#and i do need to take some more notes for this fifth chapter because it's actually even more Strahm's investigation-based than

[nothoughtsjusthoffstrahm]

Think I'm gonna rewatch Saw VI and Saw V for chapter 5 of my fanfic once I get some sleep 'cause I finally feel both good enough to write it and am fully back in my Hoffstrahm mood

[frmisnow]

ONCE AGAIN, MILAN ! - (nsfw)

summary. what happens when you and jungkook find yourselves once again in milan, this time with no business attached — well a hol' lotta sex for sure!

notes. guysss i changed my mind! there will be a fifth chapter because there is something that i want them to do- a refrence to chp. 2 + they need to get lil cheonsa duh?? ✶𝄞 if y'all are currently reading this, i'm probs already on vacation! so it'll take a minute, regardless, i hope everybody enjoys!!

warnings/includes. non idol! ceo! jungkook x f! employee! reader, smut described/implied multiple times!! (morning sex, very slight voyeurism / heavy flirting in a boutique, NASTY dirty talk) , drabble-ish (idk i just want them to be happy), cheonsa mention (we cheered)

the morning had begun in the best way possible. the bright italian sun on your face, the hotel sheets lightly crumpled, well- and jungkook.

jungkook who had woken you up with gentle kisses starting from your face, moving to your shoulder, all the way to your tits. kissed your sore little thighs too, because "they deserved it" after all the things they've gone through - sure.

he made love to you. moaned how beautiful you were along with some other sweet dirty nothings.

it was the kind of sex that made you feel cherished, worshipped even, as if all of his love was burried solely in his tip and he poured all of it into you, when you both came.

after spending what felt like hours wrapped up in each other, you had finally left the bed, your body still tingling from the morning’s activities. the first spot was a cat café, jungkook had read about it somewhere, thinking of you.

you both had spent a few hours in there, sipping on your respective lattes, playing with the little cats while their tiny paws brush against your legs. jungkook had his polaroid camera out at all times, clicking away.

showed the photos to you, told you how cute you looked, how the kitten in your lap looked just like you. how you both should get little cheonsa just like that.

closely after, you both took your time strolling through the streets, hands intertwined, ending with him pushing you into a high-end boutique. you smiled at his eagerness, it wasn't the first time he spend that black card of his on you.

jungkook handed you a dress, that reminded more of a whisper of fabric rather then a real garment, leaving little to the imagination. but you instantly nodded, that's what you liked about being with him; you didn't feel shy, there was no reason to. not with every single thing jungkook has said about your body this far.

the fitting rooms were large, they felt like rooms by themselves. jungkook sat outside patentily, tapping his legs. when you walked out you could clearly see him trying his absolute best not to reach out his hands, his pupils widening ever so slightly, taking a deep breath to compose himself, "turn around, angel, for me."

you did as he said when done, walking over to take a seat on his thigh while his fingers immediately moved to stroke your thighs, mumbling how pretty you were.

the way you were sitting, so close to him, he could make out your pretty panties peeking under the dress. black lace, with little bows he had gifted to you when you visited that lingerie place a few days ago, thinking of you in that store didn't make his growing buldge any better.

and you most certaintly made it even worse by whispering into his ear, how much you needed him and how wet you've been ever since this morning.

he bit his lip, your body was so painfully close and your skirt only rode up, gently pinching your thigh almost as a light warning, "remember where we are"

following you made a little pout, but mumbled a reluctant 'fine' anyway, making your way back into the fitting room.

next stop was a restaurant, you hadn't even noticed that it had gotten late by this time but jungkook took care of it, as always. how he managed to get a reservation at this place, you didn't quite know but you certaintly weren't complaining. he had pulled your leg over his some time ago, running his hands over the skin, the action innoccent in a way caring, like he was so sorry that you had to walk this whole day even though he had spoiled you shamelessly.

his fingers drew patterns and tiny circles over the skin, his face glowing from what was left of the sun through the large windows.

"i'm so happy" you smile, your fingers moving through his hair lightly.

jungkook's lips curl into a soft smile, just like yours, leaning into your touch, "i'm happy too, angel" his voice low and affectionate, "everday"

the evening went exeptionelly well, he talked you stupid about some of the other things he wanted to do, didn't mention business even once.

you both walked back to the hotel, you liked the city at night and had asked him to walk instead of taking a taxi. he didn't let go of your hand, swinging.

he walked back to the hotel with you, holding your hand tightly, it had been your wish to stroll back, you liked the city at night. it all reminded you of that night but it was different this time, it felt good not having wine in your system.

for once you felt like you actually could love jungkook, without alcohol, without your job, any other factor in your way. you could fuck him freely without having to blame the alcohol for it, after.

love is lust. that's why he pounds you into the large matress, tells you how bad you've been, how greedy you were.

he asked questions, dirty ones, you were way to brain fucked to understand dare to say even answer.

asks how much you'd like it, him filling you up everywhere, in the bathrooms, around his apartment, in the elevator, during your shifts at work, how he'd make you walk around feeling full, feeling dripping and sticky under your skirt.

describes how he'd call you into his office just so he could take you nicely on his desk. have you walk out later, nod to all your colleagues, like a good girl.

you barerly hear him and the words make you moan out are vile things that people only say when they are about to come. how you wanted to marry him, have him around you all times, how much you wanted him every minute.

you thought about how small you'd want the wedding to be, you, him and little kitten cheonsa. and you moan again, like a porn star.

and he responds, gripping your hips tighter, "i'd marry you tomorrow if you asked me to, hell i'd make a baby with you right this second if you wanted."

he let out a grunted string of 'please's though you weren't even sure what he was begging you for. your brain felt so incredibly mushy.

few seconds later, he filled you up, making a mess of you. he instantly reached out to touch your chin gently to look at you, "you okay, princess?"

you managed to nod but he shock his head, "words, i need to hear you, angel" it was a soft order, one you couldn't look away from.

so you reassure him that you are happy and so content, he seems to like your words, smiling. lifting you up and maneuvering you on top of him, still inside of you. his fingers trace over your bare back soothingly as he lights a cigarette with his other hand, just like that night.

and you smiled to yourself because you knew. you knew that this time when you woke up, you wouldn't have to leave, you would be able to look at his sleeping smile as long as you wanted. it was a comforting thought.

— cheonsa means angel.

🍓 tag list — @chansloverr , @marimarvelfan , @bxcndd , @1-in-abillion , @ahgasegotarmy116 , @copycat-namjesus , @malkaimoon , @geminiml95 , @taiwan0618 , @jungkookfics , @rrosiitas , @stuti2904 , @spiderlilyserendipity , @m00njinnie , @ririkookiemonster , @emptynessclub , @yoongznme , @snow-strawberry , @ttanniett

[soapybutt17]

Too Sweet For Me

Summary: It was the annual Military Ball, the fifth one since you and John have been married in secret. With his new promotion as Captain, meant a whole ball park of responsibilities he was still getting used to—but nothing gets to him more than the mere sight of you, his beautiful darling in the dress he always loves. It was also something to prepare for with the new changes that came to this year’s ball. Character: John Price x F!Wife!Reader. Kate Laswell. Word Count: 2,190 Chapter Warnings: None. Author's Note: this was also supposed to be for @glitterypirateduck's O'Captain challenge but my appendix had other plans for me this past few days. Lol.

Inspired by this song (obviously)

Masterlist | Series Masterlist || Request are Open || Join My Taglist

“Darling.” You couldn’t help but smile at your husband’s pained groan.

With a red backless dress, you know you would turn heads with your outfit and even more certain that your husband would be killing a few men if you weren’t too careful about him.

“Behave.” You pulled away from him as soon as you felt his hands hold onto the small of your exposed back. You turned to face him, seeing him so handsome in his ceremonial uniform, an upgrade since his new promotion.

“I don’t think I can see myself behaving with you looking so ravishing.” He muttered approaching you again and pulling you into another kiss, allowing him this one time since you have yet to put your make up on. “Will this be a problem for tonight?” He playfully warned.

“If you keep your hands to yourself it won’t.” You playfully pointed out pecking him on the lips one last time before turning your attention back to your vanity mirror to put on your makeup. “I’m surprised that you actually plan on coming to this year’s event. I’d expect you to just stay home after the last mission.” You pointed out.

Behind the bravado and the handsome uniform your husband had on, was a broken but healing man that just got back from a mission. A few scrapes and bruises you all know too well were hidden perfectly well, but the black eyes was something that would take more than an ice pack and makeup to actually cover.

“Better to be there to see what those muppets have planned.” He grumbled.

You had accidentally let it slip that there was going to be an auction for this year’s event and you had volunteered to be part of the auction. A simple date that you were certain meant absolutely nothing but it was for a great cause and you couldn’t really fault them with.

Your husband was still apprehensive about the fact, especially knowing that no one was made aware of your relationship to each other. Everyone was given the fact that you were both good friends that had been on countless missions together. It was nothing but friendship between the two of you if you were ever spotted in town together even when the both of you knew it was something more.

“It’s just one date, even Kate is joining along.” You tried your best to reassure him but it wasn’t happening whatsoever with the deep frown resting on his lips.

“Just because I agreed to this doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” He muttered under his breath, finally resigning by your decision, which you were thankful for. No need for you to try to convince him with anything.

“You owe me for this. I need some kind of motivation for tonight not to blow someone’s head.” He muttered.

And you spoke too soon.

“How about a day or two in that ritzy cabin you’ve been pestering me about for weeks now.” You offered.

One thing you truly hated was being too out of touch with society if you could avoid it. You have to do it for work, you weren’t so keen on doing it in your personal time if you didn’t have to. But your husband just was a recluse when he wants to be and this was one of those many instance that he will have his way.

“Deal and the ring stays on so they know you’re mine.” He muttered.

You smiled, lifting your hand up for him to see the sparkle of your engagement and wedding ring still nestled on your finger. Even without him saying it, you wouldn’t even dream of removing it.

~

The newly promoted Captain John Price should have been at the top of the world because of his new title, but it was far from the reality of it as he watched his beloved wife continue to mingle amongst both officials and fellow soldiers. It still shook him to the core how someone like you could command yet bring comfort to anyone that was privileged to be in your presence.

But that was just what made him love you so much. How someone like you, a Lieutenant to his own position as a Sergeant would never once use your position to demean him or treat him as anything less than you were. Some may say your call sign as Rookie to be an insult, a way to make you less than what you truly were, but you proved time and time again that it was a reassurance to anyone lower than you that you will stand on equal footing as them if the need arises especially on missions.

“Rookie’s already stealing the spotlight.”

John turned his attention to one unfortunate woman he had the misfortune of meeting in his life that turned his whole world upside down. Kate Laswell was an intelligent woman—far too much for her own good at times but she was the best of the best in her line of work. She was one of the main reasons why he was placed in a mission that ended with him finally climbing the ranks.

“As she should.” John agreed, subtle in his comments as to avoid anyone, especially Laswell from thinking anything was going on between the two of you.

“I still can’t believe she refused the promotion.” She continued taking a swig at the whiskey she was cradling, only bringing a craving for one in John himself.

“I’ve heard. I don’t think she’d be a good fit with the paperworks from the looks of it.” He added.

Of course he knew the very reason why you had refused the promotion on your own end. You were in all accounts a better fit than him to become a Captain, a rank that had been a well-deserved position for everything you’ve done but every single time the topic would be brought up you had threatened retirement or AWOL if anyone pushes. You never truly saw yourself as someone that would be working behind the desk, you couldn’t help and navigate dealing with officials, you admit you were never built for such capabilities.

“I believe she is. You should have seen her chew on Shepherd during the last mission. She’s got guts and a heart that not something you see in the field often.”

He nodded, that was what made you special. He watched you now begin a lengthy conversation with the well-known and very much feared soldier Ghost. How you had been the only one to hold a conversation and not trembled at the sight of the monster of a killing machine.

“Why am I not even surprise with her.” He chuckled turning his attention away from you and turning towards Laswell. “So, are we just gonna spend the entire night talking about Rookie?”

“That’s not much of an issue for you Captain.” Laswell smirked knowingly.

“Will I ever live that down?” He questioned, jokingly.

He was once again reminded of the time in his drugged state where he was delirious enough to propose to you after a mission gone wrong. To many it was just him too drugged from painkillers but for you it was an intentional proposal that you accepted once you were alone.

“You’re never gonna escape the allegations, John. I will never allow it.” Laswell smirked finally excusing herself when the MC has begun.

He made his way to this designated table, his eyes always following you. He watched as you made your way backstage to prepare for the auction later on tonight. It brought the never ending dread in the pit of his stomach as the staff began distributing the auction paddle around, accepting his own without an ounce of hesitation.

It will be a long night that much he has come to realize.

~

“One Thousand!”

You had faced so much trials and tribulation during your career in the military. The vile and often times immoral acts that was placed against you during interrogations and kidnapping, but nothing in your life could have given you more shame than to be standing in front of the stage as numerous bids have been placed upon your name.

Your eyes had been following along to the numerous of individuals that were bidding, some were colleagues your husband had been all too certain had hots for you, others were top officials that you were more than certain were pigs for involving themselves in the date auction knowing they were married, then there were the guests that had been leering at you all night long.

Maybe your husband was right, the auction was a big mistake.

Your eyes scanned the entire room until they met the familiar eyes of your husband. The reassurance had settled on his eyes as much as the annoyance but he was waiting for you to give him the signal.

Somehow with a simple nod it was all he needed to do to raise the paddle and his booming voice had silence everyone.

“Ten thousand.” His voice had everyone turning.

It was one of the highest bids for the night and it just had to be from the man himself. The rest of the night had been a blur, after the auction and countless of formalities and empty conversations, you had found yourself in the arms of your husband as he helped you back onto the car.

“You alright?” He inquired cupping your cheeks the moment he had helped you with your seatbelt.

“Will get better.” You assured him grounding yourself back to reality as he patted your cheeks and driving the two of you back to your shared apartment.

The car ride was silent, the event with the auction still playing in your head. It could go so wrong in many ways if your husband did not intervene. It was supposed to be for a good cause, but it did not feel like it when you stood in front of the stage. You felt more like meat being prepared to be slaughtered.

Eventually you two had arrived back. Your husband opened the car for you and led you back to you to your apartment. The silence was consuming you more than you expected it to.

“Want to sober up or not?” Your husband inquired.

You turned to look at him as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Sober up would be great right now.” You sighed following him to the kitchen, hopping onto the barstool by the kitchen island. Toeing off your heels in the process, an unintentional moan escaped your lips from the relief on your feet.

“I haven’t done anything yet and you’re already moaning, My Love?” He teased placing a mug of coffee in front of you, from the smell alone you were all too certain was too bitter for your taste.

“Play your cards right and maybe I’ll be the one to make you moan all night.” You quipped right back, cupping the mug and relief of the warmth washing away the events of the night.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” He smirked turning towards your mini bar and pour himself a hefty pour of whiskey.

“Surprised you didn’t threatened anyone at the party.” You pointed out.

“I could do lots of things, but I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle for either of us.”

You nodded, watching him unbutton his uniform and sit beside you. Your head immediately finding their way onto his shoulder.

“I’ll pay you back what you paid for the auction.” You promised him.

“You would do no such thing.” He ordered. “You’re worth every pretty penny I’ve paid for tonight.”

You blushed at his words. Even in the years of being with the man, he still has his way of turning you into the girl that had always had a crush on the handsome gruff all only had eyes for you.

Your eyes turned towards your hand, the sparkle of your rings was always present and never once did you remove them even at the party. You wanted to keep your relationship private but never a secret and there are days that you wished to let the world know. But now with his new promotion and you having to lead yet another mission with the help of him now, you doubt it would be a good thing to do.

“You’re too sweet to me sometimes, even after how shitty the night turned out.”

“Nothing shitty about tonight. I get to see you all dressed up and all eyes on you knowing you’re gonna come home to me tonight and do whatever their empty little heads could formulate.”

You rolled your eyes cupping his cheeks and move him slightly too pull him into a kiss that you had desperately wanted to give him all night long. The taste of whiskey brought a sudden thrill through your core.

“Plan on showing it to me, Captain?” You purred and the way his eyes blew out, it was all notification you needed to know as you were unceremoniously lifted into his arms.

Whoever thought your husband had a Captain Kink?

[arcadia-of-pluto]

Divisa; One

Parings; LADS OT4 x reader

Word Count; 3,052

Themes; reality hopping, alternative universe (same universe, just things are a little different), doppelganger, multiple endings, slowburn

Warnings; swearing, maybe an existential crisis or two

Notes; Hey guys! Divisa is finally out!! This won't be following the original story at all. Just bits and pieces here and there. This is going to be different compared to “Twist of Fate”– it's also going to be shorter. I'd say possibly fifteen chapters? There will be five different endings; Four endings will be with each love interest and the fifth will be with all of them. The original MC will not be a white lotus (aka someone who seems sweet, but is actually a bitch) and certain things will be changed. This is based on the universe of LADS, but the whole in-game story doesn't mean anything– unless I mention it specifically! You'll see what I mean.

It’s gonna have a bit of a slow start, but I hope you stick around for it regardless! If there's any smut, it'll be in the endings. So, this is only rated as mature purely for all of the swearing! (ps I'm sorry for naming the reader's father, but I felt it was necessary to do so)

Also! This will have a sporadic upload schedule, so if I finish a chapter, I'll post it soon after. There's no specific day I'll upload this <3 Hope that's okay.

prev || next

☆ Masterlist ☆

Divisa

//Latin and Italian for: Divided//

||adj.||

Split into parts; separated

Not united; in disagreement

○o。. .。o○

“Seriously, how much shit does Grandma have up here?” Another box joins the stack of five and you wipe sweat from your forehead with your sleeve.

It was your day off today and while you'd love to spend it relaxing, instead you offered to help your elderly grandma clean out her attic— because “you're her favourite grandchild”, her words…You were her only grandkid.

You had already been there for well over an hour, cleared out five boxes so far, and grandma still wasn't home yet. She was at the farmer's market before you even arrived, so she should've been back by now, but you know your grandma is a chatterbox. She'd yap her whole life away if she could.

You take your jacket off and tie it around your waist, slinging your mini-backpack on once more– it's a habit to always have it on you. You never know when you might need something. Like your chapstick, hand sanitizer, a pen…It's almost a mystery how the bag isn't heavy as hell with how much junk is in it–

You head back up the stairs and glance around at the almost empty attic. You wondered what exactly grandma was going to do with the place after it was clean– maybe she'd turn it into a room for you? You shake your head at the thought and go back to moving boxes.

With a heavy box in hand, you head back toward the stairs. The box slips just slightly within your clammy hands and you bring your knee up to help keep a hold of it. This, however, causes you to fall. Your shoulder slams into the sharp corner of an even heavier box and something on top of the box makes a loud noise as it hits the hardwood floor.

You suck in a deep breath to disguise the pain in your shoulder and quickly roll over to check on the fallen object, internally hoping it wasn't something really valuable. But once you spot it, you're confused.

It was…a jewelry box?

Your grandma wasn't one to wear jewelry, so this was out of the ordinary. The wooden box also seems pretty…old.

You pick up the weathered box and lift the lid to make sure the hinge still works. That's whenever you notice something wrapped in a cloth.

You set the box to the side and pick up the cloth. It was hefty, so there must be some kind of jewelry wrapped up in it. Maybe a necklace?

You unwrap it and before you can look at the necklace, a signature at the corner of the cloth catches your eye.

It was your grandpa's name.

You have never personally met the man, but your grandma loved to tell stories about him. The stories were a little…odd, but you would blame that on her being old and the possible beginnings of dementia. She would tell tales of another time period entirely, how grandpa was a prince and she was wrongly deemed as a saint, how she had to run away with your mother and grandpa couldn't come back here with them…

While it was a beautiful story, you often wondered if it was just a coping mechanism and something bad had happened to your grandpa, but you didn't dare ask your mother.

It seems as if the men in your family were never present, so maybe…there's a curse that only affects the men? Seeing as your father wasn't present either, but your mom had so many pictures of him. You even kept a picture of the two of them in your wallet.

Those thoughts aside, it seems like grandpa was an actual person, at least…even though this cloth– handkerchief, you realize– appeared to be just as old as the box itself, but that can't be possible.

You shake your head and set the handkerchief back into the jewelry box, turning your attention to the necklace.

It was honestly a rather beautiful gemstone necklace. It almost seemed familiar somehow, like you've seen it in a Marvel movie or something. It was a deep red-wine coloured stone with silver wire coiled around it like a vine. It hung from a thin, silver chain.

It was pretty and you did love collecting shiny things, so maybe you could ask your grandma if you could keep it. You pocket the necklace for now and, as you go to stand back up, you spot a piece of folded up paper on the floor. You grab the paper between two fingers and open it up. The tiny scrap of paper only has four words written on it.

The Reality Stone || Aether

Aether?

That word seems…oddly familiar to you. Why– oh, right!

Your phone buzzes with a notification.

‘Rafayel is waiting for you’

A scoff slips from your lips and you shake your head. You did need to check up on your game today and do your dailies…and you did make a huge dent in the attic, so you're sure your grandma would allow you to rest for the remainder of the day. Then, tomorrow, she could help you with the rest!

With your decision made, you put your phone away and descend down the stairs. But then, your pocket feels oddly warm. Intensely so– It's like it was burning a hole through your jeans and you pause mid-step to grab the necklace from your pocket, but you miss a step with your heel and you feel your body fall forward.

Panic spreads throughout your chest, because you know this won't be a pain-free tumble. You'd be lucky to escape with just a sprained ankle or wrist. Your eyes squeeze shut on impulse and instead of your body slamming into hardwood, you felt a face full of…grass?

“What the fuc—”

As you sit up in a panic, your body freezes.

…how the hell did you end up outside?

You scan your surroundings, but you don't recognize where you are.

You're surrounded by jasmines. Beautiful, fragrant flowers as far as the eye can see. A couple of scattered cherry blossom trees, but you were not in a forest. You were just on the outskirts of a city.

With a sigh, you take the reason for your troubles out of your pocket. The necklace. You give the red gem the dirtiest look you can muster before reluctantly clipping it around your neck. If this is what sent you here, you might as well keep it safe, until you figure out how to get back home. Then, you grab your phone.

Maybe…it just sent you to the next city over and your grandma could come pick you up.

You take a deep breath and unlock your phone, but your thumb freezes before you can tap anything.

“The date…What in the..” You can't even finish your sentence. You were so confused and panic was beginning to sink in. “It's 2048?! This…must be a joke, right?”

You rake your fingers through your hair and rise to your feet. “It's fine. Let's try calling grandma,” you murmur to yourself. You try to keep your breathing calm, but you can already feel yourself beginning to panic as you hold the phone up to your ear.

It rings…and rings…and rings…

“This number is no longer in service—”

“Whatever. Seriously, whatever. This is fine. Great, even. Everything is a-ohhhkay. Perfectly normal.” You pocket your phone and rest your head in your hand for a moment, then you take a deep breath and nod your head.

“Alright, I should head to the city first. No use freaking out. It's not like that'll get me home any faster.” You clench your hand into a fist and desperately hope you'll at least be able to reach the city before nightfall…

…The good news is, the city wasn't far at all. Well, it was far, but not three-hours-away type of far! So, you made it well before dark. According to your phone, it was only 5pm so you still had time to find a place for the night. Hopefully whatever place you decide to stay will take your cash…but who knows maybe 2024 money is outdated in 2048.

“I'm sorry, we don't take this form of payment anymore.”

This was the third hotel you've checked tonight…You take a seat on a bench near a large water fountain and hold your head in your hands. Even if it's twenty-four years in the future, they should still take your cash! This is insane–

As you tilt your head back to wallow in your sadness, you notice a billboard in the distance and you can feel the blood drain from your face.

“No, no, no—”

You whip out your phone, making sure you have all your apps before you click on one specific one. You quickly tap the screen, murmuring, “Come on…come on..” And once the game finally loads in, you navigate to the guidance tab.

“The Chronorift Catastrophe of 2034…fourteen years ago. Fourteen plus 2034,” you nervously mutter as you chew on your thumbnail. “That's 2048…that billboard clearly said Linkon City.” You hold your hand over your mouth as dread fills your stomach.

You weren't in the real world…of course that's why your cash wouldn't work. Were you in a coma? Did the fall hurt your head?

No…if that were the case, you wouldn't have taken your bag with you, you wouldn't feel so panicky and cold right now…or could you? You could be self aware and in a coma. But you didn't want to be, so you decided to brush the most realistic thought aside.

“They recognized this money, so maybe…” In the real world, old money could sell for a lot. Especially when it comes to collectors. So maybe you could find someone who would buy all of your old cash. That would definitely work for now, but what about in the future? You'd need money for however long you're going to be here…ugh, does that mean you need to find a job?

Wait…

Wanderers and evols.

There were creatures here.

The thought sends shivers down your spine and you shrug your bag off to put your jacket back on.

As long as you didn't go into a rift you should be fine, right? You're almost positive wanderers never came out to terrorize people—

Your thoughts are cut off by a loud scream and your head jerks in the direction of it with wide eyes.

There was a big ass blue portal in the middle of the street and fucking creatures were coming out of it!?

What the hell was your luck today??

You sling your bag back on, getting ready to run before a bright light blinds you and you shield your eyes. Squinting them to try and see where the light was coming from.

Once the light faded, your heart stuttered in your chest.

A tall man stood in the center of the road as the blue rift dissipates. His wispy, ash-blonde hair blowing in the wind as he turns his head to the side to talk to his companion next to him. From where you are, you can just barely make out his blue eyes.

Xavier?

Then…who was next to him—

Y…You?

You slowly pull up your hood as you stare at the uncanny sight.

While she clearly didn't share the same hair or body type as you, everything else was…identical. Her eyes, her face…It was like looking in a mirror.

You were the main character, but you were not, at the same time.

“Y/n, are you sure you're not overexerting yourself?” You could barely hear his voice over the wind, but your breath catches in your throat at your name coming from Xavier’s lips.

“I'm fine, I promise.” You– She replies with a small, almost pained, smile.

“This is some bullshit,” you murmur under your breath, tapping your finger against your leg as you think about the unfairness of the situation.

Seriously!? You were brought here and you– gosh, you really need to come up with a name for her before this gets confusing. Gemini? Sure, that works.

You were brought here and Gemini was already here?? It's so unfair to have two yous in the same timeline, especially when one already had a head start!

The male leads would definitely sacrifice you for her. They'd probably even tear out your heart, thinking it would fix hers.

You tug at your hair with a small groan of annoyance.

Fuck. Fuck–

Deep breaths...

“Alright. I guess I'm staying up tonight.” You finally compose yourself and set your sight on a neon sign just across the road. “The Nest seems like a good place to start. I could sell this old cash and hopefully get enough for a room tonight.” You pull out a black face mask from your bag and put it on so only your eyes are uncovered.

You'd have to be careful since you and Gemini were identical. You really didn't want to get kidnapped instead of her. Being the main character of an otome game is tough work and, honestly, she can have it. You didn't want to get involved.

It's not like the male leads would ever spare a second glance at you, so you'd surely be fine…Right?

☆ミ

The bell overheard chimes as you step inside the dimly lit bar. The smell of cheap liquor and smoke hitting your nose through the mask and you hold back the urge to cough.

Act cool…

You take a seat at the bar, drumming your fingers against the marbled counter as an employee makes his way over to you.

Without saying a word, you slide a 2017 quarter toward him and he raises a brow before placing an embossed business card down in front of you.

Okay, so if you remember correctly, whatever you write on here will disappear and then, the bartender will take the card and leave. If you have someone who is interested, he'll be back with a drink for you.

You grab a pen from the table and quickly scribble down on the paper.

‘Anyone interested in old money’

Honestly, you should probably be a bit careful, but you had no other way to gain information besides taking a few risks.

The ink disappears and the bartender takes the card, nodding at you before making his way to the back.

You just hope the glass wasn't black, though you doubt it. If the glass was black, it would mean you'd need to pay a high price for information– Perhaps your life. However, since you were only looking for a potential buyer, the chances of the glass being black were slim to none.

The employee comes back with a dark green shot glass and sets it down.

You look up at him with a raised brow and the employee decides to take pity on you, tapping the counter next to the glass. “Green means someone is interested and they're willing to pay a lot.” Then, he jerks his head in the direction of the stairs– the same stairs you recall Rafayel walking up before the main character got caught in one of the more recent chapters.

“After you drink this, head upstairs and it's the first door on your right.”

You nod your head and turn your body as you pull down your mask. You can't afford to let anyone see your face. You quickly down the shot and pull your mask back up, the liquid burning as it goes down your throat.

As an extra payment, you give the bartender a 2008 penny– borrowing change from your grandma was good in times like this. You had so many old coins, though your cash was closer to 2024. Either way, you still be able to make some money since they'd be over twenty-four years old.

Then, you leave the bar and head up the stairs. Your hand lightly hovering above the railing until you reach the top, then you head into the room on the right.

It appeared to be a VIP room.

An angled couch lined one half of the wall with a short table in the center. A few unopened drinks and a suitcase sat atop the table and in the corners of the room, near another door were two men. Bodyguards, maybe?

You take your seat, putting your mini-bookbag on your lap so you could be ready to show off your cash– glad that your mask covered half of your face because you were starting to feel a little nervous.

After a few minutes of waiting, your nervousness turns to annoyance.

You roll your sleeves up and pull your hood down as if to show the bodyguard that you're safe and they can let their guy in now. Then, you lean back on the couch and cross your arms over your chest.

Seriously, how long would this dick keep you waiting—

The door across the room swings open and someone…familiar steps inside.

Well, that's just peachy, isn't it?

You try not to let your surprise show and sit up straight as the white haired man takes a seat in front of you and makes himself comfortable.

“You seem a little too young to be in possession of old money. Did you steal it perhaps?” As Sylus speaks with one hand, you can feel nervousness sinking in once more. You clear your throat and pull out your wallet, tossing it toward him.

“See for yourself.” You jerk your chin, hands resting on your knees. “I've even got old coins.” You take out your coin purse. “My family used to collect them, but since I've got nowhere to go…I might as well sell them now.” You shrug, doing your best to concoct a story on the spot.

“Hmm…” Sylus pulls the bills out of your wallet, holding them under a light, before he nods. Though his eyes do falter on something in your wallet.

You know it’s not your ID or anything, since you made sure to take that out beforehand, but maybe the picture of your mom and dad?

As if to prove you right, Sylus takes the picture out, holding it between two fingers as he flips it over to inspect the back.

“What's a Deepspace Hunter's daughter doing at the Nest?” His eyes flick toward you and he raises an eyebrow.

A…

Huh?

I hope y'all liked this chapter! It's going a bit slow, but it should be fine! I'm honestly not sure where to go from here, I'm just making it up on the spot. I have a loose plot from beginning to end, but I don't really have anything in the middle. So...

It'll be fine!

I'm sure y'all didn't expect your father to be from this universe! (I'll apologize again for giving him a name lmao) I'm also gonna say sorry beforehand if Sylus or anyone else seems a bit out of character— I'm doing my best.

Taglist; @ladyparamount , @the-love-of-my-life96 , @rui-drawsbox , @deputy-videogamer

[starillusion13]

FRIENDS!? Chapter 2

🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳🔳

M.Masterlist Series ML

▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️

Pairing: poly!ateez × f!reader

(A Yandere AteezOffice Au)

Genre: Mature, Angst, Yandere, SMUT

Warning: The upcoming events in the story will contain themes like stalking, violence, obsession, manipulation, possessive behaviour and restraining acts. Do not kill me for not warning you. This is an Yandere story so you are well aware of what to expect more. For SMUT I WILL GIVE THE WARNING IN THE BEGINNING.

W.C: 4K

For my beloved: @oreharuuu

Network: @cultofdionysusnet @k-vanity

Taglist: @mymoodwriting @justhere4kpop @vvshere @anyamaris @yeoobin @wooyoungmybelovedhusband @brrrkdslek @icchyi @jwnghyuns @piratequeen-queenofgames @luhwaine

(open! dm me/ send ask/reply here)

Hello, Can we be friends please?

*under the cue*

🔳

“Are you really going there today?”

“Beomgyu, don’t you think you sound like my parents?” This is his fifth time asking you whether you still going to the office to where last day your so called long lost friend offered you to go for your internship. Then here this boy is suddenly like a mother to her child and bombarding you with questions.

“I care for you and am not letting to happen anything to you on knowing how you are believing some stupid men.”

“Beomgyu….. I know how to take care of me but I agree they are stupid or else how come I don’t remember them if they were really my bestfriends.”

“Don’t let them make you believe that you are their friend. You are only my friend and I don’t want to lose you to them.” You can literally see his pout with puppy eyes over the call.

Rolling your eyes and picking up the handbag, you make your way to the door “Don’t be childish. What about you? You literally ditch me when you see your other friends so I think atleast I should make some other friends as well.”

“You can make friends. Make Yeonjun and Soobin as your friends but not them. They look so…. I don’t know what to say but not them. Never.”

“Oh! Sure, thanks but I don’t want to be in you all’s discussion on stupid stuffs that don’t even make sense sometimes.”

“Y/N…..” you laugh on his whiny tone.

“Anyways I need to end the call as I have to be really quick to the parking area because they would be there waiting for me. I don’t want to make them wait on my first day and also some are really scary when it comes to my fault on anything.”

“Which one?”

“I don’t remember their names except the ones came to our class but the tallest one was really scary because he just scolded me when I insisted on calling them sir.”

Locking the door to your room, you made your way down the stairs to exit the building and head to the place where you have been told to meet Wooyoung.

“I just know their overall idea of their looks from your last night’s explanation but not got names and faces but I think you are in love with their personalities though.” His teasing voice is really making you feel like to smack his head right this moment.

“Shut up.”

His laugh echoes through the phone and a smile crack on your face.

“Anyways take care and just remember am just a call away if you need help.” You both ended the call on a lovely goodbye note as usual.

————————

Arriving to the parking area, you can see many students busy all around the grounds and streets and some are hurriedly going towards the university building for their class.

They have already informed your professor of your today’s whereabouts and he congratulated you for your offer to the office.

Offer? Well, apparently you think this as an excuse for your friends to help you to give you a place in their office. Are they pitying over you? Shaking your head, you glanced over your phone to see the timing has already past ten minutes.

“Hey! Y/N.” Turning around, you are shocked to see his form in casuals and he looks more youthful and maybe ….a boyfriend type. You smiled on the greeting and he returned you his grinning face with a shiny black sunglass.

“Hello Wooyoung. So, let’s go now as we are already running late for almost fifteen minutes.”

Nodding his head, he guides you to his luxury car and honestly somehow you felt so nice having such friends who are not treating you like shit even though them being hella rich.

On your way to the office, he offered you to have a quick breakfast from a café and the foods there tasted so delicious that you hope to get a job soon just to go there and treat yourself every day. Before all this, you need to remind yourself that you are a broke adult with expensive imaginations so you need to better work your ass off to get the job for having treats on these expensive places and such car rides.

 He asked you about your favorites and hobbies and also blend his spotify playlist with you so he can play them in car rides and also gets to know about your music taste. Your energy and confidence boost up when he mentioned about your music taste as you have a pride on your belief that you have the best taste. He laughs on your little excitement and referred you as ‘my cupcake’ in every statement.

You felt shy and moved your attention to the outside view which is looking so pretty on the bright sunny day. The weather is really mirroring your mood and you hoped it to be like this for the rest of the day.

————————-

Pulling to the side of a private section of the parking area of the office. You proceed to take off the seatbelt but he beats you again with it for helping you like a gentleman. He repeats his slow action like before like making an eye contact with you and slowly closing the distance between you two when his one hand balancing his body to your seat and other hand slowly handling the seatbelt. You break the eye contact again but this time he speaks up, “You are still beautiful like before.”

He backed off and you give him an awkward smile. Quickly, getting down, he comes to your side to open the door for you and offered you his hand like a prince. If only you both didn’t have this lost friendship thingy in between then you might have thought of dating this gentleman guy.

Taking your hands in his, with a prideful personality, he made his way towards the main entrance of the building. You both have sweet smiles on your face. Your doe eyes taking in the surroundings which is screaming grandeur and luxuriousness. You look down to your subtle shade of pink two-piece knee length outfit. The outfit is cool but not according blending to the richness of the present atmosphere.

Wooyoung scanned his card for the entry check and when the guard stepped forward to check your identity, his focus moves to your holding hands and then you tried to retreat your hand to which Wooyoung hold it tighter and shot a sharp glare to the guard and signalled to let you both pass.

 Your heart is beating fast on coming in the presence of so many highly ranked and unknown faces who are looking at you weirdly and some even whispering on your situation. You look towards him to see him looking between the escalator and the elevator as to make a decision to choose one.

“Um Wooyoung, I mean…please leave my hand. People are looking at us weirdly and I don’t want any rumours to be spread.” You give a fake smile to him to get a serious face in return.

He looks at the grip and then to the rest of the people who were staring at you and then when they caught his gaze, all went away on their specific works and he pulled you towards the elevator.

 The ding sound followed by the opening of the door to the eighth floor and you are still thinking about every possible situation that can happen here. Your attention was on your feet and a pair of black shoe comes in front which breaks your gaze and you lifted your head upward to see the angel looking man brightly smiling at you. That was how you described him to your friend because of your short memory to remember names.

“You were so lost in thoughts that you didn’t hear Woo calling out your name. He went away for the meeting and so I will guide you now.”

That’s true, the moment you both entered the elevator. He got a call and you were lost in your thoughts that you didn’t even realize what was going on around you. I have to get a grip on myself from getting lost in thoughts or I will be like a fool if anyone tries to kidnaps me because the kidnapper will have to call me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry for that but thank you…..” your lost eyes made him chuckle.

“Yeosang. I assume, you forgot our names. Its okay we will make sure to do every possible thing so that you won’t forget our names ever.”

His hesitant-self paused for a moment before holding your hands but suddenly out of nowhere, a boost of confidence sparks in him and you followed his way. This floor is silent and has less cabins for workers than the floor before and there are some locked doors with keypad lock on your both sides in the passage you are walking through.

“Where are we going?”

“Oh! Wooyoung didn’t tell you?” You shake your head and the rolling of his eyes brings a smile on your confused face.

“That boy is really of no use other than flirting anyways you are aware of the fact of you being here for an interview, right?” You slowly nod and then he continues.

“So we are going to meet the bosses in the office.”

“Bosses?”

“Well we have to two boss, one for maintaining the ring of the office and the other one for sectors.”

You just nod your head to show that you just understand the language and the words but actually you don’t even get whatever he explained to you. He also told on your way about everyone’s role and that he is the partner of Jongho in Health Data dept. and the t-shirt really proving his well built muscles underneath and his perfect match to health dept.

Both of your steps stop in front of a big red metal and glass door. The door is way too fancy for a simple interview room but the plate attached to the door above the keypad lock caught your attention. Two names were written- ‘Kim Hongjoong’ and ‘Park Seonghwa’.

“They are our bosses.” You glance at him and then again on the name. A click sound attracts your focus to your side where Yeosang scanned his eyes on a small screen.

Wow! There are really safety precautions everywhere, I need to have an adventure day here to see if I get caught or I can pass all through these safeties.

The door opens and the moment you got a glimpse of inside, you swear you wanted to scream. The decoration was too authentic and classy. The black and grey combinations spread all around the office room and every detail at its finest. You have always dreamt to have a room like this for yourself but your broke ass never been able to afford such things. Your eyes scanning all around the room and you didn’t know that you are practically adoring the room in awe and Yeosang smiling at you while closing the door behind him.

One thing you didn’t notice in particular is that a man with rolled up sleeves of his white shirt and loose tie matching with black pants standing in front of the corner bookshelf and his piercing eyes visible through the dishevelled hairs falling on his forehead scanning all your movements.

“Wow…” The moment you realized what you are doing, you apologetically look towards Yeosang and he just waved it off.

“It’s okay Y/N. They will be glad to know that you liked their office so much.”  

“Why did you bring her here?” The voice made you jump in your place and you place your hand over heart to calm your shocked self. You quickly turn towards the direction of the voice.

“San. They told me to bring her over here.”

“I was having an important check on schedule updates but anyways” his slow heavy footsteps echoed in the room and he approached to your conscious figure “ finally I got to see you Y/N.”

You hesitantly look towards him but somehow gives him an innocent smile, “Its nice to meet you too sir.”

“San. Call me San.”

You remained quiet and just nodded but he raised one eyebrow which has a small slit.

“Y/N, we told you to call us by our name then why are you repeating this again. We don’t like when someone don’t listen to us and its very disappointing when it comes from you.”

You felt guilty on Yeosang’s words.

“Sorry.”

“Its okay. It was your first time meeting me so I will let it slide but don’t take me easy like this.” A smirk plastered with his words on the face.

Yeosang lightly taps on your shoulder to gain your attention. He glances at San to see his wide smirk in return and went away towards the bookshelf.

“Y/N have a seat over there. They will be coming here soon.”

You look over to the main desk placed in front of the city view glass wall. Two chairs on opposite sides and you took a seat and look over those main chairs on other sides. The door opens and you can hear some unfamiliar voices and some familiar. You slowly turn your head and there six males entering the room.

Yeosang comes to your side to give you a recall of their names and you thanked him in small. The new males’ attention shifted to you when they saw you sitting quietly on a chair and staring at them.

“Hello Y/N. Myself Kim Hongjoong, the head of the managing sectors.” This man, Is he real? The jet black hairs falling on his flawless skin, his thick eyebrows and pointy nose complimenting his features perfectly. You stand up giving a professional smile and you quickly shake his already extended hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Sir Hongjoong.” You waited for him to say if you are wrong with the name again but he just nodded and took off his coat.

“Myself Park Seonghwa, the head of the ring management. Its so nice to finally see you in person Y/N.”

Why all the men in this office are with godly visual? Oh my god! They will be the reason of my distraction in this office.

“Same here, sir Seonghwa.” You both exchanged sweet smiles. He directed you back to your chair and they both seated themselves in opposite of you.

Your nervousness didn’t go unnoticed by Yeosang and he tapped on your shoulder to make you feel comfortable and give you a soft smile. You somewhat felt relieved and turn to face the two heads of each management in front of you.

“Don’t have to feel nervous. Stay calm, its not like your usual interview but its just we will be clearing some points on what to be done and not after you will join the company.” The ring management head nodded on his own words with a soft look on his face.

“Don’t I need to go through any interrogation process like we have in usual interviews?”

“Y/N we already have talked about this that we are friends so we want you to be relaxed and join our company.” Mingi spoke up while sitting on the sofa beside Yunho who is busy going through some files. Both have placed their coat on their laps and their casual wears on display making them look like usual public but not some CEO of some departments.

You glanced towards him and the two boss and repeated the action while speaking, “Thank you for helping me but I don’t want anyone to just pity on me when am in need and because I was their once bestfriend.”

Hongjoong clears his throat to gain everyone’s attention, “Have you all informed everyone about our new recruit?”

Wooyoung who is leaning to San and grinning while looking at the file in front of the bookshelf suddenly spoke up with enthusiasm, “Of course. I have let them know that we have got our best intern and they should treat her like they treat us. I don’t want anyone to look down on her when she is close to us even though being just an intern.”

“Thank you Wooyoung.”

Yeosang brings you a glass of water, “Drink this Y/N. You look so stressed.”

“Thank you Yeosang. Its just everything is so confusing to me. I don’t think it would be good to take me as an intern. Your company may have a bad impact on helping a friend like this who is apparently just an average student.”

Seonghwa cut you off, “You don’t have to worry about anything Y/N.”

Gulping the water down your dry throat, you heaved a sigh and look at the two males in front of you, “What are the points you were mentioning about to be followed?”

They both looked at each other before turning their attention to you. Having both of their attention on you at the same time somewhat making you a bit shy, you awkwardly tug your hairs behind your ears and it didn’t go unnoticed by the second oldest male.

 “So, we will give you the necessary form to fill up by tomorrow afternoon with all your details to be filled up accordingly asked. Next about your stay. Your dorm is really far away from here and it will be difficult for you to come here regularly. We have place for you to stay here. You can check it out later.”

“Should I address you both with sir or name?”

They chuckled on your sudden ask but answered quickly with agreeing with names.

“Staying here? But Seonghwa, I can’t stay in this building all alone with some unknown people and even I have to attend university.”

Hongjoong interjects, “You are not alone here. We also live here and about university, we will let them know about your full time internship and you can have online tutoring classes and Jongho can take you to the campus for once a week to submit your assignments and projects.”

Jongho who was silently sitting on a rocking chair in the corner look up on hearing his name. he nodded when he sees you looking at him. He stands up and come near to stand beside Hongjoong.

“You all stay here?”

The youngest speaks with a smile on his face, “Yes. This building has twenty floors and the last five floors and the rooftop is only for us similarly like this eighth floor which is our private office area. You can stay in any room from top floors.”

“The other floors?”

“Well the other floors where the staffs and others are allowed are only till seventh floor and to the rest only the personal requested staffs when some important business is to be done. The rest of the floors will be introduced to you when you will have a building tour tomorrow after turning in the form.”

“I can reject the letter offer right?”

“Y/N?” Yeosang abruptly asked you from the place near glass window from where he was enjoying the outside view. Everybody in the room paused on their action hearing your question and the way Yeosang’s call was near to a yell. Your wide eyes fixed on the said male, who made his way near your form to sit beside you. He turns your chair to make you face him and pull it closer.

“Yeosang….I meant that I can-“

“Y/N. Accept the offer and do what they have said accordingly unless we are losing our mind or we have some other ways to make you do it.”

“I have my own rights to do things and on that I can reject it if I don’t think this job is for me.”

“Y/N I swear-“

“Yeosang! Come with me.” San with quick steps come to your view to drag him away from you outside the room so that he can’t further make you more scared.

‘How can that angel speak to you like this?’

Yunho takes the previous male’s seat but his expression is even more dark. He communicated something with eyes with the two heads of the office before proceeding to state his opinion.

“Take the offer letter. Think about it after you go back to your dorm. You can take your time but don’t think to push this away carelessly as you know you don’t get this sort of opportunities every day. “

“I need time to think. My life is already messed up with so much of different stuffs. I know I have to do something with my career but am confused right now. Please give me some time and then I will let you know.”

Hoping to not piss them off anymore, you carefully expressed your view. You scanned all of their faces to at least get hints of some positive reply.

“Okay take this weekend to come up with a decision and we will meet you on Monday with our final round of being just friendly strangers.”

‘Friendly Strangers?’

Your confused look on Hongjoong’s words make the three males near you chuckle.

“I suppose they have mentioned you about our childhood friendship so after you accept our offer, we will treat you like how an actual female bestfriend should be treated.”

“I told you Y/N, we all are really happy to get you back.”

“Mingi, how come you all are so sure that I will end up with accepting this offer?”

Seonghwa added this time, “We are more than sure that your decision will be to accept the offer as the only option.”

You focused yourself on your fidgeting thumbs on the table and bit your lips because the more they are speaking, the more you are becoming confused.

To your opposite Seonghwa holds your hand startling you, “Calm down Y/N. Go home take rest and think about this with a clear mind.” He gives you a comforting smile in the end.

Your head is paining and all of a sudden, you are feeling overwhelmed with all these attentions all at once. You glance to everyone present in the room and close your eyes.

“I want to go back to campus.”

“Wooyoung take her back and make sure to have a visit to the university.” Nodding his head on hongjoong’s order, he guides you to the out of the room to take you back to your place.

“What do we do now Hongjoong? If she rejects the offer then our plan to bring her here will go in vain.”

“Don’t worry Seonghwa. Everything is going to be as planned. Yunho, you know what to do tomorrow right?”

The said male leans on his chair and eyes focused on the chair where you were sitting few minutes ago.

“Of course! I know.”

“Whats a plan that am not aware of?”

“No one is aware of this except us. It’s just we came up with this to avoid any mishap in our plan.”

“And what’s that?”

“You will know it from her on your own when she will be coming here with a positive feedback to our plan.”

Mingi along with the youngest is exiting the room when suddenly he turns back to face the three sitting males, “Now come on, we need to see why he lost his mind that time.”

———————

After a silent ride back to your campus, you somewhat felt relief to be back in a familiar atmosphere.

“Thanks for the ride Wooyoung.”

“No worries. Have fun cupcake, lets meet on Monday and I hope we will spend a bit more time.”

“I don’t know if that’s possible.”

“Oh! Trust me the fun begins here.”

You both waved each other to part ways on your own.

Maybe this is the only day, you are able to escape a hidden danger and to be back to your own little paradise.

—————————-

NEXT

[jupiterpp]

CHAPTER ONE: THE NEW FIFTH YEAR | 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞. -𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

important note; This is the first time I'm posting my stories on Tumblr. My mother tongue is not English so expect grammatical errors ahead.

word count: 1.2k words

MASTERLIST | CHAPTERS

"Merlin, [name], can you stop that?" Professor Slughorn let out a sigh. You had a mischievous look on your face when you saw him. The books were floating in the air because of your doing.

"Stop what, Professor?" 

"Honestly, do you have to rearrange my entire library every time you get bored? Some of us happen to enjoy a bit of organization," he said, raising an eyebrow.

You tried to stifle a laugh. "I was just trying to help, Professor."

"If this is your idea of help, I'd hate to see what your idea of chaos looks like. Although," he added with a twinkle in his eye, "I must admit, you have a certain flair for it."

You huffed and leaned back in your chair as the books began to return to their places. "Sorry, Professor. I'll try to keep my flair under control." you rolled your eyes, a playful smile plastered on your lips.

"Much appreciated," Slughorn said, settling into his chair with a satisfied sigh. "Now, you better prepare yourself for this coming semester," he continued, steepling his fingers and peering at you over them. "It will be your first time at Hogwarts. And you're starting your fifth year."

"Oh yeah," You said before glancing at him. "What house do you think I'll be in, professor?" 

Slughorn chuckled softly, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Ah, now that's the question, isn't it? Well, my dear, considering your remarkable talents and keen intellect, I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself sorted into Ravenclaw."

Horace Slughorn had been your mentor and caretaker for four years now, ever since Dumbledore suggested he take you under his wing. His guidance and wisdom have been invaluable, shaping you into the person you are today.

Of course, hearing a child that could do wandless magic and time-travel into the future but can't turn back into the past is clearly music in Slughorn's ears.

"How about Slytherin?" You wiggled your eyebrows causing him to laugh shake his head and point at you.

"Even better," Slughorn said. Slughorn was the head of Slytherin house 

You haven't seen your parents for a year now. You come back to London every summer to visit them but you didn't this year because you need to focus more on your study. You sent them letters though.

Gosh, you miss your friends in London.

And then there's Riddle.

Oh, Tom Riddle. The thought of him hits you hard. You left without saying goodbye, and the guilt gnaws at you. You tried visiting the orphanage once, but he was nowhere to be found. Mrs. Cole mentioned he got accepted into some school and had to stay there.

Does he wonder why you disappeared? The memories of the times you spent together flood your mind. ou recalls his intense eyes, his lack of empathy, and his cold shoulders to everyone. And, of course, how he was such a weird kid. 

His piercing gaze seemed to look right through you, but there was always something unsettling about it. He never showed much emotion, and his interactions with others were often distant and detached.

But the way he could speak Parseltongue really bothered you. You read about it in a book about the founders of Hogwarts. It was a rare ability, associated with Salazar Slytherin himself. The idea that Tom could talk to snakes made your skin crawl.

'✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ೃ⁀➷-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-˚. ೃ⁀➷'✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹

"It's quite difficult to catch him bullying other children," Mrs. Cole said as she put the laundry basket beside the laundry machine. "I'm sure your mother told you there have been incidents here?"

"Yeah," you replied, hopping onto the table and watching her. "Is he involved?"

"I believe so, indeed," she sighed. "Like with Billy's rabbit. Tom insisted he didn't do it, and I can't fathom how he could have, yet the rabbit certainly didn't hang itself from the rafters, did it?"

You stayed quiet, thinking about what she said. Riddle was a mysterious kid, always keeping to himself and giving everyone the cold shoulder. But he'd never been outright mean to you. You couldn't help but wonder.

"You're fourteen now, [name]," Mrs. Cole said. "You know what's right and wrong."

"Why so sudden?" you asked with a nervous laugh, uncertain of her direction. Your fingers fiddled with the hem of your shirt.

"Well, dear," she said, softening her tone but maintaining her serious expression, "you've known Tom for some time. If he's doing things that harm others, you must consider whether it's safe to remain friends with him." She paused, her eyes searching yours for understanding. "Though I must say, I'm really glad he made a friend." She added, a hint of a smile softening her features."

A wave of discomfort washed over you as her words sank in, and you furrowed your brows. "Is that what the staff here think of him?" you asked, your voice tinged with disbelief. "No wonder Riddle doesn't like any of the staff, except for my mother." You crossed your arms defensively.

'✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ೃ⁀➷-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-˚. ೃ⁀➷'✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹

FIRST PERSON POV

The bustling commotion of King's Cross station was in full swing today, as children exclaimed heartfelt farewells to their parents before boarding the train.

"[name]," Professor Slughorn's voice rang out, catching my attention. I returned his nod, signaling my understanding as he motioned for me to join him on the train. "What has got your wand in a knot? The train leaves in a matter of minutes!"

"I'm sorry, Professor," I replied, a nervous laugh escaping my lips as we settled inside the compartment. He looked at the hallway for a second before closing the sliding door completely.

"now then, I want to say something before we arrive at Hogwarts." He said before taking a seat across from you. "It's crucial to remember, that your abilities are not a toy to be flaunted," Professor Slughorn continued, his voice dropping to a low, hushed tone.

"Don't worry, Professor," I said with a smirk, my eyes gleaming with a mischievous glint. "I'll make sure to keep my powers under wraps. After all, I wouldn't want to outshine Merlin himself." A playful chuckle escaped my lips as I settled back into the seat.

"Jesus Christ." He shook his head with a low chuckle."Well, my dear, you may not have a charm-your-way-out-of-trouble spell, but you certainly seem to possess a rare gift for humor and wit," Professor Slughorn complimented, leaning back in his seat.

As the Hogwarts Express sped along its path, my gaze was drawn to the breathtaking landscape outside the window. The lush green hills seemed to roll on endlessly, each undulation illuminated by the warm rays of the sun.

"Oh right, I forgot to ask," I began before I glanced at Slughorn. "You mentioned that you've been mentoring someone at Hogwarts. When will I meet her?"

"Him," He corrects with a chuckle escaping his lips. Merlin, this guy really is a big chuckler. "You'll meet him soon enough. Don't worry. He's in the same year as you. He's quite a talented student, and I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to cross paths before long."

"Okay," I shrugged nonchalantly. He talks about the guy very often when he's mentoring me and trust me, it's annoying. Like come on, you're mentoring me and your mentor keeps talking about his other student? who wouldn't be annoyed by that?

I sat there, growing increasingly frustrated as Professor Slughorn's words buzzed around me like a swarm of persistent nifflers. "Brilliant young wizard," "exceptional student," blah blah blah.

But one thing that I've noticed is that he never told me his name. 

[sunshine-overload]

[BSTS] Main Story 5th Anni 'Painted Planets' - Team P Chapters

woo, depression

Work Situation (Rindou) 

-starless lobby-

unei: Ah, Saki-san. Welcome!

saki: Hello. The anniversary eve shows came and went before I knew it.

nekome: I know right? It was fun performing the old anniversary shows again~

menou: Nekome, Unei-kun. Do you know where Rindou is?

unei: Rindou-san took the morning off so he's absent. He had business he had to attend to.

nekome: Ah. I do remember you mentioning that yesterday.

menou: Oh, I see. That's too bad, I wanted to ask him to practice with me.

nekome: Don't make him overdo it, Menou. He’s already busy enough with preparing for our fifth anniversary show. Rindou tends to overdo it without even realising it.

menou: Well, I’d prefer if you tried a little harder too. So how about you join me for practice instead? Come on, come on.

nekome: What? No way. I want to talk with Saki-chan.

menou: Then, see you later, Saki-chan. Look forward to our show.

-menou drags nekome away-

unei: Off they go. They’re so fired up even though their anniversary eve performance just ended. Well, the fifth anniversary shows will be starting tomorrow, so I suppose it's good that they're that enthusiastic about practicing!

saki: Yes, I’m looking forward to it.

unei: Thank you! I hope you have fun today as well.

–end

-

(note: There is an opening movie for the anniversary that introduces the plot of the shows. Sadly it doesn’t have an option for subtitles and I’m not confident in being able to translate it by ear. I still recommend watching it for the visuals though!)

-

Team P Chapter 1

-starless lobby-

rindou: Welcome to Starless, Saki-san. Thank you for coming to our fifth anniversary commemorative performance.

saki: Happy fifth anniversary, congratulations!

rindou: Thank you.

saki: There's so many bouquets in here.

rindou: Yes, the lobby is like a field of flowers, isn't it? It's thanks to all the guests that come and support our shows that we're here today. Allow me to express my thanks once more, thank you for coming today. And, please continue to take care of us.

saki: You too, thank you.

rindou: That reminds me, I must apologise for the other day. I’m sorry I made you worry. During the anniversary eve shows I had some personal business that I had to attend to.

saki: You looked really busy, it seemed like it took a toll on your health too. Are you feeling better now?

rindou: Yes, I’m fine, and so is my health. Things have… settled down.

Oh by the way, for our fifth anniversary show, each team will be performing part of the same collaborative work. Five sages advocate for their teachings through a story to the Princess who will inherit the kingdom… Ah, excuse me. I started rambling, didn't I?

saki: Could it be that you're feeling nervous?

rindou: When I think about the guests watching our show, yes, I can't help but be nervous. P was entrusted with being the first ones to perform after all.

saki: Oh, you're first! That's amazing!

rindou: Since we're first, it needs to be a great show. So a few nerves are understandable, but… If you could, could you give me some words of encouragement? I’d like to hear that from you.

saki: Please do your best, Rindou-san. I’ll be looking forward to your performance.

rindou: Thank you. Oh, have you been greeted by anyone else yet? Should I call Kei over for you?

saki: (Kei-san…)

-flashback-

haseyama: It’s because Kei and the others are all leaving you in the dark in order to use you.

-flashback-

kei: What the black cards are… I cannot tell you that now. As I am, I do not have the right to stay by your side.

-present, starless lobby-

rindou: Saki-san? Is something the matter?

saki: Oh– No, it's nothing.

rindou: That's good. Then, I’ll call Kei over.

saki: Ah, don't! You don't need to call him.

rindou (shocked): Saki-san…

saki: Uh, um, well, he’d be busy, right? Since it's your fifth anniversary and all.

rindou: Understood. It's true that I don't need to give someone else the honour of escorting you inside.

-haseyama appears-

haseyama: Hey there, young lady!

rindou: Let's head in.

saki: Ah, but–

rindou: Please go ahead.

-starless restaurant area-

rindou: Here's your seat. I’ll bring you the menu. And– Please be careful. I don’t want you to end up being taken advantage of as well. 

saki: Hm…? What are you talking about?

rindou: We of Team P will be telling the story of the ‘Virtuous Sage’. Please enjoy the story of the flower angels.

–end

-

Team P Chapter 2

-starless hallway-

sinju: Huh? Menou? You're here early.

menou: Yeah, I’ve been arriving at this time the past few days. Cause you can witness something interesting.

sinju: What do you mean?

-rehearsal room-

rindou: ………

rindou: “For the happiness of all the townsfolk,”

rindou: …No. My delivery still feels wrong. 

rindou: “For the happiness of all the townsfolk, I give a prayer of flowers.”

sinju: Rindou? What's he doing…?

menou: He's scattering flowers. Can't you see it? I see a basket overflowing with flowers in his hand and blessed flower petals falling down towards the people. See it now?

rindou: “For the happiness of all the townsfolk, I give a prayer of flowers. I offer you these flower’s blessings. Flowers are the light, flowers are graceful. They are the thorns that protect people. In the name of the Flower Angel– I bless you all.”

sinju: (gasp)

menou: You see it now, don't you? Even though there's nothing in his hands.

-starless hallway-

maica: …And so? You were so impressed by Rindou’s acting that you didn't say anything to him?

sinju: Cause, I mean…

nekome: It's fine, isn't it? Our team rehearsal hasn't started yet. If Rindou was busy with his independent practice then we should wait till he's done.

sinju: But his face was super pale… I really think he's been working too hard since our anni eve performance. I think I’m going to try talk to him after all.

-sinju runs off-

maica: Hey, wait!

nekome: Well, I get why he's worried. Let's go see what happens.

-rehearsal room-

sinju: Rindou.

rindou: “I shall bestow it upon you. Everlasting hope, a kind dream,”

rindou: Hope, dreams, a kind heart… A future…

sinju: Rindou!

rindou: Sinju? What is it?

sinju: Um, did something happen?

rindou: What do you mean? Nothing in particular has happened to me, no.

sinju: You’ve looked a bit unwell since last month. If anything happened let's talk about it.

rindou: …It really is nothing.

sinju: Rindou…

rindou: Ah, sorry, it's our rehearsal time isn't it? Let's start practice.

–end

-

Team P Chapter 3

-rehearsal room-

rindou: Maica, go to the middle of the stage. Yes, then Menou comes in from the left edge. Don't get too close to the centre, you'll obstruct Maica’s movements. Ok, stop there.

maica: Rindou, give us a break. We’ve been going nonstop.

rindou: Let's keep at it for a bit longer. I don't want to lose the flow we have going. Next is our part, are you ready, Sinju?

sinju: Yep. I’m good to go.

maica: Are you sure about that?

menou: I don't know.

nekome: …….

rindou: Alright, from your line, Sinju.

sinju: “Stop it, no more, that's enough! I won't let you plant any more flowers. Stop it, I can't do things this way. It's already become nothing more than a curse, are you trying to be a heretic!?”

rindou: Sinju, that won't stop my angel.

sinju: Huh?

rindou: We're both flower angels, but I’m the leader. Just like I’m your team leader, right?

sinju: Yeah. We're both flower angels but you're the leading angel so I’m below you.

rindou: What kind of scene do you think this one is?

sinju: After Menou, the priest. And Maica, a patron, argue over how a ‘flower angel’ should act… The power of the prayer flowers that the leader sows are so powerful that I can't produce the same result.

Witnessing the leader’s overwhelming power deals a devastating blow to my ego and despite admiring him, I can't help but realise how powerless I am in comparison.

rindou: Admiration and the feeling of being powerless… Is that really all? Even though he yells the words ‘curse’ and 'heretic’?

sinju: As a flower angel without any power I must… Envy the leader.

rindou: And is that what you portrayed? At the very least, it didn't make me want to stop. Admiration and envy, the contradicting feelings people hold within, a strong resistance. This is a scene where I’m so shocked by your outburst that I stop still.

sinju: ………

nekome: Ok ok, stop! Don't you think we should take a break? Sinju needs time to think about what you just told him, right?

rindou: Understood. Let's take a short break.

maica: Rindou, your tone was too harsh. Choose your words better.

rindou: Ah… Right, sorry about that.

maica: I know you're just really into practice but if you push too hard, it'll have the opposite effect. There won't be any improvement.

menou: But it is true that Sinju’s performance was lacking. Rindou’s flower angel is picture perfect.

maica: Hey, quit it Menou. Your bad traits are showing.

menou: When he tosses the flowers that are a prayer for happiness over the townsfolk, he's no longer a mere human. He’s undoubtedly an angel. However… Just now, was that you being ‘virtuous’? Is that what you wish for?

rindou: Yes.

menou: Even if that wish will never come true?

rindou: I give my everything in order for it to come true.

menou: …On the verge of death, your angel will probably just project his grudge onto the world.

–end

-

Team P Chapter 4

-starless locker room-

maica: Hey Nekome, come with me. You're free right?

nekome: Huh~? No way, I’m way too tired after today. Rehearsals and the show have been way too difficult.

maica: That's why you should eat something sweet. Just come with me.

-cafe-

maica: Rindou is acting strange.

nekome: I wonder if I should get the cheesecake~? The fruit tart looks delicious too though.

maica: That attitude wasn't like Rindou at all. He was like a different person.

nekome: Ah, I’ll get some milk. I’m in the mood for some coffee with milk today~

maica: Sure you could just say it's his drive towards the stage but… Hey, are you even listening to me?

nekome: Hm~? Well it's our anniversary show, he’s probably just putting even more into it than usual. Rindou's a hard worker, he's been that way since the start.

maica: You’ve known Rindou since he first arrived, haven't you? Was he ever like this in the past?

nekome: What do you mean?

maica: Cold and hard to approach… Was he ever like that before?

nekome: When he joined Starless a lot was going on in his life. It's already been about six years since then huh. I don't know how he was while I was gone.

maica: I see. That's right, you went ahead and disappeared, didn't you?

nekome: Uwah you say that so lightly.

maica: Since I’ve known Rindou for five years since I joined, I suppose I’ve seen more sides to him.

nekome: Yeah. That's why from my point of view I think he's just trying to craft a perfect show. No need to overthink it.

maica: You seriously think that's all that's going on?

nekome: Each team will be in charge of a different part of the whole anniversary show, right? Meaning that the teams that perform later will be remembered easier. So he probably doesn't want to lose to the other teams. Something like that?

maica: I can understand if that's the case… I don't want to lose to the other teams either. But still…

nekome: Then more than ever you should be focusing on supporting your team, right? Mr. Number 2. If you start faltering too then our whole team will fall apart.

maica: …….

nekome: We have to support Sinju too who’s trying his hardest to keep up with Rindou.

maica: Sigh, that's true. Sinju looks like he's at a loss as well.

nekome: Ah~ I’m so glad we have you here to play the role of Team P’s dependable older brother, Maica. If you're holding it together then P will be fine, yep yep.

maica: Aren't you getting a little too carried away there? We're the same age y’know.

–end

-

Team P Chapter 5

-park, night-

menou: I don't wanna go home yet… It's a nice night, and every day has been fun.

-sinju practicing-

sinju: 1, 2… Turn. One more time.

menou: Huh, Sinju? I wasn't expecting you to be here.

sinju: Oh, Menou. Are you headed home?

menou: I saw you left early, have you been practicing out here ever since?

sinju: Once I started I couldn't stop.

menou: Hm. Are you worried about what Rindou said to you? Do you think that he was too harsh?

sinju: Hearing that kind of criticism is hard no matter what. Envy and anguish– That's what Rindou’s role needs from mine. Except, I couldn't get those feelings across at all, and that's my own fault. That’s why I’ll do my best to–

menou: Sinju.

sinju: What?

menou: I respect you, Sinju. No, I suppose I should say I have a newfound respect for you. Your optimism is a quality that's hard to come by. That's why, I’m sure you'll be able to do it. I feel like that blind belief that you have in Rindou’s teaching will save P.

sinju: I don't really get what you're saying, but that's a compliment, right? Or wait, are you mad at me?

menou: Take it however you wish. It's just, the more our performance improves, the further out of reach Rindou seems. Is that also virtuous? What do you think?

sinju: What? Sorry, I really don't get what you're talking about.

menou: Aw~ Oh well. You’ve reverted to Sinju again.

sinju: Ok now that one's definitely not meant as a compliment!

–end

-

Team P Chapter 6

-backstage-

maica: We’ve reached our closing show. This limited run felt longer than usual.

menou: I wouldn't mind if we kept going though.

nekome: The audience has been loving it too. It's a great start to the anniversary performances.

sinju: ……..

maica: Sinju? What's wrong?

sinju: Ah. No, I’m… I’m fine.

maica: Come on, be honest. What are you looking at–

rindou: ……..

nekome: Wow, amazing huh.

menou: Instead of preferring to not be interrupted it's like he's outright telling us don't interrupt me.

sinju: He's been there even before the rest of us got here. Standing alone in the stage wings…

maica: Is he ok? I can't imagine him making the face of a ‘flower angel’ right now.

menou: I think he's fine.

maica: Again, quit saying such careless things.

menou: But it's Rindou. You’ll understand that he's fine once the show starts. Rindou might just take the entire spotlight for himself today.

nekome: Seriously? He’s at the level that you're saying that? Damn, I better be careful.

-buzzer noise-

rindou: –Let's go. Let's deliver our show to the guests.

-stage-

rindou: “Today is quieter than usual. My prayer is sincere, my feelings for you endless, I will sing my wish to you.”

saki: (My heart hurts… Rindou is facing all of the people of the world and praying for their happiness with his entire being, yet… Why does it hurt so much? Why is it making me want to cry?)

rindou: “That is why, I’ll grow flowers. I will always continue to plant them. This is my final blessing. Your anguish will disappear forever, you’re free.”

-backstage-

maica: Sinju, don't get too close to the stage. The audience will see you.

sinju: S-sorry!

menou: So that's the face of a man that's been driven to climb to the top of a tall tower, pressed on by the townsfolk that wish for salvation…

nekome: He's smiling? In that situation? Scary.

menou: It's too bad this show is coming to an end. I could watch him standing there forever.

-stage-

rindou: “Your sweet and kind tears are like raindrops fallen upon the petals of a flower. So please, accept these flowers. Along with my unending love for you.”

—end

[smolwritingchick]

Teasing During The Love Yourself Tour

Author's Note: LMFAOOOO. I stay lying. ONE MORE smol brainstorm that I found in my old documents. This one is so silly. I want to keep it for the story when I get to the chapter about the Love Yourself Tour. This is about Jungkook's antics with Jennie during Baepsae each night they performed it in America as fans anticipate when she will crack.

------

Baepsae. The song gets everybody on edge with the members and their hip thrusts. The song Jen sees armies hoping will be performed on the day they attend the concert. A song that drove everyone wild. It was her weakest song when it came to dancing because she wasn’t exactly the best with the hip thrusts and ARMY knew her struggle. Sure, she went along with it but she noticed that each day of the concert in America for the Love Yourself tour, Jungkook became more and more intense with his hip thrusts. It began to drive her crazy. And she believed he knew how it affected her as he kept doing it.

It all started on the first day in America. It started like normal with the song melody and after fire, baepsae came on, getting the crowd excited. The group danced and jumped around while RM started off rapping with the crowd.

They call me baepsae

yokbwatji i sedae

ppalli chase ’em

hwangsae deoge nae garangin taengtaeng

As soon as she witnessed Jungkook’s intense hip thrusting, she looked shooked and turned away while ARMY caught her reaction and tweeted how her life flashed before her eyes. Jungkook caught her reaction and laughed, wondering if he could use that to his advantage on the next show.

And he did. Because on the second time in America when they performed Baepsae, he thrust his hips in a particularly hard manner.

“Wh-what was that!?” she exclaimed to him.

“What was what?” he grinned innocently.

“Relax!”

“You were staring, weren’t you?”

“I was not staring!”

“Sure.” he teased her with a grin. 

The third time, she decided to try to get away from him as she was happy at the DJ booth, mixing the melody songs, hyping everyone up. But he drove her crazy again as he looked right at her while his hip thrusts killed Armies all over the venue.

“Oh my gosh…again?!” she shouted while he danced around, periodically watching her as the song went on. 

Fans on Twitter claimed he wanted to risk it all for his girlfriend and hoped Jen would crack soon. Jungkook was getting bolder and bolder each night.

“If you don’t stop! Don’t be lookin’ at me like that! Cut it out! You're distracting me!” she called him out when he kept sending her seductive looks. 

He needed to stop and he needed to stop thrusting his hips while looking at her enticingly. It was making her feel some type of way. But of course, ignoring her protests, he pointed right at her as he thrust his hips again, making Armies scream.

The fourth time, she was back on stage dancing with the members, and he had wanted to see if he could dance with her and make a move. JenKook shippers were starving for them to finally dance together to this song, having a debate on Twitter on when Jen would crack and if she would grind with him and twerk on him.

But as he bit his bottom lip, staring at her with a sexy smile while slowly making her way to her, she laughed nervously.

“Don’t come over here.” she started walking back, getting flustered. 

During the fifth time, while she was back at the DJ booth, he walked all the way to her, making armies scream in anticipation. 

noryeoktaryeong jom geumandwo

ah ogeuradeureo nae du sonbaldo

ah noryeok noryeok ah noryeok noryeok

ah noraguna ssaksuga

“Jungkook, I swear! Back up!” she laughed after he sang his verse. 

Boldly, he pushed up against her from behind and started getting handsy, taking her by surprise. 

“I am working! You’re going to make me mess up!” she exclaimed.

This man was out of control as she felt his breath on her neck, hands roaming. She turned around and he backed her up against the booth, trapping her as they drowned out the loud screams occurring. 

“You do this every night! Behave!” she went on, placing her hands on his chest but he didn’t listen as he giggled.

Meanwhile, Jin had witnessed this and hurried over to them, shaking his head. The crowd laughed when he smacked Jungkook on the arm and grabbed him away from her. 

“No, no, no, no, no! What is this!? Control yourself!” he yelled.

Fancams caught everything with JenKook and fans tweeted how it wouldn’t be much longer until Jennie ended up giving in. They could only imagine what Jin’s reaction would be to that.

But the question was, how many more attempts will it take until she cracks?

[foxett]

What's the swingset AU. I am hellbent on this AU rn and like pls yap about the lore 🙏

Aha.... Buckle your seatbelts this will take a while. (TW for mentions of s*icide, s*lf h*rm and death in general under the cut. Also omori spoilers. But that's probably to be expected)

Swingset was first an idea. Probably around early 2024??? I'm not sure but!!! I didn't actually plan to write anything about it until I got the idea for it and started writing the fic my last week of school (so it updates every wednesday)

The au itself... Hhhh yeah. Basically, the incident happens as normal, but Sunny doesn't have headspace and whitespace to slip into in his mind, and is fully aware the whole time Basil is doing the hanging and stuff or Mari. Sunny decides it's for the best and kills himself, hanging himself on the same tree Mari was already hanging on only like. Minutes later. (First chapter). Basil leaves before Sunny does that so he doesn't know it happens.

The rest of the gang (+ Basil is dragged along) and they find Mari and Sunny!!!! Yay!!! (Sarcastic yay) Anyways in short they react badly but Kel probably has it the worst because he's a little delulu in this au. Basil is close behind tho.

Kel twists the incident to Mari and Sunny making a swing and. Yeah. Au name!!! He also makes up fake versions of Sunny and Mari (and also everyone else, because the group fell apart) to hang out with. In other words, Kel needs a schizophrenia diagnosis. Everyone copes horribly (Basil. Well. Self harms. And generally is probably going insane.) (Hero bedrots like in canon but longer) (Aubrey bullies Basil at first but they make up and form a sorta sibling bond!) (not gonna spoil the exact thing but Aubrey will be traumatized further)

There's!!! A lot of stuff going on. Kel has all his fake friends (before the group reunited because of a certain incident!) - and also ghost Sunny and Mari (who age like ghost Mari does in canon because i said so) exist but they're not too important outside of the good ending.

I don't keep count but i think there's a total of 8 something's total. Canon something (Mari something, Maris hanging body), Sunny something (Sunny's hanging body), canon something (Mari at the bottom of the stairs, Basil's something), Noosething (Basil's extra au something (tying the noose which leads to Sunny's own suicide), Basil something (Aubrey's extra something. Not spoiling it for now...), Kel something (bad ending) and hero's very hd quality something's (he looked at the bodies too long ig)

Everyone has the sunny and mari somethings. Basil has 4 total. Hero and Aubrey have 3 (sunny, mari, their own bonus) Kel repressed his two but they still show up in the shadows sometimes :)

Basil is. Where do i start. He actually is completely delusional. Completely. More than Kel kinda. He also hears voices. He almost kills someone trying to kill himself (spoilers), and overall almost kills himself like. At least thrice. He doesn't take care of himself. At least Aubrey's there to help!

On a sorta wholesome note, everyone gets their hair dyed!! They do it to 'help' Kel to snap out of his delusions (it makes it worse) (kel does snap out of it at some point! But it might just be too late for it by then :) )

For the fic itself it's 11k ish words and 4 chapters at the moment.???? I have 20 chapters planned total plus two bonus ones so. Ouch. that's gonna be fun to write. I take the au itself seriously but the extra drawings i do for it... Ehhh not so much.

I have this gem of a doodle (vision basil and real basil) i frankly don't remember when i drew this. I probably was half asleep and it was like 2 am.

I plan to rework the old reference sheets i have and hopefully do the fifth chapter today and tomorrow! I don't actually wanna spoil much but definitely keep an eye out for some post!!!

Yippie! Read below ↓

mind the warnings (although since you made it this far, you probably don't care!!)

[be-with-me-so-happily]

Chapter 7

Series Summary: There are moments in our lives that have a major impact. The interactions, the adventures, and the love, all make up who we are. But when Harry can't remember those moments with YN, they are both left wondering what that means for themselves and their relationship.

Chapter Summary: This is (again) from Harry's point of view. Oh Harry, honey, has dug himself a hole and now he has to climb out of it. Does he actually have a chance? Does one memory regained mean anything for the rest of them?

~~~~~

Chapter Warnings: Some explicit language, doctor appointment, ANGSTY ANGST

~~~~~

Time. And Torment.

That's all Harry has had since discovering his feelings for YN. Well, besides the doctor's appointment he has today.

"So, Harry, how have you been feeling lately?" Dr. Green asks.

Physically he's fine. Emotionally, he's bruised. Bruised and bleeding, to give a more accurate description. It's just a shame that Dr. Green can't do anything to fix that.

"Alright I guess." He answers, looking down at his lap as he sits across from her, a sigh slipping out before he can catch it.

"Hmm." She answers, jotting down notes on her computer, her reaction not providing much hint of belief. "And what about your memory?"

"Actually…" His eyes glance up at hers. "I did have one memory come to my mind last week."

"That's great." She replies, though Harry would not agree considering the context of said memory, and the fact that it wasn't one of the more important or more recent ones that he should be experiencing. "I don't want to get your hopes up, but it is a good sign. More could come back, slowly over time or very suddenly. Either way, it could be overwhelming, so just be aware of that."

He almost scoffs at the mention of something being overwhelming, as he isn't sure much could compare to what he has been going through lately.

"I think that's all we need to discuss. Do you have any concerns?"

If only she could help him repair a hurting heart, or two.

•••

"You're really not even coming tonight?" Mitch asks Harry, sitting on the couch at his and Sarah's place.

"I just don't see why I would." He responds, mildly annoyed that this is probably the fifth time since Harry got there that Mitch has asked him this same question.

"Because I want you to meet two of the singers performing tonight…" Mitch states, discontinuing strumming on his guitar.

Harry sighs at the thought of going to the opening night of Aman's bar. He doesn't know, or at least doesn't remember the owner, but he does know who will inevitably be there. It's not that Harry doesn't want to see YN, it's actually the opposite, but the week that he knew she was away just caused him even more doubt that he deserves a second chance. He knows it could hurt him to see her and not have her, but he also knows it could cause her the same pain, even though she isn't aware of what he truly wants now.

"M'just… not feeling up to it." He replies, unsure if Mitch knows the deeper meaning behind his answer. He runs a hand through his hair and tilts his head to meet Mitch's gaze.

"Alright, alright." Mitch sighs. "But you should meet them at some point. Ny Oh and Elin are really good."

"Yeah. Maybe we can just… set something up for later."

Sarah walks over holding a dish and three plates. She sets it all down and hands Harry a plate full, when he notices what she's serving. He glares at her and she shrugs her shoulders.

"Hey… I finally learned how to do it… now I wanna make it all the time!" She chuckles, cutting herself a slice of her second attempt at YN's famous casserole and handing the plate to Mitch.

"You're ridiculous." Harry scoffs, taking a moment to look at the food and sighing before he takes a bite. It doesn't taste exactly the same, it probably never could, but he finds a little comfort in the meal, now that he knows it was created by her, and for him.

He begins to frown at himself, but catches it before his friends see. He isn't mad, he is simply surprised that he feels so strongly for YN, someone that his mind has told him he's only known for a month or so. He's beginning to think that while his brain may not acknowledge those old memories of her, but that it could still hold onto those old feelings, and maybe now they are seeping through.

"Aman did say that we can play some gigs there anytime, if we want to." Sarah states, snapping Harry out of his rabbit hole of thoughts.

"Yeah. Maybe." He slightly agrees. "What… umm… what songs do we usually play?"

"Well…" The couple look at each other as they answer in unison, and Sarah gets up, walking back to their bedroom and returning with a folder full of papers. As she comes around the couch again, she hands it to Harry.

"These are the usuals, and a few new ones that you boys wrote recen-... well, recently for us, I guess. Completely new to you."

Harry flips through the sheet music, seeing a few Fleetwood Mac songs, and covers of some more recent music. He flips a page over and lands on a few that he doesn't recognize, assuming they must be ones that the band has recently written.

"Ours?" He asks, holding up a few pages, but continuing to scan the words with his eyes. The lyrics are ones he can see himself writing with Mitch, the way he expresses his emotions, and he continues to read. The first one certainly doesn't have the tone of love or joy in it, especially considering it's called 'Two Ghosts', and it seems fitting. As he reads over the last line, he comes to the conclusion that this was most likely about Tabitha. At least a good song came out of that horrible situation.

He doesn't even acknowledge any answer or statement that his friends may have given, as he becomes engrossed in reading the lyrics of the second page in his hand. This one is the complete opposite, full of passion and desire.

"Who wrote this one?" He looks up to Mitch and flips the paper over to show the sheet music with the title 'Medicine'.

Sarah and Mitch look at each other and Harry notices the obvious look of mischief between them. It is clear to him that it means the song is about their relationship, although the lyrics do seem a bit more outgoing than their natural personalities.

"Okay you two, I get it. It's your song." He chuckles, only to be met with dual looks of confusion and debate from each of his friends.

"No, man. That's yours, too…" Mitch smirks. "That's about YN."

A tightness forms inside, but Harry determines that it is not one of any negative emotion, but giddiness instead. He figured he has written songs about her, that's what he does, but now he can see, read, and understand what he felt for her in that moment. As he determined before, it's full of passion and desire.

"Oh!" He finally responds, flickering his gaze between his friends and one of his forgotten songs, chuckling at himself as he rereads the words yet again. "I was pretty whipped huh?"

"Wouldn't say whipped… but you two are constantly, adorably, and almost disgustingly drawn to each other." Sarah replies with a mild giggle under her breath.

"And she gets you out of the house, out of your comfort zone! That's the point of the song. I wasn't joking when I said she made you more fun." Mitch laughs, receiving a sharp elbow into his ribcage from Sarah.

Harry sighs, knowing that not only do the lack of memories prevent him from having that with YN, but now his idiotic actions have too. He can't help but wonder about all the things he is missing out on now.

"Harry..." Sarah states softly. "I still think you should try to talk to her."

Harry simply responds with a shrug. He doesn't want to give up, it's getting harder to wrap his head around the idea that he's lost his chance. But the idea of possibly hurting her again is even stronger. What if he never regains his memories? What if he can't be as good as the Harry she knows him to be? What if she decides he doesn't measure up to who he once was? That last thought is obviously full of concern for his own heart, but it's one he can't help thinking about.

"She deserves better." He shakes his head, the sadness once again seeping back in and taking over the moment of contentment that he had just been experiencing.

"She wants y-"

"Sarah." Mitch interrupts, shooting her a quick glance, and Harry drops his gaze. "Look, man, we just want you to be happy, both of you. That's all."

"I know." He nods in reply. Maybe it is due to a bit of self-preservation of himself to not jump at the chance to reach out to her, but he really does believe she should always be put first. From what he's heard, and personally experienced, she always takes care of others. She is owed her own happiness, and being the one taken care of. Not that she can't do that for herself, she is plenty capable, but that doesn't mean she has to and that she needs to all of the time. She deserves a partner who is always there for her, and he wasn't. He tries to cut himself some slack, considering his injury, but it's becoming less and less of a valid excuse for him. Because, memory loss or not, he didn't treat her right and she does deserve better.

"I want her to be happy too."

•••

Harry's phone sits on the kitchen counter, only just within arms reach, as he does his best to avoid scrolling through social media to get any glimpse of the events unfolding at BarCode tonight.

The book in his hands was a decent distraction for a while, but as he looks up from the current page it is open to, he realizes he hasn't absorbed any information from that entire chapter.

"Bloody hell, what's wrong with me?" He whispers to himself, resting his face in his palms as his elbows keep him propped up.

"You're in love, you blithering idiot." He hears from behind him, swiveling around on the kitchen bar stool to be met with an eye roll from his older sister. "Even if you don't remember."

"I just don't see how… that's possible…" He responds, not fully convincing even himself, considering how he has begun to believe that his mind is still holding onto those feelings, even if they are locked away with his memories. Maybe it isn't love yet, or again in this case, but what he is feeling is certainly stronger than he imagined it would be at this point, and he can't seem to reel it in. He's not sure he wants to, except for the fact that he's not able to express it to YN.

Another eye roll from Gemma is sent his way, accompanied by a head shake.

Suddenly, she pushes his book to the side and replaces it with the photo album his mum had flipped through on his first day out of hospital. It is open to a page filled with photos of Harry, Mitch, and Sarah performing on different stages. Alongside most of them are candid polaroids of YN as she watches from the crowd, with a beaming smile on her face and her hands thrown up as she dances.

He smiles as his eyes flicker over each one and he feels an intense flutter in his chest. It's familiar, he's felt it before, not that he can pinpoint the exact time or place it occurred.

"You should just go, Harry. At least see her, and then decide what you want to do."

"I just-"

"I'm the oldest, so you have to do it!" She interrupts, pushing her fist against his shoulder.

"That's not how sibling-ship works…"

"Okay, but Mum actually agrees too, so… you have to do what she says." She chuckles, placing her hands on her hips as she attempts to strengthen her point.

He glares and growls, frustrated with the fact that they are right, and that he actually does want to go. Also frustrated with the fact that they seem to know this, that they think they can tell him what to do, and that it is working.

"This is stupid." He states blankly, slowly getting off of the bar stool, not entirely sure if he is following her advice (more like demand) yet or not.

"Yeah, well, it's you." She sarcastically replies, getting closer and grabbing his elbow. "But… it's really not. Just… see how it goes, yeah? I'm heading that way anyway, so I can drop you off."

"How convenient." He sighs, finally caving into her suggestion, grabbing a coat as he follows her out the door.

•••

The entire car ride was filled with anxiety, however it disappears when he meets up with Mitch and Sarah, hearing that they haven't seen YN all night. He isn't quite sure if he is relieved or saddened that he won't get to confront her tonight. At least he will have the chance to talk to the band members his friends have been so adamant that he meet.

He focuses on the song they begin to play, already liking their vibe, and allowing himself to relax. This night out could do him some good after all, even if it isn't how he wanted it to go.

As the song ends and they set up for the next, Harry unintentionally scans the room for familiar faces, thoroughly aware it's YN's that he is seeking out. He sighs in defeat, figuring out that Mitch and Sarah had been right, and she wasn't there.

A familiar laugh suddenly draws his attention to the back of the bar, closer to the stage. He steps side to side and stretches his neck to get a view of where it came from. His gaze finds a few people sitting on a velvet couch, tucked against the side wall, and his eyes instantly land on YN. His breath hitches, filled with both excitement and anxiety from actually seeing her there. As much as he disliked the idea of her not being there, the fact that she actually is has made his body freeze. However, it gives him a chance to look her over. She looks good in her oversized sweater and skirt, with thigh high boots. Pretty and comfortable, which is exactly how he's known her to be over the past few weeks.

The idea and urge to talk to her instantly overwhelms him. He can, and he wants to, and he should. At least he can give her an apology, and maybe some clarity. And if he isn't given the chance to redeem himself, then he will settle for the fact that he tried. It's ultimately her decision of course, and he would never force anything on her, especially since she was so gracious to do the same for him. But maybe, just maybe, he could do right by her. It's about time that he did.

His confidence isn't at an adequate level to get him to move that way, so he heads to the restroom to gather himself.

He cups cold water in his hands and splashes it over his face, shocking his system and waking it up to be prepared for what will take place. As he dries off, he takes some deep breaths, running over a few specific things he wants to say to her, no matter what happens.

As he walks back out into the main area, that same laugh catches his attention again, this time much closer than before. He searches around and finds her again, now standing at the bar and chatting with Adhira. A small sense of relief washes over him, thankful that she is with someone that he knows, which will hopefully lessen the awkwardness of this encounter.

He stops in his tracks when he sees someone approaching them. The guy first gives Adhira a quick hug, and his heart sinks as he notices the excitement in YN as he then wraps one arm around her shoulders and gives her a quick kiss on her cheek.

"What?" He whispers under his breath, his heart sinking further and his chest tightening. As beautiful as her smile is, the sight of it in this moment is paining him to the point that his knees might buckle. She's happy, which is what he wants for her, but it's not with him and it's with someone else, which is definitely not what he was hoping for. Now it's clear that he has lost his opportunity. It's over, and it's probably what he deserves.

He quickly makes his way back over to his friends, knowing he won't be able to survive being there much longer.

"I've got to go." He states as he reaches them.

"Ny Oh and Elin are almost done, dude." Mitch replies, giving Harry an inquisitive look at his sudden anxious demeanor.

"M'sorry. I just… I can't be here." He responds, suddenly hearing YN laugh once more, and turning his head slightly towards the noise, before catching it and snapping his gaze back to Mitch.

Sarah looks past him.

"YN's here. I thought you wanted to talk to her…" She questions, but Harry shakes his head as he hears what he assumes is the laugh of the guy who now has her attention. "I think she's with-"

"Yeah I don't need to know." He snaps, frowning at Sarah before patting Mitch on the back. "I'll meet the ladies another time. Promise. I just can't stick around."

"But I think that's-"

"Please." Harry puts his hand up to Sarah, hoping his gesture will give her the hint that he wants as little information as possible about the situation occurring behind him, with the one person he wishes he could be having that with. "M'gonna go. I'll talk to you later."

He turns around and hurriedly walks towards the entrance, stopping before he walks through, taking one more glance at the bar and one more glance at YN before he leaves. His heart stops when he sees her head twist around and catch his gaze for just a second, then doing a double take and meeting his eyes. A large lump in his throat, and an intense amount of embarrassment, instantly form inside and he quickly leaves the venue that he never wanted to be at in the first place.

His friends were wrong, his sister was wrong, and he was wrong. Going there and trying to talk to her was a mistake, he has already lost his chance. But he supposes that the one good thing that has come from it is that now he knows.

•••

He slams the front door as he enters his mum's house, heading straight to his childhood room. He isn't mad, he shouldn't be at least, and it isn't directed towards YN. He's angry with himself, but that's not a new feeling anyway, it's just become stronger.

"Harry! What-"

"Mum, I just need… I just…" He begins to growl, again not at anyone but himself. His emotions are running so high he doesn't even want to be in anyone else's presence, for his sake and theirs. "I just need a shower and to go to bed."

"Alright. I'm here if you need me." She replies softly, an obvious worried tone in her voice, and he closes the bedroom door behind him. He plops down to sit on the edge of his bed, throwing his palms up to his face.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." He growls to himself. He doesn't want to just sit there in his thoughts any longer, so he gets up, grabs a pair of sweats, and heads into the bathroom. Not that those thoughts will halt in any way, but maybe the routine of a shower can put a temporary distraction on them.

He steps in as it reaches the perfect temperature, immediately letting the water wash over his face and through his hair. His arms shoot out and he pushes his palms against the shower, suddenly feeling dizzy, and stopping himself from falling. He hates this, he hates himself, he doesn't even want to be around himself, and he can't blame YN for not wanting to be either. Though he really, really wishes she would.

His fingers start tapping against the wall he is holding himself up against, trying to bring himself back to the task the shower was supposed to provide him- distraction. Unintentionally, he starts to tap a beat and begins to hum along. It feels sad, but what else would it feel like considering his current emotions, and he uses it as an anchor to finish his cleansing routine, even if it's only physical.

But even as he turns off the water and dries himself with his towel, the melody continues to play in his mind, as if it's in tune with his soul.

He drops down backwards onto his bed, covering his face with his arms resting across it, as the tune continues to play in his mind. However, thoughts of YN accompany it and he understands the melody is fueled by his feelings for her.

What does he do? If he didn't really know who he was before, he definitely doesn't know now. He wanted to be who YN had known him to be, or at least be someone she'd now want to be with. He feels his heart sinking again, falling down out of his chest to somewhere he can't reach.

What am I now?

What am I now?

What if I'm someone I don't want around?

I'm falling again

I'm falling again

I'm falling

But it looks like she doesn't want that anymore. He's lost his chance. Now she'll eventually move on, and he will just be a memory to her.

What if I'm down?

What if I'm out?

What if I'm someone you won't talk about

I'm falling again

I'm falling again

I'm falling

As much as he doesn't want to move, he pushes himself off the bed, and rummages through the closet to find the box of notebooks that Adhira had given back to him over a week ago.

He opens the one on top, flipping through to find the next blank page. He grabs a pen from the nightstand and his guitar he had displayed in the corner of the room, and sits back down on the edge of the bed.

His hand begins to scribble furiously as he jots down the words that were just flowing through his mind, feeling the slightest bit of weight release from his shoulders as he engages in the best way he knows how to express his feelings. He puts down the pen and begins to strum some chords on his guitar. As his chest squeezes tightly, he opens his mouth to reveal the words his heart just worried itself with.

And I get the feeling that you'll never need me again

"Fuck." He mutters, realizing he is unable to continue this song writing journey at the moment. He puts down the guitar onto the bed, and as he begins to close the journal, a curiosity fills him. He wonders what the last song written down was.

He flips the page backwards and reads over the lyrics, noticing the chords marked above them. So he picks the guitar back up, looking over the first verse and beginning to strum.

Walking your rainbow paradise

Strawberry lipstick state of mind

I get so lost inside your eyes

Would you believe it?

He instantly comes to the conclusion that this is about YN, since it describes her perfectly. The rainbow representing her bright and fun personality, the strawberry lipstick line speaks for itself as her lips were always that color, and he realizes he did get lost in her eyes on occasion, especially during the party at Sarah and Mitch's place. It was a big part of the reason why he kissed her that night.

You don't have to say you love me

You don't have to say nothing

You don't have to say you're mine

He must've been terrified writing this, but not in a bad way. It sounds like it could be about the first time he told her he loved her, but something inside him just knows there's more to it.

Honey

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

Oh honey

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

Like it's the only thing I'd ever do

Like it's the only thing I'd ever do

He pauses for a moment. He understands that he wrote these lyrics for her, but realizes that's exactly how she's been treating him since the accident. He didn't have to say any of the words she wanted to hear, but she still loved and adored him as much as he was comfortable with.

She probably would've done it forever if he had let her. He's an idiot for not, and he wishes he could do that for her now. If he's honest with himself, he had adored her since they met, something about her just made him want to do anything for her. After that first day at the cafe, he couldn't get her off of his mind, which is why he went back the next day.

Harry straightens up and almost drops the guitar on the floor. His heart races which is then quickly accompanied by his breathing. He remembers the time they met. He remembers her profusely apologizing for spilling her coffee on him, and being enamored by how cute she was talking about her cupcake's purpose and how she likes life sweet. This isn't just a replay from when she explained their first meeting, this is certainly a memory, because she did not include those details when she talked about it. He picks the guitar back up again, hands a little shaky this time, and continues to play the next verse.

You're wonder under summer skies

Brown skin and lemon over ice

Would you believe it?

Jamaica. That was about Jamaica, when he and Sarah joined the program to teach kids how to read sheet music, asking YN and Mitch to join them. They would have the weekends off and just relax on the beach, her entire being just glowing in the sun, and he was so grateful he got to be the one to enjoy it with her. He had wanted to hold onto that feeling forever.

You don't have to say you love me

I just wanna tell you something

Lately you've been on my mind

He stops playing again and this time does drop the guitar, the sound of it hitting the floor muffled by the ache that screams throughout his body.

"Oh god." He whines. "No. Fuck!"

He drops to his knees, landing on the floor next to his guitar on one side and the box on the other. He had written the song after that trip. He knew he was utterly in love with her and had to get it out on paper for her to have forever.

"No, please, no." He mumbles again, turning to the box and furiously pushing notebooks aside, looking for what he was actually hoping wasn't there. This is the one time he didn't want a memory to come back, or to be true. Because if it's true, it'll be torture, and will continue to torture him for the rest of his life. If it's true, it means he really has lost everything.

"No!" He shouts, finding what he was looking for, but what he was also hoping wasn't there.

He picks up the leather sunglass case, opening an unraveling the cotton padding, and tears start streaming down his face.

"No." He sobs quietly, bending over at his waist and holding the case to his chest.

His door bursts open and he looks over to barely make out the figure of his mum standing in the doorway.

"Oh my god, Harry!" She exclaims, rushing to his side and dropping to her knees as she flings her arms around him, not yet knowing why he needs the comfort. "What's wrong?"

He pulls himself back enough to remove the padding from the case and unwrap it in his palm. He closes his eyes, the tears burning as they run down his cheeks, and feels Anne reposition herself to hold him as tight as she can.

"Oh, sweetheart." She simply states. "You didn't tell me."

"I… didn't… tell anyone…" He cries out, his heart now completely broken due to what he has lost. "No one knew I was going to propose."

~~~~~

Series Masterlist

~~~~~

If you like what I post, and want to just send some extra support, I have a ko-fi account. Even the smallest amount is greatly appreciated. There is no obligation or expectation to donate, because I am honestly just so grateful that you're here! 💗 Bee xx

~~~~~

Overall Taglist: @watermelonsugacry @tw1nflamebruis3 @hopefulwastelandcreation @tenaciousperfectionunknown @that-daydream-look @queenmadi2 @runway-to-my-aid @theekyliepage @be-yourss @harryistheonlyoneforme @b-reads-things @behindmygreyeyes @michellekstyles @a-strange-familiar @yousunshineyoutempter @buckybarnessimpp @chai-sag-scor @msolbesg @sleutherclaw @katiebaxterrrrrr @percysaidnever @thatbitch2828 @mrspeacem1nusone @thurhomish @sushiabby @woanderry @harrystylesrecs @vickiii17 @itsbebeyyy @divalovesyou @bxbyysstuff @jessitpwk @sunshinemoonsposts @theroosterswife24 @boybands-baseball @austynparksandpizza @missmielyhoran @harryspirate @qualitygiantshoepsychic @tiaamberxx

[lolitastories]

GHOST

Javier Pena x Reader

Chapter 3

“Hey Lola” I smile and wave at Miguel as I make my way to the bar. “Same as usual?” He was already preparing my drink before I could answer.

“Thank you” I let out a sigh sitting on the corner of the bar. I look over and see Diego coming out. “Hey”

“What's going on?” He asks with a smile coming up and starting to dry the glasses. “Haven’t seen you in awhile” Miguel comes up and lays the drinks infront of me.

“Yeah, I've been busy with work. Its hits always at the same time” Miguel didn’t know to make my drink virgin but thankfully I needed this drink.

“Taxes season right” Miguel laughs before leaving to attend the other guests.

“Anything new?” I shake my head.

“Since he showed up on my doorstep I got a sweet invitation for dinner” I downed the drink. I’ve never been an alcoholic person, never got the point. They said it relaxed you and some other shit and maybe it does but never wanted to test out the waters. “More people have been around so I actually had to start working” I get a laughfrom him. Atleast someone is getting the humor out of all of this.

“That was quick?” Miguel comes over and takes the drink and goes to prepare another one. Diego just shakes his head.

“His movement has been still for a while and aslong as it stays there it means he doesn’t feel pressured. '' I smile as Miguel set another drink infront of me.

“I was wondering something” I lifted my eyebrow waiting for his next words. “Would you like to go out sometime? Maybe here for some drinks?” Stuck in the corner with that one. Miguel was a nice guy, hell with it.

“I would like that but I will let you know when. I’ve been swamped at work so I don’t know when I will get a chance to relax again”

“You know where to find me” He smiles walking away again.

“Look at you,” Diego says with a smile. “This will be your first date, since when?” I roll my eyes, taking my attention back to my drink. “Since never?”

“Shut up”

“Honey-”

“Don’t call me that” He knows when I am serious but he also knows just because it upsets me doesn’t mean I won’t get over it.

“Sorry” he lifts his hands up in defense. “I have knowed you since middle school and after that guy, you haven’t given nother guy the time of day” He moved closer making sure nobody heard. “And I know you are only doing this as a cover but it's time you put yourself out there again”

“I will” I shrug finishing me drink

“I can’t remember how many times you got the chance and never took it.” As he places his hands over mine I feel a smooth surface. I turn it to act like I am holding his hand and slip to grab the piece of paper in it.

“I will” I smile getting up.

“No late drinks tonight?” It was 9 and I usually stayed sometime after midnight.

“Not tonight Miguel. Got so much work to finish and I have until the end of this month” I thank them and leave. I carefully move into a spot where it's not suspicious to people who may be watching. I checked the note and intently grew tired. Close the blinds. Hell. As I walk home, well the motel. I drag my feet. This is the fifth night Pena has done this in the span of 3 weeks. He would sneak into the motel and have me close the blinds. Later after we spoke he would sneak out when the men across the street would turn off the lights. This usually happened when my lights were off for a while so it would send Pena out around 1 to 4 in the morning. I got the door acting all normal. I would set my things down and walk into the bathroom doing my usual routine. “I thought I told you to stop coming” I groaned, walking out the bathroom and placing my clothes on a table in the bathroom.

“And I told you I wasn’t until you decided to let us in” I rolled my eyes walking back out frustrated. This is how the night went. I got home and he would be sitting on the toilet. I would take a shower as we start our discussion. After that I would come out and close the blinds. Go into the bathroom and change as Pena moves to the kitchen table. Finally I would ignore him and give him bits and pieces as I try to catch some sleep until morning. He would be out by the time I opened my eyes. Today I was over it. I ignored him as I took a shower and even as I got ready for bed. “You’ve been working overtime and spending time on road trips, what does he have you doing?” I shrug, removing the pillows from the bed and getting into the covers. “Y/N!”

“Shut up” I groaned. It was close to eleven now and all I wanted to do was sleep. I wasn’t tired enough not to stay up. I was tired of the life that I have to live right now. I can’t leave and it's looking like it doesn’t have an end. “Pena” I sigh sitting up. “I don’t have time for your threats or whatever speech you prepared” I say a little too loud.

“You would have to hear it if you would just tell me what's going on” He gets up from the table and walks over. I get up and turn off the lights. I place on my shoes and walk towards the back. “Y/N” he warned. He knew to stay hidden behind the wall as I walked out into the sort of porch outside. I wrap my arms around me as the cool air hits my face.

“I stand out here sometimes. I like to look at the sky and picture myself somewhere else. Usually surrounded by water. Floating and letting the motion of the waves rock me to sleep” I turn my head catching Pena's eyes. “Ironic because I am scared of the open water. I am going to say this as nicely as possible” I turn my body to walk towards the door outline without stepping in, I needed to still feel at peace to not let the frustration out on him. “No matter how much this involves you, you can’t be putting me,you,Murphy, and any other agent on the line. I am not a little girl, all the information I give goes directly to you and the ambassador” Thats when Pena stands up and stops right infront of me. “I can’t have you coming here and risking this operation because of your stubbornness and pride” I say this a little harsher as his presance radiates. It's like I could feel him so much closer than he was. Like he has engulfed me in a tight hug and somehow, that made me feel at peace. “It's not the right thing to do and if I am being honest I feel like everything is slipping off my hands” I hate not having control. Something I should have since it's my damn operation but with him involved it like I can’t get a hold of it.

“Y/N '' I felt his fingers grab my own until he enterwines our hands. “You are stressed”

“No! Pena” I finally let out. “I am scared” That was the last straw. I don’t know what caused it. I don’t know if he hugged me first and tears started falling or he heard my whimper as I cried and wrapped his arms around me. Silence surrounded us both not knowing what to say. The truth came out and I felt vulnerable. I hadn’t felt this way. Losing control wasn’t part of my traits. I was close to losing control and it was making me think of unnecessary feelings I learned to put in the past. “I know what I got myself into. I learned to not take it personally. A great deal of my life I have always been good at keeping my emotions in. To ignore. But-” I look up not knowing what to end with. There is nothing to think about. There is no other choice here, I must finish my operation. I must get back in control. “I'm sorry” I whisper, moving my hands to cup his cheeks. I pulled him closer pinning us against eachother. The kiss was breathtaking. I felt down and sad and having him kiss me felt like a solution. He didn’t seem to mind. It felt like he was desprate to take all the sadness I had in this one kiss. I push him inside, not letting us reach for air just yet. We stumble upon the kitchen table. “Careful” I chuckle, wrapping my arms around him as he slips around my waist. It was a simple long kiss but it was turning into something I craved for.

“Querida” He groaned as we molded together. His back knees hit the bit and it makes him sit down. I dare not let go yet and crawl on to him pushing him even closer for the kiss to never end. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to go back to reality. I only wanted to listen to his moans and groans as I start to slowly grind agains this jean pants. I only wanted to feel his heart beat beating with mine. His smooth finger continued to travel along my back and unclapsing my bra.

“Javi?” It sounded like a question to me but I was begging and he understood that. He took out my shirt and started to leave butterfly kisses starting from my mouth to my collarbone.

“Sounds so sweet when you say my name” I smile. My head falls on his shoulder moving up to kiss beside his ear.

“Javi!” I groaned louder, knowing he was ignoring my plea. Then there was. Not what I needed but it was a start. One head on my breath and his talented mouth on the other. Kissing first and the next licking and sucking like no tomorrow. I throw my head back pushing my chest closer. “Javi!” I screamed. “Fuck” I grab on his head pulling and tugging his hair. I forcefully continue to grind on him wanting nothing more than to get rid of the barrier of clothing between us.

“Mi amor” It was the heat of the moment I told myself. But it made a shiver run down my spin to my core. “Stop, you’re killing me” He groans and I start leaving kisses and hickies on his neck.

“Don’t you want to hear me scream your name some more?” I move up again, nipping on his ear and slowing down my hips but with more force.

“Yes” he whines. His hands grab on to my hips following my rhythm.

“But, we can stop if-” I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence when he wraps one arm around my waist and the other helps him not fall on top of me as he turns us around and lays me down on the bed. “No?” I try to hold my laugh but it's cut short. His eyes hold seriousness. Still hovering over me he moves on hand to cradle my cheek.

“No” His deep voice sends another shiver down my spine. His thumb slides over my lips and I give him entrance. A simple suck and his eyes shut. “Mi vida” He groans. With his affirmations alone and sweet nicknames I could orgasm faster than if I was doing it myself.

“Wait!” I pushed into the bed, not in the way I wanted. I hold my finger up signaling him to keep quiet. I run to close the back door and the curtains. A quick chatter from outside and shadows that the moon allows to cast make me jump. I see Pena stand up and walk quickly towards me.

“Do you think-” I shushed him quickly. I grab on to his hand and push him into the bathroom. I open the cabinet and take everything from underneath.

“I need you to keep quiet and don’t come out until I let you out” I open a secret compartment. It was a small space fit for one person. “Pena” I turned around and stood up. “If you hear no commotion you let yourself out” I move out the way to let him. That's when a knock is heard on the other side.

“No way in hell-” I grab a fist full of his shirt.

“Don’t give me that shit right now!” Another knock. “You will do what I say. This is my operation and I won’t have you mess it up. I will send for you when I decide. And only then will you show up, understand? I can take care of myself” I ran back to the room and put my shirt on again. “Get in Pena” I hurry him inside and close it. I get the time to put everything in place before rushing back to open the door. “Hello?” I act like they just disturbed my sleep.

“We are sorry to come at this time Miss, but the boss would like a word with you.” Fuck.

“Okay. Give me a minute to change and I will be right out. They nod and I close the door. I can’t tell Peña because he would be right after us. I changed quickly going back to the bathroom and putting my head inside the cabinet knowing he would be able to hear me. “Please don’t do anything stupid and listen for once. I will keep you in the loop but I need you to promise me you will follow what I said before”

“Okay, but Y/N-“ I cut him off quickly

“I don’t have time Pena, I have to go over things with them so it will be awhile. In an hour you walk out the back door” I didn’t wait for his response as I walked to the door and into the car with these men.

Chapter 4

[lia-land]

Winter by Marissa Meyer

5/5

What a beautiful story. I have nothing bad to say about this book. This might actually be the first time.

This is the sixth book I’ve read this year that was over 800 pages, but this is the first one that didn’t feel like it. It was perfectly paced and the plot didn’t feel overly complicated at any point. With books this long, the characters or plot or both can sometimes feel tedious, but this was so good.

I thought I might find this series too childish, but I didn’t at all. It’s a great story that didn’t rely on shock value through random and underdeveloped plot twists, as many YA books tend to do these days. I really like how she introduced characters throughout this series. For example, we met Thorne in book 2, and then he ends up being the main love interest in book 3, similar to how we met Jacin in book 3 and he’s a main character in book 4. They were subtle introductions where we could form opinions on the characters prior to knowing that they were love interests. I would give this book 5 stars just for this alone.

I immediately noticed from Chapter 1 that we are getting more detailed descriptions of surroundings. I’ve found Meyer to be an author who mostly relies on dialogue, which I personally prefer, as some authors tend to overdo it with the descriptions (Sarah J Maas' interior design book aka Tower of Dawn). Meyer strikes a great balance of both in this book. I often find with YA series that quality of writing tends to decrease as the series goes on and publishers rush things, but this was the complete opposite. I enjoyed Winter as much as Cinder and Cress, and much more than Scarlet.

In YA, authors tend to simplify wars. Often, huge wars happen and they end in a matter of days. That is not entirely realistic (not that fantasy has to be realistic, but this specifically tends to be skipped over lazily). Of course, wars can and have ended in a matter of days in real life, but that’s very uncommon. Here, Meyer maintained that battle element, while also not turning into a full on war, so that she could end the actual battle in one night. This is also beneficial for us as readers because action scenes in YA are not always popular, especially when they’re only introduced in the final book of the series. The main fight in this book was contained to one night and it was on a smaller scale, so it remained more realistic while also not adding a bunch of action scenes. My expectations were low in this regard, so I was expecting for there to be a huge war between Luna and Earth contained into this one book, bur Meyer made the right decision in not doing that.

The ending was perfectly done. I would like to read more books about the characters lives following the events of Winter, but I don’t absolutely need it. (Update: I've since seen that Meyer has written non-canon short stories in this world. This is the best way to do it for this ending. Veronica Roth should take notes). The ending didn’t leave any obvious unanswered questions, in my opinion. It was a very well written story from start to finish. Even though I didn’t enjoy Scarlet, I can appreciate that it was a good story that tied into the rest of the series well and Scarlet as a character became very likeable in this final book.

The length of this book is interesting because it’s more than twice as long as the previous books in this series. I wonder if this was for contractual reasons or if she just wanted to keep the theme of naming each book after a different character, and didn’t want to ruin that by separating this story and making it a 5 book series or introducing a fifth fairytale.

My favorite aspect of this book and this series as a whole is how Meyer integrated all the stories, while still maintaining their importance as independent characters. Perhaps this applies slightly less to Wolf (and Scarlet until the second half of Winter). With this many main characters, it would have been easy for some of them to get lost in the background, but it was very well executed here.

Overall, this entire plot was so unique. This is a take on fairytale retellings that will be very hard to beat. I can’t understand why this series is not more popular than it is. It would also be such an amazing TV show, although expensive. I hope this story gets the recognition it deserves one day. I’m really going to miss these wonderful characters, even Wolf

[space-mermaid-writing]

The witchling and the god [Loki x Witch!Reader] Chapter 27

Summary: The Avengers were looking for someone to help Loki fit in with the team. To become socially acceptable, so to speak. He had been given the choice of sitting in a cell in Asgard or serving some sort of community service probation on Midgard. The Avengers and Shield both felt that as long as Loki was on Earth, he should be under supervision. This is now your job. Why? Because you’re a witch. You’re not sure why this qualifies you, but here you are, giving it a shot. What could possibly go wrong?

Tags: Witch!Reader, Magic, Witches, slow burn, everybody lives in the tower, character development, Loki‘s redemption, Stephen Strange is a friend, Loki and Stephen are frenemies, Tony Stark is a good bro, kids love Loki, Tony has stupid nicknames for everybody, eventual smut

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Read it on AO3 | Previous | Next

Chapter’s Note: Beta by @zaria-04

Chapter 27: Old Wounds

You hum softly to yourself as you stand in your garden and pick berries. Normally you wouldn't bother with it and float magically to reach the high branches. But since the witch hunters attacked Gabriel, you've become wary of showing your magic in public. Even if it's in the safety of your own garden and you have no direct neighbors. You never know who may be watching.

The harvest of berries is unfortunately meager. You missed the right time and most of them have been eaten by birds or are already starting to mold. There won't be enough for jam, but maybe you'll bake a pie with them.

Since you spend so much time in New York, you've neglected your garden. The pumpkins and zucchini are doing well and promise to grow big again this year. They also need less care than berries.

You've already weeded to give your important plants more room. Because of your absence, everything is a bit more overgrown than usual.

After you’ve raided the bushes, you go into the house with the bowl and put it in the kitchen. Eloise has placed an order for potions, but you decide that it can wait a few more days and that the pie is more important. With a flick of your hand the berries start to wash themselves in the sink and fly back into the bowl. In parallel, you open a book where you collect your recipes and flip through until you find what you're looking for.

You have two of these books, one for regular recipes and one for magical ones. It's important to keep the two strictly separate, otherwise you may have some unpleasant mishaps, as you've learned.

Your phone rings with a message that you ignore for now. Only when a second and a third message arrive shortly afterwards you do pick it up.

It's Tony, there are a lot of exclamation points and it sounds urgent.

"Alarm! Code: Dangerous Jazz Hands"

You have no idea what that means, but you put your work aside and touch a rune on your doorframe before stepping through.

"Jarvis, what happened?" you ask, after barely setting foot in the compound.

"Thor has returned from Asgard. He and Loki are currently on the thirty-fifth floor."

You hear a loud crash that sends a vibration through the building.

"On the thirty-fourth floor,” the A.I. corrects.

Cursing softly, you run. The elevator takes you up and as the doors open, you hear loud yelling and more crashing.

"...he never cared! It does not matter what I do! I could die and he wouldn't even bat his eye."

That is Loki's voice – furious, hurt – and you rush in that direction.

"You know that is not true." Thor is more collected and firm. He tries to reason with his brother.

"Really? Did he even ask about me? How I am doing? If I'm fine?"

The pause that follows speaks for itself and you hear another crash as something is thrown against a wall and breaks. You turn around a corner and see a hole gaping in the ceiling with metal struts peeking out. The path in front of you is blocked with rubble, which you climb over. You are now very close to the voices and hear the brizzle of raw magic. Shit, that's not good.

"That's what I thought." Loki's words are cold with venom. "I am just an unpleasant thorn in his foot and he has finally found the perfect way to get rid of me."

"Brother, please!... Stand back, Rogers. It's fine. I handle him."

"I do not need to be handled!"

You meet Tony, who is in his Iron Man suit, but faceplate open. "Good, you're here," he greets you, "Tell him the sun is getting low or whatever helps to calm him down."

You nod, but otherwise acknowledge him no further, instead pushing past Steve into a room. It's one of the lounges, but half the furnishings are destroyed. Pictures have crumbled from the walls, a table lies in pieces and the couch is overturned.

Loki's hands glow with magic, his whole body seems to be radiating it. He glares angrily at his brother. Thor has Mjolnir in his hands and the cracks on the wall testify that he has already used his weapon.

Thor puts a hand on Loki's shoulder to calm his brother, but Loki shakes him off and a hand to hand combat fight breaks out between the two. It doesn't look like they truly want to hurt each other, but the two Asgardians are inhumanly strong. A normal person's bones would break over this.

"Loki."

He pauses at the sound of your voice. Thor too, waiting to see what his brother would do, how he would react. Loki doesn't turn to face you. "Leave."

As if! You don't move an inch, not wanting to risk getting too close to him, because you don't know how much control he has over himself right now. But you don't back down, either. "No. This is about Odin, right? Screw him! You deserve better."

That makes him look at you. He sees you standing in his corner, even though you have nothing to do with this. But he also sees Tony standing in the doorway in his suit and Steve on your other side, without his shield but ready to step in if necessary. He feels Thor's gaze on him behind him. The men look at him with a mixture of waiting, wary and pity. Loki hates it. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid. He doesn't need to be handled.

You notice the shift in his aura, similar to when Felix died in the hospital. With your next words you get his attention back on you. "You want to smash things? Sure, I understand that. There are canyons we can go to. Just let's go together, okay? You promised me." Grasping at any straw, you reach out your hand for him to take.

Loki remembers and hesitates only for a brief moment. He prefers to be with you alone over being with these oafs of Avengers. The glow of his hands goes out and he slowly steps toward you. No one else dares to move, but the tension in the room is almost palpable. Only Thor suddenly looks much more relaxed and smiles.

Loki grabs your hand and the next moment you're both gone.

Tony breathes a sigh of relief. The witch still got it. "Jarvis, where did they go?"

"They are currently on the roof-deck," chimes the A.I.'s voice.

Thor steps up to him, his hammer leaning casually over his shoulder. "Stark, I take full responsibility. This has nothing to do with my brother's rehabilitation." He gestures to the resulting mess, but Tony waves it off while retracting his suit.

"I get it, Thor. I've never thought I'd say this but I understand Loki. Your father is really a dick, huh? I know that feeling all too well."

"Howard wasn't-...," Steve starts, but falls silent when he notices Tony's look.

"Let's not open that bottle, Cap, shall we? And don't worry, Manowar," he adds, turning back to Thor. "My insurance got that covered. But for the sake of my beloved tower, next time you want to talk about family with him, please go to that canyon."

He leaves the room to call construction and orders Jarvis to inform him in case Loki did something funny.

~~

Meanwhile Loki and you are standing on the roof terrace, still hand in hand. It's a beautiful day, sunny, but not too hot. Just the right amount of clouds in the sky and with a light breeze in your hair. And of course the noise of the city below you.

You're surprised that Loki transported you up here, but you don't ask about it. Instead, you turn to him and look up at him.

His face is turned away and he is looking at a point in the distance. You know what it looks like when old wounds cut open, relieving the same old fights.

You press a kiss on his cheek. "Hey, you with me?" It's a cautiously, gently question and he snaps out of his spiral of thoughts.

"Yes." His answer is as short as it is cold and he takes a step away from you. He's still angry, a mess of emotions. Loki was expecting it. He knew what Thor would tell him when he returned. Still, he would have liked to be taught better, had still had hope. After all, he is still the little boy who wants his father's approval. A snort escapes Loki. The recognition of his surrogate father. His biological father had abandoned him to die.

You give Loki his space, but squeeze his hand as a sign that you are there for him. "Family can be tough," you offer.

"You have no idea what it's like to be an outcast from your family. To not belong, no matter what you do. No matter how hard you try to please or get even a little attention." Loki's voice is venomous, his eyes narrowed like a snake's, ready to bite. It's defensive, you know he doesn't mean it. Or maybe he means it, but he'd be sorry for his tone later.

"You're right," you relent, looking at your intertwined fingers. "I'm glad that no matter what, at least I could always count on my family. On my siblings. But you have Thor. No matter what might have come between you two in the past, he's there for you now, supporting you."

"That's not the same thing. You don't understand. Your humans' lives are too short to understand some things. You are just too dull."

You inhale sharply by his rude words and your tone gets somewhat colder. "I'm not just a simple human," you remind him, but he laughs tonelessly.

"Of course you are. You just live a bit longer than the average human. But you're still one of them." Loki realizes he's derailing, but there's nothing he can do about it. It's like an out-of-control steam engine hurtling at high speed toward an abyss. And he's not only sitting in the front row, but shoveling coals into the fire to speed it up. It's absurd. He knows better. But he can't help it.

"You're adopted and that's bad, it complicates your life. But if you would just look out of your little shell of sulking, you would find that there are people who love you. Even within your family. And as for the rest: you are a prince. After all, they have to respect you for that. They don't hunt you down and kill you," you say more harshly than you intended, thinking about what just happened to Gabriel.

"I'm sure that they would just love to do that," growls the Asgardian.

"But they don't!" you exclaim and something snaps inside you. Loki seems a little surprised, you have never raised your voice to him like this. His expression darkens a bit more, a reflex whenever someone uses a tone towards him he doesn't like. But before he can even open his mouth, you continue speaking, angrily. "In the past, it wasn't just witch hunters we had to watch out for. I couldn’t stand out and I had to be careful who I trusted. So I know what it's like to live in a world where you're not wanted. They got me once and I pray I don't have to go through that again!" Your fingers slip from his and point accusingly at him.

"These witch hunters don't look like much of a threat to me," Loki says dismissively. "After all, here you are, standing before me, alive."

You stare at him. This is not the Loki you know. This one is cold, heartless with a total lack of empathy. Nothing suggests the kind and charming Asgardian you've become so familiar with. You don't know which of the two is the real one, how much of both is him.

You want to yell at him, you want to shake him, to get him back to his senses. But would that do any good? You're no longer responsible for him, you've quit and you're only by his side as a friend, as a lover. And this part of you is deeply hurt, and it shuts down. You don't feel like dealing with him at the moment. If he really wants to be an asshole, he can do it without your presence.

You open your mouth, but you don't know what you want to say.

A cruel smile creeps onto Loki's face, barely preparing you for his next, devastating words. "Cat caught your tongue? I thought you were so quick-witted. Or did those witch hunters damage your brain in the long run?"

You clench your hands into fists to stop yourself from smacking him. "Do you think your mother would be proud of you right now?" It may be a low blow, but you don't care. You don't even wait for an answer, you wouldn’t get it anyway. Instead, you turn around and swallow your tears as you walk away.

Loki's eyes follow you, the shock of your words bringing him back down to earth and leaving a sour taste in his mouth. He is aware that he has made a mistake. He just doesn't understand why he let this happen.

For quite a while he just stands there, shoulders slumped. The anger is gone from him - he gave it space, unfortunately against the wrong person.

With slow steps he starts to move, his eyes silently fixed on the floor, and returns to the prince's suite.

Thor is there. He is sitting on the couch with the television on. Nothing about his demeanor suggests that just twenty minutes ago he was destroying half a floor of the tower by fighting his brother. Next to him is a bowl of popcorn he made. In the microwave, of course. He wouldn't be stupid enough to use his lightning powers inside the tower for that. There wouldn't be much left of the corn afterwards.

He hears the door and Loki's footsteps. "Did you get it out of your system?" Thor looks up from the TV, but then sees his brother's expression and his face falls. "Oh no, Loki..."

"I made a mistake," the younger Asgardian mutters and drops down on the couch next to Thor.

Thor turns off the TV and turns to his brother. Loki has his head buried in his hands and Thor waits silently until he begins to speak. There is a pause, but Thor knows to be patient with his brother.

"How does mother put up with father? With everything he has done and is still doing?"

The question surprises the elder, but he thinks about it. "I guess she loves him and understands him, even if she doesn't approve of everything."

Another pause.

"How is she?"

"Good." Thor smiles gently. "She misses you, but she said you found something more dear to you since you don't write as often as you used to."

That is true. Since the Lunar Convergence, Loki has taken to pen and ink only sporadically. He has spent most of his time with you. A fact that makes him sigh. "I said some horrible things to her."

Thor frowns. "To mother?" Finally Loki looks at him and it clicks with Thor. "... Oh, I understand. Your Witchling." He says the word with a smile because it's Loki's nickname for you and he talks about you a lot. "So...?" he asks.

"So?..." Loki retorts.

Thor looks at his brother waiting, but nothing more comes. Loki has no further retort, but merely stares sadly at a point somewhere between the wall and the floor. Thor knows this look all too well, knows that a lot is going on in Loki’s head right now. It's a look that is often followed by a long self-isolation, because the younger Asgardian has never learned any other way to deal with the emotional chaos inside him. One would think that Asgardians would be wise and clever due to their long life, but the truth is that they are stubborn and take much longer to learn a lesson.

Thor is willing to nudge his brother in the right direction. By force, if necessary. "You said you made a mistake. So go, fix it." He reaches for the remote again, turns back on the TV, and grabs the bowl of snacks. Leaning back, he puts his feet up on the table.

Loki gives him a sour look. "It's not that easy."

"Good. Then it’s a challenge for once. You're always complaining that everything is so boringly easy here on Midgard," Thor replies nonchalantly. He has averted his eyes from his brother and watches the animated characters on the screen as if they were more interesting than what Loki is telling him.

Loki is gobsmacked by his brother's behavior, not used to him being so dismissive. "You seem to misjudge the situation."

"And you seem to be forgetting something important." He says this like it's something pretty obvious and throws a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "You're Loki, Prince of Asgard, worshiped as a god by Midgardians for centuries. Use your magic, use your silvertongue. Or don't. Maybe it's not worth it. You can watch the time of adventures with me." Thor gestures to the yellow dog on the screen.

Furious, Loki jumps up and glares at his brother. "There's nothing more worth it! I'll show you what I-..." He notices Thor's smirk and realizes that he stepped right into his brother's little trap. That sneaky bastard. He learned a lot from Loki. "Fine," the younger prince sighs, "You are right. There, I said it. Are you happy now?"

"I was happy to see you blossom at her side in these past weeks." Finally Thor is looking at his brother, his face nothing but honest. "It would sadden me if our family quarrel drove a permanent wedge between you. So, I mean it: fix it."

His brother's nod is enough for him as answer. "Do you want some of my popcorn? It's buffalo wing flavored." Thor holds the bowl out to him, but Loki makes a face in disgust when he sees the sticky brown texture. "Absolutely not."

"Your loss." Shrugging his shoulders, Thor shoves another handful into his mouth.

Loki steps up to the large panorama window, hands clasped behind his back, and ponders what he can do. He realizes he has gone too far. Normally he is a master of words, and knows how to use them in his favor. He made a mistake, but he'll be damned if he can't make things right again.

It's a sensitive subject for you, and Loki feels that it's not just the attack on your brother that's the reason. It must be something else. Something older.

Loki thinks about who he could talk to, who could tell him more about it. Because he is sure that you are not interested in talking to him or even seeing him at the moment. He has no contact with your siblings. Loki knows that he can get to your sister through the door portal in your room, but he doesn't want to use it. The risk of him stumbling over you is too high.

He can only think of one other person who might know something, and he doesn't like the prospect of that. Loki straightens his shoulders. It doesn't matter. If it will help him, he will do it. With renewed determination, he turns and strides with a "Thank you, brother" as he passes Thor, out of the room.

Thor smiles softly. "Anytime."

_______________________

(Please don't hate me. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. It's the last time Loki and the Witchling fight. I swear!)

Loki: „I hurt the Witchling with the greatest weapon I know.“Thor gasps „You stabbed her?“Loki: „No!“Thor: „Did you attack her with magic again?“Loki: „No, I meant words. I hurt her with my words.“Thor: „Ooooh….“

Code: Dangerous Jazz Hands = Loki’s hands glow with magic and not in a fun way

Tag List: @lokisgoodgirl @lokixryss @itsybitchylittlewitchy @yokshi-unbeliebubble @fictional-hooman @elennair @all-envy-suyu @purplekitten30 @elisadmaggiore @nothing2113 @ceo-of-stfu @moonlightreader649 @ronipiamka @fluffybunnyu @ninjarose23 @ozymdias @huntress-artemiss @sofi786 @thedistractedagglomeration @rosaline-black @msrawog @moonlightreader649 @paetonnn @eldriidd @r4inlov3r @eleniblue @eleniblue @maeisonline @marvel-love24 @sinsandguilt @kalinaselennespeaks @ohtellmelove @eleniblue @hyojin-2579 @just-someone11 @marygoddessofmischief @fall-myriad @melavoris @baebeepeach

[quotidian-oblivion]

Wasn't tagged but decided to do this.

Repost and tell me how you draft as you write. Do you write in order? Do you start with something particular? How fully formed does your writing come out the first try? How many drafts do you go through? Tell me about your process because I’m curious!

*takes deep breath* o k a y.

First off, I rant. Don't know when, don't know where, once it was on a family trip on a ferry. But I rant. I rant about the plot. Sometimes, it's an excited rant, sometimes, it's an angry rant. My fics are always born out of some type of emotion. I rant pages and pages. If there isn't enough ranting on a doc, the fic doesn't work out (unless it's a oneshot), simple as that. Most times, I rant in one go. I cannot go back to ranting if I get interrupted for an extended period of time. So if I'm ranting about a possible fic, and someone interrupts me, they'll probably dead (/j). But occasionally, for some fics (it's random), i manage to go back and rant out more of a plot for them. The ranting nearly always happens at night.

Secondly, I let the rants stew for a long long time. Like wine in the basement. I don't know how alcohol works, I'm Muslim. But you get the idea. Oh! Another comparison, I let my rant-fics stew for a while like bread dough before you put it in the oven. Yk? To let the yeast to its thing. Yeah, okay, I'm gonna stop now. Sometimes, I go back and read the rants. Just for fun. Cuz those rants are fics made just for me and I enjoy them to the fullest extent.

Third, I come back if I'm in that fic's mood and decide to flesh it out and add chapters. And so I create the first chapter, copy+paste the part of the rant which will fit that chapter, and then I add more details to flesh the rants out a little more and make it into a more substantial and understandable plot. I add some missed details, close some holes, this is the most crucial part of my editing because this is the only time where major editing happens. If I need to make a major edit when I'm later on in the fic-writing process, I abandon it (most of the time). So yeah, this is the most crucial part. Sometimes, the chapter notes (I call it chapter notes), get so lengthy and detailed that they're good enough to be first drafts. So I consider them first drafts most of the time rather than chapter notes.

Fourth step, I do the extra bits. Which is generally the spontaneous stuff and whatever comes in mind. Like tags, ao3 notes, research etc.

The fifth step is actually writing it out. Or well, turning the first draft into a second draft, more comprehensible for other people reading. This is best done when I'm sleep-deprived and at night while I'm in bed with my sisters beside me, dozing off as my phone repeatedly falls and hits my face.

Sixth and last step is just editing. Grammar, little plot holes, adding or deleting a line here and there. Usually, this happens over a course of weeks cuz the bigger the gap I visit the document, the better I edit and think more objectively and clearly about this. But if the gap is too big, I get insecure and think the fic is cringe and delete the whole document. Just kidding, I stopped deleting my writing a while ago, but I abandon the story and shove it to the deepest depths of my head and docs. While writing, because I don't want the flow to break, I leave notes for future me [like this] (bolded and underlined in square brackets) and most of the time, they tell future-me about why the character has done a certain action, or what they will need to do next, and more commonly, telling future-me to find synonyms for words or the meaning of words I know, but am unsure about.

Aaaaaaand, then I post!

Obviously, this is different for one shots. One shots, are spontaneous and are generally written in one-sitting, but not all the time.

Oh! Also, I write chapters in order, but I don't plan it in order (which includes ranting and chapter notes). Sometimes, I get visions of cute moments or just stuff I want in fics and they're almost always actually comprehensibly written out scenes rather than babble only I can fully understand, and they go at the bottom of the document under 'Extracts'. The extracts can happen at any time as long as it is before the last step. If it comes when the sixth step is in place, I don't write it down or transfer it to another fic.

Anyway, yeah, I like rambling about things. This was really long. Ig I go through a total of... 6 or 7 drafts? Including the ranting as a draft. But this is only for multi-chaps. Oneshots vary.

No pressure tags: @wakkoroni @sardonic-sprite @tristicorde @cygnusdoesthings @pevensiechase @foursixtwonineoh-pieces-of-lego @uncertainwallflower

[martsonmars]

Hello friends! First SSS of the year for me. Also an early post because I want to write after sleeping and maybe some validation early in the day will help 💖 I have six snippets from six WIPs to share (only the fifth one written today, which makes me sad because I really wanted to share new new words, but it's okay) and I want to talk about them, so I'm throwing everything under the cut with the tags.

You can vote for the WIP you'd like me to continue the most (except Like We Had A Clue, because I know people are waiting for an update and it would skew the vote hahaha). Pick one of the other 5! Though as always I'll follow inspiration and not what the people want.

Love you all <3 hope you're taking care of yourself in these trying times.

1. First EGF WIP. I have many ideas for EGF, but considering a) possible writer's blocks, b) exams, c) other non EGF related WIPs, I honestly don't know how much I'll manage to write. This one is the most “urgent” one because it's a collab with @aroace-genderfluid-sheep and he's already done so many cool things for it and I'm so excited!!! The snippet I'm sharing is all I've written for this fic. Oh well!

“You could've at least sent us to Dante's inferno. That would've been intellectually stimulating.”

“This place is plenty stimulating.”

Of course it is. It's a fucking sex dungeon.

2. Second EGF WIP. I shared something from this already. There's hope I'll finish this one because it's short, but knowing myself I can't make promises hahaha.

“I’m sorry,” they say. Their voice is deep and smooth, like I imagine a cello would sound if it could talk. “I don’t think I can have dinner with you tonight.”

I can’t hide how much it stings. Of course my monster under the bed would come out just to reject me.

3. Like We Had A Clue. Chapter 5 is outlined in detail but I'm still struggling so much with it. Have some sentences I might have shared already in the past because I wrote them months ago!

“Are you trying to trap me, Snow? Keep me here to make food for you forever?”

“What if I am?”

I raise an eyebrow. His hand is still on my arm. He lets it fall.

4. WIP I shared from a couple of weeks ago. I want to have fun with this so I'm not forcing myself to write it, but I also really want to finish it. It's a struggle, always 🤣

(There's nothing innocent about four thousand words of Fangvald having a pity wank after Cherry spat on his face and demanded to know the true motives behind his betrayal.)

But it's fanfiction. Exploring fictional worlds and fictional characters and fictional relationships.

It would say nothing about me if he hadn't also linked two of my longest 4am rants about loneliness and deserving love.

5. Mystery WIP. I started plotting it yesterday and I've already lost steam. We'll see if it ever gets written.

25/12, 11:27AM

basiltea: Of course I'll help you.

basiltea: You can't be trusted to handle this alone and make it work.

Excalisbury: I LOVE YOU

basiltea: I'm just saving you from yourself.

6. Picture book story! The issue with this one is that I have to rewrite it completely. I have @johnwgrey's super useful notes, but I hate rewriting and editing with a burning passion, and this story needs so much work it hurts. But I'll do it!

Of course Snow had no reason to trust him. The fact that Baz had decided he’d never even try to hurt him again couldn’t erase five years of antagonism. Especially because Snow didn’t know about his change of heart. (It would’ve been ridiculous. Hey, Snow, I decided I don’t hate you anymore. Quite the opposite, instead. Can I kiss you?)

That was a lot. I feel like Simon and Baz are possessing me because I want to write SO MUCH, I literally can feel the words pushing to get out, but the second I open a doc it all fades out. Ugh. Hopefully I'll be more motivated in the morning.

So many no pressure tags for you lovelies:

@wellbelesbian @urban-sith @tea-brigade @sillyunicorn @mostlymaudlin @facewithoutheart @palimpsessed @otherpeoplesheartachept-2 @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @forabeatofadrum @fatalfangirl @prettylightsbigcity @whatevertheweather @jbrrring @confused-bi-queer @moodandmist @bookish-bogwitch @letraspal @dragoneggos @captain-aralias @takitalks @excalisbury (stealing your @ for Simon's Discord username hahaha) @otherworldsivelivedin @cutestkilla @ileadacharmedlife @gekkoinapeartree @bazzybelle @basiltonbutliketheherb @messofthejess @ivelovedhimthroughworse @nightimedreamersworld @artsyunderstudy @foolofabookwyrm-activated @ionlydrinkhotwater @yellobb @orange-peony @ic3-que3n @whogaveyoupermission @katmiscellanious @yeonjunenby @erzbethluna @larkral @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @shrekgogurt @raenestee @onepintobean @stitchyqueer @hushed-chorus

[jazlynriddle]

Deleted Scenes Ch 1:

In light of the Undercroft

Summary:

Anne wasn't the only one who changed after the curse, Ominis swallowed the words, grieving once more for the brief happiness they'd had together.

A series of fill in snippets of interactions between Sebastian and Ominis in-between quests, starting with Ominis confronting Sebastian after he catches Main Character leaving the Undercroft.

Ending with a longer epilogue chapter that takes place post-game, where Sebastian and Ominis find a way to move on and mend their friendship.

Warnings: Spoilers

Link to AO3 can be found here (with additional tags)

Notes:

Can be taken as pre-slash or just canon-compliant bromance.

I love the writing for this questline, but the self-insert Main Character aspect does result in us missing a lot of crucial interactions between NPCs like Sebastian and Ominis.

So, I tried to imagine how they may have interacted between quests based on dialogue available in the game, a few logical leaps, and their character dynamics. To answer questions like; how did they overcome their disagreement over sharing the secret of the Undercroft?

I'll be trying my best to avoid mentioning things that specifically involve Main Character's decisions or gender, for a neutral idea of how the interactions between the boys might go, but I will have to go with some assumptions of Main Character's decisions here and there, do forgive me.

The largest exception being the decision to turn in Sebastian. This fic will be operating under the assumption that Main Character does not turn in Sebastian.

"Sebastian, have you lost your mind!?" Ominis spat as soon as the gates raised before him, storming through them immediately with confident strides, moving through the room with familiarity. "What were you thinking, telling the new fifth year about this place!?"

Sebastian jumped to his feet, almost knocking over a tall pile of books on the table by the bench he had been seated on. "T-they told you!?"

"So you did tell them about the Undercroft!" Ominis gritted his teeth.

"I- Well, I, wait, so they didn't tell you that?" Sebastian stammered, scrambling to cover up his mistake.

"No, they told some boldfaced lie about stumbling upon this room, ridiculous!" Ominis threw his hands up in frustration. Sebastian smiled, pleased to hear that his new friend had tried to lie for him anyway.

Ominis jabbed a finger in Sebastian's general direction. "You can wipe that smile from your face. I know you're smiling."

Sebastian's grin stretched wider, reaching forward to adjust Ominis' index finger to properly point at his face, stifling a snicker at the indignation on Ominis' face.

Yanking his hand back, Ominis huffed irritably.  "And that is beside the point, what in Merlin's name do you think you're doing, speaking of this place to someone who's been here for less than a month!?"

"Exactly." Sebastian countered, folding his arms defensively. "They've been here for less than a month, you know they're muggleborn, catching up to the rest of us is going to be incredibly difficult and I'm sure they'll need somewhere the pureblood nuts won't bother them."

At Ominis' unconvinced expression, Sebastian huffed and tipped his head back irritably. "I would have thought you'd approve of me helping a muggleborn in Slytherin!"

"I do approve of you helping a new struggling student, but this is supposed to be our sanctuary! You didn't even bother to ask how I felt before you did it!" Ominis voice shook with some of the hurt he was trying to conceal.

"Look, I-" Sebastian began, a sharp retort on his tongue, right until he noticed that Ominis was blinking rapidly in an attempt to prevent moisture from gathering in his eyes.

Sebastian sighed instead and sat back down heavily, the fight momentarily drained out of him.

Ominis shifted agitatedly, waiting for a few moments of silence before opening his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Sebastian's quiet admission.

"Because they remind me of Anne."

Ominis froze, he hadn't expected anything like what Sebastian had just said. The tightness around his eyes softened gradually, as Sebastian continued. "I miss her. I miss this place. I miss us hanging out together here. They just reminded me so much of Anne, the way she was before…"

Sebastian took a deep breath, clasping his hands together in front of him. Ominis quietly approached his bowed head as Sebastian swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Oh Sebastian…" Ominis sighed, what else could he say? He missed her too.

"I just- I wanted to have that feeling again. Playing Gobstones together, teaching Anne Confringo after we'd practiced till we were sure we wouldn't accidentally hurt her or let her hurt herself. The time the three of us spent together here were- are some of my best memories." The words came out thick with grief, Sebastian swallowed, pushing past the crushing loneliness of being apart from his twin for too long.

All because of the goblins. Sebastian lifted his head, a fire blazing in his eyes, letting his anger wash away the pain.

"It's those bloody goblins, it wasn’t enough to curse Anne, and now the little buggers are after the new fifth year too!" Sebastian gestured uselessly before Ominis' unseeing gaze.

Sebastian slumped back down, clasping his hands together again.

"They were so brave, fighting that troll, it was like watching Anne beat the piss out of those seventh year pure-brained bullies." Sebastian's tone grew wistful for a moment, before he lifted his head to face Ominis.

"I'm sorry I told them without consulting you, but they need somewhere they can train to get stronger. I'd do it again. I'm not going to let the goblins take someone else, not if I can help it." Sebastian's voice darkened dangerously and Ominis suppressed a shiver.

The hatred in Sebastian's words was so visceral, that Ominis felt something in himself recoil, from the person he cared about most in the world.

Anne wasn't the only one who changed after the curse. Ominis swallowed the words, grieving once more for the brief happiness they'd had together. With one spell, the goblins had taken away the only two people he loved. Was it too much to ask? Just two people, in the whole bloody world that he wanted to protect, and the goblins just had to curse Anne.

Sebastian wasn't the only one angry, Ominis was too, but it was so tiring being angry. Ominis had spent so long angry. Angry at his ill fortune, at whatever cruel deities had decided to put a blind child in the House of Gaunt. Angry at his parents, at his siblings, his heritage. He was so tired of anger and hate.

Ominis sighed in resignation, there was no point bemoaning what could not be undone, he'd learnt that growing up under his family's…tender loving care.

"Well, I suppose there's no changing the past. You've already told them, there's nothing I can do about it now." Ominis grumbled, sitting down on the bench beside Sebastian. He heard Sebastian release a shaky breath, his friend's body relaxing beside him.

"So, what else did you do with them, besides get another detention?" Ominis shook his head as he bumped shoulders with Sebastian.

Sebastian grinned. "Well, first we went to Hogsmead and then a troll appeared! It crashed through…"

Notes:

Hope that felt believable and in character! To be honest, this is just my need for closure, the game gave us closure with Sebastian or Ominis at the end of the questline, but didn't give us closure between Sebastian and Ominis.

So this fic is my take on how they may have bridged the gap between them repeatedly during the storyline, since they clearly do still end up talking after quests thanks to lines like "Ominis has been asking about you." during the Shadow of Time quest.

With the final chapter going over how I imagine they might begin to heal their relationship when Ominis goes to Sebastian with Anne's verdict, which I'm very upset that they didn't show us.

Like, why bruh, you have Sebastian tell us that Ominis told him, instead of showing us Ominis bringing the news to him in person!?