#anyway! this took me like 3 hours of research i hope you enjoy!!!

[piper-2244]

the limit does not exist!

how spencer helps college!reader understand a little calculus and therefore understand how he loves her.

MDNI | smut word count: 1931 warnings & tags & stuff: fem reader, fingering, oral sex (f receiving), lil bit of overstim hehe, pure unbridled affection, LOVE, FLUFF, hugging, reader cries, this was in fact meant to be written for spence's birthday... sorry about that school is kicking my butt lets just pretend it's october! author's note: this one is for my folks who HATE their calculus class and want spencer reid to give them head instead <3 maybe this can help you romanticize it a bit. i think this is classified as self indulgent…like REALLY self indulgent… hah... anyway i hope you enjoy! let me know your thoughts if u have any, i loveeeee you!! have a great day my hands are shaking posting this smut is so scary!!!!!

You sat in bed, staring down your notebook, eyes narrowed. Limits stared back at you. You were just about at your own limit, if you were being honest. 

Your brain, however sharp and witty it may be, is absolutely not one designed for calculus. A literary analysis essay? Done in half an hour. In depth scientific research project? Easiest months of your life. But there’s something about finding the instantaneous rate of change of a curve at one point in time by finding the slope of a tangent line that hasn't clicked yet. 

A slew of other papers- notes, practice worksheets printed from obscure websites, and formulas- surround you, a sea of unfinished thoughts from the past month of the semester.

You bite on the end of your pen, the little hope you had for a good grade in this class slipping further and further away with each passing moment, like the last ember dying in the remains of a fire.

What you really wanted to be doing was celebrating Spencer’s birthday with him right now. A chocolate cake lay on the kitchen counter and pasta simmers on the stove, but you and your boyfriend had agreed to do a solid hour of work before the celebrations ensued.

You were never particularly strong willed when it came to following through on such agreements.

“Teach me calculus,” you say, a very impressive three minutes later, flopping down on the couch. Your head makes its way to its forever resting spot, Spencer’s lap. He raises his eyebrows slightly, thumb reaching out to trace over the slope of your nose. His eyes flit between you and the file to the side of him. 

“I thought we agreed on an hour.”

“Yeah. But it wouldn’t be a very productive hour if I didn’t know how to do what I have to do. And I missed you.�� 

He sighs quietly, closing the file next to him. 

“What do you not understand?” You smile at that, loving how quickly you won.

“Related rates. Like, conceptually.” 

Spencer hums in response.

“It’s October. You’re not even supposed to know related rates yet.”

“Fine. Then let's open presents,” you respond, smiley. His eyebrows get impossibly higher, hand stroking your cheek delicately.

“No. I want our night to be a little more stress free when we celebrate, okay? How about you think about that lovely cake you made for me. What if I decided to squash it so that the diameter would get bigger, going from…let’s say, 20 centimeters to 26 centimeters in 3 seconds, and the height would get smal-”

“That wouldn't be nice. It took me like four hours,” you interrupt, grumbling. He cracks a smile.

“For the sake of the example, let's say I was an awful boyfriend and really wanted to ruin all the hard work you put in for me.”

You roll your eyes.

“Hey,” he says, hand moving down to touch your jaw softly. “Don’t do that. Don’t be difficult. I’m helping you.”

“Sorry. I guess I need you to zoom out a little. I don’t really get why I’m learning this as a whole.” Spencer’s eyes pore into yours, staring down at you adoringly for a small moment as he comes up with an answer.

“Calculus helps us begin to explain the unexplainable by harnessing what we can,” Spencer says simply. “Einstein once said that, ‘Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas,’ which makes it simple in practice, but I actually like to think about it as the opposite philosophically. Trying to find logic in the more poetic ideas.”

You cuddle deeper in his lap.

“Think he would agree with that?” you ask. “I do answer to Einstein before you, unfortunately.” Spencer bends down to kiss your hair.

“I think so. He also had a really nice quote where he remarked that, ‘Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.’ He said, ‘How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.’”

Spencer takes a deep breath.

“Math doesn’t explain how I love you. It can’t. But I love the fact that it tries to. It kinda makes you wanna learn it as best you can.”

You process that for a long second and nod. He keeps talking.

… 

Presents get opened, and cake gets eaten before dinner. Of course.

You’re now in bed, on top of the covers, forcing Spencer to give you a fashion show of the new sweater vest and tie you got him. He turns to you after putting it on, and you beam. 

“I really like it. You look great. Do you like it?” you ask. He nods, smiling back at you.

“I’m gonna wear it to work tomorrow.” 

You beckon for Spencer to come closer, sitting up in bed. Your hands go out to the tie, tugging at the knot softly. He stares down at you until eventually interrupting your motions with a slow kiss, hands cupping your face.

“You’re so pretty,” he mutters.

He pulls away and finishes what you started, folding the tie neatly and setting it in the drawer. Then comes the vest, and soon enough, he’s just in his boxers.

“You’re the pretty one,” you say quietly. “Come to bed.” He crawls on next to you, tugging you into his arms. “Happy birthday, Spence. I love you.” He dips his forehead to your shoulder.

“I love you.”

Before you know it, he’s shifted on top of you, moving down. Fast. You blink, hard, trying to rid your head of the hazy endorphins as you register what he’s doing.

“What? No, I was gonna do that. It’s your birthday. You don’t have to,” you protest.

“But I really, really want to, darling girl,” he murmurs back, kissing your knee and softly pushing it to the side.

You fluster and Spencer just looks at you, fingers tracing shapes on your waist, waiting for you to be ready. 

“Well. Um. Okay. If you insist. I can’t really deny the birthday boy.” Your voice is small, and a little giddy smile grows on your face. Of course Spencer Reid would want to give you head on his birthday. 

He smiles a little against the bare skin of your hip where your top meets your shorts. Then he meets your eyes. 

“You know you can, though, right?” he asks, voice a little more serious. You reach out to touch his hair softly. 

“Yeah. I know.”

Fingers hook your shorts, gently pulling them down. He presses a kiss to your thigh, and then he suddenly looks down at it. 

“Soft,” he murmurs, like he’s making a mental note. He presses another, and another, incrementally going closer and closer to your soaked through underwear. His eyebrows scrunch when he sees the wet spot. “All this from a few kisses?” 

You blush, unable to respond. 

Spencer’s fingers hook a centimeter of your underwear. “These?” he checks.

“Yes, please,” you manage. He tugs them down, silently noticing the slickness of your sex, and exhales shakily.

“How many times on average does it take for a guy to call you pretty on a given day before you get annoyed?” he murmurs, soft smile playing on his face. You smile too, head cloudy from his words, but it immediately drops when his lips press directly against your pulsing clit, kissing it softly.

“Fuck,” you say (Spencer would argue moan) softly (loudly). You let out a content sigh, and he moves to suckle it, actions becoming less and less delicate. 

It’s not harsh, but incessant. Spencer knows what you can take. He knows exactly what you can take. You’re both quiet for a bit, save for your breathy moans. 

“Spencer,” you say softly, ripping you both out of your individually hazy and dirty and distracted minds. “You’re too far away.” He looks up to you, face parallel to your aching core, hair beautifully messy and mouth glistening.

After a second, he grabs your hips, gently pushing you up against the pillows so you’re propped up at a better angle. He then shifts his body up wordlessly so he’s more above you, dipping his head down to give you a soft kiss. You taste yourself, tongue darting out to lick your lips.

His hand takes over where his mouth was, sliding in between your folds with a practiced ease. Spencer looks down at you, eyes wide and flitting between yours, searching for a reaction.

You reach out and wrap your arms around him, holding him close. “Holy shit, I love you,” you murmur.

His fingers lightly graze your clit again before one slides into you. “Angel,” he breathes out, so quietly. “I love you too. This okay? Are you okay?”

You nod feverishly and lift your hips to meet his hand, always in a perpetual state of wanting more, to be closer. Your bodies are melded so close together, barely giving him room to push his hand into you. He doesn’t even bother to ask you to use your words or keep your hips down, like he might on a regular night.

He pulls his head back to watch as he pushes another finger into you, stretching you just a little. “There we go. You always feel like heaven around me.”

Your eyes flit up to his face as he says those words, now having a little more room to observe him. You focus on the slope of his nose and curve of his mouth. 

“You’re so perfect,” you say quietly, adoringly, before you even realize it was true.

You blink at that thought. Spencer Reid is perfect, despite whatever universal odds deeming that impossible.

Those graphs, those formulas, now laying discarded & crumpled on the ground. They click, a little bit. You understand why Albert Einstein wanted to spend his life developing theories of relativity.

This is how Spencer sees you? What he was talking about earlier?

This is how he sees you?

The thought is almost too much.

Spencer sees your face, and not knowing what's going on in your head, slides down his free hand from your cheek to your carotid, feeling your racing pulse. “Take a deep breath for me, okay? You're about to come, huh?”

You inhale and are met with peace. Then your orgasm hits you like a wave. You clench hard around his fingers, and he just watches it happen, fascinated. “Baby,” he coos softly at you.

It wasn’t just your sensitivity he’s currently maximizing on or the little kisses he dips down to leave on your neck that sealed the deal, but the very thought that you could be loved in a way that is so perfectly impossible.

You exhale breathily as Spencer pushes you through the last trails of your climax, fingers not caring one bit that you just had your world tilted on its axis. 

“Spencer. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” you say eventually, overstimulated.

“You’re okay. Did so good.” he murmurs, fingers slipping out of you. 

His thumb brushes your cheek, wiping away a tear you didn't even realize was dripping down.

“Don’t cry, you always cry. It’s my birthday. Don’t cry on my birthday,” he whispers soothingly, affection lacing his voice.

“I’m not.” 

Another one falls. 

You reach and press out that perpetual little slope between his eyebrows with your thumb, gentle, like you might break him. “I’m not crying.”

Spencer lets you lie.

[aklaustaleteller]

hey can you do one where the reader kind off changed klaus for the better he quit most of the killing shit a ultimately became a better person over all, and the news was all over that klaus mikealson had gone soft, so one of his (many) enemies decides to kidnap or hurt the reader as they think he had gone soft and he goes all hybrid on everyone to remind them of what he is capable off

Vontade

Y/n and Klaus had settled in the English Countryside, living in an isolated mansion that was settled under thick mist on most days. But what happens when Klaus leaves for a little, and things take a sinister turn for Y/n?

Warnings - I'm not joking when I say I have a list (right here). I'm begging on you on my knees -- please read the list before diving into the fic!! Word Count - 10.2k (don't ask me about it)

EVERYONE CALM DOWN THE OCTOBER FIC IS FINALLY HERE!!! Wait let me calm down first. It's been so very long but I hope you guys will find the wait worth it!! This is the longest fic I've ever written, and probably the darkest too! The amount of research that went into this is mind boggling but anyways, I really really really hope you enjoy your time reading!! (the fic is divided into 2 parts, both of which are in this post itself!)

Thank you, anon, for requesting this and waiting so long! I might've taken a completely different route than what you asked for but I hope you won't mind too much <3

And I'm so sorry if I raised anyone's expectations too much!! If there one thing you should know about me, it's that I'm a disappointment. So expect the worst, thank you!

And please, please, please share your thoughts with me -- give feedback and reblog! It'll genuinely increase my life span ajshfjjakgds. (If you hate this fic, don't tell me I'm faint hearted, okay? okay.)

Holding the curtains to the side, Klaus gazed out of the window, the ghosts of the past not so visible anymore in the heavy mist that sat upon the empty acres of land that held nothing but dead grass as well as the dead, gone and buried.

It was so early in the morning that it felt like early winter, and the moon was still visible, looking so soft that its sight took all the weight of grief off the watcher's heart.

The collar of his cotton shirt ruffled as a gust of wind passed him by and touched the cold skin of his wife who lay in bed, gazing at him with the tired eyes that didn't catch a blink of sleep in the centuries that they have shown her the terrors and the romanticised of the world.

He smiled, already turning to walk over to her side of the bed. He knelt on the hardwood floor, ignoring it's creaking as he leaned in to press a kiss to her ear lobe, one that chased her mouth.

More of the wind rushed inside the room but neither of them paid much mind to it, for the cold didn't bother them much. Y/n kissed him back, giggling because it seemed that his mouth was eager to wander to places that might be more sinful than the true existence of their kind.

"When do you have to leave?" Y/n asked, breathless as Klaus intertwined his fingers with hers, and saddened because of the inevitable.

"In a few hours," Klaus suggested as he raised the skirt of her night gown while he himself slipped lower and lower until Y/n had to raise the sheets with her hand to look into his eyes as he bit into her thigh close enough to her heat to make her eyes to roll into the back of her skull.

Her palm traced the valleys of his face, feeling the highs and the lows to keep herself from transcending somewhere else while his mouth traced and lapped at her sweetness that was mentioned instead as poison in one of the books that she'd read in some of her earlier days.

"Klaus," she heaved his name as he quickened his pace, his eyes boring into hers, putting on a veil of innocence that they had lost even before they'd been first witness to the world.

Y/n believed that she'd lost her innocence the moment her mother had died while giving birth to her.

Air escaped her lungs all at once as she felt herself release and her hands clutched the unruly curls on the top of Klaus' head. Her hips lifted off the bed, meeting and escaping his mouth at the same time while a certain kind of dizziness took over her, making her feel like a leaf drifting slowly and slowly, off the tree, towards the earth.

Her mouth instinctively kissed back his lips, and she turned the two of them, so she was sitting on top of him. A grin took over her mouth, her eyes crinkling on the corners as she kissed up his chest and wandered off with her trail sideways.

Y/n inhaled softly and deeply upon his neck, sinking her cunning teeth into his hardened skin until she felt some warmth gush into her mouth. His blood coated her tongue like a thick syrup, sweet and addictive.

She sucked and more of it came flowing. In fact, so much of it came that she felt some slipping down the corners of her mouth. So, she backed away, licking the edges of her mouth with her head thrown back, letting the air fill her lungs and kick back in her senses.

The soft caress of Klaus' hand on the back of her head made her look down again, at his face that had her saying she knew what an angel looks like.

The black oblivion in his eyes that promised her a soulmate to spend the rest of eternity with sucked her in. Soon she was turning into corner after corner in a labyrinth, beginning to race in the fear that she was being chased until she found herself leaning against a wall while Klaus pulled on the laces of her corset, pulling hard enough to make Y/n suspicious that he just intended to pull her into him.

She looked into the mirror and caught a glimpse of his smirk, squinting at him when he met her gaze in their reflection.

"I really wish you could accompany me on the ride to the masquerade," she whispered, closing her eyes when she felt his fingers tap their way to the clasp of her necklace and lock it properly.

"I am your escort at the ball, love," he sighed, kissing the back of her head. "Have trust in me, you'll be fine," he murmured against her hair, smelling the faint scent of white Lilies and apples.

Far from the smell of the decaying bodies that he'd have to pass on his way to the city of New Orleans in a short while, though.

Y/n shut her eyes, wanting to protest that nothing when she's left behind, all on her own, stays fine. Instead, she gave a tight nod and turned to cup his face in her palms.

"Miss me," she grinned against the deep maroon of his lips, her laugh echoing when he kissed her passionately. And then she sighed, feeling the silage, her hand tracing the impression made in space where Klaus was once standing; now gone.

Sighing, she trailed down the stairs noiselessly -- it was an art she'd perfected during her time in the isolated estate.

She lit a lantern because despite it being daytime, not even a ray of light fell to the dead ground through the heavy fog that seemed to have settled on their property overnight.

Y/n shook her head, forcing herself to get out of her head and to fix the ragged rhythm of her breathing. While at that, she noticed a cobweb in the corner of the ceiling, instantly making a mental note to get Klaus to clean it up. She'd never felt an attachment to the spiders, though she respected their talent of weaving so masterfully and passionately.

Not enough to not ruin their work, though.

With faintly trembling hands, she picked the lantern off the dining table that could host an entire committee. She turned to walk back over to the main door, eyes settled on the minute details carved into the mansion's main door frame.

Forgetting the keys on the hook screwed to the wall, she looked closely, like she did every single day in the hopes of finding something new. Something tugged at the corner of her mouth when she caught a rose with a dagger stabbed through its middle, designed intricately into the door’s handle.

Smiling in satisfaction, she backed away and – the keys were gone. Y/n had seen them hung on the corner-most hook out the five, but now all of them were empty.

"The house spirits don't want you to leave," whispered her grandmother.

Y/n's head snapped to her side, the door was closed, the air still.

"Leave out some honey for them, perhaps, you can negotiate," she chuckled dryly, and Y/n scrambled to do as told before something more precious was taken from her; even though her grandmother has been dead for centuries and only talks to her when she's alone.

Almost dropping the plate in her hurry, Y/n slid the honey filled utensil in the middle of the table before rushing out of the door.

She exhaled sharply, almost choking on her own saliva as she raced away from the mansion, unable to calm herself down as the image of the keys hung on the hook right before she shut the door with her eyes widened in fear, flashed across her mind.

Klaus had only been away for a half an hour and already things were beginning to take a sinister turn. She took a shuddering breath, forcing her mind to focus on Klaus so that the stone inside her chest doesn't burst into a million tiny shards and she ends up dead because of a thousand cuts.

She brought up the lantern to her eyesight and sighed -- the flame had gone out somewhere amidst her rush.

But she had been in the woods before, she knew her way like the patterns in Klaus' hair. Smiling to manipulate herself, she strolled forward, eyes settled on the trees.

The acres of land on which the mansion stood like a ship on ocean waves, was tucked away under the thick fog when Y/n turned around to see it. But even in the dark blurriness, Y/n saw the tiny flowers dotted throughout the open fields. They were going to die soon, she sighed and walked on.

Then she began to run to catch a leaf that the wind plucked off of a tree.

Some dead, some changing colours, some still green while others had already transitioned into shades of orange or brown. All of the trees would all be lifeless soon, with no leaves or flowers on them, and Y/n will once again find comfort in the death that will encapsulate everything around her.

Maybe eat some of the pomegranates off the trees that will still be bearing some happiness in order to taunt her existence.

Far away in the distant, Y/n could see more huge estates. They seemed abandoned, worn, lived in by ghouls and frustrated spirits. She wondered if sprites and pixies ever giggled away nights in the unkempt properties, but she stole her gaze from the architectures before they could lure her in.

To spend her time alone feeling as normal as she could, she began to think of the love of her life, of Klaus and of how they came to be. And it began something like this...

It was the year 1047 in Russia, and the colour in Y/n's face had settled so deep that there was no life left in her skin.

She traced her cheeks, eyes widely aghast as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. There was nothing under her skin, except for an unsettling silence. There was no rush of blood, or thrumming of her anxious heart so loud in her ears that she felt like she was going to die, instead of smiling at the reminder that she was still alive.

She wished now though, that she had celebrated when her heartbeats came to stutters because she couldn't breathe. Because now, as she tried to find a pulse, she slipped her hand from her neck to the skirts of her gown.

There was nothing in her to prove that she wasn't a living corpse. Her skin was cold, hardened and ridden of all colours.

This couldn't have been. She wasn't a human anymore, and the more she saw of herself, the more rumours about Vampires echoed in her mind. If she was a vampire, then she quickly needed to find another one to survive. And she needed to flee town in order to escape her father, who would probably not even realise her absence in the misery of remembering her late mother.

So, with erratic breathing, she'd rushed back to her room and pulled out the one big handbag she had. She threw in as much as she could, including a large shawl, her night clothes, her warm woollen as well as her silk hood. She rolled two of her dresses somehow to fit, and ran to steal a bottle of her father's brandy and some camphor. He wouldn't know until he would run out of his current bottle, and Y/n won't be there to blame or to conspire with then.

Chanting under her breath for God's mercy, she ran into her bathroom and gathered all of her essentials such as tooth and nail brushes, soap, hairbrush, hairpins, her handy mirror and a towel off the hook.

Hungry because of her state of extreme breathlessness and panic, she packed some crackers and the sandwiches she had made earlier in her lunch and closed the chain of the bag. It was going to be hard to run with it on her arm, but she knew that what would be more hard was death.

She was going to be seen as the thing at the feast or at the sacrifice, and then, she wasn't even going to be seen because people would either burn her or bury her alive. And there was a possibility that she could take one wrong step, and the rumour that was a vampire's existence, would become more of a reality – which would lead to mass murder, of the hiding vampires and likely some innocents who had done no wrong in life but suffer at the hands of it.

She ran through the streets in the middle of the day, where everyone was too busy or too ignorant to be concerned about her. Her house was fairly close to the state of Kievan Rus' and she cried tears of joy for God's blessing as she ran, surprisingly not out of breath.

She ran with the wind throughout the day and night, as silently as she could, not wanting to draw any attention until she reached her destination. And it was on the third morning that she finally came to a stop on the land of Kyiv Koenugarr, the capital of the state that stood on the Dnieper River, the one that flowed to the Black Sea.

For the first time in three days, she smiled. Her breaths came to a faint pace as she stopped by in one of the guest houses to clean up. She knew that she needed to look good enough to convince the one person she had hoped in her heart would help her escape.

She didn't need to rest to get even a blink of sleep, but just out of old habit, she lay down on the soft bedding and shut her eyes to stop the racing of her mind. She could think when she wasn't so much on the edge regarding the fact that she didn't even feel burnt out after so much.

The corners of her eyes moistened as she realised that she wouldn't be missed back home. Maybe the little boy who lived next door would be saddened, but he would forget her too. He was too small to remember disappearance, Y/n hoped. She should have said goodbye to him at least, but maybe that was supposed to be her life's regret.

When the sun came back up, Y/n pulled out the one dress she had laid under the mattress during the night in hopes of getting it a bit decent and dressed herself. She put colour on her mouth and on her cheeks, and kohl on her eyelashes while hinting some of it on the line above.

She needed to look good for this, in case she had to do some convincing or begging. She hoped that she could just threaten, but she wouldn't do that to him who she essentially considered her brother.

She rubbed the one herbal mixture that she had on herself in some places and the fragrance of Saffron, Rosemary and Musk hit her senses all at once. Centering herself, she packed her bag again and began her stroll to find a cart, to where she knew he would be.

"I need to go to the docks!" She shouted over the harsh wind at the man, and he urged her to climb into the cart. "Thank you," she said now that she was behind him.

He nodded and began to move forward, going faster with the help of the forceful wind. It didn't seem like the man minded silence too much, so she kept quiet much to her liking and began an inner monologue to decide how she was going to ask him.

The time passed quicker than she could come to a conclusion though, so she stepped off and handed the man a kuna with a gentle nod for a thank you. She hoped she could find a mirror to maybe fix her hair a bit but she was found too soon for that convenience.

"And what in the world are you doing here?"

He asked, a frown and a smile adorning his features at the same time.

Happiness surged through her body like a gust of wind at seeing his face. It felt like he'd almost lifted her spirits.

"Nikolai!"

She rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could. She giggled when he began to swerve the two of them from side to side.

"You're clearly here for a reason so how about you tell me before I set off?" He said, nodding his head towards the awaiting ship.

A worry settled deep in her stomach. She began fidgeting.

"Will you take me with you?" She asked in a whisper because she knew how absurd this might sound to him.

He gripped her shoulders a little tighter.

"The ships are full of Vikings, Y/n. Don't be a fool," he gritted, his fingers leaving a wrinkle on the puff of her dress' sleave.

"But you are going to be with me, so I'll be fine!" She insisted.

Nikolai pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

Sighing, he began, "why do you want to go to Europe all of a sudden?"

She swallowed. "To start over, you know? And it sounds nice over there, a change would be good," she shrugged.

Y/n knew that he could sense her lying but when he didn't press her about it, she took a breath of relief.

Nikolai turned to walk, but just because of her nature, she gripped his arm from behind.

When he turned with intrigue, and saw worry settled in her big eyes, he hugged her again.

"I'll take care of you like my little sister, Solnishko (sunshine)," he whispered against her hair, and Y/n shut her eyes to force herself calm down. She had known him since her childhood, and she knew deep down that she trusted him more than she trusted her own father.

Backing away a couple steps, she let him take her bag from her hand. Squaring her shoulders, Y/n nodded, which Nikolai copied.

They shared a glint of excitement and nervousness in their gazes and passed each other a wide grin before making a run for the ship that was going to leave any minute now.

Y/n hadn't realised that while deep in her memory, she had come to a halt in front of the frozen lake. So when she heard the crunch of leaves, while she stood alone and completely still, her head whipped to scan her surroundings.

No one, in sight. Y/n knew better than to not trust her intuition so she focused in on all of her senses, there was no smell of blood, no sound of a beating heart, no sight of anyone, no feeling other than of being watched and nothing to touch but her own cold skin.

It had to be a vampire, if anyone.

With an unease, she started on her walk back home. She knew she could face whoever it was and get it over within seconds. But when she reached home unharmed, she felt like she might've just been going insane since she was alone.

She felt insane a lot of the time that she was alone, so with frustration settling deep in her belly, she went over to the room that she had locked the entire oblivion in. The library room.

Most of the books were read there, but when Klaus returned from his entrepreneurial ventures, he always brought back with him some new ones that he just had an instinct she was going to love. And she did mostly end up loving the stories so much that it felt as if they’d claimed a part of her – she'd never tell that to Klaus though, since he might just destroy all literature in the mansion in order to keep her all to himself.

Her eyes glanced at the two stopped clocks in the room and she shook her head because of the reminder that they might as well be haunted since she can't get them to work right for more than two sunsets.

As she sank in the deep green sofa with a worn hardback in her lap, a deep melancholy took over her. Her body felt so weak to the bones that it could've decomposed right there on the expensive furniture.

Suddenly, her grandmother, dressed in all black appeared at the doorway of the room. Y/n thought she had closed the door behind her.

The old woman walked in like she was silently praying on a child in a game to catch her, and stopped right in front of Y/n whose eyes felt hooded and a little too heavy. She took her hand and dropped something from her fist into her open palm.

Y/n brought it back to see for herself, and a gurgling sound escaped from her throat. She choked back on her saliva as the word 'MONSTER' was beginning to slowly be engraved in her palm, the inscription cutting her skin so deep that she fell off the sofa in pain, gripping her hand tightly as she tried to escape, and ended up falling on her bed.

With heavy breaths wreaking havoc inside her lungs, Y/n wiped the cold sweat on her skin on the bed sheets as she turned to lie on Klaus' side of bed. Inhaling deeply, she kept her eyes shut while her entire body shook in tremors and her mind began to show her the flashes of her sweet, well cherished moments spent with her head tucked away in Klaus' chest.

She really wished she could have a drop of his blood, then. Saliva pooled on her tongue, but she swallowed thickly, not allowing herself even the thought of taking a sip from the bottle that he always left behind for her.

—--

It was the 18th century, and Y/n didn't know quite know how to feel when the Pope declared her species as fallacious fictions of humankind. She had sighed deeply, breathing out the tension in her frame as she prepared herself to live a life without chewing her fingers ever again – not because people had potentially known of Vampire's existence, but because she was too paranoid to not fear somehow getting wound up in the theories and be burned on the stake only for her ashes to be fed to some sick family man considered bitten by a vampire.

But she'd also felt her lifeless heart be struck by sadness upon the realisation that she might not ever be accepted by anyone apart from her own species -- who had the foul habit of keeping itself so secretive that Y/n began feeling lonely even in a room full of people.

Then the 19th century rolled around, arguably the worst time period for a human to be alive according to Y/n. She seemed to have a realisation that if this century was going to be associated with one thing, it would be diseases and deaths.

Everyone in the town was always sick and someone was dying each hour. The ones who weren't actively dying, were so obsessed with the notion of death they essentially manifested it in their fate.

Tired of the ongoing death streak, Y/n ran away to the English Countryside. But because she was too lonely and had too much of the torturous time on her hands, she began to despise the fact that she was never going to have the peace that came with death, with the end – ever.

Feeling like she was going to kill herself if she spent another fleeting second in her own company, she found herself back in the main city, preoccupying herself among the aristocrats.

Then years later, the last Vampire Scare occurred in the late 19th century. While people weren't quick to put labels, the town affairs spread in whispers sounding similar to the fluttering wings of a Goldfinch.

But then, when the horrors of Vampires finally bit the dust, being declared as nothing but a myth blew out the one final flicker of hope inside Y/n's chest that longed for connections where the humans would tell her about their history and their folklores themselves instead of her having to read their biassed books in which they painted a portrait using their best colours.

No matter how much she hated being a myth, Y/n loved reading stories about the blood-sucking Roman vampires, and the German Nachzehrer, who harmed the living through "sympathetic magic" from afar.

Y/n loved to debate with Klaus just like humans did with each other, upon who were the English Vampires most like -- The Romanians or The Germans. All because it seemed to be a hot topic among the historians, folklorists, theologists and who not, that like Romanians, New Englanders "were looking for liquid blood in the vital organs, not evidence of shroud chewing." The anti-vampire remedy of "cutting the heart out, burning it to ashes and feeding the ashes to the sick ones" was also something that was practiced in Romania.

But what quite disgusted Y/n was the fact that the sole reason humans even knew of Vampires was because they were brainless and attracted diseases like flowers honey bees during springtime; and also because they feared the said diseases and desired to have control over it in some way, or at least to feel like they did.

Since then, whenever a new resurgence of ‘Vampires are real’ rumours flowed, Y/n chose to ignore it. Because in the current day and age, the resurfacing of the supernatural was simply because of its glorification and romanticisation in the literature; and of course, just an human’s itch to dig into the past.

—--

The music echoed throughout the mansion as Y/n's fingers danced across the keys of the grand piano. There weren't any notes sitting on top for Y/n to read from, she was simply playing what she'd known and what was coming to her as she played.

Moonlight poured in through barred windows that stood on the grounds and touched the ceilings. Something in the back of her mind was telling her that someone was watching her, but she ignored the warning sign, tired of her hallucinations and tired of trying to decipher between what was real and what wasn't.

Her own mind playing tricks on her wasn't something she dealt with very well. It felt like a betrayal, by whom, she couldn't tell. But it was unfair, that not everyone had to constantly decipher their experiences as real or not.

In the moment, all she knew was that as long as the music was flowing and she was hitting the notes remarkably well, she and everything surrounding her was real. Though she'd been told that her playing could bring the dead back, she tried not to think about it.

Frustrated because of the nagging thought of having a watcher, Y/n wondered if the pressing of her fingers on the keys will ever not be soothing for her. Gradually, she felt something rushing within her, something taking over her senses as the sounds hit the tall walls and reverberated back into her ears with violent vibrations that she hated to feel – she felt overcome.

Her fingers started to move on their own, quickening the pace when she reached the beat drop and realised, the answer was yes.

She pulled herself back from the grand piano like it had electrocuted her. Wild eyes and frantic breathing, Y/n waited for the silence to settle and encapsulate her.

Standing up, she took hold of the candelabra that had been sitting on the top of the piano, and climbed up the stairs in the candle's unreliable, flickering light. There was no light in this part of the mansion, the moonlight didn't reach in the back and Y/n felt a breath down her spine as she opened the library room's door.

She didn't walk in right away though. She spared a wry glance to her right, at the other room’s door that was locked. It was night time and she didn't want to be flooded with the horrifying memories of her past that was withheld in that room. But still, the images of Klaus draining bodies in that very room flashed in front of her eyes – causing her to clench them shut and skip inside the library without a second thought.

Picking up the book she'd dropped on the floor earlier, she shut the door quietly and held the skirts of her dress in order to make a run towards the master bedroom. She felt safe in the company of the candle's flame that hadn't gone out in her hurry and she sat in her bed, no longer scared and no longer around; transported into a realm where she was a little human girl skidding through the forest wearing a red cloak, on the way to her grandmother's home when she comes across a sly wolf!

—--

Y/n was standing just outside the door, hiding behind the wall with a cloth to her mouth. Sobs threatened to leave her mouth similarly to how the tears were escaping her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and falling into pools on the ancient flooring.

Sounds of mouths biting into necks, tearing through skin and splintering bones echoed through the chambers. The halls of the mansion were built like those of Cathedrals, tall in order to make a sound boom and echo.

She clenched her eyes shut when another body fell to the ground, lifeless. Daring to peek inside despite her fragile heart, Y/n's mouth fell open as the scene unfolded in front of her.

Klaus was sitting on the one and only chair in the room, looking nothing less than a king sitting on his throne. In front of him, the rest of the hall was full of vampires – sucking on each other.

Some had bitten into another's wrist while they were being fed upon at their neck. Every single soulless body standing in the room had its teeth bared, looking for a life to take whilst theirs was already being drained away by one of their own.

"Faster!" Klaus roared and everyone began to draw blood from one another as if their life depended on it.

Which it did according to what Y/n heard next.

"Remember puppies, if you wish to live, you'll have to drain as many bodies as you can!" He spoke loudly, a wide malicious grin on his mouth.

Y/n sank low upon the grounds, frozen until her eyes met with one of the vampires.

A blood-curdling scream escaped her throat and Y/n felt like all of the blood was rushing to her head. She clutched it, lowering further into the ground in hopes of diminishing the pain but her vision began to fade instead.

She saw Klaus watching her, held for ransom by fate as Y/n fell to the ground, her last sight being of the vampires still feeding like they were at a feast.

When she woke up, Klaus was sitting at the foot of the bed. A book in his hands but not a word was he able to utter when she asked him what the book was about.

He shut it and tossed it across the bed, holding the bridge of his nose as Y/n looked at him through hooded eyes.

"I asked you of one thing," he began. "I asked you not to walk by the room until dusk."

His teeth were clenched, and Y/n could tell by the waver in his voice that he was trying with all of his might to not smash the furniture in the room.

She hoped that he would keep trying, that she wouldn't have to see the black in his eyes represent the devil rather than the peaceful oblivion she saw in them because she wanted to spend it with him.

"Then why, tell me love, were you there?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child," Y/n croaked out, stealing her gaze from him to look away.

"But what you did was childish!"

"And you were a monster!" Y/n shouted, now sitting up in the bed with her fists clenching the mattress.

Klaus stood still for a moment, then scoffed.

"I'm the monster?" He asked, his voice so light it sent a wave of regret through Y/n's chest.

"Klaus --"

"No, Y/n," Klaus swallowed, now pacing across the room. "They tried to steal you from me and I'm the one being called the monster for doing to them little of what they deserve for the horror they put you through."

"Klaus, you didn't need to take the blood on your hands. I would've taken my revenge, and you know that," Y/n said.

"Alright then. Fair enough," nodding, Klaus came to a halt. "Let's put it this way – I took my revenge because I love you and I thought I lost you. That thought pained me to the point of no comparison so I took my revenge," he shrugged.

"If you desire, you can take your revenge. I'm sure they are still alive with the speed that they seemed to have lost," Klaus gestured back towards the room.

Y/n clenched her eyes shut. "Lock the room, Klaus," she asked him.

With a faint nod of acceptance, Klaus locked the door to the room where most of the vampires had fallen to the floor, dead. The last ones sucking raced when they saw Klaus and fell to the floor with a thump once the last drop of blood was drunk from their bodies.

Drawing the doors shut, Klaus put a humongous lock on the door and took a step back. He knew what Y/n was going to ask of him when he 'd return, so with a final breath, Klaus decided that among those vampires, Klaus had also locked his own demons inside.

Y/n's head rose when she saw him stroll back into the master bedroom.

"Promise me that you'll never take a life ever again," she whispered.

Klaus nodded, looking into her eyes with honesty so bright it could've blinded her.

"And if you do, do it after you take mine," Y/n spoke stiffly. "Or I'll take yours."

Klaus dropped to his knees beside her side of the bed to hold her hand.

"You have my word," he spoke hoarsely, leaning in just enough that Y/n had to come the rest of the way to meet his mouth.

"I love you," she whispered against his mouth. "I cannot lose you to your demons."

"I love you, too,” Klaus said, stopping when his voice wavered. “And you know that you are my only reason," he smiled, letting her push him back on the bed.

—--

Y/n woke up with excitement fluttering through her entire being. It was brighter than the previous day, she noticed. But all of the mist was still sitting around so Y/n drew her curtains apart and opened the windows.

The cold wind carried with it the smell of pomegranate flowers, making Y/n smile.

Squaring her shoulders, she looked into the void outside, wishing Klaus was beside her to experience the beauty of dragonflies dancing around on top of the flowers sprinkled throughout the fields.

Orange and red scenery was not unmet by her eyes when she squinted. A lot of the trees had turned now, and Y/n wondered why they decided to turn just a little earlier than usual.

She wrapped herself in her robe and walked throughout the house, opening all the windows and drawing curtains to let the light pour in. She felt calm, especially since the past couple of days had been extraordinarily troublesome for her.

Back in her library room, Y/n picked up the neat letter that had been sitting on her desk. It was the letter of the ball invitation sent via the Salvatore Sons, and Y/n was more than giddy to finally meet Klaus there.

Most humble citizens of the realm, You are hereby requested to attend a masquerade ball in honour of the thirtieth marriage anniversary of our dearest Lilian Salvatore and Guiseppe Salvatore, the radiant couple -- also respected members of the founder's council of Mystic Falls. Costumes and masks will be strictly required for entry, and each couple must bring a gift. This sophisticated affair will be a tantalising and stylish celebration with a feast, dancing and competitions. You all will delight in the wondrous, safe atmosphere of Castle Harrowgate. The gates of Castle Harrowgate shall be opened at first dusk in two days' time, and you are expected to be punctual. Dictated but not read Damon and Stefan Salvatore.

While Y/n wasn't one for gatherings, she could appreciate a ball every once in a while. She felt a bit of dread pooling inside of her at the thought of meeting the Salvatores, who had known of her and Klaus while she hadn't known of their mere existence.

Still, she walked across the mansion and picked some flowers the whole morning. In the afternoon, she wrote a poem and read some chapters of her current read that was of her beloved genre, gothic horror.

Once the sun had begun getting tired, though, Y/n slipped into her room and sat in front of her vanity. It still felt a little foreign to her, she wouldn't lie. That doesn't mean she didn't find it infinitely convenient.

She applied rose water on her face first and then rubbed some cream on the skin in order to make her skin look just a little more alive than a corpse's. It brought a certain shine to her face, she thought.

Then she dabbed some light coloured starch on her face in order to even out her complexion, though she didn't quite need to. She was simply following a makeup routine she had learnt from a lady while she had been out in the towns a few months ago, when the sun was overhead and blinding.

She smiled a little tightly as she put some maroon powder on the top of her cheeks, making her look like she had a heart and blood circulation under her skin. Smiling genuinely at her reflection in the mirror, she looked away just before she could begin to point out her flaws.

Lastly, she dabbed some lip tint on her mouth in a way that made her lips look bitten rather than painted.

Tying her own corset for her dress was troublesome enough that she had broken a sweat whilst she'd been at it. Patting cotton all over her face in annoyance, she fixed the ruffles of her dress for the last time.

The colour of the dress was similar to that of the darkest emerald out there, and upon it were drawn complex patterns in all shades of green that went best with the gown's colour.

She had her hair in a low bun sitting on the nape of her neck, the lowest of her hair strands falling out into coils just a couple inches lower. A flowery crown sat on top of her bun like a crown made out of golden oak leaves, the crystals reflecting the sunlight all over the room.

Anxious that she was likely forgetting something, she took hold of her purse and carried in her other hand the gift she had chosen to give – a thick and rich blanket, along with other trinklets and fruits and nuts. She'd also added a tobacco pouch or two in there.

She rushed out of the mansion and sped to the main street, where she accepted herself in a carriage. Once she was sat, she took a deep breath.

Although gradually she realised that the cold sweat she'd broken earlier wasn't because she had been racing around.

It was because subconsciously, she felt like there was a stone sitting inside her chest, one other than her heart. It was heavy, and sharp too. Something was going to go wrong, her guts screamed. She had an instinct that she was going to die that evening, but she ignored all and focused on the dying scenery around her as the carriage raced further.

It was a masquerade ball, surely she'd be able to fool death if it happened to be there as well. 

When the carriage turned into a lane, and Y/n saw the mansion; a shiver ran down her spine. It was eerily quiet there, no one in sight and no sounds of a gathering filling the atmosphere.

The castle’s walls stood tall, with tinted windows. It looked like a secretive fortress, with its additional dark towers and iron gates.The sun light didn’t reach the estate very well, and it was all shades of dark – with not even a barren tree in its circumference. 

Had she come too early, she wondered and checked her pocket watch. She was just a few minutes late, actually. Maybe people weren't so punctual anymore, she shouted back at her alarmed instincts.

She looked up at the sky which was darkening as the sun was setting. But it was full of heavy clouds drifting slowly, waiting for the right time to bring hell on land.

In the time that she came face to face with the castle, she tried to focus on her hearing. But she couldn't hear any heartbeats, nor any quietened gossip floating around. It was more silent than Y/n had noticed it was underwater during the summer.

Clutching her shawl in clenched fists, she stepped off the carriage. Handing the man a couple pennies and thanking him, she waited as he backed away until out of the sight.

Then she finally turned her gaze onto the Castle Harrowgate, and as she began to feel like it was all a trap, she realised that might as well already be in one.

Klaus had told her that he would meet her by the time the ball would start, to accompany her for the dance since he couldn't imagine sharing with another man the pleasure of dancing with his wife. And upon checking the watch once again, Y/n remembered that the gates must have been opened about half an hour ago.

So, to see no footprints outside the muddy path covered with cobblestones stood out to her. She squinted her eyes, unsure if she'd be able to make a run for it now.

Y/n was better than that though, she could fight an army of vampires if she wanted to with her original strength. But to be wearing a gown and heels, with a gift bag in one hand and a purse in the other, Y/n wasn't sure if she wanted to get blood sprayed all over herself.

Sensing eyes on her, she searched the windows to see even a shadow. But there was none. It was the same feeling as the one she'd gotten when she'd been in the forest a couple days prior, feeling like she was being preyed upon.

She gulped dryly, praying to a god she didn't believe existed that the cowards behind this plan would be willing to talk this through. She didn't wish to be anyone's death, nor did she wish to die herself. She did, occasionally, but now as she felt like death was breathing down her neck, she felt like taking another sip of life before going to bed.

As she walked further and crossed the threshold of the castle, she felt wind move behind her before she could've seen past the open gates.

She screamed but a hand was covering her mouth and as she tried to remind herself that she was a vampire and didn't need to be frightened, her vision began to fade inwards until she could see nothing but the death's cousin – that is sleep.

When she gained back her senses again, she knew that she was in a lot of trouble. She still couldn't see, but she could smell the vampires who had probably noticed her consciousness by now. She could hear them bickering that had come to a sudden halt. She could feel someone standing right beside her in a second and she could touch the chains that she'd been tied up with.

It was raining heavily outside, probably so angrily that it would feel like there were millions of needles being dropped on your skin, all at once, if one happened to be out in it. 

Her arms were stinging since they'd been tied up on the two sides. She was on her knees, bent over because of weakness. At least she hoped that's what they thought she felt. Her hair was falling on her face and over her shoulder – how had it slipped out of a tight bun, she wondered and came to the conclusion that it must have happened when she'd struggled against the man's chest while he'd had her in a chokehold with vervain held right over her nose.

Had she been in his place, she'd have burned the skin off the captive's face. She smiled at the kindness these people had shown her.

"Glad you'll finally be put out of the misery of living your immortal life?" Someone spoke from across the room, a man. Likely middle aged, she assumed.

"Glad to finally meet you, Guiseppe," Y/n smirked when the man's breathing stuttered just a bit. "Though I wish it hadn't been this way."

"A lovely mouth you've got with a lovely face," said a younger voice. "Too bad that all the fortune would go to waste."

Y/n chuckled, then choked because of the dryness in her throat. "Mark my words when I say that this will be the very mouth that'll rip your throat out, Salvatore" she shrugged, unsure whether it was Stefan or Damon that she was talking to.

"C'mon, you can't possibly be delusional enough to hope you're going to get out of this one!" Said the same voice, quietened by a clearing of the throat.

The window shutters were rattling, and a couple of animals were howling outside. 

"Damon, bring a chair for me, will you?" Said Guiseppe.

Y/n laughed at that; her head was thrown back. "Since when do you care so much that your child might witness a murder?"

"Oh, trust me hon, death doesn't even bother me no more," Damon joked and Y/n grinned. It would be a petty to shut that humourous mouth forever six feet deep into the ground.

"Damon, go," said a handsome voice.

It was silent for a moment and all of Y/n's senses were working relentlessly. But the most she could hear was the ongoing storm outside, thunder rolling like death was on its own carriage, coming down to take Y/n with it.

The thought of whether she had served her purpose in her life was fleeting. But then she began to ponder, if only humans were allowed to deal with existentialism, and whether it was satirical for her to even be thinking that she might just have a meaning to her life.

But then she drifted off to think of her immortality. All her life, she'd never dared to ponder over it – afraid she might begin to have the urge to kill herself. Had she made anything out of having a life that'd never end?

Did she need to do that? Did she really need a reason or a purpose to live? Or since being an immortal, she had to pay the loan by giving this world her all?

But before she could start to lose her mind, she was snapped back to reality.

“I only saw you from the back, in the forest and from outside your mansion,” said the same handsome voice before he chuckled. Y/n’s breathing came to halt – she had been right.

“But sweetheart, you seem like the devil carved you himself – so dangerously beautiful,” he whispered under his breath. 

When Y/n didn’t say anything, wanting for him to continue admitting all that he’d done, the young one laughed. 

"We aren't going to kill you, by the way,” said he who Y/n was beginning to assume was Stefan.

"Too bad that I will, once I'm out of these shackles."

Y/n genuinely was disappointed. She wanted to cry because she hadn't even thought about this possibly being a trap, and she hated herself for it. And she also hated the fact that these people found it so entertaining, the way they'd played her.

Feeling pathetic, she manipulated herself to turn her sadness into ferocious rage. She couldn't let these men take advantage of her.

Someone laughed, and Y/n smiled. She wanted them to believe that she couldn't help herself out of the chains.

"We just want Klaus," Damon said as if he was bored out of his wits. "You see, he loves you. Surely, he'll trace you here. Then we'll capture him, toy with him, kill him and ponder what to do with your beauty."

Y/n wasn't feeling too sarcastic anymore. She wanted to skin these men alive and hang them upside down to be eaten alive by the crows. But she contained herself with a deep breath.

"You've seen so much of my beauty, it'll only be fair if I got to see yours," she proposed and waited in silence as someone walked over and removed the blindfold from her face.

Squinting, she saw Guiseppe, who looked like he wanted to kill himself. Then she saw Damon, who looked exactly like he talked and Stefan, who was as handsome as his smooth voice.

"Handsome, you two," she nodded at the younger men. "Surely you've got your looks from your stunning mother," she added.

Damon snickered and Stefan glared at him.

"You know, since Klaus met you, his heart has clearly grown quite faint. And we have been sitting, bored, for too long now. It would be nice to have somethings stirred up, yea?"

Y/n shivered as the dark room lit up when lightning stroked the sky.

"Oh, you don't play games with the wily devil," she cautioned, lowering her voice just to exaggerate although everyone in the room was on edge, knowing she'd spoken nothing if not the utter truth.

"Too late to back out now, though," a glowering voice came from right outside the locked doors of what Y/n could only assume was a dungeon or a chamber of some sort.

She grinned, quickly scanning the three men's faces to relish in their fear. Damon's sharp eyes were now wide open, waiting for his death to come any second now. Stefan was standing in a stance, ready to fight although he knew he didn't stand a chance.

And Guiseppe had broken cold sweat, his breathing was so heavy Y/n almost missed the erratic beating of his heart.

Klaus was here, she could imagine him standing behind the door solely for the suspense, fully capable of breaking down the door into shambles.

He kicked once, and the doors came falling inwards, Damon stepping back just in time for the wood to splinter on the floor in front of him.

When Y/n's eyes met with Klaus', she urged him to turn around. But then she flinched when Klaus missed her indication and was hit by a vase on the nape of his neck.

He fell to the ground. crouching for only a second before he'd disappeared.

The three men searched frantically, turning and twisting in distress.

Y/n saw him racing towards her and she opened her arms, letting him carry her. He situated her on the floor above, behind the railings.

“Are you alright?” He asked frantically, searching her over for any signs of injuries. But Y/n cupped his face and kissed him, reassuring him that she wasn’t wounded.

"Don't look," he asked of her earnestly, knowing the effect it could potentially have on her later on. "For me," he breathed.

Y/n pecked his mouth, then. Resting her lips on his until there was only Klaus' scent in front of her instead of him. She stumbled back and slid down a wall, sitting down and burrowing her head in her knees.

"Prepare your riffles!" Guiseppe shouted at the group of men filling the room urgently.

Guns were cocked and sat on men's shoulders, their fingers on the triggers, ready to shoot to kill.

"Where's --" Albert was cut off by a gust of air, during which he disappeared. He was one of the men, the most determined of them all and still the one with the most thirst for life.

Damon turned and saw for himself the chains to which he had tied Y/n, now lying on the grounds, wrapped around Albert's throat. His eyes were wide open, not a sparkle of life left in them.

Swallowing, Damon knocked his elbow into Stefan's ribs. When he hissed in response, Damon shut him up by pointing towards the dead body.

Both of the boys were now looking towards their father with the same hatred they glared at him with every day. He was going to be the reason behind their deaths. They thought of fleeing at the same point, unaware of each other's notions but both were too full of pride to die a coward.

They knew that if they ran, they had a higher chance of dying.

It was silent again, the only sounds in the room being rapidly beating hearts being interrupted by the rolling thunder outside.

Someone pulled the trigger, and when everyone saw, the bullet had passed through the middle of his own forehead. It was Frank, the one who had come to fight quite reluctantly.

Many men were thinking of fleeing now.

"You didn't tell us that the vampires could do this!" Bert gritted near Guiseppe's ear. He was now hopeless for he was never going to get to take walks near his favourite lake ever again.

"You'll be more responsible for our deaths than these goddamn monsters," shouted young James from across the room. He has just gotten married and wanted to have children, raise them up to be as strong as their mother.

Guiseppe was getting more and more frantic now, he could see his death waiting around the corner for him. The sweat rolling down his back was too cold, and his heart felt like it was going to burst inside of his chest.

Nothing was going how he had planned it.

James also disappeared then, and upon noise, everyone saw that his body was hanging off the humongous chandelier, the blood from the open wound on his neck dripping down on men's faces and on the floor. The sound of the blood pooling was ringing in everyone's ears and they all moved out of the way quickly, wiping off the blood on them with the cuffs of their shirts.

Metallic scent of the blood was beginning to suffocate everyone. Choking sounds were heard before William was thrown to a wall, also dead. He was a master at playing cards.

"Run everyone and set the room on fire!" Shouted Bert, but then his head was smashed off his shoulders and his body was swaying around, before it fell to the ground, writhing a little more before going still.

Now only Damon, Stefan and Guiseppe were left alive in the room. The two younger ones looked at each of the lifeless bodies, then at each other.

"God, I want to kill you two before they get a chance!" Guiseppe roared and bent to steal the gun from Bert's hands.,

But before he could pull the trigger, his head was pulled back and a knife sliced his throat.

The two boys howled in agony and covered their faces when Guiseppe's blood sprayed all over them.

When nothing more happened, they opened their eyes and saw Y/n still holding onto their father, the knife still in her bloodied hands.

Dropping the body then, Y/n looked at them regretfully.

She had to come out since Klaus had to take a second to keep his wolf at bay and the old twat was going to shoot his sons. She didn't mind witnessing the three men's deaths at all though. Surely, they must've prepared themselves for it when they'd been planning the entire betrayal.

"Sorry you had to see that," she muttered, stealing her gaze from their horrified ones. Or maybe from Klaus' eyes that shone golden from where he was standing right behind their backs.

She knew the two brothers' fates before they could've even battled whether to try and negotiate a deal or not.

One of the chains which she had been tied to earlier, was wrapped around Klaus' fist.

In the blink of her eyes, both of the brothers had begun choking. The same chain wrapped around their throats; their backs pressed together. If one tried to pull the chain away from their neck, the other brother would choke to death.

Damon was coughing out his spare breaths, panic widening his eyes so much that Y/n feared they might pop out of their sockets. His mouth was beginning to lose colour just like his skin. Still, there was the beg for another chance reddening his eyes, but Y/n switched her gaze onto Stefan.

He was wheezing heavily, his throat making loud creaky noises that Y/n, unfortunately, could recognise anywhere, at any time. He was dying faster than Damon, and his eyes were set on hers when they stopped moving.

As his body began to fall forward, the chain around Damon's neck tightened so tightly that his tongue protruded out of his mouth, eyes staring into the void, lifeless.

Y/n took a shuddering breath, then looked at Klaus.

"I'm sorry you had to do this," she whispered, crossing over the two dead bodies to cup his face.

It had been hard to have him feel solace with his existence without having the urge to kill. Almost like trying to get him clean off of a drug addiction.

This had been a relapse, then. And Y/n's stone-cold heart was trembling inside her chest in fear of losing him to the coping addiction again.

But then the golden rim of an eclipse melted like honey into the moss of his eyes, and they crinkled at the corners. He leaned in and rested his forehead on hers.

"This did not happen because of you, remember that," he whispered. "I needed to do this, or I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

Y/n nodded solemnly. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"I love you," she sobbed, her body shaking as she pushed herself further into Klaus' chest, wanting to hide away from all that was surrounding her. "You are the remedy of all things."

"Always and forever, my love," Klaus smiled, wrapping his arms around her.

"Let's go home," he muttered into her hair and bent down to pick her up like he had on their wedding day.

"No carriages, since the driver will surely take us to the authorities upon seeing us doused in blood and have not a single wound at the same time," he grinned, laughing when she hit his chest.

"I was really excited for this ball," Y/n sighed. "I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"Me too, love," Klaus said, preparing to race through the small town along with the clear wind.

"But it was evanescent, wasn't it? This rage, this murderous urge – it was fleeting?" Y/n asked nervously, hopefully.

Klaus nodded faintly. "I'm offended you'd think I have such low control," he teased, and Y/n breathed a sigh of relief. “My love, this thirst has gone as quickly as it’d come,” he reassured her. 

"Didn't want to kill again but I'm guessing it was for the better, since no one would dare to forget about what the hybrid is capable of for a long time now," smirking, Klaus looked around at the mess he'd made.

“Now let’s go back home,” he smiled and Y/n’s eyes watered as she nodded. 

When Klaus had suspected foul play, he'd felt vontade; a strong desire to do something. So powerful had been his inner drive to remind everyone of his terror that he couldn't have helped himself. The thought of losing Y/n had been petrifying enough.

So, he kicked someone's decapitated head out of his way and strolled outside, already annoyed upon the realisation that in the morning, he’d have to hear about the harrowing news of the horrors found inside the Castle Harrowgate. 

[saey707]

I SEE YOU HAVE ALREADY SEEN "HEARTSTEEL" I LOVE THEIR INTERACTIONS ON TWITTER AND EVERYTHING (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA) It's cool, just cool :') Well, the point is... could you do a Yone x fangirl!reader? (I've been thinking about an anonymous online friendship and then a BIG surprise when they just meet face to face) Anyway, have a good day <3 -🍄

✿ Prompt: You have a chance encounter with Yone ✿

♡ champion focus: yone ♡ tw: none! ♡ Gender-neutral reader

Author’s Note: YES HELLOOO! ૮₍´｡ᵔ ꈊ ᵔ｡`₎ა Thanks so much for requesting! I tried my best to get the premise of your idea in, but I did make some changes to improve the flow of the short and make it more authentic! Hope you enjoy! ૮₍˶ •. • ⑅₎ა ♡

You and Yone met through an online board long before he went off the grid- hell, you met long before Yone even became legendary!

While it wasn't the conventional way to meet someone, you couldn't help but become fascinated by him and all the discussions he participated in. It's not every day you meet a (kind) man so invested in the history of Japanese warriors, DJ'ing, cold brew, and meditating!

You've never met Yone in person, but you figured from his messages alone he was either an old man or a kind soul... Even both. Every email Yone sent you was well punctuated and wise. He always knew exactly what to say, to an extent where you didn't know if he was just researching everything he was telling you or was telling you something based on his life experiences!

The day Yone sent a photo to you was the day you were convinced he was an old man now. It was clear that the photo was printed when he took a picture of it. His long, black hair was neatly kept, and he stood tall and sharp in a suit... Not to mention, there were orbs on the edge of the photo, and his eyes were as red as a demon!

You knew, eventually, your anonymous pen pal would stop replying one day, but it still hurt all the same. For years, you wondered if Yone was okay. You wondered where he was now, what amazing things he was doing. You wondered if one day he would ever email you back again... You wondered if he was dead.

"Hey, Warrior! I know it's been a few years since we last spoke. I know you won't respond, and I don't carry any grudges against you for it. I just can't help but wonder: How have you been? Were you ever able to get that red motorcycle you wanted? Are you still DJ'ing?"

That was the first email in years you sent to him... And you couldn't help but find some comfort in having a one-sided conversation. In a way, it felt like it healed the past few years you were left wondering and waiting.

"Hi, Warrior! You won't believe what happened yesterday: I finally got myself to meditate for 30 minutes straight! I'm still not sure how you can do it for an hour, but maybe someday I can get just as good as you. Hope you respond soon. I miss you!"

It became a regular habit for you to email him, even knowing you would never get a response. But maybe someday he'll be able to see what's going on in your life. Maybe someday, he'll open up his emails and respond to you... It's just wishful thinking.

"Have you seen the new band going viral? They're called Heartsteel! Their producer has the same name as you and even rides a red motorcycle in the music video! Isn't that cool? I know it isn't you, but at the very least I can imagine that it is you. I can imagine it's you out there doing great things with great people. And maybe it makes sense to me now why you won't respond. But just know I'm proud of you. No matter what you're doing out there. I'll email you again in a few days. Bye, Yone."

You sent the email, shutting your laptop now.

Waiting in line for a cold brew, it came as a surprise to you when you saw a man in front of you looking down at his phone, not even realizing that the line had already cut down to his turn to order.

You waited a few seconds... Then another. Then another.

Soon enough, you were annoyed. "Uhh, hey?! It's your turn to order..!" You tapped the man's shoulder, watching as he turned his head to you, confused as he shook himself from the alternate dimension his head was just in.

Your eyes widened as you stared at him for a moment, taking in the intricate details of his face. You recognized the sharp look in his eyes. You were familiar with the shape of his jawline. From the moment you got a good look at him, you knew it was him.

And while it seemed as if he didn't recognize you, the moment you spoke, his eyes lit up. It was you.

"Warrior?"

"Deer..."

[merbear25]

Fic authors self rec!♡ When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Aw, what a sweet way to spread self-love! Thank you so much for sending this to me and giving me the chance to unabashedly hype my own writing up. Hope you enjoy my list and the explanations you didn't ask for 💜💜

Mousefood (Caesar)

I put a lot of time and consideration into the plague I wanted to create. I've always adored biology, so doing research on what I wanted and how I could fit it into the story I envisioned was unbelievably exciting. Plus, the name came from a song I love and is also known as Anlleq, which is a foraged food and medicine. I thought I was clever.

2. Surviving a D&D AU (Zoro, Robin, Nami, Law, Kid, Ace)

Again, so much research went into this, which made me SO happy. I loved analyzing these characters' personalities with the different races and classes. Figuring out how they would fit into this world and writing it took 9 hours in total. Worth it.

3. Snake Bites (Monster!Law)

This was done as a trade. It was my first time doing anything like this and was a blast. It pushed me to incorporate new themes. All in all, I was pleased with how it turned out, even if it's dark and twisted. 💀

4. Leading his devoted follower into sin (Priest!Doffy)

Okay, so I'm not the biggest Doffy fan. Don't get me wrong! He's an amazing villain, and I like him as a character, but I'm not into him like that. With that being said, I had so much fun writing this. I was getting all giddy half-way through, thinking "Oh my gosh! I can't believe what's happening!" as if I wasn't the one writing it. 😂

5. Been thinking a lot about... (Caesar)

Yes...another one with the goat man is here. I wrote one of these with Crocodile too, which ironically, helped get the crazed obsession I had with him out of my head. So little naive me assumed it would do the same thing with Caesar. It did not. It made it worse. So much worse. Anyway, this one is special to me because it helped me realize how shit out of luck I am.

[carbon--14]

i have been stalking looking at your blog and not to be weird but i love you (in a mutuals way not a stalker way) also please tell me more abt your rocket scientist life i’m very intrigued if you’re interested in sharing.

hi nonnie why don't you come off anon and say hello properly ;))) jk. are we mutuals? or do i owe u a follow O___O

seriously though it's not even 1 pm and today has legitimately been one of the worst days of my life (family stuff, don't ask) so this was super needed and appreciated. thx for the little giggle lolz

anyway yeah aerospace/astronautical engineering is kind of a weird place to be :P it's kinda niche and the workload is insane, so people burn out quick and the ones who stick around actually enjoy it a little too much tbch. the vibes are a little weird because half of my classmates are like me and there because it's a long time special interest they're willing to commit several years to and the others are obsessed with military tech and really want to be a part of that development. and they're pleasant people to be around, like they're polite and stuff, but i have actually had a conversation with a classmate who told me (and i'm quoting here) "well, i'm not the one pulling the trigger, so i'm not responsible for anything." and his ideal career paths were working on stealth bombers or hypersonics :///// yikes. there's a reason we're not taught ethics especially since military contractors are the primary ones snapping us up for jobs right out of school. ironically though the actual rotc kids are the nicest of that bunch and tend to be super collaborative and friendly? but i'm not joking in one of my first year classes we took a poll of the group's favorite movies and i shit you not over 50% of the class said one of the two top gun movies and another 15% said interstellar X__X (mine is scott pilgrim btw cuz i have taste)

luckily the yippee creatures of the class are very aware of how fucked up the industry is and willing to talk about it so there's still hope. my personal strat is to make myself a very competitive candidate for a very niche subset of the industry without very many "defense" applications lol. :D especially since a lot of those "defense" jobs are in the middle of nowhere in like, texas and alabama and florida. so not exactly the greatest places for me to be. i'm super interested in ion thruster design and development and there's a couple of startups on the west coast that are working on that so i'm crossing my fingers. tbch i am so fed up with the actual industry that i'm genuinely considering going all-in on my online "content creator™" presence just to have some shot at avoiding it. i have been having an actual existential crisis for about 3 weeks wondering if i actually made the right choices in life

but yeah the actual workload will crush your will to live unless you actually enjoy it. my classes this semester consist of incompressible fluid dynamics, dynamics control systems, structural mechanics, numerical methods, and astronomical computer simulation development >_< i'm gonna dieeeee!! and probably need an insane glasses prescription by the end of the year with the amount of coding work i have to do. plus i'm trying to score a research position and finishing up a senior-level independent study lol AND this semester i'll be driving back and forth between school and home (which is three hours each way eugh) to go to concerts and shit with my dad, but hey free tix are free tix. so in case you were wondering why i barely draw anymore, this is my life now X__X alsoalso my faculty advisor for the independent study is nonbinary and giving me job advice! they're super cool i love them foreverrrr

as for my actual hands on experience i'll admit it's limited :PP mostly because it's super hard to score industry experience before the summer before junior year and i was in recovery the whole summer so i literally couldn't hold myself upright for more than a few minutes. but i've done a bunch of projects for classes + uni-funded ones too!! my biggest claim to fame (lol) is working on a three-stage rocket designed to fly to the karman line (which is the Super Official Divide Between The Atmosphere And Space™ lol). everything except our motor was built in-house and i worked on structural design and analysis, so my job consisted of

a) working on and approving cad models of each component before we sent them to the fabrication team,

b) stress-testing all parts the fab team sent us to ensure they were flight ready (there is a picture of me somewhere sitting on a chair precariously balanced on top of three sandbags on top of a giant tube filled with more sand and our nosecone, because sand under enough pressure puts a similar kind of stress on a nosecone as it experiences in flight),

c) fixing any uneven surfaces or manufacturing errors on our parts, and

d) doing so. much. documentation. i have to be totally honest, like 75% of aero/astro e is writing the most boring papers you will ever read in your life :[

and i also built a 3d cad model of the opportunity mars rover from scratch with only official promo pics and rover "selfies" and that thing crashed the lab computers twice and took a week's worth of 8 hour days in the lab + 3 all-nighters. fml but she was so worth it thooooo

sorrysorrysorry nonnie that was probably 10x more info than you were expecting but tl;dr i'm the world's biggest weirdo who actually loves physics and rocketry so i enjoy everything i'm doing in class but the actual job search is hell on earth and i dread the day i graduate :/ for now it's still mostly fun

[fishcakes707]

This drawing took quite a while to make. Typically, a drawing would take me 2-3 hours to complete. However, this drawing took roughly 6 hours and 15 minutes to make. I wanted to ensure that I put all my effort into its creation. I figured that feeling down about my art was just a result of not finishing my drawings in the first place and leaving them as rough drafts. So, I made sure to be patient with myself this time in hopes of coming up with something great. And I think I did just that. I enjoy how the drawing turned out and it makes me want to draw even more. Moving on, the flowers I used in the drawing are called Impatiens which I recently found when researching for another drawing. They’re also called Touch-me-not. The reason behind the name is due to how the seeds will explode when touched. Or something like that, I can’t quite remember. But I thought the flowers were very pretty, and I wanted to include them in a drawing. The flowers came in many colors, but I decided to stick with the red variant. I also added many leaves with different variants of greens to complement the flowers. I do wish I added more flowers, though, like having them piling up from the bottom where the character’s dress is. Speaking of the character, I already had a rough idea of how I wanted her to look. I wanted her to have long, dark, and curly hair draped alongside her. I didn’t put much thought into her dress and struggled a little with her dress and eye color. I eventually figured it out, and I’m pretty happy with the result. I once again had no clue what to do with the background, so I just made a bunch of blobs with colors I already used and hoped for the best. I ended up being very pleased with how it turned out. It sorta looks like lily pads in a pond, and I think it looks very pretty. I was wondering whether or not to make the line art lighter or softer looking, but I decided to stick with the black line art instead. I feel like I would’ve liked the softer line art more, but what’s done is done. On a side note, I’ve been wanting to showcase recordings of my drawing process for a while because I just think it would be cool. So, I decided to include a recording of my drawing process in this post just for fun. I also included some music to make it more bearable to watch. The music I chose doesn’t match the atmosphere the drawing has, but I didn’t have a lot of options, and this soundtrack was close enough. Also, if you’re curious, the song I used is called “Through Lights” and is by Judson Crane. I found the soundtrack on iMovie. Anyways, I hope you like this drawing and have a nice day or night.

[geshertzarmeod]

red white & royal blue characters as jeremy jordan performances on youtube (karaoke AU?)

Alex Claremont-Diaz: 

“It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” 54 Below (Jan. 2015)

This is the reason I made this post in the first place. Honestly this is my favorite YouTube video and it’s an emotional rollercoaster and you just know Alex would have this energy, would enjoy teasing his audience, would play into every single piece of tension possible, would live for the attention. The drama!!!! Henry's sweating. Alex can tell. Nora, Bea and Pez are singing backup, and Alex does the flirty eye contact thing at the end with Nora, Bea, and lastly Henry, who blushes up to his ears and barely controls himself from surging forward and kissing Alex.

Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor: 

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” 54 Below (May 2015)

Nora and Bea sing backup (turn around bright eyes) and Henry loses himself in the performance bit by bit. He feels it he is emoting he is letting go. And the audience lives for it, just like Don’t Stop Me Now. Alex is transfixed, captivated. The occasional drunk stumble... doesn’t change that, it’s even more endearing. And because Jeremy Jordan isn’t a homophobic coward like Michael Bublé, he kept the extended version lyrics of:

Every now and then I know you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am Every now and then I know there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you Every now and then I know there's nothing any better and there's nothing that I just wouldn't do

And Henry... Henry means every word.

I really need you tonight Forever’s gonna start tonight

Percy “Pez” Okonjo:

“Don’t Speak” 54 Below (May 2018)

The drama. The amount of playing with the audience that happens in this video holy shit. Pez lives for it. He keeps glancing at June at his most dramatic moments, when the audience goes silent at the edge of their seats waiting for him to continue. At around 2:30, the, “who are we?” is absolutely to Henry, who is maybe air-playing piano. Nora is up and dancing... for some reason I feel like she’s doing body rolls at him as they wink at each other and look at June. At 4:30, “Stop fucking playing,” and then falsetto.... this song is Pez 100%.

June Claremont-Diaz:

“She Used To Be Mine” MCC Theater MisCast Gala (March 2018)

June knows how to have fun, but I also feel like she’d be one to go for a karaoke song with emotional depth like this, for a little catharsis, a safe way to let out a bit of the pent up feelings of frustration, anger, resentment, regret, wishfulness, she has about her situation, about what her family’s position means for her life and her career and her relationships, about what she used to dream for and how she has to adapt it now. She gets to let a little of it out, and have it be seen, and almost recognized, almost understood. This is another one where she’s just singing at first but by the end, she’s there. She’s in it. Bea is screaming louder than anyone else, because she feels it too. Nora kisses her cheek after. (also I feel like June’s a Waitress fan anyway, so she knows the song well)

Alex, Nora, and Pez (or alternatively, Pez Bea and June):

“Under Pressure” with Andy Mientus and Krysta Rodriguez 54 Below (March 2015)

The vibes are just immaculate. The cues Andy keeps missing and how Krysta and Jeremy are giving their all while he’s just having a great time. It’s either Alex = Andy, Nora = Krysta, Pez = Jeremy, OR June = Andy, Bea = Krysta, and Pez = Jeremy. With maybe an added falsetto from Pez.

Beatrice “Bea” Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor:

“High and Dry” 54 Below (March 2015)

Unfortunately, I didn’t really find a performance that felt right for Bea. I think she could have done Total Eclipse, possibly? But that felt like a good one for Henry, especially considering Don’t Stop Me Now. Anyway. Maybe she’d sing this? She, like June, could use a good old cathartic sing of a darker song.

Tumblr won’t let me embed more than five videos, but click the link!

Nora Holleran:

“Semi-Charmed Life” Elsie Fest (Oct. 2017)

As I said for Bea, I couldn’t find a perfect song for Nora where it felt like the way she would perform it, and also a song she would actually pick. But it’s like, halfway there on both! I can see her choosing this, and see her performing it in a similar way to him - with confidence, and not doing as much face acting as other More Dramatic Performances I’ve included so far. She just rocks it!!!

Tumblr won’t let me embed more than five videos, but click the link!

Bonus:

Liam, having his gay awakening four(?) years before Alex:

“I’ve Told You Now” 54 Below (April 2015)

Henry and Alex’s wedding song:

“At Last” Elsie Fest (Oct. 2017) 

[detroit-grand-prix]

Wildest Dreams Chapter 2 - It’s Nice To Have A Friend

Chapter summary:  Phoebe ages out of karting and gets ready to compete in Formula Renault after having joined the Red Bull Racing driver academy. She turned Mercedes down, but she still managed to gain a mentor in Susie Wolff, another female driver who is currently one of Williams' test and development drivers. Even so, now that she's moved up to actual single-seater racing, a lot changes. More pressure, more expectations, more time away from home and school. Somehow, though, it’s fun.

Chapter word count:  3,435

Author’s note: I’ll put notes/references about each chapter here, because a lot of these took some research.

Anyway, the Schlossplatz is a big historical public square in Stuttgart, with a big palace that was rebuilt. There’s a Christmas market there every year. 

Phoebe competed in both the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup and the Eurocup series in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The results/schedules for the actual races can be found here: 1 2 3 4

Previous Chapter

Stuttgart Mitte, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany March 14th, 2013

The next month passed quickly. Arrangements were made with Susie Wolff to meet her and her mother for lunch. Bee took the day off of school for it, and her mother took a few hours off of work. Susie suggested a restaurant in Stuttgart’s city center, near the Schlossplatz, that she said had good food.

Bee and her mother took the bus from their house in the Degerloch neighborhood to the Schlossplatz and walked to the restaurant from there - Josephine said it was easier than trying to find parking near the city center, even in the middle of the week, even though the bus ride would have taken twice as long as driving did. Either way, Bee was excited about going to the Schlossplatz - it was her favorite part of the city, with its wide open square and the gorgeous Neues Schloss. During the winter, she loved coming to the outdoor skating rink they set up here, and going to the Weihnachten during Christmas.

They found the restaurant, which was a German restaurant that served mostly tourists, which struck Bee as odd for some reason - it wasn’t as if Susie was a tourist, per se.

When Toto mentioned his wife being a professional racing driver, something clicked in Bee’s brain. She remembered going to DTM races when she was younger when there was a woman on the DTM grid named Susie Stoddart. The image of her was burned in Bee’s mind - a blonde woman that drove a car with a pink livery. It was hard not to notice one of the only female drivers driving a bright pink car, but she never stood out in Bee’s mind beyond that, as her results were never exceptional, at least when Bee still kept up with DTM. 

She and her mother stepped inside the restaurant (“Carl’s Brauhaus”) and Bee recognized Susie immediately. She still looked the same, more or less, as she did the last time Bee had seen her at the Hockenheim DTM race two years ago. Susie looked up from a menu and waved at them Bee and her mother stepped up to the host stand. She stood up and offered a handshake to Bee and her mother as they approached the table.

“Hello! I’m Susie Wolff, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Josephine, and this is my daughter, Phoebe.” Josephine put her hands on Bee’s shoulders, encouraging her to step forward, like she was shy. Bee thought it unnecessary - she wasn’t afraid of this woman, or anything.

Bee offered her hand, “You can call me Bee, though. Most people do.”

“So, Bee - ” Susie said as the three of them sat down. “From what I hear, you’re a pretty good racing driver, at least in karting. Toto has told me a lot about you. He said he really enjoyed meeting you.”

Bee blushed a little. “Thank you… I liked meeting him, too. I feel bad I ended up going with Red Bull, I hope he wasn’t upset.”

“He wasn’t, he understood your reasoning, but I think Niki - Niki Lauda, he’s managing the team with Toto - was a little confused. I told him that it’s different to be a woman in this sport, and people would find any reason to scrutinize you being in it. If you didn’t want to join Mercedes because your father works for the company, because Red Bull is better-established, and you had another option, that’s perfectly reasonable to me. Anyway -”

Susie picked up her menu. “I hope you don’t mind that I picked this place. I wouldn’t normally get something like all of this heavy Swabian food, but I haven’t been to Germany in a while, and I quite like the food in Stuttgart. Order whatever you’d like, this is on me.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you, thank you.” Josephine said. She and Bee both perused the menu and a waiter came over to take their order.

Susie put in her order while Josephine told Bee what she wanted, to relay to the waiter in German. Susie looked at Bee with a puzzled expression.

“Sorry,” Josephine explained, noticing the way Susie was looking at her. “My German isn’t that great. I can get by, and I can read it better than I can speak it. Even after living here for ten years, I can’t seem to get a hang of it. Bee learned it in school when she was a kid, my husband - John - uses it at work every day, but I work for an American company that has an office here in Stuttgart, so everyone just speaks English. Sometimes Bee has to translate.”

Susie nodded. “It’s hard. When I started racing in DTM, I didn’t know any of it, but they told me I pretty much had to learn it if I wanted to stick around. Luckily, I was living in Switzerland then, so I picked it up quickly, but it’s all I was using every day.”

All three of the women chatted a bit about everything - how the Stallards came to live in Germany, Bee’s karting career, and school.

“So, let me get this straight - you live here in Germany, but you go to an American high school?” Susie said.

“Yes,” Bee said. “I went to a German primary school and then on to a Gymnasium, but I never really fit in that well, so I changed to the school on the army base last year.”

“Plus,” Josephine said, “For some reason, schools here in Baden-Württemberg have classes on some Saturdays, and that just didn’t work with Bee’s racing schedule. There’s so many weekends where we’re out of town for karting races that it just wouldn’t have worked if she’d gone to a German school.”

“And if I end up going to college, I’d like to go back to the US for it. So I don’t really need the Abitur, the diploma you get from going to a Gymnasium, but I’m still not sure if that’s what I want to do. If I can’t make it in racing, I will. But I’d like to be in racing for as long as I possibly can.” Bee said.

Susie looked at her thoughtfully.

“That brings up a good point - do you have any specific goal you’d like to achieve? How far do you want to go?”

“Well… I’d like to make it to F1 someday. I know it’s going to be hard. But… that’s my goal. If I can’t make it that far, I’ll figure things out. But… I just know that I want to race. It’s all I’ve wanted to do since I met Sebastian Vettel.”

“She went to the German Grand Prix in 2011,” Josephine interjected. “Her dad managed to get pit lane passes through work, so she met her favorite driver. Since then, all she’s wanted to do is become a racing driver.”

Susie smiled at her. “I felt the same way when I watched Jensen Button during a Formula 3 race my parents took me too. Racing was all I wanted to do after that. I think you can do it. It’s going to be difficult. It has been for me, but I think things are maybe starting to change."

Bee absolutely loved meeting Susie. They had a lot in common. Susie gave Bee her contact information and told her to call her any time she needed advice. They talked about her upcoming step up to Formula Renault. Bee had been fortunate enough to have landed a seat on a team and the sponsorship from Red Bull to compete in two series - Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup series and the 2.0 Eurocup series.

She was surprised that it didn’t seem difficult to find a team willing to take her, but this was no doubt due to the influence of her coming with the sponsorship of the Red Bull academy. She’d also been lucky enough to end up with a German team, so she wouldn’t have to move away from home, like she’d known a lot of other drivers ended up having to, especially if they weren’t from Europe.

The next few months before the new racing season started in the spring were agonizing. Bee had effectively aged out of karting and hadn’t raced in months. She started working with a fitness trainer from Red Bull to try to put on some muscle, especially in her neck. There was also the PR and media training, and occasional trips to Milton Keynes in the UK to visit Red Bull Racing headquarters for meetings and events that she had to participate in. On top of that, with the arrangements she’d had to make with her school around her race schedule, she’d have to go to summer school to get ahead for the upcoming school year, as she’d be gone almost each weekend the following fall.

It wasn’t all dire. One of her trips to Milton Keynes for PR purposes was to finally get the race suit and helmet she’d been fitted for, and to have publicity photos taken for the Red Bull website. She could hardly believe it when she’d put the suit on and looked down at herself wearing it. It was magnificent. It fit her far better than any of her karting suits had, because she’d always had to buy ones made for boys - there just weren’t any options for girls, and it had been mostly fine until she’d hit puberty and began to develop. Her karting suits would always be too baggy in some places and too tight in others. This one had been made to measure, specifically for her.

She loved everything about it - the spectacular navy blue, the red and white stripes going up the side, the American flag embroidered at the belt with STALLARD next to it in white letters. She’d also been fitted for a helmet and a HANS device, which she found strangely comfortable. She had heard some drivers found the HANS restrictive, but she sort of liked the feel of it.

She almost didn’t want to take her racing gear off after the photoshoot and filming her introduction video was done. She admired herself in the mirror when she first tried it on, imagining herself on a Formula 1 podium, Sebastian Vettel standing on the second step, as they showered each other with champagne.

Bee made sure to keep in touch with Susie and Toto, and they were kind enough to invite her to visit when she had to be in the UK if they were home, because their home in the UK wasn’t very far away from Milton Keynes. It seemed that almost all of the motorsport people and teams she knew of all were around the same area of England, which made sense when she realized where the infamous Silverstone Circuit was. Bee had started feeling a bit of the pressure of the realities of being an up-and-coming racing driver, but being able to talk to Susie, who had been in her shoes before, helped quite a bit.

By the time testing time for her team came around, she was nervous about driving a proper single seater car instead of a kart for the first time. There wasn’t much to worry about, though, as she took to it like a duck to water. It was more enclosed than the kart, like climbing into a small bathtub, but she didn’t mind it so much. She had a naturally slight frame, so that helped. It almost felt kind of comfortable, despite having absolutely no room for her elbows, and the fact that she was sitting in a reclined position. It was a good thing she wasn't claustrophobic.

She also loved how it handled - also different to a kart, but in a good way. It took a few laps to get used to the feel, and the way she had to orient herself in the car, but she began to put in some very impressive lap times. By the time she was done, she had heard people whispering up and down the paddock about the “American girl” and her times. It felt like validation.

Finally, the actual racing season started. Her school year ended a little early due to the relatively brutal travel schedule she had coming up with competing concurrently in two series. It wasn’t uncommon - most of her gridmates would be competing in both. In her first month she’d be going to Italy and Spain, with trips to the UK for team business in between.

On one of these trips, she got to meet Sebastian Vettel at a team event. She had met him before, once, at the 2011 German Grand Prix. Her father took her for her birthday and through some stroke of good fortune, had obtained pit lane passes. He pulled some strings at work, apparently. But then, she was just a fan who happened to be in karting. He was incredibly kind to her then, but now she was his teammate, in a sense. She felt so nervous about it - where most girls her age had posters of One Direction on their walls, she had posters of Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull gear. Her nerves were not helped because he’d since developed a bit of a reputation of being a bit cocky, but he was nothing but kind to her when they talked. They switched between English and German, which Bee thought was fun. Sebastian said that he remembered meeting her a few years back, and was happy to see she’d stuck with racing. He told her that he was excited that she was getting started in single-seaters, and said that he hoped she would be able to do well. They talked occasionally when they were both in Milton Keynes together, and in a few months, Seb ended up becoming a sort of friend. He always made sure to say hello to her whenever he saw her.

Her first race was at Monza. It was her first time in Italy. The idea of racing on such an old and venerated track made her a little nervous. It was the first race that she’d ever seen Sebastian win. Watching him win in Monza was the moment that Sebastian became Bee’s favorite driver. She’d seen it so many times on TV, she’d never imagined she’d actually race on it one day.

Practices weren’t so bad, but by the time she’d lined up on the grid for her first qualifying round, she could feel her heart pounding so hard that it felt like it was trying to escape her chest. Susie had given her some advice to close her eyes, take deep breaths, and try to visualize the racing line around the entire track, turn-by-turn, to distract herself from the nerves, and to make good use of the formation lap to try to settle into the pattern of the turns.

When it was time for the race to start, she felt better. After she started, her body almost felt like it was going through the motions automatically. It was delightful, and the result was delightful - she qualified in P7, which was entirely respectable for a rookie driver. She was the highest qualified rookie to boot. Both of her races that weekend made for equally respectable results - P8 in the first race, P4 in the second race - just shy of a podium. Even so, it felt incredible.

By the time she got home from Italy, she could barely keep up with all of the nice messages she got. Susie had called her the day after the race to congratulate her and tell her that her performance was impressive. The Detroit Free Press had run a small article about her, so she had calls from lots of family and family friends from Michigan.

As the season went on, she improved, and was pleased with her results. She learned to go on the attack and started developing a driving style that was characterized in a motorsport blog as “surprisingly aggressive”. It was fun to see those words in plain black-and-white. It felt like a challenge of sorts - like nobody had expected her to drive like a real driver because she was a girl. At first, hearing people doubted her was a little bothersome, but eventually, she just let them fuel her - she loved proving people wrong, after all.

She also, pleasantly, found it a lot easier to make friends with the other drivers than it had been in karting, at least, she thought. There was another American on her team for both series, a boy from New York named Ryan. She also liked talking to the British kids because they spoke the same language as her and she had now spent a considerable amount of time in the UK.

Her first season was more successful than she’d expected it to be. She had a handful of podiums, even starting on pole position once (which was, quite frankly, terrifying - it was her first experience being the hunted instead of the hunter). She hadn’t managed to get a win, but her team managed to win the Teams’ Championship by the end of the season in both series, which her respectable results contributed to. She loved racing more than she ever thought she could. She had the time of her life during every race weekend, even on the race where she'd had a retirement due to a suspension failure.

The next season was more of the same - the same thrill, the same impressive results. She did well - a handful of podiums, and three races where she’d started on pole.

Circuitio de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain October 18th, 2015

By the time the second season ended, Bee was almost sad to be moving up into Formula 3. She really enjoyed the atmosphere of Formula Renault, and had a good relationship with everyone on her team. Before qualifying for her final race, her team principal almost made her cry by telling her how proud he was of her, and how he couldn’t wait to see where her career went. “I know you’ll go far.”, he told her as he pulled her into a tight hug before wishing her luck.

She had already signed to another team for Formula 3, because her team, Kaufmann racing, didn’t compete in F3.

Susie and Toto had also made it to her final race weekend, which was in Jerez, Spain. They sat in the grandstands with Bee's parents, despite the fact that they would easily be able to access the paddock - who wouldn't have known who they were? (As it was, Josephine had told Bee after-the-fact, the two of them being in the grandstands had caused quite a stir amongst people sitting near them.) Bee was surprised they’d come, but it was an off-weekend in the Formula 1 calendar and Susie said that she really wanted to see Bee’s last race in Formula Renault. They had established a tradition of doing an unofficial debrief on the phone after each race weekend - Bee felt that Susie’s input was invaluable, even though she wasn’t actually watching the races, but she’d watch videos of them. Bee was certain she wouldn’t have been as successful without Susie’s guidance.

Bee managed to close her Formula Renault career with a bang, with a second-place finish in her final race. An actual win had eluded her throughout her Formula Renault tenure, but at that moment, standing on the second step, spraying her gridmates with celebratory champagne, still sticky with sweat - it didn’t matter. She felt like she was on top of the world.

Toto and Susie took Bee and her parents out for a celebratory dinner after the race. Bee had a gift for Susie to thank her for all of her help in both seasons, but it was a bit large to bring to the restaurant in a subtle way. She stuffed it in her backpack anyway.

After they’d finished dinner, Bee spoke up.“Susie, I have something for you, just to thank you for all of your help these past two years. I don’t think it would have gone as well as it did without your help.”

She reached under the table where she’d stowed her backpack and unzipped it, producing her race helmet.

“I know it’s a Red Bull helmet, but I wanted you to have it. I remember Sebastian telling me once that he liked to exchange helmets with other drivers he liked and respected, so… I thought I’d give you mine from this year. I hope that someday I’ll be able to give you one of my Formula 1 helmets.”

“Oh, my goodness, Bee.” Susie said, accepting the helmet from her, setting it on the table, and pulling Bee into a hug. “I’m so proud of you. I’m sure you will someday, and I can’t wait.”

Josephine insisted on getting a picture of the two of them together, which Bee was a little embarrassed about, but she obliged anyway.

The next morning, while Bee was packing up her hotel room for the trip home, Bee’s grandmother called her and told her to check the website for the Detroit Free Press if she could.

“Why?”

“Just take a look! I think you’ll like it!”

Bee navigated to the paper’s site on her phone’s browser, and it took a second to realize what she was seeing. Where the front-page article is usually placed, there was a giant picture of herself on the podium, spraying her competitors during the victory celebration. She had an enormous smile, her dark hair was still tied into the French braided pigtails she’d always worn under her helmet, but the braids were a frizzy mess. She had her 2nd place podium hat on, and the picture featured blurry drops of champagne in the foreground, and the American flag illuminating an LED screen behind her. It was the kind of image you would see on a poster.

The caption read:

“Phoebe Stallard, 16, Sterling Heights native, celebrates on the podium for the 2014 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series. Stallard placed second in the final race of the series at the Circuit of Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. She will be competing in the European Formula 3 race series in the upcoming season.”

Next Chapter

[yoonieper]

Secrets of the Sea— Part 2 | MYG

❂ Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

❂ Genre: Mermaid AU Keeper AU, slight enemies to lovers, fluff, angst, future smut

❂ Rated: I for INFORMATION!!! [❁, ❅]

❂ Warnings: nsfw themes are discussed *wink wink nudge nudge*, lots of information is learned, Yoongi finally starts spilling the tea, Y/N is extremely confused, they’re very cute in this chapter

❂ Word Count: 27.1k

❂ Summary: A summer vacation you had planned with you and your friends turns into the unexpected when you happen to discover an otherworldly creature in your own backyard. Is that… is that a merman? What starts as a clash between species, turns into an unforeseen research project when you both become curious about your two completely different cultures. Land and water, two different worlds on the same planet. Maybe they can come together…?

❂ Author’s Note: This took a while but it’s finally here! This might be the longest chapter in the whole series, I say that and jinx myself lol, but the other chapters should come out a lot sooner! Also sidenote, I keep changing the banner lol >.< Sorry if you're reading through this all together and you keep seeing different ones lol~ This is actually fanart I made for the story that I might post in it's unblurry version here one day :3 Anyway, thanks so much for waiting, enjoy the story!

❂ Beta: Thank you so much @chemicalpink for looking over this mess :,)

If you have trouble loading the story, please check it out on ao3! I also posted it on there! Link to my profile on my about me page!

Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | To be continued~

No reposting, modifying. Translating is not allowed unless given explicit permission. Thank you so much : D

[Bold words are Yoongi speaking in his language]

Eggs.. no… What if you had—... no, no you don’t have that either. Your fridge was empty. You had been hoping to cook some actual breakfast for once, but the only thing you really had in there was a bunch of fish you had bought for Yoongi and some bottles of water. None of that really screams breakfast.

You sighed.

You had spent the day worried about your new fishy friend. It was now the next day after the big transformation and he still hadn’t woken up… The only reason you hadn’t had a complete meltdown was in the fact that you remembered how exhausted he seemed after the whole thing. You were just a bit on edge as the hours turned into the following day, up to the point where one could only hope he was ok.

Deciding between heading to the store or just having more ramen like you had been doing for the past few weeks, a sudden thud takes you out of your thoughts. The first place your mind went to was Yoongi who was in the room up above.

Uh oh.

You dropped your ramen and ran up the stairs to him.

“Yoongi?!” You panicked as you opened the door. To confirm your suspicion you found the poor man on the floor.

“What happened?” You questioned as you hurried over to help him but quickly shielded your eyes realizing both the blanket and towel had slipped off his form.

“Why is walking so hard?” He sighed, making you realize what had happened.

“Sooo you still can’t walk?” You asked and he scoffed.

“Do humans learn to walk in a day?” You quickly apologized for your assumption.

“I just wondered if maybe that was a temporary thing…” Yoongi rolled his eyes at your comment and sighed.

“I’ll get there eventually.” He grabbed onto the edges of the bed and lifted himself back up, shooing away any attempts you made to help him.

“Yoongi?!” You cried trying to cover your poor eyes once again. Legs were spread and you were seeing WAY too much. “Please grab the towel, blanket, anything please!” Your words turned his attention to see your flushed face, making him confused once again. What was the matter with you?

“Human please explain why you are acting this way?” Yoongi questioned very nonchalantly. He was curious in the way you would react everytime you would look at him like this, always insisting to cover up, a concept he obviously has yet to fully understand and one you were quite unsure of how to explain.

You thought for a moment to make sure you worded this right. “Clothes are kinda important to us humans. I don’t imagine it’s the same where you come from, so I’m sure that’s gonna take some getting used to.” You chuckled nervously.

Your words still made no sense to him. “I don’t see why… they seem restricting if I’m being completely honest.” He did have a point. “And why is there a need for this cursed fabric anyway?”

You thought a moment before answering. “I think it started as a way to keep warm in times when it was cold. I don’t know, somehow they added on covering up uh, certain parts.” You cringed at the last words.

“Certain parts?” Yoongi questioned looking down “What certain parts? I’d imagine everything was important and it’s certainly not cold by any means...” Behind your hands you were starting to panic, realizing his questions were backing you into a corner.

Taking you out of your thoughts was a sudden force pushing you forward, confused, you lowered your hands to reveal that you were now standing right in front of Yoongi.

“What the…” you mumbled, but was taken aback when you felt his hand grab your wrist.

“Show me.” His tone was innocent and genuinely curious, but his words sounded like pure filth considering the situation.

You quickly backed up. “Uh, I don’t think I’m the one who should explain that…” You decided to toss that conversation for whenever Seokjin and Jungkook show up. Yeah…. they definitely need to have a guy talk.

“Um anyway, I’ll be back. Let me get the clothes.” You quickly exclaimed and rushed out to your room. You took a moment to cool off with a few deep breaths before you grabbed the clothes you had set on the edge of your bed, and prayed this would actually work.

As you approached his room you realized this probably wasn’t gonna be a simple handoff type of situation. He was probably gonna need some help.

Shit.

With a deep breath you walked in to see Yoongi attempting to stand again. His hands on the nightstand assisted his much shakier legs. “Look human~” He happily exclaimed, proud he had managed to stand.

You watched the terrible sequence of events unfold as he let go, but almost immediately fell over back on the bed.

“Yoongi?!” You ran to his side. “You ok?” He ignored the question and used the nightstand to stand up again. “I have to keep trying if I’m going to get any better.” He said plainly as he fell back down again.

A sigh escaped his lips at the obstacle. He’ll get there eventually.

His attention then focused on the fabric you had folded in your hands.

Oh no.

“Human, what is that?” He questioned. “Clothes,” you answered, to which Yoongi gave you a sour look.

”If you’re gonna stay here, you're gonna have to put these on.” You laid out plainly.

He pouted, which had you screaming to yourself at how cute he looked but he grabbed the clothes anyway, despite the protest.

“How do you even…?” He held up the flimsy fabric uPSidE down, leading you to make the decision you really were gonna have to help him.

“Lift your arms.” You say to which he complies. The shirt slid on easily over his form. You smiled and then chuckled at his confused expression. You could immediately tell he didn’t like it. “It’s even worse than I thought.” He cringed.

“Well you're gonna have to deal with it for the time being. You still have to do the pants you know.” You said holding out the other piece of clothing, handing it to him.

“Just put your feet through the holes at the bottom, I can help you stand so you can pull them up.”

Turning around, you could hear him struggle behind you. You honestly had to stop yourself from laughing quite a few times.

“Did you get it yet?” You asked after you’re sure a good five minutes had passed.

“I—I think so,” you heard him say. Suddenly an arm was rested on your shoulder. He used you to hoist himself up, making you very aware of his presence behind you. You felt his breath tickle the back of your neck, letting you know how close he was. The thought of it had your face feeling a bit warm.

“Ok, I think I got it.” You turned around and was shocked.

He looked really good. His fluffy disheveled hair had you wanting to run your hands through it. The outfit also looked surprisingly normal despite it being your clothes.

He smiled when he saw your shocked expression

Yoongi was still pretty close too. Both his arms rested on your shoulders, no more than a foot in distance.

He looked good. Almost too good….

“Is this right?” He questioned, but you were too dazed to answer.

“Human?” He called out again, finally snapping you out of it.

What was wrong with you? You quickly asked him to repeat his question, he laughed a bit and continued, “I asked, is this the way it should look?” He looked down at his attire. Clothes would never be something he liked, but seeing the way you looked at him felt like the torture was worth it in the end.

“Yeah you did it right.” You said honestly it was a big surprise considering the way things have been going. You could even say you were proud.

All in an instant the moment was ruined when he accidentally let go and landed right back down on the floor.

You sighed. “You’re seriously gonna have to be more careful.” you said as you helped him up onto the bed. “Failure leads to success, does it not?” He said. You looked over at him. He did have a point. “You’re right, it’s just I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

“I’m fine, I’ve experienced worse.”

“Mmm, still though, you’re human now. You said it yourself, your abilities aren’t as enhanced. I don’t want anything happening to you and then this army comes after me.” Yoongi snickered to himself about that comment. If something happened to him, they’d definitely do a lot worse then just sending the royal guard.

“Anyway, let’s head downstairs for some breakfast. You’re probably hungry~” you said helping Yoongi stand. Despite how terrible he seemed to be at walking, your trip downstairs wasn’t as bad as what you were expecting. Going up yesterday was a nightmare, you were sure going down would be even worse, yet you could tell there had been an improvement. He definitely seemed a lot sturdier.

“You’re doing great Yoongi~” you praised, shocked at the progress. A proud smile was sent in return. “I told you human. Each time you fail, is one step closer to success.” You both laughed at the irony.

You quickly helped him over to the table. “What’d you wanna eat?” You opened the fridge, showing the array of fish that was inside. Despite this, Yoongi’s eyes drifted over to the ramen cups you had sitting on the counter.

“Mmmm, what about that?” He pointed to the ramen. You were shocked. Did the transformation have an effect on his diet?

You decided to ask. Let’s see if he’ll talk this time…

You picked up the ramen. “This? I’ve eaten it in front of you before, yet you never expressed any interest in it on all of those occasions. Does this switch have anything to do with the transformation?”

Yoongi laughed. “No human, this doesn’t relate to that at all, at least I don’t think so. I just figured now was probably the best time to get a taste of some of the food humans eat, being here with you and all. I’ve been curious about the information you’ve told me over these past few weeks.”

He is talking.

Yes!

THEORY: Diet changed because of transformation. (NEGATIVE???)

You made the mental note of writing that down in your notes later.

“Alright then~ I’ll fix both of us some~” It only took you a second to have the two steaming cups on the table, ready to be eaten. You went to grab some chopsticks for the both of you, only to realize that he probably didn’t know how to use them.

“Ummm, I can get you a fork if you want.” You said handing him the utensils. You watched as he examined the two metal sticks with perplexity.

“It’s ok, I’ve watched you use them, it doesn’t look too hard.” He said nonchalantly. You gave him a wary look, but watched as he attempted to hold them. You were shocked to see him holding them right, it definitely wasn’t perfect, but he was doing (extremely) better than the typical novice.

“Easy~” he smiled when he noticed your expression. “Ok then, I’m impressed~” you chuckled and took a seat right across from him. “Dig in I guess!”

You watched closely as he took his first bite. Part of you was thinking he’d spit it out and say he hated it, but no words were spoken as he continued to his third, forth, fifth bite, seemingly enjoying it with no complaints.

You happily ate along with him, silence filling the room for a while until you suddenly felt like you were being watched. You looked up from your phone to see Yoongi looking at you with pleading eyes. “Can I have more?” He asked in a way that reminded you of a child. You almost wanted to laugh because it was so cute.

You quickly fixed him another cup, unable to stop the chuckle when he practically ripped it from your hands. Breakfast continued like this for a while until out of the corner of your eye you noticed something. Yoongi would always need to push his hair up every time he needed to bend down to take a bite. The sight gave you an idea.

“Hey Yoongi~” You called out in the sweetest voice you could muster. He looked up at you, bangs hanging over eyes. “Would you mind if I did your hair? I noticed it keeps getting in the way… I could tie it up for you if you liked~” Yoongi thought about it for a second “Go ahead human.” He said and continued to eat.

Wow, ok! You didn’t expect him to say yes…

You ran up the stairs and grabbed a comb, brush, and a couple of hair ties you had brought with you and ran back down.

Part of you wanted to ask if you could wash it and do the whole nine yards, but you quickly decided not to push your luck.

You came to find him happily still eating away~ Ok good, he’s still in a good mood~ Let’s make this quick before that could change.

You set your stuff on the table. You were hesitant but started feeling the strands between your fingers. Yoongi paid you no mind as you patted him. It was seriously as soft as it looked. You were amazed but it only added to the list of questions you plan on asking later.

What in the world could their hair products possibly be?

Why in the world did they have hair anyway??? Human hair at that… It looked and felt identical 🤔

When you decided to run your hands through it was when you noticed it was a lot more tangled than you expected. Oh boy, you were glad you decided to bring your comb with you.

You then realized that the beads Yoongi kept in his hair would probably get in the way. You tried to gently pull them off but no matter what you did they wouldn’t budge at all.

“Hey Yoongi, how do you get these beads off? They seem like they’re glued to your hair or something…??” Yoongi chuckled at your words, part of you feared your joke might be true but he said “Sorry, I’m the only one who can take them off, hold up~”

You were confused about what he was gonna do differently that made him the only one who could remove them, when suddenly you watched as all of them fell everywhere. You watched in horror as they rolled in every direction, the distinct sound they all made as they bounced across the floor, filled the room.

“Yoongi!!!” You panicked as you hastily worked to pick them all up. You knew for a fact you’d never find them all.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t—I—” you were nervous, but when you turned to Yoongi he didn't look phased at all. “Relax human, why are you apologizing? I forgot where I was… It doesn’t work the same when I’m up here.” He said shyly, rubbing the back of his ear. A habit you noticed he did often.

“I’ll try to find them but I’m not sure I can get all of them…” You said looking around. “I got this,” he said, making you confused. “How I—“ you were shocked when you heard the pitter patter of the beads hitting the table. When Yoongi opened his hand, there, in entirety, were all of the beads that had fallen to the floor.

“Problem solved~” He said plainly and went back to eating his ramen.

What just happened?

What just…

“Yoongi, how did you…” you pointed at the beads. “Ummm, it’s a bit complicated?” He responded.

THEORY: Water manipulation, Disappearing? -> ADD WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU JUST SAW 😶

You seriously have no grasp of his abilities.

“Maybe you could explain later?” You asked, Yoongi thought about it “Yeah, maybe I could? I don’t know, there’s a lot of information you need to know about to even make sense of it, even then, you probably still may not understand.” Yoongi pointed out.

Oh boy were you in for it… if only you knew what you’d find out later.

Moving past this you got to work on Yoongi’s hair, making sure to take your time combing through it, fearing you’d hurt him. All was good until you noticed something peculiar.

Was he… purring? No, that’s not exactly it, it was a bit different. Darker, if that makes sense?

You couldn’t help but giggle at this. “That’s adorable” you realized way too late you said that out loud. Yoongi turned back to you, face a bright red.

You had no idea the real reason. In the midst of your combing, while it was relaxing, the other side of his mind was wandering off to something a little darker…

As much as you were trying to be gentle, there was always some sort of pain mixed with pleasure that had him thinking back to past moonruts. He remembered one of his partners liked to pull on his hair hard, it wasn’t the same but for someone who hasn’t been touched for as long as he had, the gesture had him thinking things.

Part of him wanted to tell you to go harder…

He was so thankful when you finally put down your comb. He was way too close to actually doing it.

You ran your hands through the locks once more. Much better, you thought to yourself~

Your combing had straightened his hair out a bit, losing some of the waves it had. It was slightly longer than before.

“When was the last time you cut this?” You chuckled, playing with his hair a bit.

Yoongi thought about it. “It’s been awhile, I don’t even remember at this point…”

“It doesn’t get in the way?” You asked curiously, Yoongi shook his head “Not really… I’ve just kinda liked it being this long.” He mumbled the last part.

You smiled. You can’t deny this hairstyle really suited him~ Thinking back though, your questions and his responses made you realize you never asked him a question that was extremely important.

“Hey Yoongi…” He hummed in response “I don’t know if you even know this, but do you know how old you are?”

Yoongi put down his chopsticks and seemingly began working it like it was some kind of problem… ok?

“If I remember correctly and did the math right, I think the equivalent would be 24 of your human years.”

“Equivalent?” You said both in your mind and out loud.

“Yep. I guess in actuality I’m….. maybe 122 years old? I don’t know, kinda hard to remember at this point.” Your jaw nearly fell to the floor with that number. You had so many questions…

At 122 years old, that is only 24 years in equivalence…..Waaaaa?

He almost seemed like he forgot his age? Why? How do they calculate years?

Average life expectancy?

“So you’re telling me you were born in 1903?”

Yoongi’s eyes lit up. “That’s it, that’s what they told me it was. 1903 was definitely it.”

So, so many questions….

“Ok wait, so how long do Keepers live for? I mean, if that’s the equivalent for 24 years, I’m curious what’s the time people start appearing older? What’s a year to you? And you mentioned math, is there a formula?” You threw out all the questions that were flying around in your head.

Yoongi sighed. “I knew this would happen… I answer one thing and the questions don’t seem to stop.“ He looked at you and noticed your pleading look, almost begging for answers. He found it endearing at how interested you were in his culture. It made him feel proud in a sense.

After some silence had passed he continued “1) Depends on how strong their connection, which is a completely different topic, but the average Keeper lives for about 500 years. People in similar positions as I, will likely live longer, however. 2) We measure the span of time the same way you humans do, by the amount of time it takes to revolve around our sun. 3) One year for us, I’ve been told, equates to about 5 revolutions, so 5 years for humans. Did that answer your questions?”

Your mouth hung open. You were buzzing inside with the new allotted information. Fuck, did that answer your questions??? You actually are starting to piece things together. Part of you was confused by this and a bit worried. He used to get annoyed by all your questions and would say something mysterious that would just leave you confused and having even more questions. You wondered what made him change his mind…?

You tried your best to keep your cool. “Yes it did, thank you very much. Knowing this now I have to ask. Connection, what’s that, and I was wondering if you guys have a similar calendar?”

“Our months and weeks are closely related to your calendar, but there are some variations in a couple of our months. Our days, despite this, still equal 365.25 by the end of the year, as they should if you live on earth. Explaining connections is something that requires a lot of context…” even though he couldn’t see your face he could tell you were listening closely, soaking up every word he said “that I’m sure you’ll ask about…”

“Wait, ok, before you explain anything else let me finish real quick so I can write down everything,” you explained ecstatically.

Quickly you pulled his hair back, gathering it, and tying it into a man bun. A style you had on your mind since he said yes to you doing his hair.

“Turn around for me~” you instruct. When he does, you almost fall right over.

With his hair finally pulled back you can see the glorious forehead and eyebrows you’ve been missing. The added knowledge of his plentiful tattoos had you nearly rolling on the floor.

Damn.

H.O.T

“You look amazing…” you played down. You totally weren’t screaming in your head right now. Totally…

Yoongi shyly smiled at your compliment. “Thank you” he mumbled quietly.

Ok you were gonna lose it the longer you stand here. “Ok, let me head up real quick. We’ll continue our conversation in the living room.”

≫ ──── ««•◦ ✪ ◦•»» ──── ≪

“Human what are you doing?” Yoongi sighed from his place on the couch.

You were opening up your Disney+ account and searching for a title that you weren’t sure how it would go.

For science… he’ll understand that, right?

Yoongi stared curiously at the primitive technology in front of him. He almost busted a lung when you explained to him the purpose of the box in front of you.

When you finished going through the list of it’s functions, Yoongi couldn’t help but think ‘that’s it?’ Technology up here was really as unadvanced as they taught him in school.

Yoongi’s eyes widened when you clicked on the title ‘The Little Mermaid’

“Human wha—“

“Before you get mad, I wanted to use something to orientate my questions. It’s a starter place using something I grew up thinking your kind was like.”

Yoongi eyed you suspiciously, but his eyes then trained to the screen, looking at the picture for the movie and scuffed.

“Human I can already tell you, just from this, it looks ridiculous.”

You looked at him to continue but he just sighed and turned away.

“Well let me know along the way the inaccuracies as the movie plays~” Yoongi sighed but watched as you hit play and ran over to the couch. started the opening of the movie.

As the opening of the movie played you could hardly focus on the screen, too busy looking at the man beside you. You were waiting for any little reaction that should tell you to pause the movie so he can explain. You were determined to learn as much as you can before he was gonna leave.

Your face dropped at the thought.

Yeah, he was gonna leave soon… His wounds by now were pretty much healed to the point you were sure he would be alright to venture back out on his own in only a few days. He had very little difficulty moving, no infections, you had plans to remove his stitches maybe sometime later on today, meaning only a small amount of care is needed for those wounds, and whatever the issue was you saw the other day, would better be handled in a place that was more familiar with this type of stuff, aka, back where he came from.

It’s weird but in the two weeks you’ve known him, somehow he’s managed to squeeze his way into your life that you know it’s gonna be a little hard to say goodbye.

“What the actual fuck is happening.” Yoongi said, feeling ambivalent about what he was seeing on the screen. Why the hell was this crab talking? Why do they look like that?

He noticed your eyes on him, making him realize he accidentally switched back to his language.

Yep, you were definitely gonna miss him.

“Human, what am I seeing?”

“I guess now would be a good time to stop…” you chuckled, grabbing your remote to pause the movie.

“So I guess my first question, it may sound silly, but I’m genuinely curious.” Yoongi signaled for you to continue. “Can you talk to sea creatures?”

….

Wait, wait, wait, did he hear you right?

“Human, what—what did you say?”

You immediately could tell the question was as ridiculous as it sounded in your head. You already wanted to take it back.

“Ummm can you talk to…. sea creatures?”

He didn’t know if he was angered by your assumption or found it hilarious. Is this what humans really thought of his kind?

“Human, why would you think that….? Do I look like an animal to you?” He laughed but you could sense he was offended by your comment.

“No, that’s not what I meant… it’s just a lot of movies up here like to suggest you guys have some special connection to sea life. I was wondering if it was true.”

“Seriously?!” Yoongi was shocked. “Well I guess the fact that you guys are so off, means we’re doing our job.” He smiled and turned to you, who was so lost.

“Look human, I can do a lot of things, but talking to animals is something that even I am not capable of.” You quickly wrote that down on your iPad. “What about anybody else?”

“No one is talking to animals.” He put it plainly and you added that to your notes.

Can they speak to animals? - Concluded negative

“I will say the only thing I’ve seen right so far is the cave.”

“Cave?” Yoongi nodded slowly.

“It’s far deeper than what they display here but the tribe resides in a cave close to the ocean floor.”

“Do you know how far down?”

Yoongi looked to the side thinking for a moment “I don’t know in any of your units of measurements… Just know that, judging from the technology I have seen, you won’t be able to reach it.”

“What about the mermaids themselves?” You said, referring to the scene you stopped at. The recital.

“Human you've seen me. You know the answer.” Yoongi turned back to the TV, already tired of this movie.

Dull? The fact he mentioned you have seen me, means that the others must closely resemble. You thought back to that first day, when you got sight of his friends. Even though you could only make out their top halves, they did have the similar light gray tones. You wondered if there was any differentiation from there… You wanted to ask him, but you knew he was done with this conversation. You made a note in your notes to come back to the question later.

Clicking play, the movie continued on to introduce the main character, which you could immediately tell he didn’t like, judging by the angry mumbling under his breath.

“What’s up?” You chuckled lightly.

The movie was now at the scene where Ariel was looking on the ship, infatuated with the humans.

���Someone like her would be immediately considered a threat to the tribe.” He rolled his eyes.

“Really?”

Yoongi nodded “She’d be locked up immediately. Behavior like that puts every single one of us at risk.”

This discussion suddenly gave you another question.

“You’ve never had anyone with the same interest in the surface?”

“Of course we have. There have been people who have deserted their tribes in order to live out their life on the surface.” Now you were confused.

“You made it seem like they were such a danger, yet you just… let them go when they leave?” You asked curiously

Yoongi chuckled slightly “I know it makes no sense, but as much as we wanted to do something, most of the time we are always told it’s the better option is to let them go. The rational being, ‘it puts more people at risk trying to get them’. We try and stop this behavior as much as we can, as anyone who is suspected of being a deserter is taken to a special facility, but they slip through the cracks occasionally.”

You hummed in compliance at his answer. It was weird logic but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As the movie continued on, Yoongi slowly became less grumpy with it. You doubt he was enjoying it, but he became more invested as the story progressed.

When the scene where King Triton was destroying Ariel's collection came around, Yoongi couldn’t help but get hung up on a line he said.

‘Have you lost your senses completely? He's a human! You're a mermaid!’

Despite the offensive term, Yoongi couldn’t help but glance over to you. No way, never in a million years would he find himself in that position. Your worlds were too different, if he ever did like you like that, to work. He knows his place. Back at the tribe and you are here. Even entertaining the idea was insane. Has he lost it?...

The rest of the movie was relatively uneventful as by the time Ariel was on the surface there was nothing to talk about as it was pure fantasy.

“Anyway… what’d you think?”

“I hated it.”

“I figured.” You laughed and grabbed your iPad off the table.

“So, like I told you. I had us watch this so I could better calibrate my questions. This was a kids movie and something I’d already figure wouldn’t be the most accurate thing, but it did give me an idea of some of the things I need to ask you.” You started setting up your keyboard.

“Were you watching me the whole time or something?” Yoongi asked, a little flustered.

“That’s my job, I’ve already seen this a billion times, you’re what I want to see.” You smiled.

“Alright.” He changed the way he was sitting a little bit and moved the blanket closer. “Ask away human, you’ve been dying for me to answer you ever since I got here. The time is now, and there’s only so many hours in a day.” Yoongi motioned for you to start speaking.

“Ok. First… why are you answering my questions in the first place?” You asked and for some reason the question shocked him.

“I mean we’ve known each other for two weeks and I hardly know anything besides the basic field observations I’ve gathered. Anytime I would ask you a question you would respond with something vague or you would always say ‘how if I was meant to know I would.’ Whatever you were not telling me must be secret or something you didn’t feel comfortable sharing. I was honestly expecting you to leave without ever giving me any type of information. Now that you’re human, you wanna talk? I’m finding it hard to believe you just had a sudden change of heart about me or the information you weren’t telling me suddenly became ok for me to know. I guess my first question is why? And please be honest…” Your eyes were pleading and you were honestly confused and a bit worried.

Why was he talking to you now, what changed?

He was taken aback by how desperate you seemed to want the answer.

“I don’t know how to answer you human…”

“Please don’t say that. Something’s changed, and I’m sorry for being a little scared. I just want the answer to know I don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Human I—“ Oh gosh… how was he supposed to tell you?

“Y/N… Over these past few weeks I’ve avoided your questions. You’re right… they are secrets that aren’t really my place to tell, something that I shouldn’t be telling you. It literally goes against everything I’ve been taught. But… I don’t know… you seemed so interested in learning about me, I felt bad that you were giving me all this information without me telling you anything. I shouldn’t tell you, but I’m doing it anyway. Now that I’m human, I’m a lot more vulnerable than the water. You’re giving hospitality in looking after me, and not taking advantage of that fact. Besides, we made an agreement a few weeks ago and I’ll deliver on my part. Please don’t look into this too much.”

That’s it. Tell her most of the truth.

It’s just you don’t know he has to remove your memory of this whole thing when he leaves. The reason is his feelings about it coming into words, he didn’t understand quite yet why he was telling you. It just creates more work for him to do when the time does come to go. That’s why he didn’t say anything originally. Now though… Why was he telling you?

He saw your smile slowly start to grow and he couldn’t help but do the same.

“Um… well then. That’s nice I guess~ I’m sorry I was worried that maybe you would have to kill me or something, but….” You looked into his eyes “I trust you're telling the truth.”

“Who knew you could get sappy~” You giggled as you started typing.

Yoongi smiled. He didn’t know either.

“Anyway, moving onto actual information. Ok so… as you’ve seen in this movie, humans have absolutely no clue what you guys would be like and we tend to dramatize things because well… all we believe you to be is a story, a work of fiction. I already told you I study marine biology, and even before that my parents taught me a lot. I’m sorry, but nothing about you seems like it should exist. This is likely going to be a throw away question, but I’m curious to know if you might have an idea. I mean, you seem smart, you should know you don’t exactly fit into the natural world. How exactly are you possible? And your resemblance to humans also doesn’t fit into the equation. Are you like a subspecies of human or umm… Well I don’t even know if you would know but umm yeah, any answers to that?”

“Yes actually.” Yoongi turned toward you and you stared at him wide eyed. “We don’t make sense do we.”

“Not at all…”

“We mostly kept to ourselves all of our history, but it didn’t take us long to figure out something wasn’t right. That’s honestly why um… one of the reasons why we believe we are so much better compared to humans. We are descendants of the chosen.”

You were hastily typing everything down, until he said the last part. The chosen?

“What does that mean?”

“Well to make this brief, I don’t want to bore you too much with a history lesson, but it all started for us 11506 years ago exactly.”

An exact date?

“At some point in time there were just humans that existed. Around that time they were just starting to settle and create the building blocks of civilization, we were one people until a voice called out to a few of those humans.”

A voice….

“They were called to the sea. For 7 days and 7 nights they traversed through harsh landscape to answer to the calling. Scriptures say that their families and friends tried to break them out of it but it was a trance. They walked without food or water, but they never stopped. That was until they made it to the shore. Upon getting close, many people gathered to see that they lined the seas, tribes of humans that have never met, all stood and watched as the humans walked into the water never to be seen again. Those people became the Oown, the first of us.” Yoongi stopped for a second to see you staring at him, clearly hooked onto his words.

“They were transformed, instead of legs, they had tails, instead of air, they could breathe in the ocean. All of this was possible thanks to the Zale.”

“The Zale… is that like a religious figure?”

“You could say that. We treat it like a religion, but it's a religion without the blind following.” You looked intrigued.

“We are living proof. Our existence counters the natural world. There is no way we should exist or live the way we do by explainable means. We have no idea what the Zale is, but all we know is that it guides us in the right direction. It’s allowed us to thrive in the deepest parts of the waters, it’s allowed us protection from the seas, we are all the proof we need. Plus well, I’m one of the few people who saw it happen.”

“Wait… what?”

“It’s kinda hard to explain but, yes I’ve seen it myself.”

“You weren’t there were you?”

“No, I just umm… saw it happen.”

You looked at him trying to figure out how this was possible. “Yoongi we’re gonna have to come back to that because I have questions.”

“Yes I knew you would.. anyway back to what I was saying. The Oown were a little different from us. They had powers that for some reason fell out as the generations continued to progress. But it allowed them to survive as their bodies changed. A light led them farther down, away from land. All with one goal in mind. Keep the secrets safe.”

“Secrets?”

“Our existence. We were meant to thrive away from humanity on land. The secrets we kept down below were never meant to be known to humans.”

“And what exactly is down there?”

Yoongi eyed you. “Umm, I don’t know if I’m comfortable discussing those details yet.” You nodded, honestly a bit reassured there was some information he was withholding from you.

“So let me get this straight… 11506 years ago a voice called out to the human populations— they were put into this trance-like state as they were guided to the nearest body of water. For 7 days and 7 nights they traversed the land until they reached the water. When they arrived they walked in and disappeared, never to see their families again. They were led down into the depth of the water by a light. The Zale, being that light. These people became what you call the Oown, and were the first of your kind. They had abilities that allowed them to survive in the ocean that started to disappear as generations continued to pass.” Yoongi nodded at your summary.

“It’s a surface level explanation, but one I feel like your human brain could handle the best.” You tried your best to ignore the insult as you continued to type away.

There were still so many things you wanted to know…

“So um, more about the Zale…”

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you… I really have no answers.”

“Um, I don’t really want answers with this one, but just a bit of speculation. You speak highly of the Zale but do you ever question its intentions? I mean, just from what you tell me, I could see a conflict of morality. Yes the Oown got special powers and were able to live in the sea, but they were separated from their families on the surface. You don’t think that’s a bit… and well, do you know why?”

Yoongi stared at you. You were a bit worried you accidentally offended him, but he just smiled. “You’re not the first person to wonder.”

“It’s definitely a complicated subject. It’s been debated throughout our entire history about if what we were chosen for is good or evil. I think this honestly connects back to how we treat the Zale like a religious figure. This is where the blind following comes in, everyone just wants to believe that what we are doing is for the right reasons. I guess, I mean especially since we are a product of that being, to know you are a pawn in a big game of evil would be… well I don’t think anyone would like that. As for why, you’re as good as me to guess. We have no idea why any of this has happened..”

You were furiously typing away.

“What do you think? Do you think the Zale is good?”

Yoongi sighed and stared out the window at the ocean, a sense of reflection coming up because of your question. What did he think… What did he think?

“I haven’t explained all of our history to you human, and the Zale has done much good for us, but that doesn’t stop the bad from plaguing our history. Wars, genocides, all in the name of the Zale. Even me for example… I mean, why am I here with you?”

He stared at you to see you staring at him wide eyed.

“I’m one of those bad things huh…” You tried not to show that his words hurt, but well they did. It should be expected though. Yoongi has made it clear about how keepers have a strong distaste toward humans. You’ve only known the man for 2 weeks, what were you expecting? I mean even besides that, an event like this is so unexpected, there would be no reason really why he would think of your meeting as a good experience.

You had no idea why that made you sad. Part of you wanted him to like you, even just enough to stand your presence, maybe even become friends. Even after these two weeks, part of you held out that hope, but this really was just toleration until he could leave.

Yoongi looked at your face as you continued to type, wondering why you were so upset.

“Isn’t this an inconvenience for us all? You have to put up with me and well I’m here speaking with the one creature I’m told I should despise.”

You couldn’t keep your emotions boiled down at this point. “Well I’m sorry Yoongi, but you have been the opposite of an inconvenience for me. I’ve had a lot of fun these past few weeks. Of course you think of me as an inconvenience…” you scoffed and turned back to writing your notes.

Yoongi is a meanie >:(

You made sure to make it bold.

You were way too into being upset to notice how shocked he looked and how his cheeks had started turning red. You seemed so hurt by what he felt like was the obvious. It made him flustered to see how much you seemed to hate the fact. It was… this is a new feeling.

“Anyway, let’s just move on…” You sounded so defeated. “Tell me about yourself… you’ve been speaking in the general sense pretty much this entire time, but you hardly have told me about you. I know you’re the son of some higher up official but that’s about it. Tell me more or that might be an inconvenience.” Oh he hated this. No, he really hated this. The enthusiasm had been drained out of you so quickly. You really cared that much about what he thought about you?

He was honestly confused, but found it oddly endearing.

“Human, maybe we should take a break…”

You looked up from your laptop.

“What why?”

“Because… you’re clearly upset. I don’t know exactly what you’re writing, but I’m sure even you know that outside influences would mess up the results of your investigation. Let’s take a break so you can record your information accurately.” You just stared at him.

Part of you knew that from a scientific perspective he was right, but at the same time, did he just call you emotional?!

“Maybe we could watch another movie? Something less ridiculous this time.” You folded your arms.

“Why would you wanna do that? I’m an inconvenience…”

“Human, please! You know exactly how I meant it. I don’t hate you.” You didn’t even have to say it, he knew that’s exactly what you were thinking. How could you ever think that after he shared that information that he hated you. Made absolutely no sense.

Now he seemed upset. What was happening?

When you didn’t say anything he scooted himself closer, now sitting directly next to you instead of the other side of the couch. You looked over at him, now extremely confused as to why he was so close.

Woah.

“Aren’t you gonna do something?” He looked at you like you were crazy for just sitting there. “Why—Why are you so close all of a sudden?” You stammered.

“Another piece of information— because of how cold it is down there this is just normal to keep warm. Don’t think about it too much, I’m just trying to survive. It was cold over there.” He mumbled and laid his head on your shoulder.

WHAT!!!!!!

“Anyway, pick something better.” Luckily you couldn’t see him at this angle. This was normal but seeing how surprised you seemed made him feel a little flustered.

You tried your best to concentrate but you were a bit overwhelmed with him so… close. At some point you just gave up and decided on stranger things on netflix. You were about to hit play when Yoongi lifted his head, getting even closer, almost burying himself in your neck before he ultimately pulled away.

“You smell nice…” was all he whispered before settling back on your shoulder.

What was happening? This can’t be the same guy who called your meeting an inconvenience. He was so soft and… adorable? This can’t be the same guy. Then again though he did tell you about how behavior like this is considered normal where he comes from so, maybe this doesn’t at all cross any boundaries of being overly affectionate. This could be the same as just sitting close together for him and you were being weird for not understanding the cultural differences.

You made a mental note to add this to your notes later but this is just honestly something you’ll likely have to observe.

Instead you focused on the show in front of you. For a moment it honestly felt like this was normal and all the prerequisite events didn’t happen at all. It was nice. Yoongi definitely seemed to enjoy this a lot more, and it also provided a little light on some aspects of human culture back in the 80s. You ended up watching the first 3 episodes of season 1 before you were starting to get a bit sleepy.

When the credits rolled you paused the episode and gently ran your hand across his arm. “Maybe we should stop here for today, I still have more questions to ask you and I’m getting sleepy…”

He whined. “But—” he was clearly into it.

“Questions first, we can watch more tomorrow.”

He lifted himself up, a cute pouty expression on his face. Seriously, how was this the same man?!

You quickly picked your laptop up.

New observation: Yoongi is a lot more affectionate than I previously thought, he can even be cute too. It’s honestly hard to believe this is the same person who said I was an inconvenience but he just seems to have his sides. Requires more observation considering cultural differences he mentioned, but was being really cute and cuddly today and idk what’s happening.

Another thing you didn’t notice till later, you weren’t mad at him anymore. If anything, that seemed like so long ago, a forgotten memory lost in time. Maybe him showing you this side of himself was because of this, because he wanted you to forget that you thought he hated you.

“Okay, before all this, I wanted you to start talking about yourself. You have already made points that you differ slightly from the average member of your species, please go more into depth with this, maybe even give a little backstory. I’m sure out of the 122 years you’ve lived you must have a lot to tell!” You said enthusiastically but he just laughed.

“I don’t know what you’re expecting but I can say it will likely not meet your expectations.”

“Anything you say goes beyond my expectations. Everything you say about the Keepers is interesting, I don’t think you’re any different.” Yoongi’s face felt a little warm.

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know… maybe talk about that position you were talking about earlier. Like um, what are you in line for exactly?” You got your fingers ready.

“I will become the advisor to my friend— he’s the next king of our tribe.” His words shocked you so much you had trouble finding the words to write down.

“Advisor? Wait and you’re friends with….”

“You saw him the other day, when you rudely interrupted the conversation we were having.”

…

You hid under the blanket that was in your lap. “Yoongi what the fuck?! Is he gonna come after me for taking you, what—” You were a bit panicked but he just found it cute.

“No human, he isn't coming after you.”

“You don’t know that! I stole his advisor away, I think that automatically puts a target on my back!” Just your eyes were poking out and you saw him laughing at you.

“You’re fine, I already told them about the situation.” Now that he thinks about it. His friends were likely expecting his return soon or at least a call…

Uh oh.

“But Yoongi… the KING seriously, do you know how scary that sounds?!”

“You already met the scariest person you can meet, don’t worry, you’re fine.” His words were meant to reassure you, but if anything that made you even more terrified.

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

Yoongi sighed. “Ok hierarchy lesson. Like I mentioned, Keepers have slowly begun to lose their abilities as time continues to pass. That was true for a majority of us, but a few in each tribe grew stronger and maintained their abilities. These few take a seat on the council— the government I guess you would say here. There are always 31 seats at the council. People have different ranks and statuses within the council but the top 3 positions all deal with the strongest connections to the Zale.”

There’s the Zale again ok…

Yoongi could sense you were confused. “Council members’ strengths and abilities all come from the connection they have to the Zale, the more they can do. I guess that’s the simplest way I can explain it.”

“It makes sense I guess, the 3 strongest would have the highest positions. I mean think about it from the point of view of the average keeper, knowing they were the ones in charge would bring a strong sense of protection.”

“Precisely.”

“What are you #2 or something and like I’ll have to get through you to ever get to him?”

“That is true except I’m number 1.”

…. Another sense of just utter shock you could not fathom.

“I’m sorry you’re what now…?”

“I’m 1 by a long shot, human there are a lot of things I can do. My job will be to protect my king and the tribe. That itself requires that I must have a lot of power. Please if you know what’s best for you don't even think about trying anything, I’m not scary unless I need to be.” He honestly didn’t want to scare you, just set up where he stands in this dynamic. Really he didn’t want to hurt you. If anything he hated violence, not really something he tried to do unless he felt necessary. He was usually an easy going guy.

But, you didn’t get the message he was trying to send and he could sense your fear.

He could feel you were shaking. He honestly hated this. You aren’t the first person to fear him, the few occasions he would go out into the city and he would introduce himself, the amount of strange looks people would give made him sad. Everyone knew who he was, the advisor’s position especially being kept in the media, and well, the fact that his coronation day was brocadested all over the place, there really was no place he could hide. He could sense their emotions anytime he’d walk by. There was respect masked behind fear. Every Keeper knew just how powerful advisors can be and there have been cases where there has been abuse of the power. So they were scared, scared not to set him off and see that for themselves. It was sad and he hated it.

The surface was honestly the only place he could escape this burden, but already he’s managed to instill that same type of fear in you as well. He merely wanted to set up a boundary, not scare you. It made no sense, you were the one person he should scare, but he still found he hated the feeling it admitted.

His powers can be beautiful as well.

He looked around the room and spotted your glass of water on the coffee table. Yoongi grabbed your cup off the table.

“Please, you really don’t need to be scared of me.” He watched you intently as he waved his hands and the water lifted out of the cup. Your eyes widened as the water formed a new shape. It only took a second for it to be clear what it was.

It was a rose.

He saw your features light up as he handed you the water flower. You were hesitant but took it in your hands. The water seemed to sparkle and shimmer as you twirled it between your fingers.

NOTE: Powers seem to be extensive (described by the creature as such). Has the ability to manipulate water— can make float and manipulate it (e.x. formed a rose in front of my eyes). How this is possible is beyond me, but it sure is pretty. Texture is that of a liquid still, but somehow I am able to hold it without issues. The water also glows— water came from the sink (clear), but as soon as Yoongi started doing something the water glowed a bright blue. It also seems to contain little objects that make it sparkle. Hypothesis: something about these crystals is what is making this possible.

Your smile was giddy and it made Yoongi so happy to see you smile again.

“Yoongi this is amazing…” You awed and he smiled back at you.

“How is this possible?” You wondered out loud, not really expecting him to say anything, and was surprised when he did.

“That’s what I can’t tell you.” You understood and respected it. Silence passed between you two for a second.

“You know this is kinda romantic…” You giggled. “Did you do this on purpose?”

“I just remembered the pictures you showed me a while ago. Made me think about you for some reason.” Yoongi said nonchalantly. You looked up shocked.

At this moment you couldn’t stop the weird fluttery feeling hearing him say he thought about you when conjuring up this breathtaking creation. He probably didn’t mean it like that, but still, you felt incredibly special in this moment.

“This is so sweet, Yoongi. Wish I could keep it forever.” Yoongi looked up at you. He really didn’t know why he just wanted to go the extra mile to impress you.

He grabbed the empty vase that sat on the coffee table for decoration and pulled it closer. He asked for the flower back.

“Time’s up already?” You pouted.

“No. You said you wanna keep it forever so…” He held his hand under the flower and snapped his fingers. Right before your eyes the flower began to freeze, turning from a light blue, to a stark white, those same little specs made the ice shine and sparkle.Yoongi smiled when the frost made it to the top.

“Don’t worry, it won’t melt or—” He lifted his hand up and dropped the flower on the floor. It looked like ice, sounded like ice too when it hit the floor, but it wasn’t. Not a single crack, it didn’t break at all.

He picked it back up. “It won’t wilt either so…” He placed the flower in the vase. “A flower that lasts forever.”

Your mouth was hanging wide open. This was beyond reality. None of this felt possible or real. Were you stuck in a dream or something. The stuff you saw in just these past 2 weeks of knowing this man, you can’t imagine if you got more time with him.

Your face began to fall at the thought.

Yoongi noticed immediately the sudden switch in your mood.

“Human, you seem upset, did I do something—”

“No… No, it’s not you. Just hearing you say that made me think how you’re probably gonna leave soon. Your wounds are healed to the point you probably could leave at any time. This… all this… I know this might be an inconvenience to you, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and not to get sappy, but I’m gonna miss you ok.” You leaned back on the couch and folded your arms.

“At least I’ll have this now to remember you.” Your eyes were stuck on the flower.

Yoongi didn’t say anything as he leaned back as well. He needed to leave. He’s already been gone for a month, he had people and responsibilities to get back to. His heart still felt funny when you actually said it out loud. It felt like he just got here.

And just feeling how upset you were.

“Human, ask me another question. You seem to like doing those.” He tried to be nonchalant about it, but he wanted to lift the mood again.

You sighed realizing he was right.

“Alright ummm, tell me about those other positions you were talking about.” You grabbed your laptop again.

“Right ummm, top 3 positions… there is the king or queen who is the leader of the tribe.”

“How come you aren’t the king? You mentioned how you were #1 when it comes to this connection and if it’s so important and yours is the strongest, wouldn’t it make more sense for you to be king.”

Yoongi shook his head.

“It’s a matter of division of power. Being the leader puts a target on your back, especially when it comes to wars, the king is a vulnerable position. The ruler can lead the people safely if one of the most important aspects to a tribe is kept safe away from danger. Advisors simply give advice and help guide the leader in the best direction.”

“So you’re like the brains, they’re the face?”

“Kind of, it’s not like they aren’t capable, but with the connection being so strong, advisors usually know things that will help decision making etc.”

You nodded and wrote it down.

“So the King or Queen is #2… who’s 3?”

“The Zaleon. Another person you saw that same day.”

“Jeez Yoongi, you’re seriously friends with all the most powerful people in your tribe?” You asked but he nodded.

“I know a few other upcoming council members that are higher up on the food chain. We grew up close, I’ve known them all my life. I’m honestly closer to them than my own brother these days.” Yoongi laughed weakly.

“You must miss them huh… I’m sure they missed you.” Your smile was sad, but it just made you feel worse for trying to keep him here.

“I do… they did…” that somber mood was back and he didn't like it.

“Anyway, the Zaleon. I guess they're similar to a priest up here. Their job is conducting ceremonies, hosting praises, and talking with the Zale.” Your eyes widened.

“Talking?”

“Yep, they can hear it. Their connection is stronger than mine in that sense. It’s just that advisors are a little more… logical and analytical to their approach and the Zaleon is always a little more on the spiritual side.”

“Is there ever conflict because of that?”

“Sometimes… but we usually see eye to eye about things, we just do it a little differently. It doesn’t happen as often as you think it would.”

You nodded and wrote it down.

“What about your other friends?”

“Chief Innovator and Head of War. 1) They deal with a lot of technological developments within the tribe and 2) Leads the royal guard.”

You were impressed and that made him proud. His friends were impressive, weren’t they…

“So how do you guys get appointed, I’m judging by what you told me awhile ago, that you don’t go around and campaign.”

He laughed. “It’s hereditary. The chances are always between siblings. The Zale will choose from there.” He could sense the question incoming.

“Also something I prefer not to explain too much in depth.” Your words were on the tip of your tongue but you stopped yourself.

“Alright new subject… I’ll come back to this later but I want to cover as much as I can before… before you leave.” You were said again but your incoming

He could already feel your embarrassment before you even asked the question. You were struggling…

“Um, please… um please…” you were getting so quiet

“Human, what are you trying to say?”

Just gotta be professional about this.

“I’m honestly curious about your biology. Like we both know Keepers don’t fit into the natural world and just from my observations before you transformed… well I’m honestly struggling to know how you would possibly… well how would you make more of you.”

Oh.

Oh.

This was hilarious.

You could already see Yoongi struggling to contain his laughter at your awkwardness.

“I seriously don't understand why humans are so weird about this subject. You’re making ME feel weird about it.” He shivered.

“As a researcher I can understand your curiosity. Please don’t make this awkward.” You blushed at his words. You were the one being weird about it. Professionalism, it’s all about professionalism. You’re just a curious scientist looking for an answer. Why so awkward? He was right. Just… all it takes is professionalism.

“Ok. Well I’m glad to see you’re not awkward about it. In that case please explain in as much detail as you’ll tell me about Keepers…” ughhh you were faulting. “About how we have sex?” Yoongi finished your sentence for you, he was blunt and seemed to hold no shame at all.

“Yeah, what you said…”

Yoongi rolled his eyes at how you were still being weird about it.

“This honestly will be a bit hard to explain…” He rubbed his fingers along his chin as he thought about it.

“Is it graphic?” You worried accidentally aloud.

He shook his head. “It’s just, uhhhh, you can use your imagination, right human?”

“Yeah…” You answered a bit worriedly. What was he about to say, imagination?

“Alright, good, alright. Ok so your original question about reproduction— I guess first to answer that you would need to know how sex works.”

You got your fingers ready for typing and snuggled under your blanket further, trying to conceal how flushed your face had gotten. You knew he knew, but still…

“I’m sure you can guess that it’s not going to be traditional. Far from it actually so please, I don’t know how well I can possibly explain this in Korean but, please bear with me as I try and help you picture it.”

You felt your heart flutter. Oh gosh.

“Unlike most living creatures, physical intimacy is not how we do things.”

….

“Through the Zale we are able to—“ He stopped for a second trying to find his words. There just really weren't the right words to explain this properly in any human language.

“It’s a spiritual experience. You’re transported somewhere calm and peaceful as you indulge in the pleasure your partner is giving you. It is an experience that is likely hard for you to understand and I struggle with telling. It really is just one of those things that you have to experience to get the full picture.”

You were definitely struggling to fully understand what he was saying.

“Ok ok ok, help me understand… so you said you’re transported?”

“Yes.”

“Ok but where though, is this a place you go to?”

“No— what, it’s more like… you don’t go anywhere. A mental oasis.”

“So you’re still in the same place?”

“Yes human.”

“Alright alright…” You typed away.

“And about the uh, the pleasure wait, so… help me, you said no physical intimacy but… how?”

“The Zale. You’re in this space between and it just allows you to feel everything and anything your partner is feeling multiplied by a billion. It’s overwhelming.” Yoongi was starting to feel funny. Just speaking about this with you made the memories of all the times he found himself getting able to experience it, flooding back. And you were here, you… what is he thinking?

…

“Ok yep it’s still not making any sense at all…” You sighed, eyes trained on his trying to see if you could get it. Maybe your imagination wasn’t as good as you thought it was.

Yoongi groaned and moved closer once again, but this time he was just inches away from your face. “It would be easier to show you…” he whispered. The silence in the room was felt as your face turned warm.

Did he just ask you to—

Suddenly he moved back over and started laughing hard.

“Your face— human your face!” He rolled back as it just got too funny the more he thought. You weren’t laughing however.

“I was joking! Humans don’t do jokes or something?” He whipped his eyes, tears having spilled by now.

You tried your best to join in on the hehe and hahas, but you were still trying to recover from the way your heart just seemed to stop, how close he was, and the fact that for a second you thought he actually wanted to…

Ok….

The thing is you didn’t know exactly why this was so funny to him. Yes your face was hilarious, but he also went through a split second where he wasn’t joking. He intended it to be a joke but the minute he got close and that familiar welcoming scent from you came to him, for just a millisecond he kinda hoped you would say yes. It was bad and hilarious to him all at the same time. What was actually happening to him. FOR A SECOND HE ACTUALLY THOUGHT—

This topic was dangerous and he’s too… broken to be thinking straight right now.

“Anyway, um yes, about your actual question. The Zale will bless a wanting couple with a child.”

You quickly tried to recover. “Ummm please elaborate.” You were confused.

This was another difficult one to help you contextualize without you actually being there to see it.

“That’s kinda the best way I can describe it. A couple will just… um want a child. If the Zale feels they are worthy, an egg will appear—“

“Ok wait, you’re moving too fast. So… a couple just wants a child and… poof?” You stared at him trying to see if he knew how ridiculous that sounded. “They don’t need to do anything but… want?”

“I mean they do have sex, and if the couple wants a child, the Zale will grant them their wish. It’s a ceremonial procedure that involves a ritual of sorts. I’m not quite sure what happens because I’ve never been through the process. But yeah… you just need to want a child.”

You stared at your laptop baffled. “Yoongi Keepers seriously are… wow.” Everything, everything about them made no sense. But as a scientist that pushed you to discover the impossible and solve this mystery. Yoongi could sense this and he couldn’t help the little smile.

“You also mentioned an egg?”

“Yes.”

“Soooo… eggs… That’s how the child will develop?” Honestly out of everything you heard this was the most normal thing he’s said so far.

“Yes.” You nodded slowly.

“I’m curious… since your lifespan is so long, how long is the gestational period? Is it longer?”

“It’s 9 months for you humans, isn’t it?”

You nodded.

“It’s definitely longer then. Average is about 2 and a half years.” You wrote that down with exclamation points. This definitely might be the longest period recorded in history, rivaling that of elephants and blue whales which have always been known to hold that record.

“If I can, I definitely want to come back to this subject but there’s still so much to explore just in this one area. Tell me um…” You were back to being nervous.

Professionalism.

“So I’m curious, do Keepers only have sex to have kids or is it for fun as well?” Your face was warm but your voice was calm this time.

Yoongi giggled a bit, you couldn’t get it past him. “You’re really curious about this, aren’t you?” He teased making that little bit of confidence drain in just a second.

“It’s not that— I, you know I have to re—“ He laughed harder at your stammering.

“I feel like this is a great opportunity to tell you about the moon ruts.” You tried to calm down and get ready for this new information.

“Please explain…”

Yoongi looked around. “Do you have more water? I feel like I have to show you this…” Your eyes opened wide and you hurriedly got back up to refill your glass.

“Tradition is that when peace between tribes is established, a biannual ceremony will be arranged as part of the treaty.” Yoongi grabbed the glass from your hand. He put his hand over the water and pulled back, making the liquid come out of the cup into a ball. You saw with your own eyes as the water changed color as it joined the ball— again, the clear liquid was gone, now a glowing blue. He then put the glass back on the table and then put both hands around the ball of water. He brought his hands out and the ball got bigger, forming a hollow inside.

What in the…

Yoongi leaned back, his hands in his lap now. “In a celebration of peace, Keepers will come up to the surface, the location always being the midway coordinates between tribes.” It was then that little people started swimming up from the bottom of the ball.

Your eyes widened, unable to fathom that was happening to you in real life. Moments like these are always beautiful scenes in movies, or the moments in books where the imagery is so strong you can practically see it right in front of you. But this was reality for you. This was real and no book or movie could have prepared you for the beauty in front of your eyes.

Distracting you from what was happening in the sphere was what was happening around it. 4 points around the sphere glowed harder than the sphere itself.

“What are those?” You pointed to the point closest to you.

“Stationary points. As you probably can assume and have questioned, how can all these Keepers come up to high level waters and no one detect anything.” It was a question that was dancing around your head as you watched the sphere continued to fill with more and more people. Even though you assumed that these locations were far away from any shore line, they were right at the epipelagic zone or more commonly referred to the sunlight zone. They were close enough to the surface where in Yoongi’s little diorama you could see where the water ends and air starts, they were right there. Someone would have to notice an event like these.

“Trainee advisors of the tribes will be randomly drawn to take these positions. We are tasked with keeping a protective barrier around the event so we remain undetected and unseen. Don’t even try and think about looking for any moon rut, you will never find us no matter how hard you look.” You nodded, this would be enough anyway.

“Have you ever had to do that?” You asked.

Yoongi nodded. Oh if only you knew how many times he was one of the unlucky 4. It was tourture really, how we would just stare at the green amps he had to hold while right in front of him people were having the time of their lives. It was one of the reasons why he hasn’t got the opportunity to participate in so long. Anytime he was well enough to go, he would always get picked. He felt lucky that he was ever able to actually participate with how things had gone for him.

“Anyway, skipping ahead a bit…” The events inside the sphere sped up like he hit the fast forward button. “When we first arrive it’s a time of reunion and peace. You meet friends you don’t get to see often, you catch up on events that you haven’t had time to talk about, etc etc… Now that's where the fun starts.” The people that had gathered now formed rings, hand in hand. You tried to lean in and see what they were gathered around. Something was right in the center.

“Like I said it’s a ceremony so, there’s a lot of details that are ritualistic and would take a while to explain the purposes and meaning, but I will talk about the biggest one.” The sphere zoomed into the center to reveal it was another Keeper with what looked like a drum.

“Trainee rulers are tasked with leading the ceremony. At the end they beat that drum and well… see for yourself.” Yoongi motioned to the sphere. You watched as the little person hit the drum, part of you was surprised but a bit relieved knowing this little show couldn’t make any sound. Anything seemed possible so you really didn’t know where the limits were but at least there were some. Water wouldn’t be able to make that sound.

You saw the people who had gathered around the person, their demeanor started to change. From what he has shown you this was relatively calm, nothing that you would flag as weird, but as the figure in the middle continued to hit the drum the keepers seemed to completely change. They became eccentric. The process happened so fast, they looked a lot less like people and more like… animals. Then suddenly, everyone just seemed to be on each other. The rings had been broken, it was just a mass of people out of control.

You watched in horror. You hardly knew what was happening but it was just so rough and intense. When you looked over to Yoongi however, he was the complete opposite of you, he looked into it. It was subtle but the way his eyes were trained on the mass of people, let you know how much he was enjoying this.

Of course he would, this is normal for him, but…

Your eyes went back and things only seemed to have gotten worse. What the actual fuck was happening?!

“Yoongi… what is happening?” You finally asked, just getting more and more confused as time continued to pass.

He finally seemed to snap back when he heard your voice. “Oh right… um this is the moonrut. It lasts until sunrise.”

“What are they doing?”

“Uhhh I don’t know what the word is in Korean… It’s an orgy, uhhhh lots of people having sex together… is there a word for that?”

What…

You just looked at him shocked.

“Human? Hello… I asked a question.”

“So… what you’re saying is that a moonrut is a giant orgy?” Saying it out loud made you realize how obvious it was by the name.

“Ahhh is that what it’s called? Yes, that’s exactly what this is. I can sense you have a lot of questions so let me just explain first something you need context. Keepers tend to pride themselves on the fact that we are so far advanced compared to humans both mentally, physically, and technologically. We consider ourselves even more civilized than the barbaric practices we heard have occurred here. But… Well, the moonruts are meant to be a way for us to embrace that animalistic side that is still very much so present in every animal that lives and breathes. It’s like umm… a way to relax, let go of stress and be what we truly are.”

“The switch was quick…” You pointed out.

“Ahh yes, that’s what the drum is for. It helps channel the energy. It’s really fun, honestly, everyone looks forward to going as soon as they turn of age.” Yoongi thought back to it.

He remembers being in school when it was nearing time for the people in his group were close to becoming of age. It was really the only thing anyone seemed to talk about. Of course with Yoongi having possible responsibilities moonruts to him for a while only meant that coronation day would have happened. But behind the anxiety he still was excited. For most Keepers this was the big event for when you were of age. He remembers when the 2nd moonrut of the year happened and how some of his classmates had their birthdays so they were able to go. It only seemed to become even more of a hot topic. The amount of people who were trying to hook up with others to prepare themselves for the intensity that comes with going to the moonrut. It was a hectiness that even he got to witness as he was preparing for the coronation.

By the time classes had ended everyone in his group had attended except him. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to go, but the minute he was picked to be the next Advisor, lots of training came and he just didn’t have time. It honestly took a while for him to finally attend his first one, with training and work, leaving for a day seemed like too much. Then well, things finally started easing up for him, but he kept getting picked to post at one of the Stationary points. It was honestly the worst experience. Part of him was glad the first time since unlike his peers he didn’t have time to do the whole hook up before you go part, so he thought it would be nice to be able to experience it first before actually partaking. But then, somehow, out of the 12 trainee advisors that were part of the pact, he kept getting picked. It really hit low when Hoseok and Namjoon were able to actually participate before he did.

“What’s it like?” It took you a second to realize how weird that question was. “I mean, this looks really really intense, and I mean, you’re saying it’s fun, I was just wondering if it’s different than how it looks.”

Yoongi didn’t suffer the same type of embarrassment that some humans would get discussing topics revolving around sex. Keepers never had that same history that humans did with it that made it become the taboo subject that it is today. But this question in particular made him a bit red in the face realizing he would have to talk about his experience with moonruts. This has never happened before…. Not the talking part but getting flustered the way he did around you. Maybe you were starting to rub off on him or something….

“I guess probably from your perspective it’s a bit much. Even Keepers who haven’t attended can be overwhelmed, but in the moment....”

Yoongi’s first time being able to go was the 1st moonrut of the year, right after Namjoon went for the first time. The stars seemed to align that day, training was opened up (after a bit of persuasion) and he surprisingly wasn’t picked that time for the stationary point. At that point he had attended but watched on the sidelines a few times and that anxiety of seeing the whole process was gone. He had thought about and imagined what it was like, the excitement of the moment still getting to him as well. Nothing could have prepared him for actually participating.

“It’s… it’s…” His eyes darted over to you who was listening intently. He hated how he pictured you as he thought about this.

“It’s lust like you’ve never experienced before. Then again I don’t exactly know what it’s like to do it the normal way, but it’s just… When you hear the drums beat your whole body comes alive, your thoughts and worries are gone, and it’s like a hunger that can’t be satisfied. Leading up to it, is just… you can hardly wait to get your hands on someone and then when the beat signals for it to start the only thing your body can seem to do is reach for the nearest person next to you and…” The sensation was hard to describe. At this point he was definitely starting to feel a little funny.

It’s just been so long since he’s been touched.

“Sometimes people might coordinate and stand close together on purpose to make sure that sometime throughout the night they end up together. I personally never had the time to do that so I’ve gotten the chance to be with a variety of different people. It’s a lot of fun human. You go back home looking like you've been in a fight, bruises, bite marks everywhere, but everyone is smiling. It’s one of those things that’s definitely hard to understand looking in from the outside, I understand that.”

He really must be broken because the thought came back of having you as a moonrut partner if the world was a little different. He wondered for a second what you would be like. Maybe you’d pull his hair hard like that girl from the Rezone Tribe or maybe leave him marked so everyone could see like that guy from the Isa Tribe. His thoughts were racing and it was making him feel funny. Why was he thinking about you like this?! It made his skin crawl yet at the same time excited him to no end.

This was so wrong, so so so wrong. Yoongi made a quick mental note for later to make sure to log this as a possible result of the attack. This went beyond just the fact he’s been awhile since he’s been able to go, because ALL he could picture was you by his side. How you would feel against him as the beats from the drum controlled you and the pleasure. That had to be it, this was not normal at all.

Yoongi’s face had started getting red again as he battled his confused brain, but you were so into the information he was giving you didn’t notice at all.

You had so many questions with this information he gave you knew there would never be enough time to cover everything. It’s like every answer resulted in ten more questions, it was insane.

That looming feeling returned. Suddenly all your questions were thrown out as only one really mattered at this moment.

“Yoongi…” Your voice cut through the whirlwind he had thrown himself into.

He gripped the pillow he had in his lap a little tighter. “Yes human.”

“When are you leaving?” Your tone was timid and scared. What if he said tomorrow?

It was obvious the question shocked him.

“I’m just wondering… You keep telling me all this cool stuff and it just makes me more curious to learn about you and the Keepers. But…” It hurt you to say the next words. “I don’t think we should keep going if you’re leaving tomorrow or something, you’ll just leave me with more questions unanswered. We have hardly covered all the topics I wanna discuss with you, but… I just need to know is it even worth it to keep going.” You were sad, not ready for the answer at all.

The change in mood was so sudden. It was a saving grace in the sense that it saved him from his mind, but the question and answer were difficult.

There were so many things that came to him as he thought about it. His friends and parents were waiting for him back at the tribe, he missed home, he had a lot of responsibilities that he needed to attend to. If this was a normal situation, not like any of this situation is normal, but he would have been home. But well… What exactly happened to him, why was he terrified of the ocean? He has also started field research on you and the humans, and you. You especially… for some reason he didn’t wanna leave yet.

Maybe he felt indebted to you? As much as Yoongi tried to talk about the fact he would have been fine if you hadn't found and helped him, the thing is… He was in no condition to fend for himself against the elements, plus he could hardly move when he woke up. The question if he would have been fine without you is one that’s not as obvious as he tried to say it was. You could have possibly saved his life, you had been nothing but nice to him over these last few weeks. He was grateful even though he would never tell you that. The fact you were also so into him and his culture made him feel so proud, he loved how fascinated you would get anytime when you found out something new.

He needed to get back, had to get back eventually… but what was the rush? He was likely never going to get an opportunity like this again. Maybe he could enjoy himself a little longer… just a bit.

It was at this moment he made a pact to himself. The minute he figured out what these nightmares and weird feelings he got that made him absolutely terrified to go back to the water that he’s called home all his life… the minute he can figure this out… or get over it, he’d go back home.

In the meantime he can learn a little more about you and why you were making him feel this way.

Yoongi looked back over to you. “Teach me to walk.” He said flatly.

You looked at him confused by the sudden request. “I’m sorry what?”

“Teach me to walk, I wanna know how to do it.” Yoongi scooted to the edge of the couch to let you know he meant now.

It took a minute for your mind to connect the pieces. You couldn’t hide the giddiness. “Does that mean…”

“There are too many things I need to figure out before I leave and my field study hasn’t concluded yet. I think I still have enough time to stay longer for your questions to continue. Teach me to walk though because… this will get annoying after a while.” He chuckled lightly.

He could feel the happiness radiating off of you. It made his heart all fluttery. Were you really this happy?

You happily stood up and held out your hands. “Alright, it’s a deal then~” You helped him to his feet.

By now the sun had begun to move back down towards the horizon. The sky was now a fiery orange and it shone in through the windows. The time you had been hoping to get as many questions in was now switched to full gear on teaching Yoongi how to use his legs.

If this moment taught you anything, it was that he was determined… and an extremely fast learner too. You spent the next few hours helping him walk across the floor of your house, even making a couple trips up and down the stairs. You saw first hand the transformation happen before your eyes. He was shakey at first, but with your encouraging words and a shoulder to lean on if he ever needed it, the quickness that he seemed to improve definitely wasn’t ordinary.

Based off your hypothesis.Yoongi in particular or maybe all Keepers were great at observing. He paid close attention to the way you walked, even back to the chopsticks, he just watched and was able to replicate relatively quickly. Honestly, your guess is that it was less about him learning to walk and more so him building up the leg strength in order to carry himself properly. Then again though, he did have some type of abilities you didn’t quite understand, so that also could have something to do with it.

It went from shakey steps, to him slowly walking behind you (being a safe distance away), to him being able to carry himself across the room.

It was fast considering the task at hand, but you worked on this for hours. The sun had completely set at some point. The time seemed to fly though. You laughed and joked as you walked around the house— a chemistry indescribable in the air. It was the first time that you felt like Yoongi really might not secretly hate you. You just felt like two friends hanging out.

Despite your different worlds it seems like there is a lot more common ground then you originally thought. Similar life experiences, emotions, and feelings all were a universal topic as you chatted. The first true sparks of friendship were in the air.

A moment in particular that continued to linger in your mind was when he nearly tripped. At this point he had been walking ok on his own, but the living room rug did what rugs do and had him stumbling over his own feet. He was relatively steady, but the sudden trip up was too much for him, still getting used to moving around on legs. Luckily you were close by to catch him but well…

He was so close.

He had his head on your shoulder and your arms were wrapped around his torso. In a haste you didn’t think about it too much until the moment seemed to continue, the shock from the event began to wear away. It was like you were giving him a nice hug.

He was warm… a lot different to what he felt like in his previous form. He had also grabbed onto you so he could help him steady himself. This was the closest you had ever really gotten to him.

It was funny because it really lasted a second before he was trying to find his footing again, making you realize an occurrence like this likely didn’t phase him. From what you had learned earlier, closeness wasn’t something you should dwell on too much. This was probably nothing in his eyes.

You tried to treat it as such, you quickly helped him to his feet and laughed at the moment as did he. You really tried, but your mind kept replaying it over and over again. You thought about how nice his embrace felt and how much you wanted to feel it again.

You didn’t know why this was getting to you, but maybe the fact that you knew now he was going to stay for a little while made you a little excited. Something had changed.

You and Yoongi worked hard on getting him to be able to walk for the rest of the day. By the time dinner rolled around, he could walk pretty comfortably on his own. He was a bit shaky sometimes and running you both had yet to test, but you at least didn’t need to worry as much as you used to.

You went to your fridge ready to start dinner when you realized once again you had yet to go to the store to get actual ingredients to make anything or even just a microwave meal… It was fish and water just like before.

You sighed. “Hey Yoongi… so I forgot to get food. Might just go out and get something, I could cook your fish when I get back.” You turned to him who was leaning on the counter behind you.

“I want what you’re having, human.” You were a bit surprised.

“You sure your appetite didn’t change?” You teased as you closed the fridge.

“It’s just curiosity, I thought you would understand…” He pouted. Too cute…

“I do, I—” You stopped when an idea popped into your head.

“Yoongi, would you like to ride with me? I just realized you haven’t really left the area around the house. Might be fun to do a quick trip out~” You suggested.

You watched the gears turn in his head. “It’ll be quick I promise~ Plus, we can go pick something out together!”

You moved a little closer and grabbed his hand, lightly pulling him toward the front door.

“Fine, research might be good anyway.” He sighed. Honestly he really was a bit curious about what it was like past the walls of your house. Yoongi had swam past it sometimes before he transformed, but your house was quite isolated. The only thing he saw were trees and an empty beach in the range he swam.

You had told him about some of the things that happened to you whenever you would leave the house but it was always hard to picture since he really didn’t have too many points of reference. Your house was the only “human” thing he’s seen in person.

The only reason he was hesitant to leave was because well… you were an ok human but what about the rest? Blending into the crowd is something Keepers train for since they are young but when actually faced with the task, it was a bit worrisome, especially since he’s learned so much in the time he’s been up here that was never covered in any of his classes. The worry that he wasn’t ready or something would happen that would make him stand out and then…

You happily gave him one of the jackets your dad left behind, the cool sea breeze now making the air chilly. He wasn’t wearing any shoes but, you didn’t think too much about it since you didn’t have any plans of him getting out of the car.

You then guided him outside to your car.

“What is this human?” He questioned as he walked around the vehicle.

“My car— or not really mine, it’s a rental but you get the point.” You looked at him, expecting a snarky remark about how primitive the technology was but instead he seemed almost fascinated as he ran his hand across the hood.

“What’s transportation like where you come from?”

He looked back at you when he heard your voice.

“Nonexistent.” He chuckled, shocking you.

“Wait you mean to tell me your people that are sooo advanced as you like to put it, don’t have any forms of transportation?!”

He nodded. “I guess when you say it like that it’s hard to believe.”

“But… why? I mean, just from what you told me, Keepers are definitely capable. The ocean is huge so I don’t know why I assumed that would be something you processed. Do you know why?”

“There are multiple reasons but most involve the sense that being in the water, the perks that you experience don’t really do the same down there. Also transportation risks secrets possibly getting out, and well I guess it’s pride and tradition. Lots of ours involve commuting, having a machine do that for you isn’t the same.”

He gave you the answer but it still didn’t make any sense— or well it did, but just thinking about it made you tired.

“Huh, guess I can show you something new after all.” The feeling was new. Anything ‘new’ you ever really tried to show him was always laughed at and deemed primitive. For once you have the upper hand.

You happily went over to the passenger side and opened the door for him. “Your ride sir~”

Yoongi looked at you funny but still got in. You bounced over to the drivers side and got in.

You watched as he examined the vehicle a little more, an adorable sense of wonder in his expressions.

“Alright, buckle up! It takes a little while to get into town but just sit back and enjoy the ride. Luckily for you, you have an amazing driver behind the wheel and Jeju is beautiful at this time of night.” You smiled at him before you were backing up and on your way.

You were right. Yoongi for a while kept his attention out the window. At first it was just fauna but the closer you got to town, the bright neon lights, the night life all were marvels.

Yoongi has seen video and pictures of what the surface was like long before he came here, but just experiencing you and seeing everything for himself made him realize once again, the heavy bias in what they would teach. Humans were meant to be bad, you even yourself said that you were indifferent about the statement.

He hasn’t even spoken with anyone else but you, but he was starting to feel even more funny about continuing to believe that, like there can’t be exceptions. You. You were an exception…

Yoongi just watched as you continued to drive. It really was nothing like what he’d been taught.

You eventually stopped the car. You turned toward him.

“Alright, I’m getting jjajamyeon and I know this amazing place. You sure you still want the same thing as me?” You questioned as you grabbed your little backpack.

Yoongi nodded.

“Will you be alright waiting here for me?”

He nodded again.

“I’ll be back soon, the place is just right there.” You pointed to the little stand right across from where you parked the car. “You should be able to see me~” And with that you were shutting the door and getting in line.

It was just him now. He watched you for a little while before turning his attention to the car again.

He took out his system ready to take some notes about the structure. He was never really the type of person who was that into the engineering aspects of machinery, Jimin would always be the one to take that lead, but from what he observed the technology should be simple enough to understand.

Yoongi could feel the presence of some of the components but he was honestly interested in taking this apart and figuring out all the aspects of what makes this work.

But well, while he was distracting himself, it didn’t stop the fear. Being alone was something he did many times. If anything, he thinks he may thrive that way, but ever since… Well ever since the dreams and the feelings started happening, being alone became a little bit of a fear. You were always there to distract him, but you were gone and it allowed his mind to wander.

What if something happened? No… stop, don’t think about that.

Wandering was hard and his imagination was too vivid. His job required it to be. But he just wanted to turn it off for one second.

The pain… the arms… the pain… the pain…. the pain.

It was coming for him. Stop.

Yoongi again tried to turn his attention toward figuring out the components of the car and their purpose, but just imagining the pain.

This wasn’t working.

He anxiously looked up to you, who was chatting with the stand owner. It looked like you knew each other. Yoongi smiled as he watched you laugh with the lady.

Right. Focus on you. He didn’t feel so alone that way.

You. Right, he knew how to do this. He got busy on starting an independent study on you. You made him so curious, it was worth separating his notes slightly. That’s what he told himself at least.

Eventually you came back over but with the lady from the stand. Your hand carried a bag as you both chatted and smiled your way over. When Yoongi noticed he felt his anxiety surge.

You opened the door with your free hand, your laughter becoming prominent.

He saw the lady from the stand’s face change when she saw him.

“Now who is this young man?”

You smiled. “Uhh a friend of mine, we’re on vacation together.” Was this a lie?

“A friend?” She gave you a funny look and you already knew what she was thinking. You both just laughed, you being clearly flustered by her assumption.

You opened the back door and she put the bag she was carrying in the back.

“Anyway, nice to see you Y/N, hope to see you soon! You and your friend have a good time alright~” You hugged her real quick before she ran back to her stand.

You got back in the car with a sigh, relief knowing that dinner had been gotten. Your attention turned back to Yoongi who was looking a little strange.

“You alright?” You questioned, worry immediately consuming you.

“Yeah… just, let’s go back ok.”

As much as you wanted to push further, from the past few weeks you’ve known him, you knew he wasn’t going to tell you anything.

You started the car and began your way home. It was hardly 2 minutes into the ride when you felt him grab your free hand and intertwine his fingers with yours.

You panicked again, but he never once looked at you but kept his hand in yours.

You were worried but your face was warm. You wondered if this was another one of those things you shouldn’t really look into too much, but the moment felt so intimate. His hand in yours as you drove through Jeju. You heart skipped a beat just thinking about it, but again, you were worried about what exactly caused this odd display of affection.

Is he ok?

By the time you got home things hadn’t really improved at all. He was still distant and not really talking to you. He tried to pretend though which was even more concerning. As you started taking the jjajamyeon he tried to make small talk but even when he laughed you could tell there was something behind this mask he was trying to create.

You were REALLY worried. But again, you knew he wouldn’t tell you unless he was ready. Hopefully he will tell you tomorrow.

Dinner was nice though overall, he seemed to enjoy the dish you gave him and you both chatted lightly over the meal.

It was now time for bed. You guided him up the stairs, still a little worried he might fall despite all the progress he made today.

You went to his room and started getting the bed ready while he watched.

“What are you doing human?” He finally asked.

“Just tryna make the bed a little more comfortable. Wanna make sure you sleep well tonight.” Maybe whatever was troubling would go away after a good night of sleep.

You were busy and didn’t see the way he smiled at this.

“Alright! Hop in~” You ushered over to where you had pulled back the covers.

He took a seat on the bed.

“You don’t have to go to bed now if you don’t want to. I would stay up a little longer, but I’m a bit sleepy after all we did today. Just turn off the lights when you’re ready, I’ll be close by if you need anything~” You turned around and were headed toward the door when a mysterious force pulled you back so you were right in front of him, just like this morning.

You looked down, extremely confused. “Where are you going?” He reached up and lightly grabbed your hand.

Dun dun.

“Um… just to my room, it’s the door right beside this one.” Your heart was pounding in your chest but you tried not to let it show. You were oddly suspicious that he knew though.

“You’re not staying?” He questioned, making you a little confused.

“Why would I stay?”

You noticed the little pout on his features. Oh what was happening…

“Because I’m a—” It was at this moment he realized exactly where he was.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware humans didn’t practice this as well.” Now you were curious.

“Practice what?”

Yoongi sighed. “People usually sleep together to keep each other warm, for the same reason as before. Sorry I didn’t know…” He was embarrassed, a faint blush on his cheeks.

You smiled and made a mental note to write that down later. “It’s alright, it was cute~” You brought your hand up to ruffle his hair. By now the bun you had put it in earlier had come down, his bangs now cascading down his face again.

You have no idea what came over you to say or do what you did, but your smile got bigger when he seemingly melted in your hand.

“Alright, night Yoongi~” You tore yourself away from his grasp and made your way out the door, softly closing it behind you.

It was at that moment he regretted not trying to convince you to stay with him. That feeling of being alone returning all too quickly.

Part of him considered heading to your room later, but the fact you didn’t seem interested in staying with him, told him you probably wouldn’t like that too much. Or would you? Yoongi was usually good at reading people, he remembers hearing how your heart seemed to speed up the minute he made the suggestion.

Oh gosh, please don’t tell him you were scared by the thought?!

Yoongi sighed realizing he shouldn’t care how you reacted or even thought about his proposal. It happened, it was embarrassing. The end.

He tried to get himself situated under the covers. It was so warm, warmer than any pod provided. It was nice. He turned toward the empty side of the bed.

He really regretted not asking you to stay. The bed was too big for just him and just imagining how much warmer he’d feel with you by his side. Yoongi felt a warmth spread all over at the thought.

You were so warm. This bed, the covers, and you right next to him.

…

You. What was happening to him? Ever since he’s turned human, he can’t seem to escape the passing thoughts and curiosities about you.

He sighed once more and picked up his system that was sitting on the nightstand.

He was tired, but his thoughts kept the sleepiness from taking ahold of him. Instead he opened up his notes he started earlier and started writing everything down. You, you, you, why couldn’t he stop thinking about you?!

≫ ──── ««•◦ ✪ ◦•»» ──── ≪

The following morning was interesting to say the least.

You woke up to greet Yoongi like you always did. You were a bit surprised to find Yoongi was still fast asleep, but it did offer you a great opportunity. It was cute. You found he still retained some of his habits before he transformed. He had wrapped himself in the covers and had curled into the blankets. You had to stop yourself from taking a picture.

As you were eating breakfast later, Yoongi mentioned he wanted to switch back eventually, which was fine. You hadn’t thought too much about it until he said he wanted to try out the pool outside.

This led to a conversation about why he was so hesitant to go back to the ocean that didn’t really go anywhere. He wasn’t telling you something and that worried you, but it was just one of those things he wasn’t going to answer.

Then you moved onto the issue of the fact that your pool wasn’t salt water, something you automatically assumed would cause some type of issue. Yoongi also confirmed that it would be an issue.

Now you found yourself standing at the end of the pool, Yoongi by your side, as you were trying to figure out a way to fix this issue.

“Yoongi I’m sorry but I don’t know how I would do this. I would need to drain the entire pool and then go back and forth with buckets from the ocean. Nothing about that sounds like a good idea.” You looked at him worried.

“Can we try my idea then?” You had been hesitant to hear him out. At the end of the day this was your parents’ summer house and the last thing you needed was for them to hear you did something to the pool while they were away.

“What’s your idea?” You finally gave in.

“Did you still need this water?” He questioned, pointing down at the pool.

“Please, my parents would kill me if we drained the pool…” You panicked.

He nodded. “I swear, I always thought if I were to tell a human about my abilities they would take advantage of them. You human, don’t use me enough.”

Yoongi bent down to grab his knife, already having had a feeling he would need it.

You watched intently as he stretched out one arm and used the other, with the knife facing downward, and began to draw a rectangle.

The pool water began to glow that beautiful blue that you saw earlier around the edge as he traced. Woah…

When he got around the entirety of the pool he switched the hand he was holding the knife with, brought it down and slowly began lifting it back up. With it, a perfect rectangular prism that was the pool water lifted up.

Your mouth was wide open as the water lifted higher and higher, it now floating high above your head. It was beautiful.

Questions, questions, so many questions.

“Is it the knife?” You blurted out, for some reason, that being the question that kept popping into your head. He’s had it with him since he came, even though you were sure it was a lot longer at some point…? Though, yesterday he didn’t have it with him when he made the diorama and ice rose.

“No. It’s just me and the Zale. The knife stops me from going overboard with bigger things like this. I figured you wouldn’t appreciate it if your pool ended up in space accidentally.”

He chuckled lightly at the look of shock on your face.

You took more notice of the knife now. The hilt was a dark blue with inscribings all over it. Jewels decorated the guard, which seemed to glow. The blade was a shiny silver, you weren’t exactly sure about the shape of it, not being that knowledgeable in weaponry, but it came to a fine tip and was relatively thin. It was a beautifully crafted weapon.

“Is there a place to keep this?” He asked after the water made it up to a substantial height. You looked around the patio.

“Uhhh would over there work?” You led him toward the stairs down to the beach. The area beside it was nothing, the house blocked it from any passerbyers (though there weren’t many), and the trees that lined the stairs made it less visible to anyone on this side.

He nodded, seeing the space you meant.

“Alright…” He pointed the knife in the direction of the space you pointed out and the prism slowly floated over in that direction.

“Yoongi, you’re so cool,” you admitted, the confession coming out accidentally.

You didn’t miss the little smile on his face.

But his expression changed quickly as he used his free hand to make a sliding motion with his finger, making something come up from the ocean and fly into the prism. It happened so fast.

The look of concentration on his face as the water seemed to battle with whatever was inside. It was hot, a shameless confession seeing the way his features seemed to change completely, the soft dollish-like appearance into one so focused and determined. It was hot.

The battle was fast though before he snapped his fingers and ice shot out directly from the center, quickly encapsulating the water inside.

Yoongi lowered his knife, the ice also binding to the ground.

As things settled down, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. It wasn’t the task that was difficult, this was very easy, ridiculously easy. This normally wouldn’t have taken so long, but true to his abilities, he could feel your eyes. He could feel how he seemed to excite you as he worked, it made focusing incredibly difficult for a reason he didn’t quite understand.

“Am I now?” He finally responded with a smile.

Your mouth couldn’t seem to close at how impressed you were.

“Very, very cool.” So many adjectives and that was the least fitting. This was impressive beyond any word your brain could come up with.

You turned back to your now empty pool. “What now though?”

The process was repeated once again. Yoongi moved so he was standing at the edge of the patio, overlooking the ocean. Another prism came over the railing, and settled into the pool.

You were surprised when Yoongi’s hands were down, seemingly done, but the water’s color was clearly not that of the ocean. It was bright and incredibly clear, it looked as if it came from an island instead of the water from down below.

“There, think that solved the problem!” He beamed when he noticed how proud you looked.

You went closer to the pool, bent over, and dipped your hand in. The water made you smile. It was no different than anything else, maybe it was just your mind playing tricks on you after you saw what it went through, but it was just this feeling that it gave you. It was indescribable.

“Did you wanna get in?” He asked, sitting next to you and dipping his feet in the water.

“Kinda in the mood to go back for a bit.” He added.

This prompted you to run back inside, grab your ipad and record the process.

He explained that he had a little time to make the process quicker (whatever that meant) and so instead of the 2 hours you sat before, he was back in his fins in 45 minutes. It was kinda incredible. Later when you cross referenced your notes from the first transformation you learned that the process was EXACTLY the opposite of what happened before. It was like you were watching it in reverse.

While you were waiting with Yoongi you guys did a bit of chatting, he gave you a bit more information about the transformation.

Time Limit?: You wondered and was honestly a bit concerned that there was some sort of time limit to how long Yoongi could stay on land. Your worries were relieved when he answered no, but he did also provide you with additional information you had yet to consider.

What Came First?: Yoongi explained to you that in all technicality, he was a human playing the part of a fish person(?). Keepers were humans before anything. They just possess this mysterious connection with the figure they call the Zale, which allows them to mutate into something else. That was the reasoning he used for the lack of binding contract that came with the ocean.

Before you knew it he was back in the water. You smiled as you watched him get used to it. Luckily for him in this situation, your pool was pretty big and deep. Anytime your parents weren’t playing with you down at the little beach because the tide was likely coming up a little too high, you were up here on the patio in your pool. It was here you learned how to swim. You remember they told you how they invested a lot of money into the pool because of you-- how they wanted it to be a place you loved no matter how old you were.

The pool nearly took up the entirety of the patio, leaving a little room for chairs to sit along the side. It was deeper than what you typically would find in a backyard pool. It started at 3 feet and toward the far end went up to 10.

You were grateful to your parents, he didn’t look too cramped like you feared.

You watched as he swam around a bit before he was coming back to your side.

“You should get in with me.” He looked up at you so cute. It was almost like he was pleading.

“I wouldn’t get in the way?” Yoongi shook his head.

“Join me.” He was trying to be nonchalant about wanting you in with him, but he was really hoping you’d say yes.

“Alright then~” You got up and quickly brought your shirt over your head. Ever since Yoongi first came you got into the habit of wearing a bathing suit under your clothes, prepared for any moment with your fishy friend. You normally would just get in, but this wasn’t a shirt you were interested in getting wet, so it was just a bikini top and swim shorts for you.

Yoongi was watching in the water as this went down. He was a little shocked the minute you removed your shirt. Skin was never really a big deal for him… Nobody wears clothes where he comes from. But seeing you exposed like this for the first time made him feel a little funny.

You didn’t notice his stares and came around to the stairs of the pool. You got in, squealing as the cold water came up to your thighs.

Yoongi swam over to you and watched as you made your way in.

Your smile was big when it made it up to your chest.

“Is that how humans swim?” He questioned.

You laughed. “No, I was just walking.”

There was a bit of a pause. “Do you know how to swim then?”

“Of course I do… hold up.” With that you picked yourself up and started swimming to the other side. Not to brag, but you consider yourself a pretty good swimmer. You were doing it ever since you were young thanks to your parents, but you were also part of a competing swim club in middle and high school. If you go to your parents house in Busan, back in your room, you even have medals to show for it.

That’s why you didn’t think too much when you started making your way to the other side. But the minute you did and you saw Yoongi struggling not to laugh you realized you could not compete with someone who’s lived 122 years in the ocean.

Yoongi was right next to you faster than you could and that’s when the torment started.

He could barely talk, trying to tell you how ridiculous you looked. Normally you would be offended but again, coming from someone who lives in the ocean, you can only assume if the positions were switched you would be doing the same thing.

After a while though it did get kinda annoying, so you did what you must.

SPLASH

It took a minute for Yoongi to realize what you did. He was confused as the water dripped from his hair.

He turned to see you smiling.

Many thoughts about how to proceed. His heart was warm and many of those thoughts he couldn’t even believe had even come to mind. He settled with the simplest.

He splashed you back.

This basically started a war, or well a very uneven war. You tried your best to get him but for someone with water abilities and who can breathe underwater, it made doing any actual damage very difficult. You, however, were soaked. Just wave after wave.

“Wait time out, time out.” You finally called. Yoongi swam back over, a bit worried when he saw you rubbing your face.

“This isn’t fair, how am I supposed to win?” You pouted. He finally breathed when he realized you weren’t hurt.

“You started it…” He trailed when he noticed you were coming closer.

You brought your hand up to his cheek, that same pouty expression on your face.

Dun dun.

What were you doing?

A moment passed as he stared into your eyes wondering what you were doing. His mind was racing, his body almost crying out to do the thing that he has been trying not to think about. You were so close. He thought you were, he really thought you were about to do it when…

SPLASH

Your other hand was used to create a wave. Nothing compared to the damage he did, but it was enough to have you laughing and cheering when you noticed the look of shock.

“I won, I won, I won!” You cheered. You know you didn’t. If water fights had scores, yours would be barely over 5 while Yoongi’s would be in the hundreds, but it was that look that made it feel like you did. You really didn’t think too much of the interaction, you just assumed that gestures like these wouldn’t be a big deal like he claimed so many of the others weren’t. You were just hoping to shock him enough to execute your plan.

What you didn’t know was how wrong you were in the fact that it was a big deal and just how badly it got to Yoongi. He was thinking the opposite in the fact it was just a difference in culture between you two, but things like this were usually taken in a different way.

He really thought you were gonna… how badly he had wanted you to lean in further. How he continued to feel that was even after you gave him a face full of water.

He thought about it. Going up to you and kissing you like he had resisted the entire day.

What was wrong with him? This wasn’t right at all. He had hated you a few weeks ago and now he was going against everything he’s been taught, even going as far to want to… No. He had to get to the bottom of this.

For now though he just relished in the way you laughed and cheered. You looked so happy.

He really liked seeing you happy.

≫ ──── ««•◦ ✪ ◦•»» ──── ≪

The next few days were relatively uneventful. You both would talk pretty much most of the day, continue watching stranger things, rinse and repeat. It was nice in the sense that somehow these days started to establish some sort of routine.

Yoongi felt right being here. No longer was this worry about his intentions, or even the fact he could be leaving soon. He was here and you got used to it.

You would have never pictured this is where you’d be in your time to yourself. Even though it was kinda nice having the house to yourself, you figured it was going to bore you out of your mind after a few days. On your way here you kept counting the days until Seokjin and Jungkook were meant to be coming. But Yoongi turned the whole thing around in the best way possible. You really liked having him here.

Yoongi though has been doing some investigating anytime you weren’t doing something together, he was trying to figure out what was happening with him, because it only seemed like the problem was worsening...

HYPOTHESIS:

The attack and whatever happened to me in the unaccounted month had an additional effect—> causing unexplainable feelings for the human.

EVIDENCE:

A fews weeks ago I had my knife to her throat. Now I’m getting weird urges to pull her close. While my feelings for the human are docile, I do not feel the way my body is pulling me toward.

There’s some sort of attraction going on. It’s an unexplainable pull, a need to be close. At first I just believed it to be my habits from my life, but I’ve definitely crossed boundaries in my standards. It feels uncontrollable, I push myself away but I always find myself at her side.

Weird urges to bring her to the moon ruts.

My feelings for humans have never been romanticized.

Feelings are all mainly physical—> lacks proper backing. Described more as a weird craving than a desired taste.

None of this is making sense.

COUNTER:

She did “save” my life. Might be a possible byproduct of the act.

The feelings have no correlation to my attack or what she did. These are completely natural.

He tried not to think about this too much. Even if this was an effect he would eventually be leaving, solving this issue. It’s simple. If his counter arguments were true (he highly doubted it for some reason), that poses a bigger issue. No matter what he tried to push the topic back and focus more so on getting things done.

It was mid afternoon one day and you had come upstairs to grab something. Yoongi was up here as well, having excused himself earlier to work on something. You were curious but let him go. You really had no plans on questioning when you were about to head downstairs. The angle let you see into the room a bit as he had the door cracked open. The room was dark but a faint blue glow came from the door.

You were curious so you pushed the door open a little and… well you definitely weren’t prepared for what you saw.

Yoongi was right in the center of the bed, crisscrossed, hovering. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be chanting something silently as he moved his hands in his lap. The blue glow had been coming from the orbs that floated around him.

Overwhelmed by the scene in front of you, you squealed, making whatever focus Yoongi had fly out the door. He ended up falling back down on the bed and the orbs (they were made of water) came crashing down.

You obviously startled him.

“Human what the—” he stared at you peeking in through the door.

You quickly ran to the bathroom to grab some towels to clean up all the water.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” You were frantically apologizing.

Yoongi flopped back on the bed and sighed, seemingly not caring the bed was drenched.

“I was so close too…” He sighed, running his hands through his hair.

“Close to what??” You looked toward him.

He just looked at you for a second before laying back down.

“I was working, like I told you I was.”

“Working… on….” This was not the time to really be asking questions, but well, after what you saw you were looking for some answers.

“Well if you must know…” Yoongi sat up once again. “I do have responsibilities that I am forgoing by staying here. I was already gone for so long, so I thought it’d be good to do as much as I can from here till I leave.” You nodded understanding his reasoning.

“What were you doing though?”

Yoongi thought for a moment on how to explain this. “I was building.”

…

He could already feel the slew of questions coming.

Before you could even say anything he interrupted. “I know you’re going to ask ‘what’ human and I will already tell you I can’t explain it or the process really. I can say that I’m working on efficiency, improvisation, and innovation, for some of my abilities. Again the what and the how I can’t tell you.” He hoped that cleared up a majority of what you were about to throw at him.

“Wait so you can work on your abilities?”

He nodded. “It’s my legacy, what I will pass along to my kids one day. For now though I’m more so preparing for when I take over.”

You hummed, for some reason the answer making you smile.

“I can see why you guys want to keep this all a secret.” You randomly said out loud.

Yoongi looked at you.

“I already feel like I haven’t seen half of what you can do and just from what I did, power like that…” You were worried. You never really knew what you were going to do with all the notes you collected from Yoongi’s stay. If you published the study it would certainly land you a level of recognition even higher than your parents. The whole world would know your name.

But you knew the reaction from the public might be mixed, not even going into what the government would do. You could already see people trying to search to find the tribes. You can’t even imagine what would happen if they did. Yoongi’s power and the other Keepers…

It was in this moment that you decided that this study was never to see the eyes of anyone but yourself. This was going to become just a way to look back and remember the time you spent with him. You wanted to remember every detail.

Yoongi noticed your daydreaming. He was curious what was on your mind, feeling the indifferent energy coming from you.

You didn’t give him long to wonder because you were standing back up in a second. “Alright ummm, I guess I should work on getting these sheets dried.” You sighed.

“No need, I need this water anyway.” And with that Yoongi placed his hands on the bed and started to lift up, with his hands came all the water in little droplets. He did some motions before they turned back into the orbs that surrounded him when you walked in.

Your eyes were wide as they began to float around the room.

Yoongi’s eyes were on you as he watched your eyes sparkle with amazement and wonder. The blue glow from the orbs highlighted your features and he felt his heart skip a beat when you laughed as you reached out to touch one of them.

At this point he really couldn’t tell if this was part of the effect or his own heart playing him like this. This felt different. The difference scared him.

“I’m sure you still have a bunch of questions. I don’t have too much time, but I will answer what I can.” He said suddenly, needing to distract himself from the way his heart was beating out of his chest.

You looked at him and smiled. “I should leave.”

Yoongi was shocked and he couldn’t ignore the way his heart dropped when you said that. “You didn’t have more questions?”

“I do but I feel like I’m imposing. I don’t want to get in your way.” You had to practically tear yourself from the orbs and head to the door.

“I’ll see you at dinner later, alright?” Before Yoongi could answer you shut the door behind you, leaving him alone in the dark room.

≫ ──── ««•◦ ✪ ◦•»» ──── ≪

You were humming along to your favorite song as you were doing your nightly routine. It wasn’t much, but just a face mask you decided to do on a whim.

After you managed to get it on you went out to your room to sit on your bed. The view from here was mesmerizing. The moon reflected off the water and the night sky and sea seemed to stretch for miles. What made today particularly beautiful was the storm clouds up above. From here you could see the raging storm clouds as they were getting closer.

You and Yoongi had been trapped inside all morning thanks to the rain. It cleared up this afternoon, but like the weather had predicted, a storm was coming in now that the sun had set.

You honestly enjoyed storms like this for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that it always reminded you of the summers you used to spend here with your family. Whatever it may be, you smiled at the view.

You stayed there for a few more minutes before you went back to the bathroom to finish your routine. You were in the bed before you knew it. You smiled, the storm outside continuing to rage away, while you were in the coziness of your own bed.

Perfect.

Lights were off, you were ready for bed, peace.

You listened to the storm outside, the waves crashing in, it was so soothing. A little paradise. Living out here was so nice. The summer house was private, no neighbors anywhere. When you were a kid you liked to pretend you lived on a private island, that it was just you, your parents, and the open ocean.

Sleep was coming to you quickly, but it was always the moments when you were the coziest that would always get interrupted.

Scaring you half to death came Yoongi crashing in your room and quickly hopping on your bed. You hardly had any time to react before he was burying his head under your covers.

“Yoongi?! What the actual fuck??” You have to admit you were a bit harsh, but you were sleepy.

He didn’t say anything.

You waited some time before you decided to do anything, just waiting for this to be some sort of prank. Yoongi was never the pranking type, but you figured that’s what was happening tonight. But nope, no punch line, no “gotcha” moment.

You reached out your hand to pat him slightly. It’s when you realized the fact that he was shaking. Shaking hard. Your mind immediately went to the worse.

“What’s wrong, did something happen?” You asked, panicked. It had to be bad, Mr. Stoic, shaking?? No that doesn’t happen.

He didn’t answer again and that’s when you realized he wasn’t going to talk for some time. Instead you just rested your hand on his back and rubbed it gently. Whatever happened clearly startled him. You’ve seen and experienced many things during these last few weeks. Nothing has affected him like this.

Your eyes were starting to tear up for some stupid reason. You were scared, you were terrified.

“Yoongi please talk to me…” You pleaded gently. You didn’t want to poke and prod, but your mind was running a million miles an hour.

It was finally then that Yoongi poked his head from under the covers. Your heart skipped a beat seeing how terrified he looked.

“What is it?! Please!”

Yoongi’s gaze looked toward your window. “The sky… why is it so loud?!”

…

Your face fell in an instant. This boy seriously was about to give you a heart attack over some thunder. Instead of getting upset you put yourself in his shoes. He had told you that he lives far down underwater— he might not hear the storms that come overhead. This might be a completely new and terrifying experience. The best you do for him right now

You quickly wiped your eyes and put on a comforting smile. “Have you not heard thunder before?”

The sky rumbled again and you watched first hand the fear in his eyes as he saw the lightning flash before the loud boom right after. This really was a big deal to him.

“It’s not that… it’s just… I never knew how loud it could get…” The projection of the surface level water did not come with sound. They would be able to see the rain, but for a multitude of reasons, sound wasn’t included. Anytime Yoongi ever came up for moonruts, storms never seemed to happen. It could just be a terrible coincidence or the Zale planned for it that way, but he never knew just how loud it was.

You resisted the urge to laugh and instead worked on soothing him. No matter how adorable you found this, you hated seeing him shaken up.

Yoongi melted at your touch. It reminded him of when he first woke up. So soft, so warm. And smelled so nice, comfort, a warm hug. It’s what possessed him to take the big leap.

Your eyes widened when you suddenly felt two arms wrapped around you. What was happening?

Yoongi didn’t even think before he was pulling you in tighter. It felt so right, so good. His mind was on autopilot at this point.

“Can I stay with you?” It shocked him as well when it came out of his mouth. What was he doing? What was he saying?

“You wanna stay with me?”

Yoongi nodded. “Don’t wanna be alone right now if that’s ok with you…” He didn’t want you to know how desperate he was for you to say yes.

Your arms wrapped him. “Would that make you feel better?”

“Yes.”

You were also on autopilot. “Alright, if that helps then you can stay.” It was the fact that you agreed is what finally made the realization dawn upon him. You said yes, he was going to be in the same bed with you.

He released you and it was then that he was able to see you properly. The moonlight was coming in through the windows, hitting your back, dulling your features. The lighting was so intimate…. He felt his cheeks light up. He would never get flustered about things like this.

Yoongi hurriedly scooted away so there was actual space.

“Uh… thank you human.” He suddenly regretted the bold move he made. He honestly considered leaving back to his room, but the sky boomed again and that was enough to remind him he was bold for a reason. He really was that desperate for someone by his side. He was desperate for you.

It was awkward. Yoongi had moved to the far edge of the bed and you had also snuggled up on your side. You both were just staring at the ceiling as the storm raged outside. You were tired beforehand, but your mind was racing.

You’ve only slept with one other guy. It was your first boyfriend and— your face warmed realizing how wrong it sounded. You meant in the bed, not… not that, well also that, but that wasn’t what you meant. It’s been so long now that you’ve completely forgotten what it feels like to have someone by your side like this.

It was kinda nice.

Yoongi on the other hand was fitting his urges hard. He didn’t wanna make you uncomfortable. He’s only been here for a short time but he’s gathered information about which of his customs seem to make you a little uncomfortable. He’s great at reading emotions, it’s part of his job, so it wasn’t hard to pick up on the various social queues that made you tense. He tried to avoid them or provide some context to make the situation a little less awkward, but these days he just tries to avoid it altogether to avoid miscommunication.

He had already explained the significance of sleeping together to you, but well, he didn’t realize how hard it would be to keep that urge under control.

He’s been by himself for a while. It had been some time since he moved out of the main house. Yoongi was honestly used to being alone, he didn’t think it would be a big deal.

Everything with you seems to be a big deal.

He wanted to pull you close. Instead of his imagination, you were here, you were right beside him and how easy it would be to…

Yoongi scooted over a little to get a feel for how your reaction would be. He listened to the rhythmic beat of your heart and how it didn’t seem to go noticed at all.

Good sign.

He continuously kept moving, waiting for you to notice or say something, little by little until another crash of thunder suddenly had him clinging to you for dear life.

You stared wide eyed when you realized. You had been laying on your side at this point, so when he moved over, he basically ended up spooning you. His face was buried in your neck and his arms were wrapped around you pulling him close.

Silence filled the air for a while, both of you too scared to say anything.

…

“Do you mind if I stay here?” Yoongi finally asked. “It feels nice…”

You recalled back to when he told you about how this was a common practice where he came from. This was probably natural for him. That did not stop your beating heart however, and he noticed.

As soon as he got closer, your heart sped up so quickly. Despite how scared he was, that honestly made him more worried. Was he making you uncomfortable?

“I can move back… sorry this just feels right.” He chuckled nervously. Everything about you in his arms felt right. Your warmth, your sweet scent… fuck, you smelled so good.

You thought about it for a second. You knew immediately you probably weren’t going to get much sleep like this, you being way too excited for your eyes to close anytime soon. But he was your guest and you wanted to make him feel comfortable, if the raging storm outside was bothering him, and you being in his embrace helped, of course you should provide that comfort. Plus… he was right, this did feel right.

“You can stay, it's alright, I understand.”

A little bit of silence passed.

“I hope I’m not making you uncomfortable…”

“No you’re—“

“I can hear your heart… please don’t lie.” You eyes widened at his words. Alright, that’s more new information. But enough, it wasn’t time for the scientist.

“I’m not lying… sorry, just been awhile since I’ve slept with someone like this.”

Your words had his mind racing? A while? There was someone else before him?

“Who?”

“My ex— been so long I forgot what it felt like.” You chuckled, fully expecting him to laugh along with you, but it was silent.

“He used to hold you like this?” The words were dangerous, he knew that.

“Kinda… like the way you’re doing it more though. Feels good.” Yoongi couldn’t stop himself from bringing you closer. The thought of someone holding you like this… normally it wouldn’t affect him, this wasn’t deemed romantic where he comes from but knowing it did where you come from. He hated that.

“Anyway, we should try and go to sleep. It’s pretty late.” It was, it was 2 in the morning if we were trying to be exact.

“Sleep well human.” Yoongi mumbled.

“Night Yoongi~” You were trying to sleep, but as you thought before, it was a hard time trying to finally get your eyes to close.

Yoongi however really made no effort in trying to sleep, at least for a while. Here you were, your body pulled close. Fuck, if you lives were different. Why were you human? He would love to have you as a moonrut partner. Just imagining what that would be like with you— Yoongi felt his face warm.

You just smelled so good it had his mind feeling a bit fuzzy.

This seemed to be the perfect antidote to take his mind off the real reason he came in here. The storm was terrifying, yes, he was not used to hearing it be that loud before— but if that was it, it would be a little sad. No, the dark clouds, lightning flashes and finally the crashes of thunder were enough to invoke that same hopeless feeling that he kept experiencing in his nightmare.

It made him think about it. How it was coming for him. He knew it. It was coming. The storm was a sign, he was sure of it. How could he be alone when a fate Yoongi knew he couldn’t avoid was getting closer and closer.

The moments have only seemed to increase since he woke up. Part of him thought that when he would turn human that this would go away, but no, if anything it’s gotten worse. There was just no escaping it.

It was scary. He was scared.

But you… you always seem to make it better.

≫ ──── ««•◦ ✪ ◦•»» ──── ≪

Something weird happened today. Something really weird happened today.

After spending a month with your friend you didn’t think you could be surprised anymore. The impossible was possible when it came to him. As a human being it amazed you, as a scientist it perplexed and challenged you. No matter what side you looked at you were always eager to find something new about the Keepers, about Yoongi.

But something happened today and you were scared.

Considering what you’ve seen these days, you shouldn’t be shocked. You were sure what made this different is the fact that Yoongi looked just as scared.

You looked over at him, his eyes glossy, his hair was wet, droplets continued to drop down his face, as he gripped the towel wanting it to provide some sort of protection. He was shaking. It was obvious. You had pointed it out, but he just said he was cold.

He was lying, you knew that.

What happened? The once playful evening in your pool had turned south so quickly. Part of you wondered if this was your fault, could you possibly be the one that caused it?

What was worse was the little voice in the back of your head that was telling you to say what you needed to do. You hated the thought, but after what you saw today…

It happened about an hour ago. You had the bright idea of trying to teach him how to swim while he was still in his human form. Nothing wrong went there, it was just playful banter as he continued to degrade human design as he struggled for a while, getting out of his old habits. You eventually came out of the pool to relax for a second as you both started to get a little tired. You were about to head in but you thought it’d be funny to push him in one last time.

With a smile on your face and one hard shove, he went flying over the edge. You expected him to hit the water and immediately start bashing you— by then you had pretty much dried off so you knew it would be just one of those annoying moments. What you didn’t expect was that after you pushed him, there was never a splash. It happened again. He got stuck.

You stared wide eyed as he floated over the water, you could still see the look of surprise on his face. It was as if time stopped right before your eyes.

You didn’t know what happened, at first you wondered if this was his doing. You immediately knew something was wrong when you started seeing the tears stream down his face.

“YOONGI!!!” You screamed, your own face was wet now. It was as if you hit the play button all of sudden. He came crashing down into the water like you expected him to minutes ago.

The look of fear on his face as he scrambled out the pool reminded you of when he came into your room for the first time. Right, the first time. You didn’t stop him the next day as he followed you in and you haven’t stopped him yet.

You enjoyed it actually.

But this already made you think that there must be some sort of connection between the two. This is the second time you’ve seen it happen. You’re not even there with him all the time to know.

What you do know is that something is happening here. He still hasn’t said anything to you since he came out. He looked terrified and you were worried.

As of now you were both still out here. Your feet hung in the water as you stared at the moon and stars that hung above the both of you.

You wrapped your arm around him. “Yoongi… if you want to talk about it, I’m here, ok?”

He didn’t want to talk about it with you. He honestly didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. He felt like he was going crazy, he would have believed he did if the missing month of his life wasn't proof enough that something did happen to him.

He didn’t want you to know that something was coming, that it needed him. This feeling of dread, it was like he was staring death right in the face.

No. You didn’t need to know.

“Human it’s fine.” It wasn’t but he needed to put on a brave face. Apparently he wasn’t doing too well on that because you didn’t look convinced.

“I’m not gonna force you to talk, just know I’m worried about you ok. This wasn’t the first time something like this has happened. As much as I like having you here Yoongi, if there's something happening to you, I’d feel better knowing you were around people who are more familiar with this type of stuff. I thought I was being obvious in the fact that I care about your well being. I hope you know that.”

Your words made his cheeks warm.

“Human I understand… just, you don’t need to worry. I’ll figure this out on my own.” He probably would never, but he sounded more confident this time. It seemed to work better as your face started to relax.

“Just know you can talk to me, alright?” You stared him down in order to prove your point.

His face got even more warm.

“Of course, human.”

Silence passed between the two of you for a moment before a thought that had been dancing around in your head got too antsy and you said it aloud.

“Are you ready to go back?” Your heart sank as soon as you said it. Even just the thought of him leaving was making you feel funny. “I’m sure you have people you miss, plus I’m sure you have apprentice things you need to get back to.”

“Human…”

“If you’re worried about your injuries, you’re definitely healed. You probably didn’t need me to tell you that, but if that’s what you were waiting for…” Your voice was shaky.

You suddenly felt his hand on yours. “Calm down, I swear human you’re so dramatic… I’m not leaving, not yet at least.”

“But— But why? Just a few weeks ago you hated me and now you suddenly want to stay when nothing is keeping you here anymore?!”

“Nothing is keeping me here.” Yoongi scoffed. He still wouldn’t tell you the main reason, but to say that’s the only reason why he hasn’t just braved it out and hoped for the best would be a lie.

“Human, you’re right. Sometimes I wish I was back and I want to put this whole thing behind me, but you don’t know what it was like before. This is honestly a breath of fresh air.” He looked over to see your eyes wide, clearly intrigued by this information. He chuckled knowing he should have expected this from you.

“Believe it or not but I am or was sick.” Yoongi had made note of this a long time ago. The symptoms that kept him trapped in his house had disappeared completely. This was honestly the first time in a while he felt normal. Even when things were ‘ok’ they were never completely gone. Yoongi had honestly expected this might be a chronic condition that he’d have to deal with for the rest of his life. But here he was, feeling better than he had felt in so many years.

“What do you mean?”

Yoongi sighed and lied back so he could look up at the stars. You followed.

“It’s the reason I’m here in the first place. Ended up trapped in my home for a while, stressed out of my mind, just wanted to get away, you know?”

“Can I ask what was wrong or is wrong?”

“Kinda hard to explain it. It’s not like I was dying or anything, but it was hard to live. I had been sick for so many years I forgot what it was like to feel normal.”

“Something changed?”

“Ever since I woke up on the beach I’ve felt fine. It’s kinda funny, I can tell you’re thinking it. ‘If they’re so advanced why couldn’t they cure me?’”

“So you read minds now?” You both laughed. “But yeah, I mean, we haven’t discussed medical advancements yet, but I imagine that would be one of the things that you would always seem to have an answer for.”

“And you’re right. We do have an answer for pretty much everything. What I had was completely unknown to them. I was subjected to tests and tests and more tests, plus dealing with my apprenticeship.”

“They never found answers?”

“Nothing, I honestly thought I was just gonna have to deal with it for the rest of my life. Part of me’s a bit scared that when I leave, things will go back to normal. I left for a reason, that’s the last thing I want, honestly.”

You nodded understanding his reasoning.

“Not only that but I feel like this will be the last time I come on land. Just want to experience it all before the responsibilities and prying eyes of everyone make it impossible. I’m not in any rush honestly, you don’t need to worry human.”

“What about everyone waiting for you?”

“They can wait. It’s just us for now.” Yoongi wrapped his arm around you and pulled you close. You couldn’t resist the smile forming on your face.

He rolled over and buried his face in your neck.

You were trying to stop your beating heart and reminding yourself this was just part of his culture. So many moments like these that have your heart feeling all fluttery when in reality this doesn’t mean the same to him as it does to you. You honestly have to stop even thinking about the alternative and see it as it is. You and him? That wouldn’t work, you come from completely different worlds, he’s leaving one day for goodness sake. That wouldn’t work. Just keep your eyes on the prize, learning about a sub human species that only you’re aware of. That’s enough, right?

Yoongi cuddled even further into you, your scent at this point addicting. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with you? The closer he got the less he wanted to pull away, if anything, what he was trying to fight off was the urge to lead you into the pool and take you right now. The desire was carnal. Something so animalistic in what he wanted to do to you. You just smell so good. It would be so easy to give into temptation but Yoongi knew better, whatever was happening he could overcome it.

That didn’t mean it was hard.

His mind continued to play with different scenarios as he tried to focus on just how nice it was having you by his side. That wasn’t right either…

“I’m gonna miss you…” Your voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

Yoongi lifted his head and looked you right in the eyes. Your words made it worse, for a second the desire, the urge, the temptation was almost unbearable. He wanted to show you how much he would miss you too. He wanted to kiss you, to stop you being so worried. All these thoughts dancing around his head became too much, he sat back up so he was facing the pool.

“I bet you would.” He tried to chuckle and make it not a big deal like he always would.

Your eyes were wide while you tried to calm your heart once again. For a second there you seriously thought he would…

You sat up with him, extremely embarrassed about your sudden confession.

“Sorry if I—“

“No, no, you’re fine uh… I’ll be working on the car if you need me.” In a haste he got up and started making his way to the front door. He hated himself, why couldn’t he just say it back?

He would miss you. Probably even more than he may realize. Now he’s just made things weird…

Get it together Yoongi…

≫ ──── ««•◦ ✪ ◦•»» ──── ≪

Yoongi stared at his system, intrigued by his findings. He had made it his mission to figure out the inner workings of your vehicle. Like he told you, transportation technology remains unexplored despite their progress. It was a fun little side quest that he tasked himself with.

His findings were unsurprising. The technology was rudimentary as he found everything up here to be. The mechanics, the parts, he’s never seen a car before and he’s sure he could put one together himself, blindfolded.

That’s honestly not what attracted him— what made it exciting was the thought about driving it. He had observed you once working the machine, plus with a little bit of an analysis of the mechanics it was pretty simple knowing how it would work.

He had already asked you to test drive it, the final stage of analysis. You said no, saying something about needing a license and the fact that it was a rental— whatever that means. All he knew was that you were firm on him not going to test it out.

So instead, he continued his study in both further understanding the vehicle and figuring out ways he could improve the technology, possibly even adapting certain concepts to propose to the council for use back home. He highly doubted it would go anywhere, but if nothing else worked, he could always try and make one when he went back…

Going back…

Yoongi was out here trying to distract himself from you and the remainder of the fact that he needed to leave. He knew that. Leaving felt wrong. He hadn’t known you for long but he knew that departure would be hard. You were his friend, the thought about saying goodbye felt wrong.

Taking him out his thoughts was the blaring sounds of his system, letting him know someone was calling.

Uh oh

He didn’t even need to look at the caller ID to know who it was. Without a second thought he answered.

In the holographic projection the familiar 4 faces popped up, the background letting him know they were at their usual meeting spot.

Today was not the day, he wasn’t in the mood…

“Yoongi?” Jimin questioned.

“Hi everyone.” He put his tools back in the box you gave him, his stance was awkward.

He followed their eyes knowing they were looking at where he was and he mentally prepared himself for the earful he was about to get.

“I’m confused why you aren’t here? You’re still on land…” Namjoon finally broke the awkward silence.

“I already told you.”

“Yoongi I’m worried—“

“You have no need to be. I’ll be back.”

More silence.

“It’s just… I don’t understand. I know you explained it but…” Hoseok started but trailed off as he continued.

“Please just know there are certain factors that are keeping me here. It does not deal with the human, it’s personal. I will come as soon as I can understand my situation.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m worried. What is this situation? Why aren’t you going into detail?” Taehyung worried. No he hadn’t told them either, for the exact same reason.

“Please just trust me. If I can’t solve matters on my own I will tell you but for now, I want to keep it private—“

“Yoongi!!” You called out from the front door. Everyone’s attention was on you.

Your eyes widened realizing you were interrupting. “Just wanted to tell you dinner was ready, come in when you can… uh sorry…” You were quick to try and shut the door, but Yoongi stopped you.

“You’re fine, I’ll be in soon.” He gave you a weak smile. You tried not to think about it too much before you closed the door behind you.

Yoongi turned his attention back to the judging eyes of his friends.

“You’re looking awfully comfortable with the human.” Hoseok pointed out.

“Don’t. It’s not like that. She’s just being hospitable. I have no issues with her.”

“She’s human, I think that's enough of an issue.” Taehyung added. Yoongi’s fist tightened.

“I’m simply staying until I can figure out this personal matter. Unless anyone has any more questions I think that’s enough talking for the day.”

He was in a haste to hang up before Jimin called out. “We’re just worried about you, we haven’t seen you for 2 months, we’re just antsy.” Yoongi sighed knowing he couldn’t be mad at them. If the positions were switched he would do the same.

“It’s alright, just don’t doubt me. I’ve already handled the most pressing situation, I’m continuing my studies here in the meantime. There’s no need to rush. I can’t wait till we can meet again as well, but this needs to be handled first. Alright?”

The pressing situation had already been handled, the big possibility of war coming was now extinguished. He had already spoken with his parents. Everything was fine now, they were just eagerly awaiting the return of their missing son.

The boys gave each other wary looks before nodding.

“Call us soon, ok?” Jimin said and Yoongi nodded. They talk almost everyday. He really did miss them.

With that the call ended and Yoongi was heading inside to where he saw you in the kitchen getting the plates ready.

“Everything ok?” You questioned and he nodded.

“They just miss me.”

You smiled at the thought. You didn’t ignore the pang of sadness, once again reminding you he will need to leave.

Instead you chose to focus your attention on the moment, enjoying a meal with your friend. Instead of dwelling so much on the future you should focus more on the here and now. Save the sadness for when the time comes.

While you both were enjoying dinner, maybe if you weren’t so in the moment you would have noticed the fact that your phone was ringing. Maybe you would have picked it up, realizing that it was Jungkook. Maybe you would have remembered what day it was.

Maybe you would have remembered that it wasn’t just you and Yoongi but your friends now as well. They were coming. They were coming tomorrow.

[levisgirll]

could i pls request one where the reader is having trouble eating consistently throughout the day and doesn't rlly eat much and this is where levi starts to notice and helps and comforts her? it's been hard for me to eat these last several weeks, also if you're not comfortable writing ab this you don't have to do this!

𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 (𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

→ Text: Hello there Anon! Thank you for sending a request to me and of course I will be glad to write this for you! And, sorry this took a while but I really do hope you see this as I tried my best with it! Also, I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble eating. Since it has been awhile I hope you are doing better now?🥺 ♡♡♡  It must be difficult but don’t forget that you are strong enough to make it this far and I am proud of you! Hang in there, things will get better soon, trust in yourself <3 

Synopsis: Levi was quick to notice the person he loves most which is Y/N for a while that they were struggling with something. So, Levi observed them for a while and then noticed how Y/N was actually having trouble not eating much. And, it was just an instinct that Levi went out to comfort and help Y/N in his own way. Which made you realize his love for you, and you only, and how soft/sweet Levi Ackerman is towards Y/N. Find out what are the things he does and says!

Trigger Warning, some mentions of eating disorder (but focusing more on levi comforting them), angst, cute fluff, modern au, headcanons imagine♡ —

It was hard, extremely hard, and you tried your best to eat consistently throughout the day, whenever you went out hanging out with Levi, and whenever you were alone. You really did. But, all alone and not letting anyone know about it because you were quite worried and concerned to even mention it, especially to Levi, you found it hard to manage this by yourself.

Whenever Levi came over to your place, or has taken you out for lunch/dinner he noticed you won’t eat much and even skipping it, and he started to wonder if it was because you hated the choices he picked and took you or you had enough of outside food with him. But, he later observed you and had noticed you were actually struggling to eat nowadays and he wanted to talk to you, to be of use and support you. After all, you are someone to him he cared and loved.

So, he decided to come over to your place and have a chat with you, because Levi was slowly starting to be worried for you.

“Hey, Y/N. I want to talk to you about something. Come sit with me?” Levi said as he sat down on your couch, leaning forward while he rested his elbows on his thighs. He looked towards you, at your eyes which had a surprised look.

“S-Sure.” Y/N said nervously and sat from the opposite side, not sure if Levi was mad at something.

“I...have been noticing that you aren’t enjoying our lunch and dinner hangouts recently, and I also noticed you usually reject my hangouts whenever we go out to eat. Did I...do something?” He sounded quite sad and also concerned. He wanted to make sure the relationship you both had was still going good, because he loved hanging out with you and spending every minute with you. To Levi, you were his everything and he wanted to progress with this relationship and bond but to do that, he had to also make sure you were comfortable and he wanted to really help you out and be there for you!

You were taken aback from his comment, surely he misunderstood the situation, Levi started talking about how he was feeling worried  if he might have done something wrong and he had also personally observed the way you were behaving different nowadays towards him.

“No Levi...You never did anything. It’s just that...” You looked away from him and looked down towards your hands that you rested on your lap, you wanted to tell him, but you were not sure how.

But then, you felt his both hands on top of yours and he held it tightly when he bent forward, and looked at you filled with love and concern. “Just what?” He was paying close attention to what you were saying, and Levi sat there patiently and calmly, waiting whenever you wanted to respond or not.

You let out a sigh and with his touch, him caressing your hands, you held his hand back and relaxed. You decided to say instead what was on your mind to Levi. “Just, I am kind of struggling to eat nowadays Levi. It’s been hard for me to eat the past few weeks and...I am trying to but it’s kind of hard.” You said, with such a sad tone it broke Levi’s heart to hear that from someone he loved. 

But, he was glad. Levi was glad and relieved to hear that you were finally telling him what was on your mind, and how you were feeling because that was important to him. And, the fact that how Levi started the conversation in a gently and safe environment and both talked about how Y/N and Levi were feeling made it much easier for Y/N to see that Levi just actually cared for them and decided to let him know. 

Ever since you had let him know about this, Levi takes account to this and starts to help you in his own way which is filled with love with every act he does.

Levi kind of understood you as he himself, is insomniac, and he struggled to sleep but ever since with your presence and whenever you both had sleepovers, it has helped him had some extra hours of sleep and he was glad he told you and shared that with you ever since you both got close. Him letting you know about it made it less harder for him and easier for him to accept it as he didn't feel all alone anymore. Levi felt really lucky to have you. And now, he wants to give that back to you but x2, he wanted the same thing for you. “Let’s do this together.” Levi would say and he held on your hand, meaning every word he is saying.

Once you have told him you don’t really eat much, Levi gave you space to talk about how they’re feeling and what was going on for them. Levi would be very patient and would honestly listen to every word you say and keep a note of it. He would never and not even think of being annoyed about their eating habit’s as he knew it was something difficult for you and honestly, he was proud of you to have made it everyday all by yourself. He found you even stronger than him.

“Hey, I’m not good with words but, I want you to know I care about you brat. And...I am always there to help, so don’t you dare hesitate with me.” He said and ruffled your hair with a slight blush on his cheeks.

After you were slowly trying to recover, once Levi surprised you and decided to break the routine and made you light homemade food instead to encourage you a bit to eat something if you wanted to. He came over for a movie night and made food for the both of you. And, if you tried or tasted his food even just a little bit, he would smile at you and lean in to give you a soft kiss on your cheek. “I’m proud of you sweetheart.” 

‘s-sweetheart?!’ you thought as your cheeks felt hot and you looked away feeling really shy. Y/N was surprised to how Levi was being too soft and sweet, and you actually found it so cute that you both ended up cuddling each other on the couch. “Tch, you really are clingy huh?” Levi said with a smirk and joked. He made you give out a small laugh as it was ironic coming from him, and that, really really, warmed his heart. Tonight was just special for the both of you and he made you feel so special that evening. You really loved him.

Although, Levi would constantly tell you that if you ever needed his help in anyway, or to even hear you out, he was so ready for that. It was his most effective way of showing you his full support, just for you. And, it all came from his heart. 

Levi would also research and read more about how to help ‘a loved one who struggles to eat’ and ask for tips from Hanji and Armin, because he really wanted all the best for you. Your happiness is his happiness too.

Whenever Levi goes out to see his old friends, he would still ask if you would like to join. He knows that even if they do not join him, he would still ask you, making Y/N feel valued as a person and always Levi trying to include them in things. Once, Y/N went out to see Mikasa, Historia and Armin to a dessert place and Levi tagged along with Y/N. He would order for himself black tea and Y/N hot chocolate while the others would get themselves some ice cream, waffles and cakes. 

While everyone is eating and chatting, Levi would put his hand on top of your lap and caress it. Making sure you are feeling alright and he is there for you no matter what. While you saw the desserts being sweet, you thought Levi’s act was even sweeter to you and it warmed your heart. He then would lean in and whisper to your ear as the others were chatting, “I know this can be hard, and there seem to be lots of food around, but you don’t have to eat it all alright?” Levi said calmly and held your hand, he understood you so well and he knew you were still in recovery so it was a great reminder for Y/N to help them feel in control again. He really helped you out and you felt so happy sharing this with him now.

One night, you got so fed up and felt really overwhelmed. So, you decided to call Levi to come over to your place while sobbing. He came so fast, you have no idea. Hearing you tear up during the phone call, broke his heart and he wanted to hold you right now. As he entered your flat, you quickly got up, eyes swollen from your tears, “I-I..” but you suddenly got pulled towards him and Levi hugged you so tightly. That simple hug, you felt all his love towards you, and it really calmed you down and warmed your heart instead of your body. “Shhh, It’s okay. I got you.”

Levi would definitely build up your self-esteem, after all you were such a great and strong person, not everyone can handle this and it was hard. So, the fact you were for several weeks, along dealing with it, Levi would let Y/N know how strong they are, and he would tell them what a great person they are and how much Levi appreciated having Y/N in his life.  “Y/N. I know this is difficult, but I am proud of you.”

The fact that Levi was constantly trying to find out more about eating disorders and how to support them, with that act itself shows that Levi actually really cared and it helped him understand how they might be feeling. So, he would always during nights you both slept together during the weekends, he would whisper soft and gentle things to you, making you feel so much good. “Y/N...You are doing really well.” He would say as he softly caressed your cheeks with his thumb as you both laid on the bed, while you hugged around his waist. “Thanks, Levi. That means a lot.” You said and softly teared up, finally feeling so much better after a long time. “Don't thank me, I want to be here for you if you ever need me.”  Those simple words, made you tear up even more, it was just the way he said it, and how he focused on your eyes, his love is real for you. That evening, you shared a lot of love together <3 It made the both of you feel amazing!

And, when you started to eat something little by little and you told him about it or he has seen it, he would give you a smile which was quite rare to see sometimes but he has become softer with you, showing you a side only you see and no one else. “See? I believe in you. You look really happy.” and he meant it. Levi has always been honest to you and that is a strong factor of his as he does not say that easily. With all of his small comments and encouragements he has given you, it made you feel so amazing whenever you ate something even small and he made sure to make you feel good about it.

If you perhaps eat something and it made you feel down about it, Levi would be sure to cheer you up about it and try to joke around to make you laugh. Doing that to make you forget your negative thoughts and he would shower you with love too, by kissing your forehead and saying “It’s going to be okay Y/N, really.”

You won’t miss a day of Levi not sending you a text, you are after all always in his mind because he is in love with you. So he would text or call you and say “How are you doing?” He wants to know if you are doing well and what you were up to so he can see you later on the day <3

Levi one day surprised you and you got a delivery from him, it was a bouquet of roses with a box of chocolate and he left you a handwritten note saying “You look amazing. -Levi.” and that simple note, made you not stop smiling throughout the whole day and squealing about it to Hanji.

After a while, Levi finally took his chance and with time he finally confessed his love to you and how much he deeply cared and cherished you. “I love you, and I don’t think of you any differently.” Levi would say to you under the beautiful nightsky. Levi then reassure them that they are worthy and loved, and nothing they say or do will change that to him.

Ahh anon I really hope you liked this and if anyone read this I hope you did too! This came out so soft and fluff to be honest, and I really see Levi being really understandable and all because he also struggles with something else, such as not getting enough of sleep, and he would shower you with comfort, making you also feel so amazing and good? Like imagine Levi saying what I mentioned above, to you! Anyways, if you did like this please then leave a like, a reblog or leaving me message about it! Thank you all <3

[emerald-chaos]

Touchdown

*gif not mine, credit goes to the owner*

I just want to take a moment to say thank you for the love on my last fic! It made my lil ole heart swell to see that peopled enjoyed it enough to leave a like or reblog.

This is just something special I had in my arsenal that I wrote for a friend a few months ago. I touched it up a bit and added a few things here and there. It all started when we were talking about how much we loved when Chris' accent got heavier after he'd been drinking, and well, I couldn't help myself lol. I hope you enjoy the fluff! xoxo

I apologize for any grammatical errors, I tried to proof-read but am also a little exhausted lol.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 2844

Warnings: I don't think there's anyway? Mentions of being drunk/drinking alcohol, cursing, and illusions to sexy times, but that's about it.

You hadn’t noticed how furiously your knee was bouncing up and down until the person sitting next to you on the subway got up to move seats once the train squealed to a stop. You sighed and ran your hands down the front of your thighs. Normally being a little late didn’t bother you as much, but tonight you were meeting him.

You flipped your wrist over to check your watch. 8:30pm. In all honesty, it had probably been only thirty seconds later than when you checked it the last time. Another deep sigh escaped from your lips as you started to become hyper aware of the train remaining still at the current stop. What could possibly be taking so long? You knew he wouldn’t care if you were running late, but the time the two of you had together already felt so minuscule. You wanted to capitalize on every second you could.

The train began moving again and you slumped back into your seat, feeling only a small amount of relief. It was becoming painfully apparent that you needed to try and relax. You could feel the sweat building up on your body, the sting on your palms from where your fingernails were pressing in with a vengeance moments ago, and you could hear your heart thumping in your ears. Your hand dug around in your purse for a few moments before finding the small case you were looking for. Opening it, you slipped your headphones into your ears and let your head rest on the window behind you as music intertwined with your thoughts.

Once upon a time, you made fun of people who decided to go to grad school. What kind of a clown would spend thousands of MORE dollars and go BACK to school?? Not to mention the stress of the assignments, the due dates - it was not for you...or so you thought.

Now here you are, a regular booboo the fool.

NYU’s graduate program for design and merchandising wasn’t necessarily part of your 5-year plan, but when the opportunity landed in front of you it was difficult to pass up. NYU was a school you had only dreamt of attending back in high school. When you were a senior in high school you were able to tour the campus and fell in love immediately. Hours upon hours were spent researching grants, scholarships, and all sorts of ways to try to make it happen. However, the dream ended as most teenage dreams do - crushed. There was no way you or your parents could afford the loans that it would surely wrack up to attend the out of state university, and there was no way you could ask your parents take on that kind of debt just so you could go to college. UMass was the way to go - close to home and familiar. Not to mention you were able to obtain several scholarships and grants that helped bring down the cost tremendously. Little did you know, boring ole UMass would bring you one of the most important things in your life.

Applying for graduate school wasn’t an easy decision and one you couldn’t really take all the credit for. A smile crept across your face as you reminisced on the night you nervously brought up the idea to your long-term boyfriend.

“I think you should do it,”

“I know, right?” you scoffed, “it’s insane, why would I do something so stup...wait, what? You do?”

“Of course I do. This is something you love and that you’re passionate about. Do you know how many hours of my life were spent listening to you ramble about NYU?” he questioned with a grin.

“It will open up so many doors for you. We can make things work,” a chuckle escaped from those beautiful lips as he saw your dumbfounded expression. He wrapped his fingers around your waist and pulled you close, “What? Did you expect me to forbid it? Cmon, baby, what kind of guy do you take me for?”

You didn’t have a lot of wins in your life, but you did have Chris.

When you got accepted, he took off a week from work to drive you 3 and a half hours south to help get you settled and moved into your temporary new home. The two of you ate a disgusting amount of pizza, moved a ridiculous amount of heavy furniture in the middle of a summer heat wave, and enjoyed each other’s company before the long-distance thing would set in. Chris spent that week encouraging you every step of the way, talking you off the ledge when you were convinced you had made the wrong decision, and made sure to help you christen every possible surface of your new place in the most deliciously sinful way.

You bit your lip slightly at the thought and a warm feeling spread across your face. Chris was one of the most incredible people you had met in this world. Kind, caring, funny, intelligent, passionate, and god was he sexy. The connection the two of you had was scary at first, but now you just couldn’t imagine spending your life with anyone else.

The robotic voice came over the loud-speaker in the subway car and you were rudely ripped back to reality as it pulled into your stop. You hurriedly scooped up your bag and jogged off the train.

It had been a promise between the two of you when you moved that there would be equal effort when it came to visiting and keeping in contact while having good, open communication. Long distance was hard but the two of you were determined to make it work. FaceTime calls, hours upon hours of texting, and even as far as writing the occasional letter back and forth (because your boyfriend was a hopeless romantic and you loved it so much). This weekend was your turn to come home to visit, and of course your last class had to go longer than anticipated. Fuckin’ Tiffany and her stupid ass questions.

The muscles of your calves burned as you kept up your hurried pace, weaving through the crowds of people gathered on sidewalks outside of various clubs and restaurants. It was a weekend night and the Patriots were playing, which meant the city was more alive than usual. New York was it's own beast, but it was a different type of hustle and bustle. Nights like these made your heart ache for home - the thick Massachusetts accents, the rowdy voices of bar patrons arguing about the game, the hugs shared between family members as they parted after dinner, and the faint smell of nicotine and alcohol that hung in the air.

As the neon sign that hung in the pub window came in to view you felt your heart dip down into your stomach. Last weekend’s visit had to be cancelled due to some stuff coming up with Chris’ work and a surprise assignment for you, so you hadn’t seen your boyfriend in 2 weeks. With a deep breath you swung open the door and scanned the crowd for him. He told you that he would be there promptly at 7:15pm for pregame shenanigans with his friends - which actually translated to how many pitchers of beer could they suck down before kick off.

“Aw, come ON! That is such a bullshit call!”

You heard him before you saw him. Of course. A grin spread across your lips as you shook your head. The thought of leaving to avoid secondhand embarrassment crossed your mind briefly before you picked up your feet and made your way through the crowd toward the sound. A room full of people from New England and you would still recognize that voice anywhere.

Everyone else seemed to fade away as you saw the outline of the tall, dark haired man standing at the bar. The slight freckles that spattered the back of his neck, the Brady jersey that he spent WAY too much money customizing, and the signature backward ball cap were ingrained in your subconscious memory. Not to mention if you didn’t recognize his outline or his voice, you would definitely recognize that ass anywhere.

You loved how passionate he got about sports and the way his Boston accent seemed to get thicker with each beer he consumed. Growing up in the area, you wouldn't think the accent would send a tingle down your spine the way it does, but it was different - it was Chris. Not to mention the sparkle in his eye when he would watch his favorite team or the way he would get in to arguments whenever someone tried to say something negative about them. You loved your big, handsome, over-sized toddler man so damn much.

A light tap on his shoulder made him whip around, his slightly opened mouth from his interrupted conversation curved upwards into a wicked grin as he made the connection of who was finally standing in front of him.

“Hey there, handsome. I don’t see a ring on your finger. You single?” You grinned, feeling your entire body fill with warmth as Chris leaned back and grabbed his chest as he erupted in laughter.

“Nah, nah, nah, unfortunately for you I am taken” he responded as he snaked his arms around your waist, sliding his hands into your back pockets as he pulled you into his figure.

“That is too bad,” you tsk'd, running a finger down his toned bicep, “she’s one lucky girl.”

“I think I’m the lucky one,” he grinned. He leaned down to meet your lips in a kiss. You sighed into it, allowing your body to mold itself so perfectly into his. The taste of beer on his lips and the smell of his cologne was intoxicating - it was home. You immediately allowed him entrance as you felt his tongue glide along your bottom lip. Your body felt small in his strong grip and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit as he gave your ass a firm squeeze. Normally, this type of bold, public display of affection would make you cringe away but at this point you were lost in Chris that you had absolutely no shame. Each time the two of you embraced had always felt like the first. Your heart still fluttered and your knees still got weak, like you were a 16 year old being kissed for the first time.

In the middle of your reunion moment, however, something happened in the game that made the entire bar erupt in boo’s and curses. Chris lifted his lips from yours to look over his shoulder and inspect what he had missed. You laughed and shook your head as you pushed him back towards his friends and took a seat in the bar stool he had been standing behind initially. His large hands found a natural place on your shoulders. While his eyes remained glued on the TV he began applying a moderate amount of pressure to your neck and shoulders. You didn’t realize how much your body craved that touch, his touch, until you immediately melted back into him.

The bartender slid a beer in front of you with a wink and you mouthed your thanks. You felt a twinge in your heart as you looked around, taking in the atmosphere of the bar. This was a typical weekend night for the two of you whenever you were living together. Football, drinks, pub food, and friends. If it wasn’t this pub it was your living room, just a couple blocks away. You didn’t even mind that it was your first night back and you weren’t alone, spending it immediately wrapped up in your satin sheets. The atmosphere, the people - it was so warm and familiar that you really wouldn’t rather be doing anything else. Plus, being wrapped up together in the sheets was sure to follow.

“I missed you,” hummed a pair of lips as they placed a kiss on the shell of your ear. A shiver shot down your spine at the sensation of his warm breath fanning over your neck. You reached up a hand and connected it to the nape of his neck.

“I missed you too,” you replied, turning your head to plant a kiss on his stubbled cheek.

His arms changed position as he wrapped them in front of your shoulders and crossed them, resting his chin on the top of your head. Your hand absentmindedly rubbed his forearms as you nursed your beer and placed your focus onto the game for the first time tonight.

The laughter seemed to escape from your chest naturally and effortlessly the entire night, as it always had a habit of doing when Chris was around. The camaraderie between him and his buddies during a game was something you’d grown to enjoy over the years. Chris’ competitive nature and the way his jaw clenched when something wasn’t going the way he wanted was always kinda...hot. All of his friends were huge assholes, but in the best way. It was always entertaining to hear them jab at each other and do what they could to rile someone up. They were the life of every party you had ever attended and they had a way of making a boring night a lot more interesting.

Thankfully (for the integrity of the bar) the Pats won the game with a surprise touchdown in the last 30 seconds of the game. Chris, being the guy he is, bought a final round for his friends and a nearby group they had been going back and forth with all night. You couldn’t help but laugh as he drunkenly leaned across the counter and slurred his order to the bartender.

“I need a round for m’friends and for these assholes over here who thought Tom Brady was anything but a winner!” the group started yelling in protest and he simply waved them off and started sliding beers down the bar.

The group eventually moved to a bigger round top so everyone could shoot the shit and banter about the outcome of the game. You were tucked into Chris’ side, hands intertwined as he was passionately discussing the importance of Brady’s legacy with a stranger who made the mistake of stopping to talk to him. Your eyes followed the motion of your thumb as it traced small circles onto the back of his. Your other hand under your chin, holding up the weight of your head as your exhaustion started to catch up with you. Chris, although slightly drunk, picked up on your body language and raised your hand to his lips for a kiss.

“Alright, fellas,” he said as he stood up from his seat, pulling you up with him, “the lady and I are gonna call it a night. See you boys next weekend”.

“Chris, we don’t have to go,” you began to protest as he tucked his jacket around your shoulders.

“Mm, ‘course we do,” he replied with a soft smile, “you’re so tired, baby. I can see it in those beautiful eyes”.

You could feel your cheeks turn a light shade of pink as you rolled your eyes at his attempt at laying it on thick. After what felt like a proper 10 minute goodbye session, the group said their final goodbyes, hugs included, and you walked out of the pub hand in hand.

The walk home was filled with the sounds of cars passing by and conversation of what each other had missed in the week prior. Small talk typically felt like such a chore, but with Chris every conversation came naturally. Even when he had absolutely no idea what you were talking about, he would listen intently and ask all the questions as if it was the most interesting conversation in the world.

The lock on the apartment door clicked as you pushed it open and entered. You smiled as you stopped into the middle of the living room, taking in the home you missed so dearly. A soft tapping of toenails against the hardwood made your heart soar as you met the eyes of your sweet pup, Dodger. A squeal left your lips as you squatted down to give love to the sweet boy. Chris always made fun of you when you came home, saying that you always seemed to miss Dodger more than you did him and I mean, he wasn’t entirely wrong about that statement.

Once again lost in your own world, you didn’t even notice Chris leaned up against the wall watching you with a smile.

“Oh my god,” you gushed, standing up, “do you like...like me or something?”

Chris grinned as he crossed the room and caught your belt loop with his finger, pulling you into him slowly.

“Yeah,” his voice had dropped down an octave, “you could say that”.

“Mm,” your tongue swiped across your lower lip and you wrapped your arms around his neck, “care to show me how much?”

The look in his eyes made your core burn. The tension building between you two became too much to handle as you crashed your lips into his. The kisses were messy and you could feel the sense of urgency between you two. His beard scratched against the column of your throat with a delicious burn as he left wet kisses across your jaw and down the side of your neck. Chris’ hands found their way back into the ass pockets of your jeans as he started walking you back towards the direction of the bedroom.

Soon, there was a trail of clothes leading to your bedroom and you felt very sorry for your neighbors. It had been a long time, but Chris always had a way of welcoming you home.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Little Bones 2

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series); harassment, general creepiness, unwanted touches

This is dark! (biker) Thor x chubby!reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Series Synopsis: You’re a city girl stuck in a small town, but Birch isn’t as sleepy as it seems.

Sister series to Smalltown Bringdown and When the Weight Comes Down

Note: We got another part and I hope you love biker!Thor as much as I do. It’s lots of fun.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Chapter 2: Better butter your cue finger up

The bottle of wine sat on your counter and you hid away the vodka in your freezer as you resisted the temptation of both. The library made hangovers even worse with its bright lights and tedious nothingness. So you tried to ignore the tapping at your shoulder, the persistent tug of your paranoia, and pretended that nothing had changed. In Birch, nothing did change, right?

The click of your mouse and the loud tapping of keys filled the silence of the library. Colin snored with eyes wide open. It was hard to tell when the old man was awake or sleeping. You weren’t sure there was a line left between the two for him. He spent most of his working hours in the back on the other side of the windowed wall although what exactly he did there remained a mystery.

There wasn’t very much to do there outside the occasional school visits in which students walked down to complete some research project or the teacher’s held a crafting circle. You liked those days as often you could join in and help wrangle in the pupils as they explored the sterile shelves.

Melissa stood and her chair rolled back with a grumble. She stretched and bent to grab her purse from under the desk.

“I’m going down to Bab’s. You want anything?”

“Hmm,” you tapped your chin as you leaned back. “I wouldn’t mind a latte. Oh, and I think they have the banana loaf today. A slice of that too.”

You peeked under the desk and sat forward to grab your bag from the cubby beside your PC tower. “Nope,” Mel stopped you, “it’s on me today. I need a breath of fresh air anyway. Even if it is cold as hell.”

“Oh, thanks, Mel,” you smiled and grabbed a pen to click in your monotony. “We should dig out the Christmas decorations soon. It might actually give us something to do.”

“Maybe for an hour or two,” she pulled her jacket from the rack that stood against the wall between the front counter and the back room, “We could try something new this year. I saw these lights online, you can program them with your phone.”

“You think Colin could handle that?”

“Like he would even notice.” She laughed and pulled on her coat and grabbed her purse. “Latte, banana bread.” She recited. “I’ll be back.”

You watched her go then stretched your legs out as you arched in the chair. You fell back limp and closed your eyes. You could fall asleep right there. You really couldn’t blame Colin for his waking trance. This place made your ears buzz and your head spin.

You heard the whoosh of the automatic doors and sat up. You were surprised at your visitor but not disappointed. Melissa’s daughter approached the desk as she swung her bag in her hand. You could tell by the little wrinkle between her eyebrows that she wasn’t happy.

���Your mom’s just gone to Bab’s,” you rolled closer to the desk. “You must’ve seen her.”

“I saw her.” She said tersely. She stilled her fidgeting and planted her dangling purse on the desk. She sighed and crossed her arms. “I’m here to talk to you.”

“Is something the matter?”

You were nervous. You knew her as well as her mother and you got along. You shared an interest in old Hollywood and a taste for dry history and humour. You liked her, envied her even for having a mother like Melissa.

“I hate doing this. I hate when he makes me do this.” She dropped her arms and instead gripped her hips. “You want to come down to the Asp tonight? For a drink?”

You chuckled and clicked the pen. “It’s Wednesday. I have to open tomorrow and--”

“Hrgh,” she huffed. “I’m sorry but it’s… not a question.”

You put the pen down and clamped your lips together. She shook her head and looked away.

“It’s an order. From Bucky.” She tapped her toe on the carpet. “I tried to tell him that you wouldn’t want to come so late. That you know, you work. He just doesn’t listen and--” She heaved and threw up her hands in exasperation, “I tried.”

“But… me? I don’t even know any of those… people. It’s not really my scene.” You swallowed and dug your nail into your thumb. 

“I’ll be there. Same with Steve’s girl from the bakery. She’s nice. And…” her eyes were dull but irritated, “look, if you don’t show up, Bucky will go and find you. Everyone in town reports to him. You don’t have to be in his club, he owns Birch.” She grabbed the thin strap of her small purse and drew it from the desk, “you don’t want to learn that the hard way like I did.”

You knew it wasn’t Bucky who wanted you there, you suspected that big blond brute who had chased you down the street. Her anxiety fed yours and made you uneasy. If she were that afraid, how scared should you be?

“I think you know my answer considering I’ve been given little choice.” You said firmly. “What time?”

“Seven. I got him to budge on at least that. You won’t be out too late.” She gave a weak smile and twisted the strap of her bag. “Stay close to me and I’ll do what I can. You know, with Steve’s girl, I really tried…” She looked away and rolled her as they turned glossy. “Sometimes, Bucky listens to me and I’m figuring out how to make him.”

“Why are you with him?” You whispered. “Why--”

“You think it’s a choice I made.” She blinked and sniffed. “No, it was made for me when I was born in this god forsaken pit.” She thrust her purse over her shoulder and shrugged. “I don’t know why anyone would make up their mind to come here.”

“I can’t say I’m happy with the decision.” You returned.

She sent you a pitying look before she spun away. She marched back to the doors as her mother nearly collided with her. They spoke for a few minutes before the younger left and Melissa came over to plop her goodies on the desk.

“New latte flavour, candy cane. I figured we might get a bit festive.” She announced.

💀

You stood outside the Asp and stared up at the snow-covered marquee. The powder began to fall just after noon and collected along the small ledge below the image of Cleopatra.  You wore a bright pink toque with an oversized pom-pom and tucked your chin down against the matching scarf tucked down the front of your cherry-coloured coat. You stuck out among the grey of Birch.

You didn’t put much effort into getting ready. You kept on the same polka-dot blouse from work and traded your trousers for faded jeans and a pair of knee-high boots. You took a breath and stepped through the doors, barely avoided the rush of snow that fell down behind you.

The bar smelled of beer and a stale but pungent dinginess. You looked around in the low din. The bartender, a woman named Lucy, dried several glasses and stacked them on a shelf and every man in the place wore leather. 

You found Melissa’s daughter next to Bucky as he squinted at his closest accomplice, Steve. The shy girl from the bakery was tucked under his arm as she picked at the hem of her short skirt. You cleared your throat as you pondered leaving.

A figure on Bucky’s other side stood and you frowned as that man, Thor, smiled at you like a puppy. You fixed your mouth into a straight line as Bucky’s girl rose and waved you over.

“Hey, you made it,” she said. You didn’t miss the way Bucky’s hand slid up her thigh.

“Yeah,” you said flatly as you rounded the table.

“Kitten,” Thor greeted as he pulled out the chair next to him in a flourish. “I’ve a seat just for you.”

You looked from the chair to his face. You made no move to sit.

“If that’s not to your tastes, you can sit in my lap.” He taunted.

Your lips parted in disgust and you grabbed the back of the chair. You wrenched it away from him and backed up steadily as you dragged it around the table. You stopped it next to Steve’s girl and unzipped your jacket. You sat and shrugged out of the coat then crossed your arms. You tore your eyes from the large man and smiled at the baker girl.

“The banana loaf was good,” you said. “Sorry I didn’t make it down.”

“Oh, it’s ugly out there,” she turned in Steve’s hold and his arm slipped down around her waist. 

You could feel Thor’s constant gaze as you humoured the girl about the weather and listened to her story about how Mrs. Deeton sent back a blueberry scone for not having any blackberries. You did your best to blot out the rest of the bar.

“Kitten, you want a drink?” He interrupted and you peered over at him. You glanced from him to Lucy as she stood and awaited an order.

“Do you have ginger ale?” You asked her directly.

“We have club soda or iced tea right now.” She said with venom.

“Iced tea, thank you.” You fished through your purse for a fiver.

“Put it on my tab,” Thor insisted.

“No, it’s fine, I--”

You held out the bill and he reached across to snatch it from your hand. “On my tab.” He repeated and the barmaid stomped away. He tossed the five back to you and smirked. “Keep it, kitten.”

You swiped it up and turned back to Steve’s girl. She looked frightened as she stared at the blonde man and slowly returned her attention to you.

“Um, so, I was going to tell you the secret ingredient to Bab’s banana bread but you have to promise not to tell.”

“Sure,” you leaned in and she whispered it in your ear and giggled. 

“I’m not supposed to tell.” She uttered as she touched her cheeks guiltily.

“I’ve been telling her she don’t need to worry about rules,” Steve intoned as his fingers danced on her hip.

“My mother made the best banana cream pie,” Thor interrupted. “She handed the recipe down to me. My sister was never much into sweets.”

“Oh?” Steve’s girl turned to Thor. “We don’t serve that at Bab’s but we have lemon meringue.”

“Mother made that too. She showed me the trick to perfect peaks. I could show you.”

Steve growled and pulled his girl closer. She looked at him as he sent a heated glare at Thor. She touched his chest and cooed at him to relax. Lucy returned with your iced tea and you took it eagerly as the tension burned at your face.

“So, kitten,” Thor scooted his chair around the table as you set your glass down, “what trouble did you get into today?”

“I work at a library.” You uttered dryly.

“And did you enjoy your wine last night? I always heard it’s better with company.”

You jutted out your jaw in annoyance and looked at him. He was painfully persistent.

“Excuse me.” You stood and nearly gave him a face full of your chest. You looked to Bucky’s girl as she listened to his incessant grumbles. “Where’s the restroom?”

“Just down there,” she pointed along the far side of the bar.

“I could show you,” Thor offered and you waved him off.

“I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

“Yes, you are,” he purred and you backed up as his eyes grazed your hips.

You were all too eager to hide in the bathroom and closed yourself in a stall as you tried not to scream. You had dealt with perverts before. Often you were the butt of some joke. The wingman settled for the chubby girl so his pal could get laid. Those types thought you were desperate and had no qualms with getting handsy on the dance floor. But college was long ago and Birch wasn’t known for its nightlife.

After a moment, you were able to steady yourself and you left the stall. You stood by the grungy sink and stared at the mirror. Why you? Why was this idiot bugging you?

You went back out with reluctant steps. You passed a drunk man at the bar talking about some feat of machismo in his foregone youth. As you neared the table, you froze in the spot as you listened.

“...she’s fat anyway.” Steve snarled and laughed meanly.

His chortle was curtailed as a chair scraped on the floor and the baker girl cried out. Thor forced Steve to his feet but the front of his tee shirt. He pulled him past his girl and brought him close as he growled down at him through flaring nostrils.

“I like you, Rogers, but your mouth makes it real hard.” Thor sneered.

“What the fuck?” Steve struggled against him, “let me go.”

“I’m not sitting here shit-talking your woman, eh. You might have little respect for them, but I do.”

“Jesus Christ!” Steve was on tip-toes as he was held up by the other man.

“Apologize.” Thor demanded.

“Wha--”

“Dammit, Steve, say sorry.” Bucky snapped.

“S-sorry, dude.” Steve stuttered.

“Not to me,” Thor turned and to your surprise, he thrust Steve around to face you. “To her.”

You stared in shock as Steve straightened his shirt. He was like a petulant child as he looked you in the eye. “I’m sorry.”

“For…” Thor prodded.

“I’m sorry I called you fat.” Steve looked away.

“I…” you didn’t know what to do or say as you glanced past him to the other girls. “Well, I am so it’s fine.”

Thor shoved Steve back and his thick brows drew together. “Don’t listen to him,” he said. “I like a little extra.”

“Hey,” Bucky’s girl interrupted as she stood suddenly, “the table’s free. How about I get Wanda and we can play some doubles, just us girls.” She touched Bucky’s shoulders, “leave the men to their business.”

Thor’s shoulders fell and he shook his head. He grinned at you even as his disappointment shone through.

“Sure,” you answered as you stepped around him. “Sounds fun.”

💀

You focused on the felt. It didn’t help block out the blazing heat of Thor’s leer. You refused to look over at him and instead pretended to be enthralled with the game of solids and stripes. 

When you were a kid, you went to the youth centre and played with the rest of the kids desperate for a distraction. In uni, you enjoyed your plastic cups of cheap sambuca and coke at the campus bar and chalked up the cues. You were no expert but you could hit a good shot now and again. Your mother used to recount tales of her hustler father. Maybe it was his blood that kept your hand steady.

The other girls played as a pair as you handed off to Wanda. She wore the cut of the Birch’s club and her dark lipstick was the same shade as the leather. You saw her now and again with the men. She smoked her cigarettes out front and watched the town with indifference.

Wanda took her shot and clicked her tongue as she scratched. You shook your head as Steve’s girl scrunched her nose at the table. You were even; three stripes and three solids. She went around the far corner and awkwardly positioned herself over the side. She reached back to tug down her short skirt, she was clearly uncomfortable in the revealing outfit.

She sunk her mark but her next stopped short of the pocket. She shook her head and apologized to Steve’s girl who assured her with a pat on the shoulder. You took the cue from Wanda and walked around the table. You walked back and wondered if you could sink two in one. It was a possible angle but could you hit it?

You tilted your head and sighed. You bent and brought your foot back as you squinted and carefully positioned the cue. You couldn’t decide whether you should try to spin it to the right or hit it straight on. You knew the power you needed but you couldn’t afford to hit a stripe.

You almost tapped the cue ball as you felt a warmth over you and suddenly a hard torso was against your back. You went rigid as Thor bent over you and put his hands over your as he adjusted your aim. His hot breath wrapped around your neck.

“Almost, kitten,” he pushed his crotch against your ass.

You pulled the cue back so that it hit his ribs and he grunted as his hands fell to the edge of the table. You took the shot and pushed out of his grasp. His hand dragged over your ass as he stood straight and touched his side with a wince. 

“I got it.” You said as both balls rolled and dropped into opposite pockets.

He chuckled and bit his lip. It was almost a snarl as he watched you across the table and you sensed the bated breaths of the other women.

“I like a woman with a firm grip,” he winked, “And confidence.”

You looked back to the table as he loomed on the other side. You sunk the last solid and lined up for the eight ball. A straight, easy shot that even the most amateur could get. You ended the game and Wanda clapped as the other girls grumbled their congratulations.

“Best out of three?” Steve’s girl asked.

“I’m sorry to disappoint but I have to work early.” You leaned the cue on the table. “I showed up and now I’m done. It was fun, girls, but I’m gonna turn in.”

You smiled at each of them and your face fell as you passed them and went to grab your coat from the chair where it still hung. Thor was less than subtle as he followed you to the table and watched you zip up your coat over your chest. You slung your purse over your arm and pulled your hat on as you braced for the chill that awaited you.

“You shouldn’t walk alone.” Thor intoned.

“It’s a small town. I’m fine.” You spun away and again, he followed.

At the door, you turned back and crossed your arms. “Look, I can handle myself, buddy. Now leave me alone.”

“I’m just being nice.”

“You’re being a pest.”

“You love it.”

You huffed and closed your eyes to keep them from rolling back into your skull. You looked at him again and bit down on your words. “Do you ever give up?”

“On you, never.” He grinned.

“Well, be a good dog and stay.” You jabbed your finger in the air. “Stay!” You repeated as if he was a hyper dog. “Good.”

You quickly slipped through the door and booked it across the street. The door didn’t hit the frame but was instead caught as his boots scuffed out behind you. You peered back as you reached the other side and kept up your steady jog. He watched you but did not give chase.

“I’ll sniff you out one day, kitten,” he called out. “Pussy, pussy, pussy.”

[cosmicsierra]

Oh I'd love to see the scenario you have for “I don’t see what anyone can see in anyone else, but you,” anyone else but you by moldy peaches, please?

thank you for the request anon! i was super excited to write this! here is some tech fluff :) only warnings are a club scene that includes light discussion of a lap dance. I hope you enjoy <3

prompts from songs that remind me of tech

Tech was a soldier. A soldier loyal to the Republic, created with an exceptional mind by the Kaminoans to be the brains of a team that worked together. He spent his time in his youth training to become more efficient and researching subjects all over the holonet on a datapad given to him by the Kaminoans, not to mention the research being done on him. Not only did he face strict testing and orders from the Kaminoans, but also throughout the Clone War.

In every part of his life, he has never been inclined to truly love anyone in a romantic way. He held love for his brothers, even when they teased him relentlessly and embarrassed him in public. Even more so, the clones encouraged him to partake in activities with various people spotted in bars. Wrecker even went as far as buying him a dance from a female Twi’lek who most clones longed after. Reminiscing on the memory, Tech cringed in real time. The Twi’lek sauntered over to him. Heads of clones turned his way, jealousy in the eyes of most. Not quite aware of what was happening until she took a seat on his lap, his eyes flicked to Hunter, Echo, and Crosshair confusingly, before finally settling on a laughing Wrecker.

The Twi’Lek grabbed his chin, tilting it up to look at her. He quietly informed her that he was not interested in partaking in such an act, and instead directed her toward Wrecker. She smiled, seeming to understand and accept the fact, and stood up to walk to Wrecker.

Hunter leaned over to him, “You refused an offer like that?” He spoke quietly under the music.

Tech shrugged, “I didn’t see anything in her.” His hands settled on his datapad. He intended to research why so many men lusted after female Twi’leks. Hunter sighed.

Tech flinched thinking of the memory, deciding instead to dwell on a more preferable memory. The first time he met you.

He wandered around the streets of Coruscant and searched for the library that the regs had told him about. Regrettably lost without his datapad, he relied on the spoken word to help him find the library of Coruscant. He longed to just go to the Jedi archives, however, clones were only permitted in certain areas of the temple and the archives were not one of those areas.

So, here he was, on a wild bantha chase in search of a place he began to think didn’t exist. As he was about to abandon the haste of the research about the planet the batch was on the way to next, he spotted the library. Matching the durasteel architecture of Coruscant, the library stood tall and mature. The building was nearly all glass and durasteel. Feeling a bit more inspiration, he picked up his pace toward the looming building.

While walking, his mind raced with just how much information could fit in that library. Although it was in no comparison to the holonet, it had been some time since he was able to enter a library, and he was eager at the thought.

The doors opened, revealing to Tech a large collection of books, holopad recordings, and so much more. The library was stories high and each floor was shaped similar to a square, with an empty section in the middle of each floor to look out at all of the other sections above and below.

As his eyes took everything the vast library had to offer beneath his helmet, he failed to notice the person approaching from behind.

“Hi there,” you waved politely, “is there anything specific you’re looking for today?” You held one arm with the other nervously.

Tech did not notice the introduction, instead still marveling in the wonder that is physical knowledge. Then, he felt a tap on his armor that nearly made him reach for his blaster. He whipped around only to be confronted by you.

If he hadn’t been rendered speechless by the stunning building, now he was a wreck. He watched as you scratched the back of your head, laughing softly, “Sorry, I really didn’t intend to scare you.”

He gazed at you, feeling a warmth in his stomach that he hadn’t personally felt before, but had studied after Wrecker said it was how the Twi’lek made him feel.

“Are you okay there buddy?” You asked, genuinely seeming concerned at this point. Your arms reached toward him, as he likely looked like he was about to faint.

“My apologies. When individuals find someone attractive, they often develop a strange phenomenon of ‘butterflies in the stomach’,” He watches as your eyes widen, showing interest, and continues, “This is a case of nerves or thoughts and feelings, which in turn end up compromising maximum performance. Evidently, as you just observed at the expense of my dignity.” Tech explained and laughed, then waited for your reaction. The feeling had not eased up any.

He watched you as your mind grinded gears. You crossed your arms and leaned to one side, “Are you saying you find me attractive? We’ve only just met!” You talked in hushed tones, chuckling a bit. “Anyways… what brings you here? I’ve never seen a clone in here.”

Tech smiled to himself under his helmet. “It appears that in a careless manner I have broken my datapad for the time being. I need to do some research on the planet my squad is heading to tomorrow.” The feeling in his stomach never left as you explained to him how to find information about planets and systems. Even when focused on the planet after you had left him to his own business, he felt as if he wanted to talk to you more.

He made sure to say farewell before leaving, although he returned to the library as soon as the batch came back from their mission a week later. His brothers had never seen him in such a hurry. Of course, by then, his datapad was fixed. That really left his brothers confused.

As Tech ran from the landing platform toward the streets of Coruscant, Echo called out to him, “Tech! You forgot your datapad!” He held it up in the air.

Hunter and Crosshair eyed the datapad suspiciously. That thing literally never leaves Tech’s side, where was he going without it? They shared a quizzical look with Echo. Soon, their attention was turned to Tech, who was already far, yelling back, “I won’t need it! Keep it safe!” He waved over his shoulder and continued in a run.

Before the end of the war as it raged on, Tech would wander to your Coruscant apartment or the library (wherever you were for the time of day or night), and you two would spend hours together. One night in particular, you asked him a question that he couldn’t answer.

Legs intertwined, your head on his shoulder and his arm cradling your head, Tech sighed contently. You looked up to him and asked what the long sigh was about. He dismissed your concern, telling you that he was at ease and relaxed.

“When the war is over, will you come to me?” Your question was sudden. The sound of your voice split through the room. It sounded small, nervous, and apprehensive. Tech had never considered the end of the war and what it meant for you two. Your relationship hadn’t been particularly closed off, but neither of you felt compelled to be with anyone else. The confirmation of an exclusive relationship was just never discussed.

He looked down to you and ran his hand through your hair. “I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else, but you. Of course I’ll come to you. I’ll be here.” He planted a kiss on your forehead and hugged you to his body tightly.

masterlist

taglist: @incandescentlywarm @morgonjinn

[itstheendofthegoddamnworld]

Aarakocra Boyfriend: Enzo

This is for 2,000 of you lovely people following me. Thank you all so much! <3 This took more than a week to write, all thanks to writer’s block and burnout, so I’m thankful that I somehow managed to get this out lol. 

Also, may or may not have gotten inspiration from Revali-- anyway, enjoy!

Part 2

Relationship: male monster x female reader

Burning Heart

Fresh snow. Fresh snow that had fallen a hundred-foot deep, cleansing the land for eternity.

"The last time I saw snow this deep, I was just a little boy, still clutched to my mother, unaware of how big the world was." Your companion marvelled. "My father was smart enough to never go further up north—he reminded me. I did not gain his intellect."

Calder was a man who came from the nearby town of Ravensfell, a few days out from Briar, but he had been more of a cold type when it came to first-time introductions. Eventually, you got to open up more of him, little by little. His olive skin, chiselled features and rugged beard made him every female's focus, but the poor man was either too oblivious or polite to acknowledge their flirtations. You couldn't help but laugh at the failed interactions. Poor man, too preoccupied in his own toil.

He became a well-appreciated acquaintance for you on your long travels from town to town, east to west then south to north, but his company was all good experience. After all, he was the best sellsword for the job, merely a guard for you whilst you continued your researches; the sight you needed when you turned your back.

Your team's campaign had led you and your small faction to head further up north, to a small village of Oakendenn full of proud and efficient warriors, the bird folk that had carried the same customs for centuries, evoking both fear and wonder into those who bumped into them. Granted, their seclusion from the world had been brought down quickly when travellers and researchers intent on learning about them came rushing at the chance, ruining their solitude for good.

Stepping foot into their quaint town was certainly a spectacle, having to meet your guide to finding such remains high up in the mountains of Fallde Slopes– if the slopes didn't kill you, the snowstorms could freeze the group within hours if they didn't take the right precautions or clothing.

"You say there is a guide who will help us?" The small dirk in your hand was smooth and unused, still brand new as the day you had gotten it. You were situated in the town itself, in a cramped yet warm inn that was all opened up to the elements, trying to remain unaware of the cold stares of the innkeepers.

"He's one of the finest warriors, apparently. Familiar to the lands and every speck of snow that litters this land," Calder's laugh was hearty. "Must pity us for our lack of feathers and wings."

"The Aarakocras are fierce, brutal they are with fighting as they are as with foreigners." If there was one thing you learnt, it was that not all the people you ran into would be so welcoming. "Careful you don't offend them. We need their apparent aid."

Calder grumbled something as he tended to the flames of the room, poking them occasionally. "Sooner to be done with this job and we can get out of their feathers, huh?"

"That's it, just think of it like that. And soon, you can be back to the warmth of the south."

"Thank the Gods," Calder smiled sadly. "I don't think I could spend another day away from my little Zerlina." You remembered the girl when you were riding out: a sad, tearful girl the spitting image of her father, tight dark hair so wild and knotted. You had remembered the night before the trip you had brushed them out gently for her the way your mother used to do for you. Just to help Calder out.

The poor man is a good father overall. Even if he doesn't see it.

"She'll be so happy to see you again, Calder. She misses her father dearly." You reassured quietly, watching the man again. He was worn and beaten, littered with scars and thick, burly arms. He longed for home too.

"I hope so too." He stretched, saying his goodnights to you and the others before heading to his cot to sleep. You followed, heading to your own bed before you couldn't find sleep, wishing you had someone to wait for you too.

Even when you remained aloof, you still tried to remain somewhat friendly to strangers, even to the guide who had gone out of his way into helping you. But they certainly what you had been expected.

"It seems I have to be a tour guide for your pesky expedition, hmm?"

The smile from nerves of introducing yourself to him had fallen from your face after hearing the words so sourly come from him. It didn't take much for you to build up the walls high again.

Your hand faltered, just in reach for him to shake, awkwardly pulling away. "So, you're the Enzo we were expecting?"

The first thing you noticed about him was how vivid his feathers were: the brightest compared to his countrymen. Many of reds, oranges and yellows, like red sands of the far south of your home; beaten and threaded like a thousand coppers. It made the winter sun far in the north much more lively. By far the prettiest of the others. You admitted, but only could you wish his personality was as lovely as his appearance.

Another thing you noticed about him was his wings: they were separate from his body, large and tucked behind his back, his hands similar to any humans but with long and curled nails for fingers. His bird body was dressed in what looked like traditional garbs: leather and a basic tunic and pants, his taloned feet poking out and tapping against the ground.

"Your boss was the one who called for me, asking if someone capable of knowing their way around these parts, clearly, you humans don't know much about us Aarakocras," he jeered, eyes a lovely golden colour even when they were staring intimidatingly down at you. "So, you're the one they call the Doctor?"

Clearly too prideful, I've noticed. You scoffed. All too stubborn like the snowstorms. "That is correct."

"So I've noticed," Enzo crossed his arms around his broad chest, the amusement was pooled in those eyes as if he was in on the funniest joke around. "Clearly all of your studies have gone to a degree than in common sense."

You pondered whether it would've been ideal to punch the bird square in the face, or whether provoking him would end with your untimely demise.

Instead, you squared your shoulders, straightening your posture as you pointed just behind him. "You see Fallde Slopes over there? Its hills have been receding in the last 100 years, meaning any day now, your village could be woken up buried under layers and layers of snow. The snow stops here, meaning you and your people could be facing the demolition of this region and its inhabitants." You crossed your arms too, copying him. "I'm just trying to help unless you think my studies had gone elsewhere?"

Enzo scoffed, a puff of feathers that ruffled up. "Let's just resume to what we're good at, hmm?"

-

If travelling anywhere had taught you anything, it was that you shouldn't trust any higher-ups, believing everything will be smooth sailing.

The reports and samples scattered across the slopes, dancing dangerously too low to the cliff edges, some succumbing more than others, and those in your group scrambled to save them. Enzo remained arrogant as ever, doing little to help and rather smugly watching the ordeal, complaining often that your group were "walking too slow" and "we were running out of time for sunlight".

You were situated in the corner, silently taking note of what was around of little life preserved, before the beating of wings perked your ears. Snow crunched delicately when the Aarakocra stooped beside you, watching with soundless intent.

"So, this is what you do?" He grazed at a small patch of dirt you had brought up beneath the heavy snow. "Looking at dirt and grass?"

"All of this hold important information for us to understand how the landscape is changing," Enzo couldn't help but to have his attention piqued when he heard how almost automatic your response was, informing rather than belittling him. When you looked up to meet his eyes, it was hard to gauge his reaction: head tilted, seemingly drawn in from how far leant to you he was beside you.

He quickly dismissed it, pulling back from the noticeable closeness, and the burning feeling in your chest fluttered too quickly for your liking. "Whatever keeps us alive, I suppose."

Another presence came over to the two of you, heavier than of the Aarakocra. "You think you could help me with this?" Calder was looking over at Enzo, who, also was staring with narrowed eyes at the bearded man.

"Yeah sure," you gave an awkward glance to both men, realising something was piercing the silent air. "Is something going on?"

"No," Enzo, puffed his chest out, giving Calder little regard as he turned his head. "You go off with your dog, I'm needed elsewhere."

You watched him walk away before turning back to Calder, head tilted. "I'm going to pretend nothing happened there."

"Agreed," Calder affirmed, pointing you towards the deeper parts of the woods where the treelines met and increased in sizes and numbers. "I think I might've found something."

"Lead the way." You gestured for him to take the lead, directing you through the trees. The snow was freshest in these parts, untouched and light, airy. A wonderland was discovered in a small corner forgotten from the world. Beautiful. You marvelled. I will never get bored of seeing this.

"What's wrong, Calder?" He stopped you when the two of you reached the middle of the area, overwatching the large view, the mountains dipped and the view from the top pointed directing to the Oakendenn, situated right in the opening of the valley. "It's right in target," Calder addressed, thick eyebrows knitted. "And that means a direct hit for the snow to collapse in on it all."

"We could have a day, week or years before this region is completely smothered." You noted wretchedly. All these reports, research and hypothesis, yet you felt like it all went to no use. It seemed like everything was too late, that hard work going down the drain. "I wish we could've done more."

"And we have, do not fret," Calder reassured, patting your shoulder that you needed from a comforting friend. "And we will do so much more. Let's head back to the others, keep all together."

Right, but still, I feel useless. You dusted the remaining snow off your warm clothes, trying to remind yourself of the crunching snow below, your foot sinking with every few steps. Like everyone relies on you all the time. The only sounds that were heard were the distinct soft crunches of the two of you heading back, before one wretched and horrid resounded, echoing along with the trees, some birds fleeing from their branches of homes.

You looked back to Calder, who looked back in confusion, listening closely to the cracking of the earth as if it had split open. Your right felt for a second as if it was sinking lower, taking your body with you as all your body weight brought you down so suddenly, snow following too, making your body crash into it with force as you waded chest-deep through it.

Your voice was sudden and nervous, watching the ledge you once stood at grow taller and taller above you, a weightless feeling take over your body, the scream of your name as unknown darkness settled around you before you could hit the ground.

-

The first time you had seen snow, you had been seven, marvelling in wonder with friends at how magical it all seemed. Never did you worry about the eternal cold, of it encasing your entire body and leaving you worthless and alone. You always had the warmth to rely on: warm blankets and hot cocoa and fire to share stories around. The cold was sore and biting, an eternity of nothingness but yourself.

You didn't know how long you had been trapped in darkness: how long you had gone unnoticed or remembered. Maybe this was it... just oblivion and emptiness. You tried to invasion your limbs, your fingers trying to tread through the snow like it was water; too thick to even pass through, but trying and trying to feel your fingers and toes wiggle again.

You clawed and clawed slowly until the darkness lightened and that bleakness turned to hope. You kicked your body out as you breached the surface, coughing and spluttering weakly, an invasion of pure cold and ice felt trapped in your throat.

You laid there with your head against a block of solid ice and snow, trying to steady your breathing, the cold and winds were never-ending, never giving your body a break as all felt numb.

I'm going to die out here. You thought. Will my story be told again? You wanted to laugh, to call for help, but your throat was stinging from its frostiness.

There was a distant, soft sound of tree branches moving and swaying, how the dead leaves swayed and moved with long, drawn moans, wings of small birds flying off from the abrupt noises. The flapping of wings never ceased, ringing in your ears, reminding you didn't have wings yourself to fly off from this nightmare. It was only when you could open your eyes was when you saw the blurred large figure descend in front of you, all feathers and intimidating, you wished to cry out in pain for your misery, but once your eyes focused, did you noticed something familiar about it all.

A rush of feathers, brown and red, as pretty as coppers.

"So, there you are." Enzo's voice was merely a whisper among the howling winds, flapping slowly to the snowy plains in front of you, his body inches from you towering easily over your small frame. You made no noise or voiced your frustration for his words, weakly looking up at him as best as you could.

The blowing winds cast a glow behind his silhouette, watching the Aarakocra bend to kneel in front of you. "Hey," his voice surprised you, a feathered hand on your shoulder, shaking you with almost impatience. "Don't die on me, you hear?"

"Shut up," the words came weakly from you, luring you to sleep, his figure blurring again until you saw three of him, vision dotted. "Enzo..."

"Hush." He wasted no time in collecting you in his arms, cuddling you close to him as he carried you. What shocked you most was how incredibly warm he was, unaffected by the vast cold. You instinctively snuggled closer into his chest, shutting your eyes and shuddering. "Let's get you out of here."

You didn't respond, feeling how there was a surge of air moving around you both, your body growing lighter and head more lightheaded as he flapped his wings, the winds more biting against your exposed face and neck.

The harsh winds or the cold went straight to your head, pulling you in and out of consciousness, wrapped tightly in the arms that allowed you to feel a sense of safety to slip beyond the darkness, to rest your eyes for a moment.

-

There was an aching drive for warmth that slowly spread through you, taking over your body, making you want to drink it in greedily. When your eyes opened once more to a flickering flame, dancing and roaring, filling its beauty in the room. Just opposite you in the small room, knelt Enzo, tending to something he was pouring into a bowl.

"Where are we?" Your voice felt worse with wear, hoarse and not tended to. Enzo flinched, his feathers bright and shimmering against the colour of the flames, making him seem like a risen phoenix, an enigma in your eyes.

In his hands, the bowl was passed to you, his own in hand as he watched you gauge your reaction, before answering, "A cave I found, a few days out from Oakendenn."

"And the others? And Calder-"

"For the love of the Gods, can you for once think about yourself?" His words weren't snappy or aloof, more full of weary and strain. He laughed tiredly. "Honestly, little doctor, do you think before you go out so recklessly?"

Your cheeks rouged at the little nickname, ignoring it for the time being until it would nag the part of your brain for answers. "All in the name of science."

"Yes, well there won't be any science if you're frozen to death." He hesitated momentarily, before slipping a warm blanket around your shoulders, securing it carefully. "You're still a valuable asset."

To who exactly though? You questioned, silently snuggling into the blanket further. There was a strong smell of mint that was strong in your nostrils, pleasant and warm, luring you to tranquillity. It smelt a lot like him somehow, and your heartbeat raced with bashfulness.

You watched from your peripheral, the Aarakocra shuffling to sit beside you properly, his gaze never seeming to leave yours. “You’re doing an awful lot for me, Enzo.” For someone who dislikes me, and I, supposedly too.

But even that seemed like a lie. Enzo scoffed, his laugh light and airy like the frozen air. “Seems to me someone is just enjoying the company.” He shuffled closer to you, awkwardly throwing an arm around you for further comfort. “If you manage to not become a human popsicle, maybe—just maybe, will I show you around my hometown.”

Not only had his soft words thrown you off, but the feeling of his arm around you seemed not to be of great surprise. “What do you mean?” You scrambled for the right words.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of humans in my time, taking them up and down these mountains,” he said. “Not one of them had wildly gone down one of the slopes. You think that can go so smoothly with me and my reputation?”

“Your reputation, huh?” You laughed, spluttering into it when it tickled the back of your throat harshly. Enzo had placed a cup of water on your lips hastily, eyeing you with fake disdain you hoped. “You have a great reputation for the ladies or something?”

“Hmph, if that’s what humans like to think of it, then no.” He snorted, his eyes shifting. In this low, dim light, they seemed to be practically glowing. “Gods, that sounds terrible.”

There was a laugh shared between the two of you for a moment, onlooking the fire soundlessly, an unexpectedly calm atmosphere settling. You sighed, resting against his shoulder, resting your head into the bed of warm feathers, the smell of mint intense. “I’ll take that promise if you’re keeping with it.”

Enzo laughed warmly, shutting his eyes, the body growing slack as he hummed quietly to himself. “That’s good to hear.”

-

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[reinerispretty]

warm hands. (mako x f!reader) rewrite.

hello everyon!! a while ago i wrote a request called warm hands that got deleted by tumblr when i tried to edit the post on mobile :/ i’ve been on this hellsite for years and it still sucks but ANYWAY. as a thank you for supporting me and also as an apology for not updating lmao i wanted to repost a better version i wrote <3 much love to u and to mako

She turned to the man standing just a few feet away from her, surprised at how familiar his face had looked. His jet black hair, thick eyebrows, and golden eyes were from somewhere, but (Y/N) couldn’t place if she had dreamt about someone like him or had actually met him.

It would bug her the rest of the day if she didn’t say anything to him, so she had. “Excuse me,” She said, lightly touching his arm to get his attention. “Sorry to bother you, you just look really familiar to me.”

He had stared down at her silently, his brows furrowed, and in normal circumstances (Y/N) would have felt absolutely mortified...

There were dozens of libraries within Republic City, yet so far none of them had what (Y/N) was looking for. She had spent her entire day off trekking through the busy streets and bustling sidewalks, hailing cab after cab until her resources ran just low enough where she would have to be very picky about what groceries she picked this week. Sweat dripped down the back of her neck as she walked toward her destination. Summer was in full swing and it felt like the sun was after her specifically. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. So far, she had visited fifteen libraries, and was walking up the steps of the very last, hoping that someone inside would be able to help her with her request.

She passed through the double doors and was met with a rush of cold air that sent a chill down her spine. She must look ridiculous, she thought, as she approached the information desk. An old woman was positioned behind it, her back hunched over a book. She hadn’t heard (Y/N) approach, so the young girl rang the bell that set on the counter. The old woman jumped back, a startled expression on her lined face.

“I’m sorry!” (Y/N) exclaimed, then clasped a hand over her mouth. This was a library, she had to watch her volume in here. “Sorry,” She said again, her voice lower. “I was wondering if you could help me with something? I’ve been looking all over town for books on firebending and I can’t seem to find any.”

“We’ve got some!” The woman chirped, seeming to have recovered from her startle. She rose slowly to her feet and grabbed her cane. “Although they’re not technique books, if that’s what you’re looking for. My grandson has a great firebending academy just down the street if you’re interested.”

“Oh, no,” (Y/N) said as she followed the old woman through the enormous stacks of bookcases. “I don’t need any training, I’m just looking for a fact book or something like it.” The woman nodded and silently led (Y/N) to a very dimly lit section of the library. Just as (Y/N’s) feet began to ache from walking, they stopped, and the librarian pointed her cane up at the top shelf. It was out of her reach, but just within (Y/N’s).

“That’s the one you’re looking for,” She said, smiling pleasantly. (Y/N) looked up and found an enormous book, bound in red cloth with the Fire Nation emblem on the side. She reached up and took it into her arms, nearly toppling over at its sheer weight.

“Thank you,” (Y/N) strained herself to say. The librarian nodded once more before disappearing into the stacks of books. (Y/N) waddled herself over to a table in a more well-lit section of the library and sat down.

She had never cared much for bending. Being a nonbender herself in a nonbending family, she had watched indifferently as some of her classmates developed their bending skills. (Y/N) was always able to get through life without bending, so she had never thought of it as something important. Even probending, which rocked the city with its competitions, had never interested her.

(Y/N) sighed as she turned to the first page. To think, she was going to all of this trouble for a boy.

(Y/N’s) older brother had known Mako first, when they were just kids. Both worked for the Triple Threat Triads for a number of years. (Y/N) had remembered Mako as the serious (and slightly intimidating) friend of her brother’s that would stand outside waiting while her brother tried to convince her to cover for him. He might not have been a bender, but he was as strong as a platybus bear for a boy of fifteen, so the Triads made great use of him. (Y/N) had never liked it, but she always lied to their parents on his behalf. Sometimes, she had glared down at Mako from her bedroom window, and it seemed like some nights he frowned right back up at her.

This was all years ago, of course. Once her brother went off to join the United Forces, (Y/N) had forgotten all about Mako. It wasn’t until this past spring that she had seen him again. They had been waiting for their food outside of a soup shop. It had been the lunch hour, so (Y/N) had known they would take a while, but she didn’t mind, because she liked to people watch in order to keep herself occupied. She turned to the man standing just a few feet away from her, surprised at how familiar his face had looked. His jet black hair, thick eyebrows, and golden eyes were from somewhere, but (Y/N) couldn’t place if she had dreamt about someone like him or had actually met him.

It would bug her the rest of the day if she didn’t say anything to him, so she had. “Excuse me,” She said, lightly touching his arm to get his attention. “Sorry to bother you, you just look really familiar to me.”

He had stared down at her silently, his brows furrowed, and in normal circumstances (Y/N) would have felt absolutely mortified to be having this exchange with a total stranger, but something about him was different. She felt calm around him.

“I know you from somewhere, too,” The man said then, a small smile appearing on his face. “Did your brother used to work for-“

“The Triads!” (Y/N) finished, whispering the words excitedly because you couldn’t just shout the name of one of the leading gangs in Republic City in a crowd full of people. “You’re…Mako, right?”

“You must have a great memory, it’s been years since I’ve waited outside your house for your brother to come down.” (Y/N) laughed. “If I remember correctly, you used to give me the evil eyes from your bedroom window.” She smiled.

“That was me!” She extended her hand. “I’m (Y/N). It’s nice to officially meet you.”

“Same here,” Mako said, shaking her hand. “How’s your brother doing?”

“Very well, I think! He’s with the United Forces now, so I don’t hear much from him, but his last letter sounded very promising.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“How are you doing? I’ll have to write to him about you, I’m sure he’ll be so excited to hear it.”

“Oh, I’m fine. Joined the Republic City Police, so I guess I’m arresting the people I used to work with.” He shrugged.

“Beats getting arrested,” (Y/N) offered, and Mako cracked a smile.

“It sure does.” Her order was called from the counter, and (Y/N) scurried over to pick it up. When she returned, Mako had his own food in hand.

“Before you go,” (Y/N) started, and it was like the words would come out of her mouth before she had the chance to stop them. “Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me sometime? I’d love to give my brother a detailed description of what you’ve been up to.” She was never this bold, but it was like something else entirely had overcome her. He was handsome, and it was just a cup of coffee. Nothing too scary.

Mako had agreed to the cup of coffee that week and one cup had turned into three before turning into dinner. It had been nearly eight months since they met and the majority of their free time away from their jobs was spent together. Things were surprisingly easy with Mako. He was a fantastic listener and offered her the advice that she needed to hear. He had a bit of a rough shell on the outside, but (Y/N) worked tirelessly to break through it and revealed a man capable of so much love that she came to learn very few had ever actually given him it in return.

She was always completely lost when he talked about his probending days, but she enjoyed hearing him talk about his youth so much that it had set her on a course of research. (Y/N) was at the library today to better understand firebending. It was part of Mako, and she loved Mako (even if she hadn’t admitted it), so she would learn to love firebending as well.

She read for hours, until the sun had set outside and lanterns were lit within the space. (Y/N) looked up from her book, eyes heavy and dry from reading so many pages. She had only made it about halfway through the book, so she checked out the heavy title from the librarian at the front and made her way home. Mako would be working the night shift that night, so she didn’t have to worry about any interruptions.

---

Mako wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into his girlfriend. (Y/N) couldn’t bend. Not that there was anything wrong with that of course, Mako respected nonbenders just as much as benders (except for, y’know, the Amon thing), but lately (Y/N) had become a walking fountain of knowledge on firebending. At first he hadn’t thought anything of it, but as it continued on he started to sense that something was up.

The first time it had happened was on one of Mako’s days off. He had slept in late even though (Y/N) had promised to wake him up. With disheveled hair and his eyes squinting at the bright late morning light, he shuffled into the kitchen to give his girlfriend a very soft piece of his mind. She was scrambling eggs in front of the stove, turning to look back at him with a smile brighter than the sun. Mako allowed himself a smirk before his face turned stern.

“You were supposed to wake me up,” He had said, his voice gruff from having not been used. (Y/N) shrugged.

“I don’t think an earthquake could’ve woken you up,” She said in her defense. “Plus, you deserve extra sleep.” She had poked him in the stomach. “Firebenders can’t firebend if they’re exhausted.” Mako had chuckled. It sounded like the sort of thing mothers told their children in order to get them to go to bed.

But a few days later, she had mentioned something similar. They had been walking down the streets of Republic City, on their way to go visit Korra and Asami for lunch, when (Y/N) stopped suddenly in front of a store display. Mako jerked backward, unaware that she had paused.

“Do you know what that is?” She asked, looking up at him with an expression that indicated that she was testing him. Mako stared at the storefront.

“A clearance sign?” He questioned. (Y/N) had rolled her eyes.

“Not that,” She sighed, and pointed her finger at the tapestry that was hung in the back of the store. How she had spotted that from the corner of her eye, Mako had no idea, so he shrugged. “It’s the symbol of the Sun Warriors,” She explained. “They were the first firebenders, after the dragons, of course. They’re extinct now, I think.” (Y/N) smiled up at him while he raised an eyebrow at her. He cracked a smile before tugging at her hand.

“I’m about to go extinct if we don’t get some lunch.”

The biggest indicator by far had been the other night, when he was getting ready to leave for work. (Y/N) had sat on the bed as he stood in front of the mirror and buttoned up his uniform. He kept spares at (Y/N’s) place now, since he spent nearly every night there anyway.

She was looking at him with an expression he had never seen before. It was like she was analyzing him. Mako turned around as he finished the last button, but before he could speak, she beat him to it.

“How do you do it?” She asked, and Mako furrowed his dark brows.

“Do what?”

“Bending.” She looked into his eyes at this point and Mako had felt his heart swell. He had a hard time transmitting the emotions that he was feeling inside to his appearance outside. If he could, he would have melted into a puddle on the floor for this girl. In a matter of a few months she had become something to aim toward, to strive for. Catching criminals and solving cases mattered to him, but not nearly as much as returning to her apartment in one piece.

He cleared his throat. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t understand it, you know? How does it happen? Do you just think about it and it happens? Or do you have to focus?”

“A bit of both, I guess,” Mako said. “When you’re first learning, it takes a lot of focus to master a new move. But once you’ve got it, it kind of becomes second nature.” He sat on the bed beside her to put on his work boots. “It’s like writing something. When you were little, you had to think about how to hold the pen, how to form the letters, what the letters meant. Now you just know.”

“Do you have to think about using lightning rather than fire?” Mako shook his head.

“It’s different movements.” She hummed, staring down at her hands as she contemplated what he just told her. Mako checked his watch for the time. “I’ve got to head out.”

“Okay,” She said as she turned toward him. “Be safe! And don’t forget to invite Bolin over for dinner this weekend.”

Mako let out an exaggerated sigh, at which (Y/N) frowned. “I’m serious Mako,” She continued. “I’ll call Bolin myself to make sure you ask him!”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Mako asked as he packed his badge and wallet.

“It’ll mean more if it’s coming from his big brother.” Mako leaned down and cradled the back of her neck with his hand, leaning for a kiss to which she happily obliged. Mako had many favorite things about (Y/N), but perhaps his most favorite was how she smiled into every kiss he gave her.

“I’ll be sure to let him know,” Mako had said as he ran out of her apartment. If he was late again, Chief Beifong would kill him.

Mako contemplated these instances as he walked back to her apartment. (Y/N) had never expressed very much interest in bending, pardoning recent weeks. He wondered what had gotten her so curious. Perhaps she listened to a new radio show that talked about it. Mako never really listened to the radio anymore—he used to, but Bolin talked over all of the stations so he just turned it off whenever he was in the car.

He hadn’t told her that he would be coming back to her place tonight. He hadn’t entirely been planning on it, but one of the rookies was somehow put in charge of the schedule and put Mako and a kid named Lee on the same shift. Considering Mako had the seniority, he had gotten the night off, but not before completing the copious amounts of paperwork that had piled on his desk. It was nearing one in the morning, so (Y/N) would be fast asleep, but he figured she would enjoy seeing him again. Or at least, he hoped so.

To improve his chances of not facing the wrath of disturbing her slumber, Mako stopped by a late night dessert shop and picked up some of her favorites before returning on his way. When he finally opened the door to her apartment, Mako was unsurprised to find that every light was off, save for the light that peaked underneath her bedroom door.

Mako took his shoes off at the front and dropped the desserts on the kitchen counter before quietly making his way to her bedroom. (Y/N) lay curled up underneath her covers, fast asleep, with the biggest book Mako had ever seen lying beside her. He lifted the heavy book into his arms and thumbed through the pages. Each and every chapter was about firebending. Its origins, its practices, and its faults. Mako smiled to himself. So that’s how she had become a walking encyclopedia.

He changed into his pajamas and slid into bed beside her. Startled, she opened her tired eyes and furrowed her brows at him. “Chief let me go early,” He whispered to her, reaching over her body to turn off her lamp. “Go back to sleep.”

Instead she moved closer to his body and took his hands in hers. “I was reading,” She whispered slowly, as if her brain was cranking back to life. “That firebenders can control the heat in their bodies.” She placed his hands just below her bellybutton. “My cramps are really bad tonight, can you—”

Mako pulled her into his body and kissed her shoulder, spreading his hand wide so that it would cover as much surface area as possible. She hummed as she felt the warmth emanating from his hands. “Thank you.” After a few minutes, her even breathes indicated that she was asleep.

Mako wondered then if he had been the reason that (Y/N) had a newfound fascination with firebending. While he was a great detective, he was absolutely clueless. She had gotten a whole book about firebending, had shared her knowledge to let him know that she cared about something that she had never cared about before. Mako pressed his face into the crook of his neck to hide the wide smile that no one would see.

(Y/N) wanted to know more about firebending because it was part of who he was. No one had ever taken such an interest in Mako’s passions. He had figured before, but was now certain, that he loved the girl in his arms so, so dearly.

---

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[thepixiediaries]

🌧️ <- for the drabble thing!

rain is one of my favorite things <3

Send me emoji(s) and I'll write a drabble: 🌧️ Rainy day activities

thank u soooo much for requesting this && sorry for how long this took!! i was writing for a solid couple hours and before i knew it, this 'drabble' had basically turned into a flash fic hehe

these characters are from an as of yet unnamed steampunk fantasy wip ive been working on! its not particularly connected to the main story but i could see it being a short story/novella about them later on in the story. hope u enjoy <3

The sudden change in weather was a disappointment to Mitja. It wasn’t that he spent a lot of time outdoors but he did appreciate coming outside and being greeted with sunshine after being cooped up for however many hours he spent researching in his library, accompanied only by flickering candlelight.

Mitja was a man of routine. But while he was disappointed, this new weather didn’t particularly disturb him as it just meant he shifted that routine to accommodate the rain. As usual, he spent his time tucked into the armchair by the fireplace with a book in his hands.

On this particular rainy day however, Mitja was experiencing something highly unusual in the vein of an unexpected visitor. Nikolai had shown up on Mitja’s doorstep, completely soaked. Apparently, he had been caught out in the rain and needed to find shelter while the storm passed over.

Not wanting him to catch cold, Mitja had offered Nikolai a bath. So now, Mitja was not just reading but in fact, waiting for Nikolai. As he heard the familiar plodding of Nikolai’s footsteps behind him, Mitja closed his book and placed it beside him. He turned around to ask how Nikolai was feeling before stopping at the sight of him.

“Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?” Mitja squeaked out, overwhelmed by the sight of Nikolai’s bare torso. The small towel wrapped around his neck did a pitiful job of covering the vast expanse of his upper body. Another, thankfully larger, towel hung dangerously low on his hips, forcing Mitja to look elsewhere.

The wound on his shoulder caught Mitja’s attention. Even though it was partially obscured, Mitja was intimately familiar with the shape of it. Three bullets had passed through the skin there. Nikolai was infinitesimally fortunate that none of them had pierced bone. Mitja often thanked the gods that he had been there to give him emergency care. As a result of what Nikolai liked to playfully call his “magic touch,” the wound had healed nicely. The newly-formed scar was pale in colour, contrasting starkly with his brown skin — a haunting reminder of what had transpired.

“Didn’t fit.” Nikolai answered, his voice gruff. For a moment, Mitja was confused at Nikolai’s interjection. Mitja’s thorough examination of Nikolai’s exposed body had forced his original question out of his mind. Recalling what he had originally asked, Mitja felt even more embarrassed at his shameful mind. Of course none of Mitja’s spare clothes fit Nikolai — he was built like Laocoon, sculpted in marble. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he thought about how Nikolai stood a whole head taller than him.

There was no denying that Nikolai flustered him. It was incredibly obvious from the way his body instinctually responded to his presence — and if the arrogant smirk plastered on Nikolai’s face was anything to go by, Nikolai noticed it as well. Mitja would never admit this fact out loud, if only to keep Nikolai’s considerable ego in check. In response to his knowing smirk, Mitja huffed, turning his head away in an act of play-defiance. It was a farce of course, because Mitja’s eyes stayed trained on Nikolai, looking up at him from under his eyelashes.

He had moved on from gloating and was busy drying his hair with the towel around his neck. Well, trying to, anyway. It became apparent to Mitja that the reason Nikolai was struggling was because he was avoiding using his injured arm. His heart twinged.

“Let me do it.” The words rushed out of Mitja’s mouth before he could stop himself. Nikolai cocked his head to one side, urging Mitja to elaborate. The action was so adorable, Mitja wanted to scream.

“Let me dry your hair.”

Mitja expected the ever-prideful Nikolai to protest but he surprised him by handing the towel over and plopping down in front of Mitja’s armchair without a single word.

Mitja smiled. Small victories. It felt good to be relied on.

He liked this, taking care of other people. Especially when it was a person like Nikolai, who rarely showed any vulnerability, even when he was in grave danger. It was comforting to know that inside the beast that was Nikolai Volkov, there was a human being — all soft and squishy.

Mitja thought the heat of Nikolai between his legs would be distracting but the monotonous rhythm he adopted when drying his hair soothed him. The repetitive motion allowed his mind to wander. He thought about the sheen of Nikolai’s silver hair — a bold declaration of his heritage. It reminded him of his own hair, dyed the most unremarkably dull brown he could find, and of the silvery roots that had begun to appear at the base of his head. Ever since he saw Nikolai so brazenly display that mark of his — of their — community, Mitja had begun to think that perhaps it was time for him to grow out his own hair.

Mitja paused mid-motion when he heard Nikolai let out a drawn out groan.

“Sorry, did that hurt?” Mitja asked, voice laced with concern and a sliver of guilt. He was a nurse, for gods’ sake, hurting people was the last thing he wanted. “I can stop if you’d like.”

“No, no.” Nikolai shook his head, then rested it on Mitja’s inner thigh.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. I… I like it when you do that.”

Struck by the sincerity in Nikolai’s words, it took a couple of seconds before Mitja resumed his ministrations, massaging Nikolai’s temple with the towel.

Mitja did not usually like the rain. But as Nikolai leaned into his touch, making small contented noises, he thanked the gods for sending this most fortuitous rain to him. And if he was being completely honest, for sending this man into his life.