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coffee-and-tea-time · 1 year ago

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𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖ Out of the menu, still the choice ๋࣭ ⭑

Yandere! Shopkeeper x Willing! Reader

We finally got a winner! *Clap clap* if you want context, you can go here but it's not that necessary we think - the twins

This mf was really more hard to write that I expected but nevertheless we tried to match the energy of the seller pickers so at least it was really fun ngl - Coffee

It took us both a while to draft what we wanted to write for him since he's not a very expressive character and we wanted to try a more subtle approach. If you have any ideas or suggestions for any of them, let us know!! -Tea

Count word: 3.1k (new longest post for now)

Tw: yandere behavior, kind of flirty reader, stalking, kidnaping?, written in you/yours, overall soft yandere, gaslighting, drugging (this really still counts as soft yandere??? believe me, yes), light paranoia, clueless reader

Your eyes scan the papers in your hand, your mind still focused rather on the man that handed you them, sitting right across from him, more specifically, the comment he just murmured. None of the people he mentioned called your attention as much as himself did, perhaps he was more that he presented himself as? He seemed to know much more about you than he’s supposed to, so, was he a yandere as well? And if so, Why miss the chance to tease a potential yandere?

"Huh, so you think I should go out more often?"

"Well, I'm just concerned about your vitamin D intake, that's all. You need more sun Dear, for the sake of your health"

He smugly smirks at you like he's saying obvious facts that you should already know about yourself… though his smirk falters, his lips pressing into a tight line as he rethinks his words, though it was too late to retract them, it was your time to shine.

"Oh? Then why not help me with that yourself? You seem to keep a good track of my time outside for some reason, care to explain yourself, Honey?"

You steal his previous smirk, it now decorating your lips, curving them upwards smugly as he seems to sink into himself, his pen flipping between his fingers as a nervous fidget, scanning your expression, seemingly trying to understand what you were attempting to do with these witty remarks.

“Dear, allow me to remind you, you came all the way here to have an obsessive partner after you walk out this door, I'm sure anyone in the list will love to fulfill the job, sadly, I'm not one of them, I'm deeply sorry if my previous comments left any space for this misunderstanding"

He seems to lifts up a wall between you and him with his formality as if attempting to keep things formal and cordial though his eyes tell a different story, his eyes, akin to a snake’s narrow slightly, scanning your features as if daring you to continue this charade; a sweet chill runs down your spine, which only widens your smile further.

"Ow, come on, there's no need to lie so blatantly to my face, you know exactly why I'm here, and for that I can also tell exactly what is happening here”

He huffs, his fingers running through his black hair, messing up his slick back hairstyle into something much more fitting to match with his semi-formal attire.

"As I just said, I'm not a yandere, let's stop this little game, Dear, I’m not sure how you arrived at this conclusion, little detective…"

Those gray eyes glare at you without even missing a beat, narrowing further to make a subtle warning: quit fooling around. Do you care? No, honestly, him staring down at you only serves to fuel your burning curiosity about the man.

"Fine then, at least answer me this, how did you know i don't go out much?"

The man scoffs as if the answer was as obvious as looking in a mirror.

"Come on now, you are chronically online, I just made a lucky guess"

… Gotcha

"My screen time is something even weirder for you to know for certain though, don't you think?"

A silence ensues, tension and realization thick in the air as his posture changes completely, from relaxed and smug to tense and anxious, he leans forward, eyes avoiding you suddenly, like he wasn't piercing you with his stare just a few seconds ago.

You let your question linger, knowing you won, knowing he had no way to protest your question seamlessly

"... don't tell management"

It was now your turn to sigh. Perhaps he was being truthful and this was just a big misunderstanding. Maybe his “background check” on you wasn't something he was supposed to do ethically speaking, but something he felt compelled to do. Then again, they did have this incident with a fool attempting to illegitimately make a yandere harem. Perhaps it was time to let this go, you tried at least, but being overly pushy could get you kicked out and leaving empty handed wasn't something you were willing to do after finally finding the courage to enter the shop.

"Well, I don't know, I choose Oliver"

You said, the smirk in your lips faltering into a soft defeated smile, shrugging as you chose someone at random, pointing blindly at the papers.

"He's already purchased"

He counters your response abruptly, his tone still formal yet with an air of defensiveness. You wondered, if he was already purchased, then why show it to you at all?

"Damn, okay, then Lio…"

You quickly point again at a random profile, barely even reading the name then scanning his expression, his head shaking even before you managed to pronounce the name fully.

"Sorry"

He responded with a shrug, his shoulders relaxing as if the tension he felt before was gone.

You smile at him once again, well, thankfully you weren't just flirting with the wrong target.

"You’re doing this on purpose"

You announce, amused by the realization, a smile widening in your lips as one seems to simultaneously tug at the corners of his, a mischievous grin adorning his sly stare, those eyes bearing into yours like a wicked fox.

"You choose me, be loyal to your own decisions… though, really, don't tell management. I do maintain I'm not some sort of obsessed maniac, Dear"

That's the most suspicious thing a person can say in a yandere shop but you take it.

"I care next to nothing about management… so, it's a date?".

(...)

You leave the store, hands empty, but not really. You walk with an extra cheer in your step, you managed to get yourself a date with the seller of the damn shop, not one of the many names in those papers, but the shopkeeper, talk about a plot twist.

And so you make your way back home, waiting for the time to arrive, the time in which you'd meet up with the man outside of work in a sweet little restaurant down the same street where the shop is located. As you get yourself ready, checking your outfit, double checking…triple checking, your mind drifts to your conversation with the seller and the way everything he said seemed to avoid each and every one of your questions skillfully. You managed to get his number with the excuse of arranging the meeting time and place, yet… that was all, you didn't even get his name, did you?.

You are brought back to reality with the buzzing of your phone, a notification from an unknown number… though it was the sellers, how did he get your number? Sure, he gave you his, but he shouldn't have a way to contact you yet, that information wasn't even in the paperwork either since you never filled any forms out, you didn't purchase any of the yanderes.

» “Hey, it's the shopkeeper”

You raised a brow at your screen, watching as the little dots bobbed up and down, indicating he was still typing another message

» “just checking if you're still up for this date you so boldly proposed. My shift is over”

His texts are a little dry, yet you can feel the awkwardness from them already, he wasn't fooling anybody, he was nervous as hell.

You quickly type up a response, resuming your teasing over text like you never left the shop and so you text back and forth until the time arrives and you leave your home, walking down the street to the restaurant he sent you the location to. Once you got there, amusement tugged your lips up into a smile. This man, acting so unapproachable, so closed off, was eagerly waiting outside the restaurant with that classic “I'm just looking at my phone” stance, but damn he looked good.

He wasn't wearing that semi-formal suit from before, but rather a tight black shirt, jeans and a jacket. His hair was down and you had to admit, it looked way better that way. You check the time on your phone, you arrive just in time, you look relieved but can’t help but wonder how the seller managed to close up shop, go back home, change and arrive before you when his last text was just a few minutes ago telling you his shift was over.

“aw, you arrived early to meet me? It’s so cute how eager you are for someone who didn't even tell me his name”

You meet his gaze as you approach him with a playful demeanor, his smile still decorating his face as always.

He huffs, glancing up from his phone, his eyes crinkling in a mischievous grin. He pockets his phone and adjusts his jacket, leaning a little closer as he speaks

“Oh, Dear, you got it all wrong, i just got here, but, i must say…waiting would have been worth it, you look stunning”

He said with a soft chuckle and you nudged his shoulder in response to his compliment, though as you nudge him you feel how cold his jacket is, of course he didn't wait for you

“Right, anyways, you know, it's only fair that I get your name. I know you so desperately want to seem all mysterious and shit, but i need to know who I'm flirting with”

You tease bluntly with a chuckle, he tenses up a little, looking away for a second, trying to disguise his blush by rolling his eyes at you.

“I suppose you could call me Jade…”

“Well, jade, pleasure to meet you”

You said trying to imitate his tone of voice as he guides the way inside the restaurant.

“Since I answered your question, it's only fair you answer mine, don't you agree?"

His gaze seems like he's taking notes of your every expression as he gently pulls a chair for you to sit on before he sits across from you.

"Are we doing a little bit of banter here? Huh, that's quite the contrary of what you been doing all day, but please, go on, I'm thrilled to know what you wish to know of me"

His eyes move to the menu, although you can say his entire focus was still on you… because of the fact he can't possibly read the menu when it's upside down.

"So, if I may ask… why did you choose to flirt with me when you came to the shop to get yourself a yandere?"

"Why not? You could say I went there to find someone that catches my eye, and jokes on you, my eyes were set on you the moment you opened that door to guide me into the store"

You restrain yourself not to giggle like a fool when the top of his ears turns red while he's attempting to keep his perpetually smiling facade, oblivious to his own reaction to your words.

"Then, do yo-"

His words quickly die on his throat as a waiter gets to your table, you didn't have the time to catch the small twitch of his eyebrows that lasted a second.

"Good evening, I will be your server for the night, what can I get started for you two?"

As you two order normally, you can't help but feel a sense of discomfort as the waiter always speaks focusing his eyes on you, but Jade doesn't seem to react so you dismissed it, you're only feeling weird because of the awkwardness of being on a first date, although you can't help but sigh faintly with relief after the server walks away.

"Well… anyways, since I replied to one of your questions, guess it's my turn!"

You said smiling, trying to brush off the weird feeling you just had, focusing on your task in hand: the date.

“so, why don’t you tell me a little about your hobbies?”

You gaze at him while his head tilts slightly, as if doubting if to reply or just dodge the question like the past ones.

“Well, they differ depending on the time, I’m the type of person that get a new one every once in a while but one that has stuck since high school is embroidery”

Honestly, you can picture it, he does seem like the type of person who enjoys calm classy hobbies, old lady hobbies if you will. The image is sort of endearing.

"Since high school? Wow, what was your first piece?"

You feel relieved that he seems more open to conversation now that you both are formally on this date. Sadly for you and lucky for him, you focused so much on listening to his answers that you didn't catch the small blush dusting his cheeks.

"...It was a skull, edgy, I know. I really like how it turned out back then though”

“A skull? Very edgy indeed, why-”

Your question was left hanging in the air as an arm interfered with your vision of Jade, the waiter placing your plates on the table with a polite smile. The interjection was a little awkward, but there's not much you can do about it, the waiter is just doing his job.

Though as you lower your voice to a stop, interrupted by the waiter, you see the slight hint of annoyance in Jade’s face flick for a second just to disappear like it never happened, it makes you wonder if that was a hint of jealousy? It probably wasn't… your yandere rotten brain must be seeing things, right?

As you two indulge in conversation, enjoying your little date, you almost lose track of time. It feels like in the blink of an eye, the date was already at its final point, the only thing that popped your bubble was his phone ringing.

"...sorry, it's my boss, allow me to step out real quick, it won't take long I'm sure"

You nod to him before he makes his way to the restroom to pick up the call. Honestly you feel kind of sad that the dinner was reaching its end but well, you can't be that clingy on the first date.

As you ponder between when and where the perfect second date will be or if it's best to wait for him to ask for another, the waiter interrupts your thoughts, placing a glass of what looks like raspberry juice on the table.

"Excuse me sir, I didn't order this"

The waiter gives you a puzzled expression as if it were a competition who is more confused by the situation but is quick to giggle as if it was an inside joke of his before reassuring you.

"Oh, don't worry, it's already been paid”

You didn't have time to ask further questions when the busy server was already on another table that needed him, well, it looks tasty anyways, why reject something when it's free?

You honestly feel like luck is on your side today; you got the confidence to try and flirt with Jade and successfully get yourself a really good date! And you also get a free drink as a way to celebrate your little achievement, so you take a big gulp.

Huh? Weird, you know the taste of raspberry by heart, why does it taste more bitter? Ugh, the fruit is probably not that fresh , even the consistency feels a little thicker too. Well, raspberry juice is supposed to be like that, perhaps you got too used to store bought and got yourself confused.

"Well, is not like a restaurant would sell 'expired juice' as their main drink, surely I'm just overthinking it"

You reason with yourself in a whisper as you set the drink aside, ugh, maybe you drank too big of a sip, you start to feel like you got brain freeze or something.

(…)

“Dear, are you feeling well? Do you need to go to the restroom?”

The sound of his relaxed voice quickly fills your ears, your mind feels hazy but you nevertheless try focusing on him as he sits back down to the table, catching his expression changing from the usual laid back grin to a worried frown. You didn't even notice when he came back from his work call, not until he was right in front of you, it's like time passed while your brain was stopped, something wasn't good…

"Did something happen? Do you need a pain-killer? Did the food upset your stomach?"

The rapid fire questions overfill your already overwhelmed mind as his hands hold your shoulders before he places his forehead against yours to check your temperature and although you tried, your currently unstable self only managed to hardly mumble some words.

"I… don't know, I just drank that"

You focus your gaze on the glass of juice and he follows your gaze with a frown as if his laid back mask is cracked.

"the color is slightly off and ice is only floating up to the middle of the glass…"

Was there really something wrong with your drink? What was in there? How bad is it? What's going to happen to you? Was it the waiter? Was there someone in the restaurant you didn't see? Why is this happening today?

"Dear, focus on me, okay? Don't worry, you're fine, just dizzy, I will make sure you are okay, alright? Take a deep breath for me darling"

Through your dizziness you watch as he moves skillfully and quickly, paying the bill as fast as he could to take you out of there, his arms tightly wrapped around you to steady your wobbly stance, guiding you out of the busy restaurant. It's almost as if you were drunk, which didn't make sense, you felt yourself slipping further out of your senses, sounds muffled and your vision blurry, your legs and hands feeling tingly with each step you took with his assistance.

"Jade, I-"

"Don't worry Dear, I will take care of you, just trust me, alright?"

You can help but feel grateful that even in this awful situation, you managed to have someone so gentle and caring with you, but before you can try to babble a thank you, you feel your mind shut off like an old tv… don't worry, you are being taken care of, Dear.

He just wants to look after you, it would be so creepy if he left you unconscious at your place since he's not supposed to know your address yet, so, guess the only choice is him letting you crash at his apartment, it's fine, you will find yourself at home there, it's really cozy!

. . .

Wait, did you really believe him? That's kind of hilarious, try guessing again.

sorry for any misspellings or weird sentence structure ❣

images from pinterest and divider by Tea ⚘

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retrievablememories · 2 years ago

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cherry bomb | part 2 | jungkook (m)

pairing: jungkook x fem reader

summary: after your town goes into lockdown because of the cherry bomb massacre, you find out that the murderer's interest is on you. eventually, you’re left with no choice but to face him.

genre: horror/slasher, angst, smut, college!au

word count: 13.7k

warnings: major character deaths, gaslighting, hallucinations, anxiety/paranoia, grief, trauma, violence (including knife and gun use), torture, blood, gore, descriptions of dead bodies, a funeral scene, fuckboy!JK, oral (fem receiving), fingering, finger-sucking, handjob, cumplay(?), hair-pulling

a/n: this part is quite rougher than the first, so heed the warnings. same notes as the last part—not meant to be entirely realistic since this *is* a slasher. block/filter as needed. i didn’t mention this in part 1 but this fic is not set in present day; more like somewhere in the 2000s? i don’t think this fic would work as well with all this advanced technology/the prevalence of social media now

...also, i had this story all written out and then decided to completely change the plot at the last minute because i figured out a way to write the original plot i had wanted to do from the beginning. 💀 yeah…just leave your thoughts below

taglist is at the very bottom of the fic—for some reason i wasn't able to tag everyone who requested, so please reblog this fic so folks can see it

sources for the fic dividers: one | two

link to part 1

you’re standing in front of some stranger’s house in the early hours of the morning, your body heavy from exhaustion as your adrenaline has run out. this is not at all how you expected your night to end when you left your dorm hours ago. it must’ve taken at least 40 minutes to get to this house, and you’re less familiar with this part of town, which you try not to feel uneasy about. you suppose the farther away from the scene of the carnage, the better.

jungkook bangs on the door, calling out the name yoongi-hyung until the porch light comes on. though it’s illogical, you’re tense with apprehension that the murderer could somehow appear at any moment, and you hope whoever yoongi is lets the both of you in soon. so much for no longer looking over your shoulder.

a man with hair just as long as jungkook’s answers the door, looking disheveled and annoyed. “why the fuck are you banging down my door at nearly 2 am—"

yoongi stops speaking as he eyes the both of you up and down, his gaze going from the bite mark bruises you left on jungkook’s neck to the dried blood on your face to the bullet holes in jungkook’s car. his expression is between surprise and curiosity. “what the fuck is going on here?”

“can we talk inside?” jungkook says, though he doesn’t wait for an invitation before pushing his way past the other man and stepping inside.

“uh…hi. sorry.” you step inside too, glad to not be out in the open anymore.

yoongi takes another look outside the door at the state of jungkook’s car before closing and locking it. “mind explaining this shit? i thought you were going to that party you told me about?

“i did,” jungkook says, his voice full of frustration. “the fucking killer showed up at the party.”

“the fuck are you talking about?”

“you know what i’m talking about. that werewolf-masked freak? he came and just started stabbing people to death. we watched him shoot a fraternity member in front of us, dude. that’s why my car looks the way it does.”

“the campus is probably dangerous,” you add. “that’s why we came here. we just need somewhere safe to stay for the night.”

yoongi goes to the window and draws back the curtain. he peeks out the small holes in the side of the blinds rather than pushing the blinds down to look outside. “and you’re certain he didn’t follow you here? i thought he only killed virgins anyway. why the hell was he shooting at you?” then yoongi turns away from the window and looks at you. “oh. is this why?”

feeling put on the spot, you blurt out: “look, i don’t think that matters much anymore. he seemed to be killing anybody who was in his way.”

“and he was on foot the whole time, so there’s no way he could’ve followed us,” jungkook adds.

yoongi shakes his head and walks away from the window. “whole town is fucked, then. come on.”

you’re relieved to be able to scrub the blood off your face and change into fresh clothes. you initially thought it was peculiar that yoongi had spare clothes ready for you to wear until he alluded to keeping them on hand for any of jungkook’s hookups that he brings over.

“sure—of course.” you’d just nodded and tried not to look embarrassed as you accepted the clothes.

even after showering you don’t feel entirely clean, though. you think it might be impossible to return to feeling anything like your former self after tonight.

the couch has a pull-out bed, so it’s not as uncomfortable as it would be just sleeping on a regular sofa, which you are grateful for. you’re still arranging the pillow and blankets when jungkook walks into the room holding his own bedding.

“i think i should sleep here,” he says.

“there’s no room on the couch for the both of us,” you protest, thinking he means to take your spot.

“i mean on the floor. earlier, you didn’t seem like you wanted to be left alone in here.”

“oh.” you try to take the edge out of your voice; it’s hard to be polite when you’re still so overwhelmed with stress. “that’ll be uncomfortable though.”

jungkook just waves his hand and dumps his pillow and blanket on the floor before going to push the coffee table out of the way. “doesn’t really matter, i think we’ve been through worse tonight than sleeping on a hard floor…”

“thanks,” you say quietly, watching him spread his blanket out on the ground. you want to say something else, but you can’t think of anything.

“it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

after a few more moments of staring at jungkook as he arranges his sleeping area, you finally ask, “i was wondering how’d you meet yoongi? he doesn’t seem like he’s a college student. i’ve never seen him around our campus, at least.”

“he isn’t. he works as a music producer, so he’s out of town a lot, but this is his homebase. as for how we met—it’s a long story. he and my brother actually used to know each other, so…” you think he’ll explain further, but he just shakes his head. “but he’s a good friend.”

“i see. a music producer…nice. how cool for a little town like this.”

after everything is to his liking, jungkook gets under the blanket. “tonight was a lot, so try to get some sleep.”

you nod and turn the lamp off, though you’re doubting you’ll get any peace tonight. “yeah…you too.”

SATURDAY MORNING, NOV 4

you wake up around 11 a.m. on a strange couch wearing strange clothes in a strange room. with your brain’s half-conscious state, your terror reawakens; you think maybe you’ve been kidnapped by the murderer and the car ride with jungkook last night was a dream—until yoongi pops into your mind.

you try to regulate your breathing and settle back beneath the blanket, though you know you won’t be going back to sleep.

you haven’t gotten more than an hour of sleep in total, broken up into 20-minute intervals across the hours. every time you’ve tried to close your eyes and drift off, you see the frat member’s skull bursting apart again, shocking your entire nervous system. you can think of nothing but the piles of bodies and the deaths you witnessed. perhaps it’s better that you don’t sleep; you figure your dreams wouldn’t be any more tolerable than your thoughts.

as you shift around on the couch, your whole body screams with soreness. your arms, your ribs, your sides, your legs, and—to a lesser extent—even between your thighs where jungkook was last night.

you glance over and see that he’s still sprawled on the floor, blanket halfway kicked off. he’s actually awake, his face turned away from you as he blinks slowly and stares at nothing, but he doesn’t say anything and so neither do you. with you spending most of your night awake, you saw that he was able to get more rest than you did. lucky him.

it hurts to move, but you reach for your phone and check for any signs of lorelai. none. there is one text from camille, sent 40 minutes ago.

➤ camille: I talked to Lorelai’s sister. She went to go see about a missing persons report. The police took her information but didn’t seem very concerned about it and said she might have just stayed the night with other friends after the party. Apparently a lot of others had the same idea as you. Campus is a ghost town. They’re still identifying all the bodies, so no word yet.

➤ y/n: so we just have to sit here and wait to see if she’ll turn up alive or dead? that’s useless.

➤ camille: As per fucking usual with the pigs.

➤ camille: She also told me there’s supposed to be a lockdown or something. It’s on the news.

➤ y/n: a lockdown???

looking around the room, you spot the TV remote sitting on yoongi’s coffee table a few feet away. you try to sit up, but it takes you a couple minutes longer than you anticipate because of the pain. jungkook notices the movement from the corner of his eye and turns to look at you. “what are you doing?”

“tryna get the remote.”

jungkook grabs it and hands it to you, and you turn the TV to one of the local news channels.

➤ camille: They’re telling people not to leave their homes for anything non-essential while they search for him. Not sure how long that’s supposed to last. I guess now they wanna get serious about this fucking killer? Too late for that.

you and jungkook watch as the newscaster gives a rundown of last night’s events; to your small relief, it looks like the killer didn’t try to go to the campus after the murders at the party house. the newscaster goes on to announce that the police are instating a citywide curfew, which they’ll discuss further at a press conference in the afternoon. in the meantime, they advise everyone to only travel in groups, shelter in place if possible, and keep all windows and doors locked.

you laugh humorlessly, and jungkook glances at you again. “in groups? we were all packed into one damn house at the party, and how much did that help?”

➤ y/n: are you sure you’re okay at the uni?

➤ camille: I’m fine. My roommate brought some of her friends into our room so no one’s left alone. Either way, my dad is coming to help me move some of my things out and come back home.

➤ y/n: okay, please just stay safe.

➤ camille: You too.

“what now?” jungkook says once the newscast goes off. “everybody just stays holed up for like a month while they hunt for that guy?”

you roll your eyes. “people won’t stay in their homes for that long. i don’t know how any of this is gonna work. we wouldn’t be in this mess now if they’d cared when this first started happening.”

“you think so? students would still be getting killed. the only difference is that a good chunk of people would just be sitting at home freaking the fuck out and too scared to go anywhere while the killer would still be on the loose.”

“…damn. it’s truly bleak to assume we’d still be in the same situation. you’re an optimistic one.”

“better than deluding yourself about it.”

“whatever. where’s your family to freak out over you? somebody should be concerned about your whereabouts by now. didn’t you say you have a brother? speaking of, i’m gonna have to call my sister soon…”

jungkook turns back to the TV, and you can tell he’s become more tense than he was seconds ago. “yeah, but i’m estranged from them. yoongi’s my family.”

wrong thing to ask. you wonder about the reason for it but decide it’s probably better not to pry. “ah…that sucks.”

jungkook looks back at you like he’s irked by that response, but he makes a noise resembling a chuckle. “tell me about it.”

later that afternoon, after you’ve reassured your sister veronica on her work break that you are fine and at a “friend’s” house (because you have no clue how to refer to either of these men), you and yoongi sit at the kitchen table with brunch while jungkook goes outside to examine the damage to his car more closely.

it’s difficult to eat, but you do so anyway; you don’t want to be rude by wasting the food yoongi made. the news station still plays loudly from the living room as you wait for the press conference to come on.

“so, about you and jungkook...” yoongi starts, looking at you from over the rim of his cup of coffee.

“what about me and jungkook?”

“we both know he didn’t get those bites on his neck from a wild animal attack.”

you sit up straighter in your seat, a sudden spike of irritation hitting you. “aren’t we all grown here? who cares?” you try to sound unbothered despite feeling very green about all of this. after all, you’d only had sex for the first time last night.

“look, i don’t care. fuck him all you want. i’m just trying to advise you not to get emotionally involved, because that’s not how jungkook operates. the amount of girls i’ve had somehow coming after my neck when their situationship with him doesn’t work out is starting to get really old. it’d be best if you didn’t do the same.”

you’re simultaneously annoyed at his assumption of you and flustered because you want to prove him wrong about acting the same as the other girls. you hate both feelings. “i don’t want anything like that with him. i just needed something done and i got it. it doesn’t matter anymore.”

yoongi shrugs, and you get the sense he’s heard that before and isn’t convinced, but you can’t be bothered going back and forth with him about this.

the press conference comes on TV a few minutes later. they announce that classes at your university are cancelled indefinitely; parents and relatives will need to come move their students out, and the school will be operating with a skeleton staff and increased security presence for any students who can’t leave the campus. the citywide curfew will be at 8 p.m. every night, by which time almost everyone will need to be in their homes, and it will end at 6 a.m each morning.

“fun,” you say sarcastically. “at least i won’t have to worry about finals and trying not to get murdered at the same time.”

when jungkook comes back inside, you let him know about what he missed from the press conference.

“we should just stay here for now.” when you raise your eyebrows, jungkook says, “i basically live here when i’m not on campus for classes. plus yoongi-hyung lets me bring girls here all the time, this is nothing new.”

“if both of you are gonna be hiding out in my place, we’ll need to go to the store,” yoongi says. “more mouths to feed.”

“…or i could just go home?” you propose, your mind reeling at them already making plans. you feel awkward about staying in a stranger’s house for who knows how long. “i think we only really needed to stay here for the night. it’s fine.”

“will you have people there with you?” jungkook asks. “it’s not safe to be alone.”

you’re surprised he seems to be this concerned, but you answer: “well, i mean…my sister works 12-hour shifts as a nurse and she’s the only one living there, so…” you’d chosen your university because your older sister lived in the area, and because it was a tradition for women in your family to attend that school, but there were no other relatives you could turn to. your parents lived a couple of towns away.

yoongi comes to the conclusion so you don’t have to. “in other words, you’ll be alone most of the day.”

“…i guess. but i’m really not tryna impose on you by staying here.”

yoongi tilts his head, a small smirk on his lips. you automatically dislike the look on his face. “why don’t you take jungkook with you, then?”

you and jungkook glance at each other. “but, hyung…”

yoongi shakes his head. “you already know i can take care of myself. seriously, don’t worry about it.” and then yoongi winks at you. you don’t know for sure, but you take that to mean he’s probably packing heat like camille’s dad.

“if you’re sure.” turning to you, jungkook says, “so, how about it?”

“it’s my sister’s house, so i’ll have to ask her,” you say tentatively. “yeah…uh. let me do that now, i guess.” you pull out your phone to text her about it, though you know it’ll be a while before she gets another work break and can answer. “in the meantime…i think we’ll need to go to the store either way. and then to campus to pick our things up.”

“you’re right. let’s go then,” jungkook says.

the store is full of people panic-buying food and necessities in preparation for the curfew and effective lockdown, which you expected. you and jungkook end up going your separate ways to find the things you need because it’s quicker that way, and because you want to get in and out of the store as soon as possible. the crowdedness is too much like the party, and despite yourself, anxiety begins rising in you due to the claustrophobic atmosphere. you try to maintain even breaths as you keep searching for items. just what you need—a shiny new trauma to make your life harder.

you pass by a man in one of the less-crowded aisles before realizing he’s standing in front of what you need to get, examining one of the food packages. you wait a few moments to see if he’ll finish up soon, and when your eyes begin to wander, you see that there’s a long gray hair clinging to the back of his leather jacket, standing out clearly against the black. you probably wouldn’t have noticed this at all on any other day, except your mind has been on high alert for hours now; you find it strange that this strand clearly doesn’t match the shade or length of the hair on his head, which is short and plain brown. the shade of the hair also weirdly reminds you of something, though you can’t quite recall what; it remains just out of your mind’s reach.

you shake your head. he could’ve come to the store with somebody who has long gray hair, or hugged them before he left home, and a strand stuck to his jacket. it’s the least of your issues right now.

the man must feel your presence behind him because he turns around to look at you. you’re a little taken aback by his gaze; his expression isn’t mean per se, but very intense, as if his entire focus is trained on you.

there’s a second’s pause, like he’s thinking about something before he speaks. “am i in your way?” he asks, never breaking eye contact. his voice doesn’t portray any particular emotion.

“i just have to get something really quick.” he steps aside and gestures to the rows of food without a word. you slip in beside him and grab what you need before moving away again. “thanks.” you think about telling him about the hair on his jacket but decide against it; your decision is solidified when you spot a wolf figurine keychain on his keys, faded from time but still distinguishable. it makes your breath catch.

there’s no way it could be him. it was kind of dark in the party house with nothing but string lights and lamps illuminating it, and everything happened so quickly…but you do remember the colors of that mask. red, yellow, black—and that dark gray for the fur.

but maybe it’s really all just a coincidence; how much sense would it make to turn every person with wolf paraphernalia and random stray hairs into a suspect?

you walk down the rest of the aisle and away from the man with growing unease. maybe it’s time to find jungkook so you can get out of here; you can hardly keep yourself together, and despite your best attempts at logic, you can’t stop yourself from getting more frantic about those two things.

speeding up your walk and weaving through people, you look down every aisle in search for jungkook before you find him, rushing over to him as you breathe heavily.

“whoa, what the hell is wrong? did somebody do something?”

“no, i…”

“what happened?”

“it’s the…well, the…i saw, uh…”

“y/n.”

“i saw—the mask. the fur from the mask. do you remember it?”

“…you mean that stupid ass werewolf mask?” you gesture for jungkook to lower his voice. “wait, you’re saying you saw it in here?”

“no, i saw a man who had a strand of hair on his jacket…” it starts sounding ridiculous to your own ears the more you speak, but you continue. “the strand—it was the same color as that fur. the same length! and he—he had some weird wolf keychain…”

jungkook stares at you for a long moment before sighing. “you’re not serious? a random strand of hair that could be from anybody or anything? that could be from someone’s fucking grandma for all we know. plus a keychain…maybe he just likes wolves, y/n.”

you already know that saying i just feel like something is off won’t be enough to convince him. you sigh with a deep sense of defeat, considering that he’s probably right. maybe your initial assumption was the more sensible answer. “…right. i think i’m just really fucked up right now after everything that happened. can we finish up here?”

“yeah, we will. because you definitely need to lay down soon or something. you haven’t had any sleep all night, right?” the way jungkook eyes you with concern as if you’ve lost your mind annoys you. you’re about to give a smart remark when you notice something in the carrying-basket he has.

“…a baseball bat?”

“if the killer comes after us again, duh. we’ll be prepared this time. or at least i will.”

“good luck with that if he happens to have another gun.” rolling your eyes, you brush past jungkook to go to one of the checkout counters.

in the parking lot, you see that the man from earlier has also come out and is putting the last of his grocery bags into his car trunk. there’s really nothing spectacular about his appearance that would make him stand out in a crowd, with his average height and average looks, let alone incriminate him as a serial killer. yet that familiar unease won’t leave.

he sees you and jungkook walking towards the car together, and his eyes dart to the bullet holes in jungkook’s car. then he makes eye contact with you. you give a half-hearted wave, unsure what else to do with his eyes stuck on you. for a moment, his lips turn up into the faintest smile before he shakes his head and gets into his own car.

MONDAY, NOV 6

you’ve spent half of saturday and all of sunday trying to get used to living in your sister’s house with jungkook. veronica had been surprisingly okay with having him stay over, though most of it was her being relieved you finally found “a potential boyfriend who’s actually cute.” you didn’t have the energy to argue with her.

you’ve also been constantly checking on camille (to her eventual annoyance) and seeing if there are any more updates on lorelai. still nothing. your dread grows the further away you get from that bloody friday, but you try to keep your thoughts from straying too darkly.

right now, you, veronica, and jungkook all sit on the couch together in a neat little row, a bowl of popcorn in front of you on the coffee table and some science-fiction B-movie playing on the TV. your sister proposed the idea to distract yourselves from everything going on, but so far, you feel like it isn’t very effective. at least not for you. your mind keeps wandering to other things every 5 minutes.

eventually, veronica yawns widely, stretching her arms and legs before rising off the couch. “okay, i’m getting tired as fuck. i need to go to sleep for work tomorrow anyway. you guys enjoy the rest of the movie, okay?” she pats your shoulder as she passes by you on her way out of the room.

jungkook waves. “oh, sure. goodnight.”

“night, sis.”

when jungkook’s attention goes back to the movie, your sister makes eye contact with you and points her finger at you menacingly. you give her a shocked look while she mouths you know what i mean and swirls her finger in jungkook’s direction. embarrassed at the implication, you roll your eyes and turn your head back to the TV screen. having sex with jungkook on your sister’s couch is not high on your list of priorities tonight.

after your sister is gone, jungkook spreads out on the couch like it’s his own living room, placing his legs right over your lap. you sigh, looking over at him—and hoping that your eyes don’t linger too obviously on the expanse of thigh muscle that’s now on display from his shorts riding up higher.

“…really? i don’t want your big ole legs in my lap.”

jungkook just grins. “you should lay down too, it’s more comfortable this way.” you stare at him, and he tries to egg you on by pulling the sleeve of your shirt. “come on.”

“i’m not laying down on top of you, if that’s what you’re after.”

you do end up lying down, but on the opposite side of the couch so that your legs are tangled together, which really just increases the amount of contact between you either way—but whatever.

this makes jungkook laugh more. “ha, it’s like we’re scissoring.”

“so damn corny.”

you two continue watching the rest of the movie, but by the end of it you don’t remember half of what happened. taking the remote, you flip through the channels and try to find something else to look at. there isn’t much interesting to watch on a random monday night—which would be a school night anyway, if not for the current context.

as you search for a channel, jungkook asks: “what would you do if you found out who the killer was?”

you squint your eyes at his odd question. maybe the obvious answer would be to alert the police. but after days of having your anger stoked like a fire, that’s not exactly the answer you’d choose. “maybe i’d kill him.” the words leave your lips easily, and you hardly think twice about them once they’re out.

neither of you speak for a few long moments.

“does that scare you?” you ask, after the silence starts annoying you. you want to laugh, but there’s nothing really funny about the situation.

“…not really. angry women are kinda sexy. so are dangerous ones.”

you scoff. “i’m not tryna be sexy, you fool. and how many dangerous women have you dealt with? seems to me you only have a thing for the innocents.”

“it’s not like i only fuck virgins. you don’t even know me like that.” he nudges your leg with his foot like he’s also annoyed, but his expression doesn’t show any actual irritation.

“…if you want to go back and forth about it, go outside and argue with the wall or something. i’m in no mood, jungkook.” you shove his foot off of you. “just, holy shit. i wish i could have just one hour where i don’t have to think about any of this shit. my mind can’t even breathe.”

he’s actually quiet for a couple minutes after. you think he’s moved on from the conversation until he finally says, “i can give you an hour.”

your body becomes alert at that. the insinuation in his tone is obvious. you glance backwards as if your sister could hear you from upstairs, though you know that’s illogical. “i got what i wanted from you already,” you whisper.

“so? what if i wanted to give you more? you know you’re allowed to have sex with a person more than once, yeah?” he chuckles.

here he is making you this offer, and once again you feel like you’ve been reduced to the state of a confused lamb in front of a hungry wolf. you realize that the idea of letting yourself get more physically entangled with jungkook scares you. he is not someone you can turn into a boyfriend, who wants to be a boyfriend, and you are only looking to save yourself from any potential hurt. “it would just be sex—right? you have to know i’m not looking for anything deeper from you.”

jungkook smirks. like with yoongi, you don’t know if he believes you. “i know.”

you want to undo almost everything from the past few days. you can’t forget, but for a while, you want to just exist outside of the timeline where there’s a killer on the loose and one of your friends is missing. it’s too much to handle; your body is approaching its limits for the amount of stress it can take. you need a balm to numb the pain and the fear, and you dislike that you are giving into your base instincts to do so. you feel guilty, somehow. but pleasure is easy. at least it has been whenever you sought it on your own—and now you have someone else to give it to you. someone who is in front of you now, proposing it with all the willingness in the world. maybe there’s really nothing wrong with saying yes.

“jungkook…”

“hm?”

“please just shut the fuck up and don’t say another word about the outside world right now. i don’t want to think about anything but your…” you falter, still trying to get used to expressing what you want sexually.

jungkook sits up, his hands sliding up your legs and to your hips. “but my what?”

“um, your…” your thoughts end when he leans down and pulls the hem of your sweater up, planting a kiss on your waist where your skin meets the waistband of your sweatpants. one kiss turns into a second, and a third. the fourth becomes an open-mouthed embrace of his lips on your skin, and you make a small noise of pleasure when his tongue gets involved.

“careful. don’t want veronica to come down here, remember?”

you huff. “that isn’t happening any time soon, believe me.”

his kisses continue as he begins to slide your sweatpants down, revealing the waistband of your panties. once they’re fully on display, he leans forward to nuzzle his face between your thighs, his mouth and nose pressing into the seat of your underwear. his actions take you off guard. you actually give a brief chuckle from surprise, though you are also somewhat embarrassed. “now what the hell are you doing?”

“let me savor my meal before i eat it.” his warm breaths tickle your inner thighs as he speaks.

“ugh, don’t turn me off.”

“that’s funny, because i seem to have an easy time getting you wet.” to prove it, his fingers press into the seat of your underwear to feel the wetness that’s seeped into them; you sigh from the brief pleasure his fingers’ movements afford you before he pulls them away.

jungkook drags your panties down next, his lips trailing down your lower abdomen and across the curls of hair covering your pubic mound. your body fills with anticipation at the gradual pace of his actions and the purposeful, wet caresses of his mouth.

when he uses his thumbs to press your lower lips apart and expose you more fully to him, you have half a mind to be self-conscious about it until he places his mouth on you in earnest.

jungkook eats like someone who hasn’t done so in a while and doesn’t know when he’ll get to do it again. his mouth sucks at your clit like he’s desperate for you to come, tongue rolling over the swollen nub in an unrelenting pattern that has your stomach tensing, and you quickly realize you do have to try to silence yourself even if you know it won’t wake veronica up. you twist your hands into the sleeves of your sweater and lean your head back on the couch’s armrest as you arch your hips up closer to jungkook’s face, uncaring about how vulnerable you feel completely offering yourself up to him like this; right now, all you want is to feel good.

“gonna come quick again? maybe we can set a new record?” jungkook pins your knee against the couch with his elbow to keep your legs open as he slides two fingers inside, diving straight in instead of working you up this time. your body breaks out in a sweat and you know you really won’t last long once he does this, the tips of his fingers aiming for that dreadful, wonderful, and overpowering place inside you. you don’t know how people do this—you feel like you’re going to die when he stimulates that spot, and all you want to do is scream even though you can’t.

“a r-record? fuck off…” you choke out, though you begin to rock your hips into the rhythm of his fingers, needing so badly for him to take you over the edge again.

he chuckles. “i don’t think you want me to fuck off right now.”

you have no words for a good comeback when he buries his head between your legs and slurps at your pussy again and crooks his fingers repeatedly to where your orgasm is unexpectedly rushing down upon you, causing your body to tense as you gasp and stifle any sounds that escape with your sweater sleeve.

jungkook doesn’t stop there and you don’t really expect him to, because you’re beginning to learn he isn’t a one-and-done type of man. he keeps sucking and stroking you right into another releasewhile you push the beanie off his head, fist your fingers into his strands, and tremble over the sight of his pitch-black mess of hair between your thighs. something about the visual is so appealing to you.

after he has made you come for the third time, you watch him sit up on his knees to reach into his shorts and pull his dick out, his darkened tip slick with precum. his long hair falls into his face as he glances downward, using the hand he’d been fingering you with to lube himself up with your cum.

“come here,” you tell him, your voice coming out sharper than you intended; but he doesn’t care, because he follows your request without a word and presses himself into your side. the couch is just big enough to accommodate both of you in this position, but it’s still a tight fit, and your bodies are once again tangled together.

“let me touch you,” you say, your palm pressed to his stomach, feeling the firmness of the muscle.

he raises his eyebrows, like you didn’t even need to ask. “of course.”

“no, i mean…” he realizes what you actually mean as you brush his hand away from his shaft and wrap your fingers around it instead.

“should i teach you how?” jungkook brings his hand to overlap yours, though his breath becomes a bit strained when you slide your hand to the base of his cock and back to the tip again, the pads of your fingers rubbing over the sensitive head. seeing your fingers around him turns him on more than he thought it could, and it’s just a simple fucking handjob.

you roll your eyes. “stroking a dickshouldn’t be that hard.”

“everyone likes it differently, though. fast, slow, soft, or rough…just the tip, or the whole shaft.” you can’t deny that—or the way you find yourself throbbing at his words, his voice husky from the pleasure. which is why you let jungkook close his hand more fully around yours and guide your movements.

it’s captivating to observe his reactions from your hand on his skin—the heavy breaths he lets out and the soft moans and even softer whimpers that come in between the exhales. whenever you squeeze his shaft more firmly or rub your thumb against his leaking tip, you find yourself grinning at the rise and fall of his chest and the tongue that darts out of his mouth to lick at his lips. but mostly, your eyes are drawn back to the sight of your hand working him over, his thighs and stomach tensing sporadically.

eventually, you both look away from your joined hands and at each other’s faces. your eyes dart to his lips and back to his gaze again, and you shift your face forward to signal your desire for a kiss. he meets you there by pressing his lips to yours, and it isn’t hard for him to get lost in the meeting of your mouths and the heat from your palm on his shaft.

your free hand returns to his soft hair to tug on it as your tongues slide against each other. he grunts at the burn of his roots being pulled but doesn’t stop you; on the contrary, his body responds favorably as more precum swells from his tip and his nipples poke against the material of his shirt.

“do you like that, jungkook?” you mumble against his mouth.

“you know i do.” at some point, his hand falls away and he lets you stroke him on your own.

jungkook gives a shuddering moan into your mouth when he climaxes minutes later, thick streams of his cum shooting onto his shirt and dripping down your hand. he tries to keep quiet and doesn’t entirely succeed, but it doesn’t much matter.

you squeeze the few remaining drops of cum from his cockhead, trying to make sure you don’t grip hard enough to actually hurt him. you pull your sticky hand away from jungkook when you think he’s finally emptied, but he grabs your wrist and you look at him questioningly. you watch with shocked eyes as jungkook brings your hand up and takes your messy fingers into his mouth, sucking his cum from them. you know instinctively it isn’t the first time he’s done this—not with the look of pure satisfaction on his features as he licks his own seed off your fingers.

his enthusiastic pleasure is part of the reason why you accept when jungkook gives you a crushing kiss, passing his cum from his tongue to yours. you don’t know what you expected it to taste like, but it isn’t gross like you’ve heard others complain about when sharing their sex tales; despite being salty, the overall taste is neutral. still, it takes some getting used to.

when you pull away from each other, noses brushing and lips wet from each other’s spit, you look into his dark brown eyes and get the sudden desire to say something that’s been buried in the back of your mind for days now.

“why did you come straight to me that night?” you whisper. “like you already knew who you were there for.”

jungkook stares back, his lips curving up slightly. “i just wanted to. or i wanted you, more specifically.”

“that’s not an answer.”

“well, it’s my answer.”

“was i another one to knock off your list?”

“you think i have a list?”

“i’m not stupid. it’s not unusual for guys to have a list. plus, plenty of rumors go around.”

jungkook taps his fingers underneath your chin and kisses you on the lips again, though it is brief. “stop believing everything you hear.”

you clearly won’t be getting a straight answer from him tonight. with the moment broken, you sigh and begin pulling your bottoms back on. “…whatever you say, dude.” once you’re dressed, you climb over his body to get off the couch. you poke him in the chest as your eyes roam over him in his disheveled state, his shorts pulled down and his cum staining his black shirt. “might wanna clean yourself up, huh? i’m going to sleep. and, yeah…thanks for the distraction.”

TUESDAY, NOV 7

with the weather being as cold as it is and heading toward winter in another month or so, lorelai is surprised by how quickly the bodies began to smell.

she doesn’t know much of anything about bodily decomposition—because, to her parents’ disappointment, she wasn’t about to be a biology major and have to be around cadavers in a dissection lab—but if this were a movie or something, she would’ve thought it would take longer than just one day. the smell started to hit her the saturday after the party.

but ultimately, this isn’t a movie, and the fact that she’s trapped in a decrepit house in some remote part of town is her present reality.

she doesn’t remember anything about how she got to this house; she thinks she must have been concussed before she was brought here. her head has been hurting badly for days, and not even the simple relief of a painkiller is available.

what she does know is that she’s being kept in a dirty living room on an equally dirty mattress, her hands and legs tied by rope and zip-ties. if there were any miniscule chance of her escaping, it would be impossible to go anywhere considering both her ankles are broken, only adding to the amount of physical pain she’s been in for days.

the living room is mostly empty except for the bodies of some other students from the party, which have been scattered around the room. lorelai tries not to look at them—especially not at the ones she knows—but it’s difficult. they become even more terrifying to her when night falls, turning into dark, rotting shadows in the corners of the room. there has been nothing but the company of these corpses for days, and a couple of visits from the killer.

he's never once taken off his wolf mask or his gloves, and every other part of his body stays covered in all black. she doesn’t have the first idea of what he looks like underneath it all. he has spoken to her a few times, but the voice isn’t one she recognizes. his words when she first awoke inside this house still knock around in her mind, filling her with dread.

he’d crouched in front of her, watching her move around on the mattress and try to orient herself. he had the casual air of someone observing a flipped-up bug struggle on the sidewalk before crushing it underfoot. “you aren’t y/n, but you’ll do for now. we’ll have some real fun later on. you’ll help me give her a good scare.”

“how the fuck do you know y/n?” lorelai had struggled against her restraints, but this only made her newly broken ankles hurt worse. tears began to fall from her eyes from the pain and fear.

the killer had said nothing to that—only tilted his head curiously and stared at her, which was unnerving even if she couldn’t see his eyes.

“you have no fucking reason to go after her, she’s not even a virgin anymore you dumb fuck—” with those words, the killer had backhanded her, sending her already injured head into a fresh wave of agony.

“things would’ve been different if not for that fucking party. you students think you’re so fucking clever, yeah? and look how you paid for it.” it was impossible to see any facial expression, but his body language spoke of anger. “no matter, though. virgin or not, i’ll see this through to the end.”

now it’s yet another morning, and he has returned. he has a lot of debris in his hands—stuff like sticks and dry moss and foliage. he’s also carrying a small bag, the contents of it a mystery. everything he does causes alarm for lorelai, but now confusion joins in.

“ready to have some fun?” he asks. with duct tape over her mouth, she can’t answer back. she watches as he arranges the debris on the ground in front of her, her anxiety mounting as he takes a lighter out of his pocket and sets fire to the foliage.

leaning forward, he rips part of the duct tape away from her mouth with his gloved hand, causing her face to sting. “got anything to say?”

“wh-what the fuck are you doing?”

“i’m gonna stoke a nice fire here…get this knife hot enough to hurt.” he brings out his knife then, and lorelai shrinks away from the blade as he drags the flat of it across her throat—but there’s nowhere else to go, as she’s sitting up against the wall. “then i’ll just cut this pretty little body up a bit. the finishing touch…i think i’ll slice your throat open. how does that sound?” he takes the knife away from her neck to hold the blade over the flames.

lorelai’s breath hitches, and her stomach begins to physically hurt from the outpouring of anxiety flowing through her. she starts to sob, trying to speak through the tears and snot and drool. the only question she can muster up is, “wh-why?”

“this is for y/n—remember? i hope that concussion hasn’t fucked with your memory.” the killer watches the reflection of the flames on the blade as it grows hotter. “and…i’m doing someone a favor.” he doesn’t wait for her to speak again before putting the duct tape back in place over her mouth, leaving her to cry to herself and face her rising distress as he heats the knife until it’s burning hot. internally, she wishes there was any way in the world to get out of this situation.

it isn’t much longer before he’s finished. lorelai screams as he approaches her with the knife, and then at the feeling of the red-hot blade scorching her skin, though the sounds are stifled by the duct tape.

“now, be still while i fix you up.”

WEDNESDAY, NOV 8

you go outside that afternoon to check the mail and have an excuse to get out of the house; it doesn’t matter if it’s only for a few moments. you’re not used to staying cooped up in one place for so long with absolutely nothing to do, and you feel like you’re not too far off from going mad with cabin fever. it hasn’t even been a week since everything happened.

you open the mailbox, and there are the usual bills along with something strange: a blank envelope with no return address. even your sister’s address isn’t written on it. flipping it over, you see that the envelope was never sealed. someone must’ve just come up and put it inside the mailbox. but who the hell would do that, and for what reason? whenever any of your neighbors have something to give you or your sister, they come straight up to the house to do it.

inside the envelope is a set of polaroids. their content makes you drop the rest of the mail. your legs grow weak, and you end up sitting down hard on the end of the driveway, some of the polaroids slipping from your hands. the pictures show the bodies of some of the students from your university, their corpses posed in odd positions and some bare of clothing—all dead.

you struggle to breathe as you frantically flip through the rest of the pictures. in the center of all the group photos is lorelai, her neck torn open and her wrists and ankles tied. she’s still dressed the way she was the night of the party, though her dress is stained with dark brown blood. there are open cuts all over her bare skin, their appearance rough-looking and uneven as if they’ve been cauterized.

there are several group polaroids, several of lorelai alone, and several angles of the outside of a house, which must be the same one the bodies are being kept in. one photo of lorelai slips out of your shaking hands, and you see there’s barely legible handwriting on the back of it, which reads, “this is just the teaser, y/n.”

you scream and don’t stop screaming until jungkook comes running out of the house holding the baseball bat, as if the killer might’ve gotten bold enough to attack in daylight. a couple of your neighbors peek out of their houses and make their way over with concern on their faces once they see you sitting on the ground, your exclamations ringing through the street.

there’s a disarrayed group of people around you grabbing at your shoulders and asking what’s wrong, what happened, and then gasps and exclamations of shock when they see the polaroids. you feel yourself being pulled to your feet and then lifted up—maybe it’s jungkook, because it smells like him—but you’re too disoriented to make proper sense of anything right now. you can only think of how much time has been wasted, and how little time lorelai actually had left.

SUNDAY, NOV 12

in the main lobby of the funeral home, you sit in a chair next to camille, staring into empty space while the other girl tries to cry as quietly as she can. she cries as if she’s ashamed of it, and you wish you could comfort her, but you don’t know what to say or do. for the past few days, you’ve mostly just felt numb.

you’re waiting for veronica to come back out so you can leave, as she’d stayed behind after the service to talk to lorelai’s family for a little longer.

lorelai’s family had opted to have her cremated after seeing the state of her body. a lot of other families did the same after the events of cherry bomb, not even wanting to entertain the idea of a closed-casket funeral. you can understand their feelings about it if you push through the haze in your mind to consider it for long enough. though the morticians have done the best they can over the past week, sometimes knowing that your loved one has multiple stab wounds and eviscerated organs beneath all the makeup and fancy clothing is too much to handle.

when veronica finally comes out, the three of you walk outside to join the rest of the people who’ve started getting in their cars. some still linger in small huddles, shaking their heads and wiping their faces.

jungkook, who’d driven you and veronica to the memorial, waits outside for you all, leaning on the side of the building. you both thought it was probably better for him not to attend the service considering lorelai was never fond of him and he didn’t know her that well.

“is it finished?” he asks.

“it is.” veronica sighs. “god, funerals are so damn…bleak.”

you notice a man waving at your group from the other side of the parking lot and realize it’s camille’s dad. her posture straightens when she catches sight of him, and she hurriedly tries to wipe the rest of her tears before shoving her tissue into her pocket. “i-i think my dad is waiting for me. i…i’ll see you guys later, alright?”

“okay, camille.” the strange absence of emotion that you’ve been trapped in for the past few days suddenly cracks open when you notice camille’s anxious demeanor as she speed-walks away from the rest of you. intense sorrow overtakes you; you don’t want her to leave, but she has to go.

you are crying before you fully understand what’s happening. veronica puts her arms around you and squeezes you against the side of her body. jungkook reaches a thumb up to wipe away your tears, though you don’t let him get very far before turning your head away and into veronica’s shoulder.

“y/n…”

“how am i supposed to go on?” you exclaim, catching the attention of a few people nearby. “the police said maybe she’s just staying with friends. and now look. plus, the killer knows where me and my sister live now…maybe he always knew.”

“we don’t even have a clue who the killer is…” jungkook mumbles. “there’s no one you know of who might have a grudge against you?”

“no, jungkook. the police already gave me all that questioning. and it doesn’t help me feel any better to think maybe all these deaths are somehow my fault.” you scoff.

“y/n, nothing’s your fault because some freak decided to go around killing people; that was his decision.” jungkook argues.

you nod slightly to his words but say nothing else, not wanting to go further into that topic. you don’t know if you can believe him about that.

the parking lot is emptying out now, so you try to pull yourself together so the three of you can leave. “well…you don’t need to keep staying with us if you don’t want to. we have those assigned bodyguards now, so…” you glance in the direction of one other car sitting beside jungkook’s—inside it are two men the police force appointed after the polaroids of the bodies were planted in your sister’s mailbox.

jungkook looks at you as if he’s trying to gauge your expression; he himself looks surprised, though he attempts to play it off. veronica glances between you both, recognizing the awkward shift in the air.

“you don’t want me there anymore? i mean it is your house—” he glances at veronica “—so that’s fine with me if—"

“what? i didn’t say i don’t want you there, neither did veronica, it’s just if you don’t want to be there—"

“i never said i didn’t want to be there, though?”

you both become quiet, jungkook looking at you and you returning his gaze for a few seconds before looking off to the side. veronica is still standing between you both like she’d rather be anywhere else on earth.

“i just figured that maybe…” why are you being so concerned about me? isn’t this the part where we go our separate ways? is what you really want to ask. you have seen and learned enough from your friends’ and even your acquaintances’ experiences to realize that any other one night stand would not have cared so much. that’s how these things go, right? but he isn’t really a one night stand anymore, either.

you don’t even know if you’re considered friends with benefits, but what would that change? you’d still seen others tossed aside without much thought by their FWBs while in times of need. considering his history, you don’t understand why jungkook isn’t following the same template now, and you don’t think you should ask why for fear of breaking the illusion.

fed up with your own confusion, you decide now isn’t the time to lament on your lack of knowledge about these things. “nevermind. that’s fine. so you’ll stay?”

the corner of his mouth lifts in a brief smile. “i’ll stay as long as you won’t try to kick me out.”

you aren’t in the mood to attempt to smile back, but he seems to understand that. “right, well...good.”

“…now that you two have figured that shit out, can we leave?”

FRIDAY, NOV 17

jungkook thought that getting outside a bit more would help you feel better and prevent you from developing a complete fear of leaving the house, which is why you’re sitting in this claustrophobic little diner now with him, yoongi, and camille—and of course, your ever-present bodyguards in the booth behind you all. but this outing isn’t doing anything to mitigate your fears.

nearly 10 minutes in, you have to ask jungkook to switch seats with you so you’re not on the outside of the booth, as you’re afraid that it’s too easy-access if anyone—say, the killer, though you’ve been trying not to think so obsessively about him—were to come in and start stabbing you to death right where you sit. being on the inside calms you for a little while until you become anxious about the window beside you; what if he has a gun again and simply shoots through the glass? all he’d have to do is stand on the sidewalk and aim, his werewolf mask laughing at you with its eternally frozen growling expression, and your brains would be all over the table just like that frat guy’s.

your meal sits half-eaten as you get increasingly lost in your anxieties. the others are talking about something, but you can’t hear what. it’s like some of your senses have shut down or begun working incorrectly. the strawberry sauce in camille’s sundae looks too much like blood and even smells like it from the occasional whiffs you get, and you find yourself staring at the sundae dish and wanting to throw it across the restaurant.

jungkook’s hand touches you on the back, and the tension in your body increases. he feels it and draws away, though he keeps trying to meet your eyes. “are you okay?” he whispers.

“why ask that? she obviously isn’t,” yoongi says, like he’s annoyed with the obviousness of jungkook’s question.

“hyung, i’m just trying to help.”

“it was your great idea to come out here when she didn’t want to, though.”

“y/n—” camille starts.

“can’t you throw that out? it smells like blood.” your mouth feels useless and hard to maneuver, but you manage to say those words.

“what?”

“the…that. that thing.” everyone looks at camille’s melting sundae. yoongi raises his eyebrows.

“blood?”

“do you mean it—looks like blood?” jungkook suggests.

you raise your voice in irritation, not understanding how everyone else is unable to perceive the same scent that you do. “no, i-it does, but it smells like blood too! just get rid of it!”

one of the waitresses comes over to the table. “is everything okay over here?”

“um, we’re fine! i’m finished with this though.” camille hurriedly hands the sundae off to her, trying to keep the situation calm.

“oh, well—the rest of you too? that’ll be it, then?” she gathers everyone’s plates and leaves with a smile that attempts to be cordial but is still colored with unease.

her departure leaves a stiff silence in which you all spare glances at each other but try to avoid directly meeting eyes. camille is the first to break it.

“i’ll ask my dad if i can stay over with you,” she suggests. she suddenly sounds much more tired. jungkook’s eyebrows furrow slightly at her words; yoongi silently glances at the younger man. “just, you know…maybe the extra company would help? he’s been treating me like a kid again, but we should be safe with the bodyguards there, so…”

“you don’t have to do that,” you say, though you’re too exhausted to truly argue.

“you’re in shambles, y/n. and it’s not just for your benefit. i’m feeling pretty fucking alone right now, and it’s hard for my dad to understand the emotional side of it, so…” camille plays with her fingers and doesn’t look at anyone as she speaks; you know talking about her father can be a sore spot for her sometimes. “uh, anyway. not to trauma-dump or anything. just let me do this.”

you sigh. “fine…okay. do whatever you have to. can we just leave?”

as you’re all walking outside, jungkook pulls you aside.

“i still worry about you after that incident at the store, you know?” he admits.

you shrug his hand off your arm and glare at him. “you think i’m crazy.”

“i don’t. i just want you to be able to relax and not feel like you’re being hunted 24/7. i don’t think the killer is constantly waiting around the nearest corner for you, y/n.”

“you don’t know how close the killer could be. he knows where i go to sleep at night. so stop the bullshit, jungkook.”

“you’ll be okay. you have me, remember? i protected you that night…i can do it again.”

you examine his face for a long moment and find that you are too overwhelmed with stress and fear to be moved by his words. “i’d like to trust you…but the killer might just murder you too. then who’ll save me?” you don’t wait for his response before walking away to catch up with the other two.

LYING IN WAIT...

it’s strange to see the police bodyguards in veronica’s driveway and backyard everyday. it’s not the same two all day—they switch off so that there are two doing a day shift and two doing a night shift.

the security team at the hospital where your sister works is aware of the situation, so you try not to get too worried about her safety when she’s away from the house—but it’s difficult.

there have been no more kills connected to your university since lorelai. it seems like half the town has forgotten their fears and tried to go back to some sense of normalcy while the other half still hides away and lives in perpetual panic, including you. the former group of people has started muddying the waters for the police, with some teenagers getting brave enough to sneak around in wolf masks and vandalize buildings with red-lettered virgin graffiti just to fuck with the cops. there have even been a few people who turned themselves in claiming to be the killer—only their supposed confessions never matched the details of the case.

reporters have tried to hound lorelai’s family and your family several times for any speculations or answers on the killer’s identity, but none of you are willing to spread misinformation just to give them something to write about. however, that hasn’t stopped other residents of your town from sharing their speculations and even implicating their own relatives or neighbors—whether as a fucked-up joke or as genuine revenge just depends on whoever’s speaking. with all of these false leads, the police are still no closer to finding the killer than they’d initially been.

everyday feels like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, though the chances of any more kills are starting to seem improbable; the university is practically empty. but it doesn’t matter to you if the school is nearly deserted, because the killer has his aims set on you now, and you only wish you knew why.

up in your room, you and camille sit on your bed gazing out the window—the window that must always remain locked now, for fear of unwanted ingress. you’ve never been uncomfortable in your sister’s house, but lately you’ve been feeling like you’re boxed in with every wall pressing towards you.

sitting up from your lying-down position, you have to find the appropriate words for a moment before speaking. “camille—i can’t stop feeling like maybe we aren’t entirely safe,” you murmur.

camille raises her eyebrows. “why not? those guys stay outside all day, and we keep everything locked up day and night. literally, the only time the front door opens is for veronica to leave and come back from work everyday.”

“i don’t know. there’s no particular reason for it…it just seems like we’re waiting for something.”

“…yeah? for the killer to be caught.”

“but he’s made no moves recently. you remember the policeman’s daughter, right? i even texted her and she hasn’t heard anything new that we don’t already know. seems like things have slowed down at the police station. it’s not like that abandoned house was in the killer’s name or anything, so what leads would they have?”

camille frowns and rubs her eyes like something’s in them, but when she looks at you directly, you see her eyes are red from unshed tears. “…i want things to be okay, though. i’m tired of living like this. you know how i had to beg just to get my dad to let me leave the house. he’s constantly on edge.” you feel even more unsettled to see camille so distressed lately, as she’s always been the only one able to pull something funny out of a terrible situation—something enough to distract you from the horrors. “all i know is they’ll have to dig his ass out of some hole in the ground at some point. he can’t hide in this town forever.”

“yeah…i guess you’re right.” you still don’t feel reassured, but you don’t voice your doubts.

WEDNESDAY, NOV 22

“i think i might go mad,” camille says from her position on the armchair, her limbs splayed haphazardly across it and one hand stuck in a bag of chips.

you sigh. “you’re the one who wanted to watch this thanksgiving movie marathon.”

“the most mid holiday of the season,” jungkook adds.

“no one cares what either of you think, thanks.” it isn’t long before the program is over and the ending credits are rolling. with an exaggerated exhale, camille gets up from the chair and crunches the bag of chips in her hand. “i’m going to your room, y/n. you two just do whatever it is you do down here, since you hate my movie choices so much!”

“means we can finally turn the channel.” jungkook snatches the remote off the coffee table and does just that.

camille goes into the kitchen to throw out the chip bag and wash her hands. your focus returns to the TV. a few seconds later, you hear the upstairs flooring creak above the noise of the water pouring from the tap.

“what’s up, sis? i thought you were sleeping.” veronica is known to be a deep sleeper, so it’s not common for her to be getting up in the middle of the night. there’s no answer to your question. you glance upstairs, but your sister isn’t standing there; she isn’t standing at all, instead being carried by someone wearing an all-too familiar mask.

you scream as the killer tosses your sister over the stair railing. her torso has been sliced open from collarbone to navel, her body leaving a large splatter of blood on the floor where she lands. jungkook jumps to his feet but is momentarily immobilized as he gazes at your sister’s body crumpled on the floor. you slide off the couch and crawl over to her, still crying out, but there’s no life left to try and salvage.

the screaming brings camille rushing to the kitchen doorway. she can barely vocalize what’s wrong? before spotting veronica’s body and stopping in her tracks. in a moment that feels like it takes forever to pass, the killer pulls a gun from his waistband—you recognize it as one of the guns the policemen carry and realize he must’ve killed the bodyguard posted in the backyard—and shoots her in the chest twice.

“camille!” when you go over to where she’s lying on the ground, she is still alive but bleeding intensely and struggling to breathe. your knees slip in the blood that begins pooling around her. “shit, camille…p-please don’t die…” you press your hand against the wounds, but they’re bleeding so much that your efforts don’t help, and the pressure of your hand causes her more pain.

there’s the sound of a gunshot at the front door as the lock is blown off, and the door is banged open a few seconds later by the remaining bodyguard. he has virtually no time to fire off another shot before the killer is shooting him in the head first.

the killer throws the gun aside, taking his knife in his other hand and making his way down the stairs. “your sister left her window cracked open. i waited for days for a slip-up like that. see how much harm can come from a simple mistake? well, she was collateral damage anyway.”

even in your panic, it’s as if all your bodily functions freeze when you recognize the familiarity of the killer’s voice. camille reacts with a rattling gasp, but her body is becoming too weak for her to utter anything; all she can do is watch as the man stops at the bottom of the stairs and pulls his mask off.

“yoongi…” your voice breaks as you try to speak again, but nothing coherent comes out.

he drops the mask on the floor and brushes a hand through his hair. “i guess you weren’t expecting that. good. we kept it up ‘til the end.”

your lips form around the word we, but your vocal cords won’t cooperate. you twist around to look at jungkook, who is still standing by the couch.

the man who you’d gotten too close to for your own good and done so many firsts with, who’d promised you that he’d protect you and was even there for you on the day of lorelai’s memorial, looks at you now with eyes glowing from the thrill as his mouth twitches into a smile—small at first but growing into a full grin. “i almost can’t believe we staged all that shit and it actually worked. you really believed it all, y/n.

not all of those kills were hyung’s, of course...there’s no way i’d miss out on the best parts. you don’t know what it’s like until you kill a person for the first time. crashing cherry bomb was his idea, though. and lorelai was mine. that bitch would’ve kept you away from me, and i needed her gone for this kill to work.”

through tears, you finally muster up the strength to ask, “wh-why have you done this? that night…y-you mean to tell me none of that was real? being shot at—why would you—” your voice rises until you’re shouting. “you-you’ve killed so many people. what was the purpose?!”

jungkook’s smile fades somewhat as he pretends to think about it, acting like he’s reminiscing on wistful memories. “i realized that killing and fucking aren’t that different, y/n. the real ecstasy of it is in taking someone pure…and doing something to them that has never been done before, and can never be done again. there’s a certain eroticism in killing someone, stabbing them, entering them…it’s like sex in the most profane sense.”

“you’re disgusting,” you mutter, glaring at him through your tears. you can’t help but feel shame to think of the times you’d had sex with him. had he simply been imagining murdering you during those moments? it makes you want to throw up.

yoongi steps closer until he’s right in front of you and camille. “and as for me…i just enjoy it. practice really does make perfect. you wouldn’t believe how entertaining it can be to see someone beg for their life.” his lips turn upwards in a dark smile resembling jungkook’s. “but instead of raging at us, i think you have bigger matters to be concerned with.” yoongi gestures his knife hand to camille, and when you look down at her body, you realize she’s no longer moving.

you lift camille’s head up with your hands as if that could make her return your gaze, though you can find no sign of breathing or pulse. “god, no…” you scream in frustration, your hands slipping in her blood. you check once more and again for any signs of life, because there is just no possible way this could’ve happened, but there are none present. “please—i’m sorry…”

“time’s up.” yoongi grabs your arm and yanks you away from camille, jostling you to try to get you on your feet. you flail around in his grip, fruitlessly scratching at his arms that are covered by his thick jacket, before managing to elbow him in the groin with your frantic movements. “shit!” this causes him to loosen his grip, which is enough for you to scramble away from him, slipping in the blood as you go.

you make it to the other side of the room where the officer lies facedown—though there isn’t much left of his face from yoongi’s shot. you snatch the gun from the dead officer’s hand and point it in the direction of both men. the safety is already off; all you’d have to do is pull the trigger and kill either one of them right now. before you can act, yoongi uses his free hand to pull another gun from his waistband—his own.

“as i said before, i know how to take care of myself,” he says, flicking the safety off and aiming for you, though his stance shows he’s still in pain. “please don’t assume it’ll be that easy. do you even know how to shoot a gun?”

you and yoongi are at an impasse as you both point your guns at each other, jungkook looking on with casual amusement coloring his face. “fuck you,” you spit out. you remain hesitant to fire on him, knowing that even if you succeed, he could fatally shoot you at the same time.

“let’s not do it this way,” yoongi says, his voice low and soft in an attempt to be persuasive, though you just find it disturbing. “you were supposed to be a clean kill. a few stabs and it’d all be over. i’ll even let jungkook do it, since you seem to like each other so much. do you really want to be shot down like a dog like camille over there?”

“you and him can both fry in hell!” you shout.

yoongi glances over at jungkook. they both nod before yoongi hands the knife to him, and the younger man takes a few steps in your direction. you don’t know whether to point the gun at him or keep it trained on yoongi; your head is pounding with a headache that you’ve only just realized you have. “don’t come over here. stay away from me!”

you press your back to the wall as jungkook comes closer, inching towards your right side with his knife at the ready. you slide away from him as you keep your back against the wall. “hand it over, y/n. it doesn’t have to be like this.”

“hand it over and let you kill me? are you insane? you lied to me this whole time, you fucking piece of shit.”

jungkook scoffs and looks at yoongi as if to say can you believe this? “why wouldn’t i lie to you? you were always meant to die.”

he won’t stop coming towards you, and you’re running out of room to slide away from him. you grasp for anything to try to reason with him, though you know it’s futile. “you realize that if you kill me now and you conveniently survive, everyone will know it’s you? you’ve been living here for weeks, you jackass!”

“hyung and i have that covered. it’s not for you to worry about, considering you won’t be worrying about anything soon.”

jungkook lunges for you with the knife, thinking he can catch you off guard and overpower you. you scream and pull the trigger in your frenzied state of mind, shooting yoongi. the next few things seem to happen almost simultaneously:

you hear the crash of yoongi’s body hitting the TV stand and the TV falling to the floor.

you feel jungkook’s knife piercing your shoulder, causing you to fire a stray round into the wall from the unexpected burst of pain.

you hear another gunshot that’s not from you; you see and feel jungkook stumble into you, the knife sliding from his fingers and to the floor.

you realize that he’s been shot when his hand flies to the bullet wound on his lower back; he’d been standing in front of you, and yoongi meant to hit you, not him.

“jungkook!” yoongi’s shout is furious and regretful as he steadies himself on the TV stand.

trying to push the pain into the back of your mind, you clumsily grasp jungkook’s fallen knife and run for the stairs. more shots follow you and most of them miss but one, which strikes you in the thigh. while you cling to the stair railing and try to regain your footing, you are suddenly staring mortality in the face and understanding with a freezing-cold clarity that you will die right now if you don’t do something.

your nervous system vibrates with fear and adrenaline as you tighten your grip on the police officer’s gun and shoot yoongi with it twice—in the same area he’d shot camille.

these last two bullets finish him off immediately. you don’t think it’s fair, with how camille suffered and bled and died in your arms. for a moment, you’re so outraged that you wish he’d come back to life so that you could kill him again. you’re torn from these thoughts by jungkook.

“you bitch…he was my only family after everyone else threw me away. do you understand? i’ll fucking kill you!” jungkook is nearly writhing in the ground from his upset and from the hurt of his injury; it frightens you that this same man is someone you once thought you could grow fond of.

you aim the gun for jungkook next, but the chamber is empty. either way, he currently has no weapon, which leaves you with a small chance to get away before he re-arms himself. throwing the gun away, you stagger up the rest of the steps while his screams continue echoing up to you.

you give no thought to the blood trail you’re leaving behind as you rush to veronica’s room and to the window yoongi had entered through. you begin squeezing yourself through, keeping your grip on your knife all the while, but your injuries make it difficult to move. a few more tears slip out as you try to balance your injured leg on the tree branch beneath the window, and the desperation of wanting to give up clings to you.

you hear jungkook’s heavy and limping footsteps coming up the stairs, and you attempt to hurry, but you’re only halfway out of the window. when he crashes into the room, it’s unnervingly easy for him to grab your arm and yank your body back through the window, uncaring of how you get scraped up in the process.

he jams you up against the nightstand with one of the kitchen knives to your neck to stop your movements; his harsh maneuver causes the objects on the nightstand to rattle. the nightstand’s edge digs into the backs of your thighs, the pressure causing your wounded thigh to hurt more.

“you want to know why i picked you?” jungkook hisses, the knife’s blade stinging your throat as it begins to break skin. “you were just another choice out of many, but i decided you’d be the first one that i’d fuck and kill.”

it’s painful to hear, but it angers you at the same time. “fuck you!” in your rage, you spit in his eyes. jungkook jerks back and the knife shifts from its previous position at your neck; you take those few seconds to grasp the alarm clock off the nightstand and crash it against his head.

“shit—!” he cries out, stumbling and grasping the side of his head. he tries to grab for you again, but you jump onto the bed and crawl away from him, your stomach lurching at all of veronica’s blood soaked into the sheets. you spot a small decorative glass bowl on the dresser—the one filled with little candies that you’d always teased veronica for, saying she was so much like a grandma handing out treats to her grandchildren. when your feet touch the ground again, you clasp your hand around it like it’s a lifeline and fling it at jungkook’s head as hard as you can, just as he makes it around the bed to your side. the shards cut his face when it breaks, slowing him down further as he grabs his slashed and bleeding face. one of his eyes is blinded from the blood and glass.

this will probably be your only chance while he’s struggling to gather himself. you rush towards him with the knife handle tight in both of your hands and drive the blade into the middle of his chest, putting all your strength into that movement—just as his own knife impales your abdomen.

you are both simultaneously struck from the shock of being stabbed, and it takes you a few long moments to piece your mind back together as the pain radiates throughout your body. jungkook groans when you shift the knife around in his wound as you pull it out, letting his blood flow out freely. his breaths become wet and rattling as he chokes on his own blood, the red fluid staining his mouth and dripping down to his neck. he jams his knife further into your wound in retaliation so that the handle is flush against your body, causing your head to spin.

“i-if i die, i’m taking you w-with me.” jungkook gasps with his remaining effort. his body starts to sag from its standing position as he weakens, his hand slipping from the knife handle. he loosely grasps the comforter with one hand as he collapses to his knees, his torso becoming soaked with blood and his head bleeding from your earlier hits.

you drop your knife and lean against the bed too, shifting your body to find a position that could lessen the pain, but it’s impossible with a knife lodged in your abdomen. you know enough to understand that you’ll bleed out faster if you remove it, though, so you resist the urge. “you can rot in hell alone, jungkook.” you watch him struggle for what feels like minutes before his breaths stop altogether and his body slumps to the floor. he is just a blur of clothes and blood through your tears. you’ve never felt so lonely in your life.

you have a thought to call 911, but you’re becoming more and more lightheaded from the blood loss, and you can already hear sirens approaching on your street. you figure one of your neighbors must’ve called after hearing the gunshots; perhaps the bodyguard sent for backup before he was shot. your rescue has come much later than you would’ve preferred—or maybe everything just happened much faster than it seemed. you can’t tell anymore.

you can’t tell anymore, and you no longer want to look at the carnage around you, and nothing makes any sense. so, you close your eyes to it all; and when you feel someone lifting you in their arms—this sensation is so familiar—and maneuvering you onto a stretcher, you allow yourself to relent to it and empty your mind of everything.

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kitkatkitzune · 7 months ago

Text

NO ONE SHOULD BE ALONE ON CHRISTMAS

Pairing: Theo Raeken x Fem!reader

Summary: You can’t get into the holiday spirit, not with a certain Chimera on your mind.

Warnings: Fluff, One use of Y/N, Inconsistencies in the tense it’s written in (my bad)

Notes: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!!

Word Count: 991

MASTER POST , TEEN WOLF MASTERLIST

———————

You knew that he was the bad guy. Emphasis on ‘was’. Theo Raeken was different after coming back from hell and anyone with eyes could see that.

The pack still didn’t trust him and you couldn’t blame them but you still felt sympathy for the chimera.

You couldn’t shake the thought of him from your head as you sat in Derek’s flat. Everyone was there. Everyone except for him. Even Peter was there! It didn’t make sense to you how they could forgive Peter after he repeatedly screwed you all over but couldn’t even give Theo a chance to redeem himself.

The worst part was that Theo was actively trying to be better, Peter never changed. Theo had helped you all fight the Ghostriders, he had fought the hunters, and now that everything had calmed down, he was still trying to be good. Trying to unlearn all the bad he was taught.

Your thoughts are interrupted when Kira waves her hand in front of your face, “Are you okay?”

“Hm?” you hum, looking up to see everyone looking at you, “Oh, I’m just wondering when we’re going to open the secret santa gifts…”

Liam and Stiles both cheer at the mention of presents, dashing towards the large Christmas tree you had bullied Derek into putting up. You laugh a bit at their antics as they pass out the gifts, not noticing the way Kira glances at Scott to see if he also noticed your behavior. He nods and mouths, ‘I’ll talk to her’.

Everyone begins to open their gifts, you had Stiles for secret santa and had gotten him a Darth Vader action figure that you knew he wanted. He practically squeals like a child when he sees the collectible and you let out a little laugh at his reaction.

Malia had you for secret santa, something you already knew because she didn’t understand the concept of it and immediately told you. She got you a large bag of Hershey’s Kisses, she said she remembered you eating them once and that food was the best gift. Malia failed to hide her annoyance when the gift she received wasn’t food related.

After opening your gift, you began to get lost in your head. You were trying to be happy but you couldn’t be when you knew a certain chimera was out there, all alone on Christmas.

Scott sets a hand on your shoulder, making you nearly jump out of your seat.

“What’s on your mind?”

You shrug, not wanting to admit the truth, knowing he won’t like it, “Nothing… just zoned out.”

“You know I can tell when you’re lying.”

You groan, cursing him and his werewolf abilities, “It’s fine, Scott.”

He sighs, “Listen, if you need to leave… or just want to go home… you can. No one is going to be upset, just don’t leave without telling someone, we don’t need to be trying to hunt you down only for you to be curled up on your couch.”

You laugh a bit, considering the idea before you tilt your head, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Then I’m going to head out… I’m not feeling well,” it wasn’t a complete lie, “tell everyone I went home?”

Scott nods, pulling you into a hug before walking you to the door.

That’s how you got here, driving around Beacon Hills, looking for Theo’s truck. You had seen it parked all around town in different spots and you had a sinking feeling that he was staying in it.

It didn’t take you long to find him, he was pulled off the road, near the woods. You slowly approach the truck and peek in the back window. There’s Theo, curled up and crammed in his back seat. You knock on the window of the truck and he jumps awake, his eyes go wide at the sight of you.

He reaches into the front of the truck and unlocks the door so he can roll down the window, “Y/N?” he calls out.

“Hey Theo…”

He rubs the sleep from his eyes, “What are you doing here? Is everyone alright?”

You nod, “Everyone’s fine…” you glance at the blankets he has piled around him to try and keep warm, “Do you wanna come sit in my car? The heats on.”

Theo stares at you for a moment, trying to figure out what you’re getting at, what ulterior motive you could have. He thinks of many but decides that it doesn’t matter, he’d do near anything right now to get warm.

So he agrees, this is how you end up with Theo Raeken in the passenger seat of your car, sitting in silence. You stare ahead as he stares at the side of your head. You had been thinking of this moment all night and now that you were here, you had no idea what to say.

You decide to reach for the bag of kisses and silently tilt the bag towards him to offer him some of the chocolate. Theo takes one, popping the kiss into his mouth all while keeping his gaze locked on you.

After another moment, he breaks the silence, “Why are you doing this?”

You turn to him, “What do you mean?”

“Being nice to me,” Theo clarifies, “after everything I’ve done, to you and your friends.”

“Because I think you deserve a second chance regardless of what Scott and my friends think.”

“I tried to kill Scott.”

You roll your eyes, “Everyone has tried to kill Scott, Peter tries to kill him every other day and we keep him around.” you smile at him, “Now, how about we go watch some cheesy Christmas films while drinking hot chocolate in a nice warm house?”

Theo stays silent, observing you and how you seem so genuine towards him. He had never met someone who was so kind to him.

You put your car in drive, “Besides, no one should be alone on Christmas.”

#kit kat writes <3 #theo raeken x reader #theo raeken #teen wolf #fluff #christmas #theo raeken x you #theo raeken x y/n #scott mccall #stiles stilinski #kira yukimura #malia tate #derek hale #peter hale

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nkjemisin · 1 year ago

Note

Hello! I’ve been seeing a lot about your work on social media lately and would love to read your books. What series do you recommend I start with?

Thanks ☺️

That depends on your taste/interest. I don't really write the same kind of thing from series to series, because I get bored easily and often want to try new subgenres/styles/etc. So I'll just briefly list my series and you can pick the one that appeals the most.

There's the Inheritance Trilogy, (link goes to the first book) my first published novels. A secondary world that has enslaved its own gods deals with the repercussions of that, from the POVs of three mortals. There's an overarching plot arc for all three books -- and there are some side-stories for this trilogy, too -- but each has a different narrator and takes place at different times. First person past tense, if you care about that sort of thing. (I don't, but some people seem weirdly attached to/repulsed by particular persons/tenses, so I'm including that info here.)

Then there's the Dreamblood Duology, which were actually written before the Inheritance books but I couldn't get them published at first because publishing in the 2000s was hella racist, basically. (I know, it hasn't changed much... but that little bit of change was enough for me to break in.) These books are as close to traditional fantasy as I'm probably ever going to get, except that they take place in faux ancient Egypt instead of faux medieval Europe. The story follows priests of the dream goddess as they're forced to deal with a conspiracy that threatens to inflict horrors on their society. Third person past tense for both books.

Next up is the Broken Earth trilogy. That's my experimental one, with first, second, and third-person POVs, present tense, a completely non-Earth world, and some heavy themes. All three books form a single story spanning, oh, forty thousand years or so, but mostly they're centered on one incredibly angry middle-aged mother who is on a roaring rampage of revenge/revolution. Features earthbenders, anti-magic groomers, magic statue people, and the apocalypse (again). Lots of "dark" themes and horror moments (harm to children, systemic bigotry, people-eating bugs, more).

My most recent books are the Great Cities duology. Urban fantasy set in modern-day New York, third person multiple POV ensemble cast. Turns out cities come to life once they hit a certain point, and then they claim a human avatar to represent and protect them. New York turns out to have six. It's also got some very unwanted tourists in the form of Lovecraftian entities that are trying to destroy it, along with reality as we know it. I meant for these to be lighthearted and silly and I think they kind of are, but there are still some notable political elements in them. (I mean, it's set in modern-day New York, and I started them the year Trump got elected, so...) It's lighthearted for me, anyway.

So, pick your poison!

#answered asks

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grapehyasynth · 10 months ago

Note

wilmon + “there was a shuffling noise, and then simon’s dark silhouette disappeared outside the tent”

This arose from the oh no is simon CRYING in the tent scene?! conversations. Also, I don't think I've written Felice's POV before!!! I changed this to present tense because it Felt Right to me and I knew you would want me to follow my heart <3

There's a shuffling noise, and then Simon's dark silhouette disappears outside the tent.

Felice waits for Wille to follow. He doesn't.

Something in the way Simon had quickly averted his gaze when she entered the tent earlier is nudging at the edges of her sleepy consciousness, keeping her awake. She debates just shaking Wille awake and telling him to go check on your boyfriend, but she heard them fighting, so maybe Simon wouldn't even want that right now. With a small huff, she sits up.

It's freaking cold outside of her sleeping bag, even with her puffy vest and fleece-lined leggings, but at least the moon is full over the forest when she steps outside, so she doesn't have to turn on her phone flashlight. She hesitates, one hand still on the tent flap; maybe Simon has actually just gone to pee? But then she sees a hunched form on a fallen tree on the edge of their campsite.

Dry pine needles crunch under her sneakers as she creeps towards him. He hears her a few paces away, glancing over his shoulder, and the moon shines on his wet eyes before he quickly looks away, one hand rising to swipe at his cheeks with his sweatshirt sleeve.

"Oh, Simon," she whispers. She sits closer to him on the log than she otherwise would, and after a moment's hesitation puts an arm around him. She can hear his breath hitch a little at the offer of comfort. "Are you okay?"

He starts to nod, then shrugs and shakes his head all at once; it ends up a noncommittal gesture that is probably, she thinks ruefully, accurate.

They sit in silence for a moment, Simon trying to hide his sniffles as Felice rubs a hand up and down his arm.

"Have you ever had a summer job?" he asks quietly.

"No," she admits, wrinkling her nose at him when he glances at her. "Sorry."

He chuckles wetly and shakes his head. "You don't have to apologize."

"Is that what you two were fighting about?" She isn't sure she wants to know; she likes Simon, of course, but she feels like she's Wille's friend first. She's navigated enough of other people's friendship fights and relationship breakups to know better than to try to counsel both parties.

"No. I mean, yeah, but. Not really." He looks at her, and she isn't sure whether to hope for him to say more or not. He seems to have the same debate with himself. In the end, he shakes his head a little and looks back out at the trees, chewing at his lip.

"I'm sure you guys will figure it out," she offers, but it feels hollow even as she says it. "He's crazy about you."

"Yeah," Simon murmurs. "I should probably just focus on that."

She doesn't stay long after that, leaves him on the log with a gentle squeeze to his shoulder. He looks up at her gratefully, but she can still see his downtrodden expression when she's back in her sleeping bag, trying to sleep again.

#wilmon #young royals

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the-ellia-west · 1 year ago

Text

Silver Blood and a Glass Crown

Alkain Short Story 2/3

(It’s got a lot of small time skips and setting changes)

This was Written very Quickly in 3 days because of procrastination, I'm sorry (ToT)

I hope you Enjoy it!

(This one is very long, Also sorry, Lovelies!)

Alkain smoothed the map across the table with all four arms, arranging the pieces over the miniature landscape. “So this is the situation, correct?”

The messenger nodded sagely. “Yessir.”

“Then I suggest you move battalions here, here, and here. They can stay hidden amongst the trees here.” He moved a few of the pieces. “You don’t want to strike first in case the negotiations go well, and we don’t have to fight.”

“If I may, this seems a bit excessive sir.” The General stepped up beside him.

“Hm, you’re right.” Alkain pulled back, studying the map as his voice dropped to a contemplative mutter, “Better safe than sorry...”

“Mister Ciranes!” Another messenger slammed the doors open, panting. “The King Requests your presence in the throne room immediately!”

“Understood.” The elf fixed the cuffs of his uniform and bolted down the hallway. He didn’t want to make a mistake. Not here, not now, not after he’d gained so much in his mother’s memory and finally earned the king’s favor.

The Advisor brushed off his uniform, tried to smooth out his hair, and trotted into the room. “Your majesty,” He dropped to one knee, silently cursing his frazzled appearance.

“Ah! Alkain, rise. It has come to my attention that the Valerίan princess will arrive this evening instead of three days later because of tensions on the road and the rushed negotiations.”

The elf glanced up. “Yessir?”

“I called you here to tell you this because it now means you must be extra vigilant in your duties tonight. You are one of the most prevalent advisors she’ll be dealing with throughout the negotiations, so if possible I’d like you to greet her in my place.”

Alkain tensed, shocked at the question as he nervously ran his upper hands through his sandy golden waves, holding the other two to his chest for comfort. “It would be an honor, Your Majesty! Is there anything else?”

The king examined him with scrutiny and frowned. “Did you run here?”

“Um… Yessir.” Alkain shrank in on himself. “May I go, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, but may I ask where you’re so eager to leave me for?”

“My room sir. If I present the palace to the princess, I ought to look presentable myself. If I could… Your majesty.”

The King nodded thoughtfully, taking the crown from his head. “I understand, and I agree.”

Alkain folded his lower arms behind his back and nodded once. “Thank you, sir.”

But he jumped as the king called toward one of the doors, “Kinnea!”

A young servant girl stepped into the room, bowing her head. “Yes, your majesty?”

“I intended to gift a stylist to each of my advisors, and since you need one, this is Kinnea. Kinnea, could you attend to Mister Ciranes here? If you would.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” She nodded sagely and looked up, deep scarlet eyes sparking with worry.

Alkain rubbed his wrists nervously. “Thank you, your majesty.”

“You’re very welcome. Now, I’m going to check on my son. You two have fun!” The King motioned for Alkain to go as he left the room.

The elf waved for Kinnea to follow him and stopped when he reached the door. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I respond to orders, sir. It’s my job. You haven’t given one.”

“Oh, uh… right. Follow me, please.”

“Was that a request or an order?”

Alkain sighed. “I’ve never had a servant before. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Kinnea set her shoulders and put her hands behind her back, “You don’t have to justify yourself to me. I’m here to serve you, sir.” She wove around him and held the door, bowing her head. “My orders?”

***

Alkain adjusted his suit's neckline, tie, and tailcoat as he glanced back at Kinnea. “You’ve outdone yourself.”

The servant nodded and stepped back as the carriage pulled around the bend. Glittering glass strings hanging from the ornately carved frames jingled against one another as the horses slowed and one whinnied.

The King’s advisor held up a hand as a servant rushed forward, pulling the carriage door open himself. He bowed and gestured one arm toward the doors. “Your Royal Highness, Welcome to Seikaria, it is our honor to have you! Allow me.” He offered her a hand.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Miss.”

“The pleasure is all mine…” She trailed off, raising an eyebrow at him as she took his hand.

“Alkain. Alkain Ciranes, Your Highness.”

“It’s wonderful to make your acquaintance, Alkain. Might I ask, what your position is that you would be sent to greet me in place of the king?”

“I am an advisor, your Highness, and a negotiator. The King wishes you well, but he cannot greet you himself as he is busy finishing the preparation for your arrival. You did arrive quite a bit earlier than expected, would you like to see the palace?”

“It would be my pleasure.” The Princess smiled at him and allowed him to take her arm and lead her toward the palace doors.

Kinnea followed close behind as Alkain and the princess made polite conversation. “We’re so glad to have you, your highness.”

“Valeran and Seikaria have been at odds for far too long. We must agree upon a treaty as soon as possible.”

“Do you think there will be peace?”

“There has to be, and I have no doubts with you in the negotiations.”

“You flatter me, your Highness.” Alkain bowed his head. “This is the war room where we will discuss the treaty.”

He led her through the halls, showing her to the ballroom as the King sent for him.

“Your Royal Highness!” The king smiled at the princess. She clung to Alkain’s arm, and smiled, though her voice came pleasantly through gritted teeth.

“Your Majesty, it is good to see you!”

“I’m glad to see you too Nirscia.” The King bowed to her. “And you, Alkain! You look good, I’m glad Kinnea did her job well!”

“My presence has probably become bothersome to two minds so great as yours. I will be on my way. It was truly an honor to make your acquaintance, your Royal Highness.”

“It is truly a pity to see you go. Must you?” Her smile lifted a little as he let go of her arm.

“It seems I must, I hope I will meet you again.” He bowed.

“I’ll still be within the walls for a few more weeks, don’t say farewell too soon. I may miss you myself!” She raised a hand, and Alkain retreated, smiling.

“He's one of your advisors?”

“Correct.”

“He's very sweet. I think I'll enjoy his company.”

“I'll be sure to tell him that for you.” The King smiled. “I hope you have a good time here. But before we join in on any of the festivities, I would like to discuss things.”

Throughout the rest of the night, the princess was warmly welcomed by the palace officials and servants and retired to her room late after the sun had already gone to rest beyond the horizon.

Alkain drew the blinds and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. Everything seemed different now. What with the princess in the castle, there would have to be double the preparations and double the meetings to compensate for the negotiations.

He sighed. Closing his eyes, when all of a sudden, a hand reached over him and he jumped, pulling the knife from his sleeve and holding it to her neck. Kinnea glanced down at the knife, unflinching. “Sir. I don't think the king would appreciate a death in the palace while the princess is here.”

“Oh… it's you.” Alkain lowered the knife. “What are you doing?”

“Taking off your suit, sir. It would be uncomfortable to sleep in, and it may rip.”

“Um… thank you, Kinnea.”

“Hm.” She nodded as he sat up and allowed her to take it from his shoulders, handing her the tie.

“You're dismissed Kinnea.”

She nodded to him and left.

***

Alkain startled awake at a sharp jab to his shoulder. “Ow!” Kinnea set the poker down and straightened. The Elf rubbed his shoulder and sat up. “What the hell was that?”

The servant didn’t reply.

“You can speak.”

“The king wished for me to wake you. So I did, Sir. My apologies.”

“Did you have to stab me with a poker?”

“No.”

Kinnea fixed his hair and his coat before he left for the meeting.

The Elf took a seat in the middle of the table. The Princess waved to him. He smiled back in her direction and bowed his head. “It is good to see you again, Your Highness.”

“It's good to see you again as well, Mister Ciranes.”

“Could I get you a drink?”

“Oh. But that’s a servant’s job, isn’t it?”

“But it is an honor to serve you, Your Highness. I am not a royal such as yourself, so I am content resting in my station below yours if it means I get to elevate yours.” He stood and went to a cart, pouring a cup of water for the princess as he knelt and reached for her hand. “May I?”

“I’m a little afraid, what are you asking?” She smiled, offering it to him.

Alkain took her delicate fingers, rubbing his calloused thumb over her soft, smooth skin. “I’m offended you would consider me a threat, Your Highness.” He smiled and raised her hand, brushing his lips gently over her knuckles.

She laughed, “Your hair looks nice.”

“Thank you. You’re more beautiful than I could even describe, your highness!” He retreated to his seat, eyes straying back to her as his words echoed back in his mind. Her thick brunette hair spilled over her shoulders in waves, an intricate web of braids tying together into a strange pattern behind her head, showing off the glittering beads and pearls weaved into the glossy strands.

“Good morning everyone.” The King strode into the room and sat on his throne, surveying the table before he leaned forward. “We have a lot to discuss before the whole palace wakes, and starts missing us.”

A few of the advisors chuckled at the statement as the king began. “Princess Nirscia has come to our kingdom to finalize the terms of the peace treaty, and we will make her journey worthwhile. Valeran and Seikaria will have peace once more, but for now, we will go over the terms of the previous treaties and discuss why they failed and what we can do to make this one last.”

The meeting proceeded quickly and efficiently, suggestions, ideas, and details whirling in Alkain's head as he was assigned his job and sent to do it.

He glanced between the servants in front of him. “Alright. You, go fetch some parchment. The rest of you, find the rest of our team. We need a plan before noon.”

“Yessir!” The servants saluted him and promptly scampered off to their separate jobs. Alkain took the pieces of parchment as they were offered to him and scratched off a list of tasks on each one. He handed all four of them off to separate servants as he raced to find the team's planner.

He found her in the gardens, conversing with the princess over a bush of roses. He called over to her. She looked up. “Ah, Mister Ciranes! What brings you here?”

“You, Miss. We need you for preparations inside. If you could.”

“Your Highness?”

“Got are welcome to go if you wish, but I would like to borrow the king's advisor for a moment.”

“Oh of course your highness, if he agrees. But we may need him back. Make sure you handle our fragile package carefully in conversation, he's a little brittle.”

Alkain stared after the planner in shock. The Princess giggled, trailing a hand down the leaves of the rose bush.

“Um, what would you like, Your Highness?”

“Only a moment, I know you're busy. Please,” She waved him over. “You have been nothing but kind and welcoming to me, and I appreciate that. Mister, Ciranes, you are fascinating and amazingly respectful. I may enjoy your company.”

“I… thank you, Your Highness!” Alkain broke into a grin. “That means a lot coming from someone so great as yourself.” His face tinged pink and he avoided her eyes.

“Hm.” The Princess smiled as she plucked a rose from the bush and flinched as a thorn pricked her, drawing a bead of blood from the pad of her finger. But she ignored it, threading the rose into the breast of his overcoat. “You're a lot like this Rose, Ciranes. Complex and beautiful. But those virtues make many… forget your flaws, and shield their eyes from seeing your danger. It takes someone skilled and thorough to appreciate you fully.” She pulled away, the drop of blood staining into the dark fabric. “Open up a little! It might do you some good!”

Alkain looked down at the Rose, “Alright, I will make it my mission, Your Highness.”

“Would you like to join me for tea this afternoon?”

“I… yes. I think I would like that very much, Your Highness

“I'll see you soon.”

“Um… yes! I'll see you soon… Your Highness.”

Alkain turned quickly, face flushing as he cursed himself in his mind. Stupid, no, that was awkward and weird. She is a princess, you are a low-ranking advisor who comes from a slave house. That is your worth. You are dirt compared to her.

He brushed off his uniform, face and ears still pink as he returned to the house and stepped up beside the planner. The elf cleared his throat, “How is it going so far?”

“Well. The lists you made were remarkably accurate- Are you okay? You're looking a little sick.”

“Uh, no, I… uh… I'm fine!”

“You sure? Your face is a bit red.”

“Yeah! It's just… a very hot coat. I'll go inside and… survey the progress!”

“Don't be gone too long, we just might miss you!”

After a few hours of planning and preparation, Alkain went to greet the princess. They discussed cultures and kingdoms before night fell and he returned to his room. The next day continued about the same, and the next. But after the days of preparation came to a close, a dinner invitation came to his hands from the king.

“Welcome! All of you, I thought it would be best if we were all acquainted before the ball tomorrow so we mustn't make the hassle of introductions.”

“Nirscia, this is my wife, Jevari, and my son, our future king, Makan.”

“Lovely to meet you!” The princess curtsied and Makan stood.

“Your Highness.” The Little prince kissed her hand and bowed, smiling hopefully up at her.

“You'll make a good king one day, I know it.”

“Thank you!” The little boy nodded to her and scampered back to his parents.

Alkain smiled as the princess greeted the king and queen. She chose the seat next to him. “Good evening.”

“Good Evening, Your Highness. Are you well?”

“Indeed, I am.” The Princess smiled back and turned to her meal, making light conversation with the royal family as the dishes were brought out.

Nirscia looked at the roasted meat, surprise flickering over her face. “You have birds large enough to eat here in Seikaria?”

“You don't?”

“No! I haven't seen meat like this in ages, this is amazing!” She grinned.

“It may look nice, Your Highness. But trust me, It tastes even better.”

“We'll just have to see, won't we?”

“We will indeed. But I bet you'll like it!” Alkain smirked.

“Perhaps I will, Perhaps I won't.” She winked at him. “What are these spices?”

“I think it's a type of pepper flakes? I don't know. You'd have to ask the chef.”

“Hm, do you like it?”

“I do, are you having a difficult time admitting I was right, your Highness?”

“I like it as well. I'm perfectly capable of admitting anything I need to, Mister Ciranes.”

The two laughed and talked for the rest of the meal until the king finished and dismissed them. The Advisor stood, offering the princess his hand. “Would you like me to escort you back to your room, Your Highness?”

Nirscia hesitated, shock sparking in her eyes before a smile softened her lips and she took it, allowing him to lead her into the hallway. “You look nice… Mister Ciranes.”

“As do you, Your Highness. But I have no doubt you’re more beautiful than I could ever hope to be.” Alkain smiled as he held her arm a bit tighter, turning a corner. “I’m glad I’ve been able to see you so much, Your Highness. I really appreciate your kindness.”

“And I, yours. But Mister Ciranes, My name is Nirscia, you may use it.”

“And Mine is Alkain.” He smiled as her hands slipped into his.

“Alright Alkain, I’ve loved your company, but there is something else you need to know.” She glanced around.

“What?” The Elf tilted his head, his other arms raising to hold her hands as well.

Nirscia spun him toward the wall and pinned his arms above his head. She took a breath and kissed him.

Alkain’s eyes widened, but instead of pulling back as he knew he should, he leaned into it and kissed her back, his body melting into the wall, electric sparks racing between her fingertips and his wrists. They stayed there for a while until they had to pull back, both gasping.

“I… Your High- Princess Nirscia… What-”

“Don’t speak… please.”

“I… I’m flattered!” Alkain sputtered, his entire face turning beat red.

“And I- Oh shit.” The Princess’s face flushed a bright pink, but this time Alkain threw his arms around her and pulled her back into another kiss, finding one another over and over again, until both fell back, Alkain too flustered to speak as Nirscia gathered her composure, accepting what had just happened.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” Alkain hugged all of his arms to his chest and looked down.

“I… I love you?” The Princess looked at him, her statement just as much of a question as an answer.

The two locked eyes and Alkain tripped over his words several times before he fumbled a response. “I don’t… this is… I love you too. I’m sorry… just- I- I’ll see you tomorrow!” He bolted down the hallway, the heat in his face burning hotter with every second as he slammed himself into his room and collapsed onto his bed, panting.

Kinnea didn’t comment as she pulled off his overcoat and tossed him a nightshirt, drawing the blinds and snuffing out the candles for him. But she did, as he wrestled on the nightshirt. “Is there anything you need, sir?”

“Uh, no. I… It’s a lot cleaner in here. Thank you Kinnea.”

She nodded to him and left.

***

“What happened to make you so panicked last night, sir?” Kinnea fixed the sleeves of his undershirt and fluffed the ruffles around his neck.

“Can I trust you with a secret?”

“Yes. I am your servant, it is my job to keep your secrets.”

“Even from the king?”

Kinnea looked up for a second, then said, “Yes. Even from the King.”

“Well, The Princess kissed me.”

“Huh.” Kinnea picked up an overcoat.

“I don’t know why she did it, but it was nice. I know I can’t be with her, but it’s a strange feeling. I’m not sure what I should do, it’s a little terrifying, to be completely honest.”

“Can you keep that a secret?”

“Yes?”

“Can she keep it a secret?”

“I think so. Why?”

“Then you have nothing to worry for, sir. Anything else?” Kinnea finished with his suit, moving onto his hair.

Alkain stopped, a little stunned. “I- Thank you.”

Kinnea ruffled up his hair, weaving some simple braids into a higher ponytail. She stepped back and nodded. “You should be ready there, sir.”

“Thank you Kinnea. I mean it.”

Kinnea stopped and glanced back at the other room.

“Go on, put on your dress. I’m not leaving without you.” Alkain took a flower from a vase, fixing it to the lapel of his suit, and waited by the door until Kinnea stepped out of the room, tense and straight-faced.

The long black dress covered her feet, intricate golden swirls matching the ones on Alkain’s suit. “It looks nice.” He took her by the arm and led her down the hallways into the main ballroom, breaking away from her to greet the princess, Kinnea trailing close behind him.

He knelt, kissing her hand. “Your Highness, It’s good to see you, Princess Nirscia.”

“As I am glad to see you, Alkain.”

“Glad to hear it!”

A long silence stretched between them. The Princess lowered her voice. “About last night, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you any harm or disrespect, I hope we can remain on good terms.”

“As do I.” Alkain offered her his arm. “May I have a dance?”

“Of course.” Nirscia followed him to the dance floor, both ready to escape the topic of the previous night for the time being.

The Dances took them to afternoon, some light conversation and greetings with other friends bringing the ball to a height as it grew dark. The King rose from his throne to speak, but just as he began, a shriek pierced the dim atmosphere and something hit him, sending him reeling back against the throne. He wavered for a second on his feet and fell back into his seat, crown clattering to the floor beside him as he cried out. He reached for something, voice too faint to hear even in the perfectly still silence, and then he fell limp, deep scarlet red pooling at the base of the throne. Panic erupted. Voices shouted, and Alkain screamed, the shock finally dropping as he pulled for the king. Makan started for his father, but the queen whisked him away. Crowds jostled and guards crowded around the room. Alkain couldn’t tell what was happening anymore as two people pulled on his wrists. Kinnea fought back grief and fear, fighting to protect her master, as Nirscia tugged Alkain away from her into the crowd.

Chaos turned His vision blurry and confused him to the point of madness until the Guards managed to calm the crowds and file them out of the room. The next few hours were spent in shock and fast-paced decisions until the Queen announced that the Assassin had been found to be a Valerίan. This meant war, and the Princess had to leave.

Alkain stopped, horrified and confused. Everything had changed so fast. What had happened? He slammed the doors open and ran to find Nirscia. They met in the entrance, and she wrapped him into a kiss the instant he drew close enough, not caring of the witnesses, as she grabbed his shoulders, voice stern and fiery. “Alkain, This means war. But no matter how long it takes or what I have to do, I will be back for you.”

If you see this, please comment your thoughts, or just put something in the comments so I know you read it

|Part 1 | Part 2 (Here) | Part 3|

@aesthetic-writer18 @themortalityofundyingstars @darkandstormydolls @artsandstoriesandstuff @rivenantiqnerd

@urnumber1star @bloodmoonloveletter @sunglasses-in-the-bentley @stars-forever @corinneglass

@supercimi @phoenixradiant @whoevenknowswhatimwriting @blue-kyber @aalinaaaaaa

@stars-forever @lunaeuphternal @chaoticcandle @sunflowerrosy @n1ghtcrwler

@floweryprosegarden @foxydemon666 @bluektw @nkikio @i-hate-happy-endings

@confused-romantic @savepoint-has-died @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @starslide @ramwritblr

@thecoolerlucky @bread-roses-and-chrome @thepeculiarbird @roleplay-fanatic @bbatcat

@thelazywitchphotographer @ryahisbored @pastellbg @icarianauthor @agirlandherquill

@taleweaver-ramblings @bigwipscholar @imacreatorandadreamer @cowboylikericky

Thank you for reading, have a wonderful day! :] <33

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birdhousematerial · 4 months ago

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oh oh i'd love to hear about the restaurant au 👀

Oof, sorry for taking so long on these. I got a little burned out and also overwhelmed—but we're so back! So let's go!

So, my current working title for this is "Just Look At Us Now" though I'm not 100% set on it, but I do feel like it encapsulates a lot of the story. This one is Yuji x Megumi and Sukuna x Megumi, though it mostly focuses on Yuji and Megumi's relationship, past and present, which at the start of the story is really just a very complicated affair.

They were in a relationship before, but Yuji has a lot of internalized homophobia and kept it a secret from everyone, which in turn caused Megumi a lot of stress and pain. When Wasuke dies and leaves Yuji his last words and wishes for him, this entire situation kinda comes to a head and they have a very explosive break-up. Before this though, they'd spent most of their adolescence together working on Yuji's dream of taking over his grandfather's restaurant, something that gave Megumi purpose since he'd honestly never seen himself living that long to begin with.

Fast forward to the present of the fic, and Yuji is in a committed relationship with Yuko Ozawa, working at this restaurant that him and Megumi own together (honestly it's like their child in a custody agreement) and also, still fucking, in the office of the restaurant, like, every single night.

Megumi is obviously not doing well, and he suffers a lot in this story (he's my favorite) especially when Toji, his drug addict father comes back into his life looking for a place to crash. Sukuna (Yuji's uncle) is also constantly trying to get into his pants, and I'll add a few snippets of them working together, but just know they're very roughly written and subject to change as I write and flesh it out more.

"Once he stepped out back to smoke, he could feel the presence of his least favorite person, walking up and blasting music from a speaker that Megumi wanted to toss in the dish water, but instead he just rolled his eyes and glared at him. “Can’t you wear headphones? Like every other fucking person?” Megumi spat at the man, watching him smirk and lean against the wall next to him as he lit his cigarette. “Good morning to you too.” He smiled as he spoke, blowing the smoke right in his face which he shouldn’t care, he smoked too, but his breath smelled like weed. One look at his eyes and he knew he was stoned out of his mind. “God, grow up. Aren’t you like, forty?” Megumi turned away and grimaced as he leaned closer, humming out a laugh as Megumi shoved at him. He started singing then, leaning up to his ear as Megumi tensed and tried to ignore him. Knowing it only egged him on when he showed how irritated he was. “Get the fuck away from me, asshole.” Megumi stepped on his cigarette and decided to go inside, hating when he side stepped to block his path. “Oh, you know you love me.” Sukuna cooed and smiled as Megumi clenched his jaw, rubbing his forehead as he mentally prepared for another day of this. “Get yourself together and turn that fucking music down. Don’t come in blaring that shit when you’re done out here, hearing Choso's is more than enough.” Megumi eyed him as he stepped aside, gesturing dramatically to the door that Megumi grabbed and pulled open with a grunt. “Yes chef.” Sukuna said it patronizingly, nodding and smiling like the asshole he was. It was times like this he actually appreciated Toji, at least he wasn’t this fucking awful. “Truck will be here soon, gonna help me out, Megumi.” Sukuna called after him as he stepped inside, hating the way he said his name. He was lucky they let him fucking work here, with his record he definitely couldn’t get a job anywhere else.

Megumi is such an asshole in this too, and I really liked playing around with that part of his character. Also, Yuji isn't much better, he is like ten bad decisions behind everyone else, but he isn't innocent by any means.

“By the time you get back we’ll be in the middle of service, it fucks everything up.” Megumi said angrily, watching him pull his keys out and roll his shoulders. “It’s fine, I… I need a break anyways.” Yuji rubbed his forehead as he turned and walked to the back door, Megumi hot on his heels as he fumbled to grab a cigarette. “We haven’t even opened, what could you possibly need a b-.” “You!” Yuji stepped closer as he shouted and then spoke through his teeth. “You’re so fucking angry, at everyone and everything.” Megumi rolled his eyes, lighting his cigarette and watching him groan when Megumi didn’t react. “Toji showed up at my house yesterday morning.” Megumi sighed as he flicked his cigarette, watching as Yuji’s eyes went wide and he glanced around before looking at him concerned. “And?” “He’s sleeping on my couch, trying to get a job. He’s ‘sober’.” Megumi quoted with his hands and watched as Yuji rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in defeat. “What the fuck, again? Why would you-.” “So he doesn’t bother Miki.” Megumi said seriously, eyes flitting over his face as he blinked and understood. Yuji nodded hurriedly, clearly getting the picture and motioned for his pack of cigarettes. “Thought Yuko doesn’t like it.” Megumi smirked at him as Yuji glared back, huffing as he lit a cigarette and rolled his neck. “Don’t. Don’t talk about-.” “Don’t tell me what to do Yuji.” Megumi clenched his teeth as he spoke, genuinely wanting to push his limit. Maybe, he’d fire him and he could fuck off once and for all, stop hanging around here like some fucking dog tied to a tree. Sukuna stepped out, eyeing them as he lit his own cigarette.

Oh, and their little affair? Sukuna is the only one who knows, because he caught them once, and boy does that make things even more complicated.

I'm not gonna be nice with this one, its very angst filled and doesn't really have a happy ending, maybe hopeful, but certainly not all that happy for anyone involved.

With that said, this is more an exploration of the dynamics of a relationship and what happens when someone (Megumi) decides they'll live for someone else, putting them (Yuji) on a pedestal and helping them achieve their dreams instead of forming their own. Especially when their backgrounds and life experiences cause them to form a sort of codependency with each other.

This story has a lot of warnings attached to it, like drug abuse, alcoholism, eating disorders, cheating, suicidal ideation, incest (emotional and physical) and character death. It's just not a happy story, but there is a lot of emotion and drama involved, along with some really funny moments.

“Looks good.” Megumi swatted Toji’s hand away and glared as he took a bite of his food. “What is wrong with you?” Megumi asked, swallowing harshly and watching him pour himself a cup of coffee. “No wonder you don’t have a girlfriend, you’re so inhospitable.” Toji chuckled and Megumi clenched his jaw, his eye twitching as Toji peered into his fridge that was pretty barren for someone who cooked for a living. “When- What can I do to make you fuck off?” Megumi handed him the last of his food, he didn’t really feel like eating anyways. He watched him shove food in his mouth like an animal, pieces dropping onto the floor which made Megumi tense. A second grader could be neater than him, Megumi was living proof. “Let me find a job and I’ll get out of your hair.” Toji breathed as he took a bite, setting the dirty plate down on the counter and leaving it there. “I’m gonna take a shower, if you’re gonna be here, clean up after yourself, you fucking slob.” Megumi sighed as he stalked to his room, slamming the bathroom door and turning the shower on as hot as he could stand it.

I love writing Toji and Sukuna as just the absolute worst, and they are certianly that in this story.

“So you do have a girlfriend.” He chuckled as he held up a bright pink dildo, swaying it in his hands and smiling, making Megumi regret ever opening that fucking door. “Get-Toji. Get the fuck out of my room.” Megumi breathed in and spoke as calmly as possible, pointing to his door with his toothbrush as Toji tossed it back into his nightstand, the thunking sound of it making Megumi flinch, and looked past him into his bathroom. “Relax, I’m a guy. I know what you do with that.” He raised his eyebrows playfully and pushed past him, looking in his medicine cabinet and Megumi let out a groan. “I don’t have anything you can sell and I don’t have a girlfriend. Now get-.” He shoved him, fixing the stuff he had moved around and glaring at him as he looked at him confused. “Megs, I don’t do that shit anymore, and we’re both adults here, you don’t have to lie.” Megumi stared at him, mouth open, and realized he was missing the fact he was his father and definitely shouldn’t be having this conversation with him. He did however, feel like pushing his buttons, since he’d been irritating Megumi since he opened his fucking eyes this morning. “Pretty sure I’m the only adult here, but since you want to know so bad, it’s mine.” Megumi smirked slightly and watched his brows furrow, smile growing as he watched Toji's dumb monkey brain try to understand what he’d said. “Obviously, it’s in your house.” Toji said confused as he followed him out of his room. Megumi grabbed another cigarette, turning and facing the man who was still eyeing him with a puzzled expression. “I am the one that uses it. On myself, idiot.” Megumi shut the door behind him as he stepped into the balcony, leaving him with the fact he’d held it in his hand. Seriously, he was throwing it away after that. There wasn’t anyway he was going to get that mental image out of his head.

I have most of this one outlined, but as you can imagine it isn't easy to write (I don't know why I would do this to myself, but I really like it either way, and do intend on writing it eventually) but I do know this won't be something that is for everyone.

Thank you for asking about this story! Despite it being very sad and depressing I am really excited about it, and hopefully it will be satisfying for the angst, and hurt/no comfort fans out there like me.

#asks #birdy talks #my fic writing #my writing #this entire story is one bad situation after another #itafushi #sukufushi #there is lots of really hot sex though #restaurant au

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mapofyourstars · 5 months ago

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How did you get into writing fanfiction?

What do you struggle with most when writing?

How many WIPs do you have and how many do you aspect to finish?

How do you get over writer's block?

What stops you from writing more in your free time?

Have you notice your style changing over time?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

A character you want to make suffer.

A character you want to protect.

Thanks for the message! Putting my answers under a read more to not clog the dash.

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

Oh, boy - when I was twelve/thirteen, I started writing fanfiction for Twilight on fanfiction.net because I was so motivated with that fandom and the story. What a time to be alive.

What do you struggle with most when writing?

Currently, I'm trying to teach myself how to write in present-tense, and it's going horribly. My writing style is very fitting for past-tense, and I have to change a lot about the way I intrinsically write to fit present-tense. But more generally, I struggle with word variation, and I'm too stubborn to google synonyms.

How many WIPs do you have and how many do you aspect to finish?

I currently have two posted - soulmate au and succubus!charles. The first one is ongoing, but eventually, it'll finish itself once I run out of soulmate tropes. The second one will be finished - I need to sit down and just write it - just gonna be a lot o' sex, and I gotta mentally prepare for that. Lined up, however, I have a wip I'm almost done outlining for my dadneto fic to continue their story (and I'm actually converting the already published fics in the series to present-tense). I also have three other wips I'd like to get started on soon - modern a/b/o, an apocalyptic au, and a charmed au - dunno if they'll be in that order. These four will definitely happen, but the ETA is just unknown at this point. Then, I have at least a dozen different one-shots/short fics I want to write, but lord, I don't have enough time in the day with work and decompressing to get them all sorted. But eventually, I'll get there.

How do you get over writer's block?

I usually just have to think of doing something else with the characters or the plot of another fic, and then I'm pretty good. I bounce from idea to idea, so as long as I have another idea I haven't thought about in a while, I can jump to that and come back to my block later.

What stops you from writing more in your free time?

Work and my executive dysfunction. Sometimes just making the move to open the document on my computer is hard, so I usually just freeze for a while and fail to write when I know I should be. I try not to be too hard on myself when that happens though, but easier said than done.

Have you notice your style changing over time?

Oh, yes. I don't even wanna open the Twilight fics I wrote for fear of what's written there; and even in trying to reuse some plots from previous works, I cringe at the writing style I had back then. I was young though, and even though I'm proud of how my style has grown, I still have loads to learn and perfect. Writing is like a muscle, and it only gets stronger with practice.

What fic meant the most to you to write?

Wanted to say my self-indulgent X-Men x Avengers crossover fic that got me back into writing after being scared of judgement and self-criticism for years. BUT. I'm gonna have to say my reincarnation au fic. That work made me cry, laugh, experience a range of human emotions; and I want to write more versions of her because I love her so. I always wanted to write something like her, and I'm beyond happy that cherik managed to pull her out of my mind and onto the page.

A character you want to make suffer.

At the end of the day, I don't think I wanna make my characters suffer - I just unconsciously choose to do so. It's my flavor of plot. I suppose I tend to make Erik suffer quite a lot, which is a shame because I just want that man to experience peace; but some of the best character developments come out of pain and anguish. In terms of other characters and just making them suffer for suffering's sake, I don't hate a character that much to do something like that - I just don't include them in my fics, lol.

A character you want to protect.

The dichotomy of man strikes again. I must protect Erik at all costs, while simultaneously making his life a living hell.

author ask game!

#thank you again for the message!#asks #cherik

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seineko · 2 years ago

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it's fluff but minors still do not interact!

note: it's extremely extremely extremely self indulgent (so please proceed with that it mind) and diluc is probably a bit ooc here but i really did think he'd open up a bit more and have fun a bit more with his partner. cheeky diluc isn't written enough. he was absolute chaos as a kid, i won't believe for one second that he did not at least have 1% of it hidden deep inside his heart.

my grandma just gave me a oil massage after so many years and i just felt like i was in actual heaven, that's where this idea stemmed from. i wanted diluc to have someone relieve his stress too so here i am, writing a drabble about it because he deserves everything in this world.

diluc did not hate his hectic days as much as he did before.

they still suck of course, but you make them much, much better.

the first time it happened he was, understandably, confused.

the memory was pretty vivid.

despite being tired, sleep seemed really far away. diluc slowly tried to untangle himself from you, trying his best not to disturb you.

"'iluc?" which was evidently not successful as your half opened eyes stared at him, confusion clear in them.

"go back to sleep, love," he whispered softly. continuing when you did not, clearly waiting for him to answer, "i just cannot sleep, thought some fresh air might help."

yawning, you sat up and bend across him towards the cupboard beside his side of the bed and grabbed a glass jar of what looked like oil.

"come 'ere," you sat on the edge of the bed, patting on the side of it, indicating him to sit down in front of you. voice still thick with sleep, you continued, '"this will help."

diluc couldn't help but be confused as he walked towards to sit where you told him to, watching you pour the oil from the jar into its threaded metal lid, carefully wiping around the edges of both with a tissue that was a constant at the side of your bed. ("you don't know when you come across an emotional part of a story," you had said. "better be prepared than to have my snot all over my clothes.")

"help me warm it a bit, please," voice a bit more sober, you hovered the lid filled with oil in front of him as he sat down.

"what is this?" diluc asked as he regulated a bit of warmth around the lid in his hand to warm it up.

"it's coconut oil," you replied taking back the lid after you probably deemed it to be warm enough. "my amm- i mean my grandma used to massage my hair with warm coconut oil regularly. one massage from her hands and my fatigue completely disappeared."

diluc stared at the smile on your face, heart fluttering a bit at how warm your voice sounded.

"turn around," applying the oil around your fingers, you gripped his scalp to turn his head around and rubbed them through his tresses, applying a bit of pressure on his scalp as they combed through.

oh.

oh!

this is what you meant.

the gentle firmness of your fingers massaging his entire scalp, applying a bit more pressure at just the right places had him practically melt into the floor.

stress slowly seemed to release from his body as he let his head fall backwards barely on your lap, most of it on the pajamas pooling around it, a embarrassing whimper leaving his lips as just at that moment, your fingers hitting a newer still tensed spot.

a small giggle left you and he couldn't help the small upward curl of his own lips as he looked at the upside down laugh on your face.

"does it feel good?" you asked him as his eyes slowly closed on their own accord, hands constantly changing places around all of his scalp.

"mn," he let out as a reply. if it was in the present, a bit of mischief would take over him and he would add something along the lines, "this is probably what people call heaven."

your hands would completely freeze in his head and he wouldn't need to open his eyes to know that you were flustered.

but you weren't there yet.

he did change pretty drastically compared to when he was a kid, but the childishness and the mischievous streak was still a part of him, no matter how small or how deeply buried in the corner of him they were. it only ever came back in front of you now.

"there is a secret to this process, though," he hummed in question at that sudden talk. "magic!"

he opened his eyes to take a look at you as you said that, a small smile still present on his face, "magic?"

you nodded, "my hands are now magical," combing the front tresses of his hair to pull it back into the rest of it, you continue, chuckling a bit at what seemed to be nostalgia, "grandpa used to say that when you give the massage to someone you really love, your hands turn magical."

diluc felt his ears and his neck burn.

"then i'm glad to be one that can experience them," he pushed his arms up to gently pull your head a bit towards himself and planted a kiss on your forehead.

pulling back, the flutter in his heart stayed the same despite the change in surroundings. your hands more precise at massaging the exact spot on his head, but still just as gentle.

his head now cradled between your naked thighs, touching the buttons of his shirt that you were wearing.

you were humming a song that he couldn't quite remember the name of, but did remember it being a favourite of your grandmother's.

"you know," diluc said after the song reached its end, before you could begin another. "i know what your grandfather meant now."

at the questioning hum, he continued, smile widening infinitesimally as a bit of mischief did run through him this time, "your hands do seem pretty magical."

"diluc!"

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin impact diluc #diluc genshin impact #genshin diluc #diluc genshin #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin fluff #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you #genshin impact fluff #diluc #diluc x reader #diluc x you #diluc fluff #diluc ragnvindr #🐈‍⬛boba.drabbles

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arwainian · 2 months ago

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Reading This Week 2025 #16-18

helloooooo. this reading log comes to you late because i was extremely busy the weekend of the the 20th with various commitments, and even busier at LARP last weekend. decided to just make a bit three week one with everything in one place rather than spam a bunch of catching up posts

Finished:

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, narrated by Christine Marshall my library hold on the audiobook came in and so i have finally read the kickoff book for another fantasy series the lesbians on my tumblr dash are obsessed with! wasn't blown away but then the twist really got me! i'll check out the rest of the series eventually

The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé, narrated by Cora Kirk non-romance historical fiction, which is unusual for me bc i usually like to go for genre histrom, of if not that then a very genre murder mystery in a historical setting. the "mystery" that this is presented as didn't really carry then book but that's okay because i think the mre important part is Florence growing into herself, her budding friendships, and her struggles to define herself as a mixed race black woman with a future that she determines. also has lovely trans rep in the supporting character Annie

Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett on my hands and knees begging more people to read Astreiant. I love the subtly to Rathe and Eslingen's romance. it is emotionally mature, with some conflict that comes between them but doesn't seesaw to too quick of a resolution (the emotional quandry for them being "are we coming together the way that we want to? circumstances are making us move rather quickly" is very interesting). the plot surrounding them is tense and fraught enough that their remarkable stability with each other feels like the calm in a storm. the world continues to be very well realized

The Low, Low Woods written by Carmen Maria Machado, art by Dani, color by Tamra Bonvillain horror comic series about some girls in a small Pennsylvania coal mining town investigatng their missing memories (and those of every other woman in town)

Blue Box, Vol. 9 by Kouji Miura, translated by Christine Dashiell genuinely really proud of Taiki's integrity in pulling himself together and turning Hina down. that takes real guts when she's such a good friend to him, and as bad as I feel for Hina's heartbreak, and her attempts to delay rejection by telling him not to answer her confession, it's better this way that everything is out in the open. I am shooting Hina and Ayame with a yuri beam

Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey, narrated by Sally Darling love an older sff work. the gender stuff in this book is fairly well handled. the bullying! from peers and from disapproving adults all of it made my blood boil, but it never felt contrived or cliche. just felt very real to adolescent struggles

What Did You Eat Yesterday? Vol. 16-17 by Fumi Yoshinaga, translates by Jocelyne Allen <3 Shiro meeting Kenji's family and it going well warmed my heart, and in vol 16 we also see Kenji get to meet Shiro's housewife friend. i wonder if this is reflecting changes to social discrimination against gay men in Japan at the time it was coming out because Kenji and Shiro are getting more opportunities to move socially as a Couple in a the wider world

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, narrated by Ell Potter and Michael Dodds oh no. i was neutral on the book until I met Dr. Wendell Bambleby and he was so hilariously on-pitch for the flamboyant charmer archetype that i love it redeemed the rest of the book. i have some nitpicks about the framing device of the field notes journal, but that can wait for book club

All The Hearts You Eats by Hailey Piper, narrated by Em Grosland, Alexis Vandom, Sena Bryer, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, and L. Morgan Lee this was good but i am starting to wonder if horror is not my genre/if i have not read enough horror to be trained to react positively to how horror novels are structured.

Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comics by Hillary L. Chute academic work analyzing several women cartoonists doing autobiographical work

Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads by Ellen Forney collection of illustration Forney did for a sexual personal ads section of an online publication in like the 2000s as well as interviews with some of the people who put in the ads. all of the art was great but i was struck by some of the attitudes that were revealed in the "seeking" sections. there was a lot of "seeking F and FTM" conflation of women and trans men which I found transphobic/transmisogynistic. it certainly more reflective of the people requesting the ads than Forney herself but it was uncomfortable to see! that said there were also a lot of ads seeking "F and MTF" and a wonderful interview with a man about how his ad led to him meeting his trans girlfriend so its a mixed bag

Crowded, Vol. 1: Soft Apocalypse written by Christopher Sebela, art by Ro Stein & Ted Brandt gig economy gone even more dystopian. i'm meh on it

Spring with the Unicorns by Taylor Titmouse trans-norm short erotic fantasy story about two male unicorns erotically wrestling over who deserves to mate with a female unicorn. and i mean like significantly trans norm- the male unicorn's vulvas are called their "manhoods" and one of them is mocked for being effeminate because he's tall

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page the last book in the series! or at least it looks to be for a while. I think overall the first book is the best but the rest were still fun. Sabetha's issues around her hair and accepting that she can be loved and desired for who she is is very real but can also be very tedious and annoying. i do think her "Locke, the other gentleman bastards like and respect you more and listen to you faster than me because you're a boy" was a really good recontextualization of their relationship as well as Locke's natural leadership

Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey, narrated by Sally Darling piemar suddenly being the protagonist feels weird! once again the bullying in this was really difficult to read, but also like written well

Errant, Vol. 1 by L.K. Fleet glad this exists but it's prose was a little flat/mediocre for me. too straightforward fanfic hurt/comfort to the romance vibes. sorry for being a snob

Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin, read by Stefan Rudnicki i love the prologue to this. a fairytale of a woman losing 16 years in a single night when she goes on a quest to recover a family artifact (but its bc of relativity and she has to space travel, but she doesn't understand that that's whats happening and neither does anyone else). very cool blend of fantasy vibes and science fiction thought

Started/Ongoing:

Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents edited by Thomas K. Hubbard big collection of translated documents from poetry to philosophy. anything that is even mildly gay from ancient greece and rome. having a fun time with it

The Charioteer by Mary Renault, narrated by Joe Jameson been meaning to read this since Cat Sebastian went down the charioteer rabbit hole. enjoying it. love reading older queer literature

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, narrated by Rosamund Pike finally reading this after having been in a stage production of it as a teenager, having a good time

#cal reading log #arwainian princessoid decrees

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recurring-polynya · 8 months ago

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Writing/Art Update 12.3.2024

I gave up.

So, what happened was, shortly after last week's update, I had to re-direct my attentions to Getting Ready for Thanksgiving, and so I was like "yeah, this is fine, this is a good opportunity to Think About My Fanfic, and when the holiday is over, I'll have some stuff to write." Except that the more I thought about my fanfic, the more I realized that I do not love it and I have spent a lot of time and energy trying to make myself love it and I simply don't and I don't want to work on a thing I don't love. I want to love it! I love the parts that I wrote 3 years ago!

I don't remember why, but I decided I wanted to read my weird Inuzuri Teens story. In particular, I wanted to read the insane ending, which I have told myself repeatedly I need to change if I ever want to post the story. I read it and I said "this is good actually. making sense is for chumps" and decided I wanted to work on that story instead, and so that is what I have been doing.

I don't think this is actually a permanent feeling. I'm not really giving up on a little in love. I think I am just feeling very mean right now and I'm mad a lot and I don't really want to write something nice and funny. The Inuzuri story is about the dissolution of a friendship and the death of a young person and that's why I've never finished it, but I think I feel mean enough to do that right now, so that's what I'm doing with those feelings. I am constantly inventing new and innovative forms of personal self-therapy, and I feel like my old therapist who never knew what to do with me really would have loved this one.

I don't know whether or not to bother with my stupid wordcount goal anymore. Right now, it seems very made-up and stupid. Normally, I'm pretty big on giving up things once they no longer serve, but I also feel like I'm going to be mad at myself for not meeting it. ::scrolls up to look at the gif at the top of the post. scrolls back down again::

I wrote a scene this week that I have been thinking about for ages and ages and I think I like the way it came out, except for the fact that a) I will have to edit a part later on that I have always really liked and I'm kinda pissed about that, and b) it is 3100 entire words which is more than twice as long as the next longest scene in this fanfic and I'm not too happy about that. Most of the story is in these little bite-sized chunks, and they often sort of flow into each other, so maybe it's okay. I'm a little worried that the seams between the stuff I've already written and the new stuff are going to be very visible. idk

I also went through and converted the whole thing into present tense--it was in a big sloppy mishmash of past and present. Previously, I couldn't bring myself to decide which one I wanted, but go places is present tense and I want it to match go places. I also made an outline, which is how I figured out the thing above.

Oh! Also, I have been really unhappy with GoogleDocs for some time, so I decided to give ellipsus a try (I tell you, I was really going thru it this week). It's...fine? It is occasionally a teensy bit laggy, which I mostly notice when I'm doing a search (I use the search feature a lot because I have a bad tendency to get enamored of a word and then use it too much). This is a little better in Chrome than Firefox, which has changed my entire work flow, because I have Tumblr open in Firefox, and now it's "far away". This may actually be for the best. I am not sure. Ellipsus also has this "draft" system, which is pretty much like every software version control system I've ever used, so I get it, but I'm not sure it suits the way I work. Nothing about Ellipsus precludes using my old multi-document system, and maybe I'll find it useful in the future. I'm not going to complain about a feature just because I personally don't have a use for it. I had numerous beefs with GDocs, but the #1 thing was the infiltration of ai, and Ellipsus is building its brand on being anti-ai, so I'm willing to put up with a few growing pains for now and see how things go.

I'm also trying to get back into drawing a little every day (most days anyway). Mostly, I just intend to use my art club prompts (I drew a pie yesterday). I do want to draw something for Ukitake week. I'm not going to be secretive: I'm trying to come up with a cool Rukia-Ukitake idea because I feel like they got cheated so bad in terms of captain-lieutenant power posing. I've been going back and forth between Action Posing (which is hard and not my strength) or, like, modern clothes. I'll try to get that figured out this week.

#writing update #art update

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lupgangs-fiat · 2 years ago

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hi!! could a request a one shot where jigen takes care of a reader with carpal tunnel/wrist pain? love your blog and I’m so happy you’re back 💓

AAA I’m so glad you love my blog omG- and it’s good to be back !! Enjoy <3!!!

Jigen x reader w/ wrist pain!

Warnings: none! Enjoy some domestic Jigen <3

Jigen always knew whenever the pain in your carpal tunnel addled wrists and hands started acting up. At one point, you could swear it was like he could read your mind, or that he might even has some hyper-specific sixth sense for this exact situation. Or he’s on the same wavelength as you- or maybe he sees the future… Whatever is it, his attention to the most minor and minute changes in your attitude was almost inhuman and somewhat freaky at times. There were times he knew even before the pain began to set in, and he would pull you away, willingly or not, from whatever it is you’re working on at the time, your compression gloves and ice packs in hand, ready to take care of you and ease you pain.

Much like today.

The gunman had just caught you overworking yourself over some research, hunched over your desk and trying to push through the constant and unrelenting pain that emanates from both your wrists. Each and every little motion and action, every letter typed and word written sends sharp and aching pain up your arms, your shoulders tingling from the pain. And Jigen absolutely hated, no, despised seeing you like this.

“Alright darlin’, that’s more than enough.” Jigen’s voice startled you out of your work as he walks up behind you, his rough hands resting on your shoulders. With a gentle yet firm grasp, he massages your shoulders, slowly yet surely easing a good chunk of the tension from your tense muscles as a content groan slips from your lips. He must’ve been a masseuse at some point in his checkered past.. there’s no way he’s just this good at working out the tense knots in your shoulders for no reason. “Jigen- Lupin needs me to finish this.. I can’t just sto-” “Yes, you can. And you will.” His voice easily trumped yours, his gruff yet gentle tone cutting through the air as he shakes his head a tad. “Lupin’s oh so precious and beloved research can wait. Besides, if he needs it bad enough for you to work through and ignore your pain, he can do it himself.” His word is absolute law in times like this. Silently, he presents you two very familiar choices. Either go with him willingly and be carried bridal style with your dignity intact, or resist and get unceremoniously tossed over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

Today? You chose the later.

Much to his dismay.

“Jigen- I promise I’m fine! I just need to finish this research then I’ll rest, I swear.” You double down as you write down some insignificant detail, gently pushing one of Jigen’s hands off your shoulders with your free hand. But your protests fell upon deaf ears as Jigen’s taller form loomed over you from behind, one hand gently shutting your laptop, the other plucking your pen from your hand and tossing it to the desk where it clattered to a stop at the edge.

He didn’t even give you the time to protest more as he easily scooped you out of the chair and tossing you over his shoulder in one fluid motion. “Jigen! Hey! C’mon- hey! Put me down!” Your shouts fill the air as you hang partially upside down, your chest against his back as he shifted your weight a little. Once more your protests fall on deaf ears as Jigen’s hands hold you steady, one hand splayed against the small of your back and the other lightly grasping the back your thigh, his fingers gently digging into your leg. Your escape attempts are extinguished with his firm grasp, keeping you in his hands until he deems it’s time to set you down. “Ah ah ah. You did this to yourself.” Is all he says in a scolding tone as he carries you away from your cluttered desk. Your hands grasp at the back of Jigen’s jacket, sore and aching fingers curling into the familiar black fabric as he pats your back with a hidden smile.

Moments later, you’re suddenly, yet oh so gently, set on the couch in the safe house’s living room. On the coffee table lay your compression gloves and cold gel bead ice packs, all properly prepared for you. ‘Bastard. He planned this... Again.’ You think as he crouches in front of the couch, picking up your compression gloves before gently taking one of your hands in his own, his warm calloused hands tenderly holding your own. “Jigen, I can put my gloves on by myself.“ Yet as always, your protests met deaf ears. They should be good acquaintances by now, maybe even best friends at this point.

“Just shut up and let me take care of you.” Jigen replies, almost immediately without a hint of malice, easily shutting you up as he slips the glove over your hand, pulling it over your wrist all the way to the middle of your forearm. His touch is almost reverent as he holds your hand as if it were delicate china, and in his mind, you are. At least, in times like these. Minor adjustments were made, ensuring the seams of the glove sat comfortably against your skin without irritating you, checking that the glove was positioned properly around your wrists and other minor adjustments. He then gently massages your wrist, his thumbs expertly pressing against your sore hand. A soft, pained whine escaping you as the motions send a dull pain up your arm while the tense joint is worked out, but the ache is only momentary. The pain is instantaneously replaced by the cool sensation of a gel bead ice pack being rested over your wrist. The process is repeated with your other hand, Jigen’s gentle touch slowly but surely banishing the pain from your extremities with each practiced motion.

“There we go.” Jigen mutters to himself as he stands up, straightening out his clothes and dusting himself off a little. He watches as you lean back against the couch, practically sinking into the plush furniture as your pain seeps out of your body with every second that passes. You couldn’t see his eyes, but you could feel their intense gaze upon you, lingering on your hands as he plops down beside you, adjusting the ice packs so they sit flush against your gloves. The soothing chill seeps into your hands, quelling the pain. “Better?” Jigen asks simply, his voice momentarily shattering the silence between the two of you. There’s a light tease to his voice, playfully poking fun at you as he leans back against the couch, his arm lazily draping over your shoulders as he speaks. “Better..” You repeat, shifting slightly to tuck yourself into his side. His heart soared as you did this, loving the way you fit beside him like a puzzle piece. It’s like the two of you were made for each other. He smiles faintly as he wraps his arm around you, pulling you closer against himself and pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“Good.”

#jigen daisuke #daisuke jigen #jigen x reader #jigen daisuke x reader #x reader #x reader fanfiction #lupin the third #fanfic #request

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the-tmnt-ficfinder · 9 months ago

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What is your favorite fic that you have read so far?

Also do you have any suggestions for writing angst / anything in general?

Have you written a fic before?

Sorry for multiple questions.

Ooh these are all good questions!! This one might be a bit of a long answer lol.

Oh goodness, I've read a lot of fics... This one is a hard one...

Well, I answered an ask a few months ago, when someone asked me my favorite fanfics, if you'd like to look at it ^^ and to actually answer your question, um... Well, my favorite fanfic changes monthly, as I am reading so many fics currently!! So, for now, I'll give you my top three!

The Day The World Broke by @saladmix Its Not Abuse if They're Family by @sketchiefoxie So, I guess…we all have issues by Author Unknown

Becasue I have so many fics to read, I'm sure those will change soon enough. Ask me again in a month, and my answer will be different! ^^

Ok, to answer your second question, when writing, practice makes perfect. Pay really close attention to the past and present tense, and keep them from getting mixed up. You can't be using "is", and then "was", if you know what I mean. Often while I write, I'll listen to it, like in audio book format. Our minds are really good at telling us what good grammar is supposed to sound like, and surprisingly bad at reading it. If you listen to what you write, you'll be able to pick out typos mistakes, and even identity your writing style!!

Now, as for suggestions for writing angst, I'd say pay really close attention to the angst you see in other fanfics. How is pain described? How is emotional damage described? You'd be surprised to find a lot of those descriptions, (such as pain so intense it feels cold, or emotions so heavy, you fall to the floor) are actually correct. I find a lot of fanfic writers, when it comes to pain, and emotional pain, write from a place they've been before. Meaning personal experience.

Now, it sorta sucks, but nothing really cuts it like personal experience. So, if you've ever gone through anything traumatic, physical, or emotional, use that and write with that energy. It'll translate into true passionate writing!!

Also, yes, I have written fanfics before!! Multiple in fact!! I used to be a part of the Undertale UTMV fandom, so I've got multiple oneshots written from then. I'm also currently in the process of writing multiple tmnt fanfics ^^ I absolutely adore writing!!

Don't be sorry for sending in multiple questions, thank you for asking them!! <3

#tmntficfinder #ficfinder #ficfinder answers #ficfinder 100 subs #tmnt fanfiction #the day the world broke #its not abuse if they're family #so I guess... we all have issues

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hear-my-circles-sing · 1 year ago

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Lucilith week: Garden (?)

Soooooooo....

After LITERALLY years of not writing fanfiction; I have written fanfaction. So bear with me if I'm a little rusty

Something I want to day first: I was reading up on Lilith and read somthing about her walking to the edge of the world until she reached the seas, and then got given her curse by the angels. And I NEVER see this in any fanart or fanfiction. Graden romance is great enough, but BEACH romance? I thought I'd give it a go. TIA for making it this far.

Lucifer could feel the ground changing beneath his feet. He had become famillier with how the landscape transitioned this far out in Eden, on it's outskirts. The soft green grass wasn't too far behind him but for now he could feel the snaps and rustles of dried up twigs and scattered palm leaves as he persevered forwards. There was sand visible now, and it muffled his steps as he was at last able to hear the waves. He knew he could always just fly straight to the beach, and a teleportation ring would be even quicker, but he learnt pretty quickly that unsettled her.

And there she was, sat on the blanket he had gifted her, with her hair drifting behind her as gentle and soft as the waves she was watching. The sand had taken on a peachy hue in the evening sun and the air was warm and fresh with the scent of flowers and salt. The birds above sung their sweet evensong.

He waited a moment and stepped forward, his toes barely sinking in the sand but it tickled him all the same. He was unsure if she had heard him apporaching. "Uh, hi Lilith. How's it going?"

She didn't turn around, but she let out a deep sigh, visibly relaxing. He hadn't noticed how tense she was previously. "Lucifer."

"I came when I could, the meeting went on longer than I thought it would..." He waited for a response, twiddling the curl on his cheek. "And then, you know, I still had to present my new project proposals. Animals won't make themselves! Well, they will do but they need to be created first. Then they can start repro-"

He cut himself off, biting his tongue in an effort to halt his shy rambles. It was a... tetchy subject.

Lilith didn't seem to respond though, at least not to him. Had he been able to see her face he would have seen her eye twitch. But only breifly. She turned to him at last.

"So. Did they do it?"

Lucifer considered playing dumb but immediately decided against it. She always had a way of getting him to be blunt. No audience here, she'd remind him. Not a soul other than her.

His shoulders drooped, and he looked down in disappointment. "Yeah. They're waking her up tomorrow."

Lilith nodded and looked out to the sea once again. She scooted to the side, presenting him space to sit beside her. He wouldn't have minded the sand since he had his robe to protect him but she still refused any clothing he offered. It was cold here at night. In the depths of the garden she never once worried about getting cold but under the open sky on the fringes of her old home... well, he had to wait until she had fallen asleep shivering before he was able to summon something to cover her. During the day, she'd drape it over some branches to protect her from the blindingly bright sun, another issue she never delt with before. It would wave in the breeze like a white flag, which was appropriate since it was his first peace offering to her. She wasn't a fan of angels right now.

"Does she have a name yet?"

"Oh, we're not really supposed to share it until the announcement tomorrow," he shrugged. "But seeing as that was aimed at the rest of heaven, I don't mind telling you. It's Eve."

"Eve."

"Yeah."

"Adam and Eve." She snorted. "Has a nice ring to it, at least." She shrugged and picked up a coconut from beside her, along with a rock. Bracing the fruit between her feet, she struck it hard with the pointed side. She grunted as she did this again, and again, and again.

Lucifer gently grabbed her wrists, stilling her blows. He leant forward to see her face again, stoic and unreadable.

"It's not too late, Lili-"

She snapped her head up, her eyes pearcing his. "I'm not going back."

"But-!"

She pulled away and gave up with the damned coconut. Standing, she gestured to the wall of trees looming behind them. "As long as he thinks he can talk down to me, like I'm one of those silly animals he names, I'm not going near him. Telling me where to go and what to do. Acting as though he's in charge when we were told explicitly that we were both in charge of paving the way for humanity. Whatever that means," She huffed.

"It means," said Lucifer standing again with his palms open to the sky, "that God has bestowed upon you the honour of sharing his beautiful world with those who follow in your path-"

"Don't, Lucifer. Just don't."

He stopped. Her steely gaze cut right through him and he felt like he was ashamed at the script he had just rattled off.

She finally looked away, handing gripping her arms as though the memories made her chilly. "I've had so many angels preach those sorts of things to me. The rules of the garden, the importance of the male, the duty of the female." She looked up and shook her head in exasperation. "The forbidden fruit, the importance of faith, the tasks for us to prepare for more of us. Everyday since we woke up here, I've had one of you come down and tell us what to do. Even as I walked away, someone was following me, telling me to go back, warning me that the garden would end and I would suffer without it. I knew though, that they didn't care about me. Not really. They were more worried that I was messing up 'His great plan' or something. I was just annoying them because they couldn't herd me like they wanted."

Lucifer frowned. "Come on, don't be like that, Lilith. We do care."

"Oh really?" She said, dropping her voice. "Then tell me why, instead of sorries or promises of compromise, I got cursed instead? I had been walking for days. I was tired and hungry and scared. When I got here-" she paused as she trod backwards to the shoreline. Her eyes softened when the cool foam brushed against her ankles. "When I finally went as far I could possibly go... they berated me. Warned me. Cursed me to live out my days alone. I'll always burn under His sun, and be hungry without His harvest. For any children I may have to be born dead as though that is a kinder fate than to have me love them. So no, Lucifer. They don't care. And I don't care either. So why would I ever want to go back?"

The angel was stunned. He felt as though he had been punched in the gut and his breath stolen from him. Her words cut through him like a holy blade and he hid his wings in shame. For his kind to act so cruelly to her was something he didn't want to believe in. And yet as her contempt radiated from her, so did her loneliness.

And he could relate to that.

For how many eons was he scoffed at by those of his kind? Shifted from one project to another again and again because his ways didn't match their ways. He was the first born and yet he was never granted the title of Elder. He was first to admit they were stuffy, but cruel? Well. Perhaps. And if he hadn't have stuck to his instinct when Lilith was written off as a lost cause, he would have been just as cruel in her eyes. Looking at her now, with her eyes brimming with hot, angry tears, he wouldn't have blamed her. Because as much as he had gained some trust from her, he realised it wasn't enough.

She didn't know that on that day, weeks ago now, that an emergency meeting had been summoned. Even Lucifer, who had been reassigned to animal design because they though it was be simple enough for him, was there. And she was right in that she was just "written off". They spoke at great length how the birth of humanity plan must still go ahead, and that God had spoken already of a new wife. Naturally Lucifer interjected with worry for the female, for without the Garden she could perish from the elements, or starve, or any number of other dangers. "Do not interfere with her path, Morningstar. Stick to Gods plan as she sticks to hers. Do not worry. We carry on as normal with the Eden project," they echoed. And yet, he did worry. He worried enough to pull up a seeing orb to watch her as she struggled with less food, and cold nights. He worried enough to fly down there himself to pull together fruits and bowls of fresh water while she slept, leaving his gift of a blanket draped atop her as she shivered. He did this every night until she called out to him. I know you're there. Who are you? Why are you doing this?

In the weeks since, they slowly became closer but he realised in this moment that she wasn't sure if he saw her as her own person, and not just "the failed wife".

And what he saw before him now was a powerful woman, drenched in the sunset rays and positively glowing with the determination that she will not be tossed aside. She had strength where others saw weakness, and yet she persevered to the point she risked death. Humans are already so much more than we ever anticipated, though Lucifer. And he was proud to be witnessing it.

But that's not what she needed right now, he realised. He knew isolation when he saw it.

Lilith was hurridly wiping away the tears that betrayed her claims of not caring. She wasn't expecting him to understand, which was why it was all the more shocking when he grabbed one of her hands. She hadn't noticed him walk to stand beside her, the hem of his robe turning translucent in the tide. Looking down, she was stunned to see his own golden eyes glistening with tears too, reminding her of sweet, flowing honey.

"I'm sorry, Lilith. I didn't know about that."

"You didn't? Don't you all work together?"

"Well yeah but..." he trailed off. He shugged and mumbled something about not always being on the same page as them. "I'm not even supposed to be here right now."

"Oh?" She was genuinely suprised, but she believed him. As far as she's seen, an angel never told lies. "Then why are you here?"

Lucifer fiddled with his fingers, eyes fixed on his embroidered sleeves to hide his embarrassment. "Well, to see you of course. And make sure you eat today. I can get you any food you like! Unless you want coconuts."

"But why?"

"Uh, cuz there's a load of them here already?"

"No." Lilith shook here head. "I meant why would you risk coming to see me at all?"

Oh, he realised. "Well, I thought you could use... a friend. I mean, even if it's just me dropping by for a bit each day. No one deserves to be alone. And despite what you think that they think about you, I think you're actually really nice."

Lilith took a moment to unravel that last sentance, but at last she got it. She finally smiled. It was like a breath of fresh air. "Thank you. It means alot."

"And what ever you think of angels, well... I've been told I'm a bit different to my brothers."

"I've noticed," she chuckled.

Splashing his feet in relief at her laugh, Lucifer looked back to the treeline. "Sooo, you hungry?"

Lilith looked out to the sunset. The sky was drifting into a brilliant purple that, if she had known of mirrors, would have noticed matched her eyes. There was something about sunsets out here that she loved, now that the trees weren't blocking the horizon. It was somthing she eagerly waited for each day. Much like she waited for the visit from the funny little angel with the yellow cheeks. What did he call it? Friend? Yes, that sounds wonderful. Her friend.

She squeezed his hand in thanks. He was too distracted talking about somthing called pancakes to notice.

#lucilith #lucilith week #lucifer morningstar #lucifer magne #lilith morningstar #lilith magne #the garden of eden #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel lucifer #hazbin hotel lilith #lucifer x lilith #lilith x lucifer #hazbin hotel fanfiction #fanfic

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the-silver-peahen-residence · 9 days ago

Text

||The vampire's curse: Chapter Seven||

Hi everyone, Peahen mom here with another chapter? Seems like this one is getting new ideas so soon too. Though it's also towards the new Idea of a au: Cursed vampire sorcerers. But if one asks yes I LOVE vampires. Demons, werewolves, vampires etc. They are just too freaking cool. That explains some drabbles resulting in them so. Yeah,

Oh! If you wanna keep up to where we are, the chapters are down below.

||Chapter list||

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

((Your reading chapter Seven))

||Drabble Summary||

After Yuta meets up and checked on Rioto, he hopes things would be alright from now on. Yet, he still senses a bit of fear from his precious reindeer. For now, he will still do his best to keep himself steady with Yuji and Megumi's help. In the mean time, the others were going through some things themselves but still figuring this vampire curse out. How will things go? Read to find out.

||Warning||

~This will have some violence in the drabble

~Craving blood is seen in this drabble

~Undergoing changes to becoming vampires is present in this chapter

~Vampire related curse is seen and present in this drabble

~This is a Collage au/cursed vampire sorcerers au (Might be a new au) so all guests are 18+ so if your under age, do not read this drabble thanks

((Guests in this drabble))

Daichi Pheon-X,(A.k.a Kisho Hashimoto) and Eito belong to my amazing friend @chunibyo-x-sorcerer and Syougo Shimizu (Rioto kirin) along with some others in the Oda clan belongs to @demonsofoda Both blogs belong to @demon-blood-youths (Amazing person please follow her! <3)

Sukuna Ryomen, yuji itadori, nobara kugisaki, megumi fushiguro, and Maki Zenin come from the anime jujutsu kaisen but their also muses I rp with. Same with Miko Yotsuya, Hana Yurikawa, and Yuria niguredoug. And Shigeo Kageyama a.k.a. Mob from Mob Psycho 100 anime and manga.

Note: In this Au Geto Suguru is with the good side and helping Gojo with the others to insure things stay smooth. Even helping the turned students in case of things going wrong. He is Gojo's partner in this Au.

((Grammar mistakes and errors will be seen and noticed in this but it’s written for fun. I hope you understand but with that, please enjoy <3))

Rioto was waving good bye to Yuta who was leaving him after he would let him rest. A smile shows on his lips to his precious reindeer and hopes he gets some rest.

He knew it was going to be a while to learn more about this curse, hoping to do his best to help the others out. That was till he saw him picking up a bag and shows another blood bag. He tenses seeing it but it seems he was doing his best to keep himself stable.

Even with the slight feeding, Rioto still felt some slight jealousy of seeing a bag in his hands. Why did he have to be so nervous about this!?!?

"......." Though the worst part? He didn't know if other vampires were flirting with Yuta too! He didn't want that to happen to him or anyone to take him. Well, He remembers Ritsu and Danny said they would help him so it should be fine right? He just has to get used to this for a while.

And maybe..just maybe he will beat the stupid blood bags and Yuta will only have him when it comes to blood. He won't lose to them. Biting his thumb, Rioto goes back inside closing the door and hopes to think this plan through.

"...Stupid blood bags....I'll never let them beat me in keeping my Yuta safe.." he hissed but he still felt tired. Maybe he should get another nap going. Yawning slightly, that's what he did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Yuta visited his precious Rioto, he decided to let him rest up for now. Seeing what he's been working on must have taken a long toll on him. But, he hopes he will be alright later on. So..he decided to go check on some others when hearing they were hanging out after their check ups.

He saw Yuji and Megumi talking with Maki about something but they saw Yuta walk in who waves to them before he sits down. Now they were curious.

"So? How did it go? Is your reindeer alright?" Maki asked that Yuta sighed.

"He's alright but...when I went to visit him he was really over working himself and he seems a lot more stressed now." he looks to the table but this got Yuji confused.

"Stressed? What do you mean?"

Sighing, Yuta explains what he saw in the room that the three were silent with Megumi widening his eyes. Geez, what was Rioto doing for the past week? And he got all that for him????

"Woahhhh...so that explains why he was a bit more sleepy during class..." Yuji didn't know that but Megumi shook his head with Maki sighing.

"Yeah, go figure...."

"i get why but he shouldn't over do that to himself. He could stress himself out even worse or end up getting sick. I've seen that myself when both Nobara and Yuria freaked out trying to find ways to help me. Their own dorms were packed full of things. Took a few hours to make them stop and rest up." she said rubbing the back of her head.

"Same with Kisho. He was worried when hearing about Miko getting cursed though, it's same same with me and Megumi. Guess we over worried them when we shouldn't." he saw Yuta sigh but close his eyes.

"I know that is true but...." The other three looks to him. "Rioto is going to try helping me more even with giving blood but I can tell he's still afraid."

"Huh? But didn't he say sorry to you?" Maki asked.

"He did yes..but I can tell he's still nervous or afraid. I guess he's worried or scared I might hurt him..so I'm still happy for his help but I'll also stick with the blood bags to be safe as well.....I will admit...being turned might have some ups and downs but we don't know too much about what effects we have from them. That could explain what Nurse Mi-sun and doctor Ieiri. We know some factors could be true but what will happen the longer we have this curse? Will something change in us? Will something adapt the more we feed? We don't know too much about it." he said.

"........."

"......."

He was right. True, they knew some things. Being cursed leads to them having a longer time in the sun but not to the point of needing sun screen or too much. However, their was still testing going around for them. Same with how they are affected by some old myths or not which is on going. Yuta can understand that and he wished their was more they knew about this.

But on the good side, the curse made some of them a lot more dangerous and powerful. Able to take down really dangerous curses and threats. They got brutal super human strength, can withstand poisons from the curses blood, and they can turn into a type of animal. Their was both negative and positive things about this.

Though, testing is still needed. Given why most are still doing some missions during the day and evening.

"Oh wait....Yuji? What about Miko? how is she?" Yuta looks to him that Yuji thinks.

"She's fine. I heard she's over at the Oda's headquarters helping the female generals on day missions right now. She's working with Maki and Hina to help out. So far from what I Heard, they are really kicking ass on the curses and cursed users over there. Though, she seems to be doing pretty good from when we checked on her." Yuji was happy to hear that she was alright.

"However, Hana is over there helping the healer with some things. What was his name? Oh yeah! Makou. However, she would agree to let them study about this vampire curse from her since she's one herself. From the last time I heard, Hana is alright but she seems to be lost in her own thoughts. When we checked on her. So far, she's not tried to drink from anyone but almost sorta bit Iku by mistake. She did say sorry but..she's trying her best" Yuji said.

"I see..." Wow, seems even Hana was having a bit of trouble.

"Then.....what about Taz? How is she?" he asked yet Yuji frowns slightly to sigh.

"She's....Little sis is okay. She came back today to classes and seems okay....though, Sukuna told me to keep a good eye on her. Taz has been..lost in her own word but hasn't said anything to anyone. She's in her dorm room with Timmy and Mob right now. They told me she's not speaking to anyone right now...."

"Wait; not even you Yuji?" Yuta asked.

"No no, she speaks to me if we are alone. She does talk to Mob and Timmy that's helping her right now. They are being sure she's stable when possible. I think it's either the curse is really hitting her hard or..it's something else. I don't know till I check on her later on today." he said running his fingers through his hair.

"Hold on, you mean Sukuna was right when it involves two or a few from NYC? Then you have help?" he asked.

"Yep. My hell panther Jinx. She's staying over here for a while till I turn back to normal.....or if I do.. "Yuji said.

"I got help from someone named Vanessa Midnight. She offered to help me. She and I talk from time to time and she's getting used to this place." Megumi said.

"So...they are the ones that help you when Kisho needs a break or so? But I thought-"

"Trust me, I still love Jinx and I love Kisho. You could say they are my everything. Though, it's always good to find good hearts in the world. That's why I'm glad I have them. Just like Kisho having Miko." Yuji laughed but this got Yuta thinking a bit. He did wonder how they would react to this whole thing or did they even tell them?

"And I'm guessing this Timmy person is from NYC too?" Yuta asked.

"Yeah, he is..but he's friendly so we are good."

Yuta sighed but he was happy to hear that. However, that's when he heard someone walking over showing Geto once more. "Hmm, Geto sensei?"

"Hello everyone. I'm sorry for bothering you but Gojo wishes to speak to you. Seems he and Sukuna have some work for you...we still are under going testing due to the curse you have...."

"Did you find anything else about it?" Maki asked as she with the guys got up.

"Not yet. Were still working on it but we are hoping during the time we find out more, we are closer to finding the one that started this. For now, we are working with what we got."

"That's understanding.."

"Good to know. Now please follow me, I can lead you to Sukuna and Gojo. They are waiting for you." Geto begins leading them while Megumi sighed holding a metal container of a water bottle but it had a blood bag inside while surrounded with ice. As for Yuta he was given one but as they walked out, a few saw them again. Some admires them from afar or some looking jealous.

When walking, Yuta was thinking about Rioto again and hopes he was alright. For now, he'll check on him later on. For now, they had some things to do.

~~Meanwhile at Nagoya City/The Demons of Oda Headquarters~~

"........."

The few generals were busy doing some important things right now. After getting some recent reports of some of their followers taking out curse users who was taking advantage of this cursed vampire thing going around. So far, about 68% of people were bitten, drained, or killed.

Right now, the second in command, Torahito Aishirou, was reading reports about everything. He was told Lord Oda was in a meeting with Gojo and Sukuna at the Ryomen headquarters out of town. So he was to hold everything down till he came back.

Lowering the papers, he was seeing more and more recent attacks happening. Things were rapidly getting more noticed by others. While he was doing that, his mind went else where. The young woman that came to help them.

Hana Yurikawa.

She was one of the infected here just like the generals too. She's been offering assistance and help to Makou but no word from her right after. She's been silent for the past few two weeks but focused on working. Her two companions, Jub-Jub and Mr. Lucky have been really protective of her since she became cursed.

Even scaring some of the other followers or making the generals tense. But can he blame them? everything is pretty much tense right now. As he was walking down the hallway to check up on the healers, he saw some generals there.

"Hey Torahito. Where are you off to?" He blinks to look up, seeing Shukaku standing there along with Iku standing by him.

"Hello there, Shukaku. I'm not doing anything. I'm going to check on Makou to see if any progress was made so far. Was anything new popping up after last night?" he asked seeing the two look at one another then to him.

"Not that we know of yet. I got word not many has changed since then and we are getting more wild reports of what's happening. I say this is getting deeper than we thought." he said but Iku sighed annoyed.

"Yeah. So far it's just gone down to shit right now. Even now it's getting fucking annoying to deal with crap like this." He grumbled with eyes closed yet Torahito shook his head.

"Figuring that out I know. I already got word from the others it's still going to get worse before it gets better." he said.

"That's true. That is why Sakura explained this to me when we were out doing our daily look out patrol today." Inu explains to him.

"And where is Danny and Junpei?"

"Hmm? Their still out right now. However, they are trying to gather some more information about this from others that was seeing most of the damaging events. Right now, not much. I did hear their checking up on Rioto time to time to insure he was alright. From what I know, he's okay...but needs to work on his sleep."

"...I see.....I guess this explains Itachi being late right now coming back. No word I take it?"

"Nope! All I got was a text from him stating he's coming back within a couple of hours. Syuuta even is on watch too but is near the medic area right now. Is that were your heading off to?" Shukaku asked Torahito who nods.

"Yes; I need to check on Makou right now. Maybe he can take a break after all the work he's been doing so far. He hasn't gotten a break yet though-"

"Well, that won't do. He needs to rest up at times too.....he should be in the medic room right?" he said as the two nod. Hearing this, Torahito goes to find him with the other two following him.

~~~~~~~~~~Near Med bay floor~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The area was quiet but their was some resting or taking the time to heal. With the recent increase of attacks, many are on bed rest or just waiting to be treated to head back out. So far, it was tiring for Makou but he refuses to stop unless he was told to.

Though, he saw some tension in the room given the other generals being with him just in case. He was worried but Makou looks to see everyone resting.

"That's everyone right? I don't know if the others will bring more followers or others after their rounds. I guess I will just keep a eye out." Makou Otoroshi wipes the sweat from his face though he was seeing the one he finished helping sleeping now. However, seeing how the others were hit with such a curse is not fun.

"I just hope..that should hold us off for some time.." he looks to stand up so the ones in this helps in the meantime.is wing can rest. He leaves the area to another one. He takes his time heading over to one room before he becomes quiet yet worried. Sensing the slow flow of blessed energy and cursed energy in one room. Almost blending with one another.

Makuo didn't say anything but looks to the room where she was. However, it was still troubling. Seeing someone having the gift of blessed energy but it feels cursed now thanks to that vampire effect. He didn't know how long it will be safe to be around her.

'I wonder if I should even check on Hana? She's been quite busy and quiet in that room. Is she still even awake?'

Frowning slightly, he slowly goes to check to be sure. He slide the door to the side looking in but stops seeing she was not. She was standing there looking at something but sitting down in a moment. She was resting against Jub Jub who took the appearance and size of a giant tall male humanoid figure. He was having Hana rest up on the side after helping with healing some others.

Right now, she was looking down at her lap, feeling Jub jub pet her head. Seems like she over did it by the looks of it but she was even holding a blood bag in her hands drinking it. Seeing that got him more worried.

He might as well go and check on her. He clears his throat to get Jub-Jub's attention along with Mr. Lucky. "H..Hello...don't worry I'm not here to cause trouble. I just need to check on Hana real quick to see her progress...if that's alright?" he looks to Jub Jub who was quiet looking at the doctor. A slight frown shows on it's face.

"Trust me; we are not going to take blood from her again. We will be sure to ask first. But I'm really just here to check on her..I won't be long." he said to Jub jub looking at him. The huge curse remains quiet looking at Makou before relaxing helping Hana sit up slightly. Seems he was given the go to check on her.

"Thank you.." He goes to face Hana this time but looks to see her dazed right now. Trus, she was fine a while ago but now her eyes went dull again. Still drinking the blood that was in the blood bag. She almost drank it all.

"Hello Hana...I came to see how you were doing. How are you feeling?"

"....................."

Makou waited to hope Hana will say something today yet she still remains quiet looking down still drinking the blood. The silence was a bit scary.

"I..I see...still not in the mood to talk? I understand. Though, I still wish to help you but you will have to speak some time Miss. Okkotsu." he stood up straight but he would begin the check up.

He begins checking the eyes. They seem normal right now but not glowing. So her blood urges are taken care of. When he did, he checks the fangs. Still retracted but he carefully sees them show a little exposing the sharp canine fangs.

"Seems like the fangs are still normal...after drinking blood." he said writing this time. He was carefully looking to see her cursed mark on her arm. Seems normal still but no new changes or so.

"Cursed mark still the same.." he mutters writing this down. As he did write it down, he noticed something by her. A few more blood bags were seen but their was about 6 of them. Wow, she must have been hungry.

".......Hunger increases again in another week. Is this thing getting stronger?" he whispered but shakes his head to keep the information up. He lowers the booklet and checks her skin in case of blisters or anything else due to expose of sunlight for too long.

".....No burns or blisters...seems like this curse type is not like the normal vampires. Still can withstand the sun but..sees some redness.." he writes it down. As he was almost done with her check up...he heard a group walk in.

"Makou, are you still doing the study?"

He looks up to see Iku, Shukaku, and Torahito visiting him.

"Oh, hello and yes I am. I'm doing a daily check up on her right now. Theirs some slight changes on her progress but....she's stills table with helping us so far." he said but the other three were silent to look at her.

"And has she spoken yet?" Iku asked.

"..No. She still remains silent. Not a single word from her and it's worrying to me. I don't know if this vampire curse has different effects on certain people. But..maybe she's getting used to it." he said.

"....Is their a way we can still speak to her if she snaps out of it?" Torahito looks to Makou who looks at the notes then at them.

"Right now, no. She speaks when she's ready but so far..not a single word as I said. She's been like this since she came to be helped. She tends to help us with healing others or heading back to the collage to help the others there. Right now..I still need to figure out on what to do....but that reminds me, Iku are you still good from before-"

"I said I was the last time. True, she almost bit me but I'm fine...I know it was not her fault. It's that damn curse messing with her head." He grumbled knowing others were asking about it.

"I know..I was just being sure.." he sighed.

"Anyway, like I said, nothing yet. I'll keep a eye on her just to see what I can learn." he said.

"Understandable...just keep us up to date." Shukaku laughed smiling to him as the group was turning to head out of the room leaving Hana to rest. Though, she slowly looks up to the window seeing the outside. That's when she parted her lips and begins to do something.....

She was singing? No chanting from the sounds of it. A small chanting song that sounded like some spell.

Both Jub Jub and Mr. Lucky was worried seeing some sort of curse energy flowing from her to the outside. What was happening to Hana?

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~

"Are you sure you don't want anything else Taz? No water or anything? You really should rest.." Shigeo Kageyama or Mob for short said to Taz Hellion. She just came back from where she was thanks to Sukuna to the campus. She seems a lot more better now after what happened but seems still out of it.

Mob along with Timmy who was from NYC is concerned about her but hearing she said nothing since coming back. Was she in shock? Tired? Sick?!? What was it?

"........."

"Oh Taz, I wish you would talk to us. We just wanna be sure your okay.." Timmy said holding one of her hands as Taz had her head on Mob's shoulder. She was just lost in her little world. Just like Hana who was with the demons of Oda right now.

Nobara and Yuria was helping Kisho with something so they left Taz in the guys care. For a while, she's been like this for a while before thinking about something.

".........."

"I guess your still not ready to talk to us and it's alright Taz. If you are ready we will be. Just..just try to hang in there okay. You can beat this vampire curse that's on you. We know it." Timmy said to her yet Taz slowly opens her eyes to look at the two but they saw her look back at them.

They saw her lips parted, showing the fangs there. Was she going to speak?!? They look in worry seeing Taz only mutter something for a few seconds till she closes her lips to stop.

"..Did..did you get anything she said?" Timmy asked Mob who shook his head.

"No..just mutters again. I don't know what is wrong with Taz but...It might be due to this curse she's on. I heard she's been like this when being in a protective area." he said.

"She was....though it's troubling. Even her friends back home are worried. She hasn't even been in contact with them. Only Yuji has been telling them everything so far but..I don't know about the other part. Right now, we can just be here for her till she does open up to us."

"..............."

"Timmy?"

"I know....I Just...I wish she would talk to us.....she's been like this for a while now even when we were watching her. What if she's really sick this time-"

"She's not. It's only due to this curse remember? She is just having a lot on her mind right now. That explains why Mr. Ryomen asked us to be sure she's looked after. So that's what we are doing...till she's ready to speak." Mob looks to Taz again but he also held her other hand too. Seeing her like this..it's troubling.

"So right now...we have to be here for Taz...no matter what okay?" Looking to Timmy, he only sighed and nods.

"R..right....I just hope she's alright." he said as the two look to Taz while keeping her in between one another. For now, they would wait for her. As for Taz, something was lingering in her thoughts though..her eyes glowed slightly, opened half way while seeing things too in her visions.

Curses. Curses were all over the area now thanks to this..she could see a lot more disturbing things. Though, was she the only one that could see them? They were like curses but more hidden. Were they more of a threat than what she's seen normally? Maybe..but she was too lost to say anything for right now..she was still in a dazed state.

In due time, she will speak the truth..but not now. It was too soon. The truth will show it self...when the full moon appears in the sky. As the cursed vampires roam around, only time will tell of the events coming soon.

For now, Taz closes her eyes more and rests. At least she had Mob and Timmy with her. She just hopes things get better before they get worse. But that's not how things go in this.

Is it?

#IC #silver roses #Drabble/short or long stories #silver butterfly mun #peahen mom #the mansion owner #the vampire's curse: chapter 7 #the fractions of NYC #demon-blood-youths #peahen writer #Syougo Shimizu #yuta okkotsu #jujutsu sorcerers au #collage au #cursed vampire sorcerers au

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