#help me find job shadowing opportunities. and I actually started crying

[spursthatjinglejanglejingle]

Someone was genuinely nice to me when i wasn't expecting it moodboard

[wornoutmouse]

Cow Endeavor

Don't ask no questions you don't want answered. Either way, i have no answers for you. I cried while writing this

Praise kink, male lactation (🙃 say something i dare you) farm au, y'all know i love my breeding kink.

You were a simple farm hand. Every morning you'd wake up, feed the animals, and water the crops. It was your job to make sure everything was in order and working properly. In the essence of things working properly, that meant you had to take care of the farm's prized cow, Enji.

You weren't sure how or when he got here, he had just always been there. What you do know was that his performance in producing milk was so great that he had become the pinnacle for your farm, a mascot even. A cow that could make milk without even needing to be bred.

So it's understandable the panic everyone went into when their prized cow stopped producing his prized milk. "I just don't understand, he just had a calf but there's not even milk for hj., we had to result to bottle feeding!"

You pat Keigo's back reassuringly, "It's going to be okay, have you ever considered that maybe he's just too old now?" Takami's face paled, "You're right, what if our poor Endeavor has run his course?!" He then grips the front of your overalls and gazes you with a look that pierces your soul.

"You have to fix this, if they find out he's no longer making milk, you know what they'll do to him!" You nodded, retirement for farm animals was never fun, they'd either try to force his glands to make milk with dangerous chemically induced hormones, or it would be off to the chopping block.

So now, standing in front of Enji's stall, you take a deep breath to steady yourself. Though his primary caretaker, you had never seen Enji in person so this would be either overwhelming or underwhelming.

Opening the swinging doors, you stand amazed. It may be called a stall but it was nothing less than a renovated room. There was, of course, a wooden trough where his hay and water was, but there was also a nice bed for him and even a damn vanity with a 6ft tall mirror.

"Are you the butcher?" You jump and swivel your head around. There standing at a whopping 6,11, was the prized Enji.

His blue eyes were cold as they glared down at you, and if you hadn't seen his massive pecs, you would have confused him for a bull.

"Uh, no I'm not. I guess you could say I'm going to be your doctor today." Enji rolled his eyes and walked past you. He sits on his bed and for a moment, you saw a look of sadness etched in his scared face. A reminder of a past problem.

"Look I'd recommend you replace me with Touya, he can't do it as often but the quality in milk is just as good. I only ask that you allow little Shouto to sleep with him here, he gets terrible nightmares when he's alone."

You cursed your bleeding heart as you were two sentences from crying. Shouto was his most recent calf,, not even old enough to graze, yet he was far away from his mother where he should be, sucking and carefree.

"Well I hope it doesn't come to that, can you get comfortable?"

Enji lays on his back, sinking into the soft bed below him. You step out the stall and grab your bag of tools. You walk up to Enji and feel your face warm as he looks back at you. His face remained stoic as he watched your hands maneuver the bag clamps.

You let out a loud shriek as a warm hand envelopes your left breast. "If you were a cow, I'm sure you'd make excellent milk." You laugh awkwardly before breaking into a coughing fit as Enji releases you.

"Thanks, could you remove your top for me?" Enji sits up and does as you ask and you balk at how much bigger his chests were when released. "Mommy milkers." You whisper to yourself, catching Enji's attention. "What did you say?"

"Nothing!" You put your stethoscope in your ears, and hold the circle piece to his chest, uttering small apologies when he hisses at the cool temperature. You do the normal required check up before moving to the current task at hand.

You start to put on your latex gloves but it's stopped by Enji shading his head. "I don't like the way they feel." So with your bare hands, you examine his chest.

First you massage the skin around his nipple to try to coax some milk out. With no luck, you decide to pay attention to the actual nipples balancing from prodding to pinching them. "Normally when things like this happen it means that something could be blocking the exit." Enji huffed, "Why won't you people accept that I'm just old?!"

You ignore him and continue. You feel around the swell of his breasts and push inwards with two fingers. At that, you faintly catch the sight of his pink buds being coated with clear shiny liquid. Enji's face warmed at the feeling of it dripping down the valley of his chest.

"See, what did I tell you!? It just needed a little coaxing!" You press and prod more trying to coax a consistently white spurt of milk but soon run dry. Enji's face was completely red and sweat had accumulated on his brow. He was internally thankful for the pants he requested as an embarrassingly large bulge was present just below the fabric.

"S-See all that was just a shadow of what I once was." You flick his nip and shake your head, promptly missing how his eyes gently rolled back at the feeling. "Calm down edge lord. I think you need a constant force, I'm going to go get Shouta and see if he can suck more out and hopefully shift whatever is blocking."

You stand up and give Enji a reassuring smile. Rising into a panic, Enji grabbed your forearm, "Don't bring him!" You pout your lips, "Well who do you want me to bring?"

Enji grits his teeth, he didn't want any of his calves to see him in such a state, but he knew this was an opportunity for him to stay at the farm a little while longer. Gently, you feel yourself being tugged.

You trip over yourself, slightly leaning over Enji which gave him the perfect opportunity to cradle the back of your head. He says nothing as he holds you closer, and it wasn't until you saw his flushed face, that you realised what he wanted.

"E-Enji, I don't think this is appropriate I-" Enji wastes no time before pressing his hardened nipple into your partially open mouth. Your protest is muffled as he pressed your face closer. His eyes closed tightly as your warm breath fans over his cool skin.

Soon you realise that you were not going to be let go anytime soon. You reposition yourself the best he would allow you before closing your eyes as well, and sucking gently. Enji lets out a sigh that reverberated down his body.

You let out a muffled exclamation as you feel a warm liquid

flow into your mouth. It was thicker than the clear liquid you saw before, bittersweet and addicting without any additives. It was easy to see how Enji had become the prized cow.

Enji's grip slackened when he felt you relax against him, but you barely noticed as you became enraptured in the taste of his milk. In a strange way, suckling from him felt almost intimate in a maternal way.

Despite your innocent feelings, Enji found himself becoming aroused at the sight of you enjoying him. In all his years of work, he had never seen someone, besides his calves, drink his product.

"D-Do you like it?" You hum around him and he had to clench his teeth so he wouldn't release any sounds. You find yourself getting pliant in his arms, becoming more focused on getting more of the psweet liquid.

You soothingly lave your tongue around his nipple and Enji can't help but let out a small moan. His dick was painfully hard in his cotton pants and there was only so much he could take.

You remove yourself from him with a wet pop, before applying a kiss to his swollen bud. Rather high off happy chemicals, you stand shakily to your feet. Enji had drool and small dribbles of milk spurting from the unattended side of his chest. "You were so good for me Enji. I'm sure this will get you up and running in no time!"

With that, you utter a quick "thank you" and walk away, missing the large splotch of cum leaking from the fabric crotch of Enji's pants.

🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄

It was 3 weeks before you saw Enji again. And you don't deny that you were avoiding him. What you did was beyond inappropriate and uncalled for. You should have pulled away and called for one of his calves.

But avoiding your job is just as easy as it sounds.

"Hey y/n, Enji thinks he's running dry again. Even though there seems to be nothing wrong when the machine mills him, I think you should go check and make sure." You stiffen and shovel a mouthful of lettuce into your mouth.

"If there's nothing wrong, I have no reason to go. Besides why can't you do it." Keigo looks at you with a raised eyebrow, "He requested you specifically." You feel your chest flutter with an unknown emotion and you quickly finish your lunch to avoid any conversation.

You enter Enji's stall the next day and watch silently as he immediately removes his shirt. Ever since your first meeting, his chests had doubled in size since the milk had finally been allowed to move freely. The sight of them excited you, and you couldn't help but feel conflicted.

You sit in a small chair next to Enji's bed and examine his swollen breasts. Even the slightest touch caused milk to spill forth and it became hard to ignore. "You're not really starting to dry up are you?"

Enji sighs before sitting up. "Ever since that day I couldn't get you out of my head." You tilted your head confused as Enji cups his breasts before trailing his large hands down his stomach to his crotch before gripping his obvious manhood.

"Enji this is going beyond inappropriate." The large man made a sound that was a cross between a desperate whine and a grunt similar to that of a bull. "Don't deny that you like it too, I saw the look on your face." You lowered your head unable to look at his eyes.

Thoughts mulled over in your head about what type of punishment you could receive from possibly contaminating merchandise. Would the milk be different? People have been sending letters about how much sweeter Enji's milk has gotten.

Ah, but the thought of Enji's sweet sustenance on your tongue made your mouth water. Enji hid a small smirk as he saw you finally make up your mind. He had missed you since your last encounter, he spent nights thinking of you as his tits swelled with milk.

You untie your work apron and toss it on the stool before straddling Enji's thick legs. In the back of your mind, the logistics of his height and weight made your shiver at the thought of his cock.

Enji brings you in for a kiss and the rather off putting taste of oats and spring grass floods your senses as your tongues intertwine. You use your hands to massage his breasts and feel your front become warm as you subsequently squeeze out some of his milk.

You place hurried kisses along his jaw as you make your way to the true treasure. The sweet taste of his milk overrides your morning meal and you are baffled by how different it was from last time.

Enji, no longer feeling shy, let out a groan as he holds your head close to him. His free hand pulls his leaking cock out and strokes it in time with your rough tongue as you press it against his sensitive bud.

"Harder my little flower." You sigh with contentment at the nickname and do as ordered. You feel Enji flex below you and you take pride in it.

You scoot your lower body closer to his groin and rock your hips against him. The feeling of your denim pants against his throbbing cock was almost too much yet too little.

"Please, let me be inside you." You raise your head to look at him and Enji almost coos at the milky dribble rolling out the corner of your mouth. You were such a small thing, needed to be fed, needed to be protected and most importantly, needed to be bred.

Dazed, you shimmy off your pants and underwear and grind your hips. "B-Be gentle okay?" You were trembling on top of him and it was absolutely adorable. "Of course my flower."

In the corridor Keigo was making his way towards Enji's stall. It had been beyond the recommended time for an examination so he was coming to see what was taking you so long.

As he comes upon the door, the sound of whining fills his ears. "Just a little bit longer, flower." His eyes widen and he takes four steps away from the stall door. "You sly fox y/n fraternizing with the produce." Keigo shakes his head in disapproval before shrugging with a small grin.

"None of my business."

The feeling of fullness was strange and uncomfortable. Enji was not long whatsoever, that was another characteristic that set him apart from the bulls. But he was thick to the point where you knew you'd have to work extra hard to accommodate him.

"You're doing so well for me flower." You rub your face against his bosom and resume drinking from him. The taste of his milk was therapeutic and before you knew it, he was thrusting fluidly inside of you.

The thickness of his shaft rubbed just right against your g-spot. The feeling of your soft lips alternating between each nipple, made Enji speed up his menstruations for he could no longer contain his pleasure.

He was sad that he couldn't bring you to completion as well but that can always be saved for next time. The feeling of his semen filling you felt just as amazing as the milk flooding your mouth and you clenched tightly around him.

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"It's not funny Keigo!" "Really? I think it's hilarious." You groan as you cradle your slightly protruding belly. You should have seen it coming, and subconsciously, you weren't surprised to see two pink lines on the pregnancy test that you took 4 months ago.

Now at 7 months and obviously showing, Keigo took the opportunity to bring up the fact that he was there when your new child was consummated therefore reserved the right to be it's godfather.

Telling Enji the news went scarily smooth as the cow bastard only replied with, "Of course you are pregnant, I'm the sire." Followed by him asking to try your milk as well, so he could critique. All his calves, now yearlings, seemed to take the news just fine and only seemed excited to pick baby names.

"Look, all I'm saying is, don't come crying when little junior starts asking about the family business." You groan as the dirty blond man continues his jokes. A small content smile is present on your face.

[storiesforallfandoms]

childhood secrets ~ hannibal lecter;hannibal

word count: 1711

request?: yes!

shady80smusicsingercolor “Hey! Can i request something

Hannibal l x reader

The reader kept her childhood a secret from everyone,until she was watching news about a teen getting bullied,she remembers her childhood and just cries.Hannibal notices and goes run up to her,ask what's wrong.She explain what happen,that her childhood friends used make fun of her,or calling her weirdo.Hannibal comforts her

Hope is okay❤”

description: after hearing the story of a teenager’s tragic passing, unwanted memories are brought back to her

pairing: hannibal lecter x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of suicide and suicidal thoughts, mentions of bullying

masterlist

“Did you hear about the Thompson girl?” Zeller asked as we examined some DNA for a case.

“Who’s the Thompson girl, first and foremost?” I asked.

“She was friends with Abigail Hobbs when she was sent to that psychiatric facility,” Price explained. “They were room neighbors I think.”

“Oh! That Hannah girl! What happened to her?”

“Her parents found her dead in her room. Suicide.”

I was so shocked at the response that I dropped the tool in my hand. Both of them looked at me for a moment as I just looked down at my hands. I was trying to calm the growing PTSD rising in me.

“The poor thing,” I finally managed to say.

“Yeah,” Price said. “I think she was in the facility because of mental illness. Her parents put her in there after her first attempt.”

Zeller shook his head. “Poor thing. They shouldn’t have let her check out so soon. (Y/N), are you okay?”

I was still staring down at my hands. They were shaking and it was getting hard to breathe. I could barley register the fact that Zeller had asked me something. They were both looking at me, expectantly.

“What? Yes, I’m fine,” I responded. “I gotta get some fresh air.”

I threw my coat and gloves on a nearby table and quickly raced for the exit. I had to wait for the elevator to take me to the ground floor, but the wait was antagonizing. My chest and throat felt tight, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

When the elevator door opened, I was faced with Jack Crawford, Will Graham, and Hannibal Lecter.

“(Y/N),” Crawford said. “Are you okay?”

I couldn’t respond this time. I had to get out, I had to be away from there.

The breathe of fresh air in my lungs was just what I needed, but I was still feeling panicked. Flashbacks were running through my head, things I had repressed for all those years coming back all at once, hitting me like a freight train. I sat down on the sidewalk, trying to calm my breathing enough to go back inside.

“Miss. (Y/L/N)?”

I looked up to see Hannibal stood behind me.

“I’m fine, Dr. Lecter,” I told him. “You don’t have to check on me.”

“You’re very obviously not okay. You’re breathing is abnormal and you look as though you’ve been crying.”

I felt my cheek and was shocked to find that Hannibal was right, I had been crying. I hadn’t even realized it before.

“I’m fine,” I repeated, but the crack in my voice gave me away.

Hannibal sat next to me. I tried not to let him see my face, but I knew there was no turning back now. He had seen me in the elevator, he saw how unhappy I was at that moment. Any other person would just think I was overwhelmed from work, or maybe one of our discoveries had upset me, but Hannibal was a talented psychiatrist. He probably already knew what was wrong with me.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

I chuckled. “How often does that one work?”

“Enough times to keep me employed.”

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “Zeller and Price were telling me about a girl that used to be friends with Abigail, Hannah Thompson. She...she...”

“I know,” Hannibal finished for me, luckily. Just thinking about having to finish that sentence made my throat tight again. “I wasn’t aware you knew her so well.”

“I didn’t, but I know...the feeling. Like you’re trapped in your own mind and there’s only one way out of it.”

Hannibal was looking at me, waiting for me to continue but not pushing me to go any further than I felt comfortable with. I wouldn’t have to go any further with my explanation if I didn’t want to, I knew he wouldn’t force me. We could’ve dropped it right then and there.

But my mouth moved before my mind could comprehend what I was sating, “I was the weird girl in school. While other girls wanted to be princesses or astronauts, I wanted to be a forensic scientist. I always had a fascination with crime and forensics and such. At first, I was just an outcast with no friends, until a group of girls took me in and added me to their group in high school. They weren’t super popular girls, but they also weren’t my level of outcast or anything, so, understandably, I was excited.”

“I’d assume it wasn’t as ideal of a situation as you were led to believe.”

I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes again. “They only befriended me so I could be their verbal punching bag. It started mild at first, just some friendly jokes that I could throw back at them. Then they started calling me the weird girl, the freak who liked death and murder. They’d make fun of me for reading stuff about unsolved murders, or even just murder mystery novels. They told me I’d probably grow up to be one of the unfound murderers in those stories. They put me down at every chance they got, but they were the only friends I had so I just...I dealt with it. I even gave up the opportunity to shadow at a police department during my senior year because I was afraid of them making fun of me more.”

“What was the tipping point?” Hannibal asked. “Obviously they are no longer around. I assume either you got rid of them or...they left themselves.”

“A bit of both really,” I responded. “One day, their bullying just got too much for me. My parents never liked the group, so I felt like I couldn’t go to them because they’d just tell me ‘I told you so’ - not because that’s how my parents are but because that was my irrational fear - and the teachers and guidance councilors and principals at school were garbage. They did nothing unless they actually witnessed the bullying first hand, and even then it was always a slap on the wrist punishment. So, I thought...I thought I only had one way out.”

I was still half conscious when my parents found me. My mother’s screams were permanently etched in my head, her sobs breaking through the otherwise muffled sounds I was hearing. Even when I blacked out, all I could hear in my head was my mother.

“They sent me to the same hospital Abigail was in,” I continued, skipping over the nasty parts that I couldn’t bare to relive. “My parents said I needed actual, medical help, that they couldn’t ignore my mental health issues anymore. I was there for months. I met people just like me, people who understood what I was going through. I made friends with a lot of them, and they’re all still in my life right now. My high school friend group came to visit me at one point. They seemed genuine enough with their apologies, saying they didn’t realize how much I took their words to heart and how they didn’t know how dark of a place I was in mentally. I don’t know how true any of that was, but they put on a good act. When they finished their groveling, I told them to go fuck themselves and to never contact me again. They were...offended, to say the least. Apparently they spread rumors about me at school, but I finished my senior year at a different school so it didn’t really matter to me. Went off to do forensic science in college and...here I am.”

For a moment, a look of pride passed over Hannibal’s face, as if the end of my story made him feel proud for me. I guess it made me feel proud, too, but sometimes I kicked myself for sticking around with that toxic friend group for far too long.

“I’ve never told anyone that,” I admitted. “Not anyone who didn’t know me at the time, anyways. I tried to keep it repressed, but hearing about Hannah Thompson...it brought all those memories back for me. Maybe I’m not over it like I think I am.”

“Mental trauma when your brain is still developing is not something one can easily get over,” Hannibal said. “It takes years, and even then those painful memories could follow you to your grave.”

I winced at the thought of having to battle with those memories until the day I died. Part of me was still worried that they would be the reason I would eventually die.

“But it is important to know that your old friend group was wrong,” he continued. “There is nothing wrong with being interested in something that the masses aren’t interested in. I’d argue that being interested in murder and police work is much better than wanting to grow up and be a princess or an astronaut. Your job helps the police to find serial killers and to save innocent people from being their victims. There’s nothing weird about that, not in my eyes.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Dr. Lecter. I think I just needed to hear that when I was younger and...no one really said it to me before.”

“I’m saying it now,” he said. “If you ever feel overcome with those memories again, please do not hesitate to call me. A beautiful and brilliant mind such as yourself should not be worrying over what irrelevant people have to say about you.”

I felt myself blush, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the reassurance Hannibal was giving me, or if it was from the compliment.

“I want to sit out here for a little while longer,” I told him. “I still need some air, and to come down from what happened back there. You don’t have to wait for me.”

“I don’t have to, but I will,” he decided. “I want to make sure you’re okay before I join my collegues again.”

I smiled at him again. I definitely wasn’t about to fight him on staying there with me. Quite the opposite, actually. If there was anyone I wanted with me in that moment, it was Hannibal.

[jinmukangwrites]

succumb (1/?)

Note: "?" because I don't know if I'm actually going to continue this. All I know is that I saw this post from Liccy and couldn't stop thinking about it (hopefully you don't mind me leeching a little off of your fantastic hc). I just had to write something or else I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it. Unless I decide to make more of this, I'll keep this just in Tumblr for now.

Summary: While collecting firewood after a harsh day of traveling, Wild and Hyrule find themselves ambushed and alone, facing a mysterious enemy that wants Hyrule for something Wild doesn't understand... or more specifically: they want Hyrule's blood.

Tws and warnings in tags

-o-o-o-o-

It’s a night filled with the chill of air fresh after rain. The damp grass and twigs lining the ground below the still dripping trees squish below Wild’s boots as he walks, his eyes sharp for anything that could be useful.

Today’s been a rather taxing day on his energy, and he can tell it’s been the same with the others. The constant rain has caused the paths to become slick with mud and the rivers too dangerous to cross. To top it all off, they don’t even know who’s world they are in; making it so that as they journey they don’t even know where they are going.

Wild hates the rain.

But luckily, he’s not assigned with the behemoth task of finding dry firewood alone. Hyrule walks beside him, his pants and tunic blotched with dark colors thanks to the puddle he had fallen into a few minutes before.

The quite literal stumbles here and there put aside… they’ve actually done a decent job at gathering firewood so far. A few hours into their search they both have arms cradling rather hefty loads of dry twigs and branches found in miracle spots hiding under rocks and undergrowth, untouched from the rain.

A cold win stirs, causing Wild to suppress a shiver as he straightens out of picking up another stick to add to his impressive collection. He probably should have worn a warmer tunic while heading out, but Wind was looking miserable in the cold and didn’t look used to this kind of chill, so he had lent his snowquill tunic and didn’t have the heart to take it back as the poor kid sat sniffling in the driest part of camp.

Wild mentally begins to make a list of things he has that could go in a warming soup once they have a fire going. If none of them have colds tomorrow morning, he will eat Legend’s hat.

“We should head back,” Wild calls towards his companion. Behind him, Hyrule straightens up from where he was quite hilariously resembling an old man squatting down to pick up a book they have dropped. His arms are overloaded with wood, and Wild’s sure if he bends any lower he would be struggling to pick up the sticks he will undoubtedly start dropping.

“You think we have enough?” Hyrule asks.

Wild hums and looks at the two armfuls they have gathered. They need enough to last them for dinner and through the night, and a little extra if the fire happens to go out from unpredictable rain storms through the night. It’s not like Wild’s scars would be able to help him tell the oncoming storms; they’ve been none-stop aching since they found themselves in this unfamiliar forest.

After a moment of sizing up their bundles, Wild nods. “Yeah, if we’re smart with it we shouldn’t have to worry.”

Hyrule snorts. “Smart with it? Tell that to the blacksmith. He’s the one that tried to light Vet’s hair on fire.”

“In his defense, Vet kinda deserved it.”

“He accidentally caught Wolfie’s tail on fire.”

Wild snorts. “To be fair, he kinda deserved it too.”

Hyrule gives an unimpressed look to which Wild responds with a grin and as much of a shrug he can manage without dropping anything. The wind brushes past them and through the leaves in the trees, reminding them both that the night is approaching and banter can perhaps wait until they’re warm at a fire.

“C’mon,” Wild says, “we should get going.”

Hyrule’s face splits into a grin and rushes to catch up with Wild as he begins to walk back towards the direction of camp. The sound of mud squelching beneath their boots accompanies his thoughts as they go. He hopes they’ve set up the pots and pans he needs to make dinner like he asked them to. He’d like to get something warm in his belly as soon as possible and it would be so much quicker if the others realized they could maybe help make dinner sometimes.

He’s in the middle of planning out his next moves once they’re back with the others when it happens. It’s achingly familiar too—the way the air seems to turn foul and the shadows of the trees grow within the blink of an eye. Through his travels alone… before he fought and defeated Calamity Ganon… things were hardly ever perfectly okay. Safety was always rare, and things could go sour quicker than what you would expect. Wild quickly trained himself to always be aware of the dangers around him, even if everything seemed happy and safe. It saved his back more times than what he could admit, even if the pressure of anxiety pressing down on his ribs was more constant than a place for him to spend the night.

He could sense everything about to go wrong a moment before it does. He’s not sure what’s made him aware of the change—whether it’s the quieting of crows or the darkening sky—but one thing is for sure, this time he’s not quick enough to stop it.

He sees Hyrule twitch besides him and drop all of the firewood in his arms right into the mud. His hands fly to his neck as Wild drops his load and pulls out his sword. He hears a zip and catches the flash of light just in time to jump out of the way of a flying arrow.

Immediately, Wild is in battle mode. With practiced movements that he doesn’t even think about anymore, his shield is off of his back and on his non-dominant hand just-in-the-nick-of-time to block two more arrows with an equal number of thunks. With rising adrenaline, Wild looks over at Hyrule and what he sees makes his stomach twist. There, just a few strides out of arm's reach, Hyrule stumbles and tugs his hands away from his neck; grasped in his fingers is a small, thin twig with a feather on one end and a metal glint on the other. It isn’t hard to guess what’s exactly going on as Hyrule stumbles again with fluttering eyelids.

This isn’t any old attack from monsters in the forest, Wild concludes as he begins to rush towards his poisoned friend.

This is an ambush.

Just before Wild can reach Hyrule, a form jumps down from the trees between them. Wild has a split-second to recognize the glint of misshapen armor bent to fit a large reptile's body before the Lizalfols is swinging a sharp boomerang right for his throat. Wild steps back and raises his shield before he could be hit, however he has to work hard to suppress a frustrated snarl as he’s forced to widen the distance between himself and the barely standing Hyrule. He can see the other hero struggling to pull out his sword as more figures emerge from the surrounding trees.

“Alright, ugly,” Wild hisses under his breath as he shoves his shield out with calculated power. He needs to finish this quickly before Hyrule gets himself more hurt so he can figure out what poison was used and if the others are okay.

The Lizalfos screeches and stumbles back, waving its weapon wildly. Wild takes its struggle to regain balance as an opportunity to rush forward and swing his sword right for the weak spots of its armor. The monster screams impossibly high with unhuman chords before falling limp on his sword, however Wild doesn’t have time to celebrate before claws dig into his shoulders. Stifling a cry of pain, Wild is forced to let go of his lodged sword to catch his fall on his hands and knees. The well-known shriek of a bokoblin reaches his ears as he throws his weight to the side to dislodge the thing. Luckily, he’s successful, ending up on his back with the perfect position to swing his shield at the exact right moment to hit the bokoblin right in the snout as it tries to jump at him again.

“Champ!” calls a shaky voice. Hyrule.

He doesn’t sound too good.

And judging how there are several more monsters here than what he remembered before ending up on the ground… neither of them will be too good soon if he doesn’t act.

He scrambles to his feet, barely noticing how soaked in rain and mud he is now, and grabs a stick on his way up that he had previously dropped. He swings it like a bat at the next closest bokoblin—mourning his sword and mentally kicking himself for getting it stuck in the corpse of a fucking lizard—but he only manages to slightly stun it for a moment before its running after him with pig-like gurgles quicker than what he can properly lift his shield. However, before the creature can hit him, there's the flash of a friendly blade, cutting the beast down mid-air. Before him stands Hyrule, looking very pale with beads of sweat trailing down from his hairline. Wild’s about to nod his thanks, but two things happen at once that makes everything go completely downhill.

Wild sees Hyrule’s eyes roll up to his skull right before the air is knocked out of him via a viscous swing of a tail to his ankles, resulting in him landing heavily on his back.

Monsters all around him squeal with glee as Wild attempts to catch his breath and struggle to his feet. However, before he can do so, the heavy body of the lizalfos responsible for taking him down lands on his back, expelling any of the air Wild had left in his lungs. For a horrifying second, Wild’s almost afraid his head is about to be removed from his body with the flash of a sharp boomerang.

Shockingly enough, that doesn’t happen. While he feels the blade slide right against his jaw, his skin does not break. With the tug of a clawed hand in his hair, he quickly finds this isn’t a kind of ambush that he’s used to. Most surprise monster attacks stay exactly as it appears to be: an all-out attack with no more intentions than to stab things and scream loudly.

This one however is proving itself to be a little different. They want something, something that they’d keep Wild pinned on the ground with a blade to his throat alive.

Thanks to the hand holding his head up by his hair—sending a rather vicious kink into his neck as he’s still stuck on his stomach—Wild can see Hyrule completely collapsed on the ground with a few monsters hovering over him with excited snorts and grunt.

He can’t believe the two of them have been bested by monsters as low in skill as these.

Something more has to be going on.

And, just as that thought crosses his mind, there’s the sound of booted feet approaching on the soggy ground. The new presence comes behind from where Wild is pinned, so he cannot see them. However, based on the even steps and the whoosh of cloth, he can at least infer that they’re not a monster… or at least something a bit more humanoid.

His suspicions are confirmed once the figure steps into view. They look the build of a Hylian; though below the cloak that covers their face and exposes nothing but the shadow of a pointed chin… they must be a rather tall Hylian.

Which definitely isn’t good. Monsters are one thing—creatures born out of hatred and greed—but a Hylian who’s born as pure as any other human and animal in the world choosing to work with monsters? Deal with wickedness? They’re always the bigger threat. If the Yiga clan alone isn’t proof enough that Hylia’s creations can inhibit more darkness than the lowest of beasts, then Wild would ask what shrine you've been sleeping in.

Not like he could ask that now, not as the cloaked figure steps right past Wild without sparing a single glance. Wild cannot help but feel his stomach twist in fear as the person kneels down by the unmoving and unarmed Hyrule. They place a pale hand on Hyrule’s forehead, making Wild’s skin crawl.

“Get away from him!” Wild snarls, digging his fingers into the mud and attempting to push the heavy lizalfos off from him, but all that does is cause the creature to hiss and tighten the blade.

The cloaked intruder doesn’t respond nor quit in their endeavors of getting too close to Hyrule for Wild’s comfort. In fact, Wild almost thinks they didn’t even hear him.

He’s about to shout out once again—angry with being ignored—but the breath leaving his lungs fall silent as the figure brushes back Hyrule’s hair with a verbal sigh. Then, to Wild’s horror, the figure pulls back to their cloak to bring out a small vial filled with a deep purple liquid.

“What is that?” Wild demands as the lid of the vial is popped off and lowered towards Hyrule’s pale lips. “Don’t you fucking dare-” suddenly the air is squeezed from his body, forcing his protests to cease, as the lizalfos leans more of it’s weight onto his back to press his face down into the mud.

He doesn’t see what happens next, but he can put two and two together when a few silent moments pass before those human footsteps begin to finally head Wild’s way. The clawed hand in his hair loosens ever so slightly as slim fingers slip under his chin. Next thing Wild knows, he’s blinking through dripping eyelashes at the shadowed face of the cloaked figure.

Wild, of course, takes the opportunity to spit a wad of mud at the face of his enemy thanks to his little face-meets-dirt session.

He’s pretty sure he hits his mark, because in a blink of an eye Wild is no longer pinned on the ground, but lifted into the air by his neck. His feet scramble for purchase when there is none as his hands fly to his throat. The pressure on his neck is so intense that he doesn’t think to try and look at the face of his attacker. He can only gulp for trapped air like a fish out of water. Then, just like that, the pressure on his throat is released as he finds himself thrown back into the waiting arms of various monsters. Before Wild can attempt to find his bearings, his wrists are twisted violently behind his back; the motion almost yanks his limbs from their sockets. After a few gasps, it's all Wild can do to stand there with their physical restraints of clawed hands and send a cold glare at the cloaked figure.

The cloaked figure radiates irritation from where they stand, but Wild spares only a moment to bare his teeth at them before glancing back to where he'd last seen Hyrule.

He can’t see Hyrule’s face, but he’s no longer laying prone on the floor. He’s currently sat up with his chin limply touching his chest as a pair of monsters work together to bind his wrists behind his back.

Knowing that villains don’t usually restrain corpses, Wild concludes that Hyrule is still alive and returns his anger at the cloaked figure.

Wild takes a deep breath and speaks through hissing teeth, “who are you?”

“I would watch your tongue, hero,” the figure says, their voice not distinct enough to be dubbed male or female. However, Wild can practically feel the annoyance in their tone traveling down his spine. “We don’t need both of you, and your small friend is not the expendable one.”

The words settle in Wild’s gut like moss covered stones. This really isn’t any normal attack or ambush… this was a targeted mission.

Hyrule is the target.

“What do you want with him?”

The figure chuckles, their shoulders bounce in such an undeniably human way that it makes Wild feel sick to his core. “It never fails to amuse me that none of you seem to truly understand just how much more powerful and important this one is compared to the rest of you.” The cloaked figure walks towards Wild with arms spread wide. “His blood alone is more powerful than any form of magic known to any sorcerer.”

“What are you talking about?” Wild spits, forcing his face to remain cold and angry despite the pool of confusion and fear that’s beginning to swell around those moss stones in his gut.

The figure hums and tilts their covered head. After another moment, they speak with an amused tone, walking slowly towards Wild. “That slate on your belt... you’re the hero from the far future, oh how convenient. Tell me, have you ever wondered why the monsters come back to life?”

Wild doesn’t get a chance to answer before the figure stops right in front of him. He hates that even though he cannot see their face, he can practically taste the smug victory radiating off from them.

“Don’t you wonder why the moon shines red with blood?”

Wild swallows. “What does that have to do with anything?” He looks over where Hyrule is placed. “What does that have to do with him?”

The figure chuckles and leans forward close enough that Wild can almost see an outline of a pointed nose. “Everything.”

Then, with a flick of their hand, something hard smacks against the back of Wild’s skull. The world spins and pain shoots through his head and into every speck of his body. He blinks, and suddenly he’s leaning bonelessly into the grasps of the monsters behind him, the corners of his vision going black.

The last thing he sees is the figure turning back towards Hyrule with a flick of their cloak.

Then, his eyes fall shut and he knows no more.

[naerwenia]

No Kisses on the Mouth (Part 1 of 2)

Pairing: Grand Moff Tarkin/Reader

Summary: Tarkin gives you a second chance after it is found out you have been seen with known rebels. Few years later, you a working under Director Krennic at Imperial Advance Weapon Development, and one night Grand Moff Tarkin wants a personal debrief on your progress.

Tags/warnings: NSFW 18+, smut, bdsm, dom!Tarkin, sub!reader, afab!reader, spanking with a belt and hand, part 1, self-insert

A/N: Oh god, what have I done... This was inspired by a session in our SW RPG campaign, where my character had to think if she would take the opportunity to go back to be just a medic, to be forgiven for her anarchistic deeds. Also inspired by my own adventures as a pet, and the music of Spiritual Front and Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio. I was supposed to write smut, but it took over 2000 words to get to even a hint of eroticism. I split this into two, so I can post this now and get back to figuring out how to write smut. Also on Ao3

“Look around you, there is no one here, just you and me. Don’t you want to just move on, and fulfil your promise?” he said, looking down on you, making sure you knew you were beneath him, yet comfortable in the chair he had shown to you. Talent was hard to come by, and keeping passion alive in the military environment was hard, yet Tarkin and you shared something, a drive maybe, in your respective fields. And now you were there, in front of him, afraid to ask forgiveness or leniency, as he had summoned you there before any of the information the Imperial Security Bureau had gathered found their way to other ears in the Empire, or even the Imperial Star Destroyer you were stationed at. In ordinary situations, Tarkin would not have hesitated to act, but there was something, maybe an aspect of your character that suggested he might be able to wrap you in strings with ease and play politics through you at some point in the future. So he offered his hand, an open offer that may include as much or as little as he said, because the other option was being at the mercy of ISB.

“Yes, Grand Admiral,” you replied and, with some fear in your movement, you took his hand. It was a firm and surprisingly warm handshake, which reminded you to move your gaze to meet his, blushing for forgetting that again. It was embarrassing, but he seemed to not be offended by your mistake, or maybe it was refreshing to not have to reprimand a young officer with a cocky gaze and ego larger than Coruscant. You, on the other hand, just wanted to do your job, create something with your hands, something to make the world better, or even just make someone’s life better. Design jewelry, facilities, architecture, maybe get to make more accessible designs for the Empire. The only way to that was through a handshake with Tarkin and submitting to be his pawn. 

-----

There weren’t many secluded spaces in Coruscant, but you had one in mind. It was not really one where you could be alone for sure, but it was a bit out of the way and up a stairway that was rarely the best way to offices on the ship, so you pushed past a few office workers to get there. It was not as quiet as your apartment, but at least no one could find you there, at least not as quickly as if you were just crying in your room. Yet, you wanted to be found, to be comforted, not right now but exactly at this moment. You were strong enough to take care of yourself, and crying over some words from the Director was just embarrassing. He was someone you looked up to, someone whose works inspired you, and his critique of your work was harsh, not like it wasn’t unearned, but it hurt, it made you feel useless, and running away was the only thing you knew at that moment. 

Stopping around a corner, just a few steps away from a walkway used by the patrolling officers, you slumped to the street, but to the ground, not caring if the skirt was ruined. This was just another day at the Director’s design department for his vanity project, and this was not the first piece of clothing it had claimed, but definitely the first that was messed by you. 

The air of Coruscant was brisk for once, the evening was young and getting colder, and the lights danced in your vision, bleeding into each other in the skyline. Different shades of yellow, red, and orange, and other colours of the rainbow accenting them, the skyline was different once again. Maybe it wasn’t, maybe you just felt like it, but the feeling wasn’t anything new. No matter how long you spent at a place, you failed to find your place. Like there was a barrier that prevented you from crossing over to other people’s lives, failing to live like others. So here you were, looking at a city that held as many secrets as you, viewing it like a theatre stage, something you wanted to believe to be real, yet not, so you have to remind yourself to believe the façade, that it is not just a painting, a stage, and that you are a person sitting in the shadows of Coruscant’s administrative district. Some days it felt like you were more part of the shadows than flesh, and today was one of those days.

The com beeped, someone was trying to reach you. As much as you’d like to just leave it, it might be work-related, and you didn’t want any more tears from there. 

“Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research’s director’s assistant’s...'' you answered the call, but were cut off, thankfully, not having to recite your full title and workplace. There was only a minor hesitation, yet enough for Tarkin to notice, but he kept his words under too much control for someone like you to notice, but you knew. It was obvious and very much like him to notice and note small things like that so he could use them to his advantage in the future.

“We should meet,” Tarkin’s voice was matter of fact, cool but not cold, and almost demanding but not unreasonable. He knew what he wanted, you had it, and you had to meet him to answer those demands. This sudden call made you smile, a sweet, pleased smile that someone like Grand Moff would want to meet you, and you had no reason to refuse.

“Certainly, sir. Should we…” you started, yet were cut off by him. Not rudely, not even suddenly, just noting he would rather have things his way than waste his precious time with meaningless chit-chat, and that made you happy, having someone to tell you what they needed from you, so you didn’t have to disappoint them by trying to guess what they actually meant with their words.

“Your apartment, tonight. I will meet you there in an hour,” Tarkin stated clearly, and with another “Yes sir” from you, the conversation was over.

The mix of emotions was both delightfully ironic as tears dropped down your cheeks, but there was a warm feeling in the chest under a heavy weight and the warmth, with Grand Moff’s words ringing in your head, made you smile through the hurt. With a sweep of your hand, you dried your tears with your sleeve, smudging the mascara on your face and the sleeve of your jacket.

Since he had said it would take him an hour to meet you at your place, you decided to walk the way there, spending around 30 minutes navigating the streets of Coruscant. The streets offered a variety of sounds, loud and intimidating, but this was one of those days you needed sounds to remind you of where you were, and the slight exercise helped to ground you to the moment, to your body. All that was thrown away as you opened the door to find Tarkin sitting in your living room. A small squeak left your lips, but her own hand on her lips silenced any other noise she might have made, and with a long breath and sigh she tried to calm her pulse. 

“I’m sorry, sir, your presence surprised me,” you said, turning away for a moment to close the door, “Would you like some Corellian whiskey, maybe tea from Felucia?”.

“Whiskey is fine. You might want one for yourself too,” he said, “There are things I want to discuss first hand with you rather than trust these… rumors”.

A surprised look over your shoulder met the Moff’s blue eyes. Certainly there wasn’t anything you had done that would merit rumours, but what others found interesting to talk about wasn’t something that ever made sense. It already felt like the Director had pitted others against you, yet found time to give you kind gestures when no one was looking. He was more than harsh with his words when others were looking, but in the end it seemed like some of your more out there ideas were incorporated to the designs. The whiskey’s smell and drip on your finger made you quickly realize you had poured more than enough in one glass and had to pour from that glass to the other. You could drink the whole glass, might even that night, but Grand Moff would frown upon it, and his disapproval would not be something you could handle at the moment. So you took the glasses, one in each hand, and gave one to Tarkin with a kind smile, only to be met with his unreadable expression. No matter how you smiled to him, he never returned even a twitch of a lip, but it didn’t matter, the fact he had found his way here to share a drink with you was more than enough to send your heart fluttering.

As you sat down, Grand Moff began his questioning that felt like an interrogation if you didn’t know him better. “What have you told Krennic? Or your coworkers?” Grand Moff asked, narrowing his eyes as he studied your expressions. A sigh left your lips.

“Nothing. Just what you told me: I’m a design engineer, was recruited by the COMPNOR and transferred to ISB so I could be more useful to Empire with my technical knowledge, but I’m more interested in the designing process. So now I’m designing Krennic’s pet project, a death laser in the sky,” you answered. You wanted to ask about the rumours, but you knew better than to ask, he would tell you when or if you needed to know. 

“Nothing else? To anyone, not even a friend?” he inquired.

“No, I… Don’t really spend time with any of them, I’ve only exchanged a few words with Director Krennic after hours. Nothing other than work related, except with Krennic the other day,” you said, and the small space where you drew a breath was more than enough to make Tarkin think you had something to hide, but you knew better than to try hiding anything from him.

“A conversation with Krennic? And you are certain you didn’t say anything that might catch his interest?” Tarkin asked, with a raise of his eyebrow.

“No, he just wanted to ask how I was managing my new position, and why I was staying for so long after hours. All I said I was fine, I had nothing better to do so I finished the design, he seemed to like it. He said he appreciated my enthusiasm and how clean my designs were,” you said, and a warm, happy smile grew on your face, heating your cheeks. Tarkin put his glass on a table and stood up, taking very deliberate steps toward you, so you put your glass away and stood up, just in case he needed something from you. Your heart stopped, skipped a few beats, as Tarkin pushed you to the wall, gripping your shoulders and keeping you an arms length away. The suddenness of the motion and pain of hitting the wall while strong fingers dug into your flesh finally made you look into his eyes, looking for an answer for the change in him. His eyes now a few shades darker in the shadows, his lips dry and breath hot, and with an expression of furious disappointment, he puts two fingers, long and warm, of his right hand under your chin to keep your eyes on him. 

“You do as I tell you, always?” he asked.

“Always, sir,” you answered.

“Then take off your shirt,” he whispered before taking a step back so he could see you fully. A shiver of cold went through your body, but you complied. As your hands began opening the buttons, quietly trembling in fear, Tarkin licked his dry lips and let his eyes wander over your body, letting his mind memorise the patterns of your curves. Though his hand was no longer under your chin, you tried to keep your eyes up, trying to meet his gaze and follow his silent command. Shirt open, you throw it on the floor, and Tarkin immediately commands you to take off your skirt. With a small flick from your wrist, you open the zipper and let your skirt fall to the floor. The mock garter wasn’t something Grand Moff had expected, but the red suited you well and it left your bottom nicely exposed, only panties left to guard your cunt.

“To the bed, now, on your hands and knees,” Grand Moff ordered, and you obeyed. As you walked to the bedroom, he followed in your footsteps. You could hear him open his belt buckle. It let out an audible cling as he pulled it through the loops and folded it, a sharp snap as he felt it in his hands. As you assume your position, he slapped your bottom with his bare hand once, then twice, and grabbed the bottom. He wanted to go on, wanted to feel your body, taste and devour you, but he had to control the situation, he wanted to control every aspect of this encounter. With a word he could make you cum, make you please him in a way he had not felt before, he would make you scream in pain and pleasure, he would torture you in all the ways that made you wet, and he would make you like every second of it. The rules were simple and lax: No kisses on the mouth, and no lasting scars. There was no love in his desires, but the jealousy that he felt when he had found out Krennic had asked about you from ISB, seeming like you had caught his eye and he wanted to get close to you. The smile you gave when talking about Krennic made Tarkin feel something different, something he needed to let out, and now he could, with the leather belt on your bottom. Slap, flick, smack, slap, few seconds of silence, slap, smack. He let out a heavy sigh, letting you rest for a moment there, in front of him holding back tears and trying to adjust to the sudden pain. It wasn’t unexpected, just harder than before, and your hands gripped the bed sheets, knuckles almost as white as the sheet itself. 

“You may moan for me,” Tarkin instructed before letting his hand grab the cheeks of your bottoms, gently giving it a spank with the palm of his hand. A moan, needy and pained, left your lips, and was answered with a twitch in his lips, like a smile, but there was no one to see it, at least at that moment.

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎! 𝙰𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚣 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜: 𝙺𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚈𝚎𝚘𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚐

Disclaimer: In no way am I condoning, justifying, encouraging, promoting nor trying to romanticize yandere behavior. This is all a work of fiction and not meant to represent real life scenarios.

Warnings: Mentions of toxic relationships, stalking, kidnapping, hostage holding, sexual scenes, brief mentions of narcotics use, violence, voyeurism, somnophilia and other yandere behavior are contained within this post. Read at your own discretion.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝙺𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚈𝚎𝚘𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚐

𝙳.𝙾.𝙱: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟻𝚝𝚑, 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟿

𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝: 𝟷𝟽𝟹 𝙲𝙼/ 𝟻'𝟾 𝙵𝚃

𝙰𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: ■■■□□60%

𝙾𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: ■■■■■100%

𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢: ■■■■□90%

𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎

𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝙳𝚎𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕

𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚜:

•𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚖 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜.

•𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚖'𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎.

•𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚖.

•𝙸𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛.

•𝚄𝚗𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Yeosang always hid in the shadows. Never coming out of them.

He hated society, hated people and honestly couldn't care if they all died.

He just kept to himself, only going out of his house when he really needed to.

Like to get groceries, get his car fixed or anything of the like.

He even had a steady online job that allowed him the privilege of interacting as little as possible with the outside world.

That's how he liked it.

This way, nobody bothers him or annoys him.

One day, he went to a nearby convenience store to buy a few sweet snacks for himself.

He was walking out of the store, not really paying attention where he was going.

When someone bumped into him, which pissed him off.

But the angry glare he had quickly vanished when he saw you.

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't see you." You apologized to him.

You went your way, thinking you'd never see the handsome stranger in your life again, that he'd just be another casualty in your life.

But you were wrong.

The moment Kang Yeosang laid eyes on you, was the moment he became obsessed with you.

He stood there, immobile, watching as you walked away, out of his life, possibly forever....

And that's when he realized he needed to bring you back into it.

He went out every day to the same convenience store, hoping to see you again.

He would walk around the surrounding streets, gazing at the people passing around, hoping to see your face again.

But he never did, and he was growing desperate.

Just when he thought he'd go insane from not seeing you, you appeared once again.

This time he made sure not to let you out of his sight.

Silently and without you suspecting, he followed you to your home.

Even after you went inside, he stood outside your window for hours, wondering what you were doing.

He only went home when you turned off the lights and went to sleep.

But now he knows where you live, and watching you would be easier than ever.

The next day you went to work as you usually did, not suspecting anything at all.

Yeosang had other plans though.

Taking advantage of the fact you weren't home, he managed to break into your house.

He looked around the place, looking through every picture, cabinet and drawer you had.

It was inevitable for him to find out as much information about you as possible.

He was definitely satisfied with the fact that it appeared you lived alone and as far as he could tell, you had no boyfriend.

He also knew he had to get to work.

So he prepared a bunch of tiny cameras to install around various places of your house:

In the kitchen, living room, front door, backyard, several in your bedroom and even in your bathroom.

They were really small and almost invisible to the human eye.

While installing some of them in your room, he came across your lingerie drawer.

He turned a pretty shade of pink as he sorted through the different articles of clothing.

He began to imagine you wearing them and then imagine himself tearing them off of you.

Picking out a cute lacy red and black panty, he held it up to his nose and inhaled the subtle scent of you.

He ended up jerking himself off in your bedroom with it, completely staining it with his hot cum.

It was one of the very few things he took from you, along with other trinkets that he ended up putting up as a mini shrine to you.

From then on, he began to watch you through all the cameras.

From the moment you got up and left the house, to when you came back and went to bed, his eyes were fixed on you, watching and observing your every move.

He did not look away whenever you got changed, took a shower or even during those times where you felt needy and decided to pleasure yourself.

Those were the times Yeosang had his eyes wide open, along with his pants so his hand could easily rub his cock.

For a while, he thought he could live the rest of his life like this: watching you through a screen.

After all, every time you watched tv, you were watching it with him, right?

You started to wear more clothing in the shade of red because you knew it was his favorite color, right?

And every time your fingers rubbed your clit and threw you over the edge, it was Yeosang you were imagining.......right?

In Yeosang's mind, every smile, every blink, every breath you did......it was all for him, it had to be.

That's why he was coursing with rage when you went out with your friends one time and came back late.

It wasn't the fact that you came late and he'd been worried about you.

It was the fact you came stumbling back in your house, kinda tipsy....

With another man all over you.

He watched in disbelief as you guided him to your room and let him undress you.

You let someone else put his filthy, disgusting hands all over your holy body, let him touch you in places only Yeosang could..

And he absolutely lost it when you allowed him to penetrate and stain you.

How could you? You were his and his only. You're not supposed to be begging and crying out for anyone that isn't him.

That's when Yeosang decided to take action. Living with you through a screen wasn't enough anymore...

He had to physically have you.

So he immediately began packing whatever he deemed necessary to bring you back.

He patiently waited until the bastard came out your house, and as soon as he got the opportunity.....

He came up behind him and wrapped a rope around his throat, strangling him with pure rage and disgust at the thought that he touched you.

He left his lifeless body in the yard and went inside for you.

Creeping up behind you, he got out a cloth that was drenched in nitrous oxide, and placed it over your nose and mouth.

"Shhh, ssssh. It's ok baby, I won't hurt you." He cooed at you softly.

He carefully layed your unconscious body on a couch.

He couldn't believe that he finally had you, see you, touch you, it was all surreal.

His hands began to caress and draw out each of your beautiful features.

Then they trailed down and began to caress other parts of your body.

He couldn't help himself as he fumbled to rid you of your clothes and of his own.

He entered you slowly, gasping at the wonder he felt at finally being inside you

He kept a slow and steady pace at first, wanting to savior the precious moment.

And then he remembered how just a few hours before, you had been tainted by some filthy asshole.

Then he began going rougher on your sleeping body, slapping your chest, thighs and face occasionally.

"How could you let some bastard touch you? Hmm? You're not some filthy whore for any man to take."

His hand gripped your neck and pulled you up to him.

"You're mine....you're all fucking mine. Only I can cum inside this pretty little hole." He growled as he fucked himself inside you, painting your walls as he always wanted to.

"And now it's time to go home."

You woke up in a strange room, tucked in a strange bed and with a burning ache in between your legs.

You tried to get up, but you were still dizzy from the gas attack from before.

When your eyes adjusted to the light, you gasped when you caught a pair of large brown eyes looking at you intensely.

"H- hi.." Yeosang waved at you cutely.

You just looked at him in confusion as he creeped up closer to you and smiled.

"Who...who are you? What am I doing here?" You asked.

He merely chuckled. "Silly girl. I'm Yeosang of course!" He stated as if it was a universally known fact.

He pouted when you didn't react.

"You know? Your soulmate? The love of your life?"

You actually let out a laugh at his words, which not only made him get embarrassed but also angry.

"First off all, I don't even know who the fuck you creep are. Second, I'm leaving whatever this nasty place is."

Before you could even move though, Yeosang was already pining you down on the bed.

It seemed you underestimated him, thinking because he looked lean he wouldn't be hard to take down...

But you were wrong...

Yeosang was incredibly strong and in one particular move where you tried to slap him, he retaliated by smacking you across your face.

You were left stunned by the force of it, which led to your nose bleeding and cheek burning.

Yeosang didn't stop there, he tilted your chin up and proceeded to give the same treatment to your other cheek, a nasty bruise would eventually form on that one.

"I really suggest you stop denying our love...for your sake and mine."

Yeosang's cold, emotionless eyes and icy voice sent shivers down your spine.

He looked absolutely insane, completely void of any feeling or rationality and that was extremely terrifying.

Yeosang only had 2 rules while you were with him: "Always love me and never leave me."

But it was so hard because he'd talk to you as if he knew you all your life, while he barely find out his last name.

Sometimes you were so uncomfortable or ended up spacing out, and he'd get upset so much that he'd either slap you or shove you to the floor.

"Tell me that you love me! I want you to say that you love me!" He cried out as his hands squeezed your neck tightly, barely letting you mutter out the words for him to finally let go of you and let you gasp for air.

You decided to play along then as best as you could to his little game.

Obviously it worked, he was happy and loving towards you, your behavior only feeding into his sick twisted illusion of a perfect relationship.

You hated it, hated playing into his delusional fantasy, hated having him touch you, feel you, caress you and love you in the bedroom.

You had to keep reminding yourself that it was only temporary, until you gained his trust enough to find a way to break free.

But time was passing by too fast and one day, during one of his many pregnancy tests you did, because Yeosang really wanted to have a baby with you, you nearly died.

It came out positive and you panicked.

You quickly disposed of the test, praying he'd never find it and began to search for anything to help you break open a door, a window.

You realized then that Yeosang never actually bolted the doors like he often told you, he'd just say that so you wouldn't even try it.

You opened the door, not caring that the alarm started going off, all you had to do was run to the next door house and ask for help.....

Except there was no next door house, nor was there a neighborhood....

There was nothing but a gate surrounding the house, and all around it was a dense forest, absolutely no sign of civilization.

You had no idea where you were and you were completely trapped. You started walking backwards and inhaled when your back pressed onto someone's chest.

Strong hands gripped your arms and one of them held up the pregnancy test that you desperately tried to get rid off.

You began crying, feeling utterly hopeless as a familiar and deep voice said:

"There's no escape......you won't ever leave..."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[labyrinthof-fan-fiction]

Fever {1}

Series Masterlist

A/N: I rewatched the movies and had an overwhelming need to write the story in ways that I would have liked to see it play out. I am a firm Team Jacob and will be for this fic, there will be Edward bashing. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.

In regards to the wolves, I will be leaning more into the werewolf/shapeshifter mythology, rather than the Quileute storyline that Meyer wrote, I don’t feel that I would do their stories justice, and also just don't like the way Meyer handled any part of their story so I will just be playing with Meyer’s characters. If you’re interested in the Quileute histories or able to donate to their school relocation to help them move their school to higher ground, I’ve included some websites.

Quileute Nation Website: https://quileutenation.org/

Truth vs. Twilight: https://www.burkemuseum.org/static/truth_vs_twilight/facts-01.html

Move to Higher Ground Tribal School Relocation: mthg.org

Warnings: Depression, Anxiety, Abandonment

Summary: Starting in New Moon, what would have happened if Jacob imprinted on Bella? What if she would have chosen him after Edward left? What if she went to therapy?

Rating: M

Word Count: 2,049

I was cold, so fucking cold. And empty, I was empty. The trees overhead were swallowing me as the sun sank. He was gone, I was alone, he just left. He never loved me, I was just a momentary amusement. Cold was seeping into my bones as I lay on the forest floor, waiting for the sky to turn black and for the night to consume me. Rain started, it was cold.The rain started mingling with the warm tears that had rolled down my cheeks.

My world is not for you. I don’t want you to come with me. This will be the last time you see me. Goodbye, Bella. An endless loop of his voice repeated these statements in my mind. It wouldn’t stop, I just wanted it to stop. Then a voice interrupted me, “Isabella Swan? Have you been hurt? Did he hurt you?” Then warmth surrounded me.

“He’s gone, he left. I’m alone.” I groaned, burrowing into the warmth, but it wasn’t enough warmth. I needed more. He kept walking until we broke the tree line and he called out to a swarm of people. “I’ve got her!”

Charlie was yelling my name. “Bella?!” I felt his hands on my face. “I can take her.”

“Charlie?” I whimpered.

“I’m right here, baby, I’m here.” Charlie’s voice soothed.

“Charlie, I can bring her inside.” The voice murmured.

“Please, Sam, let me take her.”Sam, so that was the disembodied voice’s name. I whined as I was passed away from the warmth and into Charlie’s arms.

“I’ve got you baby, I’ve got you.” Charlie murmured, I could hear him puff his breath as we entered the house, he set me down gingerly on the couch. “Sam, blankets are at the top of the stairs, in the cupboard. Doc’s gonna check you out okay?” He asked, brushing hair out of my face, my fingers still shaking. I felt a blanket set on my shoulders, I pulled it close as Dr. Gerandy walked into my line of sight.

“Hello, Miss Swan. I’m here to do a quick check up. Just make sure you’re okay. Do you know where you are?”

“Home.” I mumbled.

“Do you know who is here?” He asked, flashing a light in my eyes.

“Charlie, Sam, and you, Dr. Gerandy.” I answered.

He smiled. “And what happened in the woods? Are you hurt?” He placed his hand on my forehead.

“I…I tried to follow after him. He just left, he doesn’t want me anymore. I’m nothing.” I mumbled.

“Bella, baby, did Edward Cullen do this?” Charlie asked, kneeling down next to me.

“He left, he’s gone. I’m alone.” Then the tears started and I couldn’t hold them back. Charlie’s arms wrapped awkwardly around my shoulders as I leaned into him.

“I’ll be back to check on her tomorrow, Charlie. I don’t see any physical injuries.” I heard Dr. Gerandy murmur before seeing himself out of the room.

“Bells, I have to let everyone know you’re okay and send them home. I’ll be right back.” Charlie murmured into my hair. I clenched my hands into his shirt for a moment, before releasing him.

I heard him call out of the house, saying his thanks and dismissing the group. As his footsteps fell on the floor the phone started to ring. He grumbled and padded into the kitchen, having the same hushed conversation with the callers. There was a pause in ringing for a minute before it began again. Charlie let out a large sigh before answering.

“Hello.” He greeted curtly. “Where? Outside the reservation? I’ll check on it, thanks.”

The phone hung up and he was dialing again. “Hey, Billy. No, she’s fine. Sleeping on the couch. Thanks for sending the boys. Look, I’ve got reports of fires on the cliffs.......Yeah, okay, and why are they doing that?” His voice was weary. “Really? Just make sure it doesn’t spread, I can’t leave her alone.....Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up the phone then sighed. He padded around the kitchen, I heard dishes being placed in the sink before his footsteps grew closer and I heard him drop into his recliner.

“What’s going on?” I asked, his head jolted towards me. He started to stand. “Charlie, I’m okay. What’s happening, I heard you talking about fires.”

He sighed, “Just some bonfires on the cliffs. Some of the kids in La Push being rowdy.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

His eyes met mine, “They’re celebrating.”

My brow furrowed for a moment, “They’re celebrating the Cullens leaving.” I murmured.

Charlie nodded, and sat back in his chair. He was staring at the wall, his mind somewhere else. “Bella?” He asked, in a gentle tone I don’t know if I had heard since I was small. I glanced over at him. “He left you alone, in the woods?”

I remained silent, not sure what to say. He left me, alone. And in the woods, that much was the truth. “How did you find me?”

“Your note, you left it on the table. Said you went for a walk with Edward.” Charlie murmured, worrying a piece of paper in his hand. “Then you didn’t come back. I called their house, no one answered. I called Alice, nothing. So, I called the hospital. Doc told me that Carlisle resigned.”

I closed my eyes, as tears were starting to form again. How did I still have tears left to cry? “Where did they go?”

Charlie balked, I hadn’t meant to say that. “Doc said that Carlisle took a job in Los Angeles, some big hospital, very lucrative opportunity. Didn’t Edward tell you.”

I let out a wry laugh, Los Angeles, the last place a coven of vampires would relocate to.

“Bella, I need to know, did Edward leave you alone in the woods?”

I took a breath and stared up at the ceiling. “I tried to follow him, I was on the path. Then it was dark and I wasn’t on the path anymore. I tripped. Then I heard Sam.” A sob tore through my body.

“Oh, baby, it’s alright.” I heard Charlie rise from his chair and kneel by the couch. I rolled to my side and haphazardly wrapped my arms around him. “You’ll get through this. It won’t be easy, but you will be okay.”

“Dad...” I started, my voice was so weak and I felt his arms tighten around me.

“It’s okay, Bells. I’m here.” He was rubbing small circles on my back as tears continued flowing, at some point they had to stop. They had to. I don’t know how long we stayed like that before he pulled back. “Let’s get you to bed, you can stay home tomorrow. Alright?”

I nodded, he held out his hand to help me off the couch. I walked up the stairs to my room, giving him a small good night before entering my room. I glanced at the window, expecting his shadow to darken it. I did a small turn as I looked around my room, he had left the note. That much, I knew. Which meant, he had been in the house. I opened the CD player on my dresser. It was empty. It will be as if I never existed. “No, no.” I picked up the scrapbook from Renèe, the pages that I had filled were dotted with empty frames. I felt my breathing start to shallow and I sat on my bed. The window still closed, he was gone. He didn’t want me. I sunk into the covers as the dam broke and I was swallowed whole by the tides.

I never really understood what people meant when they talked about going through the motions, at least, not until now. Six months had passed since he left. I didn’t even feel like those months existed, my only proof was the constant changing of the calendar. It was January now, that much I knew, if you asked me for the actual day, I wouldn’t have that answer. I sighed and pulled on an outfit, that Alice would be disappointed in. Maybe my poor fashion choices would summon her here. I let out a laugh and walked down the stairs for breakfast.

I sat down at the table with my usual cereal, Dad nursing his morning coffee. The circles under his eyes dark and deep. I knew those were my fault. Months of sleepless nights had worn on him, I wish I could let him sleep. I wish both of us could sleep. Silence fell in the little kitchen, silence had become common in the house.

But this morning was different, Dad’s fist hit the table. “Bella, I don’t know what to do. Something has to change, or I’m sending you to Florida with your mom.” Dad stated, a shake in his voice.

“I am home.” I snapped back, glancing up into his eyes.

“I’m sending you back, to Renèe, in Jacksonville. I...Bella...I can’t let you live like this. You don’t do anything, you just walk through the motions. I can’t let you go on like this. You can’t... Bella.”

“Dad, please, don’t.” I started, the thought of being sent back to Renèe had my heart pounding, for the first time in months I felt like I had an indicator that I was alive. “Please, I can do better.”

He sighed, “I know, Bella, but I have to do something. Bells, you’re wasting away, you’re falling behind in school, you don’t leave your room. I can’t even say you’re moping because you don’t emote enough for it to be considered moping. Dr. Gerandy recommended a therapist from Port Angeles, thought you might like her.”

I chewed on my thumbnail, being presented with the possibility of being shipped back to Renèe jostled me out of my stupor for a moment. I couldn’t go back to her, I couldn’t take care of myself, how was I supposed to take care of her again? And Phil was hurt again, so he’d be another added to my list. “A therapist might not be a bad idea.” I mumbled.

Dad’s eyes widened. “I can call, see when she has an opening. Get an appointment booked.”

I nodded, still chewing on my thumbnail.

“Bells?” He asked tentatively.

I glanced up from the table. “Dad?”

“You’re not the first to go through this kind of thing. I….” He trailed off. “I had a hard time when your mom left. I was in a bad place. It took me time, but I got through it.” He paused again, he glanced down at his coffee and took a long sip before speaking again. “You can’t waste your life waiting for him to come back. I think if I had seen someone, maybe I would have been able to get better sooner.” There was something else he was thinking, but he kept it to himself.

“I’m sorry, Dad.” I mumbled.

His eyes shot over to me, and he sat up to reach across the table to place his hand over mine. “Bella, you have nothing to be sorry about. I am sorry, that I didn’t get you help sooner. And I’m sorry that I threatened to send you back to Renèe, I’m worried about you, kid.”

“I know, let me know when you get an appointment.” I said, giving him a weak smile before standing from the table. “I’ve got to get to school, see you when I get home.”

He nodded, and took another sip of his coffee as I left the kitchen. “Love you.” I heard him whisper as I left the door. Another small smile spread across my lips and I climbed into my truck. I pulled into my parking space and took a deep breath. The past few months I had been a ghost, I wonder if they’re real too….. I shook my head and stared at Forks High. There were no shiny Volvos parked at the side with a family of too perfect teenagers grouped at the entrance. No van barreling at me. Just a bunch of normal, human teenagers walking to their first class. I joined them, but I knew I was far from a normal human teenager, but just maybe, I would get closer than I was now.

[charliedawn]

The Joke's on Us part 4

Warning : possessive behavior.

A dark shadow floats on top you and gently caresses your face.

" Soon..We'll be reunited, old friend."

Penny gasps, recognizing that shadow from the deep confines of his memories..Maturin had mentioned him when they were still friends.

" Shardik.."

At the mention of his name, the shadow quickly turns towards Penny whose breath stops. Shardik's smile widens and he floats on top of Penny to stare at him straight in the eyes.

" Ah..You must be one of the creatures Maturin created. A shame, I really thought you would be more..impressive ?"

Penny only snarls at him before responding with a threat.

" What were you doing ? I swear that if you touch her..I'll kill you."

The entity, far from being intimidated, only laughs loudly at Penny's menace which seems to amuse him more than anything.

" Really ? And how will you do that without your powers, Penny ? Don't forget that I am as powerful as you were and as old as Maturin. Funny, the old turtle really thought you and Pennywise could stop me when he is gone. Imagine how much he was disappointed when he realized that your hatred towards humanity was blinding you. He never got you those powers to use them against humans, or children..He wanted you to protect them. But, now that the old turtle is dead and you two are too weak to stop me. I'll be able to rule over that planet. I'll suck upon its energy until there is nothing left. I'll even start with you little charming town. Derry, is it ?"

Penny glares up at him, but had to admit that he can't protect you like this. Now that he is only human, he is happy, happier than he's ever been..but..The shadow chuckles evilly in the shell of his ear.

" That planet has been without order for much too long..It passed its life expectancy hundreds of years ago..But don't worry, as soon as I will have ate her, Maturin's powers will be in me and I will make sure to bring an end to humanity.."

Penny growls at the mention of you being eaten by Shardik and tries to jump on him with a roar.

" Don't you dare touch her !"

However, he suddenly wakes up, covered in sweat and sees that you are the one who woke him up. Your eyebrows are tensed in obvious worry and, without any words, Penny wraps his arms around you. He had felt fear before..but not like that..never like that..His heart is racing against his ribcage and he is holding onto you like it is the last time.

" P..Penny ? Are you alright ?"

Your question makes him open his eyes and come back to reality. You are running your hand gently on top of his head, smoothing his hair in the process to calm him down. He finally steps back and looks at Pennywise that had woken up as well. The both of them had felt it..He was coming back. You look at the both of them with a confused expression and finally ask, tired by the secrecy of both men.

" That's it. What's going on ? Why do you look so grave all of a sudden ?!"

Penny doesn't answer, he only stands up and gets out of the room without another word. You turn towards Pennywise, hoping for some kind of explanation. He doesn't peep either and only returns to the sofa that had become his bed for the time being. However, you don't let it go and sit in front of him with a determined look on your face.

" Now, you're going to tell me what's going on."

You didn't mean to make it sound like an order, but you couldn't just let them fend for themselves anymore. Pennywise finally turns towards you and sighs loudly before telling you what this was all about.

" Penny and I always had a very deep connection with Maturin, we could feel his presence and so could he. However, Maturin is not the only entity out there. The world has at least 12 entities guarding it. One of them being Shardik..Shardik is one of the twelve guardians of Beams that hold up The Dark Tower. It is a cyborg bear that stands over forty feet tall and one ugly unkillable bastard with more energy than millions of suns. He was pissed to know that I killed his brother and wanted to come and exterminate this planet on which lives his brother's murderer..But like many, he was scared of us. But now that we lost our powers ? He's coming, and with you being the turtle's successor ? We will all die for sure."

You lean against the back of your chair and sigh loudly. You only are a painting teacher..Of course he would crush you. But, that didn't mean you had to give up.

" Well, aren't you the optimist ?! Why don't you show me how to fight instead of complaining ?!"

He ignores you and only turns his back to you as he pretends to fall asleep again. You stand up and suddenly throws his blanket off. That get a reaction and you can hear a growl from him as he stands up to face you menacingly.

" Why ?! You want to know why ?! Because of this !"

He suddenly takes you by the shoulder and digs his thumb in your wounded flesh. You whine in pain and Pennywise immediately retracts his hand.

" Do you really think that you'll ever be able to vanquish Shardik the bear with a human body ?! He would squish you in an instant! Learn how to heal yourself, then we'll talk about your fighting skills.."

You glare at him: deep inside, you know he is right, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. You humph at him before leaving the room to join your bedroom, but then, you hear someone crying upstairs. You follow the sound and find Penny, sitting on the floor and leaning against one of the corridor's wall. He looks up at you when he hears you approaching and you crouch by his side with a reassuring smile.

" Hey..We're going to be okay..Alright ?"

You try to comfort him, but he only sobs.

" What if..What if you can't beat him ? What if the only solution is for us to get back into who we were ?"

You sigh, knowing that if there were to be no other solution, you would have to break your promise..You would have to hurt them, one way or another.

" I guess I'll have to change you back. I know that I prefer you to have the choice but..If there are no other solution, I'll have to break my promise. I can't let you die. Not when I know I could have avoided it.."

You sit next to him and you both stay quiet for a moment, lost in your thoughts until Penny looks at you with his eyes full of uncertainty.

" And what if I don't want to get back to what I was ? What if I want to stay human ?"

You can't help but smile and tears start to build up in your eyes..Why couldn't the universe leave them alone ? You are so close to them finally accepting their new forms..

" Then, I'll guess it'll be my job to be sure that you don't have to."

He smiles back and before you know it, you are both holding hands. You don't try to get it out, even though you know that at any moment, Penny could come back to his old ways. You're not scared of him, you aren't even sure if you ever really were ? You don't even notice that Pennywise had climbed up the stairs and is now looking at the both of you from afar with a slight frown. He only turns away and waits when he is safe in is bed to grunt.

" What does she find in him..?"

Unaware that his eyes glow a slight orange in the dark for a second.

The next day, you decide that it's grocery shopping time. However, the two clowns are still sound asleep and you take the opportunity to get out alone. Once in the street, you take a breath of fresh air and start walking towards the shop, wondering what you should buy for the two men. You enter the shop and start looking around. You are lost in your thoughts and don't see another person coming in your direction. You suddenly collide with said person and look up to see a man with blue eyes and a nice smile.

" I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

He extends his hand towards you and you take it with a grateful smile.

" No. It's me. I should have looked where I was going."

His smile widens as you shake his hand. He introduces himself.

" I'm Dan. I don't really know my way around here. I'm the new teacher from down the block."

You smiles politely and introduce yourself as well.

" I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you. I'm the Art teacher of the neighborhood."

His eyes seem to light up at the mention of you being an Art teacher.

" Really ?! You're the Art teacher ? My cousin never stops talking about you. Tom ?"

You seem to remember last time and wince at the memory. Seems like Tom hadn't said anything about the incident..You try your best to keep your composure and automatically feel that you need to make amends somehow.

" Do you want..Do you want a coffee ?"

He smiles again and nods.

" Sure ! Lead the way."

You take your groceries and pay them before getting out. You end up in a small coffee shop and both take what you want before sitting outside.

" I'm sorry. You must think it's weird that I never came before. I just moved in from the States so..Tom isn't even aware that I'm back yet."

Oh. Well, you still hoped that Tom hadn't talked to anyone about what had happened. You smile and shake you head.

" Not at all. Tom is a very nice boy and I always like to meet the families of my students. It helps to understand them better. Although, it's the first time I actually invite a member for a coffee."

" I should be honored then."

He takes a sip of his coffee before winking playfully at you. You blush and let a small chuckle.

" To tell you the truth..Tom and I have been quite distant since our older brother died. I do sometimes feel guilty for leaving him, but.."

You see that he is concerned and put you hand on his compassionately.

" I'm sorry..It must have hurt."

You had heard about Tom losing a brother, he did have a period when he could only draw dark things. Horrible things. It must have been a shock for everyone in his family. Dan smiles gratefully at you before answering.

" Don't worry. It's been a year now. I'm stronger than this."

You smile sadly at him, but then feel two very familiar shadows looming over you from behind. A hand grabs your shoulder and squeezes it in silent warning.

" Hi Y/N. Who is this ?"

Penny..And Pennywise is certainly not far behind. Dan stands up and stretches his hand towards them with a bright smile.

" Oh ! Sorry ! My name is Dan, I'm the brother of one of Y/N's students. And you are ?"

You are about to answer when Pennywise does it for you. He takes his hand and smiles forcefully.

" Pleasure. My name is Robert, and this is Bob. We're her roommates. Unfortunately, she seems to have forgotten about us this morning. You should have woke us up, Y/N. We would have helped you with the groceries."

He may sound calm, but you know better: the way he pronounces the last word makes you understand that he is pissed. Even Dan seems to understand as he retracts his hand and addresses you one last smile.

" Well..I should go. It was nice to meet you, Y/N."

However, he still writes something on a piece of paper and hands it to you.

"Here is my number, just in case."

He then gives one last nod in acknowledgement to the two men before turning and walking away. You have cold sweat running down your back as you can feel the murderous glares of the two clowns behind you.

" Let's go. Shall we ?"

Penny finally ask, more like commands as he grabs you harshly by the arm and drags you towards the house. You just have the time to get your bags. As soon as you are home, you run towards the kitchen and pretend to be busy with putting the grocery items on the shelves and in the fridge.

" W..What do you want for..?"

You don't have the time to finish your sentence as Pennywise suddenly comes behind you and wraps his arms around you.

" Now, princess..You're going to turn around and face us. We're not angry. We just want to talk."

"..Just want to talk..?"

You repeat with a broken voice, making sure that you heard right. Pennywise only nods slowly and you gulp loudly before turning around with your eyes closed tight.

" Come on, darling..You know that we want to see your eyes..Come on."

You tentatively open one eye, then the other in shock. They are not angry..They are very mad. You see that their eyes have changed colors and their skins are white..the same white than a few weeks ago. Suddenly, Penny takes you by the throat and pins you to the fridge while Pennywise presses his nose again your throat. He then inhales deeply and growls perceptibly.

" Looks like your little stunt hurt us more than we thought..I'm smelling your fear, sweetheart. And it smells delicious..One more minute, and we would have surely taken our true appearances back."

You don't understand. You hadn't hurt them, so why are they taking their clown forms back ?! Why are they angry even ?! You try to breathe, but Penny's mouth is against yours in a second..You open your eyes wide 'Everything makes sense now. They are jealous. Pain..They're in pain. You whimper when he bites your bottom lip. But, you don't open your mouth and he groans.

" You are going to open that mouth, sweet thing..Or I'm not sure you'll have a mouth to close at the end of the day.."

You open your eyes wide and tears are falling down your face. You don't have a choice but to open your mouth. But before he could do much, Pennywise gets a hold of him and throws him away from you.

" What the heck, Penny ?! When I said we were supposed to talk, I didn't mean by putting your tongue in her mouth ! Jeez ! Get a hold of yourself, kid !"

For a moment, shame and guilt seem to take a hold of Penny and he shakily stands back. He seems confused himself..Why did he do that ? Pennywise is taken aback by the clown's kiss..Where the heck did he even learn that from ?! Pennywise then returns to you, curled into a little ball on the floor and his heart tightens..Sh*t. They got carried away..Again. He sighs loudly and takes back his human form. Penny also loses his white skin and his yellow eyes. He wants to approach you but, you cry out.

" Don't touch me !"

Penny freezes and tries to nuzzle your neck as an apology, but you frown and push him back.

" No, Penny ! I'm angry ! You didn't have the right ! I didn't want you to be my first kiss ! I wanted someone who loved me !"

He looks up to Pennywise for help, but the older clown just shrugs. He has no idea of what to do..Truth is, he doesn't even know what all the problem is with "first kiss". He knows that a girl had to remain pure in order to marry when he was still alive..But he thought that rule had been abandoned long ago ? However, you seem very upset and Penny doesn't like it when you cry. He tries to think of a solution, of anything to make you forget what happened..He wants to get out the music box, but in your rage, you grab it and smash it against the wall. To your horror, you realize too late what you've done and Penny roars before pouncing on you, his teeths bare and ready to chomp on you. Pennywise tries to make him get off you, but he is too weak and Penny doesn't have any problem pushing him aside. However, Pennywise falls and knocks his head against a nearby table. You can see blood, and so does Penny. Penny quickly gets back to his human form and shakes Pennywise to wake him up.

" Pennywise ! What's going on ?!"

Pennywise only groans in pain when Penny shakes him again. You instantly come by his side and automatically feel the sweat covering his arms and forehead. You then see a strange mark on his neck and blood starts getting out from his nose, eyes and ears. You quickly unbutton his shirt and gasp in horror.

" Oh my God.."

He was covered by black sports that seemed to spread all over him like a..a disease.

" P..Pennywise. Did you have the..?"

" The black plague ?"

He guesses and you nod. He sighs and finally nods.

" Yes. It was not as bad as my family though.."

You bite your lower lip..By how fast it was spreading, he had a few hours at best. The disease seemed to have survived with him. You are about to call the ambulance when Pennywise stops you.

" Don't..Don't call the hospital. Those bastards won't know what to do..They're not prepared. Plus, they could get infected."

You sigh before remembering that..

" Pennywise..You bit me."

Your voice is shaking as you wonder if you will have it too..? Pennywyse's eyes widen and he curses.

" Sh*t. I have no idea.."

You have trouble breathing and put your hands in your pockets as you pace back and force, wondering what you should do ? You suddenly feel something inside your palm and quickly get it out to look at it. Sam's number..Inviting him could maybe break the deal and make them return to what they were ? Save them ? You shiver at the thought. Yes..But at what price ? You look back at Pennywise, his eyes are closed and his breathing very bad..You don't have a choice. You call him. It doesn't take you long to have him on the other side of the line.

" Hello ?"

" Sam ? Hey ! Could you come over ?"

You emphasize on his name, which make both of the clowns groan loudly in disapproval. However, they know what you're trying to do and don't try to stop you.

" Yeah ! Sure! I'll be right here !"

You force yourself to smile, still wanting to sound excited as to see him. However, the clowns seem to slowly change and growl loudly in the background. You hang off and look at them with a small sad smile.

" You know that it's the only way..Please, don't make this even more complicated than it really is."

Both clowns seem to understand your sacrifice and Pennywise slowly takes your hand with, for the first time in forever, tears in his eyes.

" Thank you, sweetheart."

You only nod and then, ask Penny to move him upstairs, as for Dan not to see him. He reluctantly agrees and helps you move the man upstairs. You then ask Penny to go hide in the basement. You prepare yourself and it doesn't take long for the doorbell to ring. You take a big breath before opening the door and letting Dan in. He looks around and finally smiles at you.

" Hi. So, what did you want to talk about ?"

You bite your lip and start thinking of a good reason for his presence.

" I..I just thought that it's been a long time since I've last had company and I wanted to see you again.."

He smiles and nods before sitting down on the couch. You gulp loudly before sitting beside him and looking at everything but him. He seems to catch on your nervousness and gently runs his hand on your back to soothe you.

" Hey, if you're not ready, I understand. I can wait and.."

" No !"

You hadn't meant to sound so desperate, but Pennywise was dying and you didn't know how to save him but to hurt him the only way you could. You take Dan by the collar and suddenly kiss him on the lips. He seems surprised at first, but reciprocates soon enough. You open your eyes and see that his are closed, he is actually enjoying the kiss. You smile. Maybe it wasn't so bad ? Penny and Pennywise would go down to the sewers and you would get to have a normal life back. However, you should have known that things wouldn't be so simple. Dan starts to be more persistent and slowly slides his hand up your thigh.

" No, Dan, wait.."

But he doesn't wait and only deepens the kiss to shut you up. Suddenly, someone pushes you apart harshly and you see Penny that took back his original form. He glares at Dan and growls menacingly before taking you in his arms and running in the basement. When he stops, you call him, nervous and scared that he would hurt you.

" Penny ?"

You ask, afraid that something had gone wrong..But, Penny only smiles with his multiple rows of very sharp teeths before answering you in his familiar high-pitched singing voice.

" ~I'm back.."

You smile in relief, but Penny suddenly takes you by the throat and you only have the time to look at him with widened eyes.

" Don't look at me like that..We wouldn't want Shardik to come and get you.."

When you fall into complete darkness, you barely hear Penny adding something in the shell of your ear.

" Don't worry. When all of this is over, we'll make sure to remind you who you truly belong to..You've been playing with us for too long, pet. With no humanity to abide by, there will be nothing to hold me back.."

Whereas upstairs, Pennywise enters the room transformed as you and takes Dan by the neck to kiss him harshly. However, when Dan opens his eyes, Pennywise is standing before him with a large grin.

" Surprise, shawty ! Not the person you were expecting, huh ? What ? Never kissed a clown before ? Remember that when the girl says no, it means no."

And then, without a warning, Pennywise sinks his teethes into Dan's shoulder. However, he doesn't scream. Pennywise feels something acid in his mouth and quickly steps back with a sour growl.

" You aren't human.."

Dan only chuckles before sitting on the couch in a nonchalant manner. His skin quickly turning to a pale shade of white and his eyes brighten almost mischievously.

" Man..Didn't think it would take you this long to figure it out.."

[joshuas]

first place

♫ pairing: Kim Seungmin x Reader

♫ genre: College/university student!au, slice-of-life, fluff, med student!seungmin, rivalry au 

♫ word count: 5.7k

♫ warnings: Nil of note!

♫ summary: Just a bunch of shenanigans that take place at a hospital during the holiday period. 

♫ a/n: The sixth addition to my seasonal oneshots! This is a continuation from my Hyunjin oneshot. Enjoy!

♫ skz seasonal oneshots: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

“Seungmin and Y/N, you’ll be shadowing these doctors for the next couple of weeks. Please try to get along...” Your professor gave you a pained smile, before handing you over to the two consultants in charge of monitoring your progress at the hospital. “Try to get along? Is there a rivalry that we should be concerned about?” The consultant gestured between you and Seungmin. “Oh, it’s nothing maj—“ You broke off as Seungmin cut in, “Long story short, we’re both the top students in our course, so sometimes our rivalry can get out of hand. But I can assure you, we won’t let anything interfere with the patient’s care.” “Well, I sure hope so. You guys are in the big leagues now— interning at an actual hospital. Any mention of your behaviour becoming the slightest bit unprofessional, and the two of you could fail this component of your course.” The consultant warned before taking you both on a tour of the hospital.

“At the end of the day, I’ll need your progress reports and any paperwork regarding the well-being of your patients. Remember, quality over quantity. Try not to make a competition over the number of patients you see.” The consultant sighed before departing, leaving the two of you in the ER. “We’re going to ignore them, right?” Seungmin raised an eyebrow. You smirked, “You might need to but I don’t. Watch me see lots of patients and deliver them the best possible care.” Seungmin scoffed, before the two of you headed off in opposite directions, tending to as many patients as possible.

“Noooooo I don’t want an injection!!” Timmy, the four-year-old patient you were placed in charge of, got out of his bed, running towards the door. “Please, Timmy, calm down!” You rushed towards him, catching him in your arms before he could run out into the corridor, “Should I sing a nursery rhyme? Twinkle twinkle little... what was it again?” You chased after the four year old, wrestling to place him back on his hospital bed. “Looks like you might need some help,” Seungmin smirked as he sidled up beside you. “He’s not your patient, he’s mine.” You said defensively, turning back to the screaming child, a forced smile etched upon your features. “Hmm... and look at how this is turning out for you? Come on. I bet I can calm him down and give him his injection way faster than you.” He looked at you mischievously. “...you’re on, Kim Seungmin.”

[2 hours later] You slumped against the side of the bed lethargically, placing the fiftieth soft toy you could find on the hospital bed, “Please, Timmy. I’ve gotten all the toys you wanted. All of these soft toys will be there for you while you get your injection and afterwards.” You sighed, exhausted as the kid kept on crying. “What do you want, kid? Money? I’m a medical student, so I don’t have much. Is $20 enough? Thirty is as high as I’ll go.” Seungmin pulled out his wallet. You slapped his hand, “You can’t give money to a four-year-old. First of all, he’s a patient. Second of all, he’s four-years-old!” You looked at him incredulously. “It’s been two hours, Y/N. Where even are his parents? We’ve tried literally everything.” Seungmin sighed exasperatedly. “True...” You sighed, silence filling the room. You pondered for a bit, gasping as an idea struck you. “Well... we haven’t tried everything.” Your lips quirked up mischievously.

“Just put it on so we can calm him down.” You said, tone monotonous. “This is degrading on so many levels,” Seungmin grumbled, placing the puppy ears on his head as you drew on his face. “Best possible care, remember?” You gave him a quick smile before pushing him back into the ward. “Timmy, there’s a very special... puppy here to see you! He’ll be here to comfort you while you get your injection.” You smiled, as Seungmin beamed at Timmy, sitting beside him on the hospital bed. Timmy sniffled, “Does Mr Puppy get scared of injections too?” “Oh, all the time! He’s just like you. But can I tell you a secret? Injections prick a little bit and then your arm feels fine afterwards! It’s just like a small and short amount of pain.” You reassured, preparing your needle as Timmy distracted himself with Seungmin, giving pats to his puppy ears. Seungmin looked at you, slightly uncomfortable. “Okay, Timmy! Are we ready? I’m going to count down okay? 3, 2, 1.” You looked at Seungmin as he distracted Timmy by playing peek-a-boo. He looks low-key adorable... You shook your head, pushing in the needle,  “Yay! It’s done! Good job, Timmy!” You beamed at the four-year-old, tucking him back into his bed. “Okay, good night, Timmy! Mr Puppy has to go now! I’ll see you tomorrow.” You waved, Seungmin at your heels. “Bye-bye, Mr Puppy.” He waved sleepily at the two of you as you exited the ward. “I think he exhausted himself from all that crying.” You noted. “He exhausted himself? I’m exhausted. I think I need a lollipop for how much energy I put into calming this one kid.” Seungmin said, slightly incredulous. “I can’t believe you offered him money.” You scoffed. “Says the one who got fifty stuffed toys from different patients and botched up singing nursery rhymes.” Seungmin retorted. “We don’t talk about any of that. Anyway, don’t you have anything better to do? You didn’t have to intervene with my patient.” You crossed your arms over your chest. “I— well... Your patient was screaming so loudly that it was impossible for both my patients and myself to focus.” Seungmin refuted, ears turning pink. “Whatever. I’ll take that as my victory, right? I believe it’s now 24-17? Let’s see, there’s only... an hour till our shift ends... tick-tock.” You smiled patronisingly at Seungmin before walking away.

“Okay, Timmy! Now that you’ve recovered from your surgery, we can take a walk in the hospital gardens for a little bit.” You held out your hand to the little boy as he carefully hopped down from his bed. “Timmy, are you—“ Seungmin entered the room, looking up from his clipboard, as you buttoned up Timmy’s jacket. “What are you doing?” You asked, confused at his presence. “What are you doing?” He retorted, looking at you pointedly. “Taking care of my patient? Why do you keep trying to poach him from me?” You looked at him incredulously, placing Timmy’s hand in yours. Realisation dawned upon Seungmin’s features, “You know... I think the consultants heard about our... difficulties last time with Timmy and probably assigned him to both of us from now on.” “Ugh, it was probably from Dr Yoon — he hates us for some reason. Also, why didn’t you realise this when you found out that Timmy was your patient today?” You raised an eyebrow at Seungmin. “I just thought that they thought you were incompetent, which was why I, the more competent medical student of this cohort, was provided with this opportunity to show that to everyone... no offence,” Seungmin smirked slightly. “Okay, first of all, why are you so cocky? And second of all, adding ‘no offence’ at the end of your sentence doesn’t make your statement any less offensive.” You rolled your eyes. “Confidence is key. And, I wasn’t saying no offence to you, I was saying it to Timmy in case he thinks that he is just a mere opportunity to me— he is, but he’s my patient first.” Seungmin said a matter-of-factly. “Well now he’s our patient, so dial down on the ‘confidence’.” You scoffed, changing your entire demeanour as you turned to Timmy, “Shall we go outside now, Timmy?” You beamed. “Is Mr Puppy joining us too?” Timmy asked as Seungmin smiled at you victoriously. You sighed, exasperated,

“Yes, Mr Puppy will be joining us too...”

You breathed in the cool air, placing your hands in your jacket pocket as you calmly observed Timmy skipping excitedly ahead of the two of you, “Who do you think would win in a fight against Jisung? Me or you?” Seungmin asked randomly. “Why do you ask that? Me, obviously.” You rolled your eyes at him. “You have no reasoning for that. See, I would say me for obvious reasons.” Seungmin said slightly smugly. You stopped, turning to face him, “Oh? And what might those be?” You raised your eyebrows at him. “Well, for one, I’m a lot taller than him, which means I can reach out further and hit him before he hits me. Also, since I’m taller, I don’t have to punch upwards, which means that less force is applied when Jisung punches because he’d have to punch upwards, whereas I’d basically be punching straight, making my punch more powerful...” Seungmin droned on, explaining his argument, leaving no room to rebut. “I guess there was a reason you were on the debate team for all of high school.” You gave him a forced smile. “Actually I started in middle school. Anyway, I guess that means that I win.” He smirked triumphantly. “Um, no, you haven’t heard my side of the argument. Honestly, to think you did debating all this time and you still don’t know the rules.” You pinched the bridge of your nose, exasperated. “Let’s hear it...” “Well, first of all, let me just acknowledge your...”

[45 minutes later] The two of you bickered, hospital staff and patients often stopping to stare at the two of you, as you continued, oblivious to the scene you were creating, “No. You know what— I think we need a mediator. Timmy, who do you think would win in a fight? Me or—“ You broke off, looking around frantically and stressing over the sudden disappearance of your patient. “Did you see where he went?” You asked Seungmin, giving him the side-eye as the two of you ran throughout the gardens calling his name. “Obviously not since I’m running around to find him too.” Seungmin rolled his eyes as he looked through a snow-blanketed bush. “Guess you’re not the “best medical student of our cohort”. You can’t even take care of a child.” You said slightly smug. Seungmin sighed, looking at you,

“Not now, Y/N. He’s our patient, so you’re basically insulting yourself — you can’t even look after a child.” “Are you saying that I’d be a terrible parent?” You gasped, offended. “Are you saying that I’d be a terrible parent? Wait— I never mentioned parenthood.” He retorted, eyebrows raised. “I— oh! Timmy! Why are you hiding behind the park bench? It’s cold outside.” You helped him out onto the path, brushing off any snow from his clothes. “You and Mr Puppy were fighting, so I got scared and ran away.” He said shyly. You shared a look with Seungmin,

“Fighting? Oh no, honey. We were just... talking loudly.” You gave him a reassuring smile, holding out your hand to him. “Please don’t talk loudly anymore.” Timmy sniffled. “We’ll try not to.” Seungmin smiled, taking Timmy’s other hand as you entered the hospital.

“I smell... unprofessionalism.” Your consultant leaned back in their chair, sniffing disgustedly at the air, “I heard about what happened in the gardens today.” Your consultant leaned back in their chair, looking between Seungmin and you. “I promise you, it won’t happen again. And besides, Timmy was fine!” You spoke quickly. “And what if he wasn’t? We’d have a lawsuit on our hands. But above all, he’s your patient. He was placed under both of your care, and he deserves to be taken of to the best of your ability, regardless.” The consultant glared at the two of you pointedly. “We’re sorry.” Seungmin muttered, looking down. “Let me tell you this — this is a hospital. One of the most competitive workplace environments. I understand your competition with each other, but this is the real world, and in the real world there is no room for error. Especially when a patient’s life is at stake. All competition stops when we have to take care of our patients, since they are our top priority. I need you to reflect on whether they are yours?” The consultant raised their eyebrows as the two of you stood in stony silence. “Now, since the two of you can’t go without some sort of punishment, you’re going to have to get the paperwork from the receptionist at the ER and come back here to run through all of it. I want it done before 5pm.” The consultant tapped at their watch. “But the ER is on the other side of the hospital...” Seungmin noted. “So that means we only have... an hour to do all of this, on top of going there and back.” Your eyes widened. “Is that a problem?” Your consultant looked at the two of you pointedly. “No...”

As you exited the consultant office, you looked at Seungmin as he stretched his legs and arms, jogging lightly on the spot, “What are you doing? It’s not like you’re preparing for a marathon.” Your nose crinkled in slight disgust. “You said so yourself that we had one hour to get these files and organise them. Unlike you, I want to show that I am a professional and gets things done on time even before my subordinates.” Seungmin monologued. “I— subordinates? We’re literally in the same year.” You scoffed, tying your shoelaces. “I may view you as lesser than me at times.” Seungmin said quickly before sprinting down the corridor, knocking over everything in his way. “Hey! Kim Seungmin!” You yelled, running after him.

You panted, grabbing at the receptionist desk as you tried to catch your breath, alongside an equally as breathless Seungmin. “C-can I... okay wait a sec... can you please give us with the files the consultant wished for us to go through?” You asked, out of breath. “Actually, they heard of the mess you made when coming here, so that you both have to clean before you go through the files.” The receptionist gave you a forced smile before turning back to their computer. “How?” You looked at Seungmin incredulously. You shared a knowing look, “...Dr Yoon.” The two of you muttered. “Just take these for now.” The receptionist dumped two full cardboard boxes on the desk, paperwork overflowing from both. Seungmin inhaled sharply, “And when will the paperwork need to be done by?” “Well the consultant isn’t too mean, so it’ll need to be done before ten, seeing the amount of... mess the two of you made.” You plastered a fake smile on your face, begrudgingly taking the box, “Thank you, so much.” “It’s no problem, and hey, good luck with the papers.” The receptionist gave you a small smile before shooing the two of you away, boxes in hand. Cleaning with my rival. How fun. I swear the universe hates the two of us. Why are we always together?

“Oh god, we made a huge mess.” You stared widely at the disastrous corridor ahead of you. Random chemicals were spilt on the ground, with IV drips entangled alongside other equipment scattered throughout the hallway. Wordlessly, Seungmin unlocked the supply closet, handing you a broom whilst he got the mop, not before placing the boxes down in the closet. “You should start on the glass so no one injures themselves and decides to sue the hospital for poor workspace conservation.” Seungmin snapped on gloves, mopping up the chemical residue. “Well, we are in a hospital of all places.” You pointed out humorously. Seungmin rolled his eyes, looking pointedly between the floor and your broom. “Fine...”

As you cleaned in silence, you glanced over at a stony-faced Seungmin, What happened to him? Is he really that upset over what the consultant said? I thought he’d take it as feedback and move on. He doesn’t normally give up like this. Or let things like this phase him for that matter. He’s... admirable in that way. You shook your head in disgust, Ew ew ew, Y/N! I can’t believe I called him admirable.. he’s far from admirable. He’s a pain in my— “Y/N, are you done sweeping that one spot? You’ve been at that spot for the last five minutes. I’m pretty sure you’re just sweeping up air now. Can you help me put the cleaning things away?” Seungmin interrupted your thoughts, collecting up the appliances and heading towards the supply closet. “Oh yeah, I forgot that we left the boxes here.” You stepped into the closet, grabbing one box as Seungmin slipped in after you, turning his back away from the door... a clicking noise resounding in the confined space, the light leaving the room as the door locked shut, the rustling of keys heard from outside the door, carefree whistling following suit. Seungmin whipped around, trying to open the door, “The door’s locked!” “Uh, no duh. Someone’s locked us in, obviously... Who do you think it was? My guess is Dr Yoon.” You accused, running through a list of your potential enemies. “Or it’s our consultant wanting us to resolve all our issues before we go back to work.” Seungmin suggested, sighing as he sat against the door. “It’s... a possibility. Regardless, we should figure out how to get out of here. Do you have your keys or your phone?” You asked, mentally crossing your fingers that he did. “No, it’s in my locker. I’m assuming you don’t either since you asked me.” Seungmin sighed. “Ugh, you know, sometimes I wish you were some kind of mysterious bad boy that somehow did everything really well but also broke the rules for once.” You sighed exasperatedly. Seungmin shot you a disgusted look, “Are you saying that you don’t like me for who I am?” You coughed, “I don’t like you, full stop. Why do you think we have this rivalry? Because I’m some immature high school student that has a crush on you and is mean to you to hide my feelings? No.” Mhm, sure, Y/N... “It’s not like I knew we were going to be locked in a storage closet, anyway.” Seungmin said defensively. “We can’t even do paperwork since there’s no light and we have no device with light.” You complained. “Then let’s just sit and wait. I’ll listen by the door if I hear anyone pass by. Please don’t talk to me. I’m not interested in talking to someone who doesn’t like me at all.” Seungmin pressed his ear against the door. “Fine.” You crossed your arms over your chest, sagging back against the wall. This is going to be a long night...

[3 hours later] “God, I can’t take this any longer! Stop sulking and talk to me. I don’t want to think about being trapped in this room with you any longer than I have to.” You exclaimed, Seungmin perked up, relief flickering in his eyes before moving to a more guarded expression. “Okay, well what do you want to talk about?” Seungmin asked drily. “I don’t know... how about we play 21 questions? You can start.” You suggested. “Fine. I will, even though it’s kind of dumb since I already know more about you than I’d like to. Don’t ask me why. What’s your favourite colour?” He asked, slightly bored. “If you’re bored by asking this question, how bored do you think I am by answering it? Your question was dumb. Mine’s [your favourite colour]. And I already know that yours is purple. Don’t ask me why, either.” You sighed. “Wow, okay. I’d like to see you come up with a more interesting question.” Seungmin said defensively. “Oh, watch and learn my... nemesis? Anyways, my question for you is, if you could have any other profession than this one, what would you have chosen?” You raised your eyebrow. “Oh... I’d be a lawyer... in particular, a prosecutor.” Seungmin said sheepishly. “Why?” You questioned. “The career itself interests me. The criminal justice system is as intricate as some of the cases a doctor would have to cure. The problem solving that goes into trying to figure out what actually happened in a case is the fun part. It’s kind of like solving a puzzle, because all of the pieces eventually will fit together as you piece more and more together from testimonies.” Seungmin explained, eyes lit up in excitement. “You are... really passionate about law. Why didn’t you choose to study that instead of medicine. They’re pretty much are the same in terms of prestige and salary.” You said, confused at his disposition. “I... don’t know.” Seungmin said tentatively, tone slightly confused. “Oh come on, you can tell me. What am I going to do? Use that against you? There’s literally no point of me doing that. Unless you did something really bad and wrong—“ Seungmin cut you off, interrupting you panickedly, “No, Y/N! I actually don’t know.” “You’re telling me that after all this time of having this passion, you haven’t once thought about why you selected a career path completely different to the one you wanted to pursue?” You asked incredulously. “Yes, Y/N. Can you please just not talk? I need to think.” He stood up, pacing the small space, occasionally tripping on things in his way. “Okay, Seungmin, where are you so I can slap some sense into you?” You stood up, holding your hands out tentatively to grab him. “I don’t want you to slap me!” He brushed your hands away, as you grabbed onto one of his. “I meant metaphorically. I’m not going to abuse you.” You rolled your eyes, “Look, I’m not saying this because you leaving would mean that I’m number one in this course. That would obviously be a bonus, but I’m saying this because I’ve known you for a really long time and surprisingly want the best for you. If you’re this passionate about law, you should study it. It’s not as if anyone’s going to complain if you switch, it’s an equally as admirable career option. I think you’ll enjoy it a lot more than medicine by the looks of it. You don’t want to live your life regretting your career options because someone asked you this question in a supply closet and you didn’t act on your uncertainty. You’ll never know unless you try.” A silence filled the room. Not long after the jingling sound returned from outside the door, bright light blinding you as the door opened, a woman screaming as she saw the two of you, Seungmin and you screaming back, confused,  “Oh my goodness. There you guys are! You do realise that you have an hour to do the paperwork, right?” The receptionist from earlier gasped, letting you out. Seungmin placed a hand on your shoulder, stopping you, “Thank you, Y/N. You know, sometimes you can be an intellectual.” “You really need to work on your compliments. Anyways, I’ll see you next week.” You smiled, heading towards the lockers.

“Y/N, I just wanted to inform you of Seungmin’s departure from this course. And before you ask, yes that does mean that you are now officially first place. Congratulations!” Your consultant addressed you before shooing you out to do your work. First place, huh? Oh how the turn tables... I guess he really did take my advice. I’m flattered! I mean... why would I be flattered? I don’t care. Whatever. Hopefully he has fun at law school and whatnot, while I enjoy being first place!

“Oh, Dr Yoon. Hello.” You stopped short, bowing your head slightly in acknowledgment. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t The Honourable First Place themselves? So how’d you get rid of him? Talked him to death?” Dr Yoon taunted. You rolled your eyes, sighing, “No offence Dr Yoon, but I don’t see how what Seungmin decides to do with his life is any of your concern.” Dr Yoon scoffed, “Someone’s defending their man.” “He’s not my— oh, you know what? Whatever. Have a good day, Dr Yoon.” You said passive aggressively, stomping out of the break room.

“Nice work, Y/N! I can see why you’re number one.”

“Hey, Y/N. Can you get these x-rays done before eight?” “I heard that Seungmin’s gone. I guess I’m your new rival now.” The day passed by in a flurry, numerous doctors and nurses congratulating you... and delegating more work to you. Particularly, Seungmin’s workload. You weren’t complaining too much about the compliments, those were nice. It’s just that... work wasn’t as fun as it used to be with a certain someone present. The workload seemed to drag on, and on, your motivation lessening as time progressed. I wonder what Seungmin’s doing now. Probably living his best life and learning about lawyer stuff. He’s probably forgotten about me and this rivalry altogether... “Y/N! Are you coming with us for lunch. We wanted to congratulate you on your ranking!” “Coming...”

You put on a smile as you entered Timmy’s room, “Mr Puppy, is that you?” Timmy called out from his bed. “No, sorry Timmy, it’s just me.” You gave him a small smile, checking his vitals. “Where is Mr Puppy?” He asked, wide eyed. “Oh... look, sweetie, Mr Puppy won’t be able to come to the hospital anymore because he’s... run away? Yeah, he’s run away.” You sighed, sitting on the plastic chair next to the bed. “Have you tried looking for him?” He looked to you, hopeful. “He’s just... I don’t think he wants to be found.” You sighed, slightly bitter. A silence filled the room, the two of you lost in your own thoughts. “I miss Mr Puppy.” Timmy said resolutely. “You know what Timmy, I can’t believe I’m saying this... but me too.”

[21 Dec.] (You) I’m assuming you’re on break now? They aren’t giving us any breaks at the hospital because this is the busiest time, apparently - Christmas and New Years, that is >.< How’s your lawyer stuff going? Are you going to be a lawyer forever? [25 Dec.] (You) merry christmas! you’re probably too busy with lawyer stuff since you haven’t replied to any of my texts. That’s chill... you know, Timmy asked me if I could find Mr Puppy for him for Christmas. Not sure if you remember me or any of the things that went down when we were working together because you’re SO busy... just wanted to let you know :/ [26 Dec.] (You) I don’t understand how many people got candy canes stuck up god knows what. My shift on Christmas was probably one of the busiest shifts I’ve had ever!! The consultant says to wait until New Years Eve to make that call... [30 Dec.] (You) you know what? I give up. I’ve tried engaging in conversation but you’re not reciprocating at all. You can’t be THAT busy. I mean, you just started your law degree. Meanwhile, I’m working long hours at the hospital to cover for both of us... I hate this. Looking at your phone for the billionth time, you sighed, placing it back in your locker and throwing on your coat. The hospital was in disarray due to the spike in demand of the services in the last couple of hours. You had the night shift which was the busiest time, especially on New Year’s Eve. Not to mention that you had to do your usual rounds on top of helping out at the ER. You’d think that the hospital would be prepared for this. Weren’t they the ones that told me that New Year’s was busiest? Dumb mistakes, people getting drunk, etc. It’s so— “Y/N! We need you in the ER pronto!” The consultant stuck his head out of the door to the ER, yelling at you to come over, interrupting your internal monologue. What a way to start off the new year...

Sighing, you watched as more patients poured in, many too drunk to remember anything they had done to end up in hospital in the first place, not helping with your diagnosis process at all. You finished up with your current patient, glancing at the crowd in the waiting room, eyes stopping as they drifted past a familiar figure — Kim Seungmin. Your heart leapt at the sight of him, even if he was more or less dragging his friend (?) into a wheelchair in the least graceful way possible. If dragging someone into a wheelchair could ever be considered graceful in the first place. He dropped his friend in the wheelchair, wide-eyed, making their friend wince from the impact, he looked at them pityingly before meeting your eyes. “Y/N! Stop gawking at the patients and actually start helping them! God, we don’t have enough staff for this.” Dr Yoon yelled at you. Not enough staff, you say... You grabbed a spare coat from the receptionist desk, “Hey, Kim Seungmin! I know you’re some fancy law student at the moment, but we need your help! The hospital’s super short staffed right now, so it’s all hands on deck.” You ran towards him, chucking him the spare coat before pointing him towards the mess of an ER. He placed his hand on your arm, ignoring the beat of your heart, you looked up at him, “Hey, for old times sake, how about we have a competition?” He suggested, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Number of patients? You’re on.” You grinned, rushing towards the masses with him, feeling excited towards your job for the first time in a whlile..

“And that was 34-27. I win, yet again. You know, I always wondered why you were first place when I always won against you in these competitions.” You observed, sighing as the two of you walked through the hospital corridor. “This has nothing to do with performance in exams. Besides, you should know this by now, I—“ You halted him, stopping at the children’s ward, “I’m not sure if you got my texts but Timmy’s really missed you. I don’t really understand why, to be honest. You’re not really that missable but—“ He ignored you, entering Timmy’s room. “Mr Puppy!” Timmy exclaimed joyfully as Seungmin beamed at him. “Timmy, you’re still awake? This late in the evening?” You raised an eyebrow expectantly at him, leaning against the door frame. “I wanted to stay up till the fireworks!” He responded honestly. “Didn’t a nurse come in and watch the 9:00 fireworks with you?” You asked. “It’s fine, Y/N. He’s old enough to decide these things on his own.” Seungmin gave you an amused smile as Timmy sat up straight, nodding seriously at Seungmin’s words. “I also wanted to watch them with you and Mr Puppy, but the nurse said that you were too busy.” Timmy pouted, your heart lurching at his words. “Aww, well, Timmy, since we’re here now, we can stay with you, but not to watch the fireworks, because you should sleep. But Mr Puppy and I can read you a bedtime story if you’d like... and I’ll be here when you wake up in the new year. I promise.” You smiled, approaching the hospital bed. “What about Mr Puppy?” He looked expectantly at Seungmin. “Oh no, honey—“ “I’ll be there. I promise.” Seungmin connected his pinky with Timmy’s. You looked at him confusedly as Seungmin pulled out a children’s book and began to read. He looked at you expectantly, gesturing for you to sit next to Timmy. You sat down, thoughts racing, What does he mean by he’ll be there?

“I think he’s asleep now.” Seungmin quietly shut the book, leading the two of you outside into the corridor. “What time is it now?” “Five minutes to midnight.” Seungmin said a matter of factly, checking his watch. “Okay, question. What do you mean you’re going to come back tomorrow?” You crossed your arms over your chest, looking at him expectedly. “I mean, I’m going to come back tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. Basically permanently because I’m studying medicine again.” He gave you a small smile. “What do you mean you’re studying medicine again? What happened to pursuing your dreams and studying law?” You asked incredulously. “Frankly, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Besides, our professor told me to try it out for a week and then actually consider changing. So I was technically still studying medicine. Also, in that week, I had to help Jisung with a lawsuit, which took up all of my time, hence, why I couldn’t respond to any of your texts because he ended up throwing my phone out... it’s a long story. Anyway, that put me off law altogether.” He explained. “Yeah... I can understand why that put you off.” You nodded. “And... there was one other factor preventing me from pursuing law.” Seungmin said tentatively. “Oh? What’s that?” You asked, heart rate quickening. “You.” He pulled you close, looking at you for permission as you nodded, capturing his lips with yours. As people chorused happy new year throughout the hospital... and being told off by consultants for being too loud, Seungmin pulled back, leaning his forehead against yours. “Y/N, you keep me motivated and the time I spent away from you made me realise how much I need you in my life. Every day I spend with you goes by so quickly because you always keep me on my toes... and you’re the only person that can match me in a battle of the wits.” You smiled at his last sentence, bringing him into a hug, before quickly releasing him. “Well, if it wasn’t clear from the kiss, I like you too. However, that’s the least of my concerns... now that you’re back, what does this mean for my ranking?” You asked, wide eyed. “I think I’d still be in first? Technically I never stopped doing this course.” Seungmin said, confused. “What? No. You can’t be first. I’m first. The consultant congratulated me.” You denied. “I guess you’re just going to have to defeat me again, Supreme Ruler Of Second Place.” He teased, dropping a kiss on your forehead before running to the ER. “Kim Seungmin, God so help me. I will beat you this year!”

➳ part seven?  | masterlist!

[drethanramslay]

i would like to request 18 & 56 for ian x mc if you wanna write it🥺👉🏼👈🏼

Thanks for the ask @raleigheffingcarrera ❤️❤️

You can find the prompt list here.

#18- “Do you own anything that isn’t a woollen jumper?”

#56-“I don’t think i’ve ever see you without a book in your hand…”

Word count: 2.1 K (fuck that is longer that I thought it would be)

Author's note: okay so this is my first time writing Ian X mc and I hope it lives up to your expectations 😅

And also I have changed the MC's character a little because let's agree.. um qb MC is creepy🤢

Forgive me if I make any mistakes and I hope you like it ❤️

Falling like the stars

Bianca sat on one of the tables in the almost empty quad, studying. Sure, she was part of 'the Elite' and climbing the popularity charts but being a straight A student for most of her academic career would never remove the nerd in her.

Fall was around the corner, so the trees were a burst of red, orange and green. The leaves rustled with the wind and the setting sun casted long shadows on the ground. The birds chirped and the sky was a hue of reds and pinks, making the entire place look so serene.

There used to have such pretty sunsets back home. Bianca thought, swimming in nostalgia.

Shaking her head, she dived back into her notes, several books open around her as she resumed writing.

It went on like that for an hour before she heard laughter and chatter from the other end of the quad. Students filed out of the anthropology class.

Must be the class which Ian set up for the people who failed the mock test. Bianca mused to herself.

As the students poured out, her eyes kept on flitting to the entrance, waiting for him to come out.

God, just how whipped are you?

Whenever she thought about her past interactions with Ian, she would mentally face palm.

She wanted to bang her head at how cringy and dumb she acted around him. She wanted to be smooth, but she would come across as a creep. She wanted to come across as understanding, but she would come across as pressurising. She wanted to come across as caring, but she ended up being overbearing.

Ian was such a sweetheart that he would brush of the comments but seeing the discomfort in his eyes made her want to curl up into a ball and die.

She just couldn't understand how she manage to fuck up everytime. Sure she was good at flirting with both guys and girls but, that was just mindless fun. Just a mutual exchange.

But with Ian, it was different. Ian was not the kind of guy you could just add to a list of hook ups. He was the kind of guy you could have long conversations and not get bored. He is the kind of guy who would listen to your problems and guide you. He is the kind of guy you could call at 3 am and he would come over to be by your side as you cry.

He is the kind of guy you could fall in love with.

And those guys were dangerous. If you fell for him, your life would never be the same, take it however you want.

Yet... She found herself doing the exact opposite of what she promised herself to not do.

Fall for her anthropology professor.

She saw Ian exit the classroom, his laptop in hand. She observed his outfit and it was the usual he wore. Tie, woollen jumper (for it was chilly), formal pants and brown Oxfords.

Does he own anything that isn't a woollen jumper?

She saw him talk to a couple of students before bidding them good night.

Look away Hughes. Look away before-

His eyes snapped to hers, as if he had an inbuilt radar.

-he sees you.

Blushing and caught in the act, she raised her hand and sent a small wave. He gave a grin and started walking towards her.

Shit shit shit. He is coming here what do I do?

Be yourself. He inner voice said, which sounded eerily like Zoey's.

Be myself? What kind of dumb advice is that.

She looked down at her notes, her voluminous curls covering her face praying to God, that she doesn't fuck up this time.

"In the entirety of this week, I don't think I've seen you without a book in your hand..." Ian spoke up, an amused grin on his face.

Twirling her pen she spoke. "Well there is a saying- No matter what clothes you wear, you can't shake out the nerd in you."

"Let me guess, its a quote which you came up on the spot."

Shooting an embarassing grim she spoke. "Guilty as charged. There is a reason I'm not majoring in Lit."

They both chuckled. Cupping her face in her hand she said, "You look awfully cheery today."

"Obviously, it's the weekend and I'm not going to have to deal with students and faculty for 48 hours."

Giving her books a stink eye she sighed. "I wish I could get out. I'm just so done with everyone."

"Why is that? Aren't you like Miss Popular now? Where are your friends?"

"They aren't-" stopping abruptly she sighed and played with her hands on the table.

Ian reached and squeezed one of her hands which had her looking up to see kind dark eyes stare back at her. "Something's bothering you. Do you wanna talk about it? I'm a good listener."

Her heart leaped but her notes glared back at her. "I would love to but I have to study."

"Yeah, I know that. But I also know that you should not burn yourself out. When was the last break you took? Or the last time you are?"

Silence.

"Well that answers my concerns. C'mon I know this food truck with delicious giant burritos."

Closing her book shuts and placing her pens into her pouch she stood up and stretched. Ian's eyes narrowed on to the exposed skin of her torso.

Ian, calm down. Don't stare at her like you want to fuck her. She is your student and you are the professor. He chanted to himself before helping her close her books.

Placing the books in her satchel, she threw the strap over her shoulder. "Okay. I won't turn down a giant burrito. But we will need to come back in an hour and half."

"Deal."

"This guy is a culinary genius. I used to come here to eat when I first shifted to NYC. They are so big-"

————————————————————————————-

"Oh god this smells sooo good." Bianca said as they stood in line for the food truck.

"That's what she said." Bianca snickered to which Ian gave an unamused expression.

She shrugged and gave an unbiased grin. "What? I saw the opportunity and I just couldn't let it slide."

"I swear you need Jesus." Ian muttered under his breath before stepping forward to place their order.

"Here, let me pay-" Bianca said as she reached for her purse but, was stopped by Ian grasping her wrist and shaking his head.

"It's my 'good luck for your exams' treat for you."

Bianca looked down, a shy smiling on her face.

Why do I get so flustered around him?

Taking their food, they walked further into the park and sat on a bench facing a small pond.

Unwrapping her burrito eagerly, she took a big bite and groaned as the spicy flavours burst into her mouth. "This is sho goofff." She said with her mouth full.

"Told you it would be worth it. " Ian said as he took a sip of his coke.

Gulping she smiled. "Never doubted you for a second."

"Wait you have something...here." Ian reached forward to wipe the sauce at the edge of her mouth with his thumb which left an onslaught of butterflies in her tummy.

Thank god it's dark and he can't see my cheeks.

They continued to eat in a comfortable silence before Ian spoke up. "So, are you ready to tell me what's bothering you?"

Swallowing her bite, she sighed. "It's just... I'm exhausted."

"Is it about your exams?"

"Nope. I love studying as dorky as it sounds. It's my only escape. But... I'm tired of everything else, y'know?"

"Is it about 'the T'? Poppy? The popularity hierarchy here?"

She scoffed as she agressively took a bite of her burrito. "Try all of the above."

Turning towards him, she spoke, her forehead furrowed with annoyance. "Do you how shitty this entire charade is? It feels like I'm in the fuckin Hunger games over here. I never gave a damn about how popular I am or how feminine I need to look or what kind of threads I need to wear to impress people. I am a 'band tee, shirts and Vans' kinda girl but here I am wearing-" she pointed at her black woollen turtle neck, her pleated skirt and knee length boots "- THIS! My mom would be shocked that I actually am wearing a skirt."

"I think you look beautiful." The compliment slipped out of his mouth without him even realizing.

His eyes widened after a moment. "I-" he began but he was stopped short by Bianca shaking her head and squeezing his arm in gratitude.

"Thank you Ian. But coming back to the topic, this is straight something out of mean girls and it's so unnatural. Hell, in my previous college everyone was too stressed and depressed to bother about this... This popularity contest!"

"Yep. That's Belvoire for you. Where the rich will trample over the poor." Sarcasm dripping off his lips which had Bianca chuckling.

Raising their coke bottles they clinged to each others. "I will drink to that."

Taking a sip, they both gazed at the water. The night sky reflected in it which made the entire place look magical. After sometime, Bianca spoke up. "I am not liking how it's changing me."

Ian turned towards her, their knees brushing against each other. Ian exercised his absolute control and willpower to not look down at the expanse of her legs.

"Care to elaborate?"

Letting out a humourless laugh she continued. "When I was accepted to Belvoire, I thought it would open up so many new opportunities. The exposure and knowledge would help me sharpen my skills. The various job offers and the placement deals... The list could go on and on."

Looking down at her almost finsihed burrito, she sighed. "But it's just opened up doors to manipulation, deceit and savageness."

Sighing, Ian gazed into the distance. "Well that is the funny thing about these elite schools. They promise you dreams but tell you you aren't good enough the moment you enter. They promise you hope that life will turn around but tell you that you are destined to your old ways. At the end of this torment, you are so way off from your morals. It's a paradox which I hate."

"Exactly!! And see, I'm assertive, I don't take shit from anyone and I won't hesitate to give it back to a bully. But, that became an invitation for people to see me as someone who would dethrone Poppy. It's tremendous pressure and Zoey has taken up the job of being some, marketing manager, trying to sell this brand called 'Bianca Hughes'. I love that girl but damn... I didn't sign up for this."

Ian wiped his mouth before continuing. "Sorry if this come across as crass, but I have noticed how you bask in the constant fawning and how most of the campus is head over heels in love."

"Well, I also have years of drama classes under the belt. It's all an act Ian. I am in this constant state of turned on and I am not able to turn it off."

Ian eyes bugged out and Bianca turned red after she realized what she said. "I didn't mean it in the sex way I meant it- argh!" She smacked her hand on her forehead.

Chuckling Ian squeezed her shoulder. "No I get it. You have been putting up a facade of someone you aren't and that would, of course be tiring. Years of staying here in the Big Apple and till this day, I wonder how far have I gone from the wide eyed boy who grew up in the suburbs. Would he be proud of what I have accomplished? Or be ashamed of how I have deviated from my morals?"

She shot a smile his way. "Well I think he would be proud. Despite how much the people around here drag you down, you are one of the most genuine people I have come across in this jungle filled with snakes. It feels nice that I have someone I can talk to about mundane problems without being judged, y'know?"

Ian smiled back at her and squeezed her hand. "Me too. I care about you and I am always here to listen to your problems and guide you. You are unique and don't let this entire ordeal take that away from you."

"Thank you Ian. I really appreciate it."

They got and threw the trash into the adjacent garbage as they started heading back for campus.

"Ian?"

"Yeah Bianca?" Ian turned towards her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry if I come to hard on you. I don't do it on purpose, I swear! It's just - oof all my words get muddled up due to my feelings and I end up embarassing myself and making you uncomfortable."

He chuckled as he tucked her hair behind her ear, his gaze flitting to her brown orbs. "It's okay Bianca. People do crazy things when they have crush-itis."

"Lemme guess, you came up with that disease right now."

"Just like you did with that quote. Remind me again, what was it? No matter what clothes-"

She cut him off by lightly shoving him "Shut up." But he just continued laughing.

"You are annoying." She grumbled.

"But you still like me." He said as he nudged her shoulder.

That I do...

Ian X MC: @lucy-268 @ethandaddyramsey @noboundariesplease @hyperlightgrifter @mals-chesthair @theodorepjames4 @edgiestwinter @findmeafterlife @magicalshepherdtreeprofessor @ohramsey

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Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list

[halothenthehorns]

TLTNL- THE CENTAUR AND THE SNEAK

Harry continued on with very mixed feelings. His lessons with Snape didn't seem to be getting better, in fact every aspect of his life in school kept getting worse like a very steep cliff he wasn't going to be able to stay balanced on much longer.

Parvati was asking of Hermione if she regretted giving up Divination now.

"To take lessons from a Centaur?" Lily puzzled for a moment. "Yeah, I would be, a bit."

"He's still going to be teaching the same nonsense as Trelawney," Remus insisted, "he'll just be part horse while doing it."

"There's some novelty just for saying that to other students though," Sirius chuckled.

It was breakfast, two days after Trelawney's sacking, and Parvati was curling her eyelashes around her wand while chatting with those around her.

James looked a bit concerned the girl was going to accidentally blow her face off, but he'd never tell that to her face, she had to learn consequences.

Hermione didn't even look up from her paper as she said it made no difference to her, she didn't like horses.

"I thought it was a rule, all girls like horses," Sirius grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes at his idiocy, while Harry had a pleasant little smile for some idea he couldn't quite place, but he had a feeling he had a fondness for horses he wasn't yet sure of.

  Lavender looked affronted, correcting he wasn't a horse, but a centaur, Parvati agreeing a gorgeous centaur.

Hermione didn't see the difference, he still had four legs. Then she redirected weren't they all upset Trelawney was gone?

Lavender agreed at once, they'd even brought her some daffodils, not the honking ones from Sprout's garden, but nice ones.

"Can't argue with that one though," Sirius shrugged, he'd never liked the plants that made noises in particular.

Harry asked how his former teacher was doing.

Lily grinned for her child. As daft as he could be, he was never uncaring.

Lavender sighed with sympathy not well, she was still crying and wishing she'd just left, she didn't want to be here while Umbridge was, asking of the others wasn't Umbridge just horrible.

"We'd all say," Lily shook her head in disgust, still adamant she wouldn't have stood idly by during that. She didn't care what Umbridge could do to her, she'd never just stand by and watch such public humiliation take place even against someone she didn't like.

Hermione said she was only just getting started.

"I feel like that should be impossible," James groaned.

"And yet I believe her," Remus said grimly.

Umbridge was not going to be happy Dumbledore hired another part human.

"Am not arguing that point," Lily sighed.

When breakfast was over, Hermione left for Arithmancy, and Harry and Ron at first tried to make for their usual tower, but realized Parvati and Lavender were bypassing the staircase.

"Dumbledore said he'd want to be on the ground floor, and now I get why," Sirius said, looking confused at Ron's lapse.

"Maybe Ron wasn't there, he'd left already," Remus reminded, the whole school hadn't been crowded around after all, it was the tail end of dinner he recalled, and Hermione might have convinced him to get to some school work early, for once.

Parvati scornfully corrected he couldn't make it up those stairs with his hooves, they were in classroom eleven now. Harry had never investigated the rooms right off the Great Hall before.

"I've never more than poked my head into these," Lily said curiously, wondering if Firenze was going to do anything more than the usual set up.

Harry only knew these as unused classrooms, so when he entered behind Ron, he thought he was at the wrong place.

Seemingly wider than it should be, the floor was soft, spring grass, and the trees surrounding them had a thick canopy that seemingly opened to the sky above. 

"I think that counts," she said aloud in surprise.

"Wow," Sirius exaggerated the word out of curiosity as he could only visualize that inside the castle. "Let's see what we can do to have Firenze get the job before Trelawney just for this."

 Standing in the middle of the room was Firenze.

"Sounds like a sight," James said, feeling a buzz pulse through him for wanting to see this for himself.

Harry was greeted by his full name by him.

Harry felt like the first day of school again, he'd never liked being singled out, especially a teacher, and especially by such an...outstanding teacher. Even if they had already met.

Harry gave him an uneasy hello back.

Firenze said he was not surprised to see him again, it was foretold they would.

"Really? Maybe these things should come with cliff notes if that was implied somewhere I didn't see," Remus muttered, causing Sirius to snort loudly while the others ignored him.

Harry noticed there was the shadow of a hoof-shaped bruise on Firenze's chest.

"Oh dear," Lily sighed.

"Oh Centaur," James corrected. "I can imagine the rest of his heard isn't too happy with this."

Lily gave him the stank eye for the correction without disagreeing.

He turned and sat down with the rest of the class, finding most of whom were staring at him while resting against trees a wide berth from Firenze whom they seemed to find intimidating.

"While I don't blame them," Harry sighed, "don't they ever get tired of staring at me?"

"Stop doing things to cause them to stare at you, like get saved by a centaur," Sirius said in a vain attempt at helpfulness.

When the door was closed and the last student had sat down on a tree stump beside the wastepaper basket,

James smirked with pride and asked, "Everyone else was sitting on the floor, who was the one who decided they got the tree stump?"

"Some Ravenclaw student who always sat on the floor rather than the poofs in Trelawney's class," Harry shrugged. "I think her name was Felicity or something, Trelawney always seemed to like her anyways. I think it's because she used to be a Ravenclaw herself."*

The boys chuckled lightly at the display, though Lily suspected it was just because they would have done the same.

Firenze began addressing them that this classroom existed as a gift from Dumbledore, who had helped him to imitate his natural home, which would be impossible to enter again for their lessons.

"Oh," Lily's face folded in concern and confusion.

"Well I imagine the other centaurs weren't pleased with this," Remus agreed uneasily, "but I wouldn't have thought they'd flat kick him out for doing this for Dumbledore."

"I can picture it," Sirius said grimly. "This is strike number two that we know about in Firenze helping out humans, normally we're tolerated at best. You remember Bane's reaction," he spoke more to Harry now, seeing the pity on his face for someone who'd once saved his life. "This is an even worse offense than Firenze giving you a ride, if you can believe."

Harry just nodded he understood even as he continued to feel worse for Firenze constantly being on the outs of his kind for his help.

Parvati raised her hand, uneasily calling out for his attention by simply addressing him as sir,

"Guess they just realized they don't have a last name for him," James tried to change the subject.

"Do centaurs have last names?" Harry asked, wondering if this was just something they were missing, though as Dumbledore hadn't introduced him with one it seemed more likely not.

"Not that I've ever heard," Remus said with hints of fascination creeping in. "I'm not even sure how they name each other, very little is known about their culture as they're so private about it."

Sirius took the opportune subject that didn't come up much to ask a question that popped into his head, "Do baby centaur's breast feed, or do the females have-"

"And I'm going to stop you right there on the grounds of reminding, I don't know," Remus said the last three words particularly clear. "Nor will I ever ask one. Harry please keep going," he turned to all but beg before Sirius could come up with more.

and asking why this was, they'd been in with Hagrid and weren't afraid.

"Wouldn't have guessed that from their last class," James rolled his eyes as he remembered the thestrals.

Firenze corrected it was not a matter of their fear, but of himself, he was banished from his herd.

They didn't even know Firenze and they all felt genuine sorrow for the poor guy. There could have been more reasons going on than just him taking the job, but the point was what was with this year and everyone being so isolated?

Lavender repeated the word herd in confusion, perhaps thinking more of cows.

Sirius snorted just a bit in surprise. She'd laughed at Hermione for not liking horses much, but didn't know they were called herds?

Then she realized he meant there were more than just Firenze out there.

"Does she know nothing of the Forbidden Forest?" James spluttered at that question.

"I didn't know there were any in there until you told me," Lily frowned at him. "Most people actually listen to the rule of not going in there, so wouldn't know what was in there."

James still looked too stunned to have even heard her.

Dean asked if Hagrid had bred them like he had the Thestrals?

All five of them winced hard, Remus even shifting a bit like he'd put a Shield Charm up in a second for the poor kid. That would get you killed with any other Centaur except this one, and even then, they weren't sure what kind of temper Firenze could have.

Firenze turned very slowly to face Dean, who seemed to have realized he'd just insulted the centaur and apologized as he was corrected they were no playthings of humans.

There was a pause before Parvati raised her hand again.

"Brave of her," Lily murmured, "I don't think I'd have kept questioning him after that."

She asked why he'd been banished, and Firenze explained it was because he'd agreed to come work for Dumbledore, others saw this as a betrayal of his kind.

Harry remembered back to meeting Bane, who'd accused Firenze of being a common mule when he'd seen Harry on his back, and wondered if he'd been the one to kick Firenze.

"There are more centaurs than just those two," James told Harry.

"Though I'd believe it of any in there, even that calmer one," Sirius shrugged, not remembering the name of the last centaur that night, but his point still stood.

Firenze seemed to feel that was enough questions as he began the lessons, reaching up and pulling the canopy even lower so that the dappled lighting faded, and now it was twilight above with all stars visible. The class gasped in surprise.

That gave them all a smile again, Lily humming with appreciation for the visual.

He had them lie on their backs to observe the heavens, beginning to explain that centaurs had spent their generations unraveling the mysterious movements of everything through planets.

Parvati interrupted to tell what Trelawney had taught, like Mars caused burns and accidents-

but Firenze cut in to say this was human nonsense.

"I'll bet she loved that," Sirius snorted.

"Wonder who's going to win their favor, the pretty horse, or their first favorite teacher," Remus rolled his eyes.

"Considering he's not pandering to what they were first taught, my money would be on Trelawney," James shrugged.

Those were of no more significance than a scurrying ant, unaffected by planetary movements.

"I rather like him though," Lily's grin kept twitching with warmth. "If this is how his Divination classes had always gone, at least he's keeping things at a broader level like I always thought it to be, not scaring the kids."

Parvati began to say with hurt in her voice that Trelawney had said-

"Is she really going to argue for the old teacher to the new one?" Sirius ruffled his brow, though he couldn't help admire her determination just a bit even not liking Trelawney.

Harry hadn't much thought of it, thinking of how a few students had done the same for some of their favorite previous Defense teachers.

yet again Firenze cut into state she was a simple human, and therefore blinded by limitations of their kind.

"They seem to think rather highly of themselves though," James chuckled.

"We already knew that," Remus rolled his eyes.

"You probably realized it from experience," Lily muttered.

Harry turned his head very slightly to look at Parvati. She looked very offended, as did several of the people surrounding her.

Sirius couldn't help snickering. They at least knew Trelawney as a real Seer, but those kids didn't and were reacting anyways just out of respect for a teacher, he couldn't help indulging them even if he wouldn't have done the same.

Firenze continued Trelawney wasted her time on fortune-telling, but Firenze as going to show them the impartial nature of the planets, though it may take years to truly find any message. He gestured for them to see one of the brightest spots in the sky, declaring that as Mars, bringer of battles, and its position foretold of a coming war.

"Isn't Mars the Roman god of war?" James reminded. "So apparently it's okay to predict a war is coming for the whole world, but not as a warning for when to handle hot things?"

"You lot just love having a go at everyone, don't you?" Lily rolled her eyes even already knowing the answer. She never would have guessed they'd be poking fun at Firenze's class with anything to do with what Trelawney had told Parvati and Lavender, but she could also tell they were only doing it for their own amusement, this hadn't turned them into believers of this branch of magic any more than McGonagall even with their knowledge of a war to come.

Also to be used were plumes of smoke and their symbols you could ordain. He demonstrated this for them as well, but seemed unsurprised when no one claimed to spot anything, insisting several times that even competent Centaurus took lifetimes to piece together these clues, and even they could be wrong.

"I do love a teacher that tells you what you're doing is pointless," Sirius snickered louder than ever.

His priority did not seem to be to teach them what he knew, but rather to impress upon them that nothing, not even centaurs' knowledge, was foolproof.

"A valuable lesson in itself," Remus nodded solemnly.

"Wonder what his finals are going to be like," Sirius muttered for himself, he still wanted to be sick at the thought of Trelawney's first.

Ron muttered he wasn't definite on anything was he? Ron would like a few more clues on this war.

"I'm more worried you're going to find details of that in history rather than the stars," James sighed.

When class was dismissed, Harry was called back, and Ron was allowed to stay as Firenze asked if they were friends with Hagrid.

"Odd way to start, doesn't he see Hagrid himself enough now," Lily frowned.

When Harry agreed, he was asked to pass along a message, 'his attempt is not working, he should abandon it.'

Harry's face puckered with concern, he had a feeling about Firenze's message, and it wasn't strictly a good thing.

The others were clearly in his exact line of thinking, wondering what on Earth Hagrid could be up to that would have him being warned off by a Centaur.

He said he'd give this himself, but he did not think it wise to be too close to the Forest as of now.

"So he's not even planning on leaving the castle for a bit," James wasn't very distracted from whatever Hagrid was doing by this scrap of information no matter how depressing it was.

"That poor guy, I can't imagine how shut up he'd feel, oh wait, yes I can," Sirius grumbled.

Remus gave him a sideways glare, wishing he'd stop referring to himself like it was really happening to him, but then he supposed, Sirius was a bit shut up in here without his say so, so he let the comment slide.

Harry asked what Hagrid was attempting to do?

"Thank you," they all muttered, honestly hoping for an answer for once. Hagrid had been nothing but a mystery all year, and the longer it dragged out, the more uneasy they got.

Firenze debated answering before speaking that this was not his to tell, and he owed Hagrid his life.

"That's, fair," James conceded even if he did sigh with disappointment.

"Hagrid's doing something really off his rocker in the Forest though," Remus surmised from that.

"You think it's what's causing his injuries, he's trying to domesticate something new?" Sirius guessed.

"If he found something on the way back from the giants and been working on it since then," Lily grudgingly agreed.

"Please be anything other than a dragon," Sirius muttered.

Harry's headache was returning with a flurry now. They were very close, he could feel that, but despite that they still weren't close enough he could safely understand without hurting himself further, so in their lull without any further guesses he tried to keep going.

Then Harry was dismissed, more worried than ever.

His good mood from The Quibbler article had not lasted long, and by the time April came, he seemed to do nothing but worry.

"That's really getting depressing," James grumbled for Lily alone. He didn't want his son to hear how much this was bringing them all down, but really, his son's life needed far more fun in it than they were being offered.

It took Harry some time to deliver Firenze's warning, as Umbridge was still overseeing all classes, but finally he managed it by going back for a book he'd missed.

When told, Hagrid only said Firenze was a nice bloke and all, but he didn't know what he was talking about, the attempt was coming along fine.

"It worries me he didn't bother to deny for a second he's doing something," Lily groaned.

"Guess by this point he knew not to bother with Harry," James grudgingly pointed out.

Harry very seriously asked what Hagrid was up to.

"You know very well what I'm up to," Sirius told Harry with mock confusion. "Can't get up to very many things in those walls."

Harry offered him a smile for the joke as always, even if his eyes did tighten with concern for the reminder.

He had to be careful, Umbridge could be on a roll, and he could be next.

Harry felt a very uneasy tingling course through him for that, fear that Hagrid wouldn't actually be Umbridge's next victim of this school, but he also couldn't imagine any other teachers on probation so tried to let it go.

Hagrid simply said there were things more important than a job.

"What on Earth is Hagrid training?" Remus demanded with genuine concern now. He valued magical creatures lives as well, he could certainly imagine defending very many, but something of how Hagrid put that really made him believe this wasn't just any beast.

"I'll be sure to let you know if I find out," Sirius snarked, but all of them were watching with more concern than ever for what Hagrid could be doing. The worst bit was, if Hagrid really believed that, then they couldn't even fault him anymore for whatever he was doing and would feel the need to back him up on it now on principle.

He shooed Harry on, and he had no more room to argue. His other problems continued to pile up, like his homework. As the teachers, and Hermione, were now constantly reminding, OWLs were growing closer all the time, and many of the students were starting to feel the train, like Hannah Abbott who had a breakdown in Herbology she was too stupid to continue school.

Lily crooned for the poor thing, the ones who had taken these tests in full understanding of how stressful they were.

If it had not been for the DA lessons, Harry thought he would have been extremely unhappy.

"That's putting it mildly," Harry muttered.

He lived for the hours he spent in the Room of Requirements, helping those around him work, and smiled frequently at the thought of Umbridge's face when every member gained an Outstanding on their Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL.

"Probably put all that on herself," Remus scoffed in disgust.

"And yet I can't wait for Harry to inform her otherwise," James smirked.

Harry had finally begun teaching them patronuses, and though many managed it, he cautioned greatly this would be much different in front of the actual creature.

That put a spark of enthusiasm into all of them at once. Patronuses were a very special kind of protection to them, especially after what Harry went through, and they were enthralled to see even more.

Cho told Harry he was being a killjoy, they were pretty, as her swan-patronus soared through the room.

"Oh," Lily crooned, "I always expected mine to be a bird, maybe even that one."

"But you don't like to fly?" James pointed out with just a slight pout, he loved that his wife's was his own.

"But I love birds, I always wanted my own, and swans mate for life. I knew whoever I'd fall in love with I'd lover forever."

James looked nullified and stopped arguing the point, while Lily continued to eye Harry with curiosity. If Cho had decided Harry was the one for her, that could mean he truly had found the love of his life as well.

Harry corrected they weren't supposed to be pretty, they were supposed to protect you.

"I don't see why they can't be both," Sirius smirked.

"Don't worry Padfoot, we think you're plenty pretty," Remus snarked while Sirius frowned at him. At least he acknowledged what his Patronus was, Remus would hardly bare to say it aloud.

Harry was musing to himself what they really needed was a Boggart to practice on- but Lavender told him that would be too scary, her own patronus still a vapor.

"I think scary is what she needs right now," Remus said with sympathy. "Something to help her better grasp what she's going to do, just trying without motivation won't get you very far."

"Apparently the motivation to see the pretty animal isn't good enough for everyone," James smirked at Sirius, who stuck his tongue out.

Neville was having problems as well, though his face was screwed with concentration, only feeble wisps came out.

Lily sighed for the poor dear. This really was advanced magic even without the dementor around, it was no reflection on him if this was still a touch above his ability.

Harry reminded he needed to be focusing on a happy memory.

"How many times had you reminded him of that?" Sirius snorted, that was the first thing anyone said when telling how to do a Patronus. "Haven't you learned your own lesson? Being told the same advice helps nothing."

"I was trying to do it the same way Remus taught me," Harry defended. "I told them to try different happy memories, something really powerful to them."

Invited along to his very first meeting by Dean, Seamus called for Harry's attention, saying he was doing it!

"Hey," Remus said in protest, and some concern, "how come Dean wasn't hexed for telling Seamus?"

"Dean asked me if he could come along now that we were speaking to each other," Harry shrugged. "I didn't ask for details, but Hermione agreed and said it wouldn't affect her charm, I suppose she may have temporarily lifted it for Dean so he could tell Seamus."

By the time Harry had looked, it had gone, but Seamus promised Harry it was something hairy.

Harry looked bemused for a moment at Seamus' words, and was not at all expecting his godfather at his side to grin in a now familiar way as he declared, "it's good Seamus has come back when he did, now he can realize all the hairy situations Harry gets up to."

James got to his feet just so he could smack Sirius upside the head for that one, while Lily looked horrified. "How long have you been sitting on that one! Merlin, James you couldn't have warned me earlier that's why Sirius was so happy when we told him our baby's name!"

"It's not like that was the first thing I thought of," James defended as he kept looking in exasperation at his best friend.

"HIs name pun wasn't my first thought," Sirius emphasized, before smirking over at Harry who was still snickering away. "It was the second. The first was how much I'm going to love this kid."

James wanted to keep scowling at him, trying to pass along his infernal joke like that, but it was impossible to hold any anger after that. Lily muttered her husband was a traitor even while she was smiling in agreement.

Hermione's Patronus, a shining silver otter, was gamboling around her.

Remus happily decided to change the subject before Sirius could come up with the idea that all of these Patronuses were hairy thanks to Harry, and instead said loudly, "Was it a river otter, or a sea otter?"

"Err," Harry said in surprise, he hadn't realized there were two different kinds, never having looked up much about animals.

"Was it small and fuzzy, or bigger and rather menacing," Sirius elaborated.

"Small and fuzzy," Harry recalled.

"Sea otter then," Remus decided.

"Can you imagine her animagus," Lily grinned fondly, "she'd be absolutely adorable."

"You've never called us adorable," James accused.

"As if you need the validation," Lily rolled her eyes.

The door opened then, and Harry looked around in surprise as he'd thought all members were present. Then he felt a tugging near his knees, and looked down to see Dobby, still accompanied by half a dozen woolly hats.

"Oh no, Hermione's going to find out about that," Sirius drawled.

"I'm wondering why he's there," Remus said curiously. "He's never interrupted a DA meeting before."

Lily felt a shot of horror at the look on Harry's face that promised it may not be for a good reason, but they'd been enjoying their little chat for so long she asked, "How many others had managed one?"

"Quite a few," Harry shook himself, more than happily staying on track. "Ah, Luna's was a rabbit, the twins was a raven and a coyote, though I'm not sure who was who, err, Ginny's was a horse, Ron's was really coming along, it really had a shape there for a moment but it hadn't distinguished itself quite yet when Dobby came in."

"That's brilliant," Remus congratulated Harry, he truly was an excellent teacher to be helping them out with this, though he agreed with Harry it was all for show unless they could do it around the creature, this was still quite good of all of them.

Harry asked him what was wrong, as clearly something was, his eyes were wide with terror and he was shaking.

"Oh dear," Lily managed to get out, face going blank with shock for a moment before the fear slammed in. This was supposed to be Harry's comfort place, his one reason for continuing school, what bad news was worth Dobby interrupting this. Watching Harry now was not encouraging an answer, but thankfully she wasn't the one reading, Harry as always forcing himself to go on with a set look in place no matter how much his voice shook for it.

Now everyone around him was looking on in silence, what few Patronuses had been conjured vanishing and making the room feel darker.

Sirius shivered slightly. Normally allowing your Patronus to fade meant the fight was over, but this still managed to feel ominous for whatever Dobby was fixing to say.

Dobby seemed unable to speak though, trying to brokenly say the house-elves had been warned not to tell, but Dobby had to warn- then he tried to run head first into the nearest wall.

Harry, having experience with Dobby's habits, grabbed the elf's arm to stop him and ask who had done what, but all Dobby could say was she.

"Spit it out," James got out through gritted teeth, but his flashing eyes made it clear they all had a guess what had happened, and it wasn't McGonagall finding out.

Harry feared he understood though, clarifying Umbridge knew about this place, the DA?

"I'm going to kill someone," Sirius growled.

"How!" Remus demanded. "Did any of the house-elves even know about this besides Dobby, because we know it wasn't him."

"Maybe it was Winky," James said with a scowl. "The little ones probably still so out of it she'd blab anything, and I wouldn't put it past Umbridge to somehow put the pieces together to follow a link between her, Dobby, and Harry and realize something was up."

"How would she have known that?" Harry managed to get out instead of screaming in frustration. "We'd been really careful, Umbridge shouldn't have had a clue to go looking for this at all." He was getting a terrible feeling, his mind flipping through all members of the DA, he just knew he should have realized someone was missing but he couldn't place a name in his panic.

Finally, with a howl of misery, Dobby nodded and tried to continue to beat himself up.

Harry looked up in horror at everyone else before yelling loudly for them all to run!

Sirius could feel almost a laugh somewhere in there, for the chaos that could be erupted from this group suddenly stampeding through corridors in their effort to avoid that frog reject, but it was lost as his heart thudded into his ribs picturing what would happen if they got caught.

There was a sudden pile up at the door, Ron and Hermione got swept away as Harry hesitated an extra moment to scoop up Dobby, and was the last one out so he could shut the door behind him. He hoped they wouldn't all try to make it back to their dorms, as the Owlery and Library were much closer.

Dobby, who was still attempting to do himself a serious injury,

"Don't you even," Remus told him breathlessly, all eyes locked on Harry to watch him get out of this, but Sirius had no self-restraint as he blurted, "I'm sure you could have used my help right then, sorry I couldn't have offered it."

Harry broke off for a moment to chuckle weakly for his godfather, but it did nothing to relieve the tense set of his mouth, the anger he was having to run from the one thing he'd been using to fight back.

was still under his arm as he reached the hallway. He gave the order to him,

"Err, Harry," Lily couldn't help but remind softly, "I don't think you can be giving him orders."

"I don't know," James suddenly put in with an interested look on his face. "I've never known a free elf before, but maybe without being tied to anyone's family, anyone can give them an Order and they'd have to follow through with it. The ones at Hogwarts are compelled to follow any staff members orders, their 'family' is the school after all, maybe this is an even more loose interpretation of-"

He cut himself off as he realized Harry was practically vibrating in place from failed adrenaline, and James realized there was a time and place for this speculation, and now wasn't it.

to go back to the kitchens and deny he'd told anyone, and no hurting himself!

Lily shifted uneasily in her seat, beyond pleased Harry had taken the time to do that for Dobby, but all the more worried what his delay would cost him. She couldn't help the visions flashing across her eyes of what worse than detention Umbridge could get away with doing to Harry when she found out about this.

Dobby squeaked a thank you as he vanished, and Harry tore off for a nearby bathroom he could claim to have come from.

Sirius opened his mouth with a look in place promising it wasn't helpful advice, but Harry hadn't taken notice in time for him to begin as he kept reading feverishly.

Something caught his ankles, and before he knew it he was skidding along instead a good six feet before coming to a halt beside an ugly dragon-shaped vase Malfoy was hiding behind.

"That about described everything about him," James muttered hatefully, the lot of them growing more tense by the second.

"What's he even doing there?" Sirius howled in frustration. "That scum sucker has nothing to do with-"

Harry normally had not a problem with them ranting about Malfoy, but his throat was threatening to close shut with fear if he didn't keep using it, so he kept going loudly for an explanation instead.

He cackled about his own use of a Trip Jinx before calling out for Professor Umbridge, who came upon them with a delighted smile.

Remus was grinding his teeth in deep frustration more every second, wishing those DA kids could turn all those spells they'd learned onto some useful target practice right about now.

Neither were surprised to find Potter, but both jubilant as Umbridge hoisted him back to his feet and instructed Malfoy to find some more. Harry had never seen her looking so happy.

"I can take her face off so you never have to see any expression again," Sirius tried to offer in an attempt at a polite voice.

She instructed for Malfoy and his fellows to stop anyone who was out of breath.

"That doesn't mean a thing!" Lily hissed in outrage. "Harry could have just been running down the hall for any reason, she has no right to-" she cut herself off and ran her nails against her scalp, snagging a few strands of hair but forcing herself not to keep going.

Then Umbridge began marching him along to the Headmasters office. Harry went in her wake with dread for all those who could still be caught. Ron, and how Mrs. Weasley was going to kill him.

"Kill Umbridge more like," James honestly believed. No matter how bad the overbearing mother got, he had to believe she'd stand up for her kids before siding with that fake blood stain.

How Hermione would feel if she was expelled before she could take her OWLs.

"Poor girl will have heart failure," Remus said with absolute belief.

It had been Seamus's very first meeting, and Neville had been getting so good.

Lily watched her son read through all of that with such mixed feelings, but a surprisingly warm glow. Even in the face of his own expulsion, where he'd likely end up back at the Dursleys for perhaps an hour before Sirius showed up and murdered them all, he was still far more concerned about everyone else. Her son really was the most genuine person she'd ever met.

They reached the office to find it already crowded, with Dumbledore at his desk staring serenely on at everyone. McGonagall was at his right with a severe expression in place, Fudge was by the fireplace and looking pleased with this situation,

"Why's he there?" Sirius snarled in outrage.

"Umbridge may have sent something along when she found out this information, wanted him to be there so he could gloat," Remus pointed out with disgust.

Kingsley Shacklebolt and a tough-looking wizard with very short wiry hair whom Harry did not recognize, were positioned either side of the door like guards,

"Another Auror, I'm guessing," James ruffled up his brows. "Probably Kingsley's partner."

"I want Harry to pause for just a moment so I can laugh at this one," Sirius snickered, though was as pleased as anyone Fudge clearly suspected nothing of Kingsley at least for him to be there.

"Why are any Aurors there?" Lily cut into their amusement with still high disgust. "Did Fudge really think he needed protection from Dumbledore now?"

"I sure would if I was Fudge," Remus sneered.

as pleased as anyone Fudge clearly suspected nothing of Kingsley at least for him to be there.

Percy Weasley hovered excitedly beside the wall, a quill and a heavy scroll of parchment in his hands, apparently poised to take notes.

Harry muttered something quite foul under his breath that made Lily frown slightly at him no matter how much he deserved it. This was twice now Percy had been in on Fudge's side of the room and as obnoxious as ever. She wished she'd shared her idea now, that maybe Percy was still trying to help in his own way...but she had no more evidence than a mother's wish the boy hadn't really turned completely on his family.

The portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses were not shamming sleep tonight. All of them were alert and serious,

"Not all of them should be me at once," Sirius only contemplated for the barest second before continuing on the same breath, "at least two of them could be Prongs. Sorry Moony, I've never met anyone who wanted to act like you though."

Remus was torn between smacking him and telling him to shut up that time, but Harry was ignoring them both.

watching the events unfold below them, which started with Fudge gloatingly stating 'well, well, well.'

Harry gave him the dirtiest look back he could muster.

"A truly terrifying face," James agreed without an ounce of mocking, "I'm surprised Fudge isn't jumping out the window.

His heart drummed madly inside him, but his brain was oddly cool and clear.

"I've noticed that frequently about you," Lily praised. "Though I do wish you'd stop finding reasons for me to realize that."

For a moment Harry was worried his mother had changed her mind, and in the face of expulsion, she regretted all he'd been doing with the DA, but she was as calm as ever, promising retribution to anyone who dared do a single thing against her son for what he was doing.

Umbridge said for him he was heading for Gryffindor tower when he'd been caught, an excitement in her voice the likes of which Harry had heard when Trelawney was being sacked.

"I can only imagine what Harry would have done in that circle," Sirius said nastily, knowing his godson would not have devolved into tears, but probably started a full on war in the middle of the Entrance Hall.

Then she explained how he'd been caught, and Fudge turned to Harry and said he expected Potter knew why he was here.

"To show some competence in the farce of your employee?" Remus put politely.

"I'd go for deniability," Lily said grimly, "he was caught in the middle of a hallway doing nothing, what can they prove."

"Since Dobby showed up, I think they did have something of use," James disagreed, "so at this point, it's going out with a bang."

Harry had every intentions of beginning with a defiant 'yes,' but stopped short when he caught sight of Dumbledore, who gave just the barest hint of a shake of his head.

Harry felt like he was freezing over in confusion. He was angry, still high on adrenaline, and still Dumbledore wouldn't look him in the eye even while giving him a piece of advice? What had he done so wrong to push Dumbledore into such a confusing state?

Instead he changed direction mid-words, now saying, 'ye-no.'

"Not sure I'd buy that one, do you think he'd let you do a redo?" Sirius asked, his eyes narrowed critically for what Dumbledore was doing and so hardly paying attention to what he was saying any more than usual.

Fudge was astounded, Harry repeating more firmly he had no clue why he was here, Fudge repeating this anyways.

"I believe he just answered that, did he forget to turn his ears on as well as his brain?" Lily grumbled.

Fudge was growing furious as he insisted Potter had no knowledge of any school rules he'd broken, or Ministry Decrees Umbridge tacked on.

"Those aren't Decrees, their farces of Umbridge's intelligence," Remus stated.

"Don't talk to others, don't have magazines, I get to pick the teachers I work with," Sirius ticked off on his fingers, generalizing a few but putting together, "she's basically trying to force others to be as miserable as she is."

Harry insisted he had done nothing, all while his heart was still pounding away in his chest. If someone had tipped off Umbridge about the DA, as leader he may as well be packing his bags now.

"I can tell Umbridge that I think she's a revolutionary teacher, doesn't mean it's true," Lily insisted, still hoping Harry could lie his way out of this one.

Fudge was growing angry that Potter was denying there was an illegal student organization going on.

Harry put an unconvincing look in place as he said yes.

"Credit for trying?" James offered.

Umbridge changed pace into saying this would go better if she brought in her information.

"Oh yes, please do," Sirius managed to get out through a deep throated growl, "I've been wanting to practice cursing multiple people at once, the more the merrier."

Fudge agreed with this idea, turning to Dumbledore and stating there was nothing better than a good witness.

"You wouldn't know, you tried to dismiss Harry's," Remus sniffed.

Dumbledore agreed as calmly as ever, and they waited in uneasy silence until Umbridge came back with Marietta, her face buried inside her robes.

"She what?" Lily shrieked in outrage.

"Glory, would not have called that," Sirius said in disgust. "I just thought she'd stop showing up, not push her friend under a bus."

"This is-" James worked his face furiously to stop himself raging and screaming. He couldn't help comparing this to his own friend abandoning him in the worst way possible in this dismal future, now his son was going to be suffering the consequences yet again.

Harry sat there, stewing for a moment with an odd look in place. He was furious at what Marietta had done, but he could already feel some grim satisfaction as well, she got her dues for betraying their group, so he kept going loudly over their angry protests.

Umbridge gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as she told them to tell what she had already, her mother would be very pleased. Still Marietta said nothing, so Umbridge explained to Fudge that her mother was Madam Edgecombe, she'd been helping them in the Department of Magical Transportation keeping an eye on the Floo Network.

"So her whole line has been pissing me off this year," James hissed, still wanting to spit in someone's face for causing him heart failure after Sirius' last pop up in the school.

Fudge gave a hearty agreement, encouraging the seemingly shy girl to look at them, then shouting in surprise when she did.

All of them were clearly itching towards vindictive amusement. Not one of them had forgotten Hermione's 'jinx,' and this well fell into talking about Dumbledore's Army. Now they were just curious the extent, clearly it was even more than they'd envisioned by Fudge's reaction.

He'd jumped into the fireplace in surprise as Marietta had looked up, and across her face in bright purple pustules was written the work sneak.

They would have laughed even harder than the first time if the threat of Harry being expelled wasn't the result of this misfortune. It didn't at all erase the tight smiles though, Hermione had done better than they'd ever imagined with her spell work.

Upon the reaction, she'd waited in despair and buried her face again, and Umbridge snapped she'd tell then, turning and explaining to them that she'd come to her office this evening and told of an illegal group and where it would be taking place. By that point she'd spotted the hex affecting her in one of Umbridge's mirrors and not spoken another word.

"How long do you think that curse lasts?" Sirius said wistfully.

"Not long enough," James snapped, his eyes narrowed hatefully for this.

"The better question is, where's Hermione so she can teach me how to do this," Remus smirked.

Fudge gave Marietta a very kind smile like he used to don on Harry as he said she'd done the right thing, very brave of her.

"Oh sure, bravery is now snitching on your friends," Lily muttered under her breath. She couldn't imagine why Marietta had gone and done this so much later after it had started, but the injustice of it was infuriating.

Still Marietta refused to look at any of them, and Fudge demanded if anyone had the counter spell so she could speak freely. When Umbridge said she'd tried that, Harry had a moment to be quite proud of Hermione's jinxing ability.

"Oh we never doubted that for a moment," Sirius said with relish, all of them agreeing she'd more than outdone herself this time. The girl had an unfounded talent in the trouble making part of her life she didn't indulge in nearly enough for their liking.

Umbridge still managed to keep going saying that she'd pieced it together from there, as Potter had met with students back in October in the Hog's Head-

she was cut off by McGonagall demanding to know how she knew this?

Umbridge supplied she knew from Willy Widdershins, whom had been heavily bandaged, but his hearing had been well enough to take in the whole thing.

"Why does that name ring a bell?" Lily muttered.

"Not sure, but he clearly wasn't bandaged enough, as he was still breathing," James snarled, always in disbelief how his sons luck had managed to put that meeting in the same time as an informant of Umbridge's also being there.

McGonagall raised a brow as she realized this was why the man hadn't been prosecuted for his regurgitation toilets.

"That was it," Sirius blinked in surprise, before narrowing with a sneer. "Wish I was more surprised he got away with his problems by ratting out the system." He'd never used that phrase in such a way since he'd learned of someone's animagus, but never before would he have had the need to put such a slant on someone he never would have thought would use it like that. He still regretted the jab when James flinched horribly at the reminder and Remus stiffened in his seat.

This was quite an insight into their justice system.

Umbridge cut in this was not the current point, Potter was having an illegal meeting persuading others to join his society-

"It wasn't illegal at the time," Lily couldn't help but correct with a raised brow, even while she felt like a fool for calling something so simple illegal in any regards. Merlin it was a farce on their future that was a thing.

James smiled grimly for his wife, wishing now more than ever she could have been there to counter all this.

yet Dumbledore cut in there to say she had misspoken.

Fudge gave a hearty laugh for what it was going to be this time to get Potter out of trouble. Was Willy Widdershins lying?

"Well he could have been," Remus huffed. "He was a criminal trying to get out of charges and so reported some toff to get him out of trouble."

"I don't think they're going to play whose word against who's in this instance," James shook his head, "when one works too well in their need."

Or was it Potter's identical twin in the Hog's Head that day?

"Hardy har," Sirius rolled his eyes in disgust.

Or is there the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time,** a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible Dementors?

Harry wouldn't have been surprised to see lightning shooting out of his dad as he howled, "would he stop bringing that up! It's not their fault they have to figure out everything for you because you're too much of a blithering idiot to see past your own reflection!"

Lily had to spend several moments soothing their fussing infant who was crying just as loudly as his father, trying to fight back tears of anger at Harry's life constantly being played off as a joke like this.

While just as angry and not at all aware of the nerve thumping in his jaw line, Remus had caught on a much more interesting part of that. "What on earth did he mean reversal of time, Dumbledore told him about that bit? Why?! The only part that was relevant to was Sirius' escape, and I highly doubt Dumbledore sat around explaining that."

This was odd enough it at least put them off trying to pull another vanishing stunt and going after Fudge next, so Harry took the opportunity to keep going the moment he realized no one had a good answer for why this information had been shared with Fudge, though instantly regretted it.

Percy Weasley let out a laugh as well.

Sirius snarled in frustration, his hands making a wringing motion even as a flare of pity wanted to take a pinch at him. He pictured Percy too much like Regulus, though ironically in reverse. At this point he wasn't even sure if Percy would realize in time his mistake and come groveling back, with a few well deserved hexes from a few of his brothers.

Harry could have kicked him.

"I don't understand why you didn't," Lily said flatly.

Dumbledore merely explained that Umbridge had declared the meeting in the Hog's Head illegal, when the Decree for organizations was not so until two days later.

"Ha!" Sirius let out a sharp bark of laughter that they all felt covered that quite nicely.

Percy looked as though he had been struck in the face by something very heavy.

"I wish," Remus said with a pleasant smile.

Fudge let his mouth hang open, but Umbridge kept going sweetly, stating that though the first was then aloud, all the following over the past six months were not.

"Wonder who she had to pay off to figure out that grain of intelligence," James snarked.

Dumbledore agreed that would be true, if there had been any others.

Lily ruffled her brow as she tried to understand where Dumbledore could be going with that one. Marietta was proof further things had happened, otherwise she wouldn't have been jinxed.

As the headmaster kept attention on this line of questioning, Harry thought he heard Kingsley whisper something, and felt a whoosh at his side, yet when he glanced there was nothing there, nor had Kingsley seemed to move.

Remus opened his mouth in confusion, wondering if perhaps Fawkes was in the back doing something random, but didn't press on the idea.

Umbridge stated that Marietta was proof that further dealings had taken place, but when confronted, Harry saw that the peak of her eyes showing now had a glazed look when asked if Potters meetings had been going on for six months? She could just nod, or shake her head, that wouldn't reactivate the jinx.

"Hasn't exactly been deactivated now, has it," Sirius rolled his eyes.

As everyone in the room watched, Marietta shook her head.

Harry stopped short, his mind spinning back to the sensation he'd just felt, but he couldn't imagine how the two pieces yet fit together as his mum demanded, "did she have a change of heart?"

"Bit late for that," James scoffed, "after the punishments written cross her face."

Harry decided he was overthinking things, and actually felt a bubble of hope inside him once more, hoping this was the last time he'd be threatened with expulsion at least for this year.

Umbridge stood frozen in shock, repeating the question for good measure, but again Marietta shook her head no, no such thing had happened. Umbridge demanded what she meant by this, but McGonagall said in clipped tones that unless Miss Edgecombe was speaking in some unknown language, a shake of the head meant no.

"Maybe she's speaking Bulgarian," Remus offered helpfully as if offering McGonagall and Umbridge another solution.

Sirius snorted and started snickering, but his eyes were still trained menacingly on the book.

Professor Umbridge seized Marietta, pulled her round to face her and began shaking her very hard.***

"She what?" Lily shrieked, nearly falling into hysterics. "Does this lime tart have no bounds, she just grabbed a child!" The transgression against Harry still weighed heavily on her, she was afraid even if all the students who weren't expelled would still be getting detentions just for Umbridge suspecting them.

Harry didn't even like Marietta and he'd felt the need to jump forward and help her, and not caring what consequences came from that he flitted forward in a rush.

She hadn't been at it but moments when Dumbledore intervened, his wand appearing as Umbridge released Marietta waving her hands as if they were suddenly burning.

Dumbledore said in a very angry voice his students were not to be manhandled.

James took a slow, deep breath in thanks for Dumbledore stepping in. Even acting as odd as the man was, he was about to accuse him of being Imperiused this was getting so odd of late, at least he still always stepped in when it counted.

"You see that Harry?" Sirius wagged his finger in his godsons face with a triumphant, yet still stern look. "Now imagine if you'd gone and told Dumbledore about her punishments. I'll bet he'd have her out of that castle before you could finish packing her bags."

For just a moment, Harry believed him, and honestly regretted not having said something. What if it would have given Dumbledore more a chance to get rid of her sooner?

Umbridge straightened her bow as she stated she'd forgot herself.

"It's good to know how others act when they're stressed," Remus said acidly, "though I suppose this means she was always out of her mind."

"We already knew that Moony," James reminded, his face still flushed from anger as he again glanced at the back of Harry's hand.

Marietta had not reacted at all to being released, nor had she while being shaken, her eyes remaining as glassy as before.

"What on earth?" Lily squeaked, nobody was that docile.

"Wait a minute," Harry frowned, flipping back a page and again staring at the odd sensation he'd overpassed, and he felt a suspicion rise in him at the same time he looked up and saw something try to click together for the others. It was such a wild idea though, no one dared say it...

Harry only had time to suspect what he'd heard Kingsley whisper as Umbridge kept on track that she'd caught their group red handed, she'd gone back inside the Room of Requirements and found her own evidence.

"But Harry closed the door when he left," James yelped in outrage, he specifically remembered that. "There's no way she could have known the exact same phrase to reopen the same room!"

"What if the room was asked for evidence of this though," Remus said uneasily. "It could have pulled up the same room they were then using."

It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow they were managing to grow more angry by the minute Umbridge had now found out this secret place and how to use it on top of everything else Harry was facing. Selfishly, Sirius almost thought it would be a relief for Harry to be expelled by this point, spend out the rest of his year with him until that toad was gone by whatever happened at the end of the year. He'd be behind when he came back next year, but anything would feel more peaceful than this mess of a place their old school was turning into.

To Harry's horror, she withdrew from her pocket the list of names that had been pinned upon the Room of Requirements wall and handed it to Fudge.

James face palmed and said something he wouldn't normally have. He'd understood the purpose of the list for Hermione's jinx, and suddenly wondered if that had been destroyed if it would have negated the effects then, otherwise he couldn't imagine why that had been kept around.

"I," Lily faltered for a moment as she tried to come up with an excuse for this things existence, before finally snapping, "okay, so they're not allowed in groups of three, but you never specified their names weren't, there's nothing illegal about this still, she still hasn't gotten proof, especially if Marietta is retracting."

Remus sighed, thinking only with this batch of dung bomb rejects masquerading as Ministry people could a sentence as spectacularly stupid as Lily's exist.

Fudge took it, a look of shock spreading across his face as he saw what they'd named themselves.

"And that's still funny," Sirius smirked.

Dumbledore's expression did not change, as he said simply that meant the game was up. Would Cornelius like a written confession, or would these witnesses suffice?

"Err," James began in confusion, ruffling his brow at what Dumbledore was cooking up.

Harry saw McGonagall and Kingsley look at each other. There was fear in both faces. He did not understand what was going on, and nor, apparently, did Fudge.

Remus bounced his knee uneasily, he didn't like what Dumbledore had tried to imply with that...

Asking what Dumbledore could mean, as the man repeated his surname on that paper, not Potter's.

"Oh bollocks," Sirius suddenly paled in shock.

Understanding blazed suddenly in Fudge's face. He took a horrified step backwards, yelped, and jumped out of the fire again.

Sirius laughed darkly. He'd imagined a few times now tossing people into fires, and now Fudge was doing the action for him. It would have been much more satisfactory if his mind wasn't spinning full tilt in worry of where this seemed to be heading.

He stamped the smoke out while demanding that Dumbledore had organized all this, put this army together?

Dumbledore agreed to all, saying tonight was supposed to be the first meeting, and Marietta nodded.

Remus said something in gibberish, shock was preventing true words.

"This is Dumbledore's plan?" Lily looked genuinely worried for her old headmaster's mental health. "How? Why? This doesn't fix the original problem of what Harry was doing, they were still 'caught' in the group, Dumbledore's only sentencing himself to an even larger problem and then Harry'll get kicked out of school!"

"Maybe not though," James corrected with a calculating look in place. "Ever wondered why Sirius told so many rabbit jokes when someone asked about the nicknames, or why we set up so many elaborate pranks sometimes but others we just cursed people. All depended on the time of the month, and a red herring."

Lily nodded in understanding, but it didn't do much to lessen her worry, she wasn't as sure Fudge would be so easily distracted from his vendetta against the both of them.

Fudge swelled as he shouted at Dumbledore he had been plotting against him!

Dumbledore cheerfully agreed that was true.

"I'm sure that's a first response," Remus said absently, feeling several steps behind from shock at what the Minister was actually fixing to do here...

Harry shouted no in surprise as he realized what was going on, but Dumbledore kindly told him to keep his opinions out of this or he'd have to be escorted out.

Fudge told him to shut up as he rounded on Dumbledore, saying he'd come to expel Potter but instead-

Instead he got to arrest himself, Dumbledore finished for him, saying it was like losing a Knut but finding a Galleon.

"Dumbledore sure thinks highly of himself," Sirius muttered, his eyes still a little too wide from surprise at this turn of events, he couldn't even quite wrap his head around this happening yet.

Fudge snapped at Weasley that he had all this written down, the man admitting to starting an army to destabilize the Ministry?

"I'm fairly confident he never said that," James stated, looking queasy at such a fast turn, funnily enough coming from a Quidditch player. He couldn't help it, he'd have much more easily dodged a Bludger than grasped the idea of where Dumbledore was headed, he hadn't even a second to breathe in relief Harry wasn't expelled but now...

Percy agreed he had everything, Fudge telling him to get moving then and have it all ready for the morning paper. Once he was out the door, Fudge turned to Dumbledore and said he hoped he enjoyed his Azkaban cell.

Dumbledore gently said he'd been expecting this snag.

"Snag?" Lily squeaked, her eyes distant and very happy it was Harry reading, she knew her mind wouldn't have been able to keep up with all of this.

Fudge saw no snag, but Dumbledore did, saying they seemed to be laboring under the delusion that he was, to offer the phrase, come quietly.

Sirius snorted so violently his nose nearly fell off. He couldn't help it, this situation was so ridiculous of course he had to laugh, because otherwise he'd be admitting that Dumbledore was having a chat with the Minister about being arrested!

This was not to be. Though he could break out of course, he had much better things to do with his time.

Remus felt a wild laugh crack his expression as well. The image Harry was describing was mind boggling, and yet he fully believed in what Dumbledore said was true...but the fact that he was saying it!

Umbridge's face was growing steadily more red, while Fudge continued to eye Dumbledore like he'd taken a blow to his head.

"I hate having the same expression as him," Harry managed to say, though it helped nothing as he could still feel it stuck in place. After Dumbledore had been ignoring him all year, now he was doing this...

Dawlish stepped forward then, his hand edging towards his pocket, but Dumbledore gave a friendly chuckle as he said he was well aware Dawlish was an excellent Auror, having been there when he'd gotten O's in all of his OWLs, but perhaps he should not, Dumbledore didn't want to hurt him.

Dawlish blinked and took his step back, now looking to Fudge for some sort of clue.

"I don't think Merlin would have an answer for you," Lily told. For the man who'd gone toe to toe with Voldemort, the idea of anyone else having a go at him did indeed seem...foolish.

Fudge recovered himself enough to demand Dumbledore really thought he could take on all four of them?

"I find it more like Dumbledore against having to fake it against Kingsley," Sirius finally recovered himself enough to mock again, though he still couldn't quite reach his usual haughty bravado yet.

"Be fair, I'm sure Dawlish is good at what he does against anyone else," Remus rebuked.

Dumbledore said of course not, unless they were foolish enough to force him to.

James burst out with such exuberant laughter it made Lily jump and the baby screech just as loud as the noise. He couldn't help it though, the confidence was well earned for the man...but even they had never speculated such an instance as this occurring! Dumbledore was, well not being arrested, but someone actually thought they could do so!

McGonagall cut in he would not be alone, pushing her hand into her own robes.

All five of them reclined in their seats. Suddenly this wasn't funny anymore, but much more a smack in the face saying they should be fearing for their lives.

Dumbledore corrected oh yes he would, this school still needed her.

"Oh dear," Lily managed to utter one more time with pure worry of what Dumbledore was going to do to them before Harry told breathlessly.

Fudge had had enough, as he shouted at them to stop him.

In a bright flash of silver light, the floor trembled, and Harry felt something pull the scruff of his neck to the ground. Then Fawkes cried out, there was dust everywhere; a dark figure fell to the ground, a shriek and another fall, then a final no, with breaking glass, scuffling steps, and one last groan before silence.

"That was much less dramatic than I thought Dumbledore would go for," James rubbed at his jaw.

"You weren't there," Harry shook his head as if still getting the flashes of light out of his eyes, while one hand creeped up to his neck in remembrance. "It was plenty fantastic from where I stood."

"What even happened?" Lily cocked her head to the side. "A dark figure fell to the ground, I'm guessing that was Kingsley, a shriek and a thud, someone else got knocked out, somebody cried no, but then..." she trailed off as she tried to picture it.

"I think he may have put a spell on someone to stumble around, they fell into whatever it was that broke and so they had to scuffle a bit, but then they groaned and fell as well," Harry tried to explain through the clouded dust of memories.

"That's only three though," James disagreed.

"Someone might have gone out with the first shot of light," Harry offered.

"I just, I still can't believe," Remus wasn't coming out of his shock any time soon it seemed. "Dumbledore, he-"

"It's okay Moony," Sirius gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. The problem though was that he had no more to say on it, he couldn't have imagined how this had gone so far, let alone to reverse it enough Dumbledore would come back.

Harry struggled around to see who was half-strangling him and saw Professor McGonagall crouched beside him; she had forced both him and Marietta out of harm's way.

Lily hummed with approval for that, she could understand that even when McGonagall had been told to stay out of the fight, there was no way the woman would remain on the sidelines.

In the silence, Dumbledore approached them and said they must be fast, it was best not known they had a moment to speak. Tell Kingsley he was sorry, but it would have been suspicious had he not been cursed too.

"I'm sure he'll forgive you," James managed to say with a genuine smile, like this was all part of some normal conversation.

It was remarkable how quick on the uptake he'd been, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory for them.

"Oh, my, goodness," Remus mouthed the words.

Sirius was still patting his shoulder as he watched Harry go on with some deep emotion he still couldn't name. It wasn't quite smugness at this happening to Dumbledore as well as him, but also some genuine worry for this future. As if it hadn't been hellish before, now it seemed a literal nightmare.

McGonagall asked where he would go, to Grimmauld Place?

"Well, I was wanting some company," Sirius muttered. If there was one person he would have called least likely to be a wanted criminal in this future aside from himself, it was Dumbledore.

Dumbledore corrected he would not be hiding out, and Fudge would very soon regret dislodging him from Hogwarts.

"I can imagine," James nodded vigorously.

Harry began to try and apologize for the DA, for starting all of this trouble,

"That is not something to apologize for," Lily said at once, snapping to anything she could have something intelligible to say. "If he could encourage you to go after that stupid Stone, I'm positive he's been helping you out with this as well in ways we can't even guess."

but Dumbledore cut him off, saying it was of the utmost important that Harry learn Occlumency.

"That's his final word of advice!" Remus did finally come back, now as ruffled at the man himself as the situation. "If he ever did address it I would have hoped he'd offer an alternative! Surely he can't be so stubborn not to realize this isn't working."

"Clearly not," Harry sighed, wishing more every day this would just quit being mentioned. He still had no feelings he would ever succeed at this, and it only ever led to darker parts of his mind for what that could mean.

He grabbed Harry's wrist for emphasis, but Harry heard no more as once again his scar seared, and he felt the snakelike urge to strike, bite, kill.

Harry released a shuddering breath, he could still feel the echo of it now, trying to build up inside of him and emerge from a long gone part of him that he had no want to revisit. If it wasn't for those around him, if he'd truly gone through with it and tried to run when he'd been thinking, he could never have kept going on his own for fear it may come back. Now though, after forcing his eyes to remain focused on those around him, as afraid as him, but not an ounce of fear of him, he found it in himself to keep going.

He wasn't even sure he heard Dumbledore whisper Harry would understand.

"It sure doesn't feel like it," Sirius commiserated with that look on Harry's face. He was frustrated just hearing about it all, he couldn't imagine how Harry could remain sane having to live through it.

Fawkes swooped low then, and Dumbledore raised his hand to grasp the phoenix's tail, then both vanished in a flash of fire.

"Wow," James blinked in surprise. "I didn't know he could take people with him when he does that."

Remus simply nodded, clearly not back to himself enough to elaborate on the ability, too much was going on now for Dumbledore and Harry.

At once, the other four awoke, Fudge demanding where he was?

"That is actually a very good question," Lily shook her head, she had a hard time imagining him anywhere besides his oak desk.

After Umbridge reminded he couldn't disparate from the school, Dawlish declared he must have made a run for it down the stairs, and he, Kingsley, and Umbridge went after him.

The four left only had a moment to take it all in before Fudge told McGonagall mockingly he feared this was the end of Dumbledore.

"You fear wrong," Remus said in no uncertain terms.

McGonagall scornfully said he really thought so? Harry saw some of the portraits making rude gestures at the Minister.

"I knew they couldn't be all bad," Sirius managed to get one last smirk in while he was thinking of it, "those were probably the ones pretending to be me."

"Thank you for that unhelpful input Padfoot," Remus rolled his eyes for his friend, if anything could keep his attention it was him.

Then he instructed she should get these students off to bed.

Harry inhaled again slowly, taking a moment just to savor those words. He wasn't expelled, Dumbledore's plan had worked, but at what cost?

She didn't wait around for a response as the three left, but as the door closed, Harry heard Phineas Nigellus's vice tell the Minister that he may not like it, but Dumbledore had style.

"Ha!" Sirius released a sharp bark of laughter that seemed to echo in the still stunned stupid room. "Would you look at that, I actually agree with him for once."

"Miracles happen all the time apparently," Remus shook his head as Harry passed him the book. 'Not all of them good,' he finished in his head, still gazing awestruck at Dumbledore's departure.

HPHPHPHP

I never get tired of that quote, one of the best things the movie kept in, even given to Kingsley instead.

* I know it's never referenced in book, but since Care of Creatures is held with another House, I picture all the other electives did as well, and I always picture Ravenclaw's in the background of all Trelawney's lessons.

**I actually wonder if JK put that in there by accident or something, the diary would have been a better mocking reference.

***So everyone always agrees Umbridge is the worst character ever conceived, but I'm curious what you guys consider her worst ever moment, or at least when you knew you irredeemably hated her? Harry, as the main character, I was disgusted at what she did to him, but on her evil level I at least understood it, as well as everyone else who crossed her. However, she attacked Marietta after the girl had helped her. This clearly is the kind of person Umbridge really is.

[unaccomplishedwriter]

THE HERO YOU NEED

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Prologue here

Chapter One

Decisively locking herself into her compartment alone, (y/n) sunk down into her seat with a loud plop. Clutching her wand, she rolled the violet amethyst handle between her fingers, a habit she’d adopted ever since her first year at Ilvermorny. She could feel the tears starting to cloud her vision as she stared out the window to her parents standing on the platform. Though she wanted to cry, she refused to let them fall. Her parents wouldn’t care anyway. This was the most determined they’d been to have her do something in her entire life.

To (y/n)‘ s bitter frustration, she hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to her friends and beloved professors. Her parents sprung the frightful news merely a few days before she was due for the new school year in America; gave her a few days to get come to terms with starting a new life elsewhere. She’d never resented their job more, even when it had them disappearing for months on end.

And even more frustratingly, they refused to tell her why. But the cold conviction in her father’s eyes and the shadows of something darker and more uncertain — in her mother’s, (y/n) couldn’t find it in herself to disobey them either.

So yet here she sat, on some godforsaken train in some godforsaken robes making sure not to spill these godforsaken tears.

Life couldn’t be worse for her right now.

And as if to mock her, the loud sound of the door handle rattling startled her from her melancholy staring contest with her parents. To top it off, the train had finally jerked into motion, her heart along with it. Shaking from sheer surprise, the blood rushed to her ears, nearly drowning out the arrogant alohamora from the other side of the door.

A tall blonde boy sauntered into the compartment, a sneer on his face.

“How dare you take my compartment, you filthy—,”

The words died in his throat as his eyes landed on the girl in the corner. Her eyes were glassy and her nose was red, giving her (s/c) skin a flushed glow. Normally he’d take the opportunity to mock them further, but his jaw refused to move. Not liking being gawked at, (y/n)’s voice filled the silence.

“You were saying?” She snapped.

Whatever it was, it was going to be rude. A glare made its way to her face as she angrily blinked her tears away. Using this time to take in the boy’s features, (y/n) couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised. He was rather handsome, with fine blonde strands of hair falling into his face. He had clear grey eyes that reminded her of her overcast skies, which she rather liked. The green and silver Slytherin crest was proudly displayed on his chest, and her preconceived notions about Hogwarts’ houses set in just a bit more.

“I—I—Um, are you new?” He stuttered dumbly. The stupid look on his face was enough to wash some of her irritation away, and she relaxed her shoulders a bit. Furrowing her brows, she stared at the door until the boy got the hint and closed it behind him. It wasn’t until he was sat across from her and their eyes were locked again before she bothered to answer his question.

“I’m not a little first year, if that’s what you’re asking. But... yes, I am new. I’m a fourth year.”

He nodded his head, continuing to stare at her. She started to feel a bit put off before he opened his mouth again.

“Not from here, either. You an American? What’s your name?”

“I am American. I’m (F/n) Hightower.”

His eyes bugged out of his head, and (Y/n) couldn’t help but giggle. He was rather entertaining...and cute, if she’d had to admit.

“Hightower as in one of the oldest American Wizarding families? Your family practically helped pioneer the entire setup of the American Wizarding World,”

He exclaimed. A throb of annoyance fell upon her, but (y/n) brushed it off. Her family name meant she had a fuckton of expectations placed on her shoulders, and she didn’t particularly want them to carry over to her new life at Hogwarts.

“And your name?” She asked. He sat back proudly, a smug smile gracing his face. A smirk soon mirrored it on (y/n)‘s; she’d always liked seeing self-assurance on others.

It made her wish she had some for herself.

“I’m a Malfoy, of course. Draco Malfoy,” he reached out with his hand, before freezing and pulling it back quickly. The embarrassed laugh that followed made (y/n) laugh as well. She’d heard of the Malfoys, and so far this Draco boy aligned with most of what she’d learned. Perhaps a bit more charm, though.

They talked animatedly about their families for a while, finding familiarity in the pressure of a high-profile background.

“So which house do you recommend?”

Perhaps it was a stupid question, but she enjoyed the way his eyes lit up following it regardless.

“Slytherin, obviously! We’re the best at everything and have the most house cups under our belt,” he bragged. “The other houses are full of losers, but if there were a house I’d definitely stay away from it would be Gryffindor. They’re a bunch of self-righteous freaks,” Draco huffed, crossing his arms. His childish comment and posture eliciting an eye roll.

“Forget I asked,” she joked. (Y/n) explained a bit of how Ilvermorny’s sorting process went about, hers in particular. The subject seemed very interesting to the blonde haired boy and she found herself gradually reddening from the attention.

But she’s (Y/n) freaking Hightower, and she does not get flustered by boys.

“I knew the moment I saw you that you were different,” he boasted. “I’d have remembered seeing a girl like you around before—,”

“A girl like me?” She cut in, making him falter. As if just realizing what he’d said, Draco’s face turned red, and he recoiled back into his seat.

“I meant— you— you’re from a good family, is all.” He stammered. With a raised brow, (y/n) leaned forward, invading some of his space.

“Family isn’t everything you know. You’re only what you make of yourself... not to mention, outside of the Wizarding World, we’re not much. The muggles have accomplished loads without magic, I’d say that’s something to applaud on its own.”

He gaped at her for a moment, jaw hanging. Feeling self-conscious, she drew back a bit. She suddenly remembered the clear division between muggles and wizards here in Europe, and felt stupid for bringing it up.

“Who cares about muggles? They’re even worse than the mudbloods — at least they can do magic, no matter how poorly,” he sniggered, a glimpse of the initial nastiness she saw when he’d first entered her compartment.

A scowl now adorning her face, (y/n) stood up abruptly.

“I grew up alongside muggles, you know. Their technology can make life very convenient,” she hissed. Muggles were a sore subject for (y/n) amongst her magical friends; though not as bad as Europe, the American Wizarding world still practiced some degree of separation from muggles, which fostered some less-than-kind mentalities amongst some of her peers back in America. She assumed it would be worse here, but coming face to face with it from a boy who’s company she otherwise enjoyed was decidedly unpleasant.

Draco stared up at her, taken aback. “Well, they—they just don’t belong with us,” he exclaimed, standing up as well.

Her face officially hot, (y/n) marched past him and threw open the doors of the compartment.

“If that’s what you think,” she hissed, “you can leave.”

For what seemed like the thousandth time since they met, Draco once again gaped at her. Face twisting, he strode past her.

“Didn’t take a Hightower for a blood traitor,” he spat, slamming the door behind him.

Furious, (y/n) slammed herself back into her seat before promptly shutting the blinds in her window, darkness encasing her cabinet.

Welcome to Hogwarts, she moaned.

*

As she gazed glumly at the gaggle of first-years in front of her, (y/n) couldn’t help but curse her parents to the high heavens for the millionth time that day. Going through the bated torture of just one house sorting three years ago was quite enough, thank you. She never thought she’d be here again, experiencing this again. Hogwarts and Ilvermorny unfortunately did not have some sort of house equivalency, thus her recent move meant she was forced to be sorted once again like some sort of anxiety-ridden eleven year old.

Well, she wasn’t. She was an anxiety-ridden fourth year, and for Merlin’s sake, this stupid hat was by far the most tedious being she’d ever bore witness to existing!

It spent a good twenty minutes on some students, and heavens knows how long this event would actually last. She didn’t even want to be here anyway.

But as another child was sorted, the thunderous applause of Ravenclaw house deafened her ears yet again and she couldn’t resist the small smile that crept along her face. At the very least, Ilvermorny and Hogwarts had one thing in common: comraderie. She’d heard gossip about how intense the house rivalry of Hogwarts was, but for now, it was nice to see a bit of community shown in order to drown out her lonely anxieties.

It was another thirty minutes before her name was called, and the Great Hall descending into a suffocating silence. A good two heads taller than the first-years, she stood out like a sore thumb. But if (y/n) was to be deemed as anything, she wanted it to be confident, so she sauntered up to the platform without delay. Her face was the picture of calm, but she couldn’t resist tightening her grip on her wand as she felt the inumerable amount of eyes on her. She’d thought about which house she’d prefer to get sorted into beforehand, but had doubts.

(Y/n) was 100% sure her personality aligned best with Slytherin, but the house’s propensity for dark magic and prejudice didn’t bode well with the kind of wizard she wished to be. Gryffindor seemed the next best choice, but the tact and levelheadedness of Ravenclaw house was something she’d surely advantage from.

She considered all of these options, but when the hat descended on her head, there was only one house actually in her mind.

“Oh-ho-ho! A Pukwudgie! A special one at that! Looks like we have future Wizarding royalty in our presence. Though, you lot’s preferred way of sorting is quite boring though, innit? Well, I’d say at least. Of course, a Pukwudgie there makes for anything you’d like here, special or not. You’d do particularly well in Slytherin, it seems... but it looks like you’ve made up your mind? Careful love, it isn’t too good to believe everything you hear. You’d be proud to be in any of our houses, I’d reckon! But, still? Are you sure? Well, okay —

Hufflepuff for the yankee!”

Maybe it was because she was clearly not a first-year and therefore more interesting, but (y/n) could have sworn Hufflepuff’s cheers were a bit louder than for those before her. Either way, she couldn’t help the wide smile that bloomed on her face as she rose from her seat. As she stood, her gaze landed squarely on two piercing grey eyes staring directly at her. Across from her was the Slytherin house, the house that she’d might have been part of in another life. Time seemed to have stood still in this split second, and she felt something stir in her chest. A small twang of regret? Or, guilt even?

But that was impossible, what would she be guilty of? And as her gaze landed on the lips underneath those eyes, which were now twisted into a familiar sneer, (y/n) promptly turned away and pranced over to her new home away from home.

Even if Slytherin had that handsome, rude boy, she was sure Hufflepuff had better in store for her.

Author’s Note: Leave a comment or an ask in order to be added to the tag list ☺️

[the-13th-battalion]

⭐ have a star!!! For that one ask!!!

OK SORRY THIS TOOK ME A WHILE I really wanted to talk about chapter two of Where The Shadow Ends but I had to post it first skdkkskd

Here we go I have a lot of thoughts!!

He sighed wearily as he marched the perimeter of camp. His eyes passed over bunches of troopers huddled together in the mud, some of them lifting gaunt faces or giving him a salute. He tried to look past the battered men as he weaved through drooping, muddy tents and stepped around empty crates once filled to the brim with medical supplies and food. He prayed it was only more mud squelching in his boots, not blood, he had stepped in a lot of blood, too much blood-

He slammed his bucket back on his head. He swallowed against his nausea and forced his feet to keep moving, forced his eyes to keep searching.

Cody reached the other end of camp. He stopped and stared out at the smoke veiled wasteland, broken battle droids and hollow armor stacked in separate piles dotting the burnt landscape. Something quivered in his heart as he looked upon one of too many empty helmets. A blurry image of Obi-Wan's haunted eyes filled the blackened gaps.

He's not made for war. Not like us.

A more urgent thought followed. I have to find him.

He turned on his heel, as sharply as the mud would allow, and continued his circle.

I was talking with my friend about this before I started writing and she said "what if they were losing a battle" and I got this image of a vast, gray landscape covered in smoke and ash and blood, and all these piles of broken droids and neat rows of helmets and I was like "*crying* yup that'll work"

Also I will take EVERY opportunity to mention that Obi-Wan is too kind, too peaceful, for the violence and death he was given during the clone wars :( he didn't deserve any of it!

"Waxer and Boil are tending to the shinies."

This little section of dialogue from Cody is a random thought I had about the 212th. Waxer and Boil are the perfect ones to take over the care and feeding of shinies after their first battles. I can't imagine the absolute horror and grief these poor boys went through... they need some people like Waxer and Boil to talk them through anything bothering them, to help them breathe, to bundle them in blankets or give them food or whatever they need <3

He hesitated. Cody had shaken Obi-Wan from long meditations before, but this time felt different. Cody could practically see the weight resting on Obi-Wan's shoulders. He watched his eyes roam under his eyelids and his heart ached to imagine the horrors he might be reliving.

I can't let him do this alone.

This part here is a reference to a headcanon I share! Cody (and other people who love Obi-Wan) shake Obi-Wan out of long meditations because they're probably unhealthy! No one should spend so much time in their own thoughts, especially when it's most likely sad guilty thoughts :( also I imagine the Force is an ocean and one can actually drown in it...

Obi-Wan's eyes flew open and he let out a startled gasp. He grappled for a hold on Cody's arm, a grounding technique he recognized from watching Anakin interact with Obi-Wan. Cody unclipped his vambrace and allowed it to fall to the ground, giving Obi-Wan an easier grip. He waited as Obi-Wan took one, then two carefully calculated breaths.

This!! Right here!! Apart from being one of my favorite soft moments, this is a reference again to people shaking Obi out of long meditations. I bet Anakin does this more than anyone else, and I bet Cody has witnessed this. Anakin is probably no stranger to panic and needing to be grounded, so I headcanon that he created this method. Anyone who needs to be grounded can just grab hold of his arm. Obi probably has this as pure instinct now and just...grabbed Cody's arm, and then Cody was like "oh crap that's probably not comfy with my armor" and sdkdkks I'm getting sidetracked

Obi-Wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Cody's chest tightened. Kriff it. I hope Fuzzy still has a stash of his migraine medication.

Honestly I wholeheartedly believe Obi-Wan gets migraines in canon. Also citing this gives me another excuse to yell about F U Z Z Y *sobbing*

"Yes, but sometimes, they are a glimpse of the future." Obi-Wan sighed. His hand went to the bridge of his nose again. "My master believed in visions and prophecies and such, but I never did, even though I had a recurring vision when I was a padawan. He had me seeing mind healers for it. He believed it was some sort of terrible premonition."

Cody imagined a much smaller, younger version of Obi-Wan in a huge chair, his freckled nose crinkled in indignation and his little arms crossed. He began to smile. "What did you think?"

"I thought it was just a nightmare."

This is a nod to the first chapter, but also mostly to headcanons I share about Obi's struggles with visions as a child. I think about it a lot, mostly because it's super dramatic and we all know I'm extremely dramatic lol

also I wanted an excuse to write in angry baby Obi in a big chair

Obi-Wan's smile faded too quickly. He stared down at his free hand, fingers absently twisting in the hem of his tunic. "They're all counting on me, Cody. They're all relying on me to lead them safely through hell. They trust me, and I can't let them down, but sometimes I look at their faces and the weight of that responsibility nearly crushes me."

The admission hung in the air for several heartbeats before Cody spoke. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted," came the immediate reply.

"You were not made for this war, but what you've done in it, what you continue to do, is incredible. You have inspired so many people to stand and fight for a peaceful future. You have brought light to the darkest places and joy to the most sorrowful hearts. That's what they see, that's what I see. That's why we trust you. We see a man who fights for truth and justice, but fights with honor and mercy. A man who would lay down his life for a stranger. A man who genuinely cares for the people in this galaxy, for the people he loves."

Back when this fic was just an idea, I was bouncing ideas off my friend and she suggested a part about Obi-Wan discussing the pressure he feels in his position as a general and like a hundred other jobs. I loved it, and it morphed into THIS.

I'm not saying Cody's simping, but Cody's simping.

The storm in Obi-Wan's eyes calmed. "That's rather poetic of you."

Cody's cheeks reddened. "Ah...you left your datapad open once. You were reading poetry when you fell asleep. It...caught my eye."

Obi-Wan laughed. "I'm glad someone else enjoys a good poem. You know, poetry should be read aloud. Perhaps I should read some sometime, to you and the others."

Cody smiled. "That would be nice."

LISTEN!! OBI-WAN READS POETRY!!! He's such a poetry kind of guy HONESTLY

As Obi-Wan's gentle voice lifted into the night air, many of the troopers huddled together to sleep under shared blankets on what patches of dry ground they could find. His voice carried across the camp. Hundreds of hearts beat in unison as the words filled their heads and peace flooded their veins.

Cody fell asleep with his cheek resting on Obi-Wan's tousled hair, lulled by hushed lines of poetry in a Coruscanti accent. Obi-Wan drifted off not long after, his head on Cody's shoulder, their fingers still entwined.

LET THE 212TH CUDDLE 2021

Also I wrote that last paragraph before I wrote most of this fic so like I was leading up to this the whole time... they deserve the hugs <3

THIS WAS REALLY LONG OOPS anyway those are my thoughts :)

[flawnle]

My brain decided to have angst for my weird au thing. Feel free to ignore if you want nothing to do with it.

-[START]-

Dmitri spotted the fucker, the one who’s been messing up his prison. He gives chase, just barely keeping the person in sight as he followed. They make a right turn. He knew this would lead to a dead end. Dmitri slides into the hallway ready to confront them but instead sees someone a bit more familiar.

Wallace, his son, was standing around where the person he was chasing should be. He seemed unbothered. Like someone hadn’t just ran by. He noticed Dmitri and greeted him with a wave.

“Uh, hey kid. Did you happen to see a person run past here? I’ve been chasing them down and I’m sure I saw them run in here!”

Dmitri says quickly. Not wanting to risk the person who’s been running his place to the ground getting away. Wallace just looked confused.

“I didn’t see anyone sorry.. maybe they went the other way?”

“Im sure I saw them run in here kid. My eyesight is perfectly fine.”

“Well I honestly saw nobody.”

Dmitri groaned in annoyance. Looking down the other hallway.

“Maybe they went the other way... I can still catch them!”

He was about to go off again but Wallace stoped him.

“Actually I wanted to talk to you for a second.”

“Wallace. I really got to go after this guy..”

“They are probably gone by now, they’ll be back eventually. Next time you can get all of us to help conner them property.”

Dmitri thought for a second. The guy will indeed come back, he doesn’t seem to have finished his job.

“.. fine. What did you want to talk about kid?”

“Well it’s just I’ve realized I haven’t exactly been completely honest with you about some things..”

He said nervously. Wallace figgeted with his bracelet. Dmitri raised his eyebrows in a bit of surprise. Out of all the topics he thought Wallace was going to go to he never expected that.

“Well whatever it is I won’t be mad at you. Just explain alright? How many things are we talking about here?”

“O-only two..”

“What’s the first thing?”

“... it’s about my nightmares.”

Dmitri sighed. He knew how bad Wallace’s nightmares were, plus the fact he’s been dealing them them for about 20 years. He didn’t know much about them asside from the one time he found Wallace crying when he woke up. That was also the time he found out he had nightmares to begin with.

“What about them? Have they gotten worse or something?”

“Not exactly..”

Wallace looked Dmitri in the eyes as two lengthy looking figures rose from his shadow. Their faces looked the same, eyes not seemed to exist. They scared down at Dmitri. He took a step back.

“These... are my nightmares..”

“Kid I don’t know what to tell you but, nightmares are dreams. They don’t come out like that physically! It’s like some sort of cryptid shit!”

“I can’t expect you to believe me.. but I’m telling the truth, these things are the stuff that make my nightmares what they are.”

“May we speak now..? Speak now..?”

Wallace shot the two a look after one of them spoke. Their echoing voices seemed to bounce off walls that didn’t exist.

“Not yet.”

“... did that thing just ask you permission to speak??”

“Y-yeah... one day they just decided to leave me a alone and start listening to what I tell them too. They said I wasn’t worth the trouble if I was already this far gone.”

Wallace’s words confused Dmitri. What does he mean by ‘this far gone’? As far as he knew Wallace was the same as he has been since the day he came to the wall.

“Kid.. what are you talking about?”

“You wouldn’t notice the difference... it’s been like this for awhile...”

He gave a small nod to the creatures. They move forward a bit to speak.

“About 3-4 years to be exact~ be exact~”

“What..?”

Dmitri was stunned. How could this be happening for years when he’s seen how these very nightmares effected Wallace first hand. Then a new thought crossed his mind. Could Wallace had faked that? Pretended the nightmares effected him the way it did when that wasn’t the case? He shook his head slightly, getting rid of the thought. Wallace wouldn’t fake something like that, he had no reason to. He trusts his son.

“Is something wrong? Something wrong?”

“Yeah, your fuckin voices.”

“That’s enough guys..”

The two returned back to Wallace’s side after he spoke.

“I’m sorry for not mentioning them before, there never really was a good time for me to tell you..”

“It’s fine kid. That was then, this is now.”

“Thanks.. there still the other thing though..”

Dmitri almost forgot about that. Seeing the two creatures made him lose track of the fact wallce said there was two things, not just one.

“We’ll go ahead. Surely it can’t get weirder then you having cryptids at your command.”

“If your sure..”

Those words from Wallace made Dmitri nervous. The figures seemed to smirk, as if they knew what was to come.

“... I’m still a tophat.”

He said simply. After he spoke his posture changed. Dmitri couldn’t tell how though, he was more focused on his words.

“You.. WHAT?! Your still a tophat? Why didn’t you tell me sooner!”

“I didn’t think it was necessary. I’m still actively working here. It just made it easier to say I didn’t work with them anymore. But I feel the need to come clean about it.”

“Kid, you really should have told me. We have an alliance with them, it doesn’t matter if you are or aren’t one.”

“... I know.”

“He just didn’t want to~ want to~”

Wallace nodded at what the figure said. Dmitri finally figured out what was different. Wallacw was standing more straight, as if more professional. He didn’t like the implications of that.

“Didn’t want to..?”

“Exactly! Like Wally boy said, it was unnecessary, so why bother? Besides, he didn’t want to ruin what you thought of him. Of him.”

“Is this true?”

Dmitri asked. Now more on edge, there’s something off about all this. Wallace was still hiding something, he just knew it. And god be dammed if he didn’t find out what.

“Of course it is. They wouldn’t lie, at lest not to you. They’d only really try to lie to me.”

“I wouldn’t have thought any less of you if I knew Wallace..”

“I know, I know. I didn’t know then but I do now. That’s why I’m telling you.”

“And that’s it? That’s all you wanted to tell me?”

“Pretty much, yeah..”

Wallace started acting a bit more like one he knew. But Dmitri planned on finding out more.

“.. who exactly were you chasing just now..?”

The question caught him off guard, he was about to say something before Wallace did. But Dmitri composed himself, trying not to let Wallace know he knew something was up.

“Just the fucker that decided they could march on in here and try to sabotage my complex..”

He says with a growl. Wallace seemed to think for a second.

“Oooohhhh THATS who you were after! I know who that is.”

“Wh-what!? Yow KNOW!? Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Why wouldn’t I know who I am?”

“Wha- that’s not what I-“

Dmitri’s voice trails off his gaze matched Wallace’s as realization sank in. He smirked as he saw Dmitri’s expression.

“You.. you..”

“Come on now Dmitri. You can say it.”

“Your the one who’s been sabotaging the wall..”

His voice was shaky. Dmitri couldn’t believe it. How could he? His own son, the one who he was thinking of possibly handing the wall over to, is the one who’s been setting it up to fail. A look of satisfaction rested on Wallace’s face.

“There you go. I’m surprised it look having to say it outright for you to realize~”

Everything about Wallace changed. How he stood, how he spoke, it was startling. It was like someone flipped a switch in him. But for some reason, Dmitri got the feeling he was finally meeting the real Wallace Pemberton.

“Why..? Why would you..?”

“Sabotage the wall? It was my duty. I wasn’t just a spy, my job was to break everyone out, and I was going so slowly but surely, by taking the wall down completely..”

“But there’s a-“

“An alliance, I know. The reason’s quite simple. You were too late. The plan was too far into motion. I can’t reverse it now, so why should I stop? Might as well go all in.”

Wallace smirked once again, the nightmares behind him smirked as well. He was scary. Dmitri backed up, wanting to try to run. He couldn’t kill Wallace, he’s his son for gods sake! So his only option was to get out of there.

“And where do you think YOUR going? Your going?”

Wallaces voice mixed with the nightmares. It startled Dmitri so much he froze in place. The one of the nightmares take the opportunity to come up behind him. Stoping his attempt of escape. Wallace’s a kind of “tsk tsk tsk” sound, like he was about to scold a child.

“What made you think I’d just let you leave? There’s still some stuff I want to say~ don’t you know it’s rude to leave a conversation early?”

“...”

“Good to know your smart enough to know when to shut up.”

The nightmares laughed a bit at that. The echoing laughter made Dmitri’s head hurt.

“You know, I was planning on waiting until you give me the wall before I revealed myself. But I’ll admit, I made an amateur mistake, I fumbled. You caught on end it was either I show myself willingly, or you find out in... a situation I wouldn’t find favorable.”

“You didn’t want to be ambushed..”

“Exactly! I’m glad you understand. I always knew there was some kind of brain in that hollow skull of yours~”

“...”

Wallace looked at Dmitri. Raising an eyebrow in amusement at his expression of confusion and betrayal.

“I get why your so quiet now. Your betrayed, backstabbed, by the man you concidered your son. Confused as to why, how, I could possibly do such a thing.”

“I thought you cared..”

Wallace freezes at that. Maybe he’s feeling some form of remorse? Gult? He knew the answer almost immediately after those thoughts, because Wallace started laughing. Similar to the laugh of the nightmares. He was laughing at him, absolutely losing it. It seemed like Wallace tried to compose himself after his laughing fit.

“You.. you really thought-“

It’s hard for him to speak through his giggles.

“You really thought I cared! Haha! That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard! YOU THOUGHT I CARED ABOUT YOU!”

Dmitri flinched. This was his son, his son who never cared.

“I CANT BELIEVE IT! Why would I care for a sorry old man like you!? Your a useless waist of a man who can’t even lay a finger on the person who betrayed you. All because I’m your ‘son’ “

He put son in air quotes. Cackling here and there.

“Oh Dmitri how far you’ve fallen. You’ve made my job so much easier! I was going to kill you here and now but now I don���t want to anymore.”

“Wh-what..?”

“I think I’d rather see you SUFFER. I want to watch the pain in your face as you watch your son ruin the one place you call home. The place you’ve spent your life keeping together. IM GOING TO RIP IT TO SHREADS! And you won’t do anything about it.”

Dmitri started to shake, he was actually scared of Wallace. And he knew he wouldn’t do anything to him. He couldn’t, it’d break him to put Wallace in harms way, even if he’s betrayed him.

“Your.. your a monster..”

“Oh how you flatter me. Monster is such a tame word to call me.”

He chuckled, his eyes glancing to a clock on the wall. Wallace’s expression turned into a sickly sweet smile. The nightmares disappearing.

“Sorry to cut this short.. but I have a very appointment to get to. I’ll see you again I’m sure of it.”

“...”

Dmitri watched Wallace walk away cheerfully, like nothing ever happened. He was at a loss for words. He collapsed on the ground, taking a few deep breaths, as it felt like he wasn’t breathing.

He couldn’t believe what just happened, but he had to. Dmitri couldn’t do anything but prepare for his pain. As much as he wanted to stop Wallace, he couldn’t do it. And so Dmitri walks somberly back to his office.

-[End]-

[monstrousaffections1]

It’s Alright It’s Ok

I jump out of my bones as my father's angry yell erupts from the house like a slamming door. Instantly my heart feels the frost of fear glaze over the surface of my beating organ. Swallowing thickly I get off my bed and hide my computer under my bedsheets, closing it's lid to hide it's light. Silently slipping out of my bedroom I move into the hallway and walk past the laundry basket, heading into the kitchen where my parents argue, the tension that has been building for two weeks finally bursting open like a damn. I would give it a day, maybe two, before their bedroom door be locked while my father hurt my mother. Then it would take either myself or my sister bursting into tears to get them to stop fighting for another few months. Swallowing thickly, I kept my eyes down as I moved into the battle zone, Shadow, my cat, rubbed around my legs, demanding biscuits. He didn't care about the chaos, he was probably use to it by now. Opening the cabinet under the sink I got his food out as my father and mother screamed at each other.

"Shut up Carol!" The man yelled, his eyes bulging and veins pulsing in his neck. He was in my mother's face, screaming at her. The woman who had for ages from my childhood had mostly cried and screamed at this man to get off her, had began to fight back. She did that often. It only increased the fighting.

"You Shut Up!" She screamed back. I patted Shadow's back as he ate. He was a big black cat. Strong and in his youth. Going to the fridge I took a certain of milk and poured myself a glass, downing it quickly. The sound of the tv came from the lounge room. Going into the room I looked at my little sister who was watching one of my favorite cartoons. Kid vs Kat. Managing a smile, I took my place beside her. I always rooted for the cat. I don't know why, perhaps I just loved cats. Plus I could relate the mischievous chaoticness of the character. Or at least that's how I wanted to be. My mother's form entered the room just as the boy and the alien cat jumped into a cloud of dust meant to depict fighting.

"Ingrid, have you done your homework?" I sighed; couldn't she see I was trying to watch something?

"Yeah." I lied. I should have said I didn't have homework.

"Ok, well, let me have a look?" Although I appreciated my mother's involvement in school, as anyone who was anyone knew that my autistic brain couldn't understand anything the teachers gave me on paper. I also wished she wasn't as involved. I just wanted some space. I was sick of homework.

Begrudgingly I got up and went to my room, dragging my books out of my school bag and dumping them on the desk. I went and got a slice of left over pizza from the fridge and poured myself a cup of coke to try and calm my racing heart.

"Ingrid you have homework. Why did you lie?" I rolled my eyes, why did she think? I wished I had headphones like all the other kids at school. I just wanted to shut her out as she started to lecture me. Casting a blank wall around my brain I sat down at the table and started on the maths homework. My worst subject. Contrary to popular belief depicted in movies, not all autistic people are good at maths. I myself am a better at English than this. I had finished a six inch novel in a week. And I was the best story writer in class. But this doesn't matter much to the adults.

After being left alone to my own devices, I sat and stared at the first math question for about ten minutes before attempting to answer it. I know I am highly likely getting the answer wrong, but I just want to finish this and escape to my room. I wanna do this without my parents coming to help. Before I know it, it's seven in the evening. I've by now attracted the attention of my father who started by trying to help, has now ended up yelling after I have proved once again useless at math.

"Are you stupid!" he screamed at me as I sat with unwavering tenseness, staring at the page and refusing to move my gaze from the sheet. My chest was shaking. There was no other way to describe it. Outwards, I was calm. But inside my chest shook like a autumn leaf. I could feel everything building up inside me. I tried to level myself. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't start crying. I repeated in my head.

"For God's Sake Ingrid! This is easy stuff! A Year 1 could do this!" He hollered and slapped my arm with a ruler. I didn't so much as flinch. I didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

"Do you even go to school!!??" I felt the first hiccup as I clenched my eyes shut and my sobs burst from my chest.

"Oh, great. Now your gonna cry." He muttered seethingly as though my melt down was a inconvenience. Mother was already serving out dinner wordlessly. This was a regular occurrence in our house. Homework that should only take five minutes, took three hours. Trying desperately to numb myself I packed up my homework to continue with tomorrow and wiped my eyes on my sleeve, trying to stop crying so I could eat dinner.

It's four in the morning when I sneak out of the house, dressed in my black hoody and trousers and my school bag on my shoulders as I lock the door behind me, take a breath, and take off running down the street. My runners pound on the side walk as I breath in the cold air of the early spring chill. I need this. Cold air, freshness, darkness just before the sun rises. Cars that pass through the street don't bother with the site of a teen girl running through the streetlights as though she were being chased. Even when my legs ache and I feel like my lungs are about to burst I don't stop. The sun's rays are barely kissing the trees by the time I reach the cultural center of my town. My throat crack a bit as a I swallow, having been dried out from my panting breaths. Rubbing sweat off my forehead I straighten up and stare at the sky. For a moment I want to disappear into the purple abyss above me. That'd be nice. Perhaps it'd be like in my stories. Just.... A life worth living perhaps. That'd be nice.

"Language!!" comes a shrieking yell from across the street. Snapping back to reality I look over to the collection of shops opening for the morning. I smile, feeling a familiar sense of warmness fill my numbed core as Bad is laughed at by his best friend, Skeppy, as the demon boy opens the shop door, peering at me with friendly white eyes. "Marr?" he calls. My smile softens as he uses my preferred name. I approach, shoving my hands into my pockets as a show of nonchalance. "Hey Bad." I raise a brow with amusement. Though he isn't fooled. He never is. I find myself pulled into a hug before I can even protest. Closing my eyes I hug him back, savoring the physical contact. That is until there is a photo snap and the blue haired boy snaps a picture. I frown and pull away.

"Skeppy! Delete that right now." I grumble, folding my arms with a frown.

"Nah. I think I'll add a few heart emojis." He teases as I fluster and puff up my cheeks. The demon beside me frowns, though his smile shows, he can never be mad at his friend. Rolling his white orbs he looks down at me gently.

"Breakfast. On the house." Bad and Skeppy were the only people I trusted. They didn't ask questions. Or offer to call anyone. They just let me hang out with them before work hours if I didn't want to be at home.

Nodding my head, I entered the café and sat down in a booth. Bad squeezed my shoulder and started the coffee brewer as Skeppy set up the tables and chairs for the day. Folding my arms to keep my fingers warm after I had pulled some of my hair out of my hood, I looked up slightly. Trying to think of a good way to start conversation.

"Did you guys sleep ok?" is it alright to ask that to people you don't live with?

Our words went back and forth in friendly small talk. Occasionally Skeppy would swear and get playfully told off by his friend. I would just laugh. Everyone in life is super serious. So it feels nice sometimes to just be around two goofs. I was given an expresso and hot pie. I savored the warm gravy taste, I wasn't even stressed but it was hard to not scoff it. A few people were starting to come in now. People on their way to work, stopping for a coffee and picking up take away. I wondered if it was nice. Living in a steady sense of movement. Where everything was the same and you knew what to do. Instead of struggling to hold together a toothpick structure simply cause nothing makes sense. I've missed opportunities for jobs simply because they've been offered while I was in the middle of a shut down. Same goes for friendships, or dates with boys, because I will just stare at them with a dumb panicked expression for a good five minutes while I try and figure out how to respond. In the end I am mistook for either rude or stupid. I am neither—Well ok I can be rude sometimes. But I'm definitely not stupid.

Feeling my anxiety levels raise I scull the rest of my coffee. Bad's tail stands on end in alarm as steam comes out of my mouth. "Careful you Muffinhead! You'll burn your tongue!" I shrugged with a smirking grin. "Hey look. I'm a dragon." I blow more steam out of my mouth. Skeppy busts up laughing from the kitchen as the demon sighs, rolling his eyes he ruffles my head. "Muffinhead." He mutters with a smirk. I hold up the cup. "Re-fill?" my hoody sleeve falls down slightly and the movement. Bad's smile slips and his eyes widen. "Holy shit what happened to your arm?" Skeppy chokes on a cackle. "Bad!?" finding it hysterical that the normally passive demon actually swore. I blinked and checked over my arm briefly, ah. Right. Pulling my sleeve down to cover the red marks from the ruler I shrugged. "Nothing. I'm fine." The demon stares for a moment before sighing in defeat. "At least let me get you some ice." Seeing the opportunity, I snicker, "But it's freezing!" Bad rolls his eyes, "For your arm, you Muffinhead." I poked out my tongue playfully.

With a cloth full of ice resting on my arm and a fresh cup of steaming coffee in front of me, I watch the pair work. Skeppy's diamonds are starting to sprout out of his arm. I do wonder how that doesn't hurt. But I'm just glad I'm not that kind of hybrid. Not that I'm any kind of hybrid. Considering how much the world changed after the Rifting, it's surprising that I'm not physically different as I am mentally. Even my sister is a Hybrid, despite my parents being human. She's a dog, by the fur coloring I'd say she's a kelpie. A car pulls up in the parking lot. It looks old, but the good kind of old. Kind of vintage, but not fancy. Just old. Through the windscreen three boys fight and seem to be bickering amongst each other. A tired looking man gets out. I recognize him. That's Philza, he shows up at school every now and then whenever Techno gets into a fight, or Tommy's pranks go horribly wrong, or Wilbur sasses out the teacher one to many times. He's a hybrid, either that or an angel. It's hard to tell. But he enters the coffee shop and walks to the counter. Huge black wings folded against his back.

"Bad, morning." He greet cheerfully and tips his weird stripped hat he always wears. I never liked that hat. It made me dizzy. He reads out a bunch of orders from a piece of paper, something about one flat-white, a mocha, a caramel latte, and a decaf frappe for Tommy. Bad nods his head and asks Skeppy to handle the order. I frown and tilt my head a bit. The strangely serious demon comes out from behind the counter and takes Philza by the arm, talking softly with him. I blink in surprise when they both look subtly towards me. I look down at the welt on my arm, pulling down the sleeve I bring my hand to my mouth and start to chew on my thumb knuckle. It seems I have over estimated the level of trust I should have given Bad. Rocking back and forth a bit I pick up my coffee cup to down it in one go. Don't trust grown ups. I'm about to pull my hood up when Philza comes over to my table, smiling down at me softly. I stare up at him with confusion. Fiddling with my fingers nervously.

"Hello, your Marr, right?" He raises a brow, his green eyes glinting with humor. My face heats up, and I avoid his eyes. "Uh.. yeah.. I think so..." he chuckles at this and puts his hand on the chair on the other side of the table. "Can I sit hear?" I blink in surprise, teachers and my parents never asked permission before they did things. Atleast my mum never did when she went through my school bag. Nor my did my dad when he turned down the music on my computer. I nod my head, continuing to rock back and forth. Sitting down he took off his hat, putting it in his lap. I stared at his blond hair that hung down to his shoulders. A crooked smile came upon his face, before it faded slowly. "Are you ok?" I started to scratch my arm. "I'm fine." This was my default response to most questions. He nodded his head as if this was a appropriate answer, he didn't pry. "How do you plan on getting to school, do you take a bus?" I shake my head, shrugging. I normally walk. Which is why I'm always late. He chuckles and takes his hat, putting it back on. "Well mate, if you'd like I can give you a ride, no strings." He winks good-naturedly. I look down, thinking for a bit. I don't trust strangers, even people with kids my age are dangerous. I look at Bad, chewing my lip. The demon smiles warmly and nods. Ok, I guess I'll give it a shot. I nod, "Yeah.. ok."

The hybrid gets to his feet quickly, "Great!" just in time for his order to be declared ready. With crow like laugh he takes the tray. "Welp, come on! The boys'll kill each other otherwise." he chuckles and heads out the door. After a moment of hesitation I follow him. The boys seem surprised when they spot me. Through a open window Philza hands the tray to Techno, a piglin hyrbid. I try not to stare at his tusks, it's rude. "Wilbur scoot over." Philza instructs his eldest son, opening the door for me. Tommy and his brother exchange a look before Wilbur undoes his seatbelt of shuffle over. I feel awkward as I get in, doing up my seatbelt and doing my best to avoid looking at the boys. As Philza turns on the engine there is a awkward, surprised silence. Until there isn't. "Who's the woman!?" Tommy inquires loudly. I wince.

[spunky-89]

Broken Ship

A/N: Hi everyone! This is the first part of the Titans!Jason Todd fic. If everyone likes it I will add the second part and maybe turn it into a series... So let me know what you guys think!!

P.S. special shout out to @whatamidoing-com​ and @grandeftmarvel​ for being the ones to actually make me motivated enough to post this  ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Part Two

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(Y/N) was laying down on the lounge chair she had dragged to the roof a few days ago. She groaned and then added, “I don't know what to do Neeks,”

The boy standing over her rolled his eyes but indulged her. It was kind of his job as her best friend.

“What is your heart telling you?” He asked.

“That you give shitty advice,” She grumbled, hoping he was going to be more helpful. 

Nico sighed and gave her a look. “(Y/N),” he said, using that tone a mom would use to tell you not to be stupid. But since she was a sasshole, she just kept being sarcastic. So she responded by copying his tone while saying his name. And then he shoved her off the chair. She groaned again but stayed there, too deep in her own head to care.

“Seriously, what is stopping you from trying?” He asked, shaking his head at the dumb girl in front of him. He very well knew that if she really didn’t care, they wouldn’t be having this conversation. She would have broken out and headed for the ocean, disappearing before they knew she was gone. But something was stopping her. And he knew that something was the love of her life. Even if she was too stubborn to see it.

When she responded, her words were dripping in scathing sarcasm. “Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that last time we were ‘friends’, he suddenly decided we weren’t, without giving enough of a damn to let me know or to give me a reason.”

He could see the underlying hurt in her eyes. He knew how badly this had fucked her up. After all, he knew all about them before she had even told Percy. He stuck to her side while Percy and Bianca went on the rescue mission. So he saw how happy she was, and how excited she was to get back to him for Christmas. And the next time he saw her, she was a completely different person. Her eyes were colder, her cheery attitude was replaced by a facade of her former self, and most of all, she pushed everyone she was close to away, keeping them at an arm's length. All except him, who refused to accept she was this way now, wanting to keep some semblance of their friendship alive. She healed some overtime, but she was never quite the girl he had first met. The one who promised to be there for him and his sister no matter what. The one who said that he was the little brother she never wanted but loved more than her own.

Looking at her now, he could see a new look. There was that slight spark in her eyes, but it was blocked by the wall she had built so strong over the last four years. And Nico knew, the only one who could ever knock them down, was the boy trying to hide in the shadows, scared to lose his girl once more.

“It's been years, you've changed a lot since then. Maybe he has too.” He tried to gently explain. 

“Why are you pushing me about this? Just take me home and let me forget this place and the people in it.” She exclaimed, sitting up and glaring at him.

“Because I care.” He started. He knew he had to be careful with his approach or she would clam up and he would lose the opportunity to talk some sense into her. “You're my best friend and you pushed me when I was scared to give Will a shot. And look how good that turned out. I'm just returning the favor.” He said gently, squatting next to her.

She covered her face and let out a frustrated “Uuuuhhhhgggggg”

Nico laughed at how dramatic she was being. She always said Percy was the dramatic one but in this moment she easily matched him. But he did his best to calm himself fast, knowing the consequences of laughing for too long (last time he ended up in the lake, it sucked).

“Look, take the evening to decide. I'll be here at noon to get you tomorrow.” He said finally. 

“That seems unnecessary. Give me five minutes to grab my shit.” She said, her words begging him to take her away, but her eyes conflicted with a need to stay. 

Nico sighed and added, “I'm serious. He seems like he really cares.”

“Just because he's listening in doesn't mean he cares. It actually is kinda stalkerish.” (Y/N) pointed out.

Nico rolled his eyes and got up. “Well, you do you. But in my opinion, it’s stupid to sink a repairable ship.”

She gave him a glare and flipped him off as he walked into a shadow on the wall. Once Nico vanished, she got up from the floor and turned towards the door to see Jason step out of the shadows he thought he was hidden in.

“What the fuck was that?” 

She ignored him and pushed him aside to head back through the door.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” he said grabbing her arm in an attempt to stop her.

She yanked her arm free and growled, “Fuck off”

He chased her down the stairs back into the main floor. 

“I’m not just gonna let you leave!” He yelled as he grabbed her arm “I care about you too much to just let you walk away without trying to fix us”. 

She growled and went to punch him, but he blocked her. She started talking as she attempted to land a hit on him. 

“You don’t get to stand there and tell me you care! I know you saw me when I came looking for you and you know I saw you. I tried everything to get you to talk to me.” She landed a hit to his side and shoved him into the wall behind him. “So don’t you fucking dare tell me that you fucking care because if you did we wouldn't be having this conversation!”

He righted himself and went on the defense, not wanting to hurt the girl in front of him. He was damn glad the team was out or this would have made this confrontation worse. He steeled himself and started to argue with (Y/N). “Of course I care! Don’t ever fucking tell me I don’t. I stayed away to pro-”

“Don’t you dare feed me that bullshit!” She yelled as she threw another punch to his face, “You know I can take care of myself. So you need a better goddamn excuse if you want me to believe your FUCKING LIES!!!!!”

He caught both her hands and pushed her back to try and put distance between them, even though every cell in his body was screaming at him to hold her close. 

“I LOVE YOU DAMNIT! I KNOW YOU CAN HANDLE YOURSELF. I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU.” He screamed.

“YOU KNOW NOTHING! ITS BEEN 4 YEARS TODD, 4 FUCKING YEARS!” She screeched. She went at him again, her attacks were weak and half-hearted, but she needed to let out the tsunami of emotions somehow, she just chose her fists. Tears were welling in her eyes but neither knew if it was from the rage or the pain and sadness.

“I STILL KNOW YOU!” He grabbed her and shoved her against the wall, locking her in place. He knew he shouldn’t yell and scream at her, it would only make things worse. But he was never good at expressing emotion. So he continued to scream back, unwittingly telling her the thing he swore to never tell her.

“I KNOW YOU'RE STILL TERRIFIED OF HIGHTS. I KNOW YOU MOVED IN WITH YOUR MOM AND BROTHER. I KNOW YOU LEAVE TO HIT THE STREETS ALL THE TIME BECAUSE YOU STILL AREN'T ADJUSTED TO HAVING FOUR WALLS AROUND YOU. I KNOW THAT KID ON THE ROOF IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. I KNOW YOU DON'T LET PEOPLE GET CLOSE TO YOU ANYMORE! BECAUSE I NEVER STOPPED CARING, NEVER STOPPED WATCHING YOUR BACK! NO MATTER HOW FAR YOU WERE FROM ME! BECAUSE I NEVER STOPPED LOVING YOU!!” 

A moment of silence rang through the hall. Both Jason and (Y/N) were breathing heavily, faces barely an inch apart. The tears were now streaming down her face, and his eyes had a glossy sheen that showed he wasn’t far from crying himself.

“Why?” She breathed, barely willing to break the silence with anything louder. Not moving her face an inch. Her eyes locked on his.

“I don’t know,” he breathed, loosening his grip on her so that he was barely holding onto her as he let his forehead rest against hers.

“Tell me why Jason?” She whispered, her voice cracking from the emotions. “Why did you leave me?”

Her eyes were now pouring out tears, though she didn't make a sound as she looked down and away from the boy who shattered her heart.

He moved his hands from her arms as he cupped her cheeks, wiping the tears away and pulling her face to look back at his, the pain behind her eyes breaking him. 

“I think I was scared of losing you.”

“What does that even mean?” she whimpered,

“I cared about you too much, and I felt like I was holding you back from your family.” His cheeks becoming wet as the emotions he had long buried came rushing back. “In my head either you would leave me for them, or you would stay and grow to resent me for keeping you away from them.”

“Oh Jason,” She whispered, lips quivering as her tears never stopped flowing. He looked so broken and she had no idea what to say. It crushed her to find out that he left for her sake. She wasn’t good with words, neither was he. It was something they had bonded over, being able to convey emotions with actions and body language, no words needed. So she decided to go back to that.

She put her hands around his neck, one hand went into his hair, and the other pulled his neck closer to her as she kissed him. The tears were still streaming down their faces, but no words needed to be said. Everything was laid bare in that kiss. The love, the loss, the regrets, the apologies. Jason’s hands shifted as one landed on her waist to pull her closer and the other slid to the back of her head. As he did so she let out a small gasp which he used to slowly slip his tongue in her mouth. They had kissed once before when they were younger. It was the night before she left, neither knowing it was going to be the last they saw of one another for years. That first kiss felt right, but this kiss, it felt like they had found their home, that all was finally right in their worlds.

It could have been seconds or hours they stood there, but neither wanted to leave the other’s embrace. They had to breathe eventually, but when they pulled back it wasn’t far. Her eyes stayed closed as their foreheads rested against each other.

“Stay,” Jason breathed. The warm breath spread over her and she wanted to crumble in his arms.

With her eyes still closed she sighed and stayed quiet for a moment. “I can’t,” She whispered, fresh tears flowing. His grip on her tightened slightly as she spoke those words. 

“Why not?” He asked, his voice showing his hurt, “After-after everything we’ve been through, the memories we’ve tried and failed to forget, this moment...Why?”

A small sob left her lips as she pulled and turned away from him. But he didn’t let her get far. She had made it no more than two steps when he grabbed her arm again, and this time his grip was iron-like. She could have broken free, but she didn’t have the strength or the will to fight him. She did, however, continue to avoid his gaze as she cried, never answering his question.

“Tell me why?” he asked again, his voice had a bit more strength and bite behind it. He placed his hand on her cheek and turned her face towards him, where he could see the pain and anguish behind her eyes.

“Because I can’t, I-I have responsibilities and a new family...I-I can’t just leave them.” She said, her voice soft and her eyes looked down while she spoke, only looking up for a second when she had finished. Jason knew why she wouldn’t look at him, she knew he’d know she was lying. But he still noticed anyway. 

“Look me in the eye and say you don’t want this-us and I’ll let you walk away and I won’t bother you again. But if not, I will fight every day to get you back.” He spoke, his words rang with pain and confidence. Her lips wobbled as she looked into his eyes. “Tell me you don’t want me and I’ll let you leave right now.” His voice came out shaky as he took in the depth of her eyes, the emotions swirling as her face showed her inner conflict. She opened and closed her mouth at least half a dozen times before she whimpered and looked down again.

“I can’t,” 

“Then stay, please. I need you.” Jason begged.

She shook her head but made no move to leave his arms again. There were a few tense moments of stillness and silence before she moved. She lunged at him and buried her head in his shirt, her head resting right where his heart was.

“I can’t get my heart shattered again Jason, I can’t. I barely made it through last time. I’m not strong enough to withstand it again.” She spoke through her tears.

“I won’t hurt you, I promise,” He spoke softly as he pulled her closer and gripped her in a bear hug. “I fucked up majorly but please, just-just give me another chance.” 

She pulled her head from his chest and opened her mouth to argue but he didn’t let her. He placed one hand on her cheek and said, “I’ll do better, I won’t pull any more shit like that because having you here the last few days reminded me of how much it hurts every day to not see your face, even when it’s filled with rage and contempt.”

He could see the emotions flashing across her face as she tried to make heads or tails of her thoughts. She looked him in the eye, trying to read him. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t seen each other in four years, she could still read him like an open book. She looked into his eyes and saw the same look she saw every day in the mirror, the pain of losing your best friend and the sincere hardness of a promise. Her heart was ready to beat out of her chest and she knew right then, she would never leave him or let him leave her ever again. She reached up and pulled his lips back to hers. No hesitancy as she did so. Their lips stayed locked as he slowly backed her into the wall again but this time it wasn’t aggressive, no, this was driven by something else entirely. 

There was desperation in the kiss this time. They both were grabbing at each other, trying to be close as possible. Jason grabbed her and lifted her into his arms. She was so shocked that he had the strength to do that. But then she remembered they weren’t kids anymore. They were both older and (slightly) more mature.

She barely realized she had wrapped her legs around him. The movement was so unconscious, but like with everything with Jason, her body and his worked in tandem. Her unknowing may have also been due to the fact that she was far too distracted by his tongue wrapping around hers as he explored her mouth. They broke for air and she stared at him, the muscles in his arms bulging as he held her against the wall. She now felt his one hand clutching her thigh and she took a shuttered breath as she felt him pressed completely into her, not a single gap between their bodies. She wasn’t sure what to do but when she looked into Jason’s eyes, she knew. He had his stupidly sexy smirk plastered on his face as she was taking him in, his eyes a few shades darker than usual. She wasn’t alone in this examination as he was taking her in and undressing her with his eyes. It was a look she usually hated, but coming from him, her breath hitched just a bit. 

Right then and there, gazing into his eyes, she fell in love with him all over again. She saw her world in those eyes, her future. She wasn’t the romantic type, but at this moment, she would happily go through all the trauma and nightmares she’d dealt with again just to stay in that moment forever.