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faunrasthewinterelf · 4 years ago

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Calm After the Storm Pt.2

And So it Begins

I’m actually excited for this? like I’m so nervous, but here we go! here's roughly 4047 words that ive written and agonized over for you Maribat lovers!

please let me know what you guys think!

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Marinette Cheng meets Richard (Dick) Grayson at the start of the tour of Wayne Enterprises. She’s outside, leaning against the tall form of Chloe Bourgeois, her best friend who had shot up like a damn weed in the past year, and trying her best to stay awake. While everyone else in the class had gotten to adjust to the time zone change, Marinette and Madame Bustier had gone over to the Martha Wayne Foundation building to settle the scheduling and award intricacies. She had also seen a photo of her biological paternal grandparents for the first time, which had been nice.

But today. Today was tiring and it wasn’t even 8:30 yet. It was cold, which isn't helping her attempts at staying awake, even though she had on a newer, thicker outfit, bundled up tight to ward off the cold that was seeping into her bones and irritating her side. Damn Ladybug Effects

Marinette was trying her hardest to leech the warmth from Chloe while the two waited for Lila ‘Oh, my ankle hurts, I must have twisted it!’ Rossi to limp her way off the bus. The rest of the class and Madame Bustier were all behind the liar. Which meant Marinette was in the cold, and THAT was commonly known as a bad idea at this point. Chloe was huffing as she kept an arm wrapped around Marinette’s looking ready to murder Lila. Listening to the Italian girls lies was a staple for their lives at this point, and Marinette couldn't help a sarcastic,

“And so it begins.”

Chloe snorted at that, wrapping her arm around her tiny friend’s shoulders, rubbing her back, before the blonde snarled at another shiver from Marinette, and just dragged the poor girl inside to wait.

Getting inside is a blessing, and as the warmth hits Marinette, she lifts her face away from where it was squished against Chloe’s arm to keep her nose warm.

Almost immediately, Marinette is digging through her bag for her small sketchbook to start jotting down ideas from the lobby alone. Chloe, on the other hand, starts fishing out the NDA’s the class had signed that morning from Marinette’s bag, and begins flipping through them to make sure that everyone’s was accounted for. The two girls settle into the couches by the entrance waiting for the rest of the class.

After a couple minutes, Lila walks through the door, (wow, her ankle is already better!), and smiles around at her surroundings, looking as if she just walked into a loved home rather than a building she’s never been to. Her eyes light up as she smirks, before turning to her loyal followers friends, and though Chloe and Marinette can’t hear what she’s saying, they can imagine.

Madame Bustier frowns at the two girls on the seats to the side as she approaches the front desk, but is quickly distracted by the secretary as the two begin discussing the tour, and its itinerary. Lila and her group have navigated to the other side of the lobby, away from Marinette and her friends, thankfully, but are talking loudly, interrupting people as they enter the building. From the corner of her eye, Marinette can practically see Adrien frowning in hers and Chloe's direction, can practically feel his disapproval.

Just as she is finishing shading in a particularly pretty flower in a planter, one of the elevators to her right dings. A rather tall man steps out, straightening his tie, a clipboard tucked under his arm. He looks to be roughly 6’2 and is dressed in a white button down tucked into plain black slacks, with a nice pair of black shoes. He glances over at their loud wayward class before spotting Madame Bustier and heading over to the secretaries desk to join her. Marinette nudged her friend, who looked up from the NDA’s, adjusting the Miraculous on her head as she looked up.

“Looks like the tour is starting soon,” the bluenette is already standing, slipping her coat off to drape over her bag. Chloe eyes their classmates, as if debating whether or not they actually would be starting soon and if it was worth standing up, before sighing and giving in, getting to her feet.

“Then let’s go give Madame Bustier her paperwork, she seems a bit frazzled about it missing.” and indeed she did. Their red headed teacher was shifting through her bag at a frantic rate, clearly worried about something. Marinette shook her head. Madame Bustier had asked Marinette to collect the files for her, she should remember that her class representative had them. The teacher had been foisting a lot of responsibility on Marinette this trip. Already, Chloe had to step in and help her unpack her bags after Madame Bustier had sent Marinette to sort out the rooms of the hotel, and then dragged her to the MWF Building as soon as the small class rep had handed out the room keys to everyone else, and had helped with the NDA’s earlier that morning.

Marinette took the file folder from Chloe as they walked over and she waited patiently beside her panicking teacher for a moment, before clearing her throat to catch Madame Bustier’s attention, holding out the folder for her to take.

“Oh, Marinette, thank you, I thought I had these with me!” Madame Bustier then spun around, handing over the folder, without checking inside, to the gentleman who had to be their tour guide. “Here you are Mr. Grayson, all the NDA’s, as requested! I must have left them on the table this morning!” she gave a charming smile before turning again, and hurrying over to the rest of her class to get everyone else's attention, leaving Chloe and Marinette with the tour guide.

As their teachers' voice rang out over her classmates, Marinette and Chloe shared a look between them. Chloe sighed as she followed after their teacher, and Marinette turned to the man beside her.

“Bonjour, my name is Marinette Cheng, are you the tour guide for today Monsieur…?” she smiled as she held out her hand which was quickly enveloped by his much bigger one,

“Richard Grayson Ms. Cheng! A pleasure to meet you, you’re the one who wrote the winning essay for the Martha Wayne Foundation right? Me and my family all read it! And yes, I am the tour guide today, we’re just waiting on your visitor badges, and then we’ll be on our way!” Richard’s smile was nearly overwhelming, the amount of words coming from him more so, but that wasn’t what had caused Marinette to freeze.

She hadn’t looked at any photos of the Wayne family since she heard about Cassandra Cain-Wayne’s adoption. Sure, she knew what they looked like, but that had been several years ago. Marinette hadn’t anticipated meeting her oldest adopted sibling so soon.

It was weird to talk with her brother Richard, without him knowing they were technically siblings. She shook the feelings off quickly, (years of an emotional terrorist did wonders for emotional control apparently) and allowed her smile to grow wider.

“Thank you Mr. Grayson! I hadn’t had much to do at the time, and the MWF scholarship to GU was worth the late nights! I’m flattered that you and your family liked it so much.” a box full of visitor IDs and lanyards were placed in front of them, and Marinette shot the receptionist, Ms. Keanes, a quick “Thank you!” before carrying them over to the class.

Chloe looked about ready for a nap as she watched over her class, all of them whispering to each other as Madame Bustier went over rules for the Tour. The red head seemed to be willfully ignorant of her class not listening as she spoke, and just smiled at Mr. Grayson as he and Marinette approached. Marinette shook her head as she began handing out the IDs, quick to snag hers and Chloe’s first, slipping both around her neck for the time being as Mr. Grayson began speaking.

She had to admit, her brother Richard seemed determined to give her class the best tour he could. He had notes and anecdotes on that clipboard of his, and he knew how to use them to get attention. Unfortunately, he just wasn’t as captivating as Lila, who had begun to spin another tale of ‘Oh, yes, I spent so much time in Gotham when i was younger that I’m practically a Gothamite! There’s this amazing restaurant nearby, we should go there for dinner tonight!’

By the time lunch rolled around and Richard had gotten the class into the cafeteria, he seemed to have lost most of his determination. Most of the class pushed past him, not even listening to his explanation about the Cafeteria, and his shoulders slumped as he stared after them. Marinette, who had been taking notes about as much as she could, felt a bit guilty for how he was being treated. Chloe had pulled out her tablet about a half hour into the tour and began working on MDC Business, and while Marinette knew Chloe had been listening, she had been focused on her work.

“Mr. Grayson? I’m sorry for my class’s behavior, they’re just, excited, to be in Gotham and haven’t quite gotten it out of their systems yet.” Marinette reached out to tap him on the arm as she spoke, gently prodding him until he looked at her. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

“I enjoyed the tour, there’s so much to learn, and I can’t wait to go to other floors after lunch! I’ve already jotted down several ideas in my sketchbook, so thank you!”

Richard smiled at her in thanks, eyes brightening a bit as he nodded at her, before fishing out his phone and turning away.

Marinette quickly linked arms with Chloe before walking into the large room, as she only needed space for her and Chloe, who had saved whatever proposal she had been going over as they searched. Once they found a good spot they went and joined the line for food. A few tables down from their spot, the class, who were back to loudly talking to each other and squealing about Lila’s ‘childhood sweetheart, I might be able to see him again! he took me to that restaurant I mentioned earlier as a date actually!’, and were all ignoring the looks that WE employee’s were shooting at them. Madame Bustier all but collapsed on a table for herself, and put in earbuds as she ate.

Marinette shook her head as she and Chloe walked past, getting into line for the small buffet style lunch available. Other employee’s were also entering the room, and while they did have an hour and half lunch, Marinette didn't want to wait too long and have to eat quickly. By the time the girls got their food of choice and sat down at the table they had spotted earlier, the line was quite long, and the rest of the class were at the end of it. They had a long wait.

Lunch passed in quiet, and for the most part she and Chloe just worked. Marinette on a commission Uncle Jagged had requested, one inspired by his hometown, and Chloe back to whatever she had been working on before. It was only interrupted by Mr. Richard Grayson asking to sit with them. He was picking at his food more than eating it, staring with furrowed brows at Madame Bustier and the rowdy class (It was an hour in and most of them had only just gotten food)

“Madame Bustier is of the opinion that they’ll settle down after today.” Her voice seemed to almost startle Richard, but he just turned to look at her, more confused as he asked,

“What? But, your class-”

“Bustier is next to useless when it comes to interventions. She probably won’t do anything about their behavior for a couple more days.” Chloe didn’t even look up from her work as she interrupted Richard, her scorn clear.

“Chloe”

“What, M? It’s true and you know it! She’s treating this more like a vacation than a class trip.” This time the blonde glances over at the teacher, who still had her earbuds in. “She’s not even watching her class! She hasn’t looked up from her Audio Book since she sat down, Mari. I know we're all legal adults and graduated at this point, but it's still a school trip, not a celebration over Hawkmoth’s defeat! We're in one of the most dangerous cities in America, the least she could do is check that all her students are behaving.”

Before Marinette could respond, Richard cleared his throat, drawing their attention to him before he asking,

“Who’s Hawkmoth? What do you mean ‘celebrate his defeat?’ That makes him sound like a supervillain.”

Marinette and Chloe look at each other, before Marinette turns back to her brother the tour guide.

“That’s because he was Mr. Grayson. How didn't you know about him? He terrorized Paris for four years? Mayura, his accomplice helped for roughly three”

Marinette knew it was due to a country wide media blackout and the French Government working with Paris’s governing body to suppress the news further to not put a damper on tourism, but surely something must have gotten out? After the JLE had decided to leave Hawkmoth to Ladybug and her team, she had figured they would at least issue a warning. Chloe chimes in with a tired voice, shoulders lowered and eyes blank,

“He would take control of someone and transform them into a monster using their own negative emotion, and in return, all they had to do was get the Ladybug’s earrings and the Black Cat’s ring. He did it by sending an Akuma, which is a corrupted butterfly, by the way, and they would possess an Item on the victim’s person. Ladybug and Chat Noir, and the others, had to locate and destroy the akumatized object so that Ladybug could purify it. There were normally 4 or 5 of them a week, though they got more frequent and powerful the month he was caught.”

“But, Thats- We would have known about it!” Richard seemed horrified, “The amount of damage that would have happened? Surely something would have gotten out!”

Marinette shook her head. “That's the thing Mr. Grayson, part of Ladybug’s powers, was that she could summon something she needed for the fight. When it was over, she could use her ‘Lucky Charm’ as it's called, to reset all the damage done by the akuma. The buildings got fixed, injuries healed, and many people who were killed were brought back.” She shared a small smile with Chloe,

“Hawkmoth was defeated earlier this year, just after school started. The Miracle Court took back his and his accomplices Miraculous, and both were placed into custody. Last I’d heard, Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth was given several life sentences, and Nathalie Sanceour, Mayura was in a high security medical facility for the damage her illness had done. The Court is staying active in Paris for the remainder of the year, but after, the JLE has asked them to either step down or leave Europe. They haven’t announced what they're going to do yet after the year is over.”

Before he could question the girls further, looking rather sour at something, Chloe’s phone alarm went off, meaning they had 10 minutes to clean up. Marinette quickly fished her phone out of her bag, and opened up the BugOut blog. Tilting her screen so Richard could see, she explained as best she could about it as Chloe cleaned up the table.

“This is the official Blog that was dedicated to Ladybug and her efforts. There's another one called the Ladyblog, but it's not the best anymore. Ladybug endorsed that blog for it’s professionalism and writing. It’s not active much anymore, but it’s got a good archive of everything, if you’re curious.”

He had opened his mouth to ask more questions, but then he froze. Marinette had flipped to a photo that showed a comparison of the Teams, and his eyes zeroed in on it. One shot of the current Court of Miracles, Ladybug, Testudo, Byakko, and Cheval Joli, one shot from two years ago with Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rogue, Carapace, and Queen Bee, and finally, one shot from the very beginning, of Ladybug and Chat Noir stood awkwardly in frame.

Marinette shook her head,

“Ladybug and Chat Noir were the first, they were somewhere around 13 or 14 when they started.”

Marinette left him after that. She had garbage to sort out and a plate to return. The two girls waited at the same entrance they came in from, seated on the couches by the door, watching as the class got up at 3:00 on the dot, and left their plates stacked on top of the garbage cans like they were in a fast food place, not a famous Enterprises cafeteria. Madame Bustier and Mr. Grayson joined them shortly after, Mr. Grayson rubbing at his forehead as he walked up.

The second half of the Tour seemed to stretch on for a while. Marinette’s side was beginning to go taught, and she could already tell that a massage and some painkillers would be involved in tonight's bedtime routine. She almost regrets leaving Tikki in their hotel room, the little goddess always healed her in little bursts to help with the pain, but Tikki had been just as tired as Marinette this morning, and the cold was affecting the little Ladybug Kwami harder, so she had left Tikki bundled up near the heater for the day. Besides, Chloe had hers with her, and Akuma’s weren’t a thing they had to worry about. Marinette really hadn’t seen the harm in letting Tikki rest for the day.

While Mr. Grayson (Please, Ms. Cheng, just call me Dick, I promise it’s my nickname, and I honestly prefer it) was watching the rest of her class, he had given up trying to keep their attention, and was basically just speaking directly to Chloe and Marinette, both of whom were paying attention now. The Business and Legal areas were something of great interest to the girls, as they were working together to maintain MDC, Chloe with the business side, and Marinette with the creative side/designing. The class behind the two girls, still wrapped in their own little world, completely missed the looks they were still getting from employees as they passed by workstations and offices.

The only time Madame Bustier intervened was when Alya had a particularly loud outburst, all but shouting out a loud “WHAT?? GIRL YOUR DATING DAMI-” before getting cut off by a sharp “Alya!” from the teacher.

But Marinette hadn’t been paying attention to Lila, her side had escalated from tight to aching, and was now rubbing at her side as she walked, her notebook away and her arm linked with Chloe’s as she wrote, trying to focus more on what Dick was saying rather than the pain.

Of course, with how this bit of the tour was going, Dick had noticed. During a particularly ‘exciting’ bit in whatever lie Lila was spewing, he quietly approached the girls.

“Hey, what’s up Marinette, (then in that case, please, call me Marinette “or Mari” Or Mari, thank you Chloe) are you alright?”

It was startling, to be honest. Beyond Chloe, no one really ever noticed when she was in pain. It took her a second to respond.

“Yes, it’s alright, just, an old wound. It gets bad when it’s cold, and I’ve been walking a lot today.”

His worried eyes scanned over her, seeing how tense she was and how her hand didn’t stop doing small circular motions around the left side of her waist, just below her ribs, He was frowning, and his body screamed concern.

“Do you need a break? There’s a break area on this floor.” His voice was soft as he spoke, but, even though she was tired, getting a break or special treatment now would mean dealing with Lila and Alya later, even if would help with the pain.

“I’m alright, besides, there's barely an hour left, and then we're getting on a bus back to the hotel, I’ll be fine,” Marinette smiled, (was this what its like to have a sibling?)

“And I already made her take some of the Advil she carries with her” comes from the tall blonde next to her. Dick looks at them both like her wants to argue, eyes tight, before he nods.

“If you’re sure.”

Apparently, they weren’t taking a bus back to the hotel. Lila had convinced Madame Bustier to cancel the ride, and let them go to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Which meant the class would be walking back after. Marinette closed her eyes, rubbing at her side firmly as she listened to Lila, Chloe beside her, hip jutted out and arms crossed.

“My Damiboo took me there for a dinner date, it’s where he confessed! Oh it was so romantic, I would love to go eat there again!” her simpering was painful, she was even holding her hand to her chest like she was going to faint, but her other arm was entwined around Adrien’s, and her current boyfriend looked more bored than anything as she described her ‘childhood sweetheart’ As usual, the class was eating it up.

“Oh, Lila! That sounds so romantic!” Rose had her head against Juleka’s shoulder, a dopey grin on her face as she imagined the two on a romantic dinner date.

Alya had turned to Nino with a quirked eyebrow and a sly smile, “Why haven’t you done that to me huh?” before turning towards Madame Bustier.

“Please, may we eat there? It’d make Lila so loved, and she says the food is great! Who better to show us the good places than an honorary Gothamite?” Madame Bustier had already been nodding, happy to appease her class.

“Of course we can, It's not a far walk from here at all!” The class excitedly began chatting, but before they could all set out, Chloe finally intervened.

“Madame Bustier, we’re not supposed to eat out on Mondays, shouldn’t we head back to the hotel?” her words were met with silence, and she was quiet a moment, before continuing,

“Besides, Marinette’s side is beginning to hurt, she nee-”

A loud snort comes from Alya, who rolls her eyes. She looks Marinette up and down, scowling before biting out,

“Please, like she needs, anything! I can’t believe you think she was actually hurt! Everyone knows that Marinette's a bully Chloe, she’s just jealous of Lila, and lying for attention.”

It had been 2 years since she and Alya had been friends, but it still hurt when her old best friend said things like that. When Lila had threatened to take all her friends, Marinette hadn’t believed her. But here she was, all her friends gone, and the only reason she had Chloe at all is because they hadn’t been friends until Lila had everyone else on her side. Marinette and Chloe had sat together at the back of the class, and they’re neutral ‘ill watch your stuff if you watch mine’ had eventually become ‘well now I'd die for you.’ It was nice, having a friend in class again.

Lila, never one to miss a chance, hiccupped loudly before wrapping her arms around herself.

“I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause trouble, I jus-just wanted to b-be reminded of my Damiboo! I Haven’t-t see-en him in so long!” By the end of it, she had full blown sobs going, and the class closed ranks around her, comforting her while glaring at Chloe and Marinette. Adrien was frowning at Marinette again, eyes almost furious as he glared, and Madame Bustier just sighed.

“Marinette, please, can’t you see Lila needs this? Can’t you take one of your Advil so that we can help Lila? Remember, All the Marinettes of the world?”

She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head, before agreeing. Chloe beside her started to protest again, but stopped when Mari put a hand on her shoulder.

“Alright Madame Bustier.”

“Thank you girls! Alright, Lila!” Madame Bustier clapped her hands a couple times, catching the classes attention,

“We're going to the restaurant!, Lila, why don’t you lead the way? I’m sure it’s lovely!”

Marinette was sure it was going to be hell.

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PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THE TAG LIST DIDN’T WORK!

Now, anyone wanna guess what Miraculous Chloe has? I tried to give hints! or does anyone want to try guessing who Testudo, Cheval Joli, and Byakko are? both have already been Miraculous holders, and the names will be expanded on!

If any one has any questions I’ll elaborate with as little spoilers as possible, Thank you all so much for your encouraging words and kind comments!

TAGLIST: @ aestheticnpoetic @ kitsunebell @ superbwhispersconnoisseur @ thewitchwhowaited @ junarvion @ liawinchester67 @ woe-is-me0 @ dorkus-minimus @ i-am-on-wattpad-2 @ atramentias @ togetherwekill @ ramos123 @ anjuschiffer @ thecc11andme @ poodapup @ mochegato @too0bsessedformyowngood

#Calm After the Storm #part 2 guys #oof #Maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous fanfic #miraculous ladybug #batfam #Richard Grayson #omg im so excited #please expec sporadic updates tho

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twiceinadream · 4 years ago

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“Honey.”

Requested: Nope

a/u: Hey, everyone! Sorry its taken me so long to finally post, I hope you guys enjoy this longer one shot since you guys were saying how I should write longer ones. Thank you all so much for sticking with me through one full year, it means a lot to me and I hope for more great times in the future. I love you all, please stay safe and wash your hands.

Category: NSFW and Fluff

Word Count: 3.8k

Snow began to fall in Seoul and the world renowned girl group, Twice, woke to its beauty coating the grounds below their dorm. Mina was the first to wake as she began to shiver, noticing how cold the dorm had become; she groggily sat up pulling her blanket with her as she sat up, ‘When did it become so cold?’ The ballerina shook again as she draped the covers over her body getting out of bed to turn on the dorm’s heater.

She squealed quietly as the cold nipped at her legs as she moved out to the hallway, being careful as to not wake the three other women in the room. As she opened the door she made quick work of the distance between her and the thermostat as she read the temperature, ‘55ºF, no wonder it’s so cold in here.” Begrudgingly, Mina took an arm out of the warm confines of her blanket cocoon and rotated the thermostat handle till, 80ºF, showed on the digital screen in front of her. The fourth youngest smiled as she heard the ‘whoosh’ of the vents blowing in the warm air, she sighed soundly as she made her way to the kitchen.

She took a seat on their shared sofa as she noticed her phone charging on the armrest, ‘Must have left it here last night.’ Mina shrugged as she unlocked her phone strolling through a few emails when an advertisement for her favorite shop popped up, showing a sale on new winter outfits; she made a mental note to tell the members when they all were up, but for now, she decided to pass some time as she logged back into a game she had recently gotten.

-Half an Hour Later-

By now, most of the members were either lounging in the communal area or in the kitchen where Jihyo and Jeongyeon were preparing breakfast together. Most of the food was done when Sana and Tzuyu came into the living area together, Jeongyeon smirked as she looked up from the eggs she was cooking to look at them, “Look who’s up. Have a nice quickie before breakfast?” The rest of the members glared at her when Chaeyoung smacked her on the back of the head with her sketchbook.

“Not funny, Unnie.” Chaeyoung said as she smiled at Jeongyeon.

But Sana and Tzuyu seemed unfazed by the comment as Sana simply shrugged, “I mean you guys were kinda loud, but it was pretty good, thanks for asking Jeongyeon-ah.” Tzuyu let a huff as a laugh when the members fell quiet.

Jihyo looked at the both of them as she placed the bacon she was holding on a plate, “You know what, no. Both of you just wash your hands, especially you Tzuyu.” Tzuyu glared at her when Nayeon let out a loud laugh from behind her phone.

“Just hurry up, breakfast is almost done.” Sana and Tzuyu nodded as they made their way back to the bathroom for the second time that morning.

When the couple came back to the table it was already set as the members took their usual seats as they thanked Jihyo and Jeongyeon, and began to eat. From where she was sitting Mina looked up from her eggs and directed her question out to the eight other women at the table, “I was wondering, if you guys would like to come with me to the mall today? There’s a sale on new winter items and I wanted to check it out, and I was wondering if any of you wanted to come along.”

Chaeyoung nodded as she took a bite of toast, “Sounds good, Unnie.”

“Sounds fun, Minari.” Momo and Jeongyeon said as Mina got nods from Nayeon and Jihyo.

Dahyun swallows her food, “Count me in, Mina Unnie.”

Mina smiles at her members when she turns her attention to Sana and Tzuyu, “How about you two?”

“It sounds fun, Minari, but Tzuyu and I have a few things to finish today.” Mina nods knowingly as she decides it probably best for them to give the two some privacy.

After breakfast, most of the members go back to their rooms to get ready, leaving Sana and Tzuyu in the kitchen as they wash the dishes together. Sana gently nudged Tzuyu with her hip as she hands her a plate to dry, she leans up to whisper in the younger’s ear, “When they leave you’re all mine, Tzuyu-ah.” Tzuyu nods as her face heats with a blush and she directs her gaze back to the dishes in the sink.

When Sana and Tzuyu were sitting back at the table, both on their phones when the rest of Twice came out of their rooms and waited in the living room for Nayeon to come out, “You good, Unnie?” Dahyun asked when Nayeon emerged from her room, the older nodded as they directed their attention to the two at the table.

“Okay, we’re going now, we’ll see you guys in a few hours. Try not to burn down the dorm while we’re gone, okay?” Jihyo looked at the both of them sternly.

“Whatever you say, Unnie.” Tzuyu said, not looking up from her phone. Jihyo shook her head as the seven left the dorm and made their way to the van waiting for them outside.

When the two were completely certain the other girls had gone, Sana immediately made her way to Tzuyu who was now standing from her chair; the older grabbed her from the back of her neck connecting their lips in a fervent kiss. Sana couldn’t help but smile against Tzuyu’s lips as she nipped at them playfully, making the younger girl squeak a bit. “How is it possible for someone to be so sexy and cute at the same time?” Sana remarked as she pulled away from Tzuyu.

“Ask yourself.” Tzuyu shot back when Sana pushed her against the table making her sit, giving the Japanese woman a better angle to kiss her.

“Pabo.” Sana said between kisses, Tzuyu couldn’t help but laugh against her lips. The now blonde places her hands on the maknae’s waist feeling her up as she begins to dominate their kiss, she loved the way Tzuyu moaned against her. “Okay, now I want to see you on the table wearing nothing by the time I get back.” Sana quirked an eyebrow at the girl as she let out heavy breaths, nodding, “Good girl.” With that Sana left the dining room and walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge as she moved past a few containers to the back where she had hid a bottle of whipped cream she bought a few days before, praying Momo had not found it.

Thankfully, she found the bottle completely untouched with the seal still intact on the cap, ‘Thank Jihyo.’ Sana said to herself as she took off the plastic ring and threw it in the trash, shaking the bottle as she sprayed some of the sweet cream in her mouth, ‘This is good, but this will taste better on Chewy.’ Sana smiled inwardly as she walked back to where she left Tzuyu not too long ago.

To the Japanese woman’s delight Tzuyu did as she was told and was laying on the table, completely naked with her hands resting over her mound, dark curls hidden beneath her palms as Sana gave her a look over. Tzuyu couldn’t help but flush a bit as her elder’s eyes scanned her, she gingerly removed one of her hands from her lower regions and placed it over her breast as her nipples became stiff peaks, exposed to the air. Her eyes met Sana’s as she licked her lips, “Don’t cover yourself, Princess. You’re so beautiful.”

“But you’re staring.” Tzuyu softly replied back as she kept her hands in place. Sana shook her head as she moved next to the table, caressing Tzuyu’s cheek.

“I’m staring because you’re just so unbelievably beautiful,” Tzuyu’s body flushed again, albeit redder this time, “Plus I need to get this whipped cream on you.” The younger’s eyes drifted up to see the bottle Sana was holding, she remembered the talk they had about food play a few months ago but she couldn’t really believe Sana had remembered but, hey, things happened and Tzuyu was just as excited as Sana to try new things out.

So with a bit of convincing kisses, Tzuyu gradually dropped her hands exposing herself to Sana, “There’s my beautiful girl.” Tzuyu couldn’t help but feel the need to cover herself again.

“Uh, why do you have to be so cheesy, Unnie?” Sana smirked.

“Well, I’m sorry that’s how you see the truth.” Tzuyu groaned, but it was short lived as Sana shook the bottle again, “Ready?” Tzuyu nodded as she placed her hands to her sides, closing her eyes. And with that Sana set to work, a smile gracing her lips.

She began at the base of Tzuyu’s breast, putting a single line of the cream to outline her perfect breasts, as she moved to the valley between them once again spraying a single line down the middle. She then switched directions and moved to the top as she made a swirl over the girl’s nipple to Tzuyu’s amusement. Sana looked up to admire her work as she moved down to the plains of Tzuyu’s tight stomach, but before she could lay out more cream Tzuyu spoke up, “Unnie?” Sana didn’t look up, only letting a, ‘Uh huh,’ Tzuyu contemplated whether to tell Sana or not but she already started, so she tried again, “Mommy.” That made the Japanese girl look up. “Mommy, the cream is melting.”

Sana, let a groan, “Seriously. Screw the snow and the heater. Let me clean you up, Princess.” Before Tzuyu could process what she had meant by that, Sana tongue had dived to her breast. The heat of Sana’s tongue on her flesh caused Tzuyu’s brain to short-circuit, she couldn’t believe Sana was actually licking the melted cream off of her.

But, just as the younger thought it couldn’t get any better, the elder moved up to her nipple blowing a quick stream of air which made the Taiwanese girl shiver before Sana took it into her mouth, suckling it. Tzuyu let out a gasp as her hand shot up to the back of Sana’s head, pressing her face closer to her chest. Sana quickly let the nipple out of her mouth as she ran her tongue over it, biting it slightly, which made Tzuyu moan and gasp, “Ahh. Mommy, not too hard.” The younger had let out a whimper when Sana bit particularly hard, abusing the tip.

“Sorry, Baby Girl. You’re just too irresistible.” Sana breathed as she moved up to Tzuyu’s mouth, kissing her. The older parted her lips, slipping her tongue out and running it along the younger’s bottom lip, silently asking for permission; which was granted to her when Tzuyu parted her lips allowing hers and Sana’s tongues to get to know each other, as they began a playful dance of dominance. Sana began to trail her hand up from Tzuyu’s stomach to her breast, massaging the supple flesh as she moved to pinch the girl’s rock hard nipple; lightly pulling and teasing it, causing the younger to groan against her mouth as they parted.

“M..Mommy,” Sana moved her lips away from Tzuyu’s as she looked down at the girl.

“What is it, Baby Girl?”

Tzuyu whined at her Unnie’s words, slightly rubbing her thighs together to try and alleviate the growing ache, “Please.” The Japanese girl cocked an eyebrow in confusion of what she meant, until Tzuyu grabbed Sana’s hand and trailed it down to her weeping core, “Please, Mommy. It..it hurts, it’s been too long.”

Sana smiles at her words, kissing her way down Tzuyu’s jawline, “Soon, Tzuyu-chan. Soon. I need to get something from the kitchen, first.” But before the maknae could protest Sana gave a hard rub over her clit, eliciting an out of character moan from Tzuyu as the elder stood up from the table and made her way towards the kitchen.

Tzuyu couldn’t help but pant when Sana left her, furling and unfurling her fists as she waited her Unnie’s return, “I swear she’ll be the death of me.” But her realization was short lived as Sana came back into the room, with a peculiar bear shaped bottle in hand. “Unnie, what even is that?”

Sana let out a small laugh, “It’s honey, Honey.” Tzuyu groaned at her words, throwing an arm over her eyes.

“Jeongyeon Unnie and Chaeyoungie are really getting to you.” Sana simply shrugged, as she opened the bottle’s cap and with a brief moment of hesitation, she turned it upside down and let gravity do the work for her. Before their eyes sweet, sweet honey began to flow out of the bottle, as it coated Tzuyu’s chest and breast she made sure to leave a healthy amount over her erect nipples before she moved to drizzle some over her tight stomach. Then Sana stopped as she flipped the bottle right side up, as she looked Tzuyu over.

“Are you okay with,” Sana gestured with her hand to the honey coating her body, “all this?” A moment of silence passed between the two before Tzuyu spoke up.

“Of course I’m okay with it, Mommy, I trust you.” Sana couldn’t help but smile as she placed a kiss to Tzuyu’s lips, careful as to not get any of the sugar sweet substance on herself as she pulled away and grabbed the bottle once again; she made her way down to her favorite part of Tzuyu (aside from her personal “honey pot”). The girl’s thick thighs didn’t go without a generous coating of the sticky liquid before the Japanese girl had thrown the bottle elsewhere in the room. As Sana couldn’t help but practically drool over the perfection in front of her, making the Taiwanese girl once again start squirming. “Please, Mom–“

Tzuyu couldn’t help the whimper that came out of her mouth when Sana moved her tongue over her breast, lapping up the honey that coated it. Eliciting a low groan from the girl below her as the warmth of her tongue sent sparks across her body, causing her hips to buck up slightly. “Patience, Tzuyu-ah. I’ll give you what you want, if you can be a good girl long enough for me to get there.” A smirk played on Sana’s lips as she eyed the younger girl, her tongue flicking out to lap up more of the honey coating her breasts. The Japanese girl let out an over-exaggerated moan as she savored the honey covering Tzuyu’s body.

The sound made it harder for Tzuyu to not cant her hips toward the older girl’s knee which was placed just out of reach of her aching core. A pout was visible on the maknae’s lips as her hands were balled into fists at her sides trying her best to not beg the older girl for more. Sana couldn’t help but internally smile as she watched Tzuyu struggle under her, taking in the way the younger’s breath would hitch every time she licked up more of the honey or how her thighs shook when her teeth grazed at the sensitive spot where her legs and hip met.

Sana enjoyed all of it, and by the looks of the wetness that was coating Tzuyu’s thighs, she did too. Speaking of that wetness, Sana knew she had drawn out her foreplay longer than the younger could probably handle at this point, so she decided that it was probably time to give the girl what she so desperately wanted. The Japanese girl trailed a few more kisses along Tzuyu’s inner thigh, slowly making her way closer and closer to where the younger girl needed her most. Where she’s been wanting her for the better part of a half-hour.

“You’ve been so good for me, Princess. Now let me give you your reward.” Sana’s tongue licked from the base of Tzuyu’s pussy, stopping as she swirled her tongue around her clit before sucking the bundle of nerves into her mouth. The surge of pleasure causes the younger girl’s hips to rise off the table and buck into Sana’s mouth, chasing after the stimulation she’d been craving. A loud moan ripped out from Tzuyu’s throat as Sana stopped suckling her clit and inserted a finger into her pulsing entrance, making sure she was relaxed enough before sliding in a second finger to join the first as she pistoned into the tight heat that was, Chou Tzuyu.

Tzuyu cried out as Sana’s fingers slid through her wetness, testing her entrance before sliding deep inside. Her eyes rolled back in her head at the sudden stretch, but she was slick and ready. All she felt was pleasure as Sana’s fingers hooked into her front wall. Each motion sent a sudden spike shooting through her core, and her shudders worsened as Sana surged on top of her. The sheer strength of each thrust rocked Tzuyu back and forth, causing her to slide across the mat, but she hardly noticed. She was completely at Sana’s mercy, covered by the hard, muscular heat of her body.

Once Sana started, it was clear she had no intention of stopping. Her strokes were rhythmic and insistent, and Tzuyu could do nothing but surrender. She buried her face in Sana’s shoulder, sinking her teeth into the cord of sweaty flesh, but the slight pain didn’t distract Sana from her goal. She remained as determined as ever, pumping in and out with such force that Tzuyu could barely breathe through it.

I’m going to come. It was an undeniable fact. Tzuyu knew there was no point in resisting, and yet, the thought of letting go was slightly terrifying. Thanks to Sana’s attentiveness and skill, she normally had no problem reaching her peak, but this time, she was rising at a rate completely outside her control. She feared she might not just let go of the tension building within her, but shatter completely. She was already on the verge of shaking to pieces, with only Sana’s weight atop her to keep her anchored.

Sana’s voice vibrated near Tzuyu’s cheek, a low and possessive growl. “So warm. Tight.” She added a third finger, grinding the heel of her hand into Tzuyu’s clit. “Gonna make you come.”

The certainty of those words made Tzuyu’s stomach twist into knots. She and Sana had spent several enjoyable months living together, learning everything about each other—including their bodies. But this? The intensity was staggering. Tzuyu had never experienced it before, not yet with Sana, not ever with anyone else. But…

Part of her wanted to let go, to find out what would happen. No, not just wanted—she needed it, with a desperation that she could scarcely process while Sana drove into her like an animal. Please . It started out as a thought, but quickly became a plea, one that spilled from Tzuyu’s lips over and over. “Please, please, please, Mommy, please…”

Sana didn’t slow down, but neither did she narrow her focus. She kept thrusting, relying on energy instead of precision, and the edge of her palm rubbed Tzuyu’s clit with every upward stroke. “Come for me,” she rasped beside Tzuyu’s ear, tugging the lobe between her teeth.

The slight pinch of pain was the beginning of the end. Tzuyu went rigid as a host of competing sensations collided within her—the deep, demanding pressure of Sana’s fingers, the elastic of her panties cutting into her flesh where they were stretched out of place, the wetness leaking down her legs. The flexing of Sana’s abdominal muscles against her belly overwhelmed her, as did the hot bursts of Sana’s breath against her neck. It all coalesced into one final push, spearheaded by the insistent flexing of Sana’s hand.

Tzuyu’s release was just as devastating as she had feared, and more wonderful than she could have hoped for. It sent fire coursing through her muscles and set her limbs to trembling. Her shudders were powerful, constant, uncontrollable, but the simple act of breathing was completely beyond her. The few gasps she managed turned into wailing cries, and those were swiftly swallowed by Sana’s mouth as the two of them found each other in a kiss.

Too much. It was all too much: Sana’s deep thrusts, the way Sana’s tongue swept through her mouth, the contractions that rippled through her core until she saw stars. She felt uncomfortably vulnerable, stripped bare in a way beyond the physical, and yet she couldn’t help yearning for more. She raked her nails down Sana’s back, bucking into each thrust. Her mind and heart were being pulled in several directions at once, but her body knew exactly what it needed.

By the time her orgasm faded to aftershocks, Tzuyu was panting and drenched in sweat. The table was a mess, and Sana’s fingers and forearm dripped with still more wetness. Although she didn’t have much coordination left, Tzuyu reached down to cup her hand over Sana’s, urging her to stay. Naked and raw as she was, Tzuyu couldn’t handle the thought of losing the fullness within her.

A soft smile played on Sana’s lips as she stared at the girl under her. She could feel how Tzuyu breathed in deep to catch her breath, finally opening her eyes to face Sana as brown met brown. A lazy smile decorating Tzuyu’s face as she tilted her head for Sana to kiss her.

A kiss that said more than any words they could have spoken in that moment. Sana trailed a hand up to Tzuyu’s shoulder as she ran a finger along her collarbone, noticing the marks she had left. “Not to ruin the moment, but we should probably clean up before the others come home and find us like this.”

The younger smiled, “They tease us all the time for all the things they think we do, so they shouldn’t be surprised to see us here.” Sana let out a small laugh as she shook her head.

“As fun as payback can be, if they find us like this they’re gonna burn this table and kick us out of the dorm.” Tzuyu pouted, as she wrapped her arms around Sana’s waist.

“Fine. I’ll be in the shower.” Sana rolled her eyes as she placed one more peck to Tzuyu’s lips as they got down from the table. The younger making her way to the bathroom, and Sana to the dorm’s cleaning supply cabinet.

Steam filled the bathroom when Sana and Tzuyu finally stepped out of the shower, smiles on their faces as the older began drying her hair. They had heard the others come in as soon as they stepped out. But there seemed to be something Sana was forgetting.

That’s when Jihyo’s voice suddenly filled the dorm, “Who threw honey on the couch!” Both Tzuyu and Sana looked at each other with wide eyes as a similar thought crossed their mind.

“Back in the shower.”

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mx-chrx · 4 years ago

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This is Chapter 2 (but honestly you can just start here if you want).

Chapter 1 is here.

Summary: Jason will not let this happen again. He can't. But what if he's already too late?

Two weeks ago.

Up here, twelve stories into the air, the wind ripped across the rooftops mercilessly, yanking and pushing against everything in its path and willing them over the edge. Red Hood stood against it, unmoving. A few feet away, a man stared up at him, propped on his palms and drenched in sweat despite the chill in the air.

Hood squatted and pulled out a gun. “You see this? We’re gonna call this Option A. And that over there,” he said, pointing to the edge of the roof, “is gonna be Option B. Got it?”

The man didn’t respond. Hood continued anyway.

"The thing about Option B is that it’ll be quick. Gravity’ll do its thing and that’ll be the end of it. But Option A, on the other hand, well, that one’s really up to me. And I can be a little petty sometimes.”

“Y-you’re bluffing. You guys don’t kill people.”

“You guys?” Hood echoed.

“You’re part of B-Batman’s crew, right?”

Hood nearly laughed out loud. “You got it all wrong, pal. We do little team-ups now and then, but you’d be better off thinking of me more like a free agent. I have my own way of doing things.”

“No. I’ve seen what you all do. You don’t do stuff like this. I bet that’s not even a real–”

Hood fired the gun a few inches from one of the man’s splayed hands, sending up a small explosion of gravel. The man shrieked.

“Anything else?”

“Hood!” Nightwing demanded in his ear. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Working.”

“That’s not what it sounds like.”

“Then stop listening.” Hood redirected his attention to the man. “You have five seconds to tell me something interesting or the next shot’ll be a lot closer. Five.”

“I don’t know anything! I swear!”

“Four.”

“Please!” Snot and tears streamed down the man’s face, oozing onto the front of his stained wife beater. Hood’s face scrunched in disgust.

“Three.”

“Hood, stop!” Nightwing urged. He sounded like he was running. “Don’t do this!”

“Thought I told you to stop listening. Two.”

“I don’t know anything!”

The roof access door slammed open and Nightwing came sprinting out, barreling straight into him. The two of them tumbled across the gravel and Hood’s gun went flying.

“What the hell are you thinking!” Nightwing yelled, straddling Hood with his fists balled in the collar of his leather jacket.

“Get off!”

“Are you insane? How could you–” He stopped short as Hood’s fist came across his face and Hood used to momentum to break free and jump to his feet.

He looked around at the empty roof before running to the fire escape in time to watch the man drop into the alley and disappear around another corner.

Roaring a curse, Hood pulled off his helmet and threw it into the gravel as Nightwing got up slowly, a steady trickle of blood streaming from his nose and dripping off his chin.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “We’ll find him. We’ve already got eyes on all his usual haunts. Red Robin’s got his phone–” Nightwing let the rest of his sentence die as he took in Hood’s glare. They sized each other up for a while, the silence between them heavy and dark.

“That’s it?” Hood clarified. “That’s all you have to say?”

“I said I was sorry. What more do you want?”

“How about a damn explanation?”

“It was a miscalculation.”

“A miscalculation?” Hood laughed mirthlessly. “Really? Do you ever actually listen to the words that come out of your mouth?”

“What are you going for here exactly? A handwritten letter?”

“I want you to say it.” Hood started towards him slowly.

Nightwing held his ground, arms crossed. “Say what.”

“That real reason you came up here. It’s because you still don’t trust me. None of you do.”

“That’s not true.”

“Then what the hell was that?” Hood demanded, throwing his arm wide. They were just a few feet apart now, and the wind had started to pick up again, whipping his jacket and Nightwing’s hair around as it carried their voices out over the city.

“I heard what was going on and I thought–”

“I know what you thought.”

“Can you blame me?” Finally Nightwing’s forced calm cracked; his voice rose to meet Jason’s, blood smeared across his mouth and cheek from where he’d rubbed his hand. “You said it yourself. You’re not one of us. A ‘free agent’ is what you called it, right?”

“Batman tackle you a lot while you were on your own, did he?”

“No. Then again, my ‘free agency’ didn’t rack up a body account. I was on my own, but we were still on the same side. We still had the same core beliefs. You– I don’t even think you know whose side you’re on half the time. You’re just in this for yourself.”

Hood took that square in the face. He swallowed before saying, “Just tell me this: If it really came down to it, everything on the line. Would you trust me?”

Nightwing glared at him for a moment before looking away, mouth in a hard line.

Hood scoffed and stooped to pick his helmet up off the ground. He searched for something to say, but came up empty, which was for the best, since his throat suddenly felt like a vice.

He slipped on the helmet and vaulted over the side of the roof onto the fire escape, swinging and jumping to skip levels on his way down. He lingered for a second at the ground level and glanced up at the roof, half-expecting to see Nightwing calling after him, or at least peering down.

He saw nothing.

He left.

____________

“You’re kidding, right?”

“That depends.”

“On?” There was no inflection in Dick’s voice as he blinked, eyebrow cocked, fingers resting over his laptop keyboard.

“Is it funny?” Tim prodded.

They were in the den at the manor and Tim was wearing a cheap Robin Boy Wonder costume with the tag still dangling off the mask. It was the original design complete with the elf shoes and green scaly underwear – thankfully pulled over compression shorts – and just looking at it dredged up incredibly awkward memories that Dick had spent many long years desperately trying to forget.

It was hard, though, since niche costume shops and super fans still dragged it back into the light every. Single. Year. Plus, no matter how much Dick begged, he still hadn’t been able to convince Bruce to get rid of the one he kept on display in the Cave.

It was like being caught in a never-ending loop of awkward middle school photos, except these photos included pointy shoes and shiny underwear.

“Halloween isn’t for another week,” Dick noted, ignoring the question. “And you’re not wearing that.”

“Why not? It’s funny!”

“It’s not.” It really was, but there was no way Dick was going to give Tim that satisfaction.

“I think it is,” Stephanie chimed from the couch she was stretched out on, her phone held over her face. “It’s like nostalgic and ironic at the same time. Ten outta ten costume, Tim.”

Tim beamed at her then tugged uncomfortably at the waistband of the tights. “So, did you design this or did Bruce? No judgment, but I do have some questions.”

Dick pursed his lips, trying to decide how best to launch himself from the chair and over the coffee table to get him in a headlock before the younger boy could escape. Tim was fast, but Dick’s legs were longer. He shifted his weight forward in his seat, closing his laptop and setting it aside.

As if sensing the looming threat, Tim circled behind Stephanie’s couch.

“You got a problem with the classics?” Dick asked.

“Let’s just say I’m glad mine had pants,” Tim hedged, then ducked as Dick, without warning, flung a book from the shelf at him.

“I second that.” Damian was flat on the carpet with a spread of pencils and kneaded erasers around an open sketchbook. His hands were black with charcoal and graphite, and he’d been quiet for so long Dick had forgotten he was even there. He nudged the boy’s ribs with his socked foot. Damian swatted him away.

Stephanie let her phone plop onto her stomach. “Okay, but you all have to admit that I had the nicest Robin suit by, like, a mile.”

Tim snorted, his chin propped on his arms folded along the back of the couch. She frowned up at him. “Is there a problem?”

“Only the fact that your suit was basically just a carbon copy of mine. No originality. No flavor.”

“You’re both wrong,” Damian said, brushing eraser shavings off his paper. “Clearly my suit is the superior model. The boots and gloves cover most of my legs and forearms, which provides added defenses for close range combat. And the hood decreases light interference and increases anonymity. It also looks cooler.”

“Um, hello,” Dick said. “You do realize I’m the reason you guys didn’t end up running around those freezing rooftops in tidy-whities. I was the original mastermind behind the pants look. You all should be thanking–”

“Bruce!” Stephanie shouted, sitting up. The entire room turned to where Bruce had stopped in the doorway, a protein bar halfway to his mouth and Cassandra at his side. He scanned the room with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion, and Dick snickered as Tim crouched a bit lower behind the couch to hide his costume.

“Tell these jerks my Robin suit was the best one!” Stephanie demanded.

Damian threw a pillow at her head, and she deflected it towards Tim.

“Hey!” Tim complained, throwing it back down on her.

Then chaos. The room erupted in shouts and flying cushions. Bruce glanced at Cass and they shared an entire, wordless exchange before backing out and walking away.

After a few near-catastrophes involving three lamps, a vase, Dick’s laptop, and the TV, the sudden battle dissolved into breathless laughter.

“Okay, but seriously,” Dick said. “You’re not really wearing that to the party, are you?”

“Why not?” Tim asked, pulling off the mask.

“It just seems like an unnecessary risk. I mean, Robin? Really?”

“Ugh, you sound more and more like him every day.” Tim hopped over the back of the sofa, his butt landing directly on Stephanie’s stomach.

“Ow! Get off!” she shouted, shoving him so that he slid onto the floor, unbothered. He tilted his head back against the side of her leg, and as if by instinct, her fingers made their way into his hair as she returned her gaze to her phone.

“He does have a point, you know,” Steph noted. “You gotta loosen up or you’re gonna end up living alone under a mansion when you’re 40.”

Dick sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He knew he was being way too uptight, and he could already hear Babs’ mocking rebuke: Will you just relax and have fun? It would by all means be hypocritical coming from one of the biggest workaholics he knew – a title that was impressive to achieve in his circle – but she’d be right anyways. She usually was.

“So, what about the rest of you?” Dick finally asked, dropping his hand and trying to inject some levity into his voice. “What are you all going as?”

Stephanie and Tim grinned at each other; even Damian’s tight lips twitched into a smirk.

“Well, the thing is we kind of have a theme,” Tim began. “I’m Robin. First gen, obviously. Steph’s–”

“Red Robin,” she finished, grinning as she ruffled Tim’s hair a little harder. He leaned out of reach, grabbing her wrist and settling her hand back on his head.

“And I will be Father,” Damian announced. Dick couldn’t help but note the way his chin tipped a bit higher as he said it.

“Cass is gonna be Hood and Jason was supposed to be Black Bat, but he’s been MIA.”

Dick’s jaw tensed. None of them had heard from Jason in nearly a week. Not since their chat on the roof. No comms, no texts, not even a patrol sighting.

Dick had considered trying to reach out, maybe swinging by some of Jason’s safehouses in the city, but he wasn’t in the mood for a fight, and he knew that’s what it would almost certainly be. Besides, he wasn’t exactly sure what he would say even if they did see each other.

It had hurt, but he had meant every word of what he’d said. Hadn’t he…?

“He wouldn’t have done it anyway,” Stephanie said, sparing Dick from the mental rabbit hole he’d been about to fall into.

“He might’ve,” Tim grumbled, though there was no real conviction there.

“Not a chance.”

“Does Bruce know about this?” Dick asked, aborting the mental rabbit hole he felt himself teetering on.

“He thought was funny,” Tim said with a victorious grin.

Dick didn’t want to believe that, but it wasn’t hard for him to imagine Bruce smirking mischievously at the irony of it all.

“Okay,” he sighed. “So, what am I wearing to this thing?”

#batman fanfic #dick grayson #jason todd #dick grayson and jason todd #dick grayson & jason tood #nightwing #red hood #batman fanfiction

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nsheetee · 5 years ago

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Okay,, hear me out,, enemy! Hyuck hating the reader, maybe like because they always comepete to see who’s better, and he always loves seeing the reader get hurt, whether it be they got a bad grade or they tripped over their shoelace. Hyuck just finds it satisfying to see them fail. But, like,, seeing the reader cry for the first time, just really gets to him and he eventually stops hating them and starts trying to help them, and bam, adorable romance because enemies to lovers is great

a/n: okay anon pls I LOVE enemies to lovers tropes, and with hyuck???? SiGn Me uP- (there’s also another one with Jaehyun coming soon so look out for that winkwinkwink) also, I’m doing this in a different style than I usually do, I hope its alright~

(featuring renjun, jeno, and jaemin- also, some swearing)

hyuck didn’t hate you because of one reason

he hated you because of a whole combination of reasons

like how in 8th grade you would sit at the edge of his lunch table

and when hyuck pulled out his DS to show off his Nintendogs

you joined in on the conversation and showed all his friends your own Nintendogs

making all of hyucks friends move over to your side of the table and crowd around your screen

or how in 9th grade when you accidentally met his parents at one of his basketball games

you were talking with them in the bleachers, and when hyuck shot a basketball into the hoop

he looked over at where his parents sat

they didn’t see him score

they were too busy talking to you

but the thing that pushed him completely over the edge was in 10th grade when there was a solo competition in choir

hyuck spent hours in the practice room rehearsing his piece and even got his own accompanist

and when you went up to perform for the competition, you admitted that you only practiced the night before

when you ended up winning the competition, hyuck’s blood boiled

he couldn’t even look at you

he decided right then and there that he hated you

he hated your ability to draw attention to yourself

and he hated the natural talent you have for anything you do

what he didn’t know, was that you did all this because you had a crush on him

you wanted to impress him and you thought he would appreciate your ways of showing him

but hyuck was just a boy- a dumb one (aren’t they all smh)

so hyuck tried to get back at you

like when he “accidentally” stepped on your shoelace while you were walking up the stairs

your books and papers tumbled down the staircase

you fell forward to catch yourself and landed on your wrist in a weird position

hyuck LOVED watching you get all pissy about having to wear a brace on your dominant hand

until his friend jeno offered to take all your notes for your classes

jeno sent hyuck an apologetic look as he moved to sit next to you

and hyuck had to spend the next few weeks watching you and one of his closest friend giggle over stupid stuff the teach said and whisper jokes in each others ears

or when you were in your culinary class and hyuck added in extra spices to your dishes when you weren’t looking, making you confused as too why your cooking didn’t taste good

until his friend jaemin came over and helped you balance out the spices

and hyuck watched from his table as you and jaemin fed each other the food you made

hyuck even went as far as to annoy you in your happy place- the art room

you and renjun would go to the art room during your breaks in school

and hyuck would wander in and pretend he was talking to renjun

when really he was trying to tease you about your drawings

and then one day- hyuck made a mistake

he was trying to see what doodle you just drew in your sketch book

he was tugging one cover of the book and you gripped the other and BAM

the book tore in half

you, renjun, and hyuck all stared at the shredded book in shock

hyuck couldn’t help the small laugh that left him- it wasn’t because he found the situation funny

it’s because he knew he screwed up

but you couldn’t tell the difference

“hyuck…” you choked out after hearing him laugh “don’t you think you went a little too far this time?”

whatever smile was on hyuck lips immediately vanished as he saw the tears coming into your eyes, pooling at the edges, ready to spill down your soft cheeks

you had never cried in front of him before

through all the teasing and pranks- you were always strong-headed and resilient

until now

his heart clenched at the sight and his hand reached out for some reason, like holding onto you would fix the situation

you pushed his hand away and stared down at the book

your heart was confused- your crush of so many years just ripped your pride and joy in half (literally)

you had hoped that somewhere deep in all of the teasing, hyuck had some feelings for you

but your head kept telling you that maybe you should just end it here

you let out a sob

and for some reason hyuck couldn’t bare it

he couldn’t bare knowing the tears on your face were because of him

renjun pushed hyuck out of the room and when hyuck looked back into the room through the window

there was renjun, comforting you as you held your torn sketchbook

hyuck knew he was the only one who could fix this mess

so the next day, you walk into your classroom and instead of your seat mate at your desk, hyuck was there

“hyuck, can you just leave me alone-”

“no, sit down”

hyuck was PERSISTENT AF

he bought you a new sketchbook

(it was your favorite color and you asked him how he knew and he stuttered out something like “you never stop talking about it, idk”)

he carried your books between classes

(you joked about “accidentally” stepping on his shoelaces)

(he was like, “if it’ll make you laugh”)

(yeah, whatever feelings you thought had gone away came right back after that)

hyuck was in MAJOR CONFUSION

he was only gonna “be nice” to you for a few days, maybe a week

but he ended up..,.,. liking spending time with you (???)

he just felt… comfy and like he didn’t have to always play pranks and say something funny to entertain you

be could just say whatever was on his mind and you would appreciate it either way

it made him relax into you

he also didn’t mind the other little things about you he started to get familiar with

like the unrestrained belly laughter you let out when jeno says something really dumb again

or the doodles you draw on your papers that eventually transferred onto hyuck’s because you ran out of room

hyuck was persistent in a lot of things- and his feelings were one of them

despite the fluttering feeling in his heart and the subconscious smile that would rest on his face when he was around you-

he still was confused about all the things you did to him when you were younger

he asked you about it one day after lunch

you were sitting outside on the lawn, the shade of a tree over you and spring air cooling you down

“y/n…. can I ask… why did you do all those things to me when we were younger?”

“what things?”

“you took my friends as your own… somehow even my parents like you after the first time they met you…. you even got 1st place in that choir competition last year- I mean I know you have talent but-” hyuck just realized how uncomfortable he was making the situation by asking you all this

thankfully you shut him up with a small laugh

“hyuck… you thought I didn’t like you?”

“well… yeah?”

“it’s the opposite” you admit

hyuck’s eyes widen and neither of you are able to look at each other

his usual confidence no where to be seen- he could only stutter out his next words

“d-did you think I hated you too?”

“… you ripped my drawings in half, what do you think, dumbass?”

“when will you let that go? it was an accident-”

“yah, will you two just kiss and make up already?” renjun shouted from the other side of the tree where he was also taking advantage of the shade

he leaned back against the tree with his eyes closed and a smirk on his face and you and hyuck shut up

whatever miscommunications made you and hyuck fight in the past

it was just that = in the past

(and indeed you did, kiss and make up)

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tessajayne18 · 7 years ago

Text

Tomboy Turnoff (Chapter 6)

Kim Seokjin and Ahn Hyemin were inseparable. Hyemin was Seokjin’s ideal type, and he had her. He convinced himself he like the feminine girls and was turned off by the tomboys. What happens when he meets a tomboy who leave an impression on him?

A Happy Birthday

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

*THWACK*

Taesung looked up from her sketchbook and found a strange sight. Seokjin slammed a flyer on the table next to her sketchbook. She read the flyer and gave him a strange look.

“What in the world is this?” she bluntly asked.

“Can’t you read?” Seokjin bluntly responded.

“I can, but that doesn’t mean I want to,” she deadpanned.

“Smartass…” he muttered under his breath. “Can I not get the smartass answer?”

“It’s a carnival,” Taesung answered.

“And your birthday is in the middle of it,” Seokjin said.

Taesung seemed pleasantly surprised. “How do you know when my birthday is?”

“I asked Jimin…” Seokjin shyly admitted.

Taesung nodded. “So… you want me to go with you?” she carefully asked.

Does she sound… hopeful? “I would like you to go with me…” Seokjin muttered, but thankfully Taesung heard him.

She softly smiled and replied, “I would love to, Seokjin.”

Seokjin seemed surprised by her answer. “I’ll talk to you later then…” he awkwardly said as he sped walked away.

Taesung chuckled at his awkwardness. “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all…” she mumbled when he was out of earshot. “I guess July 18 couldn’t get here any faster…”

~~~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~~~~

Seokjin watched his friends raid his closet to find something to wear for the carnival later in the day. Hoseok was looking through his shirts, Jungkook was looking through his pants and shorts, and Taehyung was looking through his… underwear?

“What the hell are you doing looking through that drawer?” Seokjin scolded Taehyung.

“You’re going to be outside in the heat most of the evening,” Taehyung said in a ‘matter-of-fact’ tone.

“What does that have to do with my underwear?”

“Everything.”

Seokjin just stared at the younger for a few moments before diverting his attention to Hoseok who pulled out a pink shirt. “Wear this, hyung,” he said as he tossed the shirt to him.

“Okay…?” Seokjin replied, slightly confused at his choice.

“We’ll just dress you up casual, so it won’t be too awkward at a carnival,” Jungkook said as he tossed him a pair of jean shorts.

“You think this’ll be alright?” Seokjin asked.

The guys shot one another knowing glances before Seokjin grabbed the clothes to go change.

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

I’m by the cotton candy stand.

Seokjin read the text from Taesung and immediately headed that direction. For some reason, he was growing nervous as he approached the stand. He found Taesung sitting on the bench. She was dressed in short jean shorts, a simple purple tank top, and her hair tied up in a high side ponytail.

“Hey!” Seokjin called out to get Taesung’s attention.

Taesung looked up, smiled, and waved. She stood up and walked over to him. “You made it!” she greeted.

“Did you think I wouldn’t show or something?” Seokjin asked as they started walking together.

“The thought has crossed my mind,” Taesung answered immediately.

“I can understand why,” Seokjin nodded as they approached one of the rides. “How about we start off with the simple rides then move on to the big guns?”

Taesung smirked, “Sounds good to me.”

The two got in line for the tea cup ride. There were several other college kids at the carnival, so they didn’t stand out too much. They got on the ride and sat with two other guys. Taesung was very inviting with the other guys while Seokjin kept to himself.

The ride seemed to go by fast and Taesung and Seokjin were walking towards another ride. Taesung looked up at him for a moment and noticed a blank expression.

“You okay?” she asked.

Seokjin seemed surprised by her question. “I’m alright.”

“Are you sure?” Taesung asked looking genuinely concerned. “If this is about me being friendly towards other guys, then don’t worry about it at all. It’s in my nature.”

Seokjin just nodded as he started understanding her a little better. As Taesung led him to the various rides, he thought back to when he took Hyemin to the carnival a year ago.

“Come on this ride with me, Seokjinnie!”

“But we’ve already been on that ride three times already…”

“Please? I like going on this ride!”

“Okay… fine…”

Seokjin wore a sour expression as he thought, That’s right… she wanted to go on that ride because she thought the guy running it was cute. But Taesung… she doesn’t seem to be interested in other guys… that’s definitely a good thing.

After riding a few more rides, Taesung and Seokjin wandered off to a few games. Taesung glanced over at the prize shelf and noticed something… fluffy.

“IT’S SO CUTE!!!” Taesung squealed as she practically ran over to the booth and talked to the guy running the game.

Seokjin stared at her while she was playing the game and… winning? He walked up to her as the guy gave her two teddy bears, one white with a purple ribbon the other pink with a red ribbon.

Taesung smiled as she held out the pink bear. “For you!”

“How did you know pink is my favorite color?” Seokjin asked.

“A few things gave it away,” Taesung answered. “First things first, you’re wearing a pink shirt,” she said as she chuckled, “second, pink is my least favorite color and third… this one has a purple ribbon… and purple is my favorite color.”

Seokjin nodded as he accepted the pink teddy bear. She… actually thought to get me something… usually it’s just me getting gifts for Hyemin and she would demand the pink one. “You’re pretty observant,” he commented on Taesung’s behavior.

“I just feel like that one was obvious… and you don’t seem like you’re used to getting gifts,” Taesung replied as they walked towards a food stand.

The two got small snacks… at least to Taesung they were small. Seokjin noticed the strange look he was getting just as he was about to eat his food. “What?”

“That’s a lot a food for just a snack,” she commented.

“What about you? You barely have anything,” he replied.

“I guess I don’t have as big of an appetite as you do,” she noted as she ate her food.

Seokjin nodded as he continued eating his food. She’s so different… but this feels so natural.

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

The day flew by for both Taesung and Seokjin. The sun was setting and Seokjin wanted to go on one last ride. “I know this is going to sound really cliché…” he spoke.

“You want to ride the ferris wheel, don’t you?” Taesung finished his thought.

“Yes, actually,” Seokjin casually replied as they headed towards the ferris wheel.

The two walked in a peaceful silence and everything felt calm. They proceeded to enter the seat. The wheel started to move and the two were taking the scenery.

“Wow…” Taesung looked towards the west at the sunset.

“That’s beautiful,” Seokjin commented.

“This is why I like the ferris wheel at this time,” Taesung looked at Seokjin and smiled.

“Just for the sunset?” Seokjin replied as he looked at her.

“What do you come up here for? A romantic kiss?” Taesung chuckled at the thought.

Actually… yeah… Seokjin thought as he made the executive decision to stay silent.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Taesung continued to chuckle as she diverted her attention back to the scenery.

Seokjin looked at Taesung and he noticed the warm feeling he got just from being around her. Then he remembered important information that he had not told her yet…

“Happy birthday.”

Taesung looked at Seokjin with bright eyes. She smiled and replied, “Thank you very much!”

Seokjin smiled and watched the sun finally disappear. Why do I have such a warm feeling? I just took her out as a friend, nothing more nothing less… but why do I feel sad about it?

#bts #seokjin #bts jin #bts seokjin #bts fanfic #bts scenario #original character #bts x oc #jin x oc #jin reader #Tomboy Turnoff

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mitsunari · 8 years ago

Text

Skybound We Roam: Ch. 5

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4.

This chapter is from Yuuri’s POV after he’s done his tours for today. Otabek and Phichit are in a different building. Yuuri wants to show Otabek a meteorite crater!

Koyanshyk, i’m told, is Kazakh for “son of a bitch”. Пиздец (pizdetz or w/e romanization) is a Russian exclamation for when shit goes wrong.

Oirandau is a darker spirit in my story. It and Otabek last met a couple years ago because its behavior prompted an earthquake that would’ve hit Almaty, but Otabek used his flute to deal with it. Yuuri was in Almaty during this and saw Otabek riding through town. I edited this flashback out of this chapter because I didn’t know how to write it in well, so i might reference that later.

I wanna say that all my stuff may as well be rough draft work. I write and sometimes I take out stuff or add stuff, then consequently forget things or mention stuff vaguely. I don’t have an editor and my attention span is like... dead for editing. I’ve been struggling on this on and off, trying to figure out what direction I want to take this. I’m worried that I’m adding too many layers onto the story. :’( I want to make sure it’s interesting but I tend to overcomplicate. However, when I finish this series, I’ll go through and edit the whole bit or ask someone to beta it for me before I put it up on A03.

When his second tour of the day finished, Yuuri lingered in the observatory’s viewing dome to answer questions. Tourism was a large part of funds and he never begrudged learning minds, but there was always a part of him feeling like he struggled at keeping a crowd’s interest. His anxiety had come a long way from his First Tour Ever. If anything, skating when he was younger and still in his hometown of Hasetsu, Japan, garnered him some confidence. Not… much… Yuuri wasn’t a professional ice skater, just a hobbyist, but seeing other people whose heart burned for the sport really inspired Yuuri to go back to college.

At the time, he’d floundered between “you’re turning your back on skating because you failed” and “n-no, i’m not running away, I’ll get back into school to do what I love”. He liked to say he kicked depression’s ass, but he didn’t do it alone. Yuuri sent an an initial e-mail to Phichit, who already studied at Touhokudai in Miyagi. Their next Skype session, he may have drank a little (a lot) and opened his heart about passions and space and… well... Yuuri didn’t actually remember applying for anything. He just woke up to an email notification from Phichit’s favorite professor and, weeks later, Touhoku University’s acceptance of his application.

Phichit refused every one of Yuuri’s promises to pay him back. Instead, Yuuri snuck them in by driving all their field trips and cooking their dinners. Sometimes they’d eat out in Almaty, but driving an hour to and from never happened every day. Even though they’d both graduated by now, he still had those habits. Not that he minded! Yuuri made a mean katsudon, and Phichit taught him Thai foods that they always cooked together. Most of the Kazakh workers lived in Almaty, but as foreign nationals, he and Phichit stayed under the government’s provisions, booking in the observatory’s bunker. Yuuri called their living quarters that because they hadn’t updated anything except the observatory’s command center since the Soviet Era. Even the tourist’s lodges were fresher than theirs! But Yuuri’d lived in Japan and knew all about spartan living space. They’d made their rooms their own as best they could.

Making the kitchen hospitable was the first rule. It even had a recipe book--all in Cyrillic, of course--so Yuuri practiced his translation abilities with Kazakh and Russian foods that seemed feasible. There were many bastardized quasi Russo-Japanese meals in the beginning. Russian food eventually grew on Yuuri. In fact, his lunchbox for today contained butterbrod instead of solely a Thai or Japanese bento.

When the tourists finished milling out the door, Katsuki Yuuri let out a soft sigh on his way in the opposite direction, off to the employee break room to fetch his lunchbox. For once, his coat hung from his labeled coat hook instead of across his office chair. Yuuri put it on, along with his winter wear, and grabbed his lunch to take it outside. He fished out his phone to text Phichit.

To: Phi-chan!

Message: Where are you? I’m about to head out to the meteorite so will you cover me?

Yuuri walked down the hall to the security office to sign out a mountain aid kit and fill out the location docket. It was safer to work in pairs. The officers opened up the kit to ascertain the walkie talkie worked, the first aid half was sterile, the mini-radio worked, etc, etc. While he marked his coordinates so they’d know where to look for him in an avalanche, his phone beeped a reply from Phichit.

From: Phi-chan!

Message: The lounge in B2!!

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ Otabek’s here with me. ＼(・ω・)/

Yuuri’s pen nearly punched a hole through the paper when he read the message preview on the screen. He filled out the rest of what he needed to sign out of a government building temporarily, then quickly typed out a reply to Phichit. In his haste, his phone’s keyboard typed out a mass of kanji that he deleted and repeated in English.

To: Phi-chan!

Message: WHAT?

He sent that just as Phichit added, “He’s been waiting for you so I kept him company, so he can cover you instead. I won the bet, remember? (•́⌄•́๑)૭✧”

Yuuri groaned. He did remember, but it was still awkward to ask anyone else to partner up with him in winter. He already worried enough about imposing on others, now he was hit with the double whammy of inconveniencing Otabek for waiting and asking him to babysit so Yuuri didn’t roll over a mountainside alone.

To: Phi-chan!

Message: Are you serious? Please tell me he is not bored to death!!!!

This time, it was a snapchat bing instead of a message. Yuuri opened it to a selfie of Phichit and Otabek. Phichit was winking and pointing a finger to his smile, but also to Otabek sitting next to him and a completed painting sitting on the table. Yuuri recognized the lounge for its table and intense amounts of sunlight coming in through those windows.

He sent a SnapChat back--a selfie of himself with his chin tucked into his scarf and a caption that said “i’m walking there soon”. He took his lunch and the mountain kit in both hands after stuffing his phone away. He wobbled out the door into the cold, crossing from Building 1 to Building 2, and fighting with the frozen doorknob.

“BRR!” Yuuri shuddered loudly and trod hastily down the angular halls, turning into the open lounge. His eyes widened at the sight of the table taken over by art supplies. A plastic cup filled with dirty water there, a palette and sketchpad here. “Otabek! Phichit!” He bowed his head quickly and approached. A nervous look flickered over Yuuri’s face at the sight of Otabek’s stoic one.

“Yuuri!” Phichit crooned. “Come look at this! Our man is Hokusai!” He pointed at the sketchbook. Otabek’s paintbrush rested diagonal across the corner.

“Whoa!” Walking around to Otabek’s other side, Yuuri marveled at the sketch drawn in pencil with its lines painted in. The picture was a lovely landscape of mountains and trees with the new star shining down. The stylized star was left unpainted. “Wow! This is amazing,” Yuuri whispered.

“Thank you,” Otabek said to the both of them. A small smile cracked upon his face. “Phichit said you were busy today.”

“Y-you didn’t come just to talk to me, right?” Yuuri stammered.

“Seeing my friends was an added benefit of scouting the mountain pass between here and the park,” Otabek said, and Yuuri’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Wow! And you’re not thirsty?”--Yuuri saw the teacups and hastily launched into--”Cold? Saddlesore? Are you comfortable?” he blurted out.

The corners of Otabek’s almond eyes crinkled when he gave a musical laugh. Yuuri blinked dumbly at him, feeling very much like he was witnessing God’s gift to mankind minus the angelic trumpets to go along with that sparkling smile.

“You and Phichit are of similar minds. Be at peace, Katsuki Yuuri; he has been a good host,” Otabek replied.

Yuuri looked at Phichit who gave a proud nod back, but it just made Yuuri even more apprehensive to ask Otabek to cover him. He kept squeezing his fists around the lunchbox and mountain kit, staying quiet.

“Yuuuuuriiiii?” Phichit singsang. Yuuri started, blinking up at the two men. Otabek cocked his head at him, and Phichit had a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I… well, uh.” Fuck, why did his tongue keep knotting up? “I was just wondering, uh, well since Phichit won his bet, uh, Otabek, do you want to cover me on the mountain?” Yuuri made to gesture outside and nearly dropped his lunch. “There’s something cool I can show you--”

“Let’s do it,” Otabek interjected.

“--so it’s not a total waste... of your.. tim--really?!” Yuuri blurted out.

Otabek nodded and started putting the art supplies away. He said something to Phichit about “remember what you promised” before joining up with Yuuri, who didn’t ask what that was all about. He looked over Otabek, wondering if this really was an imposition, but with a sigh, Yuuri forced the anxious doubts aside. There wasn’t anyone he’d be safer with in the wilderness than Otabek.

Yuuri sighed again, this time in relief. He was glad Otabek agreed. Living in the mountains was a lot like living on the edge of the world. Between wild animals and natural disasters, it held as much danger as it did beauty. Yuuri, who’d seen the Kazakh shaman calm earthquakes with a quray’s hollow notes, felt the same could be said for Otabek.

The man’s affinity for nature was even more valuable than any government-made machine Yuuri worked with. After Phichit’s video of them in Aralkum went viral, there were a lot of questions over the internet. Who was he? Was it a hoax? Thankfully, in the age of plentiful CGI and Photoshop, Yuuri had been able to just let people speculate by saying “aliens lol”.

Yuuri trusted Otabek… and he wanted Otabek to trust him too. The last thing anybody needed was a government sticking their fingers where they didn’t belong. Otabek called him his friend. Yuuri hoped he could be worthy of that.

“Which exit? Otabek asked, bringing Yuuri back to the present.

Mouthing “oh, right”, Yuuri turned away to say bye to Phichit. He told Otabek to hop into the truck. Once it roared to life, Yuuri pulled out onto the snowy road that wound around the entirety of Big Almaty Lake. Seven months ago, a meteorite barreled through Earth’s atmosphere and struck the side of the mountain near the observatory. If he hadn’t been monitoring it, Yuuri would’ve mistaken it for an earthquake.

“Hey, do you remember when that little meteor hit us a couple months ago?” Yuuri asked. His voice was a little muffled behind his scarf, for the pudgy man was bundled up well.

Otabek took a moment to think. “I was told of it,” he said, frowning. “But I had business in Atyrau.”

Yuuri didn’t know the region names that well but nodded anyway. “It’s where I’m taking you.” Yuuri smiled and glanced over expecting a smile too but Otabek simply acknowledged his statement with a neutral nod. Tapping his fingers fretfully over the steering wheel, he reminded himself that Otabek’s frown was his default expression. Seeing frowns just made him instinctively worry. I’m dumb… Yuuri ground into himself, gripping the steering wheel hard. “Uh, were you traveling again?” he asked, referring to Atyrau or wherever.

“Mhm. Caspian Sea this time,” Otabek rumbled.

Yuuri let out a sharp gasp. He knew where that was. “Don’t tell me we missed its disappearance!?” he blurted out.

Otabek’s eyebrows disappeared into his fur-lined hat. “No, that was only Aral. The Kaspiy had a spiritual imbalance and needed my attention. You did not use the feather I gave you to write for my aid so…,” he trailed off with a shrug.

Oh right. Yuuri had kept it until the Plisetsky’s new star showed up. Truthfully, he’d been so excited geeking over the meteorite with his crew that he hadn’t thought about Otabek. Yuuri hadn’t considered the idea of Weird Fantasy Mojo at work. “Haven’t you gone to see it?” Yuuri asked incredulously, receiving a head shake “no” in reply. Wasn’t Otabek like, King of Pride Rock? Everything the light touches was his kingdom, that whole schtick? Didn’t he have to check everything out?

For a second, Yuuri thought Otabek could read his thoughts. The Kazakh laughed a single amused note and said, “It would take me a lifetime to ride through every pass in these mountains. I confess I have not been that way since the meteorite hit, but”--he paused with an enunciation of the world, holding up a finger--”I can tell you that I haven’t been warned about it either.” Otabek paused again and turned his head to actually stare at Yuuri for a few seconds. “Is this why you were preoccupied about a world-ending omen?”

Yuuri’s entire face went red. He sputtered out a nervous laugh. “Ehehe...heh…... I mean we have precedence of meteors wiping out the dinosaurs. Of course it would be my luck to witness an event that hasn’t happened in a bajillion years.” He started chuckling even harder. “And… pfft... aliens….” He gestured at Otabek.

“...Aliens?” said Otabek.

“Yeah, that was our joke cover story whenever someone tweeted Phichit about the Aral Sea video.”

His passenger snorted a laugh, giving Yuuri a gloved thumbs up. A few seconds of silence passed, and then he shook his head, smiling a little. “It works.”

Yuuri’s eyes widened. Okay. He could finally relax over the idea that the video wasn’t going to summon government troops down on Otabek. “It’s like an old meme now, I guess. ‘Oh, the aliens chose Kazakhstan. When did your fav ever?’ type of posts still go around sometimes,” Yuuri chuckled.

He suddenly pointed to the curve around the mountain. “This is where we’re going.” He turned onto a service road that looked no different than their environment with all this snow. Otabek looked around curiously at their surroundings.

Yuuri’s eyes brightened but didn’t look away from the road. “Hey!” he burst out. “It’s, uh, it’s good that you haven’t seen it then. I can show you something impressive for once,” he said.

“Oh really?” The corner of Otabek’s mouth quirked upward.

“No lights or flutes though. Or special feathers for that matter.” Yuuri took him up a kilometer further, rounding the mountain’s wide base until Big Almaty Lake couldn’t be seen anymore. The “service road” stopped at a natural vista. On this side of the range, the mountainsides were sharp, and their cliffs dropped into a bowl-shaped depression shared with all the surrounding mountains.

Yuuri turned off the truck and shoved the keys into his pockets. Together, he and Otabek crunched over the thick snow, wading in between leafless bushes. At the edge, he trod carefully and pointed Otabek’s gaze down. The meteorite had crashed into the wall several meters beneath their cliffside vista, leaving a crater pocket in the bowl.

“Climbing?” Otabek commented. “I see no other way down.”

“That was our problem too.” Yuuri said. The vista was only a ten meter gap from one wall of mountain to another. He knelt at the left wall, pushing snow off the cliffside until he’d cleared all the way to the bottom. Otabek watched as Yuuri pulled aside a shelf of frozen snow and let it fall.

“In springtime, this is all covered with plants,” he explained. “I had to get to that meteorite and there’s no way to get into this part of depression without climbing or flying in.” Helicopters were popular with hunters but not part of Yuuri’s budget. “Until… I discovered this.” Yuuri pushed his entire arm through snow and grinned, turning around at Otabek.

Otabek’s eyes widened and he approached the rock. “A cave?” he whispered almost reverently.

“A cave,” Yuuri repeated eagerly. Wringing his arm around, he knocked free all the fallen snow blocking up the narrow slit in the wall. He pulled off his backpack and shimmied sideways. Once he passed the gap, Yuuri clicked on his flashlight, shining it through the slot. “Look at that, huh?” The crack in the wall was the gateway to a cave system inside the mountain.

Otabek nodded quickly. He too removed his pack but it was wider than Yuuri’s own and harder to shove through. He turned it on its side and pushed it through to Yuuri’s side.

The dark cave was the size of an office cubicle, but they were both relatively short men. Yuuri knew there were three holes leading deeper in. One unnavigable one above his head, dripping water constantly from the ceiling. The second and third were ground level. The cave possessed one hole in the wall, heading into the mountain’s belly probably. The other was a hole in the sloped ground, forming a descending tunnel.

“Be careful,” Yuuri said softly, pointing his flashlight at the slick rock . “It’s like a slide.” He placed his bag on his knees and squatted in the hole, crawling into the pipe-like tunnel. Although dark like the initial cave at first, the lower he and Otabek came, the more light revealed itself at the bottom. The tunnel opened up and became a ledge in a wall of another cave. Yuuri walked to the very end, able to stand up and let his bag sit on the ledge. He looked around for a safe foothold before climbing to the second cave’s floor.

The crashing meteorite broke through the cave’s ceiling and wall, opening it up to the elements. The fallen portions of mountainside had formed crude stairs between this high-roofed cave and the tunnels Yuuri discovered, allowing him to climb down to the secondary cavern in the first place.

“I haven’t cleared away all the rubble,” Yuuri explained, “but there’s a path to the meteorite, see? And much of the crater’s edges.”

A sledgehammer laid discreetly against the wall Yuuri dropped down from. He sat his backpack near it, then his lunchbox atop the bag. Otabek remained on the wall ledge in silence. He just looked. Yuuri didn’t know him that well to know if he was impressed or not.

“Um… I didn’t do anything bad, right?” Yuuri asked quietly.

“What are you talking about?”

“Like…” Yuuri gestured between the Kazakh and the meteorite. “I didn’t disturb the ‘spiritual balance’ or whatever?” He lined his index and middle fingers up in front of his nose. “I can pray to the Buddha and burn incense.”

Otabek’s eyebrows came together, and after thinking for a time, he nodded silently. He jumped down from the four meter ledge easily, straightening up in front of Yuuri. “Sit somewhere.” said Otabek. He chose a place on the ground with the two meters-wide crater stretched before him.

He’s serious! Quickly Yuuri picked three o’clock to Otabek’s noon, letting his legs dangle in the crater. The meteorite itself sat in pieces in the crater’s middle. Besides the biggest chunks of collapsed rock, it alone remained unmoved by Yuuri. The meteorite’s chunks were incredibly dense; he was certain one weighed the same as his truck. Yuuri returned his wondering gaze to Otabek.

The shaman pulled a long bamboo tube out of his bag. He drew a long amber-colored flute from it, carefully looking over it first before putting it to his mouth.

“Before we get started, I should say I don’t know what will show up… if anything. Understood?” Otabek grunted.

“I trust you, man. You have more experience with this,” Yuuri replied. When he had last seen Otabek in Almaty, this flute had not been with him. Yuuri squinted at the beautiful instrument. “Is that new?” he asked.

Otabek thought about it before nodding. “It is different from the one you remember. That Almaty earthquake was caused by a spirit on the wind. It disturbed the peace, and the mountains took offense. The flute dealt with the spirit. The quake quit once it went away.” He sucked on his tongue in lament. “It destroyed my flute. But”--he gestured with the amber one--”I was gifted this one shortly thereafter.”

“Wait, is there really a spirit in here for you to use that on?” Yuuri exclaimed, looking hastily around the cave before going back to Otabek.

“Well.” He paused. Otabek pointed to the broken meteorite. “Let’s welcome whatever this is. Traditionally we welcome the coming of new things, like the new year or springtime, with prayers and music. This can count too.”

Yuuri nodded, familiar with ringing the bell in the temple and praying to Buddha. “We do that back home in Japan. I’ve, um, never prayed to welcome a space rock before though. Here.” He turned to open up his lunchbox. “I can give offerings.” He pulled a riceball from the rest and sat it down by his feet. Otabek bent down with him and placed a small loaf of bread into the crater.

“You can say whatever you want for this,” Otabek said, adjusting his flute.

Yuuri clapped his hands together firmly. “Is this really going to wake up some kind of sp-sp-space spirit!?” He sucked in breath. He had been coming to this cave at least once a week for seven months now. It was the perfect private place, and no one, not even a spirit, had disturbed him here. He didn’t want a new earthquake to mess this up.

“Guess we’ll find out. Pray well, Katsuki Yuuri!” Otabek grinned.

Yuuri’s eyes went wide like a spooked deer, and he quickly shoved his ham on bread into his mouth. He wasn’t about to get started on an empty belly! When he finished, he pressed his hands together again. “Namu Amida Butsu Namu Amida--” he muttered, pressing his thumbs against his forehead.

Wait. I sound so bored… Yuuri was way more excited the first time he saw the meteorite down there, but now, he certainly didn’t feel the same. He tried to channel the glee he’d felt upon seeing the dark smooth space rock. Taking a deep breath, he tried again, this time praying within himself instead of aloud. I am not a stranger to you, amazing meteor, but I hope you don’t mind an official welcome this time instead of me gushing over your dimensions. He didn’t feel strange at all speaking to a beautiful figment of space. Finding “gods” (“kami” in Shinto) in all living things was what Yuuri suspected Otabek’s powers to be about, or that he was a “kami” himself). Yuuri was quite familiar with all the old Japanese folk tales, so it was easy for him to believe.

Please, if there is a kami, please do not smite me for my bad singing or shitty chatter every time I’m in this cave. I laugh at my own dumb jokes too much, I know. If you’re just a space rock, that’s, uh, chill too. Space rocks are welcome here. Please keep staying here.

He gently bowed his head once before the rock. Yuuri had plenty of experience hosting in his parents’ inn back home so he ended his prayer feeling very much like he was greeting valued customers. Opening an eye, he peered past his fingers, wondering why he didn’t hear any music.

Yuuri inhaled a deep breath in surprise at the sight that befell him. Silver specks of light hung in the air all around them. In an instant, he was transported into a dream, surrounded by the lights that touched his fingertips.

“Yuuuuuuuuriiiii…” His name was whispered lethargically in his ear. He could hear no whistle of the flute, only this.

Standing up slowly, Yuuri drifted toward the meteorite and he rested both hands on the meteorite’s cracked top. It was as tall as a kitchen counter, and Yuuri short and squat. He felt suddenly compelled to climb atop it by any means necessary. Without a step stool, he was forced to dig his fingers into the crack and pull himself up.

“Where are you?” Yuuri whispered to the voice. Who had said his name? Looking to his right, he saw Otabek with the flute. His eyes were shut, his cheeks and mouth worked, but Yuuri could not hear the notes.

A light touched the tip of his nose, and once more he was drawn to the meteorite’s cracked midsection. Every day, it was exposed more to the harsh mountain elements. The smooth space rock was icy and harder to get a foothold, but he struggled anyway, pushing up until his knee caught leverage. As he adjusted his glasses, the lights continued dazzling him. He rubbed the speck off his nose.

Blinking, he dug his finger into his ears, wondering if he’d gone deaf or if he’d been bewitched somehow. The voice did not return, but the lights falling into the meteorite’s crack stayed there and glimmered inside. The porous rock contained minerals of some kind in their pockets, for Yuuri saw a honeycomb of jewels inside. The brightest of these reflected like a mirror.

Yuuri reached in with one arm at first, then decided to hang by his thighs, climbing head-first to grab the shiny thing deep inside. The meteorite’s worsening cracks revealed a silvery portion previously unseen. His fingers grazed the sparkling thing. Straining, Yuuri managed to hook a finger under a lip he felt, and pulled it up, taking it with both hands.

It’s a… It’s a…?? Panting, Yuuri turned the silvery mineral over. He couldn’t tell what element it was made of or even what it was. It was as pretty as a glassy seashell. It took both hands to cup it, and Yuuri realized the inside had a pearly reflection. He could see his glasses reflected in this side.

“Yuuri. Quickly, is it safe?” the voice asked quietly.

“Y...es?” Yuuri replied. His thoughts raced uneasily between Oh my God it’s aliens! And Is WHAT safe? And How the hell can it know my name? He thought of Otabek and decided to agree that it was safe right now.

A sleepy sigh exhaled right into his ear. “I will send him to you….,” it murmured.

Wait, what? Yuuri blanched.

Otabek drew the flute away from his lips. The stars vanished as if they were a trick of the sunlight. Yuuri blinked and he was seated again, as if he’d never been on the meteorite. What the hell just happened? However, he sucked in a breath when he looked down at the strange plate still in his hands.

Tilting his head at Yuuri, Otabek asked, “What did that sound like to you?” at the same time Yuuri yelled, “WHAT HAPPENED?” Their staring eyes widened at each other.

“Mm!” Otabek blinked in astonishment at the object Yuuri held up. “That appeared because I played?”

“Played what? I didn’t hear any music!” Yuuri said. “I saw… lights… and I heard a voice. What were you doing?”

“An invitation,” Otabek remarked in English, then switching back to their mutual Russian. “A reveal. Encouraged all latent magic to show itself.”

“But why did it come to me?” Yuuri asked. “It knew me. It said my name!”

“You went down to it first, didn’t you?” Otabek pointed to the tools near the wall. “You broke these up. You said you cleaned all this. It knows you took care of its housing.”

“I mean I had some help,” Yuuri stammered. “You mean to tell me there’s been a spirit in here this entire time.”

“I… actually don’t know what it is,” Otabek admitted.

“ It s-said ‘i will send him to you’ but send WHAT to me?”

“It sounds generous.” Otabek went quiet for a moment, observing him. “It has no aura. I didn’t detect it before. Still don’t..”

Yuuri turned it over, but he did not hear the voice again. When he tapped it with his fingernails, it sounded like tapping on a window, but it had no blemishes or marks despite being inside a space rock. He put it into his empty lunchbox for now.

“Weird,” Yuuri sighed.

“That’s not all that’s revealed itself.”

Yuuri froze. Oh no. He stared at Otabek bewildered until suddenly a movement by the meteorite caught his eye. Two snakes floated around the meteorite’s bottom curiously. Yuuri did not dare move around the creatures.

While they were legless, their dark crocodile-like heads and overlapping diamond-shaped scales made them unlike any snakes he’d ever seen. Their bodies were as thick as Yuuri’s fist. He’d put them at 1.5m long. They took interest in the human food sitting in the crater. They opened mouths that were bright blue inside. He tensed. To Yuuri’s shock, each snake ate their respective item whole.

What the hell? Since when do snakes eat rice? Yuuri thought. He stared at Otabek in disbelief..

“They’re aidaharlar. Kazakh dragons,” Otabek murmured low. At the sound of the shaman’s voice, the snakes’ heads both zoomed in his direction.

“Wait a minute, did they come out of there?” Yuuri pointed at the meteorite. He hadn’t seen those creatures in that illusion.

“I don’t think so. They’re younglings but still older than your rock. I think they answered the flute and got greedy at the sight of our offerings.” Otabek suddenly frowned as one of the snakes struggled with the bread. Their heads were more like dragons than snakes, but retained the distending jaw.

Yuuri grimaced as he heard the creature make a gagging sound. “It’s choking!” he cried.

The dragon that had eaten rice hissed distastefully at the other. It used its tail to thwack its companion, until the serpent spat out the bread and a circular pearl-like rock. It rolled down all the way to the meteorite. Tink. The mandarin-sized stone pinged a clear hollow note.

“What did you steal?” Otabek asked coolly as he stood up. He stepped over one aidahar in the crater to fetch the pearl. Yuuri couldn’t tell if the aidahar were deterred by Otabek or if the man was simply fearless. The scaly beasties floated out of Otabek’s way, and Yuuri’s legs jerked away from them. He eased up when he saw the aidahar take no notice in him.

“What is it?” he asked Otabek, who rolled the gleaming rock across his palm.

“They boggart shiny things and love to cause havoc,” Otabek grunted. “I am suspicious of where they got this.” Turning to Yuuri, he walked toward him and showed the circular white jewel. It rolled over to reveal an eye made of crystal gleaming in Otabek’s palm. Otabek’s eyes widened at it

“Pretty… and strange,” Yuuri mumbled. The unsettling X-files theme ran through his head. However, his eyes quickly flicked down to the dragons. “H-how long are they sticking around?” Snakes frightened him, and these Kazakh dragons looked a lot more dangerous than those.

Before Otabek could answer, both dragons showed their small but numerous small fangs at him. The dragon who’d puked earlier glared and let out a hissy snarl. “Give it back! It’s mine!” a childish voice squeaked. It sprung up at him with jaws spread, teeth digging into Otabek’s wrist.

Yuuri hollered in surprise, throwing his lunchbox down at the aidahar and springing backward for dear life. The creature wailed at being hit. He heard his lunchbox clatter to the ground, but he looked away from the scene, cringing back from whatever retaliation the aidahar had in store for him. When nothing came, he ventured to peek out. He quickly fixed his glasses and saw dark blood streaming all over Otabek’s hand.

“Oh no!” Yuuri said. Panic rushed through him. His eyes raced from the downed aidahar wailing thick infantile tears,, then up to the wound on Otabek’s hand.

A pulse sounded audibly in the cavern.

“Be still,” Otabek whispered in Kazakh. He stared at the ground, long black hair framing his face. How he hadn’t moved or flinched was beyond Yuuri.

“Otabek,” Yuuri gasped. “Otabek…?” The lunchbox, with the plate rock inside, had hit the dragon in the head and yanked it off his hand. The wailing creature fled back to its comrade, who hadn’t said a thing the entire time and was actually backing away, further around the curve of the meteorite..

“Are you--?” Yuuri couldn’t finish his sentence once he finally saw Otabek’s face.

Otabek’s eyes were completely black. They stared at him, following him up when he straightened from the frightened crouch he’d been in. Yuuri felt his blood turn cold.

“Yuuri. Run.” Each word came out deliberate. Otabek turned his hand over to show the jeweled eye. Its elaborate painted lines all glowed red. The gleam spread infectiously to the wound. “It’s chosen me as a conduit.” Otabek’s voice cracked.

Yuuri tripped over his own shoes in alarm. Otabek was scaring the shit out of him. “What does that mean?” Fuck, he tried not to wail. Where the hell was his sledgehammer? Did it even work against spirits? Yuuri glanced to the wall where he’d rested it last, and turned back to check on Otabek. The man’s furs no longer looked like clothes. They darkened, blending together, bulking out.

“It… belongs to--Koyanshyk!” A swear tore through him. “Belongs to … a great spirit… and it acti-acti-activaarroooOOARGHHH,” Otabek’s words disintegrated into an animalistic sound. He brayed as his hair was lengthened before Yuuri’s eyes, roiling in black waves down his front. “Пиздец, I can’t control this one!!” he managed to spit out before he roared once more. A shadow fell upon Otabek’s face. He staggered, bending double until the blackness swallowing him whole.

The great spirit took his friend’s place. Yuuri gaped in horror as the black mass stood completely upright at four meters high. No way. I can’t do anything against this. Even if he grabbed the sledgehammer, he couldn’t risk hurting Otabek inside that thing. I have to run. Except he knew that thing would intercept him to the ledges.

The jeweled eye emerged at the top, and four completely white eyes opened once it stood totally upright.

“The thief lingers…” It spoke with such malignance, Yuuri’s whole body shuddered.

“I am not a thief!” he protested. “Two aidahar came--.” The monster rounded on him and with no aidahar in sight to blame, Yuuri floundered.

“An insect like you dares speak to the Hero of Kazakhstan?” A deep voice interrupted straight into Yuuri’s head. Its scathingness made him flinch, but his spine straightened afterward, even if his leaden legs wouldn’t.

“You’re not the Hero. Otabek is,” he replied before he could stop himself.

“I am he,” snarled the deep voice.

The spirit was utterly dark, as dark as the nothingness of space, save for the four narrowed eyes fixed down upon Yuuri. The jewel hovered at the very top of him, where a forehead would be on a man or beast. It glowed, just as the four eyes glowed, but none of the light fell upon its wearer’s skin. All of Yuuri’s experience through science fiction books told him that was the source of all this shit.

I can’t do this. I can’t do this.

“Y-you’re not!” he yelled back at it. He groped behind his back, found the ice-cold hammer head, and drew it close. “Now you’ve swallowed my friend. Give Otabek back please.” Yuuri eyed the ground to measure the distance between him and the darkness.

“Friend?” A brutal laugh tore through the word. “The Hero has no need for those. He is neither human nor spirit. We transcend you maggots.”

With another snarl, the mass crouched over and lunged at Yuuri. Its posture was that of a predator. Yuuri was used to his shitty eyes giving him visibility issues but this spirit’s lack of definition really took the cake. Turning the hard head away, Yuuri shoved the wooden end out. The spirit swung at it before it could sink in, and the wood exploded into fragments. Splinters tore into Yuuri’s right hand but he had no time to register the pain there once the spirit was fully upon him.

Pressure squeezed hard upon Yuuri’s body. He did not feel the thing sitting on him or pinning him physically, but it forced him hard onto stone nonetheless. His winter hat cushioned his head slightly, his glasses askew as the monster pushed its eyes near his.

“Being a poor thief and a poor liar makes you fat enough to become Oirandau’s prey,” it hissed.

“We didn’t do anything wrong. Let us go,” Yuuri sniffled. His head hurt awfully.

Without warning, a flame burst in front of Yuuri’s glasses and smote Oirandau. The spirit roared in surprise, turning away from his face. In that moment of weakness, a brown-skinned elbow slid out of the black mass. Yuuri let out a high-pitched gasp and grabbed it, tugging it, yanking it.

“Otabek!” he cried.

The creature turned its eyes back down on him. Yuuri felt that heavy pressure close around his throat, but still he held onto Otabek’s arm. “Do not presume the Hero has business with prey like you,” it snarled. “Heroic duty is to the land, not to thieves. Water stealers, desert makers, hate bringers.” Every insult was punctuated with the sensation of pins and needles digging into his shoulders. “First, you will disappear….” Yuuri’s breathing became harder. “then the others will follow too.”

I don’t want to die. Yuuri had never wished on a star in emergencies (unless final exams counted…) but he was desperate. I know I wish on you all the time, but Nikiforov… please… help… Otabek…

#Yuri on Ice #Katsuki Yuuri #Otabek Altin #Phichit Chulanont #my writings

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