#anyway i always start my ocs off mentally in the PITS so they can get worse then grow and become fundamentally better and more stable

[gay-caesar-truther]

Gunna yap about Gabriel seeing as his character sheet is done

(I haven't finished FO3, pretty much just got James back to Project Purity, so this is likely to change as stuff progresses and I learn more about what's going on)

If anyone wants to know anything about him lemme know 👉👈

General content warning for discussions of shitty mental health and trauma

(Loosey Goosey type summary at the end if you don't wanna read all that)

He's a MAJOR daddy's boy- he didn't get along with a lot of the other kids in the Vault so spent a lot of his time growing up hanging out with his dad, watching him work, learning things about medicine and helping organise all the tools.

When James left the Vault Gabe was DEVISTATED. He couldn't help but feel abandoned- Why would his dad leave? Was he not a good son? Did he do something wrong?

Then all the immediate fallout made him kinda resent his dad for a spell- (general how could he leave and be okay letting me deal with all that? Not that James knew the overseer was gunna utterly flip his shit ofc)

Once out of the Vault he learned pretty quickly that he cannot aim for shit, he just can't get the hang of guns and instead had to rely on a baseball bat and his fists. Begin a sheltered kid then suddenly up close a personal with all this violence took a major toll on his already shaky mental health.

When he reached Megaton he felt immediately out of place- he was unfamiliar with the social customs, he was naive and clueless about basically everything. He defaulted to Overly Polite in order to compensate but this came off (at least at first) to a lot of the settlers as him having a holier than thou attitude and as a result he wasn't well liked for a while.

He also struggles with the transactional nature of the wasteland (I help you, you help me), and got really frustrated that nobody would help him unless he but himself in danger. They KNEW he was inexperienced, frightened and confused and still demanded he go out into the wastes anyway.

He still goes out of his way to help people- giving up his own meager supplies for those in need, putting himself in danger time and time again, choosing to be kind where he can. He wants to be liked, he wants to be accepted and he wants to make the wasteland a kinder place than he found it. He puts the emotional and physical needs of others before his own (he's got a bit of a Martyr complex)

This feelings of abandonment with his dad, his feelings about being put in danger and not helped kinda manifested into a lot of anger and resentment. Hes MAD, at the world, hes made at his dad and hes mad at himself for being a terrible son and a terrible person. He takes that out on enemies in combat, and gets pretty damn good a punching thing but hates how relived the violence makes him despite his general dislike of such things.

He doesn't enjoy it though- all the blood and the fighting makes him feel like a monster. That he's commiting unspeakable sins and even if he finds his father Hes going to be so disgusted by the things he's done that he'll abandon Gabe AGAIN. It's something that haunts Gabe for a while, and he never quite gets over it, but he keeps looking for his dad, becuase James is all he has, despite his own fears of rejection and distain.

When he gets to Tranquility Lane and Braun's asking him to do all those shitty things to people in order to get his dad back- Gabe does it. No questions. He's come all this way, done all these horrible things- he swallows his revulsion, accepts this is how it is, and does whatever it takes to get his dad back. His actions at tranquility Lane deffo haunt him- he was selfish, he hurt people becuase he wanted his dad back so badly.

When he is FINALLY reunited with James he's kinda shocked that his dad doesn't hate him- He thought his dad would just be able to TELL that he's done bad things, that he's been selfish and cruel to get here but his dad seem oblivious to it. He kinda keeps himself away at first, afraid James is going to find out what hes done and hate him for it. There's still a lot of resentment about being left alone, even after Gabriel learns of project purity and that makes him feel so much worse. (Overall though Gabe is just so HAPPY to have is dad back and is finally able to relax a bit and start to process all the shit he's been through)

His dad left to go save lives, believing that Gabriel would be safe and relatively happy in the Vault, and Gabe hates himself for being so wishing his father had just stayed and left the people of the wasteland to suffer.

In summary- Gabriel's a Daddy's boy with a deeply unstable sense of self that hinges on his, often wildly incorrect, assumptions about how people perceive him. His perception of his own morality is massively incongruous with his actions. He's got abandonment issues, a martyr complex and is deeply angry at the wasteland, his dad and himself.

[thekinkyleopard]

Camping Anyone?

Group Snz Contagion

A Non-Canon Group Fic of all the OCs!

⚠️Content Warning⚠️

🍋

Contagion, Snzfet & Self pleasure

Author’s Notes: Welp. Here we are. How did we get here? Don’t ask me, pal. I’m mentally ill.

@aller-geez Owns *clears throat* Remi, Meeko, Draeko and Kanai as well as the art!

Description: The gang goes Camping! Remi has a cold..what shall become of them all?

Color Key

Remi

Levi

Meeko

Connie

Alistar

Biziil

Kanai

Draeko

“CAMPING?! WITH THE GANG?! Who’s /the gang/? Me and you right? Cause I know you don’t mean…” the wolf’s emerald eyes already glowing with pained anxiety, his hands shook as he dared to face his completely calm, but braced partner.

“I mean, Drae, Kanai, our sisters, their boyfriend, and…” suddenly cut off by a voice of sheer panic..

“NO…” Remi felt like he was going to puke, there was no way they could allow that guy to keep hanging out with them. He was a piece of garbage, he hated him more than he hated Drae, which is a lot.

“Look…I’m not really his biggest fan either bu-…” still unable to finish even half of a thought before being interrupted.

“NO!” The man shouted with dread. This isn’t happening, absolutely not. He would never allow it.

“He goes wherever Kanai and Connie go! I can’t help it Remi! He has to come…” feeling exasperated now that he has to fight the man on this, but he really couldn't have expected this to go smoothly in the first place. Getting Remi to do anything with more than just him, was like pulling teeth. Even hanging out with just the girls, he always found a way to be a grump about it.

“If Alistar goes IM NOT GOING, end of story,” the man crossed his arms with fury, turning his back to face his mate. The leopard sighed rolling his eyes.

“Yeah?” He asked cocking a hip, that he decorated with one impatiently tapping hand.

“Fact. No lies. All truth. Not going. Not doing it. Hate it. You can not make me,” Eyes shut stubbornly tight as his head was lifted in a defiant manner.

.

.

.

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Two weeks later

Levi stepped out of their bus and looked around at the open woods they had settled in, with a bright smile on his face. It was Remi and Levi in their converted bus, while, at Remi’s specific request, Levi rented a huge RV for the rest of the gang to share. No one was apparently welcome to share with them, logistically it didn’t make any sense to anyway. Remi kept himself cooped up in the safety of his own space he and his mate shared. He was starting to feel like he was coming down with something…it was just sitting there at the base of his throat, a familiar tickle he knew all too well forming in the bridge of his nose. However, he was doing his best to suck it up, he knew this was important to Levi. To have community, and memories.

Biziil hopped out of the said RV and took in the fresh air arms out to the sky as he smiled up at the sunshine that dawned upon his tan and delicate face. “Beautiful,” he said with a Husky tone, not before long, two giggling ladies came grabbing onto each arm, dangling off the 6’6 Man, as if he were a tree. The bear chuckled playfully, holding each Meeko and Connie up with ease, swinging them back and forth.

“Do you think, we can go to the water first, bear? Bunny and I really want to dip our toes in the creek!” Meeko swung her legs about as he lifted them higher off the ground, before he gently set them back down nodding tenderly. “Absolutely, but Levi did have a huddle for us, so let’s wait for the others,” he spoke confidently but with a considerate tone. The girls both agreed hoping off their boyfriend to gather around the unlit, already placed fire pit of the campgrounds.

Shortly after a loud crash and thud were heard echoing from the RV as a loud cackling demon can stomping out of it. “Ahhhh, Yes! A camping trip with all of my favorite torture subj-….friendsssss….” He hissed the last letter of the word, blood red eyes scanning his surroundings. Biziil rolled lilac orbs and crossed his strong arms over his chest. “Any funny business, and I’ll bring Remi out here,” narrowing his eyes, as the other immediately looked panic stricken.

“Hey now, whoa, there’s no need to be hostile, Zeel, my friend, my buddy, my pal,” lifting his blackened palms up in a defensive manner, he slid a sly tongue over his front teeth looking to the side. “I just…Plan to have fun..on this excursion, that’s all…no need to call in the mean scary wolf,” chuckling sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Draeko..what is fun?” A navy haired man asked the shorter, brightly colored mate of his as they too exited the large RV. The dual-color eyed man looked up at his confused hellish boyfriend and then furrowed his brows.

“How do I explain…hmm…Oh! You know like…when we went on the Ferris wheel together, the one that rocked?” The shaggy haired younger recalled to his partner.

“Yes…” his tone flat, a lack of emotion that was obviously present within his dead eyes. Drae smiled happily bouncing up and down.

“That! That’s fun!” Kanai scratched the back of his head once, before clapping his hands together.

“So, Alistar plans to take us on the Ferris wheel?” His eyes curled up with pride as they squeezed shut, with the smallest hint of a smile. Draeko hummed lightly, eyebrows furrowed and he scratched his chin between his index and thumb.

“Uh-…well…” the plaid boy started before Alistar suddenly appearing behind Kanai, blacked out hands a top strong hound shoulders.

“That’s right my dear friend! A metaphorical Ferris wheel! We’ll ride this moment of opportunity to the top! You’ll see!” Pointing his index out to the sky ahead of them. Just as Kanai was about to interject with yet another question, Levi came stepping out into the circle of mixed creatures.

“Alright, I have no idea what you’re talking about, Al, but stop…once Remi gets out here, we can game plan! No mischief!” Levi spoke pointing an accusing finger towards the demon who gave the leopard a wink and a kissy face. “I’m serious! I’m not afraid to give Remi the green light,” doubling down, shoving his finger further in the red head’s direction. Alistar shook his head fiercely back and forth.

“No, no, let’s not do that now…” he chuckled nervously looking both back and forth, as well as behind his shoulders to make sure, said wolf wasn’t around currently. “Truly, I can’t afford another visit to hell right now…” he hissed between sly, shut teeth.

“Alright then, BEHAVE…” narrowing his cerulean eyes tightly at the other before he clapped his hands together. “Alright! Speaking of! Remi feels a bit icky today, he said it should be fine, no big deal but I figured! We could start setting up tables for like…a kitchen area?” Biziil immediately nodding and springing into action, Levi giggling. “Wait wait! Do we set up, make food then all of us play cards against humanity in the RV? I figured we would wait for Remi but...he could help us game plan the exploration part I guess...”

Biziil, the girls and Draeko all nodded, clearly paying attention. "I agree, let us take care of setting up, so brother can have some time to gather himself," Meeko spoke with reassurance towards the busy leopard. They all seemed to be invested in this as a group effort. However, Alistar was already digging through the RV storage units to find the alcohol. Scoring on a bottle of ever clear he stuffed in before they left. Kanai was too busy studying a nearby snake that had slithered through the campsite. The leopard blinked once, then twice, shaking his head. ‘Fine, three men down isn’t really a problem..Biz makes up for their lost weight anyway..’ he sighed once over and returned to the few that were paying attention.

��Bizzy…my sweet amazing brother…?” Looking sheepishly at the large man, who was already prepared for the load to be dumped on him as usual.

“Say no more, Don’t worry,” nodding with determination, he, and with the help of the girls and Drae, got down to business, the glampsite being set up in no time.

Whilst the gang worked tirelessly to pick up where those of them slacked, Levi’s slender legs carried him over to the converted bus. Stepping inside to be met with his boyfriend, struggling to get out of bed. “Uhhh..ehhh..” he grumbled snuffling softly with his mouth open. “I dod’t thigk I cad go out…” sitting on the side of the bed, feet on the floor, as if he had tried to get out of bed earlier, but never got past this point.

“You have to! It’ll be okay, you’re resilient, member? Nothing gets Remington Connors out of commission!” Levi grabbed the wolf by his wrists and helped hoist him up to his feet now. Lazily standing, but still able to keep his balance he shook his head slowly then quickly, trying to gain his composure.

“Alright fide, you’re right, I wod’t let this keep be frob speddigg tibe with you..” feeling more confident in himself with the mini pep talk from his mate. They both stumbled out of the bus and joined the others in a night of festivities. Remington being ever so present, slinging his germs about every card, cup, pen, plate and handshake.

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.

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Day 5 of a “14”day trip

Levi and Remi sniffled and shuffled as they dragged their feet over to the giant RV. It was hopeless. Whatever virus Remi had brought with him on their trip, had ransacked almost the whole group. It was up to the leopard to call it in early. The whole crew stuffed up inside the RV, Levi and Remi both entered now, practically using each other for strength to stand. Upon entering the traveling domicile, you could hear a symphony of sniffles, coughs, and stifles happening all around, and then, there was Alistar. Sitting on the edge of Kanai and Drae’s pull out bed, he barely fit, but he made himself comfortable regardless. He was calmly, surprisingly, playing temple run on his phone. “Why is this simulation so absolutely addictive? Humans are stupid..creating such a mindless distraction…Pft,” mocking the very thing he was getting lost in. Remi stepped in last behind Levi, accidentally slamming the door shut, hard. Too hard. A loud CLINK was heard from the door, neither paying any mind to it. Levi shook his head to clear his thoughts..he could see to his left down the RV “hall” Biz laying there, mouth wide open, lilac eyes filled with water, in the middle of the bed with each girl on his side, noses full of tissues, faces dusted pink.

“Guys…I thigk we should cagcel the rest of thid trip add go hobe..Rebi got us all sick…” the leopard’s nose completely plugged, trying his best to elevate his voice so everyone could hear him. Alistar looked up and frowned visibly.

“What do you mean? It’ll be fine just, sleep it off, give it a day and you will all be up and at it again,” Clearly, Al was not going to let them end the trip prematurely without a fight, even if it was for concerning health reasons.

“I do dot dow how you guys deal wif dis…is dis dyigg?” Kanai grumbled in a flat suffering voice as he was laying on his back, staring straight up at the ceiling of the space, nose running as he just keeps dabbing at it with his sleeve. Al snickered as he heard the sound of his best friend’s stuffed up voice. He said nothing, however, just looked over at the stressed leopard that continued to fight his internal need to let it all out.

Levi groaned as he leaned himself against the tired wolf, who leaned against the wall…eyes fighting to stay open. It was dark within the confines of the space, all curtains drawn in, lights turned off, just a thin stream of light from a crack. “Look, Alistar, clearly you cad’t relate to gettigg sick but everyode else cad, the trip is over. Pack it id guys..” he shook his head back and forth to try and relieve himself of the horrible congestion within his face. Al frowned, shoving his focus back into his mindless little game to avoid any conflict with the raven haired man a few feet from him. The wolf may be sick, but he wasn’t going to test him any.

“Fine, weenies…” he mumbled with dissatisfaction. Everyone groaned in unison, Drae wafting his hand about the cabin. "Weenies? Whab doed he meab, Drae? I donb wanb a hobdob righd dow" the hell hound asked curiously, and was met with a small index finger against his thin pierced lips. "I'll explain, later ok? Brain hurts....No hotdogs...it's fine" brows knitting together in discomfort. Kanai nodded understandingly and gently, without much thought, placed a tender kiss on his sweaty forehead.

“Okay, go go, there’s too many people in here…I can’t think..it’s going to make me..heh…ihhh..” the usually brightly colored male, suddenly dull as he lay beside Kanai, leg sprawled overtop the hell hound, stifling the incoming storm. “Hh’Gnxt~” so soft, it mostly came from out his nose as he had tried his best to contain it. The red headed demon beside them, blushed brightly across his skin, feeling a tremor go down it. Gaze still deeply lost in his phone as he tried to ignore the feeling of arousal threatening to resurrect itself.

“You’re right, we cad’t have all these bodies id here…We’ll head out…Al, you drive theb all back…” the leopard instructed with his adorable snuffy voice, but which the flustered demon could only grumble in response. As the cat went to turn and open the RV door…he realized quickly, it wouldn’t budge. “Oh do…” he suddenly went pale, shaking the knob, trying desperately to open the clearly stuck door.

“It’s alright babe…I’ll get it," Remi yawned a bit before gripping hold of the knob as Levi released it. Using his full strength, he tried pushing it open again, a soft crack could be heard from the internals.

“Stop! You’ll break the door.. I dod’t wadda pay for the repairs!” The leopard suddenly panicked and grabbed the man’s arm to cease his movements.

“Well how do we get out if we don’t break it down??” the wolf said sounding more than slightly irritated, but still trying to keep his cool in result of who exactly he was talking to. Levi swiftly looking around in a state of panic, unable to answer before they both heard Draeko fighting for air.

“Oh god…” Drae’s mouth hitched open before he.. “Heh’kissh!” Into Kanai’s clothed chest leaving behind small wet marks, whom only looked down at the mess and then back up to stare at the ceiling, fighting off his own urges. His chest hiking, and stuttering, eyes squinting and leaking.

“Hah.. H’sSsHu!” There went Kanai, unable to keep it back, still trying to adjust to these foreign feelings. “Why…doeb my node hurd do bad?” he questioned, strained, as he followed with a long grunt, turning onto his side and grabbing Drae in a full grasp, shoving him into his chest.

Alistar, felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of his temple as he did his best to tune out the two losing their cool. Sniffling from the back of the RV got more intense before long you could hear Meeko, loudly inhale, but it was stammered. Like “h-HhHh..!” And then a “khH'HIISSHHh'uh!” Biziil looking down he noticed she had straight sneezed out her tissues, it was fine. Biz reached over to the headboard, grabbed a fresh tissue and started to gently dab at her leaking nose.

“Bless you, darling,” he said reassuringly, not before long a another sneeze echoed the small chamber where they lay. A much quieter one from Connie “H’Kkissh ~” Bizzy furrowed his brows and reached his other hand for yet another tissue. Doing the same he had done for Meeks, he gently cleaned up the younger girl’s face. “My goodness..my poor princesses,” his voice full of worry as he held them closer to him, kissing each on the the top of their heads, before nuzzling into Connie’s soft white and black hair. With a gentle whimper, Meeko reached over to hold Connie’s free hand, the girls looking sympathetically at each other from across their boyfriend.

Alistar’s head had shot to the back, the first second Meeko sneezed, the loudness, the sheer abruptness of it. His body felt hot. Remi and Levi slid onto the floor, sitting there defeated. The demon man looking around at everyone, he realized…this was going to boil up to a huge problem here if he didn’t do something. However, did he really want to? Was this not…entertainment? Was this not a complete and total jackpot? The red head bit his lower lip slyly as his eyes scanned everyone on their last legs.

“Don’t worry, I’ll call for help…” he lied as he rummaged through his phone and chose a random machine automated number. He had many, using it often for his pranks on humans. Turning his volume down just enough to hear it himself, but for no one else to know. He continued on a fake conversation, to absolutely no one. “Yeaahhh Man…door is completely jammed shut. Got a vehicle full of sick people, we are going to need some SERIOUS assistance,” trying to withhold the cackle that threatened to surface, he kept his face completely neutral, as to not tip anyone off. Not that any of them were paying close enough attention, trying to starve off their symptoms.

“Hh’Etshu!” Levi blew into the side of his sweater, leaning into Remi now, as the wolf snaked an arm around his waist. “Bless you…” said the flushed man to his smaller counterpart, pretending to himself like that wasn’t the cutest thing he’d seen all day, while Levi caught his breath. The leopard using the edge of his sleeve to wipe off any wetness.

“3 hours? Oh man…I don’t know..” the white haired man looked up at the demon with panic in his ocean eyes, 3 hours?! “Yeah…well…I get it, it’s the best you can do,” Al sighed dramatically, pinching the bridge of his nose for affect. Eventually, he ended “the call” and shrugged, shaking his head back and forth. “Sorry guys, help will be here at some point I guess,” trying to sound convincingly disappointed, as all he had to do now, was sit back and enjoy the show.

Remi growled deep within his throat and shook his head sharply back and forth. “I serioubly doubt thed bo obe elde we can cabb,” the wolf challenged, before Alistar let out an aggravated exhale through his pierced nose, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

“Well, you want me to call the police? Fire department? What Mr Wolf man, what is your suggestion?” His words cut with serious attitude. The sickly man squinted, glowing green eyes stared him down.

“I’be hab jubt about enoubh ob yo-h-HIh’iitschuu!” Interrupted by an unstoppable force within his chest cavity, Levi quickly brought his opposite sleeve over to clean up his boyfriend’s swollen face. “Banks..baby…” he mumbled, his ego thrown off by the embarrassing outburst. Relishing in it, Alistar rolled his eyes closed and inhaled deeply. Oh yeah…that’s the stuff. He didn’t care the source, as long as he could keep hearing that sweet magical sound. "Gubs, fighting idnt goinb to helb ud," Levi said with a clear frustration to his stuffed up words, looking sharply between the two of them.

“Hhuh’EssHu! Nooooo…stooooobbb..” Kanai moaned begrudgingly burying and sniffling his face within the crook of Drae’s sweaty neck. “Oh baby…” the hybrid whimpered, petting the navy hairs with compassionate consideration. Alistar wiggled his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders "I guess, we're stuck here, and just have to wait for the assistance to arrive....but until then..." suddenly cut off midsentence "Hh'esSH!" Kanai's body convulsed into his mate.

The Anti-Christ shuddered once more “Absolutely delectable, K, give me another? Just one more morsel? You know they’re my favorite…” the red haired demon had quickly turned on his feet and brought himself over to the two. Completely distracted from the conversation before. He leaned closer into the pile that made up his best friend and the smaller dog. Draeko turned to look at the glowing eyed cretin and smacked him away. “Shoo! Habe you bo dedendy ?” Bringing himself back to his own bubble of personal space, he stood up straight, Alistar then shrugged with a devilish grin.

“I am an Anti-Christ, I don’t know why you think I would,” snickering at his overtly predictable and overused excuse.

“Typical,” rolling his duo colored eyes before burying himself back into the messy hell hound beside him. Fine, he'd see what else there was to offer, tip toeing his way to the hall, Alistar listened into the thruple that struggled to keep their breathing at a calming decibel. The strain in their throats, the hitch in their breaths…Al licked his lips out of anticipation as he leered in.

“Kh’CHIEW!” Went the little dog, Connie squeezing her girlfriend’s hand in support, before she too “Hih’cHiew~” sneezed into her free hand, the difference between the two, night and day. One loud, one soft, it sent shivers up the red head’s spine. He slid a blackened hand down the front of his clothed chest as he consumed each sound to its fullest decibel. It was far too good to have this much power.

“HIH! K’NgxT!” Biziil stifled, trying to hold it in as to avoid spraying in between, or even on one of his precious ladies.

“Ohhh Zeel~ Don’t hold them back! You know, your eyes could pop out doing that, tsk tsk, very dangerous...Dont be shy..” the demon’s orbs glowed brighter as he zeroed in on the tall Inuit man. Watering lilac eyes narrowed, brows knitted together as he opened his mouth to tell the demon to leave them be…but he couldn’t hold back the feeling that he’d been fighting this whole time, that was finally free. “Huh'AEESHUHh!” Gripping hold of his lower lip between two rows of teeth, Alistar’s body trembled with lust. As the defeated bear sniffled and snuffed, tears streaming down tan cheeks. "khH'HIISshU!" Meeko sneezed loudly once again, curling his toes, Alistar was certain hers was his favorite. So unhinged, audible, proud, they felt naughtier the louder they were.

“That’s the ticket…” his body shuddered, before he slowly turned, hopping his way through to the front of the bus once again, checking in on the rest of the suffering crew. He couldn’t help to notice, what an opportunity he had. Pulling his phone out he figured, these were memories…precious…sweet…delicious memories…he would be damned, (again)…if he didn’t capture it! Alistar hit record on the video function of his phone, in order to maintain forever evidence, of this, delicious moment.

Kanai and Drae, still huddled up together, face to face now on their sides, gripping each other’s hands tightly as they took turns, sneezing into the cluster of held appendages. “ih'tsh! 'TSCH...'sSHIEW!” The tiny kitten like sneezes sprayed past entangled fingers, not long before, Kanai sniffled loudly and “h-H…Hhuh’EssHu!” The two were going back and forth, Draeko apologizing every third, their sensitive noses rose colored, heaving together in unison, the hybrid with sort of a high pitched wheeze.

“What an absolutely precious picture…I could just…bust…honestly I could, good stuff friends…I’m gonna appreciate that later…” he chef kissed the air turning the camera now towards the source of all the madness. Remi and Levi, pathetically clung together in a heap on the floor, slumped against the wall by the door that refused to let any of them free, the wolf looked up, with clear annoyance.

“Get thad thinb oub ob my fade..” he snuffled angrily, already catching onto what the other was up to, the demon who could only return with a mischievously snicker, clicking his tongue once, cocked a red eyebrow.

“Never mind that, my dear handsome rival, but, don’t you feel that?” Suddenly emerald glowing eyes looked lost, brows sliding downward in confusion. Alistar pushing the camera closer “That …little…tickle…” red brows raised to counter, as if he was mocking the action pre-blow, mouth gaping, waiting for it to click. Oh, and it did. Remi could feel it, right in there, he shook his head once. No, he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Come oooon, Remi…Don’t ya wanna…Sneeze?” Teeth turning up in an evil side grin before the wolf glared, "H-Heh..." he hitched once. He began holding his breath, squeezing his eyebrows down. He tried, with all his strength, he tried but he couldn’t hold it forever and eventually his chest forcibly hitched. This caused his mouth to just barely swing open for a “H’tschu!! h-Hih'iiTSCHUU!” Ah, fuck, the wolf inwardly cursed himself, rolling his eyes closed to avoid having to see that smug piece of…Regardless of what the wolf thought, the demon had it on camera, forever, and he was definitely more than pleased with himself.

“Levi, I didn’t get it at first, and now, I really do…” licking his thin pierced lips once over as the leopard glared daggers up at the lense that panned across the two of them.

“Bou’re horrible! Bou’re reabby enjoying dis doo much!” The cat scolded the mischievous male as he continued to dab, and wipe at his boyfriend’s sore nose.

“You act like I shouldn’t take advantage of this moment, Levi, and that’s hurtful, you’re always preaching about chasing your dreams, and doing what you love…I have a dream…Levi,” he crouched now, knees crooked to be leveled with the slumped two. “My dream…is to record this RV full of …very tasty individuals, blowing their faces off on each other…so I have…” he took the tip of his index finger and dragged it slowly along the bridge of Levi’s rose tinted nose. The very gesture causing the leopard to hitch and hike, chin rising slowly “Material for me time…” bringing the camera in close, the angle from underneath to hopefully catch…

“Eh’ehTSHU! H'stCHu!” The spray shot downward, against the only light that shown in from the crack in the curtains. Alistar’s phone camera managing to catch the symphony of tiny particles that had escaped past his lips. Slowly, the red head shook his head back and forth standing proudly to admire his cinematography. “Magnificent…” before his attention was brought forth by a harmony of diverse sneezing fits that echoed from the back of the traveling home. "Eh' CHiew!" "HhT-TsCHU!" "sS'TsHIEW!" the thruple struggled together, holding tight to one another as their bodies rocked and quaked. “I must go... more content awaits me,” disappearing like lighting, the film itself slurring past an array of cabinet and wall colors.

Levi and Remi looked at each other with swollen noses and leaking eyes, both clearly upset, but too incapacitated to do anything about the rampaging demon. All they knew was with one look that they would never again risk going on a group trip while Remi was sick again. This was, to say the least, a nightmare.

Alistar standing at the edge of the bed that contained all three Biz, Meeko and Connie cuddled up for dear life. “Come on, say hahHhHH~” he mocked the starting sound of what Meeko usually sounds like before a sneeze. Biz narrowed his eyes tightly, not at all pleased with the way the demon treated his girls as if they were objects of his amusement. “Remi!!” Biziil called out, followed by a rough and painful cough. Al peaked up, he looked slowly behind him as he saw the wolf peeling himself up off the ground. “Demon…” he growled low in his chest.

Alistar gulped once, stopping the video to put his hands up as he slowly turned. “Now now..let’s not be crazy..let’s think about this…” he stammered as Remi swiftly grabbed him by the lifted wrist and in one fluid motion, opening the bathroom door, he flung the devil inside. Slamming the door shut behind him and then breaking the latch with one swift punch. Sufficiently, locking Alistar inside. “Hey!!” He banged on the door, though his voice clearly muffed.

“Takes care of that,” Remi huffed proudly dusting his hands off together. Levi wound up standing on both his feet again, sighing, he spoke while grabbing an extra blanket and some pillows "We're going to have to pay for that," displeased as he was setting up a little spot on the floor for them to lay, just under Kanai and Drae, while under the assumption help would someday arrive. "Worth it, finally get some peace," the wolf let out a deep breath. Getting comfortable, Levi pat the spot next to him for his mate to join. Looking over at Drae, then the spot, then Levi, then Drae…then the spot…he groaned with a deep dramatic sigh. “Fine…” he climbed in beside his mate, turning his back sharply away from the other two. Levi rolled his eyes, initiating big spoon to the grumpy wolf, as they all just tried to survive the virus he shared with them.

Unbeknownst to any of them in the RV, Alistar found himself comfortably leaned against the counter as he swiped and edited his new masterpiece. He may have not gotten all of them in, physically, before rudely disbanded, oh no, but he got enough. Well, there was no use hiding it in here, and since he had some privacy, he might as well. Playing the video in it's entirety, you could hear the distinct sound of voices before the first attack comes on. Kanai, and Drae first. "ih'tsh! 'TSCH...'sSHIEW!" sweet tiny sneezes from the sub made Al's teeth grit back and forth as he could feel his already semi-hard cock stiffen in the fabric of his crust pants. Weak at the knees over the way Drae carelessly sprayed into their hands. “h-H…Hhuh’EssHu!” that deep, unexpecting explosion ripping out of Kanai, something so intimate they've rarely shared in their time together as friends. Now forever a piece he holds onto. Watching his mouth burst open every time was a treat in itself. Al's hand roughly rubbing against his clothed inner thigh, grazing just past the print of his aching length.

"ih'tsh! 'TSCH...'sSHIEW!" he rewound and played Drae's again, it was so innocent, it drove him absolutely mad with hunger. Especially the way he caught the little hybrid’s spray on the lense. Wishing desperately to feel it splash across his filthy face. Allowing the video to progress, again, “h-H…Hhuh’EssHu!” the hell hound's inexperienced lack of control shooting shivers up the demon's spine, slowly unclipping the top button and zipper of his pants. "H-Heh..." red eyes scanned the screen as he sucked his lower lip past his teeth, biting down roughly as he closely observed the wolf's struggling face. He freed his cock now, spitting in his open palm without breaking eye contact to his phone, he was waiting for it. Patiently waiting for it. “H’tschu!! h-Hih'iiTSCHUU!” watching his rival fail to keep it at bay made his head momentarily fall back, the counter of this space being the only thing holding his weight up. He began to stroke himself at a faster, more desperate pace as his favorite part was about to arrive. The full view of Levi's open air sneeze. He watched hungrily as the leopard started to hilt and hitch, watching slowly as his lips seperate, struggling before “Eh’ehTSHU! H'stCHu!” His hips stuttered and bucked up inside the tight grip of his palm. All he could focus on was the particles, all those spraying particles, coming out of plump wet lips, god bless 2023 camera quality "Fu-Fuck..." he hissed loosely with crazed desire. “Eh’ehTSHU! H'stCHu!” he played it back. “Eh’ehTSHU! H'stCHu!” and again. His fist rubbing and rutting his now leaking and hung dick. Oh man, he was going to have to thank Remi later for the alone time. Watching the leopard's freckled face leak, and stain he continued to throw his hips up into his fingers. Squeezing and massaging every skin cell of flesh before the finale. "Eh' CHiew!" "HhT-TsCHU!" "sS'TsHIEW!" the three-way orchestra. "Fucking hell...." he gasped rolling his eyes back only to quickly straighten them back on the screen below. He was looking at Levi's flushed face, tortured after his double blow, but you could hear Meeko, Biz and Connie clear as day in the background. A mixture of loud, soft and messy. "Eh' CHiew!" "HhT-TsCHU!" "sS'TsHIEW!" He played it again, scanning over Levi's soft features. “Eh’ehTSHU! H'stCHu!” he replayed the leopard's. It was too much, it was proving to send the demon into a spiral. He grunted low, deep within his chest as he stood there frozen in place, his orgasm rocked through him causing the dragon to lose grip of his phone altogether, "S-Shit..." he cursed, phone falling to the floor with a thud. Alistar shot his load out all over the bathroom floor, some getting on his black boots, unfortunate price he'd pay for the incredible treat he got. Trying hard to catch his breath he gasped in the small area of the restroom, looking around him he saw a small window, taking no time to shove it open. In blew a fresh breeze of cool, uncontaminated air. It felt incredible against the red head's flushed and sweating skin. He tore off his shirt and hiked himself to sit on top of the counter now, leaning his bare back against the mirror/wall. "Oh man....I needed that..." he sighed deeply with contentment, closing his eyes. It didn't matter what rules the group would more than likely enforce upon Remi after this trip of chaos, Alistar was determined to let this happen again. Even if he had to risk getting killed over it.

The end.

Author’s Notes: Uhm….okay…how’d I do? 🥴 cause my brain hurts and I feel like I’ve had a million conversations going on in my head at once for 24 hours straight. What a way to introduce the gang, right? Oh Alistar you stinky sneaky sly shit. I love him. This was a lot of fun despite how chaotic it felt to write in 6 more characters than I’m used to!

[the-cult-of-russo]

Push and Pull (Part 15)

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OC

Warnings: cursing, smut

---------

It was bright and early when Daphne woke up the next morning. She had things to do and no time to waste. The sun was shining through her window, the weather finally starting to get warmer. She put on some leggings with a tank top and then her zip up hoodie over it. She groaned at her hair in the mirror as she dragged her brush through the unruly locks. So many times she considered cutting it so it wasn't so much work, but she knew she'd regret it. Instead, she settled on tossing it up into a high pony and ignoring it. Her trusty backpack was slung around her shoulder and she hopped around as she put her vans on before leaving the apartment. 

She squinted slightly at the light once she got out of the building but it didn't deter her. First stop. Coffee. One large latte to go later, she was on her way to see Brett to find out what news he might have. She tossed her now empty cup in the trash can beside the station before she jogged up the steps and inside. She never checked in with the desk, she was a ghost when she was here. That's how it worked. It wasn't such a secret anymore than she was on Brett's payroll which left her to come and go as she pleased, but officially, she was never there. When she walked into the office area, Brett was sitting at his desk just like the day before. He looked like he hadn't even gone home.

"You look like shit," she mused teasingly, putting down the other coffee she'd gotten for him. His eyes lit up at the sight of it and he gave her a tired smile. 

"You're an angel," he muttered with a long pull from his drink as she sat down. The coffee at the precinct was the worst and never really did its job. 

"Any news yet?" She tried to hide the impatience in her voice but she wasn't sure she succeeded.

"Actually, we do have something. Not quite sure the full details yet though," he murmured. She looked at him expectantly.

"The people we rescued, their fingertips were burnt right off just like the last time. We can't identify most of 'em until they're fully coherent. But they're doing alright. I just can't believe the Chinese were at it again right under our goddamn noses," he fumed, taking another slurp of his coffee.

"I'm not surprised. They probably picked it back up when the heat turned off them again," she sighed. She hoped that once the victims were in a better state they'd be able to get names from them. Some of them might have family that were looking for them.

"Anything from the device?" She asked hopefully

"Yeah, actually. The Chinese requested the meet. They were pretty vague about a lot of shit but they kept saying something about the Italians having a weapon and they wanted to use it. Seemed to be brokering a deal about it. I got no idea what the hell this weapon is, but the Chinese really fucking want it and the Italians already have it. And that makes me nervous as shit," he frowned. 

It made her nervous too. What did the Italians have that the Chinese couldn't get for themselves? And why did they want it? 

"Well that's unsettling," she huffed with a shake of her head.

"Tell me about it. Good news though, that device you planted must be well hidden. It’s still live and active," he flashed her a grin and she smiled herself as she gave herself a mental pat on the back.

"Do you think it'll be useful?" She inquired.

"No telling yet. I mean mostly it'll be the kitchen staff but it might pick up something. Any other meets we might not be aware of or anyone saying something. Even something small can lead to something big, right?" He smirked, practically quoting her. It made her chuckle. 

"At least that's something. If we can figure out what weapon the Italians have we can figure out how bad this all is," she said softly. It made her nervous and she had a feeling things would get messy soon in Hell's Kitchen. 

"Here's hoping. There ain't much for you to do with the case right now but I'll let you know when we get any more information. It's just a waiting game now," he replied.

"Ah, my favourite," she smirked sarcastically, causing him to snort. She wasn't known for having patience. She liked answers and she liked them immediately. But in this case, playing the long game would be the only option to getting to the bottom of it all.

She bid her goodbyes to him not long after that before making her way back out into the sunshine. Now it was her next pit stop. A short cab ride later and she was at a very fancy luxurious home. It was more like a mansion and was three stories high. It looked like it was right out of a movie with one of those grand entrances and a water feature out front. She was well out of place as dressed down as she was but she knocked on the door anyway. She wasn't even surprised when a butler answered the door.

"Can I help you, miss?" The older man asked softly. His black and white uniform was crisp and clean and it put her own rumpled clothes to shame.

"I'm here to see Mrs Grimes. I'm Daphne Weaver," she replied awkwardly. 

"One moment please," he shut the door and she quirked her brow at how formal all this was. This better pay well. Suddenly the door opened again and he smiled at her.

"This way please. She's been hoping you'd come," he seemed a little friendlier now. Maybe it was because his boss wanted her here so he wasn't all suspicious of what she wanted. Either way, she followed him inside. He led her up the huge ass staircase, the kind that split off at the middle. Everything looked like it cost a million dollars, from the art to all the rare looking things in cabinets. She didn't even feel worthy enough to touch the banister so she kept her hands in her hoodie pocket. 

The carpet was lush and a deep purple colour and she found her eyes wandering the hallway they walked down. How many rooms does someone need? No wonder she had staff, upkeep on this place would be a ball ache. They reached a room far down the left and he knocked on the heavy looking mahogany door.

"Enter," a female voice rang out. It was slightly accented but she couldn't place it. Jeeves opened the door and gestured for her to go inside. She glanced around the room curiously as she walked in. It was a living area with a grand fire. Heavy bookcases lined the walls of the room and were filled with what looked to be antique books that Daphne found herself wanting to look at. There was a giant fur rug in front of the fireplace with velvet looking sofas set in front of it. 

That's where Mrs Grimes was sitting, looking perfectly in place for where she was. She was wearing a long black dress, heels bigger than anything Daphne could ever walk in. Her greying blonde hair was neatly coiffed and pinned up and she was dripping in diamonds. Jesus. 

"Pleasure to meet you Ms Weaver, please sit," she smiled warmly at her, gesturing to the other sofa. Daphne was half worried her vans would dirty the goddamn carpet as she padded over and plonked down. Despite it being completely over the top and not really her taste, she did appreciate however how clean and neat everything was kept. A place like this could easily fall into being cluttered and dusty but it was pristine. She supposed the staff were to thank for that. Mrs Grimes' nails were so long she doubted she could do much cleaning herself. Daphne wasn't sure how she didn't accidentally gauge her own eyes out.

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked politely. Jeeves was still hovering near the door no doubt waiting for his command. She was tempted to say yes to see what kind of beverages the other side drank, but she didn't want to stay long.

"Uh… no thank you. I'm fine," she replied with an awkward smile.

"Very well. Hammond, leave us," she dismissed the man at the door. He gave a dramatic nod before he left and shut the door behind him. She idly wondered if he ever wanted to punch his bosses when they commanded him to do things like that. She'd never be able to hold a job like that down.

"I'm glad you came, I was worried you wouldn't," the older woman started, elegantly crossing one leg over the other.

"A job's a job," Daphne snorted lightly, her hands still stuffed in her pockets lest she touch something and ruin it. Mrs Grimes gave her a tense smile, looking like it was difficult to be polite. Maybe she wasn't used to the lower class being in her home. 

"Indeed it is. Will you take the case?" She asked hopefully. 

"Yeah, I'll be able to do it. As I tell all my clients, I don't give out time frames. I never know how long it'll take me to find what I need or what roadblocks might come up. I don't appreciate impatience and it doesn't make me work any faster," she said firmly. Establishing boundaries was the first thing she liked to do. It was important. Especially with the wealthy ones as in her experience they tended to be the impatient ones with their self importance.

"Very well. I accept your terms. And please, whatever you find, do tell me," she implored. Daphne nodded, she always did no matter how shitty the information she'd gained was. Mrs Grimes stood, walking somehow with grace and ease in those monster heels as she walked over to a cupboard near the wall. She opened a drawer and came back with some paper.

"Me and my husband used to be very much in love. And I'm afraid now that I'm older he's decided to find other companions. Call me paranoid but I'm sure you understand when to look into a gut feeling," she mused as she walked back over and sat down. Daphne nodded again. Her gut was rarely wrong and it was telling her that Mrs Grimes was right.

"I want confirmation. I want to know who with and how deep it runs. If it's just physical or something more. I want to prepare myself should he try to divorce me and take what I have. I need proof," she stated seriously. Daphne's eyes subconsciously swept across the room and all the fancy things in it.

"I know what you're thinking. And I was the one with money, not him. He makes a decent amount with his job but I was born with money. This house was passed through my family for generations. Everything in it I bought. But over the years I've had my eyes opened to how greedy my husband can be. I cannot trust if we separate that he won't try to take everything from me," she sounded bitter and Daphne wasn't surprised. They definitely sounded like they had issues and once trust was gone in a relationship, everything else had no foundation to stand on. It wouldn't last. She commended the woman for thinking ahead to make sure she was protected if it came down to it. This kind of bullshit was why relationships were too much work.

"I'll find out what I can. I'll be honest, some of my methods aren't quite… legal. But it gets the job done," Daphne muttered. Things like breaking and entering were definitely illegal and then there was hacking if she ever needed to do it, which in this case might prove useful.

"Good," Mrs Grimes smirked at her. She found herself smirking back at her. The rich typically didn't care too much about how she got the information, just that she got it. Mrs Grimes reached down to her Gucci purse, setting it on her lap and she grabbed something out of it. It was her wallet and Daphne was curious what her offer would be. She hadn't spoken to her about price points yet and when it came to her wealthier clients she made a point of waiting to see what their offer would be first. Usually she’d haggle a little just because she could. They'd have the money and they wanted the information. 

She watched with a keen eye as Mrs Grimes took a chunk of money out and handed it to her. A quick count told her it was $1000 and it took effort for her eyes to not bulge out as she kept a cool calm facade.

"That's the deposit. You'll get the rest when the work is complete. Another $1000. I may give you more depending on just how much you find out," she drawled. So she wouldn't need to haggle then, this price was insane and way more than what the job would entail, but like fuck she would tell her that. She also appreciated the incentive. She liked a challenge, something to work towards. The more she found out then the more she'd get paid. 

"Sounds good to me. I'll get started in the next few days," she replied, keeping her calm demeanour and not acting like she was thinking of what she would spend her money on once she got it all. She carefully stuffed it in her backpack before zipping it back up. She almost jumped when the older woman dinged a bell beside the table and it took all of her willpower not to roll her eyes as the butler walked in.

"Yes, Mrs Grimes?" He enquired politely. 

"Please see Ms Weaver out. Have one of our drivers drop her off to wherever she needs to go," she commanded softly. Part of her wanted to protest but the other wanted to pretend she lived the fancy life, even if just for a moment. 

They both stood and Mrs Grimes took her hand in one of those fancy people hand shakes that were flimsy and light. 

"It was a pleasure, Ms Weaver. I hope to hear from you soon," she smiled. 

"Likewise," she replied, not really knowing what to say. No matter how many well off clients she saw she always felt weird and out of place interacting with them.  She followed Jeeves out the hall and down the large stairs case. He stopped when he got by the front door and picked up a phone that was attached to the wall. She stood there looking around as the man spoke in hushed tones down the receiver before hanging up and then opening the grand front door. 

"Have a lovely day, Ms Weaver," he bowed politely.

"Uh… you too," she murmured as she stepped outside. 

The door shut with a clang behind her and she was suddenly on her own outside. It didn't last long though as a large black car pulled up right at the entryway.

"Ms Weaver?" A man called out after rolling the window down. She nodded and walked over. She was getting sick of being called that name. The man hopped out, jogging over to the back of the car and opening the door for her. This really was fancy service. She gave him an uncomfortable smile, not used to this level of service from anyone. It felt wrong almost. But she slipped inside and settled in the ridiculously comfy car seats. 

"Where to, Miss?" The man asked once he was situated behind the wheel again. 

"Um… Fogwell's gym please," she murmured in response. He punched in something on the phone he was using with the GPS and then he took off. There was a reason she was dressed the way she was after all. She didn't want to think of Matt being a weird asshole the day before. As much as part of her considered not going, she really needed to train and she knew he would be there. She was too stubborn to let Matt's weird PMSing get in the way of her learning to defend herself properly. 

The drive was uncomfortably silent and she clutched her backpack on her knees. She wondered what it was like to live this life full time. She was a bitch but she didn't feel right with commanding people to do shit, even if she was paying them. It just felt off to her. Before long, the car pulled up in front of the gym. She almost felt like she should pay him or something, totally not used to this kind of exchange. As she unbuckled her seat belt, the man got out and ran around to her door. He opened it and she slipped out, swinging her bag over her shoulder. She noticed the apprehensive look on his face as he looked at the rundown gym.

"Are you sure, Miss?" He asked quietly, like he was asking her to blink twice if she needed help. She almost snorted but gave him a polite smile. She guessed his boss wasn't used to being around places like this. She appreciated his sentiments all the same though.

"I'm sure," she said softly. He nodded, still looking unhappy about it but there was nothing he could do. With a nod, he was back in the car and taking off by the time she walked through the door.

She was quiet and heard loud grunting and the hits of a punching bag. As she came into view, she saw Matt beating the holy hell out of the bag. His fists were flying, grunts and pants leaving his lips with the flurry of punches. The graceful savagery was what always intrigued her about him. But then typically he'd open his mouth and ruin it. He hadn't seemed to notice her yet once again which honestly was perturbing since anyone could come in here and sneak up on him like that. She walked over to the bench, setting her backpack down with a thud. The grunts and punches stopped instantly and the only sound that echoed in the gym was Matts heavy breathing.

"Didn't think you'd show," he said carelessly. 

"I wasn't sure either honestly. But I need to train, even if I do have to put up with your bitch ass," she muttered as she started wrapping her hands. He scoffed as he came over, grabbing his water bottle and drinking a large pull from it. He tossed the bottle down again as he made his way to the ring.

"Alright, come on then," he demanded. 

"What? I don't get to warm up first?" She asked skeptically with a raised brow. He snorted coldly and shook his head.

"You wanna know how to defend yourself for real, there is no warming up. When you're out there in a situation like this, you don't get that luxury," he retorted. She rolled her eyes but honestly couldn't argue with sound logic.

Instead, she bit her tongue as she put on the gloves and climbed inside of the ring. Matt cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders as they squared off with one another. 

"Let's go," he smirked devilishly. He lunged at her but she moved just in time, twirling around as they practically traded places. They started trading blows, although his were very clearly intended not to hurt her, and she was pleased she got some good jabs in. She didn't slow down or stop this time when he deflected or managed a light shot to her side. She just came back twice as hard. She was proud of herself. Her heart was thumping away from the adrenaline and the exertion of the sparring after a while and she leaned against the ropes as they both caught their breath.

"You did good. You're getting better," he sounded reluctant to give her the praise and she rolled her eyes a little at him.

"I want you to teach me how to get out of the hold from last time," she said firmly. His head turned to her then, his hazel eyes not quite landing directly at her as he narrowed them.

"Daphne, I don't think-" he started, only to be promptly cut off.

"It's fine. I need to learn and I'll get over it. I think I'll be fine this time," she urged. She meant it too. She still had lingering effects of her attack but she was feeling a little better recently. And after her and Matt's partially regrettable night together, she hadn't had a nightmare for the first night since it happened. She knew the sex had helped. Whenever she needed to feel better and clear her head, she would have sex. It's why her sister was so worried it would become a crux for her. Her sex with Matt had done wonders for her stress and anxiety over the whole thing so she felt like now was the perfect time to try to learn it. 

He was quiet for a moment before heaving a heavy sigh. He yanked his gloves off and tossed them out of the ring and she followed suit before he changed his mind. Climbing to the floor, she lay on her back and bent her knees just like the last time. As he knelt down between her legs, it was hard not to think of the night they shared together and how similar it was. 

"Ready?" He asked reluctantly. She gave him a firm nod he couldn't see but could sense and he brought his hands to her throat. Once again, he applied very little pressure but she lay perfectly still. Her heart wasn't hammering like crazy, she wasn't seeing Keiran hovering over her. She was fine. Matt stayed still as he did his head tilt thing and it took her a moment to realise he was listening to her heartbeat to check if she was okay or not. It was kind of creepy but she let it go. 

He talked her through the steps of how to get out of that kind of hold. One at a time he'd tell her what to do and correct her if she got it wrong as they did a slow mo version one part at a time to ensure she knew each step. It was more complicated than the last one but after a few step by step tries she thought she had a good idea on what to do. Now it was time to get out of it for real. 

"3, 2 ,1," he counted, preparing her somewhat so she didn't lose her shit like last time. This time he applied some pressure around her throat but it was still practically nothing. She felt his weight bearing down on her and she grabbed his right forearm with her left and then used her right hand to grip his left shoulder in a cross grip. Using her left foot, she pushed off his hip, pivoting her pelvis to the right so he was no longer directly above her. She hooked her right leg high up on his back, right under his armpit and she kept a firm grip on him as her left leg moved to wrap around his shoulder too, locking it onto her other. She grabbed his wrist, the one that was in her grip that was now at her mercy on her chest. She knew if she thrust her pelvis upwards sharply she would break his arm at his elbow. 

It had happened so fast but she caught herself before completing the maneuver and felt pleased with herself. She let go of his arm and rolled them over so he was now under her. They were both panting and she laughed lightly, feeling good she actually did it. She was a little sweaty and she looked down at where he lay under her. His brow had a slight sheen to his and his hair was doing that thing where it went every which way. His eyes were wandering as he caught his breath with a grin. She wasn't the only one enjoying their session it seemed. 

She felt his hands glide up her thighs that were around him and she'd be a liar if she said it didn't make her tingle. His unseeing eyes were burning into her, pupils blown wide. She went to move off him but he held her in place, only now she was hovering right in front of his face. One of his hands rested on the base of her neck and he pulled her down a little. She stayed still though and resisted as her lips were a breath away from his.

"We're not on the same page, remember?" She teased him, enjoying seeing him this worked up. She squeaked when her back hit the mat when he rolled them over quickly. She hadn't expected it. 

"I'm over it," he smirked devilishly at her before his lips collided with hers. 

She should have really stopped to think about it. To assess the validity of his words. But sex with Matt was something else and it made her feel amazing. All her stress and worries melted away last time. And although she knew going down that rabbit hole wasn't good with her past of sometimes becoming dependant on sex for her own mental well being, she couldn't really help herself. She blamed Matt for being insufferable and ridiculously attractive. The kiss was rough and demanding and she gave into him, moaning as he pushed himself against her through the thin fabric of their pants. He knelt up, tugging at his vest and lifting it over his head. Something dawned on her then.

"We're gonna do this here? What if someone walks in?" She snorted amused. She wasn’t one to shy away from sex in weird places but she didn't want some old dude walking in and getting a free show. He tossed his vest on the floor as he chuckled, jumping to his feet and climbing out the ring. She sat up, watching him curiously as he went and locked the door from the inside. She couldn't take her eyes off him as he prowled back to her though. The predatory grace he held, the way his sculpted body moved. In her needy and horny haze she found herself impatient for him to return and she felt like he was taking his time to tease her if his smirk was anything to go by. She pulled her shirt off and then her bra, tossing them in a heap beside them as Matt toed off his shoes. 

He knelt back down then, his hands curling her ankles and yanking them lightly. Her back hit the mat with a light thud and she looked up at him shocked before laughing. With a wicked grin, he pulled her leggings and panties off together but painfully slow and her desire was increasing with every second he made her wait for it. She wouldn't beg though. She sat back up, tugging at his shorts and he bent down, kissing her roughly as she yanked them down with his boxers. She fisted him tightly and he moaned into her mouth, causing her to smirk into the kiss. Letting go, she pulled the shorts and boxers all the way off him before pushing him onto his back. 

It was his turn to look mildly shocked and she climbed on top of him, her slick heat trapping his cock against his belly. His eyes were darting around her face and she leant forward, catching his lower lip with her teeth. He let out a long groan, arching up at her as she tugged it before letting it go with a pop. She sat up, pushing up on her knees before she gripped him and lined herself up. Without a word she sank down onto him and the pair moaned in relief. It was instant for her, that feeling of him filling her up like that. Knowing her release would come soon. She rested her hands on his firm chest for leverage as she started moving her hips. His hands felt like they were all over her body at once. Not soft or sweet, but firm and demanding and he took in every detail of her body. 

The gym was filled with moans and gasps as she rode him hard, her anger at his behaviour and the thrill of fighting with him fuelling her pleasure. She almost found it ironic that they were fucking in a boxing ring with how often they fought. He pulled her down roughly, lips smashing against hers as he ravaged her mouth. She felt that euphoric feeling getting closer, her whole body tingling in anticipation. She got faster and harder, chasing the release she was after like her life depended on it. 

"Don't stop," Matt groaned against her lips, one hand gripping the back of her neck while the other was on her ass, fingers digging into her flesh. She had no plan on stopping though. Not when she was this close. She kept up the pace and then she moaned loudly, her body tensing lightly as she clamped down around him. 

He let out the hottest fucking noise she’d ever heard a human make and it only heightened her own pleasure as she rode the waves of her orgasm. He was clinging onto her tightly, rutting up into her as he panted and then groaned, spilling himself inside of her. He relaxed instantly. Hands falling to his sides. She sat there on top of him as she tried to catch her breath. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair had started falling out of her ponytail. She was thoroughly fucked and in the best way. That beautiful feeling was coursing through her veins as she let the hormones and endorphins flow though her. 

She climbed off him carefully before standing up and stretching.

"I'm gonna hit the shower," she hummed sounding blissful as she scooped up her clothes. She walked completely naked to the showers and got herself cleaned up and presentable. She didn't regret it, it was amazing and she felt good now. And from the sounds he made, he enjoyed himself too. She just hoped he meant it when he said they were on the same page. 

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

Matt stood in his own shower in the men’s changing rooms as he let the cold water pelt him. His brain was a fried mess and he leaned against the cool tiles as he tried to just think clearly. He wasn't sure why he'd done it again, not after last time. He couldn’t really say what had bothered him about the fact she left last time. He'd gotten out of the shower and went to his room and she was just gone. No words, no note, nothing. He knew it had been purely physical, they could barely tolerate each other. He wasn't stupid enough to think too deeply into it. Yet it left him feeling strangely hollow when she’d just left him like that.

And then when he had turned up to work, Foggy had been acting weird. After some pressure he'd told Matt about his conversation with Daphne. Matt was pretty sure he hadn't gotten the whole story from him but the gist of her saying it was just sex was clear. And he'd told Foggy she was right. It was a one time thing because of all their pent up anger and the adrenaline from the night they'd had. He told his best friend to stop thinking about it. Yet he hadn't been able to do the same. He'd ended up texting her using Foggy's phone to see if she would be home and then he went to see her. No rhyme or reason or idea why he was going there. All he knew was that it bothered him.

It wasn't like he’d never had casual sex before, although he couldn't say it happened much the last few years. And his inability to understand why he was feeling the way he was led to them fighting again. Because she was right. But he hadn't been able to let it go. So when he left, he told himself it wouldn't happen again. She was trouble and being around her wore him out. It wasn't worth it. So how did he end up here again? Oh that's right, apparently he'd turned into a horny teenager again. A bit of sparring, feeling her body against his and sensing how happy she was in the ring really fucked his hormones over. And now here he was again. Only this time it was his own fault. She’d actually turned him down and he'd been the one to push. He couldn't say he regretted it either. It was the best damn sex he’d ever had and it left him feeling more chilled out than he felt in a long time. He'd keep his mouth shut this time and not act like a teenage girl about it. He dug himself into this hole and now he had to climb his own way out. 

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

Daphne towel dried her hair as much as she could and it left it wavy. She scooped it up in a messy bun on top of her head, a few stands framing her face. The euphoric feeling she got after sex was easing but she still felt calm and settled. It was nice, she didn't get to experience it that much anymore. She really didn't want to have to face Matt, not knowing if he'd throw a tantrum like last time. She didn't want him to read into it again or act all weird about it. It really killed the vibe and ruined her good mood. She'd tried to stop it from happening, not wanting to deal with that again, but she hadn't been able to help herself when he'd wanted her so clearly. There was something addictive about it. But now she felt dread settle into her bones as she thought about how he would react. 

She took her sweet time getting dried and dressed simply to buy herself some time. But eventually she was done and she had to leave the changing room. As she walked out into the main part of the gym, Matt was sitting on the bench tying his laces. 

"Ready?" He asked softly. No awkward questions, no anger in his voice. Maybe he was on the same page now after all. She felt relief sweep through her, allowing her to enjoy the calmness that she'd been left with after their time together. 

"Yeah," she replied, grabbing her backpack and putting it over her shoulder. 

Matt grabbed his cane where it was leaning against the wall. He was now wearing a hoodie too and he grabbed his glasses out of the pocket as he slid them onto his face. She wondered if he ever got sick of having to act blind. He was blind but not like the average blind person. He didn't really need the stick and she'd seen him 'bumping' into things like he hadn't known they were there before. When they stepped out into the sunshine, she winced and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Jesus christ! I think I've joined the blind club," she grumbled, rubbing her poor eyes. The sun just burnt the shit out of her retinas. He let out a surprised laugh, the door shutting behind them.

"Here," he grinned. She cracked a wary eye open, seeing him holding out his glasses to her, but she didn't take them.

"It's not like I need them,” he teased. It helped. She felt a little better. She slid them onto her face and her eyeballs thanked her immediately. They started walking down the street together and she glanced into a window as they walked by, looking at her reflection. She snorted at herself. Her hair, despite being recently washed and put up, was a wavy mess. Her cheeks were still rosy pink and the glasses looked weird on her face.

"They suit you," he mused playfully. She shoved him lightly, causing him to laugh when an older woman gasped at her actions.

"Assaulting a blind man in public? It's like you want to get arrested," he smirked.

"Yeah well, Foggy will be my lawyer so I'll be good," she quipped back with a grin. Now they were on the same page they seemed to be amicable after venting their frustration on each other. 

"You really think my best friend would take your side over mine?" He asked, faking being hurt as he held his hand over his heart. She stopped walking and he did the same as she looked at him.

"I hate to say it but I think he prefers me now. Not that I can blame him. You are a bit of an asshole," she grinned mischievously. He gaped at her before his hand darted out and went to grab the glasses. She squeaked, holding them in place as he tried to steal them from her face.

"You don't deserve my glasses," he snorted.

"Come on! I need my eyes, I'm not like you!" She whined pitifully. 

"And what's this?! My two favourite people, getting along nicely? Is the world ending?" A dramatic voice sounded from next to them. Both she and Matt stilled completely in a comical way before they took a step away from each other. Both of them looked caught out as they looked at a very smug Foggy.

"This is great! Better than great! I love this," he beamed like a kid on Christmas. Daphne groaned and glared at him from the glasses still perched on her face.

"Foggy, I swear! You want us to not kill each other when we're in the same room? Don't make a big deal about it when it happens," she huffed. 

"It is a big deal. You're both laughing and smiling together. This is huge. It's like a rare solar event or something," he defended. 

She resisted the urge to throttle him as Matt rubbed his temples. 

"Foggy," Matt warned lightly.

"Okay! I get it, I'm making it weird. This whole thing is new to you both and I'm just making it awkward," he soothed, holding his hands up in surrender.

"There is no 'thing'. We can't just actually have a moment where we get on with each other before you start trying to marry us off again?" She whined. 

"Marry us off? What?" Matt asked quickly, his head whipping to his friend. She snorted as Foggy's cheeks went a little pink and he shot her a glare 

"Oh, he didn't tell you he's the captain of ship Maphne?" She laughed loudly. She didn't care if Matt knew. It was ridiculous to her and she was getting payback on Foggy for being a little shit. 

"Maphne? Do I even wanna know?" Matt asked exasperated. Foggy shot her another look before standing up straighter.

"You know what, Daph, mock me all you want but this is the hill I'm choosing to die on," he pointed at her. Matt still stood there unsure of what they were even talking about. She opened her mouth for another retort that would no doubt embarrass Foggy further and also maybe make Matt uncomfortable which was a bonus, but Foggy beat her to it. 

"Anyway! I'm glad I caught you two, I have great news!" He beamed excitedly. She quirked her brows perplexed as he led them to a table outside of the cafe nearby. The three of them sat around it, Matt and Daphne watching their friend expectantly. 

"I finally asked Karen on a date!" He practically squealed. A splitting grin graced Daphne's face, unable not to be happy for him. During their many talks, he'd spoken about his feelings for the blonde and Daphne had always told him to go for it. 

"Aw, Foggy! You're growing up, I'm so proud!" She cooed, reaching over and pinching his cheek. He was so happy he just let her.

"That's awesome, man. I'm happy for you," Matt smiled sincerely.

"I know, it's great right? I just finally bit the bullet. I just decided I need to stop being such a baby about it," he explained. He had a weird look on his face though, the same one that usually told her something going on.

"What is it?" Both she and Matt asked at the same time, him clearly picking up on Foggy's weirdness in his own way.

Foggy raised a brow at them both being in sync and she made a point to not even look at Matt so Foggy wouldn't go off on his Maphne tirade again.

"Well… I just… I panicked, okay? I set it all up and she knew I wanted to ask her something. But then I'm like, what if she says no? I mean it's just gonna be me and Karen. Alone. On a date," he uttered looking like a deer in the headlights.

"That's kinda the point, Foggy," Matt teased.

"I know it is. And I couldn't back out because she was just watching me, waiting for what I wanted to ask. I honestly felt like I was about to have a heart attack and I may have asked her on a date but told her it was a double date with you guys," he blurted, barely taking a breath as he did. 

Daphne blinked at him for a moment as her brain tried to digest his words.

"You did what?" Matt asked incredulously. Foggy made a pitiful noise and she took Matt’s glasses off and set them in the middle of the table, giving Foggy a look.

"A double date? Implying that me and Matt are actually also going to be on a date. Do you see the flaw in that plan?" She asked slowly, like she was talking to a child about why playing with matches was bad. 

"I know! Like I said, I panicked and that's just the first thing that came out of my mouth!" Foggy defended with a sigh.

"And Karen actually bought that?" Matt scoffed, gesturing with his hand to him and then Daphne.

"You're kidding right? She's all aboard this ship, she was actually excited about it," Foggy smirked. She kicked him under the table and he groaned. Matt's jaw ticked as he glared in his best friend's direction. 

"This isn't a joke, Fogg. All the shit you give me for keeping my secret from her and you're just lying right to her face about this?" Matt frowned. 

"That's completely different. Your secret is dangerous. This one isn't. For all she knows it's your first date too and after that it just didn't work out. Besides, it's not like you're not getting it on with each other, would it really be that hard to just pretend to be on one date?" He pleaded, looking from her to Matt.

"Yes," they both answered again.

"Please? I really need this. If I tell her you're not going she might cancel too. You two are like a buffer, help set the scene and put her at ease. I really like her, guys. I don't want to mess things up," he begged. 

"Foggy-" Matt started sternly, only to be cut off by Daphne. 

"Fine. But you're paying for dinner," she relented. 

Foggy smiled the widest grin she'd ever seen on a human and Matt turned to glare at her.

"You've got to be kidding me," he scoffed incredulously.

"What? Didn't you hear him? He's our friend, Matt. Let's just do this for him. Besides, free dinner," she shrugged. Matt looked pissed and honestly it was a reward she hadn't expected. She'd almost forgotten how nice it felt to push his buttons. 

"This is ridiculous. You really think she's not gonna notice we can't stand each other once she's sat at a table with us for a while?" Matt glowered. He had a point but they could just try to be civil for Foggy's sake.

"You know what, Matt, I really hate to play this card but you left me no choice. You lied to me for the longest time and now I have to keep your secret. I already have to start a potential relationship with lies for you. Can't you just do this one thing for me? I never ask you for anything," Foggy muttered with a frown. 

A sly grin spread on her face at how underhand it was of Foggy. She almost felt like a proud parent as she watched a million emotions pass over Matt's face before defeat was all that was left.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't want you when this all blows up in your face. And you're paying for my dinner too," he huffed. Foggy looked more than pleased with himself. 

"Thank you! You guys are awesome. I'll even pay for your drinks if you actually try and act like you like each other and not make it awkward," he shot them both a toothy grin. 

"Hey, let me drink as much as I want and I'll make it really look like we're on a date," she smirked devilishly, a wiggle of her eyebrows and Foggy burst out laughing.

"Jesus christ," Matt muttered quietly with a shake of his head. 

"Deal," Foggy nodded firmly, "tonight at 8. It's the Mexican place near the firm," he instructed before he stood.

"Alright. I'm heading out, you coming with, Matt?" He asked, shooting his annoyed friend a look.

"Yeah. You go on, I'll catch up in a sec," he bit out. Foggy gave her a look and a smirk before he started walking away. 

"Really?" Matt glared at her, swiping his glasses from the table and shoving them onto his face. 

"What? Free food and as much booze as we want? Plus doing your best friend a solid? I know you're an asshole, Matt, but I thought you weren't that much of an asshole," she quipped dryly. He clamped his mouth shut, jaw tense as he pursed his lips.

"Fine," he stood up abruptly, gripping his cane before holding it in front of him. 

"You're doing this for Foggy. Don't fuck it up for him just because you've got a stick up your ass," she huffed as she stood up too. 

He shot her what she presumed was a dirty look behind his glasses before he started walking away, his cane swinging in front of him. His irritation about the situation only made her want to do it more. It was his own fault really for acting like such a bitch about the whole thing. He was asking for her to make it worse for him. She started walking home as a plan formed in her mind. She'd get nice food and decent booze and she'd get to piss Matt off in a setting he had to behave in. She was actually looking forward to it. 

As soon as she got home, she called their firm, knowing Karen would be the one to answer.

"Nelson and Murdock, Karen speaking," came the voice down the phone. Daphne trapped the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she tugged off her hoodie and tossed it in the laundry basket.

"Hey Karen, it's Daphne," she said casually. 

"Oh! Hi!" She sounded genuinely happy to speak to her and she wondered why she'd never bothered to speak to Karen more since she was so close to Foggy and Matt.

"I know this is weird, we haven't really spoken much. But I wanted to ask a favour since we're going on a double date," she said carefully, flopping onto her sofa.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Don't tell the guys, it's kind of weird for me. It's just… this is mine and Matt's first date too and it's been so long. I was wondering if you'd help me get ready for the date? I wanna look really good. I mean I know he can't really see, but he just somehow knows these things, right?" She grinned, cringing at how hard she was going at this. She felt a tiny bit bad at lying to her but she ignored it. 

"Of course! I'd… I'd really love that. I'm nervous too and it'd be good to just have some girl time," Karen said softly. 

"Thank you, I really appreciate this. We could go to the restaurant together when we're done," Daphne smiled pleased with herself. After exchanging cell numbers and goodbyes, Daphne sat back on the couch with a smirk. She wanted to turn heads. Not only just to irritate Matt, using her knowledge of him finding her physically attractive against him, but it had been a while since she went out. Usually she did so with a goal in mind, to have sex. And she would turn heads, a lot of them. Tonight was different but it didn't mean her ego wouldn't enjoy being looked at. It certainly would be interesting. 

[angelguk]

→ trial and error — a jeongguk scenario

member: jeon jeongguk

word count: 2.1k

genre: college!au + angst + best friends!au

warnings: nothing extreme folks just jk being kinda sad / vague mentions of past mental health issues / oc is an aries / love confessions / unrequited love

soundtracks: hand over hand, roland faunte + lvr boy, awfultune

The first time he felt it he was seventeen. It didn’t hit him quick or hard. Instead, it was slow, a gradual drifting of his heart closer and closer to you until he felt it fall right out of his chest and into your hands. He didn’t mind it, the fall. What hurt was that you didn’t know you held his heart. And within it the undying adoration he had for you, thumping painfully against his rib cage as if it was begging to be released. He knew it was love. There was no other word for it. It was there in the way his cheeks would burn whenever you smiled at him, there when you’d tackle him in the hallway with a hug and Jeongguk would feel his insides melt with giddiness, and there when you managed to coax a laugh out of him even on his bad days. There was no other word to describe the security he felt within your presence. Seen and loved and acknowledged. You listened when no else would, held him together when he felt like he was crumbling apart, tended at the bruises marring his heart. Jeongguk needed you like he needed oxygen. Even when you’d argue (usually over something trivial) he found himself crawling back to you. Ribbons intertwine your souls together, and Jeongguk has happily lost himself in the mess of them.

He thought you’d see it too one day. Thought you’d feel it in the way he held you, the way his gaze lingered on you. Instead, he watched you fall in love with everyone but him.

It was easy to subdue it in high school, observe the flowers you received from admirers on Valentine’s day with a bitter smile. He’d never had the courage to slip a note in your locker or hand you a bouquet of roses, too terrified he’d destroy the most important relationship in his life with the greed of his heart. So he swallowed the confessions on his tongue and trudged through life pretending the only person who he wanted to be with wasn’t you. Yet, somehow, it got a million times worse in university. There had barely been any barriers in your relationship but suddenly Jeongguk felt his walls appear. It’s kind of hard to act like everything is normal after walking in on your best friend (and the love of your life) getting rawed in the bathroom of a frat party. Jeongguk had laughed it off, of course. What else was he supposed to do? But did he seek out the prettiest girl in the party and fuck her just to get back at you mentally? Maybe. That’s his secret to tell.

And from there it had descended into a spiral of boy after boy climbing into your sheets, touching you in ways that Jeongguk can only dream of. It infuriates him, spiking a pit of jealousy in his soul that he didn’t know existed. Because what did you see in them that you didn’t see in Jeongguk? He knew you better than any of those brief flings. You’d been friends since that day on the playground when Jeongguk hadn’t been able to push himself on the swing so you’d volunteered to help him. Back then, you towered over Jeongguk, big enough to control the playground during recess with your domineering and direct mannerisms. He liked that you controlled the world around you, fearless with every sure step forward. Jeongguk had looked up to you then - both literally and in admiration. Then his growth sprout hit him and you had stayed under his chin despite the bizarre stretches you did every morning religiously. Yet, even as you aged together, the spark in you never went out. In fact, it shone brighter. So bright that sometimes you blinded Jeongguk with your fervour. But he liked it too much to ever flee from the glow of your orbit. You held him in place with the secret glances you share, the soft smiles you gave him after hours of being cooped up in his room, studying together for your respective majors. It’s the history that gives him hope; even though you still fall into bed with men Jeongguk thinks are beneath you and he still distracts himself with faceless girls who don’t hold a candle to your light.

But lately, he’s been seeing that light waver, flickering into a darkness he recognises. Even now, in the midst of your joint study session, Jeongguk has been silently observing you. He’s known you long enough to note that you’re frustrated. It’s evident in the subtle way your bottom lip stays caught between your teeth, gradually shifting rouge from the pressure you’re applying on it. Despite the concentration painted across your face, you stare at the journal article on your screen blankly. There’s a void in your gaze. And it provokes Jeongguk forward, stumbling off of his seat as his desk.

The mattress dips underneath the weight of his knees, but you don’t look up, hands automatically reaching for Jeongguk as he crawls into your lap. Your assignments get pushed to the side and you allow it because you’re both due for a break anyway. His curls feel soft underneath your fingertips, a result of the numerous times Jeongguk had persuaded you into rubbing jojoba oil onto his scalp. He smells good too – a scent you can’t put into any other word than comforting floating around you. For a moment, it abates the despondency that’s been slowly creeping up on you.

“You’re thinking,” Jeongguk says it firmly but tenderly like he’s wading through deep waters.

You make a noise of acknowledgement. “I am.”

“Care to share your thoughts?” He’s looking up at you imploringly, doe eyes wide enough to make you kneel over and comply with his request.

“I’m thinking about Minjae.” You feel him stiffen underneath you, but it’s a minute movement, one that passes swiftly. You can’t even pause to question Jeongguk’s reaction.

“Why?” But the question is spat out, oddly venomous. It ignites something in your blood. You’re already on the verge of tipping over the edge – frustrated from the lack of satisfaction in your relationships. Minjae was a cause of several headaches but lately, Jeongguk had been lingering at the back of your head, a fluttering thought that kept resurfacing despite your best efforts to keep it locked in its cage. But you’ll deal with that later, the heat in your tummy as Jeongguk shifts deeper into your hold a threat.

“He’s just…” You pause because it’s difficult to put into words. How do explain that you think your boyfriend was falling out of love with you. If you can even call him that. Minjae was someone who you carried about but your feelings never ran that deep. Not that you didn’t try and push them there. It felt like he was a placeholder most times. Or a bookmark until you finally got the courage to flick open to the page in life where you’re truly meant to be.

You dig your hands deeper into Jeongguk’s hair. You hate how he sighs into you, falling lax in your arms.

“He’s just what?” Jeongguk mumbles. There’s a hand stealing underneath the sheets you’d wrapped around your waist. His fingertips skip over skin, drawing swirls along your bare thigh. You hate the tingle that slips down your spine at the feeling of his warm hands on you.

“Not satisfying me,” You grumble, the scowl on your lips a consequence of the warmth the ebbs from your chest every time Jeongguk pushes himself into your space.

There’s a sigh escaping his lips, one that sounds oddly like relief.

“In what way?” He covers the sigh up with a false laugh. “Aren’t you guys, like, dating? Shouldn’t you tell your boyfriend that?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” You retort. “And in every way. He doesn’t love me. I know that. He barely listens to me when we talk and he only calls me over when he wants to sleep with him. Last time we fucked he just focused on getting himself off and he rolled right off me and got on his phone.”

The intake of breath the slips through his teeth is sharp. “Fuck, really? I told you he wasn’t worth your time.”

“You say that about every guy I start seeing.” You glance down, surprised to find the gaze on Jeongguk’s face rather serious.

“That’s because none of them are worth your time. They don’t deserve you.” It’s said so resolutely that your heart flips in your chest. And just like that, the air around you feels different. It’s charged with the promise of a thousand whispered words. You hold his unwavering gaze, feel the stillness of the hand on your thigh with caution.

“Well, who deserves me then?”

Me, Jeongguk thinks. I know you better than any of them will. I’ve loved you more than any of them have.

He opens his mouth. Closes it. Stares at the ceiling. Hates the silence in the room. Abhors the hesitation in his heart. And then his gaze falters back to you. 

You’re waiting, the patience in your eyes making his heart thump fast. He wonders if you can hear it, in the quiet that lingers between you. Because he can hear it. Can hear the words he wants to say so clearly in his mind. If only he had the balls to say them. To ask for more with you. That’s all he’s ever wanted. More. It’s just a flash, the image of you in his arms, your mouth on his. The idea of calling you his makes his head swim. It’s why he does it. It’s not a thought through action. Jeongguk always assumed his confession would be more than this – but it felt perfect at that moment, a clarity in his brain that drives him to shift upright, push right into your space.

It’s barely a kiss, just a graze of your mouth on his, but it zips through him. His lips burn with the print of your mouth, engraved in his memory for eternity now. But then he feels you gasp, draw anyway, the shock in your eyes plummeting his heart right into his gut.

“Jeongguk?” The rapid flicker in your eyes coupled with the heated gaze you’re giving him makes his stomach roll.

“Shit – sorry. Fuck, I didn’t mean to-”

“Well, why did you?” You bite. “You can’t – you can’t just do that.”

He’s never wanted life to have a rewind button more than now. “I know – I’m sorry I really fucking am. Please, just listen okay – listen to me.”

But you’re not. He’s never seen you move so fast, snatching up your things in one swift motion. Your textbook is tucked underneath your arm and your laptop is thrown right into your bag, the highlighters you’d stolen from Jeongguk’s desk a long time ago going right in after it. He tries to reach out for you, but the slight flinch you give at the touch of his hand on your arm makes him wilt right back into himself.

“I’m sorry, Y/N.” But you’re off his bed, searching for your shoes vehemently.

“Don’t, Jeongguk. Don’t. I just – I just don’t know why you would do this?” The strain in your voice is the final nail in his coffin. And when you twirl around, the fierceness in your glare makes him want to crawl into the depths of the Earth. “Why? Why would you do that?”

He knows why he did it. But he holds his tongue, afraid he’ll push you even further away.

His silence prompts a hard sigh from you. And then you turn, walking right out of his room. Jeongguk stares at your retreating back. Feels the slam of his door in his chest. Waits until he hears you bid Yoongi a rushed goodbye. And then he puts his head in his hands, falls back into the bed that’s still warm from the reminiscence of your body. Rakes his fingers through his hair, tugging hard like it could extract the memory of this event from his brain forever. He doesn’t cry though, despite the stinging in his eyes. But he feels it, every crack in his heart. It splits so deep it feels like its’ bleeding to him. Maybe that’s where his tears were; in the spilling of his heart inside his chest.

He says it because in the solace of his room no one is here to hear it. It would be nice, to just say it once. Without fear, he was destroying something he cherished so dearly. Well, he’s already ruined it. There is nothing to lose anymore. Not with the way you looked at him liked he’s betrayed you. And perhaps he had, but he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He couldn’t pretend to feel about you the way he did. Not like a friend. More than a friend.

“I did it because I like you,” Jeongguk says to the air. To the ache in his heart. “Because I love you.”

[yourlocalauthor]

What Comes Around Goes Around

Chapter Two: Coincidence?

Pairing: Topper x OC (eventually?)

Warnings for this chapter: Cursing, stalkerish behavior and I believe thats it?

Word Count: 2k+

A/N: Here’s chapter two! A little boring but I swear I’m building up.

Jo stared at the name flashing across her screen, her face riddled with confusion, and an uneasy feeling bubbling inside, even after her phone went dark. What was his deal? First he storms off, and then he just adds her on snap? Typical Kook mentality being an ass and then expecting forgiveness. He had some audacity, two years of shitty treatment, and just because he helped Sarah and John B, and gave them a ride, he thought he could just what? Be all buddy buddy?

“Jo, who was it?” Elle repeated shaking her friend to get Jo out of her trance.

Jo placed her phone on her nightstand, shaking her head. “No one important, go to sleep you two I don’t want you waking up at noon.”

“Yes Mom,” Jess groaned half asleep. All three girls began laughing, as they settled down into some much needed rest.

*RING RING RING*

Jo’s hand instinctively reached for her phone, hitting it until the alarm stopped. Her head pounded and she felt even worse than last night. With a groan she peeled her bed sheets off, and managed to successfully make herself get up. Fishing through her closet which was basically just shorts and bikinis. She hardly ever wore a shirt, there was just no need to when she had her bikini top on. Instead she chose to keep a few in her car, just in case she’d actually need it. She walked over to the bathroom taking a quick shower to wash off yesterday’s party. She came out of the bathroom, dressed, cleaner, and not as groggy. She made her way into the kitchen making herself a light breakfast of yogurt and granola and making her secret hangover cure. The recipe came from her mom’s boyfriend, Justin. It was a long story but basically he let her and Elle crash at his place, after one of the first parties they went to. The morning after Jo woke up with what was probably the worst hangover of her life, and he gave her the recipe.

Jo ate quickly and left the pitcher in the fridge, leaving a note for Jess and Elle and walked outside taking in the morning. It was cool, with a warm breeze, Jo’s favorite type of morning. She loaded up her gear into her truck, shutting the back a bit harder than she meant to, scaring some birds.

“Oops,”

She slipped into her truck, starting it up fast and reversing out of her driveway. She loved getting to the beach as soon as possible, before any tourists or locals were there to crowd up the parking lot, and the beach. Plus it was nice being out there alone, having her mind clear, just her, the waves, and whatever lay beneath them. The water was beautiful in the morning, the sea salt smell and cold water was the perfect way to wake her. Typically she never went alone, but with no one seeing JJ in weeks, Kiara stuck with her mom, and Heyward not letting Pope go anywhere it was pretty much her only choice. Not that she blamed any of them… they all had other things to do and things just weren’t the same. Jo turned on her radio, the sound of Ryn Weaver’s ‘Pierre’ filling her car. She pulled into the parking lot as the song finished, greeting Snappy, the toll collector, and one of Jo’s favorite people on the island. He was a fifty year old, slightly pudgy Asian man who’d been working the toll booth since forever. His name wasn’t actually Snappy, everyone just called him that because when he had just started working the booth at 19 he saved a bunch of tourists from a snapping turtle that was stopping them from getting to the beach. It cost him his pinky finger, and gave him this gnarly scar in the words of John B on his hand. John B was actually the one to tell her the story the first time he took her to this beach. Smiling sadly at the thought of her friend, Jo pushed the gas rolling forward as the gate lifted.

“Be safe Jo, the waves look a little stronger today.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine Snappy take care.”

“I never doubted, just part of my duty to warn you. Ooh and tell your mother I said hello.”

“Will do,”

She shouted as she pulled into the nearest parking spot, laughing. Snappy was truly the best, and always let her in no matter what. Plus he was one of the few adults that didn’t seem to be bothered when she and John B and everyone else came around. At least when they used to...

Jo hopped out of her car, unloading her board and her bag, the salty air filling her lungs again. She made her way down the wooden path, of course being the first one at the beach. The beach was beautiful being the only one, not a blanket, tent, or umbrella in sight, perfection. Jo kicked off her shoes, letting her toes wiggle in the sand, setting down her bag with a dull thud on the sand. She stripped herself of her clothes, standing in her black bikini soaking in the early morning sun. She stretched out like a cat, smiling before sprinting with her board to the water. Met with warm water, setting her board down Jo began paddling out. Once she was out far enough, she stopped waiting for the perfect wave.

It was a ritual, Jo lived by the idea that the first wave would determine how good her surf would be. She would always try and wait for which wave felt right in her bones to be first, something JJ and Pope would tease her all the time for. Smiling fondly Jo readjusted her focus, trying to feel the energy of the waves. The feeling of the water rocking her, soothing her. She took a deep breath watching, until she spotted it. To the left of her, a wave had begun to form and she knew it in her bones it was perfect. She paddled over to it, and managed to catch it just in time. Pushing herself up and taking in the beauty of the moment. She was right, this was the perfect wave. She looked across at the beach, and was surprised to see a figure heading to the water. Not many people came here early in the morning, even if so they typically weren’t alone. Said person was nearing, and as they entered the water she was quick to recognize the frosted tips. Topper… Her mind thought about last night and the snap request. It was just a coincidence right? This was a popular surf spot… on the cut. But it was probably just a coincidence. She shook the thoughts from her head trying to regain focus on herself and the board. But no matter how hard she’d try to refocus, she kept glancing over at him. Her lack of focus was getting to her, she felt herself wobble and was desperately trying to regain her balance, but it was no use. She felt herself slipping and soon she plunged into the water with a loud splash. She wiped out hard, her whole backside stinging from the impact. And just as quick as she had been sucked in below, she felt two arms scooping her out. She flailed around knowing exactly whose arms were wrapped around her, sending a pit to her stomach. But the salty air began filling her lungs again instead of the salt water, no matter how badly she wished she’d be left alone. She coughed and sputtered looking up at the figure holding her. There stood Topper, holding her bikini clad body like some hero. God this was so much worse than a nightmare

“Jo are you-“

“I’m fine,” she said with a small cough, already wiggling out of his grip.

“I just watched you-“

“I said I’m fine,” She snapped, pushing him away from her. “I was just leaving anyway.” She unhooked herself from her board, and grabbed it walking as far away from him as possible.

“If you think I’m just going to let you storm off like that after a nasty wipeout you’re cra-“

“I’m what?” She said whipping around, almost hitting him with her board. “Crazy for thinking you’d leave me alone because I asked? Or do you want me to suck you off as an award?”

Topper looked stunned for a moment, mouth agape and all. “What? No, I just thought you needed-“

“What I need is for you to leave me alone,” She interjected, looking at him with fire in her eyes. “Look I’m thankful for what you did last night, but let’s just go back to before.”  She looked up at him waiting for a response, but he just stood there mouth open like an idiot. Jo scoffed turning back towards the beach, and just when her feet were about to hit the dry sand, Topper called out to her.

“Jo-“

She ignored him, marching herself to her stuff, collecting her shoes and bag and walked back up to her truck. When she pulled up to Snappy, he was quite shocked she was leaving so soon.

“Everything alright Jo? Did that blonde boy do anything?”

Shaking her head, Jo reassured the man not wanting him to worry.  “No Snappy, it’s fine. Have a nice day. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay… Just if anything happened, if you’d want I can have him banned from this beach.”

“You guys can ban people?”

“No, but he doesn’t know that.” A smile tugged at his lips, as he hit the button letting the gate up for her.

“Thanks for the offer Snappy, but I’m fine thank you.” She rolled forward pulling out of the parking lot, the sound of Flo Milli’s ‘Not Friendly’ playing in the background.

It had only been a week since the beach incident, and Jo could not stop seeing Topper. He was practically everywhere, at the hotel when Jo would go visit her mother, or walking out after hooking up with a tourist, the beach when she was working, the country club when she was picking Justin up after work, and even The Wreck. Everywhere she was, somehow he always managed to be there. The last straw was when she was at the mini mart. She was picking up some food for herself after her surf, and when she shut the fridge and when she turned around, she ran into him, literally.

“Fuck,” Jo said as everything in her hands dropped, including the glass bottle of lemonade that now was shattered and around her feet. Topper was quick to get on his knees and help but there wasn’t much he could do.

“I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for it… All of it, I seriously didn’t mean to-“

“It’s fine,”. She said, kneeling down and collecting her bag of chips and granola bar.

“I’m serious I can pay for it,”

“That was never a doubt in my mind,” She said quietly, already turning around to leave.

“What?”

“Nothing, just can you stop stalking me?”

“I’m not-“

“Right so we’ve just happened to be in the same place all week? Look stalker or not, they have restaurants and mini marts on the figure eight, there’s no need for you to be around.” The two stood there in awkward silence, Jo waiting for him to speak and Topper waiting for who knows what. And just as she turned away, he spoke.

“Look Jo, I’m sorry…. For everything, and I just…. I don’t know.”

“Of course you don't,” Jo scoffed, finally walking away to the front counter. She paid, and walked out to her truck. Topper had some nerve, who was he to just try and apologize after everything? Like he and his buddies didn’t torment her and her friends for the last two years? Men had some fucking audacity that was for sure.

[heresathreebee]

Garrote part 3

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez X Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Word Count: 2,700 words

Warning(s): Rated Mature, language, partying, mentions of sex and drugs. Previous Masterlist Next

AN: I am constantly mere clicks away from releasing everything I have at once but I know if I do I will lose momentum for the plot. 

Edit: I. Forgot. The tags again.

@nicke0115 @1zashreena1 @mental-bycatch

The week that followed was heaven and hell. Diego went back to throwing parties nightly, fucking girls coked out of his mind, and in general trying to forgot all about Healy and his pretty bait, but Tommy Eagan was threatening war over a dead partner unless Alicia met his ridiculous demands. Thanks to Tommy's new right hand man, there was an opportunity to gain instead of lose now. All they had to do was wait and see if Dre could pull through. 

There were two new numbers in Diego's phone. One unsaved that sent cryptic messages about their deal, and the other marked as an emoji rather than a name. Jazmine's texts seemed forced– like she was reaching out on behalf of Healy's instructions. So of course Diego elected to simply ignore them both. They were buzzkills anyways. 

Diego was showing something important on his phone to his sister when Jazmine sent another text. 

Remember when you scared off Haagen? I miss that every time I see him. 

On the other end of the line, Jazmine felt pathetic sending the text. Healy hadn't even asked her to write this time, she was just so… bored. She hadn't been sleeping well, pulling double shifts involuntarily since her boss found out she closed the store when her coworker didn't show up. She carried her stress in her shoulders– the tightness in her neck caused her daily migraines and there was a new pinching sensation between her shoulder blades to accompany the rest of her pain. In the shower, she massaged whatever she could reach and thought of Diego's big hands doing it for her. 

She literally shook herself to clear the thought and pelted the shower curtain with water in the process. Diego Jimenez wasn't some faux bad boy with a secret soft side– he was the leader of a cartel. If he hadn't killed people himself, he definitely had people killed for him. He was beyond dangerous to even fantasize about. 

DING-DING. 

Her phone called out to her from the bathroom counter and she realized it was past time to get out. Her fingers were pruned to the point of over-sensitivity and there was a rapidly closing window to apply the leave-in conditioner to the best of its use. Still, she wiped her hands on the towel to read the text. 

Come out and party. Wear something nice. 

Alicia boxed his ear over the last sentence but he brushed her off. Jazmine declined anyways claiming exhaustion and went to bed. There were people to socialize with already– what was the absence of one little minimum wage laborer going to do?  Apparently she was important enough to occupy a corner of Diego's head. He was still bent about the way she had reacted to his identity. Who the hell did she think she was? As they discovered in the ungodly hour after the party ended, she was also important enough to drag Healy out of whatever hole he hid in. 

"Diego, we need to talk." 

Alicia had gone home– Diego expected she would likely never attend another one of her brother's parties as it wasn't her brand of debauchery– and she'd cleared the place out in her disgust, so his penthouse was empty for once. 

"What's the matter," Diego poured himself yet another drink, "am I not being a good boyfriend?" 

"We don't care what you do when you're not operating," Healy reprimanded. "But we need you to cooperate. Be a presence in Jazmine's fake life. You've been established as a rival for her affections, and you need to become an obstacle standing between the bait and the target. Jazmine walks home from work every single morning by herself. I don't know if you noticed it's been pouring buckets for three days straight." 

Healy almost sounded like he was shaming Diego. It wasn't his fault she was poor. She wasn't his real girlfriend and therefore not his real problem. "Please don't make me regret making this deal, Diego. We will never get an opportunity to dismantle Haagen like this again. Need I remind you that you've got a missing child on your hands?" 

Diego glared fiercely over the rim of his cup. Healy smoothed his hands down the front of his shirt and returned to his neutral position as righteous commander. 

"Schedule more time to spend with Jazmine, especially in public spaces. We have it on good authority that Haagen is going to put a detail out to give him updates on Jazmine in the near future, and he needs to see you in these updates." Healy turned on his heel and reached the elevators, stopping them from closing dramatically and fixing Diego with a stare. "And no more ignoring us." 

Jazmine woke up the next morning to one new notification. 

I'm coming over. 

"Oh shit." The woman threw herself out of bed and looked around. This wasn't fair. Cleaning day was a bi monthly ritual where she took a day off to deep clean the entire apartment, blasting music and stepping around her dog to get things done. Hercules wandered into her bedroom looking chipper as ever. "I guess we better get started then, huh?" 

The fucker showed up on her doorstep not ten minutes after she got out of bed– she wasn't even dressed for the day. Her hands nervously tried to cover the broth stain on her jeans as she cleared a space for him to sit and wait while she finished her morning routine. She worried while brushing her teeth that Diego might be a psycho like her last boyfriend. Psycho enough to kick her overly friendly pet, but no sound of yelps filtered through the paper thin walls and when she finally emerged, the pit-bull was settled with her head on his lap. 

Diego turned his head at the sound of a huge sigh. Jazmine was gazing at him but quickly turned when she realized she'd been caught. She began to flit about the room, picking up lost things and piling them up until she could figure out what items went where. He watched, making absolutely no move to help other than keeping the dog out of the way. Hercules– as the tag on her collar read– laid as much in his lap as he would allow. 

"Buena perro," he muttered, and if she still had a tail, she would have wagged it. Growing bored, Diego rose and stalked over to the fridge. "Do you have anything to eat?" 

The white void in the fridge answered for her, but she still called out, "no, it's empty." 

"I'm ordering pizza." 

"What about Chinese?" 

Diego looked at the lonely, days-old Chinese boxes in the fridge and shivered. "I'm getting pizza." She didn't complain. He returned to the couch to do just that. Distractedly, he admired the curve of her spine as she bent over. She wore jeans again and another band shirt, this time it was a baggy Chicago thing. He licked his lips thinking about taking them off her. 

Healy’s meddling had repercussions– mainly that it would made taking girls home harder, or at least less frequent. Diego still felt great suspicion towards this Jazmine, but it didn’t stop his body from wanting her under him. Or over him, on him, riding him… he tried to blink the images out of his head. 

“What kind of dirt does Healy have on you?,” he found himself asking. “My sister and I have been dying to know.” 

Jazmine shrugged, keeping her back to him. “No dirt.” 

“So you’re just helping out of the goodness of your heart?” Pizza arrived in time for her not to answer, and they returned to their positions for further interrogation. “Anything to get that creep Haagen away from you for good? Or are you an agent as well?” 

“No,” she said. She slipped rubber gloves on to begin maintenance on the tower of dishes piled on the side of the sink. She seemed to live alone– there was no reason to have so many dishes. Maybe he had been wrong in his assessment from earlier? Or maybe she was just a hoarder. “To tell you the truth, I’m about as fond of Healy as I am Haagen. I take that back– Healy’s a step up but not by much.” 

“Because you don’t trust him?” 

“I don’t know…” That mountain of plates and glasses seemed to disappear quicker than he expected and she began to scrub out the sink and the cleared counters, grunting with effort as she did so. “I trust I know the kind of man Haagen is, more so than I do with Healy. Partnerships like the one I have with Healy– they’re subject to change, and not always for the better. He’ll always do what’s in his best interest. What’s good for him is good for me.” 

For Now. The implication that she may harbor the same feelings towards Diego was not lost on him. In fact, he stood up from the couch and approached the windows with their blinds down to peek out at the street. There was nothing quite so conspicuous as a black SUV with a mean mugging thug staring back at him. Even his own protection didn’t roll that sloppily. 

Jazmine objected to the windows being opened but Diego insisted. “Need our relationship on display, right? Haagen’s got to know I’m here.” 

She relented quickly and threw her gloves aside, plopping her butt on the couch to rest a moment. The leftovers in the box were room temperature but she hardly seemed to mind. God, he wanted to run his hand up her shirt just to see if she was wearing a bra. They twitched in his lap and he realized there was no way she missed the hunger in his gaze as he did. 

“Did you bring those beers,” she laughed as she noticed the case on the coffee table for the first time. “Can I have one?” 

The beer seemed to quell the tiny tremor in her fingers. She kicked her feet up on the coffee table permitting Diego to do the same. "What the hell are we even doing? Hanging out? What exactly is this accomplishing?" 

Jazmine gave it some thought as she took a pull from her drink. "Putting on a show. We need Haagen to think I'm in love with you, like you're no good but I'm not ready to let you go for something 'better.'" 

"And Haagen is something," Diego put his fingers up like claws, "better." 

"He certainly needs to think he is." She noticed Hercules whining and let her out the door unaccompanied. "We've got his 'gentleman' ego to work with." 

Diego followed her to the window and grasped her hips from behind. She half turned, gazing up at him with a question in her eyes. He leaned into her space to whisper into her ear. 

"Those eyes Healy thinks Haagen sent to watch you? Well they're watching right now, and they're not being subtle about it." 

She doesn't try to look like he expected her to. Instead, she stepped away from him and pointedly crossed her arms. "You don't look very comfortable if you're still wearing that." 

She nodded her head at his coat. 

"So take it off me." 

That startled her. Jazmine's eyebrows lifted, and her feet shuffled when he gave her nothing but a smirk in return. Finally, she did as he suggested. She did not miss the way his hands seemed to brush lightly over her rib cage. These small, fleeting touches that left her breath audible and her stomach warm. He didn't even give her a chance to put the coat on the hangar when he dragged her back against him. 

"What are you doing?" She didn't mean to sound breathless, turning her head to the side and exposing more of her neck at the behest of his pushy nose and allowing him to trail kisses on her skin. 

"Putting on a show," he said against the shell of her ear. 

He felt her stiffen a little against him. The tent on his pants was preventing a lot of important blood from entering his brain, but he was conscience enough to feel how conflicted she was. Diego slipped his hand up her shirt like he wanted, cupping her bare breast and sucking a mark into her neck. She allowed it, but it felt more like compliance than enjoyment. All at once and against the protest of his body, he let her go. He watched her shoulders relax and her hands find a home beneath her armpits. 

Jazmine nodded in answer to a question left unasked. She did grab his hand and pull him away from the window, backwards into the tiny hall separating the front room from the bedroom and bathroom. She dropped his hand as soon as they were out of sight of the window. 

"I appreciate the enthusiasm," she said. "Just hang out for twenty more minutes and you can leave. I'll text you tomorrow and we can makes plans for another 'show.' You can stay in my room while I clean the bathroom." 

Diego sat heavily on her bed. Just as he was about to get comfortable, someone knocked at the front door. Jazmine brushed invisible dirt from her knees as she got up to see who it was. He followed from a distance. The peep hole was almost out of her reach, but she stood on her toes to see outside. Suddenly, the woman looked back at him with wide eyes. It's Haagen, she mouthed. As soon as her head was turned to the task of confronting him, she missed the part where Diego began to undress. 

"Hey!" She flung the door open and yelped when Hercules barreled through her legs to get inside. "You... found my dog!" 

"Indeed," Haagen said, folding his hands over his heart. "I saw this poor creature wandering and I returned him using the address on its collar. I am astounded to learn that he belongs to you." Nice cover story. The man continued, "since you have the day off, I was wondering–" 

Haagen's wondering was cut off by the appearance of a half naked boyfriend. Diego wound his arm around Jazmine and leaned down so he could engulf her clothed nipple with his hot mouth. She gasped, pushing his head away on instinct and he pressed her into his side like a vice. 

"Come back to bed, baby," he purred, then pretended to take notice of Haagen watching in the doorway. "Oh, you're that guy, right? James, Jeff, Jebediah or whatever." 

"Jeremy," the man hissed through his teeth. "Hello Di-e-go." 

"Right right right." An embarrassed Jazmine buried her face into Diego's nude shoulder, acting unconsciously but playing into her role perfectly. "Kinda crazy how I start hearing about you and then all of a sudden you're showing up on my girl's doorstep, isn't it?" 

Haagen made a move to defend himself but Jazmine was quicker. "He found the dog, honey! Jeremy was just bringing her home, he didn't know I lived here." 

"Right," Haagen cleared this throat. 

Diego's smile bordered on a threatening mania-- there were far too many teeth displayed to suggest any sort of friendliness. "Life is so full of strange coincidences…" 

No one missed the way he squeezed Jazmine harder. It sent a message to be sure. Vague enough for Haagen to infer whatever he deemed necessary to the story in his head. It was quite brilliant actually. 

"Well I ought to," Haagen swallowed, "leave you to it then. I'll see you around the shop, then?" 

"Bye–" she barely managed to say before Diego dragged her into the apartment and slammed the door shut. He kept dragging her all the way back to her bedroom, and all the while she protested being treated like a misbehaving child. It wasn't until he'd slammed the door and collected his shirt from the floor that she realized what exactly had transpired. 

"Oh." She brushed the frizzing curls invading her eyes, "oh that was perfect. Healy was right to pick you." 

Diego rolled his shoulders once his shirt was tucked back into place. "Come over tonight. I'll text you my address and we can capitalize on this. Wear something nice." 

She was about to protest his leaving but realized it wouldn't matter. If Haagen expected a fight from the noises he'd heard, he would probably just assume it had ended quickly if he saw Diego storm out alone. He crafted his own version of events. She let the pieces fall where they lie and made arrangements to meet Diego tonight. 

[geronimo-11]

writing prompt for characters/otp of your choice! - “it’s been a tough few days. how are you holding up?”

Thanks so much!! I decided to do this one for my Marvel OC Sophie.

Featuring: OTP pre!relationship Rhys/Sophie and BroTP Steve and Sophie

TW: blood mention; mentions of depression; gun violence

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

Their mission had been set up to fail from the start.

Someone had managed to tip off the Hydra base they were set to infiltrate that SHIELD was on the way, and as a result Hydra agents had been ready for them the moment they arrived.

Considering this was Sophie’s first official mission, to say she was feeling overwhelmed would have been a massive understatement. Normally she would be behind a desk at HQ, assisting from a distance. But they needed someone hands on this time, as much as it worried her and seemed to annoy Rhys.

They were already in the base’s lab when everything started to fall apart. Rhys had tried to comfort her, reminding her to practice her breathing, when Clint came over their comm link saying he could use some backup. Sophie could see the conflict in Rhys’ eyes as he looked from her to the door. 

She nodded and urged him on. Before he left Rhys made sure she had her gun ready should she need it, and told her to shoot anyone who came through the door that she didn’t know. Sophie felt the familiar warmth of his reassurance slip away the further he got from her, and unease settled in the pit of her stomach. Quickly she shook her head and focused on the computer in front of her determinedly. She had a job to do, and she had to do it fast.

It didn’t take long after Rhys left for someone to find her.

Not even five minutes after he’d raced off, a man in black kevlar came into the room from a hidden door in the far corner, striding purposefully towards a computer near the main entrance. The same computer Sophie was tapping away on. She felt her heart lodge in her throat as he stilled at the sight of her. They stood frozen for a moment, trying to read each other's movements, and then suddenly his hand reached for his gun. Sophie just barely raised her own before he could move any closer.

The second her gun was in the air, however, she froze. Her finger was hovering over the trigger, but she couldn’t take the initiative to curl it that much more. In her panic from the man’s sudden appearance she had let her guard down, her mental walls had crumbled and now what felt like every emotion within ten miles of the base was hitting her at once -- adrenaline, excitement, fear, pain, death. The emotions of everyone on the base were crashing over her like a tidal wave and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. It was all too much and she couldn’t breathe.

Pull the trigger.

She was running out of time. She knew it, but she couldn’t move. The stranger -- her enemy, she reminded herself -- was looking her in the eye and she couldn’t bring herself to move. He would have put her down without a second thought, so why couldn’t she do the same? She imagined the light leaving his light blue eyes, his face permanently frozen in surprise as she squeezed the trigger and took him down, and she felt bile rise in the back of her throat.

Pull it! 

Everything was moving in slow motion now, and she watched as the man in front of her realized with a morbid grin that she had gotten cold feet and raised his own gun level with her head.

Pull!

There was a blunt pain in her right side as she was tackled to the floor, followed by the loud, echoing bang of two gunshots. When Sophie looked up the man who had been pointing his gun at her was dead, and Rhys was sprawled on top of her. 

But he wasn’t moving either.

The rest of the mission was a blur. She remembers there was too much blood, and at some point she was screaming Rhys’ name, and then hands were on her shoulders as Rhys was carried away and onto a waiting helicopter... and then nothing. 

The pain and worry and fear she had felt overwhelmed her and she collapsed into the arms of whoever had been holding her back. She’s still not sure if they were her own emotions or if they belonged to Rhys himself.

Fury benched her after that. He told her in no uncertain terms that she was not to go on another mission until she completed a series of different psych evals, on top of more physical and situational training exercises. Which was fair, and more than necessary.

Rhys went into surgery as soon as they landed, and the doctors removed a bullet from his gut. He stayed in the hospital for a couple of days, but he seemed to get progressively worse even though the bullet was gone. The doctor’s ran more tests and Sophie nearly collapsed when she heard the news.

Poison.

The doctors had never seen anything like it. The bullets each had a hollow nose with a small glass compartment that, when shattered on impact, released small amounts of deadly fluid into the body. The only thing that Sophie could keep thinking about was that that bullet had been meant for her. Rhys was in the hospital, he was in pain and possibly dying, and it was all her fault. None of this would have happened if she’d dropped the Hydra agent like she was supposed to.

He got better, after a couple more days of treatment. Sophie stayed with him every day until he started to stay conscious more and more, and then she just… couldn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye. Not yet, anyway.

So instead she started going to the gym and took out her feelings on the punching bag like she always did. She let her pent up stress and frustration flow from her fist to the leather and compact sand in front of her. And if a few tears escaped here and there, well, luckily there was no one around to notice. After a few hours she headed to the corner and sat on a bench, drinking from her water bottle before she started another round. She was still feeling antsy.

That’s where Steve found her. He walked in wearing blue jeans and a light blue button-down and looking more out of place than he usually did. He paused briefly when he saw her sitting on the bench and made his way over to her with a small smile. 

“Hey,” he greeted her softly. She nodded at him, and when he sat beside her Sophie pressed her palms together to hide the fact that her hands were shaking.

“Hey. You’re a little overdressed don’t you think?” she joked, looking down at the shiny brown shoes he had on his feet. A man out of time… She thought wryly to herself.

He chuckled and tapped the point of his brown shoe to her sneaker. “I was looking for you, actually.”

Oh. She was afraid of that. 

Sophie doesn’t say anything, and even though she’s pretty sure she knows the reason she has to ask. “Why?”

Steve just shrugged.

“It’s been a tough few days. How are you holding up?” He doesn’t look at her when he asks, and Sophie’s grateful. She’s sure he didn’t miss how red and puffy her eyes were when he walked in, but she appreciates that he’s not going to call her out on it. Instead he’s looking out toward the row of punching bags, probably wishing he had worn something more gym-appropriate. It’d be good for both of them to get a workout when this conversation was done. Sophie’s surprised he hasn’t sought her out sooner, but he has been busy lately.

“I’m fine.” Her response is a reflex, something she’s been saying to everyone over the past couple of days. She knew her therapist would be disappointed in her -- they’d been making progress in regards to her not keeping her own emotions bottled up. But she thinks that maybe she’ll get a pass, just this once, considering that she’s never been shot at and had someone she cared about nearly die as a direct result of her inaction before.

Out of the corner of her eye she can see Steve nod, but he doesn’t say anything. Just hums and leans the back of his head against the wall. Sophie sniffed and the longer they sat in silence the more her eyes started to burn with a fresh wave of tears that she struggled to fight back.

“Rhys was asking about you,” Steve told her gently. He’d been quiet for so long that the sound of his voice made her jump, and her stomach clenched at the mention of Rhys’ name. She felt sick all over again, just like she did at the Hydra base a couple of days ago.

“Oh?” Her throat felt dry and her voice cracked as she spoke, but it’s the only response she could manage as she tried to keep down the package of peanut butter crackers she’d found in her bag for lunch.

“Yeah. He said you haven’t been by in a while.” He looked at her then, pointedly, from the corner of his eye. “He’s worried about you.”

Sophie couldn’t help the scoff that escaped her and she bit the inside of her cheek as soon as it pushed past her lips. She shook her head and tightened her ponytail.

“He would get shot and poisoned and then be worried about the one who did it to him,” she commented dryly. 

Steve turned fully towards her, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

“Soph,” he started, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. He kept going anyway. “You’ve got to stop beating yourself up. It’s-”

“If you say it’s not my fault, I don’t care if you’re a physically enhanced super-soldier or not, I will punch you.”

Steve paused and sighed. He placed a hand on her shoulder and waited until she looked up at him.

“It’s going to be okay,” he finished. “He’s going to be okay.”

The sincerity in his eyes, willing her to believe him, brought a fresh wave of tears flowing down her cheeks full force. Her body wracked with sobs and Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her to his chest. Sophie kept repeating his words in her head: He’s going to be okay. He’s going to be okay.

No thanks to you.

“I let him down-” Sophie hiccuped, but Steve was quick to interject.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I thought I lost him-”

“But you didn’t. He’s fine, Soph. He’s doing just fine.”

Steve ran a hand over her hair as Sophie tried to catch her breath. Comfort washed over her, warm and sturdy, and she let the feeling of him keep her grounded, refusing to let her mind stray down darker paths. When she’d settled down enough Steve kept one arm around her shoulders and leaned back to look at her.

“He does want to see you, though. I think you owe him that much,” he added when she looked reluctantly down at the floor. 

“Rhys cares about you, Soph. A lot.” He gave her a knowing look and her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink on par with the bright pink scrunchie in her hair. “You can’t avoid him forever. Just talk to him. Let him tell you how he feels himself.”

After another moment of silence Sophie nodded and swiped a hand along her cheeks to dry her remaining tears.

“Okay.”

Steve gave her shoulder a light pat and stood from the bench. He turned to her and jerked his head towards the door.

“I can give you a ride there, if you want.”

Sophie offered him a hesitant smile. “...on the bike?”

Steve laughed and nodded, holding up the keys to his motorcycle. 

“On the bike.”

Sophie grabbed her jacket and bag and stood to follow him towards the door. Steve watched her with a smile, relief flooding his chest that he knew she could probably feel if the sheepish smile she gave him was anything to go by. He had been worried about her, when Rhys first got injured and she’d fallen apart in his arms. He was afraid this series of events would send her on a downward spiral again.

Maybe she would have, had Rhys not made it. She may have sat with her thoughts and fallen off the path she’d worked so hard to stay on. But he was glad to see that she was still willing to try. 

She deserved happiness, he firmly believed that, and if she and Rhys would ever get their shit together, maybe they could find it.

[gremlinkween]

Bad Moon Rising

Part 2: Mermen, Vampires, and Werewovles, Oh My! 

Summary: The reader finds and rescues a hurt merman who tells her that his name is Jim. She helps him without a second thought, but his presence might attract the attention of other supernatural creatures she never knew existed. This will eventually be a foursome (Jim Mason x Michael Langdon x Duncan Shepard x Reader) mythology/supernatural au.

A/N: I'm not dead! Instead of just saying that I was gonna do something, I figured my welcome back post would be the next revised chapter of BMR as an apology. I had some repressed memories come up and they were repressed for a reason so that rocked my boat real hard, but hi everyone! I'll get to the asks sitting in the inbox hopefully tonight, but it might have to be tomorrow. So for the new readers, the last one of the foursome is introduced, but we’ll get to actually see more of Michael and Duncan in the next part. There is an oc in here, Rory, that we’ll see more later. I’ve had him for awhile and he’s actually one of my fave characters ever. You can totally imagine Cillian Murphy for him. Again, if you want to be on the tag list, just hit me up and let me know what you think!

Warnings: No smut yet, sorry. There is blood, injury, mentions of mental illness, depression, crying, concern about having a total break from reality.

Word Count: 2.3k

Tagging List: @langdonsinferno, and @moonagecordelia and remember, my tag list is all sorts of messed up so please lmk if you want to be on it! either for this story or all my work! 

Previous Parts: Part 1

“I thought that vampires fed off of humans? Why did he go for you instead of me?”

“Well, yeah, vampires feed off of humans, but that’s not their only food source. Faerie blood is actually more nutritious and flavorful for vampires, just humans are more readily available and easier to hunt. He probably smelt my blood and sought me out.”

“… Wow, I mean makes sense, I guess?” It really didn’t, nothing made sense to her, but also Jim could tell her that the sky was actually purple and the ocean was orange, and she’d believe him at this point.

“You should probably take care of him.”

“Yeah, probably. Do I need something stronger than rope.”

He scoffed, “Yes, probably something more like a stake through the heart.”

She looked to the darkly angelic figure passed out on the floor. He looked helpless now, and she could see that the wounds that were on the cat adorned and tarnished his skin. He was hurt, and probably just looking for a way to heal himself. She felt bad, but on the other hand, Jim was in danger. So was she. This was fucked up. “No.”

Jim gave her a look like she might be insane.

“I said no. He’s just trying to survive like you. I’ll get like, chains or something. That should hold him?”

Jim looked at her with such bewilderment, she felt like she was the weird one in the room. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s probably going to end badly.”

She was still looking at the vampire. Probably, she was thinking, but that’s not what she said. “I think it’s going to be fine.”

“…. Okay, if you say so.” Jim was still so unsure of this. “Just move him please.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

—————————

Moving the vampire that was nearly double her size wasn’t an easy feat, but she did it. Thank god for the hauls of fish she’s been lugging around her whole life or this might actually be impossible. She had him propped up against the support beam in the living room. That was the sturdiest place in her house she could think of, but you knew you needed to move fast. There was no telling how much time you had before he woke up, and she couldn’t imagine he’d be happy when he did. Now, the next problem was finding chains and a lock that was probably heavy duty enough. She figured the boatyard, but she’d really have to move her ass.

She grabbed the keys to her dad’s old beat up pick up truck and a jacket and hurried out the door. She was humming to herself in a tense song, a habit she did out of nervousness, and fumbled with the keys.

“Hi there, Y/N, a little la-” a familiar voice called, but with the night’s events, she was already under so much pressure, and she yelped and nearly threw the keys. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Hi, Rory. Sorry, it’s been a night.” Oh Rory, the older Irish gentleman that ran the dock’s favorite bar to go to in the evening, and her next door neighbor. She had known him her whole life, a steady constant in this crazy shit show her life had been these past couple of months. She really wasn't alarmed with him being out so late. With his business, he always had been a night owl.

“I can see that,” his thick accent rang out with a chuckle, and she blanched for a second. “Dragging in buckets of sea water?”

“It’s an art project,” She answered maybe a little too fast and he cocked an eyebrow. “You know, for processing trauma. I read about it.”

“Okay then, Y/N,” he was unsure, but he was going to drop it. He knew grief made people do some strange things sometimes. 

“I’m going out for more things.” She didn’t know when to stop talking apparently.

“Well, good luck with that at 3 am. Just be careful,” he wished her well, “It’s a full moon, all the crazies are out tonight.”

She just chuckled uneasily, if she could only tell him. “Will do, you get some rest.”

“You too, dear.”

She was finally able to get the truck open and started, and she sped off to the boatyard.

————————————

The yard was desolate and particularly eerily this night. Mist from the water was creeping over the place and gave it an all too fitting gothic appearance. She really wished that the world would stop being so poetic for a change. She found herself pulling her jacket tighter as she walked in between the older and busted up boats, something making the hair on the back of her neck stand up on end. A presence was following her, but she was all too tired of the night's weirdness to give into the thought. Surely, tonight couldn't get weirder. 

She had to kick the door down to the supply shed, but she doubted anyone would really care. This was the forgotten side of town anyway. She found heavy duty chains and a padlock fairly quickly, a feeling of satisfaction filled her that was quickly overshadowed by something else. Her head whipped up to the door and then to the window. She saw nothing, but she swore she felt eyes on her. Very intent eyes. God damn it. At this point, she was just hoping for another human.

The best thing to do was just get the hell out of there regardless, she decided, and without actually breaking into a run, she moved as fast as she could.

Outside, she swore she hear footsteps of something. It was much too big to be a person, but she didn’t know what it could be. Could be anything. She didn't know, and she was getting tired of this one night getting so fucking weird. There was an idea trying to creep into her mind, one that she was trying to violently shut out. She actually might just give up if she was right.

There was a movement and then a soft growl. She blanched again, but sighed. Of course. No, of course this would be the night that even more insane shit has to happen. She turned to the boat she saw the movement coming from and her eyes widened, yet she was somehow not surprised. A giant wolf monster sat perched up on the cabin and she nodded. “Sure. Yep. This might as well happen. Let’s just get this over with.”

It glowered at her as it crept down and off the boat, but in the bright moonlight, she saw the deep wounds ruining the lay of the coat. It growled again and began to stand on this back legs, standing at it’s full eight foot height, but she held dropped the chains and held up her hands. “Don’t even think about it, buddy,” she said firmly and the wolf’s ears pitched forward, clearly curious about the lack of fear.

“I’ve got a hurt merman and a vampire I need to restrain soon or he’s going to try to eat the merman at home. I see that you’re hurt. I can take care of you, but I need you to stop being a dick.”

It looked like it was debating something it’s head before settling down on all fours and cautiously moved towards her before gently nuzzling into her neck, smelling and licking her, she figured that this was some kind of greeting that werewolves had, but he was being friendly, but she just rolled with it. It was that kind of night that was already weird enough. She scratched behind it’s ears and it practically mewled and she had to smile, that was pretty cute.

“Come on, let’s go. I have to get back before the vampire wakes up.”

He limped along with her, and she had to help the poor thing up into the bed of the truck, but he was behaving quite well. She covered him up, with one of the tarps she used for the fish, and hopped in. Hopefully, she wasn’t too late, and she felt worry pit itself in her stomach.

———————————————–

She had to make sure the lights on in Rory’s house were off before she uncovered the newest friend and boy from her truck and hurried him into the house.

The first thing she did was check to make sure that the vampire was still out and passed out where she left him. Thankfully, he was, and she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. She went back to the kitchen as the werewolf began sniffing around. “Go upstairs, it’s the room with the lights on.”

The wolf looked at her uneasily, but he relented and sulked up the stairs on all fours, looking over its’ shoulders at her.

She grabbed the chains and quickly secured the vampire to the post. There was a moment that nearly had her passing out, his nose flared a couple of times when she got closer, but luckily that was his only response to her.

She didn’t waste anymore time though, grabbed the medical box for the third time tonight, and she was running up the stairs. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she saw the large furry head pop out of the doorway. It was odd to have such a large creature in her house, but she didn’t think about that just yet. She sat the box down on the desk and she heard it growl softly.

“Come on, I know this is going to hurt a little bit, but,” the wolf cut her off with another, more aggressive growl.

“Uhhh, Y/N,” Jim called from the bathroom. “What was that?”

She turned around and went to the door. “I might have made another new friend tonight.” The wolf’s head popped into sight from the door to look at where the other voice came from out of curiosity, and Jim went white.

“That’s an alpha werewolf.”

She grunted as he pushed his way into the bathroom and began smelling and licking at Jim’s neck like he had done with her, and Jim couldn’t help the giggles that escaped his mouth and it only encouraged the wolf to tickle him more, but he eventually pushed him off gently.

Jim smiled shyly at the wolf before looking to her again. “Why was he growling at you?”

“I was just getting ready to stitch up his wounds.”

The monstrous animal’s ears pinned back at the word and Jim swatted his muzzle, startling the wolf.

“Be nice. She doesn’t know anything and you can’t talk in that form,” Jim chided with a small smile.

“You don’t need to rub it in!” She was almost defensive, but Jim was laughing.

“Werewolves don’t need stitches, particularly alphas. He’ll be fine by tomorrow night, you won’t even know that he was hurt.”

She nodded, but then stopped. “Why did he come with me then? If he didn’t need help.”

Jim’s eyes were practically shining with mischief. “He probably thinks you’re cute.”

She was bright red now and she looked at the clear amusement both of them had.

“Or he had other reasons, I’m just,” He had to think about it. He wasn’t sure about the human word for this. “Having my fun?” He had a little shy smile, and while she was scowling, her heart melted a bit at the expression.

“I didn’t realize I was opening my door to such jokesters,” but even she had to laugh.

She let out a yawn, and she realized how tired she was out. It hit like a freight train now that she didn't have a murderous vampire on the loose and she no longer had to play doctor. “Well, I think I’m going to be retiring for the night. Jim would you like a pillow or something?”

He cocked he eyebrow. Right, that makes sense that they wouldn’t have them in the ocean.

“I’ll go get one for you away.”

The wolf followed her out of the bathroom and crawled up on the bed for no regard to his weight as he circled like any dog would before settling down on the bed. She grabbed one of the extra pillows and returned to stuff it in the corner between the wall and the bathtub and Jim hesitantly rested his head against it before his eyes lit up.

“This is very comfortable. What did you call this?”

She chuckled, “A pillow. Goodnight, Jim.”

He smiled, “Goodnight, Y/N. Thank you. again.”

“It’s no problem.” With that, she left again for the bedroom.

She looked at the wolf, seemingly asleep, and she decided what the hell. She took her bra off and her pants, leaving herself in just a shirt and underwear. She crawled into bed under the blankets and tried to get comfortable, but sleep wasn’t coming to her at all. She was just replaying the events of the night.

So, at the beginning of the night, it was crippling loneliness and a solid crying session, then late night sailing on the boat …. Then she saved a merman …. Then they got attacked by a vampire ….. and then she picked up a werewolf ….. and now there’s a merman in  her bathtub, a vampire chained up in the living room, and a werewolf in bed with her. She sighed. This was…. weird. This was a weird night. This couldn’t have happened, could it? This stuff was made up. Oh god, she was having a mental breakdown. She was breaking and this wasn’t real. None of this was real.

She was starting to hyperventilate, panic gripping her, but then she felt a warm head, a very warm, very large, and very fluffy head nuzzle into her chest. A strong, furry arm ending in a hand with extremely long and sturdy claws wrapped around her abdomen and pulled her tight. An animal’s tongue licked her cheek and she had to laugh at how much it tickled. She heard the wolf make a noise deep within its throat in approval and she relaxed. This was real. It was very very real and she had the feeling that this wolf wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

Sleep soon took over, and for the first time in what felt like years, there was a smile on her face.

[scientifichubris]

What are some of your favorite bands? Maybe a good 10 or 15 if you need a number, or maybe some song recommendations? I need some stuff to get into and my taste's been pretty flat for a while and I'm looking for some better stuff! Thank you!!

OKAY AWESOME- I will not rank them bc my brain doesn’t do that. I jump every like 15 mins on what my favorite is SO HERES A NICE LIST OF BANDS WITH SOME SONGS!!! Links as well to youtube/SC bc I love u and want to make it easier afdsgfd I’m listing bands that are “easier” to listen to ig because I don’t know your entire taste. I will, however, pull you into my side of screaming through conditioning and have listed a few to see if you’re chill with it. Bolded is the TLDR version with links if you need it and I speak way too much!

1. The Faint Endless, while currently only on soundcloud, they are coming to spotify soon!! My favorite song of theirs is Celestial Revenge, which happens to have a music video!! I also like We Were Once Invincible and Requiem but G*D I LOVE ALL OF THEM They are… such a fucking inspiration to me and the music I want to make in the future. I try to make everyone listen to them so tbh if you wanna know me listen to them they fuck

(The rest of these you can find on spotify btw)

2. I am going to assume if you follow me you listen to My Chemical Romance, BUT if you don’t here’s some song recs that have different feels they will give you: House of Wolves, Vampire Money, You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison, Demolition Lovers, and Boy Divison but this list could go on for hours…. There’s so much to list and I couldn’t stop…..It’s for you to find and for you to feel.

3. The Used is super high up on my list! Shame they’re not as popular on here like MCR, like y’all missed 2004 (me too I wasn’t even split then but shhhhhhhhhh i know my history). Really depends on the mood you’re in because they’re either bangers or Sucidical Moments tbh so fair warning. Really got into them when life was super shitty, but they have a lot that aren’t always imma kms. If you’re up for loud shit there is The Back of Your Mouth which I’ve been blasting for a week. Choke Me is good if you wanna hear someone scream “fuck my ass” over and over while you feel dead inside lmao. If you want something more themed for this blog there’s Wake The Dead, although I feel like the mid part ruins it tbh. I want to cover it so I can make it go hard the entire time. I’d recommend the full album Lies For The Liers to get started.

4. If you like Vocaloid and want it in English and like horror then check out GHOST, or Ghost and Pals on spotify. Some of my favorites are Those Who Carried On, Honey I’m Home, and Entomologists, but there’s so much more that is amazingly themed.

5. Red Vox is also really good, but I’d recommend staying away from their album Vomit in the Ballpit because it’s just gross-out humor and I’m not into that. For my oc Franklin I think his voice would sound like Vin’s. They’re releasing a new album soon which I’m excited for, and they released one song early which is Why Can’t This Be Easy. Other songs I really enjoy are: Kerosene (I recommend the album of that same name too def one I use to calm down some nights), Memories Lie, Hazy, and Stranded (if you’re down for a 9 min space themed/star trek downer). I really enjoy their music and it’s another inspiration to me even if the music is a lot more chill. Their music has really calmed me down some nights and I’m thankful.

6. Will Wood and the Tapeworms is good if you just wanna go “oh my god I’m so mentally ill. I am going to break something. Fuck, I can’t remember 2012” Maybe that’s just me though- Anyways, Hand Me My Shovel, I’m Going In! is a banger and good for this blog, and the mv is a mess so its perfect, and absolutely what my mind looks like. Also Dr. Sunshine Is Dead is for this blog. Actually the entire album. Honestly, just listen to the entire album Self-Ish. It’s not great if you’re feeling bad bc its gunna have you screamin’ “I WANT MY MURDER TO LOOK LIKE A SUICIDE” but it’s so good, dude. I’m obsessed. You gotta listen to it in order to get the full effect. Highly recommended if you’re okay enough to do it.

7. Mother Mother, aka mentally ill central, babie. They are an experience. Vauagely horny, drugged up and craving death or something worse? It’s all there! Calm Me Down is blatantly horny, but a jam and an experience, which I recommend the entire album it came off of as a starting place. The Cry Forum is really good, but I always forget the ending has a poem in german. Back To Life is amazing too and I really vibe with it. 

8. Bayside is another really good band and amazing and cheaper fuck you Ticketmaster to see live. Some dick groped me in the pit and a punk punched the shit out of him and protected me the rest of the night and made sure my short ass could still see. The girl I went with got a drum stick handed to her. They’re amazing. Feeling shitty, ex-relationship problems and some Christian guilt mixed in! I highly recommend their latest album, Interrobang. Numb and Prayers are good on that. I feel like I have to recommend Sick Sick Sick and Devotion and Desiresince I’m pretty sure it’s their biggest songs. 

9. The Vincent Black Shadow! I don’t even know how I found them tbh. Stupid Intruders is something I blast a lot. Metro is relatable, unfortunately. The House of Tasteful Men is very 👌 I die. They need more recognition….. 

10. Halestorm! Female led metalish rock is very good. Very Vent-y songs for me, but very good and sexy. I Miss The Misery is very popular for good reason/  You Call Me A Bitch Like It’s A Bad Thing, Freak Like Me and  Killing Ourselves To Live are definitely my favorites. Also a big inspo to me as someone with a feminine voice/presenting that wants to sing! 

I’m kinda foggy right now so ten is my max! Hope you enjoy

[staytheb]

Because I Can

Pairing: NCT’s Yuta x OC [Genevy] Genre: slice of life, slight fluff Word Count: 3,791 Summary: Genevy kinda wants to avoid Yuta, but he ain’t having it.

Warning: none, except a few swear words... not sure really

hello! so this has been in one of my drafts for a long story, but i can’t really seem to write that story and just took this piece out of it and sharing it as a one-shot. as for the title, i didn’t know what to title it as and just took it from somewhere in the story as i found it fitting or something like that. anyways, this is more of a distraction to keep my mind occupy as i really don’t wanna write something new, but then again wanting to share something at least. the new year isn’t starting out as nicely as i want it to be and hope this would help relieve my mental stress from work and what not. anyways, this was partly inspired by a scene from the Chinese drama I Hear You and i really liked it a lot for some odd reason xD but anyways, Yuta fit and so here it is. so yeah, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

Genevy attended her friend, Skyler's, get-together after much persuasion from their other friends. She just didn't expect to see her co-worker, Yuta, there along with others whom were invited by Skyler. She didn't stay long and left as soon as possible. Genevy also didn't expect for Yuta to chase after her.

"Genevy!" Yuta called after her.

"Crap." Genevy muttered to herself as she picked up her pace. "I swear Skyler is always trying to play matchmaker."

The get-together happened to be at a karaoke bar and instead of a girls' night out, it was more like a group date with Skyler as hostess. She had also invited a few of her male friends from her masquerade themed birthday party a few weeks ago that Genevy had attended. During that time, Genevy somehow made an impression on Yuta when the two had been chosen to do some waltz thanks to Skyler. Still though, Genevy had no idea that Skyler's friend Yuta was the same as her co-worker Yuta. It made things kinda awkward at work although Genevy was the only one that knew Yuta behind his mask, but he kinda didn't know about her.

"Genevy!" Yuta called out again.

Genevy hurried down the zig-zag of a hallway, passed the front desk, and out the doors into the cool night air. Without hesitation Genevy made a quick right and took off in that direction towards a 7-Eleven as she wanted to make a quick pit-stop before heading home. Anyways, Genevy assumed she was in the clear and slowed down her steps and let her guard down, but she suddenly felt a rough tug from behind due to someone pulling on the strap of her bag. It prevented her from taking another step forward and guard went back up. Genevy tentatively took a glance over her shoulder and saw that it was Yuta as he shot her a sweet smile.

"Hi." He greeted her brightly with a wave, but still kept a hold of the strap. "This is a really nice bag, especially of the Rilakkuma on it."

"Um, yeah thanks."

Genevy tried to tug her bag from out of his grip, but Yuta held onto the pink strap firmly.

"This looks awfully familiar from a few weeks ago."

"Right. I'm sure others have the same thing."

"Mmhmm." Yuta hummed, but continued to gaze sweetly at Genevy.

"So, why did you leave so early? You only sang once."

"Yeah, karaoke isn't my thing. That's more of Skyler and Katherine's thing. Esther, Jasmine, and Everly convinced me to come."

"Oh, so you didn't want to come in the first place?"

"Well, not really. It was supposed to be a girls' night out, but Skyler just had to do whatever it is that she always does."

Genevy answered as she tried again to get her bag out of Yuta's grip, but she failed again.

"Is there a reason why you're keeping me here and not letting me go?"

Yuta smiled with a nod.

"Yeah."

"Which is?"

Yuta fingered the pink strap with a playful smile upon his face. Genevy had a feeling that what happened at Skyler's masquerade birthday party was gonna come up.

"Shall we dance?"

At first Genevy was confused until it clicked that Yuta was referencing to the song that they had danced to at Skyler's party. Now she really wanted to escape.

"I, um, yeah, no."

She twirled around to jerk her bag from out of Yuta's grasp, but in the process she had misstep breaking one of her low heels. While trying to correct her steps she ended up stumbling backwards and landed on her butt. Yuta watched all of this go down with a shocked yet amused expression. He suppressed a laugh while turning his head the other way so that she wouldn't notice him laughing at her misfortune as she stood back up. He didn't mean to, but he had to admit that it was kinda funny in its own way.

Anyways, Genevy let out an inaudible sound upon realizing her situation in the middle of Hongdae's streets during the night time and with her co-worker. She let out a deep sigh while picking up the broken piece of the heel with her left hand. She knew she shouldn't have listened to Skyler and the other girls in wearing the heels. It really wasn't her thing, but she assumed it was all for a fun night out that it was okay to just deal with it. Now she had to deal with Yuta and a broken heel. She avoided looking at Yuta feeling even more embarrassed about it all and turned away to walk off. Yuta noticed and called out to her once again.

"Hey, Genevy, wait up."

He ran to catch up to her and moved to block her path with a charming smile. Genevy just stare at him before casting him a suspicious look when he turned around with his back facing her, squatted down, and held out his hands in a way for her to get on his back while glancing over his shoulder at her with a warm smile.

"Um, what are you doing?"

She questioned him while he answered her with an obvious tone.

"Giving you a piggyback ride."

"Why?"

"Because you can't walk around like that."

"I'm fine, Yuta. I just need to get to a shoe store and buy new ones."

"I'll take you there by carrying you then."

"Uh, no thanks."

She awkwardly walked around him due to the unevenness of the heels and continued to her previous destination like nothing was wrong. Yuta once again blocked her path and offered his back towards her once more. Genevy ignored his offered once more by walking pass him again. Just as she thought that he had gotten the hint that she wasn't interested she suddenly felt a hand wrap around her forearm and swung her around to come face to face with a not amused Yuta.

Just as she was about to say something she caught the smirk that immediately appeared upon his face before he crouched down and lifted up her left foot to quickly remove the broken heel shoe from it. After doing so, Yuta stood up right again and casually tossed the damaged heel into a nearby trashcan. His attention returned to Genevy with a satisfied grin gracing his lips. Genevy's jaws dropped at what he did as she was unable to form any words to say anything.

"Okay, now you're left with no choice, but to accept my piggyback ride." Yuta informed her as he sat on his heels with his back offered to her once again.

Genevy pushed him away from her.

"No way. You took my shoe and just threw it away without my permission."

"I'll buy you a new pair."

"There's no reason for you to buy me a new pair."

Yuta let out an annoyed sigh as he swiftly turned around and lifted up her right foot to remove the regular heel from there as well. He stood back up and once again tossed it into the same trashcan like he did the other half. Yuta cast her a a smug smile as Genevy stared at him with her jaw slightly dropped.

"Now there's a reason for me to buy you a new one."

"I can't believe you just did that."

Genevy tossed the broken heel piece at him out of frustration which didn't phase Yuta at all as the small item fell to the concrete floor.

"Why would you even do something like that?"

"Because I can. Now," He gazed at her with a mischievous smirk, "Do you want a piggyback ride or should I carry you bridal style? Your call."

~~~~~~~

"Could, you, like, change, the, way, your, hands, are, placed, around, my, neck?"

Yuta struggled in-between breaths due to the way Genevy's grip was around his neck as she relented in the male to give her a piggyback ride instead of being held bridal style. Also, she didn't want to be too close and opted for a weird position leaving her to unintentionally choke the male as he carried her on his back. Genevy re-positioned herself so that she was slightly leaning forward with her arms draped over his shoulders instead of her hands around his neck. Yuta craned his neck from side to side now that he could breathed properly. His ears perked up when he heard singing coming from his left side.

~Actually, I just want a moment beyond the future, I feel so lonely when I'm dying to see you~

Although having heard Yuta suggest the new position, Genevy was still lost in her own thoughts not really caring about her current situation. To distract herself from being in this situation in the first place and this close to Yuta, she had unconsciously sang out loud her favorite part to the song of Flower's Crimson Dress that's been stuck in her head for a month or so now since it's release.

~Loneliness becomes more painful with a cold and chilling night life, my tears flow through my deep darkness~

She continued not realizing that Yuta could hear her, especially when he was able to actually understand the lyrics. At first he had thought Genevy was maybe trying to communicate with him in some sort of way of hers, but realized that she wasn't even focusing on him when he questioningly called out her name.

"Genevy?"

Genevy continued on with her singing as her eyes stared ahead of her without much focus.

~Actually, I would be with you at any time no matter what, I would like to hurt you while I'm crying alone~

Yuta stayed quiet after Genevy gave him no response. So he didn't bother mentioning to her that he could hear her actually singing. He didn't mind and quite like her voice since witnessing her vocal skills earlier that night. Also, Yuta was curious as to why Genevy was randomly singing in the first place and why was she singing a Japanese song, too.

~This way I will not be able to fall in love... I do not want an unsatisfied love, I just want to keep watching you wandering in the moonlight~

When he assumed that Genevy had finished singing and was going to compliment her, but held in a laugh when she suddenly changed into another song which was completely and totally different from the one she was singing earlier.

~See the light as it shines on the sea, it's blinding, but no one knows, how deep it goes~

Genevy suddenly switched to How Far I'll Go by Auli'i Cravalho out of the blue and she wasn't even sure how this song popped up, but she just went with it.

~And it seems like it's calling out to me, so come find me, and let me know, what's be~

Genevy abruptly stops wondering why she was even singing this song when she became aware of her own situation.

"Why am I'm singing this?" She muttered to herself before coming back to her senses upon hearing Yuta laughing loudly.

"I wasn't singing out loud, was I?"

"I think you should sing out loud more often." Yuta answered nonchalantly.

"It was a simple yes or no question, Yuta."

"Wasn't my answer obvious enough, Genevy."

"Do you want me to choke you again?"

"Ohh, kinky." Yuta teased in a playful tone. "But I would prefer to be the one to do the choking."

Genevy ended up tightening her grip around the male's neck to choke him upon being flustered upon hearing his response.

"Why would you say something like that when we're not even that close or in that type of relationship?"

Yuta stopped walking while stretching his neck to ease Genevy's grip from around it.

"I. Can't. Breathe."

His voice strained out due to the lack of oxygen. Genevy reluctantly eased her hold from around his neck. Yuta inhaled and exhaled loudly. Genevy rolled her eyes as she pushed his shoulders out of restlessness.

"Okay, you can just set me down here. I'll just walk barefoot on my own."

Once Yuta recovered he glanced over his shoulder and up at Genevy with a puzzled expression.

"Now why would I wanna go and do that?"

"Because I said so."

"And I say no."

"Why are you being so weird and difficult? You never act like this with me at work."

"Because I can." He answered and left it at that.

Yuta continued walking like nothing had happened with Genevy still upon his back. She almost gave him another choke-hold out being annoyed with his behavior which frustrated her, but refrain from doing so not wanting to be an actual murderer. She let out a controlled breath before speaking in a calmer manner.

"Fine. Once I buy me new shoes we can part and not see each other for the rest of the night."

~~~~~~~

"We just passed the seven-eleven. Where are you taking me?" Genevy asked Yuta while staring behind her at the place she had originally wanted to go to before the encounter with the said boy.

"Um, obviously to a shoe store." Yuta stated with a pointed tone. "Why would I take you to a seven-eleven?"

"Because that's where I wanted to go to in the first place."

"And how was I supposed to know that?"

"You weren't." Genevy clarified, but then wanted to remind him of their current situation. "You weren't even supposed to be with me right now."

Yuta chuckled.

"Well, too bad. I'm already here."

"Well, yeah if you didn't come chasing me for some reason."

"I didn't chase you."

"I'm pretty sure you were."

Yuta didn't say anything and Genevy took his silence as a means of a confirmation of defeat. She smiled although she was getting tired of her situation, especially when people were staring. Some awed like they were a couple while others gave disapproving looks. She didn't care either way, but it was the fact that Yuta wouldn't just let her walk on her own even if he was the cause of it in the first place.

"Look, Yuta, just take me to the Hongik University Station and I'll just go home from there. I'm not gonna buy new shoes. I'm tired and want to sleep."

She then unconsciously massaged his shoulders.

"And I'm sure your back and legs are aching from carrying me, too."

"You're right. You are pretty heavy." Yuta teased as a laugh followed after.

Genevy rolled her eyes as she stopped massaging his shoulders and softly punched-tapped them instead.

"I didn't make you carry me you asshole. That's all on you."

"Ah. Ah. Ah."

Yuta winced as he tried to shy away, but that barely did anything. Genevy stopped her antics and just slumped against Yuta's back in defeat. She let out a sigh as she rested her head against the back of his and watched the night time scenery pass her by. Totally zoning out, Genevy didn't notice Yuta walking up to a Starbucks and led them inside. It wasn't until she heard the scraping sound of a chair being pulled against a surface that she realized they were inside and not outside.

Before she could ask him what they were doing here, Yuta had gently set her down on the chair and walked off to the counter with a casual glance behind him before shifting it forward again. Feeling a bit self-conscious that she wasn't wearing any footwear and knew that her feet were gonna get cold, Genevy eventually sat cross-legged on her chair to hide that fact while clutching the strap of her Rilakkuma bag. Genevy also sat facing away from the counter, away from Yuta's back, and focused her attention to the wall she was looking at now. It wasn't that interesting.

Genevy wasn't sure if she should just ditch Yuta here and make a run for it to head on home on her own even if she had to do it barefooted. Then again she didn't want to be like that since so far their interactions has been kinda okay although weird as well. Genevy just wasn't sure how to react around him knowing that she knew more than he actually did of the night at Skyler's party. So instead of escaping she folded her forearms across one another and rested her head against them. Today's been too eventful and she just wanted to crawl into bed and just let it all fade away until she would have to face Yuta again at work tomorrow.

Her head jerked up a few minutes later when she felt something cold brush against her arm. Yuta let out a soft laugh at her reaction and Genevy scowled at him too tired to respond to his little antic. The scowl became one of puzzlement when Yuta set the drink he had used to wake her in front of her and took the seat across from her with his own drink in hand. He quirked a brow at her while taking a sip of his own drink to indicate for her to take the offered drink.

She averted her gaze awkwardly and stared at the drink cautiously before tentatively taking it in-between her hands. Genevy played with the item as she batted it left and right within her grasp while biting her bottom inner cheek. Luckily, it was closed, but still it was just to keep her hands busy and attention away from the male in front of her. She wondered what to do or say as her gaze unconsciously met the male's across from her like he was waiting for something to happen.

"Thanks." Genevy thanked him quickly before taking a sip of the drink, but made a face upon remembering that she really disliked the taste of anything coffee-related.

She really just wanted something to drink and to distract herself from Yuta sitting across from her, but didn't think her taste-buds would disagree with her about that. Yuta was about to brush off her gratitude, but noticed the facial expression she had made after taking a sip of the iced americano.

"Do you not like it?"

"No, it's fine."

Genevy feigned a smile as she took another sip, but her face betrayed her a second later when she struggled to swallow down the bitter liquid.

"Hey, Genevy, if you don-"

"No, no. It's okay, Yuta." Genevy interrupted him while reassuring that it was alright. "You already paid for it so thank you."

Before Yuta could even counter her words he just watched in amazement as Genevy had just finished the drink in a matter of seconds. Genevy had sucked the whole thing in her third attempt of drinking the iced americano. Genevy tried to control her expression, but the taste really prevented her from staying neutral as much as possible. She knew she hated this kind of taste, but she didn't want to make Yuta feel bad or have the item go to waste. She then opened the lid from the cup and put the rim of the cup to her mouth as to pour an ice cube into her mouth to rid of the coffee taste from her tongue.

"You didn't have to drink it if you don't like it." Yuta informed her after taking a sip of his own. "I could have bought you something else of your own liking."

"You don't have to buy me anything, Yuta. Really." Genevy said as she swish the ice cube from one side of her cheek to the other before casting him a thankful smile. "But thank you for the thoughtfulness though."

After saying that Genevy tilted her head in confusion upon seeing Yuta turn away with a soft giggle before gazing back at her and winked. He then averted eye-contact and she wasn't sure what to make of it. At first Genevy was gonna comment on it, but refrain from doing so. The less she knew, the better.

"Anyways," Yuta began trying to make conversation, "How long are you gonna hide the fact that you were the one I danced with at Skyler's masquerade party?"

Genevy stopped playing with the cup and stared at Yuta in surprised.

"Wait. When did you find out?"

"I'm not dumb."

"I didn't say you were, but you never said anything until now. Why?"

"I recognized your pink bag." Yuta admitted.

Genevy gazed at the pink item and inwardly groaned at the sight of it. She had forgotten that she wore the item that night at Skyler's party and again tonight. Genevy now recalled that she had also brought the small bag to work a few times over the years as well.

"Okay, so now you know. So what now?"

"Let's go to Seoul Land tomorrow after work."

Genevy gave him a hard look as Yuta stared right back at her, but with a gentler expression.

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"I am."

"We're co-workers so we can't date because everyone at work would know."

"Well, us dating doesn't concern any one else, but you and I. So why does it matter if they know or not?"

"Yeah, but you always like messing with me at work."

"But have I ever made you feel badly about yourself or even talked down to you when I've messed with you."

"No.You're actually quite supportive and encouraging when you do it." Genevy answered honestly. "But how come you don't do it to the other girls at work?"

"Because I don't like them like I like you."

"Is that a confession?"

"Genevy," Yuta reached out a hand and placed it atop hers, "I may act like a bad boy, but I'm no jerk."

"I don't think that answered my question."

"Yes, it's a confession. Now, are we gonna go to Seoul Land or not?"

"Um," Genevy stalled just to mess with him back as she was still feeling slightly flustered by this whole thing, "I'll think about it."

"If I carry you bridal style, then will you think faster?"

Yuta was about to make it look like he was about to do the action, but Genevy didn't want him to and quickly gave him his answer.

"Yes, Yuta. I'll go to Seoul Land with you after work tomorrow."

Yuta happily laughed as he squeezed her hand in an affectionate manner.

"Wow, Skyler was right. You do play hard to get."

Genevy was about to counter, but thought better of it.

"Whatever. One date, Yuta, and we shall see how it'll go."

Yuta just nodded with a satisfied smile as he took another sip of his drink before speaking.

"So, should I take you shoe shopping or to the subway station?"

[triplefrontierstuff-blog]

When were you gonna tell me? - Will “Ironhead” Miller x OC - Part II (Final)

A/N: I know, it’s huge hahah. I just get really excited when I write these weird stuff, so please, don’t give up on me xxx

Genre: Angst

Word count: 6409

Writer: Lari

After the bath, Diana went to the kitchen and found Will in his underwear, preparing something that smelled really good. She smiled, looking at his broad back and other well-defined parts of his body that got her a little flushed.

As she stepped into the kitchen for a moment to get close to him and hug him behind his back, Diana smelled something that made her be suddenly nauseous. At the moment, she didn’t even realize it was the bacon, so quickly the sensation of bile rising in her throat overwhelmed her. Will was still on his back, but he noticed barefoot movements hurrying through the house and became immediately alert.

As he looked back, Diana was no longer there, but he saw her shadow as she ran up the stairs. He immediately ran after her, aware of all the places where he had left some weapon - fire or white weapon - hidden in the house, mulling the possibilities. But when he got upstairs, he saw the bathroom door opened, and Diana was crouched in front of the toilet, toilet paper covering her mouth. When she saw him, she discharged, sitting on the lid of the vase soon after.

Will felt the relief and frustration plague him, and he didn’t know whether it was good or bad. As much as he was accustomed to living normally again, simple things like this that wouldn’t lead anyone to imagine escape routes left him agitated. Diana knew this, she knew and feared that he might suspect something, but right now she just wanted to try to make her stomach stop spinning.

“You’re all right, darling?”, Will asked, approaching her and crouching in front of the vase, his hands on her thighs.

"I don’t know, all of a sudden ...", she tried to think quick, for she was afraid he’d end up putting things together. "I think it was the apple pie I ate at Deli's today.". Will gave her a worried look, so she knew he believed.

"That's why I say that I should always take something from home to eat in the interval between college and work," he said, stroking her face as he stood up and held out her hand. "Come on, maybe eating something is gonna help you out.”

"No!", she said, perhaps a little too quickly, remembering the smell of bacon and already feeling her stomach wanting to wrap again. "It's just that I totally lost my appetite," she explained, standing up and ignoring the headache that started. .

Will sighed briefly, since he didn’t like to eat alone, but he didn’t want to be inconvenient; he knew vomiting would leave anyone unsettled.

“I’m sorry, honey. I swear I’ll make you a massage before sleep”, she proposed, seeing the trace of a smile come to his face. Will just nodded, taking the toilet paper from her hand and heading for the trash.

"All right, I need to go and finish everything up first" he said. Diana assented, going to the bedroom, still a little dizzy, and didn’t notice when Will left the bathroom only a few minutes later.

***

The week was passing faster than Diana would like, with her practically doing everything on the automatic. She could barely concentrate on class or writing her thesis – no matter how much the library was a quiet, perfect place to study. Instead, she ended up researching ways to stop the pregnancy - not that she really wanted to get to that point. Until one day, that same colleague who had helped her a few days earlier to clean the glassworks, dragged a paper with a telephone number down the lab bench at the end of the day.

"You can call with no worry, they have all the information you need" she said, as if passing the number of a good hairdresser. "It's reliable and well-structured.”

Diana was stunned for a few seconds until she understood, not quite sure how to respond even then.

"I know how it is, and you must be wondering how I found out. I've behaved just like you, and I know exactly what it's like to feel the gut shrink with the smell of ethyl alcohol, "Diana realized at once. She felt really bad at the smell of ethyl alcohol and was afraid of going through another episode of vomiting, so she abruptly walked away, trying to go to the bathroom. Fortunately, the nausea passed as she moved away from the strong scent, but she still passed away from the bottle all day.

"What makes you think I don’t want to have the child?" Diana asked, still confused.

"Because I've been through a situation almost like yours, Diana," she said, smiling slightly. "If you don’t want to, just throw it away," she said, nodding, saying good-bye and walking away.

Diana went the whole way home thinking about that piece of paper with the damn number. It wouldn’t hurt to call, right? Still, even though she knew it was her body, it felt like she was doing something wrong - like she was stealing someone.

As soon as she got home, Will hadn’t arrived yet, she ran to their room, locked the door and picked up the cell phone, dialing the number fast, before she changed her mind.

The call was surprisingly quick, even though the girl on the other end of the line explained pretty much the whole operation of the clinic. Diana said only a few words – at least until the attendant said she would give her a call to make an appointment.

“No!”, Diana replied, suddenly euphoric.

“What?”

"No, you don’t need to call, I really don’t ..." and then she heard the door of the leaving room get opened. Terrified, she just hung up the call at once, unlocking the bedroom door and running into the bathroom.

Diana quickly took off her clothes and slipped under the shower. She took several deep breaths before hearing the front door being opened. Will would notice her tension as soon as he saw her, so she needed to calm down as quickly as possible.

But Will didn’t show up in the bathroom - asking if he could come in and smiling, as usual. She finished the shower and he was lying on the bed, without his shoes and T-shirt, only socks and pants.

"Everything ok, love?", Diana asked, wrapped in the towel and her hair dripping around the room.

"Yeah, just a bit tired" he answered, eyes closed and a relaxed frown.

"I can imagine, you have to train everybody in that place" She went to the wardrobe and took the first old T-shirt she found, wearing a comfortable pair of panties right after. Will smiled a little.

“Yeah, but I? like it”. He sat for a few moments, then stood up, paused for a quick kiss, and headed straight to the kitchen. It wasn’t long before Diana joined him, but she still seemed cautious as she entered the kitchen, fearing that the meal would involve bacon again.

In the end, the dinner was composed of Bolognese pasta, with grated cheese and a light salad. Diana ate as never before, repeating twice, feeling her stomach fully muffled as she headed to the living room, with Will just behind her.

They both lay down on the couch, Will behind, forming a large protective blanket in a warm shell and - best of all -, flooded by his scent. Diana barely paid attention to what was on television - she barely noticed any of the conversations that Will was pulling on, she was so sleepy and she felt so comfortable nestled in his body that she didn’t feel it when she fell asleep.

It wasn’t long before he realized she had slept - her eyelashes touching her cheekbones, flushed and soft, and the small lock of hair that threatened to slide down her forehead. He knew she was strange, but he wasn’t the kind of person who simply demanded the truth - he likes when she just tells him because she wants, because she feel that she can because she trusts him. That is enough for him. He knew she was waiting for the right moment, so he just had to wait too.

When he realized that it was late, Will turned off the television and slid his arm slowly, pulling it out from under her head. Then, he managed to get off the couch, in a process that involved many uncomfortable positions. He watched her for a few moments, smiling a little, and only woke her up enough to warn her that he would pick her up.

Diana barely answered, just grunted, allowing him to carry her, leading her to the bedroom. The cuddle had its continuation, and Diana slept better than all the days after the discovery.

***

The next day was a complete disaster.

Diana slept so much and so well that she simply missed the time to get up. She barely remembered Will taking her to the bedroom, and when she realized, it was past 8 o'clock, and he probably had missed the first whole class.

When she arrived at the university, she noticed that she had forgotten the damn cell phone at home, so that she could barely even know the time.

At work, she was so distracted and slightly stressed that she couldn’t do half the things she needed – and, for a change, she was pretty busy that day.

Coming home was like the end of a marathon, and Diana almost literally walked through the door, as if it were the tape at the end of the start, and threw herself on the floor, mentally exhausted - apart from being pregnant and not knowing what to do to consume her every second of the day.

The room was dark, but the door was opened. In her sense of relief she hadn’t realized that, but when she threw the keys on the little table and hung her coat on the hook, she realized that it should be locked; and that if Will had arrived, he’d have lit at least the light of the living room, as he always does.

A little worried and feeling a slight pressure in the pit of her stomach, she walked slowly and as quietly as she could, reaching the entrance to the room.

"When were you gonna tell me?", Diana was so frightened that, if it wasn’t for the darkness, she’d be sure she got a little dizzy. Her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the gloom yet, but she would recognize Will's voice anyway. And the one he was wearing at the time was one of his worst.

Diana didn’t know what to answer. She knew what he meant when she noticed his tone, she knew he somehow figured it out, but she wouldn’t be hypocrite to ask "tell what?".

"Diana, when were you going to tell me?". She tried to remain calm, but she knew she was about to have a long and complicated conversation.

"Can I at least turn the lights on?", she asked, looking for the switch. When she lit them, she saw the expression on his face and almost turned them off again. His brows were furrowed and his teeth clenched like when they were in bed, in a moment and context much better than the actual.

A disturbing silence crept between them, shivering, spreading fire. Diana looked deep into his eyes and knew that fury wasn’t simply because he had discovered about the pregnancy.

“What happened?”, she asked, holding her breath without realizing it. Will threw her cell phone on the sofa, hard, never taking his eyes off her. Suddenly, the meaning of the nickname "Ironhead" seemed to fulfill its concept to her.

"Alice is very nice. She said there's a chance you can make an appointment with Dr. Norman, if you'd like to schedule”, he wasn’t a bit sarcastic - Will wasn’t like that; not in situations like this. He always relayed things in a less conventional way, always leading the other person to realize what it did.

Diana felt as if her guts were shrinking and fading away, also taking the air out of her lungs. She had never asked that young lady to call if something came up, she even remembered her name!

“Will…”

“You can talk.” Diana couldn’t understand what happened that, every time Will gives her the opportunity to explain herself in a discussion, she always seems to forget all her arguments.

"I didn’t mean to actually take it off, I never meant it. God, I don’t even know why I called!”

"But you did”, when he was like that, his word were sharp and straight as a knife. “How did you get the number?"

"Is that relevant at this point?" Will just remained silent, staring at her. She swallowed. "A woman at my job, I didn’t even say I was pregnant, she just gave me the number without even knowing if I wanted to have the kid or not.”

“She had her confirmation. Do you want to have this child?”

Diana suddenly fell silent, not knowing what to answer.

“Diana…”

"I do not know, Will, I have no idea.”

"Then why did you call a clinic like that?"

“I was just trying to evaluate the options…”

"Is that an option?"

"How could you question me like that? Do you want to have a baby so much? You want me to just drop everything and...”

"No, Diana!", he didn’t scream, but his voice grew louder and she fell silent instantly. Will had never talked to her like that. "That's not the point, and you know it." He ran a hand through his hair, nervously. "You didn’t think to tell me? Wasn’t that one of your options before you called a fucking clinic?”

Diana remained silent.

"No, having children is not my big dream, but I would never not want it if it happened. God, that's not even the point! You got pregnant with me, Diana, the person you say you love, and didn’t cross your mind telling me? Not even for a second? We could’ve decided what to do next; I would never impose my will for you to have that child if you didn’t want to, I don’t even have the right to do that - the most I could do would be trying to convince you, but I would never make you feel bad for not wanting to continue. Instead, you don’t even know how to answer that question, you're not even sure if you really want a child, but before you even tell me, Alice fucking knows all your anguish? I’m what here, an ornament where you can ease the tension while hiding everything from me?”

Will didn’t like to be like this. He never got that way, not anymore, because it reminded him of a time when controlling himself was something difficult; and losing everything he built so hard was a fear he had every day. Especially with her.

But the pain hit him good. He gave her the space and comfort she needed to tell, didn’t want to press her, even when he saw the tests thrown into the bathroom trash the day she supposedly had eaten something bad at Deli's. He always tried to be as sincere and direct as possible, but without ever being too harsh; something that he took years to learn, getting better in every discussion, every disagreement.

Apparently, none of his efforts was reciprocal.

Will didn’t wait for her answer. After a quiet and corrosive pause, he took his jacket and headed to the front door.

"Will, please don’t go like this," Diana barely noticed when the tears began to stream down her face.

"I can’t stay here, Diana. Not now," he said and left, slamming the door behind him.

***

The night was cold, but Will didn’t even feel the icy air against his face. He went out - angry, yes, but more than that: upset, betrayed. He barely knew where he was going when he started the car and took it out of the garage, just letting himself go in the automatic; and he wasn’t surprised when he reached the front of Benny's house. The living room lights were on.

He knocked on the door, his heart beating fast, uncontrolled.

Benny answered on the second beat.

"Dude, bells exist, you know", he said, before noticing the congested expression on his brother's face. “What happened?

“Can I come in?”, Will asked first, uneasy, not wanting to say anything out there. Benny just stepped back and let him settle down on the living room sofa.

"Samantha isn’t here", Benny informed him as he picked up the wisky bottle and two glasses. He knew that information would be totally random in another context, but at that moment it meant that Will wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else in the house, whatever it was.

Will usually don’t drink, but he accepted the dose Benny offered under the condition of being the only one. Everything he didn’t need at the moment was to get drunk. It would only make things worse.

"Diana is pregnant," Will revealed as Benny sat across from him on the coffee table. He nodded. “Did you know?”

"She told me when we met at Deli's earlier this week," he answered. "But I know you wouldn’t be pissed off for that."

Will took his drink.

"She forgot her cell phone at home today." It took him a while to get it into words – all that had hit him in a very gross way. “A clinic called her today, saying they were available to make appointments.”

"But isn’t it normal? If she’s pregnant she has to do all the exams and ... ", he didn’t have to look twice in his brother's eyes to understand what kind of clinic that was. “Holy shit, Diana!”, he stood up from the coffee table, sitting down next to Will.

“Yeah”

"She was very worried the day we met. I told her to talk to you first! The damn woman never listens to me.”

"I don’t know-“, Will's feelings and the way he shows it (whatever it is) is not  explosive and spontaneous like Benny; they keep boiling inside him, dragging everything, intense and silent, like a tsunami in the distance. "It's more than anger, it’s ... Does she not even trust me to decide the fate of a child? Your child? Do you understand what that makes me feel?”

"I can imagine", Benny said, saddened by his brother. "A piece of shit.”

“Exactly” Will, who was sinking more and more into his sense of invalidity, just ignored his promise and picked up the wisky bottle again.

***

The hours were passing and Diana sank into a sea of ​​anguish and felt the guilt pull her foot harder toward the bottom. Why, when we're doing something totally stupid, don’t you realize it? She thought, annoyed. Why does it have to be always after, when you already hurt who you love?

She couldn’t get along with Will outside the house, especially in this situation, so she paced up the house, impatiently. She tried to eat, but she wasn’t hungry. She tried to watch something on the television, but nothing attracted her attention - actually, it made her stay even more impatient. Then, she decided to fill the tub and stay in there indefinitely.

She stepped into the tub, into the warm, inviting water, and waited for at least some of the tension to ease up. She felt the foot of her belly a little rigid and a trail of colic threatening to start, but she ignored it simply because she believed that bathing would solve everything else.

The bath was supposed to be relaxing, but it only served to make her stand still and think about what she should’ve done and how Will looked hurt when he left. The feeling that she was the worst person in the world and the harsh, sad expression on his face only helped her to get more anxious, so she decided to get out of that damn bathtub and put on a nightgown - if she could sleep, she wouldn’t be reflecting on it all the time, at least.

In fact, Diana didn’t know what was her big mistake that night.

He didn’t know if it had been the decision of bathing and think about all the mistakes she made, or getting out of the hot tube to the cold weather so abruptly.

What she knew was that, while she was putting on her clothes, she felt the pain at the foot of her belly rise. It was so quick and sudden that she could barely reach a painkiller in her purse; the pain increased abruptly, becoming strong in throbbing needles. Diana was starting to get scared, barely able to reach the bed to lie down, but when she saw the blood – that’s when she felt total panic.

That millisecond, when she noticed that thin beam of blood trickling down her thigh, scared her more than anything. It wasn’t much, but enough to get down the right leg and dirty the bed in a small puddle.

Diana didn’t wait another second, she crawled across the bed, picked up her cell phone from the nightstand, and called Will.

He didn’t answer. Cursing everything that went through her head, she called and called, not even looking down, fearing to notice if the bleeding had increased. But she could feel the pain. The pain was excruciating, something that never happened before. She tried to call Will again, then she called the only other possible person.

The call was answered on the second ring.

“Benny!”

“Diana?”

"Benny, I don’t know what's going on." Diana squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her teeth, pain pounding her mercilessly.

“What is it? Is everything okay?”

"Ben, I'm feeling a lot of pain, please come here."

"Diana, what do you mean? Pain where?”. Ben was taken by surprise and barely knew how to assimilate what she was saying, but he could feel the desperation in Diana's voice, something he’d never heard before.

"I’m bleeding, Benny, please, I’m bleeding." Diana didn’t know what she was saying anymore, she didn’t even notice she was crying.

She couldn’t speak anymore, she couldn’t even hold the phone to her ear. So she just laid down on the bed and drifted, feeling the pain like horses galloping over her womb.

***

"What is it, Benny?", Will questioned, seeing his brother call Diana’s name again and again, and when he was unsuccessful, he shoved his cell phone in his pocket and picked up the car keys in an uproar.

"Diana," he said, distressed, with an urgency and anguish he’d never felt in his life, not even when he served in the most dangerous places. "Something happened, she said she's bleeding.”

“What?”, Will stood up alert, desperate, his pupils more dilated than ever. Adrenaline and guilt burned his body. The calls. The many calls he ignored were not just an attempt to apologize. It was a call for help.

“Fuck, Will, come one!”, Benny shouted from the door, not really waiting for him, heading to the car and starting the engine. Will came out of his torpor and ran to the door, shutting it out, not bothering to lock it.

Benny barely stopped the car on the sidewalk when Will opened the door and ran into the house. He unlocked the front door, going to the living room, kitchen, yard, trying to see if Diana was downstairs. Until he heard Benny – who ran straight to the bedroom - scream his name.

Will doesn’t even remember the way to the bedroom, or having jumped two steps of stairs at a time, but he clearly remembers seeing Diana lying in the bed, her brow furrowed, still conscious and awake, curled up on the bed. He remembered the blood, which he would noticed later that it wasn’t a large amount, but which was enough to make him feel his legs wobble and his heart stop.

“Diana!”, Will ran to her side on the bed, trying to see if she could hear his voice. She just grunted and then tensed her forehead, feeling another pang of pain.

"Ben, go to the car.", Benny looked a little shocked, though he often sees blood in his fights. It wasn’t just the blood, it was the whole context. Will was already getting ready to take Diana in his arms, when he realized his brother was still standing. He looked at him and shouted, "Go to the car, Benny, now!" It seemed to work, for he hurried to turn on the engine and open the backseat door.

The seconds that Will took with Diana in his arms were the most desperate in his life. Each of them seemed to last forever, the blood staining his T-shirt, her head hanging, her brow closed, the look of pure pain. It was as if he were carrying his whole life in his hands, and in fact, he knew it was.

***

Diana incredibly remembered everything. The pain - God, and what a pain! - to feel, for a moment that seemed like an infinity of days, that she in fact would be swallowed up by the pain and anguish; that everything would just be that pain forever and that was the price she would pay.

Then the panic came. For a moment, she thought her dread was the fear of sequels – to what maybe all that pain could cause to her body. But then she recognized that it was something beyond that - the panic of losing that child. It was all that went through her mind, and in that black sea where she drowned, she even asked for everything that was good in the world to take everything but that child from her.

Then she heard the heavy footsteps in the house, but the pain was so great that even the relief didn’t soothe her. She saw Will come in, stunned, terrified, catching her in his arms, yelling at Benny, taking her to the car and going to the hospital.

After that, it was all very fast. She went through the emergency, a sterile room where a doctor asked her questions she couldn’t understand - she just wanted the pain to go away.

The downside of all this is that she was pregnant - yes, that is obvious at this point -, which meant she couldn’t take any kind of medicine without it being appropriate for her condition. All this means that the doctor took some time to do tests and diagnose what happened to her and the baby, to only then administer any medication.

Meanwhile, Benny and Will nearly went into labor in the waiting room. Stopping any passing doctor, any nurse, even the receptionist they annoyed every 5 minutes for information. Will kept walking, he was restless; Benny hadn’t seen him like that since they were kids. He also felt a huge fear of what might happen - he had the strange feeling that he could’ve avoided it, that he coulde’ve done something before, interfered more.

At some point, Will noticed that in him – he knew his brother better them himself sometimes.

“Benny, don’t do this”, he said, looking straight to him in the hallway. Benny – leaning against the wall -, stared at him.

“What?”

“Don’t blame yourself”. Benny just leaned his head against the wall again.

“I’m not”

“I know you are, just like I am. We have that. But, unlike me, you really don’t have any guilt on this”

“Unlike you?”, Benny got away from the wall, approaching to Will and staring at him. “You’re doing exactly what I’m doing and tell me not to do it?”

“She called me”, Will revealed, not looking into his brother’s eyes “Several times. And I didn’t pick up once.”

“It’s not like you did it in purpose, you know it” Benny knew he didn’t need to say much for his brother to understand him. “So don’t do it to yourself. It’s not helping anybody”

Will just tried not to get carried away by the guilt when a tall, dark-haired doctor, approached to the two of them.

"Are you relatives of Ms. Forest?

"I'm the boyfriend," Will said, hurriedly, Benny right behind. “This is my brother.”

"Right.", she checked her clipboard and asked them to walk down the hall with her. "I'll get you to her, but first I'll explain the diagnosis I obtained.” Will got tense as they pulled up in a bumpy corridor. “High rates of stress and anxiety from any excessive worry, or any other reason, are likely to cause miscarriage in the first trimester, especially in the first month.”

Will felt his hands tremble in the pockets of his pants. Had Diana gone through all this alone, to lose the baby like that, in that perverse situation? He just couldn’t believe it.

"So ... so she ...", Benny tried to ask the question that Will was already finished with the answer.

"The odds were great, so this turned out to be a risky pregnancy, but Ms. Forest didn’t lose the baby and she’s resting now.” Will felt the air rise from his lungs, relieved. “However, I must warn you that this has become a risky pregnancy for a reason. There was a displacement of the placenta, which almost caused the fetus to decouple from the endometrium, which was basically what caused all the pain. High discharge of adrenaline and other agents derived from feelings such as anxiety can mainly cause this. That means that, from now on, until it’s established through examinations that the fetus has returned to lodge permanently in the endometrium again and that it’s safe and normal, Diana is in a gestation of risk and must be monitored at least for the next two weeks.”

Will didn’t understand how, but he understood everything she said, and so he just nodded, wanting to see her once and for all.

"You understand what I mean, sir. Miller?”, the doctor asked, insisting on making him understand.

“What, exactly?”

“Diana cannot go through situations that may cause her half of what she’s been through so far; so she must be preserved from any kind of uncomfortable situation, not only for the next two months, but for the rest of this pregnancy.”

"Clearly, Doctor," Benny said, willing to see his sister-in-law too.

"Okay, come in one at a time, please," she said, turning back the walk and taking to the left in the hallway. "She's sleeping, so please, let her rest before you have any kind of conversation." She opened the bedroom door, giving way for Will to enter. Benny just waited outside in the hall.

Will walked in slowly, adjusting his eyes in the short light: Diana was sleeping, so the lights were on in less intensity, focusing more on the bed where she was laying. He walked, silent as ever, to the side of the bed, watching her sleep, and sat down in the chair next to her. Her eyelashes beat against her cheekbones, which were pale, her lips without any color, her hair scattered on the pillow. He gently took her hand and wrapped it in his own, feeling as if it had been forever since he felt her like this, even though he carried her in his arms like crazy just a few hours ago.

He didn’t notice, head down, when Diana opened her eyes slowly, confused, getting out of a heavy, induced sleep. She wasn’t even trying to get his attention, but then she felt a pang of pain in her head as she tried to turn away, grunting.

Will lifted his face quickly, his intense blue eyes fixed on every movement and expression on her face.

“Diana?”, he whispered, as if she were still asleep, as if speaking in a normal tone was forbidden. She struggled and turned her head. It only hurt when she moved it. “Can you hear me?”

She didn’t understand why, but when she looked into his eyes - warm, too preoccupied to remember anything -, the tears came uninvited. And she just couldn’t stop, or swallow, as she always does. And so then she simply gave up and let the tears out, silent, aching, not sure what she should do.

"I'm sorry," she said, in an appeal that came from the depths of her chest. "I'm sorry" seemed to be the only thing she was capable of saying, her voice weak, the eyes blurred.

Will hated seeing it. He felt his eyes burn, hating to see her sad like that.

"No, Diana, don’t apologize, please," he said, squeezing her hand to get her attention. "Don’t do this”, she opened her eyes wider, noticing his tense, worried look, his eyes suddenly swollen.

"I didn’t want it to be this way, Will." Diana barely knew how to say what she felt, but she needed him to know immediately, as quickly as possible. She couldn’t  wait.

"I know, I know you don’t want to be pregnant, but this is not your fault ..."

"No, Will." this time, she squeezed his hand, lightly, to catch his attention. "I'm not talking about that", she looked deep into his eyes and only at them, she had to say out loud what she’d just realized. "I didn’t want it to be that way for me to realize how much I want this child”, she saw the slight confusion go through his face, frowning, but not wanting to press her “I know I was wrong not to tell you, I know that and I will live with it forever. I wasn’t sure about anything - if I wanted to have this child, if I didn’t want to, if I was willing to try - I was getting desperate and I was dumb not to share it with you. It was never my idea to go to a clinic to find out how to stop this pregnancy; if that woman hadn’t given me the god damn number, I’d never have looked for it by myself. But I won’t be a hypocrite to blame her for anything. I had the number and I could just have thrown it away. I don’t know what I meant by calling, but I certainly wouldn’t take that forward. I don’t know how to explain, I was just dumb”, suddenly, she felt tears flow again, but she couldn’t stop “I swear I would never do anything like that, and I never thought they would call me back; I didn’t mean to do anything. I spent the day planning when to tell you, or how; and that's when it all happened.”

"You don’t have to tell me this now, darling, it all can wait." He listened to her, but he didn’t want her to continue to wear out like that. Her sad, guilty expression made him feel bad. And he also remembered what the doctor said about getting her in uncomfortable situations.

“That's not the point, Will", she continued, wiping her tears with the hand that wasn’t holding his "When I began to feel the pain, especially when I saw the blood, the greatest fear wasn’t of my own health. I was terrified with the idea of losing this baby. I couldn’t think anything else, even though I was going through hell; the only thing I had in mind was to stand firm and keep this child here if, I could.” she stopped, lowering her head suddenly. It shouldn’t have been like this, and it was all my fault.”

Will didn’t really know what to say. He felt the guilt on himself, knowing that she was alone, for having ignored all the calls. He felt as embarrassed as she, and he could barely speak, for he didn’t want to cry too. But this guilt he felt wasn’t just for that.

"I went through the exact opposite," he said after a while. She lifted her head, staring at him “When I was carrying you to the car, when I saw you, feeling pain as never before, when I felt your blood in my clothes, when I put you on a stretcher and I saw you go to an emergency room; the only thing I had in mind was that I couldn’t lose you”, he was trying not to cry in vain, because the tears were already trickling down his face in the middle of the sentence. Maybe that’s why he was embarrassed too: because he didn’t think about the baby once.

She looked at him, a little incredulous. None of that were his fault, she knew she was the one who put them into that situation, and he was feeling guilty for not thinking about the baby? Diana knew, deep down, that she didn’t deserve a strand of hair on that man.

Silently, ignoring the headache, Diana let go of his hand just to hold his face towards hers, with both hands. His eyes were wet, his face frowned and distressed, as if he relived everything he had just told.

“Will, honey, you have no blame in this”, she said, feeling his beard stick to her hands “And I don’t deserve the man you are. I know I never will”. Suddenly, Will looked at her with surprised and shining eyes. She knew he was still betrayed by what she had done, but she understood that he was good enough to forgive her someday.

Everyone says that evolves with time, that learns from mistakes, in that cliché litany of maturing. But Will - will is the living proof of it, in the most genuine way possible. Will would learn from every mistake, from every situation he couldn’t handle because he didn’t learn how to; he always tries to put himself in the other person’s place before acting – not just thinking only about the solution. Will is the type of man that hates doing the wrong thing, but that would do it a thousand times for the people he loves without blinking, and he would learn how to live with it after all.

Will is a constant evolution, someone who doesn’t deserve to me harmed, especially because he tries really hard not to harm anyone.

Diana knew, with no doubts, that she didn’t deserve him. But, God, she wouldn’t give it away for anything in this world.

[gremlinkweenarchive-blog]

Bad Moon Rising

Part 2: Mermen, Vampires, and Werewovles, Oh My! 

Summary: The reader finds and rescues a hurt merman who tells her that his name is Jim. She helps him without a second thought, but his presence might attract the attention of other supernatural creatures she never knew existed. This will eventually be a foursome (Jim Mason x Michael Langdon x Duncan Shepard x Reader) mythology/supernatural au.

A/N: So, the last one of the foursome is introduced, but we’ll get to actually see more of Michael and Duncan in the next part. There is an oc in here, Rory, that we’ll see more later. I’ve had him for awhile and he’s actually one of my fave characters ever. You can totally imagine Cillian Murphy for him. Again, if you want to be on the tag list, just hit me up and let me know what you think! 

Warnings: No smut yet, sorry. There is blood, injury, mentions of mental illness, depression, crying, concern about having a total break from reality. 

Word Count: 2.3k

Tagging List: @langdonsinferno, @ccodyfern, @michael-langdon-appreciation, @lovelykhaleesiii, and @moonagecordelia

"I thought that vampires fed off of humans? Why did he go for you instead of me?"

"Well, yeah, vampires feed off of humans, but that's not their only food source. Faerie blood is actually more nutritious and flavorful for vampires, just humans are more readily available and easier to hunt. He probably smelt my blood and sought me out."

"... Wow, I mean makes sense, I guess?" No, it really didn't, nothing made sense to her, but also Jim could tell her that the sky was actually purple and the ocean was orange, and she'd believe him.

"You should probably take care of him."

"Yeah, probably. Do I need something stronger than rope."

He scoffed, "Yes, probably something more like a stake through the heart."

She looked to the darkly angelic figure passed out on the floor. He looked helpless now, and she could see that the wounds that were on the cat adorned and tarnished his skin. He was hurt, and probably just looking for a way to heal himself. She felt bad, but on the other hand, Jim was in danger. This was fucked up. "No."

Jim gave her a look like she might be insane.

"I said no. He's just trying to survive like you. I'll get like, chains or something. That should hold him?"

Jim's cheeks heated to a slight pink, she was right, but it was just difficult when you were the pray. "I don't think that's a good idea. It's probably going to end badly."

She was still looking at the vampire. Probably, she was thinking, but that's not what she said. "I think it's going to be fine."

".... Okay, if you say so." Jim was still so unsure of this. "Just move him please."

"Yeah, no problem."

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

Moving the vampire that was nearly double her size wasn't an easy feat, but you did it. Thank god for the hauls of fish she's been lugging around her whole life or this might actually be impossible. She had him propped up against the support beam in the living room. That was the sturdiest place in her house she could think of, but you knew you needed to move fast. There was no telling how much time you had before he woke up, and she couldn't imagine he'd be happy when he did. Now, the next problem was finding chains and a lock that was probably heavy duty enough. She figured the boatyard, but she'd really have to move her ass.

She grabbed the keys to her dad's old beat up pick up truck and a jacket and hurried out the door. She was humming to herself in a tense song, a habit she did out of nervousness, and fumbled with the keys.

"Hi there, Y/N, a little la-" a familiar voice called, but with the night's events, she was already under so much pressure, and she yelped and nearly threw the keys. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"Hi, Rory. Sorry, it's been a night." Oh Rory, the older Irish gentleman that ran the dock's favorite bar to go to in the evening, and her next door neighbor. She had known him her whole life, a steady constant in this crazy shit show her life had been these past couple of months. You really weren't alarmed with him being out so late. With his business, he just always had been a night owl.

"I could see that," his thick accent rang out with a chuckle, and she blanched for a second. "Dragging in buckets of sea water?"

"It's an art project," She answered maybe a little too fast and he cocked an eyebrow. "You know, for processing trauma. I read about it."

"Okay then, Y/N," he was unsure, but he was going to drop it.

"I'm going out for more things." She didn't know when to stop talking apparently.

"Well, good luck with that at 3 am. Just be careful," he wished her well, "It's a full moon, all the crazies are out tonight."

She just chuckled uneasily, if she could only tell him. "Will do, you get some rest."

"You too, dear."

She was finally able to get the truck open and started, and she sped off to the boatyard.

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

The yard was desolate and particularly eerily this night. Mist from the water was creeping over the place and gave it an all too fitting gothic appearance. She really wished that the world would stop being so poetic for a change. It wasn't hard to get it, but she found herself pulling her jacket tighter as she walked in between the older and busted up boats.

She had to kick the door down to the supply shed, but she doubted anyone would really care. This was the forgotten side of town anyway. She found heavy duty chains and a padlock fairly quickly, a feeling of satisfaction filled her that was quickly overshadowed by something else. Her head whipped up to the door and then to the window. She saw nothing, but she swore she felt eyes on her. Very intent eyes.

The best thing to do was just get the hell out of there, she decided, and without actually breaking into a run, she moved as fast as she could.

Outside, she swore she hear footsteps of something. It was much too big to be a person, but she didn't know what it could be. There was an idea trying to creep into her mind, one that she was trying to violently shut out. She actually might just give up if she was right.

There was a movement and then a soft growl. She blanched again, but sighed. Of course. No, of course this would be the night that even more insane shit has to happen. She turned to the boat she saw the movement coming from and her eyes widened, yet she was somehow not surprised. A giant wolf monster sat perched up on the cabin and she nodded. "Sure. Yep. This might as well happen. Let's just get this over with."

It glowered at her as it crept down and off the boat, but in the bright moonlight, she saw the deep wounds biting in much passed down the fur. It growled again and began to stand on this back legs, standing at it's full eight foot height, but she held dropped the chains and held up her hands. "Don't even think about it, buddy," she said firmly and the wolf's ears pitched forward, clearly curious about the lack of fear.

"I've got a hurt merman and a vampire I need to restrain soon or he's going to try to eat the merman at home. I see that you're hurt. I can take care of you, but I need you to stop being a dick."

It looked like it was debating something it's head before settling down on all fours and cautiously moved towards her before gently nuzzling into her neck, smelling and licking her, she figured that this was some kind of greeting that werewolves had, but he was being friendly, but she just rolled with it. It was that kind of night that was already weird enough. She scratched behind it's ears and it practically mewled and she had to smile, that was pretty cute.

"Come on, let's go. I have to get back before the vampire wakes up."

He limped along with you, and she had to help the poor thing up into the bed of the truck, but he was behaving quite well. She covered him up, and hopped in. Hopefully, she wasn't too late, and she felt worry pit itself in her stomach.

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

She had to make sure the lights on in Rory's house were off before she uncovered the newest friend and boy from her truck and hurried him into the house.

The first thing she did was check to make sure that the vampire was still out and passed out against the beam. Thankfully, he was, and she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. She went back to the kitchen as the werewolf began sniffing around. "Go upstairs, it's the room with the lights on."

The wolf looked at you uneasily, but he relented and sulked up the stairs on all fours, looking over its' shoulders at her.

She grabbed the chains and quickly secured the vampire to the post. There was a moment that nearly had her passing out, his nose flared a couple of times when she got closer, but luckily that was his only response to her.

She didn't waste anymore time though, grabbed the medical box for the third time tonight, and she was running up the stairs. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she saw the large furry head pop of the doorway. It was odd to have such a large creature in her house, but she didn't think about that just yet. She sat the box down on the desk and she heard it growl softly.

"Come on, I know this is going to hurt a little bit, but," the wolf cut her off with another, more aggressive growl.

"Uhhh, Y/N," Jim called from the bathroom. "What was that?"

She turned around and went to the door. "I might have made another new friend tonight." The wolf's head popped into sight from the door to look at where the other voice came from out of curiosity, and Jim went white.

"That's an alpha werewolf."

She grunted as he pushed his way into the bathroom and began smelling and licking at Jim's neck like he had done with her, and Jim couldn't help the giggles that escaped his mouth and it only encouraged the wolf to tickle him more, but he eventually pushed him off gently.

Jim smiled shyly at the wolf before looking to her again. "Why was he growling at you?"

"I was just getting ready to stitch up his wounds."

The monstrous animal's ears pinned back at the word and Jim swatted his muzzle, startling the wolf.

"Be nice. She doesn't know anything and you can't talk in that form," Jim chided with a small smile.

"You don't need to rub it in!" She was almost defensive, but Jim was laughing.

"Werewolves don't need stitches, particularly alphas. He'll be fine by tomorrow night, you won't even know that he was hurt."

She nodded, but then stopped. "Why did he come with me then? If he didn't need help."

Jim's eyes were practically shining with mischief. "He probably thinks you're cute."

She was bright red now and she looked at the clear amusement both of them had.

"Or he had other reasons, I'm just," He had to think about it. He wasn't sure about the human word for this. "Having my fun?" He had a little shy smile, and while she was scowling, her heart melted a bit at the expression.

"I didn't realize I was opening my door to such jokesters," but even she had to laugh.

She let out a yawn, and she realized how tired she was out, "Well, I think I'm going to be retiring for the night. Jim would you like a pillow or something?"

He cocked he eyebrow. Right, that makes sense that they wouldn't have them in the ocean.

"I'll go get one for you away."

The wolf followed her out of the bathroom and crawled up on the bed for no regard to his weight as he circled like any dog would before settling down on the bed. She grabbed one of the extra pillows and returned to stuff it in the corner between the wall and the bathtub and Jim hesitantly rested his head against it before his eyes lit up.

"This is very comfortable. What did you call this?"

She chuckled, "A pillow. Goodnight, Jim."

He smiled, "Goodnight, Y/N. Thank you. again."

"It's no problem." With that, she left again for the bedroom.

She looked at the wolf, seemingly asleep, and she decided what the hell. She took her bra off and her pants, leaving herself in just a shirt and underwear. She crawled into bed under the blankets and tried to get comfortable, but sleep wasn't coming to her at all. She was just replaying the events of the night.

So, at the beginning of the night, it was crippling loneliness and a solid crying session, then late night sailing on the boat .... Then she saved a merman .... Then they got attacked by a vampire ..... and then she picked up a werewolf ..... and now there's a merman in  her bathtub, a vampire chained up in the living room, and a werewolf in bed with her. She sighed. This was.... weird. This was a weird night. This couldn't have happened, could it? This stuff was made up. Oh god, she was having a mental breakdown. She was breaking and this wasn't real. None of this was real.

She was starting to hyperventilate, panic gripping her, but then she felt a warm head, a very warm, very large, and very fluffy head nuzzle into her chest. A strong, furry arm ending in a hand with extremely long and sturdy claws wrapped around her abdomen and pulled her tight. An animal's tongue licked her cheek and she had to laugh at how much it tickled. She heard the wolf in approval and she relaxed. This was real. It was very very real and she had the feeling that this wolf wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Sleep soon took over, and for the first time in what felt like years, there was a smile on her face.

[firenationember]

Destruction, Everywhere (OC Fic)

12/?

Authors note: I was going to end this where the show ends, and then I read the comics. So expect more chapters to come!

Previous Chapters

We arrived just in time for Azula’s coronation, seconds away from being crowned Firelord, when Appa landed with a thud. Zuko was the first to jump down, quickly followed by Katara and I. We stood next to Zuko, staring Azula down as she kneeled on the ground. I’ve only seen Azula a few times, and every time I did, she was the poster child of a proper princess, “not a hair out of place” I remember Zuko saying about her once. This Azula in front of us was… not that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her hair so disheveled, her eyes dark and heavy as if she hasn’t slept.

“Two girlfriends, Zuzu? Really? Isn’t that a bit ambitious?” She cackled, before dropping the fake amusement from her face when Zuko said that he was there to become Firelord instead of her. She stood up and challenged Zuko to an Agni Kai, claiming it as “the showdown that was always meant to be”. When Zuko agreed and it seemed to have shocked Katara as much as it shocked me, since we both snapped our heads towards him. I knew we mimicked each other’s troubled expression, and I’ve never been more thankful to have Katara because I couldn’t find my voice to speak when I thought about Zuko fighting Azula. Zuko was aware that Azula was trying to split us up, knowing she couldn’t take all 3 of us at once (as Katara mentioned), but even he pointed out that something was “off about her”.

“I noticed that too, she looks exhausted.” I agreed, suddenly finding the right words. “I know you can do this Zuko. We’ll be here when you need us.” Katara nodded with an understanding expression, face ready to fight. We stood off to the side, far enough away from the flames yet close enough to watch. Katara and I stood next to each other, watching the siblings as they take their places on the courtyard to face off. I knew I had nothing to worry about and yet there was this pit forming in my stomach, the thought of something happening to Zuko looming. Azula was the first to throw her flame, the blue as blinding as it was scorching. Zuko’s orange burst of flame collided with hers and I watched as the heat radiated into my skin. I felt Katara’s hand find mine, only realizing it had been shaking when her steady grip found it. I glanced at her with a soft smile, the sweatiness of my hand apparent against her cool palm. I retuned my attention to the Agni Kai, not wanting to lose sight of Zuko. I was thankful we were standing where we were, until I saw how many buildings were on fire around us. Fire really does do nothing but destroy. I watched as their flames collided over and over, reaching the air around them, but never touching them. The fact was, they were both incredible fighters, and this could be anyone’s fight. Zuko hit Azula with a hit so fierce that it knocked her off her feet, causing her to tumble to the ground and lose what little control she had of her hair. It fell around her face as she stood up, breathing heavily. I felt Katara start to walk forward and I pulled her back.

           “Katara, what in the spirits are you doing?” I hissed at her, and I hoped my face showed how confused I was.

           “What do you mean? We have to help him, look at her! She’s so angry, she’s about to explode. Don’t you want to help him?” She asked, firmly pulling her hand away and walking out onto the courtyard before I could respond.

           “Katara!” I snapped at her, reluctantly following her out. Zuko yelled something about lightening to Azula, causing her to work up a huge electrical spark. I was too busy tugging on Katara’s arm and trying to get her off of the courtyard considering they’re in the middle of an Agni Kai for spirits sake. I noticed that Katara was stuck in place, eyes wide while she stared in awe, so I followed her gaze to see the brightest flash of blue blinding me, its crackling getting louder. In a split second, Zuko was jumping through the air between the bolt of lightning and Katara and I, unsure where exactly the bolt was going.

I felt myself cry out, yet I don’t know what left my mouth, as the electricity crashed into Zuko. His voice rang out as he flew, his “No!” echoing with my yell. I watched as his body slid and crumpled to the ground, the burst of lightening that bounced off his body glaring. He curled into himself, holding his chest with one arm, before rolling to his back. I tumbled towards him, leaving Katara behind me, and I was able to reach him in a few strides; I refusing to let anything- or anyone- stop me from being with him. I slid down next to Zuko and grabbed the hand that was lying on the ground with mine, caressing his cheek with my free hand. I was rubbing my thumb nervously on his cheek as I stared into his face, a wince contorting it as he clutched his chest where a wound splayed on his skin. Destruction, everywhere. The nations, the buildings, Zuko. I blinked my thoughts and tears away, focusing all of my energy on Zuko, who needed it more.

           “Zuko it’s okay. You’re okay. Everything is goi- “, I heard Azula cackle before I felt the heat of the fire whip behind me, cutting Katara off her course. I turned my head to see if Katara needed my help, when I felt Zuko’s hand tighten around mine with as much strength as he could muster, weakly pulling me back to him. I turned to face him and saw his bleary eyes staring back at me, wincing as he spoke.

           “Stay with me, please.” He croaked out, pain clear in his voice. My heart felt heavy, holding back tears at the sound of his fragile tone which caused a phrase that would normally make me feel light make feel rooted in place instead. I squeezed his hand and moved closer, holding his cheek with a firm hand.

           “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.” He gazed into my eyes as long as he could before the pain took over and he clenched his body in discomfort. I looked behind me to see Katara and Azula fighting- water and fire flying through the air. I knew Azula could care less that I was here with Zuko, she was just happy to keep Katara (a waterbending healer) away from him. I was just another firebender, not even a small threat to her. I felt as Zuko tried to sit up and I turned my attention back to him, helping him get up without hurting himself further. His torso couldn’t handle his weight quite yet, and we settled with his body leaned up against mine as I sat on my knees. I rest his head against my collarbone, his back against my chest, and I placed one hand tenderly in his hair. I started absentmindedly playing with his dark soft locks as we watched the fight rage on.

Katara and Azula ended up across the courtyard, and we watched as they made their way under the archways that surrounded the courtyard. Suddenly, they were both engulfed in ice and I held my breath- Katara is by far the best waterbender I know, but to consume themselves completely? She skillfully unfroze herself, floating around Azula as she bound her wrists before letting the ice melt and drop below them. She tightened the chains to ensure Azula couldn’t escape before running over to us. She grabbed some of her bending water and held it over the wound on Zuko’s chest. I felt his body ease a bit, some of the painful tension clearly resolving with Katara’s healing.

“Thank you, Katara.” He said, his voice finally deflating from the pain and his body sunk into me as exhaustion seemed to wash over. I brushed his hair out of his face lightly and place my cheek on top of his head, as Katara kneeled next to him crying from everything that just happened.

Katara and I helped Zuko stand up and he wrapped his free arm around my shoulders; I wasn’t sure if it was for support or comfort, but I was happy to be close to him all the same as I wrapped my arm around his waist. We all watched as Azula began sobbing, her body wracked with wave after wave of emotion. She quickly became a mess of tears and blue flames as she sobbed, and it became obvious to me that she had been holding all of this in for so long. I felt Zuko’s arm tense around me, and I pulled him closer, my fist full of the fabric from his top.

                    _________________________________________

 The rest of that night blended together once we met with the others, catching up in rotations as Zuko and Sokka received medical attention (Sokka ended up hurting his leg when stopping the airship fleet, and had to walk around with a crutch for a while). Zuko had chosen the proper placements for his father and sister, Ozai in a Fire Nation prison and Azula in a mental institution. Aang told us about the lion-turtle and how it showed him how to bend another’s energy, finally finding his answer to defeating the Firelord without taking his life.

The day of Zuko’s coronation was bright, the sun shining in the sky without a cloud in sight. I was waiting in an open hallway of the palace for Zuko to finish cleaning up, his robe draped over my crossed arms. Considering he had to bandage up his chest and shoulder, I knew he’d need help with it anyway. I was wearing the fanciest robe I think I’ve ever worn in my life, that was the prettiest shade of red I’ve ever seen with the lightest gold swirls in the fabric. The sunlight lit the room up in an orange gold, making the regal décor look like a dream. I heard unfamiliar footsteps, surprisingly light for anyone I knew, and I turned around to come face to face with someone I’ve only seen in passing. She was tall, slender, and has sleek black hair with two buns that sit on the back of her head. She wore long, crimson robes with white accents, and stood in the archway with her arms crossed over her body. She glanced at Zuko’s robe in my arms, her face flat.

“You must be the other… firebender. Draya, was it?” As soon as she spoke, a calm dull tone, I knew who she was.

“You must be Mai. It’s nice to finally meet you.” I decide to say, not sure what else there’d be to say. I bow my head slightly in greeting, her flat face never changing.

“Whatever, I just wanted to know what you look like.” She said, looking away from me suddenly and walking up to the balcony, placing her hands on the edge as she looked out. “I guess it makes sense why he chose you.” Her infliction was as flat as her earlier statement and yet it was filled with more poison somehow.

“He didn’t choose anyone except himself. He chose his nation.” I say, feeling suddenly defensive except I wasn’t sure if it was for me or Zuko. I didn’t know what Mai was here for, so I chose what I said carefully. “He cares about you Mai; you’ve known each other since you were kids and have been through a lot. He told me that he’ll always care for you. I hope you forgive him for being an idiot that only leaves a goodbye letter.” I looked over to see a slight twinge on her face, a ghost of a smile, maybe? She let out a long sigh before turning to walk away.

“I just wanted to say hello. Let him know I stopped by.” She said as casually as she could, although I heard a hitch in her voice when she mentioned Zuko. She had just walked back through the archway she entered through when Zuko walked down the hall from the other side of the luxurious hallway, a smile on his face as he got closer. I gave a small smile in return and held his robe out for his as he approached. I helped him shrug it on, and I noticed that he flinched slightly when he rose his shoulders. I didn’t know how else to bring up Mai’s brief appearance.

“Mai stopped by. She said hello.” I said, focusing on tying Zuko’s robe instead of looking up at him. When It was neatly done, I glanced up, his amber eyes already studying my face. I shrugged. “She seems nice.” This earned a small laugh from him.

“That’s not typically a word people use with Mai, but she is… once you get to know her.” I wrapped my arms around his waist gingerly and softly placed my head on his chest. I listened to his heartbeat as he gently draped his arms around me. I felt him rest his cheek on my head as he let out a content hum.

“Firelord Zuko… it has a nice ring to it.” I say, feeling his body rumble as he chuckled, and we pulled apart so we could look at each other. My hands lingered on his hips and his on my upper arms.

“So does Queen Draya.” I tried to let out a real laugh, but given the soft expression he gave me, I could tell it wasn’t convincing. I sighed and shook my head, smiling up at him.

“Zuko. I want to be with you, I can’t imagine not being by your side. You’re going to need all of the support you can get as you rebuild the Fire Nation, and I plan to be next to you every step of the way.” He smiled at me and I softly placed my hand on his cheek. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that, but I am ready to be your girlfriend… if you still want to be together.” His hand covered the one I had on his cheek, pushing his face into my palm and his free hand found my hip.

“We have the rest of our lives, I’m in no rush. As long as you’re with me, anything is possible.” I leaned forward and met his lips with a soft kiss. His hand snaked behind me as he pulled me closer, deepening the kiss with a smile, making me savor the moment that much more. When we pulled apart, I laughed nervously.

“That’s good, because I was looking at the damages done from the Agni Kai and… there’s a lot.” I gestured to the buildings around us before bringing my hand in and delicately dragging my index finger down Zuko’s torso, trying to only touch the fabric so I wouldn’t hurt him. “You’ll need enough time to heal before you really get out there too much.” He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers, walking towards his bedroom to finish getting dressed up in his Firelord attire. “Fire does tend to leave a lot of destruction in its path.”

“Do you remember when Aang and I went to the Sun Warrior ruins? Spirits that feels like so long ago. Aang said something while we were there that stuck with me. He called the fire he held a heartbeat. Fire does destroy, it also breathes and lives. The Fire Nation will soon be able to live and breathe freely the way fire should, and soon firebenders won’t be known for their destruction.”

“You haven’t even been officially crowned yet, and you already sound like the wisest Firelord I already know you’ll be known for. That is a nice way to think about firebending, though.” We stopped in front of his room and I heard voices coming from inside. I raised an eyebrow to him, and he chuckled, pulling me into his room. There were a few men, making sure Zuko’s robe and armor look perfect as it hung on a mannequin, who turned at the sound of us entering. They all started speaking at once and Zuko smiled at them.

“We were beginning to wonder when you’d show up to get ready for the coronation, Prince Zuko!” One of them said with a smile.

“Oh, I can help him get ready… if that’s okay with you?” I said, turning my head towards Zuko quickly as the words tumbled out of my mouth without thought. He gave one nod to me and looked to the men.

“Draya will help me, thank you for preparing my clothing.” He said, his noble demeanor slightly endearing. They all bowed to him, and then me, before shuffling out of the room. We walked towards the mannequin and he shot me a smirk. “Have you ever helped dress someone in royal garb before?” I pursed my lips and nodded my head in little quick nods.

“I only exclusively help dress people in royal garb.” We laughed and I removed the top layer of armor, carefully laying it on the bed. “I just thought you could help me figure it out.” I helped him slide the heavier robe over his arms and secure it in place. I never thought something as simple as helping a healing Zuko get dressed could be a memory I want to cherish forever, thinking to myself how I never want to forget the gentleness in his voice or the softness in his touch.

                                _________________________________________

           We were all lounging in Iroh’s tea shop, and it was amazing how it felt to really relax without too much worry for the future. We could really just enjoy this moment; the soft music Iroh was playing that reminded me of the old man who used to play music on his porch every night in my home village, the sight of Aang happily played with Momo on the ground and Toph lazily sipped on her tea, sitting with Katara and Suki at the Pai Sho table as they explained how to play. Zuko had walked up with a glass of tea for each of us, which caused Sokka to groan from across the room.

         “Drayyyya, tell your boyfriend to stop moving so much. I'm trying to capture the moment!" Sokka's comment made me smile, because I couldn't deny it this time: Zuko is my boyfriend, and nothing made me happier than he did. We all walked over to see Sokka’s artwork and immediately started questioning his artistic creativity.

           “Well, I think you all look perfect!” Toph chimed in, causing us all to laugh. Aang walked outside to feed Appa, disappearing onto the balcony, and was soon followed by a rather confident looking Katara. I smiled to myself, silently celebrating with her in my head because finally. I stood next to Zuko, wrapping one arm around his torso as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He pulled me in closely and I placed my free hand on his chest, resting my head above my hand. I could hear his heartbeat, a reminder that we made it and we’re here, Zuko’s here with me, and Sokka is cracking jokes with Toph while Iroh plays more music and everything about this moment is perfect.

Life wouldn’t magically be easy after this, easier yes, but there’s still a lot of hard work to do. We can rebuild the Fire Nation, rebuild their reputation with the world; the seven of us have gotten through so much and I knew we could get through more, together. I knew that, with Zuko by my side, anything would be possible. There might be destruction everywhere, and now it’s time to rebuild something beautiful from the rubble.  

[smilecake]

Comfort | Pt. 2

A/N: I am alive! I have been writing on this one for too long, but I finally managed to complete this chapter! If a lot of you guys like this chapter, I can update another one, but it depends if you want another one :) Anyways, thank you for reading! x  

Genre: Fluff, fuckboy!au, romance 

Pairing: Jungkook x OC

Word count: 10 K 

Summary: In which you (Somin) like Jungkook and try to get with him, despite his fuckboy attitude. 

Previous: Comfort Pt. 1

“Honey, we are going on a vacation starting this week. Nobody will be home when you return for the weekends.”

Somin sighed to herself as she leant against the washing machine. She was clenching the laundry bin in her hands and it amazed her how it was her first time to do the laundry at her dorms in the weekends. Normally, she would have been at home sipping warm chocolate milk and talking about her hectic week of studying and presentations with her mom. However, her parents decided to take a vacation in Cuba for a week and this left Somin with no choice but to stay at her dorms with minimal social contact as most of her roommates returned home spending their time with their family, including her neighbor she hasn’t spoken to for days or weeks ever since that incident.

She didn’t know how to act around him anymore. It felt exciting and embarrassing at the same time whenever she saw him. Shyness was her biggest problem and it forced her to avoid him for quite some time.

“...We had a presentation....Yeah...” Someone murmured.

Somin snapped her head up when she heard voices coming down the stairs. She dropped her laundry bin and looked down at herself touching the fabric of her clothes.  She didn’t expect anyone to be here, so she didn’t put any effort to look presentable. Her third-day hair was collected in a messy bun and she was still in her pink footed teddy bear onesie. It would be extremely embarrassing for her to have people see her like that. Panicked, she bit her lip and pushed up her glasses.

“Oh god, what to do?” She said to herself, as she frantically looked around to hide herself. Her laundry still had 30 minutes to go and most people just put in their laundry and leave. If she could hide herself for a few minutes, it would solve the problem, so she thought. She quickly moved herself behind a laundry machine when she saw a red laundry bin appearing behind the wall.

“Yeah, I had mine in the morning. I have to say, they didn’t go easy on me with their questions. I felt like I’ve aged 20 years from the stress they gave me.” The girl complained, when she entered the laundromat room and put down her bin on top of the machine. The other person who came along laughed at her and leant on the same spot Somin was at earlier. He was dazzling as always and it surprised Somin that they were both at the dorms, despite the weekends. Were they always here, Somin thought to herself.

Somin recognized the girl as that friendly girl living in the room at the end of the hallway. She would occasionally pass her room and each time when she did, she would hear Ed Sheeran’s music booming out from her speakers from outside her room. Further than that, she didn’t really know much about her, except that she seemed to be close to him now.

A small feeling started in the pit of her stomach and even if Somin was a very honest girl, she couldn’t stop herself from eavesdropping on them. It was her curiosity that made her break her own values, and it seemed like it didn’t stop there. Somin didn’t like how that girl was so close with him. She didn’t like how she was with him at the moment, even though she didn’t do anything to Somin. She just didn’t like her presence. She suspected it might have something to do with that jealousy she read so much about in online fanfiction, or heard her friend complaining about whenever she had a boyfriend.

“Are you talking about Ms. Davis? I heard she is going through a mid-life crisis due to her divorce with her husband and she is taking her anger out on us.” Jungkook flashed his bunny teeth, as he ran a hand through his black bangs. Somin widened her eyes and heat rushed to her cheeks upon staring at him. Even the way how he breathes could make Somin have difficulty breathing. He seemed to be extra handsome today, even if he was just dressed in a plain white T-shirt and black skinny jeans, paired with Timberlands. It was as if she was star struck from the moment he stepped into the room. He would always look handsome to her in any way.

“Oh, speaking of Ms. Davis. I heard her son is going to throw a party this upcoming Tuesday. Are you going?”

Jungkook bit back a smile, as he cocked his head. Something in the way he was looking at her made him seem determined and up for a challenge. “You don’t even have to ask. Are you going to be there?” Jungkook smirked, as his eyes shortly took in her appearance. Somin knew what he was doing. She saw him do it often around the campus whenever he wanted to have fun. He would subtly check her out and ask her whether she would go to a party, and if she does, Somin would have to sleep with earplugs for the rest of the evening. A shiver ran down her spine when she was reminded of those events, and it made her heart clench. She realized that, despite the kiss, Jungkook would never look at her the way he just did. He would never ask her out for just how she is. She had nothing to offer compared to that girl and on top of that, what’s so special about one kiss? He was a fuckboy after all. It was like common manners for him to kiss random girls, especially when he did not want to have a crying mess as his neighbor interrupting his sleep. It was stupid of her to think that maybe there was something more between them. Something called love, which she did not have any experience in.

“Of course, especially if there will be more cute guys like you attending.” She winked at him, which made Jungkook smirk and raise an eyebrow. Somin could tell he was amused by the way he leant in and supported his upper body with his elbow on the washing machine. “You want to have a little taste of how the party is going to be then?”

Somin bit her lip, as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her onesie. It was really uncomfortable and difficult for her to watch them, especially if they were going to make out. All what she wanted was for them to leave, so she could finish her laundry and return to her room, wishing that none of this was real and Jungkook did not make her feel ill about her own feelings. She did not like this one bit and it messed with her mind, sending obscure thoughts that could lead to mental breakdown if she was not going to escape from this place soon. At first, she did not notice her sharp intake of breath caused by her feelings, but when allergy took shape as the worst condition in the world, she grew sensitive to the dusty environment and exposed herself unwillingly from a simply itch to her nose. Stupid allergy, Somin cursed mentally, but she immediately stood frozen when the room had gone awfully silent and she had become the center of their attention. Both heads were snapped towards her direction with surprise as their gazes prick into her back and made her feel unbelievable small and shameful for eavesdropping on their intimate moment.

“Oh... Hey, I didn’t see you there. You are Somin right, from room...” The girl’s voice trailed off when she couldn’t come up with the number. She sounded friendly, but something in her eyes displayed passive aggression, whereas Jungkook still looked amused and laid-back.

“She’s my neighbor,” Jungkook added, before he stepped back and put distance between the girl and him as if he had heard his cue. Somin pushed up her glasses on her nose and tried to avoid their stares as much as possible. “S-Sorry... I didn’t mean to interrupt. Don’t mind me, I’m just h-here to pick up my l-laundry...” She stuttered. Woah, the tremendous awkwardness she felt at the moment could not be described. As she hurriedly walked over to the washing machine, which was obviously planned by Satan to be between the girl and Jungkook, she almost punched the button and forced the washing machine to stop its program. There were still 20 minutes left until her laundry was ready, but she couldn’t handle to stay any longer in the room and she didn’t feel like returning to retrieve her laundry at a later time when the risk of seeing them again was relatively high, considering them living in the same apartment complex.  It wasn’t that hard anymore for her to curl back in bed and reflect on what life was to find herself with such an embarrassing moment. Somin felt her cheeks starting to heat up as she felt Jungkook’s eyes on her. He was staring down at her and she felt her legs could go jelly at any moment if she did not rush herself. Her thoughts were all over the place and her heart beat pounded loudly in her chest.

What seemed like an eternity, she finally felt relief when the last piece of clothing was forced into her laundry bin and she stepped away from her role as their cockblocker by moving back to where she first was discovered. She shyly gave them a quick bow, before she sped towards the stairs without waiting for their answer. She wasn’t sure if she was turning paranoid, but she thought she heard a faint chuckle from the girl in the background. Great, I must look like a fool to them, Somin sighed as she carried her bin to her room. Fishing out her keys, her mind couldn’t stop but imagine what their possible reactions could be, considering that he had been staring at her for a long time. Was he laughing at her all the time? Especially because of her ridiculous footed onesie? She looked down at her feet and she shyly rubbed them together like she was trying to rub off the childish pink color and its soft fur that completed her look of a 7-year-old.  

“Ooh man...” Somin groaned to herself, when she opened the door to her room and carried the bin with a sulky expression inside. From all the days they could do laundry, it had to be now?

However, after entering her room, Somin felt the heavy weight on her shoulders being lifted up as her comfort zone embraced her. Nobody would judge her for her onesie and dirty hair in this room, and she figured that as long as she could avoid them, she wouldn’t have to face the awkwardness of needing to explain why she hid herself behind a washing machine. On top of that, they might think she was weird and dirty, of course all the credits dedicated to that Ed Sheeran girl.

She plopped herself down on the couch near the bin and she slowly started to fold her laundry, despite being it semi-dry. “Tsk...” Somin muttered to herself, “Most girls don’t even dress up on a Sunday. You are probably just overdressed.” Her hands caressed the fabric, before she pulled out a pair of pants to fold. “Yeah, that must be it. Who puts on lipstick on a Sunday, anyway?”

It might sound crazy, but judging that girl with herself helped her feel better about her own. “Honestly, I find this onesie cool. Pink is my favorite color. There is nothing wrong with showing off my favorite—“

Knock knock!

Somin immediately turned silent and she snapped her head towards the door. Oh no, did someone hear me, she thought to herself shocked. She slowly stood up from her seat and shuffled towards the door. Peeking through the little hole, she saw strands of black hair and the flashing of bunny teeth. Shocked, Somin turned herself around and placed her hand in front of her mouth.

“Why is he at my door?” Somin gasped, as she looked another time to make sure she wasn’t mistaken. Shocked, she tried to calm herself by letting out a slow and steady breath, but the relaxing technique actually made her more anxious. Why was everything against her today? Was this some sort of punishment for her sins she had committed by downloading an extra episode of How to keep up with the Bangtan Boys from Limewire? “Try to play it cool. He probably forgot his keys or something.”

Somin composed herself, before she slowly twisted her doorknob and opened the door.

“H-Hello?” It sounded like a whisper. Jungkook cocked his head and smiled, so wide that it made his eyes narrow and wrinkles started to pop up from around his eye area.

“Hey,” he mumbled, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, “I figured that you wouldn’t know what you have left behind in the laundromat room.” As he said, he raised his hand and revealed a red laced bra dangling from his finger. Somin turned pale from the sudden shock, when she realized it was hers, but she was never planning to admit it. Never. Ever... Atleast, not to this guy.

Somin tightened her grip on the doorknob and she showed a feigned smile. “I-It’s not mine. I think you are mistaken.”

Jungkook let out a bellowed laughter, as he took a step to the front, urging Somin to step back into her room. “You know... It’s Sunday....I don’t think it’s a good idea if you come inside... And...” Somin stuttered as she was unsure on how to make him leave, but as he closed the door behind him, Somin’s voice got weaker. “Or...Yeah... Ignoring me is also an option.” She felt so awkward around him and Jungkook noticed it instantly with a cock of his head and a smirk. He threw her bra on the couch and stepped around the room, looking around with a big smile, seemingly forgotten that he just invited himself.

“I didn’t remember that your room was this cozy and nice from the last time I visited.” Jungkook said, as he traced his finger across a picture frame hanging up on the wall. Somin blinked with her eyes and nervously pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I-I’ll get you a glass of water.” She ignored his question and wandered around a bit before she remembered that her kitchen was the other way around. Jungkook noticed her uneasiness and he chuckled to himself when he saw her head snap into different directions and he saw her rushing towards the refrigerator, but not before bumping her leg against the couch and pretending that it didn’t hurt while it obvious did. She was really cute, Jungkook thought to himself. With his hands in his pockets, he walked over to her refrigerator and laid his arm on its door, surprising Somin when she raised her head once she had grabbed the bottle from the freezer.

“I’m not trying to make myself too comfortable, but I prefer Sprite over water.” Jungkook grinned to her and she froze, face turning paler than a blank sheet. “I-I don’t have Sprite...” She meekly brought out. Jungkook laughed to himself, before he shook his head and gestured. “Water is fine. I was just kidding.”

Somin flashed him a weak smile and she quickly reached for a cup to pour him a glass of water, giving the opportunity for a silence to occur between them. All she could think of was about how to make him leave. His presence was just too much for her right now. She gave him the water and he lightly took a sip, without taking his eyes off her. It made her extremely uncomfortable and she could hear her ears being blocked by the thundering of her pulse. Why did he come into her room in the first place, anyways? He was strange. He was weird.

Jungkook licked his lips and put down his glass on the counter. “You have anything to do, tonight?” Something in his voice sounded amusing, almost as if he was trying to test her.

“Sorry?” Somin asked. She didn’t hear his question due her thoughts that were all over the place, again. Jungkook snorted and cocked his head. “I asked you if you have anything to do tonight. I haven’t seen you around for some time and since it’s Sunday, I figured we could maybe hangout?”

Her eyes widened at his suggestion. “Hangout?” She blurted out and she suddenly realized how stupid she sounded, but she couldn’t help but be surprised that a fuckboy actually asked her to hangout, let alone Jungkook.

“You know, as in watching a movie together or something. Don’t tell me you are going to study on a Sunday evening,” He laughed, but then his face turned serious when Somin just glared at him, “No way...”

“I actually have a test this week. I have to...” That was a lie, but Somin thought Jungkook wouldn’t know. He never cared about school enough to keep track on every test that the teachers had scheduled. He wouldn’t even know how her schedule looked like, so she thought. Jungkook scoffed and he narrowed his eyes by breaking into a cocky smile. “Oh, I see what’s going on. Are you avoiding me?”

More blood and heat rushed to her cheeks when he caught her. She was burning under his stare, no, she was on fire and in danger when he walked over to her, making her back up against the wall. “Is my baby girl avoiding me?”

“No... I-I don’t know what you are talking about?” She stammered, as she searched for a way to put distance between them, but Jungkook was too confident to be fooled and continued to take a step closer.

“You are. This explains your strange behavior in the laundromat room, earlier. In fact, you have been avoiding me for weeks, ever since that kiss happened, haven’t you?” He smirked when he was only inches away from her and she could practically feel his warm breath on her skin, coated with charms that had always effortlessly made her head spin.

“I-I...” Oh god, she was too intimidated and overwhelmed by his presence. On top of that, he was too close. She could smell his scent, which she loved so much but didn’t dare to admit to herself. Her heart fluttered when she finally made eye contact with him and she instantly regretted it. She could feel her legs getting weak under his beautiful brown eyes that were trying to stare right into her soul, but she wasn’t going to let him do that for long.

“C-Can you please move a little back?” She managed to sound bold, which surprised Jungkook. He narrowed his eyes and chuckled. “Baby girl, you don’t like to have me close to you?”

“Isn’t that practically cheating on your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?” He scoffed, surprised at the sudden twist. “What does that have to do with us?”

“A-Aren’t you dating that girl at the end of this hallway, then?” Somin blurted out, staring up at him. Ugh, confronting him in her pink footed onesie was not one of the things she had in mind.

“Oh... You mean her. Don’t worry, we are just friends, whereas you... are my baby girl.” His arms snaked around her waist and he gently pulled her closer to his chest. “And much prettier than her.” He whispered in her ear.

“Stop... This is wrong.” Somin weakly brought out, as she placed her hands on his arms, ready to push him away, but he was strong, especially with those muscles in his arms. Oh god.

“What’s so wrong? Me being single and wanting to get closer to the girl I like or that you can’t study on a Sunday evening?” He teased. He was enjoying it so much, knowing how inexperienced she was at the moment. He obviously wanted to get with her, but Somin was so shy and insecure that it blocked her in some kind of way to act normal.

“Both... I mean, does it even matter? This is wrong. There is no possibility that you would like me.”

“Why not? You are cute and adorable. On top of that, you are smart.” He praised, as he leant in and pressed his lips against her neck. Somin let out a soft whimper at the sudden touch. It was over for her. She was completely swept away by him and she had to put her arms around his neck for support. His hands roamed from her hips to the small of her back, where it stopped as he tightened his hug.

“You don’t have to worry about other girls. You are my baby girl, you will always be my favorite.” He whispered and Somin couldn’t help but to smile and feel butterflies in her belly.

“If you say so,” Somin muttered back shyly, as Jungkook pushed her a bit off him so he could look at her face. There was a soft glint in her eyes and it somehow warmed his heart. It was the right moment, he thought. Jungkook dived in for her lips and kissed her slowly. She felt warm on his lips and he felt soft to hers. It was like how she dreamt it. Everything felt so exciting for her.

For the remaining time of the evening, they both decided to watch a movie, but Somin had to admit that she didn’t really knew what the movie really was about. She was constantly distracted by Jungkook trying to get her attention. He was kissing her most of the time and Somin laid in his arms enjoying his warmth.

“To be honest, I didn’t know I would be your type.” Somin admitted, as she slowly looked up at him. Jungkook watched her with hooded eyes and smiled. “You are not, but I would make an exception for you.” He said, already leaning down to press a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“Stop with that sweet talk.” Somin chuckled, as she sat up straight and faced him. “I want a honest answer. When did you start to like me?”

“That’s a secret.” He smirked, as he reached out his hand to grab Somin’s arm. He pulled her in and made her fall on her back on the bed. Surprised, Somin looked at him as Jungkook hovered over her and smiled. “All I am saying is that you are my baby girl.”

Somin grinned wide from his sweet words and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down. “Eager, aren’t we?” he whispered, and Somin blushed. “Shut up.”

Jungkook laughed and buried his nose in her neck. His hands grabbed her waist, as he pressed his lips against the crook of her neck. Somin whimpered lightly and Jungkook went ahead to place little kisses on her neck, which soon developed in little love bites.

“Can I stay over?” Jungkook muttered against her skin. Somin immediately nodded and closed her eyes, as she focused on his touch. He was gentle, yet sweet.

It didn’t take long before Somin had fallen asleep and Jungkook laid by her side admiring her. He was supposed to sleep on the couch, but he wouldn’t want to miss her sleeping face for anything, so he secretly sneaked into bed with her and embraced her. She unconsciously pressed herself closer against his chest. Jungkook chuckled, as he caressed her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead.

“My cute baby girl.” He whispered, before he soon followed and fell asleep too.

 When the morning came and Somin was slowly waking up, she blinked her eyes a few times, before she remembered yesterday and she jolted up in her bed. Flickering her eyes to the couch, she discovered it to be empty with the blankets nicely folded on the arm support.

Was it all a dream, Somin thought to herself. She scanned her room and noticed her laptop sitting at the end of her bed. It wasn’t a dream. They really watched a movie, together. But she figured that he might have left early in the morning to get ready for school. Somin checked her phone for the time and she noticed that she had a unread message from an unknown number. Touching the message to open, Somin smiled to herself when she saw the message.

 Morning, baby girl.

I hope you slept well.

This is my number in case you wondered.

-          Jungkook

 She sighed to herself as she rolled back in her bed. Oh god. Did this mean that they were officially dating? Did she finally have a boyfriend by just being herself? She couldn’t believe, neither could she believe the time that her wall portrayed. It was already half past 9, which meant that courses had already started an hour ago. Widening her eyes, she cursed to herself and bounced out of her bed. Collecting all her books in her backpack, she quickly grabbed some breakfast and when she was about to grab her keys, she froze in the mirror when she saw multiple bruises on her neck. Fuck, love bites.

 A few days later, Somin hasn’t spoken to Jungkook much because of her upcoming test on Thursday. She has been doing study sessions in the library and pulling long nights each day. For some reason, she had a hard time focusing on her books as her phone looked tempting. She wanted to text him, although she didn’t know about what. Everything was still new to her and it was her curiosity and excitement that wanted to try things she usual never did. One of them was texting Jungkook.

When she closed her book for a short study break in the library, she grabbed her phone out of her backpack and lit up the screen. What can I say, Somin thought, shall I ask if he has eaten yet? No, it’s only 5 pm.

She really wanted to talk to him, but she also wondered why Jungkook hasn’t texted her, either for the past few days. Was he also busy studying for his tests? Which means that Somin shouldn’t disturb him by texting him. Urgh, why was dating so hard, she thought but at the same time, she couldn’t help but to keep a smile on her face. Maybe, when she gets home, she’ll knock on his door and ask him if he wanted to cook together with her.

It was easier said than done, when there was no response and his door didn’t open. He wasn’t in his room. “Strange, or was he at the library too, but he didn’t return, yet?” Confused, Somin shrugged her shoulders and headed back into her room. She quickly cooked something for herself, but it seemed like she has overestimated the amount of rice grain in the rice cooker. “Ah, I can give this to Jungkook later if he hasn’t eaten yet.” Somin thought to herself and she neatly placed the rice in the fridge with some side dishes.

The next day, Somin finished her test and waited for Jungkook in the hallway. His classes were finished at the same time as hers, but she managed to be quick and see all the students walk out of the class. When she nonchalantly leaned against the door, she overheard a voice which made her heart race. “Yes, I’ll be coming tonight. See you there.”

Jungkook walked out of his class and Somin smiled. “Hey!” she chirped, which surprised Jungkook. He looked at her shortly, before he gave her a quick smile.

“Hey! I didn’t see you there.” He said, placing a hand on the small of her back. He was guiding her to walk away from his class, until they have reached his locker. “How was the test?” He asked, as he opened his locker and placed his books inside. Somin cocked her head and stuck out her two thumbs. “You can be proud of your smart girlfriend, because I aced the test!” Somin laughed. Jungkook’s face fell shortly, but Somin was too cheerful to notice it. He ruffled her hair and tried to smile, what looked more like a grimace. “Girlfriend?” He chuckled. Somin blinked her eyes, before she fell silent.

“Too early?” She whispered, to which Jungkook shook his head and laughed. He closed his locker and turned to her.

“I prefer to call you my baby girl. I’m more into nicknames. Anyways, I still have some classes to attend. I’ll see you tonight?” He said, before he stepped back and waved at her. Somin nodded and waved back. “Yeah, sure. Good luck.” She smiled at him, before he disappeared around the corner and she was left standing at his locker.

Flickering her eyes over at the green door, she grinned wide when she saw Jungkook’s name. She couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. It almost felt like a dream to her.

However, dreams mostly don’t last very long, and it wouldn’t take long for Somin to know that love is two-faced.

 “What are you talking about? Why won’t you go to that frat party tonight?” Somin’s friend, Yeri, exclaimed through the phone. Somin wasn’t feeling to go out tonight, but Yeri seemed to have a different opinion about it. “It’s one of the biggest party of this semester. You can’t miss it, besides, there will be some hot and cute boys.”

Somin rolled her eyes as she took a seat on the couch and started to play with the hem of her sweater. “Nah, you know how I think about frat parties. They literally make me puke.” Somin said, but Yeri just sighed. “That’s why you should go to this one. It will prove you wrong. Come on! Just one time!” She begged and Somin sighed.

“Fine, fine! But I’ll be leaving when it is not fun.”

“Oh god, you won’t. A few hot boys are going to be there, especially Jungkook. You know that neighbor you have been crushing on for so long...”

“Yes, about that... Yeri, there is something I need to tell yo—“

“I’m coming, mom geez! Calm down!” Yeri interrupted Somin, “Sorry, Somin. I have to hang up now. My mom wants me to help her with grocery shopping.”

Somin laughed and smiled. “Yeah, sure. No problem, we can talk about this later. Before you leave, text me the address of that frat party.”

“Okay! See you tonight!”

“Bye!”

Somin pressed the red button and she looked at her phone. Shortly after, she received a text from Yeri with the address of the frat party. Apparently, it didn’t seem to be that far from her dorms. Somin smiled to herself and decided to study for a bit, before she grabs some dinner and take a shower.

 “Do you want a drink?” Yeri yelled in her ear as the music was much louder than their voices combined. “What?” Somin yelled back, but Yeri shook her head and grabbed her arm to guide her towards the stall with the drinks. She gave Somin a red cup, as she poured herself a strange blue liquid. Somin looked in her cup and frowned. Nudging her friend, she leant into her ear.

“What is this? You didn’t pour me a drink.” Somin yelled, but Yeri just smiled. “You are going to play one round of beer pong with me.” She said, and she pulled Somin to the table with a group of students, seemingly to enjoy their selves as one of them threw the ping pong ball into a cup. Somin looked at them and it somehow scared her a bit that some of them were already wasted. She didn’t know how the rules were set with this game and how much she would have to drink if she lost.

Pushing her cup into Yeri’s hand, she shook her head. “No, no, you can play it alone. I am not going to drink tonight.”

“What?”

“I SAID I DIDN’T WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME!”

Yeri nodded shortly that she heard her and a weak pout formed on her lips. “WHY NOT? IT’S FUN!!”

“Yeah, I know, but...” It was then when Somin’s eyes scanned through the crowd that she saw a familiar figure dancing on the floor. It turned her silent and she couldn’t help but to keep her eyes stuck on his moves. The lack of answering her caused Yeri to look at her and then follow her gaze towards the dancing figure.

“Oooooooh... Crush alert!” She chirped loudly in her ear, which caused Somin to snap out of her trance and blush. “Come, let’s go dance with him!”

But Somin refused to follow her. She grabbed Yeri’s arm to stop her and she then pointed to the other people standing around him. It were his friends, but some of them were known to be a bully underneath the nerds, and Somin was one of the few who caught them in the act of stealing money from other students. Yeri was aware of it too and she felt relieved that Somin warned her, or she would have thrown herself into the fire.

“On a second thought, watching from a distance isn’t that bad. I’m sure you will have plenty of chances to talk to him tonight, without his friends that is.” Yeri said, bobbing her head on the rhythm of the music. Once Jungkook has stopped dancing, the other clapped for him and his friends stormed towards him, pulling him into a tight hug. Jungkook smiled to his friends, before he looked up through the crowd and he and Somin crossed eyes.

Jungkook smiled lightly at her, before he averted his eyes and started to jump with his friends, not caring anymore about Somin. Yeri looked at them both, before she snapped her head at Somin and raised an eyebrow. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Somin absentmindly asked, before she turned her head to look at Yeri with a dreamy look.

“Holy Jesus! Look at you! You are smitten for that boy!” Yeri laughed, which caused Somin to blush more. “I bet he likes you too! But before you throw yourself out there, don’t forget that Jungkook is still a fuckboy.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. It’s just a label to scare girls off. He is actually really kind and sweet when you know him personally.” Somin said, but Yeri looked at her with disdain.

“I know he is a fuckboy just by looking at him. Come on, he must have had thousands of girls in his bed, before. Good rumors don’t spread by itself, without having a small bit of truth in them.” Yeri remarked and Somin shot her look. Yeri raised her hands and backed off. “Okay, okay. Just saying. I just don’t want you to be involved in something you are not ready for yet.”

Somin rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’ll be fine. He’s really kind.”

“Uh yeah, almost to every girl. That’s his trademark as a fuckboy.” Yeri retorted with an obvious tone, but she quickly shut up when Somin shot her a look again.

“Don’t worry. Anyways, I need to use the restroom. Could you get me an actual drink, instead of a ticket to wasteland, while I am gone?” Somin asked, to which Yeri nodded. Somin left her spot and after a bit of searching and bumping into some people, she finally found the restroom. There were a few typical and superficial girls standing in the bathroom, staring at their reflection as they touched up their makeup.

Somin quickly walked into a cubicle and sat down. What seemed like a calm moment for Somin, it was interrupted by the annoying laughing of the girls. However, she couldn’t help but to eavesdrop on them.

“Did you see him dance? He looked so hot in that shirt covered with sweat.”

“Yes, oh my god! It almost became see-through. I bet he is great in bed with those abs and muscles.”

Somin supported her chin with her hand and frowned. “Were they talking about Jungkook?” Somin thought to herself, which made her heart jump. The girls giggled slightly, before they continued and Somin wished she didn’t hear it.

“Oh right, speaking of sex. Didn’t Jungkook sleep with Chaeyoung yesterday?”

“No effin’ way! Yesterday?”

“Was that the reason why he wasn’t in his room, yesterday?” Somin gasped and she quickly covered her mouth, hoping they didn’t hear her. Luckily, they didn’t as their gossip just continued.

“Yes, Jimin told me. Apparently, Chaeyoung lost a bet and she had to fuck him, and knowing Jungkook, he fucks everyone he knows.  Chaeyoung is such a slut.”

“Wasn’t Jungkook actually dating? I heard him talking about a certain girl at his dorms in Ms. Davis lecture.”

Somin widened her eyes. Her heart jumped, as she believed that they were going to talk about her. But sadly...

“You mean that Ed Sheeran girl? What’s her name, again? Ugh... I drank too much to remember her name, but she is here tonight. Jungkook was bragging about her coming tonight, but I doubt they are dating. It seems more to me that he is just looking for some quick sex.”

The other girl scoffed. “As expected. Jungkook isn’t even the type to settle down with a girl. Even the words ‘girlfriend’ and ‘relationships’ sickened him.”

“Right. I wouldn’t either if I was a boy and had his looks, haha.”

“Oh! Should we bet on him tonight? I bet he is going to eat out that Ed Sheeran’s girl.”

“Sounds great. How much are you going to bet on? I was actually rooting for him to fuck that girl until he got her walking side by side~”

“Oh, I like that song! We’ll see. I’m going to put out 50 dollars.”

“Deal. One of us is going to be rich tonight.” They laughed at each other, before they finally left and the bathroom was silent again.

Somin flushed the toilet and walked out of the cubicle with a pale face. She felt like throwing up, despite not even having one drop of alcohol in her system. It was sickening to hear them. It was awful to know this through a bathroom conversation. Somin supported herself on the washing table, before she looked at herself in the mirror. Tears has formed in her eyes and they were making their way down her cheeks. She lightly sniffed through her nose, before she quickly turned on the tap and splashed water in her face. She felt disgusted to know that she probably didn’t mean anything to Jungkook. She felt so stupid to actually believe his words, because she really believed him when he said he liked her, while in fact, he was just trying to get into her pants.

Clenching her fist, she patted her face dry and let out a heavy sigh. She wanted to confront him about it. She wanted to know if the girls were telling the truth. She wanted to know if Jungkook actually cared about her with his lies. If those stereotypes of fuckboys never falling for nerds were true and he was actually cheating on her. Cheating, did he even see her as his girlfriend?

Somin scoffed to herself, before she walked out of the bathroom in search for Yeri. Like expected, she was standing near the counter of drinks, holding two blue cups up and she beamed when she saw Somin approaching.

“Took you a while! You almost missed the best part. Come—Are you alright?” Yeri’s face was painted with concern once she saw Somin’s pale expression. Somin lightly brushed her off and shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about it. All she wanted was to find Jungkook and talk with him.

“Do you know where Jungkook is?” She asked her, which surprised Yeri. She broke into a smile and turned her around to point at the couch. “He’s there, on the couch. Why? You want to make your move?” She raised an eyebrow, but Somin didn’t pay attention to her. She was already squeezing herself between the people, until she saw black strands of hair sticking out from behind the couch, but surprisingly, he wasn’t alone.

Somin narrowed her eyes and stopped once she stood across the couch. There was a girl with him, leaning her head on his shoulder and joking with him. It didn’t really occur to her, until now that she find the girl’s laugh annoying, unlike that time in the laundromat room. Even if the music was loud, Somin could clearly make out her voice above the music. She bit her lip and she frowned. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She felt her heart stopping when Jungkook leant into her. Everything around her stopped when she watched him kiss her. She felt how her heart started to ache and her dream was shattered into tiny little pieces.

He played with her feelings.

The kiss proceeded into a deeper one and it disgusted Somin. She was angry and jealous at the same time and it would be unfair if she just left without him knowing. Without him knowing how much pain he had inflicted to her.

“Jungkook!” Somin yelled above the music, which made people snap their heads at her. The girl frowned when Jungkook broke off the kiss, looking surprised around at the sudden mention of his name. His eyes wandered around until it landed on Somin and he stared at her frowning.

Somin’s tears were already threatening to fall as she couldn’t see him clearly anymore, only that there were figures approaching her and nudging her shoulder.

“Who do you think you are? You just spoiled their fun.” A guy said, as he smirked and tried to push her away, but Somin stood frozen on the spot. His friends were all looking at her, which somehow took away her courage to be confident and face Jungkook.

“Do you know her, Jungkook?” They asked him, to which he flickered his eyes, but before he could give an answer, someone was already before him.

“She is one of the nerds,” A boy named Hoseok said, before he smirked at her, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be studying for your tests with the other nerds?”

People crowded around her and Hoseok walked over to her, poking into her shoulder. “These parties aren’t really for you. You don’t belong here. Go back home.”

“I-I need to talk to Jungkook. Please, let me through.” Somin said, avoiding his eye contact as she tried to push past him, but he just pushed her back. She stumbled a bit and eyed him.

“I told you to go home! Don’t make me repeat my words.” Hoseok scoffed, before he was backed by a few more people. Somin cowered a bit under his intimidation, but she didn’t want to give up so easily.

“Please let me talk to Jungkook.”

“Jungkook?” He laughed, surprised that he didn’t hear her wrong, “If you have something stupid to say, say it here. I’ll tell him.”

Somin stayed silent, but that seemed to trigger Hoseok’s irritation. “Yah,” he said, pushing her shoulder again. “Go ahead! Tell me!” He was pushing her harder and harder, until he was too strong for her and Somin stumbled back and fell down on the ground, earning lots of laughter from the people around her.

“She’s so weak.” One of them said, and Hoseok cocked his head. “Know your position, sweetie. This isn’t a place for you to share your calculus and geometry.”

Somin bit her lip as she could no longer hold back her tears for being treated like that. Why were they all so mean, she thought, and to make it worse, Hoseok grabbed a cup from someone and splashed the liquid onto her. Somin gasped and looked at everyone who made fun of her.

“Hey! That was uncalled for!” A familiar voice said as he grabbed onto Hoseok’s shoulder and turned him around. Somin sobbed lightly and looked up to see Jungkook staring down at her. He looked concerned, but Somin was too hurt to meet his eyes. She quickly stood up from her position and ran away. She could no longer stand the pressure they gave her.  

“Somin! Wait!” She could hear Jungkook calling after her, but she ignored him and ran away from the party.

After it happened, Jungkook wasn’t in the mood to party anymore for the rest of the night, whereas his friends tried to cheer him up and prevent him from attacking Hoseok. He was so angry at him for treating her like that, even if he wasn’t that innocent either. He knew damn well that Somin was not only hurt by Hoseok’s attitude. He felt so guilty and torn when he saw Somin’s expression. What was he even thinking. For the first time in a long time, he walked all alone back to his dorms after he was unable to find Somin. With his hands in his pockets, he wondered if Somin had returned back to her room, probably crying. He wondered if he should knock on her door and apologize for Hoseok’s attitude. But then, it was his own fault too. It would be too rude of him to show up on her doorstep right after he kissed another girl. It wasn’t his intention for Somin to know. To be honest, he wasn’t even expecting her in that party. He thought that Somin hated frat parties, but aside from that, she was there and she saw him.

Whatever was going to happen, Jungkook had to talk to her and he thought checking up on her wouldn’t be that bad, just to be sure she has returned safely to her room. He dragged his feet across the floor, his heart heavy at the thought that Somin would be angry at him. Once he turned around the corner, he saw a figure sitting down next to his door.

The person was resting her head on her knees  with her legs pulled in, seemingly trying to make itself as small as possible in the hallway. A soft sob escaped from that person and Jungkook immediately recognized the soft voice. He widened his eyes and ran towards her, kneeling down to check if she was okay.

“Somin, what are you doing here this late outside?”

Somin raised her head shortly to look at him and she started to cry. Big tears rolled down her cheeks and it broke Jungkook’s heart to see her like that. “What’s wrong, baby girl, tell me?”

He cupped her face to wipe away her tears with his thumbs but that only made her cry harder. Her face was warm too and there was a noticeable blush on her cheek.

“I-I can’t enter my room. I lost my keys.” She whined, and an overwhelming smell of alcohol entered his nose.

“Are you drunk, baby girl?”

Her shoulders shook and she let out a laugh. “N-N-No... You are! I got dumped by a boy. You should drink!” She hiccupped at the end of the sentence, which made Jungkook suppress a small smile. Despite the circumstances, he found it funny and cute that Somin was drunk. Suddenly, Somin raised her both arms and laughed hysterically, surprising Jungkook as he fell back and stared at her.

“Wooooh! I think aliens have stolen my keys. They are never to be trusted, bad bad aliens!” Somin said, frowning as she raised her finger and tried to point at him.

“Baby girl—“

“Why do you call me baby girl? Do I look like a baby to you?” She accused him, feigning that she was offended. Jungkook laughed to himself and grabbed her arms. “Let’s get you inside. It’s freezing outside.”

“I CAN’T GO INSIDE! THE ALIENS STOLE MY KEYS!!” She yelled, surprising Jungkook yet again and he quickly hushed her by covering her mouth. Somin let out a muffled sound, as she stared at him through eyes filled with tears.

“Keep your voice down. Some people are sleeping at this hour.” Jungkook reminded her, but Somin was too drunk to really care. However, she quickly nodded so that Jungkook could remove his hand.

“You know, you are quite handsome.” She whispered, when Jungkook stood up and searched for his keys. Jungkook simply smirked as he looked down at her who was admiring him with an open mouth. Once he found his keys, he opened the door and kneeled down to help Somin off the ground, but as childish as she was, she was more trying to yank him down.

“We need to find my keys. Aliens might be boarding their ship soon and I will never find my keys again.” Her voice sounded high-pitched and it seemed to Jungkook that she was actually convinced that aliens had stolen her keys. Jungkook let out a laugh at how ridiculous she sounded, before he buried his face in her neck to snake his arms around her waist.

“We’ll go find them in my room, baby girl.” He responded, before he helped her up and stumbled with her inside, tightly held onto her.

“Wheeee!” Somin beamed, as she grabbed the door and slammed it shut behind Jungkook. “We should look in your bathroom first! They love bathtubs! Tubs! Tubs! Tubs!”

Jungkook frowned and put her softly down on the couch. “How much did you drink, baby girl?” He eyed her long, before he walked over to his kitchen to fetch her a water bottle.

“Woah, your ceiling is soooo coool. It can twist on its own.” Somin squealed and Jungkook raised an eyebrow. He walked back to her, but before he could give her the water, Somin stood up from the couch and ran towards his sink. Shocked, Jungkook turned himself around and tried to warn her.

“Wait--! Somin, you can’t throw up in the si—“

There she went. Jungkook winced and he turned his head away as Somin threw up in his sink. But a small smile got up to his lips as he watched her panic. It must be her first time to be drunk and throw up. He stood up from his seat and went over to collect her hair into a ponytail, even though the smell was disgusting. Somin pouted and wiped off her lips with her hand once she was done. Since Jungkook was standing behind her, she twirled herself around and stood on her toes to give Jungkook a quick kiss.

“Omg, baby girl... You should rinse your mouth before kissing me.” Jungkook let out, as he pulled a disgusted expression and tried to wipe his lips. Somin smiled and winked at him lazily, as she lightly pushed him aside and then she threw herself on the couch, rolling over on her back.

“Do you want to hear about my break-up story?” She questioned, looking at his ceiling. Jungkook pushed himself off the sink and he slowly walked over to sit next to her. Like she was expecting it, Somin raised her head and waited for Jungkook to place his thigh under it. Jungkook rolled his eyes smiling, before he shove closer towards her and she put her head down on his thigh.

“Which break-up story? You know, baby girl, you are quite talkative when you are drunk.” Jungkook said, as he stroke a strand behind her ear. Somin bit her lip and smiled.

“I’m not drunk. I-I-I just don’t feel like caring about anything at the moment. I don’t want to hide my secrets. It’s too bothersome... And tiiiiring!” She chirped, before she closed her eyes when Jungkook cupped her cheek and moved down to the place where her jaw and neck met with a lovingly smile, as his thumb gently rubbed her jawline.

“That’s what alcohol does to you.” Jungkook chuckled and watched her with hooded eyes. He loved to feel her warm and soft skin with those innocent eyes staring at him. A look of disbelief flashed through her eyes as silent overtook them and Somin was lost for words as she stared at his features. He was extremely handsome, Somin thought to herself, but she cleared her throat and sat up right. Jungkook watched her as she replaced herself and put her hand on the other side of his lap, hoisting herself on his lap. His hands snaked around her waist and held onto her, in case she would fall back. Their faces were only inches away and as Somin stared into his eyes, she cocked her head.

“Why did you kiss that girl? Don’t you like me?” Somin whispered bravely. If it wasn’t for her being drunk, she wouldn’t have been able to ask him so straightforward, let alone stare into his eyes while doing so.

“Why wouldn’t I like my baby girl?” Jungkook muttered, and he felt her move one of her legs over his lap to sit down on his lap, closely on his crotch, so she could face him properly. Raising his eyebrows, he smiled to himself and looked at her, “What are you trying to do, baby girl?”

“Then tell me, what do you like about your baby girl?” She coyly said, and then, she moved her hips, grinding against him as she placed her arms around his neck. Jungkook grabbed her hips and stopped her, but not before he let out a soft sound from delight.

“You are funny. I didn’t know you could be like this, baby girl?” He smirked and he leant in to press his lips against her neck. Somin closed her eyes and moved her neck to expose herself more to him. His lips sucked lightly against her skin and she let out a soft moan.

“Sleep with me, Jungkook.” She said, but Jungkook tightened his grip on her hips, before he moved his head back and stared at her with hooded eyes.

“You’re drunk. I’m not going to sleep with you when you are drunk.”

Somin chuckled to herself and cocked her head. “You wouldn’t either if I was sober.” The harsh tone in her voice threw Jungkook off and he frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Somin stared back at him with hooded eyes, seemingly disappointed from the lack of contact. “Come on, you can’t fool me. I know you are playing with my feelings. I know that you don’t really like me, or else we would have slept with each other by now.”

Jungkook twitched one corner of his lips, before he fully smirked and stared deep down in her eyes. “Baby girl, is your insecurity talking to me? You are special. One of the things that has me drawn to you is your innocence and I want to keep that. I like how you are shy. I like how you would act uncomfortable around me.”

“That’s bullshit.” Somin said before she pushed herself off him and stumbled away from him. Jungkook cocked his head and rubbed his neck. It surely was not easy for him to talk to a drunk Somin, but he wasn’t going to let her be like this.

“Somin...” He began, but stopped when he realized it was the first time in a long time he had called her name directly, “This conversation, let’s talk about it when you are sober.”

Somin turned her around and smirked. “Great, let’s see if my sober self still wants to talk to you after tonight.” She said, before she fanned herself with her hand and flickered her eyes towards his chest. “It’s warm. Can I have one of those shirts you are wearing?”

Jungkook frowned, but once he realized what Somin was planning to do, he hurriedly walked over to her and grabbed the hem of her shirt she was desperately trying to pull up.

“Let go of my shirt! It’s waarrrm!” She whined, but Jungkook gulped as he tightly held onto her shirt.

“Baby girl, I don’t think your sober self would appreciate this.” He chuckled, but Somin pushed him off and he stumbled back surprised.

“What’s wrong with taking off my shirt when it is warm? You are hella weird.” She scoffed, before she lifted her shirt and took it off without hesitation. Jungkook pinched his nosebridge and sighed amused. Taking the hem of his own shirt, he pulled it over his head and looked at her. Giving the shirt to her, Somin smiled and looked at his chest. She was in awe of his body and slim waist, but the alcohol rushed through her mind and made her forget how her sober self would have drooled over him.

“You are crazy, baby girl,” Jungkook muttered to himself, “Totally crazy.”

Somin cocked her head and smiled at him, before clumsily pulling his shirt over her head. “Not as crazy as you are for me.” Jungkook saw her struggling and he stepped closer to help her get her arms through the arm holes. Once she managed to get the shirt on, Jungkook cupped her jaw gently with one of his hand as his fingers skimmed over her cheek and brushed a few strands behind her ear. His eyes were observing hers and a faint glint of adoration flashed through his eyes, before he bent down and kissed her lips. “Always crazy for you, baby girl.” He muttered against her lips. Somin let out a satisfied sigh, before she smirked and stepped back, putting distance between them. Her hand searched for his and they soon intertwined their hands and she pulled him towards the bed.

“What am I going to do with you, baby girl?” He said, placing little kisses in her neck. Somin hummed a reply and pulled him down on her, once she felt the bed underneath her.

“I want you to eat me out.”

Jungkook gasped lightly from the sudden surprise, before he continued and slipped his hand down the inside of her thigh, lightly skimming the skin over there with his thumb. “You’re so horny. It’s so unlike you.”

“I heard two girls talking about you. They made a bet on you whether you would eat out a girl or fuck her until she can’t walk.”

“Hmmm... And what option do you want to choose? What do you want to get from me, my baby girl?”

“I want to experience both with you.”

He raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Hmmm... It sounds tempting... But I don’t think your sober self would appreciate that, baby girl.” He hovered over her and kissed the place under her jaw. She whined lightly, before her hands traced over his back and felt every rib protruding through his skin on his sides.

“Stop talking... I don’t care what my sober self would think. I only care what I want at the moment and that is you.”

“Tempting, baby girl. You should get drunk more often.” He smiled, before he placed smaller kisses on her neck.

His cock was painfully throbbing in his pants and he wanted to have her, but it wasn’t something he had planned for tonight. Atleast, not this soon. First, he wanted to treasure her and then love her. He want to kiss her so much, until there was no more skin he hadn’t traced his lips over and tasted. He wanted her just like she was. He wanted her to stay innocent and herself without having to show her body. Without having to feel pressure to get with him, because the way how she was right now, was captivating and charming enough for him to go crazy over.

Somin laid down her head and she watched him with hooded eyes. The drowsiness started to kick in and he saw her struggling to keep them open. Leaning forward, Jungkook pressed a kiss on her forehead and cheek. “Go sleep. You must be tired, baby girl.” He said, in between his kisses, but Somin didn’t want to listen to him. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, but the sleep was slowly catching up to her. All the nights she had spent studying was taking its toll on her. In the end, she agreed and her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. Jungkook smiled to himself and placed himself next to her. Carefully as if she was made of porselain, he pulled the blankets over her and placed his arm under her head so he could have her close by him all night. Cuddling was what she liked and she wouldn’t believe it if it actually happened with Jungkook.

Smirking to himself, he hugged her closely and pressed a kiss near her temple.

“Goodnight, my baby girl.”

[kittynightterrors]

Hello, since I’m about to drop a story with this bastard it’s time I introduce an OC! You’ll find him and another look like Dylan. It’s left over from RP days. Sue me.

Before I get into the fun stuff I should probably give a bit of backstory. I was/am a very big RPer, and often times I would take who I was RPing at the time and just bend them into an AU. So Talib is born from the idea of Stiles being a villain in the Nolanverse. He’s not a genderbend of Talia, but rather a replacement of her? She exists, but almost like a mother to him than anything. So for this, he was the child in the Pit. If that makes sense. Anyway, who needs canon?

Full Name: Talib al Ghul

Reason for name: Talib means student so combined with his last name he’s the Student of the Ghoul. NGL, always figured that ... uh R’as would name his kid some stupid shit. Nickname: Genim “Stiles” Stilinski Reason for nickname: Talib could not intern under Mr. Fox with his given name, so when his paper work for forged he came up with an American name. One that wasn’t too terribly fake sounding. Age: He has no idea, but he would guess early to mid twenties. Sex: Male Place of Birth: The Pit Birthday: Unknown. Currently living in: Gotham, specifically Wayne Enterprises Occupation: Former intern at Wayne Enterprises, current prince of Gotham Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Social Status: Feared Relationship Status: Bedding the Masked Man

Appearance

Body Build: Lean muscular Height: 5′11″ Weight: 150 lbs Skin color: Pale Distinguishing Features: Moles and freckles everywhere

Mental/Emotional State

Archetype: Villain I guess, if that’s an archetype Act before thinking/Think before acting?: A mixture of both, when someone actually gets under his skin he will act before thinking. Emotion-wise, generally: Generally, Talib is very level headed, but can air on the side of manic a lot of the time. The longer he stays in power over Gotham, however, the more his mental state starts to degrade.

Conversation

Swears?: Not really. Cussing had only been used to establish dominance among henchmen when he first came to Gotham. Now that he’s in the position he’s in, he has all but dropped them from his vocabulary.

Strengths/Weaknesses

Strengths: Talib is skilled in hand to hand combat as well as small fire arms. 

Weakness: Hard to say, he’s not the most trusting person in the world. If that’s a weakness or not, only time will tell.

Secrets:

If he was honest with himself, he’d like to imagine a world where he could live a normal life. He’s seen the movies and books, seen what a teenager is supposed to do. There’s supposed to be romance and heartbreak, school and not.. not this. Not murder and running Gotham. It’s nice, but is this really a life? He didn’t think it was, but it made his father happy, it made Bane and Barsad happy. So, it must make him happy, right?

Fears:

Revolt. He knows it’ll happen, whether it’s from Gotham’s citizens, from his own henchmen, or the other nut bags lurking the streets beneath Wayne Tower. His time is running out, and he knows it’ll end bloody. 

Dreams/Goals

He’s surpassed his goal of killing Batman and controlling Gotham. It was easier than he had expected honestly. Once Gotham’s symbol of Justice was gone the whole city seemed to crumble. Even when John Blake had tried to step up and take his place it was easy to clip the Bird’s wings.

Relationships

Family:

R’as al Ghul - His father, his teacher. Their relationship was strained for many years after the rescue from the Pit, having only had Bane in his life for his whole life. It took some coercion, but finally they started to get along; to a point. R’as would push Bane out of the League of Shadows, too concerned with his own mistakes to see how much Talib needed Bane in his life. When the man died trying desperately to kill off Batman, Talib wouldn’t so much as shed a tear; though he’s convinced his father watches his every move.

Talia al Ghul - Somewhere between a mother and a sister, Talia would be at Talib’s side when R’as would go to hard on the boy’s training. She would patch his wounds and hold the boy when he couldn’t sleep at night. After Bane’s banishment Talia took over the role of “parental” figure. It made her own abandonment of the League that much harder. To this day, Talib harbors no ill will towards Talia. He hopes she’s happy and safe, and he wonders if he should have left with her.

Love interest:

Bane - The time of Bane’s banishment was a living hell for Talib, and the young boy had never realized how much he depended on the large man. When R’as died and the League was given to a Talib, he did everything he could to find Bane. This time, it would be his turn to protect him!  Somehow in Talib’s fucked up life, Bane went from being a parental figure to being a lover. He didn’t know when it happened or how. He knew it should be disgusting, but it was right to them. No one really knew Talib like Bane did. It had been them for so long, and even after the Pit it still felt mostly like them.

Friends/Allies:

Barsad -  The man with the red scarf. Barsad entered into Talib’s life under interesting circumstances; from his understanding he was a mercenary who owed the wrong people money.  He wanted to pay off his debts as quickly as possible and return to a normal life. Normally, Barsad would not bite the hand that feeds him, but when he saw how the League, specifically R’as, would just wallop on Talib he had to speak up. For all intents and purposes, Talib was still just a child, and training him to the point of vomiting would do him no good. He would dote on the boy, often smuggling in books and movies for him to be as much of a child as possible. The time between Talia leaving and Bane being found Barsad would be another proxy parent to Talib.

John Blake - The little bird. After the fall of Batman, John tried his hardest to take down The Masked Man. He had not been prepared for, what looked like, a kid to be running Gotham. A kid who had infiltrated Wayne Enterprises from the inside, posing as a bright eyed intern, just wanting to learn from the best company in the world! It was laughable really, that John had tried so hard, and got absolutely nowhere in his pathetic attempt to save Gotham. It took some time, but John was able to be molded into a pretty little lap dog for Talib.

Enemies:

Batman - Bruce Wayne, billionaire, playboy, Batman. He was what was keeping the criminals of Gotham at bay. Talib wasn’t quite sure why they needed Batman dead, but his brief stint as Wayne Enterprises intern made Talib want their tech. So, why not just kill Bruce and rob them blind? The fanatical obsession with taking over Gotham never really stuck with Talib, not like it had with his father. Something about greed being the root of evil or something. Still, he played his part, and took down the Batman with surprising ease. Bruce had been so surprised to see his little intern had been in control of The Masked Man. It was a little sad to see, really. Millions of people had faith in some hero that was too stupid to see the enemy in his face, and once that hero fell everything else fell with it. 

The Joker - Something about the Clown is just unsettling. After the fall of Gotham, most of the villains had at least tried to kiss Talib’s ass one way or another, but the Joker had just disappeared from Arkham without a trace. He’s still around, lurking in the shadows, though. His calling card has been left on the corpses of Talib’s men.

Unnamed Vigilante - Someone’s gunning for Talib, but no one knows if he’s a villain, a hero, someone with a death wish, or what. All they know is he’s strapped with one too many guns and runs around in a red mask like an idiot. 

Trivia

Fun fact, my stories will Talib will be released backwards??? Since he’s from an RP I’ll basically be transcribing old RPs into a fic format and making it more palatable, if that’s hunky dory with my partner. If not then you guys will get new content that’s completely out of order :D

The secret stems from my RP partner and I having a like “human” au, where like Gotham is just a normal city and Bruce is just a billionaire. They get to live “normal” lives where murder isn’t.... as involved, at least not on Talib’s end. It is on Bane and R’as end. 

This is also the most thought I’ve actually put into Talib, and wow he has feelings. what is this???

This is the result of people letting me do fuckin’ crossovers.

[gummi-animatronic]

He’s a Monster....Does it Matter? Ch 1: Bar Encounter.

Hello guys! Since the finale I’ve been wanting to write and Crowley fic and I have finally done it! There’s a few things to take note of before you read it though.

This is Crowley centric with two-three OCS. Sam, Dean, and maybe Cas will show up at some point but not for a while. It’s mainly just myself, Lexi, and my best friend and her boyfriend, Faith and Kevin.

That said, for this story to work, we are all 22 years old. I believe Kevin is already 22 now but I’m almost 20 and Faith will be 20 at the end of the year so I aged us up 2 years for things to work out.

For reference about my dog, I did have a dog named Coco but we put her down two years ago at 15 years old due to old age. So imagine a small brown Pit Bull type mutt with a black muzzle and white on her chest and paws. She is around 40-50 pounds and still small enough to pick up and hold.

Another thing to note is that I rarely update stories that I post on Tumblr. I will always update things on my FF.Net and Wattpad both of which are the same as my user on here. So it’s best to follow me on one of those two. If not, I might try and update it consistently here and on my AO3 DemonPirate13.

Also, this takes place towards the beginning of season 12. And basically all throughout it. Finally, the title is also meant to be two people talking. That being, Faith saying the first part while I’m saying the second. More or less inspired by the lyrics in the song Monster by Dev.

I think that’s about it for now. Enjoy! Short chapters for a while but I promise I have a lot planned out already and it’ll only get better!

He’s Not Human…   …Does it Matter?

Chapter 1 - Bar Encounter

Faith and I stood at the grave of the body we had just salt and burned. There was a haunting going on here in Virginia so we came down and took care of things. Turns out, a crazy mother murdered her kids and kept killing the kids that moved in with their families afterwards, trapping them all in that house until we arrived and has since freed them.

However, we decided to wait a day just to be sure. So once we got back into our car, we drove to a bar to hang out for the rest of the night.

“This was a surprisingly easy case.” Faith said as we got our beers.

“Usually ghosts are pretty easy.” I shrugged. “It’s werewolves, vampires, and others that are usually tough. But we can take them.”

“Don’t get cocky on me now.” Faith chuckled.

“Yeah. Yeah…” I chuckled too. “Anyway, I’m ready to go home for a bit once we know for sure that ghost is gone.” I took a sip of my beer.

“I am too. I miss Kevin and my cats.” Faith agreed. “And I know you miss Coco and don’t like being away from her in her old age.”

“But I have to since it’s our job.” I replied kind of sadly. “As long as I don’t get a call from Kevin that involves her I’m happy.”

“Speaking of Kevin, I’m going to head out and call him. Give him a update on the case.” Faith said getting up.

“Sounds good.” I nodded and watched her leave the building.

“Will she be back?” The bartender asked coming up to me.

“She will.” I gave another nod. “Just stepped outside for a phone call.”

“Okay.” He nodded back and went back to doing his work.

I took another sip of my beer, and decided to get on my phone to waste some time until Faith got back.

“Hello, darling.” A British sounding voice said behind me after a few minutes of playing a game.

Shutting my phone off but keeping it under my hand, I turned to face him as he stepped forward and sat down on my left as Faith was sitting on my right side.  

I looked the man up and down, making sure not to let my guard down. He was definitely a few decades older than me and had a beard. Then there was how he was wearing a expensive black suit. Now why would someone with something that expensive be out here at a cheap bar like this one?

When he was sitting down and much closer to me, I noticed that he had green eyes and brown hair. As I was making mental notes of his looks, I decided to respond.

“Hello.” I replied back, deciding to be polite.

“Are you alone or is someone sitting there.” He pointed to the seat next to me where Faith’s beer was still at.

“She’ll be back.” I said, glancing at the seat before looking back to him.

“Ah good. Never know what could happen to a young lady like yourself when alone at the bar.” The man replied.

“I can take care of myself.” I shrugged.

“Wasn’t implying that you couldn’t considering how you have a gun on your hip.” He gave a smug smile.

“Can I get you something, sir?” The bartender from before came back.

“Some whiskey would be great.” The man replied.

“Coming right up.” The bartender said and walked away to get it.

“So,” He started, “What brings you here?”

“Just traveling with my friend. We plan on heading back home tomorrow.”

“Ah. So you aren’t from here?” He asked and I shook my head. “What luck, neither am I. I guess you can say I’m traveling too.”

“That’s cool.” I replied, taking a sip.

“You look pretty young. Are you sure you can drink?” He kept his smug smirk.

“I’m 22 years old.” I confirmed. “Plus, the bartenders could lose their jobs if they gave alcohol to minors.”

“Fair enough.” He shrugged and took a sip of his drink that the bartender had brought out a few moments ago.

There was a few moments of silence so I decided to check my phone for the time and act like I was doing something productive on it.

“You mentioned you were here traveling….just for fun or for a actual reason?” The guy decided to ask.

“For fun.” I replied back. “I love traveling. It’s something I’ve done all my life.” Well, that wasn’t a lie. “My friend and I decided to get up and leave for a few days long trip and ended up here.”

“Having fun?” He asked and I nodded.

He got up a little bit and I tensed. I wasn’t in much of a mood to deal with creeps at a bar or shoot some human for that matter.

“Relax. You don’t need to be so tensed. I was just getting my phone out. See?” The stranger showed it to me and I allowed myself to relax a little.

“Why wouldn’t I be tensed? After all, you’re the one that mentioned not knowing what could happen to someone like me.” I replied, moving my attention to my beer.

“True.” He shrugged.

“What are you doing here?” I looked back to him and into his eyes.

“Traveling. I was dealing with some things and needed to get away for a drink so I came here.” The man replied.

“Oh. Do you normally strike up conversations with random girls at bars?” I decided to let my sass out a bit.

“Oooh. Didn’t realize you had some snark in you.”

“You going to answer?” I looked away from his eyes, that made me feel like I was hypnotized.

“No I don’t. Just saw you were alone and felt maybe you needed someone to talk to.” He replied back.

“I suppose I did.” I said truthfully. God knows how long Faith would be outside for anyway. “Did you also need someone to talk to?”

“In a way, yes.” He admitted. “Better to talk to someone alone than try to mingle with a group of people. Though I rather like being alone.”

“Honestly, I do too.” I also admitted. “I don’t do crowds. Not only do I not like being around that many people but I have claustrophobia too.”

“It’s also better to handle things on your own too.” He said and I nodded.

“Yeah I suppose it is.” I replied back and noticed my beer was about empty now. Shit. Didn’t realize how fast I was drinking it. At least my…I glanced down at my hand and noticed I was picking at my fingernails. Something I usually only do when I’m nervous or stressed.

“Excuse me.” I stopped a bartender. “Can I have another beer?”

“Sure.” He nodded and went to get it.

“Thanks.” I said as he handed it to me.  

“I can’t help but notice you’re less tense now.” The man said, bringing my attention back to him, before taking a sip of his drink.

“Probably because I allowed myself to relax a bit and will let my real sassy and sarcastic self out when I become comfortable around people.” I said.

“Ah, it’s fun being full of sarcasm and sass isn’t it?” He winked.

“Yes.” I smirked, as I started to finish my original beer. “Yes it is. Are you full of it too?”

“I am.” He nodded. “Beautiful night, isn’t it, love?”

Love. Darling. This guy can make anyone’s knees weak with his accent alone. I smiled to myself before mentally slapping myself in the face and turning back to him.

This time I felt weird. I wasn’t as tense as I was. Nor was I keeping my guard up. A sweat suddenly went down my back and I got the chills.

“Cold?” He asked.

“No. Just the chills.” I replied back, feeling myself get lost in his eyes again.

‘You stop it, Lexi.’ I thought to myself. ‘Don’t go falling in love with random ass guys in bars that are clearly much older than you’

“Lexi.” I thought I heard Faith say. “Lexi.” She said again, only closer.

“Hmm?” I hummed, finally snapping out of it and looking away from the man that it seemed like I was having a staring contest with.

“Everything alright?” She asked as she sat back down beside me.

“Y-Yeah.” I stuttered by accident. “Couldn’t be better.”

“I’ll see you later, darling.” The stranger grabbed his drink and headed to the other side of the bar.

Why did he have to call me it again? I could feel more sweat go down my back. Finishing my original beer completely, I grabbed my new one and I almost chugged it had Faith not stopped me first.

“Geez. What did I miss?” She asked, taking the bottle and putting it down.

“I…I really don’t know.” I replied.

What did happen? One minute I was watching my own back and keeping my guard up. Next thing I know, I’m lost in his eyes and accent. My guard had dropped and I just felt myself become nervous…almost like a…

“No.” I said to myself, shaking my head and closing my eyes.

“’No’ what?”  Faith asked, confused.

“I need my spinner.” I showed her my fingernails. “I also really need to get another and keep it in the car.”

“We can try and find another tomorrow on the way home at gas stations or pharmacies. Why do you seem….oh…” Did she realize it? I mean, she is my best friend so she’ll know if-”…You got a crush on him, don’t you.” I gave a small growl and stared at her.

“That’s it isn’t it?” She smiled, knowing she was right. “You got a crush on someone!”

“Doesn’t exactly help it was at a bar.” I replied, looking around for him but couldn’t find him.

“What’s him name?” Faith asked.

“You did notice how much older he seemed right?” I asked, bringing my attention back to her.

“Yeah but you’re both of legal age so it shouldn’t matter.” She said and I gave a small shrug after a moment of thinking about that. “So…“ She continued. “What’s his name?”

“I…” I then realized that I never even asked. “I don’t know.”

“You didn’t ask?” Faith questioned.

“He didn’t ask me either.” I informed her.

“Want to try and find him and ask?” Faith asked, seemingly too happy about my crush that isn’t a crush.

“No.” I stated.

“Come on!” Faith begged.

“How’s Kevin, the dog, and cats doing?” I decided to change the subject.

“Don’t just change the subject!” Faith laughed. “They’re doing great! Coco can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to see her.” I replied.

“So about that guy.” Faith said.

“Faith.” I stated again.

“What was he like?”

“Faith.” I said again.

“Did he have a accent? It sounded like it to me!” Faith said and I just growled again and drunk my beer. This was going to be a very long night…