#another one for the 'i spent years trapped and am dealing with that' pile | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fics-n-stuff · 3 years ago

Text

Home

Pairing: Kaz Brekker × Reader

Summary: Y/N and Kaz were once childhood friends, later reunited in the Barrel. After a business dealing went awry, Y/N has been in hiding for almost a year and the time apart has brought up a lot of feelings for Kaz.

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings: touch aversion, alcohol consumption

A/N: I haven't actually read SoC yet but I have done my research so I really hope I wrote Kaz accurately enough 🤞🏽 Let me know!! I left the reader gender neutral so all parties can enjoy 😁

Update: Pt 2 here!

You stared out of the window, watching the nightlife of the Barrel in full swing below you. It had been almost a year since you had been able to be a part of it all and, even though you had lived in Ketterdam all your life, you felt like an outsider now.

There was a knock on the door and you froze, head tilting to listen out for any threat. After a moment there was another knock, loud and heavy – certainly not the result of somebody’s knuckle hitting the wood. With a sigh, you stood up from the window ledge and crossed the room to the door.

Kaz was waiting on the other side, looking unamused as ever, and you waved him inside quickly and hurriedly shut the door behind him.

“I am one of three people that knock on your door, Y/N.” He said flatly, removing his hat and placing it atop your desk.

“I can’t be too careful, never know when someone might come sniffing around here.” You replied with a shrug. Kaz hummed shortly in acknowledgment before producing a small stack of envelopes from his coat. You snatched them from him eagerly, but careful to ensure that your fingers made no contact with his gloved ones.

“I’m getting tired of being your courier.”

“Well, I’m getting tired of being in hiding.” You huffed, leafing through your letters. “But I’d rather not walk around in a city where I’m actively being hunted.”

“You shouldn’t have gotten caught then.” Your head snapped towards Kaz at that, and you raised your eyebrows challengingly.

“I should slap you for that.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Kaz’s face remained largely unchanged but you could see the shine of amusement in his eyes.

You had first met Kaz as a child, while visiting family in the village where his family lived. He was a sweet child, and you had struck up a fast friendship in the few months you spent there. You had even written letters back and forth for a couple of years until one time you never got a reply.

When you met again years later, entirely by chance, Kaz was a changed person. Your family’s fortune had taken a steep downturn and you found yourself alone, living in a tiny room in a boarding house in the Barrel, when Kaz came across you pickpocketing outside the Crow Club. He had recognised you, but you hadn’t recognised him at first. Everything about him was so departed from the sweet boy that you had known as a child.

He refused to tell you what had happened to change him in this way. He never gave you a cause for the ruthless person he had become to climb the ranks of the Dregs and earn the name Dirtyhands, never even told you what had brought him to Ketterdam at all other than that his father had died. He never pushed you away though. Kept you at arms length, yes, but he never tried to dissuade you from sticking around.

The longer you knew him the more you realised that he wasn’t as cold as his demeanour portrayed. He was fiercely loyal, you could see it in the way that he was with his Crows, and you were certain that he would do anything to protect those he cared about most. You admired that about him.

“You don’t have to come, you know. You could send Inej with my letters, she already delivers me food.” You said, turning away at the realisation that you had been looking at each other in silence for a few seconds too long. You went to sit down, picking up the envelope from the top of the pile and pulling up the wax seal. Kaz didn’t respond for a long while. You tried to read your letter but found yourself distracted with anticipation of what he would say, if he said anything at all.

“I commend your commitment to your business.” He said finally, and you smiled at the compliment. “Eleven months trapped in this apartment and you’re still keeping up with it all.”

“Being in hiding is no excuse to get lazy. If anything, it gives me more of a reason to keep on top of things. Work keeps me sane and keeps coin in my pocket.”

“And how long do you intend to keep conducting your business through letters and underlings?”

“For as long as I have to, Kaz. You know that.” You answered with a quiet sigh, setting down the letter that you definitely hadn’t been reading and turning your head to face him again. You saw his jaw tense and the grip on his cane tighten, but you didn’t know what it meant. You were worried that somehow you had done or said something to upset him.

You had learned, in the few years since your reunion, that sometimes even the most seemingly innocuous things could put Kaz in a black mood. You had caught on quickly to the way that he avoided touch at all costs, and adapted your behaviour accordingly. He had still never told you why being touched triggered such a strong reaction in him, but he knew that you would always respect that fact.

It didn’t matter to you what traumas Kaz had suffered to create these traits in him, only that you knew how to navigate being in his space without violating his boundaries, because deep down you knew that Kaz was the most important person in your life. He took you in and offered you support when you needed it, given you structure and taught you skills to survive without even necessitating that you use those skills to serve his gang, all because of the friendship that you had shared as children. It didn’t matter how heartless people said the Bastard of the Barrel was, you knew that Kaz cared; perhaps not in the same way that you had come to care for him, but he did care.

“Maybe you should go, I’m sure you have work of your own to do.” You mumbled, your eyes drifting downwards anxiously. “And anyway, I have letters to read.”

“I could protect you.” He blurted. His voice was a little louder than usual, his tone less flat, and your brow furrowed in confusion and curiosity. “We could. The Crows, and the Dregs.”

“I don’t need your protection.”

“But you’d have it.”

You turned fully in your chair, straddling it with one leg either side of the backrest, and leant your forearms on the top of it. There was something in Kaz’s eyes that you’d never seen before and, although you prided yourself on being able to tell how Kaz was feeling and what he might be thinking about, you couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Do you know something that I don’t?” You questioned.

“Of course not.”

“Do you suddenly not trust my ability to keep myself safe?”

“Nothing like that, Y/N.”

“Then what?” You rested your chin on your arms, looking up at him expectantly. He held your gaze, but you could see the cogs turning in his brain as he calculated his next sentence. You were preparing for an argument to start, so you certainly didn’t expect the words that came from him next.

“I’m concerned about how long you’ve been alone here.” He answered. You blinked.

“Concerned?” Your voice cracked a little with your surprise, and Kaz clenched his jaw as he averted his eyes from you.

“I just thought that maybe all this time on your own might have had some affect on you. And I... hold a certain sense of responsibility.” His voice never wavered or faltered, other than the one pause there was no suggestion in his speech that the words held any significance to him, but you could see the tension in his shoulders and the tight grip that he maintained on his cane.

You narrowed your eyes, taking a moment to examine his face and his demeanour. Everything about him was wound tight, like he was making a particularly tricky deal rather than talking to a friend – you hoped that he considered you a friend – and though he was looking in your general direction you noted his avoidance of eye contact.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were saying that you miss me, Mr Brekker.” You said, your mouth turning in a small smirk. You saw Kaz’s chest tighten as he silently took in a sharp breath, and you chuckled lightly. “I’m fine, Kaz. Inej visits often enough, and I’m happy to see you when you deliver my letters. I will say though, I miss drinking with your Crows.”

Truthfully, you did feel rather trapped in your tiny apartment. For almost a whole year your entire world had consisted of only three rooms, and even if you didn’t admit it you were going slightly mad. Not being able to leave was frustrating, and living your whole life in one room (because really, who spends that much of their day in the bathroom or kitchen?) made you feel like a caged animal.

He didn’t reply. He also didn’t move. You watched him, standing straight and stiff as ever in the middle of the room, for a few moments. Usually he would have said something or made a move to leave, so you knew that he was deep in thought about something. You slouched further down against the backrest of your chair.

“If you’re planning on sticking around then you should at least sit down.” You sighed. “I have some kvas, or whisky if you’d prefer.” Kaz shook his head no to the drink but made a move towards the window seat. You watched him cross the room and sit down, his grip remaining on his cane as he placed it between his knees. “What’s on your mind, Kaz?”

“It’s not important.”

“That can’t be true.”

“And why is that?” He questioned dully.

“Because you’re still here, with me, staring into space like you’re waiting for the wind to tell you a secret.” He looked at you then, and you could see a conflict swirling behind his eyes. You resisted the urge to furrow your brow in worry. He still didn’t say anything, and that didn’t do anything to ease your concern because Kaz Brekker was not often one to be at a loss for words. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes.” He murmured, his head nodding slightly.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” You asked softly. He looked into your eyes for a few seconds before turning his head away, clearly deciding not to answer. You were almost expecting him to get up and leave the apartment right then, remove himself from the uncomfortable situation like he had been known to do before, but he made no move to stand.

You stood instead, abruptly moving through to the tiny kitchen and pouring a glass of whisky for yourself. You took a long sip as you came back out into the living space, picking up a wooden staff on your way. You kept up your combat training while in hiding, though it wasn’t often that you got an opponent.

“Humour me, will you?” You smiled, spinning the staff in your hand and setting your drink down.

“There’s not much space in here.” Kaz commented.

“Then we’ll be careful. Get up and fight me, coward.” You goaded. He gave you an incredulous look but stood anyway, tossing his cane up and grabbing it at it’s middle as he came towards you. Your grin broadened, and you waited just until the was in your range before you swung at him.

Your staff collided with his cane, moved up just in time to block your attack, and he watched you with challenging amusement. You let him make the next attack, knocking his cane away when he swung it towards you.

You exchanged blows, each of you managing to block all of the other’s attacks but you were starting to corner him. It seemed like you were about to get the upper hand when he swiped his cane towards your middle, making you jump back, and before you could move to swing on him he had pushed the crow’s head handle into your chest, not so hard that it was painful but with enough force to knock you backwards.

You landed on the edge of your bed with a groan, letting the staff drop from your hand in defeat.

“No fair, your cane is basically an extension of your arm.” You grumbled. Kaz let out a short breath, the closest thing to a laugh that anyone could get from him.

“You picked the fight.” He shrugged, lowering his cane and righting it at his hip. “I could have told you that you wouldn’t win it.”

“Mean!” You exclaimed in exaggerated offense, sitting up. When you looked at Kaz his expression was soft, the worry behind his eyes seemingly eased, and you smiled. “I could beat you if it was hand to hand.”

“I don’t doubt that.” He replied, the almost compliment catching you by surprise once again.

It had been a while since you and Kaz had spent any significant amount of time together. He was a busy man, particularly so over the last few months it seemed, so other than his brief drop-ins to deliver your letters you hadn’t seen him. It was nice to have his company again, even if he was a little off.

“Do you remember those drawings of Ketterdam that I used to send you with my letters?” You questioned softly, tucking your knees up to your chest. “I used to walk around the city looking for spots to sketch. I’d spend hours sitting on the street with my pencils trying to get the picture perfect to show you what it was like. I think, now, you probably know the city better than I do.” You smiled wistfully, resting your head on your knees as you looked up at Kaz. You saw his Adam’s apple bob with a swallow.

“You miss it, don’t you?” He asked.

“Of course.”

“You could go out there, stop hiding. You know I would look out for you.”

“I can’t put that burden on you, Kaz.” You chuckled lightly. “Enough people want you dead already, you don’t need to be looking after me while I’m being actively hunted.”

“How long do you plan on staying locked in here then?”

“As long as it takes, we went through this earlier. I have a big deal coming up, with the money from that I’d be able to smooth over some edges and maybe I could come out of hiding in a few months.” You theorised. “I’d still have to watch over my shoulder all the time but it would be an improvement.” Kaz’s jaw tightened again, and he bristled with agitation.

You hugged your knees tighter, doubt and worry overcoming you. Was Kaz not okay with coming to see you here anymore? Was he trying to get you out of hiding to lighten the burden it had put on him, getting your letters delivered to the Crow Club and having to bring them to you? The thought of not being able to rely on his short visits was enough to fill your chest with a mixture of dread and guilt.

“Like I said before, you don’t have to keep coming if that’s the problem.” You added, hiding the dejection in your voice. “Inej can-"

“No.” He interrupted bluntly. You blinked, pressing your lips together in contemplation. Was he upset that Inej was bringing supplies for you? Or worse, had something happened to her? Was that what was bothering him so much tonight?

“Why not?”

“Because I-" He cut himself off. He took a step back as if regaining his balance, his gaze falling to the floor, and you watched him flex his fingers around his cane as he organised his words. “Do you remember how you got sick while you were visiting your family?”

“Kaz.” You murmured tentatively, craning your neck to try and get a better look at his face that was turned away from you. Kaz didn’t like to talk about the past. Even bringing up the letters that you sent each other had been pushing it, but for him to choose to talk about your childhood was something he had never done before. Still now, it looked like the mention of the past was making him nauseous as he moved to sit down in the window once again. Your curiosity was growing by the second.

“You got sick and you could hardly get out of bed for almost a fortnight.” He continued, dismissing your concern. “I went to visit you every day. I picked flowers for you to make you feel better, and your mother baked oatmeal cookies but I refused to have any unless you did because you weren’t eating enough.”

“I remember.” You nodded. “You never let my glass of water get empty. It was sweet. But why does it matter now?”

“I can’t... I can’t stop worrying about you. But unlike when we were kids, I can’t just walk up the street and check on you every day.”

You felt as if all the air had been knocked out of your lungs and for a second you genuinely wondered if you had made that up in your head. Kaz very rarely expressed any emotion – the mask he wore hardly ever slipped – but here he was telling you that he worried about you. For Kaz, that was practically him baring his soul for you to see.

“You don’t have to worry about me.” You said shakily. “I’ve been fine so far, haven’t I?”

“But what if you’re not fine for much longer? As long as you’re holed up here I can’t keep you safe, and I can’t come to check on you because if I come here too often people might notice. Honestly, it’s a miracle that they haven’t already.”

“I didn’t think you believed in miracles.” You mumbled. Kaz glanced up at you, and the vulnerability on his face was unlike anything you’d seen before. It struck you in the heart and made you feel a need to comfort him, to put him at ease. “I can take care of myself, Kaz. I promise."

He was silent for a moment, his gaze downcast once again, then he took a deep breath and spoke.

“I think I’ll take that drink now.”

You watched him for just a second before you got up, crossing over to your desk and picking up the glass of whiskey that you had left there. The glass was half full since you had admittedly poured a little too generously.

You held it out to Kaz, who reached for it without looking. Although you were careful to hold the glass at the very top, his gloved fingers still brushed slightly over yours as he took a hold of it. He immediately stiffened, and you were quick to pull your hand away, taking a step back to give him space. He downed the drink in one, his face scrunching just slightly at the burn it left in his throat as he set the glass down by his feet.

“I just want to be able to watch over you.” He said, his voice barely more than a whisper, and you could practically see how difficult it was for him to verbalise his feelings.

“I think... I understand what you mean, Kaz. But I’m safer staying here than being out there, even with the Dregs protecting me. You have to know that, right?”

Kaz pushed a peice of hair out of his face, his gloved hand smoothing over his head as he let out a long and quiet sigh. Finally, he looked up at you.

“I know.” He answered.

“I appreciate your concern though.” You smiled. “Honestly, I didn’t think you cared about me that much. Or, well, I knew you cared but I just didn’t think... nevermind.”

“You didn’t think what?” Kaz’s question made you pause, anxiety pooling in your chest as you contemplated coming clean about your feelings. You thought about lying, about keeping your secrets to yourself, but Kaz had been so sincere it only felt right to return his honesty. With a deep breath, you worked up the courage to finally tell him the truth.

“I didn’t think that you cared as much as I do.” You replied. The sentence hung in the air for a moment as you moved back to sit in your desk chair, heart pounding in your chest. “I’ve kind of found myself caring a lot, actually. I think it’s only fair, really. I mean, I kind of owe you my life and all so it makes sense that I care. That’s not to say that it’s sensible but it is at least understandable, I guess.”

You bit your lip to stop your rambling, dropping your head so that you didn’t have to look at Kaz. There was a long stretch of silence.

“I care more than I might show.” He spoke softly, much more softly than you think you’d ever heard his voice. When you looked up Kaz was gazing right back at you, your eyes locking and his stare going deep into your soul. He didn’t need to say more, that simple sentence and the look in his eyes were enough to tell you what he was confessing. A smile pulled at your lips.

“Be careful what you admit, Brekker, or I might think that you’re going soft.” You joked, and he shook his head lightly in amusement. You leaned forward with your elbows on your knees, letting go of the anxiety that had been coursing through you.

“I'm serious, Y/N."

“I know. You don’t make a habit of saying things that you don’t mean.” You nodded. You glanced up at the clock on your wall with a sigh. “You really should get going, it’s dangerous for us both for you to stay too long.”

“Yes, I suppose so.” He muttered.

He stood after a moment, his hand flexing over the crow’s head handle of his cane. You reached back to pick his hat up from the desk, and he held a hand out for it, but instead of passing it to him you placed atop your own head. It was too big, and you had to push it back on your head so it didn’t slide over your face.

“You know, I rather like you without the hat.” You smiled.

“Is that so?”

“Yep. I can see your face better this way so I can tell when your emotions manage to break through.” Kaz’s lips quirked upwards a little as he took the hat from your head and put it on his own. You jutted your lip out in an exaggerated pout and he let out a huff that seemed suspiciously close to a laugh.

“Do you have any letters you need me to send out?”

“No, not this time.”

“Alright, then I’ll be on my way.” He gave a quick nod and turned towards the door. He had only taken a couple of steps when you twisted in your chair and called after him .

“Kaz.” He stopped and turned back to you. “I’m doing what I can to get out of this apartment, I promise.”

“That’s not something that you owe me, Y/N. It’s your freedom and your safety. But I await the day that you come waltzing into the Crow Club ready to make Jesper lose all the coin in his pocket.” He replied lightly, making you smile. “And if you need anything then I’m here, all you have to do is ask.”

“Thank you, not just for this but for everything. Everything that you’ve given me since that night outside the Crow Club. I might be dead if it weren’t for you.” You let sentiment out freely, finally feeling able to show your heart to Kaz now that you knew that your affections weren’t one sided. His expression softened, and he seemed to contemplate something deeply, before he took a single step back towards you and held out one gloved hand.

You hesitated, unsure if he was initiating what you were thinking, but he maintained eye contact. He gave a small nod, a mix of permission and encouragement, and you tentatively reached for his outstretched hand.

Kaz took in a deep breath when your hand made contact with his, and you watched him carefully ready to pull your hand away. After a moment he released the breath, wrapping his fingers lightly around yours and running his thumb over your knuckles.

“You’re the closest thing to home that I have.” He croaked. “I didn’t want to lose that.”

“You won’t.” You affirmed. Kaz released your hand, and you found yourself missing the feeling of the leather glove. He took a small step back, trying to hide the shake in his breathing.

“I’ll come back soon, as soon as it’s safe to.”

“Okay.” You smiled. “I’ll see you then.”

Kaz left the apartment without another word between you, he paused before closing the door after himself just to look at you for a moment longer. You watched out of the window to see him leave the building and start off through the street, a broad smile on your face.

#shadow and bone #six of crows #shadow and bone netflix #sab #sab netflix #soc #kaz brekker #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker fanfic #kaz brekker fic #kaz brekker oneshot #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #crooked kingdom #jesper fahey #inej ghafa #dirtyhands #bastard of the barrel

239 notes · View notes

otptings · 3 years ago

Text

Flowers

☽ Requested; Yes

☽ Idol; Jungwon

☽Word Count; 3.3k+

☽ Genre; Hanahaki (lots of mentions for it) Friends to Lovers, slight Angst

☽ Warnings; Self deprecating thoughts, mentions of hanahaki disease, slight blood, lots of cringe flower metaphors

☽ Synopsis; Date night has been a monthly tradition since before Jungwon debuted in Enhypen. This is your first day out in months with Jungwon, but somethings different about this one. Is it the fact that he's an idol now, and all of your activities happen in empty establishments that have been bought out by his management, or is it your newly returning feelings for Jungwon that threatened to choke you out, causing dark violet flowers to spew out of your mouth at every interaction with him?

☽ A/n; The zoo I am describing for this is the Honolulu Zoo because that is the last one that I've been to, so if some of the animals aren't in Seoul than I apologize for that. Hope you enjoy this and sorry for taking so long on this request I had so many ideas of how to pull off the dates

You trusted Jungwon. It came easily like breathing, only a natural side effect developed effortlessly over 5 years of friendship. Days spent laughing and telling jokes, venting to each other about worries and stresses, studying for hours the night before tests. With someone as generous, and lovable as him it was easy to trust him with your life. He has also used this to his advantage, convincing you to do questionable things with a flash of his dimples. Like now, allowing him to lead you down the streets of Seoul while blindfolded. Completely at his mercy.

"Are we close? My feet are starting to hurt. We've been walking for hours." You whined as Jungwon pulled you around another corner. You've lost your sense of direction 4 turns ago, and he seemed to keep on going. "Why couldn't your manager just drive us the whole way? You had to have him stop super far from wherever you're taking me?" Jungwon just let out a laugh and gently squeezed your wrist. . His hand surrounding your wrist was comforting and grounding, a reminder that you were safe with him.

"We're almost there I promise. And if I would've done that it wouldn't have been a surprise now would it." You humphed knowing that Jungwon was stubborn when it came to things like this.

"You always do this. It's not fair, your ideas are always so much fancier than mine." Jungwon let out another laugh, and you didn't have to see him to know his expression. Eyes probably scrunched up, his dimples greeting the world as he laughed at my pain.

"It's not my fault that I love you so much. Plus I always want to do something special with you." Confusion flooded your mind while your heart skipped multiple beats at his words.

In the same sense of truth, feelings were natural too. Flowering in your chest with every sweet action he did, never wanting a reward for it just doing them because that's the kind of person he is. Packing extra food in his lunch box knowing your tendency to forget your own. Cupping your cheeks while he wiped away your tears, listening to you rant about your sorrows or broken hearts. Pulling you close to his chest afterwards, massaging the back of your head knowing how bad your headaches get after crying. Arms wrapped securely around you as he whispered calming words into your ear, a sense of security and comfort blanketing you while listening to his heart beat. Every gentle, caring and loving action made the flowers grow.

When Jungwon told you about his plan to audition for Be-Lift one part of you was selfish. You wanted him to stay, turn down the biggest opportunity of his lifetime, continue being only your Jungwon. That part was tiny however; and you squashed down those bitter feelings. You were absolutely ecstatic for him, having been the one to even push him towards the auditions. Stayed up hours at night to watch him practice, seeing his confidence grow tremendously the weeks leading to that fateful day.

When he got accepted you both celebrated the great news. His parents held a dinner in his honor, and his family sat around the table, congratulating him and his accomplishment. At first you were happy for him, overflowing with joy that your best friend had passed the biggest audition of his life. But as the day got closer you had to hide your heart break, smiling despite the tears you shed at night. Knowing that he was going to leave you soon.

The night before he left for I-Land was the hardest one, cuddling into his side while you laid in his bed. The last time in a while you would be in his room like this, only the two of you and the quiet of the night. You didn't sleep the whole night, only savoring the feeling of Jungwon holding you tightly, the last night of him being yours. Your best friend. Your first love.

Your Jungwon.

For the first time in 5 years you were apart for longer than a couple weeks. During this time the flowers started to wilt. You were grateful, ecstatic. Of course you missed Jungwon terribly, tuning in every Friday to support him. Eyes watering every time you watched him perform , pride prevailing over any negative emotions you could have as he confidently took the stage. When it was revealed he had made the debut team you had wailed, preening at your best friend's accomplishment knowing that his hard work paid off.

When Jungwon came home to visit your feelings were gone. You didn't feel the twisting in your chest when you hugged him, tucking your face into the crook of his neck as you both cried. Pulling away to look him in the face your heart didn't flutter at his smile, you only relished in the feeling that your best friend was back.

You thought your feelings had wilted into piles of dust and blown away. Not having seen him for months of course that'd be normal. You had thought your feelings were gone for good when you started to see him more frequently and they still hadn't returned.

You were wrong.

"Are you okay bugs?" Snapping out of your daze you realized that Jungwon was standing directly in front of you, one hand cupping your face and concern in his eyes. You nodded your head, cursing yourself for being getting so distracted.

"I'm fine bunny." His eyes scanned your face once before he leaned back, letting his hand linger.

"You know I just worry about you sometimes." Dropping his hand to his side he turned dramatically, switching the topic and gesturing at the box office in front of us. His manager was there waiting for us, underneath the gigantic sign for the zoo. "But I knew that you missed the zoo since we haven't gone in a long time. So I actually convinced management to rent it out for us for 2 hours."

Practically leaping into his arms you wrapped your arms around his neck, a huge smile spreading across your face. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Pulling away you saw his facial expression mimicking yours, dimples proudly on display and bunny teeth prominent.

"Come on, let's go." You giggled as you grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the gate. After getting your wrist bands - just for the experience - you downloaded the digital map and headed into the zoo ecstatic for your day with Jungwon.

♤♠︎♤

"Come on bugs, just look at the snake." You shook your head vehemently, trying to yank your hand free. His fingers only tightened around you wrist as he attempted to convince you to look at the giant snake in the glass enclosure merely 3 feet away from where you stood.

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Jungwon." You whined out his name, refusing his outrageous request.

Snakes were definitely a no for you. Especially a boa constrictor that can grow up to 13 ft long. The one they held in the exhibit was only 5 ft, but it could always become bigger. What would even need to get that big? Any animal that needs to be 5+ ft is a menace to society, and only here for evil. You'd already catered to Jungwon enough in this godforsaken reptile and amphibian section. The frogs were cute, absolutely adorable with their big glassy eyes, hanging on to the glass. Lizards weren't a big deal either, some of them over 3 ft long, lazing about their enclosure, enjoying the surprisingly warm Seoul day.

"Isn't this supposed to be a special day for me? Why would you make me see a stupid snake? They don't even have arms, that's so weird and creepy." Jungwon let out a laugh before pulling you over to him, a squeal leaving your lips as your back met his chest, and his arms wrapped around you. At the slightest display of affection you stopped fighting him, feeling the vines squeezing around your heart painfully, before he started to walk forward and you remembered where you were. Fighting for your life.

You tried to plant your feet in the ground to prevent Jungwon from forcing you to see the snake, but he only lifted your feet from the ground as you cursed the stupid Be:Lift gyms. His manager stared in amusement from the corner, his phone out to record the two of you and undoubtably show it to the rest of the members.

Another loud squeal left your mouth as Jungwon brought you right in front of the glass enclosure, the snake was sitting in the corner but slowly started moving towards the two of you, as if you had fascinated it. You turned your head, placing it in the crook of Jungwon's neck as you squeezed your eyes tight. Ignoring the fear that coursed through your body knowing that the snake was only separated by a thin layer of plexiglass.

"Bugs just look." You only shook your head, "I promise the snake won't hurt you as long as I'm here okay? You know I'll always protect you." Jungwon's soft voice cut through the fear, and you sighed knowing that you were falling into another one of his traps. You turned your head while taking a deep breath before opening your eyes, being met with the face of the snake.

With Jungwon's constant flow of reassurance in your ear you took a good look at the snake. The snake was against the glass, falling back down before slithering up again. Its eyes were wide open and almost looked like doe eyes, black and glassy as it stared at you. The scales were a pretty pastel yellow, mixed with white, resembling a banana cow. You were so distracted admiring the snake that you both jumped when his manager suggested you should get along, and walk further into the park. You felt your heart clench painfully as Jungwon stepped away from you, a blush running up his neck and spreading over his cheeks as he quickly walked to the next exhibit not bothering to wait for you.

♤♠︎♤

"I think this is the best friend date we've ever had." Jungwon spoke happily as you two walked out of the zoo gift shop, a red fox panda stuffed animal tucked safely in your arms. His treat since he refused to let you pull out your wallet and purchase it for yourself. You chose to ignore the flutter of your heart and rush of heat at the thought of this being a true date, your mind decidedly ignoring the word 'friend'. Your cheeks ached as you smiled. They've started to hurt after the amount of time spent joking and laughing while visiting the animals.

"It was. I really appreciated it. I've missed you, it's been so long since we've been able to hang out like this." Jungwon nodded in agreement, an uncharacteristically shy smile spreading across your face.

"Come on. The nights still not over, I have one more surprise for you." Jungwon tossed his arm over your shoulder as he led you to the car, excitement and surprise as you thought about what he could potentially still have planned.

Being ever the gentleman he opened the door for you, waiting until you were safely inside to close it and join you. His manager turned on the radio as he drove you two to the next destination.

"Don't tell me we're going to have to walk again? My feet are still dying from the zoo." Jungwon let out a laugh as he grabbed your hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it as he intertwined your fingers.

"We won't have to walk too much I promise. Just sit back and relax, it shouldn't take too long to get there." You nodded your head before quickly looking out of the window, no longer able to ignore it.

The vines grew in your chest, clenching painfully around your heart, writhing and squeezing like a boa constrictor trying to capture its prey, crawling up your throat making you resist the urge to gag. Lungs filling with petals that swirled and fluttered around with every breath until there were too many, leaving no room to move around, just clumping together as breathes became sickly. Until you could no longer resist the urge to cough.

The sound of you hacking and gagging, the sight of a worried Jungwon when the first petal comes out. Dark violet petals fluttering out with every spasm of your lungs, some full flowers with stems still attacked, coated with a thin layer of maroon liquid, staining the pretty petals and tinging your pink sweater with spots of red, the bitter taste of the flowers mixing with copper. Your throat sore as the taste of bile rose alongside the rest of the petals, finally emptying your lungs. Filling the car until there was no room to hide from it, hide from your feelings. Hide from the predicament that you were in, feelings for you best friend, the rookie idol.

How could you be so stupid to believe that you could hide it? You were always so easily exposed to Jungwon. He knew you better than you knew yourself. What if he already knew and was just biding his time before he left you, the thought of your feelings disgusting him, being too much for him? He could surely find another best friend, one who wouldn't fall for him.

But could that ever happen? Someone not falling for him. It's easy to fall for his eyes, chocolate eyes that always saw right through you. That knew when you weren't feeling good and were trying to hide it. Dark unruly hair, never easily tamed but was so silky when you ran your fingers through it. Despite being called bunny he practically purred whenever you did it, causing your face to burn at the feelings that always resurfaced. Caring nature that assured he'd become the leader of his group, always wanting to care for everyone around him and make sure that they were happy.

You don't think it'd ever be possible for someone to not fall for him.

"Are you okay bugs?" You blinked realizing that the car door was open, Jungwon standing in front of you with the same concerned look that made you feel ashamed, and yet warmed.

Glancing around you realized you had imagined the coughing fit, drowning in the sea of your own emotions and being buried under a mountain of petals. It was all in your imagination, hanahaki didn't exist. How could it? If it existed you would surely be dead.

Shaking your head you waved off the question, unbuckling your seatbelt and quickly hoping out of the van.

"Of course. I'm perfectly fine, just feeling a little tired I guess. Must've gotten lost in my thoughts. Anyway, where are we?" Jungwon raised a brow at your rambling, knowing you only did it when you were nervous before choosing to ignore it and grabbing your hand again. You hoped he couldn't feel how sweaty your palms were, nerves taking over you at the realization your feelings and thoughts had run away from you again.

"Well I wanted to do something really special for you," You shook your head before cutting Jungwon off.

"The zoo was perfect Jungwon, you don't have to do anything else. Today was perfect already." Jungwon shushed you as he led you into the building, his manager staying behind. Leading you to the elevators he pressed a button before getting on, waiting for the doors to close behind the both of you before he continued to speak.

"You've supported me throughout this whole journey. Pushing me to audition when I was too nervous, and didn't think that I would make it. When I got accepted into I-Land you supported me even when I was leaving you in the middle of the school year, texted me every night to let me know that you were watching and were always rooting for me. Knowing how proud I was making you when the thought of me debuting wasn't official helped me work harder, and continue to push myself," He got cut off as the elevator dinged, signaling that you were at your floor. Jungwon pulled you off the elevator towards a set of stairs that led to a door labeled roof. Jungwon turned towards you, his face deathly serious causing you to get a lot nervous at the sudden sober move.

"Before we go out there I just wanted to tell you that I am grateful that you are in my life. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you, constantly supporting me throughout everything. You are what has pushed me this far bugs, and I love you. You're my best friend and I owe you so much for constantly being there." You smiled, ignoring the pain in your chest. Of course he'd only think of you as his best friend, there's no way he'd see you as anything else.

"Of course Jungwon. You can't put it all on me, you worked hard to get to where you are. I'm proud of you because you constantly push yourself, not because you've been successful. You'll always be my Jungwon even if you wouldn't debuted with Enhypen, and I would've always been proud of you." Red dusted over Jungwon's cheeks as he smiled shyly, before opening the roof door and pushing you in front of him.

You were left speechless at the sight in front of you. Blankets laid out over the ground, picnic baskets placed in the middle to prevent the wind from blowing them away. Pastel pink flowers spread out being blown lightly by the wind but not leaving the roof. Fairy lights spread out emitting a soft golden glow barely recognizable under the setting sun. Clouds flitting over the pink, and orange sky. Adding on to the beautiful aesthetic of the set up.

What truly had your attention was the rest of his members standing around the blankets, signs being held out at arm's length. Their various expressions showed excitement, minus Niki who tried to look emotionally detached from the situation but was bouncing on his toes, practically jumping.

From tomorrow,

I'll protect you

All Day and Night

Now Lean on Me

Will you go out with me Bugs?

Hot tears pricked at your eyes, a thick lump in your throat growing. All of their expressions morphed into worry, Niki had even stopped bouncing on his toes, Heeseung glanced at Jungwon slight panic evident in his face. A loud sob left your mouth as you turned around and threw yourself onto Jungwon, tossing your arms around his neck. A nervous laugh left his mouth as he slid his around your waist, holding you almost protectively.

Jungwon pulled away from you, bringing his hands to cup your cheeks, attempting to wipe the river of tears away.

"These are happy tears right?" A weak smile spread across your lips, nodding slowly at him. Seeing his smile come back full force, dimples showing happily. Vines loosening around your heart for the first time in months, falling away as they disintegrated. Petals evaporating leaving behind only fresh air in your lungs, breathes flowing freely as you stared at Jungwon. Boba eyes staring back at you, only showing love. His thumbs stopped wiping as he leaned forward barely, glancing at your lips briefly.

"Can I kiss you?" You eagerly hummed, a soft yes being your answer.

Jungwon leaned forward, leaving space for you to back out if you were too overwhelmed. You met his lips, inciting cheers and groans from the members present, seeing their leader kissing his best friend. Your lips moved in sync, one more thing you guys did perfect together. You must admit, the taste of salt from your cheers, along with the dramatic cheers from his members did not make for the best first kiss experience. Especially for a first kiss that you had fantasized and imagined about for years.

Knowing that was only the first of many however, made it all the sweeter.

#kpopcatalog #enhypen #enhypen fluff #Jungwon enhypen #Jungwon fluff #heeseung #Kpop #Kpop fluff #Kpop fanfiction #enhypen imagines #enhypen fanfiction #hanahaki #hanahaki disease #enhypen angst #Kpop angst

164 notes · View notes

starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years ago

Text

HASO, “Saved by a Nightmare.”

I wanted to write something short and quick today, but this is what happened instead. I hope you all like. I knw you wanted to know more about the Bran and what happened to Ket

He was alone.

Finally!

He said that, but what he didn’t know is that he had actually been mostly alone for the past five years. After his traumatic experience some five years earlier, he had requested a transfer to a mining station on an unnamed planet in an unnamed system on the very outskirts of andromeda.

He had not come up for air in those five years.

He had not seen a sole or the suggestion of another sole other than the glowing bioluminescent coating that he left behind to brighten up the tunnels just a bit.

He was technically supposed to be down here mining precious metals, and of course every day he sent up a token care of rocks and waste through the main shaft just to make him think he was actually doing something. He was not, in fact, doing anything at all really except slowly excavating his tunnel deeper and deeper, this increasing the likelihood that he would never see another living being for the rest of his life.

And so there he rested at the bottom of the deepest shaft amid a pile of rubble contemplating his own thoughts.

A pastime that was not really recommended because when he went into his own thoughts he often spent much of that time bitterly contemplating the last few years and what had led him here in the first place.

Ket was famous, and he had spent the list five years trying to make himself anonymous once again.

Why was he famous?

Because he had been the first alien to have ever met a human.

He was the first alien species humans had ever come in contact with, and because of that chance meeting he would probably have emotional scars for the rest of his life. When he closed his eyes at night he often watched, as if in slow motion as the dangerous creature with its too sharp teeth and strange churring growl chased him through mases and tunnels, never giving up, never ending pursuit until Ket wa exhausted and lying helpless on the floor.

He saw the thing in his dreams.

Jumped at every noise

And cowered at the very thought.

He had been just a pup then really, but the meeting had scarred him for life.

He had asked to come here only months after the encounter and hadn’t come up for air since. The outside world was lost to him, and he knew nothing of it except for the horrible humans which were now probably waiting for him on the surface, ready to eat him.

A part of him wondered if the strange predator creatures had taken over the galaxy yet, and maybe he was the last one of his species left trapped down here in the dark.

Ket didn’t watch the news, or seek any information about the horrifying creatures that had turned him into this. It would have taken him less than half a day to crawl from his tunnels and go ask, but the thought of leaving his safe, protective confines, just make him sick to think about.

No, he would stay here where it was safe.

He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, when suddenly a low rumbling tremor rose up through his body.

He sat up and looked around as the cave shook and pebbles danced on the floor.

What was going on!

He turned in a tight circle pressing his ear against the wall.

Oh hell!

The tremor had destabilized his tunnel. He could hear it through the rocks.

What was happening! He tried to move, but as he shifted he felt the tunnel rumble slightly.

On no….. On no, this wasn’t how it was supposed to end, he was going to die down here, and there was no one to come save him. He hadn’t submitted a report in weeks….

In reality years.

No one was going to be ale to find him!

He sat there frozen in shock as another tremor rocked his tunnels. WHat was happening!

*** “Mayday mayday, Omen one this is mining facility 46A13 requisition immediate assistance.”

“Copy that 46, Omen in root to your position, please stand by.”

“And how do you plan on dealing with a tunnel collapse, Admiral. That's not exactly our area of expertise.” Sunny walked beside him, her long even strides eating away the distance as they made their way down towards the hanger.

“I have no idea but we are going to find a way.” They rounded a corner and the Admiral dropped to one knee for a quick moment offering his hand to a small fluffy figure who climbed onto his hand and allowed the Admiral to rest him on his shoulder, “Lord Avex, I am glad you could make it. Have you been briefed.”

The small, colorful, and pig eared creature tapped his foot on the Admiral’s shoulder.

“I think, if we remove one of the Vrul shield modulators, and unhook one of the laser mounts we might be able to make something functional for a rescue mission.”

“How dangerous is that going to be taking two high powered objects into a cave?”

“On a scale of one to ten?”

“Sure.”

“A twenty.”

Admiral Vir grunted and rounded the corner to where a group of marines werve suiting up in armored spelunking gear.

“Don’t the mining companies have equipment for this kind of thing?” Sunny asked, “I would assume they would be ready for any eventuality like this?”

“You would think that.” Adam said, walking over to joining the others, “But they are actually a little less prepared than you might think. The Bran have been mining manually for a long time, and they usually don’t need precautionary measures because they mine so well, of course this planet had also not shown any seismic activity up until now either, so I guess we can all be wrong about something.

“Lord Avex, talk to your men about getting the equipment ready.”

The fuzzy creatures bobbed its head, which looked more like it’s entier body, and rolled down the Admiral’s arm like a ramp, plopping to the floor and then dashing off into the darkness.

Adam pulled on a hard hat and tested the light.

“I still don’t see why they would send you. You guys have to experience in this sort of thing.” Sunny pointed out

Adam secured his hard hat and looked up smiling, “If I didn’t know any better I would say you were worried about me.”

She crossed both of her arms, “I AM worried about you, you big idiot. You seem to have this thing for running into dangerous situations with only half assed plans.”

He just smiled, “Not entirely half assed, we are going to be hooked up to camera feeds leading up to some of the diggers who are going to give us instructions.”

“Then why don’t they do it themselves?”

“The bran aren’t exactly known for their bravery, Sunny.”

She stared at him with narrowed eyes, “And sometimes, I wish that you weren’t known for yours either.”

“I’m flattered, I really am, but I have to go.” he reached out a hand, paused and then drew it back, stepping away while awkwardly clearing his throat, “Anyway, keep the crew out of trouble while I am gone will you.”

Sunny had no time to say anything else as Lord Avex returned at the head of a small army of his fluffy companions carrying some random parts that they were able to attach to Adam with some warning that this was going to be very dangerous.

Lord Avex would be accompanying him to make sure the machine didn’t self destruct at any point.

Sunny did not find that particularly comforting.

The humans on the other hand suited up like it was just another day for them, setting up and loading onto the drop ship without so much as a backward glance.

Adam flew one of the ships down, lord Avex claiming the copilot seat.

The world they landed on was tidally locked with it’s star leaving on side completely cold and the other side overly hot. They landed on the band between light and dark where it was bearable, and made it to within the Bran’s atmospheric bubble, which was the one piece of technology they were actually known for.

Upon arrival they were briefed on the situation.

Less than an hour ago there had been some sort of seismic activity below the surface of the planet. The jolt had been enough to destabilize many of the tunnels. Fortunately for them large groups of Bran had been able to make their way out due to their superior mining skills, but there were still a few trapped inside due to cave ins.

No bran was willing to go back down there to help their comrades, but the Tesraki overseers had had the brilliant idea to look for a group of creatures stupid enough to try themselves.

At least the Tesraki seemed to care about their people, which wasn’t often the case with the furry businessmen.

Most of the workers were stuck on upper levels, and would be relatively easy to get out.

But there was one.

“I am going to be honest with you Admiral, we aren’t entirely sure the bran is still alive down there. No one has seen him in nearly five years. We are only sure that he lives because, occasionally we get sent up a cart of useless rubble from one of the deeper shafts. Generally I would say he is a gonner and just leave him there, but, we have to try all of our options before we resort to abandoning one of our people.”

Adam nodded, “I have a Vrul strength shield and a Celzex designed laser. Will that be enough.”

The two Tesraki looked between each other in quick contemplation before one of them nodded, “The laser, for sure, but I don’t know how well a shield would stand up to the entire weight of a mountain crushing you, we can only hope that we can navigate you down there fast enough and quietly enough not to disturb the tunnels too much.”

“I will go with you to work the laser.” Lord Avex announced, and Adam didn’t argue. He knew the little creature would be offended if he questioned his honor. Celzex may have been insufferable egoists most of the time, but no one could deny their sheer bravery, or perhaps stupidity, but that was something he could admire at least.

He was a human after all, and had practically written the book on competent stupidity.

They were led across open ground under a dark sky, where massive floodlights were being shined down on the multiple tunnel entrances.

They walked a ways into the darkness of the first mine shaft where Bran were still fleeing for cover.

From there each of them was paired with a handler, who would give them instructions on their way down.

Adam was paired with the team lead since he was going to be going deepest. Lord Avex sat on his shoulder.

The Bran stared at them as they walked inside, shying away from the much taller, much scarier looking humans.

Looking at them brought back memories of his first alien encounter, a memory that was both fond and embarrassing considering he was pretty sure he had driven that particular alien to madness.

He had tried to find Ket before, to apologize for freaking him out, but by the time he had gotten around to it, the Bran had already gone to ground. Oh well, maybe one day something would happen, and he would get his chance to apologize

“Can you hear me.”

“Yeah I've got it.: He said, adjusting the sound on his implant.

“Now the entire cave system has been built throughout with audio relays, so we shouldn’t lose contact, but if we do, keep moving forward, and whatever you do, try to keep control of your feet and don’t let them touch the side walls.”

“Yes sir.”

The Bran had mostly cleared out of the front entrance leaving it open for Adam and the group of marines to begin their descent down into the darkness. He looked over at the marines in admiration, never had he had the opportunity to work with such a brave group of men and women, and he looked up to them every day.

They started breaking off halfway down the shaft to their different areas, until Adam was the last one still walking down. At this point the saft was still big enough for him to stand at his full height, and floodlights on the walls were still giving him a good view of where he was going. He had gone down some distance by the time he reached the end given two passages to chose from.

“Left.” he was ordered, and he stepped inside, gingerly making his way across the floor and trying not to touch the walls.

Lord Avex rested on his shoulder controlling his head mounted light.

The tunnel grew smaller and smaller as he went, and he found himself crouching along the way.

Lord Avex moved around back and clung to Adam’s harness.

“See the cracking in the cave above you,”

Adam looked up and did, to his chagrin, see a web of hairline cracks spidering across the ceiling, “Yeah.”

“Those are kept in check by the shoring up along the walls, and you don’t have to worry about them. Cave ins are going to be our biggest concern, now take the next right.”

He did as told,and had to duck under a low opening before continuing his way down. By way of instruction he made his way deep into the ground, sliding down ropes, and climbing through caverns with the ease of a creature that could only have been Bran or human. As far as he knew the Bran were the only other creature that had ever been designed for climbing besides humans, though he was finding that that kind of climbing was a bit different. Humans had originally found their homes in trees, while the Bran had always been cave dwelling creatures.

He found this out pretty soon as he tried to fit his shoulders through a very small opening, slithering forward and trying not to disturb the rock too much.

He was glad he had never been claustrophobic because even he was feeling a little closed off, he could hardly imagine what someone with a fear of being crushed would feel at a moment like this.

“How are you doing down there Admiral.”

He was huffing and puffing rather heavily as he army crawled through the next section of tunnels, lord Avex waddling ust before him.

“Good, good If these caves get any smaller I might not be able to fit though…. Shoulders too big, and there better be a place for me to turn around or otherwise I’m well and truly fucked.” He said that as a joke but a part of him was definitely panicking at that possibility.

“The Bran always build turnaround areas into their tunnel, Admiral, you are going to be fine. Anyway you are approaching the next section. This is a part no one else has been in as far as I know, so we are going to have to play it by ear.

That also was not entirely comforting, but he was going to have to work with it.

He hurried forward , as much as he could and slithered into the vertical shaft going downward.

This was scary as hell, but he kept control and didn’t panic crawling his way deeper and deeper into the caves.

At one point he was coming round a sharp corner some hour down into the dark when a soft rumbling rolled through the stone.

He felt his heart jump into his throat and the rocks swayed around him.

For a moment a spot of true panic colored his thoughts. He was going to die down here…. After everything that had happened….

“Hold on, must be an aftershock.”

He gritted his teeth and kept his head lowered, hand hovering over the control for the shield. He had no idea what would happen if he engaged it this far down, and he didn’t really want to find out, but soon the tremor passed, little fountains of dust falling onto his head. Up ahead the fluffy Celzex was no longer so colorful, matted with dust and gravel.

“Are you ok Admiral.”

“Alright.” he grunted. “A little bit shaken up is all.” He began crawling his way forward again.

Based on our sonar readings, you are getting close. The rock is much less stable down here, so you are more likely to run into cave ins.

He followed as instructed, moving forward and examining the rock below his hands.

As they said would happen they found a caved in part of the tunnel just up ahead.

“You’re going to have to use that laser to dig around one side and create a new tunnel, you will want to avoid the weakened areas of ceiling, so move back a few feet and go through the right hand side”

Before him, the little Celzex move into position ready to fire the weapon, now turned mining equipment.

The laser was bright red and almost blinding in the darkness, and he only had his gloved hands to scoop away discarded rubble, which he gently pushed up the tunnel praying nothing would be distrubed.

It took them a good hour to work through the new tunnel despite the laser, and when they did he was surprised to see an open tunnel glowing with a strange bioluminescent film.

“Something has been living down here.” he muttered kind of glad he was wearing gloves as he crawled into the tunnel.

Getting close Admiral.

***

Ket lay in the rubble ready to die, he knew it was coming, new his life would soon be at an end. Oh how sad it was that it should be so early. Stuck underground in the darkness for the past who knows how long…. Probably no more than a year or so.

Either way he was going to die here, and no one would come to help him. Bran weren’t brave, they didn’t come to your aid.

Bran were cowards at heart and he knew that most of all.

No one was coming for him.

Of course that is when he heard the strange scraping up the tunnel.

He sat up lifting his head and staring into the darkness. WHat could that be!

He was the only one here and had been the only ne here for as long as he could remember. Was he going mad, Where were those sounds coming from!

He pressed back into the wall.

Maybe that hadn’t been an earthquake, maybe there was some sort of giant worm crawling through the depths of this planet finally coming to eat him. Oh the depravity! Couldn’t he just be left in peace!

The scraping sounds grew louder and louder and louder, and he watched in shocked terror as a shadow jolted forward in one of the upper bends.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere for him to go, and even as he thought that the tunnel began to shake again. He held on for dear life, eyes closed praying that death would take him quickly, for he did not want to know what was around that corner. The shaking soon stopped and the figure started moving again.

Ket watched, in mesmerized horror as the thing poked its head around the corner.

Bulbous head, bony shoulders, long spindly arms and bony digits.

Ket began to scream, scream and scream as loud as he could as the creature born of his nightmares scuttled out of the darkness and came crawling towards him. It made some of its same guttural gurgling noises, the ones that had haunted his dreams, and he pressed himself back into the wall screaming and screaming and screaming.

It had come for him at last to devour his heart.

It reached out and grabbed him by the snout, cutting off his scream.

The ground around them began to rumble as the creature gripped him with iron hands, the pale white of its eyes glistening wetly through its dust smeared face.

“Shut UP, shut up shut up, do you want this whole damn thing to come down on us.”

He certainly had not expected to hear his own language, and his attempted screams cut off in a confused gurgle. The rumbling died down a little.

The creature made a gesture with one hand, “Ground team this is Admiral Vir, I have the last survivor and am bringing him up now.”

What…. Wha?

What was going on.

The creature's white teeth glittered in the illumination of his tunnel just as wet and gaping as before.

He was so scared he could hardly move, but shocked as well as the creature from his nightmares pulled him forward and hooked a harness around Ket’s body clipping it to a loop on a harness that encircled the creature's back legs.

“Now do what I do, and you might just live.” The creature hissed at him, still, disconcerting in his own language.

In a daze, Ket followed after as his nightmare dragged him from the collapsing tunnels. Trickling runnel of dust poured down around them from cracks in the ceiling above. It was made pretty clear early on that this creature had not ever been meant for the caves, despite Ket’s memory of one of it’s kind chasing after him through the underground. It was too large, meant to walk upright on thick sturdy legs, but till it climbed with the ease of any Bran.

Didn’t mean he wasn’t scared.

Memories from that night not so long ago, or it seemed to him, kept racing through his mind. Flashes of glowing green eyes and flashing white teeth champing at his heels. The sound of its revving hunting cry as it raced through the darkness. But now he was being towed along behind it as the tunnels rocked around him.

“Shit shit shit shit.” Came the muttering up ahead, and he looked to see that there was another creature riding on the thing’s back. It stared at him with very wide white eyes.

“Lord Avex?”

“Yes?” The creature responded, sounding much less concerned than the predator.

“What happens if you die here?” it was a very blunt and morbid question, but the creature didn’t seem to mind.

“I will be honored for centuries having died in a heroic manner.”

The predator made an incomprehensible grunting noise.

“Admiral, the cave system has been compromised and the tunnels are collapsing. Get out as fast as you can, I repeat as fast as you can, if there is a cave in you will want to be closer to the surface because we might be able to reach you.

They were talking like they expected a collapse, which wasn’t really all that comforting.

The predator went very quiet, but sped up to the point Ket was being dragged along behind.

All around them the tunnels were shaking.

Dust filled the air clogging their vision as the beam of light fractured off dust motes.

They passed a point he had not gone further than in five years, and the predator scrambled up the vertical climb as easily as a Bran would, he scrambled on hands and knees dragging the two of them along. He was almost able to walk in a crouch now, but the tunnels were beginning to cave in around them, rocks falling from the roof and smashing against the ground. The Preditor ducked and pulled to the side grabbing ket around the middle and the strange fluffy creature in the other hand. The tunnel was wide enough for him torun now.

Ket could do nothing but watch.

The predator probably could have escaped if it dropped him, but it refused to do so, adjusting him even as it ran so it could keep better hold, clutching KEt to it’s chest. Its breathing was ragged, labored and panicked, but still it refused to let him go.

He thought he could see light.

And then.

“Its coming down!”

The predator pulled to a stop and threw himself to the ground.

The cave rumbled and roared as rocks egan to fall around them. Ket looked up only to see the underside of the human’s chest and belly as he hugged the two smaller aliens in the leah of his body against the falling stone. He heard the cave ceiling fracture and then felt a pulse of energy around them.

The Last thing he heard was a scream and then a crushing weight.

***

Ket woke unable to breathe, or barely able to breathe, all around them there was a dim glowing of a blue purple nexus, and as he looked he watched the nexus quiver under the strain.

Overhead the predator was curled in around them in a tight ball pressed up against Ket and the strange fluffy creature who was blinking confusedly in the dark.

The predator wheezed as the nexus flickered, holding the two aliens' protection to his chest, pressing his back against the nexus.

“Admiral, are you alright?” The fuzzball asked

“How long will the shield hold?”

“It depends on how many tons of rock we are trapped under.” The Celxex said mildly.

Ket was surprised they were alive at all, based on their original depth he would have said a couple thousands tons for sure.

They were dead.

He glanced up at the predator, nothing more than a dust painted face and two glowing whtie orbs in the dark. This predator had died trying to save him, was dying trying to save him.

It seemed odd that his life was going to end like this.

He looked up at the human and in that moment, in the glowing of the nexus lights he saw the green of its one working eye.

He would have known that color anywhere.

“You!”

The predator looked down at him in confusion.

What? “You…. You’re… that thing!”

“Did a rock hit this one in the head or something.” The one called Lord Avex asked.

But the predator eyed him ,sudden recognition crossing his face, “Ket?”

The creature made that same strange revving noise that made ket pull back in shock.

“Sorry, Sorry, I am just a bit surprised to see you here, I tried to find you to apologize but…. You had already vanished by then.”

“Apologize?” He was so confused

“Yes, I was a bit enthusiastic upon our first meeting. They say I scared you half to death. I promise it was an accident. I never meant it that way, I just get a bit out of hand when I am excited.”

This was news to Ket

He wasn’t entirely sure how to take it.

“Ok ok you two kiss and make up already.” Lord Avex jumped in

The predator grunted, “At least when I die I will have that off my conscience.”

The Nexus flickered and shrunk.

They folded forward on themselves just slightly. Pressed uncomfortably close.

Wheezing fill the hot and muggy confines of their bubble.

The were going to die son.

The nexus continued to grow smaller and smaller until they were curled into a ball with the predator around them, pressed to the point of not being able to breathe. He felt the human’s belly rise and fall with his labored breathing.

They were about to die

And then, The nexus expanded slightly.

The human relaxed, and as minutes wore on the nexus continued to grow until with an eruption it burst up through the rock and dark night sky appeared above them.

The nexus flickered and then died, leaving them all lying on the stone gasping and covered in dust.

Paramedics ran forward to where tey lay with shocked yelles describing how they were still alive.

Ket stared at the human as he was attended to by aliens and others of his kind.

No one seemed to find it odd.

It became clear to Ket in the next few minutes that he had missed a lot.

Bu he hadn’t missed, his once nightmare, becoming his now savior.

237 notes · View notes

prettyboyjackhughes · 4 years ago

Text

-Little Crosby- |D. Cozens| [Part 3]

Part 3! Honestly, I think this might be my favorite part so far! But thank you for all the support and love you guys have given this story so far! Also, thanks to @prettyboycozens for all her amazing ideas and support she’s given me! Let me know what you guys think! Enjoy!

Also, here’s the link for the playlist again!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4HG4PMWBlx3woCb5T33wXY?si=28fe34362e8b4442

Dylan and I spent almost every free minute I had together after that night. Dad’s busy with business things and the uncles have been doing God knows what all day, every day. So really, Carter and I have spent the last week of our trip by ourselves. Dad actually decided we’re going to stay in Toronto for the rest of the month and the first half of next month, giving me more time with Dylan. Taylor went to visit some college friends back in Nova Scotia and had offered to take us with her, since Grandma and Grandpa were there but we decided to stay in Toronto. Carter and Kirby were together just as much, but they mainly just made out and cuddled.

As the 4 of us pile into Kirby’s car to go get ice cream late one Friday night, Carter and Kirby in the front seat, and Dylan and I in the backseat, Dylan won’t let go of my hand.

“Dill Pickle, I’m not going anywhere. You can let go.” I say, patting his knee as Kirby starts the car. Dill Pickle is the nickname I started calling him the other day and have now decided it’s his new nickname.

“Nope, I like it better this way.” He says, tugging me across the seat so I’m closer to him. As we start to drive, Carter starts to play music, gracing us with her awesome DJ skills.

“This is shitty music.” Kirby says, looking over at Carter. Her brow furrows.

“If you want what we talked about later, you’ll shut up and deal with my shitty music.” She says, leaning towards him. He smirks and leans over to steal a kiss. I attempt to keep my eyes from rolling and look over at Dylan who is paying no attention to anything going on in the car.

“What even is this?” Kirby asks, his hand slipping over between Carter’s thighs. Their relationship is much more physical than Dylan and mine is. And honestly, I’m okay with that. I like taking things slow with Dylan.

“This is the wonderful, amazing, talented band One Direction who happens to be the loves of Ava and I’s lives.” Carter says, looking back at me with a smile. I nod and Dylan suddenly rejoins the conversation.

“I know this song!” He says, tapping on my hand with his thumb. I laugh and lean my head on his shoulder.

“I have loved you since we were 18…” He sings terribly. I laugh as he looks up at me. And as he looks up at me, my heart flutters. The words he just sang register in my mind.

“Oh wow.” I mutter, shifting away from Dylan.

“What? What’s wrong?” He asks, sitting up and looking over at me.

“N-Nothing. No I’m okay.” I say as Kirby pulls the car into a parking spot at the ice cream place. Carter glances back, checking to see that I’m okay and I nod quickly, keeping my hand clutched in Dylan’s.

“What ice cream are you gonna get? I think I might get…” Dylan says, his voice trailing off. Carter and Kirby walk inside but Dylan pulls me to a stop.

“Hey, Avs. You okay?” He asks, wrapping his arms around my waist and looking at me.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” He raises an eyebrow and looks down at me.

“You’re freaking over something, I can tell.” I shake my head, attempting to step back away from him.

“Ava, come on. Tell me.” Dylan asks, his eyes begging.

“You said that you love me. Earlier. In the song? I-I didn’t think we were there yet. I mean, we aren’t even together yet!” I say, finally bursting. Dylan steps back, a confused look on his face.

“Wait, Ava, you’re freaking out over that?” He says, looking down at me.

“I know it’s stupid and that I shouldn’t be freaking out but I am!” I say, throwing my hands up in the air. He pulls them down, trapping my fingers between his.

“Ava, Ava! It’s okay! You want to know how I feel? What’s happened between us over the last month? I never thought I’d fall this hard for someone, especially someone who just appeared in my life. You’re...You’re the most important thing to me and I love being around you. You’re beautiful and funny, sometimes.” He says, looking down and smirking at me. I roll my eyes and he starts to talk again.

“I guess what I’m saying is, I want you to be my girlfriend. But I need to be honest. What I’m saying is, I don’t not love you.” My heart falls, just for a second, but then I realize what he just said.

“You jerk! I love you too.” I say, swatting his shoulder as he pulls me in and hugs me to his chest.

“Now that you know that, can we please go get ice cream?” He asks before he presses his lips to my cheek. I nod and we walk into the ice cream parlor. Kirby and Carter and huddled in a corner booth, both eating their ice cream. Carter rushes over to me as I tell Dylan that I want a vanilla milkshake.

“You two took forever. Did you get lost?” She asks, nudging me as Dylan orders for the two of us. Carter and I head back towards the table Kirby is sitting at. As we reach him, he stands up and plants a kiss on Carter’s lips.

“Mmm, you taste like chocolate.” She says. I turn to look back at Dylan who is now licking his ice cream and hands me my milkshake.

“Can we go to that park out by the pond?” I ask, looking over at Dylan next to me. He looks over at Kirby who nods.

“I call the car!” Kirby says, nudging Dylan as we walk out to the car. Carter looks over at me with an evil grin on her face. I roll my eyes and sling my arm over her shoulders.

“Be responsible kids!” I say as we climb in the car. Kirby laughs and shakes his head.

We’re all pretty quiet on the drive over to the park, finishing our ice cream. The only noise is the radio playing quietly and the noises from my straw. We pull into the parking lot of the park, which the sign says closes at dark but there’s no one around to stop us from going in. Dylan leads me out of the car and we settle on the ground next to some trees.

“You know you get the most boring ice cream in the entire world, right?” Dylan says, nudging me as I curl into his chest.

“Mhm. What did you end up getting?” I ask, looking at him as he eats the last bite of his cone.

“It was some Hawiian island thing. Pretty good but not the best thing I’ve had.” He says, smiling down at me as I glanced up at him. His eyes find mine and then flick down to my lips. I climb onto his lap and wrap my arms around his neck.

“You’re pretty.” He says as his lips brush against mine.

“You’re a cutie.” I say as his lips finally hit mine. It takes my breath away in a second. It’s everything I wished it would be and more. He knows exactly what to do and it makes my mind race. But the longer it goes on, the harder it gets for me to breath.

“Hold on hold on.” I gasp, pulling away from Dylan.

“I-I can’t breath.” I choke out. He looks at me, concerned. As I gasp, his face goes from concerned to terrified.

“Carter!” He yells, looking between me and the car. Somehow she hears him and gets out of the car. As I sit there, struggling to breath and choking every breath out, Carter starts to yell in spanish at Dylan, something she does when she’s stressed or angry.

“¿Qué sucedió? ¿Qué le hiciste a ella?” She yells, running towards us. Kirby gets out behind her, his hair messed up.

“I don’t know what you’re saying. Don’t yell at me!” He yells back.

“¡Idiota, llama a su papá o al 911 o algo así!” She yells again. Kirby finally steps up and is the voice of reason.

“Either call her dad or call 911! Don’t just stand there!” Dylan finally snaps out of shock and grabs my phone. Dad and all my uncles’ numbers are in my emergency contacts. So all he has to do is slide the lock screen and press Dad’s name.

“It’s ringing! Oh God.” He says, holding his hand up and showing everyone how much he’s shaking.

“Hi, um I’m your daughter’s boyfriend, Dylan. Um we’re taking her to the hospital. Because I think she’s having an allergic reaction.” He says, running his hand through his hair. He glances between me and Carter, a terrified look on his face.

“Yes Sir. Yes Sir. I’ll have Carter text you what hospital. Okay, bye.” He sticks my phone in his pocket then helps me to my feet as I fight for every breath. The next 45 minutes are a complete blur. Kirby rushes us to the hospital where Dad and all the uncles are all waiting. I get rushed into the emergency room and everyone else has to wait in the waiting room. It turns out I was having a severe allergic reaction to coconut, which happened to be in the ice cream Dylan had. When he kissed me, it triggered the allergy. Somehow, in the last 18 years, I managed to avoid coconut. But the doctors decided to keep me at the hospital overnight since I was still struggling to breath a little. They were also worried that I might have another reaction. Dad and everyone was allowed in to see me after the doctor decided I was somewhat stable for the night. Everyone else tells me how happy they are that I’m okay and everything. Dylan gets a few minutes alone with me and presses a kiss to my forehead.

“Avs, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll make it up to you.” He says, his eyes sad. I smile and pat his hand.

“I wanna kiss you but I messed that up last time. So we’ll try that again another time. But I can hug you.” He pulls me into his chest and I sigh.

“Hey, Baby, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault. I didn’t even know either so it wasn’t your fault.” I say as Dad walks back in. Dylan looks up and nods.

“Ava needs to get some rest now. Dylan, Kirby and Carter are heading back home. You might want to go with them.” He says, crossing his arms. Dad walks back out of the room, leaving Dylan and I alone to say goodbye.

“He’s mad.” I say, sighing.

“It’s because of me, isn’t it? I’m sorry Avs.” I shake my head.

“Nope, this is because of me. I decided not to tell him. Don’t worry about it, Dill Pickle.” I say, smiling. He kisses my forehead again and says goodbye.

I somehow manage to sleep a little that night but wake up in a terrible mood. The food at the hospital sucks and the only sustainable thing I’ve eaten in the last 24 hours was the milkshake last night.

Dad still isn’t speaking to me. Which I understand why he’s upset. I mean, I did almost die less than 24 hours ago. But the reason why he isn’t talking to me is because of Dylan, not because I almost died.

“I can’t believe you went behind your dad’s back! What were you thinking, Little Crosby?” Kris asks, sitting on the side of the hospital bed I’ve spent the night in.

“Okay, calm down. This wasn’t entirely her fault. Yeah it was dumb to sneak out of trhe hotel with a boy none of us knew but she didn’t know she was allergic to coconut. But you definitely should not have been kissing that boy.” Marc says, looking down at me with a glare. Carter sits in the corner, on her phone and silent. My family is scattered around the room, with Dad standing in the doorway of the room. The doctor said I should be able to go home tonight. Dad decided we were just going to spend the rest of the month up in Toronto, after my “little stunt” last night. Dad also has my phone, meaning that if Dylan has texted or called, I didn’t know.

“What were you thinking?” Dad finally asks, taking a few steps towards the bed. Suddenly everyone clears out of the room.

“I was thinking that the boy I like wanted to spend time with me. And I wanted to spend time with him. But you wouldn’t like that so I went behind your back.” Dad scoffs.

“Ava, you have to talk to me about things! We’ve never had problems like this before. I thought we were closer than this.” Dad says, sitting down on the bed next to me.

“Dad, I wanted to! I tried to! But you were convinced that the only guys I needed were you, my uncles and Grandpa. You basically told me that having a boyfriend was out of the question! What was I supposed to do?” His hand rests on my knee, and he looks at me hard.

“Honey, I just want to protect you.” He says, stroking my knee.

“You’ve never been like this. You’ve always let me figure things out on my own. You’ve let me do it on my own because I was smart and could handle it. But now all of the sudden, you’ve decided to get protective?” I ask, crossing my arms and pulling my knees up into my chest.

“My little girl is growing up before my eyes. You’re not gonna need me anymore and it’s hard to let go of you. All I can think about is how it used to just be me and you. Remember all the things we did during the first few seasons in Pittsburgh?” I swallow, watching Dad, whose eyes are starting to tear up. My mind wanders to one of the few memories I have from those first few years.

I was 4 when Dad played his first season in the NHL. He moved the two of us into an apartment in downtown Pittsburgh right at the beginning of training camp. I don’t remember much from the first few seasons. But one story Dad tends to avoid, is the one that sticks out in my memory the most. If it ever gets brought up, I always pretend I don’t remember it because it’s a hard topic for Dad.

Right before his first road trip, one where my grandparents would be keeping me for the week, he took me out for a daddy-daughter day. We got pizza for lunch, played at the park, visited the arena that would become Dad and my second home, bought me my first Penguins jersey with Crosby spelled out proudly across the back, had ice cream twice, and just got to spend time together. But then she showed up. For the first time in 4 years, my mom walked back into our life.

“Sid! Sidney Crosby!” She called across the restaurant. Dad looked up, his eyes confused and stormy.

“What are you doing here, Jenna?” He asked, standing up and crossing his arms. I sat there, happily eating my cheese pizza. I was completely oblivious to what was going on above me.

“I wanted to see you! And my little girl!” She said, rushing to him and hugging him. He stiffens and pushes her away.

“You haven’t wanted anything to do with us for the past 4 years. Why now all of the sudden?” He asked, staring her down.

“I decided I want to be in my little girl’s life. Things are getting busy for you now, Sid. You won’t have time to take care of Ava the way she needs. I can.” He scoffs.

“Besides, she’s my little girl. I know how to raise her. You don’t want her weighing you down now that you’re going to be a big NHL star.” Dad puts his hand up, forcing her to stop speaking. He looks down at me, at the pizza sauce covering my face and the front of my shirt. But the thing that stops him is the huge smile I have covering my face when I look up and see him.

“Hi Daddy. Love you.” I say, blowing him a kiss. His glare softens and he looks back up at my mom.

“You’re not taking her, Jenna. You haven’t been in her life for 4 years. I’ve raised her by myself for 4 years because you decided you didn’t want to be a mom anymore. Why would things change now? You don’t get to decide when you want to be a mother and when you don’t.” Mom reels back, baffled.

“You’re trying to tell me whether or not I can be a mother? To my own daughter? You’ve gotta be kidding me, Sid!” And as she starts to cause a scene, Dad seems to grow 10 feet and stares her down.

“No Jenna. You don’t get to do this to us again. You’ll just walk out on her again and I’m not putting my little girl through that. Get out. You’re not allowed to see her.” Of course, Mom threw a fit, claiming she was going to take him to court for custody. She had to be escorted out by security. Dad’s PR team did a really good job with everything, keeping the court case under wraps and making sure nothing got out about Mom’s fit at the restaurant. That was pretty much the start of Dad hiding me away from the world until I was old enough to understand his world that he lived in. Dad obviously ended up winning custody, considering the fact that he had raised me since I was born, with no help from my mom. I spent a lot of time in Minnesota with my grandparents during Dad’s first season. He wanted me with him but he didn’t want me to see everything going on with my mom. But in the end, that was what was best for Dad and I. During my times in Minnesota was when he got close with the men who I now call my uncles. Once I was a little older, Dad sat me down and explained everything to me. He explained why Mom wasn’t in the picture at all, how my uncles came to be my uncles and the fact that during that first season, he considered just signing custody over to Grandma and Grandpa. He had convinced himself that he couldn’t give me what I needed, just like Mom had said. He told me how Geno, Kris and Marc had sat him down and talked him out of it, reminding me how much he loved me and the fact that every goal, every assist; every little thing he did on the ice was because of a little girl almost a thousand miles in Minnesota. And to this day, he reminds me that he’s never regretted the decision to keep his little girl with him.

Ever since then, Dad made sure I knew that he loved me more than anything else and would give up the world and everything else for me. He made sure that I was surrounded by people who would love me and take care of me, the same way he would. Everything Dad has done since I was little, he’s made sure it’s been the best option for both of us. Nothing was ever about him.

But then one day I asked him why he and Mom never worked out. He got this faraway look in his eyes and I almost wondered if he would actually start talking.

“Honey, your mom and I weren’t meant to be together in the future. She was the type of girl that everyone warns you about. The one that’ll break your heart, no matter what. I was away from my parents for the first time and we were stupid. We were young. Too young to be as reckless as we were. But I was convinced I loved her. Do I regret what happened? No because you know why? It gave me you and you are the light of my life, Sweet girl.” Dad said, suddenly coming back to reality and looking down at me.

“Daddy, I’m always going to need you. You’re my dad. I couldn’t imagine my life without you. But this is something that was bound to happen. Daddy, Dylan won’t hurt me. He cares about me. He didn’t mean for what happened last night to happen. I want you to meet him, Dad.” Dad’s eyes are still shining.

“Dad, I’ve actually found someone I really like. He’s kind, smart, sweet, genuine; everything you would want me to have in a guy. He’s got the worst sense of humor, just like you. He takes care of me, I mean he did get me to the hospital. But Daddy, you’ll always be the first man that really loved me. And nothing will ever change that. You held me so tight, now it’s someone else’s turn. ” He smiles, his features soft and a few tears slipping out.

“Baby, you know you’ll always be my little girl.” He says, hugging me to his chest. I wrap my arms around him and take a deep breath of his smell. He smells familiar; like my childhood.

“Hey Ava? There’s someone here to see you…” Carter says, walking in and knocking on the door frame. A few feet behind her, Dylan stands with a bouquet of flowers.

“Hey Avs…” He says, his voice trailing off as he makes eye contact with Dad. Dad stands up and crosses his arms.

“Dad, meet Dylan Cozens. Dill Pickle, this is my dad, Sidney Crosby.” Dylan reaches his hand out and Dad shakes it.

“Nice to meet you sir.” Dad nods, his face straight. Slowly, everyone starts to trickle back into the room. I glance towards the door and see Carter and Kirby in the hallway, obviously discussing something. He leans down and catches her chin in his hand and pulls her in for a kiss. Dad and the uncles have started their interrogation of Dylan, which he seems to be handling very well. He looks over at me and winks, which makes my heart melt. After a few minutes, he manages to get away and settles onto the bed next to me.

“Can I kiss you now?” He whispers in my ear and I turn to look at him with a smile.

“As long as you haven’t eaten any coconut lately.” He laughs and leans in.

“If it means I can’t kiss you, then I’m never eating coconut anything again.” He whispers against my lips. My heart melts and I realise just how hard I’ve fallen for Dylan Cozens. Harder than I’ve ever planned on falling for anyone. He easily has my entire heart.

Tag list:

@theblushinglittle

@2manytabsopen

@nhlboyshavemyhart88

@kirbyy-dach

#sidney crosby #dylan cozens #nhl #nhl hockey #nhl imagine #Dylan Cozens imagine #hockey imagine #nhl fanfiction #hockey #hockey boys #kirby dach

44 notes · View notes

gottawriteanegoortwo · 4 years ago

Text

Yancy x Illinois - First Impressions Aren’t Always the Best

I decided to try properly writing Yanois, just to see how I’d manage it. After rewatching Illinois’ scenes, I think he would get on the nerves of the Yancy I write at first.

Word Count 2,122

(Read more because Illinois talks so much...)

Happy Trails Penitentiary was renowned for its rehabilitation initiatives. They had a wide variety of classes and visitors to help prisoners. Educational courses, chances to learn new skills, pen pal projects. Many prisoners would never have the opportunity for such experiences, and it was an integral part of helping them prepare for a better life outside of prison when their sentence was finished.

There was one visitor that most prisoners in Yancy’s ‘Gang’ adored. His name was Illinois, a renowned adventurer and archaeologist. Between his job in the university and research trips, he only had time to visit once every few months. It worked in his favour, as those that wanted to visit were able to to hear the various stories that Illinois was more than happy to tell. Not only that, it would encourage the small ‘fan club’ among the younger prisoners.

It was one of the few events that Yancy avoided. Something about Illinois rubbed him the wrong way. He was so arrogant and cocky, acting like the world revolved around him. It wasn’t an act, either. Yancy had spotted Illinois speaking to the Warden on his first visit two years earlier, and he acted the exact same way as he did in the talk that happened that day. After that, Yancy decided he didn’t want anything to do with the adventurer. But if Illinois were to ever become an inmate? Yancy would make sure Illinois had the snot beaten out of him within the first week.

Unfortunately, a lot of the Gang were of the opposite view, especially those around Yancy’s age. To them, Illinois walked straight out of an adventure movie and lived the ideal life. What prisoner didn’t dream of going exploring in uncharted territories? It meant that they would frequently share Illinois’ tales in rec yard when he came to visit. Yancy would roll his eyes, but keep quiet. Let them have their fun.

Today was the day that Illinois visited the prison. It had been over three months since the last visit, so there was an excited buzz among individuals in the Gang. Yancy spent the morning bracing himself. There was a talk after lunch that the others would go to, which would mean the rest of the afternoon and evening would be nothing but historical chatter and “Illinois is so cool!”. He would grumble, but he would keep that to himself. It wasn’t fair to deflate their excitement. He went to the library, found some random book and focused on that for the day. Then, once they had their excitement, it would die down and Yancy could enjoy more casual conversation.

Which was the plan… Until Bam-Bam pleaded for him to go to the last talk of the day. It turned out that his shift clashed with the talk everyone else they knew went to, and he didn’t want to go alone. Begrudgingly, Yancy closed the book, returned it to the shelf, and followed Bam-Bam. A flaw of being a loyal friend was knowing when to swallow your pride and do something you would rather not do.

When you go to something with low expectations, it can be incredibly difficult to feel the time was used in a worthwhile manner. Some might have memories of a teacher they hated, or a family gathering they had been dreading. This was a similar position to what Yancy found himself in. One of the ‘classrooms’ had been adjusted slightly to allow various displays to take center stage, with the chairs in neat rows in front of it. Bam-Bam and Yancy claimed two seats at the back, allowing the greaser to slouch in the chair with his arms crossed. Then, once more prisoners had arrived, the talk began.

On and on Illinois went, droning endlessly in that slow drawl. Yancy wished he had a TV remote to speed up the talking a fraction. Was Illinois focused on making sure everyone could understand him, or did he want to prolong the joy of hearing himself talk? It might have been more tolerable if Bam-Bam wasn’t genuinely engrossed in the lecture. They could have made amusing comments throughout. Instead, Yancy was stuck. Sure, history was interesting, but Illinois really drove home the stereotype of boring history teachers. The ‘adventures’ even sounded cliché and fake. Maybe he should have taken the book with him after all...

A painfully slow half hour passed. Once the talk was over, Illinois would literally open the floor to the other prisoners. The chairs would be pushed aside and those that wanted to look at the items Illinois brought were welcome to do so. Yancy was dragged along to view the pieces. Most of the articles were dated to be approximately eight thousand years old. What caught Bam-Bam’s attention was a stone carving that vaguely resembled a cat.

“Ahhh, I see the ‘White Jaguar’ has caught your attention.” Yancy had to repress a shudder at the smooth voice interrupting their own questions back and forth. Illinois stepped over, resting an arm against the perspex container. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she? A miracle we even found her in the first place. She was why I wasn’t able to visit like I said I would last month.” Bam-Bam’s eager question had Illinois chuckle and shake his hand dismissively. “Oh, I’m sure you two gentlemen have much better things to do than hear about how I nearly lost my right hand in my most recent adventure.” When Bam-Bam insisted otherwise, Illinois smirked (and Yancy nearly gagged).

“If you insist. While on our recent dig, I noticed one of the ruins had a floor panel that looked a little different from the rest. It took a little persuasion, but I got that pesky stone up. There, sprawled out before me, was a staircase leading down into the earth. I picked up one of the torches and made my way down. Slowly, I delved deeper into the darkness. One step gave way under me to set off a series of poison-dipped darts, but I was able to dodge them all without breaking a sweat.” Illinois continued, dramatically regaling every single trap that he encountered until he found the White Jaguar. When taking everything around it, he surmised that the owner of the house had been a thief. The jaguar motif was familiar, as he had noticed something similar in a nearby cave that had been repurposed at the time as a sacred spot.

“- Now, this heart of this cave was still guarded by ancient jaguar spirits. They rattled the large statues as I approached, obviously sensing the treasure I carried. In the middle, there was a jaguar’s head carved out of stone. Its jaw was open wide and I couldn’t help but feel as though it was just the right spot for this precious lady. But then, skeletons of what I assume were magic users from an era long gone by pounced and tried to wrestle the statue off me, but I was too fast for them. At last, I reached the carved head, put the White Jaguar in the mouth… and the stone head moved, trapping my arm in a ferocious bite!” He gestured to the cloth wrapped around his right wrist. It was unwrapped just enough to show the healing bite marks. “It had the strength to bite it clean off, but relented when it realised what I had done by offering my arm as blood payment to return -”

“Wait wait wait.” Yancy’s interruption had Bam-Bam elbow him, but it didn’t stop the objection. “That can’t be right. If youse managed to bring this back to where it’s meant to be, why the fuck is it here?”

“An excellent question. This is my recreation of it. I am no thief. I return artefacts to where they belong. Archaeology has a rotten connection with thievery, and I try to rectify the mistakes of my predecessors.”

“So then this entire thing could be bullshit!” Yancy scoffed. “Bam-Bam, this guy just got bitten by someone’s dog and has made this pile of baloney to hide that.”

“Are you accusing me of being a liar?”

“Well, I ain’t calling you a ‘truther’, that’s for sure!”

Yancy was ready for a proper argument. In fact, he was hoping for one. Instead… Illinois laughed, and it wasn’t that typical ‘cocky chuckle’. It was a bright, genuine laugh. He could almost see Bam-Bam go starry-eyed at such a rare moment. Typical Yancy. Getting more attention from Illinois when he wanted to rile him up.

“I suppose it all does sound rather suspicious when you put it that way. Let me show you something.” Illinois gestured for the pair to follow him toward a display of photographs. Instead of pointing to these, he instead reached for his briefcase. A small photo album was pulled out. Yancy noticed that it was dated three months prior. While Illinois flipped through it, both prisoners could see what looked like an area that had been dug up. It matched the pictures in front of them of an excavation site. At last, Illinois found what he was looking for.

“One Guardian Jaguar, complete with the White Jaguar in its mouth. As you can see, the teeth have fresh blood on them. It was an… Oddly tranquil sight, despite the unfortunate situation.”

“So then why act like these are the real deal? People just take youse’s word for it?”

“Normally those that attend my talks know that what I show are my artistic recreations for purely educational purposes. I suppose I do take for granted that those who attend here are invested regulars.” Illinois gave a small shrug. “It’s an easy mistake to forget to remind people who might be new to my talks. I’m sorry if you thought I was a fraud, but I am the real deal. Too good to be true, yet here I am.”

“Yeah yeah, ‘sucks that I’m perfect as shit’, I get it. Least you knows not to make that mistake again.” Yancy rocked back on his heel with the intention of turning and walking away.

“Now now. I can’t let you walk off like that. Take this.” Another item was pulled out of his briefcase. “I made this smaller model of the White Jaguar as a ‘first draft’. I was intending on using it as motivation to my first-year students but… I think it should stay here with you.” Illinois took the opportunity to reach for Yancy’s hand. The small clay model was gently placed in it before Illinois curled Yancy’s fingers over it to keep it in place. His hands stayed where they were as he continued, “We think the White Jaguar was a symbol of good fortune. Perhaps it might bring you some good luck.” He smiled at Yancy, only to have the moment broken by the guard announcing that there were five minutes before the prisoners had to return to their cells for the afternoon count. Yancy took the chance to quickly leave the room without as much as a ‘goodbye’. At least his friend, who introduced himself as Bam-Bam, quickly thanked Illinois before darting out.

A few more questions were asked of him by other prisoners and curious staff; and then it was time to tidy up to bring everything back to the university. It was only when he reached the White Jaguar model did Illinois hesitate. There was something about that abrasive prisoner he couldn’t put his finger on. Was it because he seemed uninterested in the adventurer? Or was there something else? It was a rare moment that Illinois wished he’d had an excuse to chat to the prisoner longer. Maybe not here, but somewhere quieter. Just the two of them.

Huh… Was this what an attraction felt like? He joked about others falling in love with him so often, he wasn’t sure if this was payback for never returning interest in others. He was drawn toward a prisoner that seemed keen to dismiss his hard work and reputation. And worse! Illinois didn’t even know his name!

Then again… A good adventurer always loves the thrill of a mystery. Maybe he could try and find that prisoner next time he visited. Now that the university was open again, he’d be able to drop by more frequently…

For what it was worth, Yancy also had a mystery on his hands.

Namely, how to get away from Bam-Bam - who would not SHUT UP about their prolonged conversation with Illinois - and half the gang - who were incredibly jealous Yancy got a gift from the Illinois!

He dropped his head against the chow hall table with a low ‘thunk’. This was the opposite of getting the others to stop talking about Illinois around him!

#writersofmark #yancy #illinois ahwm #yanois #markiplier egos #(read-more is for tidiness! :D )#dramatic prisoner (Yancy)#cocky adventurer (Illinois)

45 notes · View notes

meliaaizawa · 3 years ago

Text

RESCUE TRAINING

Class 3-A goes through a rescue training exercise at the USJ.

Word count: a number

“WAIT! You’re telling me that you like Yasumori?” I heard my friend Noki exclaim to our friend Nakamura. I was pretty good friends with most of the other girls in my class, and though I didn’t hang out with them frequently, we all got to have our girl time in the locker room whenever we got ready for our class exercises. It was the time everyone inquired about each other’s crushes and any other “important” things that had to be said. We all came to an agreement during our first year that what’s discussed in the locker room stays in the locker room. Nakamura shrugged in response to Noki’s question. “I don’t know yet!! I guess I’m confused… I think part of me will always be in love with Shirakumo, but he’s been gone for over a year, so I think Yasumori is the next best option,” she replied. “NAKAMURA!! You should totally ask him out!” our friend Tamashiro chimed in. I shook my head and added, “sure, go ahead and ask him out, just don’t start the conversation with the fact that you think he’s subpar in comparison to Obo.” The other girls all looked at me as if I had said something offensive and Nakamura retorted, “I genuinely do like Yasumori… he may not have been my first crush, but at least I actually have a chance to go out with him.” Noki nodded and added, “she has a point, though… do you really think you have a chance with your crush?”

My thought immediately went to Shota. Even on day one when he was grouchy and anti-social I found myself drawn to him. It took me a little while to get to know him, but the more I spent time with him, the more I found his sarcasm and moodiness endearing. Time was my greatest enemy, because as it passed, I just kept finding things that I loved about him… how he’s kind, hardworking, smart, and dedicated, and how he always tries to hide his best attributes from those around him. I feel like there’s more to him than meets the eye, and it’s been my goal to try and get to the point where he knows he has someone he could open up to if he wanted... someone he could rely on. But ever since Obo’s death, Shota has been doing his best to separate himself from us and the rest of the world… It’s as if any bit of happiness he once had had completely disappeared… despite that, my feelings for him haven’t disappeared… though… maybe they should.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I answered Noki, defensively. “Oh, please… don’t be coy. We all know that you’re crazy about Aizawa!!” Tamashiro added. I had never really admitted to them that I’ve had the biggest crush on him, but I guess it was obvious enough that I didn’t have to. “They have a point… Do you think that lonesome, moody boy would agree to go out with you?” Nakamura asked. I thought to myself for a moment, my heart telling me that he would, but my mind telling me there’s no way he would. “He probably wouldn’t…” I answered. “So it’s a good thing I don’t like him,” I lied, hoping that if I lied to myself enough I would eventually get over him. I put my goggles on my head and made my way to the USJ for our hero training.

The class all arrived around the same time, and my eyes immediately went to where Shota was standing, with Hizashi by his side, talking his ear off like normal. Normally I would go over and save Sho, but if I’ve decided to actually get over him and move on, I should keep my distance. I acted like I didn’t notice them come in.*This isn’t so hard… I can get over him* I thought to myself as I didn’t look at him. “Alright, class, settle down,” Ushiwaka-sensei spoke up, causing the chatter among the students to die down. “The past few weeks we have been working hard on combat training, so I thought it would be good to have another rescue exercise. I am splitting the class into two. One half will act as the civilians, and the other half as the heroes. The heroes must work together to rescue all the civilians, who will hide throughout the arena. Though you’ll be ‘rescuing’ your classmates, please act like it’s the real deal,” sensei explained, pulling out a box. “Alright, everyone come pick out which group you’ll be in,” he said, as all the students came forward.

I was assigned to group A along with Hizashi, while I noticed Shota was assigned to group B. “Group B will be heroes first, so group A can go ahead and hide somewhere. Group A, please have an idea for what injury or situation you’ll have to be rescured from… and group B, you’ll have 10 minutes until A is released… I suggest you plan out your strategy in the meantime,” Ushiwaka-sensei instructed. “Group A may go now,” he said. I immediately hopped on my cloud and flew towards the city disaster area. I found a pile of rubble and cleared a spot to lay in before using a cloud to gently hoist a large piece of a broken building across my legs, causing me to look trapped. I laid there for quite some time, until I heard footsteps come around the corner… it was Shota and Yasumori, and they seemed to be in a rush to get somewhere. They both stopped as they saw me, and I locked eyes with Shota. He didn’t make a move upon seeing me, but Yasumori quickly ran to my side and Shota continued running in the direction of the landslide zone. My heart sank at the thought of Shota not caring enough to rescue me… then again, I shouldn’t be thinking of him at all… he doesn’t care about me. “Are you alright?? You’re crying… are you hurt??” Yasumori asked, noticing I was crying when I didn’t. “Oh, yeah…” I said, wiping a tear. “I’m just stuck…” I said, looking down at my ‘trapped’ legs. He hoisted the rubble off of me and pulled me out, carrying me bridal-style to the safety zone.

I was the fifth person to be rescued, and upon our arrival, Yasumori put me down gently. “Y’know, I didn’t know you were such a good actor!! The fake tears were a nice touch!” he said, with a grin. I forced a chuckle and said, “thanks,” awkwardly, knowing the tears were real. “Sensei!!! We need someone to help quickly!!!” Noki said as she ran towards the safety zone. “What happened?” he asked her. “Well, Takahashi was in the landslide zone needing to be rescued, and Aizawa came to help him, but while he was lowering Takahashi from the cliffside, he slipped and hit his head, so he’s unconscious. A branch caught hold of his shirt, but none of us can reach him to save him!” she explained. Without thinking I created a cloud and flew in that direction. *What am I doing?? He didn’t seem to care about saving me, so why am I going to save him??* I thought to myself as I flew even faster. *Idiot… because you love him* I answered myself. As I approached the cliff, about 100 feet up I could see Takahashi perfectly wrapped up in Shota’s scarf, which was tied at the top of the cliff, and about 10 feet below him was Shota, who was dangling by a branch that caught his shirt. *By the looks of it, he was trying to carry Takahashi down with him, but because of Takahashi’s slime quirk, he must’ve slipped. Shota then probably used his scarf to get a hold of Takahashi, but didn’t have enough length to tie himself up, causing him to fall and hit his head. Even in a crisis, Sho was skilled enough to save the civilian* I analyzed the situation in my head, and as I did so, I noticed Shota’s shirt ripping... he was getting ready to fall. I quickly swooped underneath where he was in my cloud and managed to catch him just in time. I wasn’t prepared for the force of his fall, and nearly lost my cloud, but I managed to float us gently to the ground and land.

He was still knocked out cold as I held him in my arms. Apart from the large knot on his head, he didn’t seem terribly hurt. I found myself gently rubbing the knot, as if I could somehow make it feel better. I didn’t want him to be hurt. After a moment, sensei and the other students all arrived and saw me holding Shota. “Don’t worry, he’s fine,” I said with a blush, as I placed him down gently and nonchalantly. “I guess I should check on Takahashi,” I said, flying up to the boy dangling in Shota’s scarf. I managed to get him down, and the rest of the exercise continued as if nothing happened. Shota was sent to Recovery Girl, and I was left sitting on the sidelines of the exercise just thinking. *I would’ve rushed that quickly to save anyone, right?? And would’ve felt my heart racing as I looked into his face and massaged his head... oh, who am I kidding?!? You’re in love with him. There’s no way you’ll be able to change that, so you might as well stick with it.*

#meizawa #Shota Aizawa #BNHA #fanfic #usj #rescue training

2 notes · View notes

doc-pickles · 4 years ago

Text

i won’t hesitate (for you) chapter eight

Jo is happy, at least she feels like she is. When someone from her past shows up, will her and her daughter’s world ever go back to normal? Or will things change for good?

Hey friends... So it's been over a month.... I bet you guys thought this story was done... Honestly for a moment I did too and I was super bummed because I love this story so much. But stepping away from my writing and focusing on myself did the trick and I am now happy to report that I have the WHOLE ENTIRE rest of Hesitate planned out and I'm slowly (very slowly) chipping away at writing to make those plans a reality. Thanks to all of you for being so patient and for wanting me to continue this project!! You're the beeeeeest!! xoxo Nina

“Jo… Jo come back to bed, baby. Alarm doesn’t go off for ten minutes.”

Izzie stared down Alex’s still sleeping figure, watching him for a moment before continuing to walk around the room and get ready for the day. Every morning for the past week, Alex would always call out for Jo when Izzie got out of bed for work. She didn’t think he knew, but the words annoyed her more and more everyday.

“Babe, come back,” Alex groaned, rolling on to his stomach and reaching out for the side of the bed that Izzie had just left. “Jo… Jo…”

“I’m not Jo, Alex,” Izzie exclaimed in frustration, prompting Alex to fly up in bed and look from the empty side of the bed to Izzie. “I am not Jo! And I never will be and if that’s a problem for you, then you can run back to Seattle!”

“Izzie no… I’m sorry I,” Alex ran a hand through his hair and let out a groan. “I wanna stay here for the kids but I… I don’t think you and I are going to work out this time.”

“Why would it ever? You’re just the same pathetic man I left ten years ago,” Izzie threw a pillow towards Alex as she walked out of the bedroom. “I can’t believe you, Alex. Actually I can! You’re still not good enough for me.”

Deep breaths. In, out, in, out. Good, you can do this. Today will be a breeze.

Jo had found out about her pregnancy a month ago and every day since then had consisted of her trying to keep her breakfast down. Some days were better than others, but today might be the worst. She’d had to break out her elastic banded scrubs this morning because her regular scrubs wouldn’t pull up over her hips. The elastic was much more comfortable, but the thought of her body changing again had sent Jo into a fit of tears on the bathroom floor which resulted in her throwing up for almost 20 minutes.

“Karev! I’ve got an abdominal obstruction and I think we’re gonna need an emergency colostomy surgery,” Owen sidled up to Jo as the two walked into the ER, the older man sending Jo a grin. “But that’s up to you of course. Good luck!”

Jo grabbed the chart outside Trauma Room 2, entering the room with a forced smile. Her stomach had been flipping back and forth since she woke up this morning and she’d thrown up twice before she came into work. Apparently her baby was not happy to be residing in her uterus.

“Hi Mr. Little, I'm Doctor Karev and I’m gonna check you out real quick and we’ll see where to go from there,” Jo tried to put on a happy face as her stomach churned unpleasantly. She grabbed her stethoscope and began her routine check. “You said you’ve been having stomach pain, how long has that been going on for?”

“About three days,” the older man let out a groan as Jo began to palpate his abdomen. “Oh that’s not a pleasant feeling. A little softer dear or…”

Jo looked up as her patient fell silent, watching in abject horror as the man leaned forward and vomited across his lap. Moving as quickly as she could, Jo leapt back but was greeted with blowback across her chest and arms.

“Oh god,” Jo’s stomach flipped a final time before she turned to her left and emptied her stomach onto the floor of the ER. Jo felt as if the whole room was staring her down as she stood next to a pile of her own vomit. It was as if those dreams of going to school naked had come alive, a feeling of horror washing over Jo as she processed what had just happened.

“What the hell is happening,” Owen rushed over, looking from Jo to her patient, who was staring at her in shock. “Mr. Little, I’ll get you another doctor right away. And someone to help you clean up. Karev, follow me.”

Turning to follow Owen, Jo paused as the scent of vomit overwhelmed her senses once again. Stepping around Owen, Jo leaned over the closest trash bin and emptied her stomach again, a strangled cry leaving her as the acid burned her throat.

“You can go home,” Owen was standing behind Jo now, a gentle hand resting on her back as she stayed bent over. “We’ll survive without you. Go home, Jo.”

A heavy sigh left Jo as she nodded to Owen, standing up and heading upstairs for the attendings lounge. She hadn’t even been out of the house for an hour and she felt like the whole day was going down the drain.

Pressing a hand against the growing swell of her stomach, Jo silently begged the little life resting there to just calm down for the rest of the day. Her almost 12 week bump was harder to camouflage, but Jo knew that the closer she came to her second trimester the less her morning sickness would be an issue. She let out a heavy sigh, head popping up as the empty elevator chimed, signaling that it had arrived at its destination and was kicking Jo off into reality.

“I’m looking for Doctor Karev, it’s not a hard question to answer!”

Jo groaned as she turned a corner, not wanting to deal with anyone else today. Her job came first though, so she walked to the nurses station and put on a brave face.

“I’m Doctor Karev, what’s the issue,” Jo looked from the nurse to the woman standing in front of her, feeling as if she’d just been punched in the gut. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Jo had never met Izzie Stevens, but the woman was unmistakable. Her painted lips turned down at the sight of Jo standing in front of her, obviously disappointed that she wasn’t Alex. The perfectly curled blonde hair and full face of makeup didn’t sit well with Jo, realizing with a flash of anger exactly why the woman was there.

“I’m not here for you, I’m here for Alex,” Izzie came around to stand a few feet in front of Jo, arms crossed as she stared her down. “Why don’t you tell me where your ex husband is and we can all get along.”

“Oh I am not starting with you today, you need to take your pathetic ass back to Kansas,” Jo took a step forward, arms crossing to mirror Izzie’s stance. She knew she was attracting attention, she could see Levi frantically grasping for his pager out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t stop herself. “You know as well as I do that Alex doesn’t want to see you. You fucked him over and he’s moved on. And I know damn well he’s not going to want to talk to you.”

Izzie stared at Jo for a moment, her lips finally turning into a smile as she began to laugh at her. Jo could feel her blood boiling, her heart rate pounding loudly in her ears as she clenched her fists in an attempt to keep herself planted in her spot.

“Oh please, I’m sure that bratty kid of yours isn’t even his either, stop putting on this picture perfect princess show,” Izzie chuckled, narrowing her eyes as she saw Jo’s face redden. “Oh did I hit a nerve? Serves you right you-”

“You’re a sorry excuse for a mom if you think putting your kids through what you did was the right thing,” Jo’s voice rose and she took a final step towards Izzie, her face inches from the older woman’s. She shouldn’t retaliate, but Izzie had gotten under Jo’s skin and she wasn’t going to let her get the last word.

“And you’re a shitty person on top of that for what you dragged Alex through. So you can talk about your stupid children of the corn and you can even talk about how much you fucked over Alex, but you do not get to talk about MY daughter. If I hear her name in your mouth again, so help me I will drag you back to Kansas by your hair myself you self absorbed home wrecking psycho.”

That set Izzie off, her hands coming up for Jo just as Alex ran up and pulled her away from the blonde. Jo, for what it was worth, was thankful that he’d come when he did because she wasn’t entirely sure that she could have kept her hands to herself.

“Jesus Christ! Don't you dare lay a hand on her Izzie,” Alex’s voice bellowed through the halls as he stared down his ex. “What the hell are you even doing here?”

“Well I came to check on you, but it seems that your washed up ex here has you fooled once again. Are you even sure this one is yours? Or maybe she trapped you on purpose this time,” Izzie sneered, eyes roaming down to Jo’s stomach. The dark blue scrubs were pulled tight against her abdomen as Alex held her, making it clear as day that she was pregnant. “You’re lucky you’re pregnant, I would ha-”

“You’re lucky I’m pregnant,” Jo yelled back, Alex tightening his grip on her as she tried to break away from him. “You’d be out cold right now if I wasn’t you stupid bitch!”

“I don’t want you here Iz, and I really don’t appreciate you yelling at Jo like that,” Jo could feel the anger radiating off of Alex as he set Izzie straight. She could tell that Alex’s firm grip on her arms wasn’t just to her benefit, but his too as he held back his barely restrained rage. “Might I remind you that you’re the one that spent three years lying to my face about the paternity of your kids.”

“Now what the hell is happening in my hospital,” all three doctors turned as Miranda Bailey walked up to the scene, Meredith trailing behind her with a sour look on her face. “Izzie Stevens, I know damn well you’re not standing here right now screaming and threatening to physically attack a doctor of this hospital, and a pregnant one at that.”

“Doctor Bailey, I-”

“That’s enough from you,” Bailey fixed Izzie with a glare, eyes narrowing threateningly as she looked upon the doctor she’d once known so well. “You’re going to turn around and walk out of here and you are not to set foot in Grey Sloan again unless they bring you in a damn ambulance or so help me I will have the police here faster than you can say ‘LVAD wire’. Are we clear?” Watching the situation in front of her play out, Jo could feel the familiar pull of anxiety coursing through her. She’d been able to keep it at bay since Alex had come back home, but the ocean of worry and fear began to crest in her stomach again. Her heart began to beat unsteadily as she brought her hand to cover Alex’s on her arm, her feet feeling more unsteady the longer she dwelled on what just happened.

“Jo? You okay?”

Jo’s eyes snapped up to Meredith, who was looking at her quizzically. She could feel Alex tensing behind her, his grip on her tightening as he looked her over. She could feel herself begin to sweat and her forehead heating up as she leaned her weight against Alex.

“Babe? What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine, I’m just a little anxious,” Jo knew as soon as the words came out that Alex would understand what she meant. The nerves in her body were shot and she was pretty sure she’d pass out if she attempted to move out of Alex’s arms. She lowered her voice as she squeezed Alex’s hand, “I just really need to get out of here. Please.”

Alex nodded to Meredith before he began to lead Jo away from the tense hallway, his arms never leaving their place around her shoulders as they headed for the attendings lounge. Her breathing was ragged by the time she sat on the couch in the lounge, Alex’s hand running over her back as sobs began to well up from within her.

“You don’t believe her right? You don’t think I lied to you about Harper or this baby do you,” Jo tried to keep herself composed as she looked up at Alex, but the sad expression on his face made her begin to cry even more. “I swear I wouldn’t do that to you Alex, please don’t believe her.”

“Jo don’t listen to a word that comes out of her mouth. I know you’d never lie to me like that,” Alex wrapped his arm around Jo, bringing her into his side as she continued to cry. “I know you’re not trying to trap me, I know you. You’re a brilliant surgeon, an excellent mother and a fantastic wife, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Jo felt the wave of anxiety crash inside of her finally, Alex’s words doing little to ease her thoughts as she continued to sob loudly. She held a hand to her chest as her mind began to reel from the words that had been thrown at her.

“I can’t… I can’t breathe,” Jo choked out between sobs, gasping loudly as she tried in vain to calm herself down. “I’m so sorry… Alex I’m sorry.”

“Babe, look at me, come on Jo,” Alex held his fingers under Jo’s chin and waited for her to look up and meet his eyes. “Breathe with me, in and out. You’re not doing yourself or the baby any good by freaking out. Deep breaths, there you go.”

Jo’s breathing evened out as she followed Alex’s instructions, moving a hand down to cradle her stomach as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. When she was satisfied, she leaned her head against Alex’s forehead and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry it’s just… I wasn’t expecting that today. Or ever,” Jo let a low chuckle out, eyes fluttering open to meet Alex’s. “And I might’ve thrown up on the ER floor earlier but that’s not important.”

“Yeah you smell like fish guts,” Alex joked as he pressed a kiss to Jo’s hair. “Let’s go get Harper and go home. We can put on a movie and relax, okay?”

“That sounds like the best thing I’ve heard all day.”

“She picked the movie, I had no say in it,” Jo walked out of the bathroom and looked from Alex to Harper with a smirk. “Come on Jo, you know I can’t say no to her.”

“I know you can’t, you’re a big softie.”

Jo settled into Alex's left side, his hand coming around her to settle his hand against the curve of her stomach as Harper cuddled deeper into his right side. She’d showered and changed while Alex and Harper had set up in the living room to watch Moana upon Harper’s insistence. After their unsettling morning, neither of them wanted to be anywhere else.

“I’m sorry about what happened, if I had even the slightest idea that she would come here I would have told you Jo, believe me,” Alex’s tone was hushed as he kept his eyes on Harper. “That part of my life is over, I’m going to file a protective order for all three of us tomorrow.”

“Alex, I-”

“No, I can’t keep going to work worrying about you two every second of the day,” Alex finally turned his gaze back to Jo, eyes scanning her worriedly. “I… when I went back to Kansas to settle everything Izzie pulled some crazy stuff. Things I didn’t think she was capable of and things I don’t want you or Harper or this little one to be subjected to. So please, let me do this so I can feel like I’m doing something to help.”

Burrowing her head into Alex’s chest, Jo nodded and used one hand to run through Harper’s curls. The little girl meant more to her than anything, along with her sibling still growing in Jo’s womb. Her and Alex could agree on that much, so she would let him do what he felt was needed to protect them.

“Daddy quiet,” Harper poked at Alex and then pointed back to the television. “Watch movie.”

Jo felt Alex’s chest rumble as he laughed at Harper, her heart feeling lighter than it had in years as she enjoyed the quiet evening with her daughter and her… well Alex was definitely something. She wasn’t eager to label things, afraid it would disrupt the sense of peace they’d fallen into, but she had a good feeling about their relationship this time around.

“Mm I found another house for us to look at this weekend, it’s close to the hospital and it has a big backyard,” Jo looked up to Alex, who’s eyes were already on her. “I think we should put an offer in on this one. Trust me.” “I do, I’d trust you with my life,” a knock sounded at the door, Alex prying himself away from both girls who had no problems voicing their displeasure with him. “Sorry girls, I gotta get the pizza and I know neither of you were going to stand up and get it.”

“Just gives me an excuse to cuddle with Harps here,” Jo pulled Harper into her lap, the little girl giggling as her mom wrapped her up in her arms.

Jo and Harper sat in silence for a minute, intently watching the movie playing out. When Alex didn’t return, Jo turned around to see what he was up to, only to find him still standing by the door.

“Alex?”

“She’s taking me to court,” Alex muttered, holding up a small stack of papers. “Izzie served me and she’s taking me to court for child support.”

#jolex #greys anatomy #greys anatomy fanfic #jo karev #jo wilson #alex karev #hesitate #nina writes #jolex fic #jolex fanfic #jo x alex

21 notes · View notes

etraytin · 4 years ago

Text

Quarantine, Days 174-175

September 1-2

My computer is even more kaput than usual, which is why I didn't post last night and also why I am using my son's laptop to post with tonight. He has not only this very nice laptop we got him for Christmas, but the school has also issued him a Chromebook for virtual learning, making him about 1000% more technologically up to date than I am. He has magnanimously declared that he wants me to get a new laptop very soon so we can play Minecraft together and have a house, since he has been living in various abandoned houses since he joined his multiplayer server. I said it sounded suspiciously like he wanted me to play Minecraft with him so he could live in my house, same as real life. He thought that was pretty funny.

I was bummed I couldn't post last night because something very nice happened to me yesterday. I was down to literally my last two tablespoons of kitten formula, when the mail carrier arrived and dropped off a new can of formula, sent by somebody from Tumblr who read my post the other night and sent me one from my fostering wishlist. It was literally just in the nick of time, and it made my day. Made Audiva's day too, since she is still deeply stubbornly refusing to try wet food on a plate, and made the other kittens day too because they will eat wet food but still love to get a hit from the bottle. I got another can of formula today as well, and it was amazing! It is so nice to not have to stress out about whether the kitten is going to learn to eat before I run out of food it will eat already. So thank you so, so, so much to the kind people who sent those to me!

Not a lot else happened yesterday, I spent a large portion of the day doing laundry, trying to catch up on the massive pile that accumulated in the hallway. Our laundry area is just a little closet in the side of the living room, so it sometimes happens that if we get too many clean clothes and do not fold them, the pile tips over and falls on the floor. Or the kiddo digs through the pile in such a way that it winds up all over the floor. In any case, it's on the floor, stuff gets stepped on, it's hard to know what is clean or dirty. The problem is exacerbated during kitten times, when I am too tired to deal with things, or when one of us is away and the other one is carrying the household. It was pretty bad this time, so I just called a do-over, washed everything, and folded it as soon as it came out of the dryer. I also went through and put a bunch of stuff in the donations bag so we have a slightly more manageable number of clothes as well.

The kiddo had a day of ups and downs, he won back and lost his electronics privileges in a matter of hours because he cannot stay off the multiplayer server, so that's not super great. To keep him busy, I gave him my last big moving box, which I finally unpacked a mere two years after our move (it had some clothes in it I'd completely forgot I owned! Many of which are now being donated!) He spent a fair amount of the day in the box, cutting out windows and listening to his new clock radio. It's a bummer when he loses his electronics because he hates it, but it's nice to see him stretching his brain and finding alternative things to do as well. I got creative with boxes too; I finally pulled out my Dremel and assembled the nebulizer box I've been collecting pieces for. Now it is fully ready for next time I need to give a sick kitten or cat inhalant medicine! We had several of these at my rescue back in Florida, and they are great.

I made us sushi for supper and we watched several episodes of The Good Place together before bed. For a quiet day, I guess we actually got a lot done.

Today was a little busier, I did more laundry, fed the kittens more, tried to organize a little more. MIL is doing better and my husband hopes to come home this weekend, so I have a deadline for all my self-imposed goals now! We also spent the evening trapping cats because a friend of mine has a sick kitten and couldn't go out tonight. So the kiddo and I got fast food for dinner and ate it while traveling down to our first trapping site, which was in an affluent neighborhood full of big samey houses with fenced backyards. When I'm driving the truck I feel more self-conscious about going into neighborhoods like this than into bad neighborhoods, where nobody wrinkles up their nose at a noisy old truck. But the truck survived another night, good job, truck! We caught one cat at that site, then went to the fish market to try and fill our quota. There are lots of cats at the fish market, but we only managed to catch one more that was not tagged. We left at the right time, though,because it started to rain really hard just ten minutes or so after we got home.

Tomorrow the kiddo gets his electronics back, with the caveat that all electronics must be used in the living room or master bedroom, not in his own room or the kitten room until further notice. We'll see how that works out. I'm also going to have a very unpleasant afternoon at the dentist getting a crown put on, so wish me luck there. Two hour appointment is never something you want to hear from the dentist's receptionist. I will probably be in a very unpleasant mood by tomorrow night, so I will try to enjoy tonight's good mood while it lasts.

#quarantine #nebulizer #foster kittens #tnr

5 notes · View notes

ruensroad · 5 years ago

Note

If you're still doing prompts, could you do 91 or 99? Maybe for JC and JL? Or Xicheng?

I went with Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling, hope you don’t mind!

This is an AU I thought up for Halloween, but never got around to writing it proper. Alternate Universe where Jiang Cheng was actually killed by the Wens at Lotus Pier and that was the catalyst of him turning into a monster. On the bright side, however, Wei Wuxian does not die and Jin Ling gets to grow up with both his parents, so! This is my take on vampires in the MDZS universe, featuring one grumpy uncle and the nephew that loves him despite his fangs.

Prompt is from this list here.Prompt 91 & 99 | “Sorry I’m protective over the things I love.” & “Be brave, sweetheart.” | Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling

He’d seen the eyes since he was five. Glowing purple lights in the corner of his room, watching him sleep. It had scared him, at the start, until he’d realized that his fear made the eyes go away. And that’s when his curiosity had won out.

When he’d found the courage, he’d asked the eyes to stay, the eve before his sixth birthday, and had been given a dirty, wrinkled paper with smudged charcoal characters for his effort. It smelled of blood, and dirt, and something like cold death, but his fear had fled and his life had never been the same.

I’m sorry I scared you. I just wanted to know you are safe. Tell me to leave and I will. I’m not here to hurt you, A-Ling.

Jin Ling hadn’t told the eyes to leave. Quite the opposite. He demanded the eyes stay, but only after a long bath and a change of clothes, because he didn’t want ma-ma to think he was dirtying the floors on purpose, or ba-ba to worry that he was sneaking outside.

The floors were clean from then on, but Jin Ling’s escapes into the dark night had only just begun.

The eyes belonged to a man, or what used to be a man. Honestly, Jin Ling had no idea what he truly was. Uncle Wei had told him of walking corpses and of reanimated corpses, but neither of these drank blood, or had fangs and claws. The man was still very human in his mind, even if his body did not remember being so, and was worried enough about his own beastly side to muzzle himself with a heavy, iron mask so he did not accidentally bite Jin Ling. Or so he had explained, writing in the dirt with a stick. He couldn’t speak, but he could make some noises and was far more intelligent than any non-human beast Jin Ling had heard about. He was oddly funny at times, stern at others. He had a perpetual scowl on his face, and the violet glow in his eyes could dim or sharpen depending on his mood. He was fascinating, a steady friend, and Jin Ling had come to depend on him greatly.

Because the best thing was that he was family.

Jin Ling was ten when Uncle Wei finally told him the story of Jiang Cheng, how he’d been captured by the Wen Clan and killed in Lotus Pier. That was the story everyone knew, the tragedy of the fallen Jiang Heir, but Uncle Wei knew the full truth because he had been there. He’d seen Lotus Pier ablaze and running red with death. He’d seen the Wen dead, scattered corpses everywhere he looked. They’d been drained, completely, of blood, and it’d happened when they’d been alive, begging for mercy. Their mummified faces were still screaming, in fact.

At the center of the flames and carnage had been Jiang Cheng, but not the Jiang Cheng Uncle Wei had known. He was no longer human, no longer afraid, and he’d murdered everyone in that place without hesitation.

He’d only hesitated, Uncle Wei had admitted, the stink of wine heavy on his breath, when he’d approached and reached out for his brother, calling his name. The humanness had returned, but the beastly shell had trapped it inside. Jiang Cheng was forever changed and had disappeared into the form of a raven the moment Uncle Wei had touched his face and Uncle Wei had spent the years searching in vain for him since.

Jin Ling knew his jiu-jiu didn’t wish to hurt anyone he cared about. Jiang Cheng had told him himself after many months of figuring out a sign language known only to the two of them, so they didn’t have to write everything down in the dirt. Though he had not been able to wrestle the story out of Jiang Cheng - yet - he knew enough to know Jiang Cheng regretted it, regretted what he was, and had isolated himself because of it. But what mattered most was that he was still here, wanting to be with Jin Ling, and that meant the world to him, even if his jiu-jiu was all shades of terrifying and always dirty.

Jiang Cheng was Jin Ling’s most closely guarded secret and a treasured one. He sat there with his unblinking eyes and let Jin Ling go off about his day, listening raptly to whatever he said. They bickered over sword techniques, or who was a better shot with a bow, and Jiang Cheng trusted him enough to accept the waterskin full of animal blood Jin Ling always brought and remove the mask he wore over the lower half of his face. Jin Ling loved those times the most, even if it was disgusting with the smell and sounds, because he knew Jiang Cheng loved him enough to trust him with his most beastly side. And Jin Ling trusted him too, completely.

Ma-ma had always taught him to be brave. Brave enough to see the good in people, to stand up for himself and for his loved ones. Bravery had given Jin Ling the chance to connect to his monstrous uncle, and love had bound them together. He just wished he was brave enough to tell ma-ma that the raven that often perched to watch her in her garden was the younger brother she still mourned, or to tell Uncle Wei that Jiang Cheng was not giving into his beast, but was clinging as firmly to humanity as he could. That they could be proud of Jiang Cheng. That they hadn’t fully lost him, nor he they.

But Jin Ling didn’t know where to begin. The cultivation world was not forgiving to those that strayed from the path, who became monsters the way the Wen had. Just because he knew his jiu-jiu would never hurt him didn’t erase the fact that he was a monster and a monster Jin Ling had no idea what to label, or how to deal with. He loved Jiang Cheng fiercely and that love was returned, but Jin Ling feared that would not be enough to keep Jiang Cheng safe from the world if he were to be discovered.

So he kept quiet and swallowed down that guilt. Until the night when he couldn’t hide anymore.

He’d just turned sixteen when Carp Tower was flooded with walking corpses. No one knew where they’d come from or could understand their sheer numbers, and it was immediate chaos. Jin Ling grabbed his bow and arrows and charged into the fray, shooting them down before they could reach ma-ma and ba-ba, who was surely already protecting her.

Distantly, he could hear shouting, the snarl of Fairy as the dog lunged at the nearest corpse, and knew they’d be overrun if he didn’t act, and act quickly.

Be brave, sweetheart, his mother’s voice filled his heart, his blood, and Jin Ling summoned as much spiritual energy into himself as he could, firing at the horde. They were drawn in by the feel of it, he knew, and obediently started to follow him, lumbering but gaining speeds that were definitely the result of a hidden puppeteer.

“Fairy, guard ma-ma!” was his final order before he turned and sprinted into the woods.

The route was well known, well loved, and it was with confidence he fought the charging monsters as he ran for the old tree by the pond, a gnarled, ancient thing that Jiang Cheng loved for some reason, and yelled out a warcry so his jiu-jiu would know he was coming. That he needed help, needed his uncle, needed the beast.

With a wicked silence, the slice of claws through flesh, the beast came. Those eyes were electric, sharp and focused, a feral sound in Jiang Cheng’s throat as he took out a corpse that had gotten too close to Jin Ling. They had a bare moment to nod to one another before they were fighting side by side, eating away at the numbers until all that was left was a stinking pile of rot and severed limbs.

Jiang Cheng slowly turned to look at him when the last one fell, eyes accusing and almost violent with how much fear there was, and Jin Ling huffed, reading his unspoken words far too easily.

“I had to get them away from Carp Tower somehow,” he defended himself, nose in the air. “And I heard about a grumpy, homicidal beast in the woods that would help me out.”

Jiang Cheng’s hands were a flurry of quick, sharp words, and Jin Ling bit down a wild grin as the sentence formed. “So sorry for being protective of those I love.” He had never known anyone could make their hands dance so sarcastically, but his jiu-jiu was a master of it.

Jin Ling sheathed the arrow he’d pulled and walked over to Jiang Cheng, reading the tension still in his shoulders with a spike of guilt. In one fearless movement, he touched the front of the iron mask - carved into the shape of bared teeth after a twelve year old Jin Ling had complained it’d been too boring - and looked up at those violet eyes, gleaming angrily in the dark.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Jin Ling said, contrite now, and bit his lip. “I just… I had to get them away from ma-ma.”

“I know,” Jiang Cheng sighed. “I would have done the same.”

Jin Ling puffed up at that, knowing it for the praise it was, and grinned. “We made a great team. I told you so.”

A low growling huff. “Brat.”

He felt a laugh starting to bubble in his chest, but it died the moment he heard voices shouting down the path, calling his name. Ba-ba, it sounded like, and Uncle Wei.

“You have to go,” Jin Ling hissed, panic gripping his heart. “Please, jiu-jiu. If they see -”

“A-Ling.” It was his favorite sign in the world, the way Jiang Cheng wove his name. A tap on his heart, then his fingers lifting in a graceful arch under his throat. A-Ling. From my heart to my mouth. A-Ling. “I am not afraid.”

And for once he did not look it. He looked resolved, ready to face the world again, and Jin Ling knew he should be proud of that, proud that he more than likely caused it, but he only felt fear, cold and fierce, and felt the tears prick his eyes when the voices came closer.

Jiang Cheng gripped his shoulder, gave it a squeeze, and Jin Ling forced himself to stand upright. Take a breath. He had to stand tall for his uncle now, stand firm in all they had. So he would.

Be brave.

#ruenwrites #writing prompts #jiang cheng #jin ling #vampire au #the untamed #I downright SCREAMED reading the prompts #I've wanted to write this AU #since halloween #i LOVE it ahhhh #thank you anon!

78 notes · View notes

mysweetestcreature · 5 years ago

Text

Tomorrow Never Knows (President!Harry) Chapter 3: Bloom

(Banner by the wonderful noblewomankat!)

***

Masterlist

***

Monday, September 22, 2008

Monday morning comes quicker than expected, but for Y/n, it couldn’t have come soon enough. All weekend the only thing she could think about was how Harry had been so close –– literally so close –– to kissing her in her living room. How she pretended to be calm in front of her family all weekend utterly baffles her.

The last time she’d had a crush so tremendous had been in the summer after sixth grade when her mom had signed them up for a mother-daughter cooking class, and one of the mom’s had brought her son by mistake. He was a year older and could make the most delicious Pad Thai in all of Central Jersey. Even then, however; she had never felt all these butterflies in her tummy that would consistently flutter about when Harry just so much as looked at her.

She arrives on campus a little earlier than usual, probably because she’d woken up so excited to get ready for the day. Her dad had been terribly confused to find her sitting on the countertop, all dressed and ready to be dropped off on his way to work (she’d even packed him his favorite lunch as a bribe).

As of now, it’s just her and the breeze that gently lifts the strands of her relaxed hair. The school looks so pretty at this hour, with the birds chirping happily in their nests, and the cute little woodland creatures that are usually hidden away in the bushes, roaming freely across the lawn. Only a few other students join her at this hour, but they’re all stowed away in the building, taking this breathtaking scene for granted. She breathes it all in and allows for her head to fall against the bench’s backrest.

“Hey.” The sudden hum of his deep voice startles her, and her head snaps up to find him standing right in front of her and looking like he’d just stepped off the cover of some teen magazine that she skims through while in line at Shop Rite.

“Hi,” she tries her best, but she can’t help the wide smile that dresses over her features. She signals down to the empty spot beside her. He gladly accepts it, dropping his bookbag on the grass and plopping down next to her. Her thumbs fiddle with each other in her lap, as she sucks on her top front teeth before speaking up again. “How was your weekend?”

“It was fine,” he answers simply.

“Do anything fun?”

“Eh.”

The words bounce around in her mouth with the undeniable need to talk about last Friday. But he’s being far too detached in his manner of speaking, that she wonders how she’ll ever go about starting up such an important –– yes, she’s labelling it as a top priority –– conversation. She supposes that it is the beginning of the week, and maybe now that she’s had a better look at him he does appear a tad tired, judging from the bags under his eyelids and the way he suppresses a long yawn into his sleeve. Still, though! How is she going to accumulate confidence when he’s barely alive enough to respond?

He turns to look at her. “Yours?”

She stares intently at him. “Terrible! So stupidly terrible! It was so damn hard because all I could think about was how you almost kissed me but didn’t because my little brother interrupted us and totally hogged your attention for the rest of the afternoon! And now all I want to do is talk about it because I may or may not like you as more than a friend! AGH!” It’s what she’s dying to tell him, but rather she blinks her eyes before letting her head falter in defeat.

“It was fine.”

***

“He did what!?” Maxxie nearly falls over in his seat at the reception of the news.

“Will you hush up!” Y/n shushes, smacking him in the face with her three-subject Biology notebook (she thought it’d be more impactful than a flimsy folder). “Besides, nothing happened.” And yet she so badly wishes that weren’t the case because at least it wouldn’t have trapped her in such a spot of complete unknowing.

“It’s true,” Cici inserts, leaning in from the adjacent side of the lab table. “She told me when she picked me up after I climbed out the window at Café Agira.”

Maxxie stares at Cici with the most baffled expression. “You-... You know what? I’m not even gonna ask,” he talks at her before turning back to Y/n. “You on the other hand, I am very interested in learning about this thing between you and our local Brit.”

She sighs, dropping her cheek in her palm and tracing nonsensical images onto the surface of the table with her pointer. “I was gonna talk to him about it before homeroom, but I don’t know...he seemed really out of it.” Her eyes shut with grievance. “What if he regrets it? Is that why he’s being all distant?” After all, she’d been a bit emotional, and he’d been there to comfort her. It’s a scene out of over a dozen films.

Both her friends give each other a knowing look before hopping their stools closer to the middle. Cici envelops her in a tight hug. “You, my friend, need to be more confident,” she says softly, playing with the ends of hair. “Tell her what you know, Max.”

Y/n glances at the blonde as he leans in to join the huddle. “Okay, so I heard from Evan, who heard from Jake, who heard from Kara, who heard from Lori, who heard from Bailey, who heard from Rishav, who heard from his sister Aavani, who is dating Angelo, who heard from Mike, who heard from Trish, who heard from Brent, who is on the football team with Harry...” He pauses, gasping for air after such a difficult and trying verbal marathon. “...and he heard Harry going on about how he’s really into this girl he’s friends with.”

They’d expected this to lift her spirits up, but instead she lets out another dismal sigh. “Harry’s friends with a lot of girls. Remember last week when those girls from his English class made him sit with them? He could be talking about anyone.”

Cici glares over her head, nostrils flaring angrily for Maxxie to fix this slump of a mood their best friend is trapped in.

***

The next time Harry sees her is in History class, and he’d spent all of US Politics trying to formulate cohesive thoughts that he hoped would process into audible words. This morning had been a bit off for him, he realized that as soon as they had parted ways towards their respective homerooms. He hadn’t meant to be so standoffish, but he had an extra early practice and by the time he saw her, he was already thoroughly exhausted and wanting nothing more than to curl up somewhere and take a long nap.

Now he’s had time to rejuvenate and collect himself into something he’ll actually be able to present to her. Hopefully she doesn’t think any less of him, or change her opinion based on one measly fail of an encounter. He remains positive because he’s really been meaning to talk to her about a couple days ago, how he had come within centimeters of pressing his lips to hers because he really couldn’t hold back any longer. She’s just so cute and sweet and funny, and overall he just loves being around her. And okay, he’d meant to text or call her to say just that, but couldn’t figure out how to organize his scattered brain into something relatively sensible. He won’t deny that she has this power over him that he can’t quite describe, let alone express through his seemingly fading vernacular.

She walks in, making sure to greet Mr. Noone with a smile and a bag full of another delicious dessert. He tries to listen in as she makes conversation, which soon turns into her hounding the elderly man for yet another one of her Tupperware containers. “I’m pretty sure you have five now! At least give me three of those back. Dad had nowhere to put our leftovers last night!” he hears her whine. The way she pouts her lips and huffs as she stomps away is undeniably one of the cutest things she does –– he thinks so, at least.

When she’s within close proximity, he sits up straight in his chair and pushes back his mop of brown curls away from his eyes. “About this morning,” he starts slowly, finding his rhythm with his tongue. “I was so drained from practice and literally I thought I was gonna pass out...”

“It’s fine, no big deal,” she says curtly, setting her stuff down and taking her seat without so much as peeking an eye his way.

His mouth curls to the side. He’s by no means an expert on women, but if living his whole life with his mum and sister had taught him anything, he’d have to be completely daft to actually believe that she’s completely dandy. “No, it’s not. You’re mad at me.” He places his arm around her chair and shifts closer. “I’m sorry..” he pouts, the side hand brushing slightly over her back where he knows she’s ticklish, but she doesn’t even flinch. “C’mon, at least look at me. I don’t like it when you’re mad at me.”

She keeps her eyes set on her lap. “Harry, I said-” But she stops when the shadow of a figure looms over their table, and they both peer up hesitantly to meet Mr. Noone towering above them.

“If you two could postpone this lovers quarrel until after my class, that’d be most appreciated.”

***

After class, Harry follows their history teacher’s advice, and chases after Y/n as she squeezes her way through the pile of students to escape. She takes solace, however, in the knowledge that she can hide away in the library or the Home Ec. Room for the next fifty-five minutes and won’t have to talk to him until lunch time. And yet, she groans inwardly when she hears her name being echoed in the crowded corridor, accompanied by his hasty footsteps that as the push off the floor with each brisk stride.

“Y/n!” he wheezes, finally catching up to her. She gives in, feeling a slight pang of guilt (emphasis on slight) run through her, and pivots on her heel. “Christ, you walk fast.” He hoists himself up, using his knees as support as he takes in a few deep breaths through his nostrils.

“Don’t you have class?” she tuts, crossing her arms and stomping the toe of her shoe in utter annoyance.

“Not until you accept my apology.”

She throws her hands up in the air. “And I keep telling you that everything is fine! So, please get your butt up to Debate or else you’ll be marked as tardy and I don’t want you to be late because of me.”

A smirk finds its way to his lips. “At least I know you care,” he cheeks, nudging her gently with his elbow. He can see how she fights off a grin as she turns her head as afar as it can go. No matter how hard she tries to hide it, he still manages to bring it out of her. “There it is!”

“I just don’t want that on my conscience,” she snoots, but she knows how unconvincing this whole charade is. He slings an arm around her before she can even come up with another thing to say as if it was the most natural thing. She looks at where his veiny hand comes through the other side, poking through the slope of her neck and lazily hanging off her shoulder. “Um, hello?” she gawks, but instead of answering, he leads her down the hall and towards the tunnel to the next the building. “At least tell me where we’re going.”

“You’re gonna teach me how to bake!”

“But what about-”

He cuts her off with two fingers pressed to her lips, simply shaking his head as he holds the door open. What’s more annoying is that she likes how this feel, and how oddly organic it is for their footsteps to sync up like a well-oiled machine. And please, someone stop her from wanting to stay like this for longer or thinking about how cold she’ll be once this protective belt disappears.

***

Saturday, September 27, 2008

It’s been a little over a week since Harry had come over to study, and in that week, they still haven’t opened up on the subject. And to be quite frank, it’s been driving Y/n absolutely bonkers! She still doesn’t know where this puts them, or whether she’s looking too far into the situation and she should save herself the embarrassment and forget anything had ever happened.

Right now, it’s about ten in the morning, and Y/n is still lying in bed trying to figure out these pesky feelings. On a typical Saturday morning she would have already whipped up some breakfast for her family, but now she can barely focus on anything but checking if he’s sent her a new text.

A knock on the door brings her out of it, and she answers back in an aloof tone. “Come in.” Her eyes lazily flick over in its direction as the hinges begin to squeak. When the person pokes his head in, the look on his face is already too much for her handle in this state. She pulls the covers over her head to hide herself.

“Hi, Dad! Good Morning, Dad! How’re you doing today, Dad?” he mocks, striding further into the room. “I bet that’s what other parents get.” She feels the bed dip in by her feet. “Alright, kid. Time to join us in the world of the living.” Very slowly does she feel her blanket being stripped away, until the light from her suddenly exposed window burns brightly on her pupils. “Or else your mom is going to have to come up here, and she’s a lot stronger than I am.”

“Dad, please,” she whines, and battles him out in a game of tug-of-war for her sheets. “I’m having a crisis here!”

“You’re fourteen,” he deadpans. No one could have ever prepared him for the task of having to raise a teenager, he lets his wife know that every morning when he wakes up. In fact, he calls the theme of their little morning chats “complaining rigorously about parenting” or C. R. A. P. as he so fondly refers to it as. Liv isn’t too keen on the acronym, and she lets him know that every single time.

“You’re a boy, right?” she suddenly asks, and she sits up and hugs her knees tightly to her chest.

Jeremy scoffs loudly. “Who’s to say?” But his daughter stares at him with an unwavering seriousness that he swears she must get from her mother because he can barely intimidate his son into taking a bath. Curse Olivia’s prominent genes! “Okay, fine. Yes. Happy?”

“Very,” she smirks, inching closer, but her demeanor soon switches to a less playful glow. “How do you know if a boy likes you? Like really likes you.” She rests the side of her face on her bended knees and closes her eyes.

“I don’t think I understand the question.”

“Of course, you don’t, honey.”

Olivia waltzes in with a basket of freshly washed and folded clothes balanced on her hip and a warm bagel in the other hand. “You can leave now. I got this,” she tells her husband, shooing him out the door.

“Oh, thank god!” he sighs out in relief and runs out the room, but not without giving his wife a tender kiss on the cheek and a wishful “good luck!”

That leaves both women to sort it all out on their own. Olivia sets everything down before taking Jeremy’s place on the bed. She breathes in deeply and exhales with a warm smile.

“So, who’re we talking about?”

“Remember that boy who came over last week?”

It takes a good minute for Olivia to track back to such a long time ago (this last week had been so busy at the clinic so she tends to let other irrelevant details slip her mind), before nodding her head when she finally remembers. “You mean Harry, right? He was such a sweet boy, and so good with Mason, too!” she gushes, clapping her hands as she recalls the kind British boy. Y/n gives her a look, and she soon realizes what this is all about. “Oh, my baby.” And she brings her daughter in for a big hug.

“I don’t know what to do,” Y/n mutters into her shirt. “Every time I think I’m going to tell him, I end up chickening out. I hate it!” All the pent-up frustration that had been building up for exactly a week is now coming into light. “Mom, I really like him, like really like Harry. And I don’t know what I’m going to do because he’s all I can think about and it’s literally making me lose my mind!”

“Why is that?” Olivia asks, stroking over the length of her hair.

“Because...” Y/n starts, taking a pause. “Because he tried to kiss me, but it didn’t happen, and we haven’t talked about it since. And now I’m scared that it was just an ‘in the moment’ thing and he probably doesn’t feel the same way and I’m getting my hopes up over absolutely nothing.”

Liv takes Y/n by the shoulders to face her directly. “First of all, breathe.” She guides her through some breathing exercises to get her elevated heart rate back to normal. “Second...but what if he does feel the same way? Isn’t knowing for sure better than not taking a chance at all?”

***

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Harry is just about done and ready to head out when he feels a tap on his shoulder.

“Hi, Harry!” Zoey greets cheerfully, twirling her skirt as she twists her hips.

“Hey,” he nods as he stuffs his copy of The Scarlet Letter in his bag. He looks left and right to find that it’s only them two left in the hall. It didn’t even occur to him how late he’d stayed back to talk to Miss Arelleno about an upcoming book report because he wanted to make sure that his choice of literature would be appropriate to present on. (Luckily, it was! And he had already managed to outline all the key points he was going to accentuate on.)

“I was actually hoping I’d find you here,” she admits, leaning against his locker door.

“Yeah?” Harry replies, but honestly, he’s barely paying attention because for some reason he can’t seem to find his house keys in his pockets. If he doesn’t find them, he’s absolutely fucked because Gemma doesn’t get home until tonight and Anne is out of town on business. “Sorry, I’m...” Aha! He’d forgotten that he’d placed them –– along with his phone –– in his cardigan pocket before football practice. “What were you saying?” He’s much more attentive this time around.

She steps closer to him. “I was wondering if you wanted to check out this new diner with me? It’s called Ruben’s and I heard their milkshakes are supposed to be amazing! Plus...” she starts, looking up at him through her long lashes. “The big game is tomorrow and I thought I could help you relax.”

“Um...” Harry purses his lips together. “I’m actually going there with Y/n,” he says with a faint blush. “You’re welcome to join us, if you’d like?”

A tight smile replaces the flirtatious one she’d been sporting this whole time. She backs away, placing her hands firmly on her hips with displeasure. “No, I wouldn’t want to intrude,” she grits out.

He stares down at his watch, his eyes growing wide when he realizes he’s already two minutes late. “Oh, okay” he loosely responds. “Hey, I have to get going, but I’ll see you around.” And he starts jogging down the corridor towards the library where he and Y/n had agreed to meet.

***

Friday, October 3, 2008

The game against Pleasant Valley has finally arrived. The entire school must be in attendance, as the screams and chants coming from outside are almost deafening. Harry sits on the bench in the locker room as he makes sure his cleats are tied nice and tight. To say he’s nervous may be an understatement. If his time at Ashwood has taught him anything, it’s that they really, really hate Pleasant Valley with a passion to burn a million candles. Just the other day, Coach Davis had given him a very thorough history lesson about the ongoing feud, ending it by begging him to lead them to a victory or else their pride as a school would cease to exist. No pressure, right?

“Styles!” He turns around to see Coach Davis standing right behind him with his arms crossed and face as serious as can be. “You have a visitor outside,” he says, signaling towards the door.

“Who?” he asks thoughtfully.

“Heck if I know. Some cheerleader.”

Harry’s eyes widen, and a relieved grin washes over his features. He ignores the cackles from his teammates, including teasing about him getting a pre-game reward in an empty classroom. The coach looks at him pointedly, as to say he better make this meeting quick or there would certainly be hell to pay. Harry gulps, slowly slipping off the bench before making a break for the exit.

When he pushes his way out, there she is standing in midst of the trophy case lighting. He takes a moment to appreciate how angelic she is with her hair pulled back in a braid, and how completely and utterly adorable she looks with the double-knit crossover jacket that embodies her upper frame. She glimpses up, and immediately he feels all the tenseness in his body wash away because she really might be his all-in-one remedy for just about anything. And fuck, he really wishes he could tell her that and all else that’s been simmering inside of him.

“Hey there, Mr. Quarterback.”

“Come to wish me luck?”

She cocks her head to the side and simpers at him. “Something like that.”

Harry laughs, his shoulders jittering underneath all the padding. Then he takes the first step forward. “Well I’m happy you’re here,” he says. He moves another inch towards her. Reaching out, he grazes the top of her forearm with the pads of his fingers, letting his hand drop down its length until it dares to engulf the back of her open fist. A blush creeps up his neck, and he’s thankful that the hallway is dimly lit this time of night, or else she’d see how completely swept he is just by holding her.

And yet, he’s not the only one. Her mind has to remind her heart how to function, but the way he’s looking at her leaves everything a haze. “There’s something I need to tell you,” she confesses, suddenly remembering why it is she’s here. His digits fill the spaces between hers as his thumb encouragingly rubs over the back of hand. It’s pleasantly warm and soft, and she wouldn’t mind if they were to stand there into next week. He prods her to continue, the side of his mouth tugging up and his dimple carving in so exquisitely. She inhales deeply through her nose.

“Harry, I-”

“Styles!”

She bites on her bottom lip when Coach Davis appears at the door with his whistle held between his gritted teeth. In no way does he look amused by the fact that one of his key players isn’t inside prepping with the rest of the team.

“I’ll be there in a sec, Coach,” Harry yells over his shoulder. He rolls his eyes when he turns back to her. “Sorry, he’s just going through it right now,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “What were you saying?” He squeezes her hand.

“I, um...” She looks past him, and the burly individual still stands there so menacingly. He clears his voice and makes a show out of staring at the time on his watch. “You know what,” she gulps. “I’ll just tell you later.” She tries her best to hide her disappointment.

“You sure? I mean I have a few more minutes until-”

“Styles!”

Who knew one man could be so impatient? (Oh, wait...) Y/n nods robotically. “I’m sure.” So much for that.

A smile suddenly creeps back to her face when a thought lights up in her head. “Here,” she starts, but he begins to frown when she pulls her hand from his grasp. However, his mouth soon becomes a barren stage when she sets both her palms upon his chest, using him as a pillar to lift herself up onto her toes. Without warning, her lips press gently to his cheek. They’re soft and plushy, and everything he imagined they’d be. If he couldn’t feel Davis’ eyes burning holes in the back of his head, he’d be sure this was all a dream. “Win this one for me, and I’ll tell you.” And with that, she falls back flat on her feet, letting her arms fall from his body as she backs away.

It takes everything in him to resist the urge to follow her. As soon as her figure disappears into the dark of the hallway, he allows himself to be dragged back into the locker room, his limbs feeling like complete jelly.

***

“Where’ve you been?” Cici asks her when she joins the rest of the cheerleaders on the field. She had excused herself to use the restroom over fifteen minutes ago, and now here she is looking as though she’d won a grand raffle.

Y/n doesn’t answer, however; she fails miserably to hide even an ounce of her excitement. Despite still not having told him, she hopes that the kiss to cheek will give him even just the slightest hint about her feelings for him. In that moment, she had felt courageous, and now that exuberance is still bursting within her. She sits down and starts with some simple hamstring stretches, while the corners of her mouth still remain turned up.

“Oh my god, did you finally tell him?” Cici screams. “What did he say? Holy crap!”

“I wasn’t able to, no,” Y/n hums.

“Then why do you look so happy?”

Before she can answer, another voice beats her to it. “Yeah, Y/n. Why so happy?” Zoey pushes past a some of the cheerleaders, each sway of her hips greatly emphasized as she walks. “Excited to see Harry lead the team to victory?” she taunts. “Doesn’t he just look amazing in his uniform? Like literally so hot.” She lifts her curled hair away from her neck, and exaggerates as she fans herself. The two minions behind her begin to snigger.

Cici resists the urge to smack her in the face, just looking at her makes the blood in her veins boil violently.

Although, Y/n remains close-lipped and shrugs without interest at the girl because at this point, she isn’t worth wasting a breath on. She continues with her warmup, not even bothering to look up. Cici smirks on her behalf, waving her hand to send her away. “Why don’t you crawl back to whatever toxic pit you came from, hm?” she mocks. “Buh-bye, now!” Zoey rolls her eyes, snapping her fingers in the air signaling for her two shadows to retreat. “I swear to God, I could honestly strangle her,” Cici exasperates, falling to the ground to joining her.

“Don’t worry about her too much, she just wants attention.” Not even Zoey can ruin her mood tonight.

A few minutes later, their coach is having them get in position to start their routine for when the football team runs out onto the field.

***

“With only ten seconds left on the clock, the Ashwood Eagles need one last touchdown to beat the Pleasant Valley Lions.”

There are only nine yards separating them and a claimed victory.

Ashwood takes their last timeout of the game, and the boys huddle to discuss this crucial next move. Everyone is exhausted, it’s evident by both the sweat on their faces and the way their movements aren’t as aggressive as they were in the beginning. But they can’t give up. With only one touchdown needed to guarantee a win, they need to tough it out for one final play.

“They’ve got me, and Adrian guarded,” one of the wide receivers, Brent tells them. “And with Clint out, we’re gonna need a new play.”

The captain, Connor, turns to Harry. “Styles, what do you think?” The rest of the team follows suite, and all eyes are on him.

Harry looks at each of their faces, his breathing becoming quicker and less calculated as he feels the pressure of the countdown begin to set in. A single touchdown is all that separates them from the quarterfinals, from bragging rights for beating their worst competitor, and finally...

On the sidelines, the cheerleaders cheer them on without falter, with intricate moves that display both agility and overall school spirit. But only one holds his attention. He smiles brightly when their eyes meet. Her lips wrap around words of encouragement. You can do it! And it’s accompanied by a kiss in the wind. With that, he can feel power begin to sting in his fingertips and that last push to get his head back in the game. After this is all over, nothing is going to stop him from getting to her.

“Okay, so here’s what we’re gonna do.”

***

The crowd becomes silent once time-in is called.

At the nine-yard line, Harry shout the play to his teammates, patting his own helmet to finish it off. He prepares himself for when the center snaps the ball back.

“HIKE!”

The sight of time depleting becomes harder to watch. Richardson snaps the football between his legs, and Harry catches it with ease. The Lions rush towards them, clashing with their defensive line in an almost violent opposition. All hope fades with each one of the receivers being heavily blocked from range. Coach Davis screams at the top of his lungs, calling for Harry to do something as the final five seconds dwindle down.

Like slow motion, Harry dashes down the remaining length of the field. The cold October air hitting his cheeks as he runs as fast as his legs can afford. All the shouting coming from around him fades from his ears. He dodges those who rush towards him, leaping over a defensive tackle like his life depends on it.

“THAT’S A TOUCHDOWN FOR ASHWOOD!”

Harry throws the football to the ground. He screams in triumph, tearing the helmet away from his head and letting the breeze brush away the beads of sweat as they fall from the tips of his tussled hair. The team comes at him like a stampede, each member holding the same charged enthusiasm as his own.

At this moment, he feels invincible. The adrenaline still flowing vigorously through his veins as he basks in this victory. Everyone runs onto the field, all the coaches, benched players, and all else present on the sidelines.

***

Y/n tries to squeeze her way through a sea of excitable fans to get to him.

This is it. He had won the game just as she had asked of him. Now she’s left with no choice but to finally confess all that she’s been wanting to say. Everything she feels and all that’s been winding her head are finally going to be put out in the open, just as her mom had advised her when they had their heart-to-heart. And for once, she isn’t nervous that she’ll panic or recoil because she’s positive that these feelings are real, that he’s real, and what they have has the potential to become something wonderful. There’s absolutely no reason for her to believe otherwise. It all excites her to the very core, and the closer she gets to reaching him, the more she feels these tingling nerves come alive.

“Harry!” she shouts for him as loudly as she can but even then, she’s still too far for him to hear her. To make things more difficult, two football players nearly sandwich her when they come together to bump shoulders with such alarming force. She pushes her way through the pair, her breath catching in her throat when she sees the back of his jersey.

When she gets within a closer radius, he finally hears her voice call his name. A smile that reaches his eyes dawns upon him when he turns around and sees her standing just a short distance away. She feels her heart race as she slows her pace to a steady walk.

Out of nowhere, a wave of auburn locks cuts in front of her in those last remaining steps. Y/n is brought to a sudden stop as she tries to avoid colliding with the her back. She leans to the side to see Harry staring at the girl with furrowed brows. A smirk comes from over the girl’s shoulder before she turns to come face to face with the quarterback.

Zoey takes either side of Harry’s face in her hands and pulls him down, and their lips meet halfway.

And Y/n’s beating heart stops. ***

#president!harry #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles au #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles drabble #one direction #one direction fanfiction

213 notes · View notes

nicolasnelson · 5 years ago

Text

Sizzie fic - Wake from the Chaos [oneshot]

Title: Wake from the Chaos Relationship: Lizzie Saltzman/Sebastian Additional Tags: Sebastian's POV, Canon Compliant, Enemies to Lovers Words: 4,452

Summary: Everything changes when Sebastian meets Elizabeth Saltzman. He has a chance at life and love, even if it means sacrificing his freedom. But will he be able to win over Elizabeth after making her think she hallucinated him?

Requested by Anon // Prompt: The one-shot could be about Sebastian pov from the moment he woke up, what he thought about Lizzie, the school and etc.

[AO3 LINK]

Sebastian had never felt a connection quite like this. Elizabeth had called to him like a siren, but he’d been hesitant to heed the call. He’d been asleep for far too long, or something like sleep. A land of dreams, memories, unending agony over the loss of his beloved Cassandra.

But Elizabeth had awoken something in him. He knew not how his body came into contact with blood, only that the blood was rancid and inadequate. And yet, it was just enough for him to wander through this world again like a specter in the night.

He could feel a strong presence, a young lady, with the same fiery, passionate spirit as his great love. It had been impossible to ignore the call. Gazing upon her beauty after so many years of darkness had made him believe for just a minute that heaven could be real.

But no, that wasn’t the place for a man like him. He’d piled up the bodies higher than those on plague wagons. With his feast, he was a plague himself, tearing through whatever tasty piece of flesh crossed his path.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the gorgeous siren said, and he had to laugh at the irony of it all. She could do nothing to harm him, even if she’d wanted to, and she really had no idea what he was capable of, what he’d done. What he could do. Even in this sad, miserable ghostlike state.

He could still hurt her. If he wanted to.

Sebastian should not have given his name when she asked. For it allowed her the opportunity to give hers, and that was the worst thing she could have done. It made her real, made her more than just a way out of this hellish nightmare. Elizabeth. He couldn’t help but see her as his savior, as beautiful as an angel, with the eyes of a devil. It awakened a desire in him he’d thought long dead.

And now was the moment to ask for her help, to finally be free. He had her exactly where he wanted as they sat by the lake. The question was halfway out of his mouth when Elizabeth noticed a figure holding a strange box in his hands.

Sebastian felt himself blinking away. It was hard to keep that form when Elizabeth was not focused on him.

And when he tried to reach for her again, he found the connection had broken. A familiar sadness settled inside him, a reminder that guys with pasts like his did not get happy endings. It had been foolish to think even for a moment that he might be able to have something with Elizabeth.

But he would not give up on his quest to restore his body. He was done festering in a box. So he found another way, another person he could reach. Not the right person, but it got him into the school. And once in there he found a willing ally, a lonely guy in desperate need of a friend.

Sebastian instructed the poor fool to give him just enough blood to wake his body. And once he could move freely, he arose from his box and bit into that lonely boy’s neck. And drank deep.

If it weren’t for Elizabeth, he would have killed the boy. He did not know the rules of this place. Therefore, he could not risk violating them, for fear he might never see Elizabeth again.

It was many days and many painful memories later before the idiotic vampires who managed to capture him let him see Elizabeth.

Her voice was music to his ears. “No more secrets.”

“That sounds reasonable,” he said sincerely. After all, it did sound reasonable, but he was careful not to word it as a promise. There were still a great many things he didn’t want Elizabeth to know.

She turned to look at him, but she didn’t greet him with the smile he was expecting. Elizabeth thought he was a hallucination, a sign that she was on the verge of another breakdown. He couldn’t blame her. That bumbling turnip had made her think she was imagining him. If it weren’t for Milton, he would have gotten Elizabeth to help revive him. He was certain she would have done it too. She’d played right into his hands like soft clay.

“You can see him?” Elizabeth asked the brunette girl beside her.

Milton stepped beside Sebastian. “Everyone can.”

Elizabeth’s eyes burned. “You two had better explain everything right now.”

“For hundreds of years I was trapped in a mere semblance of existence, a shadow of my former glory,” Sebastian began.

“The Spark Notes version,” Elizabeth said, cutting him off with a sharp glare.

“She means that you should get to the point,” Milton explained.

“Yes, I gathered as much. Just because I have been desiccated in a box for five hundred years does not mean my brain has rotted, you turnip.” Sebastian smacked the back of Milton’s head. “I have excellent deduction skills.”

“Well, your explanation skills are extremely lacking,” Elizabeth said, crossing her arms. “How can everyone see you now? You said you were desiccated.”

“Yes, the sparkling notes of it is that I was desiccated by a witch whom I loved very much. She did it to protect me from the Croatoan. That amulet your friend used to destroy that monster was given to me by her. Elizabeth, you must know that I never intended to hurt you.”

“You seduced me to, what, get me to restore your body?”

“Well, yes,” Sebastian admitted. “That is how it started at least. I felt drawn to you, as you were to me. I was able to reach your mind, to be seen by you, and—”

“You tried to take advantage of my feelings,” Elizabeth accused, fire on her tongue. “You let me think you were a real physical being. I told everyone about you. You didn’t think to mention to me, just once, that I was the only person who could see you? You can be as charming as you want, but I can see through you now, Saruman.”

“Lizzie, just let him speak,” Milton said.

She turned a fierce glare on him. “You’re just as bad as he is. How long have you known he was real? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Milton shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d handle it well.”

“How long, MG?”

“I don’t know. Four or five days. But I wasn’t sure if he was real. I thought I was hallucinating too, you know? And then I didn’t even agree to help him. He tricked Wes into reviving him.”

“You mean Wade?”

“Yeah, him. He’s alive. Don’t worry. He just used him to get enough blood to be revived. But I’m not defending him. What he did was wrong. He shouldn’t have lied to you, Lizzie.”

“And you shouldn’t have either, MG. I just can’t deal with you guys right now.” She grabbed the brunette girl’s arm. “Come on, Josie. Let’s let lying vampires lie.”

They stormed out of the gym.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Sebastian said.

Milton hung his head. “I should never have unchained you. Come on, I let you talk to Lizzie. You promised you’d come with me to the headmaster’s office.”

“Oh, yes, so he can decide whether to kill me or not. Lead the way, Milton, but you should be warned that I am prepared to take you hostage should the need arise.”

Milton rolled his eyes, looking resigned. “Let’s just see what Vardemus has to say.”

…

As it turned out, Vardemus was not in any rush to release Sebastian into the wild. He thought it would be better to punish Sebastian by enrolling him in the school.

Sebastian was very irked by this decision, but it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go. So what if he had to attend a few dull classes? Besides, the closer he was to Elizabeth, the better chance he had at winning her back. She would be furious for a few days, but he knew how she felt about him. Waiting for Elizabeth would be nothing compared to the five hundred years he’d spent in that blasted box.

The headmaster provided him with a set of school uniforms, and he was allowed to spend a small amount of money at the bargain shop in town. With Milton and Kaleb’s supervision of course. They went at night since Sebastian did not have one of those fancy rings they wore that kept them from burning in the sun. It was remarkable how much technology had advanced in the time he’d been gone. He was fascinated by every aspect of it. All the flashing lights and startling sounds, the winds that blew out of air vents, the steel vessels that people steered through the streets.

But the townspeople he encountered were the worst. They all shot him suspicious glances and held their purses tightly against their chests. Even in ordinary clothes, he appeared as a threat. The human instinct was to avoid danger. Unless, of course, you were Elizabeth Saltzman.

She knocked on his door the morning of October the first with an unexpected gift for him.

“It’s a daylight ring, or it will be once I enchant it. I need you to come with me today.”

Sebastian smiled, thrilled at the invitation. He’d been waiting all week for Elizabeth to come to him, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. “Why I would be delighted to accompany you, Elizabeth.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed past him. “Come on, let’s enchant this damn thing.”

“Will it protect me from the sun permanently?” Sebastian asked, curious.

“Not exactly. I have it in my power to undo the spell at any moment.” Elizabeth smirked, a hint of danger behind those eyes. “So I suggest you behave yourself.”

Elizabeth walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains enough to create a sliver of light across the wooden floorboards. Sebastian was surprised to see it was snowing outside, unusual weather for this time of year. Elizabeth explained that she needed sunlight for the spell to work. She claimed that the sunlight through the snow would be enough. Hopefully she was right.

Sebastian watched her while she worked. Her pale blond hair danced through the soft sunlight as she leaned over the ring she’d placed on the floor. She was kneeling beside it, muttering some incantation in a language Sebastian didn’t care to remember.

Her hair shifted, exposing her neck for a moment, and he remembered with startling clarity the hairstyle she had worn to the sports game. All of it pulled back in a fine braid, her neck completely visible for all to see. So beautiful. He’d always found a long elegant neck to be one of the most attractive features a woman could have. That and her sharp eyes, accentuated by those dark brows. It was enough to make his imagination run wild.

He’d felt an intimacy with her in that moment underground. He had revealed what he was to her, taking a calculated risk, sensing that the danger would draw her in. But she had laughed in his face, relieved rather than afraid. Now that he had seen the school she attended and the kind of vampires she interacted with on a day-to-day basis, he understood her reaction.

“Are you quite sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked her, watching as her brows pinched together. This could be some trick to get him to walk outside. Maybe he underestimated her fury.

“Be quiet. I’m trying to concentrate,” she snapped.

“As you wish.”

“Zip it.” She leveled a harsh glare on him. It sent a pleasant chill down Sebastian’s spine. He could watch Elizabeth glare at him all day. It was part of their dance. She would act like she hated him while repressing the desire she felt, and he would try to get her to admit to her feelings.

Elizabeth picked up the ring. It had a stunning blue stone in it, no doubt the source of its power. “Here, put it on. We’ve got to leave before we get snowed in.”

Sebastian was only too eager to follow her orders. That is, until they got to the door to the outside world. He feared the ring would do nothing to shield him.

Elizabeth grabbed his arm and forced him out into the snow. He waited for his skin to sizzle, for the pain to shoot through him, but all he felt was the cold. He reached out a hand to let the snowflakes fall onto his palm before Elizabeth yanked him to the side of the school.

So Elizabeth wasn’t on a mission of vengeance after all? She really wanted to spend time with him outside of the school. Sebastian couldn’t help but smirk. Today was an excellent chance for him to finally get her to admit she still had feelings for him. He remembered their kiss very well, despite not being in his real body at the time. He’d still felt everything, though her emotions had been amplified. His connection had been to her spirit after all.

Though he could no longer feel her emotions, he was getting particularly good at reading her. Today’s adventure was an invitation to get to know her better, and he quite liked that idea. He followed her towards what she called “their ride.”

The steel vessel she produced looked old and worn. He watched Elizabeth climb into it first and followed her movements, sitting in the seat next to her. It wasn’t so different from a carriage, though there were no horses to drive it. He wondered if it ran on magic. He’d seen some of these in the town when he went shopping with Kaleb and Milton, but he had too much pride to ask them about it.

Elizabeth put a key into the vessel and turned it. The vessel hummed to life. He could feel the whole thing vibrating like a violin string. Elizabeth fiddled with some more knobs and the vessel began moving.

Once they were on their way, Sebastian stared out the window, watching the town pass by. He’d only seen it at night, and he’d never seen it covered in snow. All the children looked so happy, building shapes out of snow and throwing balls of snow at each other. It looked fun. He wished he could join them. A nice game with the children, and then he’d have a lovely conversation with one of the parents about how sweet her kids were, and then he’d compel her to follow him, and he’d get a taste of that sweet motherly love. And by love he meant blood. Damn he was hungry.

The snow melted away as they headed farther down the winding streets. Open fields and trees flew past them. This vessel moved faster than any horse Sebastian had ever ridden, yet compared to his vampire speed running, it was incredibly slow. One of the oddities of being a vampire. Traveling by normal methods always felt like a leisurely stroll.

Elizabeth turned another knob and music poured forth from the vessel. Sebastian nearly jumped out of his seat, and Elizabeth laughed at him, a wicked smirk on her lips.

Sebastian started fiddling with all the buttons, partially because he was curious at what they all would do, but mostly because he wanted to get Elizabeth back for startling him.

“Would you literally stop pushing my buttons?”

“So, she finally speaks, eh? Sorry, but this modern machinery fascinates me.”

Elizabeth grabbed his hand to move it away from the buttons. That brief skin-to-skin contact felt like a blessing.

Sebastian used to opportunity to voice his hunger, but it was clear Elizabeth was not going to let him prey upon a human, even if he had no intention of killing them. He wouldn’t kill anyone around Elizabeth at the very least.

He steered the conversation back to how Elizabeth obviously fancied him, but she did not like that at all. Elizabeth made the vessel screech to a halt, and Sebastian barely caught himself on the dashboard.

“You command this vessel like a drunken pirate,” he complained.

Elizabeth said she’d just seen a deer. Sebastian perked up, his mind already on that sweet blood. Animal blood was not as good as human blood, of course, but he was hungry enough not to care. Besides, it had to be better than the rabbit blood they served at the Salvatore School. That atrocity was barely fit for consumption.

“Is this some kind of test?” Sebastian asked, certain that it was.

Elizabeth assured him it was.

He knew that getting out of the vessel and pursuing the deer would mean failing the test. In fact, he knew there likely was no deer. He had not smelled anything deer-like, but he could sense that Elizabeth needed time to calm down by herself. He stepped out of the vessel, and sure enough she sped away from him.

Sebastian laughed. She really thought she could out-drive a vampire? He could catch up to her in minutes. But first, he did want to settle the rumbling in his stomach.

He turned his head, sniffing the air for any sign of wildlife. There was a farm not too far from here with some cows. Adequate. But he was hoping when he got there, he’d find a farmer to snack on.

…

Sebastian caught up to Elizabeth after darkness had descended. His stomach was satisfied. He’d found a farmer and his wife to sate his hunger. But now he had another kind of hunger, one he hoped Elizabeth could help him fulfill.

He recognized the boy Elizabeth was talking to. It was the one from school who was neither a witch nor a vampire nor a werewolf. A phoenix. He wondered if it was true that he would resurrect from death. Sebastian was too curious not to test the theory. He snapped the boy’s neck with a satisfying crack.

“I say, you people talk entirely too much when action is required,” he told Elizabeth, shaking his head.

She glared at him. “You just killed my friend.”

“Your friend? Really, now? The way you talk about him I figured he was an unwanted puppy. Anyways, he will arise from the ashes in a couple of hours, yes?”

“Don’t you know how to think before you act?”

Sebastian couldn’t help but smile, though he felt a little pained at her words. “I do an excessive amount of thinking, I assure you, Elizabeth Saltzman. Just as I have already considered all the ways to rekindle our romance.” He ran a finger along her arm, a gentle touch, a silent request for permission to touch her more.

Elizabeth stepped out of his reach. “We need to hurry back to the school. Come on, we can load Landon in the truck.”

“Is that really the way to treat your friend?”

“Right now he’s just a sack of dead weight. Besides, we can’t very well put him in the back seat. If we get stopped by a police officer, we’ll be in big trouble.”

“No, we wouldn’t. I could just compel them.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “I'd rather not have to deal with the police. What are you just standing there for? Pick him up.”

Sebastian grinned. He liked when Elizabeth bossed him around. He picked up the dead phoenix like he weighed nothing and carried him over to the vessel. “You seem to have lost the top of your vessel,” he said, staring at it curiously.

“Ugh, the top folds down. Stop asking questions, you ringwraith. Just put him in the trunk.” Elizabeth fiddled around with the knobs until the trunk opened with a click. Sebastian set the body into the trunk and slammed it shut.

“Don’t phoenixes normally burst into flames when they’re reborn? Shouldn’t we be worried he’ll set the vessel on fire?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Maybe you should have thought of that before you killed him. I’m not an idiot.” She held up a glowing box. “I set a timer. We’ll just need to stop when the timer goes off and take him out of the trunk so he can burst into flames and rise from the ashes.”

“This device counts a specified amount of time. Like a candlestick?”

Elizabeth didn’t even bother answering him. She walked over to the vessel and got into the driver’s seat. She turned the key, and the car bobbed up and down, but it didn’t move forward like it did before.

“Is something wrong?” Sebastian asked, leaning his arms on the windowsill of the vessel.

“It’s fine. Sometimes it just takes a little time for it to get moving. I told you, this car is ancient.” She tried again but to no avail. Huffing in frustration, she pulled a metal tool out of the glove compartment and tossed it towards him.

Sebastian barely caught it. “What’s this?”

“I don’t know. An axel or something? Use it to fix the car.”

Sebastian lifted an eyebrow. “You want me to attempt to fix your vessel? Elizabeth, I do not even know how it works. What do you expect me to do?”

“You said you were good at deducting, so deduct.” She motioned to the car.

Sebastian walked around it, studying it for any oddities. He got to the back of the car. “Ah, it seems one of your wheels is less round than the others.”

“A flat tire then. We should have a spare in the back.”

“Next to the dead phoenix. Fantastic. Can you, uh, command the trunk to open?”

Elizabeth huffed. “Whatever.”

The trunk clicked as it popped open. Sebastian reached inside for a rubber wheel, but he found none. However, he could smell that a wheel was in the trunk somewhere. He felt along until he found a groove right under the dead phoenix. “Excuse me, good sir.” He pushed the phoenix out of the way so he could pull open the secret compartment and extract the wheel. He also found a box full of many different tools. He pulled it out in case any of them proved useful.

He slammed the trunk shut, and Elizabeth jumped in the car.

Sebastian smirked to himself. Finally, some proper payback for the music earlier. He set the wheel down next to the car and studied the one still attached to the car. This didn’t make any sense to him. He picked up the axel thing, wondering if he was supposed to hit the wheel with it or something, when he noticed the end fit the outline of the spokes on the wheel.

After that, it was easy enough to figure it out, and by that he meant it was incredibly difficult. He first managed to pull off the hubcap, as Elizabeth called it, but not the wheel itself.

Elizabeth lay down on the front of the car while he worked. He doubted she was sleeping though. She definitely did not trust him enough to lower her guard in his presence.

Most of the tools in the kit proved useless. Finally, he tried to axel again and was able to get the wheel off. He traded it with the new one.

“Well, this settles the matter,” he said at last. “You are a terrible pilot.”

“I didn’t think that being with you could get any more miserable.”

Sebastian tossed the axel onto the ground. He was getting frustrated with Elizabeth. She clearly had feelings for them, but she was much more stubborn about fighting them than he had expected. “You are only angry because your plan to abandon me has failed.”

There was only one thing for it now. Things were moving too slow. He peeled off his shirt, ready to use his muscles to his advantage.

And that did the trick. Elizabeth could not look away from him. Their arguments turned into banter, and suddenly Sebastian knew what he had to do. He had figured out before when he was still without a working body that Elizabeth was drawn to danger. He only needed to remind her just how dangerous he was.

He gripped her throat, and time seemed to slow down as he looked into her eyes, searching for that familiar thrill. “And you are forgetting that I am dangerous.”

“Stop talking.” She moved his hand. “Action is required.”

Those were his words, and he couldn’t be more delighted to hear them thrown back at him. She pulled him into a fierce kiss, and Sebastian felt vindicated in his theory. Elizabeth Saltzman wanted him because he was dangerous, and she was giving him permission to show him just how dangerous he could be.

He didn’t want to hurt her too much, but a little pain might be just what she was craving. He lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around him, and he pushed her into a sitting position on the hood of the car, removing a layer of her clothes while the kissing intensified.

He felt like he’d been starved for hundreds of years as he pressed Elizabeth down onto the hood of the car. She wrapped her legs around him, running her fingers through his hair and tugging. A pleasant shiver ran down Sebastian’s spine. He felt welcome in her embrace.

He tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her closer to him. With his other hand he slipped her shirt over her head. It tangled in her hair, and she giggled, helping him get it over her head. He tossed it aside, and ran a hand down the middle of her chest.

Elizabeth reached behind her and fumbled around, biting her lip, until her bra popped off. She tossed it onto the car seat and propped herself up on her elbows.

Sebastian drank in the sight of her. Beautiful, flawless skin. Her silky hair draped across her chest. Those perfect nipples peeking out through the strands. Her eyes were like a flame drawing him in. Oh, he wanted all of her, but she was almost too precious to touch. He worried that if he went too far, if she didn’t really want this, he’d ruin any chance he had with this angel.

“Are you sure this is okay?” he asked. He felt like a tightly wound coil. If she said yes, he would spring into action, but if she said no, he would need to get far away from her, work out this energy in some other way.

“Yes, I’m sure. Now make me feel alive, Sebastian.”

He smirked. That he could do.

#legacies #legacies fanfiction #sizzie #lizzie saltzman #sebastian #*#my writing #rated m to be safe #sebastian is melodramatic #sizzie fanfiction

28 notes · View notes

lcdrarry · 5 years ago

Photo

LCDrarry proudly presents:

The LCDrarry Box Office Hits 2019

It's Reveals Day! Thank you so much for participating in and following along with the first edition of "Lights, Camera, Drarry"!

We hope you enjoyed the fest and all the wonderful creations as much as we did.

Your LCDrarry Mods, Suzi and Tami (@erin-riwen & @llap115)

PS: Now check out who wrote your favourite fics and created all that wonderful art under cut ;) And please share this post to show your appreciation! Thank you!!

Draco Malfoy’s Stupendous Seduction Seminar

Prompt: #3 | "Legally Blonde" - 2001 - Robert Luketic Author: @lettersbyelise Word Count: 8,700 words Rating: Explicit Warnings: No warnings

Summary: Draco Malfoy offers to help his coworkers to improve their seduction techniques, with unexpected consequences.

Read "Draco Malfoy’s Stupendous Seduction Seminar" on AO3.

Love, Harry

Prompt: #118 | "Love, Simon" (2018, dir. Greg Berlanti); "Alex Strangelove" (2018, dir. Craig Johnson) Author: Zzzara / @big-draco-energy Word Count: 26.4k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Summary: Harry Potter keeps a huge secret: that scary thing he can't tell anyone about. Until a mysterious penfriend changes his life, because he keeps a secret, too.

Read "Love, Harry" on AO3.

Harry Potter and the Disorder Of The Phoenix

Prompt: #93 | "Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix" (2007 - David Yates) Author: @postjentacular Word Count: 1.3k Rating: General Warnings: It's all getting a bit meta

Summary: An exasperated werewolf-slash-professor, a decidedly not-dead drama queen, a brat, and a straight white man settle down to watch a movie. It goes as well as you'd expect.

Read "Harry Potter and the Disorder Of The Phoenix" on AO3.

Heavy Burden

Prompt: #132 | "Howl's Moving Castle" - 2004 - Hayao Miyazaki Author: ViridianJane Art Medium: digital Word Count: 225 Rating: General Warnings: N/A

Summary: Harry offers to help ease Draco's burden, and Draco can't find it in himself to refuse.

Enjoy "Heavy Burden" on AO3.

The Shape of Desire is Your Name

Prompt: #8 | "Call Me By Your Name" - 2017 - Luca Guadagnino Author: @dracoismytrashson Word Count: 44.6k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Internalized Homophobia

Summary: In those days, I often felt like I wanted to burn the world or I wanted it to burn me, scorch me with it’s mysteries and mundanities until I was a blackened strip of a thing, rapturously spent and reshaped into something far more interesting than I’d ever been. I was waiting for something to happen to me, some indelible experience to come along and justify this dangerous searing feeling inside me, this dormant volcano that felt at turns exciting and oh so volatile. I was certain Harry Potter was that thing. The match to my tinder.

Read "The Shape of Desire is Your Name" on AO3.

The Extraordinarily Magical Host Club

Prompt: #94 | "Ouran High School Host Club" - 2006 - Series Author: @bafflinghaze Word Count: 20.6k Rating: Teen and up Warnings: No warnings

Summary: One day, Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, breaks a one-hundred-thousand galleon magical artifact that belongs to the ‘Host Club’, consisting of six not-so-mysterious purebloods. Unable to be reparioed and Harry’s inheritance tied up in charities, Harry’s forced to work for the Host Club to pay back the damages! Cue all the hijinks that come with dealing with a bunch of (mostly rich) purebloods...and maybe a bit of romance, too??

Read "The Extraordinarily Magical Host Club" on AO3.

The Thing I Hate About You

Prompt: #140 | "10 Things I Hate About You" - 1999 - Gil Junger Author: ElleGray / @diligent-thunder Word Count: 1030 Rating: Mature Warnings: poetic mentions of blood, slut-shaming/use of the word 'whore'

Summary: An epistolary of a poet and his future lover, in which Draco is annoyed, Harry is a messy little shit, Blaise is a Bad Friend, and shit goes down in a flood of gin and hot chips. Ultimately, Draco laments his inability to master his heart, and oh so dramatically falls apart (in iambic pentameter).

Read "The Thing I Hate About You" on AO3.

A Series of Unfortunate Ghosts

Prompt: #61 | "A Christmas Carol" - 1984 - Clive Donner Author: bottseveryflavorbeans_jrayoh23 Word Count: 25.8k Rating: Mature Warnings: death talk, depression, self-hatred, physical and emotional abuse (not between H&D), suicidal thoughts

Summary: It’s sixth year and Draco Malfoy’s life is about to change thanks to some meddlesome ghosts who show him the path he is on is not the only path for him. Between their ghoulish advice and some deep soul searching, Draco regains some of the hope he lost.

Read "A Series of Unfortunate Ghosts" on AO3.

Nightingale

Prompt: #44 | "The Great Gatsby" - 2013 - Baz Luhrmann Author: Forgetticus Word Count: 5.6k Rating: Teen and Up Warnings: none

Summary: Harry, Draco, Millicent, Pansy and Blaise pile in the Duesenberg to go to a party in the Great Gatsby Universe.

Read "Nightingale" on AO3.

Hot Air

Prompt: #36 | "Avatar: The Last Airbender" - 2005 - Series Author: fantom_ftnoise / @fantom-ftnoise Medium: Digital Art Rating: Teen and Up Warnings: Rated T for a wee little rude gesture

Summary: When firebenders butt heads with airbenders, it can be explosive. For Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, it's just another year at Hogwarts School of Elements & Bending.

Enjoy "Hot Air" on AO3.

Revelation

Prompt: #127 | "Boy Erased" - 2018 - Joel Edgerton Author: Zzzara / @big-draco-energy Word Count: 26k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Rape/Non-Con (not between H & D) - please read the tags & author notes!

Summary: I know I'm lost forever. From now on, I am not able to un-trust him. It's like falling in love, but deeper - more secure and safe. Something that's not easily undone, not with him. It’s a revelation. Have you ever fallen in trust?

Read "Revelation" on AO3.

Run Away

Prompt: #115 | "Titanic" - 1997 - James Cameron Author: carereren / @straightasdrarry Word Count: 5.8k Rating: Explicit Warnings: internalized homophobia, period-typical homophobia (set in 1912)

Summary: Draco Malfoy has to choose between love or his family as he boards the RMS Titanic.

Read "Run Away" on AO3.

Dying in L.A.

Prompt: #143 | "A Star is Born" - 2019 - Bradley Cooper Author: tsundanire / @breathofmine Word Count: 9.6k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Angst, Drug use, Implied/referenced alcohol abuse/alcoholism, implied/referenced drug addiction, mental health issues, addiction, implied referenced self-harm, Inspired by "A Star is Born", Ambiguous/Open ending.

Summary: After the war, Harry loses all sense of purpose. He travels the world aimlessly, from one spot to the next, chasing a high that never lasts. When the morning comes all that's left is a pounding head, and a foul taste in his mouth. Until he stumbles into a bar in L.A., where his past and present collide.

Read "Dying in L.A." on AO3.

Nobody Tells You How

Prompt: #137 | "Return to Me" - 2000 - Bonnie Hunt Author: @thirdeyeblinkings Word Count: 34.2k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Canon Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Explicit Sexual Content

Summary: Draco never expected to find love once, let alone twice. But how does love work when your heart's still broken? **OR** Harry gets a heart transplant and develops feeings for Draco, but those two things are not related. Until they are.

Read "Nobody Tells You How" on AO3.

We Are Going Back In Time

Prompt: #68 | "Skyfall" - 2012 - Sam Mendes Author: GlitternGlow Word Count: 4.7k Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death (MCD), Swearing

Summary: Draco has been 007 for a while, his mother and father, even his friends are part of MI6. One day he sets his eyes on his new handler, a scruffy black-haired youth with enough balls to stand up to him. Can they beat Silva and bring him down before anything else happens? And will Draco have the guts to tell Harry how he feels?

Read "We Are Going Back In Time" on AO3.

Expecting to Fly

Prompt: #15 | "The Sure Thing" - 1985 - Rob Reiner Author: ruarcher / @coriesocks Word Count: 45.5k Rating: Mature Warnings: Excessive drinking, attempted kidnapping

Summary: While at university in America, Harry plans a cross-country trip to get laid. He doesn’t count on having to take this trip with Draco Malfoy.

Read "Expecting to Fly" on AO3.

Rest your heart in my hands

Prompt: #133 | "Moulin Rouge" - 2001 - Baz Luhrman Author: saphira_black Word Count: 2.7k Rating: Mature Warnings: implied sexual work (but not really)

Summary:His heart skipped a beat. A slender figure stepped through the curtains. The music changed and the whole crowd started to roar. "A man?" It was not more than a faint whisper, but the twins heard him, nevertheless. "You didn’t know? His name’s Draco Malfoy," answered Fred.

Read "Rest your heart in my hands" on AO3.

Lost in Blue

Prompt: #75 | "The Blue Lagoon" - 1980 - Randal Kleiser Artist: @sirene312 Medium: Digital Art Rating: Mature Warnings: half-naked wizards ;)

Summary: [Fan Art] Harry and Draco accidentally get trapped on a desert island. A "The Blue Lagoon" movie AU

Enjoy "Lost in Blue" on AO3.

When The Universe Reels

Prompt: "Meet Me In St Louis" - 1944 - Vincente Minnelli Artist: @maesterchill Author: wishes to remain unnamed Word Count: 1.2k Medium: Digital Art Rating: Teen and up Warnings: none

Summary: After a week of convincing himself it wasn’t really a date—they were only taking a trolley ride together for Merlin’s sake—the agreed hour arrived and Draco waited anxiously at the trolley station. But where on earth was Potter?

Read "When The Universe Reels" on AO3.

Slick

Prompt: #59 | "Grease" - 1978 - Randal Kleiser Author: milkandhoney / @fictional Word Count: 10.4k Rating: Teen and up Warnings: Slight Virginity Shaming

Summary: Slick is the word. Harry's bike is a bird. And Poor Draco's a sex noob.

Read "Slick" on AO3.

The Loudest Bang

Prompt: #51 | "MythBusters" - 2003 to 2015 - Series Author: @jeldenil Word Count: 1.2k Rating: Teen and up Warnings: none

Summary: “You’re not going to use a nuclear weapon on Gringotts’ strongest vault, Potter.”

Read "The Loudest Bang" on AO3.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Prompt: #12 | "Pride & Prejudice" - 2005 - Joe Wright Author: epsilonargus Word Count: 23.9k Rating: Teen and up Warnings: none

Summary: It has been four years since the war. Mr. Henry Bennet is perfectly pleased with his domestic life at Longbourn, managing the affairs of his demanding mother and many sisters. But a new Muggle gentleman moves into Netherfield Park, and he brings with him a surprising figure from Mr. Henry's past ...

Read "A Truth Universally Acknowledged" on AO3.

Man Eater

Prompt: #25 | "Little Shop of Horrors" - Alan Menken Author: milkandhoney / @fictional Word Count: 2.4k Rating: Mature Warnings: Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence (not between H & D), Dark Draco, Implied Sexual Acts

Summary: “You can’t lie to me.” The plant released Draco and he stumbled, overbalanced by his own gangly limbs. “I've watched you. I've heard all your idle thoughts. All your whispered secrets. I know what Harry means to you.”

Read "Man Eater" on AO3.

I Wanna Get Better

Prompt: #139 | "One Day at a Time" - 2017 - Series Author: donnarafiki / @rose-grangerweasleyisbae Word Count: 5.0k Rating: Mature Warnings: Mental Health Issues, Mental Breakdown, Suicidal Thoughts, Depression

Summary: One night Draco comes knocking on Neville's door, with a tape recorder and a desperate need for a hug.

Read it now on AO3.

A week at the Humdinger

Prompt: #9 | "Pretty Woman" - 1990 - Gary Marshall Author: AhaMarimbas Word Count: 52.2k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Rape/Non Con (not between H & D), Being Outed, Ace-phobia, Rude and Derogatory language

Summary: What happens when Europe's richest business tycoon asks London's poorest (probably) prostitute for directions? An adventure at the Humdinger, and a love story to last the ages. Or at least the week.

Read "A week at the Humdinger" on AO3.

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

Prompt: #33 | "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" - 2004 - Michel Gondry Author: @thefifthbiscuit Word Count: 1.2k Rating: Teen and up Warnings: none

Summary: Harry's used to being recognised wherever he goes. Then he meets Draco Malfoy, possibly the only person in the wizarding world who doesn't know what Harry Potter looks like. Based on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Read "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" on AO3.

Four Years Gone

Prompt: #141 | "Point Break" - 1991 - Katheryn Bigelow Author: ladderofyears / @clemandben Word Count: 10.8k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Relationship breakdown, Bank Robbery, Sexually Explict, Obsession

Summary: Four years ago Harry Potter let Draco Malfoy fly away in a snow storm that no flyer could possibly have survived, and ever since that day his life has been on hold. Then, one day he receives a photograph of a Mountain Range. The Pir Panjal mountain range, in India. Draco is alive. Will Harry chase him, and give up everything he cares about?

Read "Four Years Gone" on AO3.

Our Husbands Are Gay

Prompt: #134 | "Grace and Frankie" - 2015 - Series Author: MarchnoGirl Word Count: 14.5k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Infidelity (not between Drarry), Explicit Sexual Content, Older Characters (60 yo)

Summary: As soon as they stepped foot inside, all his willpower crumbled once more. Draco grabbed Harry’s arm again, making him stumble backwards. “I can’t. Let’s run away. You and me; we’ll build our lives together somewhere else, somewhere far away. Please, say yes.” Harry turned properly to him and smiled softly. He adjusted Draco’s jacket, smoothing his hand down his chest and stopping at his heart. “I learned long ago that running away is not gonna solve my problems. C’mon, Draco.”

Read "Our Husbands Are Gay" on AO3.

Please help promote the fest by sharing your favourite submissions, so more people can enjoy all the amazing new Drarry works of LCDrarry.

Thank you! See you in 2020 ;)

#lcdrarry2019 #lcdrarry #lcdrarry 2019 #lights camera drarry #lights camera drarry 2019 #drarry #drarry fic #drarry fic rec #drarry fanart #drarry fic recs #drarry fest #hpfest #hp fest #hpevents #lcdrarry 2019 masterlist

220 notes · View notes

emma-nation · 5 years ago

Text

In My Veins (KamilahxMC) - Season 2 - Chapter 3

Summary: Inspired by Lovestruck’s “Havenfall is For Lovers” (Antonio). Amy seems to finally have solved her feelings for Kamilah, but when somebody from her past returns, their relationship will be put to test.

Genre: Romance, Angst

Rating: T

Notes: Not angst, only a little bit drama, I promise! Also, alert for NSFW content.

KamilahxMC Tag List: @iam-the-fuckin-queen, @annabellewerecorgi, @voltos9, @scorpistraub, @leavemeandmyshipsalone, @jen825, @andreear17, @spacecarrousel, @justejuste727, @aureliaxj, @graceschoices, @sleeping-with-her06, @supersphynxsworld, @gavryllo, @galaxyside-0, @msuhailey, @zoe6111, @ptxgirwaffles, @tigerbryn11, @shanuuh, @ilovetaylor13m, @honorablebicycle, @ilovekamilahsayeed, @begging-for-kamilah, @kennaxval, @fal-carrington

Kamilah rolled her eyes, tossing a pile of papers aside.

“I can’t figure out where he could be keeping my brother,” she sighed. “It must be in one of the cities I have an office, but which one?”

Amy observed quietly. The last couple of days had been absolutely stressing. The more Kamilah tried, she couldn’t get any leads about Gaius. She called every single contact she had worldwide, in every city she had an office, but no one had the answers she needed.

“Do you think Gaius knew how to catch a plane and travel to another continent?” She finally asked, after all the ancient vampire spent almost a century trapped inside a sarcophagus. He wasn’t used to the modern world.

“He’s a fast learner.” Kamilah answered, without paying much attention, as she tossed more papers aside. “God, it was so much easier to track you.”

“Track me?”

“Yes. I’ve paid people to do research from me, since your very first ancestor, the First Vampire.”

Amy felt a strange sensation in her stomach, remembering what Jameson told her in the dungeon. So it was true. She really descended from the First Vampire.

“Is it Rheya her name?” She wanted to know. Kamilah nodded in confirmation. “But why me, Kamilah? Why not my mother, or my siblings?”

“I can’t tell exactly, Amy,” Kamilah told. All I know is the first woman of every generation can inherit the traits. In your family, the only one who did was you.“

Amy sat down at the couch, sinking into her thoughts again. Was it possible she was powerful as Jameson said? And what she had to do to unlock all this potential? She was about to open her mouth to tell Kamilah, when the female vampire interrupted her.

"I see no other way,” she sighed and grabbed her car keys. “We’re going to The Council meeting.”

———-

In the short months Amy had been living with Kamilah, she discovered only one thing was certain, Council meetings never ended well. Still, Kamilah thought that since one of them was possibly working with Gaius, she could seal a deal to obtain information.

“I know you’re desperate but, are you sure this is a good idea?” Amy questioned as they entered Raines Corporation.

“It’s never a good idea,” Kamilah straightened her suit. “It’s like cutting a deal with the Devil. But I’ll do whatever it takes to find Lysimachus.”

When they entered, the meeting had already started. They were doing the so-called tribunal, to decide if Priya was innocent or not for the night she attempted to murder Amy.

“Well, well,” the fashion designer smirked. “Look who has arrived. Am I going to be punished?”

“Silence!” Adrian ordered. “Kamilah, I thought you said you wouldn’t come.”

“I did, but I have an important matter to discuss.”

“Okay, but first we need to finish the voting process. Vega?”

“My vote is ‘nay’,” the Senator announced, glancing at Amy with a suspicious look. “The feeding was consensual and nothing happened to girl, she’s safe and sound, isn’t she? Priya could’ve really lost control, as she claimed.”

Adrian sighed in disappointment. His vote was the only one in favor of Priya’s condemnation. With The Baron, Lester and Senator Vega by her side, she’d never be punished for her actions. Kamilah didn’t seem to care. At the moment her priority was another. It hurt Amy a little bit.

“May I?” She placed herself on the table and cleared her throat. “As you are aware of, Gaius has returned. He also brought my twin brother, Lysimachus, back to life.”

“Is it even possible?” Lester asked in shock. “I mean, the guy has been dead for…”

“2038 years, yes.”

“He used Amy’s blood,” Priya explained, with a malicious expression. “It’s like the Holy Grail for Vampires.”

“Ha!” The Baron let out a laugh. “Are you telling me dumb Dora’s blood can actually bring the dead back to life?”

“Shut up,” Kamilah shouted, slamming her fist on the table. “Gaius has been using my brother to torture me, he wants me to go to him!”

“Do you have any evidence of your claims, Kamilah?” Adam Vega asked. “I’m sorry, but it all sounds a little bit unrealistic to me.”

Kamilah sighed and went to the television screen Adrian had in the conference room. After plugging her phone on it, she played the footage she was able to retrieve, from the two video calls Gaius made.

“Oh. My. God.” Lester stood up from his chair. “He’s back! He’s really back! W-We need to run… We…”

“Hmmm,” Vega was pensive. “Out of all of us, he decided to go after you first. Any idea why? Is it only because you used to be his consort, or there’s something else behind it?”

His eyes went straight to the chair where Amy is sitting.

“I see what you’re suggesting,” Kamilah said. “He’s interested in Amy’s blood and heart, to bring back the First Vampire.”

“T-This is… This is only getting worse,” Lester was on the edge of a panic attack.

“I suggest we cut a deal with him,” the Baron proposed. “We hand him the girl, in trade of our freedom.”

“It’s not even an option,” Adrian angered.

Kamilah took another deep sigh.

“All I want to know is if someone in this room has any leads about Gaius whereabouts. I’ll deal with him myself.”

“This is madness,” Adrian shook his head. “Are you telling me you plan to go to him by yourself?!”

“Yes.”

After a moment of silence, the only thing that was heard was Priya’s sarcastic laugh, followed by a suggestive smirk. Kamilah glanced at her.

“Oh, you. I should have known… If you have anything to say, you better spill it.”

“I’ve heard a thing or two during my latest trip to New Orleans…” the fashion designer said, “about a trail of bodies, all over the East Coast. And then…”

“Then what?” Kamilah asked, angry. Almost losing her temper completely.

“Oh Kamilah, everything has a price. Information like this, it could be dangerous in the wrong hands.”

“I know what you mean,” Kamilah rolled her eyes. “Tell me your price.”

Kamilah opened her wallet, ready to sign a check with any value Priya asked for.

“Not money, darling,” Priya laughed again. “I want her,” she pointed at Amy. “So, what’s going to be? You give me your mortal pet and I tell you where your brother is. Easy as that.”

Kamilah turned around, looking at Amy steadily. The girl’s heart started thundering inside her chest. Was it possible Kamilah was really considering Priya’s offer?

The moment of tension was interrupted by Adrian’s cell phone. When he hung up, he announced:

“A friend from Greece. A strange motion at the small island of Mydea. The Order Of Dawn’s compound has been completely destroyed.”

“Gaius always held a grudge against the Order,” Kamilah told. “I’m flying to Greece. Right now.”

———-

“Kamilah, wait,” Amy shouted, as she followed the female vampire across Raines Corporation lobby. “I’m coming with you.”

Kamilah stopped and turned around, finally giving her proper attention after days acting distant and cold.

“Amy…” she took a deep breath and cupped the girl’s face between her hands. “I can’t let you come with me. It’s too dangerous.”

“So that’s it? You’re going to walk by yourself into a trap, where Gaius is probably going to kill you and your brother? Kamilah, we need a plan.”

“There’s no time for plans, Amy. Trust me, it’s safer for you to stay here.”

“Of course, it’s not like an ancient vampire is going to be kidnap me and bleed me dry, or anything like that.”

Kamilah closed her eyes, flustered.

“I can’t figure out if you’re talking about my past actions or Gaius’ and that’s troubling.”

Amy laughed before placing a kiss on Kamilah’s lips. As her tongue sneaked inside the female’s vampire mouth, moving against hers teasingly, her hands sneaked to Kamilah’s pocket, stealing her car keys and cell phone.

“Amy!” Kamilah shouted as they parted. “What the hell was that?”

“Ha! It seems like even Kamilah, the Vampire Queen, has weaknesses after all,” Amy chuckled victorious. “I am going with you.”

———-

Inside the airplane, there was nothing but absolute silence for hours. Kamilah was focused on her laptop and Amy thought it was better to not disturb her.

She looked through the window, observing outside as they flew above the ocean. The thought Kamilah even considering giving her to Priya wouldn’t allow her to rest. Didn’t the last months they spent together mean anything? Just when she thought a feeling had truly sparkled inside Kamilah’s heart, she acted exactly like the opposite. As if Kamilah was reading her mind, she asked:

“What would you have done?”

“What?”

“What would you have done in my place, Amy?” Kamilah insisted.

“I… I don’t know, Kamilah,” Amy told. “It’s not like you’d trade me for a pair of sunglasses, it’s your brother and you’ve already told me you’re doing whatever it takes to have him back.”

Kamilah ran her hand through her long straight hair. Amy could notice, behind her walls, that she was falling apart.

“Do you really think she’d have helped you? Priya, I mean. If you had given me to her.”

“Probably not,” Kamilah sighed.

Amy fought a smile and focused her attention back to the dark night sky.

“I’m going to lose him again,” Kamilah spoke again. Her voice was dark and fearful. “And I’m going to lose you too.”

“Kamilah…”

“And if I cared about you, if I truly cared about you, I’d try harder to lose you. Because at least you’d be safe.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Amy reached for her hand, holding it tightly.

Kamilah looked deeply into her eyes and all Amy could see in her face were centuries of pain, she fought so hard to hide, surfacing.

“Why?”

“Because you can’t tell me what to do?"

"You’re the most stubborn mortal I’ve ever met,” Kamilah wrapped an arm around Amy’s waist and kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Amy. I almost gave you to Priya. I don’t know what I’m doing! I can’t even recognize myself anymore!”

For a second, Amy felt she was about to cry. Imagine Kamilah crying was something that never even crossed her mind before. She sat across the female vampire’s lap, stroking her fingers through her hair.

“How could I even consider doing that?” Kamilah pressed a lingering kiss on Amy’s lips. “Amy, I…”

Amy silenced her with her index finger.

“That’s okay, Kamilah. We’re going to fix it.”

Kamilah kissed her again, bringing Amy closer to her body as much as she could. Between fierce and heated kisses, involving tongue playing and biting, they removed every pieces of clothes that were stopping their bodies from feeling each other’s warmth.

“I don’t want to go, Kamilah. I don’t want to ever leave you…”

Kamilah’s mouth descended to her neck, kissing and sucking the soft skin enough to leave small purple marks.

“Please, stop trying to push me away. It hurts more than anything else you could do to me.”

“I won’t,” the female vampire finally faced her. Now she had a smile on her face. That smile Amy fell in love for. “I promise. I’m never letting you go.”

Looking into her brown eyes, Amy could almost lose herself into them. A growing desire started to burn inside her chest. She needed Kamilah as much as she needed air to breathe.

“I-I… I should get some sleep,” Amy told, as she felt Kamilah’s hand playfully touching her hip bone.

“Please, stay with me.”

How could she even said ‘no’ to those eyes? Even when she was so conflicted about the last events.

“Okay,” Amy sighed in agreement. “I didn’t feel like getting up anyways, I’m comfortable here.”

“We probably shouldn’t have sex right now, should we?” Kamilah asked, raising one eyebrow.

“No,” Amy yawned and rubbed her eyes, “we should have sex and then grab a snack, I’m starving.”

“Well, I’m lucky to have both right here in my arms.”

A joke. Most of the tension was finally broken. Amy let out a laugh and buried her face on Kamilah’s neck, inhaling her expensive and amazing cologne. Her girlfriend definitely looked a lot more relaxed, but still worried and insecure.

“I just want to know if everything is fine between us.”

“I don’t know if anything is fine right now, Kamilah. But I don’t wanna break up, if that’s what you mean. You’re doing your best in a crazy situation.”

“Thank you, Amy. I don’t know what I’ve even done to deserve you,” Kamilah’s fingers caressed the side of her body, sending electric impulses from Amy’s head to her toes. “It’s been a long time since I cared about anyone else other than myself. It hasn’t been such a smooth transition.”

“Same here,” Amy smiled, as Kamilah placed a kiss on cheek.

“You’ve given me such wonderful gifts,” the female vampire whispered in the girl’s ear, nibbling on her earlobe. “Your trust, so hard won.”

Then, she kissed the way down to Amy’s chest. Kissing and cupping her breasts.

“Your heart, so full of love and kindness.”

Her mouth descended even lower, to Amy’s belly. Amy threw her head upwards, feeling the tips of Kamilah’s fangs gently scratching her skin.

“Your body. All that bare skin for me to sink my teeth into,” a small bite made Amy shiver in pleasure. “Marking you for everyone to see you’re mine.”

Kamilah finally went on her knees, lowering her head between Amy’s legs.

“All those secret places for me to kiss and lick and touch until you scream my name loud.”

And she was right. Absolutely right. As Kamilah worked on all the right spots, Amy could do nothing else but moan.

“Kamilah…”

Happy to accomplish her task, Kamilah looked at her with a sly grin before proceeding. Her tongue moving perfectly, massaging the most sensitive part of Amy’s body.

“Kamilah!” Amy shouted, a little bit louder.

“Oh my sweet human thing… we’re only getting started.”

Her next set of moves was enough for Amy to reach her peak, screaming her name for the pilot, and anybody else that was inside of that plane, to hear.

----------

Later, she was resting in Kamilah’s arms, with only a blanket covering their bodies.

“Amy?” Kamilah called for her, wondering if she was asleep.

“What is it?” She mumbled.

“I know I’m not a good person, but I promise you I’m trying to do things right. I promise I’m trying to be a better woman for you.”

For the first time in months, Amy was unable to trust her words completely. Her behavior in the last few days didn’t quite match her promises.

“And I’ll show you with my actions,” Kamilah added. “Not only with words.”

“Okay,” Amy looked up at her and smiled, giving her a vote of trust.

#bloodbound #kamilah sayeed #kamilah x mc #playchoices #choices stories you play #bloodbound fanfiction

50 notes · View notes