#already forming plotlines in my head

[mejaemin]

you guys are not ready for the woman ill become and the fics ill create when summer comes

[starlightkun]

⇢ word count: 6.9k ⇢ genre: fluff, established relationship, secret relationship, office workers!jisung & reader, holiday themed, a bit of a crackfic (everyone in this is slightly unhinged and you should NOT act like them in your actual workplace PLEASE), appearances from absolute nuisances nohyuck (mainly hyuck being a nuisance and jeno being a desk candy bowl thief) and chill boss johnny (he’s actually the only normal one around this office fr), part of my 2024 hallmark movie marathon ⇢ warnings: lots of discussions of sex/sleeping together (nohyuck have an absolutely unhinged plot to have reader hook up w jisung w/o realizing that they’re already dating, shenanigans ensue) ⇢ extra info: this was originally going to be part of want from me, but i felt like i was losing the plot a bit, so i tweaked some stuff and made it its own fic instead this is part of my 2024 hallmark movie marathon, three short, unrelated fics starring jisung all with cheesy hallmark christmas movie-esque premises. there’s no continuing plotline between fics in this series, they’re all standalone fics ⇢ author’s note: ok i may be stretching the concept of a ‘cheesy hallmark movie’ in this one, but there’s a holiday party. sue me. ⇢ 2024 hallmark movie marathon

“You need to fuck Jisung.” Donghyuck sat on your desk the following Monday, nearly knocking your cup of pens over.

“What happened to hello? How are you?”

“I get why you didn’t want to tell anybody when I was interviewing,” Jisung sighed as you adjusted his tie for him. “But don’t you think everyone’s formed their own opinions about me by now?”

“You told me Mr. Kang called you Joosung yesterday,” you pointed out. “We agreed after your three-month evaluation, remember?”

“That’s next month!”

“Two weeks. December tenth, to be exact, will be three months since you started.”

“I know, I know.” He pulled you closer by your hips, burying his face in your neck. “Thank you.”

You rested one hand on the nape of his neck, the other stroking his hair. “I hate it too. I was in the bathroom yesterday and overheard a couple of the women from budgeting talking about you. Apparently one of them wants to ask you to the holiday party.”

He lifted his head up, squinting with confusion. “Wait, was it Song Minji from budgeting?”

“Yes…”

“Yesterday she asked me if I was going, I said yes, then she asked if I had a date, and I said no, and she said she didn’t either. Then she just stared at me. It was really awkward, so I told her I had to get back to my spreadsheets and walked away.”

You burst out laughing, covering your mouth as your boyfriend continued looking down at you with absolutely endearing confusion. Patting his cheek, you informed him gently, “She was waiting for you to ask her to the party, baby.”

“Well, even if I knew that, I wouldn’t have,” he huffed.

“I know, Sungie,” you kissed his cheek. “I know.”

“Good.”

You glanced at the time on your bedside clock, tapping his arm indicatively. “We’ve got to go.”

“Y/N, someone from bookkeeping will be over to pick these receipts up today,” Mr. Suh, your boss, informed you, setting a large banker box down on the ledge behind your computer monitor.

You nodded. “You sure you don’t want me to just take them over there now?”

Bookkeeping was on the same floor as your team, just on the opposite side of the large office building.

“No, I’ve got six more boxes in my office. They should be coming with a dolly. I’ve got a lunch meeting, then I’m on-site at a build. Can you make sure they get them all?”

“Of course. See you tomorrow, then.”

“Thank you. See you tomorrow.” He smiled and reached into your candy bowl, securing a chocolate for himself before heading off towards the elevator.

As you continued working up your reports, another figure approached your desk.

“Hi.” Jisung smiled down at you from over the banker box.

“And what is a bookkeeping gremlin doing over here?” You teased, having already spotted the bright orange dolly next to him. “They let you guys out of your cages?”

“Just me, because I’m on a mission.” He did a little mock salute, making you giggle. He then looked between the dolly and the box. “But I don’t really think this was necessary…”

“There’s six more boxes in Mr. Suh’s office,” you informed him happily, pointing to your boss’ door.

“Oh.”

Two of your team members, Donghyuck and Jeno, congregated around your desk then as well, Jeno zeroing in on your candy bowl as always, and Donghyuck snooping at what you were doing on your screen.

“Boring!” Hyuck declared, hitting CTRL + S on your keyboard to save it for you before exiting out of the program. “Lunchtime!”

“Hey, I was working on that, you know,” you protested, keeping up your usual banter with your work friend.

“Now you’re not,” he shrugged.

“Actually, you were chatting with…” Jeno trailed off, looking at Jisung expectantly.

“Jisung,” your boyfriend filled in.

“—You were chatting with Jisung when we got here,” Jeno finished, popping another chocolate in his mouth and tucking it in his cheek to talk around it. “So you weren’t really working.”

“She was telling me where the other boxes of receipts were,” Jisung explained quickly, gesturing to the dolly. “I’m supposed to pick them up. I’m from bookkeeping.”

Hyuck scanned him from head to toe. “You’re new, right?”

He nodded.

“Come to lunch with us.”

“No, Hyuck,” you snorted, cutting up your food as your coworker attempted to show you a picture of another one of his friends over lunch. “The last asshole you set me up with stood me up, remember?”

“I told you, Jaemin got a stomach bug!” Hyuck insisted. “And that was like, over a year ago!”

You looked at him pointedly. “And he could text you but not me? Think about it.”

“Okay, so he was a flake, but Mark is like, a really good guy!” He elbowed your other coworker next to him. “Jeno, back me up!”

Jeno shrugged. “Eh, he seems like the kind of guy to call you ‘bro’ in bed.”

“Not the kind of back-up I meant!”

“Am I wrong?”

“Why are you thinking about what Mark would call you in bed, Jeno?” You snickered.

He stuck his tongue out at you, and you mimicked him.

Hyuck pushed on in his seemingly never-ending pursuit to set you up with his also never-ending pool of single friends. “Ignore him, Y/N. Will you at least consider? For me? Your bestest friend?”

“I never see you outside of work functions,” you pointed out.

“Please? Pretty please? Pretty pretty please?”

“Whatever. Send me his CV,” you said noncommittally, taking a bite of your food.

“On it!”

“Wait, he’s applying for a job?” Jisung finally spoke from his seat beside you, his confusion apparent.

“No, that’s just what they call whatever information Hyuck sends her about the guys he tries to set her up with,” Jeno explained for him. “It ends up being pretty much the same stuff that’s on a résumé, though.”

Hyuck then focused in on a new target. “Jisung, what about you?”

He froze. “What?”

“Are you single?”

“Uhm—”

“Lie if you have to,” you advised. “Once he smells blood, you’re done for.”

“I’m not a shark!” Hyuck took great offense to this comparison. “I’m-I’m like Cupid!”

You let out a derisive laugh at that, stabbing your fork into your food and lifting your next bite to your mouth.

“I’ve got a girlfriend,” Jisung answered hurriedly.

Hyuck narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “So you’re bringing her to the Christmas party.”

“I-I don’t know, we uhm—we just started seeing each other.”

“You’ll bring her to the next monthly mixer, then?”

“I’m pretty sure this is workplace harassment,” you stepped in on Jisung’s behalf, giving Hyuck a disapproving look. “We had a seminar, remember?”

“You’re not curious?”

“No, I don’t care to see you bother poor Jisung for the rest of our fleeting lunch break.”

“Fine, I won’t disturb Y/N’s precious lunch break,” he gave in melodramatically. “But I want to hear about her when we get back to the office, Jisung.”

When you and Jisung got home that evening, you waited until the two of you had gotten out of your work clothes to address the pout on his lips that had been present ever since lunch.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, sitting at your dining table with him.

He started unpacking the to-go food. “Why did you tell Donghyuck to send you that guy’s info?”

“To get him to shut up about it. He would’ve done that for our whole lunch break, Sungie.” You shook your head, watching as he avoided your eyes. “Are you jealous? It’s not like I’m actually going to do anything with it.”

“I know, but I still don’t like that he’s sending you dating résumés, and it’s apparently been a regular thing?”

“Okay, I know we made it sound like it happens all the time,” you agreed. “This is like the third time, including the guy who stood me up last year. When you and I started dating, I told Hyuck not to bother anymore. But then he heard that I wasn’t bringing a date to the holiday party, and he started his little matchmaking thing again. That’s why I never told you, because there never was anything to tell.”

“I’m sorry if it sounded like I was accusing you of something, baby,” Jisung murmured, reaching for your hand over the table.

“Do you want me to block him or something?”

He sighed. “No, of course not.”

“Damn it, I was hoping you’d say yes. I’ve been looking for an excuse for years.”

He finally chuckled at that, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“Here.” You brought out your phone and stood behind him, maneuvering your arms around his shoulders so he could see your screen as you opened your texts with Hyuck and started deleting the most recent ones debriefing you on his newest eligible bachelor for you.

“Wait a second.” Jisung stopped you before you could delete all the pictures that Hyuck had sent.

“What?”

To your surprise, your boyfriend actually opened one of the pictures of the guy.

“Jeno was right,” he snorted, closing out of the picture.

“Wh—Oh,” you started laughing. “Yeah, absolutely.”

You finished deleting everything about the guy, then shut your phone off. “All gone. Can’t even remember his name.”

Jisung pressed a kiss to your cheek. “Thanks, baby.”

“And I’ll tell Hyuck no more in the future. Sound good?”

“No, maybe it’s for the best. I don’t think you need to be subjected to the interrogation I went through today.” He leaned his head against yours affectionately.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I trust you.”

“Aw, thank you, Sungie.” You kissed his hair then hugged him properly. “I knew that. It was cute to see you get jealous, though.”

“You need to fuck Jisung.” Donghyuck sat on your desk the following Monday, nearly knocking your cup of pens over.

“What happened to hello? How are you?” You blinked up at him incredulously, rescuing your writing utensils and pushing them to a far corner.

“No time, we need to save our new favorite little bookkeeping gremlin.” He quickly saved your project and closed the window on your computer.

“And you think having sex with me is the cure for cancer or something?” You snorted. “They really wasted their money on your slot in that workplace harassment seminar.”

“No, look, he’s in an awful, awful situationship. I know he said she’s his girlfriend at lunch the other day, but he doesn’t have any pictures of her, he didn’t want to show me her social media. He said she probably wouldn’t be able to come to the mixer because of her ‘work schedule’—” Hyuck used finger quotes around the words ‘work schedule’ “—but the way he said, it sounded like he was just preemptively making excuses because he knew she would turn him down. I asked him about their first date, and you want to know his answer?”

“What?” You asked dryly.

“That they don’t really do ‘that stuff!’” More air quotes.

“Okay?”

“Then I asked what stuff they do do, and he turned bright red!”

“So he’s lying about having a girlfriend to get you off his back.”

“Mm, she sounded pretty real.”

“Okay, maybe he’s twisting the truth and he’s got a fuckbuddy and he still doesn’t want you playing matchmaker,” you suggested another alternative. “Either way, you should leave him alone.”

“No, look, I’ve got this all figured out. He needs to be reminded that there’s women other than this girl—”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “How do you have a rotating roster of men to throw at me, but somehow the only woman that comes to mind for your braindead plan is the one in your immediate line of sight? This is confirming my suspicions that you get no bitches, Lee Donghyuck. Have you talked to a single woman other than me and your mother?”

“Listen, it has to be you so nobody catches feelings!”

“So you’re saying I’m unlovable?”

His eyes widened comically as he went to backpedal. “No, of course not! I meant—Jeno, back me up!”

Jeno, who had been silently leaning against the ledge behind your computer monitor this whole time, happily snacking on the red and green Hershey’s kisses in your candy bowl, slowly finished off the one in his mouth before speaking. “Here’s the thing—”

“You condone this?” You scoffed.

He shrugged. “It’s like, his second-worst idea. Marginally better than setting you up with Na Jaemin.”

“Why do I bother asking for your back-up?” Hyuck muttered.

“But he doesn’t think you’re unlovable. He just knows that you’re a professional, and Jisung is still a newbie and works in a different department. So obviously, there’s like no risk of catching feelings if you guys do… Because work, you know?”

You sat back in your chair, glancing between the two of them dubiously. “Do you two think these are normal things to say to people? At work? To your coworker?”

They looked at each other with wide, horrified eyes, beginning to stutter apologetically.

“I’m in,” you declared abruptly, watching their jaws drop. You then focused your next sentence at Hyuck specifically. “If you’ll stop trying to set me up.”

“Done,” he agreed immediately.

Jisung had excitedly told you about the results of his three-month evaluation to you over dinner that evening, and as you two cleaned up after, you relayed your conversation with your coworkers to him.

“I finally got Hyuck to stop setting me up. Permanently,” you announced in a sing-songy voice, drying the last dish Jisung had just handed you before putting it up in the cabinet.

“Really? Did you find out he killed someone or something?” He asked, shaking the water off his hands over the sink before grabbing the towel hanging in front of it to start drying his hands.

“Nope, he just asked me to do something.”

“Oh, and who do you have to kill?”

“Nobody.” You wrapped your arms around his waist from behind him. “You see, he’s very concerned that this ‘girlfriend’ of yours doesn’t like you as much as you like her.”

“I know we’re literally coworkers, but he needs to get a job,” Jisung retorted.

“Why did you say we didn’t go dates when he asked about our first date?”

“I was afraid you might’ve mentioned it before and I didn’t want him to connect the dots if I told the same story.”

“You couldn’t come up with a fake first date? Carnival? Arcade? Dinner?”

“I was panicking!”

“Anyway, he thinks you’re in a toxic situationship, and that the only solution is for me to sleep with you.”

“Wait what?!” His muscles flexed and contracted under your hands with his words, and he seemed almost oblivious as you continued roaming them over his front.

“Because we would never catch feelings for each other, obviously,” you informed him with mocking seriousness, making him scoff.

“I assume you told him to fuck off and stop setting you up anyway?”

“Nope.”

“Huh?”

You finally put a hand under his shirt to touch his bare skin, and he shivered and jerked away instinctively.

“Ah! Cold hands, baby,” he whined, but made no further moves to get away.

“Then let me warm them up, Sungie,” you giggled, pressing your fingers more intentionally against his skin. “Anyway, why would I pass up the perfect opportunity to fuck with Hyuck and fuck my hot boyfriend at the same time?”

“I don’t think I like how similar that phrasing was.”

“Sungie,” you dragged out the last vowel pleadingly.

“So you’ve got a scheme?” He asked knowingly.

“A fun one,” you promised, kissing his neck. “In multiple senses of the word. But it means everyone finding out we’re together a few days later than we planned. Is that okay?”

He let out a deep sigh. “Alright. What’s first?”

“I’ve got to hold up my end of the deal, of course.”

Donghyuck and Jeno were quick to swarm you first thing in the morning. They at least brought you a coffee this time. There was no work up on your computer yet for Hyuck to close out of, so he just made himself at home on top of your papers that were on your desk instead.

“Okay, we need to brainstorm,” Hyuck got right to business as Jeno dug into your candy bowl. Well, not the business you were actually sitting inside of, but his plot. “The holiday party is on Friday. I’m thinking if you start being a little flirty leading up to it, like casual, you know, not too much, that should warm him up.”

“The more planning you put into this, the creepier it gets,” you informed him, taking a sip of your coffee.

The elevator dinged then, and Jisung stepped off, eyes focused on his feet as he hurried off towards the break room. The elevator opened towards your side of the floor, while bookkeeping was on the other side, and the breakroom, storage closet, and copy room were situated at the midpoints on the floor.

“Jisung’s late?” Jeno commented, bewildered. “Didn’t he say he always gets here ten minutes early to make his coffee before everyone else?”

Hyuck looked at this as well, eyes narrowing. He turned back to you and Jeno. “Did you guys see that big hickey on his neck? Now he’s running late and wearing the same tie as yesterday? This is why we need to help him. Anyway—”

You shifted in your seat then, readjusting your blazer so that it ‘accidentally’ pulled your blouse just enough to show off a love bite situated on your collarbone.

Hyuck actually froze in place, staring at you as he short-circuited. Jeno gave you a quiet, short round of applause.

“Damn, you work fast,” he commented.

You looked down at where Hyuck was staring, as if belatedly realizing your mistake, moving your neckline back up to cover it again.

“You really…” Donghyuck trailed off, blinking rapidly as he began rebooting.

You shrugged. “Didn’t want to announce it like we were in a locker room.”

“He’s walking over here,” Jeno coughed under his breath.

And sure enough, Jisung approached your desk. He looked uncertainly at Donghyuck sitting next to you, and ended up standing by Jeno behind the ledge, finally looking you in the eye.

“H-Hi, Y/N,” he stuttered nervously.

“Morning, Jisung,” you greeted him brightly. “Kiss?”

“Huh?!” He squeaked.

“Hershey kiss?” You pointed to the bowl that Jeno was grabbing another candy from. “They’re caramel filled.”

“O-Oh. Sure, thanks.” He took a green one. “S-See you later.”

“Bye.”

With that, Jisung skittered away, back off towards bookkeeping. Hyuck and Jeno both turned to you with wide eyes.

“I’ve made a grave miscalculation,” Hyuck whispered.

“That boy is pussy whipped,” Jeno whistled lowly.

You rolled your eyes at them. “Or maybe you guys were looking at the two of us with flashing ‘I KNOW YOU HAD SEX’ signs over your heads.”

“Oh, did I forget to leave that at home again?” Hyuck replied snidely, mockingly swatting just above his head. He then leaned in to whisper-yell at you, “Do you actually have the cure for cancer in there because what the hell was that?!”

“Good morning, Mr. Suh!” You chirped at your boss as he walked by.

Hyuck sat up straight, saluting to your boss. “Good morning, Mr. Suh!”

“Mornin’, Mr. Suh,” Jeno said through a mouthful of candy.

“Morning, morning, morning,” Mr. Suh greeted each of you in turn, then yawned. “Ugh, is it Friday yet?”

“Not quite, unfortunately,” you chuckled.

At home that night, you were keeled over with laughter on your couch, clutching your stomach as you and Jisung recalled the looks on your coworkers’ faces this morning.

“Who knew you were such a good actor, Sungie?” You choked out through laughter, wiping at your tears.

“I just had to act like I was madly in love with you, that wasn’t acting, baby,” he smiled fondly, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you closer. “I’ve had to act every day at work except today.”

“So smooth, Park Jisung,” you giggled, kissing him.

“It’s the truth.”

“I know. You’ve never been smooth, just honest. And I love that about you.”

“Ouch, and also thanks?”

You snickered and kissed his pout. “Ready for tomorrow?”

Stepping off the elevator in the morning, you didn’t spare another glance to Jisung, who had ridden up with you. Typically, you would take separate elevators, one of you waiting for the next one, but today, you broke that rule. You dropped off your purse at your desk before going to the break room and making your usual cup of coffee.

Jeno and Donghyuck were already waiting for you at your desk. You rolled your eyes at them. “You two have your own desks, you know?”

“You and Jisung got here at the same time,” Jeno stated.

“Is there a question in there?” You raised an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of your coffee.

“Did you get a new shampoo?” Donghyuck asked, leaning forward to sniff the air around your head.

You swatted at him. “Personal space?”

“That doesn’t smell like a woman’s shampoo…” He went back in for another sniff.

“Quit it, freak!” You rolled away from him.

“What’s happening?” A third voice had joined you all, right on time. Jisung was at your desk, cup of coffee in hand.

“Nothing, Jisung.” You threw on a bright smile, scooting back up to your desk. “What can I do for you?”

“I-I just uhm, I wanted to say good morning. And I brought you some coffee.” He offered the cup out to you.

“Aw, thanks,” you said sincerely, then looked down at your own cup on your desk regretfully. “But I already got some.”

His face fell. “O-Oh. I guess I’ll—”

“Hold on, Jisung!” Donghyuck stopped him from leaving, hopping off your desk. Jisung froze in place as your coworker grabbed his arm. First, he took the coffee from his hand and set it on the ledge behind your monitor, then he grabbed your boyfriend’s collar and yanked him down to take a deep whiff of his hair. Jisung yelped at the rough treatment, arms flailing until Hyuck let him go, giving him a loud slap on the shoulder. “That’s all. Thanks for the coffee.”

“Lunch later?” Jeno offered to him. “All four of us.”

“S-Sure,” he looked at you and blushed before hurrying away.

You crossed your arms as you glared at Hyuck. “You literally just assaulted him.”

“And you—” He pointed at you dramatically, “—slept with him again. That’s his shampoo that I was smelling on you.”

“I think my extracurriculars are none of your business.”

“Mm, Jisung’s more of a co-curricular, don’t you think?”

Jeno snickered.

“I think it’s still none of your business.”

“This wasn’t the plan, Y/N.”

“I did your stupid plan, Hyuck. Why are you so obsessed with Jisung’s sex life? Is it because you’re not getting any?” You taunted.

“Nice attempt to deflect, but the plan was to get him to stop being strung along by that other girl. Not for you to start stringing him along.”

“You make me sound like an evil witch.”

“So you’re serious about Jisung then?” Hyuck gasped mockingly. “Adorable. Gonna be each other’s date to the holiday party? When are you meeting the parents? Have you picked a ring yet?”

You bit down on your lip and looked at your lap to avoid laughing, which he thankfully seemed to interpret as guilt on your part.

“Exactly as I thought,” he said smugly.

“The puppy love thing is cute now, but it’s probably best for working together in the long run to just let him down easy sooner,” Jeno gave some surprisingly wise advice through a half-eaten Hershey’s kiss.

Having composed yourself, you finally let out a contemplative, resigned sigh. “Yeah, you guys are probably right.”

“Always are,” Hyuck tsked.

Lunch was honestly kind of fun—It felt like being a kid with a crush again, sneaking glances at Jisung, trying not to be too obvious about your flirting, and playing innocent when your coworkers would shoot you pointed looks every time Jisung did something totally head-over-heels for you.

Mid-afternoon, and Jisung was back at your desk. He had a few papers in his hand, some flimsy excuse of questions about the receipts he’d picked up last week, but really, you two were just talking. Discussing what to make for dinner, additions to the grocery list, what you were working on, little things.

The sound of a door opening caught your attention, and you looked over to see Mr. Suh coming out of his office. He’d just been on a phone conference, and had his empty coffee mug in his hand.

“Hi, Mr. Suh.” You sat up a little straighter. “Afternoon decaf?”

“Yep.” He lifted the mug in greeting as he walked by, heading for the breakroom.

“I’m going back to my cage with the other bookkeeping gremlins,” Jisung murmured. “Don’t want him to catch me still here when he gets back.”

“Laser beams aren’t going to come out of his eyes and incinerate you on the spot if he does, you know,” you giggled.

“How do you know?” He tapped your desk rhythmically, then mouthed, ‘See you later.’

You mouthed it back, contentedly watching him walk away. You were back to working on your reports when Mr. Suh returned from the break room. He drifted over to your desk, however, standing against the ledge conspiratorially.

“Was that the new kid in bookkeeping?” He asked lightly, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, Park Jisung,” you informed him. At your boss’ inquisitive lean forward, you gave a little more context, “He picked up those receipts last week and Hyuck ended up inviting him out for lunch with us.”

“He seems to be over here quite a bit recently.”

“We chitchat sometimes.” You paused, then widened your eyes. “Is that a problem? Nothing’s been late or anything, has it?”

He gave you his usual easy-going smile. “It’s fine, Y/N. Your work has been great as usual.”

“Okay, good.”

“Hi, baby,” Jisung greeted you brightly that evening from your usual meet-up place after work. If neither of you had to stay late, or had an errand to run after work, you would meet up outside a cornerstore a couple blocks away from the office.

“Hi, co-curricular,” you beamed back, leaning into the kiss he was pressing to your cheek.

He pulled away with an adorably confused pout on his face. You laughed, taking his arm in yours as you started down the sidewalks together, relaying your conversation with Hyuck and Jeno this morning.

“I don’t know what’s funnier, the idea of me genuinely ‘stringing you along’ or your new nickname,” you giggled, squeezing his arm.

“You already changed my phone contact, didn’t you?”

“I put a heart next to it!”

“The rumor has spread to bookkeeping, by the way.”

You blinked at him in mock surprise. “You guys have office gossip over there?”

“Yeah, we finally invented the wheel and have time to gossip now,” he snorted, rolling his eyes. “Huang Renjun told me he heard Song Minji and Park Chaeyeon talking about it in the copy room.”

“That’s how it breached containment,” you tutted. Chaeyeon was from your department, but you knew she and Minji were office friends. She must have overheard it from your area—Hyuck wasn’t exactly the quietest man you knew, and there was no way your other coworkers hadn’t noticed Jisung’s frequent trips to your desk if Mr. Suh had.

“Uh-huh.”

“What exactly were they saying? Did Renjun tell you?”

“Some stuff he didn’t want to repeat about you—” He cleared his throat. “But mostly, he wanted to ask me what, if anything was true. I felt bad lying, I like Renjun.”

“Yeah, he was my favorite bookkeeping gremlin before you started.”

Jisung elbowed you, obviously offended. “I still did bookkeeping before I worked here! I just did it somewhere else!”

“He was my favorite at this company before you started. Better?”

“Much.” He smiled as you leaned in to kiss his nose. “I told him the rumors weren’t true.”

“That wasn’t a lie!” You reminded him emphatically. “We’re not just coworkers with benefits, or co-curriculars, or recently started secretly dating, or whatever!”

“I’m just glad we only have two more days of this.” He laced his fingers with yours. “I want to be able to have a picture of us on my desk, and talk about you to everyone, and show up and leave together.”

“Me too,” you agreed, fond smile on your lips as you approached your front door. “It’s been fun, but the best part will be when everyone knows you’re mine. For real.”

This was weird. You had been at work for thirty minutes and hadn’t seen nor heard Hyuck or Jeno. Maybe today would be normal for once. As soon as that idea had crossed your mind, they came beelining for your desk, and you knew that would be impossible.

“Good—” You couldn’t even get a friendly greeting out of your mouth, Donghyuck fully sitting on top of your keyboard, entering a bunch of random characters into the email you had been writing. “Uhm, you know, that email to Mr. Suh wasn’t important, actually…”

Yanking your keyboard out from under Hyuck, you deleted the gibberish and saved the draft email before setting it aside to deal with whatever was going on. You looked at your coworkers expectantly.

“Y/N…” Jeno surprisingly took the lead. “How did you go about letting Jisung down easy?”

You blinked in surprise. “What are you talking about? I just told him we should keep it professional and not see each other anymore…? And that was it.”

“And how did he take it?”

“Fine?” You glanced between their extremely serious demeanors with increasing worry. “Why? What’s going on?”

“We just had to comfort a crying Jisung in the men’s room for the past thirty minutes, that’s what’s going on!” Hyuck finally hissed. “I don’t think your easy is very easy!”

You leaned away from him in utter shock. That was definitely not part of the plan today, and now you were genuinely worried about why your boyfriend was apparently crying in the men’s room—he definitely wasn’t a good enough actor to do that on the spot.

“Woah, I didn’t—”

“Well, you did.”

“You don’t get to pin all the blame on me here,” you shot back immediately. “Whose stupid fucking plan was it for me to sleep with him in the first place anyway? If I recall, you never found him crying in the bathroom with his last girl that you were so concerned over.”

“You diverted from the plan and he got attached!”

“Okay, it’s everyone’s fault!” Jeno cut in decisively.

“What’s everyone’s fault?” Mr. Suh stopped by your desk, briefcase in hand as he had just gotten into the office. “There’s been an awful lot of whispering going on over here. Something I should know about?”

“No, Mr. Suh!” Hyuck chirped brightly. “Lunch plans fell through, we’re just rescheduling.”

Your boss looked at you skeptically, waiting for confirmation. You nodded hurriedly. “Yeah, lunch plans.”

“Alright.” He shrugged. “There’s a good sandwich place a block over. If you’re looking for recommendations.”

And with that, he went into his office.

Turning back to Hyuck and Jeno, you whispered, “I swear to God, I wasn’t expecting him to be crying. Okay?”

“We’re being a little harsh on you,” Jeno admitted quietly. “We should all just leave Jisung alone, I think.”

He took a candy out of your bowl and departed your desk without another word. Hyuck followed, still shaking his head. You quickly brought your phone out, immediately texting Jisung.

[you: BABY SOS]

He texted back immediately

[co-curricular 🩷: IM HERE]

[co-curricular 🩷: WHAT’S WRONG????]

[you: im fine but are YOU okay?!]

[you: jeno and hyuck told me they found you crying in the bathroom]

[co-curricular 🩷: oh nonono im okay baby i promise]

[co-curricular 🩷: im in the copy room, can you come so i can explain?]

[you: omw]

You hurried from your desk to the copy room, relieved to find it devoid of any coworkers except Jisung, who was attending to a copy machine, placing documents on the glass, closing the lid, and copying them in a steady rhythm.

“Sungie,” you breathed out in relief, darting over to him, needing to see his face for yourself.

“Hey, baby, hey,” he said soothingly, letting you wrap an arm around his waist and lean into him affectionately. “I’m okay, I’m okay.”

You stepped back, cognizant of the fact that any of your coworkers could enter at any moment. “So what were Hyuck and Jeno talking about then?”

“When we got in this morning, the temperature change from the cold air outside to the heat inside the building was making my eyes water and my nose run,” he explained, gesturing to his face. “I went to take care of it in the bathroom. Donghyuck and Jeno ran into me while I was cleaning myself up and assumed I had been crying. Nothing I said could convince them otherwise, and they of course also assumed it was connected to their advice to you to let me down easy. So I played along. I know it wasn’t part of the plan, but I couldn’t get them to let it go.”

“I was almost feeling bad about lying to them, but they do this to themselves.” You crossed your arms, leaning against the wall next to his copy machine. Your tone softened as you added, “I’m really happy you’re okay, Sungie.”

“I’m happy you checked on me so quick, baby.” He smiled, taking a step closer to peck your forehead. He lowered his voice to say, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” you murmured, looking up at him, fighting the urge to just grab his suit jacket and kiss him. “Lunch later?”

His nose wrinkled with distaste. “Are Hyuck and Jeno coming too?”

“Just us? At home?”

“Oh?”

“I miss you.”

He nodded. “I miss you too.”

It was finally Friday, finally the day of the office holiday party. You just had to survive work and lay the last couple breadcrumbs, then it would all be over tonight.

You were making your morning cup of coffee in the breakroom with Hyuck and Jeno, and went to engage them in conversation. “Are you guys bringing anyone to the party tonight?”

“Nah.” Hyuck poured his own cup.

“You’re not beating the ‘no bitches’ allegations.” You clicked your tongue.

“I think it’s a bit weird to bring someone you’re not like… properly dating to a work event and introduce them to your coworkers,” Jeno answered, rooting through the employee fridge.

“So that’s a no?”

“Correct,” he mimicked your taunting tone of voice.

Jisung, who had been quietly measuring out sugar into his own cup of coffee at a far counter, apart from your conversation physically but definitely within earshot, inserted himself then, “I’m bringing a date.”

Jeno hit his head on a shelf in the fridge. “Shit—! Huh?”

“You are?!” Hyuck blinked at him, utterly shocked.

You slowly turned around to face Jisung, cocking your head. “Oh, me too.”

“Since when?!” Hyuck snorted.

“Just because I didn’t tell you about it doesn’t mean I haven’t had one,” you hissed.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

Jisung nodded, and you saw the corner of his lips twitch, ever-so-slightly, too small for anybody who didn’t know him as well as you to catch. “Guess I’ll see you and your date tonight, then.”

“Same. You, as well.” You nodded curtly, watching him pivot on his heel and stride out of the breakroom.

“You don’t have a fucking date,” Hyuck stated dryly as soon as he was no longer in eyesight.

“That was hard to watch,” Jeno said, opening a Tupperware of food that definitely had somebody else’s name on it.

“And neither does he,” Hyuck continued, pointing to the doorway that Jisung had disappeared through. “No way he’s found somebody in a day. Unless…” He looked at Jeno with alarm. “Oh no. You don’t think…?”

Jeno squinted. “What?”

“What if he brings his toxic situationship to get back at Y/N?” Hyuck gasped. He then turned to you, “Look, I guess I can see if Mark’s free tonight—”

“No,” you cut him off firmly. “I’ve already got someone in mind.”

“So beautiful, baby,” Jisung murmured, taking one of your hands and kissing your knuckles.

“Hey, I’m trying to fix your tie clip,” you laughed, pulling your hand back from him to continue adjusting his tie clip that had gone askew thanks to his seatbelt.

The two of you were standing outside the venue of the office holiday party. You were fashionably late, as part of the plan. You had to make sure Hyuck and Jeno were already there, so they could see you arrive together, wearing your coordinated outfits. Jisung’s tie was of course a complimentary shade of the color of your dress—not too matchy-matchy like kids at a grade school formal, but clearly together, not accidental.

“There.” You smoothed out the lapels of his suit jacket, smiling up at him. “So handsome.”

He kissed your cheek. “Thank you.”

“Are you ready?”

“More than.” He grinned, lacing his fingers with yours.

Walking in, instrumental Christmas music was playing over the speakers and a steady hum of conversation filled the room. There were a few familiar faces near the front, but nobody you were overly friendly with. You grabbed Jisung’s shoulder for support as you went to talk to him over the din of the crowd. He hunched over slightly to listen to you better, holding you steady with a hand on your hip.

“Want to get a drink first?” You suggested.

“Sure,” he agreed, keeping his hand on your lower back as you moved through the sea of people.

There was a special cocktail for the night, ‘Mistletoe While You Work,’ which you ordered out of curiosity. Once it was in your hand, you took a sip, and you were pleasantly surprised. Not too sweet, and you couldn’t taste the liquor at all.

“Hey, baby,” you smirked, holding your glass up between yours and Jisung’s faces. “Uh-oh, we’re under mistletoe… kinda.”

Jisung laughed, and you put the glass down to watch his face crinkle up and his nose scrunch in all its adorable glory. “Mm, hard to argue with that.”

You were still smiling as you pressed your lips to his in a short but sweet kiss. He kept you close when you broke apart, an arm still wound around your waist.

“Uhm, Merry fucking Christmas to you guys, too,” Hyuck announced himself, standing off to the side, his own drink in hand and Jeno of course with him.

“Oh, hey guys,” you greeted them nonchalantly. “Merry Christmas.”

“What happened to your dates?” Jeno cut right to the chase.

You and Jisung pointed to each other, making nearly identical faces as if you were oblivious to why Jeno and Hyuck were confused.

Hyuck started buffering as he tried to process the situation. “What…?”

“We’ve been together this whole time,” you finally put them out of their misery, watching as their jaws dropped simultaneously.

“Since before I interviewed, actually,” your boyfriend added.

“Over a year, to be exact.”

“You guys are sick in the head,” Hyuck jabbed an accusatory finger at you both.

“Who was making a whole convoluted plan for me to sleep with one of our coworkers that you barely knew?” You immediately fired back. “You’re lucky we did this instead of reporting you to HR.”

Jeno quickly threw on a wide smile, clapping Jisung on the shoulder. “You fit in great here, Jisung.”

“Glad to have you on the team.” Hyuck went to hug Jisung, making him stiffen up at the unexpected affection. Your coworker then gestured to both of you, putting a hand over his chest. “You two are so adorable together. What a great couple. I’ve said that from the beginning, right, Jeno?”

“You thought they would’ve had awful chemistry.”

“Would it kill you to back me up for once?” Hyuck turned his ire on your other coworker.

Mr. Suh walked up to the bar then, putting his order in with the bartender before greeting you all. “Ah, hello, everyone. Merry Christmas.”

A chorus of hellos and Merry Christmases rang out in response.

“Was Mr. Suh in on it?” Jeno asked you.

“Whatever ‘it’ was, no, but now I wish I was,” Mr. Suh answered, clearly intrigued by this conversation.

“Y/N and Jisung are dating!” Hyuck immediately tattled, and you rolled your eyes at his childish tone.

“There’s nothing against the rules,” your boss said calmly. Then, he added with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, “Especially if the relationship predates one of you working here.”

You and Jisung exchanged a surprised look, making Mr. Suh laugh.

“Okay, I had a hunch, but that was the confirmation I needed,” he chuckled. “When I’d see Jisung at Y/N’s desk alone, I don’t know—you two seemed way more comfortable around each other than two people who had only talked for the first time a week ago. No matter how much you liked each other.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hyuck gawped.

“It didn’t seem like any of my business.”

⇢ 2024 hallmark movie marathon

TAGLIST

@annenakamura @bee-the-loser @lotties-readings @ppddpjdr @reiofsuns2001

@giirlfriendd @shaqs-oatmeal @sofipolii01

@tearinka @yoursyuno @yutasputa69

@winkeuu

[rinasdigitaljournal]

journal entry #01: sevika drabble/imagine...potential fic?

take my hand and walk with me here, okay?

imagine, high school teacher sevika who teaches an specific country's history. maybe african american studies along with south asian...just something that relates to her and her background and she's hella passionate about it yk. obviously coming from (and still living) an under privilege neighborhood comes with its challenges and now dealing with wealthy people drives her up a wall but the students actually enjoy her class and have a genuine desire to learn and find her gruff, no-nonsense, give it to you straight attitude a breath of fresh air from the posh and authoritative teaching that they are used too (although some don't but does she care, no.) the parents don't really understand why so many students genuinely enjoy her class when she's like scary asf? and most teachers in the department look down upon her bc of her background but hey, the credentials and degree's speaks for themselve (plus they're too scared of her to say anything directly too her). her one friend in the department is mel who teachers african american studies but AP level bc mel's just that girl, ANYWAYS.

the two are chatting one afternoon in the teachers lounge and mel casually mentions the new english teacher working and how interesting she was too talk too. sevika tried to pry a little bit more but given how tight lipped mel is (and her cocky smile), she genuinely didn't give a fuck until her students begin coming to class with this new teacher on the tip of their tongues. how she's so sweet, kind, funny, and the work is interesting? yea, she has to go sniff the newbie out herself just to make sure those knuckle heads aren't ripping their teeth into her. she's already envisioning some soft, big doed eyed, fresh out of college teacher with no actual teaching experience and letting those kids walk all over her.

so imagine her surprise when she takes a peak into..paradise? a cozy and comfy classroom with a colorful rug, throw pillows, bookshelves lining up the wall with poorly but cute hanged up novel posters with a mixture of string lights nad lamps? yea, sevika already decided the woman was fresh meat thrown into the wolves until her eyes found their way to a woman sitting next to a student, on a small makeshift couch mind you, with her arms wrapped around the crying girl's shoulder. the woman was still soft looking with a grandpa sweater on along with a maxi skirt, the colorful glasses didn't help either or the dangling star and moon earrings but her voice was warm and firm. her eyes were gentle but full of fire and her lips were turned into a genuine smile with a smirk edging the corners of her face. whatever joked she shared made the student laugh and wipe her own tears away and when the new teacher turned to stare at sevika, feeling a presence staring into her, with an arched brow in*challenge* her presence, she could've sworn she felt her heart skip a beat.

journal footnotes: could this be something...maybe. do i have another work in process fic for another fandom, yes. do i still imagine this plotline and characters every single hour of my being...yes. is this self indulgent, yes, but hey this is a form of self-care.

[spookyserenades]

Trouvaille - Chapter Eight

Pairing(s); BTS OT7 x Reader

Genre/Themes; Hybrid!AU, themes of the supernatural and the occult, religious themes, violence, hurt/comfort, horror, romance

Rated; 18+ for swearing, violence/gore, future sexual themes. Reader discretion is advised.

Word Count; 23.4k

Trouvaille Masterlist

Trouvaille playlist

Updates on the 7th of each month

Annnd it's August!! We've come a full year (at least, since I've begun writing Trouvaille) and now the story is matching up with post dates 💃🏻 I hope you're all well! This update features some angst, and the final two scenting scenes.... one of which is particularly spicy, as a head's up! This chapter concludes the scenting arc, and after this, we'll be moving more quickly into other plotlines 🥳 There's also plenty of tender moments in this chapter, so I hope you'll enjoy those as well. As always, comments, feedback, questions, and even ranting/screaming is always welcomed! My inbox is open, as is the taglist. Without further ado, please enjoy this update!!

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Jeongguk gracefully pulled back from her body, the agile movement allowing him to land backwards on the balls of his feet so he could lean against one of his bed posts, staring down at Y/N with lidded eyes. Adjusting the strap of her tank top back over her shoulder, Y/N frowned slightly when she realized the fabric covered his mark up. Jeongguk hummed, appearing to be gathering his thoughts before he resumed the conversation they were having prior to his… collapse. 

“So, none of us particularly like Taehyung. I mean, that much is fucking obvious. Contrary to what you may have assumed, I think you’re a pretty smart girl– I’m sure you’ve picked up on all of us avoiding him like a virus,” Jeongguk began, a thoughtful look spreading across his face. Stunned by the compliment, Y/N felt herself flush from the neck upwards. 

“Even so, he’s not a threat to us. If he wanted to kill any of us, he would have done it already. So really, there’s no reason for us… er, Namjoon, really, to knock his teeth down his throat. Yet. From what Yoongi told me about his little chat with the bear, Taehyung is in no hurry to befriend any of us yet– all the more reason for us to give him space,” Jeongguk adjusted the loose collar of his tee shirt as he spoke, before trudging on, “If things get sticky and there’s cops knocking on the front door somewhere down the line, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We’re all keeping an eye on him in the meantime, but I’m confident he won’t hurt you, at the very least,” Jeongguk continued, watching Y/N carefully as she heaved her upper body up so she could sit up straight. 

“So what you’re saying is… you’ve all decided to steer clear of Tae, but keep him under surveillance at all times? And all the while, he’s content with just keeping to himself? Is that right?” Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, the elk hybrid’s tapered ears flickering lazily as he nodded in response. “Is it wishful thinking to hope fights like that won’t happen again between any of you?”

Chuckling without responding to her inquiries, Jeongguk passed a tattooed hand over his face, moving to his wardrobe to pull some fresh sweatpants out of it. While his back was turned to her Y/N dragged her eyes up from his legs, over his muscular back, and to his mussed hair and antlers. His antlers were truly something to marvel at; though the scale of them were significantly smaller than were when Y/N first saw them while he was still in elk form. She wondered if that was some kind of trait scientists had worked into elk hybrid DNA. After all, it would be pretty difficult for Jeongguk to carry around the weight of full-scale elk antlers while shifted into human form. The shape of them seemed to encircle his head, perhaps another scientist’s idea, maybe to prevent others from colliding into the antlers accidentally, compared to the way if they’d branch out horizontally– taking up more sideways space. They were covered in a rich brown velvet and looked soft to the touch, Y/N staring at them unabashedly since his back was turned. 

Squinting, she noticed the very tip of one of his antlers, one that was crooked like a tree, seemed to have a viscous liquid sluggishly rolling down the length of it, and as she leaned closer to get a look at it, Y/N realized it was blood. Stiffening, Y/N immediately got to her feet, rushing over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder without thinking. Jeongguk flinched in surprise, looking down at her with a scandalized expression as she got on her tip-toes to confirm that he was truly bleeding. 

“Jeongguk, you’re bleeding! One of your antlers!” Y/N exclaimed, reaching her hand upwards to touch before stopping herself abruptly. She didn’t know if antlers, like hybrid ears, were sensitive, and didn’t want to risk him getting angry with her. 

A noise of surprise fell from his lips, gripping his sweatpants in his fist and stalking towards his bathroom while mumbling to himself. Y/N followed after him hot on his heels, eyes on a spot of velvet covering his antlers that seemed to be beginning to peel away from the bony appendage. In the mirror, he turned his head in a few different directions, a deep grimace appearing on his face as a droplet of blood slipped down his antler and onto his cheek. 

“Aw, fuck… its late August, I forgot about this bullshit. Don’t worry about it, I’m not hurt. My velvet’s just shedding,” Jeongguk groaned, using the back of his hand to smear the blood off of his face with annoyance. “Unfortunately, I’ll be walking around here for the next few days looking gory as hell, and it makes a goddamn mess.”

“How often does that happen?” Y/N asked, awed. Gripping the lip of his granite sink vanity, Jeongguk made eye contact with her reflection. 

“Just once a year, usually around this time,” Jeongguk answered, spinning slowly so he could look down at her again. “Alright, let’s focus, here. I want to shower and sleep for at least four hours.”

Blushing, it dawned on Y/N that she was taking up a bit too much of his time especially after he had stayed up the entire night, clearing her throat. Part of her ached to ask more questions surrounding the particular subject of velvet shedding; such as if it was painful for him, but she bit her tongue. 

“You’re right, okay. What else should I know?” Y/N inched backwards into his bedroom, the elk hybrid leaning his hip against his sink vanity. Out of the corner of her eye, she clocked the charm bag she had made him resting on his dresser, beside his notebook and the ruby rosary he’d used to get rid of that entity. He had half a mind to ask about it, one million questions begging for answers from the elk hybrid, but she had to keep it together, for now. 

“Last night was a full moon. Namjoon is a wolf hybrid… Do you know what I’m trying to say?” Jeongguk narrowed his eyes purposefully when Y/N shook her head with confusion.

“You know, how there’s that idea that wolves howl at the full moon and are riled up by it? Technically, it’s something of a circulated rumor, but I’m led to believe that there’s some truth in it. It’s not like he’s a werewolf or anything, so stop looking at me like that. I think a full moon just influences his mood, that’s all. He’s more agitated and moody than he’d be otherwise. This whole week leading up to the full moon the wolf has been acting bizarre, anyways; fine one moment, pissed off the next with no explanation as to why. It gave me whiplash, at first, before I put the pieces together.”

She was still staring at Jeongguk incredulously, trying to process that he was pretty much telling her the explanation for Namjoon’s behavior was adjacent to Hollywood lycanthrope lore. Her mother always used to tell her people tended to act a bit strangely on the nights of a full moon, but never really put much stock into the theory. If anything, it was a sort of flimsy excuse as to why Namjoon had totally flown off of the handle, but she’d take any information Jeongguk would give her gratefully. 

“I suppose if that is true, certain things would make more sense to me,” Y/N began slowly, trying not to make any more funny faces at the elk hybrid or insult his insight. “I get what you mean. He’ll be willing to converse one minute and the next he’s either glaring at me or avoiding me like I’m the plague. You two worked together to get rid of that entity, and the following day you both had that little spat outside…” 

“It’s his species. Wolf hybrids aren’t adopted very often, they’re extremely temperamental, territorial. He’s been trying to establish dominance over the rest of the house since he’s gotten here,” Jeongguk yawned, another trail of blood falling from his antler and running down the side of his face. He didn’t seem to notice. “Then again, none of the hybrids you’ve adopted find homes quickly, unless they plan on shooting us or something. Not many humans are comfortable with lions, tigers, and bears in their homes.”

Snorting at his Wizard of Oz reference, Y/N sobered up a bit. The sad reality that she had only come to adopt her hybrids because no one else had wanted them, apart from someone looking to hunt them down for sport, had her stomach churning. Hybrids that were spliced with domesticated animal DNA were always the popular choice for the average potential adopting owner looking for companionship, as most people knew how to handle animals such as cats, dogs, and rabbits. The behavior of a jaguar hybrid was quite different than any house cat hybrid she had ever met. She thought it wise to order some guidebooks online that night; if she hadn’t known about Jeongguk’s velvet shedding, or Namjoon’s sensitivity to the moon cycle, what else didn’t she know?

“A lot of humans are just evil. Honestly, I’m surprised that they haven’t passed a law making hybrid hunting illegal. Makes me think some of these lawmakers partake in it themselves,” Y/N seethed, the primal urge to protect her hybrids coming back to her again. It seemed to be a frequent emotion, especially in the past 24 hours. “Alright, let me get out of your hair, or I’ll go on a tangent. Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“Yeah, I think that’s it. They’re probably going to be pretty pitiful when you go down to confront them, just warning you. They know they fucked up, neither of them want to upset you any further, so you should be good. You might need to patch them up a bit, they both got a few good blows to the face. Reeks of blood in here,” Jeongguk sighed, flicking the light on in his bathroom, turning the shower tap on as he spoke. 

Growing antsy, Y/N decided it was time to get a move on before Jeongguk started stripping in front of her, knowing that he wasn’t exactly above that. She had a feeling Jeongguk knew exactly how much he affected her. With a jolt, her brain registered that it was highly likely that all of the hybrids in the house heard the pitiful noises she made when they scented her. It was slightly embarrassing, but there was nothing she could do about it. It probably wasn’t even something they thought twice about. 

“Right, so I’m going to go talk to them, I guess… clean them up. Please get some rest, then come get some food, okay? Oh, and thank you, again, for everything. You’re sweeter than you look, Jeongguk,” Y/N couldn’t help but to tease him a little bit, Jeongguk snapping his head around as he was checking the water temperature and sending her an unimpressed grimace. She could see a whisper of amusement in his midnight eyes, however. 

With that, Y/N offered Jeongguk a sincere smile before shutting his bedroom door and setting off down the hall. Mindlessly brushing a hand over the shoulder he had scented, Y/N felt her skin flushing as she thought about how brazen he had been, and how he was able to just switch it off in a flash and resume civil conversation with her. It was a bit disorienting, she thought, swiping the first aid kit she’d dumped on the bottom step of the staircase before running up to talk to Jeongguk. 

Taking several breaths, Y/N started the short distance down the hall to Namjoon’s bedroom. The door was open; light from his large windows flooding out into the hallway, and Y/N hesitated as she approached the doorway. She could tell both of them were in there, the sounds of heavy books being slid back into their spots on the bookshelf and the ruffling of clothes being folded telling her so. Swallowing down her nerves, Y/N entered the room. 

Namjoon was by the bed, which had been made already, folding all of the clothes he had torn out of his wardrobe. He was facing the window, away from her, but his ears were flat against his skull and his shoulders were drooped, so she knew he was aware of her presence. They had almost completely restored the room to how it was before all hell had broken loose the previous night, the blood on the floor mopped away, each item on Namjoon’s desk placed back in their rightful spots. Taehyung was staring at her from the book shelf, looking from her face to the medical kit in her hand while he cautiously placed a clothbound book about candle magic back in place. 

“Morning,” Y/N greeted evenly, wanting to ease into the scolding as best she could. Judging by the thick cloud of doom in the room she had walked into, both of them already felt bad enough. 

Entering the bedroom a bit further, she eyed Taehyung, who had hung his head and started to lift another book off of the floor. He’d changed into a fresh outfit, but looked disheveled and sleep deprived. She placed the first aid kit on Namjoon’s bed, standing a few feet from him as she unzipped it slowly. 

Namjoon was surreptitiously avoiding her eyes, Y/N watching him fold a pair of jeans with his knuckles bloodied and bruised. He had thrown on sweats and a simple white tee shirt, and had apparently showered with his damp silver hair pushed back from his face, but like Taehyung, his appearance was tired and out of sorts. Silently, she scooped up the small armful of clothes he had folded, placed them back into his wardrobe, and marched back to her spot beside him. 

“Come here, both of you. I want to clean up your injuries before they get infected,” Y/N commanded firmly, pointing at the bed she wanted them to sit on. “And, we need to talk. Or, I can talk and you can listen.”

Taehyung moved promptly, though rather leisurely, sitting on the foot of Namjoon’s bed. In consequence, the wolf hybrid sprung out of the way, nearly knocking Y/N over in the process. Gritting her teeth, she waited for Namjoon to sit down on the mattress a few feet from Taehyung with reluctant obedience. He still wouldn’t look at her. 

Slipping into injury evaluation mode, Y/N assessed their wounds while trying to remove her emotions with great difficulty in doing so. Both had torn and bruised knuckles; Namjoon had a nasty cut over his right eyebrow and a split lip, Taehyung’s cheekbone and jaw was bruised and it looked like he might have bitten through his lip with his teeth when Namjoon had directed a blow there. Tutting, Y/N got to work by beginning to load up some cotton rounds with disinfectant. 

“You two don’t have to be best friends, hell, you don’t even have to like each other. But you cannot get physically violent like that, no matter how you rationalize its justification. It’s not fair to the others that they were forced to break up your fight last night.”

Y/N knelt in front of Namjoon, who was closest to her, taking one of his hands that was gripping his knees and arranging his digits to be splayed over hers, dabbing away caked-on blood with the cotton round as she spoke. His hand was limp in hers, like he had resigned to being touched, and she could finally feel his amber stare on her even as she focused on his injured hand. He didn’t react to the stinging sensation of the disinfectant, even when she moved over to his dominant hand that had the brunt of the damage to the knuckles. She was erring on the side of being especially gentle with her ministrations, considering they were paired with a bit of a scolding. 

“What would have happened if they weren’t here? If it was just the three of us, would you have fought until one of you got knocked out or killed? You know I can’t break up a physical altercation between any of you, you’re hybrids. Stronger and faster than me, sharper instincts, and you’re men on top of it all,” Y/N continued, rising from her knees to sit in between the two of them. “I know you’re both more than capable of having a conversation to hash out conflict. The violence was unnecessary, and it really broke my heart to see you two like that.”

The solemn vocalization of her feelings echoed about the room hollowly. She motioned for Taehyung to give her his hands while she saturated another cotton ball with fresh disinfectant. He slid his hand into hers easily, remaining eerily quiet as she cleaned him up. Surprisingly, both hybrids hadn’t made an attempt to respond to her in any way, almost making her feel guilty for even attempting to admonish them in the first place, but she knew she had to put her foot down before things escalated again. There was not a cell in her body that wanted to be patching up wounds inflicted by each other in the near future, and she was making that clear. 

Pulling out some Neosporin, Y/N swiftly applied it to both hybrid’s hands, taking a few moments to collect her thoughts. The room was deathly silent, Y/N getting the feeling both of them were holding their breath. Shocked that Namjoon was letting her touch him this much, Y/N let out a ragged sigh, ready to wrap their hands before moving onto their faces. 

“Namjoon, could you pass me that roll of gauze, please?” Y/N murmured, squeezing his palm lightly as she dabbed ointment on the knuckle of his right index finger, the most mangled one of all. Clearing his throat, Namjoon rummaged around in the kit, the roll of gauze appearing before her face at once. “Thank you.”

“Y/N… I’m sorry,” Taehyung whispered suddenly, Y/N motions wrapping the gauze around Namjoon’s hand methodically pausing for a moment. “I started it, shoving Namjoon. It spun out of control from there.”

Namjoon’s grip on her hand tightened as he grunted lightly, Y/N peering up at him curiously. There was a deep frown on his face, knowing that Taehyung was taking a bit too much of the blame. She finished wrapping up his hands, turning to Taehyung to do the same. She still had their faces to work on, Y/N clocking the dried blood crusted onto the sharp edge of the Kodiak hybrid’s jawline. 

“I shoved him first,” Namjoon muttered, remorse dripping from his tone ever so slightly. Stunned, Y/N gawked at Namjoon through her peripherals while trying her best to steadily wrap Taehyung’s hand, looping the gauze around his thumb and back over his palm. 

“Please, just– can you both try to avoid fighting like that? It makes me sad, seeing you two beat up like this. Please promise me you won’t do something like this again. No more violence in this house,” Y/N finished what almost felt like a parental spiel, dropping the gauze in her lap as she got up from her seat between them. 

She was met with two pairs of eyes hesitant to lock with her own, and Y/N wondered what some of the others had said to them to get them to such a somber state of mind. Taehyung nodded, looking at his feet, while Namjoon’s ears drooped even further downwards. 

“Alright, I’m done scolding. I’ll get some washcloths from the bathroom, fix up your faces,” Y/N brightened her tone a few degrees, spinning on her heel and disappearing into Namjoon’s en suite. 

She returned after a couple of short moments, two warm washcloths in her hands as she stood in front of the wolf hybrid. Finally, he looked her in the eyes, his as unreadable as always, Y/N gripping the cloth in her hand before leaning down a bit to scan his face. Sighing sadly, she used her free hand to tuck a couple of fingers under his chin, tilting his face upwards and to the side so she could begin to blot away at the dried blood crusted around his eyebrow. While he definitely grew rigid with her close proximity and touch, Namjoon allowed her to clean up his face gently. 

Cupping his jaw with her hand, Y/N dabbed all of the blood off of Namjoon’s brow, cheekbone, and finally his split lower lip as tenderly as she could, all while avoiding getting lost in his turbulent gaze. She tried to work quickly; the silence around her was absolutely deafening, and she was well aware that Namjoon wasn’t exactly keen on receiving physical touch. 

“Okay, Namjoon… looks like you’ll just need a bandage over your eyebrow,” Y/N murmured absently, peeling the paper from plastic of a butterfly bandage to apply over the site. No matter what, both hybrid’s injuries would likely disappear within two days with their healing capabilities. “Sit still for me, won’t you?”

Y/N gently requested the latter part of her statement, noting that Namjoon was slightly squirming in his seat, his fluffy silver tail beating against his mattress periodically. He didn’t appear to like obeying orders from her, Y/N able to spot that from his body language a mile away, but did so without an utterance of a complaint. He really must have felt bad about his behavior the previous night. 

“I… shouldn’t have said those things to you last night,” Namjoon vocalized out of the blue as she was smoothing the bandage over his brow bone. “I’m… sorry. Uh, hmm. Yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t actually think of you in that, um, way.”

Namjoon spoke as if it was the first time he was tasting a genuine apology on his tongue, the words clunky and awkward in his mouth. Even still, Y/N could detect the sincerity in them, even if it was the most bizarre way she had ever been apologized to. She kept in mind Jimin and Jeongguk’s theories that he hadn’t had much practice in being around sensitive emotions. She wondered if the speculation on his file that he had been a hybrid raised in the wilderness was actually true, based on his difficulty with dealing with certain emotional situations, but brushed it aside for later as she used a clean finger to spread some Neosporin onto his swollen cut lip. She didn’t miss the tiny intake of breath that came from him as her finger traced over the soft flesh.

The apology hung in the air heavily as she figured out how to respond. She’d pretty much forgiven Namjoon already, after his display of contrition and Jeongguk’s speculation that the full moon may have agitated him into volatility. As seconds ticked by and he was left without a reply, Y/N moving away from him to toss the bandage wrapper in the trash by his desk and the bloodied washcloth in the hamper, Namjoon began to fidget uncomfortably again. Humming, she turned back to him, reaching out to graze across his cheek softly. He stilled at the touch, pupils blown wide. 

“I know. I forgive you, Namjoon,” Y/N smiled softly as she brushed her thumb over his elegant cheekbone, hoping that this event wouldn’t encourage the wolf hybrid to build up even stronger walls around himself. “Let’s try to put this behind us. Okay?” 

Dropping her hand from Namjoon’s face, she turned her attention to Taehyung sitting stoically on the bed, his tongue peeking out from between his lips to try and get rid of some of the crusted-on blood at the corner of his mouth. Using the remaining clean rag, Y/N gingerly washed away the blood around his mouth, the Kodiak hybrid flinching as she passed over the tender, bruised area by his jaw. She quickly mumbled out an apology, using her palm to brush his curls off of his forehead to make sure the area was without injury. There was a small scrape by his hairline, Y/N dabbing away at it with a sigh. 

“You got each other pretty good, huh? If we ever have an intruder, I’d actually feel bad for that son of a bitch,” Y/N attempted to lighten the mood, tired of simmering in angst and gloom. 

Though neither of them chuckled at her joke, Y/N felt Taehyung’s posture loosen up a bit from beneath her. He didn’t need any bandages on his face, so Y/N expertly disinfected the wounds and finished up with the Neosporin. She ruffled Taehyung’s curls back into their place, giving his shoulder a soft squeeze before packing up the first aid kit. 

“I think you’ve put this place back together well enough, you two should eat and take it easy the rest of the day, maybe get some space. Just find me later and I’ll refresh the gauze on your hands,” Y/N slung the strap of the kit over her shoulder, motioning for them to stand and follow her out into the kitchen. When she was patching up Namjoon’s face, she heard his stomach grumbling, and wanted the both of them to have a proper breakfast. “Yoongi made these really yummy pastries, perfect for fall coming up… some kind of hash, as well.”

The mention of pastries seemed too tempting to pass up for Namjoon not to stand from the bed and inch towards the door, Taehyung following close behind. Smiling, Y/N felt them waiting for her as she returned her kit to the closet beneath the stairs. She noticed Namjoon’s ears finally perked up after being flat against his skull for so long, a few shades of color coming back to his complexion. Taehyung remained a touch grim, shuffling beside Y/N silently as they headed for the kitchen. 

Only Yoongi remained in the room, Jimin and Seokjin’s plates cleared away as they obviously fled to other parts of the house, perhaps to nap or wash up. The leopard hybrid was busy stacking leftover pastries onto a platter, the kitchen polished to a shine. Stiffly, both Namjoon and Taehyung took seats at the opposite ends of the kitchen; the former perching on a barstool, the Kodiak hybrid sliding into the booth of the breakfast nook. 

“There’s still some hash left. Though, I’m not really in the mood to share it with either of you,” Yoongi said as soon as Namjoon sat across from where the leopard hybrid was standing and arranging pastries onto the platter, Y/N snickering lightly. 

Now close by Yoongi’s side, Y/N attempted to butter him up a bit so he’d concede and let the other two eat. He peered down at her curiously, the curiosity quickly replaced by suspicion as she batted her eyelashes at him and placed a hand on his forearm. He looked pretty with his hair tied back, displaying several shiny silver hoops dangling from his ears, the tips of which were blushing pink. 

“Yoongi, come on, can’t you share a little? You made so much. I want another cinnamon roll, too, anyways,” Y/N pouted, really laying it on thick. She hypothesized Yoongi was pretty easy to convince if teasing was involved, his tail flicking furiously behind him as he stared down at her hard. 

“Fine,” Yoongi grumbled, Y/N letting go of his forearm with a satisfied hum. “But I’m not serving them. Get it yourselves.”

Yoongi eyed the other two hybrids in the room with contempt, all while placing the pastry with the most cinnamon and icing on it on a plate, offering it to Y/N promptly. He was too cute, and too sweet, for his own good, she thought. 

“Thanks, Yoongi,” Y/N took the plate gratefully, smiling at him brightly as she immediately dove into the pastry. 

She remained by his side, as he placed plastic wrap over the leftover pastries, though not before Namjoon was able to swipe one from where he was sitting. The wolf hybrid winced as the split skin of his lower lip stretched to take a bite, Yoongi chuckling lightly and shaking his head. 

“Serves you right,” the leopard hybrid muttered, Y/N stepping on his foot as soon as the words left his mouth. In retaliation, his tail flicked back furiously enough to smack the back of her thigh, forcing a muffled squeak out of her mouth stuffed full with pastry. 

Taehyung had filled up a plate with hash wordlessly, returning to the breakfast nook to eat by himself. After she was done with her cinnamon roll, Y/N decided to refill Yoongi’s coffee mug for him, ambling over to the coffee bar. She happened to peer out the kitchen slider window, a flash of something colorful outside catching her eye. Startled, she set Yoongi’s mug down, getting closer to the window. 

“Oh my gosh! Is that Hoseok?” Y/N exclaimed, spotting the vibrant orange coat of a lean fox scampering around the backyard playfully. Foxes didn’t typically come out during the day time, and Y/N could hardly remember the last time one had visited her backyard. 

“Yeah. I think he wanted to blow off some steam. Seokjin should be out there with him too,” Yoongi replied from across the kitchen, putting some condiments back into the refrigerator. “It’s not too often hybrids like to shift more than necessary, it’s more comfortable to be in our human forms. But being in animal form has its uses, mainly to expend any pent-up energy.”

Following Hoseok’s quick movements around the back yard with eager eyes, Y/N could barely keep track of him. Another noise of exclamation came from her as a separate form came into her view– a blue-black jaguar, slinking lazily around the hedges leading further back into the property. The sight was startling, of course, even though she knew it was only Seokjin. A childlike giddiness welled up inside of her as she watched the two hybrids explore the backyard, wondering if it would be alright for her to go outside and take a look at them more closely. 

“Why don’t you go out there? Unless you prefer gawking from afar,” Yoongi’s voice echoing her inner thoughts was suddenly much closer to her, taking his refilled mug from the coffee bar with a wry grin. 

“Would it be okay? I mean, I don’t want to bother them or anything, if they’re trying to blow off steam,” Y/N questioned, Yoongi looking highly amused. 

“I doubt you’d be bothering them. Just make sure you turn around when they shift back, so you don’t get flashed,” Yoongi confirmed, pointing to the lawn chairs with both hybrid’s sets of clothes, folded neatly. 

Scandalized, Y/N felt her face become as hot as an iron, though the desire to potentially interact with Seokjin and Hoseok while they were shifted greatly outweighed her embarrassment towards Yoongi’s comment. She could hear Namjoon muttering from his seat several feet away, Y/N yanking the slider door open excitedly before she could stop herself. She knew that Yoongi would be able to handle any bickering between the other two, and definitely nip it in the bud, so she left the three of them in the kitchen without too much worry. 

The temperature outside was boiling and only growing hotter, Y/N cursing as she stepped out into the sunlight on the patio. Autumn’s arrival had never been so anticipated by her, especially as she began to perspire as soon as she felt the heat on her skin. She could no longer spot Seokjin, but could see Hoseok, who had paused his energetic sprints around the backyard to stand statue-still, staring at her with his head cocked. 

Hoseok was a beautiful fox, his coat a glossy sunset color, his frame athletic and larger than most foxes she had seen before. Even from afar, she could now confidently tell that it was Hoseok, his clever eyes remaining and glowing even in his animal form. All she could think to do was wave, swearing she could hear Yoongi’s laughter from inside of the house, but it was one of the last things on her mind. Before she could even gather her thoughts enough to ask Hoseok to come closer, he did. 

Hoseok bounded over to her, a noise of delight tearing from her lips as he sped past her in a flash, circling around her form joyfully while chittering softly. Y/N couldn’t believe she had an opportunity to interact with a fox so closely, Hoseok continuing to dash around her as if to dare her to try and catch him. Giggling, Y/N sunk her knees down into the sweet-scented warm grass, hoping he’d approach her once she lowered herself down. It was strange, to keep in mind that she wasn’t dealing with a wild animal, but with Hoseok, her charming and sunny fox hybrid. 

“Hoseok, are you having fun? It’s not too hot out here for you?” Y/N cooed, trying her best to track his movements as he circled closer and closer around her body kneeling in the grass. 

Hoseok chirped from behind her, Y/N feeling the bristly brush of his tail against the back of her arm as he got nearer than ever, until he made his final semi-circle to face her more fully. By the way she was sitting, Hoseok’s face was only an inch or so below her chin, Y/N able to count the black whiskers on his snout. 

“You’re awfully cute like this, you know?” Y/N couldn’t help but comment, fingers twitching to reach out and scratch under his chin. She found it easy to tease Hoseok when his sharp tongue was unable to quip back, the fox hybrid leaning back on his haunches and staring at her inquisitively.

All at once, Hoseok stretched forward, his body laying down in the grass and his face settling down on Y/N’s knees. Trying not to squeal at the sensation of soft fur of his face brushing her knees as his chin settled in her lap, Y/N froze, her hands hovering mid-air as Hoseok made himself comfortable. 

“Oh boy. Cozy, Hoseok?” Y/N chuckled, still refraining from indulging her desire to bury her fingers into Hoseok’s lustrous fur, as difficult as it was. Still, she couldn’t help but ask, at the very least. “Can I touch?” 

Of course, Hoseok was unable to answer in his shifted state, but he nuzzled his face further into the bare skin of her thighs, tail swishing behind him languidly. Taking his reaction to her words as a go-ahead, considering he hadn’t yanked himself away, Y/N promptly buried a hand in the silky fur between his ears.

 Immediately, she massaged through the fur, lightly scratching Hoseok’s scalp with her fingernails as his eyes slipped shut with the sensation. Like always, she avoided the hybrid’s ears out of consideration for their sensitivity, stroking down from the crown of his head to between his shoulder blades. In her lap, Hoseok had become a boneless heap, enjoying every touch she had to offer, his breath coming out in short pants wafting over the skin of her legs. 

She must have hit a sweet spot right behind one of his ears, Hoseok shuddering as his eyes snapped open. Kneading her fingers into the spot a bit more firmly in response, a tiny growl came from the fox, the pink of his tongue flashing before her eyes as he dragged it in a long strip over her thigh. Jolting at the velvety, wet sensation, Y/N’s cheeks were flaming, though she wasn’t exactly surprised that Hoseok was teasing her even while fully shifted into his fox form. 

“Cheeky boy,” Y/N muttered, still stroking the soft fur behind his ears as she looked away from him, trying to find Seokjin in the tall grasses and weeds making up the backyard. “Hmm… where’s my Seokjin, huh?” 

Mostly talking to herself, her hand slipped away from Hoseok’s crown as he sat up, head turned towards the large tree by the picnic table. Slow blinking at her through his peripherals, Y/N followed his gaze, squinting at the tree a little ways in the distance. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, the thick branches of the ancient oak tree cloaking the picnic table in ample shade, the vibrant green leaves rustling with the dry breeze. Taking a closer look once Hoseok nudged his nose towards it, Y/N scanned the crooked branches stretching across the sky as she got to her feet to follow Hoseok trotting over to the tree. 

“Oh!” Y/N squeaked, finally managing to see what Hoseok was trying to show her. Seokjin had climbed the tree, resting on a particularly thick branch lazily. 

One of his arms was dangling off of the branch, Y/N gulped at the razor-sharp claws hanging in front of her face. Hoseok barked out a strange sound close to the word wow, pawing at the tree trunk as Seokjin placidly opened his eyes, peering down at her and the fox hybrid. Her pulse was racing, not being able to get over being near such a large (and usually lethal) cat. In one fell swoop, Seokjin elegantly jumped down from the branch, Y/N stumbling backwards in shock as he landed in front of her. The impact he made with the soft grass was barely audible, Seokjin incredibly light on his feet for his size; considering his stocky build and strong musculature. Trying not to stare at his fangs as Seokjin returned Hoseok’s vocalizations with a hoarse, guttural noise, Y/N watched as Hoseok got in the jaguar’s face and began to screech, as foxes do when engaging in fights. 

“Uh oh. Are you two fighting now?” Y/N giggled, Hoseok immediately clamming up and sitting down to stare at her. “Aren’t you best friends, though?”

Seokjin pulled away from Hoseok, stalking towards Y/N. Doing her best to remain still, she allowed Seokjin to approach her without shying away– his copper-penny eyes boring into her intensely. To her great surprise, Seokjin ducked his head, nudging Y/N’s palm and apparently attempting to get her to pet him. A soft exclamation fell from her mouth, her fingertips smoothing over his skull while he leaned up into the touch with a feral purr. She kept repeating in her mind– it was her sweet, gentle Seokjin, the one who held her until she fell asleep the previous night, not a wild jaguar that might take her hand off. 

“So pretty,” Y/N breathed, getting a good look at Seokjin’s blue-black coat.

 Darker fur along his torso was decorated with rosettes, and his coat was glossy, but Y/N did not miss some of the old scars littering his body, much like the ones she had noticed the day she had adopted him and treated the wound on his side. Biting down on her lip, Y/N focused on scratching behind Seokjin’s ears, him seeming to enjoy it just as much as Hoseok had by the way he was rubbing his face against her thigh. Using her free arm to swipe sweat off of her forehead, Y/N ached to head back into the AC, even being in the shade wasn’t enough to convince her to spend any more time outside. Hoseok began to pant as he sniffed around the oak tree, the heat surely taking a toll on him as well. 

“Guys, we should head in. It’s too hot out here to be out for very long, and I’m dying for a popsicle or something. Care to join?” Y/N cupped Seokjin’s face, scratching below his ears soothingly as she spoke. His eyes were shut, turning to putty in her hands. 

Hoseok promptly scampered to the patio where he had left his clothes, Y/N trailing after him with Seokjin close behind. The latter seemed a little disappointed that she had to stop petting him in order to follow Hoseok, but he trudged beside her quietly regardless. Reaching the scorching-hot pavingstones of the patio, Y/N heard the slider door yank open, but was too busy staring at the fox and jaguar in front of her. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to being so close to apex predators like that, willing to be pet and doted on. 

Her vision cut out as a sinewy hand pressed over her eyes, another gripping her waist as she was pulled into someone’s chest abruptly. Squealing, Y/N grabbed at the wrist keeping her waist in place, the scent of vanilla and mulled spice filling her senses. 

“I told you to turn around, or you’d get flashed. Those two are shameless,” Yoongi whispered into her ear, Y/N shivering at the paired sensation of his hair brushing against her neck and his gravelly voice from inches away. Even though she tried to squirm away from the leopard hybrid, his grasp on her was ironclad, keeping her firmly in place with her back against his chest. 

“Hey, Yoongi, you’re gonna give the poor girl a heart attack, sneaking up on her like that,” Hoseok’s voice finally rang out in the humid air, Yoongi’s clamp over her eyes only growing firmer. 

“Put some pants on, Foxy. Standing there chastising me with your junk out, have a little decency or self respect, at the very least,” Yoongi replied gruffly, Y/N all but melting into his chest with the proximity and the timbre of his voice. 

“Oh, like what you see, kitty?” Hoseok shot back over a mouthful of laughter, the sounds of fabric sliding over flesh from a few feet away heightened with one of her senses robbed from her. 

“You never seem to run out of shit to say, huh?” Yoongi griped, his pinky finger threading through one of the belt loops in her denim shorts. For some reason, the action felt incredibly intimate. “Your fly is down, Seokjin.”

All at once, Yoongi’s hand dropped from her face, Y/N blinking rapidly as bright sunlight burned her eyes once her sight was returned to her. Yoongi maintained his grip on her waist almost possessively, and she knew the sweat rolling down the back of her neck suddenly had nothing to do with the heat outside.

As her eyes focused, she caught Seokjin tugging up the zipper on his jeans, his broad shoulders straining against the white tee shirt he’d shrugged on haphazardly. Gulping, she averted her stare as Hoseok clomped over to her with his plastic slides slapping the paving stone patio, cocking his head to look at her inquiringly. 

“How did the scolding go? Tail between their legs? Not that Taehyung has much of a tail, in the first place,” he asked dryly, the expanse of his dewy golden skin exposed by a flimsy muscle tee (that he must have picked up at the mall) catching sunlight and dazzling her. 

“Foxy,” Yoongi’s tone had a warning edge to it, his hand finally retreating from Y/N’s waist as he pulled the slider door back open, a rush of cool air flooding out into the patio space. “Shut it, already.”

“Yoongi, honey, it’s alright… everyone deserves to be filled in,” Y/N insisted, motioning for both him and Hoseok to head into the house before her, Yoongi’s tail going ramrod straight at the sound of his name being called. “Everything went smoothly in my opinion, Hoseok. I’m hoping that this incident won’t be repeated, I can’t bear the thought of seeing any of you hurt like that again.”

“You’re being mushy, again, silly girl,” Yoongi chortled between words in front of her, Y/N noting that both Namjoon and Taehyung had vacated the kitchen. 

Muttering under her breath over Yoongi’s incessant need to poke fun at her, she shut the door behind Seokjin, who was smiling at her so kindly that she thought she’d fall over at the way his full lips tugged into the saccharine shape. It was difficult to grasp just how breathtakingly beautiful Seokjin truly was without even trying, donning such a simple outfit and nearly dripping with sweat. She had to tear her eyes from him promptly in order not to dwell on that fact for too long. 

“Yeah, yeah, okay, so I’m a sap, whatever! Anyways, thank you guys for everything last night… helping with the cleanup after the cookout, intervening during the incident– all of it,” Y/N passed a forearm over her dewy forehead, mind on peeling wallpaper off of the second floor hallways– when she was upstairs earlier, she realized the paper had pulled from the walls in large sheets due to the recent heatwave, even with the new AC system pumping through the house. 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re overly forgiving?” Hoseok poked Y/N in the shoulder as he leaned over the island they had congregated at, a devilish grin revealing his sharpened incisors. “No, wait. Alice said you’re ‘known to be too trusting’, if I remember her words correctly from that phone call you had last week.”

“H-hoseok!” Y/N squeaked, her face coloring with mortification. Simply shrugging, Hoseok traced patterns into the granite of the island countertop, as if he hadn’t said anything at all. “Al–”

“Hoseok, didn’t you want to show me how to use the sauna? Quit the wiseass act, for once,” Seokjin vocalized abruptly, his fingertip and thumb tugging at Hoseok’s russet ear sharply. At the contact, Hoseok braced himself on the granite with a swiftly masked dark grimace, springing into action. 

“You’re lost without me, Jinnie,” Hoseok choked, his hands trying to grasp at Seokjin’s tail as the jaguar hybrid lured him out of the kitchen and in the direction to the basement. “Hey! Where’d you learn the word ‘wiseass’, anyway? I didn’t teach you that!”

As Hoseok’s voice faded, Y/N was left staring at Yoongi’s silhouette illuminated by the fridge light as he rummaged around in the drawers, his ears fluttering with each subtle move she made rounding the counter as she reached his side. The leopard hybrid was silent until he happened upon what he was looking for; sending a smirk over his shoulder at Y/N. 

“Here, have a drink. Hot out there, huh?” Yoongi tossed Y/N a bottle of electrolyte water, which she miraculously caught mid-air. Uncapping it, she took several greedy swigs, narrowing her eyes at the leopard hybrid’s smug expression. 

“You know? You’re a real wiseass yourself, Yoongi,” Y/N accused, just about fed up with his borderline flirtatious banter. “Come on, let’s watch a movie or something… I’ll put on something boring, so you can take a nap. You’ve been up pretty much all night, regardless of what you told me this morning.”

Yoongi watched her carefully as she finished her drink, even allowing her to tow him along to the parlor entrance from the kitchen with her hand wrapped around his dainty wrist. Supposing she could save the wallpaper-peeling endeavor for the next day, perhaps when it wasn’t so hot, she decided to spend some personal time with the hybrids after the chaotic day before, Y/N felt Yoongi’s tail occasionally curl around the back of her knee as she dragged him to the parlor. She was pleased to discover Jimin occupying the room already, freshly showered and perky, poised in the leather recliner as they entered the room, a Star Wars movie playing on cable. It was clear that Jimin didn’t know how to fully operate the TV and remote control yet; distinct confusion painted all over his features. 

“Jimin, sweetheart, want to watch something else? If this isn’t up your alley, let’s change it!” Y/N declared, swiping the remote from the coffee table once situating a limp Yoongi against one of the couch armrests. The leopard hybrid was pretty much half asleep by the time she had towed him into the parlor room, much to her delight– he was adorable when he was sleepy. 

“Ah, I hate to be a bother, Y/N,” Jimin murmured, barely above a whisper to accommodate Yoongi’s clear drowsiness. His sandy ears remained alert, his expression clear, leading Y/N to believe he may have gotten a decent night’s sleep even after the events of the previous night.  

“Shh, Jimin, you’ll never be a bother,” Y/N assured speedily, flicking through her digital movie stash in search of something that may intrigue the coyote hybrid; and after a few moments she spotted something that could potentially spark his interest (not to mention, potentially bore Yoongi to unconsciousness). “Oh! I think you might enjoy this– Casablanca. Old Hollywood, with its charms and all!”

Jimin leaned forward on his seat, eager butterscotch eyes roaming over the film’s description. She had kept in mind his taste in literature– Joan Didion’s ode to some of the gripes of Hollywood in Play It as It Lays– and ran with it. While the film wasn’t necessarily similar to the book he had brought with him from Montana, it was Old Hollywood, and Jimin struck her as someone who preferred a classic to a flashy space movie. As per usual, Jimin’s emotions were easy to read, and he was obviously curious. 

“Looks entertaining, Y/N. I’ll gladly watch it with you,” Jimin shot her his award-winning smile, Y/N hardly able to press play with the reception of the gesture. The added fact that he had finally dropped the “Miss” from her name had her heart racing, to boot.

The film began to roll fuzzily on the flatscreen, furthering Yoongi’s relaxation into the couch cushions. Y/N took it upon herself to spread a knitted throw over the leopard hybrid, hoping that the action would convey her deep gratitude for talking to Taehyung the night before. Whatever he had said, clearly it had worked some magic in calming the Kodiak hybrid down. 

It was incredibly peaceful; enjoying an old movie, with a drowsy Yoongi several inches away from her on the couch, and Jimin’s insightful commentary on the film itself every once and a while. Staying with the two of them for the time being, Y/N felt her stress surrounding the others, the house renovations, and the possibility of additional physical fights between the hybrids melt away. 

Yoongi began to stir in his drowsy state beside her, low rumbling purrs coming from his chest as he maneuvered himself closer to Y/N. Unceremoniously, Yoongi curled onto his side and dropped his body down heavily, his head landing in Y/N’s lap as he pulled the blanket closer around himself. Jolting in surprise, Y/N let out an amused snort in response, Yoongi’s ear fluttering sluggishly with his eyes shut. Glancing at Jimin sideways, the coyote hybrid thoroughly invested in the film and seemingly paying no mind to her nor Yoongi, Y/N began to gently card her fingers through Yoongi’s hair, the inky strands slipping through her fingers like rivulets of water.

 A deep, satisfied sigh deflated his chest slowly and rounded out in a purr, apparently enjoying the sensation, Y/N tucking a lock behind the shell of his human ear and stroking the long strands by the nape of his neck. Ever since Yoongi had scented her, he had grown increasingly clingy and almost affectionate, which was something she didn’t entirely mind at all, if she was being honest with herself. It was almost like in another life, or in another existence entirely, she and Yoongi had been in this position before, had brushed each other’s lives in some way. 

Continuing to fiddle with the leopard hybrid’s hair while he fell into a deep sleep on her lap, Y/N returned her attention back to the film and the occasional exchanged comments with Jimin. She was able to fish her phone out of her pocket without disturbing Yoongi, filling an online shopping cart with seven different guidebooks for each hybrid she had adopted. 

Y/N had the feeling that she’d have extra time to read the books while she was at work the following week, considering foot traffic would be light with the end of the summer season. Not to mention, she wasn’t giving tarot or psychic readings, so she knew that there would be a few hours where she’d have nothing to do but sit on a stool behind the counter– in her mind, a good way to spend it would be educating herself on her hybrids. Once the order was placed, she relaxed deeper into the couch, lightly massaging Yoongi’s scalp as the movie rolled on. 

The rest of Saturday passed slowly like honey dripping from a wooden dipper; consisting of lazy movie marathons with Jimin, napping Yoongi, and later Hoseok and Seokjin– all while trying to beat the heat with popsicles, and ordering sushi for dinner instead of having to cook. Booze began to flow around 5 o’clock, Hoseok making some kind of tequila concoction with crushed ice and lime for everyone, which finally roused Yoongi out of his sleep and off of Y/N’s lap, puffiness filling out his cheeks. Once he had moved off of her, she made her rounds to respective bedrooms, writing down sushi orders from Jeongguk (who had also just woken up from his nap with sleep wrinkles on his cheek), Namjoon, and Taehyung– the task akin to pulling teeth with the latter two. 

When the food arrived, by some miracle all seven hybrids joined her in the parlor to eat, even though Namjoon and Taehyung were carefully avoided by the others throughout the meal. The two that had fought took seats far from each other; Namjoon on the window seat a little ways away from the TV, Taehyung on a chair further back in the room by the entrance to the kitchen. Thankfully, not a single word was uttered by anyone surrounding the fight or the presence of the Kodiak and wolf hybrids, everyone’s full attention on the continuation of the New Girl binge they were in the middle of. 

The only thing that seemed a little off to Y/N was Hoseok’s behavior, even though he tried his best to put on his most beguiling smile as he mixed up cocktails, he seemed on edge compared to earlier on in the day. Most interestingly, Y/N could tell it wasn’t due to Namjoon’s presence for once, as the fox hybrid appeared less frightened and more agitated, so she kept a particular eye on him as he absently picked his way through a California roll. He didn’t even poke fun at Seokjin like he normally did, even when the jaguar hybrid had opened up a soy sauce packet in a way that had it exploding all over the front of his tee shirt, deepening her concern. 

After a couple of hours of watching the show and snacking on the Japanese takeout, Hoseok abruptly excused himself, making a beeline for the basement. Frowning, Y/N looked to Seokjin, who had been sitting on the floor in front of her feet, his head tilted backwards to make eye contact with her. 

“What’s up with him? Do you know?” Y/N whispered into Seokjin’s nearest rounded ear, which twitched rapidly at the action, the jaguar hybrid’s eyes narrowing in the direction of the hallway to the foyer and basement.

“Yeah, I have a hunch. Maybe you should check on him,” a slight knowing edge was mingling with Seokjin’s melodic tone, causing Y/N to ease herself off of the couch. Tequila was fuzzying the edges of her sight, but she was still able to step her way around Seokjin after giving him an appreciative hair ruffle, ambling in the direction of the basement. 

Deep down in her gut, Y/N had a minute clue as to what Seokjin was alluding to when she had questioned him. Hoseok was one of the last to scent her, along with Jimin, both of whom she was monitoring subtly for any symptoms of refraining from doing so. Hoseok’s fidgety, strange conduct during dinner certainly strengthened her suspicions, though it was his particular clingy mannerisms in fox form earlier in the day that had set off certain alarm bells in her head. 

Still hearing quiet mumbling mingling with TV audio as she wrenched open the door to the basement, Y/N thought it best to shut it behind her once she was descending the steps and if her suspicions were confirmed. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to hybrid scenting rituals, anticipation flooding through her bloodstream as she tiptoed down the stairs. 

The metal sound of dumbbells clanking together bounced around the bare acoustics of the basement almost immediately once Y/N reached the bottom step. It was a pipe dream to believe Hoseok had gotten true rest since the night before the cookout considering this wolf phobia, the excess of exercise Hoseok was performing was indicative of something deeper, clearly. 

Coming into view of the gym space thanks to the mirrored wall, Y/N caught Hoseok performing aggressive overhead presses, his back turned to her and impressively heavy dumbbells grasped in his fists. Hoseok was nearly dripping with sweat, the amount of it not enough to chalk it up to his five minutes in the gym, his complexion in the mirror blotchy as he repeated a lifting motion over and over again. Still in his dampened muscle tee and sweat shorts, Hoseok’s chest heaved as he exercised, even though he knew she was standing behind him. She could tell by the way his posture locked up, his tail grew rigid, and his nostrils began to flare. 

“Hoseok,” Y/N began, the fox hybrid promptly ignoring her and continuing his reps with renewed vigor. “Hoseok, stop. You’re gonna strain a muscle, you’ve been active all day.”

Y/N laced her words with heavy implication, knowing that clever Hoseok would undoubtedly catch onto the unsaid. Still, he refused to put down the dumbbells, staring at his own reflection in the mirror stormily. Hissing, Y/N marched up to his side, glaring at the fox hybrid’s stubborn side profile, tangible waves of body heat coming off of him like a furnace. Wondering why Hoseok was so reluctant to scent her, his attempts to abstain from the act so painfully apparent it puzzled Y/N to no end. Hoseok was one of the hybrids who warmed up to her the quickest, and usually didn’t shy away from physical contact, so the behavior was bizarre to say the least. 

“Hoseok. Are you ignoring me? You look like you’re going to pass out, would you please put the weights down and look at me?” Y/N raised her voice a decibel or two, Hoseok’s jaw clenching and unclenching as a prominent vein appeared on his forehead. “Fucksake, Hoseok–”

Growling, Hoseok finally slammed the dumbbells back onto the metal rack, spinning on his heel to stare down at her with a cocked eyebrow. There was danger written all across his features, in a way that Y/N had never considered Hoseok could possess, sending a shiver down her spine as his darkened eyes swept over her face. His chest was heaving, taking two big steps towards Y/N, making her back up in consequence as her heart began to race. 

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to swear at you, I was just worried because you look so–”

“Look so what?” Hoseok cut her off sharply, backing her up until her ass made contact with the seat of the stationary bike, and there was nowhere left to go. “What do I look like?”

“Um! You’re just flushed, you don’t look bad or anything, I mean– I don’t think you could look bad–” 

“You’re always talking yourself into a corner, darling, and look where it's gotten you this time,” Hoseok interrupted her babbling again, using one of his sneaker-clad feet to lightly kick between her ankles and widen her stance, Y/N slamming her mouth shut in response. “I’ll stop you there, before you dig yourself into a deeper hole.”

“You– and you’re always t-teasing me!” Y/N accused weakly, her words getting caught in her throat when Hoseok wrapped his hands around her waist firmly enough to have her wincing, finding herself plucked off of the floor and being placed onto the seat of the stationary bike. 

Now eye-level with the fox hybrid, she gawked at him with wide, startled eyes, following the bead of sweat running down his temple and coasting down the side of his face. His hands remained on her waist, with enough force to likely bruise, Hoseok more worked up than she thought. Distantly, she cursed Seokjin inwardly for not giving her more of a warning surrounding the fox hybrid’s state, but as Hoseok’s tongue peaked out from between his lips to dampen the flesh, most coherent thought fled from her mind. 

“I’ve told you before. You make it too easy for me,” Hoseok replied, his usually bright tone replaced with something darker, more predatory. 

All Y/N could do was stare at him, effectively pinned to the seat with his vice like grip on her waist and his dangerously brilliant eyes boring into her like he could see through her skin. They swept over her throat, his Adam's apple bobbing as he let go of one side of her waist to drag a fingertip up and over her clavicle, tapping his index finger against her thrumming pulse. Shuddering, her eyelids slipped shut as her breath began to come out in small pants, Hoseok chuckling lowly at her reaction to his touch. She felt pathetic, basically turned into a puddle already and he hadn’t even gotten close enough to bite her. 

His index finger trailed upwards to crook under her chin, his thumb resting beneath her lower lip, tilting her head up and to the side a bit. A small groan spilled from Hoseok’s lips as her throat became more exposed to him, her scent undoubtedly filling his senses powerfully. Squirming in her seat, Hoseok’s grip on her waist loosened, the hand traveling to the back of her head as he took a fistful of her hair. He wasn’t being gentle by any means, his fingernails digging into her scalp as he threaded strands through his digits, pulling her closer to his face as she finally opened her eyes. 

Hoseok was but a breath away from her, Y/N finding herself focusing on the freckle kissing his cupid’s bow, his eyes lidded as he stepped impossibly closer, slotting himself between her legs and dipping his face down to nuzzle at her jawbone. Eyes rolling back in her skull at the sensation of his lips ghosting over her jaw, Y/N bit back a whimper, her hands finding purchase on his bare biceps, his skin slightly slippery and feverish with perspiration. 

“Hoseok…” Y/N whispered, sensing that he was stalling a little bit, taking deep breaths through his nose while tucked into the crook of her neck as his ears twitched at the sound of his name. 

“What, are you eager or something?” Hoseok returned coolly, lifting his head to speak into her ear directly. His breath ghosting over the sensitive area had her practically clawing at his skin. “Patience, my darling.”

The dulcet tone of his voice caused the whimper to finally tumble from her lips, Hoseok grinning against the shell of her ear before she felt the sharpened points of his incisors nip roughly at her earlobe. The action had her pressing closer to Hoseok, her chest flush with his as her hands fumbled to the back of his tank top, gripping the dampened fabric as an anchor. With the implications of the fox hybrid’s words, she no longer held any doubts that all of the hybrids were aware just how much she enjoyed when they scented her, the realization both humiliating and exciting once it dawned on her. 

“Oh? Are you embarrassed? Worried that the others upstairs will hear you?” Hoseok murmured into her ear, hand dropping from her jaw to press against her lower back, the force of the touch making her spine arch harder into Hoseok’s chest. “Doesn’t matter anyways…”

Feeling Hoseok’s heart racing as he pressed himself against her, Y/N began to shake in response to his tone and shamelessness, using her thighs to squeeze Hoseok’s hips in an attempt to get him to hurry up and bite her already. Sighing deeply, Hoseok nudged the tip of his nose against the corner of her jaw, his soft lips finding the tender spot beneath her earlobe and planting a featherlight kiss there. Y/N knew then, Hoseok was unabashedly trying to rile her up; this was a new side to the fox hybrid Y/N had no idea about– rough, wild, domineering.

The kiss was immediately followed by the fox hybrid finally baring his teeth and sinking them into the same spot he planted his lips seconds prior, the razor-sharp sting of his incisors tearing into her flesh with borderline reckless abandon. Too startled by the blinding pain to make a noise, Y/N’s mouth dropped open in a silent scream as she felt thin streams of her blood running down the side of her neck. Growing entirely limp, her body weakly slumped against Hoseok’s firm chest, the pain of the bite fading more slowly than any of her previous ones, perhaps because of the harsh way he had torn into the skin, his hand on the back of her head still yanking at strands with force. 

“A-ah, ouch, Hos-seok,” Y/N sobbed lightly, gliding shaky hands up to Hoseok’s shoulders for purchase, the fox hybrid groaning softly into her neck as her fingernails clawed at his deltoids. As the throbbing began to slip away, the fogginess of pleasure that came with the bite overtook everything– the combination of the two sensations almost too much to bear. 

Pulling his teeth from the wound, Hoseok adjusted her in his arms by using a forearm to curl securely around her lower back, hand tangled in her hair moving to stroke the back of her head more tenderly. A couple of involuntary tears slipped down her cheeks in response to the overwhelming sensations washing over her; eyes rolling to the back of her skull when she felt Hoseok drag his tongue in fat strips from the base of her clavicle to just over the bite by the curve of her jaw, collecting the thin trails of blood that had dribbled from the wound.

Y/N was hardly aware of the low whines she was letting out as Hoseok held her more gently, paying almost reverent attention to cleaning up the area he had bloodied. He was supporting most of her weight in the process, Y/N winding her arms around his neck loosely to keep herself somewhat upright as he once again pressed a soft kiss over his mark. She blearily eyed the crescent-shaped divots she had created on the skin of his shoulder, a delirious scenting-addled brain remarking that she, too, had claimed him in some way. While Hoseok had been quite rough with her, she didn’t really mind, especially because all tension had drained from his body since, and he was now holding her so tightly. 

“Sorry about the pain, I think I picked a tender spot…” Hoseok suddenly murmured into her neck, moving his arms so he could hug around her waist, hooking his chin over her shoulder. Finally, she could drop her head down into the crook of his neck, still feeling the loopiness of the bite. “I waited too long, lost control a little bit.”

Hoseok drew soothing patterns on her back as he embraced her, warmth spreading through Y/N as she nuzzled into him. His scent was comforting, and she was honestly relieved that he had finally calmed down from his incessant bouncing off the walls, but all at once she was exhausted. 

“Do you need to sit here for a bit? Or do you want me to carry you upstairs?” Hoseok spoke again after several beats, piece by piece of Y/N’s intelligence coming back to her as the fog cleared from her head. “We should probably get you a glass of water, you bled a bit and it's so hot outside… I’m surprised Yoongi or Jin haven’t come down here to fight me yet.”

“No more fighting,” Y/N weakly choked into Hoseok’s warm skin, lifting her heavy head up a few inches to speak more coherently. “I s-swear, you’re all going to be the death of me, b-between the scenting, teasing, and the angst.”

Hoseok heartily laughed at her stuttered sentiments, pressing his fingertips into the tender muscles of her back as he held her. She realized she never answered Hoseok’s first two inquiries, blinking kittenishly at the fox hybrid as he studied her face calmly. The warmth and friendliness to his features had returned. 

“You don’t have to carry me, we can just go up together. I should bid everyone goodnight, anyways– it’s about time I attempt to get my sleep schedule under control before I head off to work Monday morning,” Y/N managed to articulate clearly, secretly praying for a peaceful Sunday before driving Seokjin and Namjoon to the city for the book club and then herself to a nearby suburb to pick up her shift at Judy’s metaphysical shop come Monday. 

Making a move to stand up from her seat on the exercise bike, Hoseok inched away as she lowered her feet to the ground, his proximity still quite staggering as she tried to un-pin herself from his body against the bike. As he processed her words and movements, Hoseok shook out his limbs, stepping aside so she could move freely once more. Though, she couldn’t get very far without his sturdy hand slipping against her’s, intertwining his fingers securely around her own and their arms interlocking in an almost serpentine way. 

“I forgot about you starting work on Monday,” Hoseok remarked, and Y/N could have sworn she caught Hoseok faintly pouting, but nonchalantly let him lead her still slightly slackened body to the stairs. 

His hand clasped in her’s was rough, but warm and steady. He parted with her momentarily and dashed into his bedroom, softly ordering her to put on his hoodie as she quivered by the stairs waiting for him. With her brain less rational than usual, she slipped the woodsy smelling hoodie over her head without a word, Hoseok’s hand entangling with her’s once more as soon as it was draped over her body. 

 “Jinnie told me he’s going with you, you’re dropping him off at the library with the godforsaken wolf.”

Sucking in a lungful of careful breath, Y/N nodded to the best of her ability as the pair of them clambered up the stairs at snail's speed. With Hoseok’s immediate drop back into his sharp-witted persona, Y/N was left a touch whiplashed. How had he gone from dangerous desperation to happy-go-lucky in a matter of minutes? “I’m afraid my mother has roped Seokjin into the extracurricular, if you will. Though, you’re all more than welcome to join the bookclub… my mom would love it of course, and it gives you a chance to get out of the house,” Y/N noted, slightly lamenting the fact that her hybrids didn’t have many opportunities to engage with much of society due to their limited rights. 

“I’m not really into books in that way. Don’t get me wrong, I read, but I can’t picture myself dissecting thematic overtones in the same room as that wolf. Besides, I’d rather bother Yoongi all day. He’s funny when he’s agitated,” Hoseok held the door to the basement open for her while he responded, tugging her hand as they both cleared the last step into the foyer. 

“Well, just don’t push his buttons too much. He’s skilled with a knife, you know,” Y/N giggled, nudging his hip with her own as they made it into the kitchen. With a snort, Hoseok released her hand, retrieving a pitcher of water from the fridge and pouring her and himself a large glass. “I’m going to scour the internet, see if I can find other clubs or activities for hybrids in the area, maybe there will be something that interests you. That way you don’t have to be cooped up here all the time!” “Ha, like a hybrid summer camp or something?” Hoseok pondered, a playful lilt to his voice. Contrary to his words, Y/N knew Hoseok was interested in pursuing new hobbies, he’d had let it slip during their chat earlier that morning. 

“No, not a summer camp, silly. There’s a recreation center not so far from here, they might have sports teams or art classes…” 

“You should see if there’s a ghostbusting club for the elk,” Hoseok slid Y/N her glass of water, a smug look on his face as he registered the unmoved reaction from her towards his jab at Jeongguk. “Come on, it was a little funny. Don’t tell me you’re already smitten with him.”

“Hoseok, I swear,” Y/N groaned, taking her water and moving towards the entrance to the parlor. She could catch a glimpse of Taehyung from where she was standing, still curled up in the chair by the window and fiddling with the hem of his blue flannel as he watched the TV from afar. “One of these days you’ll meet your match, and then you’ll have to hold your tongue.” 

The fox hybrid’s melodic chuckles were dampened in volume compared to the chatter and volume from the television, the rest of the hybrids still in their spots around the parlor as if she and Hoseok never even left. She wanted to bid them all a good night, hoping to get into bed before 11 PM, so she began with Taehyung, reaching into her pocket for the roll of gauze she had tucked in there earlier to change out the old bandages. Hoseok returned to his seat on the floor beside Seokjin, carefully avoiding the Kodiak hybrid as Y/N knelt before him to replace the gauze. 

“Can I see your hands?” Y/N murmured quietly, holding her palms out expectantly as she snagged Taehyung’s attention. 

His garnet eyes softened as he stared at her knelt form on the floor, leaning forward and immediately resting his large hands in hers, the movement carrying his strong sandalwood scent with it. The weight of his hands was solid and unyielding, Y/N immediately removing the old bandages from that morning and inspecting his knuckles. To her great surprise, the wounds already appeared to be half-healed, mostly scabbed over and bruised at that point. Still, she preferred to wrap them so he wouldn’t snag the scabs on his sheets when he went to bed, swiftly wrapping his hands up and giving his fingers a light squeeze. 

“Alright, you should be good after this! I forgot you guys heal so quickly,” Y/N grinned at Taehyung, appearing quite thoughtful as she began to pull her hands away. “I wanted to say goodnight, too. I have to start heading to bed a bit earlier so I can get up for work on Monday without an issue.”

Taehyung’s ears fluttered, eyes taking in every inch of her face as she spoke. He had an air of unease about him, Y/N figuring that he was still thinking about the events that had unfolded the night before, possibly trying to scan her face for any hint of fear towards him that might still be lingering. Really, she wasn’t afraid of Taehyung, even after learning the dark secret he had been keeping from everybody and the fist fight that occurred between him and Namjoon. Deep down, she knew that Taehyung had probably agonized over harboring a secret so damning, and it wasn’t like he plotted the murder… he had been metaphorically cornered, forced to choose between life and death. Whether that was naive or not, that was yet to be seen. 

“Goodnight,” Taehyung’s deep, mellow voice drew her out of her thoughts, her eyes locking with his once more and away from his wrapped knuckles. “I hope you sleep well…”

He was much, much closer to her face now, one of his hands moving out of her grip to cup her cheek swiftly before getting nearer than ever, planting a firm, resolute kiss between her eyebrows, the action so unexpected it had Y/N’s jaw hanging loosely. Blinking stupidly, Y/N put a hand over the spot his warm lips had stamped affection over, slowly rising to her feet. Taehyung’s eyes were focused back onto the television, leaving her to trudge away in a bit of a stun. 

Snapping out of it the best she could, she made her rounds to each hybrid clumped on and around the couch, Seokjin making grabby hands for one of her palms and squeezing it tight with a disappointed look in his eyes that she was retiring early. Jeongguk grunted in response to her bidding goodnight with blood sliding down his cheekbones from his shedding velvet, smirking up at her as she bashfully recovered from both Yoongi and Hoseok hooking arms around her legs from the floor in a sort of joint-hug. Man, they were all getting clingy– and her poor heart could hardly take it. After smoothing her hand over Jimin’s shoulder and exchanging a set of ‘sweet dreams’, Y/N eyed the window seat Namjoon had been sitting on, now vacated. Perhaps he decided to hit the hay early, too, but she still wished that he’d said goodnight to her. 

She exited the parlor, grinning as she heard the TV decrease in volume as Hoseok turned it down a little, making her way through the dimly lit foyer with her cheeks warm. Hardly paying attention to where she was going, her thoughts surrounding her regret that she’d have to sleep alone in her bed that night, Y/N let out a squeak once she realized there was somebody standing in the hallway leading to her bedroom. 

Shifting awkwardly from one foot to another, hands stuffed into the pockets of his gray sweatpants, was Namjoon, his ears flickering at the sounds of her footsteps creaking against the rickety floorboards. In the moonlight, his eyes still glowed amber, and his presence had a shiver dancing along the ridges of her spine. Approaching slowly, Y/N prayed he didn’t sense her minor apprehension in doing so. 

“Can I have a word?” Namjoon broke the heavy silence as soon as she got close enough for him to murmur, Y/N nodding slightly as moonbeams from the skylight made the silver strands of his hair practically sparkle. He was almost otherworldly. “About last night…”

“Oh, uh, is something still on your mind? I suppose I haven’t really talked to you much today…” Y/N managed to choke out, dreading what he was about to bring up. There was a chance he’d be looking to argue with her again, which was the last thing she wanted on her mind before she went to bed. 

“It’s not about the fight,” Namjoon quickly interjected, the lightest peachy flush dusting the tips of his human ears as he looked away from her. Temporarily relieved, she waited for him to get to the point, composing his face into a more serious expression while he assembled his thoughts. “It’s about your mother.”

Blinking, Y/N felt ice flood through her veins, wondering just how many times Namjoon could take her completely by surprise like that. Apparently sensing the dread coursing through her, Namjoon pulled his eyebrows together, stepping closer into her proximity. His scent, a manly musk mingling with floral honey, infiltrated her senses with the movement, and oddly brought her comfort immediately. 

“Ah, don’t worry, please. I pulled a few Tarot cards from her last night, and wanted to discuss it with you… before everything else went down,” Namjoon remarked quietly, tilting his head down in an attempt to catch her eyes. 

Moving to bury her hands in Hoseok’s hoodie pocket, her fingers brushed the little roll of gauze within the fabric, avoiding eye contact with Namjoon cowardly. She still had to swap out his bandages. 

“Even when I told her not to do any more readings on you guys after Tae, she still did…” Y/N muttered, bitterness flooding her taste buds. “Did she tell you that you were going to die in seven days, or something?”

Namjoon seemed to choke on his intake of breath, Y/N finally meeting his eyes as she watched him try to mask the shocked amusement wash over him. 

“N-no, I should hope not!” Namjoon breathed, removing his hands from his pockets to rub at the bare skin of his arms, as if a chill washed over him. Cute. “Seriously, though. I need to talk to you, can you come in for a minute?”

Namjoon jerked his head backwards to his bedroom door, the room filled with dusty lamplight and smelling like essential oil floor cleaner. Chewing her lip, Y/N followed the wolf hybrid into the room. He shut the door almost completely behind her, clearing his throat and pointing to his desk chair. 

“Here, sit. I managed to take a few notes about what I pulled, before…” clearing his throat again, Namjoon ushered Y/N over to his chair, which she lowered herself onto while he leaned one hip against the desk to look down at her. “Anyways, take a look.”

The Magician - Apparently representing the querent; myself. Change in a situation or an environment needs to be brought about through a certain skill set (I?) possess… Spiritual development. Concentration is needed. 

The Eight of Cups - My interpretation of this is seeking out higher spiritual power with the risk of abandoning material or previous efforts or successes/abandoning what one already has. Turning your back on something important, forgetting someone or something…

The Nine of Swords - Impending disaster, unavoidable fate. Whatever the disaster may be, nothing can be moved past until it is dealt with. 

Namjoon’s handwriting, as beautiful as ever, curled across the weathered parchment in smudged indigo ink, the page littered in smaller notes she couldn’t quite read and a series of arrows and underlining. Another tiny clue into who Namjoon was fell into place in her mind– apparently, he knew enough about Tarot to grasp the meanings of each card, and she could feel him inspecting her from his perch on his desk as she looked over his notes. 

“So? What do you think?” Namjoon vocalized after a few moments, taking his notes from her gently. Y/N noticed the wrappings on his hands had some of his blood seeping through, making her frown. 

“Huh? Oh, you want my thoughts on the cards?” Namjoon nodded in response to her breathy inquiry, his bitten ear twitching as she scooted the desk chair closer to him, in order to get a better look at his notes once more. “I’m a bit rusty with Tarot, Namjoon.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure you remember more than you think you do,” Namjoon insisted eagerly, his desire for any kind of information from her etched across his features and laced in his tone. Humming, Y/N scanned the notes again– she might as well give it her best shot, for his sake. 

“Hmm. So… I think you’re correct in guessing that you’re represented by The Magician, part of the Major Arcana. The other two cards you pulled aren’t particularly positive cards, especially The Nine of Swords. The suit of Swords typically indicates a sort of intellectual challenge to overcome, whereas the suit of Cups alludes to a spiritual challenge. I’m not sure what your beliefs are, Namjoon, but to me… these cards suggest that there is some sort of spiritual trial you’ll have to face, something that you’ll have to use your knowledge and experience to overcome,” Y/N began deliberately, eyes on the ceiling as if to summon some of her Tarot knowledge back into her brain.

 “This obstacle you’ll have to face might bring you a great deal of anxiety, and you may become so wrapped up in fixing it that you forget to check in with reality from time to time. The fact that you came up as The Magician is a comfort; whatever you may face I’m confident you’ll be able to handle it and come away with even more experience than ever before,” She concluded, feeling a little badly she couldn’t give a better analysis. Sixteen-year-old Y/N could have given him a thirty minute in-depth reading with enthusiasm. 

Namjoon seemed to be in deep concentration, lips pursed as he stared at the piece of parchment as if it was going to start speaking to him. A small, amused smile stretched across her face as she waited for her words to sink in, tapping her pointer finger on his knee in front of her to get his attention. It certainly did the job, Namjoon staring at her like she had grown a second head at once. Snorting, she fished the gauze out of Hoseok’s hoodie pocket, reaching out expectantly for his hands. 

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Namjoon muttered, though he put down the parchment and stretched out his hands either way. 

“Indulge me,” Y/N whispered, cradling his palm in front of her face so she could gingerly peel the soiled gauze off of his knuckles. He hissed, whether in response to the gauze sticking to his wounds or her words. 

His knuckles hadn’t quite scabbed over like Taehyung’s had yet, but Y/N supposed he took a few more harsh swings than the Kodiak hybrid had. Brushing her thumb over his skin tenderly, she held her breath as she re-wrapped his hands, waiting for him to say something, anything at all. 

“Did I provide you with any useful insight, or were those theories you’ve already considered?” Y/N finally prompted, placing his hands back down on his lap. This time, he seemed reluctant to lose contact with her, as his left ring finger dragged along her palm more slowly than it should have. 

“You’ve definitely confirmed a few things for me, thank you,” Namjoon replied, easing himself off of his desk and shaking out his tail he was sitting on. “I don’t know if I should tell you this, because I know you’re going to bed…”

Freezing her movements in rising from his desk chair, Y/N gawked at the wolf hybrid’s cryptic expression. What now?

“Well, now you have to tell me, or I won’t sleep a wink,” Y/N insisted, standing up to her full height and feeling Hoseok’s hoodie skimming her thighs as she straightened out. Stepping closer to him, she cocked her head, waiting for him to open his mouth and cut to the chase. 

“I’m not sure that Jeongguk and I were able to permanently banish that entity last week. I think, based on this reading, and some of the tension still lingering, it might try to come back,” Namjoon uttered softly, carefully scanning Y/N from head to toe as if to analyze her body language and reactions. 

Her shoulders sagged, not exactly taken aback by this revelation, because she, too, had entertained the idea. She still didn’t have any idea what kind of ritual the two of them had carried out to banish the entity in the first place, as she was totally unconscious throughout, and barely had the time to ask either of them about it amongst the chaos of the last week. There were the grounds to consider, where the Y/N had accidentally summoned the entity all those years ago in the first place– she highly doubted Namjoon nor Jeongguk had broken free from her side to cleanse the grounds that night. For all she knew, it could be lurking at the edges of the property, waiting for the right moment to gain entry into the home again. 

“Yeah, I was thinking that too, lately. I’m not sure what you two did to stave it off for this long, but it is likely that I’ll have to do some heavy-duty protection wards around the property and the house next weekend. I might even have to do a full-scale banishment, if that doesn’t work,” Y/N sighed roughly, twisting her hands in the soft material of the hoodie’s pocket.

“Can I help?” Namjoon blurted, his back straightening out in purpose, eyes widening fractionally. “You should enlist Jeongguk’s help, too. If we work together, the chances of successfully getting rid of it are higher.”

Stunned, Y/N felt her mouth dropping open, wondering if this was Namjoon’s way of making it up to her for the way he acted the previous night, especially considering Jeongguk was the one to break up the brawl and haul the wolf hybrid away and Namjoon was still willing to team up with him. Maybe, he saw it as his ‘spiritual challenge’ he must overcome, or maybe he was more interested in the paranormal than she originally thought. 

“You wanna help?” Y/N repeated meekly, Namjoon nodding once. “Alright, that’s a good idea– the three of us together can cover more ground quickly. When I go to work on Monday, I’ll pick up some things for the wards. If it comes to a full-scale banishment, we should wait for the next new moon in two weeks, just before your birthday.”

Namjoon froze, the constant sway of his silver tail even pausing, as pure astonishment washed over him. Cocking an eyebrow at his reaction, Y/N wondered if she said anything out of turn, or if he was re-thinking the whole ordeal now that she was discussing details. 

“How do you know when my birthday is?” Namjoon asked, his complexion turning quite pale and then quite pink. 

“What do you mean? It was on the clipboard at the shelter, and on the hybrid database I logged onto once I got your ID number from your official adoption certificate,” Y/N put her hands up as if she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Namjoon was so bizarre. 

“Oh,” was all he offered in response, again gaping at her like she had an extra head. 

“Anyways, we can discuss all of this some more tomorrow. Have you finished Wuthering Heights yet? I’m taking you and Seokjin to the library on Monday, don’t forget,” Y/N began to inch towards his door so she could head to bed. If she stayed any longer, she ran the risk of opening her big mouth and asking him about his favorite cake flavor, or a gift he had his eye on, and ruining her planned surprise of making all of the hybrid’s birthdays special in general. 

Mortification further radiated off of the wolf hybrid in tangible waves, evidently not finished with the book, as he frantically turned to his nightstand and fumbled for the book. He seemed to have about 70 pages left. Trying not to giggle at his endearing mannerisms while his guard was down, Y/N reached his door while he was distracted. 

“I’m heading to bed now, see you in the morning, okay? Don’t stay up too late reading,” Y/N called, giving him a little wave. Jerking his head up, Namjoon allowed the corner of his mouth to curl up shyly. 

“Goodnight, Y/N,” the wolf hybrid returned, his amber eyes trained on her and the sensation of it remaining long after she shut his door behind her.

Once settled under her quilt in her bedroom, Y/N tapped out some reminders on her phone in an attempt to extract one million floating tasks from her brain and trap them in written word. There was a grocery list from Yoongi, some things she wanted to pick up for Jimin at the hardware store, and a reminder to look for hybrid clubs and activities. Some stray ideas for Jeongguk and Namjoon’s separate birthday parties, a note to call Ben and the twins, as well as a small list of items to look for at Judy’s on Monday. 

She had never felt so busy in her life, even when she was working back-to-back shifts at the animal hospital, but she found that all of the things she had on her plate brought her excitement, rather than exhaustion and dread. Apart from, of course, the very real possibility that she’d have to deal with that nasty entity again. As she switched off her lamp and got cozy, she tried not to dwell on ghosts and demons, or the fact that the bed felt empty without Seokjin, and willed herself into what she prayed to be a sleep full of pleasant dreams.

Sunday morning was rainy, gloomy, and the stifling heat was thankfully broken. Y/N hauled herself out of bed early to shower and pick out her outfit for work the next day. An alert on her phone told her that all of her hybrid guidebooks had been delivered and were waiting on the porch for her, so she sped out of her bedroom to collect them and stow them by her nightstand before any of the hybrids could notice they were there. It wasn’t like she didn’t want them to see the books, she just didn’t want to give them another reason to tease her about her lack of hybrid knowledge. 

Once the books were tucked away, she followed her nose to the kitchen with her laptop under her arm– a buttery, sweet smell floating through the house and making her mouth water. Most meals these days were completely taken care of by Yoongi, purely because he often beat her to the kitchen to do so before she could even lift a finger. Yoongi had told her not to worry about feeling guilty over him preparing meals for the rest of the house, as cooking was something he genuinely enjoyed, but she still felt odd about letting him shoulder the responsibility. 

Yoongi had prepared an almost comical stack of pancakes that he was consistently adding to a hot plate in one of the warm ovens, his long hair damp with his morning shower and tucked behind his ears. The counter was littered with sliced fruit, boats of maple syrups, sticks of butter and mixing bowls. The only other hybrid in the room was Jimin, who Y/N had noted preferred to rise early over the past week. He looked a bit hungover, nursing a rather large cup of coffee, cheek cradled in his palm and sandy ears drooping. Both hybrids perked up as soon as she waltzed into the room, Yoongi shuffling over to her with a mug containing coffee made to her precise preference. The realization that he had gotten the ratio of cream to sugar exactly right had a flush settling over her cheeks as soon as the drink washed over her taste buds. 

She sat next to Jimin, the coyote hybrid oh-so-subtly slouching closer to her on his barstool, and made small talk while they waited for some of the other hybrids to make their appearances. Setting up her laptop, she drummed her fingers against the keyboard, wondering which part of her to-do list she should tackle first. Jeongguk’s birthday was fast approaching, and a flash of panic struck through her when she considered there might not be much time left for her to order gifts and a cake for him. 

“Morning! Is there bacon?” Seokjin’s sweet voice had her eyes tearing away from the loading Best Buy home screen to seek out his face. 

He was in almost the exact same outfit as Yoongi, a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved thermal, but Seokjin’s was a cornflower blue and Yoongi’s was a deep wine color. Immediately, he widely smiled at Y/N, offering her an enthusiastic wave, to which she returned with a slight chuckle. 

“Haven’t made it yet,” Yoongi replied, flipping a pancake mid-air as if he was Gordon Ramsay or something. “I’ve been waiting for it to thaw, over by the sink. I’ll get to it.”

“Can I cook it?” Seokjin moved to the island, inspecting the limp package of uncooked bacon. Y/N exchanged a sideways glance with Jimin, who still managed to convey his amusement even though he really looked like he would rather eat mud than a piece of bacon Seokjin cooked. 

“Can you even cook? Do you know how to operate the stove?” Yoongi lifted an eyebrow at the jaguar hybrid, Seokjin’s ears fluttering in annoyance. 

“I’ve watched you enough times to gather the mechanics, thank you,” Seokjin grumbled, Y/N desperately trying to swallow down laughter with Jimin practically shaking next to her. “And on my phone, too. When I can’t sleep, I watch cooking videos, I want to learn.”

Y/N straightened out at this, tilting her head to look at Seokjin while his back was turned to her. There were instances where he couldn’t sleep? Was she selfish to lament the fact that he hadn’t disclosed that to her previously? Distracting herself from dwelling on that, she half-listened to Yoongi slide a skillet onto the stove for Seokjin and scrolled around on her laptop for a video camera for Jeongguk. Aware of Jimin looking over her shoulder, she finally came across a reasonably priced one with all of the specs she was hoping for– full spectrum, night vision, easily hand held. With the camera and a protection plan in her virtual cart, she clicked the option for in-store pick up, so she could drop by later that day on her grocery and hardware store run. 

As if summoned as soon as the order went through, the elk hybrid traipsed through the entrance of the kitchen in his black hoodie, fiddling with a couple of his hoop earrings as he scanned the room. To Y/N’s surprise, he promptly planted himself on the other empty barstool beside her, and thankfully she had already closed out of the Best Buy website. 

“Good morning,” Y/N greeted, feeling somewhat shy with his onyx stare boring through her. His eyes flickered to her laptop screen, where she was idly viewing the gallery of a local bakery, mumbling the same greeting back. 

The fatty scent of bacon began to infest the room, Seokjin diligently turning pieces over in the sizzling pan and looking deeply satisfied with himself. He appeared to be doing quite well under Yoongi’s watchful eye, even though occasionally an acrid smell would fill the kitchen when he’d burn an odd piece. Slowly, the remaining hybrids found their ways to the kitchen; Hoseok grumpily complaining about the early hour still in his pajamas, Namjoon dressed smartly in a crisp linen button down and slacks, and lastly Taehyung, who entered the room so silently and unacknowledged by the others Y/N didn’t even realize he was sitting at the breakfast nook until she turned around at the sound of the rain increasing in density against the window. He gave her a half-smile, the red flannel he had on picking up the peculiar color of his eyes, Y/N giving him her brightest grin as if to make up for the fact that everyone else was ignoring him. 

She turned over the ways in her mind that she could find out what kind of cake Jeongguk would want for his birthday, and all of them would give away the surprise and her intentions. Chewing on her lip, she felt Jimin shift closer to her yet again, his body heat quite comforting as his arm brushed hers. Shutting her laptop once Yoongi declared everything was ready, Y/N saw that he and Seokjin had set up a buffet style pancake bar on the island, the jaguar hybrid appeared gleeful and proud of himself, which had her practically melting when she got up to get a plate. 

Namjoon was in front of her in the sort of clumpy line they had all formed to fix up their breakfast plates, Y/N spooned stewed berries onto her pancakes as she decided to slyly get the information she needed, in probably the most roundabout way possible. She did seem to like making things harder for herself. 

“There’s this new bakery in town I want to try out, and I’ve been thinking about ordering cupcakes or something. I’d like to get you all your favorites if you tell me what they are,” Y/N announced nonchalantly, settling back into her seat and cringing somewhat as she basically heard crickets. 

Getting the hybrids to tell her what they wanted when it came to food was always like pulling teeth, and she chalked it up to the fact that they likely didn’t have many opportunities to select things of their own preference. It saddened her, but now that they were with her, they really didn’t have to hesitate so much. She wished she could say that in so many words, but she didn’t want to risk hitting any raw nerves. Predictably, Hoseok responded first as soon as the shock cleared from his face. 

“Uh… I don’t really know, all cakes are good cakes!” He began– not off to a good start. “I guess I like vanilla the best if I were to choose, simple but classic.”

“I liked those lavender cupcakes from the cookout, the ones your friend Ben brought,” Seokjin volunteered, a thick layer of maple syrup coating his voluminous lips. Nodding, Y/N added the two answers to a notes document on her phone for when their birthdays rolled around. 

After what felt like forever, she was able to pry out an answer from all of them, and she had finished her stack of pancakes long before the list was complete. Strawberry cake for Taehyung, Yoongi liked chocolate with raspberry filling, Namjoon gave a vague answer with just ‘chocolate’, and Jimin had classic tastes like Hoseok with simple vanilla. Of course, Jeongguk was the last to answer, too busy staring at his phone and snacking on the burnt pieces of bacon Seokjin had set aside separately. 

“Jeongguk? How about you?” Y/N nudged his shoulder with her own, and ironically he genuinely looked like a deer in the headlights, antlers and all. 

“Huh? Oh, cake… I don’t like cake that much. I guess I enjoy cheesecake, but that's more of a pie, if people were being more honest with themselves,” Jeongguk finally responded while absently using his napkin to blot some blood away from his face that had been dripping from his antlers into his hairline, looking back down at his phone. Interesting!

“Cheesecake? Gross. Also, have you ever even seen an actual pie? Because they don’t look like a cheesecake,” Hoseok accused, his russet ears turned backwards as if his honor had been insulted. 

“You’re an agitating motherfucker,” Jeongguk remarked simply, getting up to rinse his plate and stick it in the dishwasher. Yoongi began to shake with laughter, especially upon catching a glimpse of Hoseok’s visage cloaked with surprise. 

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, the job going by quickly with so many hands, Y/N decided it was as good of a time as any to head out on her errands so she could spend the rainy evening cozy in the parlor. Before everyone vacated the kitchen, she notified the hybrids that she was heading out. 

“Do any of you want to come with me? It’s pretty shitty weather out there, so I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to tag along. I just have to go to a few stores,” Y/N narrowed her eyes at the pelting rain outside of the kitchen window, hoping the grocery store wouldn’t give her paper bags. 

Minutes later, Y/N– considerably damp from running to her car like a crazy person, found herself in the driver’s seat, Yoongi beside her, Seokjin and Taehyung in the back. The rest of the hybrids elected to stay at home, and Y/N was grateful Jeongguk hadn’t joined her so she could pick up his camera without raising suspicion. 

“Jimin looked rough this morning,” Yoongi remarked offhandedly, his tail swishing languidly behind him as he pushed a half-full grocery cart down the bread aisle. 

Nudging him softly in the ribs, Y/N tossed two packages of hamburger buns into the cart while Yoongi bared his pointed incisors at her. The force of the nudge wasn’t enough to cause any pain, and she knew Yoongi was just trying to tease her again– but regardless, she was thinking the same too. The coyote hybrid slunk away to his bedroom shortly after breakfast, claiming he wanted to take a shower and read, looking less sparkly than he usually did. Maybe tequila was not his friend. 

“You know, he’s the only one who hasn’t scented you yet. He probably feels like shit because of that,” Yoongi continued after a beat, examining a loaf of milk bread and dropping it into the cart as well. Y/N stiffened, not used to any of the hybrids explicitly bringing up scenting unless right before the act. 

“God, you think? Why didn’t he tell me– and we’re not going to be back for at least another hour,” Y/N stared at Yoongi with alarm, the leopard hybrid shrugging with a lazy flicker of his ear. “What if he collapses like Seok–” Y/N immediately cut herself off with a hand clamped over her mouth, whipping around to stare at the jaguar hybrid with an apology clinging to her tongue. To her surprise, he wasn’t trailing after her at the moment, only Taehyung was at the end of the aisle scrolling through his phone. 

“Don’t worry, he took off towards the produce like five minutes ago. Not that he’d care if you brought that up,” Yoongi assured, scanning the crumpled list in his hands distractedly. “Jimin will be fine. Actually, he has more self-restraint than most of us, which is pretty impressive.”

“Oh, was that a compliment for Jimin? Warming up to him, are you?” Y/N teased, Yoongi gritting his teeth and pushing the cart ahead of her. She caught the hem of his thermal, tethering herself to him so she wouldn’t be left behind, snickering the whole way. 

“He’s one of the more tolerable ones. Seokjin’s fine, too. Jury’s still out with Foxy…” Yoongi replied begrudgingly nonetheless. 

She didn’t know what was taking over her, but she wiggled her fingers against the wine-colored fabric covering Yoongi’s sides to tickle him once she was next to him, eliciting a purr and a tiny, toothy smile from the leopard hybrid. 

“And what about me? Is the jury still out on me, too, Yoongi?” Y/N prodded jokingly, straightening out a wrinkle on his shirt while he reached for a jar of peanut butter on the shelf. 

Yoongi paused, his tail brushing the length of her thigh as he turned to look down at her, a mysterious expression on his face as she continued to fix his wrinkled thermal. She forgot that she was in the middle of the grocery store with two other hybrids to worry about, soaking in the thoughtful twinkle in his hazel, feline eyes. 

“Verdict is still pending,” Yoongi replied, smirking at the pout stretching across her face at his response. She let go of his shirt as he pushed the cart towards the produce section, Y/N ready to ice him out for a bit out of spite, until he continued. “‘Course I like you, sweetheart.”

Nearly tripping over a display case of cup ramen noodles, Y/N felt her body go both hot and cold as Yoongi simply slunk away with the cart, tail curling placidly behind him as if he didn’t say anything out of the ordinary. The nerve! Heart racing, she managed to pluck up the rest of the vegetables on the list that she could remember, spotting Seokjin not too far away merrily stacking cartons of strawberries in his arms. 

With the groceries in the trunk and the three hybrids safely buckled into their seats, Y/N dragged them to the hardware store and blasted in and out to pick up a basic toolbox for Jimin. The coyote hybrid had wanted to get started on stable work that morning, but because of the inclement weather, he was stalled and Y/N wanted to get him some new tools to cheer him up. 

Beside her, Seokjin was humming along to a Radiohead song on the radio. Yoongi had let him take the passenger seat on the way back, which was probably best for Y/N’s nerves considering he had dropped the ‘of course I like you sweetheart’ bomb on her. Not that she had calmed down at all, with Seokjin seeking out her hand immediately as soon as he clambered into the car, idly fiddling with her fingers as she used her other hand to keep an unsteady grip on the steering wheel. 

“Just one more stop to make…” Y/N managed to squeak over the music, rain, and the blood rushing in her ears. 

Seokjin traced her knuckles with his fingertips, causing goosebumps to pebble up the flesh of her forearm. She didn’t have the guts to sneak a peek at him reacting to her clear enjoyment of his touch. Y/N was going to die an early death, and the cause of it would be the seven hybrids she adopted. 

A middle-aged man from the Best Buy store brought out Jeongguk’s camera after Y/N made a quick phone call for curbside pickup, not wanting to trudge out in the rain again. A box appeared in the window, and she tried not to frown, noticing the highly judgmental look on the man’s face as he looked from Y/N, to Seokjin and the way the jaguar hybrid was holding her hand, and even going so far as to peer into the back seat to raise an eyebrow at Yoongi and Taehyung. She could somewhat read the look on his face, typical dirty male thoughts as his eyes flickered back over her, zeroing in on the especially bruised bite Hoseok had given her on her neck.

“Thanks, have a good night,” Y/N ground out, wanting to yank the mustache off of the man’s face. Seokjin gingerly leaned over her body to accept the box, flashing the undeserving man a sharp-toothed beautiful smile. 

“Yeah, I’m sure you will too,” the man mumbled, clicking his tongue and promptly heading back into the store. 

Infuriated, and not knowing what the fuck that meant, Y/N swore at him while rolling the window up, adding a middle finger for good measure even though the man’s back was turned. She’d have to write a nasty Google review about that particular Best Buy. What was he insinuating?

“Wow, what a dick…” Y/N seethed, blasting through a yellow light so she could get home as quickly as possible. “Looking at me like I’m some sort of depraved sicko.”

“Don’t pay attention to those motherfuckers. Those are the type that think the purpose of hybrid adoption is…” Yoongi stopped speaking abruptly, noticing the dark look crossing over her face from the rearview mirror. She knew where Yoongi was going with that thought, and didn’t like it at all. 

Some perverse people would indeed adopt hybrids for the sole purpose of entering a sexual relationship with them, which filled Y/N with utter disgust. Adoptions should be made from a place of wanting to give a hybrid a home and offering friendship and protection, not simply to exploit them in that way. Seokjin softly squeezed her arm, her fury definitely palpable and coming off in waves. She didn’t care. 

“You’re not pieces of meat Yoongi,” Y/N snapped, the leopard hybrid’s eyes widening as she caught them in the rearview again. “He should’ve kept his mouth shut, it was fucking rude and the assumption is insulting. I’m sorry you three had to sit through that, I’m fucking livid… maybe I should call Ben and see if he can somehow dig up some dirt and get him fired…”

She had forgotten Taehyung was even behind her, silently witnessing her spiral into simmering rage, until she felt him gently pat the top of her head, reaching over her headrest. Somehow, that simple touch had her melting back into her seat, some of the red in her vision clearing away. 

“It’s okay. It’s happened before, it’ll happen again, people with dirty looks and assumptions. What matters is that we’re with you, and their opinions don’t matter,” Seokjin murmured quietly, his words wrapping around her heart and effectively making her hold back a swoon. By then, her anger was gone, and Yoongi struck up a conversation surrounding what he planned on making for dinner. 

When they got back, the three hybrids took care of the groceries, Y/N leaving Jeongguk’s camera in her car for the time being. As she unlocked the front door to the house, Taehyung gave her a one-armed hug, noticing she was still a little perturbed from the whole Best Buy dickhead exchange. She leaned into his strong frame, letting Yoongi in with his fistfuls of plastic grocery bags, humming as the Kodiak hybrid’s sandalwood scent calmed her down pretty much entirely. 

Shuffling into the house, she helped Yoongi put everything away in the kitchen, before parting with the three hybrids to seek out Jimin. She wanted to check if he was feeling alright, give him his new toolbox, and hopefully encourage him to scent her. Because she had work the next day, she felt anxious about leaving him for most of the afternoon if he started feeling even worse. 

Jimin’s door was closed, so she knocked carefully to alert him of her presence, however he likely heard and smelled her coming down the hall anyways. A somewhat hoarse ‘come in’ responded to her knocking, Y/N awkwardly shouldering her way in with the heavy toolbox. Jimin was lounging on his blue velvet chair by the window, which was cracked open and bringing the earthy smell of the rain in. His hair was neatly combed back and he was dressed in simple sweats and a long-sleeved cream cotton shirt, and he looked leagues better than he did that morning. Still, the way he death gripped the book he was holding, and the subtle twitch in his jaw seemed to be the cracks in his carefully constructed composure. 

“Good book?” Jimin nodded, his ears fluttering as he put the book down to listen to her more fully. “Got you something!”

Y/N set the toolbox down on the windowsill beside the chair he was sitting in, not noticing the way he stiffened as she got closer. What she did notice, however, was the sensation of piercing yellow eyes burning a hole in her face, which had butterflies battering around in her guts. She did a little ta-da jazz hands number, grinning at the coyote hybrid as he tore his eyes from her face to inspect what she was offering him. 

“Oh! Are these for…” Jimin began distractedly, swallowing thickly as if the room was filled with some kind of mind-altering gas. “This was on my list I sent you.”

“Mm-hm, I know you wanted to get out there today and start chipping away, and I figured you were a bit disappointed that the weather is inclement. I picked this up to cheer you up,” Y/N explained, wondering how on earth she could bring up the fact that he still hasn’t scented her. 

In reaction to her words, Jimin’s cheeks flooded with a peachy blush, Y/N resisting the urge to reach out and pinch them. For a few moments, they went over Jimin’s plans– he was going to fix up the chicken coop first, as it was the easiest job on the list– the rasp of the coyote hybrid’s voice pleasant in her ears as he spoke. He seemed to relax a bit after a few moments, scooching closer to the edge of the chair to talk to her. When she opened up the toolbox to show him everything inside, trying to wrestle a screwdriver out of its spot, her fingertips nicked the sharpened edge of the tool, making her hiss in pain as the metal sliced the skin of her pointer finger. 

“Ugh, I didn’t think those things could be so sharp,” Y/N whined pitifully, holding her injured finger up to her face, inspecting the wound with her lip jutting out into a pout. 

The atmosphere immediately changed, and it was almost like the room dropped several degrees in temperature. In her folly, she hadn’t registered Jimin’s sudden silence, the way his posture turned coiled and rigid, and his tongue swiping over his lower lip hungrily. Quite literally forgetting that she was standing in Jimin’s room and that he was even in front of her, Y/N flinched in surprise when the coyote hybrid wrapped his roughened palm around her wrist. Pausing, she stared at Jimin with widened eyes, his own eyes a bit more lidded than she remembered them when they were discussing chicken wire. He was focused on the blood running down her fingertip, a pointed tooth biting down on the flesh of his lower lip, his jaw clenching once again.

“I should probably get a bandaid,” Y/N whispered, Jimin’s grip around her wrist delicate but keeping her in place. “Jimin?”

Apparently her words were falling on deaf ears, the coyote hybrid pulling her closer to him as if spellbound, and Y/N was similarly dazzled as she allowed him to tow her between his spread legs. Cringing as she caught a whiff of her own blood, she blanched when Jimin held her injured hand delicately right in front of his face. Just like that, she was ensnared by the coyote hybrid, eagerly holding her breath. 

“Come here,” Jimin huskily broke the silence, mingling with the pattering of rain on his windowsill. 

He spread his legs further, tugging her down carefully, a muffled squeak coming from her as she found herself perched on Jimin’s left thigh, his free arm wrapped around her waist and her legs dangling between his. Briefly, she felt like she was sitting on Santa’s lap at the mall– but the thought disappeared as soon as it popped into her head. His thigh was strong underneath her, toned from likely years of being an equestrian, but his arm slung around her waist was gently secure and tender, contrary to the fact that he’d really just pulled her down onto his lap.

“J-jimin?” Y/N breathed, close enough to him now to hear barely-audible growls bubbling up from the back of his throat, his eyes slipping shut at the sound of his name. Most of her hybrids seemed to have similar reactions when she said their names– she distantly wondered why that was. “What are you…?”

Y/N knew pretty well what Jimin was doing, but she couldn’t find her words to encourage him with her looking at her like she was an angel that appeared in his bedroom on a cloud. After sending her a pointed eyebrow raise, Y/N made herself comfortable in Jimin’s arms, his lavender shampoo calming. Her heart was pounding still, the intensity at which Jimin examined her head-to-toe dizzying, and his ears perked up forward and alert when her breath began to come out in shorter huffs and puffs. 

“Is this alright?” Jimin whispered, slowly rotating her wrist by his lips, his voice so low and breathy she had to lean closer into his chest to hear him. She pulled her eyebrows together, because clearly it was okay– she wasn’t about to deny him an instinctual need, especially when the others had already done so before him– Y/N nodded either way. 

“Yes?” Jimin hummed, his grip around her wrist loosening so he could swipe up a drop of blood running down her wrist with a pointer finger, the growls in his throat becoming more audible by the moment. “I’m yours? You’re mine?” Going completely still with this utterance, Y/N gasped, unable to break away from Jimin’s penetrative, hazy gaze. She knew, with all of the experiences she had with the others, that they tended to say things that seemed to stem from a more instinctual area of their brain before they scented, but the coyote hybrid’s words held such meaning that she could hardly process them rationally. She was his, she was all of theirs, there was no denying– each of them had completely claimed a spot in her heart– there was no room for conceiving the idea of ever abandoning them, which she knew was a reason many of them held off on the ritual in the first place, thanks to information she had learned on the internet shortly before Yoongi had scented her. Jimin, however, needed further confirmation, which she was more than willing to provide.

“Y-yeah. Yes, you’re mine,” Y/N managed to stutter, feeling Jimin’s hand wrapped around her waist drop to her thigh and squeeze ever so slightly. 

Entranced, Y/N watched as Jimin pulled her wrist to his mouth, the only sounds now coming from the downpour filtering in from the cracked window behind the two of them. Keenly concentrated, Jimin ignored her blood, staining his own fingertip and running down her palm, choosing to pull the tender underside of her wrist to his lips at a glacial speed. Time was suspended, much of the rushed thrill from some of the scenting rituals she had been through with the others absent but the intensity still very much there. 

“You smell so sweet…” Jimin growled, the hand on her thigh flexing against her muscles briefly; and Y/N could almost detect thin restraint in the grip, Jimin was ever the gentleman regardless of his animalistic instincts.

With her eyes half-closed, Jimin at last brought his lips to her flesh, placing a hot open mouthed kiss by her wrist bone. The ample petals of his mouth were delicate, but the action was searing against her flesh as he basically made out with her inner wrist, his devious tongue peeking out occasionally to trace along one of the veins closest to the surface of her skin. Mewling softly, Y/N slackened her body weight even further into Jimin’s embrace, letting him fully support her as he mopped up some of her blood with a swipe of his tongue. 

“Jimin…” Y/N sighed dreamily once he passed over a particularly sensitive spot with a barely-there drag of his teeth, eyes drifting shut. “I–”

“Shhh…” the coyote hybrid shushed her tenderly, the pointed edges of his canines finally grazing what she presumed to be his chosen area to mark, Y/N hooking her free arm around Jimin’s neck without a second thought. “Just relax, I’ve got you.”

With a mixture of a groan and a primal growl, Jimin sunk his teeth into her vulnerable wrist almost painlessly, the action so smooth and sensual Y/N could only focus on the blissful expression blooming over the coyote hybrid’s sculpted face as soon as he broke skin. If she wasn’t limp before, she certainly was after that, Jimin’s plump lips wrapped around the edge of her wrist as he infused his scent with her own with his teeth buried in her flesh, and the cloudy sensation the bite brought on having her head lolling back onto the coyote hybrid’s shoulder. The calming scent of lavender enveloped her senses, and Jimin was being so gentle with her, she swore that she could fall asleep on his lap, listening to his measured breaths and the rain outside. 

Through fuzzy vision, she watched Jimin not only brush his tongue over the bite he created, but also clean the blood from her wounded finger as well, satisfied grumbles coming from his chest by her ear. Giggling at the ticklish sensation, Jimin hummed, now holding her hand gingerly as he took a look at the screwdriver injury, his lips dropping into a tiny pout. Y/N reached out with her free hand, still chuckling weakly, and poked his fleshy cheek, indulging in a desire she had been harboring since she adopted him. His eyebrow cocked up in response, a playfulness in his golden eyes as she withdrew her hand, and he decided to retaliate by completely taking her off guard– he brought her wounded finger to his lips and enveloped the tip of the digit into his mouth. 

Gasping, stared at Jimin’s lips wrapped around her finger, dissolving into utter shock as his tongue whirled around the cut, the minor sting disappearing under his ministrations. It was her turn to groan, not sure if the action of him tending to her wound in this way was sweet or total teasing on the coyote hybrid’s part. A distant part of her wondered if the soothing properties of hybrid saliva soothed all wounds, not just marks left behind by scenting, because it certainly felt like her cut was already treated and bandaged. He pulled the digit from his mouth slowly, never breaking the intense eye contact they were currently suspended in, Y/N realizing her hand around his neck was entwined with the cropped blonde hair at the base of Jimin’s neck, embarrassingly, tightly so. 

“Better?” Jimin’s ears twitched, likely picking up her accelerated heart rate, finally releasing her hand and brushing some hair from her face. “You’ll still need a bandage, but it should be soothed. And, you should be more careful, Y/N.”

Mumbling into his shirt, Y/N secretly agreed with him; if that was how he reacted when she got hurt, it was better for her nerves to avoid doing so at all costs. She focused on Jimin’s forgotten book, cast aside from when she first entered the room, and he was reading her old copy of The White Album that he must have swiped from the library. Distantly, she recalled something Alice once said– nothing more attractive than a man who reads Didion. 

“Alright, up you go,” Jimin cleared his throat, using his hand on her waist to nudge her up and forward, off of his thigh, standing with her as she got her footing. “I have some bandaids in my bathroom. Stay here, for a second.”

Jimin leveled a sweet smile at her, though his expression was serious and there seemed to be a few things floating around in his head, his eyes a bit far away. She shifted from one foot to another, humming as Jimin squeezed her shoulder softly before retreating to his bathroom, the sounds of him pawing through his vanity drawers making her ears perk up. Taking a moment to look around his room, it seemed that Jimin had made himself somewhat at home, though the room was quite unchanged compared to the day she brought the coyote hybrid home. The only things she noticed that indicated someone was occupying the recently renovated bedroom were bits and bobs on his dresser, which she neared closer to to get a good look. 

The knapsack that he had traveled from Montana with hung from a knob on the dresser, but the contents were carefully placed on the surface of the dresser. On the left hand side, the formerly crumpled hat he had pulled out of the bag last week was smoothed out and sitting by a lamp, a couple pieces of jewelry (a silver bracelet, silver hoop earrings) placed on a leather square, and on the right was his coiled belt and buckle, as well as a photograph. Footsteps approached before she could take a look at the photo, Y/N peering up at Jimin with a sheepish expression when he caught her snooping. Simply smiling at her, he took her wrist gently, peeling paper off of the bandaid he’d fetched and wrapping it around her little injury. Her eyes drifted back to the photo, the edges of it weathered and crinkled. 

“That’s me and my sister, I was twelve, she was nine,” Jimin plucked up the picture, offering it to Y/N gingerly. 

Taking it like it was made of glass, Y/N brought the photo closer to her face, a tinier version of Jimin grinning at the camera on the back of a palomino horse, one of his front teeth missing and a mini cowboy hat placed precariously on top of his head. In front of him was a little girl, his sister, with the same honey blonde hair and bright golden eyes, her cheeks rounded as she was frozen mid-laughter, Jimin holding onto his sister tightly while she gripped the horse’s reins. 

“Aw, Jimin! This is so sweet, you two are adorable, and you look so alike,” Y/N cooed, placing the picture back down on his dresser while still admiring it. She’d never been to Montana, but the nature surrounding the two young hybrids was gorgeous and wild. “I can find a frame for this, so you can display it properly.”

A pang of sadness spread through her chest, wondering if Jimin missed his sister, his family, and old life. Perhaps, in the future, there would be an opportunity for her to book a flight and take Jimin to visit his family– now that he was adopted and not on the run, there would be no reason for him not to go see them every now and again. 

“You meant it, right?” Jimin asked quietly after a few moments, Y/N tearing her eyes away from the photograph to search his eyes with confusion. “A few moments ago… am I really…”

Yours. Y/N knew what he was getting at after scanning his expression, the coyote hybrid easier to read than some of the others she had adopted. Humming, Y/N stepped closer, reaching out to squeeze Jimin around his middle, resting her cheek on his shoulder. He hesitantly reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her securely. 

“Yeah. You’re mine. I’m yours.”

After a drizzly night spent watching Masterchef and devouring some kimchi stew and rice to combat the damp chill of the outside, Y/N made her rounds saying goodnight early once more, once she had cleaned up the kitchen with Yoongi and finished untangling herself from Hoseok on the couch. Shockingly, each hybrid besides Jeongguk and Namjoon had given her a big hug before she crawled to her bedroom with enough heat in her cheeks to fry an egg on the flesh. Though he hadn’t hugged her, Jeongguk let her dab a bit of blood off of his face with a tissue when she said goodnight to him from his spot on the recliner, a piece of his velvet hanging loosely from one of his antlers as he bit his lip and stared at her. Namjoon simply smiled at her, dimples and all, saying he’d see her in the morning. 

Cursing when her alarm went off bright and early at 6:30 the next morning, Y/N sluggishly fumbled her way through her morning routine, blindly tapping out a wake up text with her toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. 

Y/N: Good morning boys, ready to leave by 7:15?

Seokjin: Morning Y/N :) Yes!

Namjoon: ^^

Y/N: Perfect, see you in a few

Y/N shimmied into her outfit, some linen pants and a black long-sleeved shirt trimmed with lace she had fished out of the back of her wardrobe, hastily throwing on some Stevie Nicks-esque makeup. If she was going to work at a metaphysical shop, she might as well look the part. Satisfied, she left her room with her tote bag, making sure her wallet and keys were in there. She wasn’t paying attention, so she stumbled into Namjoon in the hallway, the wolf hybrid making a sharp oof sound as she collided into his back. 

“Oh, sorry Joon,” Y/N wheezed, a bit of fuzz from the caramel sweater he was wearing sticking to her lip gloss and her head dizzy from smacking into a solid wall of back muscle. “In a fog… it’s so early,” she continued with a slight whine, Namjoon turning to face her with his face almost entirely pink. 

“Um, it’s okay,” the wolf hybrid managed, coughing into his fist awkwardly as he followed her to the kitchen clumsily. She needed coffee, ASAP– she hadn’t even noticed Namjoon had been taken off guard by a nickname that had rolled off her tongue accidentally. 

Yoongi was in the kitchen, naturally, still in his pajamas but placing items into paper bags. Of course, he already had her coffee ready for her, which had her reaching up to ruffle his hair in appreciation. Seokjin tiptoed into the kitchen shortly after, dressed neatly in a rose pink henley and jeans, excitement lighting up his orange eyes like a jack-o’-lantern. 

After slamming some leftover pastries Yoongi made the other day down their throats, the leopard hybrid was shooing the three of them to the front door by 7:15, Namjoon and Seokjin scrambling to the car while she hung back. As she began to wave goodbye to him, Yoongi grabbed her elbow, halting her. 

“Here, this is for lunch. Give one to each of the others, too,” Yoongi thrusted the three paper bags into her arms, making Y/N stare at him wildly. Yoongi made them lunch to go?

Unable to help herself, she leaned forward and up, planting a kiss on Yoongi’s cheek, the leopard hybrid squeaking in surprise the moment her lips touched the sleep-rounded flesh. Pulling away, Y/N saw Yoongi had gone rather statue still, mouth dropped open in shock. Giggling, Y/N made her way down the porch steps, casting one more look at the stunned leopard hybrid standing with the front door wide open. 

“Thank you, Yoongi! Have a nice day, I’ll see you tonight,” she called, waving at him with the lunch bags swinging in her fist. It felt nice to have somebody think of her, making sure she had something to eat midday. She’d have to pick up something extra delicious for dinner, in thanks. 

The weather was cool, leftover from the rain the previous day, so as soon as she slid into the car, Y/N hiked up the heat in the cab, though it hardly worked, shooting Seokjin a smile in the rearview mirror. He returned it, accepting the bag she offered him with slight confusion. 

“Yoongi made us lunch. Isn’t that nice?” Y/N sighed while settling Namjoon’s bag beside his thigh, flinging the car into drive and praying that she could beat traffic to get the two hybrids to the Boston Public Library in a timely fashion. Judy had told her to show up around 8:30, so she was definitely in a time crunch. 

“Why is this camera down here?” Namjoon asked after a few moments of listening to the tinny Rolling Stones tape she had begrudgingly put on for him, pointing to the box by his feet. 

“Oh damn, I have to wrap that…” Y/N muttered, honking at someone stalling at a green light. “I got it for Jeongguk, his birthday is on Thursday. I thought he could use it for his paranormal investigation, if he wanted to take it up again.”

“Are you throwing him a party?” Namjoon spoke again incredulously, picking up the camera box and examining it, from what Y/N could tell out of the corner of her eyes. 

“I guess the cat’s out of the bag! It’ll be just the eight of us, though. I like to celebrate birthdays. I ordered him a cheesecake last night, even,” Y/N relented, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hedge around Namjoon. 

“That’s sweet, Y/N,” Seokjin offered from the backseat, Y/N catching his eyes in the rearview, his scrunched up in mirth. 

“You two can keep a secret, right? I’m a little bummed I couldn’t keep it a surprise, now you know you two will be getting parties too,” Y/N pouted, jumping on the highway and cringing at a crackling skip in the tape. 

The two hybrids fell silent with this, as she predicted. None of her hybrids particularly enjoyed being the center of attention, apart from Hoseok, of course. She knew that Seokjin would definitely keep the secret since she asked, and Namjoon and Jeongguk were a bit on the outs at the moment, so she wasn’t particularly concerned he’d spill the beans to the elk hybrid. 

“So, since you know now, can you give me some ideas on what to get you for your own birthdays? I don’t want to pick out something you won’t like,” Y/N broke the silence, crossing her fingers over the steering wheel she’d get at least a semblance of an answer from either of them. 

“Um…” Seokjin mumbled timidly from the backseat, fastidiously staring out the window to focus on the bay outside of Boston. 

“I really wish that when I was brought into the shelter, I knew what happened to my trailer,” Namjoon spoke suddenly, stunning Y/N so much she accidentally stepped on the brakes by a ramp a little too hard. “I didn’t have much, but my tapes were in there, my books. It’s probably sitting in some junkyard now.”

“I can probably see what I can do about that,” Y/N began slowly, her mind already coming up with a list of all the junkyards and impound lots around Boston. 

“It’s alright. It’s likely it’s been cleared out, or impacted already. Uh… maybe you could find an old Walkman at a thrift store, or something,” Namjoon looked down at his feet, ears fluttering. 

“I’ll see what I can do about the trailer, I’m serious, Namjoon,” Y/N insisted, once again attempting to make eye contact with Seokjin through the rearview. “Jin? Come on, give me something to work with!” Y/N teased playfully, Seokjin clearing his throat and nervously wiping sweaty hands on his pants. 

“I don’t really know,” Seokjin admitted softly, causing Y/N’s heart to ache. Seokjin was in a lab most of his life, and spent more recent years performing in a circus– perhaps there wasn’t much time for leisure or exploring interests. “Maybe we could all go to a restaurant?”

“We can do that! After the book club, check out some local restaurant menus online, we’ll go anywhere you want,” Y/N encouraged brightly, finally managing to navigate into the city and minutes away from Boylston street. “We’re almost there, I’m going to call my mom so she can meet you two out front.”

By the time she hung up from her mother, who was nearly shouting with excitement in her ear, she was double-parked in front of the library. She told the two hybrids when exactly she’d be picking them up from the library later that afternoon, that they could hang out and read until the club started around 11. As soon as her mother appeared at the top step of the library, Namjoon bid her a gentle goodbye, eagerly exiting the car and jogging up the stony steps of the building. 

“I hope you have fun today, Seokjin! You can always text me if you need me,” Y/N watched as he unfastened his seatbelt, his tail curling around his waist in what she perceived to be in response to having to part with her. 

“Good luck at work today, Y/N,” Seokjin replied, giving her shoulder a light squeeze as he pushed himself out of the car. 

She stayed put until she saw her mother sling both her arms around the hybrid’s shoulders, talking to them animatedly as they disappeared into the library. Shaking her head, Y/N honked back at someone behind her, pissed that she was blocking part of the road, and set off to her new job. 

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Please do not repost or translate my work. Thank you!

[kikyoupdates]

Changing Plotlines ⭑˚💞⭑ 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑝

yandere!ocs x f!reader

yandere, reverse harem, yandere reverse harem, original characters x fem!reader, slowburn, isekai

A desperate cry on your deathbed leads to you being given a fresh start at life. You're overjoyed at having finally obtained a healthy body and a real chance at living normally, only to discover that you've been transported into a yandere game, where danger lurks at every corner. Determined to protect your new life at any cost, you vow to stay as far away from the major characters of the game as possible. But things don't always go as planned.

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Sergei Garin. A major supporting character in Zodin’s Benevolence, and a man unfortunate enough to have fallen in love with the protagonist, unaware of how many twisted yanderes were pining for her affection.  

The game branched off from the main storyline after the player picked enough choices that would put them on a certain yandere’s route. Needless to say, regardless of whoever’s route it was, Sergei ended up dead in some shape or form. He wasn’t always killed off by one of the yanderes, but his self-sacrificial nature, especially towards the protagonist, sealed his fate no matter what. He would either protect the protagonist until his dying breath, or be killed off by a yandere when they discovered Sergei’s romantic feelings towards her.  

Put simply, he didn’t have any good endings. Which is why seeing him here, right in front of your very eyes, was something both awe-inducing and incredibly depressing. He didn’t even know it yet, but his days were numbered.  

Is it possible to keep him from dying? So long as he doesn’t meet the protagonist, then... 

You quickly shook your head. No, you couldn’t think like that. You’d already made up your mind not to interfere with the canon events of the game. If you tried to protect Sergei, you could unwittingly place yourself in danger. As upsetting as it was, you couldn’t risk interfering.  

“Er, my lady?” Sergei frowned. “Is everything alright? Were you perhaps expecting someone else...?”  

“Not at all!” you spluttered. “I’m very happy you’re here! Sorry, I’m just really eager to start training, so I guess I must look like I’m a bit out of it. It’s nice to meet you, Sergei. I’m [Name], as you already know. Thank you for making the effort to be here on such short notice.”  

“It would have been discourteous to refuse your family’s request. Although, it was certainly a rather strange request,” he said with a knit brow.  

You laughed. “Right. Sorry. It’s probably not every day a noblewoman decides to take up sword-fighting. But I’ve always been interested in it, and what’s the harm in learning to protect myself?”  

“It’s far from traditional,” he admitted, “but I’m not one to scorn a person looking to hone their strength. If this is truly what you want to do, I will do my best to facilitate the process for you.”  

“Great! So, can I try swinging a sword now?”  

“I’d say it’s a bit early for wielding a real blade, so you can start with a wooden sword first.” He removed the bag he’d been carrying over his shoulders and pulled out two wooden swords. One of them was noticeably bigger than the other. He handed you the smallest of the two. 

You weighed the object in your hands. “It’s a bit heavier than I was expecting. Aren’t these things usually hollow on the inside?”  

“They can be. But I thought it was better for you to get used to something with a bit more weight to it, especially since a real sword is quite heavy.”  

“Pfft, I’m sure I can handle it,” you waved off, grossly overconfident for some reason.  

Sergei gave you an unimpressed look. “And what makes you so sure?”  

“Uh... I’m optimistic?”  

“I see. So, no real reason, then.”  

“Ugh.” You obviously couldn’t tell him that you’d watched countless anime and were stupidly hoping that the moves you’d seen there could be somehow applied to real life.  

Sergei took a step back and crossed his arms. “Show me how you would swing that thing. Treat it as if it is a real sword. Go on, I’m curious to see what kind of approach you’ll have.”  

“Ready to be impressed?” you grinned.  

“No, not really.”  

“Hey!”  

Sergei looked like he wanted to crack a smile, but he maintained his stern, stoic expression. He wasn’t fooling you. You already knew full well from the game that despite his serious-looking face and rather blunt mannerisms, he was a real gentleman at heart.  

“Okay... here goes nothing!”  

You inhaled sharply, gathering up all your energy, then proceeded to lunge forward and slash the wooden sword through the air, in a downwards motion.  

“Ooh, that actually felt pretty powerful!” you enthused, turning towards Sergei with a bright smile. “Well? How was it? Amazing, huh?”  

Sergei’s expression hadn’t changed. “Definitely not amazing.”  

“But pretty good, though?”  

“Definitely not good.”  

“Uh... at least sort of okay?”  

He didn’t respond, which made you nervous. What was the big deal? It was just a wooden sword, for crying out loud! And it was your first time swinging one. For a total newbie, it couldn’t have been that bad. 

“Sort of okay,” Sergei hummed, pressing his forefinger against his lips. “I suppose that’s a reasonably accurate description. Then again, it’s only a wooden sword. If you were to replicate that same motion with a real sword, your score would drop considerably.”  

“You’re scoring me?” you gaped.  

He tapped on his head, smiling faintly. “In here, yes. But I’ll be keeping your scores to myself, so as not to discourage you.”  

“That just means I suck!”  

“There’s no point in getting worked up right at the start. Come on, try swinging it again. This time, adjust your grip so that it stays higher on the hilt. It’ll be easier for you to swing it that way. And make sure to keep your torso firm. A strong foundation is what determines how hard your attack will hit.”  

“Like this?” you asked, inadvertently arching your back. 

“What? No, that’s not—ah, I’ll just show you myself,” he sighed, picking up his own sword. “Look closely now. See how I hold the sword, and what angle I’m striking at. See how my body stays perfectly straight and doesn’t wobble around the way yours does.”  

It was only a wooden sword, but you could swear you felt the air in front of you being sliced in half. His motion left a distinct whipping noise behind, fierce enough that it rang in your ears.  

Sergei looked back towards you. “Do you understand now?” ��

“Totally,” you nodded. “Basically, it’s all about how big your muscles are.”  

“I see you’ve understood nothing.”  

“I was just kidding! Look, I’ll do it again.” You took up your stance, tensing up just enough that your torse was nice and stable, just like Sergei had said. With even more strength than before, you stepped forward and swung downwards. “Hyah!”  

You were hoping to have been met with enthusiastic clapping, but Sergei was merely staring at you in disbelief.  

“What was that sound you just made?”  

“A battle cry, I think.”  

“I can assure you it was not a battle cry,” he frowned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And a lady like you shouldn’t be making such vocalizations anyways.”  

“But I thought a battle cry drastically enhances your physical prowess.”  

“...”   

“I'm getting the impression that you might not want to be here.”  

“You’re imagining it,” Sergei coughed into his hand. “Anyways. It was... better, I suppose. But you still need a lot more work. Keep repeating that same motion with your wooden sword, and I’ll be watching you to make sure you have proper form.”  

“But that’s boring,” you whined. “I want to move on to using a real sword. A wooden sword won’t be enough to protect myself with.”  

“I understand that you’re excited, but why do you keep stressing that you’ll need to protect yourself?” he frowned. “A lady like you should never have to fear for her safety. Is there something in particular you’re worried about?”  

Yes. The crazy bastards that live in this world.  

“Not really,” you lied. “But you never know what could go wrong, right? It’s best to be prepared for even the worst-case scenario. It’s a dangerous world out there for women, you know.”  

“That’s certainly true,” Sergei nodded. “I must say, you’re quite earnest, trying to prepare yourself for situations like that. It doesn’t exactly match your personality.”  

“Hey, what’s wrong with my personality?”  

“Nothing, of course.” He bit back a chuckle. “Forgive me. I just meant that of all the noblewomen I’ve ever met, you stand out quite a bit. You don’t seem anywhere near as concerned with etiquette, and you’re even treating someone like me as your equal. Perhaps that’s why I’ve gotten comfortable voicing my opinions.”  

“Well, that’s not surprising,” you said, proudly sticking your nose into the air. “I am pretty amazing.”

“And your boundless confidence leaves nothing to be desired, that’s for sure.”  

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”  

“Yes, please do.”  

You rolled your eyes at him, though it was in a playful, well-intentioned way. Even if Sergei’s tale was a sad one, you were happy to be interacting with one of your favorite characters from the game. There were few genuinely good people in Zodin’s Benevolence, apart from the protagonist, and he was definitely one of them.  

“Just you wait,” you huffed. “I’m going to become so good at wielding a sword, I’ll surpass you in no time.”  

Although Sergei’s expression was stern, his eyes were filled with mirth.  

“I look forward to seeing it.”  

In the end, you hadn’t gotten to use a real sword even once during your training session with Sergei. It was a bit disappointing, but he was the instructor, so you had no choice but to trust in his judgment. It was probably for the best that you build up some skills and confidence first, before attempting the real deal. Plus, the plot had yet to officially begin, so you weren’t in any imminent danger.  

Your parents frantically approached you after your session was over, checking you all over for any cuts or bruises. When you told them you hadn’t even gotten to try out a proper sword yet, they exhaled loudly. Look at you, endlessly worrying your parents even in a different world. Some things never changed.  

Still, you felt confident about the way you were choosing to approach things. There was no reason to afraid so long as you never interacted with the yanderes or the protagonist. Although the initial revelation about being transported into a game had come as a massive shock, you could very well live out a happy life here, just like you’d always wanted.  

“You seem like you’re having a good time.”  

Sometime after your training had come to an end, and you were relaxing in a bubble bath, you began to hear an oddly familiar, distinctively masculine voice in your head.  

“Hello?” you jolted, glancing around. There was no one, as expected. You were all alone in the bathroom, and even your bedroom was empty since the servants had left to give you space to relax. 

No response came, so you sank deeper into the bath, knitting your brows together. Was it just your imagination? A lot of strange things had happened to you recently, so you wouldn’t be surprised if you were hearing the odd remark every now and then. But that voice... you knew you’d heard it somewhere before. It was practically on the tip of your tongue.  

“Hehe. It’s fun watching you get all worked up over nothing. Your reactions are so expressive.”  

“Um—?!” You glanced around for the second time, but there was nobody there again. The voice was definitely coming from your head, and based on what it was saying, it didn’t seem like it was just your imagination.  

You clutched your arms around your chest, though the bubbles concealed most of everything, because apparently, they could see you right now.  

“This isn’t cool,” you muttered. “Whoever you are, can you give it a rest? How are you even talking to me right now? You’re freaking me out.”  

“I’m afraid that’s a secret. You’ll find out soon enough, I’m sure.”  

Great. As if you didn’t already have enough things to worry about with yanderes dominating the major plot of this world, now you had some creepy voice that could talk to you whenever it liked. And why did it sound so familiar? 

Could it be...?  

You didn’t know for certain, since you’d literally been dying at the time, but a strange voice had called out to you back then too. That voice was the whole reason you’d been transported here in the first place. Was this that same voice? The higher power that had saved you and given you a new chance at life?  

“Are you the one that saved me when I was dying?” you asked.  

No response. Either they had no idea what you were talking about, or they really were the same being from before, and they were deliberating avoiding your question.  

“Fine, don’t respond,” you sighed, lathering bubbles and squishing them between your palms.  

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but I definitely didn’t save anyone who was dying.”  

Ah, so they were still here.  

“Who are you, then?”  

“Like I said—that’s a secret.”  

“Ugh. Great. Looks like I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight.” 

“I’m not here to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m just here to observe. Don’t worry about me and just focus on what you’ve been doing up until now. It’s quite amusing.”  

You weren’t sure how you felt about someone calling your life amusing, but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it. At the very least, you knew whoever this was wasn’t one of the yanderes, because none of them had these kinds of strange powers. The owner of the voice had promised not to hurt you, still, you weren’t sure how much you could trust them, especially since you didn’t even know who they were.  

For the time being, you just had one simple request.

“Please don’t spy on me while I’m taking a bath from now on,” you said crossly.  

Instead of answering, the voice laughed.

More chapters are available on Quotev!

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💞 main masterlist ♡ character appearances

[autumnmobile12]

My Hero Academia: AFO's Other Allies

Maybe it's just because I watched the first installment of Arcane S2, but something I think would have been a really cool plotline in My Hero is if other allies of AFO had been introduced. Not the Doctor or Gigantomachia who were clearly his loyal followers. I mean other villain overlords who were part of his inner circle. An inner circle that collapsed in his absence.

All Might kills AFO, the classic power vacuum opens up, the remaining villain overlords fight amongst each other for dominance in the new order and their individual greed and pride destroys what’s left of AFO’s influence.

I've already made another post expressing my skepticism that AFO rose to power and other villains just took that laying down. Somebody had to have looked at the crown and wanted it badly enough to take him on, crazy as it might have been. But every villain overlord has his/her/their generals, lieutenants, constituents, whatever you want to call them. Overhaul had his loyal Eight Bullets, after all, and Dark Might had the entire Gollini family.

Arcane: Silco had the Chem-Barons. Not exactly loyal followers, but they feared him too much to know they couldn't overpower him.

Harry Potter: Voldemort's Death Eaters. He was pretty pissed none of them tried to find him after his 'death.'

Castlevania: Dracula's Generals. Again, not a completely loyal group and were in the stages of forming a coup, but there was still that level of fear that kept them in line.

D. Gray Man: The Millennium Earl's Noah Clan. Definitely loyal followers as they do regard each other as family.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Father and the Seven Homunculi. Another makeshift family of a kind.

In all honestly, I guess there is a canon explanation for the lack of AFO's allies: He does say All Might took out several of his 'friends,' so I guess that could have been part of the strategy. Incapacitate the Demon Lord by cutting off his limbs first, then going for the head so to speak.

But think about how interesting it would have been for Shigaraki to have to go about winning the support of AFO's old allies instead of the MLA plotline. Or if Re-Destro had been a former ally of AFO who was no more impressed by the skinny, gamer nobody and his ragtag coterie than Gigantomachia was. Or if another one of AFO’s former followers was trying to win over the Doctor’s support and Garaki wanted them both to prove their worth. Maybe the old allies have gotten used to the new order, accepted the golden age of villainy has passed in spite of All Might’s retirement, and they just aren’t willing to gamble what little they managed to keep after AFO’s fall.

It's a very The Old vs The New theme if we're pitting AFO's former followers against the League of Villains, but I think it would have still fit the tone in mirroring the hero students working to surpass their own predecessors. It would have presented Shigaraki with a shrewd choice to make: Do I bother winning over the has-beens in hopes they have invaluable experience to offer or do I eliminate them and risk making mistakes they could have counseled me about?

[sl-ut]

https://www.tumblr.com/playcnex/737880875796185088/her-teasing-fingers-on-my-clit-as-she-licks-my

This with Abby

more college!abby

i think this works for any version of abby so i'm not narrowing it into the plotline of sweet cliches, but its so cannon for any version of abby!

[link to post]

literally the most dangerous position you can be in with abby is in her lap, and this is talking about a girl who is six feet tall and so jacked she could probably beat a grizzly bear with her bare hands. but when she's with her girl, she's nothing but a gentle giant.

she's big on physical contact when they're alone together, but it's not always sexual. sometimes its sitting with her arm around her girl's shoulder, or facing each other in bed and just looking at each other and talking. honestly its so pathetic but idec like i love it and them, but my oh my, the second she has her girl in her lap, there's only one way for it to go (spoiler: they're about to FUCK).

in this specific scenario, i'm thinking that it's the end of a stressful day, and abby needs some comfort, so her girl crawls into her lap in nothing but some panties and one of abby's outrageously oversized (even for her) t-shirts, carefully taking her sad little face in her hands and providing her with sweet words and gentle kisses till she finally opens up about what's bothering her. she accepts the gentleness for a bit, spilling about what had her feeling that way, but her hands are slowly working their way up the back of her thighs, squeezing the plump flesh in her grasp enough to feel it spilling out between her fingers, before finally reaching her desired destination (her ass).

the shirt is gone in a matter of seconds when she finishes her little therapy session, and she's her mouth all over her girl's chest in even less time. she's sucking, biting, kissing, and licking all over, breaking away to pant out in a deep voice to her.

"i need you so bad baby."

"you gonna let me have you?"

"just lay back and let me make you feel good."

and then her fingers are slipping beneath the fabric of her panties, a breath catching in her throat as she felt the wet patch that had formed on the cotton and eagerly began circling her clit. she wants to see her girl arching her back, head tilted and eyes closed; it made it all the more enjoyable knowing that she was the one making her do these things, not to mention that it gave her easier access to her chest (and she liked they way her tits bounced with every stuttered breath and moan).

"what is it," she'd tease, "you want my fingers, baby? you can have 'em, all you gotta do is ask."

and once she asks, oh my, abby's fingers are already buried deep within her by the time she finishes her question, curling and prodding at the most sensitive spots with practiced precision, mouth still eagerly sucking on her sensitive and swollen breasts while her thumb continued to circle her clit, pushing her over the edge of her first (of many) orgasm of the night.

[life-is-unreal]

Stranger Danger~ {Genshin Impact x reader} (Teyvat chapters 0 - 10) *VERY LONG

Author's note: I'm new to tumblr so srry if I fuck something up or do some stuff wrong :D Right now Wattpad is my main so tumblr and Quotev is just copy and paste. There will be updates at least twice a month ( Everything after this post will be updated like that) If ya'll want more chapters just comment (no promises) :D

Wattpad and Quotev: LifeIsUnreal

Teyvat Chapter 0 - Welcome to Teyvat

You were pushed to the window roughly. "What-" You gaped in disbelief as multiple blue streaks flew across the sky. 

Yeleris frowned, "Yvonne, stop pushing her." You stared at the gaping hole in the middle of the sky. "This looks-" 

Your words stopped as a beautiful gold streak cut through the sky, your vision slowly turning into black dots.

"Y/N?!" 

"Y/N?!!?"

-..-..-

"Eugh." You groaned, flinging the wet slimy object off your face. 

"Ye da?" 

You sat up abruptly. "Ummmmm... Olah?" You inched backward, seeing a gigantic lawachurl in front of you. Although it made no move to attack you, you saw a few piles of bones resembling humans by its feet.

"Mi nye mosi ye." 

The lawachurl grunted, offering you a sunsietta. 

"Uh, thanks?" You noticed your grumbling stomach, hurriedly biting the sunsietta. It tasted like a mixture of apple and pear, with an orange tanginess and a sweet hint of honey. 

You and the lawachurl remained in an awkward silence. "I need to leave." You stated. Dragonspine was a harsh place, looking at your surroundings, you should be in the middle of Dragonspine and you were going to freeze to death if you didn't leave soon. There were a few fire sources but it only slowed down the freezing.

The frost arm lawachurl stood up, towering over you. Incoherent mumbles could be heard, ".i.de..Dan-ge.r" 

You shivered, "I know, but I need to get to Mondstadt." Mondstadt was the most peaceful region you could think of, and the start of the plotline. As the starter region, it has the weakest monsters and has a good geographical location, and it was close to Dragonspine.

The lawachurl froze, "Mi-" It paused, scooping you up. You struggled, voice muffled by its arm. You calmed down when it started walking, slowly falling asleep, the lawachurl's body heat being the only comforting thing in the icy terrain.

The next time you woke up, you were already on the snow-covered path. The lawachurl sat silently, meters away from you. You suddenly felt guilty for leaving this strange lawachurl. The lawachurl slowly stood up, gesturing you to get over. 

You hesitantly approached him, getting lifted onto its shoulder as it stepped into the freezing stream, carrying you to the other side. It gently placed you on the ground, pointing to some boars, "Mita," it then pointed to you, "Kucha."

It ruffled your head, giving you a small bag, "Zido." It turned around, walking slowly towards the lonely terrain. 

You sniffled lightly, the lawachurl's form slowly disappearing in the haziness. "Thank you..." you whispered, wiping away your tears. 

You walked slowly, unaware of where you were going and where to go. You only knew that Mondstadt was relatively safe, but you were too afraid to go into the city, where they may that you are a spy for the fatui due to your odd clothes.

You hid yourself when you saw a few Knights of Favonius in the distance, they seemed to be looking for something. 

"Did you see that light?" The shorter one nodded, "It fell into Dragonspine, in the middle perhaps. The grandmaster had already told the Chief Alchemist to look out for whatever was the golden light." 

The brunette rolled his eyes, "I don't even know why we were sent here, it landed in Dragonspine, not here." 

You snorted lightly, hurriedly covering up your mouth. "Halt! Who's there?!" The tallest of the four yanked you out from the tree you were hiding behind. 

The five of you stared at each other confused. "Why is there a kid here?" 

"..."

"..."

"..."

Your smile fell, "Excuse me?"

-.-.-. 

You groaned, "I'm not fatui for god's sake." The dumb one snorted, "That's what they all say, and don't you scum dare insult Lord Barbatos's reputation."

You sighed, spotting a hilichurl camp nearby. A grin appeared on your face. You yanked your arms away, sprinting towards the nearest hilichurl. 

"Hey!" The short one tried to grab you back, before noticing a mitachurl charging towards the brunette. 

"You dumbass, you want to die?" The knights started dashing away, running into the city. 

"Hey. What are you four doing? Leaving your patrol area without permission." 

The brunette scratched his head, cold sweat dripping down his head. "Captain Kaeya- we- we-"

The dumb one pushed him away, "Captain Kaeya! We met a fatui wearing strange clothes spying on us so we wanted to bring her to be questioned but she ran into a hilichurl camp near Springvale and the hilichurls started to attack us."

Kaeya's fake smile fell, his eye glinting dangerously, "So, you decided not to kill all the hilichurls and bring the girl back? Are you not knights?" 

"Captain Kaeya-"

"Report to Cyrus, he will deal with you four." he glanced at the dumbfounded knights. "What, you want me to personally deal with you four along with the girl?" 

-.-.-.

On the other side, like the frost arm lawachurl, the hilichurls made no move to attack you. The mitachurl offered you some apples and the samachurl started dancing. The little bag that the lawachurl gave you wriggled, a small cryo slime popping out. You touched it hesitantly, yup, the cold slimy feeling on your face belonged to the slime. 

You looked through the small bag, regretting leaving the kind lawachurl, inside the bag were some herbs, a small pouch of mora, some sunsiettas, and a cloak. You tried putting all of them into your inventory. Everything except the bag disappeared. You checked your phone and in the game inventory, everything was in the new category named Y/N. You tried to use your catalyst but nothing worked. "Makes sense, I don't have a vision." You sighed. A 5-star catalyst, wasted just because you didn't have a vision.

You groaned checking the time, it's been over 24 hours, you were officially stuck in Teyvat. 

Every single time you've been in Teyvat had been less than 24 hours, it seemed to automatically transport you out once it reached that time. "Damn, I miss Yeleris and Yvonne..." A small poke interrupted your musings. "Mosi." The mitachurl handed you some raw fowl. 

"Ummm, thanks." You thanked him, placing the meat into the pan. You read through the menus on your phone. The only thing you could cook was Sweet Madame, everything else needed more ingredients. 

Surprisingly, the dish only took two minutes to cook, which was very surprising to you until you saw a pyro slime spewing fire on the sticks under the pan. ".Uh, thanks?" A horrifying thought materialized in your head. What do slimes eat? Do they eat their enemies? When people kill them do they have blood or do they just turn into slime condensates waiting to be collected? When characters ascend do they have to cut them into small pieces? How do characters even ascend?

You shuddered just at the thought of someone like Cyno downing a bunch of scarabs just to get stronger. Once again, you were interrupted from your thoughts by a large cry from the two mitachurls, the one with the shield immediately charging toward the entrance of the camp.

"Keuughh." The mitachurl's shield was burnt almost instantly and a sword impaled it, black blood gushing out. You stood agape as the hydro samachurl tried to heal it but got impaled with an arrow. 

"Baron Bunny!" A very familiar brunette tossed a doll towards you. You stared at the doll, it staring back at you, "OH HELL NAWH-"

You grabbed your cryo slime and sprinted towards the blazing axe mitachurl. "Run! Ya'll are at level 20 at most or something-" You didn't know whether they understood what you were saying but the moment you started running, the entire camp started following you. 

"Hey!" Amber gasped for air as she stared in disbelief at the horde of hilichurls that were just running alongside you. "Is doing some commissions for some mora this hard?" She sighed. 

"Amber, quite surprising to see you here." 

"Cavalry captain, aren't you supposed to be in Mondstadt city?" Amber's eyes narrowed at the dark-skinned man. Kaeya never gave her any good vibes.

"Some knights told me that there was a fatui spy in this area, did you see someone when you were clearing out the camps?" Kaeya ignored Amber's clear dislike, his eyes glinting with curiosity. 

Amber frowned, "Um, I saw a girl but she ran away with the hilichurls?" She said unsurely, it sounded so weird that Amber herself would rather believe that she was just hallucinating from the sheer amount of work from being an outrider for the Knights of Favonius.

"In fact, she ran away when you killed that mitachurl over there." she nodded to her right. "You can try to use elemental sight if you plan on taking her back to do some interrogating, or you can bring her directly to Grandmaster Jean if you think she's a fatui spy. She...is wearing some weird clothes..."

Kaeya's smile brightened, "Thank you Amber, and if I may, I'll leave right now."

-.-..-.

"OH MY GAWDDDD." You groaned as you flopped onto the grass. The hilichurls stopped at another hilichurl camp, just like the others, they made no move to attack. 

You rubbed your eyes tiredly, your stamina was a joke, "Do I have some kind of skill where monsters don't attack me or something? That's kinda cool, not gonna lie." You squished the small cryo slime roughly. "You're one hella cute slime, you're called Bob from now on, you hear me?"

The slime blinked, its cartoonish features making you laugh. "Can you even attack though?" You poked it, "Ow!" you hissed, a small icicle piercing your index finger. "Okay, okay, you aren't useless. Happy?" Bob made a huffing sound, spewing some cold air onto your face.

"You're like Paimon, but you don't yap nonstop and you are mine and not Lumine's or Aether's." You snickered, remembering how Paimon once pushed your lumine off a mountain because you got a little bit too close to the border when you were collecting material.

"Biaodomu, Kandala! (cursed enemy, fight)" Messy footsteps could be heard.

"Cool down!"

Your eyes widened, "Oh shit, it's Kaeya." You grabbed Bob and quickly climbed up a tree. Kaeya was a 4-star but nevertheless, he was the only strong person in the Mondstat starter pack, and in lore, he's a cavalry captain. The gameplay doesn't matter in Teyvat, the lore matters. Kaeya isn't the best in game, but it's only because you can only use one skill and one burst. In Teyvat, Kaeya probably could turn you into an ice statue or create icicles to kill you.

You peeked down the tree after a few minutes, surprised to see nothing except a bunch of dead hilichurls. "Damn, that was quick- Wait, where the hell did he go?" You held your breath, something in your head snapping together.

You slowly looked to your right, and there was Kaeya. Casually sitting next to you. 

"..."

"OH FUCK!"

You pushed yourself out of the tree, Bob clinging onto your hair for dear life, "What the hell did I do?!" You screeched,  running towards the previous hilichurl camp. 

"Hmpf." You hissed, your body skidding to a halt.

"Fatui, you are coming back with me to the headquarters." Amber glowered down at you. 

You turned back, only to slam into someone else. OH FUCK

Kaeya grinned as you lifted your head, "You'll stop running won't you?"

-.--.-.

Teyvat Chapter 1 - Sofiya, the most GenZ fatui

(Knights of Favonius headquarters)

Mhm. You were mistaken for a fatui. You looked down at your clothes, a hoodie, cargo pants and some boots. You had to admit that this was some weird clothing to the Teyvatians but Fatui??? Seriously? 

"A mora for your thoughts?" Your eyes snapped up. OH DAMN. In front of you, in her glory, was Lisa. You gulped, she wasn't the best in-game just like Kaeya but...in lore, she's a genius that graduated from the Akademiya and managed to beat a hell load of people's asses. 

Jean furrowed her brows, "Kaeya? Amber?" 

Amber stepped forward, "Some knights reported her being a fatui spy to Kaeya, so he went out to catch her and I just happened to be doing my commissions nearby." 

You scoffed, "Oh, you mean those cowards? They ran the moment the hilichurls started attacking them. Those snitches..." You huffed.

Kaeya snorted, "Indeed, however, the hilichurls seemed to not attack you. Don't you think that's quite suspicious?"

Your haughty expression wavered for a second before you grinned, "Well... I am quite a lucky ducky ain't I?" You snickered, rolling your eyes. "You reaaally should be less suspicious of people Mr Kaeya."

Lisa's eyes flashed with amusement, "Well sweetie, I, highly doubt that you are a fatui, your clothing, although weird, does not match with any fatui uniform."

Everyone looked at Jean for her final decision, "I agree with Lisa, she does not look like a fatui," I LOVE YOU JEAN "...but" BUT? WDYM BUT? "Just in case, I say that we put her with the rest for a few days and if there's nothing suspicious we can let her out as long as we keep a close watch."

Lisa raised her head from a book, "Your decision is the final, Jean. Amber, bring her to the dungeons for now, will you? And sweetie, if you're innocent, you'll be let out in no time, Jean will compensate you if you were wronged. But if you aren't..." Her lime green eyes darkened, "Well, we'll see won't we."

Her beautiful smile returned, waving you out. 

A sudden bang interrupted your way out. "Hah...hah..." Albedo groaned as he charged into the room. "Jean-" he paused, straightening his back and returning to his cold expression after seeing a horde of people in the office. 

"Grandmaster, did you see Klee anywhere? She ran out an hour ago, saying that she saw her friend somewhere." 

You were too busy admiring his looks whilst he and Jean conversed, their talking drowned out by your thoughts. Hoyo did him so bad, he is gorgeous like- his hair is fluffy, his eyes are beautiful, and omg his long fingers-

"Ahem." Kaeya raised a brow at your starstruck expression. "The knights will escort you to the dungeons, and in case you're wondering it's the 'cowards' you speak of."

Your horror made Kaeya quite amused to say the least. "Wait, why can't you do it? They're stupid, defenseless lil sh-assholes." You were pretty sure that Kaeya was a way better option than the dumb, dumber, and dumbest trio. 

Kaeya fake sighed, "Well, sadly, as the Cavalry Captain, I have work to do, and you seem pretty defenseless right now so there is no need for me to escort you. Hm?"

Jean gave Kaeya a look. "I'll be on my way Grandmaster Jean." He gave his signature flirtatious smile to you before dragging Amber out with him.

Oh hell no. You accepted your fate, the dumb, dumber, and dumbest trio pushing you towards a seemingly endless row of stairs leading down. Yup, never seen this in-game.

-.--.--.-

(Mondstadt Dungeons)

"Pssssst." The cicin mage had been bothering you for the past 10 minutes. Your eyes twitched, "What?" You hissed, annoyed. The mage's hair only had hints of green, so you assumed that she was in the dungeons for a long long time.

"Are you one of us or are you like one of them?" She nudged the man beside her. 

"What is wrong with you, Sofiya?" The man hissed in pain, her long manicured nails digging into his skin. The brunette rolled her eyes, "Whatever, you don't seem like one of those filthy treasure hoarders." She scoffed, kicking the man until he curled up into a fetal position. 

"Hmm, you don't seem like you're part of the fatui too..." she muttered. You edged back, seeing how strong she was, "Would you believe me if I said that I was innocent?" 

She paused her muttering, "Probably, you're not a treasure hoarder or part of the fatui so I'm guessing that they're going to let you out in a few days." She shrugged, "You see, I'm one of the more...likable fatui. Nice to meet you, I'm Sofiya Petrov. Quite obviously, I'm a cicin mage."

Sofiya giggled, "That despicable guy on the floor is Niko, a treasure hoarder with Snezhnayan blood. Quite inappropriate of him to join the treasure hoarders instead of the fatui." Her eyes hardened, kicking the man again.

Niko made no move to defend, slowly nudging back into his corner. Sofiya rolled her eyes, banging her fist on the cell, "Keyar, there's a newbie! Introductions are needed." A small face popped up from the cell next to them. Keyar was definitely caught recently, her hair still a murky green. "Hiya, my name's Keyarye but you can call me Keyar. I'm a Cicin mage. This is my brother Yeray, he's a pyro agent." The young girl smiled at you.

Sofiya snorted at your stiff body, "You need to calm down, we can't, and won't kill you yet. After all, we are quite well-behaved and sensible compared to our colleagues. They are all below us," she pointed to a staircase leading further down. It was so hidden that you would've sworn that it wasn't there if she hadn't pointed it out. "I'm quite glad that they placed those scum separate from us. They are not only weak, but they are a bunch of bratty, arrogant little shits."

Your eyes widened in surprise, you always thought that mobs like fatui agents were all going to be bratty in real life and be very cooperative with each other and all be evil...But then, they weren't mobs, everyone you've met is real...At least to the people in Teyvat. 

"Well... My name, Y/N, I was thrown in here because some cowards thought that I was a spy."

The cell stayed silent until Sofiya started laughing. "Pfft, are the knights absolute idiots? Wait, they are. You? A fatui? You would've been killed being spotted by non-fatui out of uniform. Oh, my archons..."

The dungeons echoed with laughter. Sofiya straightened her purple coat, the dungeons immediately silencing. The girl slowly stepped towards you, her cold blue eyes staring into your soul. "Everyone in here is either a Fatui or a treasure hoarder, so... if you turn out to be innocent, I trust that you won't tell anyone that we were being so un-Fatui like right?" 

You smiled innocently, "Why would I? You'll be punis-"

The entrance slammed open. "Pretty sister?"

A familiar loli grinned at your confused face.

"I'm here to save you."

-.---.-

Klee did not expect you to meet you in the dungeons. It had been 2 years to her, whilst, to you, it had only been a few days. She missed the time when you went fish blasting with her. Although she was placed in solitary confinement, it was worth it to her. She loved her big brother Albedo but he didn't really approve of her fish blasting, he tolerated her but he didn't like her blasting up at random places.

So when she noticed a familiar figure in Mondstadt, in a hilichurl camp, she thought you were in danger and was about to pull out her Dodoco until she saw a familiar bluenette killing all of them whilst you climbed up a tree, Klee decided to find some apples to give to you as a gift.

But when she returned, you were gone. Then, she began searching for you again, where she saw you entering the headquarters when she reached the city. Klee was scared, she had just bombed a lake and ran away from Albedo when she met him near the city. Jean would scold her again.

So she secretly waited until the knights left and then she sneaked into the headquarters. Klee was confused when she saw Kaeya and Amber handing you to three knights and leading you to the dungeons. She saw Kaeya walking towards the entrance so she slipped into the library when someone entered.

Thankfully, Lisa was still in the office so she managed to sneak out of the library without being caught and now here she is, unlocking your cell door.

"Pretty sister, Klee spent sooo long trying to find you." Klee hugged your waist tightly.

"Well if it isn't the Spark Knight." Sofiya grinned at her. Klee stared at her confused. "Hello big sister."

Sofiya gave a tiny genuine smile at the blob of cuteness in front of her. "Y/N, you have a record time for only staying with us for less than an hour. Quite impressive ain't it girlie." She shook your hands, casually stepping out of the cell. 

She fiddled with the locks with the other cell. "Aha."

Keyar stretched her arms, "Freedom, how nice." 

Klee blinked, "Pretty sister, did Klee...let them out?" she turned to you, "Can I let them out?" her face wrinkled. 

Keyar patted her head, "Don't worry lil child, we don't kill random people. We only got here because we're under Lady Signora." She approached a corner, tapping on some rocks to reveal a secret pathway, "Sofiya, our delusions are in there." 

Sofiya nodded, locking the cell after she got out with you, ignoring the pleas from other cells and the treasure hoarders. "These people are all unimportant, they have no value. Basically, these people are either freeloaders or they actually deserve to be in here." she snickered, "No wonder their mommy and daddy left them." She threw an especially dirty look at Niko. "Son of a bitch should stay here 'till his entire team gets caught and killed."

She sneered, skipping towards the secret room. Returning just seconds later. "They still work, which is a relief." The three fatuus began conversing in Snezhnayan language before turning to you.

"Well, Y/N, considering that you've technically helped us leave this stupid place we won't avenge the knights or anything or kill you. But if you do see us around, don't talk to us unless you need something. The knights will notice that we're gone. As long as no attention is drawn, they won't even remember that they arrested us."

Yeray rolled his eyes, "The entirety of Knights of Favonius is basically useless except the little girl beside you, the Cavalry captain, that scary librarian, the outrider, the Chief Alchemist, the maid that should've become a knight ages ago, and the Cavalry captain's brother who sometimes helps out."

Klee tugged on your hand. "Pretty sister, Klee needs to leave. Big brother Albedo will be worried." Her expression turned serious, "Pretty sister, please don't get arrested, Klee is a Knight, Klee can't do things like this anymore. Klee will find you soon. Bye bye~" she checked her pocket watch before running up the staircase. 

Sofiya cleared her throat. "If anyone talks about our escape I will come back and kill all of you." She scanned the entire room, the temperature dropping. Her lamp was in her hands again. Sofiya didn't look like a casual person like she was without her delusion. You noticed how her outfit was slightly more intricate than Keyar's probably because she's in a higher rank. She looked at you, "Quite obviously, we can't leave like the Spark Knight so hold on to me unless you want to stay here forever."

Teyvat Chapter 2 - Can't Escape The Plotline

"Emmmmmm." You stared at Bob then at the Blonde that was strangling it.

A few minutes ago Sofiya and her fatui colleagues thrown you to a statue of the seven and left immediately saying something about checking the fatui camps and killing some traitors. Sofiya leaving a small device in your hands saying that the fatui under her won't kill you if you don't lose it.

"Uhhhhh." A familiar fairy floated up to you. "Ehehehe. Sorry about that." She scratched her head, snatching Bob away from Aether's hands.

"..."

Aether was the first one to break the silence, "Um, sorry for... uh...strangling your- pet?" You cuddled Bob, hiding it from Aether.

"I suppose that I can forgive you." You stated flatly.

Paimon giggled nervously, "Do you want to go to Mondstadt City with us? Aether can get you some food as repayment for almost killing, uh, Bob."

You blinked, Paimon's a big foodie, nothing is more precious than food and maybe the traveler to her. I guess I'll forgive them since Aether is hot and Paimon's cute

"...Sure?"

Oh wait, Dvalin exists. Fuck. Your face slowly turned into horror as the two started to drag you towards the path. Oh hell no.

You dragged yourself lifelessly along with the duo, seeing Venti and Dvalin in the distance communicating.

You eyed a tree near you, and the moment Aether and Paimon interrupted their interaction, you leaped up.

"Who's there?!" Venti stiffened, Dvalin roared, taking off to the sky.

Venti's eyes flashed with a mix of emotions, anger, annoyance and nervousness. "Achoo!" Venti's eyes snapped towards a tree, the winds amplifying all sounds.

Your body temperature dropped when Venti's aqua eyes met with you. A bunch of rustling snapped both of your attention to the traveler. The god's eyes narrowed slightly, the blonde gave him a slight familiar sense, reminding him of an old friend whilst the e/c girl gave him a slightly more dangerous aura, familiar but a bit off.

"Hey!" Paimon shouted, trying to stop the god escaping.

Aether tugged her back, slightly frowning, "Let's go to Mondstadt first." He smiled tightly to you.

"Sorry-"

"HEY YOU! Stop right there! Wait- huh?" Amber's body almost tumbles to the ground, staring at you confused.

"..."

It took you two seconds before you started sprinting.

"NOT TODAY BISH!" You frantically ducked one of Amber's arrows, dashing towards the direction of Springvale.

"HEY!" Amber scowled, glaring at Aether, "Why would you stop me? She's a spy!" Her eyes narrowed. "You don't look like citizens of Mondstadt. Explain yourselves!"

Paimon waved her hands, "We're not looking for trouble!"

Amber crossed her arms, "That's what all the troublemakers say."

Aether stepped forward, shielding Paimon from Amber's hostile eyes, "I'm Aether."

Amber silently sized Aether up, "...Doesn't sound like a local name to me, and...this mascot, what's the deal with it?"

"We're friends." Aether's eyes flashed with impatience, "Yes, we've only traveled for two months."

"But we've already become the best of friends!" Paimon piped up, unaware of Amber's hostility.

Amber's eyes softened for a brief moment before turning hard, "To sum it up, you are travelling partners. As the outrider for the Knights of Favonius. There's a large dragon sighted around Mondstadt recently, I would advise you to get into the city as soon as possible...It's not far from here, I'll escort you there."

-.-.-

You panted furiously, your stamina stats were not kidding at all. You were pretty sure that a slime had better stamina than you.

The afternoon sun enveloped you in a warm haze, but the only thing you felt was hunger.

"I owe my frickin life to that lawachurl." you grumbled, stuffing yourself with several sunsettias. Aether has already met Paimon, so the defeat of Dvalin should be a matter of time. The main thing is, the time in Teyvat and the time in game is definitely unmatched. And the biggest problem you're facing right now is where will you live and how the fuck you're going to survive.

You ruffled through your bag, nothing was lost through your endless sprinting and jumping. Through all you interactions with the "characters" of Genshin Impact. You came to a dreadful conclusion. Although your stats weren't that low for a lvl 0 weakling, you are basically a mosquito in front of the vision holders. Yes, you had an unbelievably good weapon, but you weren't a vision holder so it's basically a fancy decoration.

Why did you compare yourself to a mosquito? Simple, mosquitos are easy to kill but they are annoying bitches that can leave a very unpleasant effect.

Just as you were contemplating your life, your phone suddenly dinged.

How is there data in Teyvat? You stared at the single block of mobile data. The fuck????  You noticed that for some reason, Yeleris and Moniqa haven't been messaging you.

Totallynotlazy

Guys?

Y3!3&13

Who are you?

Totallynotlazy

Wdym?

notmoniqa

Bish, who u?

Totallynotlazy

Tf, it's moi Y/N

Y3!3&13

...

notmoniqa

Bish, Y/N in fvcking coma righ now

Totallynotlazy

tf u mean I'm in coma

- notmoniqa has sent an image -

notmoniqa

hackerrrrr

- Totallynotlazy has started a video call -

-.-.-.-

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Moniqa screeched.

You sighed, "Girl, as you can see, I'm clearly not in coma."

"But, but- if your body is here but then you're also wherever the fuck you are..."

Yeleris slapped a hand over her mouth. "Y/N, where the actual fuck are you? And if your phone is with you, what's this? And also, who's this?"

Her slim hands reached into 'your' pocket and pulled out your phone.

"..."

You froze for a second before calming yourself down. Being part of the student council had always made your demeanor calm until you've been transported here.

"I'm guessing that the person lying on my bed is also me, and that the phone you're holding is also-"

The sound of glass shattering interrupted the thick tension. Under the three of your confused and surprised gaze, your phone shattered in Yeleris' hands.

"It's...glitching." Moniqa whispered. Moniqa was sitting right next to Yeleris so she also managed to see the phone suddenly flash out and into existence multiple times before completely shattering.

"..." Yeleris' cool demeanor slightly wavered, her cold expression turning into one of shock.

"I have a conclusion." She stated out, her body trembling slightly. Both of you looking at her darkened eyes.

"I think, that the 'you' here with us is your physical body and the 'you' right now is your consciousness in another dimension. Of course, there are many other possibilities, like the 'you' with us being a fake imitation of you and the real you in whichever place you are. But then, the two 'you's might also be the exact same person, except you've somehow glitched into another world, just like your phone."

"..."

"But...why did her phone shatter?" Moniqa asked weakly, her eyes flashing with confusion.

"...Because, there cannot be two people under the same information and things in the same world. You notice how her phone only shattered after the video call and not whilst we were chatting right. In my reasoning, it only shattered because it was being used in another world, and the video call had been happening whilst Y/N's using her phone when this phone was shown to the camera, showing the other world the very same thing that is being used, so something, possibly space or time has destroyed the phone."

"I barely understand but ok..."

You frowned, "But, what about me? Will the me in school die?"

The only thing that replied to you was their silence.

"I..." Your legs felt like cotton, your body slowly drooping down into the grassy field.

"Where are you?" Yeleris asked softly.

Your scattered eyes once again focused onto her cold, heartless face.

"Say... would you believe me if I told you that... I'm in Genshin Impact?"

Surprisingly, Moniqa was the first one to nod her head.

"Girl, I've also played that game for some time, yes, I've only played for a month or two but I can associate your background to Mondstadt."

Her baby face scrunched up slightly, "However, since you're basically in a different world. Not to mention it's a game, we have no insurance of your safety you know."

"I'm assuming that the only things you have on you includes everything near your body before you went away. So that's basically just your phone, a pen, your headphones, a few pieces of candy, and a single hair tie." She stopped briefly, her eyes twitching, "can you access Genshin on your phone? And things in your inventory?"

You nodded. Moniqa stood up, striding towards your computer. "You know, the moment that I saw those meteors flying across the sky in broad daylight, especially how much they resembled the wishing screen you know."

Her sapphire blue eyes shined brightly, her sakura pink contacts no longer covering those gemstone like eyes.

"You know, I've been wondering, if you can go into Genshin in your account and be able to access things from your account. Can I... see you on screen?"

Your breathed heavily, a mixture of emotions muddling your head. Eyes fixated on the loading screen.

"Lookie lookie, seems like my idea was right."

You gaped at your figure on screen, unlike normal characters, your body was half transparent, just like a ghost.

"That genuinely freaks me out." You muttered.

Moniqa snorted, clicking into your character screen. "Jeez, you have dangerously low stamina and shit stats. Oh, and look, there's two character screens. Seems like one of them is your accounts and one of them is the characters in your world currently. Hell, there's even two quest pages. And damnnnn, the traveller didn't even open the Mondstadt Archon quest yet ." She said snickering.

The pinkette checked your inventory, noticing the brand new pages and the inventory bag that Skirk's given you.

"DAMN, YOU'VE GOT ONE HELLA CRACKED WEAPON!" She gaped at your tiny collection of random things.

"Wait, aren't you like, defenceless? I mean, you're definitely just like those NPCs that can't do a single thing against some normal hilichurls let alone mobs in Genshin." Yeleris suddenly said.

You scratched your head , "I meannnn, they don't attack me... probably because I'm not a Teyvatian. Like, Aether and Lumine are cracked so it does make sense that I, at least have some talent like everyone else so that I won't die from slimes and other stuff."

"Yeah but what if you meet fatui, treasure hoarders, eremites and other things that are humans or human made?"

You frowned, "I mean I can run?"

Yeleris rolled her eyes, "With that tiny stamina? I highly doubt so."

Moniqa raised her eyes, " Bob the cryo slime...what a unique name."

You sighed, "It's- I mean, he's my pet I guess."

Yeleris coughed lightly into her hand. "I think you should go to Mondstadt right now."

You stared at her confused, "Why?"

She smirked, a glimpse of amusement flashing across her face, "Why, to see the traveller and Dvalin have a teeny fight. After all, every thing we see in game is simplified. Like how Teyvat is shrunk from an entire world into a small area where someone can travel nation to nation in a matter of minutes. And from the distance that the traveller is positioned from Mondstadt, by the moment you get there, you should be able to see the cutscenes in real life. And of course, we will watch the true fight through your computer. So please, stand closer to whichever twin is in Mondstadt. Won't you?"

Teyvat Chapter 3 - We meet again

A freezing fog enveloped Mondstadt City as you approached. Fortunately, under the haziness, you managed to sneak in when the two guards were trying to adjust to the momentarily blindness.

Your eyes scanned across the empty streets, noticing Amber and Aether standing in the middle of the street. It's coming. Your eyes slowly brightened as a thin grey veil covered your eyes and the familiar blue dragon's shadow covered half of the city.

"The sky..." Aether's eyes flashed with uncertainty, the edge of his peripheral showing a silhouette. A few stray leaves interrupted his musings.

Above you, you gazed at Dvalin as he flew graciously across the air, your heart hurting as the dragon swooped down nearing Aether, just a flash, but you still noticed the pain in the dragon's face.

The very few people near the streets scrambled back home, most of them covering their heads or shielding their children from the flying rocks. Your body flinched as you saw a kid nearly get swept up into the sky, and another rock embedding into a girl's arm.

You hurriedly hid under a stall as tornadoes appeared near the Statue of Barbatos. Your hands coated in cold sweat. Lifting your wide eyes, your vision landed on the traveler. Closer... you ran towards Amber's direction, a tree crushing the fruit stall seconds after you've reached Amber.

Amber's orange eyes widened in shock as you stood besides her. "You-you...Ugh, I'll talk to you after Dvalin leaves."

Paying no heed to her endless rambling, your gaze once again landed on the traveler. "He'll be ok right?" Amber asked, she had just brought him here, from the journey, she could tell that Aether wasn't like the fatuis or treasure hoarders, she didn't want him to die yet.

You shrugged, "He's definitely going to survive." He didn't even die against Raiden Shogun, so he's definitely not going to die in this lil battle, he also had Venti's help, if he died, who would be the person that solves all the seven nation's problems? The abyss princess?

Above the clouds, Aether's vision landed on the howling Stormterror.

"Huh? How are you staying afloat like this with just a wing glider?" Paimon nudged his wing glider confusedly.

A young voice echoed through the loud wind, "I'm preventing your fall with the power of a thousand winds."

Far away from the city, under the large oak tree in Windrise sat Venti, or as how Teyvat calls him, Barbatos.

Being the current weakest Archon, he was far from his peak since the Archon war, less than ten percent at most. Although the war had greatly affected his powers, his lengthy sleep had at least slightly made him stronger.

The winds brought all information across to him, and being the Archon of Mondstadt, he was able to see everything happening in Mondstadt if he wanted to.

"Now, concentrate. See yourself grasping the wind. Harness its energy." He always knew that the blonde boy was an outlander, his clothes and looks reminded him of an old friend, not only that, their personalities were very similar.

On the other hand, the dark haired girl gave him a sense of familiarity, even though he was sure that he'd never ever seen her or even heard about her before. She had no vision, and was a powerless mortal just like the thousands of mortals living in Mondstadt. (In this story, Mondstadt will have around hundred thousand residents, Mondstadt city having around sixty thousand residents since Teyvat is going to be thousands of times bigger than in game Teyvat)

A loud gasp erupted from Amber. You groaned as the bunny girl hugged you even tighter, all of her hostility was gone, everything left was a cuddly mess. You rolled your eyes at the bubbly girl's dramatic antics, Aether's silhouette drifting throughout the entire sky as he shot anemo bullets at Stormterror.

Suddenly, a large gust of wind rolled you into a tornado and launched you into the sky. Bitch, I do not know how to fly, and I don't have a stupid wind glider. Your heart almost pumping out of your chest.

"Huh?" Your eyes met with Paimon's. You closed your eyes as your body rapidly neared the ground, Amber's faint screaming and Paimon's screeching blasting your eardrums.

"Try controlling the wind to lift yourself up."

Your eyes flew open. "How the fuck am I supposed to control it?" You hissed.

"...just say up in your head, I'll assist you."

"Up. Up? UP YOU FUCKING BITCH!!" You screamed as your body almost crashed against a rooftop.

Very "cliche"-ly, your body lifted up when you were centimeters away from dying.

"Go assist your friend, try using that weapon you have."

You scowled slightly, how did Venti know about your bow? You would probably never know.

You clumsily controlled the wind by screaming direction to it. Sneakily taking out your phone, you quickly tapped the glitched Genshin App that had appeared next to the original Genshin App after the video call you had with Yeleris and Yvonne.

It was an app that opens in less than a second and shows all the characters that you've met, the current progress in the plotline and your character screen and your friendship levels. You quickly found the catalyst you've gotten from Skirk.

"Wait, I don't know how to use a bloody catalyst." You face palmed, your eyes twitching as you scrolled across your tiny inventory. "Fuck it, Imma try to command it or something."

"Shoot."

"..."

"你他妈的," (The fuck)

You cussed in your mother's mother tongue (I'm using chinese as Mihoyo is a chinese company and for plot reasons)

"Holy shit." You gaped as a beam of anemo struck Dvalin.

A glitchy -300 flashed multiple times before glitching out of existence. "Did you see that?" You asked Paimon excitedly.

Paimon furiously nodded, "Yup, you managed to scare him away." You frowned, "No, I mean-" Paimon blinked, "Yes?"

You sighed, tugging Paimon as you and Aether slowly descended. "A-are you hurt?" Amber dashed towards the two of you, checking on the both of you.

Light clapping sounds attracted your vision as Kaeya calmly walked towards the three of you.

"You've actually got the power to go up against the dragon..." His periwinkle eye was clouded with amusement and interest. His eyes stopped briefly on you before focusing on Aether. "Are you a new ally or a new storm?"

Amber scowled, hiding the two of you behind her, "Stormterror...is attacking Mondstadt itself!" She glanced at you, "Kaeya, Aether, um... and you, you've come at the right time. We must..."

Kaeya grinned, "Hold on Amber, are you perhaps forgetting to introduce us?"

Her eyes flashed with a glimpse of annoyance and coldness, "Oh...right. This is Kaeya, our Cavalry Captain. These two are travelers from afar, Aether and Paimon... As for her, she's the, um, spy that we caught a few hours earlier."

You rolled your eyes at the awkward introduction, "I'm Y/N L/N. The non-existent 'spy' you guys speak of."

Kaeya snorted, his eyes furrowing, "Perhaps...From afar? Is that all we know of them?"

Amber scratched her head nervously, "Long story short..."

(Time skip)

"I see. Welcome to Mondstadt- though you haven't arrived at the best of times. I'm afraid."

Kaeya placed a hand over his chest, "I understand the anguish of being separated from family...but everyone has their secrets right?"

You close your eyes, listening to the familiar dialogues of the Stormterror scenario.

"Y/N?"

You opened your eyes, hiding your slight annoyance, "Hm?"

Aether slightly nodded towards Kaeya and Amber, "You coming?"

Teyvat Chapter 4 - Windborne travelers

(Y/S Tower 3 Dorm 109)

The wind rattled the windows, a cold red fog slowly covered the entire world.

Lorelei's eyes opened, turning around, her eyes fixating on her twin. "Lorelie..." The identical girl giggled slightly, placing a finger across her lips.

"Hey, this is just the start, the only thing we need to do is wait." Lorelie's strawberry blonde hair was tinted with red under the blood moon. She lifted her head, her eyes glinting under her uncut bangs. "The game's just started."

The girl stared at her for a moment, before lowering her head and fumbled for her phone.

"Ya'll ready? This world has 100% death rate and there's no guides at all. I'll try to meet you guys tomorrow ok?"

"...mhm."

(Y/S Tower 8 Dorm 182)

Yeleris gazed down on the silent streets of f/s. She raised her eyes to the blood moon, her eyes narrowing upon seeing the red fog. 

"Go to sleep Yeleris." Moniqa pinched your cheeks, "Y/N looks like a dead person right now." she sighed. "We need energy for tomorrow."

"How long do you think it will take her to finish the plotline?" Yeleris asked softly. Moniqa's lowered her head and stared at your body. "I've asked the Association to calculate the time. But the time in Teyvat is very unstable. Sometimes a day in Teyvat could be a second here but sometimes it could be ten minutes or an hour. One thing I have tested is when we're viewing Y/N, the time in Teyvat flows simultaneously with Earth's."

"We have no idea how long it took the traveler to finish the plotline, not to say that the plotline hasn't even finished. We could only see how does Mihoyo warp the plotline. After all, the first Mihoyo company that created Genshin doesn't belong to this world. This world is just one of the many alternate universes."

Yeleris rubbed her forehead, "Hopefully the first wave of monsters are weak. This body and it's soul is nothing compared to my original body's." Moniqa scowled, "Excuse me? Mine's is even weaker? And I'm not even saying how this soul has been yapping in my mind all day?"

The dark haired girl scoffed, "You must admit that we've got transported to decent bodies, I remember that Luka's gotten transported into a beggar's body. And both of the souls aren't trying to force us out, they do have the main control. We only get to do whatever we want when they fall asleep."

Moniqa rolled her eyes, "Hopefully they manage to survive to the end. I don't want to have a single failure uglify my beautiful record, and anyways, I really wanna see how bad this RH-o1 disease is."

-.-.-.

(Knight's of Favonius HQ)

"Jean, I've brought them."

You frowned slightly at Jean's surprised expression, your annoyance from your last encounter a few hours ago still evident.

Lisa smiled flirtatiously at the two of you, your body slowly edging towards a plant behind you.

"...and once it was over, I brought them straight here." Kaeya crossed his arms.

Jean smiled apologetically at you, "Mondstadt welcomes you, windborne travelers." Her stone grey eyes only had coldness, her facial expressions not matching her internal thoughts. "I am Jean, Acting Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius. This is Lisa, our resident Librarian."

The purple witch's smile grew bigger, "Oh! Are you sweeties here to help us out? You're both so adorable. Sadly, the timing is regrettable." a coy smile emerged from her face, her lime green eyes reflecting Aether's confused expression. "Stormterror has caused quite a ruckus in the region since its recent resurgence."

"Simply put, Mondstadt's elemental sphere and the ley lines are now akin to a yarn ball in the paws of a kitten. For a mage, it couldn't get much worse. My skin is one elemental particle away from a full-blown breakout."

Jean fixated her eyes on Aether, "If it weren't for this interference. The Knights of Favonius would have better ways to help you than just putting up missing person posters."

You laughed internally, knowing the plot, the only thing that Mondstadt gave Aether was his title and experience in fighting monsters. 

"We simply ask that you response in Mondstadt while we seek out your sister."

Aether nodded, "Paimon will help out too!"

You snorted lightly, Paimon's main function was stating the obvious and being moral support. Her help was quite miniscule to say at least. But nevertheless, she was a good companion, at least she genuinely cared for the traveler.

Jean's gaze stopped on you for a few seconds, as if asking you. You stared into her eyes, an innocent smile was all you needed for her to turn her attention back to where she was supposed to.

"Good. In that case we need a plan." Kaeya stated flatly.

"With Stormterror now directly attacking Mondstadt, we may have an opportunity to cut the problem off at the source, Lisa has revealed the sources of Stormterror's power with her detection magic."

"Is that so?"

Lisa turned towards Kaeya, "They're located in the abandoned Four Winds Temple, Stormterror's ability to whip up these kinds of storms can be attributed to drawing power from the temples"

Jean flicked off some dust from her sleeve, "Our objective is to deal with three of the four temples. I trust everyone understands why we are only dealing with three."

Paimon scratched her head awkwardly, "Paimon doesn't."

You pulled the floating fairy closer to you, "Paimon, shush, we only need to listen."

The fairy blinked confused, "ok." she whispered.

Jean ignored the slight disruption, "Knights of Favonius, time is against us. The storm is rampant, there is no point in maintaining a defensive position. Alright we need to take initiative and act before the situation escalates."

You lazily lifted your eyelids as Aether began to walk out. "Welp, nice to meet you, Aether and Paimon. Me and Bob will leave you guys to do what ya'll are doing. Bye bye." 

"Wait, you aren't coming with me and Amber?" Aether scratched his head confused. You blinked, "What do you mean? That's your job. I don't need to find a sister or anything."

"Y/N you're leaving us!!" Paimon screeched. "Paimon, we literally just met an hour ago. I'm only here at Mondstadt because you guys owe me a meal." You crossed your arms.

Amber gasped, "What? You weren't companions?" You stared at her weirdly.

"We can offer you a place in the inn and the same rewards if you do it with Aether." Lisa clasped her hands together. 

You hesitated. "You do realize that you don't have to do everything with Aether right?  You don't have to do everything that he does." Kaeya poked Bob who had jumped from your hood and into your arms.

You stared at him, "You do understand that unlike Aether, I'm a normal person that can't do anything right." You said bluntly.

"You used the power of anemo did you not?" Amber asked.

"...Ok, but if I end up no use, you guys can't blame me."

Paimon did a small flip in the air. "So you won't leave us right?" 

"For now." You ruffled the little fairy's hair.

"Amber, bring them to Wagner for a weapon first." Amber saluted, "Yes, Grandmaster Jean."

(Mondstadt City)

You refused the offer of  Amber buying you a weapon. "It's fine, I have a catalyst. I just um, don't really know how to use it." 

Amber patted your shoulder, "Don't worry, it takes some time trying to master the catalyst. And anyways, you don't seem to have a vision, like the traveler." 

"That's the whole point. I don't even know how I managed to use anemo." Amber frowned, "Wait, I'll buy you a sword just in case." She hurriedly ran back to Wagner.

"You're an...outlander?" Aether asked tentatively. You shrugged, "Secret."

"Here's a silver sword. If you really can't use the elements you can at least have something to defend yourself." Amber looked at her pocket watch, "You guys should be on your way now, I'll meet you guys soon." she nodded slightly at the three of you. 

Aether stared at the little dot that was Amber in the distance. "Paimon, do you know where we're going?"

Paimon opened a gigantic map, spreading it on the bench. "There, let's go unlock the statue of seven nearby first thought. We can test whether Y/N would get anemo abilities like you too!"

Teyvat Chapter 5 - Temple of the Lion

You finally knew why everyone seemed to wear a coat or thick clothes in Mondstadt. The chilliness of Mondstadt nights was like a thousand needles penetrating your skin, of course, the traveler looked the same like always, but you didn't have a godly body like Aether, so every minute was like being in an ice bath.

You rubbed your sore legs tiredly, the travelling trio, well quartet if you count in the little cryo slime had finally reached the Statue of the Seven in Windrise.

"Come on Y/N! Paimon believes in you!" Paimon swooped down towards you, poking your face. 

"P-Paimon, you can literally float. You know how, how bloody unfair this is?" Your voice literally trembled from the 3 hour trek from the city gates.

The sky had turned dark an hour ago, and you felt a bit guilty for being the main reason why it took so long. You gritted your teeth as you straightened up, your legs still fighting with each other.

"Quite frankly, how the actual fuck are you not sweating or anything." You hissed at Aether, hell, his hair was still fluffy and there was not a single ounce of sweat on him.

"It's a you problem Y/N. You just have relatively low stamina." Aether stated bluntly.

"Nuh-uh." Thanks Pai- "Paimon thinks relatively is too generous for Y/N, what's the word called? Abysmal? Yep! Y/N's stamina is abysmal, Paimon swears that even Timmie could run faster and walk longer than her." Take that back. TAKE THAT BACK. TIMMIE IS JUST A LIL SHIT THAT FEEDS PIGEONS

"Can we just- just do whatever Aether does with the Statue of the Sevens?" You raised a trembling hand, yanking Paimon out of the air.

The two of you ignored Paimon's cries and you watched in awe as the Statue slowly glowed a beautiful royal blue from Aether's touch.

"Try it, you might be able to control the power of Anemo." Aether nudged you towards the statue.

"..."

You poked the statue again. "Hey, that's mean, how come-"

The statue suddenly glitched in front of your eyes, heat emitting from it as the blue hue turned into a dazzling gold.

Although it looked absolutely beautiful to Aether and Paimon, even Bob, who had jumped out of your arms the moment the statue turned gold, it was a whole other situation for you. 

"AH SHIT!" You were snarling as you yanked your hand away, the burning sensation still lingering on your fingers. 

"This thing a bloody furnace." You glared at the stone Barbatos on top of the pedestal. "You disgusting little-"

Paimon squeezed the thin piece of skin on your elbow, "Y/N, you can't say that to an Archon. This is Mondstadt." she lowered her voice nearing the end.

"Did you not see it glitch?" 

"What do you mean?"

"I-, never mind, I almost forgot that there are a bunch of people obsessed with barbie toes in Mond." you muttered quietly.

"Well, did you feel anything inside of you?"

"...the only thing I feel is hunger..."

Aether sighed exasperatedly, "I feel like you're another Paimon. Anyways, you remember how you managed to control yourself to fly when we were against Dvalin? Like, try to find that feeling?"

You scratched you head, "Not going to lie,  the way I controlled the wind was, um, shouting at it."

"..."

"..."

"Paimon, Paimon- , EUGH! Paimon doesn't know what to say! Aether! You're on!" The fairy punched the blonde lightly.

"Um... I don't know, command them like you did last time?" The blonde smiled awkwardly, his eyes darting around.

You took a deep breath, "Wind? Carry me? Please? "

"..."

You frowned, reminiscing how the wind carried you up and down. Perhaps it had something to do with the Chinese cuss word you threw out? It was a possibility, Mihoyo being a Chinese company.

"风起?" (It's basically telling the wind to blow)

Just like you expected but also slightly outside of your expectations, the windless night slowly had large gusts of wind blowing towards you.

"Paimon knew that you could do it! Try to control it without speaking! Then you can actually fight monsters with us! Of course, not including Bob."

You blinked, trying the method in your head. This time, the wind was weaker but it was still a success.

A tiny smile appeared on your lips, "Seems like I'm not completely useless in this world..." you murmured, "By the way, aren't we supposed to meet Lisa?"

Paimon gasped dramatically, "Paimon almost forgot! Quick! We need to reach there before midnight! Y/N try to use anemo to increase your speed and if you can, float. Aether, you too!"

You glanced at Aether, "Just think the commands in your mind, although the way I control anemo is different, the same method should work." 

Surprisingly, anemo sped up your journey to the designated location by a lot. And by a lot, it meant two hours. You suddenly understood why being a vision holder was so desired.

(Temple of the Lion）

"Hey cuties! So you're both going to help me out? How kind of you. Of course, as repayment, don't hesitate to come to me if you need anything." Lisa smiled upon your arrival.

You nodded slightly. "What kind of things does a librarian do?" Aether asked.

The woman's smile grew wider, "Basically, things other than that which require brawn...or brains."

"So what does that leave?" Paimon asked. Lisa responded with a mysterious smirk before hurrying towards the temple.

You observed her slight shock when the temple turned blue as Aether pushed the door open to reveal a starry night. You giggled as her shock turned into confusion when you stepped in and the temple flashed with gold before returning back to blue. The effects on the statues and domains were different but Lisa's facial expressions repaid it.

Stepping into the abyss, you found yourself standing in front of multiple doors, there seemed to be an invisible floor in the middle of the abyss. After Lisa came inside, the door you came in from slowly disappeared, leaving you with various smaller doors.

"Which door do we go into?" Paimon asked.

You froze, "You don't see them?" Paimon turned to you confused. "Never mind, it's that door." You pointed to the plainest door on the far left, floating on top of it, was "Deep within the Temple of the Lion". The other probably couldn't see the words, just like how Paimon didn't notice how the Statue of Barbatos was glitching.

Lisa raised a brow, "Indeed, follow me, I will guide you onwards."

-.-.-.

(Inside the Temple of the Lion)

The inside of the Temple was very unrealistic, far more unrealistic than the in game version. One step off the ledge would send you off to somewhere nobody would find you. Although you would probably be transported back on land before you die or out of the domain if that was an actual feature in Teyvat.

Lisa beckoned the three of you up the stairs, "I guess I could give this a go." She looked up, "I knew it. There is a strong elemental energy coming from deep within this temple. Paimon, are you able to float across?"

Paimon nodded, her eyes sparkling as she found several radishes in a barrel. "Let's ride this wind current, shall we?" Lisa pointed towards the strong gusts of wind.

"I'm aware that Y/N doesn't have a wind glider but the power of anemo should be able to lift you up if you combine it with the strong wind current."

The Door of Resurrection activated automatically upon entering the room. The three rushed towards the next room, you stayed in the room finding the common chest behind some wooden crates. A common chest in Genshin is barely anything to high AR players but to NPCs and people who's just gotten their visions, the things inside were absolute treasures, even if they don't need it, they could sell it for mora.

Throwing the items into your inventory, you quickly met up with Aether.

"Leave it to me." 

Unlike how weak Lisa is in game, she killed the pyro slime in with a single strike of electro. The slime slowly turned into elemental particles, which flew towards Lisa and was absorbed.

The four of you placed your hands on the large door, the door unlocking upon touch.

"It's an electro monument." Lisa pointed towards the middle of the room. "No wonder, let me try to activate it with a bit of electro power. Stand back, sweeties. The two of you can share the chest later, I have enough of those trinkets."

She quickly used her elemental skill, four pyro slimes appearing from the elemental particles emitting from the monument. 

"How annoying." Lisa raised her hand lazily, killing all of them, her catalyst floating besides her. 

You narrowed your eyes at her catalyst, it was the Widsith, the best four star weapon for her. 

Aether ran towards the chest offering you the mora inside. "Keep it for yourself, there's another one over there."

You shook your head, opening the chest hidden behind the chest. You seemed to have better luck than Aether, he had only gotten some mora, a few pieces of fowl that was surprisingly still edible, a wanderer's advice and a single sigil.

You on the other side, had gotten twice the amount of mora and an extra piece of sigil.

"There's some hilichurls in the next room, why don't you two show me some of your power?" Lisa smiled sweetly.

You gulped as she pushed you and Aether towards the water. Aether nodded to you slightly, his dull blade appearing in his hands. 

You took a deep breath as the four hilichurls rushed towards the four of you. 

A ball of anemo appeared in your hands, the catalyst gifted from Skirk appearing near you. 

"They, they aren't attacking you?" Paimon's mouth opened widely, the hilichurls going around you to attack Aether.

Lisa's smile deepened, "How interesting." She murmured, it's been a long time since something has interested her since her time in the Akademiya. You and Aether unlocked that hidden curiosity deep inside her warped mind.

"Take the chest, I did nothing." You frowned at the bodies of the hilichurls. Different from the slimes, the hilichurls didn't turn into elemental particles right away, they stayed for a few minutes before turning into a black smoke. 

Being low level mobs, they had no drops at all, and your focus was quickly moved to the second wind current.

"Oh, another wind current, let's ride it up from here." Lisa's wind glider unfolded from her back, appearing and disappearing just like her catalyst.

"Aether, there's a chest behind those barrels." You felt a bit guilty for taking so many chests without telling  Aether who was supposed to take everything inside the domain.

You jumped down, landing on the platform below. Just like before, the mobs made no move to hurt you. And for a second, you almost felt a bit conflicted.

The hilichurls stared at you for a moment, and as if understanding why you're here, they suddenly disappeared, dragging the large hydro slime with them.

"You killed them already?" Aether jumped down, spotting you right away.

"I suppose so?" You opened the chest quickly. 

"Hey Lisa, what's that purple gem?" Aether asked.

The four of you were standing on the moving platforms by now. "You're kidding...You're seriously asking? This is a vision. It's used by the chosen to draw on elemental powers. In terms of mysticism. I suppose you would call it a 'magical lightning rod'." 

She turned towards Aether, "What...You've never seen a vision? Just where exactly are you from...? Are you a hilichurl with some level of reasonable intelligence?" she asked jokingly.

Upon entering the last room, a strong force of anemo whipped across the space. 

"Break it and we can head home and relax." 

You stood next to Lisa in silence as Aether collected everything inside the precious chest.

"Dragon of the East, Lion of the South, Wolf of the North, Falcon of the West...They are the Four Winds of Mondstadt, affiliated with Barbatos, the God of Anemo. The Dragon of the East, Stormterror -it's real name, is Dvalin."

She placed a hand over her heart, "Though most in Mondstadt seem to have forgotten that in all this 'Stormterror' business. So now you know why Dvalin is only able to channel three of the Four Winds' power, because it has been consuming itself from the beginning,"

"Why." Aether frowned, "Why would he go in such lengths?"

Lisa sighed softly, "Because of hatred I presume."

"Hatred...?" Paimon tapped her chin.

"Hatred for Mondstadt. Hatred drove it to become something more powerful than the wind itself - to become Stormterror."

"But why would one of The Four Winds...Hate the city it was supposed to protect?"

She shrugged, "As a child of Mondstadt, it's something that's really hard to say aloud. Here, take this. It's a very old story from more than a century ago."

And without another word, she stepped into the blue circle and was transported out of the domain.

"Lisa?" You called out. 

"She probably left already. Come on, we need to meet with Amber." Aether tugged you towards the Teyvat map.

"Hold my hand and I'll teleport us back to Mondstadt."

Teyvat Chapter 6 - Katheryne

You, Aether, Paimon, and Bob had finally completed all three of the domains. 

The conclusion was that all three of them including Lisa and Amber who's been called as some of the weakest and trashiest characters in game could kill you in a heartbeat. 

Amber had really good archery skills, her baron bunny being a literal grenade, not to mention she can throw it very far unlike the game. Kaeya had really powerful elemental skill and burst and his reflexes were very good. In fact, you and Aether seemed to have done nothing, your only job being opening the chests and learning about Dvalin.

You've stopped Aether and Paimon when Kaeya waved you goodbye, and the four of you hid behind a pillar as a hydro abyss mage floated out and was instantly thrown to the ground by Diluc.

"Who's that?!" Paimon whisper-yelled. 

"Diluc, the owner of the Dawn Winery. Shush." You pushed Paimon away from your ear.

"Is he looking at us?" Aether moved his head back , "We should leave."

You nodded.

(Mondstadt City)

When your little group arrived back into the city walls, the sky was no longer cloudy, Mondstadt's clear blue skies with it's shining sun no longer hidden beneath the thick veils of clouds and fog.

"Hey, Aether, Y/N. There's a lady over there waving to you."

Katheryne grinned, she seemed like a normal human, but you knew that she was just a robot. Teyvat's robotic technology was far more better than Earth's but you would say that Earth's technology included more factors and had a lot more things that Teyvat doesn't have.

"Welcome to the adventurers' Guild. Actually, I had my eye on you for a long time." Katheryne clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling at the two of you.

"You've had your eye on Aether and Y/N? What, they've been causing some mischief?" Paimon, no

"Oh, that is not what I meant at all. Being on the lookout for great adventurers is part of my job."

The amount of dialogue. You crossed your arms in boredom.

"Y/N, are you listening, claim the Adventure Rank rewards!" Paimon poked you. 

Katheryne handed you a thick parcel. "Right now, you're on AR7, these are your rewards."

"How do we check our Adventure Ranks?" Aether asked. 

"We give a handbook to all of our adventurers, it isn't a normal handbook, it shows your AR, domains, enemies and many other things. It changes as you explore more and more places. I cannot tell you why it's able to do that however."

Katheryne handed you and Aether some papers, "Without further adio, please allow me to officially welcome you, our new avid adventurer, into the Guild!"

You scanned the paper quickly. Vision? none. Gender? Female. Birthplace? Why would I tell you. Address? Homeless.

"Here." You handed your papers back to Katheryne.

"..." Katheryne's eye twitched,  "Um...well, on here it says that both of you have no place to live, I can point you to some hotels and inns, or if you wish to rent or buy a house, I can contact some people."

"..."

Aether exchanged a look with you, "Um... how much mora do you have?" 

"I've got like 8000." over two million, but he doesn't need to know that.

"I've got, well 2300..." Aether frowned.

"Paimon has nothing."

They looked at Bob. 

"?"

The cryo slime hesitated, spitting out a few pieces of mora.

"Katheryne, do you know the pricing of the rentable places?" You asked awkwardly, Aether was poor, Paimon was a leech, Bob is Bob and you couldn't exactly say that you were rich since you were with Aether most of the time.

"...Well, dear adventurers, the cheapest place is...10,000 a month. I can...show you it?" Katheryne smiled innocently.

"We're left with 327 mora if we rent it." Aether whispered to you.

"It's fine, we can accept some quests and commissions." You whispered back.

"Sure, are you able to show it to us now?" You straightened up, handing her 10,000 mora.

Katheryne led you to a decent house, it had two rooms, two toilets, a kitchen, a living room, a storage room and a small balcony.

"We'll take it." You and Aether said in unison.

"I'll leave it to you...four? To decorate your house, return back to me by the end of the month if you wish to continue renting this house. One more thing, if you find yourself stuck in a certain AR, you need to perform some impressive feats to gain further recognition from the guild. As your adventure rank increases, the enemies you face will also become more powerful, the weaker enemies will find weaker opponents than you. This will do for today. We have plenty of chances to meet again in the future." She waved and went back towards the guild.

"Welp, that's one thing off our list." You examined the rooms, it had everything you needed, there were even toiletries in one of the cupboards. 

"Y/N, I think we should explore the city." You raised your brows.

"With what money? That money can only buy one single Teyvat fried egg."

"..."

You sighed, "How about we get some mora first and then explore the city? We can rest later."

-.-.-.-

"How much mora do we have now?" you wiped your forehead, killing the last hilichurl with a wind bullet.

"3192..."

You groaned, "We can't even buy lunch with that. Should we just try to do some Ley lines?" 

"I..."

"We get like 12k mora."

"We're doing it."

-.-.-.-

The sun was at it's highest when you returned back into the city. After splitting the money and receiving an extra 3000 back for the 8000 in rent, you now had 21k mora.

Aether had left to Good Hunter's to fill Paimon's never ending stomach.

"Y/N!" Katheryne called out, "Remember to check your handbook, I can also contact you through it to alert you about quests, commissions and other things that you might be interested in."

You nodded slightly, opening the handbook. Right away, you spotted the quest about the wind glider test.

"...What? I don't even have a wind glider, why did I get this quest too?"

Nevertheless, you decided to grab Aether from Good Hunter's to go with you to the Cathedral.

"Hey Aether! Hi Y/N! I've been looking for you everywhere! How's that wind glider I gave you last time?" Amber waved you over.

"Pretty good."

You close your eyes, ignoring the dialogues.

"A gliding license? Hmm... What's that?" Here comes Paimon with her stupid questions...

"Isn't it obvious? You gotta have a gliding license to legally glide in Mondstadt!"

Here it comes... "Today, I'm here as an examiner, to oversee Vik's official gliding exam!"

Blah Blah Blah. "Y/N, I need to do the gliding exam now, you coming?" Aether offered.

"Naur, I have things to do. Ciao." You rubbed your temples, you were going to have a shopping spree. 

"Bye!" Paimon yelled.

-.-.-.-

"Hello- Oh my, your clothes!" The woman gasped at your dirty hoodie. 

You smiled awkwardly, "Um, can you recommend me some clothes?"

"Yes, of course, is there a particular price you're looking for or a particular style? Oh, my name is Belacha, welcome to my store."

Belacha was a lady in her 20s, she had wavy red hair, and her store was in the middle of the city. Mondstadt City was probably twenty times bigger than the in game version. There were a lot more stores, houses, plazas and streets.

"Do you have, like anything lower than 15k?" You had a lot of money in your inventory but did you want to use them? No,

"My shop has items from 8k to 50k, I suppose you can call my store a luxury store, but yes, I do have some suitable clothing items for you."

She handed you a knee length black dress with white puffy sleeves and white leather straps lying on the waist. 

You tried it on and not going to lie, it was really comfortable, it was a tight fitting dress but you barely felt anything on you, and most of all, there were hidden pockets.

Belacha smiled at your slight shock. "This dress is also waterproof and heat resistant. I asked a cryo vision holder to help me infuse some power inside the fabric so that it would keep the wearer comfortable. The only downside of this dress is that you have to wear shorts and the pockets are only able to fit small items. Which is why there's a leather strap for you to tie things on it."

You turned your head towards her, "How much?"

The red head grinned, "The original price was 18k but I'll sell it for you for 15k considering that I've never seen you before and that the dress really suits you. In fact. I'll throw in some black shorts with hidden pockets if you promise me to show off this dress to people."

You smiled, "Sure, why not?" You handed her the 15k mora, carrying your old clothes in a small paper bag.

You took out a pocket watch Amber had given you as an apology for not getting you a wind glider.

"7:31..." Aether wasn't back yet, a perfect time to communicate with your friends back on Earth.

-.-.-.-

Totallynotlazy

HI

Y3!3&13

How's Teyvat?

Totallynotlazy

I'm weak asf but I've got anemo

Y3!3&13

Like the traveler or vision?

Totallynotlazy

Traveler

notmoniqa

Dayum

Anyways girlie, I saw smth online, there's a bug in Katheryne apparently

Totallynotlazy

?

notmoniqa

Ask, "Are the skies of Teyvat real?"

If she says, "Why u askin?" u say, "Because I sense forbidden knowledge from u,"

If she keeps on asking "Why u askin?" keep on repeating until she says, "Welcome." 

Totallynotlazy

...

notmoniqa

try it, apparently she gives u smth

Totallynotlazy

Don't make me regret it gurl ;/

-.-.-.-

You cleared your throat.

"Hey Katheryne."

The robot turned to you, smiling, "Ad astra abyssosque. How may I help you?"

"Are the skies of Teyvat real?" You asked, staring into her cold eyes.

"Why are you asking?" Something seemed to change in her eyes, a glint of red.

You took a deep breath, "Because I sense forbidden knowledge from you."

One of Katheryne's eyes turned red, she stood there, smiling at you.

"Sorry what were you asking?"

"Are the skies of Teyvat real?"

"Why are you asking?"

The process repeated three times until her eyes completely turned red.

"Are the skies of Teyvat-"

"Welcome." Katheryne glitched, her red eyes focusing on you, her smile turning wider. 

She grabbed your hand, pulling you towards her until your body slammed on the desk.

"Welcome." She took out a quill. She quickly pulled out a needle, stabbing your palm.

"Katheryne!" You tried to pull your hand back, your stomach throbbing. 

Her smile never changed, she dripped your blood on a piece of paper. She placed the quill on the paper, still staring at you as the feather sucked up all the blood. 

As if moved by an invisible force, the quill started moving rapidly on the paper.

You were finally able to pull your hand out of her iron grip as the quill fell back onto the desk. 

Katheryne was suddenly slammed backwards, a large thud, as she fell unconscious.

"What the actual fuck." You snatched the paper up from the desk, and you turned around, about to run.

"Huh? Why am I on the floor?" You swiveled around.

"Oh, hi Y/N, I seemed to have, fallen down?" You observed her face. Her pupils were back to normal, her smile wasn't like a Cheshire cat's anymore, she was back to the same old Katheryne.

"Mhm, bye bye Katheryne!" You ran away, the piece of paper crumpled in your pockets.

Teyvat Chapter 7 - Hello world

(short chapter alertttt)

Your second night in Teyvat has begun, the dreamy stars shined down on you, the moonlight bathing you in a dim glow.

Aether was still out, probably pulled into the capture of Raptor. You've broken contact with everyone on Earth now, all apps worked except for your messaging apps, the large crumpled paper Katheryne has given you laid quietly in front of your eyes.

You could barely interpret the information, the words being a jumbled between Chinese, French, Indian, Russian, Japanese, English and Spanish. It probably had something to do with the Seven nations, Liyue, Fontaine, Sumeru, Snezhnaya, Inazuma, Mondstadt and Natlan. Surprisingly instead of German, there was English but that was good news for you so you quickly forgot about that.

"Hello world,

If you've found this note, (unrecognizable words), (unrecognizable words) for information that would increase your chances of surviving this cursed game.

By the time this note was discovered I'm sure that I'm either dead or (unrecognizable words) You see, every time someone descends, the world changes a bit, people who fail to survive in the first (unrecognizable words) are forgotten and wiped out from everyone's memories, even the outlander's. (unrecognizable words)

So please, please remember these rules I've gathered from (unrecognizable words)

1. Do not trust (unrecognizable words)

2. (unrecognizable words) kill you

3. You can trust Katheryne when you're with the traveler or when it's 6:00am - 9:00pm

4. Rhinedottir and Alice (unrecognizable words) but be careful

5. The Tsaritsa is searching for you, she has visions due to (unrecognizable words)

6. Do not let the gnoses (unrecognizable words)

7. The heavenly principles has (unrecognizable words), (unrecognizable word) can't be trusted

8. DO NOT LET THEM KNOW ABOUT (unrecognizable words)

I will wish you the best of luck. If you ever see me, (unrecognizable words)

Signing off,

Larecia Von (unrecognizable word)"

"...I-" Your brows furrowed, for a moment you regretted not paying attention in language classes and sleeping in them.

You had a million questions. Is this person lying? How did Yeleris and Yvonne know this glitch when you've never even heard of it? Who's trying to kill you? Why did all descenders before you die? How is the Irmminsul involved?

A bad feeling sprouted inside you, Katheryne was basically the guide of all players in one point, so if she can't be fully trusted, could she tamper with quests and commisions?

The candle flickered twice before completely going out. You looked at the time, changing your clothes quickly.

"Katheryne!"You panted, approaching the emotionless robot.

"Ad astra abyssosque. Is there anything you need?" She smiled, she looked normal but after reading the note you just had this feeling of hundreds of spiders crawling on her back.

"Katheryne, do you know someone called Larecia?" You checked on the time again, 8:58, two minutes before Katheryne can't be trusted.

Her eyes flickered, her head tilted to the side. "Larecia?" She smiled politely, "Is it someone that you're finding? I can commission it for you."

You frowned, checking the time again, one more minute. "Who gave you the slip of paper?" Your heart started to beat as she continued smiling at you, tilting her head to the side.

A cold breeze slithered across your arm, making you shudder. Unknowingly, a thick fog has gathered, it smelt metallic, just like — blood.

Katheryne's eyes flickered one last time, a red hue enveloping her pupils. "I- "

"Y/N!" Aether hurried up towards you. "Aren't you going to rest?"

You glanced back to Katheryne, her eyes once again normal. "Ad astra abyssosque. Hello Aether and Y/N, anything you need?"

Your lips tightened, staring at the seemingly normal robot. "No, we were just dropping by to say hi." You said, smiling fakely.

She blinked, "I wish you farewell then."

You hurriedly pushed Aether back to the house, that ominous feeling from Katheryne disturbing your thoughts.

"Hey-hey, Y/N, are you ok?" The boy almost fell from a small rock on the road.

You slammed the door behind you, still feeling her red eyes looking at you through the mist. "Go to sleep. I'm fine." You ignored Paimon's confusion and her slightly parted lips.

The door separated the three of you, Bob staring at you blankly as you closed all the windows and shut the blinds. The two of you stared at each other in the darkness, the candle flickering besides the cryo slime. Your cradled your head, you felt confused, trapped and slightly- scared.

Your eyes flickered the your phone that lied on the small wooden table, since the glitch, all forms of your contact to your friends on Earth were cut off, all apps worked fine but you couldn't communicate with anyone, the time no longer ticked, it was as if someone pressed a stopwatch on your phone.

It made sense, how could someone communicate with another person in a place where time doesn't change? The only thing that was confusing was that time was flowing in Teyvat, for a few seconds, you wondered how will you go back to Earth.

However, with that note from the previous descender that is probably forcefully removed from the memory of the world, no one has managed to leave this place yet. Your eyes unfocused, holding the note near the candle light.

From Larecia's experience, it seems like the plot or Teyvat changes as every single descender fails to leave, the thing that's worrying you the most right now is just how many people have been here since your arrival? If it was just Larecia and a few others, you could still probably look for clues, but if there's hundreds or even thousands, perhaps you would become just another number in the deceased.

There was only one thing that you knew that you had to do, travel around the seven nations, no eight nations with Aether and try to maintain the plot just like the game. Perhaps it would take years, but your previous phone call gave you a very tight limit. You had to return before your body on Earth dissipates.

You blinked, if you couldn't find a way out, you'll sleep your way out, anything could happen in dreams after all.

-.-.-.-.-

Two bright eyes gazed silently in the quiet city of Mondstadt, sixty thousand residents, yet it's so quiet that even a needle could probably be heard from the distance. The pale red fog traversed through the city, something that had never happened before. The red hue was barely noticable, if she wasn't so far, she would've thought that it was normal fog, people close to it would've just thought that the fog at night was a lot thicker and a bit sudden.

The girl gazed towards the place where Celestia is, her eyes lowering down to write something on the little black notebook grasped in her pale delicate hands. Sighing softly, she stared blankly in the distance, "What's happening?" 

If someone was besides her, they would've noticed that her notebook was full of anomalies in Teyvat, and on her page, marked out with a big circle was Mondstadt city, and the date 2520 March 21st to March 25th. 

Teyvat Chapter 8 - The Baguette guy

Author's note : SORRY FOR THE SLOW ASF UPDATES BUT I'LL TRY TO DO AT LEAST 2 CHAPTERS EACH MONTH ( no promises thooo)

"Isn't that Jean?" Paimon pointed to the two talking in the distance. Jean's attire and the fatui diplomat's dark schemed coat making them pop out from the other citizens.

"Seem's she talking to someone... Let's let her finish, then go say hi?" Paimon observed your indifferent expression, she didn't really know what made you so jumpy yesterday, but as the guide of the little group, she doesn't want any conflicts happening, Paimon's just a little guide that eats a lot of food, not a therapist.

You didn't acknowledge the fairy, you were straining your ears to listen to the two's conversation, the fatui's expression was hidden by her mask but Jean's fury from her words were evitable.

"Oh Aether, you're back," Her eyes softened, the three of you making her tensed body relax. Bob was in your inventory, your phone inside one of the hidden pockets of your outfit.

"Thanks for your help, the elemental flow is finally stable. I see that you've found yourself a suitable attire." She gave you a tiny smile, "The aftermath of Stormterror's last attack is finally settled for the moment."

She crossed her arm, looking at the direction where the diplomat left, "However, the pressure from the delegation has become too big to be ignored..."

"Delegation? From Liyue Harbor or Inazuma City?" You rolled your eyes silently, Paimon probably only asked the question so that Aether would know their identities. Who would believe that a guide doesn't know what fatui agents look like?

"Snezhnaya. They choose to follow the God of Cryo. Their envoys go by a particular name. The Fatui. Heard of them?"

"Oh, them. They are super famous." No shit, I was thrown into prison because those stupid knights thought that I was a fatui spy.

"Wait, infamous is more the word..."

"I don't think killing Stormterror is the right course of action. The Cryo God's Fatui have always coveted the Anemo God's power."

You nodded slightly, "Yeah, they do."

Jean turned to you, "You talked with them Y/N?"

You were slapping yourself internally, but you gave her a sweet smile, "The fatuus told me in the prison you threw me in."

"Prison?!" Paimon hurriedly flew away from you.

Jean coughed, "Sorry for that, our knights have mistaken you for a fatui spy. I had Kaeya punish them. We will send some mora to your house as compensation."

Your smile turned genuine, "Why, thank you."

She smiled unnaturally, "Anyways, I don't believe they have Mondstadt's best interests at heart."

Aether frowned, "Speaking of power..."

"What is it?"

"There's something I need to show the Knights of Favonius."

The woman nodded, glancing at the orange sky, "Oh? Let us head back to headquaters then. We shouldn't discuss important matters...out in the open."

The three of you started walking to the HQ, not including Paimon who's floating of course.

You ignored the rest of the blabbering about Mondstadt and Snezhnaya's relationship, you were too busy trying to find the hidden chests in the city, your memory wasn't the best but you could still briefly remember the areas where they're hidden. You quickly decided that you would go around the city at night, you couldn't exactly just open a chest on someone's roof in broad daylight.

The feeling of someone staring at you became more evident as you continued walking with Jean. A brief flash of color appeared in the corner of your sight.

"Sorry Aether, I think I left something." You waved a goodbye before Aether's mind would start turning and dashed towards the direction the color appeared at.

The moment you entered an alleyway, you were slammed onto the brick walls, grunting, you saw a glint of silver heading straight towards your neck.

"HOLY, CALM DOWN GIRL." The hooded figure yanked the dagger backwards.

The cicin mage sighed, "Of course, it's you. Where's your lil buddy? Coming out alone is dangerous you know. You need to watch out, otherwise, someone like me can just..." she pointed her blade to her neck, "Slice your little neck in half and feed you to my cicins, they can eat human meat you know."

"Slightly disturbing, but ok." you shrugged your shoulders. "Why are you even here? I thought you went out the city walls."

Sofiya side eyed you, "Lady Signora was quite happy with my lil 'escape', she rewarded me with a bunch of mora and potions, the only thing she wasn't that satisfied with is that the Spark Knight and you were the people who helped us escape."

"So..."

"So now I'm here because she gave me a few weeks off because my body's quite damaged from the Knights of Favonius. They're pretty much all shit compare to us but some people are worth putting up a fight against us like the Cavalry captain and that outrider. The Knights are all pretty much trash with no brains, the only thing that actually restricted us from escaping the dungeons before you was the removal of our delusions and weapons. Sometimes, I feel like the Knights of Favonius would just crumble without the Grandmaster and that librarian's brain. Especially that librarian, she makes a little misconception of her being a weak little vision holder that's surviving off the Grandmaster, but she's actually a genius. Quite unfortunate for her to waste her potential just to become a librarian."

Sofiya leaned down slightly, "As someone that owes you quite a lot, I will give you a little tip. " she straightened her clothes, "Try not to go out, especially by places with lots of flowers and avoid the creatures from the Abyss. I'll mail you when the city's safe again." Her striking purple eyes stared down at you, "Proshchay, devochka." She winked, teleporting away.

You groaned, the fatui were doing their shenanigans again,  and you were pretty damn sure this was not in the plot.

Ruffling your hair, you hurried towards the headquarters, Aether and Paimon should be done by the time you get there.

-.-.-.-

"There's something you didn't tell them," Paimon frowned slightly, "The dragon and the crystal weren't the only things we saw."

"I'd like to investigate it on my own first. Anyways, we don't even know whether we could fully trust the Knights of Favonius. We've just been helping each other for our own profit, they're more like commissioners to us than people who we can actually trust." Aether glanced back at the large doors of the headquarters.

"Paimon-, I, but you still remember that green guy right. He looked just like that guy down there, and- Wait, isn't that... Y/N?!"

You immediately noticed the Anemo Archon, shifting your sight, you were also able to see Aether and Paimon's dumbfounded expression.

"Y/N, that's the green guy right?"

You nodded, Paimon grinning happily, "See? See? Wait...hold on a minute...that...that's the same guy!"

You and Aether stared at the fairy with a complicated expression, you were feeling kind of worried for Paimon for having dementia whilst Aether just felt that Paimon was being kind of annoying for stating the obvious.

Upon reaching the second flight of stairs Paimon gasped dramatically, "That green guy disappeared!" You faceplamed a million times in your head. Yeah Paimon, thanks a lot, I totally lack the function to see.

"Use elemental sight to track him down."

After screaming elemental sight in your head multiple times, the entire world turned transparent, a trail of turquoise footprints could be seen leading towards one direction. You briefly recalled Venti's location and turned of elemental sight, it was quite useful but seeing the entire world half transparent slightly disturbed you, your body feeling strangely light.

You grabbed Aether by his hand, "Come with me." He gazed at you confusedly, "But the footprints-" You shushed him, running towards the Cathedral.

Venti's brows furrowed slightly, the wind telling him your location, and it was rapidly coming towards him. He was certain that any normal person would follow the footsteps first but the three of you, more specifically the girl called Y/N decided to lead everyone to his exact location.

You closed your eyes as Venti began his story telling, you were confused, you've saved up a lot of time by going to the cathedral directly to talk with Venti before he gets a crowd, but it seems like the plot is still in place, the time not changing anything. Perhaps Larecia was one of the only descenders before you, maybe the plot only changed a little bit. Maybe...

Venti caught your eye when you lifted your head up, the feeling of being watched had always been unpleasant to you, but Venti was Barbatos, he  was an Archon, and most of all, he plays a key role in the Mondstadt plot. His eyes only made contact with yours for a few second, you did not know whether  he was staring at you or at the entire crowd. But...something felt off to you, like an instinct telling you to -

A hand wrapped around your wrist, pulling you from your thoughts.

"Well, don't you look familiar." The bard grinned, a faint scent of dandelion wine matched his character, one of the only differences you could find in Teyvat that's associated with the plot is the dialogue, although most lines remain the same, some lines weren't spoken and some were changed, but still, the overall meaning was still conveyed.

"You're the ones that scared Dvalin away right?" Venti's braids swayed alongside the wind, his smile still evident. He was clearly more calm in reality than in game, no fake surprise, no confusion. It almost seemed like he knew that you and Aether would come here and meet him.

Of course, it's just the plot, the power of the plot managed to save Aether's ass every time he went up against the fatui harbingers and the Archons, so clearly the plot could make characters do things on autopilot.

"Dvalin? Who's that."

"That's Stormterror's real name." Aether frowned, pulling you back slightly. He couldn't find anything suspicious  so far with the bard but a bard talking with a dragon was obviously not normal. Like, what kind of a person do you have to be to just stroll up to a dragon and go "Howdy?"

"Huh? Oh...right. Most people seem to call him 'Stormterror'. Why do you call him that...are you meant to be close or something?" Paimon asked her stupid questions again.

You and Aether rolled your eyes in sync. Why would a stranger go talk to a dragon? They would obviously have some form of relationship with each other? Sometimes there's just this urge to open Paimon's head and see how her brain works

"Oh...So close..." Yeah Paimon you dimwit, there's a big-ass statue of him right behind him and Dvalin's one of the four winds.

"Hey Aether, Y/N, Paimon thinks this guy has a screw loose..." Sweetie I think you have a screw loose.

Aether hurriedly slapped his hand over Paimon's mouth, he chuckled awkwardly, "Ah...hi."

Venti turned towards him, his smile larger than before, "Good day, outlander. Seems we meet again." His mood seemed to be quite good, soft breezes cooling down your bodies. "I'm Venti the bard, " You mean Barbatos the Archon of Anemo. "Three time winner of the "Most popular Bard of Mondstadt, to be precise." Flex alert. "So. What do you need from me."

"Given you recognize us, Paimon doesn't believe we need to explain any further. Of course it's about Stormterror."

Blah blah blah blab. You sighed softly, how nice would it be to have a skip button on useless dialogue?

*Title inspo: "HAHAHA TRAVELLEUR WOULDNT GLIDING BE FASTERRRR?!" The title is because he's French in the meme🫠

Chapter 8.5 - (slight spoiler!!!) Background info

Author's note: There's some spoilers in here and it may be a bit confusing :D (short chapter, skip if u want)

(Part 1) - There are many different dimensions and alternate universes and they are all sorted into categories of danger

- Most worlds have a plot line for every character, and there are main plot lines for certain characters (basically the main characters)

- When plot lines start changing drastically, people are randomly taken from their world and thrown into the problematic worlds to try and bring the plot line back in place or at least make the plot line similar to how it's supposed to go

- The people who are thrown into the world are mainly people who'd just die but there are some unfortunate ones who were still alive. They are called by many names such as "player", "the chosen from (whatever world they were)" and many others. Most worlds would have at least one player that's sent to some random place.

- Worlds that are changing from their original plot line are called "contaminated", there are different types of "contamination", they can be caused by knowledge that doesn't belong here, a main character's death, merge of different worlds and many others. The most common one is when worlds merge with one another allowing unknown species from other worlds in and potentially destroying the entire world. The most dangerous worlds to players are mainly worlds that have many different types of contamination or worlds that are on the brink of collapse.

- Players are given a choice to enter different worlds to solve their problems for points that could be used to exchange things like money, increase of lifespan, medicine, weapons and items that could help with their future worlds. However, there is a high death toll on most worlds and players have to go to worlds within a certain time length or they will die automatically. (Death in a world = Death in real life)

- To maintain worlds from collapsing, some high risk worlds allow multiple players to increase success rate. - Due to different categories of world, their risk are also increased if the world would collapse the moment one player fails or any others ( for example some worlds wouldn't collapse but their main characters might change people or their personalities would change and many other anomalies)

- The Teyvat Y/N is in (there are many different Teyvats ) falls into one of the special category as the plot changes every time a player fails (not spoiling how much it's changed), and it has a 100% death toll as only one player is allowed every time (worlds can have anomalies even after a player has went there and some worlds are designed for newbie players to reset every time so that they would have experience when they challenge high risk worlds)

- From some hints on the previous chapter, Y/N's roommates are obviously players, the original world of Y/N falls into the high risk category, the players forced to reside into bodies that aren't theirs (the original souls are still in main control for now) increasing the death risk. I've spoiled enough so I'm not going to spoil other things on Y/N's original world or Teyvat.

(Part 2) Additional info on the OCs

(Yeleris) Real name: Yeleris Player rank: SSS Success rate: 97% Worlds attempted: 39 SSS ranked - 2 (in progress) SS ranked - 1 S ranked - 14 A+ ranked - 3 A ranked - 18 Beginner - 1 System: N/A PlayerWeb: Yes

(Moniqa) Real name: Yvonne Player rank: SSS Success rate: 95% Worlds attempted: 40 SSS ranked - 1 (in progress) S ranked - 10 A+ ranked - 27 D ranked - 1 Beginner - 1 System: N/A PlayerWeb: Yes

(Lorelei) Real name : Lorelei Player rank: SS Success rate: 100% Worlds attempted: 20 SSS ranked - 1 (in progress) SS ranked - 1 S ranked - 3 A ranked - 12 B ranked - 2 Beginner - 1 System: Yes PlayerWeb: Yes

(Lorelie) Real name: Lorelie Player rank: SS Success rate: 100% Worlds attempted: 22 SSS ranked - 2 (in progress) SS ranked - 2 S ranked - 3 A ranked - 12 B ranked - 2 Beginner - 1 System: Yes PlayerWeb: Yes

(?) Real name: ? Player rank: SSS Success rate 93% Worlds attempted: 58 SSS ranked - 1 (in progress) SS ranked - 30 S ranked - 20 A+ ranked - 3 Beginner - 2 Unknown - 2 System: N/A PlayerWeb: N/A

(?) Real name: Luka Player rank: S+ Success rate: 87% Worlds attempted: 30 SSS ranked - 1 ( in progress) SS ranked - 3 S+ ranked - 5 S ranked - 6 A+ ranked - 5 A ranked - 3 B ranked - 5 Beginner - 1 Unknown - 1 System: N/A PlayerWeb: Yes

(?) Real name: Larecia Player rank: SSS+ Success rate: 100% Worlds attempted: 187 SSS+ ranked - 5 ( in progress) SSS ranked - 28 SS+ ranked - 75 SS ranked - 20 S+ ranked - 39 S ranked - 15 A+ ranked - 3 B ranked - 1 Beginner - 1 ( in progress)

(Part 3) glossary~ PlayerWeb: An internet for players to share experience and trade (basically the internet but just for players)

System: the systems you see in novels and mangas, each system is different, they can range from weapon systems to levelling systems.

Players: People that are randomly chosen to be sent to worlds to solve anomalies and are ranked by their experience, success rate and the amount of worlds attempted.

Points: Points are currency that could be used to exchange benefits and buy things from other players (or systems). They can be earned by exchanging items, doing quests, system quests, or attempting worlds (the higher the rank, the more points you get).

Contamination: A way of saying used by players to talk about the level of risk and change on worlds.

Teyvat Chapter 9 - The First Anamoly

*short chapter alert*

You and Bob casually sat with Klee by Cider lake, you sighed. "Klee, did you seriously...kill all the fish. AGAIN?" Bob spewed a cold gust of wind on the two of you, bouncing towards the dead fish piled next to Klee. He turned his eyes from the pile that was triple his height and size and then to Klee.

Klee waved her hands frantically, "No no no, big sister, Klee didn't do all this. Klee did go fish bombing, but not this much! Klee always leaves some fish to bomb later!"

If this was a cartoon, there would've been a bunch of black lines on your head.

The two of you crouched in front of the large heap. Klee kicked some fish to the side, she turned to you, her large eyes staring up at you innocently, "Klee counted the fish, Klee only killed twelve," she pointed at the larger pile, "Klee never kills over fifty." 

She sniffed, wiping away her non-existent tears, "Someone's framing Klee," her eyes swelled with tears, "Big sister. Klee- Klee..." she sobbed, "Why would they frame Klee?!"

You waved your hands, "Wait- Klee, Klee, I believe you. I'll tell Jean, she won't make you go to-"

Bob's large eyes blinked, being a slime, he didn't have a brain, but he was pretty sure that Klee was sniggering as you cuddled her. Klee stuck her tongue out to Bob, her tears gone and a gigantic smile on her face.

-.-.- (Knight's of Favonius HQ)

Jean sighed, "Klee... I-"

"Grandmaster Jean, Klee definitely did not bomb Cider lake." You, Klee and Bob were standing in front of the four. Aether was out doing commissions, and Albedo just happened to be in.

"Grandmaster, I promise you that Klee would never do this. She would never bomb this many fish, she has a habit of only killing less than fifty fish and if you look at the dead fish, you would find some differences in their ways of death from their bodies."

Albedo lifted a black back bass from the cart, "Only some fish has traces of elemental energy and gun powder." He lifted another fish, "But the majority of the fish... doesn't have any traces of elemental energy or gun powder."

You barely managed to move your eyes away from Albedo's stunning face, looking back into Jean's eyes, "Grandmaster, I suggest to send some knights to check all water bodies around Mondstadt. I suspect that it has something to d with the water. So Klee is definitely not the culprit."

"Oh?" Jean leaned back to the window. Her cold eyes glinting, "If my information is correct, after you met up with Klee shortly, you've came to me immediately and you had never been around any water bodies before that." She ruffled Klee's hair, "Did you receive any information from others perhaps?"

Your mouth gaped open slightly, was Jean monitoring you? It makes sense since she's the grandmaster and you had been quite 'suspicious' in her eyes since your first arrival inside the city walls, but to stalk you...

"...I can't say who but a friend of mines did tell me to stay away from the water." Did Sophia count as a friend?

Lisa giggled softly, "I thought that you only had interactions with us, Aether and the clothing lady. Of course, there's also Paimon and Bob... but you could always make friends in the Mondstadt dungeons right?" She shrugged, "So I would assume that your friend is one of the fatuus that escaped."

Your eyes widened for a brief moment.

"Oh well, I suppose that I really have to send some knights to check it out." Kaeya tutted. "Do you want samples to send to Albedo?"

Jean nodded. "Y/N, I'll trust you with Klee. Kaeya, send some knights to gather samples from all across Mondstadt and check for similarities. Lisa and Albedo will investigate. I'll try to find info from the Fatui."

Klee grinned widely, "Yay! Klee's going to have sooo much fun with pretty big sister! I promise that I won't cause any trouble!"

The sun shone brightly down on your face as you stepped outside holding Klee's small hands. You were originally planning to go to the bar to be familiar with the route so that you could hide from the knights quickly after Aether steals from the Cathedral but you could always do that tomorrow. You weren't exactly going to bring a kid to the bar, especially a kid like Klee who could bomb the entire city into smithereens if she wanted to.

You crouched down to her height. "Klee, is there anything you want to do?"

The girl beamed at you, "Klee would go fish bombing but there's no fishies to bomb. Um... Klee had also dug up Dodoco a while ago with big brother Aether, so Klee will do whatever big sister Y/N wants to do!"

"..." Yeah...you were definitely not bringing a cinnamon roll like Klee to a bar where a bunch of drunkards would be.

"Klee, how 'bout we go see the views of Mondstadt, you can teach me how to make a flower crown."

"REALLY?! Klee will bring you to Starsnatch Cliff then! But... it would be a long walk...But it's ok since you have anemo powers right?!"

Your brows furrowed slightly, "Who told you about that?"

"Big sister Jean of course! She knows a loooottt of things. In fact, Klee's sure that she's watching us right now!" 

"I- Does she do that usually?"

"Yeah! You don't need to worry for your safety when she's watching! Klee remembers the first time Klee went fish bombing and the Dodoco I made blasted Klee into the Cider lake and then Jean saved Klee in a big wooosh! Jean knows eeeverythingg, that's why Mondstadt is very safe as long as you're close to the city, and why there's very few monsters around."

You shuddered slightly, Jean could totally kill you with a few orders and no one would know. Everyone would think that it was just an accident. 

"Klee, hold on tight ok, I'm going to fly us there." Hopefully none of the knights watching has an anemo vision.

-.-.-

"Big sister Y/N, Klee's going to tell you a little secret." 

You laid sprawled on the green grass, enjoying the cool breeze with dandelion seeds dancing in the air.

"Yeah?"

"Klee... Klee might've contributed to the dead fish...in a bad way...and...Klee didn't tell big sister Jean..." Her voice dropped to a murmur.

You rolled to your back, "So? They accused you of something you didn't do."

Klee frowned, "A few days ago, some knights asked Klee for a map of Mondstadt. I asked them why wouldn't they just ask Miss Amber or Mr Kaeya but they said that they were being mean to them so they asked Klee. Klee...Klee had never ever seen them before, so I thought that they were new knights, but now..." Her head drooped down, her hands behind her back.

You sat up abruptly, "Klee, did one of them have faded green hair?" 

The girl stared at you, confusion in her eyes, "Klee thinks so? I'm sorry but Klee doesn't remember clearly."

"Of course... Sofiya." You muttered quietly. "Klee, do you want to help the knights out?"

Teyvat Chapter 10 - Being Broke is shit

"Big sister Y/N, Jean wouldn't put both of us into solitary confinement right?" Klee whispered, pulling you behind a large boulder. 

"Shhhhh." You hushed her, "Look." You pushed Bob down from the boulder, "Bob, don't move unless you want to be electrified by those cicin mages."

Klee leaned over to your ear, "Klee recognizes the fatui agent in the front but the rest are new to Klee."

Just like Klee the man in the middle and the girl next to him was familiar to you, it was Yeray and Keyarye, one of the fatuus that escaped.

"The cicin mage next to him also looks quite familiar to Klee... Where did Klee see her?"

You ruffled her hair, "Klee, all the cicin mages look the same, of course she looks familiar."

"Oh- ok... Look, they're leaving!" You hurriedly stopped her from saying anything else.

"Who's there?" Keyarye swiveled around, her bubbliness gone and her eyes sharp. She raised her lamp, firing a strong beam of electro to the boulder. Her purple eyes widened when she saw a flash of black (h/c). "Shit." She hissed, redirecting the beam to a nearby bush.

"Lieutenant, is there something wrong?" 

She lowered her lamp, "It's just a birdy. The four of you report back to the Captain. I will return shortly. Yeray, go with them, I will not have a bunch of buffoons terrorizing every single person they find." She paused, "Do I need to repeat myself?"

"N-no Lieutenant!" Keyarye rolled her eyes, "A bunch of buffoons..."

She bent down scooping up some water in a bottle. "Y/N, Spark Knight. It's quite obvious that I know you're there, be a dear and come out 'kay?"

Bob happily bounced towards the cicin mage the moment he wiggled through your arms.

"If it isn't the cryo slime." She chuckled dryly.

"Does Klee know you?" 

Keyarye glanced at you, "No. Perhaps you've mistaken me for someone. Us cicin mages are rarely seen without our hoods you know."

She continued to fill bottles with contaminated water, "Being someone who believes in fate and fortune, and being in a particularly good mood today, I'll be extra nice and give you guys a small advice. Don't eat any fish, who knows what will happen." The cicin mage opened her bag, casually throwing the samples inside.

"Don't tell anyone that I told ya'll that 'kay. I mean... who would believe that a cicin mage would tell people from the Knights of Favonius useful information? Y'all would be called traitors or spies." She slung the bag over her shoulder, winking at you. "Do svidaniya milashka."

She bowed dramatically, disappearing in a bright purple flash. 

Klee blinked, "Was that... a nice fatui? Wait! Look, she left a bottle of the water!"

You crouched down, and surely, there laid a bottle of contaminated water, with a small piece of paper under it. You placed the paper in your inventory when Klee wasn't looking, and fell into a state of confusion.

Klee probably didn't notice it since she was focused on the bright purple sparkles but you clearly see that Keyarye had purposefully dropped the bottle whilst mouthing 'thank me later' before disappearing.

What made you confused was why would she purposefully drop the sample? She could clearly see that you and Klee were going to collect the water but she chose to collect it herself. There had to be something wrong. Wait... She was wearing gloves...

"Hey, Klee. Let's go back. Promise me that you won't say anything about this. It would be our little secret." 

-.-.-

When you had returned back into the city walls, the sun had long set.

The mist tonight was a lot thinner, but it still made your spine shiver when Katheryne's red hued eyes met yours when you maneuvered to your little home. You could still feel the shivers when you had finally reached your cozy room.

Aether was in god knows where so it was a perfect time to check on your phone. 

"Sample of Unknown Water... what the fuck is this description? A sample dropped by the fatui. It seems to have great importance...Aren't you lucky to have such a concentrated sample of this?"

If you were an animated character in a cartoon there would've been black lines on your head.

"I- whatever. The quests... huh. New quest? Bruh, the Archon quest isn't even finish- WHAT, IS THAT A FUCKING INSULT?"

You had to resist the urge to chuck your phone across the room. On the quest bar read: 'Find a Job.' 

Now if it was just that you would've been perfectly fine, but the description... 'Bitch, you broke and you have zero mora that you can access unless you wanna be hunted down for unknown sources of money. Get working and don't be a lazy ass'

Rewards: 'One mora, an actual job, one point'

You sighed, you hate to admit it but you were broke, you had spent every single mora on you when you bought flowers with Klee, like why is Flora selling them for hundreds??? Like you knew that Teyvat's currency didn't have a lot of worth compared to some currencies in your world but as someone who had just made their first pot of gold from commissions and ley lines, you barely had any mora left just removing weekly expenses.

Feeling a bit fucked, you checked on your character, everything was pretty much the same, the only difference being that the background changed from grey to a soft turquoise and the you on screen was currently riding a wind current and being a literal fool.

Having a glance on your shitty stats you gazed down at the wanderer's and adventurer's experience in silence.

"Am I- Am I supposed to READ this SHit?"

Ok, thank god that the only thing you needed to do was to absorb them, not that you know how you did it ofc, but your level did go from level 0 to level 5. 

"Hooray. Walla. I can defeat a slime without using my vision. Yay." You grumbled in monotone. Like, you had been running around gathering chests under the gazes of citizen staring at you like you're a two headed horse and you only managed to get yourself to level 5?!

"Yea bitch, not a chance against the vision holders, hell nawh." Yup, you were crying internally.

After levelling up your character and weapons, your talents still locked and the artifacts being more useless than Yeleris's toilet paper made of gold that she bought out of sheer boredom, you found yourself staring at the sky.

"Hoorayyy to me... third night guys, third night..."

-.-.-

"Yoooo Katheryneeee, any jobssss?"

You squeezed past a man, tapping on the front desk.

"Ad astra abyssosque Y/N, unfortunately the last job was taken away from the man right before you." The robot smiled apologetically to you.

"Ahhhh, shit." 

"Out of curiosity, are you...perhaps out of mora?" 

You sighed like an old man named Zhongli, "Yeah. The ley lines are acting unusual, the monsters are a lot more powerful than yesterday for no reason."

It was a mystery on how the lvl one monsters suddenly turned to lvl 20, if it was lvl 5 it would've made sense like the game but 20? It seemed like the quest closed all routes of getting mora so now you're here, your ass kicked by those hilichurls and forced to look for a job.

"I can alert you of jobs if you wish. I will send the info to you by the adventurer's handbook." Katheryne giggled softly at your dead expression.

"Thanks girlll." You groaned, hissing from the injuries.

"You may want to go to Good Hunter's to get some food that could heal you or you can go to the knights for help."

"Will do."

Another fail. You limped back to your place, "Fuck life. I don't even have enough mora for a fucking fried egg."

"You're that broke?" 

"HOLY SHI- AETHER!"

"Sorry."

Aether scratched his head, "Got your ass kicked?"

"Don't mention it."

He flopped to the couch, cuddling Bob, "I've gotten more teleport waypoints unlocked if that's good news."

You looked him up and down, "You're soaking you know?"

He rolled his eyes, "Met up with the bard at Windrise, he asked where you were for some reason," He leaned backwards, "The sheer amount of monsters there, I had to fight abyss mages and some ruin guards." 

"What's your level?"

"The what?"

"Nevermind." You rubbed your eyes, seemed like Teyvatians didn't have character screens. It made some sense considering that they couldn't even see the amount of damage dealt or the health bars. The only thing that sucks for you being that you couldn't see their screens meaning their strengths are all unknown.

"Oh and anyways, Me and Venti are going to get the Holy lyre tomorrow."

"And Paimon!" chimed the fairy.

"Can I tag along?"

"Sure! Venti was going to have me ask you anyways. Got to go now, I have some commissions to do. Good luck on getting mora. Can't help you right now because Paimon had finished my mora due to her and sticky honey roasts."

Paimon gasped, "They're stick honey roasts! They're divine!"

"Aaaaand they left." You got up slowly. "Let's go Bob. We need to be ready for tomorrow, and look for a fucking job too."

Locking the front door, you and Bob started on your way to the Cathedral.

"Laa la laaa, Oh! Hello, are you new believers?" A cheery voice greeted you when the two of you half crawled half climbed the stairs.

"Gaahh! A slime!" Barbara flinched, throwing a blob of water at Bob.

"Blub?" Bob blinked, freezing the blob right before it hit him.

"He's friendly, sorry about that." You squeezed a smile at the deaconess.

"No, no. I'm sorry. Let me introduce myself. I'm Barbara! The deaconess!" The girl stuck her hand out.

"I'm Y/N." You shook her hand.

"I've heard of you! You're one of the two that used anemo to force Stormterror away!"

You raised a brow, "How did you know that? Aren't you a deaconess?"

Barbara giggled, "I do things outside the church too you know! I sing and whenever I meet my fans they tell me lotsss of stuff happening around! Especially the ones that goes to the bar. Anyways! Are you going to go inside the Cathedral? I can tour you if you want!"

You backed up a bit, Barbara's bubbly energy being a bit too bright and happy for you.

"I'm sorry Barbara, but I'm pretty new here so I'm just going around the city to get familiar."

"Awww. It's fine. I can always tour you later! Bye bye then Y/N! I've got my duties!" She smiled sweetly at you. "Just saying! You're really pretty!"

You looked down at Bob, "Hey, she complimented me. Well, let's go to the bar." Barbara's little speech reminded of a key place. The bar. Drunk people say everything. And having nothing to do and no hope on a job, you could always listen to some gossip.

"But before that, we need some mora." You took a big breath. Eyeing the chests at the teleport waypoint near the cathedral.

"Time to fly Bob. And look like a mentally unstable person."

Author's note: I legit just wrote Chapter 10 today : D Pls feel free to comment and do other random stuff :D

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Teyvat Chapter 11:

https://www.tumblr.com/life-is-unreal/757828957175414784/stranger-danger-genshin-x-reader-teyvat-chapter?source=share

[tainbocuailnge]

thinking about the terrible victoria arc and how it could be less terrible. taking chapter 14 as premise & reverse engineering how to better get to that emotional payoff (namely the babel squad finally getting closure for theresa's death and babel's downfall & the fate of the sarkaz being severed) without throwing the base concepts of the other chapters out completely i think for starters the entirety of chapter 9 should just be an event instead. so much of the dublinn plotline was in an event already (what the firelight casts) and ever since ch9 most of "the dublinn plotline" has just been eblana ominously hovering in the distance, its just bloating things with no meaningful contributions. that does mean taking horn and bagpipe out too, much as I like them, but I think they can shine better when they're not competing with so many other white women for empty screentime anyway.

then you want the victoria arc proper to have you meet the self salvation corps asap after sneaking into the city and the core tension is going to be between siege and her gang as face of the nobility even if they individually might not agree with that label, the self salvation corps as representative of the common people of londinium who may hate the nobles but still have their own unsustainable british nationalism to work through, and rhodes island as altruistic outsiders whose reasons for getting involved don't actually have to do with victoria itself. clovisia was obviously supposed to be an amiya expy before she got forgotten almost immediately after her debut, but keeping the focus on these three groups would ideally also get some use out of that.

I said in a post i made after i read ch11 that it really isn't hard to see what siege's gang and the steam knight are supposed to represent, the symbol of victoria's honor and glory was betrayed by the greed of its nobles and its rightful heir is running a street gang, if you want to save victoria you have to decide what kind of "victoria" is worth saving to you. so in the victoria arc that doesn't suck these three parties are gonna have to actually talk about and contend with their inevitably clashing images and visions of victoria, and steam knight is gonna have to be a mandatory boss.

I also feel like manfred was fought too early for how much backstory weight he has to the babel gang and how long he sticks around after that. as if in ch10 they straight up didn't know yet that victoria arc was gonna end in being about babel, which might genuinely have been the case. so in the better victoria arc im making up in my head his bossfight is gonna get pushed back a few chapters.

like i'm thinking first victoria chapter you fight steam knight, it starts with meeting the self salvation corps and has you quickly throw everything on that gamble of getting siege the sword because both the glasgow gang and the corps buy enough into the idea of a past glorious victoria that can be brought back to try that only to have to face the decrepit husk of that glorious past in order to get it. siege can be passive in this one still, because her doing basically nothing is going to last only one chapter here instead of two and a half and it's going to serve a point.

so now you have the sword but both the gang and the corps are quite shaken about how they obtained it, and in the second chapter tensions between the three factions begin to rise when the obvious ideological disagreements about where to go next become impossible to postpone. you fight damazti here because the cluster is gonna be an awesome plot device for pushing mutual distrust and paranoia. honestly I don't even remember what the deal with damazti cluster was or what it was supposed to contribute so in the better victoria arc they do something about that too probably. and siege is forced to form actual opinions and say them out loud, and they're going to differ from what the rest of the glasgow gang is saying.

then by the third chapter you're able to sort out that internal conflict enough to finally muster the forces to fight manfred, this is probably where you get siege actually forming the exemplars and stuff, showing leadership and ideals and all that. i think allerdale can eat shit and so can the npc members of siege's gang so I'm cutting them out, we're putting all the focus on forcing these royal fake street punks from siege's posse and plain londinium factory workers from the self salvation corps to find common ideological ground. i like delphine though delphine can stay. there was a scene in one of these chapters with siege and amiya talking about their responsibility as figureheads that i liked (because it almost did something with siege) that i think would fit here, and it's an obvious chance to do something with clovisia too. like this is a good point to talk about more abstract ideas of leadership and turning people into figureheads and the way people will turn to a single person to save them, to start making it a bit more about theresa too. so here you get rhodes trying not to drag their feet because it's the part where it starts actually getting personal for them, materially because several members have a history with manfred but conceptually because there's an incoming shift of focus

defeating manfred marks rhodes island having to admit that they're very much in it for theresa and the sarkaz and their own personal history rather than just altruism towards "victoria", vague as that concept has become these past few chapters, so you get a somewhat more natural shift into the sanguinarch and the feranmut skeleton and finally theresa because we can sensibly compare the ideal and reality of the glorious war-torn homeland between victoria and kazdel, and the more abstract throughline of where the border between honoring the past and being dragged down by it lies. logistically the manfred fight would probably be in order to get out of the city and investigate the vampire shit so he'd serve as a kind of border between this being about victoria/londinium and this being about something beyond that in that way too.

and ch13 and 14 is when things finally started picking up so I don't think they actually need all that much tweaking beyond making it consistent with the things changed in the stuff before it. and probably cutting out some more characters. because the worst part really is that the focus was just all over the fucking place so just keeping the cast more manageable would do a lot. i think that teacher woman was interesting enough to be allowed to stay and that guy who killed himself in front of the sanguinarch was fun he can stay too. but i feel like the nightingale plotline might have to go.

[xxfromthestartxx]

Todo x fem!reader who has Inumaki's cursed technique pleasee

Beneath Your Silence (Todo Aoi x Reader)

pairings: Todo Aoi x Fem!reader

summary: Todo x reader where the reader is a descendant of the Inumaki clan

warnings: This doesn't follow the JJK plotline, Violence, Language

The sun was shining brightly, the light blue sky fill of clouds. It was not your ideal weather, you would rather be inside, doing nothing and listening to pitter patter of rain on the windows - but no, you were wearing your training gear, stretching your limbs while watching your schoolmates stretch too.

You were an exchange student, well, not exactly exchange because you were just moved to the Kyoto branch this year, your last year. It was inefficient, for both you and your colleagues- because you can't and don't want to talk to them.

Just like your cousin, you've obtained the snake and fangs seal. Though unlike him, you are able to talk freely because you are in control of your cursed technique. That is not where it ends, you are also a descendant of the L/n clan meaning, you have inherited your mother's cursed technique, the ability to use music as your weapon.

Being a combination of these clans makes you a special grade sorcerer, not that you have a choice. Still, you want to make your parents proud- you didn't want to be a disappointment. You are your family's pride and joy, the only child and a candidate of being a clan head.

You took a deep breath, coming back to reality. You finally had took a good look around you, noticing your now classmate, Todo Aoi, staring at you. "Hey, you." You narrowed your brows at him, not interested in talking.

You ignored his call and continued stretching, tilting your head to the side until you heard a satisfying crack. You watched as he approached you, a wild smirk on his face. He stopped in front of you, crossing his arms.

He saw your eyes wander on his form, though your eyes were dull- it was the same look you always gave people around you. "You like what you see?" He teased, flexing his biceps a bit.

You scoff at his words, taking another good look at him. He was only wearing jogging pants, his pecs and abs on view, it didn't help that he was built like a greek god. You scrunched your nose, looking at his eyes, which you need to look up because even if you have an average height, he was a giant.

You chose to not talk, rolling your eyes instead. "Hm, I take you can't talk?" He then placed his hand under his chin, thinking. You pointed at the sigil on your cheeks, then shrugged, not interested on making friends.

"That's okay, I can be your spokesperson. You're our new classmate anyway." You scrunched your nose, displeased by the idea. You shook your head and avoided his gaze, seeing another third year who seems to be talking to Mai.

You recognize her, her blonde ponytail giving it away who she is. You quietly walked over to the two girls to avoid Todo, a great excuse if you were really being honest. Mai was the first one to notice, gently nudging Momo who immediately turned to you.

"L/n." You heard Mai coo, smiling widely. "So, how's the experience so far?" She asked, her brows quickly furrowing when she noticed Todo coming up to them. "What do you want?" She scoffed, crossing her arms at him.

"Easy, she's my classmate, not yours." Todo replied, smirking when you met his eyes once again. "She's my classmate as well." Momo quirked her right eyebrow, glaring at the buff man in front of them.

You watched as the three of them bickered, quite amused that the girls were acting as your spokesperson, stopping Todo from whisking you away from them. At one point, Mai was already annoyed and grabbed you by the wrist, pulling you closer to her.

"Come on, she doesn't want to be close with you. Don't you, L/n?" She asked, you just shrugged, staring at the man towering the three of you. The man just stared back, annoyed at Mai's intervention.

"Yeah, whatever. You're lucky today- I'll be leaving now, I still need to prepare for Takada-chan's meet and greet." Todo huffed, glaring at Mai and Momo, before turning to you.

"Welcome or whatever. Just know that if you crossed me, there will be consequences." You stared blankly at him before nodding. "Good." He huffed then tirned around, giving you quite the view. You caught yourself staring at his toned back, blushing slightly, you avoided your gaze.

...

That encounter was 2 weeks ago- it was strange to have a conversation with Todo- well, a one-sided one. He talks a lot, and half of the time, you don't follow or understand what he was talking about.

You sighed, adjusting your collar shirt which is another version of your uniform. This one specifically when you need to go on missions. You were waiting for Todo on the car, quite annoyed that you need to wait for the muscular man.

In your opinion, you could've handled the reported curse alone, but since you were a tranferee, your teacher, Ms. Utahime recommended to bring Todo with you. Not that she doesn't trust you- she said it will be a good bonding and learning experience for the both of you.

She say and you quote, "So the two of you could get to know eachother." You just knew that Todo pulled strings so he could come with you. Speaking of the devil, you could see his figure starting to form from afar.

He was running, plastic bags on hand. "Wait up!!" Under a minute, he was already in front of the door, opening it. "Sorry for the wait. Got you some food for the trip." He showed you the plastic bags, inside was a bunch of sweets, snacks, and drinks.

You quirked an eyebrow before taking them and putting it beside you, he smiled in return. "Hope I got something you like in there." He said, getting inside the car with a smile.

You watched as he locked the door, the car dipping slightly to his side. You rummaged to the plastic, trying to find something to eat. "Slow down, no one's gonna take 'em away from ya." He teased, taking out a drink from the other plastic.

You kept silent, a bit embarrassed at his words. You then returned to finding something to eat, this time a lot slower. "Everyone's here?" The driver asked, you gave him a nod while Todo answered for the both of you. "Yeah."

The car ride starts, it was quite peaceful, which is rare because with Todo by yourside, it was quite impossible. You finally got something out of the bag, which was your favorite snack. You took a glance at Todo, who was eating quietly with his eyes outside.

Maybe he's not in the mood to yap your ear off today, you thought. You shrugged and opened the bag full of snacks, catching Todo's interest. "Ya like that?" He asked, taking a sip of his energy drink.

You nodded and offered the bag, he's eyes widened in shock, not because of the sweets but the action. You were not one to share or to give someone food- but he disregarded it quickly, remembering it was him who bought the food.

He smiled, taking a piece and popping it on his mouth. "Mhm, ya got really good taste." He complimented, taking another piece. You smirked, popping a piece into your mouth. "Ya know, I'm getting tired of our one-sided conversations."

You quirked an eyebrow, staring at him. "I mean, ya sure, I like yapping but it feels like you have no choice but to listen to me. At least that's what they told me." He shrugged, grabbing a bag of chips and opening it easily.

You thought for a moment, processing what he said. Now that you think about it, there were times the others drag you away from the man beside you- but you find his presence quite endearing sometimes, well, when he's not yapping about Takada-chan.

You hesitated to answer- but it felt right to at least assure him that it was okay to talk. You reached for his forearm, taking a look at him directly. You rubbed your thumb over his forearm, hoping it was enough to tell him it was alright.

He chuckled a bit, taking your hand in his. "I guess one-sided conversations with you isn't that bad." He joked, placing your hand on his lap. You laughed dryly, nodding and taking another piece, popping inside your mouth.

...

The area you were supposed to be exorcising with Todo was an abandoned school- yes it was cliché but you have no say in the areas where cursed spirits houses.

It was a blur to you, you were not supposed to use any of your cursed technique, but it was a life or death situation. Your eyes shrunk, hesitating when an unregistered curse showed up behind Todo.

Your mouth went dry- eyes and hands panicking from what to do. "Explode!" Your eyes dialated, the enhanced command surprising you as well. Just in time, the curse burst into fits of blood- exploding from your command.

Your heart was racing, thumping hard agaisnt your ribcage- the blood of the curse staining your face and Todo's back. You gripped your cursed weapon tightly, knuckles turning white from the pressure you are putting in.

On the other hand- Todo couldn't believe his ears. The sound of someone's voice was enough to pull him out of a trance and to turn to look at you. "Huh." He stared at your shaken form- having mixed emotions about the situation.

You took him by his wrist and dragging him down- another curse emerging behind him. "Die!" You closed your eyes at the impact of your command. Just then, the curse behind him fell with a thud.

"Come on." You urged, dragging him away from the area- it was full of unregistered cursed spirits. He followed with no questions, but his minds were foggy from the sight of you being able to speak.

You halted, dropping his hands before pulling down the zipper of your shirt a bit. You pull out a harmonica and blew the highest note- immediately executing most cursed spirits. "So that's why you're a special grade." You turned to see Todo smirking at you.

"You don't need to worry about me," he started, inclining his neck to the side with a crack. "I can handle myself." He continued with a smirk, stretching his arms a bit. You let out a scoff, zipping up the zipper of your shirt and letting the harmonica disperse into thin air.

The moment was interupted when an octopus emerged underneath the floor- unfortunately covering your mouth. You muffled a scream, watching the floor colapse along with Todo. Your eyes widened, trying to reach for the zipper of your shirt when a sound of clap reached your ears.

In less than a second you were free from the slimy texture of tentacles- your eyes widened, processing what happened when you saw Todo fighting the octopus. "Freeze." You shouted, giving Todo the advantage to easily exorcise the cursed spirit.

You felt your throat itch, scratching it a bit before grabbing a shot glass like - throat syrup from your pocket. "Let's go." You heard him say, hjs voice stern. "There's still a lot of-" you were cut off when he grabbed you by your shoulders.

"Your throat is damaged from commanding curses to die twice, and you made a big ass octopus curse freeze- as in freeze. Now drink that cough syrup or whatever and let's go." You scoffed at him, swatting his hands away.

"'M fine." You scrunched your nose, opening the lid before downing the syrup. It burned your throat a bit, forcing you to let out a rough cough. "Know your limits." He huffed, glaring at you.

"Fuck." You rasped, massaging your throat a bit. "Let's get out of here. Most of the curses were exorcised anyway." He grabbed his jacket from somewhere, placing it on his shoulders.

...

After the mission, you were surprised he didn't said a word to the others. You were skeptical. He didn't brag about seeing you in action, neither the fact that he heard your voice. Since then, you tried to talk to him when no one's around, trying to befriend him.

It was like a secret, a secret that the two of you share. You started going to places where he often hangs around, and he returned the favor, often going to the pond near the dormitory to talk to you. No one really goes there except for you, so it was the perfect place to have Todo with.

It was a clear day, the sky was blue, the clouds are scattered, and the sun is shining. The sakura tree shielding you and Todo from it's burning shine. "Why don't ya speak?" He asked, picking on a leaf that had fell. It was a sudden question, and you don't know if you are ready to say your reasons. "Will you believe me if I said I just don't want to?" You retorted sassily, watching as the air blew the falling flowers away.

"I guess so, but what is the real reason?" He stopped fidgetting with the leaf and turned to you, staring straight in your eyes. His eyes were stern, but still soft at the same time- it makes you cave in but at the same time, it makes you nervous. "I..." you started, taking in a huge breath. "I don't want to get attached."

"Huh, never expected that reason." He averted his gaze, now understanding your actions and behavior towards the other sorcerers. "I guess I don't want my friends from Tokyo to think I forgot about them." You picked a leaf from the ground and started peeling it.

"I don't want them to think it's their fault I'm here." You lowered your head, "Well, are you attached? To us, I mean." He watched as you stopped your picking, hesistating for a moment before you continued. You didn't know what to say- are you attached? Have you let yourself be attached?

Once the leaf was nothing but a small chunk, you lifted your head and looked straight at Todo. "The others? Maybe. Maybe not." You answered, "But you..." you stopped, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I wouldn't call it a day without hearing your voice."

Todo raised an eyebrow, his eyes widening once he realized what it meant. "Are you saying what you think you are saying, N/n-chan?" He smirked teasingly, adjusting his position to face you completely. You could only huff at his teasing, rolling your eyes in annoyance.

"Think whatever you like to think of it." You scoffed, crossing your arms. Your face was getting hotter, embarrassed about how he reacted to your words. "Well then, Inumaki-chan." He started, his words serious.

"Can I court you?"

[harmony867]

As I said in my previous post JKR isn’t good at writing romance.

To preface I’m not a Romione hater, I see the vision but if i was writing the books there are things i would if write differently. The idea is good but the execution is not there.

Out of all the characters Ron reduces Hermione to tears the most. Of course she’d care about what one of her closest (or even only friend) says about her. They hit each other’s buttons; on one hand, that’s a sign of a personal connection. On the other hand, it’s not a good connection- it’s a sign of hurting. If I was JKR i would atleast write about plotline where they bicker because they enjoy it or add flirty banter because in canon their arguments always end up in tears or anger.

See, for the “bickering to love” trope to work, it has to show evolution. Bickering can become flirting, but there has to be a teasing stage. They have to know when the teasing is just sarcasm and banter and not personal attacks. Hermione and Ron don’t banter: they fight. And it’s constant. They make each other absolutely furious.

Remember when Ron got mad at her for saying that assuming that Harry put Felix felicis in his drink and accused her and thinking that he’s a bad player then started dating lavender. (Which he also had every right to do, not the part where he got mad at her for believed Harry slipped him the luck potion because Ron believed it too but suddenly it’s wrong that Hermione)

Or in GoF, when Ron got jealous and ruined her night at the Yule ball, even though she never was his first choice.

ALSO in HBP, remember when Ron found out that Hermione kissed Krum TWO YEARS AGO from ginny and starts ignoring her and dating lavender basically out of spite. (He had every right to date Lavender as he was single but so did Hermione when she kissed Krum ages ago, it made no sense to punish for a non-existing betrayal that happened two years ago. These are just the ones at the top of my head

Jealousy isn’t the only form that love takes and if I were to write HP I’d write that out, there was no need to include Krum again in HBP. We already had Ron be jealous and lash out at Hermione in GoF, I don’t understand why we had to rehash it again in HBP.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean that Ron didn’t like her, or that didn’t care for her as a person and a friend. Obviously he did, and he stuck up for her plenty of times when others were being cruel to her but most of their ‘romance’ was them fighting and being jealous. Also we can’t ignore the author’s intention, there was point where where Hermione’s character becomes stagnant and JKR refused to show Hermione is a wrong light even when does a mistake (such as sending birds to peck at him) The times when Hermione hurts him are background noise because of the author’s bias (and her tendency to make Hermione her self insert)

Jealousy is a common theme when she writes romance as when she was rushing to write hinny, she made Harry jealous (don’t get me started on ‘chest monster’ ugh) even though he never showed signs of liking her in OOTP and wasn’t jealous when she was dating Micheal corner. If I was writing hinny, I’d add more scenes with them in the third book as they were the only two people in the chamber which is a shared experience that they could bond over and since they spent that time in third year and id show hints of her more cool side as in the third book she was still acting like a fan girl. In the fourth book they could be closer friends and even help him in the tri-wizard tournament.

I like the scene where she tells Harry that she was also possessed too in OOTP. I think this is where he should have realised that he has feeling for her or the author should atleast hinted at it. Then he could be jealous that she was dating dean in the sixth book.

But alas I’m not the author so now that you know my reasoning can you blame me for liking non-canon ships more.

[nbarpf]

TRANS JB FIC PLEAAAASSSEEEE 🤩🤩🤩

OMG YESSSS!! Ok so prefacing this with some background that i personally am not very interested in fics that do genderswaps or make a “canonically” cis “character” (trying to account for both fictional fic and rpf lol) trans and don’t explore the actual ramifications of a pairing now being lesbians or of someone not being cis. I know a lot of ppl approach it differently which is awesome i just personally enjoy exploring how gender can influence power dynamics and lived experiences. Even if it’s when i’m reading/writing fic about pro athletes tongue-kissing their teammates. Actually especially if

This led to me being like “i’d like to write something exploring what it would be like to be a trans guy in the nba… who’s shorter than 6’5” that i could do this to…?” and then my ig explore page started showing me roommates podcast clips and i was like ohhhh yeah. Ok.

Basically the fic idea i have floating around is set during the nova days while jb was living w josh. The premise is that josh accidentally finds out jalen is trans and now jalen has to deal with having a teammate know this abt him for the second (donte.) time ever. Probably they kiss at some point idk much of a coherent plotline yet bc the real substance of this idea revolves around exploring jalen’s Issues.

Like the main things im interested in are how he already kind of has a chip on his shoulder irl and now having this huge thing that he absolutely cannot talk abt sets him apart from his teammates and makes that worse. And also ofc the rick of it all and how jalen would’ve had to be a young transitioner and his dad holding it over his head/his abusive sports dad training taking the form of “so you want to be a man then you have to be a real man”. Anddddd the trans guy having to be stealth in a hypermasculine environment internalized homophobia and repression. Basically i want to put him through the wringer bc i think someone has to.

Ty for the ask bc i’ve been dying to talk abt this :3

[monsieuroverlord]

My honest reaction to this week's comics:

Spoilers Under the Cut:

Wolverine #50:

FREEDOM!

The ending wrapped up a little too neat, much like X-Force did.

Basically, before the battle against Graydon could even comence, Sabretooth got him first with a lethal blow.

I was kind of expecting a bit of a fight, but okay.

Also, Logan's a godddamn hypocrite:

How much have the writers just kind of glossed over? I'm guessing they've never read Remender's X-Force at minimum.

Like, Logan acting like killing your own son is inconceivable? It would've made more sense for Logan to harp on his angst regarding his own son here.

Sabretooth lures Logan to the heart of former Krakoa to be captured by the residue pit, but it just ripped his armor off.

But the side purpose of the armor is to reactivate his healing factor (because fuck it, of course it is).

The X-Force crew subdues Sabretooth, but Logan faces him one-on-one, and hacks him to bits as revenge.

This panel was actually a cool visual (artist did amazing):

With Akihiro front and center :(

And also Logan realizes (once again) that he's happier with "family" -- both found and blood family.

Laura doesn't get to react to her brother's death.

Phoebe turns off the Quire-head device (but we already know he's going to be resurrected anyway)

No Beaubier twin cameos.

Even Logan's man-pain is absolutely glossed over. Weirdly, he's not hating himself enough for a man who just lost his beloved son.

(I thought we were pretending that everything was fixed off-panel and he loves his son)

(The only other Akihiro cameo in this book. At least he doesn't have a beer this time)

Like, I know denial is a stage of grief, and its not unheard of to compartmentalize things, but we could still have had a moment where Logan just ~breaks~ at the end, you know? Like it all comes flooding in after the war is over and won.

I'm sorry, the ending was weirdly too hopeful for my tastes. It comes across as very shallow to me.

In general, I think the writing between Akihiro and Logan just lacks a lot of depth.

The most we've gotten from this writer is a brief mention or small moment here or there -- for example Jeff Bannister had mentioned once that Logan told him about Itsu during one of their hang-out sessions (from the Wolverine ongoing). Or Logan conisistently referring to Akihiro as "my son" with a more positive connotation.

There's just no real depth being built between Logan and Aki -- not even in monologue form. No reflection on how his son has grown and changed, become a hero, no thoughts on Itsu -- there used to be a time when Logan couldn't even look at his son without thinking about Itsu.

Its not like Akihiro was a product of a one-night stand -- he was originally a WANTED child. Logan not only married Itsu, but also knew he was gonna be a father before all that shit went down.

I'm just not seeing the expected reactions of man who was granted the opportunity to reconnect with his long-lost child in a relatively healthier format, only to lose him AGAIN. After implied healing progress was finally made. AND in a BRUTAL fashion -- that alone should be tramatizing.

Just in general, the writing style is great for a comic book format, but also, I think a lot of the plotline choices/character development are lacking if you've read up on Akihiro (and other characters in general -- Laura is written a little odd, like a mini-Logan)

As far as the side story by Larry Hama/Daniel Picciotto -- it was fun. It was a nostalgia trip. I have nothing to add and I liked it.

We also got ink pages (unlettered/uncolored) for the upcoming Wolverine series out in September -- Kurt is tracking down Logan, who is living with wolves again.

Hellverine #1

Oddly, I don't completely hate it yet. Like this issue had quality set-up, but its weird. The plot choices are weird. The implications of what's happening are weird. It's all weird. It's too weird to bash yet.

But its not bad writing, in terms of quality. The story flows well, it kept my interest -- but I still have reservations regarding upcoming plot deicisions.

Essentially, Akihiro, possessed by the spirit of Bagra-Gul, is going around hunting bad guys -- human traffickers, a corrupt priest, a cannibalistic supper club, etc.

The secret underground Pentagon organization is also trying to figure out the Hellverine is doing. They had harnessed Hellfire and infused into a bunch of of deceased elite soldiers--who immediately went rogue and escaped. But Aki/Hellverine showed up and tried to stop them -- presumably sensing the Hellfire stuff going on. But they managed to blow him up and escape while he healed.

In response, the Pentagon organization captured Logan, believing him to be the Hellverine (to be fair -- in the demon form, it looks a lot like him with a flaming skull). The head of the org interrogated him, lying about the Hellfire soldiers' origin, so Logan agreed to help him locate the Hellverine to take the soldiers down. Upon reviewing the video -- particularly at the moment of explosion, Logan recognized his son's tattoo.

The issue ends on a cliffhanger, with Aki going "flame-off" to reveal his beautiful face.

So Aki is NOT part of the secret underground Pentagon organization like I thought. He is an oddity. I'm assuming as this progresses, we'll find out why -- I'm currently assuming its an old shell, like a Krakoan era resurrection that was never disposed of properly, you know? Then mix it with demon-magic.

I still don't get the all the stitches -- I mean, if its an old shell, it would explain the mohawk (I miss the long, fluffy hair already. I mean, I guess the mohawk is more iconic, but he already has a unique tattoo, let him change up his style for a bit longer. I never got my messy hair-down panel ☹) .

But also, he 100% looks like Logan with a flaming skull in his demon form. Like, the tattoo canonically disappears, and he's short and hairy, and has Logan's claw placement.

The implications of it are weirding me out -- like I know Aki canonically has his father's shoulders, but he's taller and I've always headcanoned him having a relatively slimmer/wiry build overall. Mostly taking after his mama with hints of his father here and there. I guess it could be explained away with demon magic transformation, but I don't know how I feel yet. (like it would be weird to be specifically transformed into your father, right?)

The explanation for Bagra-Gul is that bonding to Logan fundamentally changed him -- as in, as a demon, Bagra-Gul still feeds on pain and violence, but now tinged with a sense of twisted justice so he feeds on the sinners/scum of the earth and taking the same demonic pleasures.

Does this mean Akihiro is also feeling his father's influence on Bagra-Gul? Is Bagra-Gul influenced by Akihiro at all? Does Aki know what he's doing? Is there even Aki's soul in there, or is it just an empty shell for a demon?

I guess we'll have to wait and see?

However, I am 100% worried with how this is going to play out. (Especially considering its likely the writer was planning this out since the beginning of the Sabretooth War arc)The Hellverine mini lines up perfectly to the relaunch of the Wolverine series. And I know I've said it before, but Logan only turns his back on civilization for two reasons: braining-washing or grief (or both.)

The caption teaser for Hellverine #4 is as folllows:

"HELLVERINE VS. WOLVERINE! BAGRA-GHUL has come for LOGAN's soul, but when the heat is on, who will survive - the HELLVERINE or the WOLVERINE?"

I really just hope it is just a fake-out and it means purifying Akihiro's soul and not making Logan kill him again. I am so tired. (and Aki gets to keep the character growth -- no hard reset making him a villian again)

But it really seems like they want Logan to hate himself for some reason and wouldn't be the first time they made him kill his son (or kids in general) to make him feel bad.

Or even just kill a shell of his son could be just enough -- Logan has never needed much to trigger the self-loathing.

Its lining up a little too well for comfort, if that makes sense.

I just want to be hopeful. Such as, maybe now that Akihiro is relatively front and center for this mini, we'll actually get some proper father-son relationship development. Maybe it'll end nicely wrapped up on a positive note -- where Akihiro is resurrected, relatively fine, and set up to join a new team, such as one of the books that hasn't been announced yet (Editor Tom Brevoort mentioned in an interview that there are still "first wave" new era books that haven't even been announced yet)

[asheli1515]

The Ghosts We Carry || Rafe Cameron - Chapter 2

<<previous next>>

a/n: soft!rafe x fem!character (OC)

word count: ~1.5k

warnings/disclaimers: fluff, angst, familial loss, grief, brief mention of substances (alcohol, drugs, etc.), season 4 plotline (I'm grieving), out-of-character rafe after a while, emotional intimacy, smut is there if you squint, blood, violence, dangerous situations, dual pov

summary: after a reckless night of partying, Rafe Cameron finds himself alone at the beach walking home. During his trek, he bumps into a quiet, mysterious newcomer who seems to see beyond his tough exterior. Despite Rafe's reputation and his defensive attitude, the newcomer refuses to judge him. They strike up an unexpected connection, and soon, their late-night conversations become the highlight of Rafe's days. As their bond deepens, Rafe finds himself torn between his need to prove himself and his new feelings for someone who doesn't want anything from him but the truth. Will Rafe let down his walls and risk everything for love, or will his inner turmoil and need to make something of himself tear them apart?

series masterlist

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RAFE

I am so out of my element here, and I don’t know how to feel about it. I have never been so caught off guard by someone in my life…until her. The fact that she is leaning on my shoulder is enough to make me want to run for the hills and her crying adds even more to my sense of fight or flight. I have never been good with emotions as I don’t have much to work with on that front. Between my emotionally unavailable father and even more distant stepmother, I have never really had a good example of what normal emotions are. I have nothing to refer to in this situation and so I do the only logical thing and put my arms around her.

Everything about this moment is making my internal sirens sound as if to say “do not continue going down this path” but I can’t bother listening right now. I am still slightly feeling the effects of the alcohol I drank at the party earlier and so I blame my current situation on that. Any other explanation would cause my head to spin and the world around me is doing enough of that already. I realize that I am fully relaxed around her, enveloping her with my large frame as her sobs slowly become sniffles.  We stay like this for what feels like a long time before she speaks.

“I’m so sorry about that. I usually don’t sob all over someone I just met but I haven’t had a real conversation with someone in so long.” She says with a sad smile that tugs at my heart in ways I don’t even want to begin to acknowledge. I look at her for a moment while I form my response in my head. I rarely find myself at a loss for words but right now I can’t seem to find any. Mostly because I have no idea how I should feel in this moment. I am in uncharted territory because I don’t usually spend my time talking to girls because I am too busy showing them a good time. I’ve never been the guy that a girl vents to or even wants to talk to.

“It’s fine, it seems you would have done the same thing no matter who was sitting here.” My voice comes out lacking all of the emotion that is stirring under the surface. Growing up the way I have, you learn to get good at hiding how you really feel.

From a young age, my dad instilled in me that emotions make you vulnerable…weak. Boys didn’t cry and there was no room for tears in the Cameron household. Id grown accustomed to this fact before I even learned the alphabet. Feelings made me uncomfortable, and Vivienne was full of them.

She laughed lightly before responding with, “You definitely might be right, but we’ll never know, now, will we?” A small smile found its way onto her face once she finished speaking. I watched her as she wiped away the last of the tears that littered her face and saw the hurt still lingering under the surface. I unwrap my arms from around her to put back some necessary distance. I come to the conclusion that I need to leave before my head explodes. At this point, it was already morning, and I need any sleep I can get to deal with the hangover that I know I will have a few hours from now.

I get up to leave as I don’t trust myself to continue this conversation and not do something that I will end up regretting. As I am doing this she speaks and says something that shocked me more than anything else tonight.

“It was nice meeting you, Rafe Cameron. I hope to see you around” she says, and it seems like she means it. The thought of someone hoping to see me again is so foreign to me that I almost don’t believe her. She continues her sentence while I am still in thought.

“Thank you for talking to me,” her eyes find mine and they are filled with a sincerity that takes my breath away, “it means more to me than you could possibly know.” This has officially become too much for me in every aspect and I need to get out of here.

I acknowledge her statement with a nod and a brief wave before turning to continue walking down the beach. My head is swirling with the events of the evening. I don’t even think I can begin to explain what just happened, so I do what Camerons do best and ignore it.

I finally make it to my house and I have never been so relieved to be here in my life. I feel tired, dirty, and I know the hangover that awaits me is going to be a terrible one. I choose to remedy one of these things and head to my room to take a much-needed shower. I remove my clothes and turn on the water. The cascade of droplets rain down on my skin and the warmth makes me realize how chilly the beach really was. The dirt and stress of the day slowly wash down the drain. I turn the water off and step onto the mat outside the shower to dry myself before getting dressed.

I go into my room and grab a pair of blue pajama pants and a black t-shirt to wear to sleep. I get into bed and immediately feel the tension leave my body. I close my eyes in preparation of sleep and the last thing that goes across my mind before I lose consciousness is Vivienne’s gentle eyes that hold just as much pain behind them as mine do.

Before I know it, the sun is streaming in through my windows and illuminating my surroundings enough to bring me out of my sleep. Just as I predicted, the hangover is in full swing, and I can practically feel my heartbeat in my head. The pain is almost unbearable, and I deeply regret the decisions that I made last night that led up to this moment.

I pry my eyes open to reveal the sunlight that instantly assaults my retinas. Everything is a nuisance in my current state, but I know I need to get out of bed. Despite my body’s protests, I remove the covers and make my way downstairs to make some coffee. While it’s brewing, I try and remember the events of the evening prior, but everything is still hazy. However, the longer I think, the more sure I am of the conversation I had with Vivienne. The most confusing part of this whole ordeal isn’t the fact that I talked to her, but it is more so that I find myself wanting to know more.

After a night of partying, I never remember the names of any of the girls that kept me company. Vivienne is a different story for some reason, and I want to figure out why. Could it possibly be the fact that she is new or is it the fact that she knows nothing of who I am and the destruction I have left in my past? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I am curious to a fault and decide that I need to find out. She did say that she hoped to see me again, so I am choosing to believe she meant those words.

I have no idea how I am supposed to find her, but I owe it to myself to at least try. I don’t believe I deserve much in this life because I destroy everything that is given to me. Although maybe me wanting something won’t be the worst thing. I just want a chance to start over, to prove that I want to be different…better. I hate who I have become because it looks a lot like my father. I will always love him and strive to make him proud, but I want to be better than him. I must be because if I’m not, it proves that nothing will ever change.

I see a chance to prove that I am not this monster that I have been painted out to be. My previous actions don’t bode well for redemption, but I have done more difficult things than trying to change how people perceive me. I have one chance at this and that is Vivienne. She is the only person whose idea of me has not been tarnished and so I need to find her before someone else does.

The smell of coffee overwhelms my senses in that moment, alerting me that it is ready. I pour the hot liquid into a mug as I contemplate my next steps. I just hope it isn’t too late by the time I reach her.

______________________________________________________________

a/n: heyyyyy! So sorry that it took me so long to finally post the next chapter. I promise I didn't forget, but I had to lock in for my finals because college is not for the weak. However, I am finally done with them and am headed home for winter break so expect many more updates to be headed your way! This chapter is a little shorter as I just wanted to update yall with what I had so you have something while I write more. Hope you like it and I will update soon!!

-Ash <3

[teruthecreator]

Karen if you haven't done her already :]]

OHHHHH KAREN MY BELOVED

Sexuality Headcanon:

BIG OL LESBIAN

Gender Headcanon:

one of those lesbians who uses the term as both a sexuality and a gender (like meeeeee except i dont think she’s butch. she Could have butch swag but it’s not my immediate thought)

A ship I have with said character:

karen/gingi is my automatic go-to bc like. shes a dateable the gingi ships are all so fuckin cute but KAREN AND GINGI ESPECIALLY. i think the fact that it takes so much for you to even Convince karen to leave work with you and how quickly she not only warms up to gingi but becomes possessive of them makes me go absolutely insane. it makes me bonkers it makes me want to ram my head into a wall. literally WHERE is the karen gingi sex scene dogman come ON THEY DESERVE TO HAVE FLOP SEX AT KARENS APARTMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh yeah i also have karen/mingus thoughts but those will be saved for a secret project i desperately need to start working on

A BROTP I have with said character:

karen and oliver are a dynamic i am super interested in! they have some like canon basis for hanging out—karen was being commissioned by oliver to make some stuff for the scare shack and the two had running text conversations, as mentioned in ch3. and i just think it’s super neat for those two! i know she can probably only handle oliver in small doses but i think the two would genuinely geek out over artsy stuff together. like if you put on an animated movie for them both they will both go on two separate tangents about two separate things but will completely understand the other. i just think theyre neat <3

A NOTP I have with said character:

once again, don’t ever think i’ve seen a karen ship that’s made me scratch my head and go HUH so i think we’re all good here!

A random headcanon:

this hc is kind of self-indulgent BUT it has basis in canon since karen is canonically an enjoyer of stopmotion AND really old christmas movies. but i think karen LOOOOOOOVES the rankin/bass set of classic holiday straight-to-tv films. she used to watch them as a kid and now as an adult she can appreciate the animation work and laugh at the stupid plotlines and just genuinely enjoy herself. she has as many of the movies catalogued at her house (primarily in digital form i think) and watches them whenever she’s bored or sad. this is a trait i think she shares with mingus (who likes rankin/bass for a COMPLETELY SEPARATE REASON that is also a self-indulgent soulread) but once again i go into this a bit more in my secret project i need to desperately start working on, so i won’t get into it here >:-) you’ll just have to wait and seeeeeee

General Opinion over said character:

my absolute beloved. god i just. i REALLY like karen. like even beyond a character standpoint i think i am just attracted to her. she has a printer for a head but she makes me swoon. literally could replay her route a million times just to watch her get possessive over me and giggle and kick my feet. it’s so bad folks. she has a fucking PRINTER FOR A HEAD AND I’M NOT OBJECTUM SO I DON’T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED. SAVE ME KAREN FROM DIALTOWN SAVE MEEEEE

this part has genuinely made my heart flutter before there is something wrong with me

[kikyoupdates]

Changing Plotlines ⭑˚💞⭑ 𝑚𝑟. 𝑡𝑤𝑜-𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑

yandere!ocs x f!reader

yandere, reverse harem, yandere reverse harem, original characters x fem!reader, slowburn, isekai

A desperate cry on your deathbed leads to you being given a fresh start at life. You're overjoyed at having finally obtained a healthy body and a real chance at living normally, only to discover that you've been transported into a yandere game, where danger lurks at every corner. Determined to protect your new life at any cost, you vow to stay as far away from the major characters of the game as possible. But things don't always go as planned.

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As if finding out that you were stuck in a yandere game wasn’t bad enough, now you also had to worry about that strange being that appeared to be watching over you.

They’d insisted that they had no intention of interfering with your life or hurting you, but knowing that they could be stalking you at any given moment was understandably nerve-wracking. Not that you could really do anything about it, though. Your very existence in this world was an anomaly, so you supposed you would just have to get used to strange things happening.

At the very least, you’d kickstarted your little survival plan by taking some sword lessons. It was rather unfortunate what would later happen to Sergei, but his death wouldn’t occur for a while, so you had ample time to focus on honing your skills. It was also important to remind yourself not to get too attached to him, since his demise was inevitable.

You had to admit that it felt kind of slimy having these sorts of thoughts. You’d never been the type to view others as expendable, but after what you’d already endured in your previous life, hadn’t you earned the right to a bit of happiness? Surely, you would be forgiven for looking the other way.

You would be... right?

Sighing, you quickly shook your head. There was no point in riling yourself up like this. You’d already decided that you would distance yourself from the game’s plot as much as possible. Apart from the presence of the yanderes, this was quite a lovely place to live in. You were going to keep your life on track.

“Is your training going well, my lady?” Lizbell asked, in the middle of folding some of your clothes into a neat stack.

“Well, I’ve only had the one session so far,” you shrugged. “And he didn’t even let me try out a real sword.”

“I know. But I’ve seen you running about in the courtyard and the gardens, swinging large sticks and such. It seems like you’ve been practicing on your own time as well.”

“Trying to, at least.” You pursed your lips, pausing before taking another sip of your tea. “Hey, be honest. Do I look completely ridiculous doing that? I know I’m still inexperienced, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?”

Lizbell bit back a chuckle. “I will admit that your form looks perhaps a touch unpolished, but your enthusiasm is unmistakable. Just like you said, so long as you practice, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t come more naturally in the future.”

“Thanks,” you grinned. “I’m glad you’re rooting for me. Oh, I know. If you want to help, how about we spar together? Neither of us really knows what we’re doing, so it’ll just be harmless fun.”

“Heavens no!” she cried out, paling instantly. “I could injure you by accident! Your parents would throw a fit if that happened. Losing my job would be the least of my concerns.”

“Why do you assume you’d be the one winning?” you grumbled.

“Anyways, it’s out of the question,” she dismissed. “I have no knowledge about such matters, and I wouldn’t want to end up hurting you. Please just wait patiently until your instructor comes by again. There’s no rush. You have all the time in the world.”

Well, not exactly.

Sure, you had time until the plot really started to get heavy, but you couldn’t afford to wait around for things to get bad. You needed to have at least some fighting skills handy, and the sooner, the better.

But obviously, Lizbell couldn’t possibly have known this type of thing. You were actually quite curious as to how any of the characters would react if you ever told them their actions had essentially been programmed a certain way, and they had no real will of their own. Then again, they probably wouldn’t believe you.

“Fine,” you said, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “I’ll just keep swinging sticks around on my own. Hopefully Sergei has a pretty open schedule, because I’m really eager to learn how to wield a sword.”

“Of all the things for a young lady to take interest in.” Lizbell shook her head disappointedly.

“Someday in the future, women will fight in the military,” you told her matter-of-factly.

“My lady, sometimes your imagination really is a thing of wonder.”

“No, I’m actually telling the truth...”

She finished folding your clothes and tucked them into a drawer. “There. That should be good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m due out in town for a bit.”

“Going on a date?”

“Please,” she huffed, her cheeks flushing red. “I have no time for things like that. I’m just going to stop by the market and pick up some fresh ingredients for the cooks. If you require anything in my absence, any of the other servants will be more than happy to help.”

You perked up. “Can I come with?”

“Why, I’m not sure why you would,” she frowned. “It’ll be awfully dull. I’m just buying food and a few other supplies.”

“I’ll be bored while you’re gone. Apart from training, I don’t have much to do at home.”

It was the truth. Now that you finally had a healthy, capable body, you wanted to move around more. Go places, see new sights. Last time, you’d been unfortunate enough to run into Cassius, which had spoiled your mood for the day, but now that you’d calmed down and planned out your course of action, you were ready to enjoy a nice trip out.

Lizbell appeared hesitant, but she must not have thought she was in a position to refuse. “Well... if you insist. Be sure to speak to your parents first and get their permission. But it really won’t be exciting, I promise you. It might even be more boring than lying around in bed.”

“I doubt that,” you beamed. “I like going out! Plus, we can chat this way and you can tell me all about your love life.”

“Lady [Name], for the last time, I have no love life.”

“Hehe. Let me be the judge of that.”

“I have a feeling I’m going to end up regretting this,” she sighed.

Naturally, it wasn’t difficult to get your family’s permission. It was also important that you familiarized yourself with the city more. After all, this was your new hometown. You wanted to pick up on everything there was to know—all the best spots to eat, where to find cute clothes, and whatever other fun activities the kingdom had to offer.

A short, bumpy carriage ride afterwards, you were back in town for the second time. The weather was truly spectacular here. It obviously helped that it was summer, but you could swear the sun’s rays had some otherworldly effect. Or maybe this was just what it felt like to be healthy.

The town was a bit familiar, but somehow, also not. It looked different from the last time you’d seen it. Decorations appeared to be strewn up from streetlamps and across the awnings of various buildings. It was even busier than you recalled, and there were a multitude of strong, tantalizing scents wafting through the air.

“What’s going on here?” you frowned.

Lizbell pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing loudly. “Right. I’d forgotten that there was an event set to take place over the next couple of days. It’s going to be even busier than I’d expected. But if we wait until later to do our shopping, the freshest ingredients will be sold out.”

“An event?”

“I think it’s a food festival. They’ve brought in all sorts of people from various cities to set up shop here and sell their products.”

“Oh my god,” you said, drooling already. “Food.”

“That’s just even more of a hassle,” Lizbell muttered irritably. “Goodness. People are flocking all over the place trying to get their hands full. Let’s just hope that they're more swept up in the delicacies and aren’t paying as much attention to all the local ingredients. Come along, now. Quickly!”

Lizbell proceeded to drag you down the streets, like some sort of ragdoll. It was probably for the best, honestly. You’d have probably gotten distracted trying to sample all the food. Perhaps once you were done shopping, you could afford to take a break and indulge yourself a little.

Seriously, though, Lizbell really was something. She was frighteningly fast as she made her way around the market with lightning precision. She knew which route was the fastest and most effective, which grocers were most likely to have certain ingredients in stock, and not to mention that she was carrying rapidly-filling bags without so much as breaking a sweat.

“Maids are fucking cool,” you breathed out in awe.

Lizbell shook her head, still stuffing items into the bags. “My lady, please watch your language. People might get offended if you speak so crudely.”

“Um, okay. Can I help you carry anything?” you offered.

“Of course not. How could I make a lady do such a menial task? I’ll be just fine, thank you very much. Please just keep an eye on everything in case I drop something from one of the bags.”

“I can help,” you insisted, grabbing one of the bags despite her protests. The weight was unexpected, and made you hunch over when you took it into your hands. “Ugh,” you huffed. “Wasn’t expecting it to be so heavy. Are you secretly the Hulk, or what?”

“I’m not sure who that is.”

“A super tough, super big green guy.”

“Another joke,” Lizbell eye-rolled. “All due respect, Lady [Name], I don’t think a single sword-fighting lesson has drastically improved your strength. I’m used to carrying heavy things like this, so please, allow me.”

She proceeded to grab the bag back from you, and though you didn’t admit it, you sure were relieved that you wouldn’t have to walk while carrying that thing. Seriously, what did she have in there, bricks?

You decided it was probably easier for both of you if you just stayed put and did as she said. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like they were out of the ingredients she needed, which meant that the whole process was going rather quickly.

“I think that’s everything,” Lizbell said, proudly carrying several bulky bags in her arms.

She still wasn’t letting you help, so you just clapped encouragingly. “Whoo, go team! We did it! Er, I mean, you did it!”

“I appreciate the applause,” she laughed. “My apologies. You must’ve been bored just watching me shop around. Now that we’re no longer pressed for time, would you like to take a look at what they’re selling? It seemed like you were quite excited about all the different food.”

“Oh, I’d love that,” you nodded. Everything did smell divine. Since you were already here, you may as well pick out what you wanted and go home with a full belly.

“Well, go ahead,” Lizbell smiled. “Lead the way.”

You did just that, darting to and fro as you sampled items from different stalls. Everyone was so friendly and warm-hearted around here. Perhaps it was the fact that you’d spent so much of your previous life having tests run on you and going in and out of hospitals, but this was a kind of warmth that you were unfamiliar with coming from strangers. Even if you were new to this world, an outsider in the truest sense of the word, they made you feel anything but.

“Miss, do give our fruit tarts a try!”

“Would you like a scone? Fresh out the oven!”

“Here, grab a skewer! On the house!”

It could’ve been that they were just promoting their businesses, but their bright smiles and cheery dispositions were contagious. And obviously, the food was amazing. Every bite you took was an explosion of flavor in your mouth. You’d never get tired of eating delicious food after being deprived of it for so long.

“Hi there, young miss,” another vendor called out to you with a smile. “You must be getting thirsty in all this heat. How about a cold glass of juice to rejuvenate your spirits?”

“Yes, please!” you grinned. Lizbell had to sigh for the umpteenth time. Although she was all finished with her errands, you were definitely taking your sweet ass time sampling every other thing that was on display.

The vendor smiled again and passed you a small tasting cup. “Here you are. This is our most popular flavor. Please let me know if you like it, and I’ll pour you a bigger size.”

“Thank you!” You happily took a few sips, and as expected, it tasted delicious. It was certainly sweet, though crisp and with just a hint of sourness that was perfect for hot summer day. “This is incredible!” you gushed. “Oh, just a moment. Let me grab some money...”

You fumbled through your wallet while Lizbell set her bags down for a few moments and stretched out her arms. After procuring the correct amount of currency, you handed it off to the vendor and paid for another cup of the same juice.

“Okay,” you sighed contentedly. “I think that’s enough gorging myself for one day. Lizbell, I’m ready to head home. Was there anything in particular you wanted to try?”

“Thank you for asking, my lady, but I'm not too hungry right now. Shall we head back?”

“Alright!”

You turned, smiling widely and still with your cup in hand. What a great day this was shaping up to be. And what a lovely place this was, with everyone always so friendly and welcoming.

Spirits high, you followed behind Lizbell, only to immediately trip over your own feet and fall onto your knees.

“My lady!”

“Ouch, ouch, ouch...” You winced, feeling a nasty sting building up. You were wearing stockings underneath your dress, but you’d probably ripped them and skinned your knees during the fall. You’d also spilled your juice, goddammit. The juice that you literally just paid for.

Groaning, you stood up, only to find yourself staring at two men, one of which looked to be absolutely outraged.

At first, you didn’t quite understand why, but then you realized that there was a discernible stain on the front of one of the men’s shirts. A stain that was the exact same color as your spilled juice.

Oopsie.

You felt bad about spilling your drink on some stranger’s clothing, but when you took a moment to properly stare your victim in the face, your guilt was soon to be replaced with complete and utter dread.

Oh, fuck. This is worse than an oopsie. This is—

“Apologize right away!” one of the men cried out. It wasn’t even the man whose shirt was stained from your juice, but rather a servant, based on his attire. “You’ve ruined my lord’s state of dress, you bumbling fool!”

You honestly wanted to cry. Of course your luck was this atrocious. Otherwise, why the hell were you face-to-face with Lawrence Fleming, yet another one of the yanderes?

“Dominic, please,” Lawrence chuckled softly, waving his hand to appease the other man. “It was an honest mistake. She tripped and fell, and it looks like she even hurt herself in the process. Are you alright, miss?”

It had hardly taken two seconds for your face to turn pale. He was extending his hand out to you, probably because you were limping somewhat, but the thought of even coming in contact with him was so terrifying that goosebumps had formed all over your skin.

Lawrence Fleming. At first glance, he was a charismatic, benevolent man. But that was only on the surface. In truth, he was as two-faced as they came, saying one thing and thinking the exact opposite. His bad ending in the game had been one of your least favorites, and he was probably your second least favorite yandere overall, only because there was another one that was infinitely worse.

Why, oh why, did he have to be here right now? This kingdom was massive, so what were the odds that you would run into him after spending little more than an hour out here? This was seriously rigged.

“I’m very sorry,” you apologized, a hard lump having settled into your throat. This was far from ideal, but the last thing you wanted to do right now was to snub him outright and give him even more reason to resent you. Surely, he wouldn’t be terribly upset over such a minor offense, right? All you’d done was spill juice on him. It’s not like he didn’t have dozens of other outfits where that one came from.

The servant, Dominic, still appeared to be completely incensed. “Even a child is better coordinated than you. Is it your first time walking, or what?”

That struck a nerve with you, because the fact of the matter was, yes, you were uncoordinated, but only because you’d spent most of your life too weak to do any sort of physical activity too rigorously. In terms of athleticism, well, you had none. But that wasn’t your fault.

Most of the people in this city are so nice, but all of the yanderes and their posse are just the worst.

Still, you swallowed your anger and smiled pleasantly. “That’s true. I really am sorry. I suppose I’ve always been a bit clumsy.”

It was okay. All you had to do was smile and keep your calm. Not give Lawrence any reason to put you on his shit list. So long as you remained passive, then everything would be—

“Don’t speak to my lady that way!” Lizbell snapped. “People trip sometimes. It can’t be helped. How dare you berate her after she’s clearly hurt herself. Look—she’s even bleeding!”

Uh, Lizbell? Why are you picking a fight?!

Sure enough, you were bleeding, but with Lawrence right in front of you, that was really the least of your concerns right now.

“Oh dear,” Lawrence said, concern filling his expression. Although knowing him, it likely wasn’t genuine. “Are you sure you’re alright, miss? Do you need me to hold your arm and help you walk over to grab a seat at one of the benches?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” you insisted, hoping that your forced grin was somewhat convincing. “Uh, please don’t worry about it. It’s my fault for being so careless. Is there anything I can do to make up for staining your shirt? Can I pay for your troubles?”

Dominic narrowed his eyes. “Are you seriously implying that Lord Lawrence doesn’t have the money to afford to clean his own clothes?”

“What? No, that wasn’t what I was trying to—”

“Of course not!” Lizbell again answered in your stead. She angrily dropped her bags, placed her hands squarely upon her hips, then gritted her teeth at Dominic. “Lady [Name] was only trying to be courteous. My word! Where does a servant get off on treating a noblewoman with such disrespect?”

“Ha!” Dominic scoffed. “And yet you’ll allow her to repeatedly disrespect my lord? You must be out of your mind.”

“The only one out of their mind here is you. As I’ve already pointed out, my lady is injured! You are in no position to take that tone with her, especially when she’s in pain.”

Lizbell, please, dial it back a bit. I’m literally begging you...

The two of them were breathing down each other’s necks and practically foaming at the mouths. To be quite honest, it seemed like they were more wrapped up in their own little feud and had completely forgotten about the people they were supposedly defending.

“Pfft,” Lawrence chuckled. “It appears as though both of our servants are fiercely loyal. Neither is willing to give an inch.”

“Haha... ha...”

God, you wanted to get the hell out of here.

“My lord,” Dominic pointed, “this woman and her arrogant maid need to own up to their mistakes. Surely, you aren’t thinking of letting them get away with tarnishing your clothing and reputation?”

Lawrence pursed his lips. “That’s quite enough, Dominic. It was very clearly an accident.”

“But—But—you’re here to oversee that today’s events go well, and she’s ruined your appearance! What are you meant to do now?”

“I’ll just do this,” Lawrence hummed, blotting the stain with a napkin. It wasn’t really working that well, but you appreciated that he seemed ready to let this incident go. Yeah, it was just a bit of spilled juice. That Dominic guy was the only one making a big deal out of it.

“If there’s anything you’d like me to do, please just let me know,” you said. It was better to be safe than sorry. To show him that you were willing to take the blame, even if it really was just a stupid little accident.

Thankfully, Lawrence’s smile showed no signs of disappearing. “There’s really no need for that. [Name], was it? I apologize for Dominic’s rudeness. He can be a bit high-strung at times, but he means well. I really would like to spend more time making sure that you’re alright, but if you insist that everything is fine, then I should probably be on my way. I have to speak with some of the business owners here that are renting out their workspaces to the vendors who have come into the city.”

“Thank you,” you smiled, quickly bowing your head. “Once again, I’m sorry.”

“Haha. Please, no more apologizing. You haven’t wronged me in any way. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

He left, with Dominic glaring daggers at you and Lizbell, up until both of them disappeared into the crowd.

The second they were gone, you completely deflated.

“Oh my god,” you groaned. “Why me?”

“I concur,” Lizbell muttered, clearly still very much not over it. “That Dominic fellow has a screw loose. I can’t believe his lord allowed him to get away with such rude behavior.” She then looked you over, expression softening a bit. “That aside, are you alright, my lady? I don’t have any bandages with me to dress the wound. We should probably purchase some nearby.”

“I’ll be fine,” you reassured, but then you thought twice about it. Right. This was a much older setting than you were used to. If you somehow ended up with a nasty infection, you likely wouldn’t have antibiotics or other convenient medications to turn to. And if you got sick in an era without advanced medical technology, then... “Actually, never mind,” you said hastily. “It is quite serious. We need to get bandages right away. No chance in hell am I taking another trip to the hospital.”

“Another trip? My lady, you’ve never been admitted to the hospital before.”

“If only that were true...”

“Pardon?”

“No, nothing,” you sighed. “Let’s just buy some bandages and head home.”

You made a mental note to avoid going into town for as long as possible, lest your luck fail you again. 

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