#floor dragger

[rageandroarcustoms]

Next up is this floor dragger tail for an etsy customer!!

I absolutely love this tail!! Im so happy with how the leaf tip turned out 🥺🥰💕

[scrumpyapples]

Just because I can, here's some more shots of the gorgeous pastel dragon tail with leaves! 🌿

We put our hearts into every piece, so having an extra challenge to work on is super rewarding. The commissioner's photos were absolutely delightful - a stylish idea which ended up as part of a gorgeous outfit for their character.✨

A Kindness of Crows are open for commissions on Etsy! 🪡

[godbeegardens]

It begins 👀

[skunkydesigns]

Floor Dragger Tail with Drippy Candy Gore Base for AComfyCushion

Check out this MONSTER of a tail made for A Comfy Cushion! It features a candy gore dribble base and is more than 2m long! The dribble can even be poked back inside the tail if your not feeling the drip 💦 Keep your eye out for this beast at #FurDU23

Posted using PostyBirb

[sorrcha]

sorchaaaa !

[mouseoleum]

is your suit tail really five feet long

yes. it actually might be a few inches longer. I'll try to get a picture of me holding it up to compare.

[foldingfittedsheets]

You wouldn’t blame a crowbar for an act of destruction, you would blame the wielder. For this reason I can’t be held responsible for what happened to my friend Charlie’s bed. I was merely a tool that force was applied through.

It happened like this: Brendan, Charlie, and I decided to have a late night movie viewing at Charlie’s house. We watched The Hogfather and Groundhogs day and we stayed up until 4am. Then we were all too tired to drive home and crashed. I got the bed and the boys took the floor.

Four hours later, Charlie’s parents woke up. They learned that Charlie had people over. They. Were. Furious. Because unbeknownst to us it turned out they had swine flu. Charlie should had been quarantining not bringing people to his plague house. They ordered Charlie to kick us out that very moment.

Charlie came to rouse us. I am… not at my best in the morning hours. Four hours of sleep did not leave my disposition gruntled. Charlie began trying to rouse me to pretty much no avail. He pulled the covers off, shook me, tried to take my pillow, but I was a tiny ball of sleepy vicious rage. When he shook me I’m pretty sure I bit him.

I should be clear, I wasn’t really awake. A baseline function was taking place but no real actual thought. I was piloting on pure instinct and the instinct was: need more sleep. Charlie tried everything while Brendan watched in bemusement.

Finally Charlie got the idea that if he physically lifted me out of bed I’d go. He managed to get his hands under my arms and start dragging me off the bed.

Two things happened very quickly. My toes wrapped around the top of the railing to his bed frame, and I went limp everywhere else. Charlie staggered and almost dropped me, because holding a floppy corpse body is much harder than a tensed one, a fact I had learned from many roughhousing attacks by my brother.

He swore and then gamely started trying to drag me backward, thinking it would be easy to dislodge my toes from the bed frame. It was not. I’ve mentioned before that my toes are strong, but Charlie was flabbergasted that their grip on the bed was so strong that he couldn’t drag me away.

I was going on pure stubborn instinct. I did not want to leave the bed. Charlie was fully committed that a 90lb gremlin wasn’t going to beat him in a contest of strength with only her toes. So he pulled. And I held on.

Both of us were shocked when there was a tortured shriek of wood and something in the bed frame cracked. It was loud enough that I actually woke up. The rest of my brain surfaced in confusion to join the lizard brain whose only goal had been not to leave the bed.

I released my toes and took my own weight and Charlie and I stared at the bed.

“You ripped the railing off!”

“Well, no, you ripped the railing off, I was just the tool. If you hadn’t been pulling on me-“

“If you had just let go! What is up with your feet?!”

We griped as I readied myself to leave his plague house, joining his parents in being mad that Charlie hadn’t told us they were sick. I drove home to sleep more.

Over the years of our friendship Charlie still maintained that I broke the bed. I disagreed and think I was only the tool by which he broke the bed. Only you can decide who bears the most sin, the dragger or the dragee.

[hford0311]

In my silence I adored you

*Avenger's Tower Fanfic*

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!reader

Hey girl, what-cha doing down there? Dancing alone while I live right above you; I can hear your music playing; I can feel your body swaying

It didn't take a super soldier to hear the music that came out of your apartment. However, the one above you did understand the lyrics, not like most of the others that lived in the tower. He didn't mind it, sometimes, it became a soothing thing when the nightmares woke him up. The vibrations of the music and lyrics gave him was a micro-confirmation that he was no longer in the Soviet Union. No longer trapped under any ice.

"Okay, but how come you can't go one day without it?" Sam asked about your music during breakfast. You shrugged, "I have my space. It mostly stays in my space. Just like Redwing." Bucky snickered. Sam slightly aggressively turned towards his best friend-enemy man. "You live above her! What are your thoughts?" Bucky was slightly started by the question. "I-I don't mind it." You stuck your tongue out at Sam, putting your dishes in sink, and walked away. "You said you only like forties music." Sam accused as soon as you were out of ear shot. Bucky avoided eye contact before he cleared his throat, "I have to train with Steve."

One floor below me, you don't even know me, I love you

When that and a combination of other things didn't work, keep falling back into night terrors, Bucky would sit in front of his glass windows, curtains pulled back. At first, his eyes would wander the city lights. Eventually, his eyes would shift down below and see your shadow swaying and dancing to the music that was nearly never ending. It was a constant, consistency made reality easier to believe in. You were starting to become that in Bucky's word, even though you never would've known. He never mentioned it.

If you look out your window tonight, pulling the string with the note that's attached to my heart; Read how many times I saw you, how in my silence I adored you.

Sure, Bucky and you met occasionally during missions and Avengers' (aka Tony Stark's) parties. However, neither of you ever got beyond glances, brief introductions, and the incredibly rare argument-- sorry polite conversation-- that Steve, Sam, or Nat would drag the pair of you into. Both of you would roll your eyes at the dragger and their "opponent." Plus, the pair of you would almost always be against whatever Sam was arguing. Bucky appreciated the team effort from you. You were also a bit of a history buff which sometimes led to his ears pricking up to some type of familiarity that he could confidently nod along with or it would help him connect the dots with events that didn't include the Winter Soldier.

It took one of these little rantings of knowledge you had, Steve and Sam saw the captivated look that Bucky distantly gave you. They both also knew it wasn't just the words coming out of your mouth that Bucky was interested in, either. The pair of men shared an look. They knew their mission.

"Alright boys, it's been fun." You said getting up, heading towards your apartment. "Don't have too much fun without me." You waved as you hit the stairs.

The duo of men encircled Bucky. "You have a problem." Same stated as if it was obvious and something much worse than actuality. "Sam-" Steve tried to soften the blow. "No, he is in love with that girl and he hasn't said more than five words to her." Sam insisted. Bucky gave them both a confused stare. "Y/n, Buck, we can tell." Steve cleared up. Bucky's face went to complete denial. "No, I don't."

"Those eyes you gave her earlier tell a different story, Buck." Steve softly argued. Bucky groaned and put his hands in his face. "So what if I do? She's living a happy life...why.....why should I enter it more just to ruin it?" Sam and Steve gave each other soft looks. However, both of them were not going to give up that easily. "You're different now. You've said it yourself, you're not the Winter Soldier anymore." Sam stated. "Even if that's true...who said that she's going to....want me back." Doubt filled Bucky's entire body and mind. The pair of men were not going to change his mind in one night.

Only in my dreams did that wall between us come apart

Another night, Bucky added to looking down at your shadow. He wanted to go down and dance with you. Over seventy years ago, Bucky wouldn't waste another second to do. He would've swept you off your feet, literally. He would hold you close during the slower songs, inhaling your scent. Softly kissing your forehead, cheeks, lips... Bucky heavily sighed out loud, walking away from the window.

Oh my darlin', knock three times on the ceiling if you want me; twice on the pipe if the answer is no.

Sam and Steve showed up at your door. You gave them both a confused. "Come in...stop lurking at my door." You responded, letting them in. "So, how long have you liked Bucky?" Sam got straight to the point. You scoffed and slouched in one of your chairs. "Who said-" "Y/n, you never mentioned your knowledge about your so-called fascination with the 1930s before your first mission with him." Steve confronted you. You shrugged, "A girl can learn new things." Sam rolled his eyes. "They're both impossible, Steve." You sat up a little. "What do you mean by both of us?" For the third time that night, Sam and Steve shared a smirk and an idea.

Oh my sweetness *knock, knock, knock* means you'll meet me in the hallway; twice on the pipe *clang, clang* means you ain't gonna show*

You hummed the song you left playing in your room as you approached Bucky's door. You took a deep breath before knocked with the beat that Bucky could perfectly hear from your apartment below. He hesitantly answered. Then saw you, a small smile etched across his face. "It means that I want you, and that I want to meet you in the hallway-- granted next time it'll be on the ceiling but-" Your breath of words was stopped short by Bucky pulling you into his apartment.

~~ Sam looked at Steve, stifling a laugh, "There isn't really a pipe for her to say no to."

[poeproductions]

Attor has A GREAT BIG TAIL! We love doing massive floor draggers like this for our fursuits! 🌟

*Again, pardon the wrinkles! Model is much shorter than the client.

[zeroseuniverse]

Introduce Yourself First

Word Count: 582 Warnings: None at all pairing: San X fem reader Summary: In which he doesn’t even wait to introduce himself before he attaches himself to his soulmate

His eyes were just black yesterday! And now he’s waking up to pink? How is that possible? He didn’t even have a color resembling blonde for if they bleached their hair, just black when he went to sleep and pink when he woke up. 

“Woah ho nice eyes.” Wooyoung grinned as San made his way to the meeting point so they could head to the company together, “They actually look good on you.”

“They seriously wasted no time changing their hair color, huh?” Mingi chuckled, shouldering his bag higher as they all climbed into the van.

“So we have to find someone with pink hair, that makes it a lot easier than the black hair.” Jongho grinned, pulling his phone out to scroll.

“And they’ll have black eyes!” Seonghwa noted, happy that their search is finally getting somewhere.

They got to the company and looked around, seeing as they really couldn’t think of any other reason she’d have to change her hair overnight they thought maybe she’d be an idol. But they never saw anyone with pink hair before practice, leaving them all feeling a bit dejected.

“Ah give it time.” Wooyoung cooed, making San sigh as they headed into the practice room. 

–

“AH!” They heard as they were on their way to lunch making their heads snap up, not really hearing too many screams around the company too often, when they looked up they saw a smug looking woman with pink hair as what seemed to be her manager or group leader dragged her down the hall.

“I can’t believe you did this behind our backs!” The dragger hissed, making the pink haired woman’s grin grow.

“Oh come on, have you met my brother? He cut his own hair with kitchen scissors. There is no way you expected anything less of me than to do my hair myself.” 

“How’d you even bleach and dye your hair in the same night and it not look damaged?” 

Before she could answer; however, a body was thrown into her own, heat simmering where their skin met, eliciting gasps from both parties. San didn’t even attempt to stop himself from tackling the woman, clinging to her koala style on the floor like his life depended on it, meanwhile all of ateez except Yunho and Wooyoung cringed at the motion. The other two were howling like hyena’s with how loud their laughter was.

Watching San nuzzle into the stranger like a cat is what sent Seonghwa in a frenzy rushing forward to pull him off, despite his whines of protest in response. “You could’ve at least introduced yourself first.” He chuckled, watching San glare at Yeosang who moved to help the poor girl stand, his hands immediately going up in surrender when she was on her feet. Everyone knew not to mess with a newly bonded pair, the possessiveness was through the roof.

“Just what I needed today.” The manager groaned, throwing their hand over their face in frustration. 

“Hi, I’m Choi San.” He shyly introduced, leaning to bow even though his hands itched to grab ahold of her.

After introductions were out of the way, San instantaneously latched back on to the poor girl who was surprisingly more than okay with the contact, almost preening as San laced his fingers through her pink strands in awe. 

“Oh god it’s worse than him with Wooyoung.” Jongho groaned, turning to walk away, wanting to bleach his eyes before they had those images engraved in them.

[rageandroarcustoms]

This floor dragger was totally different and I loved making it!! ^-^

(Another etsy tail Commission)

[scrumpyapples]

And here's the finished piece! 🪡

Our standard giant dragon tails are tried and tested, and we love the designs our commissioners request. That just makes it even more exciting when a customer wants something even more individualised, like this repatterned striped tail!✨

We've left off the spikes and side feathers as requested, and remade the pattern to allow these stripes along the full length of the tail. 🌈

The final result is this super-bold floor dragger, and we're totally in love with it! 💖

For more info including prices, order forms and premades, A Kindness of Crows are on Etsy! 🐣🦊

[godbeegardens]

Got the gore base applique done! Turned out perfect on the first stitch out, thank goodness!! 💜

[biggjuicys]

Like Him (feat. Severus Snape)

[this is chapter 1, more chapters will be coming in the future, I am new to writing also so this may be bad, though it will grow over time also TW for those who may be sensitive]

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Like him, like him, like him

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

It was repetitive, a repeating cycle. Severus couldn’t wash or scrub his face hard enough to change who he was. He looked so much like his mother. The one who put him through pain and hardships like no other; they could’ve left Tobias, though she chose to stay and let him get hurt and hit. That's the reason his nose was crooked; it wasn’t always like that. 

Severus just wished maybe things wouldn’t be this way. Everyone around him has a perfect life, caring family, money, and friends. He had only one of those until it was taken away. It was all his fault. Lily didn’t like him because he was the dirty, ugly snivellus. He hadn’t meant to call her that word; it was the heat of the moment; he didn’t want to disappoint his house or his mother. He desperately needed the approval. Though Severus couldn’t care anymore, he just wished his life would end; his house hated him and used him, and his mother died in front of him by his father's hand. Tobias broke, killing his mother in front of him; he couldn’t react fast enough. Now he lies on the floor, cradling his mother's dead body, sobbing as his father Tobias lay bloody on the ground. He had murdered his father; he didn’t mean to. Severus swears he just acted; his body moved on it’s own. Maybe he was a dark wizard; maybe he was the dirty Snivellus like everyone said. Maybe he was meant to be a dark wizard. 

It just hurt; everything was crashing down. His body felt sluggish from all the crying and pain crushing and hitting him. Maybe it was a matter of time before he broke like this. He did always deserve what came to him, didn’t he? He wasn’t anyone important, and he definitely didn’t have a future cut out for him. Dark wizards never got far, unless under Voldemort, though it only fended them off for so long. Maybe it was time for Severus to let go. To fall, crash, and sink into the lovely abyss calling his name. 

Now as he dragged his body leaning against the wall, he headed for the restroom. Tripping once or twice, he made it though he seemed in autopilot. Maybe the ghost he kept chasing finally was reached. As his hand grabbed the dagger with a snake-etched handle, he froze. This was what was meant to happen, so what held him back. What kept him from just going at it? 

Dropping the dragger, he looked in the mirror. All he saw was his mother and father. Severus fist hit the mirror. 

Crash

Blood trickled down his closed fist; the mirror cracked and broke. He could still see little images of his parents as he started to laugh. Uncontrollably, he laughed, stepping away from the mirror. His back hit the door as he slid down, the bloody hand of his resting over his mouth as he tried to control his laughter. 

Haha…..haha

The laughter just kept coming, louder each time. He really was his father's son. Maybe this was his doom; he tried everything not to be like him. In the end, his father stayed with him. 

As his laughter calmed down, he set his hands upon the bathroom tiles. He felt something cold against his hand; his head snapped to see what it was. It was the dagger. Using his uninjured hand, he grabbed the dagger, holding it up to his face. Just staring, analyzing the dagger, he realized what he needed to do. As he moved it over his neck, his hand shook. 

He didn’t know why he was shaking; he needed to do this, not let some stupid feelings get in the way. He’ll only become the thing he never wanted to be if he keeps on like this. 

He took a deep, shuddering breath as he stared at the cracked mirror. It was like him; it just needed to be gone. Severus needed to be gone. 

Slice

And like that, Severus slumped, blood pouring from his neck. Coughs came as the blood started to reach up into his mouth, trying to get some air. He couldn’t breathe.

cough cough cough

Tears formed in his eyes; the pain was too much; he thought it would be quick like the other scars around his body. The pain for them didn’t stay long. Though he was numb to that pain, guess he wasn’t numb enough for this.

Cou-

His coughing stopped just as his heart did. He looked like an art piece beautifully laid out. Though he looked just like his mother in that moment, she too died the same way he did, though his death was self-inflicted. He caused his own harm, and even in his last moments he looked just like his parents. Like the people he didn’t want to look like. They ruined him, and even in his last moments he didn’t escape. 

[james-is-here]

I've had this idea for three months and it took so long to put into words because I was trying to come up with...not lyrics so to speak but what I think it feels like in a position like this.

Zombie Au? There's an infection and it's spreading but it's not necessarily zombies. Felix is your little brother.

Blogs: @belladonna6-6-6 @heartbinn @leezanetheofficial I genuinely forgot who else wanted tagged, please let me know again if you want to know when I post

Tags: Death, angst, you might cry (I genuinely cried), I'm so sorry if you cry 🥺, blood, kn1fe, Felix being the precious soul he is even in a dire situation, lots of crying, th-the use of st-stuttering since i've once read that the stuttering is annoying so I'm just warning. LMK if I forgot anything.

You ran and ran, hand tight around your brothers as you keep looking back to make sure he's still keeping up with you and also look out behind the both of you.

You shouldn't be outside at night but your original camp was surrounded by the creatures, slimy, gross, deformed creatures which use to be human beings. It was dusk, barely enough light to see where you're going.

The slow ones were called draggers, the fast ones were called runners, three runners were currently chasing you and your brother. You look back in front of you to find a couple draggers and skid to a stop, running to your left but you went to fast and Felix tripped, loosing the grip on your hand and falling to the ground with a grunt before shuffling back to his feet and catching up to you, taking your hand again.

His fumble unintentionally let the runners catch up to you both as you pant heavily. You still don't know where you're running, the road you're on unfamiliar as you run past buildings after buildings.

You suddenly hear a high pitched whistle and look ahead to your left, a person waving you over to an abandoned convenience store, they wear some sort of head cover that they seem to wear to blend in with the monsters but you saw their eyes and the fact that they were waving you over. You're quick to run over to them but suddenly your hand is empty again.

Turning around, you weren't expecting to see a dragger on your brothers foot. "Felix!" You dash over to him, kicking the dragger in the head before picking your brother up and running into the store.

You set Felix down, cradling his face and looking over him to make sure he's okay. "You guys okay?" The person- or the man- took his head over off and you see someone around you and Felix's age. "Yeah...Yeah, I think we're good. Thank you." "No problem. I'm Chris." "I'm Mn, this is my little brother, Felix." "It's nice to see a few new faces. Come on, there's a few more of us in the staff room."

The other survivors you met were really nice, they were friends of Chris'. Minho, Changbin, and Seungmin. They all lost someone to the infection.

Minho lost his lover, Jisung.

Changbin lost his best friend, Hyunjin.

Seungmin lost his little brother, Jeongin.

and Chris lost his wife and daughter.

You and Felix lost your whole family, you only had each other.

You both were currently on the floor in front of a fire Chris made, everyone else either somewhere in the store. Felix was curled up in your arms between your legs, one leg extended and the other you had your knee up the Felix leaned back on, your body was like his own little bubble, his comfort as your arms were secured around him and you just stared at the dancing flames in front of you.

He shifts, burying his face further into your neck as he slept but slowly he began whimpering and shifting, squirming in your hold as he tried to bury further into your neck. "Felix, bubs, wake up." You rub his arm gently, trying to wake him up and you know he's awake when he moves to face you, you move your legs to hold him properly in your lap as he cries on your shoulder. "Felix..." "I'm so scared, Mn..." "I know...I-I am too." "N-No, I-I'm scared of being in here..." "Wha- Lix, What do you mean?"

He sniffs, moving off your lap to rest his leg on your lap and pull up his pant leg. "No-" The tears hit you fast as you sob and gently graze your finger over the wound. "Th-The Dragger g-got me...I-I'm s-sorry, Mn. I-I'm so s-scared." He's started sobbing now and you just bring him into your arms, holding him tight. "I-I'm sorry..." You shush him, gently rubbing his back. "I-It'll be o-okay, Lixie." You bury your face in his shoulder and hold him tightly. "I-It'll be okay..." If you were reassuring him or yourself, you couldn't say.

Although, someone over heard you, and they were happy that an infected was now in their safe space.

In the stillness of the night, I hold you tight.

As time slips away, fading out of sight.

Every beat of your heart, a whispered plea.

Begging for salvation that I cannot decree.

There was one night, or day, you don't even know the date anymore, that you all gathered near the fire ring, conversing about anything and everything. Chris was telling stories of his family and Changbin told stories about him and Hyunjin, it hurt to learn that Changbin loved Hyunjin but never got the chance to tell him until Hyunjin got infected.

You and Felix were sitting on one of the break room tables, you could tell he's getting weaker, he was getting more tired and he didn't have as much energy anymore.

"I'm sorry...I have to say something before we're all dead." Minho suddenly spoke up and stood up, pulling a knife from the counter. "Woah, hey, Minho! What are you doing?!" "There's a runner or dragger here and I need to take care of it before we're all dead."

Your protective instincts gave it away as you stood and stepped in front of Felix. "Mn?" Seungmin questions your sudden shift before standing up, watching you protect the boy. "Minho, please..." "You really expect that'd change my mind?! Come on, wouldn't any of you want to kill the infected before it took your loved ones?" "Minho, this is my brother, my baby brother, he's all I have left, Please." "You'll end up loosing him." "But I still have him! I still have him now! I don't- I don't want to loose him yet, I-I just can't." You cry, turning towards Felix and cradling his face, gently shushing him as he sobbed, holding onto your wrists as he placed his forehead on yours.

He's muttering that he's scared, that he doesn't want to go, that he doesn't want to leave you and it hurts you even more, leaning back to kiss his forehead before returning to your previous spot.

Suddenly there's hands on your biceps, pulling you away from the boy and you sobbed, begging that this doesn't happen, trying to pull out of Chris' hold but he's stronger than you in the moment. "No, No P-Please! Please, just a little longer please!" Chris pulls you to the back wall of the break room, you try to pull your arms out and run to your brother but suddenly Changbin and Seungmin are holding you in place by your shoulders, keeping you from escaping Chris' hold. You struggle against them as Felix limps backwards away from Minho before falling to the floor.

"I-I'm sorry, Felix..." Minho stutters before driving the blade into his stomach. "No!!" You choke, watching Minho do it a couple more times before dropping the blade and stepping back. "Felix!"

They finally let you go and you dash over to your brother, kneeling next to him and bringing him into your hold, placing a hand on his heart and sobbing heavily. Every other beat is strong but the in between beats are slow and barely there.

"Felix, No..." He sobs, tilting his head into you and you lean further down to connect your foreheads. "I'm scared, Mn..." "I know...I know, bubs, I'm so sorry..."

Your breath grows faint, a fragile sigh,

Yet in your eyes, a fire refuses to die.

I'd trade my every breath to keep you here,

But destiny's grip, I cannot interfere.

His chest begins to rise and sink slowly, but when you lean back to look at his eyes, they almost look alive still, wide and looking up at you the usual way he looked at you, like you were the most amazing guy in the world. He always looked up to you, he loved you as his big brother.

"I-I wish I c-could take your place...give you all that I have. I w-wish you didn't have to go th-through this, Lixie...I-I'm such a terrible brother, I-I'm so sorry." You place a slightly bloody hand on his cheek and wipe his tears away. "Y-You're wrong-" "Ssh, save your breath." He chuckles weakly. "Ironic." His eyes glance down to his stomach where his shaking, bloody hands rest.

Through every gasp, I whisper tales of our past,

Each memory a lifeline, meant to last.

Though time may steal your earthly form away,

Our love's immortal flame will forever stay.

"You'll be with Mama...a-and L-Livy...a-and Rach..." "B-But th-they w-were turned..." "No, that's- That's not them...they're somewhere b-better..."

You move a few strands of hair out of his face and reach down to hold his hand. You don't care about the blood anymore.

"I-I don't w-want you to g-go, Bubs...Y-You belong h-here." "I-It w-would've h-happened...s-sooner or l-later." He inhales shakily, squeezing your hand. "I'm n-not r-really l-leaving." "What do you mean?" He raised a hand slowly and pointed at your chest. "I-I'll b-be here...y-you'll always l-love me, Nn. I-I'll a-always be here..."

I'm here by your side, my love, don't fear,

In the darkness, I'll be your light, my dear.

Though I cannot save you from fate's cruel art,

I'll stay with you, till the last, never apart.

"I-I don't want to leave you now...D-Dying is s-scary, I-I'm s-so s-scared." "It's gonna be okay...I'm gonna be here with you, it's okay. It's okay..."

You stayed the whole time, rubbing your thumb back and forth on the back of his hand and occasionally kissing his forehead. "I-I wish I could've s-saved you. I-I wish th-this didn't have to happen, I-I'm so sorry, Felix..."

You were gonna stay until his last breath.

As your eyes meet mine, in the final gaze,

I'll be the guardian of our love's eternal blaze.

Though you depart from this world's embrace,

You'll find me waiting in love's timeless space.

You had your eyes closed the whole time, you couldn't handle seeing him the way he was but you finally open them, Felix should see you before he goes.

"I-It'll b-be okay, Nn." He raised a hand to the side of your face and you held it tight. "Stop fighting it, Lix. I-I know you are, it's okay. I'm here, y-you're safe. S-Say h-hi to th-the girls and Mum if you see th-them...a-and l-let me know y-your with me every- every once in a while, mkay?" "I-I will a-and t-take m-my locket..." "Lixie..." You choke out as your eyes remain locked and you watch the light fade, his eyes filled with tears and his hand goes limp. "Lix..." You sob with a whine as the others finally kneel by you.

"I'm really sorry, Mn..." You were silent, sobbing over your brother. "Mn, we should move him." You sniff, moving a shaky hand to his neck and Minho gently helped you unclasp the locket, you clutch it in your fist before you leave a final kiss to his forehead and close his eyes. "Okay." You say softly, barely above a whisper.

You pick him up and turn to the other guys. "I-I can't...I-I don't have the strength to just l-leave him somewhere." "I'll take him for you..." Minho offers with his lips pressed together in a soft, apologetic smile. "I-I happen to know a nice area nearby so he won't just be out in the open." "Thank you..." His eyes widen at your words, he just killed your brother, why are you thanking him?

"Wh-When it got worse, I-I don't think I-I'd h-have the strength to actually l-let him go..." He hums in reply and steps up to you, letting you place Felix in his arms before he walks away. "Wait!" Minho turns around and you walk over to him, taking Felix's bracelets, putting them on, and any other items he had on him. You also snatch the pocket knife you saw from a nearby table and cut a part of his hoodie off, the only light blue part of his sleeve that wasn't covered in blood, and put it in your pocket, saving it to make something later. "Thanks." Minho nods before walking away again.

It's lucky the convenience store still has running water as you move to wash off the blood. "Hey, found the clothing section for you." Chris announces, placing a hoodie and jeans on the counter next to you. "In a convenience store?" "Well, from the thrift store next door." "Light Blue?" "Had a feeling...if that's okay?" Tears gather on your lash line before you nod and extend an arm. With Chris' small nod and a gentle smile, he lets you hug him tightly.

"I'm surprised you're not mad at us." Seungmin commented and Changbin slapped his arm. "I-I'm actually grateful...Yeah, you let my brother...b-but it was a necessary thing to do...I-I wouldn't have had the strength to do it my-myself when i-it got worse."

"I'm back." You leave Chris' embrace and turn to Minho. "Thank you...again." "It's no problem...Sorry I got a bit angry before." "It was understandable. Now if you don't mind, the state of my clothes is making me want to cry again so I'm gonna change."

"We'll be out here." Chris said as you walked to the bathroom with the clothes he got you.

When the door closed, Chris turned to the others. "Him thanking us for killing his brother is weird right?" "A little but it makes sense. Were you watching back there? He held his to his final breath. I could tell he wouldn't have been able to let him go if the infection got worse."

"How'd you know?" "Saw them a couple nights ago, Felix showed him the bite on his ankle from the dragger that attacked him before they came in here. I could see him changing and didn't want Mn to keep him to the point of turning into one of those and attacking us." "Did it hurt?" Changbin asked.

"So much. He looked as precious and kind, I really didn't but I was protecting us." You then walk out of the bathroom, throwing your old clothes into a nearby empty box. "Can I hug you, Minho?" "Uh, yeah, sure." He asks hesitantly and you walk over to him, wrapping your arms around his back and shoulders as he did the same to you.

"Thank you-" "Stop thanking me for killing your brother, it's kinda weird." You laugh, pulling away and joining the others on the floor. "Was gonna say thank you for protecting us...although I was against it...what you did makes sense...as much as I want to hate you for killing him you did it to protect us so...guess that skims off some of the hate." "Some?" He looks at you bewildered and the rest of you laugh.

"You killed my brother, you expect there to not be at least a little hate?" "Yeah, but you said some which means there's more hate then gratitude." While you and Minho went back and forth, the other three watch small smiles.

Even in a world of chaos, there's still time to find joy.

😭 I'm sorry if this made you cry and also I wrote this in like three hours it was like 1:20am when I started and now it's 3:41am so I'ma go to bed.

The angst is angsting 😩

His locket had a picture of your family on one side, and him and you together on the other.

[the-badger-mole]

The Volunteer: Part 2

The first day of volunteering at Hama's Haven went as well as could be expected. Zuko spent his four hour shift painting the stair wells of the building. There were only three floors, but they'd only painted about two and a half landings. The men that Zuko worked with were happy with the progress, though. They were friendly enough, despite his clear inexperience. They gave Zuko the nickname Splotch because of how messy his painting skills were.

"Good thing we have drop cloth down," said the man named Due. He gave Zuko a good natured slap on the back and offered him a can of beer.

"Um...no thanks," Zuko declined politely. "I'm underaged. And it's kind of the reason I'm here in the first place." Due and the other men laughed heartily at him, and Zuko was given another round of back slaps to seal their newfound camaraderie. They would finish the paint job, they told him, the following day. Then the next week, when he returned, they would take on the second set of stairs in the middle of the building.

"See ya, Splotch!" they called after Zuko as he went to go find Azula and the others.

It was a bit later than he realized. Without a doubt, Azula and her friends would be at the front desk or the car already, and furious with him for making them stay in that building. Zuko hurried down the stairs and through the hall towards the front desk. It was only his quick reflexes that kept him from crashing into Katara and her brother as he rounded the last corner.

"Sorry," Zuko mumbled.

"Hey! I know you," Sokka said. "You're that jerk from my physics class! The one who ruined spring break by reminding Mr. Piando that he didn't give the assignment. You volunteer here now?"

"He's with the group the judge sent over," Katara told her brother.

"What?" Sokka laughed. "Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes? What did you do to get sentenced to community service? Let me guess, public mopery? Brooding with intent to skulk? Did you scowl at the wrong cop?"

"They're in for arson," Katara supplied, eyeing Zuko with disapproval.

"That's none of your business," Zuko growled at her.

"Get out!" Sokka gaped at him. "Arson? Seriously?"

"You are literally the only one who doesn't know that." Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. Sokk, still unfazed, just shook his head and let out a low whistle.

"Dude...when you rebel, you go hard, huh?"

"It wasn't like that!" Zuko insisted. "Look, I've got to go." He took off down the hall towards the front desk.

"Alright," Sokka called after him. "But you stay out of trouble. No more arson around!" Zuko could hear him laughing at his own joke.

Idiot, Zuko thought rolling his eyes to himself. He stopped at the front desk to make sure Hakoda got his hours logged.

"You sister and friends are waiting for you outside," he told Zuko. There was a tightness in Hakoda's face that made it clear that it would be a good idea for them not to linger. Zuko thanked Hakoda quietly and hurried out.

As he anticipated, Azula was in an even fouler mood than she was when they got there. She was standing outside of the car with Mai and Ty Lee ranting about her day. Mai, who had been assigned to work with her also looked unhappy, but she at least seethed silently.

"I should sue this place!" Azula was saying as Zuko approached. "I'm covered in whatever was rotting in those bins. My shirt is ruined, and that useless, smug knuckle dragger just laughed at me! My dad with tear this place to the ground. When he is done, there won't be anyplace for the rats infesting this place to hide!" Zuko was taken aback by is sister's vitriol.

"Let's get home," Zuko said, glancing around the parking lot. Fortunately, no one was in the immediate area to hear his sister's tirade. She looked at him and scowled.

"What took you so long?" she demanded. "We've been waiting for you to leave this disgusting place for ages!"

"It's only been a few minutes, Azula," Ty Lee interjected timidly. Azula rounded on her with a sneer.

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind staying, would you?" Azula spat at her friend. "Made a lot of good friends in the kitchen? Why don't you ask if there's a spare room. I'm sure they'd be happy to let you stay." Ty Lee shrank back, biting her lips against the tears that were about to fall. Azula just rolled her eyes and huffed in disgust. She turned and got into the car, taking the front seat this time.

"Zuko's going to be cramped in the backseat," Mai said.

"He can deal with it for twenty minutes," Azula snapped. "Shut up and get us out of here." Zuko slid into the backseat without a word. Azula moved the seat up a few inches so that Zuko at least had room to get in, but that was it. Azula continued ranting the entire drive, coming up with some particularly creative and vicious names for Hakoda, the staff and the residents of Hama's Haven. Her brother and friends just let her go. Mai interjected occasionally with some snide remarks of her own, but she didn't have the energy for all out rage like her friend. Zuko did his best to tune them both out, and he politely ignored Ty Lee's subtly wiping away stray tears next to him. Not for the first time, Zuko wondered why the sensitive, bubbly girl was friends with Azula and Mai of all people, but he'd stopped searching for an answer to that years ago.

True to her word, Azula went into her father's home office and demanded that he get her out of her community service sentence. Zuko could hear her while he fixed himself a snack in the kitchen. Interestingly, he noted, she didn't mention a thing about getting him or her friends out of the mandated service. Not that it bothered Zuko. He'd already decided he didn't mind the work.

Ozai did end up calling the judge to demand that something be done for his daughter. Zuko heard it the next day. He'd forgotten to shut the door to his office completely, so Zuko was able to hear Ozai alternately threatening and cajoling Judge Jeong-Jeong to release Azula from her punishment. He offered bribes. He swore to get Jeong-Jeong removed from his bench and disbarred from practicing law anywhere. He offered to donate a ridiculous sum of money to the shelter, if Hakoda was removed from his position. Jeong-Jeong said little through the near hour-long call until the very end.

"Mr. Kaji," he began ponderously. "Firstly, I feel the need to remind you that bribing a judge is a federal offence, and this call is being recorded. Secondly, my ruling stands. It is only the generous intercession of your brother that kept your children and their friends from spending the next 8 to 13 months in a juvenile detention center. I feel I have been more than fair with my judgement, but if Azula would rather serve out her sentence in juvenile detention, I would be happy to arrange that."

Ozai swore and started to speak, but Jeong-Jeong cut him off.

"As for having Hakoda terminated," he continued. "He has been serving at that shelter since it opened, and he has never had a single complaint about how he runs it in all that time. I have no say in what happens there, but I sincerely doubt the board that oversees the operation of Hama's Haven would be willing to let him go on the say so of one disgruntled, mandated volunteer and her overly indulgent father. This is Azula's only option if she doesn't want to go to the juvenile detention center. If she refuses to honor her service hours, or if Hakoda dismisses her, that's exactly where she will end up. Am I clear, Mr. Kaji?"

"I'll find a way around this," Ozai promised.

"You are certainly welcome to try," Jeong-Jeong sounded amused. "I'm sure the additional scrutiny from the government won't affect you...much."

Ozai swore at the judge again, but again Jeong-Jeong cut him off.

"If there is nothing else, Mr. Kaji," he said. "I have better things to do than babysit your tantrum." The call ended abruptly, leaving Ozai to rage in his office to no one. Zuko took his book and crept towards the back stairs. It was better if he wasn't in his father's line of sight while he was in this mood.

He made it to his bedroom just as Ozai came out of his office and stormed up the main staircase. He shut his light out and stayed silent. Ozai, though, went straight to Azula's room. Zuko heard her door fly open and hit the door with a thud.

"What's your problem?" Azula snapped.

"You're going back to that pit and serving your hours," Ozai told her. "I don't want to hear another word out of you about it."

"But, Dad!" Azula protested.

"Not another word!" Ozai barked. Azula went silent. A moment later, Zuko heard the door slam shut and his father stomped down the stairs. Then he left the house, slamming the front door even harder than Azula's door. Zuko waited until he heard his father's car peeling out of the driveway to make his way carefully to Azula's room. He knocked at her door lightly, then poked his head in. Azula stood in the middle of the floor, absolutely seething with rage. Her dark glower got darker when she saw her brother.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

"Just checking to see if you're okay," Zuko said. He was. It was rare to see Ozai's anger aimed at Azula.

"Peachy," Azula snorted. "I just found out that Dad's connections are useless. Now I'm stuck either cleaning up after people i wouldn't let touch my rags or spending a year in jail."

"It's not that bad," Zuko said, shrugging. "Some of the people are pretty cool, once you get to know them." Azula shot her brother a disgusted look.

"I should've known you'd be fine there," she said. "What are you doing in my room, anyway? Get out!" She stormed across the room and slammed the door in Zuko's face. He just barely managed to keep his hand from being crushed. With one last scowl at Azula's door, Zuko decided he'd had enough of the house for a while. He took his car and drove off in the opposite direction of his father.

The next week of school was annoying. As Katara had implied, word of their sentencing had spread throughout the school. People stared and whispered as Zuko passed through the halls. Well, more than usual. It was annoying, but people were too intimidated by Zuko to say anything to his face, so he could ignore most of it. At lunch, Zuko headed towards his usual spot in the far corner of the cafeteria, but he was stopped half way by Sokka appearing at his side.

"Yo!" he greeted Zuko. "Come sit with us today. I'll introduce you to the rest of the Haven Crew."

"What?" Zuko's nose wrinkled in confusion. Sokka had already started walking, though. Zuko followed awkwardly to a table where Katara sat with three other people. Zuko recognized Suki, who was in the same martial arts club as him, but the other two- a boy with a tight fitting beanie and a girl Zuko was startled to realize was blind- he had no idea who they were. They looked like freshmen.

"Katara you know," Sokka said, pointing to his sister. "This is Toph and Aang. The babies of the group. And this beautiful, terrifying girl is Suki, my girlfriend of two years."

"We've met," Suki told Sokka. She smiled politely at Zuko. "Nice to see you again, Zuko."

"So," Toph drawled, leaning towards Zuko. "You're the guy who blew up a building."

"What?" Zuko sputtered. "I didn't blow anything up!"

"Whatever you say, Sparky," Toph grinned at him. "Hey! I'm not mad at you. There's a few building's I'd like to blow up. Starting with this one."

"Toph, don't say stuff like that!" Aang glanced around nervously, looking for a monitor or a lurking teacher.

"Nah, it was just arson," Sokka told his friends, grinning. "I didn't know he had it in him, though. Sit, down, Zuko. You can't eat standing up." Zuko eyed the open seat between Sokka and Aang hesitantly.

"Would you just sit down already?" Katara snapped irritably. "The seat isn't dirty." Zuko scowled at her, but sat down.

"Zuko and his accomplices are going to be working off their debt to society at the Haven," Sokka explained. "We'll be seeing a lot of him. Dad says they've got nine months of work to finish."

"Um...you all volunteer at the shelter?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, we're all there at least a few times a month," Suki told him. "I do tutoring once a week."

"I help out in the garden." Aang grinned cheefully.

"Pottery and crap," Toph said.

"Crafts," Katara said. "You do pottery and crafts." Toph snorted at that.

"We made comb sheaths last month," she said. "I think crap is spot on."

"Toph," Katara let out a long suffering sigh and shook her head.

"So, Sparky," Toph turned back to Zuko with a smirk. "Why don't you tell us how you landed on the chain gang?"

"Toph!" Suki chided. "You can't just lead with that."

"Why not?" Toph demanded. "It's the most interesting thing to happen in this school all year!"

"Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it," Aang suggested, looking at Zuko nervously. Katara rolled her eyes, which bugged Zuko most of all for some reason.

"There isn't that much to tell," he said. "We got drunk at warehouse and my sister dropped a candle, or something into a box of tea leaves. The fire department put the fire out before there was a ton of damage." The finer details, Zuko decided, didn't matter.

"And that's why you always use a flashlight when you're drinking," Sokka said sagely.

"Or you could just not drink underage," Katara scoffed.

"Too easy." Sokka waved his sister off. And with that the topic moved onto something else. It was jarring. Zuko wasn't sure what he was expecting. An interrogation. Derision. Some sort of prank to humiliate him for daring to think they actually wanted him to sit with them. But the conversation turned to what they all had done over the weekend. Zuko had little to add there, and no one pressed. It was a pleasant lunch, all things considered. Sokka invited him to sit with them again the next day and the one after that. By the end of the week, Zuko joined them on his own, if a bit hesitantly. They welcomed him. Or rather, they didn't tell him to get lost. Zuko decided to count it as an open invitation.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5