#and with a deep deep sigh i look at microsoft word

[paintedbutton]

In the interest of making good on my plan regarding making an informed decision about writing software, I've spent quite a bit of time lately watching videos, reading blog posts, trawling reddit and tumblr and the like. And ... oh boy. My main takeaway is that I am clearly behind the times. This stuff is not being made for me.

My criteria were pretty simple (I thought):

NOT browser-based

NOT subscription-based

not prohibitively expensive (I am an adult with a decent paying job, I am okay with spending money. I am not going to be spending 200€ + on a writing software that I can't even trial beforehand, sorry)

optional if any AI features

ideally works on both Windows and Android

has some upgraded features for novel writing compared to bog-standard Word (and does not look like it was made in 1995 - looking at you YWriter)

Criteria 1 and 2 disqualify almost everything, I've found. Is it really that hard to fathom that one might not always have an internet connection? Or hell, that I want actual files on my computer that I can "touch" so to speak?

With all that said, the options I was left with were Obsidian or Scrivener. That's it.

While Obsidian seems like a pretty comprehensive program, which you CAN write novels in, it didn't really strike me as being what I was looking for. It's markdown based and thrives on connection between individual files. Probably pretty decent to build up a worldbuilding bible, if one wanted to do that.

I know Scrivener's pretty much the gold standard, so I'm not surprised it ended up here. The lack of mobile support is a bit of a problem for me since I don't own a laptop anymore, so writing on the go will always have to happen on my tablet. Guess I'll have to give it the good old try to figure out whether the pros outweigh the cons.

Mostly, this has made me sad for the state software development is in at least in this niche. I wasn't really looking for a holy grail, I thought. Guess I was wrong about that.

[coryosmin]

Late Nights In The Office - Lawyer Coriolanus Snow x Secretary/Assistant Reader

summary: coriolanus is caught up in a case and ends up staying late. but whenever coriolanus stays late, his assistant and secretary does too. some late night work turns into something else when reader buys coriolanus dinner.

warnings: nsfw, mdni, unprotected sex, p in v, oral (f), fingering (f), pussy drunk coryo, praise kink, etc.

word count: 3,600

Being a secretary and personal assistant to Coriolanus Snow, your hours strongly depended on his. Truthfully, he was a workaholic. Being a lawyer, he constantly ensured perfection to all of his work no matter the case he received. And this case was no different. He was filing paperwork, gathering the evidence to defend a man who was wrongfully convicted of a murder he did not commit. Coriolanus was always a hard worker. He dedicates himself wholeheartedly to the things he is passionate about and that was one of the many things you admire about your boss.

Coriolanus was known to be many things around the office. Working for the Plinth Legal Services alongside Strabo Plinth and Sejanus Plinth, Coriolanus Snow was known for being a hardass. He was usually hard on his employees, expecting nothing else but perfection at all times. More often than not, he’s categorized as rude. However, to you, he’s anything but. Perhaps it’s the fact that you make sure you do your job perfectly. It’s the perfectionist in you that allows you to ensure all documents are filed and organized to Coriolanus’s liking or perhaps that you’re the only one who has memorized his coffee order (It’s strangely very specific). Coriolanus was kind to you, respected you, even flirted with you. And you didn’t dislike it.

You sat at your desk, typing up Coriolanus’s schedule for the next day in Microsoft Excel as you glanced at the time. It was already past the time you usually went home as the time was hitting seven p.m. You frowned, realizing that Coriolanus likely didn’t even notice the time yet. You got up out of your chair, soothing out your pencil skirt before making your way to Coriolanus’s office. Your heels clicked on the tiled floor as you walked. You knocked on the door, popping your head in to see Coriolanus wearing his reading glasses as he read the documents from the case.

“Yes?” He asked without looking up, keeping his attention on the file.

You stepped into the office. “It’s already seven p.m, sir,” you said, looking at the blond.

Coriolanus looked up from the file to the clock on the wall, looking at the time. “Oh,” he said before looking at you. “I just have a few more pages to read and then we’ll be out.” He said with a small smile.

You smiled back, nodding your head. “Alright,” you said. “Do you need anything?”

Coriolanus shook his head. “Not at the moment, no,” he said.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” and with that, you walked out of his office and back to your desk, going back to what you were doing before.

As the clock turned from seven p.m to eight p.m and then eventually to nine p.m, you sighed. At this rate, there was no telling at what time you’d be going home. And neither of you had eaten dinner yet. So you took it upon yourself to order food. You ordered takeout from Coriolanus’s favorite Italian restaurant, getting him his favorite chicken francese while you ordered yourself chicken alfredo. The food arrived within forty minutes, making it about ten p.m by the time you could have dinner.

Holding the food in hand, you walked to Coriolanus’s office and knocked on the door. “Come in,” came the muffled reply of Coriolanus’s voice.

You opened the door with the bag of food in hand. “You haven’t eaten dinner yet,” you said softly, looking at Coriolanus. “And it’s already ten p.m. I think it’s time you take a break, sir,” you exclaimed.

Coriolanus took a deep breath as he glanced at the clock and then back at you. As if on cue, his stomach growled, causing him to let out a breathless chuckle. He took off his reading glasses, placing them on his desk before standing up and stretching. “I suppose you’re right,” he said, walking over to the couch in his office. “Did you order yourself something as well?” He asked as he took a seat.

You nodded your head, placing the bag on the coffee table in front of the couch. “With your card, too,” you grinned, taking the containers of food out of the bag. You handed Coriolanus his meal. “Got you your usual,” you said. “I’ll leave you to it,” you said, grabbing the bag that still had your food in it and turning around to leave.

Coriolanus grabbed your hand, stopping you. “Stay,” he said, letting go of your hand and patting the seat next to him. “Eat with me?”

You bit your lip, nodding your head before placing the bag back onto the coffee table and taking a seat next to Coriolanus on the black leather couch. The two of you ate together. It was awkward at first, the both of you not knowing quite what to say. Until Coriolanus said, “You know, with a highly intelligent woman such as yourself, I wonder quite often why you’re nothing but a mere secretary.”

You were chewing as Coriolanus spoke, swallowing before replying. “Aren’t you glad that I’m your secretary?” You asked, tilting your head as you looked at Coriolanus.

Coriolanus nodded his head, cutting his chicken. “I am very grateful,” he exclaimed. “You’re the only person to ever do anything correctly,” He said with a slight annoyed tone as he thought about the incompetent people within the office. “But isn’t there anything else you’d rather be doing?” He asked, glancing at you.

You took a deep breath, shrugging your shoulders. “I’m not entirely sure, truthfully,” you replied, looking at Coriolanus. “I like what I do, even if I don’t have much of a social life because of it,” you teased, giving Coriolanus a small smile.

You and Coriolanus continued talking, learning more about one another. When the clock hit twelve in the morning, you realized that rather than getting work done, the two of you spent the past two hours doing nothing but talking. “Oh, it’s very late now,” you exclaimed, looking at the clock with a smile on your face. Coriolanus too had a genuine smile on his face, something he didn’t often do.

Coriolanus hummed in agreement. “I suppose it is,” he said, adjusting himself so he sat a bit closer to you. “However, I must say, I’ve been enjoying this time with you.”

You nodded your head in agreement. “I’ve been enjoying it too, sir,” you said softly.

“Coriolanus, please,” Coriolanus murmured into your ear. “When it’s just you and I, I’d rather you call me Coriolanus.” He whispered. He was close enough that you could feel his breath on your skin as he spoke to you.

“Okay, Coriolanus,” you whispered back, turning your head to look at him. Your faces were mere inches away from one another, just one movement and your professional relationship would be completely ruined. Your cheeks reddened at the close proximity, turning your head away and looking down at your lap.

Coriolanus, however, put his fingers underneath your chin, turning your head to face him. You looked into his blue eyes as he looked into your shiny ones. And without saying anything, he leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss onto your lips. You froze, unsure of how to react. Your boss was kissing you. The logical side of you should pull away and scream “what the fuck” but the woman in you is screaming to kiss him back.

After all, Coriolanus Snow is indeed an attractive man.

After a few moments, you relaxed, kissing Coriolanus back just as gently. Your lips moved in sync with his as your eyes fluttered shut. Coriolanus cupped your right cheek while his other hand went to your waist. Your right hand rested on his shoulder while your other hand made its way to his hair, entangling your fingers in his golden locks. Eventually the kiss got heated as Coriolanus pushed you gently onto the couch cushions, laying down on top of you as the two of you continued kissing. He kissed you with more heat, biting down on your bottom lip slightly. You let out a soft gasp and Coriolanus took that as an opportunity to let his tongue explore your mouth.

Coriolanus’s hand slowly traveled up your body and to your chest, massaging your right boobs through your blouse. You let out a soft moan in the kiss, feeling your arousal pool in your panties. Coriolanus pressed himself against you. You could feel his bulge through his trousers on your thigh as he kissed you. He pulled away from the kiss to press a trail of kisses from your jaw to your neck. Coriolanus’s hand moved back down your body and underneath your skirt. You bit your lip, letting out a soft moan when his fingers found your clothed pussy.

“You’re so wet,” he murmured against your skin, his fingers beginning to rub circles on your clothed clit. “Soaking through your panties.”

You let out a shaky breath, nodding your head. “Yeah,” you replied, looking at Coriolanus. This should be wrong. He’s your boss and you’re his secretary. But how could it be so wrong when it feels so good? Coriolanus pulled your panties to the side, running a finger up and down your slit to spread your wetness around before inserting a finger inside of you. You bit your lip to avoid making sounds. Truthfully, you were a little embarrassed about how compliant you’re being under Coriolanus’s touch. Shouldn’t you be fighting it?

Truthfully, you’ve been wanting this for a while. Coriolanus was a very attractive man. Being 6’0, blond, a skinny but athletic build, you couldn’t help but be physically attracted to the man. Not to mention, his personality wasn’t so bad either when you get to know him. Yes, he’s absolutely a dick to everyone he knows, including to Sejanus who’s his best friend. But he was always so kind to you. Or at least what can be considered kindness in his eyes. So maybe you have always had a crush on your boss. But how could you not?

Coriolanus thrusted his finger in and out of you gently. You held back a moan, not wanting to make any noise. Coriolanus kissed your neck as he fingered you, adding a second finger and curling them inside of you. You inhaled sharply, biting back a moan. “Don’t be shy, darling,” Coriolanus murmured in your ear. “Want to hear those pretty noises,” he said as he sped up his movements with his fingers, hitting that spongy spot repeatedly. Unable to help yourself, you moaned, cheeks flushing in embarrassment from your noises. “So good,” Coriolanus cooed before sucking on your pulse point.

The office was filled with the sounds of your moans and the squelching of your pussy as Coriolanus fingered you. You could feel yourself getting close, arching your back in the process. “So close,” you said, practically whining.

Coriolanus smirked against your skin as he pulled his fingers out of your cunt, causing you to whine at the loss of contact. “I want to taste you,” Coriolanus breathed out, pressing a kiss onto your lips. He undid the buttons on your blouse, revealing your black lace bra. You watched Coriolanus as he took in the curvature of your breasts, admiring your form. “So beautiful,” he murmured, taking your shirt and tossing it to the side. Coriolanus licked his lips as his hands made their way to your skirt, hiking it up enough to reveal your matching black lace panties. He moved down your body so that his face was near your thighs as he hooked his fingers underneath the fabric of your panties, pulling them down. Coriolanus let out a shaky breath as he saw your glistening pussy. He took your panties off of you, stuffing them into his trouser pocket as he spread your legs.

“Gonna make you feel so good,” Coriolanus said, licking his lips in anticipation. His eyes were fixated on your pussy, as though already drunk.

“Please,” you said, biting your lip.

And without any further hesitation, Coriolanus took your “please” as a signal to dive right in. He immediately buried his face into your cunt, licking a stripe from your hole to your clit before assaulting your clit with his tongue. Unable to help it, you moaned loudly, bringing a hand down to grip Coriolanus’s curls, tugging on them. Coriolanus let out a moan against your pussy, sending vibrations through you.

The blond sucked and tongued at your clit, eating you out messily but oh-so-good. You relished in the feeling, not a single thought in your brain other than about Coriolanus’s skilled mouth against your cunt. Coriolanus’s tongue dipped into your hole, his nose rubbing against your clit. You moaned loudly, grinding your hips against Coriolanus’s face. “Oh my god,” you moaned, your eyes fluttering shut. You could feel your orgasm approaching quickly as you arched your back and threw your head back in pleasure. And soon, your thighs were clamping around Coriolanus’s head as you came undone on his tongue. Coriolanus groaned against your pussy, eating you out through your orgasm.

And when you finished, you relaxed against the cushions of the leather couch. Coriolanus pulled away from your cunt, his lips and face glistening from your juices. His eyes were displayed and glossy, most definitely drunk off of the taste of your cunt. He stood up, his bulge very prominent in his black trousers. “You taste so good,” he said thickly, looking at you.

You breathed heavily as you came down from your high, looking up at Coriolanus. “Uh…” you began, unsure of how to respond. “Thank you,” you said shyly.

Coriolanus smirked as he reached up to unbutton his button-up shirt. “I’m not done with you yet though.”

You couldn’t help the grin forming on your face as you looked at your boss. “I didn’t expect you to be,” you replied.

Coriolanus finished unbuttoning his shirt but kept it on, revealing his well-toned chest. You bit your lip as you looked at him. He then unbuckled his pants, unzipping them and pulling them down along with his boxers, revealing his large red and angry cock. Your eyes widened at how big Coriolanus was. You’re obviously weren’t a virgin. However, all of your sexual partners were not as largely endowed as Coriolanus was. Noticing you staring at his cock, Coriolanus spoke, “Everything okay?”

Your gaze moved from his cock to his eyes as you processed what Coriolanus had asked. “Huh? Oh. Yes,” you said, swallowing. “You’re just much bigger than what I’m used to,” you said shyly.

Coriolanus smirked. “I’ll take that as a compliment then,” he said, making his way over to you. “Will I still be able to fuck you?” He asked softly, making his way back onto the couch and crawling on top of you.

You nodded your head. “Yes,” you murmured, looking up at Coriolanus with doe eyes.

Coriolanus smirked back, pressing a kiss onto your lips. “Good,” he said as he reached between your bodies, gripping his cock and guiding it to your pussy. He rubbed the tip along your cunt, spreading your wetness around. You let out a shaky breath as his cock rubbed your clit. Coriolanus let out a soft groan as he moved his cock to your hole, slowly easing himself inside of you. There was a slight stretch, causing you to whine a little bit. He was bigger than what you’re used to so it hurt a little bit. When Coriolanus bottomed out, he stayed still, gently kissing your lips.

You kissed him back, wrapping your arms around his neck. Coriolanus stayed still for a few minutes as you adjusted to his size and when he felt you relax, he slowly moved his hips. He pulled away from the kiss to look at you. Your pretty face was looking up at him as he moved his hips slowly. “Truthfully, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” Coriolanus murmured, dipping his head into the crevice of your neck.

You let out a soft moan as Coriolanus began moving his hips, wrapping a leg around him. “Been wanting this for a while too,” you sighed, closing your eyes as your hand made its way to his curls, entangling your fingers in his hair once more. Coriolanus let out a shaky moan, moving his hips faster as he got into a rhythm. You both let out moans as he moved.

“Fuck, you’re so tight, baby,” Coriolanus said, kissing your neck. “Clenching me so good,” he said, burying his cock deep inside of you with each thrust.

You moaned, your eyes fluttering shut as you relished in Coriolanus’s big cock deep inside of you. It felt so good to finally be stretched out so well. “You feel so good,” you said, pressing a kiss onto Coriolanus’s shoulder.

For what was supposed to be just a hookup with your boss, it certainly seemed much more intimate than it should be.

Just as you thought that, Coriolanus pulled back, pulling out of you completely. “Stand up for me,” he said as he got off of you. Confused, you stood up. Your pencil skirt was still hiked around your waist and your bra was still on. Coriolanus sat down on the couch, motioning for you to sit on his lap. You complied, sitting down on Coriolanus’s lap. He wrapped an arm around you, using his other hand to grip his cock and insert himself back into your pussy.

You both moaned as you sunk down onto his cock. And when he was fully inside of you, you took it upon yourself to start riding him. You bounced your hips up and down slowly, your hands resting on Coriolanus’s shoulders for stability. Coriolanus’s hands gripped your ass, kneading at the flesh as you rode him. “Doing so good, darling,” Coriolanus groaned, closing his eyes in pleasure. “So fucking wet.”

Coriolanus’s cock, in this angle, was going inside of you deeper. You whined at the pleasure, loving the feeling. “So deep,” you said, bouncing your hips a bit faster.

Coriolanus opened his eyes to look at you. You looked so beautiful riding his cock. With your cheeks flushed, lips plump, whiny from his length inside of you, your tits bouncing in the confines of your bra, threatening to spill out. He couldn’t help but meet your movements with his own thrusts, holding onto you. He began thrusting into you, causing you to moan loudly. “You’re so beautiful,” he groaned, reaching up your back to undo your bra skillfully. The material fell forward off of your shoulders and onto Coriolanus. He grabbed the bra and tossed it aside, looking at your tits bouncing with each thrust.

As Coriolanus began thrusting up into you, you leaned forward, resting your forehead against his. He moved his hips hard and fast, making you unable to hold back your almost obnoxiously loud moans. Thankfully, no one else was at the office.

“Good girl,” Coriolanus moaned. “Taking me so good,” he said, breathless as he fucked up into you. “Your cunt was made for my cock, hmm?”

“Yes!” You moaned out. “Love how good it feels.” You could feel your orgasm approaching quickly as Coriolanus’s cock kept thrusting into that spongy spot of yours.

Coriolanus licked his lips, grabbing one of your boobs and massaging the flesh. “You close?” He asked. “Tightening around my cock so beautifully. I’m close too, baby,” he said, pressing a kiss onto your lips. “Gonna let me cum in that pussy of yours?”

“Yes, please,” you whined at the idea, grateful you were on birth control because you wanted nothing more than to be filled up with Coriolanus’s cum. “So close, Coryo,” you said.

“Oh I know, baby, I know,” he said, thrusting his hips a bit faster. “You can do it, you can cum on my cock like a good girl.”

And with a loud whine, you came a second time that night, moaning loudly as you arched your back. Your body was shaking as you came, your pussy gushing around Coriolanus’s cock. After a few more thrusts, Coriolanus came inside of you with a loud groan, filling you up with ropes and ropes of his cum. When you both came down from your highs, you slid off of Coriolanus’s cock, sitting down next to him on the couch as you both stared at the ceiling, basking in the post orgasmic glow.

When you both calmed down, Coriolanus turned his head to look at you and you turned your head to look at him. Neither of you spoke as you just let out soft chuckles at one another.

The following morning at work happened as normal as could possibly be. You had arrived to work as though absolutely nothing had happened. And when Coriolanus arrived, he acted as though nothing had happened. You both had gone along with your days. That was until around lunch time when you received a note from Coriolanus that wrote “Let me take you out on a proper date tonight for dinner, my treat. We’ll go after work. Come to my office with your response. - Coriolanus”

It was safe to say that Coriolanus Snow most definitely took you out to dinner at a very high end restaurant. Which most certainly led to him taking you home that night and fucking you so good that you were able to see stars.

[bloodgulchblog]

In light of what others have asked about the Banished, do you ever feel like the narrative writers (not all, but by-and-large) haven’t been interested in telling stories about morally complex aliens—writing them as people, in other words?

After years spent waiting for the post-war setting, for me the Kilo Five trilogy’s messaging signaled that 343 weren’t interested in telling that kind of story, especially after more years of alien terrorists who really want to kill humans again constantly being centered (while seemingly ignoring that the Great Schism was A Thing) and with the Swords of Sanghelios being deemphasized to the point where only a paragraph in the 2022 Encyclopedia’s “Splinter Factions” section was dedicated to them while the Banished got three dozen.

With some of the new story shards and Halo: Outcasts I feel like things are starting to turn around, but I do worry that they’ll shift back.

I don't know anything about anything for real but I think what's going on is this:

First and foremost, before it is anything else, Halo is an investment Microsoft is trying to make money on. The way it does this is primarily by selling purchases in a live services video game where you compete at running around shooting other players and (only recently) sometimes computers. They do make money on merch and things like books and such, but it's not remotely as much as they make on shootman video game.

They have a huge incentive to continue telling stories where running around shooting is the main action. Ergo, the stories Halo's writers tell need to create excuses to have this action and to make that part seem fun and enticing.

(The fact that Halo's pvp has never really had anything to do with events occurring in the lore doesn't really matter, once they have the campaign story excuse game for the multiplayer. "It's a training exercise for Spartan-IVs" was a very late addition, and oldschool Halo didn't bother framing it at all because nobody cared. Frankly, I think most people who play Halo PVP still don't really care.)

So, Halo's not interested in post-war and anything that amounts to recovery because it doesn't do a lot to contribute to Halo's core goal of making shootgame money that keeps convincing Microsoft that the people who make Halo should get the paychecks they need to afford to live indoors and eat food.

I do think there are people working on Halo who are interested in and curious about these ideas, and I really do think the Arbiter and the Swords of Sanghelios and the Sangheili in general are house favorites. (Why else would they be finding excuses to continue bringing the Sangheili into the games even if they can only fit them in as part of the Banished now, when the Sangheili are the species the Jiralhanae probably hate the most?)

Honestly, Halo isn't good at deep or complex characters of any species most of the time and when things are good it's because someone managed to give them some extra love somewhere. Halo has never needed a watertight, emotionally intelligent narrative. It just sometimes skates close on things like the Arbiter, and even though the Arbiter's arc is easily the strongest part of Halo 2's story the gamers hated it and that's why it was so curtailed in Halo 3.

They gotta make shootman games, and sell the shootman games, and that requires an acceptable enemy. For a while they were pivoting toward having Forerunner enemies, but now those are associated with an unpopular time in Halo (especially Halo 5). And Halo is at an age where it feels like every new thing about it is "trying to return to the roots" so... shooting familiar-looking aliens that people have nostalgia for.

Frankly, this is the biggest reason why I'm sighing and waiting for them to bring back the Flood again even though I'm really just not looking forward to that. It feels inevitable.

[ndfan3]

Confession to Nancy

After Bill Travers finished, he looked appealingly at Nancy. His gun was forgotten about, discarded on a table as he confessed everything to the titian-haired girl sleuth. “But what happens now, Miss Drew?” he asked her sadly. Nancy took a deep breath. “I think you are basically a good man, Mr Travers,” she told him, “and you got mixed up in something you couldn’t control.” She looked him hard in the eye. “You need to let me have your gun and come with me to the sheriff.” Nancy continued earnestly. “Tell him what you told me. I can put a good word in for you.”

Travers bowed his head and he indicated with a slight nod that he agreed. “Very well, Miss Drew,” he sighed, “I agree to surrender to you.” Nancy exhaled in relief and looked around her erstwhile kidnapper’s forest shack. She noticed with satisfaction a coil of thin rope hanging from a hook on the wall. “Mt Travers?” she then said to her captive tentatively, “I will need to tie your hands behind your back before we set off. It is a long journey.” Travers looked up at the young detective and smiled wryly. “In case I change my mind?” he asked a little ruefully.

“Yes, sir,” Nancy replied.

AI image created via Microsoft Bing before its upgrade.

[saebyeog-i]

soft | njm (m)

genre | office romance au / slight humor, smut lol

rating/warnings | stream of consciousness bs / alcohol consumption / semi public sex {oral, m receiving; mentions of breathplay} / slightly unedited whoops

word count | drabble! 2.1k because I don’t know how to shut up

pairing | IT Worker!Jaemin x reader

—

When you start your new job, you realize pretty quickly that Jaemin from IT wears sweaters all the time in the office. Even in the summer. Even when it’s 95 degrees outside, because he gets cold easily and they always blast the AC too much indoors.

He’s a very soft and unassuming character, and he’s the youngest person on his team by at least ten years, and during your first meeting when he’s getting your work station set up in your office he tells you he just likes that he gets paid to play around with computers all day and that’s why he keeps the job.

“Couldn’t you be a software engineer or something? Make far more money and not have to answer dumb computer questions all the time?” You ask offhandedly, and then realize you’ve insinuated that he’s paid poorly. You attempt to back pedal your statement, but he’s not the least bit offended.

He chuckles, eyes crinkling and he shakes his head. “I get paid plenty well for this job, and besides, I never have any tight deadlines or work overtime. I don’t exactly dream of extra and strenuous labor.”

He wears sweaters that are two sizes too big for him, made up of bright obnoxious colors and gaudy patterns that would usually make you fake vomit at seeing them on a real life human. But he makes them look charming, somehow. Grandpa sweaters, you call them, even to his face, with patterns that just make you gag. Never a sweater vest, mind you, only ever a full pull over knit sweater, with the occasional cardigan over a long sleeve turtleneck. Over time, you see a variety of patterns and colors, and you think he must have an endless supply of them.

You’re not bad with computers by any means, but you do like to bat your eyelashes and have other people do things for you when you can. You’re admittedly a little bit lazy, not stupid, and besides, he’s much faster at fixing any issues than you are, why waste time trying to figure it out yourself?

You think it’s cute, the way he smiles with his eyes and chuckles quietly whenever he comes to your office to fulfill a help desk ticket. You like the way he smiles at you and the way he’ll compliment your outfits, how soft and unassuming his words always are, and never cringe worthy like that older man in marketing who thinks he’s being nice but is in fact just being slightly creepy. When you tell your roommate about Jaemin from IT complimenting your new dress in the kitchen as you made your morning coffee, she asks if you have a thing for him because of how often you bring him up in your stories from work.

“Oh, no, definitely not— he’s soft, but a little too soft, you know? Need me a bit of a freak, someone who wouldn’t be opposed to like, I dunno, choking me if I said I was into that,” you sigh, trying to imagine the soft and pixie-like Jaemin from IT with his hands around your neck. It doesn’t compute. “Besides, I think he puts like, eight shots of espresso in his coffee, his cum probably tastes like battery acid,” you sigh into your yogurt as your roommate crinkles her nose one morning before you both depart for work. You move on from the brief idea, and think you’ll stick to just enjoying sweet and innocent Jaemin that wears oversizes sweaters from afar instead.

On anyone else, the fashion sense would be annoying.

But not on Jaemin.

He’s soft and squishy and kind of adorable with the way he scrunches up his nose when he laughs, and the endearing way he explains to the older company employees how to run the Microsoft Office automatic software updates to get the latest version of Excel and PowerPoint. He does his best to teach them how to do it on their own to give them a sense of accomplishment and understanding of the technology they rely on but seem to have no hope at operating beyond the basic level needed for their jobs (but still doing it for them anyways, with patience and a smile and never a complaint).

It’s an attractive quality, you have to admit, and if he wasn’t the walking embodiment of marshmallow fluff you’d think more about him. But he is, so you don’t, and instead sigh out loud as you watch him huff and blow the fluffy bangs out of his eyes as he’s crouched under your desk, re-running the wires for your office phone.

You’ve always had a bad habit of mumbling your thoughts out loud when you’re distracted, and sometimes he’ll catch you cursing out the equipment or your supervisors for not knowing the difference between something you’d deem as basic for your department or field. He finds it charming, thinks it makes you more candid and honest and it’s a different side of you than the one who bats her eyelashes and files help desk tickets when she could easily do something herself. You’re taken aback by this comment, because you didn’t count him for someone that would keep track of something like that, which you admit to him in slight disbelief.

“Oh believe me, I’m more observant than you think I am,” he chimes mysteriously as his fingers glide across your keyboard, entering his admin password to run another round of program installations and software upgrades.

You don’t think much of it when he’s the only person who fulfills your tickets for six months straight.

Not until the holiday party, anyways.

At the holiday party, it’s an open bar and everyone is dressed UP up. You expect to see Jaemin in another grandpa print sweater two sizes too big for him— that is, if the soft boy shows at all. Company holiday parties like this don’t scream ‘Jaemin from IT’ at you, given that from what your more seasoned coworkers have told you about years past, after tonight you can expect at least one person to end up suspended or fired for behavior; that and the Company President gives everyone an Uber code for a free ride home since they already know how absolutely wasted everyone plans on getting.

To your surprise, Jaemin from IT does in fact show up at the holiday party. You spot him as soon as he enters, about an hour into the party itself, and he slips into the crowd and makes his way to the bar. You were expecting a tacky Christmas sweater on him, but instead, he’s dressed in the exact opposite.

Instead, he’s got his hair styled up (a first, and you never realized how badly you wanted to see his forehead before) and instead of a gaudy array of colors and patterns, he’s wearing a nicely tailored suit in a rich wine color with a black button down underneath.

When he waves from across the room and approaches you just to be friendly and say hi, you’re definitely caught off guard enough that you don’t realize you’ve mumbled out “How is that fair? How can he look like THAT outside of a sweater and then not let me just suck his dick right here?”

Jaemin blinks for a moment, taken by surprise, when he realizes it’s that same candid habit of yours and you haven’t realized you’ve said it out loud. His mouth curls into a smile and he presses his tongue against the inside of his cheek and gets nice and close, close enough to flirtatiously whisper “Well if you insist, though I’m sure we could find somewhere a bit more... private.”

And then you’re so caught off guard by confident sexy suit wearing Jaemin you think he’s read your mind for until you realize what you said out loud. But he’s into the idea given the fact that he doesn’t run in fear from your words and fuck it, so are you, and he’s not just cute and squishy anymore he’s fucking hot in that suit and with his dark hair styled just so, so you feel flirty and courageous when you say “You know I think I like the suit over the grandpa sweaters, but I think I’d like the suit even better on the floor.”

After the way his mouth ticks upward in a smile, the movements are all a blur that you can’t quite separate out into discrete events: downing you drink, linking hands with him, scurrying off towards the single occupancy restroom furthest from the dance floor and bolting the lock so you can be sure as shit that when your lips crash against his and then your knees hit the floor there will be no interruptions.

“Funny,” you say, trailing kisses down his throat after a moment, “Never thought I’d see you as anything but soft.” The admittance and double entendre are entirely intentional and you know that he knows.

“Seems like now’s a good as time as any to pay back all those superfluous ticket requests,” he breaths out, and your lips curl into a grin as your fingers find their way to his belt and tug his dress pants down.

“If you insist,” you tease back his words from earlier, sinking to your knees all too happily.

You take him into your mouth easily, relishing in the groans and shaky exhales that comes from his perfect lips as his fingers thread through your hair and his grip tightens. A fire deep in your belly ignites at the noises, enjoying how easily you can make the man you thought so soft and unassuming fall apart at just a run of your tongue and a hollowing of your cheeks.

“Fucking shit don’t do that unless—”

He’s cut off by his own groan as you run your tongue along his slit once before taking him as afar back in your throat as you can manage, then he’s cumming in your mouth with a high pitched shaky whine.

When he’s finished, you make an obscene show of his cum in your mouth for him and curl your tongue back as you swallow, wiping away the excess saliva with the heel of your palm. “Pay back enough?” You ask surreptitiously as you rise back to your feet, dusting off the skirt of your cocktail dress.

Jaemin from IT digs his fingers into your hips and pulls you close to him, a growl deep in the back of his throat before his lips clash against yours, “All that and then some.”

His fingers link with yours after as he hurriedly drags you from the bathroom to the exit of the venue, waving haphazardly at his team members before launching the ride share app and tapping in the provided code for that free ride. “I meant it when I said your wardrobe is both flattering and professional,” he hums, “But out of respect for your sense of style, I’ll refrain from tearing any garment off of you and provide a hangar for it instead. Deal?”

The words are so forward and presumptuous. You can’t help but feel a little turned on by the action, however, and find yourself scoffing as you smile and stick a hand out for him to shake, “Deal.”

So even though you’d maybe been hoping to get a bit more free alcohol out of the company holiday party, you’re celebrating some much better company some thirty, forty minutes later, once you’re out of the car and your bare back is pressed against the locked front door of his apartment as Jaemin from IT fucks into you in a way that is the absolute opposite from soft, just as he’d promised. And when you’d moaned it out and asked, he happily agreed to (delicately, tenderly) lay his hand on your throat and apply pressure.

Your expensive cocktail dress rests on a hanger on the coat rack in his living room, just like he’d promised. You don’t put it back on until the following afternoon. And then again a year later, when you enter the company holiday party arm in arm with Jaemin from IT— Na Jaemin, you’d finally learned and committed to memory his last name after that first night, who was now your boyfriend.

“You know I didn’t take you for an outfit repeater,” he teases, this year arriving on time (at your behest) and wearing an all black suit save for the glittering of the jeweled pinstripes on his jacket.

You roll your eyes and tug him towards you by his neck tie. “Who’s fault is it that not enough people got to appreciate this dress last year, hm?”

He looks up in thought playfully for a moment before answering, “The sweaters?”

You press another kiss to his lips, this one a little less aggressively and a little bit softer (like you liked him, you’d come to find out) and reply, “Yeah, definitely the sweaters.”

—

author’s note | I originally wrote this in my dm’s to Clover half asleep at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday and she told me she’d sue if I didn’t post it, so, here, lol have the expanded version that I wrote after chugging a glass of Reisling and a shot of Jameson at 10pm last night.

[meyhew]

i love you (i’m sorry) | percabeth (678 words)

Sometimes when he looked at Annabeth, Percy felt supremely satisfied with himself. There was a time when Athena had made him nervous, had made him question his every move around Annabeth, but that was long gone. Now he looked at Annabeth and saw an unwavering future, a home with an unshakable foundation.

Literally.

Annabeth had been spending a lot of time drawing up blueprints for their house. She’d ask for Percy’s input for this and that, but most of it was her own vision. Percy knew he couldn’t find a better person to make a home for him, even if he traveled the world from end to end. Annabeth knew what he needed—what they needed.

He’d been looking at Annabeth’s sketches for a library she wanted in their house. Percy didn’t know how Annabeth envisioned the finished room, but on paper it was simple and practical, even with the few fancy touches here and there. The arched wall caught Percy’s attention: Annabeth had sketched a wall that was all arch and windows. What they looked out, he didn’t know, but immediately the room felt warm and inviting. Open. He hadn’t had a chance to focus on the rest of the room before something suddenly jumped onto his back and he stumbled for a moment—just a moment—but it was enough for the mug in his hand to tip over and spill its contents all over Annabeth’s designs.

“Motherfuc—what is wrong with you?”

But the cat now perched on his shoulder didn’t care. Percy glowered at him, but it wasn’t easy to look a cat in the eye when it was sitting on his shoulder and Percy wasn’t a goddamn owl.

Annabeth chose that moment to walk in.

When Percy looked at Annabeth now, he didn’t feel satisfied with himself at all. He took in her messy golden hair and sleep soft face and it would’ve made him smile if it weren’t for the way her expression changed when she noticed his blunder.

“Are you…”

“This wasn’t my fault,” Percy said before she could blame him. Granted, he had ruined her sketch (possibly several), but it wasn’t his fault. It was the damn cat. “It was the cat.”

Annabeth nodded in a way that made Percy wince internally. “Right, right. Blame Scrabble since he can’t even defend himself.”

Percy did not roll his eyes. Instead he grabbed some Kleenex and dabbed the soaked papers in a desperate attempt to salvage some of them.

“You don’t have, like, backups?”

Scrabble jumped off his shoulders when Annabeth stepped up behind him.

“What do you think this is, Microsoft Word? No, I do not have backups of my sketches that I did by hand.” Annabeth bent over the ruined papers and sighed. “What—how did you even do this?”

“I told you. It was the cat.”

“Percy—”

“What, you’re taking his side over me?”

Annabeth glared at him. “Excuse me, he wasn’t the one drinking tea over my sketches.”

“You still love me, though,” he said. “I’m sure you can make them again.”

“I—who cares if I love you? How’s that any of your business?” She touched the small stack of sketches and tried to pry them apart. “You… Oh my God. Oh my God?”

Something told Percy he should leave the room and let Annabeth calm down a bit, but he also didn’t want to leave her when, technically, he was the one who’d ruined her plans. He felt badly about it, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. He glared at Scrabble for good measure as he said it, but the cat was more interested in Annabeth’s shirt than in Percy’s grudges.

“It’s fine. I mean, it’s not fine because now I have to redo a lot of it, but it’s fine. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Of course I didn’t.”

“I know.” Annabeth let out a deep breath. “Can you get me a coffee?”

Percy could do that without any more disasters. He leaned down and kissed her head. “Be right back.”

[btsslowburnfic]

The Arrangement Chapter 5

Series Summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi.

Chapter Summary: You go to BigHit for your second interview and are surprised to learn the client is a familiar face. 

Author’s Note: TY everyone for reading <3 I am here for the awkward flirtation in this chapter XD

Previous chapter here ---------

You returned to your jobs for the next few days without hearing anything. On Tuesday you received an email **Google Calendar invitation: Audition/Final interview. Very Personal Assistant. BTS Corporate Accept/Decline**

You found yourself strangely nervous as you prepared for the interview. You didn’t actually think you would get this far. You picked out a basic black dress and some cute flats for the day before you left the house. Personal assistant/girlfriend/wife wasn’t exactly a job you had interviewed for before. You found it difficult to focus at your desk all morning; your stomach doing flip-flops. Would you be meeting with Dimples...er...Namjoon again or would you be meeting the client? You had said you didn’t care what the guy looked like, and that was true, but you would like to meet a person and speak to them before making such a big commitment. Before you knew it, the time had come. You hopped onto the subway and headed for the middle of the city.

You entered the BigHit Building with sweaty hands and were waived over to the front desk where a Security guard verified your information. Your throat was so dry you had difficulty answering basic questions. Great. You headed over to the elevator. As you were waiting for it to come down you noticed a tall man wearing a baseball cap stride confidently into the building and right past security. He walked over to the elevators and stood next to you. You glanced up at him. Holy shit that was the famous model, V.  You quickly looked back at the elevator door. You had totally forgotten that models worked here. I guess If I end up working here stuff like that is just normal, you thought to yourself.  The two of you entered the elevator.

“What floor?” He asked, his voice deeper than you would have guessed. You had only seen him in print ads, although you knew he had done some commercials as well.

“22nd please.” You willed your voice to stay calm. How dare a super gorgeous model invade your space and make you nervous when you were already nervous.

“Me too,” he flashed a smile. A very cute smile that made him almost look like a little kid.  He turned back to face the doors saving you from making any awkward small talk.

The ride lasted about a minute, with a few other people entering and exiting. By the time you arrived at the 22nd floor it was just the two of you again. V was a gentleman and gestured for you to exit before him. You did, but then you had to pause and decide which way to go. You looked for a directory. 

“Namjoon’s office is on the right, Jin’s is on the left. And since Jin is out of the country, I’m guessing you’re on your way to Namjoon’s.” V said as he strolled off the elevator and to the right.

“Thanks.” You follow him. “I am meeting with Mr. Kim today. I appreciate the directions.”

“Any time. Hey Jimin.” he said as the two of you entered a wide open area with couches, window views, and a large reception desk. A man who also looked like he could be a model was sitting there, his blonde hair styled absolutely perfectly. “Hey V.” He responded without looking up.

V looked over at you with a grin, pointing to Jimin, then shrugged his shoulders . He found this situation funny. You walked over to the desk. “Umm Excuse me. "

Jimin jumped back in his chair, very surprised. “Shit. where did you come from?”

“I’m so sorry,” you said, covering your mouth with your hands.  V laughed in the background. “We got off the elevator at the same time. You must not have seen or heard me.”

“V. You did that on purpose!” Jimin shouted around you, pointing his finger. V cackled and had a seat on one of the sofas.  

You were beginning to apologize again when you heard the office door open. You all froze.

 “What the hell is going on out here?” Namjoon asked, one hand still on the door. “[Y/N] I should have known.” Jimin turned around surprised that his boss was speaking to you so rudely and casually. “Get in here,” he gestured to the door opening. Jimin opened his mouth to try and explain the commotion, but you were already on your way to the door.

“Oh my God I’m here for an interview, not to get called into the principal’s office.” You responded as you passed Namjoon and into his office.

Jimin and V both stared at each other, determined not to laugh. 

Namjoon stood there with an irritated expression. “Always. Always with the mouth.” He said as you walked through the door. He looked back, “Jimin, hold my calls until I tell you.”

Jimin nods. The minute the door shut he and V started to wheeze while trying to laugh quietly.

V walked over to the desk . “Who is that?” 

“They’re interviewing assistants for Yoongi. The other girl left half an hour ago.” Jimin pauses for a second, “I can’t believe I yelled "shit" at her.”

V laughed again. “She doesn’t seem like the type to be easily offended. So she’s probably a perfect assistant for Yoongi.”

“That’s true.” Jimin agreed. 

On the other side of the door you were still congratulating yourself on your quip against Namjoon when you were surprised to see a familiar face. It was the guy who left his headphones behind last week. Today he was dressed nicer, wearing jeans and a shirt with a vest. His hair was longer than you would have guessed, now that it was free from the black baseball cap. You felt your heart begin to speed up even more.

You had gotten so caught up in accidentally scaring the poor receptionist and messing with Namjoon you had forgotten you were nervous. A fact that you were very much aware of at this exact moment. Your hands were wet and sweaty again and your throat became dry.

“[Y/N] this is music producer Min Yoongi. Aka Suga. Aka the client.” Namjoon gestured to the shorter man and then walked around to the other side of his room, taking a seat at his desk.

You stand there for a few seconds, taking it all in, and then remember that you are being interviewed. You force something out, "Hey there stranger." 

He smirked, “Hey. Welcome to round 2 of the interview I guess.” He sounded almost shy. Which didn’t match his facial expression. 

“Thanks. Are you our chaperone? " You called over to Namjoon who was sitting there barely paying attention to the meeting and scrolling through his phone

" Something like that. Pretend I’m not even here.”

"OK. Well it's nice to officially meet you, Min Yoongi. I'm Y/N. I'd shake your hand but mine are so very sweaty. " You said before you were able to censor yourself. 

You heard Namjoon sigh as your lack of decorum. Yoongi just continued on as though everything was normal. 

"You as well.” He put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet slightly. “First of all, do you have any questions for me?" 

You weren't expecting the interview to begin like that. But there definitely were some questions you had about all of this. 

"Ooo I get to interview you? This is unexpected.” You paused for several seconds, pursing your lips together in thought, “Ok. I got it! First question: You're good looking. You seem nice enough. I’m guessing you have a pretty good job if you’re working here, so….what's wrong with you? 

Yoongi stood there for a minute with his mouth open. To your surprise, he responded in a whiny voice," Why would you ask me something like that?" He sounded much younger and more casual than he had before and started to rub the back of his neck.

He turned back to Namjoon, “You weren’t kidding.”

Namjoon just raised his eyebrows, still scrolling.

You scoffed," You told me to ask you questions. An arranged marriage was your first choice? Really?" 

Yoongi tried to play it cool. He had come up with his BigHit-sanctioned backstory. "Namjoon, where did you find this girl again?” You couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"I picked her up in a bar. I warned you. You pulled her resume," he said almost bored. "Although it is refreshing to have her go after someone else for a change." 

You rolled your eyes. "Why tell me to ask you questions if you didn't want to answer them?" 

Yoongi shrugged, ready to sell the lie. "It makes sense. I gave a list of what I liked and the agency picked you. I'm busy. I'm not interested in dating, but due to circumstances beyond my control I am in need of a long term companion. Someone to attend events with me, travel with me, etcetera etcetera. You read the job description. "

"You want someone to act like your girlfriend?" You asked. Yoongi pulled at his shirt sleeves and hesitated for a moment.

He didn't actually want any of this bullshit, but for the sake of his career and with Namjoon sitting right there, he didn't have a lot of options. He took a deep breath. "Yes. That. I mean a wife would be ideal so we could just skip over all that courtship nonsense."

A dry laugh escaped your lips, "A true romantic. I'm touched, really." You realized the two of you were both still standing. This was by far the strangest interview you had ever been on. "I'm curious as to what your desired qualifications were outside of liking music and a proficiency in Microsoft Word." 

Yoongi paused for a minute, feeling his cheeks blush a little. Surely a little honesty wouldn't hurt. "Ahhh well you see, I can't reveal all of that to you. But you definitely stood out in the interview process.”

You smirked. "Really? What stands out about an average-looking girl that curses too much and drinks waaaay too much shitty coffee?" 

"Shitty coffee wasn't on the list but surely you met most of my criteria or you wouldn't be here." He cleared his throat. "Now it's my turn to ask some questions. Let's start where you did: tell me, what's wrong with you?"

You fidgeted slightly. You sure as hell weren’t going to go into the whole situation with Suho. "My parents are gone and left me and my younger siblings with no money. We're living in a cramped apartment with my aunt and niece. I want to send my sister and brother to school and I want my brother to not have to sleep on the floor or couch every night.” Your honest answers flooded out of you, “I didn't think this offer was real. I figured it would be some weird sex pervert thing or something illegal but I figured it couldn't hurt to go to the interview since it was at a Cafe."

To your absolute shock he responds, "Who says I'm not some weird sex pervert?" He swipes his lips with a tongue.

He had seemed almost shy until about two seconds ago. You kept the same expression you had been wearing. Two could play that game. Your years of bartending made you fluent in flirting. You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, "Guess we'll find out on the wedding night. I need to get back to work soon. Do you have any more questions for me?"

Yoongi was still slightly shocked by the last exchange the two of you had had and he just shook his head.

Namjoon got up from his desk. " Good, I can’t take much more of you two lovebirds discussing your future sex life. Well if that's all, you're free to go. We'll be in touch." 

You picked up your bag and looked over at Yoongi who was looking down and blushing (?!). "I'd say it was nice to meet you but honestly it's just been really fucking weird." 

He laughed and you noticed he has a very unique smile, full of small straight teeth and the tiniest bit of his gums. Cute. He looked back up, his cheeks still a little pink. "I guess if it works out I'll have my people call your people." 

You smiled back, "Yeah, yeah something like that. See you later. Or never again. Bye" 

“You’re not supposed to say the word “fucking” in a job interview Tokki, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Yoongi heard Namjoon scold you on the way out the door as he closed it behind him.

You pouted your lips, “Whatever. I think Mr. Min liked it. And are we back to nicknames again Asshole?I thought we were trying to keep it professional here.”

He rolls his eyes but you can tell he’s trying not to smile. “Oh my God just leave. I’ll email you more information soon.” 

You looked around and found the reception area empty with a little "out of office" sign on the desk. You had wanted to apologize for the interruption earlier. Oh well. You realized that Namjoon had told you he would be emailing you. And you had definitely got a good vibe from the interview, as weird as it had been. You got onto the elevator. You decided you would need to at least tell your Aunt soon about the job you might get so she wouldn’t be totally blind-sided if you moved out. 

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

"So…" Namjoon asked as he re-entered his office, "Were either of those ladies tolerable? I mean… I know the second one isn't really tolerable on a good day but it seemed like it went well.”

"Yeah. Hire her. Thanks." Yoongi responded, trying to ensure his voice remained emotionless. "When is her start date?"

Namjoon was pleasantly surprised at how easy this part of the process is going. "If she accepts she could begin Monday, but she would probably want to give her other jobs two weeks notice, and she has to move. So realistically, two to three weeks" 

"OK…" Yoongi said, coming to terms that this was actually happening.

"I'll draw up the paperwork and send it to her tomorrow and let you know." Namjoon replied. He realized this was the longest he and Yoongi had ever had a conversation without arguing about something. 

"Yeah OK," Yoongi headed towards the door. "Later." 

Yoongi passed through the empty reception area and down to his studio. He put his head in his hands and sighed. So this was happening. Fine. [Y/N] seemed nice enough. Her heart was in the right place. She hadn't even mentioned herself when the reason she wanted the job came up. He could deal with this. He sat down at his computer to try and get some actual work done today. NEXT CHAPTER

@lidda  @anpanman-sonyeondan  @firefairy1  @cuteipat​  @sugaslittlekookies

[prettywordsyouleft]

To Be Continued - Part 3

Summary: As an author, you had created Brian Kang for your current trilogy series to represent the ultimate man that everyone would love, along with Charli Evers - your female protagonist. What you hadn’t expected was for him to find a way out of the story and begin shaping up your world instead

Pairing: Brian Kang x female writer (ft. Park Sungjin)

Genre: writer au / romance / fantasy

Warnings: fictional characters coming to life / a bit of angst here and there / Sungjin as a cop (or does that only affect me?) >_>

Word count: 2288

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Epilogue

“I know it seems ridiculous,” you stated as you led the constable to your home office, pointing at your desk where both the pen and message waited for him to inspect. “However, I didn’t hear a thing and yet this is all here.”

Sungjin quietly investigated the space, looking to the window and then went over to jiggle the catch. He stepped all around the room, searching for clues, his hand rising to his mouth to cover it as he processed his thoughts.

And then he turned to you. “I don’t really know what to say. This makes no sense.”

“I feel like I’m going insane!” you admitted emotionally, dropping to a crouch and holding onto your legs. “How could someone get in and out without my knowledge whilst everything is still locked?!”

When you glanced up at Sungjin, who came to your side, you noticed the look of scepticism within his eyes. There was nothing factual aside from the second fingerprints, which in your mind, was enough to convince you that someone else had been here. For a moment, the trained professional looked at you and assessed something before smiling gently. You realised then Sungjin was questioning your well-being.

Standing up suddenly, you took a step back from his proximity and looked out the window. “I might have proclaimed just now about feeling as if I’m going insane, but I can assure you, Constable Park, that I’m not already insane.”

“I know,” he answered, trying to catch your attention. When he gained it, he nodded genuinely. “I’m sorry, my brief thought was too brash.”

“I can understand why,” you breathed out with a sigh, shaking your head. “It would be easy enough to plant such evidence, right? I’ve watched enough spy movies and read enough novels to know that it’s relatively simple enough to obtain someone’s fingerprint.”

“Yes, but I believe you haven’t done this on purpose either, Y/N.”

There was comfort in the way he spoke your name and you nodded softly, tears spilling down your cheeks. Sungjin stepped into your space again, patting your shoulder gently. “What do I do?”

“We need to catch the person in the act,” Sungjin suggested and you stared at him curiously. “Have you tried messaging the person back?”

“No… I mean, how does that work? It’s not a social app they’re writing on but Microsoft Word. Even with a cloud sharing system, it would show me that another user is signed in.”

Sungjin shrugged. “Still. Worth a shot, don’t you think?”

“Do I try it now?” you asked and Sungjin shook his head.

“Nothing will happen with me here,” he guessed and you sighed, defeated. You kind of liked that nothing would happen with Sungjin here. But he had a job to do and you did want to solve this issue too.

If it was simply a fan, you would thank them for nursing you back to health that night and ask them to stop this. That seemed simple enough to request. Surely, if they cared that much about you, they would comply.

You didn’t want to consider that their fan status was anything more than just that. Once again, movies and books you had perused with obsessive stalkers cropped up and you shuddered.

Sungjin noticed and rubbed at your shoulders to relax you. “You’re going to be okay. You have my number and I’ll make sure to check in on your regularly too. Let me know if anything happens with the messages, okay?”

“I will.” Leading the constable back out to the front door, he turned and rubbed at his wrist.

“Did you need a lift to get your groceries?”

“Is that allowed in a police vehicle?” you wondered and Sungjin grinned.

“I could write it off as protection services.”

“I’m touched, really,” you responded, trying to rein in the smile you knew was splitting your lips all too obviously.

Sungjin nodded and chuckled back. “Knowing you would take the offer if my car wasn’t government-funded is all I need, Y/N.”

“You best get back to patrolling the streets for proper crime,” you suggested and he nodded. You then laughed. “And I have a date with the fruit and vegetable section to help improve my immunity after dealing with this cold.”

“Take it easy. First dates can be hard to deal with.”

You grinned. “I will. And if I’m in trouble from it, I’ll know who to ring.”

You could tell Sungjin wasn’t usually one for this type of banter, and despite his ears turning red, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Which was no doubt why he was reluctant to step off your front porch right now.

However, he finally did so with another wave and you stepped back inside, locking the door before going to write out your list. It felt weird to use the pen that reappeared so you put it away before reaching for another and jotted down the groceries you needed.

“Have you tried messaging the person back?”

Sungjin’s suggestion lingered in your mind as you prepared to stand and fetch your bag. Relenting, you looked at the screen and inhaled a deep breath before you began to type.

Thank you for returning the pen. And for helping me with my illness.

It felt odd to type anything more and you shook your head to loosen off the feeling, getting to your feet and taking the list out with you.

The words you had written then disappeared without your knowledge, reaching the person they were intended for.

You had almost forgotten all about the incident that led to the constable ending up in your house again today, but the interaction by your front door had replayed so much in your mind that you were too giddy to focus on anything else. As you put away your groceries, you contemplated what Sungjin was like to go grocery shopping with.

It was juvenile. You felt like you were back in high school crushing on a student you liked. You entertained the idea, all the same, slipping further into more domestic actions, swooning over your hypothetical relationship with the man.

You were destined to be a writer. You were far too much of a dreamer for any other profession.

By the time you had eaten a late lunch, you had already jotted down on your phone’s notes app more information to add to your police officer document once back at your desk. You did some house chores before stepping back in there, and before you could even sit down, there was a knock at your door.

It wasn’t Sungjin, however, but your mother, armed with an arsenal to help your illness improve.

You grinned even though you whined out loud. “Mum, I’m basically over it now.”

“You had me worried sick about you. Especially when you mentioned someone broke in!”

Taking what she held and helping the woman inside, you shook your head. “Well, there’s no evidence that’s solid enough to say someone broke in.”

“Should I stay with you tonight?”

“Why tonight when I was more frightened last night?” you asked with a teasing tone and the older woman swatted at you in distaste.

“I’m your mother! I’m allowed to be worried.”

“I’ll be fine! I’ll have the doors all locked, and my favourite police officer’s number saved into my phone. Besides, I’ll no doubt spend my night writing and-”

“Forget I’m even here. Yes, I know how you get when you step out of reality, Y/N.”

You grinned again at her understanding and then were gathered up in a hug. “At least let me cook you dinner. I’ll leave before it gets too late for your creative juices to start rolling out.”

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“Of course I do. I have to be the best to be your Mum!”

After watching two feel-good movies from your childhood and your mother had fed you your favourite dish for dinner before wrapping the night up with fussing over you sufficiently, she headed back home and left you to your own devices.

So it surprised you to finally sit back down after hours away from your laptop to find the screen still active.

Peering closely at it, you blinked slowly at your message or lack of it. Where had it gone? You knew you written the two sentences and pressed enter.

Just as you were about to close the document, your eyes rounded with shock as words began to appear on the screen before you.

“I’m going insane after all,” you said jarringly, reading the sentence as it was typed.

I hope you will stop fearing me and calling that police officer. I’m really not that scary. You know me.

Instead of reaching for your phone, you felt compelled to reply.

Do I?

Again words started to appear before you. Of course. You know me better than I probably do.

How?

You created me.

“Maybe I’ve had too much coffee,” you tried to rationalise but it didn’t make any sense. Looking around yourself to see if someone was remotely plugged in somehow to your laptop, you even searched the connection settings before coming up blank.

So you challenged the writer of the messages.

If I know you and created you – which sounds absolutely absurd by the way – why won’t you show yourself?

You laughed when there was no immediate response and hovered the mouse pointer over the exit button to Microsoft Word, intending to then power off the device. The screen flickered then and you looked back at to see new words forming.

Don’t turn off the laptop.

“What would that have anything to do with this?” you murmured, feeling exasperated from chatting with some strange person within a word document in the first place.

More words appeared. Because the world you created was made on this.

“Okay, it’s getting too late for me now. I’m going to save this document and-”

The screen went blank and you sat back in your chair then, watching it to see what would happen next. Nothing did and you hit the power button on and off, laughing at the predicament. “My battery must have died. Great.”

Searching on the desk for the power cord, you plugged it in and the machine brightened up instantly, blinding you a little with the sudden change.

And then it opened Captivated again.

You watched as the story scrolled down at an unbelievably fast rate, reaching the bottom of the manuscript where you had changed the words back to The End for the third time. They disappeared and were replaced with To Be Continued once more, infuriating you.

“Leave my work alone! This is an intrusion on my intellectual property! You have no right interfering with--”

You weren’t sure if you were hallucinating or not. You weren’t even sure how it happened. One moment, whilst you were ranting to whoever may be listening in about your rights, you were all alone.

The next, a man was leaning against your desktop beside you.

“What the… how did you get in here?!” you cried, not looking up at him properly, reaching into your pocket to retrieve your phone.

“I really don’t think you need to call for him. But if it makes you feel safer, by all means, ring your hero.”

His voice, although you had never heard it before, felt familiar, as if you had imagined that’s how someone would sound. You glanced at his hand resting on the table beside you, wondering why it looked as if you had written about this hand so often it almost felt intimate. Following your gaze up his arm, you ran your focus along his shoulder and up to his face, hearing your phone clatter to the floor beside you.

As you looked intensely into his warm brown eyes that watched you back, and then took in the sharp slant of his nose that was definitely a characteristic point, before finally moving to his lips, you knew exactly who you were staring back at.

Brian Kang.

He grinned, scrunching up his nose a little in the process and it made you gasp. This seemed to please the man. “Well, I guess it works on more than just Charli Evers, huh?”

“You’re… wait… how can you… I mean, this is exactly how I pictured you but… it’s impossible.”

Brian nodded, glancing back at your laptop and tapped on the screen. “I guess it would seem like that to you since my world is created from your imagination.”

“Sungjin’s right, I’ve gone mad.”

“Darling, you’ve been mad for some time but I wouldn’t go thinking this is a hallucination.”

“You’re not real.”

“Well, I guess I’m not meant to be real. I’m not really sure how I figured this all out either. I’m still learning about the outside world so forgive me for scaring you with all this.”

“The outside world?” you repeated incredulously, grasping your head as you felt faint. “Why am I talking to my imagination?! This is an all-time low for me; even I have to admit it.”

“Y/N,” Brian stated, capturing your attention once again. His expression was resolute. You knew without him saying anything else that he believed in what he was about to say wholly. “Whilst you are my maker, I do exist. I’m real.”

“I bet I can’t even touch--” A whimper left you then as he reached out to take a hold of your wrist with the same hand you had inspected. And then he slipped it down so he was holding yours, marvelling at the connection.

And like any normal, logical person who just met their creation in the flesh, you completely blacked out from the experience.

_________________

Part 4

All rights reserved © prettywordsyouleft

[DAY6 Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

[the-girl-in-the-box]

Not Today VIII

A/N:  So... Eleven pages in Microsoft Word! We're in for a long chapter, it seems! But the plot is thickening tonight, and we're FINALLY getting toward the good stuff, if you catch my meaning. So, please enjoy this chapter, and I'll be posting the next on Wednesday! Skål!

Summary:  When Ivar takes the throne of Kattegat, Lagertha flees to Wessex along with Björn, Ubbe, Torvi, and the Bishop Heahmund. There, they seek the aid of King Alfred. This aid comes in the form of his sister, Aethelind, who agrees to travel to Kattegat and try to reason Ivar, who she spent some time with during their youth, when her grandfather King Ecbert hosted Ragnar Lothbrok in their castle. Now, she is the only hope for Lagertha and her supporters to retake Kattegat from Ivar the Boneless.

Masterlist

--

The meeting was called before anyone was ready for it. Granted, a few nights ago, Torvi and Ubbe had snuck into Aethelind’s chambers and attacked her, made her defend herself in the middle of the night, and she had defended herself well enough that, were they enemies to her, she would have survived. But still, none could have seen this coming.

That had been a moment of pride for Torvi, realizing the training they were giving her was more than paying off. She’d grinned and embraced the Princess once she had succeeded as she was meant to, as had Ubbe, and the group had fixed up the area, picking up anything that had been disturbed in the fight.

There was still a good way for Aethelind to go, though. They all knew that. That was why none of them understood why this meeting was being called. Only Alfred and Ubbe seemed to know anything.

So, they all sat as they had before, though Aethelind had arrived with Torvi. They were talking quietly about what might be going on, approaching the room arm in arm as if they’d known each other all their lives.

“I know we have been discussing how well you have been progressing,” Torvi was saying, “but we have all agreed we were not yet ready to send you.”

Aethelind frowned slightly, her brows pulling together. “Perhaps Alfred wants a report? To hear how I’ve been doing so far? I know he’s been watching me train often, but…”

Torvi gave a small shrug. “Perhaps,” she said. “Or perhaps he wants to tell us something else. Ubbe has been helping your brother become a better warrior. Perhaps…?”

Aethelind shook her head. “No,” she said. “He wouldn’t bring us all together this way to just tell us how he’s made progress. Probably, he wants to hear how I’m doing from all of you."

Torvi nodded at this, and shrugged. “We’ll see,” she commented, and the women stepped into the room.

Everyone else was already seated, and Aethelind grinned a little to Alfred, a silent apology for her and Torvi’s lateness. He simply smiled and shook his head, waiting on the two to get in their seats. Once they were both situated, he began.

“I believe it is time to send Aethelind to Kattegat.”

There were varied responses from everyone aside from Alfred, but all were some degree of shock. Well, aside from Ubbe, that was. He seemed to be the only one who had expected those words.

“Are you sure of this?” Lagertha questioned, frowning at the thought. “She has become a very well trained Shieldmaiden, but the risk of sending her too soon…”

"Is great,” Alfred finished for her, and nodded. “We know this. But…” He took a deep breath, and sighed, before gesturing to Ubbe.

“King Harald means to attack Wessex,” he said. This also caused a shocked response. Ubbe waited patiently on things to quiet down. “This is why we want to send Aethelind to Kattegat now. You may all choose to argue if you wish, but I believe she has enough training to survive. Assuming she is ever attacked. But if Harald is coming, then she will not be able to leave until after he has come, and gone, and there are too many variables surrounding that to know if we can even get her out at all. So, King Alfred and I wish to call the vote now, as opposed to whenever else we may call it, on the subject of sending Aethelind to Kattegat immediately.”

Aethelind felt as if her heart had dropped into her stomach. Immediately? It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go, but this was so sudden. She wasn’t even sure how to take this. Her eyes turned to Torvi, who gave a small shrug. Clearly, she had also been caught off guard. Aethelind then looked to Lagertha, Heahmund, and Björn. None of them seemed to know what to think of this, but then Alfred was saying, “My vote is a yes,” as was Ubbe. The vote then went to Torvi, and Aethelind watched her with wide eyes.

“You... have become a very talented fighter,” she conceded. “You know how to use a sword, a bow, an axe, and a shield. You can best both myself and Lagertha, and hold your own well against Ubbe and Björn. You can also best Bishop Heahmund. The chances of a Ragnarsson attacking you are low, I would expect, and I wouldn’t expect anyone else to be as efficient in hurting you. For that reason… I’ll vote yes.” The young Shieldmaiden looked a bit like a startled deer, even as she gave her vote. She could think through what needed to be done, but that didn't mean she wasn't stunned by it.

Aethelind felt her heart beginning to beat faster as she then turned her eyes to Heahmund.

“Harald wasn’t a part of any of our plans,” he began. “We’ll do all we can to defend Wessex, but should he break through… I do not want you here, Princess. For your safety, I vote yes. You should be in Kattegat, or at least on your way, before Harald arrives in our fields.”

Next, was Lagertha. All eyes turned to her as she took a deep breath. “The vote… must be unanimous,” she reminded the council, her eyes focusing on the table. “We are weighing the Princess’s safety here in Wessex, against her safety in Kattegat. Unless she is somehow discovered to be working for us by Ivar, she should be safe there. If this discovery is made, we have prepared her the best we can. So, the question is asked: Is the Princess safer here, or in Kattegat? With the approach of King Harald’s army, a sort of fight she has not been prepared for… I must say I believe she will be safer in Kattegat. I vote yes.”

And that left Björn. When Aethelind turned to look up at him, she found he was already looking at her. He appeared contemplative, and she remembered their fight in the marketplace, a few weeks ago. If someone attacked her the way he had, she would be dead. That must have been what was going through his mind, too, she figured. After a few long moments of silence from him, he eventually asked, “How do you feel about this?”

The question stunned Aethelind, though… In the end, it did make sense. She would be the one going to Kattegat, or staying in Wessex. It was her life hanging in the balance. Her eyes again looked around the table, and met every pair of eyes looking back at her. “We could keep me here for an entire year, and perhaps never decide I am ready,” she said. “Or, just three more days. But if this King Harald is already on our doorstep, or nearly so… We may never get that chance. I know you will all go to battle, and I know my training does not prepare me for such. The combat I have been trained for is not that which is found on a battlefield. So, you will all go to battle, and I will remain here, hoping and praying to God for your victory. I am no fool, though. We may pray for God to intercede on our behalf in things, but… Our will is not always His. Prayer does not always win a battle, much as we may wish it to. Now is the only time we are guaranteed the ability to send me to Kattegat. If we wait, and Harald wins and reaches Wessex, there would be little reason to send me. He will only come if the Sons of Ragnar are no longer able to stop him, meaning there would be no son of Ragnar away from Kattegat, who could return to rule it. It’s true that this would mean there is a chance I have been sent for no reason. But I believe I would be safer in Kattegat, away from the battles, than in Wessex where Harald’s army could reach me. So, if you are asking for my vote, Björn…”

Aethelind sighed as her eyes returned to his. “I would request to be sent immediately, as jarring as it may be.”

Once her answer was given, Björn nodded, and gestured to her as if to say, Then you have my vote as well.

“The vote is unanimous,” Alfred said, nodding. “Aethelind, go prepare to depart at once. I’ll have a ship prepared at the docks with all haste. We must see you off before nightfall. Hurry.”

The Princess nodded, and got to her feet. She wasn’t surprised at all that Torvi also stood. “I’ll join you,” she offered. “Two can prepare more quickly than one.”

Aethelind gave her a small smile as thanks, and the two hurried off.

Once in the halls, Aethelind picked up her skirts and took off in a hard run, Torvi rushing after her. They moved as quickly as they could to Aethelind’s chambers, where they quickly got inside and began stuffing clothing in trunks. Torvi had begun trying to fold the clothing, making it neat, but Aethelind stopped her.

“I can rearrange on the boat, I’ll have little enough to do,” she said. “And time is of the essence now.”

Torvi nodded and did as Aethelind said. When it came to it, she put a sword in the trunk as well, wrapped up in the clothing. “Choose if you wish to wear this once you arrive. But I would not arrive wearing it. That may yet warn Ivar of your purpose there.”

Aethelind thanked her, and was soon tossing in the last piece of clothing. She and Torvi shut the trunk, and she sighed. “This is it then, I’m afraid,” she said. “A few more hours, and I’ll be on my way to Kattegat.”

Torvi smiled at her, sensing the younger woman’s nerves. They’d worked quickly enough, so Torvi took her hands, and led her to sit on the bed, still smiling gently at her. “You are ready,” she said determinedly. “I believe that. You have good instinct, and you are charismatic. If you do not feel ready when you arrive, I believe you could pass off an interest in training as an interest in learning more of our culture. They’ll like that- Ivar especially. They’ll see it as a Saxon Princess becoming Viking. No one would have to know it was further training, unless you wish to sell the story that your parents chose to have you both trained.”

Aethelind nodded, and gave Torvi’s hands a squeeze. “Thank you, Torvi,” she said. “For everything. I’m going to miss you dearly while I’m in Kattegat, but I hope to see you again someday, once all this is done and peace is achieved.”

Torvi smiled at her sweetly, and brought up a hand to cup her cheek. “You are one of us,” she said. “You have become a Shieldmaiden, like any other. Aethelind, you are my sister. Lagertha’s sister. And you are blessed. Whether by your God, by ours, or perhaps by all… You are very talented, and you will do well in Kattegat. They’re going to love you there.”

This earned a warm, wide smile from Aethelind, who then leaned forward to embrace her. “I love you, Torvi,” she said softly. “And I will see you again one day. I believe that. In the past months, I’ve come to love you all. And so, I hope that you will all greet me on the docks of Kattegat soon, when you have come to claim it again.”

Torvi smiled at that, and nodded silently.

The door to Aethelind’s chambers opened then, and both Torvi and Aethelind straightened up to see who was entering. It was Judith, who shut the door behind herself, and paused to look at her daughter, whose hands still held the arms of the Viking woman before her.

Tears had already gathered in Judith’s eyes, and Aethelind gave her a sad smile, standing and going to embrace her. “I take it Alfred has told you?” she asked softly.

Judith nodded, and said, “My beloved daughter, being sent to Kattegat to negotiate peace…” A wet laugh left her, and she shook her head a little. “I somehow didn’t expect this day to ever come.” When she pulled back, she reached up to cup the girl’s cheeks- for in her eyes, she still saw a young girl, not the suddenly grown woman who truly stood before her. “Your father would have been… so proud of you,” she whispered. “And I believe he goes with you, as you make that same journey he once did. I only hope you return to me, and this is not goodbye.”

“It won’t be,” Aethelind promised, now cupping her mother’s cheek gently. “I won’t be gone long, just long enough to secure peace, and then I will return home.” Judith gave a small nod.

“I’m sure you will,” she said. “I’m proud of you. Everything I admired in your father, I see reflected in you, now. Your brother is the legacy of his mind, but you are the legacy of his heart. His heart was with the Vikings, in Kattegat, and I see yours is as well. I only pray that God goes with you.”

“He will,” Aethelind assured her, and gave her shoulder a slight squeeze. “He knows His plans for me, and I believe they are in Kattegat.”

“As do I,” Judith confessed. “Though it breaks my heart to send you into such an unknown circumstance. But know that my love goes with you as well, and I will look forward to seeing you when you return.”

Aethelind smiled, and nodded. “Will you not join us at the docks, to see me off?” she questioned, and Judith shook her head.

“No,” she said. “No, I have to prepare here in case Harald’s forces do reach us. It will keep any spies he’s sent out from finding things too quiet here, and realizing something is happening. Your brothers are both waiting on you in the courtyard to bid you farewell there, for the same reason. Bishop Heahmund will be taking you to the docks. It’s better you travel with a smaller party, and a Bishop and a Princess travelling is easy to explain.”

As much as she didn’t like this, Aethelind knew it was true. “Very well,” she said. “And so… I must say goodbye to you here?”

“I’m afraid so,” Judith answered.

Aethelind swallowed, but gave an understanding nod. “Alright,” she said. “Then… I suppose we should do that?”

It hadn’t yet even begun to get dark by the time they’d said their goodbyes, but servants were called to take the trunk of Aethelind’s clothing down to a carriage, one which would go ahead of her and the Bishop to the docks. Once that was done, she went down to the courtyard to say goodbye to her brothers, and the Vikings who had become like another family to her.

Everyone had already gathered when she, Torvi, and Judith emerged from the castle, and Lagertha stepped forward first to meet the Princess. She opened her arms to the younger woman, and embraced her warmly, a small smile on her face. “You’re going to make us proud,” she whispered. “I am sure of it.” When she pulled away, she held Aethelind’s shoulders in her hands, and continued, “I knew your father, Princess. Well. It was my farm he stayed in when he first came to Kattegat, with myself and Ragnar, and our children.”

Aethelind’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of Athelstan, and she swallowed, smiling. She’d not heard much about him, not really, from the Vikings, though she was sure it would have been known by them that she was his daughter. So, to hear Lagertha speak of him now… She was finding herself getting a bit emotional already.

“He was one of the best men I’ve ever known,” she said. “You remind me so much of him, and it is for that reason I know you are the one meant to do this. This is your fate, and your destiny, Aethelind. You are brave, and strong, and you have his heart in you.” Lagertha put her hand over Aethelind’s heart, and it was all the Princess could do not to let the tears building in her eyes spill over. “Go now, and make him proud, just as you will us.” Aethelind nodded, and hugged Lagertha tightly again.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the older woman. “Thank you, Lagertha. You don’t know what those words mean to me.” Lagertha smiled at the words, and held her just a little tighter.

“Aethelind, Princess of Wessex, child of the North, daughter of Athelstan,” she began. “The favour of the gods is with you.”

Those words struck Aethelind, and she swallowed hard, before pulling back and looking at Lagertha with a smile. She squeezed her shoulders, and nodded. “I will see you again,” Aethelind said. “Before Valhalla.”

“I hope so,” Lagertha agreed. She brought Aethelind’s head down, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now go, and may the gods go with you.”

Aethelind nodded, and released Lagertha, moving now to Ubbe who stood just behind her. He smiled warmly at her, and when he embraced her, he did so in the sort of way that made her feel completely enveloped by him. He held the back of her head in his hand, and rested his chin on top of her head. “You are strong, Princess,” he told her. “And, you are ready. Be careful of Ivar, but do what you’ve gone to do. If there is anyone who will get through to him, I believe it is you.” When he pulled back a little, he looked down into her face, then continued. “Keep your mind clear,” he said, his fingers touching her temple. He tapped them there, and she chuckled softly. “You’re a smart girl. You think like him. Use that.”

She nodded a little, and then he pressed his forehead to hers, her own hand lifting to cup the back of his neck. “Thank you, Ubbe,” she said. “You’ve given me much wisdom, and I take it all with me.” He smiled a little, and patted her shoulder with his free hand, his other thumb brushing over her cheek. It was quite an intimate display of affection, for what the Saxons were used to seeing. In fact, they found it rather inappropriate. But Ubbe had become like a brother to Aethelind, just as his wife had become like a sister to her.

“Go,” he said. “You have a long journey ahead of you. We should not keep you.”

Aethelind smiled, and nodded a little. One more tight embrace, and she moved to Torvi, who took her hands. “I have already said what I wanted to, before we came here,” she confessed. “Remember all I have taught you, all we have taught you, and we will see you again.” Aethelind gave another nod, and then she was embracing Torvi, the two women holding tightly to each other.

When they separated, Aethelind kissed Torvi’s cheek, and told her, “I hope to see you soon then, sister.” Torvi smiled widely at these words, and nodded, before releasing her to…

Björn.

Before she had a chance to say anything, he had begun to speak. “You are small,” he said. She seemed confused by this, but he added, “Use this to your advantage. If you find yourself in a fight, do not stop moving. Never stop moving. You were on the verge of that when we fought in the marketplace, and it was what kept you on your feet so long. If you must escape, it is better to do this than to die.”

Aethelind nodded, and then Björn smiled. “My mother is right. You are much like your father. It is his heart in you, as she said, that we see. The people of Kattegat loved him. If they see that same heart in you, then they will love you as well. Just as we do.”

This brought a soft smile to her face, and Aethelind hugged him tightly. “I’ll miss you, Björn Ironside,” she said softly, and he chuckled.

“You will not have long to miss me, I’m sure,” he encouraged her. “So go on, Shieldmaiden.” Aethelind looked up at him, and he kissed her forehead. “I will see you again before Valhalla.”

Aethelind nodded, and the time finally came for her to say goodbye to her brothers, those related to her by blood. Alfred and Aethelred stood together, and both smiled at her when she approached them. No words were spoken just yet, before they were both embracing her, and she smiled at the familiar feeling.

“I can’t imagine what has brought this on,” Aethelred said with a chuckle. “I’ve not been overly involved in this. But I know you’re going to do… whatever it is you’ve got to do, very well.”

Alfred nodded his agreement. “She will,” he said. “And I look forward to hearing everything when you return, Sister.”

Aethelind looked up at him and nodded with a warm smile. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll have many tales to tell.”

“Good,” Alfred said. “Then go. We will pray for your safety, your security, and your swift return.”

Aethelind nodded, and they both kissed her cheek, before turning her over to Bishop Heahmund. When she reached him, he offered her a kind smile. “Your things are being taken as we speak to the docks,” he informed her. “Are you ready to follow them?”

She knew if she looked back, she would want to take more time with her family. Of course, they had all promised her, and her in return, that they would reunite again. Before Valhalla. But she knew that the Lord worked in mysterious ways, and that the Vikings believed the same of their gods. Any promise could be made, but that didn’t mean they would be able to be kept. The Vikings were meant for war within days, and Aethelind herself was going into the heart of the enemy’s territory. Who knew what the future held?

So, Aethelind nodded. “Let’s go,” she said. The Bishop nodded in return, and then gave a curt nod to all those behind her, before turning to begin his walk to the docks with the Princess.

Unlike him, Aethelind did not look once more at her family, though she would perhaps one day wish she had, and followed Heahmund. She didn’t pause when she crossed the gates, nor at any point as they journeyed to the docks. When they did arrive, she only waited as long as needed to get her things on the boat that would take her to Kattegat. As they waited, Heahmund gave a small sigh.

"Be careful with him,” he said suddenly. “I know Ubbe has warned you, but I feel the need to warn you as well. Ivar the Boneless is a dangerous man, but he does still have the side to him which you speak of, that you remember from your youth. I am almost certain that is the man you will encounter, when you first arrive. If you’re lucky, and if you do things just right, you may only ever encounter that man. I just want to warn you to never forget that the other man, the dangerous, ruthless one who murdered his brother, is still there.”

Aethelind nodded a little, swallowing. “Thank you for your warning, Bishop Heahmund. I’ll keep your words in mind while I’m in Kattegat

He smiled, and then the captain of the boat that was to be taking her came to tell them they were ready to go. With that, Aethelind let out a short breath, and turned to Heahmund. “That’ll be me, then,” she said with a small smile. He chuckled softly, and embraced her.

“Take care of yourself, Princess,” he said. “You have earned the right to be called Shieldmaiden. Go now and prove it.”

Aethelind grinned, and looked up at him. “I will,” she promised. He cupped her cheek affectionately. Though she had believed she would see each of the Vikings again, looking at her, Heahmund somehow felt this would be their final meeting. Something in him said he wouldn’t see her again.

“Warrior Princess,” he said quietly. “Beloved by God.” He paused a moment, and smiled slightly. “Farewell.”

Aethelind could feel the finality in his words, could tell he didn’t believe they would see each other again. And the way he spoke, she felt the same way. “Farewell, Bishop Heahmund,” she almost whispered. “Take care of Lagertha. She doesn’t need it, but.. She deserves it. We both know that.”

“We do,” he agreed. “And I will.”

Aethelind smiled, and nodded, before pulling away and going to board the boat. He stood and watched once the captain was on board as well, the small crew taking it out to sea. Both Warrior Bishop and Warrior Princess watched each other as she was carried away, until the boat was just a speck on the horizon for the Bishop. He waited a little longer, until she had disappeared entirely, to turn, and begin his walk back to the castle

Likewise, Aethelind watched until the coast, and all land, had disappeared from sight. At that point, she turned, and looked out to the horizon. Wessex was now behind her, and as she held the mast, watching the sea stretch out before her, something deep inside her felt as if it woke, called for the sea, for the fjords she sailed for. The daughter of Athelstan was finally making her way to Kattegat.

Taglist: @youbloodymadgenius, @wilhelmyna, @katfett, @fangirl-nonsense, @zuzus-sun, @heavenly1927

If you want to be added to the taglist, feel free to reach out either by commenting, reblogging, DMing me, or sending an ask, and I’ll be more than happy to add you!

[pollyaunt]

Break My Heart- chapter 3

Fandom: From Blood & Ash | ch4

TW: None....yet

Summary: What happens when the star quarterback of Atlantia High School grows an interest towards the shy, adorable but smart girl in his grade? Come and join Hawke and Poppy on this rollercoaster of emotions.

a/n: hi bitchessss

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

"Did it hurt?"

"No, it did not hurt when I fell from heaven! Now, shut up."

"Do you like raisins? How do you feel about a date?"

"Hey, my name's Microsoft. Can I crash at your place tonight?"

This is how it has been since past hour.

Me trying to tutor him and he using his stupid pick up lines to annoy me.

"If you said one more cheesy pick up line, I'm going to gut you in your intestines and feed them to a street dog." I gave him my most serious or 'intimidating' look.

Surprisingly, after that he solely let me explain him the concepts and make him understand them. One more think I noticed was that Hawke was kind of already good at most of the subjects.

"Hawke?"

"Hmm?" He hummed while writing a solution for a maths equation.

"How are your marks not good? You're almost good at most of these subjects so why do you need tutoring?" I frowned at him when he finally looked up from the textbook.

He took a deep breath and said, "What can I say? I'm a quick learner, Princess."

And me being oblivious enough didn't question further much. Oh, how I wish now I should have noticed the signs.

After approximately thirty minutes we decided to sing off for the day.

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

When I reached home, I threw my bag on the couch in living room and went to kitchen. Having two cups of coffee made me a bit hyper active but it was the only way to survive Hawke's innuendos.

I saw mom near the stove trying to cook something and went towards her.

"Hey mom." I kissed her cheek then opened to door of fridge to find something to eat.

"Hey sweetie, which schoolwork did you do?"

I found a half sandwich and took it out.

"I just have to tutor a student for rest of the semester. It's nothing." I said before taking a huge bite from the sandwich.

"Okay. Also, your dad told me to tell you that there's going to be a charity gala of one of his friends and he has invited us. We all have to go."

My dad works in a law firm and is very particular about his work. Nowadays, he's started to work overtime a lot so I rarely see him. I can see the sadness in mom's eyes due to this but she pretends to be fine.

I took my time to finish the bite and then asked her, "When is the gala?"

She grimaced a bit then replied, "Wednesday."

Today was Monday, so the gala would be day after tomorrow.

"Mom! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Trust me honey, your dad told me last night only."

I sighed.

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

Later that night, I called Venotta to ask if she would go to shopping the next day since I had absolutely nothing to wear.

After calling her thrice, she finally picked up.

The annoyance was visible in her tone when she said, "What is it?"

"Woah! Who made you mad?"

She sighed and said in a softer tone, "Nothing. So what is it you were calling me for?"

"I was calling to ask if you want to go for shopping tomorrow after school."

I heard some noise on her end as if someone was talking but it wasn't audible much.

"Yeah, sure." Then she quickly added before I could ask something, "Listen, I have to go. See you tomorrow."

Without another word, she hung up.

"Why is she acting so weird these days?" I muttered to myself.

I decided to ask her tomorrow about it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thoughts on Venotta?

[cotncandyboifics]

1989 [High School AU]: Chapter 2

AO3 Link

Masterpost

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~ Chapter 8 ~ Chapter 9 ~

Pairings: slight Logince, eventual Prinxiety & Logicality

Word count: 1,974

Story summary: Roman Prince is your stereotypical Jock, with everyone swooning after him. Every day a crowd of people follow him around, only to disperse at his personal whim. In reality, he's lucky to have such good acting skills that help him cover up the disdain he has for his life. He only wishes he could use his skills properly.

Patton Whitelock's always there to lend a helping hand, no matter who you are. If you need a favor or just need someone to talk to, go to him. In reality, he's been taught from a young age that kindness should be held above all else. No one suspects that he took it the wrong way.

Logan Montgomery is the smartest boy in the Senior class. He's stern, and most people are too intimidated to speak to him. In reality, he despises most all of his fellow students. He sticks to his studies and doesn't stray, for fear of being stuck in his father's shadow his whole life.

Virgil Black is the most emo kid in school, let alone 12th grade; everyone knows to leave him be. In reality, he's very fortunate. He has two parents who love him dearly. But everything beyond his life, everything within his mind, is utter chaos and turmoil.

what will happen when they're assigned a biology project together?

General CW: food, swearing, implied s-lf h-rm, non-graphic descriptions of s-lf h-rm scars, graphic and non-graphic descriptions of anxiety attacks and panic attacks, drug abuse, minor character intoxicated on heroin, non-graphic drug overdose description, sickness/description of sickness, blood, non-graphic descriptions of needles, (will be added to as I write more)

Chapter CW: <none> (let me know if i missed anything please!)

Author notes: there's an excessively detailed description of the biology project in this chapter. I haven't read it since i first wrote and edited this chapter two years ago. :)

...

Logan walked into his 4th Period class, biology, with a glint in his eye. He enjoyed the class quite a lot, and the teacher was passionate about the material, making the learning process all that much better.

"Good morning students!" He said cheerily from the whiteboard. "As you can see, I've rearranged the desks into groups of 4, and if you look up here at the board, you'll see the seating chart. These will be your groups for this semester's project." Logan scanned the projected seating chart and found his name. Near the center of the room, and his desk at an angle which he could still see the teacher. He glanced at the other names. he recognized two of them; Roman Prince, the school jock, and Virgil Black, notoriously introverted and depressing. The third name he didn't recognize; Patton Whitelock. He took a seat at his assigned desk, and awaited the arrival of his group mates.

Patton and Virgil arrived together. Logan recognized Virgil with his purple hair and sulking form, and as they walked closer, assumed the perky boy walking with him was Patton. Upon seeing him he realized this was someone he actually had several classes with, but had never bothered to pair a name with his face. He seemed to radiate an infectious joyful aura, and Logan felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he approached. Virgil just gave Logan a small nod, while Patton smiled wide and stuck his hand out across the desks to shake Logan's pale steady hand.

"Hi there!! My name's Patton! You're Logan, right?" Patton's voice went perfectly with his demeanor. Logan allowed a smile to cross his face - just out of politeness, of course -  as he shook Patton's hand.

"Hello Patton. Yes, Logan Montgomery. And you must be Virgil, correct?" He said, looking over at the dark boy sitting across from him, who was now slumped over on his desk with earbuds in. Virgil just glanced at him and gave a small nod.

Then, in a burst of flamboyance, Roman arrived at the table with his signature smirk displayed proudly on his face. He glanced around at his teammates. His smirk faltered at the sight of ta certain purple-haired emo, but he continued to scan as he sat smoothly, sliding his backpack under the desk. He greeted Patton with a handshake - the two were relatively friendly, as Patton often helped organize football events - and upon seeing the tall pale boy seated next to him, changed tone.

"Why hello there," Roman said in a deep voice, leaning over to Logan, who tensed up momentarily. But he regained himself quickly, and turned to face Roman.

"Salutations. Logan Montgomery. You are Roman Prince, I presume," Logan said cordially, holding his hand out to the jock. Roman only smirked and took Logan's hand, kissing his knuckles gently. In that moment Logan cursed his off-white skin, as he felt his face heat up and was sure the blush was plain as day. It only made Roman smirk more to see the effect of his actions.

"But of course. I suppose I should be thankful for the honor of being grouped with such a handsome-" In the midst of his courting, Roman was interrupted by the teacher clearing his throat and giving further instructions on the project.

"These will be your groups. No buts, this is final. Unless there is a serious conflict, I will absolutely not be changing your groups. Now that that's out of the way, I'll explain the project." He clicked a button on his computer, and the projection changed to a presentation about their project. "You are to write a detailed, extensive report on Lepidium Sativum, or Garden Cress, and its attributes in various environments. there will be three rounds in this project." He clicked a button again, and the slide changed. "in the first round, you will have two plants being given the same amount of water and light, but two different types of fertilizer. after two weeks, the fertilizer that has been the most effective in helping the plant thrive will be used for all future rounds." Next slide. "in the second round, you will have two entirely different garden cress plants, that are to have the exact same amount of sunlight and both be planted in the better fertilizer from the previous round. you are to take the recommended amount of water you should give the plants per day, and give one plant less than said amount and the other more. repeat this process for two weeks, and note which plant thrived more. This plant's dosage of water will be used in the next round as well." Next slide. "For the final round, two new plants will be given the optimal fertilizer and amount of water, but different amounts of sunlight. One is to be in the sun constantly, the other is to be kept out of the light. Whichever one is the most successful after two weeks time, will be presented in class at the end of said time period. these plants will be 10% of your grade for this project." Next slide. "Your report will include the following 11 paragraphs; 1, prior knowledge. any and all things you collectively know about Garden Cress. If you know nothing, then I'd devote some time to researching the plant. 2, the procedure for the first round. step-by-step description of what you did in the two weeks. 3, hypothesis or predictions for the outcome of the first round. 4, the results of the first round. 5, 6, and 7 repeat 2, 3, and 4 but for the second round, and 8, 9, and 10 for the third round. the 11th paragraph will be the conclusion; comparing all the results and analyzing them, whether you think your experiment was accurate, etcetera. I expect before and after pictures of both plants for all three rounds in your report as well." He then turned off the projector and walked over to a table, which had 16 plants on it. "Today is the beginning of the experiment, one group member will be chosen for the entirety of this lab to be conducted at their house, and said group member will come up and take two plants from here at the end of the period. We have... 10 minutes left. discuss among yourselves."

With that, they were off. Logan had been furiously scribbling notes in somehow impeccable handwriting. He looked up once the teacher had stopped talking and cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. "I will take the plants to my house. We should meet there every week at least, preferably on a consecutive weekday," he said.

But Roman had other plans, that he thought were absolutely brilliant in terms of his suddenly enticing pursuit of Logan. "Au contraire, my bespectacled friend," He began, "I believe that the best household for our project to be conducted in would be chez-moi," Roman finished with a dramatic hand-to-the-chest pose. Virgil couldn't keep in a scoff and a smirk, murmuring something under his break about how Roman didn't speak french. The others ignored him, but Patton looked at him curiously.

"And what could have possibly led you to that conclusion? I strongly believe that of the four of us," Logan said, looking around at his partners, "I am the most responsible. So, I'm curious to hear your reasoning," Logan finished, adjusting his glasses again and facing Roman more prominently.

"Well, Microsoft Nerd," Roman said, at which Virgil smirked again, "My house is only a few blocks away from school. Its very accessible, and I for one know that at least two of us would prefer to be near school," Roman said, looking over at Virgil.

Virgil considered protesting, but decided against it. "...I mean, he's not wrong," He said quietly.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the assist, JD-lightful. Patton, what do you think?" Roman said, turning his attention to Patton, who was staring at his desk with a hint of a blush on his face.

He looked up upon being addressed, and responded. "Oh, um, I'm alright with either honestly." He said, slightly less perky than usual, glancing at Logan before looking back down.

Logan simply sighed and adjusted his glasses again. "Well, I'm not going to argue with you over something so trivial, so fine. We can go to your house."

Roman clapped loudly and put his hands down on the desk. "Wonderful! How's about tonight? And every Monday hereafter?" He said, looking between all of them. Logan nodded once, Patton nodded vigorously (only after Logan had given his nod), and Virgil just slowly bobbed his head up and down as if he was exhausted, leaning into his arm that was propped up on his desk. "Okay, it's a plan! Meet you all at the front of the school when 8th period is over." And with that, the teacher got the students' attention again.

"Alright students, it's time. Send up whomever will be taking the plants to their house." Roman stood up proudly and strut over to the table, where he picked out two of the nicest-looking plants on the table. There was a minute or two before they were dismissed, so the four of them took the opportunity to exchange phone numbers. Then the bell rang, and the students immediately filed out the classroom door and dispersed.

...

When Roman walked up to the bench at the front of the school at the end of the day - followed by a few of his fan girls, of course - only Logan was there. As Logan noticed people walking his way, he put away his phone hastily, as if embarrassed, and quickly began pulling different notebooks out of his backpack, trying to look busy. As Roman approached, he dismissed his pursuers and sat on the opposite side of the bench, while Logan attempted to start his Calculus homework.

"Well, if it isn't the Microsoft Turd," Roman said, looking over at Logan.

Logan didn't look up, merely scoffed. "You already made that joke."

"Well, it was a variation, and I can think of a Microsoft Third!" Roman shot back, smirking once again.

Mr. No-nonsense Logan responded, "have you heard from the others? it's been approximately... 12.4 minutes since 8th period ended," he said, checking his watch.

"No, not particularly. However, I did see Virgil sulking in the hallway on my off-block. Ugh, the nerve of him; he's constantly ruining the mood for everyone, in every situation! Are you listening to me?" Roman said, watching as Logan did his same scribble in a graph paper notebook, breezing through his work.

"No."

Roman put on an extremely offended face, and would've retorted, had Patton and Virgil not walked up at that exact moment. Roman opened his mouth to say something to Logan but his eyes caught Virgil's radiant hair, and he was momentarily distracted.

"Hey Logan!!" Patton said cheerily, waving to him while keeping his thumbs behind his backpack straps. "Are you ready for some science!?" He said the last word with zeal, and Logan looked up at him, smiling softly.

"Yes, I am rather looking forward to the actual project," Logan said, then glancing over at Roman, "though I expect there will be plenty of distractions on Roman's account."

"Only distractions you'll enjoy," Roman said, wiggling his eyebrows "flirtatiously". Virgil scoffed yet again from behind Patton, trying to hide his smile.

"Well, then let's get going!! I-I mean, if you're ready, Logan." Patton said, referring to Logan having surrounded himself with textbooks and notes.

"Oh, right." Logan pushes his glasses up the bride of his nose, and made quick work of putting his things away. Roman made an attempt in vain to carry Logan's pack; Logan said he wouldn't trust Roman with his backpack if it was "consisting of objects of an inconsequential nature, which it is not."

And they four made their way down the sidewalk, talking and teasing each other, unaware of the growing bonds between them.

[that-blue-vault-dweller]

The End of the World

Primary Relationship: (Platonic) Piper Wright & Female Sole Survivor

Characters: Piper Wright, Female Sole Survivor, Dogmeat, Cait, Curie, and Danse

Genre: Angst/Comfort

Rating: T

Word Count: 6889

Summary: When Piper and Nora follow a distress call, they find something that shakes Nora to her core. Of course, this incident does not help at all with Nora's state of mind as she finally puts together the teleporter to the Institute and tries it out. When Nora comes back from the Institute, she is just a husk of herself. It is up to Piper to help her best friend heal.

A/N: It’s been forever since I’ve written anything, and this fanfic has been pure heck for me because of my struggling motivation and the fact that my Microsoft Word program just decided it’d delete a good 700-900 words of this the other day, lol. So if it’s a little less than perfect, please keep that in mind 😅💙💛

“Every once in a while, you guys should really consider offing yourselves before we have to take the time out of our day to do it,” Piper called out, aiming and managing to land several headshots from behind the safety of her cover. She grinned, pleased with her marksmanship, as she downed a few more raiders. She glanced over at the blue-clad woman nearby her, making sure all was well.

  To her relief, Nora seemed to be doing perfectly fine, raising the auto laser-rifle barely above the top of the fence as she blasted various men in a repetitive barrage of relentless fire.

  So Piper then returned to attempting to shoot the incoming guys while Nora chucked grenades in their direction.

  They had made their way down to the marshes heading out on a mission that Preston had asked Nora to go on. Nora had been helping Sturges set up the teleportation device to get into the Institute, but Preston had said his mission was urgent—of course, it was always urgent, Piper could not help but think to herself—and Nora had headed out after ensuring that Sturges would be fine working on his own.

  It was on the way back from that said mission that Nora had picked up a distress call and took it upon herself to check it out. Personally, Piper had been strongly under the impression that it was either Pre-War or a trap set up by greedy raiders, but Nora still insisted on checking anyway.

  Welp. Turns out Piper was right. It was certainly, most assuredly raiders.

  However, Nora seemed to have her eyes fixed upon a certain part of the house where the raiders were coming out of, and she appeared to be quite focused indeed. Unlike other times when she was taking on raiders, Nora seemed to be driven by something deeper than just a will to live.

  Of course. Nora was likely still concerned that there was someone actually in the house that needed saving. Nora always had such everlasting hope and perpetual innocence despite how many times she had been scalded by the burning hand of reality.

  But before Piper could worry with this much longer, a bullet whizzed by her head and she jerked a bit, ducking. Her heart raced, beating almost painfully in her chest as she felt the quick wave of fear wash over her.

  “Jeez!” Piper yelped before leaning around her cover and shooting several more of them.

  Their numbers seemed to be reducing, and Piper grinned with relief, realizing that they were almost finished with the battle before them. As a small group of raiders gathered around the door of the house and were about to exit, Piper withdrew a grenade from her pocket, pulling the pin out of it and prepping for throw.

  “NO, PIPER, DON’T!!!” Nora cried, and Piper gaped at the blue-clad woman, just halting before she threw the grenade. Nora was completely panicked, and Piper just stared at her forgetting about the weapon she had just fired up.

  “Why not?!”

  “There’s someone in there! If you throw, it could blow up on them!” Nora desperately proclaimed, and it was then that Piper conveniently remembered that she was holding a grenade of all things in her hand.

  “Well, where in the heck am I supposed to chuck it then?!!! It’s about to go off, Blue!!!” Piper screamed, and Nora shook her head swiftly before rushing forward, shifting covers. The bullets immediately flew toward her, and just barely missed her form. She slid over beside Piper, snatching the grenade and throwing it as far in the opposite direction from the house as she possibly could.

  It landed in one of the muddy waterholes of the marsh, and after several moments, it exploded, water and mud shooting up into the air in a geyser-like fashion.

  Nora grinned in slight relief, but that moment was short-lived in light of the bullet that suddenly shot by her face. Nora furrowed her brow, her hand instinctively reaching over to Piper’s back as she tried to keep the other girl in cover. Piper ducked easily and leaned to the side as she angled her 10 mm to help Nora fend off the remains of the group.

  Between the two of them, they soon took out the entire lot of them. Nora wasted no time in hurrying toward the house, knocking on the door and calling out before gently opening it with her hands up in a surrendering gesture.

  Piper looked down, looting a few grenades from the fallen men to make sure that the both of them were well-equipped in case they had drawn the attention of other undesirables. After a moment, she looked up from her task and noted that Nora had completely disappeared.

  Piper presumed that the older woman was in the house just judging by the fact that the door was wide open, but Piper still hurriedly stuffed the grenades in her pocket so that she could ensure that this assumption was correct.

  The reporter strode through the doorway, looking around for Nora and stepping over the fallen raiders. From what Piper could see of the house, it was completely devoid of anyone— living or dead except for the bodies at the front door.

  “Blue?” Piper called cautiously before realizing that there was an upstairs area to the house. Piper turned and started up the stairs, withdrawing her 10 mm in case that there was something up there other than her best friend waiting for her.

  She edged up the stairs until she finally made it all the way up. She slowly lowered her gun at the sight that she beheld. Piper could hear the low volume replay of a distress call coming from Nora’s Pip-Boy, and there was Nora, bent down there on the ground next to a small pile of skeletons.

  Piper had apparently not been entirely correct in her belief that the distress call had been to attract people into a raider group’s trap.

  The reporter sighed deeply as she put her gun away, slowly ambling over to where Nora was. As she grew closer, she quickly realized that the skeletons were not just in a pile, but they were sitting in a very specific formation. There were two that appeared to have been a couple, one with a tattered dress and the other with a shredded suit. And there between them was a sickeningly small skeleton that they both were resting their hands on.

  The younger girl wrenched her gaze away from the sight there on the ground in favor of looking at Nora.

  Nora’s face was completely blank as she looked at the three. Piper swallowed slightly and knelt down beside the vault-dweller. Her heart suddenly squeezed painfully as she saw the watery sheen forming in Nora’s eyes.

  Piper sighed deeply, reaching a hand out and placing it on Nora’s carefully. The blue-clad woman flinched slightly at the contact, but it did not take her too long to recognize the gloved hand. As soon as she realized who it was, she turned her hand in Piper’s grasp and squeezed Piper’s hand.

  Piper quickly knew why the sight was so horrifying for Nora in particular. The three skeletons quite obviously reminded her of her old life, and it was apparent that it was greatly affecting the vault-dweller. It was honestly bothering Piper herself on a very deep level. Piper just surveyed the situation, mostly keeping her eyes on Nora as she tried to gauge the older woman’s reaction.

  As soon as Nora blinked and a lone tear streamed down her cheek against her will, Piper slowly got to her feet, deciding that they should not be there any longer.

  “Blue?” Piper spoke aloud, and Nora looked up at her. It killed Piper to see that lost, sorrowful expression on Nora’s ordinarily so upbeat and optimistic face.

  “Whaddya say we head out? Y’know, get some fresh air?” Piper questioned, holding out her hand to the older woman in a silent offering to help her up and out of here. Nora gave one last, lingering look to the small family before turning her gaze to Piper with a slight nod. Nora reached her hand out, taking Piper’s own, and Piper helped her up.

  “C’mon, Blue,” Piper told her softly, and they left the remnants of that old life behind.

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

       It had been several days since the incident, and they had both returned to Sanctuary since then. However, despite her hopes that it would disappear from the older woman’s mind, Piper unhappily noted how Nora seemed so terribly sad. Even Dogmeat’s enthusiastic, wagging greeting as soon as Nora set foot on the bridge heading to Sanctuary was not enough to bring that famous grin to the older woman’s face.

  Nora was still helping the people around Sanctuary with anything that they could need, but there was a sort of lackluster in her eyes instead of that spark of interest that she normally had when she heard Curie excitedly prattle on about her experiments. She had even lost that typical look of tenderness that she had when she looked at Cait and gave her usual motherly-esque advice and reassurance that Cait always so needed.

  Piper would have already been on her way back to Diamond City by now since it had been three days— and Piper never stayed more than three days after a journey with Nora since she knew Nat needed her. But since Piper had noticed the strangely melancholy mannerisms of the vault-dweller, Piper felt it necessary to stay and try to help or talk to the blue-clad woman.

  However, despite her best wishes, things were moving rather quickly with the teleportation device since Sturges had finally been able to put the machine together and all of Nora’s time was composed of trying to help him to get it running. Therefore, Piper had not had a chance to talk to Nora so far.

  And before she knew it, Nora was stepping into the machine on the teleportation pad that she and Sturges had somehow assembled by some miracle of work in duct tape.

  Piper crossed her arms over her chest, biting her bottom lip as she watched the entire scene unfold before her. Cait, Danse, Curie, and Dogmeat were all gathered about, and Dogmeat had not stopped pacing and whining the entire time. It was as if he sensed something big was happening and all of the nervous energy around him was affecting his own reaction to the entire ordeal.

  “I don’t think that you are qualified to be in control of such complex machinery,” Danse commented aloud as he alternated between glaring distrustfully at Sturges and gaping at Nora in something between desperateness, love, and fear. Piper could easily pick up on the normally so stoic man’s secret crush on her best friend, and she honestly felt quite sorry for him.

   “Don’t worry about nothin’. I’ve got this,” Sturges assured him, and Danse happened to meet Piper’s eyes in the midst of his gaze shifting about. Piper looked at him worriedly, silently conveying her skepticism. Danse’s gaze slightly softened in something akin to kindred understanding. It was something that her and Danse had never shared before, and even that could not make her feel any better about this entire situation. In fact, it just made her feel worse.

  “I don’t like it,” Cait added her verdict, just as irritated and unhappy as Danse seemed to be about the entire thing. However, Cait’s emotions were accompanied by an additional irritableness and the frequent clenching of her fists.

  “No disrespect intended, but I’m not too sure you like anythin’,” Sturges good-naturedly joked, and Cait set her jaw. Piper could easily see that the redhead was frighteningly close to stomping the mechanic into the ground.

  “Monsieur Sturges, I would feel much better if I could help you with this. I am rather worried about the success of this experiment, especially considering that you could be risking dear Madame Nora’s life,” Curie fretted aloud, hovering about the machinery.

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it now, I’ve got this,” Sturges assured her. Curie worriedly looked up at Nora, who was standing on the teleportation pad. Nora offered her the first real smile since the morning of that fateful day.

  “It’s okay, Curie. It’s okay,” Nora assured her, reaching out to cup the girl’s cheek in a hand fondly, and Piper could see something strange in Nora’s eyes. It was something that Piper had never seen and was not quite able to recognize. She had seen it in quite a few hopeless wastelanders that they had met, but this was somehow different in Nora. Curie sighed and backed away a little with a small sniffle.

  “Nora, I don’t feel comfortable with this,” Danse expressed, stepping only a bit closer to the vault-dweller to express his feelings in a hushed voice.

  “It’ll be fine,” Nora told him simply, and Piper just studied her as the attraction toward the former paladin flickered in her eyes for the barest of moments before replacing itself with that strange unidentifiable emotion.

  “Ye stay in one piece, ye hear?” Cait told the vault-dweller as she stepped near the older woman, and Nora nodded as she extended her hand to gently touch Cait’s shoulder in a loving gesture.

  “I will,” Nora nodded, and Cait sighed slightly, leaning into Nora’s touch ever so slightly before backing away.

  “Alright, y’all, I think it’s crankin’ now!” Sturges called out, and all of them except Piper stepped away from the group. Piper swallowed hard, taking in the sight of the blue-clad woman standing there in the contraption.

  “Blue, are you sure about this?!” Piper finally asked desperately, and she felt her heart racing in her chest with the scariness associated with the entire situation.

  “I’m as sure as I’m going to get, I guess!” Nora replied with a slight shrug of surprising nonchalance for someone who could very likely die in the next few moments.

  “Hold onto your hats, folks!” Sturges called out and Danse took Piper’s shoulder in his hand, pulling her to a safe distance from the device.

  Nora smiled, waving to all of them and Piper could feel Curie trembling next to her. Danse was just staring at the device as it was shuddering with the power surging through it, his brow furrowed sternly but his eyes telling an entirely separate story. Cait was standing as stiff as a board, but Piper saw the unadulterated terror in the other woman’s eyes as she watched the scene unfolding before them.

  And as Nora suddenly dematerialized in a startling flash, Piper realized what she had seen in Nora’s eyes.

  It was the acceptance and welcoming of death with open arms.

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

      Piper had been sitting and waiting for a while now in Sanctuary Hills, scribbling a few small doodles on her notepad as she looked around nervously as if Nora would pop up randomly out of nowhere. She was genuinely terribly sick and worried about what had happened earlier.

  The machine had destroyed itself as soon as Nora disappeared, and Piper honestly had no idea what that meant for the vault-dweller. Did the machine work long enough to send Nora to the Institute? Were Institute agents standing there waiting for her if Nora had made it through?

  Piper’s stomach was churning, and she felt absolutely horrible about the entire ordeal. Piper easily knew that, realistically, the chances were not looking good for Nora.

  But Piper could not bear to consider that side of the situation. She refused to think about it. There was no possible way that anyone could have hurt the invincible Blue. Her invincible Blue.

  So she just sat and waited, having no idea what had become of Nora, but hoping for the best.

  However, she did not have to dwell on this thought too long, because before she knew it, there was a bright flash of light that was practically blinding. Piper brought a hand up to her eyes, covering them as she tried to shield herself. After a moment, she slowly opened her eyes, still squinting and readjusting after the light that suddenly invaded her space.

  After only a moment, her eyes made out a very familiar form. She immediately knew who it was with only the barest glimpses of the person.

  “Blue!” she cried before quickly getting up and hurrying to the other woman, hugging her tightly.

  The first thing Piper noticed was how strange the woman smelled. She was much cleaner than she was when she teleported away and she had this scent of antiseptic and something foreign. But she still had that Nora smell to her, and that is what reassured Piper that they indeed had not replaced Nora with a synth lookalike.

  The second thing Piper noticed was how Nora slowly brought her arms up around Piper and hugged her with a gentleness and a defeat that Piper had never seen in the other woman no matter how bad things got.

  Piper furrowed her brow as Nora leaned into the hug, ducking her head down to press her head into Piper’s shoulder. The reporter rubbed Nora’s back gently, thoughts running through her head at the speed of light.

  Piper did not say anything, finding herself at a complete and total loss as to what to say as her mind began to settle on a certain conclusion about the entire ordeal.

  It must have been too late for poor little Shaun.

  Piper immediately felt a little sick to her stomach at the thought of the child that Nora loved so dearly being gone from the world. She could not stand it, and the thought somewhat made her feel like crying for Nora’s sake. However, Nora seemed way too okay for that to be the case.

  Maybe she was still in shock.

  Reality came washing back to the reporter as a happy bark sounded off, and she felt Dogmeat jump up and lick Nora’s face, snuffling happily as he leaned his weight against the two girls. Piper pulled away hesitantly, and she quickly spotted Curie and Cait hurrying over. Piper could also hear the heavy footsteps of Danse’s armor stomping quickly behind her.

  Nora chuckled just barely, sounding terribly forced as she received Dogmeat as warmly as she could muster at that moment. As soon as Curie was within arms-length, she latched onto Nora as tightly as she could, nearly in tears as she sniffled and blubbered.

  “Madame, you are alright! Thank goodness Monsieur Sturges knew more about what he was doing than I feared!” Curie whimpered, clinging onto Nora as tightly as she could. Nora hugged the girl in return, rubbing her back carefully as she comforted her.

  “I’m fine, Curie,” Nora replied, and Piper painfully noticed the emptiness in her tone that replaced the ordinary warmth that she always without fail addressed Curie with. Piper crossed her arms. After a long moment of Nora just rocking in place with Curie in her arms, the poor girl finally released the vault-dweller, wiping her eyes pitifully.

  “Oh, goodness… I am a mess!” Curie announced, and Nora just reached out her hands, wiping Curie’s tears away with her thumbs as she cradled her cheeks in that motherly manner in which she regarded so many people.

  “It’s okay,” Nora assured her, only the smallest hint of smiles on her face. Curie pulled herself together after a moment, furrowing her brow only slightly as she hiccupped and watched Nora move to embrace Cait comfortingly. Curie looked over at Piper, her blue eyes shining with an unspoken question that, knowing Curie, would no doubt be a very much spoken question after a moment. Piper just shrugged, shaking her head in an attempt to dissuade Curie from asking just yet. Curie furrowed her brow, looking quite concerned as she clasped her hands to her chest while occasionally reaching up to wipe away her tears as they came coursing down her cheeks as per her usual emotionality.

  Cait stiffened as soon as Nora hugged her, quite obviously self-conscious of everyone around seeing the display of affection, but soon enough, her fondness for Nora and her relief won over as she hugged Nora bone-crushingly, her somewhat taller form hugging onto the vault-dweller with all she had.

  After a moment, Nora released her and looked to Danse. She smiled at him softly, the expression not meeting her eyes whatsoever. He had left his power armor during the time that she had been interacting with the others and he was looking quite out of place as he gazed at her in relief.

  Nora walked up and hugged him quickly, the side of her head pressed to his chest and he hugged her back, obviously not sure what to do but more than willing to try to express his feelings.

  After a long moment, Nora released him, and she looked at all of them, that small smile faltering as the pure hopelessness in her started to shine through.

 By this time, everyone had caught onto the mood, and they were all looking at her with deep concern and worry. Nora just swallowed hard, glancing away as she sighed deeply.

  “I’m… I’m going to go for a walk, okay?” Nora informed them, and they all nodded carefully.

  “Do you need company, Madame?” Curie questioned in that sweet manner that she always possessed. Piper immediately knew the answer that was coming before Nora even uttered a word.

  “I appreciate it, but I think I need a little bit of time… By myself,” Nora explained, and Curie nodded slowly, her brow furrowed with worry as she looked at the woman.

  “I’ll be back, guys,” Nora told them with a slight smile, her eyes suddenly looking very tired and weak as she started off in a direction. As soon as she began to walk off, Dogmeat hurried along beside her, frequently looking up in her direction as he gently nosed her hand. She looked down at him as she went, wordlessly reaching her hand out and petting his head as they walked together, his body pressed against the side of her leg.

  The group gathered shared a concerned glance, and Piper swallowed a little. Cait suddenly spoke up after a few moments.

  “I think the trip didn’t turn out so well…”

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

      “Piper, ye need to do something,” Cait spoke, her jaw clenched and her eyes focused on the ground.

  The journalist looked over to the redhead, her brow furrowed as she took in Cait’s oddly forlorn expression.

  It had been two days since Nora had returned from the Institute, and Piper had asked a minuteman heading to Diamond City to go and give Nat a written message explaining everything and why she had not yet returned home. She knew that she had to have been worrying her younger sister, but she did not feel like she could leave Nora in her current state.

  The woman was even more mopey than she had been when she saw the family of skeletons. In fact, at this point, Nora was downright worrying Piper sick. The woman refused to speak to anyone, and she only emerged from her old house occasionally to take the odd walk or to go fetch something to eat before quickly retreating to her hiding spot within her old home.

  Everyone had been bugging her periodically since she had gotten home, and she was always terribly distant and dismissive. She was never rude or hurtful, but she always seemed miles away and did her best to keep to herself. Cait had been in the house five times, Danse twice, Piper three times, and Curie ten times. Dogmeat had consistently and steadfastly remained at Nora’s side throughout all of it, and he was the only one that Nora did not try to drive away from her.

  “I… All of us… can’t help her. She needs you,” the redhead told her sincerely, finally meeting Piper’s eyes. Piper huffed lightly, looking away from the other woman.

  “The last time I saw her, she told me she’s fine and not to worry about her,” Piper quietly said. Cait shook her head, slightly annoyed as she wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow.

  “That’s the same line she’s been running us, too,” Cait scoffed in irritation squeezing her hand with her other one as she uncomfortably attempted to deal with her negative emotions in a better manner that she likely would have ordinarily. Piper looked away into the distance in thought.

  Cait sighed and Piper could hear the immense exasperation. “Listen, Piper, I know we don’t see eye to eye on most things and that we both ‘ave our moments of actin’ out. But do this fer Nora. She needs help and I,” Cait paused, and Piper could practically feel the redhead’s emotions of pure humiliation, helplessness, and hurt rolling off of her in waves.

  “I think that yer the only one that can do it,” Cait ground out. Piper’s gaze immediately shifted to the fighter seated on the crate. Cait set her jaw and glared down at the worn concrete almost as if she were attempting to drill holes in it by sheer willpower.

  “Yer less pushy than Curie and ye ain’t as bad at emotions as Danse. And ye ain’t so lost as some of us,” Cait admitted, clearly referring to herself with the last description as she wrung her hands almost aggressively, her jaw tightening as she clenched her teeth.

  Piper glanced back over at the broken-down house. She sighed deeply, knowing it was certainly meaningful when Cait actually expressed such sentiment as she had to Piper of all people. Piper pushed off of the wall that she was leaned against and slowly started her way over to the front door of the place.

  Allowing her hand to gently brush the doorway, she carefully walked in, the old floor creaking beneath her feet and the leaves rustling a bit as they were pushed out of the way as she walked.

  Piper slowly wandered through the hallway of Nora’s old home in all of its destroyed glory, absently taking in the remnants of Nora’s life gone by as she slightly dreaded the encounter she was about to have with her best friend. It was not that she did not want to spend time with her or help her. It was just that she was somewhat afraid that the woman would try to push her away.

  She stopped at the door to Shaun’s bedroom, looking in at the forlorn sight of the woman crouched in front of the blue crib. Her best friend was bent down on the floor with Dogmeat close at her side, his chin resting on her leg, and there was the definitive sound of Nora’s Pip-Boy rewinding a recording. Piper paused before entering, listening carefully as an odd playback that Piper had never heard before began.

  “Hi, honey… Listen…

  “I don’t think Shaun and I need to tell you how great of a mother you are… But we’re going to anyway.”

  Piper felt her mouth go dry. While she had never heard the man’s voice, she knew precisely who this person had to be. And it genuinely hurt her heart to know that Nora had quite obviously been listening to this recording for quite some time.

  “You are kind, and loving,” Nate explained and Shaun giggled. When Nate spoke back up, his voice was warm and filled with mirth. “And funny. That’s right.”

  “And patient. So patient. Patience of a saint, as your mother used to say,” he explained and Piper allowed herself a small smile. Piper wholeheartedly agreed with the man, despite not ever being able to see the Pre-War version of Nora. Of course, Piper was mostly sure that she had seen the closest resemblance to this Pre-War person that anyone else could have. But nevertheless, Nora’s patience persisted even today.

  “Look, with Shaun, and all of us being at home together… It’s been an amazing year. But even so, I know our best days are yet to come,” Nate continued, and Piper felt a dagger stab into her heart as she completely lost any happiness that she may have had. They were best days that were never to come for Nora.

  “There will be changes, sure, things we’ll need to adjust to,” Piper could not help but mentally note all of the many things that Nora had to adjust to all by herself. “I’ll rejoin the civilian workforce. You’ll shake the dust off your law degree…”

  “But everything we do, no matter how hard… We do it for our family,” Nate told her, and Piper felt her heart rip out of her chest as Nora allowed a small sob to wrack her frame. Piper wanted to step forward and at least attempt to comfort her, but she was not sure if it would be too large of an intrusion. Luckily, Dogmeat stepped in and nudged her hand, whimpering as he stared up at her.

  “Now say goodbye, Shaun. Bye, bye? Say bye, bye?” Shaun just laughed joyfully, and Piper saw Nora raise her hand and gently touch the Pip-Boy’s screen.

  “Bye, honey. We love you,” Nate expressed before the recording shut itself off. Piper bit her bottom lip slightly, feeling a pit growing in her stomach as she tried to keep away the pain.

  Piper honestly could not even begin to imagine how horrible it would be to lose one’s son and one’s husband all at the same time. Nora had some hope with Shaun, but now Piper had no idea if Nora had actually managed to find Shaun or if he was alive at all. All she knew was that her best friend was in a deep and terrible pain, which, very unfortunately, implied that something horrible had happened.

  “Piper.” The reporter was jolted from her reverie by a hoarse, husky voice that was altogether completely unlike the ordinarily so strong woman that Piper knew. Piper felt her stomach twist, and she swallowed a little.

  “Blue?” Piper questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Nora did not say anything else, so Piper tentatively stepped forward, starting to approach the older woman. Piper slowly came around her, noting how her face was tearstained and her face looked like a ghost. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed so terribly unhappy.

  Piper carefully lowered herself to the ground next to Nora and sat down, just looking over at the blue-clad woman and not saying anything. Despite her instincts that really wanted to push a little to encourage a somewhat swifter response, Piper knew that Nora needed some time.

  It was after a terribly long time that Nora finally spoke again.

  “It was all for nothing,” Nora told her in a gravelly voice. Piper felt her heart sink further if that was even remotely possible.

  “All this time, I’ve been fighting to find my son,” Nora spoke aloud, her voice wobbly as she evidently fought for the strength that she normally possessed. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. Piper started to reach out and rub them gently, but she decided she would let the woman finish.

  “But my son… He’s dead,” Nora admitted, her voice cracking with the last word. Piper frowned, but something in Nora’s voice was strange. It was something different than the way that one would ordinarily speak of someone’s passing.

  “And I found a sixty-year-old man named Shaun leading the Institute,” Nora admitted, and Piper gaped at Nora, now realizing precisely why Nora had sounded so strange. Piper almost gasped, but she somehow managed to keep it under control so that it only sounded like a small, quick intake of breath through her nose.

  Nora’s son was the leader of the Institute.

  Piper could hardly fathom that idea. There must have been so much more time passed than just ten years. Piper felt her stomach flop uncomfortably as she looked over at her best friend.

  “And it was all for nothing,” Nora finished, sounding strangled as she finally sobbed miserably and shook all over.

  Piper wasted no time in reaching over and grabbing Nora in her arms tightly. The vault-dweller quickly clung on as if Piper were her lifeline. Dogmeat whined pitifully, trying to get as close to the two as their position would allow.

  “I almost wish I had been vaporized in that machine a few days ago,” Nora admitted pitifully, and it was all Piper could do to keep from breaking down crying with her at that confession. She knew that life was hard for Nora, and while Nora was not suicidal, Piper knew that sometimes, moments of weakness came to play where the woman would not exactly mind an accident coming along.

  And Piper knew why Nora had those moments of weakness. Life was not easy, and moreover, everyone that she used to know and love was gone from this world. Piper knew Nora loved her and all the rest of the weirdos running around, but Piper also knew that the loss of Nora’s husband and family weighed heavily upon her, too.

  Of course, now that she found him and knew that he was the very evil that she had been so strongly fighting against, Nora was quite obviously devastated. And understandably so. Piper found that she herself was blown apart inside even if it was mostly on Nora’s behalf.

  “It’s okay, I got you,” Piper whispered, honestly not having any idea how to make things better but deciding that reassuring Nora that she was there with her was the best route to take. Nora leaned into her heavily, and Piper held her tightly as the reporter felt all of Nora’s weight—physical and mental— pressing against her.

  As she held the blue-clad woman in her arms, Piper could not help but notice that Nora felt human for the first time. Right now, she was not that infallible figure of hope, optimism, and love that she so often portrayed. Right now, Nora was a sniveling ball of pain and weariness, and Piper had to take the role that Nora so often took with everyone else.

  And it somehow only endeared Nora more to Piper.

  “And that poor family in the marshes… That could’ve been us,” Nora admitted, her voice breaking as she spoke, and Piper was whisked back to the three skeletons that the two of them had found.

  “It wasn’t, though. It’s okay—”

  “I almost wish it was us,” Nora told her, and Piper clenched her teeth, a lump in her throat as she tried to hold herself together.

  “I understand why you feel that way… But I think a lot of people like you here, Blue,” Piper expressed quietly, and Nora just nodded, acknowledging Piper’s words.

  “I know… I’m sorry,” Nora apologized, and Piper shook her head.

  “Don’t be sorry. Talk it out,” Piper told her, warmth in her voice as she tried to wash away the inevitable hurt that was prickling a little with Nora’s admissions.

  However, Nora stayed quiet for a moment before some ugly thought must have washed up in her mind and her shoulders started to shake once again. Piper just sighed quietly, feeling her heart break a little more.

  Piper then gently began to rock on the floor, trying to offer the best comfort that she could for the vault-dweller as she referred back to her best techniques for soothing Nat.

  “Hey, it’s alright, it’s alright,” Piper murmured, softly humming some tune she had heard Nora play on her Pip-Boy millions of times. She knew she could not sing like Cait did— Piper had secretly eavesdropped once when the redhead was not paying attention— but she thought she would at least give it a try. She found that vibrations of a voice tended to soothe Nat, so it would perhaps work for Nora as well.

  She scooted over to the wall nearby in order to better support the both of them. Dogmeat crawled closer, keeping a close eye on the both of them. Piper just held her in her arms, trying to keep her humming as smooth and calming as possible. She also tried to keep away from sad tunes.

  Soon enough, it seemed to help her best friend and Nora had actually come to relax somewhat in the hug, her muscles slackening a little. However, there was a certain amount of tension that remained and the sobs had not totally halted.

  “I have to stop him,” Nora ground out after a few moments when she had calmed down only just enough to speak. However, the words launched another round of tears.

  Piper had a strong inclination of what exactly stopping the man entailed. He likely would not just easily give up his ideals and let Nora take down his idealistic world in favor of keeping alive a world that he obviously wanted to terrorize and destroy for whatever reason.

  Piper shook her head, stroking Nora’s hair carefully as she breathed in deeply.

  “I know, Blue… It’s okay. It’ll all work out,” Piper assured her, even though she herself was quite uncertain of that fact. Despite this, she tried to maintain the confident façade. Nora just shook her head in reply, negating the statement wordlessly. Nora was not stupid, and they both knew the truth. But Piper knew it was best to just forget the truth for a little while.

  “All of us… I’m here. We’re here. We’ll always be here… So it’ll be okay,” Piper spoke, her words much more assured. This time, she truly believed her promise. She would always be there for her best friend no matter what.

  “Promise?” Nora asked after a while, her voice a little thick.

  “I promise. You’re stuck with me and all of the rest of those goofs outside, too. You couldn’t get rid of me even if you had a ten-foot pole with a mirelurk on the end. I’d get Cait and stick her on the end of a ten-foot pole of my own and let her fight the thing. And then while the mirelurk on your stick was distracted, I’d run to you and you’d be stuck then,” Piper proclaimed, and she happily noted that Nora’s body was shaking a bit with laughter with only a slight inclusion of sobs. Piper, greatly encouraged by Nora’s mirth, continued in her monologue.

  “I mean, wonderglue has nothing on me. Wonderglue takes one look at me, says ‘I can’t even’ and then gives up and goes home because it could never cling on like I do,” Piper persisted, chuckles affecting her now, too, as she made a funny voice to further emphasize the wonderglue’s supposed statement.

  Nora snorted slightly, burying her face in Piper’s shoulder as she shook her head. Piper pressed her cheek to the side of Nora’s head, laughing with her a little.

  “Y’know… You remind me of my little sister, Piper,” Nora muttered under her breath after a long silence.

  “Yeah? What was her name?” Piper questioned, not sure what to say but taking the sudden subject change in stride and figuring she’d go with it. After all, whatever it took to make Nora feel better, Piper was willing to jump for it.

  “Carol,” Nora answered shortly, her voice getting a little tight once again, and Piper felt her heart sink a bit in her chest.

  “Huh. What was she like?”

  “Well… She was more irritating than you by a long shot but had just as much guts and was just as kind-hearted. Ironically, she had been aiming to be a reporter, too,” Nora explained with a wet chuckle, a small sob shaking through her.

  Piper swallowed, feeling the raw emotion roll through her. She could not imagine what it would be like to speak from Nora’s point of view about a younger sister passed away. It made Piper horribly sad for her best friend.

  “But she just didn’t have the chance to be a hero like you,” Nora expressed, and Piper paused a little before making a small negating noise.

  “No, you’re the hero here,” Piper replied immediately, feeling tears start to creep up in her eyes.

  “Maybe… But you’re my hero,” Nora confessed, her voice so clear and genuine that Piper felt several tears escape. What in the world had she done to deserve someone that was so wonderful to her even when that someone was in pain?

  It was just another thing that made Piper willing to do absolutely anything for Nora.

  Piper just squeezed Nora even tighter, not knowing what else to say or do. What could Piper say to even remotely respond to those words correctly or appropriately?

  It took her a moment of sitting there in silence with her best friend, but she finally was able to get her thoughts together well enough to reply.

  “Blue… You’re my hero,” Piper told her quietly, her voice growing wobbly with the words. Nora raised up a bit, shifting in the embrace and hugging Piper at a bit more even of a level as they just sat there together, holding each other tightly.

  Nora would get through this one way or another. But one thing was for sure.

  Piper would be there every step of the way.

[themorphine]

Wipe that smirk prick chap 2

I hope you like this new chapter! 

Read it on AO3-https://archiveofourown.org/works/30182112/chapters/74987262

I stared at Morrigan, who looked as if she was about to explode with excitement when she saw me. She squealed, and the librarian shushed at her, but she could care less. She ran towards me and squeezed me into a tight hug. I hugged her back, my head swimming with thoughts. I knew Mor from art class, and we talked a lot during class, but we never talked outside the classroom. It was comforting though, to have someone I knew. Especially when the other people helping were all boys. The two boys in there had the same tan skin as Rhysand, with shit-eating grins on their faces. One was big and burly, with dark, chin-length hair, half up, half in a man bun. He looked ruggedly handsome, while the other was quieter and elegantly handsome with short black hair, leaner than the other boy.

"We've heard a lot about you, Feyre." 

"How do you know my name?"

The chin-length-haired boy laughed, and the librarian shushed us again, warning us she would kick us out if we were too loud. I turned back to him, expecting an answer. He seemed to see my annoyance and only grinned wider."Well of course-" He cut off randomly, and I looked around to see Rhysand glaring at him as if..."Morrigan, yes Mor told us all about you." I looked at Mor, who was smiling, but I also saw something else in her eyes... stop being a detective Feyre, it does not matter. "Well my cousin is known for her talking marathons, and you just came up in conversation, that's all." He smirked, and Mor stuck her tongue at him. I smiled a bit at that. Cousins, wow they looked nothing alike. He pointed over to the burly boy "That brute over there is Cassian, and the other one is Azriel. were basically brothers, though not by blood." I nodded toward them in greeting. They seemed nice, like someone I could trust. Like Rhysand. 

"Come on let's get this Ipad business over with, I have stuff to do." Cassian snorted at that, making a comment that all she had to do at home was paint her nails for the tenth time. She didn't get embarrassed, just laughed a musical laugh and kept on walking toward the tables full of Ipads. There was a paper that listed the instructions.

1. Each person is to pick 2 bins (6 Ipads in a bin) to complete during the two hours. You are to do 2 every week so we can finish the whole school, with a total of 40 classrooms.

2. Wipe data from each Ipad including...

Photos

Google Apps

Safari

Microsoft Apps

Browsing Data

3. Put Ipad back in the bin, and repeat with other Ipads

I looked at the tables filled with Ipad bins. I sighed, this was going to be the longest two hours of my life. But for some reason I was excited. "Ready Feyre Darling?" he purred. The way he said my name made my toes curl and pink my cheeks. I scowled at the floor, my hair hiding my face. I could see him through my "shield" and something flickered in his eyes. What was it? It was replaced with the usual amusement like I never saw it. "Let's do this prick." He laughed and followed me, coincidentally picking the bin right in front of me. Great.

Talking with Rhysand was probably the most fun thing I did in months. Of course, I still thought he was a prick, but a funny prick. We talked about our interests, hobbies, stuff like that. We talked about how long we stayed in Velaris and went to Velaris High School. He had stayed here his whole life, while I had just moved from Springfield, a town, and wanted to go to the artists quarter in Velaris, but it was too far away. He talked about astronomy, and while he talked I swore I could see the stars in his eyes, twinkling and glowing. I smiled at that. I still thought he was annoying, but maybe a bit less. I loved Cassian Mor and Az as well. They were all great people and caring, and hilarious to watch. Especially when Cassian and Mor fought for a whole 5 minutes on who was doing Mr. Tarquins class Ipads since there was a rumour that he and another student were dating, they were hoping to see if the emails were there to check. Mor eventually got it and found out that one whole Ipad had been data wiped. We all laughed when we saw it, knowing why it was cleaned.

"Feyre? Could you help me?" 

I looked around to find Mor looking at me, a pleading look in her eyes, Mor was probably the most tech-literate out of all of us. Nonetheless, I walked up to her table and asked what she needed help with."I need help with finding out what Rhys is telling you to make it seem as if he gave you all the stars in the sky." she smiled devilishly at me while a stared at her wide-eyed and scowled. "I'm not telling him anything Mor, stop giving me that look we are just friends. Nothing less nothing more" I said in a firm voice. She frowned the tiniest bit at that, but perked up the next second and said, "Say what you want Feyre but I know you like Rhys, and I'm betting your gonna be a couple soon." she winked and walked off, leaving me gaping at her, eyes wide with shock. Did I like Rhys? He's annoying and cocky and a prick, but he's also kind and sweet and understanding and possibly handsome...Oh god, Feyre you really do have a crush on him. I went back to finish my box, not uttering a single word, and when I moved on to the next one, I made sure it was the farthest box away from Rhys.

I worked on my second bin beside Az and Cassian, and it was the worst best mistake I made. Cassian teased me endlessly while Az smiled or chuckled, commenting sometimes. I scowled and blushed a deep crimson, "I hate you guys'' I muttered under my breath, and they only laughed harder, the librarian looking at us with murderous eyes. I moved unto the next Ipad in the bin and when I went to delete any photos, I stared wide-eyed at what was in the camera roll. Cassian and Az were trying to get a look at what it was, but I backed away. nononononononono. I was about to delete it when my back collided with someone, someone with a scent of jasmine, the sea and citrus. Fuck. Rhysand. He looked down at the photo and stared wide-eyed at me. The photo of me and Tamlin. I didn't know who took it but it was from when we first started dating, before... No, I couldn't think about that, or else I would break apart right here in front of everyone. I just handed the Ipad to Rhys, whispered "delete it" and ran out of the library. I ran outside, ran and ran, as if my thoughts would leave me, the memories, everything. 

Thought for Thought? 

[soysaucevictim]

Taste The Heat

Summary: Remus has many reasons he enjoys doing exercise. It’s healthy. It’s distracting… let’s just say, there’s “self care” and then there’s self care. (Sanders Sides, Gym Rat AU. One-shot. Ao3 link.)

Genres: Slice of Life, PWP (?), Character Study (???)

Characters: Remus-centric. Roman, Patton, Logan, and Janus mentioned.

Relationships: Background Creativitwins (familial)

Warnings: S3xual content, masturbation, AFAB anatomy, frot, exhibitionism, omo (not emphasized), BDSM (mentioned), vomit (mentioned), monsterfucking (mentioned), Remus Being Remus, Trans Masc / Nonbinary Remus

-

It was a realization he had a couple years into this whole fitness journey or whatever his friends would call it.

Like, he wasn’t naive about basic anatomy.

He thought he knew some tried and true tricks to get the motor running. He’s seen himself some delights in the BDSM scene and he’s yawned about the more vanilla approaches to getting the rocks off. Don’t get him STARTED on all the kudos he dropped on monsterfucker fics. (Okay, actually, he’d love that. Please do.)

Padre and Microsoft Turd would happily tell him he was just making the old ticker good and strong. Which he’d grant them that, it’s nice not being as easily winded as he used to be as a bored-out-of-his-mind couch potato.

Anyways, unlike his brother’s over-achieving ass. He didn’t really walk into his workouts with much of a plan. He just loved how it all felt, loving the stimulation – to melt his stress and restless energy.

Feeling like you’re thirsty for air. Feeling like your body is on fire. Feeling like you’re about to puke your guts out.

Oh, but that’s not the FUN part. (Shocker, I know. Get it? You know “two in the pink...” well, he’d definitely snicker at that thought.)

He was pretty sure those guys or Jannie would happily prattle on about all the benefits of exercise. They’d probably enjoy educating him on the whys and the hows. But all Remus gave a shit about was that it felt awesome.

There were many exercises he loved to experience. Some because they looked silly and were fun to exaggerate.

Like there’s one where he gets to look like a donkey, kicking backwards. Blah blah, good for the hams, blah. He totally brayed just to see the look of embarrassment from his brother.

Or one that looks like a dog taking a leak. Something about hip flexors, or something. He even squeezed his eyes shut and made an excessively long “Ssss…” noise for effect.

Garnering an exasperated, “I hereby disown you as my brother. I do not know you. Good day, sir.”

(After everything the two of them had been through, he knew Roman was never serious about that.)

Or one that looks like you’re literally humping the air! (Not going to lie, that one hits the spot sometimes too. A perk to working out – no one knows if those stray grunts and moans were from exertion or something hornier.)

But there was one type of maneuver that really got him starry eyed.

Jumping jacks.

Why did elementary and high school PE class fail him so hard (hah) that he hadn’t known of their sorcery!? One could go on a tirade about how shitty the state of sex education is and was.

He wasn’t really fond of all the flowery euphemistic shit directed at half the class about the subject. He saw “Carrie”, he knew what to expect. Well, mostly. Granted, having telekinesis as part of the puberty package would have kicked ass. Why’d he have to be in one of the boring universes where that wasn’t a thing?

-

Anyways, he was in the zone, during one of these workout sessions.

10. 20. 30...

He had a small amount of stiffness in the Achilles while they got all warmed up. Slowly, his calves got to a lovely burn. Being a certain glutton for punishment made that part so satisfying already. But this stage was merely the hors d'oeuvres.

40. 50...

How satisfying it was to bounce to the beat of his music, feeling like all his systems started to tick in time like a metronome. It was already approaching a state of Zen – which his constantly restless brain always appreciated.

60. 69 - pffft. Nonono. Keep going! You’ve barely gotten started!

70. Almost… the blood flow and the way the seam of his shorts rhythmically rubbed against him was starting to feel good.

80. Almost there… the endorphins and happy chemicals had to be kicking in now. The burn falling away from focus.

90. Come on… he knew it was coming. He believed his own sweat and other fluids helped in letting the hood press and slide against his now awake clit.

100. The pressure of his thighs and pelvic floor clenching for every rep and the friction of it all started to make him tingle.

110. Just a little more...

120. Stars. It was like an electric shock that sent a shiver up his spine. He wondered if he pissed himself. He wanted to stop right there and take his hand down to keep that stimulation going to a fever-pitch. But, no, not yet.

He wanted to make this last for as many sets as he could. And his calves needed to recover.

He gave himself 2 minutes tops.

-

After shaking himself loose, it was time for round two! (FIGHT.)

130. 140. 150…

Anticipation and arousal were already speeding up.

150. He was sweating buckets.

160. 170…

He felt himself start to quiver.

180… BAM. Another explosion. He was certain he was wet now. He wanted to crumple and go manual and moan loudly and ugly. But what eked out of his mouth was a giddy shudder.

He took a few deep breathes and rested another minute or so.

His mouth getting dry on him, he had the presence of mind to chug down some water.

-

Again! AGAIN!

190. 200. 210…

He was hyper-aware of the feeling of engorgement. He was about to keen again, feeling how sensitized he had become.

220. 230…

Sheer bliss stole his breath. He felt like he was practically floating. He could barely feel his arms anymore.

240. Woof. Words and thoughts started falling apart in his mind, at that point.

He had to to say it was one of the perks of having a "front hole" – multiple climaxes.

Or to put in another way, the savage lands held many adventures. If he was feeling particularly eloquent, which he wasn’t at that point.

-

Sometimes it was too easy to forget how many sets he managed to get through in a session – often only stopping because his shoulders and calves stopped working anymore.

Oh gods, was he going to be sore for days after this. He was going to hobble around like an old person. Moving around was going to be painful and hilarious. He already felt them start to ache – faintly wondering if he overdid it again and pulverized the hell out of them.

That didn’t stop him from releasing an exhausted cackle, “WORTH IT.”

“What?”

“Man, if working out doesn’t get you hard, I don’t know WHAT you’re doing with your life.”

“Aaand I immediately regret asking the question. Thanks.”

Remus cackled some more and sauntered, okay it was more like he limped, over to the bathroom to finish himself off. He forgot just how much water he guzzled to stay hydrated, so he needed to relieve himself anyways. To be sure, that added to the fun.

Most people would think it disgusting to do in a public bathroom, but that’s a fuck he could never give. No one else was in there anyways.

Being able to just sigh in complete contentment after it all, was enough.

-

This didn’t happen every day, because he was only human. Regrettably. And he was no stranger to biting off more than he could chew. (Hey, at least it was still only 1-2 with Roman for hospital visits… in recent memory. From workouts, anyways.)

He took that experience to be even more curious about where he can rediscover that piece of euphoria in as many sessions he possibly could, going forward. Besides occasionally rubbing his brother’s nose in beating his records – the only PB he gave a shit about was how many covert jollies he could squeeze out of himself.

If he ever decided to clue people in... the regulars at the gym have eventually learned it best not to ask him to elaborate on what that was about.

Especially not Steve.

[crankywhenprovoked]

All tied up. Prinxiety

Roman gets caught doing very unsafe rope binding by himself, and Virgil offers to help.

Roman did his best not to frown as Virgil slowly undid the ropes that were around him, dropping them to the floor.  He couldn’t even really hear what Virgil was saying anymore, the blood rushing in his ears was drowning it all out.  Not that he couldn’t fill in the blanks himself, as he often did, that he was stupid and dumb and worthless and.

“Are you listening to me?”  Virgil snapped, as he pulled the last of the ropes off.

“Do you want me to actually answer that?”

Virgil sighed softly, picking up the pieces of rope and throwing them all into Roman’s trash can before coming to stand in front of him.

“I don’t want you ever doing that again, do you hear me?  Binding yourself can be super dangerous.  I want you to promise me you won’t do it again.”

“I,”  Roman’s voice cracked softly, making him swallow and clear his throat, trying to ignore the burning behind his eyes.  “I promise.”

“Hey, Ro, talk to me.  What’s wrong?”

“It’s not important.”

“Bull shit.”

Virgil stepped closer, kneeling down between Roman’s spread legs, tilting his chin up to make him look at him.  The soft look in Virgil’s eyes broke the last resistance of the dam that was holding his tears back, making them slip down his cheeks.  Pulling his chin away, Roman did his best to wipe the tears away, but more just kept following the ones he wiped away.  A choked sob left Roman as Virgil’s arms wrapped around him, urging him to hug him around the neck.

“Shhh, it’s ok, Princy.  I’m right here.”  Virgil breathed, pressing a kiss to his hair.

Slowly Roman’s tears started tapering off, his breath still hitching a little, Virgil’s hand rubbing his back.  Clearing his throat, he wanted to tell Virgil he was fine, that it was just embarrassment, that he was ok.  But all of those lies felt like acid on his tongue.

“Talk to me.”  Virgil said, pulling back only enough to look him in the eyes.

“It makes me feel pretty,”  Roman said, feeling his cheeks getting red, but he continued on.  “It makes me feel held tight and warm and wanted.  I know that doing it alone is dangerous, but it helps so much.  But I promise, I won’t do it alone again.”

“You’re right, you won’t.  Because I’ll do it for you.”

“W-what?”  Roman breathed, searching Virgil’s eyes for a hint of a lie, or of disgust.

“I know a thing or two about shibari and can do it a lot better, not to mention safer, than what you were doing.  Will you let me?”

Roman found himself nodding even before the sentence fully left Virgil’s mouth, helping him stand up and showing him his box of ropes.

“Do you want to leave the underwear on?”  Virgil asked, pushing his hoodie sleeves up and grabbing some red rope.

“Would it bother you if they were off?”

“Not really.”

Fiddling with the waist band of his underwear for a few moments, he finally pushed them down, kicking them off.  Still feeling his face getting warmer, he held out his arms as Virgil motioned him to, before starting to wrap the rope around his torso.

“Too tight?”  Virgil asked, after making a few loops and catches.

“No, it’s good.”  Roman breathed out, shutting his eyes as Virgil went back to work.

Normally by now Roman would have pinched himself with the rope at least once, he was sure his back was covered in the small bruises.  But all he could feel was the slide of Virgil’s fingers leading the rope, and the secure hold of the binding.  As Virgil finished the length of red, he went back to the box and pulled out one of gold, kneeling down to bind the rope between his legs and around them, before looping it through the red in intricate looking weaves.

“Get on the bed?”  Virgil asked, standing back up.

Roman nodded slowly, feeling almost a little drunk with the affection he was receiving, and the warmth of the ropes.  Laying out on his back, he hummed softly as Virgil sat next to his side, using a dark purple rope to bind his lower arm to his upper arm.  Leaning over Roman, Virgil did the same to the other side, running his hand over the skin and rope when he was done.

“Can,”  Roman started, making Virgil stop from where he was starting to get up.  “Can you keep doing that?”

Nodding slowly, Virgil let his hand run over Roman’s skin again, moving the rope ever so slightly with each pass.  Doing the same to his other arm, Virgil hummed a song softly, watching Roman’s eyes flutter shut.  Sliding his hands up to Roman’s, he slid their fingers together, holding his hands as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Roman’s forehead.

As he pulled back, he smiled as the shocked look on Roman’s face, the warm glow of his cheeks as Virgil’s hands started rubbing his arms again, down to his shoulders.

“Can I go further?”  Virgil asked, resting his hands on Roman’s chest.

“Y-yes, please?”  He asked, sounding a little breathless.

Feeling a little warm, Virgil slipped his hoodie off, letting it fall on the floor as he got up on his knees, running his hands more over Roman.  Soft shivers trailed through Roman as Virgil’s hands rubbed him, rolling the ropes slightly with the movements, but none of them pinched.  As Virgil moved down more, a small bit of embarrassment colored Roman, knowing that he was hard.

But if Virgil was bothered, he didn’t say anything, just continued to rub his hands over him, sliding his hands over his thighs.

“You’re very handsome, Roman.  Always.”  Virgil told him, making Roman whine softly, closing his eyes tight.

“Really?”

“Mmhmm, very much so.  So strong, a good protector, amazing singer.  You have it all.”

Roman’s cock jolted slightly at the words, making him squirm as Virgil’s hands rubbed over his hips and up his sides.

“You look like a pretty present right now, lovely smooth skin on display, just waiting to be ravished and adored.”

A moan slipped out as Roman felt a kiss being placed on his stomach, Virgil's hands running over his chest.

“Please?”  Roman whined, squirming as he felt another kiss being pressed on his skin.

“Do you want me to take care of you completely, Ro?”

“Yes, please?”

Kneeling between Roman’s legs, Virgil grabbed some of Roman’s lotion, warming it up between his hands.  Wrapping his hands around Roman’s cock, Virgil moved at the same speed he’d been rubbing Roman’s skin.  Slow continuous strokes from base to tip, alternating hands each time, soft words of praise flowing like a melody around him.

As Roman reached his peak, his whole body felt light, like he was floating on a cloud, Virgil’s hands moving a few moments more before stopping.  Roman slowly came back down to earth, feeling Virgil cleaning him up, before starting to undo the ropes on his arms.

Blinking up at him, he smiled dopily up at him, yawning slightly as Virgil shook his head fondly, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his forehead again.

“How are you feeling?”  Virgil asked, working the ropes off Roman’s legs and waist.

“Good.  I’m really good.”  Roman breathed out a laugh, realizing for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t lying.

“Good.”

Roman rolled slightly as Virgil got the rest of the ropes off, dropping the dirty ones to the side and putting the clean ones back in the box.  Helping Roman under the covers, Virgil stood to leave, jolting as Roman wrapped their fingers together.

“Stay?”

The one word was so soft and hopeful, Virgil didn’t have the heart to deny it.  Stripping down to just his boxers, before sliding under the covers with Roman, holding him close as Roman laid on his chest.  Running his fingers through Roman’s hair, Virgil let his eyes slip shut, humming softly as he felt Roman slowly grow heavier, falling asleep, feeling safe and warm in Virgil’s arms.

Tag list:

@migraine-marathon @hanramz-the-fander @darude-sanderstorm @thestoryofme13 @a-blog-just-for-sanders @cursed-by-thedragonwitch @ray-rambles @allthemetalsoftherainbow @musicphanpie-b @just-another-transblog @neko-ereri @shygirl4991 @prplzorua @lockolocka @spaceroman @deep-ocean-blues @musicsavedmefromdeath @randomslasher @thenerdycube @multi-fandom-trash-x9000 @thepusheenqueen @artistictaurean @thecrimsoncodex @trashypansexual @paxtonnsfw @princeofdespair @rptheturk @shadow-walker-1201 @milomeepit @ill-interested @ansfwcollection @moonlightinwater @datonerougecookeh @logically-sided @ruuworld @velocifoxy @microsoft-nerd @pearls-of-patton @jade-dragon226-fan @thomas-must-get-to-sleep @nyxwordsmith @thesilentbluesparrow @angered-turtle @siriuswhiskers @louisthewarlock @bekkyboo2003 @XxxxWitlee @too-precious-to-process @imaflashcard @bethebetterbard-and-backitup   @backatthebein @nymphaedoratonks @jaybingu @bluebellie01 @starry-eyed-haiku-dreamer @allaboutme7 @reba-andthesides @crankywhenprovoked @thisisshien

@justanotherpurplebutterfly

@razalin

@nightlovechild

@mr-rectify

@cover-your-eyes-children

@greeneggsandham1998

@vulnerablevirgil

@secretlygeneralperson

@sanderssmutsides

@karmels-stuff

@officialpattonsander

@deitywithablog

@sanderssidesstuffs001

@pundefulpapa

@hell-or-high-waters

@fandomfreak18andover

@ashensanity

@that-one-smut-addict

[chogiwrites]

Haunted|| BBH

CW: Gonna keep it 100, if zombie dick isn’t your thing then don’t read. Happy Halloween.

Word count: 1.6k

Fluff/Angst/Smut/Horror. Sort of.

Accompanying song: Love Song by The Cure.

I’m not going to lie, I proofread by using Microsoft’s ‘Read Aloud’ option and now every time I read ‘Baekhyun’ I hear it as ‘Bake-Hi-Yun’. It’s really sad. ~

“I’ve missed you.” Baekhyun pouts as he stands by the foot of your bed. “Did you know this?”

He tilts his head and undoes the last button on his blouse with an “Ahhh,”

Baekhyun smiles suggestively as it falls to the ground with a slight thump. Stalking closer, he works to undo the tie. “Have you been faithful to me, babe?”

You’ve learned to pretend the smell of rotting flesh does not bother you. You shift beneath perfect, white sheets.

“You better have been. I might be mince meat, but my dick’s still fully functional.” He scoffs, before kicking out of his slacks. “Anyhow...”

He leans over and rests his cheek against the valley of your breasts with a delighted hum, especially as you reach out to tousle his hair. Baekhyun’s smile is so bright, you’d never guess he died five years ago.

“How’s your year been? I missed you. Did I say that yet?”

“You did.” You nod before sitting up on your elbows. “It’s every other thing that you say, actually.”

Baekhyun nods pensively with a jut out lip. “Ah, well. I’ve missed you~” He sings.

You nearly smile at his cuteness. Nearly. You shift and his forehead lands on the swell of your belly.

Baekhyun nuzzles you with a giggle.

“And you wore the nightdress I like! I knew you wanted me.”

“Of course I want you, Baekhyun.” You reply, hoarse and emotional, touching his cold cheek with the pad of your thumb.

Baekhyun’s tongue darts out to give your fingertip a lick. His spit is cold and slimy. You shiver. He pouts. You push your thumb further past his lips so that he doesn’t feel unwanted. Baekhyun’s dead, not emotionless.

Baekhyun smiles and moves up on his knees. “I’ve missed you too.” Though you’re hesitant, you’re sincere. Baekhyun knows this so he closes his eyes and smiles wider.

He begins to roll the sheets down your thighs, letting the cold and his skin bite you as your undressed bits hit the air.

“I probably miss you more than you miss me. I’m awake all year, you’re asleep for most of it. Do you know what that’s like, Baek?”

“Nope!” He replies simply, before pushing his head up the hem of your nightdress and popping back out the neck hole. “Hiii...” His grin is goofy.

“Hi.” You reply with your own, more conservative, smile.

You shiver, teeth clattering as Baekhyun wraps himself around you. “Baby, you’re so warm.” He breathes, knees hitting against your sides as he straddles your lap. Your body works overtime to warm you both back up to the standard 36.6.

With trembling arms, you hold Baekhyun like a vice.

“It’s kinda turning me on, actually.” He giggles, voice going husky as he gracelessly peels the thin fabric away from you both, leaving it discarded somewhere only the rats know to look. Fuck it. It doesn’t matter anyway. Baekhyun slides his boxers off with all the primness of a virginal school girl before licking his top lip. You laugh again.

You hold him until his body is purring and red. He squirms between your legs, something like a newborn, or maybe an earthworm. “My lips too, baby.” He breathes, displaying his perfect mouth, marred only by its blueish tint.

“Of course, how could I forget that?” Your muse with a small murmur before leaning in to rectify this too. The warmth against his cold lips make him sigh, shoulders relaxing in your touch.

It was only two Octobers ago that you worked up the courage to place your mouth on his. You know you’re going to have an upset stomach the next morning but for now, it’s well worth it. Baekhyun tastes like nothing, maybe a little sour. If he finds out that every time he kisses you, you get sick, he’d probably cry and forbid you from ever kissing him again. The thought makes you smile grimly.

It’s not just Baekhyun’s mouth though, having sex with him will undoubtedly lead to disgusting, putrid infections. Boils, abscesses. Rank, agonizing and painful. You are not equipped to handle your dead lover.

So, you lie. You lie to Baekhyun, who can’t stay for November first even if that’s what he wants. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him and you welcome the way he rots you as proof this encounter isn’t just grief-fuelled mania.

His delicate fingers reach out to cup your jaw as he slides his tongue past your lips. It curls, like a snake, against yours as your fingers reach out to grope his chest. Baekhyun pushes himself into your hands with a coo. He’s weak against you, keening when you lean down to wrap your tongue around a taut nipple.

He was a lot brattier in life. Now, he’s so hypothermic that every touch is a blessing. You miss his demanding nature but you’d be lying if you said the way he’s become so docile isn’t charming in its own right. Your lips trail up his pec, to his prominent collarbones, then, you nestle into the curve of his long, slim neck and attack the skin there. “You know what else is cold?”

With an exasperated laugh, you grapple his shaft and warm it up in your soft hands. He bucks into your palms with a moan and leans back on the pillows.

“I’m sorry I’m gross.” He breathes. “You’re right. Seduction isn’t your strong suit, Baek.��

He rolls his eyes at you but takes the flattery. “So I’m not a nasty fuck?”

“No, you are. You get pretty perverted quick.” You respond with the same stupid voice. Baekhyun huffs before slapping your fingers away from his flesh.

“Fine then!” He raises his chin indignantly. “Ride me.”

You raise an eyebrow at him. “Come on. Giddy up.”

You brace a hand against his thigh before mounting him. Baekhyun winces at the heat radiating between your legs. “Baby, I don’t think you can take it.” You coo, touching his cheek. With a growl, he grabs you by the hips and slams you down on him.

And then Baekhyun screams.

He screams so loudly that you scramble off of him. Baekhyun doesn’t allow you, he wraps his arms around your lower half and pushes his face deep into your chest.

His shoulders tremble as if he’s crying. “Baekhyun!” You shout, your teasing turning into panic. “Baekhyun, if it hurts then pull out!”

He shakes his head and ruts against you. You bite your lip as you feel him move. Beneath your palm, his stomach is a concave plane. With his body wracked by tremors, he finally speaks. “So. Fucking. Hot.”

“B—”

“What are you waiting for? Next year?” He snaps. Hesitantly, you lift up before sinking back down.

Baekhyun falls back with a groan, teeth digging so deep into his bottom lip that it splits around him, drawing thick, black blood. You stop again.

“No. Keep going.” He begs, taking a sharp inhale, his thumb pressing into your hipbone. So, you do, and his mouth falls open, eyes rolling back as he takes it. “Fuck!” Baekhyun’s voice raises an octave. “That’s it!”

He claws at your skin in desperation. “Baby, I need more. Faster! Fuck me faster!” His hips rise to meet with your movements.

The sounds that slip through his ruined lips are guttural and dirty. You reach down to wipe the coagulated mess and, deciding that you can’t give him the intensity he needs, Baekhyun flips you over so that you’re between him and the mattress.

His pace is harsh and unrelenting, skin against skin as he somehow finds a way to push places he’s never been before. It ruins you, rots you, destroys you. His kiss tastes of old blood and he cums inside of you with a bruising thrust, before pushing his fingers inside of you when you don’t reach the same end.

It squelches— the sounds of his nails pushing his seed further and further into your body. You tremble, cry and then collapse in finality. Afterwards, Baekhyun doesn’t whisper how good you are, he doesn’t tell you you’re a good girl for taking it as rough and dirty as he needed. He lies there spent with a set jaw because any sex, even bad sex, is still sex.

You take it upon yourself to place the blanket over your bodies. “Post coital tristesse?” You offer and he nods with a faraway look to his eyes. “‘Course.” He shrugs.

His fingers touch yours. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For being me. For not letting you move on. For a lot of things. I’m dead. We need to stop pretending that I’m not.” You shake your head.

“Maybe I don’t want to move on. Maybe I don’t want anybody else.” Baekhyun sighs and laughs, a hollow, dry sound. “I’m just sayi—”

“Who was it who asked if I was faithful and told me that I better be? Where is this energy, Baekhyun? I’m in this for life. I will always love you. I will always be faithful to you. Stop telling me how I should feel.” You flip onto your back and stare at the ceiling, your throat pregnant with emotion.

His lips touch your shoulder. “Of course...” He mumbles in resignation. You are too stubborn to argue, and Baekhyun is too weak to go back to sleep when he wakes up in his coffin once a year.

“Thank you.” “For what?” You scoff.

“For loving me.” He replies, voice small. You turn around and see that there are tears in his eyes.

“Even though I left you here all by yourself. You still love me and I don’t deserve it.” His gaze avoids yours.

“It was an accident.” You comfort, hand on his wrist. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know it would happen. No one could’ve known.” Baekhyun shakes his head with another defeated laugh. “Just tell me about your year.”

“Baek—” “Do it. In as much detail as possible. I want to feel like I’ve lived it with you.”

You want to espouse a line about how he did, just in his heart and-or in his own way, but you think it would just make Baekhyun feel worse.

Taking a deep breath, you begin from November first of last year.

Baekhyun finally smiles again whilst listening to your antics. He relives it with you well into the night.

When you fall asleep, it’s because he sings to you and the next morning, you wake up with a stinging fever and swelling.

Despite yourself, you wrap your arms around your burning wounds, and crawl into the empty space Baekhyun once lay. You savour the pain as proof of his visit, praying the hurt lasts until the next year, if not kill you altogether.