#but at the same time please cause harm to this man in season 2 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

codenamewitcher · 4 years ago

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Hooked from the Start || Din Djarin x Princess!Reader

*DO NOT read if you are under the age of 18!!*

Summary: Din Djarin ran into the Princess of Ayleen while on a hunt with the mercenaries and comes to find out that he can’t seem to shake her.

Word Count: 17.1k, oops (I also may release more parts to this as I have so many headcanons I want to write for these two)

Warnings: Third person POV and is mostly in Din’s. Contains violence, language, alcohol use, killing/death, angst, mentions of drug use, vague mentions of abuse, oral sex (f receiving), unprotected p in v sex (please use protection!!), injury, and hurt/comfort.

Translations are at the bottom as the first half doesn’t really contain Mando’a.

This does not contain Season 2 spoilers!

The first time the Mandalorian met Princess Y/n L/n of Ayleen was in a back alley in Kuat City, Y/n's knife was at the neck of the Mandalorian's, Ran's, Xi'an's, and Qin's target who'd also happened to be an enemy and traitor of her father's state.

"If you know what's good for you girl, you'll let him go." Ran said, approaching the Princess with caution, knowing that if she was to kill the target, they'd only receive a quarter of the price that was on the targets head, however, Ran still approached her with his blaster raised. All four of the mercenaries were ready to kill her the moment they found a way to do so without killing the target as well. The Mandalorian was ready to kill her yet he found her interesting because normally people cowered when met with him and the mercenaries. Instead she smiled and then laughed at them, the Mandalorian knew she was going to be a challenge, especially when he spotted the Ayleenian armor that covered her body.

"If you knew what was good for you, you would've left the moment you saw me." The mercenaries were too caught off guard by her statement that it took them a moment to realize that her knife was sliding across the target's throat and two knives were flying at Xi'an and Ran then another two at Qin and the Mandalorian.

By the time the four were done dodging her blades, she was gone. Xi'an had seen her scale a wall and jump over it, but by the time they got over the wall, she was already gone. They tried hunting her down all over the city that night, but there wasn't a trace of her left behind, even when they went back for the body, her blades were gone.

The mercenaries were all fuming that night because she'd killed their bounty and easily got away from them.

The second time the Mandalorian and the Princess ran into each other was on Arkania. The Mandalorian had just left the mercenaries and began hunting on his own and one of his new bounties was hiding out on the icy planet. He'd spotted her leaning against a building wrapped in white fur to protect herself against the harsh freezing weather and to blend in with the snow. He'd planned on killing her out of revenge but stopped when he seen the glint of metal hidden within the fur she wore and her eyes looking right at him, a smirk gracing her lips.

"Did you come here to kill me Mandalorian?" Her voice rang clear across the snowy wasteland and it caused him to momentarily freeze. He didn't know what to say to her or what exactly it was that kept him from killing her on the spot. However, when she started to approach him, his hand immediately went to the blaster at his waist.

"Relax Mandalorian, if I was going to harm or kill you, it would've already happened."

"Why aren't you?" He still kept his hand on his blaster, but didn't pull it out, she was close enough now that he could see a glint in her eyes. "Why are you here?"

"The same reason why you haven't killed me yet, because neither of us has made a move to do so yet." She crocked her head. "And don't worry Mandalorian, I'm not here to kill anyone. Well, at least a specific person."

It was his turn to tilt his head at her and if his helmet was off, she'd see him glaring at her.

"If you're not here to kill me, then why are you here Mandalorian?"

"I'm here for a bounty."

The Princess hummed and continued to look at the Mandalorian's visor, if he didn't know any better, he would've thought she could see his face and eyes by how she was studying him. Nothing was said between the two for a long time, but it wasn't an awkward silence, instead the two of them found it a little enjoyable.

"Sister!"

The unexpected shout broke both the Mandalorian's and Princess's focus on the other as they looked at the person yelling. The Mandalorian didn't know who the man was that was yelling and walking towards them but judging by the smile that was on the Princess's face and the similar facial features the Princess and the man shared he knew that she did.

"Brother." The man came to stand beside his sister, a smile adorning his face as he looked at the Mandalorian, it didn't take much for the Mandalorian to notice guards standing by in the distance, their eyes watching every move the Mandalorian made. The Mandalorian knew he'd be lying through his teeth if he said he felt at ease with the guards surrounding him, but he refused to make any sudden movement, he knew that those guard were here to protect the man and woman that stood before him.

"I didn't know my sister knew a Mandalorian," The man moved to stand by her, knocking his elbow against her own, he then moved to hold his hand out to shake the Mandalorian’s hand. “I’m Prince Y/B/N of Ayleen.”

Gears started to click in place inside the Mandalorian’s head, the girl he first met in a back alley in Kuat City wasn’t just any type of Ayleenian warrior but was also a princess. It also explained the guards and expensive clothing the two standing before him wore and it also explained the girl’s cryptic answer as to way she was here – she was protection. Despite being shocked, he didn’t let it show as he reached his hand out to shake the Prince’s hand.

The Mandalorian watched as one of their guards slowly approached them, clearing his throat to grab the attention of both royals.

“The King requests for your return.”

“Of course!” The Prince rolled his eyes. “I hate that our meeting is getting cut short, but it was a pleasure meeting you Mandalorian.” The Prince tilted his head down slightly in a farewell before turning around to follow the guard.

“Until next time Mandalorian.” The Princess turned to follow her brother but stopped and turned back to the Mandalorian. “And good luck with your hunt, hopefully someone hasn’t already beat you to the punch.”

A smirk was on her lips as she turned back to walk away, a guard staying behind to watch the Princess’s back and then falling behind her once she passed.

The third time the Mandalorian and Princess ran into each other they were both after two different targets that happened to not only be working with each other, but also happened to have backup. The two found themselves taking cover from blaster fire behind a crumbling wall that was falling apart even more and quickly.

“Got any ideas on what we’re supposed to do to get out of this Mandalorian?” The Princess panted besides the Mandalorian as she grabbed a few more knives hidden within the armor she wore.

“You brought knives to a gun fight.” The Mandalorian deadpanned as he watched the Princess, she laughed.

“Yes, I did.” She glanced over at him, a smirk on her face despite being fired upon and dust flying around them from the impact. “They can be just as deadly as any blaster.” She twirled a blade across her fingers and then tapped it against his beskar, but still careful to not scratch it. “I’m still not hearing any ideas.”

He signed and looked away from her, taking in their surrounds, possibilities of taking out the enemy running through his head.

The Princess peaked her head around the wall they were cowering behind, taking in how many men and where they were as they shot at the pair. She immediately moved her head back behind the wall as a blaster shot hit where her head was moments ago.

“Not only is this wall falling apart, but they are moving in and our targets are escaping.”

“Where are they at?” The Mandalorian asked as he zeroed in on the tall end of a X-34 Landspeeder to his right, hoping some of their target’s backup was within blast range.

“Three to the right, four in the middle, and another three to the left. I also have an idea on where our targets are escaping to.”

“How close are some of them to that speeder?”

“Close enough, but I don’t think this wall would hold up.”

The Mandalorian knew what she meant, he could handle most of the fallout from the blast due to his armor, but she however couldn’t. There was already a plan forming in his head, so when she turned his back to him to peak around the wall once again, he turned to face the landspeeder and shot at its gas tank with his blaster. He knew that the single shot would hit it, so once he pulled the trigger, he was already turning around and grabbing the Princess to cover her body with his own.

The Princess was right in the sense that the wall wouldn’t hold up, however the wall didn’t completely fall and the Mandalorian took most of the damage.

“Can you get up?” The Princess asked from underneath him after the blast was over and done with.

“Yeah.” The Mandalorian planted his hands on the ground and slowly lifted himself up, dust and debris falling off his body and armor as he did so. When he was able to sit back the Princess got up herself, she immediately went to peak around what was left of the wall but jumped back when a blaster was fired at her yet again.

“There’s five of them left.” She said looking at the Mandalorian up and down, checking for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” He grunted as he pulled a rock form a crevice in his armor. “Are you?”

“No,” A smile then spread across her face. “I think we can take all five of them if you’re up to it.”

The Mandalorian shook his head as he grabbed for two of his blasters, he was somewhat in a state of disbelief with the Princess because she was constantly proving him wrong in how he thought she would react to dangerous situations. When he first met her, he just believed that she was an Ayleenian warrior but that she would’ve given up the target being faced with him and the mercenaries instead she smiled, went against their orders, threw knives at them, and disappeared. Then the second time when he found out she was a princess, he still expected her to carry some of the stereotypical behaviors of a princess for future run-ins but instead of screaming at him for risking her life, she’s smiling at him.

“Ready?” She already had her blades pulled out. The Mandalorian didn’t say anything, but just nodded and that seemed to be all the Princess needed as she immediately shot up and started throwing her knives. The Mandalorian followed suit, shooting down their targets’ guards. It was a combination of the two ducting behind the wall they first took cover behind and blades and blaster fire flying across the town square they happened to be in.

Once the last guard was down, the Princess was already going around the wall and picking up and pulling out her blades and sliding them back into the many hidden spaces on her body after wiping off the blood on the blades. While she was busy doing that, the Mandalorian reloaded his blasters and pulled out the tracking fob he had on his own target. The Princess walked up to him, looking at the fob.

“That must be handy.”

The Mandalorian looked up at her. “You don’t have one?”

“Normally no, my father and I have contacts all over the galaxy. When my father assigns me a task, I make some calls, and get their location. It also helps when one of them takes an Ayleenian ship, they’re much easier to track then. Rogue senators in my father’s court are also easy to track as a lot of them take a lot and spend a lot of money.” She looks around at the damage done to the town square from their fire fight. “Sometimes I get lucky when it happens to be someone that already has a tracking fob on them and I run into a bounty hunter that is after the same person, but other than that, no.”

The Mandalorian hums, he knew very little about the interworking’s of Ayleen as the plant and its government is very secretive, but he did know that the Royal Court was very dangerous, and that each person had to fight to get to their position. So, her mentioning going after her father’s senators didn’t surprise him that much.

“I saw them head that way.” She said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder back behind her. The Mandalorian started heading in that direction, the Princess spinning on her heels and following after him. Nothing else was said between the two as they tracked their targets, the only noise being the steady beep of his tracker and the gravel and dirt crunching under their feet.

It didn’t take the Princess and Mandalorian long to find the two they were after hiding out in a bar. After another large commotion and chasing quarries into a back alley, the Mandalorian and the Princess caught the two.

When the two got to the point of going their separate ways, the Princess turned to the Mandalorian, a smile gracing her lips.

“This was fun, we should do this again.” The Mandalorian turned his head away from her, looking ahead, he couldn’t see himself intentionally seeking her out for help, but did turn his head to look back at her once she spoke again. “My name is Y/n, if you ever find yourself needing help on a bounty, come to Ayleen and mention my name. They should let you in.”

Underneath the Mandalorian’s helmet, he caught himself mouthing her name, instantly loving her name but stopped because he felt like a teenage boy with the silly little crush he started having for her.

“Take care of yourself, Mandalorian.” She then turned and walked off after her farewell.

The fourth time the two ran into each other was on Raydonia, like usual the Mandalorian was after someone but the Princess had no mission, instead sat at a bar, a drink clutched between her hands. The Mandalorian walked up and leaned his elbow on the counter, crossing his ankles while he faced the Princess.

“What are you doing here?” The Mandalorian asked her while she looked up at him. There was a look in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before, but he knew that whatever her eyes held, it wasn’t good.

“To get far, far away from my father.” She said and turned back to her drink. He knew something was off with her despite only running into her three times before this because every time she had a smile on her face even when faced with danger.

Normally the Mandalorian would turn away and continue on with his life, not bothering himself with other people’s problems. That was normally, but somehow, someway the Princess had wormed her way into forming a soft spot in the armor the Mandalorian wore around his heart. The part of him that began to care for the woman asked her why she was avoiding her father, however the other part of him that didn’t let anyone close was kicking himself for it. He still asked her way.

She let out a humorless chuckle, knocked the rest of her drink back, slammed it back on the counter, and turned to him. “I don’t want to scare you off by unloading all of my problems with my father on you.”

She then got up and headed for the door to leave the bar, the Mandalorian’s feet started moving after her without much thought or his permission. He continued to quietly follow her out of the small town until she stopped in the middle of an empty field, her arms coming up to wrap themselves around her body while she looked up at the moon that orbited Raydonia.

“You’re still here.” She stated without turning to look at him, without moving at all.

“I am.” He said, moving to stand next to her and looking up at the moon as well. He didn’t know how long they stood like that, silence surrounding them while she battled whatever inter demon she was battling.

“I don’t want your pity.” She finally spoke, breaking the silence.

“You won’t get it.”

“Good.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her worrying on her lower lip as she debated on whether she was going to spill what was on her mind or not. “My father killed my mother because she gave birth to me.”

The Mandalorian said nothing, didn’t do anything, because he was not expecting that and it shocked him a little bit.

“It’s royal tradition on Ayleen that if a girl is born in the direct line of succession to the throne, the child or mother has to die. My father began hating me the moment my mother gave up her life for my own and he likes to throw it in my face every now and then, especially when I come back from a mission and don’t fully deliver on what was asked of me.”

The Mandalorian didn’t know what to say to that and not show pity, but she continued on, momentarily taking the pressure of saying anything away from him.

“She made my brother promise that he would always have my back and to never blame me for her death as it was her choice not mine and he did just that.” He watched as she looked down at the ground and started kicking the toe of her boot into the dirt. “I can’t wait for the day when my brother ascends to the throne because he has already promised me that he will do away with that ridiculous tradition and give me free range on anyone that has an issue with it.”

She didn’t say anything else after that and for a while the Mandalorian didn’t offer anything until his mind started wondering to the bounty he was on this planet for.

“I’m here for a bounty that is supposed to be hard to catch,” The Mandalorian began his offer, watching out of the corner of his eye as the Princess turned to look up at him. “Wanna tag along?”

He looked down at the Princess, waiting for an answer to his offer. A small smile spread across her face and the Mandalorian found himself thanking the stars for it, he decided then that he really liked the Princess’s smile.

“I would like that.”

After that hunt, the Mandalorian knew that he wanted to see more of her besides the run ins they had. So, he gave her a commlink before he left her on Raydonia to take the bounty back to the Guild.

At first the commlink was only used when the other was going on a hunt and wondered if the other would be near to tag along, then eventually, they talked through it and to each other regularly. He liked having the extra help from her as she didn’t require a percentage of the earnings because as she put it, being a Princess allowed her to not worry about money. And an unspoken understanding of each other and a bond had formed between the two as they talked and helped the other out when nearby throughout the many years of communication.

It was because of those many years of the relationship that neither had put a title on, the Mandalorian found that he trusted her and was comfortable around her as she never passed judgement towards him for the terrible things he’s done in his past and that she was also respectful towards his culture.

It was five years after he gave her the commlink when he finally told her about his parents and how he became a Mandalorian. They were sitting in the cockpit of the Razor Crest, traveling through space at hyperlight speed with his quarry in carbonite that she helped capture. They were sharing stories about some of the ridiculous things some of their targets have done when he asked her if he could tell her something important, something that stayed between them. She’d agreed and when he told her about his parents’ death, how the Mandalorians saved him and took him in, she didn’t say anything but took his hand in her own and squeezed it. She never offered an apology for it happening, she just squeezed his hand letting him know that she was here, because she knew that with her own experience of losing a parent that apologies got old and they got old real fast. It was why she asked for him to not pity her five years before he shared this with her.

It was because of that trust as to why he was currently being escorted by Ayleenian guards through the palace to wherever it was the Princess was at, looking for her help. The little green frog eater he was currently on the run for was in his floating bassinet besides the Mandalorian, big eyes finding the castle halls they walked through fascinating. This was the first place he came to after taking the kid back, he knew he would need someone to help protect and care for the Child. The Princess was that someone and she was happy to help, she told him so. He couldn’t help but think of how the Princess would find the Child cute and think of the look on her face as she would coo at the Child. He knew she would, and it brought a smile to his face.

As they walked through the halls, he also found himself thinking of the time she’d called him through the commlink nine years ago, announcing that her father had passed away and her brother had ascended to the throne. It was because of that news they met on a nearby planet later that week, celebrating on his ship. It was that night he found that not only he trusted her, but she trusted him just as much. He knew this when she put a blindfold on over her eyes so that both of them could drink and celebrate her freedom together, because that’s what her father’s death meant for the Princess. That was also the first night they’d kissed.

Again, they’d never put a title on the relationship they had, but they never found themselves in someone’s bed that wasn’t the others either. They both knew that they were friends and lovers, but they just never felt the need for a label, they just had each other.

His thoughts were cut short as the guards opened the throne room doors and he found his Princess, her brother, and another woman chasing three screaming and giggling kids around the room. His heart swelled at the sight of Y/n, he already thought her to be the most beautiful woman in space, but seeing her in one of her court dresses, smiling, and giggling as she played with the children he’d guessed to be her nieces and nephew.

Y/n stopped chasing the children around when him and the guards walked into the room. Her eyes were sparkling with joy and if that wasn’t enough to indicate her happiness, the large grin she held on her face was.

“Aunty!” One of the girls yelled and clang to her leg, taking the attention the Mandalorian and Princess had on each other away from themselves and towards herself. The girl swayed on her feet as she looked up at her aunt, out of breath and a large toothy grin on her face.

Seeing the Princess happy with her family warmed the Mandalorian’s heart but also didn’t help in making him feel guilty for asking for her help. However, she knew he was coming, why he was coming, why he was currently on the run, and had offered to help him in finding a safe place for the child.

“Who’s that?” The little boy that stood by the other woman in the room, pointing his finger at the Mandalorian. Y/n glanced at her nephew and then back at the Mandalorian.

“That’s the Mandalorian I’ve told you stories about.” She said, still looking at the Mandalorian but with love in her eyes; his heart swelled yet again. “Mando, this is Alli.” She patted the girl’s head that clung to her leg. “That’s Jackson,” She pointed to the little boy. “Brea,” she pointed to the eldest girl. “And that’s Jessika, my brother’s wife and the mother to these three goofballs. Kids, Jessika, this is Mando.”

The kids all waved at him and Jessika smiled at him.

“Alright kids, it’s time to get ready for bed.” The King of Ayleen announced, the kids all collectively groaned.

“But daddy!” Alli whined, throwing her head back but still holding onto Y/n’s leg.

“Come, let’s give your aunt alone time with her friend.” The kids groaned and stomped while they followed their mother and father through one of the side doors of the throne room. When the door shut behind them and Y/n waved the lingering guards off, and she stepped towards the Mandalorian. Her attention was yet again fully on him but got taken away when the Child cooed and made grabby hands at the Princess.

Just like he suspected, she was immediately cooing at the Child and telling him how cute and adorable he was. And while the Mandalorian watched her interact with the goblin, he fully took in her appearance.

She wore a dress the color of a stormy sea and with every movement, the fabric shifted like waves. He didn’t know much about dresses and what to call the intricate pulls, ties, and designs of the dress but he knew that he loved it on her – that it fit her. He also knew that while he loved it on her, he would love to see her without it on and pooled at her feet.

And while they never specified what their relationship was, he knew that he wanted to call her his riduur one day and wanted to see her in this dress as they exchanged vows. And stars, after seeing her play with the kids like that, he knew he wanted to see the same thing again but with their own kids. He already knew he was in love with the Princess, but seeing her like this, he wasn’t just in love, he was hopelessly in love.

“I understand why you stole him back.” Y/n said, snapping him out of his daydream. She let the Child hold onto her hand and peered up at the Mandalorian, a soft smile gracing her lips. “I just have a few more things to pack, need to change, and then say goodbye to the kids and I’ll be ready to leave.”

“Thank you.” He said, his fingertips brushing across her cheekbone, she leaned into his touch. She captivated him, he still found it hard to not just stand and stare at her all day, he also found it harder throughout the years to keep his hands off her.

“Of course.” She took his hand in her own and kissed his gloved fingertips. After giving his hand a squeeze, she dropped it and turned her attention to the Child who was still playing with her fingers.

“Okay now little mister,” She leaned down where she was eye level with the Child. “I’ve got to get ready so we can leave. So, I will need these back.” She slowly took her hand away from the Child and then patted his head before she stepped away from him.

She tilted her head for the Mandalorian and the Child to follow after her. They walked side by side down the hall towards her room, their fingers brushing each other as they walked but never entangling, both of them enjoying being in the other’s presence.

When they reached her room, the Mandalorian noticed a bag already on her bed as she was already rushing around her room, grabbing a few more clothes of their hangers and shoving them in her bag but keeping a set out before zipping the bag up.

“Unzip me, please.” She said, turning her back so it would face the Mandalorian. It took every ounce of self-restraint in himself to not throw her on her bed and take her right then and there. It had been too long since he last fucked her and this action had him teetering at the edge. He began to wonder if she really needed his help unzipping her dress as he spotted a few similar dresses in the room in different colors and then seeing the way she bit her lip in the reflection of one of the mirrors in her room. A brief thought of the night they’d spent on Abafar, that had ended in them having sex for this first time and him telling her his name, had crossed his mind. Somehow despite these thoughts, he managed to complete the task, but he didn’t however miss the goosebumps that appeared across her back from his fingertips ghosting down her spine while he pulled the zipper down. Once his hands left her back, she peaked over her shoulder at him, a small, sweet smile on her lips but her eyes held sparkles of mischief.

She knew exactly what she was doing to him.

She stepped away from him before he could pull her body into his and grabbed the set of clothes she laid out on her bed, walking behind a privacy screen in her room afterwards. He watched as the dress she wore was draped over the screen and the other set of clothes were pulled down one by one as she changed. Then she walked out, tying a leather brace onto her arm one of the laces in between her teeth as she used her other hand to tie it. She walked up to a cabinet as she did so and stopped before it while she finished off the last knot and then she opened the cabinet up.

Part of him was in awe but wasn’t surprised to find the cabinet filled with all different types of knifes and blades. He watched as the blades slowly disappeared as she slid them into the many areas built into her armor to hold the knives. When she finished arming herself, she grabbed two bundles of leather and a pair boots in one hand, and with the other hand, she grabbed a fist full of knives.

After knocking the doors shut with her elbow, she turned around facing the Mandalorian and headed to her bed where she sat at the edge. He watched as she slipped the boots on and placed more blades on the inside of her boots.

She once told him that certain royal families within the court had their daughters train as warriors of Ayleen who specialized in fighting with knives and blades as their ancestors once did. They still learned how to fire a blaster and still carried one, but the knives and blades were their preferred method of fighting. She’d also explained to him once that their armor wasn’t just made of leather, but underneath it was Ayleenian steel, the leather was there to make it seem like they weren’t protected from blaster fire.

“What’s bound in the leather?” He asked when she slid the last blade in her boot, she looked up at him, a smirk ghosting her lips.

“More blades.” He snorted at her answer, shaking his head, of course. “Ready?” She asked after slipping the bounds of leather into a side pocket on her bag.

He walked up to her, toe to toe, and leaned his forehead up against hers. At first, he starred into her eyes, her own meeting his under the helmet even though she couldn’t see them, then he closed his eyes enjoying her presence, wanting and needed this momentary peace before they had to go on the run.

He took a deep breath, held it, and then exhaled. “Yes.”

“Okay.” She whispered and then broke the keldabe kiss to place her own on the cheek of his helmet. “I like the new armor, by the way.” She whispered before moving away. He felt his face get warm at her comment and Maker was he glad she couldn’t see his face. He reached to grab her bag, but she beat him to the punch and swung it on her shoulder. She smiled and then walked to her door, holding it open waiting for the Mandalorian and the Child to walk out. She turned the lights off, shut and locked her door before continuing to lead the them through the winding hallways.

They eventually arrived at a back entrance of the castle that lead out to the castle’s docking yard, Y/n’s brother, nieces, and nephew stood by the door waiting for them and the moment the three children seen their Aunt, they came running for her.

While the kids were bombarding their Aunt with questions of when she’d be back and how long she’d be gone, their voices raising one over the others, her brother walked up to the Mandalorian.

“I know that she is more than capable with taking care of herself,” The King paused looking into the Mandalorian’s vizor. “But please continue to watch my sister’s back like you have been for the past 17 years.”

“I will.” The Mandalorian promised, knowing that her brother worried for her even though they only met a handful of times, and he meant it as he knows he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself to save Y/n because he loved her too much not to. The King nodded and then brought his attention to his kids crowding his sister.

After the Princess said her goodbyes to her nieces, nephew, and brother, her, the Mandalorian, and the Child headed to the Razor Crest and left Ayleen.

The three had traveled for two weeks before landing on Sorgan.

“Two bowls of bone broth please.” The Mandalorian told the proprietor of the common house they were in while Y/n got the Child situated in a highchair.

“I swear you never eat.” The Princess said after getting the Child to calm down a little.

“What do you expect me to do, use a straw?” He asked, dragging his eyes away from the woman in armor that was staring the three of them down to look at the Princess.

A smile spread across her face and a giggle escaped her lips, “That would be a sight I would love to see.”

He shook his head and looked back at the woman that was starring them down seconds ago only to find the corner empty.

“Stay here with the kid.” He said getting up going out the back of the common house, trying to track down the woman.

The Princess glared at the back of his helmet and continued to do so until he was no longer in her line of sight. The proprietor laid out two bowls of broth before the Princess and Child, after thanking the woman, Y/n turned to the Child.

“He really thinks I’m going to sit here and stay put, doesn’t he?” The Child angled his head and cooed at the Princess’s words. She laughed and took him out of his highchair, placing a bowl of broth in his hands. “Come on, let’s see what kind of trouble he has gotten himself into.”

The Child followed after the Princess as she walked in the direction she seen the Mandalorian walk off to. By the time her and the Child come across the Mandalorian, they found him and the woman he was after on the ground, pointing blasters at each other.

The Princess clears her throat grabbing both of their attention, “Are y’all just going to sit there and point blasters at each other or are you going to do something?”

The Princess had a hand on her hip and the other hanging by her side and while her pose didn’t seem threatening, the Mandalorian knew that her free hand was ready to grab a knife and attack. The Mandalorian sighed and shock his head anyways at her, then looked at the woman he just got into an altercation with.

“Would you like some soup?” The Mandalorian asked the woman.

She agreed and they later found out that her name was Cara. She told them that she was an ex-shock trooper and shared stories of her days on the battlefield and how she ended up here while they sat at the table they originally sat at before they met her.

“So, how does a Mandalorian and an Ayleenian warrior end up together?” Cara asked after getting done with her story and apologizing for coming at the Mandalorian earlier.

The Princess snorted besides him as she sipped at her broth, he glanced at her, but she shrugged with a smirk gracing her lips.

“We had a common target when we first met and kept running into each other afterwards, so we started working together.” The Mandalorian sighed.

“Aw, you left out the best part!” The Princess said, setting down her bowl, Cara raised an eyebrow at the Princess wanting her to go on. “I beat him and his buddies in finding and killing their quarry before they could get to him. And then, I escaped without an issue.”

The Mandalorian knocked his elbow into the Princess’s arm and leaned back against the wall, Cara laughed at the pair.

“Well,” Cara started but finished off her soup before continuing. “Seeing as we’re all on the run, one of us is going to need to get a move on, and I was here first.” She got up to leave. “Thanks for the soup.”

“Looks like this planet is taken.” The Mandalorian said once Cara left, he got up. “Let’s grab a few things and go.”

“Fine,” The Princess huffed, drinking the last bit of her broth before helping the Mandalorian with the Child. “Sucks, I didn’t get a chance to fight her myself and see just how good she is.” The Princess teased, a smirk on her lips while the Mandalorian shook his head at her antics.

Little did the Princess know, there was also a smile on the Mandalorian’s face as they walked out of the common house.

By the time they made it back it was almost dark out. The Child sat on the Princess’s hip while the Mandalorian carried supplies up the ship.

“I need to make some repairs on the ship before we leave.” He said placing the supplies down and going to grab the toolbox. He stopped right before the Princess and the Child, looking down at the two.

“Do you need any help?” She asked while the Child reached out for him, he held out his finger for the Child to hold onto.

“I love you, cyar’ika, but you’re shit at mechanic work.” She laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

“Can’t say I didn’t offer to help.” The Mandalorian laughed, the child cooed and a warm feeling spreading through his chest. This could be his own little family and it was already beginning to feel like it.

But he shook the thought from his head as he was reminded of them being on the search to find a safe place for the Child, not to start a family. That also seemed like something him or the Princess couldn’t do with her being committed to her people and him to his own.

He took has finger away from the Child’s hand and rubbed his head. The Mandalorian settled for giving the Princess a brief keldabe kiss before walking down the ramp to do the needed repairs. The thought of a family still making its presence known in the back of his mind as he did so.

The Princess had laid a blanket in the middle of the haul’s floor, her and the Child sitting on top of it while they played with the knob the Child was currently obsessed with.

Even though she’s only known the Child for two weeks, the Princess knew that she’d die for the kid and like the Mandalorian that was outside doing repairs, the Child had managed to find a place in her heart. She knew that the whole point of this mission was to find him a safe place to live where he wouldn’t be hunted but the Princess had begun to dread the day they were to find him a home.

The Princess set back, moving her legs out from underneath herself, the thought of a home running circles in her mind as she continued to roll the knob across the blanket.

She didn’t really know what it was like to have a home. Yeah, she lived in a castle, but that place housed dark memories that even her brother’s kids couldn’t chase away.

She never felt comfortable.

The only place that had gotten close to a home and a comfortable place for the Princess was here on this ship with Din, even if the ship was always cold. She still wasn’t sure if this was necessarily a home either.

She’d always imagined that a home would be in a quiet place, where politics and military strategies weren’t being discussed in another hall, where she wasn’t consistently running whether it was at someone or from someone. But even then, the Princess still wasn’t sure what a home was as she never had it. Stars, it could be right in front of her, but she wouldn’t be able to tell it because she just didn’t know what it’s supposed to feel like.

How were they even supposed to find the Child a safe home when she didn’t know what one was and Din, himself, had once admitted to her that he wasn’t sure what a home was supposed to feel like.

Her thoughts were cut short when the ramp of the crest opened. She heard more than one voice, she couldn’t make out the words, but it put her on edge.

Y/n was quick in hiding the Child and pulling out a knife, ready to attack just in case. She watched as Din began to climb the ramp and then suddenly stop, turning around to face the direction of the two other voices she could hear.

“Where do you live?” She heard him rasp as she stepped forward to hear what the other two voices were saying but still far enough back that they couldn’t see her.

“On a farm. Weren’t you listening?” She heard one voice say.

“We’re farmers.” The other chimed in. After deeming them not a threat, Y/n slipped her knife back into its original place and stepped out where the farmers could see her. The one who’d just chimed in on the conversation, looked up at the Princess with wide eyes while his buddy and the Mandalorian continued on with the discussion.

“In the middle of nowhere?”

“Yes.”

“You have lodging?”

“Yeah, absolutely.”

The Mandalorian turned back to the Princess. “They want our help to get rid of some riders, you up for it?”

“Why not?” She shrugged her shoulders and Din nodded in return.

“Good,” He turned back to the farmers. “Come up and help.”

They scampered up the ramp to start gathering the supplies the Mandalorian told them to get. He walked up to the Princess who was now holding the Child to keep him out of the way.

“I’m going to go find Cara for help.” He said, running his knuckles along Y/n’s cheekbones, not missing the way slight shivers went through her body. “Make sure they get everything we’ll need.”

Y/n nodded, watching as he ran a finger along the Child’s ear and then left, telling the farmers that he would be back on his way out.

“So, we’re basically running off a band of raiders for lunch money?” Cara asked, leaning back in the speeder, making herself comfortable.

“They’re quartering us in the middle of nowhere.” The Mandalorian started, but careful to not be too loud and to not make much movement as the Princess’s head laid on his shoulder while she and the Child cradled in her arms slept. “Last I checked, that’s a pretty square deal for somebody in your position.” He paused looking down at the woman he was in love with. “Worst case scenario, you tune up your blaster. Best case, we’re a deterrent.”

Cara snorted as she watched the way the Mandalorian acted with Y/n’s head on his shoulder.

“I can’t imagine there’s anything living in these trees that an ex-shock trooper couldn’t handle.” He finished, looking back a Cara.

Cara hummed, “What’s going on between you two, are you married?”

The Mandalorian stilled, thinking of an answer, if he even wanted to answer the question. He was quiet long enough that Cara assumed he wasn’t going to answer her question until finally he broke the silence.

“No,” He glanced back down at the Princess and Child. “We’ve never put a name on it.”

He noticed that Y/n’s mouth was slightly open and took that as the chance to carefully move so that his arm was leaning on the edge of the speeder and around her shoulders. He’d learned over the years that when her mouth fell open in her sleep, that she was in a deep sleep, and it would take more than a few movements on his part to fully wake her up.

“We should get some sleep.” The Mandalorian stated, getting more comfortable with Y/n leaning up against him, Cara agreed.

“I know Ayleen fought to Restore the Republic, but where were you during the war?” Cara asked the Princess.

They were the only ones left sitting at the campfire the villagers put together that night, everyone had gone to bed besides them and Din left to go put the Child to sleep and eat. Y/n didn’t say anything for a while, starring at the flames, her legs spread out before her with her ankles cross, feet moving side to side while she thought of what to say.

“Most of Ayleen’s warriors fought in several battles like Scarif and Endor, but I wasn’t on the battlefield like that.” Y/n gabbed a stick, poking at the logs to keep the fire going and to give her something to do while she talked about the past. “The King had a secret guard that was assigned missions to take out traitors who double crossed the Alliance and gave information to the Empire along with assignments of discovering information.” Y/n paused again setting the stick down and taking a deep breath. “As his daughter, I was placed in his secret guard. I was the leader but each of us were sent on individual missions as they were basically assassinations and its better and easier to sneak around and kill people alone. The only missions where we were a full unit was to uncover needed information and those were few in between.”

“Wait you’re a princess?” Cara asked, eyes squinting at Y/n.

“Yeah.”

“I know Princess Leia did, but princesses normally don’t fight in wars.” Cara raised an eyebrow. Y/n didn’t take any offence as she was used to it by now as her father worked to keep the innerworkings of the Ayleen government secretive from the Galaxy.

“The princesses of Ayleen’s royal bloodline learn to fight as a woman doesn’t sit on the throne in Ayleen.” Y/n shrugged her shoulders. “And my father was a traditionalist.”

“Aren’t they usually?” Cara said, taking a slip from her flask. Y/n laughed and stood up, the day’s exhaustion finally catching up to her.

“I’m honestly surprised that my father didn’t bring back to the old fights that politicians held to gain power within the court, I know he considered it once.” Cara’s eyes widened.

“You’re kidding.” Y/n shook her head.

“Living on Ayleen has always been brutal, but my brother and I are working to better that. It still is, as my father wasn’t the only traditionalist on the planet, which is why Mando and I are not looking at Ayleen to keep the Child safe.” Cara hummed. The Princess could see that Cara had more questions to ask her, but she was tired and didn’t necessarily want to talk anymore about Ayleen’s history. “I’m going to bed, but I will see you tomorrow to scope out the raider’s base.”

“See you bright and early, princess.” Cara said in a teasing voice, raising the flask as a toast. Y/n rolled her eyes and headed to the barn that her, Din, and the Child were sharing.

She rasped her knuckles against the wooden door, waiting for Din to give the okay to come in, not wanting to walk in while his helmet was off. Once she got the okay, she pushed the door open to find Din holding the Child in his arms, laying in the cot they made with hay and blankets, the arm holding the Child was propped up on a small pile of hay. After shutting the door, Y/n grabbed a folded blanket and went to go lay down next to the Mandalorian.

“Did you eat?” Y/n whispered, trying not to wake the Child up.

“Yes.” Din whispered back, turning his head from the goblin in his arms to Y/n, watching as she unfolded the blanket and spread it out to cover their legs. “Come here.”

Y/n scooted closer to him and into his side, her head laying down on his chest plate, legs tangling with his while his arm wrapped around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. She placed a small kiss on the beskar and then laid her cheek and a hand against it, watching the Child sleep.

“I love you.” She whispered; voice filled with sleep.

“I love you, too.” Din said back, wishing that he could kiss her, but settled for squeezing her shouldrs before they dozed off.

It was raining and it was raining hard. The Princess, Mandalorian, and ex-Shock Trooper had already spent a week preparing the village to fight the raiders who they’d discovered owned an AT-ST Raider. They’d originally planned on another training session today, but decided to stay in, because of Y/n’s concern for people getting sick from the cold rain and allotting them fewer fighters for the upcoming battle. And mainly for the fact that the Mandalorian was a “living, breathing lightening rod” as the Princess had put it during the small meeting they held with Cara and Omera earlier.

“It’s quiet here.” The Princess said, shifting to snuggle deeper into Din’s side, searching for warmth while the two of them watched the Child chase a frog that found its way into the barn. They’d made a makeshift pallet after their meeting with hay and hay bells to lean against, a blanket spread over it to keep from being poked by the hay.

“It was until you spoke.” The Mandalorian joked. Y/n elbowed his side, smiles gracing both of their lips.

“You know what I mean.” She laughed and laid her chin on his chest plate, looking up at the ‘T’ shaped vizor on his helmet, a smile lingering on her face. “He likes it here.”

Din hummed in agreement while he brushed his thumb over Y/n’s eyebrow. “I can’t imagine how peaceful it must have been here before the raiders.”

Y/n was quiet as she looked down to start running her fingers along the edge of his chest plate, a serious look over taking her facial features. “Do you think we can manage to fight them off and their AT-ST Raider? This goes beyond my expertise.”

Din froze, not really sure on what to tell her because he didn’t know himself. “I’m not sure, but think we’ve got the best plan under the current circumstances.”

She stopped tracing the beskar and laid her cheek against it, looking towards the Child. “I think you’re right in this place being peaceful before the raiders, because they are willing to put their lives on the line to regain that peace.”

“I think so too.” Din whispered, running his hand from her neck down her back, stopping at its middle and flattening it against her back. They continued to silently watch the Child chase the frog up until lightning struck in the distance and sent a loud rumble through the barn. The Child dropped the frog out of fear and came running to his two caretakers.

The Princess sat up to catch him in her arms, where she was quick in cradling the Child and quieting his small cries before they built up into something worse. Din’s heart melted at the sight, especially when she leaned back on him, situating herself between his arm and side, not once taking her eyes off the Child.

“I didn’t know you were so good with kids.” He said watching as she gave the Child her hand to hold onto, quieting him.

“Well, after being forced to watch my brother’s children when they were babies, I picked up on a few things.” She whispered before she started softly humming and rocking the Child to sleep. The Mandalorian watched her in amazement.

He’d never pictured or imagined himself starting his own family as it all it had ever been was providing for the Covert, that was until these past three weeks. Where he saw the way that Y/n had interacted with children, the smile on her face as she played with them, and the way that she’d immediately began to care for the Child like he was her own.

It was expected by the elders for the Mandalorian to have his own kids one day but he had never considered the thought of having children of his own until now and it was a foreign feeling that he wasn’t completely sure on how to process it. It made his heart speed up, melt, and grow all at once and it brought a smile on his face when he watched her interact with kids and imagined building a home with the Princess where their own children could run around and play.

“What are you thinking about?” Y/n asked softly, keeping the surroundings calm for the Child as she lightly rocked him. The question caught him off guard and he didn’t know what to say as what he was thinking about has never been discussed between them.

And the last thing he wanted to do was scare her off by telling her of his daydreams where they got married, had children, and made a home for themselves.

“About how beautiful you look and how caring you are with the Child.” He says he least risky thing he can think of without outright lying to her, he’s found over the years that he hates lying to her and tries to avoid it as much as possible. And what he told her wasn’t a lie either as he did believe she looked beautiful sitting there with the Child in her arms.

“Oh yeah?” She looked up at him, a smile gracing her lips. Maker did he love her smile.

“Yeah.” He whispered back, the smile that was already on his face growing as Y/n snuggled into him further where her head leaned on his shoulder, he wrapped him arm around her and the Child.

The Mandalorian found that despite the danger that they were facing, he found himself content, laying here with her and the Child listening to the beat of rain against the barn and the soft rolls of thunder. It was a moment of temporary peace that he was going to drink every last drop of as he rarely got to have a taste of it.

Din Djarin could have sworn his heart momentarily stopped as he caught onto what the Princess had decided to do in order to save the village. He watched in horror as she grabbed his Amban rifle, jumped over the barricades and ran out into the battlefield.

It was a mixture of horror and awe as he watched her run across the field and towards a pond, dirt and blaster fire rain down and flew around her. But the initial shock wore off quickly as it started and he began chasing after her, shooting down anyone who had their blasters pointed at him and her.

He watched as she got in the pond and shot at the AT-ST, trying to provoke its drivers to come towards her in the water while he continued to run towards her.

He could hear and feel his heartbeat in his ears and under his skin as he watched the AT-ST take the bait and step in the pond.

He wanted to dive in the pond and pull her out of the danger, but he realized that she would’ve been angry at him if he didn’t do something in aid of her hail Mary. So, he grabbed thermal detonators hidden in his armor and threw them at the chassis of the AT-ST. He quickly slid into the pond, pulled Y/n towards him against the wall of the pond, and shielded her with his body as the blast goes off.

The AT-ST fell into the pond, causing a large splash to fall on them and waves to push them further into the wall. He continued to hold onto her in fear that if he let go, she may slip under the water and not come back up.

He knew it was irrational to believe that, but he genuinely thought he was about to lose her, and he didn’t know if he could live after something like that.

Once the waves calmed, blaster fire stopped, and cheers filled the air, the Mandalorian pulled away to check for any injuries. He could barely see her eyes in the dark, but he could tell by the way she looked up at him and the unreadable expression on her face, she was reacting to this differently compared to in the past where she’d smile and laugh it off. Instead, she moved his hands away from her face and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, he realized she was shaking a little bit.

“Never do something like that again, please cyar’ika.” He whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist, and holding her tightly to his body.

“Okay,” She whispered back and tightening her arms around him to pull him closer. The Mandalorian realized then that between them constantly throwing themselves in harm’s way that he didn’t want to spend another moment where there wasn’t a title for their relationship, where he wasn’t married to her.

He pulled away from her, looking her in the eyes to make sure she knows he’s serious with the next words he’s about to speak.

“I want to marry you.”

He could hear his heartbeat pound in his ears once again as she stood there in the pond with him, taking in his words. Finally telling her felt like a relief and a major fuck up all at once, it felt like a hand was wrapped around his heart and like an invisible weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

But she didn’t say anything as she placed her hands on the slides of his helmet and pulled him into a keldabe kiss and he still don’t know what her answer was, it kinda scared him shitless.

“I do too.”

It was two days before they’d planned on departing from Sorgan and the day the Princess and Mandalorian planned on getting married.

Y/n currently sat in the barn her and the Mandalorian shared, some of the village girls put small white flowers in her hair, Omera directing the children on placement of flowers.

Y/n and Din had decided that while they wanted to get married while they were on Sorgan, they didn’t want a bunch of the villagers attending the wedding as neither of them felt comfortable enough to do so. In fact, it was only going to be her and the Mandalorian, they wanted the moment to be private and intimate, they didn’t feel like they could do that in front of an entire village.

However, they did agree to compromise with the villagers for them to throw a celebration afterwards.

The girls finished placing flowers in Y/n’s hair and another came up to her with a handful of flowers in her hand serving as a bouquet.

“You look like a princess.” The girl whispered, handing her the bouquet, Y/n smiled.

“Come here, let me tell you a secret.” Y/n motioned for the girl to come close so she could whisper in her ear. “I am a princess.”

The girl turned to look at Y/n with her eyes wide and jaw dropped in shock.

“But you gotta keep that a secret, pinky promise?” Y/n held out her pinky, watching as the girl nodded and wrapped her pinky around Y/n’s.

“Okay, girls! It’s time to leave Y/n alone and help set up the festivities.” Omera announced, the girls began running out of the barn, Omera following them but stopped at the call of her name.

“Thank you,” Y/n said when Omera turned to her. She bowed her head, a smile on her face.

“It’s the least we could do for you and the Mandalorian after you helped us save our village.” She smiled again. “I’ll let him know that you’re ready.”

Omera walked out, leaving Y/n to her own thoughts. She walked up to the window in the barn, leaning against it and watching the villagers prepare for whatever activities they had planned. She still wore her armor as she didn’t bring anything dressy for something like this and she didn’t want to wear one of Omera’s dresses or another villager’s as they’d already done so much for her, Din, and the Child.

“Mesh’la,” She whipped around to face the Mandalorian at the sound of his modulated voice. Her heart felt like it had stopped, and she felt like she forgot how to breathe. She didn’t know why she reacted like this as Din didn’t look any different as he did yesterday, but she still somehow forgot how to function properly as he stepped closer to her.

Little did she know, the Mandalorian was reacting the same way but was able to hide it under the beskar and his movement towards her.

She managed to meet him halfway where no one could see them from the window. Din brushed his knuckles along her cheek, taking in the beauty that stood before him.

“You look so beautiful,” He whispered as one of his fingers moved to touch the petal of one of the many flowers in her hair. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Y/n whispered and bit her lip, all of the sudden feeling shy under his gaze. She placed the bouquet on a wooden table they stood beside.

Din’s hand fell away from the flowers in her hair and down to hold both of her hands in his own. They’d discussed a week ago on what vows they’d say and decided on the Mandalorian marriage vows for this first time and then the Ayleenian vows for when they hold a ceremony with her family as Y/n had claimed her brother would want to see her get married. He’d also told her that night what the Mandalorian vows meant in basic and helped her get started on pronouncing the words correctly.

Both of their hearts felt like they were going to beat out of their chest as they starred at each other, hands gripping onto one another.

“Mhi solus tome.” Din began, squeezing Y/n’s hands as she began to repeat the vow.

“Mhi solus tome.”

“Mhi solus dar’tome.”

“Mhi me’dinui an.”

“Mhi me’danui-” Y/n stopped, her eyes looking up, lips moving as she tried to work out the correct pronunciation, and cheeks burning as she did so. Din let out chuckle under his breath, rubbing his thumb across her hand, finding her effort adorable. “Mhi me’dinui an.”

He nodded as a questioning look filled her eyes wondering if she’d said the word correctly. “Mhi ba’juri verde.”

“Mhi ba’juri verde.” She said the last vow, sparkles filling her eyes as he brought her hands up to his helmet. Her breath caught in her throat once again as he flattened her hands out of his helmet and helped her lift it off.

The helmet nearly slipped out of her hands as she gasped and took in Din’s appearance, but he managed to keep a hold on the helmet until he sat it down on the wooden table next to her bouquet of flowers.

Her fingers explored his face, tracing the curve of his nose, the sharp edge of his jaw, and the bow of his upper lip. Then they ran through brown hair, fluffing it up from being pushed down by a helmet all day all while she looked in his brown eyes.

There was a good reason why the breath had been knocked out of her the moment she seen her husband’s, her riduur’s face for the first time and this was it.

“Y/n,” He whispered her name like a prayer on his lips as she continued to take in his features, y/e/c eyes traveling all over his face. Din took off his gloves and held her own face in his hands, seeing it for the first time without the helmet on and a blindfold covering part of her face. “Can I kiss you?”

She nodded her head; her eyes found their way back to his own and closed once he started to lean in. Even though his lips where slightly chapped, they were still soft and she could’ve easily melted then and there as he kissed her, tongue running across her lips while his hands traveled down her body to pull her close to his own.

Y/n broke away for air, gasping it down as his lips made their way down her throat, her fingers threading through his hair so that she had something to keep her steady despite the arm wrapped around her waist.

“As much as-“ Her words were cut off by a whimper that escaped her lips when he moved fabric and nipped at her collarbone. “As much as I would love for this to continue,” She continued to gasp. “We have people waiting on us.”

He nipped at her skin once more before looking up at her, his pupils were blown so wide she had a hard time finding where they ended and his brown irises started. He stood to his full height and she held his gaze while their chest bumped into each other.

“Fine,” He rasped and leaned in to brush his lips along the shell of her ear. “But I’m going to take my time with you tonight and you aren’t going to find it easy to walk afterwards.”

Shivers went down her back and goosebumps covered her skin. “Promise?”

He stepped away from her, took a deep breath, and put his helmet on. His finger curled beneath the Princess’s chin, tilting her head up while he looked down at her.

“I promise.”

The moment the barn door shut, the Mandalorian's helmet was off and he had the Princess, his riduur, pushed up against the door with his knee shoved between her legs while his lips and hands were busy exploring her body.

Omera had agreed to watch the Child so that it was just the two of them for the night and he'd be damned if wasn't going to take full advantage of that.

"Din," Y/n gasped out beneath him when he nipped at that sweet spot between her neck and shoulder. Her fingers threaded through his soft, brown curls, tugging on them in an attempt to keep herself grounded.

Din brought his lips up to her own, tasting the spotchka she'd consumed throughout the celebration on her tongue. He moaned into the kiss at the taste of the liquor while his fingers started fumbling with the knots and clips holding her armor together.

The moment he'd stripped her of her armor, he started working on taking off her clothes but was cut short when she pushed him and rotated their bodies where he was now pushed up against the barn door. She broke away from the kiss, pants escaping her lips, and pupils blown wide with lust as she looked into his brown eyes.

Time seemed to slow as the two of them drank each other in while catching their breaths, it was like the calm before a storm and it was a storm that they both were ready to run into together.

Then it was like time sped back up when Y/n started taking off his armor and every time she sat a piece down she took off, she'd press a kiss to his lips, cheek, jaw, neck, clavicle, and so on. Once all the armor on his upper body was removed, she slid her hand beneath his tunic, lifting it up as her hands travelled further up his abdomen running over the muscle and scars that where mapped across the area. When she got far enough, she lifted the shirt over his head and immediately connected her lips with his own.

Each time they kissed, Din couldn't help but think about how intoxicating her lips were. Today wasn't the first time they'd kissed each other but that first time, he knew he was hooked and every time they've kissed throughout the years he couldn't get enough. But it was something different about tonight, it felt like with every kiss, he was taking a hit of spice, but the high was so much better, and it was a high that he didn't want to come down from.

Y/n broke away from the kiss once again, gasping for the air he stole right out of her, their chest bumping into each other while they gulped down air. Din took this as his chance to grab the bottom of her shirt and lift it over head, his hands running up her body from her hips all away to her breast before lifting the shirt completely off her body. His hands sneaked around her body to unclasp her bra and then the same hands cupped her breast the moment the article of clothing fell away down to their feet. His hands stayed there long enough for his thumbs to brush over her nipples but after that, they are already sliding down her body. They stopped just below her ass and were squeezing the back of her thighs.

"Jump." he whispered, and she did as told, wrapping her legs around his waist. She threw her arms around his neck for leverage and her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. She leaned in for another kiss and capturing his lips as he started to push away from the door and headed straight for their makeshift cot.

Once he reached the cot, he slowly got down on his knees, one of his hands at her thigh moving up her back to continue holding her close as he gently laid her down, not once breaking the kiss in the process.

Once she was placed on the cot, he slid his hand out from underneath her back and placed it next to her head, bracing himself to keep from crushing her. He finally broke away from the kiss only to trail kisses down her neck and her heaving chest.

Her hands ran through his head of hair, trying to catch her breath while her riduur placed kisses down her body. It didn't take long for her breath to get caught in her throat once again when Din latched his lips around one of her nipples, his eyes looking up at her face and watching the way it morphed from pleasure. He lightly sucked on it and then blew cool air against it once he was done and gave the other nipple the same treatment.

Afterwards, he moved away from her, unhooking her legs from around his waist so he could stand up. A whimper fell from the Princess's lips at the loss of contact.

He started taking the rest of his armor off and when he started unbuckling his pants, he looked down at his riduur laid out before him taking her in. Her lips were swollen from the kisses they shared and her biting her lip, eyes glossy and twinkling with stars, pupils blown wide with lust, and chest still heaving.

In his eyes, she looked like an angel spread out before him and she was all his for the taking.

Once he got the rest of his clothing off, he kneeled back down before her, his hands taking off her boots and then sliding up over the fibric of her pants before stopping at the waistband. Her eyes didn't break contact with his for one moment in the process of his fingers popping open the button of her pants and hooking in the waistband of both her pants and underwear, slowly dragging the articles of clothing down her legs.

It was when he got her fully underdressed that he broke eye contact but only to drag his eyes up and down her body only to meet her eyes again once he leaned down to start dragging his lips up her leg.

A trail of prickles was left in his wake from his lips ghosting over her skin. One of his hands also slid up her leg only to push them further apart so he'd have better access to her. His lips reached the inside of her thigh and begun trailing kisses until they landed on the juncture of her thighs where he lightly nipped at the skin there. He only pulled away from her legs in the slightest to blow cool air across her dripping folds. A moan slipped from Y/n's lips while her hands curled into the blanket that lay below them.

"Look at you," A smirk found its way onto his lips as he watched the way her body was already so responsive to his actions, his words were laced with a teasing edge to them. "You're already soaked, and I've barely gotten started on you."

Y/n looked into his eyes over her heaving chest and couldn't tell where his pupils ended and his iris began due to how dark they were with lust.

And without waiting any longer, Din took his free hand and used it to spread open her folds, flattening his tongue to swipe through them and collecting some of her slick in the process. He pressed his tongue up against her entrance and her back started to arch while she threw her head back. He slipped his other under her leg, resting it on his shoulder while he placed that hand down on her abdominal pelvic region to keep her hips still. He kept his tongue at the same place, prodding at her entrance, the tip of his nose nudged between her folds while the fingers that were once spreading her folds moved to circle around her clit.

A gasp escaped her lips, her body seized up from the pressure his fingers put on the little bundle of nerves, and one of her hands flew down to grip onto his hair. The moan and whimpers falling from her lips was music to his ears as he continued to lap up her arousal and rub on her clit.

"Din," She gasped out, tugging at his hair. "I- I need you."

He pulled his mouth away from her mound, looking up to find her eyes rolling back into her head - she was close. "How do you need me, cyare?"

"I need you inside me." She breathed out, he smirked.

"I know you do, honey." He whispered, pulling his hand away from her clit, and started climbing his way up her body. Her hand fell away from his hair and her chest knocked into his while she gulped down air.

He gently placed a kiss at that spot on her neck that was right below her jaw and ear and then on her jaw, a hand sneaking between their bodies to grab onto his cock. He dragged its tip through her folds, collecting some of the slick between her legs.

"Din," Y/n whined beneath him, hands gripping onto his biceps. He caressed his nose along her cheekbone, quietly shushing her when his lips reach her ear.

"I know." He whispered and lined himself up at her entrance. He started sinking himself into her warmth, a groan erupting from his chest and past his lips from the tight fit while her nails dug into his skin due to the stretch.

Her legs wrapped around his waist bringing him closer to her body once he sunk all the way in. He sat up, looking down at the beginnings of the mess he was making of his riduur and gently took her hands in his and moved them away from his arms. He interlaced his fingers with hers and held her hands down on the cot, looming over her body.

He started slowly rocking his hips into hers getting the two of them used to the way he filled and stretched her before he sped up. He watched the way she bit at her lip, trying to contain the little noises she made, and the way her eyes held so much emotion in them as they looked into his.

"Din," She tightened her legs around his hips and leaned her face up to his as much as she could with her hands pinned down, she held his gaze the entire time and he didn't fail to notice the way something seemed to shift in her eyes. "I need to you to fuck me like you mean it."

Her hips rolled up into his and a growl sipped from his lips at her filthy request. He captured her lips with his own and did as she asked, pulling out far enough that all was left in was the tip and then slamming his hips back into hers.

Y/n pulled away from the kiss, moaning as her head fell back onto the cot, she no longer had the ability to hold herself up as he started his rough and bruising pace. He leaned down, nudging her head to the slide with his nose to allow him access to her neck.

"I keep my promises, you know that right Mrs. Djarin?" He whispered into her ear, but not failing to notice a crease form between her eyebrows and her lips fall open with a moan leaving them out of the corner of his eye. "I intend to follow through with fucking you so hard that it won't be easy for you to walk tomorrow."

At his words, a moan got caught in her throat and her hands squeezed his so hard her nails bit into his skin.

He placed a kiss on her neck, nipping at the spot, and then running his tongue over the mark to soothe the skin. He continued marking her skin up while he untangled his fingers with one of her hands to sneak it down between their bodies to start rubbing at her clit. He felt the rumble of the groan that passed through her throat beneath his lips.

Her hand found its way on his back where she dug her nails into his skin and racked them along his trapezius and stopping at his shoulder giving herself something else to hold onto.

"Princess," He groaned in her ear from the scratches she left on his back. He knew by the way her walls tighten around his cock and her body shook that she was getting close. He sped up the pace of both his hips pounding into her and the circles his fingers drew on her clit. "I need you to cum for me, can you do that?"

"Yes." She panted in his ear, her hand moving to cup the back of his neck, some of her fingers carding through his hair.

"Then do it." He purred, grabbing her earlobe between his teeth.

All it took was one more thrust and a little more pressure on her clit for her to come undone around him. Pants, moans, and whimpers filled his ears while he continued to ride her through her high and chase his own. The warmth that was already settled in his belly began to spread throughout his body due to the sounds she made and the way her walls fluttered around his cock. And just as she was at the end of her high, he reached his own, sinking deep within her and stilling his hips, ropes of cum coating her walls. His arm shook, barely able to hold his body up as waves of ecstasy rolled over him but the attempt to try not to crush his riduur was in vain as she pulled him down to lay against her body.

His head fell in the crook of her neck but neither of them minded as she continued to hold him, her hand rubbing up and down his back in a soothing manner and the other squeezing his hand, grounding him.

They stayed in that position up until Din pulled out and laid down on his back next to Y/n once he caught his breath. He didn't lay there for long though before he got up and started digging through his pants.

"Din?" Y/n asked softly, propping herself up on her elbows to watch him move around. "What are you looking for?"

He didn't respond to her question but instead hummed in satisfaction once he found what he was looking for and turned to her, clutching the object in his fist. He sat down next to her on the cot, starring down at his closed fist before turning to face his wife.

"I know we didn't exchange anything to physically symbolize our marriage, but I want to give you this." He took her hand in his free one and placed the object in her hand so she could see it. "It’s a mythosaur skull and having it puts you under the protection of Mandalorians as you are now a part of my clan."

She ran a finger over the bumps and ridges of the skull, studying the necklace Din had just gifted her.

"And if there ever comes a time where I'm no longer by your side and you need help, all you have to do is present it to a Mandalorian."

Y/n dragged her gaze away from the skull and looked up at Din, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. "Thank you."

Before he could say anything, Y/n was throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him. He wrapped his arms round her body and pulled her into his lap, snuggling his face in the crook of her neck.

"I love you, riduur." He whispered in her ear, one of his thumbs running back and forth on her back.

"I love you too, riduur."

The Princess hated Tatooine for a reason and it was because every time she was on this damned planet, something bad happened.

Right now was a perfect example of something going haywire on Tatooine as there was currently a blaster barrel digging into her scalp, her hands tied behind her back, her own blood dripping down her face, and a migraine forming from the concussion she received in her fight.

She was napping with the Child in Peli Motto’s docking bay because of the exhaustion the heat brought along with the constant travel when Toro Calican decided to double cross them and come after the Child. She woke up to Calican stumbling over a discarded piece of scrap metal while trying to sneak up on her, a blaster pointed at her.

Despite being woken up from her nap, she was quick to duck behind a desk, the Child in her arms whimpering as blaster fire hitting the chair she was laying in moments ago.

“You’re at a disadvantage right now, I won’t shoot you if you cooperate.” Calican advised, sand and dirt crunching beneath his shoes as he stepped closer to the desk. “I don’t want to harm the Child so let’s not fight and frighten the Child anymore than he already is.”

Y/n didn’t say anything but sat the Child down, looking into his large brown eyes while she held a finger up to her lips before grabbing a pair of knives.

“You say you won’t shoot me, but you shot at where I was moments ago.” She countered his argument, slowly moving out from under the desk while she spoke. She crouched behind the boxes and equipment that sat next to the desk, making her way around the compound to catch him off guard.

“I apologize for that, but your sudden movement startled me. I’m not a fool I know you’re just as deadly as Mando.” Y/n rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything, listening to his steps get closer to the Child.

Knowing that he was getting closer to the Child than she’d like, she knocked down a rusted barrel and quickly moved away from it. Calican let out a noise of shock and shoot in the direction of where she’d just knocked down the barrel.

The Princess moved so that she was behind him. She knew she could easily kill him, but she wanted him alive in order to find out what happened to her riduur.

Y/n lunged for him and took him down to the ground, a yelp of surprise leaving his mouth. She straddled him and sliced at his hand that held the blaster easily getting him to release the weapon. She pushed it away with her hand and then grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling his head back and resting a blade at the expanse of his throat.

“Where is the Mandalorian?” She hissed through gritted teeth, yanking at his hair again.

Calican let out a sound that was in between a hiss and a growl, but before he could say anything a voice cut through the air that was neither of theirs.

“What is going on here?” Y/n snapped her head in the direction of the voice, finding Peli standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

That one moment of distraction was all it took for Calican to gain the upper hand. He grabbed her hand that was at his throat and held it steady while he turned his body to throw the Princess off balance and into the floor.

As the Princess’s back slammed on the ground, her head bounced off it, causing her teeth to clash together, black spots to fill her vision, and her ears to ring, not to mention the pain that reverberated throughout her skull. She lost her grip on her blade from the impact and would’ve continued to lay there in a daze if she hadn’t seen a green blob of movement out of the corner of her eye, panic and realization started to settle in chest at the sight of the Child she was supposed to be protecting.

“Peli,” Y/n hissed, struggling with Calican who was trying to pin her down, but she kept her hold on his hair. “Get the Child and run.”

She heard Peli shuffle around the two, the Child cooing when he was picked up. Calican tried to get away from Y/n to go after the Child and mechanic, but Y/n fought through the fogginess that was trying to take over her mind and used what little leverage she had to yank his head back as they escaped.

Calican seemed to have had enough and dug his thumb into the underside of her wrist, she screamed out in pain and let go of his hair. He quickly moved away from her body and stumbled after his blaster.

Y/n was sluggish in her movements to grab a blade and throw one, but she still managed to get it to land in his shoulder, even though that wasn’t where she was aiming for.

Calican screamed in pain but still managed to grab his blaster, when he turned to face the Princess, his face was completely red, teeth bared, and eyes dark with anger and pain.

Before she could react or defend herself, his blaster slammed into the side of her face, and her world went dark.

When she regained consciousness, she was laid down on her side in dirt and had her hands tied behind her back.

“Look who is finally awake!” Calican announced, the higher pitch in his voice caused a ping of sharp pain to knock against her skull. She couldn’t keep the groan of pain from escaping her lips and her body from curling in on itself due to the wave a nausea that crashed through her body.

She didn’t even hear the crunch of sand beneath his boots when Calican walked over to her. What she did notice was the bile that began to raise up her throat when his hand wrapped around her arm and yanked her up in a sitting position.

“Should’ve killed you for that stunt you pulled back there, but I figured the price your brother would be willing to pay for the Princess of Ayleen’s safe return would make up for it.” He hissed, pulling her to feet. “I also figured holding Mando’s little plaything and pet as hostages would get under his skin as well.”

Y/n swallowed the raising bile and glared at the traitor but held onto the sliver of information Calican just gave her, giving her some relief. Din was alive.

“He’s going to kill you and if he doesn’t, so will my brother.” She hissed.

“I’ll take my chances.” He started drugging her up the ramp of the Razor Crest where she spied Peli holding the Child in her arms, a worried and scared look dominating her features. Calican turned Y/n around to face the hanger bay and then placed a hand on her shoulder, roughly pushing her down on her knees.

Y/n heard the Child whimper behind her, and it nearly broke her heart from the sound and that he was witnessing this. She felt like a failure because she wasn’t able to protect the Child properly.

“Give him to me.” Calican snapped at Peli and took the Child in his arms. Y/n balled her fingers into fist behind her back, the sting from her nails biting into skin was welcomed as she listened to the Child’s cries.

She knew Calican disarmed her while she was unconscious as she no longer felt the comforting weight of her weapons on her body and at that realization, her hope of escaping was dimming. The fact that she had a bad concussion and was dizzy and nauseous because of it didn’t help much in plans of escaping either.

All she could do was sit and wait for Din to get here and part of her wasn’t feeling too good about it.

However, her wait wasn’t long from the faint sound of the rumbling landspeeder engine.

The barrel of Calican’s blaster was shoved into her scalp and as Din entered the compound with a blaster in his hand. Tears prickled in her eyes, but she was quick to push them back, not wanting to show another weakness.

Dispite his helmet being on, his vizor was turned towards her, Calican, and the Child. She could feel him starring at her and she looked away not having the courage to look at him in his helmet as all she felt was shame and failure for not protecting the Child.

“Took you long enough, Mando.” Calican said, his voice cutting through the silence that had settled over the compound. “Looks like I’m calling the shots now. Huh, partner?”

Calican dug his blaster further into her scalp to exaggerate his point. “Drop your blaster and raise ‘em.”

Y/n couldn’t help but watch as Din slowly put his blaster down and held his hand up.

“Cuff him.” Calican said to Peli, she did as told and began walking down the ramp towards him. “You’re a Guild traitor, Mando. And I’m willing to bet that this Child is the target you helped escape.”

Y/n’s heart sank down to the pit of her stomach as Peli cuffed his hands behind his back, hope completely draining from her body and soul. She felt sick again, this time she couldn’t tell if it was from the sight before her or the concussion.

“Fennec was right. Bringing you in won’t just make me a member of the Guild,” She could hear the smugness in his voice and dug her nails further into her palms. “It’ll make me legendary.”

The pressure from the blaster barrel was no longer there on her scalp as Calican waved it around for emphasis.

That ended up being Calican’s grave mistake as Din took that as his chance to throw a flesh change their way.

The flash blinded both Y/n and Calican, but she used that as her chance to get away from Calican. Her attempted escape wasn’t graceful by no means as the world seemed to spin, she ended up rolling down the ramp and landed face first in the sand and dirt despite that not being her goal. A groan left her lips as the sand gritted across her wounds on her cheekbone and eyebrow.

Blaster fire broke out above her, but it was short lived. She turned her head to the side finding Din still standing and relief flooding through her body. She started to find it hard to keep her eyes open and barely heard Din tell Peli to stay back and her ask where the Child is.

Y/n barely registered Din walking up to her and releasing her hands from their bindings.

“Y/n,” Din whispered, gently turn her over to lay on her back. “Hey, look at me.”

His hand cupped her cheek in an attempt to get her eyes to focus on him, which they did but lost focus again as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry.” His arms slid under her back and knees and picked her up to lay against his chest while he carried her up the ship.

He didn’t say anything but shush her apologizes.

“Do you have a med kit?” Peli asked the Mandalorian, carrying the Child in her arms.

“Yes.” He responded, emotion coating his words. He sat her down on a bench within the Razor Crest, leaning her against a wall and crates, the Princess kept her eyes shut the entire time in order to fight the dizziness but it didn’t aid in her fight to stay awake.

Peli continued to hold the Child, who was reaching his arms out towards the Princess, as Din grabbed the med kit and started to clean and dress the wounds on her face.

“Is that it?” Din asked her, looking for any other injuries.

“I have a concussion,” She slurred her words, pressing her head further in the cold metal of the ship. “But yes.”

She heard a sigh escaped the helmet and the rustling of stuff being moved around. Y/n opened her eyes to see what was happening only to find Peli walking towards her, the Child’s arms still stretched out towards her. A small smile found its way on her face seeing that the Child wasn’t harmed.

“Be careful with him.” Peli whispered, setting the Child down in her arms. The Child immediately tried his best attempt to hug Y/n with his tiny arms. “And get to feeling better.”

“Thank you.” Y/n told Peli, who nodded in response before turning towards the Mandalorian.

“So, I take it you didn’t get paid?” Peli asked the Mandalorian.

He sighed, motioned his helmet for Peli to follow him and they walked down the ramp. Y/n occupied herself with giving her attention to the Child and focusing on keeping a hold on him.

It didn’t take long for Din to return with the ramp closing behind him, he sat down a brown bag on the floor (it clattering as he did so) and turned to face Y/n and the Child.

“I’m going to get the ship in lightspeed, will you be okay?” He asked, she nodded in response, he seemed to hesitate for a moment and then. “Do you want me to take the Child so you can rest?”

“I think I can manage.” She whispered, peering up at his helmet. He nodded and then walked off.

When the ship started up and began leaving Tatooine, the guilt started to sit heavy in Y/n’s chest again now that things quieted down.

She sat the Child right down next to her on the bench and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs to keep them in place. She felt stupid, reckless, and irresponsible for thinking that she could take that nap, and everything would be fine. Instead she risked her’s, the Child’s, and Din’s life by doing so. She was here to help Din protect the Child but instead ended up causing more trouble for the man she loved, and the Child that already stole her heart.

Then there was the simple fact that she’d just married Din a week ago and she was already fucking shit up.

Tears prickled her tears and escaped down her cheeks before she could even fight them back, the thought of what her father would do to her right now rearing its ugly head into her mind.

She tried reminding herself that he was dead, and that Din was nothing like him, but she couldn’t help but remember both the physical and mental pain her father would inflict on her for failure and a careless mistake like the one she just made.

She was so far in her head that when Din laid his hand on her shoulder, she didn’t expect it and jumped. He took his hand away from her shoulder when she looked up at him and at first, she thought it was because he was disgusted in himself for touching her to begin with. Instead, she was proven wrong when he picked the Child up, placed him in his pram and shut it. Then he took his helmet off and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms.

“What happened?” He asked quietly, the vibrations of his voice rumbling beneath her head that laid on top of his chest plate.

With tears streaming down her face and her head pounding, she told him everything from her taking a nap all away to her fight with Calican, her capture, and everything that happened before he arrived, the arm he had wrapped around her shoulders tightening even more with every detail.

“I completely understand if you are upset with me because I am with myself for letting my guard down like that. And for that, I am so sorry.” His breath hitched at her words and he was pulling away from her only to hold her face in between his hands so that her eyes would stare into his own to make sure she knew he meant every word he was about to say.

“You should not be the one apologizing, I should be. For I trusted Calican enough to help him get in the Guild and underestimating him in thinking he wasn’t going to try anything. That mistake, my mistake, alone was enough to nearly cost yours and the Child’s lives. I do not blame you for wanting and taking a nap, because that could’ve easily been me.” He paused, his thumb brushing across her uninjured cheekbone. “I love you, Y/n Djarin and I don’t think any less of you or your capabilities before and now.”

Her heart melted at his words and at hearing him attach his last name to her own. Although the action was clumsy on her part, she didn’t think twice when she leaned in and attached her lips to his own.

When the kiss broke, the two just stared at each other and held each other’s faces within their hands.

“You need rest.” Din whispered, watching the way Y/n’s eyes were fighting to stay open. She pulled away from him so he could get up. “Stay here.”

He walked over to the storage space that once upon a time used to serve as his bed and pulled their bedding out. He laid everything out on the floor, trying to make things as comfortable as possible. She’d tried to get up to help him make the bed, but he was quick in facing her, pointing at where she was once sitting, and telling her to sit back down.

At any other time, she would argue with him over it but the longer she was on her feet, the dizzier and more nauseated she became, so she did as told.

She continued to watch as he finished up the bed and then started peeling off his armor before walking over to her and helping her do the same which was more of him doing it for her and not letting her help. Once her armor was off, he started to put his arms under her knees and back before she stopped him.

“Din, I appreciate the effort, but if you pick me up, I fear I’m going to get sick and it’ll be more trouble than its worth.” He looked up at her, taking in her words before nodding and helping her stand and slowly walk to the cot instead.

He helped her lay down and then moved to turn the lights off within the Crest’s cargo haul, the only light being the dim emergency light. He got in bed right next to her afterwards and threw his arm over her waist, pulling her in close. She buried her head into his chest and underneath his chin, his arms enveloping her in warmth and the feeling of safety; the day’s activities finally caught up to her and began pulling her under into the dark world of sleep.

“I love you too, Din Djarin.”

She was out before she could hear his response or tell whether the words actually made it out of her mouth or were understandable.

Translations:

cyar'ika - sweetheart

mesh'la - beautiful

keldabe - head-butt or in other words: foreheads touching

"Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde" - "We are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, we will raise warriors."

riduur - partner, spose, husband, wife

cyare - beloved, loved, popular

Thank you for reading!!

#din djarin x reader #din djarin x y/n #din djarin x you #din djarin imagine #din djarin smut #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x y/n #the mandalorian imagine #the mandalorian smut #mandalorian x reader #mando x reader #mando x you #mando x y/n #pedro pascal x reader #star wars x reader #the mandalorian #din djarin #star wars

414 notes · View notes

givemethatgold · 4 years ago

Text

Fix’er Upper Pt 2

Pairing: Eventual Frankie “Catfish” Morales x F!Reader

Length: 1.5k words

Warnings: Too many commas, some extra ‘u’s in words as I’m Canadian..., not enough time spent world building. Hope y’all got an imagination.

Notes: They meet! They meet! (Tags at the end.)

PART ONE

The morning sun saw Frankie already awake and amidst his trees. He knew that most people thought him stubborn by wanting to run his little orchard himself. He had heard the whispers, seen the side glances, the quirked eyebrows. The odd reputation he was gaining was worth the solitude and peace he had found.

The reputation of Town Recluse was better than That Ex-Cokehead Murderer. A small part of his brain knew that he was being too hard on himself but a larger part was convinced he deserved it.

So, he worked his penance here. Frankie nursed the trees back to fruition, his sweat and blood sacrificed to bring forth life; refusing to use pesticides or any form of agent that might harm another living thing. Deer, rabbits, mice, and bugs were the bane of a harvester’s business but Frank had decided to find joy in their presence. If he didn’t have to see another death until his own, that would still be too soon.

It had taken him three years to get anything more than a few barrels of apples. Most asked why he didn’t just cut them all down and start anew. They didn’t understand, hell he barely did, but in his soul, Frankie knew he needed to prove that he could do good. He had made his own baskets, built sheds, mended fences, and slowly built the business and a small loft for himself in the old barn.

Looking down the rows and rows of trees, Frankie was starting to get the feeling he might need help this harvest season. It wasn’t easy for him to acknowledge this but if he didn’t get at least one helping hand, more than a few bin-fulls would go to waste. Frankie decided he would put up a flyer on the notice board the next time he went to town and pray that only quiet people would apply.

The trees were his pride and joy. A variety that had been lost and forgotten until he had bought the aging orchard and a man named Tom Brown had come along asking about the fruit.

He felt at peace when he worked as it let his mind focus on the job at hand and was tired enough to slip into a deep slumber at night. Previously plagued by nightmares, long days of pruning, fixing, or working in the mill proved the cure for a dreamless sleep.

“I’m sorry, how much did you say the total was?” you asked while rapidly trying to do some math in your head. If you purchased everything you needed at the hardware store that would only leave you forty-seven dollars left in this week’s budget. And it was only Monday. “Ermm, on second thought, I don’t know if I really need the plaster and trowel just yet. I’ll just take the drywall and screws, please.”

Leaving the store, head down, you were feeling like such an ass you didn’t even notice the two older ladies watching your exit and whispering madly to each other. The owner of Hank’s Hardware, whose name was oddly Allan, kindly helped you pile the drywall into your truck box. You were too busy with the tie-downs to notice him join in on the developing whispered plot.

Unable to resist, you purchased a bouquet of sunflowers. They were your favourite and, once you mentioned that you were new in town, the sweet older gentleman selling them gave you an extra bunch for free. The bright flowers lightened your heart enough to almost, almost, make you forget your even lighter wallet.

The laden-down truck was nearly out of town when you spotted an open-air market down a side street. It had a surprising number of booths set up and looked so welcoming that you couldn’t resist.

Slowly walking between the stalls, you smiled at each vendor and complimented their handiwork. A few you recognized and thanked for the delicious foods they had brought by when you had first moved in.

You wished you could have supported more of the vendors, you respected their ability to create and be confident enough to share their wares. Taking one last look around, your gaze was caught by a familiar logo: it was the same one you had seen scattered across your porch a few weeks ago. ‘Catfish Cider’ in bold script framing a picture of a gnarled old tree. Maybe you should buy some and have Jacquie over for a less depressing girl's night? But could you afford it, even with leaving behind some of the reno items at Hank's?

You didn’t realize how long you had been standing there staring at the display until a voice called out.

“You gonna buy something or just wanted to block off my stand?”

Whipping your head up you noticed the man standing behind the stand for the first time. His face, for the moment, set into a grimace you assumed was due to him being upset at your loitering.

“I dunno,” you fired back, annoyed by his annoyance and too tired to stop yourself from saying a bratty, “is it actually worth the money?”

His grimace turned into eyebrow-raising shock, the tan skin of his rather attractive face reddening a shade or two with anger.

“Oh, you have such a discerning pallet to know better?”

“I- what? No! I just want to make sure I’m spending my money on something worthwhile.”

“Like flowers?” He challenged, his stance widening and arms crossing across his chest.

You’d seen that pose too many times in the past; Brad used to tower over you posturing himself just like this asshole at the market. He liked to hover over you menacingly any time you had mustered up your courage to state an opinion or to belittle your ideas. It made you inwardly flinch, making you angry at yourself for still acting like a meek victim, and then, in a show of great maturity, you projected that anger onto the stranger who initiated the exchange.

“Like it’s any of your business!” You cried out in a shrill voice you didn’t even recognize as your own. “But yes, these flowers make me happier than anything else I’ve seen today could.”

“I’ll have you know-” he ground out, jabbing his finger at you.

“Nope!” You interrupted him, “I’m going to stop you right there. I’m done listening to men like you!”

“Men like me? Men like ME?” He crowed, “Pray tell, what the hell do you know about men like me?”

Had you been acting like a functioning adult you might have realized that your voices were beginning to get noticeably loud. A small crowd around the two of you had stopped what they were doing to listen while also trying to look like there weren’t eavesdropping.

“I know all I need to,” you proclaimed, not quite able to stop the tremble in your voice. “and I’m not going to waste any more of my life listening to one.” With that, you sharply turned and made your way through the suddenly thick crowd of people.

Once the adrenaline from your encounter had worn off, you found yourself crying in your truck and regretting the way you had snapped. The hot guy at the stand might have been a bit brash with you but he hardly deserved you taking out all your inner turmoil on him like that.

Frankie winced again, thinking about how quickly out of hand the conversation had gotten. His remark was supposed to come out light and teasing but he was out of practice talking to people. Pretty people. People who were framed by armfuls of sunflowers, whose skin glowed in the Autumn sun, who had a ready smile for everyone she talked to.

He had found himself craving one for himself, and when she had stopped at his booth, looking lost in thought, he silently begged for her to look up. Impatient, he just blurted out the first words that came to his head and instantly regretted even trying. His cheeks grew red from embarrassment and Frankie just stood there looking at her blankly, not sure how to salvage the situation.

Before he could open his mouth to apologize though, the woman responded with a retort of her own. While it could have been interpreted as teasing, there had been a fiery glint in her eye that had pushed his pride button. Frankie was suddenly ready to throw down or at least regale her with the accolades of his cider and how it came to be.

What a mess he had made. He had riled up the beautiful stranger to the point her voice had wavered with barely repressed emotion. Not to mention the stir he had caused in front of half the town.

Once the market quieted down and everyone was closing up shop, Greg from the stall next to his, called over, “Know who that was?”

Even though it had been over an hour since the spat, Frankie knew he was referring to the woman with the sunflowers.

“Hopefully just some Leaf Peeper, I’d hate to run into her again.”

“Oooooh I dunno,” mused Greg, “A woman with passion in her blood like that can be a boon to crusty old men like us.”

Frankie noticed the gleam in Greg’s eyes and felt an odd burning in his stomach because of it. It was not jealousy at the unbidden image of Greg and the woman together. Definitely not.

PART THREE

@rebelliouscat @pedro4ever @speakerforthedead0 @yespolkadotkitty @ilikechocolatemilkh @weirdowithnobeardo @pedro-pastel @disgruntledspacedad @a-skov

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dennou-translations · 4 years ago

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Violet Evergarden Ever After: Chapter 2

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The Night and the Auto-Memories Doll

Everything went around.

From past to present and from present to future. The dead bodies that decayed within the soil would dissolve into the earth, and from the earth, too, would new living creatures be born. Within a few hours’ time, curtains made of stars and nightly shades would be covered over by curtains in the colors of dawn.

People went around as well.

Children would be born, muster out their voices, start walking and, once they became aware of their own selves, their stories would begin. A cycle of discovering passion, coming to know love, stopping to be children and, upon sympathizing with other families, birthing offspring just as their parents had done. A cycle of learning about the world, spreading information, teaching their knowledge to younglings without sparing any of it away and generating more such younglings. A cycle in which someone’s story was someone else’s encouragement, and those who were encouraged would conceive stories of their own.

Everything went around.

There was one cycle here. It was the story of a meager cycle that likely could happen anywhere in the world.

A man picked up a wild beast from a small island to which he had drifted. It was a beautiful beast, but it had been stocked with skills long before coming to his hands. Skills for slaughtering people with ease and seeking submission.

Their first meeting was terrible. His underling had attempted to lay his hands on the beast’s beauty. As if it were a given, the beast had killed his many subordinates, leaving only one person. That was him. Granting him both disaster and salvation at the same time, the beast had sought subservience in regards to the man.

The man fled around the island where all but himself had been murdered, but gave in and accepted the beast. The beast was useful, but also an existence that he could not handle. Be it morning, noon or night, his head was troubled with the beast, his heart unable to calm down.

Essentially, he was a man who did not want to be shackled by anything. After all, he had a past of being forced into submission by his household and parents. He had escaped from his responsibilities and his home, jumping off into the sea. The man, who had been born in a family that bore the name of a flower, had run away and gained freedom.

He yearned for it – for a freedom that no one could steal from him – more than anything. Even if he had to cast away his little brother for it. Therefore, the man had done the same in the beast’s case. The one who mattered most to him was himself. He wanted to break free from that horror. Most likely, he had cut off from himself a child in need of salvation.

Everything went around.

——O God, I want to .

Everything.

A voice that sounded like bells echoed.

“Captain,” it whispered, as if to tickle the man’s ears. “Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

It was evening. A time when people were returning to their homes.

“What would you like to do?”

An orange light shone from the window inlaid with stained glass. With the sunset reflected on the elaborately designed interior decoration, the place itself looked like a single work of art.

“Could it be that, because of the impact earlier, your hearing has...”

It was supposed to be. The place where the person who called out so insistently and the person who intentionally ignored her were in was an art gallery that just recently had its interior and exterior finished.

“As if.”

“I am relieved. Then, I would like to ask if you have a plan.”

In a place they were not supposed to be at, the two who were not supposed to be together were kneeling on the floor in resignation.

“Captain.”

“.............................”

“The civilians are in a predicament.”

“................................”

“Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

“............”

“What would you like to do?”

“..................”

“I would like to ask if you have a plan, by any chance.”

“.....................”

“The civilians are in a predicament.”

“........................”

“If I may offer my opinion, firstly, I could act as a decoy—”

“Be quiet, monster. Don’t keep repeating the same thing over and over. Don’t breathe either. I’m thinking right now.”

Dietfried Bougainvillea, a naval captain of Leidenschaftlich, eldest son of the Bougainvillea – a household of patriotic national heroes – and the man who had picked up Violet Evergarden in the past and brought her to this country, was covering his eyes with his hands due to having too much on his plate. The little bit of silence and darkness had brought him relief, but someone’s sobbing, the voice of a man reproaching it and the sound of a person being brutally kicked and tumbling down dragged him back to reality.

He had a severe headache. Whether it was caused by his anxiety or his injury, he had no idea. He put a hand on the back of his head and examined it, but only a bit of blood had come out.

In order to somehow spit such awful mood out of his body, he took deep breaths. He felt that he had become a little better, but the unpleasant sensation returned once he opened his eyes and cast his gaze at the woman next to him. A spoon of discomfort, rejection and fear each was thrown into Dietfried’s emotional vessels, set on fire and boiled up. However, the most prominent feeling was something else.

The woman who had been talking to him so insistently until a moment ago was now quiet just and not letting out a single breath as he had told her. Violet Evergarden.

Dietfried looked fixatedly at his former servant. The woman, whose appearance had transfigured considerably in comparison to when they had first met, bore a radiantly shining cold beauty, which was even more conspicuous under such tense circumstances. She was almost like an ice sculpture, Dietfried thought.

——Even though you used to stink like a wild beast...

She now smelled of nothing but flowers.

——...you turned out just as I’d imagined.

“You’re a siren.”

Silence.

“My little brother destroyed a train station just to keep you alive; you’re a siren through and through. I’m not into you, but my mental stability is wrecked right now, and I’m sensing the harmfulness and influence that your existence brings about in that. You’re unmatched when it comes to breaking things and causing problems.”

Dietfried had once told his brother that the beast could become a siren. He had meant to say so including all sorts of matters. This young woman named Violet was a creature that God had created by mistake and had not been born under a good star. When one was by her side, there were many of them.

“Damn troublemaker.”

Many problems. Even though she had not wished for it, she had been born this way. Under a star that attracted disasters.

——It goes round. All of it.

He ran and ran from her, yet they would end up meeting, thus Dietfried had started to think that it might be some sort of divine revelation at this point. Telling him to face the girl that he had thrown away.

Violet was still, hand on her brooch. He someway guessed that it was given to her by his younger brother. He felt like clicking his tongue. This girl might become the worst-ever wife whose hand his most beloved little brother was going to take.

——We can leave that for later; gotta overthrow this situation first.

Determined to fight this reality, Dietfried then turned his gaze towards the sight that spread out before his eyes. Women, men, elderly people – everyone was crouching on the floor with guns pointed at them regardless of anything. Obviously, the same applied to Dietfried and Violet.

Unexpected situations – situations in which they could not make a false move even if they were on their own, let alone in the presence of so many civilians – were responsible for this. On top of it, Dietfried was also saddled with someone that he had to protect despite not wanting to. Of course he would feel like clicking his tongue at it.

Perhaps they were thought to be lovers, as no one said anything even while they stayed close to each other.

“Hey, did you really stop breathing?”

She did not seem to be in agony, but her figure as she diligently obeyed made Dietfried feel uneasy.

“I was joking; breathe.”

Violet’s blue eyes blinked with a snap.

“Yes.”

And then, she finally let out a breath. Dietfried hated himself for being remotely relieved that she had safely started breathing again, was what he thought.

“Hey, you.”

“Yes.”

“From now on, follow my orders. Don’t act on your own accord.”

“All right.”

“I’m gonna save the civilians. It’s my duty. There’s no helping it, so I’m counting you in that math too... No idea what my little brother would do if he found out I’d let you die. Even if it weren’t on purpose, if anything that could kill you happened under these circumstances, I really have no way of knowing what he’d do. He’d probably hate me.”

“No, Captain, he—”

“Have some self-awareness, Monster. My foolish younger brother blew up a train station to let you live. This fact did turn into a subject of teasing towards Gil for no matter how much time passes from now, but if you think about it on normal terms, it’s out of the ordinary. That’s the way you’ve changed him. Damn witch...”

She was the tool that he had found and that used to exist for his sake. A woman who used to be a dog with no name. An orphan whom he had picked up from a solitary island, brought back with him, attempted to get the most out of yet was unable to, and then threw away.

Asset. Girl soldier. Automatic assassination doll. Witch.

——Even if I don’t want to, for now, I gotta protect this thing and take it home.

“I’ll save you, so you save me too, Witch.”

Fate went around, adding a chance meeting as the best seasoning for a finishing touch. After all, at this very moment, Violet Evergarden and Dietfried Bougainvillea were being attacked by robbers and had weapons thrust at them.

“That’s awfully unpleasant for me, but I’ll take action by considering your life to be the top priority. Not for you. For my little brother.”

Understanding that she had received permission to talk once she had received permission to breathe, Violet gave her own opinion, “No.” She did it directly, without any restraint. “No, that is my job, Captain. Major... Lord Gilbert loves you.”

Dietfried’s eyes blinked. Those green orbs were staring fixatedly at Violet since earlier, enough to seem like they would suck her in. They were green jewels in a different shade from his younger brother’s. Those green gems, enveloped in shock, reflected Violet’s serious gaze.

“I shall guard you, no matter what happens,” Violet declared with resolution, like a knight. “I will obey your orders to the best of my abilities, but if I judge it to be dangerous, I shall take action with your safeguarding as the maximum priority.”

“Hey.”

“I will definitely protect you and bring you to Major safely. Please do not leave my side, Captain.”

“That’s my line,” Dietfried said while nonetheless wanting to kill Violet.

For the exchange between the two to reach this stage, things had first begun when morning visited Leidenschaftlich. This might be going back much too far in time for a clarification, but it all had indeed started since daybreak.

The morning weather was overflowing with sunlight on that day – typical of Leidenschaftlich in early summer. Early rising ladies formed queues in the bakeries that opened at dawn and little birds flew about the shops’ surroundings to receive breadcrumbs. There was a café three stores away from one of the popular bakeries, famous for serving floral teas, its signboard girl preparing to open it. If one went further ahead, there was a bank, and round said bank, there was a main street lined with large-scale shops.

An art gallery arranged to open the next day had been erected on the main street. Its name was Artemisia. It bore the name of its owner, who was an artist.

The gallery Artemisia displayed the works of its proprietor, of course, but it also had works of artists from within and abroad Leidenschaftlich. There were rows of works from unknown young artists that the owner had taken interest in as well, devoted as she was to the cultivation of new talents.

The Artemisia Gallery, which was to become a place where novel forms of Leidenschaftlich’s art would be born, was scheduled to hold a pre-opening party today, attended only by the people concerned. The gallery’s staff had started cleaning its interior and the sidewalk in front of it from morning.

Around noon, a restaurant employee hired for the sake of that day had visited, bringing in wine, snacks and table sets. As for the dishes, there were two types: the ones that had already been prepared and the ones that would be made by borrowing the kitchen of the owner’s residence, which had been built on the gallery’s top floor. Since eating was not the main focus, the preparations were merely enough for the upcoming guests not to feel hungry.

As evening came, the inside of Artemisia began to speed up with haste. If there were anyone in command of such a scenery, they would likely be asserting with a baton: “hurry”, “faster”, “elegantly”.

An envelope closed with a wax seal bearing the establishment’s crest. Customers arrived one after another with the invitation taken from inside of it at hand. For a pre-opening party with a limited number of invitees, there was a large amount of people. The elect few of Artemisia’s employees were in a flurry of activity.

“Bring me a coat” here, “not enough drinks” there, a plate breaking somewhere. “Where’s the owner?”, “Got caught by the guests”. “There’s no one to give us instructions”, “Oh, well” – just like this, things descended into chaos behind the scenes.

Normally, their job was to calmly recommend artistic goods. Therefore, they were unable to hide their bewilderment at handling so many visitors at first. Nevertheless, if one looked at the guests being entertained, how were they? Appreciating the artworks, looking like they were having a blast. Upon seeing this, the employees were able to understand deep down. That “what, so things are the same as usual”. By the time that the customers were completely familiar with the gallery’s interior, the employees were able to show smiles with a little bit of ease.

Among the guests invited to Artemisia, a foreign body completely unrelated to this world was mixed in.

It was a woman. A beautiful one at that. From an appreciative viewpoint, there would be nothing to complain about if she were one of the artworks. She was clad in a ribbon-tie one-piece dress, snow-white as a flower in full bloom on a summer day. Her long, softly curved golden hair extended to her waist. Perhaps she had come straight from work, as she held a heavy-looking trolley bag on one hand. “Click, click,” knocked her cocoa-brown boots against the marble flooring each time she took a step.

She walked while observing every artwork one by one. Idyllic landscape paintings, abstract paintings that looked like silver ink spilled on pure-white paper, oil paintings in which the people seemed as if they would move at any moment. Glassworks and ceramics that one would be very afraid even to look at from nearby. At first, the exhibition was of works from artists renowned within the country, but the small hall of its latter half integrated displays from artists who were still nameless. The woman stopped in front of one such work.

A painting of whimsical fantasy. Was it a winter sea? It depicted various things falling and sinking into dark and cold water. A pocket watch, a feather, a bed, a knife, a white flower and a chair. All were worn-out and had damaged parts. At first glance, one would not know what it was expressing. Only the boy painted in the center seemed to pierce through the viewer.

He was still a teenager and his appearance could also be considered that of a girl. After staring at him for a while, the feeling that he was supposed to be saved would surface. Because the boy had a facial expression that almost looked like he was making eye contact with the viewer as he fell. But this could not come true. He was sinking in the picture. No one on this side could do anything. One would not know what to do with themselves after looking at it – it was that kind of picture.

“Excuse me; I was the one who painted this. Is there anything wrong with this painti...”

Suddenly, a voice called to the woman from behind. A rock thrown into the quiet atmosphere. A low tone that cut through the dimness of the room.

People were mostly heading towards the famous artists, so the woman had been all by herself on that spot until just now. The man who had showed up a bit late was coincidentally the creator of that fantastical painting, and found himself talking to the woman who had stopped in front of his art. That was an extremely natural encounter for a pair. If their positions, circumstances and everything else were different, something might have been born between them. It did not have to be romantic love, just something – something else that “the two of them originally had”.

“Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

The moment the woman turned around, the space resounded with a loud squeak. It actually had not resounded, but at the very least, Dietfried heard the thump of his own heartbeat, which gave his whole body goosebumps. He was enveloped in a strange sensation, as if the blood inside him were flowing backwards. One of the things he had once evaded in his life was standing there.

“What’re you doing, Monster?”

Violet Evergarden.

Before the emerald eyes that Dietfried possessed, of a hue different from his younger brother’s, there was a young female Auto-Memories Doll. The reason why he had not recognized her from the back was likely that her golden hair was slovenly loose.

He had not had a chance to see her after she had become a grown-up ever since the incident during the Flying Letters. Only people who had great amount of interaction with each other would be able to tell such a thing just by looking at someone’s back.

“I was looking at the paintings, Captain.”

Violet was expressionless. However, her hand alone promptly searched for her emerald brooch and squeezed it.

“You, paintings? Can you understand them?”

First, a scornful laugh, and then a head start with a verbal attack. She needed to put up a defense line. After all, this girl was formerly a weapon. An automatic assassination doll.

“I cannot. It is just that... my eyes and legs stopped.”

She was the one and only woman that Dietfried feared. If he had run into anyone else, his emotions would not be so disrupted.

Dietfried was scared. This girl was terrifying.

“I caused you trouble last time.”

He knew the things she had done. He knew whom she had killed. And he also recalled how he used to treat her, telling himself that it was all right.

“By asking about Major.”

Because she was a monster.

——O God, I want to .

These words wandered about in his head. They were words that he had prayed in his childhood to the one that he would meet at some point – probably in his dying moments. Thinking back on it now, it had been a foolish, immature and helpless wish, but he was serious about it at the time.

Looking at this girl made him remember his embarrassing past self.

“I shall see myself out. Captain, please take your time.”

“Hey.”

Violet had decided to retreat from the place, putting it to action. She concluded that this would be a peaceful solution for both sides and that it would secure each other’s survival.

“Hey, wait.”

However, Dietfried still had something that he wanted to say.

At the call of restraint, Violet’s feet halted mid-step. She then gazed at Dietfried. “Why?” her eyes were asking.

Choosing to leave must have been her own way of showing respect. Considering the current and the previous relationship between two of them, it was a sound judgement. Hence, she stared at him presumptuous and mutely.

Even now, it pierced Dietfried. That quiet “why” perforated him.

Despite being the one who had told her to wait, Dietfried lost sight of his next words. He had tons of complaints. Rather, complaints were the only thing that ever came out of his mouth. Most likely, he had never presented any warm words or attitude to her. No, he had at least patted her head when they parted. But what about it? That was all he had done. Which perhaps was the reason why.

——What did you think of that painting?

Just a question like this was exceptionally challenging for him. If it were anyone else, he would surely be able to ask as easily as breathing. He could also boast that he was the one who had painted it. However, only with this woman was it so difficult.

A long silence drifted between the two. A truly long, long silence.

The mood was almost like two beasts had come across each other in the wilderness and were estimating which would attack first. Both were underdeveloped and, not matching their insides, only their appearances were actually full-fledged. Seen from the sidelines, they were a beautiful adult man and woman looking at each other, but the air flowing between them was that of a battlefield.

Dietfried was starting to sweat. As for Violet, even her breathing was becoming shallower.

Violet seemed to be thinking about something. She opened and closed her mouth, repeating it several times. What should she do in that situation? What was best? She was probably unable to decide. This was something that not just Violet but also Dietfried was thinking about, yet the degree of seriousness in behavior was surprisingly higher on Violet’s side.

She would normally not be like this.

He was the person that even Violet Evergarden, who had written so many letters, was at loss as to how to act around. That was the man called Dietfried.

Perhaps her thinking had eventually arrived to a conclusion, Violet left her baggage on the floor and put her hands behind her back. “Feel free to.”

At first, Dietfried had no idea what she was doing. Violet looked like she was offering her body.

“Ha...?”

Without hesitation, almost as if she were a tool.

“I am still. Feel free to.”

“Feel free to feast on my life,” she seemed to say. Her current self overlapped with the beast of the past.

“To do what, is what I’m asking...” Dietfried’s mouth felt sticky, giving him a hard time mustering words out. His head had been occupied mostly with how to mend the blunder that he had exposed to her, so he could not respond to Violet’s surprise attack immediately.

“Do you not remember? I used to do this whenever I had to receive reprimand or punishment.”

He could not. All of the information that had been fluttering about in Dietfried’s head until now disappeared. It vanished.

“You, what the...”

The owner of the blue eyes that stared at Dietfried as if to shoot through him always did unexpected things, tossing him about.

“I did not know how to speak back then, so in order to show that I had no intention to attack you, Captain, I would do this.”

Those eyes.

“No matter what I say, surely... there is no atonement for me. With time, I have come to understand the things I... did. And how much terror I made you go through. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the kindliness of placing me under Lord Gilbert. I wish to pay you back somehow. If you say that it is unnecessary, at the very least, do as you please.”

For whatever reason, when those eyes asked him “why”...

“Be it with fists or with reproach, as much as you want.”

...his chest ached as if it had been stabbed.

“Feel free to.”

If that place were not a quiet art gallery, Dietfried would have yelled furiously at her, without caring about shame or his reputation. He managed to ball his fists hard enough for it to hurt and swallow down his angry voice due to his high level of self-respect.

“I hate that about you...”

This girl always made him aware that she would never act as he expected.

“...to death.”

At the words spoken by Dietfried’s quivering tone, Violet took a step back. Her stance of offering herself did not change, but her instincts were on-guard, wondering if she was not going to be killed by this man. Seeing that, Dietfried sneered at her figure.

“You’re the one who could choke the life out of me anytime,” he seemed to say.

Dietfried suddenly felt the heat that had gone up his head cooling down. Violet had taken a step back. That became the trigger for him to regain his composure. Because he was able to reconfirm that she was but a child in the end. This innocent aspect and action that were much like what a child would show to an adult exerted a great influence on the other party. Dietfried loathed that.

For he, who despised interventions from anyone, had so much aversion to it that it make him want to vomit.

Those who were accustomed to oppression from others would very easily choose to hurt people. She was inwardly frightened of that tendency. Yet albeit frightened, she prioritized others over herself. That creature was like a mass of contradictions.

——Disgusting. Stop. Die. Don’t look at me.

He did not want to get involved with her. But he had a mountain of things to say. However, when it came to whether or not he could properly do it, even if he managed to squeeze them out, they would turn into nothing but abusive language.

There was a large lake between the two of them and all they could do was gaze at the opposite shore, unable to tell how deep it was. Their first meeting was to blame for that. It was the cause of everything.

His underlings had attacked her and she had killed all of them. She then chased and chased after him, making him into her master. Despite there being a hierarchy, Violet was the one who had a grip over his life.

One would understand, after spending time with the girl, that this was a necessity for her. She was always like that, ever since the island only the two of them knew. Whenever anything happened, she would prioritize Dietfried. After all, even as he handed her over to Gilbert, she had not resisted.

If anything could be changed, that was the moment.

The two who never mingled with each other met again countless times in a parallel line. On such occasions, they would become unable to make a move due to shouldering the truth of rejection and of the things they had done, thus running away.

——Gilbert.

What did the person who brought the two together, whom they loved most, thought of that?

“You... I...”

——If I could change for Gilbert...

“Captain...?”

——If I could change, right here and now, for your sake...

Would it be easier for him to breathe?

Just as Dietfried was about to make a bitter decision...

“GYAAAAAAAAAH—AAAAAAH—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

...an incident occurred.

It was clearly not a hasty crime. The scream of Artemisia, the owner, echoed, and by the time that Dietfried and Violet had bolted from the quiet hall where there was just the two of them, robbers were already thrusting their weapons mostly at vulnerable women and children, having them on their knees. The course of action was far too swift.

Wide-eyed, Violet swung back her trolley bag and was about to throw it at them, yet Dietfried stopped her.

“Are you stupid?! Those aren’t all adults that can run...!”

Among the hostages, there was also a little girl held under someone’s arms, looking like she did not understand the situation.

“I will save them as fast as possible and take control of the rest.”

“They’ve got guns; what’re you gonna do if they hit someone else with a warning shot?! There’s the other artworks too... This ain’t a stage for a tactless bastard like you to brawl! Just stay put for now!”

“But, Captain—”

“Stay put!”

While the two were trying to push past each other, the robbers took notice of them.

In the main hall, perhaps in order to bind people up through fear, the men were being beaten without exception, being put on their knees over the floor. Seeing that, the women naturally sat down, trembling, and began to cry.

While screams were resounding like music, one of the robbers headed towards the duo. “So there were still weeds growing here?” was the look in his eyes as he swung his firearm emotionlessly.

Dietfried would have managed to avoid it. He had done it several times until now. He could do it as easily as floating on water. If he could catch the man’s gun with one hand and pulled it just like that, he was able to picture the opponent falling over as a reaction. Once he stole the gun, he could shoot each member of the robber gang one by one in the head. And then, there would be a gunfight. He would have done that if he were alone. Yes, if he were alone.

——Why now of all times?

There was nothing more humiliating than a punch that one had to resign oneself into receiving. But he had things he had to protect above his own dignity. Thus, he accepted the attack without dodging. If he were to start a scuffle amidst the current situation, he did not think that all of the people who had become hostages would remain unharmed. He would aim for a chance. That was what he should do. He made such decision not only for his own welfare but also for that of other people.

However, the automatic assassination doll made a completely different one. When her eyes glinted like that, she quite literally moved on automatic. She came forward to take his place. In that instant, the face of Dietfried’s younger brother was the only thing crossing his mind.

——Gil.

It was almost as if he had readied himself to do it. That was how quickly his arm reached out. He forcefully embraced Violet and turned his back towards the robber. A violent hit struck him from head to back. He could hear Violet’s breath quietly catching while holding her in his arms.

And such was how they had arrived to the present.

Dietfried did not think that his decision to suppress Violet was a mistake. He was aware that she was the woman who had fought by herself against terrorists inside an exploding train, but it would be a problem if she did something of the sort in the Artemisia Gallery.

Right now, he felt like a pet owner containing the rampage of his mad dog.

As for the mad dog herself, she had grown quiet ever since Dietfried had been hit, as if her functions were gone. Dietfried had pushed away the hands that had attempted to give him first aid. Any false moves and the robbers might beat him again.

She, who always took upon herself to protect, wound up being protected. On top of that, she had let the other be injured. This must have caused her to fall into despondency, enough to result in service outage. However, with time, she had rebooted and was rousing herself up once more to get through this situation.

“I understand that I should refrain from the use of force in an art gallery. But should we not place human lives above the artworks?”

——Whose fault do you think it is that I got hit on the back of my head?

Because she was saying the most obvious thing with the most serious face, Dietfried grabbed the collar where her brooch resided, taking the brooch along, without thinking. The thread that fastened the ribbon-tie dress’s button let out a screech. It was not the kind of deed that a gentleman would do to a lady. But Dietfried did not loosen the strength that he put into his grip.

“You... Do you still need disciplining from me?” he said, voice filled with rage, close enough for their faces to touch. “Think of this as a place that can hardly compare to any other... This thing’s pretty important for you, isn’t it?”

After blinking with a snap, she opened her mouth once, then closed it.

Once Dietfried’s hand let go of her, she grasped the brooch as if to protect it. She was more concerned about the brooch than the crumpled bust of her dress. She stroked it over and over, making sure that it had not been damaged.

Finally, she whispered in a dazed state, “I understand.”

“As if an idiot could,” Dietfried said with a snort, yet the other was a poker-faced Auto-Memories Doll. No matter how much he hurt her, it would have no effect. That was what Dietfried had thought.

“I understood completely. I will avoid combat here as much as possible.” Alas, her voice sounded a little faint.

Dietfried stared at Violet from the corners of his eyes. The brooch was indeed important to her. She was holding it down with both hands. She did not want anyone to touch it – that was what she was indicating. The two of them were speaking in an awfully low tone, but her timbre just now was as thin as the cry of a mosquito.

Dietfried said with a somewhat softer voice, “Good that you get it. I’m indebted to the owner of this gallery. I’m gonna choose the best I can for her sake too.”

“All right.”

“Human lives are the priority, of course. But we’re not gonna fight in a stupid way.”

Like a child, Violet nodded repeatedly.

“You’ve only ever been doing body guarding, murders and military action, and that’s why you don’t understand. In the sea... In fleet battles, we fight to protect. Our way of thinking is different from those who fight to conquer.”

“To protect...”

“If you can’t put brakes on them at sea, the enemies go to land. The reason why Leidenschaftlich is called a military nation ain’t just the army’s achievement. I’ve... never taught you how to fight at sea, huh... For now, forget the method of destroying and taking control of everything. Learn from my ways.”

“Understood.”

Dietfried was inwardly surprised at the obedient reply. Rather, even more than this, he was surprised that he and the “beast” were able to have mutual comprehension.

When she was in his hands, this beautiful Auto-Memories Doll was a “wild beast” that did not know how to speak, as well as a tool. An incontrollable beast, to boot.

“Still, if that is how it is, please do not forget that your wellbeing is my top priority all the more. I shall fight to protect you, Captain. Please do not think of protecting me for Lord Gilbert’s sake. If necessity arises, I will not might if you use me as a shield. I can be replaced, but there is no substitute for you.”

If, at that time...

“This is also linked to protecting Lord Gilbert.”

...in that place...

“Bye, Monster. This guy’s your next master.”

...he had educated and guided her instead of letting her go, would she have grown up the same way?

“Shut up.”

Would she have thought like that?

“Shut up, Monster.”

He had never even thought about it.

Another side of him immediately answered “no” to the self-questioning. Surely, a Violet Evergarden raised by Dietfried Bougainvillea would not have turned out like this. He might have at least taught her how to talk. They would have trouble communicating otherwise. He would have probably given her clothes and personal belongings for daily life. Bringing her along when walking around would look bad for him.

However, when it came to whether or not he would have bestowed this girl with something that would be enveloped in her hands with utmost zeal...

——I see; so it’s the same color as Gilbert’s eyes. That brooch.

...he would undeniably have not.

——Come to think of it, she was always following me around from behind ‘cause she hated being alone.

If there was anything he could have done for her, it was to at least fill up a coffin with flowers and leave it available for her. He did not intend for anything to happen, but he might have done that much. After all, if Violet had stayed beside Dietfried Bougainvillea, she would have surely died before him, for his sake.

“We’re gonna do an act.”

——Aah, Gilbert.

“An act?”

——I’m always late to realize how great you are.

“That’s right. You’re the one who suggested it, so I’m gonna make you into a decoy.”

——You’ve made that filthy beast into this.

“Understood.”

——You were able to change her like this.

“First, take this... It’s late for that, but... you got any questions about a joint struggle with me?”

As Dietfried asked, Violet responded with her neck tilted, “Why...? I do not.”

For whatever reason, his former weapon would show scraps of emotion only at times like these. Just innocently, unaware that it was merciless of her.

“Please use me correctly, Captain.” She smiled.

Why had robbers attacked the Artemisia Gallery?

There was a certain amount of history that led to such violence unfolding amidst everyday life. Firstly, it would be preferable to start with the time when a turning point happened in the life of the robbery’s main offender, but that would be rewinding too far. On to a brief explanation.

This case was a crime committed by a habitual criminal.

There were various reasons for people to rob, yet the advantage was but one. Earning compensation within a short period. Good citizens would be paid for their work, but thieves did not share this mentality. People received rewards through serving others. In order to gather a large sum, a long time and effort were necessary. Thieves abdicated from this. To achieve success, no matter in what land, a person had to be equipped with skills as a rule of thumb.

If one could stop after doing it once, why did they do it countless times? There were people here and there who thought this about criminals. It was because, if they had succeeded once, they could do it again. They were instantly able to attain things that they would have to spend a long time out of their lives to earn. This was the arrival of an opportunity to do that.

Once one got used to it, identifying opportunities was surprisingly easy.

Supposing that there was someone who excelled at predicting people’s thoughts. The other person’s personality would be determined by the movements of their eyes, the way they breathed, their voice tone, the relationships of power in their background, their social position and other such things, so one would be able to deduce what kind of conduct should be taken in order to derive the “correct answer”. It seemed like magic at first glance, but it was no more than the result of someone continuously keeping watch on another person for many years.

Since this was a strategy against individual matches, the robbers needed a slightly better ability to grasp the environment. As they were walking around the city, they incidentally found out that a new gallery was going to open. The opening date was also announced. It appeared that there would be an event only for those concerned on the day before.

No matter the establishment, dealing flawlessly with the inauguration of a new shop was difficult. Even if there were people in it who already had experience working in a gallery, but the use of their abilities to have control over such a situation and proceed with it smoothly was different. Employees would be in quite a panic on the day. If it was a members-only celebration day, there was no mistaking that the original state of the security that should be guarding the gallery would be insufficient.

And so, the robbers had thought, “Aah, if you poke this place, it’ll surely crumble down.”

They did not have any grudges in particular. They had simply judged that they could do it, thus undergoing the assault. The truth was merely that the Artemisia Gallery had been unlucky.

How many hardships the owner had gone through until she was able to open the gallery, had she lived her life bowing her head to other people? How many artists were looking forward to seeing their work exhibited in the gallery? The feelings of such people could be trampled miserably at times.

Not that many people paid any mind to weeds when walking. That was all. Except, this time, the Artemisia Gallery had been lucky about just one thing.

“No good... Hum, excuse me...! She suddenly...!”

A naval captain who loved art...

“Ugh...”

...and the woman who used to be called Leidenschaftlich’s War Maiden were amongst the hostages.

The man who had caused a commotion and pleaded to one of the robbers in a panic raised both of his hands as a display of no resistance. He was a long-haired a man. His slightly curvy dark hair went past his shoulders. Right next to him was a woman holding her stomach and trembling.

“What?”

A few armed men gathered around them.

“It seems her stomach hurts.”

“Just a stomach ache? Leave it alone.”

“You’re telling us to let her go to the bathroom? We still gotta watch these people. Besides, she’s a woman. If someone takes her to the toilet... Well, how much stuff did we get?”

“We’ve piled most of the paintings in the carrier, but there’s still the ornaments. It’s still gonna take a while.”

The robbers had a choice. The option to either silently let her suffer or kindly take her to the restroom. Beating only the men was likely one of their policies. They did not hesitate to make use of violence when needed, but when it was not, it was best to have as least animosity as possible in order to get through with things unobtrusively and quickly take the treasure. It seemed gentlemanly but was a self-righteous thinking.

“What do we do? The Head is...”

“The Head got in the car first. As if we can ask him stuff like this every single time it happens.”

“Head” probably referred to the member worthy of being their chief.

As the quiet exchanges continued in front of the agonizing woman, she finally lay down on the floor while still holding onto her stomach. The man who had appealed about her bad condition shook her shoulders, telling her to “hang in there”.

As if she had received a signal, the woman raised her face slowly. Her gemstone-like blue eyes were visible through the gaps between her disheveled golden hair. She was covering her mouth, perhaps trying not to vomit. Even so, it was easy to tell that the woman’s looks were remarkably good.

“It’s gonna take a while, huh. Besides, we’re gonna need the women later.”

Her eyes locked with one of robber’s as though sucking him in. One would not understand the destructive power that having this woman look up at them from their feet with her eyes wet had, unless they witnessed it themselves.

“Then, I guess it’s okay.”

From the vulgar smile of the man who had said so, one could presume what his intentions were. As the woman was covering her mouth, the robber instructed her to stand up, pointing his gun at her, and then took her to the restroom.

After that, the woman and the robber did not return for a while. Since there were no other people who mustered out the courage to say that they wanted to use the toilet, the period of their absence passed as if it were natural. In the meantime, the gallery’s exhibits were being carried one after another to cars with roof racks parked outside the establishment. The robbers were dressed as employees who worked with the transportation of goods, so even those walking down the street did not think there was anything strange about that work scene.

Once they had finished relocating most of the merchandises, one of the cars left the gallery. The other one that remained parked was meant for the getaway of those who were keeping watch. With the artworks that had been collected for the sake of this day snatched away down to the last one, the gallery was bare. The owner, Artemisia, had all the while been suppressing her cries and shedding tears.

Apparently, those thieves were quite the habitual criminals. They had threatened everyone with armed force upon entering the establishment, robbing people of any resistance, but after that, as long as everyone stayed still, they would do nothing but coldly keep control of the hostages, not even raising their voices. If people did as told, they would not lose their lives. That hope made the hostages obedient. Even though they were robbers, this seamless way of dealing with people was like that of artisans. They did not think of humans as humans.

“Excuse me; I just... want to lend her a handkerchief. That’s all. The sleeves of her clothes are already soaked with tears. Can’t you allow just this much?”

Hearing a voice from the back, Artemisia turned around. It came from one of the artists that she had invited over for today, whom she had known for quite some time. She was shaken by a sense of guilt that she had done something terrible to him as well.

Their first meeting had started at a certain recreational facility, when she peeked from behind while he was painting a landscape. She did not know his occupation, but they kept in touch and she had him show her his art. It seemed he had always been drawing as a hobby. He told her that even most of the people who were close to him did not know he painted, and that he had truly only been doing it for himself.

The busy man had weaved his way through spare time and the work he brought had swayed Artemisia’s senses. At first, he had hesitated at her request to put it on display, but then smiled like a boy and gave her his ready consent, looking happy.

——Aah, God. Please give it back. Please give that fun time back to everyone.

Artemisia was upset and vexed at the fact that the artworks were being stolen, but more than anything, it felt like the regret towards everyone who had been looking forward to this day would split her chest open.

“Hey, he told you to use this.”

He had lent a handkerchief to Artemisia through one of the robbers. Artemisia wiped her tears and managed to lock eyes with him somehow. She then mouthed a “thank you” to him without letting out her voice.

The man smiled. But it was not the smile that Artemisia knew. He was different when he talked about art. She had shivers before she could think. His eyes were not smiling.

“ .”

The man said something to Artemisia. As he had only moved his lips, Artemisia could not tell whether she had been able to read what he tried to convey. She could not, but most likely, he had said:

“It’ll be over soon.”

Eventually, the robbers started to create an atmosphere of evacuation at last.

“Let’s take one person with us until we leave the harbor. Can be a woman or kid. Which do we choose?”

“Woman it is.”

“That guy was playing around with the woman we were planning to use for that, wasn’t he? What happened to him?”

Assuming that they would finally be freed, the hostages started fidgeting. They had faced a disaster and the artworks that they had dedicated their lives to making had been stolen. This joyful day had been repainted into despair. But they were alive. That was the one and only bright side of today. They would not be able to maintain their rationality unless they comforted themselves with that. At any rate, they wanted to hurry and be liberated.

Amongst them, there was a man who merely observed the robbers’ movements in silence all the while. It was the man who had been caring for a woman that had a stomachache, looking worried. Once the woman had been taken to the restroom, he became expressionless, as if he had lost interest in everything. Occasionally, there were moments when he even yawned in secret, as if he had grown sleepy.

“Go call him. We could use that woman as hostage. She’s young, so she can come back walking if we throw her away on the street.”

Hearing these words, the man let out his voice and laughed. By the looks of it, he had not intended to laugh, but wound up doing so. He put a hand to his mouth, but then shrugged and let the robbers see it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make fun of you. But trying to rape that thing, huh? No matter how many lives you have, it wouldn’t be enough.”

“Hey, what’s with you...? Got a complaint or something...?”

The man kept laughing, as though to say that the robbers’ threatening figures were even more comical. With her eyes, the owner, Artemisia, begged the man provoking the robbers to restrain himself, for she could not afford to lose not only the artworks that she had collected but also a guest that she had invited, yet the man closed one eye at that and replied, “Artemisia, it’s okay.”

No one in this place knew his social status. Or his history.

In the past, Dietfried Bougainvillea used to wield a weapon that could become the world’s best. It was now away from his grasp, but it was not as if their master-servant connection had been completely severed. The beast had a high level of loyalty, so although they had met by chance after a long time, her heart recognized it. That he was the one she had been following in the past – someone worth being served by her. Therefore, the beast would attend him to exhaustion.

Only a limited number of people could handle the beast. The feeling that she had returned to his hands for now was somewhat strange.

“She runs quick.”

“Ha?”

“That’s why it’s the end for you guys. My bad.”

“Hey, shut this dude up.”

As Dietfried had suddenly started talking, the robbers naturally had a doubtful reaction.

“She’s as fast as a deer. And this is the city’s main street, so there are hotels nearby.”

“So, what’re you saying?”

“I left my bodyguards behind to come here today. They’re probably drinking at their room’s bar. There’re also guys among them who know that thing from the time when she was still by my side. I left my hair tie with her, so she should be able to convince them with that. I could predict that you’d take the things you stole to the port. It’s pretty difficult to get away from pursuers on land when you make such a mess in the center of this city. It’s harder to be tracked using the sea route than the land route, right? But the sea route doesn’t work against me. It looks like one vehicle left a while ago, but it’s over by the point they reach the port. You’ll probably go outside now, but if you’re thinking about taking someone along as a hostage, you’d better drop it. Many of my subordinates are hot-blooded. If you rouse them up like that, they’ll probably get too excited. If that happens, you’re the ones who’ll be getting the short end of the stick. No matter how many dead bodies fall down, we can deal with it all we want in the aftermath. We’ll need to get the stories straight, but today’s hostages will surely choose to cooperate with me. Having people trample on the proof of a life that you’ve lived with all your might is painful for anyone.”

The eloquent man did not run out of breath even when speaking nonstop in such a situation. However, this majestic aspect of him was reflected in others’ eyes as dreadful and similar to madness.

The robbers abruptly realized that all the hostages were looking far behind them. They felt that there was something behind them. It was like a ghost, hiding even its flame of life, simply waiting for the orders of its lord.

Outside the windows of the gallery, they could hear the sounds of someone fighting from around the area where the car was parked. Simultaneously, they could hear a faint breathing just behind them.

The respiration of a woman who was out of breath from running loomed over their ears.

“Do it, Violet.” Dietfried raised his thumb and made a swift throat-cutting gesture.

While watching his doll render the robbers unconscious with a strength as overwhelming as a monster eating people, Dietfried reminisced to the past.

——Everything goes around.

He recalled the time when the two of them were stuck in that isolated island.

The beast had been scared when the rescue fleet arrived. So had Dietfried. He would not be able to bear it if more of his comrades were murdered. Hence, he had taken the beast’s hand and guided her to the outside world. In his perception, it was the same as taking the reins.

There were no reins anymore now. No need for him to pull her by the hand when walking, either. There was nothing between them.

Not love, passion, attachment, desire, anything.

“Captain.”

There was nothing, but one thing was for certain.

“Captain Bougainvillea.”

If he called for her, this Auto-Memories Doll would most likely go to the ends of the world to save him. That was her nature.

“I have just returned. Are you unharmed?”

At that moment, the beast was well aware that he had called her name for the very first time. Her eyes were crinkling.

“Yeah.”

Just this much compensation was enough to make the beast smile.

After a little while passed, Leidenschaftlich was embraced by the gentleness of the night.

Summer constellations were decorating the jet-black sky. Just as sunny as it was during daytime, the night sky was twinkling so brightly this evening that it could be called a banquet of stars. The day was about to end in Leidenschaftlich. Today was filled with chaos ever since morning.

While being observed by gathered-up onlookers, the arrest drama that had unfolded in front of the Artemisia Gallery was already coming to a conclusion, its many procedures and processing passed over to the military police. Seeing the stolen artworks safely re-delivered to Artemisia, Dietfried took a breather. His gaze then fleetingly drifted to the side. A dirtied ceramic doll was standing there. A woman beautiful enough to look like such, who shone amidst the night, was standing there. He had to say something to her. As one would expect, he should do that at least now. But he could not think of anything.

——“You did well”. “That wasn’t too bad”. “Good work”. “I commend you”... Which one?

Inside his head, words were being conceived and then disappearing. Just like the dreams that the sleeping children all around Leidenschaftlich were surely seeing right now. They were born and then vanished.

At last, he attempted to open his mouth, “Aren’t you cold?”

“It is summer, after all.”

And ended up talking to her like a man who was unused to inviting women out.

Violet Evergarden, who had been fighting reasonably and in order to protect, was still by Dietfried’s side. It was fitting to say that she had been today’s most meritorious person. The one who had come up with the idea of the arrest operation was Dietfried, but the one who had done all the work for it was Violet.

First, she had put up the woman-with-a-stomachache act and gone with one of the robbers to the restroom. She had then quietly strangled the neck of the man who had reached a hand to her shoulder with her mechanical prosthetic arms, making him pass out.

She had broken out and escaped through the restroom’s window. Rather than going to the military police, she had gone to the hotel that Dietfried instructed her to and notified the naval soldiers, who were enjoying cigarettes and drinks in a room on the top floor, of the circumstances. One of the soldiers, who happened to know her, had been frightened at first, but upon seeing that she had been entrusted with Dietfried’s ribbon, his facial expression changed and he contacted the military police, then informed the port’s security to reinforce their inspections.

Without waiting for them to get ready, she had immediately run back to the Artemisia Gallery and infiltrated it through the same route. A few of the robbers, who had the bad luck of spotting her, fell to the ground with one kick or punch to the abdomen, and so, she had finally returned. As Violet stood behind the remaining robbers while catching her breath, the hostages stared as if she were their safety, but Dietfried was sneering as he looked at her.

Just as ordered, she had saved Dietfried without damaging a single artwork.

“About what happened...”

“It will probably be best not to tell Lord Gilbert. He would worry.”

Upon seeing the last artwork be brought in, Violet took the trolley bag that lay by her feet. She likely intended to go home by herself.

After making her do so much, something similar to guilt was now sprouting within Dietfried. He wound up acknowledging that she, too, was important to someone. That was what he thought after the battle, when he saw Violet stroking her emerald brooch as if to confirm that it was there.

Even though she used to be a wild beast whom no one would mourn if she died.

——Aah, that’s an excuse. It’ll be nothing but an excuse. If so, then I don’t wanna say it.

Back then, when she was by Dietfried’s side, every single day was filled with madness on all accounts. They used to roam around battlefields, fighting from dawn to dusk, growing too accustomed to violence. The war then ended, peace had returned, and he realized that an era in which he could even make art was arriving. That those times were abnormal and the way he felt now was the default.

“I’ll take you home.”

“No need. Your escorts must be waiting, so please, feel free to take your leave, Captain.”

“It’s fine; just this time. I’ll take you home.”

“No need.”

“I’ll take you. Listen up, this is an order.”

“I cannot accept your command.”

“You little... You were taking action like I instructed you to just a while ago.”

“Because it was a state of emergency... Besides, Captain Dietfried, it would be reasonable if I were to take you home, but the opposite is illogical.”

“What’re you talking about? You’re a woman, aren’t you?”

“A woman”. Finding himself asserting this with his own mouth, Dietfried regretted it even more.

The corner of Violet’s lips had a cut and blood was coming out of it. Her ribbon-tie dress was drenched in sweat. Even those who did not sweat much would be like this after such a huge scuffle during summertime.

“I’m calling a carriage. It’s all right; just wait right there. I’ll see you off until you get inside the Evergarden house. And then it’s goodbye. We’ll never see each other again. No matter what you and Gil become, we’ll never see each other again.”

What he had done today to this woman, who had become fully able to accept someone’s love, was not something that a son of the Bougainvillea should ever do to a lady.

After they had hopped into the carriage, a moment of silence went on for a while.

——Is it okay for her to keep such an open secret even though those two are a couple?

Dietfried found himself accidentally concerned about his younger brother’s love life. After all, this situation might be a betrayal to his dearest brother. Gilbert had completely forgiven Dietfried. For pushing the headship succession onto him. For not having any consideration for their family. For forcing an indescribable wild beast onto him. He had forgiven everything.

Thinking back, the only time that he attempted to push Dietfried away, saying he would not forgive him, had been when Dietfried offered Violet to him. He had called it “human trafficking”. Told Dietfried not to be violent with a child.

Most likely, those two were each other’s only exception from the very beginning. There was probably no pardoning what Dietfried had done to Violet today. Gilbert would forgive most things. Save for matters related to the one and only thing that was most important to him. Being hated by a loved one. This could cast a shadow over anyone’s heart, regardless of how old they were.

“It is all right.” The voice that cut through the silence was thrown at him as if to soothe him down. The words sounded almost as if she had perceived Dietfried’s uneasiness. “If, by any chance... word ends up reaching him through someone else about this case, I will definitely defend you, Captain Dietfried.”

“‘Defend’, you say?”

“To tell the truth, I often get involved in large-scale incidents without Major knowing. But I return without fail. To Leidenschaftlich. I will return today as well. Therefore, we are all right.”

“What do you do out there?”

“We were separated for much too long. Therefore, we have many moments that the other does not know about in the first place. Perhaps even now, too. I have work to do and so does he. We have limited time to see each other. However, I will definitely always return to Major. He knows this as well. Even when we are apart, that person is the only one who occupies my mind. I am not sure if I convey it to him properly, but that is how it is.”

Her statements were something that would normally make him burst into laughter, but Dietfried was unable to do so.

——When did you become like that?

Dietfried hated Violet. Several factors had induced his emotions to it.

——Now you can correspond to someone’s love.

He saw himself overlap with her. Her subservience to adults and the way that she herself wanted it disgusted him. He despised the wild beast that did not yearn for freedom. Despised the fact that she had been trained by someone to be this way. Despised everything. To begin with, Dietfried did not have many things that he liked.

Even the number of people who could become kind had a limit.

The truth was that, even if he wanted to be kind, it was no longer possible. He had prayed to God for it countless times in the past. However, unable to achieve this, a man named Dietfried Bougainvillea existed.

——O God, I want to, he begged a certain Someone in his mind for the first in a long time. Perhaps since his childhood.

Still, this sort of being did not give any reply to calls. Even now, he had no idea if his plea had reached Him. It was certainly impossible. His and Violet’s stars were in a position that would not radically change.

Nevertheless, for some reason, he had the overwhelming desire to ask someone for forgiveness today.

——I wanna go back.

Not even he knew where to.

——Hurry and be over, this day, today and the time I have to spend with her.

He was not annoyed.

——O God, I want to...

But painfully miserable.

“Captain.”

The carriage ran amongst trees dyed in the darkness of the night. A cool voice echoed amidst them.

Violet was looking at the scenery outside. She was observing the moon, which chased after them, no matter how far, far apart they were.

The moon was something that would continue to exist forever. Unlike stories. Regardless of whether Dietfried concerned himself with it, everything about his story would come to a closing one day as well. Demise would arrive even to the things that he did not wish to ever be over. Even the feelings he had now would end.

“How was I today?”

“What?”

“Did my work earn your satisfaction today?”

Dietfried could not read the intentions behind Violet’s question at all. She was someone whose emotions he could not read in the first place, but it was even harder to understand the meaning of that sentence.

“What do you want to say?”

Silence.

“Hey, just say it straight. Don’t be dodgy with me.”

“All right,” the cool voice entered his ears once more. Such coldness resembled the night, but it never left his ears, easy as it was to catch.

Violet turned her neck and cast her gaze at him. Slowly, blue and green eyes blended with each other.

“I...”

Bathed in moonlight, she was simply, purely beautiful, enough to take Dietfried’s breath away.

“When I was with you, Lord Dietfried, my work was never satisfactory. Now that I became an adult, have I finally been able to repay my debt... with my work?”

“What d’you mean by ‘debt’?”

His voice was hoarse. He suddenly felt as if this icy woman had robbed his entire body of its heat. The inside of his mouth was extremely dry.

“I mean everything. It all started when you brought me from that island. I am the way I am now because you entrusted me to Ma... to Lord Gilbert.”

“If you’d stayed with me, probably nothing good would’ve happened.”

“How would I be if I had continued to serve you?”

These words became a bullet and pierced Dietfried’s heart. He felt as if his breathing would stop at the unexpected question. Things had been like that since the distant past. Dietfried would reconfirm time and time again that she was a woman who could have become a lethal weapon for him.

“So you also imagine a hypothesis... of ‘what if’,” her exquisitely cold voice rang within the darkness. Upon being asked, “You too?”, Violet nodded.

That was his line, Dietfried thought, but Violet then sent his gemstone eyes a dream-like gaze. His existence might be devoid of realism to her.

Violet began to whisper. If only she had disobeyed that order back then. If only she had rushed to him a step faster at that time.

“Back then, if”. “Back then, if”. “Back then, if”.

She could not bring myself not to think that, if only she had had this extra step, he would not have lost that emerald eye.

“Besides, I wonder... if I had managed to protect him back then...”

She had to let go of her most beloved lord’s hand and was entrusted to someone else as if she had been thrown away.

“...I would not have had to spend that time away from Major.”

Thinking back, she had always been abandoned and then picked up by somebody. She should have been used to it. That was the star she had been born under.

She was originally a foreign body to this world and was supposed to have been eliminated. Her destiny had also flowed in this way. The reason why Violet had rebelled against her sectioned path, despite having been tamely submitting herself to it, was that the other was special.

——I also threw her away.

He had thrown his home away. Thrown away his little brother, who cried in protest. And thrown away this beast.

“I also wonder what would have happened if you had not left me with Major.”

This woman.

“But all of these are akin to dreams, crossing my mind and fading away. After passing through countless ‘if’s, I...”

He had pushed this woman onto his brother and forsaken her. Looking at her made him sick. He was also scared of her. Most importantly, he would have stopped being himself. This terrified him.

“And now, I have become an Auto-Memories Doll and am spending a night with you.”

This woman possessed an element that transmuted people.

“Y’know, you’ll be alone one day. You’re the one who’s got the longer lifespan, aren’t you?”

Violet closed her eyes at those words. If she had pictured numerous “if”s, this would obviously come to mind as well.

“I do not know.”

“If that happens, what’re you gonna do?”

“I do not know. But are you not the same as me when it comes to this? You love him, right?”

“I’m... I’m the older one. I’ll be gone sooner.”

“No one knows about that. But... if, one day... I do become alone... if I am left living by myself... my order will still be valid. I will probably live on.”

If she ended up living by herself, this supposition was the cruelest of things to the beast. Just what did he want to do by making her say this now?

Thinking back, ever since they had first met, he had not known how to deal with her. Should he have protected her? Killed her? Protected? Killed? Or perhaps...

“That is why I write letters every day. Even if they do not reach him, I write letters to Major every single day.”

Silence.

“Captain, what will you do?”

“Me, huh? I... let’s see. Paint, I guess.”

“A painting or Major?”

“That’s right.”

“May I go see it?”

To Dietfried Bougainvillea, this wild beast was both a woman and a monster from the very beginning. She was now as far-off as a dream.

“You’re the only one of my relatives who knows I paint. Do whatever you want.”

——O God, I want to be a good person.

#violet evergarden #fyeahvioletevergarden #veedit #dietfried bougainvillea #kyoani #kyoto animation #akatsuki kana #takase akiko #my translation

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dinner-djarin · 4 years ago

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dar'manda (Mando x f!reader insert)

Prologue

(Inspired by this scene)

Summary: You've been working as a merchant on Nevarro for years now, only out of necessity. Life really wasn't going your way. At least until the Mandalorian came by your booth. Now he's all you think about, and soon he'll be even more.

Warnings: Probably some swearing (real and in universe), violence (eventually), smut (eventually), No use of Y/N, slowburn/fluff (for the first little while)

Notes: Takes place at the end of season 1, and will mostly take place between season one and two. I have been sitting on this for a while due to some fear about reception by the fandom, but honestly I just need to stop thinking about it so here we go. She's going out into the world, and I hope you enjoy. (Also I wrote this prologue like 2 months ago so it isn't quite where I'd like it to be but if you read this please just stick with me, I swear my writing gets better lol)

You don’t know how long it’s been since you last saw him. Weeks? Months? But you can’t get that damn tin can out of your head.

You really have no reason to be this hung up on him. He’s barely spoken to you, you’ve never even seen his face, so it should be easy enough to move on from whatever childish infatuation you have over him. Right? Maker, what kind of person crushes on a mask and a suit of armour?

But there’s something about him, something that keeps him planted in your subconscious. You’ve tried to find the words to explain it, but nothing ever comes close. You can't even begin to understand how this man has completely overtaken your every waking thought.

He used to come by every couple of weeks, and you’d savour every delectable minute of the interaction, but that was all before shit hit the fan of course. You weren't there to see it but when you came back to work the next day it was all anyone could talk about.

“Apparently the metal man broke some Guild rule, and practically all of the other bounty hunters tried to kill him for it.” You heard over your shoulder. As much as you liked to keep to yourself, you couldn’t help form eavesdropping on a conversation between merchants. You did have a guilty pleasure for drama, probably to fill the uneventful void that your mundane life had now become.

“The Mandalorian? He broke their code then!” one exclaimed.

“I heard he went back for a bounty,” someone else whispered.

“What could make someone do something so stupid?” questioned a merchant lady you already didn’t particularly like.

“He doesn’t strike me as stupid,” you interrupt, trying to stick up for the man you were currently enamoured with. “If he did it, there must be a valid reason.”

“If he did it?” She sneered. “Do you not see the damage he left behind? People will be out of business for sure. It’ll take weeks to clean up the mess he made.”

“Then I guess I hope it was worth it. That it wasn't in vain.” You state, putting an end to the conversation. You hoped the man – that you already liked against your better judgement – wouldn’t cause so much harm without some justification.

In the wake of his rebellion, a covert of other masked hunters revealed themselves, shot up the town, and then vanished without a word. And so did your Mandalorian.

Woah hold on. Not yours. Just one random Mandalorian that you’ve said a handful of words to and have harboured a secret crush over.

From the second you saw him you pretty much knew you were screwed. Between the husky modulated voice, and the broad as hell shoulders, there was pretty much no way to quell the instant attraction that rose up in you. His presence alone was suffocating. Nothing could stop the way your vocal cords tightened to the point of forcing out a soft squeal at his sight. The whole time he talked to you, you could feel his visor latch onto your body – pinning you to the spot.

You thought you might find some relief when he left. Quite the opposite. You couldn't help but gawk at the way his body moved, like he knew he was hot shit. He took your damn breath away. And you were glad to know that he couldn't see your lips part to let out a soft moan, or the way they pursed back together as you unconsciously swallowed the suddenly copious amount of saliva pooling in your mouth. Fucking delicious, you thought, shamelessly.

Maybe it was the fact that you knew he could take anyone down in milliseconds. He was untouchable, and this latest defiance proved that. No one crossed the Guild. Well, no one crossed the Guild and got away with it. But if anyone could, it would be Mando.

And there’s another thing. You don’t even know his name. Which means that you’re forced to call him the colloquial slang that is commonly used by outsiders of the Mandalorian culture. “Mando”. You couldn’t help but think about how it almost sounded like an insult, especially when slurred from the mouth of other criminals. You hated the way people spat the word out at him, obviously trying to get him worked up; to see what he was made of. It made you desperately wish that you had a better name to call him, his real name. An intimate piece of knowledge that you could hold on to, something of him that no one else had.

Maybe that made you selfish. Even so, there was so much you wished you knew about him. He was a complete mystery.

To be fair, he probably didn’t even know your own name. You can't recall him asking for it, or if you ever introduced yourself. You were pretty much a bumbling mess the first time you met him. To the point where even if you had tried to say your name it probably would have sounded like you were speaking Huttese. Although, who could blame you. It wasn’t very conventional to introduce yourself to every customer. The people on Nevarro usually kept to themselves, especially the bounty hunters. There wasn’t much room for ‘customer service’. But damn you wish you had tried to make some sort of introduction. Even if it had come out as incoherent nonsense, you think it may have made talking to him later a bit easier.

However, none of that matters if he never comes back, and you bet he won’t. He’s smarter than that. To pull what he did, he’s probably on the other side of the galaxy right now.

Even so, you’ll miss the shared awkward silences and stolen glances that came with each of his visits. Whenever he’d come into the shop, he’d list off what he needed to stock up on, using the most deep and captivating voice you think you’d ever heard. If he hadn’t had that helmet covering his face, you’d swear he stared right into your soul as he did so. It almost made you weak in the knees every damn time. You’d then rummage through each supply crate and gather the best quality of every item, and finally – just to bring your humiliation to an all-time high – you’d give him a discount for absolutely no discernible reason. He took notice of the reduced price the first time and thanked you, only for you to be berated by your boss once he left. Eventually, to your dismay, the niceties came to a halt. Maybe he forgot what full price was, maybe he just couldn’t care less.

Either way, it looks like you’d risked your job for the last time. It’s a shame. For a planet full of bounty hunters and hardened criminals, there’s actually not a lot to entertain you. A shootout here, an escaped bounty there, but nothing that satisfied your desire for an exciting lifestyle.

The closest you got to that would be each time some wide-eyed, eager, wannabe-bounty-hunter strolled through town looking for a chance to weasel their way up the ladder of the Guild. They definitely thought they were more important than they actually were, and they always made a point of showing off for you. Not that you were anything special, just the closest thing with cleavage usually. They’d probably brag about their rank and their kill counts, things you could not care less about. A few of them actually had the balls to ask you out, but it usually only ended in a free meal or drink. To be fair though that was very intentional on your part. It was fun to play the part of a flirtatious girl from the market for a while, and almost exciting to think about how you were completely screwing over those assholes.

Over the time you’ve spent alone in the galaxy you learned exactly how to read those kinds of people. You knew just how far to go, just what to say or do until you got what you needed. As much as you weren’t a fan of physical affection, you often brushed your target's arm or thigh, played with their hair, or if the situation really demanded it – madeout with them behind the cantina. But you always made a point of stopping before things got too far. You may not be a complete saint, but you knew none of the scumbags you met were worth your time.

You wouldn’t have allowed things to go any further. Not with them. Going any further could only be a letdown, and you were fine to take those matters into your own hands…. literally. You may be a complete flirt, but only as a skill to survive in this grimy and dangerous galaxy. You learned early on that being young and female was a vulnerability. That was at least until you discovered how that vulnerability could be shaped into one of your most valuable strengths.

When you think about him though… well something about him made your entire badass facade disappear into thin air. You lost any cool you had the minute he walked past your vendor. Not to mention that there was something else about him that told you he’d see right through it anyway. Maybe it was the visor. Some special setting to read the level of bullshit.

As far as you’ve seen, he doesn’t take anyone’s shit. He definitely isn’t the type to make others feel comfortable in a conversation. He says precisely what he needs to get his point across, nothing more. Never once had you heard him use more than 10 words at a time.

On a few occasions you were lucky enough to end up in the cantina at the same time as him. Whether you were on a break or entertaining some dead-beat for free lunch, you remember how fast your heart would beat when the glint of his helmet met your vision. You wondered if he noticed your presence, or if he even recognized you away from your vendor at the market.

One time you were in the next booth over. Your spine straightened, and your whole body shivered when he slid into his seat and placed himself directly behind you. The proximity was electrifying. It made every neuron in your body fire rapidly and your blood vessels pump impossibly fast. You were probably supposed to be listening to the slimeball buying your drinks drone on about how impressive his last capture was, but the baritone emanating from behind ensnared every ounce of focus you had.

“I’ll take the highest pay” he muttered through the modulator.

“I do have other hunters, Mando. I can’t always guarantee you get the best of the lot.” replied his employer. A smile maintained on his face even when confronting an unforgiving barricade.

“I’m sure you do. But high price means high risk.” Mando responded. His employer’s confused silence forced him to continue. “Those skilled enough to take on the bounties know better than to do so.”

The Guild leaders' laughter bounced off the walls making many patrons turned their heads, while others continued their business, obviously being used to this behaviour.

You were left puzzled in that moment, completely baffled by this interaction. It wasn't until much later that night when it finally clicked. Although you didn’t know exactly how ranking in the Guild worked, you knew Mando was up there. He had the status to strike fear into almost every other bounty hunter he outranked. Mando had staked his claim long ago, and no one in the Guild was stupid enough to try and take a bounty from him. If he wanted something, he was going to get it.

You’d remember that interaction vividly. Not only because of how close you were to the Mandalorian as you overheard it, but also in service as a reminder to you, proving just how dominant he was in this world. He held power over every member of the Guild, including its leader, whether he wanted to admit it or not. You felt idiotic for not instantly understanding the control he wielded wherever he went. Sometimes it's a wonder how completely oblivious you could be.

Although you certainly were not oblivious to the drastic upgrade he got just before leaving. If you thought Mando was intimidating before, his new head to toe silver armour was sure to strike fear into any of his prey. You remember thinking you saw his reflection pass by earlier in the day, but he quickly dissolved into the shadows, as he often found a way of doing. However, later that night when you had just gotten off from work, he strolled back into the cantina for a new batch of bounties and all eyes were drawn to him. Most eyes were filled with jealousy since – as his employer made clear – he completed the job none of them could. They were probably even more enraged by the fact that he wore his reward back into the room, when most of them would have gladly taken that metal to the highest bidder and sold it for a hefty profit. However, you saw him differently than the rest. Your eyes were fixed on him in fear and in wonder. This metal man, already a force of nature, just became that much more impossible to defeat. As if anything could get to him before, it was clear now that no one could reach the Mandalorian.

But again – it doesn't matter. Not a single soul on Canto Bight would bet his shiny ass walks back into this sector. Not unless he has some kinda death wish…

Turns out he has some kinda death wish.

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

Chapter 1 is up now!

More notes: Hello there! I hope you enjoyed this lovely mess. I'm not the most proud of it, but I do want to continue this story (which I know we've all read 100 iterations of by now). Either way, I'm having fun writing it, so I might as well post it!

I'd love a like or comment if you'd be willing to share, I'm very new to writing so I'd enjoy any constructive criticism (especially on the first few parts, I know they need work, but at this point I just want to stop thinking about it and continue on with the story). Also this will be ongoing, so if you wanna keep reading feel free to drop your @ in my inbox or in the comments and I can tag you when I update!

So long for now my fellow helmet whores!

#mando x reader #the mandalorian #din djarin x reader #din djarin #fanfic #pedro pascal #mando #din #the mandalorian s1 #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #mando x you #din djarin x you

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aceofwhump · 4 years ago

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Guys

The Weeping Monk.

The Weeping Monk has become my new obsession. I love him. I knew I would because seeing all the gifs of him in tumblr is why I watched in the first place I didn't not expect for him to capture my interest so much. It's not the strongest hyperfixation I've ever had but it is one nonetheless and I'm thrilled. Welcome the list of "Ace's Favorite Whumpees"!!

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously I got ramble and let some spoilers loose so if you want to watch it still and don't want spoilers just keep scrolling

So not only is Daniel Sharman fucking gorgeous but Daniel Sharman looking like this?

With the eyes and the hood and the darkness and the scruff. Oh hell yeah! He's like some omen of death with that cloak. I love it.

So why do I like the Weeping Monk so much?

Well first of all I LOVE A GOOD REDEMPTION STORY!!!!! Like so much! I blame Zuko for that. But if you give me a bad dude who's done some bad shit but also has one hell of a traumatic past then put him on a path of redemption and healing? I’M SOLD! And at the end of the season, The Weeping Monk has been set on his redemption beginnings and I will die if Netflix doesn't give us a season 2 so I can see this boy walk his new path towards redemption and healing. I crave it.

But anyway. This man right here. The emotional angst and whump he exudes is so lovely.

Towards the end of the season we find out that he's Fey and I fucking lost my shit. This boy is a Fey who was raised by the people who hate Fey. His people were killed and he was taken as a child by the same people who murdered them. He was then brainwashed to believe he was demon born and evil and a sinner purely for existing and was taught to punish himself for it (he whips himself in a form of self flagellation!) and I'm sure he was punished for all sorts of things growing up by his "Father". The amount of self hate and self doubt he must feel breaks my heart. He knows he's Fey! He remembers his real name (also that reveal sent me to another plane of existence) so he must have some memories of his family and his people. But he's spent his whole life being used as a weapon against his own people and brainwashed into thinking he was saving them because fey are inherently damned. And that's all he is to the Red Paladins. A weapon. But he sees them as his people, his family because that's all he knows!

This dude is so broken and brainwashed and lost it just breaks my heart.

LOOK AT HIM!! Look at this lost and broken boy!! He just needs some love and affection dammit!! I mean he flat out asks "Do you love me Father?" AHHH!!

And oh my god this conversation between him and Gawain?!

Allow me to share the whole conversation because I need to talk about it.

Gawain: Don’t be afraid Ash Man. I don’t bite. It’s those eyes. The mark of the Ash Fold. There haven’t been any in these lands for centuries. How did you find your way here? Have you just come to watch me die?

The Weeping Monk: Why didn’t you tell them? Before...you could have told them. But you didn’t. Why?

G: Because all Fey are brothers. Even the lost ones

WM: This suffering, it will cleanse you.

G: You parrot these words, but you know it’s all lies. I can feel it in you, my brother.

WM: You are not my brother.

G: They have turned your mind so far inside out...that you don’t know the difference between kindness...and hate. Who did this to you?

WM: We are saving souls. Your soul.

G: Tell that to the little ones that you burn.

WM: I don’t harm the children

G: You burn their homes, you slay their mothers and their fathers, and you watch your Red Brothers run them down on horses. And you see it all through those weeping eyes. That makes you guilty. Brother! You can fight. I’ve never seen anything like it. You could be our greatest warrior. Your people need you.

WM: You are not my people.

G: Then tell them. If this is where you belong, tell them what you are.

WM: I’ll pray for you.

G: And I you.

First of all this conversation is the reason I now ship these two. Just saying. Gawain saw that he was kin, that he was lost, that he was broken and reached out to try and help him even though he is the reason he is being tortured. I can’t with these two! But also, the WM felt guilty about turning him in and worried about his own fate but you can tell that Gawain’s words sink in and set something inside of him and it’s because of Gawain that WM is now on this path of his. AND Gawain! I fully expected him to hate this man after everything hes done but he saw a lost and broken fey brother and tried to help him and I just...Gawain is so good you guys! This whole exchange is just *chefs kiss*. Cause after this the WM saves Squirrel.

Which leads me to Squirrel and the Weeping Monk. The other reason I desperately need season 2 is because I can't wait to see this unexpected pairing. I mean come on, big bag tough guy with trauma becomes unexpectedly joined with a young child? Best trope ever. Plus he got his ass kicked pretty bad and I need season 2 start off with that so I can see Squirrel take care of this injured man. Anyway, these two are going to have a great adventure getting back to the Fey and I NEED TO SEE IT!!! I want to see Squirrel and Lancelot bond and Squirrel defend him against Fey who hate him and for Lancelot to reluctantly become attached and defensive of this Fey boy and AHHHHHH!!

Oh and side note: One of my favorite tropes occurred. Defeated in battle, manhandled to their knees and hood pulled off revealing their bruised and bloody face. God yes please.

Time for some headcanons:

Okay he's totally touch starved am I right? This boy hasn't known a kind touch in his whole life. Pain is all he's known. The Paladins only touch to punish him or wield him. And he thinks he deserves it. He deserves the pain. The punishment. But kindness? A soft touch? Someone tending his injuries gently? He doesnt know what to do it that. He ends up stiffening or flinching away from the blinds hands of the fey, confused at first but slowly he starts to crave that kind touch.

Squirrel is always hugging him. Like whenever he sees him. And WM doesnt know what the fuck to do with that. You think he ever for hugged? I DOUBT IT! So hes all stiff and awkward and kind of bears it but after a while he starts hugging back kind of awkwardly.

Oh and speaking of tending his injuries I can almost guarantee that he has either had to tend to his own injuries in the past or he didn't do anything for them at all. But he's in a Fey camp now and the Fey help each other so when he and squirrel first show up at the camp and a he's taken to a healer and at first he balks and is like "I'm fine" but people like Pym and Squirrel and Gawain (YES GAWAIN! I have thoughts hang on) are like clearly you're not so just sit down before fall down again and let Pym heal you! AND then we get a scene of them all seeing the scars and fresh lashes and being horrified

Okay Gawain. He's not dead and he and Lancelot become best bros (or lovers cause I kind of ship them so much. Forget Nimulot. It's Gawain and Lancelot all the way) and Gawain protects him from the Fey who want to kill him after Squirrel and Lancelot arrive at the makeshift Fey camp and he's taken prisoner. Gawain watches him and see his humanity and goodness and self hate and trauma and Lancelot has someone who sees him as a "brother" as someone lost but not irredeemable and they fall in love okay bye

His powers as one of the Ash Folk. We know he can track. But from what we saw what if he's also got some camouflage or healing abilities hes never explored. NEVER EXPLORED BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT A MANIFESTATION OF HIS INNER DEMON!!!

Also, I saw these two onset pics and now I'm ready for this to be s2 WM and Squirrel.

Okay rant over. Sorry. Bye now ✌

#cursed spoilers #cursed netflix #cursed #the weeping monk #daniel sharman #mod post #ace rambles about her favs #new whumpee #new fav #my whumpees

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mcbride · 3 years ago

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TWD S11 Predictions - Carol/Daryl focused

disclaimer: i don't know anything. i have no sources. just my predictions, thoughts and wishful thinking based on filming tracking, intuition, some theories, images from the teaser/promo trailers and more wishful thinking!

solely focused on Carol and Daryl's storylines, cause apparently that's all my heart cares about anymore! as a wise person once said (Espy, my positive fairy! if you're reading this, ilysm), our baes need to be dealing with their own issues and demons, separately, while getting some closure with other people, so they can finally move forward together.

so i don't expect many actual caryl scenes in part 1 of s11, but i fully expect them to keep each other in mind, and even make some decisions based on a future they wanna have together even before they resolve the awkward tension between them atm.

imo the perfect caryl arc in 11a would include a lot of emotional encounters, drama, disappearances, fake deaths, torture, tragedy, dog, closure and make up and make out... after the jump....

it appears that Carol and Daryl will be involved in different missions at the start of the season - he will head out with Maggie's group to search for food when they are caught up in a storm and have to hide out in the subway tunnels; while i presume she stays back to defend and help clean up ASZ or goes on her own mission with Kelly and Magna.

Carol, Kelly and Magna end up stumbling upon Connie's journal, a symbol of hope for all of them. they might even decide to search the area for any more signs of Connie. i really want Carol herself to find Connie and bring her back to Kelly. and not cause Carol is a hero who saved Connie, nooooooo cause Connie can save her own self. she is strong, not a damsel in distress. she went through hell but she made it back. i think we will see Connie and what she has been through, however, i don't believe she will reunite with anyone from team family before the MSF (11x08) or even MSP (11x09). no idea who she and Virgil are running from in the trailer - it could either be a whisperer, a stray reaper or just some crazy random motherf*cker they run into.

while Maggie's group are in the tunnels, dog runs off and Daryl goes to search for him, never making it back to the group for some reason. after the storm is over, Maggie and the group search for Daryl but not having been able to find him (?) they just assume he is gone, possibly dead? i don't know why Maggie would give up so easily searching for family, but it seems like her current MO to just leave people behind.

along the way, Carol and Magna will find common ground and actually become besties cause she desperately needs some female friends. please and thank you. they can bond over the hope to find Connie alive and well, or the fact, both of them are currently in a very awkward position with their boos while having no idea where the heck they are.

Daryl probably got separated from the group while escaping a small herd in the tunnels (cue to Daryl's face covered in blood in the woods) and when he finally finds dog, he comes face to face with a masked reaper formerly known to him as Leah. he is shocked to learn she's part of the group that targeted Maggie. Leah is probably bitter Daryl chose his family instead of her a few years ago cause she has no idea he came back for her... so she and her friends take (willingly or not!) Daryl prisoner... possibly torture him and play mind games to gather information on team family.

in the sdcc trailer, there are some very heartbreaking scenes with Carol (and Aaron?), i cannot wait for it. i know it's gonna make me cry so hard and i've been needing Carol/Aaron friendship for years. at the same time, i expect Carol to also have some badass fighting scenes with her daughter-in-law and new bestie, Lydia, and tia Rosita! YES girl power!! people need Carol and she's totally there for them.

Aaron seems to be in a bad place emotionally (possibly something happened to Gracie, or just the fact they lost a lot of people in the whisperers war!) and Carol will be there to urge him not to make the same mistakes she did. hopefully, these 2 can join forces and come up with a masterplan to defeat the reapers.

Daryl being Daryl who always wants to save people even from themselves, tries to convince Leah to change sides, join team family, or convince her own family to leave his family alone. he's unsuccessful and when Daryl tries to escape, setting the whole place on fire and killing a few men on his way out of the reapers compound, Leah threatens to harm dog. cause why not? she obvi loves nothing or no one! they take Daryl back to another cell, and dog manages to escape.

meanwhile, Maggie's group returns to ASZ, where they tell Carol they believe Daryl is lost or dead. please give me all the angst that comes with Carol thinking she may have lost Daryl forever! she has been pretty committed to the group and rebuilding their home, but i believe her first instinct will be to run, to leave... TO FIND DARYL!!! cause no way in hell would Carol just accept he's gone unless she sees it with her own eyes.

WELL in true 'if you can't beat them, then join them' fashion, after a few brainwashing sessions with Leah, Daryl tells her all about the note (FIND ME) he left for her at the cabin, how he knows he made the wrong decision then, declares his loyalty to her and joins the reapers...

dog arrives at ASZ just as Carol is about to leave to search for Daryl. good boy always comes back home to mama and together they will find and save dada. (bear with me! from now on i'll be totally running wild with my wishful thinking... it will pretty much read like some fanfic plot!)

Daryl keeps trying to fit in with the reapers group, but he's only taking a page from Carol's undercover book - fake it till you make it + destroy them from the inside. what he doesn't know is that Leah and her new/old bf (Pope!?) have been planning an attack on ASZ behind his back. they simply let him know, this is his chance to prove himself to the reapers. he has to go along with the plan (or DIE!), but he hopes to be Alexandrians' inside man, helping them protect their family at all costs (ironically, exactly what Negan did when he joined the whisperers and they attacked Hilltop... just not the same motivation! i guess Carol wasn't so wrong about Negan after all!)

at night, Daryl puts on his reaper costume and they head to ASZ. reapers learned the location of the place by tracking dog. the plan was much bigger and more explosive than Daryl expected, the reapers destroy a big part of ASZ brand new rebuilt wall and set fire to a bunch of houses and the mill before Daryl can even react.

Alexandrians and reapers fight as Daryl sneaks out to lead the kids to safety. he finds Maggie, asks for Carol, and is glad she is out there looking for him, relatively safe, rather than around to fight and watch ASZ fall.

while out looking for Daryl, Carol hears the explosions, sees the fire and she and dog return to ASZ as fast as they can. they are greeted by Leah at what used to be front gate...

i realize this is getting extremely long, so i'll just say that i absolutely don't want Carol to have anything to do with Leah's possible imminent death. i don't want that guilt on her conscience, and i don't want her to feel like Leah is just another person she took from Daryl (like Connie!). i don't even want Leah to die! unless she's trying to hurt or kill Daryl.

somehow i think it would be a good twist, if for a quick second Carol thought Daryl had betrayed them and joined the reapers for Leah. of course, Carol knows better. SHE KNOWS DARYL. he would never, but for a brief panicked moment, it would be good to see her react to that. i can only imagine the pain in her eyes. but she also trusts Daryl with her life.

we have no idea what Leah knows about Carol, but i'd like the pocketknife Daryl regifted to come back. how would Leah react? likely angry to see another woman with something that was hers. i want to believe Daryl would never tell Leah anything about Carol because she is just too important and too personal to share. but maybe Leah can tell there was someone else !? who knows.

i just want it to be completely clear Daryl is done with that part of his past. Daryl is not alone and lost in the woods anymore without his brother Rick and his bestie Carol. ever since Carol brought him back, Daryl has acted like he knows exactly what he wants and he's done playing games. and what he wants is not Leah or Connie. he wants for ALL his family to be safe and happy, and he wants to run away with Carol and see the world. AND i want both Carol and Daryl to feel free to be free and live freely.

as for the make up and make out part... (that's saved for 11b, hopefully!)

team family won, most of the reapers are dead, except for Leah. Daryl (with Carol's nod of approval!) decides to spare her, gives her some supplies and tells her to get lost. at the same time, Eugene arrives with the troopers from CommonWealth to help with the whisperer war. WHOOPS. 2 wars, 2 late, bruh! but the group leaves to join the good people at CW.

Carol and Daryl have a very long conversation about everything that happened and what they have been feeling. Daryl telling her exactly why he was so mad at her (she kept leaving, can't commit!), her actions (almost getting herself killed!) since Henry's death and how he needs her in his life. no matter how she sees herself or whether she thinks she's worthy or not, he just wants her to be there next to him for whatever is to come.

plus Carol realizing she needed to get closer and let people in without fear, not give up hope and actually fight for a better future for herself. and finally, admitting to Daryl that it was horrible to think he might've been gone forever, promising to never make him feel the way she felt. basically, a promise to never ever leave him again (cue to making out!)

#caryl #caryl rants #caryl predictions #carol peletier #daryl dixon #dog dixon #s11 spoilery #good lawd this is long af #did i go full td here?#or plausible possibility territory?#wishful thinking #speculation

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kaypeace21 · 4 years ago

Note

The theme with “time” this season makes me think of the phrase, “wanting to turn back the clock.” And I then think of Will never wanting to grow up and wanting to go back to the old days of playing dnd in Mike’s basement.

And then I think of Will’s (speculated) reality altering bending powers. So could there be a possibility that Will may use those powers to “turn back the clock”?? Maybe rewrite how things happened? Maybe it would be after Mike’s “death” like you speculated earlier. Since he thinks Mike is “dead” he wants to go back, and that’s what he does accidentally.

ALSO, Hopper tells joyce that he was trying to runaway from his "past" trauma with sara- before he says that line in the letter about wanting to turn back the clock and then saying it's not possible to do so . (And that life life hurts you but eventually you get out of that cave and life goes on ). Similar to Will he wants to turn back the clock to better times, but a part of him isn't ready to accept his entire past/ the tra*uma that comes with that- in order to move on and heal for the future .

Like robin said about back to the future "he's stuck in the past .But he needs to get back to his time which is the future!"

HOWEVER- I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANY REAL TIME TRAVEL!!!!

I’ve mentioned my time-theory many many many times- in relation to my DID theory. even if my did theory is completely wrong (aka Will has powers so his alters/split personalities/innerworlds come to life)-

We also see how memories are explored in a supernatural way in st - it’s not literal timetravel just El using her powers to explore tra*matic memories of others (Terry/Billy so far). Like NO TIME TRAVEL PLEASE-THAT’S JUMPING THE SHARK. I really don’t want it lol. XD I think hopper and Robin's lines allude to the theme that will be addressed: confronting the past/times that harmed you but overcoming it for the future because time goes on 'whether you like it or not '.

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

In reference to my time-did theory. Look at the st s4 movie inspirations. In ‘what dreams may come” a guy explores a heaven like world influenced by a painter’s emotions/created via immagination.We also have the movie ‘inside out’ -which involves “memory islands” (distinct worlds based on a child’s memories) which are influenced negatively by the kid being depressed she moved to California. The characters traveling to these memory islands are constructs of kid’s mind -and 1 of them also has a guide helping them explore the ‘memory islands’. Welcome to marwen- has an artist (attacked for being perceived as gay) imagining an abstract world based off his art- where the characters he made experience their own adventures (loosely based off the artist’s trauma). ‘The cell ‘ has characters explore the mind of a guy whose father ab*sed him- and the different alternative fantasy-worlds they explore are based off his memories. The cop exploring these memory-worlds, was also implied to be se*ually ab*sed by his dad . Also,in Inception a guy says he’s a construct of a guy’s mind ( the guy who created the dream worlds that are like alternate dimensions/levels- also hates his dad). And leo’s character says he needs to help him escape the many different levels of the dream world of the mind. Movies like inception, total recall, the cell, enter the void, wizard of oz, Peter Pan, hellraiser 2, dream warriors, bill & ted’s bogus journey, the labyrinth,and welcome to marwen, all allude to this: because they involve entering simulated abstract worlds usually created/based on happy& traumatic memories/fears. While truman show/matrix are more about realizing your reality isn’t real. While in bladerunner 2044/total recall it has the theme of false implanted memories… probably relating to hopper/el realizing they’re alters of Will’s-and their memories were technically created by him.

Something some DiD suffers have are “innerworlds” .When someone has DID there can be multiple “innerworlds” that are separate from one another (and look very different from one another) .And are usually very abstract worlds that are based on the child’s memories (good &bad) . These worlds are usually created at different times and almost act like alternate dimensions (and the inhabitants -npcs/alters of those worlds usually don’t interact with one another) . So they can almost resemble alternate dimensions like how Scott Clarke mentions “Hugh Everett’s many worlds interpretation.” Russia where Hopper is- is probably one of those innerworlds.

HOPPER THEORY:

tw:ab*se/r*pe. In s2 Nancy asks Steve how his “grandpa’s time in the war is a metaphor for your life?” And steve compares the mf to the germans in the war. Dr owens mentions Will has ptsd like “ (vietnam) soldiers’, Hopper saying he had buddies like Will . “In the 70s there was a study that compared the post-traumatic stress symptoms in Vietnam veterans and adult survivors of childhood s**ual ab*se. The study revealed that childhood s**ual ab*se is traumatizing and can result in symptoms comparable to symptoms from war-related trauma.” Hopper isn’t actually in Russia -but in one of the innerworlds (after he jumped through the rift of the machine- into Will’s mind). We’ll see flashbacks but also present circumstances of his imprisonment echo Will’s past with Lonnie (if the movies indicate anything)- being starved, guards getting payed in order to let other prisoners r*pe a gay prisoner (than claim incorrectly because of his sexuality he wanted it) , as well as a gang of sadist men who r**e others and a warden using that as a threat to be compliant , being thrown in a dark room of solitary confinement and starved when they didn’t obey the warden, the warden being religious, etc. And the American soldiers (in Vietnam) in the movies aren’t much better and do similarly horrific acts to civilians like r**e and bragging/ happily k*lling women, children, and the elderly. The drill sergant in vietnam calling them homophobic slurs & women, and chocking one of the soldiers with one hand (like the mf/russian), slapping one for not believing in christianity. Tying up a soldier in a bed , gagging him, beating him and saying “remember it’s just a dream.” Only praising them when good in fire arms.(movies : fullmetal jacket, papillon, shawshank redemption, platoon, welcome to marwen, etc ) . My assumption is flashbacks of his life- hints about him being an alter -the boxes in the basement are “vietnam” ,“dad”, and “ny” (and these are the memories of his we’ll see).or after escaping the prison he’s stuck in diff innerworlds of memories. And some of the bad characters in said stories will also parallel Lonnie . Like how in the s4 film ‘peterpan’- the young girl Wendy imagines netherland and the villain -captain hook- is based off her father ( in the movie they have the same voice actors/while in all stage productions the 2 characters are always played by the same actor). Similar to the other s4 film- ‘wizard of oz’ where the wicked witch of the west from the mythical land of Oz (is played by Dorothy’s real life mean neighbor in the real world/kansas).Or in ‘the cell’- all the alternate dimensions of the dream world that were created by a guy with a ab*sive h*mophobic dad -had the same actor play the villain in each very different dream dimension. ”Not sure if they’d use Ross Patridge (actor of Lonnie) in this way . But it would be very interesting if (In makeup) Ross played many negative people in Hopper’s life.

Also, in s2, Jonathan mentions Indiana writer Vonnegut- In his book ‘slaughterhouse 5′- Vonnegut begins the story of Billy (William) Pilgrim, a man who has “come unstuck in time”. (time ref of Hopper saying he wants to ‘turn back the clock.’ or’ runaway from his memories.‘It accounts of Billy Pilgrim’s capture and incarceration by the Germans during the last years of World War II (Hopper captured by the russians), and scattered throughout the narrative are episodes from Billy’s life with his dad, and his own wife and kids.Billy is forced to be part of the war and similar things against his free will. The moments start from his childhood when his father throws him in the water to teach him how to swim. He was unwillingly drafted into the war. Later, he is kidnapped by Tralfamadorians (aliens that are implied to be caused by his mental health issues/trauma) against his will. Therefore, he realizes that this concept is just an illusion.in bladerunner 2044/total recall it has the theme of false implanted memories… probably relating to hopper realizing he’s an alter and his memories are technically ‘created’ . Like in total recall- the bad ass spy is told all his memories: his wife/ years of marriage, his name, are just implanted memories. And she says “you’re life is a dream.” We also have ‘Arrival’ -the parent’s daughter died young cause of terminal cancer- and the mother later realizes time is also just a abstract construct (a thing she can experience differently than others), but she still finds meaning/happiness in those memories/times.

I also talked about how sarah as an alter could come back and the 2 would explore the “innerworlds” of Will’s mind together (you can read the details there).

El and Will theory

I’m thinking of the s4 movies and 1 matrix scene comes to mind that could be an obvious hint to Did (and Will’s importance). Mr smith (the suited calm villain/ who is a literal computer program of the matrix world -cough alter/npc of Will’s) kidnaps/ ties up Morpheus to a chair (like Will in s2), injects him with drugs in the neck ( like s3 steve/ will’s arm in s2). Then Mr smith says as everyone leaves the room “I’m going to be honest with you. I hate this place, this prison, this reality or what you call it.” (grabs Morpheus’ head and glares) “ I need to get out of here! I need to be free! And this mind is the key.”(referring to morpheus).morpheus also translates to ‘god of dreams’. Also Morpheus was wearing head gear similar to El in s1/Will in s2 . or in 12 monkeys the guy sent to psych ward -starts believing he’s just “crazy” and says “i created a world with those people in it.” “It’s not real .I’m just mentally ill, like you said ” when you know- it is all real,cause of the supernatural angle involved. in 12 monkeys a patient even tells him the fictional world he created would dissappear once his mental health was in order.

Then there’s the El stuff. Hellraiser 2- has a normal psych hospital, but the basement floor has an evil psychiatrist experimenting on teens to open a portal to another reality. assasains creed/dream warriors - has the psychiatric facility be similar to the s1 lab with sensory deprivation tanks, cameras, solitary confinement in dark rooms.The doctor experiments on them- and forces a character to go into the memories of another individual (we know El has memory powers).The dr reveals how the character’s reality/whole life isn’t what they think it is (and that the memories they saw with their powers-was their past life and they are that person’s reincarnation) . Aka Will is the host- and El is an alter (alters can see memories of other alters/the host irl-aka billy/terry were also alters ).

In assasain’s creed there’s 2 psychiatrists- one bad / one who is good (but influenced by the bad dr). One dr annoyed at the lack of progress, says about the patient “he doesn’t want to remember his father.” While one dr doesn’t want to rush the therapy/ the other dr wants the patient to go back into his memories regardless of how it affects him. (which could be Brenner & maybe Owens referring to Will’s dissociative-amnesia and not remembering all the ab*se Lonnie did. And Owens not wanting to rush it/hurt el by making her go into said memories …but Brenner not caring.

also other hints : Cough s4 using the movie wizard of oz refs “we’re not in Hawkins (kansas) anymore”-hint at russia. David on instagram posting st stuff and captioning it with and quotes, pretending to be dorothy from the film. Hopper in s1 saying hawkins lab was “emerald city” (referencing El- it’s also why they reference El entering our world in ep 1 and the alice in wonderland song plays) . Murray says about the supernatural “no one wants to see behind the curtain” (what was behind the curtain in wizard of oz-was a wizard aka Will). Or you know right before Will sees the mf for the first time -a clock turns rapidly/ he has goosbumps at the back of his neck. Which he later grabs/states are from “memories” he can’t remember that are like a “dream”.

If i’m right-not sure how much of this may happen in s4 vs s5, though. But I think something like this is possible. For all we know-Will/El being trapped with Brenner while Hopper escapes ‘russia’ could be how the season ends? The timeline i’m a bit iffy about-tbh.

#stranger things theory #will byers #el hopper #jim hopper #time theory #did theory

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mochibrokenheart · 3 years ago

Text

SVSSS: Guardian of the Museum

Mobei Jun x Shang Qinghua

Word Count: 2,756

Summary: Of course there's ominous growling and destruction to the building on Shang Qinghua's first night as a museum curator. Of course there is! Besides being desperate to keep the job, he's not sure what possesses him to actually walk toward the dangerous situation. His survival instincts were better trained that! Except...wait a minute...the terrifying creature causing all the ruckus is actually the hottest thing he's ever seen???

My first contribution for Moshang Monsterfucking Month (and my first fic for the fandom in general!) Heavy on the monster part as the nsfw is not explicit. Who knew that it would be hard to write something short. Inspired by the Day 2 prompt: horny.

Also posted on my Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34305571

A nearby bell tolled at midnight just as Shang Qinghua locked up the museum for the night, which meant that he was officially off for the weekend. Being a party of one, he celebrated with a groovy victory dance while turning the key over in the lock.

There was a little click and he rattled the knob, checking that the door was properly locked—if anything was stolen or vandalized during the night, he would most definitely be blamed as the recent hire!

The job was an important stepping stone in his career path plan to being a rare artifacts curator. He really needed the experience. It was hard enough to land the job, so he wasn’t above looking neurotic by double, and triple, and quadruple checking everything before he left.

A chilly breeze tussled his hair and raised goosebumps down his neck. It was October, he supposed while drawing up his hood to block the chill, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to complain.

He was much to delicate for cold temperatures and would exercise his right to curse out the changing seasons. Of course, he could move somewhere further south, so that he wouldn’t have to put up with it anymore, but still!

The only good thing about the loss of summer was the bugs, he decided.

Clearly, Shang Qinghua was irresistible because bugs treated his blood like an all-you-can buffet. If only hot men thought the same. But alas.

Sighing, he turned up to admire the full moon, who seemed to sympathize with the sad state of his romantic affairs, being the moon and all. Something about it’s pale gray-white color naturally emoted a sad, longing reflection.

It was as he was looking up that he heard a growl, loud not because of its pitch—it was actually quite low and gravelly—but because it vibrated the very air around him.

Shit. Shit. He wasn’t equipped to deal with some beast! He had no weapons and there was no way his body was going to get the job done either. He was a delicate flower, just ask the bugs who always feasted on him!

He rummaged through his bag frantically for his phone. That was what the authorities were for.

Opening his phone, his mind was racing. Who did you call when there was a potentially wild animal on the loose? The police? Animal control?

Gasp! What if it turned out to be a demon?

…!!!

He didn’t have any shamans or priests on speed dial. There had never been a reason to until then but if it would save him, he’d buy up every type of religious necklace he could and wear them around his neck daily. It was like insurance—it never hurt to cover all of his bases.

While he was wasting time on the sidewalk, what appeared to be small bits of gravel drifted down from what seemed like the roof. Scurrying to get closer to the streetlight, which casted a circular light on the steps of the museum, Shang Qinghua bent down to get a closer look.

It felt dusty when he rubbed his pointer finger against his thumb and did match the shade of stone the building was…The new evidence presented a bit of dilemma. Yes, he was still itching to call somebody have them do the dangerous work, but at the same time, his boss might fire him if something happened to the museum under his watch.

“Well, if there’s more damage, I guess I’ll take a look,” he muttered. He clasped his hands together. “But please, take mercy on me, moon! I promise that if you get me out of this that my next erotica will be dedicated solely to you, and in very large print, so that my readers know the reach of your mystical power!”

His hands remained clasped high above his head as he waited. So far so good.

There was still the scary growls, of course, but those didn’t count because he wasn’t going to investigate that. It was absolutely common knowledge that people who investigated weird sounds always ended up dead, at least in horror movies, and that was all the proof he needed to wash his hands of it.

No, the only thing that could sway him from his crouch on the front steps was…was…

Tears shimmered in his eyes as more rubble was knocked off from the roof, the fine particles irritating his nose and causing him to sneeze.

Thoroughly betrayed, he used his sleeve to wipe at his nose. Forget the moon. Clearly the bond he felt had only been one-sided, and now he was obligated to actually suck it up and put himself in harms way.

The Shang Qinghua of five minutes ago would’ve screamed and called himself a fool. Why ignore those highly honed flight instincts?! Even the Shang Qinghua of the present was screaming and calling himself a fool when he took the first hesitant step inside.

It was deceptively quiet in the stairwell but that wasn’t enough to calm him. As the saying went, it was the calm before the shit storm and he was about to be right in the middle of it. How careless of him.

Just in case this was the end, he started to draft an epitaph—it’s not like anyone else would put in the same amount of effort.

His minor following would be too busy wailing about the permanent book hiatus; his boss would have their hands full dealing with insurance over the architectural damage; and that hot-and-cold cucumber bro of his would still be nagging him in the afterlife, criticizing him for his stupid plan when it ‘clearly would’ve been better to do such and such’. But back to him.

We are gathered here to mourn the passing of one Shang Qinghua, a bright hamster that was taken from Earth far too soon. His exhibit work was flawless, his knack for collections cataloging unrivaled. There was never a day without bountiful office supplies with him around. We thank him for his singular brave—foolish?—sacrifice in the name of historical value. Shang Qinghua is survived by several dying houseplants and the stray dog he usually fed on his way home from work.

There. That sounded as good as he was likely to get. Wait. No. He almost left out the most important part: the secret letter of last words meant only for cucumber bro’s eyes. Bro, if you’re reading this it’s because I died a terrible and scary death. Please take pity and wipe all of my search history. It was all for research, honest! It’s bad taste to judge a dead man.

The access door to the roof was large and imposing in front of him, even though there was still no noise coming from the other side. He was going to be mad and then relieved, in that exact order, if this turned out to be nothing.

He inhaled. Exhaled. Jumped around and shook his hands where they hung down beside the length of his body. He’d watched enough athletes—for research!—throughout his short life and getting loose always seemed to pump them up for competition. The same principle should apply here.

The door gave with a loud screech and he suspected that it wasn’t in regular use. Not that there was probably much to see up there anyway. Just roosting pigeons, stone slabs, and—

His mind went blank.

Crouching in the corner, so close to the edge that all it would take was a gust of wind to send him tumbling down, was some sort of winged creature. And the wings were massive things that arched up before curving downward completely over it’s back, the tips draped on the ground. Judging by how large they were, they had to be functional, which nearly caused him to wet himself.

He didn’t want to imagine that thing taking flight after him. Not that he would be exciting prey. Gods, this probably how a mouse felt when a hawk was flying overhead.

But it was the horns that really caught his attention. They were hulking black spirals and the sharp points were pointed right at him. Even in the poor light, it was obvious that they were pure black. Any other time, he might comment on how cool they actually were, how they were a cosplayer’s dream, but it wasn’t cool when it was a matter of life and death.

And he would most certainly die if those menacing horns and wings were any indication.

Trying to keep the element of surprise, he slowly let the door swing shut. Until a little bat started flew over squeaking, which caused him to squeak as well. The door hit the frame with a loud rattle. His body went heavy with fear and his eyes snapped shut, a natural prey response. He had never, ever been this scared.

Not patient enough for Shang Qinghua to turn around on his own, the creature flung him around to face it with an aggressive growl. And he had thought it was loud when he was on the sidewalk. Which wasn’t true at all. It was much louder and more intimidating when it was right in his face.

“Trespasser!” it growled, teeth clicking.

…Okay, so it could talk. Maybe this was a good thing. Now could grovel with it to spare him!

Blinking rapidly, he opened his eyes and looked up, up, up. It didn’t look as horrific from the front as it did the back. In fact, it had a humanoid appearance and was distinctly male. He was the hottest thing he’d ever seen, a total fantasy come to life. How the hell was he real?

His was incredibly tall, his huge wings proportional to his size now that he was standing up. Now that he saw them up close, Shang Qinghua noticed that they were a beautiful shade of blue that started out dark but lightened to pale blue once it reached the tips, which also had sharp spikes—Nails? Claws? He wasn’t well versed in anatomy—attached.

The top of his ears were pointy, too, just like the tops of the wings. Oh, and the horns! There were two of them, both pure, glossy obsidian, that sprouted out on either side of his temple, the bases thick and ridged as they spiraled like a ram’s. The only difference was that his horns were much larger. He could maul someone with those along if he wasn’t careful.

But now that he considered it more—even in times of crisis, he could multi-task when it really counted—the horns only added more to his attractiveness. They were intimating, sure, but also sexy, in a monsterfucking type of way. He gasped as a clawed hand wrapped around his throat. Yep, he could definitely get into the horns and claws. Mark him down as scared and horny.

The growling died down but sharp teeth were still on display, and there was a stylized tattoo-looking mark on his forehead. Despite the snarl, Shang Qinghua instinctively knew that his face was insanely attractive; it had to be to match the rest of him. Speaking of the rest of him…

He dropped down in front of him, making sure to drag his hands down that ripped physique and gave his massive pectorals a quick squeeze before he landed on his knees in a kneeling position.

His face was right in front of the creature’s impressive package, covered only by a flimsy loin cloth. It fluttered in the night breeze and he had to bite down on his finger to stop his depraved moaning. “Ff-forgive me, my good-demon-sir, but I swear I’m not trespassing. I’m a humble worker here at this museum.”

He quickly took out his employee badge to offer it up to the demon who barely gave it a glance. “Gargoyle,” it said in reply.

“Oh. I’m sorry but I don’t really know what you mean by that.” Wait, why did he say that? He didn’t want to get further in the demon’s bad side than he already was! “I mean no offense, of course. I’m sure gargoyles are absolutely lovely—”

“No,” he interrupted, his face smoothed out into blank slate. It made it harder to read him but Shang Qinghua quickly decided that it was alright. “I am a gargoyle, human. You may address me as Mobei Jun.”

Ohhh. Now that he mentioned it, his wings and horns could belong to a gargoyle. He knew that they were popular parts historical buildings that had a strong Western influence, which the museum did.

“And I am a king. Not a sir.”

Curse his authority kink. He was sure that any new fantasies he conjured up would be staring this particular king and Shang Qinghua as his servant.

“Of course, my king! You’re reeking of kingly handsomeness. As a lowly human, my apologies for the obvious mistake.” The gargoyle king didn’t make any move to acknowledge his words other than a slow blink, so he figured that it was all good. “Excuse me if this sounds rude, but what are you doing up here? And what was all the noise about?”

“Guardian. I was charged with the safety of this place by a war lord.” Jeez. So he’d been with the building for centuries at least, maybe even millennia.

There was a pause and he realized that he wasn’t going to answer the second question. It also seemed like the gargoyle king was waiting on him and a light bulb went off. “S-sorry again my king. I am Shang Qinghua. I am in charge of the rare artifacts inside of the building, so you may see me closing up most nights.”

The gargoyle king nodded sagely and he figured that the role must be acceptable to him. A loud sigh left him and his muscles relaxed just in the slightest way. He might survive this encounter yet. Ever better, survive and be able to go home and break out that new bottle of lube that he bought last week. There was plenty of new material to work with, that was for sure.

Then the gargoyle stepped back, giving him more space, which was actually the opposite of what he wanted. Feel free to punish him for earlier transgressions, king, especially if they were rough in a sexy way!

Unaware of his inner pleadings, he continued walking away to crouch back near the edge of the roof.

“Umm, be careful, king. It’s dangerous to be that close—”

“I am a king. Concerns such as that are not applicable,” he said, puffing up his chest. Those pecs! He might have to put in a request tomorrow to do more work on the roof. It was a crime that no one was admiring that body on a regular basis. “Leave. Return home. The circles under your eyes are hideous.”

He gasped, touching his bags. Rude! He had just finished a long shift and definitely wasn’t at his best. He was going to have to step up his game if he was going to tempt this gargoyle in the future. Trying his best not to show embarrassment, or disappointment, he agreed to leave.

“Whatever you want, my king. I’ll leave for now but if you need anything, I’ll be back tomorrow and the day after as well. In fact, every night, in case you need me.” Screw his weekend off. Who needed one of those when there was a hot gargoyle of legend serving as the guardian of the museum. Not him, that’s who.

He scrambled to his feet and bowed again for good measure. The door was open and he was across the threshold when his dream gargoyle muttered something. “Did you say something, my king?”

He cleared his throat and spoke gruffly. “The pigeons pooped in my hair.”

Suddenly, the growling from earlier made sense. No matter if you were human or gargoyle, having birds shit in your hair, especially hair as luscious as Mobei Jun’s, was bound to make anyone furious.

Determined to keep his laughs to himself if it was the last thing he did, he merely replied, “Yes, my king. I will make sure to chase them away from you next time.”

“See that you do.”

On cloud nine, Shang Qinghua grinned as he bounded down the stairwell. The gargoyle’s comment implied that there would be a next time. And he intended to romance the loincloth off (literally) of the serious gargoyle king.

Hope you all enjoyed! So happy to share this with everyone. Thanks for reading :)

#svsss #svsss fanfic #mobei jun #shang qinghua #moshang

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teamfreewill2pointo · 4 years ago

Text

Sam’s Emotional Arc 1/3

I hated the finale immediately, but I’ve spent some time with it and talked to friends who loved it. I can see now what it was about, and I’ve come to appreciate the story they were trying to tell, even if I think it didn’t land right.

I’ve been told that my meta on this has helped other people come to terms with the finale, so I thought I’d compile it in one place from across various discord channels and twitter posts. If you are struggling with the finale, I hope it helps you.

Part of this actually started with a shit post. I was making a joke about Sam being psychic since he was scared of clowns when Dean died by one. I realized that may have been deliberate. I dug into the story more and now I’m convinced it was. Then I came across some excellent meta that fit with the themes I was finding and opened up the series even more for me.

Happiness isn’t in the having, it’s in just being. It’s in just saying it.

Cas said it. Dean accepted it. Sam lived it. First, Sam’s journey.

Clowns pop up in s15 before the barn scene. In 15.01, which was written by Dabb, Sam is injured by a clown. Castiel is able to save Sam and heal his injury. The clown keeps coming after Sam, with Sam having fight scenes with the clown, while others attack the other ghosts. The clown is kicking the shit out of Sam again, and Castiel saves him once more. Sam is unable to fight off the clown on his own both times.

They run until they are able to escape outside a magical barrier. Sam turns to the clown and says, “shut up”.

This is literally Sam running from his fears. On top of that, this isn’t just any clown, but the ghost of John Wayne Gacy, from an episode also written by Dabb.

Dean: A serial killer clown. I mean, this is, like, the best/worst thing that’s ever happened to you, you know, ‘cause you love serial killers, but – but you hate clowns.

Sam gets nervous and struggles with the lighter before he’s able to get rid of the clown, for now.

I believe this is a metaphor for hunting in general: it’s both the best of Sam’s life and also the worst. The clowns symbolize his relationship with Dean.

Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie was co-written by Dabb (see the pattern?). Sam’s fear of clowns was known since season 2. In season 7, Dabb explored where this fear came from.

On the surface, Sam’s fear is just because he found them creepy, but the episode explains that they actually come from Sam’s fear of being left behind by Dean.

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This episode comes directly after an episode where Sam worried that Dean would get himself killed

Sam: Look... Dean, the thing is, tonight... It almost got you killed. Now, I don't care how you deal. I really, really don't. But just don't – don't get killed. Dean: I'll do what I can. Sam: Well, what's that supposed to mean? Dean: It means I'll do what I can. All right? You can shut up about it.

Sam is dealing with Hallucifer at this moment, but Hallucifer doesn’t really scare him. Losing Dean does.

Sam has a conversation with an employee about greatest fears.

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Recognize the actress? She came back for s15 in 15.06. I don’t believe this was a coincidence. 15.06 featured Castiel helping a parent find their lost child in a season that features Castiel worried about losing Jack. Through his experience with her, Castiel confronts his fears and doubts and then returns to join in the fight against God. [I’ll touch on Castiel’s journey more in his chapter]

Sam’s greatest fear is losing Dean. There’s a lot in the series about how Sam felt lonely and abandoned for much of his childhood. A whole episode, Just My Imagination, centers around this. Sam hated when Dean went off on hunts without him.

source In The Chitters, Sam tells Dean how his fear of losing his family paralyzed him as child. It’s a story where an older brother dies and the younger brother never recovers from it until he’s able to lay him to rest (sound familiar???)

Sam: You know, whenever you and Dad used to leave me to go hunting, and I-and I wouldn’t hear from y’all for a while, I, um, I was always sure that some vamp or rugaru, or take your pick, I always figured one of them finally got ya. I tried to think what to do, you know, the next step to take. I was just lost. Dean: We came back, though, every time.

You might naturally think, “Wait a minute! Sam left Dean multiple times!” Honestly, this was something I had a huge issue with when watching through the show the first time. I didn’t understand Sam and hated him leaving Dean in s8. I was completely on Dean’s side at first. But, on multiple rewatches and talking to others, I’ve realized that when Sam left Dean, he was running from his fear. In this TV Guide interview, Jared perfectly sums up why Sam left in season 1; he couldn’t stand to see his family die. Dabb wrote Dark Side of the Moon along with a comic that explains why Sam left in detail. While the comic isn’t official canon, it shows Dabb’s thought process. In it, Sam sees his family as running towards a horrible end and can’t handle dealing with that.

Dean: So what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it? Sam: No. Not normal. Safe.

There are many more points in the series where we learn about Sam’s fear of Dean dying. This would be 3948573945 pages long if I wrote them all out, so I’m going to focus on the key moments that loop back to this ending, but there’s so much more there.

If you are struggling with this and need more, please let me know and I can do a deeper dive into that subject. We first see Sam’s inability to let Dean go in season 1 when Sam refuses to let Dean die in Faith.

Dean: You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you? Sam: I'm not gonna let you die, period. We're going.

Sam’s whole arc in s3 is him being unable to handle Dean dying. He wants to save Dean, but Dean won’t let himself be saved. This was what Gabriel was trying to teach him in Mystery Spot.

Trickster: This obsession to save Dean? The way you two keep sacrificing yourselves for each other? Nothing good comes out of it. Just blood and pain. Dean's your weakness. And the bad guys know it, too. It's gonna be the death of you, Sam. Sometimes you just gotta let people go.

This is how Ruby gets under Sam’s skin and what gets him to start working with her. Everything Sam did was to save Dean. In s4, Sam’s arc is about him sacrificing himself in order to save Dean. He’s gutted from being unable to save Dean. In 4.12, Sam decides to drink demon blood in order to save Dean

Dean: [says that they will die early] Sam: Maybe we'll be different, Dean. Dean: What kind of Kool-Aid you drinking, man? Sammy, it ends bloody or sad. That's just the life. Sam: What if we could win?Dean: "Win"?Sam: If there was a way we could just...put an end to all of it.

When Sam breaks out of the panic room, he’s suicidal. He’s determined to save Dean with his life as the cost he’s willing to pay. He didn’t think he would survive killing Lilith. He was committing suicide in that moment. The reason why Sam is so willing to sacrifice himself in s5 is because he has low self esteem. He blames himself for everything that goes wrong. In Sam, Interrupted 5.11, also by Dabb, Sam has a breakdown under the weight of his guilt. He hates himself and he feels his rage is out of control. In season 6, we see soulless Sam and, unlike souled Sam, he has no rage. Yes, he’ll kill when necessary, but he’s not angry. It was Sam’s fear driving his rage. He felt out of control of his life and let it lead him down a dark path. In season 7, he sees Dean heading down a dark path and he feels helpless to stop it. He worries about dragging Dean down and tells Dean to let him go. But, at the same time, he’s developing coping techniques. He’s starting to face his fears.

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And then Dean disappears and Sam completely falls apart. Sam didn’t have a healthy relationship with Amelia. They were two broken people clinging to each other. Sam and Dean struggle to reconnect after their time apart. There’s a lot of text addressing the horror of a partner dying and people trying to escape from it.

Mrs Holmes: He could see the end of my days were at hand, and... He had lived centuries all alone, but I don't think he could bear the thought of life without me. That's why he drove off that bridge. You must think I'm a monster.

In Hunteri Heroica written by GUESS WHO!?!? Sam finally acknowledges that he was living in a dream world with Amelia. He was running from his past. We see a flash back with Sam pressing on his scar, which he did to help himself distinguish fantasy from reality.

The episode is about a man refusing to engage in reality and harming those around him. Sam has a big confrontation with him

Sam: Look, it can be nice living in a dream world. It can be great. I know that. And you can hide, and you can pretend... all the crap out there doesn't exist, but you can't do it forever because... eventually, whatever it is you're running from – it'll find you. [CASTIEL appears to be taking Sam’s words to heart.] It'll come along, and it'll punch you in the gut. And then... then you got to wake up, because if you don't, then trying to keep that dream alive will destroy you! It'll destroy everything!

Likewise, when Sam was with Jessica, he wasn’t honest about himself. He was hiding from his family and his past. Running to avoid pain. Sam is avoidant in general. Not just in his relationship with Dean. When he talks with Rowena in 13.12 Various & Sundry Villains about his fears of Lucifer, he admits that he could talk about it with Dean, but he can’t bring himself to.

Sam: I’ve seen it too. What he really looks like behind – behind whatever vessel. It… Yeah, still keeps me up at night. Rowena: How do you deal with it? Sam: I guess I don’t deal with it. Not really. I mean, I pushed it down and, um, the world kept almost ending, so I keep pushing it down, and I don’t know. [stammering] I really don’t talk about it, not even with Dean. I mean, I could. You know, he’d listen, but… That’s not something I really know how to share.

In 15.20, Sam’s past is front and center. Literally. I know a lot of people found the Winchester family portrait odd and upsetting, but it symbolizes something I’ll get to in a bit. Instead of trying to avoid his grief, Sam has moments where he lets it wash over him. He goes and sits in the car. He’s no longer avoidant. He’s no longer running away. He’s letting his grief move through him. He’s literally sitting with it.

Soulless Puppy pointed out that the characters emotional arcs is similar to DBT. Please look through their awesome meta here.

Personally, I see them as similar to the therapy I do called ACT. Both are forms of therapy where instead of fighting against them, you accept painful emotions and allow yourself to feel them. If you don’t do that work, then you can’t stop feeling them and your fears/ghosts will always haunt you. In Swan Song, Chuck tells us that “Dean didn't want Cas to save him. Every part of him, every fiber he's got, wants to die, or find a way to bring Sam back. But he isn't gonna do either. Because he made a promise.” In 15.20, Sam initially didn’t want to let Dean go. He’s been refusing to do this since season 1. When he’s separated from Dean he lives a fake life or destroys himself/the world trying to get Dean back. There’s a moment in 15.20 where Sam looks at Dean’s guns. He wants to commit suicide, but he makes the choice to live. For the time in Sam’s life, he let Dean go and lived with his pain. He no longer ran from it. After Swan Song, Dean was unable to let Sam go. He wanted him back. After Carry On, Sam is able to do what Dean couldn’t do. He lives a life outside of Dean. What’s more, Sam has reconciled himself with his past and his family. It’s clumsy and I wish it were better shown, but having the family portrait and their parents in heaven isn’t meant to excuse the way Sam and Dean were raised. In order to move past the trauma of his relationship with his parents, Sam fully integrates them into his life. In Lebanon, Sam was able to confront and forgive his father. In doing so, he can also forgive himself. Mary asks for forgiveness too, and he grants it to her. He doesn’t forget what happened, but he’s able to move forward and leave the intergenerational cycle of violence. He’s able to raise his son, Dean, the way his brother should have been raised.

Happiness isn’t in the having, it’s in just being. It’s in just saying it.

Cas said it. Dean accepted it. Sam lived it.

I can see why people see Sam’s life after Dean as unhappy. I hated it so much because I saw it as horrible and sad the first time through. I had to sit with myself and my emotions first. I think it’s because we’ve been told by society that we have to get rid of our grief in order to be happy. The finale was showing us that it’s possible to do the opposite. [Personally I think it would’ve been better had they showed more overtly happy memories, but many of my friends saw this straight away] When I began therapy, one of the first things I learned was that there aren’t “negative” emotions. When working with our kids, we call them Big emotions. In DBT/ACT, all emotions are treated as normal and natural. Grief, anger, sadness, etc, these are all normal parts of the human existence. We don’t need to run from them in order to have happiness. We can live with them. As interstitial said in our chats, “you can't change the past, you can only change your relationship to it. To accept that your past contained both love and heartache, to miss it, but also know you can do better; that's actual recovery, as good as it gets.” As Soulless-Puppy explained to me, Sam lived in duality. Dean was dead, but Sam lived. Sam was happy, but he grieved. Dean was with him in the watch and the car and his son, but Dean also waited for him in heaven. I hated the finale the first time I saw it, then next watched it with my boyfriend who loved it. As we were watching together and discussing it, I realized that Dean’s death scene wasn’t just about him, but about the show itself.

Dean promising Sam that he will be with Sam in Sam’s heart is also the show promising us that they will never leave it. That’s why Alex kept posting “The end has no end.” Just as Sam carried Dean with him in his heart, we will carry the show with us. I hope this helps. It’s a terrible thing to feel upset about an ending and thinking of the show this way, recognizing these patterns, is bringing me peace. I still have issues with how it was written, but now that I see what they were doing, I wish all the more that they had the chance to do it right. Please share your thoughts and experiences. I love hearing different opinions. Next up, Dean. Then Castiel.

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mashedpotittiess · 4 years ago

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Seance Season Chp 2

Chapter 2: Worries and Answers.

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader. Mentions of OC x Hoseok. Non-Romantic mentions of other BTS members.

Summary: You repeatedly told yourself you did not have Magick. But one evening has you fearing for what you’re starting to become. In the middle of all of that, you have this pull to Jungkook that you both can’t quite explain. This new season of your life is Seance Season. Will you come out the same person?

Words: 13,500+

Rating: PG13-M’ish. Some Sexual scenarios but not the full Snex.

Genre: Magick, Witch au. Fluff, Angst and Smut. Slight Horror.

Tags/Warnings: Strong mentions of Magick and spells. Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with the idea of wicca and anything of the sort as certain remedies and ‘spells/chants’ are in fact real to some. Drinking. Fighting. Blood. Destruction. A man harms y/n. Horror to some degree. Extremely religious folk be wary.

Pls excuse if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. I don’t really have a beta or anything to scan for anything like that <3

All rights to pictures, songs and other types of media respectively belong to their owners.

Fic Inspired Playlist that I highly recommend while you read each chapter as they sent the mood. Link is here.

Taglist: @a-mess-of-fandoms @dnyad @mwitsmejk @ggukkieland

To be added to the taglist of this pic or all of my pics lmk through comments or dm’s c:

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“Thanks, for uh..the ride home and you saving me..and just everything.” you were still visibly shaken from the events that had just transpired but you tried your best not to show it, your face hardening as you worried at your cheek with your teeth.

The heels of your scraped up boots clacked against the concrete leading to the front door of your apartment complex. You’d probably have to say goodbye to these shoes as they not only had had enough ‘excitement’ for their lifetime but the heels were wobbly to walk on and you knew they were close to just breaking off.

Stopping at the wooden door to the lobby you looked up to meet the intense gaze Jungkook fixated on you. It wasn’t the same intense gaze he had at the club, no, this was and intense look of contemplation, of fear, of intrigue.

You searched for the right words to say but as you opened your mouth he did the same. “Are you okay to stay by yourself? You’ve had a long night. I’m not saying I’d like..stay the night, but I could always stay for a bit if you want to talk about tonight.” His eyes held sincerity in his words and if you were being honest you really didn’t want to be alone. You we’re scared of so many things right now and you weren’t sure you could even sleep if you tried. The thought of the man who attacked you possibly finding you again made a shiver run up your spine. You knew he was badly injured from Jungkook and it would definitely take time and powerful potions to heal him up right, but it didn’t settle the slight tremble in your knees.

“If you would..I’d appreciate that” With a nothing but a nod, Jungkook opened the door to you and followed behind your walking body.

Reaching into your purse that Jungkook recovered from the alleyway for you while you were in a daze, you pulled out your key and turned it into the deadbolt mechanism until the locking ‘click’ could be heard.

Gesturing with a wave of you palm, Jungkook entered your ‘home’ and you closed the door behind you both making sure to lock both locks, even if it was just for peace of mind. You watched his eyes move over the entirety of your livingroom/diningroom open space and the kitchen nook that was only separated by a wall with a cut out alcove between the dining area and the actual kitchen space.

“Make yourself at home, I’m going to take a quick shower. I think I packed up some of Tae’s clothes that he left at my old house and brought with me here, when I get out I’ll check.” you watched the dark haired mans left eyebrow cock at the mention of ‘tae clothes’ but didn’t ask why as you just wanted to get out of these clothes and try to wash away at the grime and blood that covered your body.

Taking a change of undergarments and pajamas with you to the bathroom, you left them neatly folded on the sink and made quick work of your clothing. Deciding most of it had been damaged and it would be best to just get rid of it, you threw it all into a heap and tossed your non ruined undergarments in the hamper nestled inside your linen closet.

You finally took in your reflection in the mirror. Your hair was wildly matted in spots from when you were against the wall and on the ground wiggling about to break free. Your body was littered with numerous scrapes and scratches that you knew would bruise over the course of the next week. You cheek had bits of dried blood from where the Ice dagger cut at your skin and the cut on your palm still had beads of flowing blood mixing in with brown specs of dirt and debris you accumulated from the alley floor. Your tearducts and nostrils were black with soot and ash from Jungkooks fire and what was left of your makeup was smeared in different directions. You looked like hell and a part of you was embarrassed that Jungkook had seen you like this.

Steam filled the room as you lit the eucalyptus and peppermint candle settled atop a shelf to help with the tension that was running rampant in your mind and body.

Stepping under the hot water, you felt it start to string your skin with the borderline too hot stream that you needed to feel. The water swirling into a pool at your feet making it’s way to the drain was tinted a mauve color and you watched until it finally ran clear. It was almost therapeutic, clear was associated with purity and the water washing off the physical grime of tonight made you a little less on edge. Thanking the element of water you made quick work of working shampoo into your tresses.

Atop your head sat a bun of hair and conditioner while you washed your body. The mixture of hot water and soap licked at your body and you hissed at the pain but you scrubbed vigorously at your body with your loofah none the less.

The water once again spiraled with a pink hue as the grime that hadn’t been washed away with just the water finally made it’s way off of your body. With a sharp hiss, the cut on your palm opened further. The swollen pink skin around the crimson gash stung as you made sure to really wash it. The cut on your face re opened in the same way while you washed all traces of makeup, soot, debris and dried blood from the delicate skin.

You din’t know if it was the color of the water or the thoughts flowing in your mind but you broke down. Tears streaming down your cheek as your knees gave out and you sat your body in the tub curling into yourself.

Sobs wrecked your body as you shook violently and you held your knees to your chest tightly in search of some sort of stability. Water made its way from your head and into your mouth and a quick inhale from a sob caused you to choke out the liquid.

Why did this all happen? What was going on? Could this all please be some sort of horrible nightmare that you could wake up from? What was this overwhelming urge you couldn’t quite describe?

Scenes of fire fanning over concrete and chunks of rubble lying under gaping holes littered your brain and dances behind closed eyes as silent cries of why continued to escape your lips.

Jungkook had been using paper towels to dry at the cuts and scrapes on his arms he had just washed in your kitchen sink when he heard a heavy thud echo from the bathroom. He had thought you might’ve dropped something but the sound of a choked sob prompted him to hastily make his way to the bathroom door. He had called out to you multiple times but the sounds of streaming water and heart breaking sobs were all he got in response.

Warm arms and a fluffy towel were wrapped around your body as you finally registered that the shower had been turned off and you were currently leaning against a solid body of muscle as Jungkook secured the towel around your body.

You both stood there in silence with his arms secured around you as tears continued to escape your eyes and it wasn’t until you were finally taking in deep breaths to calm yourself that you took in the situation. Jungkook had not only seen you naked but he witnessed your break down and helped you yet again.

Pulling away from his body, you clutched the terry fabric closer to your body and he politely nodded his head while making his exit to let you dress yourself.

The soft jersey fabric of your lavender colored pajama shorts and old megadeath shirt covered your body while your fuzzy socks felt cozy against your toes. Covering the candle to extinguish the flame, you made quick work of brushing your hair with the etched wooden comb your mother had gifted you for your 18th birthday, the wooden teeth detangling your hair gently.

Your eye cream had aided in helping to de-puff your eyes a bit but they were still visibly swollen and red. Shaking your head at your yourself in the mirror you finally exited your bedroom deciding you had finally calmed down enough to not only face the man who had saved you twice already but make yourself some tea to hopefully aid in clarity of your mind, body and soul.

Upon entering the kitchen, you came face to face with Jungkook who had been leaning against the counter waiting for you. “Before you say anything, I didn’t see much I swear. It was so foggy from the steam that it was all a blur and before you apologize just know you don’t owe me one. I just wanted to make sure that you were..well..okay.” He had insisted before you could even open your mouth and attempt the apology that had been sitting on the tip of your tongue as you didn’t know what else to say. His words put you at ease but you still softly thanked him to which he smiled that dazzling bunny like smile that was such a juxtaposition to his ‘rebel without a cause’ look he had going on. The tattoo spiraling from the tips of his fingers up to his chest and neck didn’t really help- WAIT when THE FUCK did his shirt come off. Omg was he half naked when he picked your buck naked body off of your shower floor and into a towel? Jeez you really should stop with the leering y/n, you were literally having a mental breakdown like 15 minutes ago, a breakdown that this tall dark and handsome man had witnessed. Shaking your head of the ‘offensive’ thoughts, you opened the upper cabinets by your stove searching from your herbs you wanted to brew.

Turning on the high heat setting on one of the burners, you set your black kettle down and got to work on filling a small mesh bag with a concoction. A pinch of dried Lavender buds, a 1/2 teaspoon of ground chamomile, a few dried yarrow flowers. Hmm, I’m forgetting something.

“Tangerine peel would be a great addition for that tea.” The voice to your right called out, reminding you of Jungkook’s presence. He was right, Tangerine peel had been known in the ways of Magick for its aid in purification, protection and clarity. The uplifting scent was also a plus. Grabbing a Tangerine from your fruit bowl on your small dining table, you carefully separated the flesh of the fruit from its peel and sliced in thin strips.

Steeping the Yarrow separately as it needed more time than the other herbs, you munched on the Tangerine. The sweet yet tart juicy flesh burst between your teeth as you chewed making you realize how hungry you had been.

“Are you perhaps hungry? I just realized I haven’t eaten in hours.” You questioned Jungkook with a soft bite at your bottom lip. “I could go for some food, I actually know this 24 hour pizza joint that delivers if you’re up for that.” He asked with a smile and you nodded in return promptly telling him to order anything he liked when he asked what your preferred toppings were.

The scent of the steeping tea was soothing and you found yourself gazing at the man in front of you who was currently on the phone ordering a pepperoni, mushroom and black olive with garlic butter crust. The words along making you internally drool. The tattoo on his left side of his torso looked so intricate, the swirls of black ink with small bursts of crimson in the shape of what looked like dahlias made their way from mid torso over his defined abdominal muscles and down his hip disappearing into the waistband of his pants. Wait why is his shirt still off? Where is it anyways? OH FUCK You had forgotten to bring him some of Taehyungs old clothes. You had finally noticed that he had cleaned himself up while you were gone, his wounds hadn’t been bleeding but you could see the shadow of bruises starting to form over his bruised skin and decided after you found the clothing you would try to make a healing salve to aid in the swelling of the area. Passing his frame to head to your room you caught a glimpse of what looked like his shirt folded on one of your dining chairs.

Holding what looked like it would fit his frame you thrust your hands out to him.”Here, the clothes I forgot to get you earlier. They look like they’d fit. Tae isn’t as uh..’muscly’ as you but you’re around the same-ish height” Mentally cringing at the word ‘muscly’ leaving your lips you glanced to the right of his frame and noticed that your tea had been presented in a mug on the counter with a napkin folded next it.

Jungkook thanked you and assured you it was more than okay, even adding that he ‘forgot’ he had been without a shirt. When you look like that you can get away with ‘forgetting’ being half naked.

A drizzle of honey perfectly complimented the steaming tea as you brought it to your lips and blew a stream of cool air before taking your first sip. The herbal concoction did wonders to your palette. Tangerine leant a soft citrus note that had you quickly taking another sip.

Gathering a plethora of herbs based essential oils you quickly got to work mixing the right amount of each together in harmony of what was needed most. The oils had now been ready to put into the coconut and jojoba oil you had already warmed. With a 1/4 cup of bees wax to help harden the oil like consistency you set the mixture in the fridge for quick solidification. You had finished putting away the multitude of jars that littered the counter when Jungkook entered.

“Hey thanks for the clothes.” you noted Teahyung didn’t look like that in those dark grey marled jogger style sweatpants and plain black crew neck t shirt that sported more than a few holes. You liked distressed oversized tops and Tae and Joon always left clothes at your old house so finders keepers. I mean you had to admit your friends were beautiful creatures, but you always looked at them as brothers and not a man that had his hands on your hips dancing rhythmically a few hours earlier.

The sound of the doorbell ringing brought you out of your thoughts and Jungkook stated it must be the pizza. Pouring yourself a glass of ice water you took both your mug and glass to the coffee table situated in front of your couch. Laying two paper plates on the wooden surface, you stacked a few napkins from your roll knowing how messy pizza can sometimes get.

The smell of garlic and pepperoni filled your nostrils and you almost groaned as your stomach grumbled embarrassingly loud; good thing Jungkook hadn’t been too close to hear. While Jungkook set up the cardboard box in between the two plates you had laid out, you brought him a glass of water after asking what he’d like to drink.

It was a comfortable silence that befell the living area as you both munched on the greasy goodness on the comfort of your couch. Your legs stretched outwards from their previously criss-cross applesauce position as you reached for your ice water after finishing your first slice. You had to admit, Jungkook had been right about the pizza being delicious. His bunny like smile made your lips curl upwards at your admittance.

Three slices of pizza and half of your water later you curled your throw blanket around your legs and sipped on the now lukewarm tea. Clearing his throat, Jungkook turned towards you from his position on the other side of your grey couch, a napkin in his hadn’t as he dabbed at his mouth. “Are you..are you okay to uh…talk about what happened earlier?” You weren’t quite sure if you were to be honest, but maybe he had some answers to the questions you had regarding the events that had transpired in that alleyway.

With a long sip of your tea you nodded in answer with a swallow. “Y/n do you know what you did? Like are you aware of what happened?” your head bobbed up and down slowly as you took in the trepidation on his face.

“I could see the smoke if that’s what your asking. I saw the tendrils twist and curl into those obsidian looking spears. I couldn’t really control it, It’s like I saw what was happening but I was just a bystander of sorts as my body was taken over.” You paused trying to figure out the best way to phrase the next series of sentences. “I could..hear..voices that sounded like my own and something deeper almost sinister..telling me what to do, what I wanted to do, what I should do. As I was watching I almost wanted to give in to everything the voices were saying. I was so upset and frustrated that it all came out at once in a physical way. It’s like I was in one of my recent nightmares, just watching as I destroyed that wall. Whatever it was wanted me to do much worse but it’s like this light was cast and parted the smoke that clouded my vision and I was able to break out of that sort of trance. It’s like when the wall was destroyed, either the sound of seeing the concrete turn to piles of rumble made me realize what I did. I just..I j..just want to w..wake up and it all be some sort of sick nightmare. Jungkook I don’t have magick, I never have. M..maybe it was some sort of spell that I was under and it can just be broken. Maybe that man had some friend that cast a hex.. I don’t know.” Fingers shaking you reached for your mug and chugged the rest of the cool liquid hoping to calm yourself down.

“Y/n that wasn’t spellwork or some sort of hex. That was dark magic. Something I’ve only seen once and i..that was a long time ago. It looked like you were being consumed by it, not controlling it. Your eyes turned the color of Onyx and your veins looked as if they were full of ink and not blood. There was this shrouded aura around you that pulsated with power. I felt like lightning had struck next to you and I was..almost..scared. But then you came to and some part of me needed to help. You keep saying you don’t have magick but you seem to know a lot about it.”

With a nod of your head you gestured towards the framed picture atop the mantle that held your tv. After you had explained to him the magick your parents and friends held he nodded in understanding, his question seemed to be answered.

“So you didn’t come into magick before your 18th birthday?” A shake of your head answered his question. “I don’t know much more about how dark magic is obtained. I just know it is capable of so much hurt and destruction. You aren’t anything like the holder I’ve..come across.”

“I don’t want this Jungkook..I don’t want to be this way. What if it was all a fluke? Like, what if it all goes back to normal tomorrow?” His tongue poked at the inside of his left cheek as he contemplated what you had said. “I don’t think that’s how that works y/n, but maybe it will. We can hope. I really think you should ask your parents about it though, you said they own a magick shop right? They must have more knowledge on this than I do. I know you said you don’t want them to try and bring you back home but y/n you need to know what’s going on. Even if it was a fluke and never happens again you still can’t just run the risk of it happening again and without a magic shield protecting the area you could do actual damage to something or worse..” He was right and that thought alone scared you. Standing up you threw the paper plates into the brown cardboard box and took it to the kitchen for recycling.

Your mug had been placed into the sink basin by Jungkook. “How did you know to put Tangerine in the tea? You also must’ve known the brewing time to pour it before the herbs burnt and got bitter.” The questions slipped from your mouth as you washed the grease residue from your hands, in your defense not all active magick holders are well versed in teas, tinctures and the such. Thats why your parents shop had been frequently visited. Some witches finding things as simple as ‘human magic’ as they called it, to be just that simple, too simple for them to care to learn or worry about doing. “My mom taught me as a child before..she passed” A brief look of hurt crossed his face and you couldn’t help but regret asking.

“She was a fire holder like I am. She said Dad was too even though he passed around the time that I was born. Funny how we can have magick but still pass from disease and sickness.” His lips curled into a tight lipped small smile as you softly let out an apology for his loss. “Both passings were white some time ago. Don’t apologize for things you had no part in.” Jungkook’s front teeth showed as his smile widened and while you were put at ease you were still regretful of asking and having him relive parts of his past.

“But that’s why I really believe you should tell your parents what happened. You have someone to hopefully help you with what’s happening, to guide you. Earlier you asked about my Inferno Fire. When my mom passed..madness is a understatement for what I felt. I was consumed with the need to avenge her and my power..it was a lot to control. I still have my moments but what i’m saying is, you have the guidance I didn’t have. Let’s say your parents don’t have answers to whats going on, at least they know and can maybe try and be there for you.” You knew he was right, while you hoped it was a fluke of some sorts, there was no way you should risk it again without consulting your parents and best friends.

“I’ll check to see what time the trains leave tomorrow, or well later today since it’s passed midnight.” You figured the sooner the better and having the next few days off until Thursday night helped.

“You don’t have a car right? If you want, I can drive you. You said it’s a few hours out of the city? I just don’t know if you being on a bus alone before knowing what’s going on is safe. What is another holder comes after you again and this time you’re not only defenseless but other can get hurt as well. The shield can only do so much. We got lucky tonight that he and myself both put up shields that blocked the brunt of the power but a moving vehicle with people so close together is another story.”

To say you were surprised by his offer was an understatement but you agreed none the less as he had a fair point. You both agreed he would stay the night ‘his insistence and your obvious agreement’ and after you both rested for a few hours as it was already passed 3 in the morning, you both would go over to his apartment so he could change before heading over to your hometown.

“Wait are you sure you’re okay with that? What about work or a roommate or a..girlfriend. omg are they okay with you being at my place? or a club for that matter” Word vomit like questions escaped your mouth and you instantly regretted them despite the incredible smile they caused Jungkooks lips to form into.

“Well my work will be fine. I don’t go to the office as much since Jimin runs most of it now. The only roommate I have is a pet cat named Luna-“ A cock of your eyebrow “Don’t judge me, Stella Luna is an iconic children’s book and we can all learn from momma bat. Anyways Jimin will go by and feed you if I ask him to. I don’t have a girlfriend and if I did I surely wouldn’t have been at that club dancing with you like that.” You felt the blush creep up your neck to your cheeks, tinting them in a soft crimson.

“I..alrighty then, I should probably head to bed. Long day ahead of us and all. I’ll bring you some pillows. Before I forget, there’s a salve in the fridge for you. It should hopefully help with the swelling and bruising.” You didn’t give him the chance to reply as you bounded off to your bedroom in search of the extra bedding you had tucked away on the top shelving of your walk-in closet.

Two fluffy pillows and an extra blanket filled your arms as you made your way back into your living area where Jungkook was currently sitting while scrolling on his phone. Looking up from the glowing screen of his cellphone, Jungkook took the bedding from your outstretched arms while a polite ‘thank you’. “The salve feels great by the way. Calendula was used to make it right? and I thought I smelt yarrow too.” With a smile you nodded as his assumptions had been correct. “Peppermint to give the swelling a cooling sensation, Burdock root oil for skin circulation so the area can hopefully heal faster and a little bit of chamomile to soothe.”

“Feel free to leave the lamp on if you’d like. You already know where the bathroom is. Um, I’ll be setting my alarms to around 10 because I already know that if I don’t set them I’ll sleep all day. Goodnight Jungkook”.

“Goodnight y/n” With a eye crinkling gentle smile, the man in front of you tucked the pillows behind his head.

How long had you been laying there staring at the wall? 30 minutes? An hour? 5 minutes? Every time your eyes fluttered closed and you started to enter the dream realm, you snapped your eyes back open afraid of going back to the same nightmare you’ve had twice before. The tea had worked in calming you down and giving you a sort of clarity but it didn’t prevent you from still asking the what if’s and the fear that swirled around in your brain.

Tip Toeing your way to the kitchen, you blindly reached for what you thought was the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and instead grabbed ahold of a fist full of air while leaning a little too forward. “Shit fuck” you hissed as your big toe came into contact with the leg of a dining chair. You hadn’t even heard Jungkook move from his spot on the couch when arms reached behind around you and you were suddenly placed in a chokehold.

Flailing your arms, you swung your right elbow backwards and hit the dark haired mans left ribs. “What the FUCK?” you yelled out and the man immediately let go of your body. Flinging yourself onto the wall behind you, you reached around for the light switch.

With the area finally being illuminated Jungkook’s eyes widened “I’m so so sorry, I just heard a voice and thought someone got in!” Shaking your head you dragged out a breath of air. “An intruder that’s short? I mean it could happen but you didn’t think of the height, mixed with the voice of a female mixed with you being in someone else’s apartment that maybe it was the owner of said apartment?” Top teeth bit into his plump bottom lip and you sighed. “I appreciate you for being on the offense with the ‘intruder’. I’m sorry for waking you up.”

With an adamant shake of his head and a promise of it being ok you slowly nodded your head. “Have you not slept yet?” You chewed the inside of your cheeks before answering quietly.

“I understand, but you need rest y/n. Would you like it if I..slept in there with you? NOT IN A SEXUAL MANNER.” His hands went up defensively and you held back the chuckle that threatened to escape your throat. “I just mean maybe another person being in the room will help you sleep better and if you have a nightmare I guarantee I’ll wake you up”. Studying his expression and glancing at the time on the stove fuck it’s already 5:20.

“Okay” was all you replied before he followed you to your bedroom after flicking the kitchen lights off.

You could feel the heat coming off of his body despite your shoulders being a whole foot away. It wasn’t an uncomfortable heat though, it was actually almost soothing. Like a heating pad on your back when that time of the month came, TMI analogy I know but it was true.

The sound of Jungkooks breath slowing down as he was brought back to sleep lulled you into your own slumber, thankfully before morning light streamed through your window.

The sounds of two alarms going off at once blared into your ears. With a groan you reached blindly forward towards your phone with usually lay on the nightstand. Instead of the cool plastic case that enshrouded your phone, your hair was met with a fistful on floppy hair.

Your eyes had never shot open so fast before in your life. Blinking slowly, you stared at the unmoving body that held you in his arms as you were pressed to his defined chest. How was he still so peacefully asleep with alarms blaring? His lips were softly pouted as he dreamt and his eyelashes looked like ebony feathers racing the tops of his cheekbones. The mole under his lip almost hiding beneath his bottom lip as he pouted. He was beautiful and you, you..oh fuck I probably have morning breath and look like shit.

The attempt at detangling yourself from his grasp proved futile as his arms only pulled you closer until his heated breath fanned over your neck. You pushed back the shiver that ran up your back with every breath he took. With a deep breath of your own you pushed yourself backwards with all your might and managed to flop right off of the bed and land on the rug covering your floor.

Pulling yourself up to a sitting position you watched as he clutched your comforter under his chin as he was still asleep. Wake you up if you have a nightmare my ass. He managed to wake up from me SOFTLY cussing but alarms blaring do nothing.

You took the time that he was still asleep to brush your teeth and hair and even put a light dusting of makeup over your face. With a pop of mascara and brow gel brushing over your hairs, you pulled away from your bathroom mirror and ran your finger over the now scabbing slice over your cheek. The tinted moisturizer and powder evening out your complexion but not covering your wound as you knew it needed to heal without possibly getting infected with anything covering it. A soft swirl of bronzer over your temples and the edges of your face made you look more awake than you felt as you were currently a walking zombie (no offense to zombies).

Walking back into you room, another of Jungkook’s alarms was going off and he hadn’t even budged from his position. Jungkooks eyes shot open as both of your hands gripped his shoulders as you leaned over him, his name leaving your lips in a sort of loud groan/growl. A lazy smirk pulled over his lips as he cocked his left eyebrow up at you. “You know, if you wanted to groan my name I could make it a lot more fun for you.”

The fire that licked at your loins was doused with water as you stepped back from his frame and cross your arms over your chest. “It’s 10:30 and your alarm has been going off non stop. How the hell do you sleep through that?!” Jungkooks smirk was quickly replaced with a sheepish grin. “I’m really bad with alarms. I promise if it’s like someone telling me to wake up or something urgent like what I thought was an intruder last night I’ll wake up but alarms go off for about an hour before I actually wake up. Luna usually jumps on my face and paws as my cheeks so I can wake up cause she’s so fed up with the sound.” The image of a cat squishing his soft cheeks caused you to giggle.

“You look nice by the way, not that you didn’t last night. I’m just saying you get ready fast.” Jungkook left to the bathroom after you thanked him for his compliment. Your feet pattered against the wooden floor as you searched through your closet for something to wear.

The light blue boyfriend style jeans being oh so comfy yet hugged your ass in just the right way. A worn grey/black Nirvana shirt with plenty of holes and gashes served its purpose in covering your torso and a pair of OG black checkered slip on vans completed your road trip outfit.

You slipped on your favorite birthstone embedded ring over your thumb when Jungkook entered your room in search of his phone. “I’m ready whenever you are” you nodded in understanding and grabbed an oversized navy blue hoodie in case you got cold. After a quick interval debate, you decided it would be best to pack extra clothes in case you stayed the night back home. Telling Jungkook of your decision, you hurriedly shoved a couple of random graphic tees, a pair of pajama leggings, an extra pair of socks and your back up travel size toiletries into a satchel along with your phone charger.

With a quick look through your purse to make sure you had everything you needed you followed Jungkook out of your apartment and into his sleek black luxurious vehicle. “I sent Jimin a text telling him I’d be gone for a day or two so he could watch Luna. Speaking of Luna, she’s very cautious of new people so if she avoids you please don’t take it personally.” you nodded your head in understanding and your eyes followed the passing high rise buildings from the window. While you hadn’t really explored the city you remembered this area being upscale from the few school trips and random road trips with the boys you had been part of.

The sunlight streaming through the windows was cut off as you all pulled into an underground garage that was attached to a high rise building, rows of expensive cars lined up in their parking spaces and you instantly felt underdressed. Picking at the holes in your jeans you softly nibbled the inside of your cheek as Jungkook pulled into his spot.

The garage level elevator dinged as you all entered the space and you let your eyes roam around. The walls were mirrored chrome, the rails looked as if they had been recently polished and the floor was a crisp white marble against your worn in shoes. “I could always just wait in the car..I don’t exactly look the part right now.” Your cheek was pulled between your teeth and the dark haired man shook his head adamantly. “You look fine y/n, plus I wouldn’t want to leave you in the dark garage while I took who knows how long getting ready.” He had been right, the garage lights seemed to be motion activated so they only lit up when a car pulled in or occupants exited the elevator or stairwell, so you would in fact be shrouded in darkness.

As the elevator doors opened to the 30th floor your eyebrows shot up at the modern design of the hallway. Marble floors seemed to extend over the ground here as well. The walls were a soft grey toned taupe color that was accentuated by the dark stained wood crown molding. Above your head, the ceiling had the same color as the walls except rows of squares were made with the crown molding and in the middle of each square sat a mirror which aided in making the space look large. In front of the elevator was a thin console table colored with the same wood as the molding, atop the counter stood a few silver toned vases that were filled with bunches of white hydrangeas and soft pink roses.

You had noticed that unlike your building that held many doors along the hallways of each floor, this building or maybe it was just this floor but as you turned right and followed Jungkook you had only seen one or two white wooden numbered doors. The glass and chrome mini chandeliers lit your way as you turned another right and ended up in front of another hall with two doors, one of either side.

Setting his palm over the electronic keypad, Jungkook entered 4 numbers followed by a green ‘enter’ button and the locking mechanism clicked as is unlocked. With a turn of the handle, the door was softly swung open and you followed Jungkook though the threshold.

With a flick of a light switch, the apartment was now illuminated. Damn, so this is how the other half live. The kitchen to your left was a completely open space, a large white marble topped island with silver metal stools separated the space from a long black wooden table and chair set that sat at least 6-8 people.

To your right was a large living area complete with a built in black wooden console and shelving that housed a massive flat screen in the middle. Atop a shelf to the right of the tv were multiple different gaming consoles and rows of what you assumed to be games and dvd’s. Encircling the area were plush medium grey couches that formed a large sectional, to the side were two light grey nailhead trimmed wingback chairs. In the middle of the couches was a coffee table that looked as if it was made of twisting large logs that were dipped in liquid silver with a clear glass square top. In between both wingback chairs stood an endurable that matched the coffee table but at a much smaller scale. Tucked against a wall next to one side of the sectional couch was a chrome finished standing floor lamp with square shaped glass encircling the lightbulbs. Along the wall of the open dining and living area were large dark grey curtains that seemed to hide massive windows that looked as if they were floor to ceiling from what you could see.

The walls in the dining area held various modern eclectic paintings but besides that, the walls were pretty barren. The soft light grey almost white of the walls made the space look exceptionally clean. A loud purr and something rubbing against your left ankle took you out of your thoughts and appreciation of the beautiful space.

A small black bundle of fur was circling around you leg as it rubbed itself against the tops of your shoes. Bending down you smiled softly at loud purrs that Luna was letting out. A big pair of green eyes landed on yours and Luna meowed up at you. Extending your hands towards her head, you softly scratched behind her ears as she nuzzled her head against your fingers.

In front of you knelt a dumbfounded Jungkook as he seemingly waiting for Luna to come to him but instead came to you for attention. “Luna, i’m your dad! How could you? I get that she’s pretty but didn’t you miss me?” A small pout graced the mans lips and you couldn’t help the loud laugh that escaped your lips. He resembled a child that got his gameboy taken away from him.

“Well since she seems to like you, I’m going to shower real quick and change. Make yourself at home. Theres food in the fridge but I was thinking of maybe picking up something for the road if that’s cool with you.” You let him know that was more than fine with you as your tummy was starting to grumble. Standing from your previously knelt position you watched as he entered a room to the left of the dining area, only two doors lined the wall and before you could ask what the other was, his mop of hair entered your vision from a small space as the door re opened. “Theres a bathroom in the door to the left of the little hall next to the living room.” With that, the man closed his bedroom door again and you followed Luna to the massive couch as she seemed to want you to sit and give her more attention.

She said in your lap as you smoothed your hands over her sleek black fur. You noted her bowl of food and some high tech water system on the side of the kitchen island and smiled at the little plaque reading “Luna” nailed into the white wood of the kitchen island over her bowls. You loved your couch, you really did but as your butt sank into the cushions of the sectional, you sighed. What the fuck did Jungkook do to live this lavishly?

You scrolled through your phone with one hand as you pet the cute fur ball atop your lap with the other. You had sent a text to your parents and your friends asking if they were free this afternoon as you were coming back home and needed to talk. The text was answered immediately with worry from your mom and you assured her you were fine. Jin had asked if you needed a ride from the train station but you had let him know you were being driven by a friend to which your friends had a plethora of questions ready.

With another sigh you worked your fingers over the touchscreen, answering as many of the questions as you could with a promise of ‘i’ll tell you the rest when I get there’.

You didn’t knew how much time had passed but you assumed it to be a short span before a door opened and Jungkook emerged with slightly damp hair and a new outfit. The dark denim hugged his thighs and you tried your best not to drool. A plain black crew neck shirt and dark grey hoodie covered his torso and you internally were little jealous at how someone dressed so casually could look like they were walking the stage at new you fashion week. In your mind you were miss potato and he was a greek sculpture.

Slipping on a pair of black combat boots he gripped the small leather overnight bag between his fingers and planted a kiss to the top of Lunas head as she hopped off of your lap and stood on the back of the couch. “Ready?” Your feet followed his as he exited his apartment and before you both could reach the elevator door, a shrill voice called out to you both.

“Jungkook! You weren’t home last night, I tried to bring you a slice of tiramisu that I had ordered from Ronaldos but you weren’t home.” The blonde pouted her pink colored lips and her big brown doe eyes bat innocently. “Oh you had a friend with you.” The word friend seemed to be accentuated more than the others as she twist a strand of her curled hair between her manicured fingers.

“Oh, yeah I didn’t come home last night, thanks for the thought though.” Jungkook politely called out. “Another night at Jimins? I love a good bromance. Or perhaps a long night at the office? I told you that you needed to relax a little sometimes. You’re always welcome at my place.” Her lips grinned lasciviously as she stepped towards you both slightly and ran her fingers up Jungkooks fabric covered arm to his shoulder. She acted as if you weren’t even standing there not even a couple of feet away.

“No thank you Melissa, I already told you I’m fine.” Her manicured nails curled around Jungkooks bicep and she hummed. “But you seemed to be more than fine last time you came over. Why don’t you come over right now?”.

“No” Jungkook sternly answered and turned his back to her after shaking off her grip. Not a single step was taken before she gripped his bicep and moved to turn him to face her. Your eyes followed the movement as she leaned in close to his face. You told yourself the annoyance that filled your body was simply because she was taking up your precious time that could be spent driving not the fact that she so calmly set her paws all over the man that had you feeling all sorts of tingles when you were with him.

“Come on, we both know you had fun Jungkook. Just tell your friend you’ll hang out later” Her voice lilting as she drug out the ‘kook’. Her hand trailed to the side of his face and she thumbed his cheek.

You suddenly felt your wrist being pulled as Jungkooks large hand wrapped around yours and pulled you towards his chest which had now been turned to face you. A heated palm softly cup your cheek and you couldn’t even ask what was going on, Melissa’s large eyes being the last thing you saw before Jungkooks face took over your vision. Plush lips pressed against yours firmly yet so soft as the breath seemed to leave your body with a squeak. “Jungkook wha-“ Melissa’s lips snapped shut as he deepened the kiss with a palm flat against the small of your back. Your mouths now open against one another but no tongue was introduced.

As he pulled back, Jungkook hovered his mouth over yours, his breath coming out hot against your lips. “Melissa, I’ve said it before i’ll say it again. That won’t ever happen again and no I wasn’t at Jimin’s nor was I at the office. I spent all night with this ‘friend’ of mine. Speaking of which we gotta go, long day and night ahead of us.” At the word ‘friend’ Jungkooks palm moved from the small of your back to your hip and gripped softly. With the last word leaving his lips he winked at you and turned both of your bodies away from Melissa and towards the elevator.

When the doors closed and the garage button was pressed Jungkook let out a long breath he seemed to have held. “I’m so so so sorry for that y/n. You just don’t understand how many times I’ve let her down nicely. I made one fucking mistake when I was drunk off my ass from being depressed thinking of my mom’s death and I just I don’t know, I knocked on her door and it happened. I left right after and told her it was a mistake on my part for taking advantage of her kindness and offers but that it wouldn’t happen again and that I hoped she’d understand but obviously she didn’t understand. It’s been like 6 months since it happened and she still hasn’t stopped and I just wanted to shut her up. I’m so fucking sorry I pushed the kiss onto you, I just took the opportunity of having a female especially an attractive one at that being there with me to show her I meant it when I said no.”

Laughter filled the elevator as it dinged, the doors opening. “It’s okay. You’ve helped me over and over again these passed couple of days, I’ll just chalk it up to helping you. Plus it was just a kiss, don’t freak too much. You literally look like a ‘dear in the headlights’ except change the dear to a bunny.” Jungkook pouted his plump bottom lip as the lights overhead turned on while you both walked to his car.

You wouldn’t admit the tingles and butterflies you had around him were intensified when his lips met yours. You felt as if you were ignited from the inside out, the same way you had felt at the club and it took everything you had in yourself to not reach up and grip his hair to pull him closer as you slipped your tongue into his mouth right in front of the blonde watching.

A shiver ran up your spine at the thought and you bit down hard on your top lip, your teeth sinking into the soft flesh to keep you from dwelling on the situation that you had built up in your mind.

The smell of breakfast tacos wafted through the car as you both munched on your food. Bags of snacks and drinks sat at your feet and the soft hum of the radio gave the start of the trip a chill vibe as Jungkook connected his bluetooth to his stereo system.

The ride was peaceful even with the little bouts of Jungkook obviously speeding on the semi deserted highway. You noted that he had a beautiful voice as he hummed to Billie Eilish’s ‘You should see me in a crown’. The bottled espresso drink you chugged had helped awaken you and you found yourself bobbing your head along with his playlist of songs.

With a text of ‘Just got into town, will be there soon’ you gave Jungkook the directions of the streets he should turn onto to get to your parents shop.

Pulling up to the little shop you knew and loved, you lead the way up the pavement to the wooden door with the sign now saying ‘closed’. It had only been a little passed 4 when you both arrived but you figured your parents would have closed the store early when you texted them that you would be visiting. Your father had suggested the meeting place be the shop to which you all agreed. With a quick glance behind you, Jin’s small suv sat parked next to your parents car and Namjoons dark blue Jetta.

With a deep breath in your knuckles rasped against the wood of the door as you knocked. The door creaked open and you were immediately pulled from your spot to a solid body you immediately recognized as Taehyungs by his earthy natural scent.

Your hands shot up defensively as you quickly informed everyone that you’d explain the now scabbing small wound on your cheek and bandaged hand in a bit as that was part of the reason why you were here. At the word ‘cut’ your friends eyes shot open but before he could ask you shook your head to solidify the fact that you wouldn’t be answering his question until later.

A big boxy grin widened across his face as he pulled away and you were pulled into another pair of arms. Jin hugged you tight as his arms wrapped around your shoulders and you pat his back. The third pair of arms that encircled you belonged to Namjoons and you held him tight as it had been awhile since you had last seen the man.

Your mom and dad embraced you in a group hug you didn’t know you needed and when they finally pulled away you watched as your mom wiped away the stray tear that made its way down her left cheek.

“Everyone, this is Jungkook. He’s helped me while i’ve been in the city.” Your friends eyes scanned over his broad frame as your parents bid him a warm hello.

“Yours a magick holder and a strong one at that. Hi, I’m Jin.” With an extended hand he shook the mans tattooed one. “I am, you’re pretty strong too. Actually, you all are. I can feel your auras from here.” Jungkook’s hand waved as he gestured around the room. Namjoon introduced himself the same way Jin had and Taehyung stood there with a questioning glint in his eyes.

You knew that look, it was the same one he had on his face when they found out Joshua had been your first kiss, Brandon had asked you to prom and Chan had been you first boyfriend. Your friends were all protective of you but Taehyung showed it a little bit more, you knew he meant well and just wanted the best for you but it still sometimes got on your nerves when you had to remind him you were a grown ass woman. With that being said you were somewhat of a hypocrite, knowing you were super protective of the three men as well, you probably held that exact same look in your eyes when you met someone they were interested in.

“Jungkook, this is Taehyung. Tae this is Jungkook.” Taehyung nodded out a ‘hey’ as his right arms wrapped around your shoulders. With a shake of your head you followed your friends to the makeshift table and chairs they had set up near the bookcases, your parents already sitting on the two plush chairs that were always tucked into a corner in case shoppers wanted to sit down and read a bit before purchasing. Sitting yourself onto a lightly padded black folding chair you tucked your hands in front of you not knowing where to start.

“What’s bothering you honey? You’re biting the inside of your cheek and i know you do that when you’re stressed or deep in thought and not that I love that you’re here, I didn’t think we’d see you back so soon.” Your mom’s gentle voice questioned and you breathed deeply to center yourself before answering her.

“Mom, there’s so much I need to tell you well so much i need to tell all of you. But before I start. Jin, do you remember when I asked about those dreams ‘for a friend’?” Your fingers curled up into air quotes and he nodded with a seemingly knowing look crossing over his handsome features. “I think you already know but it wasn’t a friend, it was me.”

His chest rose and fell as he took in a deep breath as you confirmed his suspicions. You swallowed down imaginary saliva before you glanced around at your family surrounding you and opened your mouth to tell them about the nightmares and the weird feelings you’ve had to how you met Jungkook at your job and how he had saved you from the attack in the alleyway and witnessed your transformation of sorts.

By the end of your re-telling of events your moms face had paled and your friends donned eyes as big as saucers. Your dad gripped the edge of the table as his knuckles whitened and Jungkook sat beside you calmly.

With a shake of his head your father looked at your mom as you asked if they had any idea what could be happening. “You need to tell her.” It was cliche and straight from a teen fiction novel but the look in his eyes told you it wasn’t a light matter.

Reading the room your friends and Jungkook stood from their seats but your mom shook her head telling them to sit back down. “You all are as much of y/n’s family as we are. You need to hear this.” Moving her chair around, your mom moved closer until she was sitting right in front of you and half your hands into hers.

“When I was a little girl, I had met someone who would later become my best friend. Her and I met at the park you always loved as a child, the one where you’d swing and swing all day. Every week we met at that very park, we would talk and chase each other in a game of tag and just laugh like little kids do. I knew even back then that I’d had to hide my powers from her despite my younger self wanting nothing but to show her I could sprout a small dandelion front a pile of dirt. Back then Magick holders were even more strict with not getting too close to regular humans. It was out of fear that those thoughts were made, we would be cordial with them but never get too close.

As I grew older the want to tell her about Magick grew stronger. We would meet multiple times a week and confided in each other with so much but I was scared of how she would react. One day while waiting for her to meet me by the little dirt mound that was shaded by a big oak tree, I fiddled with the dirt. My fingers brushing the earth until I mindlessly let some of my magick out. A path of babies breath sprouted from the earth through my fingertips and before I could make it go away, shoes cam into my vision. I didn’t even have to explain as that little girl just smiled and sat right down next to me. I probably looked like a fish with how my mouth was opening and closing but she simply placed her hand on mine and asked if I could keep a secret.” A deep breath exited your moms lips before she continued.

“She held magick I had only heard about. As she brought her hands to cup over mine, a bright white orb of light manifested before bursting into golden butterflies. She told me her parents had taught her to hide her magick aura from others and that’s why I hadn’t felt her aura. She said she had wanted to tell me especially since I was a fellow magick holder but was scared of her parents finding out.

From then on our bond grew. I had been so happy when we found out we would both be attending the same high school. Your father- or well my husband and I met in a shared english class and she and him became quick friends after I had introduced the two. The three of us had become close friends but I always kept her secret from everyone. When her parents passed in our sophomore year she stayed over at my house to help with her grieving. They had been the only family she had and the only light holders she knew. After we had graduated high school she left with the promise of coming back and visiting despite me spending with her not to leave. With a bright smile she left for the city in hopes of finding other light holders and learning more about her magick.”

Your mom’s grip on your hands had tightened and your brows furrowed at how she had referred to your father as her husband. “I had stopped hearing from her a month in to her trip and I feared for the worst. I had even gone to the city in search of her but to no avail. About a year and a half later, a knock was heard at our front door and imagine my surprise when I got up in the middle of the night and opened the door to a very pregnant her standing on the porch of my husband and I’s new home. I let her in immediately after greeting her with a big hug. She looked terrified and clutched her stomach between her arms. She was sweating and looked as if she was having trouble standing. When my husband awake from the noise in the living room she took our hands into hers and pleaded that no mater what happened to her that we would take care of the baby she was carrying. I tried to ask her what she meant but she once again asked before taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth.

I throw car keys at my husband as I knew she had started to go into labor. Her water breaking and streaming down the legs of her sweat pants making me wrap my arms around her and guide her towards the awaiting car. When we arrived at the hospital she gripped my hand and please once again with me. With a yes I told her it would all be alright and she was wheeled to the birthing room.

A few hours later I was called into the room and she lay there with a bundled baby in her arms. She looked so tired not just from giving birth but like something else was weighing on her mind. She asked me if I remembered saying yes to taking care of the baby when something happen to her. She was so sure something would happen and it confused me.

A few days later she and her baby came to live with us as I adamantly gave her no other choice and she agreed as long as I kept ‘my promise’ she said. We were sitting in the living room a few days after she had been living with us and I asked why she had been saying something was going to happen to her. I told her I would go back on my promise if she didn’t tell me and with a shake of her head she looked at the little bundle of joy in her arms. She told me the father of the baby was a dark magick holder but was adamant he had not been a bad person. She said she was scared of some of the people that surrounded him and that when she had realized she was pregnant she started planning to get away in fear of what would happen to the child had she stayed around those people. While I was shocked to say the least, I just sat and listened to her.

It was approximately two weeks and one day later that she got up and left to what she said was the grocery store. Hours passed and at one point the baby I had been rocking to sleep started crying. There was an overwhelming feeling that took over my body and I knew something wasn’t right. We searched for her that night around town but came up empty handed, we had even filed a police report the next day. Two days later a body was found by the local river in a small shack that had been burned down. The body belonged to my friend, the police said it looked as if she had been in a burning building and died from smoke inhalation but the burned shack had been but ruins for years as the fire that took place had happened over a decade ago. Police searched for her killer but I knew it was dark magic, the soot the fear she had it all made so much sense.

That’s why I feared for you going to the city. Deep ties to dark magick lie within that city. Stories were told while I was in high school of light holders being hunted by dark magick holders in fear that they would try to stop their insidious ways. Dark Magick was not given like our other elemental powers were. A long time ago a group of Elemental holders; one of each element, came together in want for more power. They were power hungry witches with dark desires. They prayed to the dark Gods for immense power and even made sacrifices of living beings. In answer of their want, they were stripped of their elements as the Goddess did not want such people to hold power given by her. After their power was stripped, the dark Gods came together and granted them with dark magick. Like light magick, it is very rare, passed down by generations of holders who shared the same power. However, a person with enough wickedness can bring forth dark magick by sacrifice and doing the bidding of the Dark Deities wishes.”

Your brows furrowed as you took in all the information. “Y/n you were her child. I promised I would take care of you and I have. Believe me when I tell you I never told you of your birth because I wanted to protect you. I was scared they would take you from me like they had taken her. I never told you of your parents powers because you never showed signs of power. I had hoped you would be able to live a normal life.” Tears had streamed down your mothers face and you pulled her into a tight hug.

You had been crying as well and you reached for fathers hand. “You both are my parents okay? I don’t care that you didn’t give birth to me. You raised me, you’ve been there for me.”

“I’m so sorry y/n, I tried to keep you from all of this but it seems you’ve started showing signs of power. If we had told you then maybe we could prepare you.” You tightened your grip on your parents hands and you shook your head adamantly, telling them no. They had done what they thought was right and you were grateful for that.

“I felt it, a long time ago. When I had first practiced protection spells in your room with Tae and Joon. I felt this power trying to push through the barrier but I didn’t put much thought into it. Then when you were telling me about the nightmares I just had this weird feeling but you said it wasn’t you so I believed it.” Jin’s voice was shaken and you shook your head. “I told you it was someone else because I didn’t want you to worry. I’m sorry I wasn’t honest.” Jin stood from his seat and engulfed you in a big hug to which you reciprocated. His embrace felt comforting and you needed it as you took in all the information you had just been given.

A while later and more comforting embraces and conversations your father looked over the table towards Jungkook. “So y/n said you have the element of fire? Thats not very common, well not like air and water.” Jungkook nodded his head in answer and your father smiled. “Thank you for saving our daughter and bringing her here. You’ve been a real help and should she go back to the city like I know she will despite us asking her not to. I ask that you please keep an eye out for her.” You mother had been pleading with you to stay but you assured her you couldn’t do that to your lease on your apartment or your job. You told your parents you were going to learn more about your power should it come forth again and you weren’t going to run away from it.

You friends weren’t very pleased with your decision and as you all decided to go back to your parents for dinner, Jin stood. “If you want to go back, I’m moving too. I’m not okay with you being alone, even if you have Jungkook as a friend to help.”

Taehyung and Namjoon both stood in agreement and you shook your head. “Guys you all have lives and jobs here, I’m not that far away you could just vis-“. “Y/n we could just visit hight now and look what happened! What happens if that man comes back and Jungkook isn’t there or what if you need help controlling your powers. I can always apply for jobs there with my qualifications and my life here? I mainly just have you all as friends.”

Jin was going to budge and you knew it. “If that’s what you insist on doing then fine but you’re not moving in with me.” You all cleaned up the makeshift table and you followed your friends out of the store while your father locked up.

“I’ll apartment search.” Jin huffed out and Namjoon said he’d be able to transfer colleges easily to the city with his GPA. Taehyung added that while he’d have to wait for his semester to end he’d be sure to go when it ended in a couple of months. It was now apparently decided that Jin would be giving his two weeks for work when he went in for his next shift and that him and Namjoon would be moving to the city soon, with Taehyung in tow in the coming months despite your disagreement. They assured you that you’d live your own life and they wouldn’t crowd you, they’d only be there when you needed them.

The drive to your parents house was filled in silence as you mulled over the fact that you had had a different set of birth parents. You still hoped that your power wouldn’t arise again and that you’d be able to continue living a normal life but part of you knew that would never happen. Jungkook had asked how you were feeling while he kept his eyes on the road ahead of you both and you mumbled out an ‘I don’t know’.

Pulling up to the wood and brick home you had grown up in, you exited the car with Jungkook in tow as your parents invited you all in.

Dinner had gone surprisingly well despite the obvious stress that resonated in each of you and hung over the home. As your best friends hugged you goodnight with a promise of ‘see you tomorrow’ and ‘I can’t be here when you leave in the morning but you bet your butt i’m serious with moving to the city’. Rolling your eyes at Jin you waved them off and turned to enter the warm home. The heat of the house warming your arms from the chilly late night air.

Jungkook had been scrolling through his phone when you reached him. “What’re you looking at?” You asked. “Looking for a nearby hotel so that I can come pick you up in the morning.” Your mom had overheard his answer and placed her open palm on his shoulder with a shake of her head. “Nonsense, you’re already here, might as well stay the night and save the hotel fee. i promise we have better breakfast too.” A chuckle lit her face and Jungkook gave in, not wanting to argue with your mom.

“Perfect, you can sleep in y/n’s room or the couch as the guest bedroom is currently being renovated from a few days ago when my lovely husband exploded an experimental ‘sudden shower’ potion that went awfully awry. Your mother hadn’t mentioned that in your daily texts and she shrugged at your questioning face and scrunched eyebrow.

Jungkook entered the living room with both of your bags that had been placed in his back seat earlier that day clutched into his right hand effortlessly.

You hugged both of your parents goodnight and led Jungkook to your downstairs room that had been secluded from the upstairs bedrooms. When you were about 15 you had pleaded with you parents to give you the downstairs bedroom and make your then bedroom an office or the guest bedroom. You stated that you needed to privacy and with nothing but a wall between rooms, you weren’t able to live your ‘teen life’. After many days of ‘No’s’, your mother had finally agreed to the switch when you reasoned with her that blasting your Whitesnake CD had always annoyed her nightly meditation. She still had threatened to kick your ass if she found any boy in your room without her knowledge to which you retorted with ‘what if i’m a lesbian’ to which girls were then treated in the same manor as possible male ‘corrupters’ of her daughter.

The overhead lights illuminated your bedroom as you gestured your hand to the door on the right. “The bathroom is over there in case you want to freshen up or anything.” With a nod of his head, Jungkook took his bag with him to the conjoined bathroom and you opened you overnight bag to pull the necessities you’d need for the night. You’d have to share your bed with Jungkook yet another night but you weren’t made uncomfortable by the idea in the slightest. In fact it was the total opposite, he had made you comfortable despite the tingles in the pit of your stomach he sometimes made you feel.

If you were being honest, it had been one hell of a few days, almost too much for one single person to take in. In the span of a little less than a week you had moved to a new city, got a new job, met a man that would later save your life, been attacked by a magick holder, come into a power you still wished would never resurface and learned that the couple that had raised you and been all you’d known as a family hadn’t been your biological parents. It was as if life was working way too fast and all you wanted was so be able to live a normal-is life or at the very least if all of this had to happen, could it at least happen over time? Not all within such a short period of time? The Goddess and God worked in mysterious ways and you tried to believe they had a plan for you.

With a quick prayer to the Great Mother you sat at the end of the bed and took a few deep breathes to center your chakras. The air pushing from your lungs acted as a metaphor for the stress literally being carried away by the element of air.

The door to your conjoined bathroom opened with a slight creek. Jungkook had kept the same plain T shirt as before but had changed his earlier pants for a pair of thin cotton deep blue pajama pants that hugged at his thighs when he sat on an empty side of your bed, the bed dipping slightly with his larger frame.

A clear of your throat kickstarted your motions as you made your way to your bathroom to get changed.

Your soft flannel pajama pants felt like heaven against your legs, the worn in fabric replacing your denim jeans. You relished in the clean feeling your cleanser had given your face as you brushed your teeth, the bristles working in tandem with the minty paste against your teeth and gums.

Patting the rose face oil over your skin as the last part of your skincare you bundled your worn clothes into a ball and tucked it under your arm. Clicking the light switch off you softly closed the door behind you and made your way to your overnight bag that sat next to your bed to place your bundle inside.

Your bottom slightly dipped into the mattress as you sat down on the other side of Jungkook who had been leaning back on your headboard with his cellphone in his hands. A soft glow from the nightstand lamp was cast over the man to your sides features as the overhead light had been turned off by the time you made your way out of your bathroom.

“Hey, I’m sorry for imposing. I just really didn’t want to turn down your mothers generosity.” Jungkooks body had turned towards yours slightly and you shook your head in answer. “You aren’t imposing at all. If anything, i’m sort for imposing on your life. I feel like I’ve drug you down this rabbit hole of sorts and you’ve been nothing but there for me. I know you told me to stop apologizing but still. Thank you for everything. Also, there’s no way my mom would’ve taken no for an answer if you had tried to turn down her offer.” A light chuckle escaped your lips as you both smiled.

Shifting under the thin covers your mother had replaced your plush comforter with you leaned your body down against the mattress and reached for your cellphone to set alarms and check your social media.

The bed further dipped as Jungkook mimicked your posture as he laid his larger frame against your shared space. You nodded when he asked if you had wanted the lamp off and soon the only light that illuminated the area came from each of your cellphone screens.

Your bedroom was soon shrouded in darkness as both of your devices now sat on either nightstand. The ebony haired man mumbled a set goodnight as his breath seemed to slow and even out. Exhaustion took over as your eyelids fluttered closed as you entered your dream world, this time instead of darkness, your dreams were filled with jars of herbs as your parents whipped up potions and laughter as your friends watched Taehyung fumble with bottles as he helped prepare the concoctions.

A heat crept up the side of your neck as you stirred awake. Leaning your body back slightly you sighed in comfort as a comfortable heat enveloped your back. Your actions were stopped short when a soft groan sounded against your ear, the arms that had been wrapped around your middle now gripped at your hips to still their shuffle backwards.

The chirping of birds was heard through the room but sunlight had failed to fully penetrate the thick curtains that covered the windows shrouding your room in a very dim light. Your eyes shot open at the groan that entered your eardrums and the soft vibrations against your back as the sound reverberated off of a strong chest. Your heart drummed against your ribcage as you tried to dislodge your body from the larger one behind you.

A pass of your bottom against something hard and protruding caused a familiar feeling of arousal to flood the pit of your stomach. Your teeth sank into your bottom lip and the fingers gripping onto your hips shifted to your stomach, palms flattening over the soft skin under your shirt.

“Don't move, I just…need to calm down” A deep voice mumbled from behind, a bit gravely from sleep which hadn’t helped the stewing hints of arousal that set itself into pit of your stomach.

Shifting your thighs slightly, your eyes clamped shut as you tried your best to steady your breathing before mumbling an answer. Afraid of the possible sounds that could try an escape your throat if you replied, you managed a slight nod.

The closeness of his body set your aflame and you felt yourself getting dizzy with a mixture of need and heat. A clench of your thighs caused your ass muscles to squeeze slightly and Jungkook’s eyes squeezed shut with a bruising grip on your stomach.

He was really trying to keep himself from doing anything, given that you both were currently in your parents house and you undoubtably had gone through enough lately but the quiet whine that escaped your clenched lips caused his flattened palm to press you back against him.

With a short thrust of his hips, his covered bulge met the curve of your ass. The movement mixed with the clenching of your thighs caused a lovely friction against your core and you leaned your neck back against the curve of his shoulder as his hips repeated the motion.

Long fingers splayed themselves against your lower abdomen as your hips moved back to meet his short yet powerful pelvic movements. The cold metal of Jungkooks rings feeling like ice against your heated skin as your shirt rode higher up your torso.

A low groan came up from the depths of your throat as you ground your hips hard against Jungkooks moving ones. “Y/n, you’re playing with fire right now.” The husky voice sounding in your ear making you feel the ghost of lips over the shell of your ear.

“Maybe I wan’t to get burned.” If the groan Jungkook let out earlier was arousing, the sound that currently escaped his throat was almost enough to send you over the edge.

The hand that gripped your hip now trail down to your covered thighs, his fingers dipping into the soft flesh. The raise of your leg caused you to feel his clothed member more clearly and a thrust of his hips had you reaching up towards his scalp to tug at the silky black locks that covered his head.

“Fuc-“ “Y/n! Jungkook! Breakfast is ready.” The voice of your mom was heard from the other side of your bedroom door and as if in a trance you both sprung up from your positions on your bed.

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‘cough’ CoCK bLoCK ‘cough’. Hi ily for reading this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it!

-C or Potittiess

#jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #btsfic #bts x reader #seance season #bts fanfiction #jeon jungkook fic #jeon jungguk #witch au #fanfic #smut #fluff #jungkook scenarios #bts scenarios #seokjin #namjoon #Taehyung #Jimin

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