#he's too stoical because he needs those freaks

[zot3-flopped]

Louis has denied Larry once again!

Interviewer: Many people believe in the theory of you dating Harry Styles even though you describe this theory as ridiculous. Why is this conspiracy so famous?

Louis: What's tough is I've realised - I realised this some years ago - there is nothing I can say, nothing I can do to dispel that conspiracy. They are so intertwined with what they believe to be the truth now they won't actually see the truth for what it is.

I'd be lying if I - it does irritate me a little bit but it's just the nature of the job, I suppose. There are times when it gets a little bit far too personal within that whole space.

I've got my son Freddie; he's the most important person in my life. Occasionally, you know it kind of broaches some stuff that is kind of really unfair. It kind of just is this thing that exists now. There's nothing I can do about it, nothing I can say about it to stop people making up what they want to make up. So, so be it (shrugs)

[the-raven-dhampir]

Detention.

It was unavoidable, and yet Raven couldn't stop being mad. At himself, at Cain, at the whole world.

Finding Cain beside him again at Potions couldn't be a coincidence. Raven had got nudged, rubbed, touched, pushed. He had stoically endured everything, trying to focus on his cauldron only, and especially trying to ignore the little bolts of pleasure he felt in his body every time Cain was too close.

All till he had found himself with Cain heavily pressed against his everything. The first, immediate wish to touch him had made his blood boil. The idea that a whole class was witnessing that, had made his blood boil of rage.

"Will you stay away from me?" he had screamed, jumping up from his stool and even drawing his wand.

In the frenzy, he had nudged a shelf, that had collapsed having all the precious jars of Potions ingredients shattered on the ground.

He had heavily overreacted and detention was obvious. He would have gotten it alone if Cain hadn't giggled at him a little bit too loud.

As detention, they were assigned the task of going around the Hogwarts grounds and collect a certain amounts of all the lost ingredients. Together of course, because of House cooperation and such...

It was a bright day. Too awfully bright.

Raven had rubbed a sunray protection lotion all over his face and hands. However, his turbulent mood had made him forget an extremely important detail: sunglasses. He had realized it once they were already far away from the castle, and walking back to the Ravenclaw tower would have lost him too much time.

He had collected Moonstone, Leaping Toadstool Caps, and Lacewing Flies all day, talking the very bare minimum with Cain. He had never stood in sunlight for so long, but he thought he could resist, at least till his eyes started burning horribly. By the time they moved closer to the lake, he was weeping very badly and a white spot was all he could see. He rubbed and rubbed his eyelids, freaking out more and more every passing minute.

At the end, he dropped everything he had collected and dragged himself in the shade of a big willow. He had no idea of what do to, he couldn't ask for help without jeopardizing his whole situation.

Damn Vampiric blood, damn lousy memory, damn bright sunlight.

He pointed his wand towards himself and mumbled the Obscuro spell. A magical blindfold covered his eyes, giving him some relief. That's all he could do.

But the worst was still to come, when he heard and smelled Cain approaching, surely devoured by curiosity about his condition.

Raven ignored him at first, then he decided to speak out. Maybe he could get rid of one problem at least. One that, he had to admit, he did not want to get rid of.

... But you are cute.

Those words appeared again in Raven's mind, causing a wave of warmth on his already burning skin. Cain's little attentions could have been irritating, but Raven had had the most emotional time since he had stepped in Hogwarts years before. He simply didn't want it to end.

"Cain." A couple of tears left his eyes under the magical blindfold. Raven was feeling a horrible lump in his throat and he couldn't tell whether it was his sight trying to heal or his heart aching. "I need you to stop what you are doing. You love drawing attention on yourself and that's exactly what I want to avoid."

He looked away. That was something stupid since he couldn't see the Other's face at all, but still Raven felt terribly embarrassed.

"I like you, alright? A lot. And much before that note." he admitted, feeling his cheeks burning a little more. That was only half true, but it didn't matter, that wasn't the point. "I think the rumors about your Veela powers are all bullshit, and I find you very annoying, but still... I do." That was the most pragmatic way out of that situation, it was costing him, but nothing was more important than his magical studies, and he had to keep hidden if he didn't want his wand to be taken away for good. Cain was going to tell all his friends, make fun of him for a while and then address his attention to someone else. The perfect plan.

"Now please, be a lamb and do not run away with my gatherings. I'd like to deliver also my part today and go to Hogsmeade tomorrow." He was giving Cain a very specific hint. The Slytherin was selfish enough to run back to the Castle with his own and Raven's gatherings, to deliver his expected amount and leave Raven to start again. And he couldn't wait to get rid of him and cry some more, alone as usual.

Magic in the veins || @the-raven-dhampir

Cain was too bored to even fall asleep. The History of Magic class was the worst; he always had to try and find things to keep himself entertained and awake.

He was scribbling something on the parchment in front of him when a crumpled up parchment fell on his desk. He held back a yawn, and set his quill down to open the parchment with a raised brow.

Stop staring at me, it makes me uncomfortable.

Cain blinked at the note, then he glanced at the back of the Ravenclaw boy who dropped the note on his desk. Raven was sitting up front, three rows of students were between them. Staring at him? He wasn't staring at him, they just made eye contact after they sat down. The Slytherin took a piece of parchment and wrote a message back.

...but you're cute. :(

He folded it in half, then got his wand in his hand and used magic to sneakily make it fly on Raven's desk, beside his hand.

[sandsorghum]

JJK Week Day 6 - Horror Movies, Part One

Prompt by @jujutsukaisenweek It's the Free Day and I've chosen to keep things seasonally spooky and sweet! Here's what it's like watching scary films with the JJK cast when they're your significant other ;3

Attempts at fluff and humour below, nothing NSFW for once hah. Second Years will be posted here!

MEGUMI

is great to watch horror films with if you need someone to calm you down. You'll burrow against his side, Megumi's arms warm and secure around you and you can hide in his shirt when you want to look away. He's pretty unfazed by scary stuff on screen, in fact he prefers to focus on how you feel next to him (it's the primary reason he agrees to watching them, or letting you watch them, in the first place). He'll watch it fairly stoically, almost switching off his brain, the most reaction a film will get out of him is a raised brow at a jump scare. When you get nightmares for the next few weeks and can't sleep properly, he'll chide you but hold and soothe you in bed, offering comforting words and touches till you doze off.

You feel sheepish about inconveniencing him and making him stay up, but he really doesn't mind. It's a nice excuse for him to cuddle you, not that he requires a reason, but it feels good being needed. You swear off watching horror movies every time, but Megumi knows it's never permanent, and the cycle repeats itself - but hey, he's not complaining about you falling asleep, curled tight in his arms each night.

NOBARA

is your Scream Queen twin. She's a little bit resistant at first because she's one of those people who don't see the point of purposely scaring themselves - How is fear fun exactly? You persuade her by promising to make her favourite cookies on movie night, and she'll get the next two picks.

You know your baking is pretty good, but dang, Nobara is definitely a stress eater when it comes to this! The more nervous she gets about the plot, the more she munches down on whatever you two have decided to indulge in. She pretends not to be afraid by acting angry at the movie, yelling and cursing and flinging crumbs at the monsters on screen. You can't help but laugh as it totally ruins the creepy factor and vibe. You're slightly disappointed that the mood has changed so drastically but mainly scold her for the mess. She shushes you with a "that can wait!" and is glued to the screen. If she runs out of snacks to cram into her mouth so the shrieks don't escape, she'll cling to you instead, grabbing your arm, fingers entwined, the clasp of her palm clammy and you can feel her hammering pulse.

Later she will declare that "It wasn't that scary, at all!" while sweeping up the evidence that she was, in fact, pretty freaked out. She'll deny it of course, but you'll catch her Googling How to Protect Your House from Poltergeists, before you have to remind her that she is actually a Jujutsu Sorcerer who deals with cursed spirits regularly.

YUJI

One of the funnest people to watch horror films with! Aww, he's almost as much of a coward as you when it comes to these movies! He'll make the director of even B-list horror movies beam, because he reacts exactly how they hope at the slightest creepy thing. Don't give him any soda or snacks cause he's a squirmer and startles easily, jerking in his seat to spill popcorn and drinks everywhere!

For this reason you don't like getting cosy with him on the couch, but he needs to hug someone to get through the movie. After he stained the sofa one too many times though, you banish him to the floor. Yuji will drag you down with him, you sitting with your knees up in between his, one hand circling your waist and the other around your shoulders, with a blanket over the both of you, as if it'll help. He's not allowed to hold the bowl so you're in charge of feeding him Umaibo or onion rings or whatever you two have decided to binge on that evening.

Occasionally he will playfully nibble or bite your fingers (an old bad habit formed through occupational hazards?), but once he did it too harshly in the middle of a massacre scene when he wasn't expecting it. You let out a little yelp and he was quick to apologize, kissing the mark to comfort you as well as he could; you remember he was more scared of hurting you than of whatever contrived plot was occurring on screen. You tell him not to worry, it's not painful, and return your attention to the movie. The rest of the night you feel him pepper small smooches along your neck to say sorry, making it hard to concentrate on the film!

[sinisterlyhan]

03. jisung ; hyunsung /  8705 words

incubus!hyunsung, oral (m receiving), female reader, unprotected sex, choking kink, a mild hint of jealousy, a little fluff at the end

tw: slight mention of force

parts: 01 ; 02 ; 03

your hands fell onto your lap after another failed attempt at calling his name, a shy yet frustrated groan sounding from your throat as you covered your eyes with the heels of your palms.

you were seated right in the middle of a brand new sheet, one you bought from the local department store for the personal use of summoning demons. the white sheet has been painted on with a dark red glyph for almost twenty minutes now, and you still have yet to call up the boys you've been dying to meet; each time you chanted the spell, you stop just when you were supposed to speak their name.

a rush of embarrassment kept glowing over you for some reason. it seemed you have yet to get over how you managed to be turned into a damn filthy doll overnight, much like how your last encounter with jisung and hyunjin, which was already weeks ago, still lingered in the front lines of your head almost every waking second.

they have really fucked themselves into your head, everything from their intense glowy eyes to the scratch of their nails haunted your days and nights. and everything reminded you of them, starting with the unfading hickey jisung sucked onto your skin to the empty clench of your cunt that just constantly felt so overwhelming.

you haven’t been touched, kissed, nor filled up to the brim in weeks. your fingers and the vibrator you secretly got off online were not good enough to replace the blissful skin-to-skin sensation you knew those two demons would be more than capable of giving you.

and it was getting so bad, your neediness growing with each sunrise, to a point where just the mere thought of their faces was enough to make your head hazy with lust and longing.

but even then, you kept pushing back summoning them again for some reason. a very broken part of your heart kept forgetting how tightly jisung has cuddled your warm body to him, forgetting how gentle hyunjin had kissed your swollen lips and rubbing your sore skin, forgetting how kindly they have treated you after they practically fucked you into oblivion.

your mind kept wandering off to how they would react to you summoning them again, and somehow you developed an unreasonable fear of having your terrible assumption—that they wouldn’t want to see you again—becoming a reality.

it was a problem of your lack of self-worth; if the boys were here, they would have the scent of your insecurities sniffed out in seconds, and they would probably hate that.

“huh.” you exhaled slowly, trying to coax yourself into submission by thinking about the alternative, by remembering how good they have made you feel the night you first met them. you could have that right at your fingertips if you could just try. one of them even left you a note! “damn it, why is this so hard? freaking stupid, stupid han jisung!”

in the middle of your mildly insulting chant, where you repeatedly called hyunjin and jisung stupid when the truly stupid one in the room was you, the glyph you were seated on had glowed a bright, brilliant shade of blood red for a brief second before a shadowy substance appeared at the corner of your room. jisung soon morphed into shape, the black substance trickling off his shoulders into nothingness.

he took a look around your room. nothing has changed since the last time he has been in it; the mini-trinkets on your desk were still arranged on the same spot, your mattress was draped over with the same cover he fucked you on last time, and the basket of freshly cleaned, unfolded laundry stained of your that honey-sweet scent of your naked body.

jisung let him bask in your warm and homey room, his gaze finally making their way away from the furniture and onto you. he softened, his back relaxing and his eyes sparking a faint shade of red at the sight of you kneeling with your hands to your eyes.

supposed the only thing that changed was him; he came back to your room with more longing and more anticipation than he did last time. and if he has only able to enjoy half of his sexual encounters with other people before, he definitely hasn’t been able to enjoy any of them after he got a chance to lay with you.

“what are you doing?”

his low and tender voice snapped you out of your trance, and you yelped when you found him to be only inched away from your face after opening your eyes. his eyes were a golden shade of brown, like sunlight filtered through the gaps of trees, and looking into them made you dizzy.

“i… uhh…”

you hadn’t gotten a chance to speak when jisung leaned in to press his lips against yours. he went slow, he was thorough in recalling the shape of your mouth, none at all like the first time he kissed you. and you closed your eyes, your head leaning back when he pushed forward to deepen the kiss, wanting to taste more of you.

ahh, how jisung has missed you. your softness and your innocence, your lips and your tightness. he missed you much more than he wanted to miss you. it was like you infiltrated his head, like you just barged in without knocking or taking your shoes off, infuriatingly occupying his brain when all he wanted to do was to keep his cool and wait for you.

but it has been weeks since you last called. the desire to touch you burned inside him in ways he could not fathom.

this wasn’t supposed to happen to him; he wasn’t supposed to think about you when he has his cock stuffed inside somebody else, he wasn’t supposed to be so reluctant to chase his high in a stranger’s eyes, he wasn’t supposed to feel so anxious thinking that maybe you neglected him and called up hyunjin instead.

how was he supposed to stop himself when you finally appeared before him again? and without hyunjin’s presence as well? this felt like a miracle, a gift sent to him by god, a damn utopia.

leaning further into you, your back soon hit the thin white sheet that winkled when you both moved. you moved your legs, separating them so jisung could have access to the middle where he could comfortably lay his body on top of yours. and he had your hands pinned to the side of your head, fingers pressing onto your palm and his hands pressured against your wrists.

“ji–jisun–jisung–“

he kept kissing you, you couldn’t even find breaks in between to mumble into his mouth. his lips just kept moving against yours, devouring you and pouring out all his lonely sorrows as a sort of payback for taking so long to summon him again. after he was done with your lips, he slowly trailed down to your chin, planting kisses along the side of your face until he stopped at your neck.

“what took you so long, sweet cheeks?” he mumbled then, brushing his lips softly against your skin before he dove in.  

“i’m so–i’m sorry.” you angled your head, allowing him more access to attack your skin with soft smooches and light bites. the feeling of his wet mouth jolted your desperation out of you like lightning and suddenly, your head was filled with nothing else but the tingly sensation of being peppered with affection.

you were able to enjoy the euphoria for a while before you were lunged out of your colorful trance with the realization that jisung already had one hand slipped under your shirt. right, you finally remembered that he is an incubus and he had been summoned with the expectation of having sex with you like last time.

and while you were welcome to that, while you have been wanting that, within this impulsive of the moment, your brain short-circuited at the thought with a wave of horrible assumption about jisung’s unspoken feelings. it hit you again that what if he was rushing this? he barely said anything and went on to kiss you, was that desperation or impatience? was it because he couldn’t wait to touch you, or was it because he couldn’t wait to end it?

your eyes widened slightly and your brows furrowed. the cycle would continue when he’s done, with him having to go back to hell and you once again waiting another few weeks before you could bust up the courage to summon them again. you didn’t want that, you wanted jisung to stay longer. you’ve got to stall some time.

“oh, wait, jisung.”

your hand went down to grab his, stopping him from his advances. jisung pulled away from your neck and looked up at you, his brows furrowed at the interruption but he gave you the space you needed to speak.

as you tried to sit up, your legs moving to stand, you spoke, “wait, i need to do something first–“

“oh, please,” he huffed out, rolling his eyes before he leaned in to try and attach his lips to yours again. “fuck that, it can wait,”

you turned your cheek, his lips landing on your hair and causing him to grimace in annoyance. you pushed your hands to his shoulders, moving him away from you as you clarified, “just a moment! let me summon hyunjin too.”

“woah, hey, hold on,” jisung said after a moment of processing, a huff of laughter stuffed between as he looked at you in disbelief. “i thought this would just be you and me.”

you paused nervously. his face was unreadable, in a way that there were too many emotions mixed in you couldn’t tell which one was the dominant one. was it the disappointment in his pout? or it could be the faint anger hiding behind the red sparks of his eyes? whatever it was, you just knew he was very opposed to the side of calling hyunjin up as well, and you weren’t sure how to respond to that.

your original plan was to call both of them, but since you had forgotten how you did it last time so now you have to summon them up individually. perhaps jisung got the wrong idea after you accidentally said his name out loud enough for the ritual to hear you.

“well, i just thought because last time–“ you fiddled with your finger awkwardly, your head hung low as you refused to look at him out of embarrassment. “i just didn’t…”

“didn’t what?” jisung asked, his voice raised stoically.

the doorbell of your home suddenly rang, saving you from jisung’s intense gaze with a distraction. you looked away from him to the door of your bedroom with brightened eyes, your mood instantly lifted when you tore yourself away from the million-dollar question you have yet to find the perfect answer for.

“i’ll go get that real quick,” you mumbled under your breath as you scrambled up to your feet and left your room.

it was just the girl who lived next door asking you about the jumpy internet in the residential building recently. you were hoping it would be somebody with better conversation skills, perhaps the old lady who would occasionally bring after school snacks over to your home, at least she would want to ask you how your day went and you could stall more time before you have to go back to the awkward tension.

as you watched her frown at you for trying to stretch out the conversation more than it should, her distracted eyes slowly moved away from your face to the boy who had crept up silently behind you. seeing that she had stopped paying attention to you, you curiously glanced behind your shoulder and immediately got startled to find jisung only inches away from your back.

“you scared me,” you hissed, giving his arm a shove. “i’m just talking to my neighbor! go back to my room!”

jisung furrowed his brows at you, refusing to budge even as you gave him a few shoves on the shoulders. the nonchalant look behind the stranger’s eyes was pissing him off for some reason—this little shit. he would have gotten his answer by now if she hadn’t rung the doorbell, or at least he would have dove right back into kissing you again and left the problem unattended.

he could have convinced you to leave hyunjin wherever he was right now so he could have you all to himself. but no, someone has to come up and ruin everything for him. and judging by the spark of realization and mischief behind her eyes, she was about to ruin it even more for him.

“oh–oh wait. holy shit, no way,” she said with a tone of disbelief, her jaw dropping as she tried not to laugh from shock. pointing a finger at jisung, she glanced at you and whispered just loud enough for all three of you to hear. “is this the hyunjin you kept screaming about lately?”

your cheeks reddened at the comical smirk she was flashing you, genuine curiosity laying behind her face as she glanced between a very pissed-off jisung and a very humiliated you, as if she was trying to see if you two would fit together well enough that she could see you two having sex together. you didn’t even have to turn around to feel jisung tense from behind you, the hotness of his body radiating in a threatening way.

oh, this is bad, really bad.

for one, you had no idea she was able to hear you through the apartment walls. you thought you were being quiet enough just in case you couldn't hear your parents returning home from work, but it could also be possible that you have shamelessly let out a few cries of his name during the neediest moments of your imagination, your hand repeatedly sliding the vibrator into your core as you tried so hard to remember the feeling of his cock.

she could have heard those unfulfilling climaxes you had. but fuck, out of all the times you’ve pleasured yourself, she just coincidentally decided to only pick up the ones when you moaned hyunjin’s name instead of jisung’s? and she dared to knock on your door and expose it to your face as well!

humiliating, embarrassing, stupid! you were trying so hard not to seem like you were being needy just in case you appeared pathetic! now all your effort to stall time, thus creating such an awkward tension, has gone to waste.

“please leave,” you said meekly, gesturing your arm to the side where her flat was located with a flushed face. “just go, oh my god, go.”

jisung’s fury did not falter as the girl gave you a nod before she left with a giggle she failed to surprise. he kept glaring at her head until she left, and then his eyes shifted to the back of your head and he simply tensed up even more than before.

oh, the way his heart just dropped to his stomach when he heard that you’ve been calling hyunjin’s name was beyond anything he has ever felt. first, it was you wanting to call him up, now it was about you touching yourself to the thought of him. oh the devils, could this get any worse for jisung?

he was already confused about his affection enough, now to have it all thrown at his face with hellfire was nothing he could handle properly. the disappointment, the heartbreak, the burning sensation ignited along the paths of his veins leading directly to his scratched-up heart—it was like his world stopped turning for a moment like he just found out you cheated on him.

but you could never cheat on him because you were never his, to begin with. he was just an incubus, so was hyunjin. that was all there was to it, at least that was all there was supposed to be. and since humans can play favorites, while they can call up whoever they wanted, it seemed to him that you have chosen your pick, and the demon wasn’t him.

jisung didn’t know why you called him up then, but since you did anyway, he figured he’d just try to discard his emotions and fuck you like he does everyone else. and a part of him wanted to do that in order to gain some sort of validation from you, to hear you moan because of him, to see that he could be on par with hyunjin in terms of pleasuring you.

he wouldn’t admit it, but he just wanted you to like him back, even just a little bit.

“jisung, don’t listen to her–“ you went to place a hand on his shoulder, but your wrist was gabbed in a millisecond before he started to yank you back into his house. your steps stumbled as you tried to stop him, eyes wide in confusion at his sudden force. “wait, hold on, what are you doing?”

he turned around abruptly, his hand reaching behind your head to cup your neck before he leaned close to your ear. when he spoke, his voice was hauntingly low it almost sounded surreal. “get in the house before i fuck you out here in the hall,” he whispered. “you bet i’ll make sure everyone living on this floor knows who i am.”

you shivered at his words, your knees weakening slightly at the anticipation for what could come but also from the way he was looking at you. his hooded eyes were furious and his grip was deadly, much worse than the first time he grabbed you on the chin.

you would welcome the roughness if it was within the context that the situation ha escalated to that point, but this—this was too abrupt, you couldn’t bring yourself to enjoy it.

“jisung, are you oka–“ you got cut off when he growled under his breath. he pulled you into the house himself, slamming the door shut before pushing your back against it with an aching shove.

your hands gripped his flexed arms when he pressed his lips against yours harshly, pushing your head back against the wooden door. he immediately started to suck on your bottom lip without giving you a second of rest, a small whine leaving your lips as he poked his tongue between the gaps of your teeth. he swiped across your bottom teeth, pulled his tongue back, and bit on your lip again.

you were trying so hard to reciprocate the kiss, to move along with his pace, but it felt like you were reverted to when he kissed you for the first time where he was moving too fast and too rough. you weren’t enjoying it, you didn’t like it at all.

“ow–jisung!” you turned your face and pushed him away from you when you felt a sudden sting at your bottom lip. you stopped at arm’s length where you could finally see him clearly, turning to him with wide eyes and an opened mouth.

it was lucky of you to even have the strength to tear him away from you, but you got even luckier when you caught his eyes and he responded to the utter confusion hidden beneath them. his hands dropped from your waist when he glanced at your red, swollen lips that had just a trace of blood lingering on top.

you looked almost appalled by what he did, with your brows furrowed at the red drop you touched onto your fingertip. “jisung, why did you do that? that hurts!”

“i–“ jisung paused. his previous thought to just get you over with vanishing within a blink of an eye when he realized he’s actually caused harm this time. he curled his hands into fists, his muscles tensing up at the thought that you probably hate him even more than you already do, now that he’s let his jealousy and insecurity overwhelm his head. “i’m so sorry, (name).”

you raised your brows, softening at his mellow voice. he couldn’t even look at you when he apologized, and you could see how tensed up he was. perhaps he was ashamed of what he did, perhaps he felt bad that he had taken his anger out on you when he shouldn’t; either way, while still being quite annoyed that he didn’t try a calmer approach, you were appreciative of his sincere apology.

short and straight to the point. no excuses or whatnots. it was already better than how a lot of humans like to do it these days.

“hey,” you called out softly as you stepped up to cup his cheeks in your hands. you searched his eyes, caress his heart with your tender gaze when he finally found it in himself to look back at you. you arched a brow playfully, your thumbs pressing into his cheeks as you said, “you gotta look at people when you talk to them, you know?”

he pursed his lips together, his heart hammering in his chest. you didn’t smell of hated at all, you simply smelt like you—sweet like honey, soft as freshly washed laundry.

once again you set aside the madness and the pain of your own to cradle him in your arms like he held some sort of importance in your life, because your compassion rivaled that of the galaxy. and at this point, he could be all but annoyed and jealous.

jisung was just confused, with a little bit of longing, and perhaps he was in love.

“i’m so sorry i hurt you,” he muttered under his breath, his bottom lip slightly jutting out.

“i forgive you,” you said. “but i’d like to know why you got so rough all of a sudden?”

now it was his turn to get flustered. admitting to his wrongdoings and apologizing was already a brand new world for him, as refreshing and relieving as it felt to hear that you didn’t hold any grudges against what he did. but to admit that he felt jealous? that he felt inferior to another incubus, not to mention the said incubus was hwang hyunjin?

oh hell, no, that was the line he wasn’t sure if he wanted to cross.

“jisung?” you called him again, eyes patient and hands soft.

he looked at you, brows furrowed with defeat at the mercy of your hands; he had come to realize there isn’t any line he wouldn’t be willing to cross for you.

“it’s just….” he sighed. “you don’t scream my name.”

for some reason, the thought didn’t feel as embarrassing as it did when it was first revealed just a minute ago. your cheeks didn’t flush red and your voice didn’t tremble in an attempt to find a terrible excuse to cover the matter up.

you only breathed out a soft laugh, amused. something about the way jisung seemed to genuinely upset that you never thought about him when you were fucking yourself was, in some ways, adorable.

he had no idea how many times you thought about him at night, yearning for his hands to roam around your body, desperate for the strength and speed you couldn’t provide for yourself.

“oh, but i do, i have,” you said, leaning closer to his face. “she just didn’t hear me when i did.”

he huffed, rolling his eyes to the side slightly to express his dissatisfaction. he wasn’t really upset at you anymore, he just wished he didn’t have to be mistaken as hyunjin and that he didn’t have to hear about him being excluded from your dirty fantasies. but his moody thoughts soon faded when you squished his cheeks, leaning even closer to him until your noses touched.

“how can i make it up to you, hmm?” you asked under your breath, looking into his eyes as you nudged the side of his nose, rubbing against it teasingly before you leaned in to kiss him.

oh, where the hell did this boldness come from? jisung wasn’t sure and neither were you, but you were both enjoying it to the fullest as your mouths moved against each other slowly. there was a sense of hotness in the way your lips moved, trying to find the perfect angle and the perfect pressure  so he wouldn’t leave a single inch of you unattended.

your back was pushed against the door again as the moment got more urgent. jisung pressed himself up towards your body, chest to chest with his knee forced between your legs. you hummed when he kneaded up on your clothed heat, rubbing against your clit and giving you a jolt of stimulation you’ve been needing all this time.

he finally found it in himself to pull away from him after a few more rubs of his knee against your heat, and he instinctively placed a hand to the back of your neck to keep you close. he pressed his forehead against yours, his chest heaving to catch his breath. his eyes were darker now, but unlike before, they didn’t lack softness in them when he asked carefully, “can you let me do what i want with you, sweet cheeks?”

“yeah.” you nodded without giving it another thought.

the last thing you saw was a spark of red before jisung dove into your face. you shut your eyes, feeling his lips on yours for a rough second before he traveled down to your jaw and your neck, sucking and biting even more hickeys on your skin to overlap the previous ones that haven’t faded yet. his hands roamed around your figure as he buried himself in your scent, squeezing your flesh and cupping your breasts to elicit any type of response from you.

he needed to hear you, badly, whether it was a gasp or a whimper. and like he suspected, your sounds were much more achieving than anybody else’s he has heard these few weeks.

“fuck, jisung–“ you gasped after his hand found their way to the waistband of your short, and he didn’t hesitate in yanking the fabric off your hips so he could tug your pantie to the side and slip a finger between your folds.

“seems like you’ve missed me, sweet cheeks,” he gloated, feeling your walls shrink under his slow pumping, hugging his finger tightly as he slipped it in and out of you.

you hummed out a whimper of agreement when he forced your walls to expand by adding another finger inside, your juices a teasing trail rolling down the gaps between his fingers. and he was really thinking you’d at least be a little used to this after you’ve finally started to finger yourself in your own time, suppose nothing can ever replace the way he does it, not even yourself.

ahh, he couldn’t wait. he couldn’t wait for the moment he could finally push himself inside of you, to feel the first stretch hyunjin beat him to last time. you’re gonna be so good for him, he just knew it.

his thorough pace turned quicker and quicker by the second, and soon the squelching sound of your juices echoed throughout the living room. the tightening in your abdomen was getting overwhelming with each shove of his fingers inside your hole, and each time you could feel your knees giving out more and more. jisung was the only thing holding you up as you sink yourself into the pleasure of not having to do this by yourself, his arm gripping red fingerprints on the side of your waist.

for someone who was going at a pace where his main goal was to chase your high, it came as a disappointing surprise when jisung suddenly pulled his fingers out of you. your whine faltered mid-way and you looked down at him, your brows furrowing questioningly at him. he only smirked, utterly enjoying the way you blushed when he brought his hand up to his mouth and licked a long stripe up his wet finger.

you watched him suck his fingers clean with a fried mind, part of you too shy to say anything while the other part of you screamed at how alluring the flicks of his tongue was. and you didn’t complain when he leaned in to kiss you, poking his tongue into your mouth to lather your essence all over you.

as you panted into his mouth, he reached down to tug at your thighs and guided them around his waist. your circles your arms around his neck, feeling him push you against the door with a thrust at your wet core, his cock hard and vivid under his pants. you tugged at his hair, your hand clawing at his back as he continued to push himself against you for a faint taste of sweet friction, and you pouted with a whine as you moved away for a little.

“jisung…” you wanted more, you wanted to feel him. and he was only a thin piece of fabric away yet he wasn’t giving it to you.

his eyes trailed down to the string of saliva connecting your lips, and even lower he could see the colors he painted onto your skin. all of them fueled him to want more, to finally rid you of your last piece of clothing and just pound into you as he wishes.

“what?” he asked when he finally looked back at you, slightly annoyed that you broke the kiss but he tilted his head when he saw the dazed and needy look on your face. he wasn’t sure when you started to be so bold; last time he checked you were still flustered over hyunjin eating you out, and now you were here asking him to fuck you with pleading eyes.

jisung didn’t hate it, but if you were going to beg for him then you better start using your words. and even then, he might not give you exactly what you want.

“what do you want?” he asked in a hush, his face moving to your neck and licking up your skin.

you pursed your lips together at his question, trying to focus on your thoughts but feeling extremely distracted at the way his tongue flickered across your sensitive spot. you knew what you wanted, just not so much how to say it out loud. and it seemed that your shyness has come back from its short-term vacation because just thinking about filthily begging to be stuffed has got your cheeks tainted red.

jisung’s fingers ran up your body, tapping harsh touches on your skin as they ran up your side and your bones before his hand reached your chin. he grabbed a firm hold of your face, squeezing your cheeks together as he yanked your head to the side to give himself more access to your neck.

“i asked what do you want, baby,” he huffed out near your ear, his hot breath sending shivers down your spine. “answer me before i leave you with nothing, mmhm?”

“i… i want…” you gulped nervously, finding it hard to swallow your saliva when he has your face squeezed so tightly in the palm of his hand. “i want you to fuck me.”

jisung raised a brow in disdain, staring at you in mock boredom. your voice was hopeless enough for his liking, so small and weak that it gave him a sense of arousing power. your throat bobbed under the influence of his strength, desperately trying to get rid of the liquid gathering up around your inner-cheeks. it was good, but not good enough. it lacked an element in it that he was itching to have.

“is that how you ask people for a favor, sweet cheeks?” he asked, tightening his grip and pushing your head further against the door.

you whimpered at the pain, silently finding it confusing how it could mix in so well with the thrill piling up in your chest. you should be scared with the amount of force he was putting on your small, little face but you weren’t. if anything, you found his demands alluring and his force sexy, you just wanted to feel even smaller under his grasp.

“no–no,” you replied.

“so tell me again,” he said, his enjoyment from watching you squirm in embarrassment the only thing keeping his patience intact. because no matter how strong of a front he was putting up right now, the smell of your essence wafting before his nose was, still, making him spiral into madness. “what do you want?”

“i want you to fuck me, ple–please,” you pleaded, your eyes rolling upwards when you heard a low chuckle from him. your hands went up to his wrist, holding on him as your shoulders rose with your heavy breathing. “please, jisung, i want you to fi–fill me up. please, i want to feel you.”

you were so adorably shy. it’s almost cute if jisung wasn’t aching to finally plunge himself into your right now.

abruptly yanking you by the neck, his eyes took a quick scan of your living room before he dragged you along with him to where the dining table was. his hand briefly let go of you just so he could push your chest against the wooden surface, your head almost hitting down the vase located in the middle.

“wait, right here?” you asked, your eyes wide as you tried to look up.

“yes,” jisung replied, pushing your head back down as he leaned against your back to speak at your ear. “you said you’ll let me do anything i want with you, so i say i’m fucking you where you eat.”

the discomfort of your breasts being squished against the surface melted in with your eagerness when you heard jisung fumbling with the belt of his pants. oh, you’ve been waiting for this day, you’ve been waiting so impatiently and so desperately for his cock, you couldn’t even begin to explain how excited you were to be able to feel that incredible stretch they gave you again.

jisung pulled his belt out of the loops of his pants, gripping it in his hands when it left his pants all loose around his waist. before he could discard it on the floor, however, a second glance gave him a sudden bulb of an idea. he looked at the belt in his hand and glanced back at your body, pinned up uselessly against the surface as you waited for him.

a hum escaped his lips as he removed his hand from your back and brushed your hair away from your back. he clicked his tongue in thoughts, his eyes reddening as he gently ran the back of his finger across your exposed neck. and then he smirked, his grip tightening around his belt for a moment before he released it to let the length drop.

you gasped when you felt jisung pull your head up by your hair, and before long he threw his belt over the curve of your neck and buckled it up at the back. your brows furrowed in confusion, unsure what he was doing exactly until he used his hand to tighten the excess part of the belt. he punctured a hole through the leather with the sharp prong before he looped it through and tightened it around your neck.

it was a choker made out of his belt, you could feel the rusty metal buckle on your flesh. it was a manual leash around your neck he could tug at whenever he wanted to.

you couldn’t see his face, but he was grinning the whole while he shrugged off his pants and pulled his hardened member out of the confines of his boxers. somehow just staring at you with a mock dog leash on your neck was enough to arouse him to the maximum, pre-cum leaking off his tip and dripping down his length like melted chocolate. he pumped his length a few times, rubbing his own cum all over to lube it up a little before he positioned himself at your entrance.

you sucked in a breath, your cheek pressed against the table with your breathing increasing. he was gathering up your wetness by running his tip up and down your slit, making sure you were prepared enough before he slides himself in. it felt so tingly, like needles ghostly being dragged up and down your back. that was until he finally pushed himself in, slowly and carefully, when the needles started to poke instead of a brush.

jisung cursed under his breath at your automatic clench. he didn’t feel this last time; like hyunjin said, he fucked you loose before jisung got the chance to slip himself inside of you. your walls were closing down on him dangerously and slowing down his movement. he could feel the slick skin within clamping down on him to add pressure on his cock, and he tried his best not to shove himself all the way in.

that would be painful for you. besides, the initial stretch is often the best pleasure to have.

he stayed in you for a moment after only pushing in half-way, sweat already starting to gather at his forehead. you moaned meanwhile he continued the cycle of pulling out and slowly slipping back in, helping you with adjusting to his size and making sure you could feel him thoroughly before he fucked your senses away from your head.

“you doing good, sweet cheeks?” he asked, leaning down to place a kiss on your arm as his hands snuck under your shirt to squeeze your boob.

“yeah,” you replied breathlessly, bumping your forehead against the surface at the feeling. “jisung–jisung, please move.”

“you’ve really missed my cock, huh?” he chuckled, complying with your request and rolling his hips against your ass.

you nodded, your hum a weak squeal. “yeah, i’ve missed your cock, jisung,” you said desperately, your hands curling into fists as you rubbing your cheek against the wooden surface.

fuck, you’ve yearned for this feeling. this torn feeling at your abdomen where his cock moved sluggishly in and out of your cunt, his hot skin a million times better than a vibrating plastic toy. and your greediness was growing with each stroke of blissful abandon, your walls clenching in an indication that you wanted him more. harder and faster.

“ahh! jisung please, please move faster,” you whined against the table, your hot breath bouncing back against your face. “please fuck me.”

he furrowed his brows, feeling quite annoyed that you were down there yapping about wanting more when he was putting in most of the work. but granted, he wasn’t feeling too bad himself. in fact, your pussy was making him feel absolutely elated; your clench giving his dick the right amount of pressure, your moans of his name giving him just the validation and reassurance he needed, and you’ve picked up quickly on the slutty begging.

oh devils—jisung could imagine the look on hyunjin’s face when he found out you two have done it without his presence, and the fact that he’s fucked the filthy obedience into your head. fuck, he was over the moon just thinking about it!

“it’s not good to be impatient, sweet cheeks,” he scolded lowly before a smile reached his lips. “but since you begged so nicely, i guess i can give you what you want.”

your jaw dropped at the sudden snap of his hip, a really strong one that pushed you up the table. and starting from then on, there were no more breathy moans and soft whimpers anymore.

jisung was pounding into you hard and fast, so much that the table began to squeak under the weight and the vase in the middle rattled threateningly close to your head. the sound of hot skin slapping echoed throughout the room, mixing in with your cries of his name until your voice came to a choked halt.

with a swift yank, your head snapped upwards and your back arched at the pressure of jisung tugging at his belt. the leather pulled at your throat, sticking against it and printing a red collar shape on your delicate skin. it was cutting your air as much as his hand could have, making your moans extremely strained and throaty.

this felt dirty. you were literally being treated like a dog on a leash right now, your head forced up by his belt as he thrust into you from behind. jisung’s grunts were hoarse, his growls sending waves of shivers pitter-pattering down your heart because he was enjoying himself so much using your hole. and you shamelessly liked it, the guilted part of your heart found immense pleasure from being treated like this.

noticing the way you got louder with him pulling at your throat, jisung couldn’t help but breathe out a sinister laugh as he pulled on his belt even more. your torso went up with his force, feeling his chest press against your back for a brief second before you arched off with the way he was hitting you at this new angle.

his hand continued to stimulate your nipple as he dragged your head back against his shoulder when his fingers moved up the tug at the back of his belt collar. you choked out a moan when he pulled at it, feeling the metal buckle straining against your bones.

he kissed your shoulders as if that could soothe you down from the way he relentlessly pounded into you, your voice urging his never-ending stamina to keep fucking you until he could feel your release.

“fuck, jisung!” you suddenly cried when you felt his tip brush deep into your hole, finding and thrusting up against your g-spot. your body jolted and your knees buckled at the zap of electricity coursing through your veins, scratching up an aching burn in your abdomen.

“am i making you feel good, hmm?” he mused, brushing his nose along your shoulder before he pulled your head back further to kiss your cheek. “ugh, i’ve missed you so much.”

he moved faster, stimulating your sweet spot with quick and greedy thrusts, making you lose your sanity to a point where all you could do was hang out mouth open and look up at the ceiling. he chuckled; you couldn’t remember any words.

your cunt had started to quiver slightly before, but the trembling of your walls were getting more and more overwhelming that jisung wasn’t able to ignore it anymore. you were getting closer to your climax. he knew just from your lack of words and your seductive scent changing from warm honey to dark roses.

deciding to change position, he slipped himself outside of you with a quick plop before spinning you around. you could feel one moment of emptiness, but the hollowness faded quickly when jisung immediately hoisted your body up on the edge of the table.

he spread your legs apart with his hands and before you could even snap out of your trance, he had inserted himself back into you, continuing where he left off to chase after your high.

he tugged at his belt to move you forward, his lips meeting yours in a sloppy kiss you tried to keep up with. it was mostly just jisung sucking on your lips while you moaned your pleasures out and instinctively opened your legs even more for him. he could feel his own knot tightening at his tip whenever the sound of your essence gurgling inside your pussy gets too loud, and he couldn’t wait to feel the warmth of your juices coating his cock again, to feel the hot white substances trailing past his skin.

“jisung–i’m–mmm–jisung,” you whined into his mouth, feeling him pull away to look at your squinted eyes.

“cum around me, sweet cheeks,” he demanded, his hand moved to your trembling thighs, squeezing them for support so he could steady his pace and his strength. “you better fucking scream my name when you do it, or else we’re starting over again.”

you could feel the pleasure piling up, adding to the pain you felt at your ass where the edge of the table pressed against your bones. and with one last thrust, with one last scream of his name, your orgasm unraveled and your cum spilled all over your walls. jisung grunted at the warmth, his cock being clenched with brand new, sticky white walls that inked your cum onto his skin.

looking down when he pulled away, his mouth hung open at the cum that dripped out of your cunt and the lines of your whiteness that splattered onto him. he could feel his dick twitch at the sight, and he quickly shoved himself back inside you both to reach his own orgasm and to ask for more of your juices.

the thought of having your essence all over him an incredibly heavenly idea. and all of this—this lustful euphoria, this demonic insanity he felt has only happened with you. he hasn’t felt this way in weeks, or ever before that, actually.

fucking other humans just doesn’t feel the same as fucking you, because jisung didn’t like anyone else.

a throaty moan left his lips when he felt tingles all over his cock, he knew he was close. removing himself away from you suddenly, he stepped back and pulled at his belt to yank you off the table. your weak legs made you go down immediately, your knees hitting the ground with a bang and your face presented right in front of jisung’s glistening cock.

“open up,” he said, circling his belt around his knuckles before he pulled you up.

your mouth was forced open with that sudden pull, a yelp being muffled as soon as jisung stuck himself inside of your mouth. you still weren’t very used to this, even after having both of them spread your mouth open with their cocks last time.

your mere mouth wasn’t able to take him whole before and you couldn’t suddenly be able to now without any practice, therefore you were left a messy, choking mess when jisung bottomed out in your mouth. not to mention he was yanking you up by the throat, causing heavy trouble in your breathing.

your neck hurt from constantly facing skyward, your mouth limp from being forced open, and your gag reflex a nightmare when his tip kept brushing against your uvula. even then, though, you could see that jisung was having the time of his long, long life.

his eyes were shut and his head thrown back slightly, grunts and moans were leaving his lips like a mantra. it was an angelic sight to see him enjoy himself like this, abusing your throat and mindlessly yanking at your neck.

not to be narcissistic but you took pride in yourself for being able to pleasure him like this.

his cum was still bitter the way you remembered from last time. you swallowed them down as he released them, your throat bobbing against the leather belt as you drank down his heavy load. this felt even more than last time, and you wondered if he hadn’t been able to release his sexual frustration lately.

jisung pulled away from your mouth, his dick limp against his thighs with the shimmering of saliva reflected on the skin. he looked down at you when you started to cough for air, your hands reaching up to wipe off the dripping drool around your lips. sighing out a heavy exhale, he leaned down slightly to tug your body up by the mock leash. he muffled your gasp with his lips, tasting himself on it for a brief moment before pulling away to stare at you.

your eyes teary and hazed, your hair a tousled mess, your lips wet with saliva and cum, your neck and collarbones painted with red marks and purple bruises. and oh fuck, you look stunning like this.

“i…” he shut his mouth.

oh, devils, he almost said it.

his eyes softened at your fragile frame then, the previous aggressiveness fading in a second. he knelt beside you, his hands fumbling to release his belt from your neck before throwing the accessory aside.

he ran his hand across your red skin, a gentle grimace on his face as he soon circled his arm around your torso and brought you to his body. tilting your head up, he laid kitten licks across the hot skin and kissed the afterglow of the pain away. you let him, still trying to catch your breath from the previous encounter.

jisung pulled away from you after he was down patting down your neck with his lips, and he smiled a little at you with a pet to the side of your head. you were smiling at him, your eyes teary and your lips red; he thought you looked great, sexy even. especially more since he did this to you.

tentatively moving closer to you, he looped his arms around your back and under your legs before he pulled you into his arms and held you up bridal style. he slumped down on the couch, marveling at the softness of it as he cuddled you close to his chest.

“are you feeling okay?” he asked, glancing down at you and kissing the top of your head. “you did so well, baby, but did i hurt you?”

you shook your head, leaning against his shoulder with your eyes closed. “it’s fine, i actually kind of liked that.” you giggled. “thank you for making me feel so nice again, i’ve been waiting for it for weeks.”

jisung hummed, his thumb running circles on your skin to calm you down. something seemed to be irking at his chest when he heard that and he tilted his head in confusion, wondering exactly which part of it made him feel so. it took him a while to remember your past conversations, the one you two hastily shared when you just summoned him into your room.

“oh, right, you never answered me,” he said. “what took you so long? it has been weeks.”

you opened your eyes then, staring ahead at the space on the wall. you debated whether you wanted to tell jisung about it, a problem that was rooted so deep inside your self-esteem that you thought perhaps he didn’t need to know.

but he was so caring and so careful with you as the aftermath of sex, just being in his embrace right now felt more at home than being within the space you two were in.

your initial worry that maybe he and hyunjin didn’t like you as much as you hoped they would felt almost… idiotic now.

“it’s… it’s a personal problem,” you replied. “i won’t do it again next time. i promise you’ll see me again soon after you leave today.”

jisung frowned. you didn’t exactly smelt of lies, but your tone felt deceiving. there was a reason why you didn’t reveal the reason behind your delay, though, and jisung thought better about questioning it. having you breathe calmly in his arms, vulnerable and naked, was a moment he wouldn’t destroy for the world.

“you promise?” he chuckled. “not gonna make me miss you too much again?”

you bit your lower lip gently, looking up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. “you missed me?”

“i think both me and hyunjin did,” he said, shifting a little. “but i definitely missed you more than he did.”

you giggled quietly, nuzzling your head against his chest. “does everything have to be a competition between you both?”

jisung hummed. no, but they liked it that way. and he reckoned hyunjin would want to do something akin to this to you if he knew that this private encounter happened. a short laugh escaped his lips then as he held you against his chest.

he’d like to see hyunjin try.

[prose-for-hire]

So wrong it’s right

Part 2 // Part 3

Pairing: Angel x vamp!reader

Request: (Sorry if I make a mistake, English is my second language) Will you make a story with a somewhat villain reader (but shes not exactly evil) that keeps helping Angel out because she likes him and in the start he wont trust her but one day they kiss and Angel becomes confused about how he feels? I hope that makes sense. If I didn’t explain it well please don't feel you need to write it you can ignore this.

Requested by: Anon

Warning: Violence/fighting. Swearing.

A/N: This is the kind of fic I LOVE to write. I enjoyed myself with this one !! 💜

You weren’t well-liked in LA. The ‘good guys’ hated you, trying to stake you at any second and the ‘bad guys’ despised you. Both felt this for the way that you made decisions based on how you felt. No allegiance to good or evil. No atonement or evil plotting. You served neither the powers or dark forces. This was a fluid and extremely ambiguous way to live, which brought suspicion with you wherever you went. But you were nothing if not authentic to your beliefs. You just weren’t really sure what those beliefs were yet.

In any case, you didn’t much care for world domination nor did you hang out in particularly damp underground hovels that you wouldn’t even bury your dog in, let alone spend precious years of your un-life.

LA had a certain draw to you, it was a hub. A beating heart of life that helped you thrive in a way you had only dreamed of when you really were alive. But most importantly, it wasn’t a backwater little town. The type that always seemed to harbour Hellmouths. They seemed a little boring to you anyway.

Yeah, it holds all the supernatural power hotspots you could wish for, but at what cost? Everyone knew everyone’s business and there was such a large amount of demons concentrated in one area it was hard to navigate without bumping into several ex-lovers. Not to mention there was a higher chance of a Slayer on your back.

Now, just because you weren’t ‘evil’, that wasn’t to say you lived in the light. For one, you couldn’t. You would die… again. But also, you weren’t exactly chafing at the bit to do as the powers said. They couldn’t simultaneously damn you to hell when you got dusted whilst enticing you with some long-winded and ultimately unnecessary prophecy that gave you the one thing you were scared of. Hope.

You didn’t have a soul, and you didn’t care for gaining one. Not through a curse and even less through fighting for one yourself. This is why one vampire didn’t like you. He didn’t trust you and definitely never cut you a break.

The fact was, he barely looked your way. Unless you were stood in his path. And you had, a few times. He was convinced you had some ulterior motive but had little time for you until you turned into a bigger threat.

That was, up until the last few months. You had started to catch his attention more and more. You had been fighting, again. In the back room of some seedy bar. Trading blows, neither of you holding back. The real threat long since dusted. It was just gone three in the morning, a time you liked to be home. Just in case of a freak early sunrise (you had heard horrible things of whole towns of vampires wiped out suddenly).

You were fighting, hard. He never left it. He just couldn’t walk away. You were after the same stupid vampire. Yes, you had been after him because he owed you a large sum of money and around five Siamese cats, but the end was the same. You twisted from his firm grasp, throwing him over your head. He landed but didn’t stay down. He ran at you, pushing you back and slamming you against the door. Almost through it. He grabbed a stake and flipped it up in the air before expertly catching it, looking back in your eyes.

There was almost a flicker of danger. A flicker of all the stories you had heard of Angelus. There was something there, some kind of feeling and it got you excited. Up until this point, his face had been pretty unmoving every time you saw him. The stake dug into your chest, directly over your unbeating heart. You couldn’t help but enjoy the way his eyes scanned your face. Moving from your lips to your eyes and back again. He was so close you could just lean in and… no. Eye on the prize, you tell yourself. You would settle for a quip charged with at least a little sexual tension. On your end, at least.

“You gonna keep waving that thing around or are you going to actually do something with it?” You bite, breathing heavily a smile on your face. You didn’t need to breathe but it was still a habit.

“Why’re you here, huh? Why are you always around when something bad happens?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Now I’m never getting those fucking Siamese” You muttered as he scowled at you. You were going to threaten him one more time before staking him. He rolled his eyes, you were worse than spike. At least he had a soul. Wanted one. You were content with your lot and it bugged him to no end.

“You know, I think I might enjoy this” Angel said stoically.

“Watch out, you don’t want to get too happy” You teased with a smile, everyone knew about Angel – word travels fast even here, “Or maybe you do. You might be more fun, to be honest”

These was the last words he expected to hear from you, you were younger than him by a mile. He was used to vampires pretty easily going down. He moved his arm back, directing the wooden stake straight for your heart. In the same second, you changed into your vamp face and propelled your head forwards. Your hand twisted his wrist trying to knock the stake from his hand as you propelled your ridged forehead towards him. Headbutting him with all of your strength.

The stake pierced your skin, but luckily (or unluckily it still hurt like anything) it was stabbed into your left arm which made you yelp. You yelped almost as much as Angel in his surprise as his nose started to bleed. It was enough to stun him, letting you run off with the stake still sticking out of your arm as you took a short cut to your destination.

Angel walked back to the hotel slowly, pinching his nose and wiping the blood on his sleeve. He took the long route back, not wanting to have to tell the others that he had lost in a fight with a vampire who was probably half his age. When he returned Cordelia rushed over to him, helping him to sit down. The entire team was there, waiting up for him. Fantastic, now he would have to tell them.

“Oh, uh, Angel?” Fred asked softly, “This was left for you – on your desk”

He turned and there it was. The stake that had been embedded in your arm the last he saw you. You must have travelled fast to get there before he did. He took it as an act of aggression, especially when he read the note attached.

‘Until we meet again, sweet Angel’

“Is this your slayer friend?” Fred asked, looking down at the floor. She had taken somewhat of a shine to Angel and may have been a little jealous. She had just learned what a slayer was.

“She’s a little more dramatic, a little less with the subtle” Cordelia stated, knowing for sure that the person that brought it was not Buffy. Not at all.

“Yes, I recall the young woman is about as subtle as a brick” Wes chuckled softly, reminiscing over his brief stint as a watcher.

“No. it wasn’t her” Angel confirmed, turning and scowling, “Wes, I need everything you can find on a vamp. Name’s y/n”

“Y/n? Are you sure it is wise to, um, shake the hornets nest so to speak. They’ve done little to actively harm-” Wesley said quickly. A slightly sheepish look on his face. You had met him and helped him out several times. You often crossed paths late night at the occult book store. You weren’t afraid of losing your credibility over a little light reading.

Your intelligence was often what gave you the upper hand over many demons you came up against. Wesley was strangely fond of you, although he knew from word on the street you could be mean if something was in the way of what you wanted. He was pleasant enough although spending too long with him gave you an Englishman-induced headache. He does prattle on so. And, that phrase had been unfortunately transferred into your brain from listening to him for too long.

“Apart from, that they’re a vampire who brutally kills to eat and always seems to be in every bad situation we’ve been in recently” Angel snapped, “I want everything. By tomorrow night”

“What are you going to do?”

“Kill them”

It had been several more months and Angel had seen you several times in that period. He had yet to make good on his promise. The tension mounted, peaking every time you became close. Your back and forth riling you up, making you begin to pine for his attention.

He had noted that you had common goals, evil tended to get mowed down in your wake. Which, he couldn’t exactly complain about except that your personality was simultaneously infuriating and intriguing.

But he maintained that he didn’t like you. The way you danced through life, with no guilt. Very little self-reflection. You wouldn’t join him and that was enough, in his eyes for you to be against him.

This evening finds you on the hunt for a backstreet dealer, one that could find you an item that was particularly hard to find. Especially now Angel had a snitch on the inside, the deliveries were starting to slow. Dust couldn’t drive trucks.

You arrived at the meeting place, a dingy alleyway despite you specifically asking to meet somewhere that didn’t smell like something had died there. You had a very sensitive sense of smell.

“You got the stuff?” You asked, gesturing with your head for the demon to open the briefcase. But he snatched it from your grasp and the boss stepped from the shadows. This meant something more sinister.

“You helped him. We saw you” The scaly man with an impressively tailored suit accused.

“What?”

“Angel” He confirmed. Bad things happened to people who didn’t side with the boss. You knew this.

“I don’t pick allegiances, I told you. I’m just me” You assured them, eyes on the briefcase.

“You’re with us or you’re with him. Choose.”

“Fine.” You shrugged, the man nodded approvingly. It had been easier than he thought.

“Good, glad that you’re-” You spun into a kick, hitting his jaw which made him shut up. You hated people who gave you an ultimatum. You, for this very moment only, were on Angel’s side. Fists flying, feet connecting with hard bodies. You fought against them, hard.

More of them started to turn up. As if there had been a call. They started to surround you. You were strong, but not that strong. Your un-life flashed before your eyes. There was so much you had left to do. I mean, you had never even been to a virgin sacrifice. Never properly feasted on St Vigeous. You hadn’t even found your anti-soulmate.

You were almost ready to give up. And then he turned up. Your guardian angel.

Angel assessed the fight, realising you had been caught up. Not realising why it broke out. You fought beside each other, but traded insults with your ally. You found yourself waiting for these interactions with him. It made you smirk. This was the way you flirted.

You enjoyed this back and forth. He was starting to make you feel alive again. Begin to… hope.

The fight was finished and now all you both were was surrounded by dust. You took a breath. In name, not in action, recovering from the fight.

But he grabbed you by your shoulders, you had taken your guard down. He slammed you into the brick wall. The contact almost made you shiver as you smiled wide. You opened your mouth to speak, he was expecting it and spoke first.

“Don’t” He warned, frustrated at the way your eyes danced despite his threat.

“I’ve been waiting for this for months” You smirked, leaning closer to his face. There was barely an inch between you.

“Huh. Your death?”

“We’re already dead, baby, I’m looking more for the spice of life” You teased before leaning in and finally catching your lips with his. This had been all you had been thinking since you had first met him. The tension had reached its crescendo and you had to act.

It was an urgent kiss, you were willing him to reciprocate. His action beforehand made the adrenaline pump around your body harder. Want him more. There was danger harboured deep below the soul he cared for so deeply and it called to you like a moth to a flame.

You wanted him. You enjoyed every side you had seen so far. You didn’t understand why he was so reluctant to admit the tension in the air when you were around each other.

His lips didn’t move at first for those agonising moments. And then they did. All at once. His lips moving and fiery against yours, now fighting you for dominance. You tasted so good to him. A hand gripping your upper arm tightly with the other sliding up the curvature of your neck.

You slid your hands between the fabric of his shirt and his leather jacket, grasping at him. Your fingers snaked around him, exploring unchartered territory. He felt so good, you wanted him closer.

You found yourself almost preferring the feel of this more amiable touch to the harsh blows you had exchanged previously. He pressed you further into the wall, wanting more.

But all too quickly, his lips started to falter and you felt him start to pull away. He started to think too much into it. Comprehending the implications. You felt too good to him. You were a distraction, a sinful figure that strayed him from the power’s path. You almost whined as he pulled himself from where he had been pressed flush against you. He had to fight himself to remove his hands from you.

Your hands slid sadly from where they had been exploring his lean form. You felt yourself pouting slightly, which is a feat when you have fangs like you did.

His face had changed during your kiss, as had yours. Your vampire forms released as the tension did. Your more animalistic forms finding each other so appealing. The kiss a revelation, in some sense a curse. But again, he was used to that.

He pulled back, his face the picture of shock. It was the most emotion he had allowed you to see. So many contradictory emotions flashing behind his eyes. It had felt wrong, but oh so right to kiss you that way. He wanted more. He wanted to get as far away from you as possible.

You watched him in his turmoil, not able to hide the way you enjoyed seeing his face this way. You reached with your hand to trail along the distinctive bumps of his forehead. You couldn’t help it, you had suddenly begun to soften for him. Against your will. You wanted him to want you deeper than you had realised.

He realised that his vampire face was showing. He winced away from you, and you scanned over his face. He switched back immediately. Masking it.

He was ashamed. You frowned, your own vamp face still there. You embraced all that you were. You scanned his face, trying to show him that he could be himself with you. But he didn’t read that from your face.

He stepped back, all contact with him now gone. His eyes still trapped in yours for a moment. Your back was still pressed against the rough brick, your arm still outstretched for him.

But he just ran, jacket whipping around him as he kicked up his dust on way out of the alleyway. As if a magician through a puff of smoke, he was gone.

You eventually moved yourself from the wall, leaning to take the briefcase. You shrugged, dusting it off from the ash that had been left from the fight.

You walked slowly with your items, thoughts beginning to spin. Finding yourself lacking something deep inside that you had not realised you had been missing for so long.

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Still a Little Bit Yours (Part 2) - fic

Characters: Jon Kent, Damian Wayne, various Batfam Pairing: jondami Summary: If there was one thing the world needed to learn, it was that you don’t hurt those Jonathan Kent loves. A/N: This is just basic smoop sprinkled with angst. Bruce gave Cass and Duke special permission to be extra rough on those who kidnapped Damian/hurt them in the first place. Jon and Damian wake up to Bruce on the chair and like half the fam sleeping on the end of the bed. Damian gets so mad at them. Let him sleep with his boyfriend in peace, dammit! Jon ends up now never leaving the bed and basically becomes Damian’s personal pillow as his recovery continues.

Part One | Part Two

~~

That call. That was all they needed, it turned out. The call that shattered Jon’s whole world was the one thing that might help piece it back together.

Even though it’d been over a month, the Bat-tech was able to hone in on the signal easily, and they were in the air and on their way back to France within three hours of Jon and Tim’s arrival to the Batcave.

Bruce wasn’t thrilled. He’d told Jon to go home at least seven times, that they’d contact him when Damian was safe. But at this point, Jon couldn’t believe that, not when they didn’t tell him he was missing in the first place.

He was even less thrilled when Jon grabbed the Justice League communicator out of his hand and smashed it, when Bruce said he was going to call Clark to take him back to Metropolis.

“I’m not ten anymore, Bruce.” Jon reminded with a dark giddiness as he dropped the shattered pieces onto the table. “And Damian is my boyfriend.”

“Is he still?” Jason quipped from nearby, hooking guns to his holsters. Tim had caught them all up with Jon’s side of things. “I mean…you just spent the last month thinking you were broken up and getting over him, right?”

“As part of the family that went to Apokolips to collect his dead body and resurrect him, I don’t think I have to tell you, Jason.” Jon grinned widely. “You don’t just get over Damian Wayne.”

Jason thought a moment, then snorted a laugh and clapped a hand on Jon’s shoulder.

“Okay. I get why he fell in love with Boy Scout Jr. now.” He chuckled.

“…For what it’s worth.” Jon added sheepishly, though, as Jason moved away, and Cassandra and Stephanie approached, moving towards their jet. “…Even if the breakup was real, I…I still wasn’t coping very well with it.”

The women both just smiled knowingly, and Steph jumped up to ruffle at his hair. And for a moment, Jon remembered that, for as much as he missed Damian the last month, he missed seeing the other Bats almost as much.

Bruce grumbled the rest of the time they spent gathering supplies and weapons about how Jon shouldn’t be there, and he didn’t want him nor his help. It was eventually Dick and Duke who took Bruce to the side and had him see the light. Begrudgingly allow Jon to come along.

“On one condition.” Bruce demanded, stomping up to him near the jet’s door. It’d already been decided that Jon would fly alongside the plane. “You do not engage. This is still an open investigation, and I don’t need you accidentally destroying any evidence.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I’m only there for Damian anyway.” Jon returned just as gruffly. “You guys be offense, I’ll be defense and extraction. No problem.”

Bruce glared at him for a moment more before raising his cowl and disappearing into the ship. Dick sighed from nearby, following after.

“He’s just worried.” He promised. “About you and Damian. And after already losing Damian like this, the thought of what might happen to you, he…”

Dick trailed off, and Jon was suddenly reminded that he was a lot closer to fifty than thirty these days, and had already lost a lot. Had already lost Damian a lot. And, clearly, it never got easier. Not for Dick or Bruce, or anyone in their family.

“…He’s still alive, Dick.” Jon whispered with what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “I can still hear his heartbeat. He’s still here, just…waiting for us.”

Dick nodded absently, before he met Jon’s gaze and let his mask of cautious hope fall across his face. “Then let’s go get him, Jonno.”

The flight was long. Too long. And even alone outside the ship, Jon listened through the communicator as the Bats planned their attack, outlined the known schematics of the compound that they found, and any potential hidden areas they might have missed.

At least every ten minutes, Bruce was reminding Jon that he was to not get involved. That he was there for Damian’s defense and safety only.

Jon only rolled his eyes, muttered an exasperated, “Yes, sir.” And focus on the heartbeat that got closer every second.

(Closer…and slower. But he didn’t share that part with the rest of the rescue party.)

The compound wasn’t far from where Duke and Cassandra had been beaten and abandoned, but the reason they couldn’t find it afterwards was because it was underground, and seemingly cloaked with tech none of them had ever seen before.

“Alien?” Duke had asked as they neared it.

“Or bankrolled by some selfish rich fuck.” Jason countered. “We’ll find out if Bruce Wayne does a hostile takeover of any companies here in the next week or so, I bet.”

“Hm.” Bruce grunted. But it wasn’t a no, so they all shared one last pre-battle laugh anyway.

They circled the area for a moment, doing some last minute recognizance. “I hear at least twenty-five heartbeats besides Damian’s, Batman.” Jon called. He flicked to his x-ray vision. “And they’re spread between what looks like two rooms.”

“Evenly?” Tim asked.

“Mmm, it doesn’t look like it.” Jon decided. “Looks like a 70-30 split.”

“Damian?” Cassandra asked softly.

“Can’t tell for sure.” Jon scanned the space again, just in case. “One body looks like it could be him, and it’s in the room with less people.”

“Remember, Superman-” Bruce started, but Jon, suddenly out of patience, cut him off.

“I’m defense. You’re offense. I’m there to get Damian out and that’s it.” He rolled his eyes. “I know, Batman.” He curled his hands into fists. “Now are we just going to hover up here all day or are we finally going to go get him?”

There was a moment of silence. Then Bruce calmly, emotionlessly, stoically announced:

“On my mark.”

For as grouchy, bossy, and by-the-book Batman always acted – he was still just a big kid with big toys. And his mark wasn’t a word, but an action. And that action was turning the nose of the jet towards the ground, so he could crash land into the underground bunker of the freaks who’d kidnapped his son.

Jon grinned, and suddenly remembered why Batman was a lot of people’s favorite superhero.

He stayed off to the ship’s side, just in case. In case Bruce actually lost control of the ship, if any of the other Bats ended up hurt in the process. So he listened as the nose slammed into the earth for any screams of pain.

But all he heard was the screeching of metal, and the crashing of ceiling materials as the jet lodged itself into the roof of the compound. There were screams now, of surprise from the building’s inhabitants, and shouts for some to grab weapons.

One last shout from Stephanie as Bruce opened the cockpit, and the Bats began to file out like ants. “Oh fuck yeah, was that fun!”

Everyone was fine. Everyone was safe.

So time to do his job and find the one that wasn’t.

He dove through the lingering smoke, dodging bodies being thrown by the mini-army of vigilantes that had just arrived. Dodged weapons from the incoming henchmen as they raced into the room to help their colleagues.

Jon didn’t pay them much mind other than to notice that their clothing was a little off. There wasn’t any body armor or helmets. Just dark maroon robes, sashed belts. They almost looked like priests.

You know, if they weren’t running at him with guns and knives and…was that one carrying an unlidded jar of acid?

He didn’t care. The Bats could handle them.

He tried to remember what he saw with his x-ray vision as he weaved through the halls. Bruce had crashed into the room with the most people, so that stood to reason that the pseudo-priests Jon had seen were coming from the room with less people. The smaller room, the room where he thought Damian was.

Well, if those priests came from where Damian was, that was even less people to take out than he was originally planning.

He let Damian’s heartbeat guide him. And for a moment, he remembered when he listened for it after the ‘breakup.’ How he thought the slowness of it meant Damian was calm, relaxed.

God, how could he be so stupid? It didn’t mean he was calm. It meant he was fucking dying. How could Jon be so dense? How could he not notice?

He reached a closed door and could hear panicked voices behind it, could hear Damian’s heartbeat at the loudest it’d been so far.

The door didn’t stand a goddamn chance.

He recognized that Damian wasn’t near it, so kicked the door as hard as he could without a care. It practically disintegrated under the heel of his boot. He heard the other people in the room scream as they were showered with splinters but didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything else right now.

He let his heat vision take over his vision as he stepped into the room. There were three people in here, each holding crude weapons – a stick, a shattered bottle and a chair.

“Leave.” Jon ordered. The people cowered only slightly, but stood their ground. And Jon didn’t have time for that. “Or I’ll make you.”

They gave it one last moment to try and be brave, and any other time Jon might commend them for it. Try to talk them down, be more like his dad.

But this wasn’t any other time.

So he turned to the chair and used his heat vision to turn it to ash.

And that was enough. The other two dropped their weapons and held up their hands. Jon shifted out of the doorframe and watched them as they ran for safety.

He stared after them until they turned a corner, going away from the sanctuary Bruce and the others were in, a bonus of course, though he knew the Bats could have handled them. Then he quickly turned back, scanning the room.

It wasn’t a jail cell, or a dungeon. Just an empty, ugly, dark room. There was a table in the corner, and a TV that showed the field outside, acting almost like a window.

There was a closed curtain in the corner, that clearly hid an alcove of some sort. Damian’s heartbeat was coming from there.

Jon doesn’t know how he crossed the room. One second he was by the door, and the next he was at the curtain, slowly pulling it back. Did he float? Did he run? He didn’t know.

“Damian?” He whispered as he tugged the sheet away. “Can you hear…?”

The question died on his lips at the sight in front of him. It was Damian all right, half naked and huddled against the corner of this makeshift pantry. He was thin, so thin, like he hadn’t eaten in the month since he’d been taken. His hair was longer, past his ears, and dirty. The grease shone in the dim light.

There were bruises and cuts all over his body, some of them looked infected. His eyes were black and swollen, his lip split in multiple places. Dried blood caked along his nostrils.

But that might not have even been the worst part.

Though, really, was there just one single worst part? Were the heavy chains around Damian’s neck, wrists and ankles that latched him to the wall the worst part? Or was it the barrage of needle marks that twisted up his inner arms all the way up to his jaw?

Jon’s eyes filled with tears. But not from pain, like they usually did. Not from hurt or emotions.

From utter, blinding fury.

They did this to him. Those fucking fake priests that he’d just showed mercy to did this to him. To Damian. To the love of his fucking life.

He’d kill them. He’d go snap all their necks right now. Break every bone in each of their bodies and let them die slowly and painfully. Then burn them into ash and throw their remains in a dumpster.

He even felt himself take a step back, to do just that. But stopped when he heard Damian let out a wheezing exhale.

“Damian?” He asked again. Damian had never answered the first time. Was he even conscious? Was he aware of what was happening? He took the last few steps forward and kneeled, putting a hand on Damian’s shoulder. “D, can you hear me?”

Damian tensed at his touch and tried to jerk away, but just ended up bouncing his shoulder painfully against the stone wall behind him. When he looked up, his eyes looked almost feral, but them immediately softened as recognition took hold.

He blinked once. Twice. “…Jonathan?”

Jon swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded with a sad smile.

“What are you doing here?” Damian asked, even as Jon shifted his hand from Damian’s shoulder to his face. Damian’s skin was cold. “They…” Damian’s eyes were suddenly angry. “If they’ve laid a hand on you, I swear I’ll-”

“Nothing of the sort.” Jon promised. “We’re here to get you out of here. Take you home.”

Damian blinked and slumped back. “We?”

“Your family.” Jon explained vaguely as he let his hand fall, run gently over a scab along Damian’s chest. “God, I’m so glad I found you.”

“…I’m sorry.” Damian murmured, and Jon looked up at him in confusion. “I…I lost track of the days some time ago, but you must have been worried sick. I’m sorry for causing you any distress.”

Jon’s stomach twirled in guilt. Because he wasn’t worried, not at all. And was now the time to say that? To say ‘Oh, no, I wasn’t worried, because it turns out the psychopaths who kidnapped you pretended to be you and broke up with me.’?

No. No it absolutely fucking wasn’t.

“…Nothing is your fault.” Jon decided on. He reached forward and grabbed the collar around Damian’s neck, snapping it with a quick jerk of his hands. He followed suite with the chains around his arms and legs too. “Can you walk? Your family is taking care of the others, my only job is to get you safe.”

“…I don’t know.” Damian hummed honestly, eyes fluttering slightly. “And I don’t know if my body is strong enough to try right now.”

Jon looked back up at him with another smile. Less sad this time, more genuine. Let it reach his eyes. “No problem.” He returned his hand to Damian’s face, gently pushed his long hair out of the way. Without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed Damian as gently as he could, then pressed their foreheads together. “Jesus, I’m just…just so glad you’re alive.”

Damian scoffed a quiet laugh, and opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly there was a noise from the room behind them. They both looked back to see Batman storming in through the door.

“Superboy?” He asked as he stopped, glanced around Jon. “We…all good here? You found him?”

Jon squeezed Damian’s face just slightly before standing and turning back. “Yes, sir. Alive and well.”

Bruce nodded. “And the rest are taken care of. So let’s get the hell out of here.”

Jon nodded. “Can you help me get him up? I don’t think he can walk real well right now.”

Bruce seemed to hesitate, glancing past Jon’s shoulder again, but nodded, and took a step towards him.

And as soon as he was close, Jon grabbed the side of his head and slammed it through the closest wall.

“…That’s twice now you’ve gotten my name wrong.” Jon spit, looming over the man as he groaned in pain. “And that’s twice you’ve done a piss poor imitation of someone I care about.”

Batman looked up at Jon in confusion, borderline hurt. But then the eyes widened in realization, and instantly shifted from Bruce’s icy blue to a sickly yellow. “You.”

“Me.” Jon grinned wildly. “And I’ll admit it – you got me the first time. Because I had no idea what had happened, so of course, why wouldn’t I believe the phone call I was getting?”

Batman began to shift now, lose his muscle mass, his uniform began to change to a deep maroon.

“But then I was told the truth, and all the clues that didn’t make sense before suddenly began to piece together.” Jon hummed, picking the man up by his collar. He was much smaller than Bruce. Much thinner. Much older. “So when they said they were coming to kick your ass, I knew there was nowhere else I’d rather be.”

He slammed the man into the wall again, but held him there. Used his other hand to grab the man’s throat.

“Why.” He hissed. “Tell me why.”

The man choked slightly, feet scrabbling for floor, hands grabbing at Jon’s. “Lazarus.” He wheezed. “He…he carries the waters of Lazarus in his blood. I saw it in his eyes. The green of his eyes. In the field. I knew.” A cough. “I knew it was fate that we found him. He was the one who was going to make us immortal.”

Jon’s eyes widened. The needle marks. The acid the other man was carrying from this room. Experiments, no doubt. To get the magical Lazarus waters out of Damian’s blood that they believed was there.

But Damian was stubborn, and probably put up a fight. So they beat him into submission, tortured him, stabbed him with needles to drain him dry. But they couldn’t kill him, oh no. Because if Damian died they’d lose their chance at the power of the Lazarus Pit.

They were using him, like he was no more than a thing.

Jon’s nostrils flared. “I’m going to fucking kill you, you bastard.”

“…Beloved.” Damian whispered, and Jon found himself turning towards him without thinking. Damian looked tired, still slumped against that wall, head leaning against the stone. “Don’t.” He closed his eyes. “Just…leave him for Batman.”

Batman’s demands came rushing back. They were offense. Jon was defense.

Jon’s only job was to get Damian safe.

Silently, Jon nodded, but instead of dropping the man, gave himself one last piece of revenge, and threw the man across the room into the table and fake-window TV. The man gave a low moan, and it sounded like music to Jon’s ears as he walked back over to Damian, and gathered him into his arms.

Damian didn’t complain about being held, didn’t complain about being coddled. Just wrapped an arm around Jon’s neck and leaned against his shoulder.

“Thank you.” He whispered, and Jon just kissed his forehead, trying to ignore the mere fact of how much pain Damian must have been in. How exhausted.

But as he crossed the room, he stopped near the door, just once, and turned to the man.

He didn’t care who he was. What his name was. But he did care about one thing.

“Why did you call me?”

The man didn’t uncurl from his fetal position, didn’t even open his eyes. “Because we knew you would come for him.” He hissed. “The lovers always do.”

Jon blinked, and watched the man for a moment, before turning and walking out of the room, Damian a calming weight in his arms.

~~

It was a cult in that underground bunker, Jon learned later. One obsessed with becoming immortal so they could be gods. They’d kidnapped, tortured and killed at least ten people over the years before they took Damian, all for the same reason.

Jon honestly couldn’t care less.

After escaping the compound, Jon flew to a previously agreed upon spot in Geneva, where Batman had a safe house that Alfred had flown ahead to. He radioed onto the open line as he did so, and Duke, mid-battle, shouted an affirmative, and promise that they’d meet him there.

Damian could barely hold onto consciousness during the flight, and it only made Jon fly faster, to an almost dangerous speed.

Alfred met them on the balcony, and motioned for Jon to follow him after he landed. A penthouse in Geneva wasn’t exactly a hospital, so instead of a medical cot, Jon carefully laid Damian in an extravagant king-sized bed.

Jon helped where he could, which, admittedly, wasn’t in very many places. The thing he was best at, he found, was getting in the way. But, bless him, Alfred never chastised him. Never told him to move.

“This is almost a luxury.” Alfred had quipped at one point as he checked Damian’s IV bag. “Normally I’m trying to work around at least five anxious persons, not one calm one.”

Jon had tried to smile, but it didn’t come out right. Alfred seemed to understand, though, and just gave Jon’s shoulder a quick squeeze as he passed him.

Finally, Alfred proclaimed himself finished, having done all he could. He’d disinfected and wrapped wounds, given Damian painkillers and set up the IVs to replenish Damian’s fluids. The rest of his healing would come in time. For now, he’d be in the kitchen fixing Damian something gentle to eat, before preparing food for the rest of the rescue party’s eventual arrival.

Jon nodded, and sat at Damian’s bedside.

It was almost midnight by the time the rest of the Bats arrived. They explained to Jon and Alfred their investigation, and what the cult had told them. Got checked out by Alfred, came and checked on Damian, and then one by one, they each went off to another room to settle down for the rest of the night.

Jon remained at Damian’s side.

And he didn’t move. Not to sleep, he just laid his head on the mattress. Not to eat breakfast or any meal, just balanced it on his lap. He didn’t even get up to offer his seat when anyone came in to visit their brother.

He just sat there, staring at Damian’s battered face and holding his cold hand.

Damian didn’t wake up that day, or even the day after. He could tell the others were starting to get antsy about it, and agitated. What if Damian didn’t wake up? What if that cult had actually killed him, and he’d survived just long enough to see them all again? To get taken to safety?

So the Bats threw themselves into the investigation to distract themselves. Who was cult? Who funded them? Who had they killed?

Jon just stayed on his stool at Damian’s side.

It was the morning of the third day, some time before dawn. Jon had his head pillowed against his arm on the mattress next to Damian’s elbow, half turned to watch the moon reflect off the clouds through the balcony doors.

He listened as Damian inhaled, but paid it no mind. Not until: “…What are you doing?”

Jon sat up so fast he made himself dizzy. In the dim light, Damian’s half-lidded sea foam eyes almost glowed.

“W-what?”

“What are you doing?” Damian repeated groggily.

“I…I couldn’t sleep, so I was just watching the stars…” He started, but trailed off when Damian lazily waved a hand.

“I mean, why are you sitting on that stool?” Damian asked. He flopped his hand out to the open side of the bed. “There’s clearly space here. Even if you can’t sleep, at least let yourself be comfortable.”

Jon instantly dropped his gaze to his knees, and even half conscious, Damian noticed.

“Beloved, what’s wrong?” He asked sleepily, weakly reaching his hand towards Jon.

Jon pulled his hand away.

This time, Damian’s inhale was sharp. He pulled his hand back and dropped it onto his own stomach. “…Alright.”

“No, it’s not…!” Jon suddenly realized how that looked. Knew how Damian would take it. “I don’t…You didn’t…” He sighed, dropped his face into his hands. “I don’t deserve it.”

“What?” Damian asked. “Deserve what?”

“To hold your hand. To lay in your bed.” Jon groaned. “You.”

Damian hesitated, grunted softly as he shifted. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“The day you went missing, they…that shapeshifter guy, he stole your phone and he called me. As you.” Jon closed his eyes, trying to hide even further. “He…he broke up with me as you. And I…it didn’t make any sense, it never made any sense to me, but I believed him.”

Another moment of quiet. “…Oh.”

“I know. I’m an idiot.” Jon lamented. “Because how could I not know my own boyfriend? How could I believe you would break up with me over the phone?”

“Or…ever.” Damian agreed. “Unless you want…”

“Or ever!” Jon cut off dramatically, curling his covered face to his knees. “How could I believe you’d do that, and not question it! Not question that you never answered your phone after that, never told anyone, never came back to Metropolis for any reason! Even dream you tried to tell me and I just…”

“Dream me?” Damian asked. Suddenly there were fingers stroking at Jon’s hair, and he held his breath. “You dreamed about me?”

“I thought about you every second of every day.” Jon admitted glumly. “I felt like such a loser, not being able to get over you.” He paused, curled into himself more. “For believing it all in the first place.” He shook his head. “I don’t even deserve to be sitting here next to you, Damian. I don’t.”

He felt Damian’s fingers stroke for a few more seconds, then heard Damian scoff a laugh.

“Jonathan, you’re so funny.”

Those fingers in his hair were instantly at his chin, tilting his face up and out of his hands. Damian, looking beyond exhausted, was smiling at him.

“Come lay with me.” Damian asked softly.

Jon stared up at him for a moment, let his eyes wander down the bandages and new scars, then back up. “You shouldn’t want me to.” He breathed. “In fact, you should break up with me for real, because I’m such a fucking-”

“Do you want me to?” Damian asked seriously. “Do you want me to break up with you? Would you like us to remain apart? Because if after this past month that’s what you’ve decided is best for you, then I will do my best to give it to-”

“No.” Jon said instantly. “No, I…” His breath trembled. “No, I don’t want us to be apart anymore.”

“Nor do I.” Damian agreed with a gentle smile. He laid his arm across the bed. “…Please.”

Jon stared at him for a moment, then sighed and stood, carefully floating over Damian to drop onto his other side.

Damian weakly reached up to pull Jon into his arms, like a child grabbing for a balloon, and Jon let himself be dragged into Damian’s side. Latched onto Damian’s waist and hid his face against Damian’s chest.

His heartbeat was loud now. Still slow, a little too slow for Jon’s liking, but loud, and right under Jon’s ear, right where it was supposed to be.

“I’m sorry.” Jon whispered, as he felt Damian kiss at his hair, gently run his fingers along Jon’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Damian.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should apologize to you, for what that shifting bastard did.” Damian hummed, and already Jon could sense he was falling back into unconsciousness.

Because he feels safe, Jon didn’t let himself think. He feels safe here with me.

“…I love you.” Jon breathed, closing his eyes, squeezing Damian as tightly as he dared. “I love you so much, Damian.”

“I love you as well, Jonathan.” Damian answered just as softly. “For as long as I live. No matter what anyone tells you, please always remember that.” He carefully laid his hand over the one Jon had on his hip. “…Thank you for finding me. For saving me.”

“Always.” Jon smiled, looking up at Damian. Damian’s eyes were already closed once more, his breathing evening out. “Always and forever.”

“Forever and ever.” Damian mumbled as he drifted off. Jon watched him for a few more moments, until he was sure Damian was asleep again. Then he leaned up and left a careful kiss to Damian’s cheek. Lingered for a moment, then curled up under Damian’s chin, clung to him like he was a giant teddy bear.

He let his boyfriend’s heartbeat lull him to sleep.

[trulivin]

Golden Eyes

A/N: SURPRISE! I finished it last night. Thank you so much for this request! I really enjoyed writing this piece. I did make the reader kinda Shu I would say because she’s called serpent at the Menagerie but feel free to change it to suit your appearance! Also, I hope I kept to the character. I felt like Kaz wouldn’t act like this really in his mind, and I don’t know somehow I ended up flopping back and forth between their POVs. BUT hopefully it worked out. 

This also has potential for a part 2 so let me know if you would like that. Anyways, send feedback and keep requesting! I could honestly write about Kaz all day LMFAO! Enjoy! (Word Count: It’s really long whoops)

Kaz Brekker X Reader, Six of Crows

Warnings: Some abuse, cursing.

*Oh look I made another aesthetic lol*

Kaz Brekker didn’t know why he did it. Three years after getting Inej out of the Menagerie, he found himself having the same conversation with Tante Haleen. “You are not taking another one of my girls, Brekker,” the lady snarled. “I have the money,” he shrugged, his face impassive. “I don’t care. You took one of my clients’ favorites three years ago,” Tante hissed at him. “You haven’t even let me tell you what I’m going to offer,” Kaz said. The peacock let out an odd noise, rolling her eyes at the teenage boy. Why does he even want this girl? She thought to herself. 

Truth be told, Kaz really didn’t know why he wanted this girl either. He just happened to be walking by the Menagerie a few nights ago and heard a lot of screaming. Tante Haleen had made a public display over beating this poor girl into tears in front of what seemed like everyone in Ketterdam. Usually, the woman would give her punishments in the confines of her office, but this time it was different. The girl’s screams still echoed in his mind.

It was a particularly still and soundless night as Kaz walked back from a successful deal he had just made. He was personally enjoying the quiet walk and the stars with the only sound of his cane tapping on the ground every step he took. However, his peace was soon disturbed when a high pitched scream rang out. Kaz immediately stopped, looking around for the source of the noise and realized he was very close to the Menagerie. 

“You ran another one of my clients off, girl!” Tante Haleen’s voice rang out. Kaz heard a faint sound of a belt snap and a girl crying. “I-I didn’t mean to,” a voice cried. “Didn’t mean to? Pff! You’ve always been a defiant whore. Trying to run me out of my own position! Girls like you need to be taught a lesson,” she sneered. “I swear, I’m not!” the young girl pleaded.

There was a faint crowd gathered around the main entrance to the building. Kaz approached silently, sticking to the shadows. There, in the middle of the ground was a partially-clothed girl, no younger than him, cowering under the peacock who was clutched a strap of leather in her hands. 

“Who would want your job anyway?” the girl half muttered to herself resulting in Tante yanking the girl up but her hair. If that young girl wasn’t in the middle of being beat up, Kaz would have been impressed with the girl’s snark. 

Kaz noticed the girl’s tear-stained face full of fear. A shiver ran up his spine as he watched the old woman continue to scold her, and for a fleeting moment, the girl cast a panicked look around the crowd and met his eyes. Beautiful golden eyes met his and he stood there stoically, studying her face until Tante brought down another hit. The girl screamed again, tearing her gaze away, and Kaz forced himself to walk away.

Her eyes burned into his memory as he finally made it to the Slat. Kaz talked with Per Haskell for a few minutes before heading to his room. He sensed Inej following him and when they reached the top, she asked, “So it went well?” Kaz nodded as he shuffled papers around his desk. Inej said something else, but he barely acknowledged it. He was too busy trying to figure out how to help the girl. 

Inej watched as Kaz was rummaging through papers and eyed him in confusion as she noticed he was pulling money together for some reason. She could tell he was distracted by something, and quite frankly had never seen him act like this. 

“Why all the money?” Inej asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face. Kaz jumped ever so slightly, meeting her dark eyes. Inej caught his quick scare and was even more baffled that Kaz Brekker was so skittish. He was almost never like this.

The girl’s golden eyes flashed through his mind for a moment before he cleared his throat. “I need to buy something,” Kaz muttered, turning back to the papers. “What do you need to buy?” she asked skeptically. “It’s none of your business. If you have a problem with it then get out,” he snapped. Inej was caught off guard with his moodswing, but shot him an annoyed glance and slipped out of the room. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with Kaz’s attitude anymore. 

Kaz jumped again when he heard his door slam. He had no clue why he was acting like this, it wasn’t him. Someone else’s pain was their problem, not his, but the girl’s watery eyes still burned in his mind like the sun on an extremely hot day.  

“Thirty-thousand kruge,” he said after Tante hadn’t responded. “Did the old man give you your allowance early?” the woman sneered at him. 

“No.”

She looked a bit taken back at his bored demeanor, and then narrowed her eyes at the boy. She despised him for taking away the Suli girl three years ago and she was wary in letting another one go to Kaz Brekker or Per Haskell. Tante never really knew who was actually in charge.  

“Well, are you going to take it?” he asked, impatiently. 

She mulled over it for a moment and sighed angrily. She could never pass up money. All of my girls are replaceable I suppose. “Yes,” she said irritated. “So she’ll be working for that old man of yours?” she asked as she signed the contract. Kaz scribbled his signature down and snatched the paper up before she could really read everything on it. 

“Actually no,” he said with a wry smile. “She belongs to me. And technically, I’ve paid off her contract.” 

The woman’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “I-You--little rat!” She snarled at him. “You can’t have her!” 

“Yes I can. Now go get her. I have other things to do today,” Kaz said coolly. He was ready to get out of this place. It reeked of filthy men and other spices that made his head spin a bit. 

Tante Haleen glared at the boy but said nothing before slipping out of her office. She returned a moment later with the golden-eyed girl behind her. “Well, it’s your lucky day, serpent,” the peacock snapped at her, “You get to go with Mr. Brekker here.” The girl’s eyes snapped to Kaz’s just like the other night and he could’ve sworn his heart jumped as the blazing color pierced his. He studied her face for a moment, noticing the dark bruise under her left eye and her swollen cheek. Under the damage, he also saw a very beautiful girl who looked as though she had been put through years of abuse under the hands of Tante Haleen. 

Unfortunately, he also noticed how, behind her bright eyes, there was absolute terror coursing through her. “It’s been a pleasure,” he smirked a bit turning back to Tante Haleen. “Are you ready?” Kaz turned back to the girl. She nodded, wide-eyed and somewhat confused. Kaz slid past them and out the office door. 

Y/N’s head spun as she followed the teenage boy out of the Menagerie. What did he want? Why did he buy my contract? What the hell is going on? How is he walking so fast with a freaking cane? All sorts of questions flew through her mind and her swollen face was throbbing giving her a slight headache.

As they made it to the doors, Tante Haleen’s voice called after her, “You better watch your back girl! I’ll get my serpent back and you’ll die in chains here!” Y/N’s head whipped around in fear, looking at the evil woman. “That won’t happen. You’re safe now,” the boy’s raspy voice said from behind her. Y/N turned back to him and practically ran out the door he had opened for her. 

Once they were on the streets and far from the Menagerie, the boy finally slowed his pace. Y/N swallowed nervously and asked, “So who are you exactly?” “Kaz Brekker,” he replied without so much as casting a glance in her direction. He kept on winding through the crowd making sure Y/N was still with him every so often. 

Surprisingly enough, Y/N had heard of a Kaz Brekker. The notorious ‘bastard of the Barrel’ or Dirtyhands. She just never thought she would ever meet him. Clients would always complain about being crossed by Brekker. They’d say, “I’ll rip those gloves off his hands and feed him his own fingers if I ever get a hold of that damn boy!” It was strange seeing the gloves fit over his hands. Y/N couldn’t seem to stop staring at them, wondering why on earth he wore them in the first place. 

“And you?” he added a few moments later, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Oh, um I’m Y/N,” she said. 

Kaz inwardly smiled to himself for the first time in a long time. He thought it was a very pretty name to match her pretty eyes. What the hell is wrong with you? 

He managed to maintain his expressionless face and turned to look at the girl, “Well Y/N you are officially free under one condition.” Her eyes narrowed at him as she began to grow more comfortable in his presence. 

“What?” Y/N asked. 

“You’ll become a member of the Dregs.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You lose the protection from us, and you very much could end back up there,” Kaz said. He didn’t necessarily want to say he owned the girl. She was free to do whatever she pleased, but if she were to go off on her own she would most likely be back where she started. Not to mention, Kaz would be out thirty-thousand kruge. The girl had a fire behind her eyes and he thought she could potentially be quite useful. He just wasn’t sure what her limits were yet, but he also didn’t want to lose an investment. She’s not just an investment, a voice in his head scolded. Shut up. You know I’m right. Ugh. 

Y/N thought for a moment. She knew about the Dregs and all the other gangs in Ketterdam, but she again never thought she would ever be tangled up in them. However, anything was better than the Menagerie, and she was decent in a fight so she could handle whatever the Dregs threw her way. “Anywhere is better than there,” she eventually agreed. Kaz nodded in approval as they continued on. 

Finally, the pair arrived back at the Slat. “Just let me do the talking,” Kaz said to her before opening the door. The main floor was crowded with a variety of  looking people playing cards and gambling. Heads turned as the door was open and everyone caught sight of Kaz with a girl in silks trailing behind him. 

One guy smirked at Kaz making Y/N cringe. “Wow boss I’m surprised they let you take this one out of the building!” the guy called. Kaz shot him a hard glare and snapped, “She’s not here for work. A new investment so shut up. She’s one of us now.” 

Investment? That didn’t sound any better, Y/N scoffed silently. Thankfully, though, no one in the room looked familiar. None of these people had been clients. 

The guy, Y/N noticed, seemed to cower under Kaz’s gaze. He seems to have very high authority in here, she noted. Just as quickly as they entered, she was following him up rickety steps. Kaz led her into an office on the second floor, and Y/N was faced by an old man. 

“Y/N this is Per Haskell. Per Haskell, Y/N,” Kaz introduced and the old man grinned. “My new member?” he smiled. “Mine,” Kaz interjected, “Sir.” “Ah yes yes, you used your own money,” Per Haskell dismissed him, slightly annoyed. “It is still my gang you know,” he said. “Of course, sir,” Kaz replied. 

Y/N stood quietly watching the two exchange words as if she weren’t standing right there. She could see right through Kaz and his act towards the old man. He may have sounded respectful towards Per Haskell, but Y/N had the sneaking suspicion that he could care less about the man’s opinions. 

“So, sweetie,” Per Haskell interrupted her thoughts. Y/N jumped in the slightest at the name. You’re not at the Menagerie anymore, and he was never one of your clients, she told herself. Kaz studied her and saw her back stiffen as soon as Per Haskell had opened his mouth. She was nervous. “What can you do? Weapons wise of course. And how do you hold up in a fight?” the man asked. Y/N seemed to be taken off guard a bit, but regained her composure, feeling more confident in herself again. 

“Well, um, before I was taken, my father taught me how to defend myself. And I’m pretty good at target practice,” Y/N mumbled, heat rising to her cheeks realizing this whole gang thing wouldn’t be like target practice. The man obviously knew it too and chuckled a bit before turning to Kaz. “You sure picked a good one this time, boy,” he said sarcastically. Y/N’s cheeks flushed even more red. And they flushed even darker as Kaz’s gaze rested on her for a moment. Y/N couldn’t help but be upset at herself for sounding so stupid in front of Kaz Brekker. Why do you care what he thinks of you? She questioned, averting her eyes away from him. 

“I think she’ll work out just fine, sir,” Kaz responded in an even tone. Y/N couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. His face remained unreadable with every word he said. “We’ll see,” Per Haskell said, the air in his tone signaling this conversation was over. Kaz simply nodded and turned to walk out of the office. He locked eyes with Y/N before pushing open the door. She followed quietly behind him still unsure of what really was happening here. 

They made their way up more steps when a voice stopped them in their tracks. “Y/N?” a familiar voice rang out behind her. Y/N turned around to see an oh-so-familiar Suli girl. “Inej?” Y/N half gasped. A grin broke out on the girl’s face as she bounded up the steps, pulling Y/N in a hug. Kaz raised a brow. 

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing Y/N here, Kaz,” she glared at the boy. Y/N was shocked she had the nerve to do that, but Kaz remained oddly quiet. 

The thought that Inej had known her never crossed his mind. 

“Well you know now,” Kaz said coolly. Y/N could see slight impatience in his look now. “Obviously,” Inej rolled her eyes and added, “Leave us be. I’ll show her around and she can stay with me.” Kaz narrowed his eyes at her, but didn’t say anything as he stepped aside letting the two go. 

In reality, something told him he didn’t want Y/N out of his sight. There was a lot of testosterone in the building and Y/N’s pretty features would surely stand out. But her reaction to Per Haskell’s words told Kaz she was more worried than she was letting on. He’d seen that look in Inej plenty of times to know it had been just as rough for Y/N as well. Tante Haleen had told him Y/N had been with her for five years, and according to the peacock, she was also a handful. He couldn’t imagine what Y/N had been put through because of her defiance, but he knew he didn’t want anyone getting any ideas. 

Up on the floor above, Inej had gotten Y/N settled in her room. “I never realized Kaz bought your contract too,” Y/N said quietly. Inej laughed and rolled her eyes a bit, “He didn’t buy it. Per Haskell did. Kaz just put the idea in his head so he could get the money. I still have to pay mine off. That’s why I work for him.” 

“Oh,” Y/N said, remembering what Kaz had said to Tante Haleen. He had put his own money up for her. Why?

As if Inej sensed her question, she said, “I don’t know why or how he got the money. But obviously you must’ve caught his attention. I’m telling you like I always have, it’s those golden eyes of yours.” Y/N let out a light laugh, but brushed her comment off. “It’s good he did though. We need more fighters like you. Don’t get all shy on them, I know how you get,” she added. Y/N rolled her eyes a bit, “I don’t like strangers.” 

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t kick ass. I’ve seen you do it before.”

“And you’ve seen my ass get kicked right after,” Y/N said sourly. She had tried more than once to get out of being with some of the clients, earning her plenty of bruises. But, it was always worth it when Y/N had managed to leave some bruises behind as well. “Listen,” Inej said seriously, “You’re safe now. Kaz, in his own twisty way, will protect you. He may seem like a heartless, emotionless, dark person, but deep down he cares. Of course in his own weird way.” The two girls shared a laugh and Y/N couldn’t help but think she was right. There was nothing to be afraid of anymore. 

A month seemed to pass in a blur and somehow Y/N had found herself restless. She slowly earned respect amongst the Dregs, but now everyone seemed to coddle her. Even Kaz would hardly ever let her out of his sight. He hardly spoke to her and she found herself pouring her heart out to him. She told him about her family and what happened when she was taken, along with everything that happened to her in the Menagerie. All Kaz did was listen and nod. 

Y/N was annoyed she could never figure him out, and told herself she was going to stop telling him her entire life story, but somehow wound up back in his attic. Some days they would sit in silence as she sat by the window, and some days they would have little conversations. He answered most of her questions she had for him, but he always gave a round-about answer when she brought up the gloves. Sometimes he would just ignore her so Y/N would just drop it. 

The only thing Kaz really wouldn’t let her do was go on jobs. She was antsy and felt more at ease than she had in a long time so she could easily go shake someone up for some money.  “Can I go with Jesper?” Y/N would ask. “No he, Inej, and Specht can handle it,” Kaz would reply. He was never rude to her when she asked. He would just find some excuse for her not to go.

In reality, Kaz didn’t want her to go because he could still see the slight changes in her body whenever someone, particularly a man, would brush by her too close. One time Jesper had slung his arm around her in a friendly manner, and Kaz saw all the color drain from her face. Her golden eyes even seemed to lose their brightness. He didn’t want to put her through what some of the jobs required and risk her getting hurt, although he wouldn’t admit it. So, he didn’t make her do anything, and left her extremely bored and annoyed. 

And unfortunately, some of the Dregs seemed to notice this as well. 

Instead of questioning Kaz, they all assumed it was because she couldn’t do anything. Some would say, “It’s alright gold-eyes, I’ll be back. Don’t worry I don’t need protection!” or “I think someone needs to go with her to make sure she doesn’t fall over and hurt herself.” 

Finally, one day, Y/N was sick of the teasing. Specht, Rotty, and Jesper were teasing her about how her eyes made her look soft because they were such a pretty color. She rolled the golden orbs. “You know, you all assume I’m no good, but none of you actually have had the decency to let me hold a pistol or a knife,” she snapped. Jesper looked a little surprised by her outburst, but Specht and Rotty grinned mischievously. “Ok then, pretty-eyes. Why don’t we do a little target practice then,” Rotty snickered. Per Haskell managed to spread the word around of their first introduction and it seemed to stick. Y/N glared at him but nodded. The boys sprung up and in about ten minutes the main floor was set up with a variety of targets. 

A crowd seemed to gather and Inej was by her side instantly. She had also yelled at plenty of them saying, “Y/N is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.” But Y/N didn’t want her help. And she also knew Inej’s words wouldn’t make them shut up.

“So this is how you hold a knife,” Specht said slowly as if he was talking to a toddler. “Har har,” she glared. Y/N yanked the set of knives he had from his hands and went to stand in front of the target. She heard snickers across the room and some people placing bets.

Y/N huffed before clearing her head. Feel the blade in your hand. It’s supposed to be a part of you so when you throw it, it will go in the direction you want it to. Her father’s voice rang out in her head. She closed her eyes for a moment, allowing silence to fill her ears. 

Kaz had come down to see what was going on and saw the room had turned into a shooting range. He was about to break up the semi-circle, but stopped once he saw Y/N in the center of it. Her eyes were closed and he watched along with everyone else. Kaz was curious to see what she really could do. 

In an instant, Kaz saw her eyes open, and watched as the three knives she held fly through the air and land in the dead center of three different targets. Her eyes immediately found his, and the liquid-gold was burning bright. He sucked in a breath as her eyes burned in his. Kaz couldn’t help himself. Her eyes were his favorite. 

Y/N felt his presence as soon as she rid herself of the knives. Her eyes found his watching her with a glint of approval. His mouth even quirked up in the slightest. A grin broke across her face at the thought that Kaz would be proud of her. Somehow they had gotten close over the past month and he had a special place in her heart causing her to always seek his approval. And though he would never admit it, but Kaz always found himself wanting the golden-eyed girl around him and only him. 

Everyone around the room seemed shocked at what had happened. Big Bolliger, however, interrupted the silence, “That was luck!” Eventually, others chimed in in agreement. Y/N saw that little quirk of Kaz’s mouth slip back into his hard look. “Then go stand in front of the target and have her throw again,” Kaz spoke from behind everyone. They whirled around, immediately falling quiet. “Well?” Kaz gestured for Big Bolliger to step up in front of the target. He gulped, but no one questioned Kaz. Rotty gathered the knives and handed them back to Y/N silently. “If she hits him then we know it’s luck. If she doesn't, well then I think you all will have gotten your answer if she can do anything or not,” Kaz said. 

No one said a word. Y/N should have been nervous, but she wasn’t. This was the first time she had been truly happy in the month she had spent here. She knew she could do it, and this would shut everyone up for good. Y/N took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, honing in on her father’s words. 

Kaz watched her eyes flicker open again and just like last time she placed the knives exactly where she wanted them: above Big Bolliger’s head, to the left of his ear, and to the right. 

Y/N smirked, satisfied with herself, but also got a bit carried away. Jesper was standing near her so she grabbed one of his pistols and shot right in between Big Bolliger’s legs before handing Jesper back his prized possession. Everyone seemed to be standing there gaping. Inej was smirking, and Kaz had a twinkle in his eye. She was even more proud of herself. 

“And she can shoot too,” he said. The crowd was still shocked as everyone stared at her. “Alright clean it up,” Kaz snapped, waving his arm. The Dregs jumped into action setting everything right. “It’s not like you haven’t seen anyone shoot before,” he muttered to himself, before signaling Y/N to follow. 

Once they were upstairs, Kaz admitted, “I will say I’m impressed. But like you said when we first met. Target practice.” Y/N glared at him, her sour mood returning. “I could’ve taken his eye out you know,” she said bitterly. Kaz didn’t seem to care about her tone with him. 

“I don’t doubt that either,” he replied. “But it is different out there when you’re in the moment--”

“How can you of all people think I don’t know that?” Y/N snarled, cutting him off and finally letting her anger bubble over. “I told you everything!” she hissed. 

“I told you how those men enjoyed a twelve-year-old girl! How I fought so many times and had knives pulled on me and took constant beatings from that wretched woman! How I was put in chains after I tried running away! I know what everyone thinks of me!” she shouted. 

“I know they all think I’m this weak, doe-eyed school girl who can’t throw a punch! They whisper behind my back, throw snide comments around, make bets! And I take it! I take it like every hit I took in that damn whore house.” 

Kaz heard her voice crack with her last sentence. He had underestimated her abilities and never really thought how tough she really was. He was always too busy silently fuming over how mistreated she had been growing up. 

“I know what they are thinking,” Y/N repeated herself. “And I don’t want you to think the same thing,” she mumbled quietly. Y/N’s eyes went wide as she realized what she just said out loud. “I--I just--,” she started but Kaz raised a hand. She shut her mouth and let him speak. “Do you know why I picked you?” he asked. She shot him a confused look. “I saw you that night Tante Haleen had thrown you on the ground in front of everyone.”

Y/N’s breath hitched. She remembered seeing those dark eyes in the shadows of the crowd. A shiver ran up her spine thinking about that night. 

“I will say I have underestimated your abilities, but I don’t think like those other idiots downstairs,” Kaz sighed, letting his mask slip a bit. “I,” he paused for a moment. The two voices in his head were back: Why are you acting like this? Because she’s a pretty girl. Just another girl. She’s more than pretty if you think about it. Doesn’t matter. You’ve gotten to know her and you know she’s like you in a way. No. Admit it. Shut up.

Swallowing a bit of his pride, Kaz spoke softly, “I don’t want to see you get hurt like that again. You don’t deserve it.” It was true. Even if she didn’t talk much for the first few weeks she was with him, he found she was quite pleasant to be around. Y/N was kind to whoever she met no matter what they said about her, and she carried herself with a sort of confidence she probably didn’t know she had. And those damn eyes of hers too. 

Y/N’s face softened at his words. “Oh,” was all she could manage to slip out. Quickly, though to avoid extreme awkwardness, Y/N gave him a mischievous grin. “So you do care?” she commented. Kaz let out a breath and rolled his eyes, thankful she didn’t want to endure the moment after him opening up to her. “The Kaz Brekker has a heart,” she chuckled as he glanced down back at his work. 

“Yes, but most of it was buried with my brother,” he said shortly. The room was silent and Kaz looked at Y/N. Her grin was gone and she gave him a sympathetic look. He never usually wanted sympathy for Jordie, but somehow Y/N’s kind features brought him a sense of comfort. “I’ll tell you some other time,” Kaz said simply. 

She approached his desk slowly until she was right in front of him. Taking a deep breath, Y/N glanced down to his gloved hand resting on the top. She hesitated and took it in her hand. Kaz sucked in a sharp breath before letting it out. Her hand was warm and felt smooth even through his gloves. A part of him wanted to feel it without the leather barrier. He noticed the scars that danced across her knuckles and all the way up her arm. 

Kaz’s gaze trailed across her skin and up to the bright eyes that were watching his every move. He suddenly felt very conscious of his hair and tie. “I’ll be okay,” Y/N said softly. He took her appearance in once more and nodded. “Go see if Jesper will let you tag along on his job,” Kaz added. Y/N gave him a small smile before releasing his hand. A part of him ached for her touch again, and his hand felt oddly cold after she let go. 

Y/N silently made her way to the door. “I had a sister,” she said, turning to look at him again before disappearing back downstairs, her golden eyes burning through Kaz’s heart.

___________________________________________________________

Yay! To the nonny who requested, I hope this is what you were looking for! I have yet to make one with Kaz and the reader kissing because he’s very difficult to write for and I hate straying away from how the character actually is. But also I can do a part two with Jesper’s job and the aftermath plus her interaction with Kaz afterwards. Just let me know!

[btsslowburnfic]

Born to be Yours Ch. 10

Story Summary: For Namjoon, the moment he set his sights on being the #1 rapper, he pushed the symbol to the side and hated it. Love should be chosen, not forced on you. He didn’t believe in fate and this mark on his wrist was a big “fuck you” to all that.

Chapter summary: Life after you and RM part ways goes back to normal until an accident changes everything

Previous chapters found here: Chapter 9

You are surprised that life does in fact go back to normal. You and Xavier make up and get back to working with smaller local groups after the awards season ends. Things with you and Ben get back to normal; you become a master of using heavy foundation on your soulmark when you’re at home. The summer tour is amazing. You and Xavier traveled to 32 states in 4 months. You find yourself following Twitter and Weverse to see what RM is up to. And you sometimes found yourself thinking about that night the two of you spent together. You mostly try to push it out of your mind though. Even though you told Xavier and he randomly brings it up.

“Right here? On this desk!?!” he asks, running his hands over the surface.

“Yes. And don’t do that, it’s weird and gross.”

“How was it? Describe it to me again.”

You chuckle a bit and roll your eyes, “No. I told you once so I could get it out of my system.”

“Ughhh you’re so boring.” he whines playfully.

“Shouldn’t you be reprimanding me about being a terrible cheating slut?” you raise an eyebrow.

“No. I ship that shit.” he responds, sipping on a smoothie. “Have you eaten yet?” he asks

You laugh and look through your phone. “No, I had a zoom meeting with Gina at noon and then I covered spinning class.” You press some buttons on your screen. “There. I just ordered. I’ll see you in a while.” You stand up and put your flip flops back on.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you in pilates tonight.”

You toss your bag over your shoulder and put your sunglasses on as you step out the door. You look both ways and start to cross the street as you hear a screeching sound. The next thing you hear and feel is the sickening crunch of bone hitting glass. Tires screeching away and then everything is black.

----------------

Namjoon occasionally finds himself thinking about you. Mostly when he accidentally slams his body into a door frame or cuts his finger. He always says he’s sorry and then kind of feels like an idiot for apologizing to no one. He also thinks about the night the two of you shared together quite often and had made Jhope send him those photos he took.

He’s happy to be working and on tour again. It’s been a fun summer. They wrapped up the Asia portion of their journey and were well into Europe now. As usual, the filming crew was in the green room as they were preparing for their second night at Wembley. The first night had been amazing. He couldn’t think of anything that made him happier than being in front of ARMY, especially when they were singing along to the songs he wrote. He smiled as he scrolled through his phone while he had his makeup touched up. 

“10 minutes, 10 minutes.” Management called out.

“Alright guys, let’s get it.” he yells through the green room.

They gather around and do their chant. The minute they step out of the green room they can hear the fans roaring and cheering along to the pre-show videos. They each go to their respective starting positions and wait to hear the signal. 

They open quick and fast with “On” and the crowd is absolutely pumped. They begin their second song and will then introduce themselves. The music for “Dionysus” begins to play and the elaborate set pieces are added throughout the song. They are almost to the end of Dionysus when RM goes down hard. He falls off the table. People are gasping, Jin runs over and signals to the staff on the side of the stage that something is very wrong. ARMY and BTS are freaking out. The visual director quickly puts a message onto the big screens to please wait a moment. The medical staff immediately takes the lift up to the main backstage area. The obvious damage is a cut on his arm that took the brunt of the fall from the table, but that gash can’t account for the fact that he’s unconscious and breathing shallowly. There is a rush of oxygen masks and people yelling. Jimin and JK start crying, the other guys are freaked out about the show and what to do next. Jin rises to the occasion by asking if they should go ahead and skip to his and Suga’s solos until there is more information. A decision is quickly made to begin the solo portions. The two of them quickly change costumes and prepare to go out. An ambulance ends up needing to be called. The guys decide that Namjoon would want the show to go on and so they do. It’s ugly and weird and they are unfocused but they manage through it. ARMY is crying for RM because they know it’s bad when he doesn’t come back on stage. They skip the ments and encore and  the guys are immediately loaded into vans and transported to the private health facility that he’s been taken to. 

The staff escorts the six of them to a room where they wait for a doctor to come and speak to them. A translator is located and brought in as well.

“What happened? Did anybody see what happened before he fell?” Hoseok asks.

“He was fine. I didn’t notice anything strange.” Tae responds. 

“They took video and showed the doctor,”Yoongi adds, having overheard the staff on the way there.

After a few minutes a doctor comes in. “Hello Gentleman. Your friend is in good hands here, and is stable.” she reassures them. 

There is a collective sigh from the group as they hear this news.

“However, we aren’t sure what’s causing this condition. There is no evidence of an aneurysm on the CT scan and the video doesn't show any seizure-like activity prior to the fall. His heart is in excellent shape as well as his lungs. At this point we are running more tests but we do need to ask you all some questions here. Please answer honestly. Does your friend use any drugs? Even maybe extra prescription medication?”

It takes a few seconds for the translator to relay the message and the guys’ reactions range from anger to disbelief. Jin is up on his feet shouting about how they should be focusing on fixing Namjoon rather than gossiping, Jimin is crying more. It’s a mess.

“Calm down guys, it’s a standard question,” Yoongi says stoically. “She’s not trying to be rude.”

“No. He drinks beer and wine sometimes. But no. He’s not on any drugs.  That’s ridiculous.” Jungkook summarizes.

“I’m sorry, it’s something I do have to ask. Is there anything else you guys could think of that might be pertinent? An old injury? Something he did earlier today or ate that he doesn’t usually?”

The guys all sat there for a minute. It was Jin who made the connection first: “His soulmate. She lives in LA.”

Tae’s hand flew to his phone to make a phone call.. The next few things happened over the course of a few hours: a phone call to Hitman Bang to get Gina’s contact information. Several phone calls to Gina. Calls from Gina to you. No answer. Phone calls to Xavier. No answer. Xavier calling Gina back hysterically sobbing that you were in a coma with a skull fracture and blood loss, Gina crying, Gina having someone else call Hitman Bang because she couldn’t stop sobbing, Hitman Bang calling Tae back.

The doctor was updated on the situation. “Ah...well that would explain it. Were the two of them very close?” she asks delicately.

It’s highly inappropriate but Yoongi just laughs, “No. They met one time .”

The doctor raised her eyebrows, “Oh. Well that’s unusual.”

“If she dies, will he die too?” Jimin asks quietly with tears in his eyes.

“No. And especially not if they weren’t close. I need to consult with some colleagues on this before we proceed. If you all want to go get some rest I think he’s going to be like this for a while. We can call you if anything changes.” the doctor informs them.

They are uneasy about leaving Namjoon there so they split up into groups of two to take turns. Jin and JK take the first shift at the care facility.

 ----------------

The doctor reaches out to several colleagues who are familiar with more case studies of soul mate injuries and what to do when there is a mirrored trauma response. She gets permission from RM’s parents (who have flown to London as well at this point) to try a reverse cryogenic procedure to restart his systems. Basically, they will bring his body down to an almost hypothermic point and slowly reheat him, encouraging cell regeneration and movement. It has been successful in similar cases, but it is a slow procedure that needs to be carefully monitored. 

Meanwhile, social media is having a field day about what could have happened. BigHit put out that story that RM has developed a severe allergic reaction to shellfish and went into anaphylaxis on the stage; he was administered an epi-pen and hospitalized but is now resting and recovering. The rest of the guys give interviews to back up this story as well. 48 hours after the incident began, RM is slowly regaining consciousness. 

“What happened? I feel like someone is opening up my skull with a pair of pliers.” he asks the doctor.

“I’m sorry but your soulmate was in a very bad car accident. She’s in a coma and you suffered a mirrored trauma response. I’m going to go let your friends and family know you’re awake.” 

“Shit.” RM says, really taking in everything that was just said to him. 

Jin is the first one in the room. “Hey. You’re finally awake. We were so worried.”

“How long have I been out for?”

“2 days.”

“Shit. What happened with the concert? Is everything ok? Oh God. What did they tell people?”

“One thing at a time.” Yoongi said as he entered the room. “We finished the show. The tour is postponed for at least a few weeks. We told people you had an allergic reaction.”

RM visibly relaxed but was still upset about the show. “Those fans have to be so disappointed.”

“Yeah, but they want you to be well. There’s thousands of flowers and cards being left at Wembley and so many messages on Weverse. We’ll make the dates up when you’re better. ARMY understands. It’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s [Y/N]’s fault.” he says briskly. 

“I mean. She got flattened by a car. So, not really.” Tae added.”She’s in an actual coma. They can;'t just reheat her.” he was surprised by how cold RM sounded talking about his soulmate.

“You’re right. I’m just...it’s a lot. My head still hurts and I guess I just want someone to blame.”

“Blame the asshole who hit her,” Yoongi adds.

“Yeah. I will. I’m so tired.”

“Here, we’ll leave so you can talk to your parents for a minute before you rest.”

“My parents flew in?” he says surprised.

“We thought you were going to die,” Jimin says seriously. “Your sister is on her way here too.”

Rm laid his head back against his pillow. This is exactly the kind of soulmate bullshit he’s been trying to avoid. And you were in a coma. He stopped for a minute and thought about how scary it must be for you but he won’t allow himself to dwell on it. He’s getting his soul mark obliterated as soon as you wake up from your coma and sign off on it. If you wake up from it. Shit. 

----

24 hours later he is discharged from the hospital and decides to book a flight to LA to see what your doctors are doing about rectifying this situation. He can’t shake the massive headache and leg pain that he’s still experiencing constantly. He cannot perform like this. Also he’s looked into the legal status of soulmark obliteration if one party is a permanently vegetative state and what counts as legal consent. Because of course he has. The guys all talk and decide that Tae will go along with him for support. Really it’s to be the voice of reason because they can’t believe that rather than going to see how you’re doing, he is going to ask you to remove your mark. 

------------

RM knows what hospital you are at because his doctor consulted with yours in order to determine the best course of treatment. You doctor was hoping that once RM woke up, you would show signs of improvement. So far though, there wasn’t a lot on your end.

Ben and Xavier dutifully took shifts staying with you in the hospital. On this particular night, Ben is taking the night shift, walking back from the vending machines. He stops when he sees two dudes who look like models standing outside your door.

“Hey. Are you guys friends with [Y/N]? You must be from the studio. I don’t think we’ve met before. I'm Ben” Ben is tired but tries to be friendly.

Tae and Namjoon turn and look to him. Ben. Ben must be her boyfriend. 

“Actually we’re from one of the bands she worked with. I’m Namjoon and this is Taehyung. You must be her boyfriend?”

“Fiance actually,” Ben politely corrects. “Just a few weeks ago actually,” he awkwardly laughs. “But then this all happened. You know the asshole didn’t even stop?” 

Tae feels extremely awkward. He can understand a small bit of what’s going on, but he knows that what’s coming will be very difficult for everyone.

“That’s awful. How is she doing?”

“Bad. Stable. But, bad. She lost a lot of blood and hit her head pretty hard. They’re surprised she didn’t have any broken bones other than her skull fracture. She dislocated her shoulder when it hit the hood. The guy was definitely speeding.” Ben runs a hand through his hair. “Sorry if you were hoping to visit.”

RM awkwardly runs his hands up and down his jeans. There is not an easy way to say this.

“So. You know that [Y/N] has a soulmark on her wrist?”

Ben stiffens ever so slightly, “I do. But it’s ok. We don’t really care about that whole destiny thing. It’s unconventional but you know…” he trails off.

RM takes a deep breath and rolls up his sleeve. “I have the matching soulmark. I was in a coma for 2 days. I need to speak to her doctor immediately.” NEXT CHAPTER

[kasieli]

A/N: Entry for DamiRae week 2020 Day 1, Handcuffed/bound together. There’s just some suggestive themes and (lots of) language (sorry, mouth of a sailor), so this is going to be a T rating. If you’re uncomfortable with depictions of drinking, I suggest you skip this one, since it’s the majority of the fic. This is kind of like a college AU, yeah? Without further ado, let’s start DamiRae week 2020, shall we? ;)

---

Raven hissed out a sigh and rolled her eyes — something she knew she would be doing plenty of times this fine evening.

If there was one thing she hated more than lukewarm tea, it would be stuck in a crowd full of empty, nameless faces, at a raging party, in a freaking house. There was absolutely nowhere to escape, let alone anywhere to breath, and there was always someone invading her personal space which, she hated to admit, was far less than the mere five feet that she deemed satisfactory. God, everyone was nearly on top of her. 

She rolled her eyes again.

This is why she despised parties.

Sure, she could have just pushed her way through the sea of wasted college students to save her throbbing ear drums. Sure, she could have just exited the stupid party and gone the hell home. But unfortunately she didn’t even have the simple luxury of using the damned trashed up puke-infested-by-now restroom – or merely shield her ears with both hands if she wanted to.

Jesus Christ, how could she have been convinced by her roommate to attend this shit show? She honestly should have known better. Fraternity parties were never ever good news, she didn’t even need to attend one to know. 

And yet here she was, standing in the middle of a jam-packed crowd, in a fraternity house, with a bottle of tequila in one hand, and a handcuff attached to another human being on the other. 

That was the quintessential fifths and cuffs party, after all. 

Bringing the bottle up to her lips, she quickly threw her head back as she took a greedy swig of tequila and winced, causing some of it to spew from the sides of the bottle and splash over her face and her admittedly too-exposed chest. That, she realized  –  alongside choosing tequila as her alcohol of choice –  was a monumental mistake.

“Woah, slow down!” her ‘date’ next to her exclaimed as he grabbed the bottle out of her hands.

“Give me that back,” she grunted, clawing at his hand. 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “At this rate you’re going to finish this in no less than 10 minutes.” Even with the Backstreet Boys bellowing at ungodly volumes around her, she could tell that his voice was half filled with disbelief and the other with amusement. Chuckling slightly, he then followed her lead and took a gulp of tequila, except he did it gracefully. How could someone taking shots straight from a handle look so goddamn perfect? The man didn’t spill a mere drop on his face, as opposed to her scenario and her still damp halter top and the globs of tequila running down her chest.

Rolling her eyes, she snatched the handle from his grip and shot a heated glance over to her ‘date’, “Can’t you tell that’s what I’m trying to do?”

He shook his head and chuckled again. 

“That’s not entirely safe, you know.”

“Yeah, thanks for that information, captain obvious,” she growled as she took yet another swig, “I’ll survive,” she managed on a cough. 

The reality of the situation, however, was that no matter how fast her and her ‘date’ chugged this bottle of tequila, it would be borderline impossible to get out of these handcuffs without being completely wasted from the sheer amount of poison they were consuming – that is, if they could finish it. God, she knew it was dangerous, too, but the overwhelming desire to get the hell home plus the fact that she was starting to feel the woozy effects of the tequila oozing around her (still) logical senses (for now) was making her reasoning...well...completely unreasonable. 

But even with this so-called ‘liquid courage’, she was dumbfounded that anyone would be doing this for fun. At least, the crowd around her seemed to be having a wildly good time. Many were attempting to impress their dates by trying to show off their awful dance moves to some pounding beat (with the bonus side effect of the handcuffed date wiggling along), and some were already starting to eat each other’s faces (no liquid courage needed there). Really, how could this be fun? It was absolute torture. 

Her date beside her exhaled a sigh that wasn’t unlike the ones she had been doling out, and it was a teensy bit comforting that at least, to her observation, he wasn’t having a jolly ol’ blast, either. 

He clicked his tongue. “Alright, I know we were both dragged here against our will, so, please, let’s not try to get alcohol poisoning.”

She frowned as he took the bottle from her hands once again.

“Alright, Mr. Romantic, I know we were both dragged here against our will, so why don’t we finish this goddamn thing and get the hell out of here,” she spat. Jeez, even she could hear herself rolling her eyes in her voice.

His eyes narrowed. “You’re really going to be calling me that right now?” he scoffed with a voice that wonderfully took the same sarcastic tone.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t talk so much in Romantic Literature, you wouldn’t have that nickname.” She whipped her head around and gave him a hard, steady glare.

He scoffed again and rolled his eyes. “Oh, of course. That.”

For the first time in those how many minutes they were handcuffed together, she hadn’t cared to look at his face, as in really look at his face. This realization whacked her like the first C she got in their shared Romantic Literature class (she was now convinced the professor had a thing against her — she was also convinced that he was the professor’s favorite, the golden student, woohoo!) and she stood there like then, stunned, absolutely immobilized and even almost offended. But she didn’t have the luxury to ponder her placement in their class since the entirety of her muzzy, muddled mind seemed to be focusing on the fact that he was ridiculously and unsettlingly gorgeous. Having looks like that wasn’t fair. She had never seen him so up close before, and while, sure, maybe she thought he was kind of cute when she first saw him sitting stoically in their Romantic Literature class, she had never been able to tell just how incredible that jawline was or that his eyes were green – and a goddamn stunning green, at that. 

“If it really offends you, I’ll stop for now,” she successfully retrieved the bottle from his grasp and did exactly what she intended to do, “Damian,” she coughed again after feeling the burn of the tequila inch down her throat.

“Thank you, Mary Wollstonecraft (1),” he countered, smirking.

She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, fuck you,” she jeered as she shoved the bottle into his chest, causing him to catch her wrist in surprise. A few splashes of the tequila sloshed out and spattered onto his shirt. The sweeping motion of her eyes painting over him was almost automatic, and she soon came to realize that the shirt she just ruined was an elegant navy blue button down with a dainty pattern of dots – something that probably wasn’t meant to mop up some tequila droplets spilled by some English nerd. The sleeves were rolled up so that his forearms were exposed, and he had just the top two buttons undone at the collar of his shirt, but it was enough to flaunt that wonderful skin underneath. He always did dress quite nicely to class, and even from the distance, no matter what he wore, hoodie, button downs, t-shirts, she could tell he had a rather...delicious body. A golden boy, he absolutely was.

Oh, god, what was this alcohol doing to her?

“If it really offends you, I’ll stop for now...Raven,” he mimicked, smirking, eyes glued to hers.

Wait...eyes glued to hers? 

He was full on staring at her, and his face was so close, when did he get so close? No, she wasn’t stupid, she knew they were handcuffed so obviously they had to be relatively close, but just moments before she swore they were next to each other –  now they were face to face. Someone must have merely bumped into him and caused him to do so, but even so, she felt her heart alongside the blaring music strike against her already aching ears.

In no help to ease her already ripening...thoughts, he brought his hand up which was still holding onto her wrist which was still holding onto the bottle to his lips and took a slow sip. She could see that he rested the bottle on his tongue –  almost licking it – before those wonderful lips of his enclosed the rest and sipped that tequila as if it was goddamn syrup. He didn’t flinch or tear his eyes away from hers — God, he had such nice eyes — then afterwards he lapped up the rest of the tequila that must have wandered onto his lips. 

Okay, that was entirely intentional, she knew, since tequila burned.

“What?” he prodded in a voice that failed to be innocent. 

“Nothing,” she huffed as she tore her hand away from his grasp. 

She didn’t need the extra warmth, not right now, since she was already starting to sweat. Not solely because it was overly stuffed in the already small fraternity house and the sheer amount of bodies heavily increased the temperature, but also because of...him. Jeez, at this point, it wasn’t only the alcohol that was making her skin burn.

Her eyes averted to the bottle as she ripped it back from his hands and took a gulp, an awfully clumsy gulp, and to her dismay, but not surprise, covered herself in tequila once again.

A small chuckle from Damian made her blink up to look at him, only to find his eyes drifting off to an area much below hers.

“Oh, look at you, you’ve made a mess,” he whispered, “now you’re all wet.”

Fuck.

He was definitely flirting with her.

How could the know-it-all boy that could out talk their professor possibly be flirting with her? And more so, doing it successfully?

She couldn’t help but glance down at her chest and watch as the pesky droplets of tequila slid down before disappearing behind the edge of her halter top. In addition, the ample lighting provided by the sad excuse of a disco ball struck her chest in a way that illuminated both the thin sheet of sweat and the beads of tequila on her chest, emphasizing what made her a woman, as opposed to a man.  

“Your top is cute,” he added nonchalantly, successfully taking the bottle back and swallowing yet another deliberate, drawn out sip. This time, he didn’t care to lick the leftover tequila from his lips and boy — what was she thinking? He was eyeing her carefully, his eyes filled with a sort of wicked curiosity as he waited, presumably, for a response. 

At this point the alcohol was hitting her — hard. It was making the world spin wildly around her and the music fuzzy and her face numb, and for all things good, bad, and in between, the only thing she could focus on right now was how hot this man in front of her was. She really, really, really wanted to know if his bare chest was just as sculpted as she hypothesized it to be.

“It’s getting hot in here, isn’t it?” He asked almost aimlessly, ‘innocently’, once again. 

He peered around them, tilting his head. It may have not been intentional on his part, but by doing so, he freed his neck from his shirt collar, giving her an ample view of that incredible jawline...and his neck...her eyes trailed down more to his collarbone, just above where his shirt scraped the edges of his skin, and she could see the small beads of sweat dripping from his hair, and she suddenly had an urge to get rid of them, wipe them off by...whatever means necessary. 

“Yeah…” she responded, in a soft, senseless voice.

“Here, help me unbutton this, would you?”

Raising their handcuffed hands, he toyed at the top most button on his shirt. She felt her cheeks flare, even though they were numb — or so she thought.

“W...What?” she stammered. 

“The top button, it’s getting hot. Help me undo it,” he stated plainly as if his request was as simple as taking out the trash. 

“Fine.” She shook her head and obeyed — why did she obey? He wasn’t bound — he was simply just handcuffed. He could have done it himself, she knew he could have done it himself, and yet here she was, almost undressing him. Almost.

Her hands were shaky against his chest and, Jesus Christ, he was sweating under that fitted navy blue button down, she could see it on the newly exposed skin on his chest and, fuck, was it hot. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe or else she’d smell that scent that trailed off of him and destroy the last barrier she had controlling herself from tasting that skin of his neck.

He shifted so that her face was almost pressed up against that bare skin and cursed — it was like he was reading her fucking mind.

“Are you alright?” Despite the music, his voice was low, gruff, and breathy, and it seemed to be the only thing she could hear now –  besides her heart which was also squirming uncomfortably in her chest, screaming at her to get the hell out of there. “You seem a little...tight.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

She turned her face away so that a thick curtain of hair could provide somewhat of a barrier between her and his bare chest and cleared her throat. Well, her throat was tight, that’s for sure. 

“I’m fine,” she lied. Definitely not fine. “I could just use a little fresh air, that’s all.” Definitely true.

And space. Lots of goddamn space. Space from him, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon now was it? After all, they still had half the bottle left to go. 

“Oh, you should have said something,” he replied as he took her hand. “Come with me.”

As if she had a choice.

Before leading her presumably outside the house, he paused momentarily by the kitchen counter and turned to her, an eyebrow raised, and a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Oh, by the way, you don’t want this anymore, do you?”

Standing beside a massive plastic tub filled with a so called ‘jungle juice’, he raised the handle of tequila over the top, tipped it over, and — 

“Oops.”

Her eyes widened. “Wait, you can’t get rid of that —”

“Shh, calm down,” he leaned in close so that his lips brushed her ear. “You wouldn’t tell on me, would you?”

He wasn’t even looking at the tequila bottle as the rest of her sweet, burning escape (now, in more ways than one) glugged into the jungle juice. She, however, was examining it as if it were some sort of masterpiece, keeping her eyes glued as the rest of the contents sputtered to a stop. 

She swallowed hard, clenching her jaw. “No…” 

He let out a soft chuckle. “Good girl.” 

Fuuuuuuuuuuck.

“See? Now we can get out of these.” He flashed a sly smile at her before she saw something else sparkle between his fingers.

Her eyes widened. Again. 

“You had the key this whole time?”

Without even giving her a semblance of a reply, he was already leading her outside, and before she knew it, they had perched onto a bench on the patio, and he was inserting the key into the lock and with a not-so-satisfying click!, she was...free.

The look he gave her next...well...it was...jeez. His hair was slightly unkempt because he had pushed it to the side, and she could see that his cheeks were almost imperceptibly tickled pink presumably by the effects of the alcohol, and now, with the hazy moonlight and twinkling patio lights, she could see those green gems he called eyes better, and they were hungry. The alcohol was gradually draining from her, she could feel it, but there was still enough in her, still enough wrapping around her senses that, without another thought, her now-free hand found his cheek and turned his face towards her, her breathing heavy even though she finally had fresh air. She never, ever wanted to kiss another human being so badly, never had such a burning desire for someone before, and here he was, a-sexy-as-hell man, basically taunting her to do so the whole goddamn night.

There was an ever so slightly widening of his eyes, before his expression went soft and a lopsided grin settled on his face once again. God, he was so beautiful.

“What do you want?” He hummed in a low voice.

She exhaled slowly, shakily, almost growling.

“You know what I want.”

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Oh? Do I, now?”

This...‘innocent’ act he was playing...he wouldn’t be able to keep it up much longer.

She rolled her eyes, biting her lip, and she saw that he was intently watching every damn second as she did so. Oh, she was absolutely 100% certain that he did know. 

She was about to reply, but before she could say anything he leaned forward and tucked her hair behind her ears, then with those wonderful lips started exploring her neck. Man, she was glad he didn’t make her ask -- or beg. His lips felt so nice...they were so soft...he was surprisingly gentle, kissing her neck tenderly as if she were a delicate piece of art. It was exactly what she wanted but not remotely enough -- all at once. 

With an abrupt call from one of his friends, he stopped immediately. His eyes rolled up to meet hers as he tousled his already messy hair. “My, my...looks like I have to go,” he whispered. But that look in his eyes, she knew what it was, and she was sure as hell he didn’t want to leave just yet.

“Stay,” she commanded, tugging at that navy blue button down. “You’re not done yet.”

He chuckled.

“I’m not a bad boy,” he replied with a smirk, twisting a strand of her hair between his fingers. He pressed his lips against her ears, and she felt the hairs on her skin rise, something like electricity surging through her skin. “If you feel the same way tomorrow then…”

This time he nibbled her ear but she couldn’t seem to decide what to focus on because his hand was also traveling up her leg and he smelled so good and he was oh so warm, and, god, was going to this party a wonderful fucking idea.

“...Here, I’ll put my number on your phone.”

Her eyes shot down in a surprise. Oh, so he was reaching for her phone, not...something else. He handed back her phone and as she glanced down at her contact list, there it was, like he promised: ‘Mr. Romantic’ — complete with a goddamn heart emoji. 

He stood up and tilted his head as a smirk tickled his lips.

“See you in class, Raven.”

--

1. Mary Wollstonecraft was a writer in the late 1700s. One of her most notable works was A Vindication of the Rights of Women, and she is regarded to be one of the earliest feminist philosophers, so Damian is teasing Raven about being a strong feminist voice in their class. Not that he’s against it, he’s just teasing her since she teased him. 

[slutforgoodliterature]

Something Wicked - Part 2

Chapter Two - Dead Poets Society 

Warnings: angst, descriptions of extreme violence, swearing

A/N: thanks for all the love on part one! I had actually finished writing this second part last week but then I accidentally pressed Control-T and the whole thing deleted so... don’t press Control-T basically 🙃

Also, this is what I imagine Natalie to look like! I always like having a visual, ignore this picture if you don’t want her to look this way I guess ahaha (Rose Salazar for anyone who’s wondering)

The drive to the police precinct is super uncomfortable. Spencer’s leg is pressed against mine the whole way, and because I’m stuck in the middle there’s nothing I can do to avoid it. He seems like he’s trying to position himself as far from me as possible as well, but the freaking spider has too-long legs that barely fit in the back of this SUV.

When we arrive, Immediately  put as much space between him and I as possible and seek out Chief Willoughby.

“Hi, Natalie Hart, public liaison for the Behavioural Analysis Unit. This is my…” I sense Spencer hovering over my shoulder, “colleague, Special Agent Spencer Reid.” I hold out my hand for the chief of police to shake.

He ignores my hand and instead scans me head to toe, staying silent.

“We’re here to assist you with the recent string of home invasions and murders?” I raise a brow at him.

Willoughby huffs. “Well, I can tell you it wasn’t my choice to get you guys to come on down here, but my second in command seems to have a lot of faith in your mind-reading mumbo jumbo.”

I drop my hand. This will be fun.

“Actually, Chief Willoughby, the job of the BAU is not to do any mind reading. We instead study cues and behaviour and use these skills in situations such as these to give insight into the people who commit these crimes. From there, we create a profile that aids your people to narrow down a suspect pool-“

Spencer is cut off by an aggressive cough from Willoughby.

“Yes okay, okay. It’s good you’re here. I got one of the officers to clear out an office for you, just that door there.” He points and we start to head over. Before I shut the door behind us, I look back at him and give him my best glare.

“I can only help as much as you let me, Chief. We want to stop this just as much as you do.” He stares back at me, eyes narrowed. “Don’t let your ego get in the way.” He nods once and turns on his heel.

“What did you say to him?” Spencer asks as I enter the office. He’s already got a map tacked to the wall and is circling specific points, I’m assuming where the murders happened.

“Does it matter?” I sigh, already at my wits end from dealing with one asshole. I don’t need another one on my back.

“We need to be courteous to these people, Natalie. If they ask us to leave because you snapped at him, then-“ He begins to berate me but I whirl around and point a finger up at him, seeing as he’s at least a head taller than me.

“Thanks for the lecture, John Lennon. Funnily enough, as a public liaison, I know how to deal with people. He needed to know we would take it seriously, and men like him never respect women who don’t stand up for themselves.” His eyes widen as I almost yell at him.

Before he can respond, the ringing of a phone breaks us out of our glaring contest. He picks it up quickly and exchanges a few words with whoever is on the other end before finally saying “We’ll be there in 10.”

He avoids my eyes and slings his back over his shoulder. “There’s been another family discovered. Same killer, Hotch wants us there ASAP.”

I nod wordlessly.

The second we arrive, journalists and TV crews flock the car.

“I’ll deal with them, meet you inside in a minute.” I wave Spencer off.

“You sure you can-“ he starts but I cut him off.

“Stop doubting me for one second and get your ass inside before I become your next unsub.” I smile sweetly at him, but he must see the rage in my eyes because he hurries away.

As the press clamours for information, I stand stoically in front of the cameras and answer their questions in the limited way I can.

“Yes, the FBI is here to assist in the investigation into the current string of murders. Yes, we are doing all we can to apprehend whoever is behind this. No, I will not be discussing the details of the case.”

One question in particular catches me off guard.

“Can you comment on the rumour he’s leaving written messages at the crime scene?” I search the crowd for whoever said that, but whoever did has faded into the crowd.

“As I said, I will not be discussing the case. Nothing more to be said at this point in time.” I turn on my heels, ignoring the yelling behind me, and disappear into the house.

I find the others in the living room and I’m confronted by blood. So much blood. The bodies of the family are strewn across the floor. I balk and cover my mouth in a fist, knowing I’d let out and embarrassing sound. I turn to face the doorway, avoiding the gore.

On the wall across from me are bright red words that send a chill down my spine.

Written in blood reads: I will drain him dry as hay

“You handled the press well. Hotch was impressed.” Rossi sneaks up behind me and I jump slightly at the sudden voice.

“Just doing my job.” I mutter. He pats me on the shoulder knowingly and turns back to the group.

I tune out their conversation as they discuss the bodies before them. I don’t need those images in my head. The bodies haphazardly covered by sheets is enough for me.

“The quote is another one from Shakespeare. Same play as the last one.” Spencer states, studying the wall.

“Yeah, Macbeth. Like Natalie said.” Emily smiled at me warmly. Spencer swallows thickly and shoots me a short, cold look.

“Exactly. Both quotes are actually from the three witches, who basically curse Macbeth for becoming so power hungry. In fact, Macbeth himself is the ‘something wicked’ that the first quote references.” He continues.

“So the unsub is attacking people he thinks are power hungry and successful?” Derek asks the room.

“I think that’s highly likely. So far, all the victims have been relatively wealthy families.” Hotch says without emotion.

“But if the unsub is targeting the man of the house, how come they’re the only ones that aren’t beaten.” Emily says. “They seem to get the most merciful death. The mothers, on the other hand…” everyone turns to look at the brutalised woman on the ground.

“In the play, Lady Macbeth is actually seen as the one controlling Macbeth and pushing him to be so ruthless.” I add quietly. Every head swivels to me.

“That’s a good point Natalie.” Hotch nods thoughtfully. Spencer even looks impressed with my observation. “The unsub might be targeting the women he believes are pushing their husbands to be successful.”

“Maybe a wife of his own left him because he didn’t achieve her standards? That could be the motive.” Derek says.

“And a stressor.” Emily sighs.

“So what, we just search up every guy in Memphis who’s recently been through a divorce?” Rossi scoffs. “That’ll take days. We need to narrow it down more.”

“Shakespeare seems to have a significant meaning to this unsub. I suggest we take that into account.” Spencer offers and I find myself nodding in agreement.

Derek pulls out a phone and dials quickly.

“You’ve reached the goddess of all things tech. How can I help you?” Garcia’s voice crackles through the speaker.

“Babygirl, we need a list of all antique book dealers and shops that sell old books. Pay special attention to those that deal a lot with Shakespeare.” Derek instructs. The sound of rapid typing then a beep follows.

“Ok, I’ve got around 78 bookstores and dealers that match that description. Anyway I can narrow that down for you?”

“Look at the men who have recently gone through divorce or have fallen on financial problems recently.” Rossi says into the phone.

More typing, then: “Ok, I’ve got three. A Joel Macpherson who runs an antique bookshop, Carl Thompson who specialises in  selling first-edition Shakespeare and to complete this triad of potential mass murders is Leopold van der Fell. His shop is on the other side of town and he runs a book club that exclusively reads Shakespeare."

“Send us the addresses please, baby girl.” Derek says and Garcia scoffs.

“Oh, yee have little faith. They’re already on your phones.” On more thank you and Hotch scans us.

“Rossi, you and Derek speak to Joel Macpherson. Reid, take Natalie and see Leopold. Emily and I will visit Carl Thompson.” Without a second word, everyone begins filing out of the room and into their respective cars.

Spencer looks at me and sighs. “Let’s get this over with.”

I roll my eyes and make my way to the car, hopping into the drivers seat.

“You sure you’re okay to drive?” Spencer asks as he gets in the passenger side.

“My god! Can I not do anything without you questioning me?” I cry, turning in my seat to face him. He stares at his hands.

“I meant that seeing that inside probably shook you up. I don’t want you driving if your head is elsewhere.”

I’m taken aback by his thoughtfulness. I swallow loudly and put the car in park, backing out of the driveway.

“I could use the distraction.” I answer after a stretch of silence.

I see him nod out of the corner of my eyes. “Okay, I get it.”

I allow myself to relax in my seat. “Thanks.” I mutter.

“But if you crash because you’re distracted, don’t say I didn’t want you.” He adds.

“There’s the asshole I know and love.” I turn the radio on and drown out his response. “Now, shut up and give me directions.”

[secret-engima]

*ahem* thinking about my Taur verse since I just finished Nocturne (which was AWESOME btw) and like-

Titus is a Moose. He is, while not as huge as an Actual Moose, still pretty freaking tall and very broad shouldered/broad-hindquartered.

Ardyn is, by comparison, a fairly small, catlike dragon who is, because he is catlike, capable of coiling up and being Comfy in places he by rights should not find at all comfy.

Ergo, everyone picture Titus, after his loyalty is his own and not a spell, after he is Amicitia by adoption and Shield by title, Titus figures out that on Quiet Days, if he wants to get any work done AND do a surprisingly good job of soothing Ardyn, all he has to do-

Is carefully plop his king on his back, where Ardyn will instinctively curl up like a dragon loaf and snooze with his head nuzzling the spot between Titus’s shoulder-blades, his hands buried in Titus’s coat pockets, and start very faintly purring.

This is also the most sure-fire way to get Ardyn to ACTUALLY SLEEP with any regularity, as the biggest trick is getting him up onto Titus’s back and frankly Ardyn likes getting rides because he’s a lazy cat-Troll in dragontaur shape.

This becomes a Very Regular Sight for the Kingsglaive and even around the Citadel, Titus calmly, slowly clopping his way to and from his office, overseeing training, talking to Regis, whatever, with a snoozing bundle of black-red scales, tacky clothes and red-violet hair (and ugly as sin hat) purring faintly on his hindquarters, sometimes even sprawled out childishly, taking up all available space on Titus’s back and letting his legs dangly freely on either side and his long tail overlapping Titus’s much stubbier one while Titus just- stares stoically at anyone who looks at him funny for taking care of his king this way or is getting rowdy enough they might wake Ardyn up (Titus is NOT putting up with this indignity just so you morons could be loud and interrupt the first solid sleep Ardyn has had this week that is longer than two hours. Yell and you will DIE).

Axis really wishes he could do this, but he isn’t big enough in frame for Nox to perch without Axis needing to lie down, but Libertus once volunteers out of curiosity and they discover that this works even faster on Nox, who loves naps and finds napping on a living presence soothing (Axis mentally resigns himself to being the immobile pillow of a pokey, scaly dragon in various sunny patches for the foreseeable future).

And because I can do literally nothing without yeeting angst at it: while this is adorable and cute and also very useful, it’s also Very Very Concerning. Because that instinct to zonk on a trusted person’s back? That’s a kit instinct, universal to all taurs. It’s a BABY instinct that is usually grown out of by the age of like- 8 at the oldest, usually younger. The only instances where traces (TRACES) of it stay are in children who were abused/neglected/orphaned and didn’t feel safe and never worked through the instinct/had a trusted adult to nap on. Even Cor had only tiny traces of it as a teenager, and those traces were slowly worked out via therapy and napping on a heated bed specially designed to mimic the shape of generic taur hindquarters and rock very minutely from side to side like a walking cycle (Regis and Titus immediately tried these for Nox and Ardyn, but both just got uneasy and skittish when they tried to sleep on them and then refused to try again, to the point of hissing softly at the mention of the fake-back beds).

The fact that these two have it so STRONGLY at their respective ages, that they don’t even seem to know it’s an instinct most people would be ashamed to admit to and instead relish in the chance to jump aboard (which is the instinct talking full strength)... it’s really worrying. And saddening. It means Ardyn never felt safe as a child and then either didn’t know to do it to Nox or got custody of Nox too late to realize his parents had never done it (and also probably didn’t even think to ask, because they’ve already learned that Ardyn’s parenting is “Well what was I doing at that age?” no matter how bad an example that is).

Of course, Nox and Ardyn actually have this instinct because they only became Dragontaurs like- 5-6 years ago and therefore are in the “age range” of that instinct (Bahamut couldn’t exactly give them new bodies without the instincts to go with- ALL of them, regardless of usual age the instinct is found in), but from the outside.... yeah.

Back to the cute because I just hurt my own feels, everyone picture Regis summoning Titus to a meeting for something, which Titus grudgingly asks if it’s necessary, to which Regis says yes it is, and so Titus sighs and hangs up and shows up five minutes later, moving slowly and purposefully with a snoozing Ardyn on his back.

Titus spends the entire meeting (possibly council?) like that, stone-faced and dignified and focused on the topic with a sleeping dragon on his back until some idiot (so probably a council meeting) gets too loud and Ardyn sleepily props his chin on Titus’s shoulder and glares for several seconds at everyone but his Shield before calming and completely shredding the loud idiot’s argument, proving that he’s EITHER been awake and ignoring the world the entire time or is just so well-versed on the topic he can literally win an argument in his (almost) sleep. Argument thoroughly won in Regis’s and Titus’s favor, Ardyn promptly stands up on Titus’s back, somehow spins a few circles without whacking his poor Shield in the head with his tail or falling off, then curls up and resumes snooze-purring like literally nothing happened.

Regis is both highly amused and kinda terrified. If Ardyn can win arguments that thoroughly and brutally when half asleep, what would he be like if he unleashed his half-brother at the council fully awake?

Now actually there’s an idea...

[grither55]

The Princess and the Peasant - (An Azula Epic) - Chapter 107 - The Advent of the Emperor

"I'll be taking my project back now. And your little friend as well." Nero stated remarked in a monstrous voice as he advanced forward while Elle shook in renewed fear.

"Princess…" Elle mumbled as she shivered while Azula pushed her behind her tall armored back.

While the ruthless princess coldly stared the smiling scientist and his squad of soldiers down.

All the while as the three noblewomen stood defensively in the blazing ruins while they never took their eyes off the approaching man.

While the bomber glanced about with an unpredictable look in her eyes.

"Your little experiment lost. We won. That means that both now belong to me." Azula spoke in a victorious voice while she glared up at Nero while he just smiled back at her.

"Be careful Azula…he is stronger than he looks." Mai stated in a quiet voice with her blades in hand while her leader stoically stared the man down.

"It is difficult to find worthy test subjects in a land where infants are not born with awakened energy. Or as you call it chi. However, I devised a scientific method to awaken it with my invention." The geneticist announced in a vastly proud voice with his malevolent eyes gazing back at the bewildered faces of Team Azula.

"Your invention?" Zoe questioned with her hazel eyes widening in revulsion while she turned to gaze back at Katsu.

While Mai and Ty Lee stared on with a look of growing horror in their eyes.

While the princess listened with her hardened golden eyes expressing little pity for the man's unfortunate test subjects.

"Y-you! You did that to Katsu!" The handmaid hollered with unnatural anger in her voice while the man smirked back at her.

All the while as her friends stood glaring the insidious researcher down.

"That scar is the mark of my core implant! Once implanted it is a device that forcibly awakens the depths of one's inner potential. The only flaw is that most of my subjects do not survive the surgery." Nero declared as he stalked forward while the group listened with horrified expressions in their eyes.

It took a great deal to render the entire team of ruthless women speechless.

And it went without saying that hearing this demented man boast of twisting what they saw as a natural aspect of birth into a twisted scientific experiment managed to do just that!

While Katsu stared on with her feral golden eyes almost seeming as if she was untroubled by the man's admission.

"The surgery is so intense that the weak are weeded out and only the strong survive. To date…I have only had four children survive the procedure. The agony is so great that even the strongest willed of individuals have a tendency to bite their own tongue out." The geneticist explained in a monstrous voice as he encircled the stunned Team Azula with a savage grin on his lips.

While his heartless crimson eyes still gazed back at Elle's young horror-filled face.

All the while as the older girls slowly but steadily recovered from their state of shock.

"Monster!" Ty Lee called out with her brown-gray eyes glaring back at the man as she watched him carefully.

"H-he's…pure evil. Just…just like Felix." Elle stammered with emotion flashing in her sensitive amber eyes while Mai also glared at Nero.

Just as Zoe took a step forward while she coldly stared back at their new enemy.

While Azula turned to glance at her warrior with golden eyes once again expressing surprise to see the woman show fury at the mention of children facing torture.

"You depraved freak. You hunt children because you lack the strength to go after those old enough to fend for themselves. I bet that's why you never came after me. Does that sound about right to you?" The captain spoke with her katana pointing back at the remorseless scientist while her hazel eyes took on a focused death glare.

While her companions listened with their eyes also never leaving the monstrosity of a researcher.

All the while as the ominous man still smiled cruelly back at them.

Before the princess let out a dismissive scoff while she unfolded her arms from her plated chest.

"So, you cut into defenseless peasant children. So what? That doesn't make you strong." The princess scoffed in a callous voice with her tyrannical eyes staring imposingly back at the smirking man.

Although inwardly she was unable to deny that it was astonishing that this man was able to create such a mighty firebender.

Even though the girl was as dull as an unpolished sword.

She was still one of the most powerful firebenders that she has ever seen.

And to think that the girl was a combustionbender on top of that!

And not a second later after that she was pulled from her thoughts when she gazed back at the researcher's injured face.

It was right then at that very moment that the entire team stared on in shock when they saw that the wounds on his face were slowly healing!

Azula's golden eyes widened ever so marginally in disbelief while she watched a visible cut vanish from Nero's smirking cheek.

All the while as he let out a sadistic cackle while he continued to stalk around the stunned group with his crimson eyes still gazing back at their surprised faces.

"H-his face…the wounds that Katsu gave him are closing up!" The handmaid exclaimed while her princess gazed on with her golden eyes agape in incredulity.

"I may not be the strongest Azula. But I am much older than you and with my enhancements I am more than capable of taking down three exhausted firebenders whose flames are burning out like a fading candle!" Nero replied in a malicious voice as his crimson eyes flashed with sadistic intent while the princess glared furiously back at him.

While the three noblewomen readied themselves for battle alongside their leader.

All the while as they gazed between the predatory researcher and his approaching soldiers.

And then right back to the bomber in uncertainty while the wild girl watched the squad move forward.

"We'll just see about that! You're a fool if you think that my flame is anywhere close to burning out!" Azula hissed in a murderous voice with her boots sliding back in the rubble while her young admirer shivered behind her.

While she glared all around her at the encroaching soldiers with her teeth ground together in a domineering snarl.

And then not even seconds later the team turned around in surprise when a blast of combustionbending went off behind them.

All the while as they now watched a soldier fly away screaming in pain after a green bomb detonated in his face.

Yet it did nothing to deter the researcher from smiling viciously as he stalked around them in an unnerving circle.

While Katsu rubbed a finger against her ear as she smiled back at the frightened soldiers.

"Blah blah blah! More big words! Like fire lady, you talk too much. Thanks for the power that you gave me but I don't want or need you anymore. I already have all that I need." Katsu spoke with a bored growl while the highborn women gazed back at her in bewilderment.

All the while as the princess cruelly rolled her eyes in poorly hidden mockery.

"Ugh! Those aren't even big words you idiot!" The princess snorted with another roll of her haughty eyes while her childhood friends cast her exasperated stares.

Only for her elegant brow to raise in interest when the bomber generated another glowing light in between her cupped palms.

All the while as Katsu began to grin wildly with her face taking on an increasingly frightening green tint.

"And that's bakudan!" The bomber yelled out as she sprang into the air with her palms alight while the flames from the fires accented her visage.

While Team Azula exchanged wary looks with each other before they sunk into combat stances.

All the while as they locked eyes with the grinning researcher while he cackled maliciously once more.

Before they watched in alarm when a dark aura flared from the man's uniformed body while he gazed back into Elle's fearful amber eyes.

And then the scientist jumped into the air with his ghostly white hair blowing in the wind before his bloodthirsty red eyes.

All while as the highborn women glared furiously back at him as they all sprung forward into battle!

Only to find themselves gazing on in surprise when the scientist unexpectedly froze in his tracks with his palm extended before the princess's taken aback face.

While the puzzled team listened to the sound of a high-pitched beeping that was coming from underneath the man's coat.

All while they watched in confusion as Nero gazed down at the source of the sound with his crimson eyes seeming to widen in apparent alarm.

While Azula still glared back at the researcher's strangely aggravated face just as she heard an explosion go off in the far-off horizon.

Just as all of Team Azula turned around to gaze up into the sky only for their eyes to widen when they saw what appeared to be two separate armies approaching from over the snow-covered landscape!

While the sounds of weapon fire continued to rumble into the air as the clashing forces fired upon one another!

All the while as Katsu landed on her feet as she gazed around with a confused look in her wild golden eyes.

While the soldiers observed the engaging armies from underneath their helmets with fear in their eyes.

And up above them Naoki stood with her right gloved hand lingering over her sheathed sword.

While her scarlet hair blew before her eyes as she halted in her attack.

Only for her brown eyes to marginally widen in recognition when she turned to stare back at the two battling military forces.

"Rieko." Naoki spoke under her breath as she stood with her clothing blowing in the northern winds.

While Team Azula stared off into the distance with weary expressions in their eyes as they shared an uneasy glance with each other.

"That…is a big army." The markswoman muttered while she warily gazed out at the approaching air force.

"Azula…this doesn't look good." The acrobat stated in a worried voice as she shivered in the winds.

While the princess turned to scowl imperiously back at the face of their new distracted enemy.

All the while as they continued to listen to the foreboding beeping that only grew louder and louder.

While Nero still stared down at the device with his red eyes conveying a sudden sense of urgency as he seemed to completely ignore his puzzled enemies.

"There is only one person I know with that energy reading! It has to be…" The geneticist exclaimed with something akin to fear in his voice while the team listened in grudging interest.

All the while as the princess and the captain's eyes now shone with curiosity as they studied the man closely.

And not a second later they watched in surprise when sparks erupted from the device hanging from the researcher's coat.

"Rieko!" Nero hissed with frustration seeping from his voice while he clenched his gloved fist before his incensed face.

While the Fire Nation women recovered as they gazed on with rising intrigue in their eyes.

As Elle's amber eyes now grew wide while she stared up into the cold skies with her golden hair sweeping about before her shivering face.

"H-Heika…Heika's coming." The handmaid stammered in an apprehensive voice while her princess gazed on with glowering golden eyes.

While the group listened in bewilderment as the soldiers began to murmur and mutter amongst each other.

"T-the God Emperor is approaching!" A soldier hollered in a frightened voice while his fellow soldiers quickly grew equally alarmed.

While the highborn women stared on with disbelieving expressions in their eyes to hear that the enigmatic woman that they have heard so much about was dubbed the 'God Emperor'.

Just before they all turned to their young friend's fretful face for an explanation.

"Elle…they call this monarch the God Emperor?" Zoe questioned in a fascinated voice as she gazed back at the younger girl's shivering face while the teenager nervously bit her lip.

"T-that's one of her titles. She earned that title because no one has been able to halt her conquest to this day." Elle explained in an anxious voice with her amber eyes peering up into the distant sky while her friends listened keenly in growing interest.

All the while as the princess's ruthless golden eyes flashed with another lip of intrigue as a cold wind blew through her hair.

"Really? Is that so? How unfortunate for her then. Because I look forward to showing her the power of a true conqueror." Azula spoke with a proud smirk forming on her regal lips while she gazed ahead with domineering golden eyes.

All while Ty Lee and Mai shared an uncertain look as they shivered in the chilling artic winds.

Only for her merciless eyes to spark with a trace of renewed fury when the researcher let out a derisive scoff.

Before her frigid eyes glared on in slight surprise when the scientist turned away to glare up into the horizon.

"A-and that's not all Azula-sama. They also call her the world's strongest aberrant." The handmaid admitted in an unusually serious voice while a profound look of shook over took her four friend's eyes.

And that was all it took for Team Azula to stare back at their young friend with stunned expression in their widened eyes.

And even the bomber tilted her head with a look of childish interest flashing before her golden eyes.

"The world's strongest Elle?" Ty Lee inquired in an astonished voice while her little sister quickly nodded her blonde head.

"That's so oneesan. As in widely considered to be the undisputed most powerful fighter on the planet." Elle stated with an uncharacteristic graveness in her voice while the older girls stared on in awe.

All the while as the princess and her captain now stared on with an unmistakably competitive gleam in their eyes.

"How dare she intercede in my research! She must seek these firebenders as Apostle recruits. She has some gall to think that every resource in the world belongs to her!" The geneticist ranted with anger seeping from his voice while he gripped a gloved fist at his hip.

While the firebenders in question glared back at him for daring to state that they were resources.

"Apostle recruits?" The captain pondered in a searching voice as she watched with guarded hazel eyes while the soldiers were distracted by the arrival of the approaching armada.

"The Apostles. The emperor is creating an elite fighting force composed of only the world's strongest warriors." Nero answered with a snap while his crimson eyes turned to eye the astonished group while another cold wind swept through the air.

All the while as the Fire Nation women stared on with piqued expressions in their eyes.

While Elle's innocent eyes flickered with recognition as she recalled the words that Rieko said in the recording that she listened to back on the island.

 I will show you how to get rid of the rot…and together with my Apostles. We will build a better world.

"She…she mentioned the Apostles in the recording that she left me." Elle muttered in a mousy voice while she stood behind her princess's tall back.

All the while as Azula's cold eyes gazed on with noticeable captivation in her eyes as she mulled over her young servants' words.

'An elite fighting force comprised of only the strongest benders…' The princess thought with her callous eyes taking on a calculating stare.

Only for her tyrannical eyes to narrow once more when she saw Nero turn to regard her girlfriend with a sadistic gaze.

And then seconds later the entirety of Team Azula tensed up while they never once took their eyes off the seemingly inhuman man as he started to stalk towards them once more.

While they held their ground with the small girl shivering in anxiety behind them.

All the while as each of the four older girls glared at the monstrous man while his hesitant soldiers flanked him from behind.

"But that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you are coming back with me." The geneticist commented in a malicious voice as the teenager's eyes flickered with fear.

While the highborn women glared daggers back at him.

"No, she isn't." Mai stated in a determined voice with her cold knives in her tightened fists while her companions sunk into combat stances.

While Azula now stared back at Nero with terrifyingly imposing golden eyes that made the soldiers hesitate in their steps.

"You're scared of Heika…aren't you?" The handmaid inquired with a sudden spark of bravery in her voice.

While the four highborn women now turned to their petite friend in surprise by the unexpected taunt.

All the while as the researcher now halted in his tracks with a simply furious glower now adorning his pale complexion.

"What did you just say to me brat?" Nero responded with venom in his voice while his crimson eyes honed in on the girl's shivering face.

While the teenager tried her hardest to refrain from showing any sign of fear.

"It's just as I said. You seemed so content to take your time toying around with us and ever since you noticed that she is approaching all of the sudden you are in such a hurry to leave." Elle quipped with a nervous expression on her uncertain face while her friends stood quietly studying the now enraged man closely.

While Nero took another menacing stop forward as he stared the small girl down.

All the while as the princess and her subordinates cast cold glared back at him and his soldiers.

While Azula listened attentively to her young servant's words while her frigid eyes never left the man's outraged face.

All while she held her burning fists at her hips with her lips entrenched in a ferocious scowl.

"If Rieko is the strongest where does that put you? I'm guessing that you aren't number two or three judging by that underhanded stunt that you pulled on Ty Lee." The handmaid spoke in an uncharacteristically firm voice while she met the scientist's infuriated gaze.

While the older girls stood speechless by her show of bravery.

All the while as the wild bomber stood on the sidelines with her golden eyes gazing back at the younger girl in surprise.

"Strong enough to rip your and your exhausted friends apart! You little whelp!" The geneticist hissed in a monstrous voice with his evil eyes glaring into the teenager's wavering amber eyes.

Only for the princess and the captain to take a warning step forward while they glared back at his enraged countenance.

All the while as the teenager clutched the straps of her backpack with another flash of bravery overcoming her eyes.

"I bet if you tried to use that stun gun on Heika she would break everyone bone in your freakish body! Am I wrong or am I right?!" Elle shouted with her voice carrying over the cold winds while Team Azula stood in a taken aback silence in front of her.

While Nero stood with his teeth clenched together while he trembled in unfathomable rage.

All the while as it became apparent to each of the Fire Nation women that the man would have long since attacked the girl if they weren't present to protect her.

"You are not Rieko! And you do not possess the power of Subzero! You have no comprehension of the agony that is in store for you if you continue to run your little mouth! I'll show you that your brother's games are but a trifle compared to the torment of my laboratory!" Nero snarled as he stalked ahead with his malevolent crimson staring mercilessly back into the girl's shaken eyes.

While the faces of the three noblewomen contorted into that of immeasurable disgust over the horrific threat.

All the while as the mighty princess held out two fingers with lightning beginning to generate at her fingertips.

While the soldiers hesitated in fright as they lingered beside their deranged leader.

'The power of Subzero….' Azula thought with her elegant brows furrowing in contemplation.

While she glared Nero down with her icy eyes studying her new enemy closely.

While it was clear that the man was by no means a normal human.

It was already apparent that this Rieko was an even greater force to be reckoned with.

Only to find herself turning back to her girlfriend once more with her golden eyes flickering in astonishment when the girl's energy faintly sparked to life at her clenched fists.

All the while as the team stood gaping on with expressions of pride in their eyes.

"Well what are you waiting for then! Come and get us!" The handmaid called out as she shook a small fist in the air while her friends gazed at her in bewilderment.

While Nero's red eyes brimmed with murderous wrath as he stood glaring back at the emboldened girl.

All the while as the acrobat placed a supportive hand on the teenager's shivering shoulder.

"You go Elle! You want us! Here we are!" The acrobat yelled out with her braided hair blowing behind her.

"My sentiments exactly." Zoe stated in a stony voice with her ruthless hazel eyes glaring at the scientist.

"Mine as well." The markswoman agreed in a scarily protective voice while she stood eying the man's snarling face.

All the while as the princess's lightning crackled before her terrifyingly possessive face.

While her golden eyes took on a horrifying death glare that made the researcher hesitate to come any closer.

"Yes, please do. I look forward to seeing how your enhancements handle my lightningbending!" The princess bellowed in a voice that was as frigid as the winds while her eyes narrowed into bloodthirsty slits.

Just before the entire team turned around when another loud combustion blast made their ears ring once more.

While Elle peered back at the bomber with a moved expression in her eyes to see Katsu's fists glowing brightly.

All the while as the bomber stood with her brown hair blowing wildly about as the feral girl stared back at the intimidated soldiers.

And right into the seething face of the scientist as he glared back into her rebellious eyes.

"I am free now! Free to pop your head like a grape and make you go boom!" Katsu announced in a delightful voice with her palms glowing before her face as wicked grin pulled upon her lips.

While the researcher sneered back at her with a cruel look in his eyes.

All the while as he gazed from one target to another before he turned back to Elle's defiant face.

Before he started to take another step closer as he raised a threatening hand in the air while the Fire Nation women glared a hole through his skull.

"Fool! But you won't survive long enough to gloat about it! I am going to cut you apart one atom at a…." The geneticist threatened only to trail off with his crimson eyes when he felt an unspeakable chill travel down his spine.

And just like that he felt a titanic aura wash over him while he turned to peer over his shoulder.

Only for his eyes to grow even wider in pale realization when he saw a war plane approaching over the distant sky.

While the highborn women and their young friend froze up as well as they turned to gaze in the direction of the plane.

All the while as the older girls stared on in awe over the sheer difference in architecture in comparison to Fire Nation military machinery!

While Elle's amber eyes grew as wide as can be when she realized that she was able to sense a tremendous source of energy from aboard the plane.

It was just like before when she was able to sense the location of the sage.

But this…was a much bigger power than that of Mava!

There was no doubting that it could only be Rieko!

"I-I can sense Heika…she is on that plane." Elle stuttered in a meeker voice while her friends gazed in the direction of the plane in fascination.

"You can sense her Elle?" Ty Lee questioned in an unnerved voice once more while the teenager numbly nodded her head.

While Azula glared in the distance with her brows furrowing in thoughtfulness.

It was just like when the girl located the old hag.

'Elle can sense the location of powerful chi users before they arrive?' Azula thought with her lips while a look of curiosity came over her cold eyes.

Only to find herself turning to Nero in surprise to see that the man was raising his hand in the air for his soldiers to desist.

And that was all it took for the team to watch with disbelief in their eyes as the evil researcher shook his head in aggravation.

"I will not be baited into wasting anymore of my time quarreling with a diminutive teenager. Let's go." Nero snapped with a scowl as he turned away while the older girls stared at him in astonishment.

"I-I'm not diminutive. I'm just a late bloomer…" The handmaid mumbled in an adorable voice as her shoulders slumped while the acrobat fondly patted her shoulder.

While her friends glanced at her with momentarily humored looks in their eyes before they turned to glare after the retreating man.

"That's it then? You're leaving? How pathetic." The princess sneered as she placed a fist on her womanly hip while she stared coldly at the researcher's back.

"I have no more time to spend on lesser threats. The emperor demands my full attention. Besides…" The geneticist stated in a cruel voice as he briefly paused in his step while the princess and the captain stared on with their eyes boiling in offense.

'Lesser threat! He dares call me a lesser threat!' Azula thought with absolute rage taking over her tyrannical eyes while she gritted her teeth in her fury.

Although as much as it enraged her to admit it.

She knew well enough that even the strongest firebender would be rendered weak the very moment that these fires died out.

And then in that very instant the seemingly inhuman man turned to smirk deviously back at the guarded faces of the group.

All the while as his predatory eyes passed over from fighter to another before his unnerving gaze finally settled on the trembling Elle once more.

"Time means nothing to me. I can wait to dissect you girls another day. Be it one year…two…five or even ten. If one of you should prove optimal for my purposes…I will return for you." Nero spoke in a sadistic voice as he gazed back at the stunned faces of the group.

And it was all Ty Lee and Mai could do to shudder with returning fear traveling down their spines.

'Dissect…by Agni what a beast! He really is serious about experimenting on benders!' Mai thought with her tawny eyes taking on a revolted countenance.

While Azula and Zoe now glared back at him even more murderously than before as they clutched at their weapons.

All the while as they shared a calculating look through the corner of their eyes.

"What makes you think that we are just going to let you leave?" The captain demanded in a glacial voice with her hazel eyes glaring daggers back at the smirking man.

"What choice do you have?" The geneticist chuckled as he stood gazing back at the two furious firebenders.

While Zoe and Azula warily watched the two armies continue to clash in the distance.

All the while as one side rapidly began to dwindle as many burning aircraft plummeted from the skies.

And it began to become increasingly apparent which side was going to come out on top.

"In any event…you and I will be meeting each other again in the future Elle Turner." The geneticist purred with his crimson eyes staring back at the young girl's quivering face while the older girls stared furiously back at him.

"M-meeting again?" Elle squeaked as she swallowed with her sensitive eyes staring after the smiling man.

While Azula stood at the front with her savage gaze never leaving the man's deviously grinning face.

"One day you will come to me in search of knowledge that only I can give." Nero commented in a purposefully ambiguous voice before he turned to walk away.

All the while as Elle stood there with a baffled look on her young face while her friends stared after the man's back with boundless distrust in their eyes.

"C-come to him? Why would I come to him?" The handmaid asked in a confused voice while the princess cast a monstrous glare after the scientist's retreating back.

While the four Fire Nation women stared after the man with looks of profound violence in their eyes.

And it was clear from their gazes alone that if not for the frigid arctic climate that they would fight until they were certain that the man was destroyed.

"What else for but to find the Primordial One." The geneticist spoke over the roaring winds while the team stared after him with speechless expressions on their faces.

All the while as Elle's innocent eyes grew wide in returning fear at the mere mention of the mysterious creature's name.

While the older females stared after Nero with disbelief in their widened eyes as they realized that the man knew more than they thought.

Just as Azula pursed her lips into a frightening scowl before she imposingly stomped her boot into the smoldering rubble.

"Come near the girl again and I will personally torture you in a dark cell for the rest of your days!" The princess roared much like a raging dragon while the teenager shook in appreciation.

All the while as Nero just chuckled while he sauntered away with his soldiers through the waning inferno.

Until they soon faded from sight and the unsettled team could see them no more.

"Azula-sama…" Elle whispered as she held a hand over her heart while a shy smile returned to her lips.

While the older woman turned to scowl down at her with her arms folded imposingly over her armored chest.

All the while as she found her fears swiftly fading away under the beautiful woman's dominating stare.

And soon enough her heart began to flutter pleasantly once again while the princess snorted a puff of fire from her angered nostrils.

All the while as the princess glared through the corner of her eye at the army approaching over snow-capped horizon.

"We should get going princess." Zoe stated with a trace of unusual urgency in her stony voice while Azula scowled deeply in agreement.

"Zoe's right. I think we really need to hurry." Mai commented in a wary voice as she shivered in her robes.

While her cold tawny eyes still glared after where Nero had vanished.

All the while as she wondered what the man had meant.

And how he knew about this supposed creature to begin with.

"That…sounds like a good idea." Ty Lee muttered as she held her arms over her chest while she too glared after the vanished man.

Before Azula just shrugged her plated shoulders while she briefly regarded the bomber whose face now looked like that of a disappointed child.

"Fine. We're finished here for the time being anyhow." Azula spoke in a dignified voice as she removed the map from her pocket while she began to walk through the encampment.

While her subordinates moved to follow after her.

All the while as Elle turned to gaze back at Katsu's lost face while the combustionbender's eyes adopted a bummed-out gaze.

"So…. does that mean that we're not going to play again?" The bomber pondered in a clueless voice with her disheveled hair blowing in the wind behind her.

While the highborn women stopped to gaze back at her and their lingering young friend.

All while the princess and the captain stared over their shoulders at the girl in surprise that the girl was already craving another round.

"Come back with me Katsu, and serve me in my royal army. And I will play with you as much as you like, all you have to do is obey my every command." The princess purred with a smirk returning to her lovely lips while she gazed back at the bomber's excited face.

While her two childhood friends shuddered in pity for the wild girl's wellbeing.

All the while as the captain also smirked back at the teenager's oddly eager face as the girl gazed from one face to another.

Before Katsu turned back to Elle while the small girl smiled up at the much taller princess's confidently smirking visage.

While Elle's smile grew even wider as she gazed back at Katsu's excited face.

Only for all five members of Team Azula to gaze on in surprise when a scarlet blur dropped down in front of the bomber.

And that was it that was required for Azula's smirk to transform into a furious glower once more.

The redhead landed with her right arm held out in front of the bomber while she now gazed back at the princess's already scowling face.

While Elle once again felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach as she gazed back into Naoki's machinelike brown eyes.

"That is not going to happen." Naoki spoke in a nearly mechanical voice with her brown eyes gazing back at the taken aback group.

"Naoki!" Katsu exclaimed with recognition in her voice while Naoki gazed back at the group.

"It's time to go Elle." The assassin remarked in an unfeeling voice while the princess golden eyes now grew wide in boiling rage.

While the three noblewomen stared back at the girl with hardened looks in her eyes.

Only to turn to their young friend when they saw the petite girl push her way past them

"C-come friends. We need to get out of here before Rieko shows up." The handmaid stated in a shaken voice as she quickly walked away while her friends immediately moved to follow after her.

All the while as she felt the redhead's haunting gaze continue to pierce her back.

And not to mention once again the saddened stare of the bomber.

"Elle! Wait! Come back!" The bomber cried out in a distraught voice while the redhead coldly stared after the blonde's retreating back.

While the princess stared over her armored shoulder with intimidating golden eyes.

All the while her murderous gaze conveyed a possessive gleam that served a silent promise of the pain that was to come if the girl tried to take her companion.

Before she turned to stomp through the rubble with her fists clenched at her hips while she kept a close watch on her young girlfriend through the corner of her ruthless eye.

While the three nobles also gazed warningly over their shoulders at the face of the emotionless prodigy.

"Sumimasen Katsu." Elle mumbled with sadness in her voice as she shivered underneath her coat while her big sisters gazed at her in concern.

"Get back here Elle." Naoki ordered in a merciless voice with her icy gaze watching while the small girl padded off.

While as the princess glared back at her with a violently narrowed glare.

All the while as each of the four highborn women each walked on a different side of their sensitive friend to ward off any attacks that the redhead may make.

Until the dainty blonde disappeared in the smoking flames with her four aristocratic friends vanishing alongside her.

All while Katsu gazed on with an uncertain expression in her vibrant golden eyes.

And Naoki stared into the direction that the blonde went with a strikingly chilling look in her eyes.

Mere minutes later…

A painful wind blew through the burning military encampment while the exhausted girls made their way through the increasingly blinding landscape.

All the while as they shielded their faces behind their elbows.

And soon enough even the ruthless princess and the stoic captain were starting to shiver.

"I…I think I see what looks to be a garage up ahead! There has to be vehicles inside! There is no other way that Felix would have been able to escape this place on his own!" The handmaid exclaimed over the winds as she stumbled with her teeth chattering violently.

And just before she hit the ground she gasped when two mighty womanly arms seized a hold of her!

While she fell forward with her face pressed into the underside of her princess's armored chest.

All the while as she felt the older female wrap what remained of her coat over her shivering body.

And then the princess began to make her way through the cold with the smaller girl carefully cradled against her breasts.

While Azula glared ahead with viciously protective golden eyes as she felt the teenager cling to her body.

All the lips as her unforgiving lips pursed into an imposing scowl.

While the three noblewomen stared over their shoulders at their Crown Princess with stunned expressions in their eyes.

But they knew better than to comment on their leader's show of romantic affections.

Most definitely not when they knew that the young girl could die if she were to succumb to hypothermia.

And soon after that the sound of a collapsing door being broken down resonated into the air.

All the while as the five increasingly frantic girls gazed into a progressively burning military garage to see many vehicles caught afire.

Only for their gazes to be drawn to one in the corner that looked as if it had not yet joined the blaze!

"Over there!" The captain bellowed as she bent the flames out of their path while her fellow nobles rushed after her.

"Will that one do Elle?!" Azula shouted in a commanding voice as Elle surveyed the military truck while she stormed towards it.

"I-I think so. We just need to find a way to break the door lock." Elle answered as she held onto her girlfriend while the statuesque woman advanced toward the armored truck.

And not a second after that the sound of a padlock being cut in half resounded into the air.

All the while as the rest of the team watched the captain break the lock in half with one swing of her katana.

While the four Fire Nation women shared a quick glance as they each made their way to hop into the foreign vehicle.

While Azula moved to seat herself in the driver's seat as she gazed down at the controls with amazed golden eyes.

And Elle scrambled in to sit down beside her.

As Zoe sat down on the passenger seat before she closed her door behind her while Mai and Ty Lee did the same as they quickly seated themselves in the back.

All the while as the three noblewomen now also gazed at the controls in wonderment.

"How do we operate this thing Elle?" The markswoman questioned from the back with her fascinated tawny eyes still glancing the interior of the military truck over.

"I'll give it a try! Move Azula-sama!" The handmaid ordered as she pushed her annoyed princess aside.

While Azula's golden eyes flickered with displeasure over being given an order by her own serving girl.

All the while as the nobles watched from their seats in shared amusement.

"I suggest you remember that you are our servant Elle! Not the other way around!" The princess huffed as she sat in the middle seat with a scowl on her lips.

Only to glare over her through when she heard her subordinates snicker behind her.

"It would seem as if you have been dethroned princess." Zoe commented with mirth in her voice while Azula turned to cast her a venomous glare.

"Since you four haven't familiarized yourselves with nonbending vehicles yet…it's better if I operate it." Elle explained in a rushed voice as she hurriedly turned the ignition switch.

While the sound of the engine cranking resonated into the air.

And not even seconds later the large truck starting up while the motor rumbled into the awestruck ears of the four highborn women.

Just as the teenager flipped another switch to turn the heat on while they watched in fascination as the windows began to clear up.

"Amazing Elle! And you say that it isn't powered by bending right?" The acrobat conversed from the backseat while her little sister nodded her head.

"That's right oneesan! No bending!" The handmaid answered as she hit the gas pedal.

While the powerful princess surveyed the vehicle with a hidden impressed gleam in her cold golden eyes.

"I wasn't aware that you had mechanical expertise Elle." Azula remarked with her arms folded over her breasts while she observed in fascination as the truck began to move.

All the while as her ruthless eyes kept a close watch out through the window as the two armies engaged in the distance.

While the three noblewomen watched with a mutual expression of intrigue in their eyes when the truck pulled out of the burning garage with its rumbling motor still emanating into their ears.

"Oh! I don't! I have never done this before!" Elle confessed in an adorable voice while her four friends fell back into their seats in comical disbelief.

"What do you mean you have never done this before?" The princess inquired with an aggravated edge to her voice just before she was flung back in her seat when the girl accelerated the truck.

While her eyes began to twitch when the large truck began to swerve with poor control throughout the blazing encampment.

"I mean that I have never driven before! This is my first time driving Azula-sama!" The handmaid cried out with excitement in her voice while she steered the truck.

All the while as the four older girls sat gazing at their young friend with comically uncertain looks in their eyes.

"You mean to tell me that you have never operated a machine like this prior to today?" The princess demanded in a moody voice while she glared down at her companion's grudgingly adorable smiling face.

"No, I haven't Azula-sama! But I have played Mario Kart! Which is close enough to the real thing!" Elle chirped as she bit her lip while her friends gazed on comically in their seats.

And Azula now held her hand over her annoyed forehead as she groaned under her breath.

"Elle. Give me the controls." Azula commanded with her strict eyes gazing on in irritation while the girl made a poor effort to steer the truck.

"B-but I want to drive Azula-sama." The blonde-haired protested in a timid voice only to let out a lovable squeak when the princess shoved her aside with her hip.

"I said move peasant!" The princess barked as she seated herself with her hands on the wheel while the teenager sunk into a pout alongside her.

"Azula. You don't have to be so harsh on the poor girl." Ty Lee chided in a sisterly voice while Azula rolled her golden eyes from the front seat.

And Mai just let out an exasperated sigh as she sunk back in her seat.

And Zoe for her part just gazed on with her usual stoic expression in her hazel eyes.

"I-I was really hoping that I would get a chance to learn to drive for real…" Elle mumbled while Azula rolled her eyes once more.

"I'm sure you'll get other chances to learn kid." Mai assured with her arms folded over her chest while Elle perked up with a smile on her lips.

Just as the princess withdrew the map once more while she gazed down at it with icy golden eyes.

While the captain studied it from where she sat on the other side of the teenager's shoulder.

All the while as the princess quickly took to steering the armored truck away from the blazing encampment.

"It appears that the gateway is that way princess." The captain stated as she pointed at the map while her ruler scowled in understanding.

"I see that Zoe." Azula spoke in a cold voice with her golden eyes staring down at the various controls in still present fascination.

While she maneuvered the truck towards the hills along a previously driven path.

All the while as the vehicle effortlessly plowed through the snow.

While tall flames from burning underground gas lines burned for as far as their eyes could see.

And in the far distance they could see a faint familiar light emanated over the frozen landscape.

'That has to be the gateway.' The princess thought with her regal brows furrowing as she relaxed in her seat.

Just before she gazed over her shoulder when she heard the sound of distant gunfire explode in the skies behind her.

While the three noblewomen and their young friend quickly followed suit as they gazed over their shoulders in worry.

Just as more burning planes crashed into the snowy landscape.

While they watched as the apparent larger force now completely overwhelmed the smaller force.

All the while as they warily listened to explosion after explosion pepper the distant skies.

"It's a shame that we can't stick around to fight with this Rieko. It sounds like she would make for a worthy opponent." Zoe remarked as she leaned against the window while Azula smirked in agreement.

While Mai and Ty Lee stared on with uncertain looks in their worried eyes.

"Yes, I suppose it is. I must admit that I am curious to see if she lives up to her reputation." Azula commented with a confident smile on her crimson lips.

While she savored the warmth of the heat vents that served to allow her muscles to recover from such a long time in such a frigid climate.

Only for her golden eyes to turn to her young girlfriend in annoyance when a look of fear overcome the girl's face once more.

While the others gazed on in concern at their little sister's apprehensive expression.

"T-trust me friends. You don't want to face her in the Greenland climate. It would be suicide. If you must face her. Force her to come through to the other side. But no matter what do not do it here." The handmaid advised in a meek voice while her highborn friends listened closely.

"Elle makes a good point. If this woman has power over the cold. Then this is the worst place for a firebender to fight her." The markswoman stated in a monotone voice while the acrobat nodded beside her.

While the two firebenders just gazed on with prideful looks in their eyes.

But they both knew that the girl spoke the truth.

And not a moment after that the royal woman was snapped out of her musings of war when she felt a pair of lips kiss her on the cheek.

While the princess turned in surprise to find herself gazing back in her young girlfriend's bashfully retreating face.

All the while as she swiftly fought to squash the sliver of a blush that was forming on her regal cheeks.

While the acrobat now let out a gush from where she sat in the backseat.

"A-arigatou gozaimasu Azula-sama…for warming me up." Elle stammered as she leaned into Azula's much taller body while the woman released a haughty scoff.

"Aww! Now that is pink Azula." The acrobat spoke with a smile on her lips while the princess rolled her eyes.

"Don't overthink it peasant. The only reason I carried your pitiful body is because the last thing I need is you having one of your little breathing spasms in the snow." The princess snorted in a tone of feigned cruelty while a tight scowl graced her lips.

All the while as the teenager still smiled sweetly as she sat with her face now resting in the older female's ceremonial armor.

While the three noblewomen stared on with unconvinced looks in their eyes.

"You are such a natural romantic Azula." Mai remarked with a snort while Ty Lee still grinned from where she sat beside her.

"I understand princess." The handmaid responded in a soft voice as she hugged the older female's belly while her princess glared through the windshield.

"This weakness will not stand Elle. I am going to train you to become stronger." Azula announced in a tone of absolute authority with her ruthless eyes gazing ahead.

While she gazed around in interest as she took in the vast mountains that began to become visible upon the horizon.

All the while as the fires from the broken gas pipes still blazed all around her.

"Yes, Azula-sama." Elle agreed in a devoted voice as she held onto Azula while her girlfriend gazed down at her with cold golden eyes.

But the aloof princess did not push her away.

And so, she allowed herself to momentarily push her worries aside.

And simply take solace in the warmth that was coming off her caretaker's body.

And with that the military truck drove across the snowy pathway and towards the faint light of the gateway that served to guide their way.

Meanwhile.

Naoki stood staring into the distance with an utterly emotionless gaze while resisted the urge to curse the pacifistic girl.

"Elle!" Katsu called out as she broke out into a run while the redhead watched her run off with machinelike brown eyes.

While the prodigy held her scarf over her mouth as she moved to follow as she trudged through the rubble.

Only to find herself pausing in her footsteps when she heard the sound of footsteps behind her.

All the while as she turned to gaze over her shoulder with expressionless brown eyes to find herself gazing back at a woman in a brown uniform.

"Greetings Naoki. I am Communications Commander Victoria Cromwell of Lord Rieko's battalion. I have been sent to speak with you by the Lord herself." Victoria greeted in a businesslike voice with a smile on her lips while the teenager briefly stared back at her.

While gun shots echoed throughout the air as the emperor's soldiers fired upon what the overwhelmed enemy army.

"Whatever you have to say. I am not interested." Naoki responded in a curt voice as she began to walk away while the woman smiled back at her.

"Lord Rieko would like to offer you a position in the Apostles as her student." The communications commander announced in a proud voice with her hair swaying in the wind behind her.

While the redhead's brown eyes flashed with slight surprise to hear that the emperor was offering to train her.

"I already told her that I had no interest in joining her group." The assassin spoke in a frigid voice as she continued to walk away while the woman briefly lost her smile.

But the officer was quick to compose herself.

"What if I told you that we could help you find Sayomi Saito? And Strados as well?" Victoria questioned in a smooth voice with her smile returning to her lips.

Before she watched in delight when the supersoldier paused in her step.

While Naoki now gazed on with her brown eyes marginally widening in recognition.

All the while as her gloved fists hung at her hips as she stood unmoving in the cold air.

Just as she turned to gaze back at the woman's smiling face.

"I have no need for your group. I am more than capable of finding my targets on my own accord. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important matters to attend to." Naoki stated in a dismissive voice as she turned away once more while she swiftly strode through the snow.

All the while as the officer still gazed after her with a small smile on her lips.

"Of course." The communications commander replied in a cool voice as she held her head high with a smirk adorning her lips.

And then not even seconds later the girl vanished in a flicker of a red blur.

While she smiled all the while.

All the while as the two forces continued to savagely engage one another.

And on the other side of the camp…

Tanks and armored trucks were gathered in the snow while several helmet-covered soldiers were seen pulling a man from the burning rubble.

While they now gazed down in disbelief to see that their commander had seared off the burning stump that used to be his right hand.

All the while as Reynolds knelt with his unimaginably enraged blue eyes glaring down at his now deformed arm.

Before he slammed his furious stump into the pile of debris while his lips shook in a vengeful snarl.

"They will pay for this! All of them! Get them all! But above all! Get that little shit Number Three! I want that monster dead!" Reynolds roared in a livid voice as he leaped to his feet in a frenzy while his soldiers hurriedly nodded in terror.

While he stormed his way towards an armored truck as he ground his teeth together in his rage.

All the while as he listened to the sound of the emperor's rapidly advancing army.

'I may have lost my right hand! But I will not be defeated! My plan will succeed! As of this moment I may be on the losing side of this war! But there is still time for me to change sides! I will recapture them all! Then I will offer them to Lord Rieko as a show of my loyalty just as I planned to do right from the start! And then I will negotiate a position of high rank at her side!' The colonel thought with the veins in his eyes almost bulging out in his fury while he jumped onto the back of the armored truck.

While his blue eyes now had grown wide in an expression of borderline insanity as he pulled himself up with his only remaining hand.

And then he leaped in with his soldiers jumping in right after him.

And soon after that the heavily armored vehicles rolled into the snow while the sounds of continuous fire rumbled into the air as the battle for the gateway raged on.

While many military vehicles from the opposing army were now rolling into the encampment.

Just before they came to a stop while a lone woman now stood in front of them with her arms held up over her head in a show of surrender.

"Don't shoot! I surrender!" Cynthia shouted in a frantic voice while she stood motionless as soldiers leaped out to apprehend her.

And not long after that the emperor's soldiers surrounded her.

While the former aide now walked silently with her hands behind her back.

All the while as she continued to listen to the sounds of gunfire as those that refused to surrender screamed as they were killed in retaliation.

Elsewhere.

The stolen military truck now sat parked at the base of a looming mountain of ice.

All the while as frigid winds swept through the mouth of the ice cavern.

While the light of the portal cast a blue glow upon the walls of the cavern as Team Azula made their inside together.

Only to find themselves freezing in their steps as they gazed up at the shining portal in disbelief.

Standing at the top of the hallowed stone steps was none other than Naoki!

Naoki now gazed back down at the stunned group with an utterly heartless expression in her emotionless brown eyes.

Before her gaze settled on Elle's stunned face while the small blonde shook beside her now enraged friends.

While Azula took a step forward in front of the younger girl.

All the while as she stared back up at the redhead as her golden eyes transformed into an unbelievably wrathful death stare.

While Zoe hardened her hazel eyes in a stare of her own as she stepped up beside her princess.

While Mai and Ty Lee took on defensive stances on each side of their shocked little sister.

All the while as Naoki still gazed back down at them with a chilling gaze.

And with that all four Fire Nation women once again steeled themselves for yet another battle.

And back at the ruins of the destroyed fortress.

Nero stood frozen in the snow with his crimson eyes widening as he stared up at the person gazing down at him from atop an overlooking hill.

While the few soldiers that remained began to back away in pure unadulterated terror.

All the while as Rieko gazed back down at them with her hair swaying in an elegant pony tail behind her.

While the emperor now stood head to toe in a black plated combat armor.

All while her blue eyes gleamed with a predatory stare as she surveyed her cornered prey.

While the inhuman researcher took an intimidated step backwards as an expression of fear flashed before his monstrous eyes.

All the while as the emperor's lips curved into a cruel smile.

"Lord Rieko." Nero spoke at long last as he mustered up his usual smile in an attempt to disguise his fear while the tyrannical woman gazed down at him.

"Nero. What an unexpected surprise meeting you here." Rieko remarked in a voice of limitless confidence with a domineering smirk pulling onto her lips.

While she let out a soft chuckle that betrayed her sadistic intent as she took great delight in the scientist's fear.

And that was all it took for the cruel researcher to know that this encounter would not end well for him.

[trensu]

Episode 19: The One with the Return of the Gay Yearning Death Grip, Now with More Sword!

After enduring EXTREME EMOTIONAL TRAUMA for the last THREE (3) EPISODES IN A ROW, we finally finally get an episode that has some wangxiantics again!!

I mean, they’re still gonna gut us emotionally here too but we can pretend it hurts less because of our brief wangxian moments!!!

Because this is the episode with the BURIAL MOUNDS

*cries*

Alright so golden core transfer Happened. 

Review: wwx is now weaponless, penniless, golden core-less, and alone

Except jk, he’s actually surrounded by wen flunkies, so not alone! Worse than alone!!

And we all know our beloved wwx has the survival instincts of a lemming so instead of you know, keeping his mouth shut for once in his life, he decides to mock and insult wen chao and his flunkies.

WC decides to take wwx on Evil Field Trip Part 2: Burial Mounds Edition and has wen zhuliu freaking drop-kick wwx into the cursed place

Oh, hello, Bad CGI, nice to see you again!

And here we have the Return of the Screams bc apparently wwx decided to keep the Screaming Sword of Resentment in his magic pouch??

Good thing he did, i guess?? Bc the Screams summon up some resentful energy that helps him survive the fall

We cut away a moment here to see our beloved wen sibs and we are sad bc they are locked up MOVING ON

Wwx is all alone in this awful place covered in dead things and lacking sunlight, THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF OUR PRECIOUS, LIVELY, SUNSHINE BOY

It’s terrible but we’re getting a piece of wangxian pie here (a tiny one)

So the Screams are still happening, and our wwx is collapsed on the ground not responding to any of them.

They’re all shouting “wei wuxian, wei wuxian” 

And still our precious sunshine boy lies there limp and exhausted

BUT SUDDENLY

AMIDST ALL THE SHOUTS

We hear a calm,soothing voice call “wei ying”

Wwx finally moves. He sits up and starts looking around for the source of that voice

BECAUSE THAT WAS LAN ZHAN’S VOICE

THAT WAS LAN ZHAN’S VOICE GENTLY CALLING “WEI YING” THREE TIMES

THREE!!! TIMES!!!!

And it’s so sad bc for a moment there wwx hears the voice and must think that lwj is there with him, there to rescue him!!

But he isn’t *cries* he’s not there and wwx just looks so lost and scared here *cries HARDER*

Instead of lwj, wwx finds the Screaming Sword of Resentment that legit says to him, “wwx, do you want revenge? Let’s be together.”

And, idk guys, swords that talk to you about revenge don’t seem like, the kind of swords you wanna be touching.

But wwx decides to become besties with it, i guess, and grabs it. 

The look of triumph on his face after he accepts the swords offer is really cool if you ignore how UTTERLY DISTRESSING the whole situation is

AND HERE’S THE SCENE WHERE LWJ MAKES THE MOST BADASS ENTRANCE.

YOU THOUGHT THE THING WITH THE ROOFTOP BACK IN "THE ONE WITH THE ICONIC REUNION” WAS COOL?? THIS ONE TOPS IT.

To set the scene: we’re at Qishan where Evil Summer School took place and a bunch of wen flunkies are getting drunk and bragging about their evil deeds bc why not

And then we get a shot of white shoes (boots?? Idk) slowly walking up the steps of the evil staircase

And then the camera gives us a shot at the top of the staircase and we see LWJ clad in all white in a bitchin’ new robe, slowly appear into view, rising a little more with each step he takes up the stairs and the wind is providing ambiance by swishing elegantly through his hair

As that is happening, we see the blue flash of power that shows up whenever lwj uses his guqin and it knocks the wen flunkies down on their backs BC FUCK YOU WEN FLUNKIES

We go back to lwj, and get a closer look at his face. His face is blank and hard as a stone, and he keeps going at this unhurried, unbothered pace

Bc he knows

HE KNOWS

He’s gonna get what he wants here and now, one way or another. And what he wants is information about wei ying.

CHILLS, GUYS, THIS SCENE GIVES ME CHILLS IN THE BEST WAY

THE MOST BADASS ENTRANCE IN THE SHOW

I LOVE IT SO MUCH

So after he guqin’s the wen flunkies down (and they start cowering) he towers over them all imperiously

Lwj: Kneel

(so commanding, his tone. I know at least some of you guys Felt Things at that)

(guys, I've been on ao3, I'VE SEEN YOUR TAGS, don’t try to deny it, you kinky bastards)

(It's okay, this is a no judgement zone, and lwj is looking hella sharp in his new outfit, I get it)

Lwj: where is wei ying

(so unyielding, so demanding, but not once does he raise his voice, what a BAMF)

The wen flunkie that lwj had been kinda choking with guqin magic raises his hand (lol, this isn’t a classroom pal)

Lwj: Speak.

And the wen flunkie informs him (and JC, who showed up at some point but whatev) that they dumped WWX in the Burial Mounds

Lwj, our precious darling lwj, we know he doesn’t have the most expressive of faces, right? But the way his face tilts ever so slightly downwards at the news, you can tell, you can tell, that he was hit with that sick, cold, sinking feeling in the stomach

Kneel. Where is Wei Ying. Speak. THAT'S ALL HE SAID IN THE WHOLE SCENE AND YET HE HAD EVERYONE CAPTIVATED (and Thirsty, in some cases, it's all good, it's all good)

After all that awesome, we are forced to watch wc and jj have a domestic spat of some sort AS IF WE’RE SUPPOSED TO CARE. WE’RE GONNA IGNORE IT BC FUCK THOSE GUYS

We’re back at Evil Summer School in Qishan, and we’ve got JC and LWJ doing that thing where they stare manfully at the mid-distance and talk about vaguely Feelings-related Stuff

WuJi starts playing in the background as JC tells LWJ about how WWX was supposed to meet up with him at Yiling and never showed up; i thought he went after you, he says, but maybe the wens really did dump him in the burial mounds

And the music freaking crescendos here bc some lan disciples show up with everyone’s swords but most importantly THEY HAVE SUIBIAN which they bring to lwj directly

Makes you wonder, huh. Why did they bring suibian to lwj when jc, wwx’s brother, was right there??

PROBS BC THE LAN DISCIPLES HAVE BEEN WITH LWJ AND JC THE WHOLE TIME AND REALIZED THAT LWJ IS IN LOVE WITH WWX BC WHY ELSE WOULD HE BE SEARCHING SO OBSESSIVELY

LWJ’s eyes widen just a fraction the minute he sees suibian

HIS SOULMATE’S SWORD

IT’S ALL HE HAS LEFT OF WEI YING RIGHT NOW

JUST LIKE BEFORE WHEN ALL HE HAD LEFT OF HIS HOME WAS BICHEN

STOP LEAVING LWJ WITH JUST SWORDS, LET HIM HAVE HIS LOVED ONES!!!

And god the way he GRIPS it with YEARNING.

All of his motions are still very sedate, but just the microexpressions we’re getting from him change the tone of the movements

Wang yibo - guys, idk much about any of the actors but this guy does a great job. Like, how does he make such emotional expressions when his actual face hardly moves??? WITCHCRAFT, I TELL YOU, WITCHCRAFT

Lwj tries to unsheathe the sword but here we find the Suibian has sealed itself (bc he’s a loyal sword; he aint cheating on his master with no one!)

Lwj: wei ying, where are you

Such quality Lwj Yearning™

And then we get interrupted by Plot Things again, ugh

Blah blah we’re at qinghe blah blah we meet jzx's asshole cousin and hate him blah blah

Lwj and JC show up at qinghe and interrupt jzx’s Disaster Het shenanigans (thank god)

Jiang sibs have a reunion while jzx and lwj stand awkwardly at the side

Lwj sees that display of Emotion and is like, nope, that is Too Much, i’m gonna distract myself by staring at this disembodied head hanging at the entrance

(he’s already in emotional turmoil bc his soulmate is missing, he cannot handle anything more than that!!)

Idk why by jzx decides to join him

Jzx: hey, that’s wwx’s sword! Did you…

Lwj: *Death Grips bichen AND suibian with Extra Yearning™*  

Lwj: evil summer school has been burned

SUBTLE CHANGE OF TOPIC THERE, LWJ

Also, c’mon jzx, LWJ IS NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT OR ACKNOWLEDGE ANY MORE FEELINGS RIGHT NOW OKAY

Jzx goes off to talk about something unimportant and lwj is like phew, dodged a bullet there

Except, JUST KIDDING

Jzx: soooo, where’s wwx? I need to return his sister to him

Lwj: *stoically silent*

Lwj: *refuses to look at jzx*

Lwj: *gives off major I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT vibes*

Jzx: *doesn’t take a hint*

Jzx: yeah, so where is he??

READ THE ROOM, JZX

Idiots, we’re surrounded by emotionally incompetent idiots

Lwj doesn’t react until he hears jyl softly gasp when jc updates her and even then, it’s only to just briefly glance in her general direction

OUR BOY IS HURTING, POOR LWJ

And now we’re back to Plot Things

Blah blah battle strategy blah blah nmj looks imposing blah blah baxia does a thing blah blah

Jzx: yeah, so we’re doing great, we just gotta take back gusu and yiling now

Lwj: I volunteer AS TRIBUTE for the mission in Yiling

Jc: dude, SAME, plz red blade master, let us go there

Nmj: uh, idk guys, that’s right next to the wen’s stronghold…

Lwj; red blade master…

Nmj: yeah, okay, fine

Wow, capitulated pretty easily there, pal. Thought you were supposed to be a tough guy, nmj…

We get a jiang sib moment

With soup, ofc

Ooooh, now we get to watch jj have a mental break AND IT’S GLORIOUS

Disembodied eyeballs!! How fun!

And that’s the end of that episode!!

Oh god, i’m so glad we finally got some wangxiantics. Like, not a lot of them, and they didn’t share screentime BUT THEY WERE STILL VERY EMOTIONAL WANGXIANTICS

THEY MISS EACH OTHER SO MUCH *SOBS*

Return to Masterpost

[aronasnack]

circles ⎮ aròn piper fiction

summary: flying back to madrid leaves ur heart feeling heavy bc you know you were bound to reconnect with ur past. 

characters: arón piper x bella alvarez (o/c)

author's note: this is the start to a series! ps sorry for the terrible spanish, i'm using google translator BAHAHHA :') in this storyline, aron is 23 when he starts filming elite. :)

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pt. 1 ⎮ pt. 2 ⎮ pt. 3 out now!

word count: 1,489.

This can't be happening. You knew you were bound to meet him when you returned to Madrid, but you never imagined in a million years that you'd run into him in the club the both of you used to party frequently together, and needless to say, on the very first night back to your hometown. You had been trying to suppress the thoughts of him ever since you entered the club. Despite the club looking completely different as compared to when you were last here, the atmosphere it had with the blasting of hip-hop and r&b music, the high that you were feeling, the view of hips swaying, strangers making out with strangers, and everyone else dancing their night away, it was all too familiar. Four years ago, you were here, dancing your night away with the love of your life, hoping that the night would never end as you swayed your hips against his, loving every moment you spent with him. Crazy how four years went by, and everything's changed, here you were trying to run away from the very guy you once thought was the love of your life. You could still hear him calling and running after you, but you just weren't ready to face him. After so many years, you never expected to meet him in such a manner, you were expecting to bump to him in the streets, or in a mall, where you could just look away and walk off. However, it seemed like someone was playing a joke on you, forcing you to have a conversation with someone you've been trying so hard to forget over the past four years. You quickly run to the dance floor that was packed full of people, squeezing your way through the swarm of drunkards that were dancing like there was no tomorrow. You couldn't hear him anymore with the loud music that was almost ear-deafening, and you thought that you were safe enough for him not to find you, so you turned around to make your way to your friends.

"Bella, where have you been? you've been gone for almost an hour." Miguel rushes to examine you, worried that something might have happened. "I was resting in the loo, and... well, i bumped into him." you replied cautiously as you knew they had been trying to resist mentioning him the entire night. You had noticed how your friends stopped talking as soon as they were about to mention him, but changed the topic because they were trying to be considerate of your feelings. " you met arón! ...oh, so did you guys talk?" your friends questioned, after all, they were friends with him. All of you, together with his group of friends, used to hangout frequently together. You knew some of them were still close friends with him, but the fact they were your close friends first, before meeting Arón, is the very reason why they are still here after the breakup. You shooked your head and sighed, "i'm not here to deal with whatever i left in the past. it's unnecessary." the group stays silent because you clearly weren't in the mood, and then Miguel says, " alright now you freaks, we're here to party, so let's cheers to Bella being back!!" All of us smile and laugh, realising that he was right, and we cheers our glasses together, yelling, "WELCOME BACK BELLA!!!!!"

The night continued until it was 4 in the morning, and damn, half of your group were drop dead wasted, and you were barely sober when you guys all made your way out of the club. They were going to send the drunk ones home first, and they forced you to go home first since you had a long flight and a very long night as well, so there you were alone outside the club, in your coat, waiting for your cab home. Lighting your cigarette, you take a puff, and felt the heaviness that was weighing your heart down lifted. You had been smoking for the past four years, as a coping mechanism to deal with all the sudden changes in your life over the few years. You smiled to yourself as you had enjoyed the company of your friends that you hadn't met all this while, and that smile dropped when you see someone suddenly yanking your cigarette away, dropping it on the floor, standing in front of you. "We need to talk."

You look up to see Arón staring down at you, and it sent shivers down your spine, because those hazel orbs that you were looking at used to be your major weakness. "i have nothing to say to you," before you look away to turn around and walk away from him. However, with a sudden grab on your left wrist and a strong pull, you were struggling to keep up with a fuming Arón taking you to an alley near the club. "what the hell do you want from me?" you yelled at Arón as he finally stops pulling you into the alley. You touch and look at your wrist, only to see how red it is, and you knew it was definitely going to turn into a bruise. Seething with anger, you looked up, ready to curse and swear at Arón, and you stopped when your eyes meets his equally fiery eyes that softens when he asks you, "so you smoke now?" Seriously, did this guy just drag you here just for this. "i don't have the energy for this. my ride is coming." you turn to walk away once again, and again, he grabs your arm to pull you back to face him. "when did you come back?" he asks you another question. You knew he wasn't going to let you leave until you answered his questions, so you replied him stoically, "yes. and this morning." you tilt your head up to take a look at him and you swear, you saw his eyes glistening, and for that split second, he seemed sad. "it's nice meeting you again. you look.." arón's eyes wander from your body to your face and smirks, "beautiful." Hearing his compliment didn't leave you feeling surprised or happy, instead you were rather indifferent, replying "i wish i could say the same. just a word of advice, lock the door next time. my ride's here so goodnight arón." before turning away to catch your cab. As you walked away, Arón continues to stare at you until you got into your cab, and he whispers, "i miss you."

You laid back in the cab, groaning at the encounter you just had with your ex. Saying you were uncomfortable was an understatement. The night was great, but running into your ex with a girl on him and furthermore, having to be alone with him in a desolate alley was the last thing you could have ever imagined how your night would have panned out. As your thoughts started to wander around the thought of that awkward encounter, you found yourself daydreaming about how good he looked in that blue striped shirt, with his luscious curls that you once loved twirling so much. "señora, hemos llegado," your driver informs you that you've arrived at your apartment, snapping you out of the thoughts you were having of Arón. fortunately. You returned home, quickly washing up and got into bed because you were exhausted from all the travelling and partying, and you knock out at the drop of a dime.

the next few days, you stay home to unpack your luggages and arrange the furnitures to make your apartment more homely and cozy. it was nice having some time off to recuperate because you've been working consecutively for multiple productions back in the States, and you had barely any breather. thus, the time you had before starting the new netflix production was a great chance for you to relax and focus on your well-being. however, rest was over. it was finally the day for you to meet the cast of the new netflix production as you were heading down to the studio to do the first reading of the scripts with them. you had already met the crew prior to moving to madrid, as they flew out to LA to discuss on the script and some technical parts with you. you were ready for a new chapter in your life, to direct a series that was in your native language. it was exciting for you. you made your way down to the studio with a ferrari f430, that you had bought a few days ago so that you didn't have to constantly rely on cabs as a mode of transportation. you arrive at the studio shortly after, smiling, ready to welcome the cast into the family. "chicas y chicos, meet the directors whom you'll be working with closely." your smile falls, oh god, this can't be happening.

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pt. 3 out now!

[tarotdeckshuffle]

Can I request how do the chocobros go about dating an s/o on the road (like if his s/o was on the road with the gang)? Like what about sleeping arrangements and how do they go about... private time.... with four other men in such close proximity?

Thank you for the request! This was super fun to write!

I know you asked for just the chocobros, but I like to think I’m a sprite who gives you what you need, not just what you want ;)

Taglist: @idiotflowerex

Noctis

Is thrilled that you came along!

Falls asleep on you in the car.

Sits beside you at the campfire and maybe, stealthy, holds your hand.

Fights by your side during every fight.

Always knows where you are on the battlefield.

Is always trying to steal a moment alone to kiss you.

Rarely gets it…

Gets frustrated by this.

Lots of disgruntled moans and noises because of this.

The guys start to tease him about it.

“Well, just pretend we’re not here…” Gladio would tease.

WOW THAT’S A RED FACE!

The bros would either have a larger tent so that you sleep in amongst them, or you’d get your own tent.

If you have your own, Noctis sleeps there, like it or not.

If you in amongst the guys, you sleep on the back edge and Noctis is next to you.

He cuddles in his sleep.

Finally, he’d get so sick of no private time,

He’d get the two of you your own hotel room the next time you stop.

He’d grab your hand, red in the face, and march you away from his heckling friends to the room.

And he wouldn’t come out until he was dragged out.

Prompto

When sleeping next to you in the main tent, thinking everyone else was asleep, he’d snuggle up to you, placing gentle kissing on your neck.

Soft noises would inevitably happen, hands get involved.

“Dude…” you’d hear Noctis say in the darkness.

Prompto wouldn’t put a hand on you for a week.

In the car, he loves to hold his hand behind the seat for you to hold for a bit. Just to remember you’re still there.

You’re in ⅞ of all photos he takes.

Always beside you at the campfire.

Holding hands or with an arm around your shoulders.

Constantly checking to make sure you’re ok and not cold at night.

And running to you after every fight.

He’d steal kisses whenever he could.

He’d pull you behind a boulder and kiss you when no one was looking.

And Gladio would wolf whistle.

“GUUUUYYYSSS!!!” Prompto would be embarrassed but frustrated all at the same time.

The guys love teasing Prompto about it.

Eventually they would leave you two alone for a bit.

“Prompto, we’re going to go out for a bit. You and [Y/N] should stay here and guard our things…Got it? You have the hotel room to yourselves for approximately two hours!” Ignis would have to make it extraordinarily clear to your sunshine.

Prompto would still think you got away with it.

Ignis

Iggy is the most discreet of all of the Bros.

You’d help him make breakfast every morning.

Stealing coffee flavored kisses while you cook.

Only Gladio really sees the two of you together and you get used to him being around.

Always beside you, no one is allowed to come between you.

He sits beside you at the campfire, checking to see if you’re comfortable,

Always has an eye on you in battle,

Sleeps beside you (rarely cuddling),

And will always stand near you.

In the car, he normally drives, so little happens there.

The most would be that you hand him is Ebony,

He lets your fingers touch for just a moment.

Finds excuses to get you alone: getting groceries, supplies, checking schedules.

The guys do eventually get wise to him.

Always finds a secluded spot behind a building to get you to himself.

Not really into doing it in public, but he’s not above teasing you in an alley.

But holy six, Prompto caught the two of you once and you didn’t know Ignis could blush so hard!!

He got flustered for weeks, but escaped teasing by playing into it.

“Ohh, Iggy and [Y/N] are going to get ‘groceries’…” Prompto would joke with a nudge to Noctis.

“Yes, we are. Care for anything?” Is all he’d reply, taking your hand and walking off.

Gladio would laugh and have to explain it to Prompto.

At nights, if everyone goes off to do “their own thing,” Iggy would find the two of you your own hotel room, in a hotel different than the one you’re staying in, to have you all to himself for a few hours.

Gladio

Would take you out on a hike…alone ;)

Doing it in the woods is hot to him.

“We’re going to go get some wood…for the fire.” Gladio would say, taking your hand and dragging you off.

Noctis would almost choke on his drink, Prompto turns cherry red, Ignis stoically retorts “I’m sure you are…”

Otherwise, it’s all about those cuddles.

Gladio doesn’t care if the other guys see.

You’re in his lap every night by the campfire.

The other guys just get used to it.

At night, you pretty much share a sleeping bag.

Nothing hinky happens in the tent, though.

Prompto freaked out the first time he woke up to the two of you cuddling so hard, thinking something had happened.

If you have your own tent, Gladio doesn’t sleep there.

He takes his job very seriously and will stay beside Noct.

But you get a goodnight kiss every single night.

Loves to start conversations with just you.

Also loves to have his arm around you in the car.

Will take you out to dance and drink if you get a night alone.

Ravus

Doesn’t pay you much mind on the road during the day.

But will always know exactly where you are.

He’ll always be close if you should need him.

Will take you on a walk if you need to calm down.

Loves to kiss you in romantic settings, but only if you’re alone.

But even with Ardyn’s teasing, the two of you share a bedroom/tent at night.

And, yes Ardyn, it’s private.

Luna

You often rely upon the kindness of strangers for lodging.

Typically, with very little privacy.

She’ll steal kisses and cuddle up to you each night.

But a girl’s got needs.

Hands likely wander and mouths are muffled as you are as subtle as you can be.

During the day, you’re always in each other’s sights.

Holding onto her hand when her thoughts take her to anxious places.

You blush but she beams when children ask if you’re married.

When you get to Altissa and you have a whole room to yourself,

You can bet she’ll take full advantage of the privacy!

Cor

Is so busy, all over the map of Eos hunting.

At the lighthouse, he takes whatever bedroom he gets, which is likely the couch.

But with you there, he’ll give you the couch and sleep on the floor next to you.

Not a cuddler when he sleeps.

But will have an arm around you, without even thinking about it, whenever you sit beside him.

Doesn’t like to kiss you in public.

But if you go hunting together, he can hardly contain himself.

Your capabilities are such a turn on to him!

He will make over you every time you get a bedroom to yourself.

Nyx

(Umm…should I do this one? Let’s just say he makes it out of Insomnia…)

Always beside you.

Randomly holding your hand when you need it most.

Enjoying each fight by your side.

You’d have a tent to yourselves.

And would totally go to town in said tent, regardless of whoever else was in camp.

Subtle during the day, obnoxious at night.

Ardyn

His car has seen a lot of action.

So has his airship.

The woods probably have, too.

Loves to get to you by teasing you in front of MTs.

“What is it love? Oh, worry not…they won’t tell.”

Will fluster anyone around by saying lewd things in front of them,

But won’t actually take you in front of them.

You’re his…all his.

And he will keep you to himself.

Aranea

Will pin you against a wall whenever the mood takes her.

If someone catches you, she’ll just glare at them,

“What do you want?” or “Wanna watch?”

They’ll blush and fear for their lives.

Likely leaving, but they don’t have to. 

Then she’ll continue.

[kasienda]

An Open Secret - Chapter Two

My ML Secret Santa Story for @ladybuginettes continues!! Please enjoy more post-reveal/pre-relationship fluffiness! Goodness! I love these two soooo much!! (Though I hate writing puns... I may never do it again...) 

...

Chapter 1

Chapter 2: The New Normal After coffee, Marinette had invited him over for some Mecha Strike and pastries, and since, by some miracle, his calendar was clear, he leapt at the invitation. Then he turned off his phone for good measure so that Nathalie couldn’t notify him of changes because nothing was going to interrupt time spent with his lady. So, here he was in Marinette’s room. Ladybug’s room. Of course, he had been here before, but now it felt more personal. For one, he was actually paying attention this time. Every design sketch and photo of her and her friends on the wall was a gift of insight into her world. Even the rice paper lanterns and fairy lights hanging from the ceiling felt magical. And of course, the mannequin with the beginnings of a red skirt pinned to its waist that he was confident would look amazing on her within the next week or two.  And he was hanging out with Ladybug just for fun - no responsibilities or akumas to deal with - he felt positively giddy with excitement. Like it was difficult to sit still. And, he was finally getting to know Marinette better in light of her newfound ability to string whole sentences together. This was something he had been trying to do as Adrien for years with little to show for it and no clues for how to break through the invisible obstacles between them. He still wasn’t sure why those barriers had existed in the first place, but he was delighted that Chat Noir was able to make them evaporate.

Ao3 Link FF.net Link

He tried to stay focused on the game at hand. He knew from prior experience that he could beat her in maybe one out of three matches on a good day. But today, as distracted as he was, he’d be lucky if he made it to one in five. In the current round, Marinette was winning, but by a slim enough margin, that he still had a chance. Well, until he glanced at her profile next to him. She was entirely focused on the screen, her tongue poking out from the side of her mouth, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He stared for half a second too long. Then she slammed him with her super he hadn’t even realized she had accumulated enough combo points to earn. He might have been able to dodge it had he been paying attention. As it was, the large KO was already blinking in red over his avatar’s prone form. She dropped her controller and threw her hands up in victory. “Eat it, Agreste!” He couldn’t help the smile that bloomed across his face at her mini victory celebration. She was so competitive. He had known that about Ladybug after challenging her to a few races across the city, but he had never known that about Marinette. She turned to him and frowned. “Are you letting me win?” She accused, her eyes slitted half closed in suspicion. “I know I’m good, but I don’t usually best you five times in a row!” “Not on purpose?” He offered sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I may have gotten distracted.” “Distracted by what?” How cute she was. “Your dedication to your craft,” he deflected, but he felt the heat in his cheeks. “Now, you’re just being ridiculous.” He shrugged. She stared at him flatly. “As long as that’s what it was.” Her eyes turned fierce. He felt trapped in her gaze. “You’re not allowed to give up on me.” “It’s just a game, Mari.” “You’re not allowed to give up on me ever.” She repeated fiercely. “I can’t stand it when you give up even if it’s to let me win.” This wasn’t about their game. She was talking to Chat Noir about his willingness to take hits and dive off platforms and buildings. But he couldn’t promise to stop doing those things. He would do whatever he needed to do to keep her safe or see her victorious. “I swear to keep fighting as the lady wishes,” he promised stoically before pressing the button to start another match. “You had better!” “Maybe someday, I’ll even be able to give you some competition,” he added after he managed to land the first blow. Adrien groaned as she ate up his lead in two beautifully executed combos, and went on to knock out his character for the sixth time that afternoon. He really needed to get his head in the game because this was getting embarrassing! The trapdoor opened interrupting their seventh match. Tom’s head poked up followed by a whole array of baked sweets. Could this day get any better? “Who brought their appetite?” “Papa!” Marinette objected, her face blooming in pink. “I said we’d come down! We’re…” Adrien leapt from his seat and took the offered platter. “Wheat definitely love to partake in your treats Monsieur Dupain! Thank you!” Tom winked at him and he departed quickly, closing the trapdoor behind him. He held out the tray to her. “Your dad is so nice. We should grainciously accept his offer.” “I’m not hungry,” she declared. “Stupid puns destroy my appetite.” Her stomach growled in that exact moment. Adrien laughed. “Don’t berry your hunger, Mari just because I’m hissterical.” She threw a pillow at him. He managed to whirl the tray out of the line of fire with ease. “Hey! Watch the food!” He objected. “Stop being ridiculous!” she countered. “You loave that I’m ridiculous.” He was floored when she actually blushed and looked away. “Maybe,” she admitted, her eyes had fallen to the controller in her hands. “Let’s take a break!” he begged with an exaggerated pout. “These smell delicious. We both know that I was going to win that round anyway. Wouldn’t want to ruin your perfect streak.” “What?” she disagreed hotly. “That is not something we both know!” He laughed. “Well, I concede then. Croissant?” he offered, holding the tray out to her again. She put down her controller, and poured over the selection, pulling out a red macaron daintily. Soon they were settled on her chaise, tearing through croissants, cookies, and tarts, their controllers forgotten with the Mecha Strike opening sequence playing on repeat in the background. “You know what I hate?” Marinette said, as she twisted another bite off her croissant.

He froze mid-bite. Had he taken the puns too far?

“Huh?” He prompted when she didn’t automatically keep going.

“No one trusts me to show up to things,” she confided. “My parents rarely let me do deliveries anymore and even Alya tells me to show up an hour before she tells everyone else ‘to make sure I arrive on time’ with everyone else! Like, who has time for that?”

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed readily. “I’ve had to flake on so many things, that now, I don’t get very many invites to stuff from anyone besides Nino because everyone assumes I won’t be able to go.”

Which wasn’t necessarily a bad assumption really, but he did exaggerate how filled his schedule was whenever he needed an excuse to disappear so Chat Noir could show up. He had made up so many impromptu photoshoots. People probably assumed his father was an actual slave driver.

“Oh! I hadn’t thought about that,” she agreed. “I guess I’m guilty of that too. I’m sorry, Adrien.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured her. “It’s nice that you understand now.”

She smiled back, but then her expression dropped again.

“I just hate that they’re not wrong, you know?” She paused in eating to stare blankly towards the wall. “That I get so easily sidetracked and I know I can’t be relied upon by my friends and family.”

Because Paris had to be able to rely on Ladybug. Because Ladybug had to be reliable even at the cost of Marinette’s reputation.  

“I used to be so responsible,” she concluded in a whisper.

“Hey,” he whispered, pulling her head back up with a finger on her chin. “You are responsible! The most responsible person I know,” he told her. “I mean, maybe your parents and friends don’t know why you’re not following through, but when you don’t, it’s because you are responsible.”

She smiled, the warmth returning to her eyes. “I’m glad that you can see it at least. It’s nice to not feel so alone.”

“I always have your back, Mari.”

It’s you and me against the world. Her grin grew tenfold. She scooted backwards on the chaise, folding a foot under leg as she turned to him more casually. “Do you feel like anyone truly knows you?” she asked. “Not Adrien Agreste, teenage supermodel registered trademark, but the real you underneath all the make-up and photo-shop touch ups?” “It’s not like I’m pretending to be a different person if that’s what you’re asking,” he told her seriously. “It’s more like I give different people in my life different pieces of me. But all those pieces are real. What about you?” She grinned. “What about me? I’m not famous.” Like hell, she wasn’t. “I can’t imagine it’s that different for you,” he insisted. “We all play different roles or wear different masks with different people. Until a week ago, you behaved very differently around me than say, Alya.”   He did not anticipate the deep red that bloomed across her face. “Th-that’s different!” she stammered. Adrien didn’t know what to make of it. He wanted to ask. But he was so afraid of her answer. Why had she been so different around him? Did she think he would hurt her or make fun of her? “Does anyone know the real Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” he asked instead. She looked at him for a moment, then her gaze shifted away to the designs on her wall. “Besides my parents, I have two best friends,” she told him. “Alya at school, and one in another part of my life.” Chat Noir. “I think they both have seen me at my best - seen what I can do when I get really into a project or stand up for some of my classmates. They’ve both also been there when I freak out about silly things or fall into an anxious spiral of hopelessness. They’re both really good at building me up in those moments.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. Thank you. He squeezed back. He really didn’t think there was any reason to thank him. She was amazing. It wasn’t hard to help her remember that when she forgot. He was suddenly very aware of their joined hands. His skin was touching hers. There were no suits or masks between them. He felt the red rise to his face again. He was so glad they had figured each other out so they could have this. And again, he found himself wanting to ask what it was about pre-reveal Adrien that triggered her anxiety. And what was it about Chat Noir that allowed her to overcome those nerves. Why didn’t she trust pre-reveal Adrien to support her in the same way that Chat always had even when he didn’t know Marinette was Ladybug. “Is something wrong?” she asked, her eyes turned to him in concern. “Not at all,” he soothed. He couldn’t ask yet. He was still afraid of her answer, afraid of shattering this fragile new connection between them. He made himself smile brightly. “So, what do you enjoy?” “Besides fashion design and video games?” she answered in confusion. He looked away for a second, trying to figure out how to rephrase the question. “You said earlier that you hated being flakey,” he said. “What do you enjoy? What motivates the amazing righteous Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” “Getting to help people,” she said immediately, her eyes shining with unrestrained light. “Especially in situations where I’m uniquely qualified to do so.” “Like the time when you arranged for us to retake the class photo for Juleka,” he threw in. “Yes! Exactly! That, and I love the views of the city!”

Plagg shifted in his pocket and Adrien tensed. Her own eyes widened, as she clamped her hands over her own mouth.

Somehow her panic centered him. He took her hand again, and squeezed gently.

“It’s okay,” he mouthed to her as he tilted his head sideways toward her balcony. She followed his movement and immediately sighed, her whole body loosening in relief.

“You should come see it some time,” she managed after the three second delay. “It’s inspiring.”

“See what?” He said, still holding her hand.

“The view from my balcony,” she filled in as if it was the obvious and what she had meant the whole time. “W-What did you think I meant, Adrien? The top of the Eiffel Tower?”

He smiled.

The view from the Eiffel Tower was certainly amazing. But he always found it more magical when she was with him.

“I think the view right here is lovely too,” he said, his gaze locked onto her crystal blue eyes.  

“Stop it!” she hissed, even as warmth flooded her cheeks.

“Never.” Especially not now that he could get such a reaction out of her. She had always met his flirtations with eye-rolls before. He wondered what had changed.

Whatever it was, he loved it.

… Adrien flopped onto his bed with a love-sick sigh. Plagg ignored him as he gobbled happily through half a wheel of camembert. The kid thought he was subtle. He was not. But Plagg wasn’t going to call him out on it. The kwami of destruction had always hated the secret identity dance, but even he had to admit this latest development was beyond hilarious. It was clear they both knew. They were trying to pretend they didn’t and their attempts at subterfuge were as adorable as a litter of eight-week-old mewling kittens. He could have put Adrien out of his misery by admitting he had no intention of telling Fu. Plagg liked his kid and had no desire to start over with a fresh face. Adrien needed him. Plus, who else would be able to provide such high quality cheese day in and day out? But that wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining as putting his chosen needlessly on edge. “Do you know?” “Do I know what, Plagg?” Adrien repeated absently. The kid didn’t even look up from his phone. The dratted devices were the worst invention humans had ever come up with. “Don’t play dumb!” Plagg pushed. “It’s obvious that you know.” Adrien looked straight up at him then, eyebrows furrowed in a puzzled frown. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Plagg had to admit that his kid was a better actor than Tikki’s, but he wasn’t fooled. Not remotely. “You know what? Nevermind.” Plagg knew Adrien wasn’t going to admit it. Nor should he. In a weird way, the kwami was proud of him. Because his chosen wasn’t always good at going after what he wanted, especially when doing so required him to break the rules or expectations placed on him even when those rules or expectations were unrealistic or unfair. And if anyone deserved a little more happiness and a little more freedom, it was Adrien. Feeling pleasantly stuffed, Plagg curled up into a tiny ball on Adrien’s pillow fully intending on taking a four-hour nap. But his attempts at sleep were constantly interrupted by the soft love sick sighs Adrien released whenever he was going through his Ladybug album. “Would you cut it out?” Plagg demanded. “I’m trying to sleep!”

“Cut what out, Plagg?” Adrien repeated absently. “I wasn’t saying anything.”

“No, you weren’t. You saying something would have been easier to ignore,” the cat god groused.

“I have to tell her how I feel,” Adrien thought out loud, his attention still solely focused on that blasted electronic rectangle. “Do you think she likes me?”

“Aren’t you tired of letting Ladybug break your heart?” Plagg said, his voice flat with a total lack of enthusiasm.

“Not Ladybug. Marinette!” Adrien corrected rapidly.

Plagg whipped around to Adrien’s shoulders. Sure enough, Adrien was pouring through Marinette’s Instagram feed, and not his Ladybug album.

“Marinette? Since when? I thought Marinette was ‘just a friend.’”

“I did too, Plagg! But she’s been so different this week! She’s not nervous, and she’s so creative and quick on her feet. She’s amazing and I think I love her.”

“What about Ladybug?” Plagg couldn’t help but tease even though he knew exactly what had happened to Adrien’s crush on Ladybug.

“I’ll always love Ladybug, but she’s made it clear that she’s interested in someone else. Oh my god!” Adrien whirled around from his stupid screen and finally looked at him. “She likes someone else! Plagg, who do you think that is?”

Plagg was proud of himself for not laughing. “What does it matter? I thought you liked Marinette now,” he mocked.

“R-right. Do you think Marinette likes someone? Me, maybe?” Adrien’s eyes trembled with sudden vulnerability.

“I can’t believe you have to ask.”

“She doesn’t like me, does she? I mean, why would she? Why was she always so nervous around me before? Did she hate me?”

“You don’t give me enough cheese for this,” the kwami grumbled.

Plagg was way too old to deal with this nonsense. Teenagers drove him absolutely bonkers. All humans were too short lived to understand that the things they stressed about did not matter! Even Fu, who had lived almost two hundred years at this point, was subject to making mountains out of molehills. Hence, all this secret identity nonsense.

But teenagers were by far the worst! Their brains were fully developed, but they didn’t have the benefit of enough mistakes under their belts to appreciate how ridiculous their so-called problems were. Plagg loved his kid. He really did. He could admit this to himself if no one else, but he wasn’t Tikki. He didn’t have her love of mentoring or never ending sweet patience. He was the God of Destruction for Pete’s sake.

In that moment, Adrien’s phone buzzed.

“Akuma,” the boy reported.

“Thank God!” Plagg muttered.   ...

Chat Noir landed in a dramatic crouch on the familiar school rooftop next to Ladybug. The akuma was terrorizing the school courtyard below, destroying all the decorations they had spent the previous day putting up.

“What have we got today, Milady?” he asked.

“Pretty standard stuff!” I guess someone was upset that their class didn’t win the decorating contest. “Follow my lead?”

“Always,” he said with a grin.

Somehow, watching Ladybug in action today was more impressive than ever. He admired the precision of every acrobatic flip. She moved just as much as needed to dodge the Christmas ornament projectiles, and not a centimeter more. With her lucky charm in hand (a red wreath dotted in black), her eyes rapidly shifted taking in every detail in the courtyard. He could almost see the wheels in her head turning as she formulated a bizarre plan. He didn’t know how she did it!

He grinned. He was so lost on this girl, now more than ever. His old feelings for Ladybug now felt insignificant to what he was feeling now. He had been a teenager with a crush!

Which wasn’t to say his feelings hadn’t been real. He definitely had a crush on her, but he hadn’t really known the full context of who she was. Not before this morning.

Marinette was so much more human than Ladybug. She had insecurities and struggles, depth and dimension. All of which made her more inspiring, not less. She was more real now and he was more in love than ever!

“Chat! Focus!” She called to him.

“Right!” he shouted back, pulling himself together.

“I need you to lure her into the open.”

“On it!” He dove into action. The akuma was hunkered down behind one of the staircases. A quick cataclysm turned the akuma’s makeshift barricade into dust, and suddenly she had nowhere to hide.

Ladybug had the festive akuma lassoed into her wreath another fifteen seconds later. It took even less time for her to identify the akumatized object, and purify the corrupted butterfly.

When she offered her fist in their usual victory celebration, he found himself disappointed that the encounter had wrapped up so quickly. He wasn’t ready to part. He would have to wait until tomorrow to see her again.

“Recharge and meet up at the normal spot?” She invited when he met her fist with his own, as if reading his mind.

He grinned. “Race you there!”

He watched her duck out of sight before he followed suit. He handed Plagg his slice of cheese, wishing they didn’t have to hold up this pretense of needing to separate to recharge or transform. He wondered what it would be like to see Ladybug transform.

She beat him there. No wonder, with how lost he got in his own head.

“What’s up Bugaboo?” He asked, as he took a seat beside her. He wasn’t sure how much Plagg was privy to while transformed, but he figured it was better to err on the side of caution.

“Oh! I… ummm… it’s just been awhile since we got to just hang out.” A slight breeze sent the red ribbons in her hair fluttering in the brisk winter air.

He grinned. A whole three hours, in fact. But he wasn’t one to complain about getting to spend more time with his lady.

“I love the view up here!” She exclaimed, gesturing to the monolithic evenly spaced buildings that met the clearest blue sky. Sprinkles of green foliage between the structures and moving people that looked like colorful dots breathed in life to the landscape. It was a view he probably never would have seen outside a photograph had he never been gifted with a miraculous.

And that he got to share it with her...

“I’ve always felt so free up here,” Adrien agreed. “My civilian life has a lot of structure and restrictions. I’m always expected to uphold appearances.”

“That’s why you’ve always loved being Chat Noir,” Ladybug observed, her blue eyes looking right at him.

“You have no idea!” Adrien laughed. “When I found the miraculous that first day, I was so excited I transformed before Plagg had explained anything.”

She giggled. “I remember you wasting that first cataclysm on a goal post.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, trying to smother his rising embarrassment.

“I had to be coaxed into it,” she admitted. “I screamed and tried to squash Tikki thinking she was an actual bug.”

He laughed. He could picture it so clearly now in her pink room lit up with paper lanterns and fairy lights.

“I didn’t want it. I tried to say no,” Ladybug confided, turning her suddenly solemn gaze back towards the city.

Chat froze. She had never told him this. And he felt cold at the thought that he might never have met her or never seen her again after that first day.

“What changed your mind?” he asked, watching her as she fidgeted under his curious gaze.  

“You.”

He couldn’t breathe. Didn’t she know she already had his heart? She couldn’t just say things like that.

“Do you ever regret it?” He asked a moment later. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know if the answer was yes.

“It’s definitely hard sometimes. But how can I regret it when it brought us to this moment?” she smiled at him as she shoulder bumped him.

He fell sideways a little at the unexpected contact, heat blazing once again across his face. His brain had long since stopped functioning.

“Who knows, maybe we would have met anyway and had a different moment,” he said with a huge grin.

“But it wouldn’t have been the same,” she said, looking into the distance. “We wouldn’t have shared this totally unique bizarre thing together. We wouldn’t have realized how much we trust one another.”

Her head fell gently onto his shoulder, and nervous energy buzzed along his skin. This day just kept getting better, and he didn’t want to screw this up.

“You’re right. It wouldn’t have been the same,” he agreed, and let his head lean onto hers.

He couldn’t have said how long they stayed that way in comfortable silence. But when they finally decided it was time to go home, the sun had long since set.

...