#actually today i found another song that could fit horror but i just glanced at the lyrics

[neutron-stars-collision]

The Art of Inversion

Neil x Reader

Chapter 12 - A Little Death

Masterlist; Chapter 11

Summary: You have to help Neil get back onto his feet after the tragic news. The lack of control and overwhelming grief lead to a few revelations...

Warnings: This is quite angsty still despite mentions of comfort; excessive drinking; self-harm (only implied); swearing

Author’s Notes: Okay so the length of this is beyond me and I’m sorry. This takes place just before Neil’s departure to Mumbai, film-wise. I really hope you’ll enjoy and please let me know what you think!

P.S. The referenced song is ‘A Little Death’ by The Neighbourhood 

You did not check how long you were sat like that on the floor, cradling Neil and letting him cry and shake as though those were the only things he was capable of. Later you realised it was probably close to two hours as by the time you got up, it was nearly evening. But for those two hours, you just let him take his time. He did not speak, and you only occasionally whispered words of reassurance into his ear. You kept on drawing soothing circles into the skin of his back. After the first half-hour, you found a much-needed package of tissues and placed them in his lap. Despite his silence, you knew that your presence meant everything. And so you stayed, ignoring the rumbling in your stomach and tiredness. For the most part, you also ignored your own tears, fully aware that this was not about you, nor it should be.

Neil’s heart-wrenching sobs stopped after those two hours and were replaced with small gasps as though he was struggling for air. That is when you knew that the breakdown was past its culmination point. Slowly, you shifted so that you could look at him and gently tipped his chin. His eyes were puffy and red. The heart-breaking look he gave you was enough to nearly tip you off the edge. But you had to be strong. So you just took a deep breath and broke the silence:

“Don’t say you’re sorry for this because that’s the least I could have done for you” he nodded hesitantly upon seeing your determined gaze “I’m here for you, and I won’t make you talk about anything but sometimes it helps” you kissed him on the forehead.

When you met his gaze afterwards, you were struck by the admiration you saw there. He smiled at you slightly as though trying to convey something difficult to be expressed otherwise. You smiled back and took his hand in yours, giving it a comforting squeeze. After another beat, you got up and filled a glass of water for him. You knew well enough how something so simple is needed after crying for so long. You watched as he emptied the whole glass, placed it on the side, and took a deep breath. Then he spoke for the first time in two hours.

“I… I know that this isn’t what you’re used to from me” he shrugged helplessly.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re still someone I care about deeply” for a second you wondered why you felt like you wanted to say more.

But now was definitely not the time. So, instead, you added:

“Tell me what happened? If you’re ready, of course” you took his hand back and smiled when he entwined your fingers on reflex.

“When we arrived, he…” Neil swallowed hard “TP called us to his office and started explaining the next steps in the operation. He mentioned the bloody Mumbai and how I’m needed there tomorrow” he clenched his jaw, and you felt the tension rise.

You placed your free hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. Then you let your hand linger on the side of his neck. He sighed at your touch before resuming the story:

“Then he asked Ives to leave, and we talked a bit about everything… It was like the old days, you know” his brow furrowed “He mentioned how I’m probably his greatest friend in the whole world… How I helped him make Tenet into what it is now and how that wouldn’t be possible without my contribution” he exhaled shakily “We even talked about you” he glanced up and met your surprised look “Just about how it was seemingly fate that brought us together and how you fit in so well here, just taking everything in your stride” you smiled at the words shyly.

Even though it hurt you to know that he was not allowed the truth about your hiring. But maybe that was for the better, you mused.

“We talked like that for over an hour before he started acting strange… The things he said…” he seemed to gather words “It didn’t make much sense, but now I think I should’ve realised that he was…” he shuddered slightly “That it was supposed to be a goodbye” you saw the tears in his eyes again and shifted so that he could rest his forehead on your shoulder.

“Don’t blame yourself for not predicting what will happen. There’s no point in that” you leaned against the foot of the bed behind to be more comfortable.

“Maybe… But I felt something was wrong, so an hour after I left his quarters, I went back in” you tightened the hold on his hand, feeling the moment approach “The door was unlocked and he… he was just sat there” Neil brought his head up to look at you with teary eyes “I thought that he was fine but then… there was no pulse, and he wasn’t breathing” you felt him become breathless and gently urged him to slow down.

When he stopped hyperventilating, you let him lean on your shoulder again.

“He died alone… and I couldn’t do anything about it” you were not sure if you preferred the dejected tone or the former sobs “I was supposed to be his best friend, his partner”

“I think that he didn’t want to hurt you even more by making you watch it happen” you suggested, trying to make sense of the situation.

After the earlier text and what Neil told you begun to understand that TP intended to do it. To end his life. You just had to find a reason why.

“But I don’t understand why he did it” Neil’s voice broke through your contemplation “There was no reason to… He said himself that the plan is going well” you could hear anger creeping into his voice.

“I know… But maybe there was a reason…” you trailed off.

Neil watched you sharply, and you felt like if you said something wrong, you could risk losing him again. You had to tread softly.

“You once said that he never did things without reasons” you stumbled over the tense and frowned “And that’s the same feeling I got when I talked with him… Maybe he had to do that to avoid clashing with his former self in any way” you glanced at Neil to gauge his expression.

He was staring ahead into space with a serious look in his eyes, considering what you said.

“Is like… they mentioned during training that it would be bad if we ever came in contact with our other selves, inverted and so on” you kept on rambling, hoping it was helping somehow “So maybe he was afraid that his existence now would coincide with his younger self out there”

“There must have been better ways of dealing with that” you could tell that he was angry.

At himself. At TP. At the universe. And there was nothing you could do.

“Maybe that was all that he could think of”

You watched helplessly as he turned away from you, suddenly overcome with the emotions. You urged yourself to calm down. Maybe now was a good moment to mention the text…?

“I… I got a text message from him actually… as I was getting here in the cab” you took out your phone and gingerly offered it to him.

Neil took it without question and read over the recent message. Then you saw his eyes dart to other text conversations. But you did not mind. There was nothing to hide. He handed you back the phone without a further word. Then he got up and wandered over to one of the side cabinets.

Now that was concerning.

“Neil?” you scrambled after him and watched in horror as he hastily threw the cabinet contents onto the floor.

Finally, he found a whisky bottle hidden in the back and took a triumphant swing out of it. That sight made you shake off any paralysis you fell into. You crossed the room and snatched the bottle from him. The dark look he gave you was somewhat terrifying. He took a step closer as you took one back. Then he met your gaze challengingly as though doubting your ability to deny him anything. But this time, you were not going to give in. You shook your head and extended the gap.

“It helps with the pain” Neil shrugged helplessly.

“I know, but I think you’ve had enough for today” you gestured towards the empty bottles on the floor.

Thinking fast, you decided to act. You took out your phone and summoned Ives, asking him to come by Neil’s room in a moment. He responded instantly, evidently waiting on the news. Once that was dealt with, you went on to pick up the reminders of Neil’s state. When he saw you do that, you heard him speak:

“If you’re going to take away all the alcohol, then at least leave me the empty bottles” you turned to see an unfamiliar cynical smile “The glass might come handy” the emptiness in his eyes made the delivery worse.

You could only stare, processing the words. Suddenly everything felt too overwhelming.

“Neil…”

You stared at him pleadingly, hoping that maybe the look of panic in your eyes will help him realise what he said. You did not dare breathe until he somehow denied your worst anxieties about the situation. You watched as his face fell, then he covered it with his hands and breathed out a long exhale.

“Fuck. I’m sorry…” he stared at the floor “I didn’t mean it” he looked up at you remorsefully “I don’t know why I said that…”

“It’s okay. Just don’t ever scare me like that again” you gave him a weary smile.

Before you could say anything more, a knock on the door interrupted you. At Neil’s quizzical stare, you answered:

“Ives. I’ve asked him to come” you moved to the door, clutching all the bottles in your arms “Give me a second. And please don’t do anything stupid” you gave him a final warning look before you exited into the corridor.

Ives waited there with a worried expression on his face that seemed fixed at this point.

“Is he alright?” he asked, glancing at the door you closed.

You shuddered, thinking about the situation you just dealt with. But he need not know all that.

“He will be. For now, though…” you placed all the bottles of alcohol in his arms “Take these please and maybe get us a little something to eat from the kitchen… and tea” you tried to gather your thoughts.

“Okay” he nodded “If you need anything else, let me know”

“Thanks” you sighed, feeling the tiredness slowly descent upon your whole body.

But there was no time for that. Not yet.

“I’ll stay with him tonight” for once, Ives did not tease you about it, and you were grateful.

“His plane is at 3 pm tomorrow. Do you think that’s manageable?” he looked sceptical.

“It has to be” you smiled as Ives squeezed your shoulder reassuringly “I better go back to him. Just leave the food outside and knock on the door, please. Think it’s best if he doesn’t see anyone else tonight”

“Of course”

Without further word, you entered the room again and locked the door behind you. Neil was sat on the bed, anxiously picking at the skin around his fingernails. His hair was falling in his eyes, and he was staring at his lap, looking incredibly lost. It hurt you to see him like this. Ignoring the growing ache in your chest, you approached him slowly.

“I asked Ives to get us some food and tea because I think we both could do with that” you attempted a smile when he looked up “But before it arrives, you could shower and get changed… that could help a little”

You stood near enough to reach out and brush your fingers over his cheek tenderly. He seemed to consider your words for a moment before he leaned into your palm.

“Okay, I’ll try” you saw him hesitate before adding, “Thank you for putting up with this”

“Of course, that’s what friends are for” for some reason, the word felt wrong. And he noticed that too as you saw a small frown appear before he smiled at you and left for the bathroom.

When you heard him put the shower on, you started cleaning the room. You put away the pages that landed on the floor and made the bed. While you were smoothing the covers, your brain came up with a rather intrusive thought about how there you were, alone with Neil in his room. Again. And how that really did not fit in with the friendship story you desperately clung to. Because it was rather obvious that you would end up sharing the bed again. That was not something friends did this frequently. You did your best to shut that voice, but you could not deny the facts. So you just sighed and waited patiently for Neil to remerge.

Food arrived before he showed up, so you just set the coffee table. Once you were done, you heard the bathroom door creak. You turned to look at him and were taken aback by the casualness of his get-up. For the first time since you have met, he was not wearing suit trousers and a shirt, and instead had loose joggers and a t-shirt on. Despite the reality of the situation you found yourself in, you could not help but stare. He caught your look with a rather sheepish expression that you did not expect.

Interesting… But there was no time to dwell on it, so you just invited him to the table and encouraged him to have something from the selection Ives got you. Sometimes you would anxiously glance at him to see whether his mood has not changed for worse again. But he seemed fine; quiet and sombre but there with you, physically and mentally. And that was what mattered for the moment. So after you ate, you suggested settling in bed to rest. Neil agreed to that without any objections, giving you hope that maybe he was past his worst point.

After the initial awkwardness of the situation wore off, and you both relaxed onto the pillows, you asked:

“Should we put the tv on? Just have some music on or something…” you searched his eyes, trying not to get too conscious of the moment.

While this was certainly not the first time for you to casually share a bed, this time it somehow felt different. But you blamed that on the rollercoaster of emotions you both went through in the recent days.

“Yeah sure” Neil nodded and sent you a small smile.

This silent version of him was strange to get used to. It felt like he was holding back from you, and you were not sure whether you liked that. But there was nothing you could do apart from giving him unlimited space and time for expression should he need it. So, to provide a distraction, you put on the tv and quickly found a suitable music channel that was not blasting annoying pop songs. Silence fell on you again, as you let the music help you relax. You were not even paying attention to the exact songs played.

‘Make me feel like I am breathing Feel like I am human’

That is until you felt Neil shift, and you glanced in his direction only to meet his intense stare. The blue eyes were fixed on you with a hazy tint on the pupils. Before you could ask him anything, he moved closer. You were struck by the look of intoxication on his face. Somehow you knew that it was not due to alcohol. You felt slightly paralysed by the multitude of feelings that came then. Neil ended his scrutiny of your face to ask:

“Can I kiss you?” his voice was huskier than usual.

‘Touch me, yeah I want you to touch me there’

“Neil...” his name usually came quite handy in those speechless moments.

There were millions of reasons why you should not let him, but the look on his face and what he said next started breaking down the resolve.

“I know” he was looking at you with something close to pleading “I know this won’t fix anything, but if for at least a few seconds I can forget about this mess... then please give me that”

‘She sought death on a queen-sized bed And he had said, "Darling, your looks can kill, So now you're dead.’

He was close now. So close that all you had to do was lean in and kiss him softly. He sighed at the contact, and you brushed away the damp hair from his eyes. Then he deepened the kiss, pulling you closer with his hands on your waist. You were too lost in the moment to stop him when he urged you to lie down on the covers. Feeling your heart pound in your chest, you continued the kiss as he hovered over your body. His hands wandered until you felt him slide them underneath the fabric of your shirt. The warm, sudden touch on your bare skin acted as a warning. You gasped and broke the kiss, but not before he managed to bite on your lower lip, drawing blood. The desperate whine he let out made you open your eyes in a flash. The darkness of his eyes made you realise how close it got to the point of no return. That was enough to help you shake off the daze.

“Please, not like this” you pushed him away gently.

Your cheeks were burning as you came to realise what nearly happened. But once you met Neil’s gaze again, you could tell that he was still not quite aware of the reality. The passionate look in his eyes was replaced with something akin to begging.

“I just want to get lost in you” he murmured, still keeping his hands on the bare skin of your waist.

He ran his fingers along your sides, and you shivered. Inhaling slowly, you tried to calm down. Normally his words would have made you throw caution to the wind. But something like that could be disastrous right now.

“I don’t want it to happen like that” you pushed him off you completely and sat up, suddenly unable to look him in the eye.

“But you want it?” the hopeful tone made your insides flutter with thousands of anxious butterflies.

Fuck… Of course, he wouldn’t let it go easily.

“Ask me again when we’re both better” you hoped that you sounded surer than you felt.

You touched the split lip and wiped away the blood droplet with your thumb. That moment must have awakened something in Neil, as suddenly you heard him inhale sharply before he blurted:

“God, I’m so sorry” you looked up to see him staring at you in terror “I don’t know what overcame me… It’s not that I didn’t want to…” he was clearly struggling with whatever he wanted to say.

“It’s okay. I won’t hold you accountable for whatever happened… or almost happened” you gave him your most convincing smile despite feeling more confused than ever.

“But I… I want you to know I didn’t do that only because I’ve lost control” that was enough for you.

“Neil, it’s fine” you interrupted him “You don’t have to explain. It doesn’t matter” you forced another smile onto your face, praying he will drop the topic.

You could not even explain why it hurt so much. Maybe because you worried it was just him losing control? And that if there was someone else with him in your place, it would have happened anyway? But it felt selfish to have those thoughts after everything that happened, so you just tried to rake your brain for some other distraction. Somehow, this moment felt right to breach a topic that has been on your mind for the past few hours. Slowly, you turned to face Neil, who was evidently still pondering the situation while staring at the tv screen unseeingly. 

“Neil…” he turned to you the instant you said his name “Before I came here, Ives told me about Alex…”

The moment you mentioned the name, you could see a plethora of emotions flash in Neil’s eyes. There was shock, sadness, and worry, among others. He visibly tensed and tried to school his features before responding.

“I- I would’ve told you” he was desperately searching for the right words “There just wasn’t a good moment, and I didn’t know if you…”

“No, no. Stop right there” you interrupted him, worried by the rambling “I didn’t mention that because I want an explanation or because it hurt me in any way” you met his gaze steadily “I only wanted you to know that I’ve been told. And that if you ever wanted to talk about it, I’m here” you tried your best to convey the support and love (?) into the long look you gave him.

“But… is-is this okay? Are you okay with that?” the doubt and genuine worry in his eyes made your heart clench painfully.

You wanted to hurt whoever made him question things like that.

“Of course it’s okay. You loved and lost him, and that’s the only thing I care about” tentatively, you reached out to take his hand again “It’s a vital part of your story, and I want to know you better” you smiled, seeing him relax slightly.

“Thank you… I’ll tell you one day, I promise” he brushed his thumb along your knuckles “But I think he’d like you”

You were not expecting that.

“Yeah?” you blushed slightly, suddenly flustered.

“He used to call me out on my bullshit too… and never fell for my charm too easily” he smiled fondly.

You liked the way pleasant memories seemed to light up his whole face.

“I can see some similarities then” you grinned shyly “To be fair, you need someone to keep you from getting too cocky” experimentally, you reached out to ruffle his hair.

If his blissful smile and the way he leaned into your touch were anything to go by, he did enjoy the gesture.

“I’m not sure I deserve you” he opened his eyes and looked at you with some kind of new emotion.

But before you could find any ways of answering that, he yawned. Once, then twice. The tiredness was finally catching up with him.

“Think you should try to get some sleep” upon his silent question, you added, “I’ll stay in case you need me”

For a second you wanted to offer that you will take the sofa, but somehow you knew that was not what he would have wanted. And neither did you if you were to be honest with yourself. So you just watched as he hesitantly started shifting on the bed, trying to find the most comfortable position. You switched off the forgotten tv and the lights and slowly laid down on the pillow. In the quiet, you could hear his shallow breaths. One look in his direction was enough to help you decide. You moved closer, closing the safety gap, and carefully placed your arm on his waist. After a beat, you curled up around him, with your head resting on his shoulder.

“Is this okay?” you asked, following the tense silence.

“Yeah… It’s just that I really don’t think I deserve any of this” you could hear the apprehension creeping back into his voice.

“You deserve much more” you pressed a small kiss to his neck “But let’s start with this. Good night, Neil”

“Good night…” he hesitated but then just exhaled, letting you hug him closer to your body.

*** The peace lasted only for the first two hours. After that, you were awoken by Neil tossing nervously. Before you could properly come to your senses, he let out a few soft whimpers. Shit. You shifted so that you were hovering over him and took a long look. His brow was furrowed, jaw clenched, and he was incredibly tense. Whatever nightmare he was having, it was escalating quickly. The next thing you knew, tears were falling down his cheeks, and he was mumbling something, sounding distressed. That was enough. You cupped his cheek, as softly as you could, and leaned in close:

“It’s just a dream” you kissed him on the forehead “Wake up love” you were not sure where the endearment came from.

You leaned back to see his eyes open in a blink. His gaze was unfocused, evidently still lost in the nightmarish world. Using the hand that was cupping his face, you brushed the stray hair away from his eyes. His breaths were fast yet shallow. Knowing the experience well, you immediately kicked into action.

“Neil, listen to me” you waited until his eyes locked with yours “It was just a dream. It’s all okay now” you placed your hand on his chest over the heart “You need to calm down”

“I can’t breathe” he choked out and sat up suddenly, nearly knocking you in the head.

“You’re panicking” you shifted so you could be sat in front of him.

The fact that you nearly climbed into his lap in the process had to be ignored for the time being. You took his hand in yours and placed it in the middle of your chest so he could feel the rising and falling with every breath you took. With your other hand, you tilted his chin so that he was forced to meet your gaze. His pupils were darkened by panic and adrenaline.

“Follow my breath” you made him match your breathing for a few cycles.

Once you heard his inhales and exhales elongate and level off, you let go of the hand you kept pressed to your chest. He kept it there for a moment longer, as though making sure you were really in front of him.

“I’m sorry” the heartbroken and tired look he gave you was enough to make your heart ache “You really shouldn’t have to deal with this mess”

“It was my conscious choice, and I would never leave you alone after something like this” you leaned in closer and pressed a small kiss to the corner of his mouth “Now, let’s try going back to sleep, shall we?”

This time he was holding on to you as though you were the only constant thing. With his arms around you and the warmth of his body, you could almost forget about the mess you both had to face in the morning. Before drifting off to sleep, you pondered his words again. More and more, you were sure that he got it the wrong way around. It was you who did not deserve someone like him. And you were afraid he would soon realise as much once the initial crush (or whatever it was) passed. But for now, you allowed yourself peace as you relaxed into his embrace and buried your face in his chest. If by some accident, the universe decided to be on your side, you would not complain.

*** In the morning, you were both awakened by Ives calling to make sure both of you were alive and awake. You had to blame the awkwardness that followed it on that very phone call. You only managed to shake it off when you sat down to the breakfast you brought from the canteen. You passed Neil coffee in silence, cursing your inability to hold a conversation after everything. But this time, he had some solutions. As your fingers brushed, he set down the coffee cup on the table and turned to you:

“I’m sorry about everything that I did and said yesterday” he glanced at your split lip “I wasn’t in control... and I don’t want you to be scared. I’d never do anything like that normally” he shifted nervously.

You knew an apology was coming, especially after seeing the way he looked at you ever since waking up. And while, admittedly, his behaviour worried you, you did not dare to think about how your ‘almost’ made you feel.

“I know, and I won’t judge you on how you acted last night” you put on your best smile, hoping to end the topic as quickly as possible.

But it was not meant to be as he clearly thought hard on what to say next. All you could do was wait and listen.

“I know that I crossed some lines” finally, he found the right words “And while I can’t deny that I was acting on my genuine desires…” he searched your eyes to make sure you understood “I won’t do that again because I respect your wishes to keep this strictly friendly”

Was this your imagination, or did he sound like he did not want to say that? If you were honest with yourself, that was not something you wanted to hear either. But now was most definitely not the time, so you just reached out to squeeze his knee reassuringly.

“Thank you, and don’t worry about it. We’re all good” he covered your hand with his and mirrored your smile.

Maybe all this confusion was worth it? After a short beat, you took your hand away and went back to breakfast. The silence was still there, but at least it was less awkward now. When you noticed him frown at the headache that was undoubtedly bothering him, you passed a painkiller. He smiled gratefully.

“So… when is my plane?” he asked after you both cleared the plates.

You could tell that he was dreading the trip. And it hurt to know that there was no way for you to help him.

“3 o’clock” you glanced at the watch “Which gives us about five hours to get you ready” you took in his sombre expression.

“I really don’t want to go” he met your gaze with emotionless eyes “It’s so fucking cruel to have me assist whoever the fuck that guy is when my best friend just killed himself. And I don’t even know why” the anger and hurt in his voice were somehow worse today.

Maybe it was because you could not blame it on his intoxication anymore.

“I know… And wish I had any answers, but I don’t know more than you do” you could only give him an apologetic half-smile “But I know that you have to be there to help… him”

Calling the younger version TP seemed somehow wrong. And you could only imagine how it must feel for Neil, on the eve of meeting that different version of his partner. 

“He won’t even know who I am” there was a broken edge to his voice “How am I supposed to meet him and act as though he’s a stranger?”

“Alright, walk me through what you’ve been told, and I’ll try to help as best as I can”

“Sure you wouldn’t rather go back to sleep?” he eyed you sceptically “You must be tired, and it’s all my fault”

“Neil, stop” you have had enough of the self-depreciation “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m here for you” you took his hand in yours “And I wouldn’t rest anyway without knowing you’re well. So let’s go through the plan and then I’ll help you pack”

He only gaped at you with a dazed expression on his face. You wondered how someone so incredible could ever doubt their importance so much.

*** Surprisingly you managed to get Neil ready in time for the taxi departure. Together you planned the mission, made sure he had all the necessary information and contacts and was as mentally well as he could be after everything. When the time was near, Ives knocked on his door. This time, Neil let him in. You watched as the two men embraced tightly, sharing the trauma and sadness. Ives then took a step back and eyed Neil coolly.

“You did a good job” he flashed you a smile “He looks much better than I expected”

“Would you mind?” Neil looked at you nervously, and you laughed at the brief moment of lightness.

“Must say it wasn’t easy, but I did my best” to prove a point, you wandered over to Neil and smoothed his suit jacket.

After disagreeing over the wardrobe choices you managed to convince him to take a few linen suits and shirts for the warm weather in India. Now you were proud you succeeded. To be fair he looked good in anything, but there was something more intimate in the fact that you chose his outfits. But once again, you were brought to the present moment by Ives clearing his throat:

“The taxi is leaving in half-hour. I’ll leave you two now” he gave you a knowing smile and exited the room before you could roll your eyes at him.

Realising you still had your hand on Neil’s shoulder, you took a step back. He was watching you attentively with a small smile on his face. That probably explained Ives’ allusions…

“I won’t ask if you’re ready but… are you okay?” you met his gaze.

“As much as I can be, I suppose” he shrugged dejectedly “I really wish I could stay with you instead”

You saw his hand twitch at his side and decided to choose for him by taking it into yours, naturally entwining your fingers.

“Unfortunately, this time we can’t decide for ourselves. But remember that you can call me if you need help or just to talk. Don’t worry about the time zones, I’ll always pick up” you tried your best to show how you felt through the expression in your eyes.

But that was a dangerous game as soon enough you got lost in the blue of his eyes. As always.

“Thank you” he breathed out, looking at you with such tenderness that almost made you feel faint “Still don’t think I deserve you though” he grinned shyly.

“Oh you do, and I’ll keep on saying that till you believe it” you raised your joined hands to your lips and kissed his knuckles “While I enjoy this slightly subdued version of you…”

“What?” his affronted face made you laugh.

“You know very well what I meant” you smirked and let go of his hand, only to pull him in for an embrace.

It took him only a second to hug you back, with his arms wound tightly around your waist.

“You said we should hug more often so” you whispered into his ear and enjoyed the laugh it prompted “Hope this is good enough for you” you ran a hand down his back.

Then, upon a sudden thought, you pushed your hands underneath his suit jacket and splayed them on his back, relishing the feel of his skin through the shirt fabric. The only indication that he felt the difference was a sharp gasp he let out as he drew you even closer.

“More than that” he kissed the top of your head.

After at least two minutes more, you took a step back but still kept your hands on his waist.

“Please be safe out there. Don’t do anything stupid. And…” you shut his mouth with a hand upon seeing him protest “And don’t get too drunk before the meeting. I know that it will be hard, but that could only make you more likely to fuck up”

Before you could take your palm away, he placed a peck on your wrist, near the pulse point. The voice in the back of your head kept screaming about how this definitely was not something friends do. But you told it to kindly fuck off. At least for now.

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try” he flashed you a signature smile as though you could ever forget it “After all, I’m not the one to behave” proving the point, he brushed the pad of his thumb along your lower lip.

You inhaled sharply at the sensation. Looking questioningly into his eyes, you wondered whether he remembered about the earlier promise. But there was no time to find that out as sharp knocks interrupted you. It was time.

[ladynightmare913]

Secrets of the Darkened Seas

Welcome to Chapter 10! I know it has been a long while but, reality got in the way. As always, I would like to give a big thank you to my best friend Olivia ( @asunshinepuff ) for inviting me to help her bring this world to life.

Just a small reminder that the next chapter will be posted on Olivia’s blog!

As always there is mermaid lore hidden with the story. The included lore for this tale has been written under the guise of Fantastic Nautical Creatures by Newt Scamander. As always it will be taken from the book “The Secret World of Mermaids” by Francine Rose while putting our own twist.

Don't forget to send me an ask if you have any questions or comments about the story or its characters, or if you simply want to say hello!

Now without further ado,

Chapter 10: Dúi hǎi and Shou

Sirius glared at the snake, which was currently a bracelet on Remus’ hand. “How come it doesn’t bite you?” His eyes never leaving the gold snake.

Remus shrugged nonchalantly, unperturbed as he leaned against the lower walls of the quarterdeck. “He likes me.” He continues looking over his notes in a worn leather notebook.

“What do you mean he, it’s a sword, pretty sure it doesn’t need pronouns.” Sirius had been tasked with tying knots, eyeing Remus opening with contempt.

“And yet we call ships, she.”

“That’s different, you’re talking about a sword as if it can understand what you’re saying.”

Remus glances up for a brief moment, an unreadable expression upon his face as he considers his answer. “Because he can.”

Sirius pauses, “How?” He raises a skeptic's brow. Remus doesn’t respond, ignoring him in favor of continuing his work in the book. Sirius simply rolled his eyes, continuing to tie the knots.

Remus continued to have Sirius work on the ship for many hours. Sirius was not let out of Remus’ sight. And at small moments, Sirius would hear a soft humming sound. As if metal was vibrating. Sirius would look around to try to see where the humming was coming from, but no one seemed to notice.

And every time Sirius focused to find the source of the humming, it would stop. Oddly enough, Remus chuckled to himself softly throughout the day. Insane, Sirius thought as he was sent to retire for the night. Remus threatened another full day of work the next morning. He was definitely insane.

The next day, Remus was once again immersed in his work with that worn leather book of his. Sirius continued to work, mopping the deck under the beating sun. Then the humming returned. He ignored it at first. But as the day drew on, he noticed that it only seemed clearer to hear whenever he was nearby Remus.

“Are you humming?” Sirius prompted.

“No.” Remus look strained as if it physically wounded him to dignify Sirius with a response to such a stupid question. So Sirius carried on. Until he couldn’t take it more.

“What is that incessant humming?! It sounds like ringing metal!” Sirius cried out, searching for any possible source of what that horrid humming was.

Remus froze at the words, finally looking up to Sirius. “Wait… you can hear it?”

“I’ve been hearing it for nearly two days!” Sirius retorted with a dramatic turn of his head.

“I thought it was dramatics,” Remus replied simply.

“Please tell me you hear it too.” Sirius ran a hand through his black locks. “Otherwise, I think I still have some of that thing’s,” he pointed to the gold snake on Remus’ wrist, “venom in my veins.”

“Yes, though not humming, it’s words.” Remus closes the book, placing his quill as a marker in his place. He wouldn’t dare fold the pages of the journal. “There’s no venom.”

Sirius stared at the tawny-haired boy dubiously. “What? What do you mean, it’s words?”

“More a song really.” He continued as if the ebony-haired pirate had never spoken.

Sirius raises a quizzical brow, “Alright, I’ll bite. Who is singing?”

Remus gave the man a pointed look, growing bothered at the simple conversation, “Dúi hǎi.”

Sirius stared unblinkingly. “You’re joking. A sword?”

“Why would I joke? Over humming?”

“Why would a sword sing?” Sirius countered.

“It can’t physically speak to us, so it makes a near-silent song.” A male voice replies.

Sirius turned to the helm, the First Mate was resting his arms on the railing, his legs crossed, a wide grin on his face.

“And not everyone can hear it. Which is why Remus thought you were merely jesting.” Quinn explained.

Sirius’ eyes flickered as he looked between the two. “Can you hear the humming then?”

Quinn nods in reply, “I can. Though it’s a bit different for me, I had to train in order to hear it. It’s a process, but since then, I hear the sword’s song.” He glances down to Remus, “Remus had to train as well.”

“So why can I hear it?” Sirius frowned.

Quinn smiled. “Because you were bitten by Dúi hǎi. Its venom ran the course through your veins, as you so kindly pointed out earlier, it increased your exposure to the sword’s properties rather quickly.”

Sirius glared at the snake. Dúi hǎi took it upon himself to come alive and hiss at the pirate in retaliation.

Quinn tilted his head as he tsked. “Dúi hǎi, be nice. Your venom is very potent you know.”

The snake simply hissed, Quinn stuck his tongue out with a low chuckle. Sirius couldn’t help but watch the interaction with awe and mild horror.

Remus watched silently, amused at the interaction. A small smile upon his face as he watched the little snake.

“It can actually understand you…” Sirius spoke lowly. Disbelief and amazement on his face.

Quinn looked back to the pirate. “He is alive, so of course he can.”

“A language, like an actual living language that people learn and understand?”

Quinn smiled once more. “Well, it’s more like a melodious tune. There are no actual words in the Language of the Spirit Swords.” He chuckled at that. “It was a pain to learn.”

“The sword is alive, it has a spirit. And they are very aware and in tune with their environment. Dúi hǎi is the spirit of the sword. He was born when he was forged but named by his master. My sword is the same.”

Quinn reached for the sword at his side, brushing his fingertips across the hilt. A hum reached their ears. Sirius’ eyes widened.

“How does one come across a sword like yours?” Sirius found himself asking.

Quinn clicks his tongue, tilting his head side to side, contemplating his answer. “It’s a complicated answer. You usually don’t find a sword like ours. Not to mention they could reject you as their master.”

“Why?”

“Oh, there are many reasons. Personalities don’t match. The swordmaster could be cruel. They could physically harm a sword— and yes, you can harm a sword. Sword and master could reject each other. The sword could even be picky. Shou, my own sword is picky about everything.” Quinn paused. “It’s a lot like choosing a horse really.” He chuckled.

Shou, a wide sword with a solid black sheath adorned in gold accents, hummed loudly. Quinn winced a bit but otherwise ignored it. Remus also winced.

The hilt of the sword had red and black cross stitching etched the smooth grip. In the center handle, there was a small lion’s head, engraved in gold, much like the snake of Dúi hǎi.

Sirius simply continued to watch in astonishment, his lips parted. He simply couldn’t believe it.

“Shou and Dúi hǎi were forged for us, to fit our personalities. But even then, it does not guarantee the sword will accept you.”

Sirius found himself nodding as if he were a student. For once in his entire life, Sirius was behaving like a diligent apprentice. Remus stared at Sirius with perplexity. He has never seen the pirate this quiet for so long. Quinn looked between the two teens with a knowing grin.

“Well, I think that’s enough for today’s lesson class. You’re dismissed.” He chuckles. Leaving the two teens to their own devices.

Remus nodded his head in acknowledgment as Quinn left them. Sirius carried on with his task of mopping the deck. Silently.

As the day turned to night, Remus looked at the rising moon, noting that it was nearly full.

Soon.

[seokiie]

𝘉𝘛𝘚' 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶

A/N: ok so these reactions are really long lmfao (shortened for your scrolling pleasure) they're more like drabbles than reactions and I deadass think I got the definition of flirt wrong cuz these are way more sexual than they should be;; also can we talk abt how well Hobi’s gif matches the reaction ok bye

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Namjoon:

Namjoon was not the jealous type and you knew that. But you could tell he was getting a little more annoyed and frustrated than usual. At first, you weren't quite sure what was getting his panties in a twist. Then you realized how much time Taehyung was spending around you.

It was a dinner party and Taehyung had offered to accompany you while you mingled with the sophisticated guests. Who were you to decline? Of course, you didn't think much of it when he puts his arm around you and pulls you close to his body. He was warm and he smelt so, so good. Like... like a sweet, hunky, ginger smell, or maybe even warm milk.

More than once while you were talking to people, someone would compliment how the two of you looked good together. He'd always cut you off with a laugh when you were about to correct them. You didn't think too much about that either.

Or when another group was giving a formal speech on stage. You'd sat between Taehyung and Namjoon. You were so focused on the heartwarming speech that you barely noticed when Tae's hand found a spot to rest on your upper thigh. Right above where your fitted dress stopped. You also failed to notice the way Namjoon was giving you the death stare.

What happened later that evening seemed to push Namjoon over the edge, you think.

You'd gotten fairly tipsy, thanks to Taehyung. You learned that he'd picked up a new hobby in drinking wine. He wanted you to try his favorite flavors and god, does that man have taste. You weren't too drunk. You could still walk and think relatively straight. But by this point, you were ready to go home.

"Taehyungiiie, wheres Namjoon? I need- I think its time for me to go home." Your hand rests on his shoulder as you get up from your seat.

"I haven't seen him since the speech. He's probably busy. Do you want me to take you back to the dorm? I don't want you traveling alone tonight." You nod and he wraps his arm around your waist, his hand feeling hot where it rests.

Tae's just about to lead you to the exit when you hear a familiar voice call your name. You turn around immediately. Its Namjoon. At the sight of him, you're released from Taehyungs grasp and you sprint to him as fast as you can in wedges.

"Where were you two going?" He sounds passive but there's a slight hint of hostility in his voice.

"_____ couldn't find you and she wanted to go home. But you're here now so you should take care of her." You can't quite tell if Taehyungs smile is real or fake. Before you can even evaluate it, he's walking back to the party with his hands in his pockets.

You also don't think too much about that. That is, until Namjoon has you back at the dorm and he's pushing you against the wall before the lights are even on.

"Were you doing that on purpose? Huh? Because I don't get jealous you decided to test my patience?" You can't see how close he is, but you can sure feel it. The wine in your system only making the situation feel hotter than it actually is.

"Since you decided to torment me this evening, how about I torment you for the rest of the night and make sure you can't walk tomorrow?"

Jin:

As you had never been to an after-party before, you had clung to Jin like your life depended on it. And considering you didn't know anyone there (besides the other six members), you had felt especially lost when Jin excused himself to the bathroom, leaving you to wander around the nicely decorated venue.

"_____?" At the moment you were sitting alone at the little bar area, but the sound of your name makes you turn around.

"What're you doing drinking alone? Hyung left you?" It was Hoseok. Somehow, you were thankful to finally see someone you knew.

"He's in the bathroom right now. He doesn't like it when I drink too much so I'm trying to down as many shots before he gets back." You give him a smile.

"I'm sure he wouldn't want you disobeying him like this. How about dancing with me instead of trying to get as drunk as possible?" You don't get the chance to respond before he's taking the shot glass from your hand and dragging you to the dance floor by your wrist.

Usually, you'd be too flustered to dance in front of so many people much less with the likes of Hobi, but the alcohol had just loosened you up just enough to match his rhythm.

"You dance better than I thought, _____." His breath is hot against your neck as he murmurs into your ear, trying to talk over the heavy bass. His hands leave traces of heat on your hips while he pulls you close.

Rocking against Hoseok, you lose track of time and forget that Jin must be out of the bathroom by now. In your defense, Hobi was a really good dancer. Like, really good. The way he guided your hips against his caused heat to stir in your lower abdomen. The shots you'd taken a few songs prior made your body move with a sudden fluidity.

At some point within the sixth or seventh song, you found that maybe you were getting a little too worked up. The feeling of Hoseok's cock rubbing against you through his finely tailored dress pants made your insides rearrange more and more the longer you danced against him. If you didn't excuse yourself right now, you were gonna do something you'd regret.

Jin watches you from afar, a smirk playing at his lips. He watches as you pull away from Hoseok and he knows that look on your face. That parted lip, clouded eyed expression. It's a face he's seen so many times on so many occasions. When you start to walk towards the bathroom, he follows suit.

The bathroom is quite a distance away. The hallway leading to it is long and reminds you of something straight out a horror movie. While lost in thought, you don't notice the presence approaching you from behind, said presence then grabbing your arm and pushing your back firmly against the wall. A surprised grunt turns into a moan when his thigh presses against your heat through the sheer dress you're wearing.

"You looked like you had fun dancing with Hoseok." It's Jin. You turn your head to the side, not wanting to meet his furious eyes.

You open your mouth to respond but the words are caught in your throat. Jin's got you trapped, a hand on either side of the wall next to you. Anticipation and guilt washed throughout your body as he gets closer, his lips brushing against your ear as he spoke.

"I don't care who you dance with, drink with, have sex with. But remember who you always come home to, babygirl."

Jimin:

Jimin had been rather cold to you recently. Of course, he had a very busy schedule and you knew that, but you wished he'd at least return your texts. Luckily, one Friday out of every month, Namjoon invited you over to the dorm for movie night. You took this opportunity to get back at Jimin.

Since there were so many people for such a small area, you usually took a cramped seat on top of Jimin's lap on the one person sofa. But today, you decided to take a seat on Namjoon's lap instead. He was sitting the closest from Jimin and you wanted to make sure he heard everything.

When you finally settle down amidst Namjoon's thighs, you can feel not only Namjoon's eyes but Jimin's as well, their confused stares boring through you.

"Uh, don't you usually-" You cut Namjoon's words off with a 'shhh, it's starting' and he gives a nervous glance to Jimin.

You're laughing at a particularly funny part when Namjoon's hands squeeze your waist, asking for your attention. You turn your head to look at him in response.

"_____, don't move so much when you laugh." He says it quietly so no one can hear him besides you.

"Am I blocking the screen too much? Sorry." You turn back to the TV and shift your hips back slightly, milking a vulgar growl from somewhere deep in his throat. You hear it, and feel it and you know Jimin hears it too with the way his head snaps to his right.

You don't look at him but you can feel the way Jimin stares into the side of your face. The look he's giving you makes you nervous, but you push farther. Knowing Jimin's eyes are still on you, you let your head roll back and rest on Joon's shoulder. It's an awfully seductive move and you hear Jimin scoff beside you and turn back to look at the TV.

The movie is about to end when Jimin speaks up for the first time all night.

"We're out of popcorn. _____, can you come with me to get more." It's not a question, but an order. An order that has you scrambling to your feet and following closely behind him. He leads you into the empty kitchen, completely silent while he puts another bag of popcorn into the microwave. The tension is enough to set your nerves on fire. When there's a familiar popping sound coming from the microwave, Jimin finally starts to talk.

"Listen, baby. I know exactly what you're trying to do, and you'll need to try a lot harder." He crosses his arms, leaning on the kitchen counter and looking at you, eyes darker than they once were.

"I know I've been distant lately." He stalks towards you like he's about to pounce on his prey. "Since I have a break this weekend, I was planning on rewarding you for being so patient."

"But I think punishment suites you much, much better."

Yoongi:

"Have you seen Yoongi?" You were sitting in the dorms living room scrolling through your phone when you notice Jungkook enter from down the hall.

He turns to look at you before responding. "No. What's up?"

"He's supposed to give me one of his signature back massages but I can't find him." You stuff your phone in your pocket and cross your arms, looking at the only other person in the room with a raised eyebrow.

"You shouldn't be sitting here by yourself and he might not be back for a while. If you come to my room, I'll give you a back massage ten times better than anything Yoongi could do." He grants a warm smile and your aching shoulders compel you to accept his offer.

It feels innocent enough, the way Jungkook has you laying face down on his bed as he straddles your lower body. His thumbs press into your tense muscles and almost immediately you feel your body relax into the bedsheets.

"Woahh..." You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. "That's, wow, that's really good, Jungkook. Fuck."

"Aah, seriously? To be completely honest, I didn't think I'd be qualified to give you such a good massage-" His fingers press down hard and when your body cracks, a sigh of relief and pleasure slips past your tongue. "-but hearing you moaning below me has really changed my mind."

You're not sure whether you should laugh or embrace the way your body tingles at those words.

"Does this feel good? Here?" Your bones crack again as he presses his fingers harder into your skin and you let out a particularly loud plaint that's muffled by the bedsheets.

"Wah, I'm definitely going to remember the sounds you're making for later tonight. Music to my ears." You actually do laugh this time, tilting your head to the side so you weren't being suffocated by the sheets.

The longer Jungkook is working on your back and shoulders, the more relaxed you feel and the louder you get. It's only when the bedroom door opens that the fingers making you feel so good stop moving.

"Thought I heard your voice, _____." Yoongi is leaning in the doorway, eyes taking in the sight in front of him. "What exactly is going on here?"

Both you and Jungkook stay quiet, knowing just how bad the situation looks. When one of you are about to pipe up, Yoongi interrupts.

"Nevermind. I don't even want to know." He walks towards the both of you. "Jungkook. Out."

Jungkook gives a staggered and confused look to you then back to Yoongi before sliding off your body.

"Did this hyung just kick me out of my own room? Ah, seriously." The maknae curses under his breath before shutting the door behind him.

When the two of you are finally alone, Yoongi sits on the edge of the bed and turns his head to look at you.

"You couldn't wait until I got home? You're a bad girl." He has a smirk on his lips and it eases your worry of him being angry.

"My back was hurting. You wouldn't text me back so I assumed you wouldn't be home till late." You start to sit up so you can get more adjacent to the man next to you, but his hand moves to your shoulder, slowly pushing you back down as he crawls over you.

"So you had Jungkook take care of you?" You don't move out of pure anticipation and he laughs, tilting your chin up.

"You know none of the other members can make you feel as good as I can, baby. So why bother running to them instead? To be honest, it looks like I need to teach you some manners."

Hoseok:

You had just come back from the mall with a couple of your friends when Hoseok called you over to the dorm to help with cooking. You didn't have a need to change out of your current outfit, a cropped hoodie and high waisted shorts, but now that you were in the kitchen next to Yoongi and had four guys staring at you, you wished you changed into something more modest.

The outfit wasn't necessarily revealing but you'd be lying if you said it didn't make your ass look delicious.

"The food looks especially good tonight, right Kookie?" Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung had all taken seats at the kitchen island, eyes lingering on you as you and Yoongi worked alongside each other to make his special ramen.

"Mmm, it does, Jimin. I want a piece so bad." The maknae practically growls and you turn around to offer the three men a plastic smile.

"If you want to eat 'so bad', you oughta be patient." Tae glances behind you before grinning widely.

"______, how are we suppose to eat soon when you keep distracting the chef?" He points to something behind you and when you turn you see Yoongi giving you bedroom eyes.

"You too?!" You hit Yoongi with a spatula you had in your hand and he quickly offers a not so sincere apology through chuckles.

As if on queue, Hoseok appears from down the hallway. He must've been in his studio.

"Yah! What're you all staring at. Do you have any idea how to treat a woman?" Hobi scolds the younger members, his facial expression not 100% serious. You give a laugh and finish up with cooking.

When the food is finished, you wash your hands and excuse yourself to the bathroom down the hall, leaving everyone else to set the table and serve the food.

You're just about to wash up and leave when someone barges in, shutting and locking the door behind themselves.

"Hobi? What're you doing?" The bathroom isn't particularly big. When you turn around to face him, he picks up by your thighs and places you on the counter beside the sink.

"I could ask you the same thing. When you're dressed like that, I just wanna make sure the boys don't get any ideas." He plays with the button on your shorts before dragging the zipper down and shimmying the tight garments down your thighs. When those wicked shorts that Hoseok loved but hated with a passion were discarded onto the bathroom floor, he leaves a trail of kisses up your inner thigh, biting ever so slightly and intending to leave marks for everyone to see.

"Ah, you-you'll miss dinner." You sigh as Hoseok's tongue gets dangerously close to your heat, the only thing stopping him being the thin panties you'd worn today.

"My dinners right here, baby." He looks up at you with desire and want in his eyes.

"I'm not sure if you've caught on, but I'm going to edge you on this counter till you're screaming my name and everyone in this dorm knows who you belong to."

Jungkook:

"Aish, I don't deserve these compliments. I could've done better on stage today." Jimin looks at his reflection through the camera and brushes his fingers through his hair. Jimin was currently on v-live. He had requested you stay by his side for the duration of the live, something about your company being able to calm his nerves. You accepted, of course. But you opted to stay just barely out of frame, so the millions of viewers could only hear your voice.

"Jiminie! Don't say that. You did well!" You pat him on the shoulder and after he responds with a toothy grin.

"You know just what to say to cheer me up, _____." You can feel the way Jimin stares daggers through the side of your head when the words leave his mouth.

God, you pray he's not pulling this shit again.

You don't have a hard time ignoring the unrelenting glances, but when his hand finds its way to your thigh, slowly caressing the area before giving you a light squeeze, yeah. That's when it gets hard to ignore.

Jimin's hand stays on your thigh, kneading your bare skin like it was some sort of stress ball. You're so lucky you can barely be seen on screen, the way you were fidgeting under his grasp was a dead give away.

"______, can you read out some questions for me to answer?" You give a terse nod before realizing no one can see you.

"Yes, ah-" At that moment, you feel Jimins hand drifting towards your inner thigh, gripping you gently and pulling your leg towards him. The action advertently opens your legs and it nearly makes you choke on your spit.

"Yeah, I-I'll read a few questions for, uh, for you."

Jungkook hated this, hated jimin (although he did say that a lot). He knew Jimin had the tendency to flirt heavily with the people around him. It was a well-established joke but doing this sort of thing in front of fans? Wasn't this a little too far?

He'd only wanted to tune in for a few minutes of the v-live before going to bed, but ended up staying a bit longer when he noticed what was going on behind the scenes.

The way Jimin was staring at something outside the frame, the arm moving just barely out of the camera view and the way you couldn't get your sentences out without stuttering over a gasp.

Suddenly, he was regretting letting you help Jimin with his v-live and he intended to fix his very clear mistake.

Jimin was telling a childhood story when there's a knock at the door. He interrupts himself to say 'it's open' then clapping happily at the sight of Jungkook entering.

"I'm not staying." Jungkook glances at Jimin before his eyes settle on you. "Can I borrow _____ for a second?"

With the way the younger boy is looking down at you, you know you've seriously fucked up

"Sure, I'm almost done anyway. Oh, and Kookie..." Jungkook's already taken your hand and is leading you out of the room when Jimin speaks up once more.

"...don't be too rough on her, I was just teasing." Jungkook scowls at the hyung before closing the door roughly behind himself.

You want to ask him what the issue is but you don't even get the chance to open your mouth before the younger boy is pushing you flush against Jimin's closed studio door. When your back makes contact with the door, there's a loud bang and you're pretty sure Jungkook pushed you hard enough to make the whole wall shake.

"Here? Ah, Kookie, no-" His mouth is on your neck, sucking gently as his hand slips past the waistband of your shorts. This wasn't exactly the best place to have sex. Right outside Jimin's door was the hallway which led to the other members' studios.

"Seems like Jimin worked you up quite a bit, _____." You're embarrassed at how wet the situation makes you and the way Jungkook's fingers are teasing your clit doesn't help one bit.

"We can't, h-holy shit, we can't do this here. Some-someone'll hear." You can barely think straight, your body wrapped up in pleasure as Jungkook slowly fucks you with two of his fingers.

When he responds, his voice is in your ear, an indescribable feeling in his tone that you've never heard before.

"Since you wanna be a slut on Jimin's live, how about I fuck the life out of you against his door for everyone to hear?"

Taehyung:

The vocal line was doing an interview while you, Namjoon, Hoseok, and Yoongi watched behind the scenes.

You'd been helping by passing out water bottles to the staff but since they were about to wrap up with recording, you and the three other men were watching from the sidelines. At some point during the last thirty minutes, Yoongi's arm had found its way around your waist, his hand playing with the belt loops on your jeans.

"Wait, wait, wait. Can we stop for a minute?" The interviewer stops speaking and everyone's focus turns to the PD who was talking. "Taehyung, you look really mad, can you fix your facial expression, please?"

The rest of the vocal line would laugh and you would, too, not knowing that Tae's fierce expression was your fault.

"My bad." You swear you see his eyes flicker to you, a grimace on his face before his facial features soften up. Odd.

As the recording comes to an end, Yoongi's still playing with your belt loops the only difference is his pointer and middle finger slip past your waistband, his thumb rubbing circles into the area of skin covered by your shirt. You're not gonna lie, the way he's touching you seems innocent enough but it does far more than just distract you. You don't even notice when he leans over to whisper something in your ear.

"Do you see Jungkooks face?" He had a grin playing at his lips and when you turn to see what he's talking about you break into laughter.

"Why does he look like that? He looks like he's being possessed." Yoongi laughs along with you.

Taehyung sees it all and he's everything but happy. Seeing the way Yoongi's fingers easily made their way to your bare hips; the same hips he's left beautiful marks and bruises on for you to admire the next morning, made him so mad. When the interview is finally, finally over, he sees you separate from Yoongi, but not without the both of you giggling about whatever the fuck. He watches as you enter the staff lounge, probably to fetch something the writers or PDs needed. He decides to follow you.

The first thing he sees when he enters the staff lounge is you at the snack area eating various cheeses and chocolates. To be honest, he wouldn't expect any less from you.

"Ah, Taehyungie. You scared me. Do you want some cheese?" Someone comes up behind you and wraps their arms around you. You know those arms when you feel them. It's your precious Tae.

"No cheese." He takes the toothpick from your hand and places it back down on the fancy silver platter. "You did something bad to me, _____. So bad."

You tilt your head slightly, wordlessly asking what he means. At the sight of your exposed skin, he presses kisses up your shoulder and you let out a relaxed sigh.

"Yoongi." He pauses, slowly making his way to your neck.

"I was, and still am, trying to be calm. But the way he was looking at you, touching you... Why aren't you as angry as I am?"

masterlist ツ

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[bubblesuga]

Love On The Brain

Prompt: Yoongi helps the reader with an idea for a song, but doesn’t anticipate what follows next. 

Word Count: 4,273

Warnings: Smutty smut smut smuuuuuut, fluff, and a little bit of angst 

At age 20, you were hired on as a song writer for Big Hit entertainment. Specifically, working closely with members of the biggest boyband in the world, BTS. You hadn’t specifically heard of them prior to you getting hired, but it didn’t take long for you to fall in love with each of the members. 

It was dark out, you had been alone in the writing room for hours. Your fingers danced across the piano as you attempted to write a melody for the Maknae line to follow. With a frustrated groan, you slammed your fingers down on the keys, causing a horrific clash of notes to sound out in front of you. 

Normally, you would be working close with Hoseok and Namjoon to write but you were alone on this one. “It needed a woman’s touch,” Namjoon said in the morning after handing you the skeleton of what was supposed to be a love song, “we just wouldn’t know how to write it.” 

You mocked his words now, tossing the paper up in the air while you let out a wild breath. 

Knocking sounded on the door, pulling you out of your pout while you slid your chair closer to the desk. You expected Jimin to walk in, he was always quick to bring you water or food when you had been in here for a bit. Your back was turned away from the door and you heard the crinkling of a plastic bag, before seeing it set in front of you. 

You glanced away from the half-written lyrics on the page, meeting eyes with Yoongi, the last person you expected to see at the studio so late at night. 

Yoongi had a special place in your heart, his calm and serious persona made you feel comfortable with him. He always preferred to write alone though, so you weren’t sure of his writing process. Whenever you did manage to get him in a session, he played the notes you wrote with ease, your voice carrying as you sang the lyrics. 

Something about him made your heart swoon, you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. It wasn’t until the dreams started did you realize how good Yoongi was with his hands. You wanted nothing more than to have his fingers wrapped around your throat, but that’s the last thing you needed to admit to anyone. 

“Panda, for your troubles.” Yoongi spoke, his usual deep voice echoing throughout the room. You pushed your hair from your face, giving him a grateful smile while opening a container for Panda Express. 

“Taehyung insisted on Panda as usual,” Yoongi sat on the chair opposite you, removing his face mask, “I wasn’t sure what to get you so I figured orange chicken was a safe bet.” 

“It’s perfect,” you excitedly opened the chopsticks, “thank you so much. Maybe now I can actually form a coherent sentence.” 

Yoongi raised an eyebrow, “What are you trying to write?” 

“A love song for the Maknae line. Harmonies, rhythm, all of the stuff I was trained to do but can’t seem to do it.” You rubbed your eyes of their exhaustion, taking a bite of the chicken. 

Yoongi, who was already half-way done with his food, snatches the paper away from you and leans back in his chair. 

He studied the lines carefully, his face blank and you desperately searched his face for any sense of emotion. However, he was devoid of any hints of what he was thinking which caused you to cringe internally.

Your face fell into your hands while you heard a snicker come from Yoongi, “Baby I want you, you are the sun in the sky and the light in my heart?” 

“Yeah.” You whispered, shoving more food in your mouth. 

“This is- and I really hope you don’t take offense- but this is awful.” Yoongi said through laughter. This was the first time you had seen him laugh so hard, he clutched his stomach while he continued to read off the paper. 

“Oh tell me, tell me how you want me baby-” 

“Okay that’s enough!” You grabbed the paper out of his hands and tore it up, tossing it in the garbage. Yoongi’s gummy grin caused you to blush and spin your chair away. 

“I’m not great with romance! I’ve always been more about work than play.” You defended, realizing even in past relationships you found yourself obsessing over music and not giving them enough time. 

“Okay, do you have a crush?” Yoongi asked suddenly, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. 

Yes. 

“No.” You said, watching Yoongi’s eyes cloud over slightly. 

“Alright, alright,” he leaned onto the table, taking the box of food out of your hands and setting it to the side, “think about your last fantasy.” 

“Fantasy?” You said, almost in horror as you weren’t exactly sure what Yoongi meant by that. Immediately though, dreams of Yoongi nipping at your collarbone while you both collapsed into a puddle of moans filled your mind. You swallowed it away, crossing your legs, “How does that help with love songs?” 

“Love and sex go hand and hand.” Yoongi tilts his head to the side, shrugging with a smirk across his face. 

“Alright, then you explain one of your fantasies, and I’ll try to write it.” You lean forward, mirroring his smirk. If he can put you on the spot like that, two can play at that game. 

Yoongi swallowed, “She wears a red dress with black lining. My fingers unzip it quickly to find that she’s not wearing anything underneath,” 

Your eyes widened, seeing his face get closer to yours. You almost backed away but you enjoyed the sudden close proximity to him. Keep going. Please keep going. 

“her lips are full and pink, held in a permanent ‘o’ while my fingers grip her hips and I drive myself into her. Her tits bounce with my movements while my fingers find her clit. Preferably it ends with her squirting but I know that’s hard to find.” Yoongi leans away, his face red but his lips giving away another smirk. 

“I don’t know how to put that in a song.” You say after a moment, tightening your legs to try and relieve the pressure again. 

“Honestly I forgot we were talking about a song.” He bit his lip, casually picking up his food and eating again. 

“Who- can I ask who you’re dreaming about?” You nudge his foot softly under the table. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” He closed the gap between the two of you, his lips soft against yours. You wanted to crawl over the table and straddle his thighs, but you stayed put, enjoying the kiss that caught you off guard. His hand fit perfectly on the back of your neck, holding you close. As quickly as it started, he pulled away, tugging softly at your bottom lip with his teeth.  

Yoongi stood, handing you a fortune cookie and tapping your shoulder goodbye. You watched him walk out the room, sending you a quick wink and shutting the door. 

You turned back around and stared at the table for a moment, “What the fuck just happened?” 

~*~

To say the following week was weird was an understatement. You’d arrive at the studio, make some progress on the music for the song, and you could confidently say that after the chat you had with Yoongi, the song was coming along nicely. 

Anytime you passed Yoongi in the hallway, your shared glances caused your face to burn. You almost anticipated meeting his eyes, because you couldn’t deny the sexual tension. After he left the room that night, you had to distract yourself from the growing wetness between your thighs. You managed to write the first verse and a chorus, happy with your progress. 

The following Tuesday, you bumped into Yoongi in the hallway. His hands lingered on your hips, catching you from tripping. His grin stretched across his face, his eyes laced with lust. He wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore, and you had no complaints. 

Today you wrote the rest of the music and all that was left was a test run of vocals before recording. Proud of your progress, you decided to turn in for the night and head towards the music. You walked into the rehearsal room and sat on the bench.

The room was empty of staff, surprising you as it was just the members dancing. Hoseok watched from the side for a moment, making sure everyone else was getting the moves down. You couldn’t help but watch Yoongi, the headband around his head keeping his hair from flying in his face. 

Yoongi finally noticed you sitting down, and he couldn’t look away. His feet moved effortlessly to the beat and you were proud to see how far they have come since the beginning. 

You watched until the end, hearing Hoseok give pointers to a few of the members. Yoongi took the break as an opportunity to sit beside you, taking the water from your hand and sipping it. 

“How’s the song coming along?” 

“It’s getting there.” You responded, ignoring the heat on your cheeks. 

Sweat dripped off the tip of his nose, so you handed him a towel. You watched him wipe the sweat away. His sleeveless shirt dipped into a V, and you tried desperately to keep your eyes away from his muscles. 

“Getting there, huh?” he leaned to your ear, “So my fantasy helped?” 

You glanced at the rest of the boys, seeing all of them busy among themselves. You nodded in response, “It’s a song about dreaming about the perfect girl then finding out she was right next to you the whole time.” 

Yoongi rose both of his eyebrows at you, “Is that a hint?” 

“Do you want it to be?” You bit your lip, watching Yoongi lick his. 

He leaned forward, grabbing the back of your neck slamming his lips onto yours. Quickly, you kissed back, dropping your bag and allowing him to lean over you. It was almost like you couldn’t get enough of him. Despite him being right against you, he didn’t seem close enough. 

“Whoa whoa whoa! When did this start?” 

Namjoon’s voice broke you out of your kiss, embarrassment flooding your senses when you remembered you weren’t alone in the room. 

Yoongi slid away from you slightly, his hand scratching the back of his neck while he avoided the gaze of the other members. You watched your foot bounce anxiously, biting your lip while silence washed over the room. 

Shocked expressions wiped over the rest of the members. All expect for Jin, who held a smirk. You looked at Yoongi who’s face was completely red. 

You didn’t know how you were going to get out of this one. He was a co-worker of sorts and you knew that Big Hit wouldn’t find the relationship appropriate. There was no way that this could continue, and both of you knew that. 

“I guess Yoongi only told me about his dream.” Jin finally broke the silence, humor lacing his voice. Your eyes shot towards Yoongi, who looked up at Jin in horror. 

Jin’s laughter echoed throughout the room, your expression turned mortified. You didn’t think Yoongi would be discussing his fantasy with his bandmates. That would mean Jin would have had to picture you in the same scenario. 

“Hold up, what dream are you talking about?” Jimin said, morbid curiosity getting the better of him.

“I just- I had a dream with (Y/N) in it.” Yoongi admitted. You covered your face, trying to forget that everyone was here. 

“How does that result in you two making out in the rehearsal room?” Taehyung spoke up, quietly. You were surprised you could catch his words. 

“I- ignore me, guys. It was just a heat of the moment thing. . .” you tried to ignore Yoongi’s suddenly blank expression, “I’m going to head out. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” 

You stood abruptly, grabbing your bag and walking out the door. 

Once in the hallway, you sunk to the ground and covered your face. You weren’t sure how you managed to forget you weren’t alone, but Yoongi’s eyes were hypnotizing. They way he bit his lip had you in shambles and you didn’t even realize it. 

After a moment, you heard arguing inside the room. You stood again, putting your ear against the door as quietly as you could. 

“Do you know what it could do? To have you distracted by her? You could hardly get the steps once you noticed she was in here!” Namjoon was yelling, always the leader of the group and putting BTS first in everything. You bit your lip, trying to keep tears from pricking your eyes. 

“So fucking what, Namjoon?! It’s been 10 years! You can’t expect all of us to go without dating forever!” Yoongi yelled back. He was never one to show his annoyance, he’d put on a mask and pretend not to care, so you couldn’t help but feel surprised by his outburst. 

“But why now? And with our songwriter, of all people! She’s a colleague!” Namjoon’s voice was getting louder, you peaked into the door to see Namjoon staring down at Yoongi a little too close for comfort. 

“What’s that supposed to mean? Her of all people?” Yoongi was now deathly silent. His eyes hooded over while he stared to Namjoon. 

“You have millions of women who would drop to their knees for you and choose the woman you see every day?” With the last word leaving Namjoon’s lips, Yoongi reached forward and shoved his chest. 

Taehyung and Jungkook both turned away while everyone else watched carefully.

Just as you were about to see fists thrown, Jimin and Hoseok grabbed one of the fighters respectively and pulled them apart while chanting ‘whoa!’. Namjoon shook his head anger radiating from his body. You debated jumping in but Yoongi turned back to him and spoke, “I like her, you fucking jackass. In more ways than physical, but you heard what she said. It was just a heat of the moment thing.” 

That blank expression he held earlier was replaced with one of dismay. Namjoon’s expression softened as he reached forward, resting a hand on Yoongi’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, hyung. I didn’t know you liked her like that. I just thought you wanted your dick sucked.” 

He tried to soften the mood but it didn’t work, Yoongi looked up at him and that blank expression was back, “Well like you said, I could get a million women to do that for me.” 

Everything Yoongi had said made your heart flutter. You didn’t know he felt so deeply about you, your breath hitched in your throat. Did you have a future with him? Was dating a member of BTS an option for you? Either way, you had to apologize for saying what you did. You knew it hurt him, and you knew it was a lie as well just to get the members off Yoongi’s back. 

Yoongi stalked towards the door and you panicked, leaning away and running around the corner. You heard the door slam, so you pressed your body as closely to the wall as you could and hoped he wouldn’t turn this corner. 

You peaked around the corner, and just with your luck, you met eyes with Yoongi. 

He walked past you and out the doors, down the stairs. You debated quickly on what to do before you groaned and followed Yoongi out the doors. Your heeled boots clanked against the cement while you ran after him. “Yoongi! Wait!” 

Yoongi glanced back, throwing the hood on his jacket up and walking more briskly. You picked up the pace, “Don’t ignore me, Yoongi!” 

The cement was wet from rain and you felt your hair begin to weigh down with water. Finally, you managed to catch him at a crosswalk just as cars were beginning to drive past. The streetlights were the only thing illuminating his face. 

“I only said that to get the members off your back.” You explained, watching him move once the crosswalk lit up. You followed him across the street and gripped his arm, turning him around. 

“Yoongi! Talk to me!” You said, stopping just outside an alleyway. Yoongi finally turned to you, his eyes red. You didn’t see any tears but this was the most you had seen emotion get the better of him. 

“Listen here, princess,” Yoongi pointed a finger towards you, “Namjoon or staff don’t get to choose who I get to like. I’ve liked you since I first met you, and I’ll be damned if anyone else gets a say in it besides you.” 

“So I get a say?” You spoke, your throat dry. 

Yoongi nodded. 

You reached forward, grabbing his hoodie and pulling him close to you, “Then take me home.” 

“To my home?” 

“Anywhere you can use me.” You replied, feeling Yoongi slam his lips onto yours once again. 

His hands moved from your shoulders to your hips, pulling you close. You felt yourself shiver and you weren’t sure if it was from Yoongi or the chills from the rain. Maybe a mixture of both. 

Yoongi pulled away, “Your apartment is closer.” He was out of breath, you were glad you had that effect on him. You grinned, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him down your street and into your apartment building. 

As soon as the doors shut, Yoongi was on you again. His lips attacked your neck, slipping your jacket from off your shoulders. You were mindful of your neighbors, taking one step at a time and giggling when you feel yourself trip. Yoongi followed, landing on top of you but his lips still not leaving your skin. 

“Be careful or we’re not gonna make it all the way upstairs.” You gasp, his tongue soothing the hickey he just made. 

“Mm, maybe I don’t want to make it upstairs.” Yoongi’s hands were all over you. Scorching touches from his calloused finger tips against your slightly exposed hips made you moan softly into his ear. Yoongi got a kick out of your pleasure, his grin obvious against your skin. 

“I’m not having you fuck me where anyone could walk out. Could you imagine the tabloids?” You pushed him away, but your smile allowed him to know it was lighthearted. 

“Suga seduces beauty so well she couldn’t make it all the way upstairs.” Yoongi grins, about to kiss you again but you slid from beneath him and stood up. He gave you a mock-glare, walking up the last flight of stairs and gesturing for him to follow. 

He was quick to follow, tapping his foot impatiently while you unlocked your door. 

As soon as the door was open, Yoongi was on you again. Quickly, he tugged your shirt over your head. Your exposed bra caused him to moan at the sight. Your breasts spilled out of the top and it took everything in him not to speed up everything. 

He pushed you back onto the couch, tugging your leggings down your thighs. You wore nothing underneath, Yoongi licking his lips in anticipation. Before he could get to it, you unhooked your bra and watched his eyes grow wide. Instantly, his hands kneaded your breasts. 

The noises that fell from his lips were godly, your excitement from watching him showed when his fingers slipped easily inside of you. You cried out his name, his hand pumping in and out slowly. 

“Please.” You moaned, stopping his hand. “I don’t want your fingers, I want you.” 

The smile that spread across his face made your heart stop. He slipped his shirt over his head and quickly untied his sweatpants. You reach forward, pulling them down his hips and allowing his erection to spring free. 

Your mouth watered, of course his cock was perfect. You gripped it, your hand stroking up and down. Yoongi’s hands flew to your hair, desperately writhing beneath your touch. He sat beside you on the couch, and you moved in front of him as your lips pressed a kiss to the head of his cock. 

He tossed his onto the back of the couch, fingers lacing through your hair and gently guiding your mouth up and down his erection. You used your tongue to lick every pulsing vein. Yoongi wasn’t shy about moaning, encouraging words breathlessly said like music to your ears. 

“That’s right, Princess,” his hip stuttered and thrust upward, driving his cock deeper into your throat, “fuck.” 

Your eyes watched his chest heave, his face scrunched in pleasure. 

“Stop,” he finally said, “come ride me, baby.” 

You didn’t have to be told twice. You straddled his legs, hovering above him. He lined you up with your entrance, and slowly you sunk onto him. 

The burn subsided quickly, and you lifted your hips up before sinking again. Your rhythm was smooth, allowing him to drive into you in all the right ways. Yoongi’s lips latched onto your nipple, the sensitivity causing your head to fly backward. His hands rested on the small of your back, supporting your movements as you sped up. 

Your hands flew to his shoulders, your thighs burned, but you couldn’t stop. 

“You’re doing so good baby, so good.” Yoongi’s voice was husked over, lowering a few octaves. His hand moved up to your jaw, pressing his thumb against your lips. You opened your mouth, sucking on his thumb and causing him to gasp. 

“Yes,” you cried, “I’m gonna come!” 

Yoongi gripped your hips, thrusting upward into you. You were overwhelmed with pleasure, shakily holding yourself above him as he thrust into you relentlessly. The sweat that collected on his chest began to drip, just before his movements began to stutter once again. 

In seconds, you were coming undone above him. He didn’t take long to follow suit, your pulsing heat squeezing in all the right places. You collapsed atop him, your head falling in the crook of his neck. Both of you caught your breath to the best of your ability, sighing happily. Yoongi’s grin made your heart melt while you slipped beside him. 

“That was everything I dreamed of and more.” He was the first to speak, almost chuckling at the aftermath. You couldn’t help but giggle beside him, leaning into him and nuzzling closely. 

~*~ 

When you awoke the following morning, Yoongi was gone. 

Instead, you were bundled up in a blanket you don’t remember grabbing, and a sticky note was placed gently on your face. You tore it off to read it, wondering why the hell you were alone. 

‘Had to practice, I’ll see you at the studio. I didn’t want to wake you, princess.’ 

Your heart fluttered at the note, staring intensely at the hearts doodled along the page. In the corner was a small drawing of a crown, and Yoongi’s name. 

You showered and got dressed as quickly as you could, leaving your apartment and picking up your jacket that still lay in the corner of the stairwell. Memories of the previous night filled your mind, a blush laying across your cheeks. 

You stopped by a donut shop, grabbing a dozen, knowing that the boys would be grateful. As you waited for your order to be boxed up, you suddenly became anxious about what might have been said. You thanked the cashier and headed out the door, walking down the street. 

When you arrived, the hallway was empty and music sounded from the rehearsal room. The door creaked open as you pushed it, the sound of feet pounding against the wooden floor becoming more recognizable with each passing day. Nobody looked towards you, but you knew they noticed you because your reflection caught Yoongi’s eye. 

The same grin from last night stretched across his face, but he didn’t miss a single beat as he danced. You opened the box and grabbed a glazed donut, munching happily as the song ended. 

“Ah, you need some energy after last night!” Jin yelled, grabbing a bottle of water. You immediately stopped chewing, your eyes going wide while you looked at Yoongi. 

Yoongi shrugged, “I was in too good of a mood to hide anything. I’m sorry.” 

You licked the sugar from your lips, giving Yoongi a subtle glare as everyone else grabbed donuts. 

Yoongi dodged the donuts and took a bite from yours, smiling at you and wrapping his arm around you. 

“Noo! I just showered!” You yelled as Yoongi pressed his face against yours. 

He mocked a gasp, “Without me?” 

The rest of the members didn’t seem to mind his banter, talking among themselves casually. You watched Yoongi swallow the rest of his bite, nipping again at the one in your hand. So quickly, did you find yourself comfortable with him. He had seen every inch of you, his lips had kissed you passionately and your name fell from his lips in moans. 

You didn’t want to hide it, and you were suddenly glad that he had broke the news to everyone. It felt great to have him so close to you, to have his lips nip every-so-often at your jaw. 

“Next song!” Hoseok called, and Yoongi was on his feet in seconds. 

Namjoon set his donut down, “Maybe you two should fuck more often,” he grins at the blush on your cheeks, “I haven’t seen him this energetic in ages.” 

As you watched them practice, a sense of pride washed over you as Yoongi’s face was turned up in a constant smile. His laughter was loud, his happiness strong. This was the beginning of one of the best decisions of your life. 

[artificialqueens]

Everybody Knows You're High, 1/4 (Rajila) - Dartmouth420

“I found myself all alone in the grocery store, more stoned than I think I’ve ever been before.”

Summary: Raja smokes way too much weed and develops horrifying self-awareness, Manila’s there to rescue her but takes none of her bullshit. Maybe, just maybe, they fall in love. A lesbian college AU friends-to-idiots-to-lovers tale based on the song Everybody Knows by Partner. Loosely inspired by Off Limits by V&albatross but like wayyyy dumber :) 

A/N: my computer died and I’m in the process of getting all my files back so I wrote this mostly in the notes app on my phone to cope lmao

tw: weed induced anxiety & paranoia

-

It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon and Raja had been taking massive bong rips for the past two hours because why the hell not.

She sat in a sunbeam on her couch in the living room, deeply at peace with the world. Her roommates were out, and Raja was supposed to be working on a paper for her philosophy class that was due this week. But whatever, wasn’t a big part of college about having fun?

Raja glanced over at her Nintendo controller and stared at it for a good minute before reaching for it and selecting Super Smash Bros. After several minutes of staring glassy-eyed at the screen and trying to beat the computer generated competition, Raja blindly reached over for the bag of chips that usually rested in the corner of the couch and found… it was gone.

Raja paused the game and glared at the corner of the couch, suddenly really hungry.

She got up and went to the kitchen, digging around in the cupboards, reasoning she could always pay Delta or Carmen back for chips if they had some… but to no avail. If Raja wanted chips, she’d have to leave the house.

But that wasn’t such a big deal, the grocery store was a block down the street which was part of the reason they’d picked this house in the first place. Raja knew the route like the back of her tattooed left hand.

So, Raja took another big hit off her bong for courage, enjoying the satisfying bubbles in the dank bong water and subsequent thick smoke that went deep into her lungs.

Then she left the house, lazy in loose shorts and a crop top, yellow-tinted sunglasses to take the glare off the sunny afternoon, and her wallet reliably in her back pocket. What a beautiful day, it almost felt like a movie as she wandered down the street in the golden afternoon light. The clouds were small, fluffy and perfect. It just like how Raja imagined the 90s.

Glancing up at the big three-pane window in the house a few doors down across the street, Raja wondered if anyone was home. A few other students lived there, including Manila, who was one of her close friends. Raja decided not to stop and kept walking, the need for chips overpowering the desire to stop by and visit Manila.

At the grocery store Raja smiled to herself, took a plastic basket and wandered gently down the brightly lit aisles. Mmm, food. She got to the chips aisle and put a couple of different bags in her basket, letting elderly people and families and other folks pass her as she moved slowly. Then Raja decided she might, in fact, want ice cream too and moseyed over to the dairy section.

But as the cool air of the diary aisle hit her Raja began to experience doubt. She didn’t smell like weed, did she? Her mouth still tasted a little smoky, but surely it wouldn’t be a problem…

… and suddenly Raja saw somebody behind the glass in the big wall of fridges, blending in to the little cartons of whipping cream. Who the hell was that?

Raja peered closer, curious about the weird gremlin that lived in the fridge only to realize, with absolute horror, that it was her own reflection.

Long, greasy black hair, a slack expression, yellow tinted sunglasses through which her bloodshot and lined eyes were clearly visible. A twenty-year-old mess.

Clearly and distinctly, a voice inside Raja’s head said, Everybody knows you’re high.

Shit.

Raja looked around slowly, and inched into the corner at the end of the aisle between the shredded cheese and a big granola bar display. Her breath grew shallow as the sudden anxiety swallowed her whole. Oh god, oh no, everybody could tell-

What the fuck was she supposed to do now?

Raja gulped, completely glued to the spot as she watched the other shoppers go by. She needed a rescue mission. She took out her phone, holding on to the basket of chips for dear life.

Raja stared at her phone. Delta and Carmen were both out today and too far away, Shangela was mad at her, Raven was out of the question, who else, who else lived nearby… 

Raja hit call.

“Hello?” came Manila’s voice, a little out of breath.

“Manila,” whispered Raja, shrinking further into the corner between the display and the glass fridge, as she realized that everyone in the store knew she was high and could probably also hear her conversation, “I need you to come pick me up.”

“Why are you whispering?”

“I’m like… super high,” whispered Raja, anxiety spiking as her too-slow body fought her too-fast mind, “I’m at the grocery store and everybody knows and I’m trapped in the diary aisle and I can’t move.”

“What?” laughed Manila, “Oh my god, how much weed did you smoke?”

“I dunno, I did like… thirteen bong hits,” whispered Raja pathetically, “I needed chips.”

“You are so stupid,” said Manila with affectionate exasperation, “I’m out for a run, I’m just around the corner. I’ll come get you.”

Raja whispered a thank you and hung up and took a deep breath and stared at the floor. The floor was moving a little bit not too badly.  Maybe she could just walk down the dairy aisle and people wouldn’t be able to tell how high she was- but no, everybody knew. Someone was probably calling the grocery store cops right now and Raja would go to stoner girl jail and she’d never get to tell Manila how much she liked her…

After what might have three minutes or possibly an hour, Raja looked up and saw Manila approaching from the end of the aisle. Raja breathed a sigh of relief, but found she still couldn’t move. Manila’s curly black hair was up in a high ponytail, her face glowed a little from her run, and her colourful leggings were really showing off her legs…

“Hi, bitch,” said Manila, stopping in front of Raja with a huge, teasing grin. “I can’t believe you did this to yourself. Come on.”

With that, Manila turned and motioned for Raja to follow, her but Raja couldn’t.

“Nnh-“ managed Raja, shaking her head. If she left the corner now-

“Raja,” said Manila, rolling her eyes. She reached out and took Raja’s loose hand, forcefully leading her down the aisle. Very shocked to suddenly be moving, Raja followed her passively, letting herself be led. But when they got to checkout Raja froze again, causing Manila to jerk to a stop. Raja shook her head frantically.

“Are you like actually having a panic attack or something?” asked Manila, concerned, looking carefully into Raja’s expression as Raja suddenly noticed a few loose curls that had come loose from her ponytail, sitting soft and almost weightless on Manila’s head-

“Nope, you’re just really high,” said Manila to herself, shaking her head, and then redirected her. “Self-checkout it is.”

They made it through the self-checkout and paid for the chips even though Raja really didn’t like the beeping machine and kept asking it to be quiet. And then finally Manila led her back outside into the sun. Raja breathed out a sigh of relief, glad to have escaped. They crossed the hot expanse of the parking lot and headed for home. It was rare that weed made her anxious and paranoid like that, but it did happen occasionally.

Manila let go of her hand and Raja immediately missed it, because Manila’s hand was warm and soft and fit nicely in hers. Hmm. Manila always showed up for her, reflected Raja vaguely, she was an exceptionally reliable force in a flakey world. Raja kept walking, gently swinging her plastic bag full of chips as her anxiety faded. Manila said something but Raja wasn’t really paying attention.

“Do you want to come over and play Nintendo?” asked Raja instead. “I’ve got Super Smash Bros.”

“That’s your response to what topic you’re doing for the paper for Professor O’Hara’s philosophy class?” laughed Manila.

“Uh, I’m working on it,” answered Raja, noticing the way the sun caught in Manila’s hair. Had she noticed these things about her before? They’d been friends for a while now, and Raja was pretty sure Manila liked girls too… or was at least willing to experiment. “I’m gonna write about Plato’s Symposium, probably.”

“Yeah, cool,” replied Manila, nodding so that her curly ponytail bounced, “I’ve got about six hundred words on The Republic so far.”

“Are you like dating Alexis?” asked Raja, changing the subject, “Or was that just a casual thing?”

“No,” said Manila, momentarily hesitating, “Well yeah, uh, it was unclear. But we ended it a little while ago, she’s with Yara now.”

“Right, I thought I saw them together. I didn’t realize you two were over.”

“Yeah I mean, you had your own drama going on…”

“Huh?” Raja couldn’t recall any drama in her own life. Raja liked to keep things really chill.

“Uh…” laughed Manila awkwardly, “You were dating Raven and then you broke up with her like super callously right in the middle of that party at Morgan’s and she screamed at you and then knocked that bottle of wine off the table and it broke and went everywhere and someone filmed it-“

“Oh yeah,” said Raja, shrugging and recalling the incident, “Well, she’s a very intense person. I don’t remember you being there, though?”

“I don’t know where you went but I was trying to help Morgan get the stain out of the carpet while she panicked about her damage deposit and Raven locked herself in the bathroom,” said Manila dryly.

“Well,” said Raja, and looked up at her house as the approached, blinking slowly, not sure if she had anything to add to that, “I guess I should apologize to her or whatever. But uh, you should come over anyway, all my roommates are out.”

“Okay, I’ll come up,” said Manila, poking Raja’s arm, “Just to make sure you drink some water and don’t green out on me.”

They went inside and Raja threw herself on to the couch on her side with a bag of chips in her arms, melting down into the cushions with a contented sigh. This was where she was meant to be.

Manila walked in to the kitchen and came back out with two glasses of water, sipping hers and handing the other to Raja.

“Ooh, thank you,” said Raja, half-sitting up to take the glass, and chugged the entire thing, only now noticing she was totally cotton-mouthed and thirsty. Finally hydrated, the munchies were hitting hard and she tore open the bag of chips.

Manila sat down on the couch, shoving Raja’s long legs out of the way.

“Mmm, salt,” commented Manila dryly, taking a handful of chips and shoving them into her mouth. Crunching happily, she wiped her hand on her thigh and asked, “So, where’s the controller?”

Raja pointed it out and Manila picked it up, cancelled out Raja’s long-abandoned game on the screen across from them, and returned to the main menu with a flick of her thumb on the mini joystick. She held the controller with an easy confidence, and it made Raja wonder what else Manila could do with with her hands and how exactly Alexis had benefitted from that…

“Are we gonna play two player or are you just watching?” asked Manila, turning towards her.

Raja considered everything for a moment: the beautiful golden sun streaming in the window, the glorious high she’d relaxed back into, the tasty chips, Manila’s truly beautiful ass that was just about touching Raja’s knee given the way they were positioned, and the fact that, well, Manila was really pretty and recently single and Raja had always preferred casual hookups or friends-with-benefits to relationships anyway, especially given the recent disaster- no, situation, with Raven…

“Do you wanna make out?” asked Raja instead, with what she hoped was a very seductive look.

Manila hesitated for a split second, then burst out laughing and said, “Uh, no?!”

“What, really?” complained Raja. She couldn’t recall the last time a girl had said no to that suggestion. Raven, Mariah, Alaska, Bianca, Shangela, Yvie, Courtney… they’d all been into it, even if just for an afternoon or a night.

“As if!” said Manila, affecting her voice like she was Cher Horowitz before she laughed again and shook her head. Manila leaned forward and flicked through the menus, selecting the single player option, then her character and the arena. With a satisfied little smirk on the side of her mouth, Manila added, “Ask me again when you’re not stoned out of your mind.”

The music played out and Raja sulked and ate her chips and watched Manila play without really seeing it. Being stoned and mildly horny was usually a really fun combination, except when the other person wasn’t interested. Which like never happened! Maybe she’d invite Manila to stay for dinner, let her high fade and they could hang out and maybe things would get interesting a little later in the evening…

“Uh, so,” said Raja again, after watching Manila repeatedly beat the computer generated competition as Pikachu. The screen was starting to hurt her eyes a bit and she put the bag of chips down, craving human contact. Their friendship was platonically affectionate and hopefully that would still be on the table today. “Can I braid your hair?”

“Has anybody ever told you how weird you are?” said Manila in response, jabbing the A-button as she kicked Luigi off the platform.

“People think I’m very cool…”

“Yeah, but that’s what you make them think. I can see right through it, though. You’re afraid of commitment, you’re kind of an anxious bitch and you use weed and the idea of being chill to cover all of that,” stated Manila, “But yeah, you can braid my hair.”

Raja decided to ignore the first part of what Manila had said and sat up, shuffling around behind her until she sat with her legs apart, Manila perched on the edge of the couch cushion between them as she bent forward with her elbows on her knees to play.

While Raja was mentally celebrating the perfect position for hair braiding she’d placed herself in, Manila aggressively jabbed at the controller and kicked the other players off the platform and won the round.

“Sweet,” said Manila, as the victory music played, reaching back and pulling the elastic band out of her ponytail to let her hair spill down her back. Happy and hazy, Raja carded her fingers through Manila’s hair as Manila loaded up another arena. 

Manila continued, “Better hope Carmen isn’t mad that I’m beating all her high scores. I’m gonna unlock metallic Peach for her.”

Raja spent an indefinite period of time gently braiding Manila’s beautiful hair in a soothing repetitive pattern as her high slowly faded and Manila kicked ass at Super Smash Bros. Raja hadn’t ever really noticed Manila like this before. They were pretty good friends, and they’d always had a flirtatious undertone, and Manila went out of her way to hang out and even do favours for her… but Raja had always assumed she was just like, nice or whatever, but maybe it was something more that Raja simply hadn’t registered before. Playing with Manila’s hair wasn’t helping Raja feel any less horny, and there a low strum of sexual tension between them that Raja was sure Manila must be picking up on as well.

Suddenly the door opened and Raja looked up, dropping her hands. Delta was in the doorway, calling out a hello. Raja called back to her, vaguely shocked by the existence of other humans in the universe other than herself and Manila.

Manila paused the game and got up off the couch and touched the back of her head, feeling at the multitude of little braids in her hair. 

“Ha, I must look a mess,” said Manila, then she stretched her arms over her head, grimacing as her back cracked and continued, “Well, you’re barely high anymore and Delta’s back, so I take it my work here is done. I have to finish that paper tonight, see ya.”

With that, Manila sauntered off towards the door, leaving Raja distinctly abandoned on the couch.

“Uh, bye?” called Raja sarcastically after her as Manila shut the door.

Delta gave her a strong side-eyed look.

“What?” asked Raja.

“Since when are you into Manila?” asked Delta bluntly, sitting down into the couch next to Raja. Delta was keenly observant and it was something Raja admired about her, except when she was on the receiving end of that power.

“Since like an hour ago?” replied Raja, and told her about the grocery store adventure.

Delta laughed and totally roasted her while Raja whined complaints.

“She said to ask again when I’m less stoned, so I’m gonna do that the next time we hang out,” said Raja, with complete faith that the idea would work without any problems whatsoever, “What were you out doing this afternoon anyway?”

“Fooling around with that chemistry major I told you about,” replied Delta smugly, poking Raja’s arm, “I can’t believe you got too high and let a cute girl get away on you, you’re losing your touch.”

“You’re a terrible roommate,” complained Raja, but her smile gave her away, “And she’s not just some cute girl, she’s our friend…”

“Sure, but that can all change real quick if you get intimate…”

“It won’t change anything, it’ll be totally casual,” said Raja, casually, “She’s gotta be into me, she’s always nice, and we’re both like queer or whatever,” Raja flipped her hair over her shoulder and adopted a sexy voice, “So why wouldn’t she wanna make out?”

“You’re so annoying,” laughed Delta, and then shook her head, “Just don’t break her heart, bitch, that’ll make our parties super awkward.”

Then they hung out and made dinner and Raja remembered she was still pretty greasy and took a shower. After that she was really, truly, no longer high and it was time to actually work on her philosophy paper.

But Raja knew that something today had shifted. Maybe getting super high, freaking out in the grocery store and having Manila rescue her had brought something to the surface that always been there. Or maybe the affection and desire was totally new. It didn’t make that much of a difference to Raja. The next time the moment struck, she’d simply ask Manila again if she was interested. If Manila genuinely wasn’t then Raja would leave her alone, they’d remain friends, and she’d move on to someone else. But should Manila say yes… well, that would be super fun, wouldn’t it?

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 3)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Deceit, Logan & Patton (more to be added)

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Deceit, Remus, Roman Logan (more to be added)

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1 Part 2

The man Virgil had carjacked, Patton he had said, hummed a soft tune as he pulled back onto the interstate. Virgil glanced down at the ice cream in his hands and took a second bite. Was he…was he actually serious about all of this?

Virgil was suspicious, but the guy had been nothing but surprisingly nice for someone who’d been kidnapped. The nicer he was, the worse Virgil felt about the whole, breaking into his car and threatening him at knife point thing. Maybe that was the point? Maybe he was hoping Virgil would feel bad enough to eventually just tell him drive to the police station so he could turn himself in.

Not likely.

It didn’t matter how nice the dude was to him, he was not going anywhere his mother might be able to find him. Nope. Not happening. Not after what happened earlier in the day. He’s just lucky he’d been snooping in his dad’s room trying to find where the man had hidden the Gameboy and found whatever radio thing dad had hidden beneath a floorboard under his bed.

Well. “Lucky” was perhaps not the right word, he thought as he stuffed an even larger spoonful of ice cream into his mouth while trying to force himself not to cry. Nothing was lucky about today.

He didn’t know why dad had the radio thing. (He was pretty sure at this point that he didn’t know a lot of things.) All he knew was that it was some type of communication device and his mother’s voice would have been undeniably clear on it even if people hadn’t been calling her by name. He hadn’t known what on Earth was going on. All he knew was that he’d backed away from it in horror and confusion when the message that Remington Gates was dead came through. Mom had said “good.” He’d hoped it had been some kind of trick, but when some guy had broken into the house to take him to his mother not even 10 minutes later, he’d pieced together the truth.

His dad was dead. His mom had killed him. And whatever her plans were for Virgil, Virgil didn’t want any part of it. Luckily, when he was 12, he’d watched a horror movie and hadn’t slept for a week. His dad had solved the problem by showing him how to use pepper spray effectively and then letting him keep a can of it in his nightstand in case anyone ever broke in to try to kidnap him. Virgil was… pretty sure dad hadn’t ever thought someone would break in and try to kidnap him.

He’d pepper sprayed the guy mom had sent and grabbed a knife from the kitchen before booking it out the back door.

The options had been the park, the grocery store, or try to make it to the nearest bus stop and hope a bus arrived soon. In a bid to be unpredictable, he’d gone to the grocery store. Of course, he’d needed to get out of the neighborhood and fast, but he knew a bus or any form of public transport would be easily trackable. The only solution was a car, but the problems with that were that Virgil didn’t have a car, he didn’t know how to hotwire a car, and his only experience driving had been when his older brother allowed him to drive a golf cart when he was 7 and he drove it into a pond.

Which had led him here, in a stranger’s car after waiting for him to come out of the store in the backseat and pressing a kitchen knife up against his neck. It had been… a day.

He finished the entire giant “concrete” ice cream thing Patton had got him and stuck it in the bag with the rest of the trash.

“Want to listen to the radio?” Patton asked. “Passenger gets to choose the station!”

“Er… sure.” Virgil reached forward to flip it on. They were far enough out of range that whatever station Patton had last listened to in town was now just static, so Virgil started to mess with the dials.

There didn’t seem to be any music channels that adhered to his tastes, so he just ended up on some pop station. He was just settling back into his seat when Patton’s phone started to ring from where he’d tossed it when he’d gotten into the car at the grocery store.

Virgil blinked at the phone. “Is that the Mission Impossible theme song?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Why does it sound like that?”

“It’s the kazoo version,” Patton explained.

“…Why?”

Patton just smiled. “I should probably answer it.”

“No!” Virgil said. “You’re not allowed to answer it.”

Patton shrugged. The music stopped after a few more seconds and then started up right after that.

“It’s my brother. He’s going to keep calling,” Patton informed him, “and if I don’t answer, he’s going to call the cops because he assumed, I was kidnapped. Which… in this case.”

“Shit,” Virgil said as the ringing stopped again only to pick up once more a moment later. “Shit. Fine. You can answer it, but I’m putting it on speaker and don’t try to tell him anything.”

“Yeah, alright,” Patton agreed easily.

Oh god, this was a bad idea. Virgil grabbed the phone and accepted the call before putting it on speaker.

“Hi, Lo.”

“Why aren’t you answering your home phone?”

“I’m not at home,” Patton said.

“Where are you?”

Patton considered it for a moment. “I’m… on a road trip.”

“A road trip?” the man on the other end of the line asked blankly. “What do you… what do you mean?”

“I mean, I got in my car and now I’m driving.”

“You were supposed to be home all week. Patton, I need you to be in the city right now. Where are you?”

Virgil shook his head wildly.

“I don’t know,” Patton said thoughtfully. “A road.”

“Patton,” the man groaned. “Why?”

“It’s just a thing that happened Lo, sorry if you needed me.”

“How is a road trip a ‘thing’ that just ‘happens,’ Patton?” he asked. Patton glanced at Virgil.

“Erm… it just did?” he said.

“Patton!”

“Anyway, I’m a little bit busy so talk to you later!”

“Patton do not hang up the phone!”

“Love you Logi!” He jerked his head at Virgil and Virgil hit the end call button.

The second the call ended Virgil groaned. “It would have been better if you just didn’t answer.”

The Mission Impossible Song: Kazoo Version started playing again.

“It’ll be best if you just turn that off,” Patton said.

“Won’t he just call the cops?”

Patton gave him a secret smile. “No, he’ll just think I’m being silly and ignoring him.”

“Do you do stuff like that often?” Virgil asked.

“Just enough so he doesn’t ask questions when I don’t want him to,” Patton divulged. “It’s a little brother thing, you know.”

Virgil flinched just a bit. A brother thing. He wondered where his brother was now. He’d always been nice to Virgil, but he’d also always been obedient to mom. He wondered if he knew about Virgil’s dad. The two had always gotten along even though he wasn’t Janus’s father, but mom was… mom. Virgil didn’t want to know whose side he’d take.

The ringtone ended and started back up once again. Virgil held down the power button until it turned off and decided to store it in the glove compartment so Patton couldn’t reach it as easily. (Though, perhaps he should have thought of that earlier, but he was new to the whole kidnapping thing.)

He sat back against the seat and started rubbing at the sleeves of his hoodie.

“Everything okay over there?” Patton asked.

“I’m fine,” Virgil snapped and then bristled under the raised eyebrow he got in return. “This radio station is just stupid,” he grumbled.

“Well, you can change it,” Patton pointed out.

The radio station wasn’t actually the problem, but it did give him something to do with his hands. He reached forward and started fiddling with the radio dials. About 10 minutes later he hit a radio station that wasn’t music, but some guy talking. Virgil paused on the station and sat back. Whoever the guy was, his voice was low and soothing.

Virgil closed his eyes and listened for a few minutes before he let out a startled chuckle. “He’s talking about Moth Man?”

He opened his eyes to see Patton’s face crinkled up into a soft smile. “He is.”

Virgil couldn’t help but start to giggle. He laughed so hard that it started to blur into sobbing. He felt a gentle touch on his knee and looked over at Patton.

“There are tissues in the glove box,” he told Virgil. Virgil nodded and reached forward into to the glove box to grab the Kleenex Box while still sniffling.

He blotted at his eyes and blew his nose before sticking the dirty tissue into his hoodie pocket.

Today had been a horrible day. He was exhausted. He leaned back against the seat and his eyes flickered closed.

“Do you want me to change the radio station?” Patton asked softly.

Virgil laughed again and barely restrained himself from going into another fit. “No, no,” he said. “It’s fine. I’ve gotta hear how it ends.”

“That’s fair,” Patton said and though Virgil had his eyes closed, he imagined he was shooting him one of those confusing soft smiles again.

The conspiracy theory radio guy kept blathering on about sightings of Moth Man in a deceptively calm tone.

Wow Virgil was tired.

…

Falling asleep while the guy you carjacked drove probably wasn’t a good idea.

That was one of the last coherent thoughts he had before he drifted off to sleep.

Want to read more? Click below!

AO3 Part 4 My Master Post

[imlovethomassanders]

Destined - Chapter 3

You can also read on ao3

This fic is completed and will be updated regularly until completion

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 (FINAL)

Summary: Damien never wanted soulmates. When his fifteenth birthday came, he prayed he wouldn’t receive a “hint” - a way soulmates are connected to help find each other. And to Damien’s horror, the universe gives him multiple soulmates. He’s determined to not let them find out about them. He wants to let them live in ignorant bliss and not force them to deal with him. As Damien grows older, he moves away and goes to college - He even manages to find a boyfriend that he chose himself, and Damien tells himself that he’s happy. But on Damien’s twentieth birthday, the universe gives him and his soulmates another hint - and this one is not one Damien can avoid.

Pairing: DLAMP

Warnings:Abusive romantic relationship (physically, sexually, and verbally), past physical parental abuse, sex and alcohol mentions,  general angst (but happy ending) Extra warning for this chapter for referenced homophobia

Words: 2644

Taglist:

@touchstarvedvirgil

@lamp-calm-sanders

@ninjago2020

@confinesofpersonalknowledge

@secret-novelisthost18

@phander-sides

@sherlock-lives-on-bakerstreet​

@fortheloveofvirgil​

@what-up-dudesss​

Damien was sitting in the makeup room of the theatrical arts building when he was startled by a door being flung open and hitting the wall. He huffed in annoyance as he looked at his resulting smudged eyeliner. He glared towards the door to the hallway as he heard the theatre majors walk down the hall, one of them loudly riffing Disney songs.

The acting class must be finished.

Everyday Damien had a block with no classes, so he would go to the makeup room where it was usually empty. Plus he could practice makeup before class if he wanted to.

He went to fix his eyeliner when he heard the door open. He looked over to see a boy he'd never seen before, so it surely wasn't another theatre major.

Damien's first thought was "Who the fuck is this?"

His second thought was how pretty he was.

He knew he shouldn't think such things when he was with Jackson. Jackson would probably destroy the apartment again in a tirade if Damien ever said that out loud. But yeah, Damien couldn't deny how gorgeous the man in front of him was.

The stranger was wearing ripped black jeans, a purple t-shirt, and a black purple-patched hoodie. The black converses he was wearing had speckles of paint on them. His hair was dyed purple, though it was starting to fade on the ends. His bang fell over his forehead which drew more attention to his gray eyes that were already accentuated by black eyeshadow. His skin was as smooth as porcelain and just as pale.

"Do you need something? Professor Miller is in her office," Damien said as he turned back towards the mirror.

"Um, no," the boy said in a low voice that sent shivers down Damien's spine. "I have some free time and my boyfriend said I can hang out in the makeup room since it's supposed to be empty."

Damien stared at him, daring him to actually stay. But he didn't leave.

"Sit, then. I'm not stopping you."

The stranger sat on the opposite bench. Damien tried to ignore the stranger the best he could, but Damien could still see his reflection in his peripheral.

Time passed by slowly as the two sat in tense silence. Eventually it made its way to ten minutes before Damien's next class, so in one swift move he swung his legs over the bench and threw his backpack on, and he was out the door.

It was a couple of days until they spoke again. The stranger rushed in and slammed the door behind him. Damien quickly turned and stood in alarm, eyes wide as the stranger pressed himself again the door.

"What's going on?" Damien demanded. He did not want to get wrapped up in whatever drama this stranger was bringing with him.

"Don't worry about it. This door gotta lock?" the stranger panted. Damien stared at him for a moment before pullinga key out of his pocket. The professor gave it to him so he could get in the makeup room whenever he watned.

Once the stranger heard the click he slid down the door and sat on the floor.

"What's going on?" Damien demanded again. The stranger opened his mouth to speak but only managed a few heavy pants. His hands reached for his hair as he pulled his knees to his chest.

"Tell me or I will have to get Ms. Miller."

"It's nothing," the stranger managed out. "Just some band kids."

Oh.

There was a group of band students who were notorious for harrassing anyone who didn't fit their slim idea of masculinity. Damien himself did everything he could to avoid them. He was pretty sure they've called him every variation of the f-slur possible.

Damien walked back to his backpack. "I'll keep the door locked until I leave then. Here."

He walked back towards the stranger and handed him a water bottle. "I brought it from home. I haven't opened it."

"Thanks," the stranger said. Damien offered a hand and helped the stranger up from his spot on the floor.

"Um... I'm Virgil."

"Damien."

Damien glanced Virgil up and down, something stirring inside his chest, though he couldn't place what. Damien then walked back over the bench and put his earbuds in. He had dealt with enough today.

"Hey," Virgil said when he walked in the next day. Damien waved at him without looking up from his phone.

For the next week, that was all the interaction they had. "Hey." Wave.

Virgil then ran in and asked Damien to lock the door again. Damien didn't have a water bottle to offer the panicking boy this time, so he went to get one from the vending machine.

He didn't know Virgil, but something in his subconscious told him that Virgil was a good enough guy to not deserve this harrassment.

"You didn't have to-"

"But I did," Damien huffed as he shoved the water bottle into Virgil's hands.

After that, for the next week their interactions evolved into Virgil greeting Damien with "Hey, how are you?" which Damien would respond with "Fine."

It was the next week when they finally had a real conversation. Virgil's earbuds disconnected from his phone and Panic! At the Disco played out loud, so the two found themselves discussing music.

"You like Broadway?" Virgil asked. "You and my boyfriend would get along wonderfully."

"Your boyfriend must have good taste."

"My boyfriend has obnoxious taste."

Damien flicked a q-tip at him.

"Could you show me how you do eyeshadow? I feel like I'm doing wrong," Virgil said one day as he watched Damien do his makeup.

"You probably are."

Virgil shot Damien a playful glare as Damien motioned for him to sit next to him.

As Damien started talking about makeup, he found that he couldn't stop. He had never had anyone to talk to about his passion, and he discovered just how much he needed to. THough he started rambling about more than just eyeshadow, Virgil never once tried to stop him.

"So how'd you get into makeup?" Virgil asked as they were leaving for classes.

Damien froze. There was no way he could tell this stranger that the reason he started doing makeup was because growing up, everything in his life was uncertain and almost all of his decisions were made for him by someone else, and that his appearance was the only thing he felt he had control over.

"I just liked how it looked," Damien lied after an uncomfortable amount of silence.

Virgil could tell there was more, but he had no right to pry.

Virgil then regularly sat next to Damien instead of on the other side of the room. And over the course of a few more weeks, they both somehow managed to pull each other out of their shells when they found they were both sharp and witty and too smart for their own good. Many of their conversations included quipping back and forth with each other, which they both knew was always all in good fun.

Damien found himself looking forward to that one hour he had in the makeup room. It was a nice change of pace from the usually dull setting Damien was in.

Jackson didn't know, of course. If he knew Damien was alone with another boy for hours every week, he would be furious and make Damien come home during his hour off.

"You look terrible," Damien said one day when Virgil walked in.

"Oh, shut up. You know it's because of midterms. I'm sure you look so much better under all that makeup," Virgil said as he sat down next to Damien.

"Darling, your eyeshadow only brings out your eye circles. Do I need to show you again how to actually do it properly?"

They glared at each other before Virgil broke into a smile. "So how are you?"

Damien excused himself to go to the bathroom. He definitely didn't leave just to compose himself after Virgil's smile made his heart flutter. And Damien also definitely didn't find his thoughts often drifting towards Virgil. Why would that happen when he had Jackson? Besides, Virgil already mentioned a boyfriend.

All these feelings were probably just because Damien was excited to actually make a friend for once. Yes, that was definitely it.

"I like your nails," Virgil said one day. Damien was wearing his favorite, sharp acrylic nails painted yellow.

Damien avoided Virgil's gaze to try and hide how flustered he was. No one had really ever complimented him before...

"I've never been good at painting mine," Virgil continued as he looked at the messy black paint on his nails.

"I could help you. I have black nail polish in my bag," Damien managed to say. His offer made Virgil give him a soft smile, and Damien couldn't ignore how his heart was pounding in his chest. He then spent the next minute hiding his blush by pretending to dig through his bag, even though he already found the nail polish.

Damien squeezed water out of the paper towels before walking back to the makeup room. He unlocked the door and locked it again behind him before getting on his knees.

Virgil was sitting on the floor, knees to chest and head down.

"Virgil, lift your head please.'

Virgil slowly picked his head up, and Damien tried to ignore the pang in his chest as those pleading eyes bore into him. He gently reached over and started to wipe the dried blood off the scrapes on Virgil's face.

Virgil opened his mouth to speak, but he just broke out in sobs again as he buried his head back in his arms.

"You don't have to tell me what happened," Damien said softly as he gently guided Virgil's head back up so he could continue cleaning the scrapes. "But I'm here whenever you need me."

Virgil stared at him for a moment.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Wait, your boyfriend did this to you??" Virgil asked as he stared the bruises on the side of Damien's face, which Damien was currently working on covering it back up after the makeup he applied that morning wore off a bit.

Damien regretted letting that fact slip.

"He was drunk, okay? He would never hurt me sober."

"He shouldn't hurt you at all-"

"Well, he's all I got," Damien snapped a he pushed Virgil away. Virgil caught himself on the counter before falling backwards off the bench. He stared at Damien as he fixed his position.

"You have me, right?" Virgil asked softly. Damien said nothing.

"Just... Promise me that if you ever need help, you'll call me."

"...Fine."

"VIrgil, my love~" the two heard as the makeup room door opened. They turned and saw a man in a prince costume for the school's upcoming musical. "I got finished early. I thought I'd tell you before I change so you could get ready to go out."

"Oh, uh..." Virgil glanced at Damien who just waved him off. "Sure."

"Is this the Damien you're always talking about?" the man teased.

Damien raised an amused eyebrow as he looked at Virgil, whose face was turning red.

"Oh, go get changed, Princey," Virgil grumbled. The man flashed him a cocky smile.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, dear~"

"Fuck off."

"Princey" laughed as he shut the door.

"Sorry for leaving early-"

"Virgil, why on earth would you be sorry?" Damien sighed. "Go out with your boyfriend. You aren't hurting my feelings."

Virgil smiled at him.

When Princey came back, Damien hoped his foundation was able to cover the small blush growing on his cheeks. His hair was no longer gelled back, but fell in perfect waves that framed his face just right. Than skin and freckles were no longer dulled by thick stage makeup. He was in a red bomber jacket and a form fitting t-shirt and skinny jeans that all hugged his body beautifully.

Damien quickly pushed those thoughts aside, angry that he even had them.

Virgil and Princey started bickering again, and Damien just rolled his eyes as he put in his earbuds.

Had his music not been so loud, Damien would have heard Princey try to introduce himself as Roman.

Damien lay in bed crying, holding Jackson's pillow to him as he tried to calm down. Jackson had hit him. Again. It was growing more and more frequent, leaving Damien to wonder what he was doing wrong.

Jackson had left to go God knows where, leaving Damien all alone.

Damien buried his head further into the pillow, when his mind told him he was going to see through a soulmate again. He groaned. It was such shitty timing.

The world went white, and he was in a nice restaurant, two others sitting with him at a round table. They were dressed in suits, one in plain black and the other in a gray one with a red vest. Damien's body tensed as he realized Virgil's boyfriend was the one in gray.

"They're here!" Patton said happily.

"Hello, my darling~"

"Salutations."

"No, Damien whispered.

"I'm glad you got to see us today! Today is the anniversary of when the four of us all finally met!" Patton said, smile evident in his voice. "And when we get to meet you, well, that day will be our anniversay!"

Damien felt his breathing grow shallow.

"We're missing one, but good ol' panic at the everywhere stepped away for a moment," Roman said. "He'll be back soon."

Please, no!

"It is a nice surpise to be able to talk to you tonight," Logan said. "We had not had an encounter with you in a while. We were starting to worry."

"Well, worry more than we already were," Roman muttered.

"Virgil!" Patton exclaimed as someone sat down next to Logan.

No!

"Our other soulmate is here!" Patton said as he pointed towards his eyes. Virgil smiled. And had Damien not been so distraught, he would have been flustered over how gorgeous that smile looked with that suit.

"Hey," he said. "Good to see you're still alive."

"Virgil! Of course they are!" Patton scowled.

Damien couldn't breath. He squeezed his eyes shut and God, he wished that would block his view. But it didn't. He could still see Virgil's smiling face.

He screamed into Jackson's pillow, hoping to block out their voices speaking to him while also trying not to concern the neighbors. He screamed and screamed but his screams soon broke down into sobs. He took gasping, painful breaths as the sobs racked his body. He barely noticed when his time with them was almost over. He barely comprehended their goodbyes before he was back in his room.

Damien shot up in bed, grabbing his hair as he cried out in pain.

He was suddenly hot. Much too hot. He untangled himself out of the blankets and ripped his clothes off, tripping over his pants' leg. Then he saw the purple writing on his body and he screamed in pure agony. In his hysteria he raced towards the shower, wanting, hoping, praying that he could get it off.

The burning water left his skin red, but he didn't care. He tried to scrub the writing away but it wouldn't. come. off. He started sobbing again, but eventually forced himself out as the burning water became unbearable.

All the energy escaped him and he collapsed to the bathroom floor, unable to do anything but sob.

He eventually calmed down some, sobs turning into silent tears. He started shaking from the cold air and tile floor against his wet body and he forced himself to sit up.

He had to leave the one good thing he had. He couldn't make Virgil deal with him any longer. He couldn't risk spending more time with him.

Virgil didn't deserve that.

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 50)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:2925

Warnings: tired reader, flirty gambit, doting Bruce, angry/ jealous tony and loki, arguing and mentions of a fight

Song for this part:There no way-lauv and julia michaels

Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week had passed at this point, and three more sessions had taken place between you and Shannon. Shannon was nearly bed ridden at this point, doctor’s orders. The treatments were healing her internally, they were helping, but physically, she felt weak. As for you, if they lasted extended periods they could take a toll on you, and most of the time they did wear you out. Keeping your power set to low for long periods of time took a lot of endurance. 

One day after your session you were sitting in bed reading when Remy entered the room with a small box of your favorite candy. “There’s the hero,’ he greeted with a grin. Remy had been around more and more each day and the company was much appreciated as Shannon seemed to sleep off most of her sessions. 

You scoffed. “I’m no hero,” you assured. 

“Not according to that woman,” he stated, pointing to Shannon. “You’re saving her life.” He handed you the candy and sat on the bed. “How you feelin’, darlin’?” 

“I’m hanging in there,” you said with a sigh. “This has to be boring, checking up on the bed ridden girl every day,” you noted with an eyeroll. 

“Quite the contrary. I look forward to this part of the day, every day. Don’t you?” he asked, the hidden meaning in his tone. 

A red hot blush flushed your cheeks before you looked away, refusing to answer. “What have you been up to?”

“Actually learned a new card game. Wanna play?” 

‘Sure, I guess I’m in the mood to get my ass beat,” you joked. 

“Oh come on now, I’ll go easy on you,” he said as he shuffled the cards with showmanship. “We aren’t gonna wake her, are we?” he asked, gesturing towards Shannon with the cards. “If she needs to rest…” 

You glanced to your best friend. “No, I think she’s already in a deep sleep,” you assured. 

“If you say so,” he said with a smile, and you were sure you saw a sparkle shine on his teeth, making you blush again. He caught the shade of red on your cheeks and a bit of color rose to his own before he dealt you in and began to explain the game. The two of you spent all afternoon playing until Shannon woke up, and he dealt her in as well. 

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

A couple of days later, Bruce was in the bedroom, bright and early checking on Shannon. At this point you were sure it was habitual for him. He always greeted you, and checked on you verbally, but he practically doted on Shannon. In one way, it was adorable. In another way, you cringed thinking of what would happen if Tony ever caught Bruce looking at Shannon the way he was right now. 

“Mon cher, you up?” Remy asked, poking his head in the room. 

“Always,” you groaned. “What’s up?” 

“I thought you might like a movie day,” he stated, bringing in a laptop. 

“Movie day? But I thought I had a session?” you asked, looking to Bruce. 

He shook his head. “Actually, that’s a no go today, Y/N/N. Shannon is still too weak from the other day, plus she’s still asleep. You need a day of rest anyway.” 

“That’s all I do is rest,” you groaned. “And Loki hasn’t been by.” 

“I could shoot him a message,” he offered. 

“If you wouldn't mind?” 

“Sure thing. Now, don’t wake Shannon,” he instructed, sternly. 

You saluted him. “Yes, sir.” 

With that, he swept out of the room. 

“Scoot,” Remy ordered in a kind voice, his face lighting up. 

You frowned quickly. He wanted to sit on the bed? “You want to sit here?” you asked, perplexed. 

“No, I thought I’d sit on the floor while we watch movies all day,” he said sarcastically while rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I want to lay next to you. Now scooch.” 

With trembling hands, you picked up the blanket and scooted over to make room for him, throwing the blanket back. He sat down, gave you the laptop, and swung his pajama clad legs under the blanket, getting snuggled. 

An image of Loki appeared in your mind, and you were extremely thankful he wasn’t there in that moment because the attack on New York would pale in comparison to his reaction to this. You slightly shrunk away from Remy at the thought. 

Remy asked what you wanted to watch, but you said he could pick. You were hoping he’d choose action, or comedy - something completely neutral. But he chose a romantic movie, and it made you want to crawl under the floorboards. Every kiss, every touch, every hug made you feel like you were on fire. It took everything in you not to look Remy’s way at some scenes, making you hot under the collar. 

“How about a horror next?” you all but shouted when that one ended. 

“Not a big romance fan?” he asked. 

“Just… want something to get our blood pumping,” you tried, before realizing how that sounded. 

“I might have a thought on how to do that,” he stated, glancing your way. 

Internally, you had died. This couldn’t be happening. 

“I, uh… I think a horror would be good right now. I haven’t seen a good scary movie in a long time. Find me a good one, please?” you requested. 

“As you wish, chere,” he said with a bit of a smirk. 

You glanced to Shannon to make sure she was still asleep, but she was on her side, facing away from you. You tried to take a deep breath. All you had to do was survive movie night… the possibility of that happening was looking bleak. 

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

When your session had ended the next day, Shannon was about to lay down when Bruce walked in again. 

“Hi, Shan. How are you feeling?” he asked. 

“Actually, I’d really like to go for a walk,” she stated.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he started, rubbing his neck, not comfortable telling her no. 

“Please? I haven’t been outside in over a week, and we both know it’s not healthy. I need fresh air. You can be right with me to make sure I don’t hurt myself.” 

“I don’t know, Shan--”

“Oh for christ’s sake, take her on a walk,” you ordered. “It’s a walk, Bruce, not storming Normandy beach…” 

With that, Bruce looked back to Shannon, offering his hand. “Alright,” he sighed. “Let’s go.” 

“Have fun,” you called after the two.  “But not too much fun!” you shouted before Shannon leaned back to glare at you. You stuck your tongue out at her. You were just about to lay down when Remy came waltzing in. 

“You’re already in bed?” he questioned incredulously. 

“I’ve had a long day,” is all you answered with. 

“I could do something to take your mind off of it,” he offered as he came in and sat on the edge of your bed. 

“I could just sleep,” you said sarcastically. You adored Remy coming by all the time, but you were worried those old feelings were starting to be new feelings. Loki hadn’t stopped by in almost two weeks, and unless you were texting him first or calling him first, he didn’t talk to you. You were starting to feel forgotten by everyone but Remy. 

“Nonsense. You’ll sleep when you’re dead. Would you want to walk in the garden?” 

“Too hot,” you retorted. 

He put his hand on his chin. “Hmm. We could bake something together…” 

“I’m not supposed to be out of the bedroom for that long.” 

“I know,” he said, pulling is phone out. You peered at him, your eyebrow perked up. 

“What are you up to, Cajun?” 

“Hold your horses,” he ordered before shooting you a sly smile. A song softly filled the room. It wasn’t one you’ve heard before, but it had an amazing tune. He stood from the bed and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?” he asked, his smile making your knees weak -- good thing you were in bed. 

“I don’t know, Remy,” you tried, shaking your head, sounding unsure. You knew why you didn’t want to. “I’m supposed to be on bed rest…”

“It’s a dance, Y/N/N, between old friends. Come on, I’ll go slow.” He reached towards your hands and gently pulled. “You can’t lay around all day. You need some exercise and this is perfect.”  

He pulled you into his arms, your chests pressing together as he held your hand up, and you rested your other hand on his shoulder. He quickly found the beat and began leading you in a delicate slow dance, sometimes twirling you out, and you secretly loved it, all while hating that you loved it….. 

Maybe it was the fact that Loki hadn’t been around lately. Maybe it was because now you two were focusing on your lives and careers rather than each other like when you were in the cell. Maybe it was how sweet Remy had been lately… Whatever it was, it was a dangerous concoction.

The song spilled into the room, and you hadn’t quite registered the lyrics, but you should’ve listened harder to what your friend had chosen… 

You touch me and it's almost like we knew

That there will be history between us two

We knew someday that we would have regrets

But we just ignored them the night we met

We just dance backwards into each other

Trying to keep our feelings secretly covered

You touch me and it's almost like we knew

That there will be history

There's no way that it's not going there

With the way that we're looking at each other

There's no way that it's not going there

Every second with you I want another

But maybe we can hold off one sec

So we can keep this tension in check

But there's no way that it's not going there

With the way that we're looking at each other

I wish I could make the time stop

So we could forget everything and everyone

I wish that the time would line up

So we could just give in to what we want

'Cause when I got somebody, you don't

And when you got somebody, I don't

I wish that the time would line up

So we could just give in

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

Meanwhile outside Bruce was keeping a close eye on Shannon. He didn’t think she should be outside just yet. ”I think we should head back inside, Shannon.”

“Bruce, we haven’t even been outside that long. I’m sick of sleeping and just looking at the same four walls,” she said, exasperated. “Please just let me enjoy the fresh air and the sun.” She looked at him.

He gave in knowing well there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to make her happy. “Alright, how about we go a little farther that way. I think you might like seeing the younger kids playing.” He had been walking beside her at a safe normal distance but he couldn't help wanting to get closer. 

“Lead the way.” She smiled for the first time in ages. She felt so comfortable around him she knew he could turn into the Hulk and protect himself if anything triggered her. It’s probably why she’s only let him be this near her.

The two were walking enjoying the sounds of the kids laughing, when Shannon seemed to lose her footing and Bruce was quick to catch her. Worried she’d over exerted herself, he helped her get back up. “Here, why don't we go sit down over there?” He pointed to a little area.

“Yeah sounds like a good idea, seems as though I'm still pretty weak.” She sat down and waited for Bruce to do the same. “Thanks for being here with me, you didn't have to.” 

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He sat down close to her. “You still doing okay?” He looked to her

“You don't mind if I lean on you for a bit, do you?” 

“Not at all.” He moved his arm so she could get comfortable. “Is this alright? Or do you want to lay your head on my lap?” Bruce blushed at the realization of what he asked. “Unless you feel uncomfortable doing that.”

“Actually if you don’t mind, I would like to lay down. It's been a while since I’ve done so.” She scootched further down and was finally comfortable. “This is nice. I’ve missed being outside I’ve forgotten what it feels like to feel the sun on my skin.”

Bruce had been watching her enjoy being outside. His hand had gone from being on the grass to her arm and had moved up to her hair slowly he passed his fingers through it and he felt her relax further. He was enjoying this time together and hoped he’d get more moments like these. He knew there could never be more between the two and if Tony caught them he’d never forgive him. So he took what he could get. She looked so beautiful in the sunlight her hair was a shade lighter in the sun it looked almost blonde brown. He kept passing his fingers in her hair and watched her smile at the feeling of the movement.

“This is nice,” was all she said. “I’d like to do this more often if you’d let me, Bruce.”

“So as long as I'm able to make sure you're okay, I don’t see why not.” He smiled down at her.

Just then, Tony was walking through the path with a few things in hand when he noticed Bruce sitting on the grass with someone. The closer he got he realized the person was Shannon. Tony had never felt the way. He didn't know how to react. His wife was lying in the lap of another, a close friend of his at that. He saw how at peace Shannon looked that he didn’t want to ruin her mood. He hadn’t seen her this relaxed in a while. He knew he’d have to have a serious talk with Dr. Banner later on because that was just not acceptable. Bruce was looking at her in a different way and he didn't like that. He thought about how unfair it was that she so openly let Bruce come this close to her, let alone touch her in any way. When he tried it, she would flinch or move away as if she were scared of being touched. What was it about Bruce that made her feel like she won't have anything to fear?

Heading inside to drop things off in the room she was sharing with you, he saw Loki storming out. Tony took the chance to take his anger out on him, needing to let some steam off hoping that the other man can help him relax a bit.

“Hey, Blair witch, where you heading off looking like a kicked puppy?” Tony remarked seeing the other man in the same wavelength of emotion. 

"Not that it's any of your business, Stark, but I'm... I just saw Y/N dancing with someone else."

"Really?" he asked, slightly intrigued, and partly sympathetic. "Who with?"

"I don't recognize him," he answered, his anger shining through as he clenched his fists. 

Tony sighed. "Well, anyone is probably an upgrade from you, right?” he offered, flashing a smile that ate at Loki.

"Same could be said for you," he shot back as he started to walk off. He wasn't in the mood for Stark and his games.

"I'm ready to go any time, anywhere, name the place," he challenged, getting in Loki's face. 

"You're not worth the trouble, Stark," he responded evenly. "You'll have me put back in that cell."

"Nope. It'll be a fair fight. Just you and me. We'll finally settle who's the better man. Unless of course, you already know the answer and you're just afraid this will prove that."  

"I'm not afraid of anything. I'll happily remind you that one of us is a god, and one of us is a human flying in a tin can."

"Then let's do this," he said with a grin. But just when he reeled his arm back, readying the first punch, a deep voice boomed in the halls.

“Hey!” the gravelly, authoritative voice yelled out. “Knock that shit off. If you’re gonna do this, do it right.” Logan approached the two men who cocked their heads at him. “In the ring,” he insisted with a smile. 

 “Did someone say in the ring?” Wade Wilson pops out of a nearby room. “Sounds to me like it’s about to get entertaining!”

“You seriously want us to box?” Tony asked with a bit of a smile. He’d boxed a lot and he was fairly certain Loki didn’t even know what the sport was.

“It’s the only fair way for men to fight,” Logan offered, grinning from ear to ear. “What do you say? You in?”

  “Logan’s right Mr. hot shot, are you gonna be a man and fight in the ring or not?” Wade grins seeing the two men looking ready to kill. “How’s about a little wager Logan?” he turns to the burly man next to him.

“Your on  asphalt face.” Logan grins at the man next to him and turns to lead them to the boxing ring.

Tony and Loki exchanged looks before shaking hands and agreeing to it. A few of the kids in the hall cheered and followed the men into the gym.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876​ @magpiegirl80​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @iamwarrenspeace​ @marvel-imagines-yes-please​ @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification​ @thejemersoninferno​ @rda1989​ @munlis​ @thefridgeismybestie​​ @bubblyanarocks3​​ @igiveupicantthinkofausername​​ @kaliforniacoastalteens​ @feelmyroarrrr​​ @kaelingoat-blog​ @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo​​ @damalseer​​ @heyitscam99​​ @yknott81​​ @sorryimacrapwriter​​ @glitterquadricorn​​ @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm​​ @alyssaj23​​ @sea040561​​ @princess76179​​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​​ @sarahp879​​ @malfoysqueen14​​ @ellallheart​​ @breezy1415​​ @marvelmayo​​ @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles @marvelloushamilton @paintballkid711​

Loki: @lostinspace33​​ @ultrarebelheart​​ @lenawiinchester​​ @esoltis280​​ @tngrayson​​ @wangdeasang​​ @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice​​

UC: @lokis-high-priestess​

[jaylightning]

Chapter 14 - The Boogeyman

The room was quiet for a brief moment with this appearance of the violet-eyed male.  The atmosphere of the room had seemed to change to an eerie calm.  If one was to explain it, it was the calm that came from an acceptance.  Only issue was that no one was willing to accept this feeling.

“Oh, dear.  After business hours, and letting in people?  Y’know, one of ya could at least offer our friend here something to drink?  He’s traveled quite the distance,” Lotus would speak out as he came back down to see the scene before them.  Raven was on his feet, on edge.  One move he saw out of place would see an attack.  Lotus could see this from a mile away.  Meanwhile, Ria and Matthew were keeping back, nervous.  Everyone was simply on edge.  This wasn’t good.

“C’mon, guys ~ Just relax.  It’s only natural to be tense around--”

“That’ll be enough, Lotus.  Plus, I don’t really need a drink right now.” the male spoke, stopping the chef from speaking anymore.

“Okay so this is another secret that Lotus is keeping? if you two know each other, then I’d like to know what exactly is going on... STILL,” A red head was growing more furious by the minute with these new puzzle pieces showing up in the form of Lotus’ background.  Just how much he was hiding was setting off a bomb.

“Don’t worry.  This isn’t much of a secret he chose to keep.  Rather, it is a tale a little too silly to believe.  Much so that I’m sure with this guy’s sense of humor that he’s told you several times, but you shrugged it off as bad humor.”

“Speaking of bad humor, it’s not nice showing up three months early for an audit, Health Inspector, but I assure you everything is fine and dandy here,” Lotus told him.  It wasn’t often that the goofy smile was missing from Lotus.  It was more solemn, almost worrisome.

“Yes, I am more than aware.  As I said, I am only here to help in an issue that you all seem to be having.  I was sent to investigate the matter of your former boss, Lotus.  As you all are staring to learn, there is a bit of a disturbance in your world.  Many species are being invaded and stolen from their homes for a purpose we’ve yet to discover.  We do know a lot of lives have been lost, and we can only assume only more will be taken if this isn’t stopped.  So for starters,” the male approached Lotus with a hand going around the other’s neck, “Let’s take care of one thing--”

“Alright, enough!” Raven had enough and made a charge considering this looked more of a threat than anything.  Within a split second, a flash from Lotus’ neck followed by him collapsing and holding the back of his neck, actually in pain for a change.  The male had spun around to meet Raven and a duck under a fist that was charged with wind.  For a brief second, the violet-eyed male examined the shot and wind before throwing an open-handed palm that would send Raven back with enough force to crash into a booth and break it.

“Raven!” Ria was up and at it to check up on the detective while Matthew was just staring at the male.

“I think ... I get it.  The violet eyes, Lotus’ connection, and this... air.  Along with everything else you just said.  You’re a servant of the death gods, aren’t you?” he asked with Ria looking back over with a little more horror to her features.

“What do you mean--”

“Someone’s read their legends.  Wouldn’t say Servant, but I am of the family of the original Death God, or Shinigami.  Whichever is easier.  My name is Kuraduro Iroth, and I’m here to aid you guys in dealing with Yuuma Samil.”

Standing back up, Lotus would rub his neck as he already had an idea of what had just happened.  Seeing Raven starting to stir and get up, he had to whistle at the damage caused.  “Well ... He did ask for it, but could ya been a little more gentle on the store?” he asked before glancing over to Matthew next, “Also, that’s our little genius.  He reads a lot of things thanks to Mia... Who’d be screaming at us both if she knew I was involved in you guys.  Not that I have a choice.” Lotus commented with the Iroth laughing.

“My apologizes.  On the bright side of things, as of today you are free from your restrictions for this mission.  I believe your friends will need you now more than ever ... but I also think you will need to face your past, eventually.  This goes well enough, I may be able to fully free you-”

“Free him..? You tellin’ me this guy has been confined here in his own store and this city all this time because of you?” Raven asked as he got himself back up, properly, though he had stumbled in doing so.  The question had Kuraduro raising a brow with Lotus giving a small nod. 

“It’s the condition of the power I possess. I told you my dark days were a little chaotic... So what happens when you kill many people and their souls don’t quite make it to the afterlife?  You know that’s a part of my Realm, but... I never quite told you the full truth of my power.  It’s a power that you’re not quite born with.  It’s a power transferred in dreams.” Lotus spoke with Kuraduro patting the shoulder of Lotus.

“Along the course of time, a single entity plagued the nightmares of people it found appetizing.  It preyed on anyone with powerful dreams, and it would consume their very being through those dreams. People would go to sleep, but they’d never wake up.  Lotus had been visited by this demon ... but unlike past victims, Lotus woke up.  The demon’s soul was killed and absorbed into the soul of  Lotus here.  Basically, he is the new dream demon, or Boogeyman as one may call it in this world.”

“Basically, I had a wild imagination the guy couldn’t handle ~” Lotus spoke with a laugh.

The three would just stare at Lotus and Kuraduro that seem to know the full story of Lotus before any of them even knew a thing.  They just knew Lotus had spoken of his power as just his imagination running wild and taking form.  But to go as far as to say he’s a boogeyman?

“Whiiiich is why I have to be restricted and have these visits. This power is very much a mystery considering no one even knew if this thing was real.  It exists only  in its own realm, never seen by a person that lived to tell.  Sorry for not saying anything, but-“

“Look, I’m not going to pretend I fully understand, but I don’t need anymore explanations.  All I need is for this death god to give me a plan.  Boogeyman or not, we got work to do,” Raven spoke before groaning.  Standing still hurts.

“Also, Raven.  Yes?  After we discuss matters, I have something to ask you in private in concern of that power of yours..” Kuraduro would add on with the male looking rather irritated at the comment.  He did not feel the desire to speak to the guy that just launched him like a home-run baseball.

“Wait!  How can we talk if Lotus will die if he speaks anything?” Matthew would ask out with Kuraduro cracking a quick smile.

“The curse has been burned away by my own-ah ... What you might call magic? ability?  Maybe it’s better to call it ‘Anti-magic’.” he explained with Lotus nodding.

“Yeah... Burned.  Could had warned me, by the way..” Lotus muttered the last part, not exactly enjoying that sort of pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was hustling out to catch up to Naito that should be close by.  Sure enough, she was able to spot him which she was ready to call out to her love.  What stopped her was a look of seriousness to him.  He was hiding which meant there was something or someone close by.  Ducking low, she would approach the other without a sound and simply just wait for a command from the pyro master.

“Heh... Good thing ya went and changed to something more fitting in spy work,” Naito commented with noticing quick of Mia being out of her typical dresses and more into darker, tighter clothing.  Loose articles could prevent movements which Mia would need being on the field like this.  The issue was that she had no idea what was even going on.  Frankly, she was growing upset by the minute.

“Comment on m’ wear all ya want.  Ain’t gonna change that yer not talkin’,” she whispered with a hand being raised to shush her.

“Chill, hun.  Check it out...” he motioned as he moved away from the bush for Mia to take a peak and view out from what was in front.  She could see a couple of people tied up and being held prisoner by a single woman with long-brunette hair.  She also seemed to be dancing to a song that no one could hear.  ... Wait.

“Hey, Idol?  Do you hear violin music...?” Mia asked with Naito not exactly responding, but he was starting to sweat.

[hjh-ceilo-monster]

Exotic Shifter : You found me (JJK)

Summary : you were currently on your road trip. All of sudden you found a dog in the middle of your way...

 from - writing.prompt.s

Y/N POV.

I was having a wonderful road trip alone. Driving across the country wasn’t a good idea when you could have just find the flight. I continued driving to my destination, Toronto. I gave a promise to my beloved cousin to visit her since she visited me last Christmas.

“Why can’t I find any good song on this radio?” I mumbled with myself. I then drove a car with one hand while the other pushed the button to find a song. I hate driving in a car with a quiet atmosphere. It always give me a chill like I am in some source of horror movies.

All of sudden, I saw a figure lied down in the middle of the road. With no hesitation, I slammed my break. 

“What was that?!” I was panting. The adrenaline still ran in my body which caused my heart beating like drums. I took a minute to calm myself down and exited the car. Wanting to know what was there in the middle of the road.

"A..dog?" Seeing the canine lied down peacefully in the middle of the road made me shock. First question, who left him here? Second question, why it needed to be here out of all places?

My mind was blank. I wanted to walk back to my car and left. However, I didn't want to leave this poor soul here. Who could be so cruel to this fluffy dog? I gently laid my hand on its forehead and pat a few times. The creature then started wiggling its head. Eyes fluttered open from the nap.

"Who left you here hmmm?" I asked the dog, knowing well that he couldn't answer back to me. I was calmly pat his head when suddenly I saw two head appeared from the body.

The creature in front of me had three heads staring at me deep into the eyes. What is this? Is it not a dog? Looking into those golden eyes, I saw confusion.  Am I hallucinated? I questioned myself.

Rubbing my eyes again, I knew that this was real. What in front of me was real. I started screaming and the dog abruptly stood up. It was tall then any normal dog I had ever seen. Then one thing caught my eyes.

"Cerberus, one heck of a big boi. If found, please return to the underworld. (666)-666-6666." Finish reading the tag, I searched for my phone in my pocket. When I found it, I immediately dialed that number.

I didn't know that place was real or not, but I didn't want to leave this boy on the road. Not when it was in the middle of nowhere and he could get hit by any random cars that passed by. Dailing for few times, no one picked up the call. I sighed in defeat and leaned my back toward the car.

I needed to make a decision. Keep or Leave? I glanced at the boi and observed his behavior. He looked around and still had that puzzled face. I made up my mind.

“Seems like you need to come with me.”

Present time : Author POV.

It has been 3 days since you has this big anonymous companion with her. You can't reach out to anyone who can possibly be the owner. You decide today she will visit your friend and hang out with her for a while.

"Kookie be a good boy alright?" You named him 'Kookie' since the first thing he ate was the cookies. Instead of spelling his name as Cookie, you spell Kookie. You don't want him to have a common name with others if he comes across one.

You take your car key and purse before leaving the house with him. Everything seems to be normal; however, little do you know what will happen in your house while you have gone...

"I'm home." Your voice fills the thin layered air. You are searching for your boy. It is now around 9 pm. You walk into your room and settle shopping bags down. All of sudden, you hear a humming noise come out through a bathroom door.

You approach your wardrobe and search for your bat. Well having a bat or two lying in it is something normal. You were a baseball player before. When you find it, you grab tightly on to the long metal piece. The door starts cracking open and you are so eager to swing the bat into a stranger's head.

"YAH!" You scream and swing the metal bat. Closing your eyes tightly, you insert the most force to the bat. You hear nothing for a while so you open your eyes. You see a half-naked man figure in front of you, grabbing onto the bat.

You and the stranger stare at each other as if it is a competition. His eyes are golden and glowing. You start feeling like he is familiar to you. Your thought gets interrupted by the man in front of you when he starts speaking.

"Please don't hurt me, I'm Kookie, remember?" What nonsense is he saying right now? This man with this attractive aura is my fluffy Kookie? No,  I am not going to believe him. I stare at him with disbelief look and reply.

"Do you think I will believe a stranger that just broke into my house? Who knows, you might be a serial killer or a thief." I reply. Then the man face drops and tears well up in his eyes. Is he trying to make me feel guilty?

"But...if you don't want me anymore, I will leave." Then the man disappear in front of my eyes. Leaving me with the sight of my fluffy boy, whose tails wiggle lightly and his ears drop, ready to walk out of this room

Time Skip

"So what you are trying to say is you don't know why you were here and I found you?" Kookie nods along what you said. He tells you about everything, his name, his age, and other things that he thinks might help you find his way back 'home'.

He is wearing the old jumpsuit that you used when you were still a baseball player. It surprisingly fits him, even though some body parts the fabric wrap around them tightly.

"Okay uhh Jungkook?" You call an unfamiliar name. The sound of it is beautiful for him. He happily looks at you with a face lit up with excitement. For the first time he hears his name from you, it feels great.

"Yeah, miss?"

"What did I said about calling me, miss?" His ears immediately hang low. You feel guilty rush over you.

"I shouldn't call you miss and call you Y/N." He answers with a voice like someone when they feel little. You make a note to yourself to not speak with this tone ever again with him. You start patting his head and he wiggles it while giggling.

“We need to sleep.”

A week later

"Let's pack up, time for us to go," You talk to him while carrying a box toward my car. You turn around and see that boy carry three boxes behind you. Laying them on top of each other and following your footsteps.

'That was hot.' You don't know why, but it is a little turn on to you. When you realize what this thought will lead you to, you stop thinking. No, he is a shifter and he needs to go back home. You repeat this sentence in your head.

??? POV.

"This is getting interesting." I see that boy with a new company. I smile while thinking of some pan to ruin his life. 

"I will not let you come back to Tartarus ever again."

Jungkook POV.

I can't figure out why I was here in the first place. How can I pop up in front of the Y/N car? One thing that I relieve was Y/N let me be with her. I thought it was weird that she picked me up and went with her. When you saw a three-head dog lying on the road in the middle of nowhere. If it was you, what would you do?

The first time she saw me in my human form, I thought I was doomed. She nearly hit me with the bat. Even though that bat was light, her force was no joke. She swang it like she meant it to knock me. 

"How can I tell her the truth?" I sighed while thinking of her reactions. If she heard my story, she wouldn't believe me. No one would.

"Kook...Jungkook, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Then come out, we need to pick up new furniture, remember?" I picked up my backpack which Y/N bought for me two days ago. It was new for me, everything here. This earth didn't actually match the description from what I have heard.

"Stop daydreaming and get in."

Inside the car, there was nothing but silence. Y/N was focus on the road. I glanced at her a few times and noticed her side profile. She was pretty. I met a lot of humans; even though, they were in a soul form. They weren't like Y/N. I couldn't describe it into words, but she attracted me.

'Am I...fall for a human?'

??? POV.

"Yes, my lord. He escaped and lived with a woman."

"What?! My most loyal guard decided to leave his duty for a woman!" The lord was shaking with anger. His hand formed a fist and slammed onto the armrest of the throne.

"My lord, what is your order." Another guard asked for his next move. I smirked with the scene. My plan was smooth sailing like what I imagined.

"I suggested that we should banish him. Because he broke his rule by dropping his duty that cost his life."

"I still don't believe why my brother will be on earth without any reason. My lord, please consider carefully. My brother never had a lover in his life. He always had no interest in love, so what was the point for him to be on earth?"

Junghyun, the other Jeons, spoke to the lord. He tried convincing the lord to not end that filthy dog's life. However, did you think I would let you ruin my plan?

"What he has done was unacceptable. However, I will give him a chance to speak for himself once he arrive Tartarus. For now, you should go get your brother." His brother smiled and left. I also left and accepted the lord's decision. 

"It won't end well...Junghyun."

Author POV.

"How was it, the steak?" You asked the boy who devoured the plate like he didn't eat anything for weeks.

"Delicious, you should let me cook today." 

"I don't trust you that much with the kitchen." Jungkook pouted with your comment. One thing that didn't leave him easily was the pouty puppy face-like.

While both you ate your meal, the doorbell interrupted your time. You stood up and went toward the door and telling Jungkook to continue eating his meal.

"Maybe it might be one of our orders." You opened the door and met with an unfamiliar face. A tall guy wore black clothing with a hat cover nearly entire face made you wonder who he was. He then spoke.

"Can you get Jungkook for me?"

"And who are you?"

"You don't need to know miss."

"And how can I trust you?"

"I am hi-" He didn't get to finish his sentence when Jungkook jumped into the conversation as well.

"What took you so long?" Jungkook spoke and glanced at the figure in front of you. When the guy took off his hat, Jungkook gasped with his eyes widen because of shockingness.

"I will bring you back, Kook. Now the Lord wants your explanation." After all of you go inside, the guy, which you found out was his brother, started conversation immediately.

"Hyung I don't know what happened. When I woke up, I was in the middle of nowhere."

"No Jungkook, don't you lie to me. You come here because of her, right?" All of sudden Junghyun raised his voice and pointed at you. Blaming you as a reason why his brother disappeared from him.

"Hyung! Believe me, I don't want to be stuck on earth like this. You know well that I can't teleport here. I don't have that power!"

When Jungkook finished, it was like his brother realize something. You noticed his feature soften and started thinking. I decided to speak something. At least this might help him.

"I was driving to my cousin house. He was lying in the middle of the road in his 'dog' form so I helped. There was something attached to his neck. It was a note and number." You walked toward the shelf and took it from the box then handing the object to him.

He studied it for a while. Every puzzle in his head started falling into their places. As if the process completed, his eyes widen and glanced back at you. Jungkook, who saw the expression, knew something was off.

"Miss you are in danger."

On the other hand, there was a group of people tried to find you and Jungkook. Their leader ordered them to track down you and get both of you to him. Those creatures arrived at your house in no time. Your front door got slammed and broke from the frame.

"We must leave. Jungkook, take her with you." Jungkook turned himself back into his Cerberus form then telling you to hop on him. You got on his back. He started running out through the back door.

"Argh!"

The sound of him grunting could be heard a few times. Some of the demons followed him. He got attack, but still tried his best to protect you. You were frightened and didn't want to believe what's going on right now.

"Are you okay, Kookie?" You asked with a shaken voice. You felt his muscles tense. His breath was irregular, but still, he ran for your life to be safe.

"I am sorry."

"It isn't your fault."

You patted his back. Trying to comfort him, although, he wasn't crying. Living with Jungkook for a while, made you understand him in lots of aspects. You didn't know why, but you felt like you sense his feelings.

His sense detected no demons. He then started to slow down. You continued patting on his back to assure him you were fine. He stopped and spoke again.

"I think we safe." You hopped down and he changed his form.

"Oh no...it's bleeding." You noticed the cuts around his arms. You had nothing with you except the handkerchief. You used that piece of clothe wiped his blood. Then you caress his face, checking for any injury.

"You smell so divine." Jungkook moved closer to you. He couldn't resist you any longer. He had no idea why. You tried to give yourself some space as well as him. However, he didn't agree. Embracing you tightly, his lips met yours.

Rather a gentle and innocent kiss, he gave you a passionate one. It wasn't a quick make-out session with lust and hunger like you had in your high school or college life. This showed his deep desire and love in which couldn't deny anymore.

"We need to stop here and find your brother." Getting your senses back, you pushed him lightly. You reminded him and yourself to find his brother.

Y/N POV.

My life was chaos. I didn't know that a dog I got was a famous guard of hell, Cerberus. Now I was in a huge mess between the demons. How could I survive?

I cleaned Jungkook cuts. The kiss scene kept replaying in my mind. Making myself distracted and hurt him. I apologized a few times and felt stupid as ever. His face was a major problem. Red blush still presented and made this boy cuter.

I would be an insane person if I didn't say I was afraid after the incident; however, Jungkook with his brother protected me like one of their family members. I got closer to his brother than the first day. At least we could talk without feeling awkward.

"When are you going to be back?" This question had a clear answer. I knew it. Despite that, I still had a hope he will be back home with me again.

"You know we-"

"I will be back Y/N, promise," Jungkook answered. Junghyun glared at him and shook his head lightly in disapproval.

I walked to the window and sat on its frame. Looking outside, I sighed. 'Why did I ask that question?' 'You wanted him, right?' My head was spinning. My mind had thoughts that formed two sides as if they all tried to fight.

"What are you looking at?" Jungkook asked.

"Nothing in particular." He didn't reply, but sat opposite me. We stayed in silence, enjoy the existence of each other.

"I shouldn't ask you that question."

"And I promise to return, don't I?" He spoke and looked into your eyes. I wished I could know what he was thinking.

"I caused conflicts and problems, yet you wanted to live with me after this?" He shrugged.

"Remember, you were the one who saved me that day. If it isn't because of you, I will be dead by now. Someone set this up. They want me dead."

"And how will you deal with that?"

"We know what to do?" Junghyun answered.

Jungkook POV.

"Today is the judgment of Kerberos J. in charge of his crime for escaping his duty as the gate guardian..." I was on my knees with the fire chains lock my body.

There were all high ranks of guards. Standing and watching the scene. I could see his side near the Lord's throne. Smirking at me to show the victory he was waiting for finally arrive.

"Any to say against me, Kerberos?"

"My lord, I deny every charge that up against me." Whispers appeared everywhere when I answered. The Lord looked at me with fury in his eyes.

"How dare yo-" I cut him.

"I understand how important this duty was. To take care of the front gate; however, I would like to clarify what happened to me." He sat still as a sign for me to continue.

"I was put on a spell by someone. When I woke up, I was on the earth and in the middle of the human road. A woman in that day saved me and let me lived under her roof..."

"Who would believe you? Maybe she was your lover that you ran away to."  His side started interrupting me.

"Because as a guardian, I only had powers in strength and shifting my form. I didn't possess any power to travel from place to place like those messengers or the grims."

"You can just get the ability from your archangel friend."

"It can't Jeonguk. The skill I possess only exist up in the heaven. You have to trained since birth to gain the power." Third-person appeared in the court. I smiled as I heard the familiar sound.

"You, his friend, would protect him from his crime. No criminal would accept their crime, right Kim Seokjin?"

"Right. Because the crimes belong to you, Jeonguk. I, Kim Seokjin, the archangel and the messengers would like to report you, Jeonguk, for possessing the dark power, use it to end Jungkook's life with intention, create a disaster upon the earth and plan to rebel toward the lord of tuataras. This is the name of all his followers."

When he presented his scroll to the Lord, everything turned chaos.

2 years later : Author POV.

Y/N life continued. You were still waiting for Jungkook, even though the chance was so little. You hoped that her Kookie would at least come and visited you for the last time.

Two years had passed, but there was no sign of him. Your life was great. However, sometimes you felt lonely when she entered the house. There used to be a boy sitting on the sofa and watching tv shows. He would munch up boxes of cookies. He would perk up his ears when you arrived. 

'How's your day?', 'Let's go for a walk.', 'This show is great.' and other sentences, that you were familiar with, you got every time you came home disappeared with his presence.

"Huh... such a tiring day." You searched for the key. Shaking your bag a few times, you found it. You then unclocked the door and entered. Shopping bags and shipping packages laid every corner of the house.

"Whose that?" Your eyes came across the living room. In the middle, there was a backpack on the sofa.

You felt uneasy. 'Did someone break into your house?' When many questions appeared in your little head, you head the noise. It was from the upstairs.

You walked upstairs and entered your room. Getting the bat for your safety, you were ready to face the theft. You got out and approached the bathroom. There was a clicked sound, and the door opened. You closed your eyes and swung your bat.

"You did this to me again!" You heard a voice. The gentle yet raspy voice rang in your ears. Causing you to drop you bat. Your eyes wide opened.

"I got caught." I hugged him tight.

"Where were you all these years, idiot?"

"Well...I was...here the whole time, sorry." You punched him in the arm.

"Ouch! But here I am. You found me. Tada..." Jungkook tried to present himself as if it was a surprise.

"You, huh, I miss you Kookie." He then leaned forward and captured your lips. He kissed like there was no tomorrow. The feverish kiss continued for a long time until you both out of breathe.

"Welcome home."

[preface2adreamplay]

Under Your Spell (Part 5) - A Heat You’ve Never Known

Summary: A Jared Padalecki/OFC fiction.

Stef is a musician, recently gone solo. Happy with her life as a forever single person until Jared makes it his mission to get close to her. (For the purpose of this fiction, I have liberated some lyrics from various artists and their videos. This is fiction, with real people mentioned.)

Chapter warnings: Flirting, swearing

Chapter WC: 2,725

Series Masterlist

Claire: 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Stef: Glad you enjoyed yourself.

Claire: I’m having coffee, wanna join? Must gossip.

Stef: Nah, gotta get rid of the moose.

Claire: WTF?

Stef: Jared stayed in the spare room. I think he’s still sleeping.

Claire: We definitely need to talk. 😉

Stef: I’ll call you later

Stef was sitting on the sofa, feet tucked under a blanket sipping coffee. She had spent a few minutes in front of the mirror fixing her hair, moving it this way and that in an attempt to make it look ‘effortless.’

Shrugging, she gave up and made a pot of coffee, hoping the smell would rouse Jared so she wouldn’t have to go knocking at the door.

Just as she sent the last text to Claire, she heard movement upstairs. The bathroom door closed. Silence again.

Brendan raised his head from the armchair he was snoozing on and deciding it was nothing interesting, curled up again.

‘Good morning,’ Jared rumbled coming down the stairs, fully dressed, looking like an angel fallen from heaven, scratching his tummy as he gave her a lop sided smile.

‘Coffee in the kitchen.’ She sang, unusually chipper.

‘Are you always this good a morning person?’ He sat next to her on the sofa, coffee in hand.

‘Well, no. Not usually. But it has been a long time since I had company in the morning so I suppose that has made a difference. Did you sleep ok?’

‘Yeah, I did, I was out like a light.’ Throwing an arm along the back of the sofa, his hand brushed against her hair, giving a strand a playful tug.

His phone rang. With a grumble he removed himself from the sofa and walked towards the kitchen. Stef could hear him speaking low to someone, his tone changing when she heard the sound of a child yelling. ‘Hey, buddy, can you do what your mom says? Please? Yeah I’ll be home soon, before you know it.’

Stef felt uneasy, like worms were squirming inside of her stomach. She hated that he made her feel like this, a little jealous of his family. 

You know him nearly a week, stop being such a crazy bitch! Stef told herself, lifting her phone to text Claire again.

I can meet you at yours later, I need wine and girl chats.

Jared walked silently back into the room, ‘Sorry about that. My kids are wild today,’ He ran a hand through is hair, grimacing.

‘I feel your pain. Wait til they are teenagers, then the fun starts.’

Jared put his head into his hands, ‘No, Stef. What have I DONE?’

Having regaled him with a few stories of Darius in his teens, Jared finally decided that he needed to get going. His flight home was leaving that night and he hadn’t packed yet.

Leaning against the door, waiting for the Uber to find the house he searched for something to say that would be a meaningful goodbye.

Stef sat on the bottom stair, wrapped up in an oversized hoodie looking cute as hell. He wanted to reach over and pull her into a bear hug. All he could do was sigh.

‘This week has been amazing, from not knowing you at all to this.’ He shook his head, strands of hair falling into his eyes. ‘It’s just…’

‘It feels like we have known each other years rather than days?’ She finished for him.

‘Yeah, something like that. You better keep in touch though.’

The car pulled up outside and honked impatiently. ‘Oh shit,’ Jared laughed, reaching over with one arm to pull her into a gentle hug. He took the opportunity to smell her hair.  Coconuts. Mmmm.

‘Jared?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Are you smelling me?’

‘Yeah, I am. Just let us have this moment.’

She felt the rumble of laughter in his chest but didn’t let him go as she usually would have, hugs shouldn’t last this long, this was an embrace and the heat radiating from him filled her to the brim, she hugged him tighter.

Another impatient honk brought them to their senses.

‘You just let me know when you get home safe.’ Stef waved as he made his way down the path. He turned and nodded, lifting his hand in goodbye.

When the car disappeared, she felt heavy hearted.

Claire had text back, agreeing to their girly date. Stef decided to have a long, very hot bath and not think about men or music or the ache in her legs from dancing.

***

‘Tell me everything.’ Claire coaxed, filling the wine glasses with an absurdly large measure.

‘No, you first. Since my night wasn’t half as interesting as yours, I’m guessing.’

Claire talked non stop for a twenty minutes about Richard and how good a kisser he was. They didn’t go all the way, but he said he would call and arrange a date. Which was unusual for Claire, who didn’t date.

This whole situation was unusual for both of them. Claire would get excited about a man, sleep with him and move on.

Stef didn’t date at all. She was happy being single. Sure, men came in and out of her life but she never gave much effort in it. It wasn’t a priority. So why was she glancing at her phone every few minutes, like a love sick teenager, hoping the boy will text her??

‘You gotta tell me about your night, he went home with you?’ Claire waggled her eyebrows at her friend.

‘Not for sex, Claire. He wanted to make sure I got home ok. Then he ended up staying. It was late,’ she playfully nudged Claire’s arm, ‘There was absolutely no funny business.’

‘Only you could call it funny business and not come across as a prude. I KNOW what you like in the bedroom.’

Stef scoffed, feigning surprise. ‘Oh, do you?’

‘Because I suggested half of the shit you do.’

They fell into a fit of giggles. For the rest of the night they drank wine and made fun the cheap horror movies they were so obsessed with. Eventually falling asleep together on the sofa.

Stef woke with a groan. ‘Don’t drink three nights in a row,’ she said to the sleeping figure of her friend.

Her phone was ringing.

‘Oscar.’ She croaked.

‘Oh dear, not again.’ He laughed. ‘Were you up to no good last night Ms. James?’

Stef scoffed, ‘Actually, no. Or maybe I was. I’m with Claire. We passed out on the sofa.’ Moving into the back yard, she pulled the door closed behind her. It was hot, even with it being early, the birds were chirping, a little too loudly she thought.

‘Well then yes you were up to no good.’

‘I was out with Claire two nights in a row.’

‘For shame, Effie, for shame!’

Stef laughed. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?’

Oscar cleared his throat, ‘Hold on a sec.’ There was a female voice in the background.

Stef raised her eyebrows, her lips curling into a half smile.

‘Who’s that?’ she asked, hearing Oscar moving back to the mouthpiece.

‘Someone I work with.’

‘Suuuuuure,’ Stef drew out, she had missed teasing him, it had been a while since they had been together face to face.

‘Hey, I’m looking forward to the weekend. You sticking around after the party?’

‘Of course, why wouldn’t I?’

‘Just in case you and mystery lady want to head off to a rodeo.’

‘Oh fuck off, Effie. And hey, I was worried about you, that’s why I called.’

‘Why were you worried about me?’

‘Well, I did send you a few messages, the first you ignored and the second you didn’t even look at.’

‘Oops.’ Was all Stef could say. ‘I didn’t mean to ignore you, I’ve just been busy. Socialising.’

‘I’m happy you’re getting out more. You need to loosen up a bit. You’re getting antsy. And angsty. It’s not good for you to cut yourself off from everyone.’

Stef scowled, she knew he was right but didn’t want to let him know he was right.

‘I gotta go. Thanks for the call. We still ok for Friday? My flight comes in at 8pm.’

‘I’ll be there.’ He assured her before ending the call.

Stef took a long breath and closed her eyes. She was shaking. Either from the hangover or the thoughts of Oscar worrying about her. He did that. Only he could see when she was slipping and always, always, he pulled her back from the depths. Always him. No one else.

After twenty two years, he was still there supporting her, always her cheerleader. It made her sad that she couldn’t move past their trouble, she wouldn’t forgive herself if she forgave him, that was part of the problem. Could she ever trust him again? It was a question she asked herself often, every time they got a little closer, she would pull back and he would feel it and be hurt by it. And the cycle started again. And she didn’t know how to break it.

Frustrated now as well as hungover, Stef huffed and dragged her hair back out of her face, holding it back a little tighter than she should but the sting of it was easing the tension. 

It was there that Claire found her, sitting on the porch steps in the sunshine, breathing softly, eyes closed.

‘You good, girl?’

Claire looked worse than Stef felt. Her make up was a mess.

‘You look terrible.’

‘Well, so do you, bitch.’

Hours later, as Stef sat with her guitar in her lap, plucking the strings, the chords not coming together. But she kept at it. It was therapy for her. She needed to get this song out of her and move on.

Her phone dinged.

Jared: I got home ok. Hope you’re good.

It wasn’t as warm a text as she had hoped for. But, you can never really read someones tone from a text.

Just as she was putting the phone down, another text came through.

Don’t say hi to Brendan. 👀👎🏻

Stef spluttered. ‘Damn, he hates you buddy.’

Brendan didn’t bother lifting his head.

Happy you got home ok. Brendan says he will work on his issues.

She wished she could have him sitting across from her while she strummed the tune she had written purely because of him.

It was catchy, so far she was proud of it. Definitely going on the next album. She placed a star beside the title in her notepad.

Opening the recording feature on her laptop, she sang the opening verse and chorus, with the bare minimum of guitar behind it. It would do. That way she wouldn’t forget how she wanted it to sound.

Jared: I’m open to a reconciliation. 

Taking the opportunity to be a little spontaneous. Stef opened the front camera on her phone, grabbing Brendan and snapping a picture before he could react.

The selfie turned out great, she was smiling, he looked surprised.

Sent.

A moment later a picture came through, taking a little too long to download.

A close up shot of Jared, wearing his beanie (of course) his hand cupping his chin, smiling into the camera.

Her stomach did a flip. ‘Why is he so beautiful?’

Brendan, annoyed at having been manhandled, made his way out of the room.

’Tell me why, Brendan? Why is this my life?’

Her phone rang. ‘Oh,’ was all she could say, seeing the video call option popping up on screen.

Panic answering, she had no time to fix herself.

‘You scared him, he’s run away.’ Stef rambled.

Jared was in the same position as his selfie, smiling into the camera.

‘Never mind that guy. How are you?’

Stef flicked her hair over her shoulder, pulling at her shirt nervously.

‘Writing.’  

‘Is that a state of being for you?’ His eyes crinkling as she smile grew wider.

Stef mirrored Jared by leaning her chin into her hand.

‘My apologies, I am well. Tired, having spent an evening with Claire again. And you?’

‘Two nights in a row, you party animal. My family have gone to bed. I’m sitting here alone missing my new friend.’

Stef felt herself blush and felt the heat ignite in her belly at the way he was looking at her.

‘Cute pictures of you two from the party by the way,’ he was leaning back on the sofa now, laying flat and getting comfortable.

‘Oh god, what pictures?’ Mild panic taking over.

‘You were tagged on instagram. Looks like some bathroom selfies,’ he chuckled watching her cover her face and groan.

’That girl is going to put up the wrong picture of these days and get me into trouble. Hey wait, how did you know I was tagged in a photo. I didn’t even get a notification.’

‘It came up about two seconds before I called you. And I follow you on instagram, have done for a while actually.’

Stef bit her lip, realising she hadn’t actually followed him, just stalked his page a few days back.

‘Hey, I gotta ask, does your wife mind you calling me like this?’

The smile fell from his face a little. ‘Probably, I have told her we became friends after the video shoot. I know she’d like you, we’re just, uh, going through a bad time right now. Nothing that we can’t fix though,’ he added, seeing concern on her face.

‘It’s all good. We’ll get you down here for a Texas barbecue and you can hang with us and Jensen and his family. It’ll be fun. And your son too. I’d love to meet him. Is he like you or his dad?’

The awkwardness was gone from the conversation now as he saw her face light up at the mention of Darius.

‘He is like his dad, dark and handsome. Quite a bit taller though, nearly six foot. Not nearly as tall as you though.’

‘No one is, don’t worry.’ Jared teased.

‘Personality wise, he is like me. He’s reserved, not a bit interested in the fame his father has.’

Jared raised his eyebrows, ‘So, baby daddy is famous?’

Stef considered the fact that Jared didn’t know her all that well, ‘Yeah. We keep our private lives private. We didn’t want Dar growing up with a public life. We didn’t think it was fair to him. But, he’s a man now, he can decide whether or not he wants to go to events with his dad.’

The temptation was too much, Jared had to ask. ‘So, who is baby daddy? Anyone I know?’

Stef giggled, ‘Actually you probably do know him, Oscar Isaac.’

‘Whaaaaat? Oh man, you know I love Star Wars!’ He gushed.

Stef fell into a fit of giggles, ’Oh shit, I gotta tell him Jared Padalecki is fangirling over him.’

‘Well, this is amazing, my new best girl’s baby daddy is Poe Dameron!’

Stef stuttered ‘uh, ok your ‘new best girl’s’ baby daddy is not a fictional character from Star Wars.’

‘Oh come on! I already knew you were cool. I just like you twenty thousand times more now.’

The conversation continued in that manner, both giggling at each other until Stef said she had to get to bed. A proper nights sleep was high on her list.

Before hanging up, Jared held up a hand to get her full attention. ‘Just promise me, you will call me during the week and play that new song for me.’

’A private viewing?’ Stef said, stroking the neck of her guitar.

The look on his face had a rush of heat pool in her core. Inwardly, she groaned as he winked, ‘I am up for any kind of show you want to give me.’

He bit his lip straight after. Stef opened her mouth in pretend shock. ‘It would just be me,’ she lowered her voice. Jared cocked an eyebrow at her.

‘Poe Dameron doesn’t do cam shows.’

Jared groaned loudly, covering his face with his hand.

He went to bed that night and lay awake staring at the ceiling, thoughts of Stef wouldn’t leave him alone, the guilt he felt was immense. He wanted her, there was no question. Did she want him?

Reaching over, he touched his wife's shoulder, finding she was easily roused. She couldn’t sleep either.

‘Baby, we gotta talk.’

CHAPTER SIX

[http-lostforever]

Silenced- 1

Pairing: OT7 x reader

Summary:Y/n was an average girl, passing the police academy with a passing score and no overly special talents, she was matched with a sarcastic, moody, cigarette-smoking detective as a partner. Not only was he already a handful, but the forensic scientist that was assigned to Team 4--as they called themselves--had made it clear that he was interested in Y/n. With those two constantly bickering and the tragic event of a new unsolved case thrown in their laps, how will they feel when their worlds are turned upside down with the entry of a new officer and a case that was way over their heads?

Warnings:Blood, Gore, smoking, cursing, cliche?

Ducking underneath the iridescent yellow tape lining the edges of the scene to keep any onlookers out, I followed his footsteps as they interrupted the blood mixed puddle upon the hard cement. Red and blue siren lights of our car flickered in the corner of my eye, giving too strong of a stimulus for my brain to focus on the situation at hand. Resting my eyes upon the changing hues of light, my mind wanted to drift into a rain lulled stupor, each droplet hitting the shell of my umbrella was hypnotizing enough as it is.

A smoke laced cough caught my attention, whipping my head back around to look at my partner in worry and confusion. He had caught on to my hesitant steps, more like exhausted as it was 5:37 am, but with furrowed brows and a white burning cigarette placed between his lips he jerked his head to the side, motioning for me to follow and get this over with. With a hefty sigh and a quick glance at the tumbling, grey sky through my clear umbrella, my eyes ghosted over each raindrop that hit upon the plastic.

Taking a quick step to match his we began walking past the mass of response unit cars, as we detectives are the last to be called on scene. A stout man ran up, shoving himself between my partner and I, and earned a grim look of annoyance from the taller man.

"So what have we got?" He grunted, smoke billowing from his lips in a small stream as he blew out the deadly toxin. From the corner of my eye I could see him rest his arm upon the shorter mans head, a clear display of disrespect but he could care less. Looking down at the officer we arrived just outside the actual crime scene, the faint smell of blood now becoming stronger, more potent within the rain filled air as a wave of bile begged to rise from my stomach and burn the inner of my throat.

" Melody Smith, 22 years old, 26 lacerations to the torso and neck area. She was DOA and there hasn't been any friends or family to show up as of yet."

" She was stabbed 26 times? Doesn't that seem like a little bit overkill, and why hasn't anyone covered her with a tarp yet? Don't these guys know that at this point all the evidence is just being washed down the drain?".

A young girl laid on her back, limbs splayed out unevenly as her head twisted to the side, an angle that confirmed the female was certainly dead, her wide eyes staring directly into the dark clouds above. All signs of life had left them, at this point she was just a corpse waiting to be put into the ground, a being that once was as alive as me but now left as an abandon shell waiting to rot in the open.

Her shoulder length brown hair that had once been in--what I would guess to be a messy bun--was now matted with her own blood, parts torn out as a clear indicator of fighting for survival. She wore a heavy sweatshirt, embroidered on the front was what I could only guess was a university's motto. A gruesome display of how unsafe the public truly was to the wicked evil that lurked the earth. Well that would explain the copious amounts of blood that were pooled all around her body when we arrived, but thanks to the rain my shoes would be safe another day.

"So who found her?"

Taehyung nods his head in the direction of a blonde haired women sobbing hysterically while hoards of people around attempt to comfort her.

"Ohhh..so that's where the dying cat sound was coming from earlier." A scoff of laughter escaped my lips from my own joke.

Tae shakes his head in disappointment before pivoting on his heels and heading over in the direction of the damsel in distress. Although not nearly fast enough for me not to see the corners of his mouth curve ever so slightly upwards. If there's one things that Tae and I share, it's the ability to make light of whatever dark and morbid situation that we've gotten ourselves into that day.

After all the losses there was no more sentimentality for the dead. It was easier if you didn't think of them as people at all. Indeed, our senses of humor became warped and darkly macabre. We laughed at their silly expressions and gave them rude names.There is only so much horror you can take in and understand, after that your mind will snap. So we joke.

I decide to do a once over of the body to see if there's anything that the crime scene analysis guys might have missed just to prolong the inevitable drama that I'm about to step into, but ultimately I end up heading in the direction of Tae and our devastated jogger. Upon getting closer, I can see that she's much younger than I initially expected. She had long blonde hair swept up into a tight ponytail, one that made my own head ache after looking at it for too long. She wore a matching set of leggings and sports bra that were a soft shade of pink with small gold flowers embroidered all over it.

I had to admit that it really complemented the dark hue of her bronzed summer skin and made me question the last time that I had hit the treadmill after looking at her toned abs. She had deep blue eyes and plump pink lips that reminded me of those little sea shells that you find when you walk the beach early in the morning but ended up getting washed away if you didn't grab them fast enough. I couldn't help but wonder how I looked compared to her since my morning routine that day consisted of just barely remembering to jump in the shower and throw my uniform on.

I also noticed that her already long eyelashes were coated in a layer of mascara and her lips were also supporting a clear gloss as well. I never really could understand the point of wearing makeup to work out since you were just going to sweat it off anyways, but to each their own.

Little to no surprise she was no longer crying, all thanks to Taes "charm". The girl that once was having screaming fits of nearly tripping over a dead body now acted as if she had no recollection of what had happened and was solely focused on trying to stealthily push her cleavage a little bit higher into Tae's line of sight.

I wouldn't blame her though. Tae was a pretty good looking guy according to all the other girls on the surrounding teams at the office. He stood around 5'10 and had pretty large shoulders for a guy who spent most of his time sitting at a desk chair or driving a patrol car to observe crime scenes. Muscular in the kind of way that you can tell when they work out but not anything that says that I'm desperate and my muscles are the only things that gives me confidence. He had dark hair that looked like it was almost in need of a haircut since it slightly hung in his eyes but you could also say that it gave him a casual boyish charm that made him comfortable to talk to.

His eyes were dark brown and almost completely unreadable if not for the millions of facial expressions that he's given me the pleasure of seeing. That was his dead give away. Most people at work think that he's a moody officer but if only they saw the endless faces that were shot my way throughout the day. I look Tae's direction to see if he's being lured into her act and hoping to find something to tease him about later, but unfortunately if he does find her attractive then he's good at hiding it.

"So can you give us a rundown of what happened today?" Tae asks while leaning in and placing a hand on the girls shoulder. As soon as this happens she breaks down into tears again and takes his comforting as a chance to further his touch.

"Well, I got up around 4:15 am to do my daily morning jog. I came up around the park and did two laps around the northern buildings of the university before heading this way. Normally I would head back towards the park but I needed to pick up a jacket that I left at a friends place for an event that was going on later at the college. Halfway to her house I noticed a girl who was laying down on the ground. I thought that she might have also been on a run and slipped and hit her head or something, but that's when i saw all the blood......" her voice trailed off after she realized the severity of what she had stumbled upon that morning.

I looked over at Tae who was already looking in my direction. We both knew that there wouldn't be anything else to get from her in this state at the moment. So I headed in the direction of our car while Tae gave his new admirer a form and a time to stop by at the station later when she had calmed down. I looked over my shoulder to see him giving her a polite smile and a little wave goodbye before heading my direction. I got into the passenger side, the cold leather seat consuming the warmth of my body thus causing a shiver to crawl up my spine. Tae laughed lightly at my action then slipped himself into the driver's seat. For some reason we had this unspoken agreement that he would always drive and I would be the one to man any incoming calls and most importantly, the radio.

I immediately popped in the Journey CD that he had tucked away into the glove department and before you knew it he was belting out the lyrics to every song that came on. His voice was husky as it was still to early for either of us to be completely awake and functional. But nonetheless I didn't sing along like he did. Instead I just sat back and listened to his voice, the deep tones of each word struck my mind with ease as he could quickly raise the tension within seconds. His voice used to be a secret between us until he got to drunk at the rookie Christmas party and did a duet with the one of the other rookies to some song. His voice paired with his looks gets him teased a lot around the office with the common name of pretty boy and such, so he doesn't sing now unless its in the car. But it makes me happy to know that he's comfortable sharing it with me.

Looking out the window of the car it was easy to get lost in the moment as the grey clouds blanketed the sky, accompanied by the soft pattering of rain drops hitting windshield as we made our way through the city. Despite the heavy tension that hung above us, rain commonly calmed me down. Easing my feelings into a more simplified state--helping me enjoy the music with Tae and hum along quietly-- and helping me wake up more than before. My eyes ghosted across the early birds that walked along the streets, warm coffees resting in their freezing glove lined hands.

We slowly came to a stop--red light being the cause--while the sharp sound of someone clearing their throat drifted my attention from the window to Tae looking at me briefly before pressing on the gas once more.

"It's pretty cold out..."

"Mhm" I hummed glancing back at the window, then turned back around once more as he motioned for my attention.

"It's also pretty early..."

"Tae if you're trying to start small chat then let me just be the one to tell you, you're awful at it."

"Listen smart ass, I was trying to ask nicely but now you don't get a choice."

Chapter 2

[fire-emblem-drabbles]

hhhhhh,,,, fluffy centaur Quan x summoner pls and thank u. Maybe he teaches them not to be afraid of horses?

I actually thought about writing this like, all day yesterday, so catch me finally getting to this!!! The real mood is thinking about writing but never doing it hahah. me reading this: oh fluffy?? I’ll… I’ll get there. 

OKAY SO THIS IS ABOUT 2500 WORDS AND I WAS PLANNING ON WRITING MOREE BUT THAT CAN BE FOR A PART 2!

In other words, as of putting this in my queue, I’m free form the grasp of this fic and hopefully, halfway through November, I can add something to the “November Mastlist” post that has sat in my drafts. 

You couldn’t see yourself without an animal by your side;  you adored dogs and cats or birds and fish, honestly, most animals warmed your heart. You had even met a few mythical creatures in your time, there was a sweet river nymph who lived very close to your property, and you had once nursed a wisp when it was weak during the winter months. Yes, you adored all animals; alas, horses terrified you.

There was an incident from when you were a child that you hated to recall; you had traveled to town with your mother to pick up some things from the market, and your curious little nature brought you up to a caravan horse. The man had warned you that his horse was a feisty one, but you were young and stupid and must have done something to upset it-your memory got fuzzy around here- because I next moment you could recall was having the wind knocked out of you and feeling tears fall down your face.

The horse had bucked, and hit you square in the chest; you broke 3 of your lower ribs and sported an ugly purple bruise. You then had to be bedridden for a few weeks while they healed. And while you were older now, you still had some hesitance towards the creatures. You would like to get to know one but your fear held you back.

Today was a normal day, though you chest ached at the old memory. You were going to collect fruit at the fringes of your property, and you had your basket already. It was a short walk over, but the day was peaceful and the sun was welcoming. It wasn’t long before you got to your cherry trees, but before you could begin picking them, you froze. Was… was that a horse, somehow lost amongst your trees?

The horse moved, and to your absolute horror, your met eyes with a person. Well, obviously not a person, a centaur. You would have screamed, but really you were too shocked to even speak. Weren’t centaurs nomadic? What was one even doing near here?

“Hello? I-is someone there?” he moved towards you, and you got view of the gash along his side. “I fear I can’t see well...” He stepped closer to you, and you stumbled back. He was obviously injured, but still, fear paralyzed you. “Please, I… I need help...”

“I-I,” Somehow you found your voice. Despite how scared you were, you knew he needed help. You had the proper training, if you could get him back to your house you could treat him but… getting back to your home would be the hardest part. “I’m, I’m here.” You stepped more into his view, and his hazy eyes focused on you. “Can you, I mean… oh...” You took a deep breath. “I can help you but you have to come back to my house. Do you think you can make it that far?” You stared pointedly at the ground as you spoke, unable to meet his gaze or look at his bleeding side.

“If you err, lead the way, I should be able to make it...” He moved closer, holding his hand out to you. “Please...” You started at his outstretched hand. You took a deep breath, and clasped your hand with his, and began leading the way; if you didn’t think about it, you could make yourself believe you were leading another human away. But the pit in your stomach would not leave, and the way your house came much too soon. You always wondered why the doors were so tall, and why the ceiling was so high, perhaps this was it. Once inside your cabin-esqe home, he collapsed to the floor in a panting mess.

“O-okay, try to stay awake, I’ll um, get my things.” You moved quickly to your kitchen, relieved when he let out a little groan to tell you he was still with you. You were glad to have wood floors for once, you didn’t want to think about getting blood out of carpet.

“It’s… getting a little harder to stay awake...” His voice was faint but cut through the otherwise quiet of your home.

“You have to stay with me, okay?” Once finding what you need, you took a deep breath and returned to him. “I’m right here with you so… there’s nothing to fear.” Swallowing your own fear, you sat near to him with shaking hands and pounding heart; this was no time to panic, though, you merely had to focus on what your job was now. Once you had this wound cleaned and stitched, you could hide in your room while he slept to regain his energy. After that, who knows but for now you had a job to do.

~*~

How could one person… centaur… person… well, how could he sleep so long? As soon as you were done with his wound, you took a long bath and hid in your room but you felt bad that he was just alone curled up on your floor… so you made sure he was leaning against the couch and had a few pillows, a blanket even. You always tiptoed around him when you had to be inside, though you tried your best to stay outside. It wasn’t until the night of the third day he stirred, waking slowly to the smell of slow cooking stew.

“Hello?” His voice was quiet and thick with sleep. Slow hands came to rub at tired brown eyes, and push back wild bangs from his eyes. “Uh, is anyone there? Where am I?”

“You’re in my house.” Your voice came as a quick quip from somewhere in front of him, he had to wait for his eyes to focus. Finally, across the room he could see you before a warm stove, stirring something that smelt delicious.

“Ah, I thought I saw a fairy but I figured it was just my dreams.” A warm chuckle left him, and as he removed the blankets from himself he saw that his side was properly cleaned and bandaged. “Were you the one to heal me, little fairy?” You didn’t like how casual he sounded, how playful he seemed to be, when you were still on edge.

“Yes, that was me.” You didn’t mean to make your replies scarce, it really just happened. You didn’t know what to say to him without telling him how your heart was beating erratically. He seemed to pick up on this, despite still being a little tired, and hummed.

“Could I get my fairy’s name, then? I’m Quan.” He offered you a smile and stood to his full height, stretching his human limbs as he did so.

“Please don’t call me fairy… my name is um, _____.” You said softly, unwilling to look at him.  “Dinner won’t be ready until a little while longer, so why don’t you bathe? I err, don’t think my bathroom could fit you, but if you leave the house and head west a bit, you’ll find a river.” You just wanted him out for a bit so you could collect your thoughts.

“Oh, um, alright?” Quan laughed a little. “I’ll take you up on that offer, then.” He was just about to leave before you spoke again.

“Oh but, um, make sure you ask Lorelei first, okay? She doesn’t like people barging into her water without asking.”

“Lorelei?” he asked, glancing over to you.

“She’s a water nymph who makes the river around my property her home.” Was all you said. Quan nodded, opening the door and leaving your home after that. Perhaps this Lorelei could tell him why you were acting so strange around him. Quan knew you had to be kind; it's not every day a stranger takes you in, stitches your wounds, and offers to feed you. Still, you refused to meet his gaze, and hardly had a reply for him. Perhaps you were just shy? But it felt like so much more than that…

It wasn’t long before Quan found his way to the river, as you said he would, but he didn’t see anyone there, nymph or otherwise. So tentatively, he called out “Um, Lorelei?” It was silent a moment, and Quan felt silly for having called out when no one was there, but mischievous laughter filled his ears soon enough.

“Oo are you the one _____ brought back?” Quan looked to the other shore, and there a woman with short hair sat, eyeing him up and down. “I see, no wonder she sounded so scared...” Lorelei, he assumed, spoke under her breath and nodded to herself, smirking then. “What can I do for you, handsome?” She sat up fully, grinning all the while.

“Uh, Quan. Call me Quan.” Lorelei nodded, though he felt she wouldn’t call him by name. “_____ said I could bathe here. That is if I asked. So may I?” Quan asked, smile on his face. Lorelei smiled a little wider.

“Why do I feel that’s not all?” Her voice was sing-song, and she giggled after. “What else did you want to ask Mr. Centaur?” Lorelei winked, and Quan wondered how she could read him so easily, but perhaps it was simply written all over his face.

“____… they… for whatever reason, they seem standoffish with me.” Quan frowned a little. Did he say or do something to hurt you before he fell unconscious?

“Oh, that? It’s nothing you did, poor dear can’t help it.” Lorelei tutted softly, shaking her head. “When they were young, they got into a terrible accident with a horse that ended up hurting them a lot. They’ve been scared of horses ever since, so that could be why they’re wary of you love.” She smiled, sending a wink his way as well. “But you didn’t hear that from me, okay? You have a nice wash, dear, I’ll try not to stare too much.” And as quick as she came, Lorelei was gone. Quan was left to ponder how he should go about speaking with you now; as well as look warily over his shoulder for any peeping nymphs.

Soon enough, you were finished making the stew. You hadn’t cleared your head much, but you had come to the conclusion that you shouldn’t be mean to Quan just because you were scared of him. You didn’t want to come off as rude, but you were debating telling him why you acted in such a way… You absentmindedly filled two bowls and cut some bread to eat as well. Just as you were wondering where Quan was, a knock came at the door.

“C-come in!” You kept your back to him, after all, you still had bread to cut. You didn’t want to eat the whole loaf this evening but if you kept ignoring him too pointedly it would all end up cut.

“Lorelei was… not what I expected.” You chanced a glance at Quan, who was still a little wet from the river's water. Water stuck to his hair and face and he wasn’t wearing the clothing he was before; he probably washed that too, but you quickly turned back to the food. You didn’t want to acknowledge the blush on your face.

“She… yeah, that happens.” You shook your head, stifling a laugh that would be far too awkward. “Dinner is ready, I’m sure your starving.” You picked up a bowl for him, and two pieces of bread and carefully walked over to him. “I guess the table is too small for you so...” You trailed off, but Quan happily took the offered treats. “That’s no problem at all.” He smiled down at you but you couldn’t meet his gaze and were quick to retreat from him and grab your own food. You were tempted to sit at the table facing away from him, but again you didn’t want to be rude. So you sat at the table, and Quan stood, and the two of you ate in an awkward silence that you weren’t sure how to end. You mostly picked at your food, but you noticed how hungry Quan was; it was kinda cute though, he was still trying his best to be polite in your presence.

You stared down at your food, picking at the meat and playing with the broth. You rested your hand under your chin, and your elbow on the table. Before you could help it, a large sigh left you; one that caught Quan’s attention from his food (you noted he was nearly done anyway) and left him staring wide-eyed at you.

“Is… everything alright?” His words were soft, hesitant as you were. You stared at him a moment; in his haste to eat, he made a bit of a mess, and a bit of broth trailed down his bare chest. You looked away but somehow found it in you to reply.

“It’s… not you, as much as you may feel it is.” You looked to him again, this time searching his eyes. “I just… well...” Another sigh left you, and you closed your eyes a moment.

“You don’t need to say another word; Lorelei told me.” You opened your eyes now, lips set in a pout.

“That little jerk...” You muttered shaking your head. “She just can’t keep her mouth shut, huh?” You would have sighed again, but decided against it. “So I… guess now you know, huh?” You looked away again, even though you could feel your heated gaze on you.

“Don’t worry, I understand completely. It’s natural to feel some fear and hesitance after an experience like that.” You could hear the smile in his voice, and you disliked admitting how comforting he really sounded. “I don’t know what I can do, but I’m willing to help in any way I can.”

“Well… It’s been odd having you around, but I admit I...” You shook your head. “What am I saying….”

“No, go on. Tell me.”

“It’s going to sound stupid...”

“I doubt that sincerely, _____. I want to hear what you have to say.”

“It’s just… It’s been nice having you here? Even when you were, well, you know, just sleeping… It helped me a lot seeing you so peaceful. N-not like I watched you sleep or whatever, you were just, you know, in the middle of my living room so like...” Quan’s laughter met your ears, and you finally looked back to him. He was grinning wide with a look of mirth.

“I don’t think I’ve heard you say that much to me in our brief time together.” You blinked a moment as he still laughed, and thought about it. Perhaps that was the most you said to him-- and was it really so hard?

“I… guess so...” You smiled a little yourself, shaking your head. “Well… your stitches still need another week before I can take them out.” You said.

“During that week?” Quan asked, finished with his food now.

“Well… it’s going to sound silly but… maybe you could, well, you know… help me be… like, not so afraid of horses? And centaurs too, I guess...” You looked up to him with wide, hopeful eyes.

“It would be my honor, _____.” His smile was so charming, for a moment you lost yourself in it; perhaps the next week would be great, and you would get over your fears. Looking into his eyes, you could believe that.

[rnufharose]

Love Yourself (Bangtan and EXO fanfiction/SehunxOC)

Chapter 19

A/N: Arabella belongs to LeopardstarSilver!

The calls from that anonymous fan wouldn't cease, and I was growing anxious. A week had passed since the idols arrived in Yunokawa and the award show was just a few days away. Despite the death threats and tight security, I continued to practice with Jungkook, who helped my further improve on my rapping skills, and on this bright warm day, the idols were invited to attend a street festival in the town. There was a shrine up ahead for the people to pray and make wishes, and the night Kagura would be performed before the fireworks show. I figured this would be a great distraction from the stress I was feeling.

"Waaaaa!" Taehyung exclaimed as he looked around, eyes wide as he looked at the cute Japanese girls giggle and pass by. "We're in a manga, guys!"

"So what should we do first?" Jimin asked, looking between the three groups. "Play some games? Drink?"

"Let's save the drinking until the fireworks show," Kai laughed, slapping his shoulder gently.

"Good, Namjoon and I don't want to carry you drunkards later, so please behave," Suho smiled widely and Namjoon doubled over, laughing uncontrollably.

"Ne, Eomma!" Baekhyun let out an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. "Kkaebsong..."

Hoseok began to laugh as well before pointing outward, "Ya! Let's play that game over there!" He looked to one of the stands.

"Right behind you," Joy linked arms with him, dragging him along, and Namjoon added.

"Remember! Don't wander off!"

I watched everyone leave, smiling to myself as they spread out, trying food and whatever games their yen could afford. I didn't notice Sehun standing beside me, hands tucked into the pockets of his skinny jeans as he smirked crookedly, "Should we have some fun too?"

"If you want," I shrugged. "what should we do first?"

"Bubble tea," he answered quickly. "We can't have fun without bubble tea."

I rolled my eyes playfully and began to walk ahead with him trailing behind me, looking for a stand that sold said beverage. Eventually, I found a stand where several girls dressed in school uniforms were drinking their iced coffee with tapioca bubbles. I walked toward the stand and spoke to the barista, "Sumimasen? Futatsu no ocha onegaishimasu?"

"Kashikomarimashita," the barista bowed before me before turning to make out bubble tea.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," I nodded and took a step back.

"Oh ho," Sehun stared at me in amazement. "Your Japanese is impressive..."

I smiled up at him. "I can teach you if you teach me Mandarin."

"Deal," he grinned.

I grabbed our bubble tea and handed the barista the right amount of yen before we continued down the street, listening to the people as they talked and laughed, wind chimes dancing and shimmering above us against the bright gold lanterns. I sipped my bubble tea before looking to the wind chimes, and I truly felt like I was in a shojo anime.

"They're very pretty," Sehun commented and I nodded in agreement.

"I've always wanted to stand underneath the lanterns and wind chimes," I said. "During high school, since we don't have these kinds of events, I would watch anime and imagine myself as the heroine dressed in a pretty yukata to surprise my tall, handsome, and otherwise brooding boyfriend. Then the two of us would attend this festival."

"I didn't know you were the dreamy type," he remarked with a chuckle. "I take it you've never had a boyfriend before?"

"Ani," I shook my head, facing him. "You're my first. I've never had a boyfriend in high school or university."

"Oh, jinjjah?!" he asked with excitement. "I'm truly your first?" He laughed proudly. "You're my first too, which means I'm the hero and I get to stand under these wind chimes with you."

"I couldn't ask for anything better," I smiled and we gazed at each other for several moments before continuing our walk. "You're tall and handsome, and you only act like the brooding type on stage, so you fit the description rather well."

"Should I deliver some cheesy romantic lines then?" He pressed on. "We can turn this anime into a drama."

I found myself laughing, and he joined me in laughter as well. This man truly amazed me and I can see why his hyungs love him so much. He's the light of their lives, always bringing a smile to their faces, and in return, they baby and pamper him like the baby brother of their family. His laugh was adorable and contagious, that wide eye smile spreading across his face and adding to his boyish charm. We wandered from stall to stall playing games, taking selfies together, and engaging in the most fun of conversations, and it felt like we could be a couple without having to worry about a scandal. It must have been the sugar from the bubble tea but we were both hyper now.

"Yehet! Cotton candy!" He sang, holding up a pink cloud of fluff on a stick in his hand. "Let's share, jagi!"

"Maybe you should cut down on the sugar," I suggested with a giggle and he shook his head.

"No way. I got my braces off months before and I couldn't even eat sweets," he walked beside me now. "I'm eating tons of candy from now on and I deserve it, especially red bean candy."

"Alright, you puppy," I patted his arm and I could feel his long fingers lacing with my own small ones, holding onto my hand. I raised my brows and looked up at him once more. "Oppa, are you sure it's okay to hold hands like this in public?"

"Of course," he pulled me closer and he placed the cotton candy in front of me. "Have some!"

I glanced at the treat before ripping a piece and popping it into my mouth, the fluffy cloud of sugar dissolving into my mouth. "Mmm!" I squealed happily. "It's good. It's been a while since I've had this."

"Right?" Sehun asked before having some himself, walking together and holding hands once more before he spun and pulled me closer, his lips finding mine effortlessly. I hummed into his mouth, kissing him back and tasting bubble tea and cotton candy on his lips.

The cotton candy was all but forgotten, and his fingers laced through my hair, deepening the kiss before I pulled away for some air. I laughed breathily, meeting his dark gaze as my arms rested on his broad shoulders. "We should have been more discreet, don't you think?"

"I don't really care right now," he smirked mischievously. "Besides, I wouldn't be the evil maknae if I didn't steal at least one kiss from you, right?"

"No, I guess not," I agreed.

"I want to kiss you again, jagi," he leaned down, pushing his forehead against mine, his soft black hair brushing against my eyelids. "No, actually, I want to give you a thousand kisses."

"Maybe when there aren't so many people," I took a step back, my cheeks flaring at his words. He's always so sincere. It's hard to believe he was very shy when we first met. He's become so much more lively and I found myself adoring this Sehun—the guy who is always being spoiled by his hyungs and acting childishly, just so he could gain some attention.

Suddenly, the sound of screaming came from the haunted house up ahead and out came Jin, running and flailing his hands. "What's this?! What?! What?!" He screamed.

The eldest member of Bangtan fell on his backside, screaming hysterically, and I wasted no time running to his aid, Sehun right behind me.

"Oppa!" I called out and Jin breathed heavily, holding his chest in an attempt to calm his racing heart.

He looked up, "Ha-Neul-ah! Sehun-ah!" he was hyperventilating now. "Th-There was a man with a scalpel! A-And another with a chainsaw!"

"Gwenchana, hyung?" He knelt before Jin, extending his hand and helping him to his feet. "Aigoo, did you go into that haunted house?"

I sighed heavily, my hands pressed to my hips before I saw Chen and Xiumin running out of the house as well, completely unfazed by the fictional horrors within.

"You just went screaming," Chen laughed a bit. "Gwenchanayo?"

"Are you serious?" I asked firmly. "Why did you let him go in there? If he's afraid of cute dogs, he won't be able to survive a haunted house!"

"Oh, we didn't dare him to go in," Xiumin raised his hands, eyes wide in denial. "Jin-ah said something along the lines of, 'I'm not afraid, you know?!'"

"Never believe him when he says that!" I said with exasperation, then Joy came out, a pout on her face.

"Did you get scared too?" Sehun asked, furrowing his dark brows with concern as she raised a hand, whimpering.

"Sehun oppa," she spoke like a sad younger sister. "The doggy didn't like me! He bit me!"

"W-Wha...?" I was utterly confused until I remembered their most recent song. "Oh right... she's into werewolves. Gotta remember that!"

"Jinjjah?!" Sehun exclaimed before holding the bridge of his nose. "Aish... that was a man in a costume!"

She sniffled and walked toward me, holding me tightly, "Ha-Neul-ah!"

"Aigoo," I chuckled tiredly, patting her back.

"Aaah, how can you like that werewolf?!" Jin cried out in horror. "Girls have weird taste in men!"

There was no denying that. I'm actually glad Sehun is... mostly normal.

"I think their recent song is still stuck in her head," Xiumin muttered to Chen, smirking.

"Definitely," he agreed, crossing his arms.

"I think that's enough horror for today," I spoke, my hands holding Joy's elbows as I looked between my friends. "The night Kagura should be starting soon. How about we meet with the others and get a good spot at the shrine to watch?"

"Good idea," Jin said, still fidgeting. "D-Don't tell anyone I was afraid."

"They'll know anyway, Eomma," I replied.

******

The night Kagura was about to begin and the people attending the festival surrounded the open area of the shrine, where the Shrine Priestess was to perform. I noticed a camera crew was setting up their equipment for the performance, and there was a photographer present as well.

She had lustrous silver hair, and she was in an oversized black t-shirt and denim shorts, her fedora put to the side with her camera as she adjusted her appearance before a mirror. She wore looped earrings and had a nose piercing as well, a slim choker wrapped around her neck with bracelets on each wrist.

"Ready, Bella?!" One of the crew asked and she put her fedora on her head, changing the lenses of her camera.

"Ready!" She said, beginning to take photos of the stage. Her booties clicked against the pavement as she took more pictures.

"Wonder where the Shrine Maiden is," Jimin looked around and then he found her seated on the side, wearing an elaborate kimono embroidered in different-colored flowers.

"I'm glad I'm back here," Kai held his hip and smiled. "I didn't have a chance to go to Kyoto when I was filming a drama here. I would have loved to the Kagura back then."

"The Kagura is a ritual dance used to exorcise evil spirits from shrines," I explained. "Shrine Maidens take their jobs seriously. They're very different from the priestesses you see in anime."

"I bet," Irene nodded as she looked over the woman's kimono. "Just look at how much detail is on her attire. It's beautiful."

"Maybe we can use this time to incorporate some aspects of the Kagura into our choreography," Jungkook suggested. "That is if any of us are singing in Japanese."

"Maybe the flow of her dance can be in our choreography," Yoongi droned.

"Guys, it's starting!" Hoseok watched the Shrine Maiden walk toward the center of the Shrine, the bells in her hand chiming as she walked. She came to a stop, and a geisha began to play her shamisen, and the Kagura commenced.

Sehun took out his phone, filming a small amount of the dance before posting it on Instagram, and Chanyeol watched in astonishment as she moved along the pavement, the banners at the end of the bells flying with her dance.

"She has no emotion on her face," he muttered as he observed the Shrine Maiden's visage. "You can tell she takes this seriously."

"Such a beautiful dance," Wendy hummed. "She's focused on the technique as well as the spiritual benefit of being cleansed."

"This could work for our choreography!" Yeri chirped. "We should make a full movie and study her dance!"

"Good idea," Seulgi pulled out her phone as well, making a movie of the show.

I watched the priestess spin gracefully before the sound of a camera went of beside me. I looked at the silver-haired woman who looked into the viewfinder before snapping more pictures.

"Simply breathtaking," she smiled. "And the lighting is perfect, don't you think?"

"I agree," I said and the woman turned to me, smiling kindly. "I noticed you were with a bunch of good-looking guys and girls. Do you happen to be celebrities?"

"Well," I chuckled nervously before shrugging. "Something like that." I couldn't really say anything or else it would stir some unwanted attention. There was already enough trouble with that anonymous fan. "I'm Ha-Neul."

"Arabella, but you can call me Bella," she said. "Seriously though, I feel like I know you and your friends from somewhere... a movie, or a magazine perhaps?"

"Ah, the bells are chiming again!" Taehyung squealed as he pressed against Baekhyun, who threw his arms around him and giggled.

"Right?! They sound so pretty!" He beamed with delight and I noticed Bella's dumbfounded expression, her eyes wide as she stared in Taehyung's direction, then toward Baekhyun before the rest of Bangtan, EXO, And Red Velvet. She nearly dropped her camera but I was quick to catch it.

"Whoa there!" I said, and she still didn't look away. I laughed and placed the camera in her hands. "This looks pretty expensive. Wouldn't want it breaking while you're doing your job, now would you?"

"You guys are," she pressed a hand to her mouth. "Bangtan... EXO... and Red Velvet..."

I feared she would scream and alert the people around her but instead, she kept it inside, her intense gaze staring into my own.

"Don't worry, I promise not to say anything," she whispered. "I seriously didn't think I would ever run into the biggest groups in the KPOP industry!"

"I take it you're a fan?" I smirked.

"A big fan," she giggled. "Congrats on your debut, by the way. Bangtan is lucky to have you."

"Thank you," I looked back at the performance.

Unsuspectedly, someone stood out from the crowd and walked into the middle of the shrine, and the Shrine Maiden slowly stopped dancing, irritation in her eyes as the person stepped up.

"Just what are you doing?!" She asked her, and one more closer look and I noticed the woman that came out from the crowd was Eun-jae. "The Kagura is sacred! It cannot be interrupted!"

"Save your breath," Eun-jae scoffed before looking to the audience. "What are you all waiting for?! The show's over! Get out of here!"

The crowd murmured as they eyed Eun-jae and she exclaimed again, this time at the top of her lungs, and I never suspected she would have an unfavorable side to her. She happened to be rather sweet when I first met her. The audience decided to listen and they thinned out, leaving our groups, the priestess and Bella in the shrine now.

"Eun-jae," I began. "What's going on? Why are you acting this way?"

"Do you really think studying an ancient dance will help you guys win some stupid award?" She asked and this definitely wasn't the bubbly stylist I ran into back at the modeling agency.

"The hell's your problem?" Namjoon asked her. "No need to act all hostile. You could have just waited until it ended."

"Then I wouldn't be able to do this," she gestured. "Gather all of you here. Now, I could care less about your groups, but I have a big problem with one of you?"

"And who might that be?" Suho narrowed his eyes. "Because the last time we checked, we don't know you at all."

"You don't," she admitted. "but Ha-Neul does."

I furrowed my brows, "What are you talking about...?"

"You really are a dense country bumpkin, aren't you?" She groaned in annoyance. "I'm the one who sent you those death threats. I'm the supposed yandere fan that wants Jungkook."

I released a gasp, pressing my knuckles to my mouth as I met her eyes.

She was definitely the last person I expected to do something like this. All of that hate was coming from her because I found a place among Bangtan and Jungkook is my friend. Halmeoni, this is the first anti-fan I've ever met and I believe it's going to be very difficult to deal with her. I wish I knew what to do because the last thing I want is for her to give my friends a hard time. These award shows are important to them and they shouldn't have to deal with this hate. I wonder what you did when you faced hate like this.

MASTERLIST

[zblackiez]

Starvation

♪ Going through hell, while looking at heaven ♪

Phone in hand, scrolling through the intricate web—the world that fits right in her pocket.

♪ Found an answer looking for a

question ♪

Chatter, encompassing her like doves swirling through the low skies.

♪ How many turns ‘til I find me? ♪

She sat at the front counter, dressed in a modest tank-top of black with a navy-blue skirt and dress shoes as dark as a raven. Her frame thin, slender, she had skin of a fair complexion; soft, like a newborn’s. Faint freckles dotted her cheeks, a few below her eyes, whose irises howled in divine violet. Harmonizing with it, straight hair of vibrant orange fell gracefully to her neck’s tip, just barely concealing her ears.

All around her, groups lolling in booths talked up a storm: retells of a memory here; struggles of comedy there. Laughs all around, their smiles glistening with phenomenal genuineness.

She took her eyes off her pocket-sized universe and looked to the radio that sang near the wall.

“Hey, Mister,” she said, “what song is that?”

He gave her the face of a raised eyebrow, the aged man who wiped glass cups with a rag from the opposite side of the counter. Behind him, upon shelves of oak, showed the collection of exotic bottles and snacks.

“You don’t know?” he asked. “But this one’s a goodun.”

The girl shrugged, apologetic.

“Jess Glynne,” the man enlightened her. “No Rights No Wrongs.” He smiled. “Brings some joy to my heart every time I hear it.”

The girl gazed at the radio, the tunes washing over her mind.

♪ And oh, no rights, no wrongs, take it from me ♪

♪ ‘Cause the answers are living indefinitely ♪

She had her own lips curve sweetly.

“I like it,” she said softly.

“I told ya,” the old man said, “this one’s a goodun.”

The young girl pocketed her phone, then laid her hands out on the wood before her.

The old man picked up another glass.

“By the way, Little Miss,” he said, “you’ve been here for thirty minutes now. Ya waitin’ for someone?”

“Something like that,” the girl said.

“Well, I’ll tell ya what’s up: if it’s one of your girlfriends you’re holdin’ up for, I’d recommend ya stay here as long as ya like, but if it’s a boy you’re waitin’ on, it’d be better if ya just skip out. Been way too long.”

“It’s only been half an hour. He’ll show up eventually.”

“Only half an hour?” The aged man sighed. “This generation is way too forgiving. Back in my day, if ya were even two minutes late, ya’d be in big trouble. Heck, if ya weren’t early, ya’d be eatin’ dirt. I mean, if ya don’t care about the time, who’s to say ya even care about the person?”

The girl only let the words bounce from ear to ear, never in.

She gave a smile of assurance. “It’ll be okay.”

Besides, she thought, this isn’t even the worst I’ve had. One time, I waited two whole hours. Obsidia told me he flaked out, but really, he may have just overslept. Granted, it was seven at night, but still!

The aged man just gave another sigh.

“Well,” he said, “as long as ya ain’t getting’ hurt, I suppose it ain’t so bad.”

The girl curved her lips. “Thanks, Mister.”

He returned with a smile of his own.

Ding!

From across the restaurant, a ring broke loose, accompanied by the door swinging open. And when the girl sent her gaze that way, she caught sight of him—the boy who had appeared on her Catchr notifications. His black and brown mohawk appeared the same just as his profile picture. His tattoos, even more vivid in person.

The girl smiled and said softly, “Speak of the angel.”

The aged man just sighed.

Eyelids, heavy. Bones, unwieldy, as if waves of lead pooled within them. Fatigue curled around her neck, clinging to her like a forbidden lover.

Slowly, sluggishly, she opened her eyes, letting the violet irises meet the light of the room. From the farthest wall, a sizable window greeted her, which allowed the morning rays of the sun to spill inward.

Morning already? she wondered.

Slipping her arms away from her blanket, she stretched from head to toe, loosening the muscles and spreading better the warmth of her blood.

A yawn.

Meow!

The call surfaced from her side, and when she looked its way, she spotted the adorable cat of gray fur and eyes as blue as Neptune. It rested upon her other pillow, gazing at the girl quite lovingly.

Then, a strike.

Its speed swift, the feline leaned forward and licked its owner right on the nose.

The girl shined a small smile.

“Happy sunshine, Charlotte,” she said softly.

Meow! the feline cried.

The sleepyhead looked to the clock at her side, reading the digital text, 8:38 AM. She then sent her gaze to the ceiling.

That’s right, she thought. I have to meet with Obsidia today.

The young lady gently pushed the blanket off herself, then rose to her feet, as lazy as a zombie. Snuggling her toes kindly was the fuzzy carpet below.

The feline watched as the newly awoken trudged to the bathroom in her pajamas. Every step seemed like a chore, and when she finally made it to the front of her mirror, she felt like she had cleared a mountainous journey.

The girl gave her reflection a glance, but only in that instance. As she brushed her teeth, as she washed her face, she couldn’t bring herself to gaze into her own eyes.

The cat watched.

After readying her clothing—a baby-blue hoodie with black shorts—the girl sat near the front door to put on her sneakers. And once she completed her outfit, she lovingly rubbed her pet’s head.

“I’ll be back, Charlotte,” she said.

The cat smiled. Meow!

With that, the girl headed out into the world.

A sigh slipped past her lips, into the air of her bubble—her space that reeked of light depression.

At the circular table she sat, one arm lying on the metal, which she laid her head down upon. Meanwhile, the other hand held snugly a cup of white hot chocolate.

“Tired . . .” she groaned.

From across her relaxed another girl, her skin white like clouds and smooth like marble. With slender limbs and a beautiful smile, she carried the ideal image of a teenager. A vibrant leaf-green glowed in her irises, while onyx hair tied in a braided ponytail drooped down her neck.

She pushed her glasses up the ridge of her nose.

“Are you okay, Kirium?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” the girl of orange hair and poor posture answered. “I’m fine.”

“You say that, but you’ve been sitting with your head down for twenty minutes. The ‘hot’ in your hot chocolate is gonna die.”

“It won’t be the only thing dying . . .” A limp body, till the very end.

The girl of glasses just sighed. “Is this about your date last night?”

“Date?” Defeat crept into the broken girl’s voice like a sickness. “With the failures that happened, I don’t think that event can even be called a ‘date.’ Catastrophe, maybe.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No, thanks. I’ll just be reminded of how stupid I am.”

The bespectacled angel rubbed her hand against her friend’s arm.

“They say that when you open up with your problems, you feel better about them,” she claimed.

Finally, the girl of orange hair, Kirium, turned her head, meeting her companion’s gaze.

“You sure?” she asked. “It is quite the horror story.”

The girl of emerald eyes curved her lips sweetly. “Lucky for you, I’m a horror junkie.”

Kirium cracked a weak smile. “Thank you, Obsidia.”

Obsidia straightened her posture.

“So,” she said, “what happened?”

Kirium sat up as well.

“Everything that could possibly go wrong,” she answered.

“How so?”

The girl smiled and said softly, “Speak of the angel.”

The aged man just sighed.

Excitement pulsing through her veins, the girl rose from her seat to approach her expected company.

The boy of the mohawk scanned the room and met her eyes,

just as she tripped on her own feet.

Thump! her body went as it crashed onto the wooden floorboards. Many conversations died, the focus of the room darting to the fallen human.

“You fell?” Obsidia asked.

“Hard,” Kirium confirmed. She slammed her face against her palm. “But that’s not even the worst part.”

“Ow,” the girl groaned in a whisper. Then, to the general public: “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

But the attendees did not seem convinced. Nonetheless, their reluctance high, they shifted back to business-as-usual.

The girl kept her smile alive, despite the strange look her date shot at her. When she reached him, she held out her hand. “You must be Arschloch, right? I’m Kirium. Kirium Nedio.”

He didn’t bother with the pleasantries.

“You . . . You look different in person,” he said.

As red as a ladybug, her cheeks became.

“You think so?” Kirium asked shyly.

Arschloch kept a straight face. “You look more average.”

By a bit, the smile withered, but stayed strong.

“Well, you know,” she said, “I guess profile pics can be a bit different from the actual person.”

“Sadly.”

The lovely girl pinched her skirt.

Obsidia narrowed her eyes.

“You let him say what to you?” she growled.

“Everyone has their opinions,” Kirium argued. “Besides, I kinda am just average.”

“Kirium . . .” Obsidia bit her tongue, her next words slamming against the walls of her teeth. “What happened next?”

The girl of orange hair rubbed her eyes. “Oh, boy . . .”

Within the booth, they sat across one another, menus spread out before them.

Her heart fluttered, rapid like a lion’s sprint. And as she followed the lines of text with her fingertip, she couldn’t shake the focus away from the light sweat dribbling down her forehead.

“What, um, what are you planning on getting?” Kirium asked.

“Dunno,” Arschloch replied. “Gimme a sec.”

“Right? Like, obviously you aren’t gonna be able to pick something right away. Clearly, you need some time. Plus, there’s a lot of good things here. I’ve actually been to this place a few times. I usually get—“

“Hey”—Arschloch glared—“would you quit yapping for two seconds?”

Lips, locked.

“Sorry,” the sweet girl whispered.

The companion with glasses clenched her fist. “Kirium . . .”

Kirium looked to her lap. “I know, I know: I talk too much. It’s just that when I get nervous, I start talking up a storm, then my tongue gets tied, then I start saying anything, then—”

“That’s not why I’m upset.”

Kirium raised her eyebrows.

“Just, keep going,” Obsidia urged.

As the clock swiveled, as time soared like a flock of crows, the pair indulged in their meals: Kirium ate delicately a burger, while Arschloch scarfed down a pair of massive burritos.

No words passed between the two, as if syllables had grown extinct.

Once their stomachs had their fill, and once the wonderful girl had covered the bill, the two stepped to the world of night just outside the front door. A zephyr blew from the West, kissing Kirium’s skin like a loved one.

“That was good,” she said, her smile wide. “So, what do you want to do now?”

“Actually,” Arschloch replied, “I’m done for the night.”

Again, the smile withered, but stayed alive.

Just by a thread.

“Oh. Okay. Then, maybe—”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Hanging on.

Arschloch looked her dead in the eyes.

“It’s just, I don’t think you’re my type, after all.”

Just by a thread.

Once more, Kirium lay face-down on the table. By now, the wisps of steam had stopped rising from her cup of lukewarm chocolate.

“I guess I rushed it,” she said. “Should’ve called the date off myself at that point. I’m too impatient with these things.”

Sorrow, in a mist, clouded her companion’s eyes.

“You really think it’s your fault, huh?” Obsidia asked.

“Of course. With the flaws I have, how couldn’t it be?”

Obsidia said nothing, instead delivering her hand to the top of her misguided friend’s head. A warm touch, one that could transfer the red of one’s heart to another.

As quick as lightning, Kirium shot her head back up, her eyes dazzling like diamonds.

“It’ll be okay!” she cheered, beaming. “I have another chance at love!”

Perplexity washed over Obsidia’s face. “How so?” However, the gears of her mind did not take long to commence their grind. “Another date?”

Kirium nodded. “Mm! Tonight, nonetheless!”

The girl of glasses furrowed her brow. “Not with that same guy, is it?”

The amazing girl shook her head.

“A new one,” she said. “I linked with him on Catchr on the way over here.”

Obsidia sighed. “You really need to stop using that app.”

“Never in my life. How else am I supposed to find the love of my life?”

“Why do you even want a boyfriend to begin with?”

Kirium looked to her friend like she had a negative IQ.

“Because that’s how someone becomes happy,” she answered. “When you’re in a relationship, it’s the best feeling in the world. There’s no other emotion that compares. Honestly, Obsidia, I don’t understand how you can’t want a boyfriend.”

Obsidia sent her gaze out the window, to a sky smiling above a crowd—a collection of mindless bodies that only ever stared at their pocket-sized realities.

“I suppose,” she said, “I’m just not into that. I mean, I’m feeling pretty content at the moment.” When she looked back to Kirium, she offered a light smile. “Then again, I still have some things I need to figure out.”

Kirium puckered her lips like she was trying to keep a pencil mustache in place.

“Like how you’re gonna keep your new book away from me?” she guessed.

Obsidia giggled. “As if I’d ever do that.”

She reached into her satchel at her side to fish out a fairly thick novel. With a cover shaded white, it had The Gifted: Armageddon etched at the top with red lettering.

When given to her, Kirium held it like it was the greatest treasure in the universe.

“The last of the trilogy,” she whispered. “Time to see how Jeremy and Ruby’s love blooms.”

“I think you’ll be quite surprised,” Obsidia said.

Stars, breathing in the night sky, right next to their favorite mother—the glistening moon.

Kirium stood before the movie theater, the glow of the lit-up posters bouncing lightly off her skin. Her outfit consisted of a button-up shirt colored white with a skirt and low boots, both black. She waited patiently with her hands at her front, watching as the crowd bled out from the front doors.

I hope I don’t get tongue-tied again, the adorable girl prayed. That would be less than ideal.

As she idled, her mind played the tape of earlier—the scene which housed her best friend’s delicate warning.

“Kirium,” she had said, “it’s okay to chase after love, but just make sure you pay attention to yourself, okay?”

Don’t worry, Obsidia, Kirium thought. I’ll be a-okay!

Just then, a voice rolled beside the sweet girl.

“Excuse me,” it said. A male’s tone.

Kirium turned to it to spot a tall teenage boy standing beside her. Dressed in nice, fancy attire, he had combed hair shaded like spruce.

Just like the profile picture, only cuter.

“H-Hi,” the girl said, her heart skipping beats.

The boy smiled. “You must be Kirium. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand. “I’m Lestin.”

Her fingers trembling, Kirium connected her palm with his. “N-Nice to meet you.” Cheeks, burning.

Without a single hint, the pristine boy wrapped his arm around Kirium’s shoulder, sending his warmth her way.

The girl felt the dizziness approach, like an army advancing.

So close!

“Let us go, Kirium,” Lestin urged. “We have a movie to catch.”

He led her to the glass doors of the theater, looking back out to the parking lot.

They strolled through the lobby, through the thin herd of movie-goers, before arriving at the entrance of their designated area. Above the doorframe hung a lighted sign which read, Avengers: End Game.

Still, Lestin kept his skin close to Kirium, and still, he looked around.

Once the pair entered, they took seats in the middle section. And before long, the masterpiece began playing on the ginormous screen. Through it all, Kirium couldn’t keep her breathing stable, couldn’t focus on the film. Like mad her bones quivered.

Oh my goodness, she thought, he’s so amazing! How can he not already have a girlfriend?

Lestin only looked around. At one point, however, he did casually lay his hand atop Kirium’s, only furthering her rapidrapidrapid heart.

This is going so well! her mind cheered. I think I’ve finally made a hit. She could smell the love swirling in the air, embracing her nostrils. She smiled from cheek to cheek.

After three solid hours of beautiful action, the patrons began to melt away from the dim room, with only a handful waiting for the credits to finish up.

Kirium and Lestin found their way back to the lobby.

“Man, that was amazing!” she said happily. “I’m really happy about how they portrayed the villain. He had great balance! What did you think of it, Lestin?”

He gave no answer, his eyes glued only to his front.

“Lestin?”

Kirium aligned her sight with his, where she saw a beautiful teenage girl marching towards them. With slender limbs, golden hair, and eyes pink like lotuses, she added definition to the word perfection.

Something I could never be.

When the mysterious girl reached them, she halted and glared.

“Lestin,” she barked, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean, Hestium?” the boy countered. “I’m just hanging out with my date here.”

Kirium gave no smile to his label.

The new arrival, Hestium, eyed the girl of orange hair.

“Talk about a downgrade,” she spat. “This is who you slump down to?”

“Hey, don’t be a jerk,” Lestin growled back. “Kirium here is awesome!”

The wings of the heart swayed.

“Yeah?” Hestium asked. “More awesome than me?”

Hesitation.

Kirium set her eyes on her date, noticing his tongue-tiedness.

“Um . . .” she said, as soft as a mouse.

“You think I wanted you out of my life?” Lestin asked. “You were everything to me.”

Instantly, the venom of Hestium evaporated. “I . . . I was?”

Slowly, Lestin nodded. “I loved you more than anything.”

The wings of the heart

disintegrated.

The boy approached his former love. “What do you say we try again?”

Hestium gazed into his eyes, forcing her breaths to grow short.

“Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Kirium clenched her fist.

Lestin turned around to face her, then bowed.

“I’m sorry, Kirium,” he said. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to use you like this. It’s just that, I loved Hestium so much, and I didn’t know how else to get her back.”

Despite her soul cracking, the phenomenal girl put on a brave smile.

“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “You’d do anything for your love, right? I completely understand.”

The boy smiled. “Thank you, Kirium. Thank you so much. You’re really a great girl, judging by your Catchr profile. Any guy would be lucky to have you.”

“T-Thanks.”

The awkwardness followed like a cloud of stink.

“W-Well . . . um . . .” Face flushed, the fantastic girl turned to head out the theater. “Have fun, I guess.”

And as she reentered the plain beneath the night sky, her smile fractured just a bit.

Atop her bed she lay, within the darkness that nested between the walls of her bedroom. Lethargy streamed in her bones like new marrow, and she could do nothing more than stare at her ceiling. Outside her window, the moon’s glow weakened, and no matter how much they yearned, the bright stars could not bring about a revival.

“Aw, man.” A weak voice. “I wish Obsidia was free right now.” She squeezed the phone she held. “I guess it can’t be helped. She does have that signing, after all.” A deep breath. “Well, it’s okay. It’s not like what happened was important, anyway.”

She draped her arm over her eyes.

“It’s not like I’m important, anyway.”

Meow!

The girl felt something small and warm press against her skin.

She didn’t bother looking.

“Hello, Charlotte,” she said weakly. “Happy moonlight.”

Meow!

Deep breath.

The events flooded her mind, polluting her ocean of memories with vile ink.

Abused.

Used.

Hollow.

“Hey, Charlotte,” the girl said, “mind if I talk to you? I’d ask Obsidia, but she’s a bit busy at the moment.”

Meow . . .

She cracked a tiny smile. “I’ll take that as a yes.” A pause. “Why . . . Why do I keep failing? No matter how hard I try, no matter what I do, I just can’t get a boyfriend. I can’t get someone to like me. It’s like I’m in some comedy movie. You know, the girl who just can’t score.”

She giggled softly.

But as the moments passed, so did the tears, trickling down her cheeks one droplet at a time. Her muscles tensed. Her face writhed.

“Why can’t I have love?” she cried. “I just want someone to love me.”

The brokenness finally seeped from her blood, pouring into the place of shadows.

Once more, she felt the soft paw kiss her skin.

“Child . . .”

Widened eyes.

For a moment, the cruelty of reality slipped from the girl’s focus, and she lifted her arm to meet the feline’s eyes.

The furry guardian gazed lovingly.

Despite the wetness of her face, the sorrow of her soul, the girl chuckled a little.

“What’s wrong with me?” she asked. “First, I can’t get someone to accept me. Now, I’m going so crazy that I’m hearing voices.”

The paw gave a kind rub.

“Child . . .” the voice repeated.

“Fine, fine,” the girl said, her voice feeble, “I’ll go along. I’m as strange as is, anyway.”

The voice continued. “Does it hurt, child?”

“Does it hurt?” The girl clenched her fist. “Of course it hurts. It hurts every second that I breathe. No matter what I do, I can’t find that special someone. It’s like the universe is telling me to be alone.” Another tear. “I don’t want to be alone. I want to be loved.”

Silence.

Then: “Tell me, child: who do you love?”

“Who do I love?” the girl asked.

“Yes, who do you love?”

The child considered the inquiry.

“Obsidia,” she answered. “She’s been with me through thick and thin, through the good times and the bad ones. I know I can always count on her.

“I love my mom and my dad. I know they work a lot, but they can’t help it. They have to do what they can to support the three of us. I appreciate all the hard work they do.

“There’s also Ms. Diamond. She always helps me in class, even though I’m more on the slow side. She’s patient and understands my struggles. She’s like a second mom in some ways.

“Then there’s—”

“Now let me ask you this,” the voice interrupted. “How long until you were going to say ‘myself?’”

As her lips stayed sewed tight, the realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. Her lips quivered, and she sobbed even harder.

“I have witnessed the paradigm of your life, child,” the voice said. “You run around, tired as can be, searching for a source of affection; yet, the one person you are unwilling to meet eyes with is yourself.

“You starve for love, yet you won’t turn to the one individual who holds an unlimited supply.”

“How am I supposed to even look at myself in the mirror?” the girl wept. “How am I supposed to see myself as anything more than a disgusting abomination? You’ve seen me, right? You know who I am. I’m worthless. Annoying. A waste of space.”

“If you’re a waste of space, then why does Obsidia bother!?” the voice growled.

Ever so slightly, the girl’s jaw hung.

“If you’re annoying, why does Ms. Diamond care for you?” the voice continued. “If you’re worthless, why do your mother and father see you as a princess?”

No answer.

The guardian angel lowered its tone.

“Because you’re you, Kirium,” it said. “You’re not worthless. You’re not annoying. You’re anything but a waste of space. You are Kirium Nedio, and for the world, that’s good enough.

“If you long for affection, then you must look within before you can gaze out. You must be willing to be kind to yourself. After all, how are you supposed to love someone if you can’t even love yourself?”

Kirium clenched her teeth, the truth of the words spiraling in her mind, in her sanctum of emotions.

“It’s just hard,” she whispered. “It’s hard being okay being me.”

The warm paw tapped her cheek.

“I know,” the voice said, “but it is not impossible. You are one of the brightest girls this universe has witnessed, and you have much to show for. In time, you will come to realize that. Just don’t sell yourself short, because you are undeserving of such ridicule.”

The girl gave only an answer of silence, her body unmoving. Even so, she never let that message stray far from her now-redder heart.

She awoke at the rise of morning, slumbering past the moon that recovered its glow and the stars that beamed with joy.

Morning already? she wondered, looking to the sky of fresh blue.

Meow!

Before her senses could truly come alive, she felt something moist brush against her nose.

“Happy sunshine, Charlotte,” the girl said, admiring the cat of gray fur and Neptune eyes. “I see you’re up early.”

Meow! the feline cheered.

Leaving her bed a mess, the girl departed from her bedroom to the bathroom, where the accursed mirror grinned at her with wickedness.

But she did back down.

Not again.

As she brushed her teeth, as the odd memories of last night popped into her mind, she stared at the reflection head-on, despite how much her skin crawled.

Yet,

even as the image shook pain all throughout, she cracked the tiniest of smiles, noticing, if only by a little, the genuine wonder that the girl in the mirror shined.

The splendid human.

[the-cpu-system]

2Doc

TW! ANIMAL ABUSE, ALCHOHOLISM, AND ABUSE IN GENERAL!

Nonbinary 2D❤

Also this is my first Gorillaz fanfic so pleasw just spare whatever this monstrosity will be.

This is very angsty and seems like anti-2Doc but trust me at the end it gets to the ship jhfhssj

Also sorry for any spelling errors!

||2D Snaps||

It was just a normal day, Noodle playing games on her DS in her room, 2D looking for literally anything in the fridge, Russel doing.. Russel things (idk I don't keep up with him I'm sorry), and Murdoc sitting at the table, beer bottle in hand, staring at 2D. " close the fuckin door ya good for nothin piece of!- " 2D turned around to be met with a glass bottle smashing inches from their face. They flinched just after that, pushing the fridge door close with their hip. " I- uhm- uh- I'm- I'm sorry I'm uh- I'm- " they apologized, Murdoc growling and leaning back. " get me another beer, you're the closest. " They seemed just absolutely confused but grabbed two beers from the fridge, giving one to Murdoc before going to walk away. " aye Stu, " they turned around to face the bassist, " come sit down next to me. " the singer slowly walked back over, just because they didn't want another bottle flung at them. They pulled out the chair, sitting down quietly. Their lanky arms were limp on the table, the sweating beer in hand. They didn't keep eye contact with him- well- they couldn't really keep eye contact at all but they just didn't look at him. They gulped down whatever fear they had. Besides, he shouldn't be scared of Murdoc. Bandmates shouldn't be scared of each other. They glanced up at Murdoc who, from above the table, was just drinking the alcoholic beverage quietly, ignoring 2D's existence. It was better than getting hit. Under the table though Murdoc's free hand found itself on 2D's thigh, hand dipping downwards to the in between area of Stuart's pants. The singer, actually being on time with this reaction, rather panickly scooted the chair away, standing up with the closed beer in hand. " I- uh- I gotta go to my room! " They left hurriedly, glancing back at Murdoc who's tongue rolled out of his mouth along with a growl.

The singer sat on their bed, headphones plugged into a damage phone that played Dirty Harry. It wasn't their most favorite, but they liked the song. Its one of the only ones that didn't remind them of Murdoc like Feel Good or Rhinestone Eyes did. They closed their eyelids, humming along to the song. With the volume all the way up they didn't notice the green figure that stood in the doorway, glaring with a glass bottle held in his clenched fist. For no other reason than because he can, he chucked a bottle at the singer for the second time today. They jumped up, eyes wide with fear. Their music had already stopped. They screamed in pain, the drunk not knowing why until they moved their hands. A giant glass chunk had landed in the void called their eye socket, and other pieces had cut into their face, blood seeping and spewing from the cuts. Disgusting sight. At least the both car crashes 2D was in to get their eyes gouged out werent bloody.. Or weren't as bloody, but that's just because Murdoc didn't really see Stuart's body. This time he did. Though through his drunken state he couldn't comprehend what the hell just happened, even after Noodle and Russel came rushing in and called an ambulance.

It was about a year after that incident. Murdoc had no recollection of it ever happening and 2D had gotten a therapy dog to cope. New year new me, I guess. 2D had to wear an eyepatch because it hadn't healed correctly, even after all that time for it to heal. Guess being pinned down on a couch and having beer poured into your eye socket does that. Murdoc had sworn off drinking, just to try and get clean and because of 2D's dog. Last thing Murdoc wanted was to hurt an animal. Of course Murdoc's new years resolution didnt last too long of course when another boring day rolled around another 5 bottles were inhaled like air.

A rule that was made was the dog (named Blue) wasn't allowed on the couch. Though, Blue liked to curl up on 2D's lap, or well, attempt to, Blue isnt really a lap dog. Blue is a husky. But 2D was watching a movie, the one they watch every single time they get the tv. Blue was on their lap, making sure they didn't freak out with Murdoc just in the other room mumbling about how he wanted to snap their neck. The bassist drunkenly stumbled into the living room after a good amount of time. 2D was now asleep, Blue doing the same on their lap. Blue's body hung over onto the couch cushions. This pissed Murdoc off. So without any thought he chucked the glass bottle at the dog. Blue yelled in pain, causing 2D to wake up. Murdoc realized what he did, eyes widening in horror. " Sh-Shit!- 'm sorry I didn't mean to!- " 2D was too worried for their dog to notice Murdoc apologize for once in his life. Murdoc never apologized for hitting Stuart, or for getting both their eyes gouged out, or for literally everything else. Though when the singer realized what Murdoc said they stopped, smiling softly at the fact that the bassist of the band did have a heart and morals just very.. Deep deep deep down in his green Satanist heart.

Noodle and Russel were in the room now, the drummer piecing everything together in his mind and yelled at Murdoc, deciding now wasn't the time for psyichal violence. Noodle still didn't notice what happened, she was just standing there awkwardly watching as Russel yelled at Murdoc (who just took the yelling, surprisingly) and 2D on the floor, arms wrapped around Blue, trembling with tears threatening to spill from their eyes. As she realize she made an " oOoh " and walked over to 2D, helping them to their room, along with the dog of course.

With the incident now a week behind 2D and Murdoc hasn't left their rooms. The singer wasn't in the right state, tried to restart his painkillers addiction a few days earlier, so the painkillers were hidden and now they just didn't have the strength to leave their room. The Satanist felt horrible. Guilty. Disgusted in himself. Picking up women, getting drunk, getting high, getting drunk AND high, abusing 2D, almost killing 2D a handful of times, dressing like a n@z¡ That one time, and everything else he's done were a-okay in his book but animal abuse. That drew the line. 2D probably hated him now. They should be hated him before but they never did. May out of fear. Everyone hated him, never really pretended not to. But Stuart. Stuart "2D" Pot never seemed to hate him. They also forgave him.

His head began to hurt bad, he needed some beer. No.. Something stronger. Whiskey? Vodka? Vodka. But that'd mean he'd have to go out of his room and potentially see 2D. Oh well. Alcohol over feelings any day.

He trudged out if his room, dressed in nothing but his underwear as he rummaged around in the fridge and cabinets for the vodka. Conveniently Blue had to go out, so 2D cane out of their room a few minutes after the green male, quickly letting the dog outside before turning around to retreat back to their room. Murdoc had noticed them and now the two were staring at eachother, being too nervous to say anything but too confident to just walk away. Eventually 2D spoke. It was quiet and raspy, as if they hadn't drank water in a while. " can I get a sip? " Murdoc nodded and handed it over to the bluenette, who chugged half the bottle in a matter of seconds. He didn't comment on it, just built up enough courage to apologize once more. " 'ey look 'm sorry bout your dog I didn't mean t- " " I don't forgive you. Stop apologizing. " " ... 'xcuse me? " this had never happened before. 2D had just.. Ran out of patience. Patience for Murdoc to get better. Yeah they loved the son if a bitch, but they couldn't take his shit anymore. " did you really think I'd forgive you after you threw a fuckin glass bottle at my dog that I got because of you? My therapy dog that I only got so I could cope with the fuckin trauma YOU gave me. Are you forgetting this?- " they flipped up their blue and black eyepatch to reveal the swollen and greenish-black eye socket. Murdoc cringed in disgust. They flipped the eyepatch back down, continuing to vent. " I sat- and still do sit- in my room, hoping, PRAYING to whatever exists that you'll change. That you'll realize how fucked up you are. That you'll love me instead of chuckin beer bottles at me. I know that apology that night was genuine. I thought for a second that you changed- but the few fuckin times we've seen each other since that are JUST like before- I CANT FUCKIN TAKE IT ANYMORE NICCALS- I- I FUCKIN QUIT. " Stuart didn't mean it. Of course they didn't. They loved Gorillaz, I mean there'd never be a singer more fit for the job than them. They were just too caught up in it. Blue knew that too. That's why the dog clawed at the door. " I- Stu- Stuart- you can't just- you can't just quit- " Murdoc attempted to move closer, though 2D staggered back and gripped the now empty vodka bottle, raising it up like they were gonna hit him. " D- DONT FUCKIN COME NEAR ME- " the bassist ignored this warning and came closer, being greeted with shattered glass and small droplets of vodka to the face. He fell on his ass, holding onto the now bloody side, rather ironically a piece had jabbed into his eye. Just like what happened with Stuart. Though Stuart just stared down, panting heavily, admiring what they had just done. This wasn't the 2D Murdoc knew. He had really corrupted them. The singer grinned, laughing as they threw the top part of the bottle down next to Murdoc for it to shatter. " 'ats karma. "

-6 years later-

Blue had sadly passed due to natural reasons, though 2D was able to overcome the death of their therapy dog and not resort to pills. Murdoc was doing better just now with one eye missing. The two had fixed their friendship, both went to rehab together. They had matching eye patches and were inseparable from each other. So there they were. At a live concert for the band. For the 6 years of healing their relationship they never went any further than just friendly things. Though the thigh grab Murdoc did 7 years ago still stuck in 2D's mind, the words 2D had said stuck in Murdoc's.

On stage the two stood close, sneaking lustful glances at eachother. Though as they sang all their old songs they kept getting closer, the crowd most definetly noticing. " JUST KISS ALREADY! " someone yelled, both of them laughing. So once Feel Good Inc. had ended 2D let the Mic stand swirl and almost fall, Murdoc catching on and handing his bass to Noodle. The two pulled each other close, lips connecting. Some of the crowd cheered, some booed. They could care less. The kiss got more heated, 2D bent down a bit, Murdoc grinding on them. Though the two realized it was time to stop and separated, a string of saliva following. They wiped their mouths and grabbed their instruments again, continuing the concert like nothing ever happened. Though everyone knew that the two were way more than just Bandmates now. They were lovers, fuck buddies, boyfriends, etc. And they sure as hell were gonna show it off to the world.

(Edit: why is this so long i )

#2doc #studoc #2dxmurdoc #stuartdoc