#and he just dyed it so he could distance himself more from Gene

[coin-z3fs]

Obtain a brother as you journey to save your friend’s husband

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(If you wanna hear my short ramble about my take on these two then proceed under the cut)

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So, if for whatever reason some of you realized that the way I draw Dante’s hair is different from how I usually do it (undercut) on the top drawing, is because Aphmau styled his hair when they got back to Phoenix Drop as a way to repay him for giving her the winter clothes and her hair ribbon (before that she just let her hair loose). She asked Nicole for help since if Aphmau did it herself the result could be compared to how she builds ships (That’s also how Nicole and Dante met first time B:))

Dante didn’t mind the drastic haircut, it kind of made him look less like Gene, which he appreciated.

Here’s also the context of the scenes:

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

Summary: Perry and Rebecca are fighting again, so Rhett takes Amy out for ice cream. But lo and behold, who else shows up with a few of the boys from her work in tow? (wc: 5642)

Warnings: allusions to fighting/arguing, another shameless 90s country music name drop, a little bit of romantic tension goodness, background ocs

✎……PREVIOUS CHAPTER || MASTERLIST || NEXT CHAPTER

For the most part, Rhett didn’t mind grinding cattle feed. It was a long process, usually taking all of the working hours, and the grinder was so loud he didn’t have to talk to whoever was working with him. His father, with quiet but stern questions about what he was doing with his life. Or Perry, encouraging him to keep up with bull riding with that sad look in his eyes like he had lost something.

Rhett knew what his brother thought was gone but he would never bring it up. He would rather save himself the punch in the face it would grant him.

But today, he didn’t have to deal with either of them. His father was out in the fields counting heads of cattle. And Perry had the day off to spend with his family while the weather was still nice. Which left Rhett all alone amongst the store barns out in the east pasture, grinding feed all by himself. 

It was more work for just one person, driving tractors and pulling wagons and making sure the corn was being fed into the grinder, but he really didn’t mind. Beat having to discuss his life everyone thought was going nowhere fast — including himself most days.

There were some days, however, all by himself on his family’s expansive land, when he could see the beauty in Wabang. See past the dust and the grime and the lingering smell of decay. That Saturday in September was one of them. The morning was bright and clear as he rode his horse, Ace, out at dawn. The air cool and crisp, the grass frosted underfoot. By midmorning, he needed to take his jacket off, the sun shining bright amongst great puffy clouds. The mountains seemed to glitter off in the distance, sway in the rising heat of day. Their snow covered peaks like a promise of the winter that was to come.

It was beautiful, but it was just his life. Green fields, far off mountains, infinite blue sky. A postcard existence — but he knew what it was really like. It was being born and living and dying all in one town and never seeing anything else. It was hard work and back breaking labor. It was stiff joints at twenty-three but no right to complain. It was struggling to make ends meet, eating six to a table crammed in a small kitchen. It was dirt under fingernails and sun damaged skin. It was grinding cattle feed alone with a sprained wrist that ached every time he picked up a supplement bag. 

The trailer filled up at about two and a half tank loads of feed. There was still half a tank left in the mixer, but he could come back for it later. It was past noon, the sun was beating down on his back, and he had been working for seven hours straight. Without so much as a water or a snack to munch on as he watched the supplement and ground corn mix together. Once the feed trailer was stowed safely in the dry barn, Rhett untied Ace from the post and rode back to the house.

Hoping to find a quick bite and not get yelled at for not finishing his job.

Pushing a thing of dip tobacco between his cheek and gums with his tongue, he walked towards the front door. His stomach rumbling as he watched his boots move across the dirt path and through the grass. But when he looked up, he noticed Amy sitting out in the yard. 

She was the spitting image of her mother, Rebecca. Eyes bright and blue with thin, pale blonde hair — cheeks dusted in freckles and teeth crooked, just a little too big for her mouth. Everyone expected Perry’s genes to be stronger, but there didn’t seem to be an ounce of Abbott in her. And for that, Rhett was almost grateful. 

Would have been a real goofy looking kid if she ended up anything like his brother. Or him even. 

Amy was braiding clovers together into a crown, weaving the stems slowly with big eyes downcast. Her little mouth downcurved in a frown. 

Rhett spit out his dip as he approached her. 

“Hey, ladybug, watchya doin’ ou’here?” he asked, tugging his gloves from his hands. 

She set the messily braided clovers down with a sigh then looked back over her shoulder at the house. When she met his eyes, she looked like she wasn’t supposed to tell him. 

But she did it anyway: “Mom and Dad’re fightin’ again.” 

Now that he was listening, he could hear the yelling coming from inside the house. Something about space and how this wouldn’t have happened and needing to get over it. Fragments and sound bites. Another of those things about living in an old ranch house. The walls weren’t good at keeping secrets. 

He grunted, put his hands on his hips. For a second, anger flared up in Rhett’s chest. So this was what Perry was doing instead of helping him with the feed? Arguing with his wife about the same old shit and not making any progress because he was too stubborn to actually listen to her? Then a sort of sadness trickled in with it. 

Amy shouldn’t have to hear that shit, either. 

She was only nine, and already she understood too much about her parents’ feelings towards the Abbotts, the ranch, Wabang, and each other. Already saw and heard too much. There was already something too grown up behind those blue eyes and Rhett didn’t like it. He could remember holding her for the first time when he was just fourteen. Everyone made him sit down to do it because they didn’t trust him and he didn’t know why. Not until Perry placed that little baby in his arms, telling him to support her head. He had never held something so delicate before in all his life, and hadn’t since. Fragile, precious, terrifying. New life — only one week in this world. It made him tear up and he didn’t even know why. 

Eventually, he could hold her while standing, while walking, sometimes even while running. Eventually, he scared the shit out of Rebecca by tossing her in the air, her shrieking giggles making him laugh. Eventually, she could talk and he liked to listen, about bugs and horses and sparkling shoes and pretend princesses saving knights from dragons. Eventually, she was mostly grown up and so was he. 

But Rhett didn’t want her to grow up, not yet. She deserved to stay little, just for a little longer. Making crowns out of clovers and giggling and not knowing what secrets the walls refused to keep. 

“Whaddaya say we go ge’ice cream?” 

“Really?” she questioned, popped up onto her knees with a small toothy smile. 

Rhett chuckled. “Yeah, really. Lemme go change.” 

He tapped her on the head lightly with his gloves as he passed her, making her laugh. And it made him smile despite the anger still bubbling in his chest and the hunger gnawing at his gut. 

When he pulled open the screen door, its loud screech and bang as the old hinges smacked it back against the exterior wall announced his presence before he even walked inside. The yelling suddenly came to a halt. He rolled his eyes as he crossed the entry and climbed the stairs, distantly hearing the argument pick back up in harsh whispers. 

Once in a fresh pair of jeans and an old rodeo t-shirt, beat up trucker hat hiding the sweat slicking his hair, he called out that he was taking Amy into town. No one answered him and he didn’t repeat himself. He just strode right back out into the shadeless yard where Amy stood waiting for him with her hands in her pockets. The corner of his mouth ticked up as he took her under his arm and led her over to his truck.

“Ya missed lunch,” she pointed out as they climbed inside. 

“Might ge’more th’n ice cream then,” he said, starting the engine. 

“So Jiffy Treat?”

“Course.”

The local ice cream shop, in business since 1973. It was nothing special. Just a squat building on the side of the road with a walk-up window and a few covered tables out front screwed into the concrete. It was the place to go in the Wabang heat to cool off. Mostly just sad dads bringing their kids to try and make them feel better about whatever was going on at home.

Rhett never thought he would be one of those sad dads — sad uncle really. 

As the truck shook and rumbled down the gravel drive towards the main road and off Abbott land, Amy quickly snatched up the cardboard box at her feet and set it in her lap. The box had water damage healed over one too many times and a missing corner, but it still did the job alright. Holding an unorganized and haphazardly placed collection of cassettes.

“Which one has the Georgia song on it?” Amy rifled through the tapes, plastic clacking together as she threw them around.

Rhett knew which song she was talking about instantly. “Reba McEntire — uh, lady wi’curly hair — black’n white.” 

It took her a minute to find it, but once she did, she held it up and giggled triumphantly. Rhett told her to put it in as he turned left onto the paved road that led into town, cranking open his window to let in a breeze. He still felt like he smelled like ground corn and yeast. But he wasn’t about to make her wait any longer by taking a shower — or let his stomach continue to eat itself any more than he had to.

With a whir of tape and a few skipped tracks, the opening guitar and piano of The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia started to play.

Amy sang along loudly, bobbing her head to the beat and missing a few of the words. While Rhett muttered them all quietly, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. Asking once the song was over for her to rewind the tape and let him listen to the album in full.

“You need t’get a new radio, Uncle Rhett,” she said as she pressed the right buttons. “One y’can plug y’r phone into.” 

He chuckled softly. “I like m’tapes jus’fine.” 

“Y’sound like Gran’pa.”

Amy said it with a laugh, and Rhett rolled his eyes for her to see. But she didn’t need to know that stabbed at something inside him he didn’t like. A beast, locked in a cage. Pacing, waiting to be angered enough to set itself free. 

He didn’t want to be like his dad. 

But apples didn’t fall far from trees in Wabang — inevitable and constant. 

There were a few other cars parked in the small Jiffy Treat lot. Kids in swimsuits either just coming back or going to the swimming hole over in Hayden running around the umbrella shaded tables. The parents chatting with cones in hand. 

Amy jumped out of the truck first as soon as Rhett threw it in park. He was quick to follow after her, already fishing his wallet out of his back pocket. The teenager working the window slid it open with a smile as they walked up. 

“What can I ge’for ya?” she asked, finely manicured nails poised with a pen and notepad.

Rhett ruffled Amy’s hair as he looked over the menu. “Go’head, ladybug.” 

“Can I have a scoop’ve bubblegum with sprinkles, please?”

“In a cone or a cup?”

“Cone, please,” Amy said, then backed away from the window so Rhett could step up. 

“N’ll take two hotdogs n’a thing’a onion rings, please,” he said, thumbing the few bills in his wallet. “N’can I get a cup’a water?”

It did not go out of his notice how the young girl looked him up and down, teeth biting into her lip as she wrote down his order. It made him shift his weight to his other foot, hoping to just get away soon. But her pink blush did remind him of someone — and it made the corner of his mouth raise.

“That it?” she asked. 

“Yep.”

She gave the total with his cup of water and he paid, Amy’s ice cream quickly being called from the other window. Bright pink and covered in rainbow sprinkles. Her smile was ear to ear as she took it with both hands and sat down at one of the tables. Rhett plopped down on the bench across from her and tried not to focus on just how hungry he really was. It was nice under the shade of the umbrella, sun no longer beating down on his back. Birds chirped in the yards on either side and cars rumbled past on the road behind him. He could feel the wind they created whipping at his shirt. It would have felt good if he didn’t worry that if they swerved even a little he was done for.

“R’Mom n’dad gonna get a divorce?” Amy asked as she licked at her ice cream. 

Rhett coughed around his drink of water. “Wha’makes ya say that?”

“Lily Stockton n’my class — her parents’re gettin’ divorced.” She shrugged. “She said they fought a lot. Now she goes t’her dad’s house on the weekends.” 

She didn’t seem sad. But she wouldn’t look at Rhett directly either. Watching the swimsuit kids as they got rounded up by their parents or cars as they drove by.

“Shit, I don’know,” Rhett said after a moment to think, pushing his tongue into his cheek despite having no dip to fiddle with.

That seemed to appease her for the minute, and he was thankful. Because there was always the possibility. He couldn’t rule it out and he always had been terrible at lying to his niece. If they did get divorced everyone would probably be happier save his mother, who would just be heartbroken at her son’s broken marriage. His broken family. They would become a constant prayer request to her church group. Though he doubted she brought up their struggles to them now. Keep things in the family until it bursts at the seams for everyone to see. 

His food got called and he muttered a thank God under his breath as he got up to get it. He didn’t even care to put ketchup or mustard on his hotdogs, he just sat down and started eating. It was hot and fried and delicious. 

As they ate, Amy trying to keep up with her ice cream before it melted onto her hand, an old white Jeep with wood paneling on the sides pulled into the lot. Rhett watched it as he finished off his second hot dog, Amy making some comment about how he always ate too fast. It was a nineties model at the least, though it was hard to say without asking. Minimal rust around the bottom and the paint needed to be redone but that didn’t matter much. Every car looked like a junker in Wabang. Old model trucks with longer beds than any of those 21st century Ford monstrosities could offer. Rhett was surprised at how good the engine sounded though, a nice rumble as it slowed to a stop and cut off completely. A rarity for a car that age in a town like this. 

The back doors swung open first, three boys clambering out and into the sun. They waited patiently by the bumper as the driver stepped out. 

Rhett nearly choked on one of his onion rings.

She looked beautiful. Light brown hair falling around her shoulders and the golden chain of her locket peeking out from a quarter zip with the sleeves rolled up. Her wide smile was like its own sun as she slammed the creaking driver’s door shut and gestured for the boys that poured out of her car to get in line. The smallest of them running ahead to go first. She followed behind. Her eyes big and blue as July squinted in the sun, turning them to slits crinkled at the edges, and Rhett smiled.

He really hoped he would see Tessa Abernathy again. It had been nearly a week since he got to apologize in the fluorescent light of the general store. He just thought, and maybe hoped, he would have more control over his heart rate than he did right then; pounding against his ribcage as he watched her walk and dig through her purse at the same time. Would she notice him? Would she talk to him? He nearly wanted to slap himself. He was never like this around women. Especially women he wanted. He knew all the tricks and he knew all the lines — just to feel something, just to get loved for a night. But this was different. She was different. 

Then Amy suddenly gasped. “That’s Jace!”

Rhett blinked rapidly as he looked back at his niece, feeling like he just got caught doing something he shouldn’t. “Uh — w-who?”

“He’s in m’class — we sit at the same table,” she said, pointing at the smallest boy bouncing up and down in front of the order window. “C’n I go say hi?”

“Sure, ladybug,” he replied.

She didn’t waste a second. Pink ice cream dribbled down onto her knuckles as she raced over to talk to the little boy. He looked just as excited to see her as she was him. Gasping and jumping and pointing to the order window — which was handing down to him a bowl of multicolored ice cream covered in gummy worms. Rhett finished off his onion rings and wiped his hands off on his jeans as he watched them. Happy that Amy was distracted — at least for a little while. That she wasn’t thinking about her parents yelling at each other through thin walls or Lily Stockton or having to spend weekends at her dad’s. That she wasn’t asking him questions he didn’t know the answers to. Instead, she was just being a kid. Talking excitedly with a friend, getting sticky fingers, and eating bright pink ice cream covered in sprinkles. That was what she deserved. To just stay little, just a little longer.

But Rhett stiffened, hot dogs and onion rings sitting like led in his stomach, as he watched Tessa come up to the order window, paying for the three boys’ ice cream. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but her and Amy were clearly talking to one another. Tessa smiling at the two little kids fondly and making big facial expressions that made him smile. 

Then Amy was pointing at him. Tessa turned her head to look with raised brows. She smiled, wide and stunning and full of a kindness he could nearly see and felt undeserving of receiving. Raising his hand, he waved with a small smile — 

And he had to stop himself from cringing.

He was definitely regretting those hot dogs, and not showering, now as Amy and Jace rushed over to sit on the bench opposite him. Amy saying something about him being her uncle and riding bulls. Jace didn’t seem that interested. Rhett hadn’t even noticed the group of teens that had taken over the table next to them until the two older boys came over and joined them. That just left Tessa, carrying a waffle cone filled with some yellow ice cream, to sit with him at his table. Unable to stop himself, he started fiddling with the paper boat his food came in. Why did talking to her now feel like he was sitting on the back of a bull, the gate about to open and his career on the line?

“Hey, Rhett, how’s it goin’?” she asked as she sat down on the bench at his right.

“G-Good, yeah,” he answered, glancing up at her and looking away. “You? How’s it goin’ with you?”

“M’good too,” she laughed, hiding her smile with her ice cream, then she looked over at Amy and Jace, lost in their own world. “Y’r niece’s cute. Her’n Jace seem t’get along.”

Rhett swallowed thickly. Some part of him wanted to smack himself because he knew talking with her was so damn easy. Even though all his life talking to anyone was a struggle he preferred to avoid. Truth and stories and some secret part of him bubbling to the surface because, somehow, he wanted her to see it and know. But he didn’t want to mess this up. Not again. 

“He — uh — he livin’ in the Home? W-With you?”

“Yeah. He’s’re youngest righ’now.”

“Wha’is he? Nine?” he asked, brows furrowed, finally looking her in the face.

She wasn’t looking at him, and that made it easier. Too focused on Amy and Jace as they talked about school and sports and shows they liked. How she was obviously Spider-Man and he was Hulk. There was a kind of sadness in her eyes though that he had never seen before. One he wanted to fix.

Eventually, she nodded, hand raising to cover her tongue peaking out, licking ice cream from her lip. “He’s a foster. Couldn’even get’im t’say a word when he first showed up. Now look at’im.”

Rhett didn’t fully understand what that meant, but he knew enough. A foster kid. Either his parents were out of the picture or he got taken away from them by the state. Rhett hadn’t even realized he was ripping a fringe into the edge of his paper boat until he had finished an entire side.

“He’s go’somebody good takin’ care’a him now,” he mumbled, watching the side of her face as she ate her sweet treat. “Makes’a difference.”

There was that pretty pink blush that made the freckles on her cheeks stand out. Her eyes sliding over to look at him as she licked her lips again. It made him laugh softly.

She chose not to comment as she glanced down at his unbraced hand. “Wrist feel better?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said as he flexed his fingers. “S’alright.”

“Takin’ it easy?”

“Nope.”

Tessa leveled him with a look and it filled up something warm in his chest. She barely knew him, but she cared. Enough to get mad at him for not resting his injury and rolling her eyes when he laughed and said what? No one in his family had yet to mention it. Even when he took off the brace before he really should have. Even when he winced and clenched his jaw doing certain tasks. It was like it wasn’t even there. That something warm was still there, but beside it was something sour. Tart and bitter to the taste.

One of the boys that came with her walked up to their table. He appeared to be the oldest. Long curly black hair and headphones around his neck — skateboard tucked under his arm. Tall and unaware of the fact. Skin cratered like the moon. His face looked permanently pinched up in anger, bushy eyebrows furrowed low over dark eyes. But when he spoke, he didn’t sound grumpy at all. 

“We’re gonna go’cross the street. That alright?” he asked, pointing to where he and his friends wanted to go. 

Rhett looked over his shoulder. It was just an alley between downtown brick buildings. Someone tried to decorate it once with creeping ivy and string lights and metal benches. But the ivy was now brown, the string lights were gone, and the benches were uninviting — save for a kid with a skateboard. 

Tessa nodded easily with a smile. “Yeah, s’fine. Wyatt with you?”

The teen nodded.

“Alright, go’on. We’re gon’leave n’bout thirty minutes.”

A smile broke out across his face. An unexpected expression for him, but it suited him well. Then he jogged off, back to his friends. Rhett couldn’t help but notice Tessa watching them with her brows pinched together. 

“Wha’s that look for?” he questioned as she turned back to her nearly finished ice cream.

“S’just…” She seemed to wrestle with her words for a second, tongue pushed into the roof of her mouth as she thought. Then she sighed as she looked at him with her head leaning towards her shoulder. “Wyatt’s younger than Colton n’all his friends n’I…I don’wan’im gettin’ made fun of.” 

“That’s jus’life. He’ll be fine.” 

“Still hurts,” Tessa said.

There was something in those eyes like July that Rhett couldn’t really read. Something like too much understanding. Something like experience. Something like Amy too grown up. Again, he suddenly was filled with the urge to fix. To make that look in her eyes go away. To make whoever made fun of her pay for it because she didn’t deserve that. To take her out for ice cream to help her forget. Bring back that kindness in her eyes, at least for a little while.

“Uncle Rhett!” Amy suddenly called, “Should I be Mikey or Donnie?”

Rhett stared at her for a second, brows furrowed — then it clicked. “Oh, like the ninja turtles?”

“Yeah!”

Tessa placed her hand on his arm to get his attention. “We’ve got the ole’eighties show on VHS. Jace’s obsessed righ’now.”

“We, uh —” He swallowed thickly as she retracted her hand, watching her soft as silk hands retreat almost sadly. “We watched the nineties movie together —  few weeks back.” 

“Oh, that’s so fun.” 

“Rhett!” Amy cried, exasperated. “Should I be Donnie or Mikey?”

“Mikey,” he answered simply, not even having to think.

Amy immediately hopped up and struck a pose with her fists posed for a fight. “I’m Michelangelo!”

“And I’m Leonardo!” Jace yelled as he sprang from the bench as well, pulling pretend swords from his back. 

Then they were off. Amy twirling imaginary nun-chucks around as they play fought one another. Weaving around the other empty tables and jumping up onto benches. Rhett and Tessa watched them with laughs on their lips.

“Y’ever — uh — y’ever pretend t’be somethin’ when y’were a kid?” Rhett asked as he looked at the back of her head.

She turned her head over her shoulder, eyes still focused on the kids, as she said, “Used t’pretend I was a fairy. Had a pair’a wings from Halloween I’wore f’r nearly a year.”

Rhett chuckled as he looked down into his lap. He could picture it perfectly. Little girl refusing to take the wings off even if they were bent up and dirty, because she was a fairy. Her parents just giving up and letting it happen. He thought it was adorable — nearly said so but he bit his tongue at the last second.

“I’d wander’round the yard wi’those, uh toy guns? Thinkin’ I’s a cowboy.”

“That’s sweet,” she said as she turned back to look at him with a smile, small and kind.

Her ice cream cone was finished, but there was a glob of yellow on her chin — just beneath her lip. She just looked so pretty. Rhett knew he shouldn’t. After coming so close to ruining whatever was blossoming between them. But before he could really think it through, before he could rationalize, before he could nail down what he should do instead of what he wanted to do — his hand was reaching for her. 

“Oh, you — ya got somethin’...” Rhett said, tucking his forefinger beneath her chin and wiping at the rogue ice cream drip with his thumb. 

Her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of pink, the color going down, down into the collar of her quarter-zip as he made a second pass on her soft skin to make sure he got it all. Eyes downcast as she took a deep, steadying breath. When he finally pulled away, the ice cream was gone, and she looked up at him from beneath her lashes with her lip caught between her teeth.

That same look from that night at the bonfire. Before she practically ran away from him and he was left with a different kind of ache. A different kind of itch. That only she could fill. With her kindness and just right smiles and heart too big for her chest. Regret pooled in his stomach like concrete along with those hotdogs and onion rings. His mouth opened and closed as he wrestled with an apology. But then…

“D’you get it?” she asked quietly. 

“Uh-huh,” he muttered, relief flooding him now, as he licked his thumb clean. “Tastes good.” 

Tessa stared at him for a moment. Thoughts churning behind those big blue eyes and her mouth popped open. Made him smirk as he watched her. She wasn’t running for the hills yet, and for that he was thankful. He no longer felt like he was in the chute, on top of a bull, his career on the line. Instead, he felt like Rhett Abbott talking to Tessa Abernathy. Siphoning off that kindness and maybe giving some out in return.

“It’s, uh — it’s lemon poppyseed,” she finally decided to say and it only made his grin grow. 

“‘Ll have t’try it sometime.”

Then his phone vibrated in his pocket. A text from his mother.

Your dad’s wondering why the rest of that feed hasn’t been stored.

“Ah, shit. We gotta go,” he said, collecting his trash as he rose from his seat.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, got work t’do.” He fished his keys out of his pocket. “Ladybug! C’mon, we gotta get on home!” 

Amy sighed, but said goodbye to Jace. Once his trash was disposed of, he put Amy under his arm and started the walk back to his truck. Telling Tessa it was nice seeing her and trading reluctant farewells.

Once inside the truck, Amy grinned at him like she knew a secret. 

“What?” he laughed. 

“You like her.”

Rhett felt his face flush. “I — you don’t — I don’t —”

“S’alright. I won’t tell,” she said as she settled back into her seat with a pleased smile.

He started the truck with a huff. “Little shit.”

The ride back to the ranch was easy and quiet. Amy leaning back in her seat with her head tilted towards the window — watching endless green fields roll by. And Rhett caught up in thoughts of Tessa Abernathy with ice cream on her chin and looking up at him through thick lashes.

He supposed he couldn’t deny that he liked her. As childish as the term sounded. At the very least, he wanted to be with her. Get to know her. Talk with her. Pulling from her with such ease that kindness the world didn’t deserve and maybe show her some in return — even if he wasn’t very good at it. It was a foreign sort of urge and an alien kind of weight in his chest. Rhett didn’t like his partners, no matter how long or short they were together, getting too close to him. Seeing all that he was and all that it meant, all the dust and grime and that he was just like everyone else in Wabang. A horse sent out to pasture, waiting to die. Knowing there was better but being too afraid and too caught up in it all to leave. He thought he could leave it all behind once. But then he didn’t, and it brought a shame he still didn’t understand and didn’t want to deal with. He couldn’t get out. And maybe that was why he was the guy that made them realize they wanted to be married, just not to him. 

But then again, Tessa didn’t get out either. And she seemed like one of the only things in this life that hadn’t been touched by the Wabang grime. Shiny and bright and loving this life in a small town.

He might not have deserved a girl like that, but he was willing to try. 

When he parked in front of the house, Amy leaping from the passenger seat and running inside, his dad was waiting on the porch for him. Sitting on the old bench his grandmother thrifted from an antique store. A relic from one of the ancient country churches that closed its doors long ago. His ankles crossed and fingers threaded together in his lap as he watched Amy head inside. Rhett sighed as he cut the engine and opened his door — knowing what was waiting for him once he went up those steps.

He didn’t even make it up one of them before his dad started talking gruffly, “Wen’out t’check on ya ‘while ago…Left all the equipmen’out.” 

“Yeah, yeah — Goin’ back to finish grindin’ now,” Rhett replied, taking one booted foot off the step and putting it back on the ground.

“Where’d y’take Amy?”

“Ice cream.”

“Y’had work t’do.”

Rhett clenched his jaw, ticked it to one side. Adjusted his weight from one foot to the other. Itching to get away so he wouldn’t get in more trouble than he was. But he never had been good at not putting his foot in his mouth.

“Yeah, well, somebody had t’make sure she wasn’t hearin’ her parents’ screamin’ match,” he said, finally looking his father in the face with his jaw set and eyes ablaze. 

His dad stared at him for a moment. Chin jutted out and small brown eyes narrowed. Then he rose from his seat and Rhett straightened, prepared to defend himself. His own fight the walls wouldn’t keep to themselves.

“Just get the feed done.”

Then he turned and walked inside. 

Rhett looked at that old empty church pew for a minute. Mind reeling through everything else he wanted to say. Why does Perry get a day off to have a fight with his wife? Did you even bring any food or water when you came to check on me? If the work wasn’t done would you have even noticed I was gone? 

Prayers to an absent god.

Then he pushed off from the porch step and walked back to the barn.

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[randomfoggytiger]

I don’t know why you need to be a “mulder apologist.” You should just accept that the show as a whole is a tragedy, and misogynistic. The fact is that Mulder DOESNT love scully as much as she loves him, his world doesn’t revolve around her. I don’t think that’s a very good relationship, but believe what you want to believe I guess if you want to be delusional

I think you're my first hate anon! What an honor! :DDDD

(Note: Probably grammatical errors below; I'll edit later~.)

I disagree-- the show gave Scully powerful agency, Mulder gave her respect and love and admiration, and the two of them "didn't regret a day." If you notice, Mulder and Scully save each other at the same rates (for every Unruhe there is a Kill Switch); and more often than not, Mulder is too late to save Scully, leaving it up to her to save herself/stall for time/survive by chance. She never blames him and he never blames her, because that's their job and their life.

Onto the romance~

Okay, so: Mulder's whole goal in life was finding Samantha: "Nothing else matters to me" in the Pilot. By the end of that season, he and Scully were already dancing around their feelings-ish for each other (Mulder more in denial than Scully in Tooms, for instance.)

By S2, Mulder was adrift and internally bleeding without his partner; and it was Scully who saved him and showed him he CAN still talk and work with her. His adorable stuttering over the phone to her in Sleepless and his rage and grief in Ascension were peak early s2. 3 and One Breath touched on Mulder living in shuttered down mode: he became a lump who poked around cases, antagonizing more than helping. He connected with Kristen because she, too, had loss to his same degree. He wore Scully's cross, he shoved a gun in CSM's face, he gave up the X-Files as self-punishment for his partner's coma. He then gave up revenge, his secondary fall back, to sit and hold her hand while she lay dying. The rest of S2 Mulder hovered like a comforting shadow, peering into Scully's face for nuances and keeping himself constantly in-tune.

S3 they'd both mellowed out, lost a sister, and were united under a flag of avenging their loved ones. Scully was BACK, and Mulder didn't 'need' to tip-toe around her anymore (as she'd sensed in Irresistible.)

S4 was unfurling from strength and teamwork into Mulder beginning to ponder their future-- Home, for instance-- and Scully knowing he wouldn't be ready for that until he had his answers. BUT it was Mulder who mentioned settling down, gene pools, and then reestablishing distance by "mom"ing Scully's 'nagging.'

S4 ALSO explored Mulder's bottomless grief as Scully got worse and worse, his silent screams at her dying bedside, how he ALMOST sold himself to save her but knowing SCULLY would never forgive him and would rather die. (Her smile at his "you would tell me if I was making a mistake" confirms this.)

S5 was a dark season for Mulder; but his reliance on Scully never wavered. He lost more and more and more; but, in all his loss he never overshadowed Scully's losses: Emily, chiefly. Neither were distant (because that duo never could be, really); but they were walking-- especially after the Sims episodes-- like a birds with a broken wing each, leaning on each other for support but also limping slightly away in their stride.

S6 followed FTF's big revelation and confession; and The Beginning tainted the overall perspective. But I posit it was a good time for Scully and Mulder despite being on toilet brush detail: Mulder included Scully in everything except the time-sensitive mission in Triangle; but she still saved him, even in another dimension. One Son really got everyone angry at Mulder-- understandable-- but for every mistake me made in that episode, he turned around and did his best to correct it (doubting Scully = investigating Diana, giving up to CSM/Diana = pulling himself together and becoming supportive backup to Scully's mission, etc.) The rest of S6 was Mulder trying to make sense of his muddled happiness with Scully and the progress they've made while also having his full-time X-Files life back. Milagro-The Unnatural proved to himself the shift in his priorities; so much so that he later took her doubt in Field Trip very personally. Again, that episode proved that, without Scully, there would be no Mulder.

Biogenesis-The Sixth Extinction-Amor Fati was a joint realization for Mulder and Scully: it explored Mulder's craving for a normal life-- willing to give up the X-Files and himself, but failing without Scully-- and Scully's confrontation with herself over her beliefs and fears of believing. This led Mulder (whether he and Scully were dating seriously yet or not, like I think they were) to toss his final, fearful reservations aside and COMMIT to Scully (publicly) in Millennium.

S7 was a good time for both, so much so their HEAVY traumas were weathered and survived with each other (Orison, Sein und Zeit.) Mulder knew Scully so well that her "I'm fine" in En Ami told him she was in trouble; and he adored her competence in The Goldberg Variation and The Amazing Maleeni and Theef and X-Cops and Hollywood A.D. so much he was practically melting.

Requiem was Mulder's realization that Scully's importance was so much greater than the quest, willing to set their life on the X-Files aside to live it peacefully with her (both afraid it was an alien problem or a cancer problem.)

The whole show proved how lost Mulder was without his Scully; S8 proved how lost Scully had become without Mulder. But STILL, she kept up an impressive solve rate, made connections personally and professionally, and somehow managed the Kersh boat so well he attended Mulder's funeral (for optics, yes; but he wouldn't have come if there wasn't something to preserve between his and Scully's good will. He would have made a nice statement, left before the service, and that would be that.)

S8 Mulder flounders in the face of Scully's competence WITHOUT him, not realizing that Scully solved so much because she took cases that were, likely, easily proven (especially after Mulder's death.) She'd come to rely on his instincts, and almost died or made a faulty move without him there. (That's why she was so grateful to Doggett and conflicted about leaving him so unceremoniously in Alone.) It culminates in Mulder believing Scully and her baby would be safer in a location far away from him, his confidence in himself at an all-time low; but he still charged after, commissioning a helicopter in his quest, to 'save' her once again. Mulder's smile at his partner and his son in the final moments of Existence are priceless.

If you want to argue for canon past S9, it was Scully who convinced Mulder to go on the run; he wanted to see her and his son all those months, writing forlorn emails to her; and his family were the first people he wanted to know about when he was brought back and incarcerated. He questioned himself and his quest in The Truth; and it was Scully who assured him (like she had in TFWID and FTF.) IWTB is a weird one, but Mulder only took up the case because Scully talked him into it; and he kept at it likely to help others but also to win his freedom and a "normal" life for Scully. The breakup was even weirder; but Scully was just as damaged as Mulder and decided they both needed space to reassess their lives and grow stronger as people (as unjustified and unexplored as that was in canon, it was at least better than the original reason of "we weren't compatible." ) Mulder spends the Revival winning back his love with his charming, more in-tune habits; and Scully enjoys their old dynamic and being wooed. The Finale was the weirdness cherry on top of the cake; BUT it was Mulder who was desperate to be a father and Scully who brought him back from the brink with the news of their second miracle. So... there's that.

I don't think the show is misogynistic. The show didn't JUST take from Agent Scully because it first pickpocketed, robbed, and beat up Mulder before she was ever partnered to him. Mulder's losses are tremendous; but he's so internal and monotoned that his grief is harder to detect compared to Scully, who is more visceral and a horrible liar (plus, the writers wrote about her tragedy a lot because GA's acting was so good they wanted to see her carry story after story. That's a compliment. Mulder got squat, especially after his mother's death and his abduction/PTSD.) Scully's story-- written mostly by men in the 90s-- rang so true with women audiences that she has a cult following to this day. GA was encouraged to write and direct her own episode, with a very supportive cast and crew there to aide her whenever necessary. I think good or bad writing is not confined to the sexuality of the writers; and to think so reduces the humanity and experiences of a person down to what genitalia they were born with... almost like that's *gasp* misogyny (literally denying Scully her choices and amplifying her faults while completely dismissing Mulder's losses and when he was done dirty by the writers). Or in this case: misandry.

"but believe what you want to believe I guess if you want to be delusional" I shall, indeed! :DDD If you want to live in a reality of your own making where Scully is a bossqueen but also a hapless victim, be my guest. Because you, dear anon, are stripping her of her agency; you, anon, are ignoring her own words she's repeated over and over to Mulder every time he second guessed himself and his work-- "I wouldn't change a day"; and you, anon, are only looking at pretty gifs of her face and thinking you somehow have the right to judge others for the life choices SHE made, erasing her own agency in the decisions that culminated in All Things and set her free from her own insecurities. That journey wouldn't have happened if she had "chosen another path"; and it wouldn't have gained her the devotion and admiration and respect of a man so much greater than anyone she had previously picked for herself. And let's be clear: Mulder would have made the EXACT same mistakes; and had already done so. It was fate they were to wind up together; but it was HER (and his) CHOICE to keep going.

Thanks for sending in an ask! Hate doesn't bother me; so, if you want to send more, it will give me motivation to prove the opposite~!

[joheunsaram]

In Plain Sight (knj)

Summary- After weeks of preparation and stress, you believed you were ready for the opening night of your restaurant. However, nothing could have prepared you for the sight of your ex waiting for you.

word count- 2k

pairing- idol!Namjoon x chef!Reader (feat. bff!Seokjin, brother!Jungkook)

rating- PG

genre- angst, exes to (maybe) lovers

warnings- none to note, Namjoon eats mincho

a.n- Happy birthday to my bae, Beezy @hobeemin​! I hope you had the best day and that this isn’t too late haha. I know you requested this for my March drabbles but I got carried away. Here’s some angst to heal your soul!

A huge shout out to @casuallyimagining​ and @missgarnet​ for beta reading! 💕

As always feedback appreciated, a reblog and a like goes a far way. Send me an ask! 💌

-

You sighed in relief as the first customers of the night started pouring in. This was it. This was what you had been working towards for the past ten years. After years of culinary school, slaving away as a sous chef and begging investors, tonight was the night that you unveiled your new restaurant.

You ran your clammy hands over your pants as you greeted your guests, the most radiant smile on your face, before checking in with the kitchen. Even before the grand opening, the fact that one of your investors was the beloved chef Baek Jong-won, had people excited about your restaurant. It had put a lot of pressure on you, but watching your head chef prepare the kitchen for the dinner rush calmed your nerves. It was comforting being in the back, the clatter of pans and shouts of commands made you feel at home.

“Checking up on me already, boss?” Seokjin asked, chuckling as he draped a towel over his shoulder. In addition to being your head chef, Seokjin was also your best friend, supporting you over the years to make your dream come true.

“Can never be too sure, what with your habit of getting distracted by your reflection,” you joked, earning a scowl and a whack from Seokjin’s towel. Pushing him back, you laughed as he yelled at you for almost killing him, his dramatics at an all time high, probably the same nerves churning through him as you.

Where the kitchen was chaotic, the front of the house was almost serene, a low rumble of conversation offset by a soft jazz playlist you had spent hours curating. Your nerves dissipated as the first orders arrived, the customers smiling and nodding at the first taste. 

Moving behind the bar, you checked on Jungkook, your younger brother and bartender. No one would have ever thought the two of you would end up working together, given the fights you had all through your childhood, the scar of one of them permanently etched on his cheekbone. 

“Did you invite him?” He asked as he shook a drink, the ice rattling obnoxiously in the metal container. 

“Who?” You asked, your nose scrunching at the aggressive way he made the drink. You swore if he broke another glass you were going to take it out of his paycheck, shared gene pool or not. 

“Namjoon,” he whispered theatrically, using his eyes to point towards the corner of the room. The sound of his name set you on edge, your heart in your throat. 

You hadn’t thought of your ex for over two years, since the night he walked out on you and you vowed to never let anyone take control of your happiness and leave you broken on a whim. However, that didn’t stop you from following your brother’s eyeline to the more secluded tables of your restaurant. 

He looked different. So different that it cracked the carefully constructed armour around you, a frown etching onto your features as you took him in. Dressed head to toe in black, you wouldn’t have noticed him if it weren’t for Jungkook.

He looked out of place, anxious, as he drummed his fingers on the menu, staring at it intently. The hood of his oversized jacket was atop his head concealing his dyed blonde hair, and his black mask was pulled low on his chin, leaving his bare face on display as if his new album wasn’t currently at number one. 

He was biting his lip, his brows scrunched together and it sent you back to two years ago, the memories flooding your brain as the ache you’d worked endlessly to ignore reared its ugly head once again. 

“We should break up,” Namjoon said, his lower lip between his teeth, as he stood in the doorway. He was still dressed in his outfit from the shoot he had returned from; a shiny silver bomber jacket adorned atop a plain black outfit, his makeup still on perfectly. It gave him an ethereal look, all flaws hidden from view as he looked at you in your striped blue pyjamas, hair up in a messy bun, face puffy from sleep. 

His words felt like you had been hit with ice water, like you were skating on a frozen river and it gave way from under you plunging you into a panicked cold that felt akin to a burn. You didn’t know how long he watched you, your face neutral after you demanded an explanation. 

“It’s not fair to you, Berry,” he said, voice soft and broken as he finally made his way to the bed. He sat as far away from you as he could and the distance seemed to stretch on for miles. You were confused by his sudden change. Just yesterday he had arrived home with smiles and cuddled into you immediately, just as he had done for the past three years, but today you were hard pressed to find that warmth, his gaze never meeting yours. 

“You don’t get to decide what’s fair to me,” you stated. “We are not breaking up.” Decision made, you slipped the cover over yourself as you reclined back into your supine position. 

“I can’t do this anymore,” he muttered, almost silently but the quiet of the room gave him away, his distraught weaving itself in your skull. 

“Juniper, let’s talk about this,” you pleaded, a hand reaching to grab onto his that he shrugged off. 

“No. If we talk about this you will convince me to stay and I just can’t do this anymore.”

“What did I do?” Your voice was soft, as if you spoke any louder it would startle the seemingly broken man in front of you. 

“It’s not you, it’s me,” he spoke the cliche, his dimples making an appearance in the sad smile he gave in your direction. You didn’t understand what was happening. Namjoon was a man of many words, slinging together poetry out of thin air in seconds, inspired by the mundane. He continued, talking over your thoughts, as he explained the reasons he was hurting you, the reasons he was a bad partner. All reasons that you have never even conceived - a product of his overthinking, anxious mind. Every time you would argue, he would counter with his own failings, like how he couldn’t make it to your culinary school graduation and how his fame made him unavailable to go to whenever you needed him. 

Namjoon cried, inconsolable even when you tried to assure him that his failings were in his imagination, that you were happy, content. But he had a notoriously one-track mind, and the only conclusion he could come to was that he couldn’t bear to be with you any more. 

“Seeing you always waiting for me breaks my heart,” he whispered as he held you, your face in his hands as he smiled for your benefit. You didn’t know how to convince him otherwise, but the way he kissed you, tasting of salt and regret, you knew it would be the last time he would do so. 

When he left that night, you finally cried, mourning a relationship that he snatched away from you, before the tears turned to rage, heartbreak manifested into indignation. 

“Are you going to talk to him?” Jungkook broke you out of your reverie just before you could further relive the sorrow. 

“No. Absolutely not. He can enjoy his solo dinner,” you replied, turning on your heels to go into your office, your excitement for the night overshadowed by Namjoon’s sudden reappearance. It wasn’t bad enough that you had to see him in your restaurant but as you turned on a random playlist fate decided that you would hear him too as he talked about your break up on his new single. His sultry vocals rapped about his self loathing and need to please only to realize that he left the only person who loved him for himself. You were bitter that he had this epiphany, bitter that he was monetizing on something that was as much your heartbreak as his. 

But what Namjoon wants, Namjoon gets, and as the dinner rush ended and the crowd dwindled with last call, he was still sitting in the corner table, sequestered away from eyes as he played with his dessert. He must have known that the chocolate bon bons were inspired by him, dubbed Juniper like you had called him all those years, and extra mint added just to spite him. The same way he had named his new song Back to Berry, an homage to no one else but you. 

When he refused to leave even after Jungkook asked, you had no choice but to act civil and make your way towards him. He gasped as you unceremoniously settled in the chair in front of him, eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. As if he had not been waiting three hours for this exact moment

“What are you doing, Namjoon?” You asked, arms folded across your chest as you glared at the face you once thought you couldn’t live without. 

“I’m eating dessert,” he answered, averting your hardened gaze to poke his fork at the food. 

“We’re closing,” you said, your hand waving to your wait staff that had started clearing tables and sweeping the floors. “And you hate mint chocolate,” you added as he took a bite. 

“It was calling my name,” he chuckled humourlessly, before he sighed pushing the plate away. He finally met your eyes then, a soft smile on his face, his dimples poking their way from his cheeks into your heart. “Congratulations. You did it.”

“Yeah. Alone.” You were bitter. He had left you, practically ghosted you for two years and now he thought it was okay to waltz back in?

“I’m sorry,” he said, dropping all pretenses as his hand reached towards you. “I’m so sorry, Berry.”

The use of his old nickname for you broke your heart and your facade as you looked at his hand placed directly in front of you on the table, a finger slowly caressing your forearm, almost out of reach. You couldn’t help the way your eyes glistened at his touch, tender and apprehensive. How could he think it was okay to come here? How could you think you wouldn’t forgive him if he asked?

In that moment all you wanted was to run back into his arms, kiss him, delve back into that chaotically beautiful brain of his, but your pride was stronger than all the apologies in the world. 

“It’s too late,” you said as you stood up, his head dropping as he retracted his hand back into his lap. “We’re closed. Goodbye, Juniper.” You gestured to the door, waiting for him to collect his bag, watching as he dropped much more money than his bill on the table before he made his way to the door. 

Turning around he looked at you, catching you staring at him with tear streaked cheeks. “I’m not going to give up, Berry”

“You never do, do you?”

“Never when it comes to you,” he said, covering his face with his mask and adjusting the hood atop his head before disappearing into the quiet street. 

That night you felt your defences weaken a little when you got a message from an unknown number. 

I forgot to tell you. I still miss you. Even after 708 days.

-

taglist: @cheesecakes-randomshitz​, @aroseforyoongi​, @awhnamjoon​, @agustdjoon​, @codeinebelle​ 

I hope you enjoyed the angst! For more fics of mine check out my masterlist

[scorsoneamelia]

I like the way you write II wanted to ask if you could write a story where there is a shooting and link is shot

thank you so much :’) i like this idea a lot!!

this is gonna be a big one sorry it took me a while to write because it’s heavy lol

yall are gonna hate me for ending this the way i did lol

tw: shooting

         The thing about life is that you never know what to expect, everyday you live life never knowing how the day is going to end. Some like the idea of never knowing, some think it makes life more meaningful while some people sit on the edge full of anxiety because they need to know when their last breath will be. It’s like how some will take a test to tell them if they have the cancer gene, the Alzheimer’s gene, a disease, etc., and some will refuse to know because they’d rather not know than always expect the worst.

         Death is so familiar to Amelia, she’s seen her own father fall to his death right in front of her, even though she might not remember it as well as her brother did, the trauma still impacted her. Rolling over to notice that her boyfriend’s heart was no longer beating and his body was ice cold, her brother getting ripped out of her life too soon; it’s all familiar to her. You’d think this is what she’d be used to, the worst case scenarios but nobody really is ever used to hear the worst news of your life, no matter how familiar it may be.

          They had just been leaving from a dinner with Link’s parents, and although neither have them have spoken or seen much of one another since the afternoon on the beach; since the proposal, it was quiet. The only time they’ve communicated lately is for the sake of their son, who was currently being watched by Meredith. Link told his parents they’d both be there because it was ‘easier’ than explaining the alternative. Dinner was fine, the least amount of awkward it could have been, both of them putting on a smile and an act which was easy for the two of them since they acted like a perfectly happy married couple for her sisters before. This was easy.

          Link parked the car in front of a gas station, a small one along the outskirts of the city because he needed gas and a snack, even though he just ate. Neither of them said much to one another besides, “Be right back.” which came from Link and he was already exiting the vehicle.

            Amelia hadn’t said much to Link directly since he picked her up, she wasn’t sure what the right thing to say was and whatever she wanted to say, he wouldn’t care to listen and she knew that. He was hurt; and he was upset and even though she had her own reasons and feelings, hers weren’t important because Link was hurt.

             Her finger was tapping down onto her contact list to find Meredith’s number, a heads up that they might be a little big longer than expected cause the drive home will be a long one. Her attention was diverted away because there was a loud noise; an explosion sound and there was screams immediately followed after. Civilians were running down the street, people jumping into their cars to speed away, the sound of their rubber tires squealing against the pavement along with screams; terrified screams. A young girl ran out of the gas station, blood soaking her pant leg from the knee down and she was crying, her hands were trembling and she was dialling 911 on her phone.

             The gas station, the realization came and a wave of panic hit her, her heart pounding against her chest and now her hands were shaking. A man was running to the bleeding girls side, putting pressure on her leg while she cried out. Quickly, Amelia pushed open the passenger door and the screams were even louder. “He has a gun!”

             It only took a few moments before Amelia was throwing the gas station door open, knowing damn well that if there really was someone with a gun in there that she’d be risking her life. But there was something that was making her go in there, she wasn’t thinking and her heart was beating so hard in her chest it felt like it was going to pop out, and her hands were shaking and she couldn’t keep them still. Just as she expected, a white man with dark brown hair had the man who worked behind the counter at the gas station at gun point. His finger hovering over the trigger and his knuckles white, the innocent man had his hands raised in the air. The man had a black cotton mask covering his face so you could only see his hazel eyes, a backpack secured to his shoulder.

              There was a chime when Amelia opened the door, attention being drawn to her and immediately her hands were raised into the air, her breath being caught in her throat. “Don’t move, or I shoot.” The guy wasn’t facing her yet, but his eyes were burning into her. This was all too familiar, way too familiar. A man being held at gunpoint that worked at a gas station, her being in the same building and her hands trembling.

               “Amelia,” Link had been hiding behind a corner and he came out to expose himself, the gunman turning his attention to Link and pointing it directly at him, only causing him to raise his hands as well. “Sir, please, don’t do this.”

                Now that the shooter had his back towards the clerk behind the counter and his gun facing Link, he slowly reached for the cellphone to dial all emergency vehicles. Amelia didn’t move, she was frozen in place and her hands were still raised in the air and she was breathing deeply and slowly because she was about to have a panic attack. “One step and I shoot!” The man yelled, his voice was deep and it sent a chill down Amelia’s spine.

                “Link,” Amelia choked out, her voice thick with terror and there were tears trying to escape her eyes. “Link.” She said again, a cry coming out through her throat.

                 “Shut up!” The man yelled even louder, stepping closer to Link, his grip tightening around the gun. “I will shoot every single one of you.” There was no doubt this man would, there was a look in his eyes, a look that would terrify anyone.

                 There was sirens off in the distance, meaning someone had already called because the innocent man behind the counter couldn’t hold the phone still by how much his hands were shaking. The gun man heard the sirens, his eyes looking over at her as if she called them. “This pretty boy your boyfriend?”

                 “Uh,—“ was she supposed to lie in this type of situation? “Yes—, yes he’s my boyfriend.” Her breath was caught in her throat, it felt like she couldn’t breathe, like her throat was closing in on her.

                 “That’s too bad,” the guy laughed. His laugh was evil, the type of evil that made your stomach turn. A group of police cars rolled up at the front of the building, sirens and lights on and police men and women were surrounding the building within seconds. “Fuck!” He was yelling now, a frustrated hand running through his hair and he was bringing the gun down away from Link’s chest. Link thought it was enough time for him to make a run for it, ducking down and trying to make it to the front door.

                There was a ringing in her ears after the gun was drawn and the man’s finger pushed down onto the trigger, the bullet embedding into Link’s rib cage, blood wetting his white coloured shirt. She stopped breathing, it getting stuck at the bottom of her throat and her chest was tight. She could feel her heartbeat throughout her entire body, she could hear it in her ears and her hands wouldn’t stay still. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe and her chest was closing in. Her vision was blurry, black auras surrounding her eyes, and she was lightheaded, so dizzy she might fall over and it felt like her knees were about to buckle.

             The door behind her was thrown open and the chime went off throughout the store, her ears still ringing and she could barely hear anything. “Hands in the air!” The police were inside now, all guns drawn to the suspect. “Drop the gun!”

            She still stood there, losing her balance and grabbing onto one of the counter tops behind her. Link was laying on the ground, blood pouring out of his side and he was coughing, his face scrunched up in pain. His hand was reaching down and covering the injury with his palm, trying to put pressure on his own wound. Amelia couldn’t move, her legs were giving out and her entire body was shaking.

            She stood there for a few more moments, as the gun man tried to escape, running to the back of the store and one police man was talking to the man who worked at the station and another was standing over Link, calling for emergency back-up.

            “Sir,” the police woman was kneeling next to Link, addressing the injury. “Can you hear me? You’re gonna be okay, the ambulance is on their way.” Link was groaning and you could hear his pain.

             “Oh my god,-“ Amelia finally snapped out of it, running over to Link’s side, placing both of her hands on top of his ribcage putting as much pressure on the wound as she could. “Link, oh my god.” She was stumbling over her own words, panic arising.

             “Stay— Stay with me! You’re not dying, stay awake!” She was yelling, completely terrified, you could hear it in her voice and you could hear her crying. “Link, I love you so much, okay? I love you, I’m sorry...” She was in hysterics, you could make an ocean by the amount of tears that were streaming down her face.

            Her hands were covered in blood, and she was continuing to hold pressure. “Stay with me, Link, don’t close your eyes. Don’t-“ she choked on her own years. “Don’t leave me too.”

           Link was coughing even more now, she could see spots of blood in his mouth and his eyes were fluttering shut, so much pain written all over his face. “No, no, no!! No!!” Amelia was yelling even louder now, a police officer having to step in and try and comfort her. “You’re not leaving me too! No! Link! I love you, I love you!”

          “Ma’am,” the police officer said, placing a hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “No! Don’t touch me!” Amelia snapped, one of her hands reaching up to his throat and she could feel a pulse, it was faint and weak but it was there.

         “His pulse is weak, we’re not losing him! I am not letting you guys lose him.” Her hands were moving to the centre of his chest now, and she was doing CPR, because she needed him alive. 

         “I can’t do it without him, I won’t- I won’t survive this.” She wasn’t lying. She will not survive this. She can’t lose another person that she loves, especially to a gunshot.

          The police officer had the audacity to try and pull Amelia off while her bloody hands where pushing down on the middle of his chest, trying her best to keep him alive. “No!” Amelia screamed, using one of her hands quickly to shove the police officer away.

           “No! He’s dying, what are you doing?!” Ignoring the police, she continued giving Link CPR, also ripping her jacket off to put it against his wound. “I’m a doctor, I know what I’m doing.”

           She was sobbing, her entire body taken over with cries and shakes. There was still ringing in her ears and she was trying to slow her breathing so that she wouldn’t have a panic attack. There was so much blood, it was pooling on the floor and his white shirt was almost completely dark red and Amelia’s hands and wrists were coloured. She’s a doctor, a damn surgeon, she should be used to the sight of blood but there was so much. She could hear the sirens off in the distance meaning an ambulance was coming, he might be okay. She hopes he’ll be okay, she’s praying. Link’s eyelashes were slowly opening and then slowly closing, his hand weakly reaching for Amelia’s that was moving up and down on his chest. A weak cough escaped his lungs. “Please-“ She cried out, there was blood on her own shirt now.

            A team of paramedics and a gurney was next to Amelia, and they were taking over and instead of leaving them to do their job, she leaned over and grabbed Link’s face in her hands. “I can’t do this without you, Link, I love you.”

           The paramedics where then lifting him onto a gurney, a mask put over his face while one of the paramedics pumped it, giving him some oxygen. She grabbed his hand, hers shaking in his and his was weak, but his fingers were loosely intertwined with hers. They were rushing him into the back of the ambulance, and she followed, sitting down beside him in the van while paramedics worked to keep him alive.

             “I’m in love with you,” she whispered, tightening her grip on his hand. “Oh my god, I’m in love with you. Please god, I need him to live.” She was praying, begging, she needed him.

             The ambulance was already making their way to the hospital, Grey Sloan being the closest. She pulled his hand up to her cheek and there was still tears spilling out of her face, and her other hand was running through his hair softly. “You’re going to be okay.”

————————

             The doors of the ambulance flew open and the paramedic jumped out, pulling the gurney out with her. “GSW to the chest, pulse is there but it’s weak.” Owen Hunt, head of trauma was the one who was there to treat him, followed by her sister, head of cardio, Maggie Pierce.

              “Oh my god.” Maggie said softly, stopping in her tracks for a brief moment to focus on what she was looking at. Link in a gurney, covered in blood, and Amelia was also covered, stepping down from the ambulance. She was concerned, very worried, and confused why her sister was covered in blood. “What happened?”

             “Crazy gunman,” Amelia’s voice was so soft that Maggie could barely here her. Her eyes were puffy and it was obvious that she hadn’t stopped crying. “There was a robbery at the gas station and he shot him.” She broke down in tears again, falling to the ground. “He shot him, Maggie. I saw it happen, I saw-“

             Maggie kneeled down in front of her while Owen rushed Link inside the hospital to bring him into a trauma room. “Hey,” Maggie whispered. “I’m going to do everything I can to save him.”

            “Please-“ she choked out. “Please make sure he’s okay.”

             While she stood outside the window of the ER room, it felt like the world was moving in slow motion. The doctors working on Link were moving slowly, in her mind, and they were assessing the situation, their stress levels through the roof. Amelia’s hands were still shaking and she was covered in blood, if nobody knew what happened they’d think she was the one who was hurt.

            “He’s crashing!” Maggie yelled, immediately moving to his chest to start compressions. “I need a crash kart!”

             The nurses were running in with a kart with a defibrillator, soon after Maggie reached down for them. “Charge to 300!” She yelled and placed them on both sides of his chest before telling everyone to clear, and then they shocked him.

          “No rhythm, charge to 400.” She places the paddles on each side again before the shocked him once more. “C’mon.”

           “We have a rhythm!” Maggie yelled, placing the paddles back onto the kart. Amelia let out a sigh of relief before Bailey was running over, peering into the trauma room window herself.

            “Oh my god, what happened?” Bailey asked, slightly reaching over and touching Amelia’s shoulder for support, but she was numb. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak, the world was moving in slow motion around her. Her mind was all over the place, and she kept feeling dizzy.

           “I have to bring him to surgery.” Maggie said, coming around the corner while pulling the gurney with her. “I’m going to do everything I can do.”

            “I’m coming with you,” Amelia finally spoke, stepping forward and grabbing onto the gurney. Her pulse was still high, and her mind was still fuzzy.

            “You’ll wait in the waiting room like every other family member.” Bailey ordered, which made Amelia’s eyes roll and a huff came out of mouth.

           “Please, Bailey.”

           “It’s the rules, you know that.” And Amelia gave up, because it was the rules. She would have to wait like everybody else, and try to be patient but she felt like she won’t be able to sit still.

            “I’ll give you updates as much as I can.” Maggie brushed her shoulder before they were going through the Authorized Personnel Only sign and she was sliding down the wall. She couldn’t cry anymore, it was like she was out of tears. She sat on the floor, her back pressed against the wall while the blood dried onto her sink. She didn’t want to move, she couldn’t move. The waiting room was too far, she thinks waiting here on the floor is a better idea.

            How can something like this happen again? How can she relive something as traumatic as this? Will she even survive this?

[jeongyunhoed]

Past-Present-Future Black Dahlia

Two major tragedies bring Lee Mirae closer to the edge as she goes through the stages of grief in a more violent manner that would affect not only her relationships with her boyfriend Jeong Yunho and her half-brother Choi San, but also has her becoming closer with the immortal mutant Kang Yeosang. Fueled by rage, grief, and pain, along with a very rude awakening that has Mirae spiraling out of control and questioning everything she holds dear.

Group: ATEEZ Member: Yunho Pairing: Jeong Yunho / OC Genre: Action, adventure, angst, fantasy

Watch Out! : Violence, blood, death, grief and loss, major character deaths, use of weapons, some jealousy (but no cheating ofc), implied smut (not sure if there is any but i’m putting it out there nonetheless), mental illness (probably?), gambling and alcohol

Anything else? : Mentions of other idols of course as well as other characters. SuperM, Dean, Chanyeol, Zelo, soloist Park Jihoon to name a few.

Author’s Note: Again, interesting things happen when you wing it. Look out for a cool fight scene, I think one of the best fight scenes I’ve written if I do say so myself. It was a challenge to write Yunho’s though, spoiler alert. But I hope this chapter brings us closer to a possible conclusion, or at least gives us an idea of how things could end. 

Masterlist

Chapter 7

Yunho could see the horizon from where he stood, feeling the wind come east, swooping by him. This was where the portal brought him. One moment he was at the grounds of the school, and the next he was in this town that seemed deserted, looking like something out of an old western movie. It reminded him of the place where cowboys were, and for some reason, it reminded him of his time in Morocco. 

He needed to look for a way out, or a way back, realizing what he heard. Mirae had refused to join them, out of Ino getting Baekhyun out of the way, out of the fact that they probably wouldn’t keep their promise of getting him and San back to her. He knew what was going on, only he didn’t know how to get out and not even his teleporting might help as he didn’t know where to go. 

Yunho closed his eyes, trying to hear Mirae again in the hopes of reaching out to her. He wondered if her refusing Ino meant that she was back, back to being the person he knew her to be, if she was back to being the person who could only grieve without getting people hurt. 

As he opened his eyes, Yunho felt a strange pounding in his chest, as if he was nervous. The surroundings had changed, at least how the village he found himself in changed, as he could still see the same dirt road ahead. Everything was a lot more colorful, shades of blue mixed in with the shades of rust. The rest of the colors seemed to be in the fabrics of stalls near buildings that were castle-like. 

It was like he was back. Back in the place where his immortality, his mutant gene took effect. The only thing that seemed to be missing were the scorch marks and patches of blood, even his own wounds. 

Yunho remembered the days of hiding out, disguising himself countless times to blend in. But he also remembered the times his teleportation would fluctuate whenever he was hiding in dark street corners at night, unintentionally scaring off children. He felt a nervousness that he hadn’t felt in a while, a feeling of dread as he looked around the deserted village. 

“This is taking you back, isn’t it?” 

Ino suddenly appeared in front of him along with Ten. Yunho stopped in his tracks. “Mirae made the wrong decision in refusing to join us. I have to admit, I feel disappointed,” The elder male said. 

“You feel disappointed? What about Mirae? What about Hyuk? What about Chanyeol? What about us? You betrayed us, betrayed our trust!” Yunho’s voice was raised. “You think you have the right to feel betrayed? You?!” 

“Hyuk and Chanyeol’s deaths were the price to pay in order to move our agenda forward. It’s time mutants really had some influence in the world. We’ve got powers, everyone else does not. If a few mutants dying is part of the process, then so be it,” Ino insisted. 

“So all this time, the Ino that we know, the Ino that Mirae knows, is bent on power after all…” Yunho said quietly. “Then Mirae is right to want to get at you too. As a matter of fact, everyone else that’s in here does.” 

“It might be so, but just like Hyuk and Chanyeol, it is also a price to pay to move forward a greater cause, for mutantkind,” Ino said. 

“What does that make you? Are you the leader for all of us?” Yunho glared at him. 

“Uh, we’ll get around to that,” Ten pointed out. “We’ve yet to elect the leader of this...whatever this is.” 

“Well, I am quite powerful, Yunho. I thought you knew that,” Ino said. 

“What is this world coming to?” Yunho looked down. He tried to get to Mirae again. “Where is San? Where did you put him?” He asked. 

“Tsk tsk tsk, I can’t tell you that,” Ten smirked. “As much as I can’t tell you what you remember from looking at this place. Brings back memories, doesn’t it? That last mission you had, your life since that day. People you’ve met, people you’ve… killed. And as a result of your mutant ability too. Don’t think we don’t know where you’ve been.” 

“Old habits die hard,” Yunho replied, but he could feel a little tinge of discomfort at his words. 

“That, it does,” Ten was grinning. “I suppose by the way you’re just standing still, you know there is nothing you can do right now.” 

“There’s always something. Ino knows it too,” Yunho glanced at the elder male again. “All I know is, at least I’m not the one running away from Mirae.” 

Ino’s face remained stoic. “I’m no coward, Yunho.” 

“Yes you are. It doesn’t change the fact that you made everyone else do the dirty work, just like you allowed Baekhyun and Jongin to tamper with the Danger Room. You didn’t let them in, they had to figure it out for themselves. Just like how you did nothing when you knew something was wrong,” Yunho pointed out as if to taunt him.

“There is a fine line between strategy and cowardice.” 

“And you’ve blurred that line.” 

“Are we going to continue this little repartee?” Ten asked, rolling his eyes. “We have to go back. They’ll need you to start operations.” 

Yunho smirked. “There is always a way, Ino hyung. I’m not running away from Mirae, you are.” 

Ino and Ten returned to the portal, Yunho catching a glimpse of where they were going. An island. “We’ll be back,” Ten said over his shoulder, and the portal disappeared. 

~ 

Powdery white snow fell on San’s head as he tried to figure out where he was while keeping himself warm. He wasn’t sure what happened. One moment, he was at the grounds of the abandoned school, running towards Mirae who had called out to him, the next moment he was at a forked road of what was a snowy mountainside, without his harpoon on him. 

San wasn’t sure where he was either. He didn’t know if this was still part of the place that they were in, or if this was somewhere else entirely. All he knew was that he needed to go back to the grounds of the school or at least to the place where everyone else would be. 

He stood in the middle of the forked road. It seemed unlikely that cars or even people would be coming any moment, and it made him think of the possible outcomes if he chose one road. If he chose the one going up, he might have an idea of where to go. If he chose the road going forward, he would see what else he would have to deal with if he decided to go. 

San thought of Mirae, what she would do in a situation like this, and without another thought, he ran up the road going upwards, looking up from time to time to see how far he had to go. It wasn’t going to be that far, but he knew he didn’t have much time. San kept running, only to skid to a halt, almost falling over when he realized he dodged a dart. Looking at it closely, the dart looked very familiar, almost too familiar. 

“Choi San!” 

He felt a chill down his spine at the call of his name. The voice sounded just as familiar and looking at the dart and out from the view where he heard his name, he realized just how familiar the place he was in was. The more his name was called by that same voice, San broke into a run again, taking large strides up the road that would lead to the mountaintop. 

“I can’t be back here, I just can’t,” San muttered, unable to shake off the sudden pang of dread that came over him upon seeing the dart and from hearing the voice. His thoughts immediately went back to the road ahead and seeing that there wasn’t much distance left until he reached the top, his eyes and fingertips glowed. San jumped on to the side, his hands immediately boring holes into the rock with a faint crack as he climbed his way up, his feet then making use of the holes he made with his hands.

As soon as he reached the top, he saw a frozen pond, along with visibly empty tents and a broken down car. “Choi San!” He heard the voice call out to him again, and San whipped around, on alert of what may come at him from here. He could only feel the chill from the wind where he stood. 

“Gives you goosebumps, doesn’t it, the place where you came from, or, where you first ran away to.” 

San turned around. From the rocks appeared Taeyong, smirking. “Where am I?” He asked. 

“Ten thought we’d bring you back to a place familiar to you. We know more about you than you think, you know, and I didn’t even need to read your mind to know what’s happened to you before you uh, found your sister.” 

“I don’t have anything to prove to you, if you know what I’ve been through then you know what I’ve been through,” San said. “If you’re trying to get into my head right now, you’re not doing a very good job.” 

“Oh really?” Taeyong raised a brow. 

“Yeah,” San was smirking. “For instance, you probably don’t know the exact details of what happened in this place.” 

“You are insulting my intelligence,” His expression stiffened. 

“Good, because that means you really don’t know,” San reached into his pocket. 

“If you’re thinking of trying to kill me, think again,” Taeyong pointed to his temple. “Then again, it might be fun to see you try.” 

“Why don’t we try it then?” San grinned, quickly ducking out of the way when he saw shards of ice go his direction, crashing into the nearby trees. He kept running, skidding against the snow to kick the powdery ice into the psychic’s face, catching him off guard and making him fall over. “What’s the matter? Can’t keep up?” He taunted, picking up the buried chain he remembered close to the car, cracking the string of metal like a whip towards him. 

Taeyong kept backing away, sending the car up from its place and towards him. San’s eyes glowed bright as he whipped the vehicle away and making it fall to the ground, the car overheating as it fell back close to the edge of where they stood. 

Taeyong dismantled the tent, revealing what else was inside, the poles used to hold it up charging towards him. San whipped the metal poles away, catching one in time. “You’re being quite generous,” San grinned, striking the ground with the pole and sending a wave of energy. Taeyong fell over, turning into his diamond form. 

“You’re leaving me with no choice,” He said, getting back up and charging towards San, who quickly moved to wrap the chain around his neck, tugging on it tightly.

“You underestimate me. You forget to realize I am Mirae’s brother. I learned a few things from her,” San kept his hold on the psychic’s neck, squeezing the chains tied around him tightly. “Go ahead and turn back to normal, I dare you.” 

Taeyong coughed and sputtered while San kept his hold on the chains, until he burst into laughter. “Go ahead and try and kill me, my brother’s going to come after you.” 

“I’ll take that chance,” San’s eyes were still glowing and he pushed Taeyong back, the chains still on his neck as it exploded. He tossed a black disk he found in his pocket towards the explosion quick enough to whistle, the explosion growing bigger until it dissipated, with the psychic’s body on the ground. Or at least, remnants of him in his human form. San figured he tried to change back when he let go of the chain only to be met with the explosive disk he threw.  

The ground under his feet began to rumble, and San looked up, sensing the presence of more snow coming from above. The layer of snow from the peak of the mountain where he was broke off and began to slide downhill, towards where he was. San picked up the fabric used for the tent, smirking to himself at the items that he saw came from under it and jumped off the edge, using the fabric to glide down the mountain and onto the forest below. 

The rumbling grew louder as he saw the avalanche had settled onto where he was earlier. San landed on the ground, stumbling as he hit the snow, looking back up from where he came from. All he had to figure out was how to get out of the place. He wondered where Yunho was, and where the rest of them were. He needed to run. 

From a distance, he heard someone yell, followed by a strong gust of wind coming from the north. The sky had turned cloudy, coupled with thunder and lightning. “Taeyong!” San heard a booming voice from the same place. 

“Must be Taeyong’s brother,” San muttered to himself as he kept running, seeing a clearing ahead. The closer he got, the more he saw where it led to. A harbor, only the ocean was an inky black. 

~ 

Mirae stared at the ruins of the school. Now that Ino had disappeared, she had been staring at the buildings that had disintegrated because of her powers. Destruction was all she seemed to think about now that she knew who to look for. She could hear Yunho’s thoughts, having encountered Ino as he was trapped in a village Ten had created. Ino was a coward no matter how much he’d deny it. 

If they wanted a monster, they would get a monster. 

“Mirae?” Hongjoong was standing close by. 

“My dear?” Yeosang had called as well. He groaned in his place, parts of his dark hair already turning white. “I need to feed, we’re running out of time. Project Apocalypse will be activated.” 

“Save it for when we see them again then,” Seonghwa pointed out. 

Mirae didn’t speak, and Wooyoung could tell what she was feeling. It made him step forward as well. “Mirae? I know you’re hurting, and I can tell how you’re feeling…” He tried to say it as carefully as possible. 

Her eyes were welling with tears. What am I without Hyuk? Without Chanyeol? Without Jihoon? Without Yunho? Without San? She thought, as she observed the cracks in the ground. “Like a monster,” She muttered. 

Wooyoung shook his head. “No. I know you feel like you’ve lost everyone you love, but I can tell you. I promise you, Mirae, you didn’t lose everyone-” 

“It’s so easy for you to say that, isn’t it?” Mirae glanced at him. 

“No, it’s not. Well, in a way, it is, but that’s not the point,” Wooyoung said. “I’ve sensed what is most likely going to happen, and we’ll get them back, Yunho and San.” 

Mirae looked down again, her eyes and fingertips glowing. Hongjoong exchanged looks with Wooyoung, and he approached her, the rest of them carefully following behind. “My dear, your shadowy friend is right,” Yeosang spoke. “I know how you feel.” 

“No you don’t,” Mirae shook her head, facing them. “You have no fucking idea how I feel right now.” 

“That’s fair, maybe we don’t,” Hongjoong said. “But Wooyoung’s point still stands. You didn’t lose everyone as much as they’re trying to make you think. You still have Yunho, you still have San, you still have executive Kang, whatever he is to you,” He turned to the vampiric-looking mutant, frowning slightly at the changes in his appearance. “You still have us too.” 

“We followed you here. Teamwork like ours, it’s not something that can just go away, we’ve all been through the same thing in that sanitarium, remember?” Seonghwa said. “Junhong is still here too. He’s waiting for us in the van right now. Mirae, you’re not as alone as you think you are, as they think you are. You still have us.” 

“Mirae, please,” Mingi’s expression fell.

“We, all of us, haven’t been together again for a while,” It was Jongho’s turn to speak. “We’d honestly still be lost if it weren’t for the three of you finding us again.” 

Yeosang put his hand on her shoulder, Mirae sensing the coldness of his touch even through her clothes. “For so long, I have pushed away so many people, thinking that this was the only way to survive. That was until I met you. All of us here are with you, my dear. Even your technology-affiliated friend who is waiting for us outside. We will get Yunho and San back, I promise you. I only ask that you not make the same mistake towards everyone else who has grown to care for you.”

“Come with us. Please,” Hongjoong said quietly. “...We need our leader back. Just like old times.” 

“I wish it was that simple,” Mirae said.

“And it is. It can be simple, my dear,” Yeosang said. “Come with us, my dear Mirae. I promise you, you have not lost everyone you love as much as they’re trying to make you think you have.” 

Mirae glanced at all of them, seeing how their expressions were all hopeful that maybe, just maybe, their words had gotten through to her. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she wasn’t feeling that bubbling anger inside her, as if it was slowly getting replaced by a feeling of calm that she couldn’t quite comprehend. The feeling of calm was similar to what she felt after that time Jihoon died, along with her adoptive parents.  

It made her think of them. It made her think of what Chanyeol and Hyuk would’ve done. A part of her wanted to stay angry, but another part of her, a bigger part of her, knew that Chanyeol and Hyuk would never want her to turn out the way she was acting right now. She knew not even Jihoon would be cheering for her with all the damage she had caused so far. It seemed to be a relief that not even her home, back in the city, was damaged yet at this point. 

“One of these days, we’ll do a mission again, just the three of us.”

“Yeah, someone needs to watch your back this time. You nearly got your powers taken away.” 

“Lee Mirae, you’re getting sappy.” 

“Even with the way things ended back then. I’m glad the three of us found each other.” 

Mirae closed her eyes, remembering the last conversations she had with them. Hot tears trickled down her face. “I really wish it was that simple,” She whispered. “I want them back.” 

Yeosang could only keep his hand on her shoulder, unsure of whether to go nearer but sensing that Hongjoong was already doing the same. “I know you do. Hyuk hyung, Chanyeol hyung, I know you want them back, but they're in a much better place now, don’t you think?”

“Just as much as I want them back too,” Mirae said, making the rest of them stare at her, realizing what she meant. 

~ 

Yunho stopped in his tracks as he stepped out of one dark place to another in the village he was in. He heard her thoughts, heard what was going on with her. A small smile played across his lips, realizing what she said, why she was reaching out to him at this time. She was back, at least it seemed like it. 

Yunho ran towards another shadowy alley, trying to teleport, picturing the abandoned school, only to end up in another alley just by seeing the colored kaftans hanging from the two-floored houses he was surrounded by. 

Before he could teleport again, Mark appeared and kicked him out of the alley. “Jeong Yunho is it?” He said, seeing Yunho slide down the road, a scratch evident in his face only for it to heal completely. “A fellow external, this is excellent.” 

“Yeah, what about it?” Yunho got back up on his feet. “You do know we can actually kill each other, right?” 

“I am very well aware. Yeosang’s already weakening, it’s your turn,” Mark kicked him again and disappeared, reappearing behind the taller and punching him. Yunho stumbled to the side but quickly got back up, figuring out where Mark would reappear next. 

Yunho smirked. “Two can play this game,” He closed his eyes, letting his instincts guide him on where the other male would reappear. Before he knew it, he reappeared in another alley, and in another, and another, realizing that the sky was getting dark. “Let’s play hide and seek then! You hide and I’ll seek!” He called out, teleporting from one spot to another, stopping at the empty fountain. 

“With pleasure,” Mark reappeared, only for the taller to grab him by the collar, both of them teleporting from one spot to another in the midst of their scuffle. Yunho kept his grip on Mark, punching him several times until kicking him, the two of them reappearing and landing on opposite directions. “We have all night, Yunho, give up already?” 

“I’m just getting started,” Yunho charged towards Mark, only to vanish halfway through the run, reappearing in a puff of black smoke behind the shorter, tackling him into a headlock. “Losing your touch already, old man?” He taunted, the shorter coughing and sputtering. “Try and teleport, I’m going with you all the way.” 

Mark groaned and sucker punched him, but Yunho kept his hold on him as they teleported from one place to another. “You realize while I’m here, the rest of my friends are already trying to activate Project Apocalypse as we speak,” He coughed, trying to break free but his strength was waning. 

“Trying, they’re only trying,” Yunho kept his hold. “You tell me where the hell am I and where San is and I might just let you live,” He threatened. “You should be familiar with what happened here, since all of you know things about me.” 

“That I am,” Mark sucker punched him again before trying to poke his eyes. Yunho ducked in time to throw him off, running into another shadowy part of the place and disappearing. “This is testing my patience,” He cracked his knuckles and reappeared inside what looked like the inside of a blockhouse that he knew was still within the village. 

Mark looked around, trying to sense a presence within the confined walls of the fortified space. “You really think Mirae’s going to go back to you?” He called out. “She’s far down the rabbit hole of her rage. But I am amazed that Yeosang got through to her more than her own boyfriend,” He said, removing the blankets and the sheets from the nearby beds. “Based from your thoughts and memories, she thought you were looking the other way. I can’t blame either of you, though. Both of you seem to be much better apart than you are together-” 

Yunho had reappeared behind him, kicking him before he could teleport and knocking him down, the taller quickly kicking his leg to keep him down. “You were saying?” He asked. “Get us out of here, why don’t you?” 

Mark smirked. “Bold of you to assume I will easily give in to that.” 

“Want to bet?” Yunho kicked his other leg down, hearing the bones crack. “You teleport, I teleport with you.” 

“Alright, alright,” Mark groaned, the pain in his legs still present as he faced the taller male. “It’s clear that we are evenly matched at the moment,” He crawled to his feet, only for Yunho to pull him back down by the ankle. 

“I don’t think it’s even at the moment,” Yunho kicked his leg down again, making him yelp in pain. “You’re going to take me to Mirae, and you’re going to bring San back, do you understand? But first, I need information.” 

“Do you really think torturing me is going to get me to tell you where Project Apocalypse is located?” Mark gave him a look. 

“We’re both immortals, we’ve got the rest of our never-ending lives, and we’ve got the time, you might as well tell me,” Yunho drove his foot further into Mark’s leg. “I’ve certainly got the time to break these bones over and over again.” 

“Alright! I will have to concede in this battle,” Mark spat. “If you had any knowledge in how plans like these work, you would’ve already figured out by now that the rest of the country will be seeing our entrance soon.” 

“Mhmm,” Yunho got the idea, but he still drove his foot down on Mark’s broken leg. “Where there?” 

“The city, where else? Seoul itself is about to see once more what happens when powerful mutants like ourselves can take power.”

[thetiredbiwrites]

And then...

Dad!Tony x Son!Reader

(mentions of Uncle Rhodey)

Anon: // hello can you do angsty tony x Son reader. Tony and reader has strained relationship and they we're not in good terms, Tony prefer Peter than his son but it got change when both of them got kidnapped, they been together for a few days and slowly they reconciled. Soon they got save by the avengers but the Son Reader notice that one kidnapper pulled a weapon to Tony then R save his father, he got shot then Tony is scared to see his son dying. Its up to you the ending. ☺

A/N: Thank you for the Tony request 🤗🤗 Hope this is ok! (I love dad!Tony, I think he’d be so good...even though this fic is on a different note🤔😂)

Warnings: Cliff hanger end. It was getting pretty long and I wanted to upload something before bed (which also means it hasn’t been checked but oh well, I’ll re-read it tomorrow) BUT I do plan on doing a part 2 :)

(Also swearing, just always assume swearing)

Words: 3100+

Tony’s relationship with his son had always been strained. Ever since he was practically dumped on his doorstep at 4 years old.

Tony had no prior knowledge that he has a kid, none of the women he’s been with had ever even told him they were pregnant. But if he was being honest with himself, it didn’t surprise him. With the way he got around it was bound to happen eventually.

He just wished he’d known from the beginning.

Having a 4 year old left in his care with no warning put him in a whole new territory he was completely unprepared for.

A baby gives you time to prepare and are essentially a ‘blank slate’ at birth. A 4 year old has experiences, like and dislikes, routines, a connection to someone who abandons them with a stranger…

At the time, Tony was still a playboy, out at events and travelling a lot. As well as CEO of a company manufacturing weapons for the military. He didn’t have time for a child. To break through recently arisen trust and abandonment issues and build a relationship.

He cared about his son. Always made sure he had everything he needed or wanted, a good education and was in good health. But forming personal, emotional connections can’t be done with money, and Tony could barley cope with his own true emotions.

It quickly became clear that they did not share talents or interest in maths, sciences or mechanics. His son struggled especially with maths and Tony initially really did try to help, finally thinking something was in his element and he could bond.

But elementary (followed by middle and high) maths was so simple and automatic for Tony’s brain that he found it difficult to slow down and explain the process to the young boy.

He hired a tutor in his place.

That’s not to say Tony expected or needed his son to be a genius in the same subjects as him. He didn’t need his son to follow him (or his father) to be worthy of his time. But it would have made it easier.

Instead, his son excelled in English and arts, and was amazing in the kitchen. He loved to write stories, create pictures to accompany them and experimenting with new recipes.

Unfortunately, Tony did not excel in these areas, thus distancing them further.

At least he wasn’t taking after his father though. He didn’t force his son into one path or degrade him. No forcing him to grow up, giving him alcohol at a ridiculously young age or sending him away to be completely alone.

Tony often wondered himself if he’d have taken the path he did if his father hadn’t pushed him. If he’d be the same person without the verbal abuse and constant neglect of his father.

He wasn’t blind to his emotional distance and lack of bond to his son. Or to the connection the boy had to both Rhodey and Pepper. He could see that his son was connect to the two people he trusted the most and he was glad.

When Rhodey was available, being in the air force meant he wasn’t always around, he made sure to take the boy out, go to school events and even read his stories, giving feedback and support.

Pepper made herself available if he ever needed to talk and was always willing to taste test.

Even Happy was around to take him where he needed to go, training in the gym and joke with.

So even if the young boy didn’t have a relationship with his father, he had adults around to support and love him and help him through life.

It didn’t stop him wishing he did have a relationship to his father though.

 While MIA in Afghanistan, Tony realised he wanted to try harder to build a relationship to his nearly teenaged son.

It didn’t happen.

He returned home and completely changed his company, which required a lot of time. His guilt also led in him to putting on that damn suit and trying to save the world.

And then he nearly died from palladium poisoning.

And then New York was attacked by aliens and the avengers were formed.

And then Tony had PTSD; anxiety, panic attacks and nightmares.

And then ‘terrorists’ blew up their house and nearly killed Happy and Pepper.

And then murderous robots.

And then the avengers broke up.

And then Tony worked with the UN to amend the accords and set up more help and cleaning crews. Back to lots of travelling.

And then…

And then… Peter.

It never eased up and his son turned 18.

His son made excuses over the years. He genuinely was busy and obviously struggled with relationships. Maybe he’s just not paternal? You can’t blame someone for trying to save lives either.

Of course he was aware it isn’t all on Tony, he could have tried harder to bond with his father as well.

But then Peter came along.

Scientifically and mathematically gifted Peter.

Superhero Peter.

Enthusiastic, smart and funny 15 year old Peter.

And then Tony had the time.

He made the time.

For Peter.

To talk to him. Help with his homework and superheroing.

Teaching him. Training him.

They spent a lot of time in the workshop and lab.

Tony was always so interested in what Peter had to say. Whether is was about science or mechanics, school, spider-man or even teenage romance.

It came so easily and naturally to Tony.

He had the time.

Even the team had noticed this relationship and dubbed them ‘Iron-Dad and Spider-Son’.

That hurt.

The time he overheard Clint comment, ‘why couldn’t we have had dad-Tony this whole time?’ really stung.

Tony’s been a dad, to a son, the entire time he’s known the avengers.

He didn’t hate Peter though. It’s not his fault and he’s actually perfectly nice. But to see his father so easily bond with another kid in a short time made him realise that he’d never get that father-son relationship.

Tony is paternal. Just not for him.

--

His eyes fluttered open, the ground cold against his face.

Wait, ground? What-

A groan passed his lips as he sat up, pressing a hand to the side of his head where pain radiated.

He blinked the fuzziness from his eyes, trying to remember how he got there, but the last thing he could recall was leaving the Stark Industries event after supporting Pepper.

The room was dull and very basic. With stone walls and floor, no windows, one dim light and two metal framed beds so rusty they would probably break under his weight.

As he glanced back down to the ground, he noticed another body in the room. They were still slumped on the ground and back to him.

Scrambling across the floor, he pushed on the mans shoulder to lay in on his back and see his face.

Dad?

Quickly he checked for a pulse and when he was satisfied with the regular thumping, he moved away, letting out a sigh of relief.

With his back to the wall, arms resting on his bent knees, he waited.

It was only a short while later when Tony began to wake. Groaning and sitting up in the same manner his son had moments earlier.

“Oh God, what the hell-where am I?” He mumbled, clearly unaware he wasn’t alone.

“I was hoping you’d know the answer”

Tony’s head snapped over at the grumbled voice to see his son.

“Y/N. What- what are you doing here?”

“hell if I know. Can’t imagine why anyone would take me. I generally don’t piss people off and I’m neither an Avenger or a tech genius.”

“Maybe they mistook you for me” Tony joke, completely oblivious to his sons disinterested and cold tone.

He shuffled back to lean against the opposite wall as his son scoffed.

“Sorry kid, you got the Stark looks.”

“Yeah, that’s all I got” the young man mumbled, leaning his head back on the wall, closing his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

Silence fell between them until the door opened.

The two men rose to their feet as two armed guards entered the room, a third following with a tray of unappealing food and bottled water.

Neither Stark was acknowledged as the tray was placed on one of the beds and they turned to leave. They even ignored Tony’s incessant questioning and cocky attitude.

His son stayed silent, taking on of the bottles as he sat back on the floor, still not ready to trust the beds.

“Could they just answer a simple question? They got to have a fucking reason for this.”

“Whatever it is I wish they’d just hurry up with it.”

“What, are you bored? Got places to be?” Tony asked, before taking his seat back on the floor.

“Yes, actually. I have an interview Monday and I’m not ready.”

“An interview? What for?”

“Like you actually care.”

“Hey, that’s not-“ Tony began to object but his son looked over at him and cut him off.

“Unless it’s about Peter or Superhero shit, you don’t want to know. You haven’t magically become interested, you just don’t like the silence and unfortunately I’m the only one here. You never cared about what was actually happening in my life before, why start now?”

Tony stared at his son in shock. It’s hard to make The Tony Stark speechless, but right now he had no words at all.

As his son dropped his head back to the wall, looking away from him, Tony couldn’t take his eyes off his son.

Thoughts ran through his head as he examined his son, becoming aware of how little he really did know.

-When did he get so tall? Not tall-tall though, definitely the Stark gene at work there.

-That suit makes him look so grown up, even if those a-holes took our jackets and shoes. Why did they take our shoes? No. Not important. Focus.

-I care about my son. Come on Tony, think. Something.

-School? Crap, when did I last even read a report card? He’s always aced English. Didn’t he do band? No, shit, that was Peter. Goddamnit, is he right?

“You’re 18.”

“Well done. You want a medal?”

“Is the interview for college?”

His son still didn’t move, wouldn’t even look at him.

“Please, Y/N. I-I know I’ve not really been… present in your life. But I do care about you.”

“Do you?” His eyes burned long repressed anger and Tony prepared himself for everything that was coming. He knew he’d deserve it too.

“You gave up so easily. It was too hard to bond with your idiot son, a shy kid who couldn’t understand simple maths. You’d rather be with women and go to parties, and the company always came first. All you did was throw money at things. For year I was fine with it, you using money to help me. I had more than more. It was clear you struggled with relationships of any kind and I was just dumped on you with no warning. It was fine because I had Rhodey, Pepper and Happy. They were there to talk to, they taught me things and supported me, Rhodey would go to school events whenever he could. I just figured maybe you’re not a paternal person. Then you became Iron Man and started saving the world and I can’t be mad about that.”

Tony stayed silent and watched as his son stood up, running a hand through his hair as he began to pace.

“Then you met Harley and kept in touch with him. You upgraded his garage into a high-tech lab. But he did help you save Pepper and the President so I guess you owed him and I didn’t let it bother me. It wasn’t until Peter came along that I noticed that you are one of the most naturally paternal people I know. You became his father figure, took him in so quickly, bonding immediately. If he needed help, you were there. He wanted to talk, you listened. Whether it’s out being Iron Man and Spider-man, training him, helping him with his school work or just locking yourselves in the workshop for hours building new shit. You’re always there for him. He witters on about some stupid crush for 25 minutes and you hang on every word. But you couldn’t do that for me?! What, did I need to be a genius at maths?! Interested in building extravagant technology?! Would you have noticed me then? You know, you went to Peter’s science show last month but you’ve never been to any of my school events. It was always Rhodey, Pepper and Happy a couple times, or no-one. But never you.”

The young man stared at his father, chest heaving, eyes burning as he held back tears. Yet Tony said nothing. He couldn’t take his eyes off his son. Lips parted and eyes glistening with unshed tears, he just sat, no words coming out.

“Yeah I’m 18 any yeah it’s a college interview. I graduate in a few weeks, Rhodey’s going. I’ve already been accepted to a couple colleges. Only a few months and I can leave.”

He didn’t give Tony a chance to respond as he risked the bed, laying down and facing the wall as he focused on bringing his breathing back to normal.

Behind him, his father watched on as tears fell down his face, guilt taking over his whole being.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the night. While his son eventually fell asleep, Tony stayed on the floor, thinking through everything his son told him and looking back over the years.

The following morning, two guard came in and took Tony away.

They brought him back a few hours later, unharmed. The younger Stark watched as Tony worried his bottom lip and fussed with his clothes. He noted the troubled look on his father’s face and it was clear that whatever the kidnappers told him wasn’t good at all.

But he remained silent.

Eventually Tony settled, sitting on the floor again. But the two still didn’t speak for a few more hours.

“I’m sorry,” Tony finally broke through the silence and tense atmosphere of the confined space.

His son remained silent but his eyes moved up to look at him. This was enough of an acknowledgement that he was listening and so Tony continued.

“You might not believe that, but I am. I don’t know why it was so hard or why it was so easy with Peter. I didn’t- It wasn’t intentional, I didn’t even realise.”

The young Stark kept his eyes on his father but his face stayed blank and lips sealed.

“And you know, just because maths and science subjects didn’t come naturally to you doesn’t mean you’re an idiot. I’ve never once thought you were. I know the Stark name has become so tied to them, mechanics, advanced technology and engineering… but it doesn’t mean you’re not…good enough? Because you don’t follow that. I never thought you should have been, it didn’t-didn’t disappoint me or anything. But you were always so talented in arts, you wrote the most amazing stories and a complete natural in the kitchen. Things I’m not so great at. It just made it harder for me to figure out how to connect. I didn’t know where to start.”

A small smile flashed across his face, eyes glazed as he recalled the past.

“Y’know, I loved those stories about the uh, the dragons that live on your shoulder. I’d find drawings and paintings of them all over the house, and it was a big house!”

Across from him, his son’s head raised a little higher, eyebrows subtly furrowing and looked at the soft expression on his father’s face. He had no idea Tony even know about those.

“I should have been there, tried harder. There’s no excuse for that. But I have always cared. You were just so talented in things I didn’t understand. Then I saw how close you and Rhodey became and-“

Tony let out a sigh, looking away from his son.

“You were left with me, an egotistical ass and a- a playboy. I didn’t think I deserved you. You deserved someone better. Someone emotionally available and mature. Someone to help you grow into an amazing person and progress your talents. Someone like Rhodey. He deserved you and you him. He was -and is- better for you. You were loved and supported by him, and then Pepper and Happy, so I – I thought you’d be ok. That you wouldn’t need me.”

Once again it was all quiet in the small room. This time Tony wouldn’t look at his son, but he couldn’t take his eyes off his father.

“I did need you.”

His voice was raspy as he admitted this to not only Tony but himself.

“Rhodey’s the best. I love him. Couldn’t have asked for a better Uncle. But that’s what he is; my Uncle. You were supposed to be my Dad. I shouldn’t have had a father figure when my father was right there. You were so cool, before and after becoming Iron Man. You made everything around you seem like fun. I didn’t understand the tech crap but- I’m an artist. I can, and did, design things. It’s not all on you, I didn’t make it easy.”

“You were a kid, it is on me. But, maybe- When we get out of here I’ll do better. I want to be an active part in your life. I also understand if it’s too late though.”

“It’s not. It’ll take time but, I’d like that. Rhodey might get jealous though.”

A huffed laugh slipped past Tony’s lips as they spread into a smile on his face when his son cracked a grin.

They continued to talk into the night, about school, which colleges and courses, friends and dating. Once they started they couldn’t stop.

It is hard to shut up a Stark.

They were laughing about one of Tony’s stories of his time in MIT with Rhodey when an explosion shook the room.

The men stood up and faced the door as the sounds of fighting and yelling grew nearer. A smirk spread on Tony’s face as he recognised the noises of his teammates.

It wasn’t long before the door was broken down and Captain America stood in it’s place.

“Bout damn time. Did you stop for coffee?”

“Yeah, yeah, tin man. You’re welcome.” Hawkeye quipped as they walked down the halls.

Rhodey broke through to get to his nephew’s side, checking him over and ensuring he was ok.

Tony led the group to the main room. The kidnappers had access to files and tech that would be too dangerous to leave.

As Tony wiped everything, quips flowing between him and his teammates, none of them noticed the man sneak in through another door.

The younger Stark moved before his brain could even process what was happening, placing himself between his father and the gun that was raised to his back.

*bang*

[kamyru]

Hello \(￣︶￣*\)) (I feel bad, because I can't address you properly. So do you mind to share a name how to call you? By the way, I am Anna.) How are you?

I saw your post with the prompts, and I would like to make another request. I choose prompt no.24 and a character from HLITF (I only know Tsugaru and Goto) or RMD, please. I don't want to limit your creativity so you can choose a guy, hihi. Please take care and stay safe.

Anna \^^/

Hi, Anna! You can call me Kamyru or Mire. They are both somehow inspired by my real name. I'm good. How about you? Don't forget to take care of yourself. I don't know how you guessed it, by I was thinking of Tsugaru while searching for the prompts. Nearly about each of them, I was something like: "Oh! I can imagine Tsugaru in this situation. If no one requests something for him, I'll request it myself." So, thank you for reading my mind. Hope you'll like it. ❤️

If someone wants to give me requests based on prompts, you can find them here.

24. You will bleed for me and I will bleed for you. (Tsugaru x MC)

Word counting: 935 Trigger warnings: Mention of prostitution and human traffic (The original song)

Tsugaru was sitting in his bed while staring at the cellar. Though, he couldn't see a thing because it was already too late to be able to understand what was sitting at a distance bigger than half a meter.

He was thinking about the beautiful Little Hare that was living on the other side of the wall. However, even if he wanted to see her more than everything, every second, every day, she wasn't there. She went alone on a mission. She went alone...

He remembered the words she said earlier the same day. She addressed him as "My captain".

"You must have some giraffe genes to think that you're just a subordinate for me," he thought.

The case they were working on was getting harder and harder. They had a group of suspects. Though, it was impossible to arrest them without any evidence. The only way to get those pieces of evidence was to infiltrate.

With a big and relaxed grin, he was ready to take this on him. However, not everyone agreed.

"I'll go," he heard a steady voice from the part of the room that he didn't want to hear it coming.

His grin became fierce as he turned towards the source.

"Where are you going?"

"At your wedding," she said sarcastically. However, the next second she understood what she said and turned her face away, letting Tsugaru see only her red ears. "It will be easier for me to go, taking into consideration that I am a woman.

"I won't marry you if you go there."

When MC heard him saying it, she took a paper tissue from her desk and wiped away her invisible tears.

"Sorry. I couldn't stop myself from crying with happiness and relief after I heard you."

Goto, who accidentally heard their banter, let out a laugh. Tsugaru gave him an annoyed look and took MC by her wrist to a more private place.

"I'll go. It's decided," he hissed.

"You're unreasonable. What are you going to do? To go there and say that you want to be their business partner in human trafficking? Do you expect them to say hi and hug you?"

"You work in this field less than me. They don't have mercy on people that they suspect. They don't have mercy at all."

"That's why I'm a better bite. It's safer for me to go there as their victim instead of you going as who knows what."

Tsugaru hit the wall with his fist. He wanted to yell and make MC understand in what danger her life would be if she would be the one to go.

They were killing people without showing any morals. Partners, victims, clients? Everyone could be their next victim, buried who knows where. She wasn't ready to go in there.

"You don't understand, MC! I'm not afraid of death because I'm so courageous. It's because I don't have anything against dying. I must go. I'm the most suitable one. If you go and they understand who you are, you're a dead man. No one will run to save you. You can't expect me to save you when I'm such a..."

"I don't care if you ever wanted to die on a mission because you found it to be a good occasion to finally reunite with your family. I know that you are strong enough to live for those who are still alive. You're our captain. You're my captain. I can't promise that I will return safely from all the missions. But every time I go, knowing that my life depends on you, I know that you will bleed for me and, I will bleed for you."

She was right. She was easier to integrate into their group. She was more suitable. She was prepared to go there. Though, he didn't want to let her do it. He knew that if something went wrong, no one would be able to save her without jeopardizing the entire mission. Yet, she still had so much trust in him. She was still sure that he was always ready to save her.

So why didn't she know how much she meant for him? She had enough courage and faith in him to trust him her life. Why she didn't have enough courage to trust him her heart? Why he didn't have enough courage to the same?

He let her go. She went away. From the point of view of probability, she had 50% chances to die. However, he had another idea.

Tsugaru couldn't stop himself from remembering every little thing that happened that day. The movie was running on repeat until in the middle of the night.

He was still sitting there, in his bed, staring into the abyss. Though, because of his Little Hare that was somewhere only she knew, the abyss didn't start to stare back at him.

"Please, just bleed, only bleed. Because if you're ready to die for me, or if I die for you, someone will be left alone. What is the point of living after that? I know how hard it is to be the only survivor."

He finally left his bed and his house. He didn't even take the car keys with him. Looking at his watch, he understood that he had enough time till morning to walk to MC's favorite confectionery and buy a big cake to be ready for the moment she would return.

He wanted to see her happy. He wanted to see her smile. He wanted to see her, sooner or later, at his wedding. And he would. He knew he would.

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

Hey, Sister (Fred x Reader)

Summary: Harry’s older sister goes to Beauxbatons and spends the school year at Hogwarts. However you seemed to have met a student who has his eye on you.

Notes: Set in a non Voldemort au. Honestly I came up with this one after I wrote the little sister one where she likes Draco. It’s been in my head ever since, hope you guys enjoy it!

_________________

You were a sharp and quippy person when you were a little kid. You got that from James, most definitely. Remus was your favorite of the uncles, him always encouraging you to strive for greatness. James took up a job with the ministry, sometimes having to travel. The family would sometimes get to go with him and that was the case one year in France. You got to see Beauxbatons in person and became HELLBENT on going. James naturally didn’t want you to go, after all you were his babygirl and he didn’t want you that far away. While Lily shared your sentiments, she saw how you looked at the place. She couldn’t tell you know. And we all know Lily runs the Potter household.

So you went, enjoying your time there making friends, having fun and coming back home for the summer and holidays. You loved your little brother and he loved you, telling you of all the fun events in Hogwarts, wishing that you got to see and spend more time with him. This year was different though. You came home for the summer as usual but you didn’t have a ticket to fly back to France. “Y/n, are you not going back to Beauxbatons?” James asked quietly. “We’re participating in the Triwizard tournament this year. We’re going to Hogwarts!” you said making Harry practically scream and hug you. “CAN SHE GO TO THE BURROW WITH ME PLEASE!?” Harry asked almost like a five year old. Lily chuckled. “Alright, but the first two weeks she spends them here. We missed her too y’know.” Lily said making Harry hug you tighter. “Christ for a fourteen year old you’re strong!” you wheezed. “I get that from Quidditch.” Harry said making you roll your eyes. You spent the two weeks at home, telling Remus and Peter all about your time at the school while doing slightly borderline illegal shit with Sirius. Finally though, you went to the Burrow, Harry practically bouncing with excitement. You walked in and Molly hugged you, instantly making you love the woman. “Harry has told me so much about you!” Molly said. “Harry has mentioned this place so much I almost know the entire layout already.” You chuckled. “Ron! This is my sister Y/n!” Harry introduced. You curtsied (A fun little thing that became a habit after joining Beauxbatons), making Molly smile. “So polite!” She chuckled before someone came downstairs. Fred was unaware you were even there, grabbing an apple before looking over and seeing you. He locked eyes with you and your heart basically drowned out any sound. “Who... Who’s this?” Fred asked. George walked in, also looking at you. However Fred was GLUED to you. “This is Y/n!” Harry said with a smile. “...Harry... You have some fantastic genes.” George said. “That’s my sister you jacka--” “Harry.” You halted him, nodding to the adults present. Fred extended a hand to you and you shook it, noticing his hands were calloused but still soft. Your eyes reflected off of his and he was captivated. “She’s going to Hogwarts with us this year for the Triwizard tournament.” Harry said. “Is she now?” George asked. Fred seemed to be speechless by you. “Yes, Beauxbatons is very proper though, I’m kind of terrified that kids from our school will be EATEN ALIVE.” You admitted. “We’re not... That bad.” Ron said. “Aren’t you worried about ‘being eaten alive’?” George asked. “No, if anything I know me and you two will get along.” You said. “And why’s that?” George asked. “Because I am a prankster at Beauxbatons.” You answered. “Pretty and a sense of humor, Freddie you must be dying right now.” George teased, noticing his brother’s prolonged silence. “She should hang with us.” Fred finally said. “hmm. Might take you up on that.” You said with a smile.

Then came the first day with the Beauxbatons. Fred saw you in that uniform and nearly dropped to the ground. Your hair was in a low ponytail, resting on your shoulder as you sat with your school. Fred for the life of him, could not fucking focus on ANYTHING Dumbledore was saying. He just kept staring. George was smiling like a git, noticing his brother being infatuated with you. “The Beauxbatons will be staying with the Gryffindors.” Was the only thing Fred heard making him look at Dumbledore and then you. “Let the opening feast commence!” Dumbledore announced. You got up, sitting next to Harry and Fred. “Excited for the tournament?” You asked Harry. “Meh. I’m just glad you’re here, you’re never here.” Harry said making you rough up his hair. “So you’re his sister?” Hermione asked. “Yes I am.” You nodded with a smile. “How is someone like you related to him?” Draco asked. “Shut up Malfoy.” Ron and Hermione said in unison. “And you must be Draco.” you said. “Yes I am. At least someone will be introducing class to Gryffindor.” Draco said. You looked at Harry and smirked. You turned around and faced George. “You said you’re a prankster?” You asked. “Yes dear, best in the business.” George said. “Great. I need your assistance. Both of you.” You said with a look of deviousness that made Fred’s heart practically bang in his chest. So there you three were, sneaking into the Slytherin dorm at an ungodly hour to ensure no one would find you. The maurader’s map Sirius gave you also helped out with this little venture. “Where the hell did you even get this?” George asked in a low whisper as you gripped a “Nair” bottle. “I have some fantastic uncles.” You whispered. You ended up shaving the boy’s eyebrows off in his sleep, sneaking back to the Gryffindor common room. You sat around and George practically passed out while you sat on the couch with a mug of tea looking at the fire. “Think you’ll sign up for the tournament?” you asked Fred. “Maybe. Might could use the prize money for George’s and I’s business.” Fred shrugged. “Is that the prank shop you have set up?” You asked. “You know about that?” Fred asked. “Harry tells me everything that goes on here.” you admitted. “I know that you and George are best friends. I know Ginny is shy but really smart. I know that you play quidditch. I know that you and George are very intelligent but don’t show any particular interest in academics like Hermione does. And I know that you have five brothers, one’s a curse breaker, one studies dragons, one is working for the ministry and the other two go to school with you.” you said. Fred rose a brow. “You listen to your brother talk that much?” Fred asked. You chuckled. “When you’re always away from home, you tend to cherish the moments you have with those around you.” You said looking at him. “...Why not come home?” he asked. “I’m not sure... Part of me is scared to ask my parents I guess.” you shrugged. “I’ve met your parents and I’m pretty sure James would practically piss himself of happiness with the way he talked about you.” Fred chuckled. “So you’ve heard about me too?” You asked. “God yes. You’re all anyone wanted to talk about when we celebrated Christmas with them.” Fred chuckled. You chuckled and leaned back with a yawn. “You should get some sleep, we have classes in the morning.” Fred said. You nodded and left, making Fred stare into the fireplace. You really loved your family...

The next morning while you were brushing your teeth you heard a VERY loud scream from the boy’s bathroom, making you smirk. You sat down at breakfast with Fred and George. “Heard the scream?” Fred asked. “How could I not, the kid gave moaning myrtle a run for her money.” You snorted. “I still think we should’ve dyed them.” George said. “Come now George, eyebrows grow back... We’ll dye them red and yellow to show he’s loyal to Gryffindor.” You said making Fred smile. The time finally came when names could be put in the cup. You put yours in, giving no particular reason except for “just felt like it.” Fred and George put their names in, Ron following soon after to impress Fleur. Soon you all sat in the Great Hall, waiting for names to be drawn. “Viktor Krum” “So you guys all signed up?” Neville asked. You all gave noises indicating yes. “Fleur Delacour.” “hmm.” you rose a brow, not realizing Fleur actually put her name in. “Fred Weasley.” Your eyes widened and everyone looked over at the poor bastard who’s drink just shot out of his nose. 

He came back to the common room with a bewildered look of shock on his face. “There’s our champion in the works.” George said. “My name was actually drawn. What the absolute fuck do I do now?” Fred asked. “We train.” You said, walking out of the girls dormitory in a blue sports bra, black leggings and your hair pulled back. “Wha-- Wha- hmm?” Fred asked, a blush about to come over him. “Fred, you’re acting like you’ve never seen a girl without her shirt.” George said in his ear. “It is different when it is her.” Fred said through his teeth. “I said: We train you. You’re about to go into a deadly competition of wits and physical stress. You need to be sharp and prepared.” You said. “Still, Y/n knowing how you train, don’t you think that’s a little much?” Harry asked. “Again. Deadly competition. None of us know what the hell is going on.” You said. “I’m down.” Fred nodded. “Of course you are.” George said making Fred kick his shin. “Great. Get changed, meet me by the lake.” You said walking out. “I’m so sorry.” Harry apologized. “For what?” Fred asked. “You’ll see.”

 “FRED WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GIVE ME TWENTY!” “Alright! Jesus woman, even Oliver doesn’t push this hard!” Fred said as he did push ups. “She is going to eat that boy alive.” Ron said watching you two from a distance. “Thank God we’re here to see it.” George snorted. “Do you usually train this hard!?” Fred winced. “I go to a school where fencing is an elective and you can get stabbed, yes Fred, I train this hard.” you said. “Can I please take off my shirt, it is WAY too fucking hot.” He whined. “I’m shirtless. Dude, I don’t care.” You said. He sat up, taking off his shirt and you cracked your neck before noticing abs. Oh Christ... Oh Christ he’s hot. He rose a brow. “Like something you see Princess?” He asked out of breath. You rolled your eyes. “We need to practice hand to hand combat.” You sighed. “Sorry. What?” he asked. “Dueling, actual dueling tends to happen. And I cannot stress this enough Fred, you are in a deadly competition. For all we know a gladiator fight could be a trial.” You said. “Still... I really don’t want to fight you--” You swept his legs out from underneath him, gripping his arm before he could hit the ground. “Shut the fuck up, quit treating me like a girl and fight..” You said sternly. He gulped, standing up straight. “Arms up.” You said, raising yours to your face. He copied your movements. “hit me.” You said. “Y/n--” “Hit me.” you repeated “I really don’t think--” “hit. me.” You said. “No--” “hit me-” “Y/n-” “hit me.” “If you say that one more time--” “Hit. me.” you said. He swung, you rolled under the punch and winded him. “Christ Y/n!” He wheezed. “You have to keep fighting Fred. Come on.” you said. “How did you even--” “Fred.” “Okay! okay.” He stood up, going back to his original position. You took a swing, him blocking it. “Good! Again!” you said. He took a swing, missing, but managed to avoid your next hit. “Good, you’re doing good.” You nodded. “Can we stop?” He asked. “Would Viktor or Fleur stop?” You asked. God damn your persistence. You took a swing, Fred gripping your arm and managing to pin you to the ground hanging over you. “Where’d you learn that one?” You asked. “Five brothers... Five.” he reminded. You laughed and he smiled, still holding your hands above your head. His knee was between your legs, face close to yours. He slowly let go of your hands and you did something he didn’t expect. You cupped his cheek and caressed your thumb against it. He swallowed, you looking in his eyes. What was going on in that pretty head of yours? You pulled back your hand and wiped your hand on your leggings. “You have dirt on your face.” You said. Oh. That’s what that was. He pulled back, sitting on his legs and running his fingers through his hair. Was it that necessary to look this attractive?  “We can stop. But we will do this every morning until your trial.” You said. “This hand to hand combat thing is terrible.” Fred sighed. “It’s for your survival.” You said, drinking from a water bottle. “You say that, but I’m beginning to think you liked being under me.” He said. You chuckled and shook your head. You stood up. “I never said I didn’t.” you said with a smirk, walking back to the common room. 

Fred swallowed hard, watching you walk away. Every morning from that point on you two would train, Fred getting quicker with his movements. You practiced dodging, running, anything you knew really. As he did this though, there were plenty of moments where he definitely caught you staring, eyeing him up and down. Course he was guilty of doing the same thing. Ron and George would watch you two basically mentally undress each other, Harry completely oblivious to what was clearly happening. Finally the first trial came. “Dragons!? I’m going to be in a ring with-- Charlie what the fuck!?” Fred gaped at his brother who couldn’t help but tell him. “Later today you’ll have to draw them from a bag. I’m sorry, I just got the news you were in this.” Charlie said. You walked into the common room, eye brow raised. “What’s going on?” You asked. “The first trial will be me in a ring with a dragon.” Fred said. You frowned. “Are you fucking serious?” You asked. Yep. Definitely your father’s child. “Afraid so.” Charlie said. “Who’s this?” You asked. “Charlie.” Fred sighed. “The one who studies dragons... Hmm... Any tips?” You asked. “Bob and weave. Serpentine and rocks are your friend.” He said. None of that made sense until today. Fred panted, leaning against a rock. “COME ON FRED!” George shouted from the stands. You were next to him, giving Fred a look of “you can do this.” Some how that was the motivator that Fred needed. He sprinted to another rock, closer to the gold egg. He dodged its tail, remembering how you showed him how to do a barrel roll. “KEEP YOUR FORM FRED!” You yelled. He chuckled to himself at your coaching and kept low, narrowly missing attacks until he had the egg in his hands. The dragon geared up and you frowned. Oh no. “BOB AND WEAVE!” you screamed as Fred noticed what alarmed you. He sprinted, taking his brother’s advice and serpentined across the ring before reaching the exit, earning a loud cheer from the crowed. 

“HE DID IT! Y/N DID YOU-- Y/n?” You were already gone, sprinting to the tent. Fred was out of breath when he got to the tent. You ran in and hugged him, nearly knocking him to the ground. He let out a relieved laugh and held you to him like you were the most precious thing to him. “You did it! I am so proud of--” you pulled away slightly, looking in his eyes as your noses were nearly touching. He kept you close, looking at your eyes and then your lips before George ran in, cutting his attention away from you. “You crazy bastard! You did it!” George said as you pulled away. “I literally thought my ass was toast.” Fred said making you laugh. You looked at the egg curiously. “Party in the Gryffindor common room!” George shouted. You kneeled slightly so you were eye level with the egg. “As long as I can sit. Down.” Fred said making George laugh. You pressed the egg, opening it before hearing the loud shriek come from it. Fred and George jumped as you slammed it shut. “What the bloody hell was that!?” George asked. "The egg!" You said, baffled by what it did. You ended up partying with the Gryffindors it of course being loud and fun. But FINALLY it died down and you could relax in peace. You looked at the egg and Fred sat next to you. "Why does it make noise?" You asked. "I have no idea. But it's loud." Fred said looking at it. "I'm still stuck on the fact that it makes sound, there has to be a reason it does." You said. Fred looked at it and sighed. You rose a brow. "Something wrong?" You asked. ".... I'm way in over my heard." He said. "What do you mean?" You asked. "Y/n, my challenge was a fucking dragon. The next one is probably going to be worse... What if I can't handle it?" Fred asked you. "Then you don't win." You said. "But that's not going to happen." You added. "Why are you so confident in me?" Fred asked curiously. "Because I have heard you do some off the wall shit. You're smart, you're quick, you're strong. You can do this." You said. He opened his mouth but you rose a brow to the little girl walking from the dormitory. "Gabrielle, is something wrong?" You asked. "I can't sleep and Fleur is already asleep. I didn't want to wake her." Gabrielle said. You patted your lap and she sat, you pulling her close. "Want me to sing the song?" You asked. Gabrielle nodded and you chuckled with a beautiful smile that Fred loved to see. You played with the girl's hair, brushing it out with your fingers as a way to relax her. "Hold me close and hold me fast this magic spell you cast this is le vi en rose." You sang surprising Fred as Gabrielle seemed to curl up in your lap. When you kiss me heaven sighs, and though I close my eyes I see Le vi en rose." You said, the girl's eyes slowly closing. "when you press me to your heart, I'm in a world apart where roses bloom and when you speak angels sing from above, every day words seem to turn into love songs." You continued, Fred absolutely mesmerized by your voice and smile. "Give your heart and soul to me and life will always be Le vi en rose." You finished, leaving the room completely silent aside from your breathing and the crackles from the fire in the fireplace. "Works like a charm every time." You chuckled in a low whispered. "You're close?" Fred asked in a low whisper, nodding to Gabrielle. "Fleur and her both. That year I wasn't there for Christmas I was with them." You said softly. Fred watched you with Gabrielle. "She's a light sleeper, I think I'm going to end up sleeping here." You chuckled. "I'll stay with you if you want." Fred said. "...I'd like that." You said with a smile. Fred couldn't help but smile at you. God you were so beautiful. He couldn't focus around you, he would trip over his own two feet sometimes, George pestering him nonstop. You turned back to the fire and Fred moved slightly closer to you. "I wouldn't worry about the competition." You said to him. "I'm... It's hard to do this when your mother's voice is going off in your head 'OH GOD THAT'S NOT SAFE'" he said making you chuckle. "I have faith in you Fred... You've got this." You assured, this sincere look. You two sat in silence for a while, Fred thinking nothing of it until your head landed on his shoulder. He looked at you and smiled, pressing a kiss to your forehead as you slept. "Goodnight Princess."

You woke up the next morning on him, blankets covering you, Gabrielle and Fred. You got up, Gabrielle dressing for the day and you getting up with the egg. Fred finally woke up, finding you with the egg on the floor, staring at it from all angles. "....What the hell are you doing?" He asked. "I'm Sherlocking. It's not working." You said looking at the golden egg. Fred sat cross legged next to you. "this is really bothering you." Fred snorted. "Why does it make noise!?" You repeated your question. "By this point I want to just drown the damn-- wait." You gasped. "New murder plot?" Fred asked. "No! I figured it out! You need a bath." You said handing it to him. ".....Y/n what the hell?" Fred snorted. "Oh-- come on." You said pulling him up and walking to the bath. You started filling the tub and he rose a brow. "....Y/n, what the hell are we doing?" He asked. "We could go to the girl's room but you'd have to deal with Moaning Myrtle." You said. "No, why are you so insistent--" you took the egg out his arms and "about a bath? Are you trying to see me naked?" He asked making you blush and roll your eyes. "We're not actually taking a bath you dolt." You said. "Speak for yourself, I still have ash in my hair from yesterday." Fred said stripping making you turn around. "You're welcome to join me." He yawned. "Just go underwater and listen to the egg." You said, your back turned. "Compromise, I keep my underwear on and you listen to it with me in case I miss something." He said. "Why are you so determined to--" he said nothing, putting a hand on your forehead and pulling you back into the bath. "FRED!" You screamed, a loud splash from you as you fell in. "I'm all wet you moron!" You yelled. "I know, I tend to have that effect on girls." Fred laughed as you splashed him. You shook your head and went under, making him raise a brow. You didn't resurface for a while but you shot out when you did. "I WAS RIGHT!" you said making him nearly fall over. "The egg sings!" You said. "What--" you yanked Fred under, looking at the egg it sang. "Come seek us where our voices sound, We cannot sing above the ground, And while you're searching, ponder this: We've taken what you'll sorely miss, An hour long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took. But past an hour - the prospect's black Too late, it's gone, it won't come back" you both popped up for air and Fred coughed. "You were right!" Fred said. "I know, I'm a genius. But I'm getting confused, this is a mermaid singing... Are there mermaids somewhere on campus?" You asked. "In the lake that we usually train by." Fred nodded. "Great. So the next trial is in water... You're retrieving something... What though?" You asked. "I'm not sure... It said I lost it." He said. "Lose anything lately?" You asked. "No." Fred muttered pondering. His focus was broken by the wet clothes currently clinging to your body, showing your curves in way that made it very hard to even form words. "Would you stop staring!?" You said splashing him. He gave you a cheeky grin, splashing you and you sighed. "You're a child." You said.... Before splashing him back. You two continued this goofy little routine and he wrapped his arms around you, flinging you both into the water. You laughed and he smiled. You two were panting from the laughter and stared at each other. Fred was almost prepared to risk it all in that damn bath if it hadn't been for breaking the eye contact and pulling the egg back up. You went back to dorms, changing before leaving to class. "Y/n, dear would you mind coming with me?" Mcgonagall asked. Fred's next trial began and it was fucking cold, breaths being visible. "Of fucking course it's cold." Fred whined. "Where's Y/n?" Harry asked. ".... She's not with you?" Fred asked. "No, I thought she was with you." Fred said. "I've been thinking she was with Fleur." George said. Fred walked over to the girl. "Hi, have you seen Y/n?" He asked. "Ze lake." Fleur said. "What?" Fred asked. "Ze challenge is to retrieve a precious item lost..." Fleur reminded "I know that, I'm asking--" then it hit Fred, him locking eyes onto the dark waters. "No." Fred said. George frowned as Fred walked back over, pacing. "Fred what's going on?" George asked. "She's in the lake!" Fred said. "Champions take your places!" Dumbledore announced. Fred stood at the edge, Neville slipping him something to breathe underwater with. "Thanks Longbottom." Fred said. "On your marks." Dumbledore said. "Good luck Weasley!" A boy shouted. "GO!" was all Fred heard before downing whatever Neville gave him. jumping and colliding with the water. It was fucking cold. He was swimming, looking for you frantically before noticing a tail slink past. Shit. He swam as quickly as possible, finally finding you. He untied you, using his wand to keep the mermaids at bay before Krum got Hermione out of there. "I cannot believe they put my fucking sister in a LAKE. IN WINTER. MY MOTHER WILL KICK YOUR ASS!" Harry yelled before George slammed his hand over his mouth. "Calm down! Fred isn't going to let anything happen to her!" George assured. Viktor came back up, Hermione shivering from the cold. Fred came up soon after, you gasping for air as you left the lake. "Christ it's fucking cold!" You breathed. Fred hugged you tightly, nearly making you fall back. You noticed Fleur empty handed as you pulled away and frowned. "Fleur, où est Gabrielle?" You asked. "Je n'ai pas pu la faire sortir du lac!  les sirènes!" She answered frantically. "What's wrong?" Fred asked, his hand on your back. "Gabrielle is down there still!" You said. The worry and pure fear in your eyes nearly broke him. So... He jumped back in. "FRED!" You screamed, running to the edge with a bunch of other students. One second seemed way too long now, all of you watching-- waiting to see what would happen before he shot back out with Gabrielle. Fleur hugged Fred, thanking him for retrieving her sister.⁸ You hugged Fleur and Gabrielle both, thankful your friends were safe. Fred wrapped himself in a towel before you stood up, walking over to him. He was talking to George when you turned his head by putting a hand on his cheek and kissed it. His face was almost hysterical but it was soon replaced by determination as he slinked his arm around your waist, pulling you forward and kissing you. George and Ron both almost slammed Harry down to stop him from disrupting this. You let out a laugh as he rested his forehead on yours. He noticed your hands were freezing, picking them up and warming them with his breath. "I'm glad you kissed me." You chuckled, him letting out a small laugh. "I've been waiting to do that all fucking summer." He said making you giggle. You and Fred were more... Couply now. Training would take adorable turns when he'd just pick you up after you charge at him and kiss the side of your head. You and him were close, him absolutely adoring you. Despite you two now dating, you never held back in training (Fred would be forced to use full strength because damn for the dainty thing you looked like you could pack a REALLY strong punch), you'd ease up on the yelling sure. But never once did you go soft on his ass when it came to combat. Fred had a new challenge today though. Dancing. Look, the boy is a fucking goofball, his idea of dance is a scene from footloose. You were helping Mcgonagall teach the class seeing as dancing was something you HAD to learn in your second year. Mcgonagall would hide the forming smile when she saw you with Fred, teaching him this. "Fred it's one, two three, come on now." You chuckled. "Love, I cannot DANCE. Not like this." Fred said. "Anyone can dance, you just have to have the right teacher. Maybe I should get Mcgonagall to teach you--" he pulled you closer "Don't you dare." He said with a laugh. You smiled, showing him. "There we go! See I know you could do it!" You chuckled. "Say, this is for that dance..." Fred began. "Mmhmm?" You asked. "Would you maybe want to go with me?" He asked. You snorted. "Fred we're dating. It was implied you and I were going together." You laughed. "I wanted to ask you formally Love, I can never be too sure." He said making you nod with a laugh. "At least you didn't ask me like George did Angela which was just him doing terrible movements while Snape geared up to kill the boy." You snorted making Fred laugh. Hogsmeade was now approaching though, making you very excited. Fred wasn't too sure why until you dragged him to the three broomsticks with Harry. "UNCLE MOONY!" You squealed, hugging a man with a scar on his face. "Y/n! Oh it's so good to see you!" Remus chuckled. "Uncle Padfoot! My man!" Harry said, hugging Sirius. You hugged Peter and motioned for Fred to come over. "Hey, you're the Weasley boy!" Sirius recalled. "Yeah, Sirius right?" Fred asked. "Yep! Good to see you!" Sirius said. "What brings you to us?" Remus asked. "Y/n's persistence." Fred teased making you smile. "You've become good friends!" Peter said. ".... They're dating Worm tail." Harry said making all of the men now stare daggers at Fred. "Dating?" Remus asked. "Does Prongs know?" Sirius asked. "No." Harry said. "Oh please don't tell him until I can see his face." Sirius begged. "Where is mum and dad anyway?" You asked. "What?" Fred asked.  "You've already met them." Harry said. "NOT IN THIS CAPACITY!" Fred whined. "Reminds me of Sirius with Marlene." Peter snorted, resulting in Sirius smacking his arm. "Actually I have something to tell all of you." Sirius said. You finally saw that red hair though and you smiled. "Mum!" You said. "Oh god oh god oh god." Fred muttered. "Y/n! Fred-- George? Which one of you are you?" Lily said. "Fred ma'am." He said, now nearly sweating through his shirt. "What's wrong with this kid?" James asked. Sirius resisted a loud laugh as you pulled a chair out for your dad. "Dad. Sit." You said. "....Why?" James asked. "Sit." You said using the same stern voice your mother does. He sat as an instinct. "Fred and I have started dating." You said. James' jaw dropped and Sirius snorted. "You're dating my baby girl?" He asked. "Congratulations dear." Lily said to you. "Thank you mum." You said. "YOU'RE DATING MY BABY GIRL!?" James screamed. "Oh God." Fred whined. "Dad, calm down." You said. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU." James yelled. "Fred... Run." You said. "Legs. Won't. Move." Fred whined. You gripped his hand and sprinted out, James running after you. "THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND FOR A FUCKING FIELD TRIP!" Fred whined. "Running practice!" You said with a laugh. "I'M GOING TO WRING THIS FUCKER'S NECK!" James screamed. "JAMES WOULD YOU CALM DOWN!?" Lily yelled. Students noticed you and Fred running but thought nothing of it until a fucking parade of adults ran after you two. "What the hell is going on!?" Cedric gaped. "....Potter." McGonagall said gritting her teeth. 

James cut you off with a deranged look in his eyes. "DAD WOULD YOU FUCKING COOL IT!?" You asked. "MY BABY GIRL!? THERE ARE AT LEAST FOURTY DIFFERENT GIRLS ON CAMPUS AND YOU CHOSE MY DAUGHTER!?" James asked. Fred gulped and looked at Lily for help. "JAMES. CALM. DOWN." Lily snapped. "HOW ARE YOU CALM!?" James asked motioning to Fred. "She's sixteen James, I'm honestly amazed she hasn't dated anyone before this." Lily said. "Wait I'm your first boyfriend?" Fred asked looking at you. You had your face in your hand, letting out a long groan. "Prongs, he is a good kid! She could be doing worse!" Sirius said. "Sirius, have kids! Then you'll get it!" James groaned. "That's why I'm here you prat; Marlene is pregnant!" Sirius said making the group turn to him wide eyes. "YOU CHOSE A FUCKING HOMICIDE ATTEMPT TO TELL US YOU'RE HAVING A KID!?" Remus asked. "Surprise!" Sirius said. "TOO MANY VARIABLES. BRAIN CRASHING." James yelled. "Dad knows the word variable?" You asked. "Apparently." Lily nodded, equally surprised "I WANT TO KILL THE BOY, CAN I KILL THE BOY!?" James asked. "No. That's homicide." Lily said. "I WANT TO KILL SOMETHING BY HUGGING RIGHT NOW I'M SO CONFLICTED." James yelled. You walked up to Sirius and hugged him. "I am so happy for you Uncle Padfoot. This kid is going to be so loved." You said with happy tears falling. Sirius hugged you tightly. "He will have the greatest Godmother in the world." He said making you pull away with wide eyes as Remus held back James from choking Fred behind you. "I'm--" "I was going to ask you formally, you and Harry both are the godparents until one of you gets married then it's you and your spouse." He said calmly. You hugged him again and he saw the sight behind you of Lily smacking James upside the head as Fred used Harry as a shield. "I like the boy by the way. He looks at you the same way your parents do... er... Did." He corrected seeing Lily successfully closeline James as he booked it forward towards Fred. You winced as you saw it. "Lilyyyy!" James whined. "CALM. DOWN." she said. She got up gripping Fred's arm and putting him next to you. "We approve--" "Lily!" James whined. "WE. APPROVE." she snapped. You blinked a few times as James grumbled sitting cross legged in the snow. You all went back to the three broomsticks Fred sitting close to you as James gritted his teeth. "So do you know what gender it is yet?" Lily asked. "We find out next week." Sirius said. "I'm proud of you Sirius." Remus said. "What about you and that Tonks girl hmmm?" Sirius asked, nudging his side. Remus flushed pink and you smiled. "I've met her before, she's a sweet girl. Kickass. But sweet." You nodded. "Hmmm. While we're on the topic of love, Fred." Sirius said. Fred looked up. "What drew you to our little Y/n?" Sirius asked. Fred swallowed and blushed making you raise a brow. "I... I just got to know her and I... I don't know I just..." He sighed. "I love her." He said making everyone look at him alarmed. "You... Love me?" You asked. "Yeah... I wanted to tell you for awhile and not in front of your family but I do." He said. Remus smiled as you kissed him, smiling and putting your head on his shoulder. James twitched but Lily stomped on his foot making him yelp. "We're glad you two are together dear." Lily said. "Thank you mum." You said with a smile. The conversation went on, you keeping your head on Fred's chest as he played with your hair, occasionally saying something. James wanted to loathe this kid. But he just... He couldn't. Fred was so irritably like him that he just liked him.

You all got back to the school and you smiled, poking Fred's cheek as he was deep in thought. "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" You asked. "...I think I have like... Twenty orders I didn't do today." Fred said. You kissed his cheek and he smiled. "And they can wait because you're here." He said kissing you. You chuckled. "You should get them done Freddie." You said, kissing his forehead before walking to the dorms. You sat on the cot that was Fleur's, talking to another British student from Beauxbatons that you regularly hung out with. "So you and that Fred boy." She said. "Someone's in lovvveee." Another girl said with a chuckle. "He's perfect." You breathed with a smile. "There's just something gnawing at me." One of the other girls said. "Hmm?" You asked. "What happens once we leave?" She asked. "What do you mean?" You asked. "We go to school in France. We don't exactly live close together Y/n." The girl said. You frowned. "I... Never thought about that." You admitted. "Don't worry about it." Your friend said. "But--" "Y/n most relationships fail because people are too focused on the future than to actually focus on the present. You and Fred will cross that bridge once you get to it." She said. You nodded. "When did you become so insightful?" A girl asked. "I'm not sure." She shrugged. You took that advice to heart living in the present with Fred. Not one moment came that you weren't smiling. When the Yule ball came, Fred was a mess. He was supposed to be presented. And on top of that he was supposed to participate in that ridiculous dance. Harry insisted on walking you down the stairs, saying that you could trip and break your neck. You assured him that wouldn't happen but still allowed him to do so. When Fred saw you all worry just... Instantly left him. He swallowed hard and looked at you as you dusted something off of Harry's shoulder. "Have fun Harry." You said him smiling and running over to Ron. You turned to Fred and smiled. "Look at you! My God you're handsome." You said with a smile. "Y/n you're..." He seemed speechless. You rose a brow. "God you're beautiful." He said. You smiled and he chuckled. "You're almost ethereal." Fred said with a chuckle. You kissed his nose, taking his hand and walking over to the other contestants. "Vous êtes belle Y/n!" Fleur said making you smile. "Toi aussi Fleur!" You chuckled. You and her went back and forth in French for a while, talking about something to do with how she felt about the next Trial and Fred watched you talk. How in the world were you keeping up with this? Like how are you this perfect holy fuck. The doors opened and you took your place next to Fred, walking about holding his arm. "You've got this Love." You said with a smile. "Can we talk about something to keep my mind off this whole dancing thing?" Fred asked. "Of course. So birds am I right?" You asked making him laugh as you took your place. "Sorry, your immediate conversation topic that you chose is birds?" Fred asked. "I hate geese." You said. Fred snorted and shook his head, dancing with you. "I'm more of a cardinal guy myself." He said making you smile. "Would it be cliche to say doves are pretty?" You asked as you danced, not missing a single step. "Doves look like fancy chickens." Fred said making you laugh. "I thought you were going to say fancy pigeons but you do with chickens!?" You laughed. "Pigeons are just street chickens, change my mind." Fred said. "Chickens can't fly!" You laughed. "Meh. Doesn't change them from being birds." He said making you laugh harder. The two of you finished the dance a slow song soon followed, Fred pulling you into his arms and you smiling. You kissed his nose and he smiled before clearing his throat. "Y/n... I really don't mean to be a downer... But what happens when you go back to France?" He asked. Your face dropped and you cleared your throat. "....I don't want to leave you." Is all you could say. You looked so pained in that expression and he held you close. ".... I'll wait then." He said. "What?" You asked. "Next year we're in our last year. We can wait Y/n... If you want. We'll send letters, we'll see each other on the holidays..." He suggested. You nodded. "I want. I definitely want." You said. "Then it's settled. I'll just wait for you." She shrugged making you smile. You kissed him, him smiling against your lips. "....Doves are still not chickens--" "They are fancy chickens!" He declared. "What are penguins then!?" "ARTIC CHICKENS--" "OH MY GOD" 

You and Fred spent every waking moment together, savoring every memory that you two have you two made. Finally it was the day of the last trial. He was kind of panicked but you were there. "You've got this Love." You said to him. He kissed you, resting his forehead on yours. "I love you." You said. "I love you too..." He said. "CHAMPIONS TAKE YOUR PLACES." The announcer said. He sighed, kissing your knuckles before walking out. You sat with Harry and George. "Nervous for him?" George asked noticing this expression on your face. "A little." You mumbled. "Mum and dad wanted to see the last trial, they're around here somewhere." Harry said. "They are?" You asked. "Yeah." He nodded. You got up and walked around until you found them. "Mum. Dad... Can I talk to you?" Fred stood at the start, clearly nervous. "Good luck Weasley." Krum said. "I'm surprised you know my name." Fred chuckled. "You're a contestant. Of course I do." He said. Fred shook his head and Fleur cracked her knuckles. "You're dating Y/n, correct?" She asked, the French accent being clear as she spoke. "Yes." Fred said. "Hurt her and I kill you."  She said making him open his mouth before the noise sounded off and they all booked it through the maze. "Christ this is creepy." He thought to himself, moving through the area. He stopped for a second, trying to figure out if he just accidentally went in a big circle when he felt something on his arm. He looked and saw the maze reaching out. His eyes widened and he booked it, running as fast as his legs could carry him before literally slamming into Krum. He turned around. "Weasley!?" Krum asked before noticing the maze behind him. "SHIT!" Fred yelled before sprinting down the maze with Krum behind him. Krum however tripped. Fred hesitated before Krum screamed "RUN!" and he nodded, booking it. He saw the cup, sprinting to it and gripping the handle. It was then he realized it was a port key, him hitting the ground hard as he landed. "Ow, holy fuck." He winced. He sat up, you sprinting to him and hugging him. He chuckled and you scattered kisses on his face. “You did it!” You said, him raising a brow before seeing the crowd who was cheering with the band playing as Harry, Ron and George all ran down. “SUCK IT PERCY!” George yelled earning a snort from you as Fred stood up.

Gryffindor had a massive party, all of you celebrating with smiles. “So what are you even planning to do with the money?” Ron asked. “What, hoping for some cash?” George asked, smacking him upside the head. “I’m using it for the business. We’re capitalizing on this bitch.” Fred said, earning a laugh from you. “I knew you could do it.” You nodded with a smile. “My coach also was very helpful, you beautiful thing you.” he said, kissing you with an arm around your waist. “I was serious about my threat.” Fleur said watching him. “You threatened Fred?!” You asked. “She did. But it was more of a ‘you hurt her you die’ situation. I’ve got a whole line of students who will brutally kill my ass if I do something wrong.” Fred said. “Myself included.” Harry said making you roll your eyes. “What can I say? I’m lovable.” You joked. “Oh yes you are.” Fred said earning a gag from Ron. “I feel like I just interrupted something.” George said. “Warning, you might want to back away from Y/n, her parents are coming.” Hermione said. Fred immediately stood back and you snorted as pure fear fell over his face when James entered. “Congratulations kid.” James said looking at him. “Thank you sir.” Fred said. James squinted at him, eyeing him up and down. “This place has not changed at all, holy shit.” Sirius said. “What are you guys doing here?” Harry asked. “Meeting with Dumbledore for something, passing the time while we have it.” Remus answered. Gabrielle ran over to you, talking to you about something making you giggle. Fred smiled, watching you talk to other students with your arms over Gabrielle. Remus took notice and put a hand on his shoulder. Fred looked over and then back at you. “Have you two talked about France?” Remus asked. “We’re going to try to stick through the last year of school... See each other on holidays and such.” Fred said, clearing his throat, his attention obviously still on you. “Think you’ll make it?” Remus asked. Fred watched you rough up Harry’s hair earning him swatting your hands away and Gabrielle giggling. “I’d wait a hundred years if it meant I could see her again.” He said, Remus nodding with a smile.

The last week of school was hard, you not wanting to leave your brother, new friends and Fred. The last night being one of tears and partings. You and the Beauxbatons sat together, Fred watching you with this expression that just... God he didn’t want you to leave. “ Of all the money that e'er I had I spent it in good company” A girl at the table sang, making you look up. “And all the harm I've ever done alas, it was to none but me” another sang. Great. The ending serenade. “And all I've done for want of wit” You sang with them. “To memory now I can't recall” you sang. “So fill to me the parting glass” You all sang, slowly raising glasses. “Good night and joy be to you all So fill to me the parting glass” The students sang, slowly rising “And drink a health whate'er befalls Then gently rise and softly call good night and joy be to you all” You all sang. “Of all the comrades that e'er I had” Fleur sang out, an arm around you as you held glasses up. They're sorry for my going away and all the sweethearts that e'er I had”  You all sang, looking at the scene around you. “They'd wish me one more day to stay but since it fell into my lot that I should rise and you should not” You all sang, students from Hogwarts joining in. “I'll gently rise and softly call good night and joy be to you all fill to me the parting glass and drink a health whate'er befalls then gently rise and softly call” You sang, walking to the Gryffindor table and Fred smiling sadly as he rose and held you. “Good night and joy be to you all” He sang with you making you smile. You extended a hand to George and he took it, hugging you as the school sang with the Beauxbatons. “I’m going to really fucking miss you.” George said. “Ditto Weasley.” You said, crying with smile. “since it fell into my lot that I should rise and you should not I'll gently rise and softly call” The voices around you sang as you shared a group hug with students from Gryffindor. You weren’t ready to let this go, not now. “Good night and joy be to you all so fill to me the parting glass and drink a health whate'er befalls then gently rise and softly call good night and joy be to you all” You all sang, more students slowly beginning to have tearful goodbyes. After all, other students had become good friends with students from the other schools. “Good night and joy be to you all” you all sang.

The next morning was honest to god one of the hardest things you’ve ever had to do. You gave tearful goodbyes to all of your new friends. But the pain of leaving only worsened as Fred approached you. He hugged you tightly, burying his face in the crook of your neck as you gripped his shirt. When you pulled away he pressed a kiss to your forehead and he blinked a few times. “I told myself I wouldn’t cry but damn it this is hard.” He said, letting out a sad laugh. “God, this is stupid! We’re seeing each other for the summer!” You whined, also crying. You kissed him one last time and hugged Harry before walking with the other girls. You gave one last glance to the group and walked away. George put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, pulling him close as to say “I’m here for you.” The next few days Fleur noticed you not showing much emotion. Your laughter was absent and she could tell you really got attached to Hogwarts when you went. You however were released early, school ending because of the tournament. You came home bags in hand a week before Harry would. Even James could tell something was making you sad. He hated seeing his little girl hurt this much. Lily however had a trick up her sleeve. She knocked on your doorway and you looked over, sitting in your window just watching the summer rain. “Hey mum.” You said softly. “Hi darling... Can we talk?” she asked, shutting the door behind her. You nodded at your desk chair and she sat down. “What’s eating at you sweetheart?” She asked. You cleared your throat, tears in your eyes as you spoke. “I don’t want to go back to Beauxbatons mum.” You said. She rose a brow. “You don’t?” Lily asked. “No... When I was at Hogwarts I just... I felt like I was home...” You said softly. “There’s a lot of reasons why I want to leave if  you need to hear them--” “Sweetie” “One: I want to be close when Marlene has the baby” “Sweetie” “Two: I want Harry to be there for my last year” “Y/n.” “I’d be closer to you guys” “I’ve already enrolled you into Hogwarts Y/n.” Lily said. You blinked. “What?” you asked. “And I got you something else.” She said. She handed you a packed bag and you rose a brow. “You’re staying with the Weasley’s.” She said. You threw your arms around her and James saw you off later that afternoon. 

Fred was relatively quiet on the train ride back, Ginny noticing him looking like he could break at any second. “Freddie... Are you okay?” She asked. “I miss her.” Fred murmured. Ginny hugged her brother and he basically moped the entire time walking to the car. He sighed, Arthur even taking notice to the newfound sadness over Fred. George sighed and poked his brother. “So when are we putting that prize money to use.” George asked, hoping to distract his brother. “Hmm... probably after graduation.” He said. “Right. Well maybe we could set up a plan over the summer.” George suggested. Fred nodded mindlessly and Harry sighed “You’ll see her for the summer Fred. Which is in like... A week.” “I know, I just miss her Harry. Let me mope in peace please.” Fred sighed. They got to the Burrow, Harry walking in and walking upstairs. He saw you and you put your hand over his mouth. “I’ll explain in a minute, go back down and tell me when Fred gets here.” You said. Harry nodded and walked back downstairs, wide eyed. “Harry? Are you alright? Did George gag your drink again?” Ron asked. “No uhhhh...” Fred walked in. “NOW!” He said and you walked downstairs. Fred’s eyes widened and he literally dropped everything, hugging you tightly. You chuckled in his arms and held his face. “What are you doing here!?” He asked. “They let us out early but I have more news.” You said. “is it good news?” Fred asked. “I’m finishing my last year at Hogwarts.” You said making everyone LOSE THEIR MINDS. You all celebrated that night, not one moment of you being seen without Fred. The night ended with you , George and Fred sitting outside with cider. “To the future.” You said holding out your glass. George and Fred clinked glasses with you before you all drank. 

The future was so fucking beautiful. You and Harry met your god daughter Olivia Juliet Black and basically vowed to kill anyone who even so much as looked at the kid wrong. You ended up working with Fred and George, opening the shop with them after graduation. Fred proposed and of course you said yes, later marrying that same year. Remus later married Nymphadora, them having your other god child, Teddy Edward Lupin. Bill Weasley ended up marrying Fleur, you being her maid of honor. You gave birth to your son Atlas Nicolas Weasley. There was not one day of your life that you didn’t enjoy. But let’s not focus on the future now. Let’s live in the present. 

“I cannot believe your sister actually transferred.” Draco griped. “Choose your next words carefully boy. I’ve got two bottles of hair dye with your name on it.” You said. “I KNEW THAT PRANK WAS YOU!” Draco gasped. “Shit.” You winced making Fred snort. “I’M GOING TO END YOU!” Draco yelled, wand drawn as you bolted down the hall with the twins, the sounds of your laughing echoing through the halls.

[renaissanceduroi-archive]

drabble ; deserving

Hi I accidentally wrote a 5 page drabble(?) where Elysia meets Lysandre for the first time after seeking him out when he doesn’t attend Sycamore’s funeral. It’s relatively sparse and unedited because I am tired and did not intend for this to happen, but I am excited by it nonetheless so here it is: 

---

“You’re weak.” What a way to introduce herself. She should be shocked, or afraid, or heartbroken, but Elysia is angry. It doesn’t matter that a dead man is breathing before her; it only matters what he has done. 

Despite her rancid tone, Elysia gently lets the honchkrow out of its ball, as the poor thing is not responsible for the deeds of its master. It looks so frail. Old. Like Sycamore, but without that undying glint of hope in his eye. What would Lysandre do, without the bird? Would he care enough to check in on her? Or would it have been a relief to him, to not be able to know about her or Sycamore anymore?

“I have always wanted to see what you look like,” is all that Lysandre has to say for himself. He looks rather comfortable, sitting on the ground, himself looking quite frail, but not a day over forty, despite how many years it has been. 

“Shut UP!” Her voice is a screech. They are so isolated, it hardly matters -- and if they are overheard, being found out is what this pathetic excuse for a man deserves. “You have no idea how much you hurt the professor. He hurt, for you. Every. Single. Day. Every single day. You get to run away and disappear, he is left to wonder. Worry himself sick. It’s selfish. It’s disgusting of you.” 

“I knew our royal genes were strong, but you are nearly the spitting image of your grandfather. Though much prettier, of course.”

“We have both known what you’ve been doing. Sending your poor honchkrow all the way out to Lumiose City to watch him. What, did you want to make sure he was still alive? Because clearly you care so much!” 

“I did not intend for it to be secret.”

“Professor Sycamore thought of you every day of his life, and in his final moments. But you did not care enough to show up to his funeral. Not a care in the world. Why? Not worth the potential of being seen? Too much of a hassle? Didn’t want to have to witness how you left the world? How you left him to DIE?! He is-- was… is, the cornerstone of my life. I have loving family and friends, but he was, in a way, a soulmate. Not romantically of course, but beyond that. He taught me everything I know. He taught me how to pour love into something and create something beautiful. He taught me the virtues of balance, patience, forgiveness. He forgave you, Lysandre. And that’s a true testament to his character, because I don’t think I ever will. Not for the destruction and devastation you caused, but for how you betrayed the only person left alive who still loved you.” 

“We can bring him back.” 

“Don’t. Don’t say that to me.” 

“We can.” 

“Don’t SAY THAT TO ME! That is the last thing he would have wanted. Did he teach you nothing? Do you even now move through your life so self-absorbed that you cannot understand that someone may have different desires than you?” 

“I acknowledge peoples desires.” 

“You just do not care.” 

“I dismiss ones that are unproductive, yes.” 

“How could he have spoken so highly of you.” 

“Are you seeing that he perhaps was not always of sound judgement?” 

She freezes for a moment, but only a flash. “Stop. You’re trying to sow seeds of doubt into my mind.” 

“I am merely attempting to show you that all is not as perfect as you want to believe.”

“What do you know of perfection? You are a flawed man who caused ugly destruction, nothing more.” 

“I know more of perfection than any person. I have witnessed it, embodied it, believed in it, created it.” 

“You’re insane.” 

“If I were insane, would your pure Augustine have loved me so?”

She wants to spit on him. To vomit. To scream. She had imagined meeting Lysandre many times, asking him all sorts of questions, wondering what bond they would form. But today was the day she pushed herself to truly discover him, fueled by the sole desire of yelling at him for continuing to be so weak as to betray his only friend in his final moments. 

“Would he?” Lysandre presses. 

“Clearly, he did.” 

She expected Lysandre to smirk at that, to be haughty, but he remains emotionless. “Clearly.” … “Is this all you wanted from me? You came all the way out here to scorn me?” 

“Yes, actually.” 

“Such a distance, fueled by the fire in your heart.” 

“Everything you say is nonsense!” 

“Even when I try to show my appreciation for you? What a shame.” 

“The last thing I want is your appreciation.” 

“Ah, but you are doing so marvelously.” 

She wants to bite back with I haven’t done anything, but her curiosity overrides her. “...How so?” she asks, suspicious. 

“Your beliefs are strong. Your passion consumes you. Your values dominate your every decision. And of course, you have taken wonderful care of the professor for me.” 

“There was nothing stopping you from taking care of him yourself! It’s all he wanted!” 

“But if I had, I would have interfered with the balance of things. Don’t you see? He imparted his value of balance upon you, correct?” He waits for an answer.

“Correct.” 

“I could not have forced myself back into his life. It would have broken the delicate ground upon which he rebuilt his world. I tried to raze and rebuild the world, but the force of destruction was too strong that the force of balance overcame me, and then he, and his force of life, was meant to override that. Life must go on, Elysia.” Hearing her name in his voice sends an indescribable shudder through her body. It’s like, a snake, or an eel, something shocking and wet and cold and wrong. “And now you are the life that must go on. You see it now, don’t you? You have his teachings, but my temperament. His values, but my blood.”

“I wish I had your blood on my hands.” 

“I wish you would stop threatening me, but I suppose neither of us will get what we want.” 

“Speak for yourself.” Elysia slyly pulls her hand out from her pocket and tosses a pokeball in the air. The professor’s charizard -- her charizard, now -- lands on the ground with a hard stomp, shaking the earth. It wears a mega stone around its neck, matching one of the rings she wears on her right hand. The pokemon recognizes Lysandre instantly, and is visibly confused, wary, unsure of how to act. How much does the charizard understand of what Lysandre has done? It surely witnessed its trainer, its original trainer that is, cry from the anguish caused by the man below him. But Lysandre also cared for this pokemon once, too. He gave it pets and treats, looked after it while the professor was away, and looked after the professor itself. Why is it being used to threaten him, now? But the charizard can sense Elysia’s anger. And he must trust the person that Sycamore entrusted him with, rather than the man who has been absent for years.

So as Elysia fumes at him, the charizard growls at a man who once was a friend.

“Do not allow yourself to be overcome by wrath, Elysia. Anger is not becoming on you.” 

“I will not be calm only when you stop inciting my rage. And I will get what I want.” She gestures forward and charizard leans in, snarling in Lysandre’s face, small embers inadvertently flurrying out of its nose as it begins to carry the same wrath as its trainer. “You have caused so much suffering to a wonderful man. And you 

“I admire your determination.” 

“I do not want to be someone you admire.”

“Then stop acting admirably.” 

“...”

“If Augustine saw you right now, what would he say?” 

This makes charizard simmer down, as well. 

“Is this your way of begging for mercy?” 

“I do not need your mercy.” 

“How immortal is immortal, hm? Surely being decapatated by a dragon would be enough to strip the gift of life away from you.” 

“I thought you said Augustine taught you about forgiveness.” 

“You do not DESERVE forgiveness!” 

“Ah, so people are only given what they deserve?” 

“You are hardly people.” 

“Yes, I am a god.” 

“You are a MONSTER!” 

“Do not lose track of your emotions, Elysia. You are angry about nothing.” 

“That’s not true.” 

“Then tell me, what are you angry about? My not attending the ceremony of our friend’s death?” 

“Your remorseless betrayal of a man who would have done anything for you.”

“Would he have? Elysia. He never came looking for me.” 

“...What do you mean.” 

“He never came looking for me. He never contacted me. You perceive my honchkrow as me being too weak to approach, but it was an invitation, open to being responded to. You found me so easily, and that was by design. He didn’t do anything for me.” 

“You’re lying. The professor was passionate, and driven, and--” 

“Weak. He was too weak to confront the fear of what he would find when he looked deep enough. He was like this before I fired the Weapon, and remained as such to his dying day.” 

She’s still angry. She’s still so, so angry at him, a lava still sitting in her stomach and wrists and wanting to explode again. But for the first time so far, the tides change, and water strikes her now. Tears begin to prick in her eyes and warp her vision, and she falls backward, sitting on the ground. She is no longer standing over him, now. 

“Call off your pokemon.” 

“No.” 

Lysandre looks the charizard in the eye and commands, “Dracaufeu. Retourne.” 

The dragon hesitates, unsure of what to do. It continues its locked gaze with Lysandre until it decides… to not listen to him. The charizard snuffs a small ember at him and retains its stance. 

“Don’t speak to the professor’s pokemon like that.” 

“Its allegiance to you is admirable. And isn’t it your pokemon, now?” 

“...Yes. It’s just taking some getting used to.” 

“Adjusting always takes time.” 

“It does.” Elysia wants to rest her head on her knees, give her body a moment’s rest, but for some reason she is afraid of letting her guard down around this man. Rationally, yes he is a threat, but she also does not feel as though he will be violent toward her. And yet, she is still on high guard. The two of them exist in a brief silence, together but separate. The air around Elysia is filled with solid utter grief and warping distorting rage; the air around Lysandre is stagnant nothingness save for the threatening dragon’s head looming above his own. Finally, though, now the calmest she has been this entire time, Elysia asks flatly, “Why didn’t you come to the funeral.” 

Lysandre answers simply. “I have not seen him since before I fired the Weapon. To see him decaying, ravaged by age would have corrupted my memory of him.” 

“You disregarded dignity and respect for a loved one because you did not want to perceive him as something other than perfect.” 

“Yes.” 

“You disgust me.” 

“I know. … What are people to one another if not projections of stylized impressions?” 

“Love is raw, intimate, messy, difficult. Love is not pristine, nor is any person. Relationships are more than distant idealization.”

“Then why did you yell and threaten me when I suggested Augustine was flawed?” 

For the first time, she has no answer to this. 

“Now. Do you have anything else to say, or will you leave me be? This was quite a lot of interaction for someone who has been isolated for as long as I have.” 

“You cannot make me take pity on you.” 

“I do not want your pity. I just want to be alone.” 

In a huff, Elysia plants her feet firmly on the ground and stands up, fists clenched by her sides. “It’s what you deserve.” She begins to mount her charizard, only catching a quick glimpse of Lysandre’s face as she turns. He’s smirking. 

“Exactly.” 

Without another word, she and charizard fly off the mountainside, back toward town. 

[airiustide]

forever young. forever you.

Day 1: Reunion

Rated: T

Summary: Lu Ten has a son. Zuko no longer had a claim and disappears without a trace. When things become restless in the former Fire Nation colonies and Katara is requested to aid the White Lotus in a strike against the Ozai Society four years later, never would the waterbender anticipate who she would find during her stay. Yet this was no time for a happy reunion. Zuko is dying and Katara realizes it's too late to save him.

A/N: a seven part piece for zutara week.

Also posted on: AO3

@zutaraweek

***

Lu Ten has a son.

The day the boy had come carried in the arms of a relative and a confession carefully written on parchment by his deceased mother, the tides had shifted. Iroh, filled with utter joy, now had a piece of his son in the form of a four year old boy and Zuko no longer had a claim.

It was only natural that the rightful heir take his place. The Earth Kingdom woman who had stolen the heart of a soldier boy gave birth to a firebender. Iroh was thrust back in the world of Fire Nation politics, now Lord regnant until his grandson came of age. There was no mistaking how pleased many were to see the once banished prince removed from power. In fact, Zuko whole-heartedly agreed, graciously stepping down without a single objection.

The former Fire Lord who had risked his title and livelihood was thrust our of court. With a war criminal father, a legally insane sister and a treacherous mother, what was left for him but a string of failures and bad blood running through his veins? The world was quick to discard his accomplishments in favor of this unknown boy not even three month into Zuko’s reign.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right.” Aang says quietly to himself, his worry apparent on his face. It does not fail to reach his companions’ ears.

“There must be a way for you to continue your reign.” Katara muses. “It can’t just end here. What you did, you’re uncle turning down his rights and proclaiming you heir in his place, just like that, it’s over? You earned this.”

“Hate to break it to you, Sugarqueen, but blood outranks merit.” Toph informed her with her feet propped up on the arm of Zuko’s lounge chair, a pinky buried in her ear. “No matter how good or bad a person is, as long as they carry the right gene, the position of power is handed down on a silver platter.”

“I say he got a pass.” Sokka added his input. “Dodging a bullet like that? Now it’s somebody else’s problem. Besides, the nation’s in good hands, the kid comes from Iroh’s line of tea-loving cookiness.”

“I swear, you can be so insensitive.” Katara scolded, shooting daggers at her brother. Turning to Zuko, she softens. “If you talk to your uncle, I’m sure he can work things out with the council.”

Zuko doesn’t look at the others. He peers into the distance, the palace vast and large and stretched out so far, that a concern twists in the others guts as they notice his concentration stone dead on the sea beyond it.

“Zuko, buddy?” Sokka breaks his concentration.

“Hm? Did you guys say something?”

The Gaang glance at one another. They expected an outburst, a display of disappointment or even anger- which they thought was completely justified. Instead, for the first time ever, Zuko expresses indifference; completely unreadable to the people who know him best.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right.” Aang repeats.

Katara dismisses it. They were all worried, of course, but that’s all that it was, just worry. Temporary. Spirits, how she would come to regret this, for none of them could have ever predicted this would be the last time they would see Zuko.

They couldn’t stay. There were people who needed them. There were wounds heal, homes to rebuild. A jagged scar slashed upon the world that required years of patching; trust was fragile like glass. Glass wasn’t so easy to keep together when the spider cracks ran deep.

Aang was the first to leave, his Avatar duties calling him once again. Suki was next. Toph stayed to comfort the Fire Lord with the little time she had spared before reuniting with her parents; without her, Iroh would not have so easily been able to weed out those who opposed his claim and sought to harm his grandson. But at night, he shut himself away; the former Dragon of the West lost another son. It became apparent when eight months of his whereabouts were officially unknown.

The water tribe siblings were last, their stay becoming less and less necessary. Zuko wasn’t coming back and Iroh denied company a month within the former Fire Lord’s disappearance, only showing his face to young Koji.

‘Let him grieve in his own way’ Toph had told Katara before she left. ‘Over staying our welcome will not help him and we all know once Sparky sets his mind on something, there’s no changing it.’

‘How can he just...leave? Without a trace, without a word? Especially to his Uncle?’

Toph shrugged, ‘I think Twinkletoes was onto something when he said this didn’t feel right’

Katara’s brows lifted. ‘I’m pretty sure he was referring to Koji’s sudden appearance.’ Katara retorted.

Toph shook her head, sighing before throwing a sack over her shoulder and planting a bare foot on the metal plank leading to the ship taking her home. ‘Even you couldn’t have missed it, Sugarqueen; Sparky wasn’t just not himself, it was like...he was prepared for all this to go down.”

Katara scoffed. ‘There’s no way he could have foreseen Lu Ten having a son.’

‘No;’ Toph muttered, ‘No, Sparky wouldn’t have kept this from us, but he’s holding back something. People don’t just disappear like that without a word.” The earthbender snapped her fingers. ‘Not even the ever dramatic firepants.’

Katara looks back to that time, a year ago. People just don’t disappear like that, the nineteen year old waterbender repeated to herself. But what could make Zuko, a persistent and loyal man to his friends and country, vanish?

“There’s a disturbance in the West. The colonies have become restless and there’s rumors of an organization on the rise of executing a vicious plan against the crown prince.” Aang points to the sky with his staff. He doesn’t look at her. He hasn’t looked at her in a year.

Katara nods, a grim countenance taking over her face. One year ago, her lip would have trembled and her heart would grip. “Is that where you’re headed?”

“No.” Aang replied flatly. "In fact, Piandao himself had requested both our assistance."

He definitely hates me, Katara surmised. She sighs, blue eyes flickering over to the now teenage Avatar. His face had slimmed down from his round features, his stature tall and lean. He had grown into a young man widely recognized for his accomplishments in defeating Ozai and his vision in bringing the world harmony, a beacon and home for all walks of the four nations.

That’s why Katara was here, aiding him in decisions such as selecting the city council, inaugurating policy and trade, and reviewing applications for small and large businesses eager to establish their wealth in the newly developed city.

“It won’t be easy to break up an organization ring like the Ozai Society.” Aang glances over at Katara briefly. “The fact that they have bases in different locations among both the Fire Nation and the colonies makes it all the more difficult.”

“Then striking at once would be the only solution.” Katara added. “I knew there were people who conspired against Iroh and Koji but I can’t believe the Ozai Society strengthened since-” She swallows the rest of her words.

“The White Lotus has kept me up to date. They have several groups positioned at each location, some placing spies among the ranks. Unfortunately, my focus remains here with the unrest with the benders and the non-benders and I’m afraid my absence will only escalate things. I would love to oversee it personally-

“-but since the Ozai Society has yet to take action, your presence might hasten their plans.”

“Exactly.”

“I’ll go.” Katara offered.

“Actually, I was thinking-”

“I’ll go.” She insisted. Aang frowns much to her dislike. He didn’t even want her in Republic City. The only reason he made way was due to her forcefulness. That’s when they were together and that’s when things between them became complicated. Katara was not a sideliner and she was not going to wait for her boyfriend to seek her when he was good and ready to come around. At first, she moved here to be closer to him, or so she thought; in reality, she came here for herself.

“It’s dangerous.” Aang warned her.

“And if you knew me, you’d know I can be too.” Katara turns on her heels, curling her fingers in her long, chocolate hair out of nervous habit. This was them now, no longer Aang and the Avatar’s girl. No longer the people they thought they were to each other but the reality of their separate lives. “I’ll leave at first light.”

Former Lieutenant Jee was the first to greet her when her airship docked. He had not aged a day. Katara bows, then extends a hand in greeting. Instead, the older gentleman pulls her in for a hug. She laughs, returning it in kind.

Jee informs her that the White Lotus has reserved a room for her at one of their secret locations, disguised as a seedy bar tucked away between a rundown general store and a bakery. It’s late afternoon when they arrive, patrons hardly occupy the dining area. A young boy eagerly takes Katara’s belongings after being tipped generously by Jee. He departs, stating that he will be back for her come morning to meet Master Piandao to go over strategy.

There’s a flight of stairs leading to the second floor where a line of rooms are rented. The boy places her belongings at her bedside, informing Katara that dinner will be served at sundown. She uses this time to unpack, pondering how Master Piandao and the others had been. Sokka would be jealous when he learns Katara will be working with him, imagining the recently made Chieftain's dramatic reaction in front of Suki and their newborn twins. The waterbender chuckles to herself, lying down in bed.

Waking from a quick nap leaves her hungry. Katara washes her face from the basin in her washroom then makes her way downstairs. The place is now at full capacity; loud with rumbustious guests and drunken regulars.

The waterbender worries little, having encountered this on many occasions during her travels around the world, even trying an ale or two.

She maneuvers between tables so she could reach the bar stand where she recognizes the owner as one of the Lotus members; a short, white haired woman well into her sixties, with the smile of an angel and the mouth of a sailor.

Katara leans over the counter top, waving to the barkeeper. The older woman nods to the waterbender an acknowledgement while handing a tray of food to her clumsy granddaughter. A loud crack and a strangled cry behind Katara provokes her to snap her head at the owner of that humiliating scream. She’s horrified to find an open hand reaching for her rear and a gloved, larger one bending it back in at an ungodly angle.

Katara gaze locked on the stranger clothed in all black with two dao swords strapped to his back, his face covered save his eyes, which were curtained by his shaggy, dark hair. She gasped at the sight of amber meeting her stare and the hint of marred, pink tinted skin.

Before she could process the stranger, or the pervert writhing for dear life, she’s brought back with a snap and a high-pitched scream. He’s not in front of her anymore, weaving through the crowded room for the door.

[suntumarchive]

Part 2/4 of the commission for @the-elusive-libbin ! Thank you so much! ;u;

Fandom/s: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Character/s: Vilkas, Farkas Kink/s: Hunger, stomach noises, upset stomach CW: Werewolf mention, cannibalism/vore mention

Plot: Farkas and Vilkas are out on a mission to explore the supposed hideout of the Silver Hand. After they’ve had no luck, they discover it’s too late to return home before the sun rises, and that they’ve been starving for longer than they thought.

___

How long has it been since Vilkas marched off on his own? When he and Farkas, his twin brother, had arrived in this forest, the sun had been high up, but by now, the sky was pitch black, with only the fire giving off some light. Farkas didn’t like it when they split up. Especially not when Vilkas was the one going after enemies, and he was asked to stay behind and “keep his eyes open”. Not only would Farkas also like to get some action, crush a few skulls here and there… it was also incredibly boring to just sit around and play the waiting game. No sane person would dare to get lost in a place like this anyway… especially not during the night, when it was cold, lonely, and honestly, a bit scary in the dark as well. Even the fire didn’t give off much warmth, or comfort… The Companion had considered wrapping himself in several layers of fur to keep the biting wind away, but he remembered his brother had only scolded him for that idea in the past. Apparently, if someone, or something, attacked him, he wouldn’t be able to react fast, because he had to untangle himself first. But how was that going be of any use when he was freezing to death out here?

Farkas grumbled, resting his head on his knees. It felt like he’d waited for several hours already, and now he was tired, hungry and impatient. Where in the world was his brother? Was it time to go and search for him yet? What if something happened to him? He tried to listen for the sound of Vilkas’ armor, footsteps, anything really… but all he heard was the crackling of the bonfire, the rustling of the forest, and the occasional bark or squeak of an animal in the distance. Farkas’ eyelids fluttered, not wanting to withstand the exhaustion any longer...

A sudden, metallic sound of a sword being slammed down on the ground cruelly brought Farkas back to reality, the shock making his heart skip a beat. For a moment, he was preparing himself to attack, but he looked up at Vilkas, whose eyes were glowing with rage. Even though he looked pissed enough to rip him to shreds, his brother was incredibly happy to see him in one piece, and quickly swallowed down his urge to scold him for treating his weapon like this.

„Where have you been.”

Vilkas’ low, gruff voice sounded even darker than usual. If his twin had been a bit smarter, he might have caught the glimpse of fear, the relief, and the desperation that swung with it, but he only heard that his brother was upset, and immediately tried to lift the mood.

“Did you forget me here?”

“I did not forget you, numbskull. You were supposed to wait for my sign and then follow me.”

“I was…?”

Vilkas groaned out loudly, and rammed his knuckles against the top of Farkas’ head, almost causing him to keel over.

“Ow!!”

“Sometimes I wonder if your brain fell out when you were a kid and you replaced it with a piece of bread!!”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause you hit me all the time!! – Oww!!!” – That earned poor Farkas yet another rough clout…

“I have to hit you because you only understand violence, smelly oaf! … Did anything happen while I was gone?”

Farkas grumbled, rubbing over the spot where his brother punched him before, and watched him add some more wood to the dying fire. Vilkas’ fingers had a blue-ish color, hinting that he was freezing.

“No. It was only cold and lonely.”

Vilkas rolled his eyes, but then half-heartedly patted his head, much to his surprise.

“I’m sorry. I suppose I should have come up with a clearer sign to follow me…”

“… Follow you where exactly?”

“Were you even present when we talked about our mission?? I thought I made it easy enough for you”, Vilkas sighed, plopping down next to him. He turned to his brother and gestured with his hands intensely as he explained.

“This cave over there. The supposed hideout of the Silver Hand. I go into the supped hideout. You wait here and keep an eye out for trouble, in case it’s a trap.”

“I could follow you until that part, yes.”

“Yes. Good. And then, once I clear the supposed hideout, you were supposed to listen out for the howl.”

“… The howl?”

“Yes. The howl. That was your sign.”

“… Oh.”

Vilkas groaned and rubbed his eyes. No, don’t get angry, waste of energy… the transformation had already cost him a lot of stamina.

“Wait, when you say supposed hideout, does that mean there was nothing in there?”

“… Huh. It’s hard to believe you made that connection yourself. But yes. It seems they left.”

While that was good news, it also meant that they must be hiding somewhere else…

“Then why were you in there for so long?”

“Because I was transformed, looking for enemies, then looking for food, and because I was looking for you!!”, Vilkas hissed.

“Because I thought you could have stumbled into a trap when I called you inside! But no, you were out here, cozy at the fire!”

“… Oh. I’m sorry.”

Farkas really was sorry… he didn’t mean to worry his brother. He also understood why he was so angry… he must have been terrified. Despite their powerful werewolf forms, it was hard to tell what the Silver Hand was capable of doing… Countless werewolves had already lost their lives to them, and honestly, he was always worried he or Vilkas could become one of them...

Grrruuuummmrr…

Suddenly, a low rumble cut through the silence. Vilkas perked up and was about to draw his weapon again, before he thought that it was too consistent and too close to be the growl of an animal. Instead, he quickly realized that the noise came from Farkas, who awkwardly lowered his head as his brother looked in his direction. He had his muscular arms protectively wrapped around his middle, and the noise finally faded into high pitched gurgling, leaving the man with rosy cheeks.

“You didn’t find any food in there by chance, did you…?”

Vilkas remained silent for one or two seconds, but then couldn’t help but chuckle. This damn baboon was too cute sometimes. No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t be angry with his brother, even though he was pretty damn stupid.

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t find any food.”

“No food…? None at all?”

“None. Not a bite.”

The desperate look on Farkas’ face made him want to chuckle again, but in all honesty, he was only reminded of how much his own stomach was complaining. Luckily, Vilkas was blessed with the better genes in many ways; even his belly wasn’t as loud as his twin’s. So instead of the low, intense rumbling his brother had to deal with, he got constant, but almost inaudible gurgling, which was rather easy to hide. But apparently, hearing someone else’s stomach growl from hunger triggered his own appetite - much to his surprise, his belly began to roar out loud. Vilkas gasped softly and placed his hand on his upper belly, but that didn’t stop the powerful noise… In fact, the warmth of his own touch only seemed to intensify it. He could almost feel his skin vibrating underneath the fur part of his armor, and Farkas stared at him with so much disbelief, that he felt himself growing bright red with shame. Wasn’t he supposed to be the more sophisticated one…?

“We should have brought more supplies…”, Farkas mumbled, to which his brother could only nod. He really should have considered just how long they would be out here… Now that Vilkas was back outside, in the safe company of his brother, his body gave into its natural desires, demanding rest and nourishment after he was on his feet for so long.

“Do you think we can make it back to Jorrvaskr tonight…?”, Farkas asked, sounding hopeful. Vilkas hated to shatter that hope, but…

“… No. We’ll arrive in the morning. Earliest.”

“So we have to spend the night out…?”

“Yes, I suppose we do.”

Farkas groaned as he leaned back, supporting his body with both arms… he didn’t have time to cover his stomach as it began to roar again, as if to protest about the lack of food until tomorrow. His brother couldn’t help but stare at his slowly rising and sinking middle, as if he expected to see it vibrate along with the yelling of his starving organ.

“Can’t we just… hunt us some tasty rabbit-“

“No. It’s too dark. We don’t know what’s lurking out there. Maybe the Silver Hand is still nearby.”

“I meant in our-“

“No. A transformation takes up a lot of energy, remember? It’s not smart to transform while we’re hungry anyway. We might attack some travelers. Or each other. And we’d be even more likely to run into the Silver Hand.”

“Some human sounds good right now though… We could just eat them all…”

“Farkas.”

The man decided to finally give up and lay down on the cold moss and grass, moaning audibly to reinforce how upset he was. There was no use to reasoning with Vilkas though… he usually had a counterargument, and it ended up being smarter anyway.

“You know just like I do that the Silver Hand is too dangerous to approach without a plan”, Vilkas said, slowly sinking down next to his twin. He shuddered a bit at the wetness of the ground… hopefully they wouldn’t catch a cold out here. There was definitely some nausea building up inside his stomach…

“Even if we’re stronger in our werewolf forms… if they outnumber us, we couldn’t even kill and eat them.”

“Oh, I could swallow one alive right now…”

“You couldn’t even fit a whole human in there if you wanted to”, Vilkas teased.

“Pardon me? You should have seen me on my last hunt! I think I scared our new pup quite a lot though…”

The two men chuckled a bit about their conversation, before Farkas sat back up with a sigh.

“We have to get going if we want to be there by the morning…”

“Right… Just a minute, please.”

Vilkas has his eyes closed… his brother could only imagine how exhausted he must be. While he was out here, just waiting for his return, the other had been exploring the supposed hideout… which ended up being a waste of time, since he didn’t find anyone, or anything. Not even food…

GrrrrRRRRRUUuuURUUgle….

Vilkas hiccupped audibly after the loud noise erupted from his belly, causing his brother to tilt his head to the side a bit. Was the hunger making him nauseous…?

“Can you walk?”

“Of course I can walk, icebrain… I just- hulp… need a minute…”

Farkas’ sensitive ears caught every noise, every tiny glorp and squelch making its way past every layer that parted his brother’s stomach from the outside world… He knew him well enough at this point to know that he’d gone hungry for too long. Even though Vilkas was blessed with the quieter stomach out of them both, he was simultaneously cursed with the more sensitive one. It was near impossible for Farkas to be in pain or even nauseous from hunger, but he knew Vilkas always made sure to eat at least some bread with mead so this wouldn’t happen. He remembered he once told him he gets painful cramps, and it certainly sounded like that was the case right now.

“Damn it…”, the man grunted, and sat up as well, when a wave of vertigo hit him out of nowhere and he had to hold onto his brother’s shoulder for support, until the white dots in front of his eyes would vanish. How very embarrassing…

“Don’t force yourself, brother”, Farkas said, as softly as his rough voice would allow him to. Vilkas was clearly exhausted, and since he’d transformed as well, his body was just… done.

“I can carry you back if you need me to.”

“I don’t need you to carry me”, Vilkas hissed, maybe a bit too harshly.

“I’m fine.”

Despite claiming that, he stumbled a bit as he got up, and the other Companion once again offered him his support.

“Even if you won’t let me carry you, hold onto me at least.”

“… That’s humiliating…”

“It’s better than passing out.”

Vilkas wasn’t a fan of the scent of wet fur and sweat… but it was really easier to walk with one arm around his brother’s wide shoulders. Good thing Farkas was very strong. They always seemed to balance each other out somehow.

“I can hear your stomach from up here”, Vilkas mumbled, patting against his armor with his free hand.

“Howling like a wolf.”

“I’m hungry like a wolf too”, Farkas sighed.

“Do you think we’d be there faster if I transform and carry you-“

“No, Farkas.”

GRRRUUUOOORRRGH…

“But your tummy wants me to…”

“M-my tummy…?”, Vilkas chuckled a bit, finally feeling able to remove his arm from the man’s shoulders.

“Farkas, no grown man says tummy.”

“Who says I’m a grown man? Maybe I’m just a dumb pup”, he chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows. Now wasn’t the right time to mess around, but honestly, it was just what Vilkas needed to relax a bit.

“You know that pups need discipline, right? You want me to chase you with a stick?”, he joked, and Farkas suddenly tackled him, making him help as he pushed him down to the ground. The leaves absorbed the shock of his fall, but the rustling made Vilkas feel a bit paranoid for a moment.

“Discipline me then, brother. Come on.”

Farkas knew damn well that he was stronger than him, they’d fought many, many times, alongside and against each other. No matter how much Vilkas tried to push him off, there was just no chance… His brother had decided to pin him down now, and there was nothing he could do about it. “Do I have to remind you that we’re still not safe out here, oaf?! The Silver Hand could be-“

Vilkas was interrupted mid rant by a pervasive roar from Farkas’ middle, causing him to whimper audibly. Now his stomach had started cramping, and he couldn’t help but dig his nails into his brother’s shoulders a bit… he wasn’t used to genuine belly cramps. At all. He was usually the one with the huge appetite, the one who could take the bigger amount of pain, but when it came to stomach problems, he suffered much more… Vilkas let out a soft sigh, and placed both hands on his belly. Though the other gasped in surprise, he began to carefully knead his upper left with his thumbs, trying to make him feel it through the fur part of his armor at least… Farkas closed his eyes for a moment, allowing the sensation to settle in his gut. Even though his stomach was still rumbling noticeably against his twin’s fingers, it was only a result of the cramps being eased…

“That feels nice…”, he sighed softly, causing the corners of Vilkas’ mouth to rise for a moment.

“Oh yes? … Why don’t you return the favor then?”

Farkas knew that his brother was too proud to admit that the hunger felt really uncomfortable for him as well, so he didn’t mind helping if he could… just a little, before they had to get going. He was already fantasizing about the meat he’d dig his teeth into for breakfast… or lunch.

“O-ow!! Farkas, not so rough!! Be gentle!!!”

“Stop squirming! I can’t touch you if you keep moving so much!”

Somewhere in the distance, a lonely traveler heard the ruckus… how strange. You’d think the young people would find a more… comfortable place than this. Skyrim was a truly interesting place.

[ralphspina]

The Sound of Your Voice, The Sound of Your Laugh

The sound of Roe’s voice is something Luz simply can’t get enough of.

Taglist: @gottapenny @itisjustmethistime @indigosandviolets 

-------

George Luz collects impressions the way others might collect rocks or coins or stamps. His imitations include everyone from his first grade teacher to the clerk at the corner store back home to the likes of Major Horton. He takes a certain pride in his peculiar collection - the sheer span of accents, dialects, and speaking quirks is downright impressive (or so he likes to think). And after only a few months at Toccoa he has damn near his whole company down pat., There’s a few voices he’s not interested in learning - they’re either too plain or too similar to ones he’s already picked up. There is, however, one voice that he’s dying to collect like an auditory version of those butterflies pinned in frames. And it’s slowly driving Luz up the wall that he hasn't yet captured this particular butterfly-

Eugene Roe.

The man just doesn’t talk enough. Luz can count on one hand the amount of times Roe’s talked to him. Hardly enough for Luz to perfect any sort of impression but more than enough for the Cajun accent to capture his full attention. Roe’s voice isn’t anything like Luz has heard before. There’s nothing like it in Luz’s repertoire of stolen voices and Luz can feel a growing desperation to add the warm Cajun lilt to his hoard.

And then there comes the day he manages to get a laugh out of Roe after an offhand comment during one of their night marches and the desperation grows. It wasn’t a chuckle or one of those breathy huffs of amusement, but a real, honest to god, laugh - a laugh that spreads a sunshine warmth through Luz’s body. And, oh, now there’s a laugh he’d love to stash away in his memory forever, replaying it whenever he needed to feel that particular warm glow again - if only he could hear it once more so that he could properly engrave it in his mind.

-

Over the following weeks, Luz, being both desperate and determined, does what he can to insert himself into Roe’s life. Using his abundance of charm, Luz gets himself assigned to the same duties around camp as Roe. Luz also makes sure to plant himself next to Roe on marches and runs. When meal times roll around, Luz makes sure to grab a spot at the same table as Roe. Slowly but surely Luz becomes a front and center daily fixture in Roe’s life.

But even with his constant presence, it still takes a surprising amount of time for Roe to open up to him. Roe isn’t shy, just slow to let himself get attached, and Luz approaches it as a challenge. That makes two challenges now - impersonating Roe’s voice and getting him to open up - and, well, Luz does enjoy a challenge (or two). 

-

It’s been over a month now and still Luz has no grasp on that unique Cajun accent. He’s had more conversations with the man than probably anyone else on base and yet no dice. Every time he tries his ever-evolving Roe impression out in front of Perconte or Skip or one of his other friends, it elicits nothing but laughs but not for the reasons he wants.

As time passes, the laughs slowly change over to moans and eye rolls - being bombarded almost daily by less than stellar attempts at a Cajun accent can get tiring, even if they love Luz dearly.

-

Luz and Perconte are making their way back to their barracks one afternoon, Luz complaining yet again about his inability to capture the particular smoothness of Roe’s voice, when Perconte interrupts with an annoyed sigh and a mumbled “Jesus Christ.”

“The hell’s your problem?”

“You think maybe you can’t get his voice down ‘cause you don’t wanna?”

“What?”

“I’m just sayin’, maybe you don’t really wanna get his voice right ‘cause then you ain’t got an excuse to talk to him all the damn time.”

“What? No. That’s not... no. I just…”

Suddenly his own voice, and every single voice he had ever collected, fails him and he’s left with no words.

-

The next day Luz stares hard at Roe during breakfast. He doesn’t mean to stare like he does but his mind is working overtime, chewing its way around what Perconte said the day before. Because maybe Perconte was right. Maybe what Luz is doing has to do with more than just trying to perfect yet another impression. More than just adding to his already expansive collection. Maybe there really was more to this than the way he enjoys how a certain Cajun accent rings in his ears and curls its way along his spine...

Over the course of the rest of the day, Luz begins to slowly realize just how often Roe crowds his thoughts. He seems to occupy a spot in Luz’s mind almost constantly, maybe not always at the forefront but always there, hovering in the background. He also catches how often his eyes wander to where Roe is, as if they have a mind of their own and know what they like to look at. And the fact that almost every time Luz’s eyes glance over at Roe only to find Roe is looking right back? Oh, that certainly catches Luz’s attention too. It has already happened a handful of times that day when Luz and Roe lock eyes as they step up to the obstacle course, only inches away from each other this time. Luz can feel an odd sensation in his stomach, as if the entire thing flipped over and got itself all tangled up. The thought that perhaps he shouldn’t have eaten that mystery meat at lunch today crosses Luz’s mind.

(The mystery meat has nothing to do with the feeling in his stomach. Even if Luz doesn't acknowledge it at that moment.)

-

The following morning, as Luz is quietly marveling at the way the word Louisiana sounded as it left Roe’s mouth during a story about home earlier, he’s startled by Roe’s sudden grip on his arm.

“You alright, George?”

George. Roe used his first name - the thought makes him feel something he can’t quite put his finger on.

Blinking up at Roe, George stumbles over his response, “Yeah, yeah I’m alright. I’m… I zoned out a second I guess.” Luz smiles as brightly as he can, a little too aware of just how much of his mind had just been dedicated to simply thinking about the way Roe says Louisiana. He can feel his cheeks warm at the thought.

“Alright, then.” Roe smiles back, nodding, and although he says nothing further there’s a hesitation before he finally lets go of Luz’s arm and turns back to stacking crates.

Luz goes back to stacking crates as well, his arm still warm from where Roe’s hand had just been.

-

It’s a Tuesday when it happens. Luz finds it a bit funny that something so significant would happen on a Tuesday of all days and yet…

Roe heads to a quiet spot under a tree to get some field medicine studying done. Luz follows along under the guise of needing a quiet place to get a nap in. As they settle into their respective spots under the tree, Roe gets right to studying while Luz picks up a stick and starts poking at some monstrous bug. A few moments pass in peace before the bug decides he’s had enough of being poked at and flies off, making a quick detour to fly straight into Luz’s face before going on his way. In a panic, Luz slams the side of his head against the tree as he tries to veer out of the bug’s path.

“Ow! Fuck!” Luz rubs the side of his head, wincing.

Roe reaches out and gently rubs the side of Luz’s head, his lips twitching up involuntarily in amusement.

“Big mean bug almost get you, George?”

In faux seriousness Luz responds, “It was a close call, Gene. Could have gotten taken out before I even got my jump wings.”

“Hmmm, that would have been a shame. Hate to celebrate gettin’ our wings without you.” Roe leans over and presses a soft kiss to the side of Luz’s head. Luz can hardly hide the surprise on his face at the gesture and it seems neither can Roe - the look on his face as he sits back makes it clear that he surprised himself with the action as well.

They stare at each other in silence, shocked and unsure of what to do or say. The building tension drives Luz to do the one thing his suddenly overloaded mind can scramble to come up with - kiss Roe. The kiss is a bit rough and quick, over in seconds, but the mere press of their lips together is enough to leave both their hearts racing wildly in their chests.

“Oh.” Roe looks almost… awed at the unexpected contact of Luz’s lips against his own. 

“Yeah,” a smile slowly spreads across Luz’s face, “Oh.”

-

The days melt into each other - each one filled with running, barely edible Army food, Sobel’s screaming, marching, and more marching. Roe and Luz steal time whenever and wherever they can, which doesn’t amount to much in Army training, especially Army training under Sobel. But the time they can spend together is spent with a new closeness, with talking, with laughter, and with plenty of (hurried) kisses too.

-

They’re cleaning the barracks one hot and sunny afternoon, just the two of them, when the previously chaste kisses become something more. In the blink of an eye, Luz is pinned between a wall and Roe’s warm body. Their kisses are hungry and impatient, speaking volumes in and of themselves. Luz’s hands are curled into the front of Roe’s shirt, holding him close as Roe’s hands slip beneath the hem of Luz’s shirt, fingers running curiously over the skin he finds there.

Their intimate moment is interrupted by the grating sound of Sobel’s voice, complaining to an unknown second party, as he walks by the barracks. The kissing stops immediately but the two men freeze in place like deer caught in headlights as they listen to Sobel pass by. As soon as Sobel’s voice fades in the distance, Luz grins up at Roe and in his best Sobel impression says, “Is this what you call cleaning, gentlemen?! Because what I see is not Army standard cleaning!”

Roe collapses against Luz in a fit of laughter, face buried in the crook of Luz’s neck. The sound of his laughter reverberates through Luz’s body, spreading an indescribable joy deep into his bones. 

Roe’s laughter is his favorite sound of all.

-

It’s during one of their many, many runs up Currahee just a few days later, that they manage to attract the ire of Sobel. Sobel is already turning red in the face, yelling at the company non-stop, when Roe and Luz make the mistake of sharing an inside joke that gets them both laughing. As punishment for their merriment, their weekend passes are revoked and they’re assigned the task of spending their Saturday inventorying and reorganizing the stuffy, overcrowded supply shed behind the barracks.

(It’s hardly a punishment.)

-

Saturday rolls around, dawning clear and bright, and finding Roe and Luz, alone and unsupervised in a dusty supply shed, an entire day stretching before them.

The aloneness is a rare opportunity and it’s quite clear that neither wants to waste it. They are almost immediately glued together, moving as one, towards the back of the supply shed. Luz is so enraptured by the way Roe’s body fits against his own and the taste of Roe in his mouth, he hardly even notices when they go from vertical to horizontal. It’s not until the sharp corner of a metal buckle digs into his back does his mind start processing semi-coherent thoughts again. 

Roe is here. On top of him. Kissing him. While they lay on a bed of reserve chutes.

Luz pulls Roe closer, fingers curling into the hair at the back of Roe’s head as he slams their mouths together greedily. More is all he can think now - more, more, more. He hooks his legs around Roe’s as he tightens his grip in Roe’s hair. The move elicits a soft moaning sound from the back of Roe’s throat. The sound sends a shock wave of pleasure through Luz’s body. It’s a sound he knows he'll never replicate on his own (it’s too innately Gene, much like his voice) so he settles for doing whatever he can to drag that sound out of Roe again, just so he can hear it again and again and again. 

Within the space of a few breaths, Luz is already discovering a myriad of new Roe sounds and all the ways he can move his hands and mouth to induce even more. It’s a game, a challenge - What will Roe sound like when I move my hand here? When I kiss him there?

Luz is making his own sounds too, although he hardly notices because he’s far too absorbed in the quiet sounds Gene is making. Only when Gene whispers, “shhh, gotta keep it down” does Luz make an effort to swallow back his own moans and exclamations.

When they do finally break apart, Roe’s face hovers inches above his own and suddenly Luz isn’t sure his heart is working right anymore. Some distant part of his brain wonders if maybe he should see a doctor because he can feel his heart both completely stop beating and yet beat far too fast all at once. 

“I can’t do your voice,” Luz is slightly horrified that he blurts the statement out, seemingly out of nowhere. He doesn’t know why he says it or what he was thinking - or perhaps that’s the problem, he isn’t thinking at all right now - there’s far too much Roe, far too close, for proper brain function.

“What?” Roe looks utterly confused at the sudden confession.

“I, uh, I can’t mimic your voice. Can do everyone else’s but not yours. I’ve been practicing too, since we met. Don’t know what’s taking me so long.” That last bit is a lie and Luz knows it - he knows damn well why it’s taking so long and has known the reason quite clearly since Perconte pointed it out, even if he didn’t want to admit to himself at first. ”But you might be stuck with me until I get your voice right.”

“An’ how long will that take?” Roe presses a kiss to Luz’s temple. “Weeks?”

“Definitely.”

Roe presses another kiss to Luz’s cheek, “Months?”

“Maybe.”

“Hmm,” this time there’s a kiss to the corner of Luz’s jaw, “years?” The word is mumbled against Luz’s skin, sending spikes of goosebumps down his body in an electric wave.

“Possibly.” Luz barely gets the word out, hardly recognizes his own voice in the whisper quiet way it slips out.

“An’ the more I talk, the faster you’ll pick it up?”

Luz has to clear his throat before he can respond. “Yeah. Need to hear it to learn it,” Luz, face flushed, grins up at Roe, “Guess you’ll have to tell me all those old Cajun stories after all.”

“Mmm.”

“Like that one about the louie garoos. Lou garooies? Shit. What’re they called again?”

Roe makes an amused sound at the back of his throat but doesn’t respond.

“Gene?”

“Mmhmm?”

Luz’s eyes meet Roe’s and he can see the mischief that fills them - it’s a playfulness that extends down to the smirk forming on Roe’s face.

“Oh, so no more talking then?”

“Mmm-mm.”

The delight that explodes through Luz’s chest makes its way out in a sudden fit of laughter. Luz manages to gather himself quickly and cups Roe’s face in his hands, pulling him down into a series of kisses, breaking them only long enough to get out a teasing “Well, I guess we’ll just have to do other things then.”

[eugenesmorphine]

Loving all your imagines . Can you possibly do a request?? Eugene Roe please. !! Prompt: “Please talk to me about it,”

Distanced // Eugene Roe Imagine

Prompt: “Please talk to me about it.”

Taglist: @alienoresimagines @hihosilvers @floydtab @punkgeekchic

Words: 2,590

Eugene sat on the Jeep as it drove back into Bastogne. Just staring at nothing pretty much. His eyes filled with complete nothingness as he face was just dead pan. The only color on his face was the slight pink that rested on his pale nose from the cold atmosphere of Belgium. Winters told him to go into town and get a hot meal after the rough day of Joe and Guarnere getting hit on the same day.

   The past week was taking a harsh tole on the medic. And everyone knew it. But, the only thing that he saw when he reached town was utter chaos. The chapel being used as a hospital for wounded and dying soldiers being blown to pieces by German Artillery strikes.. Knowing that a friendly nurse that he had met and actually became proper friends with was inside, he ran towards the ruins. Flames littered the area and so did bodies. The smell of rotting corpses and burnt up bodies could be smelt, along with the loud piercing screams of pain and fear. When Roe picked up the bandanna wrap that the blonde woman wore to pull back her hair was on the ground between debris. He knew he was too late. And all he could do, or all he could really stomach in the moment, was to just go back to the forest and watch over his men.

  So that is where Eugene sat. In the passenger seat of the Jeep, just in a daze. He chewed on the inner lining of his cheek, digging his hand into his pocket and pulling out the bandanna. Running his rough thumb over the soft blue fabric. Pursing his lips as a he pushed a sigh out. He barely knew the woman but he felt as if he lost a best friend. She probably had a family. She could've been a sister. She was a daughter. He sniffled slightly and wiped his nose using the sleeve of his military issued jacket. Stuffing the bandanna back into his pocket. Just looking to his right. Staring at all the passing trees that held snow all over the branches. He took in the silence. For once in this forest, Eugene wasn't hearing the cries of agony and the screams for a medic. He shut his eyes and just listened to the wind. Getting lost in his mind.

/// 

 Y/N watched from afar as Eugene's boots hit the snow when he climbed out of the Jeep. She saw the look in his eyes. The look of a empty, and distressed man. She watched as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and buried the lower portion of his face into the color of his jacket. Eugene had been pushing everyone away slowly. Even her. He had to much burden on his shoulders, and she wanted to take it off. God, she really did. As his lover, it pained her in ever possible way to see Eugene like this and just slowly but knowingly distance himself away from her. She could understand where he was coming from, and she definitely wasn't judging him. Eugene had a lot of responsibilities as one of the company's medics. Taking care of all the men, making sure they're fit for the field. And it was his job that if anyone got hit that he saved their lives. But he couldn't save everyone. And there had been a lot of deaths throughout the years. And maybe Bastogne was the straw that broke the camel's back for Eugene. But Y/N wasn't just going to let him push her away. He was all she had. And she couldn't lose that just because he was building everything up within himself and didn't want to bring his walls down. She knew it was a lot, but she needed to know he was alright. Even though he clearly he wasn't. 

  She began making her way over to the Cajun. Her hands wrapped around her torso wanting to create more warmth. He met her eyes and she shot him a soft smile. He just stared back at her standing still and watching her approach him. "Hey Genie," she spoke softly, looking up at him. His eyes were cold. Just piercing through her. 

  "Hey Y/N," he replied, his eyes darting back and forth. All around, but just not into her eyes. She sighed softly.   "Want to go for a walk?" she asked, her voice quite happy. Eugene just looked back down at her and pressed his lips together. Giving her a slight nod. Y/N nodded and turned, and began walking. The soft sound of snow crunching beneath their boots. Eugene sat quiet as they walked. Only sounds coming from him were the sounds of his heavy breathing.

   The two walked in silence for about seven minutes. They had walked past foxholes upon foxholes. Though, Y/N had enough of him suffering in silence. She was his significant other, how was she just to leave him like this. She sighed softly. "You know we are worried about you, Eugene," she hummed. Eugene didn't answer right away, but she looked over and saw him furrow his eyebrows for a second. 

  "We have been over this before, Y/N. There ain't nothin' to worry about," he answered, not even taking a glance in her direction.  She took a step in front of him. Crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at him.

   "Eugene, you can't keep playing this game. We all can see how sleepless and warn down you are. Hell, I never thought you would start distancing yourself from me but yet, you have. Jesus Eugene, we've been together for what? Over a year now? We promised each other that we would be there for each other no matter what," Y/N raised her hand and pointed to the small silver band that rested on her left ring finger. Eugene and her had found two silver banded rings that seemingly fit their fingers when going throughout a half way destroyed building. Y/N surprisingly found them before Speirs did with his silver sticky fingers. With those rings, the two labeled them as promise rings. Promising each other that no matter what, they would be there for each other and care for each other until the day that Eugene could put a ring on Y/N's finger that made her his wife. "Remember?"

  Eugene huffed slightly. Not wanting to admit his faults, and still not wanting to talk. He pressed his lips into a thin line and buried his hands deeper into his pockets and pushed past her. Oh how he hated what he was doing. Especially to the woman he loved the most. But he just couldn't help it. He didn't want to burden someone with his own thoughts or problems. The medic just thought it was apart of his job. "It's different this time, Y/N. You wouldn't get it," Y/N turned and watched him push past her. She went and grabbed his arm, not too hard or harsh. But just enough to stop him in his tracks. 

 "Jesus, Gene! How won't I understand? Just.. Just please talk to me about it!" She raised her voice. Eugene snapped around quickly. The built up anger, fear, sadness, and all those emotions that Eugene had been feeling had got to much. He grabbed the wrist of the hand the connected to his arm. Pulling her closer and looking deep into her eyes.

  "You just won't understand it, alright Y/N? You aren't a damn medic, you are just a rifleman. You won't ever understand it. So just leave it alone," his grip on the woman's wrist grew tighter a she stared down at her. Her eyes had a glint of fear. Eugene had never been this angry. His job wasn't to hurt or to kill. It was to care for and save his comrades.  

  "Eugene," Y/N started. He just kept a hard eye on her. Like he was in a frozen state. Her voice sounded muffled, like he was under water. Not seeing the full picture of what he was doing. His fingers tightening even harder on the woman's wrist. "Eugene you are hurting me," Y/N whispered. Trying to tug her wrist away. The trooper medic snapped out of whatever state his emotions locked him in and looked down at the hand that was wrapped around Y/N's wrist. He could see how tight he held onto her and immediately let go. Looking down at his hand for a second before looking back to Y/N. "Fine Eugene, I guess I will leave it alone," she mumbled, rubbing her sore wrist as she turned around and went to walk back to her foxhole.

  "Y/N wait! I'm.. I’m sorry!" he jogged up to her. She turned and looked at him. Her hand still rubbing where he had left visible finger markings where he had gripped onto it just seconds ago. She squinted up at him.

  "Eugene, when you decide to realize that I am worrying about you, and that you can't just push me away. And when you realize that I am your girlfriend and not just another Paratrooper and stop acting like a child then taking out you anger or whatever the problem is out on me when I just want you to be happy and safe. Then you can come talk to me," and just like that she turned around and walked off. Eugene stood there, feeling guilty. He knew he shouldn't of her gripped her that tight. Why didn't he just tell her how he was feeling? Roe took off his helmet and angrily slammed it on the forest floor. A puff a snow coming up. His chest heaved as he looked down at the bowl of metal now with a dent at the top. He huffed as he scooped up the helmet and just stared at it. Pressing his lips into a thin line as he just placed it back onto his head and digging his hand back into his pockets and walking towards Spina's foxhole.

/// 

  Eugene crawled into the foxhole that Spina say in. The fellow medic looked up at him and raised a brow. "Hey Roe, saw what happened with you and Y/N. How you holding up?" It wasn't like the two were in private honestly. Eugene and Y/N were probably only a little ways away from the line. So most of the men saw the small quarrel they had. Eugene sighed and looked over at Spina. 

  "I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't want her to worry about me. That isn't our jobs to make people worried. You and I are supposed to decrease worry," he spoke, looking down at his hand that had the silver band that sat on his left ring finger. Spinning it in around on his finger. Spina chuckled slightly and looked over at him.

  "Eugene, that is your girl. She is going to worry all the time. Just like how you always tell me you are worried about her. She knows that us medics put our lives out on the line to save the men. She doesn't want to see you hurting, Gene. That's all. She is going to worry no matter what, but you have to talk to her sometimes. Isn't what all the shit about with promise rings you gave her?" Spina spoke, going through his medical supplies within his bag. Eugene sat and thought about the words just spoken to him. He knew Spina was right. He sighed and stood up. 

 "Thanks Spina, I gotta go do something," Roe began climbing out of the foxhole. Already making his way towards where he say Y/N laughed. Spina smirked up at him and nodded. 

  "Good choice!" he called out. Eugene scoffed slightly, cracking a small smile as he shook his head.///  When Eugene reached her foxhole, pressed lips together and just looked down at her. Chewing on the skin on his lower lip. Y/N slowly looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Eugene sighed heavily and climbed into the foxhole, sitting in front of the woman. Just staring at her for a moment. He dropped his head for a moment, taking a deep breath.

   "Darling, I'm sorry. I should not have grabbed your wrist. I didn't even realize how hard I was squeezing. There is just so much-" before Eugene could finish his sentence, Y/N lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Leaning against him and burying her head in his neck. She could hear all the pain laced in his words. He was breaking. And he couldn't stop it, it was the one thing Eugene 'Doc' Roe couldn't fix. Which was the entire start of his down hill state. To know he couldn't fix or heal something. Eugene couldn't fix himself. And he didn't know how to understand it or live with it. But now here he was, feeling different then before just having Y/N's arms tight around him. He realized what he had missed since he distanced himself away from the female trooper. 

  The corner of the medic's lips quirked up into a smile as his hands snaked around his woman's waist. He felt a warm feeling of comfort. Knowing that whatever he told the woman that he felt inside, that she would be there every step of the way. He swallowed hard before continuing. "So much has happened, doll. And I can't quit on these men or get a second of clarity like they do since someone is always hurt or dyin'. I know I can't save them all, but I really wish I could."

  Y/N clung to him tighter. Finally getting him to the point where he actually was telling her what was on his mind instead of suffering in silence. She pulled away and looked at her man. She could see the hurt etched onto his face. Her hands went up to cup his cheeks, her hands warm against his cool and pale skin. He mouth was open slightly as he stared at her. Y/N dipped her head, taking his lips to hers warmly. She used one of her hands to remove his helmet and set it softly to the side of them. Taking the chance to run a hand through his jet black hair.

   Roe pulled away for a moment and Y/N smiled at him. "See, doesn't it feel better to let someone know what you are feeling inside?" she asked. His cheeks reddened in the slightest and a small grin came to his lips. 

  "Yes, I suppose it does," She giggled softly and sat to the side of him. Pressing her back into the wall of frozen solid dirt. Y/N dug in her jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of smokes. Pulling out one for her and then one for Eugene. Handing the cigarette to her lover and placing the other between her own lips. Using her lighter to light up both of them. Inhaling the smoke and letting it float around in her lungs before exhaling it. Y/N leaned her head on Eugene's shoulder, snuggling into his side. Taking his hand into hers and interlocking their fingers. The silver bands of the two's ring fingers touching. 

  "Eugene?" Y/N cooed as his calloused thumb ran over his hand. Their eyes fixated on what looked to be the never ending forest coursed with fog. 

  "Yes, Darling?" Eugene responded. Y/N craned her neck to look up at her medic.   "I love you," now, for a moment, his eyes weren't filled with hurt, fear, or anger. None of that. They were filled with love. And nothing else. Just love for his woman. He smiled down to Y/N and pecked her lips.

   "I love you too, doll."

[imalifegen89]

A Legacy Left Behind - Chapter - 5 - The Gemmond Incident

Part 4

Steve maintained a light jog and Captain Vega kept up the pace easily. They had all seen the Jumper rising to the sky to hover above the Wraith-Carrier to finish it off as promised. The explosion had been massive and instantaneous, making them feel the tremors that ran through the jungle floor even from the distance they were at. Then they had all seen the Jumper slowly turning away and heading towards the ground slightly faster than it should've been for a comfortable landing. Steve aimed a look at Danny who understood the order without Steve really having to verbalize and nodded an acknowledgement. Steve then took off towards the direction the Jumper had been heading with Vega in tow, as she was acting as the medic for this mission.

He heard the appreciative whistle Captain Vega let out seeing the site of destruction. The Spaceship had been turned to dust, literally. About a fifty-yard radius around the center of the explosion had been scorched and a few solitary trees had caught fire. But even as they looked, the fires were dying down. And most importantly, the containment of the blast, the way the pilot had managed the feat, was as close to as perfect as it could get.

They spent a few seconds taking in the sight and took off towards the Puddle Jumper that was now resting on the ground at the edge of the blast radius. The back door opened as they closed in. Steve let Vega enter first and followed right behind her. They had all heard the weariness that came through the comms when Sheppard had finally contacted them with the update. He remembered how Sheppard had looked when he caught him back in Afghanistan and he needed to see with his own eyes to make sure the man hadn't done himself any major damage.

They found both pilots more or less sprawled on their seats on the front. Lorne had his head resting on the control panel in front of him with both arms wrapped around his head securely. Sheppard had his chair halfway turned towards Lorne, his body stretched out with his left leg up, his foot resting on the side panel with the DHD. He was resting his head on the headrest of his seat with the back of one hand covering his eyes and the other just dangling at his side lifelessly. They presented a picture of two guys suffering from a massive hangover after a night of bar hopping and excessive drinking. Steve would have laughed at the sight if he hadn't known the real cause of this picture of misery.

"Alright you two, tell me who hurts more?" Vega was all business, but she kept her voice soft to avoid aggravating their obvious headaches.

Lorne raised a finger and pointed towards John without bothering to move any other part of his body. John mumbled something that sounded like ‘Lorne’ but came out more of a moan. Vega went for expedience. Since Sheppard was half-turned her way already and they could both see the markings on his face, she chose him first.

"Major, move your hand, I need to check you."

Sheppard sighed in agreement and slowly removed his hand. Steve could see the impressive bruising that covered most of his jaw and the swollen split lip. He could also see the remnants of dried blood around his nose.

Then he saw the open jacket and the uniform and inhaled sharply.

"Sheppard, your uniform - did they try to feed on you?" He kept his voice low and soft, but the inquiry came out way sharper than he intended.

Sheppard opened his eyes fully and inclined his head towards Steve, locking his gaze with him.

"It was alright, Steve - ruining my vest and shirt was as far as they got. I had it under control." He then gave him a lopsided grin that melted away to a pained grimace.

"He had a plan," Lorne announced, his face still hidden under the protection of his arms.

Vega checked the pilot over and handed him the industrial-strength pain killers she had, as directed by Dr. Lam, especially for the gene carriers. All the assigned medics in the field teams carried those as standard items in their kit. Sheppard didn't really have any serious injuries that needed urgent care and the bruising on his face needed ice, which was not really a part of a field med-kit. Apart from the raging headache, he seemed to be fine.

Then she turned towards Lorne to repeat the process.

Steve moved closer to Sheppard and rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. Sheppard moved his head to rest his cheek on the back of Steve's hand.

Lorne, who had finally uncurled from his position at Vega's urging to take his pain killers, pointed an accusing finger at John. “All I'm saying is, man, the next time you go and offer yourself up for the main course, let us know beforehand, yeah?"

Steve's hand tightened on John's shoulder upon hearing that bit of information. John rubbed his cheek on his hand like a cat, an effort to calm and assure him. "Hey, I did warn you! Besides, it worked didn't it?"

"What if the thing had the chance to feed on you before you could get a hold of it?" Lorne shot back.

"Nah, it didn't. I did what I did to get him to put his guard down. They enjoy the pain they inflict while they feed, Lorne. The fucker had to open his mind before he could feed on me. That's why I lured him in like that, so I could do what I did."

Steve was listening intently to the insanity of the plan John had devised to do something. But when he thought back to the chaos that surrounded them during their escape, it dawned on him. He knew exactly what the pilot had been doing.

"All those Drones that started dropping dead? That was you, wasn't it?" he asked. He hadn't realized that Sheppard could go on the offense as well as defense with the telepathic attacks.

"Well, indirectly. Those things are all connected to each other, sort of like a hive-mind thing. When I attacked the mind of the Wraith, it had a cascading effect. I kinda saw the same thing when I was back in Afghanistan, you know? When the Wraith female had me, I saw glimpses of those connections and they looked frayed. Maybe because I had already killed the male by then. That time I was only concerned about finishing her as quickly as I could. Today, I figured I would try something different. I had to give the rest of you a chance to get everyone out. And it did work," the pilot explained, his eyes closed and his cheek still resting on Steve's grip.

John's reply told Steve that the pilot hadn't known for sure either. The crazy asshole had played a dangerous game on a guess - well, an educated guess - but still a guess nevertheless. 'Shouldn't have brought up that Baghdad bullshit before we left,' Steve berated Danny in his mind.

"Do you think whatever you did extended to Drones in the Darts around the Gate and the city?" Steve asked. They needed to devise a plan of attack if that was not the case.

"Ah, crap! I don't know! Let me check." The painkiller seemed to be working and John was a bit more alert. He turned his chair slowly to face the Jumper screen and concentrated.

The Jumper's Heads-Up-Display came to life at Sheppard's urging and started scanning the area for the requested data. It showed that the six Darts that had been patrolling near the Gate all crashed to the ground, as well as the nine Darts that were circling the city. There were two more Darts; one had crashed in the jungle on the way to the ship and another one had also crashed just a few hundred yards away from the Jumper. The display also showed that there was a possibility that there were captured Gemmondians in those two jumpers since they were on their way back to the ship when they crashed.

"Shep, we need to call SGC. Give them a report, get them up to date on what happened here, and possibly get somebody who can figure out a way to maybe reverse that and free those people," Steve suggested.

"The rest of the team is with the Gemmondians, right?" Sheppard asked.

"Yeah, they’re about three hundred yards from here. We were talking to them earlier - they know the way to get back to the city through the jungle. Apparently, they have some villages nearby as well. Some other race called Nasyans? They said they can trek to the nearest village and get back to the city the next day," Steve replied.

Sheppard nodded. "Let's send some of our guys with them. That way we can keep our eyes on them and know where they go. Also easier to contact them if we need anything from them or vice versa." He tapped his radio and activated the team channel. "Sheppard to Williams."

"Go ahead, flyboy, you good?" Danny answered with a question.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, how far is the village they wanna go to?" Sheppard inquired.

"Tesson - that's one of the councilwomen - she is saying they can make it to the nearest village in about 2 hours, even if they took their time walking. So I'm guessing about 10 klicks maybe?"

"Ok, send three of ours with them. We should be able to keep the radio coverage with that distance. The rest of you, return to Jumper. We are heading back to the Gate to report what happened here and then make a plan on how to help these people. Oh, and Danny, is there anyone who can't make the journey? Anyone injured? Anybody who needs to go to the city urgently?"

"Nah, no one is seriously injured. Guess those life-suckers didn't want to contaminate the food supply. But there are two councilwomen - Tesson and Nehra - they'd like to go back to the city if at all possible. They might be able to calm the situation there," Danny informed Sheppard.

"Alright, bring them with you. We will go to the Gate first, report to SGC, and then return them to the city," Sheppard ordered.

"Roger that," there was a click as Williams signed out to go and do as ordered.

..........

"Y’all look like you've been busy,"

The connection had been established through the Stargate with the SGC without a hitch and almost all of them let out a collective sigh at seeing Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell's face fill the screen instead of Dixon's.

Danny had sent Bates, Adam, and Cadman with the Gemmondians to the village. Bates, because some of the Gemmondians knew him and were grateful for the familiar face, Adam because he was the secondary medic, and Cadman, as she was the other equivalent of a 'walking armory’ apart from Higgins. The rest of them, along with the tearfully indebted councilwomen had crowded into the Jumper, reached the Gate in about five minutes, and dialed home to report.

"Yeah, we were. Gemmond was under attack by Wraith and we flew right into the middle of it," said Sheppard.

The Colonel's eyes widened at that and the amused grin disappeared. He had been sure that they were in trouble for starting a bar brawl or something, given the time of the year at Gemmond and their ruffled and bruised looks.

"Start from the beginning, Shep. Tell us what happened," the Lieutenant Colonel ordered.

Sheppard launched into a report of the events. He described the scene when they flew in, the recon they did over the city, how they followed the Dart into the Wraith Carrier, the rescue of the prisoners, how they dealt with the Wraith, and finally about blowing it all to oblivion. Steve and Danny also joined in, describing their sides of the narrative and they all kept the verbal report short yet filled with important details.

"...and then me and Lorne, we left the Carrier in the Jumper. We blew it up once everybody cleared the blast Zone. Adam, Bates, and Cadman are there with the Gemmondians on their way to a nearby village as we speak," Sheppard finished the account. Glancing back, he could see everyone was focused on the screen and the account of the day's events. Tesson and Nehra, who had been patiently listening, had gone pale. Whether it was because of the shock at being captured by the Wraith or because they were scared of his team and how they had handled the situation, Sheppard wasn't sure.

The Colonel was probably seeing something similar on his screen because he put on his highly effective, greet-the-natives smile, and addressed the Gemmondian Councilors directly.

"Hello ma'am. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell of the Stargate Command. Can you please tell me what happened? Before our people got there? As I understand, the Gate was blocked from your side by the Wraith. When did the attack start?"

The older woman, who introduced herself as Tesson, stood up from where she was sitting at the back of the Jumper and came forward to speak to Mitchell.

"We have been hearing stories from the travelers who came to our planet for some time now, Colonel. They were talking about the strange starships that would appear in the sky, then send down their awful flyers to catch people. The people would disappear, never to be seen again. The stories about an evil enemy who can control minds and breed fear among us, scare us like prey into running for our lives. They called it 'the Culling'. They said they were hunting humans for food. We didn't want to believe those fanciful stories, although the travelers were scared out of their minds. We were happy to let them stay in Gemmond however, because here it was safe, or so we thought." shudder ran through her entire body as she inevitably started reliving the memory of the attack. Vega slowly guided her to sit on the chair behind Sheppard.

Then Tesson took in a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and started to relate the rest of her story.

"It was only a few hours after the day's 'First Rising Call.’ The Ring activated and those horrible little flyers came in. Our city security managed to raise the alarm, but it wasn't much help. I dispatched a group to dial the Ring for help, but they couldn't. They came back and reported that these things were holding it captive. Then they started circling above the city. They destroyed some of the buildings - they were herding us all out - that much was clear. Then they started swooping down and activating their strange beams. Our people started disappearing,"

She had tears rolling down her eyes and Danny offered her his can of water. She took it gratefully and gulped down some water before continuing,

"One moment I was helping a group of children inside a building and the next everything went black. When I woke up, I was inside that thing along with many others. I was there for about an hour when your people showed up. This entire attack must have been going on for about three hours since those things first came in.” She paused and looked at each of them, gratitude shining in her eyes. “I must thank you all from the deepest of my heart, for arriving when you did. As luck would have it, it seemed that you arrived just in time to prevent a greater tragedy. We already had lost some of our citizens to those abominations. But it could have been so much worse," she continued to address the team inside the Jumper. "I do mean it. People of Gemmond are once again in your debt. On behalf of my people, I do thank you."

She rose from her seat and bowed to all of them, Nehra also stood in the back and followed suit. They were all a bit uncomfortable at the display. The team understood, but for them, they were just doing their duty.

"It's alright ma'am, we’re glad we showed up on time too," Sheppard said, flashing a lopsided, almost shy smile. It worked. Tesson returned the smile and sat back on the seat. Then implored both Mitchell, Sheppard, and everyone else, to address her as Tesson.

"Is there anything we can do for you, Tesson? Anything you need? Medical care? Any supplies?" Mitchell inquired.

"Please, medical care would be much appreciated. Our food supplies were not targeted. Our harvest is safe. I believe they didn't need to bother with those, since they were collecting us as their food supply. I and my fellow councilors just need to get our people to clean up the destruction those flyers left behind. They need to focus on being productive so that it will help to calm them down and distract them from the harrowing shock we have all experienced, and to prevent everyone from wallowing in grief and losing their minds."

She sounded confident as she already had some sort of a plan to get her city back in order. Mitchell nodded decisively. "We’ll send a few teams right away, Tesson, along with a few doctors and medical supplies. Our guys will stay around to help with getting the city cleaned and organized as well."

"I thank you, again." With that, she rose, bowed, and went to the back of the Jumper to sit next to Nehra.

"Oh, and Colonel, you might need to bring a few scientists or maybe engineers with you. We have two crashed Darts in the jungle area that still have the dematerialized people still in them. The Jumper's got all the data and the locations already marked. So, if our people can have a look and see whether we can free them as well?" Sheppard added.

"Hmm, Let me talk to Carter. She might not be able to make it, but she would know who’s best to deal with that," Mitchell said thoughtfully."Shep, do you think there are any more ships? Maybe in orbit?”

"I don't really know, Colonel. The jumper ran a few scans around the area here - there’s nothing at the moment. But I can't be sure about the orbit, or near space of the planet. I didn't get the sense that the Wraith managed to send any hyperspace message to a nearby ship, but it's a possibility," replied Sheppard. "I can take the jumper up once I have dropped Tesson and Nehra at the city, fly a few rounds around the planet and scan the space to be sure," he offered.

Mitchell studied both the pilots for a few moments before shaking his head.

"No. You and Lorne both still look like hell and I don't think a few more hours of flying with your mind would do either of you any good. Drop the ladies and bring the Jumper back to the gate. I’ll come over with SG-1 and I can take her for a spin around the planet," he grinned at the thought of that. "Don't worry, I’ll take good care of your baby." He laughed, noticing the grimace Sheppard was trying to hide.

Sheppard was truly grateful for the offer since he still felt like his head was about to split open. But the thought of handing the Jumper over to another pilot still grated on his nerves. He had become a bit attached to the clever little craft, he realized.

"You all have already done an amazing job," Mitchell addressed the entire team. "Taking on a freaking Wraith ship all by yourselves is not a small deal. You’ve earned a break. I’ll pick up the other three of your team and bring them along as well. I'll bring three teams with me and once we are there, you guys can return home. Then get yourselves checked out and take the rest of the day off. We will do a full debriefing tomorrow with your live feeds, Jumper records, and everything. I'm sure General O'Neill will want to be there for this too. If this is happening on other planets as well, that means the Wraith are busy stocking up supplies and they are getting ready for something big. But we’ll discuss this further tomorrow. See you all in thirty, Mitchell out,"

With that, the connection terminated and Sheppard nudged the Jumper towards the city.

[despairforme]

His single eye cracked open, slowly, slowly. The first thing that met him was a PANG of pain through his head like someone had just taken a sledge hammer and gone to town. It briefly made him squeeze that eye shut again, and a pained noise escaped him, while he instinctively reached for his head. Nnoitra knew a thing or two about headaches. He had, after all, gotten SHOT in his head at one point. What he remembered the most about that was the moment before the gun fired. He remembered thinking what a freaking rare and awesome weapon that was. He stood by that statement, even if said weapon had literally given him a hole through his head. That made for plenty of good jokes about him being stupid and missing half a brain. The pain he was feeling right now wasn’t the same as it had been when he got shot. The pain was ringing through his entire skull. Another groan. He told his body it was time to attempt to sit up straight, but it woudln’t listen. He managed to keep his eye open this time though, to look around. Where was he? What had happened? He remembered... What was the last thing he remembered? He forced his aching head to cooperate. He had been playing cards with his crew-mates. That was the last image he could clearly bring forth. Yeah, he had been about to lose big time. A per usual. Could he have possibly started a fight because he was about to lose at cards? That did sound like some stupid shith he could pull. But, there was something not quite right here. He hadn’t noticed it before now, but the scent in the air was NOTHING like the smell onbaord the ship. On the ship, there was the very distinct smell that came when men who didn’t care too much about their personal hygine lived together in close-quarters. The scent he was breathing in now was fresh. It smelled like a forest. The air was moist. He could smell dirt and flowers and grass. Was he outside? His curiosity inspired him to try to push his body again, and this time it allowed him to sit upright. The world started spinning, making him dizzy. It was light here, now that he thought about it. Bright, white light was shining down. So he was outdoors then? Had his crewmates finally gotten tired of him, knocked him out and dumped him off on a planet? Was he marooned? If he was, then traditionally, he should be left with a gun with single shot in it. However, when he looked down, his weapon was gone. What the fuck?

He looked around some more, and saw why everything smelled like he was outside. He was surrounded by plants. Plants of different sizes, types, colors. More variety than he had EVER seen in his life ( and Nnoitra had traveled quite a lot ). Close to him there was a large, orange flower that at first glance looked almost like it was on fire. It was giving off the most alluring scent, and Nnoitra almost wanted to plant his face into it and just inhale. On the ground, where he was sitting, there was grass, or at least what appeared to be grass - except it was blue. Above him were white lights, but also plants growing in what he thought he could make out to be a ceiling. Okay - so he wasn’t outside then. That only puzzled him more. Where the fuck was he then? In the distance he could hear the sound of running water, otherwise everything was quiet. No, wait, there might be a buzzing of some insects nearby too. He made yet another attempt to stand, but it just made him feel more dizzy, and he groaned again.

“You should lay still. You are still recovering.” Nnoitra literally JUMPED in his seat, and yeah, that made his head spin. He had not expected anyone to speak to him. The voice had been deep and calm. A man’s voice. When the world stood still before him again, he turned his head in the direction of the voice.

His eyes were glowing. That was the very first thing Nnoitra noticed about him. He had large, yellow eyes that glowed like distant suns. They were regarding him from behind long, purple eyelashes. He had skin the color of steel, and on the top of his baled head there were two small, curved horns, almost like spikes. He must be tall, though it was hard to tell just how tall since Nnoitra was sitting, but he would guess he was even taller than himself. He was wearing a large, black coat that appeared to be made up entirely out of pockets. Was Nnoitra’s gun in one of them? The next striking thing about him, was the CRACK in his head. Maybe Nnoitra noticed it especially because he, himself had a hole through his own. It looked like someone had SMASHED this guy’s skull. The left side of his head looked almost like a broken mirror, except the cracks were filled with what literally looked like gold. It was bright and shiny, and extremely visible against that grey skin. Nnoitra had met a great deal of beings throughout his time, but usually he had a vague idea about what kind of species they were. This time? He had no clue. Whoever this guy was, he had to be something incredibly rare. The pirate side of Nnoitra briefly connected the dots between him being rare and him being worth a lot on the creature-market. That thought was pushed aside. Nnoitra had traded creatures before, but it was always risky because he, himself was an extremely rare ( if not unique ) human-insectoid hybrid. He had to be careful about appearing in the wrong circles. And in any case - there were more pressing matters than him SELLING this guy. Like, for example -

“What ‘da fuck happened?” He asked, his voice just a little pained while he looked over at the stranger. The other didn’t appear hostile, he noted. Not even vary, as if he knew that right now Nnoitra posed little threat to him. He probably wasn’t wrong about that. Even if Nnoitra hadn’t been injured, he didn’t know what kinds of powers this alien possessed. He might be incredibly strong.

There was a pause, before the alien looked away from him, and turned his attention to the nearest plant. He brushed the leaves with a finger, almost similar to how someone would lovingly caress a partner.

“Your ship collided with something. I received the distress signal.” Another pause, or was this more like hesitation? Then he continued - “When arrived, you were the only one I could find. I don’t know if maybe someone was there before me and picked up survivors and simply didn’t see you.”

That was a lot of information. Nnoitra tried to process it. HOW could they have collided with something? If they really had, then chances were there weren’t many survivors. Most of the crewmates were human, and they were just genetically fragile. Nnoitra’s hybrid genes made him a lot more durable, which was most likely what he could thank for being alive. Nnoitra DID have people he’d consider.. Well, not friends, but... Yeah. People he had known a while and who tolerated him ( and who he tolerated in return ). Were all of them dead then? Just like that? People he had been traveling with for years. People he had just been sitting there with, playing cards. Had they been ripped from life at the moment of impact with whatever it was the ship had crashed into? It was so INCREDIBLY rare to actually crash in space. It was fucking ETERNAL after all. One would think there was enough space for a shitty, little space-ship. Nnoitra realized something - there was a chance they had been shot down. They were pirates after all. The distress signal that the ship had sent out was something that happened automatically when it sustained too much damage to be saved. There was no way this man would know what kind of ship had sent out the SOS. If all he had arrived at was a total wreck, then he really had no way of knowing that Nnoitra was a pirate. Nnoitra looked at him. He was still busy with the plant. Nnoitra thought he could see the plant turn slightly towards those glowing eyes, as if it was looking back at him. Freaky.

“So everyone’s dead, except me, huh?” Nnoitra didn’t sound like he was mourning, and neither was he. He wasn’t going to be upset about those guys dying. They wouldn’t have given a shit if HE had died. And, in any case, some of them might still be alive. The alien was looking at him again, probably as a reaction to the coldness in which Nnoitra spoke about his dead crewmates.

“In all likelihood, yes. I’m guessing it’s because you are not fully human. In my experience, humans can hardly survive anything.” Oh, that was a sharp observation. Seemed Nnoitra wasn’t the only one who thought humans were weak. He nodded.

“Yeah, I guess ‘daz why I ain’t dead. I’m surprised ya figured out I ain’t fully human. Most people can’t tell, ‘cause I look like one.” A vague gesture was made towards his general appearance. Nnoitra really did appear fully human ( except for the hole in his head, which he always covered with an eyepatch as well as his hair anyway. Nnoitra DID have the ability to grow an extra set of arms, but he very rarely did so, as it was very painful for him. “I bet it ain’t ‘da same ‘fer ya.” Basically, Nnoitra was asking him - what the fuck are you. A subtle expression of surprise settled upon the other’s face, and he tilted his head just slightly.

“You don’t know what I am?” His voice was partly confused, partly suspicious and partly surprised. Nnoitra furrowed his brows, and looked him up and down as if that would somehow magically make him know what kind of species he was. He really didn’t have any idea. Apparently, he SHOULD know.

“No? I don’t go ‘round studyin’ every fuckin’ species in ‘da universe. Ya know how MANY that is?” He.. Didn’t know how many there were, but since space was infinite, it was safe to assume that the amount of different species of aliens was beyond count. Nnoitra was used to how his rude approach to conversations was off-putting to others, and more often than not, he got himself into trouble thanks to his mouth. The alien didn’t seem annoyed at all though. If anything, he looked reassured and almost calm. 

“You can call me Fowkwer.” The alien introduced himself. That name wasn’t too difficult. Nnoitra often met guys with absolutely freakishly long names that he could never in his life hope to remember. It DID seem appropriate that he should at least manage to remember the name of the dude that had saved him.

“I’m Nnoitra.”

“Welcome aboard my ship, Nnoitra.”

“So this is a ship? I was kinda wonderin’ ‘bout that. It looks more like a jungle.” Which he absolutely loved. This was the nicest ship he had ever been aboard, and all he had been doing was sit in this one spot in the blue grass. He had no idea how large the ship was, but he would guess it was fairly big. This room alone seemed to serve no other purpose than as a storage room for these plants. Then again, it was RARE for one person to operate a large ship. Were there others onboard here, or was Fowkwer the only one? He seemed to be the Captain at least, since he had referred to it as ‘ my ‘ ship. 

“Yes, it’s built that way. I don’t have a guest room, as I rarely have guests onboard. It’s usually just me and the plants.” So he was alone then.

“Yer lucky. Havin’ a whoel space ship ‘ta yerself that looks like a jungle? Fuckin’ livin’ ‘da dream. How much ya chargin’ ‘fer tickets?” It was a half-joke. Nnoitra had learned from his life as a pirate that NOTHING was free, and he was pretty sure the same went for getting your life saved by a glowy-eyed alien whose name was FUCKWHERE. No -- Fowkwer. Well, close enough.

“I wasn’t planning on charging you anything. You have nothing I want. All I ask is that you do not harm my plants. If you do I won’t hesitate to dispose of you.” His tone up until this point had been calm. It was still calm now, but there was an added seriousness and a coldness that hadn’t been there before. As his voice turned colder, Nnoitra thought it looked like his glowing eyes became less luminescent too. As if they too got colder. Nnoitra’s expression was once again one of those where you could almost see the question marks pop up over his head. Okay.. Was he dealing with some kind of... REAL weirdo here? Maybe he had been traveling so long with only his plants as company that he had started to think of them as his friends. Nnoitra had heard stories like that before. People getting lost in space of years and turning bat-shit crazy, talking to their helmets and shit like that. Was this a similar thing? Fowkwer looked serious. 

“Hands off ‘da plants. Got it.” Nnoitra held up his hands, as if to surrender. Seeing as he actually LIKED nature, he had no wish to uproot the plants or whatever. The only thing he did want to do was put his face inside that orange one that smelled like heaven. He had to wonder how Fowkwer would dispose of him. Just how strong was that guy? It didn’t feel good, not knowing whether or not he could overpower someone. And, also, it didn’t feel good to be unarmed. But, he could hardly ask for his gun back, could he? That would be too suspicious. Some of what he was thinking must’ve shown on his face.

“You can have your weapon back. It’s not of any threat to me. I just took it from you to ensure you wouldn’t start wildly shooting around and damage my plants.” Nnoitra’s beloved gun ( he had had it for years, okay? ) was pulled out of one of those deep pockets of the other’s coat. Fowkwer walked over to him, and bent down to return the weapon to him. Now that he was closer, Nnoitra could tell that Fowkwer was definitely taller than him. He had a bigger build too. Broad shoulders and a wide chest, and strong, muscular arms. Nnoitra’s skinny fingers accepted the gun, and he strapped to his belt where he always kept it. The other had said it was no threat to him. Did that mean his skin could withstand a shot then? Honestly it seemed like all the guy cared about was his plants. 

“So yer pretty tough, huh? But that - “ He pointed to the other’s head. He was certain that those golden cracks were actually a scar, and a gnarly one at that. “That looks like it hurt.” Was this his way of finding out Fowkwer’s weaknesses? Oh, absolutely. It wasn’t like he cared here.

“No more than yours. These are just cracks after all.” He touched the golden scar with a hand, and then he gestured to his own eye, as if acting as a mirror for Nnoitra. “You’ve got a hole.” Oh, so he had seen it then? Mah, that was fine. It explained how he could tell he wasn’t human. That was the only reason why Nnoitra kept it hidden.

“Yeah, I fuckin’ don’t recommend gettin’ shot in ‘da head by a BG-2000. Unless yer a badass motherfucker like me.” He grinned, cocking his head back. “I don’t recommend bein’ in a crash either, even if I’m pretty surprised I’m still in one piece.” His head hurt and he felt terribly weak, but that was about it. Considering he had been knocked out upon impact, his injuries seemed minimal.

“You looked far worse when I found you.”

“But ya did some magic-shit ‘n now I’m all good?” There were many different healing methods out there, and the best ones were very expensive. Mah, maybe this guy had some sort of healing plant here or something? Seemed likely.

“Something like that.” One thing that Nnoitra had noted was that Fowkwer had yet to smile. Not all species could, of course, but generally that was the one universal thing that everyone had in common. As long as you had a mouth, you could smile, and Fowkwer had a completely normal mouth, though his lips were a strange shade of purple. He probably just hadn’t warmed up to him yet. Was he suspicious of him still? Maybe.

“Mah, whatever ya did I’m.. Ya know -” He gestured between the two of them, the word ‘ grateful ‘ getting stuck in his throat. Fowkwer arched his brows slightly.

“Thankful?”

“Yeah, that.” A grin. Yeah, he WAS glad to still be alive ( oddly enough, he had never really thought he valued his life all that much ). The next question was - how long would he have to stay here? Actually, he wasn’t in any rush to have that answered. Compared to most of the shitty places he had visited in his life, where he was right now was kinda nice. He doubted Fowkwer would want to have him onboard longer than necessary. Who knew how long it was until they could land on a planet.