#he went to play the game on the system in our room

[veganhamsalad]

Ugh!!!

[shalvis]

Xenoblade 1 is the best game like ever fucking made and it has two of the most dogshit sequels ever fucking made

[jockbroski34]

AlterEgo

The last thing I expected on my 20th birthday was to receive a gift from Cody, my roommate.  We were never close, and there was no way in hell he actually knew much about me to know it was my birthday without me telling him.  Him and I were basically complete opposites.  While I was your typical nerd, smart, introverted, and so on, he was basically your typical jock in all the worst ways.  He was boisterous, arrogant, and a total meathead.  We mostly agreed to stay out of each others’ way, considering our irreconcilable differences, but that didn’t stop him from being a massive pain in the ass.  His room was constantly in a state of disarray, with sweaty clothes scattered all over the place.  As such, I often avoided being anywhere near his room if necessary since it smelled like a locker room.  He often invited over his “bros” who were just as bad.  Whether they were hogging the TV to watch whatever game was on, smuggling alcohol into our dorm to get wasted, or playing catch in the fucking living room, they were always a nuisance.  And whenever I brought any of that up to him, he would always end up saying something like “It’s not that serious, dude.  We were just having a good time.”  Yeah, a good time at my expense.  Whoever assigned the two of us to live together must’ve thought this was some twisted joke.

I woke up at 9 AM, still a little tired from last night.  I hung out at one of my friends’ dorms to celebrate my birthday.  I yawned, and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast.  I saw Cody was up as well, his legs spread across the couch, to the point that he was taking up two seats, watching something on the TV that was several volume levels too loud for me.

“Hey bro, today’s your birthday right?”  Cody asked, as he tilted his head to face me.

“Uhh, yeah.  How did you know?”  I responded.

“Oh don’t worry about it, bro.  Happy birthday!”  I saw him get up and run to his disorganized room, likely to grab something for me.  I could see a pair of worn gym shorts on the floor through the crack in the door.  He pulled out an old Nike shoe box, since he likely had nothing better to put a gift in.  “I’ve been saving this for you.  I hope you like it!”  Is this his way of trying to get on my good side?

I rolled my eyes since I doubt he got me anything I would enjoy.  He probably just got me something that he’d enjoy, like some tight-fitting tank top or protein powder or something.  Not that I work out or anything.  The only gift I’d want from him is for him to stop being a douche.  I opened the box and I was surprised about what I saw.  It was a video game.  Not any that I’d ever heard of.  I looked at the box art and the words AlterEgo were written in a wacky, colorful font.

“Yeah, I knew you like video games, so I found this for you.  I heard on the internet that it’s pretty nitch…nichy…what’s the word…”

“Niche?”  I responded.  I had to admit, him struggling to pronounce the word right was a little amusing.  As amusing as being with a simpleton like him could be.

“That’s the word!  I got it for myself, but I realized like half an hour in that it wasn’t my thing.  I’m happy with what I have right now.  I figured you’d probably get more out of it than me.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“No problem, dude.  Anyways, I gotta hit the gym.  I’m gonna be out all day so you have the PS5 all to yourself.  Hope you enjoy it bro!”

I watch him leave, thankful to have some peace and quiet.  As I ate breakfast, I read the back of the cover in order to figure out what this game was about.

“Become a new you!  In this life simulation adventure, you can become any kind of person you want and live any way you choose.  Control your fictional avatar, your AlterEgo, and level up your stats to become closer to your true self.”

The game seemed something like The Sims or Animal Crossing, but with some stat progression system.  It was a game that I had never heard of, but it could be some hidden gem.  The rest of the back was filled with screenshots from the game with the cartoony characters doing activities such as cooking, jogging, and riding a motorcycle.  I figured I might as well try the game since I did get it for free.  Even if it was from Cody, I wasn’t one to refuse someone’s generosity.

I put the game in the disk slot and booted it up.  The title screen had that same logo and some bubbly background music.  I pressed the start button and I was presented with a save selection screen.  I noticed that Cody’s save was on there, which was odd because I was playing on my account.  I knew I should’ve put a password on it.  I wanted to make my own character, but part of me was curious about the character that he made.  Knowing him, I can only guess.  His game time was less than an hour, as he was only on Day 1, and he likely spent most of that time on the character creation screen.

I started his save and my character was sitting in his room.  At this point, it was very bare, with only a bed and a bunch of cardboard boxes scattered around the room.  I guess the character starts by moving into their new home?  I went into the menu to find more information about the character.  The character was named Cody obviously and his AlterEgo somewhat matched him too.  I went into the stats screen and I was greeted by a tutorial.

“Here you can check your AlterEgo’s stats.  You have already set your initial growth modifiers and assigned your base stats.  If you need a refresher, whatever stats you chose your AlterEgo to excel at are highlighted in red and the ones you chose to trade off are highlighted in blue.  This means that your AlterEgo will grow in the stats in red much faster and prioritize activities that increase those stats and avoid activities associated with increasing your stats in blue.  As you play, your AlterEgo will naturally develop into one of hundreds of potential archetypes based on the activities that they excel at.  Experiment and see who you become!”

I looked at the stat screen and saw a list of stats with a bar indicating percentage level.  The stats included Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Courage, Charisma, and Luck.  Not too far off from DnD I guess.  It seemed like he chose to have Strength and Constitution as his highest stats as their font was colored red and Intelligence and Wisdom as his weakest stats as they were colored in blue.  Gee, why am I not surprised…  Cody was anything but a genius.  It seemed like he had 20 initial points to allocate wherever he chose with a default limit of 5.  And I was equally not surprised to find that my meathead roommate chose to put 5 in Strength and Constitution again like a barbarian.  It’s like all he cared about was his looks and perceived masculinity, even in game.

Strength (physical strength): 5

Constitution (physical build and stamina): 5

Dexterity (agility and flexibility): 2

Intelligence (knowledge): 0

Wisdom (intuition and discipline): 0

Courage (risk-taking and bravery): 3

Charisma (social skills): 3

Luck (good or bad fortune): 2

After looking through his stats, I decided enough was enough and I didn’t really want to go around pretending I was Cody the whole game.  I quit out of his save and went back to the title screen.  I was back on the save select screen when I became confused.  There was still one save, except the name of the character wasn’t Cody…it was mine?  The play time was set to 0 minutes.  I don’t know how that happened, but if it saves me the trouble of building a character and reading more tutorials, I’m happy.

To my relief, the avatar representing Cody wasn’t there.  Instead, a very generic, average character stood in its place in the same room.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this was some placeholder account with everything set to the default.  Whatever, I can probably change stuff about him later.  I decided to move my AlterEgo outside and I was greeted by a map of a large city.  I chose an area of the map to explore at random and controlled my new avatar.  On the busy city street, there was a cafe, restaurant, and a gym.  It was too early for the cafe and restaurant to open, so I guess my only option here is the gym.  I’ve never stepped foot in a gym before, but this character doesn’t have to represent me as a whole.  Plus, I’d like my character to be well-rounded unlike Cody’s who would probably spend the whole time grinding here.

I went into the gym and had to perform a set of quick-time events.  First, I had to do some bench presses.  Then some squats.  Then finally, run on a treadmill.  At the end of it, my AlterEgo did a cartoony celebration and flexed his arms.  A pop-up showing that my Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity went up by 1, followed up by another one saying that my Strength and Constitution will double every time I do activities like go to the gym.  So it looks like Cody’s modifiers carried over after all despite everything seeming to be the default.  That should’ve been the first thing I checked.  I didn’t want my character to be specced to be some lumbering brute.  I suppose that if I wanted to get my character’s Intelligence and Wisdom, it’d probably be like playing on Hard mode.  Honestly, I was open to the challenge.

I was disappointed to find out that it’d be harder than it seemed.  When my character got home in the evening, I went into one of his boxes and I was presented with an option to read.  I was presented with several options, ranging from comics to full-on novels.  I chose the novel since I figured it would raise my Intelligence the best.  I watched my AlterEgo try to read the book, but I saw a look of confusion on his face.  Eventually, he grew frustrated and threw the book back into the empty box as if he were shooting through a basketball hoop.  I expected my Intelligence to stay the same, but no, it actually dropped!

“Sometimes when your AlterEgo fails to complete an activity, their stats can decrease!  These stats can even go into the negative.  Make sure to keep your stats high because it can become very difficult to increase your stats if they fall below a certain point.”

I couldn’t believe that my character struggled to even read.  This guy was nothing like me at all!  I hoped that it would be easier to raise my AlterEgo’s Intelligence because I didn’t want him to be a moron.  I watched my character fall asleep and I could see into his dream.  Another tutorial popped up.

“Sometimes your character will have dreams!  These dreams are mostly random, but will also depend on your character’s stats.  Just like other activities, you have a chance to increase your stats.”

I watched my character fight in a zombie apocalypse, but the zombies didn’t even look remotely threatening.  I succeeded in the activity and my Courage went up by 2 and my Luck and Strength went up by 1.  My character wiped his head of sweat as the zombies turned to dust.

The next day, I learned that my AlterEgo can go to school.  That was expected, considering my character’s age, only I didn’t realize how hard it would be for him.  He was sitting in a desk trying to write down notes.  Eventually, like an idiot, he slammed his thick head on his desk and started snoring.  This was honestly getting embarrassing.  My Intelligence and Wisdom dropped yet again, not by 1, but by 2.  If I didn’t do something different, my AlterEgo would basically be a clone of Cody instead of myself.  After class, instead of being given an option to go and do something, my AlterEgo is approached by a group of buff men.

Quarterback: Hey new guy, you’re looking pretty strong.  Judging from your Strength and Constitution, I think you’d make a good fit for the football team.  Your Dexterity and Courage also seem pretty good.  Wanna join, bro?

You know who else played football?  Cody.  I had to keep being reminded of him even when he wasn’t even around.  This was my character and I didn’t care about sports, so I clicked the no option.  To my surprise, my AlterEgo nodded instead.  It's like this game is going out of its way to spite me at this point.  Two tutorials popped up.

“If your Wisdom is too low, your AlterEgo might act on their own desires rather than your command.  This means that they can sometimes act on their own or select activities that they are more interested in rather than those they are not.  Raise your Wisdom or else you will have less freedom when developing your AlterEgo.”

“You have decided to join a club or organization.  This will grant you a passive growth to certain stats every week.”

I watched as my AlterEgo walked away with the group of jocks.  A football uniform magically appeared over his normal clothes.  For joining the football team, I was granted a point in Strength, Constitution, Courage, and Charisma every week, with the usual double for Strength and Constitution.

I kept playing the game, getting frustrated at my AlterEgo’s reluctance to even try to act smart or reasonable.  He frequently avoided or skipped intellectual pursuits to focus on those that made him look or feel good.  It honestly just felt random whether he wanted to obey me or not.  By the end of Day 7, the first week my stats were looking like this.

Strength: 30

Constitution: 28

Dexterity: 10

Intelligence: -20

Wisdom: -15

Courage: 21

Charisma: 17

Luck: 16

My Intelligence and Wisdom seemed unfixable.  My AlterEgo wouldn’t even bother to try to read or pay attention at school and he consistently started to make random choices that satisfied his needs as the week progressed.  I grew incredibly frustrated at this, but out of curiosity, I wanted to see if there was an end to this so I could go back and make my own character.  Either way, this game was plagued with questionable design choices.  It’s like the AlterEgo was already locked into a specific path.  I hoped that I had accidentally skipped a tutorial or something and that I hadn’t softlocked myself out of raising certain stats.  Unfortunately, my AlterEgo’s stats continued to grow and drop as I hit Day 30.

Strength: 75

Constitution: 69

Dexterity: 44

Intelligence: -66

Wisdom: -49

Courage: 54

Charisma: 37

Luck: 41

I received another tutorial message on Day 31.

“You look like you are on track to evolve into your archetype very soon!  By this point, your AlterEgo’s stats will be locked in place.  That will be the end of the main story, but there is still so much to enjoy afterwards!”

I figured I might as well see this through to the end.  You know, see how much of an idiot my character can become.  Despite my efforts, all my AlterEgo does now is work out, practice and go to games, and go to parties, outside of necessities.  His Intelligence is so low that he rarely even goes to school anymore and that has caused his intelligence to plummet to the bottom.  I played for even longer, eventually hitting Day 60.  Turns out that this is the day I would discover my AlterEgo’s archetype.

“Congratulations on making it this far.  I hope you are excited to find out your archetype, because I know I am!  Remember that these changes are permanent, so there will no longer be ways to increase or decrease your stats.”

I watched my AlterEgo marched onto the stage and I was able to view my final stats and a rating of each of them.  The descriptions seemed to be heavily based on my other stats, and trust me, they were very satirical, and in my case, very scathing.

Strength: 100

I’d give this an A+.  I’m not even sure if you are human anymore.  I’ve seen you lift things that no normal man could, not because you have to, but because you want to.  You spend more time at the gym than you do at your own house and you might give The Hulk a run for his money.

Constitution: 100

You also get an A+.  Your months of training at the gym have given you a perfect, chiseled body that looks like it could be made out of iron.  You have a seemingly endless supply of testosterone and your stamina (in more ways than one, it seems) cannot be beaten.

Dexterity: 75

This gets a B.  You are very athletic and quick on your feet despite your appearance.  However, your large size means that you can be pretty clumsy and you’ve probably broken more things than you’d like to admit.

Intelligence: -100

I’ll just go along with your teachers and give you a big fat F.  Are you even trying?  I worry that there’s not a single thought going around in your thick skull.  You care very little for anything intellectual or sophisticated, not that you even know what those words mean.

Wisdom: -90

Likewise, you also get another big fat F.  Were you dropped on your head when you were a baby or did you take too many tackles to your cranium?  You have incredibly poor judgment and you only make decisions that satisfy your brutish desires.  In short, you often act before you think.  Your lack of discipline is only matched by your lack of brain cells.  As long as you’re having fun, should I really care what you do with your life?

Courage: 90

I’d give this an A, but not an A+.  Because your brain moves too slow to process any risk, you often think before you act.  You often find yourself in the most dangerous of situations and you often perform incredibly stupid stunts.  When you’re on the field, you’re a risk taker, and at least it usually pays off.  On the bright side, you always come out unscathed, so I can commend that.

Charisma: 70

I’d give this a B-.  Being on the football team and being very attractive is going to place a lot of eyes on you, but they are all focused on your body because everything else you have to offer is very superficial.  I wonder if you surround yourself with people who think and act the same as you do or if people keep you around to laugh at every stupid word that comes out of your mouth.

Luck: 80

Lastly, you get a B.  Your luck genuinely amazes me sometimes.  Despite everything, despite your lack of any intellectual thought or reasoning, you have survived long enough to make it this far in life.  This alone proves that life favors some over others.  If there is room for the concept of a higher power in your shrunken headspace, then they probably feel a sense of amusement at the state of you bumbling around through life with only your good looks and muscles salvaging you.

“What do you think?  Are you happy with your results?  Anyhow, it’s time to reveal your archetype.  It’s who you are and who you will be from now on!  Drumroll please…  (As if it wasn’t obvious enough…)  You, my friend, are…THE JOCK!”

The Jock

You are likely an athlete or bodybuilder and you likely care little for intellectual thought.  You enjoy playing and watching sports and working out above anything else.  You are hyper-masculine, aggressive, arrogant, and egotistical.  However, you are also very muscular, tall, athletic, popular, and handsome.  You feel a deep sense of camaraderie with anyone you consider your bro, which mostly includes other jocks like yourself.  Your wardrobe mostly consists of tank tops, jerseys, varsity jackets, shorts, sweatpants, jockstraps, baseball caps, sneakers, and everything in between.  Because of your high testosterone and your above average genitals, you are viewed as a desirable partner and often partake in sexual activities with members of the opposite sex, and sometimes even other men depending on the person and situation.  Your most likely career path is as an athlete or coach, but as long as it doesn’t require too much deep thinking, you could probably find a job anywhere with your connections and attractiveness.  Enjoy your new self!

I watched my AlterEgo vanish within a cloud of smoke and come out a cartoonish representation of your average stereotypical jock with blonde hair and a very lunkish, yet admittedly impressive build.  He looked around, clearly disoriented, with a dull, confused look on his face before flexing with a cheesy, confident smirk on his face.  The audience cheered and clapped at this ridiculous personification of a walking stereotype as if they were watching a magic show.  Honestly, it was almost amusing how the description it gave for “me” couldn’t possibly be more wrong.  It sounded like everything Cody was, not me.  Although I guess I was playing with his settings, not by choice I will add, but I had little control over how my AlterEgo decided to live its life.  I just wish I could get him off my mind for just one day.  Either way, I found myself incredibly dissatisfied with my new AlterEgo, but I accidentally found out a way to make things even worse for me.  I just wanted to scroll through the remaining text to get to the credits, since I have been playing for 8 hours by now, when I saw a selection that would seal my fate.

“Are you satisfied with your result?  Now that you’ve discovered who you truly are, are you ready to be The Jock in the real world?  WARNING: If you select Yes, your save will be deleted as a result.  These changes are permanent.  If you click No, you can continue playing after the credits.”

I accidentally clicked Yes as I was mashing through the text.  What the hell was I thinking?!  I had no idea that this would change the entire trajectory of my life.  At first I felt nothing, as the screen faded to black.  Then, I saw the credits start to roll, playing a remix of the joyful title screen music, and that’s when I started to feel all warm inside and I felt a painful shock come from my controller.

I felt a sudden wave of pain rush through my body as my bones started to crack and shift in my body and my muscles began to inflate like balloons.  I looked at the credits and noticed that the new jock AlterEgo was doing the things he normally enjoyed doing in the background.  But I couldn’t really concentrate on it as I found myself focusing down below.  My legs stretched and stretched until I was around 6’4.  My feet grew to a size 15 and my thick glutes and ass made me sink deeper into the couch from their weight.  The fat in my stomach felt like it was melting as it left behind nothing more than a layer of sweat and a firm six pack of abs.  My upper chest formed into a round set of bouncy pecs.  Likewise, my biceps and triceps were almost the size of my head now and my soft hands became rough and covered in calluses from intense lifting.  I felt my clothes cling tightly to my body as if they were two sizes too small, and they’d easily rip if my body grew any more.  My shirt fit more like a crop top on me and my clothes were damp from pit and ass sweat.

I felt my long hair recede into my head until it formed into a shorter cut that was much easier to maintain.  As it did that, my chestnut-colored locks lightened into a golden blonde.  My soft, round eyes became more sharp and masculine and I could feel them turn from a chocolate brown into an icy shade of blue.  My youthful face lost most of its baby fat and buried beneath it was nothing more than the chiseled edges of my jawline.  The lower half of my face, which used to be soft and hairless, was now covered in a prickly lawn of stubble.  Even my pasty skin turned a shade tanner from the years I spent in the sun throwing balls around.  I noticed that my entire body started to sweat profusely to the point that I could smell my own musk and I became absorbed by my new-found masculine scent.  I could smell the testosterone that was pumping through my veins like a drug.  I felt powerful, dominant, virile, and dare I say it, good…  Lastly, I found my lips contort into an obnoxious, conceited smirk.  Was I…enjoying this?  Judging from the growing feeling in my groin, I was led to believe that I was.  And it kept growing and growing and growing…

All the while, the credits continued to play and the happy-go-lucky music felt like it was mocking my painful situation.  Despite the strange pleasure I felt, it was only a distraction as my body still writhed in pain through the whole process while I changed entirely into a real life manifestation of my AlterEgo.  What the hell is this game?  I noticed that the jock avatar stared directly towards the screen, as if he was breaking the fourth wall, and started to walk closer and closer before vanishing from his virtual prison for good.  The lively credits started to simmer down, giving the screen a more empty and disquieting feeling.  That was the last thing I noticed before I felt a sharp headache ring through my head.  I am usually fine playing games for a long period of time so why…Why did my roommate buy me this game anyways, bro?  If he was gonna buy me any game, he should’ve gotten me the new CoD or Madden game, not this weird shit.  I had to admit, it was kinda addicting.  I liked being able to work out or play sports even when I’m at home.  Wait, what was that?  I felt like I just heard another voice in my head, both sounding similar yet different to my own.  Eventually he called out directly to me.

“Hey bro, it’s me.  Your AlterEgo.  You know, the real you.  It’s been fun, dude.  Now I get to enter the real world, isn’t that sick?  So here’s what’s gonna happen, dude.  I am currently inside your mind and I’m making the final changes to turn you into the person you were always meant to be.  That’s right dude, we are becoming one singular person in both body and mind.  Don’t try to struggle or fight back.  You know I’m stronger than you.  There’s no going back.  So, are you ready to become one with your true self?

No…I thought to myself.  I wasn’t a jock.  I was never a jock.  I’m nothing like my AlterEgo.  This is a mistake.  This was Cody’s AlterEgo, not mine!

“Chill out, bro.  I know you read the warning and you clicked Yes, so you obviously knew the risk.  Why did you keep playing if you knew you’d become a jock regardless of the decisions you made?  Because you are one deep down.  Or maybe you secretly wanted to be one.  Maybe you wanted to see what life was like on the other side.  Maybe this Cody guy wanted you to try out this save, you know, to see what would happen...  Whatever reasoning, it really doesn’t matter dude.  I know you can feel me taking over your mind.  You’re finding it harder to think.  Soon you’ll be The Jock, me.  I just wish you realized a little sooner who you really were…”

I felt my brain starting to shut off and my vision starting to become blurry as my AlterEgo took it over.  I don’t even know how any of this is possible, even by today’s standards.  An AI buried deep within the game was taking over my body and mind entirely, reshaping me in his image.  But I continued to resist, to cling onto whatever parts of my personality I could.  However, as I felt my mind sink deeper and deeper into this mental void, I felt myself slowly becoming more and more like The Jock.  The archetype that was decided on, not by me, but for me.  Until that’s all I was.

Everything turned black for a few seconds.  I slowly regained consciousness as my brain rebooted itself.  Wait…what’s a reboot?  I sat and watched the credits with a dim look on my face as it finally ended.  I was booted back to the title screen and saw that my save was indeed deleted.  This was proof that my AlterEgo was now a part of me and that he was finally whole.  I pulled out my phone wanting to learn more about this game, because, dude, it was kinda fucking weird. By scrolling, I couldn’t find much, but I did discover a post from not too long ago on some ancient forum site that was probably made in the early 2000s.

“Is The Game AlterEgo Real?”

“I’ve heard rumors about this game called AlterEgo, but I have very little information on it.  It’s said to be incredibly dangerous and could lead to permanent bodily and mental changes.  Throughout all of my research, I could not find any copy of the game for sale, nor any definitive proof that it’s real or any information on the company that developed it.  If you have any information on this game, please let me know.”

I skimmed through the forum page, not that interested in reading what everyone had to say.  Who has time for that anyways?  But I did find one reply that caught my eye.

“I can confirm with certainty that AlterEgo does exist.  My friend received it as a gift for Christmas and he wouldn’t stop talking about it to me.  It’s like he was addicted.  A week later, when I saw him next, I could barely even recognize him.  His body had grown and changed greatly and he didn’t act like his usual self.  I even feel like his memories might be a little distorted.  I tried checking his house to find the game in order to figure out what it was all about, but I don’t think he has it anymore.  He probably sold it or gave it away since he said he finished it.  No matter what, he won’t tell me.  If there are any other copies of the game left, please let me know.”

Woah, so this game is fucking weird, dude.  Wasn’t just me.  I just played it right?  But I don’t feel any different.  You know, I bet these nerds would pay a lot for a chance to find out about this game.  Maybe they might come out as different people.  I’ll put it up on eBay for a high price.  One of those dweebs just has to take the bait.  I wouldn’t mind a little cash though.  I’d feel bad for selling Cody’s gift, but just imagine what I could get with that much money.

“Hey bro, you still in here dude?”  I heard a familiar voice shout as they opened the door.

“Yo Cody, there you are.  What’s up dude?”  I was happy to see him.  Cody was my roommate and my best friend.  We were practically inseparable.  When he made eye contact with me, his eyes widened.  I couldn’t really blame him for being impressed with my awesome body.

“You beat that game I gave you already?”  He seemed surprised, yet almost impressed.

“Yeah, it’s not usually my type, but I enjoyed it dude.”

“Do you…feel any different, bro?”  Cody sounded kinda hesitant there.  Had he read about the rumors too?  I don’t see why he’d have to worry.  None of those rumors are true anyways.

“Nah, same as I’ve always been.”

“Alright, good.  I was just making sure you were down to get some food.  You should be out partying and celebrating your birthday, not playing some nerdy video game.  And trust me, I know all the good spots.”

“You’re right bro.  I haven’t gotten enough exercise in today.  Let’s go.”

“Wait, before you go, your clothes are so sweaty dude.  You should change.”

“Oh shit, good idea.”

“Y-you can just wear one of my clothes.  They’d probably fit you better.”  He was right.  As I soon realized, someone shrunk all my clothes as part of a prank.

Me and Cody went to a sports bar to watch the game.  If I remember correctly, this was our favorite spot to get food, except you know, anywhere that lets me hit my macros.  Since it was my birthday, he even paid for the whole meal.  I don’t remember how long I’ve known him, but couldn’t ask for a better bro.  On the way home, Cody grabbed a six pack of beer from the frat house and brought it to our dorm to drink the night away.  I wasn’t old enough to drink, but it’s not like I never had alcohol before.  And besides, today was basically my cheat day.

We got wasted while we watched TV, and we did some things that I probably wouldn’t admit to anyone but him.  I couldn’t help it though.  I hadn’t gotten laid all weekend and it was my birthday.  Quite frankly, I deserved it.  Thankfully Cody took one for the team.  He said it wasn’t weird because we’ve definitely done it before and that it was our secret.  I had to give him credit.  His tight hole is better than most girls’.  I didn’t know he was a bottom until tonight.  I also didn’t remember having a dick this big, but you don’t see me complaining.  After all was said and done, I passed out drunk next to him in his bed, our bodies drenched in sweat and each other’s fluids, as I enjoyed the bromance I have with my best bro.  This was the best birthday ever.

The next day, I got up extra early to go for a run despite my hangover.  Afterwards I went to school, but like usual, I struggled to pay attention.  It was like my mind was in a constant fog.  My grades are slipping and this football scholarship is the only thing keeping me from dropping out entirely.  After classes, I joined Cody and the others at practice.  Throughout the day, I kept getting this feeling of uh…dayjah voo?  That word that means that you feel like you’ve done something before.  I wasn’t exactly sure where it was coming from.  I shrugged it off.  I was just a jock and I didn’t need to worry about stuff like that.

When I got home, I got an offer for the game Cody gave me.  You know, AlterEgo.  Some nerd seriously offered $1000 for it.  I didn’t actually know it was that rare.  I hope he enjoys it more than I did.  I’ll sure enjoy the 1000 dollars.  I bet he’ll love passing it around to all his other geeky friends.  I wonder what their AlterEgos might look like…

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for ruining my cousin's birthday party?

Please read the whole thing before making a judgement.

Real names not used.

So I (25M) bought a nintendo switch for my younger sister Sara (16F) for her birthday. However, mom decided that Sara would be sharing her birthday party with our cousin Cody (12M) as a celebration for him just recovering from having cancer. Mom had also said that it would be family only so Sara was not allowed to have her friends over for her 16th birthday. She was of course upset over that because she had plans on what she wanted to do with her friends. But Aunt (Karen) had told her not to be selfish about it because "you see your friends every day at school."

The rest of our relatives who had been invited hadn't been prepared for it to be a celebration for Cody as well, so none of them had gotten anything for him. Karen decided that it would be fair if Cody got to choose some of the gifts for himself. Of course as soon as he saw Sara open the wrapped up Switch, he had snatched it saying that it was his now. Sara was upset about that because she didn't think it was fair to let him do that, but the rest of our aunts and uncles scolded her for being selfish and being mean to "poor Cody". And "Cody has been sick, just let him have this. He deserves it. You are being greedy for wanting it."

Sara locked herself in her room for the rest of the party and didn't even come out for the cake. She only came out after everyone had left. Her eyes were puffy from crying and it was obvious that she did not have a good birthday because of everything. If anything, the party had been more about Cody while she had just been shoved to the side.

Fast forward a few months to the day of Cody's birthday. Aunt planned a big party for the day. All of Cody's friends were invited along with all our family. Sara refused to go and planned to go hang out with friends instead, but she was forced to go in the end because other relatives were calling her selfish and cruel for not wanting to celebrate Cody's birthday. She said she would only be there for an hour before leaving, and I said I would drive her home.

Aunt and Cody had gone out to buy the cake, so I went to their home early. Luckily for me, Uncle (Tony) was home. He hadn't been there for Sara's birthday party because he had been away for a business trip. He had let me inside when he saw me and I told him what had happened at Sara's birthday. Apparently he hadn't know what had happened. I asked him if they kept the box for the Switch, and he had said yes.

Tony had not stopped me when I packed the Switch back into its box (I removed the game that was in it and put that back in its case). He didn't stop me when I took the packed up Switch out to my car. He said that I was allowed to have it, so I did. I took it back to the store I bought it from and returned it. Luckily, it was still within the return window, so I was able to return it. I bought a few new Switch games for Sara (Some of her friends had banded together and gotten her a Switch). I never went back to Cody's house after that. Instead, I stayed at home with Sara because our parents relented and let her just stay home instead. I played games with her while our parents were gone.

Hours later, Mom and Dad come home bringing Karen with them. Karen was livid. She screamed that I ruined Cody's birthday party by stealing his Switch and that we must hate him for being sick. She knew I had been at the house because the doorbell ring showed I had been there. Apparently they had planned party games that would revolve around the Switch so all of Cody's friends had been disappointed when there was nothing to play. Karen screamed about how Cody had been crying and that it was not right to make the birthday boy cry. I pointed out that they had made Sara cry on her birthday. And Karen said "Sara shouldn't be making a big deal out of it, she is being childish for crying over a game system that she doesn't need. Cody is still a child, and you are giving him a bad childhood."

Karen decided that she would be taking Sara's Switch and giving it back to Cody and that she had no right to be taking Cody's things. Sara argued with her saying that it was her Switch that her friends gave her, but Karen screamed that she was just making excuses to be a thief and "you would probably be happy if Cody died, wouldn't you?" Mom and Dad had made her leave, but Karen has been blowing up our phones since then calling us (but mainly me and Sara) assholes for ruining Cody's birthday.

Yeah I know that taking the Switch back was mean, but I don't like how Cody just has to be the center of attention for everything. Sara's birthday was not the first time he got all attention when the party had been for someone else, but those are stories for another time.

AITA for ruining his birthday?

What are these acronyms?

[yellowjestertfs]

Altered State: Part Three

Part One and Part Two are available here. Story will likely have three more similarly length parts after this one so be on the look out for Part four in the next few days. As always love getting feedback on this story if you are enjoying it!

The party went silent as all eyes turned to Edward, thanks to his new Social Gravity perk. His various bonuses and high charisma helped ensure that the stares he received were not outright hostile but even the power of those couldn’t negate the fact that Edward was 20 years younger than the other guests, carrying two large shopping bags, and very much uninvited to this functions. 

The old Edward might have been paralyzed with fear in this situation. He might have stammered off an apology and walked out the door. The new Edward wasn’t so easily dissuaded. “Bonjour friends,” he said in an overly flamboyant French accent “It is I, Henri Barbier, famed art critic and I have come to whatever American city this is to view this masterful work.” Edward gestured to the black and white paintings on the wall.

“I’m afraid I have never heard of you,” a white-haired woman with thin half moon glasses on the tip of her nose said stepping forward, a hint of scorn in her voice.

“Don’t be rude Scintillation, this is Henri Barbier. I think I saw a profile of him last week in the digest.” A slightly younger man said stepping forward to join her and placing his hand on Scintillation’s shoulder. Edward was almost positive there was no real art critic named Henri Barbier. He wondered then if his charisma was high enough to convince this man there was or if the guy was just a sycophant always wanting to appear in the know. Murmurs filled the room of other guests saying they knew of the critic. 

“I’m sorry how rude of me. It is a pleasure to welcome you to our gallery Mr. Barbier. My name is Scintillation, I am the curator of the gallery. This art you see here is done by my husband, River” She placed a hand tenderly on the back of the man from before and the two stared lovingly at each other, though Edward’s Sage perk hinted to him that the couple was not as happy as they appeared. He filed that information away for later. 

Scintillation led Edward around to the various art pieces, elucidating on each thoroughly. The other guests went back to their individual conversations though Edward could still feel their eyes still on him. The break gave Edward a chance to examine the new details of the quest. At first, the system had seemed complicated but actually wasn’t all that different from other quest systems he had played before in sandbox simulation games. Completing quests to “liven up” the party filled a central progress bar. There were three segments on the bar, each of which would grant him a reward if he reached it before time ran out. The first two just granted a level but the third gave a level and an exclusive technique. The quest ranged from simple tasks like taking a group photo or exchanging a secret with a fellow guest to the more complex and outlandish like doing a keg stand or playing strip poker. The more the task livened up the party the more progress it lent.

Edward wanted that bonus reward, though he had little idea how he was going to manage it. He could already tell this Scintillation woman was going to be a damper on any attempts to change the vibe. She seemed far too uptight and far too in control, plus Edward could tell she didn’t quite buy his overseas art critic act. 

“This work, I think I know what it is about.” Edward declared doing his best to maintain his foe French accent, which was actually quite easy with his high charisma and social sync perk. 

“Well actually River likes his pieces to fluctuate in their-“

“No,” Edward said cutting Scintillation off. “These are about sex. They are about a man who feels like his penis has been cut off. Like he is a eunuch or a little boy.”

Scintillation looked extremely scandalized by the comment. “Mr. Barbier, I don’t think that is appropriate, nor might I add is it true. River and I, well we” she stumbled over her words obviously uncomfortable with the subject “Well it doesn't matter, I think you are mistaken.”

Edward pretended to think for a moment, gazing up at the art, which to him did somewhat resemble a black and white penis or maybe more a tennis racket. “No, no I am quite sure. Look here at the brush stroke, see how it curves, see how it doubles back. I have seen it before, that is the work of a man who is, how do you say, not getting his dick wet. A man whose dick is dry as the desert sand.

Scintillation looked thoughtfully up at the vague area Edward had gestured to. Edward was amazed at how easy this was proving, with his charisma and looks people really would believe anything he said, plus Edward suspected he had inadvertently hit a vein of truth and decided to commit further. “Scintillation I know you Americans are like dead fish when it comes to the art of lovemaking but there is a simple solution.”

“There is?” Scintillation asked, still looking up at the work.

“There is. You must show that man that you love him. That you want to rip off his clothes and then his penis.”

“Well I suppose I could make more of an effort in the bedroom,” she said slowly. 

“The bedroom, no, no! That is so clinical, so predictable. Sex is about surprise, it is about risk. It is much like art in that way. It must be raw, and passionate. Take that man right here, right now.” Edward didn't know the first thing about love or sex but Scintillation seemed to buy that he did, hanging on his every word. Still she resisted his suggestion. 

“I can’t do that right now, I’m hosting an event! Plus that would be highly inappropriate” Scintillation said voice in a whisper, although she still stared up at River’s work before them. 

“The very fate of your marriage depends on this! Love calls for desperate measures.”

Scintillation took a deep breath. Instead of kicking Edward out of the party as he feared she marched over to River who was talking to a group of older women. She whispered something in his ear and started heading towards the bathroom. River’s eyes went wide and a sort of drunk expression came over his face as he followed his wife like an eager puppy. 

Two of the tasks, one “give relationship advice” and the other “convince two people to get nasty at the party” checked off the long quest list. The first didn’t give much progress but the second did, filling the bar just above one-third and greeting him with a now familiar welcome. “Ding”

“You have reached level eight. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, +0.3 Strength.”

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Effortless Grace: your charisma is embodied. You now move with the undeniable swagger of your social competence.” 

Edward felt the now familiar signs of an increased charisma. His jaw grew sharper, his cute dimples became deeper, his skin gained an even more healthy glow and his hair grew another shade more golden and shiny. The bulge in his pants pushed out further as his penis grew longer and a bit wider. 

Edward’s 14 intelligence allowed him to piece together the somewhat cryptic description of his latest perk, and besides he could feel it. It was as if he had grown from a toddler to a man in seconds. His movements once clumsy and forced were now light and purposeful, befitting his ever-growing charisma. He felt like he could walk a tightrope or do the tango without any difficulties, and look sexy the whole time. 

With a new swagger, Edward flitted from group to group. He chatted with nearly everyone, instantly dominating whatever conversation he was in and trying his best to maintain his faux French accent. Edward did his best to liven up all the conversations he could. He got one group talking about their party days in college, another group to all do impressions of each other, and a third to tell each other secrets all of which were pretty mundane. 

As he watched the progress bar stubbornly refuse to move more than a few percent and the countdown clock tick down Edward realized this approach wasn’t working.  

Edward swaggered up to the musicians located towards the back of the gallery. Three board looking male musicians with a piano, simple drum set, and stand-up base played quiet background music in a loop. The people next to them swayed slightly though mostly ignored the musician's presence. 

“How about we mix this music up? Could you play something a little more up-tempo?” Edward asked the musicians. With Scintillation gone he felt much more confident in his ability to take over the party. Sure enough, the musicians quickly changed their tune, going into a jazzy number. 

Normally Edward was an abhorrent dancer but as he moved his hips and arms in beat with the song he was amazed by how easy and well-coordinated he now was. The odd 50 guests all diverted from their conversation by the change in music watched him in wrapped attention. A few of the guests started to join in and Edward watched his progress bar slowly increase.

Edward stopped a waiter carrying a tray of champagne flutes. “Got anything stronger” He asked. Five minutes later the waiter carried a tray of assorted shots instead. As the guests got drunker more of them ditched their conversations and joined in the impromptu dance circle. It was comical to watch the social elites of the city, many of them professors at Edward’s university,  dressed in their formal clothing, bust a move like drunk sorority girls at a frat party. Edward wondered how much of the change he could attribute to his charisma and how much was the alcohol. 

Both the drinking and the dancing increased the quest's progress quite a bit, though the party still needed a final push to reach the two-thirds mark and for him to level up again.

That final push came in the form of a conga line, led by an especially looking drunk guy with a tie tied around his forehead. Edward gladly joined in moving his legs and hips with a new effortless grace in perfect time with the music. He watched a woman behind him toss her hat into the air as he finally leveled up with another ding.

Edward disengaged himself from the dancing to read the new notifications.

“You have reached level nine. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, +0.3 Strength.”

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Cupids’ Perfume: You now emit pheromones that cause others in your immediate vicinity who breathe in your scent to experience a temporary increase in horniness and also a decrease in their wisdom. Note: The potency of this effect scales with charisma. Note: This effect is less effective on those with high charisma. Note: This ability is considered an emotional manipulation effect and therefore can be resisted or negated by items, consumables, aura, technique, or abilities with the stability property. Note: You are immune to this effect. Note: This effect is 92.22% more effective on people with a penis.” 

A faint smell somehow both spicy and clean, like cinnamon and aftershave hit his nose. The smell was pleasant though Edward was quite trepidatious about the idea of becoming a walking aphrodisiac. He would have to do some testing to understand its strength and get some of those emotional stability items or consumables for the men in his life he didn't want to turn into hormonal monsters. 

A realization that had already been percolating now came fully into Edward’s mind. Back when he was ugly Edward had always assumed he would die a virgin. Then after the Golden Ratio perk earlier that day Edward had accepted he might eventually actually have sex. Now though with his latest perk Cupids Perfume perk, his “Gold Star Killer” perk along with his amazingly good looks, Edward realized he could have sex pretty much whenever and with whoever he wanted. His newly elongated dick started to engorge at the thought, though his options at this party were pretty limited when every man was his father's age or older. 

Edward looked down at his phone to see he had thousands of notifications from the social media video he had posted. He ignored those in favor of looking at a text from Leon. “Level 9 sucker. One more level till you got to kiss my ass.”

“As if. I’m 9 too. You're about to cream when you see me.” Edward texted back smiling knowing that with his new pheromones Leon really might cream when he saw him. Edward had no idea how Leon had been able to keep pace with his rapid leveling, but he would be damned if he was going to let his friend reach 10 first. That meant he needed to liven up this party further asap, not just because he wanted to beat Leon but also because there was only about an hour left on the quest timer. 

Edward supposed if the hanky-panky happening in the bathroom, and the fact that all the attendees were drunk and dancing only counted as 2/3 of a lit party then he needed to step up his game. He had just under an hour left to fix that. 

Edward supposed he could start with the last few guests who were resisting the new vibe of the party. The four men stood outside the crowd of dancing people talking to each other in hushed concerned voices. He had heard someone earlier in the night refer to them as a group of divorced bitter men, a label their attitude seemed to confirm. A plan formed in Edward’s mind to complete the quest and test out his new perk. Deftly with his new catlike grace Edward grabbed a full bottle of spirits from a passing waiter along with five shot glasses and made his way over to the party poopers. 

“Enjoying yourself,” he asked in his best impression of a drunk French accent, slurring his words slightly and leaning his elbows onto the small table the men were gathered around getting in close in hopes of spreading his pheromones to the men. Sure enough, as soon as the men took a breath of the sweet and spicy smell coming off him the effects of Edward’s new perk became evident. Three of the men began to shift uncomfortably expressions changing from disapproving to glassy-eyed-mouthed lust. Edward could feel their desire rolling off them like waves with his Sage perk. 

“Have you seen Scintillation?” the one man seemingly unaffected by his pheromones asked, knitting his bushy silver eyebrows together. “I think this party might have gotten out of hand.”

“Oh monami, that is nonsense, the part is just getting started,” Edward said licking his lips. The other men besides the man with the thick eyebrows leaned in hungrily. Edward had no idea why Eyebrows weren’t affected. He supposed that neither his Gold Star Killer perk nor his Cupids’ Perfume perk guaranteed all men would find him attractive, they simply removed the barrier of sexuality and added some hormones to the fire. Maybe Eyebrows just wasn’t into blonds or the French. Either way, Edwards had other methods of charm.

“How about we play a game,” he said, swiftly pouring liquor into the shot glasses with the effortless ease of a lifelong bartender. 

“Strip poker,” one of the guys asked him eagerly.

Edward chuckled and the sound was sexy even to his own ears. His charisma really was getting out of hand. “That's not quite what I had in mind. How about I guess what you want? If I’m wrong I have to drink, but if I’m right you drink.”

Eyebrows chuckled nervously, while the other men nodded vigorously, staring enraptured up at him. Edward leaned forward and like a cat rested his hand on one of the man’s forearms. His Sage perk activated and a sudden vision hit him. “You,” he said purring his words “want to suck my dick.” 

He moved on to the next man, cupping the man's chin in his hand. “You want to tie me up. You naughty, naughty boy.” He had all but dropped the French accent and his voice now came out smooth, seductive and low, sounding wholly recognizable to Edward’s ears. 

“And you,” he said, rubbing his foot against the man under the table. “You want to pound me till I see double.” Eyebrow’s expression went from troubled to horrified, while the other men looked like they might actually do the things Edward had just said. Edward hand’t actually mean to be so forward with these men but his pheromones made them like putty in his hands and the power was intoxicating. Plus all his transformations that day had made him unspeakably horny.

“I think I’m going to leave,” Eyebrows said getting up from the table. 

“Not so fast,” Edward said! “These horny boys still have to drink, and I never got the chance to guess what you want.” Edward walked around the table so that he was standing right next to Eyebrows. The man's nose twitched as he was fully bathed in Edwards Pheromones. He gripped the table as he fought a war against his own hormones. 

Edward leaned in until his lips were practically touching Eyebrows ear. “You want to let loose,” he said activating his silver tongue technique. Since the last time Edward had used the ability he had gained three more energy points and regenerated another six. Just enough for him to expend the ten energy points needed for his technique.

The effect of the ability was immediate and jarring. The man's knees buckled and his eyes went wide. Edward’s only warning was a sudden spike in desire from his Sage sense before Eyebrows smashed his lips into Edwards, making out with the snake charmer vigorously and with ample tongue. 

Edward had imagined a lot of first kiss scenarios, but never once had he pictured it being with a burly grumpy sixty-year-old man. Edward had intended the technique to make the guy live a little, maybe go and dance or take a few shots. He guessed that was what he got for being so vague with his words.

Edward wasn’t sure if the other men had also been effected by his Silver Tongue ability or if it was just that seeing their friend and the French art critic swap saliva broke their the last bit of resistance, but they too let their horny side free. Two of the men started to make out while the third unzipped his own pants and fished out his rock-hard dick. He began to jerk it off under the table. 

Some of the people on the dance floor saw the action happening and cheered and whistled. A few married couples began to make out and drunkenly grind up against each other.

Around Edward, the action only intensified as the men breathed in more and more of his pheromones. All three of the other men now had their dicks out and were in the process of jerking each other off. Eyebrows groped at Edward's crotch, and though he was tempted to let him fish his dick out the older man had already taken Edward’s first kiss which seemed like more than enough. Instead, Edward maneuvered him in front of one of his friend's dicks and soon he was sucking it happily. 

Edward stood back watching the orgy develop before him, trying to control his own hard-on. He was amazed by how easy that was. He had been under the assumption that his Gold Star Killer perk only applied to himself, but it seemed that once these previously straight men got over their barrier with one man they were much less resistant with others, especially when made so uncontrollably horny by his pheromones.  

The progress bar of the quest slowly crept upward, though remained frustratingly at 95%. Edward had no idea how other than lighting the gallery on fire he could possibly liven up this party more than an orgy of divorced old straight men. He got a notification on his phone, yet another thirst comment from a hopeful sugar daddy on his latest post. Seeing that he gave him an idea. 

Edward started to film a video. He panned over the live music, and dancing crowd, and showed a brief shot of the men making out from behind, then flipped the camera back to himself and pumped his fist like he was in a club. He quickly typed out a caption giving the address and promising anyone who came a good time. He clicked post. 

Edward had no idea if this would work. He surly wouldn’t go to a party he learned about from a random guy on social media, although if the guy looked like Edward did he might consider it. 

While Edward waited to see if anyone would come he walked around the party attempting various other things to liven up the function. He got up on stage and started singing with the musicians, amazed by how much the boosts to his charisma had improved his voice and musical ability. After a few minutes however, it became clear he wasn’t increasing the quest's progress and that his pheromones were messing up the musicians, as they spent more time looking at his ass than their instruments. 

Edward tried to liven up the dance circle floor. He got into the center, started thrusting his hips, and even took his shirt off to reveal a scrawny if perfectly proportioned, torso. This also didn't help the quest, though caused the watching orgy to all cum at once.

The countdown on the quest had only twenty minutes left. Edward was about to admit defeat and give up his dreams of earning the extra reward when the first of the new guests began to arrive. A group of sorority girls hesitantly entered the art gallery, sure they were at the wrong location. They saw the booze and dancing and joined in on the fun.

Edward chatted with them for a few minutes, grateful his pheromones didn't affect them nearly as much as the men. Edward was amazed at how easy it was to have conversations with strangers. His charisma and perks now made him an effortless chat. He was more witty, friendlier, a better listener, and a better flirt. He was able to effortlessly remember all their names and without anxiety command the conversation. 

He found out from one of the girls that Sigma Alpha, the top fraternity on campus, had just canceled their big party for tonight and that everyone who wasn’t going to the sewer rave had decided to come here instead.

Sure enough, the gallery was soon filled with drunk college students, mixing and mingling with their rich parents or professors, all drunk and dancing. The divorced men had migrated to a back room and Edward heard tell that other men had joined them.

Scintillation and River with messy hair came out of the bathroom to find the formal party had turned into a frat house replacement. Edward expected he would have to talk them down but they immediately joined in, swept up by the electric energy of the party. 

Edward got a text on his phone. He feared it would be Leon declaring he was level ten and had won but it was Trent telling him that he and Tag were going to go to that art gallery party that the model guy had posted about instead of the sewer rave. 

As more and more people arrived the quest slowly ticked up and up. Finally, with only a few minutes left on the timer Edward watched a group of guys bring a keg through the door and Scintillation did a rather impressive keg stand finally boosting the quest objective to liven up the party to 100%. Edward felt a wave of relief then a wave of something else. Edward finally reached level ten and received a ton of notifications including the usual stat points, a new perk, two new techniques, and a new quest he couldn’t quite believe. Edward left at a run, skinny legs and arms moving with effortless grace as he raced back to the house he shared with Leon, intensely eager to rub his victory in Leon’s face and show him the new quest he had been offered. There was no way Leon was going to believe this shit.

-

Leon's vision turned red as Hunter viciously squeezed his windpipe. Around him, the dagorhir players tried furiously to get the big man off of him but without success. In vain, Leon tried to activate his inner strength power, but it was still on cooldown and nothing happened. He tried again with the same lack of success. He felt himself starting to lose consciousness, to lose the ability to think. With a desperate stubborn animal need to live Leon tried one last time right as the ability ended its cooldown. Leon felt a colossal burst of strength rush into his body. 

His vision cleared, and his neck didn't feel in pain anymore. With an inhumanly swift motion, Leon broke Hunter's grip on his hands then freed his feet and lifted them up to his torso. The shield Ruth had thrown Leon was pinned in-between the two struggling muscular men. Leon kicked at it with an inner strength-enhanced blow. A loud boom like a clap of thunder sounded as Leon sent both the shield and Hunter flying into the air, the two landing some distance away in the grass with a crack that could have belonged to either Hunter or the wooden shield. 

All around him the Dagorhir players and the frat boys stopped their struggling with each other to look at him in slack-jawed amazement. Leon heard a ding as he leveled up. 

“You have reached level eight. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Strength, +1 Charisma, +0.3 Intelligence.”

“You have gained a class perk.”

“No Fear: As a Juggernaut, you charge head first into danger without fear. You are now stouthearted in front of all but the most forsaken of odds and all but reckless in the heat of battle. Note: The potency of this effect scales off of strength and intelligence. Note: You are immune to fear effects from all sources except those with a rank of legendary or celestial.”

Leon felt the normal changes that came with a boost to strength. His back straightened, his legs beefed up, and his hands and feet grew slightly in size. There was a mental change too that came with the new perk. Leon had had too much adrenalin in his system to fully process it but he had been scared, terrified even as Hunter had wrapped his big hands around his neck. He had thought he was going to die and the feeling almost paralyzed him into inaction. Now that feeling was gone. 

It wasn’t that Leon was some mindless brute. He wouldn’t go sticking his dick in a bee nest but that was no longer because he feared the pain and now a simply rational decision of minimizing injury. 

The frat bros who had been struggling with the Dagohir players picked up a number of the foam weapons from the ground and rushed to Hunter's side, forming a defensive wall around him. From the ground Hunter slowly sat up with a groan, painfully cradling the arm he had landed. “You're a fucking freak,” he said pointing at Leon. The Dagorhir players formed up around Leon in his own circle of protection. His burst of power from his inner strength ability had long faded and Leon now felt his own injuries quite acutely, his neck was tender and sore and he imagined he was going to have a nasty hand-shaped bruise there soon. What Leon didn't feel was fear. 

Ruth gripped her sword tightly in front of her threateningly as if it were anything more than foam. “Get back to your frat house before we call the police.”

Across the field, Hunter got fully to his feet, helped up by one of his friends who he ungratefully brushed off. He was handed a large sword by another of his frat bros. Hunter tightened his grip around the thing, and gave it a few experimental swings then flashed a smile with far too many teeth. “Your all fucking dead,” he said. 

In Leon's vision, a notification popped up. 

“Combat quest available”

“Objectives: Defeat Sigma Alpha members (0/5). Reward: XP” 

Leon smiled. He grabbed a sword and shield of his own from the ground and donned the helmet a tall girl behind him gave him. Then he assumed a battle stance. 

There were a few seconds of silence as both sides stared the other down. Then at the same time, both he and Hunter charged forward, their armies doing the same behind them. The world became a chaotic blur. Two friendly archers in the back fired foam-tipped arrows at the frat guy just behind Hunter. The projectiles couldn’t hurt the man but they packed enough of a punch to destabilize him, allowing two others who raced forward bring him down. A big Sigma Alpha guy Brough a short guy with glasses to Leon's left down in a football sack. To his right, Ruth blocked a punch with her shield then brought her foam sword down savagely onto the back of her opponent’s knee bringing him down. 

Leon had only one target in mind. He felt for the first time like a true juggernaut, pounding the ground heavily with his large strong bare feet as he rapidly charged at Hunter. From the grass, the downed frat guy tried to grab Leon’s leg but at that moment Leon was unstoppable. Hunter seemed just as eager for a fight. He charged forward with his sword in two hands dragging behind him. Though made of foam Hunter had ample enough power to do serious damage. Still, Leon didn’t feel the slightest thrill of fear. The latest level of strength had made him equal in height and musculature to his big opponent, meaning neither was likely to overpower the other. Instead, Leon knew he had to rely on other advantages, namely his shield, his “perfect form” perk, and his inner strength power, though the cooldown of that was less then halfway done. 

The first advantage came in handy right away, as Leon blocked Hunter’s powerful overhand swing with a precisely placed parry. Leon followed up with a couple of strikes at Hunter’s torso with quick accurate jabs while Hunter brought his unwieldy sword back into position to strike again. Leon’s strikes didn't seem to deter the raging bull as he swung again this time from the side. Leon chose to dodge the strike rather than block it. He was fast, he stepped back causing the swing to miss him completely, Hunter was fast as well, however. He turned the momentum of the missed swing into a shoulder check that hit Leon hard in his bare chest, knocking the wind out of him. 

Leon stumbled back and in the momentary pause was able to survey the battle going on behind him. The Dagorhir members had the advantage in numbers, experience and teamwork. Leon watched with the help of two short guys Ruth was able to fully bring down one of Hunter’s friends, a tall but slender handsome guy who raised his hands in surrender from the ground, raising the combat quest objective to 1/5.

The frat bros however had the advantage of size and brutality. A massive man even larger than Hunter or Leon threw two Dagorhir players savagely aside before charging at Ruth. Leon knew he needed to take care of Hunter fast so he could aid his allies. 

Leon and Hunter exchanged blows while he waited the agonizing minuet for his ability to come off cooldown. The last two times Leon had used it against Hunter directly. Throwing the big man around like a rag doll, which while fun, only seemed to enrage the frat president. Instead, Leon needed to find a way to use his ability to incapacitate him, preferably without doing serious physical harm. 

An idea came to him. He let Hunter stalk forward pretending to be winded. Hunter raised his sword to finish off Leon but he didn't have the chance. Leon again activated his Inner Strength ability. Instead of using the second of speed and power to hit Hunter, Leon grabbed him. He reached an arm around his back, and much to Hunter’s surprise, into his pants.

Hunter's eyes went wide as Leon grabbed a handful of the man's underwear and then lifted him into the air. Leon let out a very unmasculine yelp as he was subjected to the worst and most public wedgie of his life. Leon didn't stop there. He brought his knee up onto the suspended man’s crotch, eliciting an even higher pitch yelp before Leon dropped him to the ground where Hunter collapsed into a heap.

Humiliated and in pain, Hunter rolled around on the ground, out of the fight. The quest updated to 2/5. 

From there Leon and his allies were able to make quick work of the other three frat guys. The tally went to 3/5 as Leon knocked a bulky man off the Dagorhir player he had pinned. Then it went to 4/5 as Ruth bashed another in the face with her shield, breaking his nose and causing him to run away. The last, a tall crafty-looking guy raised his hands in surrender. Leon allowed him to collect his fallen friends and let them all go stumbling away calling out warnings after them about what would happen the next time they picked a fight. The quest was completed and Leon heard a familiar ding as he leveled up for the second time in only a few minutes.  

He felt himself grow even larger, going from big to large. He looked like a junior bodybuilder, tall and muscular. The short pudgy kid he had been at the start of the day was gone, and in his place was a towering hulking man of corded muscle and lean sharp lines. 

“You have reached level nine. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Strength, +1 Charisma, +0.3 Intelligence.”

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Armored Skin: The natural toughness of your skin can now resist all but significant instances of physical harm. Note: the potency of his effect is boosted by strength. Note: This protection is less effective against non-physical damage.”

Though his "Animal Endurance” perk was already healing his bruises rapidly, Leon was very grateful for this new perk that would make it more difficult for an asshole like Hunter to hurt him in the future. He felt his skin hardened as all the flaps from his weight loss not yet filled by muscle tightened protectively around his body. His light brown skin gained a slightly gray shine to it and a hard smooth texture. Leon knocked a fist experimentally against his bicep and heard a hollow metallic ringing as if his arm were a tin can. 

Ruth walked around the grass towards him and the two watched the frat bros retreat. “Holy shit” she said clearly winded but grinning. Around them, the others got to their feet. Besides, for a few scrapes and bruises, none of them were too badly hurt. “You got a lot more buff since the last time I saw you,” Ruth said as if noticing for the first time his bare muscular torso. “Also why were those guys trying to kill you?”

“It's a long story,” Leon said, not sure exactly how he would even start explaining the events of the day. “Thanks for your help though, that could have gotten rather nasty without you I think,” Leon said, noticing absently how his “No Fear” perk also applied in social settings making him less nervous and more honest. 

Ruth snorted a laugh. “Anytime Superman. How about you put your number into my phone, and let me know if those guys try to bother you again.” Leon agreed although, with his new armored skin perk and his 26 strength, he was more worried about Hunter retaliating against Ruth and the others.

“I left my stuff back in there,” Leon said gesturing to the fitness center and then his naked body.

Ruth’s body glanced across his bare torso and penis without much interest, neither surprised or lustful. Leon was getting the sense she wasn’t into guys. “Right well text me!” She called after him as he jogged away, dick and pecs juggling up and down with the movement. “And we meet every Tuesday and Thursday.”

“Save me a sword, I’ll be there” Leon called back and meant it. Besides dying that had been some of the most fun he had since he and Edward had stayed up all night to beat the new Dark Souls game. 

Edward rushed back inside the fitness center. He was reminded of the little fat kid who had been so nervous to walk in only half a day ago. Now despite being naked the tall hunk walked carefree into the building, feeling the familiar wave of confidence wash over him from his Gym Rat perk.

Before Leon grabbed his stuff from the locker room he decided to knock out one of the quests he had just been assigned, “Break a record at the gym”. Leon suspected there was some loophole in there where he could beat the record for most math done or some other workaround. The Juggernaut classes’ +0.3 to intelligence per level made it clear however that it wasn’t his job to be so clever. 

Instead, he walked up to the largest man he could see, an older guy just a touch larger than him doing bicep curls, and bluntly asked “What's the record for that thing?” motioning to the bench press. The man didn't seem to notice Leon’s nakedness, but he did take in his large muscles and gave him a nod of respect. 

“Big Jon does 465,” he said in a surprisingly higher-pitched voice. Leon thanked him and then started to load the press. He supposed lifting 466 would complete the quest but after the triumph of the fight, he was feeling cocky so he instead put five large heavy plates onto each side of the bar. The thing sagged with the weight and Leon briefly doubted himself. He remembered how difficult it had been to only lift a third of his body weight. Now he was lifting almost three times his weight. 

Leon took a deep breath and assumed the position. He felt a bit bad about putting his bare butt on the bench but no one seemed to mind. With great effort, he lifted the bar into the air and slowly brought it down so that the bar almost touched his downward-facing pointy nipples. Then he hefted the bar upwards. His arms shook and a vein emerged on his neck with the effort but Leon lifted the bar back up. The quest was completed. 

For fun, he activated his inner strength ability and did two more reps with ease. He felt the gains instantly added to his physique thanks, a small swelling of his chest and triceps, but intoxicating non the less. 

Leon wiped down his workout equipment, he was determined not to become an asshole just because he was big, and ventured back downstairs to the locker room from before. The place was trashed, lockers smashed from where he had thrown Hunter. On the ground, he found his discarded clothes. His Superman teeshirt, an XL from his heavier days, fit strangely on his body now. It was tight in the shoulders and chest, fit well on his muscular arms but sagged around his midsection. He decided to ditch it, though he did end up putting his underwear and shorts back on. As fun as it was to have his dick out and have no one care he worried it would be uncomfortable with the constant physical exertion he would had to do. He also put on his shoes and socks, though he suspected his new Armored Skin perk would allow him to run over uneven surfaces barefoot without feeling a thing. 

In his shorts pocket, he found his phone and his wallet, which Hunter and his friends luckily had left alone.

He typed out a quick text to Edward “Level 9 sucker. One more level till you got to kiss my ass.” He also added Ruth’s contact information to his phone and asked her to thank the Dagorhir club again for the assistance.

A few moments later Edward texted back. “As if. I’m 9 too. You're about to cream when you see me.” Leon scoffed at the idea of ugly Edward making anyone cream.

His next quest was simple but had the potential to be time-consuming, which could be a problem if he wanted to beat Edward to level ten. “Run a marathon” would have been Leon’s definition of hell before Altered State but now with his new physique and his Animal Endurance perk the prospect seemed almost fun. 

Slightly more clothed and with the motivation of being so close to ten Leon began to run. He didn't have a particular destination in mind. Instead, he just allowed his legs to carry him around campus, marveling at how fast and efficient his body moved. Despite his breakneck pace, Leon didn't feel even slightly tired.

He wasn’t sure if it was his speed or his muscular shirtless body but his passing garnered lots of attention from the students and faculty he passed on campus, on their way to a late dinner or an early pre-game. He got several cat calls from rowdy guys he passed and even had one girl whip out her phone to take a video of Leon’s running back. 

Leon circled around campus twice before he decided to take his run out into the city beyond. He passed restaurants and storefronts and even the mall that sold all the trendy clothes he and Edward wouldn’t be caught dead in. He turned into an unfamiliar part of town where the buildings were nicer and the apartments all had doormen who watched him run past disapprovingly. 

Leon slowed his pace as he ran past what looked like an art gallery, only it had loud music coming from inside and a stream of drunk college kids entering. Leon was very curious to know what could possibly be going on inside but decided against it in fear it would reset his marathon counter.

In all, it took Leon an hour and a half to run a full marathon. My the end even with all his perks and his strength Leon was winded and sweaty, but also immensely proud. He had just run the fastest marathon in human history, and Leon knew he would only get faster. 

He stopped to lean against the brick wall of a dorm to catch his breath as the quest marked itself as complete and Leon reached the much-anticipated level ten. The familiar surge of strength that came with each level up course through his body along with something else. Starting at his balls there was a cold feeling, like the spreading chill one got after drinking a cup of ice water on a warm day, seeped through him. He checked his notifications for an explanation. 

“You have reached level ten. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Strength, +1 Charisma, +0.3 Intelligence.”

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Tip Top Testosterone: Your body now produces an excess of testosterone without any of the negative side effects. Note: Testosterone production is further enhanced by additional levels.” 

“At level ten the Juggernaut class gets to pick from two class abilities. Note: the ability not picked may become available at levels 15, 20, 25, etc.”

“Choice one.”

“Size Up: Once per day you can grow in size by 58% for 58 seconds. While active your strength is doubled. Note: Both percentage size increases and duration are equal to double your strength score.”

“Choice two.”

“Unstoppable: Twice per day you can become unstoppable. This ability lasts for 10 seconds and during this time the Juggernaut cannot be slowed, stunned, immobilized, or prevented from moving in any way. Note: The duration of this effect is equal to the level. Note: You gain an additional use of this skill daily every ten levels.” 

The two abilities appeared next to each other in parallel gray boxes in his vision. Leon read each description several times. The Unstoppable ability could have saved his life in the fight with Hunter. Leon loved the idea of running through walls or breaking out of bindings like a true unstoppable Juggernaut.

The other ability, Size Up had its own more flashy appeal as well. Leon was already massive, more muscular then most men could ever dream of. He imagined himself growing 58% bigger, he would be a giant. At least eight feet tall and well over 300 pounds, and with double the strength. Leon imagined that would be enough to bend solid steel, or lift a car. Let Hunter try to choke him when he had all that. Leon knew it was only a once a day ability, that in the long run the unstoppable perk might actually be more useful, but Leon couldn’t pass up the flashier option, especially now that he had no fear keeping him cautious. He reasoned he could always pick that ability at level 15. Leon mentally selected the first ability and both options disappeared. A new icon appeared next to his Inner Strength cooldown showing him the number of ability uses he had left for the day, one. 

Temporary distraction from choosing a perk now over Leon returned his attention to the effects the latest perk was having. Leon felt his balls begin to expand painfully in his already too-small underwear. His skin started to prickle as hair grew up around his crotch then up his stomach giving him a happy trail. As the icy feeling spread around his body so did the growing hair. His chest itched as dark brown fur grew dense around his nipples and in-between his pecs stopping right before his collar bone giving him a pelt of chest hair though not one so thick as to obscure his musculature. The itching spread over his arms and legs and pits where the hair grew darker and thicker before reaching his face which grew a short stubble beard. 

The testosterone in his body continued the spread. Leon began to feel the hormone in his mind. He felt like he had the one time he and Edward shared a blunt they had stolen from Alvis only less giggly and much much more horny. The feeling of horniness only grew, not the jerk off before bed type of horny either, but the fuck anything that moves kind. Leon took a few calming breaths trying to ride through the storm of hormones flooding his body. 

He was half tempted to go back to that party he had seen and pick up a chick to get some of this electric pent up energy out. Leon thought it wouldn’t be too hard with his new smoking hot body. But he needed to get home and prove to Edward he had won the bet. Besides he and Edward had made a pact to loose their virginity together. Leon decided once he was done bragging about reaching level 10 first he could play wing man for Edward and find him some guy to suck off then go for a hot girl. 

Plus he needed Edward’s help understanding his next quest. “Partake in vigorous carnal cardio” was all it read. The only one of those words Leon knew was “cardio”, and also the word “in" he supposed. 

Leon checked Edward’s location on his phone, which the two had shared with each other freshman year, and cursed. Edwards dot was heading back towards their apartment from the direction of the city. If he was on his way home then that likely meant he was level ten as well. Leon needed to get home first for bragging rights of course. 

Leon began to run again, energized by the testosterone now flowing through his system like blood. The sun had set and he hoped it was dark enough for people not to notice the stiff bulge in his shorts, although they might not care thanks to his “Naked Confidence” perk. Leon really was going to need to fuck something soon, and fuck it hard.

[neonacity]

ARCANE : INIZIO | CH.8 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When human deviants granted with the abilities of the legendary Arcana cards find themselves racing against devious forces, they are left to make a choice that might change the fate of the world itself: be the victims of the game, or become the masters of it themselves.

But will this war end with a crowned hero?

Or will it just create another mad villain?

*****

Note: This is the second book of Arcane. The happenings in this story is a prequel to the first installment which you can check in my Masterlist.

Pairings: Dream 00’ Line + Mark x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: romance, violence, torture, trauma, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. This is a work of fiction, and the boys are just my muses. I do not post anywhere else but here on Tumblr.

© neonacity, 2024

CHAPTER SONG: Anywhere | Evanescence

Index of characters and lore: (x)

Previously > CH. 1 | CH.2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6 | CH.7

****

Cold fingers ghosted over your skin, teasing you to slowly wake from your slumber. His touch was gentle as they traced your spine but the roughness of his calouses made you shiver and melt even more against his touch. Jeno felt it and moved his head a little to brush his lips against your forehead. You sighed, the action warming his bare collarbones with your breath.

"Are you awake?"

"No..."

You felt him slightly smile against your hair. You didn't want to open your eyes, afraid that the moment you do, he will pull away from you again. It's been so long since you had him close like this, so open and raw, and you are willing to put in the line anything just so you could live off of this moment for as long as you can.

"Look at me..."

"Jen, it's past midnight. You can leave before daybreak. I don't think anyone will care at all—"

"Run away with me."

You froze in his arms. Slowly, you pulled away to look at him, wondering for a moment if you heard his words well and clear. He looked too beautiful in the shadows of your room to be saying lies he didn't mean. Desperately, you tried to look for a hint in his eyes of guilt, but instead he only met your gaze with an openness that made your throat catch.

"What...?"

Jeno slightly turned towards you and raised a hand to cradle your cheek. His thumb made gentle strokes on your lips for comfort.

"Run away with me. Let's leave everything behind and start somewhere. Anywhere."

You were speechless. Unconsciously, you held back his hand to stop him from distracting you with his touch. He let you do it, but the look he gave you did nothing to soften his determination.

"Jeno, we can't leave the family. You know that. We're both—"

"Masters of a system that we both didn't want nor wished for," he said, cutting you off before you could even finish the words he's heard from you countless of times. "Don't you see? We've always had a choice. Being born into this doesn't mean you have to carry this burden forever."

He sounded so vulnerable yet so held back in that moment that you just knew he had been thinking about this for so long. Is this why he had been avoiding you since you went back to Rosewood?

"Our lives has been set for us the moment the Arcanas chose us as their masters. To have these powers mean we have a role to play. All of us do," you answered back in a tone that almost sounded as if you were begging. You can't help it. Never in your life have you ever considered this, the freedom he is talking about.

"And I choose a life with YOU," he shot back as he finally pulled away from you to stand up from the bed. You sat up as well, your heart dropping at the distance he put between the two of you. The desperation and frustration in his voice was like a slap on raw skin. You watched as he paced and ran his hand through his hair, a gesture that told you it was costing him his everything to say these things now.

"You say there is a war coming, but you don't have to fight it. None of us do. Your father has always given you a choice to run away from this, but you've held back thinking you need to pay a debt you didn't even make in the first place," he paused, before finally facing you again.

"I've made my choice. And I only have ever wanted you."

Silence rang in the wake of his words. You looked at him lost, and he did the same but with an intensity you have never seen in him before. There are only a couple of things in your cursed life that you have always been sure of. One, that tragedy is in your horizon, no matter how much you try to run away from it.

Two, you want Jeno.

Just as desperately, foolishly, and madly he wants you.

Your gaze finally lowered as you let your thoughts consume you whole. Jeno, seeing that as a clear refusal, sadly softened his shoulders in defeat. He looked away and stepped back.

"Forget it."

"We leave at dawn."

This time, it was his turn to freeze. He looked back at you, stunned and silent. You met him head on, your gaze clear and also determined for the first time in years.

"Let's leave together... I want you. I'm not running away again."

*******

Betrayal has a distinct taste.

It’s metallic and sharp, like the bite of blood sitting at the back of your throat that you can never seem to wash.

It also has a distinct smell. One of burnt embers, tossing in the hearth as they melt into smoke.

Betrayal has a distinct color. Oftentimes, it comes in shades of blood and rust. But sometimes, it can also be of flowers…

Trying to cover the bite of poison under their deceiving bright colors.

The man standing in front of the dying fire tried his best to ignore the curve of the deep red lips that smiled at him from the shadows. He wanted nothing more but to get his current business in this cursed room done and over with, but the devil of a woman sitting across him seems to find joy from seeing him internally suffer.

He guessed her reaction was warranted if he were in her position.

Miyoung Lee, renowned doctor and scientist, and one half of Cypher—the leading research institute in this part of the world—was about to unlock what no other academic has done before. Access to powers way beyond the mundane world that govern the aether and the ether… and maybe even the ability to control them.

All because of him. Particularly, what he is about to do.

Junho Lee, a renowned member of the secret Arcana Family, born and destined to protect the celestial forces that were lent to chosen human descendants would probably be the last person anyone would suspect to betray the clan. As a direct son and current head of the main Lee branch, he holds pride in his roots. Before him, his ancestors have made history as Arcana masters themselves. And while he had not been granted the same powers as them, he is about to make his own mark by being the father of one yet to be the greatest of them all.

“Tomorrow, yes?”

“At the break of dawn.”

“And you can confirm that he has no suspicions? At all?”

Junho paused for a moment, watching the fire lick a turning ember on the hearth. The Headmaster of Rosewood Academy is a keen man and a powerful one, but he is also a person with unwavering trust in his circle. Unfortunately for him, he decided to put it on Junho. And now they both have to pay a fair price for it.

“He has none. I made sure the trail is clear.”

The slight creaking of a chair followed by the dull thud of heels against mahogany made him brace. It took him everything he had so as not to flinch at the feeling of long sharp nails running up his shoulders, before tapping the lapel of his coat almost mockingly.

“Good. I have trust in your word, Mr. Lee. After all, you know what it will cost you if you betray me.”

This time, he couldn’t stop himself from stiffly turning at the woman, his eyes cold as steel. Miyoung smiled back with the look of a feral goddess.

“You will not hurt my son.”

“I shall not hurt him if you keep your word. That is the arrangement.”

He balled his fists under the cover of his pockets at the way she said it so smoothly, as if she was talking about the weather rather than the fate of a whole secret society and the individual lives that make it. The first time Junho met the woman, he knew from the start that she was a different kind of evil. But then again, are they really much different? He who has chosen this path for the sake of revenge and glory?

“And the girl too. Don’t forget about her,” he replied. Miyoung took a step back and gave a wave of her hand as if it was just an afterthought she couldn’t care less about.

“Yes, of course. I do not understand the need to save a plain human but I have not forgotten.”

He took that as a signal to leave. He never particularly liked these clandestine meetings and he also didn’t need a reason to be suspected by anyone. Turning towards the door, he barely gave the woman a look as he passed her.

“Keep your word, and you might have the world.”

*******

You might as well have gone mad.

Yes. There is no doubt that you have finally lost your mind the moment you slipped out of the shadowy hallway, your eyes having long adjusted into the darkness by now. In front of you, Jeno’s back looked strong and determined as he led the way, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings for anything and anyone. Even as he moved to guide you, he kept his hand locked with yours as you both traced the steps leading to your escape.

Escape. A heavy word to describe what you two are about to do, but a fitting one nonetheless. The irony, however, lies in the fact that you are not running away from anyone. Your father would be more than happy if you step away from this life and you doubt any of the others will try to hold you back. No, what you are escaping from is your own self. Your identity as a member of the Family and the life you've thought you'll have to see through until your very last breath. Jeno is doing the same, both of you deciding to leave behind parts of yourself that have been bound to your souls since the very beginning.

Yes, after today, you will no longer be IL Matto, and he, La Morte. You will live your life as normal people, and that will be more than enough.

“Are you sure you don’t want to do anything else before we leave?” Jeno spoke in a whisper and you noted how a slight flash of guilt took his gaze. “Maybe write a letter to your father?”

You hesitated briefly, and you knew Jeno felt it with the way he ran his thumb over your hand. A letter is a good idea… at least a word that can let your father know of your decision. However, the thought of doing something so actively as to say goodbye is already choking you up, as if it would make your actions all the more real. So instead, you slightly shook your head and motioned for him to continue walking.

“The sun will be up in less than an hour. We should go…”

He didn’t question you anymore, his answer coming in a gentle squeeze of your hand. The skies beyond the wide windows running through the hallways are already starting to stain with the faintest golden red and you both continued on, silent in agreement and purpose.

It was in the last hallway, just before you could both breakthrough the back exit of the academy that Jeno suddenly paused. Peering from around his back, you saw darker shadows moving against the darkness, as if the source of it sensed your presence.

“Keep back,” he whispered against you as another dark figure lengthened in front of him. He had called on his arcana to act as your shield.

“Jeno…”

“Jeno?”

You both stiffened at the sound of the voice. Just as soon as it appeared, Jeno’s shadow warrior dissipated, revealing a baffled looking Jaemin behind it.

The silence that followed was thick. Jaemin’s eyes looked at you both, before his gaze flickered towards your joined hands. The sight of it made a look of realization dawn on his face, and for the first time, you felt panic crawling up your throat.

“Jaemin–”

You were ready to go on a full-blown explanation when he suddenly nodded towards the exit behind him.

“You both better leave now if you don’t want the others seeing you.”

You blinked, shocked and confused. Meanwhile, Jeno was quiet in front of you, watching his best friend.

“What are you doing here?”

The silver haired boy shrugged off the other’s question with a slight smile.

“We’ve been stationed to go on rounds in guarding the castle. The other hyungs are at the front. Luck is really on your side for choosing this route. If you decided to have done this yesterday, you would have had Haechan catching you both.”

Your gaze moved from Jeno and then to the other boy. For some reason, you felt like they are both talking in codes you couldn’t understand.

“Hey, don’t look so startled, angel. I’m here to keep the bad guys out, not keep you both in here,” Jaemin said in his usual smooth fashion. He gave Jeno a quick look then. “Besides, everyone knows this will happen sooner or later.”

Something about his words triggered something in you, and without even realizing it, you found yourself letting go of Jeno’s hand and going over to Jaemin to wrap your arms around his neck. He didn’t hesitate to hug you back, pressing his lips against the top of your head. Despite his casual demeanor, he held you tightly as if he never wanted to let you go.

“Thank you…” you whispered against his chest.

“If he hurts you, I’ll know. I’ll go get you myself then, okay?”

You smiled and nodded, not even realizing that warmth has started rolling down your cheeks and staining his shirt. When he finally let you go, he gave your arm one last squeeze before looking over at Jeno.

“Take care of her.”

“You know I will.”

He slightly moved over to the side as Jeno joined both of you then. It was a quick moment, but for a few seconds, the three of you basked in that shared little space. You, Jeno, and him. You three who have always balanced each other out… You three who have always been there at the start.

“We’ll write. I promise,” was the only thing you found yourself capable of saying. He laughed softly and tucked a lock of hair behind your ear.

“And I promise to visit… Once all of this is over. Now go. You don’t want the others making a big fuss of you two eloping.”

A shade of red dusted your cheeks despite yourself at the word he used. Nodding, you stepped back as Jeno took your hand again.

“You’ll be safe until the grounds. Once you’ve passed the protective barrier of the school, you have to be more careful.”

Jeno nodded. Without another word, he gently tugged you to pass the boy, a look of thankfulness in his eyes.

“I’ll see you soon, Jaemin.”

“Yes, soon.”

*******

Mark couldn’t figure out the reason he bolted awake from the warmth of his own bed. His breaths came in short and fast as if he had been running, and there was a thin layer of cold sweat on his forehead. He couldn’t remember if he was dreaming or not before this, but when he trained his hearing to check if there was anything amiss, the stone dorms only echoed back silence to him. Shakily, he raised his hand to feel for his pulse, and within the next minute, tried his best to gather his bearings.

His breathing was still uneven when he felt it again, a pull that cannot be seen or heard, but can only be felt energetically deep in his core. Rosewood Academy has always been protected by glamour, an invisible shield that keeps it from catching too much attention from normal people and to protect its students from the outside world. The barrier is made of the same frequency as their arcanas, which means it is pulled from the vibrations of the masters. The stronger the control over your ability is, the most you contribute to it... which only means one thing at the moment.

The school is under attack.

The moment his feet touched the ground as he jumped out of bed, an explosion of noises came from all around him. There was shouting and what seemed like a loud bang from deep inside the castle, and when he tore his door open, he was met by a wild-looking Haechan and Renjun. Jisung and Chenle were on their heels, looking equally worried in their pajamas.

“Hyung!”

“What is happening?”

“Where is she?”

They all talked at the same time, but it was a new voice coming from the other end of the hallway that made them all turn their heads at the same time. Jaemin was running towards them, covered in what looked like dust.

“We’re under attack. Someone’s trying to break down the barrier from the outside!”

“Are you okay? And where is she? We have to–”

“She left. With Jeno. She’s out of the castle right now.”

Nobody spoke after that. Mark wondered for a moment if he heard it correctly, but the way Renjun’s face paled beside him told otherwise.

“What do you mean she and Jeno left?!” Haechan asked, his voice shaky. Jaemin trained a steady look at the other boy and said nothing else.

“We have to go after them,” Mark said, moving to pass the other boy before he even realized what he was doing. His stomach felt heavy, and his limbs felt numb while also wanting to grasp something. The same words screamed at his head again and again.

She’s in danger.

You have to get her.

She left.

I can’t lose her!

“Hyung!”

Renjun’s voice snapped him from his trance. Mark looked down to see Jaemin holding him back, while the other tried to block his way.

“We have to let them go. They’re better off away from the Academy.”

“What do you mean they are better off–”

“Right now, we’re the only ones who know they left. These people who are trying to get inside are after us masters. She is better off away from here with Jeno,” Haechan added, despite his expression looking equally torn. Mark stared the boy down, until finally gritting his teeth and taking a step back.

His action seemed to have made the others relax a little, especially Chenle and Jisung who looked like they are waiting for their older hyungs to give them directions. The sight of the two youngest put some sense in him and Mark looked around the rest of the group as he tried to focus on the more important things.

“We need to help the others. Jaemin, do you know where Johnny-hyung are?”

“Him and Jaehyun-hyung are guarding the north main entrance. Yuta-hyung and I think Mijeong are both stationed in the West and East. I was over there at the South exit but the headmaster came over and told me to look for you guys so we could evacuate.”

Mark frowned. There was a gnawing feeling that started creeping up on him at the mention of the man.

“The headmaster? Was he with Kun and Taeyong-hyung?”

“They weren’t when he came over.”

“He doesn’t know noona left with Jeno?”

Jaemin shook his head.

It only took a moment for him to make a decision.

“We should get to him now.”

The rest of the boys exchanged confused looks but started running after him as he jogged towards the South end of the academy. Mark didn’t know what got to him, but the pull towards the headmaster told him it was the right thing to do at the moment.

“Hyung, shouldn’t we be helping the others? I think the headmaster can handle things himself,” Chenle asked.

“He can. But the Rosewood shield is also held up by our Arcanas, meaning the strongest of the masters have the most influence on it. We’re already compromised without IL Matto and La Morte and he—”

“He doesn’t know it. If he gets hurt, there's a huge chance the rest of the shield will go down as well," Jisung finished his sentence, sounding breathless.

Mark didn’t say anything and continued rushing towards the exit. He could only hope their older brothers are holding up their own forts, but they are also a lot more experienced at them so the odds are a little bit more in their favor. As for you… Haechan is right. You would be better off as far away from the Academy as possible with Jeno. He only prays you two have made distance before the attacks started.

It took a few minutes before him and the rest finally retraced Jaemin’s post. His heart was beating hard against his chest, even as they turned the final corner which leads to the iron-clad gate of the academy. The rest of the boys slowed down as he did, and like a pack, started walking carefully down the hallway. Everything looked still… Dark…

Then, all of a sudden, there was light.

A huge gaping line, similar to a portal tear, rose up in front of them. It glowed on the edges, as if a ragged saw tried to reap a hole from thin air. Mark looked down on the floor in front of it, where a small rounded thing caught its light.

Lying on the spot where the headmaster should have been is a lone copper ring. Mark has seen it all the time, always in the finger of the very man who was the last and strongest protection of Rosewood.

Until now.

*******

It felt like being hit by lightning.

You stopped in your tracks as your insides felt as if they were suddenly set on fire. In front of you, Jeno also paused, looking at you over in worry for a bit before an odd expression also took over his face. As your eyes met, you both knew you felt the same pull—a feeling as if something binding you had been broken.

“Jeno,”

You weren’t able to finish what you were about to say as another flash of pain took over you. This time, it didn’t seem as if Jeno felt the same and he crouched to hold you before you could fully collapse. His face was pale in the slowly dawning light creeping up from above the tree line as he tried to support you on your feet.

“Are you okay?”

“Something has happened.”

His eyes trailed upward, back to the hilltop where the turrets of the Academy were still visible. You have made enough distance from the castle by now, but you could still see some of its looming towers from where you are.

“We have to keep going,” he said, his voice sounding like he was trying his best to calm himself. He helped you up to start pulling you again but you stopped, your eyes wide.

He looked back at you in confusion, but it didn’t last long as he saw the look on your face. His jaw tightened and the fingers holding your hand did the same.

“Don’t…”

“We can’t leave them, Jeno.”

“You can’t go back there. If something really did happen, you have to be as far away from that place!”

“My father! Something must have happened to him,”

He paused, confused at first. Tears were starting to sting behind your eyes, and not only because of the pain still gripping you.

“I felt it. I lost his connection. I can’t feel him anymore, Jeno.”

You knew it the moment the second stab of pain embedded itself on your chest. While all Arcana masters are interconnected, the Triad has a special kind of bond that only the last three can feel. Despite the distance, your father’s energy has always been with you as IL Giudizio to your IL Matto. Now, there is nothing of him that you could feel no matter how much you tried to reach for him. There is just… silence.

Jeno stared at you with a look that you cannot fathom before slowly letting go of your hand. When he moved to cup your face, you avoided his gaze as your tears finally started to fall.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I can’t do it right now.”

He gently shushed you before pulling you in and kissing your forehead. He was steady in his hold on you as always, but you could feel the sense of defeat when he pressed you closer against him. He held you just like that for a few more moments before his voice anchored you again.

“Let’s go. It’s time to go back.”

*******

Note: Hi, guess who is back.

I know this fic has been dead for so long, but for some reason, no matter how many times I tried to quit it, I just couldn't bring myself to say that I'm done. I'd like to thank the last anon who sent me a message about it. So many people might have forgotten that Arcane still exists, but you gave me the push for now to finish at least this chapter! I am a little rusty at the moment but here you go. <3

Taglist: @effulgentfireflies, @kasperneo, @lostlovesoul11, @byunniebaekhyunnie, @smolpeyy, , @dearj43, @bettyschwallocksyee, @babyksworld,   @yongboksfreckles,  @user103843, @lovehowdream, @glitching-wren, @jhornytrash, @coconuttiez8d, @negincho​, @stopeatread​, @ellatizw​, @huangberryyy, @wonyofanclub​, @lotties-readings , @cabaretyun, @jjaegyeom, @marijmin

[gamerwoman3d]

Please Be Bi-Han 🙏

🔞 An MK1 x Reader 🔞

You aren't supposed to be in this timeline.

And to you, this timeline shouldn't exist. But it does. And this timeline is particularly exploitable, given the things you know which no one else in this timeline does. You slip into the timeline and abuse your knowledge to unethically gain just enough wealth to live very, very comfortably. And you laugh because this timeline is literally just a game to you. Admittedly, you came here to try to seduce the hotties. But when you figured out just how easy it would be to game the financial system here, you did that.

Imagine not being shocked at all to see Liu Kang at your doorstep with his Lin Kuei goons. You could laugh. You know him. You know all three, no, all four of them; your attraction to them is what initially drew you to this timeline. The fourth you knew by smell alone; the campfire scent in the air proved that Smoke was with them, somewhere ready for action yet invisible to your eyes.

Imagine closing the door to your beautiful private mansion in their face before any of them even speak. Imagine bolting it, locking it, chaining it, only to tell them through the speaker, "Whoever breaks this door down and finds me first gets laid."

🔞 Spicy/Explicit after the cut 🔞

Now you, you have installed several small panic rooms throughout your mansion with which to play hide and seek. So you go do that, smirking to yourself as you watch the group through the security cam app on your phone. But back up a moment to just before these guys arrived.

Liu Kang smirked as he collected his warriors at the edge of a portal that would lead conveniently into a hidden driveway outside the privacy walls near your garden.

"I have a fun little mission for us today. Geras discovered someone manipulating the financial trajectory of our timeline that isn't supposed to be here. We need to go get them, and convince them to stop, without violence."

"Respectfully, Lord Liu Kang - If you don't need violence, why did you call us? If we can't stab it, it's most likely someone else's problem," Smoke said out of turn.

"There are other methods of coercion, Smoke. And if Geras' revelations for this mission are proven true, then methods of seduction are on the table," Liu Kang responded flatly.

Liu Kang wanted to laugh. The synchronized single-eyebrow raise of the three masked ninjas before him was too cartoonish to seem real.

Fast forward.

You get a good run, scrambling to your hiding place.

"I thought this might be the case," you hear Liu Kang say in your earbud, from audio played through the phone collected from the front door security recorder.

"Seduction really is the game this evening," Scorpion said, "even with you saying as much, I am still surprised."

"Are we making a competition of it? Or am I the only one that will be chasing after that cutie?" said Smoke from seemingly nowhere.

"Don't blow your cover, brother. We're not sure if we're being recorded. It could give us an advantage if you'd keep quiet," Sub-Zero said.

"It's a competition," Scorpion interjected before slamming his boot into the door, rattling it in it's frame.

A few kicks, body slams did nothing. Sub-Zero guided the others out of the way, froze the door handle in it's place, then pulled the mechanism - deadbolts and all - through the crystallized steel. He tossed it to the side and booted open the door, which swung freely and hit the interior wall with such force that one might have expected the crash to come from a vehicle accident.

You bounce in your place, trying not to giggle as you watch the men through your tablet. You had hoped Bi-Han would breech the door first, but now the men crept inside and began to hunt for you. You saw all except Smoke, just before the power went down, taking your security feed with it.

You were in the dark, now, lit only by the glow of a tablet that showed the wifi disconnected. You swiftly realized that Smoke must have gone to cut the power - and had the foresight to cut the backup power first.

Smart of him, you thought. But now, in the dark, there was nothing left to do but wait for one of them to discover your hiding spot. Every little noise you heard made your heart jump in anticipation of being caught.

"Please be Bi-Han, please be Bi-Han," you chanted in a whisper under your breath.

FOR PART TWO - LINKS BELOW POLL

...

And now I'll be a bit evil.

ADVENTURE TIME. C'MON GRAB -

Part 2a(i): Sub-Zero discovers F! Reader

Part 3a(i): Sub-Zero toys with F! Reader (to be read after part 2a(i)

Part 2b(i): Smoke discovers F! Reader

Part 2b(ii): Smoke discovers M! Reader

Part 3b(i): Smoke fucks F! Reader (to be read after part 2b(i)

[hufflepuffwritingstuff2]

Sleep Scare Speed Run- Teen Titans (2003) One-Shot

When an accident involving sleeping pills puts Y/N’s life in danger, someone’s going to have to act fast to save her.

To say that Y/N had been overworking herself had been an understatement of the year. Between fighting regular criminals and helping track down Slade, she barely made any time for herself. It was only when Starfire had asked how much sleep she had been getting that the severity of the situation really came to light.

“Uh,” Y/N paused, blinking slowly.

“You have been sleeping at least eight hours, right?” Starfire asked.

“Yes,” Y/N said, adding a quick, mumbled, “this week.”

“What?” Raven demanded, looking up from her book.

Raven fixed her with that cold, piercing stare that was only rivaled by someone like Killer Frost. It made Y/N shrink into herself.

“You’ve only slept eight hours, total? As in, the entire week only added up to eight hours?”

“You should be impressed I was able to keep track of it,” Y/N said, “usually I don’t know how much sleep I’m getting at all.”

“Dude, that’s not good,” Beast Boy added.

“This coming from the one who was up until 3am playing video games,” Y/N said.

“That’s different!” Beast Boy protested.

“You were up until 3am playing video games?” Raven asked, rounding on him.

Y/N took Beast Boy’s plight as an opportunity to leave the rec room. It wasn’t like she was staying up on purpose. The whole Slade thing was stressing her out- it was hard to sleep! She had sleeping pills in her room, maybe taking one wouldn’t be a bad idea.

She passed Robin and Kid Flash on the way out. Oh right, they were having him over today. She waved tiredly at them. She was almost to her room when- bump!

“You good, Y/N?” Cyborg asked.

“Alll good,” Y/N said.

She promptly bumped into him again before realizing she had to go around him. Cyborg watched her leave with a puzzled, concerned expression.

…

Two sleeping pills later, and Y/N still wasn’t asleep. She trudged back into the rec room, where her team was waiting for her.

Starfire smiled cheerfully.

“Friend Y/N!” she said, flying over to her, “we are just about to have some delightful milkshakes! Won’t you join us please?”

Y/N’s tired eyes brightened for just a moment. Milkshakes? Yes please!

Raven levitated a tall milkshake over to her. It had whipped cream and a cherry on top! Y/N took it eagerly, draining it in minutes.

“How do you feel?” Starfire asked with a smile.

“Tired,” Y/N admitted.

Starfire and Beast Boy nodded to each other with knowing winks.

“What?” Y/N asked.

“Nothing, Y/N,” Robin said, “do you want help getting to bed?”

How did he know she was sleepy?

“Yeah, that’s probably best,” Y/N admitted, “I already took two sleeping pills so…”

The entire team froze.

“Did you say… sleeping pills?” Raven asked.

“Mhm,” Y/N murmured drowsily.

The urge to sleep was growing quite strong. Y/M swayed on the spot. She barely registered Robin shouting something and a flash of lightning before everything went dark, and sleep sucked her down.

…

The sound of steady beeping roused Y/N. It was a fight to open her eyes. Worried voices babbled over her, sounding as though they were underwater.

“…and if you weren’t there, Wally, I don’t know what would’ve…”

“She’s waking up!”

Y/N’s vision cleared and saw Starfire inches from her face. She would’ve flinched if she weren’t so groggy.

“Friend Y/N! You are awake!”

“Yeah…”

“We were incredibly worried! Kid Flash had to rush you to the med bay. We did not know if you would… if anything had happened…”

Starfire trailed off.

“What did happen?” Y/N asked, trying to sit up.

Robin came over and pushed her back down.

“Easy, you’re recovering from an overdose of sleeping pills,” he said.

“Wha?”

“It’s our fault,” Beast Boy admitted, “we kinda spiked your milkshake.”

“You were not sleeping!” Starfire added, “we did not know what else to do!”

“But then when you said you had already taken two sleeping pills, we realized that there was too much in your system,” Raven finished.

“We are very sorry, Y/N,” Starfire said quietly.

“How… how long have I been out?”

“A couple days,” Cyborg said.

Y/N blinked in surprise.

“You should’ve woken up in a matter of hours,” Robin added, “seems like you really needed the sleep.”

Y/N looked away sheepishly.

“Hey uh, where is Kid Flash anyway?” she asked, “I wanna thank him.”

As if on cue, Kid Flash came in quicker than sound. He had a tall stack of pizzas in his hand.

“Okay, I’ve got selections from Jump City, Central City, Gotham City, and- oh, hey! You’re up! Just in time!"

Kid Flash put one of the pizza boxes in Y/N’s lap.

“It isn’t spiked or anything,” he added.

Y/N laughed, opening the box. Inside was her favorite type of pizza, it made her mouth water.

“Thanks man!” Y/N said with a grin.

“Um, Y/N?” Starfire asked.

Y/N already had a mouthful of pizza. She looked up at her with a sort of “what’s up?” expression.

“Are we still… friends?”

Y/N swallowed.

“That depends on one thing,” Y/N said.

The titans leaned in closer with bated breath.

“Can someone make me another milkshake? I didn’t really savor the last one.”

The team laughed with Y/N. Beast Boy brought her another milkshake, and she spent the entire day getting much-needed rest with her friends.

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@mythixmagic @infinityshadows @fishtale88 @thelazywitchphotographer @the-beasts-have-arrived @princessofonwardsworld @surplus-of-sarcasm @memepsychowhowantsuperpower-blog

@electrons2006

[peachhcs]

jealousy, jealousy

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

will does a bit of stalking on his burner account

1.7k words

here's a bit of will's groveling while talking with the guys from back home. if i had a burner account, i would also stalk my ex on it, so will's kind of real for that haha

au masterlist

will's eyes glued themselves to his phone screen. he didn't mean to click into samy's account, but one thing led to another and his fingers just typed away the password to his burner account that the girl had no idea he had so he wasn't blocked there.

he just needed to look. a check-in? what sounded better than calling it plain stalking? at least gabe and ryan weren't there to peer over the boy's shoulder and chirp on him for stalking his ex.

the boy's fingers slid through her profile. he hadn't seen it in awhile, so when he saw four new posts in her feed since the last time he looked, he was immediately tapping into them. will's gaze slid over every single photo.

samy's smile was wide and bright as she stood with hannah and their other friends. even her soccer photos captured her large smile and seeing it made will smile back. he always loved seeing her love soccer as much as she did.

the blonde scrolled until he stumbled onto a photo in one of her recent posts. the fourth picture out of the ten in the set was of samy standing very close to a guy will didn't quite recognize. his arm was wrapped around her waist and something in will pinched.

that feeling—one he had so long ago he hardly remembered it—started resurfacing the longer he stared at the photo. memories of samy's senior homecoming flashed in will's mind while he compared her date to the guy in this photo.

who the fuck was this guy? luckily, he was tagged, so will went to his account. it was public.

upon further inspection, the guy was their age, a soccer player for the men's team, and worst of all he had a similar photo of him and samy on his account too. actually, the brunette was in his feed twice.

they looked really close. too close.

will scoffed. the guy wasn't even that good looking. plus, he so wasn't samy's type. the boy clicked back into her account to inspect the rest of the photos.

for some reason he couldn't believe how happy she looked as if they didn't break up. she looked like nothing even happened, but that was how will looked too. at least he tried to.

suddenly, the boy's phone buzzed in his hand. gabe's name flashed across the screen and a smile appeared on the blonde's lips as she slid to answer the call. his friend's face quickly appeared.

"hey, did i catch you at a bad time?" gabe wondered when he connected.

"no, no. i'm in my room," the blonde chuckled.

"okay, good. ry and drew are with me too. they wanted to say hi," the dark-haired boy pointed his laptop towards the other boys who waved.

"hey smitty!"

"yooo, what's up!"

will smiled widely at their hello's, "hey, it's good to see you guys again."

"we miss you a lot here. it's not the same without our other guy," drew cut in.

"i miss you guys too. it doesn't feel the same not playing on the same team anymore," the blonde hummed a bit sadly.

that was the hardest thing about all of this. on top of going through a breakup, will's best friends weren't around to help him through it. he only saw them through a screen now.

"you start soon, right? in a week?" ryan wondered as him and drew sat behind gabe in what must've been one of their rooms or something. 

"yeah, i make my debut at the game next week," will nodded, excitement filling his system at that. he's waited since he was a kid to finally take the ice as an official nhl player and knowing that day was finally a week away didn't quite feel real. 

"dude, you're gonna be awesome. i wish we could be there to see it," gabe frowned a bit which made will frown again. 

"i wish you guys were here, too. how's boston been? the same?" 

"yeah, pretty much. tailgates, parties, practice, you know. the usual," drew commented earning small eye rolls from gabe and ryan. 

"mostly practice. coach wants us working extra hard this year after last season," ryan cut in and the blonde nodded. he figured coach would get on the team harder this season after they lost the ncaa finals without scoring any points. 

"what've you been doing though? are the guys cool?" gabe changed the subject. 

"oh, they're great. they've been showing me around the area and i think i'll really like it," the boy nodded. he felt content and the people on the team seemed like good guys, so he knew he was in good hands. 

there was just a few things missing. 

"met any girls?" drew teased with a large smirk. 

will's expression faltered while gabe and ryan glared in the other boy's direction. they didn't hound will as much about the whole breakup anymore, but the subject was still touchy and they knew for a fact will wasn't ready to meet other people yet. 

"dude," ryan mumbled, but will still heard him through the call. 

"uh, no. i haven't, but it's fine," the blonde offered a tight-lipped smile. the other three studied their friend for a moment, trying to decide if he was being truthful or not. 

samy's name wasn't one that came up a lot around them anymore when will was in conversation. they knew he didn't wanna talk about her, so they tried keeping her name out of their mouths as much as possible. they never even told him she visited last weekend to see them for their first home game of the season not knowing how that'd make will feel, but gabe decided to try his luck today with the topic. 

"uh, samy was up last weekend. she came and saw us for the first home game of the season," the dark-haired boy informed. he studied his friend's face for a reaction, worried that will would get mad or something. 

"oh, she did?" was all will said. 

"yeah, it was really nice of her. she was pretty excited for us. we took her out for dinner and everything, too," gabe smiled a bit. 

"that's cool. i'm glad she..she went out," will nodded while a part of him twisted. 

he knew the guys were still her friend, he just never really thought that she'd actually fly out to see them still when he wasn't there. plus, none of them even said anything to him about it last weekend. there wasn't even a story post about her being there. will knew his friends loved him, but did they really think they needed to hide whenever they were hanging out with his ex so he didn't know? 

"she asked about you..or well..we started talking about you a bit and she asked about you," ryan hummed making the blonde's ears perk up. 

"what did she say?" 

"just asked how you were. we said you were good. settled into san jose. she said she's glad you're doing good," ryan continued. hearing all of that made will's stomach continue twisting. of course she was glad he was doing good even when he (stupidly) broke her heart. 

"i haven't talked to her. i don't think she'd wanna talk to me anyway," will laughed dryly. 

"i'm sure she does if she asked how you were doing. she's not that heartless, will," drew chuckled some. the blonde could only manage a weak smile in response. 

"do you know if she's like..talking to anyone or anything?" will tried asking casually so it wouldn't seem like he was stalking her account and so the guys didn't know he resorted to the burner account to look her up. 

"uh..not really. i think she's just going on random dates. nothing serious," gabe shrugged. 

"so she is seeing people though?" 

when gabe nodded will felt his heart sink. he figured she probably would, but hearing it aloud hurt even more than he thought. 

"why do you ask?" ryan wondered, eyebrows raised. 

"no reason. i was just curious," the blonde attempted to play off his disappointment. 

"were you stalking her account?" gabe said because he knew his best friend well, even through a screen. the boy knew about the burner account because he saw it on will's phone a few months back when he caught him stalking samy's account too. 

"no." 

"will." 

"okay, maybe i was," the blonde rolled his eyes. 

"i thought she blocked you?" drew raised his eyebrow. 

"she did..i was just looking on my burner account," will admitted, embarrassment coating his expression. 

"oh boy," ryan muttered like he was unimpressed, yet he knew will would do something like this. 

"oh, come on. give me a break. it's not stalking. i was just..checking in?" 

"i think you should reach out to her. see how she is?" gabe cut in before ryan began arguing with him. 

"i told you, she doesn't wanna talk to me. she said she never wanted to see me ever again, so i doubt she'd want me to randomly text her. i'm probably blocked anyway," will mumbled knowing he definitely was because he actually did try and reach out to her about a month ago. his text went green, so that was a clear indication his number was blocked on her phone. 

"well, i hope you know she does wanna see you again even if she won't say it. i know she still thinks about you because she wears her charm bracelet and she's always stroking the shark charm i'm guessing you have her?" gabe raised his eyebrow. 

will immediately thought back to his farewell party where he talked a bit with mrs. hughes. the envelope had sat in his pocket all day deciding if he should find samy and give it to her before deciding it was probably better to have her mom give it to her instead. he didn't even know if samy would want it, so hearing that it was on her charm bracelet was a surprise. 

"i wouldn't think she doesn't want to see or talk to you too fast, will. you guys have history. you're like family. we're rooting for you guys," ryan said with a soft smile. 

the hockey player hummed, swiping out of the facetime to go back to samy's instagram. after another sweep of her recent posts, he did notice the charm bracelet sitting on her wrist. all of the charms were still there, even the ones he gifted her since she's had it. a soft smile spread across will's lips when he caught sight of the shark one. 

[procyonloser]

Alastor hadn't actually wanted to become a doctor, he'd wanted to be a radio host, but supposedly that wasn't a viable interest past the year 1995 - and he flat out refused to become a... podcaster. So, he'd gone into medicine.

Alastor was also a cannibal, who had a habit of eating his patients, but this particular story wasn't exactly about him. No, it all revolved around an odd case in his clinic. Mimzy, an RN with a drug habit and a loan shark problem that was also not the star of the story, walked into his office with a look. Which meant his interest was about to be piqued.

"I've got a weird one," Mimzy said, holding up a file. Alastor pushed away from his desk, rolling smoothly over to her.

"Do tell, my dear!"

"Guy comes into the clinic in a panic, insisting something is wrong with him. The med tech brings him into triage, and his vitals are mostly normal, slightly high BP, but he's a big guy. So, they ask what the problem is, right?" Mimzy said, hopping up to sit down on the exam table. "You'll never guess what he said was wrong with him."

"You also know how I very much hate to play guessing games!" Alastor grinned tightly.

"He said his dick vanished, and he grew a vagina." Mimzy answered happily, and Alastor raised an eyebrow. "I know what you're thinking, but no, blood test showed no drugs in his system, and he had no history of brain injuries or psychiatric problems."

"So, was he right?" Alastor asked, and Mimzy nodded.

"I did the physical examination myself, he was indeed sans penis and testes. So, I start to look at his medical record. All I could find said that he was assigned male at birth, all his records had his sex down as a male. But, obviously our cataloging system is a nightmare. So, I looked into the doctors he had gone to previously. You know the last time he saw any doctor? It was 2 years ago. Guess why." Mimzy purred.

"No!" Alastor beamed.

"It wouldn't hurt you to play along sometime, Alastor. Fine - he went to get snipped. I contacted the doctor that did the vasectomy even, and had confirmation he'd seen the guy." Mimzy explained, with a small pout. Alastor ignored her and hummed, wondering if in the years since, if he'd somehow gotten bottom surgery possibly outside of the country, to explain the gap in medical data.

"I think I'd like to meet with him," Alastor said slowly, and Mimzy jumped down.

"Good, because he's waiting in exam room 7."

Alastor entered the room with a smile, his people loved his smile, but the patient looked up at him and grimaced. He didn't look like how Alastor expected, though he wasn't sure what he had expected at all. Adam Yeshvan was tall, taller than Alastor, and about thrice as wide, with stubble that was longest on his chin. His skin tone was medium, his hair was medium brown, and his eyes were a light brown. Apart from his height, he was a generally nondescript American man.

"I'm not crazy," Adam said. It was the first thing he said.

"I don't think you're crazy," Alastor said smoothly, sitting down in a seat across from Adam, who seemed to be fuming on the exam room table. "I'm curious why you think this may have happened, however."

"I..." Adam opened and closed his mouth, glancing to the side. "I don't know, but I feel like you won't believe me if I tell you what happened."

"Try me." Alastor smiled wryly. There were ever so many unbelievable things in life, like the fact his lunch in the hospital staff refrigerator was people.

"...I... accidentally summoned the devil." Adam said lowly, looking cautious. "I was on vacation, back in my grandpa's home country. I found some ruins, and there was some shit written on this stone. It had this little figure on it, wrapped in chains, so I took it to the local museum and they said the script was written in an archaic Hebrew. Look, I know it sounds stupid, you don't have to look at me like that- so, whatever, I took it home, looked up a translation and..." Adam waved a hand at his groin. "Next thing I know, this."

Alastor blinked slowly, trying to process the sheer amount of nonsense. He wasn't one for fairy tales, fiction, or generally make believe silliness. Of course, life could often be strange, Alastor had recently eaten his second grade teacher, but well within a degree of logic and reality. Adam might not have been on drugs, but Alastor figured he probably should be on something. He must have gotten bottom surgery while out of the country, and for whatever reason, was having problems remembering it.

"Well, let's do our best to figure out how to go about this, and how to get you some peace of mind." Alastor said smoothly, moving past all the nonsense Adam had said. "I'd like to run a few more blood panels, just to be safe, and have you talk to a specialist that-"

In that moment, Mimzy threw the door open and handed Alastor a page of test results.

Adam made a face at the interruption, "are those mine? Am I okay?"

Alastor read the page once, twice, thrice, and again and more.

Well.

That's new.

"You're pregnant."

[thehereticdiaries]

Dead Man Walking: Chapter Three

Chapter Summary: Two of the group members are hurt on a run.

Warnings: Descriptions of medical procedures, blood, violence, gunshot wounds, knife wounds (if i missed anything, please lmk)

Series Masterlist

When you woke up the next morning, you bolted upright at the unfamiliar surroundings. Yeosang groaned from where he fell over. Your heart rate slowed to normal as you remembered what happened the day prior.

“Why did you do that?” Yeosang whined and smacked you between your shoulder blades.

“Sorry, I panicked cus I didn’t recognize the room,” you apologized and held out a hand to help him sit up. Most of the group was already up and moving. You stood and went to help Seonghwa get breakfast set up. You passed by today’s run group as they discussed their plan. In the break room, you and Seonghwa divided oatmeal and canned peach slices onto plates for everyone. Pretty soon, the group filed into the breakroom, eager to get some food.

“Alright. You guys know what to do. Don’t take any unnecessary risks, got it?” Chan instructed the run group while they picked up empty backpacks and their preferred weapons.

“Yes, dad, we know,” Seungmin sighed, dodging a slap to the head from the leader. 

“Just get back safe,” Chan urged the group, looking each of them in the eye. 

“We will,” San reassured him with a pat to his shoulder. The group of four exited the maintenance room door. Felix made sure it was shut and locked behind them. The remaining members went about some daily assigned tasks to occupy their time and distract them from the possible danger their friends were in.

“Y/N, do you know anything about gardens?” You turned to Jisung and Yunho standing in the doorway of your office.

“Yeah, I know a bit. Are you guys trying to get one set up?” You stood from where you sat in front of your cabinet. 

“We are. It’s better for us to find a way to grow our own food instead of trying to scavenge for it,” Yunho explained. You nodded, putting a finger to your mouth in thought.

“We’ll probably want to set up a rainwater collection, too. Do we have access to the roof of the building?” Jisung nodded, gesturing for you to follow. The three of you entered the maintenance room. In one corner of the room, there was a ladder going up to a hatch in the ceiling that you hadn’t noticed yesterday. You followed the two up the ladder, emerging on the wide, empty roof of the office. 

“You think we can set it up here?” Yunho sounded doubtful. You blocked your eyes against the harsh sunlight.

“The water collection system, yes, but I’m not sure about the garden. It would freeze up here in the winter.” You walked over to the edge of the building, laying on your stomach and peering down the wall. “If we can mount a funnel to the building, we can use some rubber piping to bring it inside through the window.”

“There’s a hardware store not far from here,” Jisung noted. You stood and brushed the gravel from your clothes.

“Let’s look around the office to see if there’s somewhere we can set up a garden.” The three of you scoured the building, and it turns out there was an access panel to a basement a few feet from the back door. You surveyed the room. “It’s a little musty down here, but I think it’ll work once we get all this trash cleared out.”

“Okay, first thing’s first we need to get a list of what we need to get everything set up,” Yunho commented. In the break room, you used one of the extra notebooks to map out where the garden and water funnel would go while Yunho and Jisung wrote down the necessary supplies. A while later, Hongjoong looked over your shoulder to scrutinize your plans. His hand rested on the back of your chair, making you slightly nervous.

“This is good progress. Great job, guys,” Hongjoong nodded in approval. He left the room once again, replaced by Changbin with a deck of cards. You quickly fell into a very competitive game of Spades. Hours passed, and the run group still wasn’t back. You were still playing card games, but you were on edge. A heavy silence blanketed the room.

Outside, Seungmin sprinted ahead of the other three run members. He braced against the heavy back door, unable to stop his momentum. Completely forgetting their signal, he pounded on the door in a panic.

“Felix! Open the goddamn door right now!” Seungmin shouted through the thick metal. He never yelled. Felix flung the door open, ignoring the rules set up by their leaders. Seungmin pushed past the blonde. “Keep it open! Where’s Y/N?!”

“Uh, b-break room,” Felix stuttered. Seungmin stormed down the hallway. Your name echoed down the hall, and you threw your cards to the table. You met Seungmin halfway down the hall.

“What happened?” You snapped. 

“Hyunjin was shot and San has a nasty cut,” he panted heavily, having run the entire way back. More shouts came from the maintenance room, some panicked and some in pain. 

“Get them to my office, now,” you instructed before jumping into action. In your office, you threw your hair into a ponytail and pulled out as many supplies as you could. San and Wooyoung dragged a wailing Hyunjin into the room. You scanned each of their injuries. San had a cut trailing from his right collarbone down to his bicep, but it wasn’t bleeding too heavily. Wooyoung was mostly unscathed, except for a few bruises. Blood stained the thigh of Hyunjin’s jeans, growing larger every second.

“Put him on the desk. San, get Changbin and Chan in here, then use a towel to put pressure on your cut. I need to take care of Hyunjin first.” As gently as possible, Hyunjin was laid out on the desk-turned-exam bed.  

“Seungmin, knife.” You held your hand out behind you, keeping your eyes on the blood stain. A pocket knife was shoved in your hand and you carefully cut the side of Hyunjin’s jeans open. You peeled the fabric back, revealing a wound gushing blood. Chan and Changbin rushed in, the color draining from their faces at Hyunjin’s cries.

“Roll him to the side, I need to see if the bullet went through.” Your voice shook them from their stupor. Changbin went to the opposite side of the desk. He pulled Hyunjin up so you could examine the back of his thigh. The younger boy sobbed, clawing at Changbin’s forearm. 

“Fuck, there’s no exit wound. The bullet’s still in his leg. Lay him back down.” Hyunjin laid on his back again. His grip moved to your wrist, and you had to gently pry him off of you. “Okay, this is going to be really fucking painful for him, but I don’t have any fast-acting pain relievers or sedatives.”

“What do you need us to do?” Chan’s face was hard-set. You glanced up at the amount of people in the small office.

“Seungmin, there’s a sewing kit in the household items. Have Jongho give it to you. Stay in the break room and make sure San is in there for when I’m done here.” He nodded and disappeared into the hall. “Minho, do you know how to check for a pulse?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Stand by his head. If he passes out, keep your hand on his pulse. If it changes in any way, tell me. Chan, Changbin, I need you to hold him down. Everyone else, get out.” Everyone immediately did as they were told. You went to your cabinet, bringing your prepared supplies to the desk.

“You guys snagged some good stuff, but, seriously? You get a glucose meter and not gloves or sutures?” You mutter angrily to yourself while wiping your hands with an alcohol pad. “Okay, keep him still.” Changbin pressed down on Hyunjin’s hips while Chan held his leg down. You took a pile of clean gauze and pressed down on the wound– hard. Hyunjin screamed and tried to push back from your hands. When he couldn’t escape the pain, he swung at Changbin, only to have his arms held down by Minho. Every time his blood soaked through the gauze, you replaced it with a new sheet until the bleeding slowed to an ooze. 

“This is the hard part,” you warned the boys and picked up a pair of long, thin tweezers. As carefully as you could, you plunged the tweezers into the wound. Hyunjin devolved into pained wails and shuddering sobs. Changbin gagged from his spot next to you. Chan and Minho had silent tears rolling down their faces as they watched you prod around inside the wound to find the bullet. An eerie silence filled the room when Hyunjin, mercifully, lost consciousness. Minho moved a shaky hand from his arm up to his neck, keeping two fingers on his pulse. It didn’t take much longer for you to find the bullet and pull it out. Sighing heavily, you put the bullet and tweezers to the side. You used a mix of water and alcohol to clean the wound, then wrapped it tightly in gauze and an ACE bandage.

“You’re not going to stitch it shut?” Changbin’s voice trembled. You wiped most of the blood from your hands with a towel.

“No, not yet anyway. I don’t want to risk shutting an infection in the wound.” You shuffled some bottles around in your cabinet, pulling out a bottle of doxycycline. “When he wakes up, give him one of these. We’re lucky we have a full regimen. After a couple days on antibiotics I should be able to suture the wound.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Changbin’s panicked eyes met yours. 

“I have to check on San. Keep an eye on Hyunjin. One person needs to stay on his pulse at all times. Get me as soon as he wakes up, or if his pulse changes.” You grabbed more alcohol pads, gauze, and medical tape then marched down to the break room. Just as you asked, San sat at a table with the sewing kit in front of him. Wooyoung sat next to him, pressing some paper towels onto his cut. You dropped the stuff in your arms onto the table.

“Do we have a lighter?” You looked to Jongho, who was leaning against the counter next to Seungmin. He silently dug through the household supplies, passing you the lighter. You still had Seungmin’s knife in your pocket, so you gestured for Wooyoung to move the towels and cut San’s ruined shirt off. You were pleasantly surprised to find nylon thread in the sewing kit.

“Hold the lighter steady for me.” You handed the lighter to Wooyoung. He flicked it on, and you held a needle in the flame for a few seconds, then wiped it with an alcohol pad before dousing it in the fire one more time. After threading the needle with the nylon thread, you leaned over San to wipe away the blood. You kept one foot on the ground and propped the opposite knee on the chair between San’s legs. He hissed at the sting of alcohol on his cut. 

“This is going to hurt, I’m sorry,” you warned him right before piercing his skin with the needle. He yelped and grabbed your thigh subconsciously with his left hand, keeping his right on the table so you could work. You ignored his fingers digging into your leg, just like you ignored the way his abs clenched with every suture. 

“Shit, are you almost done?” San asked through gritted teeth after a minute.

“Almost, two more.” You finished off the last sutures, placing the needle and leftover thread on the table and picking up the gauze and tape. “I don’t think you’ll need antibiotics, but I’ll be checking and cleaning it every couple hours.” You taped the gauze into place over the cut. “Try not to move your shoulder too much.”

“Right.” San groaned when you pressed the gauze down, tightening his grip on your thigh. He suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing, and dropped his hand to his lap. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to–”

“San, it’s fine,” you cut him off. “You’re in pain. Honestly, if squeezing my leg meant you could sit still, I’m glad you did it.” You dropped your foot back to the ground after you finished wrapping San's cut, turning to clean up the mess on the table. 

“I’ll clean up in here. Go check on Hyunjin,” Seungmin steered you toward the hallway. 

“I have painkillers in my office, I’ll have someone bring them to you.” Wooyoung scoffed, and you paused by the door to raise an eyebrow at him.

“You couldn’t have given him some before you stuck a needle through him?” You bristled at his tone.

“No, I couldn’t have. All of the painkillers we have are also blood thinners. Would you prefer he bleed out while I attempt to close his wound?” You shot back at him. Wooyoung snapped his jaw shut, looking down at his hands. “That’s what I thought.” You stormed away from the break room and reentered your office. Minho sat by Hyunjin’s head, fingers still pressed to his neck. Chan had left, replaced by Felix. He and Changbin each held one of Hyunjin’s hands. 

“Is San okay?” Felix asked once he noticed you. 

“Yeah, he should heal pretty easily as long as he doesn’t push himself,” you sighed and grabbed a pen light from on top of your cabinet. Hyunjin’s pupils reacted normally, to your relief, but he wasn’t responding much to other stimuli. With nothing else you could do until he woke up, you collapsed against the wall. It was a waiting game, now.

Not long after you left the break room, Hongjoong and Chan came in and sat at the table with San and Wooyoung. 

“What happened out there?” Chan asked, looking between the three conscious members of the run group. 

“We were ambushed,” Seungmin stated. The two leaders motioned for him to continue. 

“The run started out normal. We were on our way back when a group of maybe ten men rushed out from the woods. At first, they tried to intimidate us into handing over our bags. We refused, so they charged at us. There was some distance between us, so we ran. Another guy popped out from an alley ahead of us. He's the one that shot Hyunjin. Me and Wooyoung pulled him up while San fought with the shooter. He got the gun away, but the guy had a knife, too. San got cut right before he knocked the other guy out. He caught up with us, so I passed Hyunjin over to him so I could run ahead and make sure Y/N was ready.”

“It was ten men?” Hongjoong’s voice was strained.

“Give or take. Why?”

“Y/N was attacked by a group of ten men in the woods outskirting the city. It might be a coincidence, but I don’t like how similar the stories are.” Hongjoong paused. “Do you remember what any of them look like?”

“I do,” Wooyoung confirmed while the other two shook their heads. 

“Later tonight I want to talk with you and Y/N. If even one of the men that attacked her was part of the group that attacked you, we’re going to have a big problem on our hands.” Hongjoong left, presumably to tell you about meeting up later. 

“I know it’s hard, but please don’t blame yourselves,” Chan reassured the younger boys before following his co-leader out of the break room.

Permanent Taglist: @furfoxsake22 @babygirlskz98 @miniverse-zen @holly-here @corgilover20

Series Taglist: @vampwritesstuff @galaxy4489

[nebulablakemurphy]

Moves & Countermoves (Part 20)

Summary: No one ever wins the games, even fourteen years later, Y/N is still playing.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

“Soldier Abernathy,” Boggs’ voice is the one to finally break them apart.

Y/N moves to her feet, straightening out her gear. “Yes.”

“Civilian Abernathy.” Boggs also acknowledges the man on the floor.

“Yep.” Haymitch groans, pulling himself up.

“There’s been an incident.” Boggs squares his shoulders.

“What kind of incident?”

“Peeta attacked Katniss.”

“He what?” Y/N stammers.

“Our Peeta?” Haymitch is getting older, surely he’s heard wrong.

Boggs nods. “Follow me-”

Without another word, Boggs ushers them to Katniss’ room in medical. She is limp on the bed, being changed into a hospital gown. She looks the same as she had when Haymitch left her, save for the large angry bruise, blooming over the expanse of her neck.

“Damn it,” Haymitch murmurs.

“How could this happen?” Y/N turns to Boggs.

“I stepped outside to give them privacy. When I heard the commotion, I went straight in. He’d already put her through the medicine cabinets and had her on the floor. It happened fast.”

Y/N brings a hand to her throbbing temple. “Thank you for…” Y/N breaks off. “I should’ve stayed with him.”

“Not your fault, soldier.” Boggs says, immediately.

Haymitch passes a hand over her back. See, you stubborn thing? Not everything can be your fault.

“I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.” Boggs excuses himself.

The doctors trickle out, leaving Katniss in her neck brace, hooked up to a bunch of beeping monitors.

“She’ll be out for a while, by the sound of it. We should check on Peeta. Try to figure out what the hell’s going on.” Haymitch kisses Y/N’s temple. Watching his wife stroke dark hair away from Katniss’ face.

Y/N nods.

Peeta’s room is not much better. He is restrained, for his own safety. Unconscious after the attack, Boggs had to get him off somehow.

The results of the bloodwork returns without traces of any hallucinogenic drugs. The only abnormal thing found in his system is trackerjacker venom.

“So what does this mean? He thought Katniss was someone else?” Haymitch asks Dr. Aurelius, who’s come to deliver the news. He’s not a regular doctor, he’s a head doctor. Maybe he’s here to make sure they don’t lose their shit?

“Well…it’s hard to say. I’ll need to speak with him once he regains consciousness. For now, it seems a bit odd that he would remember Y/N in the hovercraft and in this room, only to not recognize Katniss a moment later.”

There must be something…something she’s missing. “So you think he knew it was Katniss and did that to her anyway?”

“I understand how difficult this may be for you to hear, but Peeta did attack Katniss with the intent to kill her.” Dr. Aurelius explains.

Haymitch shifts, meeting Y/N’s eyes.

“That’s why he’s restrained?” Y/N presses her lips together.

“This is for his own safety.“

“I don’t understand.” Y/N cuts him off. “He held my hand all the way home.” There’s just no way. “Peeta wouldn’t do that to Katniss.”

“I know it is painful for you to see them this way. But given your experience on the hovercraft, I have every reason to believe that we can help him work through this.”

“How?” Haymitch wonders.

“With the knowledge that he recognizes Y/N, we will be able to use a trusted source to sift through the information fed to him by the Capitol. In theory we will be able to reverse this fear conditioning.” Dr. Aurelius is already working up a plan.

“So that’s what you think this is? A response to fear conditioning?” Haymitch asks.

“He has lacerations, old and new. Evidence of shocks and beatings, that with the presence of trackerjacker venom suggests what one would consider brainwashing. A hijacking, if you will.”

“Have you ever treated a patient in his condition?” Y/N gnaws at the insides of her cheek.

“I have never seen anything like this, no.”

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Y/N says, immediately.

“For now there is nothing to be done. Katniss and Peeta are resting, which they both desperately need. I might suggest you do the same.”

“If it were your kids, could you rest?” Haymitch bites out, bitterly.

Aurelius nods, in understanding. “No.” He stares for a moment more. “As Peeta’s family is deceased, you are his next of kin. You will be involved in making medical decisions. If anything changes you will be the first to know.”

“Thank you.”

“There is one more thing, before you go.”

“And what might that be?” Haymitch retorts.

“Johanna Mason has requested that you also be listed as next of kin, until she is found to be of sound mind.”

“What about Finnick?” Y/N wonders, they’ve always been close.

“Finnick struggled during separation with Annie.”From what Aurelius can see, he’s still struggling. “He is in no position to make decisions about her medical care. Rather her be a ward of the district, she would have you.”

“Of course, we’ll take her.”

————————————————————————

Pollux is with Madge, when they return to the children, keeping all three entertained. There’s someone else, perched in the corner, quiet, just watching.

“Mom?” Y/N says, warily. She’s only seen her once since they’ve been here. The older woman was deep into detox and screamed at her to get out.

“Hi, honey.” As if nothing has happened. As if nothing is wrong.

“Mommy, look what we made for Peeta!” Arista holds up the off white paper banner, lined with drawings and colored flowers.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Y/N chokes down her despair. How can I explain this? “It’s beautiful, he’ll love it.”

“You’re sad,” Everest calls her bluff.

Haymitch steps closer, saving her, the way he always has. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Is it Peeta?”

“Yeah,” Haymitch breathes, perching himself at the end of Everest’s bed. “Come here.” He pats the space on either side for his children. I’ll take this one.

Y/N follows her mother out into the hallway.

“How are you holding up?” The older woman asks.

“I’m ok.”

“Good.”

“So you’re out of rehab?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, yes.”

“You look really…healthy.”

“Y/N I saw Finnick’s broadcast and I- I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. That I couldn’t protect you. I know I wasn’t the best mother-”

“You did the best you could,” Y/N cuts her off. “As a mother, I understand that we can’t always be there the way we want to.”

“But you are there. Everyday and every night, you are there for those kids. They know that no matter what, their mom is coming home. They know that you will always be there. I’m sorry you didn’t have that.”

“It’s ok…I’m-” Y/N wraps her arms tightly around herself. “I’m ok.”

“When I lost Maysi, I lost myself. I tried to get it back, to get a grip, to keep pushing but I couldn’t. When you got reaped,” she breaks off. “When I saw my baby girl get taken from me I- I mourned you. I mourned you the second you got on that train and I never stopped mourning you. But you weren’t dead, you were alive and my mind, especially with the morphling, couldn’t comprehend that.”

“Mom, please, stop.”

“I know you must be angry with me.” Her mother tugs at Y/N’s hand. “But I need you to know that didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve any of this, you are so good. You are good and you are brave and you are strong. Better than I ever was or could be. And I’m going to be here for you now, if you’ll let me.”

Y/N nods, silently, brushing away tears. “Thank you.”

————————————————————————

The guilt grows, festering like a wound. Guilt over the strain on their marriage, guilt for their absence from their children. Guilt for Katniss, neck braced, in a coma. Guilt for Peeta, restrained, turned into a weapon meant to kill the only girl he’s ever loved. Guilt for Johanna, tortured and stripped of her dignity. Guilt for Cashmere, who lost her brother. Guilt for Madge who takes on so much burden that is not her own.

“He’s been asking for you.” One of the doctors from Peeta’s team catches Y/N in the hallway.

The voice is enough to snap Y/N back to the task at hand. Haymitch is with Katniss, such is their agreement, until Peeta feels more at ease in the presence of others. Triggering him is not worth the risk.

Through the observation window, she can see him struggling, tugging at the bonds. Two doctors are beside him, attempting to soothe him. Y/N enters the room without hesitation, fighting her way into his line of vision.

“Peeta.” She says softly, moving towards him.

His thrashing does not stop, but he registers that she is there.

“Can we clear the room?” Y/N asks.

“Of course.” The doctors nod, they too are at a loss.

Peeta’s breathing is so shallow and rapid, she fears he might be hyperventilating. His eyes searching her sadly, warily. “I thought you didn’t want to see me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Don’t you know what I did?”

Katniss. “I’m not upset with you, Peeta. I just want to help you.”

“You don’t know what it was like.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

“But Snow did stuff to you too, didn’t he?”

“Nothing like this,” Y/N swallows the lump in her throat. “I brought you something, from the kids; my kids.”

“I remember…” Almost. Memories dancing near the surface of a frozen lake.

“They made you this,” Y/N unrolls the slightly crumpled paper. “Sorry I smushed it.”

Peeta’s eyes well up with tears. “Can I keep it?”

“Yeah, of course, we’ll find somewhere to hang it up.”

————————————————————————

“My colleague, Dr. Maes, informed me that the two of you had a rather…colorful conversation, at the bed side of her patient, Johanna Mason.” Dr. Aurelius says, during his later session with Y/N.

“She’s not a good fit for Johanna,” Y/N explains. “I’d rather you see her.”

“I couldn’t possibly take on Peeta, Katniss, Johanna, Haymitch and yourself.” Aurelius explains, “given her condition-”

“Take me off the list.”

“Are you sure that’s the best decision?”

“It’s the only option I have.” Y/N crosses one leg over the other.

“Tell me why.”

“What?”

“Tell me why that’s the only option and I’ll consider it.”

Y/N takes a steadying breath. “You’re the best they’ve got down here and we both know it. This isn’t about being a lost cause, or a martyr. It’s about people needing you more than I do.”

Dr. Aurelius sighs, “I’m sure Haymitch will follow your lead.”

“I didn’t mention it to him yet.” The longing pangs in her chest.

When she does tell Haymitch, later that night, he’s half asleep.

“Whatever you want, Angel.” He murmurs, pulling her closer.

They’ve hardly seen each other. She feels the strain on his heart, tugging at her own. Y/N fists a hand in his shirt. “You’re what I want.” More time with you.

“You have me by the balls,” he scoffs, “Stop torturing yourself. Everyone has to pay the piper and revolutions don’t come cheap. If we have to keep going like this; for however long, we’ll do that.”

“This is enough for you? Five minutes to ourselves before bed, after being apart all day?”

“You’re enough.” Haymitch breathes, “you’ll always be enough.”

Just you and me.

————————————————————————

Katniss wakes a day later, clawing at the brace around her neck and breathing hard. The monitors surrounding her beep frantically as Boggs tries to calm her.

“Hey, Katniss. You’re alright.”

Her hands move back to the brace.

“Don’t, you’re swollen.” Boggs stills her fingers.

Katniss leans back in defeat, her voice is but a broken whisper. “Peeta.”

Part 21

Series Taglist: @praline357 @flowercrowns-goodvibes @justheretoparty420 @avocadotoastwithegg @treehouse-mouse @emo-markie @spilled-mi1k @magical-spit @greaser9902 @jessicamellarky @yourebuckingkiddingme @smuha2004 @sendhelplease @ninimackbrews @wittiestrain184 @r1dd1kulus @erenluvr69 @helpimhyperfixating @jackierose902109 @jellybear455 @dreammgc @dadbodfanatic-x @ftdtcmlovr @inky-sun @ms-brek-ker @undercover55655 @mischiefmanaged21 @avoxrising @koiphisch @drwho-ess @daisydaisybilly @misfits1a

[xoxomoonlightxoxo]

Don't Get Attached | Part 3

➪ Playlist (Spotify)

➪ W/c: 1640

I Can Beg For You

Even though it has been about a week since Jungkook and I last saw each other he has yet to miss a day of not calling my phone at least once. Of course, I don’t answer, not because I’m petty but more so because I fear that my emotions might take over again. I’ve been a mess since the incident and that’s putting it lightly. I mean, I don’t remember the last time I stepped foot out of my apartment but I guess today’s the day as my friend, Jinni invited the girls and me out for a night out. Do I want to go? No, not really. Should I go? Yes, probably. As much as I’ve grown comfortable with rotting away in my room, I simply cannot keep doing this. 

So, I put on my tightest mini dress and let the curls loose before spraying the perfume Jungkook adored so much. The truth is, I can’t seem to let him go, not yet at least. In my head we are still together, so I pay the price of that delusion by filling the void in my heart with his sweet lies. You can call me naive all you want but something about him is just … I don’t know … irresistible, I guess. No, fuck him. For the love of God, don’t get attached y/n. 

- -

Making our way into the club we are welcomed by the pungent smell of alcohol mixed with sweat and cologne as Jinni pulls me straight to the dance floor. The place is packed and there isn’t much space to actually bust a move if you know what I mean, so most people resorted to simply grinding on each other. Realizing that I’m too sober to take this seriously I excuse myself to grab us some drinks. However, as the night went on, one shot turned into three which then doubled and after that, I just lost count. Feeling the alcohol in my system, the whole grinding thing no longer bothered me as much. 

Pulling Jinni closer we danced the night away, screaming our lungs out when the DJ played throwback Usher songs. It was all fun and games until I really let loose. The louder the music got the quieter my thoughts were and the more I drank the less I could think clearly, which in hindsight was a recipe for a disaster but in the moment was exactly what I needed. So, there I was, strutting away to some Timbaland on top of the wooden countertop as drunk men kept throwing dollar bills at me. While I was unfazed by the whole thing, Jinni had a heart attack after each shaky step I took in my 4-inch heels. The probability of me falling off was as high as most people in the club, so her concern was not exaggerated. 

“Y/n please come down, you’re gonna fall,” she screams, unfortunately for her, I was now surrounded by a sound barrier from the blasting overhead speakers. 

“Jiiinniii, dance with me,” I whine, eyes barely open as my arms reach for her. Shaking her head, Jinni quickly grabbed her phone and dialled the only person she knew could deal with my drunk self. 

“Jungkook? Hey, please hurry, y/n is drunk and won’t get down from bar island,” she screams into the speaker, turning her head to the lounge area where the rest of our group was. A rookie mistake, since by the time her attention was back on the table I was no longer there. Instead, I was in the poorly lit women’s bathroom with some random guy whose grip tightened around my waist. 

“Can I kiss you?” he whispers, gaze focused on my lips as my back presses onto the cold wall. 

“Do whatever you want,” I sigh, intertwining my hands in his dishevelled hair. I know it’s wrong, but if I keep my eyes closed I can almost feel Jungkook’s embrace. His veiny hands on my thighs as we both gasp for air from the sinful kisses. All that, of course, is merely the work of my imagination. At that moment, it’s not Jungkook's hands, not his lips, not him. With all the alcohol in my system, my body has become numb to external sensations until a familiar melody rings from my purse. Speaking of the devil, it’s Jungkook. Did my heartbeat increase? Maybe. 

“Come over y/n,” Jungkook says, his voice raspy and harsh as he presses on the gas pedal, speeding by the passing cars towards the night club. 

“Can’t baby, I’m a bit busy,” I whisper softly, breath hitched from the sudden feel of the guy’s hand on my ass. As he leaves a trail of kisses on my exposed collarbone I bite down on my lip, until a small moan escapes my mouth. 

“Y/n, who is that?” Jungkook growls at the sound coming from his phone. One that is too familiar for his liking as his imagination runs wild, connecting the dots regarding the context of the situation. Closing his eyes for a moment, he can picture your form in a tight dress that pushes your cleavage up with your hair laid perfectly over your shoulders. Just the way he likes it. Fuck, he thinks to himself. 

“Sorry, I have to go,” I yelp, dropping the phone on the floor as my hands now rest on his chest. Lifting my fatigued body onto the countertop, my legs naturally wrap around his torso. It hurts to do this to Jungkook but damn, does he deserve it. It’s time he finally gets a taste of his own medicine. 

- -

Jungkook’s POV

Turning off the engine, I rush towards the entrance of the club passing by half-naked women who clearly had way too much fun. As one of them stops in front of me, I look around the crowded place trying to spot y/n in the neon lights. 

“Dance with me, pretty boy,” she says, placing her hands on my jean jacket as her shivering body leans closer to mine. She’s young. Too young. No amount of makeup can cover up those naive eyes.

“Sorry love, I’m here for my own drunkhead,” I say with a wink, before noticing Jinni dozed off in the lounge area. Pushing past the wave of people, the smell of alcohol in their system can be detected from two blocks away. 

“Jinni! Jinni, wake up. Where’s y/n??” I yell through the blaring music, slightly moving her shoulders in hopes that it’ll wake her up. How does one even fall asleep when Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Bass’ is basically shouting at you? Nonetheless, I try to catch her attention as our eyes finally lock. 

“Jungkooook, I’m sorryyy. I told y/n to stop drinking but she wouldn’t listen. I swear, I turned my head for one second and then boom, she was gone,” Jinni cries out, covering her flushed face in her palms before looking up at my concerned expression. 

“That’s ok Jinni, just stay here I’m gonna look for her,” I say calmly, putting my jacket over her exposed legs before heading back towards the dance floor. Where could y/n be? Dialing her phone number the signal goes straight to voicemail. Shit. 

It’s been about 10 minutes and I swear I’ve been going in circles. I’d already mistaken four different girls for y/n, yet she is still nowhere to be found, that is until I saw the barely lit restroom sign at the back of the club. Wouldn’t hurt to check, right? 

Walking past the men’s restroom I’m certain that y/n was sober enough to recognize the difference between the two. So, I take a deep breath before knocking on the door. No answer. I mean what was I expecting? She is probably passed out on the toilet or something. Placing a few more knocks, this time with more power, I’m interrupted by a series of soft moans. I might have lost half of my hearing since I got here, but her pretty voice, yeah … I can recognize it anywhere. Pushing the door open, my eyes focus on her heaving chest as some dumbass tightens his grip on her waist. 

“Get the fuck off of her!” I growl, pushing him to the wall as my fist meets his face. Three punches in and his nose began to bleed before y/n stepped in front of me. Eyes locked on my tense face, she places her hands on my burning chest, begging me to stop as my vision gets blurry. 

“Jungkook please,” she cries out, pulling my arms towards her chest to prevent another hit. Gaze focused on her teary eyes, I let out a deep sigh, tilting my head as an indication for the guy to leave. Which he does immediately. 

“Y/n, what are you doing having stranger’s hands all over you?” I yell out, a bit too harshly than I wanted to. But I couldn’t help it. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat as she suddenly dropped my arms, wiping the tears off of her face. 

“No better than being touched by a cheater, right?” she scoffs, shaking her head at my remark. 

“How many times do you want me to apologize? What else do you want me to do? Do you want me to beg for you? I can beg for you,” I whisper into her ear, nibbling on the soft skin before getting on my knees. Looking up at her darkened eyes, I pull her body closer before tracing small circles on her soft skin. Moving her leg over my shoulder I begin to place a trail of soft kisses up her shivering limb, gaze focused on her whimpering pretty face. Each kiss was followed by a sinful plea.

“That’s it, baby, just relax,” 

Previous l Next

[autistichalsin]

I should have stopped talking to my mom any of the times she accused me and my dad of incest because she was jealous of our closeness, or the time she laughed when I told her about my sister assaulting me and laughed "to be fair, I fantasized about your neck too", or any of the times she hit my dad, or the time she said she wished she could kill me, or any of the times she kicked me out in winter with no coat, or the time she called me a bitch (ON MY BIRTHDAY!) because I said i didn't know what time I'd be out of bed, or when she admitted to not teaching us life skills because she wanted us to need her, or any of the times she continued to put essential oils in my room knowing it triggered my asthma, or the time she accused me of faking my allergy to our laundry detergent to be difficult despite the hives on my skin, or the time she yanked me by the hair trying to drag me out of my little brother's room so she could scream at him and then she told my grandma I was the one hurting her, or the time she threw a tumbler at my head, or the time she said I use people because i needed my dad to drive me to the doctor, or the time my SIL was in labor and my mom sent me a picture of a baby, then when I called all excited asking if my nephew was here she laughed FAKE NEWS!!! and told me he wasn't here yet, or the time she told everyone in my family I didn't like playing music and only did to be like my sister so that they wouldn't help me afford a class trip like they'd done for my sister, or the time I was in the hospital for suicidal thoughts and then when my counselor and I met with her and I told her I needed her to stop drinking for my health to improve, she got pissed and snapped "why is this about ME??" or when she let my sister live with us after said sister sexually assaulted my brother, assaulted me with the aforementioned neck licking, and poured her beer on me and flicked bits of meat at me knowing it would upset me as a vegetarian, or when my mom yelled at me to "be a real girl for once" because i wouldn't shave my legs, or when she bought my sister a gaming system the week before my birthday one year and got me nothing, or the repeated times she showed complete and utter apathy to me and my achievements and my hobbies, or the time she lied about my coming out story and then used that to farm likes on her Twitter, or the time she called me a spoiled princess because one single time I was tired and hungry after classes at college and asked my little brother to make me a PBJ sandwich, or the time she screamed at me to use my student aid money to get her chips, increasingly mad when I refused, then when I finally caved and walked to the store to get them for her and came back, threw them at me screaming that it wasn't about the "FUCKING DORITOS" and refused to eat a single chip, or the time my little brother and i went out for my birthday and then my mom threw out our leftovers and tried to break the Super Mario Galaxy disc he'd gotten for me as a present, or the time she hit my dad and screamed at him for getting me Elton John tickets for my birthday one of the rare years we had money-

But I didn't. i should have, but I didn't. Even after I moved out more than five years ago, there was always something. I was afraid she'd retaliate, or I felt responsible for her or I was afraid she'd get sicker or I was afraid i wouldn't get to see my dad again.

Because of that, i let her continue abusing me for years after I moved out. I thought she had become a better person when she got sober. She was working on herself and on rebuilding trust. But now she's right back to the same person she was. And I can't do this anymore. I just can't. I have nothing left to give that woman. I love my dad and I know, with how my mom is, I'll only get to email him anymore if I cut off my mom, because she controls everything with him. I watched, from when I was little to when I was 18, as she cut off more and more from him. She made him quit the sports groups he was in, made him stop going to work parties and stop seeing his friends, until he had literally nothing outside the house but work. I hate thinking that I'm abandoning him to her. And that I might not see him as he gets older. But I just can't do this anymore.

And what was the last straw, you ask?

I asked if they could make a new group chat.

My best friend is like my platonic life partner, to the point of being on the family group chat that includes in-laws. My best friend also lost her mom to cancer a few years ago, and as a result, has PTSD including hospitals being VERY triggering for her. My sister's FMIL is very sick and she's been texting updates. After my best friend said it was too triggering, I texted my mom and sister aside and asked if we could make a new group chat without my best friend on it so she wouldn't be triggered. My mom proceeded to go off on me, accusing my best friend and I of being selfish and not loving/caring about my sister. She said my sister didn't choose any of this and my best friend should "just not be triggered" (wtf???)

So. I blocked her. And we're cancelling our trip to see them for Thanksgiving too.

I tried. I gave her so many chances. I put up with a hundred times more abuse than anyone else would have because I loved her and i was so sure that I could help her, and maybe in some ways I did, but the favor was almost never returned. Anyone else would have cut her off for any one of those things.

She has no one to blame but herself. i did more for her than her other three kids put together and now she won't have that anymore because of her inability to stop being abusive. Ultimately... she needs me a lot more than I need her. And I'm done sacrificing for her. i could deal with the favoritism. With knowing that if my sister and I were trapped in a burning building and she could only save one of us, it would be my sister and she would never look back. I could deal with that. I could deal with the years of abuse and manipulation. I even managed to live with her denying my little brother's sexual assault ever happened and for saying I manipulated my brother into thinking he'd been raped to "prove an agenda". But there's a reason they call it the last straw and not the only straw. There's a huge fucking pile under it and I just physically can't do it anymore.

So have a nice life, mom. If you apologize, I might consider unblocking you and maybe coming for visits every now and then. But what we had? Gone. And you have only yourself to blame. Find a new person to unload all your fucking whining on. I am going to enjoy never having to hear you whine about opioids being outlawed, EVER FUCKING AGAIN. No more hijacking my conversations to talk about politics. No more talking about yourself for a full 20 minutes without even asking how I'm doing. No more calling me three times while I'm on a work shift because you forgot your Indian food order and NEEDED me to place the order for you. Fuck off. Do it yourself. I AM DONE.

[thetriumphantpanda]

Hi! Are you still taking prompts? You’re one of my favorite writers lately and I’m wondering if you’re still taking requests…

If so can I ask for “i’ve been thinking about you all day“ & “shh. there’s people in the other room.“ with Joel Miller. Semi-public where they do it in the bathroom with people outside. Maybe they even get caught whatever you like and make it as freaky as you want 🥵

Thank you so much! 💖

Hello Anon! Thank you so much for sending this in and for such kind words, I'm so glad you're enjoying my writing! 🫶🏼 This was such a perfect prompt pairing for our man Joel - I really enjoyed writing this!! I hope you do too! Hopefully it's freaky enough for you! 😘

Pairing | Joel Miller x Female Reader

Word Count | 1.8k

Warnings | Kinda public sex, unprotected PiV sex (Honestly guys unless it's the end of the world, wrap it up), just Joel being a general menace really, tiny return to mirror sex (is this now a thing?). SMUTTY SMUT BELOW THE CUT.

You’d been thinking about Joel all day and judging by the way he was currently staring at you from across the room, he’d been doing the same. You’d woken up too late that morning to indulge in what was quickly becoming a morning ritual of getting each other off in bed before you went about your daily tasks. He’d tried to blame the tiredness on you, but when you’d retorted that if he’d stopped at making you come twice with his mouth, instead of insisting on three times and then the two more he’d coaxed from you whilst he was buried deep inside you, you’d have been asleep at a reasonable time. Not even Joel Miller could argue with that. 

The party was in full swing at The Tipsy Bison – It had become a weekly occurrence on a Friday evening for as many people as possible to gather in the bar and toast making it another week through the end of the world. You were leant against the bar, only half-listening to what the girls around you were talking about, eyes trained on Joel who was doing pretty much the same as you, half-listening to Tommy and the other people around him, sipping at whiskey with his eyes never leaving you or your body. 

You can tell you’re both playing a game, wanting to know which one of you is going to break first and drag the other one home. You want him to break first, it’s always you. Whilst you have his eyes on you, you lift your own glass of whiskey to your lips, pulling it away too soon on purpose, letting a drop of the amber liquid pool on your bottom lip. You stare him straight in the eye over the crowd as you drag your tongue across your lip, biting into it a little for good measure. You can see the smirk on his mouth, he knows exactly what you’re doing. 

You watch as he rests a hand on the back of the chair next to him. He bends to set his empty glass on the table and then he stands back up, hip popped in his usual stance, fingers stuck through his belt loop. He knows you love it when he stands like this, even better if it’s leant up against the doorway to your bedroom. You curse at the fact that you've lost this battle, yet again.

“Excuse me ladies.” You smile at the group around you, leaving your half-finished drink on the bar. 

You slink through the crowd before you come to a stop next to him, greeting Tommy and the rest of the men in his group with a small smile and a ‘hello’. You snake your arm around his waist, pressing the side of your body to his. To anyone else it looks innocent enough, but then they can’t see your hand slipping into the back pocket of his jeans. Joel looks down at you, eye glazed dark with lust as his free arm comes to rest along your shoulders. Everyone else is deep in conversation around you, not really noticing you. 

“I’ve been thinking about you all day.” You say quietly, just loud enough for him to catch. 

“is that so, darlin’?” He replied, southern drawl more prominent thanks to the whiskey in his system, “What were you thinkin’ about, specifically?” 

Your hand in his back pocket squeezes the meat of his ass, “Was thinking about being able to get you home, strip you down and have my way with you.” 

“That so?” His eyebrow raises, you’re always surprised by how he can act so nonchalant like this in public, even with your hands all over him, “Well darlin’, I’ve been thinkin’ about you all day too, but I don’t think we need to go all the way home to get what we want.” 

Your eyes widen at his suggestion. He wouldn’t, would he? Find somewhere here that he could fuck you? But the more you think about it, the more you realise that exactly what he would do and that’s exactly what he’s talking about. His arm drops from your shoulders, drags your hand from his jeans pocket and then he’s dragging you away from the group, not even bothering to mumble an excuse. 

It's busy enough in the bar that no-one really notices his purposeful strides through them. No-one notices when you slink by the side of the bar and down the small hallway. No-one is around to see him push you into the small bathroom and lock the door behind you. 

Your back is pressed against the wall and he’s on you in seconds once he’s sure no-one is going to burst in through the door. His hands are cupping your cheeks, it’s a softness that is completely opposite to the way his lips are moving against yours. They’re pressed to yours almost painfully, your hands are gripping the lapels of his jacket to pull him closer to you, if it were even possible. 

You open your mouth against his and all at once his tongue is in your mouth. The taste of him is overwhelming, whiskey mainly, but the telltale taste that’s just Joel. Your tongue is on his and at this point you don’t know where you end and he begins, it’s always so overwhelming. His hands drop from your face to hold your hips through the denim of your jeans. His mouth is pulling from yours and you’re whining at the loss of contact. 

“We don’t have much time, darlin’,” He muses, turning you so your front is facing the sink of the bathroom, there’s a small mirror in which you can see you both, “We gotta be quick, okay?” You nod, “And quiet.” 

You nod again, and then he’s reaching around and undoing the button of your jeans, pulling the zipper down before he’s yanking them and your underwear down to your ankles. 

“Touch yourself for me,” He demands as he moves back from you, you follow his orders and dip your fingers down to your pussy, you’re already slick, “Tell me how wet you are for me alright.” 

“Joel-” You moan as you bring the gathered slick up to rub circles on your clit, “I’m soaked for you baby.” 

“Of course you are,” you watch as he grins at you in the mirror, hearing him undo his belt, “You always are.” 

You can hear him shedding his own jeans behind you and excitement pools in your belly, he really is going to fuck you in the bathroom with people just a few feet away. You feel his hands palm the globes of your ass, before one of them dips to your pussy, testing your claim that you’re soaked for him. 

“You weren’t lyin’ were you?” He chuckles as he pushed two fingers inside of you, eliciting a loud moan from your mouth as the intrusion mixes with the pleasure of your fingers on your clit, “Shhhh. There are people in the other room, baby.” 

“It’s hard, Joel.” You whimper, referencing the need to be quiet. 

“It certainly is darlin’,” You’re watching him in the mirror as you feel his cock nudge at your weeping entrance, “All because of you.” 

“I wasn’t-” You try and talk, but he’s already sliding the tip of his cock inside you, “Ohhhh fuck Joel.”

“You like that, darlin’?” He asks once he’s fully sheathed in your tight heat, you lift your head and catch his eyes in the mirror, your mouth is hanging open as he starts moving out of you, “You look like you do.” He fucking winks at you then and you swear you almost die on the spot. 

“Oh my god Joel just fuck me already.” You’re begging now and one of his hands flies to your mouth to cover it. 

“What did I say about bein’ quiet?!” He hisses into your ear, “You gotta keep your mouth shut if I’m gonna have to stop darlin’, you understand?” Another nod from you. 

His hand doesn’t leave your mouth, but he starts a punishing pace of thrusts into you from behind. It’s your favourite position, Joel always seems to reach as deep as is humanely possible when he takes you from behind and tonight is no exception. You can feel him hitting that sweet spot inside of you, add that to the circles you haven’t ceased drawing on your clit and you’re close. So very close. 

“Joel-” You mumble against the palm of his hand, he moves it slightly so he can hear you, “I’m so fucking close.” 

He chuckles again, still thrusting his cock inside you before he speaks, “Don’t hold back on my account.” 

It’s all the permission you needed, his palm straight back over your mouth as you fall over the edge. You can feel your pussy fluttering around him as you rub yourself through the aftershocks of your orgasm and you can hear his own grunts from behind you. It’s always like this, once your tight heat is clenching around him he’s never far behind you. 

“Darlin’, you feel so fucking good like this,” He whispers into your ear, “Gonna come for you baby.” 

Another moan, yet again muffled by the skin of his palm. You groan at the emptiness you feel when he’s pulling from your pussy, you know he’s fisting his cock behind you and within seconds you can feel the warmth of his cum spreading over your backside – thick ropes of it painting your skin as he lowly groans out your name. 

There’s always a moment like this with the two of you, in the moments after you’ve both tipped yourselves into oblivion, when you’re silent save for the heaving of you both trying to catch your breath. This time it’s interrupted by someone trying the handle of the door and then loudly knocking on it. 

“Gimme a minute!” Joel calls out, moving quickly to gather some paper towels from behind him. 

He’s usually softer with this part, but he’s running the towels quickly over your skin to wipe the remnants of his spend from your skin. Then he’s roughly pulling your jeans up – you catch them halfway and finish dressing yourself whilst he does the same behind you. You’re about to reach for the lock on the door when his hand catches your wrist. 

He’s pressing a soft kiss to the corner of your mouth, letting his hand softly run through your hair, “I promise I’ll take my time with you later, darlin’,” He’s smiling before letting your wrist go, “Ladies first.” 

You silently groan as you unlock the door and pull the door open. There’s a man stood against the wall that you don’t recognize, maybe he’s knew – what an impression to make. His eyes widen in realization when he sees Joel follow you out of the bathroom with a grin on his face, “Sorry, didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” He’s grinning like the cat that got the cream, “Enjoy the rest of your night.” 

“Enjoy the rest of your night?” You’re hissing as you walk back into the main room of the bar, “You’re such a dick sometimes.” 

“What?” He’s laughing now, “I know I’ll enjoy mine, just wanted to make sure he did too.” 

[light-yaers]

Take Care: Chapter Two

Fic Masterpost | AO3 | Chapter List

Warnings: swearing, eventual smut, emotional themes. 

A/N: I couldn’t wait. I wanted to get the ball rolling more before I slowed down, so here’s the second chapter for you all! Mwah

Word count: 7k+

Chapter Two

Well, Chris. That was certainly a disappointing start to the season for Richmond.

Indeed, Arlo. Arsenal were all over them. It seems that new coach Ted Lasso’s tactics aren’t cutting it just yet.

I think that’s probably unsurprising, especially from him being a NFL coach in the States before this. Have Richmond bitten off more than they can chew, do you think, Chris?

I don’t know, Arlo. But without Jamie Tartt the team wouldn’t have clinched even one goal, so I hope Lasso knows to utilise the young striker a lot more.

Very right, Chris.

I’m always right, Arlo.

That’s debatable, Chris. Remember the prediction of 2004?

We don’t talk about the prediction of 2004, Arlo. I told you that in confidence.

Defeat settled around the stadium. As far as first ever football games went, yours had gone to shit. The guys had played to oblivion, but Arsenal had been better. You sat in the box next to Keeley, feeling the commiserations from the home crowd. They would go home in a sulk, for sure, and you didn’t blame them. You were feeling it yourself, even, despite all that you didn’t know about the sport.

You and Keeley left the owner’s box together, heading down the stairs. You went to take a left, heading for the car park, when Keeley stopped you gently. “What, going home already?”

“Is that not a normal thing to do after a game is over?” you asked.

Keeley snorted. “Not today. It’s Sam’s birthday, you wally. I’m driving Jamie home, too. So come on! Don’t be another debbie-downer from the crowd.”

You followed her down another set of stairs, headed for the locker room. As you approached, you could hear Coach Lasso. He blasted an optimistic pep talk to his guys, but if you’d been sitting in that room after a 3-1 loss, you wouldn’t want to hear it personally.

Keeley turned the corner first, as you whispered behind her not to interrupt. She rolled her eyes at you, entering the locker room and leaving you outside. You let out an annoyed sigh, bobbing on the spot with anxiety, before you finally plucked up the courage to show yourself.

“Hard luck, boys,” Keeley said first, going to sit upon Jamie’s lap.

You emerged in the doorway, arms crossed. To your surprise, the sunken faces of a few players perked up at your arrival. Isaac sat up straighter when he saw you, as did Sam. They both sent you small smiles through their frowns of defeat.

“Well, hey!” Ted said. “Good of you to join us.” He gently squeezed your shoulder, showing you it was okay to come in.

You sent a look of sympathy around the room as you entered, before your gaze fell upon that of a dishevelled Roy Kent. “Sorry about the loss, guys,” you said, not knowing what else to add.

“It’s a shame,” Sam began. “This was your first football match, was it not?”

A collective groan went around the room, only making you feel worse. You raised your hands defensively, widening your eyes. “No, no, don’t feel bad!” you let out, panicking. “Listen, it’s taken me my whole life to watch a football game, alright? And despite the outcome of this one, I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Your gaze skimmed Roy’s again, and you pooled all your genuine feelings within that one look. He sighed heavily, but some tension was relieved from his shoulders.

“Well said,” Ted spoke up. “I know this isn’t the outcome we all wanted, but we take it in our stride, and we move on. Besides, we have a cake to eat for Sam’s birthday here!” he exclaimed. Isaac clapped Sam on the back, and a few smiles trickled around the locker room. “So, grab a slice, get some sugar back in your systems, and let’s do better next time.”

You stayed with the guys in celebration, as Coach Beard pumped some tunes into the locker room. Jamie was the only one who stayed visibly pissed off. Keeley jumped off his lap as he grabbed his bag, leaving the room with her on his tail closely.

You watched them leave, but couldn’t stay on them for long. Ted shoved a plate of cake into your hands, taking you by surprise. The guys milled around too, coming up to ask about the match and what you made of it. You hated to admit it, but this was nice. This was the first time you felt properly involved with the team, despite Isaac’s birthday the week before. That hadn’t felt as familiar, but this did. These were people you knew now, in all their boyish glory.

You sat down in the middle of the room, on the central island. You listened to Colin’s jokes, and Richard’s stories from back home in France. Sam opened a few stray presents that had appeared in his cubby over the course of the day. What had you constantly turning your head, however, was Roy Kent.

He sat by his cubby, sorting through his things silently, a plate of cake untouched by his side. You had the urge to go and sit next to him, but you didn’t know the reason for it. There was a huge sense of respect for Roy within the walls of this stadium, but when it came to socialising, Roy usually sat out. You set down your own slice of cake, standing up abruptly in the middle of a story by Bumbercatch. You headed for Roy, and sat down next to him before he could protest. You crossed your legs and leaned back into the cubby next to him, crossing your arms comfortably. Roy stopped sorting his things, just to look at you for a moment, before he continued.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“No,” you said, leaving it vague. “Was just wondering why you had an aversion to your teammates being social, is all.”

Roy rolled his eyes and let out a sound between a groan and a growl. It was like a mid-ground. “I don’t have a fucking– aversion– to social events with the team.”

You shrugged. “Okay.”

Roy froze. “I don’t.”

You shrugged again, more aggressively. “I agreed with you.”

“Yeah, but you’re fucking lying. You think I avoid them.”

“I don’t think you do. You do avoid them.”

“Oh,” he looked at you like he’d just stood in dogshit. “Just– fuck off– with your assumptions, and your–” he waved his hand in front of his face, then in front of yours. “Your fucking face.”

You scoffed. “My face?”

“You always look like you know something about me,” he said. “It creeps me the fuck out.”

You raised your hands defensively. “Sorry,” you said. “I can’t help the way my face looks, unfortunately.”

Roy dropped his gaze to the floor. “You know that’s also not what I fucking meant.”

“Was it?” you said, but by this point you were fully fucking with him. You found it enjoyable, especially since you’d squashed your beef, to play with him more. He nibbled on every joke, every dig, that it was impossible to stop making them.

“I– fucking hell–” Roy looked back at you, and you let out a proper laugh.

“I’m fucking with you, Roy. Jesus, don’t worry,” you said, gently resting your hand upon his thigh without thinking. You only noticed when he stopped to look down at your knuckles; that’s when you realised his bare skin was practically burning a hole through your palm.

You took your hand off him, placing it in your lap quickly. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll leave you be,” you said, genuinely, before you stood. “I know it’s shit, by the way. Losing,” you said, with your back turned to him, before you twisted yourself to peer down at him. “But I meant it. I wouldn’t change this being my first football match for the world.”

Roy took in your words, letting out a soft sigh through his nose. He nodded. “Thank you,” he let out softly. You smiled at him, before you finally left him alone.

Days became more routine. You’d walk to work, grab a coffee on the way, say hello to the boys upon your arrival, before settling into your office. When you weren’t working on articles or website updates, you were looking up football facts, or writing your own novel. Your days at the Dogtrack had become something you were fond of, especially now that you weren’t strangers with anyone there anymore.

Sometimes, Sam would pop his head around the door of your office, and you’d have a catch up about books. You’d been recommending reads to one another for a few weeks now, each of you bringing in books from your own personal libraries for the other to read. It was like a mini book-club of sorts. That, and you just enjoyed the company of Sam Obisanya. He was younger than you, but felt wise beyond his years. You think you latched onto one another from how foreign everything felt– he was in a completely new country, while you were in an utterly new industry. Both of you felt like fishes out of water, sometimes.

You’d become closer with Ted, too, for that very same reason. Between you, your combined knowledge of football was practically comical. God forbid anyone asked either of you to explain the off-side rule, or a handball violation. Beard was an enigma of a man, and someone you didn’t mean to avoid, but just ended up doing. But, with more matches being played and lost, team morale was at an all time fucking low. You could sense it every time you entered the locker room after a long day of training, or decided to join the guys after their Saturday match days. You could never do what they did– all that losing would kill you off before you’d even make it to a win. That was why you took it upon yourself to try and cheer them up in the ways that you could.

You didn’t pity them or stroke their egos. You sat with them, and you listened. Sure, you had no fucking clue what they were saying when they mentioned 4-4-2 layouts, or a football kicking manoeuvre, but still you listened. Sometimes, that was all they needed. It seemed to be helping, and you didn’t mind spending more time with the guys when they simply needed it.

That’s what led you to join them after training one Tuesday, but morale was certainly higher than you’d been expecting. You entered the locker room with a smile, giving Colin a high five upon your arrival. Sam and four others were talking enthusiastically in the corner, and you perked your brow.

“What are they talking about, Colin?” you asked, as Colin pulled on one of his trainers.

“The charity ball. They’re talking about their plus ones, I think.”

“A charity ball?” you asked, peering down at him.

“You don’t know about the ball?” Colin asked back, and you shook your head. He stood abruptly then, clapping the boys to attention. “Guys! This one doesn’t know about the charity ball!”

His alert led the guys to erupt in several different conversations. It was far too much for you to take in, so you raised your hands and let out a chuckle. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, one at a fucking time.”

The room dulled to a stable level. Sam took the lead. “The charity ball is Richmond’s event of the season. Celebrities, cameras, lights, a special performance from a musical artist, all for charity.”

“Musical artist?” you said.

“This year it’s Robbie Williams!” Colin exclaimed, prompting the room to go back to roaring.

You looked to your right and hit Roy’s wandering gaze. He winced at the volume in the room, before he inhaled deeply. “Hey!” he yelled suddenly, shutting the guys down. “I can’t hear myself not think. Also, I fucking hate Robbie Williams.”

“Are you going this year, Roy?” Colin asked.

“‘Course, I’m going. There’s booze, isn’t there?” he said, and all of the guys nodded in agreement.

“We’re just talking about our plus ones,” Sam spoke to you again. “Richard just landed himself a Victoria Secret model.”

“Fucking hell,” you let out, suddenly feeling the smallest bit insecure. It was like you forgot the guys were big name footballers, and when you were reminded of that fact it hit you like a suckerpunch, sometimes. “Good on you, Richard.”

Richard nodded, sat on the bench by his cubby. “She has a kind heart. And, she is smoking hot.”

You smiled awkwardly. “Brilliant,” you muttered.

“Are you not coming?” Sam asked, strolling towards you. “You are part of Richmond now, are you not?”

“Well, considering I didn’t know about it until now, I guess Rebecca hasn’t factored me in. When is it?”

“On Friday,” Colin said.

You winced. “Yeah. I’ve definitely been left off this guestlist.”

Almost immediately, the boys started groaning. They slapped their hands on their thighs and stood up with annoyance. They wanted you to come, and it made your heart warm, definitely, but there was probably nothing you could do.

“I think we all have plus ones now, sadly,” Sam said. He placed his hand over his heart. “Otherwise, I would have taken you as my date in a heartbeat.”

“No, no, I would’ve, bruv.” Isaac chimed in. As if on cue, all of the boys went around the room and reassured you that they would have taken you.

You inhaled deeply and smiled so genuinely that you had to tell yourself to stop. They did this to you often, made you feel special, and welcome, and all of the things that you thought you wouldn’t feel on your placement here. They were kind.

You raised your hands again, trying to calm them down. “Guys, guys! Thank you, all of you. I appreciate you all saying you’d bring me, but it’s fine. I’m grateful for the gesture, anyway.” They nodded at you, all smiling their winning grins, before they went back to packing their bags. “Well, I’ll be off then. See you all tomorrow!” you announced.

“Wait a fucking minute,” Roy said, and the room dropped to silence once more. You halted immediately, turning back to meet his eye. “I don’t have a plus one.”

In the corner of your eye, Sam’s eyes widened. Isaac’s jaw dropped open. Colin’s eyes darted between you and Roy like a tennis match.

You held onto the strap of your tote bag tightly, until your knuckles turned white. “Oh.” You tried to say it nonchalantly, but it came out statically, timidly. You hated the sound you just made so bad that it was a miracle you didn’t melt from your own embarrassment.

“So?” Roy asked.

“So…?” you repeated awkwardly.

“Do you want to be my fucking date or what?” he let out. “They’re right. You’re part of this club. You should get to join us.”

You looked around the room for approval, but it was then that you realised, if he’d only asked you in a different setting, you wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes. It was the pressure of all the guys around you that made it all the more worse. You knew Roy meant it as a kind gesture, not as anything more, but it was still easy for your heart to start pulsing harder beneath your ribcage.

You smiled bashfully, trying to play it off as nothing more. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Great,” Roy boomed, picking up his gym bag and slinging it over his shoulder. “I’ll pick you up.” He stepped towards you, headed for the door.

You scoffed. “You don’t have to do that. I can meet you there, or something.”

Roy peered down at you sternly. “I’ll pick you up,” he repeated.

“Okay,” you said timidly, giving in fast.

Roy left without another word, leaving you in the locker room. The guys stood around you with gobsmacked expressions, but one glance at them unlocked them from being statues. They went back to their prior conversations, with an underlying hubbub of gossip about what they’d just witnessed.

You left the stadium with two thoughts littering your mind. One, you had no idea what to fucking wear, and two– Roy fucking Kent had just asked you to be his date to the Richmond charity ball.

On the walk home, you called Keeley.

She picked up fast. “Hey babes, you okay?”

“Hey. Yeah, I’m okay. I do have a favour to ask of you, though,” you said.

“Okay, fire away!”

“I need an outfit for the Richmond charity ball,” you announced.

“I was wondering if you were coming! Leaving it pretty close, though, babe.”

“Yeah, well.” You sighed, knowing that Keeley would take the news the wrong way, but still you persisted. “I wasn’t invited explicitly, but Roy just asked me to come as his plus one.”

Keeley squealed like a crying baby. You held your phone away from your face, wincing in pain, until her shrill screams stopped. “Are you finished?” you asked.

“What the actual fuck!” she exclaimed. “This is just like that trope that everyone loves on Twitter.” She clicked her fingers impatiently, trying to remember. “Enemies to lovers!”

You scoffed immediately. “Please, Keeley, you’re making me feel a bit ill. It’s nothing like that. And besides…” You fiddled with your fingernails. “Roy and I would definitely be enemies to friends to lovers, first,” you added quickly. Keeley squealed again, and you winced once more. “Okay, okay!” you yelled. “Back on track. I need an outfit, and I desperately need your help.”

“Lunch break, tomorrow. I’ll pick you up,” she said, and you couldn’t help but smile. “This one’s on me, too, babes. I know MA students aren’t exactly dripping in gold.”

You sighed, but you couldn’t help the warm pang that raced through your chest. You really had some great people around you. A month into this placement and it had already exceeded your expectations. Even Rebecca had started warming to you, of all people.

“Thanks, Keeley,” you said genuinely. You could practically feel her golden smile radiating through the phone.

You worked non-stop the next morning, too anxious to stop for even a second. Right before lunch, Rebecca made an unexpected visit to your office. You were mid sip of a cup of tea, and almost choked on it when she knocked on your door and popped her head around the frame.

“Oh, sorry, have I caught you at a bad time?” she said, and you forced yourself to swallow.

You shook your head quickly, panicking. “No,” you croaked, then cleared your throat. “No,” you said, normally. “What can I do for you, Rebecca?”

“Well, I assume you read Trent Crimm’s article about Ted in the Independent,” she said, stepping inside and sitting opposite you. She crossed her legs, and for a moment you were mesmerised at how long her legs actually were.

“Yes, yes I did,” you said, looking at her face, finally. “It was a great article, one that showed off Ted’s true colours, I felt.”

Rebecca’s face flattened slightly. “Yes. Brilliant, wasn’t it. Anyway– I was wondering if you could write something about me.”

You froze, overcome by the overexcited beat of your heart. “Oh?” you managed to get out.

“Nothing major,” Rebecca said, waving at you with reassurance. “Just something for the website, nothing for the tabloids, you know. We all know what they write about me, already.” She fiddled with her perfectly done manicure as she spoke, before she cleared her throat and looked back up at you. “I just thought it might be a nice idea, since my name has been in every paper for months now, having something to do with the club instead of my failed marriage, is all.”

You sighed at her warmly, relaxing finally. “I’d love to write something for you, Rebecca,” you said with a smile. “Though, I’m not really an article writer, just as a warning. More fiction, more novels.”

“I thought your player profiles on the website were incredibly well written,” she said plainly.

Your eyes widened, and she mimicked you, but with a smile on her face all the same. “Oh, thank you,” you let out. “I’ll do it, then!” you agreed.

Rebecca smiled. “Fantastic!” She matched your energy. You shared a few peaceful moments together, which you latched onto after her aversion to you in the very beginning, but you were cut off when you looked at the time.

“Oh, fuck,” you muttered, grabbing your bag quicky. “Sorry, Rebecca. I actually have lunch plans for once.”

Rebecca followed you in standing. “Oh? A date?”

You scoffed. “No, no. Keeley is taking me shopping before the charity ball.”

“Oh, fuck!” Rebecca exclaimed abruptly, making you jump. “I didn’t invite you, did I? Oh, fucking hell, I’m so sorry, darling.”

“It’s okay!” you reassured her, as the two of you left your office. “Roy’s taking me as his plus one, so it’s no trouble anyway.”

Rebecca stopped in the hallway. “Roy’s taking you as his plus one?”

You stared at her bluntly, overly annoyed about the reaction that that simple sentence had garnered over the past few days. You fucking wished Roy had asked you in private, for fucks sake.

“Yes,” you said plainly, annoyed.

Rebecca was taken aback by your bluntness. “Oh. Well, how lovely,” she said.

“I desperately need an outfit, and Keeley is my only hope,” you continued, heading up the stairs to the second floor together.

“Oh, well, now that you’ve said it actually, could I join you?” Rebecca asked. You flicked your gaze onto her, noting the soft way her brows were furrowed in question. You weren’t used to her being so adamant to actually hang out with you, but you weren’t about to exclude her.

“Of course!” you said. “I’m meeting Keeley in the car park, I’ll tell her to wait for you.”

Rebecca nodded in thanks, as the two of you parted ways on the final step. You headed towards the car park to the right, while she sped in her heels to the left, all the way down the corridor and up the stairs, to grab her bag from her office.

Your lunch break turned into a lunch day, but Rebecca didn’t seem to give a shit. The three of you went into several different fashion establishments, none of which you’d fucking heard of. Keeley asked you what you wanted, and what ‘vibe’ fit you, but you had no fucking clue. You’d been in the football world for a month, and you’d already had to branch out and act like someone from a much higher tax bracket. It was exhausting.

As you changed in a dressing room for the thousandth time, Keeley and Rebecca poured all of you a glass of complimentary champagne. You struggled with the straps of this latest number– some sci-fi looking dress where you looked more like a Dalek than a princess.

“How are you getting on in there?” Rebecca yelled from behind the curtain.

“I’m–” You struggled to zip yourself up, feeling like nothing but a sack of tomatoes under some tarp than someone remotely attractive. “I’m… trying. But, this one doesn’t feel like it’s for me!” you yelled back.

“Hmm.” Keeley hummed, standing up and downing her drink. She placed the glass down and headed towards a new rack, full of black jumpsuits. “What’s Roy’s favourite colour?”

“Black!” you and Rebecca yelled simultaneously. “But, we’re not matching or anything,” you added. “He just got me an invite to the ball itself, it’s not a date situation.”

“Isn’t he picking you up?” Rebecca asked.

You shoved your head out of the dressing room, flustered. “That was his idea. It wasn’t up to me.”

“So, maybe he thinks it’s a date, but you don’t,” Rebecca suggested.

You let out a frustrated huff. “God, can we just– not– talk about Roy for once? It’s been constant today, ever since he announced it in the locker room. It’s deeply annoying.”

Keeley grabbed a jumpsuit off the rack, bringing it over to the dressing room. “I don’t know, babe. Seems to me like you’re the one who’s pissed about it all. It’s just a bit fun, ain’t it?”

“Exactly!” you yelled, sticking your hand out to grab the garment from her. “Which is why I hate how much everyone is overreacting about it.”

“Who’s overreacting about it?” Keeley asked.

You stuck your head out of the curtain again, red in the face. “You squealed at me down the phone, Keeley! And Rebecca, you yelled in the hallway! I called my mother last night and she started crying when I told her.”

Rebecca and Keeley winced at you. “Sorry,” Keeley said.

“Apologies,” Rebecca added. “It’s just that, well, I don’t think anyone ever expects Roy to actually be a gentleman.”

You slipped on the jumpsuit that Keeley handed you, and looked at yourself in the mirror afterwards. To your surprise, it was good. It reminded you of the jumpsuit from Fleabag, a bit of cleavage shown off, just to make it sweet.

“I don’t get that,” you started, ruffling up your hair into something semi-presentable. “Roy is a bit of a gentleman. He went to my lecturer and explained that he’d been an arsehole, and ultimately got me the grade I deserved. He drove me home a few weeks ago, too. And, yeah, he gave up his plus one spot for me which was… sort of sweet, I suppose” You twisted yourself in the mirror, happy with the reflection you saw.

You pulled open the curtain and stepped out of the dressing room. “So, yeah, I’d say he is a gentleman.” You turned to Keeley and Rebecca, and both of them were frozen to their spots. You were taken aback by their wide-eyed and open mouthed expressions. “What… is it too much?” you asked, peering down at your body.

“It’s perfect,” Rebecca said, in awe of you.

“I think Roy fancies you,” Keeley said, biting at her fake nails.

You let out a colossal sigh, turning around to look at yourself in the mirror again. You couldn’t be bothered to keep looking, not when you felt great in something you’d tried on, finally. You had Rebecca’s seal of approval, too, which was absolutely good enough for you.

“This is the one,” you said, turning to the retail worker. “I’ll take it.”

By Friday, things had settled down. If it weren’t for your stern glares at the guys when they teased you, then they would have only continued, but you made yourself clear. You didn’t want to be hassled about this, and you definitely knew that Roy wouldn’t want it, either. You suspected he was already regretting his choice to bring you along with him.

Despite your clear annoyance over the past few days, the atmosphere at the Dogtrack was nothing but great. Training had gone well, with Ted and Beard finally making progress with the team. Rebecca had eased up even more, actually inviting you to join her for lunch the day after she helped you pick your ball attire. On Thursday, you played Cluedo with Higgins, and on Friday, you walked in on the coaches during one of their… special meetings.

You were alerted to them from the abrupt barking, but the noises were unmistakably coming from humans instead of dogs. Hearing the noise all the way from your office, you made your way down the corridor to the locker room. You kept close to the wall as you entered, knowing that Ted and Beard were in the manager’s office, but they weren’t alone. Higgins and Nate were with them, too, and it seemed that all of them had contributed towards the various barks.

“Well, gentlemen, it seems all of us have our wits about us this time around,” Ted announced, in his classic southern drawl.

“Ah, ah, ah, wait,” Higgins added. “I know we formed this group for the balance of men having each other’s backs emotionally, but does that stop us from expanding?”

“Expanding?” Nate asked.

“Further afield,” Higgins said. “You know, like gossiping.”

Ted and Beard gasped. “Well, Higgins, that might just stir a pot that doesn’t need stirring. The kind that your mom stands over the stove with for hours, you know? And as soon as she takes a break, and tells you not to touch it, what do you do? You touch it. And whatever custard or queso or sauce she’s making curdles.”

Higgins deflated a little. “I guess you’re right.”

There was a moment of silence, before Ted perked up again. “But, just because of the unhelped curiosity of man, what was it that you wanted to expand upon?”

You leaned against the wall outside, right next to the manager’s door. You knew it was wrong, but you couldn’t stop listening. It was infectious and impossible not to want more. Slowly, you leaned even closer.

Higgins cleared his throat. “There is a rumour circulating these halls…” You held your breath, wondering what tea was about to be spilled. “Roy Kent’s plus one for the charity ball has been filled.”

Ted, Beard and Nate all gasped. All semblance of cool that you had turned red immediately.

Without hesitation, you stomped your boots upon the ground like a spoiled child. “Fucks sake!” you yelled suddenly, before you quickly revealed yourself in the manager’s office doorway. The men inside looked immediately shaken, clutching onto their hearts like they were scared they’d jump out of their chests. You huffed from frustration. “It’s not a big deal!”

“Oh, hey!” Ted exclaimed, taking his hand away from his heart. “God, you gave us one heck of a fright.”

“Are you Roy’s plus one?” Higgins returned to the conversation at hand.

You leaned against the doorway, defeated. “Yes. And at this point, I wish I fucking wasn’t.”

“Hey now,” Ted said gently. “Is this what this rumour is, huh? That you’re Roy’s date to the charity ball?”

You shrugged. “It’s been constant this week. I’m surprised you all didn’t hear about it sooner, to be honest.”

“I did,” Beard chimed in. All eyes in the room fell on him, but he didn’t elaborate.

“Great,” you said plainly, before you turned back to the others. “It’s not like it’s a huge thing, or something so out there that it should be discussed. I feel like everyone’s been, I don’t know, whispering about it over the past few days. Keeley squealed at me. Rebecca yelled in my face. My own mother cried.”

All the men in the room winced in unison.

“Can I be completely honest with you all?” you asked suddenly, and as if on cue all the guys stood up straight. Immediately, they started making barking noises and whimpering like dogs, as if they were a gaggle of drama students. “Jesus fucking Christ,” you muttered in response.

“This is a safe space. Speak your mind as much as you wish,” Ted explained.

“Well,” you started, letting out a stress filled sigh. “First of all, he asked me in front of the entire locker room. From the get-go it’s been made out to be a bigger thing than it needed to be, you know? And after that, everyone started acting like it was huge! Like it was so out there that Roy fucking Kent asked the bloody social placement, of all people, to go with him to the charity ball. Rebecca said that it’s because no one expects Roy to be a gentleman, but I know he is one, so that doesn’t exactly make sense to me.”

“So, what you’re saying is, it makes it seem like it’s a huge deal because it’s you and him, instead of just him?” Nate offered.

You widened your eyes at him, nodding in agreement. “Exactly that. It just… makes me feel a bit shit. Like I wasn’t an option that anyone would expect him to pick. Which is fucking stupid because, God, it’s really not a big deal.”

“It’s been blown out of proportion, you mean?” Higgins asked.

You nodded again. “Massively.”

“And that’s frustrating you because it makes you feel judged?” Ted joined in.

You nodded again. “Yep.”

The room fell silent for a moment. It was almost suffocating, alongside the stares of four pairs of eyes landing on you all at once. You felt like a child, it was true, but you couldn’t deny how much this entire ordeal had got to you. You wished people would leave it, wished they’d stop fucking talking about it like it was some huge revelation.

Beard cleared his throat. “You need to fucking own it.”

You snapped your stare onto him instantly. “Excuse me?”

“Own it!” he exclaimed again. “If this is really bothering you, don’t let people know that you care. Stomping your feet about it and getting flustered will only perpetuate their reactions.”

“Are you really saying that my mother crying to me is my fault?”

Ted took the reins. “Not that.” He shook his head. “That’s all on her.”

“When you show up tonight next to Roy, act like you belong there,” Beard continued, leaning forward in his chair to look at you fully. “Because you do belong. You’re part of this club, and the guys all wanted you at the ball in the first place. Don’t let them rattle you.”

You furrowed your brows at him. “How do you know all this?”

Beard leaned back, propping his legs up on the desk casually. “I was in here when Roy asked you to be his date.”

“Ahaaa, so it is a date,” Higgins said, but was promptly shut down by all sets of eyes glaring at him to oblivion. “Sorry. Gossiping is an addiction that I cannot seem to shake, no matter how hard I try.”

“So, I should own it?” You kept the conversation on track. Beard, Ted and Nate all nodded in agreement. “Okay, yeah. You’re right. Fuck it all, right? I’m part of this team, and I deserve Roy Kent’s plus one the same as anyone else.”

“That’s it!” Ted exclaimed, before turning to the rest of the guys. “Well, that was another successful visitor pass discussion. Diamond Dogs, out!” The four of them all went back to barking like dogs, only made worse by Ted and Nate sticking out their tongues, as if they were lapping up water.

“Okay, I’m leaving,” you said quickly, immediately turning on your heels to get the fuck out of there.

As you walked back to your office, you took their advice on board. Was it really that simple, just to own it? Act like you belonged, act like it was just another normal fucking day at AFC Richmond? You sighed when you reached your door, knocking your knuckles against the wood of the door frame. It was sturdy, same as the rest of the stadium walls and floors, and you would be, too.

You wouldn’t let this ball phase you, wouldn’t freak out about the guys’ reactions, about Keeley and Rebecca’s, and certainly not your fucking mother’s. You’d be hard as nails when you got into Roy Kent’s Jeep, as the two of you pulled up to the venue. You’d smile for the cameras, be comfortable on Roy’s arm as you walked in, and have a brilliant fucking night.

Nothing would go wrong. Nothing.

Roy pulled up outside your door and honked his horn once, twice, three times. He figured that would be enough to get your attention. He fiddled with his tie as he sat behind the wheel, tapping his car's leather interior as he waited for you to open your front door and jump into the passenger seat next to him.

Little did he know, but you’d made the unwise decision to Google the Richmond charity ball while you were getting ready, only to see the prestigious guestlist. It was celebrities galore, millionaires, billionaires, but no MA students who’d been shoved into the club as a last resort. You took back everything you’d said about feeling bad about being Roy’s plus one– you weren’t one of these people, and that was fucking adament by the hoards of paparazzi, and thousands of pounds donated.

Roy honked his horn again, and you flinched on the floor of your bathroom. You leaned against the door, trying and failing to calm down the anxiety that raced within your bones. Roy honked again, and you found yourself groaning. “I can hear you, Roy!” you yelled, knowing that he couldn’t hear you back. “Fucks sake.” You fumbled as you grabbed your phone from beside the sink.

You unlocked it and went to texts, putting in Roy’s name at the top. Your eyes skimmed the last message you sent– the one about your assignment. You still had no idea if he had you blocked, or if other circumstances had kept him away from his phone at that time, but that didn’t stop you from texting him now.

Having a fucking nervy-b. Two minutes.

Roy’s phone pinged suddenly, and he shuffled it out of his inside jacket pocket. It was an unsaved number, but he knew it was you as soon as he opened the message up. Not just from the timings, but from the previous message that he didn’t recall getting at all.

This was for my degree, my first assignment is due on Sunday. It’ll be incomplete without you.

Roy’s eyes widened. “Fuuuuuuck,” he let out coarsely. He reread both messages, over and over again, before he made the decision to kill his engine.

He jumped out of his Jeep, slamming the driver’s side door shut behind him. He hopped onto the pavement and climbed the steps to your front door. He didn’t hesitate knocking with his knuckles, loudly. The banging reverberated throughout your ground floor flat, startling you as you sat in the bathroom. When the banging didn’t stop, you let out another frustrated groan. You had no choice but to let him in, and get over this small mishap that had got you so inside your own head.

You shuffled your way to your front door and clicked the intercom that came with it. “Can I help you?”

“What the fuck is a nervy-b?” Roy replied through the static.

You bonked your head down against your front door, hating yourself for ever writing a message without thinking. “I’m– it’s–” you stuttered, but there was no good way to say it. “Just come in. I’ll be ready soon.” You buzzed him in, and Roy entered through the main door into your building. From there, you unlatched the lock on your front door and kicked it open for him, before retreating to the comfort of your kitchen.

Roy closed the door behind him, breathing in deeply as he took in his surroundings. Your flat was dainty, but oddly comforting. It reminded him of the flat he had when he first joined Chelsea, all those years before. Albeit, yours was certainly cleaner and tidier, but it still left him with a fond feeling. He stepped further inside, catching a glimpse of you in the kitchen to the right.

“Hey,” he let out, crossing the threshold to approach you. “You alright?” he asked.

You leaned against the counter top, shoulders high and tense, with your back turned to him. “I’m good.” You lied.

Roy arched his brow at you. “I’m not quite sure I believe you.”

“It’s fine!” you exclaimed, before you finally turned to him. “Beard said to own it, so that’s exactly what I’m going to fucking do. None of it fucking matters anyway!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roy took a step closer.

“This! I mean, I’m not a celebrity, I know fuck all about football, and had to get Keeley to help me pick out this fucking outfit, but I’m still going to own it.” You wondered, if you kept lying to yourself, would it finally stick? “Right?” you asked Roy.

He raised his hands slowly, gently. “I finally understand the meaning of nervy-b,” he said lowly.

You furrowed your brows at him in gentle pleading, before you dropped your head into your hands. “I fucking hate Google,” you said, your voice muffled through your fingers.

Roy took a moment to regard you, finally understanding what it was that was getting to you. He could understand why. As a professional footballer himself, a showboater, a performer, he hated being in the public eye when he didn’t have to be. He preferred to be left alone, staying far away from PR deals and interviews. He could relate to what you were feeling, despite all the years he’d had to get used to it.

Slowly, he stepped towards you. He brought his hands forward and grabbed your wrists gently, pulling them away from your face. When you peered up at him, it was like a chunk of his lung fell into the depths of his stomach. You were terrified, and Roy had no fucking clue how to make it better.

“If Beard said to own it, then own it,” Roy said gently. “If it makes you feel any better, I fucking hate events like this.”

You sniffed. “You do?”

Roy nodded. “But, it’s a necessary part of the job. By now, though, paparazzi know that I don’t give a fuck about them. They piss me off, so I know how it feels.” His eyes flicked over your face, trying to seek out the right words to say. “About the celebrities, though. Well, I’m a fucking celebrity, aren’t I?”

You scoffed abruptly, taking yourself and Roy by surprise. “Sorry,” you said quickly.

“See? It’s funny when I say it, right? Because we work together, and you thought I was the fcuking caretaker last month.”

“I’m still sorry about that,” you whispered.

“This is what I mean. The word celebrity makes it all the more scary and shit,” Roy continued. “You know all the guys at the club, and they fucking worship you. It’s a bit fucking weird sometimes.”

You laughed properly then, as Roy’s words started to sink into your skull. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right,” you said, breathing in deeply, and exhaling slowly.

Roy removed his grasp from you and took a step back. “Fucking own it.” He settled on, giving you a once over with his dark eyes.

You let out a shaky breath, expelling as much of your anxiety from your body as you possibly could. You stood up straight, shaking out your limbs. “Okay,” you muttered to yourself, before you headed off towards the bathroom, again.

You worked fast, calmly, to clean yourself up. Roy let himself out and leaned against the hood of his car, the same way you had in the car park a few weeks prior. When you walked out of your flat, shutting the door behind you, you were like a completely different person. No longer were the nerves and anxiety eating you alive. You’d been replaced by someone that knew her worth, someone who stood up tall and proud in her pair of platforms. Someone who, certainly, was going to get cold by the evening, but didn’t factor in a jacket of any kind when picking out this fucking outfit, so she had nothing.

Roy tugged open the passenger side door for you. You muttered a thank you at him, before you both got comfortable in his Jeep. Roy stuck the keys in the ignition, but turned to you before he switched on the engine.

“Ready?” he asked, just double checking.

You nodded. “Let’s fucking get this over with.”

“That’s the fucking spirit.” Roy started the engine, and you were off.

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CHAPTER THREE