#and here you are. taunting me with your bald ass head
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polite--cat · 1 month ago
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alpine next season
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k-marzolf · 1 year ago
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Seeds
Canon typical violence, blood, threats, intimidation, past with sexual abuse (both reader and Billy), kissing, dark themes, fem!reader
Rabbit Heart Masterlist.
1,022 words.
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“How’d Russo get a sweet piece of ass like you?” asked a balding, short man, leering at you as he approached you in the hallway.
You stopped in your tracks, you’d been on your way to see Billy in his office.
Men made you nervous, and you flinched when he touched your arm. “I want a taste,” he smirked, as your hand jerked and you slapped him. Hard.
His head snapped to the side, and he looked angry, a red handprint on his face. “Bitch,” he spat hand tightening on your arm making you claw at his face with your other hand, as Billy’s office door opened.
You were shaking, and Billy noticed, as his eyes lazily turned to Morty. Like a cat ready to pounce on his prey. “Morty,” he greeted, casually. “What’re you doin’ here? And take your goddamn hands off her.” He asked, hands in his jeans pockets, moving over to you.
“Rawlins wants—“ Morty said, letting go of you, but was cut off immediately.
Billy bared his teeth, “I don’t give a fuck what Rawlins wants. He’s a dog looking for scraps at his master’s table, and you’re just a rat with the courage of a rabbit.” Billy said roughly.
And something about the casual way he handled Morty, had you pressing your thighs together. You’d never seen him working or in action.
“Fuck you, Russo. Maybe I’ll visit your girl tonight—“ Morty didn’t get to finish his sentence.
Billy unsheathed his hidden blade, and struck him in the shoulder, faster than a snake strike, making Morty scream as Billy pushed through bone, unsympathetic, a warning. “You touch my girl, and I go for your eye next. Match your master, huh?” Billy asked, getting his face, blade dripping with blood as he carved a mark under Morty’s eyes, making him grit his teeth.
He pulled back, pulling out a cloth and wiping his blade, “You can tell Rawlins I ain’t interested in what he has to say.”
Morty looked hatefully at Billy, blood dripping down his face, spitting at him, before pushing past, holding his bleeding shoulder, and leaving the country house.
You felt sick from Morty’s touch, he had reminded you of your uncle, rat like and pushy. How he’d watch you in your bedroom while you slept in the chair in the corner, or go through your undergarment drawer, and steal some of your underwear. He’d blackmailed you with that one. “I’ll say, look at what my niece gave me.” He had taunted, making your heart drop. Or the way he’d touch your arm softly, fingers moving along like a spider crawling along your skin.
Billy followed you down the hall, his combat boots squeaking a little bit, as you made your way into the kitchen. It was huge, but sunny looking. Beige colored walls, with light colored wood cabinets, and stainless steel appliances. There was a sliding glass door that led outside, bringing in the sun making it seem warm inside, even the winter.
You wanted something to eat. You’d always eaten when things got tough, especially carbs. You craved those often. It was why your father always said you were fat, that no man was going to want you if you didn’t cut back a little.
Billy didn’t seem to give a fuck about your extra weight, he often pulled you into his lap while he read over paperwork, or his men gave reports. Anvil was a cover for his criminal operations, and you hated when he had to go to the city and make an appearance.
Billy watched you grab some pomegranate seeds, and asked; “Did he touch you, bunny?” His voice was low, seething at the thought, but he didn’t touch you yet, knowing you might be triggered. He understood, the word pretty still made him uncomfortable after all these years. He still gets a pit in his stomach like a stone.
You’re never the same after someone violates you, and takes away your autonomy.
“Just my arm. I slapped him.” You said, biting into the seeds, sighing at how good they tasted.
Billy grinned, “That’s my girl.” He said, kissing your forehead, and you leaned into his touch.
You replayed Billy stabbing Morty, his casual way he handled him, like a cat toying with a mouse, and pressed your thighs together. “You were kind of sexy, the way you handled Morty.” You said, juice dripping down your chin.
You moved to wipe it away, but Billy caught your hand, and leaned in, his mouth lapping up the juices, making you whine softly.
You and Billy had never consummated anything, despite the teasing, and the fooling around. He didn’t want to push you knowing you’d been sexually abused. And he was surprised he was uninterested in other women, despite never having taken you to bed.
He enjoyed the companionship, the soft press of your body to him at night with your fingers in his hair, the sweet things you’d do for him, or reading together with your feet in his lap, and the conversations late at night.
He pulled back, “Sexy, huh?” He asked, lips turning up. You were so goddamn cute.
You bit into another seed, and god it was taking everything in Billy not to have you against the counter, to hear the sweet sounds he knew you’d make just for him.
“Tryin’ to tempt me?” He asked in a low voice, caging you in against the counter, you let the juice drip down, and he caught it with his tongue again, kissing your mouth this time.
You clutched his green sweater, returning his kiss, leaning on your tippy toes to taste the whiskey in his mouth. He gave you soft kisses that left you breathless, and hard kisses too, that had you aching for him, his fingers tangled in your hair, pressed against you. You could feel every inch of him.
You both spent the rest of the afternoon sharing pomegranate seeds, and kissing, both content to let it go no further.
But you realized with an ache between your thighs you were ready to trust Billy with yourself.
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speedster-in-the-cosmos · 2 months ago
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Farther away from home than that spider-guy;
What is UP, party people! Name's Peter Maximoff, otherwise known as Quicksilver: The Coolest Speedster This World Has Ever Seen. Err, technically my world, I guess. Here's the thing, I'm not from this dimension.. like, not even a little. Lem'me take you back a couple.. (months? Idk, time has been hard, man.) So, I was monitoring the halls of Xavier's school when boom! These guys in badass uniform came out of this portal and zapped me! Kept talking 'bout how "they needed my face" and that "I had the wrong name" which like, ouch man. I ended up in some reject dimension, thank gods I spotted a version of good ol' Wolfie (and that cool Deadpool guy? It was wild). I followed em' to this base, watched em' get head-fingered by this bald chick named Cassandra (Charles's sister? What a twist!), and lo and behold, my way out. A weirdass ring on the chick's finger, which she ended up dropping when "going to go destroy every universe" . (You go, girl) I was so quick getting that ring that people actually said that it must've been the wind, it was hilarious, guys. What wasn't funny was the sheer willpower it look to actually, like, make a portal.. after four hours in the middle of some sand dunes, I finally was able to make one(1) and took the chance. Noooow I'm here, so I guess I should never gamble. I'm not stressed though, the X-Men are probably looking for me.. right?
Now that you know my life story (of the last.. amount of time), get to know ME, the sickest guy you'll ever meet. I'm a music fanatic, can't have a good mission without a good playlist, ya'know? Retro video games are cool too, I could probably kick ANY of your asses in Space Invaders. Uhhhh, I'm probably still a twenty-something, definitely still have that boy-ish charm that makes the girls go wild (BootyliciousMen Ladies.. hmu..) Anyways, got'ta go climb the Empire State Building, see ya' soon!
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[ Mod & RP Info Below Cut ! ]
Mod Notes
Welcome to Quicksilver-The-The-Cosmos: Electric Boogaloo, I'm your notorious host, Randy :) I use he/him pronouns, I'm twenty years old, and I'm so normal about Marvel and X-Men. Extremely normal. NOTE: This is a sideblog of @master-of-the-mystic-arts-inc , so I'll be following from that!
RP Info
Like last time, Peter has been dropped right into the MCU and actively trying to get out. He's a jokester at heart, but I got'ta sprinkle in a little angst as well, he's stuck in an unfamiliar dimension after all! He may show up in your asks randomly, so beware.. (/silly) Crossovers and (over 18+ !!) ocs are welcome to interact, and the man is completely open to plots, character dynamics, random asks, and rp memes! :)
DNI
First off, I want absolutely NO drama on this blog. If you're here to start shit, it's legitimately pointless so begone <33 Secondly, this blog will contain alcohol, substances, and perhaps suggestive material, so minors seek other rad blogs! Bigots, proshippers, and other such weirdos are not welcome either, hate will be taunted and giggled at!
Tags
#[ speedy talks too much ]- Peter's textposts! #[ a challenger approaches! ]- Answering asks in character! #[ whiplaaash ]- Peter's shitposts! #[ a search for home ]- Roleplays, open ones as well as threads! #[ mingling with the locals ]- Peter interacting with other blogs!
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proxylynn · 2 years ago
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YB,
Ah, oh.. you're asking. Well, alright.. I'll try to look back and try to articulate myself better
*A few moments later*
Alright.. Alright! Here..
*brings out a book and shuffles through it*
- you have 3 seconds. Run, for "slapping your bald head"
- finding a picture of dorky teenage years
- the peetah joke
- smacks peters ass and it makes a xylophone sound
- the peanut butter post
- that second recent post with the red images in the anon ask
---
I mean, I guess I could explain it away as some cat and mouse "game" where the anon taunts you or something and you chase them back?
But that's.. not me.. I DESPISE the idea of being degraded in any way. and the thought of you ever talking to me in that tone does not give me .. a positive feeling.
And yes, they do make me think badly of you but on the bright side, I'm.. talking to you about this. Because I want to see how you would respond to.. all this.
(I mean if you want, I know this ask is really serious, lemme know if it's too much pressure or if you're not comfortable with this)
Peter: *frowns* I have failed you. While I know some things are lost in the translation of this being all text. My tone isn't conveyed as I mean it to be. I admit...I haven't been even-tempered as much as I want to be. I am flawed, darling. I am unworthy of you. B-But I can do better! I promise! We're talking it out. We're working on it. Like a real couple does. Please...Don't reject me. Don't quit on me. I'd never quit you.
[You're fine. Though I think this is making me tap into how game Peter acts. Feels weird.]
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fragmcntedsouls · 10 months ago
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Zeke hadn’t said it to be rude, but he was certain that he’d seen Jackie crash her bike into oncoming traffic on at least four separate occasions and watched her stomach enough drugs to take down a horse. “Real glad to see it” he mused, before shrugging his shoulders “hey – anything for a friend.” His smile only widened, his dark eyes falling upon her curls “as much as you’d rock being bald, people pay good money for curls like those, trust me I know” before his brow creased and he murmured, “actually – not a terrible idea, I mean it when I say that people would pay for hair. Usually freaks, but whatever – money’s money, right?” Jack wouldn’t have to worry about Zeke opening his mouth – business was business and more often than not, private. His organisation took care of him and he took care of the sorry suckers he’d roped in to this shit in the first place. “It’s always from a place of love, here i’ll let you hit me with an insult for free.” Her nudge is reciprocated with a wink, knowing all too well what an exaggerated smile could hide, but it wasn’t for him to touch on that. He chuckled at her retort, head slow to nod as she stated her intention for the visit, one he’d long since anticipated “I figured. I mean, as much as i’m sure you were just missing me” he taunted before releasing a slow breath and lowering his voice to ensure that they weren't overheard, “-- you sure you're up for it?" His brow creased as he turned to face her, stopping both of their movements "there's a job tomorrow night, but I won't be on it. Which means, if you get caught i'm not there to bust your ass out. It's only a small delivery this time though, so it should be painless."
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"Nope, still kickin'..." she got that a lot. People thinking she'd died. And they said faking death would be heard -- she wasn't even trying. "Look at you, already so helpful. Think your hairstylist could work a miracle? 'Cause I'm half-tempted to just chop it all off." she wondered if he'd seen Billie lately, or Briggs. She was hoping he didn't. Hoping he wouldn't tell either of them what she was about to ask. -- There's a chuckle escaping her lips as she hears another usual remark and an eye-roll cannot be helped. "Man, little offence taken. But since it's from a place of love..." she nudges slightly with a shoulder and lets a smile spread wide. She knew a good smile usually distracted from sunk-in eyes, made things seem...overall better. "Um y-yeah, yeah no I been good. Just...travelling around, livin' it up..." she felt awkward just sayin' that, who even talked like that? "Anyways, I uh, I need a job. I know...I shoulda gotten you a drink first but, oh well, I ain't good at beatin' round the bush..."
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beomdarling · 3 years ago
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SWINGING CONVERSATION
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Pairing; Beomgyu X Fem!reader
Genre; Fluff, Crack and Suggestive? (Just playfully groping)
Warning; Some swearing and heart warming Fluff
Not proof read -
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You laughed out loud with your arms in the air as Beomgyu held your waist from behind joining your cheers as you both slid down your favorite slide as a kid, today was yours and Beomgyus fourth anniversary as a couple and nineth as best friends so you both decide to come to the place that held very special memories-- the neighborhood playground.
Letting out a sigh you giggled leaning back into Beomgyu who's hair was a mess after sliding down so many loops "That was fun" you said softly looking up at Gyu who was already looking at you "Yeah but I just now noticed how dangerous this slide is like holy shit" He said puffing hair out his face making you smile "Honestly me too surprised we didn't hurt ourselves when we were younger" you said standing up and pulling wood shavings from your pants that hurt when they stuck in your skin
Beomgyu quickly slapped your butt making you gasp as he ran bye sticking his tongue out "Race you to the swings!" He yelled "Don't fall on your ass!" He taunted making you narrowed your eyes as you chased after him
Past memory
A young Beomgyu giggled as he pushed past a little girl in his way making her stumble and fall on her butt, letting out a small hiss she glared at the boy "Hey! Stop ittt!!" She yelled out quickly getting up and chasing after him the wooden shavings in her legs hurting like crazy as she huffed following him to the swings
Back to the current present time
Letting out a maniac like laugh as you tackled him to the ground making him let out a "Uf!" Sound as he fell, looking down at him you smirked "Ha caught you this time!" You said in a childish tone making Beomgyu laugh. Staring up at you his heart fluttered-- The man was whipped for you and would do anything to hear that crazy laugh or see that gorgeous smile "HEY-!" He sqeaked getting knocked out of his thoughts by you squeezing his butt, he squirmed feeling your firm grip "Doesn't feel to nice does it!" You yelled smiling at his misery "no No NO!" He whined begging you to stop groping his buttocks
You eventually did making him swear to never touch yours again which made him sad but he had to do what he had to do plus he was crossing his fingers behind his head so he was all good
Now you both were swinging on the swing set a comfortable silence taking over you both, it was crazy to think you met here when you were eleven just because Beomgyu pushed you which you weren't having that, the thought made you smile and squeeze your intertwined fingers as you both gently moved back and forth
Beomgyu decided to break the silence "Hey Y/n?" He questioned in a low voice making you turn your head seeing him staring at the dark star filled sky "Hm?" You hummed feeling his thumb rub your knuckles "When we have kids let's bring them here" he said softly turning his head over to look at you, your eyes widened as your heart soared at that, a bright smile formed on your face "As long as we come here when we're old Gyu" you said making him laugh as he brought your hand to his lips placing a kiss
"Will you really love me that long?" He asked tilting his head his eyes studying your features something he's done thousands of times "Course I will, even with your one white hair on your wrinkly bald head" you said making him gasp "I will not have one hair!" He exclaimed making you burst out laughing "If you say so Gyu.." you said calming down shaking your head
Walking hand and hand to Beomgyus beat up car he's hand since he was sixteen you turned and looked at him "I really will though-- love you until we're old" you said quickly looking away, he grinned nodding "Great, then I will too" He said quickly leaning in and pecking your lips taking you by surprise
"I love you Beomgyu" you said feeling giddy and thankful that you got to meet him in this life "I love you more.. and I love your butt!" He said quickly tapping your butt and darting to his car
Sighing you smiled as you took off running after him "Damn you Beomgyu! You promised!" You yelled, his and your laughter filling the small parking area
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hallelujahmeatgod · 3 years ago
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TOKYO REVENGERS CHARACTERS WHEN YOU PRANK THEM TELLING THEM YOU DON'T WANT TO SHARE A STRAW
+warning/s: Just swearing and nothing else really
+pairing/s: Mikey, Draken, Baji, and Chifuyu
+word count: 1398
+note: again, characters are picked based on who i got an idea for right off the bat. i did this in the middle of a class cause i was bored as heck sooooo huehue. hope ya'll like it.
Mikey
"Huh?" He asks.
"Huh what?"
"What?"
"What? What?"
Yes, we're both dumb as fuck. If there's an award for it, we'd win without any effort.
"I'm asking the question here so don't return it back with a question, dummy" He said, rolling his eyes at me.
"You didn't even ask a proper question, you just said 'huh' and looked at me like a dumbass" I grumbled back.
"Okay smartass." He retorted, giving me a warning look. "Did you just really say to get another straw? You wish." He scoffed, reaching for my drink which I pulled away.
"What? It's my drink. My drink my rules, so go get another straw if you want a sip" I sassed.
He gave me a ridiculous look. A look that says 'you know you're acting dumb right now right?'
"Fine." He said, which caught all my attention.
Is he really just giving up right now? Not even gonna get moody? Well that's new.
"Guess who's not having any more kisses from me." He shrugged, scrolling through his phone with a bored expression.
My eyes widened.
He's not serious is he? No way. He's just as clingy as me, so he can't. Or can he😳
"No you can't" I challenged, snatching his phone from his hand.
"See for yourself" He smiled mischievously, causing shivers to run down my spine.
He's fucking serious.
My fucking clingy ass can never.
He then just stood up and walked out of the shop. I grabbed my drink and ran after him outside yelling "DUDE DRINK IT, DRINK IT ALL. THE FUCK! Come here" I said, catching up to him.
I basically forced him to drink with my straw as he tried not to laugh too hard as he took a sip.
"What?" He chuckled, wiping the corner of his mouth because some of the drink spilled.
look at this stupid child enjoying this too much tsk.
"You're not taking away my kiss privileges, bitch. Now drink the whole thing, with MY damn straw!"
Draken
"Ask for a new straw, Ken" I slapped his hand when he tried to snatch my drink, as we watched on YouTube.
He put the phone down and looked at me. I don't even know what his look wants to tell me, he be looking at me like a robot.
You might be looking at me like a robot right now but you're too handsome, sir. Come through with that model looking face, with some of your hair falling on your face. YES, we're here for it👏👏
"What? Do I have something on my face? C'mon let's continue watching." I pouted, looking back at him, eyebrows raised.
He handed me his phone and stood up.
He's really just going to get a straw huh?
I just shook my head and scrolled on his phone, laughing at some of the messages and memes the Toman guys were sending at the gc.
"What's up?" Draken asks when he saw me chuckling to myself. Returning to sit beside me.
When I looked up I was just shookt. I told him to get a new straw but he came back with a whole new drink that's the same flavor as mine. A pout instantly took over my features as he chuckled knowingly at me.
"You're no fun, Ken" I whined, handing him back his phone.
"Should've known better than to play around with me then" He retorted, giving me a triumphant smile. Which earned him an eye roll from me.
"Whatever" I scoffed.
"Sore loser"
Baji
"Excuse me?" Baji exclaimed, giving me a very offended look. His eyebrows almost meet in the middle.
Never thought I'd offend someone in my life over a fucking drink, but okay.
"Okay, first of all, I'm gonna need you to calm down. You'll get wrinkles at such a young age, Kei" I said, rubbing the skin between his brows, trying to get him to relax his face.
He shook his head to shoo my hand away and continued glaring at me.
I really should've thought hard and long before playing this prank on him. It hasn't been a minute when I told him to grab another straw and he's already exploding.
"What are you looking at me like that for? Keep it up and I'll poke your eyes" I said, rolling my eyes at him which just edged him even more.
"Grab another straw? GRAB. ANOTHER. STRAW? Do you have any brain cells left?" He scoffs.
"WOW, coming from you who can barely spell shit when you're already copying it, you twat!"
"Well, are you any better? You can't subtract for shit, shit head"
Now it's my turn to give him an offended look.
You never mention my math capabilities, it hurts me deeply!
"We're seriously having a fight right now that started because you can't get a straw huh? Is it that hard? You're lame." I mocked, trying my best not to laugh at his face.
"Do you want me to remind you where your mouth goes?" He challenged, almost making me lose my shit then and there.
This bitch really needs to invest in breaks, cause damn his mouth can go places.
"What's your deal? You fight gang people, yet you make a big fuss over a straw." I gave him a taunting look.
"You" he said, jabbing me--not hard though-- at the chest. "Grab a straw"
"Bitch, this is my drink" I said as a matter of fact.
"So? Is it that hard?" He mocked me, rolling his eyes.
"You're so stupid, I want to yank your hair" I spat.
"I wanna see you try. What? Wanna take this outside? I'll make you bald, fucking try me. I've got long hair, but my patience is as long as my eyebrow hair, probably shorter." He said, ready to fight my ass.
He was so serious, even lifting his hands up to show me how he's going to snatch my hair, that I couldn't really hold in the laughter anymore.
"D-dude HAHAHAHHAHA" I fell back on the booth we're in, clutching my stomach, as I tear up from laughter.
He clicked his tongue just watching me lose my shit. "I can't stand your ass" He said, standing up from our booth, taking my drink with him and walking out.
"Y-yo wait up!" I called out, still laughing. "THAT'S MY DRINK, GIVE IT BACK!"
"Grab a straw if you want a sip" He looked back with a smirk, before walking away.
Chifuyu
"A sip? Sure baby. Grab another straw" I pushed my drink to him when he asked for a sip.
He suddenly laughed out loud, LIKE REALLY LOUD that he got the attention of everyone around us.
"Nice joke, babe"
"Huh?" I gave him a confused look. "Ain't nobody joking though? Get another straw if you want a sip, Fuyu" I said, waiting patiently for our other orders to finish.
"You crazy"
"No, I'm serious" I retorted, giving him a serious look.
"Since when is that part of your vocabulary? Your vocabulary is so small even that word ain't part of it" He dissed, giving me a mischievous look.
I'm considering leaving this damn prank and just popping his ass right now, so he forgets his own damn vocabulary and all he can remember is the word sorry.
"Don't start with me you ass. I'll beat you with a dictionary since you're all about vocabulary."
"Make it an encyclopedia baby" He grinned, just making me more annoyed.
"Well you're most definitely not getting a sip of my drink now, give it back." I ordered.
"Well, too bad." He shrugged, then snatched my drink, sprinting away like his life depended on it while laughing.
"You stupid bitch--" I called out, shaking my head. Can't really do anything but laugh a little at how stupid he is.
I honestly can't get mad at Chifuyu even if I forced myself. And I don't know if is should be happy or not.
I wasn't expecting him to act normally but dang was I not expecting that.
"You've got one heck of a boyfriend there" The lady at the counter said, chuckling a little bit as we watched him dance around happily while drinking my drink from a distance.
"Sometimes I don't even know if we're in a relationship or I'm just straight up his babysitter" I shook my head as the lady laughed.
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emeren · 4 years ago
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speed racer pt.2 - eren jaeger
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pairing: eren jaeger x fem!reader
word count: 4.3 k 
content warnings: 18+, smut, car sex, possessiveness, choking, dangerous driving idk LMAO
notes: it’s my birthday today! my gift to you all is speed racer pt. 2!!!! pt. 1 is not necessary to enjoy this oneshot, but may help with some context. here is that! 
SUMMARY: eren takes the reader for a drive where he decides to clear some things up about their relationship in his own special way. 
“it’ll be quick; i promise,” eren’s voice brought you from your daydream, head shifting against the cold window to look at him in the driver’s seat. his hair was up, brows furrowed in guilt as he waited for your response. 
you let out a dramatic sigh, reaching to unbuckle your seatbelt. “fine, but i’m not going to wait in the car.” 
“once it’s over i’ll buy you some food,” he rationed, unbuckling his seatbelt the same. you eyed him suspiciously, waiting for the inevitable sexual innuendo to leave his lips. “n’then i’ll take you back to mine and fuck you, just like you want.”
your unspoken agreement with eren had become routine at this point. after your mutually discovered attraction a couple weeks prior, the two of you had spent many a night in his bed, unashamedly basking in your sexual tension. 
the concept of sex buddies hadn’t been one you’d previously dived into, and you would’ve been lying if you’d said you didn’t want to be exclusive. it only made matters worse that eren insisted on doing everything with you at this point, including dragging you to his board meetings for his sponsorship. he was a pain in the ass, but he was a pain in the ass that treated you like his girlfriend. 
you wanted to make it official, but were too scared of embarrassing yourself, so you resorted to enjoying things the way they were. frienemies with benefits, as eren would say. 
“c’mon, don’t be so vulgar,” you responded, slipping out of the car as eren snickered to himself quietly. you hated the fact that his comments made your face heat up. you were beginning to act like a schoolgirl around him, infatuated by your little crush. 
“you know you love it,” eren smirked over the top of the car as he joined you, locking the vehicle. it was dark outside, the stadium brightly illuminated against the navy sky. “what was it you said again? ‘i want this just as much as you do’?”
you scowled, giving his arm a hard shove. he would not let you forget the things you’d said in the heat of the moment. “oh, fuck off.” you snipped. 
eren laughed again, jokingly rubbing his arm as the two of you walked up to the stadium. it was around eight, the building being nearly vacant save for the members of eren’s sponsorship board inside. 
“what’s the meeting about?” you asked as he held the door open for you, a gush of air conditioning making you shudder. 
“if i’m being honest, i don’t know,” eren replied, his eyes settling past you. as you turned your head, you saw a group of exhausted looking men in worn grey suits talking quietly amongst themselves. they stopped whispering at the sound of the door opening; a short, balding man making his way over. 
“mr. jaeger, thank you for coming on such short notice,” his voice was thick as he spoke, obviously a smoker. eren reached out to shake his hand, the man’s beady eyes settling on your face as he did so. “i’m sorry, but we won’t be allowing any unauthorized people in this meeting.” 
startled, you looked to eren, whose face did all but curse at the short man. “do you mind waiting out here?” 
“oh, yeah, no biggie,” you smiled reassuringly. he shot you a look of gratitude, mouthing the words “i’m sorry” as he walked off with the group. it was funny to watch him go; surrounded by serious men in suits while he wore jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of sneakers. not to mention he was about a foot taller than the rest of them. 
a sigh escaped your lips as they disappeared around the corner. the building was ominous when you were alone; large and vacant, normally filled with people excitedly bustling to watch a race. without the energy, it was downright creepy. 
you decided to stand against the wall while you waited, anxiously toying with the hem of your skirt and counting the number of fluorescent bulbs that flickered in the ceiling. 
the distant rumble of talking suddenly hit your ears, head snapping in the direction of the sound. it was getting louder, obviously two people approaching. you readied yourself to launch into an explanation as to why you were sitting alone in the stadium, after hours, only to be pleasantly surprised at who rounded the corner. 
“yo, what’re you doing here?” connie cried out in excitement, a smile splitting across his face. he was with jean, the two of them spattered with engine oil and dirt. 
you grinned back, pushing yourself off the wall to meet them halfway. “eren had a sponsorship meeting and dragged me along. what about you guys?” 
jean smirked at your response, sharing a look with connie that went unnoticed by you. “well, connie accidentally told the boss that we don’t know jack-shit about car mechanics, so now we have to go to a stupid workshop five days a week.” 
“hey, it’s not my fault he was eavesdropping on our conversation with armin,” connie retorted, coming to stand beside you. you smiled at your friends, happy they were there. “we’ll wait with you, if you want?” he proposed. 
“that’d be great,” you sighed. “eren said they’re usually only like thirty minutes long, so we won’t be here all night.” 
“about that,” jean started, uncomfortably bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. you frowned, wondering where he was going with this. “are you and him, like, y’know...” 
you paused for a moment, deciding to play dumb. “huh?” 
“are you and jaeger-meister dating?” connie interjected, wiggling his brows. despite knowing that this is where the conversation was going, you couldn’t help the wave of embarrassment that washed over you. you shifted uncomfortably in place, looking between your friends. 
“i don’t know,” you answered honestly. “i can’t tell if he likes me or not. god, this is so high school.” you muttered. 
jean gave you an apologetic smile, opening his mouth to speak before connie decided to give his own advice. “huh? why wouldn’t he like you? you’re a hot piece of ass!” 
a laugh escaped your mouth at his idiocy, jean dishing him a scowl. “don’t listen to him. personally, i can’t see why you’d want to date that little shit.” 
“yeah, it’s pretty embarrassing,” you replied demurely. 
“well, if you like him that much, i say go for it,” connie shrugged. you eyed him warily, waiting for the ‘but’. the three of you stood in silence for a moment longer, considering what to say next. 
“do you want my help?” jean asked apprehensively. he looked put-off by something, but you couldn’t tell exactly what. connie gave him an incredulous look. 
“sure, i guess,” you responded. in some ways, you felt bad for jean. your friendship had been built off of a mutual distaste of eren, and now that you two were sleeping together, the playful mockery with jean had died down. he motioned his head back towards the wall, indicating that you and connie should follow. 
“alright, here’s my plan,” he whispered dramatically. connie nodded his head, the two of you leaning in as if it were some grand escapade. “eren is a dumbass. in fact, i think he still has the brain of an ape.” 
you rolled your eyes, suppressing a laugh as connie nodded once again in agreement. “get to the point, he’ll be out here any minute now.” 
“alright, alright!” jean held his hands up defensively. “i genuinely don’t think he’s capable of intelligent thought. that being said, i believe the right way to gage his feelings are to activate his instincts.” 
“dude, how long have you been planning this?” connie snorted. you couldn’t help but smile at just how funny the two of them were. 
 “never mind that,” jean shooed him back in annoyance. you raised your brow impatiently. “we need to make him jealous. if my assumptions are correct, it’ll piss him off and then you can tell him that he’s the only one you’re interested in.” 
you pulled back from the huddle, unsure about his grand plan. “i dunno, jean. this sounds kinda stupid, if i’m being honest.” 
“oh, c’mon,” jean begged, a devious smile on his features. “this’ll be our last chance to taunt him together.” 
connie grinned as you contemplated it. “i think this is a great plan!” 
you groaned, the small side of you that liked to make fun of eren starting to grow once again. “okay, fine. how’re we gonna do this?” 
“leave that to me,” jean smirked. as if on cue, you could hear the bustle of the sponsorship men coming down the hallway. your tall friend was quick to step behind you, wrapping his arms around your torso and placing his chin on your shoulder, effectively pulling you to his chest. “follow my lead.” he whispered into your ear. 
you couldn’t help the heat that rose to your cheeks at the action. jean was respectfully keeping a distance between your ass and his groin, but he was close enough that it wasn’t very obvious. 
connie started to babble about a new korean barbecue restaurant that he and sasha were planning on going to, you rocking in jean’s arms to make the sight believable. 
your heartbeat was drumming in your chest as eren rounded the corner, his professional smile plastered on his angular face. he was in the middle of talking with the balding man from earlier, eyes fixed on him. jean gave your waist a squeeze in reassurance. 
eren’s gaze peeled from the short man, teal eyes landing on you and jean all cozy. it was as if a flip was switched; the professional smile he’d been wearing slid off his features with ease, face hardening. 
you held his angry stare for a moment before turning to connie, laughing at whatever had been said, the feeling of jean’s breath against the shell of your ear as he let out a light chuckle. “it’s working.” 
you heaved out a deep breath, focusing on connie instead of eren. you could feel his eyes practically burning holes in your head, shifting your neck so that yours fell back on jean’s opposite shoulder. 
“alright, that should be it for tonight,” you heard one of the men say, glancing back over to them. you didn’t look for long though, quickly noticing that eren’s stare was intently focused on you and jean. 
the men shuffled past the three of you, leaving the building. “hey, jaeger. we ran into y/n as we were leaving.” jean hummed against your shoulder. 
you looked back at eren, who was standing in front of you with his eyebrows furrowed. jean must’ve been right, judging by eren’s face. 
“we’re leaving.” eren deadpanned, taking a step forward. he wasn’t looking at jean, rather staring directly at you. you could feel a slight amount of guilt creep up your spine, jean sighing exceptionally loud as he pulled away from you.
“do you guys wanna come to the korean barbecue place with us? it’s gonna be real good,” connie asked innocently. eren didn’t look away from you, his jaw clenching. 
“no. we’ve got other plans.” he said seriously, reaching forward to grab your hand and tug you the opposite way from the doors. 
“woah, eren, you’re going the wrong way,” you huffed in confusion, trying not to trip as he yanked you away from your friends. he continued forward, not looking back. 
“uh, bye i guess?” jean yelled. you looked over your shoulder to see the two of them giving you a thumbs up. you dished them an appreciative smile as you rounded the corner. 
“eren, where are we going?” 
eren stayed silent for a moment, not letting go of your wrist. “for a drive.” 
“huh? but your car is in the lot out front?” you mumbled, absolutely dumbfounded. the tall man didn’t respond, large hand still wrapped around your wrist. 
it wasn’t until you came to a familiar large door, eren giving it an unnecessarily hard shove. the lights flicked on, revealing ten shiny race cars, all perfectly lined up. 
eren let go of your wrist, making his way over to his own car. it was a sleek black with white checker decals, much like the rest of the vehicles in the garage. you’d seen it before, as it was quite literally one of eren’s most prized possessions. 
you stood in the doorway, eyeing him warily. “your race car? you never take it out on regular roads.”
eren’s jaw clenched as he unlocked the car, pieces of hair falling in his face. he looked upset, muscular arm propped on the roof and brows laced with annoyance. 
he walked around to the other side, opening the passenger door for you. it was strange, seeing him dressed in his regular clothes next to his race car. something about the nonchalance was attractive, teal eyes looking at you expectantly. “c’mon. be a good girl and get in the car.” 
at his choice of words you swallowed, inwardly cursing jean for his plan. you knew you were in for it, judging by the fact that eren only referred to you as good girl when he had his most sinful plans in mind. maybe you should’ve just talked to eren about making things official rather than making him jealous, you thought. too late now. 
“okay,” you sighed, resolutely deciding to accept whatever fate it was that jean had painted for you. you crossed your arms, slowly approaching eren. you stopped right as you were about to slip into the car, looking up at him through your lashes. he stared down at you, eyes serious. 
you slipped into the dark interior of the car without further discussion, the cold leather making you shiver as eren shut the door. you observed him through the windshield as he pressed a button to open the garage before getting in the car himself. 
the smell of his cologne filled the car, your teeth nervously nibbling at the skin on the inside of your lip as he turned the vehicle on. you’d never been inside the car before, only seeing it on the track and in the garage when you came to pester your friends before a race. 
it rode impossibly smooth, eren bringing his hand to the back of your seat as he backed out of the garage. you tried not to stare at the way his arm flexed, jawline enhanced as he strained his neck, but you couldn’t help yourself. he was just so hot. 
eren must’ve felt your eyes, glancing down at you momentarily with an expressionless look. you quickly shifted in your seat to stare out the window, heat burning in your cheeks. god, why was this suddenly so awkward?
it was silent as he drove out of the arena, the dark city glittering against the sky. it was beautiful at night, skyscrapers lit up all pretty. you quickly found yourself distracted by the view, leaning your head against the cool glass. you were so consumed that you didn’t notice eren merging onto the freeway. 
you were brought out of your trance at the feeling of his large hand resting on your upper thigh, grip tight and possessive. you glanced to him again, lifting your head from the window. 
he was staring straight forward, foot slowly increasing the gas. you felt your chest tighten, seeing how he was riding the tail of a minivan in front of you. 
“eren,” you warned, insinuating that he slow down. his index finger tapped tauntingly on your bare thigh, slowly rising up the skin. the fabric of your skirt rode up, eren weaving past the minivan with one hand on the wheel. 
“i have a question for you,” he said lowly, eyes not leaving the road. you gulped, a strange mix of arousal and anxiety pitting itself in your stomach as his hand reached the apex of your thigh. the side of his pinky brushed against your pelvis. “hm, no underwear?” 
you felt a pang of embarrassment. in your defense, you’d thought tonight was just going to be spent hooking up with the man, not going to the arena. “i, uh-”
“so, jean had his dick pressed against your ass and you didn’t have underwear on?” his voice was deep, jealously dripping from every word. your breath hitched as his middle and ring finger slid against your clit with ease, already soaking wet. 
eren’s shoe pressed down on the gas again, the car zipping in and out between other vehicles on the freeway. his fingers rubbed against your clit slowly, your legs subconsciously spreading to give him better access. it felt so good, the way he was circling the nerves with desirable pressure. 
“mmm, eren slow down, you’re going to crash the car,” you mumbled, watching as he sped up, whipping past the other vehicles. he was easily approaching 100 mph, your anxiety beginning to outweigh the pleasure. as if sensing this, eren sped up his fingers as well, a whimper leaving your mouth. 
“i know it’s bad for me to be so jealous,” eren said flatly, his middle finger deviating from the ring finger to slowly insert itself into your tight cunt. he pumped it slowly, still not looking at you. he was pushing 110 at this point, doing so with ease. “but something about jean touching you. being so close to you like that.” 
his ring finger joined the middle, the two sliding in and out of you, curling slightly. it was hard to stay focused on his reckless driving when he was fucking you with his fingers like that, your mind feeling fuzzy as a passing car laid on its horn. 
“eren,” you breathed out in worry, his fingers hitting your sweet spot in order to make you shut up. “you gotta slo-” 
an involuntary whimper left your lips as he curled his fingers particularly deep, the tingling sensation at your core beginning to build. you looked over to him, and boy what a mistake that was. 
his one arm was flexed, hand gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles were turning white. he was entirely focused on the road, eyebrows furrowed intently as his other hand purposefully increased its speed. he was so so hot.
you stifled another moan as your eyes looked forward again, the sight of eren nearly clipping a subaru outback making you sit forward.
“you’re going to crash!” you gasped. 
“i’ll slow down if you answer my question,” eren growled, his thumb coming to rub your clit rapidly as his fingers continued to pump in and out of your cunt. you hissed at the newfound pleasure, your head coming back to rest against the seat. 
“yes, yes, okay,” you agreed, screwing your eyes shut to avoid looking at how fast he was driving. 
eren took a deep breath, giving you a sideways glance. he’d never done this before, but he’d also never felt this way about someone. the way you clenched so good around his fingers making his chest tighten. he made you feel this good, not jean. the thought brought a smirk to his face as you let out a strangled moan. 
“i’ll stop speeding if you agree to be my girlfriend,” eren’s words shocked you right out of your pleasure coma, eyes widening as you jolted upright in your seat. did he really just say that? did jean’s plan actually work?
his hand jerked the steering wheel to the side, your mind too preoccupied with his statement to even notice his fingers had stilled inside of you, anxious for your answer. he wasn’t looking at you, eyes still locked on the road. 
you held your breath as you noticed how fast your heart was beating. “i thought you’d never ask.” you responded, cheeks burning. 
eren’s lips curled upwards, pulling his fingers from inside of you. your eyes followed his long digits as he popped the middle two into his mouth, sucking your bitter sheen from his knuckles. he was your boyfriend. he wanted you to be his girlfriend. “good girl.” he mumbled. 
you glanced back at the freeway, surprised as eren jerked the steering wheel, making an abrupt exit. it appeared to deviate into the woods, your eyes flitting nervously to the man beside you. “um, where are you taking me?” 
“i’m just fulfilling my promise,” he answered, bringing his hand back to grip your thigh. his fingers were wet with his saliva, the sight bringing a strong throb to your core. oh yeah, i never finished. “’member? i said once we were done with my meeting i was going to fuck you.” 
you suppressed an excited smile at his vulgar words, pressing your thighs together for some form of relief. you were painfully aroused, the burning sensation almost too much to bear. 
���plus, it seems like you never learn,” eren’s words were suddenly serious as he pulled the car up a gravel road. there was a sharp drop off to the side, the city skyline sparkling in the distance. you cocked a brow at him. “you’re my girlfriend now, but i’m still pissed about that stunt you pulled with jean. gonna have to punish you, of course.” 
you swallowed as he shut the car off, the city sitting innocently in view. the spot between your legs was aching, desperate for some form of release. you couldn’t help the swell in your chest at the fact that eren was your boyfriend now, anxiously awaiting whatever he had in mind. 
eren leaned over you, maintaining a deep stare as he shifted your seat into a flat position. his fingers lightly danced across your skin as he unbuckled your belt, face hovering above the hem of your skirt. he glanced back up to you, teal eyes glinting in the darkness. 
“can’t wait to fuck my new girlfriend,” eren growled, wasting no time in climbing on top of you. he shifted your legs so that your knees were bent by your head, wet cunt on full display in front of him. he stared down at you, a hand on each knee. “shit, you’re so hot like this.” 
he slowly brought a finger to your center, the feeling of his cold digit gliding against you bringing slight relief to the deep ache. his eyes were focused below your waist, lazily flitting upwards as he brought his finger to your lips. “taste.” 
you happily accepted, wrapping your lips around his finger. your tongue swirled around his knuckle, the saccharin taste filling your mouth. he pulled it from your lips, a devilish grin on his features. 
“i can’t wait any longer,” he breathed, leaning forward to press his lips against yours. the kiss was deep and heated, however it felt different from all the others you’d shared in the past. it was meaningful and tender, slow and deliberate. his tongue swiped your lip, slipping into your mouth with a sigh. 
his hands undid his pants as you kissed, the sound of his belt being undone filling the small space. you could feel him positioning the tip of his cock at your entrance, sliding it against your slick. 
eren pulled back to look at you, breaths mingled for a moment before he pushed past your entrance, burying himself deep within you. the stretch was slightly uncomfortable and you were convinced you’d never get accustomed to the sheer size of his dick.
eren didn’t wait for you to adjust, flexing his hips back to give you another purposeful thrust. a whimper slipped past your lips at the feeling, his hand leaving your leg and lightly wrapping around your neck. 
“fuck,” he hissed, speeding up his pace. your walls clenched around him, climax fast approaching with every deep thrust of his cock within your cunt. “feels so good fucking you when you’re all mine.” 
his hand tightened around your throat, the combined pressure at both ends of your body only adding to the pleasure as he rammed into you. he grunted as his other hand pressed your legs forward, getting a better angle so that he could fill you to the hilt. 
a strangled cry ripped from your throat as he hit particularly deep, bringing his face down to roughly kiss your lips. he was breathing heavily, the car shaking as he bucked his hips into yours.
eren craned his neck down to look at where his length disappeared inside of you, a small smile toying at his features. the sight caused his cock to twitch, relishing in just how nicely he filled you up. you were his, and he was yours. 
just the thought of you being his girlfriend was enough; a loud groan leaving his chest as he pressed his hips against yours. you could feel him release himself inside of you, the thick sensation bringing on a much anticipated orgasm. your limbs grew cold, the pleasure reaching the tips of your fingers. 
eren placed a chaste kiss to your forehead, gazing down at you. “my girlfriend is so fucking hot.” he grinned. 
you rolled your eyes at his cheesy comment, swatting his chest playfully. he carefully removed himself from you, trying not to drip onto the car seat. 
“here, pretty. you’ll have to keep your legs up,” he instructed as he pulled his pants back up. you frowned, the thought of holding this position the whole way back somewhat daunting. 
“huh? but how am i supposed to keep this stuff from coming out?” you whined, still trying to regain your composure. eren’s face was flushed as he smirked at you. 
“that’ll be your punishment, m’kay?” he said smugly. you scoffed, holding your knees in each hand. 
“but that’ll be impossible!” 
“don’t worry,” he leaned forward to kiss your lips once again. “i’ll drive slow.” 
<3 <3 <3
503 notes · View notes
kshira · 4 years ago
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+ ryūnosuke tanaka
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—request; Um, hi✨. I love all of your works and they are fantastic. Could I ask for some NSFW Tanaka?? I love him so much and he doesn't get enough love for his dorky ass. Okay thank you, I care about you bye!
ღ ◟ t/w| f!reader, smut; cursing, 18+ content, exhibitionism & kinda voyeurism?
◟an: thank u sm doll & i went a lil wild with tanaka since i’ve never written for him before. i hope you enjoy. :*
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you impatiently tap your foot against the floor pressing your back against the hotel wall, the sounds of a distant clock add volumes to your nervous state.
sending the risqué message to your boyfriend you knew for a simple dirty picture in return but for an invite to his room? perfect.
the door creaking open caused you to jump, you gulp letting your eyes take small glances around the empty hallways before pulling your view to tanaka.
his bald head protrudes out of the door, his eyes fixated on the surroundings looking for another person but there is only one, you.
with a hush from his drawn lips tanaka pulls his finger up to his mouth “be quiet okay? asahi is sleeping in the other bed beside me”
you tuck a nod down in embarrassment back to your boyfriend, you really couldn’t wait until you got back from this trip now, could you?
his fingers lace around yours and tugs you into the room, breathing in the pitch darkness you are led right under the covers with him.
tanaka pulls the covers over the both of you before diving right into your mouth, his tongue swiping the inside of it while his hands cradling your face pulling you deeper on him.
he’s needy with his kisses, wanting to almost fuse himself with you, he needs more and you’re happy to oblige for some relief.
pressing your body harder on him you feel the bulge growing through his sweatpants, the poor boy is aching for you but he’ll never blatantly say that.
a smirk threads on your face “please? i’ll be really quiet” your fingers palm the growth and knowing him he returned the favor slithering his hand down to your cunny pressing a thumb over your bud.
he rises out from the covers to peel off his clothes “okay princess” he whispers aiding help to your restricting outfit and pressing your naked body back down.
you can feel his fingertips scaling across your body touching base with your perked pebbles along with the soft skin right under your bellybutton and most importantly right where you want him most.
tanaka settles his other hand on your thigh chalking his nail across the smooth skin while he indulges your core with his finger, swiping another one to rinse and repeat the gratifying pleasure.
lifting your body off the sinking mattress you let out mewls and pants from his finger scissoring away at your core—
but it’s the stirring of asahi that paralyzes you, the sounds of his body rolling across the cotton bed making you stiff to the touch but to tanaka it only makes him harder.
what is a better way to fuck your girlfriend then to do it beside his peaceful sleeping friend?
“i thought you said you’d be quiet? do you want him to wake up and hear how messy you’re getting just from my fingers?” tanaka taunts the words in the crook of your neck, making your cunt clench automatically.
pulling his eyes away from your silhouette tanaka peers through the void to watch asahi lay dormant now, you’d take sneaky glances too but you’re too absorbed with continuous thrusts of his fingers upward into your sopping cunny.
his fingers march at a divine pace, a low moan spews out of your lips with a chain reaction of your hole clenching around his thick digits.
tanaka let his other had creep up to your throat, snaking closer to your mouth letting a finger trace the outline of your lips— before dipping into your mouth swirling around the saliva mixture then cupping his hand over it.
“close already? you really was wanting me huh, or is it because he’s in here?” the threaded pleasures tangle together thinking how tanka has you practically humping his hand for relief or the mere fact that you really were turned on at the situation.
your core pluses to the faster jabs in with the added effect of tanaka pulling out and jolting right back in had you on edge, the last puzzle piece was put together and you can feel the pleasure washing over your toes.
but it stops.
“mm sss—so cc—close!” you muffle over tanka vice grip on your mouth, the denial fills your gut causing tiny tears to run to the corners of your eyes.
“i wanna feel you cum around me, won’t take long” tanaka seize his body over yours, running his hardened member over your slick slit before plunging fully bottoming out before you could even blink.
the stretch of him entering was a tantalizing burn that surged through you—even the soaked mess you had between your legs couldn’t halt it, but thoughts of getting caught by asahi made it a little better.
tanaka runs his hands down your legs scattered with goosebumps and throws them over his broadened shoulder spearing deeper in you, if it was even possible.
his hand remained on your mouth burrying your head deeper into the mattress while he fucked you at a hardened pace, letting the drag of his body trace along your bud, you were close to cumming sooner than you wanted.
“i bet it turns you on that asahi could wake up any minute and hear me fucking this pretty little pussy” you whine back at tanaka’s words under his grip.
you can feel him shifting his body lower to you, your legs connect to your breasts while he brushes his nose over yours “you’re mine, and this pussy is all mine”
tanaka takes harsher thrust into you not caring what lewd sounds are being made, you’re his after all and everybody should know that.
chasing his ultimate vitality he lets his member map out your hole—knowing you’re close as well tanaka treats your neglected bud with savoring traces of his thumb.
the sounds of your heart beating from the adrenaline filled sex mutes the moan you unknowingly boast out in the room your orgasm finally hitting, tanaka signs off with filling you up entirely, so much it paints the bedsheets.
post sex with tanaka was always the most tender moments, naked bodies intertwined with a lulling silence, his lips peppering your face while he holds you so close muttering the sweetest praises.
it’s complete bliss, for you and tanaka.
but asahi on the other hand, he will have to watch twenty horror shows to blur out what he heard and saw tonight.
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792 notes · View notes
embrassemoi · 4 years ago
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Surrounded by the Moon and Stars • 06
Pairings: Sirius Black x [F]Reader, Remus Lupin x [F]Reader Content: Language, possible errors, music snob!Remus,  Author’s notes: song used: Come Together by The Beatles
BTW: I always try to use little to no physical descriptions for the reader insert but I did add that the reader has some sort of hair. I didn't mention hair texture or length (Sorry if ur bald). My taller readers, I only mentioned that you were shorter than Remus (no height was given)
Masterlist: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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Chapter 6: ABBA vs. The Beatles 
❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉
“Merlin’s beard! Binns is a sadist; torturing students must be his only pastime,” James yawned, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes.
Nothing could ever compare to the History of Magic. Today, lessons were dreadful and muddy. Professor Binns’ monotone voice filtered throughout the class, rambling on and on about various dates in history. Hardly anyone paid attention before he started calling on students. Annoyed, Binns would continue to reiterate his inquiry until the student(s) got the correct answer, no matter how long it took.
A sadist indeed.
Although Binns wasn’t the sole reason why the class was pathetic, but rather the lack of any practical work was simply a joke. The class only reminded Y/N of her short time in public school. Geometry? Utterly useless for any daily life interactions. To make matters worse, Binns surprised the class with a pop-quiz and two chapters of reading. Luckily, he had an ounce of mercy in his ghostly body and dismissed the class early for lunch.
James continued, “I would rather fight a dragon than — Woah! Your hair! “
She glanced to look at herself through the reflection in James’ glasses. Her hair, which originally was emerald green, was now turning into a golden yellow. The different colours clashed together boldly.
“You look like the banner for the Holyhead Harpies,” Peter said, striding up to James’ side.
“The Holyhead Harpies,” James said dreamily, “They’re probably one of my favourite teams.
Remus, who had been trailing behind Peter jumps in, “You only like them because they’re all women, you wanker.” He turns to Peter, his hand shooting up to the side of his head, massaging small circles into his temples, “Why’d you get him going?”
James became insufferable whenever someone or something mentioned Quidditch. Not only would he boast about his abilities as a Chaser, but he seemingly was a never-ending encyclopedia about Quidditch. It only worsened as November neared, the start of the new Quidditch season was approaching.
One time Y/N found herself stuck listening to him babble about Ireland winning the world cup for about thirty minutes. She didn’t have the heart to stop him, though. Nobody listened to his rants and he could hardly contain his excitement. How could she tell him she wasn’t interested?    
A monstrous smirk etched its way onto his face, “Caught me.”
“Be anymore of a predator would ya, Prongs?”
“Hey! That’s not the only reason why I like them. Did you forget their victory in 1953 against the Heidelberg Harriers? Their strategy was blood-fucking-brilliant. They’re legendary! My father was there to see it in person. Lucky bastard. He told me…”
His voice fades into the background as Y/N catches Remus’ eyes. A glint of mischief shined through them before he forced a fake pitiful smile. He mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ to her before looping his arm around Peter’s shoulder, discreetly leaving James’ side and out of the classroom.
That sly, slippery bastard.  
"— and did I mention that their seeker was one of the most sought out —”
“Wait, James.”
He abruptly pauses, waiting patiently for her to continue. She leads them out into the corridor and towards the great hall. “Sorry, didn’t mean to cut you off like that, but when is my hair going back to normal?”
Y/N instantly regretted mentioning her hair. There was no trace of a smile on James. His shoulders slumped a bit and his walking even staggered. “Godric, I know, I know and I’m sorry. I thought it would have returned back to normal by now. I’ve been creating reversal spells — even started asking Moony to help.”
“Moony?”
“Remus.”
“Another one of your nicknames?”
“It’s not a nickname! It’s a brotherhood — a pack!”
“Oh, sorry Prongs,” she drawled, a sarcastic smile on her face, “If I didn’t know you I would assume you were an asshole.”
“What? How?!”
“You go around calling yourself a marauder, the king of Quidditch and now Prongs. Seems pretty assholely.”
James’ mouth opens before closing again, repeating the process several times.
“Plus, you pull silly pranks every day.”
He chuckles, “Oi! You helped us with that itching idea!”
Her eyebrows raised in acknowledgement, “Touché.”
To this, James shakes his head, directing the conversation back to the Holyhead Harpies. Inwardly, Y/N wanted to whack him with a broomstick.
They were among the first students to reach the Great Hall, aside from students who had a free or were excused early by Professor Binns. None of the girls were there yet. Unfortunately, Marlene was held back by Binns, so Y/N was left to sit beside James who sat opposite to Remus, Peter and Sirius.
She had been trying her best to avoid Sirius whenever she could. It was clear he didn’t like her. He never laughed whenever she made a joke, he hardly noticed her, he never praised her, even if she tried to compliment him. He was just rude for no apparent reason. The rest of the marauders and girls knew this, although they preferred not to comment about the obvious, strained relationship (which they didn’t even know the reason for. Granted, Y/N wasn't quite sure herself. Was it the rejection, he just didn't like her or is just an ass?).
Although, ignoring and avoiding him proved to be extremely challenging. Y/N was glued to Lily’s hip ever since the Sorting Ceremony. It also didn’t help that if you were with one marauder, another one was sure to follow. She and James started to spend more time with each other, and by extension, she was obligated to be around at least one other marauder. With the addition of study sessions with Remus, it was inevitable.
Surprisingly, Sirius hadn’t made any snarky remarks, excluding dirty looks, he was being… nice — nicer to her. The action was a stark contrast from his previous behaviour and she speculated a few reasons why:
Most likely, James or Lily, she assumed the former, said something to him. Since his little spat with James at breakfast a few weeks ago, Sirius was tight-lipped ever since.
Maybe he was done being a prick, deciding to stop by himself after realizing he was a prick.
Went through something personal, it stopped, and his behaviour improved.
Minutes after the bell rang, students began to trickle in for lunch. The comfortable chatter rose as Y/N finished eating an apple. Everyone seemed pleased when James’ Quidditch lecture was interrupted as hundreds of owls streamed in, packages and letters dropping into the laps of students. She hadn’t expected anything considering her owl, Celeste, didn’t drop anything off since the first week of October. However, today she fluttered down between the bread and fruit bowls, dropping off several letters and a small parcel onto Y/N’s plate, pecking at the bread crumbs on the table. She tore the letter open, inside it said:
Dear Y/N,  
Are you still having a hard time with Charms? If so, perhaps I find some textbooks and send them over.  
Don’t slack off this year. Send me a letter whenever you have the chance. (Make sure to tell Celeste to be quieter next time. You know I can, and never will get used to the owls.)  
Mom  
Her mother finally wrote to her. A sense of joy flooded her body as she placed the letter back down on the oak table. A part of her wondered if Celeste was dropping off her letters to the wrong house, the one back in Toronto as her mother never wrote back. She opened the next letter, immediately recognizing the messy scrawl:
October 19, 1975  
Y/N! I thought you replaced me with one of your brits, but a false alarm, your letters just take a while to arrive. Must be tiring for Celeste to travel to and from Scotland then America and back. You know, whenever people see her fly in, they still recognize her.  
Are you doing anything for Halloween? We’re throwing another dance. Going to be alone this year now that I can’t force you to come. I guess I’ll just watch half the school dry hump each other while I smuggle in firewhiskey.
How’s it going over there? I heard from a few students, even read in the papers about the war. It’s getting pretty crazy over here. Teachers have been meeting and trying to prevent students and parents from losing their shit. My mom has been worried too, writing to me like a lunatic and I’m not even in the UK. The MACUSA have been keeping quiet but they were caught having meetings with counsellors from the Ministry of Magic. Even heard that Jenkins is stepping down. If it keeps getting out of hand here, I can’t imagine what it must be like at Hogwarts. I truly thought the war was dying down, I was wrong. Keep your wand close. Surely, you’ll get away with a hex or two.
Until next time
Matthew G.  
So engrossed in her new environment, her old life slipped to the back of her mind. There was a detachment from her reality compared to the one at home. A pang of guilt hit her, swallowing her up from the inside out until another pang hit, loneliness. If she easily forgot everyone, would anyone remember her? None of her old friends, apart from Matthew, had made a move to contact her since she left.
Often thinking about writing them first, she had to remind herself if they wanted to, they would. Especially with the knowledge that people still recognized Celeste.
Was she forgettable and if so, was it karma for forgetting too?
It put a mechanical vice grip on her heart, applying just enough pressure to be a constant reminder. With every beat, it tightened more and more.
Looking around the table, she saw her peers huddle in groups, familiar laughter ringing throughout. So noisy, so taunting. She may have been friends with Lily, Dorcas, James or even Marlene, but they had their own friends. Friendships that had years to develop before she came. She had only known them for less than two months.
Forgettable.
How hilarious, she thought.
“Hey,” a gentle voice cooed into her ear, “Are you okay?”
She hummed back absentmindedly.
James wore a concerned expression, his eyes knitted together, one raised higher than the other like it always does when he was worried. The look he shot her suggested he wasn’t convinced, although he didn’t press; instead opting to stir the conversation. “So, who wrote to you?”
“A friend and my mom —”
A snort so loud that it caused the rest of the marauders, random onlookers and even Lily (who had a look of pure disgust on her face) turned towards them. “What did you say?”
“I got a few letters?”
“No!” He bellowed, “Who sent you them?”
“My friend and my mom —”
Nearly choking on his sandwich, James clutched his stomach laughing. Laughing so hard he has to grip the table to prevent falling off the hall bench. "Haha! Mom?! MOM?” He mocked in a poor American accent, “What the fuck is mom? It’s MUM. Bollocks!”
“We say vitamin.”
“It’s VIT-A-MIN! Who says VIGHT-A-MIN?” Without a pause, James presses his entire body onto her shoulder, smushing her before grabbing the letter her mother sent her. His eyes scanned across the pages before hitting a certain word. “Back home? Maple trees? Where did you use to live exactly?”
“Canada.”
“Canada?! You don’t mean those snowy gits?” At this, Peter and Remus snort under their breaths. Even Lily had to force down a smile.
Staring deadpanned at him, in an unamused voice, “Really?”
“You are a bundle of surprises! I thought you lived… I’m not sure. I assumed somewhere like New Hork.”
“York,” Lily corrects.
“Tomato, tomato,” he jokes, playfully batting his eyes at Lily before biting into his sandwich, “You do live in London, right?”
“Right.”
James takes a moment, letting the conversation die down before he quickly glances at Y/N again. An undecipherable expression crosses his face before it’s promptly replaced with elation, “I take back anything negative I’ve said about Canada. They have an amazing Quidditch rooster. Have you gone to any of their games?”
A low grumble of sighs follows at the mention of Quidditch from James. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus shake his head and sighed dejectedly.
“Nah, I’m a New-Maj, remember? My mom — “
“Mum —”
“ — sorry, Mum — hardly understands the wizarding world, let alone what Quidditch is.”
His eyes were wide, whimsical, as a hand flew to his chest dramatically, “Rubbish! Bloody ridiculous! You’ve never seen a real Quidditch game? One day, I swear I’ll bring you to one! Or you can bring me to Canada one day and we can watch a home game!”
As James continued to rant, Y/N’s mind slowly drifted back to the bitterness in her chest. Trying to distract herself, she borrowed Lily’s quill and a few sheets of parchment, scribbling down letters in response.
Mom,  
I’m fine with Charms, you don’t need to send anything. And don’t worry, I’ve been studying for my OWLs.  
Love you, write soon.
The next letter was addressed to Matthew:
Matty Matt,
Of course, I didn’t replace you… yet. 
Another dance? You would think the students’ protest last year would have influenced the professors this time. I guess it’s time for you to get wasted. I didn’t tell you last time but I think I’m going to a party. A friend of mine is throwing it and I know he’s going to force me to come no matter what. He briefly mentioned costumes and drinks. Plus, there’s going to be some kind of prank that I may or may have not been a part of? Sounds cool right?  
Yeah, I’d say it’s been bad up here. I don’t know much about what's going on outside of school, though. The professors are hiding it well. I didn’t even hear about Jenkins stepping down. Keep me updated.  
Until next time  
She sealed the letters before sending Celeste off again, “Be quieter when you drop off the letters, yeah?”
❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉
It must be her lucky day.
The ringing of the bell went off, signalling the end of class. Professor Flitwick asked the students to stay behind so he could hand out quizzes the students completed on Monday in preparation for their upcoming test on Growth and Reductor charms the following Tuesday.
It was never a good sign when a professor flips your test over to prevent other students from seeing their mark. Flipping it over at a downwards angle, Flitwick handed Y/N her quiz.
Turning it over nervously, a tight coil formed in the pit of her stomach. A large P was plastered on the top right corner in bold red ink. She studied hard for this too. Angrily, she shoved her work into her bag and left the class. This was the third poor she'd gotten in a row. She should have told her mother she needed those Charm books.
“I swear I’m going mad! Her brother is a complete cow! He even — are you listening?”
She looks at the girl beside her, Marlene. Her glossed over, doe eyes must have served as an answer before the blonde shook her head.
“Sorry, distracted,” she mumbles, before forcing out a fake-happy tone, “Continue your story! I wanna hear!”
“Hey,” Marlene says in a softer voice, “If something’s bothering you, you can talk about it.”
“No, it’s okay,” she replies instinctively. She felt bad spacing out during Marlene’s story but her mind was running through and under hoops. The last thing any fifth year student needed was to fall behind in their classes, let alone feeling like nobody cared about them.
At that moment, she wished she was wrapped away in red and gold blankets to wallow in her self-pity party, away from prying eyes. She could feel the burning sensations of tears building up.
Dammit.
Y/N looked out the window to her left. The sky was melting with the warm hues of reds and yellows while the other half was being slowly engulfed into a cloak of twilight. Even from here, she could feel the cool air seeping in from the windows making her tug on the sleeves of her robes.
She continued, “I’m just tired — been a long day. I’m going to take a nap before dinner. See you.”
Judging by the look on Marlene and Lily’s face, guilt riddles her body. They both look sympathetic. The pity only made Y/N feel disgusting. In all honesty, Y/N will care later. Right now wasn’t the time and she desperately needed some shut-eye.
Before she left the room, she overheard them talking.
“What’s up with her?”
“Dunno.”
Great.
❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉
Sleep did little to ease her thoughts.
The same uneasiness she felt on the train ride to Hogwarts settled deep into her bones again. She thought she was past this. The worrying about friends, missing home, feeling alone, failing class, stressing about her future. The rational part of her brain knew it was just one silly quiz (and old shitty friends), but knowing herself, if she were to continue to have this mindset, she would only fail in the end.
Dinner ended and Y/N belligerently climbed up the stairs towards the library to attend today’s study session. The Charms quiz threw her into a loop and it was better not to dwell on it, opting to rather use her time for something useful.
Her marks improved significantly since she attended her first session two weeks ago. The last couple of assignments and quizzes she handed in that she worked on during the groups were some of her best work, ever. Additionally, her ability to retain information was improving at astonishing rates and she found herself participating in lessons more often. Unfortunately, she started to doubt her abilities again.
There weren’t as many students as usual. Perhaps it was because of the Quidditch meeting for all teams tonight, or because nobody wanted to spend their time in a library Friday night. She assumed it was the latter.
Although, the same student with black hair from Slytherin was there; tucked away in his usual corner. He was always there. Whether it was the study sessions, another OWL or NEWT student or he simply just enjoyed the library, Y/N could always rely on him sitting there in his little nook.
In the far back, surrounded by tall bookshelves sat Remus. Another student, a first or second year, judging by their height, seemed to be asking him a question, rapidly writing down something on a piece of parchment whilst they walked away. Remus leaned back in the brown chair, his right leg was folded over the other as he stretched.
She spent over twelve hours minimum with Remus directly since the first session, minus the time he was around James and the girls. Perhaps she only started to notice afterwards but she swore Remus wasn’t around this much before. Now, he was everywhere.
In the past couple of weeks she’d gotten to know him, she made a mental list in her head of him:
1. Remus loves sweaters. They weren’t flashy, seemingly preferring to wear ones with small designs, stripes or a solid colour. He wore green the most. He also wore cardigans. Two, in particular, he wore the most; one was white and the other was a muted brown. They were big and hung off his loose frame, the pockets were often stuffed with books, rumpled parchment and his wand.
2. He’s a coffee addict. He drank it in the morning, the afternoon, at the study session and sometimes with meals at dinner. He loved to dump pounds of sugar, so if he only drank black coffee, it usually meant he was in a bad mood. James even joked that he became Sirius whenever he drank black coffee, because haha! Get it? It’s BLACK coffee!
3. He frequented the library whenever he wasn’t with the rest of the marauders. He enjoyed poetry, wrote post-it notes after post-it notes to annotate his favourite parts. He even slept there from time to time, not without having to persuade Pince to not give him detention.
As if Remus magically sensed her, he took a large inhale before he stopped stretching, opening his eyes to look at her. A small smile was plastered on each other’s faces. He stuck up a few fingers to wave at her, motioning her to come over.
“Hi Y/N. I thought you didn’t come on Fridays?”
“I don’t but I have a test, Charms, Tuesday.”
“Oh, well I’m happy to help.”
“Thanks for the offer, Professor Lupin, but just being down here will help me focus.”
A scarlet blush settled on his face at the mention of his tutoring. “Well come sit with me then.”
Pushing the chair out of the way, she sat down beside him, pulling out her cassette player and earbuds along with her notes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus staring at the player curiously.
“Do you want to listen?”
“If you don't mind. I didn’t know you could use these here.” Picking it up, he turned the rectangular device.
“If record players work here, why not this?”
She hands him an earbud, alongside a small collection of other tapes she had on hand.
“Choose whatever you want to listen to.”
Without much thought, he pressed the play button. The upbeat tune of Waterloo by ABBA trickled into their ears. Y/N bobbed her head up and down before the song was suddenly stopped.
A sour grimace sat on Remus’ face before their eyes met, his nose upturned slightly.
“Why’d you stop it?”
“I hate ABBA.”
“What!?”
“I just don’t like their cheesy disco-pop-esk sound. They sound generic and random words are thrown in when they don’t add to the song.”
“Jeez— never met anyone who hated them that much.”
A ghost of a smile appeared before he flicked through her collection of tapes. He picked up Abbey Road by The Beatles. Opening the player up, he slid out Waterloo. With a click and the press of a button, Come Together played.
“So you hate ABBA but not The Beatles? Benny and Bjorn said they were influenced by them!”
“Keyword: Influenced; which is just another word for a shitty knock-off version.”  
4. Remus Lupin is apparently a music snob.
“Well, I think both are good.”
“Respectfully, I disagree with you.”
“Whatever you say, professor.”  
"I've been thinking a bit, why did you come to Hogwarts? Why not just stay at your old school?"
The sudden switch of topics threw her into a loop. “Wasn’t by choice. My mom’s a doctor and got a position here. It was too good to turn down. But it’s not bad. There’s less wizarding laws.”
He nods his head, "I'm assuming you have dual citizenship?"
"Mhm."
About a half an hour passed as she sighed for the umpteenth time before putting down her quill. Her chair scraped back noisily as Y/N’s hand balled up into a tight fist, feeling her fingernails bite into her palm. She’d been flicking through her notes, the words all blended.
At this rate, if History of Magic didn’t exist, Charms would surely be her least favourite class.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
She was at a loss, this was the third time Remus had offered to help and he was persistent. She felt horrible that she was taking up his time to help her on a stupid Charms test.
He continued, “If you think bothering me is an issue, it’s not. I run the sessions on Friday. It’s my job.”
“Fine, but there has to be something I can do in return.”
“Hmm,” Remus pondered for a second, “How about this, I tutor you in Charms and in return you give me your Potions notes? I'm dreadful at it.”
“Deal.”
“Great. Before we start, is there anything in particular that you have questions on?”
Silently tapping on the quiz she received today, Remus snatched it and quickly scanned over her answers and Professor Flitwick’s notes.
“I see what happened. You know, the curriculum taught at Ilvermorny is different. That’s probably why you can’t understand some of this shit.” He cleared his throat, “So as we know, the growth charm increases the size of your intended target…”
His voice, like a light switch, changed instantly. Instead of his softer deep, raspier voice, it became commanding and steady. He never stumbled over his words and articulated his points elegantly. She found herself enraptured by him, understanding why he was in charge of the study groups.
Eventually, Remus takes a pause, “Does that make sense?”
“Yes. You know, you’re really good at this. No matter how much I asked Flitwick or even Lily I could never get it.”
A large blush bloomed on the apples of his cheeks before he shyly rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes. “I’m not that good.”
“No time for modesty, Professor Lupin!”
“Okay, okay! So here, do you see what went wrong? There would be a reaction with those two spells if —”
A boy, small, most likely a second year, stood at the foot of the shared table holding a large red and gold book. His hair, dark ginger, similar to Lily’s, was cut short. He fiddled with his fingers as he continued to stare at the two.
“... Um, hi. You're Remus — right?”
“Yup. Did you need help with something?”
“Yes! I’m having trouble with the Transfiguration spell, beetle into button.”
A look of understanding passed through his face before Remus turns to look at her, “Duty calls. It’ll be quick.”
“Of course, take your time.”
It was not quick. Understandably, very few were successful at the ginger’s age to perform the spell, but thirty minutes passed and the second year still didn’t understand the basic concepts. No matter how many times Remus had reiterated his point differently, the boy couldn’t retain it.
“I just don’t get it.”
“You learned this last year, it's a quick revision. I’m not sure what part you’re talking about. Look, do not wiggle or twirl your wand left, direct it towards the right. You have to picture the spell in your head before saying the incantation.”
He guided the boy's hand steadily before performing the spell himself.
“I don’t understand!” The boy whined.
He sighed, “Then we keep trying —”
“It’s too hard. Why are they teaching this crap anyway?”
“Could you stop complaining?” He snapped, closing his eyes before he realized what he’d just done. “I’m sorry about that. I’m… just tired. I can’t help you anymore, though. You should ask someone else,” Remus said brusquely, his eyes unnerving as he stared at the child. As a result, he yelped out a ‘thank you,’ rushing off in the opposite direction.
The muscles in his jaw tensed under the soft glow of the table lamps. There was a pale red tint rimming his eyes and he looked visibly paler than normal. Irritated, he bounced his knee rapidly, up and down, before looking out the large window beside them. The sky was mostly cloudy. Only the peak of the silvery moon appeared. A sliver was missing before it was fully complete.
He closed his eyes, before breathing in. His posture once stiffened, completely relaxed before a flimsy smile reappeared on his face, returning his attention to Y/N.
“Let’s continue, shall we?”
“If you’re tired we can stop.”
“No, s’okay. I’m fine — really.”
She chewed the inside of her cheek, adding to her list:
5. Remus was always so hard to read.
150 notes · View notes
hopekiedokie · 4 years ago
Text
That’s Rough Buddy (Seokjin)
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SUMMARY : You were invited to your friends' annual Halloween Costume Bash™ and were supposed to go on a matching couples costume but your date cancels at the very last minute. Nevertheless, you pushed through with going to the party in your costume not knowing that you would still end up matching with someone. But unfortunately, it was with that very annoying (yet very attractive) guy that you despise so much.
PAIRING : Seokjin x reader
GENRE: humor, fluff, a sprinkle of angst in the end, enemies to lovers or frenemies to lovers (kinda?)
WORD COUNT : 16.6k+ words
WARNINGS: A swear word or two or seven, Jin is a crackhead (shocker), too much halloween games, excessive use of Avatar The Last Airbender quotes and references (aka Jin channeling his inner Azula)
NOTES: I originally was gonna make y/n and Jin dress up as Team Rocket and title this AU "Prepare for Trouble" but I ultimately decided on this. It pained me to do so because I am such a simp for purple haired Jin. Even if there are SO many hidden ATLA references here, I don't think you need to see it to understand this AU. Although, what on earth are you doing with your life if you've never watched the show?? Anyways, I hope you like this even though it's well into November now. Also, this is my very first fic so hopefully you’d enjoy this! Appa yip yip!
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The smell of pumpkin seems to be enveloping the entire Park residence. You have barely reached the front porch and the scent has already hit your nostrils. How could a simple scent have possibly diffused into such a huge proximity, you wonder to yourself as you knocked on your best friends' front door. It wasn't until you entered the household when things became clear to you. Dozens upon dozens of pumpkins in different sizes were littered from their front hall to their living room. Some were already carved, some were sitting idly, and some were lined up to be carved by Park Jimin and Park Luna.
You were invited here on this lovely afternoon with the promise of free food. But after being handed a plate of pumpkin muffins and a bunch of carving tools, you felt a strong urge to just go home and maybe sleep through the holiday. Of course the two gremlins sitting on the floor, seemingly a pair on a mission, did not allow that to happen. So here you are on your seventh pumpkin, scooping out its contents, definitely not thinking of a million other things you'd rather be doing now. You were just about to stab your eye out with the sharp stabbing tool due to a possible mental breakdown when you got a text from Kim Taehyung.
Taehyung is Jimin’s best friend whom you might have had a crush on for about a year now since you’ve become friends with him. The two of you are going in matching costumes for the annual Park Halloween Costume Bash™ and have been texting non stop for two weeks now. Everyone in town takes this party seriously, including the adults. Even their parents are in on it though unfortunately this year, they're out of town so they aren't really involved. But the chosen winners for best costume are still to be awarded with a free dinner at the famous Park's family restaurant.
Tae Tae 🌻 : So that's a solid no on shaving my head? Cause I really wouldn't be opposed to it if it means a free heavenly meal from Papa Park 👀👀👀
You quietly chuckle at the thought of a bald Taehyung running around. The commitment of this man amazes you. You were about to type a reply when you felt something aggressively tap against your forehead. You look up to see an annoyed looking Luna.
Feeling something is stuck to your forehead, you slowly brought your hand up to touch it and you instantly felt a bit of pumpkin mush. "Did you just hit me with your filthy ladle?!" You disgustingly shouted at her.
"Dude, now is not the time to be all lovey dovey when the party is in three days and we still have about...uhm..." She looked around, started counting and then went to add stuff with her fingers, "A total of 27 pumpkins to stab and a whole house to decorate!"
You groaned loudly and fell on your back on the floor. You feel a headache start to develop from being surrounded by too much pumpkin flavored and scented things. If your two best friends' goal is to put any pumpkin patch to shame, then they definitely have achieved it. At this point, the stench of halloween in this area is strong enough to linger until the holiday comes back next year.
"Okay, but I don't understand why I'm being subjected into pumpkin slavery as well when this isn't even my party to throw?"
"When you're this behind on everything, all hands on deck are needed. We literally have not started on any of our to do list aside from pumpkin carving." It was Jimin who replied to your question. You watch him puncture a bunch of holes on the purple pumpkin he is working on. If you hear the word "pumpkin" one more time, you just might spontaneously combust or repeatedly bash your head with the wooden ladle in front of you. (A/N: Tbh, same here. It's only been a couple of paragraphs and I've already used the word 12 times.) 
"I thought we'd be on top of this without mom and dad's help!" Luna started as she too began poking holes on her [word redacted]. "We are so behind! I mean, this guy still doesn't have a costume!"
"YAH! Stop exposing me like that! I told you, it's a…a work in progress."
Luna snorted at his step brother's remark. "In order for a work to be in progress, it must first be started-" Jimin cut her off by throwing her some [word redacted] meat. 
It effectively stopped her from further embarrassing Jimin from his lack of costume days from the single most important party of their year. But it did start a revolting [word redacted] meat fight which lasted about a good minute. For the good of everyone, you stomped over to the war zone and pried the two idiots from each other. For a bunch of fools who are supposed to be rushing to get things done, they seem to be just fine with wasting their time. 
"OPPA STOP IT!"
"I wouldn't have declared war on you if you hadn't outed me like that to y/n!"
"Well, it's not my fault you're so unready!"
"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH FROM YOU TWO!" You shouted as you yanked Luna off of him. Why on earth did their parents think it would be alright to leave these two on their own is beyond you. You gave Luna a reprimanding look and said, "Seriously, you'll make no progress if you continue with your antics." 
Her eyes widen, looking like a little child being scolded by her mom. "He started it!"
From behind you, you can hear Jimin snickering. Probably feeling smug from her sister taking all the scolding. Honestly, are they five? You faced him with a much dirtier look than the one you gave Luna and he instantly stood straight, lips pressed into a thin line. 
"And as for you!" You started, "I can't believe you still don't have a costume! This is so disappointing coming from you. How could you have let this happen?"
This may seem over dramatic, but this costume party is really THAT important. It's the highlight of the autumn season. This family really knows how to celebrate it and they do not fail to over shine what they had the year before. So this is really a bunch of steps back for these two.
"I know, I know!" Jimin yelled exasperatedly. "It's not that I haven't been planning. It's just that, how could I possibly top what I dressed up as from last year?"
He does have a point. He and Luna teamed up last year on what might be the most iconic costume ever. They both dressed up as the Wilson sisters from the movie White Chicks. They even had prosthetics on just like how Kevin and Marcus impersonated the twins. You guess you would not know how to beat that costume as well.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you're just uncreative cause I found a costume that will surely be a big hit to the people." Luna taunted her brother.
"What is it?" You and Jimin asked at the same time.
"You'll just have to wait and see!" She answered in a sing-song tone and proceeded to clear up the mess they made.
Jimin began helping her sister pick up [word redacted] mush with a long face. "Well that sucks hard for me. How about you y/n? What are you dressing up?" 
"Oh, she's going as Katara, alongside Taehyung who is dressing up as Aang!" Luna answered for you, uttering the latter part in a way that sounds like she's teasing you.
"Oh, sweet! A date with Tae! I didn't know you two were finally going out?" 
"What? No, don't listen to her. It's not a date! We're just friends." The two stared at you with a "yeah right" kind of look so you were compelled to explain further.
"Look, we were talking about The Last Airbender a few months ago and I mentioned how much I really wanted to cosplay as Katara. One thing led to another then poof! Here we are going as Aang and Katara to your party. It's not a big deal."
Jimin had a knowing sly smirk that made you somewhat uncomfortable. "Yeah, except Aang and Katara were madly in love and ended up making babies AND you obviously have a crush on each other." He said.
You reached for the nearest bowl of discarded [word redacted] meat and flung it towards the boy whose eyes have now disappeared and is in a laughing fit.
"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! Y/n doesn't have a big fat crush on Taehyung." Luna defended you. Thank God for her! Between the two goons, she really is the one you can truly count on. You were about to say thank you when she added, "It's obviously Seokjin she has a huge ass crush on!"
Your mouth fell agape.
"Wait, oh yeah it's him!" Jimin agreed and tag teamed with his sister to tease you. Sometimes, you forget that they were born with different parents. Apart from their DNA, they’re pretty much identical. And it's scary.
"Okay, you know what? I take it back. You both deserve this!" You grabbed the mushy bowl and threw gloop after gloop towards the siblings.
Needless to say, you spent more time cleaning up afterwards than working on the decorations.
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The next few days went by like a huge storm. Chaos definitely ensued. You spent more time and effort on making this party possible than you ever did with anything in your life. All you see are purple and orange with a hint of red even when you close your eyes. Halloween seems to haunt you even in your sleep. Just last night, you dreamt you were being wrapped in spider webs (Which let's be honest, is pretty much just cotton) by that huge scarecrow standing in your best friends' lawn.
You were out in town with Jimin doing last minute shopping, telling him that weird and disturbing dream of yours when he suddenly told you he has something to do and pretty much dashed away to the direction of a women's shoe store. What's that all about?
He's been absolutely frazzled since that afternoon you spent terrorising [word redacted]. You can't blame the lad. It's hours away from the party and it seems like he still doesn't have a costume. You and Luna don't know how he's gonna pull this off. If he does though, you'll thoroughly be impressed and would never question Park Jimin's capabilities.
On your way to the nearest bus stop, you received a message from Taehyung. You instantly felt giddy. The fact that you're going to a party with him in matching costumes have only sunk in this morning when you finished with the party preparations. You opened the text and your face instantly fell.
Tae Tae 🌻 : Y/n! I really don't know how to say this. But I don't think I can come to the party tonight. My little sister woke up to a very bad fever this morning and both my parents are working this evening. I'm so so sorry to cancel on you. I know we've been looking forward to this for so long 😔
You know you can't be mad at him. It's not like he planned for this to happen. But you can't help but feel absolutely gutted. He's right, you've been looking forward to this for so long. Since April this year actually. If he's not coming, everything just seems pointless.
You : Aww that's a shame. Don't worry about me though. There's always next year. Worry about your sister! I do hope she'll get better soon. She shouldn't miss out on halloween ☹☹☹
Tae Tae 🌻 : I know. She's not gonna be able to go trick or treating. But I'll make sure we'll watch halloween films! 
Tae Tae 🌻 : Wait what do you mean there's always next year?? 
You : We'll just have to wait for next year to debut our costumes!
Tae Tae 🌻 : WAIT NO. Don't tell me you're not going to the party?? Just because I can't come??
You : Well yeah. It seems pointless to go.
Tae Tae 🌻 : Don't be like that! You're making me feel guilty 😭 Your costume deserves to be flaunted. Go or else I'll never talk to you again 🤧
Despite his order for you to come to the party, all desires to go left you the moment you read his initial text. The entire point of coming is to go as a pair. You both have been working hard to make your costumes as accurate as possible. To come alone doesn't make sense.
You were too engrossed with your phone that you did not realize you were going to crash into a person when you took a turn at the corner of the street. "Oww." You clutched the top of your head, as if you hit a hard wall instead.
"I'm so sorry-" the guy began to apologise but stopped short after he saw you. "Ah y/n! Watch where you're going! Don’t just mindlessly walk around!” he said, rubbing his chest where your head presumably collided with.
“Oh! I bet you're going as Wonder Woman tonight. Get it? Cause you wander too much around!" 
The hollering buffoon in front of you, laughed at his own joke so hard that people around you started looking at the both of you. Wanting to get out of this embarrassing situation, you circled around him and proceeded to walk towards the bus stop. But he unfortunately followed right after you.
"Hang on." He jogged in front of you and held both of your arms. He looked you in the eyes with such seriousness that you think he has something very important to say. But alas, you should’ve known that nothing intelligible ever comes out of his mouth. 
He opened his mouth and said, "Are you actually going as Wonder Woman?"
You made an annoyed sound and slapped his arms away as he said things like "I knew it!" and "I am such a genius!".
"No Seokjin! I'm not going as Wonder Woman.” you said as you reached the bus stop.
“Well that’s a relief! Honestly that’s super low and pedestrian even for you.” He jabbed at you but you stayed silent, not wanting to banter with him, unlike the usual. He carried on blabbering for the remaining time, telling you how “Spicy and scorching” his costume is. Whatever that means. At this point, you have half the mind to believe that he’s dressing up as a jalapeño. Knowing Seokjin, you wouldn’t put it past him to do so.
“You know what, actually, I'm not going at all." you butt in as an attempt to shut him up. His head whipped towards you at such a lightning fast pace, you were sure it would have snapped off. Oh how you wish.
"You're not going?" He said in what sounded like a very disappointed tone. Huh, why would he be disappointed, you thought to yourself.
You shake your head no.
For once, Seokjin seemed rather speechless and something else. Dare you say sad. This is really weird for him but you chose not to analyse him further and stood at the bus stop. You both just stood there in silence for a couple of seconds until a bus came parking.
You were already inside, swiping your bus card, when you heard him say, "Well that's rather disappointing. Who would go and scare the little kids away now?" 
The bus doors closed just as his infamous laugh came rolling. You weren't able to hear it but the sound of his signature windshield wiper laugh still rang in your ears. You flipped him off and hastily took a seat after an old man looked at you with such distaste. You took one last look at Seokjin giving him the finger once more but much discreetly as the bus abandoned his still laughing form.
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When 8:30pm arrived, you were sprawled on your bed watching this god awful halloween film starring Adam Sandler. You, honest to god, love Adam Sandler. But this film isn’t it. You stopped paying attention half way through the movie and started scrolling through your phone when your mom unceremoniously barged in your room.
“Mom, for the last time! I’m not coming to the party!” You told her for like the thirteenth time since you got home this afternoon. It most probably wasn’t the thirteenth time and was probably just the third time. But you’re really not in the best mood.
“Are you extremely, positively, a hundred percent sure about that, honey?” 
You rolled your eyes at that. Your mom is never the one to keep repeating stuff as she is also easily annoyed just like her daughter. “Yes, mom. I am firmly, undoubtedly, and conclusively stating that I am staying in this room for the rest of the night.” You proclaimed, not even sure you can string up further words to describe how sure you are with your decision.
Your mom sighed as you closed the movie, not interested in it anymore. You look up at her with a raised eyebrow, silently asking why she’s still in the room. She fully opened the door and said, “Well, if that’s the case, then you need to tell that to Freddie Mercury downstairs.”
Not really understanding what she meant, you just stared at her dumbfoundedly until your brain finally started to function properly. “Uh, excuse me. But come again?”
She sighed once more, probably already tired from the night and the high jinks that came along with it. She never really liked halloween.
“Just come downstairs. Now.”
You hurriedly got up from your bed and sprinted out of your room. You haven’t even stepped foot at the top of the stairs when you indeed caught sight of the one and the only Freddie Mercury at your front door, rocking his iconic Live Aid outfit, topped with a lavish red robe, and a completely blinged out crown. Of course, we can’t forget the aviators and his emblematic moustache.
“Ay oh!” Freddie yelled at the top of her-I mean his lungs. It was so loud that your cat ran out of your house. Meanwhile, you shamelessly gawked at the person in front of you as you descended downstairs. You were absolutely confident that your best friend wouldn’t be able to top her costume from last year. Oh you were wrong.
“Darling, I know I’m fabulous but don’t ogle at me like that. Now do tell me, what’s this news I’ve heard from the grapevine that you’re not coming to the party??” She asked annoyedly in a pretty decent posh London accent. You on the other hand, ignored her.
“Woah that looks utterly real.” You touched her moustache and she slapped your hand away. 
“Oi! Focus, lass! How could you possibly spend the last three painful days with us on what seemed like the halloween edition of Amazing Race, only to bail on us at the finale?!" Her accent slowly slipped away as her voice progressively got much louder. Once again though, you chose to ignore her.
"Your crown is so beautiful! Is this custom made? Oooh can I touch it?" You asked while reaching for it, not even waiting for her approval.
"Y/n stop it! I asked you a question. Answer it! Why all of a sudden, you decide to not go--"
"Dude, you really hit the nail on this one! Although I have to say, I don't think Freddie had protruding boobs."
Luna dramatically gasped at your statement and covered her chest using her robe. "I do not have protruding boobs! You make it sound like they're massive!"
"Well, compared to Freddie Mercury's, I guess they kinda are."
She hit you for the second time since she got here. "This is as much squeezing I can handle to flatten them out. Nevertheless, I believe I have normal sized breasts! Besides, I'm sure Freddie would've loved to have protruding boobs anyway."
A couple of seconds passed with you two just staring at each other, feeling the weight of your conversation. Realising how stupid your topic is, the both of you burst into laughter.
"What on earth are we talking about? I can't. This is too stupid. What the heck are you even doing here?" You managed to spit out in between laughs 
Luna stopped laughing and gasped once more. She hit you for the third time now and ignored your protests of pain. "You little shit! What are you still doing here in your pyjamas! The party started 30 minutes ago! Come on, let's get you dressed up!"
She yanked your arm towards the direction of your room but you stayed planted to where you stand. "I can't. I told you, I'm not going."
She dropped your arm and took off her aviators. She had a really disappointed look which must be mirroring your own expression. "You can't be serious. We've been working hard for this. We've been excited for it since the first day of autumn!"
You didn't reply to her, you just looked at the ground. "But what about Taehyung?"
"Taehyung isn't coming."
Confusion spread across her face so you told her about his dilemma with his sister.
“Well that’s just bullshit.” She concluded with such spite. Your eyes widen at her aggression towards Taehyung. You can’t believe she would be this hostile about him choosing to care for his sick little sister. What else was he supposed to do? Abandon her for you?
“What the hell, Luna! HIS SISTER IS SICK! How could you be so bitter to him?”
“Woah! Woah! Woah!” She waved both hands up in a defensive manner, “I’m not mad at him! I’m mad at you!” 
You rubbed your face with both of your hands. You guess it makes sense for her to be mad at you but now is really not the time for you to agree with her. You're not in the best mood to carry out an argument. You just want to crawl back to your room. That dreadful Adam Sandler movie suddenly sounds so temptingly riveting. Having said that, you still made it clear to her as to why you would prefer staying in tonight. 
Luna, being the stoic person that she is, completely disagreed with your reasoning. "Oh quit being dramatic! He already gave you the heads up to go tonight. What more do you need?"
"I don't know, Luna. I just feel like I'm betraying him if I go."
She glared at you for a good second as if trying to telepathically make you change your mind. When it dawned on her that you're not conceding, she sighed the longest sigh you've ever heard from anyone, dramatically placed her aviators back, turned around while flicking her robes on your face, and then strutted away from you. 
"Fine then! If you'd rather sulk here over a boy rather than spending an astounding good time with your friends, then be my guest! I guess all that hard work you've put in will be for nothing. But that's fine! There's always next year anyway, right?"
You watch her shimmy her tush towards the front door as she spews out reprimands after reprimands. And she says you're dramatic. Birds of the feather, really do flock together.
Her hand is on the doorknob when she gave you what meant to be her last look on you. It seemed more of a plea to you though. At that moment, you felt a pang of guilt. Are you really going to abandon your best friends for Kim Taehyung? 
You gave her a small smile and said, "I'm sure you'll have a fucking marvelous party!"
Finally, she gave out a groan of defeat and opened your front door. "Oh whatever y/n! I should've left the second your mom told me you're not coming. Jimin needs my help, anyways"
Jimin. Somehow, you remembered that that boy didn't have a costume even until this morning. You wonder what on earth did he pull at the very last minute. So you called out to Luna.
"Luna, wait a second!"
"WHAT NOW?!" She yelled exasperatedly 
"I just want to know what Jimin dressed up as."
She let go of your front door knob and crossed her arms. "Why'd you wanna know? It's not like you care about this party."
"Oh give me a break! Just tell me what it is!"
The smirk she has on her face tells you that she's not giving you what you want. Which you are absolutely correct.
"I'm not telling you what he dressed up as. If you want to know, then you find it out yourself. All I'm saying is that his costume is literally everything."
Some way or another, that statement of hers stirred something inside of you. Somewhere, a few blocks down, is a Park Jimin dressed up as something "literally everything" (Park Luna, 2020). If there's something you know about Jimin is that his definition of marvelous is a normal person's definition but times ten. She could be bluffing, but your curiosity is really peaked. 
Damnit, you need to know what he dressed up. Right now.
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You stood at the doorway of the Park residence living room with your mouth on the floor. 
In the middle of their room is where a really cool light up dance floor is. You already know that since you were there when it was set up yesterday. What caught your attention was the guy dancing wildly right smack in the middle of everyone. A wild Jimin was twerking, doing high kicks, and *gasp*! Did he just do a split???
Beside you, stands a preoccupied Luna, too busy taking a video of his untamed brother. “What did I tell you? Fucking everything!” She hollered and yelled at him to do some more of his high kicks.
You looked at your thick blue Southern Water Tribe coat lined with fur and then at Jimin, wearing his Patrick Star hooker costume. Suddenly, you feel overdressed. He was only wearing a tight pink sweatshirt, Patrick’s famous green shorts, fishnet stockings, and some sexy thigh high leather boots. Yet he is indeed stealing everyone’s attention. How could he possibly bust out those kinds of moves in those thin stilettos? A normal woman can even barely stand in them. Hold on, so that’s why he bolted to that women’s shoe shop this morning, you thought to yourself. It all makes sense now. 
Luna was left enabling his brother's thotty attitude as you walked to the kitchen. Luna was right, staying at home was a dumb idea. You can't help but admire all the halloween decorations the three of you have placed everywhere. Now you understand the vibes the two siblings were going when they said they wanted the house to be illuminated by jack o lanterns only. It looks really pretty here. Let's just hope and pray that this house won't burn down at the end of the night because this is definitely a fire hazard.
A guy approached you as you were standing by the snack bar. You don't really know who he is but he's dressed up as Dumbledore so you felt obligated to talk to him. "Your Katara costume is so cool! I'm a huge fan of the series! (A/N: Honestly who isn't?) Is it okay if I take a pic with you?" He asked and instantly whipped his phone out. 
Who were you to say no? So you awkwardly stood close to him and smiled for the camera. Is this what fame feels like?
"Gee thanks! I'll have to take another picture with you later but with your date too." 
Your face fell for a fraction of a second for being reminded by Taehyung. How does this guy know that Taehyung and you were supposed to go in matching costumes?
"Oh, I'm sorry! Taehyung won't make it tonight which is a huge shame." 
He looked at you weirdly. "Who's Taehyung?"
"Uh my date..?" you stated but ended up sounding more like asking a question.
"Oh, your date!" Realisation hit him and you slowly nodded. "But he did come!"
"WHAT?" 
"Yeah. I saw him arrive earlier. I must say, he looks sick!"
Taehyung came? But what about his sister? Did she magically get better? Why didn't he text you or something? You are so confused.
"Have you seen him anywhere?" You asked rather hopefully.
"Yeah! He's out back giving palm readings in his fortune telling booth."
Well now you're even more confused. That booth was meant to be a prop display only. What the hell is Taehyung doing, playing fortune teller with it? 
You thanked the guy and zoomed out to the backyard as fast as you could. There were no signs of Taehyung anywhere. You roamed around for a couple of minutes, trying to maneuver around the massive crowds towering over your pretty small form, until you heard a loud guy complaining about some drink.
"I'm telling you man! We need cactus juice up in here!" Oh, that annoying voice, you're sure you'd recognise that anywhere. It's only a matter of time until you run into him.
"It'll Quench Ya!" Hold up, that’s a Sokka line! Why would he be quoting from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”?? 
"Nothing's Quenchier, It's The Quenchiest!" You hear him say before he bust out his windshield wiper laugh. His voice seems to be coming from that large group of people by the fortune telling prop. You approached the group not for Seokjin, but to see if Taehyung was around. The two of them are in the same friend group.
It was difficult to scout around the group since everyone is a lot taller than you. You jumped around until you caught a glimpse of the hollering man in the middle, wearing something red and what appears to be a large scar on his face. Why does that scar look familiar? Realisation hit you like a ton of bricks. It seemed like time stopped for all the wrong reasons when you took in the entirety of Seokjin's costume. 
"Hey, look! It's Seokjin's date!", someone said and every single head there was in that group turned towards you at the same time. Even Seokjin, himself. It's so comical and stupid that you'd think you're in some sort of sitcom.
You looked like a deer caught in headlights, just stood frozen in front of the crowd. To be fair, how were you supposed to react anyway?
“Damn, she looks really pretty!
“Those are some fine hair loopies!”
“I don’t understand why they would go as Zuko and Katara. It doesn’t make sense.”
“ZUTARA MOTHAFUCKAS!!!”
One, you agree that you look banging tonight. Two, You also agree that if the two of you were indeed on a date, it wouldn’t make sense to go as Zuko and Katara when they weren’t even a thing. But three, yes, Zutara all the way and you would go down with that ship faster than you can say Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis The Third.
Although the crowd had valid points, you would still think that Seokjin would contradict some of them. You know, like the accusation of the two of you being on a date? So it was a shock when he approached you with open arms and a huge smile while saying, “AH! There’s my sugar queen! Flameo, hotman! I was beginning to think you’ve bailed on me.”
You stepped back even before he got the chance to hug you. 
“Uh what the heck is this all about?” You were pointing out the ridiculousness of him acting like the two of you twinning was planned but he thought you were talking about his fortune telling booth.
“Oh you know me! As a theatre arts major, I can’t help it when situations arise that forces me to slip into a different character.”
You looked at him unamused. “That’s literally a mental disorder you just described and literally, NO ONE forced you to do this. That prop was happily chilling in the background and you just have to go and torment it.”
He shushed you with a finger to your lips and it took all the will in you to not bite it off. “You’re just saying that cause you haven’t tried getting my expert opinion.”
“Expert opinion- You know what? Whatever! I don't have the patience to do this right now. I'm out here looking for my date so this night could get better. So why don't you just tell everybody here that we are not- hmmp!" Seokjin's rather large hands covered your entire face to shut you up or maybe slap you. Honestly you weren't sure. He was intending to cover your mouth but in his haste, he managed to smack you instead.
"Hey, guess what? I think you're the only person here I haven't told their fortune yet! That's just a shame, that won't do. No, no, no. What's that? You wanna go now? What a brilliant idea! Let's go, sugar queen!", he said all that in one breathing then pushed you towards "his" fortune telling booth that YOU had set up before the sun even rose this morning.
It was a very small purple tent (Actually, it was just a massive piece of cloth hanging from a tree trunk) with a little table set up and a crystal ball in the centre. He yanked the front part close for some privacy and you think you've never been more repelled in your entire life. To be stuck in such a small confinement with Seokjin and his ten foot wide shoulders is something that should be illegal.
He pushed you aside so he could sit at "his" table with you nearly falling through the cloth at the process. Once he's settled, he looks at you expectantly with a huge grin as if you actually wanted to get your fortune read by him. As if you volunteered yourself to be in this position.
His brain really is something and whatever that something is, you don't even want to try and decipher it.
Against your better judgement, you dragged yourself to sit in front of him. You're already here, might as well just try and enjoy the ride. Right? 
Your butt had barely touched your seat and Seokjin was already declaring some insights about your future.
"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted.", he said in all seriousness.
And of course, this is just some mischievous way to rile you up. What else did you expect from this guy? Or better yet, why do you even bother with him? 
"You're not even gonna read my palms or bust out some tarot cards? Maybe do a little gazing into the crystal ball?"
"I didn't need to. It's written all over your face."
It took you a second to realise that he just directly quoted from Avatar again. You are quite annoyed at his childishness and slightly amused at his apparently extensive knowledge for Avatar references.
"I'm gonna give you the count of three to get the hell out of my face. If you're still here, I'll make sure your destiny ends right here." You replied, also quoting from the series.
He chuckled at your threat, finding it real cute just how easy it is for him to irritate you. "Okay, calm down. No need to get murderous."
"One."
"Hey, it's not my fault you're bound for failure!"
"Two!"
"Wait, are you actually being serious now?"
"THREE!", you yelled and lunged at the scarred boy.
He made a high pitched scream as you went and grabbed one of his shoulders. Your tiny chair went tumbling down and the crystal ball rolled off to the ground in your vicious movements. 
"Please, not the face! Anything but the face! It's too VIP!"
"Oh, I'll make sure that stupid scar becomes a permanent part of your face!"
One of his hands were on your arm while the other was held tightly around your hand that was trying to claw his "VIP" face. For a small person, you seem to be putting up a big fight against him.
The scene that was unfolding inside that small tent is a sight to behold. If anyone ever walked in right now, they definitely would think that a more salacious thing is going to go down. All of the ruckus the two of you are making can probably be heard from the outside. But the both of you are too out of it to even consider the embarrassment you might get if someone barges in. Which is why you didn’t notice Jimin’s head poke inside the tent.
"Wow you guys. If y'all wanted a room, you could've just asked. As a very supportive friend, I would gladly give you one." The voice of Jimin rang from behind you and you instantly let go of each other, feeling a bit flustered.
"It's not what it looks like!", you tried reasoning with the boy. "He's being his usual little shit self and I'm just trying to purge it out of his system!"
Jimin, equally being a little shit like his older friend, brushed your reasoning aside. "Y/n, y/n, y/n. Out of all the people here, you're really the one to mess this perfectly set up prop? Didn't us setting this up at midnight meant anything to you? Couldn't you have just let Seokjin hyung here to peacefully give you his readings?"
You rolled your eyes at him. “Can you just shut up? Also, you knew this shithead was using our prop and you just let him be?”
“Of course he did! He’s taking 25% of my total earnings tonight.” Seokjin muttered. 
“Total earnings- You’re making people pay for your made up bullshit?!” You hollered at the wide shouldered guy. Why are you even surprised about this? It’s Seokjin we are talking about. He could probably convince people to pay him just by walking past him.
“Oh you bet! But don’t fret, I’m not gonna charge you. With that kind of fate that you have, I’m sure you need every bit of kindness.”
Steam could might as well visibly come out of your ears right now with how enraged you are at him. You wanted to strangle him, bloodbend even. You didn’t have the chance to do anything though because Jimin was pulling you away. “Would you two stop with the lover’s quarrel for like a goddamned minute?”
He shoved you outside then did the same to Seokjin. “Everyone’s already inside about to play games and you two are still out here, too busy being all over each other!”
Jimin didn’t even need to say anything else or to further force you two. Just the word “games” made you both run inside at record speed. If people got real competitive with the costume contest, the halloween games are a whole other thing. Usually, after an hour or so since the party has started, the Parks hold a series of halloween themed games. The winners get various coupons. They aren’t as good as a free four course meal but that’s better than nothing especially if we're talking about the Park’s restaurant.
Sometimes, these games are done in groups but usually it’s in pairs. You weren't surprised that this year, all games are going to be done in pairs but unlike recent years, the games are going to be done in a "last man standing" manner. You knew all of this since you helped pick these games. You'd be more hyped up about them if it weren't for the fact that you don't have a pair to play with.
All these talk about games reminded you of Taehyung. You completely forgot you were supposed to look for him. But it became clear to you that he didn't really come when almost everyone who you came across with to your walk back inside pretty much assumed that Seokjin was your date. They all made some comment regarding your matching outfits which Seokjin didn't even try to deny. He was just gobbling up their compliments.
You listened to Freddie Mercury and Patrick Star explain the mechanics of this year's "Halloween Olympics". Now, what you didn't know was that they also changed the prize system. Apparently, they upped the prize since it's going to be a bit more difficult to win and there's only going to be one winning pair. This year, the winning pair is also going to win a free dinner. That got people buzzing.
With that, Luna explained that only the first 20 pairs to find a small, red, and hidden [word redacted] could compete in the games. Chaos ensued as you watch everyone scour around the house. All at once, you felt like you don't want to be competing against anyone in this room. Everyone seemed too terrifying as they went berserk. But alas, tonight doesn't seem like your night.
One by one, pairs came towards the siblings with their [word redacted] until only one was left hidden. Some guy, for some stupid reason, made the wrong decision to point and scream out the location of the last one. Obviously, everyone else made a beeline towards it. 
Everything went in a complete blur for you. All you remember was seeing a tall guy in red jump for it. Then you were yanked by the said guy. Next thing you know, you were competing in the first game. Well, “competing” is a strong word. Seeing as you were dragged here unexpectedly without your consent and were in a total daze, your partner took full control of the reins. Now that you're coming back to your senses, you think this is for the best if you want to win. For once in his life, he can finally put his frat boy skills to good use. 
The first game was announced to be a game of eyeball beer pong. It seems like the siblings are trying to get people drunk this early. You guess it’s a good strategy to easily kick people out of the games. But you and your partner ain’t going to be one of them. You watch your partner make perfect shots after shots, hitting every cup of the opposing pair. It wasn’t long before you both had won and eliminated the other pair.
“I can’t believe we lost! I really thought we had it in the bag.” One of the other guys had the audacity to say in front of Kim Seokjin, a true blue frat boy.
“Oh don’t flatter yourself! You were never even a player.” Seokjin muttered to the guy and held his hand up to you as if you were actually going to give him a high five. Instead, you gave him a long hard stare as cold as any of the water tribes. Any sane person would be decent enough to feel remorseful. He didn’t. Instead, he grabbed one of your wrists and gave himself a high five. 
You smacked him upside his head. “You insolent fool!” You hollered like a villain in a Disney movie.
“Yah! What was that for?” his feigned innocence made you want to tear out not only his hair but also your own.
“You think I want to compete with you?” 
He crossed his arms and slowly shook his head at you. Almost as if he is disappointed in you. “Tsk tsk tsk. I carried the whole bench and this is what I get from you? Just say ‘thank you’ and go.” 
You scoffed. “For your information, I didn’t ask to be paired with you. You just yanked me from nowhere!”
“Well then, you're welcome, sugar queen!”
“YOU’RE WELCOME?? I don’t want to be paired with you!” 
Your seething rage seems to somewhat alarm him. “Okay, okay, calm down!” You opened your mouth to interrupt him but he didn’t let you. “I admit that I did just yanked you and didn’t ask for your permission. Sure, that wasn’t really cool. BUT! In my defense, I was so deep in my competitive zone that I didn’t take the time to notice who I was pulling.” 
He looked at you to see if you had anything to say but the annoyance remained etched on your face so he continued reasoning with you. “Listen, we both just want the same thing and that is to win. That ain't happening to you seeing as you're all alone. So really, I kinda did you a favor here. Come on, it'll be fun!"
You hate to admit it, but he does have a point. Maybe it's not that bad of an idea to pair up tonight. You both are pretty competitive. Besides, you do need a little cheering up err- a distraction, I mean.
"I guess we could try and not tear each other apart even just for tonight. This is for a good cause. We do both really want that free meal. Fine, I'll call truce for now." You finally conceded and held your hand out to him. He took it and you shook hands.
"I'm glad you're seeing it my way. Because to be honest, you're not winning a free meal with that costume." He confidently said with a shit eating grin.
You squeezed his hand a little too tightly and ignored his yelps of pain. "And neither will you because guess what?! Your scar is on the wrong side!"
"Ah! I knew someone's gonna tell me that sometime tonight. I can't even be mad at that reference."
"No Seokjin. Your scar really is on the wrong side."
"Yeah, and tea is just hot leaf juice."
"Uh, it really is though. But I repeat, your scar’s on the wrong side, buddy!"
“No it’s not.”
“Believe it or not, it is!”
"Are you actually being serious?"
You let out a really long sigh of disbelief to what you'll have to put up with. This is for sure going to be a long night.
To your surprise, the night did not go on as a drag. The next game did start off rocky with you not being able to guess any of the given Halloween charades. Either you are not as cultured as you think you are or you just don't get the mind of a theatre major. Or maybe, it's just his mind you don't understand, to be honest.
"How on earth was that Silence of the Lambs?!"
"What do you mean 'how on earth was that Silence of the Lambs'? What else does this even mean?" He replied while acting like his arms are pinned to his sides then proceeded to cover his mouth and then did a fluttering motion with one of his hands that seemed to be coming out of his lips.
"That could literally mean anything! For all I know, that could mean The Mummy!"
He scoffed at you as if you just told him the most offensive thing in the world. "The Mummy?? Oh, you are absolutely hopeless. We are so doomed if we keep letting you guess."
"No, we are SO doomed if we let you act out the things! You dare call yourself a theatre major?" To any other person, you would think that your comment is in fact just downright offensive. But that's not the case with you two because it seems like you could push all the wrong buttons of the other person and somehow still not end up really hurting anyone. You wouldn’t admit it, but maybe both of you find this weird comfort in these silly banters and in the midst of it all, you've unknowingly built some form of bond.
You collectively agree to switch roles and just like that, the tides shifted. The two of you were suddenly getting the correct guesses each round. At the very last round, you drew the movie Caroline from the witch hat. If it were you and Luna playing, you guys would have guessed this in a heartbeat since it's your favorite movie. But you're with Seokjin and you are extremely positive that he has never even seen the movie.
When the one minute and thirty second counter started to tick down, you immediately made a circle around one of your eyes and made a sewing motion to it. You thought it couldn't be anymore obvious than that but he just stared at you. By the time forty seconds have passed, your hope for him trickled down. You could hear the opposing pair celebrating prematurely on the side which ticked you off so much.
Your sewing motions got a lot more aggressive as you gave Seokjin the most desperate look you could ever give him. He in turn, gave you a very rare apologetic look. Yup, you guys were doomed from the beginning. All you can think of is how much this night really sucks for you. You probably should have stayed at home.
Once everyone started counting down from fifteen, you bid goodbye to the grand prize. The idea of it was just too good to be true. You stopped with your motions and gave Seokjin a small nod of defeat. He acknowledged this by giving you a slow nod as well and this seemed like the end for your pair. His gaze on you, however, flitted towards something or someone from behind you. His eyes stayed there for a good five seconds, appearing to be in deep concentration. You didn't even have the chance to look back since right before the audience counted to one, Seokjin was screaming the correct answer.
"CORALINE! It's Coraline! Of course, how could I not know?" He announces while flapping his arms wildy just a second before the timer rings. Everyone cheered at this sudden victory. The turn of events left you stunned. You thought for sure he wouldn't get it. He just keeps surprising you.
Seokjin approached you with a huge smile on his face and you can't help but return it to him. Not only that, you gave him a big hug which caught him off guard. You didn't know what came over you to do that but it felt like the right thing to do. He didn't seem to show any signs of protest as well.
"What the fuck? I really thought that was the end of the line for us!" You told him after sharing a brief hug.
"You really need to put a little trust on me. What can I say? I'm a genius." Just like that, you went back to wanting to punch his face again.
Rolling your eyes, you murmured, "Did the definition of genius change in the last 100 years?"
While you turned your attention to Jimin who was already announcing the next game, Seokjin glanced towards Luna and gave her a smile. Unbeknownst to you, this so-called "genius" partner of yours actually had help. He, did in fact, was never going to get the correct guess. He has never seen Coraline nor does he know anything about it. But your best friend, Luna, decided that she wanted to keep you two in the games so she tried so hard to discreetly mouth "Coraline" to Seokjin a couple of times.
You didn't need to know that though.
He didn't mind receiving a few assistance to win, but it does hurt his pride and it will hurt more if you find out. Fortunately for Seokjin, he didn't need any further helping hands. Even from you. 
Either the games are too easy or you're just completely and utterly incapable because Seokjin pretty much breezed through them without even batting an eye. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he's trying to impress someone. You, maybe? Wait, no. That doesn't make any sense. Why would he do that? Besides, he made sure to gloat on you everytime your pair wins with you contributing nothing.
A couple of games and one harrowing round of What's Inside the Box later, just six pairs remained. It wasn't exactly all fun and games since along the way, your pair or rather, Seokjin made a rivalry against another pair. This couple dressed up as Team Rocket really got on his nerves. You can't blame him though. They kept on flirting with each other after every round and not to mention, they also kept taunting you two. You'll bloodbend them if you hear "Prepare for trouble and make it double" one more time before a game starts. To be fair, they do play very well. Actually, they seem to be the only other pair that puts up a good fight.
By this time, everyone has migrated outside for the last few games. For this one, as you already knew, you'll be playing blindfolded bean bag toss. One person would have to guide the other as they go through three different levels. The pairs that don't make it through would obviously get eliminated.
"Oh, we are so gonna dominate on this one!" You hear the girl dressed up as Jessie says.
"For sure. Why don't they all just pretend to be a tree and leave?" The guy dressed up as James condescendingly said and they both laughed out loud at his joke.
You visibly cringed at that. Can they get anymore intolerable? That's saying a lot coming from someone who knows Seokjin, arguably the most abhorrent creature in your life. Jeez, and you thought his jokes were the worst.
Seokjin made a gagging noise beside you, voicing out your sentiments. You can't help but laugh out loud with him until Patrick and Freddie approached you two.
"Okay, who's going to lead and who's the blindfold wearer between you two?" Patrick said and snickered a little after realising the other implications of his question. This little shit.
"Well, seeing as her skills are lacking, I'm gonna once again step up to the plate and handle this one." Seokjin reached for the blindfold but you snatched it from Luna's hand before he could.
You can't just let this night go down like this. Honestly, you're kind of having fun watching all the chaos ensue from the sidelines. But you're a woman of honour. You can't possibly go for a win while doing the bare minimum. You dare dress up as Katara and let some man take over?
"I'll be playing this one." You calmly but confidently declared.
"Sugar queen, I love the assertiveness. But I think you should-"
"I'm playing this one." You interrupted him with such firmness in your tone, they couldn't do anything but just nod to you.
Hell no are you gonna let Seokjin annihilate this night all by himself. You need to prove that you can match up to him. You'll show his stupidly pretty face and wrongly placed scar not to mess with your capabilities.
You took a long hard look at the three targets. Each one going higher and farther than the one before. You are to be given a practice round each level to get your bearings. Yada yada yada. You tuned the siblings out, of course you already knew all this. As the person who placed the goals, you'd think you have the upper hand. You were overly confident, bordering the line of cockiness, that you could do this. You even had the audacity to sneer at Team Rocket when they uttered their catchphrase to you.
You watched each pair try and make their shot. Surprisingly, everyone made it. That only added fuel to your fire. You were excited. You couldn't wait to finally do something. On top of that, Seokjin kept muttering things to you that if they can do it then so can you. 
When it's your time to play, you are extremely buzzing. Going last is always an overwhelming feeling. All that built up confidence died down though the second you put on your blindfold. The darkness that enveloped you instantly made you feel unbalanced and disoriented. Confusingly, it's as if all your other senses heightened but it also felt like they all shut down at the same time. 
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." You chant in your mind as you feel your awareness of your surroundings slip from you.
This is not good. Why did you subject yourself into doing this, again? You should've let Seokjin play when he had the chance. You clearly cannot do this.
In the midst of your swelling panic, you feel hands place on both of your shoulders. You jumped at the unexpected contact but it was just Seokjin. "You can do this, Okay? Just focus on me." He whispered in your ear with such comfort and softness that you had to shiver a little.
He rubbed small circles on your back with his thumbs, soothing you for a second until Luna gave you the go signal.
You slowly walk as straight as you possibly can even if you feel like toppling over the entire time. Please don't. The entire time, Seokjin was behind you. You halted when he told you and to the best of your abilities, you "delicately", as he instructed you to, tossed the bag to the left.
"Okay, that was shit." He truthfully told you in a nice tone as you hear the people around begin tittering at what you assumed to be such a horrible shot. You think you just heard Team Rocket announcing their victory. Shit, shit, shit, shit. You are royally fucked.
"Seokjin..." You can't help but whine, your anxiety creeping up ten fold.
"Hey, hey, hey. That's fine! What are practice rounds for?" He tried easing you.
"But everyone-'
"Forget about everyone. It's just you and me right now. Calm down and focus." The gentleness of his words and the lulling of his voice somehow allowed your breakdown to dissipate a little. If you're in a better state, you'd be surprised at how he is behaving towards you. You'd probably dismiss it and reason that he just badly wants to win. That's the only fitting explanation.
Sensing that you've calmed down a little bit, he let out a breath that he unconsciously has been holding. Your sudden mood shift made him really nervous. "Okay, sugar queen. I know you're a waterbender but mind channeling a little bit of your inner Toph for now? Just try and maybe get in tune with the surroundings? Come on, you set this thing up. Can’t you, like, use that to your advantage somehow?”
Easier said than done. But the way he’s practically cooing at you as he talks makes you want to subconsciously do anything for him right now. He could ask you to go find him a dragon egg and you’d most probably follow his orders blindly. Which is a concerning thought that you’d mull over later. For now, you focus only on his voice and try your best to toss the bean bag inside the goal.
You took a deep breath and said you're ready to attempt your shot. Seokjin instructed you to make your throw a bit more vigorous. By how much? You have no idea. Hell, you don’t even remember how hard you threw your last shot. This is literally all up to chance, if we’re being real. So you prayed to every spirit out there to put all odds in your favour. 
Around you, some people began cheering. Some people were kind of waiting for you to completely miss again to get some good laughs out of it. Other pairs were taunting you, making a distraction. But you tried your hardest to tune them all out. Right now, all you can focus on is your aim and the nice words Seokjin is throwing at you. With shaking hands, you make a swing with what you hope is enough force to get to the next level.
You weren’t aware of it but to everyone else, it’s as if time went in slow motion. People’s heads comedically followed the direction of your bean bag. Your two best friends were both wide eyed, Jimin had both of his palms on the top of his head and Luna had her mouth wide opened. Seokjin stood nervously behind you with his hands intertwined in front of his lips as if reciting a prayer. Your bean bag’s hang time felt like an eternity but it was more than enough to realise that you still weren’t going to be able to make it. Seokjin almost cried on the spot at that realisation until your bean bag hit the rim of the basket. That split second of it hitting the rim made all the difference in the world. Everyone literally went silent as the bean bag bounced off the rim and went straight inside the basket.
With your vision completely obscured, you were clueless to all the spectacle that’s happening. In contrast to everyone, everything went in fast forward to you. Right after you made your shot, you instantly heard people yelling your name and a pair of arms encaged you from the back. Seokjin lifted you up and started spinning you around, obviously a sign that you made it. 
With everyone’s reaction, you would think you made a championship winning shot. You don’t really understand the hype but you were just glad that you did it and it did wonders to your confidence.
“I told you that you were doing great! You just need to follow my voice.” Seokjin told you as he set you down and you took your blindfold off. Everyone still kept cheering wildly as Luna declared the start of the second round.
“Well, it is hard to ignore.” You joked at him but for some reason it made him blush. If his long hair weren’t hiding his ears, you would also see how harshly they’re flushing. He didn’t have a witty comeback and just avoided your gaze. He is flustered. How cute. You openly thought to yourself without even feeling an ounce of shame. It seems that the tides are indeed shifting and you’re not even fighting against the current.
The game continued with less dramatics, oddly enough. Even more odd is that you easily made it through the entire game. In the end, you weren’t even sure why you panicked in the first place. Two pairs got eliminated so you are now down to four. That’s fortunate for you. What’s unfortunate is that Team Rocket still hasn’t blasted off.
The next game was a round of Paper Dance. You were relieved that you both had to actively participate on this one and not have one of you slacking off to the side. You weren’t quite relieved when you remembered the mechanics of the game. Basically. You are given a sheet of newspaper and are forced to dance around it. When the music stops, both persons need to step inside the paper and stay there. Every round, the paper gets folded in half so the pair gets pretty close and intimate with each other. 
The thought made you nervous and you slightly broke into a sweat. You were feeling rather uncomfortable with your heavy layers so you opt to take off your outer coat. Some tall and lanky guy dressed up as a sunflower, which you believe is also one of Jimin's close friends, started hollering, “Take it off now girl, just take it off!” 
As objectifying his words are, you choose to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. A soft delicate flower uttering such promiscuous things. You thought maybe humour could divert your fluttering heart long enough for one pair to get eliminated so you could all move on to the next game. It didn’t, of course, what were you even expecting?  
As the newspaper shrank, the more agitated you became. The fact that it was taking so long for one pair to get eliminated makes you weak in the knees and you don’t know if it’s a positive or a negative reaction. At this moment, the paper is still relatively in a decent size but it could only accommodate one pair of feet inside. Due to your lack of communication, you both stepped one foot inside when the music stopped and you collided with one another rather harshly. You immediately went flying down to the ground but Seokjin managed to grab your arm and pull you towards him. Once you were flush against each other, both of you instinctively wrapped an arm around the other person to gain balance.
The action might have saved you both from getting eliminated but it definitely put you two in quite a dangerous spot. Just like when you were blindfolded a while ago, everything around you tuned out and all you can focus on is you and Seokjin. Only this time, you weren’t facing just an empty dark abyss. You were face to face with the dark abyss of his eyes. Your faces were mere centimeters away. An hour ago, you would willingly defenestrate yourself, horrified at the idea of getting this close to this guy. But right now, as you two stare and hold on to each other, you weren’t so repelled. Neither is he.
You two were just getting comfortable with each other if it weren’t for Jimin blatantly calling you out for this really personal moment. “Oi! The music is back up! You two can get back to your lovey dovey moment later but for now we game.” The actual buffoon roared at the mic. His very public comment made everyone start hollering and teasing the two of you. Just like that, you went back to square one, an awkward mess.
At one point, Seokjin almost fell off when he gave you a piggyback ride. You thought it was either because you were too tense to even jump properly on his back or you are just plain heavy. You’re not even sure which option is better. The way that you are so conscious around him has never been a problem to you. You have an inkling as to why this is happening but you refuse to say it to yourself.
While you mentally kept cursing yourself, Seokjin was having the same problems. He was too shaky to properly hold you. He too was cursing at himself for acting so muddled around you all of a sudden. This is getting pretty bad. He needed to get a hold of himself fast. By that, he means go back to being a cat and mouse with you. In other words, go back to insulting you. But his inner self is telling him to just let this moment be and to let himself indulge in it. 
Another agonising round later, one pair finally got eliminated. Thankfully for that, Seokjin was only tiptoeing on one foot at this point whilst carrying you. You, on the other hand, had other reasons to be thankful for.
Now, you were down to just three pairs. The semi finals are up next so you really need to get back to your senses. You are so close to achieving the grand prize. Remembering what the next game is, you knew you were monumentally screwed.
The semi finals, as Jimin is explaining, would be a bat doughnut eating contest. Five doughnuts shaped in a bat are individually hung on a string in their clothesline and both pairs would have to stand on either side, eating them all as fast as they could without using their hands. Both pairs are only allowed to work on one doughnut at a time. Now, that’s just on a completely different level of invasion of personal space. But you can’t blame anyone because you came up with half of these games, including this one.
“Let’s quickly push through this one.” Seokjin told you from his side. “We can’t let the others win. Remember, only the first two pairs get in the finals.”
You admire how composed he is right now. Why can’t you be as unaffected as he is? This is for the sake of the grand prize. Do you even want it? If yes, then you badly need to keep your eyes on the prize and nothing else. Definitely not on Seokjin, or on his piercing eyes, or his soft looking lips. NO STOP. Just what on earth is happening to you?
Realising you haven’t given him an answer, you simply nodded. With that, you heard the go signal and all three pairs started devouring the doughnuts. 
They are [word redacted] flavoured. Of course, what did you expect? You try not to gag at that and you also try to avoid accidentally making out with Seokjin while making sure you eat the entire thing at lightning speed. There were way too many things going on at the same time for you to handle. Your brain could not possibly keep up. It’s like your brain and body were being controlled by two separate things.
One doughnut down and you move on to the next one, then the next one, and the next one. “That’s it, keep going!” Seokjin kept on muttering motivating words whenever he could. Again, how could he be so composed at a time like this? Somehow along the way, your brain completely shut down and your body went into autopilot. The two of you fell into an unspoken strategy of having sides so to have some boundaries. The moon spirit knows you badly need that.
Your pair is on the lead when you reach your fourth doughnut. For the first time since this game started, you felt comfortable. Did you stay like that for the entire game? Of course not. Naturally, the universe just loves aggravating you tonight. 
Half way through your fourth doughnut, you accidentally brushed lips with Seokjin. The action was absolutely brief, but it was enough to halt you two and send tingles that you would feel throughout your body down to the tips of your toes. You two stared at each other for a second too long because Luna was announcing Team Rocket to have taken the lead. You two couldn’t care less though. For the third time tonight, all you could focus on is each other. 
Wide eyes filled with something you two are too embarrassed to accept, lips slightly molding into shy smiles, and faces covered with icing and powdered sugar. In that moment, you two seemed to have some sort of self understanding that didn’t need to be said.
The moment didn’t last though. As brief as your little kiss was, you two were back at the game instantaneously. The other pair seemed to have gotten past you two as well. With a new found comfortness, you find yourselves working together without anymore awkwardness. You were back to your old competitive selves. You gobbled up the doughnuts at a jaw dropping speed. All that matters now, is winning especially since Team Rocket is advancing to the finals. The two of you didn’t even bat an eye when your lips would unintentionally touch a couple of times in your haste. You certainly weren’t complaining about it now. As a matter of fact, you felt him linger a few times. So were they really unintentional? We would never know.
You amazingly caught up with the last pair even with a few cheeky antics on the side. The two of you are currently on top of the world and just breezing through. For sure, you would end up beating them. There is no need to worry about anything. 
What sealed the deal was when one person of the remaining pair mildly choked at a particularly large chunk that she had swallowed. You two took that opportunity to finish up your fifth and final doughnut. You swallowed for the last time and cheered for your partner to finish chewing. Everyone else was completely yelling at this point, it was such a euphoric feeling. Once Seokjin finished, you went and engulfed the larger man as best as you could in a bone crushing hug.
You two were all laughs, happily celebrating even if you haven’t won yet. “We are so going to come home with that prize.” You declared with such finality while you break away from the hug. You kept each other very close though.
“Oh yeah? You’re not gonna freak out on me again?” He teased you but you can’t help but just hit him. 
“Only if you keep yourself in check.” You playfully replied. You fell into a comfortable silence, once again staring at each other with shy smiles. His eyes dropped to your lips for a second and you felt compelled to lean in. When he realised what you were allowing him to do, he leaned in too. You were slowly leaning towards each other, taking your sweet time and savoring every second of it. Your lips were pretty much fully touching, you could feel the warmth and softness of his.
“You’re lucky that chick choked up.” James, whatever his real name is, from Team Rocket woefully stepped into your moment. It took every fibre in you to not punch the guy. 
“She’s obviously inexperienced. Couldn’t be me!” Jessie quipped and they both started laughing together. This time, it took every fibre in you to not bash their heads together. But as mentioned before, you are a woman of honour. You are willing to take the higher road and settle this fairly through the games.
Seokjin, well, he is Seokjin so he didn’t let the two slide so easily.
He let go of you and approached the two. He laughed along with them in such a forced and sarcastic laugh that it pained you. “Yeah, you’re right. We are lucky!” He said then squished himself in between the couple and placed his arms around them. What on earth is he on about, now?
“We definitely were just born lucky. But at least we’re not like other people who are only lucky to be born. Right, hotmen?” He said and slapped their arms in a playful manner but ended up being too hard. He left them completely offended, sauntering back to you with his windshield wiper laugh that you know all too well.
"Was that necessary?" You scolded him with both hands on your hips.
"Don't be such a Katara! I know you're dressed as her but please don't take it too seriously. Unless you really do want to be a sugar queen?" He wagged his eyebrows irritatingly. 
You rolled your eyes at his usual foolishness. Glad to know he hasn't gotten fully soft on you. You would prefer for him to stick to his playfulness even if it annoys the crap out of you.
"And then there were two." Jimin starts, grabbing everyone's attention. Yeah just two left and it just had to be with Team Rocket. Oh, it would feel even better to win knowing you were up against them.
You were one step closer from a satisfying free full course meal cooked by Jimin and Luna's parents. Is that heaven or what? In the middle of fantasising and practically drooling about the impending prize, it dawned on you that once you win, (Yes, once and not if) you'd have to go on that dinner with Seokjin. An actual dinner. As in a date???
The thought made you slightly pale. You don't get why the thought of going on a date with him made you all nervous when you were practically stealing kisses from each other just awhile ago. The idea of going serious with him is nerve-wracking when just this evening, you wanted nothing more than to punch his guts. Now, you still do want to punch his guts but also kiss him. 
You needed to snap out of it. All you did tonight is think of this guy. You were probably overthinking things. He probably doesn't even want anything serious with you. Maybe, he's just playing with you. Wait, no. That's too cruel even for him.
Your internal battle was stopped when Seokjin, himself, flicked your forehead.
"Oww! What was that for?" You grumply asked as you rubbed the sore spot.
"Your brain seems to be flying a couple hundred miles away. Y/n, now is not the time to be daydreaming about me. Did you even catch what I said?" Is he a mind reader? Most definitely not but even so, you are too embarrassed to say anything so you quietly hummed to him.
"What do you think? You agree with me?" You absentmindedly hummed again.
He clapped his hands together so loud, it made you jump out of your haze. "Good! That settles it. You're bobbing then." 
"I'm sorry, come again?" You think you misheard him but it sounded like he said you're going bobbing? As in bobbing apples? What?
He stared at your dumbfounded expression. He realised that you weren't listening to the siblings' explanation and you obviously weren't also listening to his plan of attack just a few seconds ago.
He sighed and repeated everything to you even if he didn't want to. "We're bobbing apples for the last game. Since I don't want to ruin my perfectly good scar, you're up for it." 
You scoffed. "And I want to ruin my perfectly good hair and makeup?"
"Hair dries off and without your makeup, you're still Katara. I, on the other hand, would just be some random handsome firebender without my scar. So really, it's better that you do it."
"But I don't want to do it!"
"Well boo hoo for you. You already agreed to it." He said and dragged you towards a large basin near Jimin and Luna.
"Wait, no I wasn't fully aware of the situation!"
"That's what you get for zoning out at a crucial time. It's too late now, you already agreed. A consent is a consent."
He was seriously being mean right now. You pulled your arm back to stop him but he wouldn't let go of you. So you kept your feet planted firmly on the ground. It ended up looking like he was dragging a very stubborn kid. "Y/n quit playing around! You need to do this."
"But Seokjin, I really don't want to do this." Your innocent looking eyes paired with that same whining voice that you used when you didn't make your first shot with the bean bag instantly turned him soft. 
He stopped pulling you and placed a hand on your neck. The way he is genuinely looking at you makes you think that he'll probably switch with you. He didn't. Big shocker.
"Y/n, I know you don't want to do it but you need to." He started using that gentle voice of his that he used on you earlier. You knew you were a goner now. He's definitely found your weakness and he isn't afraid to use it on you. Curse him and his captivating soothing voice. What are you supposed to do now other than obey him?
"I, without a doubt, believe that you can do this. I'm sure you can defeat those two wobbuffets over there and we'd win! Don't you want that?" You nod your head yes.
"So will you please do me the favour of winning this game for us?" You nod your head yes without thinking twice. So much for being a woman of honour.
He smiled at you and caressed his thumb over your cheek. "Good girl." He said and you'll be damned if you're not going to do whatever it takes for him to call you that again. Forget everything. You want him to call you that again.
That is why you find yourself involuntarily walking up to the water and apple filled basin assigned to you. 
"Step aside, filth." Seokjin jokingly muttered at James from Team Rocket. You hear Jimin and Luna giggle but you were too out of it to even appreciate his Zuko reference. 
To your left, Jessie stands in front of her basin. She gives you a sly smirk and winks at you condescendingly. You want to burn your eyeballs. 
You can't believe you're in this position. You can't believe you would willingly let your hair, makeup, and quite possibly even your costume get ruined. Lastly, you can't believe at just how much power Seokjin has had over you in a single night.
You stared hard at the apples. You've only bobbed for apples once when you were nine and it was one of the worst things you've ever done. You weren't even able to successfully capture an apple with how bad you were. Well, you're back more than ten years later and you're back with a newly found determination. Vengeance will be yours.
You hear Luna count down from three.
Seokjin's "Good girl" rang inside your head. No one's letting this magenta haired girl beside you win. You gripped the sides of the basin hard. Alright apples, it's time to face your doom!
"...One and go!" 
Inhaling a sharp breath, you plunge your face inside the deep basin. You tried to keep your eyes open to see the apples but it was proving to be difficult as light was barely passing through the metal basin. Nonetheless, you kept biting around until you reached one apple. You tossed it outside the basin and took another breath, repeating the same actions. 
You don't know how many times you did your little routine. All you know is that this is the longest minute of your life and you just want it to end so much. You were having such a miserable time. Your snot, your saliva, and even your sweat too were mixing with the water. Even though you avoid it so badly, you still manage to drink the water in your haste. Some of it even got inside your nose at one point. Bobbing for apples just might be one of the most disgusting things you could ever do. This must bloody well be worth it in the end.
Everytime you come out of the water, you hear the cheers of the people. You most certainly hear your partner, ear piercingly shrieking your name. It further feeds into your hunger to win. You don't care if you look absolutely ridiculous or that you were probably gonna end up throwing up later. All that matters is to win this for you and Seokjin.
At long last, Jimin blows an air horn to dramatically end the game. You came up gasping and snorting for air. How fucking graceful and beautiful. Seokjin rushes to you with a towel in his hand and wraps it around you right away. He pats you dry, careful to not smudge your very wet makeup. 
Luna began making a speech on how much fun this year's Halloween Olympics were. You didn't pay much attention to her as Seokjin kept murmuring words of affirmation while he was still gently patting you dry. In all honesty, you could've done that yourself. But after what you were just subjected to, you definitely could use a little pampering.
"Again, thank you to everyone who participated in the games. As for the rest, you've been absolutely wonderful, cheering our players. Until next year's Halloween Olympics!" Luna concluded. Well, they did more than cheer, alright.
"And now, let's count the apples these lovely ladies bobbed so we can find out this year's victors!" Jimin continued and everyone counted magenta head's apples with him.
"Twelve apples in total!" Everyone cheered wildly and you felt your heart clench. That's a lot. What if you had less?
"Twelve?? Ha! Suck on that!" James ridiculed.
Seokjin just glared at him and he grabbed hold of one of your hands. He squeezed it tightly as everyone started counting your apples. Oh please be higher than twelve, please be higher than twelve, please be higher than twelve, please, oh please, oh please.
"Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen!"
"A grand total of eighteen apples! Wow that's a lot more! Which means we have this year's victors!" Jimin announced.
Eighteen? You bobbed six more apples than her? Wow, your nine year old self would be proud of you now.
Seokjin couldn't contain himself, he grabbed you by your waist and lifted you up in an embrace. "Y'all hear that? My girl just beat your asses badly! Suck on my poké balls!" He finally cracked and straight up insulted Team Rocket while still holding you up. You ignored the sickly sweet feeling that bubbled inside you when he referred to you as “my girl”.
"You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!" Instead of a maniacal laugh, his windshield wiper laugh came out. The punchline was already perfect if only his stupid laugh didn't ruin it. As annoying as it is, you didn’t seem to be complaining about his laugh now in your head unlike always. Actually, it’s kind of endearing in a way. Crazy to think just how much one night can change. You wonder what happens now to the two of you.
Jimin and Luna called the both of you up on their makeshift stage to properly announce your rain of terror- I mean, your victory. Along with that, they are also going to announce the winner for best in costume. With all the action that’s been happening, people have forgotten that the awarding for best in costume is actually the main event of the night.
As Seokjin predicted earlier, you didn’t win. Some guy, Jung something something, dressed up as Shrek won by popular voting. You think he is also a part of Jimin’s friend group. You can’t be too sure as there are too many guys in that circle of friends for you to care. Which leads you to believe that maybe Jimin did some rigging of the results because his Shrek costume kinda deserves to be kicked out of the swamp. Not that you care though. As far as you’re concerned, you already won the grand prize as well.
“Told ya, you wouldn’t win best costume.” Seokjin says as you leave the stage. 
“Neither did you. All because your scar is definitely on the wrong side.” 
He groaned loudly. “You’re never gonna drop that, aren’t you?”
You laugh, thinking just how stupid he is for messing up his scar. For someone who seems to be able to quote directly from the show with ease, it’s really funny that he would overlook such a crucial detail. 
“Neverrr!” You said in a singsong voice.
“Whatever.” He said while waving his hand in a dismissing manner. “It’s not like anyone else noticed it. I guess you were paying too much attention to my face, huh?”
You blushed at his remark. “Jeez, get over yourself, will you?” 
You rushed your steps towards the house to leave him. You are sure Jimin and Luna are now tearing it down on the dance floor. He easily caught up with you though with those long legs of his and draped an arm over your shoulders.
Cackling at your flusteredness, he said, “Okay, then! So let’s say you weren’t gawking at me the entire time for you to notice my mistake.”
You hummed at him.
“Then I guess the only explanation why people seem to have failed to notice is because of my handsome face! They are too distracted by my beauty to notice my misplaced scar. Don’t you agree?” You elbowed him hard and left his yelping, laughing ass. What a weirdo. You giddily smiled though.
The rest of the night went by pretty fast. It was filled with dancing and laughing with people you know and don’t know. You even got to hang out a little bit with Team Rocket. You wouldn’t say you’d become friends with them but they aren’t all that bad. 
The only missing thing though is that you didn’t share any more “personal” moments with Seokjin. He disappeared off with his group of friends after you left him. Not that you were fully expecting anything to happen, but you were slightly disappointed. Luna was quite chill about it at the start. She was probably wanting to discuss it in private. You know, for your own sake. But as she got tipsier and tipsier until she was full on drunk, she was practically squealing about it every few seconds. Hence, why you decided to socialise with other people which you would never do. Honestly, what is going on tonight and who are you even?
After the party, you remained to clean up. But Jimin told you that none of you would have to deal with the mess right now. He understands that everyone is completely knackered at this point. There were still a few people left but he ushered you to go home now. He assured you that he could deal with them and his hammered sister. 
With that, you said thanks and hugged each other goodbye. 
Walking out of their house, you thought back to earlier when you were thoroughly convinced to stay at home. You wonder how things would be if you had stayed. You would have totally missed out on so much! But you also wonder what would happen now. It seemed like Seokjin was unmistakably giving you the vibes that he likes you. You were too. So why did he suddenly vanish?
“You want me to walk you home?” A very familiar voice said from behind you. Ah, speak of the devil.
You faced him and smiled a little too big of a smile. “You live in the complete opposite direction. What are you talking about?”
He chuckled and made his way to you. “I was just thinking, what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you walk home all by yourself at 2 in the morning?”
He stopped a few feet in front of you. You find yourself a bit irritated with the distance between you two. You wanted to be a bit closer than that so you made the move to get nearer to him. “I think I can handle myself pretty well.” You said as you approached him until you were inches away from him.
“Oh, I’m sure you can.” 
There was a brief moment of silence that fell between you. It wasn’t at all awkward or anything unpleasant. Actually, it was the complete opposite. You were just drinking everything in.
“Surprisingly, I had heaps of fun tonight. I never thought I would ever say that in the company of Kim Seokjin.” You said in a hush tone. You don’t know why you were speaking in such a way. The entire moment just seemed too delicate.
“I told you, you need to put a little faith in me, sugar queen.” He whispered. You smile at the term of endearment he had given you tonight due to your Katara outfit.
“I think I already have.” You said and his face started inching down towards yours.
Just the mere thought of finally getting to properly kiss him released thousands of butterflies in your stomach. You wanted to rush him to finally feel his lips but at the same time, you wanted to drag this moment as long as you possibly can. If someone told you this morning that you would be having these thoughts as you were about to kiss Kim Seokjin tonight,you’d laugh at their face. You’d probably also tell them that you’d rather slam your tongue in a car door.
He took his time with you, also wanting to milk every second of this moment. There was no need to rush anything. He was literally ghosting his lips against yours. He was probably teasing you. It annoyed you so much. So much so that you made the executive decision to take full control of the situation. You made the move to press your lips against his but before you could, someone walked out of the house and started yelling towards you two.
“SEOKJIN HYUUUUUNG!” A guy dressed up as Snoopy literally yeeted himself between you two and placed an arm around him. What is everyone’s deal with interrupting you two? At this point, it’s like the universe is telling you a sign or something. Wait, what?
You frown at the thought you just had. It’s a stupid thought. But then why are you having this sinking feeling inside you?
“Hoseok, for the last time, I’m walking home. I live just two blocks away. I don’t have a car to drive you home.” He told the guy, obviously exasperated just like you.
Hoseok started whining and arguing at the older guy. It’s clear that he was dead drunk. You wouldn’t try to argue with him right now. Seems pointless since everything will fly over his head.
“But why walk when you can drive???”
“Hoseok-ah! You’re really gonna ask Seokjin hyung to get you home when I’m here?” Another guy came out of the house. You turned to the voice and saw Yoongi approaching, dressed up as Garfield. You’re friends with him because he seemed to be the closest to Seokjin so you see him more often than not.
Hoseok immediately let go of Seokjin and went to hold on to Yoongi. Yoongi seemed to be in a rush to get home. Can’t blame him. It’s really late and it’s been a long night. So he said goodbye right away. But before they could leave, he turned to you.
“Before I forget, by the way, Taehyung wanted me to tell you to call him. He said you haven’t been replying to him all night. I think he wants to take you out later.” He made a fast but pointed stare towards Seokjin when he said the last part. It seemed like his way of telling him to do something about it. You didn’t notice though.
“Oh, okay. Thanks Yoongi. Good night and drive safely!” 
With that, the two went off.
Another silence fell between you two. This time though, it wasn’t as comfortable. You didn’t know whether to continue off from where you got interrupted and how to continue. The both of you looked like you were in deep thought. 
Taehyung. You completely forgot about him. Now, you feel really bad and shameful.
You notice Seokjin pulling something from his trousers that appeared to be two small envelopes. That’s probably your prize. 
He held them both and looked at them for a few seconds. “I want to ask you something.” He started, not looking you in the eyes. He’s nervous. Is he going to ask you on a date? Well, that just made you nervous. 
“Yeah?” 
He didn’t say anything for a while. You watch him clearly having some sort of argument with himself. It felt like an eternity when he finally looked you directly in your eyes.
“Y/n, I want to-” Once again, he got cut off. Maybe the universe really is saying something here.
Your phone started ringing. It was Taehyung, calling you. 
“I...You should answer that.” He instructed you. You should. But you didn’t make the move to. Your eyes switched back and forth from your phone to Seokjin a couple times. You were completely torn and didn’t know what to do. 
You were just going to answer his call. What’s the big deal about that? It’s not like he knew everything that happened and was supposed to happen between you and Seokjin. It’s not like he was going to chastise you for all of that.
Before you pressed the answer button, the call dropped and you became tense. 
Seokjin sensed your inner turmoil. He didn’t like seeing you like this. But he thought that this was becoming too much to handle right now. He looks at the envelopes he is holding. Sighing, he can’t believe he is about to do this.
He reached out both envelopes towards you. “Here, take them both.”
“What? Why?”
“Take Taehyung with you.” You could not believe what you were hearing right now. To say you were dumbfounded is an understatement.
Seeing as you made no move to get them, he took your free hand and placed the envelopes in your grasp.
“Listen, it’s bad enough that Taehyung didn’t get to enjoy the night. I think it’s only fair if he went with you.” 
“But you worked hard for this too. It was a team effort between us.” You told him, still not understanding why he would give up the prize just like that when he was so adamant to win them the entire night.
“I know. But it’s fine, really. Don’t worry, I could always find a way to get free food from Jimin. Besides, you deserve to spend some time with your Aang.”
You still didn’t fully understand the situation at hand. But it appears that he is not going to let you go until you accept the prize from him.
You finally conceded and pocketed the envelopes.
“It’s getting late. We should really go home. It’s been one hell of a tiring night.” You nodded at his statement. 
“Thanks for being an amazing partner tonight, Y/n. I genuinely enjoyed every single moment of it.”
“Me too, Seokjin. Me too.”
You wanted to hug him. But he didn’t make any other move. He was clearly just waiting for you to leave. You thought, maybe this isn’t the right time with him. With all the interruptions and should haves tonight, it’s most likely for the best to leave things here.
With a heavy heart, you gave him one final look and said goodbye. With an equally heavy heart, he watched you leave and disappear down the street.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Jimin’s sudden appearance from the front door made Seokjin jump.
“Yah! Couldn’t you have been a bit more careful?” He asked the younger boy while placing a hand over his chest to calm himself down.
Jimin paid no attention whatsoever to his agony. “You deserve to spend some time with your Aang.” He mocked Seokjin. “What on earth were you thinking?”
“I don’t want to- hang on. You were listening to our conversation???” Seokjin felt violated. Does this boy not know the meaning of privacy? First he kept interrupting you two all night then now he eavesdrops on your conversation and has the audacity to mock Seokjin.
Jimin did not feel nor look like he regretted what he had done. If anything, he looks really mad at Seokjin. “That’s besides the point. The point is, why are you just letting her go? You already had her!” 
“No, I don’t think I ever had her to begin with. I mean, come on! She went dressed up as Katara and I’m dressed as Zuko. I think it was never meant to be.”
Feeling utterly frustrated, Jimin rubbed his face harshly. He had half the mind to take off his boots and impale his older best friend with them.
“That’s just bullshit! You’re too superstitious. You don’t listen to these signs! You take matters to your own hands.”
Seokjin knew that Jimin wouldn’t understand his point of view. He’s the type of person to chase anything and everything if he so pleases it. Which fair play to him, isn’t a bad thing. But that’s not how Seokjin rolls.
“Listen, you won’t understand me.” Seokjin started and Jimin openly agreed with him. “All I’m saying is if it’s not your time, then it’s not your time. You need to accept that and patiently wait. I did what I had to do tonight.”
Jimin did not respond to him. Truthfully, he does get what Seokjin is trying to explain. He does not agree with it at all though and still thinks it’s bullshit. But he can’t really do anything other than to support his stupid best friends and to let them learn things on their own. When that happens, he’ll for sure throw another party.
“Wow. Just wow. That’s rough, buddy.” Is all he can reply to Seokjin. 
Indeed it was.
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game-fixer · 4 years ago
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Game Fixes Episode 1: Mega Man X7
I'm gonna start my tenure with one of the most notorious games in all of Mega Man, not just the X series. I have several ideas that can make the game feel more in line with characters and feel less forced.
Of course this will come with general polish in many aspects including a redone script and voice work. No disrespect towards any actors/actresses in the games, of course, but the presentation needs some serious work. Anyway, let's start with the first change
Axl
No, I'm not gonna get rid of him. I think he's a welcome addition to the cast and, if worked right, could be made to be even more beloved in the game he debuted in, despite being the Silver the Hedgehog of the X series.
First idea would be an overhaul in his move set. I say ditch the lame Copy Shot thing for his charge. Also have him function more like Bass from Mega Man and Bass/Mega Man 10, where he stands in place and you aim manually from the start. In 3D, (because I'm not getting rid of 3D) this could even include a first person aim function so you can be more precise. Also a light will shine to show your path so you're not relying on blind fire. Now, I'm thinking he could still charge a shot. What would he shoot? Well you could target multiple enemies at a time, release, and shoot a spread shot of small homing missiles at enemies or even Mavericks which can take a lot of these shots, of course. This feels more like a proper special ability and something that requires a meter for. So what do we do with that Copy Ability that makes him special?
Bio Metal
Yep, the special little MacGuffins from the ZX series. The very same. I'm thinking Axl would be the first Reploid to be made with an early version of Bio Metal, allowing him to change forms at will. This would be his version of X's Weapon Systems. Axl would gain new armor and abilities from the Mavericks he fights to boost his arsenal. A regular shot and a special shot. For example, with Ride Boarski, you'd shoot his regular weapon, but his Special move could be a Tackling Dash that would plow through enemies until the Meter runs out. Flame Hyenard could give a flamethrower for the main shot and his special could give you a clone that shoots for a few seconds. Tornado Tonion could give his leaf shot as a main, and his special lets you throw a tornado and damage enemies in a wide pattern. That sort of thing. The Mavericks aren't the only ones you're getting Bio Metal data from, though. Before I talk about that, let's bring up the main boy himself.
X
I'm thinking X would still be unlockable just like normal, but you'd play as him through an intro stage to feel the power you need to have back. Is he moping about violence and sitting on the couch like a lump like before? Yes and no. X, after causing a serious accident and putting innocent lives in danger, requests to be taken out of active duty until he can sort himself out, but he doesn't want to stop helping. Seeing how lousy X treated our new friend in the real story gave me an idea. Make X train Axl as his superior officer! Axl could be a trainee Hunter, still dealing with his checkered past with Red Alert and realizing they were no better than murderers, thus joining the Maverick Hunters to pay his dues to himself and prove to himself he isn't evil. X, seeing some of his own plight in his Rookie apprentice, starts taking a liking to Axl's ideals, despite his hot-headed, quick-to-the-trigger tactics and lack of professionalism. They butt heads through the intercom, with X saying this needs to be done by the book, but Axl wanting to show how he can take on any challenge no sweat and all that. X would be the Navigator for Axl, though Alia would aid as well.
Unlocking X
While saving Reploids will still be a thing, X will be unlocked halfway through the game. The whole thing would be integrated into the story. Axl defeats 3 or 4 Mavericks. All the while, X is still dealing with his fear of becoming a Maverick, fearing all he lost and hating his carelessness. Before your 4th fight, X will start getting more hostile and snappy at Axl, making Alia worried for X, since she's never seen him so worked up at himself. Axl begins to suspect X going Maverick to himself (he'd think "H-he isn't going...nah, of course not. Commander X is too strong for that...but...) Once the 4th stage is complete we get a midstage, like in Mega Man 7 or 8. A Mechanaloid is causing havoc in the city and Axl offers to go help. However, X sees that it's the same one that he caused the accident with and this sends him spiraling into anger.
"It's still out there?! After all I did, it wasn't enough?!? Damn it!!"
"Commander! Let me go take it out! Those people are in danger!"
"Why? So you can cause more damage with your recklessness?! You want to be a Maverick Hunter? Act like one and grow up!"
"...that's it... I'm not taking this from an old man that's crying about one little mistake he made!"
"...tch...you can't go anyway...you have your mission... just... stand down for now, kid."
"Commander X, what are you-?"
"You're right, Axl. I've been stewing about this for too long. This guy's mine. I have to prove this to myself."
That's how I think the scene would go. You go in as X and fight the Mechanaloid after a short stage rescuing plenty of civilians along the way. Alia and Axl are watching the events and communicating with X as well. X wins the battle, but suddenly his Buster goes off out of nowhere again, nearly destroying something that would put civilians in harms way. They are saved in the nick of time by Axl, who ports in anyway to try to help. X starts to doubt himself again, but Axl could see that it was something out of his control. The two go back to Hunter Base to run diagnostics and they find a bug in X's Buster systems, a lesser string of the Sigma Virus. X gets repaired after seeing this virus as a warning that Sigma might be back. This snaps him out of it and this gets him to go out and fight. You can now choose to go out as Axl, X, or as a team. If you go solo, your shots will be stronger, but without the backup, you'll be left with less defense.
Zero?
Nope, I'm not forgetting our favorite robot swordsman. At all. He will not make a physical appearance at all in the game. Why? Well...the Mega Man Zero series is still a thing. While I like the idea that Zero's ending in X6 being at the very end of the series, I'm trying to keep a stronger set of continuity here. Zero would still be in stasis, though he could communicate with X, since I'm thinking this could be a precursor to Cyber Elves, having Zero be something like a separate AI that can still communicate. As for playing as him? Oh he's still available...as a Bio Metal! I'm thinking after your first Maverick stage, a Zero spirit will appear in a level (kinda like the X Hunters in X2 but less stupid). Go find it, and Axl will be challenged to a fight against Zero, or at least a Reploid being controlled by his spirit. Before Axl finishes it off, X tells him to stand down, and Zero comes back to talk with X. The Spirit also leaves behind the Z-Saber, and thus infusing Axl with Zero's abilities, thus creating a prototype of the Z-Type Bio Metal from ZX.
Red Alert
So, get this. What if Sigma really WAS technically gone forever? I mean the bodies are all used up. The Spirit lives on, yes, but ol' Siggy ran out of his own bodies. Humor me here. What if Red Alert became the new villain faction full time? What if Red became the new face of Sigma? We'll call it...Red Doom or something. Sigma basically integrated himself into Red's systems and basically became part of his robotic code as thoughhe was always Sigma. This could also explain more why Axl needed to leave Red Alert, but it also shows how much in denial he was about Red going Maverick, since Red taught Axl everything he knows.
Script Changes?
I made my case about where the plot should go, but lemme try to work out personalities I think everyone could get down with in general.
Axl is the cocky, hot-blooded new kid who wants to prove himself to be better than where he came from. No petulant, childish talking or stupidity here. He'd be more like Sonic the Hedgehog but still acting just a little green. Still taking things just seriously enough for his quips to be endearing.
X takes his role as a CO very seriously. He's to the point and ensures that Axl is taught the way a situation must be handled. He hates how lax Axl is during his missions and tries to get him to focus. In combat, X is a no nonsense fighter who is ready to bring in the Mavericks, by force if need be. He doesn't try to get them to go peacefully considering his experience. (in fact he'll say once "I guess I can't expect you to come quietly?") No more "Why must Reploids fight each other" and blah blah blah. We all heard this. While he hates the fight, he knows at this point that the world needs a warrior, sort of like Gohan if that helps.
Zero is supportive of X and does his best to help keep his mind out of darkness. He'll even say "You were willing to stand by my side when I feared going Maverick, so I'll be here to do the same."
Red is a lot more cold at the start, outright insulting Axl, saying that he's no more than a worthless prototype, and the next generation of Reploids will be far superior to Axl's faulty design, or taunting X saying "How the mighty hath fallen. How does it feel, X? How does it feel to have to watch as the world crumbles to nothing through the eyes of your good for nothing amateur all because you couldn't keep a tab on your trigger finger?" Red will also be a boss at the end of Axl's first stage before the Maverick fights, and you're meant to lose it to show how powerful he is. You can see shreds of Sigma in there, but he is woven into Red's thoughts and personality in a way that makes Sigma and Red seem equal in the body, though a body can still be created (basically Red Sigma will be put in a more "Sigma appropriate" body with the bald head and big ass chin. Basically Sigma takes Red completely in a way. They're both in control, like their souls combined if that makes sense.
Everyone else is how they should be. Alia, for example is more like how she was in X8.
These are just a few changes that would make Mega Man X7 a much more plot centered game that knows how to work with it's characters. Other fixes like making it faster, tweaking the weapons, making Dr. Light stay as an AI, all that feels superfluous, because a lot of that just makes sense to change. Same with presentation, but with a new script, new lines are inevitable, so duh.
Stay tuned for more Game Fixes! If you want to request a game, lemme know!
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granddaughterogg · 5 years ago
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The day Death forgot something - part 1
Soo, guys, this was supposed to be a short story. Ya know, an itty bitty one. But it has grown to such a degree that I see no point in putting it here in its entirety. After all no one wants to read my long-ass posts.
This is mostly domestic fluff with a slice of life feel to it. Found family, sibling interactions, Reader being both Death and War’s girlfriend (not yet Strife’s, it’s Complicated) as a background and all that jam. Includes my headcanon that War hates spiders, because I find it hilarious. Perfectly SFW.
It seems that whichever chaotic deity stood behind those incidents, they’ve saved their best for War. 
It all started with a leaky roof.
The Four have bought themselves - and you - a house. They did so with coinage looted in countless different realms. You'd always treasure the facial expression of the bank clerk. Poor guy squirmed in his seat while explaining to four freakishly tall, fiery-eyed, fully armoured individuals that Makers' hacksilver (mere 26 pounds apiece) doesn't register as "money" in those parts. 
Most interesting day in his career, that's for sure.
The house in question was old.
Not dilapidated; just run-down enough to justify the low price. It has soon become obvious that it will have to be torn down and then rebuilt to fit the non-standard sized tenants. Poor War always felt so despondent among tiny human doorframes, their pitifully brittle walls and dainty knickknacks, prone to shattering at the slightest nudge. 
You know, like tables and such.
Strife could navigate among those just fine; despite being the noodle of the pack, he’s got the proprioception of a seasoned ballerina. Still claimed that all this hunching makes his back hurt. 
Death and Fury could fit into a human-sized environ without much problem. 
Yet she bristled at the thought of wearing lower heels, and your beloved would loathe admitting that he’s a short Nephilim. One thing is to know something; another altogether is to put it into words. 
Death has a recurring problem with this sort of thing.
So you didn’t make him. This house needed revamping anyway.
And it has been done. After countless trips to the local Home Depot, after summer weeks full of construction work - while you lived in a tent in the overgrown garden and the Four camped under the stars like they’re accustomed to. After amazing feats of Horseman cooperation and as much squabbling (Strife and Death had opposite opinions on anything), the house has been finally ready to be lived in. 
Under the latter’s lead, your boys displayed adeptness at carpentry, even if they didn’t pay much heed to the decorative side of things. War etched some protective sigils into the walls, the doorstep and the ceiling joist - and that was it. You had no idea what those exactly mean, but they sure glowed pretty in the dark. 
The house turned out to have a raw, pioneer aesthetic. There was a rustic stone hearth and lots of stained wood everywhere. You thought this starkness to be rather fetching.
Fury - who couldn’t be bothered to work with wood, but did care about them comforts and frills - made Death undertake another shopping trip. This time towards IKEA.
You enjoyed your first night spent in a proper bed like nobody’s business. Only partially because this was also Death’s bed.
And then the roof started to leak.
It was a slow leak at first. One morning Strife would drag his long ass down the stairs for breakfast, yawning and scratching, tendril hair pointing every which way, and claimed that he’s woken up to water splashing on his face.
„Maybe a bird relieved itself on you”, said Death flatly.
„In my own bed?!”
„Must have been a dedicated bird”, was the uncharitable response, followed by a swig of coffee. (Black, no sugar.) Fury rolled her eyes to high heavens but said nothing. You on your part couldn’t help but titter; even War’s dour Morning Expression gave way to a snort. Strife shot him a side-eye. 
„Don’t you neigh, my square-shaped brother. Birds don’t poop on your head cuz they can’t find it.”
The Big Guy harrumphed and focused on his cereal. Strife slumped on a chair with an annoyed puff, stuffing his face with two toasts at once.
Next time is was Fury who fell prey to the stealthy leak. One day you dropped by to chat. She was brushing that awe-inducing mane of hers while sitting in front of a large mirror. Fury had a proper vanity installed in her bedroom; a sturdy, antique-looking affair, covered with lots and lots of little bottles. As far as you knew, all of them contained some sort of magic. Fury took this whole beautifying thing to the next level.
So there she was, styling her coif with a self-indulgent smoulder when – PLOP! - something fell from the ceiling and landed precisely on the top of her head.
Fury shrieked.
„WET!” she cried out, eyes bulging, hands frantically pawing the ruined hairdo. „What was that, Little One? WHAT WAS THAT?!”
You suspected that the disgrace of having bird droppings touch her precious hair would cause someone as vain as Fury to shave it all off. And to remain bitterly bald while never, ever disclosing the reasons for doing so.
So it was with relief that you could state what you just saw:
„Oh, it’s just water.”
„Water?” She eyed the ceiling suspiciously, both hands still submerged inside the fluttering blue flame (Ice Hollow was the look du jour). „But...how?...”
Both of you glared upwards like two paranoid magpies. Still, nothing else has happened.
It seems that whichever chaotic deity stood behind those incidents, they’ve saved their best for War. 
It happened during dinnertime, too. You’ve just cooked a new dish – garlic butter shrimp pasta – and proudly displayed it to the Horsemen. The twins were already munching in abandon. Death excused himself politely. He seldom ate at all but would stay at the table nonetheless, sipping his extra bitter coffee or as unforgiving tea. You knew he did this entirely for your sake.
Meanwhile, the established big eater of the bunch seemed to have his reservations.
You watched the Red Guy pin his eyes to the full plate in front of him, fighting to retain his stony expression. The corner of his mouth twitched.
„What is it, baby?” You teased. „The shrimps are well and truly cooked. They ain’t gonna pounce at you.”
War exhaled. „Don’t misunderstand me, Little One...” he said, eyeing the dish with comic seriousness. „I would never dare to question your, eh, cooking abilities. I am just not that fond of food with tiny legs. It reminds me of many a thing I had to slay...”
„War’s afraid of spiders!” Strife chimed in, his mouth full.
The Big Guy sputtered in indignation. 
„I am not afraid of anything”, he stated, accosting his enfant terrible of a brother with a glare. „I just don’t like things that...walk like that.” He made a crawling gesture with his good hand.
„Too bad”, Strife licked his long fingers. „This shit’s delicious!”
War crinkled his wide nose and said nothing.
„So it’s about the visuals, huh?” you said, struck by an idea. „Would it be okay for you to try it just a little bit - if you couldn’t see it ?”
„Huh?” War clearly didn’t follow.
„Please don’t make our brother eat with his eyes closed”, murmured Fury between slurping in more pasta. „He makes a fair mess as it is.”
„Wouldn’t dream of it”, you grinned. „What I mean is: just close your eyes and I’ll hand feed you.”
„...Okay.”
Death cocked an eyebrow - his lip curving upwards - but he said nothing.
„Uh-oh,” said Strife. „Here comes the lovey-dovey stuff. Excuse me while I go and puke.”
„And put all this food to waste?” Fury taunted.
The gunslinger shrugged in defeat and went back to munching.
You picked a decent amount of food on the fork, lifted it and smiled at War, who stared you in the face with that endearingly earnest expression. He must’ve really hated arthropods in any shape or form, you thought. Yet he was willing to overcome his disgust. 
For you.
„Close your eyes.” He did, and suddenly there was much less light at the table. „Open wide!”
That he also did. You placed the shrimp inside his mouth with a jeweller’s precision. Strife sniggered.
„...Well?”
War’s snowy eyelashes fluttered while he pressed his jaws together, focusing on the taste. You saw his Adam’s apple bob a little.
You loved this big lug of a man so much.
„How is it?”
„Mmm. Good.” Those lightning blue eyes were looking at you again, wide and smiling. „This was really good.”
„Well then, ready for another round?”
War nodded, pressed his eyelids together and gaped, willing and trustful in that childlike way of his which always turned your cynical heart into jelly.
PLOP.
Suddenly many things happened at once. 
Strife howled with laughter, while Fury’s face became a picture of slack-jawed bewilderment. Death, always the quickest to react, was already standing up, one hand pushing his chair aside and the other outstretched protectively towards War. Who was clearly choking.
You watched the Big Guy wheeze and gurgle as if glued to your seat, paralyzed, motionless, the shellfish on your fork like some absurd sceptre.
You didn’t do this.
Death kicked War’s chair out of the way and held his brother in some Nephilim rendition of a Heimlich Maneuver, shaking him unceremoniously through the coughs until the latter went slack in his grasp. 
Finally, War stopped wheezing and did a dog shake.
Only then you were finally able to move.
„Oh, fuck. War. Are you all right?”
„I seem to be.” The Big Guy shot you a dizzy half-smile. Flyaway strands of hair covered his reddened face.
Death cautiously let him go and taxed you with a somewhat less-than-tender stare.
„I didn’t do this!” It hit as hard as a spoken accusation. You waggled the fork with the shrimp still on it. „I didn’t do anything!”
„Then what in the Nine Hells was that?” Fury wanted to know.
„Water”, gasped War, pointing upwards. „A lot of water fell into my mouth at once...I think.”
The four of you suspiciously eyed the ceiling.
Except for the lanky one, who was still guffawing.
„Strife. Did you see that happen?” Death’s voice was perfectly level. Focusing on the task at hand. You felt relief washing all over you; the Reaper clearly didn’t think that you just tried to choke his favourite brother.
Which was a good thing...your bond notwithstanding.
And out of the Four D might’ve been the fastest to react, but it was the gunslinger who had the perfect eyesight.
„Y-yeah!” Strife wiped the tears of mirth away. „Like, at least half a litre at once – boom! Hilarious.”
„What is so damn funny?” You could do with less of Strife’s sense of humour right now.
„Aw, come on there, pumpkin pie. It’s not like he could die from that. Or from anything else.”
You rethought this statement. „Right...yet D reacted!”
„Death used to do this all the time when we were kids”, Fury said softly, tilting her head in your direction. „We’d choke on anything, really. And back then, before we were anointed Horsemen we could have actually died, you know.”
„I guess old habits die hard”. Strife put on his shit-eating grin.
War nodded at his eldest and that was it. The whole „thank you for caring” compressed into one curt gesture. 
You smiled at War and then at Death. He caught your kind, appreciative stare, pressed his lips together and looked away.
PLOP!
(to be continued)
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nightwingshero · 5 years ago
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Hold Me Down Chapter 2
Yasss! Not only did I find the original chapter, but it’s way better than it was before. I’m super happy for this one! @ja-crispea @chazz-anova @faithchel I thought it would be important for you to know what happened with Wren and her ice cream, because let’s be honest, that’s the true ship of this fic. There’s the twist, spoiler alert. Wren x Ice cream.
It was a hot day, hotter than what it had been for the past few days. I huffed as I made my ascent, my ponytail swayed, sweat gathering at the back of my neck and my shoes slapped against the ruined tile as I went. A small plastic bag in one hand, and a large brown bag cradled with my arm. I was eager to enjoy the rest of my day in my apartment, eating ice cream and wallowing in my self-pity before coming up with another score. My pride was still wounded from getting caught. It pissed me off even more when I had found a chip in my throwing knife. Fucking bastard.
I hated grocery shopping only due to the fact that I didn’t like being around people. Dutch often joked to us darkly that we were in the business of people. Just that most of the time, they ended up dead. He wasn’t wrong, and perhaps that was what twisted my stomach so much. Despite him taking me off the street and teaching me everything all he knew, creating who and what I was, I could never come to agree or appreciate his values. I didn’t like killing and cutting my emotions out was nearly impossible. I was his greatest failure but was far from his greatest disappointment. No, she would always hold that place.
I freeze when I come to my floor, eyeing the man leaning against the wall next to my apartment door that was cracked open. He had a hand in his pocket, the other fidgeting with the toothpick in his mouth as he looked at his shoes. I could tell that his dark tan suit was cheap, his longish dark hair swept back just a bit, and I couldn’t help wrinkling my nose in disgust from his demeanor. I could almost guarantee that he was showered in cheap cologne as he used his false confidence to throw his weight around and I crinkled my nose at the sight of his badge on his belt. Cops. My veins turn to ice as I eye it, fear twisting in my gut. I had been so careful. But I square my shoulders, because I know my rights well enough that he needed a warrant.
“Can I help you?” I asked, my voice curious and a bit annoyed. He wasn’t welcome here, not from a long shot, and I wanted him out of my space.
He looked up, his brown eyes sweeping over me before giving me a lopsided smirk. “Well, hey there.” He straightened, shifting his weight. I eyed his stubble and his hair was gelled and combed back half assed. I fought the urge to rip into him, I didn’t need a detective who believed he was nothing by a womanizer sniffing around me. “Wren Blake, right?”
“Who’s asking?” I replied, narrowing my eyes at him.
He just chuckled. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“We?” I asked, glancing in my apartment. A woman stood taking pictures with her cell phone in gloved hands. Her dark hair was braided to the side and shined in the light my living room as she took pictures. His partner, I was sure. Her suit was crisp, the black blouse unbuttoned a bit to show off the golden cross around her neck. It’s fast, the way I take her in, but I was trained to be observant. One of the reasons I had survived as long as I have. But I’m tense as her dark eyes find mine, stern and professional. I narrowed my eyes at her. “Do you have a warrant? Because breaking and entering is illegal, Detective.”
“You bet your sweet ass we have a warrant.” The man cut in, taunting me with a smirk. “We’ve been keeping an eye on you, sweetheart. You think you could charm your way out of this?”
“Pratt.” His partner scolded before giving another glance around the apartment as she lowered the phone. She barley acknowledged the underlining threat as she turned and studied me. “Wren Marie Blake. You are wanted for assault, larceny, false pretenses, and I believe there’s a count against you for arson. There’s more, should I continue?” Her voice is confident, borderline cocky, but I don’t rise to the bait. “Wanted in many cities, at that. Word is you made quite the splash in Los Angeles. You’ve been busy.”
“And you didn’t answer my question.” I shot back, shift my weight to my other foot as I adjust the paper bag full of food. “Do you have a warrant?”
The woman took a step forward, her eyes drilling into mine. “You’ve got one helluva rep sheet, Blake.” She whipped a piece of paper out in front of me and I frowned. “And I’m going to need you to come with us.”
I sigh, glaring at the floor by her feet. Defeated, I sigh. “Fine, but can I at least put my food away? I have ice cream in here.”
 I couldn’t tell you how long I waited in the interrogation room, but it felt like hours. The room was only lit by shitty fluorescent lighting that gave the room a more eerily feel. I could almost roll my eyes from the drama of it. I leaned back and crossed my arms. I knew they were doing this on purpose, a tactic I wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with. It didn’t really do any good, all things considered. If anything, it gave me time to prepare for whatever they were going to slap me with and asking for a lawyer was the card up my sleeve if this went south quickly. I was ready for every scenario.
The door opened, bringing my attention from my inner musings and to the four people that had graced me with their presence. Two of them were the same detectives I had seen earlier, Thing One and Thing Two. An older man stood next to them, to the side with big glasses and a weird mustache. I could take a guess that he was the Captain of the precinct, but I wasn’t for sure. The other man was pretty much bald, his hair cut tight against his head, and a goatee that almost had me laughing. His dark skin looked almost pale with the lighting of the room, especially with the cheap blue suit and white oxford shirt underneath. He held himself with an air of authority that put him on a pedestal. I groaned internally. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get along with this man.
He slammed a file down on the metal table, watching me close for a reaction, and I raised a brow at him. It was apparent he had an air for dramatics. “I’m Special Agent Cameron Burke, this is Captain Whitehorse, and you’ve already had the pleasure of meeting Detective Pratt and Detective Hudson.” Ah. He was a fed. That explained so much. He leaned against the chair in front of me as he stared me down. “You see that? We have a whole file against you. You’re gonna go away for a long time.”
I just continued to stare at him, unimpressed. “Yeah. It’s a file. That was a little unnecessary, don’t you think? Things echo in here.”
He sneered. “You think this is funny? A game?”
“No, on the contrary, I find this rather irritating. What so-called evidence do you have against me?” I replied icily. I didn’t have the patience for this, I wanted the hell out of here. He smirked and flipped open the file, spreading pictures and documents across the table.
I kept my face neutral, still unimpressed, but my insides were panicked. I schooled my expression as I studied the black and white shots of me doing different jobs in different cities. Some in wigs, different outfits, and even one from last night before I had walked into the charity gala. I studied the bank statements from an offshore account before I looked at him. “What’s this supposed to prove? Other than the fact that you’re stalking me for no reason?”
Burke scoffed, a dark glint in his eyes. “We shook down one of your fences, Blake. I’m sure Victor Boshaw rings a bell?” He pushed a photo forward of the gruffy bearded man, and right there next to him, was me.
Victor “Sharky” Boshaw was a fence I had been using for a few years, first meeting in Montana. He was completely erratic an unorthodox, and definitely obnoxious. There wasn’t ever a boring moment with that idiot. But I could always depend on him to move whatever I brought him, and he always gave me a decent price. One of the few people in the market that didn’t screw me over, and as off-the-wall he was, he wasn’t snitch. Sharky always had my back, I knew better. He wouldn’t say a damn thing.
I glared at him. “You’re starting to sound like my father who is telling me its illegal to have friends.”
His face burned as he shoved the chair out of his way, slamming his hands on the table. I jumped as he growled at me. “I’ve had it with your bullshit!” I pursed my lips as his eyes pinned me down. “Look, I’ve been onto you, watching you for a few years now. I know you have ties that you try to hide. I’ve been trying to pin down Dutch and that entire organization.”
I paled immediately, swallowing as I felt my body become weightless. That wasn’t expected. “What?” I breathed out and he smirked.
“That’s right, princess. I know all about that.” He slowly straightened, crossing his arms as he began to circle me. “Taking teenagers off the streets, kids that have no future or have been victims of tragedy. Training them young is key, isn’t it? Teaching how to steal, trick, and to read people. Running cons…but it gets a bit darker than that, doesn’t it? That’s just tip of the iceberg.”
I clench my teeth as flashbacks hit me. The abandoned factory had lighting much like this room. It was always cold in that damn place, and the memory sent a chill down my spine. I hated that building. I hated the way that I had looked up to him as a father figure as he put a knife in my hand, and a gun next. Hand-to-hand combat, knife throwing, shooting…the real operation was far darker than stealing diamonds from a plastered elite.
He grabbed the back of my chair leaning to talk in my ear, the smell of his hot coffee breath fanned across my face. “Training future hitmen and assassins in the underground is definitely something the FBI is interested in taking down. I’ve tracked your every step; I have eyes and ears everywhere. Sounds like a certain someone is pretty upset that their perfect little protégé turned her back on them.”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. How the hell had he found out? My palms became sweaty, my heart racing as thoughts flew through my mind. I wanted to scream out of frustration, but I knew I couldn’t. That stupid male detective, Pratt, wouldn’t stop smirking and I was ready to claw his face off. My pride was shot to hell and I was pissed that he had known.
“It would be…such a shame if someone were to leak your position to them, wouldn’t it?”
Pure dread settled in as anger raged through my veins. I clenched my fists tightly. “What’s your point?” I hissed. Burke moved again, walking away with a sickening swagger.
“Well, despite the fact that we’re hunting down Dutch and his posse, it occurs to me that well…it seems a bit pointless to use you to track him down with you being defective.” I flinched at his word choice when he finally turned back to me. “The DA believes he has a bigger issue than what us feds have going on, being less concerned for the bigger picture. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Seed family by now?” I furrowed my brow as I looked at him. “I’ll take that as a yes, then. Perfect. That makes this easier.”
“What do they have to do anything? What’s your point?”
Hudson stepped forward with another file, placing it down like a normal human being. “Joseph Seed is at the head of a major crime family, as you know.” Flipping the file open, she placed four pictures in front of me, pointing as she went. “His brother Jacob is in charge of security and running guns. He’s involved with underground fighting rings and training their personnel. His military background helps him out, obviously.” His beard was gruffer than Sharky’s, but his red hair was to the side, with a tight cut on the side. Scars littered his face, almost like burn marks. She would recognize those anywhere. “Then there’s the little sister. The little angel. We don’t have much detail on her, but as far as I know, she seems to be the one recruiting. She’s also their loan shark, so to speak. She also helps set up deals for this one,” she lands on a picture of a man I’m all too familiar with. “In particular. And he is hard to tie down. John is their lawyer, and he’s a damn good one. Knows how to read people like the back of his hand. He’s known for extortion, blackmail, and a few others. He has a lot of important people in his back pocket, making him practically untouchable. And as scary and dangerous as Jacob is, John is the one to look out for. He is known for cutting into people as punishment and is merciless.”
“Grade A psycho.” Pratt muttered with a twist of his mouth and his eyes cast downward.
“The point is, if I had to choose, he’s going to be the most dangerous to you.” Hudson continued, and I looked up at her confused. They hadn’t known about what happened a couple nights ago, did they?
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What the fuck do I have to be worried about? That sounds like your problem.” I replied with a snarky tone, and Hudson glared at me with her jaw ticking.
“Its your problem,” Finally, the Captain spoke and stepped forward a bit. He tried to seem confident, but there was a weariness that I couldn’t exactly place. “Because you’re going to be working with them.”
I stared at him as I let it sink in, and turned my gaze to the fed. “What?” I whispered harshly.
Burke seemed to be enjoying this a little too much as he grinned like the damn Cheshire cat. “We’re going to use those skills of yours to our advantage, since you’re here with your hands tied and off Dutch’s radar. You’re going in as a double agent for us. You’ll be feeding us intel as you spy on the family and help us take them down by providing incriminating evidence that will put them away for life. Things that even the baby brother can’t weasel out of.”
“Are you fucking insane?” I breathed out, eyes wide. “You want me to be a mole? Do you know how hard it is to get into a family like that? And assuming that, by some fucking miracle, I do…you know what they do to people like that? Do you have any fucking idea what they would do to me? They would kill me after making an example of me, you know they would!” I snapped. Frustration was so close to turning to tears as I shifted in the metal chair, but I quickly blinked them away.
“Then I suggest not getting caught.” Burke sneered. “But you would die for a greater cause, Blake. Maybe that makes you feel better.”
“And if I say no?”
He leaned forward slowly, menacingly, and got in my face. “You’re either with us or against us. You either do this…or you go to prison. From my position, it doesn’t seem like you have much of a choice. But what do you say? You in or are you out?”
   I walked quickly in the Georgia night, anger and determination fueling every step. I stopped only to light a cigarette, inhaling and savoring the burn in my lungs. I was nothing but a bundle of nerves. They had told me the family would be at the club tonight, celebrating something, but their intel was good. My mind reeled, trying to come up with a plan that could even work. I hadn’t told Burke that John and I had already met, making this nearly impossible. I contemplated approaching him, admitting what was happening, and then getting the hell out of dodge. But the feds were following my every move now, and there was no guarantee John would let me walk away from that meeting alive.
I was going to do this my way, at my pace, and on my own. I had insisted. A dead informant wasn’t exactly beneficial. They laid down the ground rules with check ins and all that. I wasn’t allowed to leave town, let alone the state. I had to stay where they could keep an eye on me at all times. Something told me that Burke had a control issue.
I looked at the half-smoked cigarette before throwing it on the concrete, smashing it with my heel. My black dress hugged my curves tightly, the plunging neckline just subtle enough to keep the classy look. I kept my hair down again, curled just a bit. I pulled it up a bit, adjusting the top so my boobs weren’t spilling out. I sometimes loved this side of it, dressing up in cute, and even sexy, outfits. Sometimes I absolutely hated it, and tonight was one of those nights. I had planned to take it easy for a while, but after the loving conversation with the officers earlier, I had a change of heart. Apparently.
All it took for the bouncer to let me in was a bat of my lashes and coy smile, which I dropped the second I crossed the threshold. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but a dark lounge wasn’t it. Not that I complained at all, considering that I’ve had a rough day so far. I took the dimmed lights, the neon accents creating an ambiance of something I couldn’t quite describe. But it was as if I had stepping into a completely different world. I could get lost to the music playing through the speakers as a group of people danced.
Making my way to the bar, I motioned for the bartender as I folded my hands in my lap with my clutch. I smile brightly at the younger man. Blonde, curly hair with bright eyes, and maybe just a little too eager. I lean forward just a tad, a small smile on my lips. “Martini, dry with extra olives.”
He gave a quick nod before hastily getting everything together, but I paid him no mind. I searched, my eyes scanning face after face, desperate for the target. Detective Hudson had sworn they would be here, no doubt in her mind. Well, good for her. That didn’t ease my doubt one bit. Then again that she had to say could, I felt like I was being fed to the wolves. I hated every bit of it. The bartender returned, placing the glass down gently. I knew he was waiting to engage, but I just grabbed it and kept my attention on the crowd. I wasn’t here for social hour. I was here to watch. And so, I did, taking a sip of my drink.
I spot the sister first. A perfect white short dress with sleeves, her hair falling in waves and her ankles are crossed, ever the lady. Then the rest came into view, my heart pounding hard. A red-haired woman sat with her, holding her hand. They had mentioned that there were significant others, spouses, involved, and as I find Joseph Seed, I see his blonde wife with him. His hair is long, pulled back into a bun, and even though it was late at night and inside, he wore yellow aviators. Just like he had in the photo.
“I believe,” a voice called from behind me, and I freeze for only a second as he placed his hand on the bar behind me, his breath ruffling my hair as spoke in my ear. “I told you the next time I saw you, I would kill you.”
I take another drink as he moved from me, circling around with his eyes on me before taking the seat next to mine. Finally, I found my tongue and spine. “I think it was ‘if I catch you doing this again, I won’t hesitate to kill you’. If I remember correctly.”
John gave a charming smile, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “You think you’re clever.”
“No, I know I’m clever.” I scoffed, taking another sip, my eyes falling on his family again. I finally see his other brother, Jacob, standing with his arms crossed in his grey shirt.
“How cute.” he taunted. I opened my mouth to say something, but that’s when I see her. It takes all the years of my training to maintain my composure, because there was nothing I would love to do than to let the glass in my hand shatter against the floor. Rowan.
She looked the same, just a few more years older. Her dark hair was still long and wavy, her bright smile hadn’t changed a bit. It’s a shock that I can’t really shake, because she’s there, after all these years. I had thought she died, someone finally hunted her down. That’s what Dutch led us, me, to believe. To prove and show what happened if you turned your back on the family. And yet, here we both were, survivors of the dark world Dutch had brought us in.
I feel a hand on my knee the second her dark eyes catch mine and move away, not even hesitating as she looked around the room and the hand squeezed, bringing my attention to the company I was keeping. “I warned you about coming near my family.”
I turned to him with a glare. “You threatened me with your family’s name, and if I’m being honest here, I’m getting tired of it, Johnny.” I sneered, shoving his hand off my knee. I grabbed the toothpick out of my drink, angrily eating the olives. I glanced over again, but she continued to laugh in that dark green dress, like she hadn’t seen a blast from her past. As if she didn’t know me at all. It stung, but I couldn’t tell if her noticing me was a good thing or not. She would blow the whole thing before I could even get started.
John’s mouth twisted and I felt my stomach sink in dread at the realization of what I had just done. Rowan was just one issue, but I completely forgot the one sitting with me. “Better be careful, sweetheart. You’re playing with fire and you’ve been warned already.”
“And you owe me a new knife, Johnny. They are custom made and expensive, and due to your carelessness, the one has a chip in it. Where shall I send the bill?”
“You’re not as charming as you think you are, darling.” He leaned in with a sneer, his eyes promising danger. “And my patience is running very thin with it.”
I leaned forward, my nose crinkling unimpressed. “And you’re not nearly as scary as you believe you are. Now, if you don’t mind, run and get the big bad brother. I’m above dealing with the baby, Johnny Boy.”
His hand flew back to my leg, squeezing and digging his fingers hard into the meat of my leg. My back straightened as I clenched my teeth from the mix of pain and something else. I kept my composure the best I could, but I never hated John Seed more than I did in this moment. Pure loathing like venom on my tongue for the way he always found the upper hand.
“Would you like another, miss?”
I turned to see the young bartender smiling at me, his eyes wandering down before meeting my eyes again. “No.” John replied, throwing the guy a charming smile. “She’s just leaving.”
“Cool. Well, it’s on the house.” He said, throwing me a wink. I gave a fake smile as he walked away.
“It most certainly is not on the house.” John snapped. “I’m not paying for your drink.”
I raised a brow at him. “Oh, the big-time lawyer owns a bar and can’t afford to buy a lady a drink?”
“It’s a lounge.” He growled at me. “And you are not a lady.”
I smirked, my hand finding its way back into my clutch. Grabbing what I was looking for, I quickly press the tip of my knife against his inner thigh. He stiffened, and my burgundy lips curved even more. “Now, I think that you should know a few things about me, darling.” I leaned, my lips finding his ear to whisper. “I don’t like it when men feel the need to put their hands on me without my permission, no matter how big they think they are. And when they do, well…I’m very skilled with knives, John. I’m sure you can use your imagination. Now, if you don’t mind.” He slowly removed his hand, and as he did, I shifted, rising from the barstool. “Thank you. You’re such a dear. Here’s to hoping our next meeting is as lovely as this one.”
“You should hope we don’t meet again, sweetheart. Because I’m not going to be so kind anymore.” He breathed out, his voice ice. I placed a kiss on his cheek.
“If this was you call being kind, then I look forward to seeing the big bad wolf. I don’t mind playing rough. Just make sure you can take it as well as you can dish it.”
I move away before he can register and react. My heart was hammering in my chest, shocked by what I had just done and cursing myself. I was supposed to get in and win them over, and instead I was antagonizing the youngest and one of the most crucial members of that damn family. The one that I needed to watch out for even before any of this happened. And no one knew. I made the decision to keep it to myself out of fear. If they thought I couldn’t do it, I would’ve been done for. I needed to play along until I could find a way out of this damn mess.
I took a turn, a block away from the lounge, and I started to relax. The fear of him coming after me melted away with each step. Passing a dark alley, I slowed to light a cigarette for good measure. A hand slapped my cigarette and lighter out of my hands, and another grabbed a fistful of hair, painfully yanking it back. Fear pierced its way into my chest as I tried to fight back, a black bag being shoved over my head. I screamed, punching and kicking blindly. I suddenly felt sharp pain at the base of my neck, and I dropped to the ground.
  `The bag got yanked off harshly, and I squinted from the bright light. It took me a moment to adjust, and then I was finally able to take in my surroundings. I was in a mansion, that was obvious. Marble floors with weird ass designs that rich people swore made them look classier. That was a fucking lie. There was a double staircase wrapping around the room, and directly across from me, the double doors were open and gave me a good view of their pool area at night as thin white curtains danced in the evening breeze.
I go to move, but find my wrists and ankles were duct taped to the chair I was sitting in. It was then that I finally took account for the bulky men in black, standing around quietly with their hands clasped behind their backs. “Well, look who decided to wake up!” A loud and obnoxious southern voice pierced my eardrums, making me cringe. An overweight older gentleman began to make his way towards me, a cane in his hand. He wore just a polo and tan dress pants. I made a face at his sleazy appearance, the slicked back hair and stupid mustache. “It’s about damn time. We have some business to discuss.”
I sighed heavily, a sneer on my lips. “Oh, you got to be kidding me.” He stopped his advance for a moment, glaring at me. But I didn’t care. Tossing all caution to the wind, my anger got the best of me. “I’m not in the fucking mood for any of you. Do you know what kind of day I’ve had? Seriously? What is this? Some backwash hillbilly mob family from the fucking Georgia swamps? Is this what I’ve come to? Which one is the jackass?” I snapped.
His mouth twisted, and he moved faster than I had given him credit for. The sting of my face and the blood that filled my mouth was the only way I registered him hitting me. I spit out blood on his floor, some running down my chin as I slowly gave him a death glare. “Now I have your attention. Damn women.” He turned to the side, eyeing an older blonde in a red dress. She pursed her lips as she held her head high. “None of you listen. It’s why they should never do a damn man’s job. But here we are.”
“Who the fuck are you and what do you want?” I growled.
He scoffed. “Hurk Drubman Sr. I own one of the biggest marinas in Atlanta, selling sailboats. Also give those damn Seeds a run for their money when it comes to smuggling and gun dealing.”
“Haven’t been giving them much of a run, darlin’.” The blonde mocked with a smirk. He muttered something before turning back to me.
“I heard that you’re gonna help those damn feds take ‘em down. That true?”
I just stared at him, my face twisting in shock at the absurdity of the situation. “Where the fuck did you hear that?” I asked, completely exasperated.
“John fucking Seed isn’t the one with ties in the fucking police department.” I frowned, but he didn’t give me time to process that. “Either way, they’re undermining my slave trade, beating my gun deals—”
“Your…what?” I asked, hoping I heard him wrong.
His sick smile grew wider. “Slave trade, girlie. Sex trafficking. Its what’s making most of my money with that damn family taking the most of our business. And if you’re a good girl, you won’t have to worry about it.” A shiver went down my spine as I tried to wriggle in my restraints, but he paid me no mind. “Now, I know you cut a deal with those pigs downtown, but don’t worry about that. What I need you to do, is spy on them and get me information that will help my business grow.”
I sighed, giving up and glaring at the old man. “Are you serious? You expect me to play the Seeds and the feds? What the hell is wrong with this city?” I breathed out. “You’re insane. I would be lucky to even get close—”
“You got pretty close tonight.” He snarked back. “Left a pretty little mark on little Johnny’s check, my men say.” He walked, a cane in his hand as he limped forward. “We can do this the easy way, which is you agreeing and being a good little girl, doing what she’s told. Or, we could do this the hard way. I torture you, force you to agree, and if that doesn’t work…well, I could sell you or kill you. We could flip on it, make it a surprise.”
I forced the bile back down as my stomach twisted. I glanced to my right, catching the eyes of the old woman. She held a frown, glaring at her husband. When her eyes caught mine, she gave the slightest smile and nod, almost reassuring. “Well, let’s assume I say yes and do this, what do you plan on doing? You have the feds on my ass, and if your men aren’t totally blind, they would know that John and I aren’t exactly friendly. I don’t know what you expect.”
“I would like you to learn the ins and outs. Nothing too different than what you’re already doin’. Except you’re gonna give the information to me, frame the family, and take them down from the inside, while I get all their business.”
I made a face. “Oh, you’ve been watching way too many movies. There’s no fucking way—”
The end of the cane was pressed against my throat, cutting me off completely as I gagged. “There is a fucking way.” He leaned in closer, the cane pressing harder. I fidgeted, trying to catch my breath. “And I know something the feds don’t. That tonight hasn’t been your first run-in with John. They know you went to that stupid charity gala, but they have no clue what happened. Johnny can be handsy, can’t he? Especially when he finds out you’re workin’ a job on his turf.”
Stepping back, he finally removed the cane. I took a greedy breath of air. “Then you know that it’s going to be impossible. He hates me. And I would take him ignoring my personal space over this. He isn’t the one that has kidnapped me and tied me to a goddamn chair.”
Hurk laughed, with a shake of his head. “Not yet, he hasn’t. You think is bad, sweetheart? Oh, you’re not that smart, are you? Johnny would have you in the dark with knives digging into that pretty skin of yours, and he would be more than happy to do the honors. And he’s done it to men who have done less than what you’ve done already. People don’t get a second warning from the Seeds. You have, and I’m goin’ to use that.”
I rolled my eyes. “The fact is that I’m on some seriously thin ice with that man, and I won’t be able to get away with whatever it is you have planned. He won’t let me anywhere near that family.”
“You’re going to do this, and I don’t care what you have to do to do it. Become one of his coked-up buddies he keeps around, for all I fucking care. If you value your life, you’ll do this.”
Silence fell between us as I stared at the shiny floor. I weighed my options, not that I had many, and I couldn’t find a way to get out of this one. It just went from bad to worse in less than 24 hours, and I couldn’t believe the amount of trouble I had brought upon myself from going to one damn gala. Swallowing my pride was bitter, but I did it anyway. “Fine.” I bit out. “Whatever. I’ll help you steal the business and take the family down.”
A twist of guilt settled in the pit of my stomach as Hurk smiled. “Perfect! I’m so glad we could see eye to eye. I look forward to our business relationship, Blake.”
“And what do I get out of this?” I asked with a roll of my eyes.
“Hmm…well, how about you don’t go to prison? That you’ll get to leave Atlanta? I think that seems fair, don’t you?”
No. “Sure.” Not in the fucking slightest.
He gave a nod to his men. “Get her out of here. I’m done.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but only a strangled shout of surprise escaped at the black bag returned, blinding me once more.
 They had dragged me out of the damn house and thrown me into a van, fully restrained. I had no idea where we were going, but it wasn’t a smooth ride. It’s when we stop do they finally pull the damn bag off and cut my restraints. The bulky man grabbed me while the other slide the door open with more force than necessary, and the shoved me out before speeding away.
I hit the concrete hard, my palms and knees immediately getting scraped. I grunted in frustration as I sat on the sidewalk, yanking my heels off. My body was exhausted, muscles screaming at me with bruises forming on my leg. There were angry red lines on my wrists, complimenting the tattoos on my wrists. I wanted nothing more than a cigarette, and I cursed, realizing that they never returned the clutch purse I had. Anger swelled in me and I fought to keep the tears at bay. I had smoked more in the last few days than I had in months. I had quit, but the new stress was threatening to give me the habit again, and I was more than pissed that I couldn’t indulge in this moment.
Snatching my feels off the ground, I stood and walked into my apartment building. I longed for my bed, and I was set and determined to do absolutely nothing tomorrow. I could practically hear my ice cream calling for me.
The stairs were harder to take than they were this morning, and I hated every step I took with a fiery passion. This night, this whole day, had been nothing but a clusterfuck, and I didn’t know how all this shit could happen in 24 hours. Arrested, manhandled twice, threatening and being threatened, finding a new way to piss off the youngest Seed, being kidnapped, hit, blackmailed…what the fuck could happen next? I was done with the bullshit. I could put a smile on my face, figuratively, and agree to help Drubman so I could get the fuck out of there. I could off both parties while I made arrangements. I was getting the fuck out of dodge while I could, while I was still breathing.
Coming to the floor, it was like déjà vu. I froze seeing the door to my apartment wide open and dread settled heavily in the pit of my stomach. I rushed forward, my hands resting on the doorframe as I looked around.
The door had clearly been kicked in, the frame busted and a small dent in the cheap door. I swallowed as I took in the busted coffee table, torn up and flipped couch and chair. My TV was on and flickering, the screen cracked as the static filled the room. I stepped in cautiously, watching my bare feet so not to step in the broken glass of the table and some of my vases. Water, rocks, and flowers littered the floor. Down the hall, I could see my bed flipped on its side with the bedding ripped to shreds, the feathers from the comforter and pillows blanketing everything like freshly fallen snow.
The kitchen wasn’t spared, with cabinets thrown open, and broken glasses and plate along the counter tops and floor. My fridge and freezer were left ajar as food had been strewn, almost shoved, from its place. My face twisted and I clenched my fist at the site of melted ice cream on the tile. The wall against my counter bar held my busted landline and a note with my knives embedded in the wall to hang it. The same knives that was in my clutch.
I stepped forward and read the note, each line fueling my anger more and more. A threat, clear as day, from my most humble hosts this evening. My hand fell to my side as I look around hopelessly. It was a message within itself. The note was just a cherry on top. Whatever the Drubmans had planned, they were serious, and they wanted to make it clear. I did get some relief when I spotted my clutch on my small kitchen table, my cell phone falling out.
Grabbing it with shaking hands, I send a quick text, trying hard to focus on the keyboard. We need to meet asap. Tomorrow afternoon good?
I only waited a few more minutes before I received the confirmation text, and I fall to my knees, clinging the phone to my chest as I run my hand through my hair. The shaking becomes worse and I let out a sob as the tears break through. I can’t help the panic attack, there’s nothing for me cling to in order to keep me from the spiral. It’s a mixture of rage, helplessness, and stress. I didn’t ask for any of this. I wanted a better life, and I tried to stay in my lane the best I could, keeping my head down. And in less than a week, I had the threat of a rival crime family and the feds breathing down my neck. And worst of all, the potential of Dutch finding me was too close for comfort. Everything I had built, all the work I had done over the years, would come tumbling down around me. And I didn’t even have the chance to process of Rowan being alive. I needed to leave, get out of Atlanta as fast as I could, and never look back.
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treatian · 5 years ago
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The Chronicles of the Dark One:  The Dark Curse
Chapter 123:  A Delicate Negotiation
Who did he know who had taught Regina to use black birds to carry messages? Who might Regina have accidentally told he had a maid around his castle? Who did he know who had a friend that might be able to easily obtain a sand dollar? Who knew a woman that might be able to force a shifter boy in animal form into his property to lure away a gullible woman? Who would have a bone to pick with him? Who knew magic and wouldn't mind torturing the Gauntlet out of the same young woman she'd kidnapped and would do something stupid like demand the Gauntlet in a half-assed ransom plan?
Maleficent.
Ursula.
Cruella.
He didn't particularly care for the situation they'd placed him in, Belle for the Gauntlet, but by the time he'd returned home and thought of an alternative plan, he was out of time to do anything more than execute that plan. He didn't like it, it was untested, and there was a very real chance that he might not succeed, but thinking of it as one great experiment helped. He wasn't going to pay a ransom for Belle, and he especially wasn't going because he "liked her", as Regina had so childishly accused him of. He was going in order to see an experiment through. If it worked, excellent. If it failed…well he'd only had the Gauntlet for a short time, and he couldn't even work the damn thing. He supposed he couldn't miss what he'd never had. Belle's tea cakes, on the other hand…he might miss those. Besides, though he could see the future, he didn't have time to sit down and meditate on it right now, which meant that for him, the outcome was uncertain. He was a smart man, an experienced dealmaker, trading the Gauntlet wasn't written in stone, for all he knew he could figure a way out of this that included Belle and the Gauntlet.
It wasn't midnight when he finally grabbed the Gauntlet and went to Demon's Bluff, but it was close enough. He couldn't have waited any longer even if he'd wanted to. The thought of Belle at the mercy of those three demons, and the potential to gain an advantage, was too much to resist.
Demon's Bluff was a rocky, dangerous place. It was almost always slippery. The rocks and their height in the sea depended upon the tides. He had a strong suspicion that when high tide came in, this part of the bluff would be underwater, but he couldn't be sure. He'd only ever been once before, and that was when he'd tried to con Ursula into taking him across realms and attempted to steal her trident. The tide had been lower then, but it had been just as dark. Now, he listened as waves crashed around him. To the naked eye, the area around him seemed empty and desolate, but he knew better. Magic was in the air, the kind of Dark Magic he'd encountered plenty of times when he came across Maleficent. Ahead of him was a cave. If he had to guess, they were hiding out, waiting for him. Had he been alone, he would have gone inside. But he wasn't sure where Belle was. He didn't know how they were holding her, her condition, if she'd be fit to move, or if they'd cast a spell that prevented him from taking her. He'd have to play by their rules. For now…
"I have what you want, dearie!" he cried at the top of his lungs. "Now, show yourself!"
He expected to see Maleficent, he figured they'd start with their strongest player and then bring the weakest out holding a knife or some other kind of weapon to Belle's throat. He didn't expect to see his maid come staggering out of the cave first, hands bound with rope so thick she couldn't move them. She looked fine. Perhaps a little upset, but there appeared to be no split lip, no cuts or blood, no black eyes. It was just the look on her face that held his concentration. He'd never seen her scared before.
"Rumple!" she called out. "Help!"
His breath caught, he was a step away from walking over, seizing her up, and carrying her off to the castle. But he was too slow. Before he could take that step and save her, he felt a burst of magic pulsing around her. There was a trap laid around her so that he couldn't do just that. And then…a voice.
"Yes, Rumpelstiltskin! You help her!"
Maleficent's voice carried around the rocks and over the crash of the waves. It was everywhere all at once, a simple, cheap spell. And then there they were an unkindness of black birds that he could see now, up close, were in fact ravens. They were where the voice had come from. Apparently, someone had been practicing a shapeshifting spell.
"Maleficent!" he yelled, a voice he'd only reserved for Baelfire when he was playing games and not being nearly as serious as he'd wanted him to be. She took it to heart; a moment later the ravens formed into the body of a woman and there she was, the dragon herself. He could kill her for all this. In fact, he still wasn't past killing her if necessary, it would certainly take whatever spell she'd placed on Belle away and allow him to leave with her. But he'd learned in his time not to be rash and considering he was certain there were still two more people about that he hadn't seen yet, a decision like that seemed the definition of "rash".
"Oh! I am impressed!" he smiled giddily, waving his hands in the air like a silly excited child. He loved putting people at ease before he killed them. "Didn't think you had it in you!"
"I'm not here for your praise," Maleficent stated coolly. "Give me the Gauntlet, and you can have your wench back."
Wench. Something about that word twisted his stomach. Maybe because it was what that sick sheriff had called Belle when he tried to make a deal as well, but he felt a bit of his control ebb at that word. She was not "his wench" not in any way Maleficent or the sheriff or even Regina thought! But, furthermore, the only one allowed to call her such things, would be him.
"Well…seeing as how you asked so nicely!" He let his magic loose and watched with delight as Maleficent was thrown into the night sky, hoisted higher and higher by her throat. He rejoiced with every last gag and choke that made it's way from her mouth to his ears. It was as sweet as a nightingale's song. "You think you can steal from the Dark One and live?" he questioned menacingly. "Fatal mistake, dearie! Any last words?"
There was a pause as the woman gathered her breath. "I'm…not…alone," she finally whispered, somehow managing a raspy and cold chuckle.
It was a good reminder. He'd never assumed she was alone, but if he'd gone much farther he might have forgotten. His back was to the ocean. Ordinarily that was a good thing, but considering one of her number was Ursula…
"The Sea Witch!"
And there she was, right on cue, not behind him, but in front of him. She walked out of the cave, but he could hardly focus on her as he watched one tentacle wrap around Belle's neck, instantly turning her face red. In another second, one encircled her waist as well. That was bad. Now not only was Maleficent's spell protecting her, so was Ursula. He felt dread wash over him as he fought to keep himself collected before their eyes, but he couldn't help but feel that he had lost his opportunity. He could have killed Maleficent and whisked Belle away in a flash before the duo knew what had happened. He should have done that. Now he could kill one, but she would still be trapped. He was trying to think of something, but Belle had gone silent as Ursula held her, and every second felt like he was closer to releasing the Gauntlet to them.
"Such a pretty thing! Seems a shame I'll have to crack her pipes!" Ursula taunted in a low, threatening voice.
"Harm one hair on her head…Maleficent burns!" he threatened right back. He was making a bet, a good bet, but a bet all the same. They'd stayed together after he'd brought them together he had to assume the pair meant something to one another. Or should he say the trio…
"Then Ursula will kill your maid and…and where will that leave us?" Cruella questioned, emerging from the darkness with a slow stagger so much different than Belle's powerless one.
"Cruella! Thought I caught a whiff of desperation and gin!" he squealed as if he were happy to see her when really she was the last person on earth he'd ever expected to come into contact with. Frankly, he was shocked to see any of them. He knew they'd survived Bald Mountain, but he'd thought his defenses were good enough he'd never have to endure something like this again. He hated to curse children, but if it weren't for that damn pup…!
"I must say I'm surprised to see you all here. Last time we crossed, it looked like things weren't going your way! And…unless you hand back my maid, they won't be this time either!"
"Shall I get you a step stool so you can look in my eyes when you threaten me?!" Cruella snapped with the look of a tiger about to pounce in her eyes. It was funny, she was the least magic out of the three, if she thought she could scare him, then she had another thing coming. He might have laughed, if Belle wasn't still so clearly struggling.
"I don't need to threaten you, dearie. It took three of you to get this far, and I promise it isn't far enough!"
"Have it your way!" Cruella commented with a small shrug. "Ursula, darling, crush the maid's heart!"
His eyes immediately went to Belle, and he felt a jolt rush through his body. He could see that Cruella wasn't bluffing and Ursula wasn't joking around. Her tentacles tightened over her waist as well as her neck. And Belle…she'd been struggling until now, twisting and turning her wrists as if she could loosen the knots, standing up straight as Ursula forced her to. He'd thought, up until that moment that her face had been red, now knew it was only pink. That color, right there, that was red. Red to purple, it was only a matter of time until it went blue. Blue was bad. After blue came white…and not the pale she usually was. The colors of her face reminded him of just how wrong Cruella had been. Ursula didn't need to crush her heart, just her windpipe.
Strangulation. That could be quick, but not very enjoyable. He should know, he'd done it to a number of his own victims, just as he was doing it now to Maleficent. For Belle to experience it…
Her eyes watched him. First, they were pleading, but he could see her begin to fade out. Soon her vision would bubble and then blacken and then she'd pass out and if the witch kept it up she'd never wake up again. He moved his eyes from her to Ursula to Cruella, hoping to see her watching her, hoping to see a bit of sympathy, to see that she was going to hold off and loosen her grip so she could make him another offer. But he saw none of that. Just determination in their eyes…and nearly nothing in Belle's.
It was up to him. He couldn't summon her away, and he couldn't kill Maleficent. In the time it took to remove the spell from Maleficent and kill Ursula, they'd have Belle again, and this time she'd be weak. They'd planned well, but not as well as him.
He didn't want to hand the Gauntlet over, he didn't want to be perceived as weak to them not even for the few hours he would be. But it was clear to him that he had no choice. Belle had maybe only a few seconds. He had a plan; he just needed to stick to it. He had to trust is magic. By the end of the night, the Gauntlet would be right back in his possession and hopefully, in a few seconds, so would Belle.
He grit his teeth together as he tossed the Gauntlet to Cruella as he released Maleficent from his death grip, giving in to their requests. He looked right away to Belle and immediately saw the Sea Witch loosen her grip on her neck. Her heard a choked gasp come from her, it was small, but enough to make him want to sigh with relief. She was getting air again. That was something.
He turned to the three women. When this was over, and he had the Gauntlet back, they were going to die. They knew him well enough to know that. Why they would even do try to make him angry…
"That was a risky endeavor for an old glove, dearies."
"Well, the risk was worth it…for too long we've lived in a world where the heroes always win!" Ursula declared.
"And the Gauntlet will reveal our enemy's weaknesses, and we will be the victors," Cruella added.
He wanted to roll his eyes. This old thing…that was the argument he'd used with them to get his curse. After he'd left them there for dead, they didn't still think he'd been serious, did they?
"Let her go!" Maleficent commanded before he could ask her.
One second Belle was far from him, struggling with her wrists and her breathing, the next moment Ursula had let her go and shoved her toward the cliff. She stumbled, losing her footing, she would have fallen had he not lunged forward and caught her.
They were clever, her captors. At that moment, when he was too busy getting Belle to stand, that was when Maleficent let her magic swell and carry the three of them away, back to her castle, if he had to guess. That was fine. He'd summon them back. But only once he was sure Belle was safe again.
He'd caught her, but she was still struggling. Her legs were shaking, they were so weak he could feel her faltering. Her hands were still bound and she leaned into him, into the hands that were keeping her propped up, to compensate. And her breathing...it was rough. She was inhaling, it was deep and fast, and if she didn't calm down soon, she was going to pass out from getting too much air.
"Wh-why would you do that?" she questioned, looking at him with bleary eyes. Talking. Her voice was breathless, no doubt her threat would soon swell from where she'd been strangled. She was still in danger, and she needed not to speak until he could heal her properly. "I…I mean with that object you…"
"They won't be able to harm you," he insisted. That was true whether he got the Gauntlet back or not. He was going to take her back home, heal her wounds, see her to sleep, and make sure nothing like this ever happened again. If that meant he needed to kill them, then so be it.
"Why do you care about me?"
Now it was him who didn't breathe. She was staring up at him, looking perhaps the most miserable and pathetic that he'd ever seen her look. The ocean was raging behind him, but for just a second, as he looked back into her gaze, the world went oddly quiet, as if it was waiting for an answer just as she was. Why did he care about her?
"I don't!" he stated, forcing himself to let go of her, though the second she began to stumble again he wanted only to grab her once more. It wasn't because he cared. It was instinct, something gentlemanly still left within him, something that he needed to squash. Promptly. And the idea that he cared about her was one that he needed to crush from her head right now. This hadn't been to save her. It was an experiment. He was just making sure that all his collection was in order. "But if anyone's going to crush your heart…it's gonna be me!"
"But you won't!" she shook her head. He could tell that she'd meant for the words to be nearly as insistent as his were, but instead they'd come out gravely, with only a breath. They'd done damage to her. If he didn't heal her soon then her throat might swell shut. "You won't…"
She made a move suddenly, as if to take a step closer to him, but she lost her footing again, her legs fell out from under her and she would have crashed to the ground if he hadn't reached out and caught her again. She was in bad shape, and she wanted to stand here and discuss his motivation for why he'd done this?! At this rate, he wouldn't need to crush her heart, she'd end up doing it all by herself.
He rolled his eyes and pulled her closer against his chest to stabilize her. "If you don't kill yourself first," he muttered as he let the magic take them home.
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turkleader · 5 years ago
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Drinks and Old Rumors
Part 1 of 7 Written for FFVII Halloween Week 2019.
Prompt: October 26th - Scary Stories [ghost stories, old legends, tales of the supernatural, creepypasta]
Summary: It's Halloween week and the Turks are shooting the shit at 7th Heaven when an old rumor about Tseng rises from its uneasy grave.
Description: This is the first piece in a multi-part story that follows Tseng (and those he encounters) over the course of seven days. I took inspiration mostly from the "old legends" and "tales of the supernatural" parts of this prompt, but tried to make it a more lighthearted experience to start the week off with. I hope you enjoy this little piece, and happy Samhain and Halloween to all who celebrate!
👻
A note before we begin: In case anyone is unfamiliar with the official names given to the Before Crisis Turks, I’ve included them here at the beginning of the story for reference. I hope this helps!
Rod (Male) - Alvis Crisis Gun (Female) - Emma (Elena’s older sister) Two Guns (Male) - Ruluf Shotgun (Female) - Freyra Martial Arts (Male) - Maur
Enjoy the story!
“I bet you Elena could take your ass three out of five times, at least, easy.”
The redhead scoffed, laughing. “Yo, I ain't about t'take a bet like that.”
“Come on!” the light-haired brunette goaded. Her thick ponytail almost fell into her drink as she leaned forward across the counter of the 7th Heaven bar, grinning past comrades new and old. “Why not?”
“Yeah,” Elena chimed in, a cunning smirk spreading across her face as she repositioned to face Reno. “Why not?”
“Rigged,” a dark-haired man with sharp bangs muttered.
The bald man beside him nodded.
“Oh, you're absolutely no fun, Ruluf!” the ponytailed woman pouted. “And neither are you, Rude!”
“I mean, it doesn't make sense for him to take an unfair bet, Freyra,” a large, well-built man with short brown hair spoke up.
“There it is,” Ruluf said, pointing at Maur.
“Since when does the Reno of the Turks turn down a challenge?!” Freyra exclaimed, jaw slack and brow raised in an attractive taunt.
“Oh, it's a challenge now?” Reno shot back. “An' who's footing the bill if I win?”
“If...” Rude emphasized quietly.
Ruluf sighed and laid his face down on the bar.
“Sounds like Reno's buying me my next drink if he knows what's good for him,” Elena said, her expression smug.
“And he shouldn't be the only one,” Freyra declared with a giggle, tossing back her drink.
“I'm beginnin' t'remember why I don't make bets with you, yo,” Reno said, flipping off Elena and Freyra as he turned away to flag down the bartender.
“Don't put your mouth where you're not ready to put your gil,” Freyra winked.
“Wait, you guys are serious?” the bartender interrupted, setting down another drink for the ladies. Her intense ruby eyes flickered between Freyra and Elena as she hurriedly lifted a hand in apology. “No offense meant, Elena, but I didn't know you had that kind of reputation in the Turks.”
Elena opened her mouth to respond but a new arrival cut her off.
“Are we discussing our win-loss records?”
A blonde woman with a stunning resemblance to Elena took a seat at the bar, giving Tifa a knowing smile as she motioned for her regular.
“Emma!” a scattered chorus rang out from the gathered Turks.
“Big sis!” Elena exclaimed with warmer surprise than she used to bear her elder sibling.
“Hey guys. Hey sis,” Emma greeted as Tifa playfully rolled her eyes and went to grab her drink. “So? What mischief are we getting up to tonight?”
“Trading drinks for bets,” Maur supplied with a wave, a shrug, and a smile.
“So is Ruluf winning or losing?” Emma asked with a slight smile, thanking Tifa for her drink and using the fresh glass to indicate the dual gunner with his face planted against the countertop.
“Losing,” Tifa put in with a half-amused, half-exasperated smile.
“How was I supposed to know the rookie had a black belt or whatever and was hand-raised by Tseng?!”
“Really?!” Tifa exclaimed, looking at Elena with a new respect.
“An' this is why our slumdog lost almost every bet he took,” Reno declared and stole Ruluf's drink, tossing back a swig.
“You really should know better than to underestimate a Turk,” Freyra chipped in as Rude nodded.
“Especially my sister,” Emma joined the discussion, shaking her head.
“You'd think he'd get the hint after betting against me five times.” Elena shot a withering glare at Ruluf.
“...wait,” Emma began.
“Yep!” Reno added brightly, finishing off Ruluf's drink. “He finally made the right choice the sixth time!”
Ruluf lifted his head, forehead and nose red from where they'd pressed against the counter. “Again, how was I supposed to know?!” he demanded, irritated.
“Tseng wasn't the only one looking out for her,” Rude said.
“She had our undivided attention after you all went dark.” Reno puffed out his chest, looking proud.
“Hey, I aced all my intro and advanced training, and all my exams but one, and that was without your help!” Elena reminded, flushing at the attention despite her best efforts.
“Yeah, well— I don't think anyone'll question yer commitment to seeing the mission through t'the end these days,” Reno said. His voice sounded strange, but every member of the Turks—retired and active—knew what he meant.
A thick silence settled upon the group.
Concerned stares glanced their way. Hushed voices began to brew between the patrons. They didn't need to hear the conversations to know what was being said— 'Hellhounds of Shinra. Death dealers. Murderers.'
Some people had begun to forgive them.
...but it was all too soon to forget.
“Alright Em,” Freyra spoke up at last, pushing past the heaviness that had pulled them each into their own familiar hell. “Who's the one Turk you wouldn't want to go up against?”
Emma didn't hesitate.
“Tseng,” she said.
“Aw, c'mon Em!” Reno groaned.
“What!” she said, raising her voice slightly to be heard above the sudden influx of bar patrons coming in after the dinner hour. “Would any of you want to fight him?”
“It's no fun choosing the immortal,” Ruluf said, nodding his thanks to Barret's daughter as she brought him a refill on his drink while Tifa was busy with the new crowd.
“Immortal?” Marlene asked, brown eyes sparkling with curiosity as she paused in the middle of taking away the Turks' empty glasses.
“Don't tease Marlene like that,” Elena chastised.
“It's not that much of a stretch,” Reno said, shrugging. “He should've been dead how many times?”
“For all we knew... he was dead—dead more times than any person has the right to come back from,” Ruluf stated, ire lost from his voice.
“Maybe it's true then,” Freyra confided, eyes shining.
“Oh boy,” Elena sighed.
“Not this again, Frey,” Maur protested gently.
The hunter folded her arms and leaned across the bar counter, a mischievous curve to her lips as she beckoned Marlene into her confidence.
“There's an old, old rumor that Tseng made a deal with Death—a deal Death couldn't refuse,” Freyra whispered ominously.
“Yeah, the same one Veld did,” Reno scoffed.
“I heard it happened before he joined Shinra,” Emma remarked. “That he swore an oath to one of Wutai's deities so he could cross the ocean to get to Midgar.”
“And that's why he can't die?” Marlene inquired, brows furrowed as she puzzled over each suggestion, empty glasses forgotten.
“It's all just rumors and supposition,” Maur assured the young girl, but even he sounded doubtful.
“Isn't he able to pull that shit off 'cause of the Full Cure materia Veld gave him back when he was a rookie?” Ruluf questioned.
“Nah, there were times he didn't get the chance to use it and still survived,” Reno dismissed.
“The Temple,” Rude clarified, tone solemn.
“Shit,” Ruluf cursed under his breath. “Forgot about that.”
Elena bit her lip and suddenly grew very interested in her drink.
“It's not all that unusual for the Turks to have those experiences though,” Emma noted, trying to steer the conversation away from the sensitive topic. “Remember when Alvis fell into a coma only to wake up three years later?”
“Yeah, and Freyra almost put him back into it when she nearly hugged him to death,” Reno taunted.
“You're just mad 'cause I got to mess with him before you did,” she retorted, sticking out her tongue at him.
“I think it was the one-two punch of Cissnei and then you right afterwards that really got him,” Emma observed, trying to suppress a smile.
“What about Vincent?” Marlene suggested, catching the group's attention. “He used to be a Turk. My dad told me when they found him he had been asleep for decades. And Cloud says because of the experiments that were done to him that he might never grow old or die.”
“Shit,” Ruluf laughed, more out of surprise than humor.
Rude cracked a small smile. “Someone's got us all figured out.”
Marlene wasn't deterred.
“Did they do experiments on Tseng, too?” she asked. “Is that why you guys keep coming up with stories to cover up the truth?”
“S'far as I know, he's a hundred percent real human being, untampered,” Reno said.
“Tseng was out for a while too after what happened in the Temple,” Elena said, finally finding her voice again.
“That wouldn't explain everything that he'd miraculously survived before then,” Maur said.
“A'ight, Rude,” Reno interrupted, turning to his partner. “This might be a long shot, but d'ya think it might be his other materia that's gotten him through all that shit?”
“What materia?” Maur asked, confused but curious.
“Ohhh we're getting into those goodies now?!” Freyra exclaimed. “I thought that was just talk!”
“Nah, it's real,” Reno confirmed. “At least, the materia is. I dunno if what they say about it and Tseng's true though.”
“What materia?” Maur repeated. “This is the first I've heard of it.”
“Tseng wields an Enemy Skill materia,” Rude said.
“Mastered,” Reno revealed.
“Holy...!” Maur uttered.
“Yep, there it is!” Freyra exclaimed.
“What the shit?” Ruluf scoffed. “First of all, how is that possible? Don't some of the enemy abilities you need to learn to master that materia kill the person upon casting?”
“Yep,” Reno said.
“Then it's not possible,” Ruluf decided.
“...unless he's ~immortal~,” Freyra sang from her end of the bar, grinning.
“Actually, there is an enemy skill that can be gained through use of the Manipulate materia that prevents Death magic from having any effect on the user,” Maur informed. “Perhaps this is how he's been able to master the materia and escape from so many fatal situations?”
“Maur!” Freyra shouted. “You are seriously the worst! Stop ruining my fun with your facts!”
“A mastered Enemy Skill would go a long way in helping someone to stay alive,” Emma considered.
“Maybe the bastard's just lucky,” Ruluf declared and took a long swig from his glass.
“Is this someone I should know about?” a new voice suddenly broke through the group's discussion.
Turning, they found the devil himself had arrived, amusement warming his grey gaze as he joined them. But before anyone could respond, Marlene planted a hand on the counter and stared the Turk down.
“Are you an immortal?” she asked him matter-of-factly.
Tseng raised a brow as his Turks looked between him and his interrogator.
“Not that I'm aware of,” he answered, approaching the bar.
“So you didn't make any blood oaths to any demons or gods?” Marlene pressed.
The warmth in his eyes flickered. The beginnings of a smile edged across the corner of his lips, but there was no joy in it.
“No, though sometimes it feels that way,” he confessed.
Marlene nodded, considering his answers. She lifted a finger.
“One more question,” she said.
The gathered Turks held their breaths, waiting.
“Do you guys wanna join our Halloween movie marathon night tomorrow?”
The disappointment was explosive.
Tseng laughed as his coworkers fell into grumbled and mirthful exclamations.
Marlene threw them a look, and then continued as though nothing had interrupted her. “We're hosting one all day tomorrow here in 7th Heaven, and I think you guys should come. It'll be fun!”
Tseng inclined his head in gratitude, a true smile crossing his features.
“I have a few things to handle for work tomorrow, but I will try to be there,” he said.
“I'm sure you'll make it,” Marlene said and promptly headed into the kitchen.
Tseng looked after her before turning away, shaking his head softly.
“Yo, bossman! You're late so you're buying the next round!” Reno shouted.
“Whoohoo! Drinks on Tseng!” Freyra cheered.
“To the immortal, lying bastard!” Ruluf joined in.
“Cheers!” the Turks toasted him.
[End]
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