#everyone else is wrong about q but genie <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[naggingatlas]

weird man in round glasses for character bingo

(also Geordi La Forge, if you want, though his visor isn't round)

first of all i hate u second (st:pic q, geordi)

[ella-se-vuelve-loca]

Chapter 9

Grand Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter

~~

“Can you guys hear me?” I heard Chris ask the cncowners on his live stream he’s doing with Zabdiel. They waited a few moments as comments started pouring in greeting them. “Aye! Hahaha how is everyone? Good?” Chris asked as Zabdiel was reading some of the comments.

Ring

I looked down and saw that (Y/N) was calling my phone. A smile immediately came onto my face as I answered her call.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” It’s like I could feel her smiling on the other line.

“What’s up?” I asked and I could hear some shuffling in the background. “Well, I finally checked out that Netflix Series you were telling me about.”

“Oh, really?” I chuckled. “And?..”

“You were right.. It’s so addicting!” I laughed and played with some of the rings on my fingers. “Right? I told you. I have good taste.”

“I can’t believe I’ve been putting it off for this long. I’m such an idiot.” She laughed as I leaned my head back on the chair I’m sitting on. “I meaannn… you’re not wrong. You can be a dork sometimes.”

“Speak for yourself. You can be a dork as well.” She immediately fired back at me. “Yeah, but I’m your dork.” I mumbled and made sure no one else could that but her. I looked back over to where Chris and Zabdiel are siting and I realized that they were both looking at me... I guess I might’ve been laughing too much? I shrugged my shoulders at them as they got back to talking to the cncowners.

I stood up from my seat and started walking towards the door to go into the hallway. “A dónde vas?” Zabdiel asked as I opened the door, holding the phone close to my ear. “I’ll be right back..” I said and made my way out of the room. “Hey uh now that I have you on the line with me, can I ask you a quick question?” I asked.

“Sure! What’s up?”

“Are you free tomorrow evening?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Mhmm there’s a place I would like to take you and I think you’ll really enjoy it.”

“Where would we be going if I say ‘yes’ to this little adventure of yours?”

“It’s a surprise. All I ask is that you might wanna wear something comfortable and to bring a sweater.. so, what do you say? Will you go out with me tomorrow?”

“I’d have to say that you are something else, Joel.” She laughed. “But sure, I’m free tomorrow. Is there anything else I should bring, Pimentel?” She joked. “Only your cute self.” I smiled as I could picture her blushing at my comment. “Where are we going?” She tried once again to figure out my plans.

“Ah-ah-ah I see what you’re trying to do there. Nice try, but like I told you, it’s a surprise.” I looked back at the door where Chris and Zabdiel sat inside. “Darn it. I thought you wouldn’t catch it and tell me without even realizing.”

“I’m just that good.” I chuckled. “Anyways, I’ll pick you up at 8?”

“It’s a date.”

“I’ll see you then, princesa.”

“I’ll see you then.”  I smiled and hung up the phone after we said our goodbyes and walked back into the room occupied by two of my friends. “Hey, guys.” I spoke as I walked towards them both. “What are you guys doing?” I asked.

“Estamos haciendo un Q&A.” Chris said as he looked back to the screen and picked out a question to answer. “Who were you talking to just now?” Zabdiel asked as I looked down at Chris. “I think it was just a friend of his.” Chris spoke for me and brushed it off as Zabdiel slowly nodded and got back to answering questions. I patted Christopher’s shoulder as if saying “thank you” that he covered for me.

That was way too close.

I forgot for a second that they were doing a live and I could’ve blown this whole thing up within seconds. She has to stay a secret. When I break this off with her and get Emilia, then it’ll just be between us and the public wouldn’t know about this. I know this is still very douchebag of me doing this, but I can feel it. I can feel this going my way soon and I’ll get what I want in the end.

I can feel something is about to change or like something is about to happen. I just don’t really know what yet…

~~

“So you’re really not gonna tell me where we are headed?” She asked me as she strapped her seatbelt on and looked over at me. I shook my head and started driving away, heading over to our destination. “I thought you said ‘patience is a virtue’?” I smiled. “Besides, it’s not that far from here anyways.”

We continued to talk as soft jazz music played in the background until we finally made it to where I had planned our date. “We’re here.” I said as I unstrapped my seatbelt.

“The beach?” I nodded and opened my car door before running over to her side and opening her side of the car. “Thank you.” She smiled and at me and got out as I stood behind her. “The water is gonna be cold if we get in.”

“True, but we’re not here to swim..” I slowly turned her chin towards where we were going to be seated at and leaned down close to her ear and spoke. “We’re just gonna have a little picnic.” I chuckled and took her hand in mine, pulling her towards me as we walked on the cold sand. “It’s simple, but sometimes simple is the best way to go.”

She looked at the picnic I had set for the both of us and smiled. “It’s perfect. I love it..” We got ourselves settled on top of the blanket as I had a spare one next to me. Instead of sitting down, we ended up lying down on our sides, hoisting our bodies up by our elbows. “Uh.. champagne?” I asked as I held up the bottle from the basket next to us as she held up the two glasses. “Of course.”

We both clinked our glasses together as she took a sip. I couldn’t help but notice how.. beautiful she looked tonight. I don’t know if it’s the sunset beaming on her skin or how little makeup she wore, but something about her was just drawing me in. I took a sip from my drink and placed it on top of the blanket.

“This definitely is a nice surprise.” She spoke. “I’m glad you like it..” We both looked at the waves in front of us and could hear the water crashing together. “You said you thinking spot and one of your favorite places to be was underneath a.. willow tree? That’s what they’re called, right?” I asked as she nodded.

“Well, my thinking spot is when I’m around water. Whether I’m at the beach, or I’m on a bridge that’s over some water, a swimming pool or even in the shower.” I chuckled. “Something about it is just so relaxing to me and I feel like I can breathe.. be lost in my own thoughts.”

I’ve never really confessed this to anyone, now that I think about it.

Her thinking spot is under a tree and mine is by an ocean of some kind. What goes better than land and water?

I looked up at her and saw her glancing over at the small waves as she let out a sigh. “It’s a good place to think. It sure is beautiful..”

“Yeah.. very beautiful..” She glanced back at me and noticed how I was looking at her and not the view in front of us. A blush spread across her cheeks as she played with the glass of champagne in her hands. I reached over to the basket and pulled out two sandwiches and handed her one.

“Would you care for a sandwich, m’lady?” I asked as she laughed. “Don’t mind if I do, good sir.” She took it out of my hands and took a bite. “Mmm.. avocado?” I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, I like to add it to my sandwiches. It gives it a whole new taste and takes it to the next level. If you don’t like it, I have a few ones that don’t have any.”

“Are you kidding? This is so good! Kind of reminds me of a torta, I’m not gonna lie.” She laughed and took another bite. “A lot of people don’t like them and I’m always like how can you not? It’s delicious.” I took a bite of my own and smiled. “It’s a good fat.” She laughed.

We continued to chat and eat while it got darker and darker.

“Okay okay uh if you were in a TV show or movie, would you rather be the hero or the villain?” I asked her as we looked up at the stars above us from were we lied down. “I think I’d like to play the villain just because I feel like you get to have more fun. I mean don’t get me wrong, It’d be cool to play the hero but… the costumes and the dialogue of the villains always look so much cooler, in my opinion.”

“Really?” She nodded and asked a question of her own. “If a genie granted you 3 wishes right now, what would you wish for?” I thought for a moment as I absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair. “Uhh.. pfft.. to eat anything and never get sick or fat, to get mi caballito azul back and..  for this moment right here, right now, to never end..” I looked down at her and I swear the stars didn’t compare to how pretty her eyes looked in the moonlight.

“… Wait.. what’s your caballito azul?” She asked and I laughed. “Long story short, when I was little, I l grew up with my grandparents and I used to have this blue toy horse and I would always play with it. One day, I lost it and I would cry out ‘Caballito azul! Caballito azul!’ and I never saw it again.”

“Wow, must have been so traumatic for you.” She laughed. “Hey! I’ll have you know it was haha!” I looked back up at the sky and sighed. “Okay, my turn… what’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done in public?” She immediately covered her face and groaned. “There’s so many things, oh my God! I was dreading this question!”

“C’mon! Tell me one!”

“Uh.. okay, I can tell you one thing I did when I was younger.”

“I’m all ears.” She chuckled, cleared her throat and began telling her story. “So, I’m a pretty clumsy person by default, okay?” She laughed. “One time, I was trying to get the attention of this one guy I liked when I was younger and for so long, he just didn’t seem to notice me. The one time he decides to look over my way, I’m going up the stairs and.. haha I fucking trip and my body just slid when I got to the top. I was mortified!”

I burst out laughing as her face turned completely red. “I was like ‘Oh! Well, he notices me now when I’m doing some stupid shit. That’s just great.’ I couldn’t believe it.” She chuckled. “How do you fall going up?”

“I don’t know! I just did!”

“But that’s – ”

“I know!”

“So did he – “

“Nope.”

“Damn.”

Our laughter died down as I found myself looking into her eyes once again. Why are they so captivating? Why can’t I look at anything else but her? A slight breeze hit our skins as I saw her shiver a little besides me. “You cold?” I asked. “Just a little..” I sat up as she followed my movements while I grabbed the extra blanket I had brought just in case it got a bit chillier. “Here..” I placed the blanket onto her and she held it close to her body. “Thank you.. aren’t you cold too?”

“Nah, I can handle it.” I brushed it off and looked back at the waves. “I don’t want you to be cold, and it’s not fair that I’m the only one with a blanket, that you brought by the way. Plus, I have extra room so..” She came closer, her body next to mine, and shared the covers with me. “There, now we can both be warm.” She smiled at me as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Thank you..”

Silence…

I hoped she couldn’t hear the sound of my heart thumping rapidly inside my chest. I’ve never held someone like this so close to me and feel so.. comfortable. It just feels so right. I looked down at her and slowly lifted her chin up so she can face me properly. My eyes drifted from her own to her mouth. I parted her lips open slightly with my thumb as my hand went to cup her face and glance back up into her eyes.

They look so soft. I wonder what they would feel like.. against mine.

I slowly leaned down and hovered mine over hers, testing to see if this is okay. She didn’t pull away as I stayed there for a moment, hesitating if I should do this.

I want to.

I really, really want to.

“… Are you.. gonna kiss me or not?” Her voice was so soft that I almost didn’t catch it. It was almost so hard to believe.

I slowly pushed my lips against hers and it felt as if time had stopped and nothing else mattered but her. I moved strands of hair away from her face while she played with my curls. This feels.. good.. too good. It was like a fire ignited inside my bones and I became addicted to how soft they felt against mine.

We pulled away and it was as if I came back to reality and remembered where we were. I looked back up at her and smiled. “.. Come back here..” I pulled her in for another kiss and held her body close to mine, smiling against her lips.

~~

“I had a really great time tonight, Joel..” She spoke as I had walked to her to doorstep. “I did too..” It was as if we were both thinking the exact same thing because the next thing I knew, I had her pinned against her front door while locking lips with her.

I don’t want to stop, but I have to…

One of my hands were on her hips while the other was pinned over her head. We pulled away and I could feel her breath against my own as I gave her one last sweet short kiss. I slowly pushed myself away from her and started walking backwards.

“Goodnight, (Y/N)…”

“Goodnight, Joel…”

I smiled at her and made my way back towards my car. I got inside and waited for her to go in her house before I started driving away.

Only one word came into my mind at this moment.

Woah…

Next Chapter

~~

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[verngyu-moved]

war, tome, and crown || ch. iii

pov: second person (mxr; gender neutral reader insert) ⟡ word count: 5.8k ⟡ genre: adventure, fantasy, romance ⟡ rating: pg-13 ⟡ warnings: mild cussing, death mentions, almost dying lol?, drowning, body horror, alcohol

⟡ CHAPTER 3 ⟡

“Your Majesty, get back!” Cheol shouts at you from behind. You’re old enough to look after yourself, even if the tip of this boy’s sword seemed to be winking at you with its shine. A few of the boys from the other group call out the long-haired one’s name, Jeonghan, as an urgent warning. You drink in his pastel dandelion tunic, a matching yellow belt around his waist with its ends tied behind him, which droop all the way to his dark brown boots. As your eyes made their way up to his upturned collar, the smug grin on his rosy lips grew. “Y/N.” a familiar voice calls out, and you shift your gaze to see one of your retainers, Seokmin, dawning his usual sapphire tunic, with matching pants and silver knee-high boots. His left shoulder is protected by a small piece of metal armor, a tattered white cape behind him. Azure hair is slightly disheveled as it covers one of his eyes partly. “Seokmin.” you gasp, hand coming up to cover your mouth as you spot your retainer. Tears fill your eyes, voice shaking as you see your other two retainers, the raspberry-haired Soonyoung and platinum-blonde Seungkwan on either side of him, “Soonyoung. Seungkwan.” Ignoring the rather tense moment at hand, you run past Jeonghan to wrap your arms around all three of them, “Gods, how I missed all of you.”

“That’s the real-?...” Jeonghan wonders aloud before you hear him place his sword back in its sheath, the sound of the metal clanging rings in the still, humid summer air. “We didn’t know if you were alive.” Seungkwan whispers, his arms taut as he envelops you in an embrace. He’s the most sensitive and gentle of the three, so he seems glad to be in the center of your hug. You don’t know why you’re surprised they all look the same, it’s not as if it’s been months since you’ve seen them—just a few days—but you take a few moments to take in Soonyoung’s and Seungkwan’s appearances. Soonyoung, carrying his red axe which is quite literally on fire (a feature he’d acquired after coming to the aid of many dragon-like deities), with flame-like patterns carved out of its gold head, welded into cherry wood for its handle. He’s also wearing his typical getup, a plain white shirt under honey denim overalls. A belt’s loosely wrapped around his waist, with pieces of armor strapped to each arm and both shins, and you figure they’ve been treading a far different path by looking at his muddy knee-high amber boots. Seungkwan has on a long sleeve fern green tunic with dramatic coattails extending to his calves. Underneath he wears pants of a darker pine color, with black leather boots. Often in the winter he switches out his plain boots for identical ones with added fur at the top, but seeing as you’re all sweating in the dead of night in the middle of July, there’s no use for them now. Seungkwan’s hand loosens around the gold stock of his lance, the crystal point looking like an upside-down V, its iridescence shimmering even in the dim tent.

“Your Majesty.” Soonyoung says softly before all three of them, as if in sync, slip from your embrace to kneel on the ground, their gazes settling on the grass. Face feeling hot, you look around at the ten pairs of eyes following your every move, every slight micro-expression, suggesting, “Ah...guys, you don’t need to...�� “Please forgive us.” Seokmin’s face is completely parallel to the ground, and none of them are moving an inch. Your stomach does a backflip and you blink a couple times, feeling light-headed. Suddenly feel like you’re standing in a puddle of saltwater, your body feels ice cold. “We couldn’t…They…” Seungkwan sniffles, words sounding nasally. The puddle’s getting bigger. The water keeps coming; it’s up to your knees now. “We failed to protect your mother and father.” Oh Gods. It’s at your waist, you’re swimming in the ocean alone, lost at sea. No, wait. You don’t feel lost at sea, you are lost at sea. Almost as if you’re dreaming, you know you’re in a tent in the plains of Midmire, but you’re lost in your own consciousness. The whole thing feels incredibly vivid to your senses, like a hyper-realistic lucid dream. “They’re dead.” one of them says. You’re not sure who—you don’t care. They’re dead. They’re dead. They’re dead. They’re dead. They’re...

“Y/N…” Cheol calls your name, but you swing your head up, to look at the blue, sunny sky where his voice is coming from. How are you supposed to get all the way up there? Especially when this water keeps getting higher? As the air remains completely still, you try to talk, but nothing comes out. Grasping your vocal chords, mute screams jump from your vocal chords and sink into the water below you, immobilizing you like an anchor. Helpless, you look up to the heavens. “S-Something’s wrong!” Seungkwan yells, a voice once again coming from the clouds, its echo vibrating the surface of the water. Your legs frantically flounder, trying to keep yourself from drowning, but you watch as the day becomes night and the ocean swallows you whole. What you can only assume is screaming ripples through the dark water, so much screaming, it’s muffled and words, too, are being exchanged but you can’t make any of them out. It’s like you’re a genie in a bottle, sucked into a miniscule space, suffocating even though there’s nothing and nobody else in there with you. A cold glow fills your blood, and you lift your hands to watch a white fiery plasma pulsate through your veins. It’s so violent you feel as though your entire body is suffering from a massive migraine. None of this is normal, but yet it feels so familiar—like it’s innate.

“Somnio!” a booming voice breaks clearly through the dark still waters.

And then you sleep.

⟡|⟡|⟡|⟡|⟡

You grumble a few times, hands shooing away the burning sensation on your forehead. You think to yourself that your head feels uncomfortable on this hard and stiff surface before groaning some more. “Are you awake?” Soft speech tiptoes into your ears while a few deep voices quietly chatter, and even though it’s relatively hushed, it all forms one big tumbleweed of conversation, making your head pound. Well I feel like shit. You remember that one time you felt extremely bold (is bold the right word?) when you were well under Matrona’s legal drinking age, going through your first four bottles of wine in one night. You felt close to the grave the next day, barely making it through the worst hangover of your life. That kinda feels like this, plus the sensation as if you’ve been left out in the snow while naked for hours. Your eyelids flutter open, irises meeting the looming figure whose lap your head is propped up on—Minghao. His charcoal hair is pushed out of his eyes, and for the first time he seems friendly. His hooded eyes seem inviting, like a cozy bed, wide as your gaze drifts to the rounded tip of his nose, then to his soft cheeks, then to his cupid bow lips. Unsure why you’re taking so much time studying his face, you snappily sit up on the patch-riddled blanket laid out under you and Minghao, your forehead just barely missing his along the way.

“Are you okay?” he asks, seemingly oblivious to you checking his physical attributes out just moments earlier. Was he nursing you back to health while you were sleeping? “W-What...What happened?” your breathing picks up as soon as you realize it’s just Cheol, Jeonghan, Minghao, and you under the stars. You know it’s summer and you can feel the heat around you, but the cold inside you causes you to shiver, making it impossible not to stutter. You look behind you to Cheol and Jeonghan as they sit next to Minghao around the crackling flames that are just a few feet away, where they had stopped mid-conversation to watch you awaken. You turn around slowly towards all three of them, poorly enunciated syllables sloppily racing from your numb lips, “Where is everyb…-body? Where are m-my retainers?” “Hey, hey, hey,” Cheol raises one hand like he’s trying to soothe a rambunctious horse, “They’re fine, everyone is eating dinner inside the tent. You need your rest…” he tells you, reaching over Minghao to press his calloused hand to your forehead, making you feel as though you’ve been shocked by a surge of electricity. Was this because his touch was embarrassing or because it was it scorching hot? Maybe it was both. “Great Mila, Minghao!” almost like he had touched a hot pan, he jerks his hand back, shooting an accusing look at his comrade before turning his attention back to you, “Y/N, you’re freezing!” “I’m trying.” Hao says through gritted teeth, glaring at Cheol. He eases the strain on his voice to coax you back to his lap as if you didn’t just hear his miffed griping, “Your Grace, please.”

No, it’s too embarrassing! you whine to yourself, instead trying to change the subject. “T-tell me what happened first.” “But Y/N-” Cheol begins to protest, but you cut him off. “That’s an order f-from the only s-surviving Matronan r-royalty. And I’m f-freezing, so it better be q-quick.” Cheol sighs and exchanges a stunned look with Jeonghan (who smirks) before raising his eyebrows at you in a look of disbelief, “You know I’m still pissed at you, right?” “Irrelevant.” You dismiss his question matter-of-factly, appreciating that Cheol cares about your well-being, but not knowing what the hell is happening—or rather what had happened—is itching at the back of your mind. He takes in a deep breath, the four of you completely silent, the only sound being the logs burning. “You had a...psychic temper tantrum, so to speak.” “What e-exactly does that m-mean?” As if in sync, both Cheol and Jeonghan slowly pivot their heads and look at Minghao, to whom you, too, are now looking to for an explanation.

“You had an overwhelming response to some traumatic news in your life, thus awakening your magic abilities. Your light magic abilities, to be specific. It’s not unheard of for some mages to realize their powers until they have a need to be summoned—like in cases of self defense. But this was...unbelievable. Some of the strongest raw magic I’ve ever felt. “I’ve never seen someone’s eyes such a bright white, and-and your veins! They were glowing through your skin, it was incredible, really.” Minghao’s never seemed this excited about anything before—no scratch that, you’ve never seen him excited, period. He speaks at such a fast pace you barely can process what he’s saying. You—with magical abilities. You—a light mage. He clears his throat before continuing, wiping off the half-smile that has formed on his lips, “Anyways. So, I put you to sleep since you-” correcting himself at once, “...your magic became a threat to everyone’s safety...Doing that took a lot of my strength. ” Oh, you think, Minghao also needed to rest, which makes you feel even worse.

Upon seeing the grave look on your face, Seungcheol quickly chimes in, voice low and delicate, “No one got hurt.” “I...I’m s-sorry. I d-didn’t mean to h-hurt anybody.” once again, the badly articulated words fall from your lips. You distort Minghao’s words in your head, torturing yourself: You’re a threat to everyone’s safety. It repeats again and again in your mind, with each instance you hear your own voice say it, it somehow hurts more—the last thing you wanted to do was cause anyone trouble. You think back to yesterday, when your total word count at the end of the day was a smaller number than the hours the group had traveled on foot. All because you didn’t want to bother anybody, just wanted to create as little change in their lives as possible before you met up with your mother and father and never saw them again. You had desperately wanted them to smoothly transition back to their own normal lives, regardless of how immoral or illegal you believed theirs was. Not like any of that matters now, you have no home and no family. All you have left are your retainers who have been your only friends for years. You will yourself not to cry as you realize that they’re your family now. But was this all just a nightmare? Yeah, I dreamt up that my kingdom was overthrown and my parents were killed. Right. What did I drink before bed to give me such a vivid and horrific nightmare?

“Hey,” Cheol twists his neck so his eyes are meeting yours, and you hadn’t even realized your focus had darkened while shifting to gaze upon the dirt ground, “Don’t beat yourself up too much.” Minghao cocks his head to the side to look you in the eyes, while you notice his tome sitting snugly in his lap. Filling in the blanks, you assume Cheol had given it back to him while you slept, and then Minghao had made it a makeshift pillow of sorts for your head, “I knew something was different about you when I tried to cast a hex to calm you down, and you somehow resisted it. But this...this definitely confirmed it.” Your jaw falls open. That’s right. How did I know that? And how did I resist it?

“Let me warm you up.” Minghao takes notice of your shaking jaw clacking from the ice in your veins, and thinking of how many ways this action could be perceived, you quickly decline. Taking a hint, Jeonghan, who’s been completely mute this entire time, stands up and pats Cheol’s shoulder, signaling him to follow suit, “I’m sure Minghao could fill you in on the rest.” “Wait-” Cheol protests, but he’s helpless against Jeonghan, who places both hands on his back and pushes him forward. They’re both awfully comfortable with each other, but it only makes sense. They’re old friends, and by the looks of it, they’re pretty close. The two of you watch as both of them head into the tent, greeted rowdily by the rest of the boys, which is probably thanks to some form of alcohol. “Come here.” Minghao beckons, encouraging you to scoot closer to him. He loosens his black velveteen cloak and drapes it over your shoulders. You feel your face reddening, but you do as he says when he gently tells you to put your hands together. You ball up one fist and cover it with the opposite hand, thumb coming to rest on top the other. He raises his hand in the direction of the fire, softly whispering, “Magisio.” And the fire livens up, the heat more intense and comforting.

Your hands still clasped together, you begin to wonder why he told you to do so until he says, “Benevolenska ignisin,” a tiny flame hovering over his palm. “This won’t hurt, I promise.” You watch in awe, until he somewhat frightens you by rather forcibly grabbing your hands to hold them in his own. “S-sorry.” he apologizes, barely audible. “That’s okay.” you mumble, face turned away from him. Your is heart beating wilder than ever, and you pray to the Gods that he can’t tell. “I thought that was pretty cool...what you did.” Minghao softly states suddenly. “W-what? Lose control?” You let out a single chuckle. “No.” he replies, annoyance in his voice—you assume it’s because he doesn’t want to be misunderstood, “Royals usually sit back and watch people die for their cause. Seeing you step up and put your own life on the line was refreshing.” “I think it was d-dumb.” you retort, admitting your shame to him, knowing he wouldn’t judge, almost certain he doesn’t care enough about you to do so anyways. You choose not to focus too much on his hands that wrap around yours, and his cloak around your shoulders, even if both are helping raise your body’s temperature a lot.

“Well, I don’t think that’s your fault...” You remain quiet, unsure if you’re being taken seriously because of the stuttering. But perhaps Minghao gives you something to consider, or rather, offered an optimistic perspective. Which is unexpected from him, quite frankly. A minute or so passes until Hao reignites the conversation. “Just so you know, Seungcheol isn’t only mad at you because you put everyone else in danger. He’s also mad that put yourself in danger.” You remain silent, confused as to why he would care so much. You’d only known each other for a few days. Then again, they were a few life-altering days. Guess it’s true that people bond over shared traumas. “I can tell he feels responsible for you. Especially now with your parents…” he hesitates finishing his sentence out of sensitivity, so you decide to finish it for him. “Gone.” The scene of Seokmin, Seungkwan, and Soonyoung kneeling before you paints itself in your mind, the memory so vivid and fresh it’s like it’s happening in front of you all over again. You aren’t mad at them—not one bit. You know without the full tale that all three of them were loyal to your kingdom and protected your parents until the end. The more you think about it, the more you feel sorry for them. A retainer’s one and only duty is to protect their assigned royalty—even if that means sacrificing their own life. Seeing as all of them came out alive, had faced the loss of their king and queen firsthand, and failed to keep their only sworn vow, they’re probably beating themselves up just as much as you are right now.

Minghao waits a moment before responding, choosing his words carefully, “Yeah. I’m...I’m sorry.” “It seems like a lot of us are cursed with losing our parents. There should be a club for that or something.” you jump after you finish speaking, wanting to take back what you’d just said, “Oh. I’m so sorry, that was insensitive.” He lets out a guttural chuckle, taking you by surprise, and soon you’re mirroring him, letting out a small giggle while his black ink stained fingers tighten around yours. It’s the first time you’ve heard him laugh, so you couldn’t let yourself miss the view, turning your head to see the accompanying grin, which is just as beautiful as you had expected. His eyes narrow and the puffiness underneath them bend to form little smiles. When it’s rare for someone to laugh or smile, the more fulfilling it is when it happens—especially if it’s because of you. Needless to say, you feel very fulfilled right now. “No, that was funny. I liked it.” he reassures, turning to face you, two pairs of eyes meeting. You note his humor matches his magic, his eyes, his hair—dark. Both of you stare at each other for a few moments, not saying anything, before Minghao swallows a lump in his throat, turns back towards the bright orange fire, and slips his hands from yours, the flame dying out in his palm, “Are you feeling better?” “Yes, thank you.” In an effort to fill the silence and ignore your heart pounding recklessly, you recall a bit of something he said earlier, “Oh, by the way…” “Yeah?” His head begins to turn towards you but stops, and your gaze doesn’t leave him, knowing he’s looking in your direction although you can’t see his eyes. Continuing on, you declare, “That stuff you said earlier...about my skin glowing and all that. That was in my dream.” “Your dream?” His eyes finally meet yours again, and even though it’s not the first or the second time, his attention on you still makes your heart skip a beat. “Yeah.” you gulp tensely, “I had this weird dream that I was in this puddle and it was daytime, and then as I realized the puddle I was standing in became an ocean, it turned into night. And there was screaming, and...” moving on as you decide it isn’t a great idea to relive the more haunting parts of it, “I couldn’t talk? And I was drowning in the ocean, and that’s when my veins started to glow and I could see them through my skin.” Minghao remains still, not even batting a lash at something you consider ridiculous, your fingers tensing up as he tells you, “That wasn’t a dream.” “Then what was it?” “It’s your Magicae Locus.” taking in your raised eyebrow and mouth slightly agape, this signals him to extrapolate, “Your Magicae Locus. It’s a place your subconscious creates to tie your physical self to the magic buried within you. Think of it as in between astral projection and lucid dreaming.”

Feeling inquisitive, you prod him on, “So what exactly does that mean?” “Each mage has visited their Magicae Locus when they were just starting to learn magic. When you visit yours it opens a portal, so to speak, to allow your physical body to produce, manipulate—et cetera—magic. It’s essentially where your mind goes when your powers awaken. Besides that, it’s not meant much for anything else.” He holds his hands up to the crackling and sizzling fire just a meter away before his fingers tangle together, hands arranging themselves in his lap. “It felt real, right? Like you actually were there even though you also knew you were really someplace else.” “Yes!” your eyes widen as you learn somebody else understands and you snap your fingers, grabbing his attention, “That’s exactly how it felt.” “See?” his voice is calm, but a large huff of air escapes his mouth, and you realize you probably startled him. “Magicae Locus.” Wanting to progress with the conversation since you feel slightly embarrassed upon seeing his alarmed state, you ask, “Can that portal be closed?” Your fingers grip his cloak to bring it back over your shoulder since it had slipped sometime during the conversation. He blinks a few times while a puzzled look moves across his features. A few small moments pass without him saying anything, and you begin to think it’s because he doesn’t know the answer, but he finally responds, “Of course. Anything that can be opened can be closed. I’ve never heard of a mage ‘closing the portal’ though. I have heard of a mage inserting themselves into somebody else’s Magicae Locus and cutting off that person’s connection. But I’d assume to do it, there has to be an insane amount of magic, and a brilliantly powered mage at the source of it.” “I’m just curious.” you blurt out, since you know he would have asked anyways.

A few more moments pass in reticence, and even though you feel like you know Hao better now, nonetheless you still feel jittery around him. “Hey, can I ask you something?” “Shoot.” you watch as Minghao goes back to his same old blank expression. “Will you teach me magic?” the words fall from your throat, and your heart feels uneasy knowing there’s a big chance you’ll be rejected. In your head, you say a word of apology to your poor heart who’s been through a lot today. His chin tilts slightly in your direction, “You want me…to teach you magic?” “Yes...please.” your shoulders perk up, as you draw in a large breath. You’ve been reading about light magic for a while now, you know its origins, its different uses...just not how to control it. Well, obviously, as shown by certain events earlier tonight. “Light and dark magic are somewhat different. I’m not sure if I’d be any help.” he replies, and you slump, kicking yourself on the inside for getting your hopes up, even for a second. “But…” You turn to look at him, wide-eyed and expectantly as the flames of the campfire move across the different highs and lows of his face, like flesh topography. “I can try.” “Really?” your lips curl to form an ear-to-ear grin, and for the first time you feel like you catch a glimpse of Minghao’s gentle side. I mean, who in their right mind would offer to teach magic to someone they just met a few days ago? “Yeah, sure…I mean, if I can find the time t-?” “Oh Minghao, thank you, thank you, thank you!” your arms wrap around his broad shoulders, and he lets out an odd noise of surprise, one that isn’t natural or familiar.

“You guys about done out here?” Cheol’s voice says from behind you, causing both Hao and you to jump. Your arms fall to your side and the two of you stand up. “Gods, Cheol! You scared the hell out of me!” Minghao shouts, and you watch as Seungcheol’s face that’s riddled with a scowl snatches the cloak curtained around you into his fist before shoving it into Minghao’s chest. “Are you hungry?” Cheol shifts his attention to you, explaining they have several rabbits worth of grilled meat lying in the tent. You haven’t eaten yet, and are feeling exponentially better, so you decide to head on in and enjoy a nice meal.

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The whole tent is explosive with laughter, and for only the second time this whole journey you feel relaxed. The two groups are mingling, Wonwoo is soliciting with some of the other boys whose names you still don’t know. Jeonghan is talking to Chan as Seungcheol plops down beside him. Time seems still for a moment as your eyes take in the scene before you, not missing the dishes set out for dinner. Trays of fruit, lightly cooked tan meat (no doubt the rabbit Cheol had talked about), white rice, and carrots scatter around the length of the table. What is it with these guys and carrots? At the middle stand seven bottles of white zinfandel, three of which seem to be open and empty. Minghao has made himself comfortable next to Mingyu, you watch on in intrigue as they clink chalices, grinning as they enjoy each other’s presence. “Can I sit here?” you ask Soonyoung, voice slightly raised to reach above the babble, hand coming down to rest on the empty space of table next to Soonyoung. All three of your retainers are sitting together in a row across the table from Jun, who’s chatting up two more young men you don’t recognize. His brown eyes peek out beneath his rose pink locks to meet your gaze for a split second before swiftly looking down, “Yes, of course, Y/N.” Swinging your legs over the maple wood bench to slip your legs underneath, Seungkwan gasps out your name, and by the time you finish getting comfortable, you’re looking at him but by the time you try to meet his gaze he’s hard at work eating his food, eyes frantically roaming around the tent. Seokmin is seated next to Seungkwan, who feels the younger’s awkward sudden movements and shifts himself around to ask if he’s okay. Seungkwan whispers something to him before Seokmin looks you in the eyes, and then mimics Seungkwan’s elusive and uneasy behavior.

“Um.” you clear your throat, Soonyoung meeting your eyes. By his stiff body language, he’s obviously feeling fearful but you figure he’s too afraid to look away. Or perhaps he’s afraid you’ll do something brash, so he’s keeping his eyes on you in case you lose your temper again. “Guys.” you call out to the three of them again. The other two hesitate, but eventually give you their attention. You clear your throat a second time, “I’m uh…” you blink a few times, the words getting mixed up and blurry in your head, so you settle for a simple: “Thank you.” All three angle their heads to hastily lock eyes before looking back up at you. Seokmin is the one who replies, “You’re—you’re not mad?” “Of course not.” in some way you feel hurt that any of them would expect you to be upset. They’d been your retainers ever since you were all early teeangers, and as retainers they were trained hard and fast. Seungkwan began his training a year before Soonyoung and Seokmin, but was a year younger than when the other two had started. The day they were assigned to you and you could finally stop traveling around with those two dusty men in their fifties (who annoyed you to no end with their nagging and lecturing) was a day to be remembered. Since that day, all four of you were inseparable.

“Kwannie!” Soonyoung laughs, one arm extending around Seungkwan’s shoulder as the other hand came to rest on his bicep, “Don’t cry!” “I just thought you would never forgive us.” Seungkwan mumbles, hand coming up to wipe his eyes and nose while Seokmin giggles and leans over to rest his head on his still arm for a few moments. Your heart aches seeing Seungkwan’s tears of relief, it was never easy to see him cry, even if it was out of happiness. For a moment it’s just another night in the castle you call home, all four of you sitting by the fire sticking by each others’ sides through another brutal winter as you find old literature to read in funny voices. “There’s nothing to forgive, it wasn’t any of your faults.” you assure them, shaking your head, ill at just the thought of holding a grudge against them. “And I should be the one apologizing. I put everybody in danger.” “It wasn’t your fault.” Seokmin reassures you, leaning just far enough while he sits behind Seungkwan so that you could see his wet eyes. Soonyoung nods in agreement, while Seungkwan is busy shielding his face from you. “Yeah, I mean you’ve done some pretty stupid shit. And that was one of them, b-” Soonyoung’s eyes wander around the social interactions happening in front of him while he speaks, too distracted to be able to block Seungkwan’s elbow with a blow to his upper arm. “OW! I wasn’t done! As I was saying… You’ve done some stupid shit-” “That we had a part in, too.” Seungkwan interrupts, words departing in Soonyoung’s direction under a glare. Soonyoung ignores him and his gaze shifts upon you, smiling as he’s determined to finish his thought, “But that was probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

Seungkwan, wet tears still laying on his face, stands up with his craggy cotton napkin in hand and begins to beat the devil out of Soonyoung with it, who shields himself with a small silver plate. Soon all four of you are cackling, Seokmin and you both joining Seungkwan’s force to pelt Soonyoung with napkins. After the fight dies down and you feel your abdomen begin to ache from all the laughter, Seokmin reaches across the table to retrieve a bottle of wine. Soonyoung follows his lead, and gathers up four shiny silver wine chalices, “All of us have had a long journey, let’s relax tonight.” Spending the rest of the night next to your old friends from home while in a tent, miles away from your kingdom, is a weird feeling. You’re so used to being cooped up behind brick walls that your experience being outside of them isn’t anything close to what you were expecting. Then again, neither was losing your kingdom and your parents. But for one night, just this one, when the pain of grief is at its peak, you want to ignore it. Everything is changing, or rather, it already had—your path is tangoing with each person’s in this tent. Drinking seems like a good way to numb the mixture of grief, confusion, and shock that creeps into every waking thought. Even though you’re well aware the next time you wake up you’ll be burdened with a real hangover, you tell yourself, But that’s a problem for tomorrow, already on your third chalice of zinfandel. You watch and laugh as Seokmin and Seungkwan entertain the group with a melodramatic skit, taking note of Seungkwan already knowing the names of the boys who you arrived with as shown as he playfully yells at Chan and Wonwoo for their obnoxious side commentary.

An intense and strong energy from farther down the table radiates to you, but it’s not magic of any sort. Changing the direction of your gaze, your eyes cling to one particular individual whose gaze you suspect has been on you for the last several minutes. Seungcheol, who’s planted between Jeonghan and Joshua (a boy Soonyoung had introduced you to while you had sipped on your first serving of wine), is resting his head on his palm, fingers curled against his cheek. His other arm is flat against the table, fingers playing with the base of his presumably empty chalice. Blinking a few times, he silently chuckles at your dumbfounded reaction, softly batting his lashes a couple times, gaze still very much on you. A nervous giggle leaps from your throat, but the skit going on at the front of the table disguises it. However, the evidence of it still shows on your face, a small grin playing at your lips. Cheol grins back at you while you mouth, Are you still mad at me? He shakes his head frantically like a small child who’s in trouble; it’s then you realize it’s the alcohol that’s causing him to act oddly. He mouths something back at you, but as the skit causes another eruption of wild guffaws from all the boys, it’s harder to focus on making out what he’s saying.

Let’s all you narrow. is all you catch the first time. With your eyebrows pulled together, and eyes squinted, you watch, distant, as he mouths it for you again, and you finally piece the words together: Let’s talk tomorrow. Is it bad? You mouth, amusedly watching him as he drunkenly over-does his squinting while trying to read your lips. He furiously shakes his head again, re-adjusting his arms to cross over each other, so that they rest flat on the table. Once again, he replies by mouthing something to you but it’s unintelligible and after he does it a third time his eyelids get droopy until they close completely. You suppress a giggle as you watch him slowly drift to sleep, head gradually coming down to rest on his crossed arms. Seokmin and Seungkwan’s skit finally ends, the whole tent claps and cheers loudly, while Seungcheol doesn’t move an inch.

You shift your gaze to the stars of the show, your swift movement catching Minghao’s eye, who’s seated across from you, along the way. His eyebrow is raised, and he looks at you, and then in Seungcheol’s direction. Gathering what’s happened, he takes in the sight of Cheol who’s currently slouched over the table, fast asleep, not doing much besides breathing. Hao switches his gaze back to you, lips pulling upwards to form a lazy smile, and you find it impossible to stop from yourself reciprocating. Giggling under your breath, you raise your chalice to your lips, taking another swig as you enjoy Minghao’s lingering gaze, drinking in all the excitement and celebration of the night.

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EDIT (180807): i edited some of the story after going back and realizing i left in some of the effects of the original storyline i had planned of jeongcheol being old army buddies + MC thinking YJH killed CSC’s parents (when he was from a diff army who fought alongside matrona’s) and [s]he/they almost killed him to exact revenge. i rewrote a lot of dialogue from from “I thought that was pretty cool...what you did.” to “But perhaps Minghao gives you something to consider...” so if you’ve already read this & dont wanna read the whole thing again, theres ur start & stop places to see the changes and hopefully b less confused......super sorry abt any confusion, i reread this thing like 15 times and it still went over my head..maybe i should get a secondhand opinion before posting next time cuz im seriously embarrassed i just noticed this 2 months later l o l

→ CHAPTER 4

PHEW. god!!!!!! this was the hardest chapter to write. yesterday i was like “im 100% happy w this” after working on it for 3 weeks, and then i went and added 1,000 more words lmaoooo

i really enjoyed this one tho, the tension seems to be v real between y/n & hao 😈i’ll admit i swerved into his lane like 34 times since writing this.....the most fun part was writing y/n’s magicae locus. its nice to take a break from dialogue and write stuff that relies more on description ! speaking of magicae locus, all the words hao says is a mix of (obviously) latin, some italian, and some russian. im working on coming up w a name for the language !

again, i hope the love triangle isnt cheesy + playing into the usual clichés. its important to me that its not the “we hate each other bc we’re both competing for ur love” cliché isnt present. doesnt mean there cant be tension tho 😏how many times have i said tension???

thank u every1 who continues to leave likes, reblogs, nice comments + msgs. feedback means the world to me ;_; i will try my best to not let u all down 💞💓💝 this is my gift to u to start off the week 😁 & as always, heres the google drive link to the inspirations behind each members’ weapons and outfits here.

-deedee