#goldilocks and the fallen star | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thegreatestofheck · 5 years ago

Text

Ocean and Alcohol Pt. 13 ✘JJ Maybank✘

part one! part two! part three! part four! part five! part six! part seven! part eight! part nine! part ten! part eleven! part twelve!

(gif not mine! all credit to toesure!)

Word Count - 5663 Warnings - SOFT, this is too soft, too tender. I apologize. More serious warnings include swearing and that’s mostly it. Synopsis - You and JJ finally get a few hours alone. The gold is found with very few snags, but problems arise when you try to sell it off. Taglist - @bitterbethany @lovelymaybankk @ilymarkchan @downbytheouterbanks @clearcolourlessglass @obxwriterfan @tangledinsparkles @chill-sushi @summerintheobx @kiarasgold @lovelyfreshfestival @lolitstiana @divcrdown A/N - We got it all in this chapter; soft JJ, angry JJ, jealous JJ, protective JJ. I was rereading some of the earlier chapters and decided that JJ and Elm hadn’t been alone together recently enough, so there’s a whole five pages worth of just them, so there’s a gift for you I guess. I hope the rest of the chapter is something you enjoy! I skipped a relatively large portion of the plot because I didn’t want to write it out, but it still happened. I hope all is well with you guys and thank you so much for the 200 followers! stay safe, stay healthy, stay groovy!!

***

You and JJ sat out on the dock, kicking your legs back and forth. Despite the chill in the air, you felt warm with JJ beside you. The sun was even lower than before, the sky painted with beautiful purples and deep blues. The dwindling light of day cast the horizon in a golden hue. You tried not to look at JJ every three seconds, but he looked so...beautiful with the light against his skin.

“What?” He asked, laughing. You felt your cheeks redden as you turned your gaze back to the sunset. You shook your head, trying to cover for yourself now that you’d been caught.

“Nothing.” You dropped your gaze down to your feet. “It’s nice to have time alone when we’re not both half asleep.”

JJ bumped your shoulder with his. You laughed, pushing him right back. He grabbed your chin and gently turned you to face him. Your laughing died instantly, heart starting to pound in your ears. The water underneath the dock responded just as strongly as your gut. But he didn’t kiss you, not right away at least. His eyes scanned your face. His gaze landed heavily on your cuts, your bruises.

You wanted to look away. Shame crawled deep inside of you, twisting in your stomach. Sure, JJ understood how you felt, but it didn’t make it any easier. It was like having your skin peeled off and being put on display for all to see. There was no hiding from him when he was this close. He could see the rage of your father and the impression it left on you. For anyone to see all your scars, both literal and metaphorical, it was almost too much for you to bear.

After spending so long avoiding any kind of personal attachment, you weren’t sure how you had managed to let JJ in so quickly, so deeply. You had spent your entire life running from anything that could put you or Kid at risk and now here you were, running headfirst into JJ Maybank.

When he closed the distance between you, he didn’t kiss you on the mouth. Instead, he pressed his lips against the cut on your cheek. The movement startled you. You straightened your back, cheeks turning red once again. But JJ didn’t stop there. He kissed the bridge of your nose, where you had to reset it after your dad broke it. You let him tilt your jaw upward, so he could kiss the yellow bruise Rafe left behind from the summer movie series.

It was a different feeling than you were accustomed to when it came to kissing. You had grown used to the whirlpool and the storm and the riptide and the strong current. This was something else entirely. It was the goldilocks zone; where your feet were in the water enough just to keep your senses alert, but you were still very much on land.

Gently, he leaned down to kiss the cut on your lip. You watched him carefully, never take your eyes away from his face. But he didn’t look up, fixated completely on the rest of you. This tenderness was more than you could handle. It felt too much like…

You couldn’t bring yourself to think about it. Not when last time you said it, it freaked him out.

And then he finally pressed his lips to yours and the swell in your stomach turned into a wave until finally, it consumed you whole. You leaned into the kiss as far as he would let you. He pulled you closer, curving his fingers behind your head and using his thumb to keep your head tilted upward.

He dropped his hand to rest along the bottom of your neck, as he always did. The deeper you fell into the kiss, the tighter he pulled you in. You were lost in his touch, lost in his taste.

His hand wandered farther up your neck. You hadn’t realized until you felt a twinge of pain, like someone poking at a bruise. Which, of course, he was doing accidentally. When you first felt it, you ignored the pain, not wanting to part from him. But the second time, you flinched and JJ felt it. He sat back, breaking the kiss. You sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly through your nose. The pain in your neck was gone immediately as he removed his hand.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he fought for breath. You shook your head, not really wanting to tell him it hurt. Because it didn’t really hurt, or at least, it didn’t bother you. Not when he was there. “Ellie, you can tell me.”

You grimaced, turning your body away from him and back to the marsh. He didn’t push, but he didn’t look away, still expecting an answer.

“I thought you didn’t do the emotional shit,” you said, hoping that a laugh would keep him from asking any more questions. Clearly, it didn’t. You cleared your throat, kicking your feet again. “Do you ever...after your dad hits you, do you ever feel, like, I don’t know….”

“Like it’s my fault?” You looked over at him. “Like I somehow deserved what I got, that I had it coming?”

You bobbed your head up and down slowly, twisting your lips.

“And when people look at you, all they can see is the bruises and the scars,” you added and you swallowed a lump in your throat, forcing yourself to keep talking. “I mean, there’s got to be more to us, right? We’re not just a couple of kids who are beat around by our dads and abandoned by our moms.”

JJ nodded his head slowly.

“I used to feel like that a lot more,” he said. “But then I met the Pogues and I learned that, yeah, there is more than just a shitty home life.”

You smiled at him. It was good to hear.

“That’s sweet,” you said. He rolled his eyes.

“Sweet isn’t really the word I would use.”

“Then what word would you use?”

JJ looked out to the ocean. The sun had gone completely by then, not even the barest hint of its light peeking over the horizon. He thought for a moment, squinting his eyes. You watched him carefully.

“Despite all the shit our parents put us through, there’s gotta be one good thing that takes away from it all, that isn’t connected to all that shit,” he said and looked over at you. “For me, it was the Pogues. They’re my one good thing.”

You nodded your head, looking at your knees.

You wondered what your one good thing was. Maybe it was Kid, but JJ said it had to be disconnected and for as much as you loved Kid, how was in the thick of it just like you were.

Turning toward JJ, you lifted one knee up, propping your elbow against it. You searched his eyes for a few moments, looking for something. He simply stared back. He finally lifted his hand and brushed his thumb against your cheek. You leaned into his touch, breathing in deeply. When you opened your eyes, your gaze fell on the cut on his eyebrow.

“Will you tell me what happened?” You asked, lifting your hand to move a fallen strand of hair out of his face. JJ looked down as your fingers grazed over the cut above his eye.

“Like I said, I got arrested for sinking Topper’s boat and my dad wasn’t too pleased with a 25 thousand dollar restitution,” he said with a bitter laugh. You pinched your eyebrows together.

“How did you get arrested for something Pope did?”

“I told them I did it.”

“JJ-”

“Don’t.” He shook his head at you. “I told him to do it so I took the fall. Pope has too much to lose.”

“And you don’t?” He looked down, his hand falling from your face. “You don’t always have to look out for everyone else, you know.”

JJ scoffed, lifting his head toward the stars.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said and gave a shrug before letting his eyes fall back onto you. You sighed deeply, reaching out to take his hand in yours.

“I can pay the restitution,” you said softly, knowing full well that he would protest.

“No way, Ellie.”

“I want to help you. I...I don’t have the money myself but I can always ask my dad-”

“Forget about it.”

You watched him for a few moments, but it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything further. So, you finally let out another low sigh and gave him a smile.

“Okay.”

There was no way you were going to forget about it.

But, JJ didn’t give you much time to think because he stood up and offered you a hand, his mood changing instantly.

“Where are we going?” You asked as he pulled you to your feet. JJ’s mischievous smile pulled against his lips and you immediately regretted asking.

“How about a swim?”

“JJ…”

“It’s a perfect night for it!”

Before you could protest any further, he scooping you up into his arms.

“Hon,” you said slowly, peering down at the water below. “If you throw me in-”

“Sorry, what was that?” He teetered on the edge of the dock, making you cling tighter to his neck. “That water looks so nice, doesn’t it?”

You glared at him.

“No, it doesn’t. I don’t have any other clothes-” He leaned farther forward. “JJ!”

“Relax, Ellie,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve got clothes you can wear.”

And then he jumped.

Your stomach dropped just before you hit the water, a similar feeling to whenever JJ kissed you. When you broke the surface, the cold water shattered through you in all the best ways. The night had been warm, almost unbearably so. The chill of the water washed away the sticky, clammy feeling from your skin.

JJ let you go when you hit the water. You let yourself float for a few moments. For all your protesting about going in the water, it was just what you needed. You kicked your way to the surface once your lungs decided they needed air. Once your head was above the water, you gasped in a breath. JJ was right there, inches away from you, with a grin on his face, hair dripping wet.

“Not so bad, huh?”

You tried to fight back a smile as you pushed him. He laughed, grabbing hold of your arm and pulling you in. You let out an overdramatic sigh as he brushed your wet hair back and out of your face.

“Thank you,” you said, trying to pretend that he wasn’t pulling you in even closer.

“You’re welcome.”

You weren’t surprised when he leaned down to kiss you. It was a short kiss because the water still tasted bad.

“You wanna go inside?” He asked.

“What happened to going for a swim?”

He shrugged.

“Race you back?”

“You’re so on, bucko.”

***

JJ sat on the bed when you emerged from the bathroom, wearing one of his spare shirts and a pair of his boxers.

You thought he might say something about how you looked wearing his clothes, but he just stared at the floor. You sat next to him, running your fingers through his hair a few times.

“What’s wrong?” You asked him.

“What happened between you and Rafe?”

His question took you aback. You stiffened, letting your hand fall to your side. From the look in his eyes, you knew it was a question he had been wanting to ask you for a while.

“No-nothing happened,” you said, looking down at your hands. “I mean, nothing that really-”

“Just tell me.”

You squeezed your eyes shut. You didn’t want to be thinking about Rafe, not right now. Standing, you wrapped your arms around your waist, trying to figure out what exactly to say.

“Remember what I said about…?” You waved in the general direction of your face.

“Someone was taking pictures.” You nodded your head slowly, pressing your lips into a line. JJ seemed to connect the dots then. “Rafe took the pictures.”

You could hear the rage in his voice, his hands curling into fists.

“But it wasn’t him who showed them to my dad,” you said quickly, hoping to deescalate the situation before it escalated at all.

“Then who did?”

You swallowed, chewing on the inside of your lip.

“Topper.”

“Goddammit!” JJ picked up a pillow from the bed and threw it on the floor. You flinched at his raised voice, backing away from the bed even more.

“But it’s okay,” you said, voice shaking slightly. “I handled it.”

He turned to look at you, saw how far you had moved away, and his features softened.

“I don’t care about Topper,” he said slowly, trying to keep his voice calm. You took that to mean that he wanted to know about Rafe.

“I thought it was Rafe too,” you told him. “But when I went to confront him, he told me about Topper and the pictures and...why he had taken them.”

JJ watched you, eyes smoldering, but he wasn’t going to interrupt you.

“You remember that party at the Cameron’s?”

“When you kissed Rafe because you were mad at me?”

“Um, yeah. That party.” You felt your cheeks heaten. JJ stood, taking a few steps closer to you. “Well, apparently, Rafe was upset that I kissed him because-”

“Because he likes you.”

JJ was nearer to you now and you stepped away until you hit the wall.

“He didn’t exactly say it like that.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that he hates seeing us together. He’s jealous of you,” you told him, breathless as he neared and leaned against the wall, putting his hand by your head. “But he knows where his place is.”

You weren’t entirely sure what JJ was going to say as he stared down at you. Your breathing was deep, heavy, heart-pounding painfully in your chest. It was almost like fear, but you weren’t afraid.

“Tell me I’m yours,” he said finally. You blinked a few times. When it finally sunk into your brain what he had said, you lifted your hands to his face.

“You’re mine.” His eyes closed and he let out a deep breath at your words. “And I am yours. Only yours.”

The relief on his face passed. You didn’t even have the chance to think about what was going to come next before he crashed his lips against yours, pushing you back against the wall. You let out a shocked gasp, which JJ took full advantage of. He had you pinned against the wall. There was no way you were going anywhere, but you didn’t really want to.

You had never seen him like this, never felt him kiss you so hungrily. It was more than just desire, there was something else there. You broke the kiss, pushing him back with a knowing smile.

“Are you jealous, Maybank?” You asked. He narrowed his eyes. It was a confirmation in and of itself. You stood on your toes, pressing a gentle kiss against his neck and then another, longer one. He tightened his hands around your waist, his nails scratching your skin.

“Shit,” he breathed, making you smile as you kissed his skin again. “You keep doing that and I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself.”

You pulled back, meeting his eyes.

“Then don’t.”

***

The next morning, you sat with boys on Pope’s small boat, on the way to the HMS Pogue to pick up the girls.

“You guys have fun last night?” John B asked, a smirk on his face. You coughed, cheeks turning red. JJ threw an empty beer can at John B’s head.

“My eyes are still burning,” Pope said, rubbing his eyes dramatically.

“Two hands on the wheel, Pope,” you said, trying to pretend that your face wasn’t on fire with embarrassment.

“Not our fault you guys went out for late night ice cream,” JJ said. “We thought you were asleep.”

“I doubt we would have been able to sleep through-”

“John B, if you say another word, I will castrate you,” you told him with a smile. You didn’t want to think about it. It had been embarrassing enough when they walked in on you and JJ, still deep in a heavy make-out against the wall. It wasn’t really something you wanted to relive every three seconds.

John B cringed and fell silent. Apparently, he didn’t want to be castrated.

“Good choice.”

Picking up the girls, you could tell there was a difference in their attitudes toward each other. Even if they vowed that they still hated each other, you knew that wasn’t the case. You were just glad not to be stuck with the boys anymore.

“Next time you guys get stranded on a boat together, please take me with you,” you whined as they climbed back in the boat.

“Next time, don’t be an accomplice,” Sarah said, raising her eyebrows at you.

“That’s fair.”

“So,” John B said, clapping his hands together. “We need to get supplies. Rope, flashlights, dark clothes, the whole deal. We’re hitting the Craine house once the sun goes down. Yeah?”

There was a series of nods from around the boat as Pope headed back toward shore.

“We’re gonna get that gold,” he said with a large smile. The quiet nodding turned into loud cheers.

Your heart soared with the thought of it. You had your boy sitting beside you, his hand on your thigh and a smile on his lips. And soon, you were going to have your hands on a large pile of gold. Life couldn’t be any better.

***

Adrenaline ran through you as you gasped for breath. A crazy, blind lady shooting at you wasn’t something you were expecting for this night, but here you were, bolting from the Craine house as fast as your legs would take you.

JJ made it to the van first, jumping in the front seat. You were second, sliding into the passenger seat and throwing the sliding door open for the others. They all piled in after each other, except for John B, who had yet to even jump the wall. JJ turned to car over and slowly started to drive off.

You could still hear the old woman shrieking, firing off round after round from her gun.

“Why are we always getting shot at?” Pope yelled.

“Get in, John B!” Kie yelled, hanging out the door and offering him a hand. Sarah and Pope held onto Kie to keep her from falling out. Kie and Pope yelled over each other, Kie at John B and Pope at JJ, until the final member of their part jumped into the van.

Kie slammed the door shut and JJ sped off, pressing his foot harder on the gas. There was a lot more yelling, a few swear words thrown back and forth. You turned back around to look down at John B, who was absolutely covered in mud.

“Dude,” you sighed, holding your nose.

“JJ, drive!” Sarah called.

“Go, man!”

The van lurched forward. John B laughed.

“Are you okay?” JJ asked him. “Are you shot?”

“No.�� He shook his head.

“You good?” Pope asked.

“Yeah, yeah.” His voice was shaking from the adrenaline.

“You stink,” you said. John B looked up at you with a smile.

“Thanks, Elm.”

“I think I’d know if I was shot, right?” Kie said, feeling her chest and stomach. Sarah did the same.

“What the hell just happened?” Sarah asked, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

“All-time Pogue Hall of fame, baby!” JJ hollered, tapping his hands excitedly against the wheel. You grinned, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“That bitch is possessed,” Kie said.

“That bitch can’t aim,” Sarah added with a laugh.

“She’s pretty spry for a dinosaur,” you said, still breathing heavily.

“I’m telling you,” Kie said, swallowing and then shaking her head. “She’s possessed.”

“I don’t get it,” Pope said.”

“She’s blind.”

“Like Master Yoda.”

“Yoda wasn’t blind,” you said.

“Yeah, but he was old and moved super fast.” Pope shook his head. “It makes no sense, scientifically.”

“She does yoga. Pilates, probably.”

You looked down at John B, who held something muddy and disgusting in his hand. Your mouth fell open.

“Oh my god,” JJ said, glancing back.

“You didn’t,” Sarah gasped with a smile.

“What is that?” asked Kie.

“We did it, baby!” John B shouted. That was gold in his hands. Real gold.

“Oh my god,” You laughed, leaning farther out of your chair. “Oh my god!”

A series of screams and shouts for joy filled the van. JJ hooked a hand on your shoulder and shook you back and forth.

“Full Kook!” John B started, pumping a fist up and down in the air. Everyone picked up on the chanting.

The gold was down there. John B had found it. You were going to be rich. You were going to afford that lawyer, get Kid away from your dad. The dream you once had was slowly becoming a reality. You couldn’t stop laughing.

“Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook!”

***

The next morning, you sat with Kie and Sarah in the van, reviewing the plan that the boys had come up with. You couldn’t help but laugh at the silly drawing.

“Who drew this?” Sarah asked, a quiet laugh still in her voice.

“Who do you think?” Kie looked over to where Pope and John B were sitting. Pope looked up and grinned. Kie held his gaze for a moment. You glanced over at Sarah and she looked over at you. The two of you let out a little laugh, which turned Kie’s attention back to the plan.

“Kie!” JJ said, walking up to the van. “This better work.”

He dropped the gold into the bottom of the van, crossing his arms.

“We can’t pawn this off if there’s a giant wheat symbol on it,” he continued. With a smile, Kie plucked a blow torch off the ground and held it up.

“It’s gonna work,” she said.

You sat off to the side as Kie blow-torched the gold in a small pot above a flame. JJ and Pope leaned over, watching the gold melt carefully. You chewed on your fingernail, legs shaking up and down.

Not much later, you were all back in the van, shuddering down the road on the way to the pawnshop.

“They might not have the cash for the entire thing,” you said as JJ fiddled with your fingers. “If we break it into pieces and take it to different pawnshops-”

“This will work, Elm,” John B said from the front. You nodded slowly. Overthinking again, you thought to yourself. No need to overthink everything.

When the van slowed to a stop, you felt your stomach flipped. This was the moment of truth. You got this money now, pay off JJ’s restitution, and then go get the rest of the gold. It was all going to work out. You had to believe that.

You hopped out of the van behind JJ as he pulled the gold out of his pocket.

“Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein,” JJ said, turning to look at Kie, who rolled her eyes.

“Like you could have done better.”

“I could have. I took a welding class.”

“You-” She narrowed her eyes at him and tilted her head to the side. “When?”

“Hey.” John B stepped between them. “Shh. Chill out, okay?”

“Easy for you to say,” JJ grumbled. “You’re not the one that has to sell this piece of shit off. How did I get this job anyway?”

“‘Cause you’re the best liar,” Pope said as they started toward the pawnshop. JJ glanced back at you and you shrugged, arms crossed. The Pogues had no reason to doubt you when you lied to them about all the things you lied to them about, so they would have no need to think that you were a pretty good liar. When they gave JJ the job, there was no way you were going to protest.

The six of you filed into the shop, JJ in the front.

“Afternoon, ma’am.”

Everyone spread out rather lamely, standing in front of different objects and pretending to actually care about what they were looking at. If there was anymore sneaking around and lying going on, you were definitely going to have to give them a few pointers as to how to act natural.

JJ spoke to the lady up front, trying his hardest to convince her that the gold was real before she even would talk about price. You tried to cover a laugh as he told a fake story about his mom melting down her earrings.

“Best liar my ass.” You shook your head, turning back to look at a wooden chicken on the wall. The woman at the cash register clearly didn’t believe him. She went to the back to talk to her boss, giving Pope and Kie time to go and talk to JJ. He looked back at you and you gave him a thumbs up, making him smile.

When the woman returned, she slid a piece of paper over to JJ.

“Fifty thousand?” JJ asked. You nearly choked, turning to look at them. JJ tried to negotiate, but the woman had her eyebrows raised. No one was really even trying to pretend that they weren’t paying attention anymore. He and the woman passed quips back and forth until the woman gave one last offer.

“70,” she said. Your heart leaped. “And I won’t ask where you got this.”

You tried to bite back a smile. JJ accepted. But then you hit another snag. The money wasn’t in the shop. She didn’t have the cash in the shop. As soon as she mentioned going to a warehouse, your smile fell. That didn’t sound right. There was something strange going on.

But you were probably overthinking things again. What reason did you have to doubt her? None of your friends did. You tried to shove down your concerns as John B drove to the address that the woman had given to JJ.

“They keep the gold all the way out here?” Pope asked.

“That’s what she said.” JJ laughed. “That’s what she said.”

You smiled, sitting on the floor by his side.

“Stop,” Pope said. Both your and JJ’s smiles dropped. Not the time for jokes, it seemed.

“I’ve never heard of Ressurection Drive,” Sarah said, turning back.

“Cause you’re rich,” JJ said.

“You haven’t heard of it either.”

You sat up straighter and looked out the window. The bad feeling in your stomach was starting to solidify. It was good to hear your friends starting to question this whole thing too. It made you feel a little less crazy.

A police siren startled all of you. Kie and Pope turned around to look at the car. You pushed yourself up, looking out of the back window.

“The cops? Out here?”

“Are you kidding me?” JJ shoved the gold back into his backpack.

“What did we do?” Sarah asked.

“That’s not a police car,” you said as John B pulled over. “No way any cops out here have a car like that.”

“JJ, did you bring the gun?” John B asked.

“No,” JJ zipped up his bag, throwing a blunt inside. “Everyone told me to leave it back at the place.”

“Thank god,” Kie sighed.

“That’s not a cop,” you said, watching the man get out of his car. JJ stood up and shoved the backpack into the hidden compartment beneath his seat. Your heart started to pound at the sight of the man walk toward the van. A black bandana stretched across his face. You shook your head a few times as the others argued about weed and making sure that it was all packed away.

You saw the gun too late. You didn’t have a good view of it until it was shoved through the front window right at John B’s face.

You froze, your entire body going rigid. JJ slowly moved his hand reaching down to grab yours. You didn’t take in a single breath until you felt him squeeze your hand once.

“All y’all’s hands up in the air now!” the man with the mask shouted. You swallowed a lump in your throat and lifted your hands slowly, pulling it from JJ’s grip.

“You, out,” the man said to John B. “Let them out!”

John B slid out of the car slowly, hands still raised in the air. He walked around to the van door and opened it slowly. Sarah walked out first, and then Pope, Kie, you, and JJ last. The man kept shouting, yelling for you to back up.

“We’re broke-” JJ started. The man pointed the gun straight at him.

“Shut the hell up!”

“Alright!” JJ shouted back. “Relax!”

But the more he spoke, the angrier the man got. Pope put his hands on JJ’s shoulders and pulled him backward. You ducked under JJ’s raised hands to stand between him and the man.

“I’ll blow your damn head off!” the man said.

“Okay. Okay, we’re moving,” you said, voice steady.

“Lay down in the ditch!” JJ hesitated, glaring at the man with the gun. “Get on your hands and knees!”

You lowered yourself to your knees, putting your hands behind your head. JJ slowly followed after you.

“It’s okay,” you whispered to him, watching his muscles shake as he resisted the urge to beat the hell out of the man. JJ heaved, his breath ragged and his jaw tight. His eyes flitted back and forth as the man walked back toward the van. You risked moving to place your hand on his arm. “Look at me.”

Slowly, JJ’s eyes moved to meet yours. There was so much anger in him. That anger might just get him killed.

“It’s okay,” you whispered again. “We’re okay.”

He softened slowly before nodding his head once.

“It’s a setup,” Kie whispered.

“The old bat shanked us,” JJ ground out through his teeth. You glanced up at the van, putting your hand back behind your head.

“John B,” you heard Pope whisper. You lifted your head, watching John B sneak off toward the fake cop car. “Don’t be a hero man!”

You put your head back down, keeping your breathing steady. Even when the man emerged from the van and started shouting again, you didn’t look up. Just keep breathing. Just keep breathing.

At the sound of a struggle, you looked up one last time. John B was in the back of the car, trying to take the gun from the man. JJ was on his feet, running toward the car, and you were just behind him.

“I got the gun!” John B called out just as you and JJ neared the car. JJ grabbed hold of the man, spinning him around. He ducked under a punch before hitting the man in the ribcage. The man hit JJ across the cheek, only to be greeted by you with a punch to the face. You hit him again before he shoved you backward. You tripped over your feet, hitting your head against the hard ground. Kie got to him next, giving him a good punch. John B used the gun to knock him off his feet.

“I got the gold!” Pope cried as Sarah slammed the car door into the guy’s head twice.

Your head buzzed with the sting of pain.

“C’mon,” Kie said, grabbing holding of your arm and helping you to your feet. Pope ran around the car and kicked the man in the face, knocking him onto his back. JJ walked over to you, putting a hand on your face and checking your eyes.

“I’m good,” you said. You turned back toward the man on the ground. John B yanked his bandana off of his face. JJ tensed.

“I know this piece of shit,” he growled. “He’s a basehead.”

“Probably knows my brother,” Sarah said with a sigh, running her hands through her hair.

“He sells coke to my dad.” JJ plucked the gun off the ground.

“Listen,” the man groveled, his voice slurred from the blood dripping down his nose. “I couldn’t hurt a single one of y’all-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before JJ jabbed the butt of the gun against his nose. Kie and Pope both yelled at him and John B took the gun from his hands, but you wouldn’t have cried if he did it again. The asshole on the ground deserved it.

“Let’s get out of here,” John B said. But JJ wasn’t done yet. He bent down and rummaged through the man’s pockets before pulling out a wallet.

“We got one last stop,” JJ said, shoving John B away from him and storming back to the car. You brought your hand up to your mouth. Beating the guy up was justified, sure, but he was down. No one except him got hurt. Pope had the gun. There was nothing else to be done. But JJ was on a warpath.

Kie looked at you as if you could somehow stop him, but you just shook your head.

“Let’s go see where this son of a bitch lives,” JJ called back.

“I’m gonna remember this!” the man yelled from the ground while you made your way back to the van. “You can’t hide from me! I know exactly who y’all are!”

You jumped into the back of the van, settling yourself into the seat where JJ had been sitting before. Putting your head in your hands, you decided that it was time to go back to listening to your gut. Overthinking or not, there was nothing wrong with playing it safe.

156 notes · View notes

starr-fall-knight-rise · 6 years ago

Text

Humans are Space..... Pets?

I am really sorry guys. This was a new idea and style that turned out to be kind of complicated, so it will be longer than usual. As someone who typically writes novels, this short story stuff is really demanding since it requires you to be entertaining and concise without description which is my favorite. So, Hope you like it.

“Tell us your oddest story, Captain.”

“Weirdest story, huh?” Captain Vir sets his glass down on the bar and tilts his head back thinking as he stares at the ceiling, “Well, you know what, since it’s been declassified, I suppose I can go ahead and tell you.” He picks up his drink again and takes a draw.

“Have you ever heard of Heaven’s Gate Nebula?”…”Of course you have. Well, so it’s this really weird cluster of stars just off Andromeda, not technically part of the galaxy but sort of orbiting it. Now you Know Nebulas are actually star nurseries, so generally stars within nebula tend to be really young….. the problem here is that emissions form Heaven’s Gate indicated 100-200 main sequence stars. I know, not a whole lot for a cluster. The GA had tried to investigate before, but with no real luck, they thought maybe a human crew would have more luck. And as a newly promoted captain with a newly christened ship, I was ready for any job they wanted to throw at me. So, with my new crew, and my new ship, I headed in, this was all before I met Sunny and Krill, and before I lost my eye.”

He finishes the glass and wipes his mouth on his sleeve, “We took it into the dust cloud, and I had to take manual control of the ship. I was nervous, I fly jets, and jets are relatively small, but I had to remember that I was about a thousand feet wider than I am used to. We were navigating mostly by short range radar, so I would only have a few seconds to make it through. Luckily there was no real debris in our way, and when we broke out of the cloud a few hours later, we enter this ….. Open area about solar system wide. Scans showed it had one main sequence star and four planets with a collective 12 moons. There was one planet in the goldilocks zone, so we took her in. I ordered our navigations expert to plot a landing course onto the planet for a shuttle, and then I went down and got together a team of Marines to take our first look. Ok, maybe I was being an idiot, I’m the captain, leading search parties isn’t exactly my job, but I would be damned if I was going to miss exploring an entirely undiscovered planet.”

***

“Alright, Jar Heads, suit up, we’re approaching the LZ.” Behind him the sound of helmets clipping into place over suits was comforting. Captain Vir pulled on his own helmet quickly locking it into pace with one hand as he maneuvered the shuttle towards the planet’s surface. It was green, Like Earth, very green though it wasn’t really due to trees. The ground itself was covered with a very thin layer of moss…. Or so it appeared. The foliage itself was rather sparse, with an odd assortment of trees, and some sort of ferns.

He chose an area next to one of these little clusters, lading their craft with a soft whirr of air. He cut the engines and grabbed his weapon.

The marines were waiting for him ready for exit weapons at the ready, “Alright, Chairfroce, your orders?” The sergeant asked with a good natured nod.

“I defer to you, jarhead. This is simple recon, stay quiet, and keep low. If you see anything, do not engage, we aren’t here to start trouble.” The men nodded, at the front one held up a hand counting down from five before pressing the button to drop the ramp, and in a coordinated unit, the group rushed from the craft and into a wide circle around the ship leaving the copilot to watch over the ship. Captain Vir stopped behind the point man lowering his weapon and checking the readings from his suit. He had been trained to determine the safety of a particular atmosphere. It was a chill 22 degrees F but the oxygen level was 14.8% oxygen content which would equal out to feel like a relatively high altitude. The rest was nitrogen like you would expect on Earth. With one hand, he slapped the point man on the shoulder who, in turn, gave a hand signal to the rest of the group. One of their designated men reached up, and pressed the release sequence on his helmet. It dropped into his hand with a hiss and he took a deep breath. The group watched as he took a few more deep breaths monitoring his blood oxygen content from the monitor on his suit before giving a nod to the captain, who gave another signal. The rest of the group removed their helmets, though a few kept face masks close at hand, not comfortable completely with the low oxygen content. Helmets were strapped to their waists.

Captain Vir ordered them into a loose arrowhead formation at a good 20 feet apart. He fell in at the very far left of the formation towards the thickest area of foliage weapon pressed into his shoulder lowered into a ready position as they began moving slowly through the foliage. He the advanced eye piece over his left eye to keep track of the crew as their red dots moved through the foliage. He couldn’t always see the next man over and up, but he could see the dots.

He was coming up on a very thickly wooded area now, and cut into the trees doing his best to keep up with the marines who moved low and fast through the trees. They were near silent, and he did his best to emulate them as he did so. Yeah, he was trained in combat, but the last war he was in took place strictly on stone, moss and ash, branches hadn’t really been a problem.

He took another step forward into the foliage trying to find a grounded place to put his foot… but then…. There was nothing there. He had one moment of horrible realization before his stomach dropped out from underneath him, and he went plunging downwards.

He hit the rock with a hard crack maybe five feet below, and then bounced over to go tumbling like a pinball down the hill. He might have heard the cry of one of the marines over the com before it was dashed to pieces against a rock. In an attempt to keep his head covered, he turtled into the collar of the space suit, allowing it to take most of the impact as he rolled into another rock and was sent flying down a mossy incline. His weapon was ripped from his hands, and the sling snapped catching him on the cheek as it went.

Now loosed from its grip, his arms flailed and clawed at the ground as he fell. Body crying out in anguish against the pain of his fall. The end of the hill came, and he was pitched over another, small, five foot drop. Landing flat on his back… The pain was incredible, not as bad as losing his leg, but still. He looked down through his bleary vision…. Shit…. His leg, the entire F***ing thing was gone…..

A shadow passed over him from above, and in groggy delirium he looked up squinting against the silhouette, massive, hairy, and reaching out towards him.

He blacked out.

***

He woke up to the chatter of unknown creatures, lying on his back on a bed of soft moss staring up at a leafy ceiling above. Squinting past his own delirium and the bright light in his face he tried to make sense of the scene forcing himself to sit up past the pain in his body and the weight of his suit. The striations in the leafy ceiling resolved themselves as he stared on….. realizing in horror that he was looking at bars. He pushed himself upwards the rest of the way limping/hopping over to the bars where he stopped staring out at the world around him. Stacks and stacks of cages, full of strange alien creatures with fur and feathers, and spines chattering and gambling about their cages hissing and yapping at each other.

He rushed around the cage tugging at the bars, trying to find a locking mechanism, but seeing nothing. He tried to force himself through the bars cursing when his chest was too wide to make it through, even sideways. He tugged even harder and came down hard to the ground without the support of his prosthetic. Missing a leg, there was only so much he could do. The boot of his suit and half of the lower leg had been ripped off leaving him with a useless and dangling bit of fabric. He cursed the stupid thing silently. His REAL leg wouldn’t have just fallen off like that. Sure his remaining leg hurt like a bitch, but at least it was still working.

Piece of garbage.

He glanced around a little more taking a deep breath. First thing was first, he had to find out where he was. He didn’t get much time to figure this out before the air itself was rocked and shattered by an immense vibration. It was a sound like someone had turned the base all the way up on their car speakers. The bars of his cage rattled, his insides rattled, his teeth rattled. Whatever made that sound had to be f***ing massive.

And that’s when the absolutely immense creatures stepped into the room. It was at least 40 feet tall and looked like a cross between Sasquatch, a bear, and King Kong. With a gasp he scrambled back in his cage, as two of the other creatures stepped into the room with it. One of them was about as tall if not taller, and the other was maybe 30 feet tall give or take. As their mouths open, the entire room rumbled with the deep base of their voices. He fell to one knee hands to his chest as if he was trying to hold in his bones.

He couldn’t have known that the creatures were quite sentient naming themselves the Magnites of the Magnapedibus, and they were here for one very specific reason. The taller, and older of the two guests browed their way around the room glancing in cages and speaking to each other in their impossibly deep voices. A couple of times, they opened one of the cages and took out one of the other creatures. Vir watched from the confines of his cell with a sense of growing horror.

This could not be happening, and to make it all worse, his coms were down, and those things were getting closer to him their feet thudding like thunderclaps on the floor below. Quickly, he burrowed himself under a layer of the moss staring out form a minute hole at the scene unfolding before them. He could see that the cages lifted from the top, but there was no way he was going to manage to make it out if that was the case: no way in hell he was going to be able to lift that thing.

The creatures had moved onto the cage right next to his looking over a creature that had some odd recumbence to a giant rat. The smaller creature didn’t seem particularly interested in it. Little did the captain know was that the creature had daned the rat to be not cute enough for its taste. They were arguing among themselves about what the third creature was looking for. What could possibly pique interest when they had gone over the entire place, and yet there was nothing to be seen?

The shop owner gave them one last option, something strange he had picked up out in the woods today, but something he didn’t think was likely to survive. It would require special care, and he had yet to look it over for injury. They moved over to the next cage, just to find nothing visible in site. The larger creature gave a look of confusion to the owner who waved him off. The creature was scared, probably hiding. He threw open the cage lid and reached in prodding around in the moss.

Captain Vir lay as still as he possibly could feeling the ground rumble beneath him eyes closed teeth gritted. And then a massive weight pressed down on his back. Like someone was standing on him, making it hard to breathe. The weight lifted off him and light poured into his little hiding spot. The ground trembled with another mass vibrating noise

Shit! He rolled to the side just as a massive hand came down towards him. He barely escaped crawling up to one knee and scuttling to the side as the hand came after him again. A line of expletives ran through his head as he rolled dodged ad ducked out of the way hindered by his missing leg forced to scramble on three limbs as he tried to get away.

He wasn’t fast enough, the cage wasn’t big enough, and he was caught around the waist by a massive hand. He gasped for air, as the hand grew tight around his middle against his struggling and squirming. He panted pressing his hands against the clenched fist trying to pull himself out, but it was no use.

The massive creatures looked down at him with surprise and confusion. What was this thing? The owner wasn’t totally sure, but he had found it lying injured in the forest. He thought it was supposed to have four limbs, and if that was the case than it was missing one of them. The smaller creature thought that it was horribly sad…. The creature in itself looked terrified squirming and wriggling as it was, and with only one leg it must have been in immense pain. It had very large eyes, a brilliant green color and a small tuft of hair atop its head, kind of adorable, otherwise it was furless…. It must have been very cold. It held out its hands begging to hold the creature, and finally they gave in.

Vir was transferred from one hand to the other, a grip that was lighter this time, the smaller creature. He tried to squirm away again, but then became very aware of the twenty to twenty five foot drop….. he didn’t think he was likely to make that unscathed. Another massive hand was lifted up, and he cringed away as a single huge finger rubbed against the back of his head and down his upper back. Damn, it was like being stroked by a ten pound dumbbell….. it was rubbery and the palm was cracked like the pad of a dog’s foot.

The creature thought it was very cute, whatever it was, and it didn’t seem too dangerous, just an adorable, crippled little creature.

He swore that if they did that again he was going to have to beat someone’s ass, he didn’t care how tall they were…. That was just as soon as he figured out how to get away from this nonsense. That didn’t seem likely to happen as the large creature took him back, and began looking him over pinching his limbs between its massive fingers flipping him into his back like you would to examine a lab rat. He kicked out with his remaining foot as the creature tried to get a good look at his severed leg. He’d be damned if he was going to ACTUALLY get probed by aliens. At least the last ones had asked nicely.

There was more roaring, more rumbling as they tried to figure out what exactly the thing was, despite missing a limb, it didn’t appear to be in pain, but it was a feisty little creature. If they were to sell it, it would need special care, somewhere warm, a special diet, but perhaps it would make a good pet.

***

Vir was about 0% pleased with the outcome of this. His first mission and things had already gone to hell in a handbasket, or in this case what felt like a massive ass paper bag. He had been dumped into one with a handful of the strange moss, and breathing holes poked in the side. Outside he could hear more grumbling and could feel the ground underneath thudding with the footsteps of the giant creatures. He couldn’t stand with only one leg, and lay in the bottom, face pressed against the moss as they moved in short starts and stops. Eventually the rumbling died off a bit, and the movement continued bouncing him up and down inside the bag which swung back and forth.

***

Is this what it was like to be a hamster? Whatever it was like he was done. The creature had barely let him go since it had brought him back to its den. It let him go in its lap, and he’d try to scramble away only to be pulled back. If he was let down on the floor, he would have tried to run, but he was missing something kind of important. There were tons of these things being invited over to hold, pet stoke, and play with him, and he hated every moment of it. He tried to bite at least once, but that turned out to b not worth it at all, the things tasted like ass, and their skin was too thick to bite through. And then it insisted on wrapping him up in randomly soft items like it thought he was cold, like he wasn’t wearing a thermal conserving space suit. This was just a load of bullshit.

Giving some time alone, he was sure he could construct a decent pair of crutches, but that wasn’t going to happen if the creature kept insisting on holding him.

He had one other option…. He could play dead, at this current moment, which seemed to be his best option, so the moment that someone stopped paying attention, he fell limp eyes half closed just willing them to fall for it. When they came back, he watched their shadows moving around, could hear the thrumming and thudding of their voices. They picked him up, and he let his body flop to the side, he did his best to breathe as little as possible, hoping they wouldn’t notice when he did. The roaring grew more urgent, he was moved around constantly laid down prodded, poked, and he refused to move, did his best to keep still as they picked him up. There were many of the creatures there now speaking rapidly, one of them sounded very upset.

He just had to stay still.

And that’s when he heard the roar of the shuttle. The creatures apparently did too, and he watched as the ship roared in through an opening over the heads of the creatures before circling down. The creatures made some more roaring sounds. He could hear voices as the carrier landed. Wind whipped at his clothes, there was more roaring.

“CAPTAIN!”

He opened his eyes just in time, as one of the marines grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him over his shoulders racing back towards the carrier as the others covered him from behind. He was thrown to the deck inside the carrier as the ship lurched form the ground and roared forward.

The roaring grew louder, the ship tilted and swung. The marines held on for dear life as one had him pinned to the ground keeping him still as the ship rocked and rolled.

And then they shot forward and the roaring died away. Captain Vir let his head rest back on the floor breathing heavily.

“Are you alright, Captain?” The marine asked looking him over for injuries.

“Relieved to see you Marine….. relieved to see you.”

#humans are space orcs #humans are weird #humans are space oddities #humans are space australians #earth is space australia

1K notes · View notes

storyknitter · 6 years ago

Text

A Sucker for a Good Romance

I accept full blame for the following shenanigans. Though it was prompted by @swtor-prompts challenge for today and a robust discussion in Discord.

And they knew then that their love would last, until the stars fell from the skies.

Jonas Balkar grinned smugly as he finished typing the last line, particularly pleased with his most recent writing. The Padawan & The Spy was a good holoserial on its own, but it was fun to explore the characters and their motivations off-screen – there was really only so much a serial could cover on air. He'd fallen into fanfiction after a season and was hooked.

Ah, this chapter was a thing of beauty. It had behaved so nicely, flowing from his fingers like the Force to a Jedi, and it struck just the right balance between saccharine-sweet and spicy hot. Giving the story a quick once-over for typos, he clicked “Post Now” and stood to refill his caf.

A ding from across the safehouse drew his attention. The grumpiest of spies and slicers, one Theron Shan, glanced from his lunch to his datapad and gave what could only be described as an actual, honest-to-goodness smile. Jonas watched in amazement as Shan abandoned his sandwich and picked up the datapad, his eyes glued to the screen.

What in the galaxy could make him drop the Cantankerous Rex facade? Jonas pondered the options as he hovered near the caf station, mug in hand, stealthily observing his friend.

Now, part of what made Jonas such a good spy – if he did say so himself – were his instincts. The timing of when he'd posted his fic could have coincided with Theron receiving a message from a good friend... but, being honest, Shan didn’t really have what one would call “friends.” At least, not ones whose messages would make him grin like that. Also, he was still reading, completely engrossed. A message wouldn’t likely be that long.

Scanning the room, Jonas grabbed a napkin and crumpled it up. He crossed to the trash can near the dining table and surreptitiously glanced over his colleague's shoulder. Stars only knew how, but he managed to contain his crow of triumph upon recognizing the holo-site’s familiar red and white color scheme.

“Hey, Shan,” Jonas said smoothly as he sat in the chair opposite Theron, ignoring the scowl cast in his direction. “How’s the newest fic update?” he asked innocently, smothering a smirk. “That ‘better_under_cover’ is a great writer, huh?”

“What? No,” Theron said, a little too quickly. “I mean... I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jonas might have actually believed him if not for the blush creeping up his neck and into his ears.

“You’ve gotta admit: it’s a great chapter,” he bragged, leaning back in the chair and gesturing in faux-humility. “Little bit of smut, little bit of fluff... It's like Goldilocks and the Three Nexus: just right!”

“How do you even know that? It was literally just updat–” Theron froze, shock and horror crossing his features. “Shit.”

“Ha – I knew it!” Jonas gloated as the flush crept into Theron’s cheeks. “All right, what’s your username? I wanna see what–”

“I will end you if you try,” Theron snarled, clutching the datapad to his chest. “And I’ll blame it on the Cartel if Trant wonders what happened to one of his Nar Shaddaa agents.”

“You mean ‘his best Nar Shaddaa agent.’” Jonas’s seemingly innocent comment earned him a glare that, if looks could kill, would have incinerated him. “Ah, Shan,” he continued smoothly, “I had no idea you were such a sucker for a good romance. If I’d known before, I’d have–”

“Shut it, Balkar,” Theron interrupted.

He knew when it was time to make a tactical retreat, and stood, arms raised innocuously, though his mind raced with new ideas. Jonas grabbed his datapad and bag, then prepped to head out to the Slippery Slopes Cantina: he was supposed to check-in with a certain lovely Mirialan trooper in about an hour and would hate to be late. As he walked out the door, Jonas decided to briefly court death.

“Just an FYI: the best part’s about two-thirds of the way through,” he said with a jaunty wave and a smirk, ignoring the growled string of curses behind him.

Hmm. Maybe he’d have to add a guest appearance by a goat in the next chapter.

For no particular reason.

#swtor #swtor fanfiction #swtor-prompts #Theron Shan #Jonas Balkar #BroTP: Spy Boys #and okay #I had to include Bryoni for Jonas #I couldn't help it!#Clan Piranha #is full of enablers too #they're the best kind of trouble #brb dying of laughter #i was legit cackling as I wrote this #knitter writes #crack fic

86 notes · View notes

geminiamethyst · 5 years ago

Text

The Phoenix. Chapter 3: Secrets and Threats.

Kyun looked up towards the window, seeing the position of the sunlight. It was nothing more than thin strips on the wall. The sky was a mixture of orange, pink and dark blue. The shine of stars could be faintly seen, the moon waiting to follow. The cell seemed colder than it was before and Kyun curled up a little tighter than he was the moment he sat down. Shin sat next to him and Ken sat on the other side of the cell after he got tried from pacing a little. Mumrik had not moved at all and everyone assumed that he may have fallen asleep to try to calm down. No one had spoken so much as a mummer since that last conversation between the couple.

“You’re not really going to go back to him tonight, are you?” Kyun finally asked. His voice was almost dry from not using it, and not being given anything to eat or drink since their imprisonment.

“If it means that you won’t get hurt, yes.” Shin sighed, trying to not look at him, as he knew that Kyun would be looking at him in disapproval.

“But he hurt you.” Kyun grumbled, crossing his arms.

“What does it matter if that means that you’re safe. I can take a few bruises.” Shin muttered, covering his black eye as it throbbed a little, a painful reminder as to what happened.

“How can you say that?! Shin, this guy isn’t like Gnos. It seems like he’s almost twice as dangerous. And he doesn’t even have magic for us to be worried about. It also sounds like he was lusting after you.” Kyun exclaimed, angry that Shin was willing to get hurt if that meant that he didn’t.

“Well, I doubt he’ll try that stunt again after I broke his nose.” Shin said. He looked at Kyun, and sure enough he was receiving the face that he was expected. After taking a deep breathe, he let out a long, silent sigh. “If I promise that I’ll be careful, will you stop worrying?”

“No. But I do want you to be careful. I don’t want you to come back with a worse injury than this.” Kyun said, his face becoming soft. He took his hand and gently brushed his thumb around the swollen area. Shin fought back a wince and gave a small smile.

“I promise that he won’t hurt me again. I’ll be a lot more careful.” He smiled reassuringly before he gently took Kyun’s hand and gave it a small kiss. Kyun responded by cuddling up to his side and Shin held him close. Both took comfort in each other’s warmth, trying to reassure themselves that everything would be alright. It was when they heard the familiar footsteps down the hall coming towards the cell. Kyun clung tighter to Shin, dreading what was coming next. Shin didn’t do any more than squeeze him reassuringly. It did little to comfort him. The door swung open, the force used to push it slammed hard against the wall, making the hinges rattle. Mumrik snapped his head up in surprise, looking like he was going to die of fright. Ken only raised his head slowly and looked out of the corner of his eye to see two Hunters standing at the open doorway.

“Boss says he’s ready for you, Shin.” A Hunter leered, glaring right at the said Snufkin. As he said the name, his voice almost sounded deadly. Kyun tightened his grip on Shin even more. He didn’t dare let go. “Did not hear me you little rat? Boss said-“

“Alright. Just give us a minute.” Shin said, his voice sounding calm. He looked at the Snufkin that held him tighter than steel. “Kyun, I promised that I’d be alright and I meant it. You have to trust me.” Kyun refused to let go however. After hearing about what had happened, he didn’t want Shin to be left alone with that vile man. The Hunters lost all patience. They stomped forward and snatched at the two, one grabbing Shin and the other yanking Kyun away from him. Ken leapt forward, standing between Shin and the Hunter holding him.

“I don’t think your boss would be too impressed if you left a scratch on Shin, would he?” He shouted, his face, surprisingly, emotionless. The Hunter glared down at him.

“Says who, Goldilocks? Boss gave him that black eye, so why can’t we hurt him?” He spat.

“I’m just saying, if your boss sees that you have injured Shin, I think that he’ll cut your pay down to a very small, insignificant amount. Same thing goes for the rest of us getting hurt too, I’d imagine. Wouldn’t you agree?” Ken asked, once again, his face void with emotion. The Hunter looked like he was calculating what the blonde Snufkin had just said. He looked over at his partner and did a head gesture. The partner grumbled something but he pushed Kyun next to Mumrik. Not expecting it, Kyun slammed right into the wall and hit his head, stunning him. Shin had no time to react as he was starting to be dragged out of the cell. He didn’t protest or say anything to anyone. He silently let himself be escorted out. Kyun jumped to his feet and was about to charge but Ken stopped him.

“Trust me, the last thing Shin needs is for you to get hurt. You have to trust him that he’ll be okay.” He whispered, his face now showed concern. Kyun bit his tongue and watched as Shin was dragged out. Shin shot him back a glance, saying that he’d be okay, just like he promised. It was cut off almost abruptly as the door was slammed shut and locked. Kyun ran up to it and looked through the window. He watched almost hopelessly as Shin’s form faded away. He slammed his hand against the door. Ken was ready to hold him back if he was going to start slamming against the door again, but Kyun didn’t do anything else other than sit down to try to calm down. He needs to trust Shin, he made a promise. And there was no hiding it if Shin was hurt again.

———————————————————————————

Shin felt a twinge in his hand but he ignored it. He ignored the leering glares that the Hunters sent him. He even ignored how detailed the halls and carpets were as he took shaking steps forward. He didn’t want to think about what might happen when he steps into that room. However, he tried to plan ahead. If that man out his hands on him again, he’ll fight back just like he did before. He promised Kyun that he would try to avoid getting hurt and he wants to keep his word. However if he gets hurt, so be it. So long as they didn’t hurt Kyun, he’ll accept a few hits. He ignored the obnoxious throb from his black eye again. He was still unsure as to why this man knew his parents and he wanted answers desperately. He will have to be careful though. This man had a temper and was easily switched between emotions like a light being switched on and off. Not to mention he will lash out at anyone who was closer to him. He took a deep breath when he realised how close they were to entering the same large room.

“Doesn’t your boss hate it when you enter a room without knocking?” He asked, trying his best not to smirk.

“You shut your mouth!” One of the Hunters shouted, before he knocked on the door. When hearing a muffled word from the other side, he opened the door. Before Shin could register it, he was suddenly pushed in. It wasn’t gentle either as he nearly tripped over, thankfully regaining his balance. The doors slammed closed.

“Ah. Shin. I see that you’ve taught those thugs some manners. About time too.” The man said from the fireplace. Shin turned to stare at him. He had a fresh shirt on and a brace on his nose, confirming that Shin really did break it. He noticed the smell of fresh food and glanced over to the other side of the room. A large table had been placed there. It was draped by a pure white tablecloth and large platefuls of fresh, home cooked food. The smell of chicken, gravy and roasted vegetables almost made Shin’s mouth water and his stomach silently as it reminded him that he hadn’t eaten at all since this morning. He ignored it and the temptation to start eating the food. The man approached him, a charming smile decorated his face but Shin could tell that it was fake.

“I know that you haven’t eaten all day, so my chef prepared a nice meal for us to have.” He smiled.

“And what do my friends get?” Shin demanded, not feeling too pleased at this gesture.

“Oh, they can have the scraps and left overs.” The man said casually. Shin glared at him. He would rather eat scraps himself than eat like a king while his friends get something that is close to nothing. When the man got close enough he almost put his arm around Shin. The Snufkin ducked out of the way, not wanting to be touched again by him. “Ah. I see. Playing hard to get.” As the man said that, he laughed like it was a regular joke for him to make. It almost made Shin sick at this.

“I don’t allow myself to be touched on two things. One is that the person is someone that I don’t know. And two is that someone is lusting after me, or has given me a black eye.” Shin snapped, keeping his voice calm.

“Yes. I do apologise for that. My temper can get ahead of me at times. And how can you not know me? Surely your parents must have said something about me I’m sure.” The man sighed, his talking s casual that it was like he was talking about the weather.

“That’s what I want to ask you about. Who are you? And how do you know my parents?” Shin asked, staring at the man in the eye.

“You’re serious? Big mistake on their part I guess.” The man said, his eyebrows raised. He spun on his heels and walked back to the small table at the fireplace. Shin brushed off his remark about his parents as best he could as the man poured out some wine from the bottle into two glasses. He strides back over to Shin, offering a glass. “I suppose you can call me Damien. I apologise for being a rude host by not saying so earlier. Might I offer you a glass?”

“No thank you. I don’t drink.” Shin said, immediately becoming suspicious. He didn’t know if Damien had slipped a drug or something into the glass that he was being offered and after what happened, he shuddered to think about what might happen if he was unable to fight back.

“I insist. This is one of the most expensive wines in the world and rare to come by.” Damien almost whined like a child. He gently pushed the glass towards Shin, who gently pushed it back. Despite in his throat being hydrated, he trusted his instincts more as to not drink it.

“And I decline. And you haven’t answered my second question. How did you know my parents?” He pressed, backing away from the man. Damien only pushed the glass into Shin’s hand and firmly made sure that he wasn’t going to give it back.

“Why, I was acquainted with them of course. Your mother was a remarkably beautiful woman. I would’ve been honoured if she became my wife.” He muttered to himself, taking a sip of his wine. He had a scowl on his face very suddenly. “I would’ve had my way with her too, if it wasn’t for your father. He came to her rescue like a gallant knight. Of course those two became joined at the hip after that. I loathed him the moment he stole her from me, she wanted nothing to do with me after that.”

“Well considering that you tried to do the same thing to me, I’m not surprised.” Shin said, his hand tightening around the glass so hard that he thought that he would shatter it in his own hand.

“Yes. I let myself go a bit, but that’s in the past.” Damien sighed, actually sounding like he had really regretted what he had done. He suddenly put his arm around Shin before he could stop him. “But please, let’s let bygones by bygones, shall we? We’re going off topic here.” He started to walk over to the fireplace, guiding the Snufkin with him.

“Are we?” Shin inquired as he shrugged off the man from him. He gratefully placed the glass on the table and folded his arms in a defensive manner. “Let me get one thing clear here. I know that this is about more than my parents. After all, no one gives someone that they have kidnapped, along with their friends, an idle chat about the past.”

“Yes. I agree. So please, sit.” Damien smiled. Without waiting for an answer, he gently pushed Shin onto one of the chairs and placed the glass once again in Shin’s hands. He sat down in the other chair. “Now, down to business. To be clear, I am a part of a small group. We call ourselves the Organisation. Corny I know but it kind of stuck with us. Actually, you’ve come across us before. Our ex associate, Dr Gnos.” Shin’s eyes widened a little. So there was one link between him and Damien aside from his parents. Gnos was one of them, this Organisation. However...

“This doesn’t explain why you kidnapped me and my friends.” Shin stated, his shoulders tending a little.

“If you please just be patient. I was getting to that.” Damien smiled coyly. Shin took a deep breath and opened his ears. “The other members and I have only one goal: to find the Phoenix and use its power. You see, Gnos was one of us but he left us because he wanted power all to himself.” Shin couldn’t help but start laughing at this. Damien frowned. “Did I say something funny?”

“You’re mad. Do you honestly expect me to believe that? The Phoenix is nothing more than a fairy tale.” Shin smirked.

“What if I were to tell you that your parents were two of the last people to see it?” Damien smirked. Shin’s smirk dropped instantly. What? “That’s right. You see, your parents were a part of the Organisation too. However, when they found out why we wanted the Phoenix, they along with a small group broke all ties with us. According to a mole that we planted in their rebellion of theirs, they saw the Phoenix and it gets better. They hid it from us. And they hid it so well, that no one would believe it. Not even you I’d imagine. Although, I’m sure that your parents told you where they’ve hidden it before their untimely end.” Shin slammed the glass back onto the table and stood up. He refused to believe this. All of this was a lie. The only time he had heard of the Phoenix was when he was child and his parents told him about it as a bed time story. They wouldn’t believe that they were a part of this evil group of people. They never once gave a hint that they had seen the Phoenix or where they may have hidden it. This man was just spewing out lies. He wouldn’t dare to believe them. Even if it was true. His parents were always good people. His mother taught him how to read and write and his father taught him outdoor skills, getting a sense that he would want to leave as soon as he believed he was old enough. His mother would always treat his injuries and take care of him when he was sick. His father would tell him about the world, making him seem small in a large world that needs to be explored. They would read him bed time stories and comfort him at night when he had a nightmare. How could parents as good as them, be a part of something so evil?

“No! I don’t believe you! My parents only told the Phoenix as a story to me when I was a kid. It’s not real!” He shouted, his fists clenched.

“Quite the contrary. It is real.” Damien said in an awfully calm tone. He stood up and once again presented Shin’s wine glass to him. “And you’re going to give it to me.” Having enough, Shin swatted at the glass like it was a fly. It flew out of Damien’s hand and shattered in the fireplace. The flames erupted higher and stronger in response to the alcohol. Blue flames appeared as the alcohol was burned away. The heat intensified. The glass fragments melted almost like ice. They stuck to the floor and the logs in the fireplace, staining it permanently. The flames died down a little after tense seconds of Damien and Shin glaring at each other.

“If the Phoenix is real, I don’t know where it is. And even if I did, I would never give it to a maniac like you.” Shin hissed, his voice almost sounding like venom. He turned his back, refusing to look at him. He flinched a little as he felt Damien put his hands on his shoulders. He tried to pull away but Damien’s hands were like a pair of vices, slowly getting tighter.

“Tell me Shin, what was it like when you lost your parents? It must have been devastating to lose them at such a young age. How much more devastating it would be to lose your boyfriend, I wonder.” He hissed down Shin’s ear.

“What?!” Shin exclaimed as he tore himself away from the man. He spun around and looked at him, his eyes wide in disbelief. He wouldn’t dare...?

“Really, Shin, you should never say never. I know of your relationship with the Snufkin that calls himself Kyun.” Damien glared. Shin took a step back, feeling intimidated. “Now, you will give the Phoenix to me, or else things are going to get a little bit messy.”

“I can’t give you something that I don’t have! Just leave Kyun out of this! He doesn’t know anything! Please!” Shin begged. He witnessed Kyun dying in front of him once before. It was so devastating, it felt like he lost his parents all over again. He never wanted to experience that ever again. Damien sneered at this. This was not what he wanted. He grabbed Shin roughly by the arms, making him wince a little at this.

“Let me make this very clear to you, Shin.” He hissed again, his voice becoming threateningly cold. “You have until dawn tomorrow to give me the Phoenix. If you do, you and your friends will be let go, wild and free once again. However, if you don’t, Kyun will die.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know anything. Just let us all go! You’re wasting your time!” Shin begged, pushing Damien away from him. Tears threatened to fall, but he held them back furiously. Damien only glared even harder, making him take a step further back. Damien lunges forward and snatched at his wrist. Shin winced as it started to feel like it would snap in a matter of seconds. He didn’t have anytime to react as he was spun around, back slamming into the wall. Damien pinned him there by the wrists. Shin struggled to fight back but his strength was nothing compared to the man’s. He stared up at Damien, his eyes reflecting his scared face.

“Now listen good Shin. You are my guest. I only ask for one thing.” Damien hissed, his voice was so threatening that Shin started to tremble. “I want the Phoenix. If you don’t give it to me, Kyun will pay the price dearly. That is my final warning.” Damien suddenly had a cruel smile on his lips, showing his impossibly perfect, ice white teeth. He switched around again to a lustful leer. He held Shin’s hands above his head with one hand and grabbed at his chin with the other. He leaned in closer. Shin almost gagged as he smelt the overwhelming scent of the rich wine on the man’s breath. “You know, now that I have a closer look at you, I see that you do have something that reminds me of your mother. Her eyes. You two have the exact same eye colour. How beautiful.” Before Shin could allow this to go any further, he slammed his knee right into his groin. Damien, obviously had never been hit there, let out a screech and let go of Shin. He bent over, forgetting that he was holding someone just seconds ago. The Snufkin pushed him away and ran to the centre of the room, getting far enough away from the vile man. Damien glared at Shin, breathing heavily. It took him a while but he straightened up eventually. He groaned softly as he tried to walk on steady feet.

“You’re incredibly stubborn, Shin! Just like your mother and father! And I can’t wait to break that spirit of yours.” He shouted. Shin stood his ground but his mind was telling him to run away. To get out. To leave this place and never come back. However, he couldn’t afford to leave Kyun behind, he would be killed for sure. Damien turned towards the doors. “GUARDS!” The doors swung open and two Hunters stomped right in. “Take him back to his accomplices! Maybe a night to think it all over will change his mind about our prize.” Shin had no time to react at all as the Hunters pounced on him. He thrashed as hard as he could but the Hunters had a stronger grip on him. Damien watched as Shin was dragged off and the doors slammed shut. He groaned in agony as he moved to sit down. This did not go as planned. He reached for his glass and took a big gulp of the wine. He had better have this worked out tomorrow. He after all, did promise results.

Chapter 1: Still Running (click HERE)

Chapter 2: The Burning Truth (click HERE)

Chapter 4: click HERE

#snufkin #kyun #shin #mumrik #ken #snuf #oc #some answers #the phoenix #poor shin #please forgive me

3 notes · View notes