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desos-records · 9 months

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Chapter 8: Never is an Awfully Long Time

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Ghost possession doesn't happen often, but fatality rates are high. Even if an agent does survive, there are the aftereffects to worry about.

After surviving a possession, Lucy Carlyle struggles with recovery, delving ever deeper into the memories of Visitors and, in the process, stumbling into the world of blackmarket Sources.

Meanwhile, George Karim races to learn the truth behind ghost possession in order to protect Lucy and save future agents.

And Anthony Lockwood must face his own past with the London underworld if he wants to save his friends and himself.

Lockwood's heart pounded in his throat and pulsed in the tips of his fingers. Lucy was somewhere in the darkness of London, alone save for the restless dead, potentially in danger, and it was all his fault. Distant wisps of Visitors flickered at the edges of his Sight, the odd death glow shone from roads or windows or back alleys, his head jerked towards the tiniest hints of movement. He tried to focus on his surroundings as he sped down the street, the night wind stinging his face, but his mind latched onto the worst case scenario—finding Lucy, but finding her too late, finding blue ghost touch and unseeing eyes.

He could not bear to bury one more person, not Lucy, not anyone.

It occurred to him that he had no idea where to find her. George said she had nowhere to go, but she'd left her family behind by choice, he felt certain she could find her own way in London if she wanted. Lucy was like that, stronger than any of them.

Where would he go, if he were like Lucy? If he were angry and headstrong and so worked up he'd rather storm out and try his luck with the ghosts than spend another minute inside.

He really did owe her a tremendous apology, didn't he?

Lockwood walked until he'd left Marylebone proper, letting himself be filtered into the main road towards the sprawling darkness of Hyde Park. He skirted the park's edge, eyeing the empty black spaces between the looming, knotted trees. Glowing figures floated between the shadowy columns in lines of three or four, necks twisted nearly parallel to the ground, feet dangling and twitching.

Why his parents chose to live so close to Tyburn Gallows, he had no idea. He used to ditch DEPRAC agents and relicmen by cutting through the park, death glows studding the dark path like stars and leaving him blinking away green afterimages. The screams behind him might've been the living or the dead, he could never tell. Even for him, escaping the park was often a near thing. He would slam shut the door to Portland Row and slide down the wood until he ended up sitting against it, eyes closed, plasm burns and bullet holes in his coat, hands buried in the carpet to ground himself, until his lungs stopped bursting in his chest.

But even in a state, Lucy wouldn't have gone into Hyde Park at night, as poorly lit and thickly haunted as it was—with all the duels and executions and muggings gone wrong over the centuries. So he kept walking, hand tight on his sword hilt. Calling her name seemed likely to draw the wrong sort of attention at this hour. The odd clusters of grim-faced agents heading out or coming back from cases hadn't seen anyone like Lucy when he'd asked. No trail of footprints or bit of familiar fabric appeared like they would have in his detective novels. He just kept walking, pushing his senses to their limit, and hoping. Was that all he could do?

Lockwood didn't excel at hope.

And then, after Hyde Park had turned into the Kensington Gardens, he heard a shout. His heart lurched, tugging him forward into the grass. At the far end, he saw flashes of ghost light fracturing through the dark trees. He would've written the shout off as a Visitor except that he saw the shadow of something long and narrow briefly cut through the light. A rapier?

He heard someone swearing loudly, heavy boots pounding. As he drew closer he heard them shout again, "I know you were executed, and I am sorry about that, but yelling at me does bugger all, you know! Tell me your name!"

Lucy.

A sky-rending scream and the crack of a gunshot broke through the night just as Lockwood dug his heels into the earth and jolted into a sprint. He went through the trees, following the light to the old playground. Commissioned years ago by a well-meaning royal trying to give the children of London a piece of their childhood back, it had accidentally been built on the site of a large execution by firing squad and now lay abandoned. Even during the day, you could hear gunshots or see faint flashes of musket fire.

The pirate ship rose out of the trees, overgrown with trailing ivy, saplings of oak breaking through the wood. Gunshots rang in the air and, for an instant, he imagined the rusted toy cannons had fired a volley, that the knee-high underbrush swaying in the wind rolled with twenty-foot waves instead. Behind his eyes, he saw his mother's face contorting dramatically, but never hiding her smile, as she read Peter Pan or Treasure Island to him in different voices.

to die would be an awfully big adventure

A resounding crack broke him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the ship's mast tipping towards him, creaking and splintering as it went. Quickly, he rolled out of the way, but not before he caught a glimpse of Lucy on the deck of the ship, swinging wildly with some heavy bit of metal. Before he was even fully upright, he ran up the gangplank towards her as the light flickered and reformed up in the ship's crows nest.

Lockwood opened his mouth to call to Lucy, but as he did, she turned, bringing her metal stick with her. Crowbar, his brain supplied as it arced towards his head. Drawing his rapier, he and Lucy collided, the bar's curve crashing into his rapier's crossguard. In the next breath, he was nose to nose with Lucy, her eyes wide and glowing from the wavering light above them. It starkly reflected off the metal loops pierced in her ears. He'd never quite noticed before how many earrings she had. Did she like that kind of thing? Jewelry?

He flashed a grin. "Playing pirates, Luce?"

"Lockwood! How did you—"

His whole skull seemed to vibrate as the scream broke the night again. Lucy staggered, dropped her crowbar, and slammed her hands flat to her ears. If the noise left his psychic senses ringing, he could only imagine how much it hurt Lucy. He looped his free arm around her and started pulling her to the gangplank, but before they could step off the deck, a burst of ghostly fire erupted over the railing, blocking their path.

"I tried that already!" Lucy shouted, one of her hands gripping his shoulder tightly. "The Source must be inside the ship somewhere!"

"What were you doing here?" he shouted back. "Don't you know better than to go into the park at night?"

"I heard someone scream, I thought… it sounded like…" Then she swore loudly and pulled him out of the way as a burning wood beam slammed into the deck, cracking several aging boards as it landed. "It doesn't matter! I'll distract it, you find the Source."

She started to move away, but he caught hold of her again. "No way. If it's overloading my Hearing, you shouldn't be anywhere near it. You've been on the scene longer, you find the Source."

For a second, it looked as if she might refuse. He opened his mouth to add to his argument, but then she nodded. "Fine."

She grabbed a silver net from his belt, took up the crowbar again, and went to hacking at the deck until she had a sizable hole. Then Lucy dropped down into it and out of sight.

Lockwood spun in a slow circle, searching the ship's rigging for the main manifestation. The light flared angrily, making him wince and reach for his sunglasses. Another gunshot fired and he ducked on instinct. When he straightened, a figure materialized by the bow of the ship, mostly a head and torso.

He could see every detail even meters away—a man, middle-aged maybe, with wild, scraggly hair. The greenish plasm making up the chest had been blown open, laying bare white ribs and black organs through jagged clusters of bullet holes. The heart twitched to an unsteady rhythm. When the Visitor opened its mouth, the jaw widened past the point of breaking, showing rows of crooked black teeth. Its eyes bulged, burning with the same whitish-green fire burning the deck.

It screamed and nearly knocked Lockwood over.

"Oi! Sulfur breath!" he roared back and rapped his rapier against the splintered remains of the mast. "It's bad form to attack an unarmed opponent."

Lockwood felt the full weight of the Spectre's attention settle on him. He flexed his fingers over his rapier's grip and dropped into a fighting stance. As he did, the ghost charged him, but Lockwood held his ground and cut the ghost in half before it could touch him. The plasm dissipated, but he still felt its freezing presence.

"Luce?" he called to her somewhere below deck. "Any progress?" He heard a muffled string of curses which he took as a No.

A sudden chill ran down his spine and Lockwood ducked, just in time to avoid the Spectre's hand reaching for his back. He brandished his rapier again, but it caught only empty air. A gunshot fired close to his ear and he flinched, almost running into the ghostly fire still ringing the ship.

It was messing with him. He hated it when ghosts did that.

"Any time now, Lucy!"

She shouted something largely incomprehensible, but what he suspected was a Northern way of saying, Leave me alone, I'm going as fast as I can! He couldn't help but smile.

The Spectre screamed again and, before he could track where it came from, it burst out of the deck in front of him. He scrambled to get away, but his heel caught on the fallen beam and Lockwood crashed onto the deck, white stars briefly shattering over his vision. The Spectre loomed above him, maw gaping, long, cracked fingernails at the ends of its outstretched hands, organs trailing and dripping blood. And that dark heart still pulsing in its chest.

Fear finally dug its claws into him. He couldn't move. He called Lucy's name one more time.

You can take me, he thought, as he stared into the Spectre's burning white eyes, if you don't hurt Lucy.

It lunged for him and then abruptly vanished. The fire snapped out. Green afterimages floated over his sight, overlapping each other in the dark as he tried to blink them away. He knew the ghost had to be gone because the sinking cold had gone too, but his eyes weren't so sure yet.

"Lockwood!"

Lucy's voice jolted him into motion. He found her there beside him when he sat up. Spiderwebs caught in her hair, glinting faintly like silver lace under the moon.

"Are you hurt at all?" She touched the back of his head and he had to contain a wince as her hand found a sore spot.

"Did you find the Source?" he asked.

She raised up the silver net for him to see, an old bullet secured inside. He smiled at her. Lucy's mouth stayed in a stubborn downward curve.

"Lovely," he said, hauling himself to his feet. "Then let's get out of here before anything else tries to kill us." He offered a hand to Lucy, but she ignored him.

"Where are we anyway?" she grumbled as she walked off the ship.

He followed and said, "Kensington Gardens."

She turned suddenly toward him, still walking through the darkness with him. "That's a real place?"

"What do you mean? Of course it's a real place."

"I don't know!" she huffed. "It's where Peter Pan was from, innit? It's like saying Neverland's a real place."

"How do you know it's not?" He could tell by the expression on her face—a healthy mix of annoyance and disappointment—that his smile had turned into a teasing one, but he couldn't help it. "Look up there, Luce." He raised his hand towards the sky at two points of light that could still be seen even in the hazy London night. "Second star to the right and straight on til morning."

Lucy looked up and allowed a wry smile to cross her face. "Those aren't stars. That's Jupiter and Saturn."

He blinked, turning quickly back to her. "Wouldn't've taken you as a stargazer, Luce."

"I'm not. My sister was—still is, I suppose, I don't know."

"You have a sister?"

"Six of them."

"Oh."

They reached the sidewalk ringing the park and Lockwood led the way back towards Marylebone. The silence slowly ate away at him, tension between them like a badly tuned violin string. He remembered that they were only out here because she was stubborn and infuriating and should've known better, and really he ought to tell her off for it. Or maybe he ought to apologize for upsetting her enough that she'd preferred her chances with the ghosts. But they'd worked so well together just now. And he'd gotten her to smile, if for a little while. He didn't want to ruin it by dredging up hurt feelings.

Lockwood cleared his throat. "You were brilliant, by the way, Luce… just now, with the, uh, pirate ghost."

"Yes, I'm quite the asset, aren't I?" she said, cold as creeping fear. "Makes you think twice about firing me. But I'll save you the trouble. I'm quitting tomorrow."

"What? I didn't… What makes you think I would fire you? You're—"

"Because I'm difficult, aren't I? I listen to ghosts more than I listen to you? Shut up and do your job, isn't that right?"

"Lucy." Pain cracked his voice a bit and he hated that, but he hated the pain in Lucy's voice even more—and all because of him. "There's clearly been some sort of misunderstanding."

She laughed, sharp and without humor, and suddenly stood rooted on the sidewalk. He had to turn fast around to face her. "Funny, that," she said. "Because you don't understand anything, do you?"

"Lucy, please, let's talk about this at home. It's far too dangerous—"

"I am drowning, Lockwood!" Her eyes reflected the light of a nearby ghostlamp, tears gathering and threatening to fall. "But you're just like everyone back home, you don't care as long as it makes you a bit of money or gets you on TV."

"Of course, I care. I'm sorry about all that, but I—"

"And you know, maybe I…" She took a breath that seemed to tear through her lungs. "Maybe I shouldn't've come to London, maybe I ought to've just died with everyone else. God—" She buried her head in her hands, nails digging into her skin. "I wish I'd died with everyone else."

Lockwood could almost hear his chest cracking open in pain for her. He had the same urge to hold her close and keep her safe that he felt on cases, but he knew he couldn't fight off thoughts with a rapier. He knew. He'd been right where she was more times than he cared to remember.

He took a steady breath. "I understand that," he said gently.

Lucy lowered her hands cautiously and met his eyes again. Please, believe me, he thought.

"And it's not true, Lucy. We need you. And it's not because you're an asset."

She watched him in silent challenge. "Why then?"

"Because…" He had to get this right, but how could he possibly explain without gutting himself? "Because you're…" He knew what he wanted to say, but it was far too soon for that. "You're Lucy Carlyle," he said, trying to put every marvelous thing about her into her name so she could hear it. "And that's more than enough."

She shook her head, but not in disbelief, in sadness. "Barnes knows I'm illegal."

Now, Lockwood could smile. He let himself step nearer to her. "That's why I went on TV, silly. To show Barnes he can shove his threats. That I wasn't going to let you go without a fight."

Lucy laughed faintly. "Pretty sure there's rules about that."

"Screw the rules." He smiled. And then quite without thinking, his hand stole out to settle around hers and he didn't realize he'd done it until she'd grasped his hand. His heartbeat spiked in slight distress, but it was too late now. "I'm sorry, Lucy," he said. "Please stay."

She looked serious again, but she was nodding slightly. "Just never lie to me again."

Light flickered somewhere behind Lucy, figures slowly creeping this way, and he remembered exactly where they were.

"I'll never lie to you again. I swear." He flashed one more grin. "And in the spirit of that, you ought to know we're standing right by Tyburn Gallows." He nodded at the ghosts behind her.

"So?" she asked as she turned. And then Lucy saw them too. "Oh, shit."

"Well, it is the most haunted place in London." Without letting go of her hand, he grabbed a salt bomb off his belt. "Pull this pin for me, will you, Luce?"

She did and he hurled it as far into the trees as he could manage. Together, they turned and ran across the street away from the park, listening to the cries of outrage behind them as the bomb went off.

"I suppose I should thank you for finding me," Lucy said, running beside him.

"You didn't make it easy. You know, you're rather more of a liability than an asset, Luce."

As they turned a corner, he glanced over at her and caught her small but honest smile.

#outing myself as a peter pan nerd #i'm proud of this one #lockwood & co #lockwood and co #lockwood #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george karim #locklyle #The Hidden Archive

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c-40 · 1 year

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A-T-3 189 The Cherry Boys - Kardomah Cafe (Colonial Version)

Flash floods in Liverpool Saturday

Some important events in British history lead up to the creation and development of the Kardomah brand in Liverpool and its chain of cafés. We could go back as far as American Independence, The Slave Trade Act of 1807, and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833; but this blog is called C40, and 40-years is our usp, so for us the 1834 revision of the English East India Company’s charter which threw open the franchise to private enterprise for the first time, the first and second opium war, Alfred Holt's adaption of The compound steam engine and the launch of his Ocean Steam Ship Company 1860s, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 are what we're interested in

In it's demise the East India Company (EIC) had become the Uber of its day "none but desperate men would sail our ships" (middle-class kids may work for Uber or Uber Eats for a while but it's people close to poverty who stay on, and that's only because they have to) in 1834 the franchise was opened to private business bringing with it opportunities to ports outside of London. Liverpool Merchants had been lobbying for this to happen for decades, looking to America as an example of trade not hindered by 'The Company' (similar idea to Brexit with some fundamental differences)

Tea was a valuable commodity, as soon as the East India Company's monopoly was lifted private entrepreneurs and merchant adventures in Liverpool pooled their resources to send ships. "On May 22 1834 the first ship to be cleared out to China from Liverpool was the Symmetry, and the ship Euphrates, from Mr Wilson's yard, was launched for the China Trade on the same day."

After 1834 Liverpool began its rapid ascent as a major port engaged in trade with China. The Port of Liverpool greatly expanded under the superintendency of engineer Jesse Hartley between 1824 and 1860 (no relation of William Pickles Hartley.) The trade model was very similar to that of American entrepreneurs in the previous decades. What the Americans found was China didn't really want much of what they were offering in trade, the British had opium from India. Opium sales on the blackmarket underwrote the tea trade. It was the Emperor's son dying of an opium overdose in the 1830s that alerted to the Emperor to the damaging effects and scale of the opium trade which led to the first Opium War in 1839. The war ended in Britain's favour thanks to the armed steamers, like the Nemesis built in Liverpool shipyards and launched in the Mersey by John Laird and the EIC. The Treaty of Nanking was signed in 1842, this brought about the opening of the new ports in China and the end of previous trade mechanisms that existed before the war

Kardomah Cafés has its origin in The Vey Brothers teadealers and grocers which opened for business on Pudsey Street, Liverpool in 1844. Ships regularly arrived in Liverpool from China and this is where the Vey Brothers imported their tea

By the time we get to the second opium wars 1853-1858 the Port Of Liverpool had become one the busiest and most profitable in the country. "By 1857, Liverpool's exports amounted to about 45 per cent by value of the total exports of the United Kingdom" this settled to just over a third of British exports in the 1860s

Britain was joined by Russia, France, and America in second opium war against China. American clipper ships had given the US the competitive edge in the China Trade because they were faster than those used by Britain, and speed, then as it is today, gives the capitalist the advantage. The opium wars did little to slow down trade and in 1854 the first international tea race took place. The Liverpool built clipper Fiery Cross won the tea race between 1861-63 and again in 1865. Liverpool merchants had first bought American clippers and then began building them themselves, using hardwood meant British clippers could be built bigger and needed less repair work.

A new technology would soon to come along that would make both hardwood and softwood clippers redundant, this was the long distance steamship powered by Arthur Woolf's compound steam engine. Using steamships for the China Trade was established and developed by Liverpudlian merchant Alfred Holt (who lived at Sudley House) out of the Port of Liverpool

In 1865/6 Holt and his brother founded The Ocean Steam Ship Company (now part of logistics company Exel plc whose parent is Deutsche Post DHL Group). The Ocean Steam Ship Company ran The Blue Funnel Line subsidiary ('The China Company' as it was known in Merseyside or 'Holts'). The Blue Funnel Line used Chineses seamen and boats as well as British and the first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in Liverpool in 1866

The Port of Liverpool gained its advantage over other ports in the UK through the rapid development of its steamship trade and its position in the middle of the United Kingdom linked by an elaborate transport system with the major manufacturing centres

The Vey Brothers sold their tea import company to the newly created Liverpool China and India Tea Company in 1868. With a quick search the only record of this company I could find are tea caddies and ephemera, according to these the company was founded in 1860

Long distance steamships took a while to replace clippers but its the opening of the Suez Canal, which had nominal wind to fill the sails of clippers, steam ships would become the superior tech to have. "The shipping statistics gathered for tire port of Liverpool in the period 1865- 79 show very clearly the rise in the importance of steam and the decentralisation of trade from London, where the trade had been concentrated during the two hundred years' dominance of the East India Company.

"In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened, providing a shorter route to and from China. This route was virtually impossible for sailing ships, which would have to be towed through the canal, and they gradually became obsolete as trading vessels."

The International Exhibition of Navigation, Commerce and Industry opened in Liverpool in May 1886. The following year the iron and glass building shipped over from Antwerp for this exhibition was reused for Liverpool's Royal Jubilee Exhibition. It was at the Jubilee Exhibition that Kardomah brand tea was first served

Whooo we got there!

The first Kardomah Café was opened in Liverpool in the early 1900s. In the 1930s the Swansea branch rose to notoriety as the meeting place of The Kardomah Gang whose most famous member was Dylan Thomas, the Swansea café has been run by Luporini family since 1970 and is still open today. The Liverpool China and India Tea Company was renamed Kardomah Limited in 1938

The golden era of the cafes was the 1950s and 1960s with the chain flexible enough to move with the times and attract new custom from the recently invented teenagers. By the time The Cherry Boys released their song in 1983 the golden era was over and the cafés had begun shuttering up and down the country

Kardomah Café was a top 10 hit for The Cherry Boys in Spain. Chris Sharrock was an original member of The Cherry Boys but was long gone by the time Kardomah Café was released

Edit* My moms just told me my gran worked in one of the Birmingham branches of the Kardomah Café in its golden era

youtube

#Youtube

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i-cant-sing · 2 years

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Imagine yandere alpha todofam finding out that reader is an omega and rei just going ape shi- and trying to “protect” her from the world

Yandere Todoroki Clan but in A/B/O dynamics

I mean, they probably wouldn't be surprised to find reader was an omega. Hell, I bet if reader did turn out to be an alpha, they'd force her to turn into a omega. Practically treat her like a helpless kitten as they baby her, and when you get enraged, they'd just call it "temper tantrums" and drug you to sleep.

Omega or not, they'd still make you a nest with EVERYONE'S things in it and they would 100% force you in it. When Enji comes home, he expects you to be resting in your nest with his hoodie. He frequently scents your stuff, but nothing beats his big warm hoodies.

The family doesn't want you to interacting with anyone that's not them, but alphas in particular are completely forbidden. If you're out and Shotou sees an alpha around, he's dragging you back home. If an alpha comes to visit Enji, you're being dragged to your nest where you're to stay until the alpha leaves.

Dabi, like in most of my AUs, will be a jerk to you. Teases you to no end about being an omega. And even if you're an alpha, he's still gonna call you weak. Tackles you almost every other day, doesn't get off you until you either call him the strongest, mama Rei comes to save you or you pass out.

Almost all of them try to scent you (yes, Dabi's version of scenting you is shoving your face in his sweaty armpit when he puts you in a headlock), but Rei takes it on a whole another level. She'd wear your clothes just so that they'd have her scent, makes you take naps with her in your nest, GROOMS YOU like mama cat does to her kittens. Doesn't matter if you're struggling to get away, she'll pin you down and you'll finally understand the difference between your and her strength.

You're not allowed to go out much, but since you melt Enji's heart very easily, he allows you to go out BUT only after giving you some scent suppressing medicines. Obviously, when you're of age and your heat finally comes, you're not allowed to leave the house at all. No, no. Enji and Rei already talked to the doctors about it a long time ago, and they've since decided to give you some sedatives and drugs during your heat. So now most of your heats are spent at home hibernating, Rei occasionally waking you up for food and necessities, while Natsuo keeps adjusting the doses because he knows your heat is very painful.

Oh and let's say Alpha Bakugo also exists here and he's your mate or whatever, but does that mean Todoroki Clan will let you date your soulmate? Uh, no. Hell, Dabi and Shotou are lunging at him whenever he tries to get close to you, while Natsuo and Fuyumi drag you back to your nest. And don't even get me started on how feral Katsuki gets when you get your heat. Enji and his sons will be working hard to beat Katsuki away, while Natsuo, Rei and Fuyumi are in a bunker far away with you completely drugged out of your mind. Enji isn't above using his contacts to get the very illegal wolfsbane from the blackmarket, using it against Katsuki.

Then again, Katsuki also comes from a rich, influential family, so they will also play dirty. Hell, Bakugou clan might even hire werewolf hunters to get you back to Katsuki (obviously ordering them not to hurt a hair on your head).

Man, I do miss talking about Aizawa. Either as a solo yandere, or even with Erasermic. Sigh.

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oh-so-scenarios · 4 years

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ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀᴇɴᴅɪᴘɪᴛʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪɴɢs...♠| 13

⤖ ᴡʜᴏ ʜᴀs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜʟᴍᴀᴛᴇs? Jᴜɴɢ Hᴏsᴇᴏᴋ ɪs ᴛᴏᴏ ʙᴜsʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴏғ ʜɪs ᴍᴀғɪᴀ ɴᴇᴛᴡᴏʀᴋ. Hᴇ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀᴇɴᴅɪᴘɪᴛʏ ᴏғ ʜɪs sᴏᴜʟᴍᴀᴛᴇ ᴍᴏᴠᴇ ʜɪᴍ…ʀɪɢʜᴛ?

⤖ Mᴀғɪᴀ Lᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ Hᴏsᴇᴏᴋ x ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ Fᴇᴍᴀʟᴇ Rᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ, sᴏᴜʟᴍᴀᴛᴇ!ᴀᴜ

Warnings: Smut, sexual acts, vulgar language

Another long chapter. I don’t think I’ve written smut on here before but yeah...it goes there a bit. I feel good about this chapter.

****The are A LOT of errors! Please ignore! (Word Count: 14.031K)

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Y/N:

I’m seated at the circular table while everyone has laughs and chuckles. Yoongi was sharing some story about Jungkook when I glanced down at my phone on the table.

It's past 1 am, and I thank the heavens that I don’t work tomorrow. I glance over at Jennie, wondering what her schedule tomorrow is. She didn’t seem to worry, making eye contact with me then showing a small smile.

I smile back, looking towards my phone again before sighing. I glanced to my side at Jungkook whose eyes were already on me.

The corner of my lips turn up in a small smile and he smiles back, but for some reason his eyes look sad. My brows furrow and I reach forward to place a hand on his shoulder.

“Everything alright Kook?” I ask softly. My voice was nearly drowned out by the chatter of those behind me, but it seemed Jungkook still heard me.

His eyes widened and he tilted his head slightly, “Yes, everything is okay noona.” He shows me another weary smile before looking towards a chuckling Yoongi. I keep my gaze on him for a short moment before looking elsewhere.

Despite the time, no one seems to be slowing. I am ready to go home. It’s been a long day and there’s nothing I’d want to do more than go home and sleep in my bed. Or...a bed...with Hoseok’s arms wrapped around me?

I chuckle to myself at my thoughts, feeling my hands itch to have Hoseok close. But, I’ve realized that we’ve been moving at Hoseok’s pace this whole time. I’m not sure if he’s aware of that but, the growth between us has certainly been at his pace.

He moves slowly. Hoseok doesn’t make a move forward if he isn’t 100% sure about it. I’ve come to the conclusion from simple observations, but I don't mind. I’m just...happy.

I stand up from my seat, grabbing my phone and walking around to Jennie’s seat. My bag was hung up on the back of her seat, and she leaned forward to let me grab it.

“You’re ready to head home?” Jungkook asked as I walked back around the table to where he sat. I nod, putting my bag’s strap on my shoulder.

“It’s getting late. I would stay longer, but I’m feeling tired” I explained. Jungkook stood up from his seat with a grunt, as if he was waiting for me to say that.

“Ok I’ll--”

“Actually--” I cut off Jungkook, but I was also cut off by Namjoon, whose tone isn't matching the playful atmosphere we were currently in.

“Jungkook, Hoseok is going to drive her home.” His words stopped the chatter in the room, drawing attention to Jungkook and I. He looked at me, before looking at Namjoon. I watched the two hold each other's gazes, Namjoon giving Jungkook a knowing grimace.

Did I miss something?

“Y-yeah,” I chime in, wanting to stop the tense interaction, “It’s okay Kook.” I look at him and smile.

“Hoseok said he’ll drive me home. Things are going well for us, so he’ll probably be driving me home from now on.” I say, beaming at the young man. Though he towered over me, in this moment he looked so small.

Is everything okay with him? Did I do something to hurt his feelings?

“Of course!” He exclaims, grinning widely. But there’s something stiff about the gesture, “See you later Y/n!” He sits down in his seat like he couldn’t wait for me to get out of his face. The action felt a bit uncharacteristic of Jungkook but I didn’t say anything else.

“Yeah,” I said softly then spoke towards everyone in the room, “I’ll see y’all later!” Everyone waves kindly and smiles. I throw a concerned look at Jungkook before heading down the hallway. I knock on the double doors and hear nothing back.

I knock once more, still no response. I slowly enter Hoseok’s office, peeking my head in, noticing the lights are dim, with a while glow from an opened macbook on the desk. Behind the open macbook is Hoseok, with his arms folded on the table and his head on his arms. He was nearly concealed by the large macbook but his hair was peak out from the side.

I walk further into the office and close the door gently behind me. I set my bag on one of the empty chairs and walked around the desk so I was right beside him. I giggled silently, watching how cute he was as he slept.

That hard look he always had was melted away. He looked so innocent. I took my phone that was still in my hand and turned on the camera, snapping a few pictures. As I was doing that, my eyes moved to the lit macbook and my eyes widened.

I stared at the desktop that was displayed. It was a picture of Hoseok and I. This is from the Charity gala, clearly a professional picture, as I didn’t take any pictures from my phone that day. We both stood close to each other and he had his arm around me. He was looking down at me, that same teasing smirk on his lips. Our faces were so close, you’d think this was an intimate moment that was happening in private.

I was looking up at him with a big smile on my lips.

Is this what we looked like that night? Oh wow. The longer I stare at the picture, the realer it looks. That was supposed to be us pretending? We need Oscars for such a performance, because nothing about that picture gives off discomfort.

The fondness in his eyes as he smirks, and the bright look on my face.

I look back down at Hoseok and set my phone on the desk, staring at his sleeping figure for a short moment. He must be tired. I know he’s tired. He seems so at ease while he sleeps, like there isn’t a single problem in the world.

I stretched my hand out, a bit hesitant before letting my fingers caress his hair slightly. I gently swipe it out his eyes before placing a hand on his shoulder. Before I could shake him awake, his eyes snapped open.

They’re alert, almost expecting to see a problem before him. He picks his head up and looks around the room before looking my way. His eyes soften, and though there is a smile on his eyes, it doesn’t hide the fondness in them.

“Hey,” His voice raspy, “you’re ready to go?” He sighs and looks at his open laptop screen before looking at me with wide eyes. It was comical, and made me giggle.

“Your wallpaper is cute.” I tease, pointing towards that screen. He wordlessly closes the laptop. Rolling his eyes at my words.

He stands up from his seat, making me step back while he pulls open a drawer and grabs some keys. It’s just now that I realize I’m going to be going into Hoseok’s personal car, which I haven’t done before. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hoseok driving a car himself.

“Where’d you get the picture?” I ask.

“Jimin emailed them to me. I don’t know where he got them from. I’ll send them to you.” He says before scratching the back of his head. He was still shaking off the sleep, and I just watched him quietly, fond of him.

“They’re still out there?” He motions towards the double doors before leaning his desk.

I nod, “Yeah, they’re out there cracking jokes and laughing. They have too much energy! I’m tired and ready to go to bed.”

I glance towards the doors and look back to see Hoseok grinning with his gaze focused on me.

“You should have come to take a nap with me, now I’ve recharged and have nothing but energy.” He mutters, his eyes moving down to my hand, which he took in his. He held my hand, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of my hand.

He tightened his hold on my hand before pulling me closer.

“That stupid phone call ruined our moment.” He whispered while bringing his face closer to mine. His lips hovered over mine, the heat of his breath. My eyes fluttered close, expecting the feel of his lips on mine.

I waited, and nothing came. I opened my eyes to see Hoseok laughing silently while my face started to heat up with embarrassment.

“You’re so eager.” He teases, his shoulders shaky as his laughter starts to sound through the room. I glared at him, ready to pull my hand away in protest. But he wouldn’t let me, only pulling me closer in retaliation.

“You were sweetly waiting for me to kiss you. Do you want me that badly Y/n?” His tone leaned more towards jokes than the slight sexual frustration that was creeping up on me.

“Anyway!” I say trying to change the subject, “What are you doing 2 days from now?”

He laughs at my desperate attempt, “I have some meetings, but I’ll be off by 3. After that I have some guests coming to visit.”

I grew in interest, “Guests?”

“Some people who do blackmarket work for me in Japan will be stopping by. I’m moving some of them here, and talking with them about recruiting. I feel like I’m losing control of things in Japan.” He says.

“I see,” was all I could reply. I was going to ask him about going on a date, but it looks like he’ll be busy for the next few days.

“Why? What were you thinking about?”

“I was gonna say we could go for some dinner? Just before I go back to work, cause they’re going to be working me like crazy once I go back.”

“Dinner is boring, let’s do something else. Let’s go to a drive-in movie. I know a place not too far from here. They serve you in your car and everything.” He sounds kind of excited about it, so I couldn’t but be excited as well.

“That sounds great,” I agree, “You’ll be okay about us eating in your car?”

“Yeah, it’s no problem!” He chimes, “a car can always be cleaned.”

I only nod in agreement, before releasing my hand from his to walk around the desk and grab my bag. He follows behind me, his keys jingling in his hands as his other arm is draped on my shoulders. I wrap my arm around his waist and we step out of his office with the double doors swinging closed behind us.

“You must really like me to have a wallpaper like that?” I tease, looking up at him with a smirk.

He scoffs, looking forward as everyone at the table comes into sight.

“Oh, did you not know?” He sarcastically replies, then leaning down to whisper in my ear.

“I like you a lot.” He says.

“Good!” I exclaim, turning my head to look at him. His face was so close, that if it wasn’t for the eyes I could feel on us, I would have kissed him.

I looked away, seeing everyone at the table looking our way.

“Wow, is this what we’ll have to deal with from now on?” Yoongi scoffed, a feign look of disgust on his face.

“Hyung, you’re just jealous.” Taehyung jeered, “They’re cute together! Maybe Hoseok-hyung will become nicer!”

Laughs sound through the room, and I try to stifle my chuckles.

“I’m not a miracle worker!” I shout back, making more laughs erupt. Yet, I don’t miss the way Jungkook’s laughs were small and probably fake.

I need to make a mental note to talk to him, or I’ll ask Hoseok what’s wrong. We say our goodbyes, ignoring the playful questions of if I was really being dropped off. Hoseok only brushes them off, not minding the joking remarks, while I can only chuckle.

We walk out the building and I follow Hoseok’s lead as we only walk down the sidewalk for a few moments. The restaurants were still opened, with people still walking the streets. Some were drunks, marching around with their friends, while some were couples roaming about.

We come to a sleek and dark silver Hyundai Sedan. I couldn’t name the exact model, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hyundai like this. Hoseok casually opens the door for me and I take my seat, gawking at the all black interior of the car.

He’d be okay with us eating in here? I’d be scared to do anything in a car like this. I leaned back in the seat, adjusting it to my liking as he walked around the car and opened the driver’s side. I plopped into the car, sighing as he closed the door.

I was still trying to figure out how I want to adjust the seat, using the buttons on the side of the door to do so. When I was pleased with the setting, I buckled my belt, watching as Hoseok started the car. Was he waiting for me to finish whatever I was doing?

The engine started, but was so quiet….I could barely hear it. It was a low and soft pur. The lights to all the buttons and interior of the car turned on and I gasped, making Hoseok look my way.

“Your car is so cool.” I gush. He takes his hands off the wheel and leans his head back into his seat. He stares at me as I run my fingers along the screen and the buttons below it.

“Why don’t you get a car?” His tone is soft, and I believe his mind is elsewhere as he speaks.

I shrug, “I don’t know. I’ll probably do that. The money from the black market surgeries have been piling up.”

“I knew you weren’t gonna do anything with that money.” He says, “you don’t need much to be happy.”

“Yup!” I agree, “I just need food, work and--” My words stop short realizing what I was about to say.

“And?” He eggs on, putting his eyes forward as he moves the car into drive.

“And you.” I practically whispered, turning to look his way. He laughs, glancing at me before making a turn and zooming down the street. It was mostly empty but that didn’t stop me from falling back into my seat.

Hoseok looks at me for a moment and I notice the car slow in speed, “Sorry.” He sounds almost nervous.

“I tend to speed.” He explains, “but if it’s scary for you, I’ll slow down.”

Most of the ride was with small conversation, and a few jokes. I found myself leaning towards him, my elbow resting on the middle compartment, with my chest resting on my chin. I don’t even notice when we pull up to my Apartment complex, watching Hoseok as he smoothly parallel parks.

The corner of his lips turn up into a smile while he forces on his parking. He can see me staring at him, my face being very close. A soft sigh leaves my lips and my heart starts to hammer in my chest.

I love him. I am in love with Hoseok and though he’s slowly opening up to me...I feel very lucky. You never know how a soulmate situation is going to unfold but things took a good turn. I am head over-heels. Anyone can see that.

Hoseok puts the gear in park and turns to look my way, one corner of his lips pulling up into a smirk. My smile widens, and I ignore the pounding of my heart in my ears. I’m hoping there isn’t a visible blush appearing in my face.

The lights from the various buttons and the screen display was all that was illuminating his face. It was a bit dark, but his features were visible the more my eyes adjusted to the darkness. His bright smile also shined through. We were sitting here smiling at each other like fools.

I watched his eyes move to my lips, his hand resting on my thigh as he scooted closer. When he couldn’t get close enough, he groaned and unbuckled his seat belt. The action was funny, so clicked off my seatbelt, and scooted till the side of my thigh was pressed against the middle compartment.

“I’ll see you later?” I whispered, staring at Hoseok through narrow eyes.

“You won’t see me till the date, I got some things to deal with.” His breath fanned over my lips.

“That’s cool. I’m going to get ready to get back to work. I might even visit Ms. Choi.” I answered.

He raised an eyebrow, “Ms. Choi?”

“That lady I told you about? The one who got into the accident?”

He thinks shortly before nodding as he remembered, “Oh right, the lady whose husband is in a coma?”

“Exactly. She’s a nice old lady who needs some cheering up. She has no kids or family, her husband is all she has left. I feel so bad for her.” I pout, “You should come visit her with me.”

“Why me?”

“I’ve mentioned you to her, and she probably wants to know who my mystery man is!”

“Your only other friend is an old lady from the hospital, and you’re eager to show her off to me? Or are you eager to show me off?”

“Whichever you think it is.”

“Oh,” He says as if he remembered something. He leans away a bit before moving his hand from my leg to my hip, “The people from my Japanese fraction are a bit more intense than the guys you’ve met, but don’t let them scare you. They won’t mess with you, and if any of them do...let me know.”

I gulped, wondering just how these people could be for Hoseok to say they’re intense. I already felt like Hoseok was an intense person, but maybe they’re intense in a different way. Probably louder? More in your face? I wonder if that’s why he feels like he’s losing control of them because of that.

“They’ll be sticking around for some time?”

“Not all of them. Some will go back to Japan, others will be set in different places in Korea. You’ll get used to their faces.”

“Okay, but--”

“There’s one more thing.” Hoseok says softly, a slight uncertainty in his voice. He frowns and bites his lip for a moment.

“What’s up?”

“There’s one member who will be coming from Japan...her name is Jisoo.” He pauses, and I can only watch him hesitate to utter his words. A woman named Jisoo?

“Since you were talking about communication, I didn’t want to leave you blind. Jisoo and I…” He trails off.

“Dated? Had a fling?” I guessed. I don’t think I’m feeling any jealousy, or any dread as he tells me this, cause we’re becoming something.

“No, nothing like that. I’ve slept with her before, and she’s developed feelings since then. But I slept with her more than two years ago and she still has a crush on me.”

My eyes moved over his face, watching him scrutinize my reaction. I only had one question and the rest didn’t really matter.

“Do you have feelings for her?”

“No.” He answers quickly, and I can only shrug in response. I smile at him and close the space between us to get him a peck. The smacking sounds as our lips separated, made me a bit embarrassed.

“Then there’s no problem Hoseok, I’m not worried.” I reassure him, kissing him again. This time a bit longer, our lips barely parting before he leaned in for another, an exhale leaving his nose as he did so. Another kiss. Another kiss. A peck. Lips opening and tongues meeting, soft whines that sneaked their way up my neck while my body felt like it was growing hot. Dangerously hot. My hand reached up to rest on his check, and my fingers tingled as they touched his skin.

The kisses were sweet, a way of prolonging the goodbye and almost a silent understanding of how our relationship has changed. We’re walking into different territory, and it’s a little scary but I’m willing to give it a try.

Though, I can’t be sure if the easy-going feeling of this transition has to do with us being soulmates, or if the yearning for each other is overshadowing the nerves.

“I need to go,” I said with heavy breaths, my words almost cut off by a peck from Hoseok. I smiled, closing my eyes as he kissed me once more.

“Yeah,” He hums, not really aware of the words he’s saying. My eyes flutter open to see his eyes on me, His gaze dripping with lust and something else? The facial expression is something I haven’t seen from Hoseok before. The gentle look left me breathless, making my only response being to stare back.

My stomach flipped as we sat there in silence, almost trying to understand the wordless message the other was giving.

I wonder if he can feel my words. I don’t have the courage to say them just yet but I’m sure he knows. Everyone knows. I like Hoseok more than he likes me, and I’m okay with that. But can he tell that I love him? Hoseok is too observant for his own good. He must know.

I gleefully drum my fingers against his cheek, “I have to go.” I whisper as if I was scared for someone to hear me.

“You work early tomorrow?” I question, dropping my hands from his check, leaning back into my seat. His eyes followed my movements, and the hot atmosphere was passing. Even the light stream of air form the AC wasn’t cooling to boiling of my skin.

“I always do,” He cracks a smile, “But my naps get me through the day.”

“That’s not healthy, make sure you get enough sleep. It’ll make your days run smoother.” I wag my finger at him as he rolls his eyes.

“We just became a couple and you’re already nagging me.” He jokes.

I gasp, faking hurt from his comment. The gasp was more to hide my surprise at his words. A couple? My heart picks up in pace, and a small shiver of joy runs through my body.

“Hey now! Don’t say that! I do not nag! I criticize while giving suggestions to follow!” I tilt my chin up with a grimace.

“So what you’re saying...you nag me?”

“Hoseok!”

“What?” He fails to suppress his laughter, “you basically described nagging! And that’s okay. Y/n.” He reaches his arm out and pats my head affectionately.

“If you think about it, you were nagging me from the first encounter? Remember on the phone when you yelled at me about not taking Jungkook to the hospital?”

I protest by brushing his hand off my head, “Now that one was valid! He could have died!”

“At the time I was thinking ‘who does this lady think she is? Scolding me like I’m a little kid.’ She must not know who she’s talking to.”

“Really?” I raise my eyebrows at him, interested in hearing his thoughts on our first encounter.

“Yup!” He popped the p. Look at the dashboard where the time was displayed.

“Head inside Y/n, you can always call me tomorrow.” He said.

“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” I grab my bag and set it on my lap, opening the car door and leaving it open before leaning towards Hoseok again, this time kissing his cheek. If I kissed him on the lips again, I’d let myself get wrapped up.

“Good night.”

“Good night.” I said before stepping out the car and closing the door. I walked towards the complex doors. I glance back at Hoseok. I can barely see him in the night lighting up. I turn back around and enter my complex, walking towards the elevator to get to my apartment.

When I walk in and lock the door behind me, a wave of a new emotion is washing over me. It’s unfamiliar but I can’t be sure if it’s uneasiness or comfort. It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve entered my apartment, though that’s not the case. I was here earlier today! But why does it feel like too much has happened since I stepped out my door. I was standing at the doorway, staring blankly into the nothingness.

My thoughts were moving too quickly for my body to make any action.

My phone bings, causing me to jump and dig through my bag to find it. On my screen is a text message from Hoseok.

[2:04 AM] Hoseok: Are you okay?

Before I could reply he sent another message.

[2:05 AM] Hoseok: Are you in your apartment is what I meant….

I snicker at the text before replying.

[2:06 AM] Y/N: Yes Hoseok, I got inside alright. Thank you for checking. Good night and drive safe.

I let my thumb hover over the pink heart emoji, worried that I’d look too eager. I click the blushing smiley face emotion and send the text message. I waltz into my room, ready to crash onto my bed. I toss my bag to the side and plug my phone into it’s charger.

I don’t fall asleep, letting myself get lost in my thoughts. I stare up at my ceiling, recounting the day in my head, as well as going over the schedule that was set for me when I return in a few days. I’m being put right back into surgeries.

I sigh before getting up from my bed and walking out my room to the bathroom. I take a quick shower and change into my pjs. I fall sleep the moment I lay my head on the pillow.

~!~

I hum the music playing from my speaker as I added some spices to the stew I was making. Despite staying up late, I only slept in till 11 am. I ate a quick breakfast, took a jog around the neighborhood before taking another shower to cool off. It’s now 3pm and I’m making a later lunch.

The portions are big so I’ll probably leave some for dinner. I stirred the stew a bit and lowered the heat before reaching to grab my phone from the counter. I had texts from Jennie and a few from Taehyung asking if he should make a group chat with everyone in it.

I knew the guys had a group chat of their own. They only spoke about work, and I wasn’t included in it, so I think Taehyung wanted to make a casual one. I responded, telling him to go ahead.

I reply to Jennie who is begging me to return to work because Mr. Lee is driving her crazy. I was usually the buffer between those two, seeing as they don’t get along the best.

I can only send her laughing emojis, followed by an encouraging statement.

After sending that, I bite my lip and tap my fingers against the side of my phone. I know Hoseok said he's busy today, so I’ll just text him instead of calling him. I haven’t heard from him today.

[2:37 PM] Y/n: Hey? Just checking in on you. Have you eaten?

I pressed send and set my phone down only for it to start ringing. I’m too eager to grab it and am disappointed when it’s not the name I expected.

I press answer and bring the phone to my ear.

“Hey mom!” I sing and stir the stew some more.

“Y/n! My goodness! Are you a celebrity or something? Why is it so hard to reach you?” My mom shouts. I giggle at her words, realizing I’ve been avoiding her calls.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry mom, I’ve been caught up with some things.”

“More like someone.” She says under her breath, making me stop what I was doing.

I haven’t brought up Hoseok, so is she just asking so is she just making assumptions?

“What do you mean?” I ask, bringing the spoon up to my lips to give it a taste. I put my phone on speaker and set it on the counter as my mom grumbles some unintelligible things.

“Mom?” I call out, as I grab some more spices for the stew, “I can’t hear you?”

“I saw the pictures!” She shouts at once, making my eyes widen.

“Pictures? What pictures?”

“The ones from that Charity Gala weeks ago! I went on your hospital’s website and it was there! You and that man! You look awfully close to each other.” She pressed. All I could do was sigh as she started her rant.

“How come you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend? Y/n, we used to be so close! Now you barely call! And it says he’s a wealthy businessman? How did you meet him? How is his family life? Is he a kind man? Wh--”

I cut her off, feeling like my head was going to explode if she spoke anymore.

“--Mom, mom. Please just take a breath! I will tell you. His name is Hoseok and he owns an investing company.”

She snorts at my words, and I know she’s rolling her eyes like she always does. My mom has a big personality, and she always balanced out everything because my dad is such a quiet man.

“I know that Y/n! I was able to find this out from google. Tell me something else.”

“Well…” I trail off, “He’s my soulmate.”

The shriek that she lets out could have woken my neighbors’ dogs out of their sleep, and was enough to make me lower the volume on my phone as a reflex. I hear her saying something to another person, one who I’m assuming is my dad.

His deep voice rings low in the background, his happiness nowhere near her level of excitement.

“Darling, that’s amazing! Is he a good man?” She questions.

I nod my head as if she could see me, “Yes...yes mom, he’s a great man. He’s a little stiff but he’s kind in his own way.”

“Stiff?” She repeats.

“He hasn’t dated anyone before so, he’s a little stiff when it comes to relationships.”

“Ahh!” She cooes in understanding, “That’s kind of cute. You’d think a bachelor like him would have had a lot of girlfriends!”

I open my mouth to speak but she starts again.

“Wait! He was on the 2019 list of most unattainable bachelor’s! Maybe he was really waiting for his soulmate.” She says in a dreamy tone.

“Mom, just how much research did you do on him?”

She snickers and avoids my question as my father’s voice is heard in the background.

“She wanted to make sure he was a good man! And it seems he is. Good for you, Y/n.” His voice is a little bit above a yell, telling me he was probably sitting in his favorite seat that was by the TV.

There was a long silence as I turned off the stove and grabbed some bowls.

“You’ll introduce us when the time is right.” It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement that she was confirming.

“That is right mom, you know I will.” I answered, opening the rice cooker to scoop out some rice. I spent another 30 minutes on the phone with my mom. I let her know how work has been going, leaving out that I was out sick due to injury. She caught me up on things and how my father was doing.

Everyone seems well and it let me rest easy to know everyone is alright.

I didn’t get a response from Hoseok till an hour later. I’m sitting on my bed, reviewing some medical books when my phone pings, Hoseok’s contact with the heart emojis appearing on my screen.

[4:03 PM] Hoseok: Hey. I’m fine :) I've been busy but I’ve eaten. I had an inkling that you were gonna nag me about it.

I laughed at his response.

[4:05 PM] Y/n: So what you’re saying is….that the nagging worked?

I drop the phone and go back to reading, my eyes looking over at my phone every few minutes. When he replies it’s a bit later.

[4:27 PM] Hoseok: That’s not what I’m saying at all. What have you been doing today?

[4:30PM] Y/n: Nothing! I’ve been at home all day. Reading some books and watching TV. That’s really it. Are you still at work?

[4:32 PM] Hoseok: Yeah, in a meeting.

He’s in a meeting? Should he be texting me right now? I hope it's nothing too important.

[4:34 PM] Y/n: Am I distracting you?

[4:35 PM] Hoseok: Yup.

He texts the way he speaks. I stare at the phone screen wondering if I should continue the conversation. I imagine him still in a conference room with men pointing out numbers and graphs in a presentation.He wasn’t paying attention, his eyes watching the open text conversation.

All the businessmen were aware of his disregard, but no one will raise their voice in this manner. How could they? They know better.

The image makes me giggle, and as I move my fingers to reply, he sends another message.

[4:37 PM] Hoseok: They’re not telling me anything new. I already know the numbers, and stats. It’s a formality.

[4:39 PM] Y/n: I see, so what are you doing after the meeting?

I stick my tongue out and clasp my teeth onto my tongue. A small snicker of encouragement slips out my lips and I pause, surprised and shocked by the sound. I just saw him yesterday, but will I ever get tired of seeing that handsome face of his? No. Never.

My heart is pounding against my rib cage, the rhythmic beating bringing an annoyance with it. The same feeling of an unwanted visitor knocking at your door. It felt like my nerves around Hoseok would never subside. My face till heats up, and the giddy bubbling of butterflies pushing my heart up into my neck with every kiss was embarrassing.

My awkward movements accompanied by the rigid actions reminded me of an inexperienced high schooler, trying to calculate things around her first boyfriend.

But Hoseok isn’t my first boyfriend. But he’s the first man I’ve loved. The first man I’ve craved like this. The feelings that zip around me feel so strong, I paralyze myself to keep from expressing them. I don’t want to overwhelm Hoseok. But for a man who has never hm ore than a sex only fling, he’s gentle, kind and considerate. Awkward, but still considerate.

[4:45 PM] Hoseok: Do you want to see me?

[4:47 PM] Y/n: I can only handle so much of you, Jung Hoseok. I’m just asking questions.

I add in the irritated emoji face, making the point of it being a joke clear.

[4:50 PM] Hoseok: I have another meeting. Than handling some other manners. I’ll see you on Friday though.

I get another text.

[4:52 PM] Hoseok: We’ll have to see how much of me you can really handle, princess ;) See you on friday.

Princess? Oh shit. That’s me. I'm ‘princess’. I press my hand against my chest and re-read the text before falling back on my bed. My textbook was forgotten, along with whatever plans I had for today.

Jung Hoseok isn’t as scary as he looks. Jung Hoseok is a lover boy.

~!~

It’s not your first date Y/n, so get a fucking grip. I stared at myself in the full length mirror that hung on the back of my bedroom door.

I did my hair neatly, and settled on a pastel purple top. I was long sleeve and clung closely to my skin. It was a low round neck top that was slightly cropped in length. The front was plain but the back had buttons. The bottom missing a couple of buttons, leaving some back showing. I added a silver necklace with a butterfly charm and stud earrings.

When I explained the top to Jennie she commented, “What an easy to take off top.”

I jeered at her, knowing that wasn’t the reason for picking this top. I just thought it was cute. I paired it with a fitted denim skirt. The skirt was a light denim, thankfully not the thicker and stiffer denim I see often. I topped it off with some white sneakers and a clear small hand bag.

I look cute right? I tilt my head at the person staring back at me. Would Hoseok like something edgier? My closet holds the potential for many different styles. My girly looks rarely make an appearance.

My phone buzzed from inside my bag. I checked the text to see that Jennie had pulled up in front of my apartment complex. Hoseok has been swamped with work, and asked if I could meet him at the headquarters. Yesterday, we spoke on the phone briefly, and he let me know the members from Japan had already arrived.

I’d be seeing them when I arrive at the headquarters. Jennie got off work early and agreed to pick me up. Maybe I should get a car.

When I walk out of my apartment complex I see Jennie sitting right out front, her eyes focused on her phone. It was nearly 7 and the sun was starting to set, giving a orange hue to everything outside.

Jennie looks up from her phone as I approach the car and her jaw drops. I laugh, knowing she’s overreacting. This outfit is basic.

I open the passenger and slip into the car, ignoring the look Jennie gave me as I close the door and put on my seat belt. Her open mouth gawk melting into a mouth opened smile. I look forward, knowing what’s coming.

“Y/n…” she says in a heavy tone, as if I’d done something horrible and she was about to scold me.

“Jennie, just drive.” I keep my eyes forward again, pressing my lips tight to suppress my smile.

“Y/n,” she repeats, turning her body to face me. Her eyes move up and down my body before chuckling.

“You are soooo getting fucked tonight.”

I gasp at her words, breaking my starting match with the parking meter out.

“Jennie!”

“What! I’m not wrong! Y/n, you look hot! Oh my goodness! The top is so cute! The denim skirt is so cute! All together cute! How is Hoseok gonna keep his hands off you?” She chimes. As she spoke she turned to face forward again, changing the gear into dive.

“Jennie, come on. He and I are just going to a drive-in movie and maybe some dinner after words.” I pause, “Unless he’ll think I look weird? He’d probably like me with something more edgy?”

Jennie pulls away from the curb, merging into traffic.

“He’d like you with nothing on Y/n.” She mutters.

“Enough of that Jennie.” I playfully hit her shoulder. She glances my way for one a second and looks back at the road.

“Are you a virgin?” She questions.

I sigh, “No. Unfortunately young college Y/n was swayed by a cute boy at a party.”

“So what is there to be so nervous about?” She pokes. When I don’t answer, she continues speaking.

“Hoseok is a man. He has desires! You’re just teasing him at this point! Keep messing around and you’ll become his prey.”

It’s silent for a moment before I shrug and casually mutter, “And what’s wrong with becoming his prey?”

Jennie squeals, “Yes Y/n, keep that energy! You were doing the chasing for some time, make him chase you a bit.”

She flashes me a huge smile before looking back at the road.

“You’ve still been doing the black market work?” I ask.

She nods, “Yes ma’am.”

“Have you met the crew from Japan?”

“Yeah,” She sounds a bit on edge, “They’re kinda intense, and there’s this one girl-”

“Jisoo.” I cut her off.

“Yes, her! She has an ugly air to her. She’s gets a little too close to Hoseok too.”

I nodded, “I expected that. Hoseok told me that had a thing in the past.”

“A thing?”

“Barely a thing. They slept together, but that was two years ago. She must like him.”

Jennie throws me a worried glance, “How do you feel about that?”

“I am not stressed, Hoseok isn’t an easily swayed main. I can attest to that.”

I don’t have the smallest bit of doubt in my system. Hoseok isn’t a feeble man that would let another woman move him.When we arrive to the headquarters, Jennie is answering a question I asked.

I asked her if it was weird that Hoseok went from progressing slowly to moving quickly.

“It’s not weird? Jaehyun became my boyfriend after 2 weeks. We didn’t have a struggle with getting our connection going like you and Hoseok. So don’t mind it. The average time between meeting and getting married for soulmates is 8 months.”

She places a supportive hand on my shoulder, “You spent 3 months just getting Hoseok to open up. You guys are one of the slower ones.”

She goes on about how soulmates are made for each other by the universe and how moving quickly with such a person is only because the connections are so strong. We stepped inside, passing the first door, and than the second set of doors.

She spoke quieter as we walked in, her eyes flickering to something. I pulled my eyes away from her face to see just how crowded the lobby looked today.

There were about 25 people I wasn't familiar with. Some sat at the circular table while others stood. Near the white boards was Hoseok. He stood there saying something and pointing at the white board. He moved closer to the table, pointing to something that was on a large sheet of paper.

I picked out some familiar faces. Yoongi, Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook. They were all tuning into what Hoseok was saying. The conversation seemed serious and I didn’t want to interrupt. Jennie put an encouraging hand on the small of my back then started making her way towards the surgical room.

My steps towards the table are slow and inconsistent in movement, like i'm trying to avoid Hoseok’s eyes.

I’m still standing pretty far off when a head turns. It wasn’t Hoseok’s eyes that saw me. It was a woman I wasn’t familiar with. She sat at the table, her seat closest to Hoseok. Next to her was an empty seat that I assume was for Hoseok.

She stared at me, clearly confused. I watched her eyes hit certain points on my body while she looked me up and down. She’s beautiful. Black hair that stopped about shoulder length with a thin face and beautiful face structure.

She moves her gaze to me, not hiding a small hint of disgust as she turned away . I scoff to myself, understanding Jennie’s words about the bad air around her. I turn my attention back to Hoseok. He wore a loose white button up with a leather jacket. However the black leather jacket had some detailing along the arm. It was something colorful, and it was slight but cute.

He wore joggers -like dress pants. They were black a bit loose but fitted in at the ankles. He stood at the table, putting his hands into both pants pockets and leaning down to read something from a sheet of paper.

I took a few steps closer and caught the attention of some other members. A tall buff man looked my way. His eyes were also hard and unfamiliar, but he stood out from the others. This man was older, quite older than the rest. His beard had wisps of grey and white, while the lines on his face showed signs of aging.

He crossed his arms over his chest, as he stood a bit behind the girl I assume to be Jisoo. Neither of them had a welcoming look on his face. I found myself taking a step back, wondering if this intense atmosphere was different than what I usually walk into.

Maybe it’s best not to interrupt. But...the movie starts at 8:30. I glance at my watch and notice it’s 7:45. Will they be wrapping up the meeting soon?

“Y/n, how long are you gonna stand over there?” The familiar voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked over at Hoseok who’s eyes were still on the papers on the table. His words moved everyone’s attention to me. The only kind eyes were of the guys I knew. Taehyung waved carelessly and Jungkook smiled at me.

His attitude seems better than when I saw him a few days ago.

When I don’t answer, Hoseok looks up from his papers. His eyes met mine for a split second before his gazes running up and down the length of my body. His lips turn into a smirk and he turns his body to face me. It’s like he forgot about the 30 other people in the room.

He stretched an arm out as if I was only a foot away. I walked quickly towards him, taking his stretched out hand.

“We’ll be done soon.” He pulls me close and whispers in my ear, “I’m wrapping up this meeting and then I just have to hand off some documents.”

My eyes moved towards those in the room and some had their eyes on us, others looked away. It’s like they were giving us privacy.

“Okay, i’ll just wait over-” I begin to step away, but he stops, taking his hand from mine and placing it on the small of my back.

“Nah, just sit here.” He says with a cute smile. He points towards the empty seat beside Jisoo. I couldn’t protest, because Hoseok was already guiding me to the seat. I sat down, putting my back to Jisoo so I was facing Hoseok.

Though the weight of her stare was starting to burn. It felt like leaving the back of your neck exposed to the blistering heat of the sun. I shifted in my seat, trying to make myself uncomfortable. My skirt suddenly felt so short. I attempted to pull it down a bit and looked back up to see Hoseok’s eyes move back to the paper he suddenly had in his hand.

He cleared his throat and turned back to the white board. Was he looking at me just now? His ears turning red was the confirmation I needed. I giggled to myself, taking my purse and setting it onto the table.

“So that’s how we’ll be moving forward. Those who have been moved to different roles, I need you to follow me to my office. I’ll give you the appropriate documents, and information. Those who were given assignments also come to my office.” He writes down a date on the white board. It’s 2 weeks from today.

He sets the paper down on the table and looks around the room.

“I expect the assignments completed by this date.” He speaks sternly. I look up at him as he speaks, admiring his profile and the serious look on his face.

He glances down at me, a playful smirk grazing his lips.

“This is Y/n.” He says and puts a hand on my shoulder. I look away from him at the many people in the room. Their gazes sat on me with the same excitement as watching paint dry. I made eye contact with a few of them, not bothering to show a friendly smile.

“You will show her the same respect you show me. She’s my soulmate, girlfriend, lover and all those things so don’t try anything either.” I looked up at Hoseok. The mention of the word ‘lover’ and ‘girlfriend’ threw me off but he kept his eyes on the other people in the room.

“Those who need to follow me to my office, let’s go.” He announces then looks at me again.

“Just give me five minutes princess.” He says quietly, before proceeding down the hallway with quite a few people behind him. I take a deep breath and look around the room, realizing the Jisoo was still in her seat beside me.

“Kook!” I called out as we made eye contact. He smiled widely and walked towards me, Taehyung and Namjoon trailing behind him.

“Jeez Y/n! You look hot!” Taehyung said with his eyebrows raised.

“No wonder the boss was suddenly distracted when you got here!” Namjoon exclaimed, “his ears were turning red and everything!”

They laugh and I turn my attention to Jungkook who looks back at me with those wide doe eyes of his.

“Kook, are you okay now?” I ask softly.

Before he could question what I meant, I spoke again; “Last time I saw you, you seemed so down. Is everything okay now?”

“Yes, noona. Everything is okay.” He shows me a bunny like smile but that soon fades away as we hear a sound.

Our attention turns to Jisoo who had an elbow parched onto the table, with her head turned away from us. The sound we heard was her scoffing. Remnants of disdain still visible on her face. We all kept our eyes on her face a moment, before she glanced at us out the corner of her eyes.

“Oh?” She feigns ignorance, “did you need something?”

I sigh deeply, gripping my purse tightly. I can’t let myself be intimidated. Though the aura of her was one of a strong willed woman. She had to be when surrounded by people like this. But I can’t let myself be seen as weak.

The weird weight I feel on my shoulders are the eyes of the other unfamiliar faces watching our interaction closely.

“Jisoo right?” I ask softly, but keeping the reflexive kind smile off my lips.

She looks at me with harsh eyes, having them move up and down the length of my body.

“Yes, I’m Jisoo.” Her tone is defensive. You’d think I was trying to pick a fight with her, but I didn’t let that bother me. Her make up was done nicely, with pink lipstick painted on her lips and a warmer pink blush brushed on her cheeks.

No one looks this good for a mission meeting. She did all this for Hoseok. It’s easy to tell. Her soft makeup didn’t match her edgy look. She wore an oversized black Tee. There was some anime character printed on the front. The round neck area of the shirt was torn, showing enough cleavage to make you curious if she wore a bra.

Her nails were kind of long. They were painted a dark purple, matching the dark purple details of her black combat boots. She wore black biker shorts.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I said simply, before digging into my purse to look for my phone.

She snickers, “Is that all you have to say?”

I look up from my purse, “What else am I supposed to say?”

The innocent look in my eyes was pushing her buttons. Her brows knitted together and an irritated light appeared in her eyes.

There is a moment of silence before she throws a question at me.

“What do you do?”

“I’m a surgeon.” I answer, looking at my phone. I honestly wasn’t interested in whatever she felt like she had to prove.

A humorless chuckle sounds from her, “A doctor? You’re a fucking doctor?”

“Well a surgeon is a doctor...so yeah.” I glanced up at my phone, and shrugged. I look back down at my phone.

“Hoseok must have lost his fucking mind.” She mumbles under her breath.

“Watch your words Jisoo,” Namjoon warns, but they fall to deaf ears.

“What the hell have you guys been doing around here?” She hisses at Namjoon.

“So what, cause she’s Hoseok’s soulmate; she can walk into the headquarters whenever she wants? She can see all your faces? Our faces?”

She looks at me, “Did Boss become spineless because of this chick?”

“Y/n oversees the black market surgeries, Jisoo.” Jungkook states, “Boss isn’t spineless, and neither is Y/n so I’d watch it.”

“What is gonna do? Run and tell Hoseok?” The whole time she’s speaking, I’m looking through messages about my first shift back to work tomorrow. The busy work waiting for me has been reduced to just paperwork. I’ll be preparing paperwork for upcoming surgeries.

Ugh, how boring.

“Boss gonna let himself be swayed by some woman. He'll be tired of her sooner or later.” She looks towards the other members from Japan for support. None of them laugh with her or even crack a smile. My thoughts were zooming through my head and it seemed some of them slipped out my mouth.

“You sound so sure of that. Is it because he got bored with you so quickly?” I sneered as I typed a reply to Dr. Lee. I mentally shrieked at my words, knowing that the conversation was gonna escalate into an argument.

The room got oddly quiet, the clicking of the iPhone keyboard being all that’s heard. You couldn’t even hear people breathing. Was everyone holding their breath? Damn, I think I’m holding my breath.

I peer at Jisoo from under my eyelashes, smirking at the awestruck look on her face.

“Damn, Y/n is ruthless.” Taehyung giggled behind his hand.

I sighed as if wanting to avoid this conversation all together. I put my phone back into my purse and gave Jisoo a tight lipped smile.

“I really don’t want to do this whole back and forth with you Jisoo. You like Hoseok, I get it. It’s cute--”

“Cute? Who the fuck do you think-” I cut her off just as she cut me off.

“-It’s cute but I think you need to let it go. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve known Hoseok longer than I have...but you know him as Boss. That’s it.”

I ignored the slight gasps and shuffling as those who were still in the room listened in. I really don't like coming off as territorial or rude but I can’t let her think I’m someone with no backbone.

“And yes, Hoseok won’t let himself be completely swayed by me. He’s a man of his work. His work is his everything and that’s fine cause I’m a close second. So I don’t see the need to argue with you cause you’re competing when there is no race.”

I didn’t want to hear whatever she had to say in return. I stood up from my seat, pulling my skirt down a bit, and putting my purse over my shoulder.

“Y/n, you’re such a badass.” Namjoon whispered in encouragement.

I avoided looking at Jisoo again, walking away from my seat just as Hoseok emerged from the hallway.

“Hey,” He lightly jogged my way, his hand finding its place on my lower back.

“Ready to go?” He said sweetly. I agreed, bringing my hand up to rest on his cheek. He smiled, his hand on my back pushing me closer.

“You look good.” I say shyly.

“You look better than good, princess.” He teases, leaning forward so our noses were brushing. Has he forgotten about all the people in the room? Or is Hoseok a man who doesn’t care about public displays of affection?

“I missed you.” I confess, rubbing my thumb along his cheek.

He only hums in reply before pressing his lips to mine. It was a short kiss, leaving me wanting more. As he pulled away, I followed after him and kissed him once more.

“Can you guys get a room?” Namjoon yells, making us both look at him.

“Get used to it Joon!” I yell at him, “Stop being jealous.” I stick a tongue at him before turning back to Hoseok. I drop my hand from his face, unable to hide the fond smile on my face.

“Let’s go.” I say before taking his hand from my back and holding it. We ignore the mumbles from those we were leaving behind, and make our way out the double doors tell we were standing outside the building.

“How was your day?” I ask as he leads me towards a car I’d never seen before. This was not the car I was in a few days ago. This car black, and had that new car shine to it. It had a retractable roof, and unlike the other car, the windows weren’t too tinted.

“It was frustrating.” He answers honestly, “I dealt with people at the company trying to convince me to invest into a project that was going nowhere. I had to meet with the CEO of Moonchild Publishings about investing into his company, but that went south quickly.”

We stopped by his car, and I pouted at the sad look on his face. He’s tired. I can see it now. The fatigue was visible on his face and the slight slouch in his shoulders also gave it away. He must have started his day early.

“Then I had to come back here to deal with attitude and doubt. It’s been stressful and tomorrow is gonna be just the same.”

“I’m sorry,” I pout, squeezing his hand in silent support.

“Don’t apologize. I've been looking forward to this date, so this day is ending off on a good note.” He opens the door for me, but I stare at him with a big smile.

“Really?” I am a bit surprised. “You were looking forward to our date?”

“Yeah,” He sounds a bit confused, “I mean...you are my girl right? So, that’s expected.”

I nod, “Right. Of course.” He stares at me as if I was the confused one.

“We’re dating princess, which means you’re not chasing after me anymore.”

I roll my eyes, “I wasn’t chasing after you! I was pursuing you!”

“You keep denying something only to admit it in a different wording.” He says in a manner of a fact, before motioning for me to get in the car. I sit in the car, and he closes the door for me. It’s not long before he’s in the driver’s seat and we’re on our way.

I still haven't gotten used to his speedy way of driving, earning a small laugh from his while he saw me stressed facial expression.

“What did you do today?” He asks.

“I studied some medical books and prepared for my first shift back tomorrow.”

“Ahh yes. Doctors never stop learning, huh?”

“Exactly,” I nearly sing, “but it doesn’t even matter because I've been put on desk work all day tomorrow.”

“That sucks,” he looks at me as he stops at a red light, “you’re probably eager to get your hands to work.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay. I’ll have a bunch of surgeries to do in the next few weeks, and since the excuse I gave them was that I fell down the stairs, they must want to move slowly with me.”

I show Hoseok a pointed look and he puts hands up in defense, “Hey, it was Jennie who called in and said that. We definitely couldn’t tell them you were shot!”

“I know, I know. But why make me seem so clumsy? I fell down outdoor stairs? Jeez!”

“No one thinks you’re clumsy, and falling down the stairs shouldn’t change anyone’s preselection of you.” The light turns green so he focuses on the road again. I don’t look away from the profile of his face.

The drive is just normal conversation, along with him letting me know we were going to see a comedy. I was thankful it wasn’t a horror movie. That’s when he let’s me know that he’s a scaredy cat.

His words not mine.

By the time Hoseok pulls into the drive in movie, it’s still going through the previews. It was a huge screen that stood pretty high as well. It was quite packed. We drove up to a little booth where Hoseok reached into his pockets and pulled out two squares of paper. He hands it to the boy at the booth, who shows me a kind smile.

I smile back just to be kind but his eyes linger a bit too long.

“Here are your menus, and your light.” He hands Hoseok two menus and a weird circular item. When Hoseok turns around to drive forward, a grimace sat on his face.

“Now what are you frowning about?” I inquired while Hoseok pulled into a spot about 4 rows away from the screen. He parks the car and turns off the headlights.

I reach my hand out to pinch his cheek and there is a slight pout on his lips. How cute.

“He was drooling over you like I wasn’t there. He’s lucky I’m too tired to cause a scene or--”

“Is that what you’re pouting about!?” I yelp before holding my stomach to laugh. I undo my seatbelt so I am not restricted.

“Have you always been such a pouty baby? You sure fooled me all these months; convincing me you’re some cold heartless man! You’re such a pouty lover boy!”

He continues to pout while I stifle my giggles.

“Hoseok stop that and give me a menu.” I say reaching and taking one from his lap. I hope he didn’t hear the intake of breath I had as my hand grazed his lap. I used the light on my phone to look at it, settling on just a drink.

“What are you getting?” He questions before pressing a button. The roof of the car starts to retract and fold, leaving just the windows up.

“I was thinking of getting something to eat after this?” I answer, “I’m not in the mood for snack food.”

“Sounds cool to me. I’ll just get a soda.” He says.

“I’ll get the same thing,” I chime in, “I guess we just turn on that light thing so they know we need their help.”

“What so another teenage body can drool over you? I think not. I’m going up there and ordering myself. Be right back.”

I laugh at the whiny tone he spoke in as he opened the door and stepped out of the car with both menus and the weird disk thing in his hand. I watch him as he walks off. His strides were so elegant and powerful. He walks like an important person.

He holds his head high, and carries himself beautifully. I slouched in my seat, giggling at the thought of such a man being mine.

He’s back before I know it, gesturing towards the backseat.

“It’ll be more comfortable there,” He suggests, standing outside the car with two cups in his hands. I decide to just step out of the car and open the door to the backseat. Hoping seats in this skirt would not have been pretty. I take both drinks from Hoseok and set them in the cup holders at the front part of the car.

It was a bit of a stretch to get to them, but not something out of reach. As Hoseok gets in the backseat beside me, I finally look up at the sky to notice the stars shining beautifully. The sky was a wonderful dark blue with some clouds rolling by.

The moon was hiding behind some clouds but was still glowing a beautiful yellow. The air was warm and the wind was pleasant. It reminds me of the heat before it starts to rain. My attention is taken away from the sky as A familiar warmth is felt on my left side. Hoseok is looking at me, the light of the stars and the moon enough to see his face clearly.

“Hey,” He says in a hushed tone.

I smile, “Hey.” I whisper as well.

“The movie is starting.” He says before looking towards the screen. I scoot closer to him, his arm naturally wrapping around my shoulders while I nuzzled into him. Or I tried. The leather jacket was getting in the way, and I couldn’t completely feel his warmth like I wanted.

I readjusted myself, then readjusted myself again. I moved away from Hoseok and gripped the collar of his jacket.

He peered at me, already into the movie.

“Take the jacket off please.” I ordered.

“Already? Y/n at least wait till we’re 20 minutes into the movie.” He winks at me and bites his lips.

“That’s not what I meant. Take the jacket off, I can’t get comfortable.” I explained, moving to get the jacket off his shoulders.

“How much more do you want me to take off so you can get a comfortable princess?” He chafed, gripping onto my thigh now.

“Just the jacket, please.” I repeat, and he shrugs the jacket off, throwing it into the front seat. I grin at him before nuzzling into his side as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I finally focused on the movie, and I didn’t miss much.

I laid my head on his chest, my hand resting on his thigh. The movie was about a couple who is trying to scam an old lady out of her wealth and it’s funny. Hoseok’s chest would vibrate as he laughed. His hand started messing with my hair at some point, while we whispered comments about the movie to each other.

“Before I decided I wanted to become a doctor, I wanted to be a chef.” I said as we watched one of the main character’s struggle to cook dinner.

“Really?” He sounds really surprised.

“Yup! But I really, really wanted to help people so I became a doctor.” I answered, “At first I couldn’t stand the sight of blood so I forced myself to watch the most gruesome horror movies.”

Hoseok laughed, “So taking you to a horror movie so I could get close to you wouldn’t have work.”

“Of course not.” I scold, “because I would have cuddled close to you anyways.”

I listened to him laugh, and the movement of his chest as he did so. His heart was hammering loudly in his chest, making me wonder if he was nervous.

“I…” He trails off before sighing, “I wanted to be a dancer.”

My eyes widen and I pick my head off his chest to look at him.

“A dancer?” I gawk at him, while he only nods.

“Oh wow! Hoseok, I don’t think I’ve even seen you two-step! You wanted to be a dancer?”

“It’s hard to believe isn’t it?”

“Totally,” I say, “I’d think you’d be a stiff dancer.”

“Is that your way of telling me I have a stiff personality?”

I stop to think for a moment, “Yes sir, that is exactly what I’m saying.”

I rest my head back on his chest and my hand on his thigh. The movie goes on with some parts having us laugh till we couldn’t breath. Everything was going smoothly. Hoseok’s heart beat was steady and soothing to me. I could lay in his arms like this till the sun came up.

I’m lost in my own thoughts till I feel Hoseok shift and clear his throat. I tune back into the movie and it’s a sex scene. The man and woman were kissing each other passionately, his hands eager to take off the dress she was wearing. Her fingers are raking through his hair while he leaves open mouth kisses on her neck.

Moans left her lips as he pushed down the neckline of her dress to cup her breast.

I gulped, shifting against Hoseok, who also moved awkwardly as I moved. My hand on his thigh felt hot, and I looked away from the movie screen at my hand. Heat was growing all over my body as the moans from the movie sounded louder. Hoseok exhaled, keeping his eyes on the screen, I looked back at the movie, the two couples going at it.

The woman on her back while the man held her legs up and drove hard, and quick thrusts into her. They were sweating, groaning and saying each other's names while they could catch their breath.

Hoseok’s arm that is around my shoulder’s slides down so it’s now around my waist. I glance at Hoseok, who hasn’t looked away from the screen. I look back to the screen, the sex scene going as quickly as it came. But the tense thick atmosphere hasn’t dissolved.

Hoseok’s other hand rests on my thigh while his arm that wrapped around my waist holds me closer to him. I take my head off his chest and look at him as he stares back at me with dark eyes.

“Fuck, princess.” He whispers while his hand moves up to my stomach, his fingers messing with the hem of my shirt.

He leans closer, his lips brushing mine. The feather light touch leaves tingles all across my face. My eyes flutter closed as I wait for another kiss. Instead, I feel Hoseok’s fingers slip under my shirt. My eyes snapped open, while he watched me closely.

His lips are hovering over mine, his breath fanning over my lips. I lean forward, urging him to connect our lips again.

His hand moves further up, stopping at the wiring of my bra. Shivers run up my spine and my eyes close again.

“Is this okay?” He whispers, his fingers tapping at the wiring of my bra.

“Mhh.” my voice trembled, while all the skin he was touching tingles and grew hot. I nodded, wondering if he understood my consent from the unintelligible noise I just made. It’s like he had fire coming from his fingertips. Every place he touched burned, and all the spots he did touch begged to be warmed up as well.

His fingers move underneath my bra and his strong hand cups my breast. I whimper, clearly too loud as Hoseok kisses me to shut me up. He palms and squeezes the fleshing while swallowing all the sounds I made.

He pushes my bra up gently and he pinches my sensitive bud and I shudder.

“You’re so fucking beautiful Y/n.” He says against my lips, “God Y/n, I feel like I’m gonna fucking explode.” His voice is shaky while he deeps the kiss, our tongues meeting shyly.

“M-my bra is strapless, just pull it down.” I said almost desperately. And he does just that, leaving me braless under my purple top. My hand rests on the nape of his while we share hot and lewd kisses.

My chest rises and falls. I try to catch my breath and Hoseok kisses down my chin, and leaves kisses and bites on my neck. The heat growing in my core makes me rub my thighs together, a movement that Hoseok doesn’t miss.

He groans against my neck, vibrations from the sound tickling my throat.

“How are you so perfect, Y/n? I can’t think straight. I liked you too much, I want you too much.” He mutters.

I almost forget where we are. My eyes open to look around. All the other cars are at least 2 two car spots away from us, and everyone is focused on the movie that looks like it’s coming to an end soon. It’s too dark for the other movie watchers to see us. If Hoseok would put the roof of the car back up, i’d be impossible to see us.

One hand on the back of his neck, my other hand moves up his thigh, shyly resting on his crotch. I could feel his hard on through his pants, and I gasped.

I don’t know what I was expecting but...of course a man like Hoseok is blessed. I...I am very nervous. The last time I slept with someone was my sophomore year of college. It’s a blur and it wasn’t enjoyable. While Hoseok is drowning me in kisses like I was the key to his salvation.

I palm him through his pants , and his kisses on my neck stop. He’s breathing against my neck, lost in the feel of my hand.

“Let’s…” He huffs, “Let’s stop, Y/n. I might I fuck you right here in the back of my car.”

He is resting his forehead on my shoulders. I grow in confidence and work to unbutton his pants with one hand.

I kiss the space by his ear and almost beg.

“Please.” I plead, finally getting the buttons of his pants undone.

“Baby, please.” I mewl. This being the first time I use any type of pet name for him. I rub the back of his neck, and my other hand dives into his pants.

My hand circles his dick and he sucks in a deep breath. Oh, Hoseok is blessed. Nothing unbelievable but definitely something to scream in the girl chat group chat about.

I stroke him slowly, and he groans. He brings his lips to mine again.

“What do you want princess? You want my dick in your mouth? Or do you want to sit on my face? Fuckkk.” He cuts himself with a groan as I pick up a bit of speed with my movements. His dick twitched in my hand.

“Or do you want me to push that cute skirt up, move those panties to the side and take you right here?” He kisses me again.

“Can I have all of it please?” I say.

Whew, I can't think straight, but I am soooo going to be embarrassed when all this is over.

Before Hoseok can reply, we hear a rumble. A big rumble, followed a pelting shower of cold rain. We both freeze, the hot atmosphere being ruined right away. It was hard and heavy drops of rain that seemed to be increasing in speed. We were getting soaked! I took my hand out of his pants, and started to pull up my strapless bra in a rush.

Hoseok fixes his pants, climbing over the seats to find the button to bring the car roof up. All while the inside of the car gets just as wet as we are. When he finally presses the button, it feels like the roof is moving slowly.

He took the leather jacket he took off, and kindly put it over my head. It was too late, as I was soaked, but I appreciate the gesture. When the roof is finally up, we can hear the raindrops beating against it.

We sit there in silence, only our breathing, the soft purr of the engine and the raining filling the space.

I just hand my fingers around his dick. Oh god. I look away from his gaze. He was looking at me from the rearview mirror and I suddenly felt embarrassed. I shivered as he turned on the air. My hair was wet and my clothes were sticking to my body. I pushed his leather jacket off my head and let it sit on my shoulders.

“Don’t act shy now princess.” He jokes. His face and ears were red while he grinned at me. He showed those wonderful teeth of his, and chuckled.

I was flustered, unable to hold eye contact with him. I stayed in the backseat, fixing my hair and adjusting my shirt and bra.

“My place is close, I don’t want to leave you in those wet clothes.” he says.

I nod, “Yeah, let’s go to your place if it was closer.” I agree. He turns around to look me in the eyes.

“You’re gonna stay back there?” He grins while looking up and down at my disheveled state.

“You look so fucked out and I barely did anything.” His eyes lingered on my hiked up skirt, before meeting my gaze again.

“Get driving Hoseok.” I said while shivering from my wet clothing. He started the car and pulled out from the spot. I couldn’t be sure if the movie was over, but other cars were leaving. The rain was getting worse. Lighting was flashing in the sky followed by booming thunder.

I stayed in the back, the moments that happened earlier replaying in my mind. Hoseok must have known cause when I looked into the rear view, his eyes were on me.

He’s eating me up the moment we step into his place, I can see it in his eyes.

I’m not watching where we’re going but pretty soon the rain stops as we pull into a parking garage. By looking at it, all the residents are wealthy. There were fancy and expensive cars, shining under the white lights in the garage. Hoseok parks his car next to a familiar silver Hyundai. Oh! The car he drove me home in!

He parks the car, and turns off the engine before reaching over in the passenger's seat and grabbing my purse. He steps out of the car and opens the door for me. I step out, and he closes the door behind me.

He keeps hold of my purse while ushering me towards a walk way. We stepped in, getting hit by a blast of cold air. I shivered and Hoseok pulled me close to him. I glanced down at his pants wondering if he was still hard.

His white button up shirt was no longer tucked into his pants, so it covered his crotch.

We walked through the grayish hallways till we entered what looked like a hotel lobby.

“Mr. Jung.” An older man greeted. He stood behind a desk with a kind smile on his lips. Hoseok only nodded at the man. He didn’t notice me at first, his eyes widened when he saw me. I smiled at him, understanding the look of surprise on his face.

At least I know Hoseok has never brought a woman back to his place. We walk through the high ceiling lobby and head towards the silver elevator doors. Hoseok presses the button to go up and the doors open with a ding.

He presses the button for the 15th floor and the doors close slowly, leaving me to look at our reflection in the doors.

Damn, I do look fucked out. The guy at the desk saw me looking like this? Oh no!

I gasp and cover my mouth with my hand.

Hoseok chuckles and steps back to lean against the wall of the elevator. He moves me in front of him while putting both hands on my hips. He drags me to him, my back press against his front. Just that simply, I feel him against my butt. Still hard, still craving my attention.

Another shiver passes over me, he presses himself against me. He moves his hips slowly, grinding his situation against me.

“Are you gonna help me with this, princess?” He whispers in my ear. He kisses the back of my neck just as the elevator doors open. The doors open to reveal a single door. I step out and away from Hoseok, straightening out my skirt while looking down the hall. This was the only door down this whole hallway.

I look at Hoseok who is moving slowly.

“This whole floor is yours?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yes it is.” He answers casually, and walks up to the dark wooden door. On the handle of the door was a number pad. He pushes the numbers so quickly, I couldn’t tell what they are. There is a slight ding and he opens the door. Rather than stepping in, he pushes the door wide open and gestures for me to walk in first.

I say a small thank you and step in, surrounded by darling for a second before Hoseok hits a light switch by the door. I gawked at the space in front of me.

I heard the door close and soon Hoseok was behind me, his hands on my side, leaving kissing on my shoulders and the back of my neck. But I was looking at his penthouse.

Nearly the whole left wall was floor to ceiling windows that showed a beautiful view of the city. There was a living room with a flat screen TV, a black leather couch and love seat. A rectangular glass table seat between the couch and the flat screen Tv. The floor was a smooth tile life wooden, but in the whole living room space was a large grey rug. Where the flat screen TV was hung, the wall was a short of grey brick, and under the flat screen was a fireplace.

To the right there were wide stairs. Only about two steps and a walk away which I assumed led to the kitchen? Possibly the dining room. On the further right side was a winding staircase. The winding staircase led upstairs, and all I could see of upstairs was the railing that the stairs led up to.

All this while, Hoseok slipped off his leather jacket I had on and had a hand gripping my side gently, as it was where I got shot.

The scent of his cologne was comforting, and I pushed my butt against him.

“Y/n, I can’t get enough of you, what should I-” His words are cut off as an itch grows in my nose and I sneeze. He starts to rub my side, pecking another kiss on the back of my neck.

“Sorry, I-” My words stop short as I sneeze again, this time my whole body jolting.

“Welp,” Hoseok begins, taking a step back from me. I turn around to look at him with apologetic eyes, but he smiles fondly.

I sneeze again, two of them hitting back to back.

“Looks like we’ll have to finish this another time, cause I don’t want you catching a cold.” He leans down and pecks me on the lips.

“Come on, I’ll show you where you can take a hot shower.” He takes my hand and starts towards the stairs.

“Are you sure?” I question, “I don't want to leave you….” I trail off and look down at his pants.

“I don’t want to leave you high and dry.” I say softly, “Let me at least help you wit-”

Another sneeze shakes through my body and Hoseok rolls his eyes, tugging me along with him to the winding stairs.

“I’ll be fine, princess, I can take care of this myself. Let’s get you into something warm first? You start work tomorrow. What good would it do showing up sick?” I follow behind him, up the stairs.

“Who’s the one nagging now?” I mock, giggling victoriously.

We got to the top of the stairs, and I saw hallways we could venture down. I look at the back of Hoseok’s head and wonder what he’s thinking and why we stopped moving.

“Hoseok? Is everything okay?” I ask softly, squeezing the hand I was holding. He turned around to face me, his eyes shining with kindness and his cheeks rising as he smiled. His face was a flustered red and he scratched the back of his neck with his free hand.

He looked down at the ground, his eyes trained on my feet. That reminded me that I didn’t take off my shoes. How rude.

“Hoseok?” I brought a hand up to his cheek and stepped closer, wondering if something was wrong.

“Are you feeling sick as well? Let’s get you into something warm as well.” I order but he makes no attempt to move.

He looks up from my feet, his face still red, a shy and embarrassed expression on his face. But his brown eyes twinkled dotingly. My eyes darted around his face, wondering what he had to say.

“I am very glad, I met you Y/n. And I am very happy you stuck around.” His words caused me to smile so hard, I thought I’d pull a muscle in my cheeks.

I throw my arms around him in a hug, burying my face into his chest. The feelings in my chest were building and a knot of emotions were bubbling up in me.

“I’m glad I met you too, Hoseok.” I blinked away the tears of happiness that were threatening to spill.

It’s simple happiness like this, that I don’t think I could find anywhere else.

♠----♠----♠-----♠

Whew! This chapter was fun to write! So I said this story was gonna end at like chapter 15 but, my chapters are longer than I anticipated and my pace is slower.

Sooo idk how long this story will be. So I’ll just keep going till I reach the end.

However, we’ve past the first main conflict of this story and things will be more...mature from here on. And we’re getting into the second and last main conflict of this story.

So yeah, let me know what you think! :)

-Is my smut style weird? I haven’t written smut in sooooo long! lol

447 notes · View notes

melon-wing · 4 years

Text

My Captain [Pirate AU]

[PIRATE AU MASTERLIST] This is part two of @gridoc ‘s birthday present, also based on a wonderful commission she did for me! This is set way after the other stories, when Grian just left the navy and joined Doc’s crew

~*~

Grian stood at the railing of the ship, looking at the first rays of the sun peaking out at the horizon, searching for any sign of a navy ship. He was now part of Doc’s crew… And wasn’t this a weird thing to even think about, let alone say out loud? Sure, he had wanted to do it. He never did anything this rash without thinking about it… It was still weird. Especially in situations like these, everyone asleep but him, the safety of a whole pirate crew in his hands.

He had been the last one to take the night shift and it was always a challenge for him, standing out here all alone with nothing but his thoughts keeping him company. He was only glad the others trusted him enough to put him on the night shift at all. It really spoke louder than a thousand words.

He heard the creak of a door and steps, making him tense a bit. He took a deep breath and forced his shoulders to relax again, before turning around.

Ren stood a few steps towards him, a bright smile on his face. Ren was always the first one to get up on deck and he was the only one who was always bright and cheery right after getting up. Ren walked up to him, but stopped about a metre away, leaving him his space, just like he always did. And Grian was thankful for that.

“Did anything happen? Any ships? Any scary magical feelings?”

Grian shook his head. “I would have called you if that was the case.”

Ren nodded and stretched a bit. “Good, good. Doc should be out and about in a few along with the rest of the crew.” Ren looked at him for a while, as if he wanted to say something but held back. Grian was pretty sure it was something concerning Doc and he was really glad that Ren never actually went through with asking. Because he might have joined the crew to get away from the navy, but he still got confused everytime he thought about his relationship with the crew’s captain. And they all must have noticed.

“Not now, Ren.”

“That’s what you say every time. One day you’ll need to talk about it… Or at least think about it.”

“There’s not a day I don’t think about it.” Grian smiled and looked at the sea, his loose hair flying in the wind. “I owe your Captain my life after all. He came when no one else did. He’s… He’s important to me. I just don’t know if I really...”

Grian stopped himself when the door to the deck opened again and Doc stepped out. His smile widened a bit, a warm feeling entering his chest as he looked at his… the Captain. Doc was rubbing his eye, his hair was a mess, his clothes dishevelled and a deep frown showed that he had probably once more been kicked out of bed by either Etho or False. Going by the size of that frown it had probably been Etho and Doc had most likely already heard more than one bad joke this early in the morning.

When Grian turned his gaze back, he realised that Ren was looking at him knowingly, a wide smirk on his face, arms crossed in front of his chest, one eyebrow raised. And Grian immediately knew what that look meant. “Oh, shut up.”

“I’m not saying anything”, Ren replied in a sing-song voice.

“You were thinking about it! Stop that!” Grian grumbled and when Ren started laughing he threw his hands up in frustration and walked to the door leading below deck. It was his turn to get some sleep while the rest of the crew started working.

This also meant he had to walk past Doc. Grian realised with annoyance that his heart started beating a bit faster the closer he got.

“Doc”, he said shortly when he was a few steps away from Doc.

He would never get used to this, the way Doc’s head snapped up to look at him, the way just uttering one word made Doc smile so brightly, his eyes sparkling with uncontainable joy.

Doc behaved so differently around him than around any other member of his crew, keeping him at the back at each and every battle. And Grian hated that. He was one of the best fighters on this ship. He had proven that, when he had defeated Doc a few years back. But Doc treated him like he was made out of glass and unable to protect himself.

“Grian, are you...”

“Going to bed. See you when we hit land”, Grian just replied shortly.

Grian didn’t look back when he went below deck, the route already so familiar. He walked past the Captain’s cabin and then stopped at the next door. This room totally wasn’t the place a newcomer like him deserved or would have gotten if it had been anyone but him. It was a miracle the rest of the crew didn’t hate him for this blatant favouritism.

Grian sighed and stepped into the room, taking off his belt and weapons, putting them all aside, except for a small knife that he laid down right next to his pillow. He took off his shirt next, keeping his eyes on the wooden wall straight ahead. He didn’t want to see the faint marks that were still covering his body. One day they’d fade or become just another scar on his body, but that day wasn’t today; that day was still far away.

~*~

There was loud knocking on his door and Grian awoke with a start, hand instantly flying to the knife, eyes searching the room.

“Grian? We put down the anchor. Doc wants you to get ready.”

Grian took a deep breath at the sound of Etho’s voice from outside and slowly put his knife down. The disorientation from having just woken up disappeared again.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

When Grian stepped on the deck, the others were already busy unloading some wares to sell off and he immediately went over to help, when Doc stepped into his path.

“Not today. They can handle that, Grian. I really need someone to… accompany me into town and I’d like for you to come along.”

Grian knew what Doc was doing. He rarely let Grian go anywhere on his own, let alone have him somewhere out of his sight when they were off the Golden Goat. And it annoyed Grian that he went along with it every time. He never once went against Doc’s orders, no matter how stupid they sometimes were. But he felt safest when he was with Doc. No one else made him feel this way. That still didn’t stop him from arguing.

“You know that you don’t really need me. I won’t be in any danger here. My Captain let me go to town alone all the time.”

Grian noticed the way Doc flinched a bit and then he realised that he had slipped up… Again.

“I am your Captain, Grian.” Doc’s voice was so gentle, but Grian still felt a tremble running through his body as if he had been reprimanded. He had been part of the crew for a while now. He still referred to his old Captain as his Captain far too often. He still referred to himself as a navy officer sometimes… And he had never once called Doc his Captain. He knew Doc had noticed… He had even once overheard Doc talking to Ren about it. He knew Doc blamed himself when Grian slipped up like that, thinking he wasn’t making Grian feel as a part of the crew.

“Sorry”, he muttered quietly and as an apology – and maybe as a way to change the topic - added on, “I’ll accompany you. We can leave right now, if you want to.“

Doc‘s face lit up a bit, but Grian could see the way his smile was strained just a little. They were both trying their best, but everything was still too new to work flawlessly. Grian really hoped he‘d get used to this sooner rather than later. It had been his decision after all. He had wanted this… Well, at least he thought that way. Doc always pretended that Grian hadn’t had any other choice. Maybe that was the reason he thought Grian didn‘t feel like he belonged. And maybe sometimes… Maybe sometimes he really didn’t.

“Let‘s go then”, Doc said and started walking, Grian right behind him as they moved down to the port. “This is a pretty neutral area, so They didn’t have to worry much. The navy doesn‘t drop by often and when they do, they never really get into fights. They are too scared to lose business here if they anger the traders. The traders got good wares and money and pirates are among their best customers.”

They walked past a lot of people hurrying around. The port was buzzing with activity, ships leaving and arriving, wares being loaded, repairs being made. It was chaos, but it was a chaos Grian was used to. Seeing everyone run around, busy with their own life made him feel calmer. Nobody was paying any attention to him and Doc. They weren’t a feared pirate Captain and a traitorous navy officer here. They were just two more people walking through the streets

“So…”, Grian started when they left the port, moving on to the streets of the town, passing by some vendors trying to sell their wares. “What exactly are we doing here?”

“Oh, just some old acquaintance of mine I need to visit. She sells information, for a certain price, you know? I think she likes me enough. I never have to pay too much to get what I want.”

“So… You hussle her.”

Doc smirked slightly, taking the accusation almost like a compliment. “Well not exactly. I‘m just really good at bargaining, you know? I can be pretty convincing if I want to be. I also always try to get some nice jewelry for her. She likes that.”

Grian rolled his eyes a bit and turned his gaze back to the street. They were getting further away from the main road. The shops were becoming more run down, the wares in the window getting more and more illegal and Grian was pretty sure they had entered a blackmarket area.

He had been in those areas a lot back in the navy, but wearing his uniform, people had always been scared by him, trying to hide their more exotic and expensive items, seeing him as a threat to their business. Now everyone was looking at them with a calculating expression, some even trying to approach them with their wares. Doc made them all back away with one glance.

They turned another corner, the house fronts becoming even more broken, some of the vendors only using small blankets on the floor to show their wares. Finally, right in the middle of the street, in front of a black wooden door, Doc came to a halt.

Grian looked at the building. It was small, the windows were covered with fabric on the inside. The glass had countless cracks and he wondered how it was still holding together. The black paint of the door must have been newer than the house and window, since it was the only thing not completely run down, only chipping off in a few places.

“This looks really welcoming. I‘m glad you took me along after all. Wouldn‘t want you here all by yourself.”

Doc glanced at Grian and shrugged. “I‘ve been alone here a lot before, don‘t worry. It‘s safe. She wants me to stay her customer after all.” Doc stopped, smiling sheepishly, probably remembering how he‘d told Grian that he needed him here. “It‘s still a good idea not to wander around here alone in case something does happen. You never know. And you’re one of my best fighters after all.”

Grian chuckled quietly and motioned Doc to go on, not even commenting on the rambling. Doc sighed and turned back to the door, knocking a few times in what might have been a pattern or a code… Or maybe just Doc being extra again.

There were steps on the other side and then a small window inside the door slid open. Gray eyes stared at Doc, then at Grian and back to Doc, squinting slightly, showing the deep wrinkles around them even more clearly.

“Doc. Didn‘t I tell you not to show your ass around here again?” A voice croaked at them, sounding really pissed off.

“Well nice to see you too! It‘s been so long! I brought you a present.”

The eyes snapped to Grian and seemed to take him in from head to toes. He shuddered below the almost invasive stare. “Didn’t take you as that kind of guy, Captain Doc. You know he‘s too old to sell. Although, given the right customer I might…”

Grian could practically feel the air around them getting darker as Doc growled in annoyance or maybe anger.

“You won‘t put your grimy hands on him. He‘s part of my crew. If you so much as touch him our business here is over.”

“As if I have ever wanted to do business with you, Doc.”, she grumbled and the small window slammed shut. Grian thought that would be it. Doc had managed to piss her off enough for her to cut ties, but a second later the door opened and the old lady stood in front of them. She was wearing a dusty worn out dress that had probably seen better days once upon a time.

She was still glaring at Doc, but then stepped aside to let them pass. When Doc had walked by her, she turned her eyes to Grian and her mouth twisted into a smile that sent shivers down his spine. He hurriedly went after Doc and inside the room. It was dark in here and the air reeked of dust and mold. There was barely any light, except for a few torches lining the walls.

The walls were covered in dark dusty fabric. The room was lined with shelves containing a missmatch of items. There were books and maps, things floating in glasses. Grian really didn‘t want to look too close at them. He was pretty sure he’d seen some body parts.

In the middle of the room stood a desk and the lady wobbled past them again to sit on the other side of it.

“So, Captain. What can I do for you? Treasure Maps? Love potion for your Navy toy?”

Doc flinched at the last part and Grian‘s eyes widened.

“How did you know?”, Doc‘s voice seemed calm, but Grian could tell how tense he was from the way he sounded.

“Word gets around my boy. Some say you seduced a Navy soldier to join you, others say you fell for him and kidnapped him to have your wicked way with him. Poor boy in the claws of a horrible pirate, who doesn‘t care for anything but his own pleasure and not the well being of-“

“I‘m perfectly fine!”, Grian interrupted her, hands balled into fists. He‘d seen the shadow crossing Doc‘s face. He knew Doc still blamed himself for everything that had happened. He wouldn‘t have some old lady berating him. “I joined his crew because I wanted to, because he was there for me when the navy wasn‘t, because the navy is a bunch of arseholes. So stop your stupid gossiping. He hasn’t kidnapped anyone.“

The old lady‘s eyes stayed on Grian for a while and then she smiled softly, her eyes becoming more gentle.

“Oh. So it‘s you after all. I thought so. You don‘t look like you belong here. You look far too proper to mingle among pirates and us low lifes.“ She clapped twice and out of one of the dark corners stepped a young girl.

Doc squinted his eyes at her, looking uncomfortable at the presence of a mere child. “I thought you worked alone.”

“I‘m not getting any younger, my boy. I took on an assistant. But don‘t worry. I‘ll send her away while we do business”, she said, scribbling something on a piece of paper with an old worn quill before handing it to the small girl. She couldn‘t have been more than 10 years old. „Go fetch this for me, dearie. Hurry along. You don‘t have all day. I want you back by the time these two gentlemen leave.”

The child nodded, not ever speaking up and just hurried out of the room. Grian looked after her and then sighed, turning back to the old woman.

“So, Captain Doc, I heard you came bearing gifts? If it‘s nice enough I might consider listening to your questions. Not promising any answers though.”

Doc didn‘t look too happy, but he took out a small bag out of his pocket, throwing it onto the desk. With a sudden burst of speed the old lady grabbed the bag, tearing it open and turning it around, a few necklaces and bejewled rings fell out. She looked at them for a while and from the sparkle in her eyes Grian could tell that she was very happy with her present, even when she tried to keep an emotionless face.

“Well. At least these don‘t look as pitiful as the last ones you brought me. They are almost halfway decent. I will listen to you, but I can‘t promise you any help. For a gift this cheap I‘ll only do it if I want to and if it‘s not too much trouble.”

“I need information. I need to know about a pirate raid. 10 years ago on Gedwyld

Island. Pirates attacked a small seemingly unimportant village. They were ordered by someone else to attack. It was no accident that those pirates were on the island that day. I need to know who was behind the attack. And I want to know why they attacked. Who was ordering them to do it?”

Grian‘s head snapped towards Doc, eyes going wide. He had thought that Doc would just ask for some maps or some inside information for the navy, not this. Why was Doc interested in his childhood home? Was Doc doing this for him? What would having this information even achieve?

“That is quite a lot of questions, my boy.”

The old lady looked at Doc in deep thought. Her eyes darted to one of the clocks hanging on the wall. Grian followed her gaze, the time on that one seemed off. According to the clock it was just a few minutes after noon, when it was already late noon. When he kept staring at it for a while he realized that the hand was going backwards. Huh… Weird.

“It is. If you have answers, I will reward you of course. If you don‘t have the information I‘ll pay you a small fee to gather them and we will return in a month to collect them.”

The old lady looked thoughtful, nodding slowly before turning around in her chair and grabbing a heavy old looking book from the shelf behind her. Her eyes darted to the clock once more. The hand had moved back another minute. She started to slowly flip through the pages, taking her time to trace the lines with her finger before flipping to the next.

Grian could tell Doc was getting impatient next to him. He kept tapping his foot on the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists. And Grian could relate to this restless feeling.

“Well it looks like you will need a while, old hag. So how about we leave now and-”

“No! Stay!” The urgency in her voice startled Grian. Doc next to him raised an eyebrow.

“If you‘re so worried about losing business you should hurry up. I‘m a busy man. My ship doesn‘t run itself.”

The clock ticked backwards another minute and when the old lady looked at it again, she smiled in satisfaction.

“Ah, well. Looks like it‘s too late now anyways. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Captain, but the navy just pays so much better. You really shouldn‘t have pissed them off, taking one of their little stars into your greedy hands. They apparently had big plans for him. Plans that are worth a fortune.“

Doc‘s hand immediately flew to his sword, Grian had his in hand already, when the door burst open. Grian's heart immediately sank. Two navy officers stood in the door, the little girl right behind them, pointing a shaky finger in their direction.

"Surrender, Captain Doc!", the first navy officer shouted, glaring at Doc, before his gaze turned to Grian and he sneered. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, haven't they, Lieutenant?"

Grian tightened his grip on the sword, casting a short glance in Doc's direction. Those two soldiers would be no problem for them, but Grian really didn't want to hurt them too badly. He knew he shouldn't think of them any different than all his other enemies, but it was still so hard. Seeing the uniforms sure triggered something inside him, but it also held him back. Fighting alongside people wearing those outfits had been too ingrained into his head.

"Well. I won't. I don't see the need to surrender to some poor weaklings like you", Doc replied, talking down to those navy officers with a smirk, but Grian could tell that he was worried from the way his fingers twitched a little. He got why Doc felt tense like that. They were still far away from the ship and didn't know how many navy officers were rushing over to their location right now. They were in danger and couldn’t tell how much would be thrown their way.

"Oh, there is some incentive for surrendering, you know. If you two surrender we won't hurt the traitor. The higher ups still have some use for the cursed child. But if you decide to fight I really can't guarantee for his safety. You know things happen in the heat of the battle. I never liked Lieutenant Grian that much. My blade could accidentally run through him and-"

The officer stopped, when Grian snorted loudly and turned to glare at him.

"Oh please, Henry. You couldn't hit a pirate dummy if it stood right in front of you back in our academy days. It's a wonder they let someone like you graduate."

Just as Grian had expected of his hot headed opponent, he let out an enraged scream and charged forward without putting any thought into his action, blade outstretched to pierce Grian.

“Idiot”, Grian just whispered with a smirk and ducked under the blade, grabbing the arm of the soldier and throwing him over his shoulder onto the old lady‘s desk. „Let‘s leave, Doc. We need to get back to the crew!“

Doc looked at the fallen soldier and then at him and nodded, before charging the remaining officer. Doc‘s blade pierced right through him and Grian winced as a cold shiver ran down his back, seeing blood pour over the white shirt of the navy uniform. Every fiber inside of him wanted to help the officer falling down. This was his comrade. This was a law abiding citizen. He should help. He could help. He needed to save him. But when Doc grabbed his arm, Grian averted his gaze from the body, looking into Doc‘s worried eyes.

“You good?”

Doc knew. Doc always knew. That was the reason he never let Grian fight alongside them when it came to going against the navy even though he‘d been with them for a month now.

“Yes. Just…” Grian motioned around them to the fallen officers, though the one Grian had attacked was mostly uninjured and just unconscious. “It‘s… Those are people I went to the academy with. Takes time getting used to. I’m just glad they aren‘t part of my crew and I don‘t have to fight my capt-“

Grian stopped himself, but he could still see the look of hurt flashing over Doc‘s face, before Doc turned away, dropping his hand from Grian‘s arm. “Let‘s hurry along.”

They pushed past the little girl and stepped outside the shop. Grian could hear shouts in the distance that were pretty unmistakably navy soldiers screaming out orders. A lot of the vendors along the streets were suddenly in a hurry, trying to hide parts of their wares.

The shouts were coming from the direction they had arrived from - the direction leading back to the port. Grian just prayed that the navy hadn‘t gotten to the Golden Goat yet. Not that he didn‘t trust Ren to take command and defend the ship, but it would just complicate things.

Before Grian could decide what to do, Doc had grabbed his wrist, pulling him along into one of the side alleys. Grian rushed along, but his eyes kept darting to the hand touching him. These last weeks, Doc had done his best to avoid any form of prolonged touch to give Grian space. Almost all of the contact they‘ve had, had been initiated by Grian. And not once since the rescue from… not once had Doc pulled him along by his hand.

They turned another corner. Doc cast a glance back at him and noticed the way Grian looked at the hand, letting go immediately.

“Sorry. We needed to hurry. I didn’t think… I shouldn‘t have done that.“

“It‘s fine. Let‘s keep going. Take the lead and I‘ll follow you.”

Doc nodded and started running again, Grian hot on his trail. Doc made his way swiftly through the tiny alleys, jumping over more than one wall and Grian went after him, trusting him blindly. Doc knew these streets far better than him after all. The port was getting closer. Grian could see the mast of the Golden Goat in the distance, recognizing it among all the other ships even from this far away.

“We have to turn onto the main road next. Be prepared for an attack once we do“, Doc called back and Grian adjusted the grip on his sword. He was ready for anything the world would throw at him.

Well… Everything but a navy officer jumping down from a roof of one of the houses framing the alley, landing right between them, making Grian stop in his tracks. Doc kept running into the main road a few metres before he finally realised that Grian wasn‘t behind him anymore. It was too late. A few soldiers stepped in between the two of them. Grian tried to search for a way around his opponent, but two others stepped up to him and he needed to back away a few steps, to get out of their weapons‘ reach.

“Grian! Fuck! Don‘t you assholes dare touch him. If you so much as lay a finger on him, I‘m gonna rip you apart, limb by limb!”, Doc shouted from down the street, but going from how far away his voice sounded he had also been pushed back a bit. There was no way they could help each other like this.

Those soldiers must have planned to seperate them. He just hoped that Doc would do the smart thing and rush back to the ship, even if that meant leaving Grian alone here. The crew‘s support would be so important now.

Grian had been in a lot of battles before. Alot of those battles had not been in his favour and he’d still come out victorious. He’d seen more than his fair share of fights, for someone his age. But this? This felt different. He wasn’t wearing his uniform anymore. He wasn’t fighting with the law behind him anymore.

This wasn’t even their first fight against a navy crew, but Doc had always kept him on the back line when things like that happened. Grian was pretty sure he would have put him below deck if he thought Grian would go along with it. In the short fight earlier he had been able to knock his opponent out, but if he held back here, he‘d lose.

Grian‘s eyes kept darting between his opponents, holding his sword protectively in front of himself, waiting for an attack or maybe an opening for him to get rid of one already. A fight against all of them at once would be impossible.

“You really have fallen far. Look at yourself…“, one of the officers said. Grian thought he recognized him from somewhere, but couldn‘t really pinpoint it, until… “Captain Sam was really sad to see you leave. You were such an entertaining guest.”

Grian froze for a second, hearing that name and realizing that the man in front of him was part of Sam‘s crew. That guy had been there when Sam had sold him out. Was Sam here as well? Grian felt his heart rate increase at the thought alone, his eyes darting around.

The officer smirked at Grian‘s reaction and jumped forward. Grian raised his own sword just in time to block the attack, eyes wide, arm shaking a bit from the impact he hadn‘t been prepared to take.

“It was a good look on you, Grian, tied up, beaten and bleeding. It made me want to do bad things to you. You‘ve always been so high and mighty. Watching Sam break you… It was like a work of art. Such a pity someone managed to put the pieces back together. I liked you more when you were a little puppet”, his opponent whispered, voice too quiet for the others to hear. Grian tried to tune it all out. He knew those words were meant to distract him from the fight and he shouldn‘t let it get to him. It had been so long. He was better now. He was with Doc now. He was safe. Doc had promised to protect him, no matter what. He needed Doc. He needed to get to Doc.

The muscles in Grian‘s arm tensed and he let his sword strike, pushing his attacker stumbling back, right into one of the other guys. Grian turned his attention to the third soldier. He looked younger than the other two and his uniform was less decorated as well. Grian almost felt bad, but he knew he couldn‘t hold back… He really really shouldn‘t hold back.

His sword flew through the air, past the other blade and cutting deep into the soldier‘s shoulder. The young man screamed and dropped his sword and Grian jumped back again, before the others could attack. He was holding back. He could have - no - he should have gone for the neck. He could have killed him with one attack. But he had hesitated, repositioning his blade just a bit before it could hit.

Why was he risking his own life for someone who was ready to kill him without a second thought? He shouldn’t be hesitating. “I won’t die here today.”

The two soldiers glared at him, one rushing to their fallen comrade, pulling him back, away from Grian. That left only him and the guy from Sam’s ship.

“No you won’t die. The order is to take you alive. Operation Cursed Child will begin once you’re returned to the headquarters.”

Grian looked at his opponent in confusion, but didn’t get the time to ponder on what he had said for too long. A blade came flying his way. Their swords kept clashing together and Grian had to admit that his opponent was a skilled fighter, but he also knew that he was better. He would win. He could end this. He didn’t even need to kill. He wouldn’t have to harm a navy soldier. He could just disarm him. He had the upper hand. He only needed a little more time to-

There was a loud scream. A loud and pain filled scream. Grian knew that voice, but he had never heard it like that. And when his eyes searched the entrance to their alley, he saw Doc fall to the floor, lying on the ground face first, a foot on his back, a blade at his neck.

Something snapped.

“Oh, looks like your little pirate is-”

His opponent never got to finish his sentence as Grian’s blade pierced right through his eyeball into his brain. Blood sprayed as he pulled it back out, but Grian didn’t care, rushing forward. The second soldier tried to block his way, but Grian stabbed him right through the abdomen, before kicking him off his sword to the ground.

Someone bent down to Doc, handcuffs ready and Grian screamed.

“Get your dirty hands off of my Captain!”

His shout made the soldier above Doc snap up again, scrambling for his sword, but he was too late. Grian’s blade was already cutting deep into his chest. Now Grian stood above Doc, sword raised, turning around slowly, surrounded by soldiers. He let out a low growl, glaring at each and every one of them.

“You hurt my Captain and I will kill you.”

Grian knew they were heavily outnumbered, even when Doc slowly got to his feet again, standing back to back with Grian. Still the soldiers didn‘t attack, watching them with wary eyes. Grian felt dread rise inside of him. They wouldn‘t make it out alive… No. He would. For whatever reason they still needed him. But Doc wouldn‘t. They‘d kill Doc.

Images flashed in front of Grian‘s mind. Doc‘s head on a block, an axe raised above him, flying down and-

A warm touch on his hand snapped Grian out of his thoughts and he just now realised that he had been shaking. He didn‘t need to look down to know that the hand gently holding his was Doc‘s. It was funny how one small touch calmed Grian down so much and helped him focus again. One simple touch made him feel so safe and warm. Ever since Doc had saved him that first time, holding that hand made him feel like no harm would come to him.

„Let‘s go out with a bang, love“, Doc said and his voice was so soft despite their current situation.

Grian just nodded and pressed Doc‘s hand with his own to show him the same support. Someone shouted an order from the back row. Grian let his hand slip out of Doc‘s grasp, but the feeling of safety stayed as he faced the fight.

They would lose. They would fall, but they would give those guys one hell of a fight. They wouldn‘t go down without taking some of their opponents along with them.

Everyone was waiting, all muscles tensed. People around them were looking at them curiously. Suddenly one of the soldiers surged forward and the spell seemed to be broken. Grian barely had time to move, blocking one attack after the other, sword always making it just in time. He didn‘t pay attention to the things happening behind him. He knew his back was as safe as it could be and it filled him with determination. If he could at least hold them long enough for Doc to get away. They didn‘t want to kill him and the way they fought showed just that. There was just a slight bit of hesitance in the attacks. He could use that to his advantage.

Grian pressed on further, giving even more, fighting harder, deflecting attacks and starting counter attacks. He managed to hit one of them across the face, drawing a loud almost inhuman yell as the soldier stepped back, but his place was already taken by another one.

He growled and kept fighting. He stopped attack after attack, but then he heard a pained sound behind him. He shouldn’t turn around. He needed to stay focused. He heard a blade clattering to the floor, far too close for it to be one of the enemies. Grian turned his head just slightly, to see Doc go down to his knees, to the floor, holding one hand to his bleeding shoulder, a sword at his throat.

Grian screamed, a shout tearing from his throat that didn’t even sound human to his own ears. He hit the blade on Doc’s neck so hard, he sent it flying into the head of another soldier.

“Don’t. Ever. Touch. Him.”

Grian glared at them, looming over Doc. They seemed to hesitate for a second, but the attacks kept coming again. Grian was able to deflect them, but as more kept coming from the front, he left his back open and suddenly he was grabbed by the shoulders, sword slipping from his grasp, as he was pulled back. Grian struggled, digging his heels into the ground, as he was pulled away from Doc.

Doc stared at him, trying to jump up, but suddenly there were hands on him as well, digging into his wound. Doc froze and it didn’t take long to chain his hands behind his back. Grian suddenly felt the anger leave him and fear settle in. He couldn’t lose Doc. He couldn’t. Not now when he had finally decided to stay by his side.

And then something else started to rise inside of Grian. Suddenly he felt a primal rage inside. He looked at Doc and ground his teeth. Those soldiers were taking what was his. He closed his eyes and felt it. The same feeling he had felt under the sea when the siren had dragged Doc down below. The same energy was running through him. And he knew when he would open his mouth now he’d hurt everyone who was able to hear him, soldier and civilian alike. He didn’t even know why he knew, he just did. Everyone would fall. Just not Doc. Never Doc. He had to save his mate.

He took a breath, opening his eyes. He could hear Doc gasp in shock. He must have noticed some change in Grian.

“Grian… Don’t!”

Grian opened his mouth.

A loud shot rang through the street, before one sound left him, startling Grian out of his trance like state. He blinked a few times, every trace of the energy gone again. He looked around in confusion, searching for the source of that sound. The shot had been far too loud to be a simple gun. And that‘s when he saw it. The sails of the Golden Goat behind the crowd of navy soldiers. There was a smoking hole in the ground a couple of metres from them, navy soldiers rushing away to pull injured people to safety.

“Back off or we will kill you all! No hesitation.“

Ren‘s voice was booming loud. People around them started panicking. There were screams and chaos.

And then Grian could hear steps rushing towards them and when he looked over he saw Doc‘s crew charging in, False right there at the front of them, her eyes filled with fury and a promise of pain.

Someone was pulling at him, trying to take him away. Grian dug his heels into the ground, but soon another pair of arms grabbed him and he stumbled backwards. His eyes searched for Doc in the chaos. He felt a heavy weight lift off his chest, when he realised that False was already by his side, her bloody sword raised as some other crew member was taking the chains off of their captain.

He kept getting further and further away. They were trying to pull him to one of the alleys and out of sight.

Grian opened his mouth to scream, but as soon as he did that someone shoved a dirty rag in between his lips. Grian only renewed his struggles, managing to land a few kicks on the two people holding him, but they didn‘t ease their hold on him.

He looked at Doc in desperation, trying to alert him that Grian was taken away in the chaos and panic. And as if Doc had sensed his terror, his gaze snapped up, searching and finally landing on Grian. His eyes widened for a second and then he smiled relieved. With just that one smile Grian immediately felt safe again. He didn‘t even have to wonder what would happen next. Doc smiling like that meant there was no danger for Grian.

There was a loud thud and one of the bodies holding him crumbled to the floor. Grian looked over his shoulder, only to see Etho, smiling softly at him, before he put a knife through the other soldier’s back. The hands holding Grian disappeared along with the enemy falling to the ground.

“You alright, new guy?“

Grian nodded and raised his shaking hands to take the cloth from his mouth, throwing it to the ground in disgust. “Yeah. All good. Thanks. You can go and give your medical expertise to our captain now.“

Etho's eyes widened a bit and then he smiled even brighter. “I see, it‘s no longer just ‘your captain‘ now. Welcome to the crew, Grian.“

Grian rolled his eyes, following Etho over to Doc who was already unchained and arguing with False who had thrown him over her shoulder.

“I can walk on my own!”

“You are wounded.“

“On my fucking shoulder! My legs work perfectly fine!”

“Struggle and I will change that.”

Grian laughed a bit at False‘s deadpan voice, until her gaze turned to him. “Don‘t think I have forgotten that both of you idiots got yourself into that situation. If you so much as smirk, I will carry you as well, boy. I‘ve got two shoulders after all.”

Grian felt the urge to salute, but just nodded and tried his best not to smile. No one ever dared to argue with False when she took that tone, and Grian sure as hell wouldn‘t change that tradition.

They hurried to the ship and boarded, sails lowered the moment Etho in the back stepped aboard. None of them wanted to battle a navy ship, especially not now when their Captain was already injured.

“False. Carry Doc below deck“, Etho shouted over the busy deck and False nodded, leaving through the door already. Grian wanted to follow, but was stopped by Etho.

“Not you. I won’t let you get away without a check up this time. Do you have any injuries? Anything that needs my attention now?”

„Just sore. Maybe a few bruises“, Grian replied, „Worst thing happening to me is that I can‘t get rid of the taste of that darn dirty rag.“

Etho laughed, and after some fumbling around in his bag, pressed a flask into Grian‘s hand. “Here. That should help.“

Grian looked at Etho‘s retreating form, before taking one swig of the bottle. His throat burned and he scrunched up his face at the taste, deciding against taking even one more drop. But oh well… It had indeed replaced the rotten taste the rag had left in his mouth and any reminder of being almost kidnapped again.

~*~

Grian stood at the railing, watching the moon rise and the stars come out. He was alone at deck once more, having insisted on still doing his shift of the night watch. He wasn‘t really wounded. And he could use the peace and quiet to calm down.

A light wind was blowing, whipping around his hair. When had it gotten so long again? He pulled out one of the strings on his shirt and pulled his hair back, tying them together. It felt weird after all this time. Weird and freeing at the same time. As if a chapter of his life had ended.

There were steps behind him. Grian didn‘t have to turn around. The sound was all too familiar to him, even before he had joined this crew. All the other nights, he had stepped away. All of the previous nights, he had stopped things from progressing. He hadn‘t even waited for what had been to come. He had always walked away, the message pretty clear.

He waited.

The steps stopped behind him.

Grian turned around.

“Doc…”

Doc looked at him, hand raised, seemingly hesitating, clearly intending to put it on Grian‘s shoulder, but not daring to overstep any boundaries. So Grian took the step over that line. He moved forward and the hand was on his shoulder.

Doc‘s eyes widened for a second, but then he smiled softly.

“I was scared I‘d lose you again, Grian.”

“You were the one lying on the floor about to be taken to prison, you know.“

Doc chuckled softly. The hand moved from Grian‘s shoulder, giving him a small pat and then moving away again. Grian felt dissappointed at the sudden loss of contact.

“I know. You saved me, Grian.“

“I‘d do anything to keep you safe, Captain.“

“Say it again...”, Doc whispered, his eyes so close, Grian could see the way they sparkled, his gaze so soft.

“Captain”, Grian repeated just as quietly, feeling happiness at just uttering this single word. “My Captain.”

Doc breathed in shakily, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. And he was so close. So close. The moon was high up in the sky, illuminating Doc's face. Doc's arms were moving, but he stopped and Grian could see how he resisted the urge to hug him. Always treating him like glass... Even now.

Grian took a hold of Doc's arm before he could lower it again and put it on his waist.

Grian moved forward, a sudden need to touch - to feel Doc - rising inside him. When their chests touched a second hand wound around him, joining the first on his back.

Grian smiled. He did feel some underlying nervousness. He felt his heart racing. He felt a slight urge to step back out of the embrace again. But above all of it - overshadowing all the other emotions - he felt safe.

"Grian. You don't have to..."

"I'm not doing this because I have to. I'm doing this because I want to. I... I should have done it way sooner. We live a dangerous life. Any day could be our last. Today could have been your last day. We both survived too much to let our worries stop us." Grian felt his heart beating in his throat as Doc finally tightened the embrace, and in return Grian put his arms around the other.

"Grian..." Doc smiled so brightly that it made Grian's heart only beat faster. He really should have done this sooner. He should have let Doc close again. Doc who had saved him, who had always been there for him and never expecting anything in return.

"I love you."

Doc's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open, before he closed it again, smiling even brighter than Grian had ever seen him smile.

„I love you too, Grian.“

#🍉 stories #hermitship #hermitshipping #gridoc #pirate AU #will I ever write these pirate stories in order?#no. answer is no :D #also pirate au now officially over 50k long :O

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imaginethatneathuh · 3 years

Text

The Hermit: Technical Boy - American Gods

Technical Boy x child!reader, father-child

Technical Boy needs to get away from the Drugs gods for a bit and comes across a kid.

Part of @dragon430’s Tarot Troop.

TW/CW: Blood, skull-cracking, hospitals, swearing, near-death experience (and making light of it), drugs, sex, starvation, adoption, fostering.

Word count: 3.6+ K

•

Sometimes, Technical Boy just needed some air. Everybody does, but with him, it was more of a necessity so he wouldn’t blow up at someone.

Sex (the druggie) had been teasing him a lot more than usual and he hated it. Sure, Weed and Coke tried to get her to stop, but she started doing it behind their backs, and if Technical Boy told Weed about it, he’d be a snitch. He did not want to be known as a snitch bitch amongst the drug gods. That would be a nightmare.

He could have asked for Weed to help him calm down, but he didn’t feel like calming down that way. He wanted some peace, not to get high.

So, here he was, walking down some random street in some random city because he didn’t want to be anywhere near the druggies.

Yes, they’re his best, and only, friends, but he doesn’t always want to get high. Being around them, usually meant getting high off them. Sometimes, it’s nice. Sometimes, it’s not.

Technical Boy, in a dice hoodie with the hood up and black sweatpants with fire at the bottom, stared at his phone, scrolling through the news.

It was a lot of shitty stuff.

He wasn’t surprised by that. The others, “family” of the druggies, were at it again. Those of that sort, those with the brown hair and eyes, it’s like they were born to create chaos and discord in the world.

Technical Boy rolled his eyes, scoffing. He slipped his phone away and stuffed his hands in his pockets. The god turnt to the sky, eyes closed.

As he walked, passing by an alley, Technical Boy heard quiet sniffling.

Instead of stopping, he kept walking.

There were plenty of homeless people in the world. Not everyone is lucky enough to be born into wealth or lucky enough to be able to keep their homes. Some people get shitty deals.

Nothing he could do about it. Nothing World would allow anyway.

Still, the god noticed that the sniffing was much higher pitched than normal, adult sniffling. He had an entire database of sounds at his fingertips, and as a part of him and his domain. It sounded like the sniffles of a child crying.

He stopped and hung his head.

‘This had better not be a kid,’ he thought to himself.

He didn’t like children, in theory. He’d never actually met one but from movies and shows, they seemed insane. It’s likely, upon meeting one, he wouldn’t know what to do.

Technical Boy wasn't good with regular adults. Dealing with a child would be impossible.

So, instead of assuming he was right and the sniffling was coming from a child, he decided he was wrong and approached the alley’s mouth as if an adult was in there.

“Hey, man, you okay?” He asked.

The god peered in, trying to make out anyone.

Something small shifted around. It was far too small to be an adult like he’d hoped. The small thing poke its head out from underneath a small, makeshift cave of junk. It quickly hid after seeing the god.

Technical Boy looked around and sighed, shutting his eyes.

‘It takes, in total, from 0-18-years-old, $284,570 to raise a kid, and a good chunk of a parent’s day to take care of a kid,’ he thought. ‘I have the money, but I don’t have the time.’ He opened his eyes and looked at the makeshift shelter. ‘Why the fuck is my first thought taking care of the kid? I could drop them off at a home or something. That’d be easier.’ He walked closer, trying not to scare them. ‘But the foster system here is fucked. The kid could get hurt, be abused, or die.’ As he approached, he noticed the kid watching him. ‘But there are tons of good families who foster and adopt, too. They’re not all bad. 1.5 million kids have been adopted and roughly 140,000 kids are every year. So, there’s a good chance the kid will become a part of a family.’

The kid pushed themself away from the opening and into their shelter.

“Hey,” he said. “Hi, are you okay?”

Technical Boy knelt down and watched for the kid.

“Leave me alone. I’m fine. Go away,” they said.

There was a silence. The god did not leave.

“Please, go away?”

‘The kid sounds weak. Like they haven’t eaten in days. When was the last time they showered or took a bath, too? I can smell ‘em even from over here.’ Despite the disgusting alley floor, Technical Boy seated himself.

“Nope. Can’t. Brain won’t let me.”

An old, rusted out can came from the shelter, flying straight at Technical Boy. He easily dodged it.

“Wow, you’re a dick,” he joked.

He heard a small huff.

Slipping his hands into his pant pockets, he found candy, probably chocolate, that he’d forgotten about.

‘This is so not healthy for a kid,’ he thought, playing with the wrapper in his pocket. ‘But, it’s better than nothing.’ He took the candy out, finding a Snickers. ‘Called it.’

“Hey, you like chocolate?” He asked them.

More shuffling from the shelter. “No. Especially not from a stranger.”

“Here.” He tossed the Snickers into the mouth of the shelter. “Have a Snickers. It has nuts.”

A thin hand reached out and snatched the candy quick as a whip.

The tech god raised an eyebrow. “Thought you didn’t like chocolate.”

Another can came from the darkness and he dodged it again.

The kid unwrapped the bar and used the wrapper to fill a gap in their home. Hungry, they scarfed the candy down.

‘So small. The kid must be starving.’ Technical Boy continued to watch the mouth of the shelter, his concern for the kid growing.

“You always around here?” He asked.

A small piece of glass was thrown at him but it didn’t get very far, falling an inch or so away from him.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Technical Boy stood up and brushed himself off. “I’ll see you later.”

He knew it would be impossible to convince the kid to come out of their hole and come with him on the first meeting, but he hoped to convince them to go into foster care sooner rather than later. If he tried to tell the authorities, the kid could get hurt or worse.

He left the alley and the kid watched him do so.

•

Technical Boy, in the druggies’ kitchen, placed an apple and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a bag.

Weed walked in, smiling. “Whatcha doin’?”

He looked over, a water bottle in his hand. “Nothing,” he said, turning back to the bag. “Just making a bag of food.” He cracked open the bottle and closed it again.

“Who’s it for,” they asked.

The tech god shrugged, putting a small stack of crackers and a container of cut cheese in the bag.

Weed wrapped their arms around his waist and rested their head on his back.

After closing the bag, he placed a hand on Weed’s, chuckling. “I’ve got to go, Weed.”

“First, tell me who the bag is for,” they mumbled.

He shrugged again. “I don’t know,” he said before he turnt around to face them. “But, as soon as I learn what their name is, I’ll tell you.” He booped their nose with a smile. “Promise.”

Weed giggled, sleepiness in their eyes.

Coke rushed in and grabbed an apple off the table, one from Weed’s garden. He stopped before he left and turnt around. “Are you two having cute times without me?” He asked, with a goofy smile.

“No,” Technical Boy said as Weed rested on his chest. “I was trying to leave, but Weed is sleepy.”

Coke bit the apple and walked over before picking Weed up. They wrapped their arms around him, nuzzling into him.

“Thank you, C,” the tech god said, earning a nod from Coke who practically ran out of the room with the apple in his mouth and Weed in his arms. “Don’t fall!” He shouted after them. Technical Boy picked up the bag and left for the alley.

•

The kid shoved a few cans into place on their mountain of junk. Technical Boy watched them work for a little, not wanting to interrupt until they were done. When they finished and started to head into their home, he approached.

“Hey, kid,” he said. “Brought you something.”

The kid, at the mouth, stared at him like a deer in headlights before rushing into their cave.

Technical Boy sighed and walked to it. “Ya know, I ain’t gonna hurt ya, kid.” He dropped off the bag of food at the mouth of the cave before sitting down farther away.

They snatched it up as soon as they thought he was far enough away.

Technical Boy sat, crossed-legged, and watched for any signs of anger..

“You trying to poison me?” They asked.

His brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“Cap’s been opened.” The water bottle rolled to his feet.

He rolled it back. “Nope. I opened it for you. Those fucker’s are annoying and the ridges hurt.”

The bottle slipped into the darkness.

The kid, inside, sipped on it. “Tastes gross,” they said, pulling a face.

“It’s bottled water. It never tastes right.”

The two sat in relative silence as cars drove past and the kid ate. The occasional pedestrian peeked into the alley, giving Technical Boy odd looks, but he didn’t particularly care. He was used to it.

As the kid finished, they asked, “Why’d you come back?”

“Felt like it.”

“Why’d you bring me food?”

“Felt like it.”

“Are you a rapist?”

“No. You?”

They laughed a little. “No. Are you a peadophile?”

“No. That’s gross.”

“Are you going to tell the police where I am?”

Technical Boy sighed. “If I wanted to do that, I would have done it yesterday.”

“You gonna kidnap me and sell my organs on the blackmarket?”

“Sounds like too much work,” he said, stretching. “I’d rather hire someone to do that for me instead.”

Crunching came from the dark hole. It wasn’t cracker crunching. More like, a horse mowing down on a carrot or apple.

“This tastes good.”

“Yeah, a friend of mine grows their own food. Doesn’t like the food from stores. I’m pretty sure they want to start raising livestock, but, I don’t know.”

“Mhmm,” they said before tossing the core over his head into a nearby dumpster. “Do you think you could bring more?”

Technical Boy nodded. “Definitely. If my other friends don’t eat them all first. But, harvest was good, so I doubt they’ll all be gone.” Technical Boy pulled out his phone and texted Weed. “I’ll text them to hide some of the apples from the others just in case though.”

Carefully, the kid peered out, staring at his phone.

“There. Done,” he said, putting his phone away. “They’ll hide some for ya.”

A can came at him but he ducked.

“You told them?” They growled.

Technical Boy put his hands up in surrender.. “Woah, hold your horses there, kid. I haven’t said shite to anyone. I just asked them to put some of the apples away, that’s all.”

Inside the hole, they looked him up and down. “Can I have my can back?”

“No, it’s mine now.” The god pulled the can behind him protectively.

The kid giggled.

A text popped up on his phone. Technical Boy looked down at it and rolled his eyes.

“What?” The kid asked.

“Nothing, just my boss being a dick.”

The container Technical Boy had filled with cheese rolled out on it’s side.

He opened it to find a few crackers and some cheese. “I made the bag for you, kid. Not for me.”

“I know. I just don’t want you to be hungry.”

“Thanks.” He smiled softly and ate the cheese and crackers even if he didn’t really want to.

“My name’s not kid, ya know,” they said. “It’s Y/N.”

“Technical Boy.”

“That’s a weird fucking name.”

The god shrugged. “Should a kid your age be swearing like that?”

They shrew a can at him. Instead of dodging, he caught it and put it behind him with the other can. “Mine,” he said.

“Nuh-uh!” They said. “Gimme my can back!”

Technical Boy shook his head. “Nope. You threw it away meaning anyone can claim it. So, I did.”

Y/N huffed. “Dick.”

•

Weeks passed and every single day, without fail, Technical Boy came to Y/N’s little home with food and conversation. Once or twice, he brought clothes and blankets. He very well couldn’t let the kid freeze. What kind of person would he be if he did? Even though both Media and World didn’t like his disappearing acts and he got repeatedly scolded and punished for it, he didn’t care. For some reason, he found he had grown rather fond of the rude kid. He liked to believe they had begun to like him, too. Even if it was just a little, itty-bitty bit. The god no longer wanted to let them go into the foster system, rather, he wished to take care of them himself. But he knew Y/N wouldn’t agree, no matter how much they liked him. They were much too independent for that.

Since he’d started coming, little Y/N had grown in both width and height. No longer skin and bones, they moved around more and even left the confines of their home for more than building.

“I’m stronger now, so I can kick you better if you try anything,” they had claimed.

Technical Boy chose to see this as them trusting him more.

•

Technical Boy dropped off a bag of food at the mouth of Y/N’s home and sat farther away.

Y/N came out, sitting in front of the mouth in the light. They opened up the bag and smiled.

“Apples,” they mumbled.

Technical Boy smiled as they rifled through the bag. “Yeah, that’s the last of ‘em, though. Won’t be more until the next harvest.”

“Thanks.” Y/N looked up and gave him a pained smile before looking back down.

He shrugged and played with one of his confiscated cans. “It’s whatever, kiddo.”

Y/N tossed him a fruit snack baggie. He caught it but dropped his can.

“Ya gotta stop doing this, N/N,” he said, opening the baggie. “You need to eat more than I do.”

They flipped him off.

As he ate the gummies, he watched Y/N scarf down everything. At least that hadn’t changed.

“How are you feelin’? You think you’ll be okay here during the colder months? They are getting closer,” he said.

They looked up, some jelly on their mouth. Y/N wiped it away. “I’ll probably be fine. More fat means more insulation. Plus the blankets you gave me.” They picked at the sandwich. “Are you still going to come, even when it snows?”

“Of course, kiddo. Come rain or shine, hail or snow, I’ll be here until you don’t want me to be.”

Y/N stared at him for a while before crawling into their home. Inside, they rummaged through their things, pulling out bits of scrap and pushing away blankets. After a while, they found what they had been searching for and returned to the outside world.

Outside, they stood up and walked over to Technical Boy. They presented him a beaten up and squashed Snickers bar and refused to look at him while doing so.

Gently, the god took it from them. A Snickers bar, just like the one he’d given them when they first met. A strange, warm feeling spread throughout his chest and he smiled.

“Thank you, Y/N.”

Instead of going back to the cave, they plopped down next to him and wrapped their arms around one of his. They nuzzled into his arm and held on tight.

It was a rather odd sight. A much larger, muscled man with an odd style choice and a clean visage being clung onto by a small, dirty child no older than 10, no younger than 5.

Looking down at the kid, Technical Boy knew he had to protect them, no matter what. This was his kid now. They had been for some time.

•

Another day, another bag for Y/N.

Technical Boy did as he always did, placed the bag at the mouth of the makeshift shelter and sat down opposite of it.

But, Y/N did not come out.

The god waited for a few minutes. When they still had not come out, he called for them. Still, there was no response. Technical Boy stood and walked over.

Placing a hand on the top of the mouth, he looked inside. “Y/N, hey, are you okay?”

Y/N lay limp in the makeshift nest.

“Y/N?” He nudged their legs with one of his hands.

Still, they didn’t respond.

Crawling a little into the small space as best he could, Technical Boy shook Y/N’s shoulders. “Y/N, wake up. Kid, please. This isn’t funny.”

Nothing.

At this point, the god had gone from fine to freaking.

Wrapping an arm around them, he pulled them out of their shelter.

A giant, bloody gash spread around their eye and eyebrow. He could feel blood on the opposing side like they’d been hit with something and cracked their head on concrete. They were cold, freezing really.

‘Please, be okay,’ he thought.

Their back pressed up against his chest, Technical Boy, through his tears, gently smack their cheek.

No response.

He calmed his breathing, shutting his eyes tight. ‘They can’t be gone. Not yet.’

Hoping beyond hope, Technical Boy checked their pulse, pressing his fingers to their neck over one of the carotid arteries.

After a few minutes of silence, he could feel a faint heartbeat.

They were alive.

The god let out the breath he’d been holding, sighing in relief.

His kid was going to be okay.

He stood up. Picking them up bridal-style, he held them close.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered to them. “You’re gonna be okay.”

•

Pacing in the waiting room, Technical Boy picked at his lip.

‘I should have asked them to come with me,’ he thought. ‘I should have made them come with me. This could have been avoided if I had just taken them. They’d be fine right now if I hadn’t wanted to respect their autonomy. The streets are no place for a kid.’

He sat down in one of the chairs, elbows on his knees. His hands interlaced in prayer and he bowed his head. Though he trusted his technology to save them, he couldn’t help but pray they would be okay. Almost immediately, his heel started bouncing against the tile.

“Mr Brown?” Someone asked.

Technical Boy looked up and then stood. “Are they okay?”

The person smiled, probably a doctor, and nodded. “Their skull had been cracked open and they lost a lot of blood, but they’ll be okay,” they said.

“When can I see them?” He crossed his arms, watching the doctor for their reaction.

“You can go to the room, but they won’t be awake for some time.”

“That’s fine. I just- I need to see them.”

They nodded, smiling sympathetically, and gestured for him to follow them.

•

The doctor showed him to Y/N’s room and gestured for him to go in.

Technical Boy, as soon as he laid his eyes on them, sighed in relief.

The bandages surrounded their head and one covered the gash around their eye and eyebrow.

He walked to their side, his eyes never leaving them. As he got to their side, he gently cupped their cheek and rubbed it. He knelt down.

“I’m sorry, N/N. I should have given you some way to contact me or something,’ he whispered to them.

•

The first thing the kid felt when they woke up was something in their arm. It wasn’t painful, just weird. The second, and more enjoyable, feeling was someone holding their hand and the warmth coming from it. Y/N groaned slightly and opened their eyes, only to find Technical Boy gripping their hand, asleep, with his head resting on the bed.

The view looked strikingly similar to their dad when they were younger.

“Tech?” They asked, struggling to get the nickname out.

When he didn’t respond, they nudged him. He groaned a little. Struggling, Y/N got up, feeling a little lightheaded, and, still gripping Technical Boy’s hand, they tugged on him.

The god groaned again and rubbed his eye with his free hand. “Hey, kiddo,” he said, looking up at them. “How ya feelin’?”

They tugged on him again and mumbled something.

“What?”

“Hug.”

Technical Boy chuckled and leant forward, hugging them tight.

Y/N hugged back, nuzzling into his neck.

“You fucking scared me, kid,” he said. He rubbed their back gently as he broke away from them.

Y/N immediately took his hand back, not wanting to be seperate from him. “Feel like I got hit by a brick and cracked my skull open on the sidewalk before crawling back home,” they rightfully complained.

Technical Boy rubbed their cheek, concerned. He dropped his hand and took their other one into his. “I know you probably prefer being on your own, but I really care about what happens to you and I don’t want you to be on your own,” he said as he looked them in the eye.

“Whatcha sayin’?”

“If you want, my place is plenty big for two people and it’s always open to you.”

Y/N was quiet. So quiet, in fact, Technical Boy thought they might have shut down like they always did when he said something they didn’t like and didn’t have something to throw at him.

“Will it be safe?” They asked.

He nodded.

“Okay, but I’m not calling you dad.”

Technical Boy chuckled lightly. “I wouldn’t expect you to, kiddo.”

#american gods #american gods fanfiction #tarot troop #technical boy #technical boy x reader

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dorksndisasters · 3 years

Text

Session 4

[[<PREV]] | [[NEXT>]]

This one is early! I remembered! Are you proud of me lmao

this is uh. yeah. They realised they were heading for a life of crime, went through with it and then got affronted when Aelfswild decided not to pay them lmao

I’m sure that won’t have any consequences whatsoever :I

(The consequences are already up on patreon.com/scmalarky!)

This was also Siana’s last session with us, hence her disappearing at the end

Siana finds the four of them sitting in the Knave and Cauldron, restless and edgy.

“Where did you disappear off to?” Carric asks, pushing out a chair for her.

“Stock up on new glyph designs.” Siana sits down. “What happened?” She nods to Marask, who lifts a hand in greeting and doesn’t lift his chin from the table.

“We’ve got a job.”

“Well, we think we’ve got a job,” Marask says. “No one’s been by with any info on it.”

“I hope we get to kill people on it,” Uriel says, grinning.

“Please don’t say that when we’re in public.”

“You’re the new collectors?” A kobold darts through the tavern to stand beside their table. “I have an assignment from Aelfswild.” He holds out a piece of paper.

Carric takes the paper and unfolds it. “Hey-” When she looks up, the kobold is already gone.

“Where are we going?”

“West Brightscepter.” Carric spreads the paper on the table. “We're to pick up a box from a house.”

“Alright.” Ophi stretches.

“Do you not have to play tonight?” Siana nods over at the empty stool by the fire.

Ophi shakes her head. “Asked for the night off.”

“We’d better get to it, I guess.” Marask stands. “It’s going take a while to get there, since you can’t just fly.”

“Yeah, yeah, show off.” Carric pushes him ahead of her and out of the tavern.

It’s late evening, and the streets are only marginally less busy than they had been during the day. They wind their way through the streets, and as the sun sets further, they get quieter. The line between trader district and living district isn’t significant, but three streets in it becomes a far different place, with spaces for gardens and trees that overhang the road. The buildings become distinct from each other, with walls splitting off the properties.

“There’s the one we want.” Carric looks down at the paper and then back up, and points.

The house she points at is tall and almost spindly. The fence around it is stone to waist height and then iron spikes, as if to let people look in upon the lush and brightly coloured carpet of plants and see what they’re missing.

“It says – Ophi, bring that staff closer-” Carric reaches out like she’s going to grab Ophi’s new staff. “It says there are two guards that patrol the outside.”

“Ok, so we – wait.” Marask hesitates. “This is theft, isn’t it? We are facilitating crimes.”

“Did that dawn before or after the blackmarket?” Uriel asks, unconcerned. She starts to stalk towards the house, sidestepping to circle around the corner of the wall.

“Wait-” Ophi reaches out to grab Uriel, and misses. “Marask, can you distract the guard for us?”

“Boy, can I.” Marask grins and shifts forms, taking off.

Ophibwynn runs after Uriel, and Carric and Siana follow on behind her.

They find Uriel struggling to scale the fence.

“Here, let me-” Siana climbs it easily, turning at the top to offer the others a hand up.

Marask swoops back over them with Artemis in tow, and caws out a warning.

The four of them hit the ground and dive in amongst ornamental bushes as a guard walks into view.

Uriel’s eyes all but glitter as she draws her sword.

“Wait,” Ophi hisses, placing a hand on Uriel’s arm.

Marask and Artemis dive-bomb the guard, causing him to turn away from the group, bringing his shield up to cover his face.

Uriel charges him from behind with Ophi close behind her, and between the two of them they bring the guard down.

Carric and Siana hurry past them, Carric’s eyes glowing as she uses her familiar to scout for a way in.

“There’s a window open,” she murmurs. “This way.”

Uriel crouches to unbuckle the guard’s armour. It’s too big for her, but that doesn’t seem to be putting her off trying it on anyway.

Siana and Carric find the window, which is open enough for them to push it wider.

Siana slips in first and turns to help Carric, and in doing so knocks against a cabinet.

Someone murmurs, like they’re waking up, and Siana and Carric both freeze.

Carric chances it, keeping low to the ground and tiptoeing across the room while Siana stays by the window.

Ophi is the next to appear, as the person starts to sit up, and she whips a spell at them. “Mine,” she hisses, and the figure jerks to a halt. “Where’s Carric?”

“She got through,” Siana murmurs.

“Go and find Uriel,” Ophi says, shifting to the side. “I’ll keep an eye on this one.”

Siana slips out of the window again, and heads off in search of Uriel, who hasn’t gone far from the guard’s body.

Marask, still in his crow form, darts through the window and lands on Carric’s shoulder as she pauses in the corridor.

“Where do you think it is?” she whispers.

He lifts his wings in what is almost a shrug.

“Let’s just try in here,” Carric says, spotting a door opposite.

She places her hand on it, and they both freeze as something creaks.

There are footsteps inside the house, just beyond another door.

“Go,” Carric hisses, and throws herself inside the room, closing the door behind her as quietly as she can.

Marask lifts off from her shoulder and caws as the next door along opens, flapping into the face of someone who looks to be another guard. The guard stumbles back, holding his hands up to shield his face.

Marask harries him into the room and circles, staying just out of reach.

Carric finds herself inside a dark, well-appointed room. The only light is coming in through the windows, and casts pale moonlight over several settees, a fireplace and mantel, and two tall cabinets against the wall.

She circles one of the settees and starts towards the cabinets, since they're most likely to have what they’re looking for (she assumes), but her wren flutters from her shoulder to a dresser she hadn’t noticed, just beside the door.

“Oh,” she whispers. “Thanks.”

There’s a small box on top of the dresser, no bigger than her hand. Carric picks it up and finds it heavier than she expected. It’s locked, and defies her attempts to open it by any means.

“This has to be it.” She pockets it and listens at the door to the corridor.

There’s still a muffled cawing from Marask, so she cracks it open and sees the corridor empty. She walks along, being careful to be as silent as she can, and manages to leave by the front door.

“Let him know,” she murmurs to her wren, and it takes off back into the house to alert Marask.

Moments later, a window open and Marask – still a crow – tumbles out into the open air, shortly followed by her wren.

Carric crouches behind a bush and whistles for them as the guard closes the window.

“Did you find it?” Marask drops beside her, becoming human.

“I think so.” Carric shows him the box.

Marask turns it over, shrugs, and runs along the length of the garden to the windows of the room Carric had found it in. “Hey, can you get this open?”

“What? Why do you want to go back in?”

“I didn’t get a proper look around!”

Carric rolls her eyes and forces the window open with a whisper of magic. “There. Be quick.”

Marask grins and clambers in.

Carric doesn’t have to wait long before he’s scrambling back out, tucking a silver chalice into his bag. “Holy fuck why didn’t I see that?”

“I brought you something.” Marask holds out his closed hand.

Carric opens hers, and he deposites a rock there. “Thanks,” she says, dryly.

“Knew you’d like it.” He grins again. “We should grab the others.”

Siana and Uriel come back to the window where Ophi waits.

The woman stands quiet, caught in Ophi’s spell, and Ophi keeps most of her concentration on her. She’s already sorted through the table beside her. There are several glyph marks that Ophi can’t understand, and a list of what appears to be names – she pockets that - and a small music box, which she also takes.

Uriel hears the guard first and draws her sword, grinning.

She attacks the minute he’s in sight, and he meets her with sword drawn.

“Uriel!” Siana hisses. “Uriel, we can’t leave another body!”

Ophi looks out the window and sees the fight. “Is that the other guard?”

Siana nods, sorting through her glyphs for one that could work in this situation.

“Come on,” Ophi whispers at the woman, manipulating her towards the window. “Stop your guard!”

The woman pulls a glyph from the table beside her bed and throws it unerringly at the guard’s back.

He stops short and the sword falls from his grasp.

Uriel stops attacking and waves her hand in front of his face. “What happened?”

He has a glazed expression and doesn’t respond to anything.

“Why does she have a glyph that does that?” Siana asks, examining the tile where it’s stuck to the guard’s back.

Ophi climbs down out of the window and walks across.

“Come on,” Carric calls, joining them. “What happened here?”

“Nothing-” Ophi crouches to pick up the sword and cries out, clutching at her head.

The woman in the house blinks and seems to come to herself. “What are you doing here?” She grips at the windowsill, leaning out and glaring at the group.

They bolt for the shadows, running away.

They arrive back at the Knave and Cauldron without incident. Despite the late hour, the inn is still open and Aelfswild sits at the table they first saw him at.

“Ah, you’re back.” He looks up, smiling. “How did that go?”

“It - it went fine,” Carric says, after a pause. “This is the box you’re looking for, right?” She holds it up.

Aelfswild tilts his head, peering at it. “It certainly seems to be it. If I may?” He holds out his hand.

Marask stops Carric from handing it over. “What about our pay?”

“Your pay?” Aelfswild raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah. We did a job for you, what do we get in return?”

Aelfswild lets out a small chuckle. “Oh, my dears, we never agreed that I’d pay you.”

“But this was a job. Jobs get paid.” Marask frowns.

“I must say, I assumed you would take your pay from the house. There was quite a lot in there asides from what my client wanted, hm?”

“That’s bullshit!” Marask says. “You’re not – we're not giving this to you.” He pushes Carric’s hand back.

She slips the box into her bag.

Aelfswild leans back in his chair. “Alright. On your heads be it.”

The group leave the inn, with Ophi glancing back every so often like she thinks Aelfswild’s going to follow them for revenge, but he just sits there and watches them leave.

“So what else did we get?” Marask asks, as they huddle in the alleyway outside.

“These.” Ophi holds up the list of names and the music box. “I don’t know any names on the list.” She turns the handle on the music box, and a merry little tune plays out. Nothing else happens with it.

“Should we be worried by him?” Siana asks, gesturing back at the inn. “He didn’t seem... annoyed that we’re ripping him off.”

“He didn’t pay us, he doesn’t get the goods.”

“I could always go back and kill him,” Uriel says, and pulls one of her swords out.

“No.” Carric slaps her hand down on top of Uriel’s.

“But it would solve the problem!”

“If he wants it, he can pay us. What else can he do? Go to the guard about how he wanted us to steal it?”

Siana does not look convinced, but she quiets.

Marask pulls the chalice from his bag and looks it over. It’s silver, studded with moonstones, and Carric’s eyes go wide at the side of it.

“And you brought me a rock?”

Marask shrugs. “It’s a very nice rock.”

“It’s just a rock!”

“Let’s not get into that?” Ophi breaks in, before they can get any more heated.

“Let’s go to the black market!” Uriel exclaims, grinning.

“That’s... not such a bad idea.”

“Let’s go, then.”

They leave the alley and walk along the streets to the entrance they know.

The black market is as busy as it was the first time; it doesn’t seem to stop for anything.

“Hey, Uriel?” Ophi nudges her. “How do you feel about swapping that armour for this sword?”

Uriel considers it. “Deal.” She shucks the armour, which was weighing awkwardly on her, and takes the sword from Ophi.

Ophi adjusts the weight and size of the armour with her magic and straps it onto herself. “There.”

Marask glances at her and snorts, then looks away.

“What?”

“I’ve just never seen a sorcerer wear armour before, that’s all.”

“Well, we keep getting into dangerous situations. I’d like to be safe.” Ophi turns to the pie stall and buys a stack, eating one on the spot.

“Well, I’m going to go get rich.” Marask shrugs and turns away, and misses Carric lifting the chalice from his bag.

He steps up to a stall already filled with gold and silver jewellery and statuettes and leans over to the elf manning it. “So how would you like to add to this collection?”

“Depends what it is you’re offering.” The elf stares at him, folding his arms.

“Well,” Marask says, searching through his bag, “I... don’t have anything at the moment, but you’d be interested if I did find anything? Say... a silver chalice studded with moonstones?”

“That sounds like it belongs amongst my wears.” The elf nods.

Marask smiles. “Alright. If I spot anything like that, I’ll be sure to let you know.” He turns back to the group. “Right.” He drops the smile. “Who stole it?”

One by one, they all shrug and shake their head.

“Oh come on!”

“We’re in the black market,” Carric says. “This place is probably full of pickpockets.”

Marask snorts and walks away.

“Ok.” Carric walks across to the stall. “What can you give me for this?” She pulls the chalice from her bag and offers it to the elf.

A small smile flickers across his face. “Well...” He examines it. “I can offer you 250 gold pieces.”

“Sounds great.” Carric takes the money, letting go of the chalice.

“Hey!” Marask yells, outraged. “You said-”

“You brought me a rock!” Carric retorts, pocketing the gold.

Marask turns to the pie merchant and buys six pies, grumbling away to himself.

Carric smirks and turns to saunter away, perusing her way down the stalls.

Marask runs after her and slaps two of his new pies into the side of her head with a yell of, “Food fight!”

The market erupts into chaos as the suggestion takes this time, and soon the air is thick with flying food.

Marask shifts into crow form and flits higher than most people are throwing.

Ophi tries to summon a shield spell and fails, and crouches down beside a stall in the hopes of not getting hit.

Carric throws the rock at Marask and misses.

Uriel takes advantage of the chaos to steal two pies from the stall and sits beside Ophi to eat one of them.

Marask circles around and dives at the jeweller’s stall, lifting away the chalice in his claws before anyone can notice or stop him.

In the chaos, Siana slips away without a word to the others, and doesn’t look back.

#dnd #homebrew #campaign #fate

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onestowatch · 4 years

Text

Artists on Their Favorite and Least Favorite Animal Crossing Villagers

In the world of hard-hitting journalism, few topics are as divisive and polarizing as Animal Crossing, namely the subject of best and worst villagers. From tier lists to spending an obscene amount of Nook Miles tickets in the search of the “perfect” villager, the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has brought with it a seedy blackmarket. Want a smug office working cat with heterochromia? Well, I hope you are prepared to shell out upwards of 20 million bells.

From Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk critiquing players’ virtual homes to Elijah Wood sliding in your DMs to sell turnips, seemingly no one is safe from this newfound reality. So, as we navigate our way through a world in which Bobby isn’t pleased with my island home having a room dedicated solely to turnip storage, we posed one impossible question to a few of our favorite artist friends. “Who is your favorite and least favorite Animal Crossing villager?”

BENEE

"I don’t like Moose because he only ever wants to talk to me about working out, and I don’t like how he calls me shorty! Katt is probably my favourite because she seems interested in having a chat when I approach her."

Griffin McElroy

“Roald is my favorite Animal Crossing villager by an enormous margin, and was the first creature I tracked down once I got my hands on New Horizons. He’s a penguin who falls into the ‘jock’ category, despite the fact that he’s usually chilling in his igloo-house with a sandwich or a cold one in hand. He cares very much about my sick gains, and I appreciate it to no end.

My least favorite villager is Zucker, who is an octopus that most other players seem to love, but boy, he's challenging. His head resembles takoyaki, which is to say, a fried dough ball filled with minced octopus, impaled on a stick and drizzled with brown sauce. What dark magics breathed life into Zucker? Should I want to eat him? Because I kind of do, and I don't need that energy on my island, thanks.”

Dayglow

“Favorite has to be Sparro by far, like woah! He’s so freaking chill. Least favorite was easily Zipper— good riddance. He had such creepy unwelcome vibes.”

mxmtoon

"My favorite Animal Crossing Villager is Stitches because I think he looks like the funniest and he really likes bugs. He lives on a dirt floor, he's an airplane king, and, despite all odds, has flourished and thrived in his life. I don't even know if I have a least favorite but if I had to pick it would be Pate, she's a duck and just really rude. Her eyebrows also look like W's.”

Cavetown

“Villagers can be a very controversial topic in the Animal crossing community. There seems to be two types of people when it comes to villager preferences - the ones who just love them all equally, and the ones who unapologetically have an overwhelming hatred for specific animals in the game. I’m of course totally against bullying in most cases, but animal crossing villagers are the one exception.

I won’t name names about the ones I hate in the game as not to hit any nerves for anyone reading, but for example there’s this one resident I have - let’s just say her name rhymes with Banberra - who has being going around pissing off all my best friends in town. She leaves my sweet Sydney and Marina walking around furious for no good reason. I’ve been trying to bully her out of my town but she’s been there since the beginning and seems adamant on staying. She’s my least favourite right now because of how she’s been treating my other villagers.

As for favourites, I could go on forever!! In my current town, Poncho was one of my first two villagers and I decided we’re best buds. He’s a jock villager so is always talking about pumping iron, and I love him so much that I built a whole outdoor gym for him in my town. I tend to unconditionally love the Octopus and Frog villagers. He doesn’t really count as a villager, but my favourite character in the whole game is Leif. I would literally put my life on the line if it meant his flowers would bloom perfectly.”

chloe moriondo

“Pietro is my favorite ACNH villager even though I don’t have him on my island (yet)!!!!! I think he gets a lot of hatred thrown his way for being a clown, which I personally relate to, and he is colorful and cute and fun and sheepy and I would lay down my life for him. He is by far my favorite villager since I got him in my town in New Leaf.

My least favorite villager is Moose, even though I weirdly still respect him for being so ugly and notorious amongst the ACNH community. In fact, I would almost call myself a fan of him just because of how gross and hilarious I think his little manly mouse face is. I would not want him in my town ever, but I am an advocate of Ugly ACNH Villagers’ Rights so I wouldn’t hit him with a net or be mean to him if he were to visit. (Would NOT ask him to move in though.)”

Jorge (Peach Tree Rascals)

“My personal favorite character is (not surprisingly) K.K Slider. Any dog with that much swag and music playing ability deserves all the love and respect in the world. As for my least favorite it’d probably have to be Pietro. Something about a creepy clown like that just doesn’t sit right with me, It’s just so creepy looking. An honorable mention would be Papi the horse, simply because his name is Papi. Like c’mon that’s hilarious! Plus his dreams of being a comic book writer remind me of when I wanted to be a comic artist when I was much younger.”

Almondmilkhunni

“I like Goldie the most because she’s just super cute. And I dislike Moose, because I hate his eyebrows. He’s a little rat weirdo.”

khai dreams

“I love Roald. He is a weird little beady-eyed dude, but I adore him. He was one of the villagers in my town back when I played Animal Crossing on the GameCube. Penguins were my favorite animal at the time, so I was so happy when he moved in. He is just a dumb little baby and I love him for it. Bonus fav character is Coco. She is just so weird and creepy and cute. She is my wife. She will be my wife.

My least favorite villager is Colton. F Colton!! He showed up in my camp and wouldn't leave until I let him live in my village. I report him every day to Isabelle, but it seems to make no difference. In his biography it says his skill is ‘Writing about pickles;’ what the hell? stfu Colton. Write about pickles in someone else's town!!!”

#animal crossing #animal crosing new horizons #benee #griffin mcelroy #dayglow #khai dreams #almondmilkhunni #peach tree rascals #cavetown #chloe moriondo #mxmtoon

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imaginesofeverykind · 4 years

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Oh Partner, My Partner || Chloe Frazer x Elena Fisher

[literally the only gif i could find with the two of them together omfg — yall i wish these two had more scenes together]

This took so LONG because I had no idea how to write these two best gals without them just trauma bonding over how much of a shit Nathan is lmaooooo I might have to do a part 2 idkkk man 👀👀

Request: Hello! I just saw your post about fanfic requests. Can you write something for chloe x elena (as a ship) from uncharted? Please. Thank you!

Words: 1.7k

Warnings: None ! Just a bitta flirting

“Step on it! We got Company!”

Everything was a complete blur, happening in rapid succession that it was nearly impossible to process. Elena Fisher had partaken in her fair share of shoot outs, some incredibly similar to the current situation she was in, the difference now was merely semantics.

She barrelled down the narrow walkway, ancient ruins encompassing the way out in a claustrophobic manner. If the circumstances didn’t call for panic and nimble feet, she’d take a moment to admire yet another long lost civilisation in her wake.

Gunshots echoed through as the army-for-hire attempted to hit the two figures, the two barely managing to exit the choke point and out into the open.

Elena took a moment to catch her breath, lamenting on the fact she could never simply get a story nowadays without being shot at. Her eyes trailed over to her partner — who was equally out of breath, however urged her to press onward.

“C’mon, take one of their trucks, we’ll be lucky if we hit the nearest town before they tail us.” Chloe Frazer motioned for her companion to follow, as unlikely as the pairing had been, the two women found each other’s company much more bearable than initially expected.

Of course, it wasn’t without needing something the other had. Elena had been stumped just days prior at the prospect of losing a big story after her source had been unceremoniously blown up — quite literally. It just so happened that the bar she weighed out her options had also been the same bar the familiar Australian woman had been on the lookout for her next big break.

The two hijacked one of the unmanned vehicles, tearing up some of the lush terrain as they made their quick escape. Both looking back with wide smiles at the near death experience turn successful lift and having enough proof to run a highly intriguing article.

“I can’t believe we did that!” Elena laughed out loud, her heart still thundering in her chest while the adrenaline surged through her. Her hands gripped the edge of her seat as she beamed at her companion, who was rather proud of the work they completed today.

Chloe weaved the truck in and out of major obstacles, having some indication where they needed to go in order to get to town, “we make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

The blonde was taken aback by the compliment, a light blush painting her cheeks as she flustered to find an answer. In the short few years she’d known Chloe, it was clear that the Australian was hard to impress, rarely allowing anyone in too close. To hear her point it out was an honour.

“Y-yeah… I think we did great.” Elena beamed, her eyes lingering over her partner a little too long.

“I knew I liked you for a reason,” Chloe raised her brow, her eyes trailing back and forth from watching the road to her passenger.

It was a miracle they managed to both make it out alive and managed to get enough evidence for the journalist, unlike other times which resulted into her having to sacrifice her story just to make it out alive.

This time was different, and both of them were aware of that major difference; No Nathan Drake. As much as they equally admired and appreciated his heroic efforts, they couldn’t deny the fact he was quite literally the worst treasure hunter. Somehow, someway always finding the ability to blow up his latest find in some spectacular feat.

Without him in the picture, it was unexpectedly easy to pull off the job.

In the several days finding the next lead, following the trail of some illicit blackmarket group, Elena saw a side to Chloe she was quite happy to see. That sentiment also applied for the Australian, no longer believing the outspoken journalist was as bothersome in her regard.

The two had driven for the most part of two hours, ditching the truck somewhere ambiguous while they trekked the rest of the way into town. The dark haired woman praying that their plane ride out of the secluded outback town was still available, wanting to get the hell out of dodge as soon as possible.

With the harsh summer sun beating down on them, the trek felt much longer than it actually was, the American completely out of her comfort zone as she watched in envy at her companion who was seemingly unbothered by the heat. Elena fanned her face with one hand and held up the other to alleviate the glare from the sun, cursing herself for not thinking to bring sunglasses — of all things.

Chloe looked back in amusement, finding it funny that her partner was sweltering in the blistering heat, “bit hot, love?” The facetious tone not at all deterring the glare she got in response, merely laughing more as she wipes away the sweat beading on her neck.

She pointed lazily ahead, “town’s not too far away — won’t melt on me, will you?”

Elena squinted at her, only because she was so conveniently placed right by the sun, “y’know what, I just might.” She panted, taking a short breather.

The local stifled a laugh, “c’mon hot stuff, that article of yours won’t write itself,” she strode ahead, not particularly overthinking her comment coupled as she could just spot the town ahead.

“Here I was thinkin’ I’d catch a break from the shameless flirting… must be a common trait among thieves.” Elena was smug, catching up with her strides as she walked in sync with Chloe. The statement was purely a soft jab at the way people in this specific profession tend to talk to one another.

“Oh — was I not being clear enough?” Chloe retorted, an equally as complacent smirk on her face, even more so upon noticing the flustered look on the blonde's face, “I’ll be more obvious next time, love.”

It was hard to determine whether or not she was being sarcastic, her accent lent little to the imagination with the monotonous drawl, but her sultry tone of voice often always contradicted the accent. As someone who knew her relatively well, how she spoke to other people and carried herself; Elena was still confused.

Maybe the flirty comments were always so obvious when she was directing them elsewhere, then again, Elena was sure that it was simply a shared trait among the many within this business.

Truth be told, the only other person who had attempted to charm her was Nathan, and his measly endeavors were so blatantly obvious it was borderline cringeworthy. She could barely count Harry Flynn as an eligible contender considering he tried to blow the lot of them up.

She wasn’t sure why she was so stuck in her thoughts about it, she was an adult after all and didn’t need to overthink every single remark made her way. Yet here she was, the familiar feeling bubbling up inside her all the while her partner walked in a proud strut.

“I’m sorry — are you joking? I - I really can’t tell if you’re pulling my leg.” Elena eventually spoke out, deciding that the adult approach was the best way to feed into Chloe’s zero bullshit, blunt attitude. She was well aware now wasn’t the time to be having a conversation like this, and typically she’d be happy to let the comments fly by with having a witty retort. This time felt more urgent, like she needed to know before proceeding further.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Chloe winked, jogging up ahead as they entered into the small isolated town. Elena laughed to herself, finding a sense of relief fill her from that sufficient answer. If she was being completely honest, she hadn’t met anyone quite like Chloe before but she had an alluring aura, even when she was being unlikeable; one couldn’t help but be drawn to her. Elena was no exception.

Nevermind that the pair of them looked like they actively fought some of the native wildlife, the two of them disregarding odd looks thrown their way as they casually strolled down the main street.

The local ushered her companion into a dingy old pub that definitely looked like it wasn’t up to code — if that even existed this far in isolation. The town itself was home to one grocery store, two pubs, an abysmal excuse for a doctors office and one lousy looking police station that sat surrounded by approximately twenty-six houses.

Inside the pub was not much different than outside; muggy with a thick musk scent that mixed with the aroma of sweat from the patrons. Elena must have pulled a face subconsciously, earning a chuckle from her partner as she guided her through the building, “mining towns aren’t all they chalk up to be, aye? Poor bastards leave their families for months at a time to live in luxury at a shit hole like this.”

“Yeah — I guess you could say that…” Elena nervously laughed, not a big fan of the way the workers were eyeing them suspiciously. She wasn’t quite sure if they were looking at them because they were quite clearly outsiders, or for some other reason.

“Stop your worryin’, love — you got me to protect you.” Chloe flashed her a smile, opening the backdoor to the sweet sight of their getaway plane. The makeshift airport was barely manned, only passing the odd pilot or two on their way to greet their pilot.

Elena looked around cautiously, knowing that typically this was the part of the job where they get ambushed; then again, they had pulled this job off without the antagonising presence of Nathan Drake, so the likelihood of something like that happening was incredibly low. It wasn’t his fault he had an undeniable knack for pissing off the ‘bad guys’ effortlessly.

Seeing that she wasn’t in the conversation, Chloe reached over to her and softly grabbed Elena’s hand, “Tommo’s ‘bout ready to leave, you still with us?”

The blonde snapped out of her preemptive panic, giving her partners hand a squeeze as she nods, “only if you’ll have me.”

“I think I’ll keep you around a bit longer.”

#uncharted #request #imagines #one shots #chloe frazer #elena fisher #chloe x elena #imagine #uncharted imagines #uncharted ships #uncharted imagine

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evien-stark · 4 years

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✧I Need You✧ Chapter 196

Ex-Stark Employee At the Mercy of Bleeding Hearts on Valentine’s Day

This was not the headline you imagined for your big night. It wasn’t one you wanted. It was one that made you a little… sad, even. Cadence had stolen your big night, but you’d ruined her life, right? Fired her when she’d gone behind your back and hurt people of New York City that had needed help. Maybe you’d been too hard on her.

Because what else would cause her to become so deranged? To volunteer herself for science experiments and use the rest of her life savings on blackmarket Chitauri weapons? She wouldn’t give up her seller. Nor her doctors. She wouldn’t give you any information on anything that had led her from the street of Stark Industries the night you’d fired her to the moment where she’d carefully planned and crafted a rouse designed to kill you.

She’d messed with your car. She’d tried to break your Reactor. She’d possibly gotten close to murdering you. All so that she could parade your dead body around the city, wound Tony over it and try to draw his fire out in much the same way. Damage his suit and then probably put his head on a pike.

This life-

God you hated this life.

And that poor kid had gotten wrapped up in all this nonsense. You’d come out of it with more than a concussion, but that was not the thing you were most concerned about. Seeing as how the evening was only recalled in bits and pieces. But you remembered just enough about him. That a young crimefighter had come to your aid when you’d needed help. And he’d almost paid a very dear price for it.

He was just a kid- and you knew exactly which one. Because there were no coincidences in the world. What had driven Peter Parker to vigilantism? Was it the night at the Expo? Had you and Tony done this to him? Prodded him into a glamorous life of villains and evil? He was just a kid. He was just a kid. Had you met him when he was even younger than he was now for a reason? Had you seen him in the park a few months ago for that very same reason?

None of it made sense and- You were just so tired and sad.

It was why Tony found you sitting up in your darkened bedroom, weeping the next night. Falling down off an emotional cliff the wrong way. It hurt to cry, too. Physically. Your chest was a disaster area. Healing quicker than you deserved, but two days out you still weren’t there. Your face and body were still blotchy with yellowed bruises. Your neck still bore what looked like claw marks on the side.

And Tony had given a public press release about Cadence with his ring on. Without you. Because you were wounded and in bed. Not that it mattered. Press had pictures of you wearing your engagement ring as you were being half carried out of that apartment building by Tony and DC. You didn’t remember that moment- in pictures you seemed to be awake, lucid, and on your feet. Exactly as you should have been because Lady Iron couldn’t be taken down by a crazed ex-employee right?

Except that’s sort of what had happened.

Some hero you were.

You were supposed to be thankful that they were painting you in such an angelic light. An ex-employee had been out to kill you. Had plotted for years about the exact way to do it and had done everything within her means (and some very far out of her reach) to exact this plan. You’d had a chance to kill her- because of course you had- you were Lady Iron. An Avenger. But you’d chosen mercy.

...this was all true. Perhaps. Maybe Tony had told the story that way. And it was true. You hadn’t wanted to kill her. You’d come very close to doing so. But by your heroic strengths alone you’d decided not to. But that wasn’t really how it had happened, was it?

The next few days were a daze. Walking nightmares that you barely woke from until Tony held you in his arms. Dropped broken glasses as you felt yourself going upside down in your car and- alien shrieks accompanied with those electric spears- In some moments you were in that alley. In that building. In others you were facing down a giant space whale and laser blasts. Life was a daze. You were in so many places. Yet you’d never once left home.

Tony weathered your storm with loving patience and understanding. Until finally on the fourth morning it felt like you were going to be okay again. You didn’t get lost going down a hallway, or start crying looking out windows- or… duck for cover, plastered into whatever closest corner you could find.

You hated this life. You wanted out.

But how could you? When you’d unknowingly indoctrinated a child?

You weren’t over the Battle of New York City. You weren’t over Ivan Vanko. Or Obidiah Stane. Or being tossed off port beams to die in a fire- being injected with EXTREMIS and exploding. You weren’t over Triskellion ships exploding out of the sky in Washington. Or being attacked at the United Nations. Or Sokovia being utterly destroyed. You weren’t over being tortured by Kilgrave. Or murdering your college professor.

Now you were fighting the fresh and new monsters Cadence had born to life.

Your battle record was getting to be quite extensive. All of them looked like victories on paper, but to you they were all shadows that at any moment could slither around you and choke you. It just depended on the right noise or the right darkness or the right trigger.

How could you let a child start digging himself a well of trauma chasing the life of a superhero?

Really, more importantly, how could you stop him?

You took a long two hours that morning to get your head on straight. Wallowing was good for only so long. It had allowed you a lot of release that had been building up. And despite your rank in society, you tried to remember that you, like everyone else, were really just a person. Some days it was harder to remember that than others. The days where it felt like you were holding the world on your shoulders. But… for now you’d had your time. Now you had to get back to work.

A too long and too hot shower really helped soothe all the aches and pains that still lingered. Once you were finished you got ready as if it were a normal day. Did your hair. Your makeup. Got dressed like you were going somewhere, even if you had no plans to. It helped. If only a little.

Tony was sitting at his desk in the corner of the living room. Close to the bedroom. Not his actual work office or down in the labs. Close to you. Because you might need him. And often did. He had papers and parts and who knew what else littered just about everywhere. He was working on something. But when you approached close enough he lifted his head like he just knew you were there and turned on his stool to glance your way.

Once you got within arm’s reach, that’s literally what you did. Reaching out to him, winding your arms around him. Resting your forehead against his shoulder as he returned the embrace. He had a touch of nervousness about him. The same one he always did when you had just woken up fresh from a battle. Worried he might hurt you if he exerted too much upon you, no matter how much he wanted to.

So you squeezed him. And delighted when he squeezed back. Not quite crushing you to him, but somewhere close to it. A feeling that helped ground you.

When you eased back he reached up- left hand on purpose. You felt the cool metal of his ring as he cupped the side of your face. “How are you feeling?” You reached up with your own to hold him where he was, half tilting in closer, eyes closing. Just… just enjoying the feel of his touch. “Good enough.” Tony had his own demons to deal with, his own torments and problems the same as you. You knew because of this he understood exactly what it was like. To be where you were. You nodded to everything sitting in front of him. “Working on what Cadence had?”

His attention turned back to the table just a little. “Working on figuring out how this happened.” A cloud was looming over him. But that was normal after these kinds of events. He blamed himself for everything. Constantly. Even things that weren’t his fault. ...especially things that weren’t his fault.

A useless shrug welled up from your shoulders and a little more than guilt seeped through you. “I was so focused on us being normal I forgot that we weren’t.”

“Don’t blame yourself-” “Why not?” The two of you were staring at one another again. “I was so focused on us and… pretending to be anyone else. I should have realized what was happening far before it happened. That my car was messed with. That I was going the wrong way. That she was waiting for me in the road. I didn’t. And I got what I deserved.”

He stood up suddenly but didn’t raise his voice. “You did not deserve that. Or any of this.” Anything that had ever happened, he meant. He was firm in saying this but not forceful. His heart was aching same as yours.

“It just seems like… every time we try and carve out something for ourselves, some force is determined to take it away.” There was a certain helplessness about you. At what point did you stop lying to yourself that you could have a life with Tony? How many times had the universe waggled its finger right in your face to tell you otherwise?

His hands reached up again but landed on your arms, giving you a light little rub there. “You telling me you buy into the whole cosmic fate nonsense all of a sudden?”

You found yourself shaking your head. “I don’t know. I just know that… coincidences just never seem to be coincidences. And whenever we try and take one step forward for us, we get shunted back about ten.”

Softly he watched you. Considered what you were saying. It wasn’t long before one of his brows arched upwards. “In terms of the public eye we just got engaged. You wanna call it off?”

“No.” Something desperate in the way that you said this, lifting your hands to touch up across his chest. “Of course not. But… I think it’s time to pack it in on this whole retirement idea. It’s not really working out.” Sadness hit Tony hard then and you were entirely responsible. It hurt because you didn’t know what else to say about it. “We’ll have a wedding and some loud obnoxious villain will break it up. You’ll have to bring two suits.” The humor was not real or strong, no matter how hard you were trying.

That he didn’t even crack a smile was telling. “Our life is not a Saturday morning cartoon. We don’t live in a five act structure. Not everything gets wrapped up with a neat little lesson and an audience laugh track. Things happen no matter how much either of us try to stop them or prepare for them or fight them. But the only thing we can do is move on.”

“To the next terrible thing.”

His hands gripped you a little harder. Not hurting you but… “All we can do is move on.” It was like he was begging you to come to an agreement with him about this. As usual. As always. Every time you had this exact conversation… he begged you not to fall away from him.

You didn’t know what to say. You had no words that would make it better and you feared saying anything that would make it worse. You rubbed at his chest a little absently and he let up on his hold. You drew a deep breath in and let it out as an even deeper sigh. “Well…” Deciding to just… move on as he’d said. “I may not have deserved this latest atrocity but. I know someone who deserved it even less.”

It took him a moment to be able to pick up his own pieces enough to go to the next topic of conversation. He gazed at you for a moment longer, then nodded a bit and moved to sit again. “You wouldn’t happen to be talking about our little mystery spider friend, would you?”

“I know who he is.”

“So do I. Now- did you know before or after you sent him up for a playdate in my lab?”

“After.” You moved to seat yourself on the edge of the table, folding your arms.

A huff of a laugh escaped him as he mirrored you, crossing his own with a shake of his head. “And you were just saying about coincidences…”

“Peter Parker.” Just saying his name to get it out there. Peter Parker was Spider-Man. You had no idea how the hell that had happened or how long that had been true for. ...but the way Tony was looking at you- “Tell me you didn’t go digging.” He knew.

“Alright- look.” Holding a hand out to you as if to stop you from staring at him in that slightly judgy way. “My wife-to-be was bleeding out on the floor of an abandoned building murmuring something about Spider-Man and you think I wouldn’t go digging?”

...you’d had no idea about that. Embarrassment compounded with shame made for quite a lot of heat on your face. You decided to quickly sidestep the issue. He’d gotten himself out of jail this time. “We haven’t heard much about him, so I assume he hasn’t been spider-ing around for a long time.”

“Barely crawling, if you ask me.” Turning back to the table he reached for his phone, touched a few things on his screen, and then flipped a hologram into the air. Just a couple street level videos of Spider-Man’s activities- though the titles didn’t quite have the name down.

You watched as Peter stopped a car barreling towards him and two other civilians with his bare hands. Extremely impressive stuff. That strength was probably on par with Steve. Which was… saying a lot. He wasn’t even out of puberty yet- ah- “Is he a mutant, do you think?”

Tony put his phone down. “Hard to say without looking at him up close. He’s got some pretty impressive gear, I’ll give him that. Gotta wonder who’s making it for him. Suit needs immense work, though.”

The stuff he was shooting, you imagined that’s what Tony was talking about. Webs, you barely remembered Peter calling them. But. Accurate, if that’s the theme he was going for. But that meant they weren’t coming from him- so he was already smart enough to start augmenting whatever mutations he had with other tech. “Who’s to say he didn’t make it himself?”

“Kid’s living in a two bedroom in Queens. The goggled pajamas he definitely made. But the webbing materials? It’s possible but…” Tony seemed skeptical for one reason or another. “I’d like to have a nice friendly chat with him.”

“Me, too. But we have to be delicate about this. He’s a good kid, Tony.”

“Didn’t say I thought any different.”

You nodded a few times over and took another deep breath for good measure. “He’s new. And he wants to help. But… the world is out of control. Cadence might have beat him to death if she’d wanted to.”

“Or you. Seemed like you two had some sort of synergy going on there.” Now Tony was scrutinizing you. Not in a bad way or anything, but… being under his microscope was extremely uncomfortable.

There was an easy way to relieve the pressure. “Kid called me Mrs. Stark. First thing he did.” Smiling softly as you told Tony this.

It broke the magnifying glass and he couldn’t seem to help his own grin. “That so? Then we definitely need to go talk to him.”

“We just have to be gentle with him. If we tell him to stop it might make him act out. And if we tell him to go all in, that’s dangerous, too. Oh-” Memory struck you, the more you thought about him. The path that he was on. “When I saw him in the park… I think something happened to him. Something terrible. I’m not sure if it’s related.”

Tony’s eyes dropped in such a telling manner. His hands folded together and then he was nodding. “Yeah. His uncle died not too long ago. Doesn’t seem like his parents were in the picture for very long either.” There was a purposeful pause here. It made you scared. But not quite like when Tony finally said, “Guy was murdered.”

“Murdered?” The word blurted out of you before you could help it.

His tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth and he sighed. “Yeah. In the phenomenally wrong place at the phenomenally wrong time.” You weren’t sure what to make of this. “Crime rate’s going down in the city but. It’s never zero.”

“Where’s the guy who did it?” “Funny you should ask.” He sniffed a breath in. “Disappeared but miraculously turned into the police station a couple days later. Beaten pretty bad but. Alive and now behind bars.” Relief flooded through you hearing this and you let go of a long exhale.

So. Peter Parker was suffering. And in his grief he had decided to… first make things right- thank god he hadn’t killed that man. And then his next move? Try and help everyone else.

What were you supposed to do with a kid like that?

---

In lieu of your Reactor now that Tony was working on a brand new one, he asked that you carry the new watch he’d designed. The one with the miniest of mini Arc Reactors inside of it. Good enough for a few defensive and offensive maneuvers. While you didn’t need it going to visit Peter, Tony was still on edge. So were you. Which was why you let him strap it onto your wrist without a fight.

The building the Parkers were living in wasn’t the nicest and it also wasn’t the worst. At the very least it wasn’t an old walkup, so that was nice. Your body still sort of ached after everything that had gone on a handful of nights ago so an elevator ride instead of six flights of stairs was a nice reprieve. Tony had parked the car right on the curb outside which was probably not the smartest idea but…

Was any of this? There wasn’t really a concrete plan here. Just to go talk to his aunt first to lay the foundation of lies that Peter had been accepted into the inaugural September Grant after applying, get her reaction on that, maybe do a little investigating… and then catch Peter unaware as he came home from school. Not to upset him or make him feel like something was wrong but so that he didn’t run or shy away from this.

Which he might- ...this also was probably a bad plan if you were trying to be delicate with him. Which you were, but… there were no manuals on how to raise superkids.

...was that what you were doing? The thought hit you like a truck. About the same time Tony had finished knocking on the apartment door. He must have sensed that you were zoning out. “Honey?”

Whatever answer you were going to give him died when the door opened and there in front of you stood a very stunned and confused May Parker. “Uh- hi. Hello?” Not really sure what to make of what was going on.

You put on your gentlest, winning-est smile. “Hi, Mrs. Parker. I hope we’re not interrupting.”

“Gosh. How could I ever say you two were interrupting anything? What is this, anyway? Am I on some new- uh… what’s going on?” While she’d been trying to joke about perhaps being pranked it must have been the way you and Tony were looking at her.

And the fact that two NYC-local-Avengers had just showed up to her door. And her kid was nowhere to be found. Still in school maybe. But the alternative was...

Tony picked the exact wrong words to say for someone who was still grieving a loss about three months in and suddenly burdened with over-anxiety about her kid’s whereabouts. “We actually came to talk about Peter. Can we come in? It’s a little drafty out in the hallway.”

Her hand tightened on the door. “Peter? Why? What’s wrong? Did something happen?” She was practically drowning you in her worries.

“Nothing yet.” You sent a little calmness her way hoping it would help. “We wanted to talk about his introduction into the September Grant society- and about a Stark Internship for him.”

Her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “Oh- oh! I knew there was a reason he went to- never mind- come in! Yes. Please come in. Sorry. I’ll put on a pot of coffee.” She walked away from the door, suddenly harried with frantic excited energy. Tony closed it behind the both of you as you followed her in. “He was the happiest I’d seen him since- ...well, happiest in a little while, anyway. I don’t think I’d ever be able to repay you.” Her voice was floating in from the kitchen. “Did he apply when he went to the labs in December? It was such a big moment for him. I don’t think you’ll ever know what it meant to him.”

Peter probably wouldn’t be happy about her divulging all this information but… hearing it did do your heart a little bit of good. He’d needed something that day. You were glad to have been able to help. Tony put his hand in his pocket. “Yeah he uh… displayed some pretty keen talent. Would be a shame for it to go to waste.”

You followed up. “Which is why we wanted to talk to you. Make sure it’s okay with you. He did apply and we’re ready to offer it to him, but it’s a big commitment.”

Tony grinned her way as she looked up from the kitchen. “Wanted your blessing.”

She scoffed. “Who am I to say no to a thing like that?” Turning back she looked at the clock on the wall. “He should be home soon anyway. Can’t wait to see the look on his face.”

“Neither can we.” Said with the widest smile.

Eventually the coffee brewed and she sat the two of you down in the living room with some homemade walnut loaf and two mugs of her finest instant coffee. While you’d been fishing for more information about Peter, she turned the tide your way. “I thought it was awful what happened the other night. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Some days I don’t, either.” This was something you really didn’t want to talk about.

She seemed to understand. “Hell of a way to make a statement, though. Did you two pick out a date yet?” Smiling a little apologetically for the snafu.

Tony grinned. “If only she’d let me.”

“It would be tomorrow if I did.”

He made a face. “What’s wrong with that?”

May was smiling quite broadly. “You’re practically married already. What’s a piece of paper?”

Tony gestured to her. “A woman with good sense. See? She understands.”

Despite your best efforts to play offended you couldn’t help yourself, hiding another smile behind a sip of coffee but unable to hide your laughter as he gave you a little nudge. Whatever turn the conversation was headed towards, it stopped as the sound of keys jingling in the front door alerted you to Peter’s presence.

He walked in completely unaware, headphones plugged into his ears. He dropped his keys onto a table against the wall and let his backpack slide off his shoulder and down onto one arm. “May- there’s this really crazy car parked outside-” Then he turned.

And caught the sight of you and Tony sitting on his couch opposite his Aunt May. Shock wasn’t quite the color painting his guts. First came an abundance of excitement. It was bias that brought the thought but… his two favorite superheroes were sitting in his home. But soon after that realization dawned. And there was a serious sense of trepidation and fear. He thought he was in trouble. Huge, huge trouble.

After all. Why would Team Iron show up like this unannounced after what had happened? “Uh…”

You smiled up at him. “Hi, Peter. It’s nice to see you again.”

He shakily took his headphones out of his ears. “Y-yeah. ...yeah. You, too.” Then he pointed a nervous finger your way and started laughing just as nervously. “What- what are you two doing here?” Peter Parker was a far cry from the confident snarky show he put on as Spider-Man. But. Maybe that was on purpose.

Tony was grinning like a shark. Maybe he was enjoying this a little too much. “Yes, I’m here too. Nice to see you.”

Peter stood a little straighter. “Of course, Mr. Stark. Um… what’s going on?” He’d been almost caught red handed but he had to have known if you’d dared to say anything to his aunt about his web-slinging ways she’d probably have been screaming at him by now. So…

Tony put his arm over the back of the couch. “Didn’t you get our email?” And then he did the most ludicrous double-wink and you were just glad that May was focused on Peter because the three of you would have been busted after that.

This man had done missions for SHIELD. How was he this bad? You gave him a little secretive nudge with your elbow to keep him on track.

Peter folded his arms. “Uh- yeah…? Maybe? Regarding…?” Oh good. Peter was worse at this.

May shook her head. “Why didn’t you tell me you applied for the grant?”

Peter made a vague gesture and finally decided to start playing along. “Right. The grant.”

You nodded. “The September Fund. Yes. You applied didn’t you?”

His brows went up. “...yeah?”

Tony pointed at him. “Well we approved.”

May made quite a face at him. “You didn’t tell me anything about this. What’s up with that? You’re keeping secrets from me now?”

This made you feel a little bad for him. Putting him on the spot right now. But it didn’t seem like it would put a chip in their relationship. Peter put his hands behind his back and shrugged. “I just- I know how much you like surprises. So… I thought I would let you know… when...” He drew in a breath and put his focus more intently on you and Tony. “Anyway- what did I apply for- exactly?”

Tony nodded. “That’s what we’re here to hash out.”

You held a hand up. “Actually. We’d like to go to our office. Sign some papers. Make it official.”

Peter seemed a little stuck. “Uh- alright- I uh… does this grant got money involved? Or whatever?”

Tony couldn’t exactly hold back a little chuckle. “Yeah. I mean. Look who you’re talking to.”

May was on her feet. “Well this is exciting. Is it alright if I- I mean I hope you don’t think it’s rude. Can I freshen up- maybe meet you there?”

Perfect. You stood. “Sure. We don’t mind. We’ll take Peter. I’ll have Happy come out to bring you.”

It looked like Peter wanted to object but he realized that might have been a huge mistake. So he didn’t. However he did offer- “I uh. I have homework and uh-”

May waved a hand at him. “Oh stop. You can do your homework later. This is the only time I’m giving you a free pass on that one mister so don’t waste it.”

Tony stood finally, and walked over to reach out and put a sturdy hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Come on, Mr. Parker. You can ask Mrs. Stark if she’ll let you ride shotgun in the crazy car parked outside.”

He shied away just a little. “That’s- that’s okay I’ll… I’ll sit in back…”

Which is exactly what he did after the three of you went all the way downstairs in silence. He was a little starstruck by the inside of the car but it didn’t hold a candle to the anxiety welling up inside him. And once you were a good distance away from the apartment building, as if he was scared May might hear, he finally did ask-

“So um… am I in trouble?”

Your smile was incredibly kind as you turned in your seat to look at him. “Of course not. I came here to say thanks for saving my life the other night. ...unless I have the wrong guy.”

He stared at you. Seeming to weigh his choices. When he took too long to speak, Tony looked up into the rearview. “Our intel’s pretty good but… not infallible. Still…” He breathed the word out. “Got a pretty strong feeling about this.”

Peter sank into his seat a little. And then he looked up at you and pleaded, “You cannot tell May about this.”

Your nod was a firm promise. “I told you, Peter. You’re not in trouble.”

He crossed his arms and pressed his lips together. “Sorry- then what is this?”

“We want to help you.”

“Help me?” Like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Yes, Peter.” You softened your tone up, getting him to relax almost immediately. “You.”

Nervous laughter in the apartment and cold anxiety in the car finally gave way and then broke completely. In their place was a warm smile. And the real Peter Parker. “Me.” Really, really not believing his luck. “Wow.”

Tony glanced up into the rearview again, but his own quirk of a grin was telling.

Neither of you had the resources or the knowhow to teach a young kid how to do the right thing or make the right moves or- ...god help him, be a superhero. But he already had a good head on his shoulders. He just needed…

Some direction.

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark x Reader #INY Chapter One Hundred Ninety Six

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