasps your pendant in his hand.

"Do you know why you wear this?”

You scrunch your nose at him. “Because I’m the ‘oldest’,” you mock.

He lets it drop back against your chest. “Watch the attitude, kid. You wear it because, as the oldest-” his tone, while gentle as always, eases into something more serious- “you set an example to your little brothers and sisters. They look up to you and want to be like you.”

“They do not!”

“Do too.” He pokes your stomach, and you can’t help but giggle. “This necklace is a reminder of your responsibility…” His mouth quirks into a smirk. “Of your influence.”

"I don’t want it!”

“Well, Starlight,” he chuckles. “I can’t help you being born first, but I promise, one day, you’ll appreciate your little brothers and sisters.” He hooks a finger on his belt. “And one day, you’ll give that same pendant to your first born, if you wish, just as generations of our family before you have.”

“Eww!”

“Eww!” he mocks back.

You blink down at the pendant, curiosity blooming in your chest…

"If this was yours before I was born and you gave it to me-” you look up at him- “does that mean you were the oldest?”

He stares into the distance, quiets…

…

“Yes.”

…

“Oh.”

…

"Did… did you apr-chi-ate them?”

"‘Appreciate’. And yes.” He looks down at you, that lop-sided smile slowly returning. “I did very much.”

"…Do you miss them?”

He glances away, stares up into the starry sky.

“Very much.”

You blink- a wash of fear- fear for your brothers and sisters hitting you like a blizzard breeze and- and-

“Don’t be sad, Starlight.” He taps your pendant; points to the sky. “They are with the stars… I’ll see them again.”

He stands, heaves his rifle against his shoulder, and motions you to follow.

“Come, let’s go inside. I think someone has a few apologizes to make?”

“But Mama is mad at me…” you groan.

“I promise,” he chuckles, taking your hand in his own. “No matter what you do…”

…

“…your mother and I will hold you in our hearts…”

…

“…for eternity…”

…

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

The Mandalorian’s licking your face what the HELL-

Your eyes blast open-

“W-what?”

Something wet swipes your eyes. “Yipes!” You squint, throwing your arm across your face. “What the blasted- oh.”

…

A… dog.

Massiff dog.

…

Not… Din.

…

Oh.

The dog tilts his head at you, his tongue drooping out the side of its mouth.

“In my defense, you kinda look like Din though,” you giggle, patting the dog’s hard exterior. “You goofy little thing…”

Sighing, you reach up to rub your face…

Wait.

Where- where’s your helmet’s visor…? Why’s it… busted out…?

…

“OH BLASTED STARS.”

You scramble to your feet- a mistake. You cry at the pain that shoots, throbs from head to toe. “Damn it, damn it!” you groan, hobbling forward as your memory floods you all at once.

The dog mistakes your agony for playtime, hopping up and down, up and down, dancing little wiggle-butt circles around you.

“Back, dog! Back!” Your eyes scan the sky-

…Oh no.

It’s… the sun’s setting.

It’s evening.

No, no!

“Kriffin’ hells!” you moan, fingers digging into your palms. “My bike! My bike? I got to- where?”

…

There.

In the distance.

You grit your teeth.

…

…Sandcrawler.

“Stupid JAWAS!”

You burst forward, growling through every last ache. “Get BACK here!” you shriek, launching your helmet at the still-very-much-far-away sandcrawler. “Little thieves! I ought to- OOF!”

The dog cuts in front of you, dashing alongside your right.

“Dang it!” you yelp. “If you’re coming too, then help, not hinder!”

The dog just howls- gleeful and blissfully unaware of everything but “run. fast run.”

“Oh, Maker help me,” you moan.

You’re close enough now that the Jawas have noticed you. Hanging out of their little windows and doors, they begin screeching at you.

“Kark off!” you scream back, nearly tripping over your own feet. “And give me my blasted bike, or I’ll- OUCH!”

Whatever they threw- it damn well hurt.

…You shoulda left your helmet on.

The dog picks up the object in its mouth and brings it straight to you.

“O-oh… st-stars!” you puff, increasing your speed. You throw the object at a Jawa hanging from an open window. “H-hey, dog, maybe you are useful, hmm?”

Your praise must have confused the dog. He yelps once, turns around, begins running butt-first.

“Oh hell.”

Close enough now, you reach up, grip a pipe on the side of the crawler.

“Open, now!” you demand, banging on the metal.

A slot opens- you slap at the Jawa- it screams- slams the slot shut.

A higher window opens- something’s launched- you scream- it screams- the window shuts.

You wish you could say playing whack-a-mole with Jawas was the strangest thing you’ve done today…

“Dank Ferrik,” you groan, eyeing the Massiff dog running circles below your feet.

You’re getting into this thing if it kills you, so help you-

“Dank FERRIK!”

The jolt of the sandcrawler sends you hurling towards the ground.

“Force…”

You slowly, gingerly lift your head…

Stopped.

The sandcrawler… stopped.

…

Why…

You look up- the Jawas have the slots and windows peaked open, glancing around towards the front of the crawler…

…

They slam them shut.

…

Uh oh…

“Dog, I… I think we might be in trouble- wait!”

But it’s too late- the Massiff dog is darting towards the front of the crawler.

…

Silence.

…

Oh, what the hell.

You’re not leaving without your dog.

Pressing against the sandcrawler, you ease, creep your way forward. Closer… closer… closer-

-until you’re just one head peek away from seeing what’s caught the Jawa’s attention…

…

Do… do you peek?

Or run?

…

Oh Huttsludge.

Maybe the Jawas-

“I’ve been watching you, little one.”

OH STARS OH STARS STARS STARS.

…

WHAT DO YOU DO?

…

You squeeze your eyes closed.

Oh, what the Corellian crap use is there in hiding?

He’s knows you’re here!

So-

You peek around-

…

A man.

…

A terrifying man.

…

You duck your head back.

…

You’re dead.

…

“Hey!” you hiss up at a Jawa. “Whatever beef we had before, we’re on the same side now. Let me in!”

The door slams shut.

“Why you-”

“Hello there, Princess-”

You shriek.

“Stay away!” you yelp, pressing your back up against the sandcrawler. “Or I’ll- I’ll stick my Massiff on you!”

Right on cue, the Massiff bolts past your legs, flying straight for the strange man-

-and drops- wiggling around on his back, begging the scary man for attention.

…

Great.

The man huffs, bends down to pat the Massiff’s exposed belly.

“I see you’ve trained it well.”

…

“Thanks…?”

Wait, was that an insult?

…

“I mean you no harm, Princess.”

Amused.

He’s… amused.

The man glances up at you, throws his hood back.

My stars, you observe his gnarled appearance. What… what terrible thing happened to him?

You almost blurt the question… almost.

“Who are you? What’s your name?” you ask instead, rather empowered by the fact he hasn’t yet- you know- killed you.

“I’m just a simple man making my way through the galaxy-” his gaze intensifies- “like my father before me.”

…

“Got an easier to remember name?”

“I’d rather learn yours.”

…

Is he… flirting?

…

Oh my gosh he’s flirting. Okay, you know what? The grizzled look is actually really hot. Like hot, hot. And, wow, he’s a big guy and you like big guys oh my gosh he’s flirting-

With a lop-sided smirk, you call out your first name. “But you can keep calling me Princess.”

The man chuckles, pats the Massiff one last time, and stands.

“I was speaking to the dog.”

…

“Oh.”

Damn it.

…

You glance at the Massiff.

“…Noodles?”

“A solid name.”

“Thanks.”

…

Okay, what the actual hell is this conversation-

You shake your head, knowing you should be afraid, terrified... but in your defense, it’s rather hard to feel that way while bonding with your potential killer over a dog.

“So… uh, what the hell do you want?”

The man lumbers forward, hands folded behind his back, as if… contemplating something.

“Your Mandalorian friend-”

He pauses, his imposing frame casting a cool shadow across your face.

“-he has something that belongs to me.” The man turns his eyes, so kriffing intense, to stare you down.

“And you can take me to it.”

“Uhhh….” You blink, words escaping your brain. “What… is it?”

“My armor.”

…

“All I request… is my armor returned.”

Gulping, you shake your head, afraid to give him your honest answer. “I-I’ve not seen any armor, but-”

“You might want to consider my words carefully, little one.”

His words slice the air.

“You and the Mandalorian have a rather large bounty on your head.” The man bends down, crouches upon the sand. “According to this chip-” he lifts his hand; a small data chip gleams in the setting sun- “that I took off the corpse of the man… that blew you in the air.”

Your mouth plummets to the ground.

“W-what?!”

He just stares up at you, waiting patiently for you to process his words.

“Damn it,” you growl, sinking down to the ground in front of him.

“If- and that’s if- I knew where this armor might be located-” you look up at him, brows furrowing- “why should I trust that you won’t still try and claim that bounty on us?”

He doesn’t speak- just holds your gaze.

…

His fist holding the datachip rises in the air-

-and crushes the chip into a thousand microscopic shards.

“You and your friends need to leave before more return.”

You gape down at the shimmering shards.

Stars, note to self, do not piss this guy off…

“News of this race, and your presence, will spread to the wrong ears.”

“Uhh…” You turn to stare at the retreating figure of the man in black. “Hey! Wait!” You leap to your feet, rushing right after him. “See that’s the problem- my friends are kind of…. uh, trapped by Thall.”

The man makes a noise.

“I will assist you if-”

“-you regain your armor,” you finish, rolling your eyes.

The first hint of a smile dusts his lips.

“What is your answer, then, Princess?”

…It’s not like you have a choice.

Your friends… Din… are still under Thall’s snare. For all you know, now that you’re out of the way, Thall- kark!- might make Din fight again!

…

You can’t let that happen.

You throw both hands on your hips- purse your lips.

“We have a deal.”

The man nods sharply, accepting your answer before turning, prowling down the length of the sandcrawler.

“I have an insider feeding me information from within Thall’s complex.” His strides are heavy, yet quick. You struggle to keep pace. “She will contact me with the necessary information, but for right now-”

-a screech splits the air.

You gasp- twist-

The Massiff stumbles around from the back of the crawler-

-dragging a behind it a writhing Jawa.

…

The man in black grunts.

“We need your bike.”

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

You need to scream.

Of all ways for this day to go, you never dreamed it would be riding back to the Razor Crest sitting in a strange man’s lap.

Well, not in his lap… but might as well be.

You wanted to drive. After all, it is your bike, which was thankfully undamaged enough to still ride at lower speeds, but he didn’t exactly give you a choice… You press back against his chest, sneaking a sharp glance to the left and right, gulping at how blasted thick and strong his arms that have you caged in are…

Boba Fett.

At least you now have his name.

It’s the very least you should know, considering your current intimate positioning.

Boba’s hand releases the bike’s handle- grips your shoulder to steady your body as you turn-

Stars-

Stars this is so awkward and you want to fling yourself to the ground you don’t care how fast you’re going-

But if you did that, Noodles would have to go too, since he’s squatted on the seat in front of you, your arms wrapped tightly around his body to keep him from jumping off at high speeds. And no matter how much you’re willing to potentially threaten your own life, you draw the karkin’ line at endangering animals.

Noodles glances back at you, tongue flapping in the wind, as if to say thank you kind ma’am for the hug.

…

The sky is pitch black, the air cool, biting, by the time you arrive at Peli’s hanger. Almighty stars, it feels like centuries since you last saw… there!

The Razor Crest!

You can’t believe you’re actually home!

You pause.

Home?...

…huh.

Stars, you can almost imagine… Din. Standing at the base of the ramp. Head angled at you as you run forward, holding the baby-

…the baby. Din. Cara. Pablo. Kark.

You… you need to hurry.

“Let me find someone before you go inside-” you yank off your gloves, toss them aside- “and your armor should be inside the ship… somewhere- I guess-”

A shrill squeak rips the rest of the words from your lips.

“Baby!” you gasp. You rush forward, crumpling to your knees. “Hey, little fella!” Your voice shoots ten octaves high as you squeeze, squish the little guy to your chest.

“Hey, hey-” you whisper, rubbing his head as his little squeaks intensify.

Crying.

He’s… crying-

“I know, I know.”

Kriffing hells.

“You’ve been alone too long.”

Damn it, damn it.

You’re going to cry. Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry.

“But you’re not alone now, hmm?” You pull back, force a cheesy grin to stretch across your face. “See? I’m back. Did Peli take good care of you?”

“AHHHH!”

You press the baby close- spin-

“4PO!” Peli screeches, racing around the side of the Crest. “MASSIFF DOG! PROTECT US!”

The droid hobbles around- stops-

…

…

“Oh, kriffing hells…”

You glance over at the hanger door, locating the deadly Noodles…

…all four legs in the air as Boba pats his belly.

He gives you a bare hint of a smile.

“Excellent.”

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

“Handsome little mister,” you sing, grinning ear-to-ear. “Gotta look snazzy to go rescue Daddy, hmm?”

The baby just stares at you, clearly unimpressed with his new threads.

“Come now. I’m the fun parent,” you laugh, straightening his little suspenders. “Tell you what, if you don’t like it by tomorrow-” you sit down beside him- “I promise I won’t make you wear it again. We’ll try something else I bought you in town.”

The baby grabs a sock off the table- throws it to the ground with a scream.

“Okay.” You quirk a brow. “We hate socks today, that’s fine.” You lean forward, pressing a quick kiss against his head.

The baby’s grabby hands reach up, begging to be held. Without hesitation, you lift him up and place him down in your lap.

“That nice man should be finished dressing soon,” you absentmindedly mumble, twisting your eyes to watch Peli buzz around the back of the hanger. “And then we’re going to- oh.”

A little tug around your neck pulls your attention back down-

The baby- he’s tugging on the twine of your necklace.

“Ah,” you chuckle, pulling the pendant out from beneath your shirt.

“You want to look?”

He stares up at you, into your eyes.

…

-pressure-

…

you feel…warm pressure-

…

it dusts against…

…

It’s… it’s like…. something’s pressing against a- a membrane…

….

-pressure-

…

-a thick membrane in your mind and-

…

w-what- is-?

Body trembling, you press back-

the membrane slips and- and-

…

“Mother?”

You gasp, clapping a hand over your mouth.

Who..? Wh-what just-?

Something dusts your hand, and you jolt in your seat- eyes shifting down…

…

“Was… was that you?” you whisper, eyes blasting wide open.

The baby only giggles.

…

Oh kriff.

…

You flop back in the chair, stare up at the sky.

“Is this a… force thing?”

You’re speaking to yourself more than anything…

“Holy kark,” you groan, slapping your hands across your eyes. “…These kinds of powers are beyond my pay grade….”

Dank Ferrik, you knew you should have paid closer attention to your mother’s lessons… She was as close to an expert on the force as any Jedi, you suppose... Was it your fault you would rather be with your dad, learning how to effectively hit your siblings with stick spears? Mama damn near bored you to death with her long lectures of “light side energy.”

…Whatever that means.

See? You should have paid attention, Dank Ferrik!

The baby tugs on your necklace again.

You blink.

-pressure-

This time, you let the membrane slip right away.

“You are Mother?”

You just… stare.

“Feel force.”

…

“I, uh…”

“Feel her.”

…

His… his question-

Are you a Mother?

…

Emotion scalds the back of your throat.

…

“Yes…”

He… he feels her.

“This… this belonged to my little girl.”

The necklace-

…He feels her.

“A-and mine. And my father’s.” Your voice softens, affection dusting each and every word. “Going back generations.”

Swallowing down the lump, the ache squeezing in your chest, you force a tight smile.

-the warmth brushes against your mind-

-you open up- let him back in-

…

“Grogu.”

…

You blink-

“Grogu?”

He bursts into little squeals.

“Is that your name, Bean Dip? Grogu?”

The little toothy grin he flashes you is the only confirmation you need. Matching his grin with one of your own, you laugh- pull him close.

“Can I still call you Bean Dip sometimes?” you ask.

He doesn’t answer- instead grabs at your necklace again, studying it intently.

You can only… smile at his interest…

You… remember Valera doing the very same thing… grabbing at it- sticking it in her mouth- drooling all over it-

…

Hell.

…

“Hey, hey, Grogu-” your voice wavers- you clear your throat- “You know… I’m- I’m always losing things.”

Deep breath.

“Would you mind… keeping this for me?”

You slip the necklace over his head, letting it fall loose. You reach out, pat it against his belly.

…yes.

For the time being…

…this is where it belongs.

Ignoring your welling ache, you force another tight smile.

“I think-” you give the necklace a few short tugs- “it completes your ‘let’s rescue daddy’ outfit perfectly.”

…He agrees.

“Holy Mudslug!” Peli’s yelp tears at your attention. “Look at ‘em!”

You glance up-

-and your stomach squeezes.

…

Oh.

Oh no.

…

Mandalorian.

…

“Fett!” you bark, setting the baby down. You leap to your feet, stomp to the bottom of the ramp.

“You mean to tell me that you’re a Mandalorian?” You stare up at Boba defiantly, feet set apart and hands thrown on your hips. “And you just… forgot to mention that?”

Dank Ferrik! When Boba said “armor,” you assumed it was, like, biking armor or something.

…

But Beskar?

…Well…now you understand why he wanted it back so badly…

Boba doesn’t react to your little outburst- just… crosses his wrists in front of him, staring down at you with that damn unreadable visor.

“Oh! Great! Another Mandalorian,” Peli grumbles, sweeping past you, a broom gripped in her hand. “You know, my hanger was the safest place on Tatooine-” she shakes her broom at Boba- “until you Mandalorians started showing up!”

“Peli! Come now-” you grasp her broom, forcing her to lower it- “how many have you even serviced? Mandalorians are practically extinct.”

“Counting yours and this green guy?”

You nod.

Peli glances up at the sky, counting on her fingers.

“Two.”

…

“But I want him out of here!” she squawks- shoving a hand in the air at him.

“You’ll have your wish soon, ma’am.”

Amusement laces Boba’s deep tone- thank the Maker.

“And I am beholding to your…kind hospitality.”

“Weeellll,” Peli blushes, eyes darting around at the ground. “I- I guess it’s fine if you stay- but not much longer!”

Peli shoots you a glare and snatches her broom back from your hands. She jabs her thumb at the ship. “Watch him; he’s a big -un.”

…

Sigh.

…

Twisting back around, you frown at Boba's darkened visor.

“I thought Mandalorians didn’t show their faces?”

-a sharp huff.

“Never said I was one.”

You blink.

“Then… the armor…?”

“Mandalorians are complicated, Princess.”

…What the hecking Hutt does that mean? Is he or isn’t he one?

…oh.

…forget it.

Crossing your arms, you shift your weight to one leg.

“Well, what now?”

“My contact has informed me that your friends are to be taken to a location out in the desert- unsure why.” Boba hulks down the ramp, patting your shoulder as he passes by.

“Stars!” you groan, pulling your hat down low.

This… can’t be good.

Din…

Just… hold on, Din.

“I have the coordinates.” Loading his belt with charges, Boba steals a quick glance at you- noting your expression. “Don’t worry, little one,” he chuckles. “We’ll have your babysitter back in one piece shortly.”

“I can assure you,” you huff, a small smile teasing at the corner of your mouth. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Undoubtably.”

You release a pained sigh, flick your hat back out of your face.

“Well then, I guess it’s time to-” movement draws your attention; you turn just in time to watch Grogu slide the remaining pile of socks to the ground- “…go.”

“Hey, if you’re leaving-” Peli stalks forward, cleaning her hands with a rag. “I guess that means I won’t see the rest of you again, huh?”

You give Peli a wry smile.

Peli sighs, slaps the side of your arm.

“Do me a favor then.”

She scurries away, muttering under her breath.

…

“Uhhh… Peli?”

She turns back around the corner, arm motioning at something hidden behind a stack of crates.

“Come on- don’t be shy.”

…

Oh, hell no-

“I’ve decided to make the ultimate sacrifice-” Peli pushes 4PO forward- “and gift 4PO here as a parting gift-”

“No.”

-“to Pablo.”

“Oh.”

…

Peli leans into you- covers her mouth with a hand.

“I think the two of them really bonded.”

…

“Peli-” you bite the inside of your cheek to keep from bursting into laughter- “I would be more than happy to present to Pablo 4PO on your behalf.”

“Oh ho! Fantastic!” Peli cackles, clapping her hands together. “Droid, get on up that ramp!”

4PO shakes- falls prostrate on the ground.

…

You’re beginning to relate a little too much to this droid.

…

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

“I’ll tie you up, Princess.”

“No!” You rush after Boba, pulling your blaster from its holster. “I’m going too! You can’t-”

“You want to help?” snaps Fett’s contact, a helmeted woman named Fennec. “Then stay out of our way.”

You sneer. “How about I-”

“Princess-”

Boba turns on his heel, grips your shoulder.

“Stay with the ship.” His tone is hard, biting. “And stay in this cave.”

…

“Do I make myself clear?”

…

Your mouth opens… closes.

Please…

Please just let me come.

But Boba is not the kind of man to relent to a pair of pleading eyes- he reaches out, nudges your chin with his knuckles.

“Keep your commlink on-” his voice is… softer, but nowhere near sympathetic- “and keep it close.”

And then just like that-

They’re gone, blasting away across the sand dunes.

Leaving you all alone in eerie…

Silence.

…

Corellian hells.

You crumple to the ground, your face buried in your hands. You inhale sharply, squeezing your eyes tightly closed in a poor attempt to keep from absolutely losing it.

…

A fight to the death.

A fight to the death-

What if-

What if they don’t get there in time? What if someone’s already dead? Stars! Pablo is all bark and no bite- he’ll be the first to croak! And- and Cara- and Din, kark… damn it, damn it, damn. IT-

“ARG!” You leap to your feet, snarling up at the rising twin suns, as if they were somehow to blame for your mess.

Stay behind?

…

You blink.

Stay behind, your ass.

With one final glare, you spin around- marching back inside the mouth of the cave. You rush past Boba’s own starship- making a direct path towards the Razor Crest.

“Grogu!” you yelp, racing inside the belly of the Crest. “I’ve got to go, baby. Stay in this ship-” you fling open the Mandalorian’s storage unit packed with weapons- “and do absolutely nothing.”

Chewing on your lower lip, you let your eyes graze across Din’s pride and joys-

What the hell do some of these even do?

Which should you-

…

Oh.

You… you’ve seen that one before.

…

Your hand hesitates, then snatches the rifle from the rack.

“4PO-” you bark, loading your pockets with ammo. “Keep the ship on lockdown. You can manage that, hm?”

“That’s kind of the point of a lockdown,” you grumble, slamming the storage doors shut.

<excellent. your request is acceptable.>

You spin around on your heel, looking for-

“Grogu.”

There he is- sound asleep, little face buried against the Massiff’s belly-

-and your pendant clenched tightly in his hand.

…

Stay.

You should… stay for him.

If- if something happens to Din, he will need you.

…

He needs… he needs-

-hold on.

…

…Rumbling?

The ground outside the ramp is… rumbling- pebbles and loosened dirt sprinkling down from the cave’s ceiling.

Something’s flying overhead.

This… can’t be good-

With a miserable groan, you start forward, pausing just before the exit.

You glance back-

“We’ll all be back soon, Grogu, I promise.” You stare at the sleeping child’s form. He doesn’t so much as even stir at your words.

“And I mean all of us.”

…

“I promise.”

…

And with one final breath, you run down the ramp- the baby left behind, cocooned within the belly of his home.

Dashing forward, you emerge from the mouth of the cave just in time to catch fleeting sight… of…

…

-a hitch, a catch in your breath.

…

Damn it.

…

Th-the symbol on that ship-

You… you only caught a brief glimpse, but…

…

Shit.

…

Nok.

Kriffing Nok is here?

You- you have to leave Tatooine.

-kriffing now.

…

If- if you take your speederbike, leave immediately, y-you could take a shuttle and…

…

Leave?

…But-

But if you leave again…

Heart squeezing- shredded into a thousand fraying strands, you glance back at the mouth of the cave.

…

Running away doesn’t solve anything, Starlight.

…

Kark it.

…

You’re done running.

This time, you fight.

…

You’re not leaving Tatooine without your boys.

…

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

-BOOM-

You slam on your speederbike’s breaks, the bike groaning against the force. You waste no time in shutting it off, launching from the seat before it’s even fully stopped.

-BLAST-

Dank ferrik dank ferrik dank ferrik-

-BLAST-

Growling through your teeth, you push forward, rifle held in a death grip against your side.

“Gunna try and kill my Mandalorian?” you snarl. “And my friends? Oh, I think the hell not, Thall. Eat blaster dust!”

You skid to a stop- boots sliding within inches of an…. uh, extraordinarily high descent.

Dropping to your knees, you peer over the edge of the cliff, peer at the canyon floor far, far down below.

What’s going on?

Where-?

You gasp, pressing a hand to your mouth.

Holy Kowakian monkey lizard!

Your eyes widen, watching as flamethrowers and blaster bolts and bodies fly and fling and throw-

Those who aren’t sprawled out on the ground karkin’ dead are certainly about to be karkin’ dead. The crowds- the pleasure barges- Thall- are long gone, no doubt fled when extra firepower arrived in the form of a pissed-off Boba Fett and co.

In fact, to you, it looks like they’ve just about wiped the canyon clean.

Holy Huttslug! You purse your lips. They didn’t leave anyone for you, darn it.

Ah well.

Grumbling beneath your breath, you lay out flat on your stomach. You knock your hat back, positioning the scope of the rifle against your eye.

“Din!” you laugh, watching as he stabs a Weequay in the chest. “Get ‘em, baby! Oh my gosh GET HIM! Hell YEAH!”

Reaching down into your pockets, you retrieve the extra ammo- loading the rifle with-

“Ayyeeaaaaa!”

You gasp, and you peer back through the scopes, zooming in to watch as your friends… whoop and cheer.

Oh, they did it! They actually blasted did it!

A grin cracks across your face, your anxiety pushed to the back of your mind for the time being. Because for now?

THEY BLASTED DID IT!

Giggling, you pull up your knees, prepared to leap up and-

…Wait a minute- who is that? He’s not-

-you freeze.

…

Oh.

…

Oh no.

Hissing through your teeth, you drop to your belly, press the scopes against your eye. There- Nok- approaching the group. He stops- stands several yards away from your friends.

…

Nok… what the hell is he doing here? That slimy Huttscum! Shavit! Just… shavit! What does that- that spiteful man want?

…

“Crink it!” You smash your fist against the ground. “Blast!”

This is bad. Really, really bad.

…

They’re- they’re all talking together. His hands are up now- What- what are they saying?

Kark

Kark!

What- what do you- oh kriff oh kriff-

You pull your twitching eye away from the scope- glance down at your belt.

…an idea.

“Fett,” you mumble into the communicator. “No questions- turn on your comm.”

You watch Boba through the scopes- he does not scan his surroundings, does not try and look around for you. He just… reaches up, taps his helmet.

-static- “-not here ..r you.”

Nok’s voice is faint, hard to make out. You curse, turning up the comm’s volume as loudly as it will allow.

“What do you want?”

You jump at Din’s voice, cutting in loud and clear through your comm channel. Biting your lip, you are frozen with panic and fear and oh blast what should you do Nok will ruin everything what do you do-?

…

Kriff!

You press, squeeze your eyes closed-

You… you can’t go back.

Your lower lip trembles.

…You can’t go back!

…

“Don’t shoot the messenger. I don’t particularly want to be here either, but I wasn’t exactly given a choice,” Nok answers Din. “I’m here to present to you an offer.”

No- no you trust nothing coming from Nok- nothing!

“ …What kind of offer?”

Oh stars. With a sharp inhale of air, you raise, hover your scopes just above their heads, watching, listening-

“There’s a woman you’ve been traveling with. If you hand her over into my care-” Nok sighs, leans to one side as if bored- “you will be compensated generously in return for your cooperation.”

Oh-

Oh stars- NO!

You’re not going back to Nar Shaddaa. You can’t-

Nok- he needs to shut up-

Shut up before he ruins everything!

“Request- denied.” The Mandalorian’s tone is… hell- he might kill this man himself. “How much-” he steps forward- “how much to call off the hunters you have on her?”

Nok just chuckles.

“You mean my patron? My patron is not the one who called the hunters on her … Believe me, I’d enjoy nothing more than watch her hunted down, personally. But my patron is… concerned for her. Wishes to shield her. And, alas, I am at his beck and call.”

“Your patron?” you snarl, tightening the grip on your rifle. You hover it just above Nok’s head. “Your patron can eat Banthashit, Nok, and you along with him. I’m not. going. back. Especially not with you.”

“What makes you think that I’d agree to this?” The Mandalorian’s tone is… dangerously calm.

“You can keep running, but she will be tracked down eventually,” Nok chuckles, clearly amused by all this- this mess you’re in- the kriffing creep. “This isn’t going away, Mandalorian.”

Hell-

You’re so… tempted to shoot him before he talks, blabs and ruins everything! Din- kark!- your past, it would ruin everything. He’d… he’d be disgusted and… and-

“This isn’t your problem, Mandalorian,” Nok sighs.

“…Her problems-” the Mandalorian’s hand inches towards his blaster- “are my problems.”

You blink.

…Stars.

“You really don’t have any idea what this involves, do you?” Nok laughs- brighter than you ever thought him capable of. How comforting to know your predicament brings him so much blasted joy. Maker knows the man is miserable otherwise.

Nok takes a step forward.

“You may know who she is, but it’s clear you don’t know what she is.”

Shut up shut up shut up.

Nok’s going to ruin everything. Din will- he will… damn it. You’re going to burst-

“My patron had hoped we could do this the clean, easy way. Avoid future bloodshed.”

…

The Mandalorian takes a slow, deliberate step forward.

“That’s where you were mistaken.”

He draws his blaster-

“Because not only would I die for her-” he points the weapon at Nok- “I’d kill.”

You pull away from your scope, mouth gaping open.

You- you never realized…

…

But… of course that’s how he feels.

“So, you go back to your patron-” the Mandalorian reholsters his weapon, his tone cool, even- “and you tell him that.”

Nok shakes his head, sighs. “Well, only if you promise to tell her I look forward to seeing her again very soon… in the latest fashion of prison restraints.”

The Mandalorian storms forward- drawing his weapon- Nok draws his-

They freeze- stare at each other.

“Oh great, she really has you under her thumb, doesn’t she?” Nok snorts, waving his weapon to the side. “You should reconsider. She’s selfish, you know. She’ll throw you aside as soon as she no longer needs you. Never cared about anything or anyone except herself and that little brat of hers.”

He chuckles- leans forward-

“Let’s just say it was hilarious irony …

…what happened to the little girl.”

…

Hilarious irony…

…

Hilarious irony-

…

Hilarious-

Red flashes- flashes in your eyes-

…

You- you’re-

…

…Hilarious irony.

…

The dam holding back your terror and grief and fury…

Erupts-

…

See you in hell, bastard.

…

You pull the trigger.

…

And you don’t miss.

Shouting- shouting from down below-

Damn it- they… they can’t find you here! You need to go!

With a sharp inhale of breath, you aim your rifle sights at a safe, yet convincing, distance from your friends, and-

-BLAST-

“Take cover!”

And at Cara’s muffled cry, you stumble up to your feet… and run.

Oh Maker, how are you- yipes! Jetpack- you hear a jetpack! Go-

GO!

Pressing a hand to your mouth, you choke back the sob, the howl threatening to tear from your lips. Flinging yourself across the speederbike, you ignore the warning tremors of the damaged bike, blasting across the dunes and away from the scene of your crime.

…

But you’re not finished yet.

You have to find Nok’s ship.

Wipe the computers.

Dump it out in the desert to rot.

…

But… but before it’s wiped… there’s something you must take from the starship’s computers…

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

-security code: 345-453

-begin download on all encrypted data filed under: valera dayne

-security code: starlight-2171

-yes

-have i not suffered enough today?

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

“WHERE have you BEEN?”

You lift your dry, burning eyes, spying Pablo- baby on his hip and Massiff at his heels- rushing down the ramp of the Crest.

“We’ve been searching hours for you!” He pulls you into a one-armed hug. The Massiff- Noodles, you suppose- not one to be left out of the fun, wiggle-butt dances around you for 3.5 seconds until he’s distracted by a moth.

“Stars,” you groan, every achy muscle and bruise throbbing at Pablo’s touch. You open your mouth to say something, but a sharp squeak steals those words from your lips.

You glance down.

“Little fella.” Flashing a tired smile, you reach out, taking the babbling child from Pablo’s hip. “See? I told you we’d be back!”

He stares up at you- giggles, and your tired smiles warms. The kid didn’t need the force to communicate with you this time. You know- can feel- what he’s feeling…

He’s… he’s really, really glad you’re back.

“Well, looks like you’re all in one piece, Bean Dip.” You quirk a brow, reaching out to stroke Grogu’s ear. “A miracle, if you’ve been in Pablo’s care all day…”

“The hell, Sweetheart?” Pablo throws his hands on his hips. “Is that the thanks I get? I’ve done nothing today but wipe up drool, chase after the kid, clean up after him- oh, and that thing?”

He glares at Noodles- busy running laps around Fett’s starship and howling at dust particles.

“It shit on the floor.”

Heh.

Good dog.

“Look Pablo, we can fuss about that later,” you sigh, legs trembling with exhaustion. You pull the baby closer, his presence a… comfort… A comfort you need right now as things are about to get…uh, complicated.

“You said… everyone’s out searching for me?”

“All day practically.” Pablo crosses his arms. “Mando was hell-bent on finding you before sundown… which is just about now, coincidentally.”

You swallow back the lump in your throat.

“I… I see.”

…

“What- what happened-” you bite your lip- “after my bike… kaboomed?”

Pablo huffs, flashes you a look. “The cameras following your bike cut immediately. And Thall refused to let us go rescue you and said he’d send his own men instead… which, uh, the Mandalorian did not take well… to put it mildly.”

You grit your teeth.

Thall- you scumbag.

“Mando annihilated half his security team, and-” Pablo shrugs- “according to that Fett guy, you know the rest of the story. With their help, we demolished Thall’s men- we didn’t die- and now you’re back! Overall, a successful trip to Tatooine, I suppose…”

…

Dank Ferrik…

That… look he just gave you. He’s… holding back about Nok, about the- the things he said. Maker! You- keep it together.

Keep it together for the-

“Ka’r’ika?”

You whirl-

“Din, I-”

-you’re swept up.

His arms clutch, grab at your body like you might disappear, float away, if he dared let go.

“Ner Ka’r’ika.”

His voice is hoarse… strained.

You bury your grimace against his chest.

Stars stars stars! What- does he suspect? What does he think of you after- after Nok’s… rantings?

You-

You can’t do this-

You can’t do this!

You lift your free hand, and shove at his chest. Din jolts, tears back, and the comfort of his hold slips away, leaving your body abandoned and starving for warmth.

You’ve startled him. He’s giving you that little head-tilt, the one he uses when he can’t quite figure you the kriff out.

“Din.” You force a light-hearted tone, adjusting the baby against your hip. “Uh, hi.”

…

He pauses, then dips his helmet forward- scanning your grungy appearance up and down. Keeping his left hand stiff against his side- he reaches up with the other, presses the gloved hand against your cheek.

“Look at me.”

You swallow- staring at anything but his visor.

He tentatively, carefully turns your face- inspecting the flowering bruises.

“Are you okay?”

…

“Nothing’s broken.” You swallow again. “I’ll live.”

“Kid’s built of tough stuff.”

Your eyes widen, shoot to the right-

Boba.

Kark- he knows- he knows you were at the canyon. He… he answered your comm. Of course he knows! Did he tell?

“She launched a hundred feet into the air and was up and fighting Jawas within the hour.”

You flash him a faint smile. “I landed on my hard head.” You grip Din’s hand still pressed to your cheek, drawing it away.

“Good to see you in one piece, Blazing Womprat,” Cara chuckles, unstrapping a rifle from her side. “Which is truly astounding after some of those insane stunts you pulled.” She steps forward, stops beside Pablo. “Pablo almost passed out from cheering too hard.”

“That was nothing.” You can’t resist the self-satisfied smirk that flicks up at the corner of your mouth. “You should see me-”

“-on a swoopbike.”

You stare at Din.

“Where have you been?”

Kriff, you knew the question would come eventually. You… hope your story checks out- that Boba doesn’t ruin things.

You place the baby down, letting him toddle across the ground towards Pablo.

“I decided to go a bit outside the cave, check around, you know?” Shaky breath. “One of Thall’s transports spotted me- recognized me… So, I, uh, took the bike out, far, far away from the Crest, as fast as I could in its damaged state, hoping to keep it… hidden.” Trembling hands in pockets. “Worked great until I got turned around. Took me a while to find my way back.”

…do they believe you?

Your eyes sweep across their faces- their shoulders relaxing...

They believe you.

…

But… then there’s Boba, and possibly Fennec. You- you need to talk to them.

“Well,” Pablo sighs. “What a way to spend the day… So, what now?”

“We’ve talked it over-”

You turn to Din.

“For tonight, we stay in this cave. Lay low. Analyze the situation tomorrow.”

Heavy sigh.

You… can’t argue with that. Laying low- resting… For one night, you need it. You need it desperately.

“Sounds like bedtime,” Pablo sighs, already blazing a path for the Crest. You watch, blinking, as the rest follow suit, each leaving for their respective ships.

“Pablo,” you call out, voice traced with exhaustion. “Take Noodles inside.”

“The hell?”

“My dog.”

“…No way! That thing is not sleeping in-”

“Noodles!” Cara calls, laughing as the dog highspeed races up the ramp.

“Your dog?”

You turn at Din’s rasp-

Stars… you want to cry at the stiffness, the rigidity in his body… You know you caused it, but…

“It’s going to eat bad people for me on Keolith.”

…

He just grunts at that.

Stars…

Pulling your hat low across your brows, you sigh, “Go on to bed, Mando. I- I think I’m going to spend some time on… Fett’s ship…”

You need space.

…

You need space to think.

…

“And maybe… maybe stay the night.”

The Mandalorian’s arms drop.

…

“……Okay.”

…

And just like that, he’s scooped the child up into his arms- trudging away towards the Razor Crest, cape fluttering at his heels.

…

Damn it.

You stare at the Crest.

…

That… came out wrong.

…

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

“Princess,” Boba smirks, lifting a glass as you walk through the door.

You discovered Boba and Fennec where you expected- sitting in the cockpit of his ship… as if they knew you were coming.

“No thanks.” You throw your hands on your hips. “We need to talk.”

Something flies at your head- you catch it.

Opening the palm of your hand, you gawk down at-

“Next time,” Boba chuckles, “don’t leave your commlink at the scene of a hit job.”

…

“Oh.”

You swallow.

“Oops?”

“Nice shot.” Fennec smirks. “And here I thought you were inexperienced.”

…

You are inexperienced…

“Lucky first-time assassination, is all.” A pang knocks against your chest cavity. “Beginner’s luck?”

Oh stars, stop trying to be cute. Now’s not the time- you’re having a mental crisis for Maker’s sake-

“Thank you for not saying anything,” you mumble, eyes flicking between Boba and Fennec. “It… would have put me in an awkward position.”

…

You bite your lower lip…

Just blurt it out.

“Boba,” you sigh, “why are you helping me?”

…

Arms pressed against his thighs, Boba leans forward.

“Just fulfilling my end of the deal.”

Something… flicks in his eyes- the first time you’ve seen his mask… falter.

…oh.

…

He’s lying.

“Go, Princess-” a dust of a smile shadows his face- “you’re with the wrong Mandalorian tonight.”

…He’s right.

And with a deep grimace, you head for the door-

“I would have shot him too-”

You glance back at Boba.

“-if that helps you.”

You flash him a small smile.

…

It does…

…

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

“Where’s… uh, Mando?” you ask, head popping up into the Crest’s cockpit from the ladder below.

Pablo shrugs, focused intently on his card game with Cara.

“In his room.” Cara smashes a card on the dash- Pablo erupts into groans.

"Pay up, Babycakes…”

With a roll of your eyes, you begin descending the ladder. When your feet touch the floor, you freeze- overwhelmed, paralyzed with… anxiety?

Damn it… it’s… just Mando…

Just… do it!

Pursing your lips, you march past a prostrate 4PO with a snoring Noodles- all four feet in the air- resting beside him. And with one final march forward, you find yourself right at the Mandalorian’s door…

…

“…Mando?”

knock- knock-

“Uh, can I… come in?”

…

“It’s unlocked.”

Chewing on your lower lip, the door snaps open beneath your touch.

…

“Din?” you call out hesitantly, sticking your head inside.

“Thought you were with Fett.”

Your eyes turn in the direction of the refresher.

…

“His… ship smelled weird.”

The refresher door snaps open, and Din steps out-

“BLAST!” you yelp, stumbling backwards. “What the hell! Where’s your armor!?”

Dank Ferrik! It’s- it’s like looking at the man naked! Should you, you don’t know, spin away!?

Din just… tilts his helmet at you- rests his hands at the waist of his flight suit.

“I don’t sleep in my armor.”

…oh.

You lean back against the closed door, listening as Din shuffles around the room.

Kriff! What do you say? … Why isn’t he saying anything? Oh gosh oh gosh-

“Where’s the baby?” you blurt, beginning to turn towards him. “Is he- OH-”

ARM REVEAL.

…

OH SHIT.

SHIT.

KRIFFING GUNS-FOR-DAYS.

“I put him down in the bunk.”

“Huh?” you puff, snapping your eyes away from his… his big-ass GUNS- oh kriff.

“The child-” Din steps over a pile of junk to open a drawer- “he was... fussy.” He pauses… hooks his thumbs on his suspenders. “I thought… maybe he’d sleep better near your scent.”

Oh-

Oh stop just throw you into the pits of Carkoon will you.

Shoulders slumping forward, you groan inwardly- using every bit of your determination to not bolt right out the door.

Oh kriff, you hate this- this awkwardness. Just… ask him something! And for the love of all things good and holy- DON’T STARE AT HIS ARMS.

“What are you, uh, doing?”

“Going to bed.”

“Oh.”

…

You blink.

…

“Okay, goodnight-”

Flinging around, you reach for the door, but a hand, a grip on your wrist pulls you back.

“What are you doing?” you snap, stumbling at the motion.

“You need a real bed.”

“So do you.”

“I know.”

Oh.

…

Well then.

…

Hell yeah.

…

You let him lead you, guide you around a pile of clothing- like a shepherd leading his flock through a minefield… only instead of a minefield it’s Din’s rancid room.

…But that’s an argument for another day.

Pausing at the foot of his bed- his visor trails down your legs…

"Sit.”

Damn it if you won’t obey. Stars, you’re pathetic.

“Din, what are you-”

He drops to his knees- bare fingers fumbling with the laces of your dust-caked boots. You watch- fighting to keep your expression neutral as the ridiculous man begins to remove your shoes for you.

…You also have to fight to not stare at his exposed arms and blasted-broad shoulders, but you’re much less successful at that part…

“Best be careful, Din Djarin.” A small smirk begins to grow. “I could get really used to this kind of treatment.”

“Who was he?”

You blink.

“…Huh?”

“That-” Din’s fingers pause- “that man.”

Your mouth pops open at his… vehemency.

“Boba?” You quirk a brow down at him.

Blast- what does Din… what does Din think?

He remains… silent, removing your second boot without a word.

“That man you kissed,” he puffs.

You blink… oooooohhh….

Leaning to your side, you pick at a loose thread on the bed. “He’s a… friend.”

“Looked like more than a friend,” the grumble slips beneath his helm. He stands, flicks a hand at you.

“Get out of those clothes.”

Thank the Maker- a topic change!

With a heavy sigh, you march yourself over to his drawers. You didn’t have to ask- you’re well beyond the asking stage.

“Mando?” you toss over your shoulder. “Um…What’s your favorite color?”

…

“Red.”

…

You can do red.

Snatching a scarlet flannel from the drawer, you slam it shut- sweeping into the refresher to change. As you remove your grimy clothes, you stare in the mirror at the scars- the marks on your forearm.

“You know, Mando,” you shout through the closed door, forcing your eyes away from the baggage of your past. “Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if the world hadn’t imploded under your feet as a kid? I know I do.”

Talking comes easier when you can’t see him….

…

Footsteps… shuffling… drawers opening and closing-

“Working my father’s trade…” Silence. “He was… a carpenter.”

Your fingers pause mid-buttoning. “Sounds… peaceful.” Unlike bounty hunting, goes unsaid.

“I think-” you reach for a towel- “that I’d have left Sularia, for sure. As much as I loved it…”

As much as you miss it…

“…There wasn’t much to do in the mountains except get married, have kids, chase kids, heard animals, shovel snow, fucking yodel… you get the picture.”

The door snaps open, and you press the side of your face against the doorframe. “I’ve always craved excitement, much to my parent’s displeasure…”

There he is- Din- sitting on the side of the bed… watching you.

He tilts his head forward- leans against his thighs. “I’d say you found yourself that excitement,” he snorts.

Understatement of the year.

Aches mixing with your exhaustion, you release a pained groan as you ease next to him on the bed. Body sinking in on itself, you brush, lean against his side.

Safe.

“Will you leave us again?”

His voice is but a whisper.

“If I left-” you lift your chin, flashing him a small smile- “I’d have to buy my own flannels.”

Silence.

…

He reaches out, tugs on your flannel sleeve.

“Can’t have that.”

…

“Go to sleep.”

A weary smile dusts your lips.

Yes, sir.

…

Scrambling up to the head of the bed, you shove your legs beneath the blankets and flop over to face the wall. Burying deep beneath them, you squeeze your eyes shut.

Blankets lift-

Weight on the mattress-

Heavy sigh-

Blankets pull and drop.

…

Oh kriff, he’s right behind you… Guess that’s how sharing a bed works…

…

Oh kark it.

You blink at the wall.

…

Time to make things weird.

“Roll over!” you shout, flinging up out of the bed. Din jolts back- startled by your outburst.

“W-what-?” He pulls the blankets up to his neck.

“MOVE!”

You yank on his arm- forcing him to roll over.

You can’t help but giggle as he obliges.

See? You don’t have to spend all night worrying about accidently touching him if you’re already touching him.

Life hack.

Now that Din’s properly flopped over and facing you in the bed, you crawl back under the blankets. You tug on his exposed arm- snaking it across your middle. You wiggle backwards until your back is pressed, squashed against his chest.

…

“Din?”

…

“Yeah?”

…

“This okay?”

…

His hand creeps up your hip, splays across your stomach.

…

“Yeah.”

…

“Then loosen up.”

…

“I am loose.”

…

“Goodnight, Din.”

…

“Goodnight, Ka’r’ika.”

…………

………

……

…

Guns-for-days holy shit-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

masterlist / previous chapter / next chapter

taglist: (in the reblog)

a/n: Oooooh boy. With a chapter this long, there’s a LOT I could say! I am reaaaaallly nervous for this one hsjdhdhd. Feel free to ask me anything in the comments so I can address specific topics! For now, I’ll just say things such as Din’s reaction to Boba taking his helmet off, Fennec still be alive, etc. will be addressed next chapter.

Chapter ten really came so easily yet so hard at the same time. I put a LOT of time and love into this fic... So, if you, too, find any sort of enjoyment from it, I’d love to hear about it! I have made so many kind friends through this story. I love hearing from you!

And heh, things be heating up in this chapter, hm??? 👀 Any thoughts/theories??

Anyway... I’m sure I’ll think of things later I’ll wish I’d said... but for now... I hope you enjoyed!!!

#din djarin x you #the mandalorian x you #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin x oc #the mandalorian x oc #the mandalorian fanfiction #din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian #din djarin #star wars #star wars fanfiction #willezarr #in fields of white #wille writes #ifow #chapter 10 #i'll tie you up princess

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dancingazaleas · 3 years

Text

bertholdt hoover | mc donald’s

HELPLPPPP i love he 🥺 i love he so much

sorry if this was trash :-(( i was rlly sleepy when i wrote this. pls enjoy

warnings/notes: cursing, modern au, highschool au, bertholdt, reiner, marcel, and reader are seniors, porco is a junior, reader is marcel’s twin, bert is ambidextrous (my headcanon), hard pining, bert’s a music prodigy, female reader

when you meet him, it was at your house on a friday night.

porco and marcel had decided to have their obnoxious and messy friend group over at the house while your parents were away for the weekend doing god knows what.

you were just annoyed that your mom said their friends could come over.

it wasn’t that they were inheritaly bad people, it was just that they were overly loud and, somehow, always forgot to pick up their shit before they left. you’d always get your ass chewed out by your mom for it too.

you also hated going downstairs whenever they were there. if marcel or porco caught even a glimpse of you, they would pester you to play a round of super smash bros and wii sports with them and the group. whenever the two of them started to pester, usually reiner would join in until you would cave. reiner was annoying when it game to game nights.

so, you sat upstairs in your room trying to go to sleep and drown out their laughter and yelling, but you couldn’t. they were too fucking loud.

you texted both porco and marcel angrily, telling them ‘shut your fucking mouths i cant fucking sleep’. you concluded that they were too distracted to notice your texts when they continued to yell and laugh. you scoffed and decided that you’d just try to scroll through social media and rant to ymir over text.

30 minutes had passed and the group downstairs showed no signs of quieting down and you were starting to get hungry. so with a sigh, you made your way downstairs towards your kitchen with the intention of finding pizza flavored goldfish in mind.

you were glad you weren’t noticed when you passed by the living room, that meant no pizza flavored goldfish. you opened the door to the pantry only to find cereal, protein powder and bars, porco and marcel’s chips, and the food your mom and dad ate.

this meant they had used your food for this get together. you groaned loudly and slammed the door to the pantry shut. the echo of it immediately silenced the large group in the living room, which held your next homicide victims.

you stomped into the room, irritation written all over your face as you looked at your brothers, who were hugging each other in fear.

“first, you ignore my texts asking you to shut your big fucking mouths. then, you decided death when you chose to serve your friends my food.” the two teenage boys nodded wearily.

with a battle scream, you jumped over the coffee table and on top of them on the leather couch, fists swinging. they shrieked in fear, scrambling under your weight to get away as everyone else in the room laughed at the scene.

you sat on porco’s back, the main offender, and held his head up by digging your thumbs into the bones of his eyebrows.

“porco, if you want me off of your’s and marcel’s ass in the next week; you better drive me to fucking mc donald’s, get me food, and pay for it!!! deal?!” you shouted at him, kicking away the hand that was reaching around to shove you away.

he slammed him palm onto the couch two times, “okay, okay!!! deal!! now get your ass off of me!!!”

you let go of his face and got off of him, but not without giving him a hard slap to the side of the head.

reiner hooted and clapped his large hands together, “another wrestling victory for (name)!!!”

everyone laughed a little, and you did a little bow before plopping down next to pieck, a college student you met in junior year while she was a senior who you were actually quite close with.

“how do you always manage to get your ass kicked by (name) everytime we come here,” zeke, another friend you’d met in junior year while he was in his senior year, snickered at the misery of porco.

“ha ha,” porco gave a monotone laugh, “leave me alone old man.”

“porco, where’s my mc donalds,” you sang and watched marcel roll his eyes a little.

“(name), it’s 11 o’clock at night. i’m not going to get you fucking mc donalds,” porco snapped but cowered away when you made the slight movement of getting up onto your feet.

“bertholdt’ll drive ‘em!” reiner piped up and everyone turned to said bert.

you felt yourself getting flustered when you took a look at bertholdt. he was tall and lean guy cowering in the corner of your couch with dark red cheeks as he stared back at you. his hair was a dark brown and he had the prettiest light jade colored eyes with a hooked nose right between them.

“oh...,” you were stunned, which was a uncommon occurrence, and felt like it was just you and him, “yeah... i’m down. i don’t think we’ve met before.”

bertholdt gave a shy nod and stood up for the couch, and you noticed just how tall he was. before you could make a step towards him however, porco jumped to his feet and got between you.

“nope! changed my mind! get in the tr—,” you shoved him back onto the couch next to marcel, who had a small and gentle smile.

“bert’s gonna get some,” pieck teased with a giggle as she poked at your sides from her seat.

you laughed bashfully and slapped her hands away, telling bertholdt that you were ready to leave when he was. pieck seized her attacks when you followed after bertholdt when he made his way to your front door.

“don’t forget to use protection,” annie shouted nonchalantly, the whole room bursting into laughter.

after that, both you and bertholdt hurried to get out of the house and into his car.

which led you to now, sitting in the parking lot of the sketchy and dingy mc donald’s eating and talking.

“wait, so when reiner...,” you chew while laughing, “told you marcel had a twin, you thought it was a prank?”

bertholdt chuckles shyly and nods, “yeah. i just.. i never saw you around cause no one pointed you out when we were at school. reiner would do stuff like that ever since we were kids.”

you shake your head with a smile, “so, why’d you decide to transfer to titan high just a couple weeks ago?”

bertholdt thinks for a second, “better music program. reiner mentioned something about it to me once, so then i did my own research. titan has multiple opportunities for their students to get a chance at getting scholarships to prestigious universities for fine arts by competing. also, all my friends are here.”

your heart swells as the way bertholdt eyes shine as he speaks of the music program, so much that you forget to answer for a second.

“oh! so, what instrument do you play?”

“uhm... i play the cello, violin, viola, double bass,” he pauses, “i’m learning the harp, piano, lyre, and the guitar.”

you gape at him, “so you’re a prodigy?!”

he blushes and gives a small shrug, “i’ve never really considered myself as such... but i guess by definition i am.”

“th-then why the hell are you going to titan high?!”

“i still wanted to be a normal kid. my dad put me in public schools with decent music programs so i could still play. my favorites are the piano and the cello.”

“hold out your hand for a second,” you request, to which he obliges.

you take it into your own hand, eyes scanning over the palm of his massive hand. his fingers are worn and he has a writer’s bump on his middle finger despite it being his left hand. he has a bandaid on his pinky finger and the tips of his fingers are a flushed red as well as his knuckles. his nails are perfectly even and trimmed and you notice a scar on his thenar stretching to his radial longtitude crease. you run the tip of your finger over the scar, ignoring how bertholdt flinches at the contact.

bertholdt’s blushing and he feels like he’s going to pass out on the spot. the only other girls he’s been this close to were pieck, annie and his friend ymir, who all have girlfriends.

but then bertholdt feels the soft skin of your lips gently kissing at the scar on his hand with your eyes closed. his heart races and it feels like it’s beating out of his chest.

bert’s pretty sure he can see black dots in his vision.

you look him in the eyes now, “i know we haven’t known each other for that long, but you’re really beautiful, bert.”

bertholdt flushed cheeks turn pale as he faints.

#bertholdt fubar #bertholdt x reader #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin manga #shingeki no kyojin #aot fanfiction #snk #snk bertholdt #snk fanfiction

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oopsiedoopsie23 · 4 years

Text

Not another rich girl | Ander Muñoz x reader

A/N: I’m actually motivated to write 2 imagines back to back? Who the fuck am I? Anyways, I know that this request included smut but I tried and it was just super cringe to me so I had to scratch that, but I hope that this imagine is still good! Oh and this is a long one bitches, so happy reading!

Request: hi! i love your writing! could u possibly write something smut with ander (being straight) ? like he goes out one night just to find a girl to have sex with, and the meets the reader and have sex with her and on the next day he finds out she’s the new girl frim his school. and the like fall in love and something like that

Warnings: mentions of sex, alcohol, swearing

Clutching both you and your friend’s drinks in both hands while also trying to keep your favourite clutch from falling onto the floor was not as easy as you thought it would be, not to mention with the crowds of people around you dancing and sucking each other’s faces off.

You gasp when someone bumps into you causing you to stumble, but before you could face plant in the middle of the dance floor, you feel a pair of hands catch you.

“Holy fuck!”

You hear a low voice chuckle, “I just saved your life.”

“Yeah thanks, I think my friend would have killed me if I showed up without their drink.”

You hear him chuckle once again and it literally sounds like music to your ears.

The two of you stand there for a moment in the middle of the dance floor, looking at one another before he awkwardly sticks his hand out for you to shake,

“Ander.”

you smile, before awkwardly motioning to the drinks still in your hands, “I would shake your hand but mine seem to be a bit full.”

You giggle as his cheeks redden at the realization.

“Here,” you take one of the drinks in your hands and place it in his outstretched one, “now, I can shake your hand.”

He smirks and shakes his head, almost in disbelief, but still shakes your hand,

“Beautiful and smart, I like that.”

“Hot and cocky, not sure if I like that.” you smirk,

“Would it change if I help you carry these drinks so your friend won’t kill you?”

You pretend to seriously think about the option even though you both knew that there was no way you would turn down his offer, “I’d reconsider it.”

Ander sarcastically rolls his eyes and lets you lead him through the crowded dance floor to a small table in the corner of the room where another girl impatiently sits, with her phone in her hands.

“Y/N c’mon that took you li-” You roll your eyes knowing what’s about to happen,

“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize that Y/N would bring something else back besides our drinks.”

You scoff and give Ander an apologetic look, “Y/F/N, chillax, he saved me from falling on my ass and helped me bring the drinks back.”

You practically forced the drink into their hands to stop them from saying anything else before turning to Ander once again, “Sorry, they’re a little drunk.”

He gives a sheepish smile, “Nah, don’t worry about it, I’m sure my friends wouldn’t have been much better if I showed up with you carrying our drinks to our table, too.”

Your eyes widened at the revelation, “Holy shit you’re here with people? Sorry, they must be worried about where you are!”

Ander gives another chuckle that makes your heart flutter, “Nah don’t worry about it, we come here often enough for me to know that they’re probably sucking each other’s faces off by now.”

Your face scrunches up into a face of pure disgust making Ander chuckle once again, “Only single one in the group?”

“Is that your way of asking me if I’m single?”

“Don’t flatter yourself pretty boy.”

“So you think I’m pretty?”

“I think you’re a boy.”

“Can you two find a bathroom to hook up in, already? The sexual tension between you two is killing me.”

The two of you turn to look at your friend, now with an empty glass in their hand, cheeks tinted red, drunkenly laughing at your facial expressions,

You’re about to give them another rhetorical response when they abruptly stand and walk past you, muttering about getting another drink.

“Well...they’re...”

“A bitch when drunk? Yes, yes they are.”

The two of you sit down at the now empty table, and the both of you fall into a comfortable silence as you look around the club, watching various drunk teens stumble around.

You’re entertained watching a group of teens around your age on the balcony, drunkenly laughing and grinding on one another when Ander drags you out of your thoughts,

“And that, is why I’m here with you.”

“What?”

“Those drunken bastards back there,” Ander points back to the group of friends that you were watching, “Are my friends.”

You burst out laughing much to Ander’s amusement,

“Sorry, it’s just that...they seem to be on a whole other level of drunk compared to everyone else in here.” You lift your arm, motioning to the others in the club to prove your point,

“No, I get it, like, don’t get me wrong, I’m down for getting drunk, but...”

“You don’t want to be grinding and making out with all of them.”

“That, and I’m the only single one in the group.”

“Ha! I knew it!”

“Yeah, yeah, doesn’t really help that they’re all dating each other too.”

Your faces scrunches up again, making Ander burst out laughing,

“C’mon then pretty boy, let’s go take shots to take your mind off of your horny friends.” You stand up and take his hand, dragging him out of his seat,

“You must really like my looks, don’t you?”

“Because of that, you’re paying.”

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

After an hour of shots and bottles of champagne (you didn’t bother questioning Ander’s strange mix of alcohol), you and Ander were left laughing and stumbling through the streets after sending your friend home in a taxi.

Ander led you through streets and alleyways until the two of you were standing at a lookout point, at the edge of town,

The two of you stand there for a moment in silence, hand in hand, looking at the view, until you break the silence,

“If we spent this whole night flirting just for you to kill me, I’ll be super pissed.”

Ander chuckles for what feels like the hundredth time that night, making the butterflies in your stomach flutter,

“How would you even be pissed at me if you’re dead?”

“I have my ways.”

Another comfortable silence engulfed the two of you before you broke it once again,

“I wish this moment lasted forever.”

“Well it would if you could keep quiet for more than 30 seconds.”

You pout causing a wide smile to spread on Ander’s face while he pinches your cheeks.

“Anyways, tell me why you want this moment to last forever.”

You sigh, turning away from the boy to face the beautiful view,

“My dad just got a huge promotion and apparently I’m not good enough for a regular public school now, so he’s sending me to some fancy, rich kid school.”

Ander smiled, wrapping his arm around you,

“C’mon it probably won’t be that bad.”

“There’ll probably be a lot of people acting like your friends, there.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“You tell me.”

“Touché.”

Maybe it’s the alcohol still coursing throughout both of your veins, or the butterflies still fluttering in your stomach but the next thing you know, Ander’s lips are on yours, your hands are on his face, tracing his jawline and his hands are drawing circles on your hips.

The two of you move in sync, hands travelling down the others’ body, trying to get as much as you could of the other before either of you could change your minds.

Ander slowly pulls back, letting you both catch your breath before silently leading you down a set of stairs to an abandoned couch.

“This totally isn’t sketchy at all.”

Ander turns to you, eyes sparkling, “Do you trust me?”

You smile and close the gap between the two of you once again, letting your lips connect, “Of course I do.”

“Good.”

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

You wake up to the sound of birds chirping and a bright light shining on your face, at first you just groaned and rolled over but when you bumped into a hard chest, your eyes widened in realization and you had to cover your mouth quickly to stop yourself from screaming.

You sit up and quickly scramble for your phone, sighing in relief when you find it on the ground with your abandoned clutch and heels. Turning it on, you gasp when you see the time, 5:00 am.

You had exactly 3 hours to find a cab, explain to your parents why you were still in your dress from the night before, sit through their boring lecture about being responsible, change into your new uniform, and run out the door.

You sigh and pick up your shoes, making sure you had all of your things before a new realization dawned on you...Ander.

Sweet, charming, Ander, who was still sleeping peacefully on the couch, oblivious to your leaving.

You walk over to him, running a hand through your hair before giving him a gentle kiss on his forehead.

May we meet again, sweet Ander.

Giving the sleeping boy one last look, you turn around, and walk away.

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

Ander grumbled as he walked into the full classroom.

“Did someone not get enough sleep last night?”

Ander shot a smiling Guzmán a glare before sitting down at his usual table.

“I saw you with that hot girl last night.” Guzmán sang once again, wiggling his eyebrows.

Ander let out a groan, trying to ignore Guzmán’s childish gaze.

“I mean, where did you even go? Your mom called and I had to tell her that you were sleeping at my house.”

“Drop it Guzmán.”

Guzmán‘s smile dropped as he scooted closer towards his best friend, a concerned look adorning his face upon noticing the anger and sadness laced in Ander’s voice,

“Ander, I know you’re not okay, what the fuck happened?”

“She fucking left me, okay? She left this morning without a word.”

“Ander...”

“I’m fine Guzmán, seriously it happens, I just- I thought that she was different.”

Before the boy could respond, the two hear the voice of Ander’s mom interrupt their conversation,

“Attention all of you, we have a new student today and I hope that you all give her a warm welcome.”

Ander groans, “Jesus Christ, not another rich girl.”

But his heart stops when a familiar pair of eyes are looking back at him, from the front of the room.

“Now everyone, this is Y/N L/N, would you please have a seat next to Ander, over there?”

He watches in shock as you give a slight nod and smile to his mother and slowly make your way towards him.

“Hi...” you awkwardly mutter as you sit down in the empty chair beside him.

His jaw clenches but he doesn’t say a word, instead trying to ignore your pleading look and Guzmán’s confused one.

But after about 15 minutes of silence, he couldn’t take it anymore,

“Why did you leave without saying goodbye?” he whispers, so only you could hear,

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees you gulp and hesitantly turn towards him,

“I didn’t know what to say...hey I got to go home and get ready for my first day at the best school in the fucking country that apparently you go to, too?”

Ander couldn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped him and gently nudged your shoulder with his,

“Hey, now you can go to the club with the horny bastards and I.”

He laughed as you made the scrunched up face of disgust that made his heart beat ten times faster.

“Jesus Christ, do I have to?”

#ander munoz #ander munoz imagine #ander munoz x reader #ander #ander x reader #ander imagine #elite #elite imagine #elite x reader #fanfiction #imagine #oopsiedoopsie23 #Arón Piper #Arón Piper x reader #Arón Piper imagine

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janaeekook · 4 years

Text

Incapable ii. || {myg}

“You cant love Min Yoongi, he doesn’t know how to love. Or care for that matter. You’ll just end up getting hurt.”

pairing: assassin!yoongi x reader

word count: 2.4k

warnings: - mafia - depictions of death -

series masterlist

ii.

"This morning I received this." Namjoon spoke handing his phone around the room.

Unknown- You spill our blood, we spill yours.

"That's for rat face?" You asked,

"Has to be." Jin spoke.

"Taehyung do you think you could pull information from it?" Namjoon asked the tired looking, fluffy haired boy.

"I can try." He took the phone starting to get to work on it.

"Alright, Y/n, Jimin, get A-team together, gather as much information as possible." You both nodded, heading to the east wing to retrieve the 4 members of the A-team, Jeonghan, Jen, Win, and Kai. The members of army bowed to us as we entered, heading to the common room were you found the 4 sitting on the couch.

"Y/n, Jimin." Jeonghan stood quickly bowing which the rest of them followed.

"There's no need for formalities with me." You chuckled hugging him and Kai, You turned to Jen trapping her in a hug, Win who stood next to her smiled at you before you also gave him a hug, "I hope you've all been well, Namjoon gave us a casual intelligence mission."

Jimin handed Jeonghan a manila folder, his eyes skimmed over the pages before his eyes flicked back up to Jimin, "Is this all we have?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Taehyung is working on gathering more remotely, but they're good, they know how to cover their tracks." Jeonghan nodded at Jimin’s words before handing the folder to the other three.

"The Russian mafia? Why would they be in Seoul?" Win asked.

"Wouldnt be much of a mission if we knew right?" You jokingly poked fun at Win, He punched your arm lightly.

"Lets get going as soon as possible, we dont want to waste anytime." Kai said handing the folder back to Jimin.

Jeonghan nodded, "10 minutes, we'll meet at the entrance."

•

You tied your hair back and away from your face before leaving your room and heading for the main staircase, but the second you stepped into the hallway you collided with someone's chest.

The hands gripping your hips lingering longer than they should, the tips of the fingers constricting ever so slightly into your hips. You looked up your breath catching in your throat Yoongi's cold eyes stared back into your own, cheeks ablaze. Your skin all too aware of how he was holding onto your sides before they fell away.

"Uh, sorry." You hurried quickly away from him and down the stairs, not wishing him to know how much power he had over you. Or better yet read you like a book and know you'd fantasized about his hands on you the night before.

Yoongi watched you scurry down the steps. He had felt you shrink beneath his solid gaze, He felt you melt in his grasp, He had felt the control he had over you the brief moment you were in his hands and deep down he wanted more though he'd never admit it.

Jeonghan handed you an earpiece, you put it in your ear before going over the plan, "We're starting downtown dont draw attention to yourselves, you can't forget we're still highly wanted suspects by the government, and keep your eyes open. Understand?"

"Loud and clear." Jen said.

Jimin spoke next, "Alright, Kai and myself will be together, then with Y/n and Jeonghan, Jen and Win do you think you can handle yourselves on your own?" The two only nodded, they were experienced and used to working alone anyway.

You looked to your side peering up at Win, he glanced down at you and smiled. You all did a special handshake you made up years ago in training before heading out the door.

"Hey," a voice stopped you in your tracks, you turned around to see Jungkook, he wore a low V-neck shirt which exposed his tattoos that designed his neck and chest; complimenting the sleeve running down his right arm. You told the others you'd be right out and turned your attention to Jungkook. He was a very attractive young man, you had found yourself tangled up in sheets with him on more than one occasion but nothing had ever been made official, it was more of a stress reliever than anything.

"Hey." You said with a smile which he quickly returned.

"Be safe alright?" He told you.

"Always am." This caused him to smile wider, before pressing a soft kiss on your forehead, and without another word you made your way out the door to join the team.

"What's up with that?" Win looked to you with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Jungkook?"

"Its nothing." You said with a smile, playfully punching his arm.

"Hey just looking out for you." He said flashing you another priceless smile before climbing into the vehicle. You sighed, following after him.

•

It had been 2 hours since you started to search, you walked around the streets with Jeonghan. He was quite a bit taller than you, he wore a baseball cap that shadowed his face, a man bun tied at the base of his neck due to his long hair.

"That man, all black straight a head." He suddenly stated, his eyes narrowing at the suspicious looking man.

"You got something?" Jen's voice came through the ear piece.

"We're on the main road, it's a bit crowded but I've got my eyes on him, we'll tail him." Jeonghan said, the man was thin, if his behavior weren't so odd you'd probably look right over him. "He just turned left at the bbq shop, he seems to be headed towards the docks."

"Headed that way." Win spoke.

You and Jeonghan reached the corner the man had turned down, Kai and Jimin were there as well. Jeonghan looked around the corner before waving us on.

"Keep your guards up." You spoke in a hushed tone. We all continued down the rather quiet road compared to the bustling road you'd just come from, the dock ahead was old and rundown unlike central ports. An abandoned factory you'd assumed, stood at the end of it, all the windows boarded, moss stretching up the old concrete and rusted metal.

"Well that's not sketchy." Jimin stated from behind you.

"Spread out, surround the perimeter see if there's anything of concern." You suggested and everyone nodded continuing forward before splitting to circle the aged building, Win stayed at the front watching over the building and studying the main entrance.

You walked around, Jeonghan still at your side, The sloshing of the ocean to your right and the monstrous building to your left.

"Anything?" Kai asked through the ear piece.

"Negative, Jen?" Jeonghan said.

"Nothing here."

"It doesn't make sense for there to be nothing, circle back around to Win. Win you have anything at the front?" Jeonghan asked, he was answered with silence, "Win, do you copy?" His question was met with another chilling silence. A blood curdling scream came from the direction we had come, you and Jeonghan looked at each other before taking off in a sprint.

You found Jen on her knees sobbing in front of Win, blood spilled from his throat staining his shirt before it seeped into the fine cracks of the concrete around him, forever stained a rusty red puddled that began to encircle his head. Your stomach lurched at the sight, the choked noises as he tried to find his breath but only finding his blood which was suffocating him slowly. An odd looking weapon still stuck in his chest, ungodly amounts of blood spilling from his fatal wounds, you felt frozen as he choked on his own blood. What could you do? Could you do anything? You felt utterly hopeless, fear clawing at the back of your mind, you didn't want to lose someone else, but what could you do?

You willed yourself to move but your feet didn't budge, Jens hands frantically trying to cover his wounds, to cease the blood from evading his body. Your eyes finally met his, softening upon seeing you, you'd bet you'd looked rather like a deer in headlights. His lips shook as he continually struggled for breath, but he managed to quirk them upwards the slightest bit, as if to tell you it was ok before you watched in horror and unexplainable helplessness as his eyes rolled back into his head, his chest no longer rising and falling, in an attempt to take in stuttered uneven breaths.

"No." You whispered, not wanting to believe the sight before you.

"No." It couldn't be Win.

"No." There was no way he could be dead.

Your mind couldn't process it; that he now laid there, no light, no life behind his eyes. Gone. Warmth fading from his skin.

Jen wrapped her arms around his body, You took stumbled steps towards her pulling her up into your chest, She continued to sob, gripping at the back of your shirt with her blood stained hands. Win had been with us for as long as you could remember, you stared at his pale face before allowing a single tear to fall. You looked around for any sign of the person who'd taken your friends life.

"I-Its my fault! I-I sh-should've stayed with him." Jen cried into your chest, you closed your eyes more tears slipping over your cheeks.

"No, Its not your fault. None of us could've known." You spoke softly into her ear, stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down. When in reality your mind was just as frantic as hers, you mind begging for Wins eyes to open and tell you he was alright.

But he wasn't, the blood being evidence to that. It was real. Painfully, brutally real.

"We need to get him out of here." You told Jimin still holding onto Jen.

"I'll call Jungkook." Jimin said, his face seemed as shocked as the rest of us. No one had ever been able to sneak up on Win before or land an attack on their own, the person who did this had to have been very skilled.

•

You sat silently in the passenger seat, Jungkook driving. When Jimin had called him he thought it had been you that got hurt, although he was relieved, he had just lost another brilliant gunman. It was only the two of you in the car, the others had been taken in another one.

"You alright?" He finally broke the silence, his tone was soft.

"Ya, nothing I haven't seen before." You bit the inside of your cheek, trying desperately to bite back the tears that threatened to spill.

"It was Win, y/n." His tone dropped lower, you didn't want to respond for fear of your voice breaking. When you joined, you spent most of your time with Win, Jeonghan, Jen and Kai. They were your best friends and they got you through a lot.

It was quiet the rest of the way home, when Jungkook pulled up you jumped out walking up the steps and pushing the door open. You headed straight for the stairs not acknowledging the eyes of everyone on you as you came through the door.

"Y/n." You looked over your shoulder to see Jungkook and the others looking at you, "Where are you going?"

"Bed."

"It's 3 o'clock, Y/n." His tone remained soft.

"I'm tired." You stated, mentally cursing at yourself for allowing your voice to break. You hurried up the steps and to your room, shutting the door behind you and sliding down the dark wood as your body shook with each silent sob that racked your body.

•

"Y/n? Why didn't you save me?" The blood ran from his throat, soaking his all white clothing in dark crimson.

"I-I'm Sorry."

"Do you know what it feels like to have your throat slit?"

"N-no."

"Maybe I should show you then-"

You screamed yourself awake, it carried through the whole house. Hot tears spilled down your cheeks as you sobbed, the crown of your head littered with beads of sweat as anxiety ripped at you. The door to your bedroom swung open. Jungkook was the first one in followed by your brother and the others. Namjoon's eyes softened at the sight of you, he hurried over pulling you into a hug.

"Shhh, it's ok." He caressed you're hair in a soothing way.

"J-joonie, it was awful."

"It was just a dream, you're safe." He whispered, you looked over his shoulder, everyone's faces filled with worry, even Yoongi. You let your glistening eyes linger on his, "Get some rest ok?" Namjoon asked, pulling himself away from the embrace, you grabbed his wrist.

"Stay."

He sighed, "I've got work to do, y/n." You pouted.

"I can stay." Jungkook spoke from behind Namjoon, who now looked at Jungkook questioningly, "I'll watch over her."

"Is that alright?" Namjoon turned whispering to you, You nodded, he gave your hand a squeeze and smiled sadly at you. He remembered you getting nightmares when you were younger, and having to hold you until you fell back asleep, he wished he could be there for you like back then but his work called. He lead everyone out of the room to continue their prior activities. When the door had shut Jungkook immediately climbed into the bed next to you, propping his elbow on the pillow next to yours, resting his head in his hand.

"You alright?" He asked, you laid on your back staring at the ceiling.

"It was just a bad dream." You told him, not wanting to elaborate. He simply hummed in understanding, "did you get any information off the weapon?" You asked quietly fiddling with the sheets in your hand.

"We don't have to talk about that, y/n." He spoke soothingly.

"I want to know, Jungkook, please." You turned your head to look him in the eye, letting him know you were serious.

"Well, while you were asleep, I began to analyze it. It's an oddly shaped knife, the letters N-C-T were carved into the handle. They seemingly want us to know who they are, but the question we're trying to figure out now is, why?"

"N-C-T? Who are they?" You questioned but Jungkook shrugged.

"Beats me, they seem to be another group and we can't underestimate them anymore," He spoke as he played with the ends of your hair, "You should get some more sleep."

You nodded, though deep down you knew you'd wouldnt be able to fall back asleep; That your subconscious would only torment you. He put his arm around your body, your mind wandering, feeling miles away from your physical body. The thoughts left in your mind turned over again and again; Who was NCT? What are they looking for? What are they trying to prove?

taglist: @art-myg @hwaddict @ahgasearmyfan @gee-nee @janeelizabeth1216 @elliegrace1999tvd @sunnynxy @boba-king-iroh @deathkat657

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

Text

Two Sides of a War

Peter Parker x reader

warnings: a fight scene that makes no fucking sense bdhshagag, bad writing in general

a/n: thank you !

prompt: anonymous: “okay so dating peter parker and then fighting him during civil war cause the reader is on team cap?? thank much love you and your writing”

You and Peter were just two wannabe up-and-coming vigilantes heroes based in New York. You barely had a name for yourself, just some YouTube videos with some...interesting comments. Why are people so attracted to masks?

Peter and you crossed paths as Spider-Man and y/h/n a couple dozen times while watching over the streets of New York, after a while, you guys became good friends and revealed your identities to each other. It wasn’t long before the two of you fell for each other.

Now you were being approached by the famous Wanda Maximoff and Clint Barton, two Avengers who needed your help. You couldn’t just say no! This was the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Where are we going?” You asked as you packed up your suit.

“Germany.” Hawkeye replied while you slung your backpack over your shoulder.

“I’m good to go.”

Along the way, you picked up another masked individual, Scott. He sure talked a lot, he talked until he passed out. Once it was quiet, you realized something. You hadn’t told Peter where you were. This was the coolest opportunity you’d ever received and you had yet to share it with him. You stared at your lockscreen, the picture of the two of you sitting on a rooftop eating cardboard-tasting pizza. Never again would you order from there.

You typed out your message, reading it over and over again.

Pete, you’ll never guess where I am right now. I’m in Germany, dude!! Apparently the Avengers aren’t doing to well, so they called me in. They told me I’d be home for dinner though, I don’t know if they meant dinner in NY or dinner here, either way, it’s gonna be awesome! Wish me luck, love you!!! 💙❤️💙❤️

You selected the entire message and deleted it, casting your phone aside on the seat of the van. Honestly, that text might worry him more than anything. Suddenly you just run off to another country with some rogue Avengers? Sounds a bit sketchy. Your stomach didn’t feel too good now, what if you made a mistake coming here? No way, this is your chance to do the right thing. The Accords they told you about were ridiculous, they shouldn’t have to wait for a vote on where to help. They should just be able to help.

The van came to a halt and the engine switched off.

“Ready to meet the Captain, y/n?” Clint asked you as you gathered your things.

“Definitely.” He stepped out of the van and opened the door for you, you stepped over Scott and hopped out, dropping your bag on the pavement. “Hi, I’m y/n, y/h/n. Here to help.” You waved at the three men in front of you with an awkward smile to go along with it. You were so caught up in the thought of fighting alongside these big names that you forgot that you were probably going to be extremely intimidated.

“It’s good to have you, y/n. Thanks for coming here on such short notice.” Captain America himself reached out his hand and you nearly forgot how to shake somebody’s hand. “Are we all ready to go?”

—————

You marched through the lot of the airport beside your new teammates, heart racing with anticipation, you should be a bit scared, but this was the coolest thing you’ve ever had the chance to do! After some bickering between the Tony Stark and the Captain America, Tony called out some random word.

“Underoos!” Iron Man yelled and a red figure flew onto the scene.

“That can’t be..?” You muttered loud enough for Cap to hear and he looked over to see your puzzled face. It was. “What the hell?” You said loud enough for everyone to hear, now all eyes were on you.

“Oh, shit.” Peter put his hand to his forehead, this could not be happening right now.

“Wait, kid, you know them?” Tony asked his newest recruit, who’s white eyes grew larger as he stared at you in shock.

“That’s...heh, funny story, Mr. Stark.” Peter stood up with Cap’s shield on his arm.

“I’m his partner, his s/o. You got him a new suit?” You cut in and Tony gave you a dirty look.

“I wasn’t asking you, pipsqueak.” He snapped back at you. “Of course I got him a new suit, he was wearing rags. You could use an upgrade, too.”

“This is awkward.” Peter piped in before getting punched in the face by Ant-Man. And just like that, you all scrambled to take each other down, you were determined to make it over to Peter, hiding behind a gasoline truck to talk.

“Peter, why didn’t you tell me that Tony Stark picked you up?” You and him yanked your masks off and your boyfriend engulfed you into a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark told me to keep it quiet! I honestly don’t want to fight you, this could get bad.” Peter held your cheeks in his hands and brushed his thumb on your face. “Please don’t punch me that hard.”

“I dunno, Pete, I can’t make any promises.” You joked and kissed his palm. “Kidding, be careful out there. There are some heavy hitters.” You put his mask back on and adjusted your own before running back to the fight, Peter swinging above you. The fight couldn’t have been more tense, all these friends were suddenly turned against each other and somehow you and Peter fell into the middle of it.

“Hey, Spider-Boy!” Tony called to your boyfriend. “Why don’t you take care of your little lover?” He suggested, making Peter very uncomfortable for many different reasons.

“It’s ‘Spider-Man,’” he whined and reluctantly swung back over to you, making you lose your balance and tumble backwards, “hey, me again!”

“They want you to take care of me, huh?” You crossed your arms and cocked an eyebrow, the ultimate look of disapproval. Peter lifted the bottom half of his mask for you to see his lips move.

“I think you may be on the wrong side of this one, y/n. I mean, these guys are doing something illegal.” Peter grabbed you by your upper arms and pulled you to safety, there was debris flying every which way.

“Did Tony tell you what it was?” You turned you head and gave him a know-it-all smile, Peter sucked his tongue and did you one better, an awkward smile.

“Well, no...” He rubbed the back of his neck and you nodded along.

“That’s what I thought.” You reached your arms out to him, which was deceiving since your next move was a front-flip over his shoulders, pressing the button to his web shooters and wrapping the webs around his wrists. Peter barely reacted because, well, he didn’t think his own s/o would disarm him like that. “You should sit this one out, babe. You’re doing more harm than good.” You folded his mask back down and patted his head, strutting away to help your team again.

“Y/N?! Are you serious?!” He squirmed around trying to break loose from the binds of his own weapon. “Mr. Stark? I could use a little help here!” Peter cried out while shimmying against a piece of metal to free himself. “These things are so strong! I can’t tell if I should be happy or mad at my work!”

“What’s going on, kid?” Tony flew to Peter and witnessed his struggles.

“I’m a little stuck.”

—————

The fight came to rough close for your team as everyone went down one by one.

“What’s gonna happen to them, Mr. Stark?” The freed Spider-Man asked his boss.

“Well, my young padawan, the proper authorities get to deal with them!” Tony told the Spider-Man and realized what this would mean. With a reluctant groan he looked around the airport for you. “Alright, kid, your little friend is laying on the ground near that plane wing. Go get them, I’ll cover for ‘em.”

“Thank you, sir!” Peter rushed to go and get you, worried by the fact that you were just laying there. “Y/N? Y/N, are you okay?” Peter fell to his knees and shook you by the shoulders.

“Yep! I’m good.” You answered without opening your eyes. “Can we go home? Please?” You begged him, reaching out and accidentally hitting his face.

“Yeah, let’s go.” He laced his arms under your knees and back, when you were moved you moaned in pain. “You’re gonna be okay.”

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartlisbeth // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @allthecreativeonesaretaken // @frostedgiant // @praellee //

#peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker #spiderman #spiderman x reader #spiderman imagine #marvel #marvel imagine #marvel x reader #avengers #avengers x reader #avengers imagine #tony stark #iron man

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bluebellhairpin · 4 years

Text

Video Tapes

Batfam X Batmom!Reader

A/N: It’s kind of different to the request, buuuuttt it still has ‘Birds of Prey’ vibes. - Nemo

Request: Hi! I don't know if request are open but I'm going to try can you do a batman x batmom but is that episode from BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD where the birds of prey sing and batmom is one of them. - Anon

Warning(s): ‘Cats’ (1998 version) is mentioned. Consider yourself warned.

Summary: It is pretty common knowledge among the Wayne Household that their Mother came from ‘sketchy’ origins. The boy's all rooting through old video tapes sure as hell didn’t make matters any better, but it didn’t exactly make them worse either. Who knew old videotapes could be so useful?

Listening to: ‘Birds of Prey’ from Batman: The Brave and The Bold - ‘While all the boys can always save the day, no one does it better than the Birds of Prey!’

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

The boys didn’t have a habit of going through the storage room’s contents whenever their Sunday afternoons just-so-happened to be free at the same time - but here they were.

(Alfred suggested it, since they were all ‘super, unbearably bored’ and were completely getting in his way.)

They’d already been up there for an hour, and they’d uncovered a range of items in the boxes and books - some of which were thought lost forever.

“This used to be mine,” Dick said, holding an old - and very worn - stuffed animal gingerly in his hands, “I’d almost grown out of it when I’d misplaced it. I hadn’t seen it since.”

“It looks loved.” Damian mumbled, choosing to ignore the smug look on Jason’s face at his ‘nice’ comment towards a teddy bear.

“Yeah. I cried for three days after, but Bruce and Mom helped me through it.”

“Hey guys, check this out.” Tim said, leaning into a medium-sized box named ‘tapes’ in big boxed letters. The three other boys made quick work of - almost - packing up their own boxes to go join Tim, and they were in awe at what the box held.

“Jee, I haven’t seen this many video tapes in one place in years.” Jason said, picking up a tape labeled ‘The Nanny Reruns’. “Who the hell keeps videotapes of ‘The Nanny’ anymore?”

“Or ‘The Sister Act’.”

“And ‘Cats’.”

“Damian, what?” Dick asked, “Show me.” He took the tape from Damian, inspecting it. “That’s weird.”

“Yeah, who watches ‘Cats’?”

“No, Jason, it’s weird because this is Mom’s handwriting. I forced her to watch it a lot when I was younger, and even now she hates it. She told me she burned this tape in the dining room’s fireplace.”

“Obviously not.” Jason said, taking the tape from Dicks hands to look it over himself. “But it is weird that she’d keep it. I mean, when she hates something - she really hates it.”

“Maybe it’s not ‘Cats’.” Tim suggested, thinking over possibilities while cradling the tape box in his lap. “Just ‘cause it says ‘Cats’ doesn’t mean it is. Old tapes could record something over what was already on it - I did it a few times accidentally - but it might not be 'Cats' and just has the same label."

“So what, we put it in a VCR and watch it?” Damian asked, looking up between his older ‘brothers’.

“How the hell do you know what a VCR is?” Jason said, staring down at the young Wayne. “Weren’t you born in a cave?”

“'Eth Alth'eban is an underground city, you uncultured swine.”

“Okay, enough out of the both of you.” Dick said, standing not-so-subtly between the two. “Tim, do we even have a VCR player?”

“Probably. Alfred would know where it was if we do.”

“Well, I for one,” started Jason, moving Damian out of his way with little effort, “Am off to get this player.”

The four of them sat in silence, the screen in front of them went blank over a couple moments ago.

“That was not ‘Cats’.”

“I concur.” Tim said, breaking his stare at the TV to look over at Damian. “For once.”

“I never knew Ma knew Huntress.”

“Knew Huntress?” Dick said, giving an unimpressed look at Jason. “More like ‘I never knew she was one of the Birds of Prey’.”

“You didn’t know that?”

“Oh, sorry Timmy, not everyone can hold the titles of ‘world's greatest detective’.”

“We were gone a day,” A new voice interrupted. In fact, this particular voice belonged to the woman in subject, and all the boys - minus Damian, because he cannot see over the couch - turned to face the owner of the voice. “What are you boys arguing about now?”

There (y/n) and Bruce stood, Bruce’s arm wrapped snugly around her waist - and even though it wasn’t the most important subject as of currently - the day they spent with just themselves did Bruce good. He was more relaxed, and they all could tell. But back to answering the question at hand.

“We found VCR’s in the storage room.” Tim started, “Watched the one labeled ‘Cats’.”

“Oh wow.” Bruce scoffed a laugh. “At least it wasn’t ‘Pretty Woman’.”

“Why? What’s on that one?” Damian asked, popping his head over the couch to send a smile over at the two parents.

“Oh, lemme guess… Not ‘Pretty Woman’?” Jason asked, standing to stretch his legs, looking over at (y/n).

“You’re right Jay.” (y/n) said, prying herself out of Bruce’s grasp to start the journey back upstairs to find for herself the box of tapes. The boys took no time in following her so they could keep hearing what she had to say. “In fact none of the tapes in that box are labeled correctly, you’d be surprised at exactly what information is stored on them.”

“You use them as secondary soft-copy archives?” Tim said, nodding with a smile.

“Exactly. Without the correct equipment you cannot copy it, and they’re easy to destroy if needed.” Bruce said, following the small group up the stairs.

“‘Destroy’? Jeez old man, what do you have on these tapes?”

“Lots, and lots of things. Security footage. Files. Names. Places. You name it. Some top secret, others less so.” As Bruce answered Jason’s mocking question, (y/n) reached the storage room, and the others all followed as she took hold of the box of tapes.

“This one has everything we know about Superman on it..” She said, holding up a tape labeled ‘Cry-Baby’, causing Bruce to smirk, and at least two of the boys to snicker.

“Come up with that codename all by yourself Bruce?” Dick asked, smiling.

“Nope. (y/n) did that one.” He answered, almost laughing. “I wanted to name it ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.

‘Batmom’ Taglist: @eternaleviee @super-hereos-are-my-life

[Taglist is Open!]

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne imagine #bruce wayne one shot #batman x reader #batman imagine #batman one shot #birds of prey x reader #batfam x batmom #bruce wayne x batmom #dick grayson x reader #jason todd x reader #tim drake x reader #damian wayne x reader

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likesomekindofcheese · 4 years

Text

The Nurse and the Skywalker (6 Undergound Oneshot)

Paring: Four/Billy x nurse! Reader

Word Count: 1847

From anon request: Can you do one with Ben( as 4/Billy in underground 6) getting injured and you’re a no-nonsense nurse having to tend to his wounds and he flirts with you at first, but then he gets serious/tender and vulnerable with you and it makes your heart melt?

Warnings: Swearing, hospitals, mentions of blood, illness, surgery, and injuries.

A/N: Thanks for your patience! Much thanks to @rhapsodyrecs for suggesting a great line! As well as @yourlocalmusicalprostitute and @joeneslee when writers block got me in this one!

The afternoon coffee you had been sipping was gulped in one hot swig when your co-worker ran in, yelling “Y/N! It’s an emergency! You need to hurry!”

The 12-hour shift and it’s exhaustion was forgotten at the words. Your shoes squeaked against the floor as you were led into the room.

“A young man-he has a bad injury-he’s been shot and his bones are broken too!” she cried.

Looking over, the patient was young. Not too far from your own age in fact. He was groaning in pain. His arm and leg were broken. But you noticed a few gashes here and there. Still bleeding. A lot. But he looked up and kept his eyes on you. As you reached over to see some charts the mysterious man left and what could be known, you felt his eyes, and saw him even crane his neck just to keep an eye out on you.

Maybe I spilled something on my scrubs you thought, dismissing the notion as they wheeled his bed out into the hallway.

“Quick, give me the anathesea- and a surgeon- we can get the bullet out, but we have to be swift!”

You were handed the pain medicine to give to the patient.

As you put the tube over his mouth, he glanced up at you. His eyes were as green as a field on a picnic day. And you noticed his hair as well-it was cut short but very blonde.

“I…I’m scared…please don’t…” he muttered lowly.

You felt your guts stir at the sound. He was deeply hurt. If he didn’t have the bullet removed, he was a goner.

“What is your name…?” you asked.

“I…don’t…have…a name…” he croaked.

He turned ghostly white and then pink.

“I…I’m sorry, I should have been stronger…thought I could make that jump…I couldn’t. I’m not that fucking strong…” he muttered.

“Who dropped him off?” you asked your co-worker.

She shrugged.

“This guy with a beard and this weird voice and then after we got the kid on a bed, he just vanished with all the bills paid already in cash! The guy was loaded!” she gossiped, tugging at her bright pink scrubs.

Turning to the patient, you forced him to look right into your eyes.“Okay mister, you don’t have a choice. You got lucky someone paid all of your bills, so you better suck it up and be grateful, got it?” you scolded.

He looked at you blankly before you put it right to his mouth and wheeled him to the surgeon’s office.

Two hours later you got word that the boy got lucky. The bullet was found and removed. It wasn’t too deep and nowhere near any vital organs. But he seemed to be ill and needed to be checked up and have his limbs bandaged.

“Here he is…he’s still on the pain medicine some, so he might be a little loopy…” the surgeon warned, before leaving you alone in the room to do your work.

“Hello…I’m Y/N, I’m your nurse…hang in there, you’re gonna be fine…” you said, he seemed half asleep. Almost in another world. There was no reply.You were checking his blood pressure when his eyes fluttered open. Your head whipped around as you tied the black strap tightly around his arm.

“Hey there…” he croaked out.

“Checking your blood pressure, hold up…” you mumbled, making it tight as possible.

“I must be in a museum…” he said softly.

“Well, I don’t see any Da Vinci any…”

“Because you’re a piece of art.”

Your jaw dropped and your head whipped around to see him. Did that really come out of him? Moments after he was near death.

“Pardon?”

He gave you a half smile and you felt a blush creeping up on you and it made you mad. Of all places this was happening- at work!

Did a patient really just flirt with me? Maybe it’s just my imagination.

You undid the black strap and set it away without a word, writing down the numbers. He reached over and picked up the menu of food options to be ordered for patients.

“Do you know what’s on the menu?” he asked.

“Vegetables. You better order some with your dinner. Eat up, your body’s in bad enough condition…”

“Close, but it’s Me ‘n you.” He added with a devilish grin.

Your ears heard it right alright. You felt them grow hot.

“You know what else is on the menu? This antiseptic,” you ordered. Walking over to the side and getting an orange bottle and some cotton balls, eyes on his wounds. As you began to apply some to the cuts, the cool guy façade dropped.

“NNNnnnnng, no! No! And I’m sorry! Won’t do it! Won’t do it!” he whined. His voice getting a little higher than what was considered manly.

“Just shut up and suck it up, Romeo,” you replied, biting the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing.

The next day a woman arrived to check on the patient. A beautiful woman with tan skin and yellow hair with a white suit. You felt envy twinge in your stomach as her heels clicked on the tile floor.

She went into the room. If only you did not have duties currently. But no, scratch it, you weren’t interested. Not some cheeky patient that was trying to break all the medical oaths in the book. Passing by the room to put away your lunch box, you forced your ears shut at the quiet conversation they had.

As you returned, she left the door of the room. She looked up at you and pointed at you to come near.

“You are nurse Y/N, right?” she asked in a European accent.

“Yes, I am.”

She glanced around to see if anyone was listening in. Then she leaned closer.

“How long have you worked here?” she asked.

You told her.

“Good, you know what you’re doing. We…we just need a bit of help. He’s on…on my company. He got hurt. Badly.” She said softly.

Yeah, no shit you thought.

“What caused the wounds? I think he mentioned a jump…” you asked, folding your arms skeptically. What kind of sketchy company was this that was all hush and made gallons of money where people got shot?

Her pink lips tightened, she glanced to the left and then answered “It was a fall. Bad one. Just…an accident.”

“What’s your name? And what’s his name? Why did he get shot? Was there a shooting at your job?” you asked.

“We would prefer to be anonymous,” she answered coldly.

“What, why?”

“For protection. He’s here to get better, right?” she answered with a twinge of annoyed anger.

“Yes…”

“Don’t hurt him, then…or make him do anything to hurt himself more…”

She turned around and clicked away, but gave you one look, softened. As if to silently say thank you- even if you did ask questions about whatever this “company” was.

Hours later, you came into the room with the patient. Though you armed yourself to fight off like the black cat with Pepe le Pew, he looked at you and glanced down at his lap. His left arm and right foot was in a cast and he seemed red as a beet in his face. But the light in his eyes were glazed, but had dimmed. And he seemed in pain.

His forehead was like a furnace. Sticking a thermometer in his mouth, you watched the numbers rise above healthy at the end. Gently, you pulled it out to put it away.

A half-grin reappeared on his face.

“Is it hot in here or is it just you?” he said.

“No, you got a fever dumbass,” you replied.

You showed him the temperature and he huffed lightly.

“Well, you will have to stay here a bit longer. Injured and sick. It doesn’t seem bad, but it’s still a double whammy. Three or four days…” you said,

He pulled out his free hand to play with his phone, pouting in defeat. You stayed to type into the pad you used for work to keep track of patients charts.

“Bi-billy…”

“Hm, what?” you said, turning around.

“You wanted my name, I’m…I’m Billy…” he confessed.

“Okay, thank you! I can finally call you something other than Romeo,” you jested.

“That’s not a bad name, either though,” he said.

The doctor working on him informed you that his fever did have a chance of breaking in the night. You offered to stay.

“Why, Y/N…you’re worried about him?” the doctor asked, cocking her head.

You shook away the creeping blush and smile growing on you.

“I just want the extra hours for pay!” you insisted.

You stayed there, reading with him. You realized what he was doing on his phone- watching movies.

“American movies are the best, like, us on the Pond get all the boring, slow stuff- America is where the real movies are!” he commented when you glanced over.

“Hey- that one’s my favorite!” you cried, recognizing it at once.

Indulging it, you watched the rest of it. Talking about your favorite actors, quoting the lines, and smiling ear to ear by the time the credits rolled by on the tiny screen.

“I was so scared…I was gonna die…” Billy confessed, setting the phone down.

“It’s just medicine,” you scoffed.

“No…when I fell…” he said.

“Really?” you asked, leaving the sarcasm.

“I felt that was it. You see…I…no, I shouldn’t…” he mumbled, looking down.

“You can tell me…” you urged.

“I got a chance to…uh, do something important. It was risky, but it was better than what I had before but I…I thought I was dead for good because I slipped and fell…” he added on.

Recalling the first day, he had a bullet in his body as well. How did that get in there? There was no news you checked of a shooting anywhere.

“And you were shot…how did you get shot?” you questioned.

“I…I can’t tell you everything but I just feel…I can trust you…someone was in danger…and I was trying to get him out and some’ow…I got shot and I fell off…” Billy explained.

“Fell off? Of what?”

“The skyscraper downtown…” he confessed, eyes down to his lap again.

“What! No! That’s a hundred feet high! How in hell are you even alive?” you gasped.

He looked at you and laughed.

“That’s some bad fucking words for a medical professional!” he teased. “But that’s a good question, really…”

Outside the window, a bird sat in the darkness on the pane. Its feathers seemed to glean in the moonlight. It was a clear night, even a sky filled with stars could be seen despite the smoke of the city

“I…I’m glad you survived. I’m glad you didn’t die and so you could- you know- help whoever this person is you were trying to help,” you commented. And this time you smiled back.

“I…I’m glad you were there to help me…dunno what I’ll do next time I’ll fall…” he said.

“I should be there then…”

Taglist: @themarchoftherainbowqueen @rhapsodyrecs (thanks for the wonderful line!) @yourlocalmusicalprostitute @sgt-stardust-killer-queen @queenlover05 @lady-ofmischief

#nurse! reader #nurse! y/n #6 underground #ben hardy characters #four/billy #four/billy x reader #four/billy x you #four/billy x y/n #ben hardy #ben hardy x you #ben hardy x y/n #ben hardy x reader #6 underground fanfiction #6 underground fanfic #6 underground oneshot #ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy oneshot #carrie writes

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lushjin · 4 years

Text

Young & Free|

Masterlist

Genre/Warnings: Smut & angst. Multiple sex scenes, creampie, fingering, oral (male & female receiving), violence, drinking, use of drugs, gambling,& alludes to gang activity.

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Word Count: 15k

Summary: You live in a perfect little bubble, sheltered from the rest of the world. Your life seems to change when you meet a mysterious guy on the bad side of town.

The party had started long ago, but somehow you were still here babysitting your best friend. You loved her, but you weren’t sure if it was worth going to a party on this side of town. Especially since you had to watch her like a hawk the whole time. Maybe if you’d just gone to the club by campus, you wouldn’t need to keep such a close eye on her.

“You’re being a party pooper y/n,” Eunji slurs before taking another gulp of her drink.

“I’m not being a party pooper. I'm just tired. Can we please go home now?”

“Don’t be a bore, be a whore!” She starts chanting, and the group nearby joins in. You feel your cheeks heat up immediately. It takes everything in you to not dump her ass and go home.

“Eunji, please. You’ve had enough to drink.” You plead. You attempt to take away her red solo cup, but she smacks your hand away.

“Fine,” you huff. You’ve had enough, and you weren’t just going to leave Eunji at the party, but you definitely needed some fresh air. “I’ll be back.” You yell into Eunji’s ear over the loud music. She just gestures for you to go. You really wish you would have never come out.

When you go outside, the cold wind hits you. Fall is coming soon. You should’ve dressed a bit warmer, but usually, modesty isn’t your choice when you go out.

You lean against the wall of the house, your back pressing into the cold bricks. You take out your phone to check if you have any missed messages.

Lisa: hey I missed you tonight

where did you guys go?

Usually Saturday nights, you went clubbing with your roommates, but for some reason tonight, you agreed to go to a house party on the other side of town.

You: party on the Southside

Lisa: omg pls be careful!

Your roommate was right to worry. The crime rate was a lot higher on the Southside, and it was just a sketchy place in general. Before you can respond to Lisa, you’re distracted by a noise you hear. It sounds like leaves crunching, and it’s too dark to see anybody. Your heart starts to race as you notice a figure moving towards you. Run run! You think, but your body stays frozen. You really hope this isn’t how you die. You’ve heard so many horror stories about the Southside. Your mind starts to think of every bad scenario that could possibly happen.

Suddenly the figure comes closer to your line of vision. Still, you cannot make out the face, but you can tell it’s a man. You gasp when he moves closer to you.

“Did I scare you?” The figure says in a deep voice. Finally, you are able to see the face of the man that stands in front of you now.

Even in the dark, his features are sharp. His dark curly hair covers his eyes. He takes a cigarette between his lips and then proceeds to light it.

“Uh— kinda.” You finally say after you take a moment to realize what just happened. Which was actually nothing. You’re sure you look like a fool, but still, you feel uneasy in his presence.

“Sorry.” He takes a drag of the cigarette, turning his head to the side before blowing out a cloud of smoke.

“I guess you’re not from around here.” He speaks again.

“No.” You admit you’re not even sure why you’re still here talking to him. You should be back inside where your Eunji is.

“Northside girl?”

“How’d you know?”

“Just a hunch.” He shrugs before taking another hit. “So, what's a Northside girl like you doing over here?” He blows out smoke again.

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” You try to sound as strong and confident as you can. Not letting your voice waver.

“Usually pretty uptight girls like you don’t hang out places like this.”

“You don’t know me.” You defend annoyed by his comments.

“Right, so let me guess. You’re here because you wanna rebel, huh?” He asks condescendingly. He eyes you up and down, and you can feel his gaze burn right through you.

“You’re wrong. I’m only here because my friend invited me.”

“Ah, so she’s the one who wants to rebel. You’re just the one who came along. Am I right?”

“I guess.”

“Well, if I were you, I wouldn’t hang out here alone.” He takes another drag of his cigarette. Then steps on it to finally put it out. “You’re lucky, it’s just me. Any other guy would’ve seen this as an opportunity.” He says.

“Uh, I better get going now.” You don’t know how else to get yourself out of this situation.

“Just be careful.” He warns, and you respond with a nod.

You move through the crowd in search of Eunji. There are too many people around, making it difficult for you to find her. It’s such a tight squeeze that you bump into someone. You turn around to apologize, but before you can, the person is quickly snaking their arm around your waist, pulling your back flush against their body. You try to pull away, but their grip becomes tighter.

“Baby, where are you off to in such a rush? Don’t you know it’s rude to run into someone.” He whispers venomously into your ear.

“Let go of me.” You say, struggling to get out of their grip. Their lips ghost your neck, and you pull away even harder.

“Jin Hyung, get off of her.” You hear a familiar deep voice.

“You’re no fun Taehyung, I’m just having a good time right, darling?” The sleazeball asks you. You attempt to pull away again. Your eyes coming in contact with the guy from outside. Taehyung, you guess his name is.

“Let go of her Hyung; she’s mine.” He barks, and suddenly the arms that were tightly wrapped around you let go.

“Boo, you always get all the good ones,” Jin complains, ultimately giving up and moving on.

“Are you ok?” Taehyung asks.

“Yeah— I’m fine.”

“I told you to be careful.” He berates you. “This isn’t a place for a girl like you.” You knew he was right, you didn’t belong here. You needed to find Eunji and get out of here.

“Where’s your friend?” Taehyung asks with a stern look on his face.

“I don’t know, I can’t find her.”

“I’ll help you, then you need to get out of here.” Taehyung offers his assistance.

Twenty minutes later, you find Eunji drunk and unwilling to go home. If it weren’t for Taehyung, you don’t know how you would’ve gotten her out of there. He picks her up and puts her over his shoulder. Once you get outside, he sets her down. You weren’t sure why he was so nice to you, but you were grateful for it. Or else you would’ve never gotten Eunji out of there and in a cab. Before you can thank Taehyung, he’s already gone.

It was a strange night, and you couldn’t wait to go home.

“Eunji, how could you!” You yell at her. Causing your hungover friend to wince. It’s the next day, and Eunji has finally sobered. You're so ready to give her a piece of your mind.

“I’m sorry y/n I didn’t realize I got that drunk.” She lamely apologizes.

“You could’ve gotten rapped, Eunji!!” You exclaim. “We were on the Southside, which is dangerous enough as it is. We should’ve just gone to the club instead.”

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have been able to see Jungkook!” Eunji complains.

“If he liked you that much, he would’ve gone to the club with us instead, and not left you at some random party.” Jungkook was one of the few people on campus that was from the Southside. He was stringing Eunji along, but she’s too blinded by love to see it.

“I wanted to go, I didn’t think he would just leave me.” You can see the tears welling up in her eyes as she speaks. “I’m sorry, y/n.” She lowers her head in shame.

“It’s okay.” You forgive her bringing her in for a hug. She should’ve never gotten involved with Jungkook. Dating a Southsider was just asking for trouble. Her tears stream down her face as she lets you envelop her in a hug.

A few days later, you’re walking to your class. When you notice Jungkook. You hadn’t seen him since that fateful night. He leans against his pickup truck with some girl pressed up against him. Of course, he was seeing someone else. How typical. You stare at them from a distance. Watching carefully as Jungkook stuck his tongue down her throat.

If you were more confident, you’d go tell him off, but who are you kidding? He’s a Southsider, you’d never build the courage up to tell him off. So instead you keep walking. Hoping he doesn’t notice as you pass by.

“So, I thought we could wear matching costumes!” Your roommate Yara suggests. You sit at the table surrounded by your roommates. You pick at your salad tossing the leafy greens around with your fork. You’d much rather be eating with something carbs, but Lisa is on a new health kick.

“Yeah!” Eunji and Lisa agree in unison.

“What do you say, y/n?” Eunji asks, looking at you from across the table. The other girls look at you expectantly.

“Um— sure,” you agree.

The three girls share a look before looking back at you. “Is everything ok, y/n?” Yara asks.

“Just tired is all.” You lie. The truth was all your mind could think of was Jungkook with that other girl. You went back and forth with yourself, deciding if it was the right thing to tell Eunji. You were conflicted, and this information you acquired was eating you up.

“Oh well, maybe you should get to bed early and get some rest. Then tomorrow we can go shopping for the Halloween party!” Yara smiles at you, patting your arm. She picks up your plate for you and takes it to the sink.

You bid the girls goodnight, and you're off to bed. Sometime around 2am you wake up from a nightmare. It was a normal thing you experienced. You didn’t want to be alone, and usually, when you had nightmares, you always went to Eunji’s room. Vice versa.

You pad down the dark hallway towards Eunji’s room. You see the light glow from the cracks of her door, which tells you she’s awake. It’s strange for her to be up at this time. Maybe she’s cramming for a test, you think. You have second thoughts about going in, but you decide to anyway.

You push the door open, and you poke your head in the room. Before you can make out the scene before you in the dim lighting, you hear strange noises, like panting. Your mind doesn’t register it right away, so you stay put. Finally, your eyes land on your roommate's bed, and what you see causes you to shriek. Jungkook balls deep in your friend. His hips that were pounding mercilessly came to a sudden halt. Your friend looks over Jungkook’s shoulder in horror.

“Get out!” Eunji yells at you, and you are quick to leave her room. Your cheeks heat up in embarrassment as you run back to your room.

“Holy shit.” You say to yourself as you enter your room. You wish you would’ve gone with your gut feeling and didn’t go in. Now the image of Jungkook fucking your best friend was forever imprinted in your mind.

The next day you wake up with a headache from lack of sleep. After that incident last night, you couldn’t coax yourself to sleep for a while. Getting a grand total of 3 hours of sleep. You start to get ready for class dressing in comfortable high waisted loose-fitting jeans, and an oversized shirt that you tucked in at the front. You grab your bag and head out the door.

Once you’re home later, you’re plopping yourself onto the couch. Kicking off your shoes messily. Which you know Yara will be on your ass about later. But right now, you could care less. All you cared about was sleep. You didn’t even have the strength to go to your bed. You shut your eyes and fall fast asleep.

“Y/n,” you hear a voice call out to you. You feel them shake your body.

“Mmm, five more minutes.” Your groan sleepily with your eyes still closed.

“Y/n, wake up. You fell asleep on the couch. It’s like 8pm.” You recognize the voice to belong to Eunji. You open your eyes finally, squinting until your eyes adjust to the light.

“Wow, I didn’t think I’d pass out for that long.” You say as you sit up.

“It’s ok, you needed the rest anyway,” Eunji speaks purposefully avoiding eye contact.

“Are things weird now?” You ask your friend, and she finally looks at you.

“I don’t know, are they?”

You sigh because you know what you have to tell her. “Eunji—,” you start off and pause for a moment, thinking of how to word this. “I saw Jungkook the other day with another girl.” You hold your breath waiting for her response.

“Oh,” she frowned furrowing her eyebrows. She takes a second before she speaks. “When?” She questions.

“Yesterday.” She deflates at your answer. He had been with someone the same day he was with her. You knew it had to hurt, and you felt so sorry for her. You reach out to squeeze her hand, and she pulls away. “Eunji?” You call out her name, confused as to why she’s looking at you like she’s upset with you.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She spits. Her back straightens, and her arms cross in front of her chest.

“I-I didn’t have a chance to.” You admit.

“Really?” She scoffs. “Y/n, you could’ve saved me the pain of sleeping with him if you just would’ve told me straight away.”

“I’m sorry, Eunji. I didn’t know what to do.”

She frowns and shakes her head. “I’m sorry y/n I’m taking out my anger on the wrong person.”

“It’s ok, babe.” You forgive her and go in for a hug.

“So, what should we be?” Lisa asks as you walk through the mall. The Halloween party was in two days, and you hadn’t chosen your costumes yet.

“I don’t get why we have to dress up,” Eunji complains.

“Because it’s fun!” Yara says, not convincing anyone. The only reason you all dressed up for Halloween was for her.

“Well, I think we should be something unconventional.” You suggest as you walk into the costume store.

“So, not slutty bunnies?” Lisa asks as if that was actually going to be her suggestion.

“Hmm,” Yara pauses to browse the racks. “How about slutty nun?!” She suggests as she picks out a skimpy black nun dress from the rack.

“Ooh ya, and we can pair it with fishnet stockings!” Lisa says, pleased with her idea.

“Is this really what you guys want to go as?” You ask, not too convinced with the idea of doing a slutty theme.

“Oh c’mon y/n, it will be fun! We’ll actually be sisters!!” Yara exclaims.

Ultimately you agree on being a slutty nun. You go ahead and purchase your costume. The outfit itself consists of a short, skin-tight black dress. Paired with fishnet stockings, a nun headdress, and a gold cross necklace.

Two days later you’re in your bedroom getting dressed for the party. You pull up the tight dress over your hips, and you hope it zips.

“Yara!” You call for your roommate, and she comes straight away. “Can you help me, zip?” You ask.

“Of course!” She sings happily, helping you pull the dress up the rest of the way. She clutches onto it before pulling the zipper up. “Perfect! You look so hot!”

“Thanks,” you say, and you don’t know why but you blush at her compliment.

“I’m gonna go finish getting ready,” Yara says, and she’s on her way out of your room.

You finish getting ready, applying some makeup, and adding on your accessories. You take a look at yourself in the mirror, and you have to admit you do look hot. You smooth your dress over one more time before grabbing your purse. You wait in the living area until the rest of the girls are ready.

“So, where is this party anyway?” You ask as you stand on the curb waiting for your Uber to arrive. It’s already starting to get cold, and you begin to shiver. Maybe you should’ve brought a jacket. Oh well, hopefully, you’ll warm up soon.

“Uh, I don’t know, actually. I think it’s actually close to the south side.” Lisa says as she stares at the maps app on her phone.

“Why the hell would the party be all the way down there?” Yara asks, she’s nervous as ever.

“I guess they couldn’t find anywhere else to throw it at.” Lisa shrugs, and Yara just sighs.

“Well, let’s be safe!” Yara exclaims. “And let’s not get too wasted.” She says, and you all look at Eunji.

“Hey!” She frowns. “It was only a couple times!” Eunji swears.

“Sure,” the rest of you say in unison.

Soon the Uber is picking you up. The guy seems a bit shady. He eyes you guys up and down. Probably his dream come true, a car full of slutty nuns.

“Be safe.” He comments as you guys step out of the car, and you don’t miss the way his eyes linger. You shiver in disgust.

“What a creep,” Eunji whispers as if the man could still hear her.

The house is huge but a bit run down. You enter holding hands with Eunji as Yara and Lisa lead the way.

“If we split up at some point, let’s agree to meet at the front of the house at 1am,” Yara says. She’s usually the more responsible one. You could say she’s the mother of the group.

“Isn’t that too early?” Eunji complains. Sure Eunji seemed like a sweet girl, but man did she like to party. She went harder than the rest of you usually did. Nevertheless, you still agree on meeting at 1am.

Soon the house starts to fill up more. Pretty much half of the school was at this party. While the other half was at some Halloween party at a fraternity back on campus. After freshman year. You all agreed that you’d never go back to a frat party ever again.

You have a few drinks, and soon enough, you’re feeling good. The bass booms through your body as you dance up against Eunji. There’s something in the air that seems to shift. Everyone who was dancing happily and drunk suddenly comes to a halt. Your body is still pressed close to Eunji. You turn to look over your shoulder, and that’s when you notice the familiar dark curly locks, and you realize it’s the guy from the other night. Taehyung was his name, you think. His gaze penetrates right through you. Everyone stares at his group as they walk into the house. The crowd backing up as the head deeper into the house.

“Hey, who invited south siders?” You hear a voice yell from across the room. Quickly your body tenses, and you stay close to Eunji. The music lowers, and everything goes radio silent.

When Jungkook appears from behind the group, that’s when the party goes back to normal. Jungkook and a few other Southsiders were the only ones really welcomed by your classmates. When Eunji notices Jungkook, she’s leaving your side. With a weak apology. Of course, you think. She must be a masochist to go back to Jungkook.

Soon the rest of the Southsiders start to disperse heading to different areas of the house, but not Taehyung. Instead, he strides over to you. You reel with anticipation as he slowly makes his way towards you.

It was now that you actually took the time to really look at him. He’s gorgeous, his features are sharp, his eyes are big and brown, and they gloss over. And currently, they gape at you. He’s watching you as you start to move your body again dancing to the rhythm of the music. Your hips sway from side to side, and your hands move touching all over your body.

He doesn’t greet you when he reaches you. His body is close but not close enough to touch you. He leans into you. “And what are you supposed to be?” He asks his voice low and gravelly. Sending shivers throughout your body.

It was pretty obvious what you were. At least, so you thought. Either way, you tell him. “A nun.” You say breathlessly, and he just smirks.

Taehyung was reluctant to go to this party in the first place. He knew Northsiders threw lame parties anyway, it just wasn’t his scene.

“C’mon Tae, it’ll be fun. We’ll score some pristine virgin pussy.” Hoseok said as playfully smacked his younger friend with the back of his hand. Maybe getting virgin pussy was enough for him to agree to go. He wanted something different. So why not go to a party on the north side?

“I see,” Taehyung says, as his eyes pierce through you. He eyes you like a dog eyed a piece of meat. Like he could devour you in any second. That look made your core throb.

Taehyung isn’t much of a dancer, and to be honest, he’d much rather get you alone. He leans in closer his lips, ghosting your ear. “I’m going for a smoke.” He insinuates and that’s all he needs to say for you to follow him outside.

“So, what are you doing at a party like this?” Oh, how the tables had turned, you thought. You felt confident, especially now that you were on your own turf. You both sit on the worn-out patio furniture that you found in the backyard.

Taehyung takes out a spliff from his back pocket. “You smoke?” He asks, completely disregarding your question.

“Nah, cigarettes aren’t really my thing.” You say. You tried it once in high school, and you hated the taste.

“This isn’t a regular cig,” he says, taking the bud of the spliff between his lips.

“What is it then?” Taehyung has piqued your interest.

“It’s a weed cigarette.” He proceeds to light it.

You figured that’s what it was when he said it wasn’t a regular cigarette. Weed is something you've never tried before, but it was always something you were curious to try.

“I’ve never smoked weed before.” You sheepishly admit averting his gaze.

“I figured. Wanna try?” He takes the first hit then blows out a big puff of smoke. Unlike the time before he doesn’t move his head to the side. Instead, he blows the smoke directly into your face, and you begin to cough.

“Sorry,” he apologizes lamely. Either way, you accept it. He hands the spliff over to you. You take it between your thumb and your pointer finger. You hold it out in front of your lips, second-guessing on whether or not you should do this.

“Trust me, it’ll feel good.” Taehyung eases your doubts. Without thinking, you take the bud between your lips and take a small drag. Quickly you’re blowing out the smoke your lungs rejected. Causing you to go into a coughing fit.

Taehyung takes the spliff from you and then proceeds to pat your back. “Atta girl.” He watches as your eyes water, and you continue to cough.

“Fuck,” you say when you finally catch your breath.

“That will happen the first few times,” Taehyung tells you before he takes another hit. “But, you did good.” You don’t know why, but you glow at his compliment.

“Want another?” He asks, offering you the cigarette again. You didn’t feel anything yet, and your sure only one hit wasn’t going to do anything. So you agree and take another drag. This time you don’t cough, but you still feel the burn in the back of your throat.

A few more hits, and you’re feeling light. “Maybe this should be your last one.” He says as you take another hit. You were getting addicted to the feeling this high was giving you. “Easy there, tiger.” Taehyung takes the spliff away from you before you can take another hit. “Even if it’s just a spliff, it’s your first time. You have to take it slow, or else it will hit you all at once.”

Taehyung was right suddenly, you feel like you’re floating. All those hits you took finally taking in their full effect. In an attempt to ground yourself, you clutch onto the armrests.

“Feeling ok, there, champ?” Taehyung asks as he finishes off the spliff. He eyes you with a bit of concern. Hoping you’re not one of those types of girls who freak out when they’re high.

For some reason, the nickname irks you. “Don’t call me that. My name is y/n.” You snap still holding onto the armrest as if you’d fly away any second. Your mind starts to race. What kind of weed was this? You thought you were supposed to feel chill when getting high.

“Ok then, sorry y/n, you gonna tell me how you feel?” Taehyung starts to worry now. “You don’t look that good.” He says, and that’s probably not what you want to hear. But you were looking a little uneasy.

“I— I think it’s not working like it’s supposed to.” You say.

“Just relax. C’mon, breathe with me. In.” You both take a deep breath at the same time. “Out.” And then you both exhale. “You just gotta let it happen. Don’t overthink it. Or then you’ll get paranoid.”

You take Taehyung’s advice and try to calm yourself. You close your eyes and focus on your breathing. It seems to work because the anxiety starts to wear off.

“Feeling better?” Taehyung says when he notices, your body start to relax.

“It feels good.” You admit. Suddenly feeling like you’re on cloud nine. Your body is completely calm and heavy. You open your eyes and find Taehyung staring at you. The eyes that were once filled with worry dissipate. He looks at you with hunger in his eyes now.

You don’t realize it, but the way you sit in the chair totally lax. With your legs spread wide, you give him a full view of your cotton panties. He’s high, like hella high, high enough that he might do something stupid. Because man you were hot, and what was sad is that you probably didn’t even know it. Taeyhyung wanted to be the one to show you just how beautiful you really are. What the hell was he thinking? You were nothing but trouble for him. A guy like him didn’t belong with a girl like you. You are actually going somewhere in life. You have a bright future ahead of you. He couldn’t fuck that up for you.

“Taehyung,” you say in almost a moan, and he swears his cock stirs in his pants.

He clears his throat. “Uh- yeah?” You stare at him with hunger in your eyes now. Not so innocent as you seem. He starts to wonder if you were actually sitting like that on purpose.

“It feels so good,” you say in a breathy tone. You were soaring high, and there was no sign of you coming down anytime soon. You gawk at Taehyung as he sits in front of you with his jaw clenched. You could tell he wanted you, by the way his eyes shamelessly raked up and down your body. The dress you wore was skin tight, letting him see all your curves perfectly. You noticed where his eyes would constantly fall, which was between your legs. You’d be lying if you said you were unaware of the way you were sat. You could feel the cool breeze between your legs, but what you really wanted was Taehyung between your legs.

“Taehyung,” you call his name again. Your eyes lock, and you grip the chair harder under his intense gaze.

“Yep?”

“How does it feel like to have sex when you’re high?” You’re not sure what prompts you to ask this. Maybe it’s your inebriated state. Or probably how your panties start to feel damp from just looking at Taehyung.

A low chuckle emits from his throat. He cocks an eyebrow at you as you patiently wait for him to answer. “It feels fucking amazing.” He doesn’t lie. He’s done it countless times before, and every time was good.

Your heart starts to race and your core begins to ache. Your mind vividly starts to picture how sex with Taehyung would feel. You bet he’s big, so big that the stretch would sting a bit. You stare at his crotch now imagining what it would be like if he just took it out right now. Suddenly your legs snap shut your imagination getting to you. The ache is too much and you need any friction you can get, so you squeeze your thighs shamelessly in front of Taehyung. Which is now looking at you with desire in his eyes. He couldn’t believe the scene in front of him. He would have never expected a girl like you would be so turned on by him doing nothing at all. He guesses that’s what weed does to you. Heightens all your senses.

“I wanna know.” You finally say after a few quiet minutes pass by. “I— I wanna know what it feels like.” You admit to him your cheeks flushing, and if it wasn’t for the weed in your system right now, you would’ve never had the balls to say this.

“Feeling brave, aren’t we?” He patronizes you with a smirk on his face. There’s not a bone in Taehyung’s body that doesn’t want to fuck you. You look delicious in front of him, and all he wants is to fuck you until you can’t walk straight, but he can’t. He can’t just get a Northside girl high and fuck her. That’s just asking for trouble. Taehyung leans back in his chair and spreads his legs wide. He’s conflicted about whether or not to play your game. It’s a dangerous one, and he doesn’t want to lose.

Your hope was that Taehyung would show you. That he’d bend you over the glass patio table and fuck you until you felt euphoria.

“I’m just really high and horny.” You confess boldly. God, you really were high. Taehyung chokes on his own spit, not expecting you to go that far. The sweet innocent north side girl was just a facade.

“I can’t help you out there, babe.” Taehyung shuts you down. Ultimately deciding its best not to fuck around with a Northside girl.

“Why not?” Your lips form a pout.

“You’re high, like really high. I just can’t fuck you. It’s not right.”

“But, I’m asking for it, Taehyung.” Your voice is low and whiny. Just the tone he loves to hear. You’re driving him crazy.

If Taehyung wasn’t going to touch you, then you were going to touch yourself. You spread your legs wide again. Your hand dipping in between your thighs. The pads of your fingers run along the fabric of your underwear. Coaxing your arousal out of you. Damping the cotton fabric. You don’t break eye contact with Taehyung the whole time. He wets his lips before pulling them into a smug smile. You in fact were such a dirty girl he thought, and that made him hot all over.

“Fine, c‘mere.” He’s patting his thigh, offering his thigh as your seat. You’re getting up with shaky legs. Your body feels heavy, and you feel like it takes you ages just to walk over to Taehyung. “Face forward.” He instructs. You take a seat on his thigh. Your legs on either side. Your back is towards him, and his arm curls around your waist. He pulls you back closer to him so that your back rests against his chest. “Just relax,” Taehyung says in a soft voice.

Your heart is racing, so you begin to focus on your breathing again. The hand that isn’t wrapped around your waist finds itself between your thighs. His fingers run along your covered slit until he finds the nub that has you sighing. He presses light circles against your clit.

“Is this okay?” Taehyung needs to hear it one more time.

It’s more than okay, you think. “Yes,” you breathe, and he presses harder. You squeeze your eyes shut and focus on the pleasure that seeps through your body as his touch becomes harder.

He was completely right; it feels fucking amazing. If it felt this good just barely being touched, you could only imagine how it would feel with him stuffed inside you. The thought only makes thrust your hips into his touch.

“Ok, calm down now.” He says into your ear. You didn’t realize it, but you were actually thrusting your hips a lot faster than you thought. “I’ll give you what you want,” his promise is enough to soak your panties thoroughly.

His large hand slips underneath your panties. His bare touch on you causes you to shiver. He tests the water by sliding one finger at your weeping entrance.

“Oh god—.” It feels so good you can’t believe how much you’re affected by just one finger entering you.

Once he’s in all the way, he curls his finger, slowly beginning to thrust his finger. “How is it?” Taehyung asks. He couldn’t help but nuzzle into the crook of your neck. Taking in your sweet strawberry scent mixed with sweat.

“So good,” you moan. He’s getting you there quickly. You feel slightly light-headed when his second finger enters you. You grip onto the armrest as Taehyung’s pace quickens. You’re so far gone now, you’re just relishing in the pure pleasure that Taehyung is giving you.

It would be a great lie if Taehyung said he wasn’t affected by you. His cock twitches when your ass accidentally rubs against his crotch. Keep it in your pants Taehyung, keep it in your pants. He kept telling himself. It was so hard considering were complete putty in his hands right now. You’re tight around his fingers, and he can only imagine how your cunt would feel around his dick.

Your head falls back against Taehyung’s shoulder. You gasp out loud when you feel his finger brush against your sweet spot. “Holy shit,” you keen. The pressure between your legs quickly building. It becomes too much, the feeling is overwhelming. Taehyung's fingers are now mercilessly fucking into you, and your hips move unabashedly against his touch.

“Think you can take another?” Taehyung asks his voice low and gruff. All you could do is nod in response. You were in no condition to form proper sentences.

“Greedy girl, aren’t you?” Taehyung goads, but secretly he loves it. Taehyung’s third finger enters you. Slipping in with ease. With each pump of his fingers, you’re getting closer and closer to your release. He can feel your walls tighten, and he can tell you’re close. He moves his fingers rapidly, curling them so that they repeatedly hit your g spot.

“Taehyung!!!” You’re crying out your hand clamps onto his wrist. “Oh shit shit shit,” you bleat. Your walls convulse around Taehyung's delicious fingers.

“Atta girl cum around my fingers like the dirty girl you are.” Taehyung grunts getting lost in you. Without even noticing, he begins to rut his hips against your ass. Desperately seeking any friction, he can get.

The pressure is too much for you to handle. Suddenly it snaps like a rubber band. Pleasure oozing through your whole body. You’ve never come this hard in your entire life. Your chest heaves, and your muscles tense. Your eyes are rolling back, and you struggle to moan. Your hips rut against Taehyung’s hand, milking every last drop of your delicious orgasm. You rut until you can’t no more. Sensitivity quickly takes over, causing you to yank Taehyung’s hand out from between your legs. He opts just to wipe the stickiness on his black jeans.

“I just came, holy shit,” you pant still trying to wrap your mind around what just happened.

“I know,” Taehyung chuckles. He shifts in his seat, his erection becoming uncomfortable against his pants. “Need a minute?” He asks, sitting up straight in the chair. Your body still limp on his.

“Yeah,” you breathe. You attempt to collect yourself, but your body feels even heavier after your orgasm. You are so blissed out that you swear you could fall asleep on Taehyung right now.

Suddenly Taehyung hears footsteps you are still too far gone to even notice. “Uh- hey, we should get going.” He says.

“Can’t move,” you admit, your body slack.

The footsteps get closer, and Taehyung has no choice, but to get you off of him. You stand on your weak legs almost falling over, but Taehyung is quick to catch you.

“Y/n!” Yara calls out to you, her voice laced with worry. When she sees you, she runs up to you, grabbing out of Taehyung’s hold.

“What’s going on here?” Yara questions austerely as she pins Taehyung with a brash look.

Taheyung doesn’t really know how to respond. What was he going to say that he got her friend high and finger fucked until she cried? “We were just hanging.”

“Well, what the fuck is wrong with her?” Yara questions as she holds your wobbly body upright.

Just then, you start to laugh. This whole situation is so funny. If Yara would have come 60 seconds earlier, she would have found you in a very compromising position. For some reason, that makes you laugh.

“She’s high,” Taehyung states the obvious.

“Y/n honey, are you okay?” Yara asks you, cupping your face as she looks into your eyes. Which were completely blown out.

“Just peachy,” you smile brightly, and Yara just sighs.

“Need help?” Taheyung offers because it looks like she might need some help to get you out of here.

“No, I got.” Yara shoots Taehyung a dirty look. And he’s not sure why she’s blaming him for you getting high.

“Sure.” With that, Taehyung’s walking away. Even though a part of him felt like he should stay and help, but it was made very clear that his help wasn’t wanted.

The next morning you wake up with a massive headache, and your mouth feels dry. You lay on your bed, whining in pain. With your eyes still closed, you feel around for your phone until you find it. You peek through one eye to see the time displayed on the LED screen, it reads 2pm. Damn, you had knocked out for a long time. Reluctantly you pull yourself out of bed and head to the bathroom for a warm shower. As you shower pieces of last night, start to come back to you. The memories of Taehyung touching you flood in vividly. Your thighs press together at your thoughts. You begin to crave his touch again. Your fingers ghost where his fingers were just last night. The rest of your shower is spent thinking of Taehyung as you use your memories to get yourself off.

“What was that about last night?” Yara asks as she hands you a sandwich, and your mouth begins to water. You had eaten in hours, and it’s the first time you’ve had carbs in forever.

You take a big bite of the sandwich, washing it down with water before you answer. “Honestly, I don’t know.” You’re not sure what had gotten into you last night. You acted entirely out of character. You weren’t sure how to explain yourself.

“Y/n, you can’t just go around getting high with random guys,” she chastises. You knew she was right, but technically Taehyung wasn’t a completely random person.

“I knew him.” You say, and it’s not entirely a lie. You just didn’t mention just how much you knew him.

“You knew him?” Yara cocks an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Uh- yeah, I met him at a party on the Southside.”

“You what?” Her mouth drops at your revelation. “He’s a Southsider? Y/n, you were hanging alone with a Southsider?!”

“Calm down. He’s not that bad, and you see, I’m fine.” You say nonchalantly.

“You’re fine because I arrived just in time. Y/n, this isn’t like you?” As if she knew who you really were.

“I’m fine because he’s a good guy. You’re just too prejudiced to see it.” That was a bit cold, you have to admit. And you can tell by the look on Yara’s face.

“Whatever.” With that, she’s storming off to her bedroom. Leaving you to finish your food alone.

Jungkook slumps onto the couch. His head falls back as he feels the weed slowly take over. “So, what were you saying?” He asks Taehyung who is currently sitting next to him.

“I said how much do you know about—,” Taehyung pauses, trying hard to remember your name. Not that you weren’t memorable, because you definitely were. He was too far gone that night, and he’s sure you only mentioned it once. “Y/n?” He finally remembers.

“Hmm,” Jungkook hums as he thinks about what he knows about you. It wasn’t much, he knew that you were friends with Eunji, but other than that he knew squat. “Not much, I know she’s Eunji’s friend. She’s a quiet one. She’s never really talked much to me.” Jungkook says, taking another hit of the blunt before passing it to Taehyung. “Why do you ask?”

“I might’ve fingered her at the party last week,” Taehyung admits taking a huge hit, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling.

“Nice,” Jungkook says, encouraging his friend's sexual encounter.

Taehyung wasn’t sure of what to make out of this situation. After that night he couldn’t forget you. He got off to the thought of you later that night and the days to come. It was like you encapsulated him. His thoughts only consumed of you lately, and he didn’t know why he found you so intriguing. Maybe it was because you were forbidden fruit.

“Want me to set you guys up?” Jungkook asks. His eyes closed, completely high off his ass.

“Nah.” Taehyung didn’t need Jungkook of all people to set him up.

“You sure? Because there’s a party this weekend and you can come with me if you want.” Jungkook offers.

Taehyung mulls the possibility of going to the party. “How do you know she’ll be there?” Taehyung asks.

“If Eunji’s going, then y/n’s going.”

Would he really go to another northside party again just to see you? Or was that too desperate? Taehyung was confused as to why he was feeling this way.

The next time you see Taehyung, it’s a Saturday night. The party is coming to an end, and you’ve been here long enough. Your limbs ache from dancing too much. You’re ready to go home soon. You’re about to collect your friends when you notice that familiar black curly head of hair. Your eyes zero in on his face. He sports a new tattoo on his face that reads “a shadow like me.” You have to admit your stomach leaps when you see him. You were disappointed at the thought of never seeing him again. You never expected him to show up to another northside party.

Naturally, you begin walking towards him. Pushing through the crowd until you’re face to face with him. “What are you doing here?” You breathe, and his hand curls around your neck, bringing you closer to him.

His forehead pressed against yours, and you feel his warm breath on you as he speaks. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He admits, and you hold your breath as you anticipate his next move. His lips crash onto yours, and you finally get to taste him. His lips move feverishly against yours.

You stay like that for a while lips smacking, bodies grinding up against each other, and groping whatever you can get your hands on. The next thing you know, you’re in Taehyung's truck. His hands grazing your cheeks before he pulls you into another kiss. Eventually, you pull away, lungs burning for air. “I wanna make you feel good.” You say in a quiet voice. You look up at him with expectant eyes.

Taehyung stares at your swollen pink lips before answering. “How?” He’s intrigued by your offer.

“Anything,” your voice is shaky. “I just wanna return the favor.” It was only fair, you thought.

Taehyung contemplates whether or not he should or shouldn’t. He’s already gone this far, why not keep going? How is he supposed to deny you? Especially when you look at him through your lashes practically begging to touch him.

Your hands reach over the console, you palm him over his pants. Taehyung watches you with curiosity. You can feel him stiffen under your touch. For effect, you shrug off the straps of your dress off. Revealing your breasts to him. Nipples coming to a perk from the cool air. Taehyung shamelessly stares at your chest. Tent already forming in his pants.

You lean in closer, undoing his jeans. You can see how hard he is through his boxers, the outline of his dick prominent. Impatiently you take his cock out, and he’s rigid under your touch. You’re like a kid on Christmas, anxiously unwrapping your present. When his cock springs free, your eyes widen. He’s just as big as you imagined him to be, and he isn’t completely hard yet.

Your breasts hang low as you hover over Taehyung’s dick. Taehyung watches you intently as spit drivels from your mouth onto his hardening member. You use your saliva as a lubricant. Taking him in your hand and stroking him until he’s firm under your touch.

“You know,” Taehyung breathes hard through his nose. “When I first saw you, I never pegged you for such a dirty girl.” He grits his teeth when you squeeze the tip. “But here you are, spitting on my dick as you salivate over it.” His haughty smile makes your chest fill with pride.

You hold him at the base while your tongue teases the tip. Slowly licking up the prominent vein that bulges. Finally, your lips wrap around the sensitive head, and you begin to suck lightly. Taehyung draws a heavy sigh at the sensation. Slowly you bring as much as you can fit him into your mouth. Your mouth widening before your lips suction a seal, causing Taehyung to hiss. Your head begins to bob up and down. Taehyung doesn’t miss the opportunity to entangle his fingers in your hair, getting a good grip. Things start to get messy soon. Your saliva coating his whole dick, as you taste his bitter pre-cum on your tongue. Your hand is covered in your own spit as you jerk whatever you can’t fit in your mouth. Your wrist working a quick twisting motion.

“Fuck—,” Taehyung says as he tosses his head back against the headrest. He revels in the feeling of your mouth on his cock. “Who taught you to suck dick like that?” He questions with an exaggerated groan. All you can do is hum in response, causing Taehyung’s grip on you to become tighter.

“Shit— I’m gonna cum,” Taehyung warns. You pull away, jerking him with your fist. You look up at him, admiring the way he looks right now. Jaw clenched, eyes screwed shut. When he cums, it’s with a drawn-out groan. “Ahhh—,” he hisses as your hand grips him tighter. His cum spurts everywhere. Painting your face and dribbling down your fist. Taehyung lets out a sigh before looking down at the mess he’s made. God, you look so hot right now with his cum decorating your face. You were driving him crazy.

“Fuck, here you go,” he hands you a T-shirt that he has in his back seat. You use it to wipe off the cum on your face. Taehyung knows he’ll probably regret asking this, but you literally just blew his brains out, it’s the least he could do. “You need a ride home?”

Just then, your phone starts to vibrate. “Actually, it’s my friends. They’re looking for me, but uh, thanks anyway.” Suddenly there’s an awkward pause. Both of you not knowing what to say.

Taehyung can’t believe he’s going to ask you this, but he knows this isn’t the last time he wants to see you. “So uh- there’s this race next Friday night. Do you wanna come?”

Your stomach leaps at his invitation. You didn’t expect him to ask to see you again. And to be honest the thought of not seeing him disappointed you. “Yeah,” you say, trying to sound indifferent. When really you were freaking out inside.

“Cool, Jungkook’s gonna be there, so I’m sure your friend is going too.”

“Right, I’ll just hitch a ride with her.” You say, hoping Eunji's ok with you tagging along.

“Okay, so I’ll see you then.” Taehyung doesn’t understand what’s come over him. He’s usually not this awkward around girls. With that, you’re climbing out of Taehyung’s truck. Going off to find your friends.

As you walk home with Eunji after class a few days later. You try to figure out how to ask her if she’s going to the race. She doesn’t know that you’ve been seeing a Southsider. Although she shouldn’t be one to judge since she’s been dating a Southsider herself. An unfaithful one at that. You start to wonder if you’ll ever get to that point with Taehyung. Or was this just a fling. Was he even interested in you? Or did he just like to mess around?

“Anyways, I was thinking of maybe dropping my Psych class.” Eunji pulls you from your thoughts. She’s probably been babbling this whole time.

“Why?” You ask, pretending you’ve been paying attention.

“I just said, because I’m not sure if that’s the route I wanna take.” Eunji has always been so indecisive. Already changing her major twice.

“Oh, right.” You lie. “So, this weekend, do you have any plans?”

She walks particularly fast, and she doesn’t answer you right away. She knows you’re not a fan of Jungkook, so you assume she’s contemplating whether to tell you are not. Before you give her the chance to possibly lie, you go ahead and ask. “Are you going to the race with Jungkook?”

Her eyes widen slightly before she answers. “How’d you know about the race?”

“Taehyung told me about it, Jungkook’s friend.” You explain. “I- met him at a party a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I guess you can come with if you want.” She offers.

“Yeah, I said I’d go with you. If that’s okay.”

“Yeah, it is.” You’re grateful she said yes. “I didn’t know you were seeing someone? You said his name is Taehyung, right?”

“Mhm, I’m not really seeing him. We just met at the Halloween party.” You say. You’re around the corner to your shared apartment. You want to cut the conversation short because you don’t want Yara to overhear. “Anyway, thanks for letting me come with.”

“Of course, babe.” She smiles at you sweetly. At least you could count on her not to judge you for wanting to see a southside boy.

Friday night, you start to panic about what you’re going to wear. It’s one of those times where you hate everything you have in your closet. You dig through your wardrobe, looking through it as if something new will magically appear. Ultimately you decide on a silk dress paired with stockings and a leather jacket.

At midnight when Eunji comes to your room to see if you’re ready. You’re a bit nervous about going to an illegal street race, but you push those thoughts away. You’re just excited to see Taehyung again, and you’re willing to go to the race to do so.

You meet at an abandoned parking lot somewhere in the southside. You have to admit you’re a bit scared being out in the southside so late. When you don’t see Taehyung right off the bat. You start to get nervous. You stick by Eunji’s side, and you can tell it annoys Jungkook. Soon though, you see Taehyung’s truck pull up. Your stomach flutters with excitement.

“I’ll catch up with you guys later.” You say to Eunji and Jungkook. But they’re too much in their own world to pay attention to you.

Taehyung gets out of his truck and as soon as he notices you he’s headed your way. He shamelessly checks you out, and you cheeks heat to a flush. He greets you with a simple ‘hey.’

“Hey,” you return lips pulling into a smile.

He pulls you in for a kiss, that’s enough to make your panties damp. You melt into the kiss, and his arms wrap around you. Inching towards the curve of your ass. He pulls you in even closer by his hold on your butt. To your dismay, eventually, he pulls away.

“I’ve got to say hi to some people, wanna come with?” You nod in response, and you follow his lead as he walks towards a group of guys. They currently stand around and lean on the cars. Smoking what smells like weed. When you walk up, Taehyung doesn’t bother to introduce you. Not like they care who you are because they totally ignore you. You watch as they all greet each other. They talk about stuff that you can’t quite piece together. Once Taehyung’s done, he’s grabbing you by the hand.

“C’mon.” He says as he leads you to an older BMW that looks like it’s been fixed up. A tall slim guy sits against the hood, beer in hand. Taehyung actually introduces you this time. You find out his name is Hoseok, and that he’s Taehyung’s friend. He barely greets you with a tight smile and a nod.

Soon the parking lot starts to fill with more cars. A lot of them you don’t know the names of. Then again you’re not really interested in cars. In fact, if any other guy asked you to a race, you would’ve declined, but there’s something about Taehyung that you can’t deny him. You watch as Taehyung smokes a cigarette while sipping a beer. He talks to Hoseok for a bit about some sort of deal that they’re doing. It makes you wonder what kind of business Taehyung is into.

The cars start to pull up in a line, side by side. You think the race will start soon. Taehyung slips one arm around your waist. Pulling you closer to his side. You can feel the warmth of his body, and your heart starts to race. When you look up at him, he’s completely focused on the cars as they rev their engines. Excitement looms over you as you see the cars begin to take off. Tires screech and rubber burns, leaving a cloud of smoke in their wake. You stand there and watch as Taehyung holds you tight. You feel an adrenaline rush, watching the cars zoom off. You guess the rush you felt was also the same feeling as being with Taehyung. He was forbidden, dangerous, and unpredictable. You shouldn’t be with him, but you just couldn’t help yourself.

“Fuck, Kihyun, better win this race.” Taehyung spits at the older man next to him.

“If he doesn’t, he owes us a fuck ton of money,” Hoseok says as he sips his beer.

“The bastard doesn’t have anything to his name. He won’t be able to give us shit.” Taehyung shakes his head. You’re not sure what they mean. You didn’t know who this Kihyun guy was and why it was so important for him to win. You assume Taehyung is betting on this race.

The cars run the first lap, and everyone starts to cheer. One more lap and you figure the race is done because the cheers become louder.

“Son of a bitch.” Hoseok grumbles, throwing the beer can on the ground, before smashing it with his foot. You take that as Kihyun lost the race. He walks off, leaving you and Taehyung alone.

“I’m assuming Kihyun didn’t win?” You break the silence.

“Definitely not.” Taehyung shakes his head.

Just then, you notice Changbin, an all-star athlete at your University with a pristine reputation. What was someone like him doing here?

“Who won?” You ask out of curiosity. You weren’t really paying attention, so you did get to see who came in first.

“The guy in the Porsche.” Taehyung gestures with his head to the direction of the car. That’s precisely where you see Changbin standing. With the guy who drove the car and won. The guy gets out of the car handing the keys over to Changbin.

“Wait, so who won? Changbin or the guy driving?” You’re confused as to why the guy was using Changbin’s car to race.

“Wait, you know that, kid?” Taehyung’s eyebrows furrow.

“Yeah, he goes to my school.” You explain.

“Of course, he does.” Taehyung scoffs, but you don’t push him about it anymore.

Next thing you know, you’re at a party. It’s at a rundown house, it's small and quaint. There aren't many people at the party.

“So, who are these people?” You ask into Taehyung’s ear. As you sit on his lap on a torn-up couch.

“Just a few people from my group.” He says vaguely. You want to ask more, but you know he won’t tell you anything.

You felt like you stood out. As if everyone knew you lived in the Northside. You figure somehow the word got out. You sip on the drink Taehyung made you, and you’re starting to ease up. The music’s boring and to be honest the parties kind of dull. Not like the first Southside party you went to, which was a total rager.

As if Taehyung can sense your boredom, he speaks into your ear. “Wanna get out of here?” Taehyung asks in a low suggestive voice.

“Yeah,” you agree in a breathy tone.

Before Taehyung can lead you to a bedroom or wherever he was going to take you. There’s a loud banging at the door. Suddenly everyone’s running out the back. Including you, because as soon as Taehyung hears the first knock. He’s already pulling you onto your feet, you both dash out the back along with everyone else. Well, at least with the people who were able to escape. Luckily Taehyung’s truck is a few houses down. Since the parking at the house was overcrowded. You run through a few backyards before you reach the truck.

“What the hell was that about?” You question as you pant once you’re in the truck.

“Don’t worry about it. At least we’re out of there.” Taehyung is speeding off without another word.

After that night, Taehyung never invited you to the Southside again.

‘

You spend the rest of the semester hanging out with Taehyung any chance you got. He’d always pick you on the outskirts of town, and he’d drive you around until there was no one in sight. Since meeting Taehyung, you got pretty comfortable with smoking weed. You’d sit in his truck hotboxing it, which eventually led to something sexual. Sex with Taehyung was amazing. He understood your body so well, and always satisfied your needs. He truly fucked like a pornstar. You could honestly say it was the best you’d ever had. You both hadn’t established whether you were in a relationship or not. But you assumed you were exclusive. You didn’t sleep with anybody else, and you made that clear to Taehyung. You also made him promise not to sleep with anyone since you weren’t using condoms. You only hoped that Taehying was keeping his promise. As for your friends, knowing about Taehyung. They didn’t, except for Eunji. It was like an unspoken rule that you and Eunji didn’t talk about your relationships. You didn’t pry on her relationship with Jungkook, and she didn’t pry about Taehyung.

“I wonder when we’ll actually fuck in an actual bed.” You complain as you climb into the back seat of Taehyung’s truck.

“I’ll rent us a hotel room if that’s what you're asking.” Taehyung shimmies down his jeans, the tip of his cock peeking out the waistband of his boxers, the head shiny with pre-cum. He’s already rock hard since your little makeout session from before.

“What am I a hooker?” You ask unimpressed.

“If that’s what you’re into. We can role-play.” Taehyung jokes. He knows you want him to bring you to his place for once, but he won’t let that happen. He’s driven you there once, but that was to “drop something off” you assume it had to do with his “business.” That he also won’t tell you about.

“I just wanna be wined and dined, ya know?” You lean down to situate yourself in your hands and knees. Pulling up your skirt over your ass. Dropping your back and displaying your plump ass for Taehyung.

“Wine and dined, huh?” Taehyung repeats, his hands going to grab at your ass cheeks. “We can arrange that,” he leans down from behind and begins to kiss up your spine, before continuing on.“At a hotel.” He smirks even though you can’t see him.

“Fine, at least let it be a nice one.” You bargain. Closing your eyes as Taehyung’s lips meet the juncture of your neck.

“Only the finest for this sweet little pussy,” he coos. His lips sucking pink marks into your neck, that you know, you’ll have to cover later.

You had definitely become more comfortable with Taehyung. He wasn’t as intimidating as he was when you first met him. You just had to get to know him to see he wasn’t a bad guy. Maybe he did questionable things, but you’d never know. He never liked to share that side of him.

Taehyung’s fingers on your folds is what brings you back from your thoughts. He teases, running his fingers along the slit. It’s a light and ticklish sensation. Soon enough, you’re sighing out loud when you feel his fingers dip into your core. You’re wet, but not wet enough. Two of his fingers feel inside of you. Not fucking you just yet. It’s enough though to get you wetter than you were before. When he finally decides to finger fuck you. You toss your head back and relish in the feeling of his fingers rubbing against your slick walls.

“Can you take another?” Taehyung asks, speeding up the pace of his fingers.

“Mhm,” you nod. With that, a third finger is delving in. You rock your hips backward, meeting every thrust of his fingers. And just like that, your arousal starts to flow out of you. The lewd squelching sounds filling the truck as Taehyung is knuckle deep.

“Oh God, Taehyung, I’m gonna come,” you warn.

“Don’t,” He commands. Taehyung knows you're close by the way your pussy has a death grip on his fingers.

“Why?” You whine you’re so close. You don’t understand why he doesn’t want you to.

He doesn’t answer, though. All he does is retract his fingers from your warm wet hole. Leaving you quaking and your pussy pulsating around nothing.

“Fuck, Taehyung.” You make a whining noise from your throat.

Taehyung places a soothing kiss on the small of your back. “Just wanted you to cum on my cock first.” He teases, rubbing your ass cheek before smacking it. Your body jolts forward, and you moan out loud. “You like that?” He asks.

“Yes,” you moan.

Taehyung would play with you more, but he’s feeling pretty restless today. Something happened with “work,” and he definitely won’t tell you. All you know is he’s had a pretty bad day, and all he wants to do is blow your back out. That being his exact words.

Taehyung finally releases his cock from the confines of his boxers. Letting spring out before taking it into his hand. He uses the hand that’s sticky with your arousal to stroke his dick. He brings the tip to your folds. Rubbing the head against them. He’s sighing at the sensation it causes to the sensitive tip.

Without even a warning, he’s plunging straight in. Causing your back to bow. “Unghhh,” you groan when Taehyung quickly draws back and thrusts forward with a heavy weight. Holy shit, he must’ve really had a bad day, you think.

His hands are on your hips, guiding you with every thrust. His hips consistently hitting your ass, leaving red marks behind.

“You like it when I fuck you hard?” Taehyung asks through a groan. And you nod profusely in response.

He’s fucking his frustrations out, and you feel it, deep inside you. The truck shakes with every movement. Soon the windows fog shielding you from the view of a prying eye. Your fingers dig into the leather seats. As you barely hold yourself up.

“I’m close,” Taehyung admits. Usually, he wouldn’t cum this fast, but either way, you embrace it.

“Oh—” you say at a particularly hard thrust. “Cum in Taehyung, please! Fuck— I need it!” You sob. You reach for your clit hurriedly rubbing at it. Hoping to get where Taehyung is soon.

“Fuck, you want my cum baby?” He asks as if you would deny him. He just loves the confirmation.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” You chant. The pressure threatening to explode.

Taehyung’s thrusts are carnal, his hands leave bruises in their wake. Bruises that you have to explain when you’re changing in dressing rooms to your friends. You’ll lie, though, and they’ll probably see right through it.

“Fuck, you’re gonna take this dick and my cum you hear me?” Taehyung growls. His cock twitching inside of you, his end nearing soon.

“Oh fuck yeah—,” you sob, ready to take him all.

“For fuck sake,” Taehyung groans. With a few more hard thrusts, Taehyung is filling you up. His hips still as he lets his cum shoot into your pussy. You’re moaning when you feel his cum fill you up.

Knowing you haven’t cum yet Taehyung keeps fucking you. His cum threatens to spill out, but with every pump, his dick is pushing it back in. His cock coated with a mix of his cum and your sticky juices. He slides in and out so effortlessly, causing the most delicious sensation. With a hand on your clit and Taehyung’s relentless pounding, you cum with a strangled moan. You feel like the wind has been knocked out of you. Your muscle tense as you ride the wave of pleasure. Once it’s over, you gasp for air.

“Fuck,” Taehyung hisses as he pulls out, his sensitivity in overdrive now. “You okay?” He asks, panting. As if he hasn’t just fucked you into another dimension.

“Mhm,” you hum, slumping down on the leather seat.

You’re weak, but you still manage to clean yourself up. Taking the cum rag to wipe yourself before sliding your panties back on. With heavy bodies, you both get into the front seats. You sit there for a moment, recuperating. Eventually, Taehyung takes you home. And you can’t help but think of him for the rest of the night.

Taehyung has disappeared on you once before. He was M.I.A for a few days. No texts, calls, or anything. Then out of nowhere, he just reappeared like nothing had happened. Dismissing your worry as an overreaction. This time though, things felt different. It had been over a week with no sign of Taehyung. Jungkook has even been missing. Eunji was a mess, thinking it was Jungkook breaking up with her again. He made a habit of this. It made you wonder if that’s what Taehyung was doing to you. You didn’t think so, though. He was pretty straight forward you’re sure if he didn’t want you he’d just tell you, right? Something doesn’t sit right with you. You make the rash decision one night to go find Taehyung.

You know you shouldn’t be here alone, but Taehyung left you no choice. You walk into what seems to be an empty house after no one answers. The doors unlocked so you were able to come right in.

“Taehyung,” you call out, and no one responds. You look around the house, and it appears to be abandoned. You know it’s not, but it seems like whoever was here just picked up and left.

“Tae,” you call out once more. No response. Once you reach the glass sliding door at the back of the house, you can see two figures. You quietly open the door stepping out. You can hear a few curses, and when you come closer, you notice it’s Taehyung, and you think Changbin. You walk closer towards them. Their yells become louder.

When Taehyung’s fist comes in contact with Changbin’s jaw you wince. His fist is relentless. Each blow harder than the other. It takes you a moment to process what was happening. Once you come to your senses, you’re running towards Taehyung.

“Taehyung, stop!” You scream, pulling Taehyung off the younger man.

Taehyung turns around, looking at you with crazed eyes. “What the hell are you doing here, y/n?” He questions letting go of Changbin. His body drops limply to the ground.

You can’t seem to speak, you feel your throat tighten, and tears threaten to spill from your eyes. You were scared. Who was this person? This wasn’t the Taehyung, you know. Or at least you thought you knew.

Just then, Hoseok is walking out of the house. “What the fuck is going on here? I thought you were going to take care of it.” Hoseok’s voice is rough, scaring you even more.

“Hyung, I need you to take over.” Taehyung gestures to Changbin, who’s still lying on the floor. His body seems to be lifeless.

“Fine,” Hoseok spits. “Next time, keep your bitch in line.”

Taehyung’s bloody hands grab you by your wrist leading you back into the house.“Y/n, what the hell are you doing here?!”

“You— you didn’t answer my calls.” You stutter. You stare at Taehyung blood-stained hands.

“That’s no reason for you to come looking for me. What the fuck were you thinking?” Taehyung raises his voice, and it causes you to finally start crying. You let go, tears streaming down your face and all you can do is bow your head.

Taehyung has no sympathy for you. “C’mon.” His voice gruff laced with annoyance. He pulls you by your arm once again, leading you to the truck.

Once you’re on his truck, you find the strength to apologize. “I’m sorry.” Your voice is still scratchy from crying.

“Whatever, just don’t come looking for me again?” He grips the steering wheel harder.

“Ok.”

“You could've got fucking hurt y/n. Hoseok doesn’t fuck around. Plus, it’s too fucking late for you to be hanging around the southside so late by yourself.” Taehyung berates you. You can feel your tears come again.

The rest of the car ride is silent.

Taehyung pulls into your apartment complex. He puts the truck in park, and he sits there for a second. Finally, he sighs, lowering his head. “I’m sorry you had to see that shit.”

“You almost killed the guy Taehyung.” You sob.

Fuck, he really wishes you hadn’t shown up. “He’s going to be fine.” Taehyung dismisses you. He was only roughing up the guy, he thought.

“What did he do to deserve that Taehyung? He was innocent.” You knew Changbin hung around the southside sometimes, but you never expected him to get beat up by Taehyung of all people.

“Pfft, innocent?” Taehyung shakes his head. “The guys a piece of shit. He fucking robbed us. So I had to take care of it.”

Take care of it. The words ring inside your head.

“So what you were just gonna kill the guy?”

“What? No! Y/n, I don’t even have to explain myself to you.” He shakes his head again. “You know what, just get out.”

“What?” You feel like you’ve been punched in the gut. Your body moves slowly, slipping out of the raised truck.

“Go on,” Taehyung instructs. You listen and carry your heavy body back to your apartment.

The next morning your eyes are puffy from all the crying. You look at yourself in the mirror for just a second before quickly looking away. You needed a hot shower. Steam fills the bathroom as you scrub yourself clean. It’s hot and humid, and you feel like you’re being enveloped in heat. Somehow you find it comforting. Once you’re out of the shower, you dry off your wet skin, slipping into comfortable clothing.

“Y/n.” Yara knocks at your door.

“Come in.” You yell.

“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to breakfast with the girls and me?” She asks sweetly, suspecting something is wrong.

“You guys go ahead. I’m not feeling well today. I just wanna stay at home.”

Yara just nods, going in for a quick hug. “If you need anything, just let me know.” You nod in response, and with that, she’s leaving your room.

You throw yourself back onto your bed. You check your phone, looking for messages from Taehyung. You know he wouldn’t text or call. Still, you can’t help but check. You toss your phone, and it lands somewhere on your bed. You roll over to your side face squishing into the soft pillow. Eventually, you fall back asleep again.

Thump Thump.

You’re woken by loud banging at your front door. You get up disoriented as you trudge to the front door. The girls must not be back yet, you think. Once you get there, you rub your eyes first before opening the door.

“Taehyung?” You’re face to face with the older man. His hair is damp, and his face is cut up. “What the hell happened?” He bleeds from his busted lip. You step aside, letting him in.

“They fucking got me.” Taehyung spits, he the bridge of his nose.

You’re quick to grab him some ice. “Come here.” You watch as Taehyung drags his feet toward the kitchen. He sits on the barstool at the island. And you walk over to him, pressing the ice against his bruised eye.

“Shit,” he hisses. Wincing at the cold sensation. He grabs ahold of your hand.

“Who got you?” You ask, letting Taehyung hold onto you as you ice his eye.

Taehyung takes a deep breath. He pulls the ice off him and lets go of your hand. “Fucking north siders.” He shakes his head. He’s pissed, beyond pissed actually. “Last night, after I dropped you off. I ran into a few of Changbin’s buddies. They ended up jumping me.”

“What? How?” You gasp. This was all your fault if you hadn’t gone looking for Taehyung none of this would’ve happened.

“They broke my fucking window. Pulled me out of my truck, beat me, and left me on the side of the road.” Your eyes widen as Taehyung explains to you what happened to him. How could something like possibly have happened on the North Side?

“Tae—,” your voice trails off. You feel so guilty that any of this happened. You should’ve just stayed out of it. If it wasn’t for you, Taehyung would never have been here, and this would’ve never happened to him.

For some reason, it drove Taehyung crazy the way you called out his name like that. Sure, you were a pain in his ass and caused him nothing but trouble since you came into his life, but he couldn’t help the way he felt when you looked at him like that.

“It’s whatever,” Taehyung says indifferently.

“Here, let me get you something to clean up the blood.” You walk towards the sink. And Taehyung can’t help but stare at your ass as you walk away. You slept in the skimpiest of short. Probably because they were comfortable, Taehyung thinks.

“Here,” you say when you’re in front of him again. You begin to wipe off the blood with a damp rag causing Taehyung to wince once again. “I’m sorry,” you frown, but you continue to clean him up.

“I should get going.” Taehyung pulls your hand away. “I only came by because I was finally conscious enough to move, and you were the closest place I could think of.”

“Wait, don’t go just yet.” You gesture for him to stay put. You go to the bathroom in search of some Vaseline or something to help with the cuts. “Here,” you say when you come back out.

“Vaseline?” Taehyung questions with a cocked brow.

“It will help close up the wounds,” you state. You take the jelly onto your fingers and lightly rub against the cuts on Taehyung's face. You stand in between his spread legs. You can feel his hot breath against your skin as you continue to rub Vaseline on him.

You missed being this close to Taehyung. Against your will, you pull away after applying the jelly on the last cut.

“Thanks,” Taehyung mutters. His eyes trained on your lips. There’s a moment where you both contemplate on whether or not to act on your desire. Taehyung is the first to choose. He leans in the rest of the way brushing his lips against yours. He leaves it to you to finish the kiss, and you do. Your lips pressing together then parted by Taehyung’s tongue. You can taste the blood on your tongue as your lips smack together.

You moan into the kiss, and instantly, Taehyung is picking you up. You wrap your legs around his waist, and his large hands cup over the swell of your ass, holding you up. He places you on the kitchen island, your legs spreading wide for him. He nestles in between them, his crotch pressing against yours. A slow grind with every movement if of the kiss. You missed Taehyung's touch. The way his hands grip onto you. The way his tongue tastes like stale cigarettes. A taste that you grew to love. Everything about Taehyung is hot. The way he stared at you with a hard gaze was enough to make your panties wet.

He’s hard between your thighs. As the outline of his cock grinds against your clothed cunt. You throw your head back as you break away from the kiss. Your lungs need air, and you gasp for it. You reveal the soft skin of your neck as your head tosses back. Taehyung takes the initiative to suck a mark onto your neck.

“Tae—,” you moan, your hand coming up to entangle into Taehyung’s curly locks.

“Mmm,” he groans into your neck. He grinds against you harder. Desperate and hungry to feel anything you’re willing to give. And right now, you’re eager to give it all. Desire fills your body with every thrust. Your core aching to be filled.

“Tell me to stop,” he grunts. And that’s the last thing you want him to do. “Tell me you don’t want this.” But you can’t lie to him. Because every fiber in your being yearns for Taehyung.

“Please,” you beg your hand, wrapping around his neck, pulling him closer. “Taehyung, I want it.” You admit to him whispering into his ear with a low voice. He was no good for you, but you couldn’t help it. You wanted him.

He’s pushing onto your back, and you shiver when your back presses against the cold countertop. Taehyung pushes your shirt up over your chest. His lips kissing and sucking the expanse of your tummy. Soon enough, he’s heading down south, kissing his way down. He’s quick to pull down your shorts and underwear until the slip off your dangling legs. Your ass is bare against the countertop, and you’re sure if your roommates knew what you were doing on their perfectly clean white marble top, they’d freak.

Taehyung crouches onto his knees. His head between your thighs. He sucks a hickey into your inner thigh. When his tongue is finally at your core, you arch your back into it. His tongue moves languidly against your folds. Slow and torturous, but enough to let pleasure bloom. Your body feels hot all over, and you can feel your body shine with perspiration. Taehyung grips onto your thighs, spreading them wide, using them as leverage.

Eventually, his tongue is lapping in your juices. His tongue curls with every drag. His wet muscle licking up your slit until he’s met with your swollen clit. Your body goes stiff as he begins to make out with your cunt. Sucking on your nub, causing you to grip onto his locks. His tongue and lips are enough to coax your arousal out of you. It drips out of your wet pussy down to the curve of your ass.

Taehyung breathes heavily as he buries himself in your pussy. You’re crying out loud, and you can feel the weight of his hand. He presses against your lower abdomen, keeping your hips still. Though your hips wanted to move freely. He loved how greedy you were for him, he wanted to give you everything you wanted.

“Please, Taehyung,” you plead in a whiny voice. All you needed was his fingers, and you’d come undone. He knows exactly what you want. Two digits dip into your leaking entrance. He curls them upward before he begins to pump them.

“Oh,” you mewl. You’re met with his mouth on your clit again. He sucks relentlessly, causing your hips to move unabashedly. He can no longer control the way your hips move, and he lets you have it.

Your moans become louder, and the room fills with the lewd noises of Taehyung slurping up your cunt. Time stops for a moment, and you’re coming undone. Your walls pulsing around his fingers. As you’re plunging straight into your orgasm. You slump back down onto the kitchen counter. Your body now welcoming the coolness of the marble countertop.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Taehyung admires you as you lay there. Legs spread wide for him, your chest rising and falling, and your hair splayed all over the counter. You’re completely fucked out, and his chest swells because he knows he made you like this. A crying, panting mess for him, it was all for him.

“Taehyung fuck me please, I want it so bad.” You cry you want to feel him inside you. You want to feel complete.

Taehyung rises to his feet. His hands moving quickly to unbuckle his belt. He pushes down his pants and boxers in one go. His dick springs free, and your core begins to throb again. He’s taking his cock into his hand, rubbing the tip against your folds. You sit up to watch him, and he picks your legs up from the back of your thighs. Holding you as he finally pushes in. There’s no resistance whatsoever as your warm wet walls welcome him in.

“Ahh,” you huff feeling him stretch you open.

Taehyung’s hips begin to move. He has no mercy, he’s desperate to cum. His thrusts are short and hard. You feel the head of his dick continuously brush against your sweet spot.

“Off,” you say, tugging the hem of his shirt. And momentarily, he drops your legs. Lifting the shirt over his head and tossing it on the ground. Quickly his hands go back to lifting your legs to continue to fuck you.

His muscles flex with every moment. And now you can admire his tanned skin adorned with his tattoos. You run your hands over his chest and down his abs. Everything about Taehyung was so hot.

“Fuck your pussy feels so good, baby,” Taehyung says through gritted teeth. His hips moving erratically now. You lie back against the island again. Pulling up your shirt gives him a good view of your breast as they jiggle with every thrust.

A particularly hard thrust has your crying out. “There— don’t stop, please!” You beg. His dick hitting you perfectly that you can feel your orgasm building up again. You feel the weight of his hips on yours as he slides in and out.

Soon, the pressure is building up between your thighs. To steady yourself, you grip onto the edge of the island. Your back arches as your pussy takes a beating. You suck in a deep breath, and you let go. Your muscles begin to liquify. Letting your sweet release take over.

“Oh my god— I’m cumming!” You say gasping for air. You swear you blackout for a few seconds the pleasure being too much.

Taehyung is mumbling a few curses with every other thrust. Your walls spasming around his dick makes him groan. His cock engulfed in the sweet sea of your pussy. Taehyung’s balls begin to ache to release soon.

“God, I want your cum so bad.” You say in a drawn-out whine. Your walls are still so sensitive, but you push through.

Taehyung’s dick twitches inside you at your words. “Fuck baby, where do you want it?” He grunts.

Without a second thought, you beg for him to cum on you. You could care less where. You just wanted him to taint you with his cum.

With Taehyung’s end nearing, you wrap your legs around his torso, pulling him close to you. His thrust are shallow now with the close proximity you hold him at. His hands are on either side of your waist. Holding onto you as he pushes you against his thrusts. Your hands grip onto Taehyung’s bulging biceps, as thrusts become more relentless.

“Tell me you want it,” his voice hoarse. He just wants to hear it come from your mouth.

“I want it, so bad—,” you gasp for air, his thrust becoming incredibly hard. “Give it to me, Tae!” You sob, pleasure increasingly taking over your body again.

With your pleas, Taehyung is quickly pulling out of you. His hand pulls rapidly on his engorged cock. With a clenched jaw and muscles taught, he’s cumming all over your tummy. Ropes of cum shoot out, landing on your soft skin. He tugs on his dick between spurts dragging out every last bit of his orgasm. When he comes down, he’s gently letting go of you. His hands press against the cold marble. Leaning against his arms, his body slumps over yours. The tip of his cock rutting into the mess he’s made on you. His head hangs low, and you push away the strands that fall against his eyes. His usual intense gaze is gone as he only looks at you with soft eyes. You cup his face, and he leans down gingerly, placing one last kiss on your lips.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” whispers, his eyes shutting.

After your breath becomes steady again, you suddenly realize where you are. In your kitchen, almost completely bare. “Tae,” you say as you sit yourself up on the counter. “My roommates, they’ll be back soon.” You say, worried they’d come in at any second.

“Could we maybe shower?” Taehyung asks, looking at the state of both of you. You’re covered in his cum, and he’s covered with sweat and dirt from last night.

“Yeah, my rooms that way.” You point over to the slightly opened door of your room. Taehyung helps you off the counter, and you both head to your room.

You have to admit showering with Taehyung was nice. Having him lather soap all over your body felt amazing. Especially when he massaged your scalp, you swear you were cumming. It was such a sweet sentiment that you were sad when Taehyung was getting dressed to leave.

“Stay, please,” you say timidly. You hope with everything in you that Taehyung would agree. That instead of leaving, he’d stay and spend the day with you in bed.

“I can’t,” he says, his eyes averting yours.

“Why not Taehyung?” You can feel the familiar tightness start at your throat. Deep down you already knew why. You and Taehyung weren’t meant for each other. You came from opposite worlds. It didn’t make sense for you to be together. “Just for today Tae, please stay,” you plead one last time.

Taehyung looks down to where you currently lay on your bed. He’s so conflicted his mind is telling him one thing, but his heart is telling him another. Ultimately Taehyung decides to stay. Regardless of what your friends might think when they come home and find you two together. You both don’t know what will happen next, but all you know is that you have him here right now.

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this thank you to the anon that requested this prompt! Please let me know if you enjoyed it! Your feedback is greatly appreciated! (:

#bts smut #taehyung smut #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #taehyung #taehyung scenarios #taehyung angst #bts fic #bts #lushjin writes #ksmutclub

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a-lonely-tatertot · 3 years

Text

Finding Home

A/N: HIIIIIII IM BACK BOIS! Anyways this is a shorter chapter I didn’t wanna mess with outline so you get tiny chapter. sooo woot woot for like barely 2k words? But like the doc im writing this on is at like 19k and 29 pages i am in shock. trying to get back a consistent updating with this so uh yeah dont keep your hopes up tho- working on ch. 7 rn hope you enjoy! As always betaed by the glorious @bookwyrminspiration

words: 2208

tw: none

wattpad ao3

Chapter 6: These Secrets Stain Us Red

They had gotten off the bus at the last stop before Kull, stepping out into the cold air. Sophie glanced at the trees in the distance turning orange and yellow. Distantly, she remembered when she was younger this was her favorite season, how the leaves would fall and crunch at her feet, and how it was actually somewhat bearable to be outside. She smiled at the memory as she held Linh’s hand, walking quickly to the gas station, her stomach already grumbling.

“Linh?” a voice called from behind them as they stood in line. Linh swung around, trying to find the source of who called her, nearly startling Sophie into almost dropping her water. The mystery person stepped out from behind a small cluster of people with an overly energetic wave. “Linh! It is you!” he called.

Sophie watched as Linh’s eyes landed on the man and her whole expression shifted. As opposed to the man’s own happiness, Linh seemed to put a wall between her real emotions and the rest of the world, her face betraying nothing. “Hey, Sameul!” Linh said in pretend excitement; Sophie knew that her words carried an undertone of malice.

This Sameul was not the man Sophie had seen in the memories, but from Linh’s reaction, he seemed to probably be involved in whatever Linh was in.

“That’s me,” Sameul responded, clearly not getting Linh’s annoyance like Sophie was. “Geez, it’s been what, how many months since I last saw you?”

“Yeah it’s been a while,” Linh said, her shoulders rigid and her jaw set. Who the heck is this guy? she thought. Their name was called and Sameul followed them to go pick up their food. Sophie tried not to feel trapped with the way Linh’s eyes darted.

Sameul smiled ruefully, “Last time I saw you you had a little backpack and were running out the door in the middle of the night.” Linh took in a sharp breath and stuttering to a halt, her tray of food almost dropping. Sophie raised her eyebrows, more confused than ever. There was a beat then a sharp ring interrupted the weighted silence and Linh’s eyes widened with relief.

“Oh Sam, I’m sorry, that’s her sister calling. She’s really gotta take that. Why don’t you come with me?” Linh asked, more of a command than a suggestion. Reluctantly, Sophie pressed accept on her phone, ready to unleash the crazy whirlwind of shit that she had found out on one completely unprepared Amy. “What up checking in blame Tina she was worried,” Amy said, boredom concealing her concern.

“Uhuh sure Tina was worried,” Sophie chuckled. “Anyways, Linh is being super suspicious.”

Amy made a startled noise, “O-okay then so not well.”

Sophie nodded even though Amy couldn’t see her, “Yup, also uh side note, totally did not watch another one of her memories.” “Sophie! It’s like you’re trying to do it on purpose!”

“It was an accident I swear!”

“Mhm, yeah, definitely.”

Sophie grumbled, “Oh screw off. Anyway, I was in this bathroom and her knuckles were all bloody like she had punched something. And then this guy came in and said that she wasn’t allowed to be reckless anymore, but from what I saw it was like she was living with some other runaway people I guess?”

Amy was silent for a moment. “Well damn.”

“Yeah,” Sophie agreed. “You shoulda seen her when this guy recognized her while we were getting food; she got like scary tense and for a moment I thought she was gonna water power him.” “Water power him? Really? That’s what you’re calling it?” Amy said. Sophie could practically hear her raising her eyebrow. “At that point just call it water bending.”

“I refuse to call it that.”

“How dare you; you’ve disrespected our childhood.” Sophie laughed. “But seriously,” Amy continued, and she knew she wasn’t going to like what she was going to say next, “Soph, what happened to telling her about the memories? Instead, you just spied more.” “She’s the one with the sketchy past!”

“That you don’t have any right to!”

“She’s been weird and I need to figure out why. Once I do I’ll tell her everything.”

“No, you don’t need to figure it out yourself! You need to talk to her and she will tell you if she’s ready to.” “Don’t tell me what to do Amy. She lied to me. The first night we were together we talked about how we got here and she lied to me like it never happened.”

“This isn’t war Sophie. Just because you’re scared, just because she lied doesn’t mean you get to invade her privacy. She’s not the enemy Sophie, she’s your girlfriend.”

Sophie hung up and her phone buzzed twice more while she watched Linh walk back over to her. This wasn’t Amy’s problem, this wasn’t Amy’s life, so screw her for trying to tell her what to do. She had the abilities and she was sure as hell going to use them. “Sam left,” Linh said with a clearly fake smile. “Said he should probably get back on the bus and didn’t want to intrude.”

At that Sophie raised an eyebrow, she didn’t need to use her telepathy to know it was a lie.

Stepping on the bus felt like placing the weight of the world on her shoulders. She knew that man was something to Linh, or Linh was something to him; maybe he was what Linh was running from. She didn’t have regrets when she reached carefully out to Sameul’s mind and glanced at what he said to Linh. Maybe she should’ve regretted it, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She needed to know, when she had left the Lost Cities it was her way of saying “I will not be lied to even if it seems better that way”. So much had been kept from her and here she was, getting things from the source instead of waiting for someone to tell her.

The words, “You haven’t changed Linh,” rang in her ears as she pulled back, not letting any emotions show on her face as Linh followed behind her. Linh didn’t say anything so Sophie didn’t say anything and they settled into a tense silence as the bus around them buzzed with noise. Sophie tried to think of something to say as the words played on repeat in her head but Linh beat her to it.

“You never told me much about Mari, about what she means to you,” Linh said. Each word seemed rehearsed as if she had said it in her head a thousand times before speaking the words into existence. “I didn’t know you cared,” Sophie responded quickly before she could think it through.

“Tell me about Mari?” Linh asked softly.

Despite what Sophie was hiding from Linh and what Linh was hiding from her, she couldn’t stop herself from talking. The words may have meant nothing as she rambled on about her life there, only meant to be a distraction, but she let them spill from her lips without hesitation. She talked of Tommy, Angie, and Mari, of her weekly game nights, of the regulars at the diner. The people she had come to love yet when the time came she didn’t hesitate to leave ‘cause she was scared. Scared of the permanence of it, scared she’d lose herself in the dream of it. And how when she burned those bridges all she felt was a gaping hole in herself. As she talked she thought of the people she had left in the Lost Cities; how she burned it all like she had when she was young and reckless and angry burning her mark, the moonlark, into the ground desperate to prove something, desperate to mean something. But now she was afraid of that, tearing everything to shreds, burning it to ashes because she didn’t know how to mean something to someone. She thought of what Amy had said and briefly wondered if she would ever be able to just talk about something instead of treating everything as a mystery she was destined to solve. Eventually, her words lulled Linh to sleep and she let out a soft sigh of contentment as she laid her head on Sophie’s shoulder. Sophie glanced at Linh, only allowing herself a quick look at her girlfriend’s soft and relaxed face before staring out the window watching the gravel pass, not allowing herself time for her guilt and sadness to rise. She wasn’t allowed those feelings. With every fiber of herself Sophie dreaded and couldn’t wait for the moment they stepped off of the bus into Kull, the town with as weird of a name as people.

An hour later, as the sun started to fall behind the trees and the sky began to turn dark, that moment came and Sophie found her entire body filled with anxiety. They made their way to the front, Sophie in front of Linh, her hand stretched behind her holding Linh’s hand like a lifeline.

They were the only ones getting off and within seconds they were left standing on the dirt road, the bus was long gone. The air was cold, and the wind blew lightly, tossing around Sophie’s ponytail. Neither spoke to the other, standing in silence, staring at the buildings in front of them. It felt like they’d break a spell if they moved, if they talked, so Sophie didn’t. But Linh did (a spell didn’t need to last an eternity in her mind, just for the moment that it was intended for). Linh squeezed Sophie’s hand three times, dragging her out of her haze to stare at Linh confused.

“It’s a human thing,” Linh said sheepishly. Distantly Sophie remembered Amy teaching her, three squeezes, “I love you”. Four squeezes back and Sophie had said, “I love you too.” She didn’t have time to think if it was a lie because with that she started walking, entirely on autopilot, the familiar route to Mari’s house ingrained in her mind. It was after hours, so there’d be no point going to the diner. So she dragged Linh down main street, taking a left about halfway down, and then it was another block til she found herself outside the door on the white porch of the bright mobile home with her whole body buzzing. It was almost too much to be there; staring at it again it was like nothing had changed. But something had, because she didn’t have a key, and so she knocked with all of the impulsive courage she had left.

Three rapid knocks.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five seconds.

The door opened with a creak.

It wasn’t Mari.

There was a man, about her height, hair pulled in a bun and silver bangs over glasses. He was familiar, why was he familiar? Linh drew in a harsh breath of air and squeezed Sophie’s hand as tight as she could. That was when the puzzle pieces fell into place. That’s when it all made sense. The man standing in front of her was someone she hadn’t seen in two years other than in the memories she had unrightfully stolen from him. The man standing in front of her, still with his signature silver, was Tam Song.

Amy’s phone buzzed next to her, pulling her away from rereading her homework question for the eight time. Ever since Sophie’s call and her following silence Amy couldn’t focus; she tried to distract herself, and pulled herself away from texting Linh and telling her everything Sophie had told her. It’s not my place, she would think. It’s not part of the plan. Her phone unlocked and she slowly processed the photo and message. It was a picture of Sophie leaning her back against the gas station with her hand holding her phone to her ear. It was just like her co-conspirators to be that dramatic they had to send a photo too.

-Operation Collect the Dumbasses-

Braincell Holder: You know we heard that call. Pure of Heart Dumb of Ass: I thought we said that I would start this conversation? No Thoughts Head Empty: Yeah well you took too long. Braincell Holder: Not the Point. The Mental Stability: And the Point? This felt too pointed, Amy thought. Way too pointed and directed at her. Her phone buzzed again. Braincell Holder: Having second thoughts? Only slightly, Amy thought, but no no this needed to happen. The Mental Stability: No Pure of Heart Dumb of Ass: Thank the fucking ancients we can move on No Thoughts Head Empty: We’ve got a Phase 3 to begin

Phase 3, which they already had planned, would be the hardest to set up. Everything had to be just the right timing and just the right place.

Incoming call from Braincell Holder

Amy smiled as she accepted the call and long red hair popped into the frame. “Where is she?” Amy asked.

The redhead grinned, “She’ll be here in a minute, you know how Mrs. Sparkly Justice is; she’s got meetings but she said she’s got a friend who wants to help.”

Amy smiled, their little band of conspirators and their plan was working better than she could’ve imagined.

“So,” Amy said, “Where do we start?”

#appologies for italics i missed #tumblr was being shitty and i wasn't gonna do it all #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #amy foster #sophie foster #kotlc fic #kotlc fan fic #solinh #tam song #finding home #tater writes #kotlc sophie #kotlc amy #kotlc linh #kotlc tam

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alexthemagicaldevil · 3 years

Text

Dear Wandering Traveler

Dear wandering traveler,

Do you remember, I wonder, where you first found the book?

No no no-- where isn’t correct, isn’t it? When. When you first found the book.

Your memories are scattered at best and ruined at worst-- much like mine-- but I know you remember those moments. I know you can picture the sky, bright and clear after a long night of storms, grass covered in cool droplets, running through a field that seemed to go on for eternity. You don’t remember why you were running or where, but the feeling, the freedom, the purpose-- it’s all trapped in the corners of your mind, forever echoing even as you forget those you love and even your own name.

That day, that field, that feeling…

Well, it led you towards it. The book. I know because I saw you, I know because I’ve seen countless others walk over it without as much as a glance, and I know because I too felt that freedom and purpose suddenly flood through me. I watched you that day, and I knew immediately that you were different, that you were the answer to everything I had been asking for so many years. You would free me, and in turn free us all.

I saw you gradually slow your running, gasping slightly for breath as you studied the book on the ground, randomly placed on the wet grass. You looked around in confusion, wondering if someone left it behind on accident-- but of course, there was no other sign of life besides yourself. After only a moment of hesitation you grabbed the book-- so similar to my own, though yours has that colorful vortex. I saw that vortex in your eyes in that moment, so bright and crystal clear that I could’ve cried with joy, even as my tears left scars down my skin.

Then you… well, I don’t remember what happened after you picked up the book. I think you disappeared, taken away by whatever forces of nature dictate your travels. Either way, I don’t remember, much like you don’t.

I don’t remember much these days. I only find glimpses of clarity in between periods of darkness, so thick and tangible that I swear light never existed. He has this grip on my mind, something that forces me to… to be Other. And He… He knows what I am, even if I don’t. I don’t know what he knows but it's enough to terrify me.

And you-- I think He’s starting to understand who you are too. What you are. There’s only so much He can do directly, not without a host of other problems from a thousand other deities coming His way, but he can try to stop you. I know he does. He contorts my mind again and again, sends me to the same places you appear, sends me to die, to kill, to further his plan, to shape time into what He desires. No deities care if the same being dies again and again, only that the timeline stays flowing.

I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. I’m sorry that I can’t help you, sorry that I can’t remember enough to tell you what I know. If I know.

This book, this journal, is filled with the memories I record when I’m one of the Others. I think He’s split me too many times now, so much that this version of myself can move freely without His command. When I first realized this-- that I could remember, even if it was small, I knew that I had to contact you somehow. I have so many of these memory books, I thought, surely I wouldn’t miss one if it were missing, right? I can’t do anything too drastic so that He doesn’t notice, but I’ve always carried these books around, I think. Even before I became Other.

So I hid this book somewhere only you would be able to find, wandering traveler, wrote what I could remember onto these pages so that maybe, just maybe, we can fight back against Him together. I don’t know if it’s possible. From what glimpses of the past I see, I’ve always been under his control, and no one has ever been able to stop him.

But you’re different from the rest of us, aren’t you wandering traveler? Your power is different, more like his. Even though you can’t control it, you’ve done more to stop him in the last couple months than I’ve been able to accomplish in lifetimes.

I think it’s months, anyway. My memory, even without His influence, slips away from me like water. For all I know, you’re just like He is, immortal and eternal. But I don’t think you’re like that. You’re too kind, too loving to have lived as long as Him.

I can- I can feel Him calling now. My time is almost up, at least my time with this version of my memories is almost up. When He calls me back, I know I’ll forget I ever wrote this, forget that you and I are nearly one and the same, forget that the past is being shaped just as the future. But a part of me will remember. A part of me will find this book again, and as long as I don’t get his attention, he will never find it.

We can defeat him, maybe, if we work together. I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but…

You need to keep going back to change the future. You need to stop Him-- stop me. Stop us. There’s only so much you can control, only so long I can resist his call, but you need to keep going back.

I have to go. His call is irresistible now, but I’m terrified, wandering traveler. I’m terrified of what he’ll make me do, what I will and won’t remember, who I’ll be forced to betray. They were fools for thinking that looking Him up in that prison would do anything, fools for believing his power couldn’t corrupt this land while he’s locked inside. If anything, he’s more powerful.

But you would know that better than anyone, wouldn’t you wandering traveler?

You’ve probably seen his intended ending. Or one of the possible endings.

I can’t help you outright, but I can do this. I can offer solace and companionship, words and scraps of faded memories that occasionally float to the surface.

Sincerely, aimless scholar.

Karl blinked rapidly, waiting for the swirling teal and purple light to fade from his sight. Without even realizing it, he was already moving towards his library, picking up a new book to fill with his latest tale. Already the exact memories were starting to slip away from his mind-- but the quill in his hand moved just fast enough to write them down. The people and what they did-- the death and destruction-- all completely wiped from his mind the moment that came alive on the page. Soon, the only thing that remained was from his time in the In-Between, but even that was sketchy at best. It claimed to want to help Karl with his memories, but all they kept doing was getting worse and worse.

Finally, Karl placed the book in its proper place, among the other tales he’s collected over the past months. He was about to turn and leave when something caught his eye, something ever so slightly hidden in the corner of his library, just out of place enough for Karl to notice. He cautiously stepped towards it, seeing the rich brown cover of a well loved book, one that looked suspiciously familiar for a reason he couldn’t place.

I shouldn’t pick it up, he thought, too many feelings of unease brewing in his chest at the idea of picking up a mysterious book. Yet, he did anyway, gently opening it to reveal a page written in neatly printed script.

Dear wandering traveler,

Do you remember, I wonder, where you first found the book?

#dream smp #karl jacobs #ranboo #the inbetween #don't know what the time line is #mcyt fandom #i wrote this in a fever state #i know logically ranboo's missing book will be for bad purposes #but lets pretend otherwise for just a moment

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jazzytriestowrite · 4 years

Text

How to get away with murder

Fandom; My hero academia

Pairing; Dabi x GN Reader

Synopsis; You had watched day by day, as the love of your life fell for someone who wasn’t you. It hurt a lot. Deciding that you should take matters into your own hands, you begin to take action and take what you thought was rightfully yours. No one else could have him, Dabi was yours, and only yours and you didn’t like sharing.

Warnings; Death lmfao, mentions of alcohol and overuse. A bit of taking advantage of Dabi if you squint and a reader willing to do anything to get her crush.

Word Count; 3092

A/N; This idea came to me when I was heading to bed after watching the series ‘How to get away with murder’ and while the two of them aren’t that similar, it caused me to think of this. I typed this up and didn’t finish till around 5 am, so enjoy my little typos and vibe with me.

☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆

Everything seemed perfect, and when you say ‘perfect’, you meant it.

Maybe it was the light drizzle of rain that soaked into both of your clothes, mixed in with the natural glow of the moon and stars made for a perfect scene. The sketchy buildings behind you, and the constant honk from a car passing by only added to the moment.

Maybe it was how his rough hands held your body so softly, despite being the same hands of a killer. Maybe it was how he held you close, one hand resting on your cheek as his fiery blue eyes stared into yours. The love and passion that were displayed in his orbs had you standing there frozen. His breath was fanning your face, eyes peering into yours with no fears and no regrets. The hand on your cheek moved slowly, almost hypnotizing, as the other hand that rested on your hip pulled you closer to his warm body.

Now a small smile rested on his features, showing you that he was more than some smirking bastard that you usually saw. You stared at the many staples on his face, and the purple marks under his eyes, and honestly, it had only made him hotter in this moment.

The rain had now started to seep into your clothes making you shiver from not only that, but how close the other male was. And he would only get closer, closer and closer until his lips only brushed against yours in a taunting way. You were both hungry for each other, that much could be said, but the build up was starting to drive you crazy.

And finally, after his blue eyes stared into yours for so long, asking permission, well more like begging for you to let him continue, you nodded and he finally closed the gap between you two.

HONKKK

The loud honk and the sound of tires screeching snaps you out of your daze, making you finally come to your senses. Your eyes trail to the two cars that almost hit each other due to the rain affecting their sight. The two cars yell, before continuing their journey on the street, speeding away without actually fighting.

Rolling your eyes, you finally remembered what you were doing. Your eyes gaze across the street, where you see Dabi, and no, he wasn’t with you and about to kiss you like your earlier thoughts.

Instead he was leaning in to kiss some other girl, a girl who wasn’t you, and a girl who didn’t deserve him.

You have to avert your eyes when you hear her giggle, and even though the rain was pretty loud, it still didn’t cover up the disgusting noises of their lips smacking together. It disgusted you, almost making you call it a night and go home, but you stayed, knowing you’d only sit home wondering what happened if you left.

You watch as they make out, his hands exploring her body and her leaning more into him. After a long time of watching, they finally pull away, smiling at each other as they let each other go.

“Goodnight Dabi, hopefully I can see you tomorrow” You hear her pathetic voice say, and you watch as he nods, giving her a light smack on her ass. After a while of exchanging more words, the female walks up to her apartment, leaving Dabi alone.

You duck down in your car when you see him cross the street, cursing quietly as you hoped he wouldn’t notice you or your car. Stalking wasn’t really your thing, but if it meant keeping an eye on the guy you loved, then you’d learn real quick.

“Fuck her, she doesn’t deserve him” You spit out, sitting back up in your seat when Dabi turned into a nearby alley, vanishing quickly. Turning your car on, you turned to look at her apartment once more before shaking your head and speeding off.

He was yours first, and now some other bitch has stolen him away from you with a few flirty looks and the promise of a future. It irritated you that you, his best friend, had been thrown to the side once a new girl was brought into the picture.

In the end, you had only wished it was you who he was kissing in the rain, but sadly it was some other girl instead.

☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆

“That will be 34.72 Ma’am”

You nodded at the old man, giving him a small smile as you took out your wallet, pulling out two twenties. Handing it to him, you mumble for him to keep the change before taking your grocery bag and exiting the store.

After what you had seen last night, you had believed it would be good for you to go out and get some groceries for your apartment. As eating out every night was starting to ruin your funds, and you knew you couldn’t afford to be homeless now.

The sun was bright today, and the chatter amongst all the people walking on the sidewalk put you in a better mood. A way better mood than yesterday. Watching as the noisy children ran down the sidewalk with their toys in hand and smiles on their faces made your own face light up.

Swinging your grocery bag, your eyes looked around your surroundings, enjoying the nice day that you seemed to be having.

Feeling your pocket vibrate, you pull out your phone and answer it without checking the caller ID, the ringtone alone has already told you who it was. “What’s up Dabi, did you need anything or-”

You stop walking as you listen to his heavy breathing, which very much concerns you. “Y/n…” The pause after your name had you freaking out, making you assume the worst had happened. “I need you to come to my apartment” With those words, you heard the click of the phone call ending.

It took a moment for that to sink in, and when it did you immediately broke out into a run, straight to Dabi’s apartment. It didn’t matter if you looked stupid, or the many people who you bumped into or knocked over. All that mattered was your best friend needed you, and you’d be damned if you took your sweet time to make it there.

You made it to his apartment in under ten minutes, which if you had to say, was the quickest you had ever ran in your life. Stopping outside, you bend over as you pant, trying to catch your breath after all that sprinting.

Walking up the stairs of the rundown building, you cringe when you see a literal rat scurry across the wooden floors. Disgusted, you hurry your way up the stairs, actually terrified you’d fall through.

Making it to his door, you go to knock before seeing the door had already been open. Taking a deep breath, you push open the door and prepare for the worst.

Upon opening the door, you are immediately hit with the strong smell of vodka and cigarettes. The combination of the two together was enough to make you gag, but you held it in as you walked in, closing the door behind you.

“Dabi….” You trail off as your eyes finally land on him. He was only in a white tank top and some black joggers, an outfit that would have been very sexy if you didn’t notice the distraught look on his face. He was slightly bent over his counter, a glass of what you assumed was vodka in his hand.

When he turned to look at you, you noticed his red, puffy tired eyes. Now you knew something was up. Walking closer to him, you dropped your grocery bag on the floor and joined him next to the counter.

“What happened Dabi?” You ask softly, eyes searching his face before meeting his blue eyes. He had only stared back at you quietly, and after a few more seconds he sighed and downed the drink in his hands. You noticed that afterwards his shoulders sagged.

“She’s dead y/n” He whispers, eyes staring at his empty glass. Gripping the table tightly, Dabi shakes as his rage starts to build up. “She’s dead and it’s all my fault” The soft, scared tone he had earlier, vanished quickly and turned into an anger filled tone.

You watch as he turns his whole body to you, his anger filled eyes staring down at you, and for a second, such a look being aimed at you had made you uncomfortable. The way his blue eyes seemed to have blue flames in them now, or how the room had gotten 10x hotter added to that growing uncomfortableness.

“Just calm down, tell me what happened” You state, not liking how things were turning out. You didn’t even know what was happening, so sitting here without the slightest clue had only made you worry more. “You aren’t at fault for anything, just-”

Your body freezes when you hear the shatter of glass, your eyes widening as you watch Dabi’s body shake in anger. “Calm down you say?’’ He repeats your words with a much harsher tone, as narrowed as he turned to face you, chest rising and falling in anger.

The way his eyes burned into yours had you shifting back and forth on your feet. You had just watched him throw that same glass he was drinking out of earlier at the wall in front of him. It shattered into a bunch of pieces.

“It’s all my fucking fault for even getting close to her’’ He rants, now pacing the tiny apartment. “I knew even talking to her was a big risk but FUCK” He slammed his hand against the counter, going quiet as he retreated back into his mind.

You take small steps in his direction, acting as if you were approaching a wounded puppy, which in a sense you were. “Dabi, don’t you dare blame yourself for this. Whoever killed her is to blame, putting this all on you isn’t right”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up” He continues to mumble, “ you have no idea what you're talking about, since last I knew, you were still single and lonely.” He didn’t look at you while he spoke, “So that means you wouldn’t clearly understand what I was going through” He snapped at you, hands still gripping the countertop.

You take a deep breath, you knew he was just saying these things because he was hurting, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. But this wasn’t about you. Dabi needed you in this moment, so no amount of harsh words would make you leave when you knew he needed someone right now.

“I know you're hurting” You start off, taking confident steps towards him until you stand right in front of him. “And, if it makes you feel better to take it out on me, then go ahead. If that means yelling, throwing things or even calling me names”

Dabi slowly turns his body towards you, looking down into your sincere eyes. “You can do all of that, but I’ll still be here for you, because I am your best friend. It would be pointless if even me, someone you are really close with, can’t help you out during a crisis” You finish off.

You notice how his mood changes again, and his shoulders sag once more. “I’m here for you” You whisper as you close the gap between the two of you, your arms wrapping around his body as you pull him into a comforting hug.

“ I was just starting to like her y/n, I thought that maybe she and I could work” His arms wrap around you in a tight hug, placing his head in the crook of her neck. You feel the tears before you hear them, and it honestly breaks your heart.

The two of you slowly drop to the ground, holding onto each other like your life depends on it. You hold him tightly as he cries, rubbing his back soothingly. You relished in the fact that you were holding Dabi, a small smile coming onto your face. You made sure he couldn’t see it, though.

It was bad, you knew that, but just being able to hold him in your arms was enough to make you happy. Being close enough to breath in his scent, which mostly smelled like burnt cigarettes and heavy cologne, but that didn’t matter to you. It still smelled nice either way.

After a few more minutes of holding each other, Dabi finally pulls away and wipes his tears, a small smile on his face. “ Y/n, have I ever told you, you're my best friend and I’d be hopeless without you?”

While it was a compliment, it had only hurt you in the end. You didn’t want to just be some best friend, you wanted to be more than that. Someone he could love and cherish, but you knew that maybe that wouldn’t happen. “I’m always here for you Dabi, through thick and thin”

He tugs at your wrist lightly, helping you up as he leads the two of you back to the counter. “We both need some drinks after that” He gestures to the glass that still lay shattered on the floor. “It’s the best vodka I could steal” He mumbles as he grabs two new glasses for the both of them to use.

Pouring the two of them some of the vodka, the both of you pick up your glasses, clinking them together just because. Taking a deep breath, you drink the shot, the burning feeling it left afterwards made you shake your head in disgust. Yet Dabi had looked unaffected by it.

“To be honest y/n, I was just trying to find someone to love in all this chaos” Dabi states with a sigh, his hand gripping his glass lightly. He turns to look at you and chuckles, “But that didn’t seem to work out” He says sadly.

Maybe it was the vodka in your system, or maybe you were just tired of tiptoeing around him about your feelings. “I think you’ve been looking in the wrong places for someone to love, hell maybe the person right in front of you already does”

The silence that followed after your statement had made you nervous, and instead of looking at him, your gaze shifted to the floor. Alcohol sure does give you a hell of a confidence boost.

“Y/n...Did you mean that?” Dabi asks, his eyes staring at you for confirmation. When he noticed you wouldn’t even look at him, he finally understood.

You had liked him this entire time.

As his brain worked to put the pieces together, he found himself taking steps towards you. His head was screaming that maybe, just maybe that this was too soon. His mind was telling him that this was wrong, that he had just found out a girl he had liked had been murdered. But, again,the alcohol in his system was making his heart feel some things at her confession.

His heart and head battle it out, wondering what the best decision was.

In the end, he found himself cornering you, placing both of his hands on the counter in front of you, cadging you in. “Didn’t know alcohol made you this bold y/n” He whispers, studying your face.

He had wondered why it had taken him so long to figure out that you were beautiful, always there for him and putting up with his bullshit. You were the only one who truly knew him and he looked over the simple fact that maybe you were a good match for him.

You had frozen in front of him, not expecting him to get this close to you. It makes your face feel hot and the hairs on your body stand up. “Well, guess that's a good think huh?” You say back, your eyes staring into his fiery blue ones.

Your long time crush was now standing in front of you, possibly going to act out on his feelings and you felt nothing but happiness. You had been eying him since you had walked in his apartment.

Like how his black joggers fit nicely on his legs, and now his white tank top was tight against his chest, leaving little room for you to imagine. His toned arms free and currently flexing on the counter next to you had you practically drooling.

His face was close to yours, which gave you the excuse to stare at him even more. His black hair was messy, pointing in almost every direction. A small teasing smirk was on his face, his eyes looking you up and down. Not to mention that the staples and purple parts of his body had only made him sexier.

He was the hottest man you knew, and he was hovering over you.

“Is.. Is this okay?’’ Dabi asks, gazing into your eyes as he asks for permission, leaning in just enough that your lips brushed together, but still not what the both of you wanted. “Tell me now if you want me to stop”

You think about his question, and while there wasn’t anything to think about, your mind goes back to yesterday night. The night the girl he liked was killed.

☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆

“Please.. I’ll do anything! I’ll never speak to him again.. Please” The scared voice of the female in front of you did nothing but piss you even more. Her shaking figure though, had made you happy.

Swinging the bat in your hand you shake your head, it was too late for things like that.

“He’s mine, and I’ll be sure to kill anyone who tries to come between us. And that's a promise” You say, swinging the bat full force at her.

☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ �� ~ ☆

You nod, “Duh, wouldn’t have it another way” You say lowly, before your hand comes up to his cheek and pulls him into a kiss, one that you have been waiting forever for.

He presses his body against you, his hands going to your thighs as he hoists you up onto the counter. He had wanted to be even closer to you, so he settled his way between your legs and deepened the kiss.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him impossibly closer. His lips were rough, but against your soft ones they were a perfect combination. You had waited so long, for just one kiss.

And all it took was murder.

#dabi x reader #dabi imagine #Dabi #Bnha writing blog #bnha imagines #bnha angst #bnha dabi

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years

Text

Humans are Space Orcs, “The Wrath of Conn.”

Lol, I couldn’t resist. Anyway this is for the multitude of you Conn groupies who wanted a little something form his perspective. Well cue a couple pages of him sort of being an asshole. But also it is totally plot relevant so there is that.

Hope you all enjoy. This was actually kind of difficult to write, and I had to re-write it at least once :)

The ship was a strange place now, months had gone by without his presence, and without his connection to their thoughts, and in that time, things had changed. Conn wasn’t entirely sure he appreciated it, but only because that meant he had to re-gather all the information he had originally collected on his human crew members to begin with.

It had been a difficult few months, the most difficult the ship had ever experienced. Conn wasn’t exactly displeased at that fact considering that it was the collective fear and horror from the Cannibal incident that had finally broken him out of his Coma, but he was also displeased to find that things had changed somewhat. Conn didn’t lie change, especially the change that he saw within the Commander. The only person aboard the ship that he could actually communicate with mind to mind.

Well actually scratch that, there were a few others he could speak with, but currently the weighed about fifteen pounds and had language ability so rudimentary it was like trying to talk with the dog.

Regardless, the last few months had absolutely ruined what tentative trust the two of them had garnered.

After returning to the ship, and after putting the Commander into a sort of psychological coma to deal with shock, a HAZMAT team from earth had been called to deal with the issue. Ensuing autopsies had proven that the crew had, in fact, been eating each other despite their being plenty of food left in storage. The remaining survivor, who the commander had been forced to kill in self defense was one Captain Everett Malaney Ex UNSC officer and current freelance ship contractor for both tourist and colonist divisions. By all right he had been an upstanding decision.

His autopsy had shown that advanced scurvy including kidney failure was the main reason for his monstrous appearance, bruised skin, thinning hair, infected gums and so on. As for the behavior of the crew, it could only be put down to some sort of exaggerated mass hysteria when people realized they would likely die alone in space billions of miles from home in the blackness of space.

Commander Vir had been….. Ok at that point, but the subsequent venture into a border-world prison had shattered his already cracked composure.

Conn was the only one who had been able to experience the fall from the man’s own perspective. Watching inside his head as he careened into a psychological spiral that had eventually brought them to the earth for treatment.

Generally conn would have said that he totally didn’t care about anyone’s mental status, and he still would say the same upon being prompted, but this was something that needed to be taken care of and it needed to be done quickly. It wasn’t his fault he was the only one who would truly be able to handle it.

So there he floated in the darkness of early morning, down the hall and towards the mess hall, a ghost town in the early morning devoid of both the sleeping crew-members and the skeleton crew who were off working at their perspective jobs.

He could sense five minds on approach to the room. Three rudimentary and childish minds, and one completely alien guided primarily by smell and hearing. She was the one to sense his first, with that powerful nose of hers. She didn’t like his smell, it was a burning and caustic thing that made her uneasy, and generally caused her to sneeze.

The next to notice were the spiderlings underdeveloped noses that were already almost as good as the dogs. They were strange creatures to be sure and Conn wasn’t sure how he thought about them.

Tendrils billowing at his back he floated into the room.

With a whine of agitation, the dog lifted her head from where she had been grooming one of the spiderlings cradled between her two forward paws. Her tongue was still out from where she had been dragging it down the monstrosity’s back. Finally recognizing that he wasn’t going to leave she went back to her grooming. The soft scritch scritch scritch sound of her tongue on fur echoing around the room. She hadn’t originally known how to feel about the spiderlings, but they did smell oddly like Adam, and they looked enough like puppies that she could almost ignore the fact that they had extra legs.

He floated a bit closer to where the commander was sitting alone at one of the tables pen in hand making soft scratching noises as it moved across the paper.

Clinging to his back, like some sort of grotesque backpack, was another one of those little monstrosities. This one’s name was Glados, and Conn was almost sure that she was entirely a creation of anger and hatred aggressively protective of the commander even more so now that they considered his current psychological state.

Conn was only halfway across the room when the scratching of the pen slowed.

Adam paused, and Conn listened as a chill went up the man's spine. He could feel something watching him. And Conn marveled at that fact not entirely sure how the human could know that he was here when he had made no noise. Glados turned her head and hissed at him, but Conn flicked at her with his mind making her shrink back with a whimper.

Setting down his pencil, Adam turned slowly in his seat.

His expression registered absolutely no shock upon seeing Conn floating towards him. On the surface, he looked older as if he had aged ten years in the past month. He was slightly disheveled too hair mussed over his head, skin pale, with dark circles under his eyes. Everything about him seemed washed out.

“Conn.” The man said, his voice echoing about the room. It was soft, flat, and uncharacteristic of him.

Conn paused glancing through the man’s mind to get a good look at the paper. His vision wasn’t so good in the dark confines of the ship. Generally his species spent much of its time in the direct light of stars, so much of his world was seen through other people’s heads. He saw the sketchy line drawing of a zombie head with hesitant crosshatched marks of shading.

:”Still haven't bothered to tell your therapist about that?” Conn projected into his mind.

He felt a sudden flash of anger in the man before it faded away dimmed as soon as it had come. That fact made Conn displeased.

He didn’t like the man without some sort of passion, and if he couldn't get happiness he would have settled for anger.

Not that he cared of course.

“No…. I haven’t.”

“Why not?”

“You should already know the answer to that.” The commander said turning back to his drawing, “Go on, I know you’ve already looked.”

Of course Conn had taken a look.

“Why do you insist on getting over this yourself when someone payers her a truckload of cash to help. It seems stupid and prideful.”

“Keep going.” The man prompted.

“Well consider now that I am here you no longer have privacy, so there is no reason to try and hide it anymore.”

There was a deep sigh, and the man tilted back his head. Inside Conn could hear his inner monologue urging his anger down. Conn couldn’t understand what kind of privacy invasion this was, in fact he should have seen this coming, but he still didn't want to explain himself to the strange creature and it’s freaky black eyes.

“Why do you want me to explain myself when you can just read my mind anyway. Why do you need to hear it from me.”

“I don’t need to hear anything, you need to hear it.”

The man paused setting down his pencil and turning again to look at Conn, one of his eyebrows was raised and the expression he had taken on was almost one of a disapproving father, which was a strange expression on a man that spends most of his time in the mental headspace of a 12 year old.

“Why do you care.”

Con kicked his feet a little causing himself to float upwards towards the ceiling, “ I don’t care accept for your constant inner pity party is putting me off my relaxation time. I did just wake up from a coma after all, and the last thing I want is to have to deal with your dysfunctional thoughts invading my snooping. You see it is very difficult to dig up juicy secrets on the rest of the crew when your ‘oh woe is me’ attitude keeps breaking into my concentration.”

Another little spark of anger, this time a little stronger.

yes , that was good, better to have to moving out and being destructive that way than moving in. However, the human locked down his troughs with an angry twist of his lips, “Will it get you out of my head.”

“Alright.”

“What do I need to do.”

“Nothing really. I am going to say something to you and you are going to respond, that’s it.”

The human hesitated his chin lowered a bit, but eventually he sat back arms crossed, “Ok seems easy enough.”

“Bitch”

The human frowned, “Hold on.”

“Bitch.”

“Hey,” Another flash of anger, “What the hell kind of statement is that.”

“Whiny pathetic bitch.”

The human stood, “Hold on, I said I would play your game, and then you just come at me with insults.” That little spark was growing inside his chest heating up nice and warm. Conn could almost feel it as if it was his own. He liked the sensation. Human emotions were so fun to feel, so fun to play with. They gave him physical sensations he was physically incapable of having.

“Whiny- pathetic - bitch.” he repeated

“You know what Conn screw you and the horse you rode in on because I have no idea where you are getting this.”

“Really. Someone once told me that actions speak louder than words and here you are moaning to your therapist about how hard your life is, and how hard it is to sleep and how hard everything is wa wa…. Wa.”

The human thrust a finger at him, “You shut your trash mouth. I am not going to be shamed for getting myself help. What I had to go through was rough, and I wasn’t ready for it. I could sit in the corner and cry about it, but here I am getting help holding myself together, so you can just shut up.”

“Doesn’t seem to be working.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean.”

Conn held out his hands to either side, “Look around Commander. Here you are sitting alone in the dark at three in the morning drawing pictures of cannibal zombies. I mean honestly you have gone and lost it. If you really wanted to get better you would probably tell her that you keep seeing him when you look in the mirror.”

“Fuck you Conn. I needed time, I STILL need time, and I will TAKE all of the TIME I NEED.”

If he could have cracked his knuckles he would have. This was fun, “No you can’t. You have a job to do, and by acting like this you are letting the entire crew down.

“Id let the crew down more if I took over not being ready.”

“Then why aren’t you ready?”

The human stepped forward right up in his face. The spark had lit into a flame fanned. The anger was billowing outwards, “I think I deserve to feel like shit for a little while. I watched a man die.”

“You mean the man you killed.” Conn went on smuggly

The human was even closer to him now, chest to chest, “I DID-NOT-KILL-HIM. I survived. That man may have deserved what he got and maybe he didn’t, but no one died and made me GOD so it's not my place to decide.”

“You didn’t help him though, did you.”

“No, I didn’t, but why was it MY job to help him. Me against an entire prison. The guards weren't going to stop them, they hated that guy just as much as the rest of us, and while we are on the subject. YES I wanted him dead, any normal person would. I’m not a saint, I’m not perfect and yes I have those sort of thoughts. In fact, I got what was coming to me; my punishment was the beating I got. Anyone who blames me for any of that can go right to hell.” The flame was roaring nice and warm now. It was anger, and it was making both of them feel light. Blood ran through their hands and into their heads.

It felt sort of nice to be mad.

“Oh please, if you really believed that, you wouldn't feel so guilty.”

The human snarled. The dogs and the spiderlings on the floor had retreated under a table, but Glados hissed along with him. “You think I feel guilty because of HIM, no. I feel guilty because I didn’t live up to my own standards. If I really am who I thought I was, I would have helped him no matter what, but I didn't and that's why I am frustrated. I am not the man I thought I was, and that PISSES ME OFF.”

Conn floated a little closer two dark eyes looking into one green one, “You know who you remind me of?”

“Oh please tell me more, I am DYING to know.”

Conn paused allowing the tension to build, “Mr. Everett.”

The room had gone very silent. Glados stopped growling, and her little ears went back, “Take…. That…. Back.” The human hissed in a horse whisper.

“Make… me.” Conn whispered back

He watched from the Commander’s peripheral vision as Glados crawled across the floor and under the table. He was getting into dangerous territory, but that was no matter. He would manage just fine, “Come on, just look at his career, mirrors your own now wouldn't it. I can just imagine it, the ship goes dark and poor little Adam Vir loses his mind and starts eating the crew.”

A vein was pulsing just above the man’s good eye, “I would not.”

“I wonder what the Drev taste like. I mean Sunny is small enough, you could probably catch her and chop her up into bite sized pieces if you really wanted to.”

‘I said SHUT UP.” “Why should I!”

The man lifted his hands as if he was going to choke Conn, but held back balling them into fists, “I would never do that, and I don’t give a damn what you say. I would keep my cool, and we would find a way out because that is what we always do.”

Conn shrugged intentionally and quite completely blowing him off as if it was nothing.

“You know it’s just sad. You trying to justify yourself.”

“What do you want from me Conn. Why are you her. Does messing with people get you off or something. Is this some kind of sadistic pleasure for you?”

There was silence in the room for a long moment.

Waffles whined below the table, and the spiderlings chirped nervously along with her.

“No Commander.” His voice lost it’s edge, he let it slip take on a more distant quality inside the man’s head.

“These thoughts aren’t mine…..” The human looked on in confusion, the flame in his chest pausing.

“They’re yours.” The flame was snuffed blown into smoke which rose into confusion on his face. He took a step back.

“What are you talking about?”

“None of those words were mine. I stole them all from your own head. All of the insults all of the illogical assumptions.” He grinned, “they made you mad, didn’t they because they didn’t make sense.”

The man just stood there mouth agape jaw working furiously though no sound came out

“You argued pretty heavily with me didn’t you. Thought I was being some sort of asshole….” Laughter, not that he could make the sound, but inside the man’s head he could sound like anything, “I’m not the asshole, Commander...you are. Calling yourself names, doubting yourself. Personally my opinion is that if you are allowed to do it, than I am. I mean if it’s inside your own head than you must believe it.”

“But I don’t.” the man whispered

“Than what do you believe commander?” He waited there, knowing the answer but watching as the human struggled to find it inside his own cluttered head. Parts of his subconscious doing its best to hide the truth, but then he snagged it. Just a tendril, but it was enough.

He sighed deflating, “I want to feel normal again, I want to get back to work. I wanted someone to be angry at me, someone to yell at me like I won't shatter. I want them to tell me that I am NOT doing as well as I could. I want people to expect MORE from me not less because less means that they believe in me less. Even if I can’t reach it, I want people to honestly believe that I can because maybe if someone believe it, it’s true.”

“You feel like people have been making excuses for you.”

He threw his hands in the air, “Exactly. They’ve been going so easy, they've been so nice, but that's not what I want… It’s not what I need. I know it sounds stupid, but I want someone to come in here and tell me to my face that I need to do better because they'd be right. All the doctors and all my friends they think they are being supportive, and they are, but that’s not what I need. I need expectations.”

Conn crossed his arms, “Fine, do better. Get off your ass and get back to work.”

He sighed, “it’s different coming from you.”

“Why?”

“Because You know exactly what I want, but you're probably don’t mean it. I don’t need platitudes Conn.”

More laughter. He liked the sound it was fun, and it was a great way to mock people, “Platitudes. Do you honestly think I care about your feelings enough to give you platitudes. I am being honest. I think you’re being a selfish asshole sitting here all alone in the dark coloring when you have a job to do. Do better.” The man was glaring at him again. That little spark in his chest had come back easier than it had before, Conn reveled in the feeling of his anger.

“What do you want Commander, right now what do you feel right now.”

“Probably the desire to strangle you.” Conn didn’t even bother flinching.

“You don’t really want that.”

He sighed in annoyance, “Fine, I don’t want that…. I….” Conn waved a hand trying to prompt him on. Conn could feel it, a sort of buildup of emotion inside the man. Physically it felt like a cap on a shaken up bottle filling his entire body up till just under his head, like he was trying to keep his face out of the water in order to avoid drowning.

“You now what, honestly I’M PISSED OFF. IT’S NOT FAIR DAMN IT. If I could just…..”

“Come on….” Conn coaxed.

“If I could just, clear it all out then maybe I’d feel better, but I have to act all civilized because of my rank. I have to be in control.

Conn waved a hand dismissively and motioned around the room, “Well go on, no one is stopping you.”

“Not on the ship.” The man hissed in return.

“It’s your ship isn’t it. Look around, Commander what is the worst you could do, break a couple of chairs bust the coffee machine , nothing you couldn’t pay for.”

“What if the crew sees.

“Screw them.” Conn said, “everyone will be better off if you get a little destructive now versus not doing it and being a lot more destructive later.”

THe man held his eyes for a very long moment, “It won’t be pretty.”

“I’m inside your head, I have seen plenty of things that aren't pretty.”

There was silence for a few seconds before.

“You should probably step back.”

This time Conn did as directed floating back and high watching as the man turned on the spot. His head was bowed, his hands curled into claws at his side. He watched from the sky as one dog and three spiderlings slunk across the room and hid under the salad bar.

He allowed himself to feel the buildup as the man’s hands began to shake uncontrollably, his breathing grew heavy, blood rushed into his face and neck, and then, the cap burst from the bottle….

WIth a scream of anger, almost inhuman the man lashed out with his prosthetic leg kicking the table. The power was enough to snap some of the bolts holding it in place and it hit the floor on it’s side with a crash. Chairs went flying along with creative curses Conn would have to save for later. Silverware crashed onto the ground. Lights hung from exposed wires. Metal screeched as it was dented. Paper was rent and scattered about the floor like confetti.

Minutes passed by followed a reign of destruction so impressive Conn admitted he actually underestimated what was going to happen.

The commander stood at the center of the room surrounded by carnage. His hands were bleeding. He tilted his head back towards the ceiling screamed again and fell to his knees breathing hard. There he went quiet and Conn could feel as the last bit drained from him, dripping onto the floor and dissipating away.

The red faded from his neck and face, and with an exhausted sigh he flopped onto his back one bloody hand resting on his stomach, the other resting on the floor as he stared at the ceiling. Conn floated over, adjusting the gravity field so he sunk to the floor, and lay down as well. Their heads were side by side, though their feet were going in opposite directions.

They lay like that for a minute.

After a few moments, There was a soft shuffling on the floor as waffles slunk from under the salad bar crouched close to the ground, her tail sweeping fast and slow to the ground her ears back.

She scooted closer to the commander, whimpering and yawning with agitation.

The commander patted her ears as he stared up at the ceiling, and she lay against him in the crook of his arm.

Noise down in the hallway, along with the sound of rushing feet and a group of humans charged onto the deck carrying an assorted array of weaponry. They paused in the doorway to the mess hall from two doorways looking both worried and confused spotting the commander lying amidst the carnage.

“Commander wha-”

The man held up a finger, “SHHH…. Shhhhh.”

The humans went quiet looking between each other with confused expressions. Dr. katie poked her head around the door frame and glanced around the room, then with tentative steps she walked quietly into the room and towards where the commander lay. She didn’t say anything but paused, then shrugged and slowly lowered herself to the ground, adjusting herself till she was flat on her back staring up at the ceiling. The other humans looked between each other in surprised confusion, but one of the marines shrugged walked forward and lay down on one of Conn’s other sides resting his hands atop his stomach in silent contemplation.

Following their baser social instincts, the other humans followed until, one by one, he was surrounded by an array of human bodies all staring up at the sky in deep contemplation. Conn reached out to them feeling their solidarity to their commander, and then connected the two together allowing the Commander to hear them for one brief moment.

There was silence and then, inside his head.

“Thank you, Conn.”

“don’t mention it.”

...

“Conn.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t EVER try that on anyone else.... ever again.”

“You have my word, Commander.”

Whatever..... its not like he cared.

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