#he is also scared of frozen vegetables and bottles.

[asfarion]

my idiot cat dingo getting upset because, despite having an entire half of the bed to himself so he can stretch his legs, im not laying down in a bent enough position for him to bury his head in my hand while my arm goes dead. i just moved to accommodate him, and hes finally stopped huffing and slamming his tail about and gone to sleep, with his head in my hand. would u believe this guy spent 5 years on the streets.

[leossmoonn]

Unexpected Love [Kai Parker] || Part One

masterlist 

pairing - kai parker x fem, human!reader

type - fluff, angst

note / request  - this request is by @mrs-parker-1972​ “The reader is on the other side with the others, and gets trapped there with bonnie and damon, or you can just skip to part when all three of them are in the prison world. So i am not really sure on how the reader meets kai, but you can improvise that part, I trust you. And then well, um, the reader and kai will hate each other and despise each other (damon and bonnie are in the real time world I guess?) And then kai does something human for the reader (you know, coz he doesn't have feelings) and it wakes something in him and the reader and kai grow close to each other, and I really don't know what else, but like can you, make their time in the prison world longer?? (Kai and the reader's) . And please it would be hilarious if you could add some comedic lines if damon, coz you know, damon is damon. And it would be AWESOME if you added the deleted scene of kai Parker where he is really emotional, and he says that after the reader touches a really soft spot about his child hood. And please make the reader human.” 

note - so i was planning on just rewatching the 6th season and copying scenes but i discovered it would take so long lol, so i split this into a 4 parts. i also didn’t really copy anything from the show, just the scene at the end. so most of this is just my writing. part two is at the end and word count is 7k+

summary - you and kai fall in love over a period of time after spending time with each other in the prison world

warnings / includes - language, alcohol, crying, fighting, 

————

*gif isn't mine*

“Maybe if you didn’t take so long to look for Alaric, we would still be alive!” I exclaimed. 

“Hey, you’re the one who insisted that you have a whole conversation with Lexi about the last few years,” Damon spat. 

“Yeah, but we were both already with Bonnie. You were miles away!” 

“You two stop it!” Bonnie shouted, putting her hands up in-between Damon and I. 

“No, Damon needs to know that this is his fault,” I glared.

“Oh, hardly. Why were you even there, again?” Damon asked. 

“Because you twisted my neck, jackass. Which thank you, by the way,” you smiled sourly. 

“Man, I wish you weren’t wearing that ring. You being dead right now would really-”

“Damon!” Bonnie yelled again. “I’m serious. You two need to stop. You’re giving me a headache.”

“Not my fault,” I mumbled, looking down at the road. 

“Liar,” Damon said not-so-quietly. 

“Before you two start again, let me remind you that I’m scared and mad, too. We can’t just fight the whole time, though. We need to see if we can get out. You two have been fighting about this for months, so stop,” Bonnie said. 

“We’re dead, Bon-Bon. We can’t get out,” Damon said. 

I rolled my eyes and started to walk away from them. I couldn’t stand Damon. 

“Where are you going?” Damon exclaimed. 

“To look for a way out, and to get away from you!” I yelled without looking back. 

“See? She’s useless,” Damon muttered behind my back. 

I let out a long, distressed sigh. “I’m going back home.”

“Same. I need some food,” Bonnie said, catching up with me. 

We walked for miles until we got to Damon’s house. I was sweating and panting by the time we got there. We had no cars so it was a good 5 mile walk.

“Need any water?” Damon asked as we walked inside his house. 

“Yes, please,” I breathed out. 

I trudged over to the couch, flopping down and taking my sneakers off. Damon came back over with a big class of cold water. I smiled at him gratefully, standing up to take it. Damon had other ideas, though. He lifted the glass up to the top of his head, making it hard for me to grab it. 

“Oh, c’mon. You’re such a dick!” I whined, jumping up. My fingertips skimmed the bottom the glass, but I still was just a little too short to grab it. 

“Say that magic words,” Damon smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “Thank you, oh great wise one.”

Damon smiled happily, setting the glass down on the table. 

“Jerk,” I muttered, taking a long sip of the water. 

“You love me!” Damon sang. “Nope,” I shook my head. 

“Hey, we need to get more food,” Bonnie stated from the kitchen.

“Then go and get it, Bon-Bon,” Damon muttered. 

“I was just about to, Damon,” Bonnie spat.

“Maybe you can go and learn magic again, too,” Damon snickered. 

I turned my head to him. glaring. “Wow, you are just full of shit today. Huh, Damon?”

Damon rolled his eyes at my insult. “Yeah, well, I don’t want to be stuck here. I want to see Elena.”

“And you will! Who knows, maybe I’ll get my magic back. While I’m out I’ll go and practice magic,” Bonnie shrugged off Damon’s insult. 

“Good idea. I’ll go with you,” I smiled, standing up and slipping back on my shoes. 

“With all do respect Bonnie, you haven’t been able to do magic ever since you became the anchor. What makes you think you can do it now?” Damon asked.

“Just have faith, Damon. She can do it. I know it,” I smiled at Bonnie, who smiled gratefully back at me.

“Fine. But are you guys gonna leave me all alone?” Damon whined. 

“Yep,” I nodded, walking over to the door. 

“Who’s the rude one now?” Damon challenged. I put a finger up to my chin and hummed, pretending that I was thinking hard. I then put on a charming smile. 

“Still you. Ready Bonnie?” I turned to the girl next to me who was putting on a jacket. 

“Yep. See you later, Damon,” Bonnie smiled and waved. 

“See you,” I nodded. 

Damon waved goodbye as we shut the door behind us. I walked with Bonnie until we split off. She went to her grandmother’s house, while I went to the little supermarket a few miles out. 

Walking there was a pain in the ass. I had my car keys with me, but I couldn’t seem to find my car. Even though this place had everything else; Damon’s house, my house, Bonnie’s grandmother’s house. Even Elena’s house. Just not my car, which pissed me off, but I knew I couldn’t start to get mad again. Getting angry and upset wouldn’t help us get out of here. 

I walked up to the supermarket and entered the market, expecting someone to be at the register, but no one was there. I laughed at myself for expecting someone. Every time I’ve gone out, I’ve always expected to see people. But I remind myself that I’m dead. Of course no one would be here. We were all alone. Those cars outside were just there because this was just a very real, very confusing after-life. 

I grabbed a shopping cart and started getting the stuff we needed. Eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables, bread. I then got some soda and water bottle cases, some bags of chips and sweets. I went over to the frozen food section and got a few microwavable dinners and some ingredients to make food like chilli and tacos. I went around the store once more, making sure I got everything we needed. I passed one shelf, stopping once I realised that something was missing. 

“I thought there were pork rinds here,” I muttered. 

Merry-go-round music then started to play. I turned a full 360, trying to see if there was anybody in the store with me. No one was here. I went outside of the store, seeing the little merry-go-round spinning. 

“That’s weird,” I mumbled. 

I heard the sound of flapping and my head snapped to the sound. I saw someone pass by in a flash. Goosebumps sprung up on my arms and the hairs on the back of my neck raised. I got this uneasy feeling in my stomach as my mind went to disturbing thoughts.

“Hello?” I called out. 

I walked further into the parking lot, hearing the noise again. I sighed as I realised it was probably just Damon pulling a prank on me. 

“Very funny, Damon! You’ve freaked me out, good job. You can come out now!” I exclaimed, my eyes searching the open area. 

The merry-go-round came to a stop and I let out a deep breath to try and calm myself down. Bonnie, Damon, and I were the only ones here. No one was going to hurt me… Right?

The merry-go-round music started up again suddenly. I jumped in surprise and fear, doing another 360.

“Must be on a timer,” I muttered. 

“False,” an unfamiliar, matter-of-fact voice spoke behind me. 

I froze in my spot, afraid to turn around as I knew that definitely wasn’t Damon. 

“Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you,” the voice said, getting closer to me. 

The person appeared in front of me. I stiffened up more as the voice belonged to a man. A very attractive man, might I add. He had a big, teasing smile on his face. His blue eyes danced around my face, studying me as I studied him. He had brown hair that was combed up, wearing jeans, a black t-shirt, a green jacket and carrying a bag of pork rinds.

“Oh, you’re the one who stole the pork rinds. Who are you?” I asked. “I’m Kai,” the man held his free hand out.

My eyes flickered down to his arm and back up to his eyes. I put my hand out gingerly, slipping my hand into his slowly. I kept eye contact as we shook hands. My stomach did flips as we touched. 

“Nice to meet you, Kai. I’m Y/n,” I offered him a friendly smile. 

“Oh, I know,” Kai shrugged. I furrowed my brows, instinctively pulling my hand away from his. 

“How?” I asked. 

“I’ve been watching you and your friends for a while,” he admitted. 

“Oh,” I said, my eyes wide in shock. 

“Yep! It’s so nice to have friends now. Man, I have been really lonely,” he chuckled. 

“We aren’t friends. And what do you mean you’ve been lonely. Are you dead, too? Have you been stuck here as long as us, too?” I asked. 

Kai frowned, stepping closer to me. “Why all the questions? Don’t you want to get to know me?”

“Um,” I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, stepping back so there was distance between us. 

“Am I making you uncomfortable? Sorry about that. It’s been a while since I’ve had face-to-face type human interaction,” he chuckled, looking down to the ground. 

“No, it’s fine. Anyways, are you dead, too?” I repeated one of my burning questions. 

“No! I am very much alive. Well, I think so. You can kiss me to find out, though,” he flirted. 

I felt the tip of my ears grow warm as his suggestion. “No, thanks.” 

“Oh! I’m doing it again. God, sorry. You are just so pretty and i get nervous when I’m around girls. Especially ones like you.”

I chuckled, my grip on the shopping cart tightening. “So, you said you have been lonely. For how long, exact?”

“Long time. I’m not sure. It’s 1994, though,” he explained. 

My eyes bulged out of my head. “What?! It’s 1994?”

“Yep. There’s literally newspapers everywhere,” he snorted. 

“Well, I haven’t really been observant, I guess. What are we doing in 1994?”

“We’re stuck!” He explained. “Oh, damn,” I muttered. 

“Yeah, it sucks, but now you guys are here to keep me company!” He grinned. 

I smiled politely at him, getting ready to turn around and go back home. “Right. Well, I gotta go. My friends are expecting me for dinner. Maybe you could uh… You could um, come to dinner?”

His eyes widened in surprise. I kept on my smile, shifting the weight in my feet. 

“Really?” He asked. 

“Yeah, why not! Um, chilli sound good?” I asked. “Perfect. I’ll bring drinks,” he suggested. 

“Sounds great. Well, um, see you later?” I proposed, getting ready to turn around. 

“Yep,” he smiled. “Great,” I chuckled, looking down shyly. I began to turn around, but Kai stopped me. 

“Why don’t I drive you there? It’d be tedious of you to carry the cart all the way home, right?” Kai asked. 

I turned back around, “Um… Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Are you sure, though?” 

“Positive.”

My smiled widely, giggling a little. “Well, yeah, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Great. My car’s over here,” He said and pointed to a dark blue Chevy. 

“Wow, this is a really cool car,” I said, wheeling the car to it. “Yeah, I know,” he smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

I opened up the trunk and loaded the groceries in the car. I then walked over to the passenger seat and got in, buckling and waiting for Kai to get in the driver’s seat. We got to Damon’s place in 10 minutes. I was very thankful I had met him, even though he was a little bit of a weirdo. Kai parked in the entry way and he helped me take in the groceries. 

“Hey, Damon! Is Bonnie home yet?” I called out. 

“Yeah! I am,” Bonnie came out from the kitchen. Her smile faltered as he saw Kai standing next to me. “Who, uh, who is this?” “Oh!” I giggled. “This is Kai. We met at the supermarket.”

“Oh, really? Hi, Kai,” Damon narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Hi, Damon!” Kai said cheerfully. “How the hell do you know my name?” Damon asked. 

“Oh, he’s just uh… He’s just been observing us and stuff,” I explained. 

“Hm, not creepy at all,” Damon muttered. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Kai. Are you joining us for dinner?” Bonnie asked. 

“Yeah, I hope that’s okay,” Kai said. “Yeah! It’s fine, guys, right?” I asked. 

“Sure,” Bonnie nodded. 

“Great! I brought drinks, too,” he said, holding a bag filled with bourbon and whiskey. 

“Great, but we already have some,” Damon said, gesturing to the liquor cabinets. 

“Oh,” Kai frowned. “But it’s fine! We’ll drink your’s,” I said. 

“Great,” Kai perked up again. “Let’s get dinner started, yeah?” I suggested, walking over to the kitchen. 

Everyone nodded in agreement and helped with dinner. Kai mostly helped. Damon got bored in the middle and went to his room to do God know’s what, while Bonnie went to sit on the couch and watch 90′s classics. 

“Thanks for helping with dinner,” I said. “No problem. You are an amazing cook,” Kai complimented. 

“You haven’t even tasted the food,” I chuckled. 

“Well, you seem to know the recipe and whatnot. And it smells amazing.”

“Well, thank you,” I smiled, turning and looked at him. 

My eyes met his and a wave of butterflies washed over me. I looked into his mysterious blue eyes, getting lost in them quickly. 

“Is dinner done yet?” Damon asked, interrupting the moment. 

I jumped away from Kai in an instant, hanging my head low in embarrassment.

“Yeah,” I muttered, walking away and getting bowls out. I poured the chilli in each bowl, bringing them to the table with a glasses of Kai’s alcohol. 

“Dig in.” I sprinkled cheese over my chilli. 

“Let me take a sip of this bourbon first,” Damon said, holding the glass up skeptically. He brought the glass up to his lips, taking a slow and small sip. As soon as the bourbon touched his lips, he dropped the glass on the floor and his hand flew to his throat. 

“Oh, my God. Damon, are you okay?” I jumped up from my seat, running over to him. 

“V-Vervain,” Damon gasped. “Vervain… What?” I gulped, my eyes immediately meeting with Kai’s. 

“You!” I pointed. “Oops,” Kai chuckled, getting out of his seat. 

“Not so fast,” Bonnie said, grabbing his arm to sit him back down. Kai grabbed her arm, too. Bonnie started screaming and holding his hand in pain. 

“What? What are you doing to her!” I exclaimed, going over to them. 

“Taking her magic,” Kai shrugged. “What! B-But… How?” I asked. 

“She’s a witch, so am I. Well, not exactly. I’m more of what you say… a siphon,” he explained as if I was supposed to know. 

“Well, whatever are you, get off of her!” I yelled, taking ahold of his jacket and pulling him away. I stumbled back, still holding onto him. 

“I wasn’t done yet!” Kai whined. 

“I don’t care! You were hurting her,” I glared at him, shoving him out of the way and going to Bonnie. 

“Hey, did he burn you? Let’s get your arm under some water,” I said, grabbing her shoulder gently. 

“No, I’m not burned. It just hurt like hell. Ugh! Why did you do that?!” Bonnie exclaimed angrily at Kai. 

“Because I needed the power to do this,” Kai said, holding up his hand. He made the bottle of bourbon float up and poured it all over Damon. 

“Stop!” I shrieked, running over to shove his arm down, but he sent me flying across the room with his other hand. 

“Sorry, princess, but I can’t let you ruin this,” Kai said. 

I groaned, holding the back of my head. “Screw you.”

“Oh, I wish you could,” Kai winked at you. 

I gagged in disgust and got up slowly, groaning at the paining my back. “Not anymore.” Kai chuckled will finishing pouring the bottle of bourbon on Damon, then lifting him up and throwing him against the wall.

“B-Bonnie. D-Do mag-gic,” Damon whimpered.  “Yeah, please do,” I nodded, balancing myself on the island counter. 

“Yeah, please do, Bonnie. Please humiliate yourself in front of your friends. It’s so sad that you can’t do magic. I’ve been watching you for weeks now. What’s even the point of you trying? What’re you gonna do, fail at me? It’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed for you,” Kai taunted her. 

Bonnie gave him a death glare and looked around the room, spotting a few candles. She closed her eyes and held up her hand. “Phasmatos Incendia.”

I watched in amazement as the candles lit. Bonnie then turned to Kai, who had a shocked look on his face. She grinned at him, cocking her head to the side. 

“I’m embarrassed for you,” she mocked him. 

“Dammit,” Kai muttered. “Looks like I have to kill you now. I was planning on for that to be later.” “Oh, no you don’t,” Damon remarked, getting up slowly. He then sped over to Kai and before Kai could react, Bonnie held Kai’s arms back while Damon punched Kai. 

“You’re going down, wacko,” Damon muttered, taking Kai’s head in his hands and slamming him down on the floor, knocking Kai out. 

“Are you okay, Damon?” I asked immediately. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s get him chained up,” Damon said. 

“Yeah, okay,” I nodded, going over and lifting Kai up form under his arms. 

“Good job, Bon-Bon. About time,” Damon patted Bonnie on the back. 

“Thanks,” Bonnie gave him a small smile. 

Bonnie helped me chain up Kai to a chair, Damon going on the couch to heal and rest. 

“I can’t believe you liked him,” Damon spoke up after a while. 

“I didn’t,” I protested. “You sure? You were drooling all over him when he first came into the house. You're type is crazy,” Damon smirked. 

I rolled my eyes, wanting to change the subject. “I think the whiskey he brought also has vervain in it.”

“He’s right, Y/n. You have horrible taste in guys,” Bonnie teased. 

I scoffed. “Un-called for! Damon’s supposed to be the rude one.”

“It’s not being rude if I’m telling the truth,” Bonnie smirked. “Yeah, well, I guess I liked him. Not anymore, though,” I sighed, sitting down on the couch next to Damon. 

“Good. We would definitely have had to take you to therapy,” Damon smirked. 

I laughed with him, letting out a long sigh. “I just still can’t believe there is someone here with us.” “Yeah, and he’s a psycho,” Damon spat. 

“What're we gonna do with him when he wakes up?” I asked. 

“Interrogate him. See what he knows, what he wants, how to get out of here,” Damon answered. 

“Well, I know a little bit about what he knows,” I said. “We’re in 1994.”

“Yeah, I know,” Damon muttered. “What, how?” I asked. 

“While you were gone we found a newspaper. Apparently, we have been re-living May 10th since we got here,” Bonnie said sourly. 

“Oh. Great,” I shook my head. “Anything else you guys found out?”

“Yes, actually. Kai is a murderer,” Bonnie said. She grabbed a newspaper from the coffee table and held it up to my face. She pointed to the left side where there were four headshots of teenagers. 

“Family Massacred in Portland. The only one missing was the oldest boy. A 22 year-old named Malachai,” I read aloud. I then looked up to Kai who was still knocked out. “I-Is he Malachai?”

“All signs point to yes,” Damon said. “My God. I liked a murderer? Jesus, what is wrong with me?” I muttered, setting the newspaper down. 

“Really? Your type in men is what you’re worried about?” Damon scoffed. 

I smiled a little. “No, no! It’s just… Weird to me. Anyways, if he knows the way out, we have to get out without him, okay?”

“Deal,” Bonnie nodded. 

“Do you guys want to go to bed?” I asked. “Well, someone has to stay and watch,” Damon gestured to Kai. 

“Why don’t you. You’re the immortal,” I nudged his shoulder. 

“Fine. I’ll alert you guys when he wakes up,” Damon said. 

“Great. Thanks, Damon,” Bonnie smiled. “Mhm. No prob!” Damon exclaimed as Bonnie and I climbed up the stairs. 

“He is kinda cute,” Bonnie said once we reached one the guest bedroom.

“Who? Damon?” I asked. “No, Kai,” Bonnie explained. 

I raised my brows, my mouth formed in the shape of an ‘O’. 

“What?” Bonnie asked. “I cannot believe you just said that about our enemy. You’re never this two-faced,” I smirked. 

Bonnie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, well, he’s still a sociopath.”

“True that. Hey, wanna have a sleepover? Maybe have some fun,” I suggested. 

“Yes! Oh, I wish that Care and Elena were here,” Bonnie sighed. 

“Me, too, Bon. We’ll get to see them soon, though.” I put a hand on her shoulder. 

“I hope,” Bonnie smiled.  I smiled back and went to the closet, finding a pair of sweats and a tank top. Bonnie and I got ready for bed, staying up for a good hour talking, finally passing out across the bed. 

I was the first one to wake up. I rose up slowly and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Once I opened them fully, I looked around the room with complete confusion. Once I looked at the clock, though, I finally realised that I was in a repeating loop of May 10th, 1994. You’d think waking up for months in this place, I would get used to it, but I really never have. Not yet, at least. 

“Disappointing, right?” Bonnie spoke next to me. I turned, chuckling in agreement. “Most definitely.”

“At least we got a full night’s sleep. It’s 10 AM,” Bonnie said. “True,” I nodded, getting up and stretching. 

“Let’s go and see the sociopath living downstairs,” I groaned. 

“I’ll need coffee before I see him,” Bonnie said, getting up and putting on a robe.

“Oh, me, too,” I chuckled. 

We both went downstairs after freshening up, going to the kitchen immediately.

“Um, hello? Did you forget about us?” Damon asked form the living room. 

“Yep,” Bonnie smiled at him. Damon rolled his eyes, going over to us. 

“Hurry up, sleeping beauties. Malachai is awake,” Damon said, his eyes going wide as he said Kai’s full name. 

“Please, it’s Kai,” Kai said. “Hm, nope. I read Malachai in the newspaper,” Damon gave Kai his signature sarcastic smile. 

Bonnie and I laughed at Damon defying Kai. I poured myself some coffee and made myself some eggs and toast before going over to Damon. 

“Alright, I am ready to get this interrogation on,” I smiled, sitting down on the couch. 

“Me, too,” Bonnie said, sitting next to me. 

“Wow, you look beautiful when just waking up,” Kai complimented. 

“Drop the act, weirdo,” I rolled my eyes. 

“I was actually talking to the green-eyed beauty next to you,” Kai grinned. 

I couldn’t help but frown. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach and I looked down at my food, picking up the toast and nibbling on the crust. 

“You can still drop the act. We want answers,” Bonnie demanded. 

“Ooh, you are so sexy while dominant,” Kai winked. “And you are so gross and desperate,” Bonnie stated. 

“If you don’t give us answers, I’ll snap your neck,” Damon threatened. 

I looked up and saw Kai pursing his lips. 

“It’s so funny,” Kai stated. “What is?” Damon asked. 

“Well, you three seem to hate me, yet you haven’t killed me yet,” Kai explained. 

“Because we need information from you, and you are withholding for no reason,” Bonnie explained further. 

“Fine. But I want Y/n to ask the questions,” Kai said, his blue eyes landing on me. 

I glared at him right away. “Why me? You seem pretty infatuated with Bonnie.”

“Jealousy is not a good look on you, princess,” he spoke playfully.

I had to fight the butterflies that were swarming in my stomach. “And being annoying is not a good way for us to not kill you.”

Kai laughed, “Fair. So, what do you guys want to know?”

“Why are we here? Is this my personal hell?” Damon asked quickly. 

I furrowed my brows and looked up at  him. “Why do you think this is your personal hell?”

“Well, first of all my car is parked in the entry way. Yeah, I noticed that. And second… There was something bad I did during May 10th, 1994,” Damon sighed. 

“Damon… What did you do?” Bonnie’s voice wavered. “Yeah, Damon, what did you do?” Kai pressed on. 

“You,” Damon pointed to Kai. “Shut it. And… You guys would hate me if I told you. Like, hate me for real.”

“Oh, I bet it’s not too bad,” I smiled comfortingly. 

“Nope, it’s bad,” Damon sighed. “Well, then tell us,” Bonnie pushed. 

Damon sighed, walking from the back of the couch to the armchair. He slumped down. “I… I killed a pregnant woman.”

The plate that was once in my hand clattered to the ground. 

“You what!?” Bonnie exclaimed. 

“Not one of my best moments,” Damon sighed. 

“W-Why?” I stuttered, racking my brain for any type of logical explanation. 

“Cause I was mad at Stefan,” Damon shrugged. “And that justifies the fact that you killed a pregnant woman?” Bonnie shouted. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know! I’m a horrible person, okay?” Damon exclaimed, shooting up from his seat. 

“You’re worse than I thought. How can Elena love you!” Bonnie scoffed. 

I stood up in-between them. “Okay, not the time, guys. We need to ask Kai questions.”

“And before you do that, I need you guys to get a few things for me,” Kai said. 

I groaned, “What now?”

“Well, I need to make a list, and I can’t if I’m all tied up.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.” I went over to him, untying the rope. I then got a paper and pencil and handed them to him. 

“Thank you, honey,” Kai gave me an eye-blinding grin. 

“Yeah, whatever,” I muttered, going to the kitchen to get a dustpan to sweep up the broken pieces of the plate. 

“Alright!” Kai announced after a few moments. “All done.” “Great. I’ll go out,” I said, going over and taking the paper out of his hand. Kai reached out to stop me, though. 

“Nope. I want you to stay,” Kai said. “Why?” I asked. 

“Because you’re so cute,” he complimented. “Shut up. I will kill you,” I sneered, jerking my arm out of his grasp. 

“I’ll go. I don’t want to be around Damon,” Bonnie snarled, snatching the piece of paper. 

“Bon, c’mon,” Damon said helplessly, following her to the door. 

They both went out of the house. I could hear Bonnie shouting from the outside. 

“Finally alone together,” Kai said. 

“Yeah, no. I’m going upstairs,” I said, turning on my heels. 

“If you stay I'll tell you everything,” Kai said. 

I stopped in my track, turning back to him slowly. “Really?” 

He nodded. “I promise.”

“Fine,” I sighed, sitting back down on the couch. Kai got up and walked over. He sat down right next to me. 

I huffed and got up, sitting in the armchair. 

“Fine, I’ll talk to you this way, I guess. So, what do you want to know?” Kai asked. 

“Why did you kill your family?” I asked.  “Well, I was born into a coven of witches. The Gemini coven, to be exact. I was the black sheep of my family. The one whose magical ability was sucking the power out of people. My family hated me. My father hated me. He never showed me love or tried to understand me,” he explained. 

“And that’s why you killed your whole family? Because you never got love?” I asked. 

“Yep. Basically,” he shrugged. “Not a good enough reason,” I shook my head. 

“Well, what were you expecting?”  

I sighed, “I don’t know.”

“Precisely. Anyways, that’s why this is my personal hell. Not Damon’s.”

“How do we get out of here?” I asked. 

“Well, there’s this thing called an ascendent. That will take us home,” he explained. 

“Okay, what is it?” I asked. 

“A mystical relic that was created by my family. It can harnesses the power of a celestial event and creates a portal, to which we can all then go home.”

“And where is the ascendent?” I asked. “I have no idea,” Kai smiled. 

“Ugh! Seriously? How are we going to get out of here now?” “Well, the stuff I asked Bonnie to get will help us. Don’t worry,” he shrugged. 

“Okay, well, I’m going to go and get ready for the day,” I said, standing up. 

“And you’re going to leave me here alone? What if I kill you in the shower?” Kai asked. 

“Well, I need a shower. So, if you do, at least I’ll be released from this world,” I smiled sweetly, walking off. 

I heard him chuckle behind me. I sighed quietly and climbed up the stairs. I could not wait to get out of there. 

I came back downstairs after 30 minutes. I first looked in the living room, seeing Bonnie and Damon with Kai. 

“Took you long enough,” Damon said.

I rolled my eyes, “I assume Kai filled you in?” “Yep. I have to do a spell now to find the ascendent,” Bonnie nodded. 

“And we’re gonna do that with Kai having jam on his fingers?” I asked, pointing to Kai was scooping out jam with his hands. 

“Well, I’m not gonna do the spell. Bonnie will. I’ll just guide her,” Kai explained. 

I hummed in reply and nodded. “Alright, well, let’s get started then.”

Bonnie and Kai went to the dining room table to work. Spreading out a big map and putting some of Kai’s blood on the paper to do a locator spell. 

We watched as she tried a few times before she realised the blood wasn’t moving. 

“It doesn’t feel right,” she sighed. “Maybe I need bigger map.”

“Maybe you’re just out of practice, and you suck at magic now,” Damon said.

“Ignore him, Bonnie. Pretend he’s a white noise machine,” Kai said. “That’s how I used to tune out my siblings.”

“How many siblings?” I asked casually. 

“Seven,” Kai answered. “You know, all of them constantly yammering. But it, uh, taught me how to focus.” He went by Bonnie, looking her in the eye, his gaze traveling down to her lips. 

A pang of jealously hit my heart. I looked down at the ground, not wanting to see them kiss, if they did. 

“Easy there, big brother,” Damon remarked. “She doesn’t know you. At least buy her a drink.”

Bonnie and Kai chuckled, looking at each other. I groaned quietly, going to the kitchen to get myself a drink.

“Hey! Where are you going, princess?” Kai called. 

“Somewhere where you’re not,” I grumbled. 

I got out a bottle of scotch, taking a swig from the bottle. 

“Woah, easy there, princess,” Damon mocked the nickname Kai had given me. 

I glared at him. “Do not call me that.”

“What, I can’t, but Kai can? Sounds like someone still has a crush,” Damon sang. 

“I do not!” 

“You sure you don’t like him? Cause I think you two would make a great fit. He’s crazy and well, you seem to like crazy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, like you and Elena are a great fit, right? You being the one who keeps breaking up with her and all.”

I then walked past Damon and back into the living room, earning a glare from him. 

“The blood’s moving towards Virginia. Can’t be right,” Kai said. 

“Mm-mm. Spell’s working. It’s showing me Mystic Falls. It feels so… close,” Bonnie said, putting her hand on Kai’s jacket, candles lighting up. 

“It right here,” Bonnie said, pressing her hand into his chest. 

Kai took out the ascendent from his jacket pocket, an expression of shock on his face. “Very good.”

“That’s the ascendent?” I asked. “The one and only,” Kai smiled. 

“Thanks for the mind games, jackass,” Damon said. 

“It was just another little test. To make sure Bonnie’s magic was precise enough for the spell,” Kai explained. “I do believe we’re ready. Pack your bags, we’re going home.”

Kai then walked out of the house and to the front yard, stopping every few moments. 

“You’re wandering around like a crazy man, why?” Damon asked. 

“I’m looking for the exact right spot,” Kai answered, holding the ascendent up to the sky. “We need to find where the power of the eclipse is focused.”

“You know, you could have just showed us the ascendant to begin with,” Bonnie said. 

“Yeah, but I wanted to feel your hand on my chest,” Kai smirked. 

A frown rested upon my lips and I looked down at the ground. 

“He is so annoying,” Bonnie muttered. 

“You’re just not used to guys hitting on you,” Damon said. “You know, I can’t wait to get out of here,” Bonnie glared. 

She then went next to me. I held my head back up, but not looking at her.

“Hey, how you holding up?” She asked. “Oh, fine,” I shrugged. “I’m getting kind of bored, though.”

“Yeah, I feel you… Hey,” Bonnie said, putting her hand on my arm. I turned to her, “Yeah?”

“Kai is a sociopath. He’s just flirting with us to get a rise out of each other. I know you don’t like him anymore, but that attraction you felt to him is probably still there. Let’s not let him tear us apart, okay? We’re stronger than some guy,” she smiled. 

I smiled with her, perking up. “Yeah. You’re right. Sorry, just between him calling me pet names and the fact that Damon is always so pissy, it’s hard to be optimistic.”

“Well, I can do magic again now, so there’s one reason!” “Very true. Good job, by the way,” I complimented. “Why, thank you,” Bonnie chuckled.

We followed Kai and Damon, beginning to talk about our plans for when we got home. I looked down at the ground as she talked about her plans with Jeremy. I kicked around a rock, a pair of shoes appearing in front of me. It was Kai. Before my body could stop, I knocked into him.

His hands supported my waist, holding me up. My eyes met his and for a split second, I could see the human in him. I pushed him away though, scoffing in the process. 

“A little warning next time?” 

Kai just smiled down at me, then looking up to the sky. “The eclipse will happen directly overhead. In perfect alignment with the Gemini constellation. You need to dig under the tunnels below us. We’ll do the spell here,” Kai said 

“Wait, why do we have to dig?” Damon asked.

“Have you never portal-jumped through an eclipse before? Okay, look, the light of the eclipse will shine down and activate the ascendant. You spout a little witchy woo and then, poof! Anyone standing in the circle of light holding the ascendant goes home,” Kai explained. 

“Let me see the spell,” Bonnie said. “When the time comes,” Kai smiled.

He then walked past us three. 

“Where are you going?” I asked. “Into town. I need to gather some important supplies,” Kai explained. 

“Y/n, why don’t you watch over him to make sure he isn’t planning to kill us,” Damon said. 

“What! No!” I protested. “You really want to be stuck with us? Digging a hole?” Bonnie asked. 

“Not really,” I sighed. “Fine, I’ll go. See you guys later.” 

“Have fun,” Bonnie smiled. “Oh, you know I will,” I smiled sourly as I followed Kai’s path. 

I jogged to catch up with him. “Hey, Kai! Wait up.”

Kai stopped in his tracks, turning in surprise. “Stalking me?”

“Nope. More like babysitting.”

“Hm. Well, I’m older than you, so technically I would be doing the babysitting,” Kai said. 

“Yeah, like you have any parental instincts. So, where into town are we going?” 

“I thought you hated talking to me,” Kai said. “Just answer the damn question,” I glared. 

“I’m picking up some personal belongings,” Kai explained. 

“Why?” You asked. “Because 1994 has been my home for most of my life. I don’t want to get homesick when I go into the 21st century,” Kai answered.

“Hm, I see. Well, a lot has changed in the last 18 years,” I said. 

“So I can see. They obviously didn’t make girls as pretty as Bonnie back then,” Kai smirked. 

My lips pulled down into another frown. Him complimenting Bonnie was like a stake to the heart. I didn’t know why, but it bothered me a little too much to hear him talk about other girls. It was even worse considering that the girl he was talking about was my best friend.  

“Hey, don’t be so sad. You’re pretty, too,” Kai nudged my shoulder.

“Wow, thanks,” I rolled your eyes. 

“I’m serious! You’re more pretty than Bonnie!” Kai said. “Just want I wanted. You dragging my friend down so I can be complimented,” I hummed. 

Kai rolled his eyes. “Women are so difficult. Look, I meant that you’re really pretty. Bonnie is, too. Just accept the fact I think you’re pretty!”

My face warmed up quickly and I hung my head low. “T-Thanks.”

“Let me guess, not a lot of guys compliment you?”

“They do, but doesn’t mean I don’t get flustered.”

“You seem pretty outgoing to me,” Kai said. 

“Well, that’s probably because I hate you. I’m shy to guys I like,” I explained, putting my head back up. 

“Hm… Or you just think that. You know, girls can be mean when they like a guy.”

“Yeah, in elementary school. Look, I’m not 8 anymore. I know the difference between love and hate and trust me, my feelings for you stand on the hate side.”

“Keep saying that, princess,” Kai remarked. “And stop calling me princess! God, it’s so annoying,” I groaned. 

“C’mon, I know you like it, princess,” Kai teased, poking at my arm. 

I swatted his hand away. “For someone who is a sociopath, you sure like to flirt a lot.”

“I am not a sociopath,” Kai said. “You sure are,” I chuckled. 

“I’m not. I was just treated like the biggest embarrassment and disappointment of my family, and I’ve been stuck here for 18 years. It’s not fun going through what I did,” Kai argued. 

I softened up a little. “Right, yeah. So, how long do we have to walk for?”

“Not very long,” Kai said. 

We walked in a weirdly comfortable silence for 10 more minutes before arriving at a house. 

“This your place I assume?” I asked. 

“Yep. Not the place I grew up in, though,” he said, walking up. “Because you were born in Oregon?” I guessed. 

“Yep. Wow, you pay attention to what I say. So sweet.” I huffed, “Just hurry up.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” I waited for him outside the house, beginning to play with the locket around my neck. I took it off, opening it and smiling nostalgically.

“I miss you guys. I wish you were here,” I said to the pictures, running my fingertips on them. 

“Are you talking to yourself?” Kai’s voice sounded out of nowhere. 

I jumped, immediately shutting the locket. “No. Are you finished?”

“Yep,” he nodded. 

“Good, let’s hurry back.” 

“Who were you talking to?” He asked as we started our journey back to Bonnie and Damon. 

“Nobody,” I answered. “So you were talking to yourself?” Kai pressed. 

“Yeah,” I admitted. “Why?” He asked. 

“It’s none of your business,” I said quickly. I hoped he got the hint that this was something that I would never share. 

“Oh, please? You know, like, everything about me!”

I groaned, “No, Kai! Stop it.”

His eyebrows raised, his lips curling up into a smile. “Alright, Miss Fussy.”

I went in front of him, walking fast. We finally got back to the big hole that was now in the middle of the forrest. 

“Now will you show us the spell?” Bonnie asked, panting. 

“Not yet,” Kai said. “Why? We’ve done everything you want. Just get us out of here,” Damon said. 

“I just… I can’t. Not yet,” Kai shrugged. 

I scoffed, “Now is not the time to be a dick.”

“Wait,” Bonnie said, staring hard at Kai. “He doesn’t know the spell. Which means we don’t need him. Motus.”

Suddenly the pickaxe that Damon had flew up and plunged Kai in the heart, missing my arm by a centimeter. 

“Bonnie!” I shrieked. 

“What? You never liked him anyways,” Bonnie shrugged. “I have my grimoire right here, I’ll find the spell.” Bonnie pulled out the spell book from her backpack. 

“Yeah, and how long is that gonna take?” Damon asked. “Not long if you two let me concentrate,” Bonnie said. 

Damon groaned and walked over to me. “She seems way too calm.”

“She’s not one to freak out like you or Caroline. I’m a little mad at her, too, but I know she’s got this,” I shrugged, taking a seat on the dirt. 

“Find the spell yet, Bon-Bon?” Damon asked, leaning against a tree. 

“It’s been 2 minutes,” I swatted Damon’s leg. “No, but I think the Gemini coven used a Bennett spell to create this place. That's why my grams sent me here,” Bonnie explained. 

I smiled at her, “Great thinking!”

Bonnie thanked me with a nod, holding the ascendent up in her hands and muttering an incantation. My jaw dropped as I saw the ascendent move outwards. 

“And this is why Kai never killed me. He needed a Bennett,” Bonnie smiled triumphantly. 

“See, I told you she knew what she was doing,” I smiled up at Damon. 

“Yeah, well, I did, too. I was just giving her a hard time,” Damon shrugged. 

Bonnie chuckled. “You guys ready to go home?”

“Hell yeah!” I exclaimed and jumped up. 

We all jumped down the hole that Bonnie and Damon dug up, landing in a cave. Bonnie wasted no time dropping her blood onto the ascendant. She muttered the spell, the ascendent winding out further. 

“Ready, guys?” Bonnie asked. 

I nodded, walking up to her and putting my hand under her’s. Damon put his hand under mine. 

“Let’s go home,” I smiled, tears threatening to fall out of my eyes. 

As Bonnie was about to say the spell, an arrow struck just right under my heart and sent me flying. Another arrow also hit Bonnie. I hit a pile of rocks, my head turning to whoever hit me. It was Kai. 

“Forgetting someone?” He asked. “Did you really think I haven’t tried to kill myself before? Because I have.” He loaded up the crossbow again. 

Damon made a move for the ascendent that was now on the floor. 

“Grab that or the next arrow will be in their hearts. Your choice.” Kai threatened. 

Damon sighed and sped over to Bonnie, pulling the arrow out from her body. She screamed in pain, my eyes widening as I watched Kai take the ascendent. 

“Damon!” I exclaimed as Damon as about to feed us his blood. 

Damon fed Bonnie his blood quickly and ran up to Kai, knocking the ascendent out of his hand. My eyes fell to the ascendent as it was close enough for me to try and grab. I tried to reach, but Bonnie was a few steps ahead of me. She then bent down to me, ripping the arrow out of my side. I screamed in pain, tears streaming down my face. 

“We’re gonna get you out of here, okay? Just put pressure on this,” Bonnie said, grabbing her jacket around my wound. 

I shook my head, smiling sadly. “No, I-I won’t make it. You and Damon go. You guys have too much to live for. Me? I have no family there, and we all know Caroline and Elena miss you more.”

“That is so not true,” Bonnie said. “When you were gone at camp for those 3 summers, all Care and Elena could take about was how much they’ve missed you. And I know for a fact that Tyler, Matt, and especially Stefan miss you, too. We are getting you out of here.”

“We are, Y/n. Otherwise Elena would kill me,” Damon groaned from behind me. “I would rather be killed by my hot, vampire girlfriend instead of this psycho. A little help Bonnie?”

Bonnie nodded, muttering a spell that sent Kai flying back. Damon then came over and lifted me up, carrying me over to Bonnie. We stood under the light and I looked up, smiling happily. 

“I’m getting out of here,” I sighed. 

“Not on my watch!” Kai exclaimed. As soon as we started to float up, Kai ran over to Damon and knocked me out of his arms.

“No!” I screamed. 

“Y/n!” Bonnie exclaimed as she shot up in the portal. 

I watched with hot, burning tears as Bonnie and Damon disappeared. I sobbed in pain and sadness, looking at Kai with a watery gaze. 

“Why?!” I screamed. 

“Because like you said, you don’t have any family there. Me neither, so there’s no reason for you to get back to your home,” Kai explained with a shit-eating grin. 

“Screw you,” I muttered distantly. I felt my eyes begin to droop. My breathing was so shallow, I could barely feel my heartbeat. I looked up to the light that was shining down. Where my friends once were. 

“Sleep well, princess. I’ll see you soon.” Was the last thing I heard before I lost all consciousness. 

————

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[i-will-physically-fight-you]

Faith, Trust and a Little Bit of Pixie Dust

Title:  Faith, Trust and a Little Bit of Pixie Dust

Summary: It’s cold in the cellar, but then if it isn’t cold it’d defeat the whole purpose of a cellar. This coldness had been fine at first, but the longer Logan and his little brother Virgil stay, the more it worsens. Logan just hopes his mother’s temper wears off soon or else the cold could get fatal. 

The last thing Logan expects is for his father, who he hasn’t seen in years, to show up through golden portal (a magic portal, which should be impossible!) to save the day as if he hadn’t abandoned them to this fate by leaving all those years ago.

Pairings: Brotherly Analogical, Parental Loceit

Word-Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Magic, Child Abuse, Physical & Emotional Abuse, Unhealthy Romantic Relationship, Hypothermia, Alcohol, Death Mention, Morally Grey Janus, Crying, Angst With a Happy Ending

This fic was at times both frustrating and fun to write. I have no plans to continue this fic, but you can ask me questions regarding the ‘verse and I’ll answer them. Janus has good intentions in this fic he’s just bad at expressing them and we’re also seeing this from Logan’s pov.

--

It was cold in the cellar. Then again, it would be rather alarming were it the opposite case. Cellars were historically used to store perishable items such as vegetables and meats in a time before refrigerators existed. Still prolonged exposure to such an absence of heat wasn’t good for any human being. Not without proper clothing or heating methods. Something both Logan and his young brother unfortunately lacked. 

At first with just a t-shirt and jeans it’d been fine. A bit chilly but fine. What Logan hadn’t accounted for was a cold front to settle in unexpectedly. Within an hour, it dropped by forty degrees. His little brother Virgil wasn’t fond of physical touch. Yet the young child clung to Logan for warmth. It wasn’t enough. His skinny frame still trembled, his lips turning blue. Logan himself felt the effects of his body trying uselessly to warm the cold environment around them. Still his bit his lips from shivering, desperate to attempt staying strong for Virgil.

“I-I-I’m s-s-scared.” Virgil cried, digging his head into Logan’s shirt.

I...I know.” Logan said, stroking his brother’s hair gently, ��Things are...things will be alright.”

Logan had repeated this statement many times already to Virgil. Each time he grew less sure of it. However, he knew he had to remain strong for his brother’s sake. Ever since his brother was a baby, Logan had to grow up faster. Much faster than even before. Sometimes he resented this fact, but never for long. It was simply the way things were.

“C-c-c-can you tell me a story?” Virgil asked, and of course Logan obliged. For he knew the unspoken words in that request: I’m still scared. Can you make it less scary? 

A story, for both the listener and teller, would be a beneficial distraction. Even though Logan was not a good storyteller. Once he did a short story assignment in middle school and received a C. His heart metaphorically sank at the sight of it and he dreaded going home that day. Virgil always seemed to appreciate his stories. Although praise from a kindergartener wasn’t worth much in the literary world.

Through frozen lips, he told a meandering story to his little brother. Sometimes his brother would ask questions or offer suggestions, abruptly changing the direction of the story. Logan himself barely remembered what it was about. It was as if someone else spoke through him as his mind drifted to other ideas.

It’d been dark for a long, long while. Usually his mother would’ve unlocked the door by now. She’d insist he’d make dinner while complaining of a terrible headache.

 It was an unending cycle. His mother would do her best to stay sober and function as an adult for a few weeks. Then her mood would increasingly sour, little things piling up into an avalanche. It was hard to tell at times what would be the trigger. The one thing that made her slam open the alcohol cabinet and drown a whole bottle of vodka. 

She wasn’t a nice person when drunk; hence the whole being-locked-in-the-cellar. Eventually after a few days of heavy drinking, his mother would come to her senses. She’d lock the alcohol cabinet and claim she’d never drink again. A lie nobody believed but herself.

Perhaps the lie was done in good intentions. His mother always insisted she cared for her children, in ways their father never could. 

“He’s a snake, Logan,” She hissed once, banging her beer heavily onto a coaster, “A dirty, no-good deceiving snake.”

Logan said nothing. He had only a few memories of the man. Once, when Logan was nine years old, he showed up on their doorstep. He held a bouquet of roses for Mother and a much belated birthday present for Logan. It’d been one of the happiest he’d seen Mother. He stayed with them for a few days. He listened to Logan, complimenting him on his extensive knowledge about dinosaurs. The three of them went to a carnival together. For a fleeting moment, Logan had what the others kids at his school had; a family. 

Then it ended with tears, arguing, door slams. Mother yanking him by the arm and leaving everything behind. Nine months later, Virgil was born. His father wasn’t there. Nor did he ever show his face again. A bitter, festering part of Logan despised him for that.

Mother acted like she cared at times. She’d purchase Virgil and Logan expensive gifts. Things she couldn’t afford without a credit card. She treated them to ice cream and insisted on giving them hugs. She never understood that Virgil found tactical touch without permission distressing. She’d brush it off, making remarks he simply needed to get used to it. 

At times Logan allowed himself to pretend these niceties would last. He pretended his mother was a flawed human being who mostly did good by her children. He pretended the slapping and hair-pulling didn’t exist, that the cellar was just a cellar and not a place to fear. It was hard to pretend these things were true, when the reality became increasingly harder to ignore.

Virgil fell asleep in the midst of this. Logan hadn’t realized this at first. His tired mind plunged on, continuing the nonsensical story.

“Then Batsy the Bat escaped the Witch’s dungeon. He flew as fast he could, to warn his friends...ah. Virgil what do you think their names should be?” Logan squinted, the dim light making it hard to see if his brother’s eyes were closed or not, “Virgil?”

His brother slumped against him, his breaths long and labored. Logan frowned, shaking his shoulder, “Virgil?!”

Virgil made a grumbling noise, “What?”

“You need to stay awake. You--you can’t fall asleep right now.”

“I’m tireeeed,” Virgil complained.

“I--I know, but please. It--it isn’t good to sleep right now.”

“Why?”

Logan’s throat constricted, “Be--because well. I haven’t finished the story yet.”

It was a lie. The truth was that sleeping could be a dangerous thing for a hypothermia victim. Sleeping could lead to death. He couldn’t tell his brother that. He refused to let Virgil experience more fright than he already had in his short life.

“Okaaay.” Virgil said.

Logan continued with the story, pulling all his concentration into it. Yet it wasn’t enough to keep Virgil awake. He kept drifting off, unable to keep his eyes open. At one point his brother down crying.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He sobbed, repeating the words over and over.

“It’s alright, you’re okay, everything is gonna be--gonna be,” Logan stammered, struggling to force the word out, “okay.”

It was then that Logan knew they couldn’t remain in the cellar any longer. He’d have to overcome his one true fear for the sake of their safety and survival. What he feared even more than his mother, was losing Virgil. Logan was smart. He knew the odds of a kindergartener and a high school sophomore staying together in the foster system was slim.

He had been selfish to allow his mother to continue tormenting Virgil. It was wrong. Now both him and his brother were paying for it.

Logan could fix this. He just had to pull out his phone and call emergency services. He had to call and resist his foolish fears of his mother and separation from his brother. With one arm still tucked around his brother, he pulled the phone out of his pocket. A battered, beaten thing he’d purchased with his first paycheck. His mother was completely unaware of its existence. 

He pressed the power button on as he gathered up the courage to call. Except the screen remained completely blank. He pressed it again, this time harder, hoping it’d been a fluke. It wasn’t. Again and again, he kept pressing the button, irrationally hoping for a different result. 

“No,” Logan swallowed heavily, “no, no, no this cannot be happening--” “Logey?” Virgil hiccuped, his big glassy eyes staring up as his older brother with concern.

“It’s okay, Virgil,” Logan murmured, “It’s okay, It’ll be okay--”

He couldn’t say the words any longer. Not when a sob wracked his throat, his vision turning hazy with tears. He couldn’t be strong any longer. He was weak. His heart beat faster, the chasm in his stomach deepening. His little brother said something, but he couldn’t hear it. All he heard was his mind mocking his failure. Shrill and scorching like his mother.

StUpID DiD yOU ThINK ThAT wAS GOING TO WORK?

You and your little brother are going to die and it’s all yOUR FAuLt

UsEleSS

Not EVEn YoUR OwN FATHER WAntED YOU--

“Hello? Whoever is contacting me at this hour better not have a good reason.”

Logan’s thoughts jolted to a halt. What? He glanced down at his phone, but it was still battered and dead. Virgil looked just as confused and lost as he felt. He hid his face in Logan’s shirt, whimpering softly.

“Who...are you?” Logan croaked, doing a poor disguise of covering up his breakdown moments before.

“I think that is perhaps a question I should be asking you.” The strange voice replied. It was definitely emanating from the phone, but how Logan had no clue. It made no logical sense.

“I--I don’t know.”

“You don’t know your name?”

“No! I mean of course I know my name! I mean, you can’t be real--I must be hallucinating.”

“Oh?” The voice responded with a touch of some unidentifiable emotion, “this must be your first time then.”

“First time what?” Logan snapped, a headache starting to take form. He regretted raising his voice when Virgil let out a cry. He murmured a soft apology to him, attempting to ignore how cold his brother felt.

“Is there someone else with you?” 

“No,” Logan said, before hesitating, “I mean perhaps.”

“Perhaps?”

“You still haven’t responded to my question from before.”

“Let me broker a deal then. I’ll answer your question, if you tell me who you and your companion are.”

“Okay,” Logan shakes his head, wanting to laugh hysterically. What in Newton’s three laws of gravity was going on? Surely, he died. He died and this was some last minutes of brain activity occurring. Scientists after all, know very little what happens in one’s last moments of life. Nothing could quite prepare him for the answer the voice gave him, however.

“Well then, to quote a popular misguided piece of media, ‘you’re a wizard, Harry!’” The voice said, the verbal jazz hands evident in the voice’s dripping, dry wit. Something about it was painfully familiar.

“What.”

“You asked, I answered,” The voice chuckled, “now it’s your turn.”

“My--my name is Logan,” He said, blinking rapidly, “and my little brother..ahhh...oh! Vi-Virgil is here with me.”

“Logan, that’s your name? You’re sure?”

Logan frowned at that. Of course he was sure. Or was he? It was getting rather harder to focus. Or to breathe even. The crisp cold air hurt his lungs. Virgil slumped heavily against him, complete dead weight in his unconsciousness. Oh. That was bad. He knew that was bad. 

“Logan?!” The voice yelled. Hmm, it sounded like they’ve been yelling at him for awhile now. He should acknowledge them. He nodded before pausing. Wait. He needed to respond verbally.

“Y-yes?” 

“Finally. You seem like you’re doing absolutely fantastic,” The voice told him. 

“Do I?” Logan asked, “I do not think I’m doing ‘fantastic’.”

“Where are you?”

Logan rattled off the address. Then he very casually added, “We’re locked in the cellar.”

“WHAT?!”

“It’s-s-s-s a punishment,” Logan shivered, his eyelids drooping against his will, “it’sssokay.”

“Yes, because all parenting books recommend disciplining your children by locking them in a cellar.” Maybe it was just Logan, but he got the impression the voice was being sarcastic. 

“I need to cut the invocation call. I’ll be there soon.”

“Wh--how-hy?” Logan said, trying to speak three words at once. The voice didn’t respond. He tried shaking his battered phone as if that would do anything. It did not do anything.

The air frizzled in front of Logan. A golden spark appeared, expanding until it was one big golden shimmery oval. Logan stared at it, blinking rapidly. This was absurd. He most definitely had to be hallucinating. The golden oval ripples as a black fedora emerged from it, followed by a face and then a whole body.

“F--father?” Logan managed.

The man before him was older and dressed in strange clothing. Slivers of silver hair poked out from his hat, nestled among the chestnut hair. An unfamiliar gruesome scar ran alongside the left side of his face. But he recognized those hazel eyes anywhere. He stared at them at the mirror every morning.

He didn’t respond to Logan. He took a few steps before collapsing beside the huddled forms of Logan and Virgil. His gloved hands reached out, but he did not touch them. His mouth opened, but no sound came out of him. Then his gloves covered his face as he inhaled deeply. He removed them from his face, his expression carefully blank.

“I’m here.” He told Logan, extending a hand towards him, “and I won’t leave you or your brother this time.”

Logan stared at the yellow gloved hand before sluggishly panning his gaze up at his father. He didn’t know if he could trust him, let alone if he could trust that this was reality. But god, he wanted it to be real. 

So cradling Virgil close to his chest with one arm, he took hold of his father’s hand. And then, with a bright flash of light, the cellar was empty.

-

Logan felt warm. A drizzling, dribbling, dripping like maple syrup down a fresh stack of buttermilk pancakes type of warmth. He should be alarmed by this for some reason, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be. Instead he made a contented noise, shifting closer to it. Someone chuckled, running a calloused hand through his hair. Logan stilled at the touch, the warmth evaporating from his veins. He waited for the fingers to grow taunt around a tuft of hair. For the harsh cacophony of his mother’s voice to rain down on him like hail. Nothing.

“Are you asleep, Little Tesla?” 

The air in his lungs evaporated. Only one person had called him that and it certainly wasn’t his mother. As much as she expected him to receive good grades, she hadn’t been one to nurture his interests in 20th century scientists.

“Father?” Logan whispered.

“I’m here, I didn’t leave, just like I said I would.”

He opened his eyes to find his father was indeed there. Sitting on a wooden chair with sunken eyes as if he’d been awake for hours. Logan laid on a bed with silky sheets and an impossibly warm comforter. He had just barely enough to cover him--most of the blankets had been stolen by another small figure. Virgil. His little baby brother was with him, asleep and curled up in a small ball.

“Wha--” Logan started to say, until everything hit him. The cellar. The strange bodiless voice. The gleaming gold portal. Father. Darkness.

“Yes, yes, I know it’s not at all a lot to take in, but you have magic. And you found me again, just like I’d hope you would.”

“Found you?” Logan asked, a hardness to his tone, “Assuming this isn’t a hallucination, you left me with h-her, you never came back and suddenly because I possess magic, I’m what? Worth something?”

“Yes, no!” His father cried out with a frustrated growl, “Listen, Logan. My relationship with your mother was extremely healthy, as I’m sure you can agree. Not unhealthy in the slightest. When it ended, your mother left a lovely parting gift.”

Here, he rubs a hand against the facial scar almost absent-mindedly, “I wanted to find you, I searched everywhere, but your mother is smart and covers her tracks well. I’m...sorry I couldn’t find you or your brother sooner. You’re important to me, magic or no magic.”

“How can I trust you?” Logan asked, “How can I trust that you’re not anything like her?”

He expected his father to be upset by the accusation, but instead he just smirked.

“You’re good to be suspicious. It’s a good trait, don’t ever lose it,” He said, adjusting his gloves, “I can tell you, that I will not harm you or your brother. I can say I will teach you magic, if you desire. I can let you know that I will let you walk out the door with your brother, and you won’t ever have to see me or your mother again. But you have no true way of trusting a man that has, from what you know, abandoned you completely until just now. 

“You have two options. Either accept you cannot completely trust what I say is true and proceed with caution, or you can leave with your brother, find a way to support the two of you. You’re smart, Logan. I trust you could figure it out.”

Logan swallowed. He was indeed smart--or knowledgeable enough to know there was little choice in the matter. He was just fifteen. He can’t support Virgil and him--not legally anyway. It’d be difficult to cover it up. Child Protection Services would be on them in a matter of weeks, if not days. 

Good case scenario, they stayed together in the foster system. Bad case scenario, they ended up separated. Worst case scenario? They ended up back at their mother’s, because they don’t believe either of Logan’s or Virgil’s claims and the cycle continues without end.

So, his father. He was the only option, and he knew it. As much bitterness as Logan held for the man, there’s also yearning in equal spades. He used to spend nights crying for him with his mother yelling at him to shut up. Sometimes she’d beat him for it, telling him his father was never coming back. Then he’d snap back that she was wrong and he’d prove Logan right by coming back. Until little by little, he stopped. 

He couldn’t trust his father, the man even admitted it. He just had to hope it’d be better, even though apparently the man believed in magic. Logan was doing his best at the moment to deny it existed. It couldn’t exist, last night had to be a fluke of some sort and even if it wasn’t, it was too much for him to focus on at the moment. 

“As long as I have your word that you won’t intentionally hurt Virgil and I, we will stay with you.” Logan says, before offering his hand towards his father.

Father took a look at the extended hand, eyes softening, before clasping it, “You have my word, Logan, that I will not harm you or Virgil as long as you remain in my care.”

They shook on it. Logan let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in and then--and then, his vision blurred. A sob and then another erupted until he clenched his teeth, holding the rest back. For the second time within twenty-four hours he had shown weakness. First to his brother and now, now to his father who above all he should show no signs to. But like that creative writing assignment in the 8th grade, he completely failed.

Somehow halfway the handshake got turned into an embrace. His father hugged him, a calloused hand softly carding through his hair once more. 

“Shh, Logan, you’ve been so strong, stronger than most. You won’t have to be strong alone any longer. Let it all out.”

Logan didn’t know what to think of his father’s words. It wasn’t like a set of logical propositions or a step-by-step formula for science. He couldn’t know for certain if they were genuine. But in this moment, he was but a little boy with his father back. So he dug his head into his father’s chest and finally cried. His father, in turn, did not berate or beat him for it. Instead, he held onto his son as he whispered reassurances all the while.

[watchdogg]

A Guide: Raw Feeding for Dogs

Don’t have time to make BARF? Not sold on it? If you want to know what dry foods are best check this out.

What’s on the menu? BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food). This recipe is based off of Dr. Ian Billinghurst’s own recipe provided in his book Give Your Dog a Bone. Great read, would recommend.

However, there are a couple ingredients he discusses which have been recently proven as poor dietry choices for dogs. For example, he speaks of the inclusion of milk and garlic which have been discovered, through scientific study, to make dogs quite ill. Therefore the recipe I have written below excludes any ingredients I have found research on that are detrimental to your dog’s health.

BARF is essentially everything you would find in a grain-free dry dog food, but fresh!

BARF = 50% green mix + 50% meat (30% mince + 20% offal)!

DAILY INTAKE = 60% BARF + 40% meaty bone

I DO NOT APPROVE of the Canine Ancestral Diet or Prey Model diet, which is 80% meat. I have a seperate blog post discussing why (click here to find out more)!

EVERYTHING YOU MAKE MUST BE BLENDED TOGETHER INTO A CONSOLIDATED MUSH! Your dog has to eat everything, you must not give it the choice to pick certain things out of their bowl, it all has to go in their tummy! This is how we get to deficiencies!

I will post a seperate description of my exact routine, and how I measure out everything my girl needs as an example so you have something to compare to.

DISCLAIMER: If your vet has told you that your pet MUST eat a prescription diet due to health condition/allergy, please listen to them. Every health issue has causes and triggers, there are many, and I cannot possibly cover all of them in this post. Does this mean there aren't raw options for dogs with health issues or allegeries? No. There certainly are. For example, if your dog is allergic to wheat they can go on a wheat-free dry food OR BARF. But I cannot be responsible for your failings in proper research. SO, this means that if you have a dog with congenital issues, like kidney problems, please research into what that means before going against a prescription dry or wet food diet.

Appropriate vegetables include:

- Silver beet

- Bok choy

- Celery

- Carrots

- Sugar beet

Appropriate fruits include:

- Apples

- Oranges

- Blueberries

- Pears

REMINDER: you absolutely MUST vitamise fruits and vegetables. Your dog does not have molars like that of a horse for example, they cannot grind fibre, they use their molars for snapping large food items into smaller chunks. Herbivores chew for a reason. Plant cells are surrounded by a cellulose, and most guts do not have the enzymes required to dissolve cell walls, hence chewing. DOGS ALSO CANNOT DIGEST CELLULOSE, and they do not have the mechanics required to break down plant matter into a digestible form. I learned the function of teeth during my studies into paleontology, where dental analysis is vital. (1)

SUPPLEMENTS: TO BE BLENDED INTO YOUR BARF MIX 

the listed supplements contain the vitamins and omegas your dog needs to thrive. These vitamins already naturally exist in the vegatables and meats listed. HOWEVER, if your dog is not eating some kind of fish every day for example, then they need to be digesting at least flaxseed oil to make up for this. This is just one example. It is important to fill in any possible gaps, and these supplements make sure there aren’t any ;)

If you are feeding your dog fish oil you MUST also feed vitamin E oil, the dog’s body will use up stores of Vitamin E to process fish oil which oxidises very easily! If you are using one of the below supplements, you do not need to use fish oil. If you are using a supplement like megaderm or Omega blend, follow the directions on the bottle! So, this means don’t go adding it when you are making BARF, add upon feeding it to your dog.

SUPPLEMENTS INCLUDE:

- Megaderm (CONTAINS: vitamin B7, B6, A, E, omega 6&3) dosage instructions on bottle (can be bought on PetCircle)

OR

- Vets All Natural Omega Blend (CONTAINS: flaxseed oil (omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids), shark liver oil (omega-3 and vitamin A), sunflower oil (omega-6) and wheat germ oil (omega-3)) (can be bought on PetCircle)

OR

- just straight flaxseed oil (human-grade is the same stuff) 2 or 3 desert spoons

OTHER SUPPLEMENTS:

- Kelp powder (2-3 tsp) (contains: 60 different minerals and vitamins and 21 amino acids)

- Green tripe (contains: probiotics, essential fatty acids and digestive enzymes)

- Sardines (great for coat health)

- Tongue (fatty, good for active dogs)

- Green lipped muscle (aimed towards joint health, good for large breeds)

- Liver (contains vitamin A, B vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, essential fatty acids) 2 tblsp per day is recommended amount for medium dogs (I buy a pack of chicken livers (500g) and chuck it into the barf mix. This works out to be 17g perday)

DO NOT OVER FEED FATTY ACID SUPPLEMENTATION, keep to the recommended dose! Large quantities can cause Seborrhea oleosa (bad dandruff). It is possible to have too much of a good thing.

It is really important you do not overdose on any supplement. For example, glucosamine is great for old joints but it is also rated a top poison for dogs because of its potential for overdosing. (2)

WHAT MEAT AND ORGANS ARE BEST?

MEAT SHOULD NOT BE COOKED when fed to dogs. This decreases protein digestability and destroys essential amino acids such as lysine and methionine. That being said, meat is NOT a complete food, it is deficient in a lot of vitamins dogs need! So veggies are still a must.

Mince is great, but if you can find mince with ground bone included that would be even better. If you are living in Melbourne, The Saltiest Dog (in Thornbury) is a great store to visit to purchase such a thing. Try to stay away from ‘pet meats’, like those sold in Woolworths or Coles. They contain harmful preservatives (3). The cleaner/more human grade the better. Research into local raw food stores around you and ask about the meat they get in/what if any preservatives are in their meat.

Kangaroo is an environmentally friendly choice! They do not rely on the production of grain to survive, and they are indigenous to the land (their feet don’t compact soil and turn it infertile). It is the most humane way of harvesting red meat if you think about their lives up until the point of death.

The leaner the meat the better! Kangaroo is very lean! Turkey is another great option, but if you are afraid of salmonella, stay away from poultry. Variability of protein is not as important as what parts of the body you are feeding your dog. They need muscle, bone, and offal (tongue, heart, liver, etc.)!

I generally go by: 30% mince+bone & 20% offal.

BONES:

NEVER FEED COOKED BONES! They will splinter and cause internal injury.

Is it dangerous to feed raw bones? NO!

It is imperitive in the BARF diet that your dog is getting some kind of whole bone to eat EVERY DAY. But don’t be silly about it, think about your dog’s size. If you have a mini poodle, you should be giving it chicken necks, not beef weight bearing bones. The bones you give should be soft enough so that they don’t chip your dog’s teeth. This also means NO weight bearing bones till the dog is over 6 months old.

I have talked to customers at Petbarn who just happen to have silly dogs who won’t chew bones at all, and instead swallow them whole. If this is the case, please stick to turkey/duck/chicken necks. These are harder to choke on beause the bones are so tiny. Once again, if you fear potential bacteria or worm risks, freeze your meat before feeding (this will kill a lot of what you are scared of). DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOG FROZEN BONES, they will chip a tooth.

Bones act like fibre. They help everything move along in their intestines. They also contain vitamins and proteins they need. You can learn more about bone benefits in Dr. Ian Billinghurst’s book Give Your Dog a Bone.

I give my dogs a bone of some description every morning. Generally, it is a chicken carcass and once a week they get a roo rib or beef vertebrae (you can buy a bag of 'broth bones' from Woolworths which are great) to really get their teeth into.

It is really important that your dog is chewing on something every day. Whether it be a bone or a Kong/dental toy. It is imperitive for mental and dental health. The action of chewing for a dog is the equivelant of a human doing a sudoku or crossword.

HOW MUCH TO FEED:

This model is based off of the Raw&Fresh model which you can find on their website (https://rawandfresh.com.au/collections/treats), this also happens to be where I buy my bones from.

Essentially, you pick whether to feed 2-5% based on your dogs age and activity level. For example, senior dogs need to be eating more protein and fat because they lose muscle mass faster. A dog who has a high activity level needs more energy and a dog who is overweight should be fed less.

Generally, they should be getting 2-3%.

Whatever you decide on, this should be split into two meals. You'll find that two meals per day reduces their scavenging behaviour. I tend to feed the bone proportion in the morning and the patty mix at night.

The key to feeding your dog a raw diet is to WATCH. Watch your dog's weight. It is as simple as that. Watch how they put on weight, if they are becoming too skinny or overweight. Watch and adjust accordingly.

KEEP THIS FORUMLA IN MIND:

BARF = 50% green mix + 50% meat (30% mince + 20% offal)!

DAILY INTAKE = 60% BARF + 40% meaty bone

FEEDING LARGE BREEDS:

- BARF = time and money. Sometimes it can be unrealistic when you have a large breed.

- It can be a lot preparing a batch of food for a large breed, which can potentially be up to 2kg per day depending on how big the dog is. Ideally you would want to be making a batch that lasts the month, which we can individually pack and freeze. But with larger breeds that can get difficult when you are busy or you have a tiny freezer.

- Luckily their daily intake is not 100% BARF

- My GSD, Juni, requires 600g per day as a 30kg dog with a medium activity level. That means I'd need to make 18kg of BARF to last her a month. Yikes.

- I have found two ways around this:

- First of all, 600g is her daily intake, which means a bit of that (around 250g) can be meaty bone.

- I also cut some of her food with Ziwi Peak. This is an air-dried (NOT BAKED) dog food. Once the bone has been eaten, that leaves ~350g left to go.

- Her weight requires 350g of Ziwi Peak per day according to their feeding guide. Therefore, she gets 150g of Ziwi Peak and 150g of BARF

- I increase her BARF intake depending on the bone she gets

- The end result is I only have to make 4.6kg for the month if my life is turning out to be hectic and busy. Not to mention freezer space being an issue.

- When I find I have more time, this increases to 9kg and I don't need to feed Ziwi Peak at all.

1. You can learn more about dental function in mammals here:Smith, Kathleen, Wall, Christine. (2005). Ingestion in Mammals. In Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (Vol. 10, pp. 272-277). John Wiley Sons, Ltd. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Ingestion-in-Mammals-Wall-Smith/596099f8125d6ee16f40c858fe144613a225ae14

2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/42594946_Accidental_overdosage_of_ joint_supplements_in_dogs

Nobles IJ, Khan S. Multiorgan dysfunction syndrome secondary to joint supplement overdosage in a dog. Can Vet J. 2015;56(4):361-364. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4357907/

3. https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/are-preservatives-in-pet-food-products-a-concern/

[jess-rewatches-prodigalson]

Episode 13: Wait and Hope

Here are my thoughts

SPOILERS AHEAD

1:00 - I love this scene. I know it’s all in Martin’s head but I really wish Malcolm was this honest with Martin all the time. Plus it shows that Martin is aware, on some level, that he’s been hurting Malcolm for years. 

2:19 - Okay. A couple of things here: 1) Something about having Under Pressure play right now is genius. It’s fun yet truthful. 2) Listening to Mr. David and Martin’s exchange is really interesting to me. It’s almost like Mr. David is friends with Martin. I mean Mr. David is being way nicer than a professional respect requires. AND 3) Watching Tom Payne do planks/yoga is very attractive. Dang. 

3:00 - So, we get a close up of 5 thin, tall pill bottles here. In about 4 seconds, when Malcolm is throwing pills into his mouth we will see 4 pill bottles of varying heights and thicknesses. So one of two things is happening 1) these scenes weren’t filmed on the same day and someone in the props department goofed or 2) Malcolm takes 9 different pill bottles worth of meds and this is just round two. BUT considering the 4 bottles of varying thicknesses reappear when Jessica shows up - I’m going to assume this is some minor on-set goof that they figured no fan would be neurotic enough to care about. They were wrong. I care deeply. In fact - I really want to know exactly what pills Malcolm takes. 

3:11 - So is Malcolm’s fridge empty because he just got out of the hospital? Because there was definitely food in there during 1x5 when he made grilled cheese with Dani. And there were frozen foods in his freezer in 1x8. Does Jessica stock the fridge/freezer? Is that why there’s usually food? Because it’s cannon that Malcolm doesn’t eat much... I’m way too invested in the contents of Malcolm’s fridge. Furthermore - I love the fact that Malcolm reaches for a handful of of licorices from that massive container - it’s just weird enough to be completely endearing and totally in character for Malcolm. It implies that there is no other dry, perishable foods in his loft - because you know, he could’ve eaten some dry-cereal or instant oatmeal here. But nope. The boy goes for candy. Why do I love this dysfunctional lunatic? He can barely keep himself alive.

3:21 - I love that Malcolm watches Ainsley’s reports like a Good Big Brother. I mean, given Malcolm’s job, he probably would watch the news daily regardless of who was reporting it. But there’s something just so sweet about the fact that he watches Ainsley instead of any of the other reporters. Ugh - something about it just warms my cold, dead soul. 

3:41 - hahahaha Ok. We all love the white suit because it’s weird, funny as hell, and just the right amount of attractive - but why does no one talk about the shoes? Malcolm isn’t wearing socks. He’s become one of those hipster dudes who wear fancy shoes without socks. I’m loving it. ALSO why is no one admiring Jessica? This woman is so extra that she knows her grown-ass son’s suit measurements and goes to buy him a suit that fits perfectly without his knowledge. Then she forces him to wear the white suit out of the house. It’s just. Wow. I love her. 

3:50 - I love that Jessica totally only bought that suit for Malcolm because she didn’t think he would be caught dead anywhere near the precinct in it.

4:09 - Check out the look that Malcolm gives Jessica here. He’s sad. He’s sad and feeling guilty that he’s worrying his mother. That’s why he put on the ridiculous suit for her. That’s why he’s not getting mad at her for waltzing into his apartment unannounced (again). That’s why he’s letting her fuss over of him. Because he wants to make her feel better. 

4:28 - This. This is why Jessica is being extra. She knows that if Malcolm is left alone he will skip his flight in order to achieve a “staycation in New York”. And if he takes a staycation he will inevitably end up hanging out at the precinct; working. She’s being extra but it’s justified - she’s trying to ensure that Malcolm takes care of himself. She said it herself - she doesn’t need him to love her, she just needs him alive. Right now - Malcolm is scaring her because she’s not so sure he wants to live. She’s not an idiot, she knows that Malcolm won’t take care of himself unless she literally removes him from the country, effectively taking away all of his opportunities to work. So. She. Does. 

4:31 - Soooo is no one going to talk about the fact that Jessica is pushing Malcolm out the door - with luggage - while his meds are sitting on his counter?!? Has she checked that he has meds packed in secondary containers? Just seems like something that Jessica would stress about, especially in Malcolm’s current mental state.

4:46 - I love this. Jessica called Gil to come and pick up Malcolm. The one person she knows Malcolm won’t fight about his vacation. He’ll whine but he won’t fight Gil - not after their fight last episode. This also implies that Gil and Jessica had a long discussion about forcing Malcolm to take a vacation due to his current mental state. They totally had a parenting conversation about their grown-ass child and I am living for it. I also want to hear it.

4:54 - I’m not sure we’ve seen Gil this happy since he greeted Malcolm during the pilot. It’s precious. When Gil says he’s proud of Malcolm I’m pretty sure my heart grew two sizes. Why can’t we have more soft moments like this? 

5:00 - This scene in the car is awesome. Malcolm is pouting like a petulant child and Gil is doing everything in his power to convince Malcolm this vacation will be good for him. It reminds me of a parent trying to get their toddler to eat vegetables. 

5:06 - “We all just want you to be happy.” Did you hear that? It’s the sound of my heart racing with joy. Malcolm looks confused and hurt after Gil says it. Almost like he’s not sure how to be happy or who this “we” includes. Gil can see right through it - look at the concern on his face.  

5:15 - hahaha When Malcolm hears the word “DOA” his face lights up like a Christmas tree and Gil’s contorts with annoyance. You can almost hear an Gil think “This is why we can’t have nice things” in an exasperated voice....also it is JT’s voice on the radio right? 

5:22 - I love how Gil caves here. He starts the conversation stern but you can see that the minute that Malcolm says “I’m taking care of myself” he starts to waver. Even though you can tell that Gil knows Malcolm is lying through his teeth it’s the sincere desperation and hope in Malcolm’s eyes that make Gil cave.

6:04 - haha this is so great. I love watching Dani and JT tease Malcolm because a) it’s funny but b) it’s making Malcolm happy. Look at Malcolm’s smiles. He’s so happy to be included in this banter and he knows they’re teasing him out of love rather than hatred. Plus look at how amused Gil looks watching his kids interact. ALSO - side note - JT’s outfits are awesome in this episode.  

6:45 - Can we all just take a minute to appreciate how far JT and Malcolm’s relationship has come? JT couldn’t stand Malcolm in 1x1. Now they’re casually squatting next to each other talking about guns. JT even looks impressed when Malcolm mentions owning a gun like the one they’re looking at. You can see that this conversation will continue later. JT wants to know more about Malcolm’s weapon collection. My heart is full. 

6:47 - Edrisa teasing Bright is a real turning point for her character. It’s hilarious. Plus, watching how amused JT, Gil, and Dani are at Malcolm’s expense is awesome BUT 1x1 Edrisa would’ve never made jokes like this about Malcolm. She’s getting over her school girl crush and their relationship is developing past professional and into friendship. I’m a fan. 

7:14 - How much time has passed since the end of 1x12? Malcolm looks a lot better than he did last episode. He looks happier, more relaxed, way less manic....and you know, no cast on his hand. 

7:18 - Look at Gil when Malcolm says “The Tale of Monte Cristo”. That’s a look of recognition. Gil knows that Malcolm loved that book. I want to know why. We know that Martin was the one to read the book to Malcolm. In about ten minutes Gil will ask Malcolm to tell him about the plot because Gil doesn’t seem to be familiar with it. Did Gil watch a mute Malcolm read it countless times after Martin’s arrest? How does Gil know that Malcolm loves this book?

7:55 - Look at Malcolm’s face when Gil tells him that he’s still going on vacation. He looks so annoyed at the fact that Gil is going to take away his fun. I almost feel bad for him - but Gil is right, our boy needs a vacation.

8:00 - I don’t care if it’s crazy that Malcolm would hear the click of the landmine and react before our US armed forces veteran JT. I don’t care if it’s insane that the whole room didn’t blow up while shaky hands was holding the unstable landmine. I don’t care that there is no way JT got that vest on Malcolm without having Malcolm accidentally trigger the mind. I don’t even care that the fact that Malcolm answers his phone without blowing up is ridiculous. I love this scene. It’s amazing. 

8:24 - Look at how panicked and scared everyone is. Look at how our sweet, neurotic Edrisa takes charge of her medical staff - this is a side of her I’d like to see more of. Check out the fear present in Gil, JT, and Dani. They’re not scared for themselves - they’re scared for Malcolm. 

8:40 - Gil’s fury and concern here are perfect. He’s scared out of his mind that everyone in the room is going to blow up but he’s still present enough to be pissed that Malcolm is making jokes about his own life. Even though Malcolm often uses humour as a way to mask his pain and fear. It’s just confirming Gil’s belief that Malcolm’s mental health is in shambles, that Malcolm needs a vacation, and that Malcolm is seriously depressed right now. 

8:43 - Malcolm’s brave mask is slipping. He’s looking more and more scared as this scene progresses. Look at the utter disbelief and horror on Dani, JT, and Gil’s faces when Malcolm suggests that they all leave him to die. They know he’s in a bad place mentally but they’re still shocked that he’s being so caviler about the importance of his life. They’re horrified that Malcolm still doesn’t truly understand how important he is to their team. 

9:00 - Are JT, Gil, and Dani even processing what Malcolm is saying? They all look so shocked and concerned that Malcolm is still trying to talk about the case when he’s literally holding a live mine that I’m pretty sure they aren’t truly processing to Malcolm’s words. But seriously, look at the terror and concern in their eyes. It’s heartbreaking. 

9:20 - Look at the way that Gil has to lead Dani out of the room. She’s frozen in panic and fear. Gil sees it and thinks “Oh hell no. I’m not losing 2 kids today.”

9:26 - Malcolms eyes here. That is mania. That is terror. That is the beginning of a panic attack. My heart is breaking but I’m also living for the whump. 

9:34 - More proof that Malcolm is suicidal. He thinks he’s going to die but he picks up a call from his serial killing, manipulative father who has, for all intents and purposes, scarred Malcolm and emotionally abused him? Yo. That’s not right. ....but I will say that the fact that Under Pressure starts playing again does something good to my heart. 

9:49 - More proof that Martin is a monster. His son tells him that he’s holding a live mine and Martin is more excited than concerned. Hell - Mr. David looks more concerned about Malcolm than Martin does. It takes a minute for Martin to realize that Malcolm might die. I will give Martin some credit here - once the realization sets in he does look a little scared that his son might die. Once again, I’m having a hard time figuring out if Martin actually cares about his son. 

10:33 - He. Jumps. Out. A. Window. What a move. 

10:48 - I love the team’s reaction to Malcolm falling on the Le Mans. They all look concerned about Malcolm BUT they also each have different secondary reactions. JT looks impressed. Gil looks like he can’t figure out if he’s panicking more over his car or his kid. Dani just looks shocked. 

11:00 - That’s pure unfiltered relief on the team’s faces when they see that Malcolm is conscious, lucid, and talking. I’m in love. The only problem I have with this scene is that no one even mentions any injuries that Malcolm inevitably got from this for the remainder of the entire episode. 

11:22 - Why is Martin allowed in these therapy sessions? They just feed his narcissism and give him an audience. He doesn’t let anyone else talk. 

11:40 - I love that even the other serial killing prisoners look done with Martin. 

12:12 - 1. Poor Hector. 2. Hector is “always Malcolm” OMG. How often does Martin turn these therapy sessions into a fantasy production of his relationship with Malcolm?!?! THIS IS NOT HEALTHY WHY IS THE PRISON ALLOWING THIS!?? 

13:30 - Can we all just take a moment to revel in the fact that Martin Whitly is such a bad person that even Hector - a prisoner in a serial killer prison - is afraid of Martin. I don’t blame Hector either. Look at how downright nasty Martin gets when things aren’t going his way. 

13:48 - soooo everyone changed between the crime scene and coming to the precinct? JT used to be wearing a burgundy shirt, Gil was wearing a black (maybe navy?) turtle neck and Dani was wearing a green T-shirt (not the green blouse she’s wearing now). With Malcolm it makes sense. Did everyone else just change because they were dusty? At 18:26 you can see that they all have different jackets too...Ok. I’ll accept it....WAIT. I assume Dani, JT, and Gil have changes of clothes at the precinct? Does Malcolm too? Or is Malcolm wearing what he had packed for his vacation? 

13:53 - Poor Gil. He loved that car. Look how sad he is. :( Look at how guilty Malcolm looks about it in the background. He looks so sad and scared. He’s looking at Gil like he’s waiting to get screamed at. :( I mean Gil’s obviously also upset that he watched Malcolm throw himself out a window but I don’t think Malcolm sees that.

14:15 - hahaha Malcolm is getting so excited about this story and Gil just does not have the patience for one of Malcolm’s manic rants right now. Check out Dani - she is living for Gil’s annoyance at Malcolm’s rant. 

14:44 - “It’s my father.” This is concerning on a couple of fronts. It’s concerning because of how completely drained Malcolm looks when he says it. Malcolm just looks done which is scary because not 2 minutes ago he was bouncing around with energy. That dramatic of an energy change that quickly is not healthy. Our boy needs a vacation. Also, check out the fear and concern in Gil’s eyes right after Malcolm tells him that Martin is on the phone. Gil is scared 1) because of Malcolm’s behaviour but 2) because he doesn’t think Malcolm can handle Martin right now - it’s part of the reason that he and Jessica were trying to get Malcolm into a different time zone and country for his vacation. Finally, Dani looks concerned too. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t reach out and hug Malcolm because it looks like she really wants to. 

15:00 - Gil was scared before now he’s panicking. You can see that he’s worried about why Malcolm would answer Martin’s phone call when he thought he was going to die. The “I was in a weird place” comment is not reassuring. You can also see that Gil is scared of what the phone call’s effect was on Malcolm’s already fragile mental state. I have a feeling that Malcolm’s current behaviour is reminding Gil of when Malcolm started visiting Martin in prison at age 11 which is scaring Gil too. Gil’s probably just waiting for Malcolm to completely shut down and go mute again. 

15:06 - I love this move. JT and Dani are concerned and a little scared to talk on the phone with Martin Whitly but Gil stands firm. He’s not letting his emotionally fragile kid speak to Martin Whitly alone one more time today. He’s too afraid of what Malcolm might do to himself if he’s alone with a Martin phone call. I love the gentle but firm way that Gil reminds Malcolm that he’s not alone. That the team is here for him. I also love that Gil is honest with Malcolm - he doesn’t know if this is a good idea because he’s not sure he should be letting Malcolm talk to Martin at all right now. 

15:24 -  I want to point out that Martin is not chained to the wall here even though Mr. David is in the room. Is that allowed? You can actually see his restraints lying on the floor, unattached to him at 16:43. Martin is technically staying behind the line though. I just want more details about when Martin is and isn’t chained to the wall. 

15:30 - This conversation is really interesting to me. Malcolm looks uncomfortable throughout the whole conversation. It’s as though he doesn’t want the team to see how dysfunctional his Dad and their relationship truly is. I love how confident and calm Gil acts and how freaked out JT acts. I love that Dani gets over her fear really quickly and is casually looking up stuff on her phone in the middle of the conversation like nothing weird is happening. This woman is a treasure. I find it interesting that Martin is peacocking. He’s having the time of his life because he’s talking to a larger audience and Mr. David looks so done with him. I love that when Malcolm starts showing obvious signs of discomfort and frustration the whole team starts shooting him concerned looks as they watch the effect that Martin has on his son. It’s heartbreaking and perfect. I’m in love. 

17:01 - hahaha Malcolm hanging up on Martin is amazing. Malcolm is so scared that his dad is going to ruin his relationship with one of his only friends. Look at Malcolm’s face right after he hangs up - he looks detached and scared. Dani sees it too - check out the way she jokes with Malcolm afterward. She’s trying to reassure him that they’re good and it’s not his fault. Hell - JT and Gil given Malcolm some concerned looks at the end of this scene as well. I think the whole team is riding the “Malcolm is more depressed than usual and he needs a vacation” train.

17:38 - Look at how proud Jessica is here. It’s sweet. I wish she were this affectionate to Ainsley more often. Ainsley needs it. 

17:55 - This is heartbreaking. Jessica is so lonely. She misses her social life. She really lost everything except Malcolm and Ainsley when Martin was arrested. 

18:25 - This is such a messed up, convoluted set up. The dude is going to die by sword. Dang. This show is weird. Why do I love it so much?

18:55 - When Malcolm takes off his coat, the team looks very concerned and confused. I’m genuinely surprised that Gil didn’t have JT take Malcolm outside with force. They all had looks on their faces that said, “Our boy is passively suicidal. He’s going to try and kill himself again. He must be stopped.” And when Malcolm tells them that he’s going to “save this guy” they look so shocked and resigned like “of course that’s what you’re doing. You are a giant moron with no sense of self-preservation.”

19:37 - “Who are we going to call? The department of falling sword death?” hahaha Gil looks so done with Malcolm’s bullshit. 

19:42 - I want more information on this one. Malcolm throws axes...competitively. Why? When and how did he get into it? It’s the most obscure hobby I can think of. 

19:56 - Am I supposed to believe that JT and Dani carry wire cutters on all of their cases? Because I don’t. 

21:00 - The way that Malcolm looks at Gil here is concerning. It’s almost as though Malcolm is just realizing that Gil is still in the room. Malcolm has become so consumed by the case and his mania that he forgot that Gil was in the room. 

23:08 - This is so freaking cute. JT is going to watch the wedding with his wife. She’s going to wear a hat. JT looks so happy and excited about it. I don’t think he cares about the wedding but he cares about his wife and that just makes me happy. And Gil looks like “I work with weirdos. All of them.” My heart. <3

24:16 - Gil is so annoyed that Malcolm is lying to his mom. You can see that Gil is also grateful though - it was his responsibility to make sure Malcolm got on that plane and an angry Jessica is a scary Jessica. 

25:00 - William called the George Taylor? Dick move.

25:50 - For once can Gil please just call out Malcolm for projecting his personal issues onto suspects? Can we please just see Gil confront Malcolm about it? 

26:20 - Why does Malcolm know so much about bootlegging? 

27:00 - “They’re thinking Ecuadorian” hahahahaha OMG. Malcolm needs to stop using humour to hide his pain and fear but it is damn funny.

27:50 - Dang. Gil is a badass. Malcolm looks so grateful to Gil here. <3

28:30 - Gil has had it with Malcolm avoiding his vacation. This is full on dad mode right here. Gil is worried. Malcolm isn’t taking care of himself. Look at the way Gil guides Malcolm out of the precinct. Ugh. I’m in love with the father/son moment here. 

29:00 - I love how vulnerable and honest Malcolm consistently acts around Dani. Look at the pain in Malcolm’s face as he admits his problem with going on a vacation. Dani looks sad and concerned for Malcolm but she doesn’t judge him. She just comforts him with a stupid joke and lets him skip his flight. That’s true friendship. I stan this woman.

30:30 - This whole interaction between Martin, Dani, and Malcolm is awesome. Martin is ecstatic with the extra large audience. Dani looks a little scared at first but she really holds her own against Martin. She’s feisty, brave, and determined to do her job. Plus the concerned looks she’s giving Malcolm when he starts talking about the camping trip are A++. 

32:05 - I love how angry JT gets during interrogations. This boy really supports the law. 

33:15 - Ugh. Martin is so shady. He has a history of acting like a happy, sarcastic, manic dude who may or may not be lying to you. But then in the same conversation he will become either a) angry and threatening or b) serious and kind. It actually looks like he’s trying to convince Dani that Malcolm is the bad guy here - not him. That look of pure hatred that Malcolm shoots back at him is worth it though. Also - hell of a lot of foreshadowing for the next couple of episodes. Like dang.

33:45 - “You can take her shopping my boy. On me!!” ....I’m sorry does this mean that Martin has money somewhere? Jessica was rich. Martin was not. Something tells me that all of Martin’s money should’ve been spent on defence attorneys. Is he getting paid for his consultation work? Is that even a thing? OMG. I have so many questions about this. 

34:00 - That is a very angry and disappointed father. Malcolm is in so much trouble for not going on vacation. I’m living for it. I also love that even though Gil is so angry at Malcolm he still reluctantly helps him because Gil is a Good Man of the Law. 

34:30 - hahaha this is precious. Malcolm looks so shocked by Dani’s beauty here. Almost like he’s noticing that she’s a woman for the first time. AND Dani’s reaction is so cute. She’s flattered, a little awkward, and a lot happy that he thinks she’s pretty. Also - can we please take a minute to admire how respectful Malcolm is to Dani here. This boy has manners. Dani is not his girlfriend and she’s not an object to be catcalled at. So he calls her “amazing”. Not beautiful or sexy or hot. Amazing. A completely respectful compliment from a man who is not dating Dani. I love this. 

35:00 - Well Dani - he was going to tell you that you’re really pretty and he has feelings for you..and you probably guessed that...sorry. I ship Brightwell.

35:17 - hahaha Malcolm is like “Damn. I’ve been exposed.”

37:50 - I feel really bad for Jessica here. Can’t this woman go to one (1) social event in 20 years and have to be judged for Martin’s misdemeanors?!? This poor woman just wants to enjoy legally herself and no one is letting her. 

38:06 - JT sent Dani those pics....soooo he’s at home with Tally watching this right? Somehow I think JT’s night has become more interesting than he thought it would be. 

38:45 - OMG. This speech was hard to watch. Malcolm is awkward, manic, and totally projecting about his daddy issues. Despite all of this, all I can think about is JT and Tally watching this on a TV somewhere staring at Malcolm in horror/amusement. 

39:06 - Poor Jessica. She had one request. “Don’t embarrass me.” She looks utterly mortified. 

41:30 - I love this. I love how happy Malcolm just made Jessica. I love watching Jessica be proud of Malcolm. It’s so sweet. 

42:10 - This conversation between Malcolm and Ainsley is precious. Ainsley isn’t a bad person. She makes some bad decisions but she loves her family and I’m so proud of her for doing this for her Mom. My heart grew about 6x watching Malcolm be proud of his little sister. 

Sorry....this one got REALLY long. Thanks for hanging out if you have. Happy Prodigal Monday!! :D Hope you’re all going to watch 1x19 tonight! 

[caseydreamer]

Unconditional:  Jack and the Beanstalk

(More fairy tale retellings)

------

Jack was a bastard. His mother called him that often. He knew it was true but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. She also called him an idiot, and sometimes he believed it, though Jill often told him it wasn’t true. Jack didn’t know why Jill bothered spending time with him, sure she was his half-sister but she was legitimate. She was royal, the heir to the Land of the Sea, and he was just the idiot son of a drunk. He was sure she wasn’t supposed to be around him or even know of his existence. That didn’t stop her from bringing him and his mother muffins on a regular basis and sometimes pies or a loaf of fresh bread and some good cheese. But even with her help, they struggled. No matter how hard they worked there never seemed to be enough money, it always seemed to disappear.

------

“You useless, useless boy! What did you do with it?” She yelled at him. He flinched. Jack was already taller than his mother, a gangly teen, but she seemed to tower over him. 

“We were out of flower, I just went to the market and bought more, I promise.” 

“Right and then you spent the change on salted caramels,”

“I promise I didn’t. Not this time. Swear it.” 

“Don’t lie to me, and don’t swear when you don’t mean it,” She said cuffing him across the back of the head before shuffling across the room to look in the pantry. There was a new sack of flower, like Jack had said. Jack sat down on a stool rubbing the back of his head and scowled.

“I didn’t lie,” He muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” She said turning around and crossing her arms.

“Nothing,” Jack said, still sulking. 

“We’ll don’t just sit there, we still have to pay the king's tax. There’s nothing for it. Get up, go take the cow, take her to market, sell her for as much as you can get and give me the money. Don’t dawdle and don’t waste time with anyone on the road.” She instructed pulling him up from the stool and shooing him out of the house into the yard. 

“But we need the cow, how will we-” Jack protested but was cut off.

“Don’t argue just do as I say for once.” 

------     

Jack led the cow down the road. She had more fat on her than Jack did. Sometimes Jill fussed that he was all bones. But it wasn’t like he could do much about that. The cow was one of the few constant sources of income they had. There was the acre field in which Jack did his best to plant and grow each year, but if they had a bad year the cow, the eggs and the small vegetable garden was all they had left, and those were supposed to be for eating themselves. There were always odd jobs and his mother often did the washing for the big houses but she wasn’t reliable with that anymore and Jack could never seem to bring in enough money on his own to keep them fed and a roof over their heads.

Jack stopped as he noticed someone walking towards them down the road. Travelers often came down this road, that wasn’t the strange bit, it was the way this person dressed. She was tall, elegant blond hair done up in an elaborate do, glittering stones shining in the sunlight, her dress all pink and layered flowing lace and silk. She stopped as she neared him. Jack caught himself gawking and quickly looked away but she didn’t move.

“You are Jack,” She said.

Jack started and stared at her taken aback, “How do you know that?”

“Jack is a very common name, though more importantly, you have a wish.”

Jack blinked and stared at her in confusion “What? Who are you?” 

“I am the Fairy Godmother, some call me Maleficent.” She responded.

Jack scowled “But isn’t Maleficent a witch?”

“It depends on who you ask. The important thing is that you have a wish, and I can grant it.” She said coming closer. 

“And what is this wish you seem to know so much about?” Jack asked, crossing his arms and looking up at her.

She pulled out a small purple drawstring bag, from exactly where, Jack couldn’t tell, and held it up. “This bag has six beans in it. You have two choices. If you eat them you will be able to turn anything you touch into gold, or if plant them you will be able to travel to a land of gold. Though a word of warning both magics will only last 24 hours.”

Jack squinted at it and let go of the cow’s lead. “And what do you want for them?” 

The woman shrugged “That’s not important, whatever you have will do, the cow even.”

“Well, the cow is all I have so it will have to do,”  Jack shrugged, glancing at the cow and then back at the woman.  

“Wonderful, it is a deal then,” She smiled holding out her hand. Jack nodded and took her hand and shook. There was a white-hot flash. When Jack could see again the woman was gone and so was the cow and in his outstretched hand, he held the bag of beans. 

He stared at the beans for a moment hardly believing what had just happened, then realization started to sink in. He had just lost the cow. Whether he believed the woman or not his mother never would and if he returned without money she was sure to be furious.

------

Jack dragged his feet on his way back, stopping several times, considering not even going home at all. But then the thatched roof of the house came into view as he breached the top of the hill. He stared at the house, his stomach filling with dread. Slowly he approached the house. His mother looked up at him as he entered, her face flushed and a bottle in one hand. 

“Where’s the money?” 

Jack locked eyes on the floor “I- it...I lost the cow.” He muttered.

“What?” His mother barked standing up and knocking over the stool. “You lost the cow? How can you lose a cow?”

“It was stolen,” he lied still not looking up.

“Speak up, stop mumbling and look at me when your speaking,” 

Jack looked up for a split second he wasn’t scared anymore, he was angry. “It was stolen,” he spoke up. 

“Don’t lie to me. This is what I get for raising a bastard. Ungrateful son of a-” Her face turned bright red her jaw tight “I should tan your hide, useless excuse for a son, just get out! Get out of my house!” She yelled. When Jack didn’t move she started to reach for a broom. Jack turned and ran out as fast as he could, around the back of the house and up the hill till he tripped on a stone and tumbled down the slope. He sat up slowly. He didn’t hear any pursuit. There was a stinging pain in his knee and palms, small beads of blood forming along lines of scraped skin. He breathed in sharply through his teeth and blinked tears from his eyes. Dusk was quickly setting in and the fields were quickly set in shadow. He got up. There was a shed near the plowed field where he could sleep for the night, by the next day his mother would have forgotten about everything.

------

Sunrise came. Jack climbed stiffly out of the shed. Rubbing the dust and sleep from his eyes he looked warily back at the house but stopped short as his eyes fell on a vast vertical structure intersecting the horizon. He blinked and looked again. It stood at the top of the hill and stretched up as far as he could see. Eyes going wide he started and hurriedly searched his pockets. “No, no, no, no I wasn’t ready,” He muttered, pulling out the drawstring bag and looking inside. Only three of the six beans remained.  

He looked back up at the horizon then back at the house “Well, I guess this is what she meant by a portal to a land of gold,” he muttered as he approached the hill. He stopped at the base of the beanstalk. Placing a hand on the wall of the vine as thick around as a tree. It didn’t budge. He looked up. It really did go up as far as he could see “What did she expect of me? She want me to climb it or something?” He glanced back down at the house and then back up at the sky. “Land of gold though,” He mused “Better this than-” he cut himself off shaking his head then squared his shoulders and began climbing. 

------

Everything burned, he desperately fought the urge to let go, and he didn’t dare look down. Then as if by magic there was solid ground. He rolled over and kissed the ground laughing from exhaustion and relief. Then he opened his eyes.

The ceiling was so far away that he didn’t even register it as a ceiling at first. The stones of the walls were monolithic. The end of the vine curled its way through a fat arch that Jack had just come through. A curving piece of wood bisected by a pillar as fat as he was around rose up next to him. His eyes followed it up and It took him a minute to recognize it. It was a rocking chair. He blinked, looking back at the arch and shuddered at the thought of the creature that had made it. Quickly turning away he climbed around the rocking chair into the rest of the room. A golden lyre leaned against the wall behind him. It stood almost his full height and even the strings glistened with gold. A rug covered the floor, edged in golden cord with massive gold tassels at the corners. There was a bed to his left, almost as tall as Jack, with a massive ball leaning against the bedpost. A gilded rocking horse stood against a wall, painted with blues purples and reds, a giant glittering golden canary cage at its feet. He followed a trail of blocks as big as bread boxes that lay in piles haphazardly around the room, but stopped short when he saw the girl sitting in the middle of the room. She looked about two but sitting down she was as tall as Jack was standing. She held a large rag doll and shook it laughing before making it walk across the floor. Then she saw Jack.

She stared at him for a moment curiously before letting out a shriek of laughter. “Little boy!” She said clapping her hands. Jack just stood there frozen. “Play with me,” She shrieked gleefully scooting closer.

Jack jumped and bolted across the room. She began crawling laughing “Tag, tag, tag, I’m a catch you!”

Jack ran across the room, the girl close behind him. Reaching the golden cage he slipped between the bars, for once grateful that he was so skinny. The girl came up to the cage and reached for him opening and closing her hand as she tried to fit it between the bars. She stopped trying to reach him and stared at him with big, bewildered, glossy eyes, tears bubbling up in the corners and her lip quivering. Her breathing hiccupped and then she began to wail. 

Jack moved to the back of the cage. The original occupant of the cage, a goose, lifted its head up from under its wing to look at the crying child before going back to sleep. The goose was only slightly bigger than a normal goose and it’s feathers looked gilded. Jack made sure to give it it’s space. 

The ground began to shake, heavy footfalls which he could feel deep in his chest. Jack could see the edge of a skirt come into view and the child was lifted up out of view, beyond the roof of the cage.

“Oh dear, what’s the matter, sweetheart,” The deep voice rumbled. 

“The little boy won’t play with me.” The girl cried. 

“Oh dear, what little boy?” 

“The little little boy.”

“Well, I’m sure he didn’t mean it, would you like me to read to you instead?”

“Yes! Yes, book, read the one about eggs and steak.” 

Jack watched the edge of the Giant woman's skirts move across the room and sit in the rocking chair. Jack let out a sigh of relief and sat down among the hay that littered the ground of the cage. He looked at the goose as the drone of the story carried on in the background frequently interrupted by the joyous shrieks of the child. The goose wholeheartedly ignored him and he was glad for that. He had a feeling that if it didn’t want to share it’s cage he would have been promptly driven out to face the giants.  

He looked across the room at the mousehole that he had entered by. What had he gotten himself into? 

------

Five minutes turned into ten and then twenty. Finally, the Giants got up and left the room. Jack let out a sigh of relief, and stood up, moving to the edge of the cage to look back at the rest of the room.

He looked at all the gold then scowled. “The witch tricked me.” He looked back at the goose “Maybe if I... Maleficent I have a wish!” He demanded to thin air. He jumped as there was a popping sound and Maleficent, in her pink tool, was standing over him.

“What do you want?” She asked, looking down on him. 

Jack straightened himself and looked up at her “You said these beans would make me rich, but how do you expect me to carry any of this down the beanstalk, I barely made it up here without carrying anything, I would never survive a downward climb,”

Maleficent raised her brows “That isn’t my problem. I granted your wish, what you do with it is your problem.”

“Well I summoned you so it’s now your problem,” Jack snapped.  

Maleficent’s eyes went hard and she lifted her chin as her lips twisted in a scowl. “You want another wish?”

Jack looked away faltering, “I- I can’t carry any of the gold down. I need some way to take it with me when I return home.”    

Maleficent snapped her fingers and a satchel fell at Jack’s feet, “You can fit whatever you need into that.” She said.

“And payment?” Jack asked slowly as he bent down to pick up the satchel.

“I’ll take the goose,” She said quickly spinning on her heel. The goose looked up at her startled as she picked it up, it started to flap and tried to peck at her but she promptly clapped her hand around it’s beak. “Goodbye,” She said promptly and with a flash both her and the goose was gone. Where the goose had been sitting was a golden egg. 

Jack blinked looking from where Maleficent had been to the egg, then let out a deep breath. He looked down at the satchel and peered inside it. It looked rather normal. He shrugged taking the egg and carefully placing it in the satchel. It was bigger than a normal egg about as big as his hand and as heavy as solid gold. Slinging the satchel over his shoulders he squeezed his way between the bars and bolted across the room to the mouse hole. He was going to get out of there.  

------

The sun was setting as Jill walked down the path, a covered basket of fresh muffins hooked over her arm. As she breached the hill she noticed something bisecting the horizon. She squinted over the thatch roof of the house at the strange green pillar rising up behind it like twisted green vines with giant leaves. She walked around the house and began climbing the hill that the thing was planted on. Looking up she started when she noticed something clinging to the vines, making its way down. It was Jack. her eyes went wide and she sped up her pace, using her hands to help her scramble up the hill. She was about to cry out to him when there was a shaking and the vines themselves seemed to move. Jack clung desperately to them but seemed to be getting closer at a rapid pace as the vines shrunk till they no longer were able to support his weight and he came crashing down knocking into jill and they both went tumbling down the slope. 

[barnesnmrnoble]

Patchwork Confessions

(GIF not mine. Credit to owners.)

Main Masterlist - Clint Barton Masterlist

Her beside manners are impeccable, maybe that’s why he ends up at her apartment window. Maybe it’s just her.

Word Count: 1314

Warnings: Some talk of blood and injuries, Clint (Because he himself is in need of a warning)

A/n:  This is for the wonderfully talented and ever sweet @sincerelymlg​‘s writing challenge. Thank you for hosting McKenna, I loved writing this! <3 Here is dorky, cute Clint.

My prompt was, “This should probably shock me, but honestly it doesn’t anymore.”

Read on AO3!

The rain pattered softly against the window of her New York apartment, it’s soothing rhythm easily concealing the soft thud of his feet against the rackety old fire escape. A mixture of both rain and his blood had long since soaked his tactical suit but he barely paid it any mind, he just needed to see her and hear her voice.

He slid down the iron bars of the railing, leaning his not sore shoulder against the window. He could see her swinging her hips and dancing around the kitchen, pausing every few moments to return to her stove and stir whatever she was cooking. He smiled at her domesticity, it was – no matter how many times he’d seen it first hand—a bit unusual to see a highly trained assassin who he’d seen on so many occasions slam a knife into the neck of an arms dealer, cooking dinner while listening to her favorite playlist.

He watched her for a few moments longer before deciding the throbbing in his ribs and the bleeding from the various wounds he had was too painful to wait any longer. He reluctantly, and painfully, knocked on the window hard enough to make sure she could hear it over the rain and music. He watched with a grin as she jumped away from the stove and grabbed the gun he knew she’d hidden in the drawer beside her. He chuckled heartily at her cursing once she recognized him.

“God, Clint, you scared me half to death!” She half whisper-yelled as she slid the window open for him. He gave a half hearted laugh before it turned to groan of agony when he fell into her apartment. She scrambled to grab him before he fell but was unsuccessful, leaving them both a wet tangled mess on the ground. With some careful maneuvering, she was able to help him lean against the wall where she truly took in his current state.

He was a mess. His hair had been mussed and dirtied, she could see the rips in his suit and blood from several deep cuts that littered his body, he only had one hearing aid left and even it was hanging on by a thread, and beneath on of the cuts in his gear, she could just make out the ghastly blue and black bruising around his ribs. She didn’t even bother to ask if he was okay, clearly he wasn’t.

She stood to grab a med kit and a washcloth, but Clint grabbed her wrist, halting her. He stared at her for a long moment, obvious pain reflected in his ocean blue eyes, and just pulled her to the ground with him and into his arms. For a moment he didn’t care about the pain, practically everywhere on his body, only that he’d made it back to her because for a moment he had the thought that this time he wouldn’t. He’d done some stupid things, said something he shouldn’t have that got his cover blown, putting his and Nat’s lives in danger.

She placated him for a moment, letting him grip onto her and pull himself back from whatever was going through his head, but when she looked to his face and found it paler than before and his lips pulled into a tight line, she quickly extricated herself from his arms, throwing one of his around her shoulders and hauling him to his feet. “Come on, up you get. I know, I know. It hurts but if you just let me get you to my bed,” Clint snickered, “Into your bed? I like where this is going.”

She gently shook her head, trying to hide her laughter at his poor attempt to flirt with her. “It’s comments like those that should probably shock me, but honestly it doesn’t anymore.” With a graceful movement, she plopped Clint down onto her bed and slid his legs up as well. He muffled a cry of pain when she did, settling for just breathing heavily through his teeth.

“Does that mean it’s working?” He flashed her a wickedly silly grin and she was unable to conceal the laughter, letting it fill the room and bounce off the walls.  “Let’s get you fixed up and we will see if it worked.” She reached over and patted his hand before shuffling out of the room to grab the medicine kit and a few other supplies.

She returned with her hands full, carrying assorted packages of frozen vegetables and actual ice packs for Clint and two medicine kits she had had stored throughout her apartment because by the looks of it Clint was going to need more fixing than what was held in one kit. However, Clint barely paid any mind to most of what she’d brought, his eyes and nose quite frankly, were focused solely on the steaming mug of coffee she had delicate balanced on top of everything else. “God, you’re a saint.” Clint managed to mutter out between pained groans as he attempted to sit more upright.

The only reaction he garnered, not at all what he was expecting, was a high raised brow and a questioning look. “And who said this coffee was for you? You are the one that scared me half to death, is currently bleeding on my bed, and is making me take time to stitch him back up.” She jutted out a hip, standing with the attitude he knew and loved about her, but he couldn’t help but deflate a little. He needed coffee, bad. Or maybe alcohol, or both. Both would be nice.

She watched his expression drop, and knew she was in for it. If there was one thing Clint was good at, and one thing she couldn’t resist, it was Clint’s ‘kicked puppy look’. Hating herself for it, but doing it anyway, she caved. “No, I’m just kidding. Go ahead, you look like you need it a lot more than I do, but you owe me. Next time we go out for coffee?”

He nodded thankfully and reached out for the coffee cup, downing it very quickly given how hot it had been. She handed him the water bottle she had tucked underneath her arm, along with some painkillers and placed a few of the ice packs on the worst of his bruising giving the pain meds a moment to kick in.

Once she could tell the soft haze in his eyes had appeared, the painkillers taking effect, she started stitching up his wounds. She spoke to him idly, keeping his drug hazed mind off what she was doing, talking about anything she could think of, knowing he wouldn’t remember much come the next morning.  

“You are a crazy, crazy man and it baffles me somedays how much I care for you. I don’t know what it is,” She sighed lazily and reached behind her to grab the medical tape to keep down the wraps on his ribs. “I just wish you’d see it.”

Once she finished doing all she could for him without taking him to a doctor, she put away the kits, and ice packs and dropped off the coffee mug in the sink before returning to her room where Clint was lying peacefully. She threw back the covers and slipped in, making sure he was also comfortable before resting her head on her pillows and staring at the ceiling.

“I do see it you know. I care about you in the only way a crazy, crazy man like me can.” Clint’s hand reached out, grabbing onto hers and lacing their fingers together. He rolled over, crashing his lips to hers before abruptly pulling away, and wincing at the pain the spread from all of his injuries. “Ow.” She laughed, placing a final chaste kiss to his lips before settling back into bed, their hands still linked with one another’s.

[bellysoupset]

More oc asks: 21-41 odd for Ella?

21. What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves?  Oooh Ella can find a pet peeve with anything. But mostly she’s peeved by small talk, she’s a straight to the point type of girl and small talk annoys her to no end.  23. What is a random fact about your OC? Ella’s dad died when she was 14 and she moved from Boston, MA to Pennshaw, MA to live with her grandma. She was really close with her dad, since her mom died in her birth. 25. What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them?  I created all my characters after the world. I knew I wanted to have the audience navigate this world through the eyes of a young witch, but it wasn’t until I made Archer that I decided that Ella would be the polar opposite of him, meaning gloomy, kinda goth, difficult to deal with.  27. What kind of childhood did your character have? Okay, so this ties with 3! Ella was the only daughter of a widower dad. She was very close with her dad, who was a doctor, and with her grandmother (mom’s side). After her dad died of heart attack when she was 14, Ella moved back to Pennshaw to live with grandma Clemence. She had a difficult time making friends before, but especially in this new school. Archer was the only one who wasn’t scared of her, even though she was one year his senior. Their high school romance ended when she went to college. Needless to say, Archer followed her.  29. If they could choose their epitaph for their grave, what would they choose? That’s a creepy question. Ella’s a creepy girl, so she’d go for something like “Just around the corner, keep your eyes open”. She thinks is hilarious, Archer disagrees. 

31. What is their most traumatic memory/experience? What is their favorite memory? Her most traumatic memory is a tie between finding her dad’s body in the kitchen, monday morning or holding Archer’s body through the transformation fever, completely unsure of what the hell was going on or if he was going to die, knowing taking him to a hospital wasn’t an option. Favorite memories are when she used to bake cakes with her Nana and then surprise her dad, as a little kid. Or her first kiss with Archer, during her junior year.  33. Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why? Ella would absolutely kill someone. Baby girl has a lot of unaddressed anger in her and she’s cold blooded. If it was an innocent person she’d feel guilty, but otherwise? Not really.  35. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories? Ella is a very straight forward person, she avoids day dreams because it can cause her to spiral a bit. Her imagination is GRAND and feels too real at times and Ella is scared of it. 37. What’s something that your character does, that other people don’t normally do? She talks with corpses, so there’s that. But she’s an autopsy doctor, just to explain it. She also will absolutely blab with plants.  39. What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? Nightstand? Garbage can? Refrigerator: Wine, energy drinks, tons of vegetables, bread, a cut of meat, frozen pizza, old chinese food, milk, a half eaten apple pie that is Ella’s exclusively. || Bedroom floor: Ella and Archer’s clothes of the day is on top of a chair, on the floor there’s Arch’s socks and one blanket Ella kicked from the bed. || Nightstand: Two water bottles, one on each side of the bed, chapstick, a law book Arch’s reading, a picture of Ella with Arch, in the drawers there’s a journal where they jolt down passwords and stuff, tissues, a condom box, all types of black nail polish  41. What does your character do when they’re angry? Why?  Oh Ella does the MOST. She’ll yell and cry, but if REALLY pushed she’ll start leaking magic, which is straight up a way of asking to be murdered. She can’t control it, sadly. 

[btgalaxy]

Twisted

➳ pairing: yoongi x reader

➳ genre: mafia!au, angst, eventual smut, maybe fluff

➳ word count: 3k

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Chapter 5:

         When you wake up, you’re tucked in bed, alone. There’s a moment of sleep inertia that sets you in a state of confusion for a minute, trying to gather your surroundings until you realise where you are. You glance over at the clock to find its already midday, and habitually you begin shuffling from beneath your duvet- when the nausea hits you. All at once. You dart to the bathroom, one hand clutched over your mouth and the other over your stomach as you fall to your knees in front of the toilet, relieving yourself of all the toxins you consumed last night.

You grunt, allowing your neck to fall lax as your head droops on the toilet lid, weak with the forceful emptying of everything inside you. You squeeze your eyes shut, attempting to lessen the throbbing now generously thumping in your ears, but you receive no such luck.

Kneeling in front of the toilet, hunched in pain, you begin thinking about last night. About Jungkook, Yoongi. You must’ve fallen asleep in his arms eventually, feeling exhausted and no longer able to coop up all those emotions that have been stirring inside you for days. It’s not entirely clear what happened most of the night, but the end is clear as day, Jungkook cornering you and pressing your hand to his groin. Your fingers curl subconsciously at the thought.

You slowly lean up to reach for the handle to flush the toilet, washing away any final remnants of what’s left in your stomach, and then you begin to grapple to stand up and face your reflection in the mirror. Talk about shit. Your hair is frizzy and extending in different directions, all matted and greasy, and your skin is flushed at the cheeks yet pale everywhere else, making you look sick. You’ve not looked so bad in a while. You put a hand under the tap and gurgle some water in your mouth to clean it out slightly.

You’re thankful when you hear the click of the door, and you stumble out of the room to see the old lady walking in, tray in hand containing a light lunch, some orange juice and a few tablets. You attempt a smile when she sees you, the both of you a little hesitant.

“Thank you,” you murmur, biting down on your lower lip.

She smiles back, warmly, “have this, and then come down to the kitchens for more water. You need to drink a lot.” You’re a little taken aback she’s spoken to you, rather than just the usual nod of the head and gentle smile but instead actual words. You can’t even form a coherent sentence as she sets down the tray and turns to leave, except not before she hesitates in the doorway, burying her hand in the front pocket of her apron to pull out another book, another fairy-tale, and leaving it next to the tray before slowly clicking the door shut behind her.

Your eyes scan over the tray, ambling over to run your fingertips across the paperback copy of Gulliver’s Travels, admiring the indents down the spine indicating it must’ve been well read in its time. You reach for the small pills and cautiously place a tablet at the back of your tongue, swallowing back a swig of orange juice with it and wincing as you gulp it down, wary that it’ll actually stay down as you hold your lips sealed tightly, breathing deeply.

You have a go at eating, but both your mind and stomach disagree as you continue to struggle to hold anything down, and your head gets distracted too quickly by other things occupying your thoughts. Yoongi, for example. Holding you as you wept. Taking you outside, opening up to you about his family, and you can’t help but allow yourself to fleetingly indulge in the undeniable attraction you feel towards him; that angelic face concealing his demonic career path. You know you told yourself to stay away, to consider he’s a killer, a ruthless murderer, but why isn’t that enough when the two of you are alone? It’s dangerous to think about this too much, so you head to the bathroom to brush your teeth, put on some clothes and attempt to appear somewhat presentable, then over to your door where you’re relatively surprised to find it’s unlocked, perhaps for the first time since getting here.

The tunnels are eerily empty, opposing the usual clatter of noise resonating against the walls to echo through your ears. It’s a scarce calm that unsettles you, considering in the time you’ve been here- nearing a few weeks now- not once has there been a day where your door was left unlocked, nor not a soul lingering about in the corridors. It’s unnerving.

Reaching the kitchen at a quicker pace than usual after being somewhat anxious alone in the corridors, you find it to be also empty. The silver of the surfaces looking immaculately clean, untouched. The only thing out of place seems to be a crate of water bottles; a crate the lady must have left out for you. You sigh, walking over to slip one out and unscrewing the cap, gulping down a few swigs to alleviate the pulsing now gradually- relievingly- diminishing in your head. You glance about, looking for something to eat, now feeling a little more up to it.

You spot the handle to the freeze is slightly crooked, clearly left that way from someone earlier. When you walk over, it’s open. Thank god. You scan over all the frozen packs of meat and vegetables, scowling at each item that requires cooking which you really aren’t up for, until your eyes land on a pint of ice cream, looking down on you as though it were sent from the heavens above.

“Finally,” you breathe, ready to indulge in something you haven’t for a long, long while.

You enclose a hand around the icy base of the tub, bringing it to your stomach with a grin. As you shut the door, however, you’re launched back with fright as you’re face to face with Jin, frowning incessantly at you.

“Jesus- fucking hell, I didn’t even hear you come in,” you cry, raking your hands through your hair while struggling to even out your breathing. Jin doesn’t reply, and instead strides over to the tub of ice cream rolling across the tiled flooring. He picks it up and observes it, glowering. Fuck.

“This,” he holds up what was about to be your lunch, “isn’t allowed. Not part of your diet.”

His storming back to the freezer prompts you to lurch forward slightly, to stop him and snatch back the dessert and run with it for your life, but you’re similarly a little scared of him which prevents you from doing so.

“I haven’t eaten,” you whine, pouting a little, as he slams the metal door shut.

“You’ll eat later. We have training.” He turns on his heel swiftly, and you already understand he expects you to follow him.

The main training area is empty, too. And there’s no sign of Yoongi’s palm pressed against the glass, watching you attempt to throw punches and kicks with your lack of body strength.

“Where is everyone?” You question, strapping on some gloves from the shelves of equipment.

“I want to focus on cardio today,” he ignores you, picking up a skipping rope, “you don’t seem to be gaining much strength, so if you could at least run fast and far then you may have a chance at survival in this business.”

You take the rope from him hastily, grumbling, “charming. Thanks for the support.”

Jin is, as per, unforgiving with his training. Screaming profanities at you when you slow down or even worse, stop altogether to catch your breath. You switch from skipping ropes, to stepping up and down on benches, to sprinting the length of the training area until you collapse. You recall Yoongi saying something about he doesn’t want you fainting or pushing yourself so hard you can’t breathe during training, yet here you are, fully ready to throw yourself into a wall just to be able to lay down for a minute.

“Speed up. You’re slow,” Jin orders from his stupid bench at the side of the room, lazily eating a banana as you pace back and forth. He doesn’t care that you’re struggling to even breathe.

“Can- I,” you pant, feeling lightheaded, “sit down?” Your voice is light and barely comprehensible through all your desperate breaths, yet Jin still doesn’t ease up.

“One more lap of the room. Touch each corner.” The notion that the end is in sight gives you a final pump of adrenaline to get you moving again, the feel of each stone corner encouraging you to speed up that tiny bit more, to finish just a tiny bit earlier. And when you do your knees give in immediately, your back slumps to the ground and you lay completely still, bar your chest rising and falling with each gasping intake of air to oxygenate your lungs once again. It’s only Jin’s shadow that snaps you away from your moment in subspace, shaking a bottle of water in front of your face and coaching you to sit up and take a drink.  

You take the liquid and throw back most of it, wiping the back of your hand over your mouth before passing it back to him, “thanks.” Your palms settle on your thighs as your posture slouches and your head lulls forwards, nearly resting in your lap. Jin sits across from you on the floor, knees bent and apart with an elbow resting on each.

“Everyone’s out of here; there was an urgent call the early hours this morning. One of the shipments from Japan didn’t run as smoothly as we thought,” Jin explains, an unreadable expression on his face, “it was your boyfriend you know.”

“Not my boyfriend,” you retort, lifting up your head again. “What was even in those shipments? What was so damn important?”

“Cocaine, heroin, meth. The usual.” His nonchalant tone repulses you.

“So I’m guessing everyone here is on drugs too then,” you spit out, “if that’s ‘the usual’.”

He scoffs at you, obnoxiously, “don’t be thick. You think Yoongi would allow us to take drugs so that we can’t see or think straight? Yeah fucking right.” He adjusts his wristbands, “we’d have lost this place a long time ago if we were high all the time.”

You retreat back into yourself, feeling a little stupid, “oh.”

He laughs at your withdrawal, “So how’d you get involved with the ‘not your boyfriend’. Couldn’t picture someone like you with our rival drug lord.”

“I didn’t know he was a- a- whatever he is,” you murmur, “and we met about a year back, then started dating after a couple months of knowing each other. He used to come in everyday to my old workplace, he’d order the same Caramel Macchiato every time he came in, always with a slice of Cherry Bakewell.” You sigh, recalling the memory of him coming in, his shirt tucked into his slim fit trousers under his blazer. The same swept back hair, the same sparkling eyes and alluring smile and every single time it’d be-

“I’ll have…” He’d teasingly run his finger over the menu, as if he wasn’t going to order the same thing, making you smile, “let’s make it a Caramel Macchiato. With a-“

“Slice of Cherry Bakewell?” You’d interrupt, conforming to your daily routine. He was the one thing you looked forward to each morning. And when he’d laugh- God, his laugh- your heart would set alight and you could swear you’d burst into flames any second.

“I think that’s the perfect choice. How did you choose such an impeccable combination?”

You’d grin, tapping his order into the till, “a trick of the trade, sir. Comes with being a barista.”

“I see,” he’d hum, “and what other tricks do you have up your sleeve, may I ask?” This was a new question one day, a few weeks after your routine had settled in.

You looked up at him, a little in awe, “I like to keep them for rainy days.”

“I think it’s supposed to rain Thursday, actually. Maybe you could come out with me to dinner, show me some of your other skills?” His invite seems underlyingly crude now that you look back on it, but at the time you were so enamoured by him you couldn’t deny that gleaming smile.

“I think that could be arranged, sir.” You passed him his change and receipt, your number scribbled hastily on the back as he smiles down at it.

“Have a good day, sir.”

“You too, Y/N.”

He showed no signs of being dangerous, a criminal. He was so charming, so sweet, so funny. It was undetectable.

“Fucking hell,” Jin raises his eyebrows in shock, “I never pictured him whipped for some girl in a café.”

“Well he was,” you counter, adamantly, “he even took me to meet his parents.”

“His parents?”

“Yeah, we took a road trip down to the south coast to go and see them- his dad was ill and he wanted them to meet me.” You push your lips to the side, “they’re lovely. They mustn’t have any idea of what Jimin does. Because they’re angels- they run an orphanage together.”

“Whereabouts on the coast do they live?”

“Near Tongyeong, by the mountain.”

“Ohh,” he pauses, “I was wondering where that arsehole grew up.” He seems quite smug with his little joke, so you stand up, patting yourself down, refusing to acknowledge his insult. You stride back over to the skipping ropes, busying yourself with training to avoid having to speak to Jin any longer.

The rest of the day passes by like this, minimal talking and intense training. As you reach the evening, the place begins to fill back up again with people, clearly returned from wherever they went to deal with the shipping issue. Some appear a little bruised, so you imagine there must’ve been some violent encounter, but you don’t see any severely injured. Granted, if any are they would probably be in the infirmary rather than wandering around for you to see.

Jin dismisses you several hours after your chat, when you’re dripping with sweat and hungry enough you could eat dirt and probably enjoy it. You dart back to your room, happy to find the copy of Gulliver’s Travels untouched on your dresser with a hefty plate of food next to it. This is well earned.

You devour the meal like a savage, the way the men do in the training area at mealtimes. Perhaps you’re spending too much time with them. And you immediately make a start reading the new book, once again investing yourself in the plot and the characters, deciphering the message behind the story, what the author meant to convey. You’re probably worth of an English degree by this point.

After a while, however, you’re very aware of the stench radiating off you like a cloud of fumes in a cartoon emanated from the substantial patches of sweat over your chest and back and under your arms.

The water from the shower is freezing. As in biting waters straight from the Siachen glacier cutting your flesh like a knife; it’s near agony, and you try to hold out as long as possible, but you only manage to make it to about two or three minutes before jumping out and enveloping yourself in your towel. All the men back from the assignment today must’ve used up all the hot water, leaving you with nothing but the cold straight from the pipes.

You dash out of the bathroom to curl up in bed, but before you can do so you spot Taehyung on your bed, admiring the little book you left on your pillow.

“Oh,” you squeak, running back into the bathroom to just peer out your head.

Taehyung laughs throatily, enjoying your squirming, “that’s a nice look, duckie. You should wear it more often.”

“Fuck off.” Your voice is not at all convincing, especially as you shiver with cold, the vibrations prominent in your tone, “what do you want?”

“Boss wants to talk to ya. I’m here to take you there.” You can hear him smiling at your discomfort, making you jut out your lower jaw in irritation.

“Well, could you like- leave for a minute?” You groan, “I can’t go to him like this.”

“Duckie, I’m not entirely sure he would mind-“

“Taehyung!”

“Alright, alright,” he chuckles, “I’ll wait outside.”

The clicking of the door shut makes you sigh in relief as you pad out of the bathroom and straight to the wardrobe, sliding on some leggings and a t-shirt as fast as you can before Taehyung tries entering unannounced again. You attempt to towel dry you hair a little, but it doesn’t do much good so you just leave it wet on your shoulders, walking out to Taehyung leant against the wall while lazily scrolling through his phone. It reminds you how much you miss technology. God, how long it’s been since you’ve actually written a text.

“Nice hair, duckie.” Taehyung taunts, touching the soaked strands before wiping it on you teasingly.

“Don’t we have somewhere to be?” You push him away with a groan.

“Oh, right. I was distracted by your beauty,” he smiles toothily, satisfied with himself.

You shove him again, with greater force, “idiot.”

As you walk to Yoongi’s office, Taehyung stays quiet, clearly under orders not to say anything to you about today considering the contrast to his normal self, telling you anything and everything you’d like to know. It throws you off a bit, but you’re already reaching the office before you can accumulate anymore anxiety over the matter.

You walk into Yoongi’s office, entirely unsuspecting and vulnerable, when suddenly a body is thrown against yours, pinning you against the wall as a shirt-covered forearm chokes you at the neck.

“How the fuck have you been in contact with Jimin?”  

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[rookieinbflat]

New Territory, 2

Open Heart - Ethan x MC (Levin Stern)

Summary: Ethan navigates a day of activities with an difficult yet endearing eight-year-old.

@writerapprentice

WC: ~2500

Thank God they had showered and gotten dressed before going to bed last night. Ethan had stayed true to his promise, and they had sex on almost every flat surface in the apartment last night, but now in the morning light, when he rolled over to gather Levin in his arms, where he would normally find her shoulders he instead found a small set of feet. Furrowing his eyebrows, he pushes himself up onto his elbows and gently pulls back the comforter, sunlight is streaming through the half-opened blinds and he can make out the small form of an annoyingly endearing eight-year-old lying between him and Levin, upside down.

He rubs his eyes before softly rustling her, “Isa, what are you doing sleeping upside down?” Ethan asks softly, and she almost robotically sits up before lying back down with her head on the pillow this time, she’s sucking her thumb and her eyes are still closed, Ethan gently pulls her hand away from her face, he’s determined for her to kick the thumb sucking habit by the end of this weekend.

“I had a bad dream, that room is scary cause it’s so big,” Isa mumbles and pulls Ethan’s arm back down so she can use his arm as a pillow and nestle into his side, like Levin, she’s a cuddler.

Ethan lies back down and pets her hair, he looks over to see that it’s only six thirty, they can sleep for a couple more hours before they get started for the day. Neither Ethan nor Levin could remember the last time they had a sleep in, or a whole weekend to themselves, well, almost to themselves. Between the two of them on the diagnostics team, Levin taking every professional development opportunity available to her and Ethan researching for his next book, the time between them had been stretched quite thin. Levin couldn’t even remember the last weekend they were both in the same city, she had been travelling so much she keeps an already packed bag in the wardrobe for convenience. They had spoken to Naveen and gotten the whole weekend off to look after Isa and they planned to make the most of it. The agenda is breakfast at Short Street, a morning spent at the aquarium, lunch in the park and then a movie. If Isa is anything like Levin at the aquarium, he’s in for a big day.

Levin turns over and reaches across Isa to squeeze Ethan’s arm, “She crawled in at around midnight,” she chuckles softly, her brown eyes twinkling with mischief, “though I’m not exactly sure when she decided to sleep upside down,”

Ethan stretches the arm that Isa is lying across to reach out and brushes Levin’s cheek softly, “I put the nightlight on for her,” Ethan says softly, “I bought that nightlight from the planetarium, she loved it,” Levin smiled fondly when he came home complaining of the prices at the museum gift store, he was so worked up about the blatant monetisation in science she thought a vein was going to burst.

“Nuh uh,” Isa pipes up from between them, “the constellations aren’t even right,” Levin purses her lips and tries to hold in a laugh as Ethan looks shocked, being told off by an eight-year-old is surely a first for him. Levin can't remember the last time she saw Ethan at a loss for words, he always knew what to say to his bosses, interns, patients, but this little three-foot-nothing mess had completely stumped him.

“Isa,” Levin pushes some hair from the over her eyes, “how about you take Jenner and Pascale to your room and get a bit more sleep before we head to the aquarium? I need to take a shower so I’m not all smelly and scare the fish off,” Take the bait kiddo, she thinks to herself, go and watch cartoons in bed. Isa happily agrees, she loves having the dogs sleep in the spare bed with her, and she’s already figured out how to operate Nick Jnr on the television in the spare room. She plants a big kiss on Levin’s cheek before walking out of the room, dragging a stuffed seal toy she always took with her on trips.

Levin quickly got up and locked the door, this babysitting was really bringing out some primal instinct in the two of them, they couldn’t wait to jump each other’s bones at any given chance. She jumps back on the bed and straddles Ethan, holding his hands over his head, “We’ve got about forty minutes before she gets bored,” Levin leans down and starts to lay kisses on his neck, nipping at the skin there as he runs his hands up the back of her thighs and rests them on her rear.

She rolls her hips against his own and she can feel him hardening against her, “I only need twenty for what I’m planning to do you,” he growls and squeezes her bum before moving his hands up to remove her top, leaving her in just boxer shorts. He aptly rolls them over and pins her beneath him, pushing down her shorts before returning to kiss her, running his tongue along the inside of her lip.

—————

“No, no, no, its nine am, you’re not getting chicken fingers,” Ethan slams the menu down on the table in front of him, Isa is sitting across from him and looks up in a treacherous stare, her brows furrowing, they’ve been going at this for five minutes. They stare at each other for a long time, Ethan’s face is deadpan serious, his fists are clenched and Isa looks like she’s about to set the whole place on fire.

“Chicken is healthy, its got good stuff,” she retorts, she’s stopped colouring now, engaged in this stare off.

Levin is sitting next to Isa, reading a book propped up against the centrepiece while sipping on a smoothie, she’s aware of the situation but doesn’t want to get involved, they’re both as stubborn as each other. Ethan breaks first, looking away from Isa and over to Levin, his icy blue eyes pleading. Help me, Levin, they say, this kid is crazy, he wants to say. Levin sits her book down on the table and picks up the menu, looking over options that Isa might be interested in, but once she’s made her mind up, it pretty hard to change it.

“How about some pancakes?” Levin suggests and points the option out on the menu, Isa shrugs indifferently, looking back down to her colouring, Levin pushes and picks up a purple pencil to draw a small butterfly on the corner of the page, “It says that it comes with whipped cream and strawberries,” take the bait kiddo.

“Okay, I’ll have the pancakes,”

Levin, 1. Ethan, 0. Levin smirks as Ethan’s jaw drops, he’s not used to being shown up by anyone, but this child is giving him a run for his money.

“Those pancakes will have ridiculous amounts of fructose in them, not to mention, how do we know the fruit is sustainable and non-GMO?” Ethan leans over the table and whispers to Levin, but she’s not paying any attention.

Levin reaches across the table and squeezes his hand, “Ethan, turn doctor mode off for a little bit,” she tells him gently, “just enjoy the weekend, I’m sure Isa won't die from a few irresponsibly farmed fruits,”

She says this to him a lot, Ethan, let go. Ethan, chill out. Ethan, wind down. It used to infuriate him to no end, it always seemed that she was condescending him when she said that. She said it like it's so simple like his brain is just a switch he can flick from an overbearing, over-ambitious doctor, to wild, reckless, hooligan. Then, Ethan realised, she knows it’s not easy, its a battle she struggles with every day, work mode, friend mode, home mode. All the different aspects of Levin’s personality that she tries to keep in a perfectly calibrated economy, but now, she was learning to embrace the unknown, to relax and stop worrying about the things she can't control. It was never easy, she knew that, but Levin also knew that Ethan wouldn’t try if he wasn’t pushed. Levin studied psychology in her undergrad degree, a discipline she’d been interested in since she was young. One night when they had first started dating, they were laid in bed and she opened up to him and Ethan realised why, she told stories about her mothers’ struggle with post-partum depression, her brothers bi-polar, and her own diagnosis with anxiety and borderline personality disorder. She was not looking for pity, nor did she say anything to suggest she was complaining. Levin looked back at her past with the idea that everything that happened made her the person she was today, and Ethan wouldn’t want his gorgeous Rookie any other way.

The waitress comes over to take their orders, Levin orders goats cheese and truffle mushrooms on toast, Ethan orders a vegetable chilli scramble and a double shot of espresso - he’s going to need it today. Ethan talks to Isa about his theories for his new book on diagnostic medicine, Isa pretends like she can understand a word he’s saying. They’re sharing a colouring page, two dogs chasing after a ball. Working on activities together always forces children to get along, Levin thinks to herself before returning to her book. Ethan looks up from the collar he’s colouring red and finds Levin looking at him with a small smile and he wonders what his Rookie is thinking about, he’s thinking about how much he loves her.

Just when Levin thinks she’s in the clear, there’s a three minute argument over Isa pouring more than a tablespoon of syrup over her pancakes, “It’s the syrup or the cream, Isa, I’m not playing games here - you can’t have both,” Ethan has his brows furrowed once again and Isa holds the bottle of syrup over her stack of pancakes almost threateningly.

Levin kicks him under the table and he lets out a quiet yelp, shooting a pointed glance across the table.

‘What was that for?’ He mouths silently, Levin raises her eyebrows and gestures towards Isa and her threat of syrup.

“Alright, I’ll strike a deal with you here,” Ethan turns back to Isa calmly and she gives him a confused look, “you can have more syrup on your pancakes, but you’re not allowed to have any soda at the aquarium,”

Isa thinks about it and puts the syrup down, “Nah, I want a big frozen drink when we go to the movies,” the word comes out sounding like moobies, she’s still struggling with her ‘v’ sounds.

Levin sighs, another crisis averted... for now.

—————

Levin and Ethan had survived the trip to the aquarium, well, maybe more Ethan had survived the trip to the aquarium. Levin and Isa had dragged him through every inch of the place, they could name every fish, every species of coral, every spec of dust in the tanks in front of them. Ethan had watched on in awe at Levin’s childlike wonder, they’d been there plenty of times before but each time was just as special as the last. He loved his beautiful fiancé with every cell in his body, he loved watching her love of the sea come to life when they were at the aquarium when she rattled off random facts in his ear, he thought his life couldn’t get any better.

For lunch, they sat under the warm sun, it was too cold in the shade and Boston had blessed them with a cloudless weekend in the bay. Levin laid with her head in Ethan’s lap, reading a novel about a conversation between a scientist and a monk about the meaning of life, Ethan flicked through a medical journal on his phone, Isa laid on her stomach, colouring in a super-duper-top-secret drawing that no one was allowed to see.

Now, Levin was getting Isa ready for bed, she had just had a bubble bath in their ridiculously oversized tub that could probably fit five people. Levin sat at the foot of their bed braiding Isa’s hair, trying to be gentle as Isa bounced around like a chihuahua on crack. “When I get old, I wanna have a big farm and I’m gonna have fifty dogs!” Isa tells the pair cheerily, she throws her arms out to the side, scaring poor Jenner, who’s not used to this level of energy in the house, “I’m gonna have a whole bunch of huskies,” she rattles on.

“While that sentiment is lovely Isa, I think you’re going to be very shocked at the associated veterinary bills,” Ethan ponders without looking up from his phone and Levin leans back to smack him on the chest. Of course, he is going to burst an eight-year-olds bubble with the serious realities of adult life.

Levin looks over at Isa sincerely, “I think that sounds freaking awesome and I am going to visit you all the time,” Levin loves dogs, she would have ten if she could, “alright your hair is done, it’s time for bed. Cmon, I’ll tuck you in,”

Isa shoots up from the floor, “No! I want Ethan to tuck me in,” it sounds more like ‘Eefan’ than it does anything else.

Levin turns back to a slightly shocked Ethan, but he recovers quickly, placing his phone down on the side table and rising off the bed. She puts the hairbrush on the dresser and watches as Isa grabs Ethan’s hand and leads him to tuck her into bed.

As Ethan is tucking her into bed and putting on the nightlight, Isa reaches into her rucksack beside the bed, pulls out a sheet of paper and hands it to the doctor. Ethan recognises it as the menu from the cafe this morning, he’s about to ask Isa why she kept it when he turns the page over to find her top-secret drawing from earlier. It’s a picture of the five of them - Levin and Ethan with Isa between the two, all holding hands, and Jenner and Pascale on either side.

Ethan tucks Isa in and leaves a soft kiss on her hair, “Thanks, Isa, I think I’m going to put this one on the fridge,” she smiles and rolls over in bed.

He walks out into the kitchen and places the picture underneath their schedules, it almost feels like it's his own daughters drawing that he’s sticking up on the stainless steel appliance. Ethan had never thought about having a family. When he began his career in medicine, he had accepted that the hospital was going to be his only family. When he met Levin, he had grown fond of the idea that she would be his family for the rest of his life. Now they were looking after Isa and he knew he wanted more, he wanted a family of his own.

[sizzleitupwithmaria]

i’d title this: max gets fucking DECKED (also tagging @baura-bear bc she gets very enthusiastic about my writing)

cw: mild injuries/blood, hate crime??, mention of the use of a homophobic slur.

Fenn was exhausted. They had come down with the flu that past Friday and spent the whole weekend recovering. Although they were probably well enough to go to school, they stayed home just to be safe. With both their brother and their parents at work until at least 5, they got bored very quickly. They had deduced to drawing the view of the woods they saw from their back porch in their sketchbook. Suddenly, their phone buzzed, and Max’s contact photo appeared on the screen.

“Hey, what’s up?” They picked up their phone, glad to talk to their best friend.

When he didn’t respond immediately, they started to get worried. Instead of hearing his voice, they heard heavy breathing and… was that crying?

“God, I hate to be a bother, but-

“Woah, dude,” Fenn could tell that Max was very distraught. “Are you okay?

Max sighed heavily. “I’m managing. But, like, I’m already halfway to your house, so I just wanted to let you know that I’m coming over.”

“Dude,” Now they were really starting to worry. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I-I’ll explain later,” Max said. “It’s kind of getting hard to breathe.”

“Dude. You’re scaring me.” They had stood up and entered the house now, looking out the window for any sign of Max

“Just-” He paused to inhale deeply. “Trust me. Please.”

He hung up before Fenn could respond. In a panic, they stepped onto the front porch of their house, sat down in a chair, and waited. It wasn’t a warm day, and they were, unfortunately, wearing pajama shorts and a light sweatshirt. They anxiously brought their knees up to their chest for warmth and a bit of emotional comfort.

Only a few minutes later, they saw someone walking up the spiral driveway. They immediately stood up and ran to Max, who seemed in bad shape.

“Max!” They yelled. “What the hell happened?!”

Much to their surprise, Max was pretty beat up. They brushed their pointer finger across his split lip where blood had already started to dry. Their mind went on autopilot as they felt around his face for any signs of bruising. Years of walking and running in the woods taught them how to find and treat injuries efficiently, and it was thankfully coming in handy.

Max stumbled over his words. “A couple of guys followed me after school, and…” He gestured to his face, and Fenn noticed that the palms of his hands were scraped. “... I don’t know why, actually, everything is a bit fuzzy.”

Fenn took Max’s hand and looked him in the eye. “Come inside, dude. To the bathroom.”

(idk how to put a horizontal line in a text post but there’s a time skip here.)

After a long while, Max sat on the edge of Fenn’s bathtub, knees and hands bandaged. He was holding a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped haphazardly in a towel up to his left eye. Fenn closed the first aid kit they had been working with and put it in a cabinet under the sink.

“Alright,” they said. “Does anything else hurt?”

Max sighed and lowered his voice. “My stomach…” He wrapped his free arm around his midsection.

“Oh, shit, did someone punch you in the stomach?”

Max nodded. “I think so.”

“God, I fucking hate whoever did this to you.” They stood up. “I’ll get you a hot water bottle and then you can lie down on my bed, how’s that?”

Max hung his head. “Sure…”

“Oh, Max…” Fenn knelt down in front of her best friend. “What’s wrong?”

Fenn had known Max for as long as they could remember. The most vivid memories they had of them together was him talking Fenn through coming out. It had been a rough period in both of their lives, but Max was extremely caring and selfless. They held the feeling of the hug that he gave them after they came out to their girlfriend as nonbinary very close to their heart. His smile never failed to put them in a better mood, but seeing the emotion drained from him crushed them.

Max groaned and rested his head on Fenn’s hand.

“Do you want me to call your mom?”

There was suddenly wild panic in Max’s eyes. “No, she can’t know.”

“What? Why?”

There was quite a long pause and a few deep breaths from Max. “They… one of them called me a faggot, and then they just threw me on the ground. I don’t know how they found out, but…” His voice trailed off.

“Oh my god, Max,” Fenn pulled him into a tight hug. He surprisingly squeezed back. “Whoever the hell did this, I’ll fucking kill them.”

“I think they were friends with Adam…”

“Damn.” Was all Fenn could muster. They had been there through the highs and lows of Max’s crush on Adam, a popular boy in their year. This was probably a devastating blow to Max.

“Don’t actually kill them, please…”

Fenn laughed. “Well, if you say so.”

Max laughed as well, and Fenn’s heart soared.

“There’s the Max I know and love.”

Max smiled gladly. “Thanks for… all of this. I’m sure you understand why I don’t want to tell my mom now.”

Fenn sighed. Max was very much in the closet, but Fenn had suggested multiple times that he start his coming out journey with his mom. His mom loved him more than anything in the world, but he was still anxious about it. Fenn had let it rest a while ago, understanding that they couldn’t control how Max felt about his sexuality.

“Yeah, I understand.” They finally let go of the hug. “You should probably let her know you’re here, though.”

“Shit.” Max pulled out his phone. “What should I say?”

“Just say that you’re catching me up on missing schoolwork.” Fenn made a mental note to actually do that later.

“Cool.” Sam put his phone down and stood up slowly. “Ugh. Can you get that hot water bottle now?”

“Shit, sorry.” They quickly left the room and put a pot of water on the stove. Once Max had exited the bathroom, they said, “Lie down on my bed, get some rest.”

Max nodded and went to Fenn’s bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later, they found Max sleeping on top of their blankets. They sighed, put the hot water bottle on their desk, and sat down next to him. They then put on a podcast and texted their girlfriend a quick “I love you”, dreading the amount of schoolwork they had to catch up on.

[lokikingofasgardslover713]

Blue Phoenix {Oneshot}

Masterlist

This is my entry for @supersoldiersruined-me Challenge! I hope I did this justice!

Words: +2,300

Warnings: SMUT! F/F! Other than that cursing?

Prompt: Nora Roberts, Chasing Passion: She would let him yell, if that was what he needed, but she was tired, she was aching, and her heart went out to him. (In Italic)

A/N: The reader is a pink skinned Kree (definition further down) that possesses the seventh sense as well is a she is a phoenix, a blue phoenix. She was thrown out of an airlock by Ronan the accuser 2 years before Thor Ragnarök takes place & when she was found on Sakaar was thrown in with the Hulk but Brunhilde managed to bargain for the woman after the Grandmaster made sure she lost the fight.

(Pink-skinned- In an attempt to further their development, some Kree bred with other species, producing the "pink-skinned" Kree, who are similar in appearance to Caucasian humans. These pinks (also called "whites") eventually outnumbered the blue-skin Kree.)

{Powers} Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Durability, Superhuman Endurance, Superhuman Stamina, "Seventh Sense" (Kree women possess the potential for psychic abilities of various kinds, collectively referred to as a "seventh sense". This psychic potential has manifested as clairvoyance, precognition, or even lethal attributes. Some Kree women can reach into the mind of male-sex species to manipulate their desires or drain another's life force completely. Kree technology has since been created to discover and remove the powers surgically, and technorganic Bloodhounds were used to track down female reaching the adult age with those abilities. (Source HERE)

The first meet with the Valkyrie, Brunhilde, was when the tanned skin woman stormed into the room, nearly scaring Y/N shitless, having recently came to Sakaar & not have seen scraper 142 this agitated before. The woman, the Kree frozen on the couch where the woman had left her that morning, the obedience disc sure to keep her from leaving the room.

Recently only having come to a few moments ago & attempting to gather bearings in this god forsaken hell hole. Y/N seeing her opportunity as the door was still slid open rushing to the open entrance only to fall back to the floor as poison coursed through curvaceous form, not having a clue what was going on as she was drug back into the room.

“You need to stop doing this,” the tanned woman spat at Y/N, the lithe creature effortlessly lifting the others larger frame back to & on the couch as the poison subsided only to jump to bare feet again & press against the glass wall.

“No! I'm going to fight this till my last breath,” the thick framed woman snapped out at tanned woman who advanced on her fearlessly.

The thicker creature daring to look down at what she had on, pondering what the hell was with the color scheme of the leather pants & shirt that hugged tight. The Kree swearing they were painted on & a thing she would have never dressed herself in as attention finally snapped back to the woman with cognac eyes having stopped a few feet away.

“Do you even know where you are pinkie,” calling name to the fact the large framed woman was what was known as a pink or white Kree.

The woman, scraper, whatever it was she had heard someone calling the lithe woman when Y/N had been drug to this room, after the Kree had supposedly lost a match with the champion thanks to the disc after having been given no warning & literally thrown into the ring with the green guy.

“Among barbarians,” the thick framed woman blurted out.

A slight itch making a calloused hand reach up to the dried emerald green blood that came from the disc, hands flexing to call out to the psychic energy that manifested as a blue flame thanks to her mother who was a phoenix long burned out & dead thanks to her own kind. A harsh reminder that here it wasn’t to be used as it had barely showed itself before the disc took over to throw her to the floor on aching knees before she could call it back.

“You should be dead or at least mutilated. Am I correct? Kree females aren’t allowed to possess the seventh sense any longer, haven’t in centuries,” the tanned woman spoke, stepping closer as the crumpled heap glared into cognac orbs, becoming pissed by the minute & fact the woman knew a lot of the Kree, but Y/N didn’t know a damn thing of where she was or what this was on her neck.

“You tell me since you know more about me then I do you. I haven’t had a chance since I was thrown in the ring with that beast,” the woman gritted through clenched teeth glaring up at the Valkyrie who reached a bronzed hand down to help the Kree up only for her to knock it away for the scraper to shrug bare shoulders & walk away to the kitchen.

“You should be grateful Pinkie, I kept the Grandmaster from melting or lobotomizing you,” Brunhilde scoffed over her shoulder as the Kree still remained on her knees, disoriented & trying to figure out where it went wrong on the ship that had her coming to in a ring with a green giant.

“Stop calling me pinkie, I am well aware of my genetic disposition, bitch,” the Kree spat out as if it was venom on her tongue the scraper turning to look the bewildered creature as she brought food out of the refrigerator tossing it on the counter to look at Y/N with a smirk.

“That’s Mrs. Bitch to you… Pinkie,” the bronze woman smiled wide at the Kree that stumbled to uncooperative feet.

The large framed woman tripping over bottles & what have you in an attempt to stalk towards the scrapper but gave up with a huff to flop to the floor on plump ass between the kitchen & sitting area. Tired & troubled orbs looking up at the woman who smirked down at the Kree as she began to pull out the contents of the bowl to plate them up.

“You should have let him melt me or whatever,” Y/N huffed, legs out straight, elbows leaning on thick thighs to lay muddled head in jittery hands, the first headache she had since her seventh sense took over to make her entire brain pound.

“Come on, you will feel better when you eat,” Brunhilde spoke quietly, getting the thick framed creature to aching feet by looping tan arms under Y/N’ to usher to a small table & place a plate of food in front of her.

The Kree wasn’t sure what to do, she was hungry but wasn’t & hadn’t a clue what it was that sat before her. A testing poke at it in hopes it didn’t move because Y/N wasn’t sure she could keep it together at that point.

“Then tell me what you remember,” the bronze woman spoke up sitting across from Y/N who looked over at her trying to recount it herself.

Gingerly the Kree reached up to feel for the implant that aided her to breathe in space to find it had been left but it was where the bleeding came from as if it had been ripped in some way. This time she jolted as Brunhilde got to her feet to step over with a towel to look over the implant, the flat kidney shaped device looked more sophisticated than others she had seen, dabbing at it gently while reaching for the bottle of alcohol to doss the rag to clean the dried green trail that had made its way to the hollow of supple throat.

“I remember being tossed out of an airlock by someone I thought I could trust for calling him on a plan to take down Xandar. Asshole mentioned something about speaking with a titan,” Y/N spoke, letting out a hiss as the alcohol found the gash, the scraper holding the rag to it.

“I was stupid enough to think I could reason with him but guess not,” Y/N sighed out as it finally stopped bleeding for Brunhilde to take her seat back, looking over the thick framed woman poking at the food on, not looking up & looking paler than before.

“Eat,” the woman commanded the Kree that pushed at the noodle looking things with the utensil provided, finally spearing some sort of vegetable to put it into her mouth.

Well at least it didn’t taste bad she thought letting out a huff as she continued to pick over the food still expecting it to move or…

“I took the eyes off of it before I put it on your plate,” Brunhilde spoke seriously.

“OK, you know what I'm done,” Y/N blurted out, putting the fork down hard to make it echo through the room, hurrying to numb feet to stumble back to the couch, plopping down to look out the window at the ships coming & going, the colors ringing a bell but not too much as to where she was.

“You're touchy for a Pinkie,” the woman spoke sitting behind Y/N who stayed focused on the commotion outside the window as a bottle of water was pushed into sore hand in the process.

“You're brave to be conversing with a phoenix,” the Kree spoke, taking a sip of the water still looking out the window.

“I have no reason to be afraid of a phoenix,” the woman spoke fingers toying with the ends of the Kree’  hair that cascaded down curvaceous back though it was usually pulled into a tight braid.

It made the woman freeze for a moment, the only ones not put off by a phoenix or a half breed would be Aesir. Slowly turning to look at the woman who was toying with her hair to look into cognac orbs that flickered with a light, a recognition as if she was looking into Y/N’ soul.

“Why did you spare me,” Y/N began, moving back as tanned hand reached out to touch her face but stopped.

“You remind me of someone,” Brunhilde spoke calmly giving Y/N an almost wounded smile before getting up, letting known it was a tender subject.

It would have been a yelling match if Y/N was to open her mouth at this point, fresh from the battle that was Ragnarök, only to have to flee the ship, the Statesman, to Midgard due to being boarded by the very titan the Kree had been tossed out of an airlock for. Curvaceous body sore from releasing the phoenix, for the second time in 2 years or so since coming to live with the Valkyrie, the blue phoenix, blue flame burns hotter, takes more to harness it, takes more energy & wears you down quicker.

She would let the Valkyrie yell, if that was what the warrior needed, but Y/N was tired, the phoenix was aching & her heart went out to Brunhilde.

The bronze woman’s face tinting red at how harshly she yelled at Y/N for almost destroying herself, for letting the phoenix go like she had to finally calm. Looking over the flush Y/N who looked calm, having grown used to the warriors temper, the lithe woman lunging forward to fall into Y/N’ thick frame. Strong, bronzed hands pulling for thick frame to mold to the lithe warrior that held tightly, Brunhilde’ calloused hands going to cup the Kree’ flush face to pull it down to her.

“Don’t you dare leave my side or I swear to the Norns I will put the disc back on you,” the Valkyrie scolded as she jerked the Kree back to cockpit of the ship, having been called to head to Midgard, especially since most of the survivors had turned to dust.

It was obvious the Valkyrie couldn’t handle losing another paramour to death, it was a thing Brunhilde had been making clear since the first time the two of them had ever laid together & seemed to have gotten worse with passing time as well as current events.

“I'm not going to hold this grudge, it's to short,” the warrior breathed, pushing  thick frame back into the pilots seat.

A knee anchoring between thick thighs, tan hands falling to wrap in the Kree’s shirt to make the leather creak as Y/N’ hands feel to lithe hips. The Valkyrie forcefully pushing the woman’s head into the head rest of the seat as the kiss became deeper tongues fighting for dominance before breaking apart to take gasping breathes.

“Stop fighting me Pinkie,” the warrior breathed down Y/N’ throat, the ship coming out of its jump before it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

“I'm not fighting you Asgardian,” Y/N snipped back with a smile, turning to look to the controls & out the window but the warrior quick to jerk attention back to tanned lips that where inches away.

“It will take 10 minutes or so for the ship to land, they know we are coming,” the warrior spoke breathlessly on pink lips the seat tilting back to allow the Kree to lay almost flat with the flick of a switch.

“That’s enough time isn’t it,” Y/N panted hand finding the hem of the pants the warrior wore to slip steady hand into the stiff leather, gliding fingers through wet folds to circle around delicate clit before the warrior finally managed the phoenix’s pants.

“I hope so,” the warrior breathed straddling thick thigh to place both knees on the seat as Y/N settled back further, hips bucking in excitement as parted lips let loose a moan the instant tanned fingers slipped deep into juicy, aching cunt.

Y/N not hesitating to do the same to the warrior as she took the Kree’ lips again obvious she was tired due to releasing the phoenix as ample hips didn’t buck as enthusiastically as they normally did. The hand fisting Y/N’ shirt releasing to go to the hand that was forced down the front of the Valkyries to pull it free & place it on the opposite hip.

“You’ve done enough sweetheart, let me take care of you for once,” the warrior spoke, forcing fingers deeper into Y/N’ velvet cunt to elicit a whimper at the force of the thrust.

The phoenix’s booted feet trying to find purchase on the grate of the ship feeling it jar as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, thighs already shaking as the warrior continued to push Y/N closer to the edge with a whimpering cry that had the Kree’ fingers digging bruises into the warriors hips as body arched off of the seat.

“Cum for me baby,” she heard echoed darkly in shivering ear as velvet cunt fluttered around thrusting digits as calloused palm ground into aching clit in the only way the Valkyrie knew drove Y/N wild.

“Oh… Norns…,” Y/N gasped out, falling into the abyss, body overtaken by convulsions as lights burst behind shut eyes, breath caught in her throat as thick body finally tired out to fall limp into the seat panting as the warrior removed her fingers, wiping them on the inside of the Kree’s pants, supporting herself on the arm rest over Y/N who was trying to get her bearings .

“Mmmm, you give me your best,” the Valkyrie spoke darkly on Y/N’ throat placing a sweaty kiss on soft throat before looking out of the window to realize they had approached their destination faster than planned.

“Welcome to earth,” Brunhilde echoed in Y/N’ ear before placing a quick peck to pink lips, jerking jittering body to unsteady feet, hair splayed wildly over her head to look out the window at the structure to watch a familiar form, Thor, step out on the lawn to meet with them with several others in tow.

“Thought I would never set foot on this rock ever again,” Y/N spoke, having spent a year here to spy for an infinity stone for the empire before the wars, mouth dropping open as she recognized Carol Danvers.

“Come-on babe let’s go make introductions & find some where to rest,” the warrior told Y/N, taking a sweaty hand & pull her to the opening hanger, both dying to get off the cramped craft.

Tags open! And re-blogs are ALWAYS welcomed!

Tags: @dark-night-sky-99  @prettybubblesintheair  @gramaeryebard  @reallyheckinggay  @jovanna-shewolf  @andiyholly  @katstablook   @nickyl316h  @beets1bears1battlestargalactica @aslandia726 @moonfaery @furstinnajoelle   @itsbqueenthings @lookwhatyoumademequeue

@whovianwookie86-captainxev@jazzieomega @tomhardy41 @get-loki @supersoldiersruined-me

[pixieungerstories]

Darkness - 7

Brie had been bringing Mr Herne suppers for a few weeks when it happened.  She set dinner down on the step and was about to leave when the locks clicked open and the door opened about an inch. “Oh!  Mr Herne!  Just give me a moment.  I haven’t left yet.”

“Would you join me for dinner?”

Brie froze but did not turn around.  “Mr Lynn told me I wasn’t supposed to try to see you.”

“Ah.  Of course.  I was lonely, but you are not hired to correct that.”

That made her hesitate.  “Are you inviting me to see you?”

“What did Lynn tell you about me?”

“That you had…  A facial deformity.”

“I have … some scarring.  I don’t like it when people stare.”

“So why invite me?”

There was a sigh from the other side of the door.  “I don’t pay you to bring me dinner, but you do anyway.  I thought maybe you would be willing to sit and talk to me.  Just for a little while.”

“Except that if you don’t like how I look at you, or what I have to say, I lose my job.”

“You are a good gardener.  If you have nothing to say to me, it will not affect your job.  You were hired by Lynn not me.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course.  Thank you for dinner.”

Brie bolted for her cottage.  She thought about it.  After the first time, her dishes started to be returned with thank you notes, then flowers, the occasional little box of artisanal chocolates, once a bottle of white wine.  Small gifts.  Thoughtful gifts.  Nothing too big.  Nothing… that felt like it would come with an obligation.

Except… his voice.  It was deep and rich and chocolatey smooth.  He could pretty much talk the panties off her without too much work.  It was, in fact, the voice her dreams had paired with the monster face she had hallucinated when she was laying on the road.

It was hard to remember… had the man in the halloween mask actually spoken to her?  She had never seen Mr Herne leave the house.  Was he the one who had found her?  More importantly, was he the one who had attacked … the man who wanted to rape her.  Which led to the hard question of if he was, how did she feel about that?  She didn’t remember much of that night, but she certainly remembered feeling helpless and afraid.   Except she had no idea who had carved into her.

For weeks she had been dreaming about a demon with that voice.  She would be in the middle of the usual nonsensical dream and he would appear and they would have a conversation.  And now, her employer was inviting her for dinner.  With that voice.  This was a lot more complicated than it should be.  Shit.  She needed a drink

And so, for the first time since she had been attacked, she went to the pub for a drink.

----

“Michael?”

“What can I do for you, love?”

Brie shuffled awkwardly at the term of endearment.  “Uh, your family had lived here a while, right? What’s the story with Mr Herne?”

Michael stiffened.  “He stays on his little plot of land and we stay out of it and that works just fine.  I was surprised when I heard he was hiring a groundskeeper, to be honest.”

Brie considered this.  “Alright, so what’s the gossip about Mr Herne?”

Now Michael laughed.  “Oh, you are looking for slander are you?”

Brie grinned, “Maybe just a little.  He invited me to dinner, said he was lonely.  But the lawyer who hired me said that he was disfigured and that I shouldn’t expect to see him.  I was wondering what to expect.”

Michael considered this as he wiped down the bar.  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t know anyone who has been inside.  Growing up, it was always the haunted abandoned house that none of the kids were brave enough to visit.  Until the ad went up, no one knew for certain that anyone was living there. The place where the red apples grew.”

Brie nodded.  “I have heard of that, of course, but I hadn’t ever seen one until I arrived here.  Is that it?  Creepy house with weird fruit?”

Tabby came up behind Brie and leaned in to add, “They say that there was some weird Victorian cult orgy and they summoned a demon who is trapped in the house.”

Brie blinked.  Michael laughed. “Yeah, they say that, but it’s ridiculous!  No one really believes it.”

Tabby shrugged, “It would explain what happened to Brie’s attacker.”

Michael frowned, “C’mon!  Which seems more likely? A friend or family member of the other more than twenty women he has now confessed to assaulting hunted him down and got revenge or that a two hundred year old demon did it?”

Tabby shrugged.  “Well, when you put it like that.”  Then she looked at Brie, “Oh! I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean to scare you. Wow! You have gone white as a ghost!”

Brie bought a bottle of wine, she expected that she would never drink beer again, and brought it home and thought about what she wanted to do next.  In the end, she wrote her reply on a sticky note and left it on her door:

Mr Herne - 

I would be happy to join you for a picnic tomorrow

 in the back flower garden

   Brie

That night she dreamed that Mr Herne was the elephant man.

At least until her dream demon turned up and laughed at her.  “Is that what you think he looks like?”

Brie blinked and looked up at him.  “When my imagination came up with you, I gave you his voice.”

The demon blinked his big yellow eyes, his pointed ears twitching.  “And what if he looks like me?”

Brie shook her head.  “He won’t. No one looks like you.  You aren’t real.  I am only considering that because of that story from Tabby.”

Her demon hissed and stepped back.  “Is she still in town?”

Brie frowned, “Yeah.  Her whole family lives there. They run the local pub, The Wing and the Prayer.”

The demon disappeared in a swirl of black cape and inky black smoke.  When she turned back to her picnic, the elephant man was gone. Then everything was gone and she was sitting alone in the void.

She did not dream anymore that night.

In the morning her dishes were there and written on the bottom of her sticky note was:

Agreed. 

 -- M 

She wondered about the M.  She had no idea what Mr Herne’s first name was.

After work, Brie went back to her cottage and had a shower.  She debated putting on a sundress, then reminded herself this wasn’t a date.  She packed a picnic lunch of some sandwiches, some fruit salad and cut up vegetables.  Things that would be easy to eat with your hands. She brewed a big jar of iced tea and put everything into a cooler with a blanket.

It was still an hour before dark when she set up about fifty feet away from the house in the back flower garden.  And waited. Ten minutes later, she was sure he wasn’t going to show up. She waited another ten, then started to pack up.

“Wait!”

Brie froze, but did not look up.  A moment later he sat down a little ways behind her.  She wondered about that. “Mr Herne, if you aren’t comfortable being here, I can just leave you some dinner and head back to my cottage.”

From behind her, there was a soft sigh, “I don’t want you to go.  It has just been a long time since I have done this.”

Brie smiled to herself.  “Yeah, from the amount of dust on your sofa, I suspect you haven’t had guests in a while.”

“Is that why we are eating out here?”

Brie blushed a little but nodded.

There was a long and awkward silence before he said, “Would you call me Marbus?  Mr Herne seems overly formal.”  Brie started to turn to look at him, then froze.  He chuckled, “It isn’t as bad as Lynn makes it out to be.  I hope.”

Brie looked up, slowly.  He was wearing a very expensive smoke grey suit, with a light purple tie.  His hands had long fingers. He was wearing cufflinks. She wondered idly if he had dressed up for her.  Maybe she should have worn the sundress after all. He was tall and lean like an olympic swimmer. Broad shoulders and narrow hips.  It took her a moment to actually look up at his face and not just because she was admiring his chest. When she finally peeked up at his face through her eyelashes, he was watching her nervously.

He was clean shaven and quite handsome, despite the three deep scars on the right side of his face, and appeared to be only a little older than she was. He smiled wryly, “Hello.”

Brie smiled back and relaxed.  “Hi.”

“How bad is it?”  Brie blushed hard and looked away.  “That bad?” he asked sadly.

Brie shook her head.  “Not bad at all. I’m just embarrassed because, you are right,  Mr Lynn had made it sound much worse.”

He barked out a laugh, “Ah yes!  He tends to prepare everyone for the elephant man.”

Brie shivered.  It wasn’t the cold but Marbus immediately took off his coat and passed it to her.  It smelled a little musty, but not as bad as she expected. “Thank you.”  She slid the picnic box towards him. 

He took a sandwich.  “Do you mind if I ask how you became a professional gardener?”

Brie went with the job interview answer, talking about gardening with her grandmother followed by a job with a landscaping company during the summers while she was in high school.  Conveniently mentioning how she had been saving for school, but leaving out how she had also needed to help support her family.  Or that working all through high school meant her grades had suffered enough that (while she had passed) she wasn’t in a great place to go to university.  But when he asked what her grandmother was like, she set her plate on the ground and looked up at him.

    “Mr Herne.  I don’t know enough about you to even know what questions to ask.  Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

He had frozen for a moment then leaned away from her.

Brie nodded.  “I”m sorry.  Thank you for joining me for dinner.  This… was a nice experiment.”

He looked startled, “You don’t want to talk to me anymore?”

Brie shook her head as she started to pick up the dishes, “I am not talking to you, I am talking at you.  And there is only so much of myself that I feel comfortable sharing when you aren’t able to reciprocate.”

Herne blinked and thought fast.  “I spent most of my life in a refugee camp.  A little prison for me and my kind where the occupying forces could twist and manipulate our stories and hurt us as they liked.  I inherited this house a while ago, but I don’t generally like people enough to leave it.”

Brie stopped and rocked back on her heels.  For only the second time that night she looked hard at his face, trying to gauge his story.  She wanted to ask what country, or point out that he had no accent, but the pain and fear she saw on his face stopped her.  She looked away and nodded, “Thank you for telling me.”

At that he stood up suddenly, “I have to go.”

“I’m sorry I upset you.”

“Lynn is right.  I’m not good at people,” and with that he fled.

Brie packed up the rest of the picnic and hung his suit jacket on the doorknob of the house.  It was full dark by the time she was walking back to her cottage.

Darkness barely made it through the doors before the skin down his spine split and his cursed form burst out of the human body he was affecting.  The remains of the suit fell in tatters around him and he lay on the dusty floor panting.  He hadn’t lied.  What he had told her was the truth.  It was just that he was still in that refugee camp.  With his people.  Refugees from a different time.  Trapped by how the world had left them behind.

He wanted her.  Her smell.  The sound of her voice.  The way her hands moved as she talked, as though she were spinning her tales out of the aether.  The way she tucked the long curls of her hair behind her ear and she was talking.  The spatter of freckles where the sun had kissed her face.  He wanted to go looking to see where else she had freckles.

He had been infecting her dreams for the last month. But he was no closer to her now than when he started.  He pushed himself up off the floor and paced for a moment before he heard the sound of her steps outside the door.

He went very still and quiet, hoping he had locked the door.  She couldn’t see him like this.  She would not stay for him.  If he were very, very lucky, he could seduce her with a human form and feed off of her lust to keep that form for a while.  If not, he hoped she would at least stay on the grounds.  A gentleness in the chaos of the world.  The last thing he wanted was to drive her away.

She left and he waited until after midnight for her to fall into dreaming.  It was called witching hour for a reason.  Small magics were easier while peoples defences were down as they slept.

She was sitting on the picnic blanket, alone and waiting.  When he approached her, she was crying softly.  “Why?” he asked.

She turned red rimmed eyes on him and said softly, “I wasn’t trying to hurt him.”

“You didn’t.  I was hurting before you arrived.  You just gave me someone to talk to.”

“I made him talk about things that hurt.  You are only saying that because you are a figment of my imagination.”

Darkness caught her ankle.  “Am I you?”

“Yeah.  My subconscious, or … I can never remember which one is ego, super ego or id.  But you are one of those parts of me.”

Darkness laughed and tugged on her ankle, pulling her flat on her back.  “Can I be your id?  Can I be the desire that courses through your veins?”  He leaned forward until his horns caged her body and sniffed along her torso.  “Can I know what you taste like as you cum?”

Brie tried to sit up to look at him.  He did not let go of her.  “This is just a dream,” she whispered.

Darkness chuckled again, then ran his free hand over her body erasing her clothes.  She shivered but did not try to pull away.  “You did not answer my question.  Will you let me comfort you?”

She tilted her head to peek between his goat like legs and whimpered.  His cock was proportionally to his body about average for a man.  But he was twice as tall and twice as broad as an average man.  Plus the head of his dick was flared like on a horse.  “Not going to fit.”

He smirked.  “It will, but that is not what I asked.  Can I taste you and make you cum?  Is that not what you dream about?”

Brie nodded slowly.

Darkness smirked and hauled her leg up and over one of his horns and he dived forward, stabbing them into the ground and lifting her hips to meet his mouth.

Brie flung back her head and writhed as his tongue swirled over her clit and his mouth sucked at her lips.  He was hitting all the right places but staying on none of them long enough.  She reached down between her legs.  Darkness hooked her other leg over his other horn, then caught both of her hands in one of his and pinned them over her head.  He watched her as she writhed, holding her hands and her hips as he nuzzled and sucked edging her ever closer to her release only to deny her.  He would occasionally stop to enjoy the desperate noise she was making, which only made them louder.

Finally, she gasped, her head flung back her wrists straining in his grasp, “Please!  Please let me cum!”

“No.  As soon as you cum, you will wake up and I am enjoying this too much for it to end.”

That startled her enough that she forgot he was holding her and she sat up.  Instead of her now familiar dream demon between her legs, she saw Mr Herne.  His lips, chin, neck and hand were coated with blood which he was sucking off his fingers.

Brie jerked awake in her bed.  She was so strung out it hurt. Her period was two days early.

At the other end of the property, Darkness opened his eyes and licked the memory of her flavour from his lips. 

[antiquechampagne]

Chapter 21 - All Work

Payne woke in the early evening to delicious aromas filling the air. Quickly and discreetly she drained a blood bag before heading out to find Hancock. She found him tightening the last few screws on a shotgun turret.

Payne was impressed. “Well, that looks particularly nasty.”

“Morning sleepy head. That baby will fuck someone up, wont it? We should put a few in back home.”

“Is there anything I can help with?” Payne asked.

“Probably, but first stop over and see Deirdre has anything to replace that sorry excuse for a glove.” He pointed to her hastily wrapped hand.

Payne wandered over in the direction of a lanky ghoul with smart black hair knelling in the dirt. She looked up from her tato plant.

“You need something?” Deirdre gruffly asked as she dusted herself off.

“Got any gloves?”

“Got any caps?” she smartly replied.

With a nod, Deirdre rummaged through a nearby trunk and pulled out a musty pair of tan work gloves. “Five caps.”

“Got anything in black?” Deirdre shook her head no. “Make it 4, then?” Payne countered.

“I guess, since you’re Hancock’s gal.”

Payne handed over the caps. “I’m just his bodyguard.” Deirdre shrugged as she took Payne’s caps.

Finished with their transaction, Payne let Deirdre get back to her plants. She quickly spotted Strong’s enormous frame beyond the pool, driving fence posts one by one into the ground with a powered sledgehammer. Several others were helping erect wooden barricades. In the rabble, Payne spotted Nate. She waved as she drew closer.

“Feeling better?” Nate asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Yeah, thanks.” She flexed her right hand. The burn still stung under the leather, but other than that she was fine. “You guys need help here?”

“Hey Jones…” Nate looked over his shoulder. “Why don’t you take a break? You earned it. Payne here can finish that.”

Jones handed Payne his hammer as he nodded in thanks, picking up where he left off. The good will and comradery between Nate and the residents of the Slog was infectious. Even with the grueling work, soon everyone was chatting and joking. The afternoon went by quickly. Soon a bell was ringing, signally that the food was ready.

Following the crowd. Payne walked up to the long table piled high with sizzling meats and vegetables. At one end sat a row of tarberry pies. A hand clapped on her back.

“They really rolled out the red carpet for us, didn’t they?” Hancock picked up a slice of fried tato and popped it in his mouth.

“They are being very generous.” Payne was impressed.

“I wish I could say it was all for yours truly, but I think it is more for Nate. He has done a lot of work out here… clearing out raiders, improvements and stuff. Heck, you should have seen Arlen when he brought him all those Buttercup parts. He was in tears when Nate handed him an old prewar holotape. I hear it was a letter from his kid. Nate’s practically a legend around here.”

“Stealing your spotlight?” jabbed Payne.

“Naah, he can keep the selfless hero shtick. I’m cornering the lovable rogue market.”

People had begun to gather around, plates in hand. Payne filled her dish and grabbed a beer before retreating into the building, while the others gathered around large fire pit. Removing her helmet, she ate to the din of dozens of conversations buzzed outside. She watched Hancock in the dying light as he flitted between groups of people, ever the social butterfly. Slowly, dusk started staining the remains streaks of the storm clouds in brilliant pinks and oranges.

Out of the crowd, a ghoul with tattered blue jeans meandered inside. Her steel grey hair glowed with the colors of the setting sun. She carried two plates, each with a huge slice of pie.

“Not interested in joining the party, honey? Us ghoul didn’t scare you off, did we?”

“No, that’s not it. I have… sensitive skin.” Payne winced a little at the mention of her skin, given the state of woman before her. She motioned of her to sit. Sliding into a metal folding chair, the ghoul placed the plates down on the coffee table. They exchanged introductions.

“Well, Payne, you’re rolling with Mayor Hancock, I hear?” Payne nodded and noticed Holly’s coquettish smile. “He sure knows how to pick the pretty ones.”

“Um, I’m just his body guard.”

“That’s too bad. But I guess that means I might have a shot? We don’t get to many smoothskins as nice looking as you out this way.” Holly leaned in closer.

Payne couldn’t contain her grin at the ghoul’s forward nature. “Sorry, but I’m not on the market at the moment… but thanks.”

“Can’t fault a girl for trying! A ghoul’s got needs too!” Holly played off her rejection with a good natured grin.

“I watch Hancock’s back… I know that better than most!” They both shared in some lighthearted laughter. “I’ll tell ya what… If you go and bring me another, I’ll save you a dance later if you want.”

“You got a deal!” Holly rose to leave just as Hancock walked in.

“Don’t tell me… Holly asked you to taste her pie, didn’t she?” he snickered.

“You know it!” Holly jabbed Hancock playfully in the arm. “And you still owe me some pie of your own, Mister Mayor. You promised me last time you visited!”

“Last time I was here it was on business, not pleasure… but I bet I might have something a later for you to taste.” He traced a finger down her cheek.

Holly scoffed playfully. “I think I have found something fresher!” She spun and walked away.

Payne snorted and shook her head as Hancock replaced Holly in the seat next to her.

“Holly can smell new meat from a mile away. Plus, she will hit just about on anything with two legs and a heartbeat.”

“So it seems. She knows what she wants and goes for it.” Payne drained the last dregs of her beer. “I’ve known a lot of people like that. It’s not a bad trait.”

“You into ghoul and gals, then?” Hancock couldn’t suppress a smirk of his own. “Hot. Gotta let me watch!”

“Not quite, turned her down.” Just then Holly appeared in the doorway with a tall bottle. “But I think she just bought herself a dance later.”

Holly set the bottle down. “Sorry, smoothskin, no beer. Will vodka do?” Payne nodded. Holly shooed Hancock out of her seat. “Let us get acquainted in peace, you letch!” Hancock feigned dejection as he scuttled away.

The two women talked and joked while working their way through their slices of pie. The sweetness of the pie helped cut the burn of the vodka. Payne found Holly’s company to be quite enjoyable, quick to laugh and straight to the point. Payne also saw how proud of the tarberry bog she oversaw.

Finally the sun set, twilight settled around the revelers. Holly and Payne joined the rest around the welcoming fire. Someone dragged a shabby radio out, mixing music with the waves of laughter and conversations.

Spotting Nate across the fire, Payne excused herself from Holly.

“I got a question for you.” Payne asked Nate. “Super mutants are immune to radiation, but you aren’t. Downing enough Rad-X and Rad-Away is really risky. What are you going to do?”

“Come with me. I showed this off before, but you were sleeping.” He led her around to the side of the squat building. A bright yellow frame held up a complete suite of T-60 power armor, dimly lit by the distant firelight. The flickering light gave the illusion of movement the imposing suit. As she observed it, memories flashed across her mind. She suddenly saw her brother smiling next to his own suit, his pride captured forever in the moment frozen in a golden frame hung in the hall. She found it hard to follow Nate, who was mumbling on about upgrades and rad scrubbers.

Nate noticed the vacant look in her eyes. “Hey, Payne. You okay?”

Caught off guard, Payne stammered. “Um, yeah. I’m not all that fond of these things up close. I’ve had some run-ins with the Brotherhood of Steel. Not good ones.” She hope her lie was enough to keep him from digging any further.

“Oh, sorry. I understand. I haven’t heard much good about them, either.”

“You didn’t know. It should keep you safe out in the Glowing Sea, though. Where did you find it?”

“You’d be surprised how many of these things I have found… guess it makes sense with all the military instillations around.”

Payne’s hand unconsciously rose, her fingertips hover over a faded decal, just short of touching the cold metal. She turned to Nate. “Can I?”

“Sure. There isn’t even a fusion core in it. I don’t need someone getting drunk and taking this bad boy out for a joy ride.”

Her hand slid along the armor’s steel grey chest piece. Aiden’s voice, jubilant from his recent completion of boot camp, rang in her ears. One of these bad boys will be mine someday soon, pipsqueak. Just you wait and see!

Payne recoiled as if shocked. She became painfully aware there was something missing around her neck.

“Thanks.” She turned. “I think it’s about time we got back to the party.” She lightly wrapped her arms around herself.

“Agreed.” Back within the circle of fire light, Aiden’s voice faded back into the shadows of Payne’s mind.

[natasha-cole]

I’ve Got You

Pairing: Rob Benedict x Reader

Summary: Reader is generally clumsy. She just hoped she could avoid showing that side of herself to her crush. However, one bad injury and one damaged ego later; maybe she’s feeling okay with Rob witnessing her clumsiness.

Word Count: 1423

Warnings: swearing, injury, fluff

Notes: I slipped on ice and tore my calf muscle. Let me pretend that I can have a dude like Rob who actually wants to take care of me.

“I’ve got it,” you mumbled to Rob as he clumsily tried to take your bags while you struggled with your crutch.

“Shouldn’t you use both crutches?” He asked. He furrowed his brows as he managed to get you to let go of the things you were carrying, now watching you as you hobbled toward the house.

“I’m fine,” you huffed in reply. You stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading up to your house, knowing that you were about to be in a world of pain having to climb them daily. You took a deep breath as you slowly began to make your way up the stairs.

“Be careful,” Rob insisted as he trailed behind you. “There’s still ice.”

You grumbled to yourself, already humiliated that he had seen you slip on the ice earlier that day. You were far from graceful, and the second the two of you heard the pop come from somewhere within your body as you wiped out, you both knew that it wasn’t a good thing. Rob had been kind enough to take you to the doctor when you quickly recovered from the fall only to find that it hurt a whole damn lot to stand on one of your legs. The pain radiating up and down your calf only clued you in to the fact that you had indeed hurt yourself. Even worse, your ego was more damaged by the fact that Rob of all people had seen you in your clumsy demeanor.

“I don’t want you to fall again,” he continued, “please don’t make me have to take you back to see the doctor.”

“Rob,” you breathed out, “if you don’t shut up, I’m going to hit you with this crutch.”

You made slow work of getting up the stairs and even slower work of retrieving your keys so that you could unlock the door. Your leg was wrapped up and throbbing with pain and all you wanted to do was lay down and relax. You quickly learned that you were even more clumsy with crutches than just on two stable legs as you opened your door and nearly stumbled inside.

“Stupid thing,” you mumbled as you tossed the crutch aside. You hobbled toward the couch where you plopped down. Mistake. A jolt of pain shot up your leg and you groaned out loud.

“You’re not okay,” Rob frowned as he discarded your belongings onto a chair.

“I’ll be fine,” you replied.

You watched as Rob dug through one of your bags. He found what he was looking for and opened the prescription bottle and handed you a pain pill. He left the room quickly and returned with a bottle of water for.

“Better take your meds before you feel worse.”

You did as he instructed, then focusing on removing your shoes which only hurt more as the muscles in your calf were pulled as you pushed your shoes off. You grimaced, looking up at Rob who only stared back at you with concern. You adjusted your body to lie on the couch and Rob immediately stepped in to help. He took a small pillow and placed it under your injured leg as he helped you lie down.

“Gotta keep that elevated,” he explained. “I’ll get you some ice.”

You smiled as you tried to get comfortable, keeping your eyes on him as he rushed from the room again toward the kitchen. You might have been feeling embarrassed, but you were also touched that Rob was going out of his way to help you. Just as you found a comfortable position, Rob returned, carrying a bag of frozen vegetables.

“How do you not have ice in your house?” He grinned as he carefully removed the pillow from beneath your leg. Before you could protest, he was moving you carefully, taking a seat next to you where he rested your legs over his lap. He held the bag of frozen vegetables on your leg and you felt yourself blush.

“Uh, well, it’s winter,” you stuttered. “Also, I’m pretty pissed off at ice right now.”

Rob chuckled at you and you felt yourself become nervous just by how he was sitting with you.

“You know,” you began, “you don’t have to do this. It’s bad enough that you had to witness the entire humiliating accident, I don’t expect you to take care of me.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I don’t mind.”

“You’re probably replaying it in your mind. When you leave here, you’re going to laugh your ass off over how much of a klutz I am.”

“I would never laugh at you,” he replied. “Actually, you really scared me. I was really worried.”

“Good thing I let you talk me into going to the doctor. Who knew you could sprain a calf muscle just by slipping on ice?”

“Well, to be fair, you did put up quite the fight.” He looked back at you with a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah, well, I was mostly embarrassed,” you replied as another jolt of pain went through your leg. You flinched, breathing in deeply and Rob eased up on the pressure he was putting on your leg with the frozen vegetables.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said.

You smiled to yourself, motioning to Rob to hand you the remote for your TV. He obliged and you turned on Netflix and began to scroll through. When you found something that both you and Rob agreed on, you got even more comfortable as he continued to hold your leg while the two of you watched the show you had picked. In no time at all, you could feel yourself start to get a little loopy; probably from the pills.

You looked toward Rob and realized that he was now stroking your injured leg gently. You felt yourself blush again as you stared at him. He was mostly focused on the show on the TV, almost absentmindedly running his hand up and down your leg. He must have felt you staring because he glanced over at you and stopped his movements.

“S-sorry,” he stuttered when he realized what he had been doing.

“S’okay,” you said. “It felt nice.”

“Does it still hurt bad?”

“Actually, no,” you said honestly. “I feel good.” You gave him an over exaggerated laugh and he smiled in return.

“The pain meds must be kicking in,” he said.

“I think it feels better because you’re here to take care of me,” you said softly as your eyes fluttered shut. Already, you could feel your eyelids grow heavy, and you didn’t know if you could stay awake for very long. “My knight-in-shining armor,” you mumbled.

“Yeah, they’re working,” he chuckled.

“This is good stuff. What did they give me?” You asked as you closed your eyes completely, now unable to keep them open.

“It wasn’t even the good stuff,” he replied. “Seriously, they gave you ibuprofen.”

“Oh,” you said with a frown. “Now I feel like a bigger idiot.”

“You had a rough day,” he replied as he began to rub your leg again. “Get some rest.”

“Sounds good to me,” you said with a yawn. “I’ll see you later?”

“You’re kicking me out?”

“Well, no,” you began as you forced your eyes open to look at him again. “I just figured you had things to do… maybe you wanted to get out of here.”

“I don’t mind hanging out. You know, just to make sure you’re okay.”

You felt another smile form on your lips, butterflies now building in your stomach as he spoke. Maybe you were mistaken, but it seemed as if Rob really was worried about you and maybe he really did want to take care of you.

“You are way too sweet,” you pointed out. “Who knew that all I had to do was make an idiot of myself to get your undivided attention?”

This time, you saw him blush as he darted his eyes away from you.

“I mean, it’s a good excuse to hang out with you,” he replied.

“I should stop trying to hide my clumsiness from here on out.”

“I adore how cute and clumsy you are,” he said with a laugh. “But, maybe you can try to avoid serious injury from now on.”

“You’re right,” you agreed. “I might not always have a guy like you around to take care of me.”

He gave you a sly smile and your breath caught as he made eye contact with you.

“I’ve got you,” he said as he shot you a playful wink. “Always.”

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[jj-ktae]

Fragrance VII : Gourmand

Title : Fragrances

Genre : Fluff, Angst, Romance

Pairing : Jaebum x Reader

Summary : You are a perfume composer, he is a lyricist, and while you’re left with too many possibilities, he is out of inspiration. Your only bond is an unknown fragrance.

- Teaser - Vetiver - Chypre - Fougère - Leather - Oud - Neroli - Gourmand - Ambergris -

Fragrance VII : Gourmand

If you like smelling like your favourite dessert, a gourmand fragrance is for you. Edible notes like honey, chocolate, vanilla, or various candies make up these sweet-smelling scents and are often blended with base notes such as patchouli and musk.

“You are wasted.” Jaebum doesn’t know how to react. You being drunk is a thing, you singing and deciding you need to eat at 3 is something else.

You open the fridge, hands fumbling between bottles and vegetables. “I’m so hungry...” You mumble, not finding anything worth eating so late.

“Maybe you should rest for today, it was a long day and-“

“No!” You cut him, finger pointing weirdly toward a very disconcerted Jaebum. “I need food.” You add, lips pursed and eyes half closed.

“I’ll buy something for you tomorrow, just go and sleep.” Jaebum is trying really hard to make you go at some point, because he knows leaving you alone would end up in a disaster. You don’t seem to be the smart kind of drunk.

You give up. Maybe he is right, maybe eating right now is not a good idea. Dancing is way better. Yes. “Then, let’s dance!” You slam the fridge door and wobble toward the living-room again, followed by a sighing Jaebum.

“Let’s not dance, Y/N.” He can’t find it in himself to be annoyed by your behaviour. The main reason is because you’re kind of funny, but also because he doesn’t want to dance at.all.

“Oh please, Jaebumie!” You insist, wriggling your butt to no music at all. In your head, it’s a full party, with music and it feels good to let go. You’re too drunk to notice it, but it’s only the result of how much your mind can handle.

Being drunk is the best thing that happened to you in a while. You don’t care about your job, you don’t think about all the things that can make you go crazy.  Only one thing remains though, and your clouded mind tries to avoid it but it’s here, right in front of you, even stronger and the mix with alcohol is entrancing.

Jaebum’s sweet smell, Jaebum who is leaning against the wall, in a way too large attire, faintly smiling at your foolish actions.

“But I don’t want to dance, Y/N.” He says, not able to hide a tiny laugh when you jump excitedly.

You approach him and he doesn’t move an inch, even when you stop right in front of his face, scrutinizing him. “You’re not funny, Jaebumie.”

He raises his brows “I’m not funny? I know.” Of course, he isn’t funny. Jaebum and funny in a sentence is a euphemism.

You suddenly feel guilty. Maybe you shouldn’t say that to someone who is so miserable, no matter how drunk you are. “I’m sorry.” You take a step back to look at him fully and almost trip again.

It makes you giggle, out of nowhere.

Jaebum shakes his head “What for?” Why is he even trying to have a conversation with someone as drunk as you? You make no sense at all.

“I don’t know.” You yawn. Funny, how he was able to make you calm again.

“Alright,” he tears his body from the wall to walk toward you, “Now it’s time to sleep.” You pout at him and try to give your best puppy eyes but he is not having it. “You’re going to regret it tomorrow.”

“Am not! It’s not my fault, it’s not like I chose it.” You talk without thinking, your mind ready to spill whatever needs to be spilled. Jaebum walks behind you and grabs your shoulders, pushing you softly to your room.

You walk and right before entering your room, you finally explain. “You just...you smell so good.” It needed to be said at some point. Maybe the drunk you is crazy, but your mind feels so much lighter, now.

“I smell good?” You hear him chuckle like you didn’t say something amazing, and it annoys you. “I’ll take it as a compliment, then.” He is incredibly sweet, he who is always so keen on running away from everything that is not sorrow. He is doing his best not to run your mood. You don’t deserve to be treated like a drunken fool when you obviously needed this to feel better.

“No but,” You stop, turning around and facing him. “You really smell good. It’s not your perfume, you just...smell good naturally.”

Jaebum tilts his head, eyes turning into two slits. You understand he is lost by now.

You groan, not surprised by the fact that he is totally thinking you are insane. “I love your smell. It’s serious.” You hiccup. “That’s what makes you important to me.”

Jaebum’s arms leave your shoulders and he stops functioning.

“Look,” it’s all confused in your head, and sleep is slowly knocking at your brain’s door, “I just. Ah, you think I’m crazy.” You giggle, even though you don’t want to. “Honestly,” You take a step and stop before you can be too close. “It’s amazing. Even now.” You close your eyes, smiling. You being drunk is multiplying every sensation, your chest burning and heart speeding. You shiver when it hits your spine, the feeling of such a delectable odour devouring you.

And suddenly, he is scared to know more. He can’t blame the alcohol; he knows you’re not drunk enough to speak such nonsense. You’re a perfume composer, it makes total sense, actually. It’s a shocking revelation, but it makes him suddenly feel different. It’s a funny yet weird feeling.

He was never the least important to anyone. Even if he was, no one ever told him.

“I’m sorry. It’s not like I can control it.” You finish in a whisper. You feel ashamed when you don’t see him react, you thought he would be happy because this is a very big thing to say to someone. You give up, then, and turn around to enter your room and almost get hit the half-closed door. “G’night, Jaebumie.” It’s sad. You feel sad.

You close the door, already regretting every word you said. He was right, you will pretty much regret everything tomorrow.

It’s only when he stops the door from closing that you notice he is still here, looking at you. You blink heavily toward him, hand on your hip and standing like you have to go to the toilets.

“Can I?” he simply asks. Can he what?

“Yes.” It comes out in a hurry, and it shows you were waiting for something so when Jaebum walks toward you and hugs you softly, it’s like the confirmation that you didn’t do this for nothing.

“Thank you.” He says, arms around your slump shoulders and head on top of yours. He doesn’t know how to talk and he understands you’re not in the mood to have a deep conversation so he gives you the only thing he can give. It’s warm and welcoming, soft and tender, like he is pouring everything he has to prove his gratitude.

You snort against his chest “Don’t thank me,” you breathe, inhaling and filling yourself with him totally “It’s who you are.” You nuzzle his neck to have more and it’s even better between his neck and shoulder, right where you can feel his collarbone. “It’s perfect.” You giggle softly and it sends shivers down his spine when your hot breath brushes against his thin skin.

You wrap your arms around his waist, finger grazing over the fabric of his oversized tee-shirt. It’s better not to speak anymore. Jaebum doesn’t move either, simply reciprocating the embrace and trying not to enjoy the moment too much.

He doesn’t understand what you mean exactly, but he doesn’t care because it feels very good.

He feels your nose brush against him and wriggles a little, feeling ticklish all of a sudden. You move back and the comfortable feeling is lost, which you try to mutually ignore.

“I shall sleep now.” You conclude with a nod, eyes as glossy as ever and face red with embarrassment. It suddenly hits you that you’ve been confessing all the things you wanted to hide and it’s not good so you rush to your bed, ignoring the fact that Jaebum is still observing you.

You turn to peek and see Jaebum, back facing you. “G’night.” He breathes and closes the door behind you.

You don’t have the time to sober up as sleep takes over you in a couple of minutes.

Jaebum comes back to his own room, speechless. He was expecting a lot of rubbish from your wasted self, but not such honest confessions. He sits on the bed and lays leisurely, staring at the ceiling.

Why does it feel so good inside?

It’s a big question for him. He doesn’t know how, but somehow, your words warmed him, like a deep, low blow over his frozen bones. He suddenly understands that him being here is not only because you are some super altruist human helping him, but because of something deeper. Jaebum has no idea about what it truly means, because he knows nothing about how you process information. You liking his scent can mean a thousand things, but he decides not to jump to conclusions. Maybe there is no secret message, maybe you’re just a freak who happens to have a very sharp nose and likes his smell.

His lifts his head and smells his shirt. Nothing.

Or maybe it means you are attracted to him. He snorts. No way. Jaebum is the definition of uninteresting, plain, transparent. He is just a living thing happening to be here.

Or maybe he inspires you. Maybe his smell helps you.

He scoffs softly and shakes his head before diving further into the sheets, scolding himself for thinking about your embrace and the sweet words you told him a couple of minutes ago.

Jaebum wakes up with the same images in his head and it’s making him feel weird inside. He simply blames it on the fact that he has to meet with his parents and obliges himself to forget about it all as he dresses. He has to meet with Youngjae before the banquet and needs to focus.

Youngjae teases him again when he asks about perfume and scents, so he drops the subject and swears to keep silent about this until he dies.

No one is helpful.

He tries to avoid talking to you when he comes back home to change. Jinyoung has to pick him up and he is already late. He can hear Bambam laugh loudly and you groan in pain, whispering about hangovers and stupid guys who don’t know when to stop.

He ignores the warm feeling in his chest and rushes out, walking past a very puzzled Jackson who is right behind the door when he opens it in his deep black suit and bright shirt.

Jinyoung whistles from his spot on the driver’s seat when he sees his friend. “What’s with the classy attire? You didn’t wear your Snoop Dogg tee-shirt?” he mocks, turning on the engine and laughing when Jaebum shows him his middle finger.

“I’m not in the mood.” Jaebum says, eyes looking out on the busy streets. They’re approaching and he has no idea how to deal with this. He needs support and even if he can count on Jinyoung, he has no one who can truly tell him he did great. He has no one to comfort him when his father will break him again.

It’s not like he is mean or insulting. His father is as quiet as him, if not worse. He doesn’t speak much but when he does he fires and it’s a series of bullet aiming for Jaebum’s brain and dignity.

He has such a high level of disdain he can crush him without even trying.

Jaebum hates the way he looks at him when he enters the reception hall. It’s not full of hatred but it’s worse: disinterest. It’s like Jaebum isn’t here, like he doesn’t have a son. Jaebum knows better than to feel hurt by that, mostly because he has been experiencing this ever since he refused to work with him.

Jinyoung taps on his shoulder. “Don’t say anything you might regret.” He looks at him with warm eyes and disappears a minute later to greet his associates, smile wide and hair perfect.

Jaebum turns around in the huge room, avoiding his father who is doing his best in doing the same.

“Sweetie!” He jumps as he is about to grab a glass of champagne and turns around when he recognizes the happy voice.

His mother is beautiful in her beige dress.

“Mother.” He greets but she taps his forearm, brows furrowed.

“Mom! Call me mom! It doesn’t suit you, Jaebum.” She says with an angry voice but her features are warm. She is truly happy to see him.

Jaebum loves her a lot.

“I’m so glad you came. I know you don’t like these things,” her hand raises and start moving to show the room, “but there is something I would like you to see.”

“What is it?” Jaebum is curious all of a sudden. He barely sees his parents because of their differences but no matter how much his father hates him, his mother has always been more of an artist, the type of person who can jam to classical music and who can play the piano.

She understands her son and his choices, but has nothing to say when it comes to her husband and Jaebum’s conflicted relationship.

Jaebum knows his parents changed with time. He never had to worry about anything as a kid, but they don’t come from a long line of rich people. His parents met when they were high school students, and his father was working part-time to earn food for his sick mother. He made it big when he created this company and started with only one employee: himself.

With time, he gained the respect of others along with money and power. Jaebum was born right when the company started to go up in the social scale, and as he grew up, his father became the shark he is now, thinking about security in money and forgetting about real happiness.

He is different from Jinyoung whose family own this company for generations. This is why he can’t blame his friend. No matter how close they are, they will never make the same choices.

He had his own beliefs and needs, the ones he couldn’t share with his father. His mother has always been secretly supportive, and was the only one who congratulated him when he wrote his first big hit.

She hugged him before sneaking her arm around his. “Follow me, sweetie.”

It’s a group of young people, all chatting and laughing together.

“Gentlemen, here is my son. Jaebum these are artists I revealed to the world.” She looks so proud of herself, life she is contributing in some big mission.

“Nice to meet you! Mrs Im has been talking about you for so long!” They look fascinated by his presence so he greets back, smiling shyly.

“Nice to meet you too.” He answers with a soft voice and his mother beams next to him.

“So, I asked you to come because I decided to create a foundation. I’m no philanthropist, but I can’t ignore talent and these people are truly good and deserve to be shown to the world.” She starts explaining and Jaebum understand right away.

He knows his parents by heart. Like he made them himself.

“So, since you’re a lyricist, I was thinking that maybe we could-”

“No.” he rejects the offer as soon as she starts explaining and it makes everyone stop.

Her mother looks at him, shocked. “Let me finish, I just wanted to tell you that I could support-“

“Support me financially? Mom, I’m truly happy that you would think about me but I’m afraid I can’t accept.” He knows she isn’t thinking bad things, he knows she just wants to help. She knows about his problems and lack of confidence, but Jaebum can’t rely on her. Not anymore. He has to shine alone; he has to make it himself or else his efforts will go to waste.

“But, why?” She looks dejected, hurt.

Jaebum pulls a little on her arm to talk to her privately. He needs to make it clear before she starts thinking he doesn’t need her at all.

“Mom, listen to me. I’m very happy by your proposition, but I can’t. I understand you’re doing your best in helping me, I truly do but I need to make it by myself. I’m doing well as a lyricist already; I just need more confidence.” He speaks lowly, looking around to avoid people hearing him.

“If you’re doing so well, why do you always look so down? Why is it that I never see you anywhere? Tell me Jaebum, why can’t you let people reach for you!” She whispers back violently, eyes glossy.

Jaebum only sighs, hand going to his forehead to rub it. He doesn’t want to make his mother cry.

“I just need to be on my own. Mom, please try to understand. I’m fine with writing lyrics and composing. I don’t need to appear on television to exist.” He just wants everyone to stop annoying him with this. Why is it so bad for someone to be depressed? Why does everyone think he has to smile every day? He is fine with trying to kill himself. He is fine with thinking he will never be good enough for anyone. He is fine with thinking he will never be a good lyricist.

He is famous in the music industry, but he doesn’t want people to recognize him. He is scared people will be disappointed once they know about him. He doesn’t need people to know him. Recently he had trouble with writing, but it’s slowly coming back and he doesn’t see why everyone looks at him like he is the weakest lamb in the country.

“I don’t understand you sweetie. I really try, but I can’t find the answer.” She concludes with a soft breath, the one she keeps for whenever Jaebum disappoints her.

“There is no answer for lazy people.” Jaebum’s head jerks up when the deep voice interrupts them, like a thunder.

“Oh, you’re here.” His mother tries to smile to hide their little conversation, her lean fingers going right under her eyes to hide her shiny orbs.

“What are you doing here?” He walks toward Jaebum with bored eyes. It’s like he doesn’t want him to be here.

“I was invited by mom.” Jaebum forgets about mundanities when he sees his father. He needs to be detached, he can do it. He will ignore him and he will go whenever he can.

Coming here was the biggest mistake he ever did in his short damned life.

“Yes. I heard her talk about supporting you, which you rejected, right?” His father stops right next to him before looking at the room and avoiding his son’s eyes.

“Yes. I don’t need my parents to make it.” He shouldn’t answer. He should simply nod until it’s over but something in him makes it hard not to defy the old man.

The latter simply laughs. “Yes, you mean, us paying for your everyday expenses means you don’t need us. Totally.” He scoffs, his voice deprived of all feelings.

Jaebum rolls his eyes. “I didn’t want you to buy a whole penthouse just for me. I barely use the money you force onto my bank account anyways.” He isn’t rich, but writing makes him wealthy enough to eat.

His father points a finger at him, his now big eyes looking at his mother. “See? Look at him despising our money!” He can’t believe it. He doesn’t want his son to stick to him like glue, he just needs him to act like a good son and listen to him from time to time, but Jaebum is so stubborn it makes him go mad every time they talk.

“I’m not! What’s wrong with trying to be independent?” Jaebum raises his brows, mouth wide opened. What is wrong with this man?

“You never cared about your family, Jaebum. You even refused to inherit this big and great company-”

“Ah, it’s finally coming.” He knew his father would talk about it. It’s all he says whenever he sees him. Jaebum tries to find Jinyoung among the people but can’t find his friend so he simply purses his lips, looking away from his father who is now outraged next to him.

“It’s coming? Do you think life is a joke? Do you think you can write whatever you write and be a mysterious artist all your life? Can you support a family with this?” It’s back, the perpetual reproaches. The speeches about self-made men and hard-working.

And for the first time, Jaebum says something he knows he will regret. “When I see you, I truly believe that life is a joke. No wonder I don’t even mind jumping off a bridge.”

His mother gasps and freezes, while his father’s eyes turn into two slits. “What did you say?”

But Jaebum has passed the point of no return. He doesn’t need more people onto his back. He just wants people to ask if he is doing well, is it too much to ask? “I’m fine with being depressed, and I’d live on the streets just fine if it means not having to see your judgmental face every day.” He adds and his father is close to hit him, but stops when his mother grabs his arm, her head shaking violently.

“Go. Just go. Do like you always do. Forget about us. You don’t need us and as you can see, we don’t need you.” His father turns around before Jaebum can see his face but he doesn’t care, he feels like throwing up suddenly, it’s like he can’t go back anymore.

He is officially alone.

He doesn’t try to look for Jinyoung and goes out of the building in a blur. He wants to end it right now. His lungs are on fire, he wants to scream and his suit feels suffocating but he doesn’t aim for death, he needs more than that. He can’t try to kill himself whenever something is wrong. He can’t keep on pitying himself. His father finds him weak enough already, he can’t prove them right.

He basically told them about his suicidal thoughts and don’t plan on executing his plans today.

Today, he needs to forget about his old self and start anew. He needs to get up from this and accept life as it is.

He is a great lyricist; he doesn’t need anyone to tell him that. He knows it himself.  He violently wipes his cheeks as he walks, forcing the tears back inside but they don’t stop and fall from his face, salted and staining. He needs warmth. He needs to let it go, just for tonight, until he wakes up and has to be strong again.

Jaebum opens your apartment door quickly, aiming for the living-room but he stops right before you can see him.

“Look, you have to stop this.” Jackson grabs your hand to make you stand up. “Relax!” He grabs both of your hands and starts jumping softly. “Breathe in” he takes a deep breath, “and breathe out.” He blows out profusely.

When you don’t move, he presses you, approaching his own body. “Do it! You’re so tensed, chill out a little, will you?”

You sigh loudly. Jackson won’t drop the subject, no matter how much you beg him to stop. Your head is still in pain and you need to sleep, but he keeps on bothering you, even if Bambam is already home and you’re supposed to be resting.

You breathe in and out quickly and it makes him laugh. “Better than nothing.” He blurts before going back on serious mode. “You need a goal. You can’t keep on doing this in the dark. Let me ask you one thing. What do you want people to feel when they’ll smell your perfume?”

You think for a minute, looking back to Jackson. “I want everyone to feel like they found something very precious.”

Jackson nods, lips pursed. “Everyone? So, you want to aim for a unisex fragrance?”

Maybe you want to. You want everyone to feel the same way you felt when you met Im Jaebum. “Yes...I want it to be...” And it hits you. It suits perfectly, it’s obvious. “Universal.”

Jackson clicks his fingers. “Universal! Sounds like a great fragrance name.” He winks at you and you finally smile, rushing to grab his shoulders.

“Yes! Yes! Let’s go for this concept Jackson!” It’s such a relief for you. You don’t know how it came to your brain, but this Jackson guy is so stimulating. He asks the perfect questions; he knows how to make you process things.

“Universal.” You repeat in a whisper before smiling absent-mindedly. Perfect.

“Great!” Jackson beams too, like he finally earned some great solutions to his own problems. “Universal it is, then!”

You acquiesce and when Jackson hugs you, you get a glimpse of his scent. It’s sugary, with touches of vanilla and coconut. It’s no surprise. Jackson is always bubbly, full of joy and the Gourmand scents suit him perfectly. It’s warm and friendly, comfortable yet robust. You linger in the sweet taste for a couple of seconds but nothing comes.

He doesn’t smell like Jaebum.

You’re not shocked by his gesture though, because Jackson is a very out-going guy, so you reciprocate the gesture, a hand tapping his back like you became brothers for life. Jaebum tilts his head toward you two and takes a step back. His knee hits the tiny furniture in the hall and it makes you turn your head toward his disappearing body.

You finally get hit by his smell and it makes you back off from Jackson, like you touched fire.

Jackson doesn’t catch the uneasy feeling and smiles again, before rushing to your office’s chair to grab his jacket. “I shall go. I promised my assistant I would buy her dinner.” He sighs dramatically and taps your shoulder again before heading out, leaving you alone with a whole new concept and a very disturbed Jaebum.

You don’t try to talk to him. You’re still pretty much very embarrassed by what you told him, and you don’t want Jaebum to think you’re some sort of creep so you go to the kitchen because you suddenly feel dehydrated.

You’ll never drink again. Never.

It’s quiet in the whole apartment, it makes your mind go hazy as you walk back to your office. You know you won’t last for long tonight so you decide not to torture your brain. But something makes you stop when you walk past Jaebum’s room. The door is closed, but the silence is so heavy you can hear what’s happening inside.

These are sobs. You’re not mistaken, Jaebum is crying.

It makes you ponder, right behind the door. What happened to him? Last time you checked everything was fine with Youngjae. He didn’t seem to be depressed as you saw him note things down on the kitchen table a couple of times. He came back earlier today and went out right after, maybe something happened and it made him sad?

You want to know. You want to enter and stop whatever pain he has but you don’t know if you can be this bunt. Jaebum is a free spirit, he might want to stay alone.

But you can’t ignore it, can you?

You knock on the door before your brain makes you stop and don’t hear an answer. So maybe he wants to be alone, after all.

But a deep sob makes you open the door softly, and you don’t pay attention to the scent at all, your head focused on Jaebum, who is sitting on the floor next to the bed. His head is in his hands, and he is sniffing loudly from time to time. You don’t hear him cry, and you understand he is actually doing his best not to, but is miserably failing.

So you walk to him and he raises his head as soon as you kneel before him. You instantly see his puffy eyes and devastated face.

“What’s happening?” You can’t seem to find your voice, because the weak light of the sunset, along with Jaebum’s deep and shiny eyes are a lot to handle.

He sniffs, softly shaking his head. He doesn’t want to talk but you need answers. You need to know what’s wrong.

“Tell me.” You press. Jaebum needs motivation, even if he knows you’re mutually here for each other.

He wants to tell you to go, he wants to tell you not to worry about him and enjoy with people who can make you smile. He isn’t the kind of person you need around, not when he saw how you were slowly making it through with your project.

He is going to pull you back and make you fall with him. He can’t let it happen.

You sigh and look up, lips pursed and brows furrowed. He is suffering, so much. Your hand reaches for his bent knee to have his attention back when you see him press his palms against his face.

“Do you want me to go?” You pronounce the words like they’re burning your tongue. Jaebum’s hands leave his face and his eyes are back. You have no idea what he is thinking.

He wants to say yes, but he waited for this moment ever since he escaped from his parents. He hates to admit it, but needs the warmth you always give him whenever he needs it. He has no idea why, but does it even matter when it makes him feel all fluffy inside?

But still, you shouldn’t waste your time on his case and move on with your life. He searches for any sign of discomfort on your face, but he finds nothing.

You want to stay, that’s what your concerned features are saying. He notices, the way you look at him and how worried you are. You look so scared of breaking him you don’t even dare looking into his eyes for too long.

When he stays silent, you conclude he doesn’t need you around, and you try standing up to leave some room for his sorrow. It’s making you feel horrible, like you mean nothing to him when you could do so much. You don’t know if it has to do with his scent, and you don’t try to understand. Now is only about Jaebum. The guy who is crying in the darkness of your room, the guy who tried to kill himself, the genius lyricist who has no confidence.

Jaebum grabs your hand before you can stand and it makes you fall back on your knees, shocked by his sudden move.

You follow the path from his hand on your own to his arm, then face.

It’s the very first time you find him beautiful as he speaks the words you were yearning to hear.

“Stay with me.”