#but i don't want to walk into angst territory immediately for once

[dracowars]

knight in shining armour | elrond

pairing: elrond x elf!reader

word count: 5,5k

summary: where elrond and y/n have to make fatal decisions in war

a/n: i'm having so much fun with writing in this universe i haven't had in a long time (with writing in general) and i think that's beautiful <3 season 2 elrond really did it for me, so i hope you enjoy this flangsty fic. don't forget to reblog and give feedback, it means the world to me ♡

warnings: angst, violence, mentions of blood, mentions of injuries, miscommunication (kind of), elrond kisses galadriel

universe: the rings of power

You hold your breath once you step into the dimly lit tent, teeming with orcs and their smells. Carefully, you place one foot in front of the other, never taking your eyes off the enemy who is currently watching three elves enter its territory. Amidst all these orcs and darkness, you couldn't stand out less in your polished white armour.

You follow Vorohil who is walking directly behind Elrond, and quickly spot the Father of the Orcs sitting on a makeshift chair that almost resembles a throne. Your gaze doesn't linger on him for long, however, because something or someone else catches your eye. Galadriel is standing right behind him, tied up and leaning against a post. Her eyes widen when your gaze meets and everything in her face screams for you to not be here, to turn around and leave again immediately. But you are here to help her, to free her from the clutches of the enemy, from the claws of evil. And you won't leave without her.

One of the orcs tells Elrond to sit opposite Adar, and he does as he is told with so much confidence you hardly recognize the sweet, curious boy behind the mask. Vorohil positions himself to his left, you stand on his right, ready to step in at any time should something go amiss.

You are more than aware of your situation: right in the mouth of the enemy whose teeth could pierce your flesh any moment, with absolutely no escape. Should this turn out to be a trap and part of Adar's plan, you have stepped right into it. Yet, Elrond insisted on not bringing a weapon of his own. You, on the other hand, have hidden daggers all around your body that you could pull out in the blink of an eye if the situation arises.

Even though all eyes are on Elrond, you still feel uncomfortable. You have never been this close to orcs before without fighting them at the same time.

"The ring you carry. Show it to me", Adar opens the conversation, and you inevitably flinch. Of course he shows interest in the ring. Like all of Middle-earth, it may seem.

"A foolish act if I had brought it here", Elrond answers in a firm voice and appears calm and collected, stoic almost, one arm draped over the armrest.

Adar's expression tells you that he is less than satisfied with this answer. What he doesn't know, however, is that the ring is closer to him than he thinks possible.

Its metal presses cold against the skin between your collarbones, your heart thumping loudly at the mention of it and your mind drifts back to the moment when it was handed to you.

'You shall have it', Elrond tells you, wearing that gentle smile on his lips that always adorns his features when he's around you, that makes your heart beat faster every single time. He places Nenya in your palm and when the light reflects in its beauty, you gasp. This small ring, inconspicuous at first glance but incredibly beautiful, contains a power you can't and don't even want to imagine.

'No, Elrond. I can't', you whisper, afraid that your voice might break. He now clasps your hand with both of his and gently closes your fingers around the piece of jewelry.

'My love. I wouldn't trust anyone else to keep it safe', he tells you with so much confidence and affection in his voice that you can't help but believe his words. The way he stands in front of you, his brown locks falling into his face, his eyes clear and bright, and holds your hand tightly leaves no room for further discussion. He trusts you with this power and you won't fail him.

'You can consider yourself a ring bearer now', he smiles, gently guiding your fist to his mouth to place a light kiss on top of it, his other hand cupping your cheek while doing so. His eyes linger on your lips for a second too long, but before you can say anything, he is summoned to the High King.

"It was Celebrimbor himself who welcomed Sauron in. You cannot save him. You can save Galadriel", Adars voice brings you back to the present. The circumstances you find yourself in make it hard to believe his words. He won't let Galadriel go willingly and Elrond will never give him the ring voluntarily. Since it is in your possession, you don't plan on handing it over either. No matter how much more danger that puts you in.

"It is an earnest offer. I suggest you take it", Adar continues, staring solely at Elrond from across the table, and stands up from his seat. "And leave Sauron to me."

The mention of this name sends a shiver down your spine. A name that describes pure evil. It is obvious from the way Adar says his name that he feels as much hatred towards him as the elves and all other inhabitants of Middle-earth. It makes you a little suspicious, after all, Adar was once a loyal servant of Sauron.

Once more, your gaze slides over to Galadriel when Adar walks around the table. One of the orcs holds his sharp weapon against her throat, a sign to not even think of making a wrong move. It is known that Galadriel was deceived by Sauron, or Halbrand as she used to call him, which is why her face reacts to his name, too.

She whispers something and you try to read her lips, but you don't get a chance when Adar suddenly stands right in front of you, blocking your view. Although he is still talking to Elrond, his full attention is now solely on you.

"You must know you cannot defeat me in battle. I will outmaneuver you, my forces outfight yours, and you will fall", Adar spits out, searching your face for any signs of fear, but you hold your ground and present him with your best death stare in return. But inside of you, it looks much different. Chaos rages within your mind and veins, your heart is beating so fast that it's pounding in your ears and Nenya is pressing painfully against your skin. You send a prayer to the Valar that Adar won't suspect anything, that he can't see behind the mask you've put on. Because you don't know how much longer you can keep it up, especially not under his relentless gaze.

Adar takes another step towards you and you can now feel his breath on your skin. Since he knows that you cannot resist him at the moment, he uses this to his advantage. His eyes search your face, but you cannot say what exactly they are looking for. Whatever it is, he doesn't find it.

"You will fall and all your little elves with you", he says in a calm voice, but his words are filled with hatred. At this, Elrond suddenly raises from his seat as well and positions his body between the two of you, enabling you to finally breathe again, your heartbeat slowing with relief.

"Not before you have painted the sands of the Glanduin black with the blood of your kin", Elrond tells him, briefly looking over to the orc whose blade is still at Galadriel's throat. His hand behind his back indicates that you should remain calm. Some of the orcs around you growl.

"My children have endured cruelties your bravest couldn't bear to hear spoken aloud."

"Are you prepared to spend their lives so freely, Adar?", Elrond confronts him, his words sounding accusatory. "Are they?"

Peaking over Elrond's shoulders, you see a clear shift in Adar's face, in his eyes. Apparently Elrond has struck a nerve with his words, the orcs becoming more and more restless as well.

"The ring for Galadriel's life. What is it to be?", Adar once again presents him with the tough decision, to choose, to pick one and let the other down. Before answering, Elrond closely walks past Adar, drawing his attention away from you and what it is he desires most. From your position, you only see Elrond adjusting his cloak before he casts another glance at Galadriel. Their eye contact lasts almost a moment too long before he then returns his attention to her captor.

"Ask me on the field, when the neck with a blade against it is yours", Elrond tells him, his deep voice making it sound like a threat. The orcs around you begin to seethe and snarl again and all of a sudden you are very aware of the dagger strapped to your shin, hidden beneath the leather of your boots.

"Very well. I will meet you there", Adar replies, his voice carrying a tinge of amusement after he gave him a once-over. And for a moment you think he actually agrees, that this decision can be made without shedding any blood, no matter red or black. That is until he finishes his sentence.

"With her head on a pike."

You want to step in, to say something, anything to help get Galadriel and the ring out of here, but you don't even know what. And you don't want to risk putting Elrond in danger by acting rashly. That is why silence ensues for a moment while Adar and Elrond just stare each other down challengingly, neither of them backing down or even thinking about giving in.

"If that is to be the way of things, I should like to bid her farewell", Elrond finally answers him, causing a gasp to escape your lips as you unintentionally take a step forward. But Vorohil stops you by putting his arm out in front of you, preventing you from doing something you might regret later.

You can't believe what you're hearing, what just left Elrond's mouth. Galadriel, on the other hand, seems just about pleased with this decision, because it means that no one will be harmed because of her. At least no one who is currently present in this tent.

To your surprise, Adar grants him this favour and lets him talk to Galadriel one last time. All eyes are on them, but you can't hear what they say to each other; their voices too quiet. You watch in disbelief, however, as Elrond softly touches her face and suddenly leans in to her, connecting their lips in a gentle kiss.

All of a sudden, you find it difficult to breathe. You distinctly feel your heart breaking in two. The tent feels too small, too cramped, and tears well up in your eyes. No longer able to bear the sight, you lower your gaze, clenching your hands into fists at your sides. Although no one should be looking in your direction at this moment, it does not go unnoticed by Adar. He notices the pain in your eyes and in your entire life you have never felt so at the mercy of the enemy as you do right now.

You thought there was something between you and Elrond, a mutual, deep understanding that connected you. When by his side, you felt safe and loved. Until now you thought he returned that feeling and that there could be something more between the two of you, one day.

Apparently you were wrong.

It may have only been a few seconds, but for you it feels like several agonizing minutes before Elrond and Galadriel separate again. As soon as Elrond turns away from her, your eyes meet and a sharp pain ripples through your body, as if someone had stabbed you directly in the chest. Elrond's eyes are sad, suffering almost, and he looks at you with so much pity that you wish to disappear into thin air.

Elrond blinks a few times before making his way straight out of the tent.

"Vorohil. Y/N", he calls out your names, a silent command to follow him. Your gaze meets Adar's again who is watching you with his head tilted as you leave the tent together. You entered it as one, as a unit, but you leave it shattered.

You follow them out, the sun blinding you, but due to the tears you are still trying to hold back you couldn't see much from the beginning anyway. The orcs swarming around you aren't at all helping with the chaos that are your emotions.

You fall behind the two men. As if you were in a tunnel, you hear Vorohil bombarding Elrond with all sorts of questions in the distance. Questions whose answers are no longer important to you.

When they stop in front of you, you almost crash into them, too busy with all the thoughts swirling around in your head.

Was it all just a lie, a plot? Was he just using you to protect the ring? To have someone to sacrifice?

Your common sense tells you that this simply cannot be true, that Elrond has not been leading you astray and that what you feel for him is reciprocated inside of his heart. But your broken heart painfully beats in your chest and tells you something completely different.

You watch as Elrond mounts his horse and gives Vorohil an order, but the words do not reach your ears. You only see him in front of you, a knight in shining white armour, the sight of whom used to give you so much joy, made your heart beat faster and your cheeks blush. In the tent, you were willing to take a blade for him until the very end, but everything is different now.

Elrond's gaze wanders from Vorohil to you and all the sadness from before has disappeared from his face, replaced by a neutral expression. The expression of a warrior on his way into battle.

"Meantime, I will ensure that Eregion's walls hold for one more night", you finally register his words as he looks straight at you. Without another word, he puts on his helmet and rides away. An unspoken order hangs in the air and you swing yourself onto your own horse. After all, he is still your commander, whom you will always follow into battle, come what may.

════════════

Your legs are shaking, your hands sticky, covered in blood and mud. Your movements are shaped by exhaustion. Nevertheless, your blade sinks into the flesh of another orc who falls to the ground with a gurgling sound. With all your strength, you pull out your sword and stumble back a few steps, your gaze wandering over the battlefield in front of you.

Corpses over corpses scatter the ground. Some brave warriors are still fighting against the few remaining orcs, but there is no way out. You have lost, Eregion has fallen. You are shocked to realize that you have lost so many elves today, friends and strangers alike.

This realization hits you with so much force out of nowhere and you collapse to the ground, onto your knees, and let out a scream filled with pain and sorrow and all of your remaining strength. You fought, side by side, and in the end it was all for nothing. The forces of Adar have taken you by surprise and no one was prepared for the chaos that would ensue. Now you find yourself in the mud, surrounded by the dead, the last sounds of battle wafting towards you, and you feel utterly and completely alone.

You lost sight of Elrond since the troll's attack and Arondir is nowhere to be found either. Just thinking of Elrond gives your wounded heart another stab that cannot be compared to any wound inflicted in battle. Ever.

A tear finally finds its way down your cheek, but you are quick to wipe it away with your dirty hand. You can't show weakness, not even now when you feel incredibly overwhelmed. You don't even know if Elrond is still alive, and you scold yourself for still worrying about the man who took your feelings for granted.

But of course you do, you love him.

You don't know if it's the ring still around your neck or your instinct, but something tells you to look toward the fallen walls of Eregion, to get one last look at the once beautiful city. And there you see him.

Elrond.

Kneeling.

In front of Adar.

Without hesitating for even a split second, you gather all your strength and stand up. You approach them quickly and watch as Elrond attacks Adar with his dagger, but Adar parries his attack by violently grabbing his arm. With a whimper, Elrond drops his weapon. You stand still as Adar's hand closes around Elrond's throat and lifts him above the ground, choking him. The sounds that escape from Elrond's mouth will haunt you in your dreams.

"Where is it?!", Adar shouts at him, losing his composure. Elrond's hands claw at his, trying to somehow prie them away, but to no avail. The battle has left Elrond weakened. Adar, on the other hand, seems to have gained more strength from it. At that moment, Elrond spots you, and even though you only look at each other for a second, Adar immediately notices Elrond's shift of attention. He turns his head in your direction, and if you didn't know better, you'd think surprise flashes across his face. Apparently he didn't expect to ever see you again.

"Let him go", you command, your voice trembling and your sword pointing at him.

"Or what?", Adar asks spitefully, raising an eyebrow. Not knowing how to answer, you look at Elrond again.

"G-Go", he chokes out.

You look at him in shock and immediately shake your head. You would never leave him behind. Adar follows this encounter with interest and with a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth when something dawns on him. The next moment, he pushes Elrond to the ground forcefully who desperately gasps for air.

You want to rush to his side immediately, but Adar draws his own sword and pushes the tip directly against Elrond's throat who is still gasping for air and hasn't even managed to sit up.

You freeze when you see blood.

"So that's how it is, I understand", Adar murmurs loudly, seemingly amused by something. Then, he reaches out his open hand towards you, catching you by surprise.

"The ring. Or he's dead."

Your eyes inevitably widen, but you no longer have the strength to put on a mask and hide your true emotions. And in doing so, you put everyone in danger.

"D-Don't listen t-to him", Elrond stutters, his eyes full of terror when he meets your gaze. He is not afraid of dying. He is afraid that the ring will fall into the wrong hands.

You gave him your promise. When you accepted the ring, you simultaneously promised that you would protect it with your life. And you still stand by that.

But right now, this is not about your life.

"Hurry or your sweet commander will soon find it extremely difficult to breathe", Adar threatens and presses his blade even harder into Elrond's skin, making him whimper in pain.

He can't speak anymore because of the life-threatening weapon at his throat, but his tear-filled eyes scream at you not to give in. But how could you not?

You move your lips and form the words 'I'm sorry', but no sound wants to escape your throat, your vocal cords failing terribly.

Lowering your sword dejectedly, you feel for the silver chain around your neck and eventually pull it over your head. Nenya dangles at the end, catching the sunlight that slowly but surely breaks through the clouds. Your hand trembles as you place the ring in Adar's palm, feeling like a failure.

Not just to yourself, but to your entire kind. And above all, to Elrond.

As soon as Adar has the ring in his possession, he removes his sword from Elrond and lets you approach him. You immediately fall to your knees beside him. Elrond gasps for air and coughs repeatedly, his head thrown back in defeat. You support his head with one of your hands, helping him to sit up.

"Forgive me", you sob quietly, but get no answer from him. He watches silently as you are surrounded by orcs who were just waiting to take you as prisoners.

And the whole time you can only think of one thing: You betrayed them all.

════════════

You were about to set out to help her on your commander's orders. But it was already too late. You only saw a white figure falling down the cliffs. Now you're running through the dense forest, searching the ground, looking for a body. Every inch of your own body hurts, the cuts across your face throbbing painfully, but you have to keep going, keep walking just a bit longer, because she could be lying behind the next tree and you would never forgive yourself if you didn't find her.

Taking a break and catching your breath for a second, you lean against a tree, the battle taking a heavy toll on your body and strength. Suddenly you fleetingly notice a white shimmer to your right and run straight towards it, your ribs hurting. You breathe a sigh of relief and, at the same time, shock when you see Galadriel's motionless body on the ground, her arms stretched out at unnatural angles.

Without wasting any time, you rush to her, lifting her head so that you can gently place it on your lap. Loudly, you call out to the others that you have found her.

Her face is covered in soot and blood, her eyes closed. As you look at her like this, you once again realize how truly beautiful she is, even on the treshold to death. Your thoughts make your heart ache deeply, because how could Elrond not take a liking to her?

"They will be here soon", you whisper encouragingly, although you are not even sure she can hear you and your voice sounds anything but heartening. Your gaze lands on a large wound on her shoulder, the source of black streaks that are running across her armour. Carefully, you lift her armour with shaking hands and recoil in shock, as if you burned yourself, when you see a dark mark carved into her skin.

You don't get the chance to think about it any further, however, when Arondir and the High King finally arrive at your side. You let Gil-galad help Galadriel and take a few steps back, giving them enough space. As you do so, a light catches your eye, coming from under a branch. The relief you feel deep inside when you spot Nenya is overwhelming.

The High King tries healing Galadriel with the help of his ring. In Quenya, he orders her to step back into the light and leave the darkness behind her and her soul. With tears in your eyes, you watch as Galadriel takes heaving breaths, her eyes blinking violently, but she doesn't come back. Every passing second, she leaves the light a little more.

When you hear footsteps, running quickly at first and then slowing down abruptly, you don't have to turn around to know that it is Elrond.

"We're losing her", Arondir says and looks around helplessly. You see as much pain in his eyes as is reflected in yours and Elrond’s.

When you look over at Elrond at last, your heart stops beating for a moment. You thought you had already seen him at his lowest, where things couldn't have gotten any worse, completely devastated, but the way he is looking at Galadriel right now convinces you otherwise. The sadness that adorns his battle-torn but still beautiful features brings even more tears to your eyes.

His heart seems broken, crying for Galadriel.

"The darkness is too powerful. I cannot save her", the High King utters in defeat.

Even though it is only for one short moment, you hesitate. You hesitate to give the ring to Elrond, afraid of what might happen then, that your heart will crumble into even more fragile pieces.

"You can", you hear your own voice from afar and give Elrond the ring that you lost earlier. Elrond's eyes suddenly become clearer, brighter as he takes it, feeling it in his palm. But his eyes tell you that he is afraid, too. Afraid that he may not be able to save her. He fears he might lose her.

Gathering all your remaining strength, you force an encouraging smile onto your face, nodding and indicating that he should go to her. Elrond doesn't return your smile, he still looks at you with so much suffering in his eyes, but his facial features are more at ease now as he nods back at you. His way of thanking you.

"We can", he states, to convince himself once again before he puts on the ring.

════════════

You stare at your own reflection, which looks up at you from the quiet water of the river. You dip your fingertips into the water, the waves that result distorting your face. The wounds that covered your face have been cleaned and treated, only slight cuts still visible. There is nothing to do but rest and reflect while everyone waits for Galadriel to awaken.

You are not startled when you suddenly see another reflection, a face above your own, for you have heard him coming.

"Galadriel has awakend", Elrond lets you know and elicits nothing more than a nod from you. "She is up and well."

"I'm glad", you reply and see his brow frowning, his eyes growing sadder in the reflection of his face in the water. Which surprises you in all honesty, because he should be filled with happiness right now. You may have lost the rings for men and many of your elven friends have fallen, but in the end you are alive and safe. Galadriel is safe.

In fact, you admit that you feel relief that she seems to be doing well, but it somehow still hurts just thinking about the kiss they shared.

"May I.. May I have a moment of your time?", Elrond asks you now, after a few seconds of silence, filled only by the chirping of birds and the rustling of the trees around you. This place is truly a sanctuary.

His voice sounds so fragile that you can't help but raise up and turn to him, folding your hands in front of your lower body.

"I bestowed the ring upon you as a token of my faith in you", Elrond explains and you notice from the small wrinkles on his forehead that he is having difficulty finding the right words.

Meanwhile, you just want to leave. You can't listen to him express his disappointment about your actions. After everything that has happened, you're just not strong enough anymore. Your heart is not strong enough.

"I entrusted you with it because I didn't trust myself", he continues, looking into your eyes, but you avert them and focus on the grass on the ground. "Because I knew that, if the situation occurred, I would have acted the same way you did."

A look of surprise crosses your face as you lift your gaze and meet his glistening eyes.

"If the roles had been reversed, I would have given up the ring, too. For your life", Elrond states, his eyes solely focused on yours. "Because when it concerns you, I'm simply too weak. You are my weakness. By giving Nenya to you I thought I could prevent myself from losing it. Instead, I placed the burden upon you."

Your heart beats loudly in your ears, not quite understanding what he is saying.

"But Galadriel-"

"What you saw.. It was a distraction. Galadriel is merely a good friend, whom I love differently", Elrond explains and his voice tells you how sorry he is. "I gave her the pin off my shoulder piece to give her a chance to escape. I couldn't guarantee that it would work, but I took the risk. And I was willing to hurt you by doing so."

He carefully reaches for your hand and you let him take it, continuing to stare at him with glassy eyes as he speaks, your throat dry.

"I am deeply sorry for any pain my actions have inflicted upon you", he apologizes sincerely and lowers his head in regret, some of his brown curls falling into his face. "I couldn't even look at you after that because I could see exactly how badly I had hurt you."

"E-Elrond..", you get out, but you don't even know how to continue or what to say to him. Your emotions are all over the place because you have wanted to hear these words from him for so long, but on the other hand you feel sad because he suffered as well. And if there is one thing you hate more than anything else, it is seeing those you love hurt.

"Another weakness on my part was not telling you about my true feelings earlier. It was unfair since you have always given me nothing but sincerity and affection. My love, I hope you can forgive me and overlook my weaknesses", he says, his voice getting quieter and more humble towards the end, his hand squeezing yours tightly as if you could run away at any moment. What he doesn't know, however, is that with every word he is mending your heart a little bit more.

"I remain hopeful that you will return my love, despite what happened."

He stands before you, probably barely able to stand after days of constant fighting, and pours his heart out to you. He is still in his armour, his face scarred by battle. And you can't help but admire him for it.

Because what he is doing right now is braver than anything he has ever done before.

Without saying a word, you finally pull him towards you and wrap your arms around his neck tightly, his armour pressing against your chest. At first, Elrond didn't expect such a reaction, which is why it takes him a moment until his muscles relax, the burden falling from his shoulders, and his arms sneak around your waist.

"Sometimes I really hate you, Elrond Peredhel", you say against his neck before pulling away from him, hitting his chest plate once to get your point across. Laughing, he takes a step back and protects himself with his arms in front of his chest. You laugh too, but only for a moment until Elrond's smile disappears again as he looks at you.

"Your beauty is truly captivating", he smiles softly and slowly steps closer so that your bodies almost touch. His hand reaches out to tuck a strand of hair behind your pointed ear as he looks back and forth between your eyes, his fingertip gently running over your skin from your ear to your chin. His touch leaves a trail of warmth. A smile twitches at the corner of your mouth and your gaze wanders to his lips.

The world stands still for a moment, all the events of the last few hours forgotten, banished from your thoughts to enjoy this one moment.

When Elrond's lips gently connect with yours, your patched up heart feels like it's about to jump out of your chest. Elrond's hand on your chin pulls you even closer to him, but he does it in such a gentle way that your cheeks turn red. One of your hands searches for support on his armor because your knees feel like they are about to give in. But you know that Elrond would be there to catch you. Your knight in shining armour.

You never want to stop kissing him. How many times have you dreamed of this moment, imagined what it would be like. All your expectations are being exceeded right now.

When Elrond pulls away from you so you can both catch your breath, he leans his forehead against yours gently. You immediately miss the feeling of his lips on yours.

"My love", Elrond whispers against your skin, placing a soft kiss on your forehead. His cheeks took on a shade of red after the kiss and you are certain that his heart is beating against his armour just as fast as yours. Gently, you cup his heated cheek and run your finger over his skin, being careful not to touch any of his wounds. Then you can't stand it any longer, pull him even closer to you and kiss him again, which elicits a surprised gasp from him. Both of you smile into the kiss as he leans in even more.

If it were up to you, this moment would last forever - just you and Elrond and your love for each other. But you know that this is just wishful thinking, that you have tasks to complete, duties to fulfill. After this moment, the world will continue spinning, wars and battles will be fought, history will be written, but now you know that whatever happens, Elrond is by your side. For eternity.

[handfulofmuses]

I will go more in depth about it at some point but I think Molly had been a social outcast more than once. Moving a lot like she did generally takes a toll on kids and she did have to leave former friends behind. Her friendships never seem to stick - she says she left behind a lot of them but….we don’t see them writing letters or even on the laptop like her grandma so I feel like they never were as close or stuck around.

I think Molly has a bit of trouble connecting with other people. The things she says to Scratch seem oddly specific at times. When Scratch flies away she beats herself up for “being too friendly again”. Like I said, she can come off too strong at times so that might have driven people away from her before. Maybe even her jealousy and competitive side also got in the way since we know she can be carried away when it comes to that as well.

But then there also the thing in the theme song:

“I'm never ever ever gonna be alone again!”

First day of school? She’s incredibly nervous about getting turned into a social outcast. She mentions how Scratch can’t relate because he told her he’s popular - part of me thinks that just like Scratch, she was generally an outcast for a while. Then, there is that scene in the bathroom - the heavy breathing, she seems close to a panic attack here.

I don’t think things always worked out and the only reason why it did this time was…well, because of Scratch.

We know how competitive Molly can get. Scratch makes no secrets about his intentions and as messed up as that sounds, that was just what Molly needed. Because now she has motivation to prove him wrong, that everything will turn out just fine.

Her being an outcast also makes sense when you look at her relationship with Scratch in general. I think Scratch was her first genuine friend. It took him some time to warm up, but he did. He stayed despite how bothersome she could get at times (curse aside) and later became more supportive and he tried to stop her when her competitive / jealousy side takes over. Molly in general is affectionate with those she cares about, but it shows a lot with Scratch. She's deadset on not losing him.

Molly helped Scratch grow as a person. But Scratch also helped Molly grow as a person. Scratch is not the only person with flaws - Molly has a lot of them as well. They balance each other out nicely.

And that what makes the ending so bittersweet.

[jj-one]

MIND GAMES ⋅˚₊ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅

── ✧ ˚. ꒰ pairing ꒱ ˒˓ bf!Jungkook x gf!reader ˒˓ established relationship genre/tags. smut, v small amount of angst, fluff, thigh riding, face sitting, body worshipping, jk lowkey simping hella hard in this & we love to see it <3 words. 1.4k

**old repost from my deleted blog

“Can you stop ignoring me please? It's driving me crazy.” You whine to your nonchalant boyfriend, urging him to mutter at least one word.

He has been giving you the silent treatment since this morning. You and Jungkook got into a petty argument that could've been easily resolved within seconds had he not just stormed out mid-convo.

Rightfully so— you were upset by him not wanting to talk things out and he got all defensive by saying you were ‘overreacting’. The bickering only spiraled from there and once you realized you had to leave for work you left without even saying goodbye.

You felt bad for not at least giving a peck on the cheek but you were slightly annoyed by how immature he could be at times. Once you came back home, you wanted to talk with him immediately to patch things up yet he's still being difficult with you. His silence was speaking mere volumes.

“So you're really going to play that game now huh? You know you can't ignore me forever Kook.” You snicker, all those pent up emotions filling you with an intense longing for him. “Can you say something?”

Jungkook remained quiet as a mouse, still refusing to speak, just sitting there examining you. Taking all of you in, basking in his own little glory. He wasn't trying to ignore you at first but now it has turned into a game for him. His only goal was seeing how far he could push your buttons until you break.

There was nothing more frustrating than craving someone's affection. His affection. Usually he'd give it to you on a silver platter, spoiling you with all the love and attention he could provide. But today — you were gonna have to work for it, and that you did.

Since talking wasn't the solution you try your best guess and think of something else. That's when an evil plan struck your mind — you were going to get a word of out him one way or another.

You were still wearing your work clothes so you strip naked right in front him, taking off every piece of clothing to only leave you in your panties. He tried to make it not so obvious that he was staring but you could feel his eyes on you the whole time. Still quiet, he looks up at you with his big, brown doe eyes — glancing over every inch of your bare form.

Licking his lips while leaning back on the couch he takes in all of you, losing himself in your alluring gaze. As much as he wanted to believe he had all the control in this situation, you played a deafening role in making sure this won't be an easy win for him.

As soon as you fully undressed you make your way over to Jungkook, subtly swaying your hips to send a rise out of him. Walking up to your boyfriend you find yourself straddling his thighs between your legs, the bitter silence only creating a thicker tension. His face looked so innocent, you couldn't help but go in to kiss him. Grabbing the side of his face to pull him in for a sweet, sensual kiss, molding your lips to match his hungry movement.

He was passionate with the kiss — almost leaving you winded by the end. You could tell that he's been holding that in since this morning, you couldn't open your eyes afterwards, savoring in the taste of him on your tongue.

“I'm an asshole, sorry y/n. I don't know why I do the things I do sometimes… but l'm thankful I have someone as patient as you in my life.” Jungkook finally spoke, his gentle tone brings you a familiar source of comfort.

Heated make outs turned you both into even more dangerous territory. A constant rush of heat surges throughout your body, leading all the way down to your aching core, you swung your head back in pleasure while riding your boyfriend's pretty, muscular thighs. The light-blue distressed jeans he wore showing just the slightest bit of skin to make you go feral. The weak, sweaty kisses in between rutting against him — the friction of his jeans grazing over your clothed heat, making you feverishly whimper out for him.

Jungkook couldn't keep his hands off you if he tried. Everything about you is absolutely stunning and perfect to him. His hands dance along the perimeters of your body, tracing every line and curve of your heavenly beauty — embarking on the notion that you are all his. He needs to show how grateful and lucky he is to have you more often.

“God... need you so bad right now..I don't wanna waste another second without having my cock inside you.” He keens, migrating his lips up the side of your earlobe.

He's going to have to put in the work to get a reward like that though.

“I want you to eat me out then we can talk later.” You boldly counter, not even giving him an option at this point.

His face lights up with an idea, “Wanna sit on my face princess?” You nod right away, letting Jungkook maneuver you to the side so he could lye down comfortably — he looks up at you with wandering eyes as you go in for another kiss. He hums into the kiss, moving his hands to grab your ass. It's beginning to become too unbearable to keep your panties on.

Breaking the kiss to remove your soaked underwear, you toss them on the floor and meet your boyfriend's handsome face once again.

The anticipation was killing him, he couldn't wait to devour your pretty little pussy already ;( As soon as you positioned yourself below him, he held onto your thighs with both hands — making eye contact with you as he pressed a kiss to your swollen bud.

Any minor touch to your clit makes you overtly sensitive, letting out a tiny mewl from the light action. His lips part open to dip his tongue into your wetness, “mmmh... fuck Koo” you hiss, already needing to brace yourself to not cum early. His mouth always works magic on you, leaving you with an earth-shattering orgasm every single time.

He flattens his tongue completely now, dragging a long stripe across your slit, drinking up all your essence, letting none of you go to waste. His face was so deeply buried into you all you could see now was the top of his head — grabbing a fistful of his messy hair to pull on later. You rock your hips back and forth to build more movement, grinding on his face while not having a care in the world if he could breathe or not.

From the looks of it, there were no complications on his end since he started moaning against you — the vibrations sending instant chills to your spine. You feel his nose brush up against your bundle of nerves, his tongue appears again to spread it’s brutal attack on your clit. His warmth on the sensitive sprout makes you jut your hips into a hastier motion.

“Shit... keep going just like that…i'll cum all over your face,” you cry out, feeling yourself close to making a huge mess and creaming all over his face.

“Cum on my face please, my precious little doll.” He only breaks away to say that quickly and attaches hisself back instantly.

Those words did it for you, it was like ultimate green light to reaching your climax. Two digits enter your weeping cunt and his tongue goes back to sucking on your puffy abused clit — the knot in your stomach tightens as he produces sloppier licks to your leaking folds.

A lusty, guttural moan escaped your lips, screaming your boyfriend's name at the top of your lungs. Jungkook keeps your hips steady with a tight grasp to help ride out your intense high; his knuckles turning white from how hard he was gripping. His face saturated with the glint of your sweet nectar, he licks his lips and savors the delicious taste of you, there's nothing that'll ever compare.

"So beautiful my baby.. so fucking gorgeous.." he chants under his breath, kissing the apex of your thighs. He'll never get tired of admiring your pretty body— or you in general.

Jungkook has always been more of a giver than a receiver, he likes to watch his partner writhe under him, loves when they cry and violently shake while he's giving them the most pleasurable moments of their life. He also likes to get what he wants in the end but that isn't always needed for him to be satisfied. He'll get his nut eventually, but in the meantime he's going to keep playing with you some more.

[otakuworks]

❛ 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒. angst w/fluff

feat. Caelus x GN!Reader | wc. 1.6K

sum. fireflies are fleeting creatures, and so were his feelings for you. . . or so you thought

cw. 2.0 spoilers, some intended lore inaccuracies but nothing major

note. no firefly slander in here, just some angsty thoughts I got after finishing 2.0 before bed

main.mlist hsr.mlist

Ambiguous relationships are unstable, often leads to misunderstandings. The balance that had been barely maintained by not invading each other's territory and not interfering with each other's business had begun to shake. With the appearance of a variable called Firefly. Disorganized thoughts strewn like scratches in your head.

"Caelus, how can you be certain she's trustworthy if she's hiding something from you?"

"I never said she was, she has her reasons if she doesn't want to tell me, but I'm inclined to help her now that she's in danger."

He never spared you a glance as he stalked to his room.

I was in danger once yet you never came to my aid. What's so special about her? Was your bitter thought.

There were so many questions you want to ask him. If you had tried to count them, you would have run out of fingers and toes. But when you opened your mouth, what came out was utter nonsensical question.

"What makes you so inclined to help her?"

He finally stopped and gaze over his shoulder. "She's important to me."

. . . And I'm not?

You're shakened, but his golden eyes were utterly calm. It would be absurd to tell this man to forget her and stay by your side. The idea of fleeing was anathema to him.

You don't even know the girl, but based on his descriptions prior she's exactly the type of girl he would go for and it's enough to add salt on your unrequited love.

It's obvious you two like each other that even March was able to pick up the tension, but you both remained on the neutral ground and never fessed up.

Meanwhile, Black Swan's knowing gaze traversed on your distraught ones as you follow the Trailblazer on his way back to the Dreamscape. She knows the moment she looked, conflicting feelings who are yet to be acknowledged are now catching up.

Once Caelus entered his room, the Memokeeper turned to you.

"One with a sincere heart prevails, young one. He's yet to be aware of your burgeoning feelings, having the initiative might help you with your current predicament." She advised.

You barely glanced at her as you downcast your eyes. "And endure the plausible rejection now that he has her? I'd rather be colored in green."

She chuckled. "Green with envy doesn't suit anyone. It's strange to me how certain you are with your prediction."

Sighing, you turned to meet up with the special guest whom he invited you to have a chat.

"I'll head first. Take care of him, although he can do most part of it, it wouldn't hurt to have another shield."

Black Swan merely smiled as she watched you walk away with a heavy heart. Ah young ones, always so blindsided with things that hinder them to confess.

"Apologies for the delay, your friend told me about their plans to meet with the IPC ambassador before going in the Dreamscape."

Caelus, who was about to dive in, halted at his steps and his shoulders stiffened. For a brief moment, the Memokeeper witnessed the renowned Intergalactic Baseballer summoning his grey bat.

"Aventurine? Why would they meet up with him?" Was his immediate response with furrowed eyebrows and clenched fists.

"That, I do not know. You can wait and ask them once we're done with the mission."

Who ever said he's a patient guy?!

"Well, my friend. What do you say?"

You groaned upon gracing your eyes with reality and a peacock suddenly greeted you by the tub. No wait, it's just the IPC representative.

"I-I must discuss the details with the others first before making a decision." You clutched the rim the of the tub to balance yourself from that disgruntling experience.

Transition sucks the most.

"Don't worry, I can wait but try not to make it long."

Honestly, you don't even know the reason why he's seeking you out for this. It was Caelus at first and now he's interested in doing business with you.

You're tempted to ask him but it might lead to a longer conversation and you want nothing more than to relax for a moment without sleeping.

You heard Aventurine bid his temporary farewell, but you failed to notice him stopping right at the exit before shaking his head. You were too focused on alleviating the dizziness that you failed to focus the shadow framing you

"What did he want with you?" Your blood froze right there and then

"Shouldn't that be my question? What are you doing here, in my room?" You couldn't look up at him and can only look on his knees which are the same level as your eyes.

Look up and you would see every emotion to exist on his face.

It came by a blur, you were sitting in the tub and the next you heard the water splashing followed by being engulfed by someone warm and sturdy.

He's hugging you.

You blinked once and twice.

Caelus' hugging you.

If you can even call it a hug when you feel your bones cracking.

It's not a foreign act, you've hugged once in awhile but it's usually with the four of you; Dan Heng, March and him. You've never exclusively hugged before so this notion surprised you.

"Caelus?" You softly called out as he buried his face in your hair.

"Nothing remains with me. My memories and past companies, I couldn't grasp them. Now I'm graced with so many friends, I'm always afraid everything will slip away once more and I'll be an empty shell you met in the Space Station." His voice is unusually mellowed, it reminds you of a child complaining about school.

You let yourself relaxed and surround him with your warmth as well and right at that moment you feel him abandoning his weight.

He wants to say more, however the recent events seemed to have an invisible force squeezing his heart and preventing him from talking, but it doesn't stop his tears from flowing.

I don't want to lose you, too.

He wants to say those to you, but his heavy heart and parched throat reign supreme. So he bared himself and cried to you, letting himself vulnerable in front of you, hoping that would be the bridge to convey his feelings that words cannot express at the moment.

©OTAKUWORKS_2024

[bbymunsonx]

The Last Time (Ted's Version)

Chapter Ten

chapter warnings: language, ANGST, violence, abuse, smut(!!!), piv, oral (f), ted lasso is an aftercare king bc obvi (18+)

word count: 5.8k

buckle up ;)

"Julian?"

"You know, when I had to hear from my friends that you had taken a job with my coaches and moved across the Atlantic, I didn't think it was true. I thought to myself, 'Now, why would Lacy do that? Lacy is the kind of girl that's too scared to do anything. She'd be too scared to leave.' But here you are." Julian smirked, as he could sense that I was scared. He always could. 

"What- what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Just thought I'd pay a trip to see my girlfriend. I missed you so much," He grabbed his face with his hands and harshly planted an open kiss right on my lips. It was like he was trying to mark his territory. That's how he always felt with me. 

Just then, Ted's door swung open and he peaked his head out, "Is everything alright, Lace-." He immediately stopped when he realized what was happening. "Julian."

"Coach Lasso! How's it going, man?" Julian reached out to fist bump Ted but he didn't budge. He just kept his eyes on me. 

"Remember that movie we're gonna go see, we have to leave now if we're gonna make it in time," Ted said on the fly, coming up with an excuse to get Julian to leave. 

"Wait a second," Julian's gaze went from Ted to me to Ted to me. "Are you fucking this old man?" My blood ran cold, once again. I could take his abuse, I have for years. But I couldn't stomach him being mean to Ted, even if I was angry with him.

"No, Julian. He's not my boyfriend. You are. I only love you." I grabbed Julian's face to make him look at me, taking the heat off of Ted. Julian shook out of my grip and went walking over to Ted. 

"I used to like you. I thought you were a great coach. But then you steal my girlfriend away from me, and then you fuck her?" Julian's voice started to raise. 

"Julian, I understand why you are frustrated, okay? But Lacy here and I are just co-workers. Nothing more. She really loves you. I can tell." Ted nodded at Julian to try to get him to listen. 

Julian grabbed Ted by the collar of his shirt, "If I hear that you even talk to her, I will kick your fucking ass, old man, do you understand me? Besides," Julian got closer to Ted's ear, "Only I will ever know the sounds she makes right before she's about to-."

"Leave him alone!" I interjected and pulled Julian off of Ted. I have never even thought about doing something like that, but Ted is such an innocent guy. He doesn't deserve to be treated like this. 

"What's going on?" Coach Beard finally whipped his head out of his flat, probably because Julian was being so loud.

"You fucking bitch, did you just touch me? Did you touch me?" Julian spit at me. He started slowly walking toward me, trying to corner me against the wall. "Remember, you're a fucking good for nothing slut. You'd be nowhere if it weren't for me. I'm the only reason why you are where you are and I want you to remember that for the rest of your miserable fucking life." I flinched with every word that he threw at me. 

Julian moved closer to my ear and whispered, "You will always be mine. I own you." Julian punched the wall causing the drywall to crumble, inches away from my face. 

"You know what I think, Julian?" For some reason, Ted and Beard being here made me feel safe enough to be able to say this, and if I don't say it now, I never will. "I think you're an insecure little boy who feels threatened by your girlfriend leaving you to go work with two men. Two men that you always admired. You will never be half the man that Ted is, and you should feel fucking ashamed. You are an abusive piece of shit and you don't own anything. We are fucking over." 

If looks could kill, Ted, Beard, and I would all be dead on the floor. I feared that if Ted and Beard weren't here, Julian would actually kill me. But, to give the final blow, I leaned into his ear and whispered, "You wanna talk to Ted about that 'little sound I make right before I finish'? You've never made me finish a fucking day in my life, you selfish asshole." I smirked to myself knowing that what I just said had just tipped him over the ledge. 

"You fucking cunt," I swore at me. My eyes widen as I noticed him wind his fist back. He was gonna hit me. He always hit me, threw me into furniture, and pushed me around. He never actually "punched" me in the face. He always said he was too much of a gentleman. And now, now, he's going to punch me. As his fist was winded back, I closed my eyes, preparing for the blow. Suddenly, Ted grabbed both of his hands and held them behind his back, restraining him. 

Coach Beard walked up to Julian as he was restrained and said, "You know, I never liked you," before knocking him unconscious. When Julian landed on the ground, I let out a giant exhale my legs gave out, sending me to the floor. 

Completely ignoring Julian just laying on the ground, Ted came rushing over to me on the floor similarly to how I helped Ted when he had his panic attack. He took my face in his hands and looked me right in the face, "Lacy, breathe, baby, you gotta breathe." I looked up at him and just nodded, slowly down my breaths. 

"I'm gonna call the police. Do you want me to call Keeley and Rebecca?" Coach Beard asked. I could only nod. Coach Beard stepped away to go use his phone while Ted and I remained on the floor. 

"I'm gonna go see if Beard needs help making those calls," Ted went to get up but I immediately just grabbed his hand. 

"No. Please don't leave me." My voice shook. Ted immediately knelt back down and sat right next to me to the point where are legs were flushed against one another. 

"Alright, Lacy Loo. I'm not going anywhere. You might get a bit annoyed in a day or two but just remember you asked for this." He tried to joke with me and it actually made me laugh. Technically, I just blew air out of my nose but it's the thought that counts. 

I leaned my head on Ted's shoulder and interlocked out fingers together while we both sat on the floor waiting for the police to come. 

***

The police arrive within ten minutes and Keeley and Rebecca arrived within fifteen minutes. By the time the girls arrived, Julian had already been taken away by the police. One of the woman police officers knelt down on the floor to talk to me about what happened. After taking notes, she nodded and promised he wouldn't be an issue anymore. 

As soon as Rebecca and Keeley arrived, they switched spots with Ted and sat next to me. "When I got divorced, I had to absolutely best lawyers money could buy. I'll send them over your way, of no cost of course." Rebecca said as she took my hand. 

"Rebecca, I can't do that." I shook my head vigorously. 

"I knew you were going to say that. That's why I already made the phone call on my way here." She smiled down at me. "He's not going to hurt you anymore. I promise you that. We'll have a restraining order drawn up before the sun rises."

"I made a couple phone calls to some people, myself. I actually know some real shady people so let's see if the prick is even alive by the time your lawyers get to him. I had to talk Roy out of killing him himself," Keeley said causing me to smile. 

The three of us sat on the ground while Ted and Coach Beard were talking to the police officers outside. 

"So, they're taking him in," Ted came in and told us. "I wouldn't worry about him for right now. You're safe." Ted smiled down at me. 

"Babes, do you wanna stay the night with me? I don't think you should be alone." Keeley offered. 

"Ya know, she could stay with me." Ted suggested. "That way all of her stuff is here so that's one less thing she's gotta worry about." 

"Thank you, Keeley, but I think I'll stay with Ted." I shot her a guilty smile which made her smile. 

"You got it." She kissed my forehead. 

When I finally mustered enough strength to stand up, Rebecca and Keeley so I could get some rest. Ted helped me make a trip up to my flat to get some of the essentials I needed for the night to get settled into his flat. 

"Here, you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep on the couch, alright?" Ted put all of my stuff down on the bed. 

"Ted, you're already opening your home for me, I can't ask for you to give up your bed, too. I'll sleep on the couch." I took my stuff off the bed and handed it back to Ted. 

"Absolutely not," Ted put my belongings back on the bed, "Mama Lasso would fly all the way over here and kick my buttocks if she knew I let you sleep on the couch. You're taking the bed, end of discussion." 

I smiled, "Okay. Do you mind if I take a quick shower? I just feel...icky." 

"Of course. I'll get everything set up for you." Ted disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes. "Alright I put your shower products in there, a towel, a washcloth, and a toothbrush. I think that should be everything."

"Thank you, Ted." I smiled and patted him on the shoulder before walking behind him, into the bathroom. 

I took my time in the shower, making sure to scrub every inch of my body. Every single inch that Julian might have ever touched. Every single inch that Julian offended and claimed as his own. My body belongs to me and only me. 

After my shower, I saw Ted's Chief's t-shirt and a pair of my pajama bottoms on the bed. On top of the t-shirt was a note that said, "The only Kansas football player worthy of our time is Travis Kelce... no one else (don't worry, it's clean) - Ted" . I smiled to myself before putting on the t-shirt. It was extremely oversized, but it made me feel safe. 

 I walked into the kitchen to see Ted making Rebecca her biscuits. Before he realized I was standing there, I giggled to myself as I heard the faint sound of Taylor Swift coming from his phone, and the faintest sound of the lyrics stumbling from his lips. 

"So you're a secret Swiftie, huh?" I smirked. He jumped as he realized I was there. 

"Geez Louise. You'll give me a heart attack." Ted placed his hand over his heart. "It's just a playlist of all the hits. Of course Ms. Taylor Swift's gonna be on there." 

"Uh huh." I didn't believe him. "So you're gonna tell me you weren't singing along just now? This song isn't even a single." I laughed. 

"Excuse me, "Dancing with our Hands Tied" is one of my favorites." Ted scoffed. 

"You're definitely a Swiftie, Ted. Only Swifties know that song," I laughed, hoisting myself on the counter. I immediately took one of the big spoons that Ted was using to bake and used it as a pretend microphone as I started singing along with the song. I gave Ted the spoon back, but not to bake, but to sing the following lyrics. He knew every single word. We were in our own little word, I had almost completely forgot the events that took place tonight. 

I could spend all night sitting on this counter singing Taylor Swift, but I was just getting so tired,"I'm gonna try to get some sleep."

"Alright, let me know if there's anything you need alright?" Ted's eyes softened, to which I nodded. 

"Goodnight, Ted." 

"Goodnight, sugar." He said softly to the bag of sugar he was using to bake, "Oh yeah, goodnight to you too, Lacy."

I rolled my eyes and laughed as I walked over to his bedroom. 

***

"Lacy! Lacy you're dreaming! Wake up, honey! You gotta get up!" I heard in my sleep as my body started shaking. I woke up with a gasp, my scream filling the dark room. "You're okay. You're alright. Come here." Ted took my body into his grasp, holding me tight. 

"What happening?" I asked, completely oblivious as to what happened. 

"I was sleeping and I just heard you screaming. It seems like you were having a really bad nightmare. Does this happen often?" Ted asked as he stroked my hair. 

My head hung down, "No. This hasn't happened since I was with Julian. It stopped a few months ago."

"Well, you're alright now, okay? Try to get some sleep." Ted went to get up before I grabbed his arm. 

"Please. Please stay." I whimpered, almost mirroring the same conversation we had earlier in the night. 

"Are you sure? I don't have to," Ted was apprehensive at first. 

"I don't wanna be alone." I softly said making Ted nod. I scooched over, making room for Ted on the bed. I laid back down on my back, the same as Ted. The two of us staring up at the ceiling unable to sleep. 

It wasn't until Ted had inched his hand over to mine, and interlaced his pinky with mine. That alone made me feel the safest I've felt in months, easing me to sleep right away. 

***

Three days after the incident, Keeley had sent me a screenshot of an article written by Trent Crimm in "The Independent". The headline read "American Tourist Killed in Jail Incident". 

Keeley Jones: Told you. 

I didn't even have to read the article. I knew all that I had to know and it made my heart feel more at ease. Ted still wouldn't let me stay in my flat. We had made a deal that he'd let me move back into my flat when I stopped waking up in the middle of the night screaming. That could be never, but he didn't care. He just didn't want me alone. 

It's been five days since Julian was killed and I still can't get my night terrors under control. Ted and I were sitting on the couch, on opposite ends of course, having a drink and watching a movie. Both of us were in our pajamas, comfortable. But the alcohol created some tension in the air. 

I got up from the couch to go back to the kitchen to get another drink. Suddenly, the alcohol gave me the courage to say, "Can I ask you something a little personal?"

"Yeah, of course." He looked over at me. 

"Are you in love with Sassy?" I asked as I leaned against the counter.

"Why would you think I was in love with Sassy?" He seemed genuinely confused. 

"Because you had sex with her." Ted jumped off the couch as I responded. 

"Um, how do you know I slept with Sassy?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"I went to your room that night, just to ask how you were doing after everything that happened at karaoke. And let's just say that you're very vocal when you have sex. Also, I guess you forgot my room was right next to yours." I laughed. 

"Jesus Christ, Lacy, I'm-I'm so sorry. I didn't know you could hear all... all that." Ted apologized.

"You don't have to apologize, Ted. I was just wondering if you loved her." 

Ted laughed. "No, I don't love her. I was just upset and she was there. She's a great woman, but no, I don't love her." I hoisted myself up on the counter and sighed as he said that. "Why do you seem like you're relieved?" He raised an eyebrow at me. 

"Why would I possibly be relieved? Remember, I told you I liked Jamie." I smirked.

"You never told me you liked Jamie, you just told me that you were upset that he left. Actually, since you asking me if I loved Sassy solely because I had sex with her, I guess it's only fair if I ask you if you're in love with Jamie?" 

"Ted, don't be silly, of course I'm not in love with Jamie." I said. Ted started to walk closer to me, slowly. 

"Well, I, for one am relieved." Ted jokingly sighed a breath of relief. 

"Why are you possibly relieved?" I chucked. 

"I think you deserve to be with a real man that'll treat you well. And Jamie is not that man." Ted continued to walk closer to me. 

"You never know. Jamie is starting to change for the better. But I guess we'll never know now that he's gone," I laughed. 

"Lacy," Ted said seriously. I raised my eyebrows at him, showing him I was listening, intently. "Are you in love with anyone?" He furrowed his eyebrows at me, his eyes beginning to soften. 

"That's a loaded question, Coach Lasso. I think I may have to take this up with HR." I laughed as Ted moved as close as he possibly could, my legs instantly widening so he could stand in between them. 

"Panda." Ted said through lowered eyelids, his glance moving from my lips to my eyes. I'll always giggle at the idea of a grown man saying 'panda' to me. I should've picked a sexier word. 

"I'm in love with you, Ted." My eyebrows furrowed as those words fell out of my mouth. I couldn't lie anymore. Not to him or myself. Even though I'd love to blame it on the alcohol, the adrenaline of Ted standing between my legs made me feel completely sober. "I should've said it before, but I'm in love with you, Theodore Lasso. I've been in love with you since the first time I saw you. I love you so much it hurts." I grabbed his face in my hands and stroked his cheek with my thumb, causing him to shut his eyes. 

"Please... say something." I continued. 

"Lacy Watson, you are the most perfect woman that I have ever met in my entire life. I've loved you for so long and I'm so sorry that I made you think that I didn't. It sickens me how much love I have for you. Could you forgive me?" Ted raised an eyebrow at me. 

"I think you need to get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness," I joked around, being facetious. Ted instantly got on his knees right in front of me, still leaving me sat on top of the counter. 

"I remember on the flight over here, you told me you liked Taylor Swift and South Park. Every time I bake Rebecca her biscuits, I like to turn on Taylor Swift because it makes me feel like you're with me. You caught me the other night and I lied to you because I was embarrassed, but it's true. I love Taylor Swift because I love you. And every time I fall asleep at night, I turn on South Park in hopes that it'll somehow bring me closer to you. That's how much I love you." Ted said while looking up at me through glossy eyes. 

"Stand up, Teddy," I whispered to him. I quickly batted away the tears that started to form in my eyes. 

"Yes ma'am," he responded, but this time, his voice sounded way lower and had much more of a southern drawl to it. 

Ted rose to meet me at eye level, his gaze still flickering between my lips and my eyes. His eyes were glossed with inexplainable longing. I needed him and I needed him now. 

Ted lowered his head several inches until his lips were mere centimeters away from mine. He left his lips hovering for a second, and before I knew it, he pressed his lips onto mine. He started slowly at first, not knowing how I was going to react, but he didn't know how much I truly needed him. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer. The feeling of his mustache on my sensitive skin was even better than I imagined. As he started kissing me with more passion, I opened my mouth slightly to welcome his tongue. I squealed as soon as I felt his tongue, feeling pleasantly surprised by the feeling. Ted pulled away for a second, it felt like the worst second of my entire life.

"Uh oh, seems like I'm not the only one that's loud during sex," Ted taunted. 

"Oh, shut up," I scoffed and pulled him back to me. His lips were ravenous against my mouth, then traveled down to my neck and my collar bone. Every time he suck on my neck resulted in a desperate moan escaping my mouth. 

Suddenly, all of my clothes felt way too tight. My nipples strained in my tank top, it was almost painful. I groaned in frustration. I just wanted to rip all my clothes off. 

"What is it, baby?" Ted raised his head from my neck to meet my face, sending my frustration full force. 

"I need you, I need you now." I whined. Without question, Ted lifted me off of the counter, both of his hands flushed against my ass. My legs were wrapped around his waist as he tried to walk us to the bedroom. I wasted no time reattaching his lips to mine while grinding my core onto his obvious boner that was showing through his grey sweatpants. 

"Darlin', if you keep doing that I'm gonna bust in my pants before we even make it to the bedroom." Ted whispered in between kisses. As he was talking, I kissed a trail up and down his neck. 

"You better walk faster then, old man," I taunted, still peppering his neck in kisses. Ted rushed his pace and got us into the bedroom, gently placing me down on his bed. I inched up until I was flush against the headboard. 

I laid down while he started to climb up my body and started layering kisses all over my neck and face. "Mmm you're so beautiful, darlin'," Ted yearned in between kisses. 

Ted attached himself to my lips for a few more seconds before he started making his way down further. Thankfully, I didn't wear a bra tonight but my tank top was still way too much fabric. Ted started with sucking on my neck, then sucking on my collar bone, causing me to whimper. This man was such a tease. 

My nipples were rock hard and strained against the fabric of my tank top. As Ted was focused on on my collar bone, I snuck a hand underneath by tank top and slowly started to tug on my right nipple to relieve some of the pressure. 

Ted stopped kissing me for a minute and pulled away, looking down at me. "I'm sorry? Am I not good enough for you?" he joked while pulling my hand out from underneath my shirt. 

"Ted," I whined. "Please."

"Please what?" He quirked an eyebrow. 

"Touch me," I continued to whine. 

"Have I not been touching you this entire time?" He dragged a finger down my neck, down my collar bone, and right onto my tits. His fingers trailed both tits, intentionally not touching my nipples. He wanted to hear me say it first. 

"I need you to fuck me, Ted," I groaned. 

"Yes, ma'am," He nodded. That's all it took for him to hook his fingers around the bottom of my tank top and yanking it over my head. I laid underneath him, with no tank top on and no bra. His eyes widened and his pupils dilated at the sight of me bare beneath him. "Christ," he whispered before leaning down and taking one of my nipples in his mouth. That's all it took for me to become a whimpering mess. He swirled his tongue around my peaked nipples, slowly, making sure he was taking his time. 

"Fuck, Ted," I whined as he continued to suck on my nipples, making sure he was paying equal attention to both. When his mouth was latched to one, his thumb and forefinger worked on the other one, and vice versa. My arms were littered with goosebumps as my body was overtaken my pure pleasure. I arched my nipple into his mouth, chasing the warm heat. 

After he was done, Ted kissed his way down my stomach, taking his time and making sure every part of me was accounted for. As he laid between my legs, he looked up at me to get visible consent to continue. I frantically nodded and he laced his fingers under my shorts before yanking them down. 

I was wearing a pair of one of my nice lacy, black underwear tonight. I continued to pinch my nipples as Ted sucked on the inside of my thighs. As Ted worked his way to my core, went to pull my underwear down before I suddenly tightened up. "Wait a second!"

"What's wrong? Are you okay? We can stop if you want," Ted looked extremely worried. 

"Ted, I think I would actually kill you if you stopped right now. I just, I've never," I motioned to him in between my legs and then motioned in between my legs. I was so embarrassed that I covered my face. 

"No one's ever eaten you out before?" He quirked an eyebrow at me. I shook my head. 

"He always said it was gross. He always expected me to do the work," I groaned. Ted scoffed. 

"I don't have to if you don't want me to. But," Ted paused for a minute, "I'd absolutely love to."

I slowly removed my hands from my face, "Yeah?" I questioned, this time I quirked an eyebrow at him. 

"Baby, I wanna make you feel good. Do you you trust me?" He continued to rub my thighs to get me out of my head. 

"Absolutely," I smiled. 

"So just lay back and let me make you feel good," Ted smirked. I took a deep breath and laid on my back. I raised my hips a bit in order to help Ted get my underwear off. From the top of the bed, I could hear his breath shudder at the sight of my bare pussy. 

He planted kisses all over my thighs, but instead of stopping this time, he placed a kiss right on top of my pussy, causing me to let out an elongated whine. 

"Wow, just one touch and you're already whining for me," Ted cockily said into my core. I couldn't even speak so I just moaned in agreement. 

He extended his tongue and licked a long strip from my core right to my clit. Between the warm, wetness from his tongue and the harsh contact of his mustache on my clit, my back immediately arched off of the bed. 

As his tongue kept sucking on my clit, he slipped one finger inside of me, thrusting it in and out. 

"Mmm, Teddy, you feel so good." I moaned. 

"I can feel you clenching around my fingers darlin'." Ted lifted his face from my pussy to joke around, but if he pulled away one more time I was going to start sobbing. I tugged on his hair and forced it back in between my legs. The second I pulled on his hair, Ted let out a whine. I'll have to remember that. 

As his tongue became more hectic on my clit and his fingers pumped even faster, I inadvertently started to grind on his face. 

I  had suddenly remembered the night of the gala, when I had gotten home and touched myself to the exact thought of this. The reality is so much better than I had imagined. 

As I was getting closer to finishing, I hooked my ankles around his neck and interlaced my fingers in his hair, making sure he didn't move. 

"Teddy, I'm gonna, I'm gonna come." I whined. 

"It's alright, darlin'. Come on my face," Ted whispered. That's all it took for the cord in my lower belly to let go as I came all over Ted's face. 

"Fuuuuck,"  I breathlessly groaned as I rode out my high on Ted's face. His face stayed still, lapping up every last drop of me. He looked up at me, his eyes completely filled with lust, with my come dripping off of his mustache. His hair had become messy and was flopped over his forehead. It was the hottest thing I've ever seen. I pulled him back up to the top of the bed and immediately latched my mouth onto him. 

Correction, tasting myself on him was the hottest thing. 

I reached the bottom of his white T-shirt and pulled it over his head. I sat myself back so I could take in the sight of him. His broad shoulders. His dad-bod. The little trail of hair that lead underneath his pants. He was perfect. 

"Jesus Christ, Teddy." I groaned as I pulled him back to my mouth. As we continued to sloppily make out, I trailed my hands down his broad chest, down his stomach, and cupped him through his pants. "Do you want me to-" I looked down at his growing boner. 

"There's nothing I'd love more than your pretty little mouth on my cock, but I don't think I'd last two seconds." Ted cringed at himself as he spoke, causing me to giggle.

"Next time, then," I smiled. 

He kissed me for a few more seconds before he took off his grey sweatpants and his boxers. This man was huge, I thought to myself. But I didn't want anything more. My mouth practically watered at the sight of his throbbing cock in front of me. As he reattached his mouth onto mine, I quickly wrapped my leg around his, flipping us over so I was on top of him. 

"Is this okay?" I asked him, wanting to make sure he was still okay. 

Ted cupped my face, "Absolutely, darlin'. Can you reach over to my nightstand and grab a condom real quick?"

I smirked at him for a second before reaching over and grabbing a condom. "Did you hope this would be happening, Coach Lasso?" 

"If you call me Coach Lasso I'm gonna bust before I even get to fuck ya," Ted strained. 

"That's what does it for you?" I laughed while ripping the wrapping off of the condom and rolling it onto his throbbing cock. 

I interlocked my arms around Ted's neck as I gave myself leverage so I could slowly start to lower myself on his cock. His eyes immediately snapped shut and his breathing started to shake. He moved his hands to my hips so he could control how I move. My breath immediately hitched as I felt like he was going to split me into two. 

"Jesus, fuck, baby, you're so tight." Ted groaned, with his eyes still shut. 

"I'm not gonna move until you look at me, Teddy." I smirked, making his eyes start to flutter open. I sank down a little bit more, still getting used to the length. 

My mouth hung open, not even making any noise. I was so overtaken by the feeling of being full that my body couldn't do anything. 

After letting my pussy become accustomed to Ted, Ted groaned while looking down at us, "You got all of me, darlin'." 

That's when I began to move. Ted held my hips in place as I started to circulate my hips. I leaned down to kiss Ted, and the two of us just ended up whimpering into each others mouths. 

As I sped up my pace, Ted tried to keep his mouth latched to mine to stop me from screaming, "You gotta keep quiet, baby. You don't want Beard hearing us, do you?" Ted whimpered. 

"The whole city of Richmond could hear us for all I care. I want this entire city to know how fucking good you feel." I whimpered into Ted's mouth. 

"Fuck, Lace," Ted moaned into my mouth. There was just something about hearing Ted curse that almost made me come itself. "I'm almost there."

"Me too, baby,"  I let out a drawn out gasp. As soon as I said that, Ted reached out and used his thumb to rub circles around my sensitive clit. That completely sent me over the edge. "Fuck, Ted. I'm gonna-I'm-"

"Come with me, baby. That's it. Good girl," Ted whimpered as he could feel me clench around him. The both of us reaching our highs at the same exact time. I continued to whimper as I rode out my high, placing my forehead on Ted's forehead. Our incredibly sweaty foreheads instantly latching to one another. 

Ted slowly pulled out of me, causing me to roll over and fall onto my back, completely out of breath. I covered my face with my hands, immediately getting nervous about laying in Ted's bed naked. He must've sensed my apprehension as he almost instantaneously covered me with his sheet. 

"I'll be right back, darlin'," he whispered while kissing me on the forehead. After a moment, he comes back into the room with his boxers back on and a warm washcloth in his hands. 

"Can I?" He asked while he motioned the washcloth in between my legs. 

I could've almost sobbed. No man has ever done this for me, ever. "Of course, Teddy." I smiled. My heart was so full. 

Ted used the washcloth to help clean me up. He even took his time since he knew I was still sensitive. He got up from the bed to grab me my tank top and a pair of his boxers to wear. After I used the bathroom, I got dressed and giggled at myself in the mirror. I looked so sexed out. 

I walked back into the bedroom and my heart beamed at the sight of Ted laying in bed with his grey sweatpants and his white t-shirt back on. His back was pressed up against the headboard as he channel surfed, looking for my favorite show. He patted the spot next to him on the bed. I flopped down on the bed and nuzzled myself in his arms. 

"Here we go!" He exclaimed as he put on South Park, smiling down at me. 

"Ya know, you don't have to watch this now if you don't want to. You've already got me, Teddy." I looked up at him. 

"Actually, I don't mind. I've gotten used to it. It's actually a really good show," he laughed. As my eyes started to flutter shut, Ted must've thought I had fallen asleep since he leaned down to kiss me on the forehead before whispering, "Goodnight, my love."

That was the first night in over a week where I slept through the entire night.

authors note: there we have it folks!!!! julians dead and ted & lacy finally fucked! the end!! (jk im just getting started hehe) but this is the first time ive literally ever written smut so I hope its okay!!

taglist: @nerdgirljen

[fizzing-imagines]

Territory | Billy Hargrove x Alt! Plus Size! Reader

Note: I wrote half of this hungover, so please forgive me for any grammatical errors. I've developed the idea for this with @missingbillyhargrove so a big thank you to them! Enjoy reading 💕

Warnings: Jealousy, slight angst, screaming, hint at NSFW at the end

Word Count: 1,7k

"Which one of them, Max?", you asked your boyfriends sister while looking at the two arcade employees taking a smoke break. Max, Billy and you were sitting in his car, waiting and abserving the employees so you could get information out of them. While you two didn't want Billy there at first because he could still not move around for a prolonged amount of time, he insisted on shaperoning and coming inside with the two of you at least. You, however, made this a single-person job. "The one on the left, with the brown hair.", Max told you from the backseat. You nodded in response and took off your shirt as a response. Underneath your shirt was a low-cut pink tanktop with a rhinestone butterfly on it. Your shorts were already black and short, but it fit the outfit once you put on matching pink sneakers. "What are you doing?", Billy asked but you ignored his question and said "Max, this is am important lesson for you." while getting your hair out of your bun and messing it up a bit. "Boys might be stupid, but you can gain from their stupidity." You pulled pink heart-shaped sunglasses out of your bag and put them on top of your head. "Billy, your jacket please." Your boyfriend looked at you in disbelief, but eventually handed you his black leather jacket. Once you put it on, you let one side slide down your shoulder so it was completely bare. The two employees went back inside, which was your que. "Come on, time to learn." You pulled out a lollipop from your pocket, popped it in your mouth and left the car.

"(Y/N), what are you planning to do?", Billy continued asking while the three of you walked up to the arcade. Once again, you dismissed his question and walked through the doors first. "Act natural, I know what I'm doing.", you told them before walking up to the employee who was your target today. Max and Billy went to a game nearby to keep a close eye on you. And Billy was filled with rage and jealousy five second later.

"Excuse me?", you innocently husked at the employee. Right in front of everyone, you started flirting with the guy, giving him doe eyes, twirling your hair, squeezing your boobs up by putting one arm under them, sucking seductively on your lollipop. Billy could barely take it, seeing you laughing at the guys jokes like a dumb schoolgirl. Eventually, he wrote something down on a piece of paper. To your boyfriend, it felt like an eternity while the interaction actually lasted less than 15 minutes. With a wink, you left the employee who starred after you and was clearly looking at your ass. Billy followed immediately after you while Max reaction time was two seconds longer.

"(Y/N), what was that?", he asked you while walking next to you. "Feminine energy, Billy.", you replied while walking back to his car. He was still filled with jealous and anger, but swallowed it down. One thing he promised himself after surviving was to not get angry in front of Max anymore. But the car ride back was very quiet. The two of you dropped Max off with Steve, giving her the piece of paper with the information on it, and then drove back to the small apartment you two shared.

"(Y/N), tell me why the fuck you did that.", Billy finally demanded. He did sound angrier now. "How else was I supposed to get that information?", you replied calmly while taking his jacket off and kicking your shoes into a corner next to the door. "I don't know, threat him or something but don't flirt. Why would you do that?", he continued. His voice raised with every sentence he spoke. "I do it all the time, relax. What, do you think I'd cheat on you or something?", you replied, now pissed as well. You didn't see his problem, he was there for it and you did what you were supposed to do: Get the information Steve needed to help Eddie. "What do you mean you do it all the time, (Y/N)?!" Billy almost screamed at you now, something he barely did since Statcourt. "How the fuck do you think I got you coffee every day?!", you yelled back. "I don't know, I thought you knew a guy!", he screamed back at you. This went back and forth for a few more minutes until you've had enough. "Stop screaming at me!" Ironically, you screamed that. "You first!", he replied screaming. "You started, for fuck sake!" After that, you turned around and slammed the kitchen door behind you. You didn't want to talk to him, not when he was screaming at you.

Billy, on the other end, felt guilty once the door slammed shut. While he thought his feelings were reasonable, he didn't think he had the right to scream at you. Yes, you were right, he screamed at you first. His anger got the best of him. Ever since he woke up after the incident at Starcourt he better himself - and with that came questioning why you became his girlfriend in the first place. While you kept reassuring him how much you love him, that he's the one for you, that you will move to California with him once you graduate, he kept wondering. He felt like a failure as a partner for life. Billy still had trouble getting his anger under controll, and he really was not the best boyfriend a lot of times. He didn't understand your taste in music, or why you like D&D so much. What hurt his ego the most if that after he sacrificed himself for Eleven, one first few wounds from the Mindflayer hit him just above his groinal area - he probably couldn't even have a child with you as a result. You told him you were never sure about having kids anyways, and only needed him to feel fulfilled in life but he didn't take that. And yet you stayed. You went to every appointments you could, and stayed awake all night in the ER with him whenever he had to go. Billy felt like he didn't deserve you. He was scared that you'd leave, just like the only other person who truly loved him - his mother.

He went into the bedroom the two of you shared and curled up on your side on the bed. That's something he always did when he was sad and you weren't around. Now especially. After trying to hold it in, he couldn't help but start crying. It was quiet at first, but his emotions put him in such physical pain that he started sobbing. The healing wound on his chest didn't help with the pain as it was violently shaken with every sob that left his mouth. And you heard it evening.

"Billy?" You knocked on the door, but didn't get a response. Just more sobs. "Billy, I'm coming in." Carefully, you opened the door and saw him, curled into a ball, sobbing into your pillow. "Oh, baby..", you mumbled as you walked over to him. At this point, you couldn't even tell if he knew that you were there or not. You carefully sat down on his side of the bed and touched his shoulder lightly. "Billy, baby, come here.", you said while leaning your back against the headboard. Billy did come over, he placed his head in your lap and continued crying there, even though it quietet down while you stroked his head.

Once he calmed down and the sobs tuned down to sniffs, you decided to talk again. "What's going on in that pretty head of yours, Billy?", you asked while letting a knuckle trace over his cheek. However, he didn't say anything. "You can tell me, I wanna know what goes on in your head.", you then added. He remained silent for a few more seconds until he finally talked. "I'm a shit boyfriend.", he mumbled while holding onto your hand.

"No, you're not.", you replied. "I've told you before Billy-" "I know, (Y/N), I know you said all these things but I still can't help it.", he interrupted you. "You're always so nice to me, and I was so mean in the beginning. And I don't even know why you're still with me. I mean, you could be with Gareth or Eddie instead of me. They were always nice to you." You listened to his rant and didn't say anything until he finished. "But I don't want Gareth or Eddie, I want Billy.", you said to him. Finally, he sat up from his place in your lap and looked at you. His eyes were red and puffy, with some fresh tears still in his eyes and on his cheek. You whiped the tears off of his face before giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Is that why you were angry before?" He nodded, then leaned his head against your shoulder. "That's okay baby, I won't do it again. Promise." You kissed the top of his head. "I'm not leaving you, Billy." He took his hand into yours and squeezed it tightly. "You're stuck with me until death do us part." A slight chuckle left his mouth. There was some silence between the two of you until you talked again. "I've been saving up for a house, you know." His head arose from your shoulder and he looked at you. "You know, birthday money, babysitting and the boys give me some money when I help them set up their equipment at The Hideout. And with graduation money, it could be enough." He didn't know what to say to that, it actually surprised him. You never told him that. All he knew was that you sometimes babysat some family friends kids, but he thought that that's how you pay some of the rent, while your parents graciously paid for most of the flat you two lived in. He couldn't find a job yet, his spine still wasn't fully healed after reconstructive surgery and your parents even paid for that. They just told him that they've never seen you so happy with any boy, and that it's okay to pay for their future son-in-law. "I love you, (Y/N).", it finally blurted out of him. "I love you, too, Billy."

Later that night, he covered your neck in hickeys to make sure everyone knows you're his.

[thelargefrye]

Maybe “trials of fire” for the game pleas and thank you

TRIALS OF FIRE

pairing : avatar!hongjoong x non-bender!f!reader genre : atla au, angst, eventual poly relationship warnings : canon atla violence, yn gets burned / is scared of fire

note : not the official chapter two, but more of a teaser for what is to come!

"i think we should head into the town," hongjoong starts as he points towards the sign on the bulletpost outside the nearby fire nation town.

you and yunho immediately look at each other while san and mingi seems just as energetic as hongjoong.

"i-i don't know about this hongjoong," you say, trying to discourage him from wanting to go into fire nation territory.

"but they're having a fire festival, i might be able to see some actual fire benders in action," he argues back and you open your open to say something, but yeosang butts in.

"i think its a good idea," he says, shocking you and yunho.

"you do?" yunho asks, the surprise evident in this tone just as much as his face.

"yeah, i mean it can give hongjoong the opportunity to see some fire benders like he said," yeosang explains and you feel like this is an argument you won't win. so with a heavy sigh you agree in silence.

you feel a sense of nervousness and dread wash over you as you and the others walked into the fire nation town, disguises on.

mingi takes notice your distress and grabs ahold of one of your bandaged hands, his warmth seeping underneath as he gives you an encouraging squeeze.

the six of you had split up with you being paired with mingi. you had taken notice of how many people were wearing mask and in order to blend in more, you both had gotten one. mingi had a smiling spirit that reminded you of the sun while you had gotten a blue dragon one.

"hey look! there's a large crowd over there!" mingi said before pulling you towards the crowd and you immediately found the others who were also attracted to the crowd.

"and for my next trick i will need a volunteer!" the performer on the stage said. san immediately raised his hand along with hongjoong; however, the performer's eyes settled on you. "how about you, young lady!"

you shook your head in quick successions but the performer wasn't taking a no for an answer, "oh, she's shy! everyone, give her some encouragement!"

the crowd suddenly started to cheer as people from the crowd pushed you towards the stage. everything after that happened in such a whirling fire blur and you felt the dread grow bigger in your stomach as fear began to overtake you.

the next thing you knew is hongjoong jumping on stage and ruining whatever trick the performer was doing.

"hey look! its the avatar!" someone from the crowd shouted earning the attention of several guards. hongjoong moved quickly in scooping you up in his arms and jumping away from the fire nation guards.

"y/n... are you okay?" yunho looks at you concerned as you all managed to escape out of the town with the help of a man.

"i-i'm fine," you say finally feeling like you managed to snap out of your fear induced trance. yunho looks at you like he doesn't believe you, and tries to question you but you all land before he gets the chance.

"that guy is fire nation," yeosang points out after you all land. the man jumping down off of tiny's back while you slide off of moni's with the others.

"i know a man who can teach you how to fire bend," the stranger tells hongjoong as you all walk through the forest. "he use to be a great general, but left. he's the first fire bender to every walk away from the fire nation and live," he continues to explain. he goes to tell you all that the former general's name is chen while his own is jihyun.

"will he really teach me?" hongjoong seems amazed at the idea of learning how to fire bend. like the other two elements are not as important.

"hongjoong... are you sure its a good idea to learn fire bending now? i mean, you haven't even learned water or earth," yunho tries to reason with the avatar, but once again hongjoong doesn't listen. his mind is set on learning how to fire bend now.

when hongjoong goes to talk to chen... or master chen, he comes back saying that the general is going to teach him how to fire bend. you know it must have took some convincing at first from hongjoong's side, but it worked.

the next few days, you witness just how impatient hongjoong truly is. master chen often leaving him alone for hours to just... breathe. you can tell master chen doesn't want to teach him while hongjoong is getting tired of learning how to breathe. it was kind of funny when you think about it.

"here, keep this leaf burning for as long as you can, but make sure it doesn't touch the edges," the fire bender tells the avatar as he hands him a small leaf before having to run off. you stand not to far from hongjoong as he complains once more.

"i'm sure he has his reasons for making you do this," you try to reason, but hongjoong refuses to listen. suddenly, the leaf catches on fire surprising you as you step back away from him.

"wow, do you see this, y/n! i can bend fire!" he shouts as he starts to try and juggle the fire like how the performer did.

"hongjoong! be careful!" you shout as you watch him try to create a fire tornado. you hold your hands up in fear, a startled cry as the fire comes dangerous close to you.

you then let out a painful cry as you feel hongjoong's fire burning through your bandages and making contact with your hands. you drop to the ground clutching your hands close to your chest as you feel tears begin to form in your eyes.

the others quickly arrive, probably having heard your cry. yeosang is the first to reach you as he bends down to try and talk to you, but you feel something take over you as you push him away. tears blurring your eyes and fear running through your veins as you get up and dash off into the forest.

"what did you do?" yunho questions, tone filled with anger as he looks at his travel companion.

"i-i-i i didn't mean too! i thought i had it under control!"

"we had warned you about this, but ignored us! now look what you did, you burned y/n!" yunho hisses before dashing off in an attempt to find you.

hongjoong can't help the guilt that washes over him as he watches the others soon disappear in an attempt to find you. yeosang remains though, a guilty expression painting his face as he looks between hongjoong and where you ran off. finally, yeosang turns and runs after you disappearing into the tree line.

"i told you, you weren't ready to learn fire. it is a dangerous element that cannot be controlled," master chen speaks as he appears behind hongjoong.

"i didn't mean too hurt her," he says.

"what's done is done. you and your group must leave now, or be destroyed!" master chen says before disappearing once and leaving hongjoong by himself.

"i'm so sorry..."

tag list : @invuwrld @frankenstein852 @watamotee33 @kawennote09 @mixling-blog @marahleiwhen @kpopnightingale @harry-the-pottypus @rdiamond2727 @sanniesbum @marvelahsobx @voidcupidz @khjcoo @mysticfire0435 @exfolitae @kangskims @cvpitvno @iwannabemyselfff

[jaeminscoffee]

Colours | X. Dj

Pairing» Xiaojun x f!Reader

Genre» Angst, Fluff, Smut (suggestive)

Warning(s)» Friends to lovers trope, Xiaojun kinda loses his temper but that subdues, heavy makeout session, groping, public sex, fingering, implied sex towards the ending (open imagination since the request was kinda vague), steamy, our boi dejun get's flustered by Y/n's bubbly personality. I think that's about it. Lmao not proof read, so it will contain a hell lot of mistakes.

Wc; type» 2.06k ; oneshot

Red.

All Xiaojun could see is Red. 

To have the person who dragged him all the way to some stupid reunion party against his will to abandon him in the first five minutes with the pathetic excuse of "I'll go grab us some drinks" only to never return back to his aid had Xiaojun boil with anger. 

To have you smiling and laughing, clinging and grasping at a man he's never seen before is Infuriating. 

To see you so smitten by a guy other than Xiaojun had him seeing crimson with comically visible smoke coming out of his ears, arms shaking, jaw set rigid with palms growing moist from all the clenching and unclenching. 

Xiaojun felt yellow. 

He felt insecure at how the man before you just seemed to be much to your taste. 

He felt unsure of whether or not he should risk walking up to you and talk the talk he'd wanted to let out since the day you stood up for the lad. And inevitably, and much to his pleasure, stood by him in the process till date. 

He felt that maybe, just maybe, he's not worthy of having a girl as astounding as you. And all that sliver of hope he'd held onto only seemed to be slipping away from his grasp. 

Xiaojun felt blue. 

The dreading feeling that he'd lose all that the two of you built until where your relationship stands today with a single mistake bubbles inside of him. 

Watching you from afar with a man potentially your dream guy just made him feel blue. Numb, and as though a part of him was slowly chipping away. 

The immense feeling of sheer sadness had him want to turn on his heels and back out to what he thinks "get out of your way" and to prevent further breakage of his heart. 

Until he saw red again. 

Watching you throw yourself at this stranger, arms tightly wrapped around the bastard's waist, hips joint, with his hands running through the soft curls of your tresses, "who does he think he is?" 

How entitled must this man think he is to expand the white between the two of you? You and Xiaojun were meant to be and he'd only flick your head and call you stupid if you ever said otherwise. 

Eyebrows furrowing as Xiaojun followed each of your actions. How your chin tucks and you hide your face in this 'dream bastard's' chest, arms idly resting on his torso, your hair covering your face from all the moving around. He kept watching you;

Until your gaze met. 

Time seemed to stand still, in a much cliché fashion. Seeing the expressionless look on his face seemed to have clicked the power on button somewhere in your head.

You'd unintentionally abandoned the man you promised you wouldn't. 

Almost as though Xiaojun could see the wheels turning inside your head, he sneers at you, immediately turning around to walk into a corner the moment he saw you approaching him through the crowd filled with hookers, stoners, and people too bored for their own good. 

"Jun, wait up!" 

He could hear your shrill voice call out to him the moment he rounded a turn. He didn't turn, however, mind clouded red, crimson and ebony with jealousy, envy and all mixed emotions, he felt dizzy. 

You catching up to him only seemed to worsen his dizziness, "Jun! I-i'm so sorry i forgot about you, it's just my b-" 

"Forgot about me, huh?" Xiaojun's voice comes gruff, hoarse from the inadequate usage. He doesn't bother turning around to look at you, wouldn't have done much anyways, the lighting of the area so dim, he can barely make out your silhouette. 

Besides, his vision is clouded with black, wouldn't have done much anyways. 

"No no, not forget forget about you! I just got caught up with my b-" 

"boyfriend? Y/n, are you oblivious to not know how  I feel? Am I vague? Oh I'm sorry, am I not obvious enough?" Through the darkness, you could see Xiaojun's shoulder shake, his tone strained, his head hung low, avoiding your gaze the closer you got. "Jun, what are you talking about?" 

You seemed to be feeling grey, confused. 

"Your boyfriend, Y/n." 

"Jun, boyfriend-!" "I like you damn it!" you flinch as he abruptly turns around, the red building inside him so rapidly that it inevitably ends up exploding.

"You know I like you, no, I love you. Why else would you have been waltzing around acting like a pliant, docile girlfriend?" The grey intensifies within you the faster Xiaojun talks quick strides towards you. 

Your silence and the unconscious stepping back seemed to plant a seed of yellow within him again. "You led me on. You seemingly ignored my feelings. Because you obviously know I like you, don't you?" The red appears again, mixing with the intense yellow, blending into a terrific orange as Xiaojun closes the space between the two of you with newfound confidence. 

"You like me.." you whisper, your palms pressing onto the greasy wall behind you where Xiaojun had you cornered, your eyes shaking in ecstasy. He likes you, no. He loves you.

"You need to a whole 'nother level of airhead if you think i view you merely as a friend-" Somewhere in your head, you know he's talking to you, but his voice seems to numb out in the beautiful crimson that's taking over your heart, with a slight mix of elegant yellow and purple so faint it could come off as violet. "You like me!" you look up at him. 

"-Yes, Y/n, keep up god damn! But do you care? Of course not! You go get yourself a boyfriend while i wallow in self pity-" 

"Oh god you like me!" you bounce with all the vibrant colors swirling inside you, your arms lifting up to wrap around the lads neck, who jumps at the unexpected action, looking down at you with a mixture of confusion and slight fury.

"Does it matter, Y/n? Your boyfriend's probably looking for you now-" 

"Jun, what are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend!" you pull him down to be leveled with you, looking him intensely in the eye as you watch the familiar grey dominate his irises. 

"Th-Then, that man you were all over..? You cannot possibly tell me he's not your boyfriend" he seems to be fighting to hold onto the red fury as it slowly turns into a rosy flush. "The man I was all over..?" you question seemingly to yourself, as the wheels turn  in your head once again until the entire process comes to an abrupt halt at the realization hitting you. 

"Jun, that's my brother! My cousin!" 

The look on the lad's face is so incredulous that you break out into a cheshire grin, "you were jealous of my brother?" you giggle, as you playfully punch at his chest which deflates as he radiates bright crimson, skin heated. 

"o-okay brother. brother, alright. Though, I still don't stand a chance, do i?" Xiaojun questions, stammering with embarrassment while being overcome with a sudden sense of blue. Sure you didn't have a boyfriend, doesn't change the fact that you're way out of his league. 

You stare into his eyes, hoping that would somehow convey the answer to his question, but the more you just look at him, the more the light in his eyes seems to dim out. 

Offering him a soft smile, which he doesn't seem to notice, you catch him off guard when you lift his head up, tilting it while pressing your lips onto his ever so gently. Providing a soft peck as you sigh in ecstasy. 

You let your lips linger a little longer, silently pouring out your heart into the soft action of affection before hesitantly pulling away. 

"Does that answer your question?" your gentle voice pulls Xiaojun out of his haze. 

You kissed him. You like him. He stands a chance with you. 

That seems to snap the last bit of self restraint in him as he captures your lips once again with much fervor. Molding his lips with yours, all signs of softness thrown out of the window as his hands circle your hips, pulling you flush against him. 

The feeling of your heat encircling him makes him groan into the kiss, making a wave of shock run through your spine. The hairs on your hand standing proud as you play with the hair at the back of his neck, pulling at it. 

Biting down on your lips, Xiaojun positively earns a moan from you. He takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into yours, easily dominating your tongue as you slowly, subconsciously start grinding against him, making him squeeze tight at your hips. 

"I.. Love you.. Jun" you say in between the kiss as his hands travel further south, groping at your ass, pulling you in, supporting your grinds on his crotch.

"Fuck.." he sighs at the words, slithering wet kisses from your lips to the edge of your lips, moving onto the jaw before choosing to nip at the skin, "say it again, doll" he rasps onto your neck, while his hands sneakily makes its way under the flimsy material of your skirt, thumbing at your growing wetness while staring intently at you, silently asking for the green flag to proceed.

"I.. I love you. I love you, Xiaojun!" you nod at him while pouring all your adoration onto the lad, you'd waited too long for the two of you to take it slow from now on forth. 

Xiaojun moves your panties to the side, immediately finding the bundle of nerves, pressing nimbly onto your clit, basking in your little whimpers and shakes. 

He wastes no time to draw figure eights onto the sensitive bud, cooing at you while marking his territory on your neck, your jaw, the naked skin of your shoulders and collarbone, exposed by the off shoulder top you'd chosen for the evening. 

"I love you, too, princess. You've no idea how long I've waited for this moment." he moans onto your neck while sliding in a slender digit into your wet cavern. 

You grow frantic, soaking in all the emotions Xiaojun is pouring onto you with his actions and words, being pulled close to your high, embarrassing faster than you'd appreciate.

"You've no idea how many times I'm imagined taking you until all you can remember is my name, not even yours" he starts moving his digits after fitting in another one of his long fingers, the slick pouring out of your cunt pooling onto his palms as your moans come out as squeals. Your brain is hazing with a pleasant pink, blue and red. All of the emotions overwhelming you.

"You look gorgeous, doll face" he kisses softly at the side of your lips when you start clenching around his fingers, the knot in your stomach threatening to snap.

"J-Jun.." you sigh, face flush with content, legs shaking, your form only being held up by his strong grip, his intense gaze making you feel so small, so vulnerable, all the tell-tale signs of your orgasm nearing you present as he accelerates his fingers, clearly catching onto the fact that you'd come undone any second. 

"You gonna come for me, pretty? Am I making you feel good?" he grunts while nibbling at the lobe of your ears, digits moving so fast inside your calls that you can hear the squelching obscene voices of your walls over the loud music playing in the background, his palm constantly rubbing against your clit. 

"Feel's so g-good, Jun.." You grip onto his forearm to keep you grounded as your orgasm washes over you. Your jaw slacks as you convulse around his fingers. Xiaojun cooing praises into your ears as he helps you ride out your orgasm, pulling you into a kiss as you push his fingers away when he slowly drives you into overstimulation. 

"Fuck, you're perfect." he stares at you with adoration while you catch your breath. Forcing yourself to step out of your daze. You smile shyly until it turns into a sly smirk as you move your hands to grab at his painfully evident dent, slowly rasping out as you move closer to him,

"Your place or mine?" 

The red never felt so satisfying to Xiaojun until now. 

[mygnolia]

hardly yours | hhj

s: You love him, love him more than anything else. 

p: hyunjin x fem-pres!reader

wc: 1.2k

au: angst, fluff, unreturned feelings, angsty friends to lovers, open ending

cw: unrequited love, overthinking, wallowing in self-pity? 

a/n: have i hit a writing slump? yes. do i primarily come on here to self-project and write about kpop boys? yeah.

© All rights belong to mygnolia copyrighted 2021. Any republished or reposted work on this site and sites differing from original under other names will be reported and removed immediately.

You’ve been friends with Hyunjin for such a long time that it comes to little surprise that you’ve got feelings for the boy. It comes slowly, in the way you grin as he rolls his eyes, when he dances and sings like he has no one watching, or when he looks at you. He watches you with warm eyes, sometimes they’re crinkled half moons and squeaky giggles, or it’s playful glares and feigned disappointment that has you breaking into a grin, too. Sometimes, it’s everything, and most of the time, it makes your heart lurch. 

Hyunjin’s just been that constant in your life; you don't think there’s been a time where you lived  without him. That boy would drive you out to open hills to watch the stars and brush hair behind your ear or lay on the red and white blanket with you. 

And you don’t think you could have not loved him. Hyunjin, who maybe you care too much about, or maybe he’s over protective over you, and you, who Hyunjin has always wanted the best for. So could you really be blamed for your feelings?

You go on like this. Weeks, months, days pass, and the feelings subside to subtle smiles, and you think you’re back to feeling like friends over feeling like a crush. You relish in the feeling that he makes you happy, and he acts oblivious to your evergrowing emotions. It’s fine- Hyunjin doesn’t need to like you back. You told yourself that you were fine so often that it began to grow a separation between the truth and what you told yourself. As long as you stay friends, you’re happy he’s still here. While it was a game of cat and mouse that could have jeopardized his feelings if he ever found out, you still would have stayed in that compromising situation if it meant being friends with Hyunjin. Because having Hyunjin never return your feelings is better than not having him at all.

For a long time, you think about Hyunjin as if he were yours. You don’t mean to use him for all of your daydreaming moments, but he’s so easy to fit into those scenarios. He buys you flowers, he cooks you dinner, he cuddles on the couch and laughs at dumb movies with you, and maybe you sleep together in the same bed, and it’s like he loves you. It might have been a stretch when you thought he loved you back. It was something you felt like was prone to happen, too. Everything the boy did felt so personal that you failed to realize that he might have done it for all the other constants in his life. That it was just his personality, and that he really only saw you as a friend.  

The rose-tinted high comes to an abrupt stop when you realize that every fleeting moment he doesn’t spend with you, he spends with her, and every moment he’s not with you, he falls in love. 

You hate the drop in your stomach when you find out, or maybe you despise the betraying feelings that follow. You are happy for him, but the sinking feelings make you realize you’re walking towards a territory that’s off-limits from you once he dropped the news that he’s got a crush, and he might even love her. And it’s like highschool, and you’re back to all the dances where he wasn’t by your side. Where, when he wasn’t with you, he was with someone else, maybe laughing harder, smiling even harder, falling in love even faster. It’s a pang to your heart with every emotion he spills and every dreamy sigh he exhales. You’re happy for Hyunjin for finding someone he cares about, yes, but you wish it would have been you. So, so bad. 

Even on the days where you try and pick her apart to find some single flaw, it’s hard for you to find comfort in it. You don’t want to try to push her down and stomp on her personality just to stop feeling jealous, but it just feels like everything you did would never measure up to the things she did. She’s lovely in every way- she’s sweet and honest and you can’t help but wonder if Hyunjin feels the same for her as you feel for him. 

And you can’t help but wonder what it would be like if he felt the same for you. 

Just like your feelings for him, you hit the realization that maybe he’s also moved on from you as a friend. He’s got her, and she's everything you are and more, so why does Hyunjin need you? Why does Hyunjin need you when it feels like he’s fine without you? 

“It’s because you’re a friend. It’s different with you. You make me happy in a different way, and I want you to stay.” He tells you, earnestly watching your reaction. You unclench your jaw and clench it again, all of the things he said but didn’t mean chipping you little by little. 

“I’ll still be your friend. We just won’t be that close.” You explain, treading on thin ice and vague words. “I don’t want to get in the way of you and her.”

“But I want us to be close. He intertwined his middle and index fingers to the universal good luck sign and showed it to you. “Like this.” He smiles at his analogy. 

But I can’t, and it’s because I keep wishing you were mine, and I wished I was her instead. 

You don’t know how Minnie feels about Hyunjin. Maybe she doesn’t like him back, and you’d ask just to alleviate things for your best friend, but you and her aren’t on close terms. You’re friends, yes, but she’s got other closer people in her life that you’re merely acquaintances. 

The same crush stretches on until the end of college, and when the three of you part for your own reasons, he stops feeling that way about her, and you stop feeling about him as well. You and Hyunjin aren’t necessarily close as you used to be, but you’re still occasionally talking. When you two meet up just to catch up, you reminisce over your experiences as kids until her name shows up in the conversation. 

“I just realized you never told me who you liked.” He says, thinking about the situation again. 

“It just wasn’t important to me.” You half-lie, looking down at the swirling liquid and ice in your hands. 

You look up to see Hyunjin lost in thought, a small pout evident on his features. “Well, I kept going on about Minnie for a while and you thought that was important, so why’s it different here?”  

You sigh. “Hyunjin, I liked you.” You stifle a small laugh at the way his eyes widen a bit before squinting in concentration. You’re not in college anymore, you don’t have feelings for him anymore, but the ghost of your unrequited love lingers for a bit too long. “You don’t have to say anything. It was weird for all of us.” You appease, patting the top of his blonde hair. 

“You could have been mine,” He breathes, as if it was some wonder he just learned about. “And yet we didn’t do anything about it.” 

You scoff lightly, chuckling before taking a sip of your drink. “Hyunjin, I was hardly yours to begin with.” 

[we-have-bangtan]

Again.

Pairing: Doctor! Yoongi x Patient! Reader

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Crack (??), Ex's, smut

Warning: Swearing, smut (just an old memory)

Synopsis: When Yn is forced to go to the hospital after falling down the stairs of her office. The doctor who was to attend to her was none other than her ex-boyfriend Min Yoongi.

A/n: let me know if you like it! And give me a reblog to support me!!!

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Yn turned over onto her back, her eyes still closed. She wondered silently why her normally soft bed was hard today. With another roll, she landed with a thud on the cold, hard floor, jolting her awake.

When the blinding lights of the room filled her vision, she suddenly regretted opening her eyes. She sat on the floor, rubbing her eyes to clear the sleep from them, oblivious to the drool on her chin. Her eyes opened in confusion when she saw the IV line on her wrist, her gaze following the line, attached to a bottle mounted onto an IV stand.

She sprang to her feet immediately, taking in her surroundings: the IV stand, the white bed, white walls, the hand sanitizer mounted on the wall, the white floor tiles, and the white blinds that kept the sunshine out.

A hospital? She guessed as she took in all the equipment, the machines that beeped every few seconds were a dead giveaway. Is this a private room? She asked herself, trying to find any clue which hospital this was when the door swung open.

Min Yoongi entered the room, wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck. He walked over to her side and encouraged her to take a seat on the bed.

"Where am I?" Despite the fact that she already knew the answer, she inquired. "Take a wild guess," Yoongi replied dryly as he flipped through the papers on his clipboard. Yn racked her brain for the name of the hospital; she was certain she knew which one Yoongi had been working at, but her mind was blank, displaying only a buffering page similar to that of a 2004 Dell laptop.

"Did you really hit your head that hard?"  Yoongi said what he was thinking, a little concerned for her safety. "Do you have a headache? Can you recall what you ate for breakfast or what happened just before you passed out? "He questioned.

"My head hurts a bit, so for breakfast, I had cinnamon crunch with milk, and lunch I had a sandwich. Walking down the stairs is the last thing I recall," She responded. All of her responses matched what her coworkers had told them, leading Yoongi to believe that Yn simply didn't know where he worked and that her head was okay.

He was irritated that Yn had no idea where he worked, but he forced his resentment to the back of his mind before informing her that she was in a private room at Asan Medical Centre in Seoul. "Wait, are you serious?" She yelled as she struggled to get out of bed.

"Yes, seriously," he explained, forcing her back onto the bed "You fell down the stairs in your office and one of your colleagues brought you in; you were unconscious for 5 hours; you will need to stay the night so we can run some tests on you; you will need to stay the night so we can run some tests on you," he added. "Why on earth do you have no idea I work at Asan?"He demanded once he was done briefing her.

"I would have noticed if you hadn't blocked me on all your social media pages," Yn said after some thought. She hisses, reminding him why she was blocked in the first place. "I wouldn't have had to block you if you hadn't started tagging me in those dumb Facebook memes," he retorted as he paging one of the nurses to come to change the IV bag.

"Is there something bothering you? Aside from your head," Yoongi inquired, reaching for his fancy click pen, which Yn had given him in college. "You still use that?" She inquired, her gaze falling on the royal blue color of the pen, the brand name has faded over time. He calmly replied, "I started using it once I got my residence, now answer the question."

To search for any injury, Yn moved her limbs around, starting with her feet. She turned them around to look for any discomfort before moving on to her legs, which were still perfect.  She eventually tested her shoulders and despite her best efforts, winced in pain as she raised her left shoulder.

"Left shoulder, okay. Do you feel nauseous?"  Yn shook her head as Yoongi asked more.

"Any ringing in your ears?"

"Nope"

"Is that gray hair on your head?" Yn interjected, pointing to a few strands at the start of Yoongi's hairline. He dismissed her and instead scribbled a note on his clipboard.

"OK, so you don't have any concussion symptoms, your hearing is good, and you're not feeling dizzy and your eyesight is better than ever before considering the fact that you could pick out my gray hair from that far. We still have some blood work to do and I'm putting you on observation tonight in case any symptom pops up, you're free to go home after that," Yoongi informed.

He reasoned that saying anything else would be unprofessional of him. Heading for the door when, "Yah, why am I in a private room in the first place?" Yn intervened, preventing him from leaving. Yoongi replied, turning around to face her, "I figured it would be more convenient for you."

"Bruh, do you have any idea how broke I am," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her stomach. "I ain't a hotshot doctor to be able to afford a private room in Asan Medical Centre," she sneered. "Who said something about you paying?" asked Yoongi. As he returned to her side. "So, who is going to foot the bill?  You? " She inquired, he nodded, causing her jaw to drop. She was perplexed by his words and asked, "Why would you do that?" "What good is it to be a hotshot doctor?" He shrugged.

The mental picture of a very sleepy and confused Yn, with her hair all tangled up and a tiny spot of drool on her face had made him soft, and there was no stopping his heart from falling head over heels for her all over again as he walked out of the room, the smile he had been battling slowly crept into place...

.

.

.

Yoongi peeked into Yn's room after his shift, his shoulders slouching from the stress of his job. He had his coat and stethoscope wrapped over his arm, his hair slightly damp from the shower he had taken, his white t-shirt clinging to his body.

When they were dating, one of Yn's 'rules' was that if he wanted to get close to her, he had to shower after returning from the hospital because she hated the scent of antiseptic. With the scent of antiseptic all over her, he wondered how she was doing.

He discovered her in bed, knees drawn up to her stomach, phone in hand, the screen almost brushing her nose as she mindlessly scrolled through Instagram. Her food, which had been left on the side table, had not been touched.

He warned, walking into the room, "You'll go blind if you keep doing that." Yn's head snapped up at his voice but calmed down when she saw who it was. He drew up a stool next to the bed and checked what Yn had received from the hospital. Soup, kimchi, rice, and pickled radishes were served on the side (Yn hated those). "Is the food not to your liking?" Concerned about her dietary habits, he inquired.

"They don't have any salt or spice," she replied as she stowed her phone. Yoongi grimaced after taking a sip of the soup. There was no salt or pepper and was as bland as raw tofu.

"SEE!!" Yn screamed, delighted that she had been proven right, but Yoongi, not one to concede defeat, put on a display. "How come it's so salty?" His face scrunched up in exaggeration as he groaned. "Stop acting, I can see right through you," Yn said, raising an eyebrow to call him out on his nonsense.

"All right, fine, you're right," Yoongi conceded as Yn yanked the sheets off herself and reached for his shoulders. He thought it was strange, but didn't say anything when she gently rubbed the spot near his collar, the tension in his shoulders dissipating as she applied pressure. He'd always thought Yn had magical hands. It felt like a miracle to have her hands on him again, something he had never expected to feel again.

"Can you tell me what I can do to get you to order me a plate of jjajangmyeon?" Yn asked. Yoongi thought, Darn it, I knew it was a trap, but he was too relaxed to say no. As she worked out the knots in his muscles, he melted under Yn's touch. She was no longer connected to the IV, enabling her to freely move about the room.

"I knew you were only in it for food," he chuckled, moving away from her to grab his phone from his coat, "What else did you think I was in it for?" Yn jested, playing along as she massaged his shoulders.

"Only jjajangmyeon?" He questioned, scrolling through the options, Yn looking at the phone from over his shoulder. "Order some side dishes too," she added, Yoongi let out a groan when Yn put pressure on THE SPOT at the back of his shoulder blade, the sound making Yn blush. "Stop that, people will think we're filing a porno," Yn scolded lightheartedly, continuing her ministering.

"I don't think we need to film any more of those, I have a whole collection already," Yoongi teased. His gummy smile showing up when he felt Yn's hand round his throat, threatening to choke him. "I think it's the other way round," he scoffed. His heart going into dangerous territory.

Yoongi remembered the night he had discovered Yn's choking kink, it had been a very eventful night. He had just come back home from the hospital when he had heard moaning coming from his bedroom, he had walked inside, totally unprepared for the breathtaking view that awaited him.

Watching porn wasn't considered cheating by Yoongi as long as Yn showed him what she was watching so he knew what they were getting into. When he walked in on Yn in his rotating chair, her legs spread out on the armrest, touching herself to a film about choking, he was pleasantly surprised. He went up behind her softly and wrapped his fingers around her throat, not putting much pressure. When Yn groaned for him, he felt himself harden in his pants and murmured, "You like that baby."

"Stop imagining it," Yn snapped, pushing away from Yoongi, "How do you expect me to just stop, those were some great moments of my life," he chuckled when his phone rang. It had something to do with the meal. He went to get the dinner by himself, leaving Yn alone.

When he returned with her dinner, he delivered it to her before saying his goodbyes and preparing to leave. "Enjoy your meal and get some sleep," he added as he gathered his belongings. "Where are you going?" Yn inquired. "Home??" Yoongi answered, taking his phone from the table when Yn stopped him. "Did you have dinner?" she asked, opening up the takeout box to reveal a generous serving of jjajangmyeon.

"Not yet, I was planning on getting some on the way," He answered, waiting for Yn to say anything. "Then you should stay and give me some company, it's not like I can finish all this on my own," She mumbled. "You sure?" Yoongi confirmed, taking his place on the chair as Yn grabbed the chopsticks from the bedside table, letting him have the wooden chopsticks that the restaurant provides.

They both dug into the meal, savoring every mouthful. In the otherwise peaceful hospital, just the sound of them slurping their noodles and the beep of the monitors could be heard. The majority of the patients were fast asleep, and those who were awake were taking special precautions to avoid making any noise.

Yn was the one who broke the stillness by inquiring about Holly. He said, licking his lips to get rid of the sauce, "She's good, I got her a ribbon for her ears the other day." He was intrigued about Yn's cranky cat, Buster, who had scratched Holly once. Yoongi's heart dropped to his stomach as Yn replied, "We had to put him down."

Although he was simply a large, sluggish cat who refused to get his butt off the window pane, Buster had been Yn's pride and joy, her support system. "That must have been difficult," Yoongi paused, unsure of how to express his condolences.

"It had to be done; he was in a lot of agony," Yn shrugged, shaking her head to clear her mind. "How are the boys doing?  I haven't seen them since we broke up" Yoongi's six other friends were the subject of Yn's inquiry. He assured her everyone was ok. "You might see Jungkook tomorrow," he said, explaining that he had taken the day off today. "Does Jungkookie work here?" Yn inquired, quite surprised by the information. "Yes, he's an intern trying to get his residence, surprising isn't it," Yoongi admitted.

Yn burped after she finished her dinner, making Yoongi laugh at how cute she looked. Once Yn had freshened up, Yoongi said, "Ok, now that you've finished eating, I'll go home, and YOU'LL go to sleep." "You always leave," Yn remarked, rolling her eyes. The words weighed heavy on his mind as he tucked her in. On his way out, he turned out the light and gave her one last look before walking away.

Yoongi slouched his shoulders again once he was in his car. The words Yn had just said reverberated in his mind. Since he had broken up with Yn, the words "You always leave" had tormented him. He had been in love with her, yet he was the one who had abandoned her. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, HE LEFT HER. It was painful to recall the details of their breakup.

Yn crying into his chest, asking why she wasn't enough. Him holding her as fiercely as he could, not knowing if he'd ever get another chance. His cowardice had broken both of them that night. He'd run away from one of the most precious part of his life, and he still regrets it.

They had broken up because of him. Yoongi always believed Yn deserved someone better than him, she was too good for him. She had yelled at him when he had told her that. Saying that it was her who got to decide who was worth her time and affection, and if h really thought h didn't deserve her then maybe he should make himself deserving, she had said that that was the solution for Yoongi's thoughts, breaking up was not the solution, but he was stubborn as a mule, refusing to see how he was destroying both of them and everything they had.

And now here he was, striving to be less of a wimp than he had been all those years before. He remembered how enraged the boys had been when he told them what he'd done. "Have you gone insane?" All Yoongi could do was nod when Jin Hyung asked. Yes, he'd gone nuts, which was why he'd been insane enough to let her go. He had no problem admitting it.

He cruised around the deserted roads, far too late in the evening for anyone to be out. He considered calling Jin hyung for advice, but he opted against it because he assumed he was already in bed. For the rest of the night, he was alone with his thoughts, his mind eating away at him, keeping him awake at night, tossing and turning in bed, contemplating what they could have been if he hadn't been a coward.

.

.

.

.

The next morning was the same as any other, the only difference being the speed of Yoongi's car when he was on his way to the office. The usual 60km/h had escalated to 80km/h and he was certainly a little too excited for someone who was going to be at the hospital for the next 18 hours.

He was walking up the corridor to Yn's room after exiting the elevator on the third level when he heard screams. "MOVE, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY PEOPLE!" shouted Yn as Jungkook pushed her wheelchair down the slanted corridor quicker.

What the fuck!!, Yoongi thought as he saw Jungkook climb onto the wheelchair's back supports, watching in horror as the two of them laughed and giggled their way down the corridor at full speed (which wasn't much speed btw), completely disregarding the 'no noise' and 'no running' placards which were stuck to the wall.

He quickly stepped in the way, feeling a little sense of joy watching Jungkook's eyes widen in fright. Bringing the wheelchair to a screeching halt a few inches away from Yoongi. "Good morning, Hyung!!" he said cheerfully as if he hadn't just broken every regulation in the hospital.

"Can you tell me what you're up to?" His gaze fell on Yn, who appeared to be having the time of her life. "Relax, Yoongo-boongo," Yn remarked. Yoongi frowned at the old nickname, which he had pleaded with Yn to abandon.

"This is risky, you know," Yoongi said, "especially since you wounded your shoulder," He added, quick to understand that Jungkook had no idea about Yn's wounded shoulder. "You hurt your shoulder?!?" the younger one screamed. Yn scowled at Yoongi for giving up that knowledge so easily. Yoongi justified himself by saying, "Don't look at me like that, he was going to find out regardless."

"Yes, but you didn't have to tell him so early, now he won't let me have any fun." She whined, Yoongi scoffed at that, "he isn't supposed to make you have 'fun', he'd supposed to take you to get your x-ray done, it's on the first floor."

Yn pouted as Jungkook nodded at the instructions, pushing the wheelchair with Yn still in it towards the elevator. "Without the wheelchair," Yoongi clarified, making Jungkook pout as well, helping Yn out of the wheelchair.

They both sulked like kicked puppies in the elevator and Yoongi could not stand it. "Ok, fine, take the freaking wheelchair, but just be careful." he said, finally giving in. The two of them gave him bright smiles. Yn sat back in the wheelchair just as the elevator door slid open and Jungkook rolled Yn out.

They're fortunate. Yoongi thought to himself as he went about his rounds that Namjoon owned the hospital. While Yn was getting her x-ray, he checked in with his patients. Yn had a good night's sleep and awoke fairly early, according to the nurse in charge of her surveillance. She felt a minor headache, but nothing else was wrong with her. Only the shoulder was a big issue, and they were unable to determine what was causing the pain.

It took 2 hours for Yoongi to check up on all his patients and meet with a few others in the clinic when Jungkook barged into Yoongi's office with an envelope. "Jungkook you can't just barge in like that," Yoongi groaned as he quickly gave the patient their prescription before sending them out. Telling the receptionist to not send any more patients, he turned all his attention to Kook.

"Now, what's wrong?" He asked, spinning in his chair to face the intern. "Noona's reports are here" Jungkook informed, holding out the envelope. "So fast?" Yoongi questioned. It usually took a day or two for the reports and none of the radiologists took Jungkook seriously, dismissing him as just an intern. He found it suspicious that they had given the reports back so early.

"Namjoon hyung was there for an inspection, he got it done when he saw noona," Jungkook said with a cheeky grin. Yoongi nodded at the explanation. Namjoon always had a soft spot for Yn regardless of if Yn and he were together. He pulled out the reports, scanning through them. "Where is Yn now?" He asked, putting the reports back inside. Jungkook informed that Namjoon had taken her to her room, playing along with Yn's wheelchair drama.

Yoongi rolled his eyes at that, but Jungkook didn't miss the quiver of his lips. Jungkook followed Yoongi upstairs to Yn's room, where they found Yn squishing Namjoon's cheeks. Jungkook joined them, laughing, and Yn hastily let Namjoon free. "So, Doctor, what do you have to say?" Yn asked as Namjoon got out of the chair, rubbing his red-tinged cheeks.

"You must slow down with the usage of your shoulder. You appear to be putting a lot of tension on it; fortunately, it's only strain and nothing dangerous." Yoongi said, instructing Yn to apply heat and ice packs to the affected area. "Are you going to issue me a leave sick note?" Yn inquired as she got out of bed.

"Nope, you can go back to work just fine as long as you don't do any heavy lifting," Yoongi said, scribbling something on a piece of paper. "Yah, Yoongi-ah pleaseeeee write me a sick note," Yn pleaded as she searched for the t-shirt she had worn when she had come into the hospital yesterday. "Nope, and are you really going to wear that?" He asked, surprised that Yn hadn't called anyone to come to pick her up.

"Yeah, I need to head home," Yn answered, gathering her things, "Wait, you can't wear that, I have a spare shirt in my office I'll get that," Yoongi said, getting out of the chair while Namjoon and Jungkook exchanged knowing looks.

"We'll get it hyung, don't worry," Jungkook assured, dragging Namjoon with him. The two of them got into the elevator before spilling the tea. "He is SO whipped!" Jungkook exclaimed, pushing the button to go downstairs. "So is she and did you know Yoongi hyung was footing her bill and he got her a private room?" Namjoon asked, amazed at the extent his extremely tsundere hyung was going to for Yn. "He's pretty much in love all over again, and the nurse said that Yoongi hyung spent more than an hour in noona's room," Jungkook informed with a giddy smile.

"Jin hyung NEEDS to know about this," Namjoon exclaimed but made no move to call their hyung, quickly going to Yoongi's office and grabbing the gray FG shirt which was in his locker before going back upstairs.

As soon as the boys returned to the room, Yn grabbed the t-shirt. She hurriedly removed the hospital gown she had been compelled to wear. Yoongi was quick to respond, instantly stepping in front of Yn so the two younger men wouldn't get a glimpse of his lovely ex's exquisite body, and only pulling away once Yn was covered in his shirt.

"You didn't have to do that, I was wearing a tank top beneath," Yn said, tucking the shirt's hem into the jeans she had worn the day before. "For safety reasons," Yoongi shrugged, avoiding eye contact as though it weren't a big concern that he was covering up his ex. Namjoon's sniggering at the entrance went unnoticed.

"Noona how are going home?" Jungkook asked, checking the time realizing it was his lunch break. "I'll take a cab, don't worry," she assured, grabbing her phone and keys from the bedside table. "I'll drop you home, it'll be hard to get a cab at this time over here," Yoongi said, following after her into the hallway as Jungkook and Namjoon watched.

As she approached the elevator, Yn commented, not really trying to stop Yoongi from coming with her, "There's a thing called uber Yoongi, I'm sure I'll catch a cab." "Jesus woman, will you ever accept aid without a fight?" Yoongi moaned as he snatched her wrist and brought her downstairs to get his keys.

"Aish is so stubborn," Yn grumbled as she trailed behind him, her hand slipping into Yoongi's. They didn't seem to be aware that they were holding hands.

.

.

.

.

"Jin hyung will be so happy hearing about this," Jungkook exclaimed, watching Yn and Yoongi argue like an old, married couple while holding hands as they went to the hospital parking lot.

"They look cute, 10$ that they get back together by the end of the month," Namjoon bet, moving away from the window of the private room. "Hyung, you literally own the hospital, I'm just a flimsy intern, how could you expect me to pay 10$," Jungkook whined making Namjoon laugh as Yoongi’s car spedmout of the driveway.

__________________________

[sirthisisa-wendys]

Spoils of War (Part 5.5): Ran Haitani x Fem!Reader

wc: 1.5k

tw: angst

previous chapter ⟽ masterlist ⟾ next chapter

song recommendation:

Walking among people you don't know is hard.

Faces you can't recall, names you know you'll forget, stations and ranks that make no sense...

It's all coming to a head as you walk with Ran, holding his arm and smiling at those who care to look at you. As for the others, they either pointedly ignore you, or glare in return. Rindou, Taiju, Draken, and Mikey, however, look at you with smiles on their faces, stopping their chatter to bid you a good evening. You smile widely at those three, silently thanking them for their compassion in your special way.

Once you take your seat at the head of the room with Ran, all of the guests rise from their seats. Taiju clears his throat, raises his chalice of wine, and begins to speak with a loud voice.

"A toast for the Prince and to the future Princess! May they both live long and enjoy the fruits of their marriage."

"Jaĝ!" The ancient cheer is echoed around in the hall, followed by the drinking of the entire cup of wine. The food is brought out immediately after - dishes you picked - and everyone begins to eat, conversing with each other during the meal.

You watch the crowd with careful eyes, noticing the interactions between different countries and territories. For instance, it seemed that the Andelands and Huttan Army got along well, but both of them had an issue with the Kings of the North. And the Kings of the North enjoyed the company of the Ambassadors of the Southern Wharf, but not the Commander of the Seven Cities.

Was Ran the glue that kept them all together?

You turn to the Prince to ask him just that - why are all of these men in one room if they can't seem to enjoy each other's presence - but you're quickly interrupted by Rindou, who stands from his perch beside Taiju. Everyone stops to listen.

"A toast to my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. May they find great happiness here in Eir, may their children be many, and their troubles few."

"Jaĝ!" Another cup of wine gone.

Ran leans over and whispers into your ear: "He's hoping he'll have as many nieces and nephews as we can offer."

"Can he not have children?" you inquire, and Ran laughs.

"He doesn't want children. He wants to be able to hand them back when he's tired." You chuckle too, a genuine sound that echoes around the room, and Ran stares at you in wonder.

"What?" you ask, but Ran shakes his head.

"This is the first time you've laughed like that. It's like you're enjoying yourself." You sober up a little, still smiling, and Ran huffs a surprised breath. He leans forward, running his thumb over your bottom lip slowly. "What can I do to hear you laugh like this more often?"

You smirk then lean forward to reveal the answer.

"Get me drunk, then play music. I'm sure I'd dance all night for you if that's what you want."

"Would you enjoy yourself?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

"I'll hold you to it, then." Ran gives you a quick wink, leaning back in his chair and raising his refilled cup to his lips then turning back to the scene before him. You feel your flushed cheeks, your shortened breath, your heart doing circles in your chest.

And you blame it all on the wine.

_____________________________________________________________

"I should not have had so much wine..." you murmur, rubbing your eyes and stumbling with Ran up the stairs. "I-I feel so dizzy."

Ran hiccups, then lets out a short chuckle.

"Hold on to me, then," he murmurs. "I'll make sure you make it to your room unscathed."

"Unscathed?" Your thoughts are cut short by the sight of the guests' torches, lighting up the night past the glass window of the palace. It looked like a funeral procession in the dark - there were so many heads bobbing in the distance. If you were any drunker, you might even start crying for the phantom funeral. "Look at that..." You press a hand to the cold glass, breath fogging over hair and fire.

Ran snakes a hand around your waist, leaning his cheek on your head while you watch the little plumes of light wink out as they round corners, go into archways, or fade in the far reaches of the landscape.

"They're here for us," Ran whispers, his braids brushing against your shoulder and the nape of your neck. "Isn't it beautiful?" You don't answer, because you don't know. Would it be wrong of you to ask Ran about his true intentions? Why he really picked you?

If you had pieced together the official story correctly, he'd been interested in you since he was a child, but had only seen you once. No one but Rindou could confirm his story. So how could you even be sure it was true?

"Tell me the truth," you mutter. "Why am I here? Why did you pick me?"

"Because I love you," Ran replies, kissing your hair. "You're all I've ever wanted, y/n."

"No, really," you bite out, weaseling out of his grasp. "None of it makes any sense. You know me for a day and all of a sudden, you're in love? As a child?" Ran blinks at you rapidly, his purple eyes clouded by some hidden emotion - something you can't decipher.

"I made a promise."

The four words you hear are not the four words you expect.

"We made a deal." You flinch, stepping back, shoulders hitting the glass with a dull thud. "I never lied about the night we met. And I'm not lying about my attraction then or now. But Kenshin..."

Ice floods your veins.

Kenshin.

Ran rubs his eyes, sighing. "Can we talk about this somewhere private?" You nod, dumbfounded, and follow Ran into his rooms, the lavish furniture and gold-colored bedspread neat and orderly. Ran sits on the bed, motioning for you to join him, but you take the armchair instead.

"Where should I start?" the Prince sighs, but you inhale deeply, slowly sobering up.

"At the beginning," you offer, but then you correct yourself. "No. Start at the end of the war."

Ran grimaces, remembering the way your father begged for his life in the sand, fingers smeared with blood as Ran stood over him, victorious.

"Your father begged for his life, of course. I told him that the only way I would spare him and his kingdom from an invasion would be if he gave me your hand in marriage."

"Because of a deal you made with Kenshin?" Ran nods, his braids dangling forward. He shrugs out of his overcoat - the fur no doubt making him hot in the heated room - then rubs his temples.

"Kenshin isn't who you remember him to be."

“Kenshin wouldn’t have wanted his half-sister and blood brother to be at odds like this! Not when we’re the last two Half-bloods!”

Your memory clouds with Izana's words, and for some reason, you have a moment of pure clarity, understanding this piece of the massive puzzle everything is turning out to be.

"Half-bloods. Kenshin was a Half-blood."

"That much many people knew," Ran shrugs. "But you and Izana are the only two left. And he knew you'd be in danger if you stayed in Bazan. You'd be safer here, where Half-bloods used to be protected."

Your face smooths out to understanding as the breath is sucked out of your lungs.

"But... b-but..."

Your other half-brothers... that's why you were tormented so much. That's why Kenshin protected you all the time. It wasn't just because you were a girl, it was because you were literally a monster in their eyes. That's why your father disposed of you so easily. That's why--

"Hey, hey, hey..." Ran exhales, walking to you carefully. "It's all he could do to keep you safe. That's all Kenshin ever wanted." You don't even notice that you're crying until Ran runs his thumbs over your cheeks, cooing at you softly as you try to gather yourself back together.

You know you should be happy. Grateful, even. Kenshin was still protecting you, even beyond the grave. But the circumstances were not what you imagined they would be.

"I got you something," Ran whispers, standing and walking over to his bed. "I originally planned to save it for our wedding night. But I think this is a better time." He produces a wooden box from underneath the bed, wobbling as he tries to stand back up. "Here."

He sits the polished cherrywood box in your lap, and you sniff, fingers trembling as you pry the thing open.

Inside is a round, drum-like item, the wooden edges lined with silver metal rings. It looks just like the ones you saw the women playing in the market, and for a second, your heart skips a beat.

"It's called a tambourine." You lift the instrument and it rattles slightly, bringing forth a sound that should be reserved for joyous occasions. "I want to hear you play it someday. Maybe not today, maybe not this year. But someday."

Someday.

You nod, knowing that agreeing to "someday" means Ran wants you in his life in the future. "Someday" means "stay here with me". "Someday" means "this is your home now".

[siimjaeyun]

blue bag- jay park

genre: fluff, angst, bad boy au

tw: street violence, mentions of gangs

-------

Jay's reputation at Belift wasn't exactly a secret to most people. The loose uniform with the leather jacket, covered bruises, and exposed tattoos were noticeable to anyone who bothered to pay attention.

Most people would like to assume to not judge him by his appearance, but his character matched it to a tea. He never bothered to give anyone the time of the day, much less even look in their direction. The only people who received such privileges were his closest six friends.

Or anyone who dared to cross his path- including the slight punches he's thrown at the occasional classmate.

But people couldn't see behind his intentions. Like the time he almost beat one of uppers to a pulp when they tried picking on jungwon his first year. All good intentions.

On this fateful day, the teacher had thought a slight change would mix things up. Instead of placing Jay in the back by himself like usual, he placed him right beside you.

"Hi Jay!" Your warm welcome startled him to say the least. Sure, he was used to love letters by other girls, but you didn't really look at him that way.

He stayed silent and placed his head back onto the desk. At the end of class, you bid him goodbye and walked out with your friends who seemed to tattle over him almost immediately.

-------

After yet again another argument with the rivaling gang leader, he finds himself cornered in the back of an alley way. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to think you could fight five men at once.

Tired, and out of breath, he's barely holding onto himself before there's a final blow to his lower stomach, collapsing onto the ground before him.

The men are about to approach him, this time, aiming towards his back, but retreat at the sounds of a siren.

"Here, hurry! They might come back." He looks up and finds it's you, carrying a bag in one hand and reaching out towards him with the other.

"Get lost." Jay, who is too stubborn to ask for help, attempts to get up before his knees give up on him.

"You can't walk. Stop being a bitch and let me help you." You swing his arm over your shoulder, and pull him up, guiding him towards the exit of alley way. At the closest convenience store, you rest him on a bench, bringing a towel to his face to wipe off the blood from his brow and lip.

"How did you see me?" He barely manages to ask.

"I didn't know it was you until I saw your face, which is very beat up by the way." He observes quietly and patiently waits for you retreat the towel from his face, slowly admiring the way you move your eyebrows while humming a small beat. 

“I’m done. I’ll call a taxi to take you home so you can finish up. I’m going to assume this isn’t the first time you get beat up.” Jay, snapping back to reality, stands up quickly and blocks your view of the street. 

“I can manage. Now go home.” He nods towards the direction of the grand city. 

“You can barely walk. Either I take you home, or text someone to come pick you up.” Jay immediately takes the second option, and searches quickly for his phone before realizing he must of left at it home. 

“Go ahead, call the taxi.” He mutters under his breath. The bright lights signal to him that he has arrived, and in silence, you drop him off, and leave, not letting Jay even look back and say a quick ‘thank you.’ 

----- 

If Jay didn’t know any better, it’s almost as if nothing had occurred yesterday. He’s still wearing his black mask to cover up his bruises, but you walked in with a smile and the same welcome from the past two weeks. 

Usually, he would turn the other way or not even bother to look at you, but his slight nod was reassurance enough. 

At the end of class, he was almost the last to leave, given that he had woken up from napping the entire class. Rather than seeing the empty room he was used to waking up in, he saw you again in front of him, holding a blue bag. 

“Here. Eat well okay?” You left the bag onto his desk and walked out again before he could respond. He stuffed the bag into his backpack and went towards the lunch room he was used to meeting his friends in. 

“Jay’s late and beat up. What a surprise.” Sunoo’s snarky comment doesn’t catch him off guard, and instead pulls out the blue bag from his backpack and rests it on the table. 

“Oh? Jay brought lunch? Quick, let’s rate his cooking skills.” Before Jay can react, Heeseung had already snatched it from the table, pulling out a Tupperware with a sticky note on top. 

“Who’s y/n? And why did she call you a loser?” Heeseung asks, opening the container to a bento box. 

“No one, now give it back.” Jay takes back the container, almost admiring the contents inside. 

It was the first time his heart began to take notice of you. 

----- 

Everyone was quickly suspicious about Jay’s relationship with you. It all started with him publicly going to you and thanking you for the food. Then it was the constant good mornings when you would welcome him at the beginning of class. Then it was the morning coffee, and walking you to class in the morning. He was practically stuck to you when he wasn’t with his friends. 

“You know, I think Jay likes you.” One of your friends mentioned casually, causing you to roll your eyes. 

“Stop taking those rumors too seriously, he’s just paying back a favor.”

Yet, your friends weren’t the only ones who were beginning to notice. Most noticeably, Jay’s very own friends. 

“Sunghoon, I don’t like her, so can you shut up?” Jay, almost irritated by the constant confusion of emotions. 

“So, you wouldn’t mind her being so close with Sunoo?” Jake points at your direction. You laughing and trying to hold yourself together while punching Sunoo in the arm. 

“No. Of course not." Yet, he still finds himself burning holes into Sunoo's skull as he sees you wrap an arm around his neck to pull him into a head lock.

It seemed as if that was the last straw because in the next moment, Sunghoon was attempting to prevent Jay's next big mess.

"Get your hands off him." Jay commands, catching not only your attention, but those around him as well.

"Relax Jay, she's just playing around." Sunoo gets himself out of the head lock, and looks at your face who's been cleared of any laughter.

"I'll see you later Sunoo." You can't even look at Jay in the eyes before walking off with another friend.

"What's wrong with you? You know she wasn't hurting me!"

"Don't talk to me right now Sunoo." Jay storms off in the opposite direction while Sunoo turns his head to the side at Sunghoon.

"Am I going to die?"

"Not yet anyway. I think if you stay off y/n, maybe it'll extend your life line." Sunghoon states honestly.

"What do you think would happen if I told him she's my cousin?"

"I don't know but I've never seen Jay so..like this. Its a good look on him."

However, Jay is his full fledged rage, begins to shove everyone in his way including a poor freshman who happens to fall in front of your locker.

"Jay what the fuck!? Are you okay?" You crouch down and reach your hand out, giving Jay a bitter feeling.

"Is this how you catch men? You pretend to be the good guy?"

"Excuse me?" You repeat, shocked at Jay's sudden attitude.

"Nevermind just stay away from me? Got it?" You don't even process the words before he dashes off, ignoring his friends who are attempting to catch his attention.

"Sunghoon, what's his issue ?" Sunghoon only let's out a heavy sigh before shrugging his shoulders.

"It's not my business, but I can assure you that anger won't end well."

-----

And it just so happens that Sunghoon's response was quiet accurate considering Jay's familiar situation. He's been long enough member of his gang to know what territories they're not exactly welcomed.

Yet, he doesn't care and does so anyway because anything is better than having to imagine you with some one else.

"Haven't seen you in a while Jay, must have been busy hmm." The leader mocks him, but it only infuriates the pent up anger within him causing him to land a punch at his gut.

"Don't test me." And as if history repeats itself, he finds himself once more cornered in the back of an alley way. With the collection of bruises forming on his stomach, one could tell he was a kick or two away from a good surgery.

"Jay! Stop!" He curses himself mentally when he watches you run towards him.

"You better leave pretty one...I mean unless..." He approaches you, reaching for your chin to tilt it sidewards, leading to Jay using his last strength to push him off you.

"Don't touch her." Jay grits his teeth, earning a smirk that quickly turns into a frown at hearing the sound of police sirens.

"You got lucky this time." He flees the scene leaving you again with a bloodied up Jay.

"You promised me to not fight anymore!" Jay chooses to ignore you and limps away to a nearby post.

"And I told you to stay away from me y/n. I don't need people like you to worry about me because they pity me" He responds.

"How am I not supposed to worry when you left so suddenly? One moment we're good and the next you're mad at Sunoo and everyone?" You place him on the stair case while getting your first aid kit ready.

"How am I supposed to stay away when you worry me? Do you have any idea how fast I ran here with this when Jake told me you weren't at your house?" You continue to apply a bit of alcohol on his open cuts.

"I'm sorry, I was upset. I saw you with Sunoo earlier and I don't know what came over me. Sunoo is so darn perfect, and what about me? I was afraid you'd leave me." Jay mumbles the last part quietly, but you manage to hear it well.

Without much hesitancy, you press a light kiss onto his bruised and swollen lips. He gasps slightly but manages to wrap his arms around your waist.

"I'm not leaving okay, I'm here to stay if you want me to." Jay grabs you and pulls you in for a hug, resting his face in the crook of your neck.

"Please stay." He mumbles, letting his grip on you get stronger. He stays there for a while, before looking at the blue bag in your hand.

"What's this?"

"I brought some dinner because I figured you would be too lazy to do it yourself and end up eating frozen nuggets again." He smiles slightly before admiring your features.

"I really like you y/n.." Jay confesses, still in the position of hugging you.

"I like you too Jay...I really do." A grin forms on his face and he drops another kiss on your cheek before leading the way out.

Perhaps Jay wasn't exactly perfect, but you always knew he was more than ready to love and learn by your side.

------

a/n: this has been sitting in my drafts haha, but I figured we could all use a little fluff with everything going on :( <3

[pilmik]

No better way to start a writing blog than by writing something completely self indulgent lmao college students this might hit too close to home but in my defense the new sem started and I'm. Mess

Gen: angst ig???some fluff? hurt/comfort? Quite literally just me writing what I want to hear

CW: insecurities, negative thoughts

Wakatoshi loves volleyball

Everyone knows this

Ever since he was little, he's lived and breathed for the sport

There's nothing better to him than the feeling of the ball hitting his hand, the adrenaline rush of a scored point, the satisfaction of a game well won

He didn't get this far on enjoyment alone though

As his s/o, you know this better than anyone, save for his coaches and teammates of course

You know the effort he's put in, you know that for every second he shines on the court in front he's spent hours practicing alone or with his teammates

And he shines on the court

Watching him play will never fail to make your heart stutter and your lungs feel like they're not getting enough air

After being with him as long as you have, you know enough about volleyball to know that Wakatoshi is something special

His speed, his strength, his reliability

No matter how many times you see that spike, the sound of the ball hitting the floor stays deafening

Wakatoshi was made to play Volleyball. It's an objective fact. Sometimes you think that the sport loves him just as much as he loves it

Sometimes, you get so jealous you could scream

one of the perks of being the volleyball captain's s/o is that you always get the best seats

You watch front row as your boyfriend leads his team to victory, and he always leads them to victory.

You watch, time and time again, as he scores the match point, that sharp wham of the ball hitting the court that sings triumph

Wakatoshi isn't the most expressive person. When his team wins a game, most people would write off his impassive face as nonchalance or as vanity, thinking maybe he's won so many times it doesn't feel like anything for him anymore

But you know him. You know that if you look hard enough at the end of a game, you can see a gleam in his eyes. A gleam that somehow means both satisfaction and hunger

Because while at the end of every game means victory, the end of every game also means the start of a new one, a new challenge, a new opportunity to be on the court. He loves every second of it

You know you're probably the worst person on the world for feeling this way about someone you love, but every time you see that gleam in his eyes, any pride and happiness you feel on his behalf is stained with resentment and an envy so bitter it stays on your tongue for days

You've never had that gleam in your eyes. You've never loved something so entirely, so completely as Wakatoshi loves volleyball

You honestly doubt you ever will

It's not like you're talentless or you don't have hobbies, you have the things you're good at and you have the things you like to do but it's not the same

You want so desperately to know what he feels like, to be doing something and to think, I could do this for the rest of my life and die happy

on your worst days, you wonder why he stays by your side at all

You watch him play, surrounded by his court and his team (no the court or the team, his.) And you wonder what he could get from you that he couldn't get from the sting of the ball on his palm, or the squeak of his shoes on hardwood

He's brilliant, wherever he goes be burns so brightly you swear he leaves scorch marks. What could a forest fire possibly want from a candle?

You watch them play a game against some college team, they win straight sets and Wakatoshi dominated the court, scoring a majority of the points. you're quiet on your way home, and he asks if you were bored by the game

You immediately tell him no, because on most days you love seeing him play, and you try and explain how you feel

He doesn't understand what you're talking about, obviously

Contrary to what most people think, your boyfriend isn't stupid or dense. He has trouble understanding different social cues and conceptualizing some of the more complicated emotions other people feel, but he's not an idiot

But these specific insecurities are something he's never had to face. For him, it's been volleyball since the start. His earliest memories are of his father in the yard, tossing a blue and yellow ball into the air while he sits on the engawa, chubby hands holding tight to a pink vabo-chan plush

It doesn't make sense to him, if you don't have anything like that, then all you need to do is find something you're good at, correct? Then you'll be happy

He tells you this, in his usual matter-of-fact way. (you can imagine how that went)

He doesn't understand why your eyes go glassy, or why you tell him you'll be fine walking by yourself for the rest of the way

But he does understand that he's made you upset, and he knows that he never wants to look into your eyes and see tears that he's put there

As he walks back to his dorm, he's wracking his brain trying to make sense of how you told him you felt, and what he said in response

He's still thinking as he enters the doorway, ignoring Tendou's greeting as he neatly removes his runners and puts them away

This, of course, alerts his redheaded friend, knowing Wakatoshi was taught to mind his manners

He leaves whatever he was doing to see him at the entrance, taking in his pinched expression. He knows that Wakatoshi walks you home after every game, and it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots

He quickly presses the pad of his thumb between Wakatoshi's furrowed eyebrows, smoothing the lines there

"trouble in paradise, Wakatoshi-kun? You can't keep frowning like that you know, you'll get wrinkles! Everyone already thinks you're an old man"

Wakatoshi trusts his best friend, even if he teases him constantly. Besides you, Tendou is his main confidant

He explains what happened much like someone would explain a mission report, in perfect unbiased detail. He tell him what you said, how he thought and responded and your reaction. Tendou is always patient with him, giving him his full attention.

After he finishes his story, his friend sits on his haunches in the middle of the hallway for a few minutes, pointer finger to his chin, head cocked and eyes to the ceiling, hmmmmmming thoughtfully

Wakatoshi waits at the entrance of their dorm room until Tendou snaps his eyes away from the ceiling and onto him

"Wakatoshi kun, I'm going to need you to imagine something for me"

His eyebrows pinch together again, but he nods

"Imagine you never played volleyball, you're exactly the same in every way, except your dad never showed you so you never learned how to play. Try and imagine who you'd be"

Wakatoshi tries his best to imagine, he replaces the blue and yellow ball in his memory with a red one, the bouncy kind they sell in bins at the grocery store. He replaces vabo-chan with some kind of stuffed animal wearing a bow

He thinks about school, about going straight home after class is over, and going to the gym only on weekends

He finds he's skipping parts of his life in large gaps, empty spaces he doesn't know what to do with, his future completely blank. It's terrifying.

Tendou must see the dawning horror on his face because he jumps up quickly with a flourish, clapping his hands together once to draw Wakatoshi out of his daydream

Tendou looks at him, smiling and says "y/n-chan doesn't have their volleyball. Most people aren't as lucky as you, finding your volleyball so early Wakatoshi-kun. Some people never find their's at all"

He stands at the entrance quietly for awhile after Tendou returns to his room, thinking about how scary it felt to imagine, even for a few minutes, his life full of the blanks that his sport filled

He wonders how it would be like to have those blanks empty all the time, with not even a clue how to complete them

Swallowing his pride, Wakatoshi realizes he wouldn't be able to live like that. Wouldn't be able to go forward into such unknowable territory, under such impossible odds

He thinks about you waking up every day, seeing your life full of blanks, and still pushing forwards despite it

He doesn't get much sleep that night.

You wake up in the morning to Wakatoshi's text ringtone

7:10am Toshi <3: Call in sick for first period.

7:10am Toshi <3: I am going to pick you up at 8.

7:13am Toshi <3: I will bring you breakfast.

7:27am Toshi <3: Wear a light jacket, it's chilly.

The half of you that's still hurt over yesterday wants to tell him to shove breakfast up his ass, but then you realise something

You stare at your phone, deeply confused

Doesn't he have volleyball practice before school?

You get ready quickly, and sure enough, when you walk out of your door at exactly 8:00, Wakatoshi is there.

He's wearing his tracksuit and runners, and he hands you a paper bag from the conbini. There's an apple, a bag of grapes and onigiri. In his other hand he's holding a warm drink, written on the lid is your favourite, exactly how you like it

"I am taking you to the park."

You tilt your head up at him, confused

"don't you have volleyball practice?"

"I'm skipping. We are going to feed the ducks."

The idea of Ushijima Wakatoshi skipping volleyball practice stuns you into silence, and you simply follow his lead to the direction of the park, you walking and him doing some sort of ridiculous exercise thing that looks like it'd make you puke

When you get there, you're happy to find that your usual bench is empty.

Wakatoshi pulls a water bottle out of his ridiculously-deep men's tracksuit pockets while you take the bunch of grapes out of the bag, neatly dividing it in half. You decide to take the big half of the grape bunch for once, because he was being a jerk yesterday and you deserve to feed the ducks more than he does. You give him his half and you both start feeding the ducks in silence

After awhile, he decides to speak

"Tendou made me imagine something yesterday"

You turn to face him, but he's still looking at the ducks

"he told me to imagine my life if I'd never played volleyball"

He frowns

"he said to imagine everything about me was the same, except I never started playing. I found that it was difficult"

"there were many things I found I couldn't fill in, both in my life and in myself"

"but the worst part was imagining the future. I couldn't imagine a single thing to put in it"

"I wouldn't be able to live like that. To live every day and see blank spaces and uncertainties. It sounds terrible"

He pauses for a moment and you're like :/ wow king thanks for the pep talk

But he takes a deep breath and he continues

"I think, for a person to face that uncertainty and keep pushing forward, they would have to be exceptional"

Your head snaps to look at him so fast you almost get whiplash

Exceptional

There's a word that you've never used to describe yourself

"I think, that if I knew someone like that, I would tell them that they are strong in a way that I doubt I will ever be"

He finally turns to look at you, and you try your best to see him through the tears distorting your vision

"after awhile of thinking, I finally thought of something that I could put in that blank future. Would you like to know what it was?"

You just nod, not trusting your words. His big hands gently engulf your own and for a moment you're absolutely certain Ushijima Wakatoshi will be the death of you

"if I didn't have Volleyball, if I didn't have a single clue of what I could do with my future, if I still had you by my side, I think I would be alright"

One hit K.O.

He keeps going though, as if he didn't just kill you

"if you would have me, I'd like to be in your blank future. For as long as it takes for you to find your volleyball, I'll be there. If it's months or years or decades,"

"if decades pass and you never find your volleyball, I would still like to stay by your side. Maybe your volleyball is looking for volleyball?"

His face contorts in consideration of the idea, and you can't help but laugh wetly, your tears soaking into his jacket as you bury your face into his arm

He presses a soft kiss to your head

"I apologize for what I said last night. I didn't understand"

You only shake your head

You two sit in companionable silence for a little longer so you can eat your breakfast, then you both walk to second period hand in hand

It's only in the boredom of your math class that you realize the gravity of what your boyfriend had said to you in the park

11:08 you: Tendou

11:08 you: was I tripping

11:08 you: or did Wakatoshi /propose/ to me in the park today

Tendou is typing......

A/N: I've never posted this kind of stuff before so comments would really be appreciated! Like if there's something I could do to make my stuff easier to read or whatever I wanna hear it! Even if it's mean I promise I'll only cry a little

[joel-millerr]

It All Makes Sense Now

Chapter Five of We Are One When Together (formerly A Mandalorian and a Smuggler)

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 9.8K

Summary: The three of you land on Corvus to find a Jedi, but what starts out as a simple job is quickly turned into a truth you definitely weren’t prepared to face

A/N: okay sorry peeps but no smut in this one...I did say slow burn, right? hahahahaha. there's a bit of fluff towards the end, but this chapter focuses more on the reader's relationship with the force and their conflicting feelings, but it's not all bad, we have a special guest in the next two chapters! besides that... this basically a shit ton of angst. also, I split this chapter in two so the next update should be within the next week? 

Warnings: ummmm there’s a small mention of torture? (like in the ep the Jedi with the prisoners strung up outside the magistrate’s gate but other than that... I don't think there’s anything but pls tell me if there’s something I missed!)

-----

Your body jolts awake to the sudden drop out of hyperspace. Panic quickly sets into your blood as you try to get your bearings, but once you see Mando sitting quietly in his chair along with the Child sitting on the control panel just to his right, your heartbeat steadies, and a wave of relief washes over you. Using the heels of your palms to rub at your eyes and clear your vision, you catch sight of the planet Mando had mentioned just before takeoff on Tatooine through the transparisteel.

“Ah, good. You’re awake.” He addresses as he hears you stir, still keeping the visor glued to the view in front of him.

“Mmm,” You groan back, still somewhat asleep and unable to use your words to answer him properly.

“Corvus, this is the place,” Mando’s voice cuts through the gentle hum of the ship. “I’ve detected a beacon.” You’re about to answer him when you realize that he wasn’t even talking to you to begin with. He was talking to the kid.

The Child looks up at him, and coos as if they’re having a conversation with each other even though they clearly don’t speak the same language, and don’t understand what the other is saying.

“I’m gonna start the landing cycle. You better get back in your seat.”

He looks up again at Mando, but doesn’t budge from where he’s currently seated. Turning his gaze to one of the levers on the control panel, he stares at the durasteel ball just atop of the handle. You’re not sure why the kid loves that ball so much, but it clearly means a lot to him because you’ve seen the way he gets upset or fussy whenever Mando tries to take it away from him.

“Hey,” He warns—not in an aggressive way, but a stern way like a child being scolded by their parent. “What did I tell you? Back in your seat.”

This time the kid listens, letting out a chuff of air before crawling down the little ledge he was seated on previously and gently scuttling back to the seat to your left.  

Maker, your body aches. Sleeping in the chair every night has seriously done a number on your bones and muscles. Twisting your upper body and using the back of the chair to hold yourself in place, a series of smalls cracks echo through the cockpit, and it somewhat releases a bit of the tautness in your back and along your spine. Suddenly becoming aware that you haven’t taken a sanisteam in…well you’re not sure exactly how long it’s been since you left Tatooine, but it’s definitely been long enough; you could seriously benefit from one right now.

Using your palms to push yourself up to your feet by your knees, you inform Mando you’ll be heading down to clean yourself up. “I’ll be ready to go once we land.”

“All right.” He says matter-of-factly.

You wait a couple of seconds before moving, elongating your arms above your head before bringing one of them behind you and stretching out your bicep, holding your elbow with your other arm. You repeat the process with the opposite arm and feel your body slowly coming back to life. A sanisteam is starting to sound better and better with every second. Your feet guide you to the ladder and take two rungs at a time, feet hitting the ground in record time. Not even bothering to wait until you reach the fresher, you strip out of your clothes and gather them together in a small pile atop one of the crates lingering around in the hull.

Once in the fresher, you turn on the water to almost the hottest setting possible. It stings your skin at first, but your body quickly acclimates to the heat, muscles slowly relaxing in response to the gentle massage the showerhead exudes as it hits you, releasing the stiffness from your body. Truthfully, you could stay in this tiny space for hours and just let the water continue to cascade down your skin until your fingertips were wrinkled like a Dressellian prune, but you don’t want to use up all of the hot water since you’re not the only one on this ship who needs to sanisteam. The longer the water pressure falls onto your upper body, you begin to feel a sharp pain on your left shoulder, and you’re forced to recoil from the water in an effort to stop the throbbing ache. Inspecting your naked form to find the source of the discomfort, you notice a large, plump purple bruise nestled between the crook of your neck and the top of your shoulder. It’s a dark shade of purple, with swirls of yellow and forest green surrounding it. When the Kriff—

Oh.

It suddenly comes back to you.

The firm grip on your shoulder.

The feeling of Mando’s cock on your tongue.

His moans.

Fuck, it’s enough to make your own groan echo through the walls of the refresher.

Maker, pull yourself together!

Giving yourself a gentle slap on the cheek in an effort to knock those filthy thoughts out of your mind and knowing the Crest will be landing in the next couple of minutes, you quickly wash the grime off your body while trying to be mindful of your bruise, and rinse yourself off before grabbing your only remaining clean pair of clothes left, dressing hurriedly just as you hear his footsteps reach the top of the ladder. Your clothes stick to your wet skin, and it’s slightly uncomfortable, but you try not to pay too much attention to it; you’ll dry up eventually.

The Mandalorian descends the ladder, the Child burrowed in one arm, then hands him off to you as he heads to the armory to grab his pulse rifle.

“Hey,” He says before calling your name to get your attention. Turning his body towards you, his arm extends out in your direction, a blaster in his hand. Your eyes shift down to the gun, taking notice of it before your brows pull together tightly, shifting your gaze back up to him in confusion.

“You should probably take this back. Just in case,” He gestures the gun at you, holding the barrel of it so you can grab the handle. It’s a small act, giving you back your blaster, but there’s an unspoken message as he hands you your gun. He now trusts you enough not to shoot him and run off, and at the same time, this gives you the reassurance you needed that he no longer views you as just a quarry, but as his partner.

Putting the kid down for a moment to grab your bag and ruffle through it to retrieve your thigh holster, you strap it around your leg and plop the blaster into the pouch. Once you turn around to pick the Kid back up, you notice he’s already by the back ramp with Mando, both waiting for you to catch up with them.

You head down the ramp first, walking a few feet away from the Crest and taking an immediate scan of the area, as you always do whenever you’re in new territory. It comes at almost as a shock to you that Mando doesn’t instantly head down after you. Instead, he stays at the top of the ramp with the kid, waiting for you to give them the ‘okay’. The sun can barely penetrate the dense amount of cloud here, the area is covered in fog as far as the eye can see, making you shift anxiously. The faint cry of the native beasts’ boom in the distance, making your skin crawl.

Mando’s landed the Crest in a small clearing. The trees appear to be snags—lifeless due to its climate and the lack of sunlight, making the whole planet even more eerie. The quicker you meet the Jedi, the quicker you can get off this planet.

“Not much to see here,” You announce, slightly disappointed by the scenery. When you don’t immediately see a threat, you gesture with your hand that it’s safe to come down, and so he does. The fact that Mando now acknowledges the routine you’ve created isn’t lost on you. In truth, it makes your heart swoon because you both know that he doesn’t needto wait for you. Mando’s more than capable of checking for threats himself, and defending you both if someone tries to ambush you, but he knows it puts you at ease to check for yourself, and the fact that he’s indulging you in this small service shows you he’s more of a softy than he lets on.

As Mando walks towards you, he hears the kid huffing behind him and turns his body to face the little baby waddling down the ramp before falling back on his bum. You make out a small sphere in his hands and realize it’s the knob from the lever in the cockpit. When did he snatch that and how did Mando not see him take it?

“What did I say about that?” He disciplines, taking the ball from his hands and holding it out in front of him. “This needs to stay in the ship.” The Child looks up at him fondly, chattering incoherently as he watches Mando place the ball in his utility belt.

“Never had dealings with a Jedi before,” He admits before leaning down to pick up the Child and placing him in the makeshift pouch he designed for the baby that’s strapped across his cuirass. “Let’s head into town. See if we can pick up a lead.”

He walks ahead of you just by a couple feet. Your hand hovers over your blaster the entire time, body on edge as you both make your way through the forest. The air is hot and humid, almost suffocating—you can only imagine how hot Mando must feel under all that armor. Your clothes stick to you like glue, a mix of water from the sanisteam as well as from the damp air. Every now and then, the Child babbles nonsense and Mando answers him like he knows exactly what the kid is saying. “Don’t worry, Kid. We’re okay.”

It’s quite endearing, seeing such a gentle side to the Mandalorian. You know not many people have had the opportunity to see these little moments, making this that much more special. Watching two beings, appearing to have nothing in common, and clearly coming from two very different upbringings, but having such a deep connection you’re not sure you’ll ever fully understand is quite a beautiful sight. It makes you appreciate these moments so much more. Mando’s letting you in on these precious exchanges, and you’ll cherish them for as long as you live.

After walking for what feels like hours, off in the distance you catch sight of a giant wall made of duracrete, and can faintly make out little blobs at the top of the wall; soldiers by the looks of it.

“A fortified city?” You ask him.

“Seems like it.” He answers as you draw closer to the gates. “Let me do the talking, all right?” He says, more of an order than an actual statement, but you choose not to argue. Mando usually knows better than you, and you’ve shown that you have a tendency to lose your temper, therefore he’s definitely the better mediator between you two.

As you both appear from the edge of the forest, the guards atop the parapet flock to the front gate, their rifles pointed at you. Mando stops just a few metres shy of the gate, waiting. A man suddenly appears, studying you both.

“State your business.” He shouts, standoffish.

“Been tracking for a few days,” The Mandalorian begins to say. You continue studying the gunslinger as well as the other soldiers whose rifles are still pointed at you. Hand continuing to hover merely inches above your blaster, your body fighting the urge to turn this into a fight. “Looking for a layover.”

The man shifts his gaze between you and Mando, clearly debating whether or not to shoot you both where you stand.

“Nice armor.” He jests.

Kriff, you don’t like the look of this. You’re both severely outgunned, and despite the beskar amour Mando wears, that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll live through this if a fight ensues.

The man to your left doesn’t answer, opting to gauge the gunslinger’s demeanor, waiting for him to press you again. “You a hunter, then?”

“That’s right.”

“Both of you?” His stare turns to you, so you glare back at him, refusing to back down and cower under his own piercing scowl.

“Yes.” You hiss through gritted teeth.

The helmet turns slightly in your direction as if warning you to watch your tone. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you straighten out your shoulders and let your arm drop to your side, no longer hovering over your blaster.

“Guild?”

“Last I checked.” Mando answers, a glint of annoyance is hidden under the deepness of his baritone.

The man studies you two for a couple more seconds, then orders the guards to open the gate. Letting out a deep breath through your lips, you start to feel like this will be the beginning of a very tense day. Better to keep quiet and let Mando handle this, since you tend to shoot first then ask questions later. Your partner is much more of the level-headed one—who would have thought that?

The city itself is small, and very quiet—way too quiet for any normal city. Every city and village you’ve visited have been vibrant and loud, with native villagers and visitors mingling together, but here? The residents walk silently, keeping their heads down, and only peeking at you both through the corners of their eyes. The guards walk around, hands planted firmly on their rifles, as if to be looking for trouble. Immediately, your bones tense and that anger you have trouble controlling begins to bubble up inside you. These villagers seem trapped—Maker, even the kids aren’t running around. They’re stuck to their parents like glue, never taking a single step away from them. This is a city under a gruesome Magistrate.

As you make your way down the main road, Mando catches sight of a vendor and heads for their stand. “Pardon me, vendor, have you heard of anyone…” But as he draws closer to the elderly woman behind the table, they quickly turn their back to you and disappear down a quiet alley.

Eyebrows pulling tightly, your jaw clenches, completely astounded at how these people are too afraid to even talk to you. What kind of monster forces its citizens to live in constant fear to the point of being too afraid to speak to travelers?

Before you know it, you’re following the vendor down the alley when you see another elderly man bending down and whispering to some younglings. Your neck cranes to the side, and you walk over to him cautiously, hoping you won’t startle him.

“Excuse me,”

Once he catches you in his peripherals, he ushers the kids away before rising to his feet and turning his body to you.

“We need some information.” You announce, trying to keep your voice as gentle as you can despite the white-hot rage cooking up in your veins. “We’re looking for someone. Could you help—”

“Please,” he pleads as he holds a palm out in front of him to stop you from elaborating, voice quiet as to not draw any attention to himself. “Do not speak to any of us.”

“Look,” Mando interjects, his attitude becoming less patient as time ebbs on. “I just need to know—”

Before he can finish his sentence, you’re approached by two armed guards. Your hand flies to your holster, and Mando quickly shoots his hand out to stop you.

“The Magistrate wants to see you.” Their voices come out heavily distorted by their voice-box. It’s deep and frightening—no wonder these villagers are terrified. Even you are somewhat taken aback by their aggressive inflection, you can only imagine how these people must feel. Completely helpless and cut off from the anyone else, they don’t have a fighting chance even if they wanted to overthrow their government.

The old man leans over and takes a step back as one of the guards takes a step towards him. Your body cuts the droid off, putting yourself between the both of you. They’re wearing what appears to be a gas mask, but you stare at him, imagining where his eyes would be and continue to burn your own eyes into him, full of poison and anger. Inside, you’re begging him to make a move; to give you an excuse to shoot him right where he stands, but Mando’s visor snaps towards you, shooting you a warning as to not do something stupid. “Let’s go.” He says to you.

You follow Mando and the first guard down the main street, keeping an eye out on that other guard that treads behind you. The soldier leads you to another gate and kriff, you’re completely dumbfounded by what’s in front of you.

Along the cobblestoned street just ahead of the second gate are…prisoners. Prisoners strung up on various poles with a tiny podium to stand on, surrounded by what looks to be some kind of electrical barrier around them. The hostages are disturbingly frail, with many of them scarred with markings of fresh and old burn wounds you assume are from the bars circling around them. One man nearly doubles over and is electrocuted, its power so strong you can see the outline of their bones when the voltage hits their skin. You shudder at the sight of them, feeling your heart drop to your stomach.

They whisper desperately, begging for help but Mando continues walking, only offering one of the prisoners a quick glance. You stop in front of one of the hostages, eyes looking up at him as he cries, pleading over and over again for your help. Your jaw slacks, wanting to say something, but knowing nothing you say will matter. You can’t help them, at least not right now. Making a mental note to tell Mando once you head back to the Crest that you will free these prisoners, your eyes meet with the man’s own droopy, hooded lids, and hope they somehow can understand.

“Hey, girl,” A guard yells out. Looking down at the ground, you hear his heavy footsteps walk towards you, each step getting louder and louder as he nears you. “Keep moving.” He warns.

Biting your tongue and white knuckling your fists at your sides, you catch up with Mando, choosing no longer to wait till you are alone to whisper, “We’re freeing these prisoners before we leave,” through gritted teeth.

Mando’s helmet dips forward just enough for you to see it. The faster you find this Jedi, the sooner these prisoners can be freed. Once the first gate closes behind you, the second one opens and your jaw downright drops.

Firstly, there’s a fucking moat in front of you. When you and Mando were walking through the woodland in search of the village, you hadn’t even come across any body of water, and here the Magistrate is living with a full-on fucking moat. If that wasn’t enough, Maker there are trees here—not just stumps or snag trees, but actual trees flourishing in her small haven. They appear to be some sort of pine tree, but you can’t be sure since you’re too far away from them. Somehow even the air feels different here. Logically, you know that makes no sense, but it must be due to the contrast between how the Magistrate lives compared to how her own people live. There are hostages strung up, and being tortured, citizens who are too scared to even talk to you, living in tiny homes with little to no resources, and this one person is living with such excess and wealth, all the while quite literally separating themselves from the city’s population. It’s disgusting, it’s totalitarian, and the thought of people living in such horrible conditions is making your head spin.

It’s not that you were naïve enough to think there weren’t people living in such awful conditions, it was just that you had never actually seen this firsthand, so it was easy to forget that not everyone was as fortunate as you. Sure, water was a luxury back when you were just a child, but you had never been oppressed or discouraged from being a child. You had the luxury of walking around the city, and not having the stress or fear that any minute now a guard could kill you for doing something as normal as talking to another person. Not knowing how many more planets are under such control, it makes you want to search this entire galaxy and save every single citizen from this kind of barbarity.

The Magistrate is standing by the edge of her moat, appearing to throw something in the water. Maker, if she has fish in this moat, you’ll be… literally fucking speechless.

She addresses Mando to come forward, so he does. You opt to stay by the gate—deciding that it’s would be too difficult to hide the anger on your face and choose to wait for him to return.

--

“So she wants you to kill the Jedi?”

“Yes.” He says before putting the Child down gingerly on a smooth boulder.

According to the Magistrate, the Jedi is hiding somewhere in the forest, so now you and Mando have been searching aimlessly through the vast amount of woodland for any sign of a Jedi—whatever what means, but after what felt like hours of searching, your feet were throbbing. After ten minutes of begging him to take a small break, he finally gave in.

Plopping yourself down next to the Child, you continue to pester Mando with more questions. “And she’ll give you that beskar staff if you kill them?”

A drawn-out sign emits from the helmet. “Yes.”

“But we’re not doing that, right?” The question coming out rhetorically.

“No.” He answers curtly.

“Okay, good.” The conversation goes silent for a few seconds, and then your lips are moving again. “I really want to head back in there and shoot that woman right between the eyes.”

A noise comes from him that you’ve never heard before. Was…was that a fucking laugh? Is he fucking laughing at you? “You wouldn’t even get that close before one of her droids would shoot you down.”

“Believe it or not, Mando, but I’m a pretty decent fi—”

All of a sudden, Mando turns his body to yours and throws a gloved hand over your mouth. A small yelp escapes you but is muffled by leather. Your own hand flies to his, struggling to remove his kriffing hand from your face, tugging and trying to pull away from him.

“Stop!” He whispers, before raising a finger to his helmet where his mouth would be, ordering you to be quiet. Giving him a nod, he lets go of you, and presses a button on the side of his helmet then pivots around, scanning the area for lifeforms. Off in the distance, a large beast trots along the forest edge and Mando’s body relaxes.

“False alarm,”

“What the hell, Mando?” You force out through jagged breaths.

“Why are you here?”

Both your bodies whip around and catch the sight of a female Togruta standing just a few metres away from you. Her blue stripped lekku are enlarged around her round face and extend all the way to her midthighs, giving an indication that she’s of a mature age, although her face is clean of wrinkles, her features still smooth, suggesting she’s still well within her prime. Thick montrals pointing towards the sky like mountain tops, her orange skin reminds you of Tatooine sunsets—warm, and deep. White pigments outlining her cheeks, forehead, and eyebrows, Maker, she is stunning, and intimidating.

In her hands, she’s holding what appears to be two beaming swords. Not unlike the electrical barrier that the Magistrate had her prisoners surrounded by, although this type of energy looks much more elegant and impressive. Its luminescent white light purrs, you can hear the humming even though you’re a couple metres away from her. You’ve never seen a weapon quite like it. It’s much more of sophisticated weapon than you’ve been privy to seeing, but it’s exceptionally beautiful.

“Ahsoka Tano?” Mando asks, holding his hands out in front of him, taking a very cautious step towards her. She tenses, one of the laser swords comes up and she holds it across her chest, keeping the other steadily by her side. Your hand placed firmly on your blaster strapped to your thigh, heart thumping in your chest, you wait for her to attack.

“Who are you?” She says cautiously, keeping that glowing spear between Mando and herself.

“Bo-Katan sent me.” He says warily.

The Togruta stares at Mando, then to you before straightening out her back, her weapons’ beaming white blades retracting into their handles.

“We need to talk.” Mando clarifies, standing up straight.

“Well, I hope it’s about them,” She answers kindly, shooting you a quick wink before taking a step towards you.

Crossing your arms and lips forming a tight line, your head jerks back when she responds.

“What do you mean, “them?”

Mando retreats to get the Child, and holds him with one arm, choosing to stand almost directly between you and Ahsoka. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

Her posture changes from weary to inviting, hooking her weapons back on her hips, her back untensing and taking a step back. “Come.”

You and Mando follow her through the thick, dense woods, nearly tripping and twisting your ankle trying to avoid the roots that are nestled above the dirt, or stumps that have fallen over and are lying on the ground.

She finds a spot not too covered in trees, with a couple of boulders lying around in a circle. In the middle are embers from an old fire that you assume she made for herself. She sits down on one of the rocks, then you and Mando follow suit. He places the Child gently between himself and Ahsoka, and presses a button on his vambrace, causing a flame to shoot out from his wrist, reigniting the ashes. Instead of waiting for either of them to speak, you begin questioning Ahsoka.  

“So,” You say, head craning in her direction. “You’re a Jedi?”

Ahsoka lets out a small chuckle, eyes shifting towards the ground. You can vaguely make out the blaze in the reflection of her eyes. “No, I’m not a Jedi, not anymore.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about this little one?” Mando questions her, jerking his neck to the left where the green baby is perched between them. She turns her head towards the Child, and almost instantaneously, his giant ears perk up, big eyes peering up at her, uttering unintelligibly.

“Can I have a moment alone with him?” She asks you and Mando. He doesn’t say anything in response, but stands up straight and walks away, not once looking back. You’re a few seconds late, but finally rise to your own feet before taking one last look at Ahsoka. She smiles at you and nods. You hear her voice and at first believe she’s actually spoken to you, but quickly realize her lips haven’t moved.

It’s okay.

Surely, you’re imagining things. It’s not possible to hear someone’s voice so clearly in your mind unless they actually said something to you…right?

Pushing the thought out of your mind, you turn on your heel, and you walk over to where Mando is pacing back and forth. He’s quiet as usual, but his body language is screaming. He’s tense, boots retracing the same steps over and over, shoulders square and hands fidgeting by his thighs. The apprehension, his nervousness—it’s practically seeping from him. It’s not something you ever thought you’d see—Mando anxious about a situation, given that he’s usually a lot better at keeping his cool under pretty much every single stressful situation.

At first, you think about asking him if he’s okay, or showing him that you notice his tentativeness, but it’s quickly shoved out of your mind when you remember how little he likes to talk about himself or how he’s feeling. You know firsthand that he prefers to stay silent rather than admit what’s going on inside his head.

Choosing to sit on a tree stump that’s fallen over on the ground, you continue to study Ahsoka and the Child. They stare at each other for a couple minutes not saying anything, just offering each other a series of smiles, gazes, and tilts of the head. As you continue to watch them, it’s almost as if you can hear them, which you know logically makes no sense. It’s very faint and muffled, taking all the concentration you can muster but you swear to the Maker you can hear them speaking to each other. The harder you squint, the clearer their voices get. However, it’s when you close your eyes and pull your brows together tightly, giving them your full attention that their voices become almost as clear as day.

His name is Grogu.

He was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Order 66.

What’s order 66?

Before you can make out anything else, Ahsoka’s voice pulls you out of your concentration, calling you both over. Jumping to your feet in record time, you reach out and grab hold of Mando’s vambrace. He stills at your touch.

“Come,” You say gently, motioning your head over to the two by the fire.

The deep breath he lets out pulls rough from his vocoder, you can feel the trepidation in his body spilling into his lungs. He trails behind you and when you both reach them; you sit back down on the rock you were seated on before, but Mando chooses to stand instead.

“Has he…said anything? Do you…understand him?” He asks Ahsoka curiously, but with a hint of worry in his baritone.

“In a way. Grogu and I can read each other’s thoughts.”

“Grogu?” Mando’s voice is gentle but still low, and almost immediately, the Child’s ears perk up once again, and his little head jerks to face him, a gentle noise of glee escapes him.

“Yes,” Ahsoka says, smiling. “That’s his name, but you already knew that.”

“I—” He begins to say but Ahsoka cuts him off.

“No, not you. Her.”

Both Ahsoka and Mando’s head turn to you. Leg bouncing anxiously off the ground, your jaw slacks to answer, but not entirely sure how to answer. “Uh—Yeah, I mean he didn’t exactly tell me but he…kind of did?”

“What do you mean?” Mando presses you.

One of your hands rub the back of your neck and your eyes trail away from the two people staring you down to look at your feet. Clearing your throat, you answer uncertainly. “I…don’t know how he did it or how I was able to understand it.”

“Are you both still able to wield the Force?” Ahsoka asks curiously.

“The Force?” You repeat in confusion.

“You mean, his powers?” The Mandalorian chimes in.

“The Force is what gives him his powers. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It also allows us to communicate with each other.” She clarifies, somewhat answering your question but simultaneously confusing you even more. What the hell is ‘The Force’?

“You’re saying he used ‘The Force’ to communicate with me?”

“In a way, yes. We can communicate with others who are Force-sensitive, although it takes a great deal of training and discipline to wield it properly.”

Does this mean…?

Is she saying you’re…?

Force-sensitive?

Ahsoka sighs before addressing you again. “I sense a lot of conflict in you,”

“I’m just finding all of this very hard to believe,” You admit.

Ahsoka acknowledges your stunned expression with a gentle nod, before shifting the conversation towards the real issue—Grogu. Turning her eyes away from you, she now speaks to Mando. “Grogu was raised and trained by many Masters at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. At the end of the Clone Wars, when the Jedi were deemed traitors of the Republic, they were hunted down and killed. Grogu was smuggled out of the Temple beforehand, and has been forced to hide his abilities in order to survive over the years.”

Peeking over to observe Grogu, your heart aches. How could anyone want to harm him? He’s just a child, an innocent creature. “Do you know of anyone else like him?”

“I’ve only ever known one other being like this.” Her eyes trail off to gaze into the fire once again. “A wise Jedi Master named Yoda. I didn’t know others like him existed.”

“My task was to bring him to a Jedi. Can you train him?”

Ahsoka lets out a deep breath before answering. “The Jedi Order fell a long time ago.”

“So did the Empire, yet it still hunts us.” Your voice comes out more aggressive than you intended, but you’re desperate for answers.

Ahsoka looks down to the Child once again. His eyes flutter shut, exhaustion overcoming his little body until he all but bows his head to fall asleep. “Let him rest for now, I’ll test him in the morning.”

Mando’s helmet dips forward in agreement. He moves around the fire and makes his way over to Grogu and picks him up gingerly, holding him close to his cuirass and motioning his head in the direction of the Crest. Humming in response and rising to your own feet, you make to follow behind Mando back to ship when Ahsoka places a hand on your forearm.

“A moment?”

“Uh, sure,” You answer hesitantly. “I’ll meet you back at the ship.” You call over to Mando.

He huffs in response before walking away, Grogu fast asleep in his arms. Sitting back down, you wait for Ahsoka to speak.

“You’re troubled. I can sense it.”

Jaw dropping, you look for the words to accurately describe just how confused and in disbelief you are. Gesticulating around you, your voice is soft and low. “How—how is this possible?” A laugh escapes your lips. “I’m just a mecha—smuggler.” You catch yourself, the word barely leaving your lips. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

Her own lips form a tight line, as if she’s seen others react the same way. “It’s unclear how the Force works, and there’s no definitive way of explaining who has the gift and who hasn’t. We’re just…burdened with it.” Her eyes look down at the ground. It’s evident there’s some unresolved regret and sadness she’s been carrying for years, and you can’t help but wonder what could have possibly happened to her for her to feel this way.

“You said ‘I’m not a Jedi, not anymore’. What did you mean by that?”

She takes a deep breath, exhaling through her nose before speaking. “I left the order when I was young. It… wasn’t what I thought it was anymore.” Her voice trails off.

“What was it supposed to be? Who were the Jedi?” You don’t mean to ask so many questions, but there are so many pieces to this puzzle that you don’t understand yet. You’re supposedly predestined to be a Jedi, but you know nothing about them. Stories of the Jedi weren’t told to you when you were a child. It was treated more like a moment in history that no one wanted to speak of—like it was a stain on the galaxy that the majority of folks wanted to forget.

“We were trained to be keepers of the peace, but that all changed when the Clone Wars began. Jedi were suddenly soldiers and thrown into battle, required to fight for the Republic and keep the Separatists from expanding.”

“You fought?”

Ahsoka’s voice is low, like your question that thrown her back into the war, reliving all the pain from her youth. “I was just a Padawan when I joined the war effort. At first it was easy to say we were fighting to maintain the peace, but after a while, it almost felt like we became the ones raging the war. All of a sudden, the Order just didn’t feel like it once was…” She goes quiet for a moment, trying to find the right words to describe her conflicting feelings. “It changed.”

Your hand reaches out to hold hers. Once your skin touches her, immense pain overwhelms you. It’s haunting, a sudden hole fills your body with anger, regret, sadness. There’s a male voice, low and threatening, taunting her as he hisses.

Why did you leave?

You abandoned me!

Do you know what I’ve become?

Hand recoiling away, your left with the same empty feeling as her. It’s unnerving, experiencing something that hasn’t even happened to you yet somehow able to feel it so deeply, as if you know who this man is, but it gives you an insight as to just how tortured she must be feeling, and why she’s alone on this planet.

“Who…who was that?” Your voice is strained, shuddering out little breaths.

“Someone who meant a great deal to me.” Ahsoka’s face softens immediately, a somber smile develops on her lips, losing that hard, stoic demeanor she’s kept up in front of you and Mando. “An incredibly skilled Jedi Knight. He was my Master.”

“What happened to him?”

Ahsoka’s lungs fill with air, and she takes her time exhaling before answering you. “He fell to the Dark Side…” Her voice breaks up at the end, and clears her throat, giving the impression that she feels guilty about it, while also trying to regain control of her emotions.

Despite hearing the term ‘Dark Side’ for the first time, you almost instantaneously know what it is. The voice that creeps into your mind, the one that feeds off your anger and emotions, the one that scratches the inside of your brain, hissing to cause harm and feed the deepest parts of yourself that you despise. It all makes sense now.

“I sense it within you.” Her voice barely above a whisper, but clear enough to make your skin crawl. It’s a truth you didn’t know you had been dreading to hear. A truth you yourself had tried to ignore. The part of you that you hated most, finally being noticed by a complete stranger, it triggers something deep inside you, almost confirming your worst fears. You’re a danger, not only to yourself but to anyone around you. It’s suddenly as clear as day why you’ve tried to keep your distance from those you loved ever since your parents’ death. Why you never allowed yourself the luxury of attachments or love. Somehow, you knew that in order to keep yourself and others safe, you needed to put a barrier up, a wall to stop yourself from hurting others.

“I…don’t know how to control it.” Desperation in your voice, it becomes obvious that you’re both struggling to find solace.

“You should get some sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning, okay?” Attempting to put you somewhat at ease, she offers you a smile, although her eyes show you anything but contentment. There’s a sadness in them, like she already knows your fate but is unsure of the proper way of confessing it to you.

Nodding your head slowly, you push yourself to your feet and make a beeline for the Crest. Ahsoka stands, watching you drag your feet back to the ship, then disappears through the fog, and back into the forest.

When you reach the back ramp of the ship, the lights are dimmed to the lowest setting, your legs almost collapsing once you reach the hull from all the trekking throughout the day. Leaning over to the side of the ramp, you press a button on the board by the door and the ramp creaks shut.

The Crest is deafeningly quiet. As you make your way deeper into the ship, you observe Grogu sleeping soundly in his little hammock inside Mando’s bunk. Making sure not to make too much noise on the ladder, you gently head up to the cockpit and find Mando sitting in the pilot’s chair, unsure if he’s sleeping or simply sitting there like a statue which you’ve noticed he’s does from time to time. Upon entering the cockpit, you sigh a little loudly, testing to see if he’s awake.

Practically falling into your seat, you know you should get some sleep, but the mental exhaustion is almost too intense, you can’t seem to get your mind off everything that’s happened. Continuously mulling over what Ahsoka’s said, noting how it makes perfect sense, but not wanting to accept it.

“Are you…all right?” Mando asks you timidly, the deepness of his tone cutting through the low hum of the dimmed lights.

The question bounces around in your mind.

Are you all right?

Just under a couple of hours ago, you had never even heard of ‘The Force’, let alone supposedly have a connection to this intangible entity. Of course, there are things that you’ve done that you couldn’t logically explain, but does that necessarily mean you suddenly have some greater purpose? That you’re this…peacekeeper with an obligation to protect others?

Did your parents know?

Did they keep this a secret from you in order to protect you or were they just as in the dark as you were about this?

Everything you thought you knew about yourself is once again being challenged.

Mechanic.

Smuggler.

Quarry.

Jedi?

How are you supposed to navigate through this? Ahsoka said herself the Jedi were basically wiped out right as the Empire rose to power. What does that mean for you? Is the Empire hunting you down because you’re ‘force-sensitive’?

Certainly, it would be easier to simply put this all behind you. Help Mando with Grogu and then go your separate ways, ignoring what Ahsoka’s told you about being connected to The Force.

Do what you must in order to stay alive.

Keep to yourself just as you’ve always done, and survive.  

But…is that the right thing to do? How does one know if the path they’re on is the correct one? It’s not like there’s someone all knowing that you can ask, or seek help from. The only thing you can do is trust your own instincts, go over each possibility and examine them meticulously, and pray to the Maker that you’ll be drawn to one option more than another.

Remembering that Mando’s just asked you a question but not remembering exactly what it was, you hum in your throat. “Hmm?”

Mando swivels his chair around to face you. “Are you all right?”

“It’s funny how we can here for the kid, and now I’m the one having some kind of existential crisis.” Your tone is wry, the ability to mock yourself never waving.

“Yeah.” He answers coolly, probably just because he doesn’t know what else to say. Mando’s not really one to comfort or coddle, unless it’s Grogu but that doesn’t bother you so much. Mando is the way he is, and you wouldn’t change a thing about him.

Before you even realize what you’re doing, you’re rising to your feet, word vomit expelling from your lips.

“I’ve lived my whole life not knowing where I belong. Navigating through various routes, trying to find my purpose and what I’m supposed to be doing, and I was fine with smuggling. I know it wasn’t honorable or strictly legal, but it made me feel better about my place in the galaxy. It felt better than being a mechanic on some rotten planet because at least I was seeing what the galaxy had to offer me, right? But it still couldn’t fill this empty pit I felt in my stomach.” Your breathing is erratic, chest pumping in and out as your heartbeat races.

“And I dealt with that. I did things I regretted but I never allowed myself to dwell on those things because I knew what I had to do in order to survive. Then out of nowhere I’m being hunted by what I thought was the New Republic but oh no surprise!” Your voice becoming almost hysterical, empty laughs punching out of you through jagged breaths. “It’s actually the Empire! Because I now apparently have some connection to an entity that exists in a form that I don’t even understand and have never heard of.

“All the while, I have this voice inside my head that fucking eats away at me. ‘Do this’ and ‘Make them feel pain’, ‘Hurt them like they hurt you’. It’s fucking gnawing at my brain, and I have no fucking idea how to control it or get it to stop. I feel like a monster, like some evil being that will one day just explode and hurt anyone in my path, and it fucking terrifies me because I can’t control it. I can’t fucking control it, Mando.” Your voice is hoarse, speaking so fast your lungs can’t keep up with you, only allowing yourself quick breaths as you begin to feel yourself hyperventilate.

Mando rises to his feet ever so slowly, visor glued to you as you continue to explode.

“What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to follow down the path of being a Jedi despite not knowing a single fucking thing about them? You heard what Ahsoka said about them. They were almost all wiped out.”

Your hands fly to your face, squeezing your eyes shut so hard, you’re seeing stars, and rubbing the heels of your palms into your skin. Completely overwhelmed by everything, you just want to disappear.

Then, you feel rough, sturdy gloves wrap around your wrists, and gently pulling at them, freeing your hands away from your face. When you finally open your eyes, all you see is Mando’s helmet, the ‘T’ of his visor looking down at you. He doesn’t let go of your wrists, just continues to hold them gingerly, even pulling them towards his chest. You take a step towards him, standing merely inches away from each other. He says nothing, but truthfully, he doesn’t need to. Holding you steady is all he needs to do in order to calm you down. Your breathing is slowly starting to regulate itself, even though your mind is still shouting at you.

Hearing a soft exhale emit through the helmet, Mando speaks quietly and softly. “You’re not a monster.”

“But—”

“We’ve all done things we regret.” He tells you softly. “What matters is that you regret it, which means you’re not a monster, because they don’t regret anything they’ve done.”

Your head dips downward, letting out a deep breath through slightly parted lips, as you begin shaking your head. “What if I hurt you or the kid one day?”

“You won’t.”

“You don’t know—”

“I do,” He says firmly, leaving you no more room to argue.

When you finally look up into the black eye slit of his helmet, you wish you were looking into his eyes. To see him looking back at you would be a blessing right now, but you know better than to ask him to take it off. You don’t know much about Mandalorians, but from the one you do know, he never takes his helmet off, and you wouldn’t dare ask him to break his creed just for you. So, this will have to do.

“Get some sleep.” He says then releases your wrists, letting them fall to your sides.

“I’m not tired,” You mumble.

“Yes, you are.” He argues. “Use the cot downstairs.”

“But that’s where you sleep.”

He turns away from you, sitting back in the pilot’s chair and swiveling it around so you’re facing the back of the seat. “I’ll sleep here. Now, go.”

He leaves no room for argument, and honestly? Finally being able to sleep lying down and not sitting upright in a chair does sound amazing. You head down the ladder without another word, feeling the sudden exhaustion hit you hard. Grogu’s still sound asleep in his hammock, and you wiggle into the tiny sleeping space, being mindful not to touch the hammock or make too much noise that might wake him up, gently pressing on the button on the panel near the door and hearing it woosh shut. Your nostrils fill up instantly with Mando’s smell. Notes of beskar, musk, and his soap fill your sinuses and you take a deep, burning breath, trying to inhale as much Mando as you can in one breath. The voices in your head are still chattering away, but being bundled up in Mando’s blanket and his smell is enough for you to push those noises away and fall asleep to the sound of the Child’s gentle snores.

--

Grogu’s training begins in the early morning. You’re all gathered around the same place you were last night, but there’s definitely more tension than there was the night before. For starters, you basically had a mental breakdown in front of Mando last night, and you’re feeling pretty guilty and embarrassed about it. You should have been able to keep your emotions in check and under control, but instead you blew up in front of the one person you didn’t want to blow up in front of.

Secondly, today you’ll all be seeing Grogu’s abilities firsthand, and find out just how much training he’s had and what he’s fully capable of doing, and it’s pretty easy to tell that Mando is nervous. The way he carries himself; back tense and his hands balled into fists at his sides, shifting uncomfortably as he watches Grogu stand on a rock just a few feet away from Ahsoka. You’re standing to his right, nerves and curiosity radiating off your skin.

“Let’s see what knowledge is lurking in that little mind of yours, shall we?” She says to Grogu before turning her head to you both. Clearing your throat, you nod in acknowledgement while Mando stays stiff as a board.

She reaches down and picks up a small stone off the ground and holds it out in front of her chest. Looking down at the rock and watching her eyes squint, it suddenly lifts out of her palm and stays in limbo for a moment before she uses her hand to push it towards Grogu. It flows over so slowly in his direction, his little arms reaching out and grabbing it with both hands. You stand there, completely stunned, eyes wide-shot and jaw practically hanging. It’s something you’ve been able to do as well, but only during bouts of anger or in the middle of a fight.  

“Now, return the stone to me, Grogu,” She instructs, her voice gentle but commanding all the same.

His head tilts to the side, continuing to hold it firmly with his claws.

“He doesn’t understand what you’re saying,” Mando blurts out.

“He does.” She reassures him, holding her hand out and gently coaxing Grogu once again to hand her the rock. “The stone, Grogu.”

The Child gurgles, then drops the stone in a chuff of defeat. A drawn-out sigh releases from Mando’s helmet, somewhat irritable, but not fully angry.

Ahsoka approaches Grogu, leaning down to pick up the stone he’s dropped and taking his tiny hand in hers. Her head dips forward and whispers, “I sense much fear in you, little one.”

Grogu coos in response, his big eyes blinking slowly. She flashes him a kind smile and takes a couple steps back, cocking her head to one side as she ponders her next move. Ahsoka’s eyes meet yours for a second and just when they meet, it’s almost like you both come up with the same idea. Grogu needs a different kind of enticement, a more personal incentive.

“Let’s try something else,” She says. “Come here.”

Mando looks over to the Child and motions with his head for him walk over to meet Ahsoka. When he looks over to the Mandalorian with a puzzled look, Mando sighs again. “He’s stubborn.”

Unable to hide the smile on your face, you shake your head just as Ahsoka lips curl upwards. “Not him, you.” She says, looking at him.

Mando hesitates at first, so you grab hold of his forearm and almost usher him in Ahsoka’s direction. “I want to see if he’ll listen to you,” She says curiously.

Mando scoffs, and the sound comes out scratchy and low through the vocoder. “That would be a first.”

Handing Mando the stone, she instructs him to hold it in his palm, open faced and tell Grogu to lift and take the rock. He stands there awkwardly, shifting a bit, clearly a little uncomfortable but in an endearing way. You smile from ear to ear, watching Mando be so confused but approaching this in a gentle way that you know almost no one has been privy to witnessing. It tugs at your heartstrings, observing father and son.

He lets out a deep breath before following Ahsoka’s direction. “Okay, kid. Lift the stone.”

“Grogu,” You clarify, still smiling.

He whips his head to face you then back to the Child.

“Grogu,”

The Child’s ears perk up instantly hearing Mando’s voice call him, cooing excitedly. “Take the stone.”

Looking at the rock, Grogu babbles and then looks at the ground defeatedly.

“See?” Throwing the stone on the ground in annoyance, Mando looks over to where you and Ahsoka are standing. “I told you, he’s stubborn.”

You and Ahsoka turn heads to look at each other, knowing damn well it’s not because the kid is stubborn, but because Mando is stubborn. Keeping an emotional type of distance between him and every person in the galaxy, never allowing himself to make a meaningful connection.

“Try to connect with him,” Ahsoka chimes.

Mando studies Grogu, possibly trying to gauge a reaction or an insight as to what he wants. His gloved hands come up to grasp onto his utility belt and then you notice him fiddle with his belt and flesh out the metal knob from the lever of the Crest. Both you and Mando know just how much that durasteel ball means to Grogu, and if there’s one thing in this galaxy that the kid absolutely loves and wants at all times, it’s that ball.

Sure enough, as soon as he sees Mando with the ball in his hand, his ears perk up immediately and giggles of joy rush out of him. Mando bends his knees, crouching down so that he’s at eye level with him, holding the ball between his fingers, enticing the downright giddy baby just a few feet away from him.

“Grogu,” His tone is playful, and it shocks you. He’s never spoken that way around you. Mando has a monotone way of speaking, maintaining a level tone, or an annoyed tone. Never speaking in a playful or humorous manner. To see him show this kind of vulnerability must be hard for him, especially in front of Ahsoka who he’s known for half a day, but Mando knows this isn’t about him, this is for Grogu, and he’ll do whatever it takes for the kid.

“Do you want this?”

The Child fixates on the ball, arms reaching out in front of him, almost begging for it, but Mando continues to tempt him, speaking low but tender, as he urges Grogu to take it. “Well, go ahead. Go on, take it. You can do it.”

Maker, it takes everything in you not to scream. The way Mando continues to coax him, the way Grogu coos and looks at him so lovingly, it’s enough to break hearts. A relationship borne of hunter and quarry turned father and son. Something so rare, so genuine. To think that these two beings don’t even speak the same language yet have an attachment so fierce and pure.

Eyes squinting in concentration, Grogu’s hand reaches out just a little further and then the ball flies from Mando’s hand right into the Child’s little grip.

“Good job!” Mando exclaims, pure joy and full of proudness. Your mouth falls into a toothy grin as you watch him approach the Child and continue to affirm how proud he is. Looking over at Ahsoka and expecting to see her smiling, your face quickly changes when you take notice of her expression. She’s looking down at the ground, not a speck of joy on her face. In fact, she looks defeated, like she’s just witnessed something awful. Eyebrows pulling together, you give her a nudge with your elbow, asking what’s wrong without actually asking what’s wrong.

“I knew you could do it. Very good,” Mando continues to praise.

“He’s formed a strong attachment to you,” She says before her lips press into a thin line.

“Is that a bad thing?” You question. Taking a step towards Mando and away from Ahsoka, and crossing your arms against your chest, your head cocks to one side waiting for her to explain.

“I cannot train him.”

“What?” Mando straightens out immediately and turns his body to face her. “You’ve seen what he can do, right?” He asks curtly, a hint of underlying anger in his vibrato.

“His attachment to you makes him vulnerable to his fears—his anger.”

“All the more reason to train him.”

“No,” She grits out through her teeth. “I’ve seen what such feelings can do to a person. What it can do to even the best of the Jedi Knights. I will not start this child on that path. Better to let his abilities fade.”

You take a step back; a sneer escapes your lips as you try to understand what the hell she’s saying. “Let his abilities fade? Look at him. You can’t just give up on him.”

She looks down at Grogu who’s too busy examining the ball in his hands to notice the three of you arguing. Giving you both a quick glance, Ahsoka shakes her head. “I’ve delayed too long. I must head back to the village.” She turns on her heel and begins walking away from you two when Mando gets her attention.

“The Magistrate’s asked me to kill you.”

Ahsoka freezes, turning her body slowly towards you, hands making their way to the weapons strapped around her waist.

“I didn’t agree to anything.” Mando clarifies.

Uncrossing your arms, you take a tentative step towards her. “We’ll help you free the village, but at the very least, Grogu,” You point a finger in Grogu’s general direction, “needs training.”

She clamps down on her jaw, eyebrows knitting together as she mulls over the proposition.

“Fine, but we hit the city tonight.”

-------

I hope y'all liked the way I wrote ahsoka...I completely ignored how she looked in the mandalorian and based her appearance off the “Overlords” ep of tcw and changed the way her character was because I wasn't really a fan of how she was written. 

[waynewifey]

Fading away. —

Pairing: Jason Grace x Roman!DaughterofPluto!Reader

Sumary: after moths of over working, a colapse makes you get into a coma and reflect on your feelings.

Warnings: coma, angst, Pluto as a caring dad, fluff at the end.

Words: +-3k.

A/N: This is my first Percy Jackson Franchise fanfiction, so take it easy on me. This is also my biggest and favourite one. I hope you like this! My requests are always open.

(Y/N) (L/N) had a good reason to hate Jason Grace. How could she not? Jason was so annoying, self centred, selfish, stubborn and worse of all? He dated Piper McLean. Piper was great, (Y/N) knew that and they seemed happy together. But, still, he chose Piper, not (Y/N), his girlfriend back at Camp Jupiter, who he totally forgot about. How come Percy remembered Annabeth but Jason wouldn't remember (Y/N)? And when he recovered his memory, he chose Piper. But she also loved him still, and seeing him hurt like a bullet going straight through her heart. She decided to spend a year at Half-Blood Camp to stay with her half-brother Nico Di Angelo when Gaea were defeated. She thought she could manage to see him almost every day, but she couldn't. So she started doing anything to get her mind occupied. Going on meaningless quests, travelling to New York randomly, volunteering for literally any service in the camp and barely sleeping — because sleeping meant dreams.

"It doesn't have to be like that, (Y/N)." Her brother gave her another shot of Nectar. The sunlight that entered Hades' cabin was leaving slowly as they talked, (Y/N) leaned on her bed watching her fingertips become solid again.

"I'll learn how to do it right and I promise I won't push myself too much, but I can't stop practicing." She avoided eye contact with Nico, feeling ashamed of herself. After all, she was supposed to be the one taking care of him, since she was older. She came back from a "quest" for her father, that was staying a weekend on the Underworld. She started using Shadow Travel to get there. The problem? She had no idea how hard it was, and she almost died every time. He sighted.

"I'm not talking about Shadow Travel. You should talk to Jason and sort this out. You're almost killing yourself everyday doing the craziest stuff just to keep your mind off him. He already broke up with Piper, what's stopping you now? I'm your brother and it pains me to see you suffering, I won't just sit and watch while you literally desapear." He got up and walked to the door. The (h/c) girl forced a smile so he believed she was fine. Nico left the cabin.

After hours reflecting and thinking, she heard the trumpets that announced the convocation to a game of Capture the Flag. Since she was feeling better, she changed her clothes and walked outside. The teams were: cabins 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, 14, 18, 21, 23, 27, 28, 29 vs. cabins 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 24, 25, 26. They started the game. (Y/N) had to protect the boundary with a kid from Hipnos' cabin while a group attacked the opponent's flag and another protected their territory and their flag. Everything was going as planned, she hadn't seen anyone yet. Out of the sudden, she saw a blond guy running in their direction with a sword. Oh hell no, Jason Grace wouldn't attack her like that. But he did.

"What the hell?!" She screamed, reacting to the blade flying in her direction. Her teammate was asleep. She defended herself with her own sword and counterattacked. He invested against her leg, trying to make her fall. Her instincts took place, she jumped, attacked again and they started a meaningless battle. Jason looked the same as always. He was almost the same Jason that used to take her on cute dates in New Rome. But he fought like a greek. And that was when it hit her, he changed. The mixture of love and hate made her loose her senses for a bit, giving Jason the lead. He focused on her leg but hesitated to hit it, giving her time to get back on the fight. She knocked him to the floor, her foot on his chest and her blade on his neck, when she heard footsteps approaching quickly. Of course. It was a trap. She turned around and saw a son of Hebe holding her team's flag running, followed by two daughters of Hephaestus. She grabbed a knife from her belt and threw it to his leg, hitting exactly where she wanted. She then grabbed Jason's blade and Shadow Travelled. For a moment everything was fine, while she drowned into darkness, but then she couldn't get out. She saw her father's face mixed in the dark. He raised his hand and touched her face, than she was back at the forest. Realising not even a second had gone through, she attacked the — injured — boy and the two gigantic girls at the same time. She wasn't really expecting to defeat them, just trying to win some time so, hopefully, someone would come help her. The boy dropped the flag and got a small sword. The two girls had hammers... oh. The three of them attacked at the same time and she protected herself with Jason's sword, which flew away. She was out of hopes when a figure appeared beside her and started fighting them.

"What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to help me, we're enemies, remember?" She said, fighting Hebe's son.

"I guess you're welcome then." Jason replied smiling, fighting the hammers-girls. (Y/N) sighted in annoyance. Seconds later, her teammates came running from the enemies' territory with a flag and the three-people group surrendered. Everyone started screaming and celebrating. (Y/N)'s head hurt with the noise and she looked to her brother, feeling numb.

"Hey, can we talk?" Jason said, getting in front of her with a big smile. He was proud of himself for helping her? Of course he was. He was going to take all the credit for her team's win. The anger rose inside of her burning everything. She furrowed her eyebrows and with the last energy that remained in her body, she tried to Shadow Travel for the perhaps hundredth time that day.

She fell into the darkness while feeling her body desapear quickly. Her heart was very accelerated but then it stopped. She saw herself at the barks of Lete's river. I'm dead., she thought. The desperation started taking over. She remembered the face of all her friends. Her siblings, Hazel and Nico. Her mother. Her best friend Reyna. Camp Jupiter. New Rome. The Lar Vitellius. Lares? Lares! Maybe she could go back as a ghost! She would at least see her friends again.

"Didn't expect to see you this soon." A voice said with humor. She turned around, as always enlighten by her father's presence. But his face was sad. Not the everyday-sad-Pluto, but the my-daughter-just-died-sad-Pluto.

"Am I d-... dead?" The anxiety forbid her from crying in front of her father. The one she never knew and once she did, she didn't want to disappoint him.

"Yes and no. You see, my darling, there are things more powerful then death. Right now, your physical being is exhausted from travelling through darkness and light — which I told you not to, but we'll talk about this later, you have a decision to make. You're body is surrendering to Death out of hopelessness. But your soul, on the other hand, still fights for the heart beating in your chest. And your conscious, the controller of both body and soul, has to decide which one of them you'll support right now. As Lord of the Death that's all I can say to you. But as your father, I would like to say that we have a room for you in the castle, if you'd like that. And also, I feel obligated to show you what is happening on Earth." When he finished his words, an image formed in the air, sort of an Iris message, but no one saw them. (Y/N) saw herself laying on the grass, surrounded by some campers, Nico and Jason.

She was watching them from above. Jason put two fingers on her neck, trying to feel her pulse. She — the one in the Underworld — gasped as the blond boy whispered 'nothing'. She glanced at her father, who had a pained expression as he stared at Nico freaking out. Her brother had his hands on her chest and was murmuring something in greek. Then, he opened his eyes, filled with tears of desperation, and glanced at Jason, who didn't look any better. She wanted to scream and go back to up there, but her voice wouldn't come out of her throat.

"Half of her is already gone." Nico struggled to say. Everyone around gasped. "I can't Shadow Travel with her, it- it would k-kill the other half..."

"Let's take her to the Infirmary. Everything's gonna be fine. She'll be okay." Will Solace had appeared in the crowd and kneed down to take (Y/N) in the arms, being helped by the other two. As they walked, (Y/N) held herself in her arms, sobbing. She didn't want to die, not like that. The image faded away and Pluto hugged her. He never did that before. She left out all her emotions through the cry. Her father caressed her back and gently kissed the top of her head.

"Now you see, my child, what those on Earth are going through. You have a family up there. And if you'd ask me, Jason Grace is a good person, even being a son of my brother. You have a choice, so make it wisely." Pluto said, not backing away from the hug. She nodded and he immediately knew what her choice was. "You know I'd love to have you here with me, but I'd love even more to see you happy. Don't be reckless. And listen to your brother. You don't have to worry to come see me, I'll make sure to visit you during your recovery." As he said that, a white door appeared out of nowhere. "Here's your carpool." The girl started to walk to the door, when she heard Pluto say: "(Y/N) I lo-... Good luck." She smiled to him and went through into the door. It felt like eons in the nothingness. She felt so much pain all over her body. Then she gained conscience. She didn't knew how long it had passed. She also couldn't open her eyes or say anything, but she knew she was laying down something comfortable, a bed, perhaps. But she could hear perfectly well.

"... and I'm so sorry you had to die for me to gain the courage to say this. Please come back to us... Come back to me. Nico barely leaves this room and nor do I, Will had to force him to go eat. It's not the same without you, (Y/N/N), it really isn't." Jason's words gave her the urge to cry, but she couldn't. It was like her body had shutdown completely. She felt his warm hands on her cold ones and after that, a door was opened. Footsteps. Only one person. Jason didn't move. Someone sat down next to them.

"Dad- I mean, Hades said she will be okay." It was Nico's voice. He sounded extremely tired.

"Didn't he say that last month?" Grace was annoyed, but he didn't stop holding her hand.

"I know, I wish I could do more... I'm... I'm sorry Jason." The blond sighted.

"I should be the one to be saying that. I know there's nothing else to do. I'm sorry for putting the blame on you. It's just- if we've talked before, nothing of this would have happened. If only I was brave enough..." (Y/N) felt weak and her consciousness was back at nothing again. When she heard something again, it looked like a lot of time had passed by, but she wasn't sure at all. Jason's voice was happy as he told her his plans to the future.

"I realised you would like to work with me training the legion. You're obviously skilled and the payment is quite good. And I've heard they are planning to build a village here as well, but I don't know if you-..." Every time she tried to stay conscious, she felt weaker. 'Rest', her father's voice said inside of her head, so she let herself.

Some time...? A long time...? She didn't knew. But the next time she heard, she was way stronger. She waited until then, so she could stay longer and try to understand her emotions. She heard almost an entire day. Her friends entered and left cabin 13 — she found out that she was there. Some of them talked "to" her, some just sat there in silence. When alone, Nico talked a lot about Will Solace. (Y/N) smiled mentally. Then Jason entered. She could already recognise the sound he made walking. He sat beside her bed and held her hand, as usual.

"Hello, princess. You look better." She reunited all the strength she had storage and sent it all to her right hand. She softly squeezed Jason's hand, for a small portion of second, trying to say 'hi'. She felt exhausted. He gasped.

"She just squeezed my hand!" He screamed, laughing. Nico jumped out of his bed, laughing as well. They both stared at her, waiting for more. "You're there, right? I knew you were! It's been long months, but you're getting better. Don't work too hard. We'll see each other soon, don't worry." He kissed her forehead. After that, it was easy for her to let go and dive into her sleep again.

She was slowly getting better. She noticed her comas were smaller now, and she got stronger every time. She started communicating by squeezing people's hand. One time for 'yes' and two times for 'no'. But it still was exhausting. She met with her father a couple times through dreams, but it never lasted long. She was sick of it. She wanted to jump out of the bed and run through all the camp. She was alone with Jason, as he talked about the last time he went to Camp Jupiter, telling every change. She slowly forced herself to open her eyes. It wasn't for too long, just enough for her to see the big smile he had while talking, her favourite blond hair and how he gesticulated while speaking. By that time, her feelings were completely lined. She declined her childishness and stubbornness to accept the fact that she obviously loved him. Her lips were able to form a small smile. He hadn't noticed her yet. I can do this, she thought.

"J." She whispered for the first time in five months. Her eyes were already closed again. He gasped.

"Did you just say J? That's me! I'm here, i'm right here, love. Can you hear me?" She squeezed his hand one time. Yes. He chortled. "You're so strong. I miss you so much." He started softly crying. She squeezed his hand two times. No. Don't cry, she wanted to say. "Alright, 's fine, 's fine. Gods, you're coming back. I bet Aphrodite is watching us closely." He chuckled but suddenly stopped. "I forgot we haven't talked about that yet, i'm sorry. I don't wanna be intrusive, you know. It's just, by what Nico has told me, well, you still liked me." She squeezed two times. "That's... that's great, love. But don't worry about that just yet. You should take some rest now, my love."

Five days. She had woken up every single one of them, but only listening. No squeezes, no talking, no looking. Just storing strength. She knew she was close to fully waking up. She was already able to keep track of the days. It was a Sunday, the day she received the most visits. It should be morning, because she only heard Nico's snorting. She slowly opened her eyes. The same place. Different clothes. She wondered who had changed them. Perhaps Will did. She systematically moved her arms, pushing herself to sit. Her back was laying at wall. She took a deep breath. It was going fine. She wanted to wake Nico up, but she decided to wait to see if she would be able to actually stay awake. About an hour later, Nico woke up by himself. He yawned and turned to her bed. She looked at him with a big smile. He jumped out of bed.

"Holy shit, (Y/N)! You're up! How- Wait! I need to- Wait! Don't fall asleep, I'll be right back!" She blinked slowly to sign 'ok'. He was back moments running later with a bunch of teenagers in pyjamas. They all froze at the door, staring at her. Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Percy, Jason and even Piper. Hazel was the first one to wake up from the trance. She ran to her sister and hugged (Y/N).

"Ouch." She managed to say, reacting to the tight hug that made her head hurt.

"Right, sorry! I forgot. Wait, you speak!" Hazel answered and laughed. All of the others joined in, amazed by her friend, and started talking, telling everything she had missed. (Y/N) couldn't speed properly, only a few words like 'hi', 'ow', 'miss' and 'food'. Later that day, Will came to check on her. He said everything looked just fine, but that she should rest.

"Hey." Zeus' son said, once they were alone.

"Hi."

"Gods, it's so good to finally hear you again. I've talked to myself for a long time." They giggled softly. (Y/N) wasn't showing any signs of it, but that day had been extremely tiring. Her entire body hurt but she couldn't give up just yet.

"I... heard." She whispered. "A bit." Her eyes tried to close but she opened them wide, fighting her own nature. Jason noticed that.

"Hey, no need to over do it.” He brushed her cheek with his thumb.

"Sleep... here." She begged, placing her hand beside her. He froze for a moment, embarrassed. And then, with a rubor across his face, he sat on the bed beside her. She laid her head on his chest and quickly fell asleep.

“Go to sleep, love. We have all the time in the world.”

[a-blue-secret]

GENRES: elf!beomgyu, fairy!taehyun, magic au, fluff, lots and lots of fluff, an ittle wittle bit of angst, ambiguous/open ending

PAIRING: taegyu

WARNINGS: this is not edited in the slightest so beware of rambling

WORD COUNT: a whopping 3.2k+ I'm sorry

AN: A little bit of fluff for Valentine's Day! And yes! I managed to get this out before Valentine's Day ended in Korea! Whoo!! I recommend listening to Smile Flower by Seventeen, especially towards the end. I hope you enjoy :) -on ao3 here-

SUMMARY: Just a bunch of scenarios showcasing how Beomgyu taught Taehyun to love.

Taehyun loved Beomgyu. There was no doubt about it. Even he himself knew it, and readily embraced that fact.

Taehyun had loved people before. He loved his mother, and his father, and even his pet ladybug who could sometimes be a little grumpy and snappy. He knew it was love, because he smiled and laughed with them, and grew a warm feeling in his tummy when they were happy. He knew love.

But Beomgyu made him feel… different. He knew it was love; he recognised the warm happiness he received around him. But this love was different. It was a giddy feeling, and Taehyun became hopelessly flustered around him. This love was different, because it felt more playful and intimate than the love he shared with his family.

Taehyun thought he knew love well enough, until Beomgyu came along, and taught him so much more.

.・。.・゜♡・

Beomgyu taught him to love in a carefree, courageous way.

"Beomgyu!" Taehyun said in a panicked whisper. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Shh! I wanted to see you, can't I do that?" Beomgyu said, pouting as he rested his head on the leaf Taehyun was sitting on. The fairy had been resting on the leaf, relatively obscured from view by the long grass stems, so they were hidden from other fairies. Still, Taehyun didn't want to take any chances.

"Go! What if someone sees you?" Taehyun said, trying to push Beomgyu away. Beomgyu refused to be pushed, instead struggling up to sit next to Taehyun. He nudged Taehyun with his shoulder.

"I'll do anything for you," he said.

"Even get caught in fae territory?"

"No boundary will ever hold back my love for you, Taehyun," Beomgyu said seriously. Taehyun flushed, and fiddled with his fingers.

"I just don't want them to find you," Taehyun spoke worriedly. "Elves aren't allowed anywhere near here, and you know what they do to elves they find in fae territory. I don't want that happening to you just because you missed me."

"Please," Beomgyu smiled, bopping Taehyun's nose. "I think that's an incredibly valid reason. And besides, I'd do anything for you. Anything at all."

Taehyun had pondered over Beomgyu's words that night, thinking about what he'd said. Loving Beomgyu was dangerous, he and the elf both knew it, but it seemed that Beomgyu was willing to do anything for Taehyun. That day, Taehyun learned another thing about love.

.・。.・゜♡・

Beomgyu taught Taehyun to love in a messy, silly way.

Someone tentatively knocked on Taehyun's door, and he immediately threw a cushion at it. "Go away!" he yelled.

"Taehyuuunnn," the voice said in a whiny, sad tone. "You promised you'd play with me after you finished your homework. Momma said you're done, so you're free to play now!"

"I don't want to play with you!" Taehyun said in frustration, pulling open his door to see his younger sister looking up at him, wings drooping sadly. He sighed. "I don't want to play, okay? The games you play are too childish and silly."

His younger sister pouted. "Hmph. You used to play with me all the time, but now you don't want to anymore. It's like you don't care anymore."

"I do care," Taehyun said exasperatedly,"but it's too childish to play games like hide and seek now. I don't want to."

"Hmph! Whenever I ask you to play, you always say that! You never want to play with me!" With that, she stomped off. Taehyun sighed, closing his door.

That evening, when he met up with Beomgyu, he told him all about how annoying his sister had been. The elf listened to him carefully. When Taehyun finished speaking, Beomgyu spoke up. "Hey, wanna play catch?"

He was slightly confused at the change of subject, but readily agreed. "Sure." He got up, picking up a dewdrop from one of the flower petals. "Be careful though, you don't wanna get caught!"

The two of them played games that Taehyun hadn't played in ages. They spent hours and hours playing games. They played catch with the dewdrop, played chase around the dandelions, Grandma's Footsteps by the daffodil bulb, and then played hide-and-seek in the dark, both of them giggling when the other accidentally tripped over their own feet.

"Beomgyu? Beomgyu?" Taehyun called out. There was complete silence. He glanced around. One of the rules was that he wasn't allowed to fly, since it would be unfair for the elf, but Beomgyu couldn't see him, right? It wouldn't matter if he flew, just for a few seconds…

He'd hovered just a few centimeters above the ground when hands suddenly grasped his ankles, preventing him from going higher.

"Taehyunnie! No cheating!"

Taehyun squeaked and suddenly dropped to the ground, Beomgyu's arms still around his legs. Beomgyu blinked, before laughing.

"Hey! I could have died!" Taehyun huffed jokingly.

"That yell! Wah, I didn't think anyone could make such a high-pitched shriek!"

"It's not funny! You surprised me!" Taehyun reached out and tickled Beomgyu's sides, making the elf laugh even more. Then suddenly, Beomgyu let out a squeak- even higher than the one Taehyun had made. They both stared wide-eyed at each other. Then Taehyun began to tickle Beomgyu even more, in fits of laughter himself.

"Oh my god, hyung! What was that??"

"I- Taehyun! Stop! It- it tickles! Ah!!"

Eventually, Beomgyu couldn't breathe from laughing so much, so they lay down looking up at the night sky, still giggling slightly. Their giggles died down, and they stared silently up at the dark canvas above them, studded with small silver stars.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Beomgyu smiled, turning to look at Taehyun.

"Yeah," Taehyun said. "It's been ages since I've played those sorts of games."

"I remember when I was younger I used to pester my elder brother to play them with me," Beomgyu said. "He never wanted to. But it's okay." He nudged Taehyun's shoulder. "Now I can pester you to play with me, can't I?"

"You'll never pester me into playing them," Taehyun replied, turning to face Beomgyu. "I'll play them willingly."

Beomgyu gave a soft smile to the fairy. He pecked his nose, before regretfully standing up. "I'm going to have to go now," he said. Taehyun pouted, but stood up too.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked the elf hopefully.

"See you tomorrow," Beomgyu smiled, giving him a kiss. "Goodbye, my fairy."

The next day, Taehyun spotted his sister as she walked past his door. He remembered how harshly he'd turned her away yesterday, and winced in regret.

"Wait," he called out. "I have some free time right now. Do you… do you maybe want to play?"

She turned around, and her eyes lit up. "Really?"

He laughed at how adorable she looked. "Yeah, really."

"Yay!!” She clapped her hands delightedly, before reaching out and dragging Taehyun outside. "Can we play catch???"

"Of course! Hey, want me to teach you how to make dewdrop balls?"

.・。.・゜♡・

Beomgyu taught him that being in love wasn't complete without occasionally clashing with the other.

"What are you doing here?" Beomgyu hissed, pushing Taehyun's head down so it was out of sight. Taehyun immediately bobbed up again, blond curls bouncing on his forehead. He stared up at the elf, confused.

"What, so it's fine for you to see me in fae territory, but I'm not allowed to visit you in elven land?" he said.

"Well, it's just…" A few more elves walked past, and Beomgyu pushed Taehyun down again. Once they were out of sight, Taehyun peeked up.

"Just what?" he asked.

"Elven territory is more dangerous," Beomgyu said in a low whisper. "You know what they can do to you."

Taehyun tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hmm… well, what they can do to me is no less harsh than what they could have done to you. The dangers are just the same." He beamed up at Beomgyu. "But even so, I wanted to see you!"

Beomgyu didn't smile back, and frowned. "That's not a good enough reason. I don't want you potentially getting hurt just because you wanted to see me."

Taehyun recognised those words as being extremely similar to his own from a few weeks back. "What, so you're allowed to visit me when you miss me, but I'm not?"

Beomgyu sighed exasperatedly. "Love, that's not it, it's just that–”

"No, that's exactly it," Taehyun said, hurt. "You don't think I'm capable of looking after myself, do you? For your information, I am perfectly capable. No– don't you touch me." When Beomgyu tried to reach out to the fairy, Taehyun moved back. Beomgyu's outstretched hand curled into a ball, before hanging by his side.

"Taehyun, please, stop overreacting. I'm just worried about you, okay? You can get hurt."

"Overreacting?" Taehyun repeated. "I'm not overreacting."

Beomgyu sighed frustratedly. "Taehyun, come on, think clearly here! You're in elven land, and you're just a fairy. Do you seriously think that's safe?"

"So you think I'm weak?"

"No,Taehyun, just stop being ridiculous–"

"Oh, I see. I see what's going on. It's clear you think I'm weak and need protecting, because I'm a fairy. Well that's just a stupid stereotype! I thought you of all people would know not to believe stereotypes, Beomgyu," Taehyun said, tears in his eyes. "You of all people! You're in love with a fairy, for goodness' sake, and that goes against all stereotypes that fairies and elves should be enemies."

"Well who says I'm in love with you?"

At that, Taehyun paused, shocked. Beomgyu's eyes widened as he realised what he'd just said.

"No wait, love, I didn't mean it–”

Taehyun wiped his eyes angrily. "No, it's fine, 'love'. I get it. You don't want me pestering you. If you don't want me around, I'll go. I'm not going to come back."

Before he could call out, Taehyun had already flown back down, through the grass roots and out of sight. Beomgyu closed his mouth, swallowing. He felt the guilt close in on his throat, and his eyes burned with tears. He hadn't meant to say that at all. Even now that he thought about it, he was shocked with himself for even managing to say something so horrible. God, Taehyun must hate him now. Beomgyu's eyes blurred with tears, and sat forlornly down on the leaf.

"I'm sorry, Taehyunnie," he whispered.

.・。.・゜♡・

However, Beomgyu also taught him love meant forgiveness, because no one was perfect, and love was about navigating those imperfections together.

It had been five days. Five days since Taehyun had visited Beomgyu in elven land, only to be pushed away. He couldn't even think about the day, because it made his heart hurt too much. Taehyun's eyes filled with tears, and he furiously wiped them with the back of his hand. No. He shouldn't cry. Beomgyu had made it clear he thought Taehyun to be weak, and that he didn't love him at all. He shouldn't cry over someone who didn't love him.

Despite his words, this was exactly what Taehyun did. He moped in his room for five days, refusing to leave the cottage. Though he didn't want to admit it, Taehyun was heartbroken. It may have only been a short, sudden sentence said in the heat of the moment, but it still hurt that Beomgyu could even think such a sentence. He tried to blink away the tears which had for some reason welled up yet again. He vigorously wiped them away, eyes bright with anger. If Beomgyu ever came to apologise, he wasn't going to accept. He wasn't going to forgive him. No. Not at all. Taehyun glanced out the window. That is, he wasn't going to forgive the elf… if he ever came to apologise at all.

.♡.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Taehyun's mum asked, nudging him.

"Mmm," Taehyun answered absent-mindedly, staring blankly out the window. When his mother still continued to look at him, he turned to face her. "I'm okay, Mum." He gave a weak smile. "Seriously."

"If you say so," she responded skeptically, watching him carefully as Taehyun resumed staring out of the window.

Once she had left the room, Taehyun gave a sigh, resting his cheek on his hand. He'd been watching their garden, hoping that maybe Beomgyu would turn up. Despite the bold words he'd said to the elf the last time he'd seen him, it seemed that he did need and depend on the elder. He missed Beomgyu. Missed those stolen little moments they had in the evenings, missed seeing Beomgyu's face randomly peep up from behind a leaf, and jokingly pushing him away. Goddammit, he even missed the annoying jokes he told.

Taehyun scanned the empty greenery again, before slumping and reluctantly moving away from the window. He understood why Beomgyu wouldn't come to him. If he were in the elf's place, he'd be too proud and annoyed to admit his faults. But a part of him hoped that Beomgyu wouldn't be like that.

"Taehyun, darling?"

At the nickname, Taehyun perked up, before he realised it was his mother, hovering by his door.

"A dragonfly dropped a letter for you by our door. It said it was strictly confidential, so I didn't look at it." Taehyun's eyes brightened hope. Could it be Beomgyu? He thanked his mother, and waited until she left before opening it. His lips twitched into a smile as he spotted the handwriting, but he quickly smothered it.

'My lovely Taehyunnie, I'm sorry it took so long for me to reach out. I just want to say that at sundown, I'll be by the maple tree, waiting for you. If you don't come, I understand, but just in case you don't hate me even a little, please, meet me there. I love you.'

Taehyun frowned, putting the letter down. No. He wouldn't go. Beomgyu had hurt him too much. He wasn't going to go. Nope.

.♡.

Taehyun went. No matter how many times he told himself he didn't care, deep down, he still loved Beomgyu a lot.

Coming up to the maple tree, his face creased into a frown when he saw that no one else was there. Had Beomgyu come already? Had he been fooling him? Maybe the elf wasn't coming at all.

Then, he heard the faint sound of guitar strings being played.

"Look up," a voice called, and Taehyun looked up, face melting in wonder. Beomgyu was floating down on a maple leaf, held at the corners by fireflies. He was holding the guitar he'd made himself, a nervous smile on his face. As soon as he opened his mouth, Taehyun knew what was going on. He couldn't help a smile spread across his own face, as his hands came up to cover his mouth. It was horribly cliche, romantic and such a Beomgyu-like gesture, that he couldn't help but love it.

"I can smile because we're together, I can cry 'cause it's you. So what can't I do?" Beomgyu landed gently next to Taehyun. "Don't say it's the end, forever, because I'll stay by your side." He took Taehyun's hands into his, and Taehyun realised with a start that Beomgyu was trembling. His eyes were bright with tears. "Whatever happens, like always, can we be together?"

Taehyun's own eyes filled with tears and he nodded his head vigorously. "I love you," he whispered, holding Beomgyu's hands tighter. "I love you, so much." Beomgyu bit his lip, the tears finally spilling out of his eyes. "I- I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I wasn't thinking. You were just doing what I always do, and I didn't think. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean a single word."

"It's okay," Taehyun said, pulling Beomgyu into a hug. "I understand how you want to protect me. It's what I feel when you sneak over here. I'm sorry I overreacted like that."

"No, no, you didn't overreact," Beomgyu quickly said, stroking Taehyun's hair. "It was me. I shouldn't have been so hypocritical, or try and push you away when you just wanted to see me. I'm so sorry, Taehyunnie." He pulled back, and took Taehyun's hands in his own. "I was being too overprotective over you," he whispered. "And I kept making you seem weaker than you were, when in fact you are the strongest person I know. I love you, so so much. Will you forgive me?" His eyes searched Taehyun's, hopeful and sad at the same time.

"Yes, I do," he said through tears, hugging Beomgyu again. "It's okay, I forgive you."

"Oh, thank goodness." Beomgyu buried his face into Taehyun's shoulder. "If you didn't, I was going to abandon all my pride and just beg at your feet, right here."

Taehyun laughed, and gave Beomgyu a short, sweet kiss.

"You don't need to ever do that," he said, smiling. "I love you too much to stay mad at you forever." He looked up at Beomgyu. "Could you sing me the rest of the song?"

Beomgyu smiled, and picked up his guitar. "Don't say it's the end, forever what happens, just like always, our smile flowers will bloom." He pressed a long, loving kiss onto Taehyun's lips, smiling. "Whenever, wherever, even if we’re not together, just like always, our smile flowers bloom."

"I’ll be the spring to your smile," Taehyun finished, laughing when Beomgyu left light, ticklish kisses along his neck and collarbone.

"I love you, okay?" Beomgyu said earnestly. "So much. No matter what happens, that will never change."

Taehyun buried his head into Beomgyu's shoulder, unable to stop smiling. "So do I," he murmured. "I love you more than anything. Forever."

.・。.・゜♡・

All these things we're infinitely important: there was no doubt about it. But, perhaps the most important thing Beomgyu taught Taehyun was that love was in the little things. The small, stolen moments they shared were the most important things in the world for them.

Taehyun rested his head on Beomgyu's shoulder as their feet dangled off a branch of the maple tree. The sun was low, and the light was rapidly fading. The fireflies danced playfully around them, providing their own golden lights against the warm sunset. Neither the elf nor the fairy said a word, content with each other's presence alone.

When Taehyun thought about it, it was funny how they'd managed to fall in love. A fairy and an elf, destined to be enemies until the end of time, managed to defy all odds and become united. Taehyun smiled. It wasn't even meant to be possible. And yet, here they were, very much in love with each other despite it being something that should have been impossible.

Taehyun gazed up at Beomgyu's side profile in adoration. The elf had his eyes closed, head tilted backwards, a golden glow settling over his features from the setting sun. Beomgyu was beautiful. It made Taehyun a little sad that he couldn't show the world how much he loved the elf, but it also made him appreciate these small moments even more. Every minute they spent together felt even more special. Beomgyu opened his eyes and caught Taehyun staring, smiling and winking at the fairy. Taehyun blushed, burying his face into the other's shoulder. Beomgyu hummed a wordless tune, arm around Taehyun's waist as they rocked side to side in time with the gentle wind.

One day, Taehyun said to himself. One day, we'll be able to show our love to the world. But until then, I'll love you through these small moments.

-fin.