#how does everyone else name ocs im begging you

[waterlogged-detective]

I gotta brainstorm what i would name their kid 😭

[dadsbongos]

I love the way you write kabru, could you write some of the general headcanons for him?

super all over the place. i got maybe a bit too into the nsfw headcanons cuz i need to destroy him ~~~ general headcanons:

The type to imagine oc battle amvs in his head to their medieval music but pretends he’s just smoldering chill cool guy

Outside of general note-taking or journaling, I fully believe he’s had dreams of being a novelist as a kid

Probably avoids interacting one-on-one with Falin without Marcille or Laios as buffers because of her stubbornly remaining monster traits, as well as like… “hey girl you killed me!!”

But as time goes on n he gets used to her, he probably ends up just seeing her as a cutie pie like everyone else does

Would thrive coming up with criminal punishments, maybe not watching some of them because excessive gore icks him out but theorizing is always fun to him

Would similarly thrive in a court setting, and would jump at the opportunity to be the angel and devil on laios’ shoulders through the whole thing

I think he’s the type of man to bare a heavy conscious about things he considers immoral or rude, like having a hard time forgiving himself for mistakes or even just generally “bad” things in his past

Likes the idea of being a family man but gets scared shitless at the actual effort it would take to raise children and maintain a marriage

Would be a total reality TV junkie and anime lameoid in modern era - he loves the melodrama

if/when Mickbell ever gave him permission to refer to him by “mick” (or just any half-foots say he can call them by first name alone) he’d squeal and kick his feet for dayssss knowing what it means in a cultural context for half-foots

Tries not to be That Guy, but feels a little complimented when people tease at what a smooth talker he is. Loves getting to have his redditor “heh… just my natural charisma…” moment

Strikes me specifically as bisexual btw i dunno why but its just jumping at me

Not in love with Rin, but likes her? But doesn’t? But doesn’t NOT like her? He’s trying to maintain distance because sometimes he feels a spark, but then goes back to thinking of her as just a childhood friend. Feels very guilty and selfish if he thinks about her feelings for him for too long, especially since he’s kind of a known charmer. Earnestly hopes she moves on from him no matter the state of his feelings though

Nsfw headcanons:

Likes foreplay wayyyy more than sex because he gets off seeing how crazy he can drive his partners before they just start begging with zero shame

Would enjoy group sex or two-party affairs, his only iffy stance is being watched by someone else. Unless he knows the voyeur VERY well it just feels uncomfortable to be the one getting observed. Down to be the voyeur though hehe

Has a stupid lil whispy laugh he does when he’s getting teased im gonna get feral

Could never play a brat, you tell him shut up and he salutes you with sweaty hands

Could do hate sex! If he realllllllly doesn’t fuck with your vibe, but he’d have to know you personally. Hate sex feels weirdly more intimate to him because he has to expose real feelings he has, so in a way his ass doesn’t even hate you he’s just annoyed you keep bickering with him

If he’s supposed to be submissive, I think he’d like to get a couple light slaps. Maybe choke him a wee bit.

Can’t take humiliation unless its in a sandwich where the degradation is hidden between 2+ praises

Idk if its because its me or if this is real, but I can see him blurting out a “mommy” if he’s super delirious with pleasure

Circling back to the voyeur thing, I think his other hardcore no is somnophilia. Either way, he just can’t get into it. But he’s not the type to shame people for their goons

[jelicoxoxo]

TWST CHARACTERS AS CATS

Summary: Your favorite had embarrassingly made a mistake in potionology class, which ultimately resulted in them turning into a cat! They hunt you down to care for them, escaping their usual routine for the day.

Warnings: N/A. Can be seen platonic or romantic, OC friendly. No proofread cause i’ll wanna delete it

A/N: Im cutting this into separate parts by dorms and in order

and good lord i barely had any idea what to do with trey but I PULLED THROUGH Y’ALL🙏

———————

(Heartslabyul) (Savanaclaw) (Octavinelle) (Scarabia) (Pomefiore) (Ignihyde) (Diasomnia)

————

RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS

- the prettiest Siberian cat with the SOFTEST fur.

- He wasn’t even the one making the potion, some heartslabyul students messed theirs up and SPILLED it on him. You can imagine how pissed he was. He wanted to yell “off with your heads!” at the two that did it and everyone that laughed, but his magic was utterly useless as long as he was a cat. He hated it.

- The second class was over he was running out the classroom and down the hall, stressing poor trey over for a while until he gave up looking, but he didn’t know that Riddle had made his way straight to you.

- You assumed it was someone’s pet that somehow got on campus, noticing that he was to… clean… to be a stray. You gave him a name yourself, and best believe he gave you the most judgmental look every time you tried calling him by it.

- Matter of fact, he was extremely judgmental over everything. He refused to eat any of the cat food you offered him, but stared at you as you ate your own human food. This staring eventually turned into him pawing the air at your food, and he continued this until you made him his own bowl of whatever you had.

- Will be offended if you swat at him and say no.

- Doesn’t really like being picked up or carried, and wont sit in your lap unless you put him there. Usually he’ll jump out your arms after tolerating it for 5 seconds max, and leave your lap after 20.

-But when it was time for bed, you noticed how he curled up right beside you on your nightstand, which he felt it would be disrespectful to take advantage of his cat form and sleep beside you in your bed.

- It was funny seeing him fall off of it when he turned back, and even more when he tried explaining himself through stutters and a red face.

TREY CLOVER

- “Pleaasseee [Name]! He’ll behave, i swear!” Cater was literally begging you to watch trey after explaining the situation to you, to busy with assignments he “accidentally” let pile up.

- Trey was a shorthair calico, laying any and everywhere he could. He is taking advantage of this opportunity to sleep in as much as possible and escape having to do anything.

- you know the type of cat that sniffs your mouth and makes that horrified face afterwards? yeah, thats him. except he’s actually horrified and lost his ability to control his facial expressions (no he didn’t)

- Such a sweetheart outside of that, let you put a tie on him but thats it, wont sit still for you to do anything else.

- Not a talkative cat, but has a deep ass meow for whatever reason.

-Will join you on the counter if he sees you baking something, just watching you bake and being your taste tester.

- Trey will pur and do biscuits on your pillows and blankets, doesn’t mind being cuddled and carried but eventually will move.

- When he turned back, he was sitting on your coffee table and BROKE it. Had to buy you a new one.

CATER DIAMOND

- He’s just the prettiest Norwegian forest cat, SUPER photogenic.

- He also immediately made his way to you, wanting to show off his pretty fluffy tail and adorable green eyes. He walked with the sassiest cat walk, and posed every chance he got.

- Will let you dress him up, and lets you put the colorful caps on his nails like they’re painted. Loves getting his fur brushed and sun bathing, its so bad he probably should’ve just been in Pomefiore

- Doesn’t knock anything over purposely, but definitely does accidentally when he’s trying to fit his fluffy ass on your tables, counters, and nightstands.

- fur. EVERYWHERE. You had used up 3 whole lint rollers that day. It didn’t make it any better that he’d purposefully go and rub himself all over you right after you finish lint-rolling yourself too. And when he’s done attacking your clothes, he’ll prance away with pride. He’s enjoying his time as a cat TO much.

- But its okay, because eventually he gets tired of it, just wanting to do things by himself and in his human body again— like telling you what he wants, taking a shower, doing his own hair, and scrolling through his own phone.

-He sits on your chest watching your magicam feed, purring as he slowly drifted off to sleep. You didn’t want to wake him, so you let him sleep, gently running your fingertips down his head.

-you SCREAMED when he turned back human right on top of you.

-Posts any pictures you took of him on magicam <3

ACE TRAPPOLA

- now you and I both know he’s gonna be orange.

- He was at your place IMMEDIATELY. I love Ace to death, but he’s a little shit. knocking stuff off shelves and tables, hiding under things to attack your ankles when you walk by, and don’t be the person that enjoys knitting or crochet because he WILL fuck up your yarn.

- and NOTHING works on this mf, not orange peels, not tin foil, nothing. and he DARES you to spray him with water, because he can and will fight back with no shame.

- steals your food, judges you, swats and bites, gives you hell. But theres one thing that saved you, and thats finally getting on the floor and playing with him.

-You went and bought some toys, which he didn’t mess anything up while you where gone. He enjoyed playing with you for a good hour or two, and even sat and watched whatever drama you where watching with you. The drama was the only thing that got Ace to stop being a menace to society, he watched it till he fell asleep, sprawled out on the couch cushion that he was fat enough to completely take up (after stealing YOUR food).

- You went to bed without waking him up, and came back to his human self still asleep on your couch, not even surprised that it was him all along as you placed a blanket over him.

DEUCE SPADE

- A blue scottish fold. I don’t make the rules.

- Ace brought him to you scared that Riddle would find out, saying he’d look for someone that could turn him back while you watched him and dipped.

- Deuce actually was really decent as a cat, all he did was nap and play with whatever toys you got him. He sucked it up and ate whatever you offered him, and even let you stuff him in a bag and carry him everywhere as long as he got to stick his head out and see.

- Although, eventually he’ll get curious and take the opportunity to actually see what it felt like to do typical cat things.

- He knocked exactly one item over, and that was your pencil while you where doing homework. He climbed a tree and got stuck, to scared to jump down, he yowled and cried till you found him. He made biscuits for the first time, purred and nudged at your hand, squeezed himself through the tiniest spaces, just did typical cat things.

- absolutely refused to use a litter box though. that was the one thing he was not going to do for you. But after falling in the toilet (twice), he settled for doing his business behind a bush and burying it with dirt.

- When he finally turned back to normal, you woke up to him fixing something you had complained about being broken, muttering to himself as he put pieces back together. He apologized to you so much, feeling guilty that you had to take care of him.

- oh yeah Riddle still found out.

[badasgirlfriend]

Secret | | Harry Potter Imagine

pairings: harry potter x malfoy! fem oc

genre: secret relationship

warnings: ??

a/n: hope u like it<3 reqs are open

.·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·..·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·.

"Class is over. See you class," the professor's voice booms, causing all the students to stand and rush towards the door. As soon as they're able, they exit the classroom, eager to get to their next class or to take a long-needed break from the day's lessons.

Harry smiles at Lyra as the two of them gather their belongings and begin to head out of the classroom together. As they reach the exit, Harry pauses and suddenly grabs Lyra's hand, gently pulling her closer to him. Lyra is caught off guard by this gesture and looks at the green eyed boy with a surprised expression.

"Um...Harry, what are you doing?" she asks.

“Holding my girlfriends hand what does it look like” he snorts

“Harry” Lyra says looking around “Someone could see us”

"Shhh, it's perfectly fine, Lyra." Harry brushes her concern to the side with a light chuckle as he leans in to kiss her. "What's the issue in spending some extra time together?" he says with a grin, pressing his lips against hers.

“Harry, please...let go. What if someone sees us?" she whispers, trying to make him understand

"Lyra, you’re being paranoid. I doubt anyone is going to come here anytime soon." he continues to hold onto Lyra's hand with a firm grasp

But she still feels anxious, what if her brother saw them together…or his friends. She can risk that “Harry please. Can't we go to somewhere else?" she begs.

Harry sighs and eventually lets go of Lyra's arm "Lyra...you know I love you."

Lyra gulps at his words, feeling a bit awkward “But...this whole secret relationship is getting to me," he adds, he wants to be open with her about how he feels and doesn't want to keep their romance a secret anymore.

Lyra looks at Harry with soft eyes, she knows that they cannot be together publicly because of her family and brother's beliefs "Harry...you know we can't," she says with a slightly regretful expression. "Draco and my family...they won't accept us," she explains.

"Yeah, I know," Harry cuts in, understanding her concern. "But that doesn't mean we can't try. You're their daughter; they'll accept this," he says

She wants to be with Harry, but in the back of her mind, she knows that the relationship was doomed from the start. Perhaps she was being selfish when she started dating Harry, knowing full well that their relationship would eventually break apart because of her family. However, she couldn't help it; she liked him way too much at the time, and now she loves him.

"Harry...you don't know them like I do," she says softly. "Maybe my mother would accept us- even Draco, but my father...he'd rather disown me,"

Harry laughs in disbelief and shakes his head “Lyra im sick of meeting in secret holding ur hand in secret…do you know how much it hurts seeing other guys flirt with you or even ask u on dates- fucking hell i cant even take my girlfriend on a date in public” he ran his hand through his hair “i just want…to hold your hand in front of everyone, hug you kiss you in fhe hallways not in the broom closets or the changing rooms”

He was stressed, between Umbridge and her detentions, the DA classes, and Snape tormenting him, Harry is feeling overwhelmed. And on top of that, he can't help but feel a bit insecure. Maybe Lyra doesn't want to be with him, or perhaps she's ashamed and that's why she doesn't want anyone to know about their relationship.

Lyra groans “Harry I didn’t mean to-“ she stops and immediately takes a few steps backwards when students enter the class. Some of them give the couple weird looks

Harry shakes his head “Well Malfoy” he spits her last name and she cant help but feel hurt “you and your brother need to leave me alone, Im done with you two” With that, he leaves the classroom, bumping into Lyra's shoulder on his way out making her stumble a little

When she spots a group of third year ravenclaws staring and whispering about her, she has had enough.

"What are you looking at?" she snaps, causing them to flinch. "Go back to writing your notes," she adds, before making a swift exit and making her way towards her own common room.

.·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·..·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·.

Almost three days had passed since that argument between Lyra and Harry, and they had not spoken since then. The Malfoy girl was starting to feel torn by this distance. These past days had been difficult for her.

She saw Harry frequently in class or alone in the hallways, and he would always avoid her gaze and disappear before she could say a word. Enough was enough, and Lyra refused to wait any longer for a conversation. She would speak to Harry today, whether he liked it or not.

Harry was also struggling. He missed his girlfriend and couldn't help but blame himself for the argument they had. It was his fault, he should have just accepted her "no" and left it at that.

"You're so dumb," he thought to himself, feeling guilty and ashamed. He thought Lyra hated him now, and he couldn't blame her.

.·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·..·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·.

"Draco, please stop!"

Lyra hissed, gripping Draco's shoulders tightly but he easily shrugs off her grasp. She is desperate for him to listen, but he pushes her away

"What did you just say about my sister?"

Cornac McLaggen can't help but tremble under the fierce glare that Draco shoots him. If looks could really kill, he would surely be digging his own grave at this moment. Despite the tension, Lyra is too focused on Draco to care about Cornac

"I said I wouldn’t wouldn't mind fucki-..." He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Draco, who had caught his breath just in time, threw a bone-shattering punch that left Cormac's jaw hanging by a thread, and Lyra's heart racing with fear.

Lyra grabs her brothers arm to try and stop him. Draco, however, appears to want to deliver another round of punches, which forces Lyra to struggle to restrain him. She screams at him in an attempt to stop him "You will regret that," growled Cormac raising his wand in warning.

"Mess with her again, and I'll make sure that not even Madam Pomfrey can heal you," Draco spat out, struggling against the hold of Blaise and Theo who had just arrived.

"Oppungo!" Cormac yelled as he pointed his wand at the birds that Luna was feeding. But in his rage, he ended up misaiming his spell, sending it towards a couple of large rocks instead.

Cormac, realizing his mistake, seemed more focused on protecting himself from his own spell

When Cormac misfired his spell, Blaise, Theo and Draco immediately ducked to avoid any injuries from the rocks that were barreling towards them. However, Lyra didn't have the same luck. She was blocked by the three large guys standing in front of her, so she didn't see the rocks heading towards her. As a result, she was caught off-guard and hit by one of the heavy rocks, which knocked her to the ground.

"YOU FUCKER!"

Lyra could hear her brother's voice ring out through the air, but a loud pounding in her head was keeping her from seeing anything. She touched her head and felt liquid pouring down her face.

"Lyra, can you hear me?" Blaise's voice reached her ears, but she couldn't manage a response. With her head falling into Blaise's arms, he grew increasingly worried about her condition.

"What's going on?" Snape’s voice cuts through the tense atmosphere and quickly grabs everyone's attention. He looks at Lyra, his concern growing with each passing moment. Then, he turns his focus back on Theo, who is still holding Draco, and Cormac, who stands before them. The latter is shivering in fear.

"Malfoy, follow me." With a quick wave of his wand, Snapce casts a spell. Lyra levitates into the air with ease,

Snape turns to Cormac, his eyes cold and unfeeling. Though his words are brief, they are filled with a deep menace.

"I'll see you ... in my office," he growls.

Snape leaves immediately, making his way to the hospital wing, Cormac, however, is left in sheer dread

.·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·..·:¨¨ ≈☆≈ ¨¨:·.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the Great Hall, seated at their usual table and discussing plans for the next DA meeting.

Unfortunately, however, they were completely unaware of what was happening outside.

Harry couldn't help but often glance towards the door. He was waiting for a certain blonde girl to enter the hall, but she never did. He checked his watch, confused since she was never late.

His confusion only grew as the seconds ticked by. "Where is she," he thought to himself, unable to concentrate on anything but the empty seat at the slytherin table

Cho Chang sits at the Gryffindor table, deep in conversation with Parvati Patil. “Did you hear about Lyra?"

The two girls continue to chat amongst themselves, not realizing that a few heads have turned in their direction. One boy in particular, Harry Potter

He listens closely for a moment, and then can't help but join in on the conversation. "What happened to Lyra?" he asks, turning their attention towards him.

Both Cho and Parvati turn to look at Harry. "Hi, Harry," Cho says sweetly, smiling at him, while Parvati nods in greeting, her blush intensifying.

Parvati quickly adds: "How are you? It's been awhile."

Harry doesn't want to be rude, but he is genuinely concerned about his girlfriend. "What happened to her?" he asks, sounding much more frantic this time.

"Marietta just told me that Cormac McLaggen..." Cho flinches and pauses, sensing the tension in Harry's eyes. Before she can finish what she was saying, Harry abruptly stands up and rushes away from the Great Hall, leaving both her and Parvati behind.

The two girls stare at each other for a moment, confused and surprised by the sudden turn of events. "What just happened?" Cho whispers quietly.

Harry's mind is only focused on one thing - 1) running towards the hospital wing and reaching Lyra. 2) killing Cormac McLaggen

As he speeds through the castle, he ignores the yells of his best friends Ron and Hermione, who beg him to stop.

Just before he reaches the hospital wing, he suddenly sees Theo viciously kicking Cormac on the stomach. The boy's rage flares up, transforming to a blinding red color. He can't control it in this moment. All he can think about is getting back at Cormac, no matter what it takes.

Harry marches up to them in a fit of rage, his anger only intensifying as his eyes focus in on Cormac.

As Theo looks at him with a confused and wary look, Harry simply pushes him aside, unable to hear or care about what anyone has to say in this moment.

"Finally," Cormac mutters out of anger, but he never finishes his sentence. In a flash, he is knocked to the ground by Harry.

"What the fuck mate?.

"I'll kill you!" Harry's rage only intensifies with every word. His grip on Cormac's collar tightens, and he prepares for another round, not intending to stop until Cormac is no longer breathing.

"Be thankful," Harry growls, his tone and expression darkening."Be fucking thankful that she's in the hospital right now, otherwise, you'd be dead for sure."

Harry punches Cormac in the face again, and this time, Cormac's nose breaks with a sickening crack. Blood splatters across the ground, painting it a crimson color as he falls to the ground with a thud

Theo stands in disbelief, his mind racing as he struggles to process the news.

"What the fuck..." he mutters, his voice tinged with confusion and surprise. "Oh Lyra, you little minx,"

Harry storms through the doorway. The force of his entry is so intense that it creates a loud bang, catching the attention of Draco, who immediately turns to face him.

As soon as Draco sees Harry, his face twists into a grimace, unable to hide his anger "What do you want?" he snaps, his frustration and anger growing.

Ignoring him, Harry rushes towards Lyra's bed, his heart breaking as he sees her lying there, so still and vulnerable, her head bandaged.

Draco watches Harry touch Lyra, his eyes darken and his expression changes to one of pure rage. His voice is strong and sharp as he speaks, his eyes locked on Harry “What the hell are you doing, Potter?" he grabs Harrys shoulder and shoves him away

"Let me see her, Malfoy," Harry says, his voice as calm and cold as ice.

"I said leave," he says through clenched teeth. "You have no reason to be here."

"I have every fucking reason to be here," Harry snaps back, his anger boiling over. He glares at Draco, his whole body taut with frustration and desperation.

Draco laughs "Name one then, asshole."

"She's my-- "

“H-Harry is that..you” Harry is cut off as another voice calls out from the other side of the room. They both rush over to Lyras bed. Draco is too focused on the situation at hand to even notice that it was Harry's name that the girl just said.

Draco kneels before Lyra, his face full of worry and concern. “Lyra, are you okay? Does it hurt that much?" He softly takes her face in his hands and looks at the bandages on her head. “I’ll write to father”

Lyra tries to sit up, but she quickly winces in pain, unable to get up. “No don't write to them," she whispers, fear evident on her voice She doesn't want to get into more trouble with her parents,

Harry cannot hold back any longer, "Lyra baby," he whispers, taking her hands and holding them “I'm so sorry," he continues, kissing her hands.

"I should've been there," he says, full of regret and remorse. He knows that if he had been there, she would not be in this condition.

Draco watches the two with wide eyes, his jaw dropping in disbelief. He has always seen Harry as the enemy, and this moment throws him for a loop, making him unable to process what he's seeing.

He tries to speak, but the words stick in his throat. His heart races as he watches the pair show affection towards one another like they never have before.

Lyra's face softens as Harry kisses her hands, his tenderness warming her heart. She knows that he's feeling guilty and trying to make “It's okay, H," she says, her voice quiet. "It isn't your fault," she adds, her words filled with understanding and forgiveness.

As she looks at Harry, it's as if her heart skips a beat. Her gaze is one of pure affection and love.

Draco can't believe his ears, or his eyes. He can't help but wonder if this is all just one big joke, or if there really is something going on between the two of them.

“H?" he yells. "Baby? What the fuck is happening?" Her brother’s face is filled with anger and hurt as he faces both Lyra and Harry. His voice is loud and frustrated, as he tries to make sense of the situation that’s in front of him

Lyra's eyes widening as she only then notices that her brother is in the same room as well. She tries to remove her hands from Harry's grasp, but he doesn't let go, shaking his head. 'Draco, it's not what you think,' she pleads.

“Oh?” Draco says in a mocking tone. 'Then please enlighten me, my dear sister. Because to me it looks like it,' he adds, letting out a cold laugh that chills Lyra through and through.

"Malfoy, calm down," Harry says firmly, gripping Lyra's hand to reassure her.

Draco looks at him furiously, his gaze full of raw hatred as he tries to contain the rage that is boiling

"You fucking shut up," he spits out, his eyes locked on Harry's face. "You don't get to speak. It's better if you leave."

This is it, this is your chance, Lyra thinks to herself “No” she looks at her brother “My boyfriend isn’t leaving”

"B-boyfriend? How could you do this?!" Draco yells angrily. "He's our enemy."

Lyra speaks up, and her voice is firm.

"He's your enemy, Draco, not mine."

Her words make Draco's jaw drop. How dare she take Harry's side?

"Did you even think about me before going with him?" Draco yells furiously. "For fucks sake, Lyra, what were you thinking?"

Lyra rolls her eyes. "Grow up, Draco," she replies. "Just because he rejected your handshake doesn't mean you still have to be butthurt over it."

Harry looks guilty as he realizes that Lyra wasn't ready for this to happen, Draco shakes his head in disappointment.

"I see," he says, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Well, don't let me ruin your little romantic moment. By all means, continue."

Lyra glances at him in frustration, about to say something, but Draco quickly slams the door.

"He'll understand," Harry lets a sigh

Lyra stares at the door through which Draco just left, tears in her eyes.

"I know," she whispers, her voice cracking with emotion. "It will take him time. Way too much time" Her voice trails off as if she can't say anything more

She makes some space for him so he can lay beside her “Anyway did Cormac get detention?”

"That idiot" Harry mumbles. "He has no idea what's coming for him."

Lyra lets out a soft snicker, amused by Harry's words. "Harry," she says, her tone chiding. "You're already in deep shit with Umbridge. You don't need to dig your own grave even more."

"I don't care about her," Harry says, his tone brushing off any further discourse. "All I care about is you."

Lyra smiles and lays her head down on Harry's chest, relieved to hear the words she'd been waiting for. She closes her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms and his tender touch.

She feels safe with Harry, her worries and worries melted away in his embrace. She is finally at peace, knowing that she's with the one she loves.

Harry looks at her eyes, softening as his gaze meets hers. He brings her closer, his love for her palpable in every touch.

"Everything will be fine, my love," he whispers. "I promise you that it will."

He kisses her gently on the forehead, trying to convey the reassurance and love he feels for her.

[foilfreak]

Beauty and Her Beast: Summary and Ch.1

A Salvatore Moreau x Female!FishMutant!oc fic based on this idea I had the other day that a very specific subset of the fanfom went absolutely apeshit for, which I'm here for and decided to act on. I can't make any promises for consistent uploading or even a finishes product by the end of this, but so long as im still interested in working on it, I'll keep working on it, and if im not, then I wont, plain and simple. Anyways, here's the summary and chapter 1, please let me know what you think of the story so far, i hope you all enjoy (you'd better all enjoy), and I can't wait to see you all again for chapter 2. Bye! <333 (Link to ao3 posting will be in comments so check there if you want to read it there instead)

Warning: This fic is rated NSFW and contains graphic depictions of things some people may find disturbing or alarming, including, but not limited to: violence, gore, unhealthy family relationships, Oedipus complexes, gratuitous amount of pornographic literature, ableist language, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, etc. If you are someone who does not enjoy fiction with these elements in them, then I suggest you refrain from reading this, because this fic will have all that, and probably a lot more. So, this is your first and final warning to turn around and go somewhere else if stuff like this just isn't your vibe, because from this point forward, your emotional wellbeing is in your own hands, and I will not be accepting blame if you disregarded my warnings and ended up reading something you didn't like. Idk why I feel compelled to write one of these despite this being Resident Evil fanfic, but I figured I'd cover my ass just in case.

Summary:

Now, I’m sure everyone already knows the ancient tales that tell of a beautiful young woman slowly falling in love with a horrific monstrosity of a man. The pure and true love this innocent beauty comes to feel for him, despite his terrifying appearance, is the key that breaks the cruel and twisted curse under which he’d been kept prisoner. This allows the man behind the monster to not only return to his true human form, but then go on to live his Happily Ever After with the beauty who saved him. Everyone already knows of these tales, as well as the messages behind them, however that is not quite the way this particular tale plays out.

The tale I am about to tell bears many similarities to the one above, however there are also quite a few important differences. For while the original detailed a beauty falling for a monster because of the kind and loving man he was behind his hideous exterior, this is a tale of a beauty, with a few monstrous qualities of her own, falling in love with a kind and loving monster, not at all despite his grotesque appearance, but rather, in part, because of it.

This is a tale, where the Beast still falls for his Beauty first, but the Beauty is the one who will be pursuing her Beast.

Chapter 1: Mother's Gift

Few of those who lived isolated from the outer world, high up in the mountains of Romania, would expect anyone of reasonable sanity to be out traveling in this hellish sort of weather. The wind howling a demonic high pitched tune; snow, sleet, and hail pounding into the ground like an endless shower of bullets from the heavens; and hungry lycans still roaming the area, tirelessly looking for their next meal, would be enough to incentivize even the strongest of mortal men to seek shelter away from the deadly conditions of the outside.

A man by the name of Salvatore Moreau however, one of the 4 lords of this mountain region who lived in the reservoir just past the windmills, did not appear terribly concerned with what other people thought of the traveling conditions. Completely unbothered by the horrifying weather and threat of suddenly being ground into doggy food, the hooded man trudged his way through the dark and barely maintained snow paths. Starting at the reservoir and making his way toward the village, Salvatore moved as quickly as his deformed body would permit, an unusually chipper spring added to his lumbering hobble of a walk.

Mother had a gift for him.

Yes, a truly joyous day it was whenever Mother Miranda called upon him to join her and the other lords for a meeting. Miranda was usually so busy with her experiments that she rarely had time to visit her children outside of these ‘family meetings’ they’d been having recently. However, it would appear as though Mother has come up with a solution of some kind to this problem and wishes to share it with them in person. Whatever this solution is, the mutated man has no idea, as Mother Miranda had been quite vague in her message, however the fact that Salvatore was being given the chance to see his radiant mother AND receive a gift from her, all in one day, was more than enough to make up for how agonizingly lonely he’s been these last few months since winter set in, as well as how agonizing it was for him to walk in this weather.

Salvatore arrived at the usual meeting site just as the clock struck 8pm, precisely as Mother had instructed. However, much to the hooded man’s confusion, when he turned the handle on the large wooden door to enter the room, he quickly realized that he was currently the only one present. This was especially strange considering that, usually, at least one of his siblings was always present a little earlier than necessary, usually Alcina or Karl, but occasionally Donna with Angie in tow.

Mother had clearly said in her message that she wanted to start the meeting at 8pm sharply, so where on earth is everyone?

“Moreau” Mother Miranda’s voice called out, immediately pushing all thoughts from Salvatore’s brain as her powerful, yet lucious voice echoed against the halls of the room like a choir of angels.

“Y-yes! W-what… is it… M-mother Miranda? I-i-i came to you… j-just like you asked” Salvatore responds, bowing his head in reverence as he slowly crosses the room and approaches the otherworldly woman.

“So you did, though I suppose you coming exactly when I call makes the most sense. You always were the most obedient of my children” the woman remarks with casual disdain, her voice devoid of any sort of motherly affection or tenderness. Despite the clear disgust and disregard with which Miranda regards the hooded man standing before her, her words light Salvatore’s soul ablaze, filling his mangled body with intense feelings of heat and desire that melt his heart of the cold, icy frost that had frozen it over the course of the long winter.

“Y-y-yes, y-yes of c-course, Mother M-Miranda! I-i would… I would do any-anything... for y-you. A-anything you s-say... anything y-you n-need… I’d d-do it... f-for you. W-without question!” The deformed man says, practically getting on his hands and knees and crawling as he neared closer and closer to Miranda, stopping only when he’d arrived just in front of the steps the raven mother stood upon, his gaze trained at the ground as he knelt at her feet, awaiting his fate at his mother’s hands.

“I know you would, Moreau,” Miranda says cooly, gently brushing the palm of her hand against the black fabric that covers the top of Salvatore’s head, “which is why I’ve called you here today; to reward you for your loyalty and service to me thus far.”

Salvatore sinks sharp and jagged teeth into the flesh of his bottom lip, nearly drawing blood as he desperately tries to silence the needy whine that wanted to tear its way from the back of his throat. His body shivered and twitched in unimaginable delight from the sudden tender caress to his sensitive skin. How long had it been since someone had touched him so gently? How long since someone had spoken to him with such kind and soft words. Took the time to gather presents as a reward for years of faithful servitude? How long since someone had loved him like this?

‘Too long’ the disfigured man sighed to himself, reveling in the soft, gentle contact for as long as he is able.

“Moreau. Look at me” Miranda commanded firmly, and despite not wanting his beloved Mother to be forced to bear witness to his hideous face, he complied, lifting his head up and back to allow his gaze to lift from the floor and up at the glowing figure that was his Mother, his beautiful, incredible, intelligent, majestic mother.

The light shining down from above illuminates Miranda from behind. From Salvatore’s perspective on the floor, the light darkens her face and most of her torso and waist, giving a softened, almost ethereal glow around Miranda’s figure. This, along with the rest of her garb, makes Mother Miranda appear even more like the holy woman that Salvatore naively believes she still is. Despite her less than affectionate treatment of him thus far, Salvatore still stared up at the darkened face of Mother Miranda, his eyes shining with reverence, love, desire, and unending devotion.

“Y-yes... Mother?” Salvatore breathed, barely able to speak above a whisper as Miranda stepped away, gesturing for him to follow.

“Are you ready to collect your gift now?” The raven mother asks, speaking more softly than before and even holding her hand out to Salvatore, her pose and appearance mirroring that of a powerful god taking mercy upon her wretched follower, reaching out to reward the years of faithful servitude and worship.

Salvatore, barely able to keep himself calm as he stumbled to his feet, did not grace Mother Miranda’s question with a proper response, instead practically racing to take the woman’s outstretched hand in his own.

“I’m ready Mother… I-I’m ready for... my g-gift now… can I… c-can I have it n-now… p-please?” Salvatore begs, pulling at Miranda’s hand like an overly excited child, seemingly unaware of the disgusted twist of her face when the hooded man’s cold, slimy fingers firmly latched onto hers.

“Of course, my child” Mother Miranda says, pulling her hand back from Salvatore’s and instead placing it along the man’s hunched back, beginning to guide him to wherever it was the raven mother had hidden his gift.

As Salvatore limped next to Mother Miranda, the deformed man couldn’t help but wonder what exactly it was that Mother had gotten for him. Was it a new cloak, to replace the worn one he was currently wearing? Perhaps a new set of romance films so he didn’t have to rewatch the ones he already owned over and over again anymore? Or maybe it was something to help with his digestion?

It would be nice to get his chronic acid reflux under control again.

Regardless of what the gift actually turned out to be however, Salvatore was merely pleased that he was finally getting a chance to spend time with Mother Miranda all by himself for a change.

Maybe, if he was lucky, she’d even agree to hold him, just like she always did back when he was still undergoing cadou treatment.

Oh how wonderful that would be!

[cottoncandy-jester]

✨lay down now darling its time for a dream✨

Little Cucciolo (leone abbacchio x male reader)

Yay my first jjba story! There are many many more in the works and as always requests are open

Honestly Im a fan of writing reader as a literal dumb feral beast cause it reminds me of one of my ocs and they are fun so expect more fics with this type of reader

This story contains: pet play, anal sex, use of the word master, degrading, praise kink(if you squint), reader being a dumbass feral animal, dumbification

Cucciolo= puppy

"whose such a good boy? Whose such an obedient pet?"

" ah- me! Me me me master, it's me!"

Your excited squeals as you sat on your knees under the table made leone chuckle before running his hands through your hair. As he poked his fingers through the muzzle you wore he had to pull it back fast since you tried to bite him with your sharp teeth. Usually he would punish such actions but he allowed it since you were whining about food before you all got here.

Honestly you were more animal than person but that was okay, abacchio was the one to find you in an alley way eating rotten meat. At first he was going to leave you be but when you reached for him and let out those helpless little whines he couldn't help but take you home. With lots of training, care, and love you became the perfect pet you are now.

"is the puppy hungry? Hmm? If I take the muzzle off you can't bite anyone okay? Understand?"

The male's stern tone made you nod before you nuzzled your face against his thigh clearly wanting to get your face in-between his legs but Leone quickly stopped you before giving you a light glare.

"not that, not now..later if you are good you can have a taste"

Leone sighs as he unbuckled the muzzle and placed it on top the table only to put a plate of food onto the ground watching as you ate messily as if you were some starved beast.

Leone glanced down at you with a smile before focusing on calmly drinking a glass of wine, wrapped around his hand was a black leash attached to a black leather collar with a shiny purple heart tag with the words 'belongs to leone abbacchio' carved on it in black letters. You were his and everyone knew, hell the others would rarely touch you besides giving pets on your head or quick pats on your back

Well everyone besides giorno who had no fear of abbacchio's rules and would often praise and pet you whenever you were close enough, like right this moment when he reached under the table and softly snapped his fingers to gain your attention which worked.

Leone felt a faint tug on the leash so he looked down to check on you only to see you were on the other side of the table your body settled between giorno's legs as he seemed to be feeding you cake lovingly while softly giving you praises such as 'good boy' or even beckoning you to eat more.

"say ahh.. careful not to spill cream on you would hate to get you all messy"

Giorno's hushed dominant tone seemed to piss leone off but it only got worse when the male saw the blonde gently pull you up before slowly leaning down to lick cream off your cheek while glancing at your so called master.

Leone snapped and yanked the leash roughly seeing you fall back to the ground along with hearing a gagging sound from you before you looked at the source of the tug flinching at the sight of a very angry leone.

"come here, now"

It didn't take long before you were crawling under the table returning to leone's side and gripping his leg kissing it and his shoes as a way to apologize. The male glared down at you in disgust before simply scooping you into his arms before eying giorno he will deal with that asshole later.

Leone calmly walked into the bathroom before locking it and dropping you to the ground. He yanked your leash tightly as he pressed his heel against your bulge, he could feel how hard you were and just the sight of you like this drove him crazy.

"tell me slut, what the hell was that?"

"i-i wanted cake..you were busy so giorno offered to share"

Your soft voice was one he rarely heard since he was far more used to your random feral squeals and squeaks but it made him feel special since you only spoke to politely to him.

"when the Cucciolo needs something..who does he come to no matter what?"

Leone leaned down glaring at you as you kept your head down now sitting on your knees avoiding eye contact, you bit your bottom lip only to feel leone softly pull your lip from under your teeth

"speak, pet. Who do you go to when you want or need something?"

"m-master..I go straight to master and no one else"

Leone gripped your face with his hand now squishing your cheeks together and forcing eye contact, he wanted you to know that he was angry with you that what you did was wrong.

"then why would you even dare go to that bastard?! It's like you want to be punished"

After speaking leone pulled back before unhooking the leash from your collar and forcing you to stand. He glanced at the bathroom counters before giving a short whistle motioning you to bend over, a motion you are fairly familiar with.

It took you less than a second to bend over on the counter before you got to work on pulling down your pants only to feel leone roughly grab your arms and tie them behind your back using the leash as a rope.

"did I tell you to do that? You are just being so fucking bad today"

With an annoyed click of his tongue leone simply yanked your underwear and pants down in one swift yank. Your ass was already still red from the spanking you had gotten a few nights prior for biting leone and the sight made the male suck in a sharp breath

"spanking is far too good for you, no no a slutty boy like you deserve a punishment that will make you think twice about even being near that stupid bastard"

The Anger in leone's voice gave you shivers but then you heard a ripping noise and before you could question it you felt something shoved into your mouth. You recognized this fabric..it was your very own underwear

"now, here's what's gonna happen whore I'm going to finger this slutty little hole and see just how many times you cum just from that, is that understood?"

Once he saw you nod leone licked two of his fingers before he shoved them both in with zero warning, the feeling made your body twitch as you shuddered and squirmed lightly now feeling precum dribble down your cock as you waited for leone to move his fingers with a needy whine escaping you.

When leone did move he showed absolutely no mercy, his thick fingers shoved deep into your hole before he scared to do a scissor motion while pumping in and out deeply enjoying your insanely slutty squeals and moans.

"you slutty mutt, I bet you wanted this eh? You wanted to piss me off so I would punish you. You're always so eager for my fucking attention even if it means me ripping your hole open like this!"

His cold words ended with him adding a third finger inside if you now roughly pumping his fingers in and out spreading them as far as they would go. Your muffled who and feral bucking of your hips as you cummed only made leone hard but he needed more, he needed to feel you climax more. It was like an addiction watching your lewd face from the bathroom mirror the way your eyes rolled back as you slobbered all over the underwear in your mouth was enough to give him shivers.

His gluttony to make you cum went on for so long that you were already slurring your words and acting like a total idiot. Your body shook as your babbling was just you begging for his cock to rip you apart, the underwear dropped from your mouth but leone didn't seem to mind and actually adored your sobs and crazy babbling. leone finally gave into your sobbing pleas since he himself was so hard he thought his cock would rip his pants.

"alright slut, I hope you're ready"

As you heard him unzip his pants you were practially wiggling your ass from excitement as your brain was already dumb just from leone's fingers. As you felt leone untie your arms you couldn't help but squeal and whine

"master's cock! Ah! Gimme gimme gimme gimme! Need it need it! My slutty boy parts are tingling! Nghhh-"

Your high pitched squeals were silenced by leone slapping your ass before he pressed his cock against your eager asshole. He was going to give you a second to relax before he pushed in but he gasped when you slammed your ass back forcing him inside you.

"ooohh~ m-master's thick sweet cock is filling me I'm gonna ripppp~"

Leone gripped your hips with a low growl as he started to roughly thrust in and out of you.

"fuck- you're so fucking hot when you are stupid and horny like this so..damn..stupid all you can think about is cock"

His low growling in your ear seemed to only excite you more as your loud rabid moans filled the room. You were drooling with your eyes rolling back as you excitedly stroked your cock with one hand while your other pulling at your own nipples before you pressed your face against the counter getting drool all over it.

"faster! Faster! Faster! Harder! Harder! Break me break me break me!"

Your dumb squeals only got worse as leone did exactly as you screamed. You started to trail your tongue along the counter now not even speaking a proper language and just making random sounds.

"fuck- you are really going crazy there eh Cucciolo? Who owns you?! Who is the only one who can fuck you like this?! Speak!"

It was pure sadistic for leone to demand you to speak knowing you were already too brain fried to form proper words but hearing you squeal what sounded like his name over and over was enough for him.

When it came time for his climax leone digged his nails Into your hips as he slammed his hips harder before he heard a gasp coming from you, you knew exactly when he was going to cum and now came the point where your crazy begging for his cum started.

"need cum..! Insideeee! Dooo it inside! Fill fill fill fill!"

God leone loved how dumb you got cause of him. It was absolutely beautiful and was enough to make him slam his hips and fill your needy hole with his hot cum.

This action caused you to cum for what you think is the 5th time, your hips slammed into the counter as you cummed all on the floor and your body twitched and spasmed with the purest of bliss and euphoria before going totally limp.

Leone slowly pulled out and quickly held your waist so you didn't fall, he softly sat you on the found before pressing soft kisses onto youe face and sweetly, your eyes were drooped as your expression was zoned out, drool dribbled down your chin and you lightly swayed side to side.

He chuckled as he helped you get cleaned up and dressed before placing a soft kiss on your lips. He knew you more than you knew yourself so seeing you like this was nothing new though he did like to make sure you can somewhat talk.

"puppy, I love you"

"yummmmyy..cockkk~"

Yup.

He definitely overdid it.

leone calmly hooked your leash onto your collar before fixing his own clothes and scooping you into your arms feeling you nuzzle your face into his neck while still drooling so he softly rubbed your back now walking out the bathroom only see a line of people who urgently had to pee.

Leone simply smirked as he walked back to the table and calmly took a seat while you slowly took a nap cuddling into Leone while he petted your hair and planting sweet kisses onto your sleeping face.

"my sweet little Cucciolo, I love you more than life itself"

His sweet whispers into your ear earned him a sleepy coo as you felt into a slumber clinging to the man you love.

[volvolts]

trying again. im gonna talk about my ocs. its pretty long and kinda incoherent idk

first start with robin

idk how to make the picture smaller so im sorry

- her name is robin wright and she’s 17

BACKSTORY

- her mom is a cyberneticist and her dad is a neurosurgeon. they do research on cyborg’s disease and have a company that makes prosthetics. they’re really rich because if it

- robin also had a twin brother named ronan (she’s the younger twin btw). he died when they were 15 because he had a rare case of cyborg’s disease in the brain. his death was so traumatizing for her that she doesn’t remember the months surrounding his death. she doesn’t even remember the funeral

- after ronan’s death, robin’s parents put her into isolation for two years. they pulled her out of her classes and activities and she barely got human interactions during this time

- eventually she had enough and begged to be allowed out which they do--as long as she has a bodyguard with her at all times. the problem? robin had a hard time getting along with most of them. in fact, ryuji is kind of a last resort. if she doesn’t get on well with him, she’ll most likely be isolated until further notice

random facts

- she’s really smart, a natural genius you could say. she was on her third year in college before she was pulled from it (she’s studying to be a neurosurgeon like her father). she’s one of those organized highlighter/color coded note takers too

- robin is a very compassionate person and is compelled to help others as much as she can. 

- stubborn and determined, she’ll pursue nearly everything and won’t back down until she has answers. sometimes she doesn’t know when to stop and accidentally oversteps her boundaries. it’s not because she’s needlessly nosy but because she wants to know the whole story before she can help them

- she has a overactive imagination and would end up thinking up outlandish ideas to fill in the blanks of things she doesn’t know

- robin is one of those people who’s polite and reserved if she doesn’t know you but will talk your ear off when she’s comfortable with you

- she closer with her father, which is why she’s studying the same subject that he works in

- both of her parents are incredibly successful and she’s expected to do something similar so she has a lot on her shoulders

- she hasn’t worked a day in her life but she has unusually strong endurance and stamina

- she has a dog! he’s a golden retriever and his name is beck. he’s an old dog and she loves him very much 

next is ryuji

- his name is ryuji lor and he’s 22

- he also goes by “ryder” (technically he’s supposed to go by that throughout most of my half-baked story because he never told anyone is real name but that’s beside the point)

- he’s a quarter japanese and three quarters se asian (not really sure what kind yet but im thinking somewhere within the vietnam/laos area)

BACKSTORY 

- a bit of TW: FAMILY ABUSE in this passage so skip if it bothers you:  his mom got pregnant with him while she was in college and because her boyfriend bailed on her and stress of the pregnancy and burnout she dropped out and went back to her family. she was seen as “the good one” of the family and was expected to get a good job to get her family out of poverty however when she came back they were incredibly bitter that she “failed” and would verbally and emotionally put her down. They also blamed ryuji because if he wasn’t born then she wouldn’t have dropped out and he was often ostracized because of it. 

- fortunately he and his mom left when he turned 5. they lived in a small apartment and had to get lots of help from neighbors and friends to make ends meet (mostly to babysit ryuji while his mom worked). ryuji vowed to get smart and get a good job to give his mother the life she deserves (and partly because he feels a part of her really does hate him and he wants to make it up to her somehow because if he doesn’t, was he just a parasite like what his aunts and uncles said?)

- when he turned 10, his mom got married and how he has two moms. they’re hard on him but it’s from a place of love so he tries his best to be a good son by studying and staying out of trouble

- at 17, ryuji has a bit of hope ahead of him. he has a part time job, good grades, and maybe a scholarship if he could qualify. suddenly he’s diagnosed with cyborg’s disease in his eyes and arm. they can’t afford either of his surgeries, let alone one. and that’s not going into the prosthetics and rehab afterwards. at night when they think he’s asleep, ryuji hears his moms arguing about how they’ll be able to afford any of it and what they’ll have to do to pay for it. 

- he can’t take it anymore. he runs away

- he ends up in a city he doesn’t recognize and is just allowing himself to die but he gets saved by irving, a back alley repair doctor. he gets prosthetics thanks to her but is now in a massive debt so he works as her assistant and also finds other jobs on the side to repay it

- his backstory is getting really long so things happen in ryuji’s attempt to make money and he ends up also working with ace, who leads an organized crime group, as a handler whose job is to fight/intimidate/kill whoever. 

- a sudden coincidence also ends up working as robin’s bodyguard which starts everything. honestly he’s didn’t want to do this job at first but robin’s parents are willing to pay a good amount of money and it allows him to have time away from his jobs with ace

random facts

- he’s left hand but learned to be ambidextrous, however he’ll usually default to his left hand

- he wore glasses when he was younger (near sighted; it was super bad but he didn’t like it)

- he’s afraid of dogs. it’s not a full on phobia but they make him uneasy because of a childhood thing. (he’s more of a cat person and maybe pets a few stray cats that come across his house every once in a while)

- he doesn’t like people staring at him. he feels self-conscious because of the scar on his face and the shadowed bags under his eyes and people staring at him don’t help

- ryuji is really good with prosthetics repair and can go into in-depth discussions about the mechanics of it all; he actually really enjoys working on it and actually helped design his own arm

- he’s really smart but he had to work really hard to get there and because he never finished his education, he doesn’t really think he is either

- ryuji tries to give off a “i don’t care about anyone” bravado to try and distance himself from everything. but he really cares. like a lot. the few people he has in his life right now, he’s ride or die for them

- ryuji works himself to death to ignore his problems. he’s afraid if he stops moving, he’ll buckle under the pressure and stop forever

- he has a knife hidden in his prosthetic forearm which he will use if he feels threatened. (it’s probably a stiletto knife or something idk yet)

- ryuji is an early riser; waking up at 9 am feels like sleeping in to him. he’s not even that much of a morning person, its mostly out of habit

then there’s castor

- his name is castor oda and he’s 24

- he’s japanese

BACKSTORY

- he lived in a really strict and controlling family who owned a business where he had his entire life planned out for him up to who he was going to marry. he’s always been angry about it because he has older siblings who will take over the company and it’s clear that more of a control and image thing than anything else

- when he went to college, it was his first time actually be away from his family and became friends with a guy named ben. 

- ben helped castor when his family kicked him out at 19 and gave him a place to stay until he could get back on his feet

- castor loved ben like a brother and is forever grateful for him

- ben mysteriously disappeared when they were 21 and everyone is pretty sure he’s dead but no one knows why

- castor wants to find closure on what happened because he’s definitely sure there’s something shady going on and he’s going to find out what.

- he’s an information broker, occasionally crossing paths with ace to relay and gather info but for the most part, castor has been working alone

- when he’s not doing that though, he works as a barista at a coffee shop

random facts

- he has cyborg’s disease in his right arm and when he lived with his family, he was deeply self-conscious about it

- he hasn’t spoken to his parents since they kicked him out but he still talks to his siblings sometimes; he’s the youngest child with two older sisters

- he always had an inkling that ben had romantic feelings for him, which was unrequited, and castor always felt a little guilty that he never reciprocated or that they never got to talk about it

- castor always wears his red scarf no matter the occasion or weather; he has more scarves but he just likes the red one the best

- people think he’s like calm and collected but in reality he’s an impulsive, emotional driven idiot just like the rest of us

- however he is the master of the polite business smile because of his strict upbringing

- he’s a rather disorganized person

next is irving

- her name is ellie irving and she’s 35

- she’s half black, half white

BACKSTORY 

- i don’t have that much solidified for her backstory yet so it might change fyi

- irving had been doing cybernetic research back in college but someone plagiarized her work and submitted their paper before she came forward

- because the paper was published before she published hers, SHE was initially hit with backlash of plagiarism

- eventually they try to sort it out but in the end, while she proved she didn’t plagiarize the other, she couldn’t prove that she came up with the research first and they just terminated the both her and the plagiarist

- she was barred from going into higher cybernetics research and honestly she’s still a bit bitter about it

- she went into prosthetics repair instead but still struggled to find work because of her alleged reputation, which many still believed she stole another’s work

- eventually she manages to open up a shop that specializes in prosthetic repairs and replacements

random facts

- she’s really harsh and aloof, however she cares in her own way

- honestly irving doesn’t believe herself to be a good person due to how she feels she let herself to bitterly sulk in her anger for so long

- she smokes a bit but she’s trying to cut back lately

- irving won’t pry if you come to her with a broken arm and you need help; she’ll fix you up and leave it at that and allow you to come to her yourself

- she’s incredibly observant and can tell if your lying with just a glance

- she doesn’t know that ryuji works for ace; she’s concerned when he seems more tired than usual but she doesn’t know how to pry

last one cuz im tired

his name is ace (i don’t have a last name for him) and he’s 32

- he owns an organized crime ring; im thinking he’s connected to something bigger and possibly something with the black market

- not much is known about him but he’s a charismatic man and has the intimidation factor 

- he flips his demeanor a lot. one minute he’s jovial and kind then the next he’ll give you thinly veil threats. he mostly does it to keep people on their toes so it’s a power thing

- begrudgingly he’s the closest thing to a father figure ryuji is gonna get

- also the jacket ryuji always wears? it’s a gift from ace

and that’s all i got so far! i have a lot more ocs but i don’t have have a lot of backstory for them yet. let me know what you think of these guys and feel free to ask questions!

[summoner-kentauris]

What does your interpretation of Zacharias think about Líf and Thrasir? (You can either just answer or write a lil story if you feel like it)

OOOO now i have thought in my free time a fair amount about what líf thinks of zasha but, and i cannot believe this, i have not thought about what zacharias thinks about líf and thrasir. full disclosure, book III happened to be going on when i formally stopped playing feh. i kept up with the story after that but, theres my obligatory knowledge base disclaimer.

also minor cws through this whole thing because i talk here and there about zacharias and his... mm, canonical relationship to death/selfharm

-

so, i spent a lot of time thinking about this one, and i keep coming back to my gut reaction, which is that i don't think zacharias would like them very much. i dont know why i think that, though.

PART ONE

i think a lot of it would depend on how they approach him, which is maybe why i've spent more time thinking about the reverse of this ask, come to think of it. see, i think zacharias could go any which way in terms of what he thinks of them. i think he could hate them, as two people who killed versions of everyone he ever loved, including metaphorically killing off the two people closest to him.

i think he could love him, having seen the hell (ha ha literally) that they went through. understanding what that feels like. given the way he talks about his suicide attempts, and honestly that he spent most of book I trying to get people to kill him, really his whole relationship to death. i mean the man talks a lot about death and killing. he might not be the feh OC who best understands how manipulative and... whats a good word. alluring? what im trying to say is that besides eir, he might be the one most likely to understand why Hel and hel's offer appealed to líf and thrasir. i feel like this bit has a place here: "With his dying breath...he begged for his life. He called out your names! "I'll do anything you ask! Just let me live!" excepting of course that i still am not sure if i think he said/thought that or not. ive never been sure who really is in control of speaking right then and there. Anyway. Probably he could come to understand Líf and Thrasir's stance, enough that he could care about them the same ways he cares about his versions of Alfonse ann Veronica

on the other hand, i can see him being fully horrified by the choices those two made in response. this bit: Not anyone... This dark god...seeks death. And it cries for the destruction of Askr. Like. Líf and Thrasir are intentionally enacting the same thing as the dark god's desires, in order to correct a mistake they made that, uh, also enacted the same thing as dark god's desires. talk about awkward. and i think Zasha, who has lived with this nightmare in his head for so long, might recoil from people who are so directly aligned with it. who wants to be around someone who has become, who has chosen to become, everything you ever feared you'd be? especially when you're nearly drowning from the effort of fighting to stop yourself.

i could also see him meeting them and it being incredibly, incredibly bad for him. i feel like, he puts a whole lot of... mm. what am i trying to say.here:

Yet it is you that says this, dear friend, and so I must consider it. I see the faith reflected in your eyes. Perhaps it is possible...

SPEAKING OF BUNNY ZACHARIAS I ALSO THINK YOU COULD TAKE THE FOLLOWING:

You never change. All you see is a lofty goal, even if you lack the means to achieve it... The idea that gods would fall by the hand of man is a fantasy... and a preposterous one. This is a goal that even our ancestors Líf and Thrasir could not achieve.

setting aside the obligatory wtf zash i know you know your lore (fuck, maybe there is no killing the gods, maybe all Fire Emblem victories are temporary at best and Zenith is the only one who knows it. but i think, probably not), i think you could spin a very believable scenario where zacharias takes one look at these two ambitious, arrogant posers and absolutely refuses to speak to them any further.

so, part one, i think that zacharias could think any number of things about líf and thrasir. which i suppose means that i think he's fairly neutral on the subject of líf and thrasir. makes sense to me, i suppose. i feel like zacharias | bruno has practice (regardless of whether he's any good at it or not, or whether its any good for him) at holding and maintaining separate personas, so I don't think the fact that líf and thrasir were alfonse and veronica would necessarily be all that important to him.

which brings me to part ii

what happened to dead zenith zacharias

if zacharias is neutral on the subject, I think a lot of their relationship is going to pushed in one direction or another by líf and thrasir themselves.

and, complicating matters (when do I make things simple?), i think their approach to zacharias would of course depend on what happened to their zacharias. correct me if im wrong, but i dont think we have even a hint what happened to him.

there are three ish options I'm seeing. one: as dead world zenith is further along in its timeline and as zacharias claims he's almost out of time with his curse, other zacharias died due to that before the war with hel. i feel like scenario one is the most likely to lead to a good relationship between main zacharias and líf and thrasir.

two: mr. professional "knows plot relevant things out of knowhere" was the one who found out about angrboða's heart in the first place. especially given "As destruction took hold, we joined with Embla to seek the forbidden heart...", which to me sounds a lot like, "hel was kicking our ass then zacharias showed up and said we should go get this mystical plot object from embla". thrasir even says she and líf weren't allies before the world went to shit. anyway. hear me out here:

Yes. The heart is sealed within an Emblian blood temple. If that seal is broken, someone will die each time the heart beats... Those who perform the rite are the first to die.

Now. Líf claims he was the one who broke it open, but he also was present for the war that followed and only after was he killed and inducted into hel's army. so. both of those things can't be true. i propose that the magic mcguffin located in a sealed emblian blood temple was unlocked by our dear zacharias and thats what killed him in other zenith. i think its possible that other veronica was the one who did it, but you know. its all imagination at this point. also, and i forgot this, but thrasir does go off about how she can't lose until she saves her brother, so. something especially tragic happened at least. and oh boy is scenario two a nice fresh tasty tragedy. so that's scenario two. other zacharias directly died as a result of attempts to fight hel

number three thing that could have happened to zach is boring. he's always off doing things, he could have just died off screen. i mean. everyone did, eventually.

frankly he could still be alive for all i know. the heart appears to take the lives of people in the world, not of the world, or else the summoner would have been fine. so, if zacharias was on one of his off world jaunts, he could conceivably be a-okay. well. as okay as someone who's whole world died. i don't think that's what happened, because thrasir is pretty clear about feeling that she failed him, but yknow.

líf and thrasir's reactions to the above

thrasir is i think the most straightforward. i can't really see her approaching main zacharias with anything but positive intent. even if she's only a little bit open, i think thrasir and zacharias will probably have a decently tolerable relationship. if zacharias can come back to a country that exiled him as a kid and let his mother die in a dungeon and then go on to not just befriend but protect and care for a half sister he didnt know before then, then i think he'll find a way to care about thrasir. you know, intsys could have had fun making another perpetual older brother character. as i understand it, xander gets brother'd a lot, he and zach could have talked. could have been fun. a whole, zacharias, a historically traumatized child: *arrives in a world* every currently traumatized kid in a five mile radius: oh shit this one's ours now. you know what im saying? found family except zacharias would very much like it to stop finding him. he's got important brooding to do. but anway, they didn't go that route and its a tragedy.

líf is... more complicated. i think scenario one creates the most positive outlook. i can see him still having guilt over zacharias' loss, but i think any of it would be overshadowed by everything else that happened. in this scenario, líf finally gets back a piece of the world he'd lost. yeah, it's not his zacharias, but still. it is a zacharias, who is living and breathing and frowning and asking why you are staring at me, knight. i think the two of them could get along rather well, although i see them having significant issues with pessimism. inch-restingly enough... the dark curse bades its hosts to kill askrans. and líf is, well. dead. so... perhaps... perhaps líf wouldn't trigger the curse like alfonse does. in that case, not only does líf get someone back he thought he'd never see again, but so does zacharias.

scenario two is just a nightmare. frankly, i initially thought this scenario would lead to líf just ignoring zacharias (out of guilt, pain, etc), but i was rereading the scripts looking for the spelling of angrboða and this came up:

Tell Hel. She'll erase those memories. She'll erase them all...

so, honestly? i think that in scenario two líf just straight up gets hel to remove his memories of zacharias (as an aside maybe this is also why he never ever ever talks about other anna >:{ )

in that case, líf wouldn't really have any reason to talk to this man, who causes this empty deeply sad feeling to well up in him for now discernible reason. and zacharias has no reason (or time) to talk to this standoffish general of the dead. so. that's a real ships in the night moment.

number three i think líf would still hold the same guilt as in number two, but i don't think it would be as horrifically tragic, so i think it's more likely he'd be willing to approach zacharias. he does appear to have even worse of a thing than alfonse about not opening oneself up to people, but i think that even if he's líf, he once was an alfonse, and being that this is me answering this, i don't think any alfonse can really keep away from a zacharias for very long. its a version of the person who once knew him as well as any other person in the world. like líf can't really seem to stop himself from associating with main sharena, i don't think he could stop himself from reaching out in his own way to main zacharias. and god does that man need some more friends. i think zacharias would probably be a little frightened of líf, and of what an alfonse could become. but i think probably... i feel like a lot of book i issues stem from the fact that, justified or not, zacharias thinks alfonse would risk anything, any harm to save him. i don't know that confronting an alfonse who literally risked everything and did all harm to save his world would be a comfort, but i do think zacharias would get a lot out of having someone who's already done the worst they can do. been there, done that, got the tshirt. i think zacharias would be a little afraid of what an alfonse could become, but i think he would no longer have to be afraid of... no, anxious about it. i think there's a kind of calm in having something confirmed that zacharias could appreciate. healthy? unhealthy? fuck if i know. i also think that in líf, zacharias has a friend who he can't physically hurt anymore. lífs already dead. been there done there got the.... glowing gel torso. i think, curse nonewithstanding, zacharias will always have some degree of tension and fear about hurting people he's in a relationship with, be that because of his issues with abandonment, of abandoning, of harm, etc. but you know. líf's kind of a rock. and he's already hit his rock bottom, now that i'm thinking about rocks. i think that kind of steady, placid deathness could really help zacharias. and i think he would find it soothing, whether or not he knew why.

plus he will be able to know that if the curse gets him, if he dies... he'll still have a friend in the realm of the dead. he doesnt have to be so afraid of leaving and getting left

so there we go! lots of musings. i have been thinkin about why my headcanons are less that and more elaborate branching theories, and i think it is because i would change my opinion depending on which story i wanted to tell or hear or see.so yeah. dunno which one of these answers belongs to the question, what does your interpretation of Zacharias think about Líf and Thrasir?, but hopefully at least one of them is interesting to read about!

OH also. i think he would be petty-ly annoyed about them cribing líf and thrasir's name. like full on scholar petty. probably showed up to the order in a nerdy huff excited to meet the actual factual líf and thrasir and turns out its just those two, sitting around glowing and reciting death metal lyrics like they're spoken word ballads. dont think he'd get over that ever.

[bush-viper-cutie]

“The Leaky Cauldron” || YEAR 3 – Ch.6 (HP au)

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Day posted: 7/28/2020

Word count: 3,206

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

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A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

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Heather paced Harry’s room looking at the stack of books on his bed while he yawned and slouched over the headboard. She dragged her quill down the list she had made and checked off each box as she read the textbook names.

“Looks like that’s almost everything,” Heather smiled and folded up the parchment.

Harry sighed, “What are we missing, and can we go get it now? I’m bored.”

“We need the Divination book,” she headed for the door, “So let’s go.”

Harry jumped out of bed and ran in front of her, heading out the room first. Heather ran after him, taking the stairs two at a time and nearly passed him a few feet from the door. They touched the back door at the same time and gasped, trying to catch their breath.

“I won.”

“No you didn’t!”

The bricks were extra red that morning with the sun shining brightly on them. Harry tapped the bricks and they moved quickly, letting in to Diagon Alley where the morning bustle was filled with extra chatter as more students visited the shops for their materials.

As they walked to the bookstore, they looked over the bobbing heads to try to spot bright brown bushy hair or outstanding orange hair. Hermione and the Weasleys were nowhere to be seen yet. Heather had spent the last week helping Harry with his essays and now this last week was spent looking for their friends among the crowds and purchasing their materials extra slow in case they saw them.

The bookshop was not as busy as the other stores yet and the manager came over quickly to offer them help. Heather took out her list and looked for the missing book they needed.

“Er, two copies of ‘Unfogging the Future’ by – ”

“Cassandra Vablatsky, yes yes,” he led them to the divination section and pointed out the books on the shelf.

She took two and turned to follow the manager back but Harry stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“Look,” he stared at the misty image of a black dog with sharp black eyes.

“‘Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst is Coming’?” She shook her head. They were definitely not purchasing that. Harry would probably carry that book around everywhere pointing out a bunch of death omens.

The manager chuckled, “Oh don’t worry about ever needing that. Those books always just scare people and very rarely do anything good.”

They followed the manager to the register and paid. They had been in Flourish and Blotts for a total of ten minutes and the rest of their morning, afternoon, and evening were now completely free. They walked back to the Leaky Cauldron and up to Harry’s room with the rest of their materials to be packed away in their trunks.

Harry sat down on the bed and tapped his fingers on the cover of his divination book, “Heather?”

She was closing the door after dragging her trunk into his room from hers. “Yes?”

“D’you think… What we saw that night was a death omen?”

“Saw what night Harry?”

“That thing coming out of the bushes before the Knight Bus arrived.”

She had a hard time recalling it but did remember something about a black blob-ish creature, “Oh… Well it was just a dog or something. A stray, Harry. Now please pack your things and forget about that omens book.”

The next few days were spent walking around Diagon Alley and looking through shop windows. She had forbidden Harry from taking any of their money with him and had to refuse his beggings for a new broom. On the last day they decided to go for some ice cream and sit outside watching as people went by with their bags filled with goods.

“Heather!”

“Harry!”

Hermione and Ron came running down the stream of wizards to hug them. They got some more ice cream and the four of them sat down.

“We heard why you were staying at the Leaky Cauldron,” Hermione crossed her arms.

Heather and harry looked at each other and then frowned at Ron.

His ears went red, “Dad mentioned it and I… might have let it slip.”

“I CAN’T believe you two blew up your AUNT!”

Heather pointed at Harry, “He did. Not me.”

Harry pushed her finger away, “I didn’t mean to. It just sort of… happened.”

“Ron stop laughing! This is serious! You could have gotten expelled Harry!”

Heather turned to him as well, “Actually apparently he could have gone to Azkaban.”

Ron snorted, “No one would send Famous Harry Potter to AZKABAN. Get real. Everyone else though would be mad to do what you did. I’d definitely be sent to Azkaban for that.”

Heather flicked Harry’s ear and turned to Ron, “Can we go home with you? Since it’s the last day?”

“No need, we’re staying at the Leaky and so is Hermione. Dad’ll take everyone to King’s Cross tomorrow.” Ron’s eyes widened and he almost reach in his robes with his ice cream hand. “Look at this!” he pulled out a long wand with his other hand, “My very own wand! Brand new too.”

Heather looked down at the large lumpy bag next to Hermione, “What’s all that?”

She patted it happily, “Oh, well I’ve been approved to take several more classes. Took all summer owling back and forth with Professor McGonagall. Apparently, it had to be approved by the school governors.”

Heather felt very ill suddenly, like her heart had dropped to her stomach and the flush on her face felt closer to embarrassment than anger but neither of those words described the feeling very well. “But-what-How did… How many new subjects? I don’t understand. Did they pick you? Did you ask?”

Hermione nodded, “Professor McGonagall talked to me about it after I asked if I could take them all.”

“How many more? Which classes?”

She shrugged, “All of them. Let’s see,” she started counting on her fingers. “Divination and care of magical creatures like you guys, plus Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy,” she smiled.

The three of them just stared at her with annoyance.

“And when will you be blocking in sleeping and eating?” Harry laughed finally, half hoping it was a joke for her sake.

Ron still stared at her, “Heather I’m glad you haven’t decided to turn into a school zombie this year.”

Heather glared at him and quickly finished her ice cream, “Let’s go already.” She should have asked Professor Snape about taking more classes. Why did she think Hermione wanting to take them all was somehow a joke? Maybe she could still come in first in the classes that were the same…

Hermione jumped up, “Oh! I’m allowed to get a pet for school this year! Early birthday present from my parents.”

Ron wiped his hands on his shirt and pointed over to the top of the winding cobble street, “Magical Menagerie’s over there.”

Magical Menagerie was a small shop made even smaller by the dozens of cages covering the walls with squeaking, squawking, rattling, and hissing. Heather and Ron went immediately to check on the treats and snacks for toads and rats while Harry helped Hermione pick an animal.

“I don’t think any of these will help Scabbers,” Ron sighed and looked away from the assortment of magical treats.

Heather leaned in and squinted her eyes at Scabbers. He was looking very ill, with bald patches in odd places. “Ask the witch. She might give you something specific.” She followed Ron up to the register.

“Miss? My rat’s ill. He got like that a few days ago after we came back from Egypt.”

She took out thick round glasses that made her eyes as big as the sugar coated fat toad flies and took him in her hands. “Have you tried banging him a few times?”

Ron nodded, “But he won’t perk up.”

The witch held him upside down by his tail while he wriggled around, “He looks ancient. How old is he?”

“Er. Old. Very, very, old, I think. He’s been in my family for twelve years.”

“Well there are many reasons why a rat might do this. What powers does it have?”

Heather and Ron looked at each other and shrugged.

“None, I don’t think. He just is.”

She pointed at his bitten ear and missing toe, “Run him through the wash?”

Ron’s ears went pink and looked at both the witch and Heather defensively, “No! I’m not that forgetful. Percy gave ‘im to me like that.”

“Well, no normal rat lives longer than five years so it must be a mix. Don’t worry there’re hundreds of these things living throughout the cities. No ordinary rats but certainly not as hard-working or hard-wearing than pure wizarding rats.” She placed Scabbers on the counter and kept him trapped under her hand as she pulled out a cage from under the counter, “Like these. I can get you a discount on a replacement if you’d like. Pick from one of these.”

Ron shook his head and took Scabbers back, “No. He works just fine for now.”

“Is there nothing else he can do?” Heather watched the rats in the cage skip rope with their tails and show off their little furry arms, “Like a shot or pill or something?”

The witch sighed, “Here.” She produced a little red glass bottle from under the counter, “See if that’ll help.”

“Thanks – HEY!”

A giant orange cat with long matted fur jumped down from the tall shelf above the witch’s head and onto Ron’s. Ron threw his head forward and the cat landed on its back on the counter and swatted Scabbers out of Ron’s grip.

“CROOKSHANKS! COME BACK HERE,” the witch pulled on the cat’s tail as it jumped off the counter and chased Scabbers out the open door.

Ron and Heather ran after them, following the bright orange fur between people’s feet. Crookshanks had pinned Scabbers down between its paws and was about to bite his neck when Ron and Heather dived for them. Ron pulled Scabbers out while Heather picked a very heavy Crookshanks up like an enormous baby.

Huffing and puffing they made their way back to the Magical Menagerie to find Harry and Hermione waiting by the counter with no owl picked out. Heather placed Crookshanks back on the counter and held him down for the witch.

“Well. Here he is,” the witch said to Hermione.

“He’s perfect!” Hermione tried picking him up and groaned, “Oh! You made it look easy, Heather.”

“What do you mean he’s perfect? For what?” Ron looked to Hermione and the coins on the counter, “Whose are those?”

“Mine,” the witch took them and dropped them in her apron.

“Harry asked where you guys went and she told us about Crookshanks and about how he’s been here for YEARS so of course I had to take him,” Hermione hugged the floppy cat tightly.

“Yeah? Did she tell you how he tried to murder my rat just now?”

Hermione scoffed, “It’s just his instinct, Ron. It’s not murder.”

Ron looked to Heather and Harry but they just shook their heads, refusing to take sides. They walked out together but Ron refused to walk next to Hermione and Crookshanks. They made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Mr. Weasley was sitting at the bar drinking and reading the Daily Prophet when they walked in. He smiled and waved them over, “Harry! Heather! Good to see you two.” He looked down at Crookshanks and nodded at him, “And your new friend.”

Hermione nodded and lifted him up higher before giving Ron a look and heading up the stairs towards her room.

“Black’s still on the loose?” Harry pointed at the man screaming on the front cover.

Mr. Weasley pressed his lips together, “Yes. Unfortunately. A lot of wizards have been tasked to assist in his capture. I’m even doing some patrols here in Diagon Alley.”

“Hope we’re the ones who catch him. The reward money’s big, isn’t it?”

Mr. Weasley shook his head, “No, no. He’s far too dangerous. If I find him I’m supposed to sound the alarm. He’s too dangerous for any Weasley or Potter,” he looked at the twins, “to catch. The Azkaban guards will do that. Understand?”

The three of them nodded and Mr. Weasley went back to smiling.

Mrs. Weasley came in followed by Fred and George, Giny, and Percy. Mrs. Weasley greeted them with a hug and Giny said hello to Heather but could barely look at Harry when she greeted him after. Percy stepped forward and extended his hand to each of them.

“Heather. Harry. How very nice to see you both,” he gave them a quick nod and straightened his shirt.

“Hello, Percy.”

“Hello,” Harry turned to Heather trying not to laugh.

“I see you are both doing well,” Percy motioned to them generally with his hands and folded them behind his back.

Heather nodded awkwardly, “We are – ”

Fred and George pulled Percy back and took his place.

“Mr. Potter, how very splendid a coincidence to see you in this exquisite establishment,” Fred bowed and tipped his fake top hat.

George followed suit, “Miss Potter, how have you spent this marvelous evening? I trust the day has treated you well?”

Everyone but Percy and his parents laughed.

“Alright, boys, move along. Harry! Heather,” she hugged them both really tight. “Did you get our presents? Can you believe we got to spend the summer in Egypt? How were your birthdays?”

“Yes, yes, and good,” Harry smiled.

“And Percy made Head Boy! Oh, another one in the family – ”

“The last one,” Fred interrupted.

“I’m certain,” she frowned at him.

Heather, Harry, and Ron went up to join Hermione for an hour before they all came back downstairs for dinner. The innkeeper had put several tables together for all seven Weasleys, Heather, Harry, and Hermione to fit comfortably. They enjoyed eating the special for that night, rotisserie chicken and biscuits, and enjoyed hearing about Egypt and Hermione’s week in France.

“How are you taking us all to the train tomorrow?” Fred looked at his mom, “You still have time to teach us how to apparate.”

“You’re not of age,” Percy scolded them.

“The Ministry is lending me cars, we’ll all fit just fine, don’t worry,” Mr. Weasley interrupted before another fight broke out.

“It doesn’t have to fit us all, Percy can apparate himself to school. He’s ‘of age’,” Fred took first scoops into the chocolate pudding.

Percy moved the pudding bowl towards Hermione right beside him, “Guests first.”

“We’re all guests,” George mumbled.

“Thank you, Percy dear. Fred. Enough of that,” Mrs. Weasley wagged her finger.

Percy gave Fred a winning smile and turned away, “Why are we getting cars?”

“Because we don’t have our old one anymore,” Mrs. Weasley turned to Ron who looked down at his pudding.

Percy turned to Ron too, “All your stuff is on my bed so you better pack before we sleep, Ron.”

Ron scowled at Percy who only rolled his eyes.

They passed around the bowl of pudding and everyone enjoyed second and third helpings. After dinner everyone went to their rooms to go to bed, and while Ron packed, Heather, Harry, and Hermione kept him company.

“Has the rat tonic done anything yet?” Heather poked the lump in Ron’s shirt pocket.

“No,” Ron jammed his clothes into his trunk and sat on top, trying to shut it.

“It’ll fit if you fold it,” Hermione pulled him off and started showing him how to fold.

“Fine then, everyone take a shirt.”

Harry and Ron folded while Hermione and Heather organized his trunk better, pushing all his books to one side and leaving the other side for clothes and other materials. Heather lifted a lumpy hat and a Sneakoscope fell out, twirling fast and glowing bright with a high-pitched whistle.

“It’s broken,” Ron grumbled. “Did yours stop spinning?”

“When we got them, they weren’t glowing or moving at all. Not like that,” Heather stuffed it back in his magenta hat.

“They probably got tired on the journey,” Ron stuffed the rest of the shirts in the empty spaces making Hermione sigh and place her hands on her hips.

“Percy was probably right about them being a rip off.”

Ron shut his trunk, “No he wasn’t. The man said they really work.”

“Yes, of course he would Ron. He was trying to sell them to you.”

Heather stood up and dusted off her knees, “Well maybe its relative to Ron. Is there someone here you don’t trust?”

Ron put his hands on his hips too, “Yeah. Percy to not remind Mum and Dad about the car and your bloody orange beast to not eat Scabbers.”

Harry stepped between Hermione and Ron before Hermione could respond, “Have you seen that book Hagrid got us?”

“Crookshanks is just a cat. He did something any cat would do. If you keep Scabbers in your room I’ll keep Crookshanks in mine and then there won’t be a problem. Will there?”

“‘The Monster Book of Monsters’ I think it was called?”

“Sure, until it gets loose and sniffs Scabbers out.”

“How do you even read it?”

Percy came in and set his Head Boy pin on the nightstand, “Alright, get to bed everyone. We’ll be up early.”

Hermione scoffed at Ron and turned to Percy, “You’re right, Percy. It IS time for bed. Also, congratulations on being Head Boy.” She turned and marched out of the room.

Harry and Heather waved goodnight to Ron and exited the room.

“You couldn’t have helped me?” Harry grumbled to Heather.

She shrugged, “They both kinda have points.”

They went to Harry’s room and both got to work packing his trunk. It was easier to help Harry because he wasn’t so picky about where things were going, not like Ron.

Harry picked up his unglowing and untwirling Sneakoscope, “It was definitely a rip off. I don’t trust Fred and George not to pull a prank on one of us on the last night here.”

“If I wake up with color-changing goo in my hair I’ll hex them,” Heather laughed. “If I were Percy, I’d lock the door.”

“Do you think our family would have been like them?” Harry rolled the Sneakoscope on the floor in front of him.

Heather tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it wouldn’t go down. She stared at her hands for several minutes and stood up, kneeling on his trunk and shutting it tight. “Night, Harry. We’ll get to go home to Hogwarts tomorrow.”

Harry nodded and walked her to the door. “We’ll be home tomorrow.”

She watched him close the door slowly and quickly stopped it and hugged him, “You’re all the family I need so stop almost getting expelled.”

He smiled, nodded, and closed the door. She left to her own room, packed her things and fell onto her bed before remembering her nightly routine. She dropped to the floor and started doing her Quidditch exercises, barely reaching a fourth of what the book said and laid back down on the bed, exhausted.

“I WILL make it on the team.”

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[mybiasisexo]

Vessel

Genre: Angst | Superpower!au | Highschool!au | OT12

Pairing: Kai x OC (?), Kris x OC (?)

Length: 21.6k

Warning: Unfinished | Language | Violence | OC

Summary: Rayna disappeared out of nowhere on her 16th birthday, and just as quickly as she vanished, she reappeared, but is obviously different.

Author’s Note: This really could’ve been my legacy if I could actually write a chaptered story. instead I lost speed and had no idea wtf was going to happen next. Sad thing is, I know exactly how it’s going to end. it’s the middle that killed me :/. Plus, I think it might come off a bit sexist, which wasn’t my intention!!! But rereading it im like hmm. I wrote this shit in 2013!!!! TWENTY THIRTEEEEEEEN!!! So it’s kinda dated. I’m proud of it, nonetheless haha

MASTERLIST

Chapter One: Return

The school bell rings, informing the students of Gryphon High to report to class. However, four young men hover in front of the campus while the other students run to their various destinations.

When the coast is clear, one of the boys clears his throat, “what is it, Kris?”

Kris is leaning on the building, staring intently at his feet when the tall boy asks him the question. He takes a deep breath and meets his gaze, “I saw her.”

The three other boys look at him with confusion. 

“Her?” the shortest member asks, his thick eyebrows crunch together.

Kris nods, “she’s returned…Rayna.”

The boys gasp. 

“Are you sure it was her?” the one who was mostly silent questions.

“Yes, Suho. I’d recognize her if I were blind. It’s her. She’s back.”

“But,” the shorter one counters. “How? Why?”

Kris shakes his head, “I’m not sure, Kyungsoo. But whatever the reason, it cannot be good.”

The taller boy stares at the cracked cement floor, “does Kai know?”

Kris shakes his head again and shrugs, “I’m not sure, Chanyeol, but if he doesn’t yet, he will soon enough.”

Chanyeol shakes his head with pity. “Poor Kai.”

~*~

Kai is leaning back in his chair, his arms resting behind his head. The teacher is late and the class is taking advantage of her absence. Paper airplanes soar across the room, a group of kids are dancing in the back corner, a couple near the door are making out—Kai glanced at them once to see them exchange gum… he hasn’t looked in that direction since. He is relaxing, enjoying the time during school where he didn’t have to pay attention. This is the only class he didn’t have with any other of his friends, and he is grateful. As of lately, his group of friends have been treating him like a time bomb. They never know how to approach him, and whenever they talk to him, they are always very cautious of what comes out of their mouths.

It’s getting annoying.

Kai is fine. It had been, what, six months since her disappearance? More than enough time to get over her, more than enough time to realize and accept the fact that she is never going to come back. Ever. She is gone, and he is done being upset about that fact. He is finally better.

Much to Kai’s dismay, the inevitable happens, and the door to his classroom opens. His teacher, Ms. Taylor, click-clacks into the room, someone trailing in slowly behind her to the front of the room.

Ms. Taylor turns and waits for her class of students to rush back to their seats. Kai spots from the corner of his eyes, the boyfriend of the gum-swapping couple choke on said gum, he can’t help but grin a bit.

“Alright, class,” Ms. Taylor begins. “Now that you are all situated, I’d like to apologize for being late—although it seems you all were doing fine without me—I had to get the new student and show her around.”

Ms. Taylor motions her hands towards the girl and Kai freezes. What the…? It couldn’t be.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Rayna Carter. She’s a transfer student from Highland High.”

“Isn’t that an all-girl school?” a guy near the back asks. Ms. Taylor smiles and nods. She then begins to explain the school’s history and statistics and other boring topics, but Kai doesn’t hear a word of it over the loud ringing in his ears.

Look at me, he internally begs, staring intently at Rayna. Please, look at me! As if she heard him, her head snaps up and her eyes lock solidly with his. He is taken aback, her expression is void of any emotion. Her eyes... they appear dead.

What he does spot in her eyes, for only a millisecond, is recognition. It is a short spark, but he catches it none the less. He feels his chest heave as she returns her gaze back on the teacher. Kai takes this time to study her. Her hair, which once floated down to her hips, now brushes rigidly against her collar bones. Her face, which was once round and open, is thin, sharp, and blank.

She stands in such a way that makes her appear taller than what she is, her caramel colored skin still glows underneath her school uniform, but her soft features have hardened, sharpened. She appears to be a whole other person. If it were not for her name, Kai would have thought he had gotten her mixed up with somebody else.

“Alright, why don’t you take a seat, Rayna?”

Rayna nods once and trudges to her new desk, which just so happens to be diagonally ahead of Kai. He can feel her presence, even while he stares ahead of himself or down at his own desk. Her presence distracting him from everything. He can’t stop all of the questions that whirl around in his head like a wild tornado. Why was she here? Where had she been? Why does she look like that? Why won’t she acknowledge me?

He is getting upset, and the time ticks by torturously. Tormenting him with every slight move of the hand. Finally, the bell rings, and it takes everything in him not to just “pop” out of that room.

He has to find the others.

~*~

Chanyeol unbuttons his navy blue blazer and loosens his red, white, and blue stripped tie as he approaches the cafeteria. Today is an exceptionally humid day, and he curses the school for making them wear long khaki pants and a thick blazer to boot. He decides to take off his blazer in general and slugs it lazily over his shoulder, noticing how the girls around him react to his actions. He smirks and winks at one of them as he opens the doors and enters the wonderfully air conditioned lunch room.

While he is in line, he spots his best friend, Baekhyun, approach him. Chanyeol smiles hugely until he notices his troubled expression.

“What’s up?” Chanyeol asks him, rubbing his shorter friend’s back.

Baekhyun shakes his head slowly, lost in thought. “I saw… someone today. At least, I think it was her…”

Uh-oh, Chanyeol thinks. He averts his gaze and drops his hand.

Baekhyun doesn’t notice, “I’m crazy right? There’s no way she’s back. It just doesn’t make sense… but I’m positive I saw her…”

“You’re not crazy,” Chanyeol’s deep voice rumbles Baek out of his reverie.

He blinks up at him, “I’m not?”

Chanyeol shakes his head sadly, “no. Kris said he saw her earlier also.”

Baek takes a shaky breath, “what does this mean?”

Chanyeol shrugs, “maybe she missed us.”

“I don’t know… She looked different.”  

“Different how?” Chanyeol asks as he grabs a tray and piles heaps of food onto it.

Baek sighs, “I don’t think I can explain… it’s something you just have to see yourself. She’s changed though, that’s for sure.”

They are silent as they join the others at their usual table. Everyone’s expressions are wary. Chanyeol is the only one who is eating.

“What’s up with everyone?” he asks. “Is it about Rayna?”

They all nod. “Have you all seen her?” He asks. They nod again.

He pouts, “That means I’m the only one who hasn’t yet…”        

At that moment , Kai comes running into the lunch room. He runs to the table and sits next to Chanyeol, trying to catch his breath.

Once caught, he looks at all of them, “she’s back! Rayna’s back!”

He catches all their expressions and quiets down. “Oh, you already know, huh?”

They nod somberly in reply.

“She’s in my fourth. She sits right in front of me.”

“Did she say anything to you?” Another at the table, Lay, asks.

Kai is silent for a while, “no.”

Chanyeol bites his lip and looks away. He ends up looking at the doors and they open up. A darker girl walks in and slithers to the line. It is her, it is Rayna. Watching her, he can see why everyone is so upset. The Rayna he knew was always smiling and laughing and joking around. She had a twinkle in her eyes that never disappeared, even when she was upset. She definitely never walked like that, all sluggish and nonchalant. She would be practically skipping, an arm casually wrapped around one of the member’s own.

He quickly snaps his head back to his tray, but it is too late. Kai notices him looking at something and follows his gaze, along with the others. They stare at Rayna as she slowly makes her way through the line, grabbing only a water and an apple. She stops when she pays and scans the cafeteria. Before her eyes even hit their table, she takes a step towards them, but stops herself. For a moment, it is as if she remembers, like muscle memory. but that is a different Rayna. She quickly turns and leaves the room and all eight boys let out a breath.

“That was close,” the eldest of their group, Xiumin, states.

Kai glares at him, but doesn’t say anything.

“Why?” Kyungsoo asks again. “Why is she back?”

Kris answers him with the same answer as last time, “I’m not sure, Soo.”

“We should at least be happy that we know she is here,” Lay speaks. “That she is alive and in no danger. We should at least be grateful.”

“I am grateful for that,” Kai snaps through clenched teeth. “I’ve been worried sick for six months, I’m more than grateful.”

Lay sadly averts his eyes down to his tray, “but does that change anything?”

Kai can’t answer that question. He tries to swallow the ball forming in his throat, “I can’t be here anymore. I can’t breathe.”

He rises to leave. “I’ll go with you,” Baekhyun says, getting up. Kai is about to refuse the offer, until he realizes Baek is hurting just as much as he is.

“Alright,” he looks at the others, “see you guys at the usual spot?”

“Six on the dot,” Kris says with a reassuring nod.

~*~

Kai and Baekhyun walk along the deserted train tracks. Baek down the middle, Kai balancing on a rail.

“Do you think she’ll come home?” Kai asks him, his gaze focuses in front of him.

Baek readjusts the strap of his backpack on his shoulder, “no. I have a feeling that this Rayna doesn’t have a place to call home.”

“How has your family been since…?”

Baek looks at the broken tracks, “my mother is crushed, but her father…” He shakes his head, “he’s almost as dead as he believes her to be.”

Kai nods, “are you going to tell them?”

“I’m not sure yet. I think I’ll give it a week or two until we find out what’s really going on. Then, I’ll tell them whatever needs to be revealed.”

“That’s fair. Should we stop over there? I haven’t seen your parents in months.” Since she disappeared.

Baek nods, “that would be nice. I know they miss you, they miss all you guys.”

“Yeah? Maybe we should just meet there instead.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

They arrive at the house. Only Baek’s mother is there, with his 6 month old sister, Baekyeon.

“Oh, Baek, you’re home early,” his mother jumps when she sees him. Her eyes widen even more when the handsome Kai trails in behind him. “Oh! Kai! How have you been?”

Kai takes in her smile, it is so big it borders on a grimace. He internally winces, “I have been just fine, Mrs. Carter. Totally swamped with school work.”

“Oh, I bet. Junior year is the hardest of them all.” Sansu begins to whimper and Mrs. Carter dismisses herself to care for her youngest daughter.

“The rest of the gang will be coming over later, if that’s alright,” Baekhyun calls from the stairs.

“That’s fine, dear. I’ll bake some cookies!”        

“Your room hasn’t changed much,” Kai mentions once the two settle in Baek’s room, looking around. He smiles as memories come to him of all the times he spent in this room, the good and the bad.

“I know. I want to change it. I mean, I’m seventeen years old and I still have glow in the dark stars on my ceiling and rocket themed bed sheets. But, every time I’m about to, something tells me not to.”

Kai nods with understanding, “but change is good also.”

“Change is what I need.”

“Hey, I’ll come over this weekend and we can look for new bed sheets and paint and what not.”

“Lord, you sound like my girlfriend.”

“That’s one thing you do not have, Bacon.”      

They laugh.

“What does her room look like?” Kai whispers.

Baekhyun gulps, “I haven’t been in there in months. I know her father goes in there every other weekend and cleans it out. Sometimes he lets Baekyeon play in there, but they are the only ones that go in there. It’s like him and my mother have this silent agreement: since it’s his child, and not hers, only he is allowed in there. I don’t know if that’s what it is really like between them, but that’s what I get out of it.”

“How?”

“Well,” Baekhyun shifts uncomfortably. “Sometimes, late at night or when David is gone, I hear my mom crying outside of her door. She never goes in, she just kneels in front of it, resting a hand and her forehead on it.”

“She must really love her,” Kai murmurs.

Baek nods, “like she gave birth to her. In my mother’s eyes, Rayna is as much of a daughter to her as I am her son. She used to call us The Twins when we were younger. We even had matching clothing.”

“I remember,” Kai smiles briefly.

“This place is so empty now. There was a brief time I thought my parents were going to split up. Sometimes I think the only thing holding them together is Baekyeon.”

“I doubt that. They truly love each other, Rayna’s disappearance couldn’t do anything but put a small dent into that love.”

“I guess…”

Kai decides to change the subject, “your mom’s really making cookies. I can smell them.”

A grin slowly forms on Baek’s face, “she’s very true to her word, Kai-Kai.”

“No, do not call me that,” he shudders.

Baek’s smile widens, “why not, Kai-Kai? Aren’t you a little baby?”

“No. I am a grown man. Now, let’s go see if those cookies are done yet!”

“Now that’s a very manly thing to say,” Baekhyun teases as he follows Kai downstairs.

~*~

“I think I like your place better than the usual spot,” Xiumin states as he grabs his ninth cookie and shoves it in his mouth, chewing loudly.

“I second that,” Chanyeol agrees, holding up his glass of milk in a toast.

“These cookies are amazing, Mrs. Carter,” Kris smiles warmly at the older woman and she blushes.

“Why thank you, Kris. Would you like to know what the secret ingredient is?” He nods eagerly and she leans in, “the blood of bad little boys.”

His eyes widen and she laughs hysterically.

“Isn’t it supposed to be love?” Baekhyun frowns. His mom only winks and walks out of the kitchen.

“She is so cute!” Xiumin gushes as he stands behind Lay who bouncing Baekyeon in his lap, singing to her and she is gurgling like a fountain. “She has your smile, Baeks.”

“The smile that kills,” Baek nods with approval and gives Baekyeon a thumb’s up. “Don’t break as many hearts as I have, Baekyeon, it only causes trouble.”

The rest of the group is silent, staring at him.

“What?” He asks self-consciously.

“I can’t even count on one hand the amounts of hearts you have broken, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says.

“You’re one to talk!” Baek retorts as everyone laughs.

“Right? Aren’t you confusing yourself with Kris?” Suho asks, nudging Kris, who just rolls his eyes.

“Let’s just get to the point,” Baek bristles, his face turning a bright red.

“Alright,” Lay places Baekyeon on the ground and they head up to Baek’s room.

When the door is closed firmly, they all huddle around the center of the room.

“Alright, has anyone used their powers at all this week?” Suho asks, pulling out a notebook.

They are all quiet, shaking their heads no. Well, except Chanyeol, he bites his lip and stares intently down at the ground.

“Yeollie?” Kris asks. “Is there anything you’d like to share?”

Chanyeol pouts, “Okay, okay. I used my power, but it was because I got a cold coffee and so I heated it up. That’s it, I swear!”

Kris sighs, but Suho nods understandably and scribbles the date next to Chanyeol’s name on a page of the notebook. “Anyone else?”

“Nope,” they all assure and Suho closes the book he is holding.

“Now that that’s all out of the way, we need to address the whole Rayna thing,” Kris informs.

“What is there to discuss?” Kai asks.

“Well, are we going to approach her? Are we going to inform Baek’s parents? Is she going to be a threat to us? We need answers.”

“When it comes to my parents, I’ve decided to wait a week or two before revealing anything,” Baek reveals.

Kris nods, “That’d understandable.”

“Do you think it would be wise to approach her?” Kyungsoo asks, biting his lip with worry.

Lay speaks up, “if she doesn’t come to us, it is the only way we will be able to talk to her. She owes us an explanation.”

“That’s true,” Xiumin agrees. “You don’t disappear for six whole months and magically come back without at least explaining to your best friends where you went and what happened to you. She has to know how worried we were. What her leaving did to us.”

“So when should we confront her?” Chanyeol asks nervously.

Kai butts in, “you guys act as if we are going to kidnap or beat her up. It can’t be that way. Rayna at this moment is like a scared dog. We have to approach her slowly, we can’t just gang up on her.”

“We could use our powers though,” Kyungsoo points out.

“Only if push comes to shove and we have no other choice,” Suho counters.

“I think we should make both an A and B plan,” Lay offers. “Maybe plan A is one of us comes up to her and tries to talk to her and if she doesn’t comply than plan B would be us using our powers and forcing her to confess.”

“I don’t know,” Kai says hesitantly. “Can that be Plan C and Plan B can be something less… violent?”

“Rayna has changed,” Kris says sternly. “Just by looking at her, I can tell she would fight back. We need to get in and get out. I think I have a plan.”

With a deep breath, he looks at Kai, “I need you to be strong tomorrow.”

Kai gulps, “me?”

Chapter Two: Answers

“She’s gonna punch me in the face,” Kai states nervously to Baekhyun as he fixes his tie. “She’s gonna laugh at me and then she’s gonna punch me in the face.”

“No she’s not,” Baek rolls his eyes. “At least, she won’t if you follow instructions. Don’t show too much emotions, alright? You’ll break.”

“So… I’m just going to be seductive ol’ Kai, correct?”

“Correct. You know what to do if she doesn’t want to listen or comply.”

“I don’t like this,” Kai admits.

Baek smiles sadly, “none of us want for it to turn violent and I honestly don’t think it will. We’re just keeping our guard up. We’re just expecting the worst. Now, take a deep breath.”

Kai does as he is told and straightens out his shoulders.

“Good luck, don’t choke,” Baek encourages as the bell rings. He pats Kai’s shoulder and disappears behind him.

“Don’t choke, don’t choke,” Kai murmurs to himself as he walks into the class he shares with Rayna. He notices she is already in her seat and trips over a desk, quickly catching himself.

“Don’t choke, don’t choke,” his whispers quicken as he practically runs to his seat.

Focusing to the lecture is a lost cause for him. The only thing he is focusing on is the plan Kris thrust onto his shoulders. Why couldn’t it have been someone else? Rayna always listened to Baekhyun, why not him? She always loved to be around Chanyeol, why not him? She always took Lay’s logic to heart, why not him? The only connection she had with Kai was the feel of his lips on hers, and that was only for a month and a half. Sixty days of pure bliss, sixty days of love. Sixty days of feeling her body in ways Kai had only dreamed of be—

No, Kai, focus. Get in and get out. That’s what Kris kept telling him this morning. ‘If she doesn’t listen, bring her to the spot. We’ll be waiting there until the middle of lunch and then we’ll assume you did your job by yourself and return. If not, we will take care of the rest’.

What does Kris even mean by ‘take care of the rest’?” It doesn’t sound pretty, but Kai has to admit, he wants answers. He wants to know what caused his girlfriend of a month and a half to vanish without a goodbye to anybody. She didn’t even leave a note. After three months of looking, everyone just assumed the worst and gave up. There was a funeral for her and everything. But as Kai glances at her, he can tell that the funeral wasn’t for nothing. Rayna is dead, this girl in front of him is a corpse, an empty shell. At least that’s what he keeps telling himself.

Unlike the day before, class goes by fast. The bell rings and his heart falters as he watches Rayna stand up, fix her uniform shirt, collect her bag and trudge out, her movements slow and precise.

When she is out the door, he runs after her. He catches up to her and snatches her wrist, dragging her to a stop.

“Wait, please,” he doesn’t mean to sound so needy. Keep your emotions in check, geeze, Kai, she isn’t even looking at you yet! He gulps and tightens his grip on her wrist as she slowly turns around.

Those eyes that once held love and happiness only holds the reflection of the lights overhead.

“Yes, Kai?” Her voice is just as dull as her expression, but that doesn’t stop his heart from hammering in his chest.

“Uh… We—we need to talk.”

“I need to get to class.”

“But it’s lunch time…”

“Your point, Kai?”

“Can we talk later then?” He asks, hope filling his voice.

She stares at him for a minute, sizing him up, “no.”

“Then it has to be done now,” he says stiffly.

“No, it doesn’t. Let go of me, Kai.”

“Stop,” he growls, leaning closer to her. “Stop saying my name.”

“Why?” she asks, the corner of her mouth slowly curling into a smirk.

Kai takes a breath and glares down at her. Is she mocking him?

“If you don’t comply with me, I’ll take matters into my own hands, Rayna. You know I can.”

“I do not know anything about you taking charge, Kai. I said I’m not going, let go of me before I take matters into my hands.”

They stare at each other for a while, challenging the other to do something. Kai is beyond furious, the fact that she is toying with him, it broke his heart and only left anger to burn.

“You’ve given me no choice,” he whispers. He wraps his arms around her and rests his forehead in the crook of her neck. She is about to punch him in the gut before the two of them are suddenly somewhere else.

She shoves him away. “How dare you teleport me! Who do you think you are?” She charges towards him, about to hit him, when four pairs of hands grab her. They drag her to a chair sitting in the middle of the deserted warehouse they are in.

“Let go of me!” She hollers as they shove her down and tie her hands and legs. “What is wrong with you guys?”

Kris comes up to Kai and pats his shoulder, “good work.”

Kai locks eyes with him and Kris quickly walks away, ashamed to have seen the broken look in Kai’s.

Finally, Rayna calms down. Her chest still violently rising and falling but she wasn’t trying to escape anymore. “I’m not mad anymore. You guys can come out now.”

Slowly, one by one, the eight men appear before her. She eyes them, a small smile on her lips.

“The gangs all here,” she sneers and laughs bitterly.

“Rayna…” Baekhyun starts, taking a step forward. He stops when he spots the way her head snaps to his foot, staring at it as if she was going to eat it.

“Brother,” she murmurs, slowly dragging her eyes up his body to reach his eyes. He gulps and tries to hold back the shudders that run up and down his spine.

“I missed you,” he finally says. “The whole house misses you. I’m glad that you’re back now, Rayna.”

“Save it,” she hisses and looks to the guy next to him. “Channie. You’re not smiling, that’s quite a sight to see.”

“Well, I’ve been worried sick about you. We all have. Why would I be smiling?” He snaps bitterly.

“Because,” and she smiles brightly, causing tears to form in his eyes, “I’m back now.”

Her eyes shift to the guy beside him “Lay. The kind one. Are you still dishing out philosophical advice, oh wise master?”

“I have advice for you, Rayna, if you’re still willing to listen.”

“I’m not so sure I am. Sorry.” She moves to the next one. “Chubby Xiumin. Looks like you’re not so chubby anymore, aye?”

“I guess not,” he mutters, hating the nickname.

“Prince Suho, still making the rest of them bow down to you?”

“Only you, princess,” he counters with a grin. 

“Big eyed Kyungsoo. My awkward D.O, how have you been?”

“Surviving,” he squeaks out and looks down at his feet. No one but Rayna calls him D.O and the fact that she remembered does something to him. It unnerves him.

“Kai, we’ve already got quite acquainted earlier, I believe. You look as handsome as ever.”

Kai clenches his teeth, fighting both a hot comeback and tears.

“And then there’s my lovely Kris. Still breaking hearts?”

“Only yours, baby.”

Her smile falls, “I find that hard to believe.”

She leans back in her chair, “well, now that we’ve all reintroduced ourselves, let’s get down to business. What do you guys want?”

Suho steps up, “what we want is very simple, Rayna. We just want to know something.”

“What is it?” She asks, her voice never raising past indifference.

“Why did you leave?”

She sighs, “You guys were always so sappy. You know, for a group of boys, you sure acted like girls. I swear I was the manliest out of the group.”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Kris agrees sarcastically. “That explains the frilly bright pink dresses you used to always wear. Let us not forget the flowers you used to wrap in your hair. Very manly.”

“Of course you wouldn’t forget what I used to wear. I bet you fantasized about doing things to those clothes… if you know what I mean.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“And you’re pathetic.”

They are silent, their eyes slits as they stare menacingly at one another.

“Rayna… please?” Baekhyun begs, causing Kris and Rayna’s stare down to come to an end. “We need to know. You owe us that much.”

“I don’t owe anyone shit.”

“Oh, you don’t?” Kai asks. His anger beyond his control. “When you disappeared, we were in a relationship. If you owe anyone an explanation it has to be your boyfriend.”

“And I am your brother, family deserves an explanation as well.”

Everyone is silent as Rayna stares them down. Finally, she lets out a breath and shrugs, “fine. If you pansies really want to know so damn badly, I’ll tell you why I had to leave. Better yet, I’ll show you.”

Their eyes widen with shock and fear, show them? What does Rayna have up her sleeve?

They watch as she slowly lowers her head, it looks as if she is falling asleep. When her chin presses against her chest, there is a soft rumbling sound that resonates through the rusty building. Suddenly, all of the furniture and appliances lying around rise up into the air and hover. The lights start flickering and with the sharp rise of her head, everything falls back down with a loud bang.

The boys’ gaze whip back to Rayna with fear. Her head twitches painfully from side to side for a minute until finally she lowers her head down again from exhaustion.

“You…” Chanyeol whispers. “You have powers?”

“Surprise,” she breathes, trying to regain her breath.

“But…” Kyungsoo starts. “You’re a girl?”

She lifts her head to look at him, “how observant of you.”

“You know what Kyungsoo is trying to say,” Kris snaps. “Only males receive powers. That’s how it always has been.”

“Au contraire, women can also receive powers, as slim as it may be.”

“And here you are,” Suho breathes with awe. “One of the blessed.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Rayna mutters, trying to readjust her uncomfortable position.

“What does that have to do with you leaving?” Baek asks her. “If anything, you could have come to us, you could have told us. You know we would have helped you!”

She shakes her head, “it’s different, a girl with powers. I was scared, and I needed answers.”

“We could have helped you,” Baek repeats, deflated. He can’t believe what has become of his step-sister. A girl with powers? It is unheard of, and yet here she is, making things levitate.

“How?” Rayna asks. Her voice isn’t full of emotion, but merely curious. “What would you eight have done? You guys have always felt superior because of these gifts. You had this exclusive club that I was always on the border of. If you had found out that I had powers too, you would have shunned me. I was never one of the boys, as much as I tried.”

“That—that’s not true, Rayna!” Xiumin objects. “We loved having you around!”

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Before you all turned sixteen and gained these awesome powers. Then you only hung out with me during school.”

“No,” Chanyeol shakes his head. “That’s not right.”

“It’s not?” Rayna asks, lifting an eyebrow. “Because I remember on many occasions when I started following you guys after school and you or Baekhyun would hold me back and tell me ‘not today.’”

The boys are silent.

“I was already gone before I left. You all had pushed me away.”

“No,” Kai snaps. “Not all of us.”

Rayna sighs and looks up at the ceiling.

“You were gone for six months,” Suho begins. “Where did you go?”

Rayna gazes at them, her eyes are a solid black color that creeps them out and her nose and the corner of her mouth are starting to bleed. “I told you I needed answers. I went searching for them.”

“But something happened to you,” Lay points out. “You have changed greatly. You’re like a whole different person.”

“That’s the power,” Rayna smiles and sinks in her chair, seeming to bask in the gift she held. Chanyeol watches in disgust as she opens her mouth in a content sigh, and the blood from her nose drips into it. “It feeds me, it makes me… more powerful, as lame as that sounds.”

“I don’t understand,” Suho presses.

“I don’t think you would. The reason why there are less powerful women is because the power affects us differently than it does men.”

“What does it do?” Chanyeol whispers. Rayna just shrugs, closing her eyes.

“Rayna?” Kris barks. No response. “Rayna!”

“Kris!” Suho snaps. “She’s sleeping.”

“That bitch,” Kris mutters, his hands ball into tight fists.

“Don’t call her that,” Kai chastises halfheartedly.

“Don’t act like that,” Kris counters back. He storms out the building, punching the wall as he leaves.

Suho sighs when he is gone, “he’s using his power. I can feel it.”

“He needs to blow off steam,” Lay says. “That’s the only way he knows how.”

“Plus, did you hear the way she was talking to him?” Kyungsoo points out. “I’d be furious with her also.”

“Yeah, that was weird,” Chanyeol states, staring at Rayna’s bloody face.

“She’s changed so much,” Baekhyun says quietly. “Yet, I feel like we are at fault for it.”

“We weren’t the ones that gave her powers,” Xiumin defends. “That power is doing this to her… We need more answers.”

“Where are we going to get them from?” Lay asks.

Suho purses his lips, “from the very person who helped us understand what these things are. Chanyeol, untie her. We’ll leave the door open for when she wakes up.”

Chanyeol sighs. “I’m sorry, Rayna,” he whispers as he bends down to untie her wrists.

~*~

Kris flies over the city, embracing the icy pain hitting his face from soaring so high. Nothing clears his head more than being up in the air, flying through clouds, hovering over the earth. It feels like a respite, a soft break from reality. He feels as if he could fly away from every problem he ever had.

But Rayna was a problem that was chasing him, trailing right behind him, and he hates it.

He hates her for coming back at such a time. For acting like someone different than the Rayna that used to follow him around like a lost puppy. He doesn’t want to, but one of his fondest memories of her pops into his head, replying and scratching and jumping to different parts, playing at different angles, all ending the same.

One year ago…

The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The boys and Rayna decided to take advantage of the fresh air and held a picnic at the park. Kris was sitting quietly by a tree, leaning against it, feeling the soft breeze rustle his hair.

“What are you up to?” a soft feminine voice asked him.

He grinned, keeping his eyes closed, “pretending I’m up there instead of leaning against this damned tree.”

He heard her sigh and felt another body sit next to him.

“You’re lucky,” she began wistfully. “Out of all the powers so far, I think yours is the best.”

“You do?” he asked with surprise. He thought she loved Xiumin’s power the most, she was always asking him to freeze her drinks or help her melting ice cream. He peeked through his lashes enough to see her nod enthusiastically.

“I think it’s everyone’s dream to fly like a bird. To see the world from their point of view, to rest on clouds…”

He chuckled, “you can’t sit on a cloud, you silly girl.”

She shrugged, “all the same. Yours is my favorite.”

“If you could have a power, what would you want?” He asked her quietly.

She was silent for a while. For such a long time that Kris opened up his eyes and looked down at her. She was staring at the sky intently, thinking about her answer seriously, a finger resting thoughtfully on her chin. Kris stared at her glowing tan skin, watched the way her wavy brown hair swam back from her face as the wind blew it. She was wearing a white summer dress and the golden locket the boys bought her for her fifteenth birthday. Kris hadn’t seen her without it since.

“I think I’d want to fly also,” she whispered. “That way, we could fly together,” her cheeks turned pink as she stared at a row of ants beside her.

Kris smirked. He knew Rayna had a crush on him since forever, he thought it was cute, but he never saw her that way. She was as much a little sister to him as she was to Baekhyun. “Maybe…I’ll take you flying one day.”

Her head snapped up to meet his serious gaze. Her eyes wide with surprise and hope, “really?”

“Of course. If it’s the power you want, I’ll help you get it, even if it’s for a little while.”

She smiled and bit her lip and Kris had to admit he liked her reaction. She stretched her arms out in front of her and sighed, “That would be amazing. Thank you.”

“When should we go?”

“Um…” she thought again. “Maybe on my sixteenth birthday? That way, it will really feel like my power.”

“But that’s not for a while, Rayna.”

She shrugged and shook her head, “I can wait. You know I can.”

He heard the double meaning in her sentence and was taken aback. It was the most bitter she’s ever sounded, even though her tone was light and she was smiling softly, the twinkle in her eyes never faltering.

“Anyways,” she continued. “I’m craving some watermelon. Would you like some, Kris?”

He shook his head, “I’m fine, thank you.”

She stood up and brushed her backside, “okay. Don’t forget your birthday gift for me!”

“I won’t,” he whispered as he watched her bouncing frame approach the blanket and the rest of the boys.

Kris blinks back the tears forming in his eyes. Everything Rayna said to him today, it was cruel. She stabbed him every time she opened her mouth, and her eyes were unforgiving.

He has to admit though, deep down, that he deserves everything she threw at him.

~*~

“Here we are,” Suho chimes. The seven boys are standing in front of a small cottage on the outskirts of town.

Chanyeol sighs, “I can’t believe we’re back here.”

The others nod.

“Do you think it’s fair to do this without Kris?” Kyungsoo asks.

“He has a lot to worry about already,” Suho dismisses. “We can inform him about it later.” With that, he takes a deep breath and knocks on the thick wooden door. In a matter of seconds, it creaks open and an average looking middle-aged man stands on the opposite side.

His eyes widen with surprise, “Suho? What brings you guys?”

“Mr. Black,” Suho greets. “Something strange has happened and we really need some type of understanding.”

Mr. Black takes in all of their expressions, all are set on different stages of despair. He nods and steps back, “very well, come in.”

His home is cozy and warm. The fireplace is lit, warming the frozen boys’ hands and toes. Mr. Black reappears from the kitchen with cups of warm tea.

Once everyone is thawed out, Mr. Black gazes at them expectantly.

Suho is the one to begin, “Sir, do you remember our female friend? The one that would always tag along with us?”

Mr. Black nods, “the one that disappeared?” They all nod in confirmation. “What of her?”

“Well,” Kyungsoo starts. “She’s returned to us.”

“Really?” Mr. Black lifts an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but you see,” Baekhyun begins. “She’s different… Something’s changed within her.”

“How so?”

“Well… She has… powers.”

“Powers?” Mr. Black is intrigued.

Kyungsoo nods, “She’s a girl with powers. We came here because we need to know how. I thought only guys can get powers.”

Mr. Black nods and takes a long sip of his tea. He places it back down and folds his hands in front of him, “alright. I think it’s time for a story.”

He takes a deep breath, “I had a friend twenty years ago. She was a close friend of mine, we had known each other when we were younger, until I moved when I was twelve. Ten years later, we had bumped into each other and rekindled that relationship.

“She told me once that our meeting was not by accident. She told me that she had felt my presence, like a strong tugging, beckoning her towards me. We became very close. We became roommates and later, lovers. I cherished her. I loved her so much that I even told her about my power, and she accepted me completely. I never knew love like that before…”

Kai holds his breath, knowing the ending of this story isn’t going to be pretty.

“After two years of being together, things were going good. She had a job that required her to travel a lot, so we didn’t see each other often, but whenever we did, it was wonderful. She loved me and opened herself up completely to me, well, that was what I had thought....

“I was going to propose to her. I had bought the ring and was going to do it that night. When I had arrived to our apartment, I knew something wasn’t right. When I walked in, the place was a disaster. Glass was everywhere, the furniture was ripped to shreds, and our television looked like someone punched a hole in it. The further into the house I went, the worse the destruction. Finally, I arrived into our room. Clothes were strung out over the floor, the pictures on the walls and dresser were broken and thrown everywhere, there were holes all over the walsl. And in the center of all this chaos sat my girlfriend. She sat on the floor—because our bed was torn in half and pushed up against the wall—rocking back and forth, her eyes shut. She kept murmuring to herself and it wasn’t until I was knelt in front of her that I understood. She kept saying, ‘don’t hurt him’ over and over. She had scratch marks all over her arms and face and she was bleeding everywhere.

“I told her to look at me, but she wouldn’t reply to me. She just kept whispering, ‘don’t hurt him, don’t hurt him.’ Finally, I dragged her to the bathroom and placed her in the shower, watching it drench her clothes, she didn’t respond. That was until I tried to pry her arms away from her. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she gazed up at me with a blank expression. She had blonde hair that brushed along her jaw and small sharp features. She was a beautiful woman, but at that moment, she had never looked more terrifying. Her eyes were solid black and beady. Nearly her entire eye was black, I could only see a sliver of white. She stared at me intently and didn’t say a word.

“As frightened as I was, I used this time to strip her of her wet clothes. She was like a rag doll, she let me move her however I wanted. When I had her in only her underwear, I examined her body for anymore scratches, and to my relief, found none. When I was reassured, I finally took her out of the shower, put a towel around her and placed her on the destroyed couch. I went back to our bedroom and snatched the first giant shirt I could find and returned to her. After I put her shirt on for her, I sat in front of her and grasped her hands in mine and asked her the dreaded question… ‘What happened?’

“She stared down at my face, at the tears springing into my eyes, and smiled, ‘nothing.’ I shook my head and looked around, ‘obviously that is not true. Did something happen at work? Did someone break into our home? What happened?’ She only grinned at me, her eyes still as black as they were in the shower. ‘I may have lost control…’ When her words hit me, I felt chills run throughout my body. And fear, I was terrified. ‘What did you do’ I whispered and she giggled and leaned into me, ‘I let my power go. I let it take control for once.’

“That’s when I finally understood what had just happened. I remember staring at her with shock. ‘Power?’ I remember asking her and she nodded and placed her index finger on my forehead, ‘just like you. I can do things too.’

“’Like what?’ I had asked her. ‘I can make things go boom with my mind.’ Chills ran down my spine and I backed away from her, hitting the broken television behind me. ‘Are you frightened?’ She asked me and I nodded. She smirked, ‘you should be.’ I blacked out after that.”

It is silent for a moment, Mr. Black allowing the boys to digest the story.

“She left. I hadn’t seen her for years, and when I finally did, she was different. It was as if the life had been sucked right out of her. She was scary skinny and her hair was tangled and greasy. She was filthy, as if she hadn’t bathed in weeks. When I saw her, I ran to her and begged for her to talk to me, to tell me what had happened that night, years ago, and after watching me breakdown in front of her, she relented and confessed everything to me. That when she was sixteen, she received her power, but it frightened her so much that she fought against it, fought to keep her mind. On the day I was going to propose, she was feeling weak and tired and depressed, and the power was beckoning her and she gave in, let it loose. She couldn’t control it though, couldn’t reign it back in like she could when she was younger, and it devoured her completely, leaving her with no choice but to embrace it—to let it become her.

“We parted ways, and that was the last time I ever saw her. I had a friend at the time whose power was being able to join minds with others and see life through their eyes, and I asked him to keep tabs on her. He hated it. She was evil, relentless. She killed without compassion and never felt anything. He always would tell me that she was cold, so cold. Finally, after two months of tracking her, he told me that she had died. Fell off a cliff. She was twenty-seven years old…

“When I found out about her death, I needed to know what the hell she was. I traveled to the mother land of the powers, a small village in South America, and asked them what they knew. This is what I found out over years of research around the world.”

He takes a deep breath, “your friend is known as a Vessel: a woman with powers. Only one in about two million women become Vessels, and the reason why is because it’s a mutation. It’s a mutation of a mutation, an extra gene in the link. As you know, men don’t use their powers often, because it ages us, the more we use the shorter our lifespan, but with women it’s different. They can use their power how many times they want, whenever they want without having to deal with aging consequences. That’s because their consequence is a lot worse than ours. Since they have a double mutation, the power takes on human-like characteristics, it’s like a parasitic drug. The woman gets addicted to the power, because it sends out endorphins with every use, causing her to feel invincible, as well as other effects most drugs have as well. As she uses her power, it also grows stronger, taking over her brain and, ultimately, controlling her, sort of like possession. This is the reason why your friend acts differently, it’s not her talking and moving and reacting—it’s her power. There is still a glimpse of the girl you once knew, but her power is slowly overpowering her mind, and if she hands over the reins willingly, which most woman end up doing, she will lose all of herself and cease to exist. She’ll become an empty shell.

“Another thing about woman’s powers is that they are ten times more powerful than a man’s. A man and a woman can have the same power, but the woman’s would be more dangerous, because of that double mutation, it’s double the power, double the strength. That’s why woman shouldn’t have powers, it’s a cause for destruction, and their powers feed off of that chaos. It ultimately leads to their destruction. Vessels never make it to thirty. Never…”

Kai grips the arms of his chair, Rayna is a monster, to put it simply.

“Is there any way they can stop it?” Baekhyun asks. “Any way that they can fight it off? Resist?”

Mr. Black frowns, “My friend—her name was Valarie—she fought her power for nearly five years, only letting it out in small bursts every other year or so. She hated her power because it was so violent. I mean, she could blow things up with just a thought! She knew how destructive she was, so she tried to restrain it. But like I said earlier, it’s like a drug, and when a vessel doesn’t use it, it’s like an addict stopping cold turkey, it won’t last long.”  

“And this is happening to our friend?” Kyungsoo asks, tears forming. Mr. Black nods. “And there’s no way we can stop her? No way we can help her?”

“There’s only one way you can help her, fellas.” He leans in and they all do as well. “You have to kill her.”

Chapter Three: The Alternative

“We can’t,” Kai whispers later that night. The boys had regrouped with Kris and headed up into the hills, camping out for a bit. They sit around the fire Chanyeol made and stare over the sparkling city. “We can’t kill her. I just… we can’t.”

The boys nod in agreement.

“I honestly don’t believe that’s the only way to help her,” Baekhyun agrees. “I think, if all else fails, we kill her, but only as a last resort.”

“Or no resort at all,” Kai continues. “I’d rather she levitated everything on the Earth into outer space before I see her not live on it anymore.”

“Kai,” Xiumin snaps. “Even if we don’t kill her. Mr. Black said Vessels don’t live to see thirty. She has an expiration date, regardless.”

Kai jumps up, “don’t you dare.”

“What?” Xiumin asks, his anger rising. The temperature drops, causing the boys’ breaths to become visible. “Don’t state a fact? Kai, you need to accept it.”

Kai leaps at him and Baekhyun, who was the closest to him, holds him back.

“What is wrong with you?” Kris snaps, causing them all to freeze.

“Xiumin knows better than to say those things—”

“No,” Kris barks. “You aren’t the only one in pain, Kai. You aren’t the only one who loves her!”

The silence becomes overwhelming. Kai stops fighting against Baek and yanks himself from his grip, spinning to Kris.

“You have a funny way of showing it,” he growls.

Kris takes a deep breath, “you need to stop acting like you have a claim over her. Yes, she was your girlfriend. Was,which means it was in the past. You need to stop letting your obsession of her cloud your logic. You know damn well that if killing Rayna is the only solution, we will execute it. You keep it up, Kai, and I will make you be the one to do it.”

“You’re full of shit,” Kai whimpers, fighting off tears. “You were relieved when she disappeared. You never once helped us search for her, and you didn’t cry at the funeral. You never gave a shit about her, Kris. Never. You just toyed with her and then left her. You are cruel.”

“Don’t ever say I never cared,” Kris says icily, moving closer to the shaking Kai. “I cared more about her than the rest of you. While you guys had given up looking for her, I was risking my life, using my power every fucking night searching for some kind of sign. Don’t you dare say I never cared.”

“That’s enough, you two,” Suho orders. The two remain in their positions. “I said that was enough!”

That snaps the two out of their silent battle, huffing as they return to their seats.

“Obviously, killing Rayna isn’t something any of us want to do,” Suho continues. “She holds a special part in all of our hearts. She was a dear friend, a little sister to us. We all love her. Seeing her, for me, it breaks my heart. I missed her so much, and being so close to her, yet so far away… well, I’m sure you all can imagine perfectly how I felt. Specially, once I heard her talk, saw her dead eyes up close, the blood…” He pauses to swallow back the ball forming in his throat. “As hard as it will be, if worse comes to worse we will do what has to be done, Kris is right about that. Until then, I think it’s wise to think of some ways to avoid that plan. Xiumin is right, she most likely might not live to see thirty, but that still gives her over ten years to wreck all kinds of havoc, and that I cannot allow. Letting her run wild is not an option.”

“Mr. Black told us that Valarie was able to control her power,” Baek mentions. “She was able to hold it back, only letting it out in small bursts from time to time. Doing that made her normal. So normal, that he didn’t even know she had a power until it was too late. If we could somehow get Rayna to see what her power is doing to her, we could get her to refrain from using it, to learn to hold it back.”

“That’s actually a really good idea, Baeks,” Suho praises him, smiling.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Chanyeol questions.

“Then we’ll return here and come up with something else. But, for now, let’s see where this on gets us.”

“How are we going to do this?” Kai asks stiffly, sniffling softly.

Baek shrugs and smiles warmly, “we’re going to treat her like we always have.”

~*~

The following Monday, Baekhyun and Chanyeol wait by the water fountain Rayna always walks past before her second period.

“We’ve been standing her for three minutes,” Chanyeol whines, kicking a locker.

“Patience,” Baek soothes. “We’ve been following Rayna around for the past three days, trying to figure her route. It’s going to take time.”

“Thank God for Kris,” Chanyeol praises. “If he hadn’t seduced the main office’s secretary to get her schedule, we probably would have still been trying to figure out what her classes were.”

“Shh,” Baek snaps, punching Chanyeol’s chest. “She’s coming.”

The two straighten up, Chanyeol rubbing his chest. When he catches her in his view, they both quickly turn towards the fountain, Baek bending down, pretending to get a drink.

Once she passes, the two speed-walk to catch up to her.

“Remember that one area at the park we used to always hang out at?” Chanyeol asks Baek louder than necessary.

Baek pretends to think, “Oh, the one that Rayna stumbled upon when we were thirteen? Yeah, we would go there practically every day after school and just lay down, letting the sun warm us.”

Chanyeol sighs, “That was the best. Rayna always seemed to stumble across the coolest things.”

“Seriously,” Baek agrees. “Even at home, she was always cooking weird food that always tasted amazing and she was always helping me with my homework. We practically never fought. She was the best.”

“Yeah, she was…”

At the same time, they check to see what Rayna is doing. She continues on in front of them as if she is unaware of their presence.

Chanyeol becomes frustrated, “do you remember our place at the park, Rayna?”

Baek’s eyes bulge as his head whips to Chanyeol, who is biting his lip expectantly.

Rayna stops walking suddenly, causing the two to bump into her. She whirls around and stares at them, “what are you doing?”

“Do you remember?” Chanyeol asks, ignoring her question.

“Of course I do. Now, what are you two doing?”

“We’re on our way to class,” Baek says, laughing nervously. The bell rings at that moment.

“Well than, get there.” With that she storms off to class.

“I think we did pretty well,” Chanyeol grins goofily causing Baekhyun to roll his eyes and laugh.

“I hope so.”

~*~

After third period ends, Xiumin and Lay scurry to what they believe to be Rayna’s locker.

“Oh no,” Xiumin says, his eyes widen.

“What is it?” Lay asks him softly.

“I don’t remember what we’re supposed to do!”

Lay rolls his eyes, “we’re just talking to her like we always did. Pretend that it’s the old Rayna and you’ll be fine.”

Xiumin nods and at the moment, Rayna walks by. She stops at the locker and cracks it open.

“Show time,” Xiumin murmurs as they approach her.

“Hey, Rayna!” Xiumin greets happily, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “How have you been?”

Her body stiffens slightly and she sighs, “Better.”

Xiumin and Lay begin to laugh like that is the funniest thing they ever heard.

“You are so funny, Rayna! We missed that,” Lay says, pretending to wipe away a tear.

“I guess…” She sighs irritably. “Now would you please release me, Xiumin?”

“Oh,” he quickly removes his arm and stumbles forward when Rayna begins to walk away.

“So, do you want to eat lunch with us today?” He continues. “It’s been so long, we have so much to catch up on, you know?”

“I don’t think I’m really up for that,” Rayna declines. “I think I’ll be just fine away from you guys.”

“But,” Lay counters. “We would really like it if you did join us. We won’t ask any questions you don’t want to answer.”

“I don’t want you guys to ask me any questions at all. Now, would you please stop harassing me?”

“But—” Lay tries to continue but stops when he is suddenly pushed back. He and Xiumin stare at Rayna’s disappearing form with shock.

“She—she just used her power on me,” Lay stutters, visibly shaking.

“I guess that’s a no,” Xiumin pouts, rubbing Lay’s form comfortingly. “C’mon, we’re going to be late.”

“She—she pushed me back. Did—did you s—see that, Xiumin?”

“I did. She’s a lot more powerful than we have been giving her credit for.”

“That was the scariest moment of my life. I almost peed my pants.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t. Let’s head out, shall we?”

~*~

Just like every other day, fourth period has Kai on edge. The heel of his foot taps violently against the linoleum floor as he chews nervously on a fingernail.

Maybe she isn’t coming, he thinks to himself. Baekhyun’s idea was good in theory, but now that it is his turn to interact with Rayna, he’s beginning to have some doubts.

Right as the bell rings, Rayna storms in. She stops in the front of the class and locks eyes with Kai’s, recognizing the crazy look in them. She rolls her eyes and heads over to her seat.

They have a substitute today who decides that it will be a partner day. Rayna and Kai happen to fall into a group along with two other students. The four pupils push their desks together and Rayna makes a point to sit across from Kai. The group is mostly quiet as they finish the English packet their teacher left for them.

When they are finished, the other two students’ heads move together, leaving Kai and Rayna to be awkward by themselves.

“You going to harass me also?” Rayna asks him, looking straight ahead of herself.

Kai shakes his head vigorously, “who has come up to you?”

“Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Lay. I don’t know what game you guys are playing, but it’s not going to work.”

“Why not?” He asks.

She moves her head to give him a look, “isn’t it obvious?”

Kai shakes his head again. “We can help you,” he whispers, leaning closer to her.

She leans back a little, “I don’t need any help. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Can I ask you a question? Just one?”

She purses her lips as she thinks about his request, a gesture from her old life and Kai sighs softly, nostalgia overwhelming him.

“One question,” she allows.

“Who’s really in control, Rayna? You or the power? Who’s really controlling that body of yours?”  

Rayna snarls, “Me, of course. I control both myself and this power.”

“Are you sure?” Kai asks quietly, very aware of the two heads only inches away from them.

“You think you’re better than me, don’t you?” Rayna asks with a cold laugh. “What? Because I’m a woman, I can’t control my power as well as the rest of you?”

“That’s not what I meant—” Kai starts, but is interrupted.

“I’m ten times stronger than you guys. I don’t even have to think about it anymore, I can just use it.” At that moment, the desks holding their partners fly back two feet to hit the dry-erase board that is behind them. The two girls scream, pushing away from the desks and running to the front of the classroom. The substitute runs over to them, trying to calm them down long enough to find out what just happened. All the while, Rayna’s gaze never leaves Kai’s. Her eyes slowly darkening and expanding from the use of her power.

“Our eyes don’t do that after we use,” Kai mentions. “We don’t have any physical effects from using it either. It’s like a drug, isn’t it? You just want to use it more and more.”

“You’re point?” Rayna growls softly, her power’s effect hitting her. Kai watches as her eyelids flutter rapidly and her head sways back a bit.

“We stay in control, even after we use our powers… You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” she counters, her eyes going back to normal.

“No. I think it does.” The bell rings and Kai leans into her. “And, please, Rayna, don’t use your power during school. Last thing we need right now is to be exposed.”

“Bite me,” she retorts, but it doesn’t have the effect she wants, what with her being high off of her recent burst of power.

Just treat her like we used to, Baek’s words float into Kai’s head and he smirks at her, “with pleasure.” With that, he quickly walks out of the classroom, before he ends up losing it in front of her.

He meets up with the rest of the group at their usual spot in the cafeteria. None of them have food in front of them, besides Chanyeol.

“You know, not eating while being stressed isn’t the healthiest thing in the world,” Chanyeol chastises the rest of the members, rolling a green apple across the table to Xiumin, who just sniffs it and frowns.

“How can any of us eat at a time like this?” Baekhyun asks him, who shrugs and takes a ginormous bite, again trying to prove a point.

“Kai, you have goosebumps,” Lay, who is sitting next to him points out. “Was fourth period a success?”

Kai shakes his head, “you have no idea. But I think we should tell our findings in order.”

Baek recounts his and Chanyeol’s encounter with Rayna, and then Xiumin tells the table about his and Lay’s experience, stressing the part where Rayna uses her power to push Lay away from her.

Finally, it’s Kai’s turn. He tells them in detail about being partnered with Rayna, their little argument, and her pushing the desks back with her mind, and how the power affected her.

“She’s getting careless,” Kris mutters, in deep thought.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol, who is sitting next to him, agrees. “Using her power twice in one day, especially in a place as public as school, that is filled with bystanders… She can expose us.”

“No,” Kai disagrees. “She’ll only expose herself.”

“Can we discuss the present right now?” Suho asks the table, gaining their attention. “Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Lay, Xiumin, and Kai, good job. You have done well today. Now it’s mine, Kyungsoo, and Kris’s turn.”

“How is this going to go?” Kyungsoo asks with determination.

“Kyungsoo,” Suho begins. “You and I are going to approach her together. Then we’ll let Kris be the last to talk to her. Our secret weapon.”

Kris laughs bitterly at his deemed nickname.

“She’s on to us, you know,” Kai mentions. “When we first got into groups, she asked me if I was going to harass her also… I think you and Kyungsoo should do something subtle. Like, I don’t know, compliment her skirt or some bull like that.”

“Yeah,” Xiumin agrees with a nod. “That way Kris can go in for the kill!”

“That wasn’t exactly what I was going for…,” Kai mutters.

Kyungsoo pouts, “But I want to talk to her.”

“Trust me,” Chanyeol says. “There isn’t much ‘talking’ going on with Rayna. It’s more of a growled threat and the roll of her eyes. Oh, and the sight of her back as she runs away.”

The group laughs and Suho nods, “alright. So Kyungsoo and I will find her after fifth period and send her some flowery compliments and then, after school, Kris, you will go and talk to her.”

“And, what exactly am I going to say to her?”

“Just talk to her how you used to,” Baekhyun shrugs.

“And please don’t snap at her,” Lay begs. “The last thing we need is for you to scare her off.”

“There is no way in hell I could scare this Rayna off, as much as I would try.”

“All the same,” Suho says, an unspoken warning in his eyes telling Kris to get his act right. Kris raises his hands in surrender and nods understandably.

“Time for the closing acts,” Suho beams.

As the boys head out, Kai snatches Kris’ wrist and pulls him back.

“What is it?” Kris asks impatiently.

Kai gazes up at him calmly, “when you talk to Rayna, it would be best to try to drop some hints about what her power does to her. If we are to gain some kind of breakthrough, we need her to realize that her power hurts her. It’s the only way she will see how much of a monster she has become.”

Kris nods, taking Kai’s advice to heart, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Also,” Kai begins, dragging Kris’ retreating form back to him. He is silent for a minute, staring intently at Kris. “Don’t fuck up.”

Kris has to swallow his extremely snarky remark, settling on, “yes, sir.”

Kai smirks and pats Kris’ head, “good luck.”

~*~

“Why am I so nervous?” Kyungsoo asks, bouncing from foot to foot.

“Rayna has grown quite intimidating lately, hasn’t she?” Suho smiles warmly at Kyungsoo, who nods quickly with agreement.

“I nearly shit myself when she used her power the other day.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Suho admits with awe. “Who knew that women could get powers, and out of all the women in the world, our Rayna was the one.”

“If only it didn’t effect women like this,” Kyungsoo pouts. “I miss the old Rayna, she was always so full of life. This Rayna is…”

“Demonic?” Suho offers.

“Mean.”

Suho chuckles, “Well, that too. Have you thought about what you’re going to say?”

Kyungsoo dismisses him with the flick of his wrist, “I got this.”

Suho just shrugs.

Three minutes pass and Rayna is still a no-show.

“Did we get the right hall?” Kyungsoo asks nervously.

Suho takes out the schedule Kris had retrieved from the main office, “yep. Her sixth period is that class right there.” He points at the door diagonally across the hall from them.

“Do you think she bailed?”

Suho shrugs, “hard to say. Maybe Kai was right, and she’s not risking it.”

Kyungsoo pouts again, “I want to see her.”

Suho grins, “me too, Soo, me too.”

“So, are we going to just stand here or…?”

“Let’s just wait a little bit more, alright?”

Kyungsoo sighs but remains where he stands. Their patience is rewarded, and Rayna turns the corner, heading into the hall. She glances up and locks eyes with Kyungsoo. She freezes and her eyes widen.

Both Suho and Kyungsoo take a breath and a step towards her and she spins around, quickly heading back the way she came.

“Hey!” Kyungsoo calls after her.

“Nice shoes, Rayna!” Suho yells quickly, biting his bottom lip to hide his grin.

“She—she left,” Kyungsoo pouts again, stomping his foot. His emotions get the best of him, and he unintentionally puts power into the stomp, causing the ground beneath his foot to crack and splinter.

“Kyungsoo!” Suho chastises, and bursts out laughing.

Kyungsoo’s already wide eyes widen even more as he realizes what he just did. He spins to look at Suho, who’s bending over, clutching his tight core, trying to control himself. “I didn’t mean to, Suho, I swear!”

“It’s… alright, Kyung…soo. I know… it… was an…accident,” he finally straightens out and turns to the shocked and frightened Kyungsoo. As soon as he sees his expression, he loses it again, and explodes into laughter.

“Why are you laughing?” Kyungsoo snaps, getting impatient. Suho cannot even talk at this point so he just shakes his head and waves his hands in a way of saying ‘I’m done.’

Kyungsoo sighs and returns his gaze back to where Rayna disappeared, “This sucks, man. This sucks big time.”

~*~

“Well, our mission was a total bust,” Kyungsoo sulks to the others. The last bell rang and the seven boys are now huddled around the two cars they use to come to and from school, waiting for Kris.

“What happened?” Chanyeol asks.

Kyungsoo sighs dramatically and shakes his head, “she arrives thirty seconds before the bell rings, sees us waiting for her and turns right the hell around.”

The boys groan understandably.

“Well,” Suho shrugs good-naturedly. “Hopefully Kris is able to do a better job than we did.”

“And hurries up,” Xiumin mutters. “It’s hot and my legs hurt.”

“We could always head on without him,” Lay offers. “He can fly after all.”

The boys just stare at him.

“What?” He asks.

“Is Rayna’s negativity rubbing off on you?” Xiumin asks.

Lay shakes his head slowly, “I don’t understand.”

“You’re the nice one,” Chanyeol informs him sternly.

“I—I am?” He asks, lost.

Baekhyun sighs, “You’re also the clueless one.”

~*~

Rayna seems to part the Red Sea of students as she makes her way to the parking lot.

Does she drive now? Kris wonders. There is so much about this Rayna he doesn’t know. She is an enigma and he is afraid of the unknown.

He watches in amazement how the other students interact with her. Despite the rumor that Rayna is a transfer student, most of the students at the school know that she went there last year. Some of them were friends with her even. But they are just as aware as Kris and the gang that this Rayna is different, and reuniting with old friends is not a priority to her.

Kids give her lots of space, and stare at her from afar. Some with wonder, some with confusion. Others with lust—for she is a beautiful girl—others with sadness and concern. Yet there they stand, never approaching her, that is, except Kris, one of the most popular boys in the school.

Actually, all eight of the boys are pretty popular. They are all handsome and mysterious. Girls want them, and boys want to hang out with them for the attention. Kris notices as he leans away from the wall he’s resting on girls eyeing him curiously. He doesn’t want to approach Rayna this way. Shoot, he doesn’t want to approach her at all, not after their first encounter. That being said, in front of an audience was probably not the most ideal situation, but maybe a crowded area will keep Rayna at bay.

Maybe.

He trails behind her for a moment, when he’s close enough, he snatches her wrist, pulling her to a stop. She freezes and slowly turns around, having to lean her head way back to meet his gaze.

“Kris,” she greets with a smirk.

“Rayna,” he replies back with a matching grin.

“So, they sent the big bad wolf to finish off Little Red then?” She asks.

Kris shrugs, “oh, I’m not that bad, am I?”

“I never thought you were,” she shrugs nonchalant and it almost makes Kris angry. How can she say something like that and yet convey no emotions whatsoever? Enigma she is.

“Rayna,” he starts, taking a step towards her. If they have to approach her how they used too, than Kris will use her old feelings and see how far he could get. “You understand what’s going on, don’t you?”

He still has ahold of her wrist, and he rubs circles on it with his thumb. She doesn’t even flinch from his touch, “I think I’m able to put together bits and pieces.”

“We’re giving you the puzzle, you just have to finish it. But, we could help you, if you allowed us.”

She smirks, “there you guys go again with all this ‘help’ crap. I’m absolutely confused, I don’t need any help.”

Kris shakes his head slowly, “you’re so blinded by it you’ve become delusional.”

“Blinded by what exactly.”

“You know what,” Kris strains to keep his voice down. He is beginning to grow impatient.

“Oh,” Rayna nods. “The whole ‘power thing’.”

“Yeah, that.”

“Look, I feel great. I feel so much better now.”

“Better then when?”

“Better than before I got this power. Before I was so sad, so lonely. I clung onto the most pathetic things. Like you guys—you in particular. You and Kai. It was almost an obsession, especially those last months when you all had powers. I tried extra hard to make my presence known, but it was wasted effort. I mean, I could have hung out with you all buck naked and you probably wouldn’t had noticed.”

“Maybe if you were buck naked and on fire… I think I would’ve probably glanced at you at least.”

Rayna chuckles without humor, “anyways, I was lost and depressed. When I first got my power, I felt more alive than I had in months.”

“And now you’re relying on that feeling too much. But you don’t have to anymore, Rayna. You leaving… well, we noticed that.”

Rayna gazes deeply into his eyes, reading his emotions. He stares back, trying to decipher what she is thinking, but her eyes are like metal walls, they aren’t giving anything away.

Finally, she shrugs, “sorry. Nothing.”

Kris lets out a frustrated breath, “would you at least allow us to try?”

“I deal with that enough already, thank you.”

“What does that mean?”

“How exactly would you guys be helping me? I don’t get that part.”

Kris takes a deep breath, “We’ll help you restrain your urges to use your power.”

“Okay,” she says slowly. “So I gradually stop using my power… then what?”

“Then,” Kris begins, smiling gently. “You return back to the fun loving Rayna you were before you turned sixteen.”

“Uh-huh,” she nods. “So, I stop using my power and I magically become the Rayna you loved to ignore and we all live happily ever after, correct?”

Kris nods, “that’s the theory.”

“Theory?”

“Yup. That’s what we believe will happen.”

“So, you guys are doing all of this on a theory?”

“Well, we know someone who has dealt with a Vessel before so…”

“Vessel?”

“Yeah, a woman with powers. You. You are a Vessel.”

She thinks about the word for a moment, “I like that.”

“Well, I like the old you.”

“Well, Kris, people change.”

“Yeah, but they shouldn’t be required to by some outside force.”

“But isn’t that what you guys are trying to do?”

He is silent for a second. Is that what they are doing?

“Look, I’m thrilled you guys want me back so badly, seriously, I really am. But I have to go. Nice try though.” She begins to yank her hand from his grip, but he only tightens his hold.

“I never did get to take you flying,” he admits. She freezes and her head whips up to stare at him.

“You remember?” He asks her.

Her eyes narrow and for a second, they come to life. For a second, he’s with the old Rayna. She gulps and nods slowly.

He leans in, “I can take you. Right now, if you want.”

She blinks at him rapidly, and looks around at the dwindling crowd around them. “Now?”

Kris nods and smiles softly, “Ray, it will be just us two.”

She takes a step towards him and he opens his arms for her to embrace him and then suddenly it all crumbles. She hesitates, and then her head twitches. She hisses in pain and Kris watches in horror as her eyes become totally black.

“Oh no.”

She wraps her hand around his neck and squeezes gently. Her head tilts slightly to the right, “actually, I think making things fly is a lot more fun.”

Kris closes his eyes, waiting for her to flail his body wherever she pleased, but nothing happens.

“Rayna!” He hears an unfamiliar voice call her name and a frustrated growl escape her lips.

He opens his eyes and spots an older guy staring intently at Rayna. His big doe-like eyes never leaving her.

“Let me go,” she barks.

“Not until you release him,” he says solemnly. Who the hell is this guy? His lean body is leaning against a red beat-up four-door car, and Kris notices three more heads peeking at the scene through the greasy windows.

“She can’t control it,” Kris sputters to the man, who still holds an unwavering stare over Rayna.

“She can,” he says confidently. His voice is gentle, just like the rest of his features. Fragile, like he will snap at any moment. “Rayna,” he starts with a voice full of warning. “Let. Him. Go.”

Kris looks around him, wondering what bystanders must be thinking of the scene. To his shock, he notices that the people still clustered around them are frozen, not even a blink or the rise of a chest.

“What—what is going on?” He chokes out.

The man runs a hand through his white-blonde locks, “Tao is using his powers.”

“Tao? Powers?”

“I can freeze time,” one of the heads from the car calls out.

“Oh,” Kris blinks. “Well, that’s pretty cool, dude.”

“Thanks,” the head says and then they all focus back on the main problem.

“Rayna, you are strong,” the man continues to coax her. “You can kill him. You can throw him into a pole if you want—”

“What are you doing?” Kris screeches, that doesn’t sound like someone trying to help him.

“It’s alright,” the man says. “She can’t do anything as long as I’m here.”

“Fuck. You.” Rayna growls, struggling to move her lips.

“Wait,” Kris says. “Are you using a power also?”

“Shh,” the man snaps. “You’re distracting me.”

“Sorry.”

“You can kill him,” he starts where he left off. “But what will that do for you? What will you accomplish?”

“I’ll be free. Completely free.”

“No you won’t. You’ll be even more chained down. Please, Rayna, let this boy go.”

“Fuck you and fuck him,” she barks, tightening her grip on Kris’ neck.

“No. Fuck that power of yours.”

Rayna’s head starts to twitch from side to side and slowly, one of her eyes goes back to normal.

“You are strong enough to kill him,” the man says. “You are also strong enough to know that, yet refrain from such actions. That’s what will make you the most powerful, understanding your strength, but not using it every chance you get.”

Her grip on his neck starts to loosen, when her hand is finally off of him, he falls back to the ground and backs quickly away from her. He watches as she tries to fight against some unforeseen force, but instead, she begins to gradually take steps backwards. The steps do not look as if she is willingly moving, it looks as if someone is pulling the strings.

The man. Kris stares at the sight playing before him. Rayna finally walks backwards to the car and one of the boys opens the door, letting her in the backseat. When she’s in, the man let’s his power over her go and slams the door shut. Instantly, she begins hitting the door, and Kris can hear her muffled voice through the closed door, he can imagine what she’s saying.

“Here.” He looks from the car to the hand that’s outstretched towards him. He grabs it, and the man yanks him up easily. Kris towers over the guy, yet he feels so small after what he just witnessed. “Don’t worry, she can’t get out. I have the child lock on.”

Suddenly, he hears the ringing of multiple conversations going on at once, and the occasional honking of cars.

“He unfroze time?” He asks the shorter man. Who nods, having a look around the campus.

“I’m Luhan,” the man introduces himself, holding out his hand again.

“Kris,” Kris introduces himself, shaking the man’s hand. “Thanks for the help.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“How do you know Rayna?”

Luhan smiles softly, “she lives with us.”

“Us?” Kris squeaks.

Luhan nods, “we are the others.”

Chapter Four: The Others

“What do you mean ‘the others,’” Kris asks.

Luhan smiles, “why don’t you and your friends follow me, and I’ll tell you guys everything you need to know.”

Kris agrees reluctantly and runs over to the rest of his gang.

“What just happened?” Xiumin asks, bewildered.

“What do you mean?” Kris asks innocently.

“Well,” Suho begins. “You look like you had a breakthrough.”

“Who are those guys?” Kyungsoo ponders, staring at Luhan’s small car.

“They know Rayna, they have answers. We have to follow them.”

“Alright,” Chanyeol agrees slowly. He’s the first one to move, opening the driver’s door and getting settled. The rest follow suit, Kris jumping into the driver’s seat of the other car. He pulls up behind Luhan and honks, Luhan speeds off, Kris and Chanyeol hot on his tail.

They drive for about fifteen minutes, pulling into a really nice suburban neighborhood. Finally, they pull into a lot. The house is smaller than most on the street—with it being the only one-story home—but still looks relatively comfy. It is brown and has big windows in the front, although the blinds are closed up tight.

“Welcome to our home,” Luhan grins once everyone is out of their cars.

“’Our home’?” Baekhyun asks, eyes flickering to Rayna, who is laying limp in one of the boys’ arms.

“Yup, the five of us live here,” the time freezer, Tao, clarifies. “Come on in.”

They follow the boys into the house. It’s pretty dim inside, but spacey.

“Make yourselves comfy,” Luhan orders. “I’ll make some hot chocolate.”

The eight boys stiffly sit around the living room. Baek watches as the boy who is carrying Rayna drags her away, disappearing into the hallway.

“What happened to Rayna?” he asks nervously.

“She was losing it,” one of the others, the shortest of the group with short reddish brown hair, says as he drags a chair from the dining table. “We had to put her out for a while.”    

“Put her out?” Baek sputters, the other boys react mostly the same.

The boy shrugs, “it was either that or let her use her power and hurt someone.”

“We’ve been dealing with her for months now,” Luhan says, walking into the living room, handing out drinks. “The best way to calm her down usually is to just knock her out.”

“And how do you do that exactly?” Kai questions, sniffing his drink suspiciously.

“We let Sehun take care of it.”

“Hello,” one of the boys—the one that carried Rayna earlier—greets. He is tall, about as tall as Chanyeol and Kris, and has white-blond hair just like Luhan. He smiles warmly and takes a cup from Luhan.

“Do you all have powers?” Kris questions.

“Powers?” Chanyeol nearly chokes on his drink. Lay softly pats his back as he catches his breath.

Luhan nods, leaning against the wall and crossing his legs. “Why don’t we all introduce ourselves? I’m Luhan, I’m the oldest of the four of us, and the leader. I have telekinesis.”

He nods over to Sehun. “Hello, I’m Sehun. I’m the youngest of us and Luhan’s brother. I can control wind.”

Control wind? Baek wonders. How does that knock Rayna out? It suddenly hits him and his eyes widen. “You take away her air supply! You choke her until she passes out!”

Sehun’s eyes widen with shock from Baek’s hostility.

“Well, there’s really no other way,” Luhan says matter-of-factly.

“You can kill her,” Kai says softly.

Luhan shakes his head, “Sehun would never do that. He knows what he’s doing.”

“How long have you had your power?” Kai asks the startled Sehun.

“Um… for about five months now, I think.”

“Five months?” All eight of the boys bark at the same time causing the rest, except Luhan, to jump.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Luhan repeats firmly. “Tao, introduce yourself.”

“I’m Tao,” Tao starts hesitantly. He has a dark aura about him, but he has a soft caring voice. “I can freeze time.”

“And I’m Chen,” the last member introduces. “I can control lightning.”

The other eight introduce themselves and their powers also.

“I’m Suho. I control water.”

“I’m Kris, I can fly.”

“I’m Xiumin, my power is frost.”

“I’m Kai, I can teleport.”

“I’m Kyungsoo, I have super strength.”

“I’m Lay, I can heal.”

“I’m Chanyeol, I can control fire.”

“And I’m Baekhyun. I have the power of light.”

“Light?” Luhan asks, intrigued. Baekhyun nods. “That’s… interesting.”    

“I’m sorry,” Suho begins. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but we’d really like to know why our friend is staying with you. How long has she been with you?”

“Well, let’s see,” Luhan’s gaze flickers to the ceiling as he back tracks. “It’s January now, so we met nearly four months ago, in September.

“I found her when I was walking home from work one day. In the forest on the way. She was filthy and startled, totally hopeless—at least that’s what I had thought. It took some coaxing, but I was able to bring her to the house. Chen wasn’t too fond of the idea of her at first, but I felt protective of her. I remember being confused by that need at the time, but now I know it was because of the power. I finally was able to talk both the boys and her into letting her stay until she felt well enough to continue on her way. They agreed. She got better, but never left, and now here we are.”

“Why didn’t she leave when she could of?” Xiumin asks.

Luhan shrugs, “I’m guessing she grew attached, especially once we all realized both her and I shared the same form of power. The day that we found out she had one, it became a warzone. We were trying to kill her, she was trying to kill us, and everyone was terrified. I somehow was able to talk some sense into her, and I made her a deal: I’d help her control her powers if she stayed with us.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing since?” Kris asks him.

“Yes. What you saw earlier was just some of the teachings we’ve been going through. Her power may be stronger by nature, but I’m stronger by default. She’s getting better, but she still doesn’t have the control or restraint that men do. That’s what I’m teaching her.”

“This question might sound random,” Kai begins. “But why does she go to school now? How did that happen?”

“I didn’t want her to,” Luhan admits. “She was still pretty unstable, but she wanted to. I’ve been studying her, gathering information about how women with powers act. When she uses, she loses a slice of herself, the human in her. But there is still a little girl wandering aimlessly inside her mind. Despite her stone hard image, she still craves for a normal life. I could see it in her eyes when she asked me about it one day—the longing. The months from her birthday to when I found her are full of tragedy, pain, death… She doesn’t tell us much, but sometimes, every once in a while, she’ll give us a puzzle piece, a memory of hers. I’ve been writing them down, keeping a journal of the things I find out about her. Anyway, I think the real reason she wanted to go to school again was because she missed you guys.”

“What?” The eight ask.

“That’s hard to believe,” Chanyeol scoffs. “She’s been giving us the cold shoulder since she’s arrived.”

Luhan just shrugs—a gesture Kris was beginning to think was a part of his nature—and continues talking, “believe it or not, when she came home on that first day, she did something I never thought I’d see her do.”

“And what was that?” Baekhyun eggs him on.

Luhan’s shiny eyes bore intensely into Baek’s as he grins, “She smiled.”

“Enough of the Rayna talk,” Chen says after a small pause. He claps his hands and rubs them together, a mischievous smirk on his lips. “Let’s see these powers of yours.”

Suho raises an eyebrow, “you just want us to play with our powers? To risk our lives to show off our abilities?”

Chen ponders for a second and then nods, “yeah, pretty much. What’s the fun of having these abilities if you can’t use them?”

Suho nods his head slowly and then grins, “alright, let’s go.”

All the boys head to the backyard, which is bordered with a tall wooden fence. Perfect for showing powers.

“So… who first?” Chen asks. He’s standing in the center of the yard, legs spread in a power stance and arms crossed over his chest.

“Uh…. How about you?” Xiumin suggests.

Chen smiles at the ground and when he rises his head, his eyes are all white. The boys take a step back as gray clouds begin to block out the blue sky and thunder rolls violently.

The wind picks up also, and the boys tug their blazers closer around themselves. Chen lifts his hands, palms up, and suddenly, lightning strikes begin to hit his palms, followed by loud cracks of thunder. After a minute of flickering, the streaks of light maintain their positions on his hands, shooting up to the heavens. The electricity sends static around, and the boys began to laugh as their hair and clothes begin to spike up. Sehun quickly pokes Tao, who gets shocked, and they end up having a shock war. The other boys notice what they are doing, and Chanyeol quickly begins to poke Baekhyun, who in turn shocks Kyungsoo, and the chain continues until all the boys are running around shocking one another. The only two who resist the little game are Luhan and Kris, who just smirk and roll their eyes at one another.

Finally, Chen decides to stop and the sky clears. The nine boys who are running around stop and try to catch their breath.

“That…was…sick, man,” Chanyeol huffs, he’s bent over with hands on his knees, but he raises an arm to give Chen a thumbs up. Chen grins and shrugs.

“Alright, whose next?” Chen asks.

Kai rolls his shoulders back and straightens up, “I’ll go.”

“Alright,” Tao says. “Show us what you got.”

Kai smirks, looking the new guys in the eyes and then he suddenly disappears. Tao, Chen, and Sehun spin around, trying to find him.

“Up here, fellas.” All the guys raise their heads to where the voice came from—on top of Luhan’s roof. There sits Kai, playing mindlessly with his tie.

“Ohh…” They stare at him in awe as he pops back down to where he was before on the ground.

“I want to go!” Sehun whines. Once he catches everyone’s attention, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. I giant gust of wind blows the boys back, causing them to fall and stumble about.

“Sehun!” Luhan calls the young boy’s attention. Sehun’s eyes snap open and the wind stops immediately.

He winces, “I’m sorry. I’m still learning the ropes.”

“Knows what he’s doing, my ass,” Baekhyun mutters, scrambling back to his feet.

“My turn,” Luhan says, his voice flat with determination. He removes himself from against the fence and marches over to the center of the yard. His face suddenly becomes blank as he stares intently at something.

No, someone, and that someone realizes it too late.

Baekhyun slowly begins to rise from the ground. “Whoa, whoa. Hey, put me down!”

Luhan ignores his protests, instead rising the boy higher and higher until he can see over the fence.

“This isn’t funny,” Baekhyun screams, scrambling to hold on to anything, flailing his limbs about.

“Alright,” Suho says, laying a hand on Luhan’s stiff shoulder. “I think that’s enough.”

Luhan tilts his head, and for some of the boys, it reminds them eerily of Rayna, and closes his eyes, breaking the connection with Baekhyun. The boy falls and lands roughly on the ground.

He yelps in pain and clutches his ankle. The rest of his members run over to him to check if he is hurt.

“His ankle is sprained,” Lay murmurs. “I guess it’s time to show my power then…” He lays his hands on Baek’s ankle and concentrates. His hands begin to glow and in a few seconds, Baekhyun catches his breath and stands back up as if nothing happened.

He scowls at Luhan, “what was that for?”

Luhan shrugs, “my brother knows what he’s doing when it comes to Rayna. Although he is young, and not quite aware of his potential, he understands wind better than a sailor, and he understands how much air is needed to be taken away to kill someone.”

“He’s right,” Sehun adds somewhat hesitantly. “I’d never hurt Rayna, despite how she is. I might not be fully confident with my power, but I am confident in it when it comes to her.”    

“What does that have to do with you levitating me?” Baekhyun snaps.

Luhan sighs, “I had heard what you said after Sehun showed his power. That was punishment.”

“Punishment?” Baeks takes a step towards him, but Chanyeol and Kai hold him back.

“Just let it go,” Chanyeol murmurs to him.

“Yeah, you’re even now,” Kai says. Baekhyun sighs, but stops fighting them.

“So… I guess I’ll go now,” Suho says, trying to break the tension.

Everyone watches as he glances around him with a pout.

Then a wide smile graces his face as he raises his hand, pointer finger out. He begins to move his hand as if he is writing in the air and a small trail of water appears from thin air, contorting into the shapes his finger designs.

He writes his name with the water, along with Rayna’s.

“How… how are you doing that?” Xiumin asks, spellbound.

Suho chuckles, “there is water literally everywhere, Xiumin. I’m just controlling the water that is in the air.”

“Water in the air?” Tao asks, gazing around him in awe.

Suho shrugs, “water is everywhere. I can show you something even cooler, though it is a bit more dangerous.”

“Well, by all means, show us,” Luhan says, a wicked grin contorting his features.

“Who trusts me the most?” Suho asks, still making designs in the air.

There is a brief silence before Kyungsoo speaks up, “I trust you, Suho.”

Suho nods and stands still, staring at Kyungsoo seriously, “don’t be afraid.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen as his arms begin to rise without his consent.

“There is water in us as well,” Suho says, concentrating heavily on moving Kyungsoo’s arms about.

“You can control blood?” Sehun squeaks.

Suho nods, “any form of liquid is under my control, really. Depending on how much water it contains. But it isn’t his blood that I’m controlling,” he lets Kyungsoo go and spins to face the others. “It’s his body.”

The group is silent with confusion.

Suho sighs, “Our body is made up mostly of water. I can sense the water within all of you, and I can control it, therefore controlling your bodies.”

“That’s… well, that’s just plain creepy,” Chen murmurs.

Suho nods again, “having powers in general is creepy, Chen. Although, I must admit, some are creepier than others. Take Chanyeol’s for example.”

“Hey, my power is not creepy!” Chanyeol whines. His sad features are suddenly reversed, “it’s awesome!”

Suho gestures to the center of the yard, “Then why don’t you demonstrate?”

“Fine,” Chanyeol huffs, marching to the center. “I will.”

Once Chanyeol is ready, he takes a deep breath and flexes. His body is then engulfed by flames.

The others gasp and take a few steps back, but Chanyeol just stands up straighter, placing his fists on his hips victoriously.

“I can control fire,” he beams as he releases the flame.

“That is awesome,” Sehun grins back. 

“But...your clothes...um....” Tao covers his eyes as others laugh. Chanyeol glances down to find that he had obliterated his clothes, leaving him nude.

He quickly covers himself and Luhan shakes his head. “Sehun, will you take Chanyeol up and give him some clothes?”

“Of course!” Sehun, still giggling, nudges the bare boy, leading him back into the house.

“Kyungsoo, why don’t you show us your power?” Suho asks once the two return, Chanyeol’s cheeks redder then a tomato.

Kyungsoo blinks around nervously and slowly makes his way to the center. With a battle cry, he stomps his foot down to the ground, causing it to splinter and crack around his foot.

Everyone claps, Kai runs up to him, ruffling his hair. A small smile appears on Kyungsoo’s face and he apologizes quickly to Luhan for ruining his yard.

“It’s fine,” Luhan smiles back. “Tao, it’s your turn.”

“But… I don’t know how to show them. It’s not really something I can demonstrate to everyone at once.”

“Well then, just show them. Use us three for an example.”

Tao nods and then faces the eight boys. “Pay close attention,” he advises.

Even though he has already witnessed Tao’s gift, Kris can’t help but be entranced by his ability.

Luhan, Chen, and Sehun begin to run around. Chasing one another around Tao. Suddenly, they freeze, all mid-step.

There’s a bird flying above them that abruptly stills, hovering above their heads.

“What just happened?” Baekhyun asks, staring at a frozen Luhan whose mouth is open in laughter.

“I can freeze time,” Tao whispers, his eyes wandering searching his surroundings with a smirk on his lips.

“How come we aren’t frozen either?” Lay asks.

“I can pick people to stay unfrozen as well. It comes in handy when I need to talk to someone privately.”

“Have you ever froze time for Rayna?” Kai asks anxiously.

Tao nods, “There were a few times I’ve had to freeze time for Rayna,” his eyes flicker to Kris who understands and has experienced it. “So that Luhan could talk to her when she was in her… state.”

“This is truly a gift,” Suho says, smiling warmly at Tao as they lock eyes.

Tao grins again, “thank you.”

Luhan and the others begin running again, and the bird continues its journey past their house.

Xiumin steps forward, “my turn.”

Chanyeol and Kai sigh and Xiumin shoots them a look. “You guys ready?”

Before anyone can answer, the temperature begins to drop so that they could all see their breath.

“Suho?” Xiumin calls. Suho shoots his hand forward and water flies towards Xiumin. He blinks and the water freezes over, falling to the ground with a hard thud.

The others applaud.

“Why did you drop the temperature?” Chanyeol pouts when Xiumin rejoins them.

Xiumin shrugs, “That was your punishment for whining.”

Chanyeol sucks his teeth and pouts.

“Alright. There are two left. Baekhyun and Kris. Who’s going to go first?” Suho asks

Kris and Baekhyun share a glance.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Baek offers and Kris shrugs, jogging over to him. Kris loses and so, he has to go first.

With the roll of his eyes, he trudges over to the middle of the yard.

He shakes his feet out for a bit, rolling his neck and then rises slowly off the ground. He rises until he is about ten feet up, and then begins to fly around the yard. He can’t restrain the blissful grin that appears on his face, as the chilly wind hits him, blowing his hair back.

After a few minutes, he reluctantly returns back to the earth, and is greeted by wild applause.

“That was sick!” Sehun compliments.

“That was pretty awesome,” Chen agrees.

Kris smiles shyly, “Thanks guys.”

“And then there was one,” Luhan says, staring at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun sighs and timidly walks to the center, “my power isn’t anything special. It’s kinda pointless really.”

“All the same,” Luhan says. “I’m quite curious.”

Baekhyun sighs again and then raises his hand, palm forward in front of himself. He stares at it intently, biting his lip as sweat begins to rain down his forehead.

Finally, a small bright light begins to glow from his palm. Stretching and growing like a toddler waking up from a nap.

Baekhyun laughs with relief as the soft golden glow begins to spin around his arm, up to his shoulder and across his chest, blanketing him in early morning light.

“It’s… beautiful,” Luhan breathes. Everyone can’t keep their eyes off the shimmering light, watching as it wraps itself comfortably around Baekhyun, who chuckles from time to time.

“Can… can I touch it?” Sehun asks. Baekhyun looks up at him and nods guiltily.

Sehun takes a few steps over and then lifts a hand forward. It shakes as it gains on the light, which seems to stiffen—preparing itself for his contact.

Finally, Sehun’s fingers brush against the glow, and he gasps as the light begins to wrap around his digits.

He laughs as well, “It’s warm.”

Baekhyun nods, “That’s light for you.”

“Amazing,” he breathes.

The sun sits low in the sky, causing the world’s ceiling to turn shades of red and orange.

“It’s getting late,” Kris says, breaking the tranquil peace that rests on all the boys as Baekhyun’s light travels around both him and Sehun. “We should all head home.”

“Aw,” Kyungsoo pouts.

Baekhyun retracts his light until it’s back in his palm, where it sinks into and disappears, “he’s right.” He looks at Sehun, “it was nice meeting you all.”

Sehun nods vehemently, “likewise. You guys are really cool.”

“So are you,” Suho replies. “I’m thankful that you were the ones to find Rayna. I can tell you all care about her, and I mean, she’s still alive so…”

Luhan chuckles, “we are trying our best.”

“I guess we’ll see you around then,” Kris says, as everyone heads back inside.

As they are walking over to their cars, Kris feels a soft tug on his bicep. He glances behind him to see Luhan.

“Yeah?” He asks him.

“There’s something I need you to see real quick.” Luhan drags Kris down the hall to the last door on the left. On the way, Kris glances at a door that’s ajar and sees inside, a still sleeping Rayna. He feels his heart speed up, but continues none the less.

Once in the room, Luhan’s grip on Kris’ arm dissolves and he heads over to the dresser on the opposite side of the room, opening a drawer and rummaging inside it.

“This your room?” Kris asks to fill the silence. Luhan nods, still searching for whatever it is he’s looking for. “It looks cozy enough.”

“Thanks,” Luhan says standing straight and turning around to face him again. In his hands is a small brown leather-bond book. “I told you I have been writing all of my finding about Rayna in a journal.” He holds the book out. “Well, here it is.”

Kris stares at it like it’s going to bite him, then back up to Luhan, “why are you giving it to me?”

“Out of all the boys, I think her disappearance hurt you the most. She’s talked about you before, you know?”

“She has?”  Kris cannot believe it. Him? Why?

“Yeah, she missed you. That’s another reason I’m giving this to you. There’s not much, but I think there is enough for you to find some sort of closure.” He shrugs. “It’s all I have really to help you.”

“Thank you,” Kris says earnestly, grabbing the book from Luhan and gripping it tightly. “Thank you so much, Luhan. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Do what? Give you the book or take her in?”

They stare at each other for a moment and Kris gulps he’s in love with her, isn’t he? He prays not, the last thing he needs is for someone else to put claim on Rayna, to tumble down the black abyss that is Rayna’s love.

“Both,” he grins softly.

“Oh! And another thing.” Luhan says before Kris leaves his room. Kris turns around and lifts his eyebrows in acknowledgement. “Don’t show the others I’ve given that to you. There’s stuff in there… I think only you could swallow.”

Kris tries to ignore the way his heart thumps loudly when Luhan says that. What has Rayna been going through since her sixteenth birthday?

Well, it seems like he was going to find out.

Chapter Five: Subtle Insight

Kris enters his silent home later that night and trudges straight to his room. He peeks inside his mother’s room when he walks past it to see that she’s asleep.

Once inside his own room, he plops down on his bed and pulls out the journal Luhan gave to him. He had hid it securely away from the other boys by tucking it in his waistband, and they never noticed, thank God.

He skims through it, noticing that out of about fifty pages, nearly twenty were filled. Luhan’s writing was very straight and formal, though in some entries, his script appears wobbly or rushed, written either in a hurry or with some strong emotion. Those entries make Kris nervous.

Or excited. Or both.

With a sigh he returns to the first page and begins the sad life that is Rayna’s sixteenth year:

September 17,

Rayna’s been with us for a week now. She doesn’t say much, she mostly just sits around staring at nothing or out the window. The only time she does really talk is when she needs something like clothes or the green beans. She seems…haunted. I don’t know a thing about her, but I do know that her past has traumatized her. I asked her if she had been kidnapped and she told me no, but I’m still concerned. Should I have given her up to the cops like Chen said I should have? I don’t think I could. There’s something about her… almost like a tug or a pull, I can’t leave her alone.

Also, I always get this weird tingly feeling in my palms whenever she’s near, like an itching. The weirdest part about it is that it’s not like an itching towards her, more like an itching to use my power. I asked Sehun if he feels that way when he’s around her and he just looked at me as if I were crazy and said no very sternly. I think he’s worried about me, shit, I’m worried about me! Since Rayna’s appearance into my life, I’ve found myself always on edge, like if I come home from work one day she’ll be gone. I can’t let her leave, not yet at least, I need more answers, I need to help her.

Kris turns to the next entry and noticed how sharp the writing was in this one.

September 30,           

Well what a turn of events.

I wanted answers and I’ve gotten them. At least, the big answer has been solved. Somehow, Rayna has gifts, she’s a Special just like the rest of us. I can only guess that’s the reason for my attachment towards her.

Today, after coming home from work and picking up the boys from school, we saw Rayna making things levitate in our living room.

We all freaked out and panicked, asking her questions. She was silent the whole while, staring at us as if she were in a trance. Suddenly, she made Chen soar across the room, nearly knocking him unconscious. We didn’t think after that. We all were trying to kill her, she was a threat, and I just knew that if I didn’t kill her first, it would be me who died.

But I felt even more powerful than ever, fighting with her fighting so close to me, and I realized that we had the same power. Images of her when I first found her kept popping in my head, and I could tell that she was just a scared child who needed some sort of guidance.

When I realized that, I jumped in the middle of the fight and told everyone to stop. No one wanted to listen, so I used my power to make them stop myself. I begged Rayna to let me help her, that she wasn’t a monster, and I could give her the tools needed to perfect her power.

She liked what I had to offer, and we all decided—much to Chen’s dismay—to compromise.

That being said, we’re all a bit on edge. Every time Rayna makes even the slightest move, we all jump, afraid she’s going to throw another one of us.

She’s sleeping on the couch across from me as I write this, and she looks so peaceful—beautiful even. I wonder what she was like before she grew these powers, I wonder just what exactly this thing has done to her.

Kris puts the book down after reading that entry. That is enough for the night. He’s frightened to get to the parts Luhan wasn’t there to witness.

Next time, he thinks to himself, turning off his light and heading off to sleep.

~*~

During lunch the next day, the boys are surprised when an extra tray slams against the table top and Rayna’s body slides in next to Lay’s.

She begins eating without a word. The members stare at her, speechless.

Finally, she notices their looks and returns their gazes with a sharp one of her own. “What?”

Almost immediately, the eight boys pick up their utensils and start devouring their food, trying to play off their staring.

Rayna sighs and leans back in her seat, “just so you guys know, Luhan thought it would be for the best if I sat with you all from now on.”

“And you actually listened to him?” Kris asks, somewhat stunned. Kai’s hands roll into fists from jealousy.

She shrugs, “I wasn’t going to but…”

“But?” Suho presses.

“Luhan’s smart. He never suggests things unless he knows the outcome. So, it’s just best to listen to him,” she shrugs.

The boys are silent as they let her words sink in.

Baekhyun is curious, “just what exactly is Luhan to you?”

Rayna’s eyes darken as she meets his gaze, “he saved me. If it weren’t for him, I would have died on countless occasions. He protects me, and in return, I will listen to what he has to say, and do what he commands.”

“You’re indebted to him?” Chanyeol asks.

“Something like that…” Rayna murmurs.

“He’s helping you reign in your powers, right?” Suho asks.

Rayna nods, “It’s part of our deal. I can live with him and in return, he will help me control my power.”

“I thought you already had it under control?” Kai asks, raising an eyebrow.

Rayna smirks, “I could still kill you, Kai, don’t forget that.”

He flinches, and the grin that was on his face melts off.

“Rayna…” Suho shakes his head once, and she just sighs, returning her attention to her tray.

The boys remain watching her cautiously, preparing for when she would decide to snap.

“I’m not going to do anything rash,” she assures, never lifting her head.

“Would you be offended if I told you that was hard to believe?” Suho asks, a soft smile gracing his lips.

Rayna lets out a snort and shakes her head, “I know how women with powers are viewed, you have every right to be afraid.”

“We never said that,” Kyungsoo says quickly.

Slowly, Rayna’s eyes raise to meet his and she sneers. Kyungsoo gulps as her dark orbs bore into his, “I can smell the fear on you.”

“You have super senses too?!” Chanyeol whines, popping the tense bubble that is beginning to form. “That’s not fair!”

“It is anything but,” Rayna agrees. Lay notices her shoulders sag and her face fall and wonders what she means by that.

~*~

“You guys don’t find it a bit strange how Luhan is able to make Rayna do things?” Baekhyun asks his friends later that day. They are back in his room, cramped together in the small space, munching on the snacks his mother had made beforehand.

“Oh, I do find it strange,” Kai agrees. “There is something about those two that doesn’t sit right with me.”

“There’s something about Luhan that doesn’t sit right with me,” Baekhyun admits.

“I like him,” Kris confesses, causing Baekhyun to stare at him incredulously.

“Yeah, he’s cool,” Xiumin agrees. “You’re just mad at him for making you levitate.”

“He twisted my ankle!” Baekhyun yells defensively.

“It was a small sprain,” Lay clarifies with the roll of his eyes. “And I healed you not even a minute later.”

Baekhyun huffs and crosses his arms like a child.

“Also, I think their bond has something to do with their powers,” Suho says.

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol asks.

“Well, you know they share a similar gift: levitation. I think that somehow makes them attuned to one another. It allows them to feel some sort of camaraderie or resemblance.”

“It’s also very helpful,” Kyungsoo adds. “Since they share the same power, Luhan can easily teach her how to control it.”

“Do you think it’s working?” Chanyeol asks, biting his bottom lip with worry.

Kris nods, “it’s working, alright. I…I didn’t tell you guys this, but she was going to kill me.”

“WHAT?!” The seven boys in the room all spin their heads to his direction with surprise.

Kris stares at Baekhyun’s tan carpet self-consciously, “I was trying to get the old Rayna back, I even used her old nickname, and for a moment it worked. It actually worked…”

His eyes glaze over as he remembers the way Rayna’s voice grew innocent, and her features softened, as she began to walk towards him.

“I had her, the old Rayna. I was going to take her flying, and as soon as I was about to grab her hand, she snapped.”

The boys are silent as Kris shares with them what had happened after school. “I could practically see the power overwhelm her mind. Her head was twitching as if she were fighting with it, and she looked as if she were in excruciating pain. Then the hand that was reaching for me was suddenly wrapped around my neck, and she was squeezing the life out of me. She said ‘actually, I think making things fly is a lot more fun’ and I knew then that she was going to kill me.”

“What…what happened?” Xiumin whispers.

A small smile graces Kris’ lips, “Luhan saved me.”

“WHAT?!” The boys all yell again. Why hadn’t Kris told them this earlier?!

“Luhan used his power to stop her from levitating me, and talked her out of doing it.”

“How?” Baekhyun murmurs.

Kris shakes his head, “he just talked to her. He was telling her how she could kill me if she wanted to, but that would mean the power would win, not her. It took a lot of coaxing, but finally, she let go on her own.”

“And how come we never knew this? Why didn’t we see anything? We watched you guys the whole time and never did I see her try to kill you,” Baekhyun says with frustration.

“Tao used his power to freeze time,” Kris informs his friends.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Chanyeol pouts.

“It’s so weird that there are more of us that live so close,” Kyungsoo says. “With them and Rayna, that makes thirteen people in our area that have powers. That’s a lot.”

Suho nods, “and how did they all meet one another? I’m aware that Luhan and Sehun are brothers, but how did Tao and Chen end up living with them? What happened to all of their parents? What’s their story?”

“More questions to add on to the ever growing list of ‘I-don’t-know’,” Kai mutters with a sigh, tossing a mechanical pencil across the room.

“I don’t care about their story,” Lay admits quietly. “As long as they are taking good care of Rayna, and helping her as much as they can, I don’t care how or why. I’m grateful for them.”

The others nod in agreement.

“Are you going to tell your parents yet?” Chanyeol softly asks Baekhyun, who sighs.

“Not yet. She’s still too… unstable. I think I’m just going to wait until she’s ready to come back to us.”

“That’s the best idea,” Suho agrees. “We don’t need them stressing out over her just yet.”

“No. They aren’t ready for Rayna yet.”

Kai laughs once without humor, “We weren’t ready either.”

He is right, they still aren’t ready for her.

“Wait…” Kai straightens up, his eyes now alight with his epiphany.

“What is it?” The boys ask, worry contorting most of their faces.

“Kris… You said that you were able to bring out the old Rayna, right?” Kai questions the taller boy, who nods with confusion. “And you said you were able to do that by bringing up an old memory, correct?”

“Yes, I brought up the time when I told her I’d take her flying… What is this about?”

“You mentioned a fond memory between the two of you, and the old Rayna came back. Not for long, but she did come back. Maybe… Maybe Baek’s idea is a good one after all, we’re just going about it wrong.”

“You are onto something,” Suho says, narrowing his eyes and wagging a finger at the younger lad. His eyes then brighten, “Do continue.”

“Baekhyun’s idea was to treat Rayna like we used to, but what if we just bring up old memories that we hold dear to us, and see if that somehow will cause her to fight against the power, and ultimately bring the Rayna we all miss back to us.”

“But we have brought up memories with her, and she didn’t budge,” Chanyeol whines, remembering when he mentioned the park to her.

“Instead of memories that we hold dear, we’ll have to use memories that she holds dear.”

“But… how exactly would we do that?” Lay asks, pouting faintly.

“I… I think I have an idea,” Kris sighs, thinking about the journal Luhan gave him. “I might not be able to gather much, but I think I might have something that could give us some insight on her memories.”

He ignores the looks of surprise on most of the boys’ faces, especially the suspicious glare he’s receiving from the ex in the corner.

“I want to ask how, but I don’t think you’ll answer me,” Suho says.

Kris nods slowly, “just trust me. I’ll think of something by the end of the week.”

~*~

Later that night, Kris finds himself back in his bedroom, the worn journal in his hands.

Luhan said that she gave him some insight into her past, mostly about when she was missing, but he did mention the fact that she talked about Kris. Maybe he wrote it down, maybe she talked about the other members also, and he decided that any information was vital information and jotted it down, just in case.

Otherwise, Kris made himself look like a fool.

With a sigh, he opens the book to the third entry and begins where he left off.

October 4,

Eighteen people.

That’s how many people Rayna said she has killed.

I didn’t want to believe it at first, I thought she was just trying to scare me, trying to make me take back wanting to help her, but I saw the sliver of pain and regret in her eyes, and I know she’s telling the truth.

I had to ask her how, her response was chilling.

“How do you think? You have the same power as I do. Have you ever gotten angry with someone, and imagined what you would do to them? Throw them into sharp objects. Lift them up into the sky and then drop them, watching them tumble helplessly to the ground? Pulling their body in opposite directions, watching it tear in half…? Have you ever pictured that, Luhan?”

I haven’t. Whenever I was angry with someone, I always wanted to destroy them with my words, I never viewed my power as a weapon.

But she planted those pictures in my mind, and now I feel dirty. I feel like my power is disgusting, horrible….

But back to Rayna. I asked her why she killed them and she responded with, “just because.” I asked her to further explain, and she just shrugged, “I was testing my abilities.”

But then her eyes darkened and she grinned at me and whispered, “And because I liked to watch them suffer. I liked the feeling I got, taking someone’s life. Is that wrong of me, Luhan? Am I a monster?”

Yes. She is a monster, but I have a feeling that it isn’t necessarily her that craves that power. Who gets off by taking the lives of innocent people. There is something sinister within her, and I hope I can dig it out of her. She can be a good person, I know because I’m sitting here right now, writing this down. If she were so bad, I would have died when I met her in the forest a month ago. That has to be proof of Rayna’s humanity.

It just has to be.

Kris feels like throwing up. Their precious Rayna is now a murderer. Kris can’t even picture her killing someone, smiling victoriously as the blood of the innocent splatters onto her face. It didn’t fit the image that he always recalled of her: in her white summer dress, hair blowing in the wind, smiling warmly and lovingly as she fingered the necklace the boys had given her.

Those were two different Raynas.

But that is the point.

October 6,

I decided today to try to get Rayna to talk about her past. For all I knew, Rayna probably wasn’t her real name. She didn’t want to give me much at first, plus Chen was sitting in my bedroom with us, making snide remarks every time she opened her mouth, which was both pissing her off and causing her to become mute. After I kicked Chen out, she was a lot more open.

She said that she got her power at sixteen, just like everybody else, and has only had it for three months. This is very interesting news, being that she is very powerful, like someone that’s had it for years, not months. Also, I now have an age. I assumed she was younger than me, but I was surprised to find out she was also younger than Sehun, who has only had his power for five months.

She told me that she has a step-brother by the name of Byun Baekhyun and he also possesses powers, although she couldn’t recall what his skill was. Something to do with the sun. She said that he and her befriended seven boys, and they too have powers. That is extraordinary. I never knew that there was more of us, especially so near. It was baffling, and Chen and Tao’s faces when I told them… They nearly fainted.

Anyways, she said that out of the seven boys, she had feelings for two of them.

This is when things get interesting.

First, I never knew Rayna to be a romantic, and the thought of her liking someone—even loving someone—sounded rather queer coming from her expressionless face. But, her demeanor changed once she began talking about them.

She mentioned a boy named Kris. She said that she used to have feelings for him that overwhelmed her. She told me that he meant everything to her, and that she was nearly obsessed. She shook her head and laughed at herself once she said that, and my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets from the gesture. It was so… girly.

She confessed that it was all one-sided, and that he never viewed her in the same light. She said, “He loved me, that I knew, but it wasn’t the love that I wanted—that I craved. He has no idea that he could have done anything to me, and I would crawl back to him like an abused dog. I was head over heels for him, but he felt like he was more of a brother to me than Baekhyun was. I was a little sister to him, and I hated it.”

Then she mentioned another boy named Kai.

Her eyes flickered with some form of light addressing this fellow, and my curiosity grew. Apparently, Kai was her boyfriend. She admitted that she didn’t really want to date him when he first asked her out, but she owed it to him. They had been friends for such a long time, and they were in the same grade and had been close for all those years. Also, she knew her feelings for Kris would never be returned, so she decided to forcibly move on, even if it would end up hurting both her and Kai. She told me that it was the most selfish thing she had ever done.

She said that the two of them dated for a little over a month, until she ran away. She told me that the two of them did a lot of things physically and… how can I put it? She experimented with him.

I asked if her feelings towards him were genuine and she shrugged. “It was still too early in our relationship to tell,” was her response. But I saw the way her eyes lit up when she began talking about him, and I think she felt more than she lets on.

I wanted her to tell me a little more about the other boys, since I was getting so much out of her today. I could slowly see life flow back into her, her cheeks gaining color, a sparkle softly twinkling in her eyes, a small smile hinted on her lips. These boys might be the key to drawing out the evil thing merging with her soul.

She then began blabbering more about Baekhyun. About how her father married his mother when she was five and he was six. Growing up, they weren’t really aware of the fact that they weren’t literally twins, because his mother always dressed them in matching outfits and always told people they were twins. It wasn’t until Rayna was eight, that she figured out about her family and that her father was actually hers while Baekhyun’s mother was his. She told me that she and Baekhyun were inseparable. They almost never fought and could confide in each other without feeling judged. She told me that he was the best brother she could have asked for and that he was her best friend. She didn’t have to say it, but I know what she really wanted to say about him: she loved him, and missed him very much. I asked her if she wanted to go visit him and her family, and she stared at me for a moment. Her eyes had softened drastically, but hardened after my request. The powerful Rayna returned, and she snarled a sharp no before storming out of my room, cutting our conversation short.

I think I would like to meet these eight boys, especially the three she had mentioned, I wonder if they could somehow exorcise whatever darkness is in her, and bring back the Rayna that was here before she was cursed with this power.

After he finishes reading this entry, Kris closes the book and rubs his eyes. At the rate he is going, he wouldn’t finish the journal for another month, but each entry holds too much for him to stomach at once. He can’t stop thinking about what Rayna revealed about her feelings for him. He was always aware of his feelings for her, but to make that the reason for dating Kai… and if Kai found out that she only dated him because of Kris… he’d never talk to the elder one again. Kai felt for Rayna what she felt for Kris, and his love only grew stronger as time went by. His heart would break if he found out that his feelings for her weren’t returned.

Or were they? Seems to Kris that he’d have to visit Luhan again, and see if he can find out more information about Rayna’s thoughts towards her former best friends.

But Kris knows that he’s onto something, and that Kai’s plan can very well work.

His fingers are crossed.

[fiery-knowledge]

Rules

The Basics:

+ Indi | Semi-Selective | Ask and/or RP blog | Novella | Multiship | Non exclusive | OC friendly | Canon Divergent friendly | Crossover friendly +

General:

- This is a SIDEBLOG. Thus, if we send anons, they will be tagged along the lines of @fiery-knowledge, @Iggymod, etc. This also means you will not see @fiery-knowledge following you, but my main (which is @fun-sized-owl).

- This blog is semi-selective (I might decline depending on circumstances and mere time/schedule) 

- No Godmoding. Please don’t write my character, it takes away the point of me getting to write him. 

- Mod is 25+

- This blog is 21+

- No smut with minors!

- Please do not bug me for replies, I have a life outside of RP and tumblr. I also use threadtracker, so I am aware of what I owe. :)

- I only write novella (unless it’s just silly banter threads). Please don’t send one line replies. If that’s your style, then that’s fine, but I have a very difficult time working off them. >: 

- I don’t discriminate against formatting and icons (use them as you will!) but walls of text with no paragraphs can be very difficult to read and decipher (I also am severely short sighted and wear glasses at all times. Staring at a screen for a long time and reading can all start to blur, so grammar is important).

- Ignis will not get along with everyone. Please don’t take this as we don’t like you! I’m totally open to rival relationships as well! 

- Mod has 10+ years of RP experience

- Vague blogging is a huge no-no. I will unfollow immediately if I see this.

- Please don’t have your muse constantly wanting and begging for attention. Ignis is a man of his duty. It also becomes over exhausting for the mod to deal with time and time again.

- I will not RP with you if you don’t have a muse bio and rules page.

- MUSE =/= MOD. 

- DO. NOT. GUILT-TRIP. ME! I’m here to have fun, not feel manipulated.

- I run four different RP blogs, and sometimes I will concentrate on particular muses during a day. Just because I am active on one doesn’t mean I have the muse for a different one. Please be patient with me (mod also has ADHD, I can be very aloof and forgetful at times).

- I don’t mind if you want to turn asks into threads :) Feel free to! I ask that you PLEASE leave my previous reply on your reply so I can remember what is happening in our thread and it stops me from repeating myself ^^;

- All threads that have not been replied to within 3 weeks (21 days) will be dropped without contact unless specified (you’re on hiatus, personal reasons, you have a busy life schedule and routine you stick to, or I have interest in keeping the thread). This is basically just a good way to remove fizzled out threads from my tracker, especially when it comes to partners who are a little less organised than I am (I’m a bit of a neat freak so don’t take that personally! I’m just super finicky :’D). 

- OC friendly 

- Crossover friendly (so long as previously discussed and I know the universe in some detail). You can always check out my VERSES page if curious.

Headcanons:

- Please respect my headcanons. Being a canon muse, I understand you might have your own headcanons, but that does not mean I have to share them with you (and vice versa). Please do not abuse me or force your headcanons on me. This is my blog to write on and enjoy, and if you wish for your own version of Ignis, then perhaps you should make your own blog so you can write him your way. :)

- In saying that, I do not mind people sharing and reblogging my meta posts and headcanons. If you disagree, please be respectful about it, if you agree, then you’re more than welcome to add your own support. ^^

- Please be aware that my Iggy will have my own unique twist and take on him, as everyone who writes canon muses. I will continue to write him as IC as possible and how he comes to me, but if there are some things you do not like about my version, then please reconsider RPing with us.

- Please don’t come to me with “My headcanon for Ignis is…”. I cannot stress enough how rude this is. I don’t mind if you wish to discuss and plot with me and toss ideas at me, but the Ignis I write is NOT the same Ignis as you will have in your head.

Shipping:

- Ignis will work off chemistry only.

- This blog will contain NSFW themes. I am very comfortable and not shy when it comes to writing smut, but don’t worry, any smutty threads will be put under a read more for your safety (and tagged) :)

- I will NOT write any smut with underage muses or mods!

- I am not exclusive, and Iggy can and will romance others. But please understand that Ignis is a man of duty to his king first. It will take a long time for him to come to terms with any emotional feelings he might have with someone.

- My Ignis is strictly gay, so I will not be shipping with the ladies (sorry!). If you’re uncomfortable with this, then please reconsider rping with us.

- I do not do pre-established relationships (unless heavily discussed beforehand).

- Mod does ship IgNoct, but this won’t mean any automatic ships. I’d still prefer to work off chemistry. :3

- I am 100% comfortable with unreciprocated feelings (on either side), so long as it’s healthy for the mods to work with. :) 

- If you’re interested in shipping, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am much more likely to ship with mods that I am familiar with and get along well with. ^^ 

Triggers:

- Mod is open to most things, and you needn’t tag anything for me. While I do have certain triggers, they are generally dealt with. However, I will not write paedophilia and certain kinks. Constant depressing muses are incredibly taxing on me as someone who has dealt with depression for long term. I am not here to be someones therapist and will drop threads if this becomes an issue. 

- I tag all pretty general triggers with cw: *trigger name* (ex: cw: alcohol, cw: BDSM). If you have a specific trigger, please feel free to let me know so I can tag it for you, however, I will not tag every single thing as it will simply be impossible for me to remember. I will try my best, however! 

The Mod:

NAME: Owl, K, Iggymod. AGE: 25+ GENDER: Male SEXUALITY: Queer TIMEZONE: Australian E.S.T. STAR SIGN: Libra MAIN: Fun-Sized-Owl RP STATUS: Always Open LANGUAGE: English / Deutsch (IM)

- Mod does not tolerate drama, please don’t bring it here. I expect to be treated like an adult and with respect. If you have a problem, then please be civil about it.

- Have fun! <3 It’s what we’re here for! :)

- Discord is available to mutuals, however, I do not RP over IMs.

- Mod is a student and has part time work, so I am not always online.

- I apologise if any of my rules seem strict! I’m really a decent dude, I’m just being overly cautious as this is one of my first canon muses in such a long time and I want/need to be clear on my rules. I really hope they don’t deter anyone from interacting with me, but these are purely for my own safety <3 Thank you! Seriously, tho, don’t be shy, I’m generally pretty damn chill!

All art tagged as my art is mine, as is all fics tagged as my fics are mine. Do not repost, use, or claim as your own. If used as icons or something else, please credit back to this blog (will add links in later if I draw/write anything)

Other Blogs:

- I also RP in the Dragon Age community. If you’re interested in my Inquisitor, let me know. :) 

Header banner by @lustralium  Icons provided by myself, @dryadalismagicae , @ipromptography , 

[myficsknowwhatyoudidinthedark]

Vic Fuentes x Crystal Pierce *SMUT*

Vic Fuentes x Crystal Pierce SMUT

Ok so I have had a bad day and was crying so I read some fics and now want to get this done so I can start a Cody Carson Story. But anyway, this smut fic is for my bestfriend who created this OC. This is long af too. Anyways... Enjoy!

(Crystal's POV)

Today was the day that marked the halfway point of our tour. What tour? You may be asking yourself. Well my band (Band Name) is touring with Pierce the Veil and Sleeping with Sirens. Yeah, pretty big right? Well my band was pretty good too. Fans had been begging for a tour with all 3 bands and there calls did not go unanswered.

All of us got along quite well as we where all best friends before the tour even started but some things have changed. Since our bus broke down towards the beginning of tour my band has to share buses. We split the band in half so my best friend and our drummer, Graves (I'm adding myself. Get off me) and I where on PTV's bus while our 2 guitarists (random name 1) and (random name) where on SWS' bus. It wasn't much of a problem since (random name 1) liked Kellin which Kellin did in fact notice so it was nothing but constant flirting. Graves is already dating a drummer in a smaller band called Set It Off so she was free from the flirting game.

But, like I said, some things have changed. Vic and I have gone from Best Friends to flirting buddies. We constantly go back and forth with pick-up lines and plain flirting. Graves was always on me to just make a move but I was far too nervous. Why would someone as amazing as Vic Fuentes want someone like me? So currently we sit on the bus while traveling to our halfway show and it's 9am. We where all just sitting around doing nothing but eating snacks and sitting on our phones. Vic was chatting with me with his arm around me which of course got me flustered. Graves was facetiming Maxx (Her Boyfriend if you are uncultured about Set It Off) and the rest of the guys where sending each other retarded selfies which was easily told by the funny faces and the constant giggles.

“So Crystal, what is your set list looking like tonight?” Vic asked trying to keep the conversation going. “Uhh, well, We are switching it up a bit like every other night. (You can add your own set list if you want but im too lazy). “Oh ok. That's a pretty good order for tonight. What are you going to wear.” He continues to question. “Jeans and a tee-shirt... duh.” I say as we both laugh. We then hear Maxx yell at Zach and then scream about how Zach is just jealous that Pistol is better than Tux and everyone knows it. I just laugh as Vic gives an extremely confused look.

“Graves lost her headphones so now you get to hear why she is always laughing at her phone. That guy is her boyfriend Maxx and Pistol is there daughter, who is in fact a cat. They live together so she lives with all the Set It Off boys and there girlfriends.” I explain as he just nods while going 'ohh'. “Wow, that must be a wild house” He says as I look up at him and roll my eyes with a smile and say “ You have no idea” I whine and he laughs at the misery I feel just from thinking of it.

(Time skip brought to you by Pistol Marie Danziger)

After performing our portion of the show as well as SWS performing there's PTV get's on stage. Vic seemed a bit cautious of how he stood or positioned himself. I questioned why until I saw he very clearly had the bulge of his jeans and  realized he was hard. Wow, this is honestly making me wish we where a friends with benefits sort of deal. Besides that he made it seem very natural and like he wasn't hiding anything.

After they performed and said goodnight we all headed back to our respective bus. I was absolutely exhausted as was Vic. Graves was as well but everyone else was headed to SWS' bus to drink and since Graves doesn't drink she was in charge of the hooligans. That meant that she was probably going to sleep while they played drinking games. That meant Vic and I had the bus all to ourselves.

As we got to the bus Vic closed and locked the door and pushed me up against the wall. He let out a throaty moan before saying “I have been waiting all night for this. Seeing you on that stage shaking your hips and dancing around really does stuff to a guy. So you are about to fix what you caused.” He says as I let out a slight squeal of excitement.

Vic begins to kiss and suck on my neck which was obviously going to leave some serious hickeys while I began to palm him through his jeans. He then grows impatient and begins to remove my shirt and mark up my chest and breasts. “I want everyone to know your mine Crystal. Everyone.” He says as he talked off his shirt and unbuttons his jeans as we kiss. He then moves on to mine and begins to pull them slightly down to reveal the top of my thong.

“mmmm, That's what I like to see” He says referring to my thong. I just giggle and smile while I begin to tug his jeans down as we begin to tumble towards his bunk.”Anything for you daddy.” I say as he pushed me down on the bunk and begins to fully pull off his and my jeans and shoes leaving me in just a thong and bra and him in boxers.

He begins to kiss down from my chest and down my stomach till he reaches the top of my thong and pulls it off. He then begins to rub my clit as he begins to undo my bra with one hand (damn the skill). He unlatches it an throws it to the side. I was a moaning, panting mess at this point. I feel him shift his weight and stop rubbing as he removes his boxers. My arms are around his neck and he positions himself at my entrance. “Fuck, Your not going to be able to walk tomorrow baby girl. I hope you know this.” He growls as he slowly pushes in. “I wouldn't want it any other way daddy!” I moan out. Soon enough he quickens his pace and the pleasure felt unreal. Every thrust he went faster and faster until he couldn't go any faster. My arms where still around his neck as I pull at his hair and he groans.

Not long after we are both riding off our highs. He then falls next to me and covers us with a blanket, cuddling in to my side. After 10 minutes we get up and change in to pajamas. He was right tho. I was struggling to walk around which he laughed at. We then unlocked the door and then fell right back in to his bunk cuddling. “I hope you realize that your mine now right?” He says as I giggle slightly and push my head in to the crook of his neck and grumble a tired “Yeah” back at him. “Good” He says as we both drift off to sleep.

Lets just say the next day was full of teasing and jokes about Vic and I.

AHHHHH! That was so weird for me! God! I wrote this for someone I talk to a lot. God. This is what she wanted. I will never look at her the same. JK JK! But still, she gross af for making me do this. I will gladly do it for Maxx in the book I want to start writing though. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy! Much Love!

~Astral (aka Graves)

[orokana-riko]

RP Plotting Sheet : Minako Arisato!

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted.

Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, and repost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Template here.

tagged by: @aragakisan (I think... I got a notif but then my url wasn’t on the post, idk.) and @loversquiver

Mun name: Rachel or Riko OOC Contact: I tend to prefer IMs here, but I do have skype and discord after we get to know each other a ‘lil. Those might be the better way of getting a hold of me since I’m usually on mobile, and my tumblr app is signed in to another account.

Who the heck is my muse anyway: Female Protagonist of Persona 3, with too many canon names, but I use Minako Arisato. A high-schooler, orphan and literal harborer of death who moves back to the town of her birth lonely, insecure, and closed off to anything beyond superficial shenanigans, but then gains supernatural powers by facing her fears and eventually saves the world with the Power of FriendshipTM

Points of interest: red eyes. auburn hair. ponytail. fire in her spirit and fire in her touch. citrus and bunny aesthetic. liable to personality swap with every blink. chameleon to the wants and needs of those around her; sometimes forgets or neglects herself in the process; starts resenting people for not fulfilling her own needs in return, even though she refuses to talk about them (it’s called a martyr complex, sweetie.) rebellious past that’s still only toned down. voices in her head that sometimes make her wise beyond her years, but she’s a little bit of that herself already. issues aside, genuinely likes helping people and watching them become their truest self. 

What they’ve been up to recently:

Game-verse: Studying in school and participating in clubs. Fighting shadows in Tartarus with a naginata and her persona(s) for the mission to end the Dark Hour and for kicks. Making real friends for the first time and trying to let down her walls around them. Trying to come to terms with the death of her parents instead of distracting herself from dealing with it. Trying to talk her friends through their problems, too.  

Post-game AU (college): detailed here

Post-post game AU: Conducting research on how to influence larger systems to motivate people and keep them from despairing. Using her findings to consult with organizations that are trying to improve or rejuvenate towns or metropolitans, perhaps to put out a few initiatives of her own. Probably creating/taking part in a few documentaries.For more steady income, especially when starting out, she also does motivational speaking and workshops at high schools or the occasional corporate consultation. Trying to rebuild the happy family she lost, if she’s attached. If she is single, she has a big apartment that she rents out the spare room for cheap to friends for company. Also a Siamese cat gifted to her by Mitsuru named Purrsia-hime and a fat orange tabby she took in as a stray named Shortcake.

Where to find them: school. the dorm. her bedroom. stuffing her face at any given restaurant. the shrine. the park. Paulownia mall. the back alleys. the nightclub. the arcade. the local streets on a morning jog. working at Chagall cafe. Tartarus. rarely alone.

Current plans:

Game verse: Find emotional stability. Redeem herself. Graduate. End the Dark Hour. Make her friends proud.

Post game AU: Enjoy life. Learn more about the world and people. Earn her PhD. Make the world better, so that one day her brother’s soul can be freed to rest. 

Post-Post game AU: Keep making the world better. Keep enjoying life. Try to help others do the same. Have a family and keep them happy and healthy too.

Desired interactions: 

Early or Late game, because everything tends to fall in a vague middle area (sometimes restricted since characters don’t show up until then but..). Give me early on when she barely knows anyone and is still trying to keep them at distance and unsure of herself. Give me more of when everyone’s trying to make the decision about Ryoji and even though she knew her answer from the start, she has to keep it inside because she doesn’t want to influence anyone. Give me more investigating the cult.

Speaking of which, I’d still love a “staking out Strega” thread. Like going through alleys on reconnaissance. 

More fighting in Tartarus. In three years, the thread I have now with @downtomyunderoos is the first one. WTF. --- bonus if it’s a three person or full party thread ------- double bonus if it’s the squad with that flooding room and trust issues one

Minako confessing her fears about death to Shinji. I almost had that once and then the partner left. It’s important and I still want to write her through it.

One other similar thing with Mina and Shinji, but I’m holding out for @deathboundinautumn for that, bc it’s gonna be the prize request if she wins the food guessing game. :3c 

[EXCITED SEAL NOISES] MINA AND SHINJI GETTING IN FIGHTS THAT DON’T ACTUALLY GET RESOLVED THEY JUST WALK AWAY AND BURY IT BECAUSE THEY’RE BOTH WRONG. 

Mina making bad decisions or pushing too far in general and getting put in her place by the senpai, whether they actually tell her off or just refuse to play along until she checks herself.

I WANT MY MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURES WITH MITSURU-SENPAI. SHE PROMISED.

Ken and Junpei. IDEC just give me them at all????? Please. I’m begging here.

Also more side characters. Seriously all of them, but my soul for a Rio.

AU where an NPC Minako is doing missionary work abroad for one of her social sciences classes, and runs into Akihiko while he’s traveling the world. Especially if she’s volunteering at a clinic and she has to take care of him after he earned some of his scars and is stuck for awhile?? This is self-indulgent but I want.

I was gonna say Art school AU but that started and hopefully I’m allowed the butt-in I already wrote......

Offered interactions: 

Deep conversations. Let Minako accept u and give u advice. it’s what she’s best at, and you get free pass to delve into character headcanons you’d have to save for meta otherwise!!!!!!!!! Lay them on me.

Likewise - mentor threads. She can be Fool Senpai or Shadow Operative veteran (or big sister).

Also likewise - recruitment threads. I love when OCs or side characters modified to have personas want to join SEES. Send them @ me. Mina will gladly be your leader.

I never get tired of “patching the wound up” threads. Either direction. 

Taking a team into Tartarus, duh.

Verbal sparring and vulnerability

Flirting. All the flirting. It doesn’t have to mean anything. But it also can.

S H A D O W   M I N A K O

NPC / Police girl AU if u want it

Forever accepting platonic intimacy and drabble prompt requests

#plots

Current open post/s: n/a

Anything else?:  some important metas:

Nicknames

Physical Features

Personas/Orpheus and Latent Abilities

Social Link Dynamics 

Minako’s Journey: Key Players (Akinari, Shinjiro and Akihiko)

Minako’s Shadow (Jungian and Erikson analysis)

Tagging: @deathboundinautumn || @narxkami || @maikoyaki || @lightspeared

[landofwordsandfrogs]

FUCK IT ITS ALMOST ELEVEN PM AND IM GOING TO ASNWER THIS SHIT

i love oc stuff and have no idea how to change this bold back to normal. anyway

LETS ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT AGNES CARDOSO, FROM AUDAZ !

Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

naw, but she is v close w her cousing armando. she basically raised him. <3

What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like? What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

her mom and dad died when she was seven. her father was a v bland, calm person, and mostly she slept on him and watched silly tv together. her mother was louder, more excited and demanding. agnes had a lot of live up to, was demanded a lot from her mom, but overall felt like she could do it and wanted to do it and shed make her proud!

Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

when she was seven, agnes was Hanging Out with aunt gabi when they got a call and aunt gabi, who never knew how to act with children, just took agnes with her. when they arrived at the place and agnes got out of the car, she saw both her parents dead and bloody in the street, along with another woman and two boys, while a crying vampire sat in the middle of all this. he begged her aunt to kill him, and she did.

On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

hmmmm. her cellphone would be in her pocket, cept its perpetually GLUED to her hand instead. pack of cigarettes and lighter. wallet, keys to her bike.

Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams? Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?

agnes has like crazy insomnia, doesnt rly remember dreams and stuff. mostly about vampires, and blood, and killing vampires, and not being able to wash the blood off her hands.

Has your character ever fired a gun? If so, what was their first target?

oh boy. yes agnes has about a million guns and shoots them a lot, bc shes a vampire hunter. first target was a feral vampire.

Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

naw. being part of an olden Hunting Family that basically runs an entire town gives a person TREMENDUOUS financial security.

Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?

more clothing. agnes’ jacket is her armor.

In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

well, when she was seven, and she saw her parents dead on the hot alphalt. nothing would ever get to her while mommy and daddy were with her, except something did.

In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

well. agnes state of being is Stress, so. when she was < 7 yo ?? rofl

Is your character bothered by the sight of blood? If so, in what way?

not rly. its just that she cant get it out of her hands. its everywhere. she tries to wash it away, she does.

Does your character remember names or faces easier?

both? neither? agnes is perpetually surrounded by a bunch of people from the family and the city and her subordinates and the visiting Families and the neighboring Nest of vampires, so sheS GOTTA remember people.

Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

naw, see financial security above. mostly agnes has her jacket and her boots and her bike. shes got an entire wing inside the House but its very spartan. mostly empty. she doesnt have time to go out and buy things, much less decoration, doesnt have time for hobbies. in the beginning and middle of the story anyway

Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

iddealize? happiness. success is her middle name; shes the second of the cardoso hunting family and extremely competent; if the position werent by blood, she’d become head in the future anyway. but happiness?

agnes is unhappy. its something that she knows she wont achieve.

What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

aw man idk. doesnt strike me as much of a “carries plushie around” child or anything

Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

hm. wisdom? ambition is cool, but mostly she feels like people can do what they want if they put enough effort in it. but shes extremely aggravated by slow or non-practical people, so i guess. wisdom ? so

What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

ah. ags is like. Extremely Practical. will argue incessantly forever when she thinks shes right, of course this is the right thing to do. also, she tends to take responsability for everything. everything. if the sun explodes agnes will be out in the backyard watching the explosion thikning, but i could have done something i should have noticed the sun was shining differently i should have tried to evacuate people etc etc etc

In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

compare? agnes doesnt compare herself to much, cept maybe her aunt, who she thinks is too dramatic and should be more practical like her so things would run more smoothly

If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

takes responsabilty for everything even things that were literally impossibe for her to be at fault or know about at all.

What does your character like in other people?

she lieks people who understand her quielty and dont crowd her. she likes people who dont dance around stuff. she likes people who make things seem a little simpler, life a little less heavy.

What does your character dislike in other people?

being too dramatic. being prejudiced pricks. being too violent.

How quick is your character to trust someone else?

shell trust people with what theyve proven to her they can be trusted, no less no more.

How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

everyone is kinda sketchy until they prove themselves somehow. id say shes loyal to people who prove themselves to her, but honestly people are more loyal to her than she to them.

How does your character behave around children?

is never really around them? is friendly, tries to be nice? ultimately doesnt much know what to do. 

How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

shes the boss and youll do what shes fucking telling you to do.

How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

they get a warning that a punch is coming, and then a punch will come.

What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

nothing, really. agnes grew knowig that she’d be head after her mother, and then after her mom died she knew shed be the head after her aunt.

What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

huh. ok, one thing i dont know.

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

its evening and shes in beatrices house. theres sunlight, and a breeze, and bia is planting flowers or collecting her berries or pulling out weeds. agnes is sitting by the big tree. their dogs are around them. theres nothing too pressing demanding that they go out and do things for a moment.

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

uncomfortable? hm. having to pretend to be Hetero

In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

defensive and willing to improve. she did the right thing and youre wrong and now shes going to do an even better thing and youll be even wronger.

Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

you move on. you move on and on and on until something works, because something will have to work, and we’ll have to deal until we get there.

How does your character behave around people they like?

nicknames. dry humor. smokes in their faces. being quiet in the same room.

How does your character behave around people they dislike?

depends. if its some subordinate or something like that, she wont hide. be better. she wants more from you, and youre an asshole. if it someone more “Important”, shell be polite, but mostly monosyllabic.

Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

uh, neither? as i said, status is kinda garanteed. kinda. and honor? she knows shes a black sheep. shes got too different beliefs from everyone around her. all she can do is what she can do, and it will have to be enough.

Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

The problem will leave because she has no time for this shit.

Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

do feral vampires count. shes been bitten by them several times. many scars

How does your character treat people in service jobs?

politely. theyre doing their jobs, which is something she respects. everyones got a job to do.

Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

you must earn it, and even then you might not get it, and you have to live with this.

Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

well, theres her uncle-by-marriage uncle al? so i gues him. he and her aunt took care of her after her parents died.

Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

SPOILER ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yep in epilogue she kinda adopts two teens, a 15 yo and a 16 yo. kinda. mostly they live w her and bia and theyre more or less reponsible fo them.

How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

she doest say it without meaning it bc whats the point? doesnt feel the need to say it all that much, isnt a very touchy or romantic person. shell say if the person asks, or is the person says that they’d like to hear it more or smth.

What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

life starts and ends and that is that, and we have to do what we can while we are here.

[youremydetermination]

wow okay [LONG POST]

found out there’s a callout post from @azure-sketch too (doesn’t highlight bc im apparently blocked, nice. never blocked you, sweetheart.)

lets go over this, shall we

I did indeed talk about it

[A ]

[a little later]

{a while later}

[here’s where another point comes in]

[this was the conversation that ensued after I talked to Sky about how I felt about the group chat; this takes place in a private chat between myself and Sky] This is what I said: “I understand that I'm not as important as everyone else here. - You all have a group chat with everyone in it but me, reserved for calls. I mean sometimes hey, I can use Google Hangouts, but that doesn't mean I get to be a part of it. I understand that my feeling left out doesn't matter as much as everyone else's does. - Use Google Hangouts when I have shitty internet, only for the reason that its easier for everyone else.I understand that you all would rather side with someone without hearing another side of the story, just because you like that person better than you like me. - I don't think I need to explain this one.I understand that I don't get to be respected, pronouns, name wise, or anything. - Azy wants to be called a guy? We'll do that, and are happy to. Honest feels like a woman for attention? Hell, let's flatter them for that. Sky is more comfortable with male pronouns? We'll use those until they feel more comfortable with other ones. Mr. R is Ms. R sometimes? Cool. Agnes wants to have other pronouns used, and asks, afraid of others reacting negatively? No one uses them.I understand that my problems aren't as important as everyone else's. - A lot of times when I have an issue, people talk over it. Cover it up. Plain out ignore it. Not recently, but before. I understand that my trust doesn't matter as much as everyone else's does. - Someone talks about something to me that they don't want to be told? I don't say a word. I say something to someone else that I beg for them not to tell? Everyone gets to know about it.I understand that my interests aren't as important as everyone else's. - Cool High School AU? Hell yeah, let's be a part of that. Stories with amazing plot, characters, and ideas? YES! Tell us more! Someone likes X character? Draw it. Agnes has AU Idea? Agnes talks about OCs? Agnes likes character? Practically has to beg for someone to even consider the idea. Has to ask for stupid drawings it doesn't even deserve. Is called "abusive" for taking character development to admittedly places it shouldn't go. I understand. That my friendship isn't important. i know that "i" am not important. i don't even capitalize the "i" anymore. Because i don't need it. i don't want to feel like that anymore. So, i'm not gonna.i'm gonna accept that i'm not really that important. And i'm gonna stay friends with everyone! Because i truly love you all, even if i'm not that important to you. If i ever get annoying, please, feel free to tell me! i don't want to be a further burden on your lives, your lives are important! Feel free to kick me, block me, whatever, it's okay! I know your life is hard, and if i just make it worse, it's better for me not to be there, right?“

{skip a bit of personal information}

[enlarged]

[enlarged]

[enlarged; see below]

{so in short, for talking about it, venting about it on a PERSONAL VENT BLOG that BARELY ANYONE knows the url to, I got upset at. You can understand why I was a bit scared to talk about things. But it doesn’t end there, I conTINUE to talk about how I feel in the group chat}

{later}

[next day, here i am talking about myself]

{and here’s when everything went to shit}

These were the last messages sent in the chat.

So, with these records, I think we can safely say that

This is not the case.

(damn this is getting long, I’ll continue with a part two)

[lostlegendaerie]

Six Fics of 2016

someone. someone tagged me in this. multiple someones tagged me in this while my PC was broken as shit so fuck. i dont know but i Wanted This, so. originally by @secretlystephaniebrown​ !

So I thought I’d pick 6 fics of mine written during this year, grab a favorite quote from each of them, give a short explanation of why it’s one of my favorites, and then tag 6 people to do the same! Let’s get some self love rolling as we head towards the end of this year!

and yeah i did write other fandoms this year but its like mostly RvB and Entirely in space, so.

6. Save and Restore - York & Delta, canon compliant

“That’s a-- dirty word, D.” A light, airy chuckle follows; one he remembers following an exchange with Carolina years ago. It sounds so much younger than the rest of York’s words, and he realizes he may not have anything more recent. “Better-- clean it off.”

“I… beg your pardon?”

“Nah, it’s free.”

i mean im Mostly so fond of this one because it was how I met @agentyorkdakota​ my moon and stars, but i also really enjoyed just getting to play with language a lot with this? like i’m pretty sure i’ve discussed this before but for a senior year project i worked a lot on a play called The Skriker where the title character kind of... used mixed metaphors and all sorts of jumbled language to communicate and it just. stuck with me. this language that was kind of cobbled together and makes sense but doesn't and yet does? so that was def a highlight of mine working on this fic. (also it placed me in the Angst War, a feather in my cap if there ever was one)

5. blow you like a popsicle stand - Tucker/Wash, canon compliant

He swallows his fear and creeping horror and lifts the lid. Buried under the crystalline ice of the remarkably still-functioning freezer is a collection of brightly colored little packages, all about the size of his hand.

“What.”

“I know!” Tucker replies, with exactly the kind of enthusiasm than ensures Wash he does not know, “I can’t believe it either. Ice cream! Here! On Chorus! Man, Caboose is gonna flip out when he sees this.”

Wash is tired, and adrenaline-tingly, and by this time he should just always expect to be betrayed and disappointed but here he is. He pulled a door out of a crumbling concrete wall for decades old ice cream sandwiches. Couldn’t save the lives of kids under his command, but sure. He can demolish a building in a fit of panic.

“What,” he repeats again, trying to shove all of his feelings into one ambiguous syllable. But Tucker just hip-checks him out of the way, flourishes his sword with a buzz of light, and carves a path through the ice to a red and blue package.

this one was done in a swap for @playerprophet​ (whom i also love and tag in this, there you go) and was just. okay. listen. l i s t e n. if i’m gonna write porn im gonna write specific porn. i’m gonna write mildly kinky porn with new shit y’all aint even knew you liked so someone can find me at a con and tell me to my face “oh yeah you wrote the iceplay fic” and i can be like “y e s” but also i can barely scrub the Feelings out of anything i write, so. SO. this was a pretty lighthearted excuse for Porn and it went over really, really well. so im Happy.

4. Golden Boy - York-centric, semi-canon compliant

Not that York can go back, now; not that there's anything left to go back to, with the entire project turning on itself in a disjointed, cumulative sort of cannibalism as every man, woman, or construct fights for themselves. And he’s not entirely blind to the fact that being wired to Delta on a neurological level makes the Director’s treatment of the AI feel infinitely more personal; makes it easier than it should have been to turn his guns on people he’d worked with for years. No. He’s not blind, not in that sense anyway.

But if he’s going forward, he wants to understand in full what he did in the name of science and progress.

this fic once shared a name with @littlefists​ ‘s epic because it was literally the first thing I wrote in the fandom and I Wasn’t Into Tuckington So I Didn’t Know, and i swear to GOD this is the last time i bring this up but i worked so fucking hard on it, it has Combat and Betrayal and Introspection and World Building and while i’ve gotta better grip on canon now I still really, really enjoyed this fic as an explanation for how York, of all people, could have gone so low in OOM

3. Overflow - Tucker/Wash, canon compliant

His thoughts about Tucker have often felt like a glass of water that’s just a little too full. He moves carefully so they don’t slosh around and make a mess of the place, barely keeping it all inside . And he’d thought that, once the newness of the whole ‘ sure we’ll risk lying to the faces of UNSC police to keep you out of prison even though you’ve done next to nothing nice for us your entire life ’ gratitude thing wore off (it didn’t, not entirely, it still pops up sometimes in the worst of moments and chokes him like the noose he should have gotten) the level would go down.

[...]

Tucker does something to him. Tucker finds ways to make him forget, at least for a little while, all the ways he’s fucked up. Even if it’s just finding more tolerable faults, like how the stick Washington has got shoved up his ass does wonders for keeping his back straight. Tucker talks loud enough to drown out the ghosts of everyone he underranked but outlived, listens enough to make his hard-won experience and advice mean something, and he is terrified for the day that everything overflows.

this was birthday fic for @strangestquiet that i actually took a day off from work to ensure i completed it in time but just. anyway. i’m pretty proud of it because it’s Big and it’s Coherent Mission Fic that managed somehow to tie into a little bit of preexisting lore. i’m also unfortunately very fond of all the little OC children bc i’ve constantly had tons of trouble with original characters and even tho no one else seemed to notice them i had fun and i love them all. but just in general i feel like i had a good balance of humor and feelings and also imagery? but as far as the latter goes it falls short of...

2. gethsemane - implied Shepard/Vakarian, Archangel-centric, game-compliant

On his last trip out of the Citadel, tying off loose ends, he bought a pack of playing cards from a human vendor. He had memories - they’d been fond once, but were souring like milk left in the sun - of losing miserably to Shepard and Williams at some gambling game. Leaving gifts on the graves of the departed wasn’t exactly the norm for turian culture, but neither was it strictly a human one either.

The flowers around the small crystal pillar were already wilting with neglect when he arrived. There might have been other tributes left there, but security had loosened until it fell away, slack like discarded clothes. Garrus left the cards there, under the shimmering list of names of casualties from the attack on the Citadel, and took the next transport ship as far away from Widow as possible.

okay so like. whenever possible i love to put good imagery in fic and like. understate emotions when i can and just in general do the literary version of the color saturated wide shot, you feel me? like the pullback with the characters in silhouette but you can still understand everything they’re feeling? anyway i feel like this fic really nailed a lot of my own personal goals for just Vivid fics. can’t wait to write more mass effect fic but it’s gonna be Hard to meet the standards i set for myself with this one.

1. Throw Away the Key - York/Carolina, Alternate Universe

Carolina fights to find the best angle for her umbrella as gusts of wind swat rain at them in little bursts, but by the time her car gives a satisfying click they’re both uncomfortably wet and she’s run out of things to say. Thankfully, he hasn’t.

“We have got to stop meeting like this,” York reflects as he withdraws the metal blade, inch by careful inch. “This is getting a little absurd. Like, bad soulmate romcom Hallmark movie levels of coincidence.”

“Not my fault if you keep breaking the law.” She’s a little surprised by the movie analogy, but decides against teasing him for his choice in films.

“I am bending it, at best.”

listen i’m fucking neck deep in all the complexities of longfic hell and this sure isn’t the artsy stylistic stuff that i can be proud of (or regret) later on down the road but i’m trying. i’m trying to write something massive and happy and so far it’s working. i can’t say for sure if it’s actually Good because i get to see all my messy drafts and stops and starts that the rest of you are spared, but I wanted so badly to write A Good Longfic for the Y/C fandom and with that, at least, I feel like I’m doing well. if nothing else, literally nothing else at all, i am proud of myself for trying this and i hope that it can continue to give people joy long after it’s done and i’m gone.

i’m gonna go ahead and tag @therewithasmile @sinelanguage @lady-of-rohan @flecksofpoppy @owaire and of course @playerprophet but if you’re reading this and wanna do it go right ahead!