#and keeping enemies within stabbing range is always good

[four-loose-screws]

FE7 Novelization Translation - Chapter 13 Section 5

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Chapter 13: Light (Section 5)

(All text is under cut for spoilers)

“...Uhai, why are you committing such evil…? Dammit, at least I can end your suffering as soon as possible!” Legault dodged Uhai’s arrows and lunged at him without hesitation.

He never imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that he would reunite with his departed friend like this, in a place like this.

As his anger towards Nergal became stronger and stronger, he swung his sword at Uhai.

But before Legault could get close enough, Uhai fired his bow, keeping him from getting within close range.

“Ah…!” An arrow stabbed into his left shoulder, sending a burning pain shooting through his body.

He’d always been unskilled in combat, and instead performed work that had him take his targets by surprise. This was not an opponent he could match and claim victory against. That was something he’d known since long before Uhai became a morph.

But that did not make him stand down.

“Gah!” Another arrow dug into his body. This time, his right thigh was shot. It was a lethal blow. His speed was his one good skill, and it had been taken from him. “Well, Uhai. Shoot me. I can’t move.”

The speechless puppet masquerading as Uhai drew his bow, and aimed the arrow directly at the space between Legault’s eyes.

The moment he was about to let go of the string, his body slowly slumped over, then finally fell off his horse.

“Are you alright, Legalt?!”

“...Geez, I was hoping you would have arrived a little sooner!”

Legault said as he flashed a sarcastic smile at Matthew, who was currently bringing his dear friend to his second death.

Legault was the decoy, and Matthew was the one who would launch a surprise attack from behind - that had been their strategy all along.

“We have to hurry and get you healed…”

“No, I’m fine. I can take care of this much myself.” Legault said as he pulled out the arrow in his left arm.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I just killed your friend.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. It is what it is. You should go support our other allies. This is no problem for me.” He added as he applied a vulnerary to his wound. 

Finally deciding that Legault looked like he would be fine on his own, Matthew ran back over to their other allies.

Legault tossed the now empty vulnerary, and limped over towards Uhai. Because he had been brought back as a morph, he was not a corpse, but a pile of white sand.

“I’m sorry you had to turn into this.” As Legault felt all of his strength leave his body, he touched the sand that had been his friend’s body just moments ago.

The arrow in his shoulder hadn’t posed a problem for him, but the one in his thigh pierced straight through one of his arteries, and blood was gushing out of the wound with no sign of slowing down. It did not seem like he would be able to stop the bleeding in time. 

If he could be healed by a Life staff, then there was a chance that he could be saved. But Legault had no energy left with which to call for a healer.

They should be focusing on healing someone stronger than him, who wasn’t of much use on the battlefield, anyway.

"Taking one enemy down with me is pretty good for me," he muttered to himself. "...I suppose I’m going to go join everyone now then, huh…?"

Legault closed his eyes and began to wait to cross over to the other side, when the voice of a certain loud cleric reached his ears.

“Ah, here you are! I found the injured person! Hurry up and thank me! I came all the way over here just to heal you.” She said, expecting a show of gratitude the moment she appeared, and immediately pointed the healing light of a Recover staff towards his leg.

“...What are you doing here?”

“Matthew asked me to help you. He said there’s a guy about to die any second now.”          

“Of course it was him…" A smile spread across Legault’s face. And not his usual superficial smile, but one that was genuine from the very bottom of his heart.

‘I’m sorry, everyone. But it looks like I won’t be meeting any of you again just yet…’ Legault whispered to them in his heart.

Serra asked, holding nothing back, “How are you smiling when you’re injured? That’s so creepy! What are you, some kind of pervert?”

ー

“I’m gonna send you right back to where you came from!!” Hector shouted as he swung Armads at Darrin’s morph.

He split Darrin’s lance perfectly in two, then cut Darrin himself in half, causing the marquess of Laus to literally crumble into sand. “Alright, now I’m gonna go defeat Nergal!!"

His newly acquired weapon Armads was unmatched in its might.

All of his blood was racing through his body, stirring up his excitement for battle.

The moment he started for the Dragon’s Gate, where he was sure to find Nergal…

“Look out! Behind you!!” A woman’s high-pitched voice screamed.

Hector trusted the voice without a single doubt, jumping to the right to move out of his current spot.

Brendan’s morph swung his axe down exactly where Hector had just been standing.

Hector swiftly fixed his stance and swung Armads. “Damn you! That was close!!”

His attack swung perfectly parallel to the ground, and cut deep into Brendan. To follow up, he immediately raised Armads into the air and swung it down atop Brendan’s head.

Brendan was still down from the previous attack, and could do nothing to stop Hector. The blow became lethal, turning his body to sand that scattered in the wind.

Having sent his enemies to their grave, Hector turned around and looked behind him. “You really saved me there, Florina!”

“...Ah, you… remember my name?”

“What are you talking about? When someone hangs around me as much as you do, of course I’d remember them, like it or not!”

Hector’s words made Florina blush and look away.

Florina had been a pain in his side over and over again since she saved him in Caelin, having stood around him multiple times, trying to start a conversation to thank him, just to run away every time.

And she still hadn’t properly thanked him.

She steeled her resolve, and started to open her mouth. 

But Hector spoke before her. “C’mon, let’s go get our next enemy. We have to hurry and help everyone!”

“Ah, um, yes!”

She couldn’t bring herself to thank him this time, either.

'If we win this battle and all come back alive, I'll do it then!' Florina said to herself as she followed after Hector, already leaving her behind.

-

Mani Katti and Sol Katti.

Wielding the two spirit possessed swords in perfect harmony, even the strongest morphs were no match for Lyn.

“Haaaa!”

With a battle cry, she swung both of the silver blades and cut a cross-shaped wound into Ursula. Once she confirmed that Ursula had collapsed and was not going to get up, Lyn decided on her next target.

Kenneth’s morph had already fallen at her allies’ hands.

The only two remaining were the Reed brothers. Both stood before her.

“You two were exceptionally strong. I wanted to face you when you were both alive, but…” Lyn said, then immediately ran straight towards them.

Aiming for Lyn as she came directly at him, Linus swung his large sword down. Lyn jumped ever so slightly to the right, dodging his blade by a hair, then, aiming for his side, swung Sol Katti in her left hand.

But just before Lyn’s attack hit him, Lloyd stopped it with his sword.

Lyn quickly jumped back, putting distance between her and them.

Even as morphs, their bond was strong. They were already powerful enough on their own, and together, they were even more formidable foes. 

But Lyn had her own partner that she could rely on just as much as they relied on each other.

“Lyn of the Lorca Tribe, I am here to assist you!”

“Rath!” She glanced over at him for a moment, then charged towards Linus once again.

Not wanting her to get away again, Linus raised his sword above his head, and waited for her. But just before Lyn would have entered his range, she leapt to the left.

Linus blinked.

He lost sight of his target. She was immediately replaced by Rath, drawing back the string on his Hero’s Bow.

Lyn had cleverly hid Rath behind herself.

Rath fired his arrow, which flew directly into Linus’ windpipe.

The only morph left now was Lloyd’s.

Lyn tightened her grip around her possessed swords, then ran towards Lloyd.

He also came at her.

When they crossed paths, Lyn suffered a shallow cut to her side, but she felt Sol Katti cut into her foe’s arm. 

Lloyd stood still for a moment before turning around and rushing violently at Lyn again, still without speaking a single word.

This time, Lyn did not move, standing firm and waiting for him. She blocked Lloyd’s sword, aimed at her chest, with both of her own, then fixed her stance and swung both blades at the speed of light. Confronted with both Mani Katti and Sol Katti, he blocked one with his sword and sacrificed his left hand to take the other.

Her foe’s physical strength was greater than her own. She let go of Mani Katti, still lodged in his left hand, jumped backwards to avoid his counter attack, then moved as quickly as she could back towards him. With speed that could be considered godlike, she ran past him. When they crossed paths, Sol Katti’s blade cleanly sliced his chest open.

Lyn picked up Mani Katti from the sand that the morph’s corpse turned into, then turned towards Rath. “That went perfectly, Rath!”

“...It did.” He responded simply, and looked back at her, his expression as devoid of emotion as ever. "...This means the morphs have all been defeated."

"Yes!"

While Lyn and the others were all fighting the morphs, Eliwood and Athos had gone on ahead towards Nergal. They had to hurry after them.

"All there is left is to defeat the root of this calamity…”

"Yes, let's go, Rath!"

Rath was on his horse, so he went on ahead.

As his horse galloped forward, he glanced back at the woman following after him, from the very same plains as he was. At first, he’d thought of their meeting one year ago as fleeting, a crossing of paths that the wind had guided him towards.

But things were different now. Rath had realized that the place Lyn took in his heart was getting bigger and bigger.

As he stared straight ahead, he said to her, “Lyn… I vow to Father Sky that we will win this battle and survive…

“Yes, may we be granted Mother Earth’s blessing!”

☆

[mycological-mariner]

hello good sir can you give me some basic principles of waving swords around? i have a revenge quest to go on and little time to prepare

Absolutely, of course!!

Right, so a lot of this answer is going to depend on the type of sword you’ll be using. Rapier, broadsword, cutlass, gladius? So let’s go with handles instead. Two hands, one hand, or even a half grip (where you get a lot of your medieval swords where you can absolutely use both hands even if they don’t fit on the hilt; other hand for shield). A part of me really wants to break it down taxonomically

Next! Will this be a stabbing job or a, hah, a hack job? Hacking weapons can get kind of messy.. (see gladius). A lot of swords are made with either or in mind, although you can absolutely go stabbing someone with a cutting blade and vice versa - sky’s the limit, my vengeful friend! Sabres, however, are really nice because they were made to hack and stab and have a lovely range of movement (cutlasses are a kind of sabre! So let’s say you’re using something like that, though let me know if not and I will endeavour to better equip you!)

Now for the actual fighting

Let’s talk form! Stance should be wide and balanced, your dominant leg in front slightly bent but not so much your knee is over your toe. Dominant foot points forward, non-dominant foot points out - both legs are slightly bent. You wanna be able to move quickly and without losing balance so keep your back straight and centre of gravity low so you don’t get knocked down. There are two MAIN moves you should know: cross and double cross. A cross looks almost like a skip (it’s not) and is the type of movement you see most with fencing. You want to always keep your feet apart otherwise your opponent can throw you off. Good for quick movements while still keeping a good guard. A double cross is easier and looks cooler. This is where you just don’t bother with tiny steps and swivel on your front foot when moving forward, bringing your non-dominant leg to the front. Reverse this when defending. You go longer distances and good for attacks with more power behind them. A good slashing movement.

Your guard should always be on. With a sabre, this means the blade should cross your body when you’re not striking. Keep your elbow near your hip. You want a wide range of movement as an option, but you want to keep it within a bubble, your own space. When attacking, don’t attack wildly and don’t go too wide - look for an opening, create one of you have to. Eye contact is so crucial because that’s how you can predict where your opponent will strike. You can always turn a defensive move offensive. Let’s say they try to land a strike on your lower left which is undefended. You get in there first, deflect the blow but direct it in such a way that leaves them vulnerable, even if it’s only for a moment. A moment is all you’ll need. If you can get your opponent off their guard, you’ll be good. Attacks I’d avoid are overhead strikes. That leaves all of you open, so unless you’ve disarmed them, might wanna avoid this one. Recovery time between attack and defence is crucial, you don’t wanna take your sweet time coming back from a parried lunge back to defensive positions (trust me).

So in short!

Good stance is key, can determine the outcome of a fight before it even begins. Same goes for footwork. Stance: wide, centre of gravity: low (or lower than you’d use with something like a rapier). Any attack you make will leave some part of you open for attack. Don’t just hit their blade, hit their flesh! Their sword isn’t your enemy! Play up your strengths and know your weak points. Use their attacks against them. Don’t be afraid to fight dirty! Everything is a weapon! Precision!!

Some helpful tips:

I’ve broken enough fingers and cut my hand enough in duels to start wearing a heavy leather glove. Fight smart, don’t wear yourself out too fast. Black is always a great choice for fashion since blood doesn’t show as easily on it + it’s just Cool. If you wind up disarmed, trip them up! And always bring a backup knife. Nothing wrong with fighting a wee bit dirty! And, because I’ve made this mistake, don’t fight with an empty stomach, have a snack

I really hope this helps you! If you want to ask anything else, I’m always happy to answer any questions! Good luck on getting your revenge! <3

[therapardalis]

What Kind of Body of Water Are You?

Tagged by: @lucxsnorth Tagging:  @ferocioushonesty, @bountyman, @therealgamble, @corinnebaileyrp, @the-mjolnir-owner (should be fun ;)), @lxghtnxnggxrl and whoever else would like to.

A Bathtub

The only result that is warm. You are comforting, nurturing, and gentle. I imagine you were born in the month of June, January, or November.

There's something about you that when people are with you, they can be themselves to the greatest extent. You have to be careful though my dear, you are bound to be taken advantage of and exploited. My advice is to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, because you need to be able to keep a close watch on those who will think of you as someone who they can manipulate, and you need to have the upper hand.

However, do not let this make you go cold and heartless, because you are warmth, light, and golden rays of joy. Don't forget it.

Presented without comment, except for Ares sniggering in the background and Thera yelling “EXCUSE YOU, I AM A FUCKING DELIGHT!”

[flightlessangelwings]

How You Calm the Comandante

Comandante Veracruz x afab!reader (smut with no pronoun use)

Word count: 2.9k

Warnings: smut (18+ only), fingering, edging, unprotected sex, rough-ish sex (it’s actually fairly tame for V here lol), cockwarming, Veracruz-typical violence, migraines, fluff

Idea based off of this anon I got that I loved so much I had to write: Veracruz would be a fucking pouty angry man who takes it all out on his subordinates when he is sick/has a headache. They all pray he goes to see his girl cause thry can't take much more of his wrath! But Veracruz grumpily melts into a puddle when she fusses over him.

Gif credit: @ewan-mcgregor​

~

Comandante Veracruz was in a mood. He usually tended to be, but today especially he was extremely short tempered and irritable. He stalked around the compound where he was currently stationed with his men for training exercises with a deep scowl on his face and a don’t-fuck-with-me air about him. It made his men absolutely terrified.

His yells could be heard throughout the complex, and the men cowered in fear and just hoped that Veracruz’s wrath would not be directed at them next. They hid when they could, and did their best to appease him when they couldn’t. Even with how the comandante was on a normal day, this was exceptionally tough for the men.

Veracruz ducked into a shadowed corner and buried his head in his hands. The pain that rang through his skull was almost unbearable and he had never felt anything like this before. His eyes felt like they were on fire in his skull and every sound and light source felt like he was getting stabbed in the temple. No doubt this was a migraine, and a particularly nasty one at that.

With a heavy breath, Veracruz gathered himself again and moved back out to command his men. Today though, “commanding” took on a whole different meaning as he tried to cover his pain with shouts and screams. They ran dills harder than ever before, and Veracruz even pulled his gun on those who did not respond fast enough to his orders.

No doubt they were all terrified, and they had to do something about the comandante’s sour mood. Most of them just did their best and hoped that Veracruz would leave and go see you. He was always in a much better mood after his visits with you, and it did not take a genius to figure out why. The men began to think that some time with you was their only hope.

Veracruz’s lieutenant, his second in command, finally decided to do something. And, acting in the men’s best interest as well as Veracruz’s, he snuck out of the compound and drove to your place. He was the person, other than you, that Veracruz trusted the most. And he was the only one who knew where you lived. Veracruz kept it a secret for your own safety, but he also decided that he needed a backup in case anything ever happened and someone other than himself needed to get to you.

You opened the door with a surprised look on your face. You recognized the lieutenant, but you had no idea why he was here instead of Veracruz, “Is everything alright?” you asked.

He let out a deep exasperated sigh, “Not exactly,” he briefly explained the comandante’s mood and current violent rage, “He even shot one of the new recruits in the foot when he didn’t move fast enough,” the poor guy sounded so tired.

You let out a heavy sigh at that and immediately understood why he was here. With a nod, you agreed to come with him, even though you knew it broke protocol as well as several rules. You figured that since this was within the complex and they were only working on training exercises, it would be ok for you to sneak in to take care of your comandante. Besides, Veracruz had snuck you out into the field before so this was not nearly as risky.

The drive was quiet and the sun had started to set when the lieutenant pulled into the complex with you in the passenger seat. You were quiet in the drive, and you could tell that the man next to you relaxed visibly as he led you toward the comandante. Your overnight bag sat in your lap; you came prepared since you always tended to spend a good amount of time with Veracruz whenever you were together.

After he parked and guided you through the complex, you could see looks of relief on the men’s faces. You had to laugh to yourself; you knew they knew why you were here. Honestly, you felt bad for them, and you hoped that your visit would help. Veracruz may have kept you a secret from his enemies and anyone else, but his men knew exactly who you were.

The lieutenant stopped in front of a door with Comandante Veracruz’s name on it, and gave you a grateful nod and small smile before he turned to leave. You shook your head; all these tough military men and they needed you to calm the rage of their leader. With a half grin, you knocked at the door and you rolled your eyes when you heard his muffled yell on the other side.

When the door swung open forcefully, you were met with Veracruz’s scowl in your face. But, he immediately relaxed and dropped his shoulders when he saw that it was you. A fire still burned in his eyes, and you could tell that he was in a lot of pain, though he tried to hide it. He scanned you over as he breathed your name.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped and immediately winced at the loudness of his own voice.

You weren’t intimidated by his attitude and you didn’t back down; you knew he would never do anything to you so matter what his mood was, “I was told you needed me,” you answered matter-of-factly.

Veracruz growled as he smiled through grit teeth. He grabbed your arm and pulled you into his quarters and slammed the door shut behind him. You were taken aback at how dark the room was, but you didn’t have time to dwell on it as the comandante tossed your bag to the corner and slammed you up against the door.

“V, what is it?”

His answer came with a heated kiss as he used his body to keep you in place. Veracruz’s hands ran down your body and bunched your shirt up and lifted it up over your head. You took the opportunity when he broke away to remove your shirt for a deep breath before his lips were on yours again. While his tongue tangled with yours, you clung to his shirt as he worked to unfasten your pants.

Just as the comandante loosened your jeans, you tried to fiddle with his own clothes, but he had other plans. He grabbed your wrists and pinned them up above your head with one of his large, strong hands while his other hand dipped down below your underwear. Veracruz swallowed the moan you let out with his mouth as he pushed two fingers into your cunt.

As much as Veracruz usually loved to hear your moans, his migraine did not allow for loud sounds in the room, so he kept his mouth on yours as he feverishly pumped his fingers in and out of you. Your muffled moans and the wet sounds from between your legs were almost soothing to him and strangely helped with the throbbing pain in his head. However, it created a new problem as Veracruz quickly got hard from the way you writhed and whimpered at his touch. 

You strained against his hand and bucked your hips, desperate for more. Veracruz grinned against your lips and picked up the pace. Your heat around his fingers was more comforting than he thought it would be, and the feeling of your body against his eased the pain he felt. Just as you were about to cum, however, Veracruz pulled away. He laughed darkly at the whimper you let out, and the two of you locked eyes for a moment before he reached out for you again and yanked your pants down. A shiver ran though you at the sudden rush of cool air against your skin, but you didn’t have time to dwell on it as the comandante led you back towards his bunk.

As you let him lead you into the room, you grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him in for another desperate kiss. You fumbled with the buttons on his shirt as he backed you up against his bunk, though you were not as quick or graceful as he was with your own clothing. A small yelp escaped your lips when you felt the back of your legs hit the edge of his bunk and you heard him chuckle softly against your skin. Veracruz let you remain standing so you could strip him of the rest of his clothes.

He watched with darkened eyes as you tenderly pushed his now open shirt off of his shoulders. While your hands worked to undo his belt, his own wandered all over your naked body. You let out a surprised squeal when Veracruz gave your ass a squeeze, and he only grinned at you in response. He always liked to turn things into a game with you, and as needy as he was for you, Veracruz enjoyed when he made things harder for you.

So he distracted you the best way he could: by touching and caressing your body in every place he knew drove you wild, especially with how sensitive you were after being edged once. Veracruz’s hand moved up your sides and he felt you shiver under his touch before he grabbed your breasts firmly. You gasped and leaned forward into his chest as he pinched your nipples and rolled them between his fingers. You moaned softly as you shoved his pants down, but your strength always started to leave your body as he played with you.

Veracruz took pity on you and let you go so that he could push his pants down. The moment he stepped out of them, he pushed you onto the bunk and you landed on your back with a grunt. The comandante crawled on top of you and groaned into your mouth as he kissed you passionately.

You sighed against his lips as you wrapped your arms and legs around him, desperate to have him closer to you. Veracruz kissed his way down your neck and bit down hard at the sensitive spot there, which made you moan loudly. He hissed at the sudden noise, but he was not as bothered by it. As long as it was your moans and cries, Veracruz could deal with the searing pain in his head.

He bucked his hips against you as his hand trailed down your body to your slit and he growled when he felt how wet you were. Perhaps a little too roughly, Veracruz pushed a finger inside you once again and you whimpered for a moment before it turned into moans of pleasure. He broke away from your neck for a moment to watch your face as he added a second finger and pumped them in and out of your body rhythmically. 

When you felt his gaze on you, your eyes fluttered open and you breathed his name in a desperate plea for more. You reached out for his length and began to stroke it slowly. Veracruz groaned as he rocked his hips against your hand before he realized his own movements. As both of you locked eyes with each other, you both found that you slowed your movements and just got lost in each other’s eyes. It was an intimate moment that didn’t happen often with Veracruz, but he came to treasure those moments when they do happen.

Just as the moment started, the comandante ended it as he pulled his fingers out of you and lined himself up at your entrance. In his mind, he thought that he could fuck his migraine away and use your body for his own gain. Of course, however, he would never leave you unsatisfied. Perhaps others liked to think differently, but Veracruz always made sure you had your fill when he fucked you, and he prided himself on his ability to make you scream so loud that you lost your voice for a brief time.

But because of the almost blinding pain in his head, Veracruz entered you much more slowly than he normally would. Regardless, you moaned and bucked your hips against him as he stretched your pussy out with his length. When he was fully sheathed inside you, he paused as collapsed down on top of your body. You felt so good around his cock, and Veracruz was pissed off that the pain in his head didn’t allow him to enjoy the feeling of you fully.

“V? You ok?” you asked in a hushed voice as you wrapped your arms around him.

Not one to be defeated by anything, Veracruz quickly recovered and pushed himself back up with a low groan. His eyes trailed down your figure as he took in the sight of you underneath him in the dim light. Even in the darkness, he could still see the outline of your body and he groaned when his eyes locked on to your pussy with his cock buried deep inside it.

The sight set off something within Veracruz and he planted his hands on either side of you and started to pound relentlessly into you. Immediately, you threw your head back against the firm mattress of the bunk and cried out in pleasure as you clung to his shoulders. 

But the comandante soon changed positions and he brought his arms down and hooked them around the back of your knees. He used the leverage to hike your legs up and folded you in on yourself. The action drove his cock even deeper into your pussy and you both groaned at the action. The comandante stilled himself at the new angle for a moment and just relished the feeling of your cunt and the look of sheer pleasure on your face.

“Mine,” Veracruz spoke in a low growl for the first time as he thrust into you again.

Your cries filled the room, but Veracruz didn’t care. Where others' sounds felt like a stab in his head, your sounds were music to his ears. He wrapped one of his arms around your thigh to reach your clit and rubbed furious circles. You clawed at wherever you could reach as you bucked your hips against his and felt your orgasm build up already.

“Yours…” you whispered as you held onto his knees, “V… I’m close…”

His grip on you tightened at your words as he sped up his thrusts, “Come, cariño.”

That was all it took for your climax to wash over you. Your whole body trembled as you came with his name on your lips. Your inner muscles clenched on his length as your legs shook on either side of his head. And your orgasm triggered Veracruz’s own as he growled your name as spilled his seed deep inside you. The warmth that flooded his body was the welcome relief that he had chased all day. 

Once Vercruz rode out both of your orgasms, he collapsed down on top of you. His cock stayed buried in your pussy as he let all the tension in his body go and just covered you with his body. You let out a surprised grunt, but you immediately caressed his sides to let him know you weren’t hurt. You didn’t want to lose the connection to him just yet.

He buried his face in the crook of your neck as you wrapped your legs around his waist and moved your hands up to stroke his head. Veracruz stayed still on top of you as you ran your hands through his hair a few times before you gently massaged his scalp. You felt him tense for a moment before he just melted into your touch. Normally he hated his hair touched, but you had a feeling this would help ease the pain he felt.

With a smile, you focused on the back of his head first and rubbed circles at the base of his skull. You felt how tight the muscles at the base of his neck were and you were determined to get them to release. His head became heavier on the top of your shoulder as he groaned softly and you knew you achieved the effect you wanted.

Next you ran your hands up the sides of his skull and rubbed small circles on the pressure points there. You found the grooves of his skull and pressed harder there to relieve the pressure that came with a headache. After a few moments, you changed direction and scraped your nails along his scalp in a soothing manner. 

The connection between you and Veracruz was unlike anything else before. He remained still and calm on top of you, his softened cock still inside you while you soothed his aches. It was an intimacy that was unmatched and you would give anything to stay like this forever. This was a first for Veracruz too, and little did you know that he would wish for the same if it were possible.

You stayed comfortable underneath him while you continued to work on his scalp for a long while. His weight on you was a welcome one, and as you rubbed at his scalp more and more he felt heavier and heavier.

“V…?” you whispered against his ear.

His response came with a soft snore, and you realized that he fell asleep at your touch. Between how he wore himself out in the heat of passion with you and your soothing touches afterwards, Veracruz couldn’t stay awake any longer. His face stayed nuzzled against your skin so you couldn’t see that his expression had softened, but you were alright with that. You placed a soft kiss to the side of his head before you shifted yourself slightly underneath him so you could fall asleep as well. 

~

Notes: I hope that anon sees this because I loved that though so much I just had to write it! And honestly, I had a lot more fun writing the non smut part of this lol. As always, taglists are open!

[rouiyan]

𝘐𝘛'𝘚 (𝘜𝘕)𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘋𝘐𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘈𝘓. [ 𝘭.𝘥𝘩 ]

⧏ hyuck’s installment of the undone at twenty-one collective ⧐

synopsis: where you and donghyuck realize that falling in love is not just a matter of time but of circumstances, impulsive decisions, and reckless emotions. well, mostly just reckless emotions. or in short, the two times you dumped him and the one time you didn't.

✧ lee donghyuck x (fem.) reader + bestfriend!lee jeno ✧ college au, slight enemies to loverz, fake dating au

✧ genres : angst, fluff, pining ✧ word count : 18.3k ✧ disclaimers : swearing

✧ author’s note — months in the making and it's finally here. please make yourself a cup of tea and get toasty in the sheets because this bitch is huge.

it was a valentine's dance, a stupid valentine's day dance, where lovers would go if they truly had nothing else to do. it was where elderly couples would boast of how long they'd been together, clichéd stories and all. you'd only gone because your best friend, jeno, had been in charge of the whole event to begin with. it made no sense to you, jeno was always a sucker for parties but not the sappy, cookies and streamers, no-alcoholic-beverages ones. he had said it was because he needed community service hours, something about how it would look like he genuinely cared for the community on paper, but sometime during the night while watching him excitedly put up the red and pink balloons, you realized that he actually enjoyed this. he enjoyed watching over the dance once it was in full swing and you saw how he'd let the smallest of smiles adorn his face as he refilled an empty pitcher of fruit punch.

but you knew the exact reason he held the dance in such high regards when he slipped from your presence as some slow song started to hum from the speakers and the fluorescent pink lights dimmed. you’ve been friends with jeno’s girlfriend for long enough to know that she was such a sweetheart. jaein was the type of girl that sent her grade reports back home to her parents and always had her location on. she was the type of girl that slept at eleven and declined frat party invites. she was just the girl that'd come to these types of parties and just the girl jeno deserved and loved. to nobody’s shock including your own, the two had started dating a few months back after being so obviously head over heels in love with each other for years. 

while jeno had spent most of his time with you, he now spent an equal half with jaein and you weren’t all too sure what to do with the allotted free time. sure, busying yourself with studies was a good idea, not a very fun one though, so you resorted to attending the valentine’s dance jeno had set up, to support him as well as not to miss out on free food. jeno had tried, really, to get any one of his single (as in, ready to mingle) friends to come and try to woo you, but none had shown up, opting to go to more bustling parties than to babysit his lone best friend. none had shown up, except a specific brown-haired boy, with a shy smile and a lame excuse as to why he would choose to spend such a day here, of all places.

donghyuck. lee donghyuck. your polar opposite. to be fair though, you wouldn’t actually know all too well because you’d never particularly ventured to get to know him. every bit about him struck you as obnoxious and entirely unnecessary. he was this loud, boisterous enigma at your college, always sunshine and smiles and making people laugh at jokes that bordered between funny and offensive. you felt, no, you knew that he was no good. he was never committed in serious relationships, gaining labels such as being a ‘playboy,' and you doubted he ever had a serious conversation with anyone, much less himself. lee donghyuck was the moodmaker of your friend group and while that may rest peachy with others, you found it exhausting to have to always be in the mood to laugh at his jokes or else be deemed undeserving of his attention. truth be told, you thought he felt the exact same way towards you, seeing as how he never attempted to make conversation with you and how he simply acted like you didn't exist when in big groups. how wrong you were.

lee donghyuck was the last person on your mind when jeno had said to you absentmindedly that one of his friends could accompany you that night. jeno was clearly proud of this, with the knowledge of donghyuck's blatant crush on you, the matter being a secret to no one but yourself. donghyuck had really debated coming, not wanting to enforce one-on-one confrontations with you since he knew you disliked him a certain amount. but he also thought of all the things he could say to you, all the questions he'd been dying to ask since day one (all the questions that jeno hadn't begrudgingly answered already). for him, the whole day had been spent staring at jeno's simple text (hey, u should come keep y/n company at the dance) and tossing himself through his sheets, wondering if he should dare be bold and actually show up. 

turns out, even after deciding to go, showing up had been an astonishing feat in itself for donghyuck, having spent the last hour and a half brushing and re-brushing his teeth, styling and restyling his hair, and choosing and rechoosing his outfit. he'd settled for simple black jeans, torn at the knees, a white tee topped with a black denim jacket and white sneakers, his hair split in the middle and almost stabbing at his eyes. he felt his heart speed up while reversing out of the driveway of his house, he felt his heart speed up as he thought of you while driving, and he felt his heart almost stop when he entered the venue, his eyes narrowing in on you and almost doubling over at how gorgeous you looked. leaning on the drinks table, you were donned in a simple satin blue slipdress with chunky sneakers to dress it down, one side of your hair was clipped back with some pearly accessories and your equally pearly bag sat atop the table behind you. 

he took careful, calculated steps, stopping at the candy table to grab a lollipop, so as to seem like he wasn't beelining right towards you. stopping a few feet away from you and gaining your attention, he held out the heart-shaped lollipop, a shy "hi," slipping from his lips. you took the candy with a small thanks before fixating your gaze back on him and questioning his presence, "what brings you here?" though you knew the answer, you really doubted that jeno could convince donghyuck here without any willpower of his own. he bit down on his lower lip before giving out a shrug and untruthfully admitting that he, "had nothing else to do," and, "thought it would be a nice change, considering i really only attend frat parties."

taking the excuse as his word, you nodded slowly before telling him you didn't know if this was a good idea and that maybe you should just go because you didn't see much of a point in staying, completely missing the way his eyes rounded ever so slightly and how his lips twitched into a frown before he quickly fixed his expression. you were just about to turn away from him when his hands found themselves barely grazing your forearm, stopping you in your tracks so that he could voice out his inner worries, "i'm sorry if i'm making you uncomfortable but…i really would like to spend the night with you." 

in his mind, he felt as if time slowed as he watched your hair rustle as you turned back around to face him, as your eyes flashed for a brief moment of consideration, and as you brought your hand up to his, effectively removing it from your arm before looking him straight in the eye to say, "okay."

donghyuck went through all the possible scenarios he'd thought up to come to a conclusion on what to say. he noted the way most people at the event were on the dance floor, slow dancing with a loved one, and thought it was a good place to start. meanwhile, you had traced his line of vision and interpreted his ideas, quickly saying, "no, we're not dancing," and effectively trashing his one and only plan rather abruptly. donghyuck's eyes nearly bulged out of his head and he made a mental note to not be so damn obvious in front of you. he took a quick glance at your lips and decisively tossed out the first thing that came to mind, "then, have you eaten yet?"

you shook your head lightly and he took from this to offer, "then how 'bout we go grab something to eat? my treat." you barely considered the situation upon hearing the last two syllables, replying with a "sounds good," quickly grabbing your bag. exiting the venue, you looked for jeno and saw that he was still busying around his girlfriend. you took it upon yourself to text him whilst on the way to dinner. 

donghyuck felt light on his feet as he walked through the parking lot with you by his side. the cold air felt liberating on his skin but he noticed how you'd caged yourself within your arms, in attempts to ward off the wind. without thinking, he'd already shrugged off his jacket and propped it lightly over your shoulders. his confidence skyrocketed as you clutched the article of clothing tighter to your frame and muttered a small thanks. surprising even himself, he even replied with a, "no problem, you look good in it," his cheeks now flushing a bright red, the same color spreading to his ears. 

not much else was said as he opened up the car door for you, gently pushing it shut after you were seated. you mentally cursed yourself for being so easily persuaded but moreover, the thoughts that filled your head were akin with 'since when was he such a gentleman?' and 'what's with him all of a sudden?' the air in the car smelled like fast food takeout and the cupholders held everything but a cup, miscellaneous items ranging from candy wrappers to spare change occupying the space instead. donghyuck entered beside you and noted your gazes, feeling slightly embarrassed. he put the car in reverse and placed an arm behind the head of your seat, his own head tilting as he backed out of the spot. without meaning to, you glanced over, only to be met with his side profile, jawline and all. it was no question that he was handsome, and though you never thought you would be actively thinking about it, you found yourself at the foot of his beauty, with many other girls by your side.

the whole ride there, you were texting jeno (even though he wasn’t texting back), making small jokes about how you've been kidnapped by the man he hired to accompany you and how he didn't even bother to tell you where the two of you were headed. it's odd because to this day, you still don't know what it was that compelled you to come along with him. perhaps it was really just the food, or maybe his sudden boyish charm, or mayhaps it was even the lollipop he held out to you, a shy smile lighting his face.

fifteen minutes later, the eerily quiet drive came to an end when he pulled into a spot on the side of an empty road, expertly parallel parking in the small space between two moderately sized trucks. before you could process his movements, his hand was on your arm again and he let out a small, "wait here," before he slid out the car and briskly walked to your side, opening up the door for you once again. stepping out, you took a look at the building before you that hosted a fancy restaurant, seemingly halfway empty. you found that odd, especially since it was valentine’s day, but you put into consideration that it was located on the side of town that no one really frequents. 

“wow, when you said we were going to grab something to eat, i didn’t think it’d be fancy.” donghyuck felt a sense of pride in his chest as he opened yet another set of doors for you, replying back with sincerity. “i didn’t want to half-ass this… sorta date.” it felt weird coming out of his mouth, the word ‘date,’ even more so that the date was with you, but he caught the little quirk of your lips and he wondered if he really had to joke around all that much to get you to smile. on any other day where you’d hang out with the rest of the group, he’d never been able to get your still face to lift, no matter how many idiotic jokes he had to crack. 

meandering in, the waiter sat the two of you at the table against the front window and you felt subconscious of the people walking by, peering in at the pair of you like they were window shopping. donghyuck saw the way you shifted, eyes glancing out the window every few seconds and he raised his hand to catch the waiter’s attention. “can we get another table, please?” after moving to a more secluded spot, you eyed donghyuck suspiciously before he bluntly said, “what? i didn’t wanna sit by the window.” the lie slipped easily past his lips and the almost overt hope that lined your irises diminished to a pointed look and eye roll. 

the restaurant was dimly lit, with the only source of light being the candles lining the wall and atop each table, accompanied by a small rose in a clear vase. you’ve never been on a date somewhere this fancy, the boys you’ve dated in the past being utterly incompetent, for lack of a better word. and it’s not like a fancy dinner was what you’d epitomize as a ‘good’ date, you’ve just never been pampered in a way that made it seem like you were of importance. somehow though, the way donghyuck laid his eyes on you, with care and genuine curiosity, you couldn’t help but feel… important to him, for whatever reason he hadn’t graced you with yet.

you didn’t question him as he ordered a pasta and a steak, getting the feeling that this wasn’t the first time he’s been here. “so this is where you take all the girls, i’m assuming?” donghyuck’s eyebrows shot into this hairline, clearly not expecting such a question from you. he cleared his throat before voicing, “only the ones i like a lil' more.” you scrunched your nose in distaste at his dating habits but you didn’t say anything else. he seemed to catch up on this as he fervently picked up the exchange once again, “not that you’re one of them.” this caught you off guard, pursing your lips slightly before disregarding the thought from your mind. donghyuck thought he’d said too much but it looked as if you were already past the topic, moving your hands to unfurl the provided cloth and laying it upon your lap. he did the same as he searched your expression in attempts to make sure you weren’t uncomfortable within his presence. 

donghyuck didn’t think much of the girls he dated. they were fleeting, he knew that much. and he also knew that they simply paled in comparison to you, mere pastimes while he waited out for his chance with his actual love interest. he’d never thought that you’d express dislike towards the way he chose to date around instead of committing but now that his mind was on the matter, he felt ashamed that he didn’t even seem remotely your type. donghyuck saw this in the way you always stuck to jeno, even in a platonic sense, and how your eyes always seemed to gravitate to guys that were more or less just…better than him. he knew relatively little about your love life, though he knew for a fact that you were currently single, and (from jeno) that you had dumped all the guys you’d dated before. even just liking you, he felt immense pressure and the impotent need to impress you whenever and wherever. with that in mind, he took a second to breathe before trying, at the very least, to show you his potential. 

donghyuck initiated casual conversation while the two of you waited on the food to arrive, doing his best not to seem overly enthusiastic or like he was trying to make you laugh. he kept the usual over-the-top jokes out of the air and focused solely on getting closer to you, asking questions like, “how are your classes?” or “when’s your birthday?” and giving minimum effort to reply when you’d ask the same question back. he spent most of his brain power memorizing your answers, subconsciously scheming when he could put the information to use, before popping the question he’d been wanting to ask all night, “then, what’s your type?” 

“mm, like looks-wise or personality-wise?”

“hmm, how ‘bout...both?”

“then, looks-wise, well first off someone that dresses well. i think things like facial features and body build don’t matter all that much but the way someone dresses or like, presents themselves, shows a lot about them.”

“so like, any particular style?”

“nothing particular, but nothing over the top. i think they just have to look put together and just…feel confident in what they wear. if that makes sense.”

donghyuck’s pleased with your answer, and by the way he was nodding at you, you continued your thoughts.

“personality-wise, just someone who knows what they want and someone that’s willing to put in effort to get what they want, i think that’s important.”

his eyes were just about sparkling when you finished and you wanted to ask him if he felt okay but instead shot back the same question he had asked you, not wanting to come off as fussy. “what about you? what’s your type?”

donghyuck didn’t miss a beat when he blurted out, “you.”

the waiter interrupted the moment by placing two plates (or rather platters) of food onto the table, but donghyuck could see, between the waiter’s arms, the way you bit back a smile. you snuck a glance at him, unsure of how to feel at this revelation. his eyes were unwavering on yours and you’d never felt more enticed by just the way someone was looking at you. oh, how confused you had become in such a short period of time. the boy in front of you was your type, a shy but self-assured boy that was smooth, no doubt, but more importantly he made you feel something.

dinner went as fast as it came and donghyuck paid, true to his word, leading you out the restaurant and back to his car. once in, he didn’t take off immediately. sitting in silence, the two of you exchanged a couple of looks before he said with a smirk, “let’s date.”

you were barely caught off guard, nodding minutely, and looking him in the eye. “yeah, let’s date." it was a blessed day for donghyuck, one that would always replay in his mind from that day onward. he thanked whatever higher entity graced him with just the perfect words, just the perfect actions, and just the perfect scenarios to get you from hating him to looking at him with such adoration in your eyes. all in one night.

it was a miracle day, a shared thought by the two of you.

it had been a wild forty-six hours since donghyuck had dropped you off at your apartment. the sunlit sky was just about to tip into the depths of night and donghyuck had come to pick you up to hang out with the rest of your friends. the only one of the boys who knew of the progression with donghyuck at the moment was jeno, the one boy you could never keep anything from, and he still thought that you were simply playing out a giant prank on him. you felt giddy, with the rush of newfound feelings for a handsome boy you could call your own. 

approaching his and his friend’s house, an unsettling feeling began to gather in the pit of donghyuck’s stomach. around you, he found it rather comfortable to just lay back and speak his thoughts. the last couple days spent with you had shown him that you liked donghyuck the way he was, and even though his fun side was appreciated, it wasn’t needed. but coming up to the front door and bringing out his keys, he thought of how he would act with the boys and you in the same room. 

“wow, who would’ve thought these two would come together?” it was jaemin that spoke, his eyes narrowing at you, coming in tow behind donghyuck. “imagine how awkward the drive must’ve been. y/n hates his guts.” this time, it was renjun that spoke, his lips curling into a smile as he conjured the thought of a silent, glare-filled drive. “actually,” donghyuck began countering, “we’re dating now.” 

the room fell silent as they watched donghyuck wrap his arm around your waist, your head finding a place on his shoulder. suddenly, after seven whole seconds, the room burst into a cacophony of commotion, jeno dragging you to the side to question if you were sane, jaemin and renjun laughing at the absurdity but taking time to spout a few incoherent sentences, and jisung and chenle openly gawking at the unfolding situation.

it was a whole twenty minutes before everyone started to notice how quiet donghyuck was, only talking when he was talked to and even then, replying with straight and not sarcastic answers. all the boys seemed to find it strange and renjun finally voiced, “the hell happened to you, did y/n threaten you or something?”

the world seemed to shrink around him as donghyuck felt his throat constrict, looking between you and the boys as if any of you could give him a clue as to what to say. your eyes were just as curious as the rest but he knew they held some sort of expectation. you’d grown to like the real donghyuck, not the funny, boisterous one. but the boys were all expecting him to burst into giggles and crack jokes like they were all he was made of. his head whirled, not wanting to choose between you or his friends and feeling like the entire situation was unfair. it was unfair that he couldn't rest easy just being himself. that he had to be a certain someone in front of his friends so that he could feel like a friend. but despite the inner rumbling of thoughts, he ended up plastering a wide grin onto his face, quipping back at renjun with a, “‘course she did, she hates my guts.”

the boys all glanced at you expectedly, seeing if you would laugh at what your boyfriend had said. now it was you that felt uncomfortable. squirming under all the stares of your friends, you could only give a small smile, feigning a chuckle, before the boys deemed that enough to move on. it's right then and there that you realized exactly what the fuck you'd gotten yourself into. you felt the teeniest bit disappointed, in him and in yourself. him for having all that damned pride and you, for forgetting that he had all that damned pride. 

it was at the forty-eighth hour of your relationship when you finally had the chance to drag the boy into the silent laundry room off the hall and confront him, dumping him for the first time because what the hell were you thinking? the usual, careful (not carefree) y/n that you'd known all your life had been replaced with this foreign and terribly impulsive persona in the face of a pretty boy. somehow, you’d let feeling of infatuation and desire revert all your cumulative dating experience and deem your rationality useless. all for a boy. a boy who could go on for days about how you weren’t ‘one of them’ when he really meant that he just thought you were prettier than the others. you felt like you were really just another one of his date-and-ditch girls. like he was slapping his dick in your face, and not even in a sexual way.

the last day of your weekend elapsed quickly and you had already found yourself cornered by donghyuck before your first class. you would have blatantly ignored him, had he not been screaming your name at the top of his lungs, alerting everyone within a mile radius. his face was drawn into a playful grin and you felt yourself cringe internally because you couldn’t piece together how you could’ve possibly dated a boy that would yell at you to get your attention with a goddamned smirk on his face the day after you had dumped him. 

dragging him by the elbow to the nearest bench, you forcibly sat him in the seat, looking down at him like a mother giving her child a scalding glare for misbehaving. his face now donned something you hoped was guilt but edged the line of being shameful. “why are you embarrassing me? it’s nine in the morning.”

indeed, his voice was small and he seemed upset that you used such a reprimanding tone on him. “sorry, i just wanted to get your attention.”

“and now you have it,” you huffed, “what do you want?”

once again, without missing a beat, he blurted out, “to get back together.”

your mind longed to reminisce the feeling of his eyes, sincere, on yours but even then, you felt like a joke to him. “no.”

“but y/n-“

“no, hyuck. i don’t want to be another one of your girls that you think are 'pretty enough' to take to that fancy little restaurant you frequent.”

“you’re not.”

“oh, so all of a sudden i mean so much to you.”

“not all of a sudden, i- i’ve-“

donghyuck’s throat closed up before he could let you divulge in his little secret. he knew he would’ve probably been better off telling you the truth, as embarrassing as it would be for him, but it was too early, he told himself. he wanted to be sure about your feelings for him. he wanted to build a relationship with you, not pressure you with words he knew you weren’t ready for.

“you’ve what? lost your ability to speak?”

oh, how he would’ve loved that snappy attitude of yours had it not been directed at his poor self. he gulped visibly before settling for a half truth that wouldn’t make you freak out and avoid him like the plague, “i’ve started to like you, y/n. and not the way i like the others. you’re different, i swear.”

you bit down harshly at your lip, wondering if you were destined a shitty love with a disloyal boy. shaking your head, you pulled your phone from your tote, more than ever wanting class to start as soon as possible. to donghyuck’s dismay, it was. slipping your phone back, you raised your head to be met with wide eyes and you cursed yourself for almost wanting to ruffle his hair or tug at his cheeks or pull him into a hug… anything to get that little pout off his face. but you digressed, giving him a placid smile and a, “i have class, see you later,” before turning on your heel, thankful that you hadn’t succumbed to such silly urges.

class had been uneventful, a flurry of taking notes that you would later go back to and realize didn’t even make sense. your friend and usual seat partner, dayoung, had decided that today was the day to ditch. you supposed she’d either blacked out from drinking or had an incurable hangover, the cost of her monstrous drinking habits. it was a shame, you thought while packing up, that you would have to go to the cafeteria alone and eat alone. 

exiting the lecture hall, you’re met with donghyuck once again, eyes burrowed into his phone. his brows are drawn together in concentration before he hears the shuffling of feet, courtesy of your fellow classmates, and you saw how he immediately searched the crowd for you, or you're assuming. you wanted to screech at him, what in the name of god was he thinking? picking you up after class? but you turned on your heel, almost getting ready to sprint to the back door of the building. before you could even get two steps in, donghyuck’s fingers were gently tugging at your elbow, forcing you into a spin to face the culprit of your classroom daydreams. his grip tightened as if afraid you’ll shrug him off and you saw the way he nervously shoved his phone into his back jean pocket, fumbling around for a bit until it finally slotted in. he let go of you rather abruptly, seemingly suddenly aware that his hand was there in the first place, and cleared his throat a little louder than he had aimed to.

“do you want to go get lunch with me?” his voice was shy, and it caught you off guard in the slightest because of how collected he seemed. nevertheless, you’re persistent if nothing.

“no, i’m eating with dayoung.” the lie fell past your lips like honey and you’re about to give yourself a mental pat on the back when a small, knowing smile eased onto the boy's face.

“dayoung’s at jaemin’s. she’s got a bad hangover from yesterday’s party.” damn, you would’ve been celebrating two victories, one for successfully lying and another for being right about dayoung’s tendencies, if you hadn’t forgotten that the girl was jaemin’s girlfriend and that jaemin was one of donghyuck's best friends. your lips flattened into a thin line as you grasped at nonexistent excuses to toss at him. his smile had widened, the light in his eyes shining, before he, again, took you by the elbow and led you to his car, admittedly not giving a fuck as to whether you were okay with it or not.

“come on, i didn’t wait a whole hour and a half outside to just let you go off on your own.” his little comment had you stopping in your tracks. he looked back at you, confused, the little frown on your face igniting unease in his mind. “you waited?”

“of course i did, baby.”

“don’t call me that.”

“okay fine, y/n.”

“why would you wait?”

“because i like you,” another smirk, “i said what i said and i meant what i said.”

(it’s not everyday that flustered!y/n enters the chat but when she does, god, hyuck swears he’s never been more in love with just the way someone blushes. he loves it, he lives for it.)

you escaped the gaze of his star struck eyes by stalking to the passenger side of the car, standing by the door and waiting for him to unlock the vehicle. willing himself out of his fanboy trance, he thumbs the key in a hurry and gets into the drivers’ seat with even more enthusiasm. with each progressing second he spends with you, he can't help but want more and more to get to know you. his actions were eager, putting the car in reverse, easing out of the parking spot, fingers nimble on the gear stick. as usual, the drive was dead silent off to a place that donghyuck didn’t bother to mention. you figured out soon enough though, as he parked the car in front of a local thai restaurant. as you gathered your belongings, he took the opportunity to quicken his exit to open the door for yours. “you don’t have to do that, you know. i’m perfectly capable.”

donghyuck didn’t let your statements derail him as he also opened the door to the restaurant for you. you gave him a disapproving frown, even considering to just not go in, before begrudgingly entering. the place had a cozy feel to it, somewhat akin to a rainforest cafe except without the fake exotic animals and random trees. donghyuck rushed, as if it were his life’s duty, to pull out a seat for you, and you willingly let him see your eye roll. “i know you’re capable, y/n, i just want to do it for you, really.”

you scrunched your nose in distaste and ignored his late reply, opting to skim through the thickly binded menus the waitress had set upon the table. you take it upon yourself to order this time, despite having never been to the place, but you figured a pad thai and khao pad were the way to go. his eyes were on you the whole time, watching the way you articulated yourself to the waitress. you knew this but pretended, for the sake of your heart, to be oblivious to his antics.

unsurprisingly, donghyuck slipped back into his usual persona that he seemed to portray whenever he was around you. being in his immediate presence seemed to make your heart quake these days, reminding you of his charming smiles and smooth lines. maybe it was because of this that made you think it was a bit too selfish to assume that dating him would mean that he would willingly change his entire reputation, you doubted he liked you that much. 

by the end of the meal the two of you were sporting matching shy smiles, feet fiddling with each other under the table and silent snickers with flirty cocked eyebrows. the air felt different when you were around him, the him that you adored. he made the worries on your shoulders lift and lightened the tight hold that life had on your heart. donghyuck was good to you, in all the ways that mattered and in all the ways that did not. it was a shame that you didn't let yourself fall for him sooner. 

he took the initiative to end the mini date there, briefly informing you that he would be dropping you off at your apartment before the car ride blanched out into an airy silence. it would have been outright ignorant for you to dismiss the way your heart pressed against your chest and how it beat quicker than whatever pop song that was tuning in the background of your worries. thinking, you felt it was something that you should take upon yourself to right the situation. whatever you were feeling, whatever he had told you about how he was feeling, was something you just couldn't ignore. staring listlessly into the abyss of the creamy satin that laid against your lap, you took deep breaths that shuddered the nerves on your spine. donghyuck was an ex, but you also dated and broke up with him in such a flurry of emotions that there was no way to tell if it was justified or not. 

pulling into a spot outside your building you rushed your mind to do anything, say anything. "hyuck," you began, not even in full comprehension of what you were about to say. his ears perked and his heart lurched at your usage of his nickname, the feeling of closeness boosting his confidence and affection for you. "yes?" 

"what if we- no, i-," grappling at your hair you felt the words come short as they neared being voiced aloud. donghyuck could sense the tension that you incited with your stuttering but he felt drawn to the way your eyes flitted to everything except his own. he wanted them on his own. letting his weight shift onto the middle console of the front seat, you allowed his careful fingers to caress your chin and lift your sights to him. donghyuck's eyes were warm and inviting and instead of feeling a chorus of nerves, your voice found strength in the expression that graced his features.

"yesterday... i think i made a mistake," his eyes narrowed and his fingers moved to cup your cheeks in his hand. "what do you mean by that?"

"i mean, i want to get back together. i'm sorry if it seemed like i was expecting something from you."

donghyuck openly stared at you, wanting to memorize the way your face fell shy and conserved. he wanted to be the one to open up your heart and to be the one to treasure it. he wanted it all. so while you busied yourself with rapid blinking, your mouth opening and closing in attempts to cover up what you thought might have been yet another mistake on your part, he closed the distance between your lips and his, in a fateful crash. there was a certain passion with which he kissed you with that told a tale of longing and thoughtfulness. he was as warm as he looked, his lips showing you more than he had said in words. from a small but heartfelt kiss, you saw him in so many ways you hadn't before. his sincerity leaked through the simple but profound way he subtly sucked on your bottom lip and in your state of realization, you tried your best to form words from the emotions that had dawned upon you. with a hand on his neck, light but rubbing deep circles you leaned back into his space so that your breath would tickle with his, "i don't know how much i like you, hyuck. i can't even give you an estimate but i know that i like you. that, i know for sure."

"and that's all i need to know, baby." donghyuck slid the hand on your cheek to take purchase of the crown of your head and brought your figure into his. your arms fell down to his back, encasing him, as your temple hit the skin above his collarbones. he felt like home more than anything else. years of knowing of him and only days of actually getting to know him were all you needed for your heart to calm with his gaze, goosebumps to smooth over with his touch. donghyuck, you believed, was a good man, a beautiful, sunkissed man with a hearty laugh that would ring in your ears even in the moments after.

hyuck's presence, in so many ways, was already mounting to more than you thought it ever would and it was something that nagged in the back of your mind, ever so slightly, between the waves of adoration that swept through you with every interaction you held with him. it was dangerous territory, you thought, to be left alone without his persona by your side because then you would be utterly alone. alone to all your thoughts that kept you up at night because rationally, none of this made sense. rationally, he should not have been able to penetrate through your defenses, to break down your façade, to see the real you. it was a matter of days, not weeks, not even months, much less years. rationally, liking him was a no go. and being with him in any serious context was out of the question.

"woah. dragging me into the laundry room. well that can only mean two things, honeybee." his little remark would normally incite a small eye roll but you're too far in your head to really process the lightness of his joke, the lightness of his tone. two deep breaths, keep your hands away from him.

"hyuck, let's call this off." a serious tone.

"wait what?" it's been like barely a day." his gleaming eyes seemed to take it in anything but seriousness.

"i don't think i really thought this through. i just- it's all a little quick don't you think?."

"but babe look-"

"i'm sorry, again, but i really am not looking for something serious with you. that's what you want and i don't want to be the one who drags this on and makes it harder for me and you. whatever this was. let's just preten-"

"y/n, i'm not going to pretend this never happened, okay?" a pause, "because i know something happened. maybe you can't get serious with me but i know, for a fact, that you felt something at one point or another in this… this relationship." donghyuck's eyes are glossed over now with fresh tears. the very eyes that were filled with glee not two minutes ago. despite how wretched he looks, he continues without a hitch.

"you wanna break up? fine. i respect that but don't fucking say that this never happened. don't deny that what you felt, what i saw, never happened. it happened, baby. we happened."

taken aback in humiliation, you blinked back the oncoming wave of tears that were threatening to fall. he was right, you were impulsive, and indecisive, and though it was nowhere in your intentions to be selfish, that's what you were. two times now, that you've fucked yourself over.

and with your leave, donghyuck found himself at square one. or even negative one. he dated you, he dated you and he still found a way to ward you off, again. not even four days in total had he dated you and he felt the knots in his stomach tighten and curl up against his internal organs. he fucked it up, no matter if it was you that broke it off. he couldn't help but think that he was the one that scared you away. that he was the one that pushed you to fall for him so quickly and carelessly with flirty smiles and stupid chivalrous actions. donghyuck felt the tension build in his insides because he was so enamoured with being yours, for catching your eye, you heart, that he forgot to build a relationship with you, to build trust and reliability with you.

now, if you were to even look back on your relationship with him, or to even look at him in any sort of romantic way, you would only see the boy who could win smiles and little flutters of hearts but never any more than that. he found himself in the pits of regret and utter annoyance at his past self because he couldn't take a step back, for even one second, and show you more of how much of a partner he could be. he drowned in the possibility that he would only ever mark as pretty sex appeal and quick playboy fling in your charts. peak devastation.

but you, you will never admit the twist in your heart as you slipped out of the laundry room that day. not to hyuck, not to jeno, not to yourself. whatever games you believed hyuck to be playing on you, whatever games your own mind was playing on yourself, you were through with it. there was no way around that. 

a headache, in bed. maybe a bedache. uncomfortable no matter how you positioned yourself. the sheets were crisp but cold to the touch and you found yourself drawing your limbs nearer to your torso, your arms encircling them to ensure a warmth. perhaps this bedache had been brought on by how you hadn't left the bed since early last night, how the sun had been up for awhile now, or even by the phone pressed between your left ear and those crisp sheets. radioactive stuff, you figured. jeno was drawling on and on, about what you couldn't put a finger on. if your best friend was any one thing in the world, he was a rambler. never knew when to stop and could never comprehend the general mood of the room. especially when it was just the two of you, you couldn't help but have your mind wander off onto other topics because frankly, you weren't sure if he himself knew what he was saying at this point. maybe if he could pick up on the fact that you were tired, or so so out of it then he would stop. maybe if he was a little more adept in noticing things about you, maybe if he was a little more like… like hyuck. 

hell, you would've totally crushed on jeno if he had just a bit more common sense in social interactions (it's a total wonder how he has such an attentive girlfriend). but no, if anything hyuck was more your type than any of the guys in the group. huh, hyuck. how did he even end up in your train of thought? 

sprawling your back flat upon the mattress, the cold curling up your tendons and rippling a small shiver down your spine, you thought about the events of yesterday morning. breaking up with hyuck--a good choice decidedly--suddenly seemed like a dick move on your part. surely you could've just worked through it right? you liked him, undoubtedly, why was it so hard to stay with him? the possibility of being hurt was relatively low, despite who he was, you figured because of how he acted around you, gentlemanly. the possibility of it ending up more than just a frenzied fling was also very high, with how much you had liked him in consideration. your mind was going on, still to this moment, about how quick it had been, about your secret fears of it being no more than a joke, about how you had seriously fallen for such a joking person. but then again, you couldn't just call him up and tell him, "hi, it's y/n. let's date. again. because i suddenly feel okay with it. again." (though in all honesty, donghyuck would still say yes). 

the best course of action, you decided, was to wait it out. maybe school could keep your mind off of him and before you know it, the sight of him wouldn't make you suddenly self-conscious. and the sound of his voice wouldn't make the hairs stand straight at the nape of your neck. the aftereffects of his boisterous smile would stop, for once, from making your heart disentangle itself from the hold of your ribcage and the butterflies would stop flying all together. to your dismay, monday morning was comparably awful, just godawful.

your eyes are still wide and you're only slightly panicking when you say with a flat voice, “repeat.” donghyuck heaves another exasperated sigh. “i said,” he gives you a look that either means he thinks you’re annoying or he thinks you’re stupid (or both), “renjun thinks we’re still dating so he made a bet with me that if we stay together for a whole month, he owes me a hundred bucks.” his sneakers are tapping in such a rhythmic fashion that your eyes feel like they’ve been tranced but they’re pulled to his face when you finally process his words. “wha-“

you’re attempted response is cut short when he says, eyes rolling back, “i’ll split it if you fake it with me.” gosh, you wanted to smack him. you weren’t tight on money at the moment but an extra fifty dollars for a new dress, or the pair of heels you’ve been eyeing, or maybe even that one overpriced lipstick…your mouth seemed to work faster than your mind. “fine, a month,” his face lit up at your words, “but nothing extra, like no weird stuff when we’re alone.”

he nodded, a smirk slowly forming alongside his retort, “that is, if you can resist my pretty face.” it was your turn to roll your eyes and shove his frame farther away from yours as you were reminded of every reason you hated this kid. he was annoying, no way around that. you checked your phone and it lit up with a 9:57. you were going to be late for class.

you took brisk steps away from the boy towards your class across campus, not even bothering to bid him a farewell. "hey, wait up," he jogged to your left, trying to match your pace, "where you going? i thought we should drop by my place, renjun should be there with the rest of the boys." you quickened your steps, making sure that donghyuck couldn't distract you further before answering curtly, "i have class in like, less than three minutes." instead of backing off like he should've he only sidled up to you more saying, "oh okay, what class?" you huffed, clearly distressed that he couldn't take the hint and just go. "organic chem." 

at that, his face seemed to grow even more excited, for god knows what reason, and he caught up with your fast-moving frame with a few skips, "at the kinley building? 'cause i could drive you." this time, you stopped in your tracks, weighing your options. if you declined and walked the whole way, there was the possibility you'd be late and donghyuck would probably tag along as well. if you went with him, there was no doubt you'd make it in time. you figured you would have to suffer being in his presence either way so might as well make it to class on time. "sure,” you muttered under your breath, upset that you had agreed to all his inquiries today.

his left hand clasped around your wrist, as if to lead you to his car, but you promptly unhooked it, not even chancing a glance at his face as you followed behind him. skinship had been prominent while you and him were dating, despite the time being short, and you didn't hate it but it freaked you out nonetheless how he could be so touchy without knowing you all that well. 

approaching the parking lot, you could already spot his beat up 1998 honda civic, sporting the signature scratched navy blue paint. sliding into his car, you could recall the very first night he'd taken you to dinner. how his cheeks had been pink the entire drive there, anxious that you would notice the remnant smell of the fried chicken he had the night before. you could remember, with striking detail, how clouded your mind had been and how you'd let donghyuck's childish antics keep you from realizing what exactly you'd done.

shaking your head from the memories, you kept your gaze straight and mouth shut for the rest of the ride; donghyuck seemed to notice this and followed suit. you were struggling to think about anything except the boy next to you but you persisted to fight it because the complications were too much for you, donghyuck was too much for you.

class? uneventful. your mind? bustling. with what? donghyuck, donghyuck, donghyuck, and fucking donghyuck. the end of class signals an expectation you were pondering in class and upon exiting, you find it to be true. donghyuck is leaning up against the wall adjacent to the door to the lecture hall you were just in and he's already smiling at you, kind and sweet. the drive to the boys' house is strikingly quiet in the most uncomfortable way possible but it's immediately the least of your worries when you pull up upon the driveway of the cornflower blue painted house. donghyuck pulls the keys from the car and you don't allow him to open the door up for you, stepping out just as he reaches for the handle. his hand, hovering midair, swoops back to the curls at the foot of his neck, twirling them as if he was originally to make a dramatic gesture out of a simple act.

before donghyuck can turn the key into the keyhole, he sets an arm around your shoulders, without looking you in the eye and clears his throat. "we might wanna at least seem, you know…" his comment is received with your head on his shoulder, the same position the two of you were in while walking into this very house less than a week ago. he chances a glance down at you but regrets because his face is quite literally all up in your space. he can see the little ridges of your eyelids and the individual hairs of your eyebrows, all the miniscule details of the light makeup you adorned and the blush on your cheeks that's far too pink to be solely composed of any powder or swash. he briefly wonders if the causation is of his sudden proximity but is interrupted when the door in front of you splits open, the keys departing from donghyuck's clutches and jangling against the wood. 

his face is still mere centimeters from yours and renjun is looking, delighted and sickened at the same time so you take the liberty to peck a quick kiss upon the bridge of donghyuck's nose before shooting a shy smile at renjun and brushing past him into the house, leading hyuck by the hand. the boy himself is halfway zoned out because of the fact that you had initiated pda first. snapping from his momentary daze, he feels a sudden courage surge through his chest, his flirty sweet attitude fully consuming the doubt and insecurities that were once peeking through his composure.

"so how you guys holding up this time around?" renjun questions as he perches himself at the edge of a one person couch, already occupied by jisung. the younger boy pushes him off playfully and is, in turn, shot a death glare and a muttered curse. jisung merely shrugs which makes the aforementioned boy even more riled up, the whole situation giving you and donghyuck a few moments to give each other looks confirming who's to be answering. his little nudge gets you spitting whatever tumbles out first.

"better than ever actually, we're kinda just ignoring the fact that that first breakup happened. you know, it was just a small fight." donghyuck's eyes nearly bulge out at your slip up but he's already wracking his brain for a backup reason in case renjun catches the mistake.

"first? what do you mean first?" you can already see the smirk growing on renjun's face, preparing for his hundred bucks. thankfully donghyuck, quick-witted as ever, is right on his tail, "yeah we got broke up a few hours after we got back together, a sick joke on y/n's part."

silently, praising hyuck for how skillfully he handled the near-debacle, you follow up with a realistic, "you thought it was funny too though, don't act like you didn't enjoy my acting!" at this, renjun's quirked eyebrow returns to its rightful place and he retrieves his phone from his jacket pocket to get everyone's pizza preferences for delivery. jaemin enters at this moment. his eyes are sparkling with mirth and he's walking backwards, both hands interlaced with a noticeably tipsy dayoung. 

"shit, dayoung. already? it's three in the afternoon," you voice while ambling in her direction. you see the way she barely acknowledges you while burying her face into jaemin's chest, mumbling incoherent sentences but jaemin supplies your question by telling you that, "she had a shit day, forgot to write a whole essay and a half." blinking in somewhat understanding, you then cross the room to where donghyuck is now sitting on the couch and while he pats his lap, you take the spot on the floor in front of him so that his knees peer at the sides of your head. immediately, you feel him sit up to accomodate you by softly raking his fingers through your hair.

dayoung, currently sitting smack in front of the tv and successfully obstructing everyone's viewing experience, now speaks with a slightly more sober tone, "ya, y/n, i can't believe you didn't tell me that you and donghyuck are dating. i had to figure out through jaemin. imagine how shocked i was to hear that! i thought you absolutely despised him…" the room is awfully silent and you hear the beginnings of words come from donghyuck behind you when dayoung finishes up her little spiel, "... i always thought you liked him though, or at least thought you two looked good together." 

the rest of the boys beside donghyuck are absolutely loosing their shit because y/n liked hyuck for how long?! donghyuck is equally loosing his shit though he tries his best to suppress the blush that's sure to be washing over his features. his heart is pumping at a haphazard pace and his fingers have slid down from your hair to your neck, then shoulders. he hopes you can't feel the shakiness and lack of confidence that seeps through his demeanor, making his pupils shake and ever so conscious of how you are stilled in this moment. donghyuck wants to see the look on your face.

your face, unbeknownst to the boy behind you, holds no surprise. dayoung had said that same line to you over and over again, claiming that your dislike towards the boy was all part of a covert operation to mask your true feelings for him. in all honesty, the topic of this had replayed in your head for quite some time as well because although in the forefront of your mind you knew that you genuinely did not like donghyuck's character, you couldn't help but ponder the specifics of why exactly you always sought to be upset with him when really you could have minded your own business. and with that thought, you seldom admitted to yourself that donghyuck did draw some sort of your attention to him, attraction or just wonder in general.

you almost want to rush and clap a hand over her mouth as another of her drunken speeches comes into play but she beats you to the chase. "let's go on a double date! or triple, yes, triple! i wanna see this 'relationship' up close, y'all are suspiciously cute." 

donghyuck's heart speeds and yours drops.

turns out, drunk dayoung and sober dayoung are pretty alike when thinking, proven by how sober dayoung had no recollection of her drunken triple date proposal but had also suggested the same exact thing in a sober state. the mirrored version of you that you are so carefully inspecting at the moment looks slightly fucked up, you think. sure, your outfit and makeup are on point as usual but it's the way your stomach churns and eyes shift uneasily that give way to how you're really feeling. nervous. 

walking over to where your small array of handbags are perched upon the windowsill above your fair selection of shoes, you slip on a simple pair of square-toed picnic heels to go with your blue and white 'modern-day belle from beauty in the beast' look. your doorbell sounds throughout the apartment just as you're about to pick out a bag and you scuffle over, still trying to get your toes lined up, to the front door so as to not keep donghyuck waiting. upon opening, you give the boy a quick once-over before deciding that his simple outfit of washed blue loose fit jeans and a semi-fitting white shirt matched perfectly to your own.

"am i approved?"

a small smile graces your features before you nod lightly, turning your back to him but leaving the door open at his leisure. "you most certainly are." stepping within the confines of your space, donghyuck's face breaks into a childlike grin when he notes, "look at us, we're even matching."

you give him an absentminded chuckle in agreement, much too focused on whether a wickered crossbody or the pearled mini tote would do your coordination justice. shaking your head in a frenzy you snatch up the pearled item, astounded that you even thought of introducing a whole new color and texture into an already perfect ensemble. donghyuck watches with an amused grin but paid more attention to your actual apartment than the girl that lived in it. suddenly, you're aware that this is his first time being allowed up into the premises and how awkward this would play out in your mind now that you're aware but you do your best to shake the thought and return to loading your bag with your assigned lipstick, keys, and phone before ushering the boy out altogether.

the two of you are the last to arrive of the three couples, unsurprising to him only. donghyuck will never leave this out for discussion but he purposely drives slowly, so as to give himself as much time with you as possible, even if you end up hissing scornfully at his delayed turn and the way the space between the car you're in and the car in front always seems to increase. 

with the drive in consideration, you are slightly annoyed as you exit the car without the assistance of donghyuck and is slightly relieved to see jeno and jaein walking from the parking lot as well. catching up to them, again without donghyuck, you make small talk with jaein while jeno eyes you will curiosity. before you can jump head first into a heated debate about your shared nutrition professor with jaein, donghyuck's arms slots behind your back and you're startled for a split second. noticing the glare you give hyuck, jeno asks good-naturedly, "something happen on the drive here?"

huffing exasperatedly but relieved you get the opportunity to complain, you reply in the most sincere manner given the topic of discussion. "hyuck here, drives so unbelievably slow, i don't know how we got here even remotely on time." said boy is chuckling with an amused face but removes his arm from the small of your back and instead intertwines your fingers. he adores it when you get riled up with insignificant actions. shaking your head, you let donghyuck lead you to the end of the clearing where jaemin and dayoung are at looking across the landscape.

it certainly is the most picturesque spot for a date, the lavender fields sprawling lazily between the two hills. along the view there are several, maybe five or six, couples that seem to have gotten the same idea in coming here but you're pleased that today would be a fairly undisturbed date. your group of six quickens the pace along the trodden dirt path and you're all too aware that wearing heels, albeit low, with a stick heel was a nightmare on soft terrain. you found yourself sinking into the ground with each step of the way and it's only natural that hyuck picks up on this, being only steps behind you, hands still interlocked and now sweaty. 

he switches the hand in which he holds yours and connects his other with your adjacent. taking a large step, you feel his front press against your back as his voice pulses softly into your ears, "want me to carry you, babe?" a chortle crossed with a scoff passes your lips but before you could quip back a line on just how capable you were, the heel of your left shoe caught particularly deep in the soil and upon trying to retrieve it, your balance was replaced with incoordination. hyuck steadies you by moving his left hand around your waist and rights your stance but then slides his other arm beneath the alcove of your inner knees and swiftly removes your weight off the floor. you're not left breathless or starstruck by his smooth actions but his eyes, now matching your gaze, are enough to stop you from retorting to his kind gestures. surely, he meant nothing more of it than a simple solution to a friend's problem and a token of performative pda.

arriving at a particular grassy clearing about half a quarter mile into the field, you see that jaemin and dayoung who were at the head of the group had already spread wide the picnic blanket they had brought, the large wicker basket that jaemin had looped around his arm on the way here was seated atop. donghyuck only lets you down only when he's right at the foot of the blanket and dayoung gives you a playful grin, which you return with a shit-eating one of your own, followed by a giggle that erupts from jaein as a spectator of the scene. the weather is warm but not hot, the rays of the sun light on the skin and far from blinding, and the grass is dewy but dry enough for it to stop from clamping through the thin fabric of the pink blanket. sure, you admit, a triple date on a day like this, with a view like this, was definitely a good idea.

hyuck makes sure to grab a few napkins as soon as the basket is opened and he trods back over to where he had set you down, crouching and lifting your left shoe off your foot so he could clean the soiled heel. he does the same for the other, all whilst you're looking up at him with such sincere and loving eyes. it is far from intentional but donghyuck knows that the easiest way to your heart is found in simple but profoundly touching actions. 

an hour into the brunch, you seem to have grown accustomed to donghyuck feeding you food, refilling your drink, and just being the most attentive you have ever seen him be. you chalk it up to the fact that he's just closer to the platters of food set in the center of the blanket as well as the fact that he needs to make as much of a show as he can out of this. chatter is pleasant, the other two couples equally as enamoured with one another over the whole group in itself, giving perfect leeway for donghyuck to squeeze in some one-on-one time. 

"y/n," his voice causes your head to snap in his direction, eyes wide. "what?"

hyuck licks his lips, eyes glancing down to your own before realizing that now was definitely not the time. you felt like you could see the gears turning in his head when he answered, "let's go take pictures." nodding, you let him help you up and lead you to the nearest path, his hand guiding you slowly so as to not cause another inbalance. the path he chose ended up circling down further into the valley and he walks you down until the terrain flattened and treads back up the slope to get a picture of the flowers fanning out around you on all sides. his breath catches, keeps catching, with each second he stands there, focusing more on the little you on the screen than the picture he was taking of you. a few shots later and jaemin and dayoung had rounded upon the spot as well, jaemin offering to take some photos of the two of you together.

a light smile forms on donghyuck's features as he nears you, eyes glistening at contact with yours. perhaps it’s the way love simply works but he swears that even mother nature kneels before you, outlining your skin with a glow that could only be achieved with true happiness, the rays of light reflecting in your eyes gleam like pools of honey, and the way the flowers fan around you that made your figure seem even more sublime. hyuck blinks his running thoughts away as he makes haste to set an arm around your waist, tugging you closer to him. he can quite literally feel your head turn to look at his side profile, your nose barely dusting the heights of his cheekbones. he sucks in a breath and turns face-to-face with you as well, momentarily slowing time and the whole 'posing for a picture' scheme escaping his mind. 

"okay, i got it. you guys looks so good together, who knew!" jaemin squeals, effectively drawing your attention away from his stare. you pick up on the small, "i knew," that dayoung lets out in a distaste full tone and exchange a funny glance with her. bringing hyuck's arm from behind you and lacing fingers with him instead, you beam up at the other couple as you offered to take a few shots of them as well. 

the six of you only spend an hour longer at that destination, being full-time college students didn't exactly allow full-fledged dates but with the time considered, you had fun. slipping back into the passenger seat of hyuck's car, with the boy closing the door shut behind you, you rummage through your handbag to find the packet of blotting paper you are sure you put in there. just as you see it, your eyes catch onto a bright red, packaged candy lodged in the far corner. donghyuck returns to his side of the car just as you withdraw the stick from the bag, eyes gleaming as you held it out for him to see. 

"that's-"

"the lollipop you gave me, that day, at the valentine's dance." you give a small childlike chuckle before unwrapping the candy. he looks almost distressed, "and you're eating it now?" 

"yeah, why the heck not."

"i mean, i thought that you'd save it for, you know, sentimental value." your eyebrows raise with his comment.

"huh, i never pegged you as one who cared about that kinda stuff." 

"i- well, i guess there's never a better time to learn."donghyuck took a deep breath.

"how 'bout this then?" you position the lollipop up and slightly to the left of his face as your other hand busies around the bag for your phone. swiping to the camera, you take a few shots of donghyuck's confused, enlightened, and then smiling face before withdrawing, "how's that for sentimental value?"

his eyes are in full acknowledgement of your cheeky attitude but he's thrown off guard just a few seconds later when your phone is thrust in his face, your lockscreen the same picture you'd taken moments ago. "cute, right?"

donghyuck's hands are shaking as he reverses the car from the parked spot with feigned ease. "yeah, real cute," he mutters under his breath but just at the right pitch for you to hear. the small smile that graces your snickering expression just shoves it further into his face that any way he tries to rationally run from you, he'd end up right back in your presence, drawn to you in ways even he cannot yet comprehend. he knows that no matter if he tries to avoid the fact that every moment spent with you further solidifies his daydreams into reality or tries to delude himself into thinking that he's in this solely for the fifty bucks, either way, he's fucked. 

donghyuck's beyond stressed and more than ever wishing that time could work in his favor for once and pick up pace past the worrisome week ahead. he has an inkling that the library is already packed to the brim but he's convinced that if he wishes hard enough for a spot, one will magically clear itself for his studies. with no time to waste, he power walks past the information desk, past several rows of rich literature, and into the open field of desks. his suspicions, as they turned out, were right. each and every seat was occupied by one of many equally stressed out college students, cramming for the first day of finals that marked just under eight hours from now. donghyuck takes a roundabout the whole floor, just to make sure that he wasn't missing out on one of the coveted cushioned seats by the walls if any happened to be free. he's about to exit the premises, regret lining his already deteriorating mindset at the thought of having to  memorize two months of information with chenle's music blasting from above, all three of jeno's cats taking purchase of his lap, and jisung entering every four minutes for entertainment purposes. 

he really is about to exit, that is, until he sees you at the far corner of the establishment, earbuds tucked in securely, a sprawl of two computers, a tablet, three open books, and a whole ass stationary store displayed in front of you. in between two tall shelves and peering through a few books, he knows that if anyone were to comb their eyes about the room, they'd think him to be stalking. weighing his options, he decides to let you study in peace, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on in that organized mess of yours. 

donghyuck contemplates though, with the consideration that you had to have been at the library for a fairly decent amount of time to have secured such a good spot. the second the idea is brought to mind, he rushes out the building, almost sprinting and earning a few dirty looks thrown in his direction.

he really wishes he had driven his car instead of biking here, something jeno had convinced him was a good idea, but he makes do with what he has and pedals furiously to the convenience store on campus, a good nine minutes away. there, he buys a few bottles of energy drinks, other extremely caffeinated stuff, candy bars, and decides after a good minute, that chips were not the way to go, the loud packaging would give away to the strict eating policies all too easily. a stupid bright smile is plastered across his face, even as he finds himself paying an extra dollar for a bag to hold all the items. again, pedaling back furiously, he manages to make it to the library in only eight minutes this time but it's for naught since he spends the next fifteen with one knee propped on the seat of the bike, using it as a makeshift table to write and rewrite a little note to accompany the goods. 

stuffing the paper bag into his backpack and switching it so that it's strapped on his chest rather than his back, he hurries into the vicinity to find that you're still there. donghyuck waits. he picks up a book on graduate level psychology and attempts to read it with one eye on the text and the other on you, not that that's how it works, both his eyes are really on you. he does this for a total of forty minutes until you finally get up for the restroom and on cue, donghyuck makes sure to be discreet when sliding from between two bookshelves and placing the paper bag upon your seat. he leaves promptly.

donghyuck arrives home with his heart thumping loudly, reminiscent of the feeling after running a whole marathon. his phone dings and his first thought is of you. instead, it's a reminder: religious studies final, 8:00 AM. the time above it reads 1:09 A.M., so much for 'no time to waste,' he thinks.

you're relieved that your quick restroom break was quick enough that your stuff wasn't cleared out by the snappy librarian or any other crazed undergrad. but to your confusion, your spot has now been replaced with a brown paper bag, medium in size and clandestine in contents. with careful hands, you slit open the bag, keeping your distance in the unlikely case that it was a motion-activated bomb (a valid fear, may i add). surprise lights your face as you see a few of your favorite candies, as well as a bundle of energy drinks that you so desperately need. a post-it is tacked to one of them and you pluck it up with two fingers and bring it to sight. 'hope this helps, don't get in trouble for eating tho. -ldh.' 

you pause, your breath halts. a small hand accompanies your gaping mouth that regresses into a soft smile. this boy, he was really something else. your dedicated studies continued, but were futile given the fact that all you could think about was lee donghyuck, a sweet, sweet boy who waited god knows how long for you to take a restroom break so he didn't interfere with your concentration. lee fucking donghyuck. dissolving your emotions so you could dutifully return to your misery, you let your shoulders sag, letting out a sigh, what a mess you were in. 

with finals out of the way, you're now facing the second big event of the month. a heavily anticipated move. the apartment you're currently occupying is quaint, but small, cozy, but inconvenient. unfortunately, jeno had already headed back to his hometown, having one less class and therefore one less final than you. none of your other friends were equipped with the abilities to be hauling heavy furniture to and fro so you were left to either pay someone or find someone. much of your conscious had already decided who that someone would be but you lacked the courage to carry the proposition through. 

you pondered the situation while driving to your new place that was closer to campus, larger in size, and with thicker walls so you wouldn't have to hear your neighbor pounding her boyfriend in 8D audio with only a cardboard wall to separate your eyes from the scene. pulling into a parking space you steeled your resolve and dialed the number.

he picked up in one and a half rings, "y/n? hey, what's up?" donghyuck's voice comes out raspy on your end.

"shoot did i wake you up?"

the boy clears his throat, lying he replies, "no i was just packing, do you need anything?"

"uhh, yeah. a favor. if you could, i just need someone to go to ikea with me to help carry furniture and stuff. and since jeno's out of town, i just thought i'd ask you."

"oh," he sits up straight in his bed, "yeah, yeah i can go with you. when?" 

"maybe like...now? sorry, this is so last minute.”

donghyuck is already on the move, unearthing your favorite sweatshirt of his from his already packed suitcase, "no, not at all. i'm basically done here anyways."

"right, cool. i'll text you the address. when will you be here?"

"ten minutes," he blurts out, "i- is that good?"

"okay, see you." you hang up, heart hammering in your chest. 

you wish the mirror in your new bathroom was full-length because you are currently stood atop the rim of the bathtub adjacent to it, the crown of your head unceremoniously shoved against the rail of the shower curtain, trying to get a good look at whether your ensemble is fit for the occasion. a baby blue mini crop top with a pair of loose sweats drapes your figure and you wonder if furniture shopping with the boy you like requires something a little more cohesive. sighing, you figure that all your worrying was in vain, since the moving van you ordered with all your packed up clothes in it isn’t scheduled to arrive until 6 in the evening. 

just as you finish reapplying your gloss, the doorbell sounds, the unfamiliar ring causing you to yelp in surprise. you answer the door, donghyuck's face lit with humor, "i heard that." your cheeks flame a tad bit before you realize with a pout, "oh, guess the walls aren't as thick as i thought then." donghyuck smirks, an expression that you miss but you go on to list to him the things you were planning to buy that you didn't already have moved in yet. a couch, two lamps, a nightstand, and four very specific potted plants. he watches you with sparkles in his eyes, as if they were reflecting your own.

"right let's go, then," nodding, he snatches his keys.

"your car or mine?"

"mine, the trunk's bigger," he reasons and you nod.

minutes later, you stand dumbfounded as you stare at his 'bigger trunk.'

"so you're saying, that you're gonna shove a whole ass couch in here."

"that's right, sweetie." not even thinking to correct his term of endearment, you slam the trunk door shut, nearly decking him in the head. "if it doesn't fit, i'm having you ride the bus back with the couch."

"sure thing, babe." he answers nonchalantly, seeing as you haven't caught on.

"and alone too, i'm not bouta be seen in public with a man carrying a couch on a bus."

"got it, honey." he’s beginning to enjoy this.

"shit, maybe i'll even have you pay for it if that happens."

"fine by me, love." his smile is on the verge of splitting his ears.

shutting the car door of the passenger seat closed, "gosh, what if i just send you to get the stuff by yoursel- wait, what did you just say?"

donghyuck's face shines golden in the afternoon light, "nothing, dear." 

"hyuck, you gotta be kidding me." 

"kidding about what, babygirl?" he looks as if he is to burst of happiness.

"lee donghyuck, i'm being serious." but the little smile that edges on your face gives it all away so he goes on.

"as am i, lovebug."

shaking your head, you turn to look out the window in embarrassment as donghyuck pulls out of the parking spot with the stupidest grin on his face. it isn't until you guys are halfway there that he returns to a normal calm but fails to guard his mouth from saying anymore. "you good, sweetpea?"

"hyuck…"

"c'mon, say it back, princess, i know you want to." he gives a few quick glances in your direction, eyebrows jutting up playfully.

the smallest of smiles adorn your face as you let out a, "geez, baby," muttered under your breath. the same old stupid smile is back on his face now, his ears are perked, but you can tell he’s nowhere near satisfied yet.

"what'd you say? i couldn't quite hear you."

silence.

"y/n, c’mon, what'd you say?"

"... i said...geez, my lil’ bitch."

he breaks out into ripples of harmonious laughter that ring in your ears like the first few chords of your favorite song. you follow him, peals of laughter emitting at just the sight of his joyous face. this marks the first car ride you share with the boy that isn’t bathed in complete silence but instead, smiles and comfort and bouts of flirty tension hanging in the air despite no one spectating. 

the trip to ikea is straightforward in its purpose, you point and donghyuck carries. he masks the fact that he really isn't the one for heavy lifting jobs pretty well by wiping the sweat off his forehead when you're not looking and taking gargantuous swigs of water when you're too busy measuring dimensions and surveying durability. he also makes sure he has a say in the pieces you decide on, wanting something for you to remember him by whenever you look at the extra flower print pillow cases he convinced you to buy. while you're paying at the checkout, he makes it his job to buy two vanilla ice cream cones for you to commemorate hard work. the smile and shy thank you that you give him makes him feel a good deal important. 

donghyuck ends up exerting a lot more energy than he thought he would on this little venture, shoving the gigantic box of unassembled couch half into the trunk and half into the backseat, the rest of your purchases having little to no space to themselves. you notice his fatigued state and offer to drive home in his place. he's hesitant to agree but feels the weight of his arms and complies. as soon as the car doors are shut and the overhead light goes out, the two of you take a few minutes to collect yourselves. 

"thanks for today, hyuck."

he closes his eyes, head leaning back on the headrest, "my pleasure, sweetheart." you start up the car. 

halfway into the drive you notice that donghyuck has started to nod off. feeling a little more courageous at the thought of him being unaware, you slip a hand into his, one still securely on the wheel. you smile to yourself, nodding along to the upbeat song playing on the radio, the volume turned down to the lowest dial. you pride yourself for being able to get away with the action but you only think you do. donghyuck knows the feeling of your skin on his. he knows the unmistakable sparks that ignite in his little belly of butterflies, and even if he is half asleep, he feels you more than anything. he loves you more than anything.

you convince hyuck to take the guest bedroom for the night, laying newly washed sheets on the bed just seconds before he passes out on top of them. oddly though, you yourself are woken up the following day by a string of curse words that come from the living room. groggy and barely awake, you trudge into the open space to see donghyuck with an instruction manual inches away from his face, his eyebrows drawn in. parts of the couch are sprawled all around him and you wonder when and how he woke up in the first place.

"hyuck, what're you doing?" your voice is still heavily-laden with sleep and you cross the room to the kitchen, reaching for the first water bottle you see. "woke up a bit early and thought i'd do this for you since i have to leave at 10 for my flight and i didn't want you to be doing this alone."

you crouch on the floor beside him and offer him the water which he takes. "that's...very thoughtful of you." he doesn't answer but continues assembling the pieces with a proud smile on his face. meanwhile, you busy yourself by making a small breakfast with what you have in the fridge, a simple egg, cheese, ham english muffin sandwich. he eats it gratefully by shoveling it down hurriedly so he can get back to work, giving you a few feel-good laughs. he's done in about an hour and, not without your help, the couch is up and running (or sitting) and the two of you are reclined upon it, the new-couch smell overwhelming your senses. donghyuck checks the time and mumbles a quiet, "oh shoot," before he stands up abruptly, turning to tell you with sullen eyes that he has a flight to catch. you nod and walk him to the door, standing just across the threshold from him, dolefulness apparent in your expression as well. 

"i guess i'll see you in a few weeks then," he voices as he looks up at you, tying his shoelaces.

"yeah, i guess so," your eyes never leave his, "make sure to tell your little siblings that y/n says hi okay?"

"psh, you've never even met them," donghyuck stands up straight now and you're craning your neck a little at his height.

"oh, so that one time over facetime doesn't count now?"

donghyuck gives a breathy laugh, he goes in for a hug that you reciprocate warmly. reluctance lies in his countenance as he draws back, not wanting to leave you so soon. you notice his lingering stare on you and instead of teasing him, or pointing it out, you urge him on with a hand on either side of him, "just go hyuck, i promise i'll call you later this week."

his stomach does little flips, "oh, okay," he says with a small voice, "i'll get going now then."

"okay, be safe."

"i will, babe." he just stands there looking at you with eyes full of mirth.

"oh my, hyuck, just go!" a small pout begins to form on his lips and you get the sudden urge to kiss it away.

"right, i'll be on my way." he turns away from you to walk to his car, but it's this time that you spin him back around to place a quick kiss to the lips, the smile on your face never leaving. feeling the blush beginning to seep into the skin of your cheeks, you rush back into the confines of your new apartment, leaving donghyuck to his own, flustered, devices. his feels lightheaded the whole flight back and it isn't until he is greeted at the door of his childhood home with the face of his mom, that he is brought back down from the heavens.

"donghyuck oppa has a girlfriend," his youngest sibling drawls out the last syllable as if to prolong the shock the simple statement has already inflicted upon him. his eyes are rounded and searching for any sign of disapproval in his parents’ demeanors but more so because he never intended for his family to know of your existence, seeing as it would be imminently irrelevant in just a few weeks. not only was it to dodge otherwise unimportant questions but his resolution was also linked to the fact that making you known to his immediate family felt like solidifying the ever-so-fake bond that persisted between you and him. surely, even though your relationship with him was anything but real, though was portrayed in the most real fashion, he couldn't admit to himself that the idea of you as his girlfriend in the eyes of his family brought him joy. 

he watches as his mother claps her hands together in glee, exclaiming with full vindication, "how could you not tell me, hyuck!" she asks for a picture of you, your name, last name, major, how he had come to know you, when did this happen, (did you guys do it yet), and most importantly, if he loved you. he answers a quiet yes to his mother's last question but she seems to have moved on to intently stare into his phone screen that's displaying a picture you posted on your instagram a few weeks prior at the flower field. the first being a solo shot, your hair billowing lightly in the winds that seemed to blow solely for you, the gaze of your eyes fell heavy and serious, a stark contrast to the picture a swipe away, of you and donghyuck gleaming with matching smiles that rivaled the brightness of the sun, the caption reading 'my pooh bear <3.' looking back at the picture now even, he really does understand his mothers coos and 'aws.' you did indeed look ethereal.

he blushes at the thought of you and spends the rest of dinner steering conversation away from you and you-related topics, not wanting to delude himself any further from the truths that were itching in the back of his mind, that no matter how much his mother loved you, or even how much he loved you, it'd be hard for him to say that you held the same intense emotions for him as well. donghyuck retires into the confines of his childhood room as the general buzz of his family lowers into the night and he finds himself staring at pictures of him in high school, before he had met you. he wonders, for the first time, if he liked life better back then. chubby cheeks and a terrible smile, he still remembers looking in the mirror and thinking, handsome, but it's only been a few years in college and he can't remember the last time he looked in the mirror with his first thought being something other than will she think i look okay? donghyuck's string of consciousness derails further into the depths of despair, looking back on the lengths he'd gone to get a girl to getting the girl and loosing her, getting her again and loosing her again, and having to sever his true feelings from his façade just so that he could still claim you as his.

but then he's reminded of you, and how you're so dedicated in your studies but somehow still making time for friends and family. how when you care for people you care and especially of how he feels when he is the subject of your attention. donghyuck brings his little emotional escapade into a full circle when he realizes that he would still do anything to claim you as his because he simply cannot have it any other way. that despite the consistent feeling that he might never be enough for you, he would try to prove himself wrong, time and time again. that despite being dumped twice and a soon-to-be third time, he would still stick by your side, persistent if anything. he didn't just have feelings for you, a part of who he is today is built up by the successes you seemingly made him chase to become a better person in the name of you and for that, he could never see you in a different light and his heart will never fail to fail him at the sight of you.

but tonight, it's the contact name, my love, that lights his phone screen that makes his heart stutter. it's the way that your scratchy voice cracks through the speaker that makes his heart whimper. he gets up in fluid motions to shut the door of his bedroom closed, to allow himself to revel in your attention, undisturbed.

"hey there, i told you i'd call so i called," your think your voice sounds dumb, having rehearsed that same line a few times prior to actually following through with it. donghyuck loves it though, doesn't even acknowledge the rehearsed tone as he takes this as a chance to dive into a piled up vent on how his damned little sister, who shouldn't even know what girlfriends and boyfriends are, had outed his relationship with you in front of his whole family. he's nervous, but for only a split second because your hearty laughter fill his ears and suddenly sets the whole world still and at peace. he sighs in comfort as he listens to how your older brother brought his own boyfriend home and had been received just as warmly. he talks of how his mother's roast duck was slightly undercooked and how right in the middle of dinner he snuck it into the kitchen for an extra minute in the microwave. the two of you laugh at how chenle's proposition for a movie night gets widely left on read by everyone else in the group chat, though you end up feeling bad for the boy (and for laughing) and end up replying and setting up a time for when everyone returns to campus. 

you feel a warm squirm in your heart and for once, you know what caused it. the boy on the other end of the line is so very endearing that you have no space for second guessing anymore. perhaps, perhaps.

talk dwindles down as you both get ready to go to bed at a starking 2:17 a.m. but it seems that sleepy you has more than enough to say. your eyes are on the brightly lit moon that's hanging out your window frame adjacent to your bed. you'd like to think that donghyuck is looking at the same moon, thinking the same things. it's a new but welcomed feeling that enters your heart, blooming into your lungs so that at the occurrence of every breath you take, you are reminded of the warmth he brings you. it's a sappy and deeply rooted feeling that you only now realize has been with you for ages on end and with this realization comes the courage to voice it aloud.

"i love you, hyuck. i fucking love you to bits and pieces."

you think he's already fallen asleep, the quiet that he's offering not doing any good to ease your wavering thoughts. not that you regretted saying what you said, it was truly what you felt for him, whether the relationship was real or not. but you weren't sure if he felt even remotely the same so staying under the umbrella of a fake relationship gave you the opportunity, should the times ever call, to recant your words in the name of performative indication.

the seconds were whizzing by quickly and your anxious mind counted to four minutes. four minutes of dead silence on his part. it's fine, you think as you hang up at the fifth minute, he probably just fell asleep. a weird feeling settles in the pits of your stomach that night. lee donghyuck likes you, that's for sure, but maybe you were the one that was rushing into it this time around. maybe hyuck expected you to bring up the fact that the two of you were still unofficially dating. or maybe he just liked to play around with your feelings while he could during this month. it was a mind boggling mess but you refused to let the boy get the best of you as you drifted off into sleep.

only god and lee donghyuck himself know that he heard you loud and clear that night. the three words he'd been yearning to hear finally and in actuality formed from your lips, for him and him only. but fate tells him it was only a figment of his half-asleep imagination, and only god knows that what he heard wasn't a dream. 

huang renjun beckons lee donghyuck into the kitchen before the movie marathon begins. today marks one month. donghyuck pulls his phone out to see the hundred dollars even that renjun had transferred, he then transfers fifty of that to you. "so you guys still going strong?"

hyuck feels guilt and worry trickle between his grasps on confidence, "better than ever."

"she actually likes you back, huh, i can't believe i thought y'all would break up." renjun is pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, his gaze is turned towards the living room where everyone is gathered when donghyuck sees his eyebrows furrow. "shit, i forgot chenle invited mark." donghyuck turns to see his 'girlfriend' being hit on by one of his close upperclassmen. you seem to be oblivious but it's horridly obvious whenever mark attempts to flirt. seeing you smiling at his corny pickup lines, not quite laughing but not quite rejecting him either, donghyuck feels tendrils of unwelcome jealousy and hopeless distress as he traverses on light feet to where you're at, placing a hand on your lower back.

"hi, mark. it's been awhile, how're you these days?" he watches and, in what he knows is sick relief, mark blinks in surprise at the placement of his friend's hand that is plainly indicative of a relationship. "i've been pretty good, you?"

"great actually," donghyuck might've said that a little too enthusiastically, "i saw you were talking to y/n here. i don't think i've introduced you guys yet. mark, this is y/n, my girlfriend, y/n this is mark, a good friend of mine." he sees the pointed look you give him and is suddenly overcome with embarrassment. mark takes a few more minutes of your time before moving on to talk to renjun, the latter noting the tension between you and donghyuck and willing the boy away. 

"donghyuck, what the fuck was that?" you're upset.

"what? he was being weird with you, i couldn't just sit here and pretend he wasn't." hyuck's attitude is snappy right off the bat and you can't help but seethe at how immature he's proving to be.

you retort, with equal force, "yeah, so what if he was flirting with me? what does that have to do with you?"

donghyuck starts to realize that there might be more to the reason you were so defensive in the first place, something having to do with the fact that in the most technical terms, he isn't exactly your boyfriend anymore. "y/n, why are you being like this?"

"like what? i think i'm being pretty rational."

"no. no, y/n, but he was outright flirting with you and you didn't even tell him you had a boyfriend." he knows he's grasping at loose strings but he needs to pry this out of you. to see how you really feel.

"hyuck, we need to talk about it. it's been a month."

as if you had laid it out straight for him, donghyuck feels the desperation crawl beneath his skin, "y/n, please." his tone is all of a sudden soft and you lock your eyes onto his. "let's not talk about it right now, please, not now." he watches as you bite your lower lip in contemplation and then as you nod lightly. "okay."

donghyuck isn't sure if his impulsive decisions have made him feel more relieved or afflicted with current circumstances. as the lights dim and the movie begins to run, he settles into the corner of the sectional that he claimed earlier that evening with his arms open wide. you don't hesitate to curl up on top of him, the warmth of his skin, all too familiar. both of you are ever so aware that this might as well be the last time your bodies are pressed against one another. and both of you are equally tormented by how true that may come to be.

the clock reads 3:37 a.m. when the movie ends and donghyuck is glad to see that the rest of the boys are quiet in exiting the room to their respective bedrooms. he can still feel the rise and fall of your chest on his and he's oh so careful not to move too abruptly, in the case that you might wake up and realize just where you had fallen asleep. he wishes that he could've spent a few more minutes, at least, admiring the curves of your face in the limited color the dim lights allow to reflect but it all passes too soon as someone (chenle) hits something (a doorframe) with some part of his body (his pinky toe) and wails out in pain (loud shrills), alerting you awake and anyone else that had the pleasure of falling straight asleep. he curses under his breath without realizing that you were right there and awake now, only feeling the embarrassment wash over him as your soft chuckle fills his ears. 

"sorry, 'bout that. go back to sleep." his voice is low and you're so close to slipping back into unconsciousness but you will yourself to prop your chin up on his chest, directly above his quaking heart. "i'm hungry, hyuck."

he almost laughs at the absurdity of your statement. he guesses it's not completely unwarranted though since you have been asleep for the past nearly five hours but he still feels a small part of his subconscious mind tug at just how cute you are. so very cute.

"okay, princess. let's get you something to eat," he says as he dips his hands that were loosely looped around your back underneath your thighs and hoists both your combined weight up. your eyes are gleeful as he pulls you even closer to him, your own arms settling upon his shoulders. crossing the length of the room, he sets you down upon the kitchen counter. allowing himself to bask in your unadulterated attention for a few moments, he realizes the eerie silence that envelops the two of you. he slips his phone out from his sweatpants pocket and thumbs around until he lands upon a random playlist of his on spotify. hitting play, he sets the phone on the counter next to you, lowering the volume just a bit so that it wouldn't disturb the others in the house. 

as donghyuck rummages through the fridge for some food, you fiddle with the zipper of the hooded jacket you're wearing. you're hit with the realization that the jacket isn't even yours to begin with and that it's hyuck's, the garment having been such a staple in your closet for the past month that it barely smells of him anymore, that it really is all yours at this point. looking around the dark room, you find yourself identifying everything you see in relation to hyuck. before you knew it, this little fake dating stunt had become so real that it was hard for you to swallow the feelings. 

attempting to push past the oncoming wave of emotions, you focus your attention on other things. donghyuck's now throwing what looks like a years old hotpocket into the microwave without a plate. his back is turned to you but instead of getting lost in his messy bed hair and broad shoulders you notice the new song that replaces the previous one. it's mellow and soft and it takes you four seconds to realize just what song it is. slow dancing in the dark (by joji). maybe it really is about time to come clean with your feelings, no matter if they could be rejected or reciprocated. it isn't fair to be dragging this on, when it was fated to be ending right now, a reason to which you had broken up with him before anyways. for all you know, donghyuck might even be waiting for you to call it all off, in annoyance since the fifty dollars had already been done deal. looking around, you figure it's now or never as you slide off the counter, landing carefully on sock-clad feet. padding over, you wrap donghyuck in a snug back hug, hoping that he catches on to the situation.

he does, eventually, after you spin him about and lace your hands around his neck, swinging him around in exaggerated and silly motions. he responds with a hushed, "oh!" and continues prancing around with you before finally settling against the steady beat. the song does its job so well in calming your heart that you almost forget the reason you were a jittery mess in the first place. you prep your sappy, truth-laden speech with gruesome effort, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. little do you know, donghyuck is planning the same monologue, equally as gruesome.

the beep of the microwave resounds in the background, alerting you of how you came to this situation in the first place. but with this, his head dips into the crook of your neck as the song comes to a slow and you move your hand from his back to cradle his head. "what's wrong?" the kitchen is now silent, save for the occasional chirp of crickets and your feet shuffling around the tiled floor. donghyuck is silent himself, an inner debate ensuing your question. his chest feels heavy, the burden of a thousand lies resting upon it whilst he can only hold back his tears. he has everything he's ever wanted from you. to rest in your arms, to land a smile upon your lips, to hear an 'i love you' escape those very lips. he feels his emotions bubble up within him, threatening to spill before they really do, in the form of a soft, "i love you, y/n. that's what's wrong, i love you."

he raises his head causing your hands drop down to his back and he instantly misses the way they caressed the locks beneath his ears. he meets your eyes, through the thick haze of blackness that shrouded the room. "and i love you too," you say, voice equally soft but treading carefully; you're still unaware of the problem he's presenting, "what so wrong about that?" you tiptoe so that your foreheads meet and he has to suppress the urge to kiss you right then and there, to evade the hurt he knows will come, and so he simply hugs your body flush against his, as a substitute to his desires. your breaths tickles his nose and he closes his eyes, relishing in the moment before inevitably breaking it by saying, "because i mean it… and you- you don't. not in the way i do." your eyes penetrate his and your mouth parts to voice a response but he cuts you to it. "y/n, my love for you is real. it's always been. and i knew what i was getting into asking you do this with me but, i really wanted a second chance. i wanted it so bad and when renjun brought up the bet, even if it was fake, i just knew i had to take it. and i know this is shitty of me to just drop this on you while we're having this- this moment but i can't keep lying and pretending that my love for you is just- that it's conditional."

donghyuck lets out a breathy sigh as your hands fall from his back, his heart falling with them too. he can't see the expression on your face anymore, his eyes are glossed over with tears that are at the cusp of falling, but he isn't sure that he wants to. he's mad at himself for ruining the most perfect moment, for ruining such a calm night. the tension in the air is almost palpable but it's ripped to shreds as your hands return to cup his cheeks. tilting your head a little, you lean in for a sweet kiss, a small smile lifting the corners of your mouth as you withdraw. "who says i don't love you for real?"

it takes more than two minutes for donghyuck to collect himself, still in doubt of whether he's dreamt up the whole situation or if you are, in fact, being real. you're standing in his arms to remind him that you really are, sneaking small kisses on his cheeks every time he thinks he's finally calmed down. it's a lover's dream to be lee donghyuck, and y/l/n y/n can only fall deeper in love with every blossom of a blush rosing the tips of his ears. 

you thank god, or whoever blessed this boy upon your life, that donghyuck was there that night at that stupid, stupid valentine's dance. and above all, you are endlessly indebted to renjun for his stupid, stupid bet. but mostly, you can't contain the utter awe you hold for donghyuck for simply being the perfect man he is. contrary to everyone's belief (and even your own, up until recently), donghyuck isn't an insufferable person. what they see is just a shell of a man who's too afraid to be the center of attention in any way other than 'the funny guy.' and realistically, it's only with the girl who's stolen his heart that he knows it's more than okay to be vulnerable and that maybe, just maybe, it's the only way to steal her heart back. 

y/n and donghyuck share a love story they know they're lucky to be able to tell their kids and maybe even their grandkids. and if they have anything to learn from it, it's that falling in love is not just a matter of time but of circumstances, impulsive decisions, and reckless emotions. well, mostly just reckless emotions.

copyright © 2020 rouiyan all rights reserved.

✧ end note — i got my first few likes on this blog a few days back and while i can say with full confidence that i do not write for follows and likes, it made me happy in the small yet extremely gratifying ways that simply writing and posting cannot. so for those few people who interacted with the teaser for this fic as well as anyone else who read up till here, guys, gals, and non-binary pals, i hope each and every one of you enjoyed reading this as much as i did writing this. with love, rouiyan.

[captnjacksparrow]

Hello. Really like your content.

Everyone thinks Sasuke sacrificed him life for Naruto once, during the land of waves arc. I think it's twice. There are still some homophobes out there who think Sasuke didn't kill Naruto because he wanted power but not the way Itachi wanted. Man, his excuse (on a whim) is sooo flimsy, a blind person can see it.

I can't imagine how they can come to this conclusion. The fact that killing Naruto would have upgraded his sharingan to Mangekyou, just as Itachi has advised, would have made him so much more powerful. Going to Orochimaru definitely meant one thing. Sasuke would have to 'die' in order for Orochimaru to take over his body. He would rather do that, but not kill Naruto. Even though he had a solid opportunity. And Naruto was the only one that could have caused Sasuke to achieve Mangekyo.

He looks absolutely broken and spent after vote1, as he is walking away. Because he realises that he would rather die a slow death than kill Naruto.

Thanks for the ask Anon ❤️❤️

There are still some homophobes out there who think Sasuke didn't kill Naruto because he wanted power but not the way Itachi wanted.

Hmmm, Let’s see. 

Sasuke reawakened his Sharingan for Naruto in Land of the Waves arc, matured his sharingan in the VoTE1 for Naruto. He was willing to kill Naruto for Mangekyo Sharingan by piercing Chidori. This love doujutsu never served Sakura. 

If Sasuke managed to kill Naruto just like Itachi wanted, and he got his Mangekyo Sharingan, This undeniably still proves that Naruto is the most important person than anyone in Team 7 for Sasuke to awake such a great power. 

But Sasuke had many chances to kill Naruto in VoTE1. It’s not because of Itachi that he did not kill Naruto. Itachi was more of an afterthought. It’s just that Sasuke simply couldn’t because he loves Naruto more than his Goal. He proved this many times in this series.

If Sasuke considered Sakura to be the important person or great love, he should have evolved his sharingan when Gaara pinned Sakura with his sand. 

Sasuke is a person who always does something first subconsciously. And then gives a reason later to convince himself and others that he did it purely for a self-serving purpose. 

Proof?

He saw Naruto was hungry. He immediately gave his food knowing full well about the consequences if he gave him. When asked about why he did what he did?

Here you go. He gave you the reason. But only after taking the risk. 

Sasuke has every reason to not offer food. And yet he did. Because towards Naruto, he always acted subconsciously. In other words, his body always moved on its own. 

Alright let’s move on to the real deal. 

I LEFT YOU ON A WHIM...

Let’s see. 

What is a whim?

So, it means, you decided to do something for sure but your mind changed at the last moment. 

So far, so good.

But, do you call it as a whim if your mind always changes when the moment occurs more than once? 

Well, I call it as a plan. 

Moment 1

Sasuke could have rammed his chidori into Naruto. Instead, he balled up his fist and never even aimed for his vital spot just shows Sasuke’s whim here. Moments later...

Moment 2

Alright, Sasuke could have stuck a kunai into the unconscious Naruto here. Instead Sasuke is embracing ‘his weakness’ and Naruto’s warmth for one final time from a mere centimeters away. 

Yeah, this is another one of Sasuke’s ‘whim’ to leave him alive.

Moment 3

Here, I am seeing million possibilities of how Sasuke could have killed Naruto. 

For a starter,

This is a perfect jutsu, Sasuke developed to pierce through the enemies at a long range. He used this same jutsu to fight Orochimaru, Itachi and even killed Danzo. Why didn’t he use this against Naruto who is within that range and be done with it?

Instead Sasuke came extremely close to Naruto and try to draw a sword which he cannot even draw quickly. And FYI, to stab someone with a sword, you need a certain distance, and with that close proximity, Sasuke has zero chance to stab Naruto. 

And since there are no thunder clouds at that moment, he possibly couldn’t have summoned ‘Kirin’, when he raised his hands. So, It’s all an elaborate joke, in my opinion.

It’s just like you said, anon,

Going to Orochimaru definitely meant one thing. Sasuke would have to 'die' in order for Orochimaru to take over his body. He would rather do that, but not kill Naruto. Even though he had a solid opportunity.

He was ready to give his body to Orochimaru rather than killing Naruto for so called ‘whim’ and power. The power he so much desired was brimming right before his eyes in the hideout in the form of Naruto. But he can’t kill him. He was simply begging for everyone to stop his tantrum.

This time, Sasuke never gave the reason, why he left him alive, like in VoTE1. But he indirectly hinted us that he simply couldn’t, after 50 or so episodes later.

So, are you telling me that he was smiling peacefully at the name of a person whom he left alive on a whim but not because of the good memories he shared with that person??

Well, Keep joking. 

All these scenes I cited above doesn’t need shipping lens at all. You simply need some comprehensive reading/viewing skills and common sense. I think those homophobes don’t have any.

In short, Sasuke always acts without thinking and search for an excuse later when it comes to Naruto. While the excuse he comes up with may show his stronger persona but in reality, the things he does subconsciously shows with whom his weakness lies. That person is clearly Naruto and no one else. That’s exactly why Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto and fails invariably. 

[khaleesiofalicante]

This is War - A Crack Fic

All the chaotic, horny energy today had to be channelled somewhere, right? 

You can read the fic here on ao3 too :)

Central park was a vision to behold. There were no mundanes within sight. The warlocks had made sure to glamour the entire area just for today.

“We are not shadowhunters,” Ragnor had said. “We don’t half ass things.”

He of course had left immediately after securing the parameter saying he didn’t want to be involved in another one of Magnus’ childish squabbles.

“Welcome everyone,” Simon said, standing on a podium hadn’t been there before. Where was that from?

“Why is he wearing a robe?” Helen whispered to her wife. Aline just shrugged.

“For far too long we have been trying to settle this debate,” Simon said in a deep voice that was not that deep. “But today, we must settle on an answer.”

Jace rolled his eyes. “Can we get to the good part?”

“Jace, you promised you’ll let me have my moment!” Simon hissed at him and then cleared his throat. “Today we will decide the most pressing crisis of our time. Who broke the coffee maker in the Lightwood-Bane household?”

“Wasn’t me,” Magnus shrugged. “If I did, then I would have fixed it immediately. It was obviously Alec.”

“Liar!” Alec gasped. “I love coffee. I love that coffee maker. Why would I break it?”

“Well, to love is to destr-” Jace spoke up.

“Honey, not now,” Clary shushed him.

“Listen, the kids can’t obviously reach the coffee maker yet,” Magnus pointed out. “And I’m not the one who takes out my frustration on inanimate objects. I mean we all know what happened to the kettle in the institute.”

There was a soft murmur from the shadowhunters of the New York institute.

“I WAS HAVING A BAD DAY!” Alec argued.

“Just admit you broke the coffee maker, Alec,” Magnus said.

“I didn’t do it!” Alec replied. “You’ve always been jealous of the coffee maker.”

Magnus snorted. “Jealous? Me? Pfft. You’re the one who is obsessed enough with the darn thing to name it.”

“Treat lightly, Magnus,” Alec said. “Charles is already dead. Why would you-”

“ENOUGH!” Simon said into the microphone. When did he get that? “Like I said, this childish argument has gone for too long. Today we will settle it like the civilized adults that we are.”

Simon bent down and picked up a giant gun.

“PAINTBALL FIGHT, Y’ALL!” he yelled.

Everybody started cheering – with way too much enthusiasm for a Monday morning.

“Alright. Magnus, Alec – whoever loses the game will agree that they broke the coffee maker, and we will put this whole thing behind us and move on. Do you agree to these terms?”

Magnus and Alec looked at each other and then nodded at Simon.

“Alright!” Simon grinned. “Pick your teams!”

Little Rafe ran towards Magnus.

Alec gasped. “Betrayed by my own blood.”

Max ran towards Alec. “We are going to win. I always win.”

Alec grinned at that. “I pick Jace.”

Jace grinned back and ran up to his parabatai. “Ohhhh y’all are so going down.”

Magnus laughed. “We’ll see about that, blondie. I pick Emma.”

“Oh damn,” someone said from the crowd.

“Emma, this is a paintball fight,” Alec pointed out. “You can’t use Cortana.”

“Don’t worry, it’s just for emotional support,” she said with a wicked gleam.

“Alright,” Alec said. “I pick Julian.”

“Isabelle,” Magnus called.

“KIT!” Alec yelled.

“TIBERIUS!” Magnus thundered.

“Count yourself lucky that it’s daytime,” Alec said. “Otherwise, I would have called Lily and she would have destroyed all of you!”

“Already making excuses for your imminent failure?” Magnus chuckled. “I choose Helen and Aline!”

“You can’t pick them both!” Alec argued.

“I can and I just did,” Magnus winked.

“Yeah, Helen and I won’t fighting in opposing sides,” Aline shrugged. “Sorry, Alec.”

“I got the lesbians!” Magnus laughed. “You are going down, Alexander.”

“You wish,” Alec said and whistled. Diego showed up behind him. “I got the Inquisitor!”

“Clarissa,” Magnus said. “The Angel’s chosen one.”

“Babe,” Jace said. “You can’t!”

“Everything is fair in love and war,” Clary shrugged, pointing a gun that was bigger than her. “And this is war, biatch!”

“Kieran!” Alec called and the unseelie king materialised from some corner and ruffled Max’s hair.

“Mark!” Magnus called.

“Cris-”

“Oh no you don’t,” Cristina lifted her finger warningly. She was perched on top of a tree. “I’m not going to be a part of this madness. I got a medicine kit right here. So, if anyone needs me, just holler, okay?”

“And I will excuse myself as the referee of course,” Simon pointed out. “Alright. Standard paintball rules apply. No serious injuries. If you get shot, then you’re off the game. Last team standing wins. And no runes or downworld powers. We are gonna fight mundane style.”

“YAS!” Kit cheered, already cuddling his paintball gun.

“Alright then,” Simon waved a flag. Where did he get THAT from? Did he have a bag of equipment just lying around?

“LET THE BATTLE OF THE COFEE MAKER BEGIN!” Simon yelled.

And then there was chaos.

The warlocks – mostly Ragnor – had changed the area into a paintball area. There were places to hide behind and attack from. It was really elaborate. Maybe Ragnor had more fun designing this space than he had let on.

“Alright,” Alec said to his team. “Let’s keep this simple. Take down anyone you see.”

“Anyone? What about our significant others?” Jace asked. “Do we shoot them down too?”

“Of course not!” Alec chastised. “We are not animals! Is that clear?”

“Yes, Consul!” everyone yelled.

“I DON’T CARE IF THEY ARE YOUR BOO OR YOUR BAE, THEY ARE GOING DOWN,” Magnus said to his team. “FIND YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS FIRST. THEY WILL NOT EXPECT YOU TO STRIKE! USE THAT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE! THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT OTHERS. ONLY SIGNIFICANT ENEMIES. IS THAT CLEAR?”

“YES CAPTAIN!” they all cheered.

They all broke out and ran to find their targets.

It wasn’t even five minutes since the game had begun and Kit ran straight into Ty.

“Hey,” Kit waved.

Ty pounced and pinned Kit to the ground. He pointed his gun at his boyfriend.

“Alec said we can’t hurt our significant others,” Kit put up his arms.

“Our captain said no such thing,” Ty replied. “You’re not-…Why are you grinning? I got you pinned down.”

“It’s my favorite place to be,” Kit smiled. “I open my eyes and there you are. You’re beautiful.”

“Stop flirting with me when I’m trying to fight you,” Ty blushed and then held out his hand. “Fine. I didn’t see you and you didn’t see me.”

Kit winked at him and ran away.

Mark and Kieran found each other next.  They both held their guns at each other – neither of them shooting.

“This is childish,” Kieran pointed out. “I’m already bored.”

“Wanna go sit on that tree and hang out with Cristina?” Mark winked.

Kieran grinned and the two of them ran away too.

Helen and Aline looked at them and shrugged.

“We could just live stream the whole thing,” Helen pointed out. “Lily would like to see this.”

“I don’t know what that means but if that’s what you want to do and that’s what we shall do,” Aline smiled and and kissed her wife.

“Clary,” Jace said in relief when he saw her. “Thank god! I thought someone-”

There was sudden pain in his chest and he looked down to notice the big green splotch on this t-shirt.

“You...You shot me,” Jace said, sounding hurt.

“Jace, I’ve already stabbed you in the past and you once set me on fire,” Clary rolled her eyes and ran away to find her next target. “Get with it!”

“JULIAN ATTICUS BLACKTHORN,” Emma yelled and ran towards him. “YOU’RE GOING DOWN.”

“Not today,” he winked at her.

Emma blushed furiously just before attacking him. It wasn’t easy. Emma was skilled at close range combat, but Julian knew all her weak spots. So, they were even.

They wrestled for a while before Julian pinned her to the ground. He was breathing hard, his pupils dialed.

“I’m sorry, but this is strictly business,” he shrugged with a mischievous grin.

“But we are still on for tonight, right?” Emma asked. “I finally got a reservation at that Italian place you like.”

Julian’s eyes softened a litte. “You did?”

“Yes,” Emma smiled and hooked her legs on his ankles and flipped them in the blink of an eye. She shot him on the stomach and kissed him on his lips. “See ya at seven!”

Unlike everyone else Isabelle was not going to be fooled or manipulated by her significant other. Thank the Angel Simon wasn’t a part of this. She really liked the feel of the paintball gun in her hands. It was huge, powerful, messy and colorful too. Her kind of weapon.

She ran around the park and took down the others mercilessly. There were only a few of them remaining now – everyone else had already been shot.

But not Isabelle.

She didn’t care about the coffee maker of course. The argument was a ridiculous one.

She just wanted to win.

In the distance, she saw Emma take down Kit and Diego shoot Ty. She was off to destroy the Inquisitor when she had a familiar cry.

“Baby,” she ran to him. “My little blueberry muffin. Are you okay?”

“I fell,” Max sobbed. “Somebody pushed me.”

“Tell me who did this and I will-”

“ISABELLE DON’T!” she heard Magnus yell.

But it was too late.

There was a giant blue splotch on her white blouse.

“Max?” she asked in betrayal.

The boy just giggled and ran away.

In this distance, she now saw Diego covered in red, with a very satisfied Rafael hanging upside down from a tree.

And then the rest of them went feral.

“Surrender, Alexander,” Magnus said an hour later, holding up his gun, which was covered in glitter. “Everyone on your team is down.”

“Well, I don’t see anyone from your team standing either,” Alec pointed out.

“I still am,” Magnus said.

“So am I,” Alec replied.

“Give it up, Alexander!”

“Never,” Alec said adamantly. “This is for the coffee maker. I loved it so much!”

“Then you shouldn’t have broken it,” Magnus argued.

“I didn’t!” Alec said in frustration. “I love it so much because…because that’s the first thing you bought for me.”

“Oh,” Magnus said, the grip on his gun softening lightly.

“I know you have bought me so many expensive gifts but the coffee maker…it’s always been my favorite. I remember walking into your apartment one day, we weren’t even properly back together then, and you just bought it for me.”

“Well, you drink a lot of coffee,” Magnus grumbled.

“Yeah and you noticed. And you got me something so I wouldn’t feel weird in your apartment. You bought it so make me so comfortable. That’s when I realized I really, really like you.”

Magnus blushed a little. “Well, then now it sounds stupid to think you broke the thing.”

“That’s because I didn’t, Magnus!”

“Well, I didn’t either!” Magnus put up his hands. “In fact, the day it broke, I wasn’t even home. I was in the spiral labyrinth all day.��

“I know! I wasn’t home either! I had to go to the Mexico institute for an emergency meeting, so I called Jace to babysit the ki-”

They both stared at each other.

“JACE LIGHTWOOD HERONDALE!” Magnus’ voice boomed across the park. “DID YOU BREAK ALEC’S COFFEE MAKER?”

Jace was sweating. “Listen, I was gonna say something and then y’all started fighting and it was very awkward, and I was looking for the right time and then Simon came up with this idea and I thought 'hey we haven’t done a fun group activity in a long time and so why not?', ya know?”

Magnus and Alec looked at each other.

“Everybody,” Alec called. “Change of plans. Attack my parabatai.”

“AND SHOW NO MERCY!” Magnus yelled.

[prurientpuddlejumper]

Death Threats

Summary: What if the people threatening Barba went after you, too?  

Warnings: Angst. Injury. Fluff. (I realized the timing puts this in the episode Heartfelt Passages, so that was a busy day for poor Rafi.)

Dedicated to @teamsladsandgents​ for inspiring me to get stabby.

2,256 words

You thought he punched you, the man in the elevator. It wasn’t until the doors chimed open and he was striding quickly but casually from the building that you realized you were bleeding.

The inch-wide slit in your shirt took a moment to start bleeding in earnest as you stood in shock, time frozen along with your body. Then thick, dark amounts of it began streaming through your fingers.

The elevator doors were sliding shut before you thought to stumble out with your last ounce of strength—to scream for help—before your body sank to the ground, leaving you alone in your metal coffin. You tried to sit up again, but it hurt and made more blood come out.

You couldn’t reach the elevator buttons.

You were so tired.

The funny thing was, you weren’t afraid. Just disappointed. You always thought you’d turn into an action hero if you were attacked—that adrenaline would awaken some ferocious, hitherto unseen warrior within, like Jason Bourne.

But it all happened so fast.

It was over before you noticed a blade in his hand. Over before you processed that he had said something to you, just before that dull punch in your gut.

“That ADA you’re fucking sticks his nose in the wrong people’s business.”

It was strange that you weren’t thinking about your mom or your best friend of ten years. As you pressed as hard as you could to stem the bleeding, you didn’t see your whole life flash before your eyes. The only thing on your mind was your boyfriend of the last several months, the sarcastic lawyer who kept so many walls up, and the petty argument you got into earlier about his canceling lunch plans again.

None of it seemed real. Didn’t seem like the way the story of your life ought to end—bleeding out in an elevator.

It was getting hard to concentrate on what to do next.

OK. The buttons wouldn’t work. Too far to reach.

No one can hear you scream.

Phone.

Your phone was in your pocket, but you had to take one of your hands off of clamping your gut to reach it. Blood streamed through your fingers—so much blood from such a small hole. Your hand was too slick with it and shaking to grab hold of the phone. If you could get it, you could call 911.

“Work, you fucking hand,” you thought. You thought that was an undignified last thought. It should be something profound. Poetic.

But no. Your last thought was going to be swearing at a Samsung.

Tired.

You never remembered if you managed to get the phone from your pocket or not. It didn’t matter anymore.

The last thing you remembered thinking about was Rafael finding out you were gone, his eyes red from mourning. Blaming himself. You wished you could tell him… If you died, you wouldn’t be there to cup his cheek, to make him smile again. To tell him what you whispered to the dark elevator, alone.

“It’s not your fault, Rafi.”

***

The man’s name was Felipe Heredio, a lieutenant of the BX9 street gang. There was already a warrant out for his arrest when he stabbed you. ADA Rafael Barba identified him in a lineup as the man who was stalking him only an hour after a neighbor found you lying in a pool of blood. The fact that he was already in police custody might have been relieving to you if you were conscious. You might have felt proud that it was Barba who ensured he was arrested.

And your heart might have broken when Barba’s phone rang, and his entire world stopped.

***

Rafael’s eyes were red from crying when you woke up with oxygen tubes in your nose, and your hand cradled in his. Your throat hurt more than anything else, oddly, which you would later learn was from being intubated for surgery.

The first word you croaked upon regaining consciousness was, “Sorry.”

A collection of empty coffee cups was scattered around the feet of his chair so he could stand vigil for however long you had been out. His eyes were not only red and wet, but bulging with that jittery, over-tired, caffeine anxiety.

You knew how busy Rafael was. That it was a weekday (technically, it was already tomorrow), and he’d have court in the morning. What you didn’t know, because he didn’t want to weigh you down with his world, was that Barba had already mourned one death today, and that one more loss might break him.

You were sorry for causing him so much trouble.

Rafael was having none of it, of course. He tried to keep his voice from shaking when he told you, “Why in god’s name would you be sorry?” followed by barking, “Stop that—don’t try to sit up. Nurse!”

His bedside manner was well and truly atrocious.

The next hour was a dizzying blur of nurses checking your vitals and helping you use the bathroom, then answering a uniformed officer whose questions you could barely understand through the morphine haze.

When it became clear what had happened and why, Rafael became unusually quiet. All of his follow-up questions and complaints of, “is this really necessary? Can’t you do this later?” fell away. He slumped in the visitor’s chair beside your bed, his hand still holding yours, but in pensive silence until the officer finished, leaving you alone except for the security detail at the door.

Then the apologies came. The heavy confessions that he’d been receiving threats for a year, and this was all, all his fault. Admittedly, if it weren’t for the morphine drip dulling everything, you might have been pissed off that he knew this might happen and kept it to himself. He kept so much to himself, you had to read about his cases online to know what was going on in his life. But his face—which you always thought babyish, with his smooth cheeks and lips ever-ready to flash a sarcastic smirk—was drawn, making him look old and haggard. He was too serious, too raw to possibly blame him.

“I’m so sorry for putting you in danger. I never should have gotten you involved in this.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is,” he choked. “I’ve been getting threats since I indicted those cops, and I haven’t exactly been on… anyone’s good side. I should never have started dating you.”

Like a slap in the face, that sting made it through the morphine. You jerked your hand out of his.

“That came out wrong. It’s true, though. I was selfish to think I could…” He gave a melancholy sigh as he sank back in the chair. “It will be safer if we keep our distance from now on. This will never happen to you again.”

You never imagined you could get stabbed and have your heart broken on the same day, or that the latter would hurt worse.

“Then what are you even doing here?!”

“I had to know you were OK. But as long as I’m getting death threats—”

“Wait, wait. You’re saying you’d rather give up being with me than give up a legal battle with powerful enemies?”

His eyes widened and he stared like a deer in the headlights, only where the deer was an insensitive workaholic, and the headlights were the blinding rays of truth. It wasn’t even a surprise that he hadn’t thought of it that way—this was every fight he’d had with an ex just before they broke up with him.

“I, uh—”

You grabbed his face and dragged him down into the softest kiss, which was not what he was expecting. He almost yelped (though it melted into a whine) when his fiery hot, coffee-flavored lips hit your cool ones. When he pulled back, lips wet and parted, his brow furrowed in confusion over still-widened eyes.

“You are… the sweetest.” Your hand lingered on his cheek as you gave a doped-up-on-painkillers smile. “The most selfless, noble… bravest… amazing man I have ever met. I love you so much.”

“I… what?”

“Rafael”—your thumb lazily stroked his cheek—“I know how much you care about me. Even though you’re married to your job and it’s frustrating as hell sometimes, I’ve never been insecure that you don’t love me enough. I know you never tell me about your cases because you want me to be able to sleep at night. You worry about me too much. And you always look so nervous whenever I leave, like you think I’m never coming back this time.

“So the fact that you would sacrifice your own happiness before you’d let an injustice go unanswered… that’s incredible. You do nothing but give a voice to the voiceless all day, working yourself to the bone without considering the cost to your personal life. You’re like a superhero, ADA Barba.”

A short breath of a laugh escaped his lips as his hand came up to the side of his face to cover yours. His eyes were watery, and he looked like he was about to break down again as he bitterly whispered, “A superhero who almost got you killed.”

“I’m not leaving you, you know.”

“Cariño. If anything happened to you, I couldn’t—couldn’t…”

“Nothing’s going to happen. It’ll be OK. I’m not leaving you alone.”

A tear wavered precariously close to the rim of his eyelid until he turned away, rubbing his face. It was gone when he turned back. “You could have died because of my fucking work! I’ve never given you the time you deserve. How do you still want to be around me?”

“Hey, someone has to be there to protect you when you get yourself in trouble,” you grinned.

Rafael Barba couldn’t take any more. He bent over the hospital bed and wrapped his arms around you, doing his best not to snag any of the many tubes coming out of you or put any weight on anything below your diaphragm, but hugging you to him as tightly as he could. You felt his trembling breathing in your hair, and hot wet spots pooling on your neck.

“I don’t deserve you.”

Your free arm closed over his back, stroking his broad, tense muscles through his shirt. “I’m really glad I didn’t die,” you whispered, finally allowing yourself to feel scared now that he was here. “I didn’t want to die yet. Not like that.”

“I’m sorry.” He breathed in, and his arms tightened protectively. “You have no idea how terrified I was. I’m so sorry…”

“Shh,” you whispered. You clung to him, soothed by his familiar cedar and citrus scent, fainter now after a long, harrowing day, mixed with the masculine smell of sweat.

“I’m glad you’re alive, too. I can’t lose you. I can’t. I love you more than anything.”

Soon—too soon, because you wanted to continue talking—you drifted to sleep in his arms. And once again too soon, you woke up with your entire abdomen on fire, and nurses bringing you pain medication. Rafael was still there, half asleep next to you in the narrow bed.

He didn’t leave you.

Even if it put you in danger, he would rather be beside you, making sure you were OK than cutting you out of his life and hoping the bad guys got the memo. He couldn’t put you through that pain, even if he could do it to himself. Especially when you pondered aloud to him whether you’d survived because you were thinking about him—that you refused to die before seeing him again, knowing what a wreck he would be.

Recovery was long, and interspersed with doing nothing but fall asleep when you’d rather stay awake, and not being able to sleep at all. Rafael (and his security detail) moved into your apartment when you were released from the hospital so he could take care of you—as grumpy and bossy and sarcastic as his bedside manner might be.

You swore you were going to sign up for Krav Maga or Cobra Kai or something once you could exercise again, since apparently you were not a secret knife-fighting ninja deep down. Next time, you wanted to be a badass who could fight back, and never let anyone harm your overzealous ADA when he kicked the hornet’s nest.

Eventually, you would convince him that it wasn’t his fault that bad guys had acted like bad guys. And he would convince you that taking care of you wasn’t a burden—that the emergency time off from work was worth it. He started replacing “sorry” with “I love you.”

In the end, while you wouldn’t say being stabbed was a good thing, or that you’d choose to be stabbed again if you had the option, it did ensure Heredio was put away for a long, long time. It left you with a cool scar, and a new catchphrase for expressing your displeasure—“I’d rather be stabbed again than do the dishes!”

Fine, it also left you jumpy and made your chest tight whenever you found yourself alone in an elevator.

But most importantly, it brought down the walls Rafael had been keeping up around himself. He talked to you more. You talked to each other more. And he remembered to—on occasion—take time out of his heroic, selfless life of battling injustice, and selfishly spend it with you.

• ● • ━━━━━─ ••●•• ─━━━━━ • ● •

@beccabarba / @itsjustmyfantasyroom / @dianilaws / @permanentlydizzy / @mrsrafaelbarba / @madamsnape921 / @astrangegirlsmind / @neely1177 / @onerestein / @delia26 / @stormtrooperofficerbrowneyes / @storiesofsvu​

[tigerkirby215]

5e Katarina, the Sinister Blade build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games. In b4 Tumblr gives me ToS for this picture.)

In my defense I had this build planned since pre-Tasha’s. With Katarina being absolutely nuts in preseason right now along with her just generally being one of League’s most popular champs I’d have to get around to making a build for her eventually.

Look it was either her or Zac. The only other build I really want to do right now is Miss Fortune and truthfully I’m kinda stumped on her. This build isn’t a build it’s a cry for help.

GOALS

Preparation - We’ll need to always be ready for a fight, with a weapon in hand and ways to rush in.

Shunpo - We’ll also need a way to jump on our foes, or jump away.

Death Lotus - When push comes to shove we’ll need to shred through everyone close by spinning and throwing daggers at a rapid pace!

RACE

Katarina is a human but with some special, magical talents. I’m sure by now people know my aversion to Variant Humans and my love of Eberron Dragonmarks so the Mark of Finding is perfect for finding marks and ending them.

With the Mark of Finding you get some Ability Score Improvements but thanks to Tasha’s we can get a +2 to our Intelligence and a +1 to our Dexterity. You also have Darkvision up to 60 feet, and Hunter’s Intuition, letting you add a d4 to Perception and Survival checks. Finally Finder’s Magic giving you some innate spells.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re an assassin who hops, skips, and jumps around the battlefield.

14; INTELLIGENCE - For whatever reason Katerina does AP damage? I mean she did. Now she builds Kraken Slayer because lol Rito balance.

13; CHARISMA - People don’t only main you because you’re strong.

12; WISDOM - Kata in lore is a bit of a hot-head but Wisdom is attached to many skills that an assassin needs.

10; CONSTITUTION - You’re a squishy midlaner.

8; STRENGTH - We simply don’t need Strength and with your build I doubt you have much. Even if jumping around like that requires a lot of muscles in the legs and chest.

BACKGROUND

So apparently Katerina is part of a Noxian Noble family? Regardless as a Noble you gain proficiency in History but I’d suggest swapping your Persuasion proficiency with Intimidation instead. You also get proficiency with a gaming set and a language of your choice.

Thanks to your noble birth you have a Position of Privilege, meaning that other nobles will welcome you within their circles and common folk will do their best to please you in order to avoid getting a dagger in their throat. You can even secure an audience with a noble if you need to! Perhaps you need to put a knife in their throat? An assassin doesn’t ask questions.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue for skill proficiencies also because yeah duh. As a Rogue you get proficiency in four skills from the Rogue list: Acrobatics is an obvious choice, Athletics will help your poor Strength score, Perception will help you spot incoming hooded assassins, and Stealth will let you do Rogue things. Rogue things like Sneak Attack if an ally is near an enemy or you have advantage, granting you an extra d6 on the attack roll.

You also get Expertise in two of your skills: both Stealth and Acrobatics make sense for an assassin. Speaking of assassin Thieves’ Cant will let you communicate with them in a way that your enemies can’t understand. And to top it off Finder’s Magic you can cast Hunter’s Mark once per Long Rest. Smite and Ignite to get First Blood.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues get Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. "Never play fair."

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype and there’s two important things about your knives:

They do magic damage (for some reason.)

You throw them a lot.

With that in mind we shall be going for the Soulknife from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. As a Soulknife you get Psionic Power for a pool of d6 Psionic Energy die that can be used for a variety of features. Psi-Bolstered Knack will let you boost your ability checks as long as you’re proficient, and Psychic Whispers will let you keep assassination plans to team chat.

Of course what we’re really here for is Psychic Blades, a magic d6 psychic damage knife that you can make when you attack which can be dual-wielded and thrown up to 60 feet. You can also attack again with your Bonus Action if you already stabbed with your main action, but the extra attack will only do a d4 instead of a d6.

Speaking of magic: you also get Locate Object from Finder’s Magic. Perhaps not as useful as Find Person, but thievery isn’t beneath you. Your Sneak Attack also increases to 2d6.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level Rogues get an Ability Score Improvement: turns out Dexterity is pretty important for a Rogue so increase that by 2.

(Artwork by Jennifer Wuestling. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 5 - WIZARD 1

Time for an AP boost. First level Wizards get Spellcasting because what else did you think they got? You learn three cantrips and six leveled spells when starting out as a Wizard, even if you can only prepare a number of spells equal to your Wizard level plus your Intelligence modifier:

CANTRIPS

Instead of making a dinky d4 knife empower it with Booming Blade for some Thunder damage, and even more damage if the enemy moves.

To twirl around with Voracity Sword Burst will strike everyone near one of your daggers with your knives.

For a long ranged damage tool that inflicts Grievous Wounds Chill Touch will let you make sure your lane opponent doesn’t run away and heal up.

SPELLS

Mage Armor will help you avoid a few more hits.

For a Bouncing Blade (sorta) take Ice Knife to hit your target and anyone close to them.

For a shield thanks to Gunblade (like it’s TFT) take False Life to bolster yourself somewhat.

Disguise Self will be helpful for any infiltration missions.

Detect Magic likewise is useful to locate any magical traps.

Every good Rogue has a backup plan: Feather Fall is always useful in a pinch.

You also get Arcane Recovery, allowing you to recover spell slots with a combined total level of half your Wizard level.

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards get to choose their Arcane Tradition. There is actually a school for magic knives and that school is the art of Bladesinging! As a Bladesinger you get Training in War and Song for proficiency in Performance along with a one-handed melee weapon of your choice: for whatever reason Rogues don’t get proficiency in Scimitars so grab that I guess?

But much more importantly you can invoke a Bladesong as a Bonus Action, which lasts for 1 minute but ends early if you are incapacitated. (Or if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. I guess.) You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time with no action required.

While your Bladesong is active you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, you have advantage on Acrobatics checks, and you gain a bonus to Concentration checks equal to your Intelligence modifier. You can activate Bladesong a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

You can also learn more spells like Color Spray for a getaway option, or Cause Fear of incoming ganks.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 3

Third level Wizards can learn second level spells like Mirror Image to be everywhere at once, and Misty Step for legally not Flash.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 4

4th level Wizards get an Ability Score Improvement: more Dexterity means more AC and deadlier stabs with your knife.

You can also learn more spells like Invisibility for some Duskblade resets, and Enhance Ability (ty Tasha’s) to make sure you’re the best around. And you can learn another cantrip like Prestidigitation for some generic utility sorcery.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards can learn third level spells like Haste to up your APM, and Spirit Shroud to make all your stabs all the deadlier.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 6

At 6th level you get an Extra Attack as a Bladesinger, but unlike most Extra Attacks you can also cast a cantrip along with attacking! The interesting thing about this is that (rules as written) you can attack twice after casting Booming Blade with this! And depending on your DM you might even still have your Cunning Action!

And on the subject of spells you can learn two more such as Clairvoyance for some Farsight Alterations, and Nondetection to... not be detected...

(Artwork by Atey Ghailan. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - ROGUE 5

5th level Rogues get Uncanny Dodge. When you’re hit with an attack you can use your reaction to halve the damage. Additionally your Psionic Energy die increases to a d8, and your Sneak Attack increases to 3d6.

LEVEL 12 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills: Perception will help you avoid ganks and Intimidation will help you extract information.

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues get Evasion. If you’re forced to make a Dexterity save you can make some pro plays to dodge, taking no damage on a successful save and half damage on a failed save.

Your Sneak Attack also increases to 4d6, so you can jump onto them after dodging their skill shot.

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 8

8th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement: since your Dexterity is maxed let’s invest in that Intelligence... sorta. The Observant feat will let you increase your Intelligence by 1 along with granting a +5 bonus to passive Perception and Investigation so you can watch those wards, and the ability to read lips! Definitely helpful for an assassin.

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 9

Hey how about we get your actual abilities at total level 15? Finally with level 9 in Soul KInife you get Soul Blades for two new abilities that use your Psionic Energy die. Homing Strikes will let you add your Psionic Energy die to an attack roll if you miss, and Psychic Teleportation will let you throw out a knife and teleport to it!

Something something read how the ability works yourself because these are guides on how to make a character and I won’t tell you what every class in Tasha’s does. Oh your Sneak Attack also increases to 5d6 now.

LEVEL 16 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards get 4th level spells like Phantasmal Killer to make your own jungler (one who’ll actually gank!), and Dimension Door to Teleport into lane. Or out!

LEVEL 17 - WIZARD 8

Level 8? How about an ASI? You may notice that we have two uneven ability scores: increase both your Intelligence and Charisma by 1.

You can also learn more spells but there honestly isn’t much I want from fourth level so hop back to level 3 for Sending. But you can also take Greater Invisibility for some Duskblade resets. Look I just really need a 5th level spell but it’s hard to justify magic on a champion who throws knives and nothing else.

LEVEL 18 - WIZARD 9

Time to finally get the last ability we’re missing: Death Lotus. Or more precisely Steel Wind Strike to hit everyone with your daggers and then maybe Shunpo to them after the fact. Speaking of Shunpo for seemingly unlimited jumps take Far Step, allowing you to be everywhere at once. Just know that you’ll only have one 5th level slot.

(Artwork by Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 10

Picking up our last two levels in Rogue: level 10 means another ASI. Capped off Intelligence woo!

LEVEL 20 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues get Reliable Talent, meaning that you can’t roll below a 10 on any skill you’re proficient in. As a capstone skill let’s check what the minimum roll you can get on your skills is:

27 on Acrobatics and Stealth

24 on Intimidation

23 on Perception

21 on History

18 on Performance (Bladesinger lul)

15 on Athletics

And to top it off your Psionic Energy die increases to a d10, along with your Sneak Attack capping off at 6d6!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

They fear my weapons? I am the weapon - Regardless of your choice of tools you are extremely deadly. On one hand 6d6 sneak attack daggers you can apply 3d8 Booming Blade damage to, and on the other hand plenty of potent spells like Haste and Spirit Shroud.

If you run, you won't see me stab you! - You are also incredibly mobile with Misty Step, Far Step, Psychic Teleportation, Bladesong, and just general Cunning Actions. Not to mention that Bladesong gives a big boost to AC which combines well with Uncanny Dodge and Evasion.

A victory is sweetest when it leads to another - Rogues are meant to be skilled professionals and you are certainly that. The skills you are proficient in can be boosted by psionics. Oh and 28 Passive Perception thanks to Observant is just a little bit nutty.

CONS

Ready for trouble? - While you have many a skill you have many more that are lacking. You can put on a mean face sure, but for an important check like Arcana your psionic potential won’t save you.

Better dead than dull - Your spell slots are limited, and quite notably you only have one 5th level slot for Death Lotus IE Steel Wind Strike. While magic can supplement you nicely remember to ration yourself appropriately.

Come on, live a little... while you can! - You know what class doesn’t have a lot of health? Wizards, and half your levels are in Wizard. With a 10 in CON and most of your hit die being d6s your enemies won’t even need to hit you to Power Word Kill you.

But as an assassin you prove why your house is the best in the business. Talk is cheap and you’re always prepared: go in with knives at the ready, take out your target and anyone in their way before slipping out unscathed. You can always reset after a rest; just be sure to remember your cooldowns.

(Artwork by West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #45: Mata Hari

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re building the living embodiment of clickbait, Mata Hari! If this post ends up getting five times as many notes as normal, it’s okay, I understand. Mata Hari is another bard/rogue combination, this time mixing the college of glamour with a mastermind. She can help out in combat, but her strongest points are going deep undercover to learn an enemy’s secrets.

You can read the level-by-level breakdown below the cut, or check out the summary spreadsheet here.

Race and Background

Mata Hari is a Human(though like the Phantom, if you want to spice it up Siren is a good place to start), giving her +1 to all stats. Mata Hari is the textbook example of a Charlatan, giving her proficiency in Deception and Sleight of Hand, as well as the Disguise and Forgery kits. She also has a False Identity she can assume, complete with disguises and documentation. Furthermore, she can forge documents she has seen before.

Stats

Your highest stat is Charisma: you’re so good at charming people they literally can’t tell you’re an enemy unless they’re told so, that’s pretty charming. You’re also a dancer, which requires a lot of Dexterity (or it would if dnd stats made sense). Next is your Wisdom, a good spy needs to know when they’re being watched. Follow this with Intelligence, you’re not unusually smart, but we need to keep your physical scores as low as possible. Constitution is next, because we’re never going to dump that if at all possible. Finally, we’re dumping strength, because dex builds don’t need it.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: We’re starting the build as a rogue because they have the most proficiencies, and they’re ones you want. At first level, you become proficient in Dexterity and Intelligence saves, as well as Persuasion and Performance for obvious reasons, Stealth for even more obvious reasons, and Insight. You can’t string people along if you don’t know what they want.

First level rogues get Expertise in two skills, doubling their proficiency. Your Deception and Persuasion should be as strong as possible, so let’s start there. You probably won’t use your Sneak Attack that often, but it’s always there if you need some extra damage on a creature you have advantage over or an ally within 5′ of. Finally, your Thieves’ Cant lets you talk to other rogues without people catching on, assuming there are other rogues. Maybe you should coordinate with another party member.

2. Rogue 2: At second level you get your Cunning Action, letting you disengage, dash, or hide as a bonus action. Ideally the enemy won’t know you’re working against them, but a way to get out of danger without being turned into a shishkebab is always a good idea.

3. Rogue 3: At third level you become an official Mastermind, becoming a Master of Intrigue and a Master of Tactics. Master of Intrigue gives you proficiencies you already have, two languages, and the ability to mimic speech patterns and accents that you’ve heard for more than a minute. There isn’t a limit on how long you can copy an accent for, so that’s why Mata Hari started the game with a thick scottish accent, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it’s the only accent I know, shut up. As a Master of Tactics, you can Help as a bonus action, and it has a range of 30′.

4. Rogue 4: 30′ is some rookie numbers, and we can improve that by using our first ASI on the Tandem Tactician feat. This increases your helping range by 10′, and you can help two people at once if they’re targeting the same enemy. Toss in some thieves’ cant or a foreign language and you’ll be useful for your party no matter which side you appear to be on.

5. Bard 1: When you multiclass into bard, you  get one skill proficiency of your choice. Perception is a good choice-again, you need to know if anyone’s watching you before you do the whole “stealing state secrets” thing. You’re not making that mistake again.

First level bards have Spellcasting based on their charisma as well as Bardic Inspiration, a bunch of d6 you can throw at people to help them.

For spells, grab Friends, Unearthly Chorus, and Charm Person for extra charming action, Message because learning an enemy’s secrets doesn’t mean much if you can’t pass them off to your friends, Disguise Self to help you infiltrate no-humans-allowed areas, and Sleep for ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

6. Rogue 5: Your Uncanny Dodge lets you react to avoid half the damage of an attack. Getting hurt is bad, stop doing it.

7. Rogue 6: Your second round of Expertise boosts your Performance and Insight. You’re good at dancing, and stealing things from the saps watching you dance. Now you’re even better at doing both of those.

8. Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues gain Evasion, severely reducing the amount of damage you take from dexterity saving throw attacks. If you’re consorting with the enemy, some splash damage is going to hit you. Now it’ll hit you less!

9. Bard 2: You’re now a Jack of All Trades, adding half your proficiency to all nonproficient checks. You also learn how to sing a Song of Rest, adding a d6 to any healing your party does on short rests.

For your spell this level, grab Animal Friendship. Your charm might not hit most creatures, but it does work on Orion, so I’m counting it.

10. Rogue 8: Your next ASI is going to improve your Charisma for more charming and more Bard fun.

11. Bard 3: Speaking of Bard, here’s your last level in it. At third level you get Expertise in two more skills, pick Stealth and Sleight of Hand- you’re a spy, and those tend to help.

You also graduate from the College of Glamour at this level, giving you two more features. The Mantle of Inspiration lets you burn a bardic inspiration die as a bonus action to heal a couple people and let them move without causing attacks of opportunity. Is your wizard facing down a raging barbarian? Now they’re not.

You also learn to put on an Enthralling Performance, letting you charm a number of creatures once per short rest after you perform for a minute or more. They won’t fight for you unless they would anyway, but they’ll be good to you while they’re charmed.

Speaking of enthralling, Enthrall is your final bard spell. It causes any number of creatures within 60′ of you to make a wisdom save, and on a failure they have disadvantage against perceiving creatures who aren’t you. If you’re at the bar with your friends and your real friends show up, that could be a problem. This spell will keep everybody groovy for a while.

12. Rogue 9: You’re now an Insightful Manipulator, meaning if you chat up a creature for 1 minute outside of combat, you can learn two of the following characteristics: its Intelligence score, its Wisdom score, its Charisma score, or its class levels. You might also learn some of its history, and that last bit is the real goldmine here. You can’t be a fake manic pixie dream girl if you don’t know what hole in someone’s life you can pretend to fill.

13. Rogue 10: For this level’s ASI, you become a Linguist. This gives you a couple extra languages to pad out the number of countries you can pretend to be from, and more importantly lets you write down codes. Sometimes you need to talk to your party and you can’t get an opening for Message or Thieves’ Cant; this will help out.

14. Rogue 11: You now have Reliable Talent: any skill you’re proficient in will always have a roll of 10 or higher. This means your deception and persuasion rolls have a baseline of 24 that they’ll always be at or above, so your cover story is pretty much unbreakable.

15. Rogue 12: Max out your Charisma with this ASI for better lying, spells, and more inspiration.

16. Rogue 13: Thirteenth level masterminds learn Misdirection. If there’s an attack heading your way, and there’s a creature within 5′ of you between you and the attacker, you can react to make the attack hit them instead. This means if you play your cards right, your terrible AC is secretly someone else’s. Hang out around that guy in plate mail an get your party to send one attack your way each round, and he’ll be a pincushion in no time.

17. Rogue 14: You get Blindsense this level, letting you know the location of any creature within 10′ of you as long as you can hear. This isn’t particularly useful for this build, but you’re not one to turn down free things.

18. Rogue 15: You now have a Slippery Mind, giving you proficiency in Wisdom saves. Most of your stats aside from charisma aren’t great, so take what you can get.

19. Rogue 16: Use your last ASI to improve your Dexterity and Constitution. You aren’t using these that often, but if you go to stab the big bad in the back an miss, it would be really awkward.

20. Rogue 17: For your capstone level, you gain a Soul of Deceit. Your mind can’t be read unless you will it, and you can’t be magically compelled to tell the truth either. Falling into a zone of truth mid-job is a rookie mistake, one you won’t be making.

Pros: You’re an expert manipulator, knowing exactly what buttons to push to trick people into doing what you want. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about a fight breaking out, because your entire fighting style is letting someone else take care of it. Some advice here, a shove there, and soon enough you’re the only one still standing.

Cons: Your entire not-fighting style means you won’t get to use your sneak attack, and 9d6 damage per turn is a lot to just ignore. Skimping on bard levels leaves you with very little magic each day, and not getting the Font of Inspiration especially hurts. Finally, some games simply won’t work for you. Being a master of seduction doesn’t help when you’re fighting automatons. Also, like 90% of the evil groups in D&D are slavers; you probably don’t want to try and cozy up to them. Even when there’s an enemy army you can worm your way into, you might be forcing your DM to run two games at once, which they won’t appreciate. 

Next up: We’re finishing off the assassins with someone we’ve already built twice. Kind of.

[amenomiko]

Thank you for the request! As usual I’m sorry for the late post. Ahahaha. Ha. TT_TT anyway I hope you like it <3

IkeSen Warlords x Underground Hero MC

Nobunaga

Hero Name : Fireball (Ironic. Ohoh)

Quirk: Fire User

Weakness: Will burn something by accident if she have a fever.

-“How ironic.” Is the word that she said when he called her “Fireball”.

-When he found out about her identity, that’s where he understood what does she mean by ‘Ironic’. ‘Fireball’ itself is the name of her, as an Underground Hero.

-She is basically a fire user, and a strong one at that, to Nobunaga’s amusement, especially when she didn’t hesitate to follow him to battlefield.

-But her weakness may hurt her own ally as well. Because..

-“Haachiuuu QAQ!!”

-*BOOOM*

-Hideyoshi gasped to the burnt breakfast, and ran to the kitchen. “___! You are not allowed to help the maids in the kitchen until you get better, you understand?”

-“B-But- HAACHIUUU QAQ!!” Another raw chicken is burnt into crisp.

- “No buts. Your fever will burn the ingredients and Nobunaga-sama is taking this chance to suggest us to have konpeito for breakfast.” He growled, followed by a long sigh.

Hideyoshi

Hero Name: Aquamarine

Quirk: Water User

Weakness: Her tears will change into pearls when she cried, so if anyone didn't know that she is a hero, she might be kidnapped.

-She is very soft, gentle, and very empathetic towards anyone. Just, anyone.

-Too emotional, she can cry easily.

-Hideyoshi get to learn about her pearl tears when she was nagged by him, and one of the vassals saw her pearl tears and kidnapped her the very next day.

-Despite that, she is very strong as her power is deadly. It can be changed from a liquid to a solid form, and any source of water is like her servant that serve her.

-Even though there's no source of water in field of war, she can still summon it, as to say, she is not fully dependent on source of water, as she is a "water" herself.

Masamune

Hero Name: Silent Chao

Quirk: Invisible weapon user, particularly accompanied with a hand fan as weapon, that acts like a sword and a hand pose like a gun will act like a gun.

Weakness: She can't use her power fully if she is separated with her hand fan. She could use a paper, but it won’t be 100% effective. And, if she playfully make a pose of hand gun, she might accidentally shoot someone.

-His first question is: "Can it be used to cut ingredients?" which earned a glare from her.

-But how ironic she use it as a knife to cut the ingredients for cooking-

-Masamune misused her fan by locking her movements, and swing her hand to cut Hideyoshi's pants.

-"Is that... 'All Hail Nobunaga' written on his fundoshi--"

-When they become lovers, she nearly shoot him because she's does gun pose when she replied to one of his cheesy pick-up lines with "Aaayyyy 😏👉 <3 and-

-*BANG!*

-He went pale when the wall has a smoky hole in it.

-"Hyaaaa Masamune I'm sorry! I didn't mean to QAQ!!"

-"Heh. It's alright lass- *Bonk!*"

-The paper scroll fell directly on his head and he fainted in instant.

Ieyasu

Hero Name : Melodia

Quirk: Voice

Weakness: If she cry (out of fear or extreme sadness), she might break glasses and people’s ears will be damaged more than usual damage she can cause.

-Her voice is very soothing and beautiful. She can make enemy fell asleep, or confused, and her high pitched voice will break things.

-Animals would always be attracted to her mostly, including the dangerous ones (which freak Ieyasu at times). But seeing her lulling Wasabi to sleep, or him, makes his anger fade away in instant. Was it because of her quirk? Or because he had fallen in lo- of course not. That’s ridiculous. (Yeah, yeah, Ieyasu, we get it.)

-Another reason to freak out: Try not to upset her, because there was one time when his contrarian personality has stepped on the boundaries, it has given him the best lesson ever.

-“I-Ieyasu- y-you- it’s better if you take those words back.” She trembled, holding back her frustration and fuming anger within her, despite knowing he is being contrary. But not today, just not today-

-“What? Are you going to use your voice so it confuses me so I slap myself?”

-*snap*

-She had cried so loud (Out of frustration, obviously), and it had destroyed all of the ceramic jar of herbs in his room, and all the fragile items within the castle.

-How did the cry end? Ieyasu force a kiss on her. That’s how they become lovers after that. *snort*

Mitsunari

Hero Name: Super Lady

Quirk: Super strength

Weakness: If she didn't control it, she might break someone's bone.

-Mitsunari is the first one to be amazed with her strength, constantly complimenting her, making her blush and accidentally break any stuff near her, or destroying something that she was holding at that time.

-For example, she broke the plates she carried into half and it took whole of Hideyoshi not to get mad at her.

-But there's one time when she saw a mosquito on his cheek, she had sent Mitsunari flying and it took a month for him to recover.

-And.. She ever break the castle's walls because she kicked one of the bullies (that bullied Mitsunari) into a wall out of anger.

-It took all of her not to squeeze on Mitsunari's arms so much when they were kissing (because hell, that angel is very good at it).

Mitsuhide

Hero Name: Psychica

Quirk: Psychic

Weakness: If she is in negative state (mentally and emotionally), the things around her will be destroyed and she might damage her own body.

-He found out when MC tried to stop a bullet that were fired by the enemies during war because their army has weakened.

-Ever since then she has become his partner in long range squad because she can control the movement of arrows and bullets.

-But Mitsuhide had to keep an eye on her because she ever rage from enemy's dirty trick and killed all of them in instant, resulting her to cough out blood from extreme use of her mana.

-And.. Whenever she's angry, it's such a hassle to hide himself because flying object will run after him.

-Not to mention when small knives stab his clothes (making him stick on the wall) when she wanted to confess her feelings to him.

Kenshin

Hero Name: Heiki-sama

Quirk: Weapon summoner and Master in using weapons

Weakness: Just like fire user, when she sneeze from fever, random weapons will come out from her.

-Kenshin didn't give a single glance at her, until she show her interest in aiding him for war.

-She had summoned weapons in front of him, assuming she was a ninja at first, but it wasn't the case.

-He knew about her background when he take a chance to give her a surprise attack, and it drives his lust to battle more (as she keep on summoning random weapons, especially when it's a weapon that he never seen before)

-It amuses him some more when she had a fever, making her sneeze with weapons (extra points to his amusement when the castle is full with random weapons)

-She had pouted after that and as a revenge she locked all of his sake and plums with a chain.

Shingen

Hero Name: Koori no Kimi

Quirk: Ice User (Unlimited power of ice, and she be able to freeze a fire)

Weakness: She is able to freeze a whole town if her mental state is negative; changing summer to winter, and it will be hard to defrost as it is uncontrollable until she calm down

-Shingen gets to know it when she tried to escape from his flirty touchy  attack when he was drunk during one of the victory feasts.

-She had pinned him to wall with her ice and it made him sober impromptu.

-It took him a while to earn her trust because whenever he is near, there will be ice mist coming from her legs a.k.a a warning to not get close.

-Even though she is strong, Shingen still refuse to bring her to battlefield because well, goddess must not stain her hand (Oh joy.)

-Only to get another ice attack from her, by freezing his snacks to his dismay.

Yukimura

Hero Name: Shifter

Quirk: Shape Shifting (Includes both living and non-living things)

Weakness: If she is in a weak state, she might change into things she couldn't control. For example, if she sneeze from a fever, she might accidentally changed into a pencil for no reason.

-Yukimura get to know about her when she changed into a REAL wild boar and head butt him because she was too angry.

-And change into an enchantress when he called her that as well.

-There was one time when the castle nearly need some huge repairs when MC changed into a dragon because she was too angry with her banter with him.

-Endless pranks with him if they were having a fight again.

-He ever gave her a surprise kiss, making her changed into a knife for a week, and will try to stab him (because she were too embarrassed from it), until Sasuke had to get involved to calm her down.

-Reason: Enough with one Stabby Lord, we wouldn't want to add another stabby person.

Sasuke

Hero Name: Kemononoke Hime

Quirk: Summoning Spirits of Animals

Weakness: Her mind must be calm throughout the summoning. If she gets angry or any negative state is in her mind, the spirits couldn't be controlled and will start to eat human's energy.

-It's easy to get to know about her because well, he is from the future and underground heroes is everywhere.

-Her no.1 Fan at that.

-"Your quirk reminds me of summoning Pokemon, like __ I choose you." - Enthusiastic voice didn't match his stoic face.

-Constant compliments of "As expected of MC." and "You are very strong, it is the reason why I'm your no.1 fan." which indirectly made MC blushed with his words and resulted in imbalance emotions within her, and when she said "PLEASE STOP >/////<!"

-The castle is full with animal spirits and he is buried among them.

-But he is happy- honored. Correction.

[amazingsphelon]

08/31/2020

Hello again guys! For todays episode I’ll be posting multiple follow up individual OC art characters from my Gijinka Pokemon series.

Link of the original previous post:

Gijinka Pokemon 1st 4 Update

Gijinka WIP Update:

Gijinka Sketches (1st Post)

**Oh yeah my apologies for not being around in a week, had to polish up Melody alot. One reason why I got delayed.

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Next here we have.....Princess Melody, the Majestic Princess Milotic.

**The sketch above is my 1st sketch of her around 2014, her design is much very different from the way I drew her present appearance

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Melody - The Milotic **Also known as Princess Melody and has a Kingdom

somewhere **similar to Asia and Island Regions

Age: 19

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Attacks: She has a wand which she can perform additional movesets and also enhances her water power skills entirely and she prefers more on kicking btw.

Ice Beam/Water Pulse, Surf, Aqua Ring, Aqua Tail (Kick), Blizzard, Hydro Pump

Human Fighting Style:

Water Magic **(similar to Azura from Fire Emblem) + Polynesian Taekwondo

Origin Similarities: Polynesian, Asia and Unspecified European Region *perhaps celtic??

Likes: Sigmund her Lover (Salamence), The two trainers who went on her adventures (I’ll introduce them soon, their base on Ruby and Sapphire though) Peace and Serenity, Harmony and Beautiful thoughts, her beauty (which she’s honestly and modestly proud of), Magical massages, manicure and pedicures, her proud vigorous and strong graceful legs which she use for kicks especially and Ocean Life.

Dislikes: Chaos, Insincere People, Her strict father King Raidos (Gyarados)**she still loves her father despite his strict personality, Lightning and Electric Base attacks, Her powerful gifted and strong but yet very fragile feet **She’s at her most despair when she feels this very severe pain.

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When I was redesigning her I had to base her on Azura from Fire Emblem alot (since both are from Nintendo) and believe me designing her on my imaginative creative scope is very hard that I had to add additional details around.

**New drawing left and old drawing right

and in a class she maybe base on princesses that are born in the hierarchy near the surfaces body of water, much like the legendary Atlanteans. 

Below are some of her early redesign sketches *** her personality is largely based three characters **including a 4th one maybe... Ah My Goddess- Belldandy, Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed and Euphemia Li Britannia from Code Geass. the 4th one actually your stereotype Princesses of the Seas....

Overall she has a very gentle, warm, kind hearted and impartial loving attitude **even those who are wicked, she still shows kindness unless she’s harm she can without hesitate to attack her enemies when there’s no other options left. and without hesitation will always show courtesy **said to be gotten from her mother when she was young .

Describe by many as incredibly beautiful among many **including outsiders like Raid and Naiya. she is often the center of attraction among her kingdom, admiring even by her rivals and admirers for calling her bare body legendarily voluptuous from head to toe. And with a beautiful and non-benevolent personality she has, she is said to be very approachable in all ways around that she is very caring and open to all, regardless of whoever she faces. 

Besides that she’s also a pacifist, she values the lives and happiness of the people around her much more than her own, and always desires to make everybody happy no matter what the cost is to herself. **even sparing her foes on dire situations. While many see this part of her personality as being one of her more endearing qualities, it has also driven her to disregard her own feelings, thus making it difficult for her to voice her own thoughts when she believes it would cause strife for other people. As a result of this, she is easily upset and incredibly fragile when experiencing negative emotions. and with her position as a Princess of her Kingdom, she is willingly never hesitate to show charisma, strong will and determination in order for her to lead example for the sake of King Rydus (her father)’s people.

As much as her story goes besides the Kingdom around her and her strict father, She happens to be a priestess of her own, inherited from her mother. She vows herself to be always take courage and be kind no matter the cause as taught by her mother.

One day, while she was performing tradition priestess practices on her in a temple somewhere beneath their kingdom alone with her subordinates, she stumbles upon two lost human teenagers (at the age of 13, 14 or 15) who appear to be not from this world (maybe from another fantasy dimension based on their appearance). The guards never hesitate to take the two unworldly kids with them for the two are being mistaken as intruders to their kingdom but with Melody being compassionate of the two young warriors bids to her father’s wishes to spare them and understand their curent situation and to be part of their kingdom as a citizen in the meantime. In good results, she manages to free the two from capital punishment and imprison and thus making the two to be part of their kingdom as low rank civilians. Because of how humane the two show themselves in front of Melody and her kingdom, she easily became friends with the two and vows  to the two to seek for an adventure to send them back to their own worlds. 

**Those two kids are named Raid (male) and Naiya (female) I’ll introduce them soon should I find time on this.

As much as her concept goes, she’s willing to go for a battle when she’s left with no other options but to fight and defend. With her skillsets mentioned aboved she’s that of a keep away fighter who sometimes will use projectiles to blast foes away and shiver them with her water skills, she can also heal herself (Recover) and heal herself more with her wand equipped and on the other hand, if she’s then struggling with foes who go close on her, she is very luckily skillful at combat, and once she find a worthy opponent as or more powerful than she is on her current state, she will eventually show her hidden powerful trump card skills not often shown to the public eye, the strength and skills within her beautiful, graceful and powerful feet and legs (AQUA TAIL) 

**Princess Melody performing Aqua Kick (Aqua Tail)*Dive Kick

         she can also throw kicks at the same time cast water splashes that damages multiple foes around (This is the Pokemon move Surf), With her Surf+Aqua Tail Kick combination along side her polynesian taekwondo skills, she can perform a wide range of powerful kicks to sway foes away and the strength on the soles of her feet alone are capable of destroying granite and limestones at her fullest potential, even knocking out foes in one hit at their toughest moments. 

This is thanks to her gifted ability of the “Mythical Birth Mark” fragments she received on birth located on the two soles of her feet. Princess Melody calls this her own blessing and a curse, on the saddest drawback though when you received a mark like this, it’s also going to be your shared weakness as well. She is easily crippled should her legs, especially where her “Mythical Birth Mark” is located, sustain enough injuries she can faint with just one heavy damage direct towards her weakest yet very strongest feat and will be over for her should she gets careless herself on the battlefield. At one point, one electric human pokemon struck a THUNDER move directly towards the ground, and with the surface being too wet all in all and with both her feet planted on the ground, it directly struck her towards the mark knocking her out badly in just one move. This is where she easily shifts her attitude on dire situations to cry easily whenever she feels lost and despaired.

*Melody performing a sample of her close range kicks

Also with her staff around, this is given by her Mother, an ancient artifact staff that allows her to access more into the power of water (like TMs/HMs) and increases her STABS on certain heights and being able to bend ease with surrounding water and gaining aquatic energies. This staff however is inherited on the priestess practices of her mother (who is also a Milotic) which is traditionally used for cultural and spiritual ceremonies.

**Melody’s iconic friendly excerpt pose when she’s taking a sit.

That’s all I can say and introduce on this attractive princess for now. Also the fishes she owns on her kingdom around her are very  known to get allure from her and often kiss the soles of her feet for they also not admire her attractive body but more of her personality.

Later in the series early on, Raid gets separated from Naiya and Melody and thus the two search for him eventually meeting Blare, Aedris and Aeshi Company thus making allies and friend among the adventurers. 

CIAO!

[spiritmaiden23]

CHARACTER SHEET FOR ZELDA!! 

This is a headcanon sheet that will go deep into the depths of Sky Zel, namely for fantasy verse because I do have another post to dissect Zel’s character as a whole coming up! Fantasy verse I feel needs more info than what I have for her character sheet this way more people can understand her and hopefully play around in that verse because hunny witch zel is an excellent concept I refuse to go to waste. I’d love to rp with more people in this verse because it’s refreshing as well. Anyhow! Bear was kind enough to provide the sheet and now here I am taking advantage of it! Be warned fellas, it’s gonna be a long. Like very long, this took like an hour or two to complete. With all dat juicy details. Feel free to copy and paste this if you want, it’s good for main characters or OCs. But it is long as hell! Let’s jump into it! 

Character’s Name: Zelda Lockewood  Character’s nicknames: Zel, Zellie, Zeldy, witch of the woods, Hylia’s apprentice Gender: Female  Righty or Lefty: Righty  Age: 19-20  Height: 5′3 around 161 cm  Weight: 104 lbs  Eye Color: Light blue, similar to the skies. They twinkle with mischief intent yet benevolence is within her gaze. Hair color: Golden blonde, often tied with ribbons and in a very low ponytail  Distinguishing marks: She has a scar on her chest below the collarbone and at the end of her ribcage where the scar has a slight turn to it towards the left, right above her heart. After a summoning spell gone wrong, she was stabbed there by the creature, thankfully miss OP Hylia was there to save her from dying.  Describe physical traits in one passage: Whew, ok I sound like a broken record but here we go. She often has red cheeks that tend to grow redder when angry or embarrassed or shy or when she has the dokis. Very long ears that also can grow red towards the tips, as such people have mistaken her for an elf which is why she wears the witch’s hat in the first place. She likes to tie her hair in a low ponytail in order to work without it getting in the way but out of her hair is super long to the waist. She has blunt bangs or hime cut as I like to call it! And is petite but don’t let that fool you, she does have monster strength much like main verse.  FAMILY/ RELIGION  Parents: Hylia is her biological mother within this verse, she’s unaware of the fact and believes her mother to be dead. She lives with her adoptive father, Gaepora.  Siblings: An only child  Significant Other: None thus far! But I’m open to shipping here ;v;  Children: Again, none but it’s something she’d want in the future!  Other relatives: Gaepora keeps his family at an arms length, though jolly and wise he tends to be a bit of an introvert at times as such Zelda doesn’t really get to meet with her family too much or get to know them.  Pets: Her familiar, the Loftwing Indigo! Black cats seem to like her as they surround her though! Friends: Tons! But well in case future RPers are interested I can’t really fill it out.  Enemies: Sorceresses are typical enemies to a witch, she tends to avoid other witches too due to their cold-hearted nature.  Relationships (other): It’s tough to put Wylan in a category so this might be best. Though he is an annoyance and she finds him a bit of a troll slowly she’s starting to get to know him bit by bit.  Ethnicity: A witch! With connection to the gods thanks to her mother being the Goddess of Witches who goes by the name Circe to mortal realm and witches, her true name is Hylia though so don’t be confused by this. She comes from a nation called Lanayru, so prehaps Lanayruen if you wanna call her that! Religion: Most witches tend to follow something akin to Wiccan belief, Zelda follows that! Superstitions: When making a potion, she often likes to pray to the Goddess of Witches and sing a small tune while making sad potions as a means to break the silence. She doesn’t look at mirrors in the dark or but two mirrors opposite of each other as it’s believe it could make a portal of sorts for demons and other evil beings, as such she often covers her mirrors and doesn’t look at them too much aside from when she has to get ready. It’s silly, she knows, but it’s trauma from opening the portal when summoning a being far beyond her skill.  Diction, Accent, ETC.: So, she has a light accent that’s typical for those coming from Lanayru. Certain words, you can hear it spilling out. It’s best to describe it as a sing-songy accent where certain vowel sounds are stretched out. She’s learned to shorten the vowels though, trying to fit in with the nation she lives in now! Which is Hyrule a land far more bigger than her humble homelands with advancements in magic and certain technology. They have a more... I wanna say North american accent that can range from Canadian to the typical eastern accent for USA to southern accent from again, USA.  SCHOOL/ WORK / HOME  Education (Highest): Hmm, college equivalent of fantasy world? She was a fast learner and skipped a few grades which is why she graduated so early (it helps being the daughter of the Goddess of Witches too, demi god to be exact haha) she and had a natural affinity for magic, also she was studious as well and often aced tests.  Degrees: Oh damn... well she doesn’t have the title Hylia’s Golden Apprentice for nothing. So let’s consider that a degree, or maybe a degree in magic pft! Vocation/Occupation: A potions seller! Employment History: Let’s explain how she has experience in this! She worked with a brewing master, who owned a shop that was full of wares and while some cursed and forbidden, as well as the owner being sketchy, she learned about how the potions business works while working for him from 14 to 18. Four short years! Nice! Upon moving to Hyrule, she kept her potions making a bit lowkey. Selling her wares in the small town near the lost woods known as Tarrey Town. Under the guise as a merchant, it was soon discovered that she was a witch and while certain residents tend to avoid her due to low reputation of witches as a whole, many are attracted by her refreshingly friendly nature and excellent quality in potions. Rumors begin to spread out and she does tend to travel to the big city, Castle Town, from time to time to sell her wares. Though she’s still learning the ropes, and though her business isn’t really that big, she’s doing not too bad. Salary: Potions aren’t cheap, she’s her own boss as well. So, let’s put it that way. HWEOH  Status and money: Despite how well her business is doing, she’s not exactly rich but she’s not too worried about her money situation either. Resourceful, she tends to save her money by collecting her own ingredients in the Lost Woods, though if she has to she will go out to get the ones she couldn’t find within the forest and while some are expensive, she tends to barging with cheapening the price somewhat.  Own or Rent: OWN! She made her little hut deep within the woods through magic of course, it’s hard to find unless you know how to navigate within the ever changing nature of the Lost Woods. It’s a bit like OOT in that regard, ALTTP with the mysterious fog you can get lost in, and well... I’m also taking small inspiration from Paper Mario 64 with the spooky forest in one level since the Lost Woods here is a bit... well, spooky!  Living Space: It’s a small, humble sized cottage crafted with grey bricks for the chimney and front entrance sticking out with some tudor elements to the building where the house is half-timbered walls! The outside has a white little gate with a plant arch full of roses, and there is a garden full of flowers and herbs, with ivy crawling up the building towards the back of the house along with a weeping willow within her large yard, a lake is nearby and there is a lovely waterfall but beware of the creatures lurking within! The window in the kitchen is the biggest window in the house, almost like a bay window of sorts but you can’t exactly open that window yet there is a another on the lower floor where you can, while her bedroom has a slightly smaller window where they are opened outwards and always opened in the daytime, there is a large window seat, large enough to sleep on it with comforting pink cushion as well as little pillows she’s knitted herself. There are drawers underneath where she stores extra stuff. Now, as for the inside, aside from the kitchen and her bedroom along with the bathroom, it’s a big mess! The small space is cluttered with tons of books and tomes, some on the millions of shelves (along with tons and tons of potion battles) she has and some on the floor with pages scattered throughout the wood flowering. She has plants like wisteria hanging on the walls and several others like witch’s herb among other examples hanging from the celling. There’s a small sitting area with a wooden desk and stool and that’s where she often works with her research. It’s pretty much well lived in and is the result of working too much to notice the mess. It’s two stories, with a small attic being the second floor. Her bedroom is located on the first floor and despite the window seat, she has a nice slightly small queen sized sleigh bed in the center and up against the wall, it looks super comfy, like you can sink into it and well it’s possible! Along with a vanity mirror with brushes for light makeup she wears for special events, and a small bottle filled with flowers, her knitting area with a small basket full of yarn balls and a wooden wardrobe to keep her clothing in. There is a cute rug on the floor to bring the room together. Along with book shelves. It’s a cute yet ery simple style.  Work Space: As described above, it’s a wooden desk within the main hub area of the house. It’s in the corner of the room, near a window as a means to get sunlight and fresh air! Her cauldron is not too far from the desk and once again, she has tons of flowers. There’s always her research papers and books on it, a quill with a feather, annnnd a small candle stand in case she’s working late in the night! Main Mode of Transportation: Either her “broom” which is an enchanted feather from her Loftwing or her Loftwing himself! She thinks it’s silly to ride on a broom and wanted to be more creative! PSYCHOLOGY  Fears: Well when you face near death and actually saw the reaper’s scythe coming at you hot, you tend to not fear much. She doesn’t really like to summon things though due to that accident, so there’s nervousness whenever she absolutely has to. Mirrors there’s a slight fear due to how they can act as portals into the other realm. And losing loved ones, failing to protect them. Perhaps knowing the truth about her birth is also a fear, as she will deny being a demi god let along to the Goddess of Witches. There’s this feeling she has where she knows she’s not an ordinary witch but out of fear she does not investigate too much with a slight hint of curiosity.  Secrets: Much like main verse she can hear the gods and spirits of the realm, something she denies and keeps to herself. While she can do wandless magic, a feat only known to Hylia, it’s a bit hard and her spells tend to go wild so it’s why she likes to stick to tomes as it better handles her powers. Whenever mana blockage happens, she tends to get embarrassed and will only reveal it if she has to.  IQ: VERY HIGH as expected of someone with a lot of wisdom despite her age. That is all for this one... Eating Habits: NOT VERY GOOD!!! She just throws together anything that’s edible enough and eats it, while it doesn’t taste good she’s always in a rush to get back to work because she’s a bit of a workaholic in this verse! Sometimes, she’ll take elixirs to suppress her hunger if she’s working very hard on something like research or recipe hunting, at times she doesn’t always get the potion right so she tends to try again and again until she does. Neglecting her need to eat. Pretty much, it’s like putting fried rice, egg, and leftovers in a blender and eating that disgusting mess. And though she can cook mainly simple enough dishes, she tends to not do it too much. Someone get this girl some food.  Sleeping Habits: AGAIN NOT VERY GOOD THIS POOR BABY!! When cramming in the night, she gets so focused she tends to stay up until four o’ clock by drinking lots and lots of coffee... and that’s when the sleepiness tends to hit her once that caffeine is all gone, you’ll most likely see her asleep at her desk. Being an early bird though means she won’t get much sleep so ;v; That said when not cramming, she tends to get sleepy once the sun’s down so she does get normal hours of sleep mostly. She loves the morning and always wakes up to the sun greeting her as she tends to leave the curtains open, not at all afraid to do that since like... no one goes deep into Lost Woods aside from Wylan pft.  Book Preferences: She loves reading research and recipe books! It’s always fun for her to learn new things and as such she always has her head buried in a book that discusses tons and tons of research. When not learning and sitting back to relax, she likes tales of adventures and will sometimes read romance novels as well.  Music Preferences: Harp and lyre along with other string instruments! She tends to love folklore as there is a history behind it and she does find that super interesting. Though she can somewhat play the harp/lyre she’s not as talented as say the bard Kina! Groups or Alone: While good enough in a group as she does like teamwork, she’d rather do things on her own. Blame being responsible to a fault for that one alongside slight hero complex for more dangerous things she has to face HJKA! Leader or Follower: Are you kidding? Leader all the freaking way! She has a natural charm about her and is ambitious in a sense, she would make a good leader because she’s wise enough to make good decisions when in a pinch. That said she can be a little bossy when worry wart tendencies pops up and will def assume that you need her help. She’s just trying to be a good friend who believes in you and your potential, don’t mind her. Just... her supportive attitude is pretty strong haha!  Planned Out or Spontaneous: With her carefree nature, you’d think she’d be spontaneous and while she can be at times because adventure is fun, she tends to plan a lot of things out... of course, her plans never work out. But again, she’s resourceful enough to work around the issue she may come across.  Journal Entires (Do they keep one?) YES OF COURSE MY GIRL LOVES TO WRITE!! She actually has a few, four in total. One for researching plants and other things, another to keep track of her inventory, one for folklore and ghosts/monsters findings perhaps, and one for her personal feelings. If you find the last one, she will end your life.  Hobbies, Recreation: Girl loves to knit! It’s very relaxing and she’s really good at it along with sewing her own clothing! She loves flying, and collecting plants in case that wasn’t obvious already. She also loves monster hunting despite how dangerous it can be, but due to how unique the monsters are in Hyrule she just can’t help it! Catch her taking pictures whenever she comes across one while a friend grabs her and runs for dear life. Jam making is a fun things she enjoys and gardening. Overall, really good hobbies she has! How Do They Relax: A nice bath filled with floral oils that’s meant to relax you and certain flowers as well. It’s how she’s got that flowery scent after all. She tends to read in the bath, and well reading in general along with writing is how she unwinds! She loves knitting and gardening and jam making is relaxing from time to time. Drinking tea while sitting underneath the weeping willow. She does love practicing her magic and hexes too!    What Excites Them?: MONSTERS DESPITE HOW DANGEROUS THEY ARE AND SNAPPING PHOTOS TO RECORD THEM, finding new spells, new tomes and other books! Seeing friends will make her super happy, flowers, wild plant life never seen before. Whenever other people from distant cities learn about her potions shop, new cauldrons, successfully making a new potion, exploring new cities and towns, traveling, flying, learning new things because she’s a nerd with a thirst for knowledge... pretty much she’s very excited over tons of things, it doesn’t take much to excite her, actually haha! Pet Peeves: Wylan breaking into her house, she has tons of charms in the place so it’s a bit worrying and annoying to find him in there doing whatever, messing up with a spell or burning potions, hunger pains when she’s deep at work along with her natural sleepiness once it’s dark out, prideful hero types mayhaps where they’re all talk and no action more like (she does value bravery though), bullying since strong sense of justice, and finally gossip and judgement.  Prejudices: She... doesn’t really have one? Aside from not liking bullies and again prideful hero types who are all talk and no action... liars too? And creeps who flirt with her. Flirting is fun but not when it’s unwanted. Yeah... that’s about it I think! Attitudes: Very determined and ready to face the day and is a hard worker! She’s a cheery girl through and through and very kind but don’t let her kindness fool you as she’s not afraid to put her foot down and call you out. She’s charming and a playful girl who has a love for learning. And is very supportive but can be a busybody if she worries for you. And though somewhat scared about the truth of her origins, once the time comes she’s ready to face those fears. She tends to get either angry or embarrassed (it’s ambiguous really) whenever Wylan is around doing... Wylan things actually haha! Stressors: I guess failure or deadlines that she can’t make if the recipe for the potion is too hard. As well as vague customers too because what sorta potion do you want from her she can’t read minds? Tarot cards and palm reading, while she knows how to do these things as it’s natural for all witches, knowing the future is scary and she’d rather live in the now while looking forward to the what the future has in store without knowing of her fate. Also, dark magic. She tends to stay away from it, corruption is a thing that can happen causing her to become a mindless yet very OP being known as sorceress.  Obsessions: WORK. Very much a hard worker to a fault actually due to her high sense of responsibilities playing into that. It’d be cash money if someone could help with relaxing her.  Addictions: Book collecting, along with flower collecting too and finally she has a super bad sweet tooth. That’s about it.  Ambitions: Right now, she wants to become a bigger name in order to help out people as she loves helping others, and well, the extra money doesn’t hurt either. She wishes to become a bit more powerful as she already is, up to the Grand Witch Hylia levels and wishes to increase her mana, not that it’s low but just in case! As Seen by Others: A cutie pie! Who’s kind though sometimes people do avoid her since Witch.  As Seen by Self: She’s cute and she knows it haha! Aside from that she doesn’t see herself as kind but someone who wants to do the right thing, there’s no reason behind this aside from it’s natural for her to be this way. That said she wants to work harder than she already is someone stop her. ASTROLOGY/PHISIOLOGY (hoo boi i know shit about that but let’s go) Birth Date: March 20 Time of Birth: 3:07 AM, right during witching hours with the magic number seven in it, that’s why Hylia went “oh crap she’s gonna be powerful like me and make poor life decisions if she sticks with me time to yeet this baby outta here” Western Astrological Sign: Pisces  Traits Associated with Western Sign: I’m lifting this from a sight but strengths are Compassion, artistic, intuitive, gentle, wise, musical. While weakness is fearful (not really she’s pretty brave but does have some fears) overly trusting, sad, desire to escape reality, can be a victim or a martyr. Some traits don’t really fit her, I guess you can say she’s the odd man out with typical pisces haha!  Chinese Zodiac Sign: That’s a little difficult since it goes by year rather than date but I’ll try! Year of the Monkey! It fits her best I feel! Traits Associated with Chinese Zodiac: according to this site monkeys are fast learners and crafty, they tend to have many interests, they are clever and creative and love to accept challenges. They tend to have magnetic personalities are witty and intelligent but can be naughty aka playful. I feel this fits her better than Pisces... or maybe a mixture of both haha! Handwriting: DOCTOR’S WRITING!! SHE... HAS SLOPPY CURSIVE THAT ONLY SHE CAN READ HWEOH but she can write neat cursive it’s just she’s always in a rush to get her thoughts out there.  Sexual History: Girl was too focused in her studies she did not date anyone. She’s not one for ahem “hooking up either” So... no history there I guess pft.   General Health: Healthy as can be! Medical History: Aside from that one time where she almost died, her medical history is really not that interesting. She does get mana blockage from time to time and they hurt hard and makes it harder to use magic. Her spells going haywire.  Allergies: Hmm... I don’t think she has any. Chronic Illnesses: Nope again! Handicaps: And again no on that either.  OBJECTS Purse / Bag: She has a leather bag around her waist, it’s charmed to be a hammer space of sorts so like... tons of things. Books, tomes, scrolls, diary for ingredients gathering, another journal for folklore and monster tracking, pictograph/camera athame knife just in case because you never know, wallet and plenty of others stuff Wallet: Well, it’s a pouch that’s full of money, a lot just in case. That is also a hammer space of sorts! Fridge: NOT A DAMN THING she’s better at storing bird food for her loftwing and cat food for any stray cats hanging around her area but her fridge is like... leftovers from the little meals she makes from time to time, jam, potions that need to be stored in cold place, veggies, and one battle of water that’s it.  Medicine Cabinet: While she knows some healing spells it doesn’t hurt to have bandages just in case! Along with medical brews that’ll help with things such as colds and other illnesses. Tooth brush and paste of course... and uh the little makeup she has because this girl a goddess and doesn’t wear it too much.  Glove Compartment: CARS DON’T EXIST BUT ACCORDING TO BOTW MOTORCYCLES DO, that said she doesn’t have a motorcycle so like... nothing! Junk Drawer: Utensils, knives for food... for one draw. As for the other real junk drawer full of papers, dried and pressed flowers, journals, and extra quills alongside some cute jewelry! Kitchen Cabinets: Plates, bowls, and glasses of course with spices in another and any food to help with cooking!  Bedroom Hiding Place: Underneath her bed is where the personal journal is... for the most part. Closets: Clothing, it’s a small closet along side other junk like her old wand, and anything relating to her school memories such as supplies.  Backback: Isn’t that the same thing as purse/bag? Either way, read above! Locker: None Desk: WEEPS DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF ON THIS? Read above with living situation.  Clothes pocket: Mostly letters for her father... a pocket watch, and sometimes she’ll have the athame knife in there too. There’s not much she can store with her dress apron! 

OTHER (bitch we almost done!!)  Halloween Costumes: SHEET GHOST!! She won’t go as a witch since well she is one, sheet ghost is probably meant for laughs really. Also she’d make her own black cat costume due to her affinity with them. A black dress, with cat ears and whiskers drawn on... yeah that seems good! Tricks: Little things like charming you to float! Or having giant rabbits chase after you before they cuddle you! Spiders crawling out from your ears! Bats following you. See? Nothing harmful but something funny to witches yet not so much to mortals or other supernatural beings for that matter.  Talents: Magic, she’s insanely talented but it helps having a Goddess mother who created magic and witches/mages in the first place! She’s good at knitting as we established and sewing, very good at brewing all sorts of potions as they’re always high quality, very good at researching stuff. ETC ETC.  Politics: Hmm well,,, Hyrule is absolute monarchy where the king and royal family lie about being descendants of gods so... yeah! Not much to say there since she’s not one who’s tied to mortal virtues.  Flaws: Worrywart which turns to her assuming things and taking the wheel so to speak she’s trying her best to support friends but well being nosy and like this isn’t always the best, sometimes while good with words and advice to comfort someone she doesn’t always say the right thing to comfort said person, she works too hard and is responsible to a fault, she often likes to give others the benefit of the doubt despite being screwed over. And perhaps... she doesn’t worry about herself so much as she worries about others. Not only does she think she can handle most things but also it’s a bit of a hero complex or something similar to that where she always sacrifices herself for others. Because, it’s the right thing to do. She tends to get embarrassed easily and has a bit of a nasty temper at times but it doesn’t take long for her to get overall as she’s not one to hold grudges.  Strengths: Very joyful and charming, many find themselves drawn to her as the result of this. Kind as well to everyone, aside from mentioned above in prejudice section and dislikes, she likes to treat everyone equally as best as she can. Reasonability is her middle name and tends to always get things done. She’s also very wise for her age and someone who encourages you to do your very best because she believes in you and sees this great light in you that gives you great potential for the bright future. She can be a little flirty towards someone she likes once she gets over her initial shyness upon discovering her feelings but well romance is new to her so sometimes she’ll miss certain romantic intentions. And playful girl who’s a bit witty too. She has talents for magic and is a fast learner for the most part. Also love learning too and is a nerd. She has a creative side to her! Drugs/Alcohol: Nope! Passwords: Probably her birthday for like things that require numbers such as safes and the like! Email Address, Home Page, Blogs, etc.: Well none pft Time and place: Very vague middle ages that takes inspiration from the Magic Technology BOTW has along with other games too such as TP and SS.  Special Places: The sky... does that count? And the Haunted Grove deep within the Lost Woods.  Special Memories: Meeting her familiar for the first time, any time spent with her dad as he was loving and kind, getting accepted to become a student for Hylia despite her wanting to keep a distance but takes her under her wing just in case. 

[ladyofmaidensandwine]

Blood and Blade

Part Two of the All’s Not Fair in Love and War Series

For the Pick Two Challenge by @justagirlinafandomworld​

This is part two of an ongoing series I am writing. If you would like to be tagged, let me know.

Prompts:  Enemies to Lovers AU, and the dialogue “If you touch him/her/them, I’ll kill you.”

Characters: Dean Winchester, Fem! Irish! Reader, John Winchester, Crowley, Lucifer (mentioned), Charlie Bradbury, Sam Winchester

Wordcount: 2,602

Summary: Confronted by an unexpected face from your past, Dean demands the truth. An unlikely alliance is formed in the face of certain death, and unexpected secrets will be revealed.

Series Masterlist

            “Tell me everything, Y/N. Tell me the truth. Who are you really?” Dean demanded. You studied his emerald green eyes, measured their intensity, and gave a slow nod. “Fergus McLeod killed my parents when I was but a babe, and then slammed me into Hell as a punishment for inciting rebellion.” Dean frowned as you skirted past his question, but didn’t let his hard expression falter. “Why are you here?” Dean asked. “Not because of the King, not because of the labor camp, nor due to the contract. Why are you really here?” He added. You paled slightly. You had thought your carefully crafted exterior hid your ulterior motives, but somehow, this sharp-eyed, stubborn, and charming Prince had seen right through you. He knew. He knew the truth, he wanted to hear you say it. You set your shoulders back and raised your chin a notch, face a mask of unfeeling coldness, eyes as hard as diamonds. “I’m here to-”

                  You stopped, brows furrowed, a hand instinctively moving to your hip, grazing the thick grey cloth of your skirts. Dean’s head snapped to the door, neither of you daring to so much as breathe. You made eye contact, and a look of understanding passed between the two of you. Silence fell thickly outside the door to Dean’s private chambers, the shadow of someone’s boots pooling in the polished marble floors.

          The door slammed open, the force sending the finely crafted wood flying in splinters, and you had no time to think, only to act. Weapon, you needed a weapon- your hands lunged blindly and you felt the solid and heavy weight of an ornate candelabra in your hand. Two men, both stocky, rushed into the room where Dean had already drawn his sword, but one look at the abysmally dark pits that were their eyes, you knew a single blade would not help you. The closest to you moved fast, but you were faster. Even after the time you’d been imprisoned, your honed reflexes were still as reliable as they’d always been, and you moved in a blur of gleaming metal and dove grey lace. You swept his feet from under him, and before he had the chance to react, used his momentum to send him soaring over your shoulder, slamming him into the ground, and bashing the candlestick into his skull. 

            Dean turned to you, eyes wide in shock and surprise. You panted slightly, and he unsheathed a pair of daggers from his belt. He was silent, face impassive as he offered them to you, but you understood his bargain. The olive branch had been extended in the form of deadly blades and an agreement to have one another’s backs. “Demons. We must act quickly. There are hidden tunnels beneath us, are there not?” You asked hurriedly, though your tone was calm, voice unwavering. “Yes. I won’t ask how you know that.” He frowned. “Gather as many people as you can, and get them out.” You said firmly. “And leave you? To do what, exactly?” Dean scoffed. “Now is not the time to quarrel. I can hold my own, Your Majesty.” You said, curtsying mockingly as Dean rolled his eyes. “As you wish.” He sneered. You twirled the daggers deftly between your fingers, and as you looked at Dean, he saw a sort of bloodthirsty fire there, and simply nodded his head. You let a smirk spread over your lips, and allowed the predator within to show. A wolf stalked the palace, a wolf in a woman’s body, fangs of iron, heart of stone.

             Somewhere in the chaos, Dean connected with his younger brother, the two Princes fending off demons as they hurried people into the hidden entrance of the tunnels. Charlie, Captain of the Royal Guard, had ordered her forces to only attack you as self-defense, understanding that a shaky alliance had been forged against a mutual enemy. You, however, were nowhere to be seen, no sign of your existence save for the trail of bodies left in your wake.

            Silent. You were so silent, it was eerie, appearing from the shadows with a determined swiftness, so efficient that by the time anyone knew you were there, there was a knife buried to the hilt in their chest. You moved methodically, choosing corridors and halls with plenty of places to hide and a good vantage point, sometimes stalking your quarry with the unnerving, preternatural stillness and patience of a predator, hunting them down, and offering no mercy except that of a quick death. Morrigan, Queen of Thieves, Lady of Death, all names well-earned. You made killing an art, but not out of enjoyment. There was more there, a glimpse of sympathy hiding behind an eternally angry fire and cold eyes, more than vengeance in that dangerous smirk. So carefully hidden, this vulnerable human side of you, the part that could vomit at the sight of the carnage you caused, the part that wept and sobbed upon waking from a nightmare in which you were haunted by the faces of those you’ve loved and lost, and those you’d looked in the eye as they died at your hands. Steady, those hands, so firm and certain as they held a silvery blade. The demons within you were not the kind that could be exorcised.

                    You disappeared into the gloom of the tunnels, nothing but the weak and quickly dying light of the occasional torch to guide you, but you knew where you were going. You had never needed sight to find your way, as sure of your directions as anyone with a map could ever be. You were nearly stabbed as a member of the guard struck out at you, unable to discern your figure from a possible threat, leaning away and deflecting the blow with the dagger Dean lent you.

           “If you would refrain from decapitating me, I would be most gracious.” You said dryly, thoroughly unimpressed by the guards. “At ease.” Dean called, shouldering his way past the soldiers towards you. He was silent for a moment, surveying you with a critical gaze, searching for obvious injuries, of which you sported few. “How many?” He questioned. You shrugged. “Too many to count. The rest of your men can handle it now. The surprise of the attack caught them off-guard, but the numbers can be managed.” You reported, scanning the crowd of faces behind Dean. He nodded with a sigh, jaw set. Crown Prince he may be, but he was a warrior too, one that would rather die alongside his fellow soldiers than run with the civilians. You understood how he felt. Once, you had made a similar decision. The bandolier of knives slung over chest gleamed faintly in the firelight, one hand resting almost casually on the hilt of his sword. “We should keep moving. The palace is not safe, and your father was already escorted away.” You suggested, slipping behind Dean and to the front of the group. “I understand you do not trust me, but as of now, I am your ally. I hate Crowley and all he stands for, as well as those with him, far more than I hate the good King of Lawrence.” You said clearly. Dean’s lips curled into a small smirk, nodding. “You must truly hate Crowley, then.” Charlie spoke up. You snorted a laugh. “You haven’t the slightest.”

                      Dean watched you carefully. He was slightly behind you, placing himself between you and the others as an instinct. His emerald eyes were calculating, studying you. Blood smeared on your cheek, just slightly darker than the red of your lipstick. You’d cut through your skirts, leaving them above the knee for mobility, and your hair was mussed, small scratches and cuts scattered over your arms and legs. You looked a mess, and yet your eyes were clear, sharper and with more focus than he’d seen them before, body relaxed, but ready for action in an instant. You were in your element, adrenaline coursing through your veins, fingers still spinning those perfectly balanced daggers skillfully, the color of blood that was, he realized, not yours enhancing your eyes. His fathers words rang through his head. “Murder, son. Many, many counts of murder...”

               Dawn had arrived, the deeper indigos and rich blue-black of the night sky slowly replaced by subtle grey and soft rosy pink. A few lone stars hung glittering above the horizon, the full moon illuminating the rolling hills enough for them to see the bulky and stocky shape of the stronghold they were headed towards. Neither you, nor Dean, had let go of your weapons, waiting for the next attack as the civilians wearily trudged onwards. “How much farther?” You asked quietly. “Perhaps half a kilometre.” Dean answered, noting your frown. “What is it?” He queried. “Is it not strange that they would willingly allow both Princes to so easily escape? Something about this does not bode well.” You said seriously, exchanging an uneasy look with Dean. “I know. The best I can hope for is that the guards can get the people to safety.” Dean sighed, expression taut. So much responsibility, such a heavy weight. The gold of his crown reflected in the moonlight, and you wondered if he felt the burden of his entire kingdom resting upon his brow each time he wore it. “Then let us make haste, Your Majesty.” You gestured, flashing him a crooked grin. “I hate when you call me that.” Dean muttered blankly, but you caught the twitch of his lips as he fought a smile. “Crown Prince Dean, loathing his title. Next I’ll discover you don’t bathe in gold coins and rubies as large as a bird’s egg.” You snickered. That one got you a laugh, your eyes smug and smile triumphant.

              Close enough to see the flag flying atop the turrets of the stronghold, the urgency kicked in as the civilians were rushed towards the prospect of safety. You counted the steps left to take in your head. 1,000 steps away, an arrow pierced through the gap in a soldier’s metal armor. The people screamed, and Prince Sam quickly tried to regain control whilst you and Dean readied yourselves for battle. Charlie called out orders to hold the defensive line and to keep moving, but more arrows fell from the sky like rain, most bouncing off shields, but some wounding or killing both soldier and civilian. Dean’s expression shifted in an instant, and gone was the cocky grin, the cool amusement, replaced by cold steel and green eyes lit from within by an angry, righteous flame.

               The pair of you were efficient, Dean’s sword and your knives doing serious damage as the archers abandoned their bows and charged your group. He shielded you when he could, and you made quick work of would-be assailants attempting to take the Crown Prince by surprise. Something in the dynamic between you shifted, there on the battlefield, both spattered with blood and streaked with dirt, that former uneasy and hesitant trust replaced as you became strong defenders and fearsome allies. The Prince and the Assassin, Defenders of the Crown. You could laugh at the thought, and for a moment, the long-dormant place inside you that had once been alive in vivid colours created a mental image, two figures side-by-side, one in gleaming golden tones, the other a silhouette in silver, a brief flicker of something you’d paint if it had been long ago.

            Cresting the hilltop against the bronze of the rising sun, the King’s vast army rode on sure-footed steeds, armor a bright and shining wave of silver and gold to change the tide of the battle. Dean met your eyes, sharing in the sense of impending victory, before he cleaved a demon in half with one stroke of his sword, your own daggers finding their way into the throat and gut of two more. Sam had been flanked by the King’s soldiers, the common people and nobility rescued and ushered towards the stronghold. You and Dean remained, a lethal pair, carving a path through the attackers with both blood and blade, never ceasing even as you took a heavy mace to the shoulder, and Dean was stabbed in the thigh. There would be no retreat, from either side, but a few more cowardly individuals recognized the impending loss and fled, the numbers dwindling into something more manageable. By the time the sky burned red and blazing orange, clouds tinged pink and gold, the fields were littered with corpses both human and Other, the survivors being taken forcibly into custody. Again, the Crown Prince met your eyes, and nodded a solemn thanks, to which you gave a crooked smile and mocking bow. It would seem the unlikely alliance would survive another day.

               Dean refused to leave to be treated until you were also seen to, a handmaiden sighing exasperatedly and finally escorting you towards a private room which connected to Dean’s own chambers. The bustle of people distracted you from the pain of your various injuries, eyes taking in all the exits and cataloguing every twist and turn, memorizing faces. Another skill you could never forget, ingrained deeply in your instincts.

          “I can take care of these myself.” You insisted to a nurse as she tried to inspect a cut over your shoulder. “Let her assist you, Y/N.” Dean said sternly. meeting your eyes with furrowed brows. You sighed and rolled your eyes, but ceased you protests. Dean was made to leave and you were scrubbed and then dressed in night attire which smelled suspiciously of Dean’s earthy cologne, but was in any case a better alternative to another ridiculous dress. 

             “Your cover is blown, you realize.” Dean said. He stepped into your room, looking less like the future King, and more like a man. An exceedingly handsome man, you admitted. “I suppose now your father will kill me.” You replied, lifting your chin slightly. “He will wish to, but he can’t. You’re under my jurisdiction, Y/N.” Dean smirked, leaning against the door frame with his hands tucked into his pockets as you stilled on the bed. “Am I to take this as you saying you don’t wish to kill me, Your Majesty?” You blinked slowly, expression betraying your confusion. “I- I may have judged you too harshly. In any case, you fought by my side, risked your life, cover, and safety to protect my people. You deserve to be hailed as a hero, not a criminal.” Dean said seriously, inspecting you closely to gauge your reactions. He frowned when you let out a loud laugh. “You’re not jesting? This is serious?” You asked incredulously. “Your Majesty, I will always be a killer, no matter what you now wish to call me. You will be making many people very angry if you stand for me against your father.” You pointed out. Dean smirked again, shrugging. “Old bastard has it coming. I am not the same man as my father, Y/N, and you are not your reputation. I don’t need to know the details of your past, nor your identity. You could have killed me at least a dozen different times this night, and many others. I trust you.” Dean stared you down, not allowing you to escape the sincere intensity of his deep pine eyes. “You’re mad.” You stated. “Perhaps.” He grinned back. “Well, then. To the death of all reason, Your Majesty.” You toasted, raising a crystal glass of wine in his direction. “I’ll drink to that. It’s Dean. Just Dean.” He said firmly. “As you wish, Crown Prince Just Dean.” This time, you both laughed.

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[graveyard-in-the-void]

(Writing frenzy continues, this time even with some “art” I swear to god, I’m ruining the lore of pumpkin scissors completely with my AU. In my defense though, listening to this and this didn’t really help me with my active imagination! ... I seriously need to get a grip on action though. I want to write it so bad.) --- Lucifer ---

“Okay, newbie.” Malcolm remembered Foxy’s words from back then. “There are a few rules, even in OUR section. I know it’s surprising, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of most of them easily, just by watching us! We’re pros after all. However-“ This part was especially vivid, as a shadow crossed the fox’s face. “The main rule, the rule you need to know before anything else… never, ever make Henry angry.” It had been so confusing. “Uh. Foxy… I appreciate your concern, but the Lieutenant seems… always angry?” “Oh-“ He waved his hand. “Upset? Frustrated? Annoyed? Offended? All of these are fine. That’s just how he operates. But no- what I’m talking about here is anger. Rage. Fury.” “He’s already scary enough… I won’t try to make it worse.” Somehow, this drew a chuckle out of Foxy, as he looked over him, up his whole size. “Yeah… some people are scary enough by themselves, aren’t they?” And from there on out… he did see what Foxy was talking about. There were special moments. When they entered territory that they were shot at just for stepping in. When they entered pricey houses, facing the occupants who lived in luxury, sucking out all the life from the cities around them. When they faced a hateful mob, carrying their old, rusty weapons, raising it against their uniform, much more than their words and actions. Every single ones of these times… … when Henry drew his sword… … there was something in his eyes… … a light. Shining maniacally. That stuff was scary. But… there also always had been something about it that made Malcolm feel calm. He knew this kind of light. His lantern seemed to exude something similar- but what Henry had was much, much different. It felt so controlled and aimed. It felt… right. Just, even. In a terrifying way. Henry was ALWAYS armed too. To act on this shine, whoever it may shine on. Fully ready to engage in combat with anyone or anything, from his slacking subordinates to full on abstract concepts. It was good he was always armed. Because they could have never seen this ambush coming. They should have. But they didn’t. Inside of the metal facility, a place nobody should have- could have- predicted them to be… Now the alarms were going off, red light blinking. The siren screaming at the top of its capabilities. Stinging right through the soul- And it was good that Malcolm wasn’t the only one keeping his weapons too close. Too close for comfort. His own, that was. The light of the lantern was shining. It felt so oddly bright in these halls that turned from pitch black to deep red in just a second, coloring his whole vision in with the wrong colors, the wrong noises- He wasn’t thinking. He was listening to the orders that his brain produced at a volume that somehow allowed him to listen to everything and nothing around him. Moving forward. Töten Sie. The only law of his field. This parasite inside of him, the enemy raising the weapon- It was too quick, and too long. A whip? A metal whip, made out of multiple parts that expanded more and more? It was a painful, hard to predict weapon. People could quickly falter under it, especially when wielding a sword- but also those with guns weren’t save from having the weapon ripped form their grasp- leaving them defenseless. Most people, that was. Malcolm just rose his wrist, letting the weapon sling around it, ripping away fabric and skin- Then he pulled. It broke. Expected. What wasn’t expected though- A liquid. It splashed out of the tip of the weapon, covering Malcolm- And starting to abruptly tear away his flesh, in a horrible sizzling noise. Before he could adjust for it, the weapon jumped forward again. In the back he could hear Henry scream out for him- Then he was on his knees, coughing up blood and weird chunky clumps of flesh. Did get anything inside his mouth? He couldn’t realize the feeling- Staring up, at the assailant, all his mind was busy with was to come up with a way to get up again, to avoid the whip and crush this persons being, under his bare hands if it had to happen- He was only lightly armored, if he managed to reach him, somehow- The cold mask that seemed to be the one of a demon simply stared down at him, the expression empty as his own. Slowly he began to raise his hands, willing to pull himself forward- But before he could, something yellow and pink flashed before him, the movement of a short sword was audible- He wanted to scream, suddenly he was on the ground, in pain, suddenly it all came flooding to him, the reality of the situation and that Henry too would be hit by this liquid- whatever it was, whatever it was, if it hit- Abruptly a silver snake landed with a cold, high noise on the ground. The attacker moved backwards. His voice muffled by the mask, almost unrecognizable. “We expected nothing less of the famous Lieutenant Miller. However. You should give up now.” Henry’s eyes bore into his enemy, as he held his sword up defensively, ready for the next weapon and the next attack- “No. I have no intend to make anything easy for the likes of you.” Behind him Malcolm groaned, trying to force himself upwards, his mind a completely jumbled mess, screaming of blood and protection, of love and violence, he couldn’t decipher it- The demon simply scoffed. “… still alive? Well. No witnesses.” He snapped his finger- A gunshot. Then another. Then another. Frozen, Henry turned around, his eyes wide and empty as Malcolm collapsed once more, this time seemingly for good. His body was still twitching, probably grasping to get up- Ignoring the very real threat of getting shot himself, or the masked person stabbing him into the back, he jumped forwards, in such a rush to crouch next to him- over him, trying to keep the life in his eyes- Malcolm’s stare was purple and wide- The eyes of an animal. He grabbed Henry abruptly by the wrist, so strongly that it hurt, but Henry didn’t care about that. Those eyes were not like Malcolm’s at all. Quickly his eyes wandered down to the cursed lantern. It wouldn’t even let him die as himself, huh? Reaching out, he clicked the mechanism shut. Instantly the man below him grew weak, limp, looking up at him with those wide, pained eyes that he knew. “H… Henry…” “Shhhhh-“ Gently he took his cheek into his hand. “It will be okay. You will be okay.” Those words. Said every time. By now he believed in them, that they had some power. After all, until now it always worked, right? The gunmen had stepped out of their hiding places, surrounding them. “Lieutenant Miller. I once more ask you to come along with us… or we will see ourselves forced to use the poisoned darts to cause you to fall unconscious… after a long period of writhing in pain, of course. The body must be fully exhausted for it to take full effect.” Henry however wasn’t even listening. All he did was holding his corporal, trying to- force Mal to stay alive by simply keeping his eyes on him- There were many things Malcolm could tell him now. It hurts. I’m scared. Get away from here. I’m sorry. You did nothing wrong. But both of them were caught watching each other, staring into one another’s eyes, trying to find answers to this situation- Henry hand wandered slowly down to Malcolm’s belt as he shifted, just for his other hand to be abruptly squeezed. “D-don’t touch- the- it will-“ “… it is merely a tiny will-o-wisp.” The alarm didn’t stop screaming, no matter what, keeping Henry at the edge of his sanity. God, he hated that noise. The grip of his corporal was staying tight- “I am warning you one more time, Lord Miller. If you-“ Leaning down, Henry kissed Malcolm, paralyzing him for a second- All the time he needed. Before he the corporal had a hint of a chance to gather himself again- As he looked up to Henry, for a second he was sure he could see flames dance over his lips, out of his open mouth, raising up to his eyes that were flicking with- “N-no-“ “I will be fine.” Calmly Henry stood up, to turn back to the people. If they all shot at once- Well, they wouldn’t shoot at his vitals. They clearly wanted him alive for something. Then all he would have to deal with was the drug. His mouth tasted like Malcolm’s blood. He liked that. Slowly he rose his hand, to lick off the rest of the blood and thinned down acid, as Malcolm watched from the ground, quietly realizing something- Henry took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Your ambush was cowardly. Your trap ridiculous. But I was not mad yet, for I know that is the way you are.” His eyes wandered over everyone as adjusted his step a little bit more, to better shield the man behind him. “However, not only did you shoot at a man on the ground, which alone did seal your fate, but you also happened to shoot at my Corporal Malcolm… and unlike him… I am a little twisted.” Then his hand went down, and he opened up the chamber. It exuded a pale, golden light. And then Henry’s face was gone- Together with the rest of him. In ONE move he was forward, so much faster than Malcolm could ever be, Malcolm who staggered and stumbled, Malcolm who HESITATED- Henry was on top of the first goon, stabbing him multiple times with his golden dagger, before rolling with the body, letting it soak up the bullets, moving again within a second onto the next one who screamed loudly, his weapon useless on such a short range. One kick. He stumbled, closer to the other next victim- Gunfire. Some of them did HAVE to have hit Henry, however, he wasn’t standing still enough to show, as the two goons fell down to the ground, like oversized puppets. The other two wanted to run, gain distance, but Henry simply threw both of this weapon, splitting them with ease. The demon hadn’t moved. “What an impressive display Lieutenant Miller. How interesting to see you under the influence of the will-o-wisp. However, now you are out of weapons.” “Why thank you. My Corporal has this sort of effect on me that I desperately wish to impress him…” “You will never see him again after today, so it might be good you had this last chance.” The demon aimed calmly forward with the injection in his little gun- Just to stop for a second, his eyes widening just the tiniest bit. Due to his connection, he had seen the ATTs in action before. He had seen their movements, their attacks, their expressions- But- But what he saw in front of him now- There was something off, something abnormal- It wasn’t only that the dulling effect was taking place, it wasn’t just- Henry Miller… … was grinning. His teeth reflecting yellow and sharp in the pale golden light. He was- Enjoying himself- He wasn’t being wielded by the wisp as its senseless murder puppet- This man was battering the will-o-wisp into submission. Submission to him. It flickered so excitedly. Caught in its steel cage- No, no- It wasn’t in its lantern anymore- IT WAS IN HIS EYES AND MAW- “You know why… I saved you for last…?” Henry didn’t seem to mind not having a weapon. The devil masked man rose his weapon, trying to suppress the cold climbing up his spine as though death itself touched him. All he had to do was shoot. Then this creature would be on the ground. The body was still human. And small. It was- “… I wanted you to know that the mask you are wearing…” Abruptly he shot. It hit Henry in the shoulder, the liquid quickly emptying itself into him. Slowly he reached up and inspected the syringe. Then suddenly, his bright, white grin was back. “… thanks for providing me with the weapon, but I was not done yet. Besides, I do not need this.” And with that he was on top of the masked man, who struggled below him. “… your mask is an insult to the good name of demons. At least they have conviction.” The man froze, staring up- For a second just a second he saw a dragon opening its fire-tainted maw- Slowly Henry came to his feet, stumbling the slightest bit- Hissing. “… bastard… ruined the taste in my mouth.” Finally he wiped the blood off his face, the blood that had been on there in such quantity that it dripped onto the ground from his chin and into his clothes- Turning to Malcolm, he expected- something. Fear. Probably. But there was only such- Sadness…? Walking over to him, shuddering and in pain, he kneeled back down next to him. “We will fix you up, Malcolm-“ “… you’re hurt Lieutenant. Why… did you…” Footsteps sounded in the distance- From both sides- But before Henry could rush down the corridor to try and distract the enemy from spotting Malcolm, out of the corridor stumbled Foxy and Simon, out of breath and concerned. “L.T.!” Both of them called out. “Wh-what happened?” “You’re injured!” “Big guy-“ Henry interrupted them. “Good that you are here. Get Malcolm out. Fix him up. I will clean the place out.” “A-alone?!” “L-Lieutenant- don’t- the- the syringe-“ Coldly Henry’s glare wandered from his subordinates to Malcolm, where he paused, his eyes turning softer, but the flickering inside of his eyes didn’t die down. “… there are people somewhere in here. Stuck. I heard something as we walked. Let me get them.” His hand rose up to his belt, where the metal lantern flickered in the rhythm with his heart. “… let me do this. I always liked to play with fire.” Malcolm wanted to speak up. Object. Henry didn’t want to save these people, he wanted to use the lantern- But the other two nodded and proceeded to lean over him, helping him up, as Henry disappeared into the darkness of the red and black- and now golden- corridors. Only faintly, when they were almost gone- He could hear Henry laugh. Slowly he closed his eyes- And prayed for him to be okay. It took an eternity. Simon and Foxy were discussing if one of them should maybe go in, while Malcolm stared up into the sky, gathering himself, fully planning on standing up again, to go inside- But then they heard- Chatter. Out of the opening of the tunnels, a pale, golden light started to shine… … and slowly the silhouette of a person was recognizable, stepping closer. And behind him… … more and more people. They looked tired, beaten and battered- But they were smiling and talking. Forcing himself to stand up, not even hearing his comrades trying to talk him out of it, he walked towards the opening of the tunnel, seeing soon enough that while Henry was drenched in blood, he seemed mostly fine. Scratches and rips, but- fine. The people were celebrating when they saw the sky again. Malcolm wondered how long they’ve been down there. And for what purpose. For now, they were trying to help the weaker ones in the group with some of the food and water they had, sending a message to HQ that they needed some more people here to help. The still injured Malcolm was fairly useless- Waiting for Henry to get freed from the crowd of grateful onlookers- Until he was interrupted by a boy, barely more than a child. “This- this pink guy there! He’s awesome! He- did you see what he did?” “… no, can’t say I did…” Malcolm answered, slightly hesitant. “HE SLICED THEM! DICED THEM! PEOPLE WITH AND WITHOUT MASKS. THE SCIENTISTS TOO! HE GOT ALL OF US OUT! A-at first I couldn’t believe it- I was in this dark room- with no sound- and things got so weird, the scientists said that was normal- but then the door opened and someone- someone brought light! The Pink Guy, he brought light to me- a-and the others! And he got us out!” Making a few movements, the shaking boy jumped around, trying to do some combat motions. Hell- he probably didn’t even know he was shaking. Adrenaline? Fear? He looked up at Mal, out of brown eyes. “S-so, yeah! He’s a great person! Right? He’s so good at fighting and he- took all out of us out! We didn’t get hurt! He killed all the baddies. That makes him the good guy. Right?” Malcolm opened his mouth and he wanted to say something- positive, something good, something that would leave the kid with the sense that it all just had been a dream, a fairytale in which killing the beast was- good- … but… “No. I… do not think… the Lieutenant is a good man.” It was barely more than a whisper. “… he is merely the devil… collecting his dues. And the light you saw, it was-“ Lucifer. The light bringer. Abruptly he moved forward, reaching out for Henry, who allowed him to. “Corporal? Are you alright again…?” “I- yes. Lieutenant, please, let me- can we talk for a moment?” Lieutenant Lucifer. His eyes were dark. No hint of the hellfire left. “… of course.” They stepped away from the crowd, and as soon as they were out of sight, the big guy held out his hand. “… give it back.” Slowly Henry inspected him. “… please.” Malcolm added. With a sigh Henry picked it up from his belt, handing it over. “I suppose you need it more than I do anyhow. I do not need the will-o-wisp to guide me.” “I’ve… seen.” For a moment he paused, then he spoke up. “Uhm- Lieutenant- can I ask something?” “Of course, go ahead.” “Why… the scientists?” Henry paused. “You are right in assuming they were not dangerous, however- they would have run.” “You know that?” “I know that. And cowards like them, if they do not face their punishment by the law… I have to do it myself.” It was quiet for a moment, then Malcolm spoke up again. Hesitant. Afraid. “Uhm- you looked absolutely nightmarish with that lamp.” Even worse than the troops he had walked into fire and brimstone with. And now all he could think of- “… do I look like you… with that lamp…?” For a second Henry stared at him blankly- Then he started laughing. A bit embarrassed the taller guy stepped back. “I- I’m sorry if I offended you or-“ “Oh- oh no- oh Malcolm, you sweet, naïve man-“ Calming down, he wiped a tear away. “… Corporal… Malcolm… you really never pay attention while using the lantern, do you? Well then, let me tell you one thing about yourself.” Leaning over, he signed Mal to lean in too. “… Malcolm… … when using the lamp… … you are NOT the one smiling.” At that he tipped his subordinate onto the nose and turned. As Malcolm watched. Tracing the devil’s steps. Following another lightbringer. He supposed… that was what he was made for. To stay in Lucifier’s steps. But for what purpose he couldn’t yet tell. To join him? To suffer at his hands? To stop him? Hopefully he would find out soon.

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer IV: Love is Death

Early morning, before the sun came up and the song of birds filled the crisp mountain air, the women inhabitants of the small Tibetan village passed by the temple singing religious texts as they made the thirty minute walk to the stream to fetch the day’s water. The line of them was composed of girls as young as fourteen and women as old as eighty-four. Looking at them was like looking at the same woman through time.

The sound of a ringing bell stopped them in their tracks. For them, the bell symbolized Buddha's voice. It called for the protection of heavenly deities and equaled the sound of the Dharma, the entity or law which sustained the order of things in the universe.

They stopped their daily walk, lowered themselves, and bowed, the large wooden buckets still on their backs.

Within the inner courtyard of the temple, the ringing came from the clash of metal on metal, the collision of two swords in the predawn dark wielded by shadows. Their forms flowed like ghosts, only the small puff of the dust of the ground indicated that they still were subject to the laws of gravity.

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

When I talked to people about Chu Zihang, they would mention his stoic, emotionless appearance and tight rigorous way of life. They called him a robot. From when he woke up in the morning, to what he ate during the day, to the position of his body when he slept at night everything in his life was geared toward a singular goal

While he yielded and allowed people their personal preferences, when it came to his own choices, moving him was like trying to move an oak tree.

As I sparred with him, however, his precision, speed and efficiency evoked in my mind the professional violinist. He never never hit a wrong note. Motion and breath were in concert.  A thrust turned into a parry, a parry into a cut, as if following a score I couldn’t see but understood.

His sparring followed an internal logic. When I could follow it, I knew when to strike and when to retreat, keeping that precise distance that would allow me to reach him and prevent him from reaching me. Spinning like planets in orbit, I could feel our music and I smiled despite myself.

“Good.” He said, pausing as we separated. “You’ve improved.”

I leveled my sword at him. “That’s not a compliment coming from you.”

“I’ve been gone for months, and you’ve only gotten better.”

“That’s more like it.”

“I’m going to push you now.”

“Alright.”

Unlike Zihang, I hadn’t trained all my life to be a fighter. For Zihang, fighting was like breathing. Swinging a sword to him was like catching a fly in midair without looking. When he pushed, he broke out of the sheet music and became a jazz composer at the piano, banging out an improvisation that only he could follow.

My job was to turn off the classical music and try to keep up.

He shifted from the traditional Japanese swordplay, weaving strikes from Muy Thuy and kicks from Tae Kwon Do. His posture lured me in with the promise of the familiar steps we had just finished practicing, but it was a trap, always a trap. I examined how his open arm was a potential grapple, watched his feet to see where he might go and had to be prepared to be wrong. My heart pounded and my head filled with uncertainty.

There was no smiling now. He was no longer my dance partner. He was my enemy. He crowded me, eyes intently watching me, breaking down my every move into its component parts and precisely baffling my strategy before I could even move.

Frustrated, I kicked his instep, cut upward and forced him back, but he only retreated a single step, staying in range of Spider Fang’s sword point. I was going to go in for a thrust, but he was still there. I stopped millimeters before I could stab him in the chest, startling that he hadn’t moved out of the way like I expected.

A blow to my chest knocked me down, flat on my back, and I felt a sharp sting on my collarbone.

I opened my eyes, glaring at him. “What was that?! I could have killed you!”

“Probably the most important lesson you’re going to have to learn.” He stared down at me and offered his hand to help me up.

I felt at the sting and my fingertips came back red. “You want me to stab you?” I asked in disbelief.

I held up my bloody hand to him and he pulled me up. “Yes.” 

“That’s kind of ... not the point of sparring you know.” I gave a nervous laugh. “You can’t be serious.”

“I know. But things are a little different now. Do you know why the Execution Department has a policy against couples going into battle together?”

“Because of the Greenland incident right? Something about that mission...” I said, holding my hand to my chest to slow the bleeding.

“That’s right. Anjou explained to me before our wedding. He said, ‘Love is the death of the dragonslayer.’“

We stood in the dark, talking in hushed tones. The temple would be waking up soon. The monks knew the secrets of the dragon clan of course, but we were unwilling to say too much lest the Gattusos somehow found their way here.

“Dragons can read the mind of a human to look for weaknesses. The first thing they hone in on by instinct is human love. It differs from their love, because their love is disposable. They’re willing to kill the people they love to get what they want. They understand that very few humans are willing to do that.”

“Anjou was willing to let me marry you because I killed Jormangandr, a dragon who turned herself into a human, followed me around since I was a boy, and made me love her.”

“Jormangandr took advantage of my feelings to the very end, trusting that, if she appeared to be the person I had fallen in love with, I would allow her to kill me. I played along.”

Zihang stepped forward, wrapped his arm around me in a hug, while I stood stiffly, restraining my taut emotions. The point of a blade against my back made me gasp. “I offered to hug her, just like this.”

The tip of the knife, the one I didn’t know he had hidden on himself, made my skin itch. “She fell for it. She was overconfident. She thought she knew that this was her opportunity to land a fatal blow. Because she knew by now that I loved her. So she hugged me. I stabbed her and she died... very painfully. I had to listen to her screaming, hold her as she struggled.”

I took a deep breath, taking in his scent. I hugged him back.

He kept the tip of the blade against my back even as he kissed the top of my head. “If I hadn’t... I wouldn’t be here. And neither would the world as we know it.”

“You nailed Susie to the floor... knowing who she was..." I said.

“You need to be able to kill me. Or I can’t take you with me, Meixiu. That mindless monster on the boat knew enough to try to use me as a shield against you. We’re going up against someone who can alter memories, peer into our hearts and see our deepest desires. It isn’t a matter of if.”

“You’ll kill me if you have to, right?” I asked him.

“Yes.” 

I raised my head to look up at him. He lifted his hand and ran his thumb down my cheek. 

“Then its only fair. That way, only one of us has to die.” I said.

“It’s easy to say. Let’s go again.” He let me go and walked away, lifting Tongzi against me.

“If I’m going to kill you, I’m not going to use this.” I turned the hilt of Spider Fang to him.

He lowered his sword and walked up to me to take the sword. Instead, I pulled the spear of light from the latent energy of the Chaos in the Void. It dazzled in the dark, lighting my face, giving off a soft hiss.

My heart quivered as I faced him, my expression sad. It wasn’t even the real thing, and yet it was. If I didn’t have a killing intent, then Zihang would view this spar as unsuccessful and wouldn’t let me go with him.

“I will kill you,” I said, feeling the tears rise. “I have to trust you not to die!”

I moved faster than the eye could follow. My spear left a blackened mark on the dirt where he stood but he was no longer there. 

The spear turned and chased him.

Tongzi, the Alchemy long knife, could actually withstand the powerful energy in the Chaos Spear enough for it to repel. Zihang used it, smacking the tip of the spear away from his face. 

One was not enough to kill him. 

I summoned another to my side and sent it after him. They hovered, pointing at him from left and right. He held still, his ears listening. I squinted at him and decided on left first, since I was right handed. 

The left spear dove in and the right followed quickly. Zihang moved back, raising the blade to parry them both. The spears bent around the blade and kept their trajectory. He jumped high enough to clear an eight foot fence and they followed him, one upward, the other anticipating where he would land.

He twisted in mid air and dodged them both.

I hissed and summoned a third after him. 

He spun like a top striking all three.

The more I summoned, the harder they were to control. While two would move, aiming at his head and heart, the third would lag behind, forgotten in my mind until I gave it instructions.

Zihang immediately picked up on this. As soon as I attacked, one spear in front, the other behind, he dove behind the motionless third, using it as his own defense!

The Chaos spears of light collided and sent a shockwave through the courtyard.

I saw an opening. I summoned another, remotely, near to him. Sound was his only warning. He lashed out with Tongzi to stop it and the spear wrapped up the blade like a serpent. He dropped it and rolled away.

Were we done? I didn’t know. He didn’t say we were.  I summoned a spear high in the air above him, a pinpoint of light, out of sight and then I summoned a dozen spears to ring him in a tight circle to keep him from moving.

In my mind, I gave the floating spear over head instructions to fall and let go of it, not altering the trajectory.

Zihang knew I couldn’t control all of these at once. He struck out at them, knocking two away and then turned to look for an attack from behind that didn’t come. I saw the flash of the whites of his eyes.

He looked up and I closed my eyes tightly shut. Everything in me screamed to stop the attack to vanish the spear coming down on him. My heart burned, the fire spreading to every limb. 

A blast of intense heat was like a sunburn on every patch of skin not protected by clothing. I opened my eyes. “Zihang!”

The ground was smoldering, the dust black and sparkling with hot embers where he had been. I looked around until I saw him, pushing himself up from the ground to sit up.

I ran to him, collapsing into his arms, sobbing. “Are you okay? Did I hit you?”

“You came very close.” His shirt was split open, the skin underneath bleeding in a straight line.

Gasping, I covered my mouth with my hand.

He chuckled. “Sword of Damocles?”

“Yes...” I whimpered.

“You used Susie’s technique... the ring of blades.” He nodded once. He looked at my face, the tears there. He had to see how much I was trembling, like I would shake myself apart. If he hadn’t used Royal Fire to propel himself away, he would have died instantly.

The lights came on all over the temple and people were shouting.

He stood up, bringing me with him. I leaned against him. “Okay... let’s go... this probably woke up Ru’Yi.”