#i came out of the factory wrong too though so maybe its a match made in heaven

[ourfag]

tbh would enjoy going by a name on here, only obstacle is ive used a number of names i enjoy but still feel compelled to keep my options open to the point where selecting one ive used previously has me worried about stifling further cognominal development not to mention the possibility that overly consistent use of the same name in multiple settings opens up to illuminating a more coherent human identity which I MUST EMPHASIZE is NOT me not wanting to connect with you guys its just that id like to do it from inside a cave that obscures my face. when you picture me i should be a poorly-lit figure scuttling around on all fours

[chaospel]

chaospel temple : lapsed chthonic (2023) PENTOCTAGON SYNESTHETICS

click "keep reading" for lyrics

neptune fae i: androgyne mysticism

instrumental

cough syrup tarot

i followed the dragon into the desert and threw away my dancing shoes met my myriad selves and the god of the mountain and came back just to tell you

all along i was wrong it's true all along i was wrong how 'bout you?

i followed the dragon into the desert and threw away my dancing shoes met my myriad selves and the god of the mountain and came back just to tell you

all along i was wrong it's true all along i was wrong how 'bout you?

everyone denies that they treat you unkind

coughing up a lung

even when i sleep i do not sleep well i drift in a funk and feel everyone can tell even when you call me i can't tell you off when i try to clear my throat there comes a hacking cough

coughing up a lung and my heart will follow suit vomiting up bile though my smile belies the truth

even when i gasp i can't find the air i leave keys and things behind and can't remember where even when i call you i can'[t tell you off when i try to clear my throat there comes a hacking cough

coughing up a lung and my heart will follow suit vomiting up bile though my smile belies the truth coughing up a lung and my heart will follow suit vomiting up bile though my smile belies the truth

venus witch ii: these headphones are haunted

instrumental

mushroom clownd

take a walk down to the pond you can see the scum is rising you can see the sun is setting but it's tilting kinda weird dig your fingers in the gone feel the emptiness incising voids eyes are closed tonight but its teeth are often bared

and so you climb the mountain of dead bodies ford the rivers of blood to get to work at then flag factory where you're sewing all day long to reap the flags they plant atop the mountain of dead bodies

they dead can't find a crypt to keep you can't escape it in your sleep cthulhu rising from the deep when the sea levels get too steep hubris boys in the fight tonight they think: "if we're all ghosts we'll all be white" butterfield's lullaby grows loud gonna all go up in a mushroom cloud

take a walk down into hell you can see the scum is rising you can see the grass is choking on your cigarette ash take a trip outside your shell you can see the world revising like some hack writer is drafting a new verse to the monster mash

and so you sing you can't remember words now they say stop that incessant humming but you sing on anyway you plant the seed in the very fertile soil that's gathering atop the mountain of dead bodies

the vines in their winds start to creep the trumpet flowers sing "don't you weep" to lull azathoth back to sleep the bees all pollinate the heap the world is overgrown with leaves mycelia roll up their sleeves and set the match to every shroud gonna all float off on a mushroom cloud

(we interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special report)

take my hearty with your claw stuff it into your maw you've heard this old saw before you were grown into such a rough beast living only to feast slouching out to the east with eyes made of stone still inside you're a child tender and mild so beautifully wild just look in the mirror and check what you're born to be it reflects darkly but maybe you'll see (maybe you'll see)

(and now back to your regularly scheduled program)

the ecstatics have all gone bland the glass castles turned back to sand the gladhands can only grandstand chant encore bring back the band just two more songs then closing time sing the words and make 'em rhyme play the hits and please the crowd 'fore we all get lost in the mushroom clownds

"This record is another first: the first in the 'lapsed chthonic' line. This phrase would not only be part of many titles, but one of several oft referenced parts of the band's lore, vague phrases and ideas whose meaning is somehow simultaneously understood better and also more obfuscated the more they are repeated."

-Eldridge Abominathanson

[forsakenoathkeeper]

I Am Alive (chapter 5/?)

Deviant!Connor[RK800] x (fem!)Reader Rated M(18+) for canon-typical violence and gore, medical procedures, and graphic sexual content

Synopsis: You were a mechanical engineer, now a nurse for androids, who moved back to Detroit after the revolution to offer aid. After reconciling with an old friend, you became rather acquainted with his android partner.

Please support me on AO3 & thanks for reading ��

Connor wasn't oblivious to what he was doing.

'Rogue' was one word that came to mind; but, that was a bit extreme all things considered. He wasn't acting against the police and he didn't intend to commit any crimes, especially heinous ones.

He was hunting the android alone, without clearance, without jurisdiction.

-not like this was the first time.

He had intel that the human detectives didn't have. A good lot of them didn't respect him, some more obvious than others, and often disregarded his input on things. Of course, they were never hesitant to let him take the lead when dealing with dangerous individuals or gunfire.

Most of the time, it didn’t bother him.

Fowler saw him as a competent detective and needed the manpower, now more than ever. Hank trusted him with his life and stood up for him. That was all the recognition that Connor needed.

Having to work alone wasn’t all that terrible. He was faster, stronger, more capable of discretion... usually. He didn't have to worry about putting someone in danger or being slowed down. It also meant that he could-

-bend the rules in ways that only androids were capable of.

The other detectives were hung up on the possibility that Evelin Wheeler was murdered by someone she had crossed in her days as a lawyer. Connor had found seven cases that ended with death threats. Three of those cases, the plaintiffs or victims, were still alive and living in or near Detroit.

While other detectives were investigating those potential leads, Connor took to the streets to see if he could locate Robert. Maybe it was his programming talking; but, Connor was suspicious of the android.

Clouds were heavy and dark in the sky, the smell of approaching rain thick in the air. Connor was waiting outside of Haven in a nearby alleyway, perched up against a crate where he could duck back into hiding or lean out and see into the street.

He was standing near an abandoned warehouse that seemed to have suffered structural damage at one point, rubble having collapsed into the plot nearby. The towering structure was an eyesore and provided good cover for the detective. It was also across the street from Haven.

Connor fumbled with his coat pocket, fishing out a coin. He rolled it between his fingers as he waited.

You had been texting him, a very welcomed distraction from the monotony. Though, if Connor was being honest, waiting never bothered him. He couldn’t quite tell if it was because his android, a part of his programming, or just the way he was.

"u know u dont have to" was your latest message, popping up in the top right corner of his HUD. You had trouble getting your car started this morning and had taken a taxi to work. When Connor found out, he asked if he could give you a ride home.

"If I'm being honest, it is not just for your sake. I want to see you" he texted back.

It had been a little over week since he last saw you. Work had been hectic for you both, between countless damaged androids and Connor knee deep in multiple cases, one in particular that was rubbing him the wrong way. Even if he only got to sit in a car with you for thirty minutes, that would be good enough.

"i miss u too" your reply came in. Connor smiled at that and briefly pondered how to reply.

When people were 'an item', what did they do? Attending a restaurant together seemed to be the most common answer that came up in his searches; however, considering Connor did not require sustenance, and lacked the components to dispose of them, he couldn't eat.

Surprisingly, ‘drinking’ came up a lot, too. There was no way he was taking you to a sleazy bar. There were always clubs. Did you like that sort of thing? He didn’t want to make assumptions about your lifestyle. There was the added concern that Connor didn’t know if he could dance. He had never tried it before.

'Walks in the park' also came up in his searches; while Connor was not easily perturbed by the weather, you likely would find it far too cold outside. The local movie theatres were closed down temporarily due to the uprising, leaving that option out, as well.

He could invite you over to his apartment; but, what if you took that as an unwanted suggestion? He missed you in that manner, maybe more than he cared to admit; but, he didn't want to give the impression that it was all he cared about.

Connor's LED was blaring yellow as he internally argued with himself. He aggressively shifted his coin from one hand to the other and flung it high into the air with a flick of his thumb.

Humans did this - 'heads or tails' - so he tried it.

When it fell back down, he snatched it from the air, opened his palm and glanced down. The coin had landed on tails. Connor glared at the harmless nickel disk for not giving him the results he wanted.

Okay. Maybe he was thinking too hard.

-maybe he just needed to go for it.

"I want to treat you to something. If you would like that?" Connor messaged you.

Likely caught up in something, you didn’t reply immediately. So, Connor began rotating his coin again, rolling it between his fingers, flicking it back and forth between his palms. He had no idea where this quirk came from: if it was programmed into him or some bizarre string of code that manifested itself. He could do it without much processing power, making it rather relaxing.

"if you wanna? u dont have to do anything like that" your message popped up on his HUD some time later.

"Is it weird that I want to?" Connor messaged you back.

"not at all" you replied. He read it in your soft voice and found himself feeling bashful. He felt weird, like he wanted to do things for you - unnecessary things that you were perfectly capable of doing yourself.

"theres a park i loved as a kid. we can go when it warms up?" you offered.

"I would like that" Connor replied.

A thought came to him, something that he chided himself for: he had hoped for something he could do for you, now, not later.

But, then-

"until then i like ur apartment" immediately came in afterward.

Connor gawked at the message like an idiot for a moment or two before he snapped out of it. Maybe you had read his mind... somehow.

He had no need for a TV because he could get all the news on the interface in his processing unit. He didn't have a need for many dishes for obvious reasons and only bothered to keep the fridge plugged in in case Hank brought something over. His apartment was severely under furnished by human standards.

Suddenly, he wanted to change that.

"You are welcome anytime" he replied. "I'll make sure its warmer this time"

Your reply came fairly quickly; but, Connor didn't see it.

Movement caught his eye.

An android was approaching Haven, not that that was anything new. However, he dressed in a dirty hoodie and torn up pants, ankle-high work boots matching what Connor had seen in Evelin Wheeler's home, the correct height and stature for the model type seen in Louis’ memories.

Connor slid the coin back into his coat pocket and focused his optical sensors on the android. He couldn't get a good enough look from this angle to see into the propped up hood.

The detective waited outside while the other android crossed the threshold into Haven.

Markus wanted to do things the right way. Connor respected that.

It meant that he would inform Robert the police were looking for him and try to encourage him to speak with them. If he was innocent, that meant he had nothing to hide. But Connor knew that Robert would likely attempt to flee, even if he was innocent.

The android was inside the building for eleven minutes and some odd seconds before he stormed out the front and trotted down the street. Connor didn't waste any time taking up pursuit. The android had some haste to his steps, but wasn't running. Still, Connor knew he would lose him if he dawdled for a second.

Rain began to fall, beginning in gentle sprinkles that coated the concrete and asphalt in faint specs. Connor could feel the rain like gentle taps against his outer skin. It was useful: the noise made it harder to properly hear the sounds of their footsteps. That potentially risked the chance that Connor would lose Robert; but, it also meant he was less likely to be detected.

He needed an empty, quiet place where he could interrogate him. But, Connor also was well aware of the fact that he didn't have backup. If the android proved to be more dangerous than he anticipated, he would be alone and at great risk.

-again, this was nothing new.

Connor recognized the route Robert was taking. He was heading for the industrial district's harbor.

It wasn't abandoned. Factory work had resumed, albeit with struggles considering the android workforce had been lost. However, people were trying to return to normal life. They needed to; and so, the ports reopened and shipments starting to flow again.

The detective continued to stalk behind the android for miles, paying no mind to the fact that he was steadily growing farther and farther away from where he had parked his car, nor the fact that he was getting soaked by the rain.

When they arrived at the harbor, Robert took a path through a rundown building that was likely once a communication hub for a business that went under decades ago. It was longer than a direct route, but provided cover, less any of the human workers at the nearby plants spotted him.

In following, Connor realized that abandoned shipping containers were piled up outside. The rust and erosion patterns suggested they had been here a long time.

At the end of the row of containers, another building, a steel hub right at the edge of the water. Normally, these were open, designed to be for receiving and sending shipments, unloading. However, someone had taken the time to board it up.

Robert entered through a hastily cut out hole acting as a doorway.

Connor knew this was the end of the line. He was going to have to face Robert here.

He took one, careful step past the threshold, and realized there was an echo. That alone made it near impossible to continue sneakily. When Connor stepped forward, he felt something scan him. It was harmless, a perimeter censor: the kind of motion detector that could pick up android's serial numbers with a quick scan, and send alerts to the programmed android. It was, essentially, an intruder alert.

The detective turned his head to the adjacent wall. Sure enough, there it was, the size of a quarter, at head level, eyeing him.

He was intrigued that Robert had taken the time to setup defenses here. It wasn't particularly deterring, just a simple alarm that would prevent him from being snuck up on. Connor could hear Robert's shoes loudly squeak on the floor. He was pacing, probably deciding his next move.

Connor continued, turning down the hall and stepping into the main hull.

When Robert spotted him, he took a few steps back, maintaining distance between them. Connor took up a firm stance, feet shoulder length apart, arms crossed in front of him, hands cupped, like a soldier might stand.

"Why are you following me?" Robert called out, sounding more annoyed than anything else. The echo in the room was loud, creating an obnoxious tremor around them.

"I wanted to talk to you - ask you a few things," Connor replied calmly.

Robert was silent for a moment, eyeing Connor suspiciously. "You're the detective android," he said lowly.  "I heard stories...” Robert looked him up and down. “You're not as intimidating as I expected."

If that was intended to insult Connor, all it managed to do was make him curious. What kind of images had Robert conjured in his mind of the android detective?

"Why haven't you removed your indicator?" Robert asked in a manner that was almost taunting. "You think we're equal to humans, don't you? Why wear something that sets us apart?"

"It doesn't matter to me if people know I am an android," Connor answered, maintaining his passive tone. It wasn't entirely the truth. Sometimes, he wanted people to know he was an android. He was once frightened by the idea of deviancy; now, it felt like a badge of honor. Maybe, he was prideful: he was the first detective android to join the force, and the last and only of his model.

"You work for the humans - against us," Robert accused. “What makes you think you have any right to stand with us?”

"I don't work against androids. I work against murderers," Connor proclaimed. He could see panic flash behind Robert's eyes. But, the android was quick to compose himself. "-human or android," Connor added on.

Robert opened his mouth; but, Connor, growing tired of this pointless banter, decided to be direct.

"I'm here because I believe you killed Evelin Wheeler."

"Who?" Robert asked, his head tilting to the side. From his lack of concern, Connor couldn't quite identify if he was being sincere, or just didn't care.

"An elderly woman who was being cared for by an android," Connor elaborated robotically.

Robert shrugged. "What makes you think I did that?"

"I saw you harassing the android living with her," Connor answered, tone lowering.

Robert settled a firm glare on Connor. "Harassing? I wanted to help him be free."

Connor kept his stoic expression, eyes unyielding of his emotions, LED strong blue. "I'm glad you remember them," he replied lowly.

The detective could see some stress rise in Robert. He wasn't frightened by Connor. He was growing steadily more and more angered by him.

"Then, surely you-"

"He was delusional," Robert interrupted sharply, clearly insulted. "Called her 'family'. I had to help him. He was being controlled by that human. I set him free."

"He was free,” Connor corrected him. “You hate humans. That's what it is. It has nothing to do with justice.” He maintained his persona: a cold, calculating detective.

The other android didn't seem to like that word. "You still elevate them above us, you hypocrite!" Robert snarled. "Don't talk to me about justice."

"Human or android, you killed an innocent woman in cold blood," the detective said lowly, letting his stare darken slightly.

"Where's your proof?" Robert challenged.

"Your shoes match the impressions at the crime scene," Connor stated bluntly. "You also were seen harassing the family-" Robert twitched at the word. "-a week before the murder. That's enough circumstantial evidence to obtain a warrant for your memories for that night."

"Where's your w-warrant, huh?" Robert challenged, his voice faltering slightly. "Why am I not under arrest, yet? You have nothing!" Robert shouted, his voice echoing around the chamber.

Connor narrowed his eyes slightly. "742-11-904, you are under arrest for trespassing on private property-"

Robert suddenly shifted and charged at Connor. Being a unit designed for industry work, he was bigger than Connor, bulkier with a wider frame and greater weight capacity; but, Connor was agile, flexible, and designed for combat. He avoided his assault with ease, but wasn't able to counter. His back hit the wall and Robert continued down the hallway past him.

Connor took up pursuit, finding that Robert took a different path out. He chased him into the harbor, out in the open, where security lights shined down on them. Workers from a nearby plant were perched on a balcony on the second floor. Connor could hear their surprised murmurs, "what the hell - you see that shit?"

Chain link covered the edge of the dock to act as a barrier to prevent falls. Connor contemplated pulling his gun on Robert; however, trespassing wasn't an offense worthy of firing, and he had yet to obtain the warrant he needed for the murder case. Pulling his gun would have been a one-way ticket to suspension, or likely worse.

Robert wasn't made for this. Connor was going to catch up to him. The android likely knew this. He had to take a path that Connor wouldn’t follow. He climbed the chain link, reaching the top before Connor got to him, and dived over the edge, straight into the harbor. The splash was drowned out by the rain tapping on the metal roofs nearby.

Connor looked over the edge to where the dark waters lapped at the concrete platform. Naturally, he couldn’t see anything through the murky water. He sighed, placing one hand on the chain link to lean against it.

"Well, so much for that," he groaned to himself.

It was unlikely that Robert could stay submerged for long, even less likely that he would surface here. He wasn’t going to return to this hiding place, nor Haven. Connor would have to find him through other means.

The rain started to pick up, sprinkling morphing to heavy droplets. Connor's eyes adjusted to lighting, or lack of, naturally. He was too focused on finding Robert that he failed to realize the sun had set. The time was normally hidden on his HUD as it was intrusive, distracting. He didn't need sleep. He didn't need rest. He could theoretically go days without a break.

When he brought the time temporarily back into view briefly, he realized it was 7:17. Your shift ended at 7 tonight, and he had promised he would be there.

"Shit!" he cursed out loud, swiveling away from the fence.

As he trotted away, shoes making wet sopping noises on the concrete, Connor started a message, "I'm sorry. I'm going to be a little late".

Before he sent it, he realized that he had missed your previous message.

"hold u to eet" you had replied. It was in response to his promise that the apartment would be warmer next time. But, it also struck him as a painful reminder that you had placed trust in his ability to get you home safely, and in a timely manner.

The rain continued to pick up until it was pouring down, like tiny rocks pummeling his body. It didn't hurt, but it was exhausting. He had fucked up, twice. He failed to capture Robert and now he was delaying you.

Instead of sending that message, he decided to call.

It rang once, then twice-

"Oh - shit - are you here already?" you blurted into the phone as soon as you answered.

"N-no, I-" he stammered. "I'm going to be late. I'm sorry."

"Actually - that's fine. I got so caught up in this thirium shipment, I didn't realize what time it was," you explained, sounding out of breath. "I was afraid I was keeping you."

"I wouldn't have minded waiting," Connor replied, feeling some relief at your words.

"No - don't say that," you scolded gently. "Don't take bullshit from anyone, Connor."

"Ugh-" he stammered. Did he take bullshit from people? Maybe he did and he just didn't care most of the time. Was waiting for you bullshit, anyway? He didn’t need to sleep, afterall.

"Working late, too, huh?" you breathed into the phone.

"Field work," Connor replied lowly.

You chuckled into the phone. "You know I can take a taxi if you're-"

"No, I-" he interrupted sharply. "I want to see you. Please."

"Connor," you breathed into the phone.

His phone wasn't a handheld device. It was an interface build into his processor. He could hear you directly in his head. Even through the slight distortion created by radio signals, the sound of your voice still managed to do something to him. Maybe he underestimated how badly he missed you.

In the background, Connor could hear one of your coworkers, "ooooo - who's Connor?" teasing at you in a purposely obnoxious voice.

You laughed quietly. "My boyfriend," you answered.

My boyfriend-

For some reason, something as mundane as you telling people that, made him really happy.

There was some shuffling noises, likely you moving around and trying to balance something in one hand and your phone in the other.

"Is he cute?" a different voice asked this time.

Connor was prepared to eavesdrop on this conversation in full; but, after some loud shuffling, you came back, speaking into the phone properly. "I'm gonna let you go, now - get this finished up - oh shit it's raining - let me know when you're in the parking lot?"

"Understood," he replied automatically, a habit. Plus, if he was being honest, he was disappointed.

"-and don't stress about it, Connor-" you added on hastily.

Fuck that-

-as soon as you hung up, Connor was running to his parked car.

[spencers-renaissance]

Foolishly, Completely Falling

Summary: Spencer declines to spend the night with Luke, but there's a reason for that, and things start to click into place when Spencer shows back up at his doorstep at 2am, hours after being dropped home.

Tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, past toxic relationship, nightmares, est/dev relationship

Pairing: Luke x Spencer

Word count: 2.5k

Read on AO3

When Luke asks Spencer if he wants to stay the night for the first time, he isn’t as quick to agree like Luke expects. The TV is playing a game show on low volume and they’re lying comfortably together on the sofa, quietly enjoying one another’s company after a busy day. They’d had a lovely evening out at the Mexican restaurant Luke had managed to convince Spencer to try before a cuddle and far too much making out on the sofa, so he’s feeling pretty good when he whispers the question into his boyfriend’s ear. Instead of the excited agreement he expects, though -- after all, the first night in the same bed with a new partner is always exhilarating -- Spencer freezes. 

“Hey,” Luke says, tone quickly sobering up. He shifts a little to get a better look at his boyfriend’s face, worried he’d said the wrong thing. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, baby. We can just cuddle a little longer and then I’ll drive you home, yeah? Whatever you want.”

The kind voice he uses seems to slowly shake Spencer out of his frozen trance, gradually pulling himself up from the quicksand of his thoughts to respond to Luke. “No, I want to,” he explains slowly, thankful Luke is so patient when he tries to articulate complicated feelings. “There’s just… it’s because-- I don’t know how to tell you.” He sighs in defeat as he fails to tell his boyfriend how he feels, slumping down a little as he relaxes his previously stiffened muscles, collapsing into the warmth and safety of Luke’s chest. 

“You don’t have to justify it, Spencer,” Luke says earnestly, running his hands up and down Spencer’s arms gently as his face contorts with worry, a small sense of relief coming from the feeling of his boyfriend physically relaxing under his touch. He can’t help but feel a sinking pit of fear in his stomach that maybe he’s made a massive misstep, maybe Spencer isn’t as into this as he is, maybe there’s something really, really wrong.

Instead of voicing his concerns, though, he simply revels in the moment: Spencer’s head on his chest, his body flush against his own as their breathing syncs and they take in the last few moments of peace before the world switches back on and they have to part ways. 

If only he could stop his tumbling mind and enjoy it properly. 

★

Spencer seems mostly recovered from the awkward moment by the time they clamber into Luke’s car to drive him back home. He’s barely switched the engine on before Spencer is telling him about the technology of contactless keys and how they were invented, the dangers they present to society as well as the vulnerability they have to hacking before going on a tangent about a factory in Ireland that accidentally discovered a serious technological advancement. He’s chattering away happily in the passenger seat, and the tension Luke still holds in his shoulders dissipates as he listens to him ramble about things he cares about. 

It’s hard to focus on the road, really, when Spencer chooses to be so utterly adorable. He can’t keep his eyes off him when he’s passionately lecturing somebody about something everyone else finds insignificant or confusing and he finds endlessly fascinating. The team makes fun of him constantly for the way he stares at his boyfriend, and he’s not overly fond of the new nickname ‘moon eyes’ that he can’t seem to shake, but it won’t stop him from appreciating Spencer’s knowledge, making sure he knows Luke supports him no matter what. He knows that he gets shut down far too often, that people appreciate him for his intellect only when it’s valuable to him, and he’ll be damned if he ever makes him feel that way. 

He listens dutifully the whole drive back to Spencer’s apartment, managing to drive safely despite the distraction, and he can’t suppress the laugh at the surprised look colouring Spencer’s face once he sees they’ve arrived. He goes into a little bubble when he’s info-dumping, only coming out of it when there’s a significant change in his environment, but Luke can’t stop the fondness from spreading through his body as if it’s the first time he’s ever seen Spencer make that face. 

“We’re here,” Spencer observes, a slightly sheepish look spreading across his features. 

Luke absolutely cannot accept that so he leans across the console to press a deep and loving kiss to his lips, startling Spencer out of his embarrassment as he kisses back with just as much vigour. “You want me to walk you up?” Luke asks as he pulls away, bringing a hand to Spencer’s face to gently brush a few curls off his forehead.

“I’m good,” Spencer smiles, looking adoringly at Luke. If he was a more acrimonious man he’d be annoyed that everyone misses the matching looks Spencer sends his way, but there’s something special about them being just for him, like there’s a little bit of him he gets to keep just for himself. He’ll take that over Spencer getting teased even more any day. 

“Okay, baby.” He leans in to give him another kiss, quickly this time, before leaning up to peck his forehead, too. “You sleep well. If we’re not called in tomorrow I’ll swing by and we can do something together, how does that sound?”

“Perfect,” Spencer says softly. He puts his hand on top of Luke’s and caresses his knuckles gently, and for a second Luke is convinced he’s about to say something but he decides against it, settling on a soft smile before he’s clumsily climbing out of the car and walking towards the elevator into the building. 

The shy wave Spencer gives him just as the elevator doors close is enough to keep his heart warm through winter. 

★

Luke heads straight to bed as soon as he gets back home, switching off all the lights and getting ready in the bathroom before slipping between the sheets. It’s barely 11 but he’s exhausted from a busy day at work followed by the date he’d had with Spencer and he can feel the exhaustion tugging at his limbs. He’d hoped that he would be cuddled against a warm body tonight, and Spencer’s absence makes the bed feel so cold, even with Roxy warming his feet. 

Eventually, he manages to slip off to sleep, though, because he’s woken up not long after by Roxy leaping off the bed and whining at his bedroom door, startling him awake. “Roxy?” he asks, immediately on high alert. “What’s wrong, girl?” He sleepily pushes the covers off him, exposing himself to the frigid air of his apartment as he contemplates reaching for his gun when he hears it. There’s a tentative knock at the door, probably not the first, far too quiet to have woken him up if he hadn’t had Roxy. He jumps into action and pulls a t-shirt on as he walks to his front door, flicking on the lights as he goes, not wanting to trip over anything in the dark. 

It’s Spencer. He’s standing there looking nothing short of distraught as he wrings his hands nervously in front of him, that sheepish, embarrassed look Luke had been so desperate to kiss away earlier returned in full force. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, looking close to tears. “I just, I didn’t know where to go… usually I go to JJ’s but Henry and Michael are staying with Penelope tonight so she and Will could have a proper date night again and I didn’t want to interrupt but I didn’t want to be alone so I thought that maybe… maybe it would be okay if I came to see you, but I’m sorry if--”

“Hey,” Luke gently intercepts Spencer’s rambling with a careful hand on his waist and a step closer. “Why don’t you come in?”

It’s a bit of a shock to see his boyfriend on his doorstep only hours after he’d dropped him off, especially since he’s clearly in quite a state, a very different Spencer to the one who had kissed him deeply and waved him goodbye earlier in the evening, but Luke doesn’t want to do another thing until Spencer is happy again, feeling safe and comforted. He’s going to try damn hard to do that for him. 

“I’m sorry, Luke,” he apologises again, voice tight and anxious, eyes glassy as he follows him inside and hesitantly sits next to him on the sofa. “I should have asked before turning up here and I’m sure I woke you up. God, I’m such an idiot sometimes, I should just--”

“Spencer,” Luke says, voice a little louder to cut over Spencer’s panicked word vomit. “You are always welcome here. No matter what, okay? You don’t have to be afraid to come here, ever. I’m your boyfriend, I want to take care of you.”

“Really?” he asks, looking almost floored at Luke’s words.

“Really.” Luke promises, reaching over to gently wipe a spilled tear from Spencer’s cheekbone. “If I was upset, wouldn’t you feel the same way.”

Spencer’s eyes widen in understanding as he nods vigorously, causing Luke to smile fondly.

 “Now. What’s going on, baby? Did something happen?”

“Um,” Spencer hesitates, simultaneously not knowing how to properly voice his feelings and afraid of how Luke might react to them. Luckily, Luke knows how to be patient with Spencer, waiting quietly as he traces patterns on his forearm. “You know how earlier I said I did want to stay here but I couldn’t?”

Luke hums. “I do, yes.”

“Well, it’s because I was scared.”

Luke’s finger pauses for a short second in surprise before continuing its path, trying to convey his non-judgement. “What of, sweetheart?” he asks, praying that he wasn’t about to say him. 

“The last time I shared a bed with someone, he wasn’t nice to me,” Spencer confesses, looking into Luke’s eyes briefly, long enough only for Luke to pick up on the intense vulnerability swimming in his pupils. “I get… really bad nightmares. And my ex, the one I told you about, George?” He waits for Luke’s acknowledging nod before continuing. “He got… angry. I disturbed his sleep and he yelled a lot before breaking up with me.”

Luke nods slowly, finally understanding the situation. “And you were afraid that the same thing would happen with me?” he asks gently, not judging Spencer for his fear at all and hoping he can see that in his eyes. 

“Yeah,” he whispers, looking down at his twiddling fingers for a long moment before finally looking back at Luke, tears gathering in his eyes again. “I’m sorry, I should have trusted you.” 

“Oh, Spencer,” he soothes calmly, gathering him up into a hug and carding his fingers through Spencer’s curls in just the way he knows he likes. “You can’t control a fear like that. It’s a natural reaction to be afraid of repeating a previous experience, especially if that event was upsetting or traumatic.”

“I know,” he mutters miserably, face wedged close into Luke’s neck. “I’m still sorry.”

“It’s okay, baby,” he says. “Is that what made you come over tonight? You had a nightmare?” He feels Spencer nod and his heart breaks. His boyfriend has been silently suffering through these awful nightmares alone, all because some asshole had broken up with him for something he couldn’t control. “I’m sorry, Spence. Do you want to talk about it?”

Spencer shakes his head, as he pulls his face away from Luke’s neck. “I’ve tried that but it doesn’t work,” he frowns. “It just makes me relive it and the anxiety gets worse. It’s better if I just try and acknowledge them before moving past them.”

“Whatever works for you, baby,” Luke says. “Now, how about we get you changed into some pajamas again and you can come and stay with me tonight. I just want to be here for you, Spencer, comfort you if you have a nightmare, hold you even if you don’t. Nothing will happen if you do have one, alright? Except you being able to avoid travelling across town at 2am to seek some comfort, because I’ll be right next to you, cuddles at the ready.”

“You promise?” Spencer asks hopefully, finally seeming to relax a little. 

“I swear on my life,” Luke grins, before pressing a chaste kiss to Spencer’s lips and standing up. “Come on, let’s get ready for bed.” 

Spencer’s wearing a soft t-shirt already but Luke demands he change into one of his own, claiming he wants him to be as comfortable as possible, but they both know he just can’t get enough of Spencer in his own clothes. It feels like an extra layer of protection Luke can wrap around him, keep him safe and warm in his clothing, protect him from anything formidable, including his own mind. “It smells of you,” he smiles approvingly as soon as it’s settled over his shoulders, too loose for his smaller frame. 

“Well, baby, you’re gonna love cuddling with me in my bed then,” Luke winks. “I’m not sure anywhere else could possibly smell more like me.” He switches off the lights in the house and calls Roxy back to bed, before slipping underneath the duvet, which is much more pleasurable this time, Spencer curled up against his side as Luke wraps a comforting arm around his waist. 

He savours Spencer’s satisfied sigh as he curls up tighter, pressing as close to Luke as possible; his clingy nature is one of the things he loves most about him. There’s nothing Spencer likes more than climbing into Luke’s lap or laying across him on the sofa, holding his hand in public or pressing himself as close as possible until Luke gets the hint and wraps an arm around his waist. He loves being held, which works out well because Luke isn’t sure he likes anything more than holding him, drinking in the comfort that comes from the closeness, the inexplicable feeling that is being Spencer Reid’s boyfriend.  

“Thank you, Luke,” Spencer whispers, voice clearly showing how drained and tired he is, but he sounds relaxed and comfortable, and that’s what matters most.

“Anytime, baby,” he whispers back, smile playing over his lips as it always seems to do when he’s around Spencer. “You sleep now. You’re safe, I’ll be here.” 

“I know.” Spencer’s whisper is even quieter this time as his breaths even out and his muscles relax slightly, and Luke has never envied his boyfriend’s eidetic memory more. If he could bottle this exact moment -- Spencer slowly falling asleep on him, trusting him enough to stay no matter what happens, the warmth and comfort of the embrace -- he’d never stop playing it over, a personal paradise just for the two of them recorded in his mind forever. 

Just having this moment, though, having this memory all for himself, will do Luke just fine. 

@gxenbev

[readyplayerhobi]

A Universe To You

; Soulmate!Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, angst, smut

; Warnings: Mentions of an accident and injury resulting from it, discussions of poverty, minor breakdown, oral sex (receiving), penetrative sex, unprotected sex

; Word Count: 41k

; Synopsis: Life for you has always been dull and grey; not only because you grew up on the most over-populated and polluted planet in the galaxy but because you’re colourblind. You’re convinced it’s because you have a soulmate out there, but soulmates are a forgotten concept now that humanity has spread across the stars. What happens then, when you finally escape Earth and discover colour with the touch of a man on a planet in which soulmates are just a tale of myth?

; A/N: Hi, yes. I’m sorry this is so long lol I half proof-read it but...it’s just so long and I’m so done with it haha. Sorry if it’s bad ;-; please reblog it (if you’re on desktop, it’ll kill your phone) and please leave me comments, asks or reviews! I’m convinced this isn’t actually all that great, my first soulmate attempt :/

-

The familiar roar of a star engine rattles through the ramshackle apartment you’d grown up in, the noise outrageously loud and yet no one in the cramped space pays any notice. It’s the price of living next to the Busan Spaceport unfortunately. The rent is astonishingly cheap, relative to how much anything costs in the 32nd century, but that’s only because it came with the downside of pollution.

All kinds of pollution. Noise pollution from the roars of starships and starfreighters as they fired up their engines, their fusion cores pushing them high into the sky and past the atmosphere limit where they would then jump into hyperspace, heading for whatever planet was next on their list.

Light pollution, from the blinding neon of the signage that littered the area surrounding the dirty port. Signs that screamed everything under the sun was for sale here in Busan, which it was. From entertainment screens to the latest in clothing to prostitutes and cosmetic surgery, everything was for sale here on Earth.

Most of it was supposed to be regulated, and a large portion of it was supposed to be illegal. But Earth had stopped caring about laws a long time ago. Probably five centuries at least. A few billion people ago. Maybe back when you could actually see the sky without it being consumed with the constant smog of pollution from the factories that belched smoke and other contaminants into the air.

Ironically enough, the star engines that were in the various ships, liners, freighters and more were actually incredibly environmentally friendly. They made a lot of noise, but they were relatively clean compared to what Earth produced. 

That was probably because other planet’s actually gave a fuck about their environments. You’d heard that there were whole planets out there that had developed entirely clean technology. Neutral carbon, nothing toxic or deadly going into their atmospheres, nothing choking their plant life or killing off their living species.

It was hard for you to imagine really. You’d grown up here in Busan, the second largest city in Old Korea. Centuries upon centuries ago, Busan had been a hub of freight for the old world and it’s old technologies. Actual ships that had travelled upon the oceans had arrived and departed from the now gone port.

That old method of transport had taken weeks to get anything anywhere, or so the e-book’s said. You could believe it, even though you’d never even heard of anyone going on a boat or a marine ship. People didn’t do that anymore. Not since the oceans had turned toxic from the pollution centuries ago.

Any fish or seafood that was for sale on Earth was either processed, by which it meant that it didn’t contain any actual seafood and instead was just made up of various fake food that had been manufactured to taste vaguely like what it was intended to be, or was shipped in from off-planet. 

Only the rich could afford to eat seafood anymore. Those who lived near inland lakes that hadn’t been overfished in the years after the seas died could also afford to eat fish. It was a luxury now, more rare than diamonds had been in the 21st century.

The idea of a small gemstone being worth a lot of money was laughable now. They’d discovered a whole asteroid made of diamond four centuries ago and had been mining it ever since. Diamonds were as rare as mice in today’s world. Fish on the other hand? Now that was rare.

Despite the overpopulation of Earth and the environmental devastation that had occured, people still sought what little comforts they could. Which meant that even the poorest tried to stay away from living around the spaceports of each city. It meant the apartments were cheap, but you’d grown up listening to the scream of engines and experiencing the building shake subtly every time one took off or landed.

In a bizarre way, it was almost helpful. You could sleep through anything now. But on the downside, it was a visible sign of the poverty your family lived in. One of the few ways to earn near enough guaranteed money was to be able to get onto one of the United Nations of Earth benefits programmes. It was almost a badge of honour for some people, as it meant a near enough constant steady stream of income that could be used to pay rent, buy food or simply live.

Some people abused it, just like people had abused governmental benefits throughout the history of Earth. But most people desperately needed it.

Earth had lots of people. It did not have lots of jobs to match. 

The only real job available on Earth now were factory jobs, building the items and products that the rest of the civilised galaxy bought for cheap. Someone in the early years of the 2nd millennium might have thought that Earth would be given some grand status amongst planets in whatever future space exploration they did.

It was the birthplace of humanity after all.

They would be wrong.

Your home planet was where products and items were built cheaply, relying on the overwhelming number of factories and warehouses that grew like weeds amongst the cities and taking advantage of the over abundant population. With a population of twenty billion people living in squalid cities and towns that were millennia old, creaking with age and underfunded to cope with all those who lived in them, there were plenty of people desperate for a job.

Which meant you didn’t need to pay much to get something. Most factories underpaid their workers because they always knew they could get more. There were no such things as trade unions anymore. People needed work too much to care about things like workers rights. Anyone who got too vocal simply lost their job.

Your parents had been able to gain governmental benefits because of your dad. He’d been a part of the United Nations Navy, which meant the navy in space, obviously. His career had been cut short when his battle cruiser had been destroyed in an attack from terrorists fifteen years ago, ending up back at home while he recovered from losing his legs.

As a result, he’d retired from the navy and been given a military pension, which was incredibly hard to get, along with disability benefits due to him being injured so badly in service to the government. It made him a rarity, and should have meant that in conjunction with your mom’s three jobs as a cleaner that your family would be able to live somewhere a little nicer.

Nicer being a relative time on Earth of course.

But they’d chosen the worst place because it was the cheapest, because of you. Because they’d been informed by your daycare centre that you were showing surprising promise in education. To the degree that they suggested possibly trying to get you sent to a private school that offered a better education than the public schools.

So they had. And they’d succeeded. All the money they saved from skimping on food and rent went to paying your education fees, buying your uniform and school supplies. You took the skybus to class every day and came home the same way, trying to limit your burden on your family.

Scholarships and bursaries were hard earned by you throughout school and you studied hard to make sure that your parents sacrifices weren’t in vain. They had dreams for you, hopes. Hopes that other people on this shithole of a planet had long given up. They wanted you to escape here, to escape the constant spiral of poverty, overpopulation, pollution and more.

To live a life without worrying every day.

Not that poverty and stuff wasn’t an issue on other planets too, but it was far less of an issue than here. The poorest planet in the galaxy was still richer than the citizens of Earth. Whether in terms of real money or just overall living conditions.

You wanted that for yourself too. So desperately. So badly. You wanted to look up at the sky on a night and have the bright lights be twinkling stars that had probably died millions of years ago instead of simply just being the lights of star engines as they powered away. To look at an ocean that wasn’t filled with sludge and pollution and more.

Resting your head against the double paned window, you sighed softly and watched yet another starfreighter rumble it’s way out of the port. It was big, astonishingly big, and extremely hulky. Despite that, it was still sleek and refined, allowing it to cut through the air and atmosphere with ease as it groaned its way further into the sky.

You knew that calling it a starfreighter was wrong in reality. The actual starfreighter’s never came down to the planet itself. They couldn’t; they were too big. What left the depot here planetside was basically a mini freighter, trekking containers and more up to the giant ships that were in orbit until it was full. Those ships physically couldn’t try to land on a planet, they were too big and unwieldy and would burn up in the atmosphere.

It was the same with large war ships and such. You couldn’t even imagine the size of what was out in space, not when what went up there was big enough to big a tower block like yours shudder and shake. 

You wanted to though. Oh, the ache to see the galaxy and more than what life had handed you was so strong. Maybe it was your parents fault for instilling in you the desire and need to achieve more than what the society you’d grown up in expected from you.

“Have you heard yet?” The gentle sound of your mom’s voice distracts you from your thoughts, causing you to look over at her with a slight smile. She looks tired, and you realise with a pang that she looks old. You knew that other planets had managed to achieve astonishing life averages, with life extending sciences causing the average age of a woman in the galaxy to now be 123.

On Earth it was 64. 

It made you want to cry sometimes when you looked at your parents, at how exhausted they seemed. How at 50 they were already approaching what was viewed as the twilight years here. It wasn’t fair. They worked so hard, working themselves to the bone for you and you knew that even if everything went well, they still probably wouldn’t see their 70th birthday.

Her cleaning uniform was stained and dirty as usual but you could see the hope in her eyes. Shaking your head, you reached out and pulled her into a tight hug before sighing softly.

“Not yet mom. But it’s supposed to be today. I’m just...thinking I guess.” Pausing, you shift until you’re resting back against the aged synthetic fibre couch that had come with the shoddy apartment. Water stains do the ceiling while the beige carpet has been worn threadbare over the decades. A slight odour of garbage emanated from the attached kitchen, probably coming up from the sink or something.

These buildings were old and no one cared enough to fix them properly. The one plus side of it was that a broken elevator meant that you’d always maintained a certain level of fitness by having to climb fifteen flights of stairs. A downside was that it relegated your dad to work that could only be done from home.

“What if I didn’t get in? Or if I did but they want me to pay tuition and stuff? Will the government cover that for me? I don’t know.” Playing with the loose thread of your pants, you bite your lip in desperation as uncertainty washes over you.

You’re waiting for the notification to inform you of whether or not you passed the university entrance exams. They were a galaxy wide set of exams, the exact same that every planet had to take at what was considered to be relatively the same time. It was standardised to ensure that universities from all planets could assess candidates equally.

The only difference was that the exams were each translated into the relevant language of wherever the student lived. 

But it didn’t really matter if you passed the exams or not. Each student was instructed to apply for ten universities from the list of all available universities in the galaxy. It was an astonishingly large list that was ranked in various ways; from best value to the best teaching to the best student life and so forth.

Unsurprisingly, Earth universities ranked lowest in every score. They were the universities that only other Earthen students attended, pumping out people with just enough education to become managers in factories or whatever small businesses managed to prosper here. Most of the time though, they produced teachers and medical staff.

You knew many people in your class had signed up to the military. The UN military paid for four years of tuition at the best military university on Earth, which was actually the only university ranked anywhere good. All it required in return was thirty years of service, minimum. 

Your dad had refused point blank to let you do that, calling it a con. They allowed people to attend university and attain degrees, but they then stagnated in the military for decades on end. And the UN had a terrible habit of extending out service beyond the mandated years until people found that they were retiring. The only real benefit, he often said sarcastically, is that military staff were one of the few people on Earth who actually lived longer than everyone else.

Choosing universities has been stressful for you. You desperately wanted to teach, to educate and enrich the minds of a younger generation and give them the hope that your own parents had instilled in you. Your high levels of intellect had meant that you had been the top of your class every time in all levels of school and you’d studied your ass off after hours to gain extra qualifications and grades.

The standard education system taught maths, physics, biology, chemistry, history, Standard Language, physical education and literature. Literature and history were the only subjects that deviated in terms of topics and those exams were specific to the planets. Most also had an extra subject in whatever language was native to their planet with Standard being taught simply because it was the galaxy wide language that everyone spoke to communicate.

You’d gone further though, desperate to make yourself stand out to universities. No matter how good your grades were on the tests, universities were still allowed to pick and choose who they wanted to attend. Those from better off planets often got the places and those whose parents could afford to encourage universities to look twice found themselves prospering too.

As a student from Earth, the odds were stacked unbelievably against you. The education system just wasn’t as good here, the students couldn’t afford to even leave the planet, never mind pay the fees that an off planet university would require and there was the awful stigma that Earth maintained.

Most students who managed to get a place in university off world had a ridiculously large set of subsidies, scholarships, bursaries and grants that paid for their further education. None of them ever came back to Earth.

You’d studied harder and more. Your grades included not only the basics, but Korean Language, English Language, Spanish Language, advanced maths, astrogeology and astrobiology. They probably wouldn’t be useful for an education degree, but you’d loved them and you’d wanted to stand out from the rest.

Now you were just waiting...hoping desperately that one of the ten universities you’d picked would want you.

“You’ll be fine sweetheart. I’ve raised you for eighteen years now and I know the girl that you’ve always been. Strong, stubborn and determined,” She smiled softly, running her well worn fingers over your cheek. “You’re going to go out there, to the stars and beyond. You’re going to live the life we’ve dreamt for you, the life that your ancestors would have never thought possible. You’re going to be something.”

Eyes tearing up, you take in the deep sincerity and belief that she holds in her voice and face. She believes that you’ll do it, that you’ll make it despite everything that’s stacked against you. It makes you sit a little straighter, shoulders pushing back as you acknowledge what your parents have sacrificed and how far they’ve gotten you.

You have to believe that it was all worth it.

“I can save and move you both out to wherever I go.” You tease lightly, trying to cheer up the mood before poking lightly at her side. She gives a soft laugh and hugs you back, embrace a little tighter and longer than you’d expected.

“I’d like that. And maybe you’ll finally get to see the beauty that the galaxy holds. Maybe you’ll finally see colour.” Her words are gentle and soft, her touch equally as light but you can see the hope once more in her eyes. If there’s one thing that’s always made your mom believe that you were destined for more...it was the fact that you were colourblind.

Most people who knew this about you just thought it was some weird genetic quirk. It was well known that men were mostly colourblind, but not usually to the extent that you were. Your entire world was monochromatic...greyscale at the very best. Part of you didn’t mind, because it meant that you didn’t notice just how bad the polluted landscape of Earth was.

But part of you knew that you were missing out on so much. 

Your mom believed it was a sign when you were younger, alongside your intellect. A sign that you were going to leave Earth. She was a little superstitious, but this was one aspect that you were willing to go along with her.

Because your mom still believed in the theory of soulmates. 

According to the history books, soulmates had been a regular occurrence in pre-spaceflight days. Two people whom fate had determined would be the perfect companions. It had been almost a badge of honour back then, centuries upon centuries ago. People had been desperate to find the one person who would love and accept them as they are with no qualms, no worries and no stress.

The person who fits them best.

There had been so many ways of finding out who your soulmate was back then. From tattoos appearing simultaneously somewhere on the body at the age of eighteen to people born with tattoos, seeking out those who had the same. Or the people who gained a tattoo when they met their soulmate, the painful occurrence signifying that their world had just changed.

Some had the first words they would ever hear their soulmate speak written on them, while others didn’t see colour until their other half was near. Some required to be touched to see colour. 

And those were just the most popular soulmarks as they had been called.

There were ancient stories of other, more rare methods. One in which a soulmate could draw on their wrist and it would appear on the other wrist as well along with so many others. They were all magical and defied belief, which is why they were decreed a sham by most modern day scientists.

No one could figure out how those remarkable events had occurred, and no one had experienced anything like those rare events in the last few centuries. People born with tattoos or who suddenly gained them thought they were strange, but most didn’t bother trying to find their soulmate because most didn’t even really know the stories anymore.

Finding your soulmate on Earth had been hard back then, finding your soulmate now that humanity had spread itself across the galaxy was nigh impossible. Most other planets had apparently forgotten all about soulmates, the tales simply one of the myths that were spoken about much in the same way that the ancient stories of old Earth gods and goddesses were.

Those born and raised on Earth were more likely to believe though. It was a part of your planet's culture and history, strong and proud. One of the few parts people were proud of. You’d even heard of people actually finding their soulmates, living happily even in the poor environment they lived in.

Your mom was convinced that your color blindness was a soulmark, and that your soulmate was waiting for you out there. She refused to acknowledge that they could be here, on Earth. No, to her it was a sign. A sign that you would venture far beyond and find happiness she couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

And she believed so strongly, that you did too. You hoped desperately that you would be able to leave this planet and that one day, you would see the bright and vibrant colours that brought the galaxy to life. That you would meet someone who made your heart sing and your soul vibrate with joy.

Those in your class had laughed at you for the very notion of it, thinking you were being an idiot and setting yourself up for a fail. You just had a medical condition or something, that was all. But you believed in more, you had to believe in more. You couldn’t let your mom and dad down.

“I’d like that. I could tell you all the amazing colours that are out there. There’s even supposed to be colours that we don’t even here on Earth. Though I guess that doesn’t matter to me, does it?” Chuckling, you smile at her before shrugging lightly. She responded with her own smile, skin wrinkling at the corners with affection for you.

A sudden ping from your PED, personal electronic device, caused you both to jerk slightly in surprise. Glancing down at it, your eyes widened as your finger tapped the slim black tube. The familiar holographic screen of your PED came to life before you, glowing white in your vision.

Apparently it was supposed to be what was termed neon blue, but to you it was just like white. Much like any lighting did, no matter the colour. The various apps on your PED were closed at the moment, leaving just the background of the Pegasus cluster and the outlines of the few apps you considered important enough to keep on screen at all times.

One of them was your messaging app, which currently had a little ‘1’ in a tiny circle at the top right. You had one message, one new notification.

Looking over at your mom, your eyes widen as you lift up your PED so she can see better. Chewing on your lip, you press the app and watch as it opens up immediately. The list of messages from your parents, classmates and teachers filled up the screen and you quickly shifted from personal messages to mail.

Your inbox was full of scholarship and bursary applications to various governmental bodies along with newsletters to the random sites that you frequented often. But the newest message, the text bright and bold against the rest attracted your attention.

Clicking on it, you felt yourself go cold as you read it over slowly.

To: Y/N-Y/L/N@excelsioracademy.earth

From: results@eartheducationboard.earth

Title: University Entrance Examination Results

Y/N Y/LN,

Thank you for participating in the 3121 University Entrance Examinations at Excelsior Academy in Busan, Old Korea, Earth. We appreciate the time and effort that you took in not only studying but taking part in the examinations.

Please see your results from the Standard Education examinations below. 

Mathematics: 97/100

Standard Language: 89/100

Physics: 91/100

Biology: 90/100

Chemistry: 91/100

History: 100/100

Physical Education: 85/100

Literature: 95/100

Any extra examinations that you have undertaken outside of the Standard Education will be listed below.

Korean Language: 98/100

English Language: 97/100

Spanish Language: 92/100

Advanced Mathematics: 94/100

Astrogeology: 91/100

Astrobiology: 85/100

We hope that these exam results meet the level you had expected. The universities that you applied to have been in receipt of these grades for the last seven days. Please see below to see which universities, if any, have accepted you onto your chosen course of: Education.

New Seoul University, New Korea

If you have been accepted by any universities, please note that they will be in communication with you separately in regards to your course.

Kind Regards,

Earth Education Board

You sit with wide eyes, neither your mom nor you quite comprehending what you’re reading as you flick back to the top and read again. Before you can even make it to the bottom once more though, another noise indicates you have another notification and you click out in a daze, accepting the second mail that has been sent to you.

To: Y/N-Y/L/N@excelsioracademy.earth

From: admissions@newseouluniversity.edu.newkorea

Title: Welcome To New Seoul University!

Welcome Y/N Y/L/N!

We’re delighted to accept you into the below degree course here at New Seoul University for the 3121 intake of students:

Bachelor of Schooling Education

This is a four year course that will see you studying with some of the top professors across a range of subjects at one of the top ranked university institutions in the galaxy. We hope that you’re excited to start your new education here!

As a student of Earth, please note that you have been granted the below scholarships and grants in order to pay for your tuition, academic fees and accommodation fees. If you require any more help then please respond and we would be more than willing to help!

United Nations of Earth Travel Grant

As a citizen of Earth who has performed above average on the University Entrance Examinations, you have been approved for a grant that will cover the transport costs from Earth to New Korea.

United Nations of Earth Education Grant

As a citizen of Earth who has performed above average on the University Entrance Examinations, you have been approved for a grant that will provide you with money to pay for any academic items you may need alongside any extra academic fees.

New Seoul University Education Scholarship

Due to your high grades, you have been granted a scholarship from the Education department to cover any field trips or placements you will need to partake in as part of your degree.

New Seoul University Equality Scholarship

Due to the circumstances of your monetary background, you have been granted a scholarship that will cover the tuition fees for your degree. You have also been granted a scholarship that will pay for your accommodation here in New Seoul to allow you to study.

We hope that you look forward to studying here. We look forward to meeting you!

If you have any more questions, please let us know. We have provided relevant literature to your degree and the university to allow you to research where you will soon be living more! Included in this pack is an accommodation application, please fill this in along with the New Student form and send it back as soon as possible.

We will be in touch soon!

Kind Regards,

Kim Namjoon

Admissions

New Seoul University

“You did it! Oh my god, you did it! HONEY! OUR BABY GIRL GOT INTO UNIVERSITY!” Your mom starts screaming, tears falling down her face as she jumps around the dilapidated room in joy. Watching her with numb hands, you realise that you’re crying too when you feel the wet streaks down your chin.

Your father comes out of their bedroom, which also doubled as his makeshift office, and looks with confusion between your mom and you. Seeing the tears, he moves over to you, prosthetic legs creaking as he sits down and reads the messages that you hand to him.

Once done, he looks back up at you with eyes that glisten, emotion that you can’t even begin to understand welling deep within him. At seeing your dad’s overwhelming emotion, you finally let out a sob of joint happiness and shock, throwing your arms around his shoulders and crying into him as it all finally hits you.

You did it. You passed the entrance exams. You passed the entrance exams and got into university. A university off planet! One of the best universities in the galaxy at that! You were going to escape Earth, you were going to have a better life.

“I did it!” You whisper, pulling your mom into the hug as she kneels down in front of you both. It’s all you can say, all any of you can see as you celebrate this monumental achievement.

Less than 500 students out of the 5 million who take the university exams get into off world planets. Less than 100 get into prestigious universities.

You managed to be one of those lucky hundred, all thanks to your parents perseverance and belief. Hugging them even tighter, you press kisses to their faces as you all start to laugh while crying, the pure happiness infectious between you all.

You were going to make them proud. You were going to do everything they ever wanted for you and you vowed then and there, with your arms around them, that you would get them off this god forsaken planet.

It was unlikely that you could give them the life they deserve with what they had left, but you would at least let them live out their end years in peace and happiness somewhere better. 

And maybe, just maybe...you might find a way to see colour along the way.

Looking out the window, you bite your lip as you watched another starship take off, heading for planets unknown thousands of lightyears away. That was going to be you soon, heading off a planet you’d only ever really heard about. 

Maybe your soulmate was waiting for you there. 

Either way...you couldn’t wait.

-

The first few days of being in New Seoul are overwhelming to say the least. You’d spent hours researching the campus and city extensively, scanning over the history and images that were available to you. Admittedly, they all just looked pretty similar given you could only see in grayscale but it looked nice.

The reality was something else entirely though. Towering skyscrapers reached towards the sky like the fingers of a hand in Busan, trying to scrape their way to freedom in space. That combined with the scent of garbage, sewage, the sludge from the ocean and the fumes of exhausts that didn’t quite comply with what should have been the environmental standard.

And all of that competed with the abundance of neon signage that screamed out at passersby, demanding attention from all corners. Busan was busy, overcrowded and dirty but it shouted what it had to offer as loudly as it could. Not that what it did offer was any good.

New Seoul was...similar and yet completely different. The skyscrapers here didn’t stretch as far as possible into the skies, in fact the capital city of New Korea apparently had a building limit of 50 stories. It boggled your mind when you looked around the streets, each one astonishingly wide and lined with an abundance of native trees.

Grass, real grass and not even that fake crap that had been trodden into the dirt over decades, blew ever so gently in the breeze and you had no doubt that it would be a rich and luscious green if you could see it. But nothing really compared to the magnificent sight above your head.

To you, the sky simply looked like a shade of grey. But it was a shade you had never seen on the vast expanse before, occasionally dotted with white clouds with darker grey embedded within them. You’d never seen the sky itself though. Busan kept a perpetual haze in the upper limits, a blanket of thick and suffocating pollution and smog that made the sky as grey for everyone else as it did for you.

Even though you couldn’t see the colours of the sky here, you knew that New Seoul was more beautiful than Busan could have ever hoped to be. 

And there was more. The motor vehicles here were energy efficient, powered by solar via the panels that were embedded into the body, only a slight hum emanated purely to make sure that they could be heard by any pedestrians walking around. The streets were impossibly clean, hygiene robots patrolling regularly and cleaning along with hoovering up any rubbish that may be dropped.

It was also so...sparse in population compared to what you were used to. People here often lived on their own in a whole apartment. You had a room to yourself with a little kitchen in it and everything. You’d seen less people here in a few days than you had in two minutes outside in Busan. 

Overwhelming, yes. That was the right word for it.

And then of course, there was the sheer abundance of fresh and delicious food available. You’d eaten fresh, real tuna the other day in a sandwich made with bread that had been baked that morning. It had boggled your mind how delightful it tasted, only cementing how terrible the fake food that was served on Earth was.

Milkshakes were also a revelation, the vanilla taste so rich and indulgent with a wonderfully smooth texture that just slid down your throat. You’d spent a good two hours in a café on the first day, amazed at the world as you watched it pass by outside the window. 

New Seoul had the neon signs still, they were almost a tradition of big cities in the galaxy at this point, but they were almost tasteful now. Advertising clothes or virt-real arcades where children and teenagers flocked. Restaurants used them to announce their menu of the day and so much more. It was beautiful here, elegant almost.

The people walking around New Seoul even looked different to back in Busan. They looked healthy and strong here, happy and full of life and hope. Everyone was a little taller here too, a side effect of the planet having less gravity than Earth. It had been a little awkward for you at first, feeling ever so slightly weightless. 

You were stronger than people born and raised here too. That had been something you’d known objectively but forgotten until you’d accidentally launched an empty cup into the recycling. A few odd stares had occurred but no one said anything. People were generally used to the differences in strength and ability, but it was still amusing to see sometimes.

A slightly more negative discovery had been that your years of studying the Korean language had apparently been in vain. It was your mother tongue, the native language of Busan and therefore the mother tongue of New Korea as well. You’d only naturally thought that it would be useful to continue on your studies of the language past the basic lessons in your early childhood.

As such, you’d never considered there’d be anything wrong. But you’d forgotten that New Korea was founded over 700 years ago and the vast majority of the population today had emigrated at some point over the past few centuries. The socio-economic situation on Earth meant that immigration from Old Korea had been a trickle, one that had often run dry.

With that lack of interaction over the centuries...the Korean language spoken here had become almost unintelligible to you. They used words you’d never even heard of and even some of the grammar had shifted. What should have been a warm and easy welcome had become fraught with difficulty as you struggled to understand the silken tones and dancing syllables they used.

Your own Korean, slightly more standardised in the 32nd century than what it had once been, was equally as confusing to them. They could understand you to a degree, but it was like you were speaking some bizarre dialect with odd formalities. And apparently, your dialect was considered to be rough and grating.

Despite the pain at realising you would struggle with that, you had the reassuring balm that New Seoul taught in Standard. But you were a smart person, you would enlist in Korean lessons here and learn this language that was the same but entirely different. 

Biting your lip, you looked out over the large classroom and inhaled deeply. It smelt clean, the slightest hint of vanilla in the air from the scent diffusers installed into the air units while the seats were currently folded up, soft memory foam in black waiting for students to sit in them.

Hesitantly, you head over to one of the centre rows and sit down. The chair is possibly the comfiest thing you’ve ever sat in, and you’re positive it cost more than anything in your old bedroom. It kind of annoyed you to think that, but you pushed the thought away quickly. You were here now. You were going to make something of your life.

Pulling out your PED, you extended it out and turned on the screen, watching the holoscreen come to life in front of you. A quick tap had a keyboard appearing on the desk in front of you and you navigated through to the relevant class information on the university intranet. 

“Err...is it okay if I sit here?” A deep voice asks beside you, his accent oddly lyrical as he spoke Standard to you. Glancing up, you see a guy standing next to you. He’s ridiculously attractive with hair that you presume to be black looking all ruffled on his head. His eyes are kind though while his smile is nervous.

Nodding, you gesture to the seat and smile back at him as he sits down. 

He sets up his own desk before looking at you, pausing for a moment before obviously taking the plunge and leaning forward. “Are you from here too? Or are you an off planet?”

“Oh, I’m off planet. I’m...err...well I’m from Earth. Old Korea actually. You? I’m Y/N by the way.” His eyes widen at your words and you see him do a quick scan of your body, not even caring that you could blatantly see him doing it. You must pass some internal test before he shrugs, settling back in his seat.

“Taehyung. I’m from Alexandros. I get the feeling we’re both going to suffer a bit of a cultural learning curve.” Snorting, you roll your eyes and nod at that. Already you feel comfortable and at home with him, even though you’ve barely spoken. Something about him is exceptionally friendly and nice.

Despite him not explaining, you know why he said it. Alexandros is a planet with a reputation, much like Earth. Only his planet’s reputation is a little more...hedonistic in nature. Sex of all kinds wasn’t illegal on there, even the kinds that you personally thought should be illegal.

Marriage didn’t exist and polyamory was the norm. Most people had multiple partners which resulted in multiple children. You didn’t know the in’s and out’s of it, but it was basically the planet you went to if you just wanted a good time. It held the title of the best wine and beer made in the galaxy along with a surprisingly good restaurant scene according to the information pages about them.

New Korea...was not as free as Alexandros and you felt that you and Taehyung were certainly going to have to learn what was acceptable and what wasn’t here. Just getting used to the fact that this place had actual laws that mattered, like not walking across the road anywhere other than at specified crossing areas.

“Yeah...we’re gonna have a bit of a tough time huh? I even discovered that not only is Earth considered backwards to everyone else, we really are because I can’t even understand their Korean.” He laughs at that, his smile box like and you can’t help but smile in response.

“Shit...that must suck. At least you can speak Standard though. So like, feel free to tell me to fuck off if it offends you but...does Earth really suck as bad as everyone says? I’ve never met anyone from there.” Taehyung is inquisitive, a tiny frown of interest on his face and you let out a small sigh.

“It really is. Let’s just say...well this is the first time I’ve ever seen the sky. Like...without pollution and stuff. And trees. I’ve never seen a real tree. It’s all very...I tried tuna! And real beef! Oh my, it was amazing. You don’t understand what luxury the galaxy has without even realising it!” The wonder in your voice and excitement that resonates causing Taehyung to grin even bigger.

“I’ve...never considered it before to be honest. I mean, I’ve never had tuna. It’s not a common food on Alexandros but I have had other seafood if that counts? I’m interested in trying the beef here, apparently they have some ancient way of cooking it?” Nodding, you open up a new screen on your PED and quickly type into the search.

“Yes, it’s a traditional Korean barbecue, they cook it on the table for you. Or rather you cook it. We actually do still have this back home but it doesn’t really taste nice because they don’t even bother washing the grills anymore so it’s covered in black crap. And the meat is just...artificial crap. I’m excited to try it here though, I bet they use real sauce too.” 

You don’t see the way Taehyung looks at you in pure wonderment, completely bemused by how excited you’re getting over something as simple as real meat and sauce. Pausing, you glance over and lower your head in embarrassment which immediately gets him shaking his head with a smile.

“Hey don’t get upset, I want to try it too. We should go, you seem to know what would be good. This is me trying to make friends by the way. I feel we could both use with at least one friend here, right?” You eyed him in astonishment, surprised that he was this bold and forward. No one cared about others back on Earth, they certainly didn’t embrace friendliness this quickly.

“Are you always this forward?”

Taehyung nods enthusiastically, his hair flying everywhere as he does so and you can’t help but laugh at him. “Oh yeah. It’s an Alexandros trait but my mom’s and dad’s always said I was the most outgoing out of my siblings. It’s why they paid for my tuition and everything to come here. They felt I’d make a good teacher!”

Humming quietly, you wonder whether to be as forward with him as he’d been with you. Eyeing him for a second, you decide to go for it. He can’t get upset when he just asked something that could have been hurtful to you.

“So it’s really true about Alexandros? Multiple partners and stuff?” To his credit, Taehyung doesn’t even look slightly bothered about your question. He’s busy opening up the class documents on his own PED, tongue flicking out to lick his lips.

“Oh yeah. I’ve had a lot of dad’s and mom’s and parents who didn’t identify as either gender. Some of them are still around, some have moved on to other places. At last count, I’ve had eight dad’s, six mom’s and two non-binary parents. I believe I have,” He pauses, looking up and doing some quick calculations. “Twenty two brothers and sixteen sisters. It all started because our planet wasn’t the most hospitable at the start and so they had to have more kids to be able to actually have a normal amount survive. Now everyone just likes sex and big families. It’s cool.”

You’re positive that your eyes are wide, but it’s just a completely foreign idea to you. Earth actively encouraged small families, trying to desperately reduce the rampant overpopulation. You’d never met anyone with a sibling. Nevermind thirty eight siblings!

“That’s...wow. I’m not being like...rude or anything. The idea of that on Earth is...horrifying actually. That’s how to end up in absolute poverty on the streets. It must be nice though, having such a big family around you.” He hums, lips twisting while his hand shakes slightly.

“Yes and no. It’s fun and you always have support but the fights aren’t fun, let me tell you that.” Smiling at him, you turn your head as the professor enters from the door at the bottom of the room.

“Well Taehyung...how about you tell me all about it over some barbecue later?” With an even bigger smile, he shakes your hand and nods his head in acceptance.

-

4 Years Later

Over the last four years at New Seoul University, you’ve learnt many things about not only the world outside of Earth but about yourself. You’d learnt that you were not as smart as you’d originally thought you were, but you’d come to terms with that and even enjoyed no longer being the shining example in class.

You’d learnt to no longer worry and stress about your future, instead choosing to live in the moment. This was something that people on Earth simply wouldn’t really understand, because they had no real future. But you had the galaxy in your hands now, and after you finished your final year of your degree then you’d be able to venture out into the world.

You’d learnt that the universe really did consider Earth a backwater dump, one to which you couldn’t even really argue about. But the rest of the galaxy wasn’t all roses either. Niflheim, so named after the Ancient Norse world of fog, mist and darkness, was a planet that was probably even more harsh to live on than Earth. A planet of near perpetual storms of ice, most of the inhabitants had to survive underneath specially built domes that protected the buildings that led to the mineshafts deep in the astonishingly large mountains.

Despite it’s unforgiving nature, Niflheim was popular to work in because of the Helite its small towns mined, a material that was incredibly hard yet surprisingly flexible. It had a high resale value, making the tough world hard to live in but valuable to those who roughed it out.

You’d learnt to explore yourself as well, enjoying your life for once instead of pushing yourself hard to succeed academically to the point you had no life. Taehyung had helped here, decreeing that it simply wasn’t acceptable that you kept shutting yourself in your dorm room and doing all of your homework way in advance of the deadlines.

As he pointed out, life was for living...not punishing yourself.

So you kept up your high grades to maintain your scholarships, but you lived a little more freely too. You’d shyly dated a few people here and there, sad that none of them brought beautiful to your world, and learnt many new things about yourself.

Unsurprisingly, you weren’t a fan of casual sex but you’d also discovered that you hated beer but enjoyed wine. Alcohol was far too expensive on Earth so most people made their own version which could be bought cheap. But it also came with a far higher mortality rate because you never knew what was going into it.

But you enjoyed it here, understood why people thought wine was more ‘sophisticated’ and had become quite accustomed to a glass at night. Another benefit to being friends, or more correctly best friends now, with one Kim Taehyung was that he had a much more lax view about sex than anyone else around here. And that was saying something compared to you.

Which meant that instead of casual sex, you’d been friends with benefits with him for well over a year. To him, it was purely sex and he didn’t mind giving it to you even if he was dating because of the culture he’d grown up in. He made it clear with his partners that he was free to date others and have sex with others too. But you’d mostly kept to him, not really enjoying putting yourself out there for anyone else in a while.

This was the start of your fourth, and final year at university. And you still see in black and white and all the shades of grey in between. It made your heart hurt and sometimes, at night in your shared apartment when you were a little tipsy, you lamented to Taehyung that maybe you’d never see colour.

Given the planet he came from and it’s views on sex, dating and all of that, it was perhaps unsurprising that Taehyung viewed the idea of soulmates with more than a little skepticism. In fact, you were positive he thought it was all just a bunch of shit but was being too polite and nice to tell you otherwise.

Not when he could see how much the belief that there was someone out there meant to you; someone who would love you unconditionally and who you would adore in turn, someone who would bring colour and joy to your world.

He’d acknowledged that you were in fact colour blind, many times accidentally asking you for colour advice on outfits or hair before hitting his head in realisation when you stared at him blankly. But he probably just thought it was some medical condition caused by being raised on Earth.

Soulmates didn’t really gel with the Alexandros philosophy on relationships. You didn’t complain too much to him, even though you knew of stories where people had multiple soulmates back in the old times. A lot of people today who heard about soulmates thought they were always, ironically, black and white in terms of who was bonded together.

A man and a woman, but that was wrong. Fate brought together the two souls who complemented each other the most. Men and women, yes, but also two women, two men, those who don't identify as either and so much more. Fate didn’t care about humanity’s ideas of sexuality or gender...it just cared about finding two people who would be perfect for each other.

But most people didn’t believe it anyway, so you didn’t see any point in trying to educate them. Not when they obviously had no visible reason to believe in it. 

You did though. The café that you stared out at right now told you that there was someone for you, because there was no way you’d been born this colour blind and had such a desperate urge to leave your planet and come here otherwise. They were here, you were sure of it. 

It’s just that there were over 2 billion people on this planet, so your chances were slim.

“Is there a particular reason you’ve been drying that cup for five minutes now?” The deep voice of Taehyung causes you to jump slightly, jerked out of your thoughts abruptly. Turning to look at him, you see his ever smiling face watching you intently as he leans his hip against the sink.

“Sorry...I just...new year and all that. Just...thinking.” You can’t even find a reason for him, instead just shrugging and placing the cup down before grabbing another and beginning to dry it. Glancing out over the café that you both work in, just one of the many that dot the city of New Seoul.

If there’s one thing that both old and new Korea have in common, it’s their avid love of coffee. The only difference between the two is that real coffee and milk is actually used here and not fake stuff. You could personally attest that it made all the difference to have the real stuff, it was far more flavourful and creamy.

This café is one that’s just on the outskirts of the university, meaning that it was frequented by students at all times of the day. From noon to midnight and even at 4am, there would be at least one student in its warm and fragrant walls.

You liked working here, even if it added to your stress by giving you even less time in the day for yourself but it also helped to give you an extra money flow. The scholarships and grants were great, but you needed more money to save away for when you’d finished uni.

New Korea thankfully gave automatic citizenship to anyone from Old Korea due to the historical relations between the two and you would be accepting that as soon as you’d finished uni. You would admit that perhaps you were trying to game the system by waiting until you had a degree in your hand as accepting citizenship now would mean losing the money from the United Nations Government.

Taehyung said you were being smart, but you felt like you were being selfish. But at the same time, you almost felt like Earth owes you it at least. You would be the best kind of PR for the planet, born on the ancient homeworld of humanity and dragged yourself out of it through sheer willpower and smarts.

So you worked at the café to help yourself out, letting you put away half your wages into a savings account that you would use to put down a deposit for an apartment when you finish school. The other half went to just actually enjoying life.

“All your classes are sorted right? You’re in the same Children’s Cognitive Development class as me right? With Dr Oh?” Your best friend asks, reaching past you for a cup before heading over to the coffee machine. The selling point of this café is that it uses traditional methods to make its coffee, which means the machines here are just modern versions of those that were used over a thousand years ago. 

Apparently it made the best tasting coffee, despite all the advancements of technology since.

You would agree to be honest. It wasn’t quick but that almost seemed to make it taste better.

“Yeah, I’ve got that and then I’ve also taken Interplanetary Children’s Education, The Psychology of Childhood and Teaching Special Needs.” The cups are all dry now and you begin stacking them back up in their relevant area, making sure that the café logo is facing forwards as you’d been taught long ago.

“Damn, big schedule. You’ve got the dissertation to do, you need to remember that too.” Tae points out, grabbing the carton of milk out of the refrigeration unit and adding it into the drink he’s making. Nodding, you give him a quick smile.

“I know. I’ve already decided on my topic, it’s basically going to be about how the education system is meant to be set up to be applicable to all children across all planets but it still benefits those who are better off than those in poverty.” Glancing over at you, Taehyung puts the cup and saucer onto the small tray before reaching into the counter, cutting off a piece of luxurious strawberry and cream cake before carefully placing that on the tray too.

“I wonder why the girl from Earth has chosen that topic?” He muses with a smile, brow rising at you and you just give him another innocent shrug. Your teacher had thought that same thing when you proposed it, but he’d supported you in your topic anyway.

“Can you take this out? Table 12.” He says, nodding out into the area and you smile before acknowledging his request. Brushing your hands down your black apron, you look out and your eyes widen as you see who’s sat at the table, PED glowing in front of him as a small frown knots his brow together.

“Jung Hoseok? Are you kidding?” That Tae laughing quietly, looking over before giving you a conspiratorial grin. He knows full well about your little crush on one of the most eligible bachelors on New Korea. 

Everyone knew who Jung Hoseok was, his family had been one of the first to emigrate to New Korea and had been instrumental in the founding of New Seoul. His family was astonishingly rich and well cultured, his genealogy being traced back not only centuries but centuries before humanity left Earth.

That alone made him one of the most eligible bachelors. Everyone wanted to be rich, and bagging one of the founding families was certainly the way to ensure you were rich and someone who mattered. You knew that Hoseok’s father was a Congressman in the government of New Korea, involved in regulating laws, business and more for the whole planet.

His mother was heavily involved in the education system itself. Despite that, Hoseok had got into university on his own merit. Despite your dissertation subject, the university exams were all done anonymously. So he’d gotten here by his own brain and not by the money his parents had.

Another reason he was incredibly popular and wanted though, was because he was so damn attractive. A straight slope of a nose ended in the slightest curve upwards, combining with the sharp cut of his jaw to give him one of the most astonishing side profiles ever. Soft cheeks were dotted with sweet dimples that showed when he was happy, frustrated or thinking.

Long and elegant fingers had apparently grown up playing the piano while his eyes were pools of friendliness and warmth. Jung Hoseok was well known for being exceptionally polite and friendly, one of the most affable people in the whole university. He had no real enemies and tried hard to stay on the good side of everyone.

And he did, because he was just so damn...nice.

He was astonishingly beautiful, his black hair a little fluffy and mussed together with no styling in it. You didn’t know what colour his clothes were today, all you knew was that it looked like his jeans were dark and his shirt was white. Taehyung had confirmed his hair colour long ago to you and you could only imagine how astonishing he looked in colour.

In monochrome, he was quite possibly the most beautiful man you’d ever seen.

You were best friends with Taehyung too, so that was high praise.

And Taehyung knew all about your little crush on the important, influential, beautiful and friendly heir. You’d never even spoken to the man before, simply simpered over him from behind the counter whenever he was here. 

You’d never encountered someone who had lit up your thoughts and captured your dreams quite like him. He made your stomach feel a little funny when he was here, like there were little birds flying around inside that were trying to make their way out.

But now you had to go out there and talk to him. And give him what he’d ordered. He probably wouldn’t even notice you. Hoseok was two years older than you, in his final year of a business management master’s degree and you were positive he was going to go into some area of his family business once done.

As such, your paths had never had any reason to cross outside out of the café, so he probably hadn’t even noticed you existed. Most people didn’t really pay attention to the staff in places, even here in New Seoul where everyone was meant to be a little more ‘cultured’.

Taking a deep breath, you quickly brush over the flyaway hairs on your face and brush away imaginary dirt from your apron once more before grasping the tray. It shakes only a little bit, and part of you wonders why you’re so bothered about him. You’d never been this bothered about anyone even when you’d been dating them.

Heading out, you see Taehyung give you a thumbs up with a cheesy smile as he accepts a new order from the terminal that a customer has sent through from the holo menus in the tables. He’s distracted immediately and you’re left on your own, walking over to Hoseok.

Smiling politely with your best customer service face, you place the ceramic saucer on the table before carefully placing the matching cup on top. The familiar clink that occurs when they meet each other is lost in the overall noise that crowds the café. Glancing down, you add the piece of strawberry and cream cake that he’d ordered as well before placing the dainty silver fork next to it.

“Here’s your drink and food sir, I hope you find it enjoyable.” You say politely, tipping your head in a slight bow as you hold the tray against your waist, pressing against the apron that makes up part of the uniform you had to wear here. This had been part of the training that you’d had to actively learn when compared to the others who worked here and had grown up on New Korea.

Taehyung had had to learn to incorporate cultural differences into his daily and work life as well, so at least you hadn’t been on your own there. Customer’s were treated like mini deities here, and while it was pleasing when you were on the receiving end, it wasn’t entirely nice when you were on the other end. Most customers were equally nice but some, as expected, were not. Those were the ones who tried to take advantage of staff.

You hated dealing with those.

But you knew Hoseok wouldn’t be like that. He’d never raised his voice to any member of staff here at the café before, in fact you’d never heard of him shouting or being mean to anyone. You wish you could that was because of his upper class upbringing here on New Seoul, but usually those people ended up being the ones who had the worst manners.

Not Hoseok though. Jung Hoseok was always exceptionally polite and friendly to everyone. Part of the charm that made him idolised by those at New Seoul University while also making him a prime bachelor for the many single women and men here. If you had to make a list of the top ten most eligible men in New Seoul University, Hoseok would probably be in the top three.

Park Jimin and Kim Seokjin would be battling it out for the other places no doubt.

You turn once he’s acknowledged you with a small smile and a quick thanks, his voice deeper and quieter than you expected, shifting your tray in your hands as you look back over to the counter to check if Taehyung’s okay or if you’re okay to collect the leftover cups and plates on the empty tables. 

A sudden warm weight on your wrist jerks you to a halt, surprising you because you weren’t expecting Hoseok to interact with you anymore. Brows raising, you turn back to Hoseok as you hear him begin to speak.

“Excuse me, miss-” He pauses though and you frown, wondering why until you look directly into his eyes once more. They’re a colour that you’ve never seen before, which causes you to pause in surprise, leaning back slightly.

Hoseok is staring at you with equally wide eyes that flick over your face, brow creasing ever so slightly while his mouth remains open. For a few seconds, it seems like the world outside of you both has paused and there is only Hoseok and you.

Brown. That must be the colour. You’d overheard girls on occasion gushing over Hoseok’s rich brown eyes. At the time, you’d shrugged off the comment without a second thought. Life without colour had become familiar to you, so you couldn’t miss what you’d never had.

But now, now that you can see the beautiful colours slowly bleeding to life as you look him over. His skin is more vibrant in colour, his sweater an odd shade darker than white actually that you can’t quite figure out. Jeans remain black while his equally black boots remain on his feet, matching the dark and luscious locks on his head.

Even there though, you can see hints of brown shining through their strands, blending together in a beautiful colour. Looking away from him, you see colour everywhere suddenly. Green, the colour of the grass outside that had always just looked pale to you. 

Hoseok’s hand tightens on your wrist and you look back at him, ignorant of everything else once more. Confusion is written all over his face and you get the sudden sense that he’s probably extremely overwhelmed with what’s happening right now.

“What just happened?” He whispers, confirming your suspicions. But he sounds so lost and meek, almost afraid that your heart clenched tightly with the need to console him. Uncaring whether your manager or colleagues get annoyed, you sit opposite him at the small table, the cup of coffee still steaming between you both.

His hand is still on your wrist, warm and solid.

“Are you seeing colours right now? Like...real colours?” You ask softly, leaning forward and keeping your voice low. Part of you wants to look around and take everything in, but the abundance of sheer...variety of colour that the world has makes your brain hurt a little, unable to take everything in.

It’s even worse given that you don’t even know what some of these colours are, your mind grasping for answers it simply doesn’t know.

Hoseok looks much the same, squinting his eyes slightly and you marvel at the fact that even light itself appears to have a colour. 

“How do you know that? What just happened?” Hoseok asks insistently, moving forward to shorten the distance between yourself and him. You take a deep breath, knowing that what you’re going to say next to him will make no sense. New Korea is a planet that stopped believing in soulmates long ago, the concept dying quickly as those with the knowledge passed away.

Anyone who finds their soulmate now does it by accident, so there’s no wonder Hoseok has no idea what’s going on. He probably just thought he’s always been colourblind because of some medical reason no one can figure out.

Just like you.

“I...okay, this is going to sound very strange and silly. But...have you heard of soulmates?” He tilts his head, eyes still blank at the word before shrugging slightly, lips pursing.

“In films I think. Maybe a book or two. Aren’t they just myths?” You shake your head slowly, taking a deep breath to stabilise yourself and your feelings before letting it out just as slow. It doesn’t really work, but you try to pretend that it did.

“Soulmates aren’t myths. They’re real. And...well...I don’t know how to say this to you without weirding you out but...I’m pretty sure you’re my soulmate. And I’m yours.” 

Hoseok just stares at you, face completely expressionless. For a moment, you think he’s going to laugh at you loudly and walk off, resolving to never come to this café again because of the strange Earthen girl babbling about soulmates and stuff. But instead, he releases your wrist and sits back against his chair with a soft ‘oof’, eyes widening.

“What?”

-

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s an odd tension between you and the man you fully believe to be your soulmates as you walk quietly through the nearby park. He hasn’t said a word since leaving the café and the bubbling in gut is a mix of excitement that you’d finally found him and worry that he wouldn’t believe you.

That he’d turn and walk away.

It had been ten minutes since you’d quickly rushed back to Taehyung behind the counter, begging him to cover the rest of your shift even though he was due to finish. Understandably, he’d been more than a little confused and surprised.

The half counter door swings shut behind you silently, the only sign it had been opened was the gentle swaying as it settles back into its usual place. Taehyung is currently adding the cherry syrup onto the whipped cream in the hot chocolate he’d made for a waiting customer, his face scrunched as he concentrated on the task at hand.

Chaeyoung is currently pulling the freshly baked goods out of the auto oven, placing the tray on the side to let them cool down for a bit before adding them onto the shelves in the counter for people to choose something to snack on. She hasn’t noticed your rushed appearance though, only her vibrant blue hair visible as she hums quietly to the gentle music piping through the hidden speakers in the café.

Once Tae had finished his latte and placed it on the counter to be collected, you grabbed his arm tightly and tugged him towards the back. He looked at you with confusion, dark brows tighty knitted together in concern at whatever expression you had on your face.

“Tae...I need you to cover my shift. Please, please say yes!” You beg him, letting go of his arm to clasp your hands together while you made your eyes go as wide as possible, pleading with him desperately to get him to agree.

“What? Why? I finish in ten minutes? You don’t finish for another two hours!” He begins to complain, the corners of his lips already turning down in a pout that would tug at your heartstrings.

But you can’t give in to him this time. Not now.

Glancing back outside at the café, you’re relieved to see that Hoseok is still sitting at his table. His own expression is a carefully blank one, the lower half of his face hidden as he drinks deeply from the cup you’d placed in front of him only minutes earlier.

“I found him. I found him Tae.” Taehyung’s expression slips into its own version of Hoseok’s, face not giving away anything as he obviously doesn’t understand what you’re on about.

“My soulmate! It’s Hoseok.” That gets an incredulous look, Taehyung’s eyebrows rising high on his forehead until they’re disappearing beneath his ruffled hair. They soon begin to track down though as disbelief fills him and he leans back, looking out of the door himself at the man in question.

“Jung Hoseok...is your soulmate...right. Okay.” You can tell he’s trying really hard not to put down your hopes here. He’s never believed in soulmates and despite the stories you’ve told him over the years, he’s remained firm in the belief that they’re just old wives tales from a planet that’s been dying for centuries now.

A small piece of hope for people who don’t have any.

But you still believed. And now you’d been proven right.

Glancing around the items stored on various shelves in the back room, you suddenly point towards a box of fresh coffee beans. “That’s green. And...and your hair is blue! Like the sky outside. That cup is...red and that box is brown.”

Taehyung follows your gestures, suspicion deep within them at first before slowly his eyes widen and his jaw drops.

“Holy shit. You can see colour now? What colour is this?” He asks loudly, pulling out another box from one of the shelves and holding it up. You can’t even begin to describe the colour, your brow creasing in a frown as you try to find a reference for what it could be.

“...light red?” Taehyung laughs loudly.

“Kind of. Pink. It’s pink. Actually it’s more of a fuchsia which is like...a pink mixed with a purple. Which you also don’t know so I should shut up. But anyway...how did that happen?” Chewing your lip, you shrug lightly.

“I don’t know. I mean...well...Hoseok touched my wrist to get my attention and then suddenly...it was like the world filled in. And he had the same expression, looking around everywhere. So I asked him if he can see colour now and he asked how I knew that. He...I...I mean...if he couldn’t see colour either until he touched me? You know I’ve liked him for ages too!” You’re not entirely sure why you’re almost begging him to believe you, but you need someone to accept you’re not just talking bullshit.

“Damn...yeah. Okay...I’ll bite then. Yeah, I’ll cover your shift. Go talk to him or whatever it is soulmates do. If it really is soulmates. Holy shit. Y/N, you do realise that’s Jung mother-fucking Hoseok out there? Not just some regular college guy?” Pointing out the door, he looks at you with deep concern and you feel warmth blossom inside at his protectiveness over you.

You know what he’s talking about. Of all the people in the universe, it had to be him.

“I know. I know...I just...well we’ll talk to each other and...see what happens I guess?”

What happens is apparently a lot of silence. You’re not sure if this is just Hoseok’s general nature, if he’s angry or if he’s just in shock. What you’ve seen and heard of him over the years indicates that he’s not particularly a generally quiet person.

Sure, he has his moments. But mostly he’s pretty loud when with people he likes and almost abnormally friendly. Not right now though. Right now he’s the quietest you’ve ever seen him, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans while his boots are silent on the ground. They’re obviously high end with in-built silencing fabric. You don’t even want to imagine the cost.

His bag is now slung over his shoulder, the contents of which you don’t know. Bags aren’t exactly the most common thing in today’s society, nearly everything could be done either on a PED or the small biochip that was implanted into everyone’s wrist. A combination ID card, bank card and more.

Finally though, he stops at an old-fashioned wooden bench with ornate metal woven between it. It’s been coated in weather-resistant paint, the black colour still as vibrant and shiny as the day it had been originally painted on.

For a moment, you simply stare at that and find yourself speaking without even thinking.

“Wow, even black looks different in colour.” It’s true, even if you didn’t mean to say it out loud. Hoseok’s lips pursed for a moment before he looked to his side, taking in the railing with interest before nodding and letting out a quiet noise of agreement from his throat.

And then you find yourself staring at him, taking in his sheer beauty before then looking around the park as well. It’s truly astonishing to see so much colour, to know that people just grew up being able to see this all the time. You couldn’t have even imagined just how many different variations of green there are, the shades running from the darkest green that almost borders on black to the pretty and palest green you’d spotted on a few flowers.

“It’s so beautiful.” You whisper gently, eyes running along an ancient tree that towers above you both. It’s trunk is thick and strong, the bark a shade between grey and brown while the leaves that sway in the breeze are a mixture of greens and what you presume to be orange and yellow. The science books said that was generally what colour leaves went during autumn, but New Korea had species of trees that weren’t found on Earth.

Either way, it was possibly one of the most beautiful sights you’d ever seen.

“It is. And I don’t really mean to interrupt you, because I kinda really just wanna look around too, but...I need you to explain. Please.” Hoseok gestures to the bench next to him with an imploring look and you see the pure confusion in his eyes. The poor guy's life has suddenly been turned upside down and he has absolutely no idea what’s just happened apart from a quickly blurted out statement from you in a café.

Honestly, he’s taking it all pretty well.

Taking a deep breath, you use it to fortify yourself as best you can before sitting down next to him. A quick glance over at him lets you see that he’s staring at you, and you find yourself looking away shyly in response to his intense gaze. Somehow, you’d always imagined meeting your soulmate as being a little more...romantic.

Obviously you hadn’t actually considered the awkwardness that would ensue upon two or more random people meeting each other and finding out that they’d been chosen by destiny to be perfect for one another. Then again, the stories focused on the love and romance of it all.

“Erm, well. Like I said earlier...we’re soulmates. Or like...I’m pretty sure we are. I err, I grew up on Earth. In Old Korea. And there’s still stories about soulmates back there, they’re not as popular anymore and they’re almost gone everywhere else but my mom always told me about them. She was convinced that the reason I couldn’t see in colour was because I was meant to get off Earth because someone was waiting for me out there.”

“What if your soulmate had been on Earth though?” Hoseok interrupts, looking thoughtful as he leans back against the bench and you pause, considering that. You’d pondered this a few times yourself over the years, but she’d been so adamant and desperate for you to leave that you’d pushed it away every time.

“Well...she might have just been telling me it. I mean, whatever you’ve heard about Earth...the reality is ten times worse. No mother wants to try and keep their kid on that hell planet anymore. So maybe she was but, I believed her. I used to read the stories all the time, of people finding each other through soul marks or just accidentally coming across each other. Two people who fate had decided were perfect for each other, complementary souls who would make each other happy in the long run. Who wouldn’t want that?” Hoseok’s brow rises slowly.

“I don’t know, freedom of choice is a really great thing.” He says dryly and you feel yourself wilt under his tone. You’ve dealt with Taehyung for long enough to understand where this is going. Hoseok thinks you’re being outrageous, having all these wild claims. Understandable, but it doesn’t stop the pain in your stomach when you think that it probably means he’ll leave.

“Yeah…” Trailing off, you look down at your hands and simply watch as you play with your fingers nervously, wondering what you’re meant to say. Anything is going to sound crazy to him and you’re trying to think of things that won’t send him running.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I just...this is all a little overwhelming and I get the feeling you’re understanding more than me. So please, continue. I’ll be less of a dick.” With those few sentences, you can already hear the centuries of high class breeding that has gone in Hoseok. Because there’s no one on Earth that would’ve been that polite about just potentially causing offence.

“It’s...it’s just. It all sounds so silly now I’m saying it out loud and you’re right. There’s no choice involved which makes it bad, right?” Looking at him, you give him pleading eyes but he has no response for you. “But I just...I’ve spent all my life looking in black and white. I used to watch the spaceport out of my bedroom window and wish I could see the stars, see the universe in the same colour everyone else did. And my mom told me it's because I have someone out there, someone who will make me happy and who will love me.”

Pausing, you swallow before shifting slightly to look at him.

“You have to understand. I can’t even begin to describe Earth to you, how bad it is. I made it here and...I can’t even begin to say how low my chances were. But I did. I just...I really believe that you’re...my soulmate. As stupid as that sounds to you. I’ve always felt like I needed to leave Earth, that I had to leave Earth. And I always wanted to come here to New Seoul. I thought it was just because I thought I’d have an easier time you know? Old and New Korea, it’d be similar. But when I made it here, I knew that I had to work to sustain myself and I picked here...like I just felt it was right for me. That probably sounds weird and stalkerish, huh? I just...looking back now, it feels like everything in my life has-”

“Lead to you a little café off the campus of New Seoul?” Hoseok says, his voice is carefully neutral and you look at him with surprise. You hadn’t expected him to say anything and he sounds strange. His expression is odd too, almost thoughtful as he stares down at the path.

Slowly you nod, even though he isn’t looking at you but you feel the need to let him work through whatever his thoughts are. And then he lets out a snorted laugh, shaking his head as he gives you a lopsided smile.

“You know, I thought you were full of shit in the café. I mean sure, I didn’t have any other explanation as to why suddenly I was seeing colour but I thought I’d let you talk. Even if I was sat here thinking ‘what the fuck is she on about? Soulmates?’. And then you kept talking and...it made sense,” Pausing, he glances over to you. “I’ve always been obsessed with Earth. The history and the culture. I actually wanted to do an Earth Studies major but my parents would’ve killed me. I didn’t really know why I was fascinated with it, not when everyone knows it’s one of the worst planets in the galaxy. But I just...absorbed everything I could about it. My mom was terrified that when I was eighteen that I’d run off there or something.”

Hoseok laughs at that, his face breaking into a bright smile as he glances up at the astonishingly blue sky. There’s a moment where he stops talking, his eyes simply wide as he watches it in wonder and you can’t take your own eyes off him. The smile of pure joy and wonder on his face makes your heart twist a little and you rub at your chest.

“I’m not that stupid. Besides, I got to choose a university and I just...wanted to come here. Had to. And then when I finished my degree, I felt like I should stay. Do a postgrad course. This makes a lot of sense now.” 

Chewing your lip, you wonder what to say to him and shift nervously, hands clasping and unclasping as you run through options in your mind. Was he seriously saying that he’d experienced the same urges that you had throughout life? The obsession and desire to go somewhere else with no real knowledge as to what was pushing it? Was it really the bond between you?

“I just thought I kept going to the café because I thought you were cute.” He says it so casually, like he’s commenting on the weather, that you don’t even realise what he’d actually said. And when it finally processes, your eyes widen almost comically.

“What?” You blurt out and Hoseok gives a small smile, looking a little awkward as he rubs the back of his neck before letting out one, long breath. This wasn’t where you’d been expecting it to go at all.

“I mean...are you really surprised? If what you say is true...and we’re...soulmates, then it kinda makes sense. From what you’ve said and what I just told you, it seems like we’ve had something trying to get us near each other even if we didn’t know what that was. So if whatever that was, was powerful enough to make you move to a different planet...then I think me liking you is the easy bit really.” Hoseok shrugs slightly, shifting to face you a little better before holding out his hand.

Pausing, you stare down at the palm facing you and lick at your suddenly dry lips. This is both exactly how you’d imagined this scenario going but also nothing like you’d imagined it all at once, and you’re not entirely sure how to feel about it all.

“Don’t you think it’s weird though? I mean...I just came up to you and started spouting all this soulmate bullshit and yeah sure, if I did this back on Earth to someone then they’d probably believe me easily because we believe in the stories more back there but you don’t. Not here. And you have no choice, like you said. I mean, you’re right, it’s not fair really. I don’t like...want you to feel pressured into anything because that’s not right.” You’re babbling, and you’re well aware that you’re babbling. There’s an inkling inside you that tells you that Hoseok also knows that you’re babbling, because he’s giving you a distinctly droll stare.

“Okay, Y/N,” You’re shocked that he knows your name but then remember the badge on your shirt that portrays the letters proudly in white holograms on a black background. “Yes, you’re right. I don’t think it’s fair, but then it’s also not fair for you. And it’s all a little fantastical and strange. But I have heard of the stories. I don't know much about them but I’ve heard of them. I was obsessed with Earth remember? Plus...both of us started seeing colour the moment I touched you. And even though you’re telling me all these things that sound pretty crazy and I’m more than a tiny bit bewildered by it all...sitting here with you is just about the best thing I’ve done all week.” 

Silence fills the air between you after that statement, expectant from him and stunned from you. You suppose that you should be thankful that he’s not running away from you as fast as he possibly can but you’re just...confused as to why he’s so laid back about it all.

And also shy, because this man who you’ve been crushing on for a long time, who is your soulmate, has admitted to liking you in turn. So much that he thought just sitting with you was good.

“Look, I could freak out and start screaming about how you’re talking bullshit and then walk off. I could avoid you for the rest of my life whenever I see you. But I don’t want to do that. I really, really don’t want to do that. I considered it while walking here, but something in me...something really deep in me shied away from that idea. So I’m going to roll with the punches. It’s not the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard I guess. And I mean...it costs me nothing to try, right?” 

Staring at him with wide eyes, you feel your mouth open and close dumbly. Finally, you jerk your head away and swallow, wondering what you’re meant to do now. You’re not surprised to realise that you have absolutely no idea, so you tell him so.

“I don’t know what to do now. I mean...the stories never really talked about...this,” You gesture between you both. “So I mean...what happens?”

Hoseok lets out a cheerful laugh, the sound surprisingly high and infectious as it causes you to smile along with him. Looking at you, he carefully reaches out and takes your hand. His skin is soft and warm against yours and it’s almost like everything in your body focuses on that touch.

Glancing back at him, you wonder if he’s feeling the same because he can’t stop staring at your hands as well, his brows knitted slightly as a curious expression paints itself on his face. He snaps out of it quickly, turning his eyes to your own face before giving you a slight smile.

“Well...I guess this is probably the part where we get to act like normal people and just...go on a date? Maybe not somewhere too colourful right now but...I like the sound of that?” You can tell that he does by the hopeful tone to his voice and your mind does a leap of joy at it, amazed that he’s not only taking this all pretty well but seems to be pretty excited at the prospect of dating you.

So you smile at him sweetly, turning your hand until you can thread your fingers with his own before nodding slowly. “I like the sound of that too. So...where to?”

-

Two Months Later

You didn’t have a huge amount of experience when it came to dating. That was something that you had already been well aware of upon moving to New Seoul and something that had been made abundantly clear to you in the last four years. You’d never dated anyone back on Earth, too busy studying to try and pass your exams to even notice if anyone had potentially been interested in you.

Learning to date here had been interesting as a result. Despite the fact that you’d been well aware of how others dated back on Earth, even if you hadn’t been part of it, you’d quickly discovered that dating was very different here.

For starters, people were far more sexually liberated. Which was odd, because you’d had thought that the backwater of Earth would be. But while you’d entered into the world of sex thanks to Taehyung, who you’d not been surprised about at all given where he came from, it had surprised you to discover that New Koreans were actively having sex.

Which meant that you’d been on a few dates with people only to discover that sex on the first date was very much normal here. Hell, sex before the first date. It made you feel like a prude because on Earth it just...wasn’t done. 

People avoided sex because there was always the risk of a baby. And babies were not wanted on Earth, for many reasons.

But here, the population could withstand any number of children. New Korea had only just over a billion people on the entire planet, despite being founded centuries ago. It was something that you’d only really just gotten used to.

Other strange things were that people actually went out on proper dates. Like...to other places and would spend money on things. From what you knew, a date on Earth was probably just a virt-real session in a cheap arcade in some back alley. Here though, they were whole day experiences.

Getting used to that had been a learning experience, but you soon discovered that experience hadn’t prepared you in the slightest for dating someone like Jung Hoseok.

His level of wealth was something you couldn’t even begin to compare, and his own friends must be of a similar enough status because he kept making accidental mistakes with you. Your first date had been a prime example of that.

Brushing your hands down the dress you’d bought, you admired it once more in the mirror of your bedroom. It was a pretty design, one of those timeless classics that had existed for centuries now with the body tight on your waist before gently flowing out around your waist. It stopped above your knees while the top of the dress was cut into an elegant shape, thick straps over your shoulders that became slim points, connecting to the bodice and the material cut into a shape that enhanced the shape of your breasts. 

Taehyung had agreed that it was the perfect shape for a first date, especially given that Hoseok had told you that he was taking you somewhere that had a dress code. Your feet were currently inside some dainty flat shoes with black ribbon that criss crossed up your calves. 

The dress was particularly nice because it was made of a special material that allowed it’s wearer to change the colour or pattern at will. A useless dress for you before, but now you got to see colour in its full glory and you wanted to revel in that.

You’d designed to go for a simple black today but Taehyung had encouraged you to make the flowing ends sparkle like the night sky, the tiny glittering specks becoming more sparse the higher up the dress they went.

It made a beautiful effect and you’d thanked Taehyung profusely.

Hoseok had apparently really liked it as well when you met up an hour later. You’d met up at a designated spot in the centre of New Seoul, the neon lights surrounding you making your dress shimmer in a beautiful array of colour that you’d never even seen before that had you feeling like the walking embodiment of a galaxy. His eyes had lit up when he’d met you, his own body attired in a classic black button up with matching black slacks. 

It had taken a lot to keep your jaw closed at first, eyes almost bulging at the sight of how unbelievably attractive he’d looked. You’d been shy after that, convinced that fate had it wrong and that there was no way he was your soulmate. 

Hoseok had been a little awkward as well, his movements almost stiff while his speech had been a little stilted. That hadn’t stopped him from complimenting you though, his smile genuine and eyes warm as he’d looked you over repeatedly.

“You look beautiful. The dress is...I’d say it’s possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve seen but then I’m looking at you so…” That had made you snort with laughter, the sound not attractive but you’d been unable to stop yourself as your hand had moved to cover your mouth.

“Wow...use that line on all the ladies Mr Jung?” His cheeks had flushed red at that, embarrassment making him look elsewhere while his fingers had played with each other in the classic body language of uncertainty. It had made you feel bad, so you’d reached out to him and grasped one of his hands carefully, pleased when he’d instantly shifted to thread his fingers with yours.

“So where are we going?” Had been your next words to him, the gentle smile on your face trying to let him know that you weren’t trying to make him feel bad or stupid. He’d given you a relieved expression in response and a small part of you had marvelled at the fact that already you could read him so well despite the little amount of time you’d spent together.

Hoseok had led you through the streets then, happily pointing out various stores or bars that he’d been to while at university and regaling you with stories of incidents that had happened. One clothing store had been the unfortunate recipient of Hoseok and his best friend, Jaebum, when they’d been drunk after a night out.

Apparently he was now banned from it, something that had caused him much embarrassment. A throwaway comment had let you know that it hadn’t pleased his parents either, but he’d danced away from that topic quickly.

You’d reciprocated his stories with the few you had of your own. The street where Taehyung had run the whole length stark naked after getting absolutely wasted on Mei Long, an infamous spirit with a high alcohol content made using native plants on Yangzhou. It’s name came from ancient China on Earth and meant sleeping dragon. 

Needless to say, you’d discovered why when Taehyung had ripped his clothes free and proclaimed himself to be a spirit of the universe who no one could hold back. It had taken you, Chaeyoung and one of his girlfriend’s at the time, Jisoo, ten minutes to chase after him and finally get him back into his clothes.

Thankfully, this had been at three in the morning and there’d been no one in that particular area which meant there had been around to call the police on him. 

Hoseok had laughed hysterically at that, telling you that he definitely wanted to meet Taehyung properly and get a look at the guy who’d decided to drink a whole bottle of Mei Long. You’d given him a look, asking him if he’d ever done that before.

He’d become very innocent looking after that, but you’d been unable to query him given that you’d apparently arrived at your destination. The building was huge, one of the skyscrapers that dotted the very centre of New Seoul and you stared up at it.

“This is the biggest building on the entirety of New Korea.” Hoseok said with a smile, leading you inside and taking you to the elevator. It opened immediately with a soft ding, the holographic numbers above not telling you how many floors there were.

He input a number into the datapad beside the doors and you watched as the numbers zoomed past, a funny feeling in your stomach as it moved upwards at an incredible speed. On floor 120, it finally stopped and you both walked out to find a beautiful restaurant that had a classic feel to it.

There were no holograms here, no neon or anything. Just subtle lighting that was almost yellow in colour, giving everything a look that made it all feel old somehow. It also felt very romantic, with the tables far apart from each other and each table having a traditional wax candle burning away in the centre.

You’re so busy taking in everything that you don’t even notice when Hoseok gives his name to the woman dressed in an elegant uniform. It’s only when you’re being led to a table by the windows that you realise this is where your date is going to be.

But you can’t find it in yourself to say anything as you take in the jaw dropping sight of New Seoul before you. The windows are floor to ceiling and stretch from wall to wall on both sides of the restaurant, only the bar, kitchen and entrance exempt. New Seoul glitters and shines in the night, stretching out far below you and you’re almost pressed to the window in amazement at it.

Part of you wonders if this is what Busan looked like when you lived there, but then you realise that it’s so much better than that. As the tallest building, the restaurant towers above everything else and let’s you get the perfect glimpse of your adopted city. The neon signs you’d become so familiar with gleam brightly in the darkness and you admire the way everything looks so beautiful despite all the technology littering it.

Even at this late hour, the buildings still look clean and simple while the city itself looks almost elegant. It’s so unlike anything on Earth and you smile softly to yourself, a warm feeling spreading in your chest as you realise that you truly do consider this place to be home now.

The city turns abruptly into darkness far in the distance and you know that’s because it’s the very edge of New Seoul, the mountain range of Namsan rising into the sky behind it. It had been named by the founders of New Seoul after the mountain in Old Seoul and you thought it was rather fitting that it still towered over everything centuries later.

“Wow, it’s incredible.” You whisper softly, unaware that the waitress has left and that you’re alone again with Hoseok. He’s just watching you quietly though, chin in his hand and a gentle smile on his face as he does so. It’s only when you shift back to look at him that he sits up, the softness in his eyes vanishing until you only think it’s the reflection of the city lights in them.

“Yeah, it looks a lot better in colour.” He admits, grinning shyly and rubbing at the back of his neck. Reaching for the menu that had been placed in front of you, and marvelling for a moment over the soft feel of real paper, you scan over the options with narrowed eyes.

“Do you come here often?” You ask, keeping the conversation going while you try to figure out what some of the food was. It didn’t have explanations on it bizarrely, nor did it have how much anything cost. Half of the names made absolutely no sense to you and you chewed on your lip, probably ruining your lipstick but uncaring.

Hoseok looks up at you awkwardly, shrugging with one shoulder. “I’ve been here a few times. My parents made me come when I was younger. It’s one of the best restaurants on New Korea and I knew the view was amazing so...I wanted to share it with you. So we could both see it in colour for the first time.”

The sentiment behind his desire is sweet and you go warm all over at it, fingers playing with the white cloth napkin that was placed beside an elegant glass. At the same time though, the fact that he’s brought you to one of the best restaurants makes you feel a little uncomfortable.

Combined with the lack of prices on the menu, you had a feeling that this place was probably going to wipe a big chunk out of your savings. The common courtesy for men on New Korea was to pay for the dinner still, an outdated belief that was still somehow prevalent in a society that was remarkably forward with dating.

You would be insisting that Hoseok split the bill of course. It simply didn’t do for you to accept him to pay for it all.

Though you would at least like help on what to order. Other than that, you couldn’t fault him for picking what had to be one of the most stunning sights on the planet to witness, because the view truly was incredible. And you had to remember that he did come from money, so it probably hadn’t entered his head.

It was something you could work on.

After that, you’d admitted to not knowing what the food was and had been instructed by Hoseok on what everything on the menu actually was. Apparently this was all traditional New Korean food, which was amusing to you because most of it didn’t really represent the food you’d grown up with in Old Korea, aka the real traditional Korean food.

A lot of the classic meals here had been adapted from old recipes to incorporate native plants and animal species here or had changed throughout the centuries to accommodate spices and foods brought in from other planets. The results meant that you barely recognised them and when your order of what was the New Korean equivalent of kimchi jjigae arrived, you’d been bemused to discover that it was nothing like what you were used to.

“This is not kimchi jjigae,” You said with laughter, sipping at the soup anyway and enjoying the taste despite that. It was sweet, incredibly sweet to the point that you were almost cringing with only the slightest hint of spice to it. “Where’s the spice?”

Picking up a piece of kimchi between your chopsticks, you ate it carefully and hummed in contemplation. Whatever this vegetable was, it wasn’t what you were used to and you carefully ate another piece.

Hoseok watched you with a laugh, shaking his head and grinning. “It’s been a few centuries, apparently recipes change. Either that or this place is just too fancy. You know what it’s like with restaurants like this.”

He’d said it so airily, so completely unaware that you haven't grown up anything like him. But the innocence with which he says it makes it hard to feel annoyed at him, not when you can tell that he genuinely doesn’t mean anything mean or rude by it.

“Not really. I don’t think they have restaurants like this on Earth. Or if they do, they weren’t in Busan and I could have never gone there.” That stuns him into silence, his jaw audibly clicking shut while red appears once more on his cheeks. You get the impression that Hoseok is mentally slapping himself and laughed, letting him know that you’re not really bothered.

That leads on to a whole discussion about Earth, with Hoseok peppering you with questions about what it was like growing up there and what Earth was actually like. It was hard to describe somewhere so completely destitute and poor to someone who came from a place that was as rich and powerful as New Korea, but you tried for him.

You could tell that he was genuinely interested in your home planet; not only because of his own interest in the homeworld of humanity but because it was where you had come from. He asked you unique questions that you would have never thought of and the time had quickly passed as you had answered him, firing questions back to him about growing up here.

It was during this conversation that you found out that Hoseok had mostly grown up in New Seoul though his parents had often taken him to other cities for months at a time. You got the impression he resented this but despite the subtle querying, he didn’t take the bait and discuss it further.

All you knew was that neither of you had grandparents; your own dying when you’d been a child from what was deemed old age on Earth while Hoseok’s had apparently died before he’d even been born. You presumed from that then that his parents were on the older side, which you found interesting given their position in New Korean society.

Finally though, it was time for the bill and you were surprised to find out that three hours had passed by. You’d eaten all the kimchi jjigae, despite the laughter about how different it was to what you were expecting, and had fully enjoyed the dessert that had followed it. 

The waitress placed the bill on the table, the paper printed carefully with the meals and drinks that you’d both ordered and eaten throughout the evening. It was a novel concept to see paper being used so liberally here and you took it from Hoseok, ignoring his protest.

“I want to pay for half. That’s how we do it on Earth and I know that it’s different here but I-” You stop suddenly, eyes widening as you read the total at the bottom. It’s so high that your brain can’t even compute it for a few seconds and you simply gawp, blinking before frowning. “Is this right?”

Hoseok takes the receipt from you and scans over it, nodding slowly before looking at you. Now it’s your turn to be embarrassed, hands playing with the hem of your dress as you carefully avoid his gaze.

“Yes? It’s right? I mean...is there something wrong? I can’t see anything? And I’m okay sharing the bill, it’s not what I’m used to but I want to make you comfortable.” You wish you could go back in time and slap yourself to stop those words coming out of your mouth, because now you’re going to have to embarrass yourself even more.

For a minute, you struggle to find the words to tell him, shame at your own situation and a sudden hatred of where and how you’d grown up taking over. You’d spent years studying to get here and then years working here when you had, yet you still weren’t good enough. Especially not for him, not for your soulmate.

“Hoseok...I’m really sorry. I...I can’t afford this.” The words are whispered, barely audible and he frowns for a moment. You wonder if he’s not heard you, humiliation rising at having to say it for a second time before suddenly his eyes widen, jaw dropping.

“Oh fuck.” He curses loudly, attracting shocked looks from other patrons. Shoulders hunching, you try to make yourself even smaller to avoid their gazes but it’s Hoseok’s you want to escape from most of all. The way his face crumples into dismay and then pity makes you want to throw yourself out of the damn window.

“Shit. I’m so sorry. I just...I forgot and I wanted to show you this place but I forgot the pricing and-” He’s about to continue, prostrating himself to you from the other side of the table and you can hear the genuine apology in his voice. Not to mention his worry about making a bad impression.

Holding up a hand, you give him a slightly strained smile and sigh deeply. “It’s okay. I...the food was great, the view was amazing and I really enjoyed it. I just...do you mind paying? I’m really sorry.”

“Please don’t say sorry, this was my mistake. My bad. I’m so stupid, oh my god. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad or anything. Fuck.” He lets out a groan, running his hands through his artfully done hair before tugging on the strands a little. It makes him look even more attractive and you hum in amusement at that, despite the little bubble of negativity you’re feeling.

“It’s okay. Honestly. We’ll just...learn from this right? That’s what we’re doing...learning.”

He’d spent the rest of that night apologising profusely, his cheeks bright red in shame and a look of sadness on his face as he chastised for his mistake. 

Hoseok had already admitted to you before then that he’d never even met anyone from Earth, despite his obsession when younger. As such, he hadn’t quite realised just how poor people from there were. After that date, you’d carefully given him more cultural lessons about Earth from someone who had actually lived there.

You had money here, yes. But you didn’t have the kind of money required to sustain those levels of dating.

Thankfully, he’d proven to be a quick learner and had made sure to propose dates that were a little more amenable. Whole days spent running around virt-real landscapes that took you both away to planets you hadn’t even thought of or engaged in full story led experiences. A day at the closest amusement park, the rides there engineered to almost defy the laws of physics. Another day at a conservation park, full of wild animals that were being carefully raised or nurtured back to health.

Some of them had been native to New Korea whereas others had been bred here specifically to repopulate other planets wildlife species. You had both learnt that apparently there were many attempts being made across the galaxy to bring back once extinct Earth wildlife with the eventual hope of repopulating the homeworld of humanity with the animals they’d once killed off.

You’d been a little dubious of the whole idea. People had already messed everything up once and Earth was polluted enough just for humans. The idea of putting all these innocent animals back there to potentially just suffer and die wasn’t good for you, but you appreciated the attempts in the hope of a future.

What had maybe surprised both of you though, had been just how well you got on with each other. You could tell that Hoseok had remained a little dubious about the whole soulmate thing and you hadn’t pushed him on it either. But even you were finding it a little strange just how well you both were interacting with each other. 

The two of you came from wildly different backgrounds and completely different planets. Neither of you had watched the same things growing up, hadn’t read the same things or done the same activities. And yet you’d both discovered so many commonalities already.

Your music tastes didn’t quite align with each other, but they were complementary enough that neither of you complained when you heard something playing that the other loved. Your film tastes aligned perfectly though and you’d both spent more than a few evenings at the retro cinema a few blocks away from the university.

Cinemas were a novel thing nowadays, given the galaxy’s penchant for things immediately. They were mostly just for those who wanted to pretend they were living a few centuries ago when a cinema was the only place you could watch something new. They’d also gained a new life as social places to meet up and hang out with friends and family.

Hoseok and you had watched so many films, from those made right here in New Korea to those from all reaches of the galaxy. They even showed the Ancient Classics from Earth, the home of film.

The cinema has that familiar subtle lighting that makes it feel warm and welcoming while the scent of fresh popcorn, an old Earth staple for this kind of event apparently, flavouring the air. Traditional style posters were hung everywhere, advertising what films were going to be shown in the upcoming weeks and you hummed as you looked over them, sipping on your drink as you waited for Hoseok to come back from the bathroom.

The two of you had been dating for a month now and you were surprised at how relaxed and comfortable you felt with him already. It reminded you almost of your friendship with Taehyung, but far more intense. 

You suspected that Hoseok reciprocated the feelings as well, given that the two of you had been going on ‘dates’ or just enjoying time together at least once every two days. Almost like neither of you liked going longer than that without seeing each other.

By this point, he’d become well acquainted with Taehyung, visiting your apartment frequently. The two of you had done everything from watch entertainment to simply sitting together and reading and even studying for your classes. It felt nice, just to be near him. Relaxing almost.

Unsurprisingly, it had been Hoseok who had introduced you to cinemas. They didn’t have them on Earth anymore, which he’d been surprised about. Though you’d pointed out that even if they did have them, no one could afford to go to one anyway. Or even have time.

But apparently he loved them and was a huge aficionado of the old films from Earth. He’d been surprised to discover you hadn’t really seen any, only really watching the newer stuff that had been released. Which had led to him taking you to this specific cinema in New Seoul which specialised in an authentic and traditional experience.

They even had old style projectors here, which you hadn’t even known still existed. The first film he’d taken you to see had been something called Star Wars, apparently the first in a series that had been hugely popular in the 20th and 21st centuries. Given its age, it didn’t look its best and you’d both laughed over how it treated space flight and so forth but you’d surprisingly enjoyed it a lot.

As such, you’d come with him a few more times since and had watched a wide range of genres with him. Everything from something called Mamma Mia! to Alien, all of it so old that you didn’t even recognise half of the stuff you were looking at. It was like a window into another world, but you loved it and so did he.

Tonight though, you’d be watching something called Jurassic Park. Apparently it was one of the best films from Earth and featured dinosaurs. That had immediately fascinated Hoseok when you’d both read the description. You had been interested too but New Korea had nothing comparable to the dinosaurs of Earth.

“Hey, I’ll take that.” Hoseok says as he comes out of the bathroom, smiling at you brightly as he reaches for the large tin bucket full of sweet flavoured popcorn. You give him to happily, holding onto the drink in a reusable cup and take another sip before gesturing to him as you both walk to the correct screen.

He leans forward and you carefully press the cup to his lips, tilting it just enough for him to drink before taking it back once he’s had enough. The screen is dark when you go in, the generic lighting letting you find your seats in the small room and you listen in happiness at the gentle chatter of the people around you.

You’d been surprised to find that these screenings were very popular here and it never failed to amuse you the fascination people still held for Earth. Particularly given their contempt for it as well. 

Hoseok shifts in his seat, slumping even further and you smile at him. This cinema apparently wasn’t in the actual traditional style with individual seats that were numbered. Instead, it had opted to go for a more casual approach that appealed more to the citizens of New Seoul, it’s one concession to modern day preferences.

Each screen has multiple different kinds of seats available, with some long couches allowing up to four people on them or alternatively, smaller armchairs for those going alone. You always booked tickets for two seater couch, enjoying how comfortable it was and how you could relax completely in your seat to enjoy the film.

It also helped that it let you get a little bit closer to Hoseok, his warmth exceptionally comfortable and soothing to you. You’d even fallen asleep once against him, walking up to his gentle prodding in an hour later and having to steadfastly ignore his amused expression. 

Unfortunately, you’d drooled all over his shoulder. He’d thought it was cute, you’d been mortified.

Today though, he simply held up an arm and gave you a questioning look. Smiling, you placed the cup into the inbuilt cup holder on the arm of the couch before shuffling over, cuddling into his side and enjoying the way his arm felt on your shoulder while he felt so solid against your side.

You both chat for a few minutes, your voices quiet and low as you discuss how your day had gone before the lights dimmed and the screen came to life. Almost immediately you both quietened down, eyes glued to the screen as it went through the usual advertisements for brands and films. 

And then the film began.

Neither of you talked at all throughout it all, both of you completely enraptured in the film that had been released over a thousand years ago. You were in complete awe over the storyline and the magnificent dinosaurs, squeezing Hoseok tightly in fear at the scene with the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the car before pushing your head into his shoulder with the Velociraptors in the kitchen.

It was all over far too soon, with the soaring music that filled your chest signifying the end along with the credits that rolled of people who had long since died. Looking at Hoseok, you grinned at his awed expression, taking a handful of the remaining popcorn and stuffing it into your mouth before getting up.

You both stretched with a groan before exiting, placing the popcorn tin and cup into the relevant recycle bins before quietly heading into the bathrooms. Hoseok was waiting for you outside and he took hold of your hand, holding on tightly as you both exited the cinema and began to chatter about the film you’d both watched.

It had become a tradition quietly to go for a meal afterwards and talk all about what you’d just seen; from analysing the storyline to discussing the effects and acting. Some of the films you’d watched had been truly atrocious, but you got the feeling that what you’d just seen was special.

Sure enough, you’re both sat in a Valerian restaurant half an hour later, the pasta that had been brought with Valerian’s from old Italy mixed with the native spices and flavours from their planet being eaten without even properly appreciating what you were eating.

“Was it just me, or did the dinosaurs still look really good? I mean...the film’s over a thousand years old but it didn’t look...crap?” Hoseok says, wonder in his eyes as he talks and you nod in agreement.

“I did some quick reading beforehand and apparently they used physical props for like the T-Rex, so that was actually real. Maybe that’s why it looked like that? I mean, the dinosaurs at the very start looked pretty awful.” He nods and hums, tapping his finger against his chin before eating some more.

“Makes sense I guess. Though they used physical props in Star Wars and that still looked absolutely shit. Maybe it’s the lighting they used? It was dark often and you can hide a lot in darkness.” 

Shrugging, you took a deep drink of Valerian wine, enjoying the subtle fruity taste of the alcohol before swallowing it. “I really liked it though. I think that’s been my favourite so far.”

Hoseok grinned broadly, happiness radiating from him and you felt a blossoming warmth in your own chest at his expression. Gripping your fork a little tighter, you watched as he nodded, eyes almost sparkling and you wondered if your own expression looked like his.

“Definitely. I can see why it’s been rated so high for so long. Apparently there’s sequels.” He raises a brow at you, the question in both his tone and face and you grin immediately.

“If we finish this quickly...do you want to go watch one at mine?” The question was already defunct as Hoseok was nodding immediately and you laughed loudly, loving how eager he was to spend more time with you.

Not that you were complaining of course…

Today, Hoseok had asked to meet you outside of your apartment in the early hours of the morning. You’d do so with a gentle whine, heart racing a little at the sight of the little smile on his face as it hovered above your PED. He’d promised that it would be worth it though.

And the sight of the silver air car coming to a quiet landing in front of you told you that it probably was. Brow rising, you watch as the passenger side door opens and Hoseok grins at you from the other side. Carefully, you climb in next to him and sit down, pressing the button where the safety harness engages and the door closes.

The interior of the air car is possibly the nicest thing you’ve ever seen in your entire life and it smells clean and fresh. That’s not surprising, given one of the things you’ve learnt about Hoseok is that he’s pretty sensitive about smells and only likes light fragrances. Apparently he really liked the fruit scent that you’d taken to using here on New Seoul, a fruit called peach that you’d never heard of before.

But despite all of that, you can tell that this air car costs money. They’re common here in New Korea, less common than on Earth though but these air cars are made to the highest galactic standards. They produce almost no pollution  and have high safety standards. A law was passed over a century ago that required all air cars to be less than four years old to reduce accidents.

Unlike Earth, where you knew of people with two hundred year old air cars that occasionally stopped working.

As a result though, air cars weren’t the cheapest form of transportation and most people took the excellent public transportation which connected every city, town and village on the planet together.

“I should’ve known you had an air car.” Smiling slightly, you reach out and run your fingers along the black dashboard. It’s sleek and beautiful, soft to your touch but you know if there was an accident that it would immediately swell with life saving foam.

“Oh yeah? Why?” Hoseok’s question is genuine, you can hear the actual curiosity in it and you just stare at him dryly until his mouth drops in realisation. Seeing that gentle flush of pink on his cheeks, you turn away and shake your head slightly in amusement.

“Anyway, where are we going that requires this?” He’d only ever taken you places using the public transportation before, so going somewhere privately intrigued you.

“We’re going to Sejong. I thought you might like it.” The statement is so casual that you almost miss it at first until it finally registers in your head. Then you look at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

“Sejong? You’re taking me to Sejong? Seriously? Why?” That gets a confused look from him, almost affronted and you want to laugh at how genuinely baffled he looks by your suddenly accusatory tone. He takes a moment to formulate a response, hand reaching out to press confirm on the begin button on the journey map holo and you can’t help the small ‘ooh’ of pleasure as the air car rises silently and smoothly.

“Because my family has an estate there, on the beach. And...well I always really hated it when I was younger and I couldn’t see what it all looked like because everyone always talks about Sejong being beautiful. But it just looked like everywhere else to me. So...I want to see it, and I want you to see it too. You brought colour into my life...it’s only fair that I show you one of the most beautiful sights in New Korea.” 

It wasn’t a hugely romantic statement that he’d just said. People might even view it as a little selfish, using you as an excuse to go on an excursion to his family’s estate in one of the most affluent areas in the entirety of New Korea. But the breathlessness that had taken over your chest and the way your heart fluttered told you that you thought it was the romantic thing you’d ever heard.

He wanted to go see what was considered to be one of the natural wonders of New Korea in its full colour glory...and he wanted to go with you. The woman who claimed to be his soulmate and whom he didn’t quite believe but didn’t quite not believe either. 

Your stomach felt a little funny.

“Okay...I mean...yeah. I’d love to.” It was the only thing you could say really. You wouldn’t have turned down the offer anyway, but the fact it was with him made it all the better. The last two months had made your crush on Hoseok grow bigger, the feelings swirling inside you snowballing faster and faster until you weren’t entirely sure what you felt anymore.

Being around him was the most exciting thing in the galaxy to you but it was also one of the most calming and relaxing. He made you smile with his sweet attempts at dating and conversation, his uncertainty with how to act endearing, and made you laugh with his good humour. But he also made you feel safe in his presence, like you could tell him all of your problems and he’d be a vault for you or fall asleep in his presence and he’d protect you.

You’d wondered whether the whole soulmate thing really was real sometimes after finally meeting him, or if you’d just projected hard. It was complicated to comprehend, but you genuinely believed in it. You weren’t sure what he thought, but you’d never met someone you just felt so...right with before.

And so quickly. 

After only two months you already felt like you’d been friends for a long time while the romance between you both made your stomach fizz sometimes. It was a strange mixture of comfort with excitement.

Glancing over at him, you realise that he’s already looking at you and you pause in surprise. There’s a moment of hesitation from you before he smiles softly, reaching out across the gap that separates your seats and grasps your hand gently. With a movement that’s become practiced over the months, his hands shift until he can lace your fingers together, squeezing tightly for a moment.

“So how big is this estate? The very fact that you can use the word estate is mind boggling to me. The fact it implies you have more than one is even more so.” That gets a laugh from Hoseok now, his head rocking back to rest against the soft headrest behind him.

“It’s...of a good size. And I wouldn’t go around thinking everyone here has an ‘estate’, they don’t. It’s just...my family…” He trails off awkwardly and you nod, acknowledging that with a quiet sigh. Hoseok had proven to be rather reticent about his family and you’d been a little insulted at first, wondering if maybe he didn’t think you’d be good enough with your incredibly low birth status.

But you’d soon realised that it was actually because he wasn’t really sure how to go about it. He’d never actually said that out loud, but the way he danced around conversations that veered too close to his family told you everything. You’d even noticed that he did it around his own friends, whom he’d introduced you to last month.

Quickly though, you’d decided not to push him on it. He would tell you all about it when he wanted to and you didn’t want him to feel pressured or anything. The last thing you wanted was for him to feel pressured, especially when he didn’t pressure you on anything. You were a little curious though as his family dynamics were something you couldn’t even comprehend really.

“It’s okay. So...we’re going to the sea?” You grin at him, causing him to smile back and the happiness in his eyes makes you feel content. Nodding at you, he leans back and lets out a deep sigh. 

“Yeah. I used to go to the Sejong estate when I was younger a lot. It’s one of my favourite places in this world. And I’m aware of my privilege when I say that, but I want you to see it too. You’ll love it, I’m sure.” That has you wiggling in your seat in excitement. You’d seen pictures of Sejong throughout your years here in New Seoul but they’d all been in black and white obviously.

You hadn’t looked at any since being able to see in colour, so you were excited to see what Hoseok had to show you. Particularly if he loved it too.

The rest of the journey to Sejong was quiet after that, the two of you settling down with just your hands holding. You even slept for an hour or so, content in the gentle noise of Hoseok’s music playing over the speakers while he read an e-book. It felt nice to not have to find the need to talk, the contentment of simply being near each other satisfying enough.

Despite joking around with Hoseok beforehand, you really were excited to see Sejong and experience it with him. A small coastal town on the equator of New Korea, it had been named after the ancient Korean King Sejong, the creator of the Korean alphabet, hangul. 

Sejong had originally been founded by the planet’s richest inhabitants four centuries ago, bestowing the name of the famed king upon it. It was considered to be one of the most beautiful places on the whole planet and was populated with the sprawling estates of the oldest and most influential families.

Hoseok had also informed you that it did have a normal, fully working town as well with a population of people who simply lived their lives like any other person. The original founders of the town had built affordable housing for everyone and special laws had been passed to ensure that the price of the buildings never rose. Even now, centuries later, houses still had to be sold at the price that had been specified all that time ago.

It had helped to encourage more growth in the town and a diversity of people from all walks of life, as all new buildings had the same regulations. The proximity to the planet’s richest people made it a popular place for people to live and visit but it had industry had been banned in the area to protect it.

A small beep alerted you both to the fact that the air car was about to land and you sat up, sad that Hoseok’s air car didn’t have windows in it. They were considered a structural safety hazard as there hadn’t been a glass invented that was strong enough to protect an impact that an air car could have in an accident so they just didn’t have them.

Glancing at you, Hoseok grinned before pressing a button once the car came to a gentle halt, the soft sound of the landing gears engaging as they touched the ground. Both doors hissed open and you bounded out, excitedly looking around and not even noticing when Hoseok came up behind you.

His arms wrapped around your waist before he lay his head on your shoulder, kissing your neck briefly before taking in the sight as well. 

An obscenely beautiful fountain made of what you thought was some material like marble took up most of the entrance courtyard, sprays of water shimmering like diamonds as they fell elegantly from a beautifully carved dragon and tiger that were intertwined. The black stone was engraved with hangul and you read it over, noting that they were names.

“It’s all the members of my family. Somehow it became a tradition to engrave the names of family onto the fountain throughout the centuries so...it’s like a living family tree.” The very notion that he could not only trace his family back so far but actually had a fountain with their names on it blew your mind.

“Hoseok...this is...I don’t even know the name of my great-grandmother.” It made you feel almost...ashamed to admit that to him. But while you knew he was rich, and came from an important family, it was another thing entirely to be face to face with it. The house behind the fountain was...obscenely large. A mansion, something you thought was only an image in e-books from centuries ago.

But this was actually a mansion...two stories high and long. So many windows dotted it’s sides, gleaming in the sunlight while the two-door entrance required three steps to climb before entering the entrance canopy. The walls were a beautiful off white colour while the tiles on the roof were a burnished orange, giving it a look that you recognised from images of ancient Italy and Spain on Earth.

The difference was the style of the architecture though. It was a blend of what had once been called Asian and Western on Earth. The house itself, the windows, the colouring and the doors were all clearly inspired by the mansions and houses of old Europe and North America. But the roof itself arched in the elegant lines of old Korea, reminding you so much of the ancient palaces and temples that still dotted the landscape of your home country.

Hoseok sighs gently before kissing your temple, resting his lips there for a moment before pulling away and taking your hand once more. “I’ll give you a tour of the house later...but for now...I want to take you to the beach. And the ocean. I just...please don’t stress yourself about this place. I like to think you know me well enough now to know that I don’t really care about stuff like this. I just want to show you something that’ll make you smile.”

Watching him quietly for a moment, you just smile a little to yourself before letting yourself be led down a gravelled path that was surrounded by vibrant green hedges that bloomed with a whole array of pretty flowers. You presumed that these were likely native to the planet but you couldn’t be sure.

Either way, they were beautiful and smelled just as delightful too. Pausing for a moment, you leant forward to smell one of them and hummed lightly. It smelled like oranges bizarrely, and you frowned in confusion at it.

“Weird right? It’s a flower that smells like a fruit. And what’s even stranger is that the scent changes according to the season. Mom loves it though so she made them put these in when I was younger. Now the whole place smells like them but I don’t mind.” With a little tug, he continues leading you through until he reaches a tall, white stone wall that rises high above you both. 

It looks to go for a distance in both directions and you presume it marks the boundaries of the estate itself. The gate Hoseok opens doesn’t look like anything you’ve ever seen in person before. It looks to be in a traditional iron gate, the metal intricately curled into patterns while the black colour stands out starkly. You like it though, strangely.

“I thought the sea was like...right here from what you were saying.” You say to Hoseok lightly, following him carefully through the small trail that looks to have been worn into the tall grass over years of use. It must be very old, because you can’t imagine many people being here all that often.

“Well...I mean it technically is. It’s just over this little rise. Apparently this was here when Sejong was founded and it makes like...a natural sea wall to prevent any tsunamis. Not that there’s ever been one but...I guess it’s nice to know it’s there. And then we have the estate boundary wall as a defence as well. Though I think that was more to keep prying eyes away. But anyway, I digress. The sea is right here, and you can see it perfectly from my bedroom in the house.” That gets a laugh from you and you push at his side gently, humming in amusement as he lets out a tiny wail and overdramatically pretends to fall.

“I lived near the ocean too on Earth but I couldn’t see it. Not that I’d ever want to. It wasn’t anything interesting to look at. And I wish I could say that was just because of being colour blind but you know...dead ocean and everything.” You say it lightly but Hoseok looks back at you with slight concern.

Even though he knew a lot about Earth thanks to all his self-studying growing up, you knew that he’d been learning a lot from what you’d been telling him. A lot of it had been shattering that idealised image he’d had but at the same time, it had just increased his concern for you as well.

You didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that he felt a lot of shame at the vastly different ways you’d both grown up. But you didn’t want that. Neither of you could have changed your situation back then and you wanted to just focus on the here and now. You’d made it away from there, you were where you’d always dreamed of being and now...now you had your soulmate too.

Finally, the two of you reach the top of the ridge and both pause. Partially, it’s because you’re both a tiny bit out of breath from the small climb but mostly it’s because you’re stunned by what you see.

Carefully moving down, you take off your shoes once the coarse grass meets the fine sand. Moving onto it barefoot, you look down and smile as you feel it squish between your toes, moving beneath your feet and making it a little harder to stand. It feels so soft and warm, so unlike anything you’ve ever felt before.

Crouching down, you run your fingers through it and smile as it leaves behind trails, a few grains rushing to fill the gaps. Taking a handful, you hold it up and watch as the perfectly white sand slips between your fingers, falling to the ground gracefully in the gentle breeze of the wind.

You’re so enamoured with the sand that you don’t realise Hoseok is crouching next to you too, just watching you with a fascinated look. It’s only when he pushes some sand over to you, covering your hand that you look at him.

“I thought you said you lived by the ocean?” Nodding, you look at your hand as you lift it up to your face, noting how it seems to stick to you. “So why do I get the feeling you’ve never seen sand?”

“Because I haven’t. The sea is dead on Earth. No one goes to a beach anymore unless you want to risk getting something. And even then, most of the sand beaches are gone. This...this is...beautiful.” Looking up, you take in the astonishing sight before you.

The white sand extends out around a hundred metres before it meets the ocean, the waves lapping against the shore lightly. White foam bubbles at the lip of each wave, extending out as it slides along the sand before sinking back out and awaiting the next wave.

Jogging forward, you note that it’s not as blue as you’d expected. Or at least, not as blue as you’d seen in the photos that you’d looked at over the last two months. The sea closest to the shore is crystal clear with the slightest hint of an almost green shimmer to it, letting you see directly to the shells, stones and driftwood that dot the ocean floor. 

Moving further away, it deepens into an exquisite green that’s so light and so unique. It reminds you of the colour ‘seafoam’ that you’d looked up on the colour charts when you’d gone home the first day after properly meeting Hoseok. You’re not sure you’d ever be able to replicate the colour here.

This astonishingly beautiful green slowly turns into a crystal aquamarine as it gets farther out, deepening until the horizon is a rich and luscious navy against the clear and clean blue of the sky. You’re not sure you’ve ever seen anything so...magnificent. 

The ocean here isn’t a stretch of land though, and you note with awe that it’s more like a bay. White sand circles around in a wide arch and you take in the sight of the mountains that thrust proudly towards the heavens in either direction. The right side of the bay is heavily forested in luscious green, as if it has a living coat made of emerald leaves that breath in time to the wind.

On the left hand side, the mountains are coated in the same forests, but this side doesn’t approach the ocean gently like the other. Instead, it meets the elegant sea in a crash of jagged cliff sides, their faces bone white as they push back against the ever looming waves. 

Gazing around everything in wide eyed wonder, you turn and look at Hoseok. You’re slightly pleased to see that he’s also looking everywhere with the same awed look as you, finally catching your eye and giving you a smile that slowly turns into a grin.

“Wow. I knew it was beautiful here, it was beautiful even in black and white but this...this is…” He trails off, unsure of what to say and you find yourself nodding in agreement with him. It was easy to see why this was considered one of the natural wonders of New Korea and it boggled your mind even more to know that his family had a whole estate right here. 

The bay was big enough that it didn’t take up a huge amount of space in reality, but it still blew your mind. And you knew that unlike the oceans of your homeworld, this ocean would be in pristine condition because of the strict environmental laws in place.

It was why you couldn’t resist running forward to the water, shrieking with laughter as warm seawater splashed your feet. The very fact that you could do this without any words was amazing but you didn’t pay attention to that, just looking at Hoseok with a bright grin.

“It’s warm! Come here!” You gestured to him but he shook his head, laughing in response as he pushed his black hair away from his forehead.

“I have my clothes on. I don’t want to get them wet.” He said lightly, ignoring the fact that your own leggings were now soaked around your calves as you kicked around in joy. But you pouted at him, sticking your lower lip out far and giving him the biggest puppy eyes you could possibly do.

And you literally saw the moment he gave in. The moment when his resolve died in him. It was astonishingly fast but soon enough he was kicking off his own shoes, placing them next to yours where he’d brought them after you’d taken them off before coming over to you.

He hesitates for a moment at the water’s edge and you grin, bending over and spraying him with water that you throw upwards. The yelp he lets out makes you laugh even harder, but not as much as you do when he does it straight back to you.

That starts a whole water fight between the two of you, throwing water that glitters in the sunlight at each other until you’re both drenched and tired. Heaving a breath, you let out a breathy laugh as Hoseok moves over to you, the water up to his stomach now.

He cups your face in his hands, smiling down before kissing you quickly. “So...how do you like the sea?”

Twisting your lips, you think for a moment before wrapping your arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. Pushing up on your tiptoes, you kiss him once more and enjoy the way your stomach almost buzzes in content delight at the sensation of his lips against yours.

“Amazing. I could live here.” You say once you pull away, admiring the way his sun makes his skin almost glow golden from where it reflects against the water on him. His hair is plastered to his head, the strands an inky black and you reach up to gently move them away.

“I’m glad you like it.” He whispers and then he’s kissing you again. Only this time, he reaches down and grasps the back of your thighs, encouraging you to jump. Even if you weren’t stronger than him because of your Earth heritage, the water adds a buoyancy that allows you to feel lighter than ever. Squeezing your legs around his waist, you wrap your arms around his neck and simply enjoy the sensation of making out with him in this beautiful place, the water warm against you while the sun beats hotly onto you both and the gently crashing of the waves make the most perfect soundtrack.

It’s something you never could have even imagined back on Earth and the thought makes you grip him a little harder, not wanting to let go of him in case this all just turned out to be a dream that would break your heart. He doesn’t complain, just lets out a quiet groan into your mouth and squeezes your thighs a little harder.

Hoseok has been good for the last two months. Despite the common prevalance of sex in dating here, he’s understood the differences between you both more than you thought he would. Your shyness around sex with new people was still there and you hadn’t liked the idea of jumping into that with him. 

Especially given you were confident he was most definitely your soulmate. You didn’t want that fact to pressure you into something, no matter who he was. What you’d wanted to do was get to know more of him and his personality before any of that and let him do the same for you.

And so you had. He hadn’t complained or even tried to insinuate it, not after you’d told him the differences between Earth and New Korea dating culture. Instead, he’d been respectful and told you that he’d wait until you were okay with it all.

But that didn’t mean you didn’t want to sometimes, even though you hadn’t felt entirely ready. He was your soulmate and you did feel a deep and intense sexual attraction towards him. Sometimes the tension between you both was so strong that you could cut it with a knife. You knew that because Taehyung had complained about it whenever Hoseok came to your apartment.

He’d pointed it out and said that every time, he had to go to one of his partners for an intense session because of how turned on he became because of the untouched attraction between you both. You’d just laughed at him at the time, but you’d also felt grateful to know that Hoseok desired you as much as you did him.

Right now though, you’d admit the ocean wasn’t the only reason you were wet, but you didn’t want to ruin the sweet and romantic moment you had going with him.

And you were glad that you didn’t, because you both spend the next ten minutes simply...enjoying each other and the tranquility of everything. The way he feels against you, the way he tastes, the way he smells and some part of you, deep down inside, relaxes. As if you’d finally, finally come home.

It all sounded silly and stupid, you knew people would laugh if you said it out loud but it’s the only way to describe how you feel around him. Home.

Finally though, you both separate and wade out of the sea, holding hands and laughing as you occasionally spray each other with kicks of water. How could anyone think soulmates aren’t real when you feel so comfortable with him so fast? As if you’d always known each other.

He hadn’t said whether he felt these same things, but he seemed to enjoy spending time with you or just talking to you so you thought he probably did. It was...nice, to know that there was someone who enjoyed everything about you.

The two of you walk a little along the beach before finally sitting down. You grimace slightly from your wet clothes and the way the sand seems to stick even more to your skin now, making Hoseok chuckle lightly before he sits a little closer to you and wraps an arm around your waist.

Slowly, you rest your head on his shoulder and inhale deeply before letting it out just as slowly. The two of you are quiet for a few minutes and you just take a moment to enjoy it all; the peace and tranquility that comes from him for you alongside the calm that nature provides in this exquisite place.

Finally though, you ask him the question that’s been festering inside you for the last month. You’re afraid of his response, but you know that you need to ask.

“Do you...do you believe in soulmates now? Do you think this is moving too fast or anything? I...I really…” You trail off, body warming in embarrassment as you wonder how on earth you’re meant to tell him your feelings. It’s only been two months. That’s far too fast to tell him that you love him, right?

“I don’t think we’re moving fast. You’re not moving fast if it feels right. You’re moving at exactly the pace you need to. And...yeah. I do. I can’t not, not after the last two months. Besides the fact that I actually get to see everything like everyone else does...the thought of not being around you physically hurts. In a way that’s never happened with anyone before. Being with you feels like-”

“Like you’re home.”

He tilts his head to look at you and you lean back, staring straight into those beautiful deep brown eyes that you’ve fallen for. There’s a moment of surprise that you’d said it, but then you recognise the acceptance of what you’ve said in his face as he nods.

“Yeah...home. It’s weird that it feels like that but I don’t think it’s weird I feel like that. If that makes sense?” Shaking your head, you wrap your arms around his waist and squeeze tightly.

“No, no it feels...good. I feel...I feel happy with you.” You get a little choked up at that, the words squeezing your throat tightly and he makes soft soothing noises. His free hand runs along your cheek, stroking gently as he presses a kiss to your nose and then your forehead.

“Hey, hey don’t get upset. We’re apparently living some super romantic ancient bond thing. Everything makes sense when you think of it that way.” That gets a snort from you and you rest your head on his shoulder again, nuzzling closer to him.

“No one will believe us. You know that right? I mean...even you didn’t really believe me at first. Taehyung is still half convinced we’re just having a ‘moment’ or something. If this was Earth then...there'd be a bit of disbelief but that would be it. But here? They’ll just think we’re lying or making up stories. Especially...especially given who you are...and who I am.”

He’s quiet for a moment, running the words through his mind and you hear the caw of birds. Glancing up, you take note of the unusual colouring of them with slight awe. Their wings were burnished gold and red, melting between each other as the sun glanced off them. You knew the name of these, it had been one of the things you remembered reading before.

The bulsajo, the Korean version of the ancient Greek phoenix. It had been named that due to the similarity of colouring and shape, with its long tail feathers helping to give the illusion of fire and warmth. It was even prettier than you’d imagined.

“Did you know that there’s a legend around the bulsajo here?” Hoseok asked softly and you looked at him, frowning slightly. “It’s not really something that would get noted down, just a legend here in Sejong. They’re a bit more common here than anywhere else, but still rare. It’s meant to be that you if you see two of them then it’s a mated pair, and the couple who sees them will stay together through their life and the next, like the bulsajo in the myths.”

Glancing up, you note that there’s two of them playing together in the breeze, their magnificent wings beating to keep them flying while they soar and swoop together. Something inside you gets a little emotional and your voice catches.

“Is that real? Or did you just say it right now to try and make me feel better?”

“Totally real. I spent a lot of time here growing up, you learn some things. One of my tutors lived in town and told me about it. I guess it’s kind of like...our version of soulmates or something? Either way, I believe in both. So it doesn’t matter what other people think, it matters what we think. I don’t care that you grew up poor on Earth, or that I grew up here with all the shit my family has. I don’t care if people think we’re stupid or weird. I know and you know. I spent twenty-three years of my life seeing in black and white. You spent twenty-two. And then I touch you, the girl I’d been crushing on for months and suddenly we can both see? I have no other explanation for that, and frankly I don’t want one. I’m happy with what we have.” Biting your lip, you curl into him a little more and sigh.

“People will think I’m just looking for money or status though.” That has Hoseok snorting and he stretches his legs out.

“Let them think that. It doesn’t matter, we know what’s real. That’s what matters.” Looking at him, you scan over his face intently and see clearly that he’s being completely serious about it. He really doesn’t care what anyone will think, despite the vast wealth and social status gulf between you both. 

Thinking about that too hard makes you feel upset though and you don’t want to feel that. Not right now. Not here with him.

So instead, you just look out across the incredible ocean in front of you. The sun isn’t as high as it was anymore and you wonder how it would look with the blaze of fiery colours that splash across the sky at sunrise will look against the exquisite jewel of the sea. You’re sure it’s probably phenomenal and you try to imagine it already, putting what you’d already see of sunrises against this beautiful background.

And then suddenly, you’re reminded of Busan. Of the grey world you’d grown up in, the heaving city with the dirty streets and buildings. The mountains that had once soared into the sky but were now outmatched by the skyrises that loomed even higher. You had seen the ocean there, known that at once point in its history it too had probably resembled something approaching what you saw here today. But that had been so long ago.

Now that ocean was as dead as everything else around it, a sullen grey that was probably exactly what you had always seen growing up. Your mom hated going to the ocean, even though one of her cleaning jobs had been stationed on the dock there. 

It was a feral ocean on Earth, angry and riled up by the weather constantly. Hell bent on destroying what humans had built in revenge for the pollution they had caused centuries ago which had suffocated the planet. You knew that was just your mind being over-active, but you could believe it.

You’d want revenge on humanity as well.

And it was all your parents had known. You were suddenly reminded of how you’d promised to get your parents off Earth once you had the money and you swallowed thickly, throat tight as hot tears burnt your eyes. Here you were, swanning around New Korea with your soulmate and taking in the sights of one of the most beautiful and exclusive places on the whole planet while your parents were back on Earth, still labouring and toiling in their exhausting existence.

The first tear falls, trailing down your cheek before it’s rapidly joined with another on the other side. Deep pain that you’d pushed down for years, the homesickness now for Earth but for the two people who had loved you so much that they’d given up everything for you roaring to life. They would love it here.

Suddenly, a ragged sob leaves your mouth and you bury your face in your hands as your shoulders shake from the strength of your cries. The startled noise Hoseok makes tells you that he doesn’t understand what’s happening at the moment but he recovers quickly, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and rocking you slowly as he whispers soothing words to you.

For a few minutes, all you do is cry out the pain and longing, the desire and guilt that all mingles together when you think of your parents until finally your crying is more stable again. Your eyes are puffy and sore, cheeks stained wet with your tears and you have to wipe away some delightful mucus from your nose.

“I’m sorry.” You croak out, voice breaking slightly. The tears still fall, only quieter this time, their intensity burnt out of you as you take in deep and shaky breaths to try and stabilise yourself. Hoseok’s hand rubs your back in long and slow movements, the feeling so calming and reassuring.

“It’s okay...are you okay? What’s wrong? Is there anything I can do?” His concern is sweet and you smile weakly, wiping at your eyes before resting your hand on his knee. Licking your lips, you wonder how to word it before finally deciding to just jump straight in. You hadn’t explicitly discussed your parents with him before, not wanting to seem so...poor in front of him but now you felt shame for thinking that.

“I just...I wish my parents could see this. Just...all of it. The ocean, the sky, New Seoul. Everything. I wish I could bring my parents and give them a better life than what they had. I promised them I would but I don’t know when that will be. I don’t even know if they’ll be alive then,” You look at Hoseok, his face blurry from the tears and your breath catches in your throat. “My mom is fifty-four currently, and my dad is fifty-six. I don’t...I don’t think I’ll be able to meet my promise to them and I just...feel so guilty about being here and enjoying myself when they’re back there.”

The tears track down your face against, following those that had already come before and you sniff, the sound gross but you can’t help it. Hoseok’s got a frown on his face, not quite understanding.

“There’s still plenty of time to bring them here. You can do it, don’t put yourself down like that.” He starts but you shake your head, interrupting him.

“What’s the average age here in New Korea?” The frown on his face shows that he’s confused, but he answers slowly. He knows, you know that he knows it. With parents as influential as his, there’s no way he doesn’t. New Korea has a higher life expectancy than normal, with a woman living on average one hundred and thirty one years. Men live an average of one hundred and twenty nine years.

“Earth is sixty-four for a woman. Sixty-four Hoseok,” Your face crumples as you say it out loud finally, a sob choking in your throat. “According to the average she has ten years left. How am I meant to bring them here in 10 years? My dad has even less and he already has issues. They’re going to die in that shithole without ever getting to see anywhere else. Without getting to see a blue ocean or a blue sky. Never getting to breath air that isn’t polluted, go into a building that isn’t dirty and falling down. Never get to eat fresh meat or have fresh, real ice-cream. None of that. Because they spent their entire life working to get me here.”

Sniffling, you wipe at your nose once more and try to take a calming breath. You can tell that Hoseok doesn’t really know what to say, but you didn’t expect him to honestly. What could he say? He truly had no idea what life was like on Earth. Growing up there was one thing, but you’d escaped at eighteen. You were never going back. But they were never getting out.

“I’m sorry. I...I wish I had an answer for you. Some...some way to resolve it. I’d offer to pay but I get the feeling you wouldn’t really like that.” Looking at him, you shrug weakly and give him a limp smile.

“It’s my mom and dad. My only family. I think I’d do just about anything but that would definitely reinforce the idea that I’m just with you for your money. And...I’d feel too guilty towards you. That I’d have a debt to repay already. It’d make me feel like I was using you too.” Before you can even say anything more, Hoseok is shifting to face you properly.

“Okay, I’m going to say this nicely. You’re not with me for my money, and even if you are then I guess I’m an idiot because I don’t care. I offered this, you didn’t ask. You’re even turning me down. I have money Y/N, you know that. We both know my family probably has more money than sense and we don’t need it. Bringing your parents here? That’s probably the nicest thing we’ll do in years.” He sounds so honest and stern that you can’t help but pause, eyes tracking every minute expression of his face to see if he’s being truthful. 

And surprisingly, you get the sense that he is. Hoseok would probably transfer that money to you right now if you asked, but the shame and pride you have whirring inside you stops you from doing that. Instead, you just look down at where he’s taken your hand, uncaring if it’s covered in snot and tears.

“Your parents might not approve of that.” It wasn’t cheap moving someone from Earth to New Korea. Your flight had been paid for by a travel grant. Not to mention then they’d have to find somewhere to stay. They had no money saved up and they might not even be fit enough for jobs here. But it was still tempting. So tempting.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this...but I don’t really care what my parents think. My parents are...well they only really cared about themselves and their image I guess. The Jung name is the most important, you know? They cared about politics and making sure they had influence. I drove them up the wall when I showed zero interest in any of their stuff. Did my degree cos they wanted it and I couldn’t be bothered to argue with them if they were letting me go to New Seoul. This estate is nice and all but...it’s not really that nice when you never see your parents. They always had business to attend to, events to plan, events to go to, work to do or just...plain not caring about me.” You squeeze his hand, distraught at how callous they sound. Even though you’d grown up in the backwater of Earth, you knew that your parents would have died for you if they’d had to.

“They’re older by New Korea standards for parents. Too busy having social lives and influence I guess. Kids would have interrupted that. And then suddenly they realised that they had no heir so they tried for five years. Natural and artificial until finally...baby Hoseok arrived. And then they just couldn’t get pregnant after that. I was it. All they had. They wouldn’t even consider adoption. A Jung that’s not in the bloodline? Not acceptable. So yeah, I grew up being the family disappointment because I didn’t want to do what they did but they couldn’t turn me down or throw me out. Can’t disown me because then the family name dies. I’d enjoy getting stuff out of it if I didn’t feel like it was such a heavy burden.” 

He’s not looking at you now. Instead, his gaze is focused firmly out on the horizon and your heart clenches when you notice the bleak expression on his face. Now you understand why he’s never liked talking about his family.

You couldn’t even begin to understand his feelings towards his parents or the society he’d grown up in, but at the same time he couldn’t understand yours either. Which made you both kind of perfect in a way, as it meant you were both bridging the gap between each other’s worlds. 

“I think you’re perfect.” The words are a little limp, quietly spoken without you even meaning to but you can feel the honesty from deep within you as your grip tightens on his arm. It makes him smile though, no matter how lame it sounded and he kisses your forehead affectionately.

“Thank you. I think you’re perfect too,” He quietens momentarily, looking down and playing with the sand before taking a deep breath. “These last two months have been amazing. For once, I feel like someone likes me for just me. Not my family name or money or influence. Just me. Jung Hoseok. I feel like I could be the poorest person on this planet and you’d still look at me that way.”

“Because I would. You look at me the same way and I was the poorest person on the planet when I arrived. I came from nothing and I arrived with nothing really. Just some clothes packed up in an old bag that my parents had managed to scavenge from one of our neighbours and a pocket full of credits that they’d given me. I won’t lie that the idea of financial stability is attractive but...I’ve been in poverty before. Poverty to the levels no one understands here. I wouldn’t be happy if I was back there, but I’d at least be happy to have you.” That makes Hoseok make a quiet noise before he’s hugging you tightly, pressing overly exaggerated kisses to your head in an effort to lighten the mood and you can’t help but giggle as he rocks you from side to side.

“You can’t say things like that. It makes me feel all funny and then I’m definitely convinced that soulmates exist because there’s no way they don’t when you’re saying something that deep to me so soon and all I can think is to make heart eyes at you.” Snorting, you push his face away with one sand covered hand and watch in amusement as his expression contorts in disgust, spitting noises being made as he tries to rid himself of the sand that had fallen into his mouth.

The next few minutes is taken over by you both play fighting, getting your still wet clothes even more covered in the fine sand that you’d so loved at the beginning. You didn’t love it as much anymore, but that didn’t matter because you were making him smile and laugh again. The sound and sight filled you with such joy that you felt like you were floating.

It’s when he’s tickling you that you get the urge, laughing loudly at his touch. You get an odd out-of-body experience, like you’re looking at him from outside yourself and you see the most beautiful man ever. His skin is glowing fiercely in the slowly lowering sun while his black hair has highlights of soft brown from the gentle rays, his delicate half-moon eyes dancing in happiness while the roundness of his cheeks is higher than ever from the heart wrenching smile on his face.

If you had to spend twenty-three years seeing in black-and-white, you thought it was all worth it for this one moment. To watch him in glorious colour, so vibrant and full of life, against the backdrop of the jaw-droppingly beautiful vista of jutting mountains, luscious trees, the jewelled ocean and a sky that was beginning to streak beautifully with the rich, warm strokes of nature’s sunset.

“I love you.” It falls from your lips without you even realising it. Those three words, three syllables that mean something so deep and intense that has been said for centuries in hundreds upon hundreds of different languages across hundreds of planets and billions of people. Words that portray your feelings and yet can never adequately get across what you truly feel deep within, the well of sheer and intense emotion that still feels so young after only two months and yet so old that it almost makes your bones ache.

Hoseok stops moving, his face shocked for a second as his jaw drops open. But then you spot those sweet dimples indenting themselves in his cheeks, the way his full, pink lips begin to curve into that beautiful heart shaped smile that you’ve fallen for so quickly. The happiness that had been present in his eyes turns quickly to pure and unabashed joy. 

And then he’s kissing you, those lips soft and gentle against your own yet you feel the powerful force of his own emotions behind them. He pushes you backwards gently, the sand cushioning your body as he lays next to you, his torso leaning over just enough to keep the kiss going and you sighed into it, running your fingers through his sea salt encrusted hair gently. 

There’s no time wasted from him as he dips his tongue into your mouth quickly, the movement familiar after so many makeout sessions that your dates often devolved into. One hand cups your face so gently, his fingers stroking your skin tenderly and you suddenly feel the urge to cry at everything. Like the emotions and feelings are all too much.

Almost as if he recognises that, he lifts his head from you, the sound of your lips separating almost audible despite the crashing waves. Opening your eyes, you take in the sight of him in so much beautiful, luscious colour that only he had brought into your life. Lips that were swollen from the kiss, flushed a deep pink from the movement while the chocolate brown of his eyes has darkened as his pupils widened.

“I love you too. And I don’t care if anyone thinks that we’re rushing or any of that. I believe you, with this soulmate thing. I really do,” His thumb runs along your cheek gently and his eyes dart all over you. “I’ve never felt as at peace or as happy as I do with you. Might sound like a drama, but it’s true.”

“I get it. I do.” Wrapping your arms around his neck, you give him the biggest smile that you can only hope shows even half of the pure ecstasy and joy that lights you up from within. There’s a moment’s pause before you’re simultaneously pulling him down while leaning up, meeting his lips once more in a kiss that you’ve grown addicted to.

At that moment, he moves to almost lay on top of you, the sand shifting beneath you as he does so and you gasp when it shifts enough to cause his hips to slide against yours firmly. It wouldn’t bother you normally, but this time you can feel that Hoseok is as happy and excited as you are.

Almost immediately he’s jerking away, eyes wide with worry as he holds his palm out in a calming gesture. Chest heaving ever so slightly, he wipes at his lips before reaching out and resting a hand on your knee. Despite everything, you don’t even hear him apologise as your eyes are focused solely on his groin.

It may be the 32nd century and clothing material may have been drastically improved over the centuries but they still couldn’t quite make anything that wouldn’t be painful and restraining for when a guy got an erection. Which meant that unfortunately, they still had the telltale tented pants when they were feeling frisky.

Or those awkward moments where they just randomly got hard. 

You knew that Hoseok probably wasn’t bothered about the erection itself. People in New Korea were more sexually liberal as you’d already discussed and those who grew up and lived in New Seoul were even more promiscuous than more rural areas or other cities. As such, you had no doubt that Hoseok didn’t give a flying fuck about it.

But he knew that you didn’t grow up like that and even though you lived with Taehyung, you still got a little shy about it. 

Not now though. Now you wanted him in all the ways possible, not just the soft and tender ways that you’d been experiencing.

“I want you.” You blurt out, looking up at him. For a few seconds he pauses, almost like the words are filtering in his brain but then his eyes widen and his jaw drops. It almost looks like he’s going to protest and you’re fascinated by the concept but then suddenly he’s standing, brushing the sand from his clothes before grasping your hand.

“We may be more sexually liberal here but our first sex is not going to be on a beach in public for everyone to see.” He says sternly and you feel your stomach drop with anticipation while your pussy clenches tightly at the thought. His words are so plain and blunt and you almost whine as he pulls you into a standing position, kissing once more before walking as quickly as he possibly can back towards the estate.

You’re almost dragged behind him, almost falling over multiple times as you struggle to balance properly in the sand. It was the strangest thing really, how it kept moving beneath your feet. A five minute walk on this beach made you feel like you’d run for ten minutes, and you were working with an Earth physique too.

Despite the sexual tension that was now bubbling over, your body hot with desire while his hand grips yours so tightly that you’re positive he’s just as warm with anticipation, you both can’t stop giggling at the way you struggle. Quick laughs are taken over by kisses peppered over your face, returned by you to him whenever he stops and leans towards you. More than once, you wrap your arms around his waist and simply enjoy a deep and delightful kiss, the cooling air rushing past you yet doing nothing to quell the flames of need.

Finally though, you both cross the rise and run towards the black gate that stands out so boldly against the white wall. You’re so enamoured by Hoseok that you don’t even notice the way his family estate rises so boldly behind the tall wall, it’s foundations deep and strong. All you see is Hoseok.

If it wasn’t for the fact that you had hormones racing through you, desperate to get your hands on the delightful body of your soulmate finally, then you might have taken more time to look around the house as he led you through it. Or maybe it was a good thing you’d been too absorbed in him, given the complete disparity in this house and where you’d grown up.

You don’t get to think of it though as soon enough, Hoseok is opening a door on the second floor and quickly pulling you through, closing and locking it behind him instantly. There’s a brief question of why he’s locking the door in an empty house but you don’t get to think of it as Hoseok wraps his arms around your waist, tugging you closer before attaching his lips to your neck.

Almost immediately you sigh in delight, shifting your head back to give him better access as his kisses your sensitive skin. His experience shows clearly as he licks at you before blowing on it, the cooling sensation making you shudder before he laughs and tries his hardest to suck a bruise into you. All the while, his hands are slowly trailing along your skin beneath your shirt, the pads of his fingers soft and gentle yet firm when he grips at your ass.

“Hoseok…” You whisper, running your fingers through his hair before tugging a little, enjoying the whine he lets out before he finally lets you lift his head until he’s looking directly at you. You’re not sure you’ve ever been as turned on as you are right now, staring into an expression of pure lust and desire.

Slowly, you extricate yourself from his grip all the while fully ignoring his grumblings at the loss of you. And in carefully paced movements, you strip yourself of any clothes until you’re standing before him bare, the temperature of the room just warm enough to stop you from feeling chilled. But the goosebumps on your skin aren’t anything to do with temperature, nor the way your nipples peak almost painfully.

That’s everything to do with the hungry look in Hoseok’s eyes, the low growl that reverberates from his chest at the sight of you. You’ve never been this bold with sex before, even with Taehyung for whom sex was the most natural thing in the world. But there’s something about Hoseok that just commands you to move forward, to keep moving and take what you want.

Even now, in your vulnerable state, you feel safe and protected in his presence.

Carefully, you move backwards until your calves hit the tall bed that you’d spotted upon entering the room. It’s in a traditional style, with four dark wood posters reaching up towards the tall ceiling and an impossibly soft looking cover set covering the astonishingly large mattress. Of course a house like this would have a bed big enough to get lost in.

But you don’t care, keeping your gaze on Hoseok’s as you slowly make your way around to the open side of the bed, biting your lip as you crawled up onto the softness and simply kneeling there. Hoseok hasn’t moved once, only his eyes following you and you feel the pure desire for him to touch you.

So you reach out, hands palm up as you try your hardest to bring across your need for him. And he understands instantly, his hands working to throw his own clothes off with a haste that would almost make you laugh if you weren’t so turned on.

Instead, you watch hungrily as luscious golden skin is revealed, taught muscles and a perfectly formed body that makes your mouth water and your pussy clench in lust. Hoseok is taller than you and has the slightly leaner body structure that those on lower gravity planets had. It looked good on him.

He moves over to you quickly, cock bouncing with every stride from how unbelievably hard he was and you lick at your lips, grinning when he threads his fingers through your own. You don’t get to admire him anymore though as he leans forwards, latching his lips onto yours and you moan into his kiss, opening your mouth and letting him have his way with you. It’s nothing that you haven’t both already done before, but it almost feels like a tease of what’s to come, the way his tongue slides into your mouth while his hands tighten on your own has you gasping, thighs clenching together as an almost painful ache takes over between your legs.

You’re almost amused to find out that you’re impatient for him, the need for him to be inside you so strong. None of the other times you’d had sex had ever been like this. While you’d certainly enjoyed it, you hadn’t felt an all encompassing desire to have sex. Until now.

Falling backwards onto the bed, you forget about the disparity between your strengths and Hoseok pulls away from your mouth with a yelp as he almost crashes into you on the bed. What you’d thought had been a gentle, almost playful tug of his hands from you had actually been much stronger than you’d anticipated, your Earth heritage coming through and you immediately begin apologising.

He laughs though once recovered, pressing a kiss to your shoulder before trailing slowly down your chest to your neglected nipples. Tongue swirling around one peak, Hoseok peaks up at you playfully, grinning despite what he’s doing with his pearly white teeth on full show.

“Someone forgot how strong they are huh?” He teases, sucking on the bud hard after speaking until you’re whining beneath him, body writhing in a movement that ends up with him perfectly on top of you and between your legs. The hardness of his erection pressing against your stomach is erotic, the heat of it causing more wetness to leak from you as you shift your hips in an effort to try and get him to slip inside.

But he thwarts your attempts, the husky laugh vibrating against your chest delightfully and you can’t help the smile at the sound. His happiness is infectious, particularly given how excited you are yourself. Hoseok doesn’t let you bring him back up though, instead he’s pressing butterfly kisses down your stomach, your muscles sucking in to try and hide them a little.

Despite your need for him and complete uncaring about your body at first, you still can’t deny the tiny voice in your head pointing out that you’re far heavier looking than most girls here on New Korea. Their lower gravity meant they all naturally looked slimmer than you anyway, but Hoseok doesn’t even pay attention to it. Instead he just lavishes your body with kiss upon kiss, focusing entirely on you without a care and you feel yourself relax a little in comfort with his attention.

“Hoseok, you don’t need to. We can just-” He interrupts you with a hard look, his hand moving to push your thighs apart as he finally reaches the place he wants. There’s a moment of stillness before he slowly lowers his face and you feel his tongue press against your pussy’s entrance firmly. He holds it there for a second before slowly dragging it up, the sensation wet and yet so unbelievably amazing.

His tongue is flat as it presses against the hood of your clit, the sensitive bundle of nerves desperate for his attention but he doesn’t give it to you. Not yet. You’re not sure if he’s just teasing you or if it’s because he hasn’t found the spot to make you moan but you don’t care, can’t find it in yourself to care.

“I am not going to just stick my dick in you without any foreplay.” Hoseok says, his tone not allowing for anymore nonsense and you go hot at the steel in his voice. Part of you wants to go against him but you can just tell that you’ll get nowhere. So your jaw snaps shut, instead just watching as Hoseok gives a smirk of satisfaction before dipping his head back down.

It takes only a minute or so for him to actually find your clit with his talented tongue, a minute of him exploring you and taking in your taste before you jerk in pleasure. A deep hum leaves him as you do so, letting you know that he’s pleased himself by finding it and you spend the next few minutes being edged towards an orgasm so wonderfully by his hot, wet mouth.

You’re not sure if it’s because he has the experience and knowledge or if it’s because of whatever bond you have with him as your soulmate, but the pleasure he gives you seems to be double what you normally experience. Each ghostlike touch of his fingers as they dance along your inner thighs feels almost unbearable, each lap of his tongue on your pussy sending jolts of pleasure through your body that are more intense than you’ve ever experienced and you’re almost embarrassed by how slick you’ve become down there, inner muscles clamping in a painful ache around nothing.

“Hoseok please, god please,” You beg, voice high pitched and whiny as you gently tug at his hair. It takes a lot of effort to remember to be careful with him but you do, successfully getting him to look at you. “Please, I need you now. Please.”

He watches for a few seconds before grinning, pressing a kiss to the hair on your mound before making his way back up the bed. Glancing down, you bite your lip at the sight of straining erection, the tip of him flush with colour while a clear liquid drips from him in his excitement. It makes you feel even hotter, even more lustful for him and you’re running your hands along his body, memorising every part of him before you kiss him deeply.

Neither of you makes any effort to stop the kiss, enjoying the feelings and the sparks it generates. Until you feel the head of his cock pressing against your clit, his hips rocking ever so slightly to try and get what stimulation he can from you. Reaching down, you grasp him gently, enjoying the way he groans into your mouth and how his hips push forwards, rutting into your grip.

Squeezing him, you give him a few strokes, fully enjoying how hard he feels beneath your hand, the thickness of his girth and the pure heat of him. Finally though, you direct him to your sopping entrance, so unbelievably wet and slick in preparation for him. As soon as you feel the tip of him push into you, he takes over and surges forward.

Hoseok isn’t as big as Taehyung, but you hardly notice with the pure ecstasy that his cock produces in you. Your entire body shudders violently beneath him, the sensation of him rubbing against your sensitive walls overwhelming in a way you’d never experienced before and your head falls back into the pillow, ragged moans leaving your throat.

He’s not spared from it either, whatever special bond the two of you have that has made you both feel so happy and comfortable with each other apparently magnifying in the heat of sex. It’s unlike you’ve experienced before and you don’t complain when he begins thrusting immediately, the sharp slap of skin on skin loud in the room.

It’s almost drowned out by the hedonistic moans, groans and growls that escape your throats in the desperate pursuit you both have for an orgasm. The familiar tightness in between your legs seems to be bigger and tighter than you’ve ever felt before, stretched almost to breaking point and you heave breaths beneath Hoseok, hands scratching at his back desperately. The pleasure he’s giving you is almost too much, almost too painful for you to cope with and your mind can’t quite work out what’s going on.

“Fuck Hoseok, I...Hoseok...oh my g...uurgh please.” You beg incoherently, unaware of what you’re babbling to him. He’s moaning out your name and curse words in Korean that you don’t even understand, words you’ve never heard before. But you understand the meaning behind them, the pure need and strain in them as he fucks into you hard.

Your pussy clenches around him almost rhythmically, the friction his cock causes as he slides in and out of you in a smooth glide thanks to the obscene amount of slickness you’ve created causing more feelings than you’d ever experienced in sex before. Legs tightening, you almost feel a cramp in your thigh from how hard you’re holding your muscles in your body, gasped moans encouraging him forward.

And then he brings a hand to your pussy, fingers coating themselves in your sticky wetness before he fumbles for a few seconds, looking for something. The way you cry out, body spasming on him let him know that he’s found what he wanted and those talented fingers continue to rub at your clit, quick little circles in a rhythm that has your breath stuttering.

 “Come on baby, come for me. Come on. I know you can.” He whispers into your ear, kissing along the sweat soaked skin there before trailing his lips along your jaw. His hair is jet black once more, only the wetness now has been caused by the sweat of effort and sex. You’re not sure you’ve ever seen a sexier sight and moan, the combination of it all finally spiralling you into what had to be the most intense orgasm you’ve ever experienced in your life.

For a few seconds, you can’t think even properly, your mind whiting out and your hearing going fuzzy. You momentarily wonder what’s gone on before the blazing heat of your orgasm overloads the nerves of your body, your pussy spasmodically tightening on Hoseok’s cock in a way that has him whining out in dual need and agony. There’s no controlling your strength here, and as the blistering pleasure begins to subside, aftershocks ricocheting through you, you realise that Hoseok’s probably never fucked someone so tight as you right now. 

Sure enough, he comes almost instantly once you begin to wind down, the vice your inner muscles made on his cock too good for him to be able to last any longer. Hips stuttering violently, a deep groan that borders on a growl is dragged from what sounds like the very pit of his stomach, entire body shaking as you feel his cock twitch with each pulse inside you.

Humming in delight, you watch him through tired eyes as his face scrunches up, giving away every single thing he’s feeling. It causes a surge of pride inside you to see it, to know that you’ve caused that and you run your fingers through his hair, messing up the strands. It brings him back to you though, his gaze almost lazy as he finally slows to a halt inside you.

The two of you are breathing heavily, as if you’d just run a marathon in forty degree heat but there’s a feeling of satisfaction in the air. Taking in his face, watching as a bead of sweat track down his temple, you feel more in love with him than ever.

Fully aware it’s probably just the after effects of the sex, the incredibly good sex, you nonetheless bathe in the sensation as he gives you a tired smile. The kiss you both share now is almost sluggish, your energy gone but it feels so incredibly intimate after what you’d just done, with him still buried inside you.

“Fucking hell, if that’s what our first time is like…” Hoseok trails off, pulling out of you and flopping onto his back beside you. That toned stomach you’d admired so much before is breathing heavily, lungs sucking in breath in an attempt to recover from the frenzied workout he’d just had.

Like everything else so far, it had been quick and intense but you already knew that you wouldn’t change it for the world. Rolling to your side, you smile at him before kissing his shoulder and then resting your head on it.

“I look forward to us in the future then.” You tease him lightly, running your fingers along his chest and causing him to shiver. The temperature in the room was perfect before, but now it feels almost cold as you both begin to cool down.

“Lucky bastards,” Hoseok grins, looking at you with mischief in his eyes. “Do you wanna shower? I swear you’ve never seen a bathroom till you’ve seen this one.” 

Pushing up onto your elbow, you raise an eyebrow at him in interest, pursing your lips. “Oh yeah? Big enough for two?”

“Oh baby...how naive you are. Let me educate you in the ways of rich people having way too much fucking money and not enough sense.”

-

Waking up the next morning is the most luxurious thing in the world. The bed is just as unbelievably comfortable as you’d first thought and the pillow beneath your head is so soft that you’re tempted to just let yourself drift back off into sleep.

This is truly a luxury that you’ve never even considered before and part of you wants to ask Hoseok if you can have this bed. Not that it’d fit in your apartment but still.

But what really makes it all feel so much better is the warm presence behind you, the solid arm slung over your waist and the gentle puffs of breath that tickle the back of your neck. Groaning quietly, you stretch and enjoy the way you ache delightfully all over, the slightest soreness between your legs as your muscles relax once more.

The two of you had indeed enjoyed his astonishingly large bathroom and you’d discovered that shower sex really wasn’t as fun as it looked. Taehyung had told you that once but you hadn’t believed it. You did now, particularly given Hoseok had accidentally thrust so hard that you’d lost balance, taking the two of you down onto the slick tiled floor. 

Thankfully, as Hoseok had said, the shower was ridiculously large and so the two of you had been safe from any real damage. That hadn’t stopped you from feeling embarrassed of course, but Hoseok had simply laughed and kissed you, taking the opportunity to enjoy one of the benefits of his family's wealth as he pulled you on top of him.

It hadn’t been the most comfortable sex you’d ever had, but you’d enjoyed it all the same.

You finally understood though what Taehyung had talked about when he’d discussed the honeymoon phase of a relationship because you didn’t want to take your hands off Hoseok. It was like the sex had unleashed a primal desire within you to have him as many times as was physically possible.

Which meant that this morning, you were aching but also feeling exceptionally fulfilled. 

Twisting around, you take in the sight of Hoseok fast asleep beside you. His expression is gentle, almost innocent looking in his sleep and you take him in with unhidden delight. The rays of sun peeking through the gauzy curtains that hang over the large bay windows streak over his face, lighting his skin from within to give him a healthy glow.

Dark hair is splayed across the pillow and you have no doubt that he’s probably going to get up with some serious bedhead. Equally dark lashes flutter slightly as his eyes move beneath his closed eyelids, breath a little faster suddenly as he twitches and you smile as you watch him wake.

Neither of you had slept in a bed together so far. You’d fallen asleep on each other occasionally sure, but that had almost been on a couch or something. The bed had felt a step too far.

You almost understood why now, 

Because you weren’t sure you would ever let him go now that you’d been so intimate with him, now that you’d slept beside him and experienced what a night with your soulmate was like. Even though you were tired, you felt so refreshed and just...happy.

Like he’d somehow rejuvenated your senses and mind. You were positive that if you told Taehyung this that he’d roll his eyes and laugh, telling you that you sounded like some kind of sappy romance writer and that it was probably all in your head.

And maybe it was, but even so. It felt so good.

Bringing your hand up, you let your fingers run along the smooth skin of his rounded cheek, taking in every centimetre of his face while you had the time. His lips were pursed in a pout, their soft pinkness not as swollen as last night when he’d kissed you like his life depended on it.

Gently, you slide your thumb over the softness of his lower lip, enjoying how it felt before you move to his nose, trailing the pad of your finger down the elegant slope of his nose. Lips quirking into an awed smile, you simply watched him as you took in his regal features and felt that familiar bubble of marvel that you’d found him. 

Out of the entire galaxy, with the odds of a whole universe against you, you’d found your soulmate. And he was everything you had imagined and so much more.

“Mmm, if you keep doing that I’m going to have to repeat last night.” He murmurs suddenly, his voice so unbelievably deep and husky from the deep sleep he’d been awoken from. Grinning, you rest your palm on his cheek and kiss the tip of his nose, careful to avoid his breath or let him smell your own.

As much as you love him, you don’t think you’d love the smell of his breath in the morning. Society still hadn’t figured out a cure for that unfortunately.

“Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.” You tease him lightly, thumb stroking and you feel something joyful blossom in your heart as he tilts his head into your hand, shifting until he can kiss the palm of your hand affectionately.

“Oh I would, but we weren’t meant to stay here last night and I think we need to get back. Someone doesn’t have any clothes here.” His eyes open and that, the deep brown dark against the whites of his eyes and you chuckle with a shrug.

Sitting up, you take a moment to stretch once more and sigh in relief at the feel of your muscles relaxing from the stiffness of sleep. True to his word, you were currently as naked as the day you’d been born.

Hoseok had run downstairs last night to get your clothes washed for today, the material stiff at the time with dried saltwater from the ocean. You’d both chosen to sleep with nothing as Hoseok didn’t even have clothes here anymore, a sensation you weren’t used to but that felt oddly liberating.

The covers of the bed slip down to your waist and you exhale deeply, looking over to the large windows with curiosity. You hadn’t bothered to look last night, too enamoured with Hoseok and sex at first and then it had simply been too dark to see anything later.

But now, now you can see it and your eyes widen as you realise what you’re looking at.

Slipping out of bed, you pause for a moment as you feel the vulnerability of your nakedness. Shifting slightly, you look back at Hoseok only to see that his eyes are closed once more. Chuckling to yourself, you move over to the curtains and peek through them carefully.

Hoseok’s bedroom apparently faces the ocean and your jaw drops as you take in the view. It’s the bay that you’d both enjoyed yesterday, the sea shimmering in it’s luscious greens and blues while the deep emerald of the forests on the mountains provide the perfect contrast.

“Holy shit, you didn’t tell me this was your bedroom view!” You say loudly, pushing the curtains aside as you realise there’s no one to see your nakedness. Opening the doors that make up the windows, you push them to the side and lean against the metal barrier that prevents you from falling out and take it all with greedy eyes.

Almost immediately you’re hit with the soothing sound of the crashing waves and your eyes close as you take it in with a smile, the unique scent of the ocean filling your nose as a warm breeze rolls by. You’re not sure that you’ve ever felt so at peace somewhere before than you do here, with the strong mountains and the serene ocean.

“I forgot honestly.” Hoseok’s voice is close and you turn slightly, finding him almost directly behind you. The sun makes him almost look like some ancient god and you feel your mouth dry at the sight of him, his skin so vibrant and the tone of his muscles making you want to reach out and touch him.

Though that’s not what distracts you the most though. No, that would be the sight of a very proud erection jutting out from the dark pubic hair, cock quivering slightly as it fights gravity and your brow quirks up in amusement.

Looking up into his eyes, you ask him the question silently and he just grins, shrugging without a hint of shame or embarrassment.

“What can I say? I’m looking at my very naked, very beautiful soulmate standing in front of one of the most astonishing views on the whole planet. Forgive me for being a little turned on.” Laughing, you don’t protest as he moves forward to you and turns you around so you’re both facing the ocean once more.

His lips press to your neck in gentle kisses while one hand shifts down your body dangerously, meeting the hair that nestles between your legs and dipping beneath. The touch of his fingers against the hood of your clit has you sighing, legs shifting slightly to give him better access and you feel the whisper of a laugh against you.

“I thought we don’t have time?” You ask breathlessly, the ghost of a moan in your voice as he darts his fingers lower, coating himself in the slickness that somehow is already present despite the short amount of time since this started. Maybe it’s just because of who and what he is to you that he has you so turned on so quickly.

“We’ll just make time.”

-

It’s over forty-five minutes later when you both finally get downstairs, now fully clothed and clean again after yet another shower. Hoseok had promised you that there would be food in the kitchen as apparently they had house staff who kept the estate operational at all times in case anyone wanted to come back.

That had made you pause and he’d rolled his eyes, saying it was a family thing that he thought was excessive but he still appreciated it at moments like this. You couldn’t find an argument with that when your stomach rumbled, the two of you realising that you hadn’t bothered to eat much yesterday and so you were both determined to have a big, hearty breakfast to make up for all the...exercise you’d both done.

Following Hoseok down the ridiculously large staircase, you almost walk into him as he stops suddenly halfway down, yelping as you struggle to balance before resting your hands on his back. You’re about to ask what he’s doing when he suddenly speaks and you go cold.

“Mom. Dad.” Without even a word to you, you can feel the tension in his body as the muscles of his back go stiff, his shoulders rising ever so slightly. The anxiety in your stomach bubbles at the realisation that his parents are here, but there’s also a worry about how he’s reacting.

From what he’d told you yesterday, and what you’d gathered previously full stop, you got the distinct impression that Hoseok and his parents didn’t get along with each other. And now you were, in their fancy estate with their only son.

“What are you doing here?” He asks in Korean, the Korean that they use here rather than the one you’d learnt back on Earth, his tone so blunt that you’re pretty sure he could have hammered a nail with it and you cringe slightly. Even you recognised the belligerence in him and you wonder if you’re going to have to be witness to a fight between them both.

That was an alien concept to you, as you’d never witnessed your own parents fight. Nor had you fought with them.

“What are you doing here? Why are you not at the university?” A crisp voice responds, the tone light and feminine yet filled with an underlying steel. It makes your stomach sink to hear it and you swallow hard. “And who is that with you?”

Hoseok stiffens even more if possible and your hands tighten on his shirt, knuckles pressing into his back in simultaneous comfort and concern. He doesn’t bring you out from behind him though, not immediately.

“It’s university mom, not a job. I don’t have to always be there.” It’s confusing to you why they’re being so...harsh with each other. Even with the animosity he harbours towards them, you can’t imagine ever being like this with your own parents.

“What are we paying for then if you’re swanning around the planet like you own the place? And who is that? Who have you brought into our home?” You almost feel sorry for whoever she works with in the education system as you can practically hear the underlying ‘I’m right no matter what’ in her voice. It’s a wonder that Hoseok has grown to be so friendly and warm in comparison.

What’s even more surprising is that you haven’t heard his dad speak at all. Maybe he’s more diplomatic given his career in politics.

“Firstly, I do technically own this place. It’s a family home, not your home solely. And second of all,” He hesitates for a moment before he turns slightly, giving you a small smile that told you so much before he grasps your hand, threading his fingers with your own and squeezing gently before moving to let you be seen better. “This is my girlfriend, Y/N. I brought her here to see the ocean and beach.”

Your first thought upon seeing his parents is that Hoseok got his mother’s eyes and his father’s nose. They’re both astonishingly beautiful, which doesn’t surprise you at all given how exquisite Hoseok had turned out. It also isn’t a surprise given they’re rich and influential. You highly doubt that people like that married those who weren’t equally as beautiful.

Your second thought is that they don’t even remotely look like parents. Which is stupid, because anyone can be a parent obviously. But you just get the aura of them that there’s not a single maternal or paternal instinct in them both. Which given what Hoseok had said about his childhood, makes a lot of sense.

His mother is dressed in a white pant suit, the lines of her trousers crisp with not a hint of dirt on her. Her hair has obviously been dyed a luscious hazelnut brown and there’s a few signs of age hidden beneath the veneer of perfectly done make up. Lines that not even the best medical technology or make up can get rid of without it looking artificial.

She’s quite possibly one of the most beautiful women you’ve ever seen but she’s also one of the most intimidating. Her stare is as cold as ice, those red lips turned down at the very edges in disapproval as she scans over your body slowly. An elegant white bag that is probably made out of real leather is hung delicately over her arm, understated in a way that made it clear it cost money while her wedding ring on her finger is large, the multi-coloured rock of what had to be pure enchantium glittering in the light.

His dad is equally intimidating, his own attire a match to hers only in black. Black slacks matched with a black button up shirt, his own hair allowed to grey in that way that men can get away with. He looks ever so slightly kinder than Hoseok’s mom, but you don’t trust that at all. Given his career, he could be a viper in disguise.

Swallowing hard, you find yourself gripping Hoseok’s hand even tighter in a fear you hadn’t even realised you truly had. You’d always known Hoseok was far richer than you, that he came from a wealth you couldn’t possibly understand and a social standing that was a foreign concept to you.

But it was entirely different seeing it like this, being stood in the centre of a ridiculous grand staircase in a mansion that was as beautiful as it was overwhelming in its subtle wealth. You hadn’t queried it last night, but a quick glance around told you that everything in this entrance hallway alone was probably worth more than the apartment you’d grown up in.

And that said nothing of the chandelier that hung above it all, glittering in an astonishingly beautiful sight that you couldn’t even begin to properly comprehend. The expense of just that alone had to eye watering and with all this combined with the frozen aura of his parents, you realised just how big the gap between you both was.

Still though, you had to try. You’d managed to get yourself here with pure effort and hard work, fighting against odds that were impossible to understand. You deserved to be here.

“Hello, I’m Y/N. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Every bit of politeness you have goes into your tone as you speak Standard to them and you give them a smile, trying your hardest to look warm and welcoming to them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they don’t react.

“Come into the dining room. We had breakfast prepared before we arrived. I would like to talk to you both further.” His mother states before turning and walking away. Hoseok’s dad watches you quietly for a moment before inclining his head with a slight smile and following his wife.

Once they’ve both gone, Hoseok turns to you and cups your face immediately, fingers stroking at your cheeks while a distressed look takes over his expression. “I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t know they were gonna be here, I swear. I did not want you to meet them like this.”

Carefully, you give him a smile and take his fingers, pressing a kiss to the pads of his fingers one by one before sighing. Looking back in the direction where they’d both gone, you swallowed thickly and took a deep and fortifying breath.

“Okay, we can do this. We can do this right? It’s just breakfast.” Hoseok lets out a harsh laugh, his face turning ugly for a second.

“Yeah, breakfast with my parents. I don’t even fucking like being near them. They’re...it’s not going to be nice. I wish I could say otherwise but it’s the truth. And I just want to apologise beforehand for anything they say.” His voice is soft and gentle, a deeply hidden pain buried within it and you wrap your arms around his waist, pressing your head to his chest while you squeeze him tightly.

“It’s okay. Honestly. I grew up on Earth...anything they throw at me is nothing compared to that. Let them try.” Looking up at him, you rest your chin on him and beam up at him brightly, hoping to brighten his mood. He stares down at you for a few seconds before chuckling reluctantly, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“I love you. Just...remember that.” Nodding, you let go of him and retake his hand, following carefully as he leads you through the maze like hallways of the house. As he goes, you take the time to take it all in, acknowledging how bright and big it all seems. It’s tastefully decorated, but you suppose that would be expected with his family.

 Finally though, you come to a room that’s even more astonishing than everything else. The ceilings are high, painted the same white as everywhere else that makes it all seem so much larger than it actually is while the centre is taken up with a long table, elegant chairs pushed in while his parents sit at one end.

You almost want to laugh at how large it is, the dark table made from real wood that must be native to the planet given the purple tint to it. They’re a family of three but you’d think Hoseok had ten siblings given the size of this table. 

But you don’t give in to that urge though, instead putting on a carefully neutral smile and following your boyfriend as he moves towards the table. There’s a spread of breakfast on top that makes your eyes widen despite yourself, the sheer amount of food astonishing given that they didn’t even know Hoseok was coming.

It all seemed far too much, and you wondered if they actually would eat it all if Hoseok and you were not here. The idea of wasting all of that made you cringe, nose wrinkling ever so slightly as you sat in the seat that Hoseok offered to you. He took the one next to you, closest to his father who sat at the head of the table while his mother sat opposite him.

Everything felt very awkward and you wondered how you were supposed to react. Was there special instructions on how to eat? Did you have to use certain cutlery to eat certain foods? You had no idea what to do and your hand rested on Hoseok’s thigh without even meaning to, your anxiety calming slightly at the feel of him.

“So, where are you from?” His dad asked politely. You were relieved to see that he at least had the decency to plaster a smile on his face, even if it was one of those blatantly fake ones that politicians mastered in their lifetime. 

“I’m...I’m from Earth. I got into New Seoul University four years ago and moved here then, enrolling in the education department. I met Hoseok properly two months ago.” You’re not sure which bit is the one that causes Hoseok’s mother to wrinkle her nose in what you presume to be disgust but you carefully bite your tongue, smiling at Hoseok as he quietly asks if you’d like something off the plate he’s holding.

There’s nothing for a few minutes as you prepare your breakfast from the available foods, making sure to not look like you’re eating too much while making sure that you actually have enough to fulfil you. Hoseok is stiff next to you, his unhappiness so obvious to you that you wonder if it’s equally as obvious to them. 

And then, his mom says something that leaves you stunned.

In Korean, or the New Korean that you’d had to study so hard over the last few years, she asks Hoseok something with a distinctly unimpressed look on her face. Something that leaves you shocked and Hoseok fuming beside you.

“Earth? Really? We’re not paying for you to be educated if you’re going to slum it with some backwards girl like this. Break it off with her today, this is just embarrassing to you and to us. Think of what it would do to our family image to have you associated with someone from Earth of all places. What do you think we are Hoseok? A charity? We raised you better than this, to have better standards. Your obsession with that cesspit is becoming too much.” Hoseok’s jaw drops at that, his hands fisting around his cutlery so tight that his fingers turn white.

You can’t even find it in yourself to say anything, understanding that she was at least having the decency to say this in a language she didn’t think you’d understand. But the fact she was still doing it in front of you was beyond mind boggling and straight into the realm of ‘holy fuck’.

And despite all that, her words hit every anxiety that you had deep inside you. Every worry that you’d buried deep when you’d realised that Hoseok was a sweet and kind guy who seemed to be unaware of the differences between you both. Because no matter what he thought, the rest of society would have a different opinion.

“First of all, you’re not paying for my education in order for me to date anyone, so why does that matter? Second of all, that’s where she grew up. If you’d take your head out of your ass and actually asked her, then you’d realise that she grew up in Old Korea. You know, our ancestral homeland? More than that, I don’t give a fuck about our family image. That’s all you guys. And finally...she can speak Korean.” He shoves a piece of fruit into his mouth after that, glaring intently at them as he chewed furiously.

His mother’s face pales slightly as she looks at you, shock the first time you’d seen something beyond disgust and the careful expression of neutrality on her. You’d almost be amused if it wasn’t for the fact that you knew she was only shocked because she was probably embarrassed at being found out like that.

But you decide to be diplomatic, recognising that Hoseok was evidently the one who was going to be battling with them today. Instead, you wanted to take the approach of trying to be sweet and kind with them, even if stuck in your throat that you had to do that when she’d been so blatantly insulting. 

Sure, Earth was a backwards shithole but it had been your backwards shithole.

And besides all that, you just really hated their belittling of your soulmate. You got the distinct impression from only five minutes with them that this was common. His mom didn’t even seem offended by his harsh words.

“Well...why didn’t you state you could speak Korean?” His mom asks bluntly, a frown marring her brow in obvious disapproval. Swallowing the harsh retort you wanted to say, you instead plastered a neutral smile onto your face and gave a delicate shrug of your shoulders.

“My apologies. Most people just speak Standard to me here at the university so I’ve gotten used to it. I grew up with Korean back in Old Korea, but upon arriving here I discovered that the centuries of separation have changed the language so I had to relearn. I’m sorry if I appeared rude, it wasn’t my intention.” There, that was nice and polite.

You got the sense that Hoseok was pissed that you had to be that polite and before any of you could say anything, he suddenly spoke again.

“Did you know that she can also speak fluent English and Spanish alongside standard, New Korean and Old Korean? Or that she got better grades than me? Or that she managed to overcome unbelievable odds to get here? She’ll be graduating this year in the top 1% of her class and has already been accepted for a graduate degree. On top of all that, she works hard to maintain her grades while also working to save money,” Hoseok looked at you then, pride in his eyes. “She’s the perfect example of someone who works hard and makes it through effort. Not just being born into it.”

The silence that falls over the room is beyond awkward and you shuffle slightly, feeling flushed with embarrassment at his words. You weren’t embarrassed over him being proud of your effort, in fact you were happy that he’d remembered everything you’d told him. No, it was the ugly look on his parents faces.

“Yes well, I suppose it’s easy to do well when everyone feels sorry for you.” His dad said suddenly and you looked at him in surprise, shocked that he’d think that way. He catches this and shrugs, taking a deep swallow of juice before carefully placing the glass back down. “It’s true. You’re a novelty here and no one wants to be the one to send the girl from Earth back.”

Jaw clenching you try hard to clamp down on your temper but Hoseok beats you to it, slamming his fork down onto the table so loud that you jump.

“For your information, father, essays and exams are anonymous. They have no idea who it came from. You know that, after all, it was mother who helped to implement that standard,” He glares at his mother who sniffs in response. “And secondly, stop being so fucking rude. I thought we cared about our family image?” 

His voice is so pedantic here that you almost want to laugh, Hoseok’s facial expression twisting almost comically as he parodies them. Both of their faces convulse grossly, unhappiness evident and you feel Hoseok take your hand tightly.

“Jung Hoseok, don’t you swear at us.” His dad grates out and Hoseok snorts, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t give a fuck. What are you gonna do? Disown me? You can’t, you have no other heirs because you waited too long and you were too snobby to adopt. I have no cousins so our name dies with me. Disown me if you want, I don’t give a fuck. But I’m not going to sit here and subject my soulmate to the two of you.” He goes to move then when his mother lets out a bark of laughter, causing you both to pause and look at her.

“Soulmate? Is that what she’s fed you? Is that how you’ve managed to latch onto him so fiercely? I thought you were smarter than that Hoseok. Instead, apparently you’re too busy thinking with another body part to realise how you’ve been led along by someone who probably only wants to make sure she’s well off. Soulmates, are you stupid?” She spits, tone venomous and eyes equally hard.

You want to respond when Hoseok holds up a hand up to you, his face suspiciously calm and you frown at him. There’s a moment of silence in the room, everyone waiting for the next harsh words to be spoken and you quietly take a sip of your juice in an effort to just do something.

“I can see colour. Your hair is brown mom, with a slight red tint to it. Dad, the apples you’re eating this morning are a wonderfully rich red, almost purple in shade. The Earth mangoes also look particularly ripe today. I believe that being this orange means that they’ll be very sweet, yes? Though this one probably isn’t the best given it’s more green.” He finishes, glaring at them both and they stare at him in shock.

But he doesn’t let them speak, his underlying anger and disgust bubbling over. “I first saw colour over two months ago when I touched Y/N. She saw colour for the first time too. I don’t care what you believe or what you think, nor am I going to explain why I believe that she’s my soulmate. You don’t really care. All I will say is, I don’t want to talk to either of you again. Not until you’re willing to apologise for what you’ve said today and accept my girlfriend, because I will not be leaving her. Not for you, not for anyone. Disown me if you want, I’ve already said. I don’t care. I’ve had enough of you both over the years and I’ll be damned if I let you both walk all over me in this regard. It has nothing to do with you and it never will.” 

They don’t speak for a few moments, eyes wide before his mother’s gaze hardens. “Fine, we won’t cut you out. Like you said, we can’t. But as long as you’re going to slum it with her, we won’t talk to you. As per your wishes. I feel like this has been a long time coming Hoseok.”

He snorts at that, rolling his eyes and standing abruptly. “Yeah, it really has. And it feels fucking amazing. Goodbye.”

You follow him as he almost storms out of the room, eyes wide in confusion as to the sudden events that have occured. Glancing back into the dining room, you note that his mother is stony faced while his father looks a little more uncomfortable, almost unhappy with what’s just happened.

Grasping Hoseok’s hand, you practically run after his long strides, almost giggling at how much faster you catch up to him. But then you see his face, the pain in it and you stop, biting your lip and climbing into the air car with him quietly.

For a good ten minutes, neither of you says anything and you simply stroke his hand reassuringly. Guilt bubbles in your stomach, causing you to look down unhappily as you wonder how everything had just happened like this. So fast as well.

“I’m sorry.” You whisper gently, licking at your lips. Almost immediately though, Hoseok is cupping your face and kissing you softly, his movements so much sweeter than the harsh and uncaring man you’d just witnessed in the dining room.

“Don’t ever say sorry for them. As my mom said, this was a long time coming. We haven’t been able to meet and not have an argument for the last few years anyway. It annoys them I don’t care about the same stuff they do. And I’ll be damned if I let them push you away with their horrible ways.” You can tell by his face that he means every word, but the very idea of pushing your parents away like this is so alien to you that you almost can’t believe it.

“But...I mean...you’ll talk again, right? They’re your parents.” Hoseok lets out a laugh, his face softening as he looks at you so fondly. Any anger he’d been feeling has evidently vanished and you revel in the attention he gives so you willingly.

“They’re not my parents. Parents are what you have, people who love you so deeply that they’d give up everything for you to make sure you’re happy. Mine are just the people who created me. They’ve never shown any interest in me, I was raised by staff. I’m not a person to them, I’m just the heir to their fortune and name.” It’s a concept you just can’t really understand, your mind refusing to wrap around the words.

You can’t even begin to imagine your own parents acting like that, even though they had nothing to give. To know that his parents had everything and yet had given their son nothing that he actually wanted was horrifying.

“I’m sorry Hoseok, you deserve better.” He smiles and shrugs, his expression a little sad. Leaning forward, he kisses your forehead and remains there for a moment, nose pressed to your hairline as he simply breathes you in.

“I do. And I have. I’ve got you now. You’ve shown me more love and affection in two months than they have in twenty-four years. I’m okay, I’m used to it. I just...are you okay? Please don’t believe what they said. They have a public persona that’s much nicer and sweeter than their real identity, as you saw. Don’t believe anything, you’re so much better than what they said.” 

Watching him over quietly, you give him a small smile before moving to sit in his lap. He chuckles at the movement, arms wrapping around your waist tightly as you kiss him sweetly. The air car complains at the sudden double weight of his seat but he turns the alarm off, both of you well aware that he’s now breaking the law.

But you don’t care at the moment, too busy hugging him and just being content in his presence. 

“I won’t. I can tell when someone’s saying something to just be mean. Like I said...I grew up on Earth. They have to try a lot harder to truly hurt me.” You say lightly, grinning at him before burrowing your face into his neck. He squeezes you tightly and sighs, the both of you settling into a gentle peace. “My parents will love you, I swear.”

“I have zero doubt of that, not when they did so much for you. I can’t wait to meet them.” That makes your stomach twist and tumble in excitement, the feelings buzzing through your body and you hug him harder.

“We’ll be okay, right?” You’re not sure what you mean by that, but you feel the sudden urge to ask him. The knowledge that his parents didn’t approve of you wasn’t surprising, but his willingness to cut them out of his life so quickly was. Maybe it shouldn’t have been, given what he’d told you yesterday and the way he’d avoided talking about them for so long now.

“We’ll be okay. I promise. I’m happy with you, happier than I’ve ever been. I swear.” He kisses your forehead once more, nuzzling against you and you sigh in contentment, the feeling of bliss rolling through your body at his touch.

“I’m happy with you too.”

-

Fifteen Years Later 

The sun is high today, without a hint of any wispy white clouds to block some of the intense rays for a few minutes. It’s the middle of summer in Sejong, the days long and bright with a temperature that made you want to stay inside the air conditioned house all day long. But at the same time, the gentle breeze that blew in from the sea helped to cool the air, the scent of salt pleasant while the distant lapping waves created a calming soundtrack.

Walking out of the house that borders the beach, the home that Hoseok’s ancestors had so carefully built and maintained over the centuries, you smile brightly at the scene in the extensive garden.

The tall white walls surrounded the whole boundary of the Sejong estate, protecting it from prying eyes and providing a safe space for anyone who came here. Carefully maintained green grass that had been imported from Earth a long time ago gleamed a beautiful emerald while tall trees with the indigo stain of the native New Korean trees stood proudly amongst the lawn, their towering branches providing much needed shade.

You’d been bemused by their colouring when you’d finally been able to see colour. Even though you’d never seen brown before, or even really proper trees back on Earth, you’d grown up being told that trees had brown trunks. It had been unusual that the indigo bark had been hard to get your head around given you’d never seen anything else. 

Glittering violet leaves shifted in the low wind and you inhaled deeply, the succulent scent of those special flowers that Hoseok’s mom had planted so extensively throughout the estate today smelling of luscious strawberries. Real strawberries too, not the fake crap you’d grown up with.

The sound of laughter distracts you from the nature around you, your gaze immediately being drawn to the colourful play equipment that had been set up in the very centre of the garden. Pure white sand took up a square in the middle of the grass and slides, swings and more was set up in this small play area, a traditional way for children to play in this modern era.

Your seven-year-old son was the source of the laughter, his giggle so sweet and high that it made your heart clench. Watching as he throws a handful of sand into the air, you can’t help but smile as you see your soulmate in him so strongly. Even from here, you know that his eyes would be the same half-moons of delight that Hoseok’s got when he was happy.

A shout of annoyance came from your four-year-old daughter, her small hands pressed to her hips as she scowled at her older brother. She was at that age where she wanted to follow her brother around all the time to play but he was fast approaching that strange age in childhood where they didn’t want to play with their siblings anymore.

Especially not a little sister who clung to his every movement. 

Sarang shrieks in anger when Hajoon runs away from her, his longer legs letting him climb the ladder to the wooden playhouse quicker than her. You go to put a stop to their fighting, as usual, but you’re beaten to it by the elderly lady who tuts at them both in stern amusement.

“You two...stop fighting.” Your mom says, running her fingers through Sarang’s dark hair while she gestures at Hajoon who leans dangerously over the railing. He says something back to her but you can tell it’s nothing mean and you sigh quietly, looking to your side as she manages your children.

Your dad is sitting in his usual comfortable chair on the extended porch, safely in the shade but able to enjoy the weather, smells and the sight of his grandchildren without having to move. Which you’re glad of, because despite your hopes, the medical staff here on New Korea hadn’t been able to do anything for him in regards to his legs.

Hoseok had been true to his word fifteen years ago, looking into how he could bring your parents to your new home to live out their final years with you. He hadn’t let you know he was doing it, or that he’d even been in contact with them.

All you’d known was that a year later, you had been undertaking your graduate degree and Hoseok had begun working at one of his father’s companies after they had finally begun talking again. Their communications were still icy cold, but you got the sense that his dad cared more than his mom. The two of you had moved into his apartment in downtown New Seoul, an expensive building that you would have had no chance of beforehand.

And then suddenly, one day you’d come home to find your parents sitting in the living room with a smiling Hoseok. There had been a moment of complete disbelief before you’d burst into tears, running over to them both and almost choking them in tight hugs. Neither of them had complained though, instead just hugging you back just as tightly as they cried themselves.

In the five years since you had left Earth, they had aged dramatically and part of you had wondered whether Hoseok had brought them here to die within a year. Their hair had greyed quickly while the wrinkles in their skin had deepened. Despite all that though, you had been so unbelievably happy that they were finally there with you.

Hoseok had confirmed that he’d managed to get them the citizenship that you’d only just acquired last year, pulling more than a few strings with some of the family friends he knew. It had been a blatant abuse of power, but you couldn’t find it within yourself to complain. Not when your parents had finally left Earth and that your promise had been fulfilled.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, they had become completely taken with Hoseok. It had been a bizarrely amusing situation for you in which your own parents, who had been so far away, became the rocks that Hoseok and you had relied on when times get tough. His own parents had remained very distant after the whole debacle of your first meeting; Hoseok had still yet to forgive them even now.

Despite being unable to help your father with his legs, the doctors here had been able to extend your parents lives a little further than should have been possible on Earth. The combination of medicine, clean air, healthy living, no work and good food meant that they had slowly come back to life before your eyes.

A regimented skin care routine that your mother had discovered was slowly reducing the wear and tear on her skin while your father simply enjoyed not being run ragged by work. Fifteen years later, they were still here and going on strong.

It brought you to tears sometimes to know that not only had they escaped from Earth finally, but they had been at your wedding to Hoseok and had then been lucky enough to witness their grandchildren being born and growing up. All of this, because of your wonderful soulmate and two parents who had refused to let you stagnate on a dying planet.

Two arms wrap around your waist from behind, a warm body pressing against your back while petal soft lips pressed against your temple. Grinning broadly, you rest your hands on his own and tilt your head back to take in the still beautiful sight of your husband; the love of your life and your soulmate.

He smiled back at you sweetly, contentment on his face as he pressed a kiss to your lips and you sighed happily. The two of you had decided to move to the Sejong estate after Sarang’s birth just over four years ago. While you both loved New Seoul, you’d desperately wanted your children to grow up with everything you hadn’t.

Which meant a childhood free of towering buildings and busy streets. Sejong was the perfect mix of urban and rural, with Hoseok’s already owning the estate here. His parents had given to him as a wedding present, despite their distinct unhappiness at him marrying you.

So you’d made your home here. Hoseok worked for his father’s company remotely, occasionally travelling into New Seoul or any other cities he needed to before coming back. You taught at the local school in Sejong, enriching the minds of the children of those who had made their homes here in one of the most beautiful places you’d ever seen.

And just on the other side of the wall was the beach and bay that still astonished you every time you saw it. It had not only been the place where Hoseok and you had admitted your love to each other, but also the place where he had asked you to be his wife and the place where you had both sealed your love together in matrimony. As such, it had become a special place to you and you’d hated the idea of the estate standing empty when you had a family ready made to move in there.

“Let me guess, Hajoon made Sarang cry again?” Hoseok sighed quietly, resting his chin on your shoulder and you chuckled. Despite being inside when it had happened, your husband knew your children very well.

Nodding, you grin and lean back against him, the familiar contentment at his touch spreading through you.

“Yep, but my mom put a stop to it. I think she might take Sarang inside to bake soon, she bought a load of stuff at that traditional store in town.” That made Hoseok laugh, his breath warm and ticklish against your neck.

“I’ll never understand why she likes to bake when she could just get Somin to do it.” Somin was the cook that apparently came with this estate, because that was a thing. You hated it, but you wouldn’t deny that she did make the best food. Which was why you’d reluctantly agreed to keep her. That and Hoseok had pointed out that the estate was so big that you simply needed to have staff to help maintain it.

Somin at least let you cook if you wanted to, or showed you how to make things. She’d also taught your mom how to bake in the last fifteen years and Sarang had taken a fascination to it as well, so your protests had long since died down. Hoseok still didn’t understand why they liked doing it though.

“She finds it relaxing I guess. I’m not going to tell her to stop doing anything she enjoys.” He hums lightly, swaying you both gently from side to side in a rhythmical movement. It lulls you into a wonderful sense of calm and you smile, still amazed that this was your life now.

“How’re you? And is the baby okay?” His hands move down to gently rub at the bump protruding from your belly, the swollen roundness an obvious sign of the child that grew within. It was still odd to know that it was acceptable to have large families here and you’d quickly discovered after Hajoon that that was exactly what you wanted with Hoseok.

After a childhood of growing up alone with uncaring parents, Hoseok wanted it too. Which is why you are now pregnant with your third child, due in another three months.

“We’re fine. Everything’s fine.” You murmur, reaching up to gently stroke Hoseok’s cheek as you just enjoy the feel of him against you. Fifteen years later, he still makes you feel so safe and protected.

“Good,” He quietens for a moment, simply enjoying the moment with you before he kissing your temple once more. “Are you happy?”

Gazing out, you take in the sight before you. Your children are now playing happily in the sand, both cooperating as they work to make miniature sand castles with your mom. She’s smiling so brightly, happiness that you’d never seen on Earth radiating from her so strongly that it makes tears bank in your eyes.

Your father is still asleep, but the lines of worry and exhaustion that had long since plagued him had smoothed out, his days spent simply enjoying his life now. And then there was Hoseok, your beautiful, wonderful, amazing Hoseok.

The man who had taken a chance fifteen years ago when a woman had told him she was her soulmate, despite knowing nothing about it. Who had taken seeing colour suddenly in his stride and had plunged into dating without any knowledge of what was going on.

The man who you’d fallen so deeply in love with so fast and who had reciprocated so quickly in response, who had defended you and chosen you over his parents when he could have abandoned you so quickly. Meeting Hoseok had been fate and you couldn’t ever imagine your life without him now.

“I’m happy,” You whisper, throat tight with emotions as you feel your baby kick inside you. The movement is directly beneath Hoseok’s hand and you feel him grin, your own hand pressed lovingly on top of his. “I love you.”

There’s a brief moment of quiet after you say it to him, the words so common in your conversation that you could almost be mistaken for thinking there was no real meaning behind them anymore. But you mean every syllable that drops from your mouth when you tell him that, never wanting him to think that you don’t love him.

When he responds, you can feel the same unspoken weight of emotion behind them too and you feel joyful at the knowledge that he feels the same for you.

“I love you too.”

[elsanna-shenanigans]

June Contest Submission #17: The Little Match Girl

Words: ca. 5,000 Setting: HCACU (Hans Christian Andersen Cinematic Universe) / “Snow Queen” x “The Little Match Girl” crossover Lemon: no CW: Non-graphic mentions of child abuse. Non-descriptive mentions of parent death. Mean idiot kids. MCD (Mayor Character Death) (SPOILERS: she’s a happy spirit by the end). Freezing. Near-death hallucinations. Period typical stupidity (mid 19th century)

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It was a horribly cold and dark evening, and the snow fell like a thick swarm of white bees which swirled and swooshed about seeking their next victim. The grey walls of the town’s buildings were just as grey as the clouds that curled above it. Among the piles and gross patches of muddy wet snow, a little girl, no older than eight, chased after her scarf, which had been blown off when a carriage with horses rattled by. The scarf had belonged to her mother, and it was the only reminder of her, for she’d been dead before her smallest daughter was old enough to know her. The scarf was also the warmest article the girl had since she’d lost her hat and her shoes running down the road outside of town. She’d been far from home with her pockets full of matches to sell at every door that would open for her, but everyone in the tiny distant farms had rejected her, and so had the factory workers from the city. The sun was setting, so she had no choice but to go back home, where her grandfather would surely punish her for coming back with not one penny.

The girl’s name was Anna. Her feet and hands were dead from the cold and wetness, growing from red to blue to black, and her whole body convulsed like that of the dead dove in her cat’s mouth last week. A weak tiny chest unprotected by the scarf heaved up and down out of control, with an even tinier and weaker heart inside. Her thin clothes had grown soaked from the carriage wheels and the splashing hooves of horses when they passed by, and the cold crept up from her socks to her neck, where snowflakes leaked inside the collar of her dress. The poor little thing could do nothing but shiver as her stiff muscles pushed her forward down the street towards her home, where her grandfather would surely give her an ugly beating and call her names and bad words she didn’t understand. 

Among the worse things he told her, were the tales of the wicked Snow Queen, who could never stay on the ground for long, but came down to earth in her reindeer-pulled sleigh when it snowed to snatch away children and young women, and as she’d heard, the Snow Queen had taken her mother and father away, and would surely take her too if she took too long to sell her matches. To Anna, that didn’t sound so terrible if it meant she’d see her parents again, because they must surely have been the only people to have ever loved her. Every winter, in the safety of her house, Anna liked to heat a copper penny by the stove and press it against the glass, so she could peep out the clear circle and see people going along with their lives, the birds and dogs fighting for food and the beautiful snow swirling outside with the wind. She particularly liked to spy for the Snow Queen, who must arrive at any moment.

As the wind picked up, she sighted a spot to take refuge: a narrow alleyway, between two tall brick houses. There she curled up with her little knees against her chest and hugged herself. The scarf was long gone as she’d lost it from sight miles back. She would never see it again, and then her grandfather would grow even angrier. She hadn’t even brought a single penny to make up for it. 

If only she could draw a match from her pocket and strike it against the wall! Then it would make a beautiful warm light, but she didn’t dare anger her grandfather any further, and she still needed to sell them the following day. So instead, she shivered and shivered as the snow fell faster and faster and the wind blew louder and louder. Her cold-dead fingers twitched with the impulse to strike a match, but she held back, because then her grandfather’s wrath would be unimaginable, and he would kick her out of the house to be captured by the Snow Queen. 

As the sun set and all light vanished, little Anna felt her head grow lighter and the cold on her limbs recede. Keeping her eyes open was harder, but she didn’t mind, because the brick wall behind her wasn’t as wet or cold as she’d initially thought, and she could lay against it and go to sleep.

When she thought she should see only darkness, a soft light glowed from among the snow, and a silhouette stood before it. It was that of a large sleigh, and a person climbing down from it. Anna’s little heart fluttered with joy. She was saved! She’d be brought back home safely! But then she noticed the person’s strange appearance: she looked like a young girl, barely a few years older than her, and everything from her hair to her skin to her bear-coat was as white as snow. She approached Anna and cried:

“Oh, my, what are you doing here alone? You must be freezing to death! Please, crawl into my coat so I can keep you warm.”

Anna hesitated, for she noticed the bear-coat was made of snow, as well as the young girl’s dress, but she could barely feel the cold anyway, and the girl had asked so nicely, so she did as asked and inched closer as the girl knelt before her, end even though Anna’s body thought it couldn’t take any more cold, being enveloped by the coat felt as if she were sinking in a snowdrift.

“C-c-cold, cold, cold…” She whimpered like a babe, and the girl tightened her coat’s grip around her.

“Don’t worry. Come here.” She kissed her hair, and Anna thought she may pass out from the sheer chill that iced her bones and her whole head, but only for a moment, and then it slowly vanished and left in its stead a soft, comfortably cool feeling, like dipping your bare feet in the creek during a sunny summer day. At the same time, a few hairs on her red head grew white. Her limbs quickly recovered their ability to feel, and her clothes were no longer soaked. “Did it work? Are you no longer cold?” Asked the young girl.

“No, why, thank you so much!” Anna cried. “I feel as though I just woke up from a warm bed.”

“You shall not get any more kisses, now, or else I shall kiss you to death,” said the girl. “Now, what is someone as small as you doing out in the snow on a night like this? I don’t want to imagine what may have happened if I hadn’t come across you.”

Anna didn’t want to imagine either. Oh, had she come so close to death? And she didn’t even notice!

“I’m a match girl, you see,” she explained, showing her a handful of matches from her pocket. “My grandfather has me sell matches every day, but if I’m to come home empty-handed by nightfall, he will beat me with a belt.”

“Your grandfather beats you and sends you out dressed so poorly?” Asked the girl with horror.

“He gave me my ma’s scarf, but I happened to lose it, which is why I was so scared to come home. I haven’t earned a single penny today, and if he knew I lost the only thing of my parents’ we had left, he’d be terribly angry.”

“Could it be this scarf? It blew in my direction by accident today,” the girl said, and she looked for something in her sleigh and made Anna gasp when she raised a beautifully clean and dry red scarf, embroidered with gorgeous foreign patterns. 

“It is! You’ve found it!” Anna rejoiced as she grasped the scarf and hugged it to her chest before wrapping it around her neck. “Are you my fairy godmother? You’re so nice and good with me!”

The girl smiled shily.

“You must have heard of me before. They know me as the Snow Queen.”

Anna’s heart chilled with fear, but then she realized how warm she felt, and how nice the Snow Queen was to her, and thought she must have been wrong about her before, and no longer felt afraid.

“Oh! I know you!” She exclaimed. “You look so much younger than I thought. My grandfather said you’d be an old hag, and he also said you took my parents away. Is that true? Can you take me to them? My name is Anna, by the way.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Anna, but I’m afraid I don’t know your mother,” said the Snow Queen. “I have never taken anyone away, but maybe my mother, who was Snow Queen before me, has.”

It had never occurred to her that the Snow Queen may have a child or a mother. It had never occurred to her that she may be good, either, but in these few minutes, she’d been nicer to her than her grandfather had ever been. 

“I’m sorry about your mother,“ said Anna.

“And I’m sorry about yours as well,” she replied. In that moment, a strong harsh wind howled and made Anna fasten her scarf around her neck out of habit, but she didn’t shiver at all. 

“It’s getting colder,” said the Snow Queen. “But I’m afraid to let you go if your grandfather is as you say.”

Sharp terror seized Anna’s little heart.

“Please, don’t bring me to him!” She implored. “I’ve not sold but one little match.”

the Snow Queen looked at her with pity.

“Do you suggest I bring you along with me?”

“Yes!” Cried Anna. “Oh, take me with you! You’ve been so kind and you’ve kept me so warm! Surely I will never feel cold again with you.” 

The Snow Queen was told to be a cold, aloof villain with a frozen heart, but there were unbelievable pain and despair behind her eyes, as she laid them upon Anna. 

“I cannot bring you with me, for I’m afraid you shall freeze to death in my palace, which is in the snow,” she told her. “But if you allow me to take you home, I promise I will visit every day of winter. Whenever you need me, just call for me and I will look after you and keep you warm.”

Anna’s little heart lurched when she thought about coming back home empty-handed, but she was still beyond happy to have a new friend. She climbed onto the Snow Queen’s sled, which was made of ice, but that didn’t bother Anna in the slightest, less even when nestled securely in the heavy bear-coat. All of the reindeer looked at her curiously, and Anna waved at them before the Snow Queen whipped the reins and had the sleigh take off. The wind soon whistled past them as the reindeer galloped faster and faster, but not a single snowflake scratched Anna’s red numb cheeks, and not for a moment did her throat grow sore and cold. The Snow Queen, whom she would now see as her dearest friend for the few years left of her life, kept her close to her during the whole ride, as the houses and farms and fences blurred by and then slowed down again, until Anna’s familiar neighborhood came into view. She hugged her new friend goodbye and clung to her for dear life until it was time to part. 

“It is winter, so I’ll be here for you to call me,” said the Snow Queen. “I won’t leave you alone.”

Anna smiled warmly.

“Thank you.”

Then she rushed into her home, still empty-handed, and she was terrified to alert her grandfather of her presence, but suddenly, the pipes burst, swollen with ice, and he stomped past her with only a quick “Not now” as an acknowledgment when he marched into the kitchen to see what was wrong and fix it. Anna held her breath the whole night, but her grandfather seemed too preoccupied with the state of the house and the price of repairment to remember her discipline.

That very night, Anna used one of her matches to light the stove and no ten minutes later, her little eye appeared on the window, and she could see the raging storm and the sleigh with reindeer and her new friend sitting on it only twenty meters away. She waved at Anna with a hand, and though the Snow Queen couldn’t see her, Anna waved back, too. 

“Thank you,” she mouthed.

Ever since that way, Anna’s life turned upside-down completely. Every day she would happily stroll out into the streets and stay outside late selling matches to every neighbor that would buy, which sometimes were many, as the days were growing colder and windows often cracked under the punishment of ice and frost, or stoves broke down, or pipes froze completely. Some days were less lucky, for people would sneer at her increasingly white hair and chase her away with a broom as if she were a witch’s cat-familiar, but that roughly bothered her, because her grandfather was always too busy shoveling snow or chopping off the stalactites that grew under the roof to care. 

Where adults were mean, kids were meaner. The edge of the forest was their place of leisure, a place parents often avoided out of fear, so that’s where they all went to play. Anna didn’t usually play with the boys and girls of her town, because they didn’t like her, but where before they’d simply ignored her, they would now go after her. protesting that it was unfair she sold so many matches, or that she so rarely felt cold. They pointed at her white hairs, which Anna loved with all of her heart, and laughed bitterly before chasing her around with hard, rough snowballs. But Anna wasn’t scared anymore, and she hadn’t been in quite some time, because when she raced across the woods and cried “My best friend is the Snow Queen! Be afraid!” and the Snow Queen puffed out her cheeks and blew a strong glacial wind from behind Anna and over the mean kids, they all screamed in horror and scrambled away crying like babies. Anna laughed, and because of this, the Snow Queen laughed too, albeit nervously, because she didn’t like frightening people, but once everyone was gone, the forest belonged to them.

And in the forest was where Anna and the Snow Queen spent the most time together. They liked to play in the snow and climb trees and ride the reindeer around, galloping through the woods faster and faster until the Snow Queen let Anna win, as she always did. Winters with the Snow Queen were the most beautiful moments of freedom in Anna’s short little life, where her grandfather couldn’t catch her and the people weren’t mean to her and she didn’t feel cold nor alone, not when the Snow Queen kissed her forehead to keep her warm and made more beautiful white hairs grow. 

But winter always came to an end, always a little bit too soon, or that’s how it felt like, at least, because the Snow Queen would visit less and less, and with her, the pristine snow melted into mud, insects crawled out from every crack between two bricks, and grandfather had fewer problems with their house. And people were buying fewer matches.

“I’m sorry, but I must leave,” told her the Snow Queen the first time. “It is springtime already, and I must return to my palace.”

“Oh, can you bring me with you?” Anna begged more than once.

“I wish I could more than anything in my life,” said the Queen back. “But I’m afraid you shall freeze to death.”

Every spring came a time in which Anna watched the Snow Queen climb onto her sleigh and ride away one last time.

These were hard times, without her dear friend. Grandfather could always find her some other work to do, and the weather was kinder, but she felt alone and unprotected without her company, and whenever she mentioned how much she missed her, her grandfather would scoff at her and say:

“Quit it with the fairy tales. You have a delivery to make.”

And he’d slam a heavy box down on Anna’s waiting arms and send her off.

The first summer wasn’t as hard. The second one was a little bit harder. Each year the Snow Queen came back and brought so much love and happiness with her, only to tear it away once more, and Anna’s little heart could barely take the punishment. Kids and adults alike at church didn’t want to sit near her, and people rarely bought her flowers, bread loaves or whatever she was selling that season. Grandfather was growing more and more irritable each year, so Anna avoided him. She also avoided the kids in town, and the adults, and even the dogs and birds fighting over food, for they had grown to fear her. She could see them pointing fingers and whispering and talking about the Devil and wicked spirits in the mountains. “What awaits out there in the snow?” They asked out loud. “Surely it is death. You’re going to catch your death, child.”

But then the forest turned red, and then black, and then white when the frost came. Anna could feel herself growing colder and colder each day as anticipation built in, and when the first snow fell, she rushed out of home and into the forest to greet her friend. 

Whenever grandfather was out of the house for the night and left Anna alone, she sneaked into the woods and towards the little refuge she’d built with the Snow Queen, a half-fallen oak tree, with an icy curtain she could gently move aside to enter, where she kept an old wooden sled, a matchbox and a few toys. Luckily, this had been the case last time the Snow Queen came down to visit. Anna raised her hands to her mouth, looked at the sky, and sang. It was a special call the Queen had taught her, which in its turn had been taught to her by her mother. Only four clear, loud notes which echoed through the mountains and the town and reached the ears of every frightened child and adult, regardless of whether they believed in the Snow Queen or not, and told them there was something deeply wrong and wicked with their little match girl. But Anna had no reason to care for what they may think, because soon she’d hear the sound of hooves and turn around to find her dear friend standing there, who grew more beautiful with every year, and Anna would give a little jump and race to her arms and laugh as the Queen circled her waist and pulled her close, nuzzling her hair and covering her body with her coat.

“I missed you,” she said, as she did each time, and she heard the Snow Queen sigh in bliss.

“I missed you, too.”

Anna lit up one of her matches to make a fire so that she could cook the little meat she’d brought along, and just like every time, she thought she saw the light parting like a curtain to reveal a vision of a beautiful crystalline palace on the top of the mountains.

“How is life in your palace?” She asked.

“It is peaceful, but it’s lonely. Still, I feel as free as a bird when I’m up there,” she told her. “But not nearly as happy as when I am down here.” She happily pinched Anna’s cheek and they both laughed. Anna felt a strange and warm feeling inside of her, something that compelled her to snuggle close to her friend, rest her head upon her shoulder, and close her eyes. The lack of cold was distinctly different from warmth, and she greatly enjoyed it when sitting before a fire in the Queen’s arms. Oh! She was certain the Queen must share this beautiful feeling, because she saw her face redden and her hands fidget when Anna kissed her cheek, once again reminding her of her humanity. She’d heard of women like these. People made them sound so horrible, but Anna knew her Queen and she knew herself, and she didn’t truly believe the things the townspeople preached anymore. They had been so wrong about the Snow Queen! She wasn’t the evil spirit they mistook her for, not at all. She was Anna’s dear friend, and a beautiful young woman as well. Oh, how happy did these moments make her!

“Would you tell me about your summer?” the Snow Queen requested, and Anna snuggled closer and happily told her about the ducklings in the pond, the flowers in her garden, and the beautiful lush green forest she tended to when it wasn’t covered in snow.

Life was difficult, but it had moments of true beauty, and Anna would treasure them with her whole heart. 

Winter, although safe and beautiful, was not always perfect. It was during her last winter that Anna wandered into an inn with pockets full of matches to sell that she saw none other than her Grandfather standing there, giving a loud, staggering speech to every man gathered around him. They had pitchforks and unlit torches in their hands.

“There is an evil creature haunting this town and we all know it!” He cried. “We’re too afraid to even name it! But I refuse to submit to the creature that took my family from me!”

The men cheered in fervor and support. 

Her grandfather hadn’t seen her. His eyes must have glossed over her, and Anna took the chance to bolt.

With her heart in her throat and her pockets full of matches, she trudged through the heavy snow into the forest. She needed to tell the Snow Queen, and to do so she needed to safely call her. She didn’t suffer the cold nearly as much but she felt her hands begin to grow numb just when anyone else’s would grow lifeless and dark. 

The wind picked up as she heard voices near, of men following deep into the woods with their hot red torches in one hand and their pitchforks in the other. Whenever she thought she’d come far enough, she’d hear them again, and at one point she made the mistake to think she was safe, raised her hands to her mouth, and called for the Queen. Her voice echoed in the walls of the mountains.

“I hear her!” Somebody cried. “This way!”

Anna’s little body jumped in terror, and she scurried away as quickly as possible, praying that the Queen did hear her and would get to her in time. The snow swirled cruelly around her and between each tree, muffling the red light from deep into the forest, and the soft white glow of the moon. She had to stumble in darkness, and she couldn’t see where there may be a tree, a rock, or a slippery sheet of ice.

She shivered thinking about the beating she’d receive if she didn’t sell her matches, but she was so scared, she still struck one against the bark of a tree, and a weak flame spluttered to life. She saw the thick snow, looking golden in the firelight, and the trees before her. They were growing sparse as the forest gave way into the vast expanse of whiteness that was the frozen prairie. She felt her numb hands grow warm.

The fire fluttered and died in the wind, and the shouting of men from behind resumed. Without thinking, Anna ran into the prairie. 

The wind blew hard frost against her, which cut the skin of her hands and cheeks, and Anna shivered in the impossible cold. Oh, where was the Snow Queen? Why was she taking so long?

She slipped on ice and hit her head against a tree, and as her confused brain processed the red light coming closer, she dragged herself behind the offending plant to hide, but setting her bum and back against the cold surface shook her to the bone. Against her best judgment, she lit another match, and pffffrtz! It came to light beautifully. Anna’s trembling lungs took all the air they could as she watched the soft light, and she thought she saw something in it, a crystalline structure, with delicate towers and a beautiful glass bridge. She smiled to herself, for a moment feeling less afraid. Oh! She could see that strong, secluded castle so clearly! But quickly the light went out, and she was once again shivering and scared.

Then, a heavy paw squeezed her arm, and she screamed.

“Quiet!” Her grandfather grunted. “You’ve called her yourself, and now you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

“Please, grandfather, don’t hurt her!” Cried Anna, jerking her arm. “She meant you no harm!”

“You are losing your mind,” he said “The Queen was the reason why your parents and sister were lost to the snow. She took them away, and left you behind to depend on me.”

Anna stopped struggling. She had never heard of any sister.

“I had a sister?” She asked.

“Yes, and she disappeared the same night your mother did,” he told her. “I planned on telling you when you were old enough, because he was only a child and you didn’t need one more unknown loved one to cry over, but I later realized you were just foolish enough to talk to the Snow Queen yourself!”

“You don’t know her! She is the most, loving, gentle and warmest person there is, and not the monster you think her!” Anna finally released her arm from her grandfather’s clutches. She ran as he cried after her before his old legs could follow.

The freezing air filled Anna’s lungs and burned her lungs from the inside, so she fastened her scarf around her nose and trod forward. Her only goal was to get as far from the red light as possible, but without lighting a match, she couldn’t see where she stepped and her boot landed on a smooth, cracking surface that soon gave way into glacial water that dragged her away. The creek was shallow and she kept her head above the surface, but her whole body convulsed as the cold clawed into her, and the water dragged her down the river. She only pulled herself out when her dead-numb hand managed to hold onto a tree’s root. Even when she was fully out of the water, her little heart still struggled to carry warm blood to all of her limbs.

She tried to open her mouth and call for the Queen again, but she only coughed. She’d lost her scarf and one of her shoes on the way, and in her pocket, lied only one miserable wet match.

She desperately tried to scrub it dry and, with her shivering blue fingers, she struck it to life. She let herself sigh at the beautiful view. The warmth quickly spread over her fingers, along her arms and across her whole body. She didn’t even feel cold anymore. She didn’t shiver. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the light, and slowly, she began to see figures dancing. They looked like a couple with two small children, and a large roaring fireplace, with a table full of bread, cheese, milk and a roasted lamb to devour on Christmas Eve. Anna could reach her hand and take a piece of bread into her mouth. She could even taste it, and she smiled. The family’s house was big and spacious, with long corridors and stairways and a ballroom, and crystalline towers and a beautiful bridge between the mountains that led up to the palace in the sky. It was a beautiful home.

Across the fire, she saw a pair of concerned eyes. The fire went out. The Snow Queen fell to her knees, hugged Anna to her chest, and rocked her slowly.

“My love, you’re freezing!” she cried, and stroked Anna’s nearly-white hair. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I got scared and started this storm! I should have been here much sooner!”

Anna cupped her cheek.

“It’s alright. I still love you,” she told her, and then the Queen pulled away and looked at her with so much love, pain, and despair. She held Anna’s hand on her cheek. The Snow Queen must be freezing her but Anna didn’t feel it at all.

Then, the Queen brushed her hair away, leaned in, and planted a soft kiss on Anna’s lips. For a moment, a sharp cold stung her heart, and then it was gone, and she no longer felt the heavy drag of her wet dress as the Queen wrapped her up in her beloved scarf, which was dry and clean. Anna didn’t feel cold, nor afraid, nor in pain. She felt only warm and content. Oh! Anna had never been this happy or loved in her life!

The Snow Queen broke the kiss, picked up her soul into her arms, and safely carried her towards the sleigh, where the reindeer greeted them. She placed Anna on the seat and wrapped her into her bear coat. Then, she said:

“Are you feeling alright?”

Anna grinned at her love.

“Yes, I am. Thank you. I’m so happy you found me.”

She held the Queen’s hand tightly. She was kind, safe and familiar, and Anna felt so happy to be wrapped in her coat and sitting on her sleigh again. 

“Let’s go home,” said the Queen as she squeezed Anna’s hand and then stroked her auburn hair. Anna recalled the palace, and the happy family and the two children, and her grandfather’s words. Every memory made her smile. Home sounded like a nice plan. 

The Snow Queen whipped her reins, making her reindeer cry and break into a gallop. The snow swirled past them, faster and faster, and soon they left the red light far behind them, and the clouds parted and they raced high into the sky and towards some distant mountain with a beautiful palace on it, and Anna’s soul soared, watching the world below disappear, still holding the Snow Queen’s hand. 

The men below would eventually decide to keep quiet about that odd young girl who sang alone in the forest and talked to evil spirits. Anna’s grandfather, especially, was silent about it, and didn’t tell anyone about what happened to his son or daughter-in-law in the snow, much less to his granddaughters, both of which he failed to save. They never found the bodies at all, and he never knew what had taken the eldest away, only to come back for the youngest years later. The only certain thing was that, whenever someone dug their hands into their pockets during a snowy day, they’d find an old match lost somewhere in there, and they’d look at it with a strange combination of shame, terror, and gratitude. They were very quiet, yes, they never shared a word, but when they were alone, they did wonder, who was out there? What awaited out there in the snow?

[homogrimoire-archive]

The Remnant Branches

CH. 5 - Ash Qrow

Qrow ventures into the world where day and night are at a standstill. There, he gets stuck with a bunch of kids, and a book or two.

AO3 Link

You can kill two birds with one stone. But if those two birds are the same bird, are you really killing two birds?

-

Qrow flew right into a large rock that was hurled from below. With a caw, he flew away with it. It hurt like hell, but honestly, he was used to such inconveniences.

“Kainé! You hit that poor bird!” berated a child’s voice.

“What? It’s not my fault the damn thing came out of nowhere.” a woman said as she tore through a shadowy monster.

As Qrow recovered, he looked down below. There were four people: two young adults, and two children. There were also two floating books, one white, and the other red. The two children fought together, while the male teen and the white book fought together. The woman, whose clothing could hardly count as clothing, fought with the red book. He thought of joining in the fight to help them out, but they were taking care of the monsters, shades, he remembered, as if it were having a picnic. Not only that, they all used magic. He was happy to have found what he was looking for on his first day.

Qrow spent the rest of that first day scouting the surrounding area. Nearby, was a small village, a seaside town, a small desert civilization, a run down factory, a forest, and a village built into a cliff side. In the distance, he could see dilapidated buildings, an abandoned city in ruins. He knew that whatever happened to this world was unimaginable. He knew that if Salem won, Remnant could very well end up like that part of the world.

The first place he visited was the tavern of the village the four stayed in. His first order of business was to find out preliminary information on them. Bars were one of the best places to get info. Alcohol flowed, and information flowed with it. However, bars in small places could be either hit or miss with information. The people in such bars would either be too tight-lipped, wanting to keep their community’s secrets, or all too eager to share the latest gossip. He was all too happy to find this bar a hit. Great information, with even greater alcohol. He decided then that post-apocalyptic alcohol was the best.

“You mean you haven’t heard of them!? They’re like, only the strongest people in the world!”

“I’ve seen Grimoire Weiss and Nier take on an army of shades all alone! I wish I was as awesome as they were.”

“Kainé is soooo cool. She and Rubrum took down a shade the size of three building in five minutes flat. She even saved me from this giant shade and helped me up. I haven't washed my hand since she touched it.”

“Emil and Halua are soo adorable! And so strong too! Don’t let their looks fool you though. I heard that they took on Weiss, Nier, Kainé, and Rubrum on in a spar, and won.”

“They’re gonna save the world! Once they find The Shadowlord, we’ll be free of the shades at last!”

Qrow was having a great time. Apparently, he had showed up after a rare performance from the village’s leaders. The bar was filled with laughter and chatter. While he was chatting away with some man, he heard a roar rise from the crowd.

“Oh man! Here comes the main event!” said the man.

Qrow saw that an arm wrestling contest was going on, and the champion was one of the village leaders, the one with the straight hair. She seemed more drunk than anyone else, and did not appear particularly strong. The first opponent was a woman, a dainty thing that went down easy. Next was a beefy man. He went down with only a smudge of struggle on the champion’s part. After him was an even beefier woman. She was defeated just as easily.

“Come on! One more opponent! Who else wants to face me? You!” She pointed right at Qrow. “You’re a new face! Get over here! Let’s see how you hold up against me!”

Qrow shrunk and tried to get out of the challenge, but, the crowd pushed him forward. He may have been drunk, but still knew that it was almost never a good idea to attract attention on a mission. However, there was no good way of getting out of it, so he went to his slaughter. She sized him up and smirked. Their hands interlocked, and the match began. Qrow put up a better fight than the others. He assumes it is because of his aura helping out. But, she unleashes a burst of strength that not only seals her victory, but breaks the table they were playing on. While Qrow picks himself up, the champion raises a leg onto her chair and relishes her victory.

“Popola! Popola!” the crowd chanted. Qrow knew that there was more to this woman than meets the eye. But, pursuing her would have been illogical. He had his lead on magic, and would focus on that.

It wasn’t his first loss at arm wrestling. That was with Tai. Summer ended up winning Team STRQ’s little tournament. It was a nice memory. But, a memory is all it ultimately all was. He spent the rest of that day gathering bits and pieces of information on the group, nursing the great beer out of his canteen.

The Shadowlord and the black book, Noir, had taken the Nier’s kid sister. The two children were siblings and had lived at the mansion. Kainé had lived at the Aerie, the place built into the cliffside. Grimoire Weiss, who insisted on being referred to by his full name, and Kainé did not get along. Rubrum and Nier don’t get along. Rumor has it that Nier and Kainé are dating. Nier’s weapon is named Beastcurse. None of the info he gathers pertains to the specifics of the magic they wield.

Qrow always found sleep difficult, and the eternal sun only made it harder. He wondered why Popola was so strong. Ozpin didn’t mention anything about the people having such strength. He rested alone in a tree at the top of a hill in the village, and was grateful that it at least wasn’t cold. However, he was filled with apprehension. The previous two days had gone well. Too well for someone like him. All he could do was wait for things to inevitably go south.

-

Qrow was awoken by the sound of a scream. He quickly jumped out of the tree, but landed on his foot wrong and fell on his face. He quickly gets up and scans the area with his sword in hand. He notices that a kid is in front of him, protecting a shade.

“Don’t hurt him! He’s a good shade!” the kid pleas. Behind the child, the shade is cowering. Qrow then realizes that the two were probably just playing, and he heard laughter, not screaming.

“Don’t worry kid. If he’s a good shade, then I won’t hurt him.” He reassures as he sheaths Harbinger.

“Alright...” the kid says warily as she lowers her arms. From behind, the small shade seems to relax as well. “What were you doing sleeping in a tree anyways? Birds sleep in trees. Are you part bird or something?” the kids says, suspicious of Qrow.

“Nope, not part bird or anything.” he quickly clarifies. He’s technically not lying.

“What’s your name then, mister?” the child asks.

“Qrow.” he answers nervously. The child looks at the shade, and the shade looks back at her. Qrow knows that they know something is up.

“Ok then, Mister ‘not a bird’ Qrow. Wanna play with us?” she innocently asks, as if she weren’t just suspicious of him.

“No. No thanks, I’m good.” He says as he begins to back away.

“Sure?” she says. The shade comes forth, saying something in its odd voice as it holds out a palm full of worms. “We were just digging for worms. Don't you think that’s fun?”

“That’s, that’s good for you. I’m not interested though. I really should get going.” he lightly laughs to counteract the heaviness around him. The worms do seem enticing. The shade mumbles something again, and holds out some shiny objects. Qrow begins to sweat.

“Or maybe we could play with these shiny toys? They’re sooo shiny.” she smiles as she tempts him as she holds one up to the sun, making it sparkle brilliantly. He almost can’t handle it. He can’t handle it. With a loud caw, he transforms in an instant, and flies away.

“HA! YOU WERE RIGHT!” he hears her shout as he makes his escape. “You were right! He was magic! That’s how he lasted that long against Popola! I knew you were right!” Turning his head to look back, he sees the two dancing with each other, sharing their small victory. It was heartwarming, even if it felt like he was just being interrogated by them. However, he wonders why his avian urges were so strong. He chalks it up to his bad luck.

Since he was already flying, he decides to see if he can find that group of kids. He sees them in the plains below. And they’re riding huge, wild boars. They’re all laughing and screaming in wild joy as they head towards the town in the cliff face. However, he notices that the demeanor in the woman seems tense. He remembers that she lived there, and might have some bad memories of the place. He’s glad she had her friends with her though.

As they entered the cavern, he flew overhead and took the time to scan the town. It seemed no different than when he first saw it, save for a small gathering of people on one of the large platforms. He imagines that’s where they’re heading, but he knows he could be wrong. He perched on a wire above the group of merchants and customers.

“There they are.” One person says.

“Ok, get ready. Act like we planned.” whispers another.

“Did you say something?” asks one of the merchants.

“Huh, oh, no. I just remembered something.”

“Ah, ok.”

That’s not suspicious at all. Qrow thought to himself. He kept himself alert. The guy with the white book finally entered the little market. He hopped up the wire to see if he could find where the others were, and found them waiting at the entrance. They appeared to be chatting with each other.

Down below, he heard the book and the guy making small talk with the people there, and buying a few things.

“Everyone? Every one? Every one? Everyoneeveryoneeveryoneeveryoneeveryone…” said a guard as his voice morphed into the sound of a shade. And in a puff of smoke, he and a few others transformed into shades.

“Crap, an ambush.” Nier said.

“So it seems.” Weiss commented.

From his vantage point, Qrow could see more shades gathering around the other parts of the village. He decided then that now was the time to help.

He flies to a bridge where more shades have gathered, and with the slash of his sword, he sends them flying back. A few fall off the bridge to whatever lies below, but more shades manifest to take their place.

“Forget how to actually kill a shade, old man?” berates the female teen as she slashes through slade after shade on the other side of the bridge.

“Hey! I’m not old!” Qrow answers back.

“Then start killing them properly, or leave, dumbass. Rubrum, play Cold Steel Coffin.”

“Ooh, nice choice.” The red book compliments as she opens up and flies through her pages. “Tear those blood bags to shreds!” From her pages flows a song in an unknown tongue.

Vlee sieh tah, Vlee sieh reeh, Vlee raun stee yah, Vlee yon ston reeh. Begins the powerful, almost terrifying song. Kainé tears through the shades with even greater ferocity than before, their blood devoured by the red book as the volume intensifies.

“Kickass!” she shouts as a shade is torn to shreds, as promised. Her movements become quicker and quicker, stronger and stronger, and before Qrow can take care of even five, she’s already taken care of the rest of the shades on that bridge. “Out of my way old timer!” she says as she rushes past him.

“Kainé! Hold on!” Qrow hears a boy shout.

“Yeah, hold up!” A girl also shouts.

“We’re sorry about her.” The girl says.

“She just really gets into it when Rubrum plays a cool song.” The boy says.

“So, what’s your name? I’m Halua, and this is my twin brother.” she introduces.

“Hello, I’m Emil. It’s nice to meet you.” he says with a slight bow.

“Qrow. Nice to meet you two. We should chat later though, huh?”

“Oh, you’re right. We really should. Hm, follow me Emil.” she says.

“Okay!” he replies as he takes her hand. They proceed to walk off the bridge, and onto the empty air as if it were solid ground.

Nobody bats an eye at the two, but Qrow. The sound of a shade screaming right in front of his face scares him, and he jumps off the bridge. He turns into a bird to fly back up, but rather than his wings, he is instead brought back up by some unknown force.

“Huh? A bird?” Halua questions.

“You can turn people into birds? That’s new. Do you think you can turn me into a parrot later? I always wanted to be a colorful parrot!” Emil exclaims happily.

“Nooo. Waaaait… Qrowwww… Crowwwww… Sorry mister, I’ll let you go now!” she shouts from the center of the canyon as she releases her magical grip on him. “Let’s get back to this. Tell me when it sounds right.” she tells Emil as they toy with a glyph.

“What the hell???” he wonders. It’s the second time that day a kid guessed his magical secret. What that said about the adults in Remnant wasn’t good. Then again, it wasn’t like magic was common in Remnant.

He shifts back into a human and gets back to taking care of shades. By now, the song echoed through The Aerie for all to hear and empower. Qrow had to admit that it did help with the fighting, as it paired well with his fighting style. Despite the toughness of their armor and tendency to block, he soon finds himself flying through shade after shade at a good pace.

Everynow and then, he takes a look at one of the kids to see how they’re holding up. The villagers at the tavern had evidently placed their praise well. Nier and Weiss work as an experienced duo, efficient, clean, and powerful. Kainé and Rubrum, all Kainé really, were a shade killing machine. They are brutal, swift, and deadly. While Kainé hacks, Rubrum dances to the beat of the song as best a book can. Then it seems as if the young twins then appear to have finished their task.

“There! That’s it” Emil says excitedly.

“Alright. Applying the buff!” she announces. With an otherworldly, fear-inducing glow surrounding her, she absorbs the glyph, and Qrow finds that Harbinger is glowing as well. Looking around, he sees that Nier and Kainé’s weapons are glowing as well. A quick slash of the scythe shows what the buff was: armor nullification. Harbinger went through the armor harming the shade underneath.

“Fuck yeah!” Kainé yells with joy.

“Will she ever learn to hold her tongue around them?” Weiss wondered.

“Fuck yeah!” Emil and Halua echo as they jump with joy.

“I think it might be a little late for that, boo─ Grimoire Weiss.” Qrow corrected before he could finish.

“Well, at least someone has the decency to respectfully use my full name. Who might you be anyways?” Weiss asks

“Qrow. It looked like you guys could use some help, so here I am.” He responds.

“That’s nice of you, but─” Nier begins before being cut off by Weiss.

“Shush! No buts! We’re taking all the help we can get. Bah! Teenagers!” Weiss says as he shakes his head, or that’s what it looks like he’s doing.

“Don’t worry Weissy, we’ll be good teenagers when we grow up!” Halua says earnestly as she and Emil join them.

“But I wanna be like Kainé! She’s awesome!” Emil argues.

“Sorry Weissy, nevermind.”

“Apologize not. This old book has given up hope long ago.” he says tiredly.

“Done!” They hear Kainé probably declare as she joins them.

“Another day of honest work is complete!” Rubrum chimes as the song fades out. Slowly, they all begin to notice the ominous, dark mist that vibrates all around The Aerie.

“Rubrum! This is why you have to be more careful with the songs!” Nier reprimands.

“Oh calm down you big baby.” she tells him without a care in the world. “Like I said last time, it’s nothing we won’t be able to handle.”

“Last time?” Qrow asks.

“We were relaxing on the beach, and she was playing Repose. We even didn’t notice the giant shade in the ship.”

“Hey, things ended up alright, didn’t they?” she defended herself.

“I broke an arm! The mailman almost died! Halua was tired out for a week!”

“Well your arm’s okay now, the mailman is still alive, and Halua recovered. What’s your point?” she told him. Nier growled in frustration as he covered his face.

“Lose later Nier, we have a new friend to make.” Kainé smiled cruelly.

Before them, in the center of The Aerie, a giant shade formed. It was unlike previous shades. Its size made it in a part of a very small class of shades. It was a perfect, dark sphere. Tendrils, or perhaps tails, slithered to and fro to reveal what seemed to be an eye in the center. Its roar could be felt as it traveled through the air, rattling their bones through their flesh.

“Emil! Halua!” Weiss shouted.

“On it!” they answered, and began to manipulate a new glyph.

“Until they’re done, we’ll practice the tried and true method of concussive maintenance.” Weiss continues.

“If it worked on a grimoire, what wouldn't it work on?” Rubrum added.

“Emil and Halua.” Kainé answered.

“Dare I ask again?” Qrow dared to ask.

“Does it look like we have the time?” Weiss responded. As the monster appeared to wind up for an attack.

“Nope.”

With such a monstrosity, Qrow expected it to whip its many tentacles at them, or attack with some kind of magical energy. He expected wrong. It unleashed some kind of gas, a sickly pale green color. They all had no chance to try to avoid it.

What are you even doing here? You’re just endangering those kids. Don’t you know that, idiot? Or maybe you want bad things to happen to them? Why stop there? Make everyone as miserable as you! Oh wait, you already do that, you pathetic excuse for a human.

“I do, don’t I? That’s all I ever do, bring everyone bad luck and make them miserable. Why am I still here? I─”

“I am just a freak. I shouldn’t be here, near anyone. A monster with a cursed body like mine shouldn’t even exist…”

“Why is a broken guy like me even here? I don’t want to be here in this terrible world. It would be easier if I were gone.”

“I need to be alone. I need to be alone. They can’t turn to stone that way. If I never look at them, if I’m never close to them, my cursed eyes can't petrify them.”

“I’m just a weapon. That’s all I was ever good for. I couldn’t even protect Emil. A weapon like me shouldn’t exist. I never wanted this. I never wanted to be this...”

“I─ I─ I─ Snap out of it! Quit saying those things! Snap out of it!” Qrow yelled to the children.

“Use a song!” Weiss shouted as he fended off the shades as best he could.

“I have to find a proper one, or be given one! You know how this works!” Rubrum frustratedly replied. “God shit fuck!” she cursed as more and more shades inched closer, and closer.

“Hey, Rubrum, find one for me!” Qrow requested. All he knew he could do was protect the kids. “Weiss, try to wake them!”

“Scanning…” Rubrum said as Qrow began to attack the shades. “Searching… Found one. Ooh! She’s a beauty!” The song starts calmly enough. It gets a simple rhythm going in him, then…

Pain! Is your reward for being near me. Fate! Won't be your friend when I’m around. Blame! Me for the tragedy that follow. Grave! The situation that surround. …

Unfortunately for the armored shades, Halua’s buff was still active. They were felled easily, feeding more and more blood to the red book. More and more blood, more and more song and power, it was intoxicating.

“Blood!” she giggles. “Blood blood blood blood, blood!” She spins and twirls in ecstacy. “Make this song the end of the shades!” Qrow was happy to oblige. A tendril accidentally pierces an ally, a shade trips and runs its sword through another.

“Misfortune wins again!” Qrow laughs as he ends another shade. “I’ll bring you down! I’ll bring you all down!” he announces to his enemies.

His misfortune finally targets him when he gets unlucky and the last shade pins his cape down, causing him to fall onto Halua, waking her in the process.

“Huh?! What!?” she says, confused, having been broken out of the trance..

“I need to be alone… So my eyes won’t hurt anyone… Alone…”

“What? Emil, no, don’t say that!” she tells her brother. She then turns to the giant shade with fury in her eyes. The air becomes heavy, and the last shade runs away in fear..

“Weiss, Rubrum, get them out of here.” she orders. An image of a skeletal beast flickers around her. “Mister, get Emil for me.” He obeys, and picks up the child.

“What about you?” he asks her.

“Just get Emil to safety.” she solemnly tells him as she summons a glyph in front of her. The shade strikes it, but screeches in pain as dangerous power cackled from it in defense.

“You better come back safe too, kid.” he tells her.

“I will. Rubrum? Can you play the song? I need to be able to hear it too.”

“Sure can do. I have more than enough blood for that. And remember Halua, we’ll be with you no matter what.”

“We are a family, after all” Weiss says. Halua smiles, and the beast appears for a split second once more.

“I know.” The song begins, calm and soft with its ethereal vocalization.

Kaun mon-no ruutra, Kaun oulvadei-gyaiya, Droh fee lai-narszes, Whoul sheeg-ma rae, Restivaun, Whoul vajei hli mehg jzu, Sii-kyathrae, Whestel-ou har thehgehy, Quin-deskuel, Shoul-yaneiyan …

Soon, the song becomes not just calm and soft, but powerful and imposing as well. From the safety at the top of the canyon, the song echoes below. Qrow can see the beast flickering in and out of reality more and more.

“Earthly Zenith of Modernity, The uncontrollable might of solitons, The spiritus that threatens to devour all, Avenge and atone in the name of all that is accursed! Number Six!” Halua yelled as she activated the glyph. “Deconstruct!” The beast appears from behind her, and consumes her with a bone-chilling cry.

“What is that?” Qrow asks in terror with his mouth agape. Emil awoke and jumped out of his arms.

“It’s my sister, Number Six, The Ultimate Weapon. We were made to be weapons long ago.” Emil explains as he faces his sister, sensing the intense and unparalleled magic.

“What you are witnessing is perhaps the most powerful magic in all the world, much more powerful than even a grimoire.” Weiss reveals as The Ultimate Weapon latches onto the large shade and tries to tear through its protective tendrils.

“Mmnnn,” Kainé groans, “What the hell happened?” Number Six lets out a piercing screech as she jumps to cling to a cliff, and fires a beam of energy that the giant shade just barely avoids. The spot where the beam hit is pulverized into nothingness for who knows how deep. Quickly, Kainé jumps up to see her. “Halua! Halua! Goddammit!”

“Is she gonna be alright?” Qrow hopes she will be.

“She will recover, just like last time.” Weiss answers confidently. “But...”

Finally, she had the shade cornered. She howls as the song begins its closing. Cowering in horror, the shade makes a last ditch attempt to win, firing a volley of magic at Number Six. She is unphased as The Ultimate Weapon activates its true might. A bright light begins to grow from where they are. At a steady pace, it swells and devours the shade and everything else in the vicinity, turning it all into nothing. When The Ultimate Weapon deactivates, an unflinching Halua, eyes glowing a dull red, stands where Number Six once was.

-

“Are you sure you guys are alright with me being around?”

“Yeah old timer, we’re sure.” Kainé assures him.

“It’ll be only for a few days anyways, like you said.” Nier adds.

“Besides, fuckers like us have to stick together.” she reasons.

“And if the world can’t handle us, we’ve gotta find other fuckers who can!” Rubrum exclaims joyously.

“In a sense, we create a world of our own.” Weiss states.

“That’s… a nice way to think of it. A world of our own, one that’ll accept a bad luck charm like me. I like the sound of that.”

-

Qrow had arrived right in the path of a large rock that was hurled from below. He let out a pained caw as it struck him as he fell. It hurt like hell, but honestly, he was used to such inconveniences.

“Kainé! You hit that poor bird!” berated a child’s voice.

“What? It’s not my fault the damn thing came out of nowhere.” a woman said as she tore through a shadowy monster and looked up. “Wait, that’s not a bird. It’s a guy?”

“It is!” Emil gasped as he saw that Kainé was indeed right. “Don’t worry mister, I’ll save you!” With a wave of his staff, he slowed Qrow’s descent and uprighted him. Lightly, he landed on the ground. “Hmm?” Emil said as he cocked his uncanny head in confusion.

Qrow, meanwhile, realized that this was where the voice of the child was coming from. But he had little time to ponder the realization, as he sensed an enemy nearby, a skill honed from all his years as a huntsman. Swiftly, he unsheathes his sword and slashes at the shade to send it backwards. The lady in lingerie, Kainé, followed up and stabbed the shade in the chest, pinning it to the ground.

“Gawk later Emil.” she tells him as she extracts her sword and moves onto the next enemy.

“R─Right!” he says in an embarrassed tone. “Sorry mister!” he apologizes as he returns to fighting.

“Don’t worry about it kid.” Qrow replies as he joins the fray to help finish off the last of the little shadowy demons.

“So, who the hell are you?” Kainé asks him.

“Qrow.” he answers.

“A better question is, how does a man end up so high in the sky?” the book inquired.

“Ooh, I know that! It was magic!” Emil excitedly answered. “You were the bird Kainé hit huh?”

“Yeah, and it hurt.” an irritated Qrow said as he took a quick drink from his flask. Normally, it would be good to hide his little talent, but there was no reason to try to hide it now that the kid could sense the magic.

“Well damn. That sucks.” she replies nonchalantly.

“Weren’t you ever taught some manners?” he jabs.

“You’re wasting your time with this hussy. Manners are as foreign to her as proper attire.”

“Why don’t you two go and do whatever the fuck it is old timers like you do and shut up?” she jabs back.

“Hey Emil, how were you able to tell it was magic anyways?” Nier asks as they continue arguing. He is mostly unphased by their conversation, and the fact that the man is walking with them to the boat, even though he could just leave. A man falling out of the sky and joining them hardly compared to a kid getting consumed by his weaponized sister, and then joining him.

“Hey! I’m not even that old!”

“And my age is a symbol of my infinite wisdom and arcane power!”

“I just sensed it. It’s different from Weiss’ magic though, and Kainé’s and mine too.”

“Weird.” Nier commented. “Hey, uh, Qrow?”

“What now?”

“What kind of magic do you have?”

“Hell if I know. It was a gift from a friend of mine.” he answers. “What about the rest of you?”

“Mine is from my sister. We were experimental weapons.” he answers solemnly.

“Wha─??”

“It is a sad, and long story.” Weiss says.

“Still, it’s pretty cool that you’re an ultra powerful weapon though.” Nier says.

“Yeah, it’s pretty fucking kickass.” Kainé adds on. “Way cooler than some boring old book.”

“Aww, you guys...” he says shyly.

“I’ll have you know that my magic is far older than you can even fathom, hussy. But I unfortunately cannot answer your question because someone,” he paused as he looked specifically at Nier, “found it acceptable to perform concussive maintenance on The Grimoire Weiss.”

“I said I was sorry like a million times already.” Nier exaggerated.

“You are fortunate you have my mercies.”

“As always Wiess, as always. But, we’re here.” Nier says as they arrive at the boat.

“I’ll go ahead and scout the area. That tower place, I’m guessing? I’ll let you know if I see anything unusual.” Qrow tells them as he shifts to his avian form.

“Hey, wait, don’t you want to─ Aww, he’s gone.” Emil lamented as Qrow flew away.

-

Qrow scans the backside of the structure. It’s a bunch of shoddy workmanship. Loose planks of wood, metal poles, and cheap ladders are what make up this sorry excuse. But oddly, it does not appear to be old. In fact, it seemed like a recent addition to the place. Nothing is rusted, and none of the wood is rotten either. A few shades even jumped about, and nothing creaks or breaks. It is suspicious, and screams that this is a set up.

Regardless, he defeats about half the shades that lingered on the platforms built into the stone by the time the boat arrives. They’re tougher than the ones on the plain, but they fall just the same, into a dark smoke, and then into nothing. Despite how uncanny it was that slicing into them felt somewhat akin to slicing aura, they were otherwise oddly reminiscent of grimm. What wasn’t reminiscent of a grimm was their ability to bleed.

“Damn, save some for the rest of us!” Kainé yells. “Some of us have a bone to pick with the fuckers!”

“Quit crying and hurry up then!” he shouts to her down below. “Damn kid…” he complains as he takes a small drink from his flask. For all he knows, he won’t be able to refill it anytime soon.

Kainé swiftly jumps up a few platforms above him and starts her slaughter. While Nier and Weiss slowly make their way up, taking care of the few shades that happen to appear, Emil floats up to Qrow.

“So mister, where are you from?” he asks curiously as he floats a few feet away from the platform.

“A place called Remnant.”

“Well that’s an odd name. What’s it a remnant of?”

“It’s just what we’ve called it. Don’t know why either.” Qrow answered as he climbed up a ladder.

“Oh… Well how about your name? Did you get it after the magic, or was it a cool coincidence?”

“It was the name I was born with. Can’t say if I know it’s a coincidence though.” Qrow quickly replied.

“Emil,” interjected Weiss, “leave the poor man alone. He appears to be tired of your barrage of questioning.”

“It’s fine.” he responded. “I’m used to this kinda thing.”

“If you insist.” the book replied in his snotty tone. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite put it on his finger yet.

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna be a bother.”

“If I can handle my two little girls, I can handle a single kid. Don’t worry about it. But─” He was cut off by a loud and excited gasp from Emil.

“Oh my god! You have two daughters? I bet they’re adorable!”

“What? No. I mean, they are adorable, but they’re not my daughters. They’re my nieces.”

“You just said they were your kids, dumbass.”

“How about you mind your own business?”

“How about I─” she began before her heel got caught in a gap in the planks of wood, causing her to fall backwards. “Ack! Fucking bitch! Stupidass wood!” she cursed as she got up and angrily punted the guilty board.

“Kainé! Look out!” Emil warns her.

“What?” she turns to see a shade about to strike her, and that it is too late to react. Ooh it’s gonna be my turn soon, Sunshine! Bwahahaha!

To her surprise, and Tyrann’s, they don’t feel the slash of the shade’s sword. Qrow is in front of her, blocking the attack. He knocks away the weapon, and brings the shade to its demise.

“I’ll be up top.” is all he tells her before he flies away.

“Hey, wait up! I’ll join you!” Emil says as he follows the black bird.

“Did you scare him off already?” Kainé hears the book assume.

“What happened?” Nier asks as he and the grimoire neared her.

“Shut up. He just went off on his own for no damn reason.”

“Hmm. Odd guy huh?” Nier asked no one, as Kainé and Weiss were already beginning the hour’s bickering.

Meanwhile, Emil chased after the man, wondering why he seemed so insistent on being alone. He didn’t seem like a bad guy who had anything bad to hide. Then again, looks could be deceiving. Emil knew that very well. Emil concluded that it was perhaps something about himself the man was hiding, maybe something he was ashamed of. Kainé was like that at first, and he probably would have really been like that without her.

“I’m here!” Emil announced once he caught up with Qrow. “Man, you fly fast.”

“Wouldn’t you rather be with your friends, kid?” he questioned the kid.

“Ohh, I don’t mind. I just wouldn’t want you to be alone. Being alone sucks most of the time, huh?”

“Meh. I’m used to it.” he waved dismissively, taking a small drink from his flask.

“Still, it’s better to be friends than alone.”

“Not always, kid.”

“Not always?! It’s always better to be with friends!” Emil shouted, to which Qrow winced at the young boy’s volume. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine. But I just prefer to be alone.” Qrow said as he took a seat.

“Why?” Emil asked. He could see that Qrow was thinking.

“Back in my world,” he began, “everyone has a sort of ‘magic’ more or less unique to them. We call it a semblance, and mine is Misfortune. It brings bad luck to anyone nearby. I’m sure you can see why now.”

“Hmm, I do see. … Well, that’s alright. I’d still rather be here with you than let you be alone.” He could see that Qrow froze for a moment, as if the words were somehow familiar, then he regained his composure and let out a short chuckle.

“You’re a funny kid, you know?” Qrow joked.

“Im serious! I know I only sound like a little kid, but I’m older than you!” Emil fussed.

“Yeah, let me guess, a thousand years old?”

“Mmm,” Emil pondered, “somewhere around there.” Qrow looked at him as if he were telling an obvious lie.

“Well, I guess I should explain. You told me something about you, and I’ll tell you something about myself. It’s not a very happy story though.” Emil sat down to tell the tale of him and his sister.

“And so, Emil and Halua Grimm became the most powerful weapons in the world.” He finished wistfully.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Qrow said solemnly.

“Yeah… But at least it led me to Nier, Weiss, and Kainé. I wouldn’t trade my time with them for anything. Okay! Now tell me something about yourself!” Qrow was shocked by the sudden shift in mood, but was happy to entertain the child.

“My name is Qrow, with a “q”, and my last name is Branwen, though that’s just the name of the tribe I grew up in. So, would your name happen to be spelled with two “m”s?”

“Yeah. Me and Halua always wondered why though. Do you think you could know why?”

“Well, like this world has Shades, my world has Grimm. I think it’s just a coincidence though.” Qrow says as he takes a sip. “Besides, you’re a hell of a lot better than any Grimm back home.” It was hard to discern, but Qrow could tell he was happier than before. That made him happier too. “So, were your eyes silver, by any chance?”

“No,” Emil began somewhat shyly, “they were more of a really light purple. Though, I think they were a different color before I gained my petrification, but I can't remember what color exactly if they were different.. Could people with silver eyes petrify things in your world?”

“They could petrify Grimm. That’s about it though. But, people with silver eyes are said to be destined to become great warriors.”

“I think Nier said that Yonah had silver eyes.” Emil mentioned.

"What about Yonah?" They heard Nier say as he climbed up to where the two were sitting. At their own paces, the two got up.

"That she has silver eyes, right? Qrow said that in his world, they become awesome fighters!"

"Hmm… I don’t think she’s fit for the warrior lifestyle. But, if it’s a sigh that she'll live a longer life, I'll take it. But until then,"

"We keep on going, yeah, yeah. Let's hurry up already." Kainé interrupted as she kicked the rock blocking their entrance out of the way. "I haven't killed enough shithole shades for today."

"The hussy is right that we should move along. The sooner we take care of things, the better." Weiss stated as he ushered them in.

Once inside, the place was virtually unchanged since Nier's last visit. Kainé didn't think much of the place. Weiss seemed shocked that this was the place where he was stored. Emil, however, was clearly enamored by the place.

"Wowww… this place is pretty, isn't it?" He praised quietly as he floated over towards the center where the towering tree stood. There, warm sunlight filtered through, alleviating the coldness of rusting metal and decaying concrete.

"Hmm. It would be a nice place to relax for a little bit." Qrow responds as he follows Emil. It's quiet and calm there. He thinks it could have been a hotel, based on the layout.

"Not while shades are here though." Nier commented as the soulless monsters readied to fight.

Promptly, the group got to culling the local shade population. Swords galore, magic, and a favored spear, all end the lives of the shadowy entities. Some are even left petrified.

"Emil, you can still petrify shit?" Kainé asks him out of curiosity.

"Yeah, I, um..." he begins as if feeling guilty.

"Sweet. Smashing stone shades really hits the spot." Kainé smiled cruelly as she reduced a statue to rubble. "Ahh, that felt bitchin'."

Briefly, Qrow contemplated if he should allow himself to cuss. On one hand, he would feel a lot better. On the other, he was just starting to be able to control his tongue around Ruby and Yang, and he didn't want to undo his hard work. It took a lot more effort than he would have wanted to admit.

"Hey, Qrow?" Nier called to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Qrow called back before tripping over a stair step and hitting his head. "Fucking stair!" he snarled. Cussing was fine so long as it wasn't around Ruby and Yang, he decided. If he wasn't around them, it was alright. He then noticed the shade above him.

"I've got you!" Emil shouted. Swiftly, it was petrified, and then destroyed by Kainé.

"Careful old timer." Kainé warned as she helped him up. "Can't have your ass dying on us."

"Such a kind soul you have, helping an old man like me." he teased.

"Pft." she responded as she rolled her eyes. She heard a snicker come from Weiss and snapped her neck at him. "Got somethin to say, book?"

"Oh, to a kind, young woman such as yourself? Heavens no." He replied.

"If you say so, Weissy." she glared at him with an innocent grin. As they continued their trademark bickering, with Emil joining in to unwittingly embarrass both of them, Nier returned to his conversation with Qrow.

"So, what else can you tell me about those silver eyed fighters?" Nier questioned as he stabbed another shade through it's armor.

"Back in my world, they're a myth at most to many. But, they do exist. With their eyes alone, they can take down hordes of Grimm. I guess the equivalent here would be Shades."

"I’d just be happy if Yonah could even go a day without needing a nap, if I'm being honest."

"What's wrong with her?"

"The Black Scrawl. There's no cure for it yet, but I'll take any kind hope I can get. As long as she's alive, even if it's risky like this, I'll be happy."

Qrow knew that there was probably no way the power of silver eyes would be in this world, but who honestly knew. Besides, he also knew that people needed all the hope they could get, even if he himself has mostly given up on the notion of hope..

"It's also genetic. Either of your parents had silver eyes?" Qrow asks

"Well, my mom did. I got my dad's eyes, but we both have his hair color. … Hmm, they were both great people. My mom was a good fighter too." He said fondly. “But when the Scrawl started to take over her, she had weird dreams. She said she saw weird but huge rectangular structures that went high into the sky, and things that moved on wheels at unnatural speeds."

"It sounds like she saw a city. Maybe one from before whatever happened that made this world like this." Qrow commented as he and Kainé slashed away at a huge shade.

"She also… she also had nightmares. In them, she fought these pale white beasts with glowing red eyes she said she fought them with incredible powers, powers like Emil's…" Nier had never really connected the dots before. It was just something he had never considered, always too busy with other things to reminisce about his mother like this.

…

No response. It was quiet.

"Huh?" He said in confusion as he looked around. Kainé and Qrow were gone. "Emil! Get close to me!"

"Huh? What?! Where'd they go?!" Emil questioned as he noticed the disappearance of his friends.

"It could be a shade, one with powers previously unknown to us. We should stay close to each other." Weiss advised.

"Right!" Emil nodded. Cautiously, they circled about, looking all over to see if they could spot anything unusual, and fending off the few shades that remained on the floor..

"I can sense some strong magic nearby, but I cannot pinpoint where. Can you two here us!" Emil shouted out.

"Perhaps w─" Weiss's words were interrupted by a sudden crash that caused the floor to give way beneath Nier.

"I got you!" Emil said as he lunged for. Nier. But, his efforts were for naught. He too was mysteriously swept away by a shadow. Thinking fast, Nier stabbed his sword into the wall to slow his fall.

“What kind of shade is that?! What did it do to them?!” he shouted as he landed.

“We are in the presence of a powerful shade, one capable of using incredible magic. They’re still alive, I know that much. If we kill it, it’s magic should be undone!” Weiss replied.

“All we have to do is find it then.” Easier said than done, but, it would be done.

Silently, they were back to back, waiting in anticipation for an attack. Nier was tense, ready to pounce at the vile shade. Weiss readied a sealed verse, taut and set to pin down the enemy for the kill. Nier looked up, left, right, everywhere he could look, except for below himself, where his own shadow betrayed him.

-

With heavy breathing, Qrow opened his eyes to be surrounded by darkness. It wasn’t the darkness of a moonless night in the middle of nowhere. That did not even compare. This was an advanced darkness very few things in the world could compare to. In front of him lay an unknowing expanse, a field of nothingness, a─

“Turn around, dumbass.”

“Huh? Oh.” Qrow sighed as he stopped flailing about. There was Kainé and Emil. She was lulling about as Emil did… something magic related. They all floated in the void, but were otherwise perfectly fine.

“Make yourself comfortable, or whatever. Emil will get us out soon enough. I swear to hell I’m gonna tear the little shit stain that did this to fucking shreds.” she hissed.

“I take it this isn't a thing that happens everyday?”

“No.” Emil answers as he fiddles with a glyph. “The craziest things tend to be giant, monstrous shades every now and then. But we always take care of them!”

“Yeah, we take real good care of them, don't we, sunshine?” a cold, cruel, and sharp voice says from the unknown. Qrow knows that this voice is dangerous. He can sense it, so he held Harbinger out, prepared to strike. Emil notices the voice too, and hurries with his magic. Kainé is unphased, and rolls her eyes at the remark

“Show yourself!” Qrow shouted into the void. For a moment, he thinks it is the monster that captured them.

“Hmm? Ooh, they can hear me. Finally! Do you know how boring it can get just talking to one person? Real fucking boring.”

“Ugh, do you ever shut up? Like really? I could cut your tongue out and you’d still find a way to talk more than anyone else.” Kainé complains. But, she is justified in her grievance. “Hm? Oh. That’s just the shade that lives in me. Just ignore his bitchass.”

“Hello mister shade!” Emil greets innocently.

“You’re supposed to tell this one to fuck off, Emil.”

“Oh. Okay. Fuck off mister shade!” he corrects, and resumes his work.

“Adorable.” Tyrann deadpans. “So, dear black bird. What sort of atrocities are there in your home. I’d kill to know.”

“There’s the kinds of things that would kill you first.” he retorts. Qrow didn’t like this thing. If this was the standard for shades, then it was a good thing they were being slaughtered.

“Fat chance, but that sounds like my kind of place. Tell me, is the death slow and painful?” Qrow is disgusted as the thing laughs.

“You get used to it after a while.” Kainé shrugs. Before Qrow can respond, they’re on the roof, where Grimoire Weiss also is.

“It worked!” Emil triumphantly shouts

“GAH! Don't sneak up on me like that! You’re all fortunate I can’t get a heart attack!” Weiss berated.

“Where’s Nier?” Kainé demanded.

“Beyond this door, but, it is blocked by a magical barrier. If we all focus our attack on it, we should be able to break it.” Weiss explained, and on the count of three, magic assaulted the door Nier was behind, breaking it and the barrier. They could see the shadow descending down onto Nier.

“YOU WILL DIE YOU FILTHY BROTHER KILLER!” it screamed.

Thankfully, Emil was quick enough to cast a protective barrier around him. It floated in place as it attempted to break the barrier. Quickly, Qrow rushed at the thing, except he could see that it wasn’t exactly just anything. It was Hazel, possessed by a shade? Qrow had a million and one questions, but he had no time for them. He kicked the monstrous man and fired a bullet to his chest. He knew it wouldn’t be enough to take Hazel out, but it was enough to send him flying, flying back into the shadows.

“We’re not too late, are we?” Emil wondered.

“Nope. Just in time.” Nier responded gratefully as Qrow helped him up.

“Hold your conversing for later. More pressing issues are at hand.” Weiss reminded them as he floated back over to Nier.

“Right. Let’s just stay close together.” Qrow ordered. “He can't take us all on at once.”

With great tenseness, they all cautiously made their way out of the shrine. They eyed every shadow they passed, and relied mostly on ranged attacks to dispatch any brave shades that dared to attack. Only when they finally left the shrine and onto the boat did they all begin to feel safe, all but Qrow. Something wasn't sitting right with him, and it wasn't just Hazel appearing. He couldn't make a sound conclusion yet, but he knew he would in time

-

“That guy, he was possessed too, but it was different somehow.” Kainé revealed.

“I have some information that might help make sense of things. We should try to settle down first though.” Qrow suggested.

“Agreed.” Weiss concurred. “It has been a long day, and we’ll be much safer in the sunlight and the open field.”

With that, resident expert campers Kainé and Emil decided on a good spot to set up on. While Emil got the fire ready, which didn't take long thanks to magic, Kainé reaped some fresh mutton. Before long, a fresh meal was served. It was plain, of course, but it was warm, edible food, that didn't taste like an abomination, which Nier was particularly grateful for.

“Old timer,” Kainé began as she bit into a piece of meat, “what were you gonna say about that possessed guy?”

“He’s from your world, isn’t he?” Weiss guessed. Qrow nodded his head yes, and swallowed a bite.

“Hazel. He works for the woman that controls the monsters of my world. I’m sure that at least one of his goals is to get in the way of my mission.” Qrow said with annoyance. But, if anything, he expected Hazel or someone to show up sooner and pose a problem.

“Why would he focus on me then?” Nier wondered. “It’d make more sense for him to target you then.”

“Maybe it was the shade that possessed him?” Emil Suggested.

“Could be. It looked like the shade in him had a lot of control.” Kainé answered. She remembered how the massive fiend was covered almost head to toe in the shade pattern. Filthy brother killer, huh? Sounds like someone was having a lot of fun before we even came along. A man after your own heart, ey sunshine?

“But…” she continued, “he didn’t exactly seem out of control either.”

“Now that I think about it, the eyes seemed familiar. Remember those stone guardians that imprisoned you, Weiss?”

“Not fondly. It was hardly how a Grimoire such as myself should be greeted.” Weiss complained. “But, yes, why?”

“Remember that one of them had glowing red eyes? His had that glow to them.”

“I see now. My former wardens were siblings, and it appears as if one of them survived our initial attack and wants revenge.”

“And that would be a cause Hazel would sympathize with. I could be that they're in sync, rather than one of them being in control.” Qrow murmured as the gears in his head turned. Shades and Grimm appeared to have some similarities, so perhaps Salem had taken interest in that. After all, what better way to learn about the monsters than to become one?

"There's just one problem though, why would a shade have a brother? Shades don't have family." Emil reminded them.

"Just as I am a product of ancient magic that is unknown today, perhaps they are too. They may very well just be a special case of rare, ancient magic influencing an archaic pair of shades." Weiss reasoned.

Wanna tell them the truth? I wanna see the looks on their faces when they realize just what they've been killing! Ha ha haa!

"Doesn't matter. They're our enemy now." Kainé tells them firmly.

"Right. It doesn't matter what kind of shade they are. They're still a shade, and we have to kill them before they kill us." Nier affirmed after taking one last bite and letting out a long yawn.

"... You three get some sleep. Me and the book,"

"Grimoire Weiss." he interrupted to correct.

"Me and little Weissy Weiss here will keep watch." Qrow taunted. Qrow had to say he felt proud of himself when he saw the grimoire's reaction. It was like ruffling up an Atlesian, which always made him feel better.

"Oh joy. Another bane to my existence." Weiss commented sarcastically.

"Will you shut the fuck up already. We’re trying to sleep." Kainé

"And when you want some sleep, let me know. Don't feel bad or anything either. I hardly even need any sleep." Emil directed at Qrow.

"Sure thing." he answered.

As the hours progressed, Qrow and Weiss managed to turn civil with one another as Qrow sipped out of his flask every now and then. From Weiss, Qrow learned that blood and words were the focuses of the grimoire's magic. Blood was the physical component of the magic, and words were where the power resided. Although, the words used were a mystery much like the script that occasionally accompanied it.

In turn, Qrow shared the scant information he knew about magic. The most common magic of his world was elemental, the magic that belonged to the maidens. Then there was Oz. His powers included the elements as well. A simple way to understand the rest of his magic was that it concerned energy, the flow, transfer, and magnitude of it. A specific portion of that ability was given to him and his sister to aid them in their little parlor trick. Upon their deaths, that power would return to him.

And then there was the depraved woman known as Salem. The full extent of her powers was unknown to him. Power over the Grimm was an obvious magic of hers. He imagined her abilities included the elements as well, since it seemed to be a common magic. Beyond that, he could only guess with uncertainty.

“So, what about the magic that made you a book? I doubt you were always a grimoire.”

“Truth be told, I do not know if I ever was anyone or anything else. The best theory I have is that it involves humans of the old world. But, for what purpose I was intended to serve or how exactly I came to be, it is all hardly of any importance now.”

“Now?” Qrow wondered. The book looked around to make sure the kids were truly asleep.

“When Nier beat me out of my slumber, I only had my knowledge, no memories to speak of. Without him and my memories, I still could have done as I so pleased, but I did not because I couldn’t just let him end up hurt. And then it just so happened that our goals aligned. And then came the Shadowlord and Grimoire Noir. They almost succeeded in using me for what I can only assume was my purpose, but I eventually came to my senses thanks to a certain foul mouth. I didn’t want to leave them, you see.”

“Well aren’t you a big softie?” Qrow teased. He had a feeling the book would have rolled his eyes if he could have.

“You are a menace, second only to Kainé. But, I suppose I am. She is much the same. Therefore, I imagine you are much the same, hmm?” the grimoire accused.

“... I guess so.” Qrow admitted. “Can’t say it always feels good.”

“I imagine so.” The book commented as the man took the last drink of his canteen. “While it has been nice talking to someone who isn’t a moody teen, I’m sure you need some sleep.”

“Yeah. Some sleep sounds good.” He said as he gently awoke Emil, and took his place to rest for the “night.”

-

“So, where to next?” Qrow asked as he served himself a piece of mutton seasoned with nearby herbs courtesy of Emil.

“Back to the village. That was the best lead I had, and nothing came out of it. So I’ll have to see if Devola and Popola have any new information for me.” Nier answered.

“Me and Emil will be around then. See you two in a bit.”

“You two aren’t gonna go with us?” Qrow wondered.

“Yeah, the shitfaced villagers don’t really like us.” Kainé answered.

“So?”

“Devola and Popola thought it would be best if we stayed away so we didn’t scare them or anything.” Emil replied sadly.

“What? Do they own the place.”

“No, they do not, but─” Weiss was about to explain before being cut off.

“Who cares then. Come on Kainé, I never took you as someone who followed the rules like that stick in the mud over there.” Qrow taunted, referring to the book in the air.

“Alright then. Emil, we’re going to get in that dumbass village.” she said with finality.

“But what about the guards?” he asked, tilting his head.

“Hmm… Remember what I said about making people feel sorry?” she questioned him with a sinister smile.

“I do not like that look, hussy.”

“Fuck you.” she spat at the book and turned to Qrow. “And we have just the perfect prop.”

-

Two guards are stationed atop the gate see Nier and his friends rush to the gate. It’s difficult to tell, but one of the two outsides appeared to be holding a blob of black in their hands.

“Oh god it’s them again.” says one.

“What do we do? Popola said they wouldn’t be a problem.” said the other.

“Okay, let’s just remind them. Maybe they forgot.” guard A suggested doubtful they indeed forgot.

“Did you forget they have magic?!” guard B shouted quietly and fearfully as they neared.

“Shit.”

“Hey! You gotta let us in!” Nier shouted.

“Please, we have to help this poor bird!” Emil begged as the black bird twitched in his boney hands.

“I just couldn’t leave it to die at the hands of a shade,” Kainé began innocently, “Just like when I saved you two from that giant shade.” Her voice had added just a bit of edge to it, enough for the guards to feel the weight of her words.

“Or like when I helped fight the Shadowlord when everyone else ran away! Or when Kainé saved Yonah when no one else could!” Emil added.

“Won’t you please let us in? All so we can help this poor little birdy here?” At that moment, the crow let out a wheeze of a caw. The guards could not still help but feel somewhat threatened. But, despite this, they conceded.

“Fine. Just… neh. Nevermind.” One said with defeat.

“Thank you so very much.” Kainé smiled.

“Yeah, thank you mister guards!” Emil thanked genuinely. “Don’t you worry little birdy, we’ll fix you up in no time.” he cooed.

“Thanks guys!” Nier waved as they passed through the gate. They all tried to hide their giggling as they made their way to nier’s home.

“Well, that went better than I imagined.” Weiss admitted. “And here I thought you were going to directly threaten them.”

“That was plan B.” Kainé told him.

“Of course it was.” he deadpanned.

“Cheer up. You guys’ll finally, really meet Yonah. She’s always wanted to thank you two properly.” Nier told them.

“Oh I’m so excited! Should we surprise her?” Emil suggested.

“Umm, probably not. She’ll probably faint. Okay, just wait here for a moment.” He said as they got to the front of the home, and he quickly went inside. After making sure none of the villagers were looking, Qrow turned back into his human form.

“Excited?” he asked the two.

“Eh, sure.” Kainé shrugged with nonchalance. But, she could not hide her smile.

“I am! Do you think she remembers what we looked like? Does my scarf look alright? I want to make a good impression.” Emil worried.

“I don’t really think she’ll care about that, kid. But,” he began as he fixed the green scarf, “it looks fine.”

“Alright come on in.” Nier said nervously. “Sorry if it looks messy, I tried to clean up a little but,”

“I’m so happy you’re all here!” Yonah shouted, interrupting her brother. “It’s nice to finally get the chance to talk with you two!” she said to Emil and Kainé.

“It’s nice to officially meet you Yonah.” Emil greeted.

“Yeah. If Nier��s not gonna shut up about you, we might as well meet you.” Kainé reasoned.

“And it’s nice to meet you too, mister Qrow. I’m glad Nier has another friend for me to meet!”

“No problem kid. It’s nice to meet you too.” he replied. She was an adorable little thing, reminding him of Ruby with her bubbly demeanor. It was also obvious she was her brother’s kid sister. They had that same white hair, and a similar facial structure. And now that he could see her eyes, they were indeed silver. But, it was likely that didn’t mean anything.

“Do you guys want a drink or anything?” Nier offered.

“How about I make them something! Nier says I make great food!” she beamed. Behind her, her brother’s eyes went wide with fear, an emotion any of them had rarely seen.

“No! I’ll buy something!” he quickly interjected. “It’s a special day. We should buy them some food from the village. You guys’ll like that, right?” he said as if it were a plea.

“Sure.” Kainé said indifferently. While she had heard of Yonah’s atrocious cooking, she wasn’t a wimp and would have taken some of her cooking just fine. But, she figured Nier could use a break.

“I’m fine with that.” Emil answered. While he too had heard of her cooking, he doubt he would have minded it anymore.

“... I’ll try some of your cooking.” Qrow told her. If Nier’s reaction was anything to go by, it was a very bad decision. But, he couldn’t stand to see her face droop down a little, even if it meant suffering a single poor meal. He was sure it couldn’t be that bad though.

“I’ll go to the market real quick then.” Nier said as he made his way to the door.

“Or, how about you let me and the grimoire go. You kids should stay here and have some fun.” Qrow suggested.

“By my word he can think! We’ll be back soon then. Don’t tear the house down.” Weiss quickly agreed before Nier could say no.

“No promises Weissy!” Yonah shouted as she waved a quick goodbye.

“Yeah Weissy, no promises.” Kainé teased. Once outside, they could hear the lively and joyful commotion as it just barely escaped the walls.

“A rare moment of peace and quiet, I must thank you for that at least.” Weiss thanked.

“I just didn’t want them to think I’d run with the money.” Qrow reasoned.

“Believe it or not, they’re rather trusting.”

“And it hasn’t come back to bite you yet?”

“No, surprisingly. Though I suppose that should be cause for concern. Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now.” Weiss dismissed as they passed the fountain, absent of Devola for once.

“Well, did you notice anything odd about the back of the building as we climbed up it?”

“Hmm… I can’t say that I do. All looked as a rock face should.”

“Even with the ladders and wooden planks?”

“Well of course! How else─ Ooh, I see! Based on the location, it all should have rotted or rusted away.” Weiss finally realized.

“But it wasn’t.”

“Begging the question of who set it there for us…”

“Any idea who that might be?” Qrow asked.

“Well, Popola said it was near a trade route, so it’s possible traders built it.”

“But why would they?” Qrow asked.

“Why indeed. There was no other activity in the shrine save for us and the shades. My, this is a most concerning conundrum.” Weiss worried. “But, a small break from that is in order. The market awaits us, and I doubt you know what they want.”

“And that is also what I brought you for. See, I can think.”

“Indeed you can.” Weiss replied. All in all, the book was rather surprised by the man. He was much more capable and intelligent than he looked or let on.

After gathering a few items, some healthy fruits, a few vegetables, some juice, and a bit of seasoned meat, they began to make their way back to the small home.

“So, any idea on who could set you all up?” Qrow asked.

“If someone is in fact steering us onto a path of their creation, I do not know who it could be. Such a person, or group, would have to have quite the amount of resources and power to do so, as I imagine they would have been doing so for some time.” Weiss answered.

“Yeah, there is the chance it could just be some odd coincidence or some rare natural phenomenon that preserved the metal and wood. But still, I’ve got a feeling something’s up.” Qrow reasoned. His instincts tended to be rather good after a lifetime of honing them.

“As do I. But, I believe we should not mention this to Nier and them. They’re all stressed enough as is, and this may not even be a real concern.” Weiss suggested. His unparalleled wisdom told him it would not be a bad idea to suspect some foul play.

“If you say so. In the meantime, I’ll be doing a bit of recon. Hold these.” he said as he handed Weiss the groceries, placing them in a magical hand.

“Such a waste of my talents.” he huffed. “But if you could, give Popola a visit at the library on the hill? Tell her what happened and see if she has any new information would you?” he requested.

“Consider it done Weissy.” Qrow taunted.

“I will enjoy seeing you eat the lass’s cooking.” he said ominously before Qrow left and he reentered the home.

-

After scanning the town for half an hour, Qrow had found nothing of interest, save for a shiny coin. He was sure it likely wasn’t worth much though. He then made his way to the library at the top of the hill. Once inside, he could see that it was a rather small library, but all things considered, impressive. A number of patrons were scanning the walls of their contents. He asked one of them to point him to Popola, and told him where she was.

Just as he stepped onto the stairs, he could have sworn he saw Ironwood. He looked back for a moment, and saw that no one was looking at the books by the stairs. Children’s books, by the looks of it. Qrow laughed at his mind playing such a trick on him. Qrow had no affinity for men like him, but, Ironwood was not a bad man. Not exactly a good one either but the same could be said for many. At the very least, he was easy on the eyes and a decent drinking buddy, and very fun to rile up.

After knocking on the door and waiting for an answer, he entered when Popola told him to come in. In there were two women, twins by the looks of it. The main difference was their auburn hair, more red than brown though. One had slightly messy hair, with it jutting out in some places, while the other’s was perfectly straight.

“Hmm? You’re a new face. I was kinda expecting Nier.” said the one with messy hair to her sister.

“I’m Popola, and this is my sister Devola. Is there anything we can help you with?” The twin at the desk asked.

“Yeah, I’m a friend of Nier’s.”

“Oh, is that so? I’m glad then.” Devola said.

“He needs all the help he can get. So, what was it you needed?” Popola added.

The two seemed innocent enough, but Qrow could just feel that something was up with them. Though, he could not tell if it was something good or bad. Time would tell.

“Nier’s with Yonah right now, so he wanted me to pass on some info.” He began. He went through the gist of what happened at the shrine, to the possessed human. Though, he left out the info about he and Hazel being from another world. Around these two, he wanted to feel secure and revealed as little about him and his situation as possible.

“I see. That is concerning.” Popola commented.

“The shades are becoming more and more brazen, huh?” Devola commented as she lounged on the couch.

“Any idea why?” he asked them.

“Their leader is the Shadowlord. Whatever the reason, its because of him. I’m surprised he hasn’t told you yet.” Devola responded nonchalantly.

“I’m sorry, but was that all? We were kinda in the middle of something.” Popola explained. Qrow wondered what exactly they were in the middle of, but knew he couldn’t just pry like that.

“Yeah. Nier wanted to know if you came across any new leads.”

“Yes actually.” she responded happily. She opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and an oddly shaped piece of stone. “This is a part of the key to the Shadowlord’s castle.” she said as she handed him the paper and key piece. The Stone Guardian, Sacrifice, The Law of Robotics, Memory Tree, and Loyal Cerberus.

“We’re not sure what Sacrifice and Loyal Cerberus are referring to, but its likely that The Stone Guardian piece was somehow connected to Gretel at the shrine.” Devola began.

“The Law of Robotics likely concerns the junk heap, and Memory Tree may have something to do with the Forest of Myth.” Popola finished.

“Alright then, Thanks ladies. I’ll be sure to give him this stuff.” Qrow waved goodbye as he walked out.

“Of course. Take care now.” Popola said.

“Yeah, and make sure Nier stays safe, will you?” Devola requested with undeniable concern. Of course, he agreed to.

As he closed the door, Qrow wondered just how they knew the shade at the shrine had a name. That was most concerning and suspect. Just how they came into the possessions of the items was a suspicious mystery too. Not only that, why just ask to keep Nier safe? What about his friends? He may not have been as capable as them, very few likely were, but there was no doubt they could be hurt too.

And then the Shadowlord. Qrow thought he must be somewhat like Salem, a manipulator of shadowy beasts. It was safer to assume he was intelligent, and leading those kids down some path of his creation. But why? And there was still the concern of who was helping him, if there was anyone.

By the time he made it back to the house, his mind was running through the possibilities. He was glad he could run them by the grimoire. While somewhat annoying, he was no doubt wise and smart. Though, he was snapped out of his thoughts by a terrifying smell.

“Brothers, what is ─”

“You’re back!” Yonah exclaimed, holding out a pot of… something. He wondered how she made it an unnatural looking bright blue. He doubted she had food dye.

“Just in time for your dinner, it seems.” Weiss snickered. Qrow gulped.

“Looks… interesting.” He commented with a smile. He reminded himself he was doing this to make a sickly little girl happy.

“It’s an awesome color isn’t it? I wonder if I could get Sebastian to make something as cool looking as that.” Emil said.

“Not unless─” Weiss said as he was cut off by a jab to his spine and a dirty look from Nier.

“I guess I’ll try some. I doubt it would taste bad to me.” Kainé said.

“Not that it ever tastes bad!” Nier affirmed intensely.

“I’ll try some too then! Can’t let Mister Qrow have it all for himself. I think it smells good anyways, so that means it’ll taste good.” Emil said as a bowl was set before him. Next was Kainé, and finally Qrow.

“Are you sure you don’t want any, Nier? I made a lot more than I meant to.” she told him.

“Oh, no, I’m fine. I already ate a lot.” he reasoned. He was thankful she didn’t press any further.

“Okay, on the count of three, all of you take a sip!” she adorably ordered. “One… Two… Three!”

Each of them took down some of the soup. Nier covered his eyes as he did so, and prayed they would all act fine. When he didn’t hear anyone gag, he uncovered them to see the trio gulping down the soup.

“This is good.” Kainé said in between gulps.

“My word, this is the quietest I’ve ever seen her! … See! The hussy didn’t even bark back at me! What kind of enchantments do you use young Yonah? I must know!” Weiss insisted as he moved about in grimoire fashion. It made her giggle.

“It’s my secret!” she joked.

“It’s sweet and salty, with a bit of bitterness to even it out.” Emil explained. “I really like it.”

“I love it.” Qrow said as he savored it. There was definitely some alcohol in this, weak, but alcohol nonetheless. Just how she got some in there, he did not know. He wasn't going to complain or question it though. “Pour some in here for me, will you kid?” he said as he offered her his empty flask. The soup, if it could be called that, wasn’t anything strong, but it was free, and the best kind of booze is free booze.

“Of course mister!” she replied gleefully. Internally, Qrow laughed that he would get a refill from such a situation.

“Hmm… I guess I could try some.” Nier said after contemplating grabbing a spoon.

“Hey! Back off, or else!” Kainé threatened as he went for her bowl. Cautiously, he backed away.

“You can have some of mine.” Emil offered.

As Nier took a spoonful out of Emil’s bowl, he inspected it nervously. It did not smell good to him, and was beginning to regret his decision. But, Yonah was watching, so there was no backing away. Quickly, he took the spoon into his mouth. It was terrible. Either they were good liars, or they somehow all actually enjoyed it. Quickly, he swallowed it.

“That was… Great!” he tried to say with enthusiasm.

“I’m glad you like it! Here, have a bowl!” She said as she slid him a bowl.

“Oh no, I’m still to full Yonah, I─”

“Mine now.” Kainé announced as she stole the bowl and began to wolf it down. Qrow chuckled.

“More please!” Emil asked as he held out his bowl.

“Fill me up again, yeah?” Qrow asked as he offered his half empty bowl. Happily, she refilled both of their bowls.

“I’m so glad you all liked it!” she said, smiling brighter than the sun.

It made Nier the happiest among the group. Despite everything, she wanted to help, so seeing her actually able to do that made him feel a warm feeling he hadn’t felt in some time. She proudly placed the pot back on the stove and resumed eating her meal from earlier.

“Hey, you’re not gonna eat any?” Kainé questioned, hoping she wasn’t taking any food away from the little girl.

“Oh, no. It tastes terrible to me. Devola said that it’s because I have weird taste buds.” She answered cordially as she reheated some food from earlier. Nier lamented the fact that he didn’t think of that excuse for himself. Well, he could perhaps use it in the future, blame it on puberty or something if he had to.

-

After a day of rest in the home, the group decided to leave for the Junk Heap. Yonah begged for them to stay just a little longer, but Nier was quick to say he needed to take care of things. As she deflated, he was even quicker to remind her that they all had such a fun time together, and that they would do it again soon enough.

“So, what’s the junk heap like?” Qrow asked aloud.

“It’s in the name. It’s a heap of junk, duh.” Kainé sassed.

“To be precise, it’s a place filled to the brim with junk from the old world, before it regressed to become what it is now.” Weiss explained.

“There are a lot of machines there. They’re a mix of technology and magic. The world sure had a lot of power and knowledge back in the day.” Emil reminisced sadly.

“Well, the machines still break against our weapons, so the old world couldn’t have been that powerful if you ask me.” Nier added.

“Power alone only does so much. Still, let’s just hope we don’t have to spend more time than we need to. But, based on what your friends said, I’m thinking the piece might be tied to a specific machine. And that, might take some time.” Qrow lamented.

He had already learned some nice info about magic from Weiss, but it wasn’t enough to feel satisfactory. He doubted a place filled with machines would reveal much to him, even if they also were part magic. However, he was glad he was able to help these kids. That was a goal he came to value more than he originally thought he would.

When they made it to the entrance to the heap, Nier made one stop at the brother’s weaponsmith to see about upgrading Beastcurse. He left Emil, Qrow, and Kainé outside longer than he anticipated. Weiss expected some sort of verbal spat when he joined them back outside. To his surprise, the two were formally sparring, with Emil as their referee.

Kainé was strong and quick with her swords, but Qrow still surpassed her. Serrated blades screeched against the sword Harbinger. Weiss could see that it was a well crafted weapon. Their back and forth was a sight to behold, though Weiss was sure Kainé could beat him if she used her magic. With a skillful parry, Kainé was sent skidding back.

“You’re a pretty good fighter, no surprise there, but you could still use some more experience.” he told her.

“Experience this!” she yelled as she rushed at him. Once they met, a volley of exchanges could be heard echoing.

“Get his ass Kainé!” Emil cheered. So much for a clinical ref.

“You got him now Kainé!” Nier assured.

“Show that hussy the might of incomparable wisdom!” Weiss cheered on Qrow. Someone had to.

In one swift motion he kicked her away. And almost as if by magic, the blade transformed into a scythe before their eyes. Kainé, however, did not notice, and sped back to him for another assault. That was her error. The scythe hooked the blades out of her hands by their chain, and a low kick felled her to the ground.

“Like I said earlier, power alone only does so much.” He told her as he held out a hand to help her up. Rolling her eyes, she took the help.

“Yeah, whatever.” she said.

“Your weapon, how did it do that?” Nier wondered as Qrow handed Kainé back her swords.

“Huh, wait, when the fuck did that happen?” Kainé exclaimed as she noticed Harbinger’s new form.

“That?” he said as it transformed back into a sword. “In my world, this kind of thing is commonplace. Its just a series of gears and stuff. Nothing special.” he replied dismissively. “... Well, no. It is kinda special.” His weapon was a rather unique one, even among the many huntsmen of Remnant.

“Impressive indeed, but our fun has been had. We have a new clue on the Law of Robotics. There is a machine that has partnered with a shade. If there is anything that is our target, that must be it.” Weiss announced.

“Don't be such a stick in the mud, book. The fun doesn’t even have to end, you know.” Qrow told him as they made their way into the heap.

“There is such a thing as a time and a place, you know.” Weiss annoyingly reminded him.

“I’d say this is a good time and a place.” Qrow replied. Then, an idea came to him. “For example, this is a good time and place for a bet.”

“... Really? I never would have guessed.” he replied sarcastically. “Please impart your wisdom unto me, Grimoire Weiss, as to how this is the proper setting for what is likely a petty bet?”

“Simple. I bet I can teach beach day over here better than how you can teach big brother here.”

“Pah! Do you truly think a ruffian such as yourself would serve as a better instructor than me? I agree to your little bet. I am sure some humility will do you good, once you lose.”

“Hey! Who said I gave a shit about this?” Kainé protested. “I am not gonna spend some time listening to some old timer telling me how to fight.”

“Here take this then.” Nier said as he held out a large sword with a bird motif. “You can wield two swords like Kainé.”

“Uhh, are you sure? I mean─”

“Yes, it’s fine.” he assured. “I still have the spear and dagger anyways on me anyways. It’s no big deal.”

“If you say so.” he said as he somewhat reluctantly took the sword. Now, he matched Kainé with two swords in hand. Granted, his were larger and heavier and lacked the chains her sword had. Looking at the golden sword, it was rather simple. But, it did have a strong and unique silhouette.

“Good. With that settled, let this one-sided battle begin!” Weiss announced confidently.

“I still haven't agreed to this crap.” Kainé reminded them.

“Don’t worry. I was a combat teacher for a bit, and I was amazing.” Qrow proudly assured.

“Wait, what about me?” Emil asked.

“You’ll be our judge.” Qrow answered him.

“It is an important and honorable task, one I am sure you will perform well in.” Weiss added.

“Yes!” the little mage excitedly nodded. “Don’t you worry, I’ll be a great judge!”

“Ugh…” Kainé sighed as she rolled her eyes. Now she had to do it, for Emil.

“Hey, It’ll be fun, Kainé. If you end up winning, that means you’ll have helped beat Weiss in a bet too.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” she chuckled, a grin spreading across her face.

“It was nice knowing you, Weiss.” Nier said dejectedly.

“And what is that supposed to mean? I will not accept a defeatist attitude!” Weiss yelled affirmatively.

“Let’s show those losers how its done!” Kainé yelled excitedly as a wave of machines approached.

“Now you’re talking my language.” Qrow replied as he swiftly felled some machines in a display of bravado. The other sword, it felt surprisingly good in his hands, almost empowering as if by mysterious magic.

As they progressed, Weiss barked “tips” for Nier to follow. Most of the time, he followed them well. Nier didn’t mind. It was different fighting without Weiss’s magic, as he focused his attention onto studying Nier’s movements and technique, but Nier considered it a good challenge. Plus, it was safer to practice on the machines rather than shades. They had become more and more dangerous, just as he did. The machines remained much the same as they were when he last visited, and the time before that, and the time before that.

As for Qrow, he found that Kainé was difficult to teach, at first. She was a difficult person in general. But, he knew that he was too. In a sense, that made her easier to deal with. Qrow quickly found that she didn’t take well to being told what to do, even if it meant improving her fighting. What she did take well to was being shown what to do without being told to do it. She was someone who learned by observing, which is what he realized after going down the first elevator.

The machines at the lower levels of the Junk Heap were more of a challenge, but still nothing compared to their talent and skill. Dual wielding the large swords, many automatons were easily felled. Qrow had half a mind to take up dual wielding back home. An impressed Kainé followed in his footsteps, turning machines into scrap much more efficiently than before, and without the aid of magic.

However, Qrow’s semblance was starting to act up, and it was eating at him. Nier had tripped and nearly met the electric end of an automaton. And sure, some machines were crushed by falling ceiling tiles, but one even fell near Weiss, almost flattening him.

It was at that point Qrow said they could spit up in their search. To cover more ground. At first, Weiss and Nier wondered if that was a wise move. But, Kainé convinced them, saying that if they ran into the shade and machine, they’d reduce it to smoke and scrap metal easily. Emil also supported her and Qrow, but opted to stay with Nier and Weiss.

Having split up, Qrow was sure less bad things would happen to the people around them. But, it seemed as if his semblance just decided to focus more on him and Kainé. At one point, he fell down one of the bottomless pits, and had to fly out. A few feathers were singed as a result.

Later, in a dead end room, Kainé got body slammed by a machine because she was too preoccupied mangling a P-33. Thankfully, the machine that body slammed her didn’t have its electricity on, for some reason. Regardless, Kainé quickly exacted her furious revenge. After that, Qrow suggested they take a break out in the empty hallway.

“Dammit, what the hell?!” Kainé yelled frustratedly as she kicked the wall. “Why the fuck is today so shitty!” Again, she kicks the wall. “What! The! Fucking! Hell!” Qrow leans against the wall, and she takes a deep breath and joins him for a moment of rest. “Well, at least its not boring today.” Qrow lets out a quick chuckle.

“Sorry.” he apologizes. “Not everyday I hear something good about me.” She could now sense his unease. She looked at him, and saw that he seemed hurt. Well, not hurt, per say. More sad, the kind of sadness that comes from the bitter acceptance of what one perceives as terrible. It was familiar to her.

“So, what’s up with you, then?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I was a curse?” he asked her. She gave a quick laugh in response.

“You’re asking another walking curse that, you know?”

“Oh. For what its worth, I don’t think that shade makes you a curse.” he earnestly told her. After all, you can’t really blame a person if a literal monster inhabits their body against their will. Her sad and bitter laugh surprised him.

“He’s hardly a curse. More of an annoying bitch than anything.”

“That’s not hard to believe.” he scoffed all too knowingly. From what he could infer about the shade’s personality, he was the very sadistic, and very annoying type, He’d come across a few similar people in his work for Oz. In Qrow’s eyes, the only thing that separated such people from Grimm was their intelligence and other desires aside from sadism.

It did not escape Qrow that this meant that some other thing weighed her mind, some other thing that made her mark herself as cursed. He knew better than to pry. If she wasn’t going to say, she didn’t have to. He could respect that. He knew he’d be a hypocrite otherwise. Still, he felt that she at least deserved to know what plagued him, what was plaguing her because of him.

That, and she was still just a kid, an teen hardened by cruel life, but a kid to him nonetheless. If his time teaching had taught him anything about kids, it was that they opened up to adults who took the time to understand and empathize with them. Mr. Branwen, man who had lived through a hell of a youth worse than most, found that he was rather good at getting the kids to open up about their feelings and concerns. It was one of the few things he could say he was proud of about himself.

“I told Emil already, but I guess you should know too. I… ”

“Uhgg. I’m gonna stop you there. These kinds of things are always sob stories.” she told him, rolling her eyes in usual teenage manner. “I fuckin hate sob stories.” she said under her breath. “It doesn’t matter what’s wrong with us. At the end of the day, we’re abominations either way, and we’ve still gotta live on regardless.”

“You’re pretty smart, you know?” Qrow chuckled. He’s sure she had a shitty life too. In an ideal life, kids don’t get that kind of thinking, so young at least. “You still wanna beat that book with me, yeah?” he asked, getting off the wall to stretch.

For a moment, Kainé hesitated. There was just something about him she felt that she could trust. She then noticed the concern, almost hurt yet resigned look on his face because she was taking so long to answer.

“Yeah, definitely.” she quickly confirmed. “But first, can you keep a secret?” she asked.

“Of course. What is it?”

She motioned for him to come closer. Even though it was just them two in the empty hallway, she still felt the need to whisper it. He lowered his head down, and let her whisper her secret to him. He was surprised at first. It was not what he was expecting in the slightest, but it was something he could very personally understand. In return, he shared a “secret” with her too.

He assured her, they were not monsters because of the body they were born with. She was a strong young woman. He told her that he felt much the same once, a long time ago, but assured her she too would overcome it.

Qrow knew he was not an epitome of self-love by any means. Far from it. But, his body was not a source of his self-hate. With an uncontrollable and unfortunate semblance, he was going to love that aspect of himself that he decided on, the part of himself that he could control. That part of himself he did not, would not, hate was a source of solace and comfort.

Qrow knew that Kainé wasn’t just going to love herself overnight, but he had given her some hope. That, she was thankful for. Just knowing that someone like Qrow was kinda like her, was comforting.

Don’t lose your hate so quickly now, sunshine. A weak, sad, pathetic voice told her.

-

While they all lost to Hazel and Gretel at the Junk Heap, they did manage to find the Law of Robotics key piece among some rubble.

But, Emil did later declare Qrow and Kainé the victors of the bet. Nier was ambivalent, but Weiss was absolutely livid, nearly unable to accept defeat. Qrow and Kainé had a lot of fun rubbing it in.

By the time they returned to the village to rest, he had come to accept his loss. Though, he stated that if their bet concerned magic, rather than weaponry, Qrow wouldn't stand a chance. He teased the book, saying he shouldn't be so sure of that.

Although reluctantly, the guards opened the gate on their command. Devola was playing the Song of the Ancients at the fountain this time around, eyes closed and focused on the song. So, it wasn't much of an issue to get past her unnoticed.

Once inside the home, Yonah squeaked with joy that they all returned so soon, and ran to hug her brother.

"It's nice to see you again too Yonah, but take it easy, ok? I don't want you to overexert yourself so much." Nier worried as he hugged her back.

"Ohh, you worry too much!" She scolded.

"He's just concerned, is all. Besides, you've got a good big brother. It's only natural for him to worry." Qrow explained.

"Well…" she sighed, "I guess you're right. I do have a pretty good big brother. I probably shouldn't complain too much. I promise to take it easy today then."

"Thank you Yonah. I heard that Popola managed to find some cards and taught you how to play with them. Maybe you could teach us, and we all could play?" He suggested. A smile beamed from her happy face at the idea.

"Okay! I'll go and find the cards." she announced as she went upstairs.

"I'm gonna go to the store real quick then!" He shouted.

"Alright! Don't take too long!" she shouted back.

"We'll help her look then." Kainé said.

"Sure. Want anything in particular?" He asked.

"No, I'm alright." Emil answered.

"A potato. … Two potatoes." Kainé said after a moment.

"Alright… Two potatoes." Nier said. He was unsure why she would want such a plain food.

"I'll go with you." Qrow offered. "I'm sure you need a break from the book."

"It is a pleasure and honor to be in my presence you know? Honestly, do you think the Grimoire Weiss is as common as a crass paperback?"

"Sure." Nier agreed as the two were walking out the door.

"Have fun, Weissy." Qrow goaded.

As the door closed, Weiss sighed. But, if he were being honest, he wouldn't mind just resting on a nice bookshelf for a moment. Nier was with Qrow, and the other kids were just upstairs where they could cause no trouble. He deserved a little rest, and there likely wouldn't be a better time for quite a while.

So, he found a spot on the nearly empty, but comfortable shelf in the corner near the staircase, and felt himself slowly drift into a calm and relaxed state.

-

"Thanks back there. For talking to Yonah and convincing her for me." Nier said graciously as they entered the shopping district. Truly, he was thankful.

"Eh." he shrugged. "Think nothin of it. Besides, you are a good brother. Trust me, I know what a bad sibling is, and you definitely aren't."

"It doesn't feel like that sometimes…"

"Yeah. It's easy to feel like you're never doing enough. I can promise you though, you're doing all you can, and it is a lot." Qrow assured him.

"Thanks. Again. That means a lot." Talking to Qrow, hearing him reassure him, it felt good, like it was something he needed, but didn't know he needed.

"You're welcome kid. Now come one, we've got some memories to make." He said, and proceeded to trip in front of the women at the fountain. He could hear them giggle. So much for trying to seem cool and stuff.

-

"Well, here are your potatoes." Nier said as he tossed them to her.

"Nice! You don't know how much I've been fucking craving these." She said, and took a bite out of one potato like it was an apple.

Qrow was not a man easily caught off guard. But that, that was shocking, and frankly, revolting.

"What?" she said to a staring Qrow as she took another bite.

"Why??? That's not how you eat them…"

"How the fuck are you supposed to eat 'em then?"

"Cook them?"

"And lose the crunch?"

"Ok my gods… give me those, I'll make fries."

"What the hell are fries?"

That broke Qrow's heart. After all that happened to him, it was not an easy thing to break. He could almost cry. He had to sit for a moment to process this. All the while, Kainé loudly munched on her potato.

"Okay." Qrow said once he recovered. "Just find me the other potato. I promise you will love fries. If you don't I will literally give you Harbinger."

He gave her a confused look. Right.

"My weapon." He clarified. Satisfied with the offer, she tossed him the other potato.

"You really named your weapon? You sleep curled up next to it or something?"

"That reminds me," interjected a refreshed Weiss, "the other blade you are currently in possession of is the Phoenix Sword."

"That's pretty believable." He said as he cut up the large potato. He was glad they bought cooking oil earlier.

"Would you like to hear the story I've collected on it?"

"Sure. Why not."

"Ugh." Kainé groaned. "I'm going upstairs so I'm not bored to fucking death." With that, she joined the others in a game of cards.

So far, Yonah had beaten both Emil and Kainé. Qrow imagines Nier was next to lose, and that Yonah was probably making up rules as they went. He'd figure he'd indulge her and lose later.

"Anyways, let me begin." Weiss said, and told the story.

This is an old story. A beautiful bird with brightly shining feathers lived silently and carefully in the depths of a forest.

One day, a child abandoned as a burden wandered into the depths of the forest. The bird took pity on the starved and sunken child, and pecked off one of its feathers to give to the child. The child brought it back and pleased his relatives, and he was able to live with his family again.

Hearing the story, people barged into the forest one after another, and told the beautiful bird of how poor, how unfortunate and how unrewarded they were. The beautiful bird took pity on them, and gave them one shining feather after another, and when it gave its last feather, the bird’s beautiful body was reduced to a sorry state. However, the ugly bird did not have any regrets.

The ugly bird that lost its feathers was freezing in the cold, and the child from before appeared in front of it. He told it that he was searching for a brightly shining and beautiful bird to repay his debts. The ugly bird was overjoyed, and told the child of its desire. "That was me. Please, would you not keep me warm in your chest?" But the child merely took one glance at the ugly bird and called it a liar, killing it with a huge sword and eating the burnt bird. Afterwards, he continued to search for the beautiful bird.

"... Well, that was something." Qrow commented.

"What were you expecting?" Weiss said accusingly.

"I don't know." Qrow responded defensively. "Ow!" He hissed as some oil splattered onto his hand. "Maybe how it was created, or something about its original owner?"

"Hmph, I imagine your weapon's story isn't to your tastes then."

"It doesn't have a story!" Qrow affirmed.

"Pah! All noteworthy weapons have a story, and yours is no exception!"

"Wait, wait. You're saying that Harbinger, my Harbinger, has a story?"

"Naturally. Do weapons in your world not have stories? Most odd." Weiss said before letting Qrow answer. "I suppose it is my duty to tell you your weapon's story then. So, I implore you to listen and listen well."

In a time not known, there lived an archer with jet black hair who killed, and killed, and killed the allies of the wretched light. The Goddess of Light ordered his death, as he was far too much of a threat for a mere mortal. She sent her greatest warrior to slay him. Equipped with divine magic and a holy armament, he obeyed his Goddess and killed the Hero of Innocent Darkness with his own fiery arrows.

Being an honorable and just soul, he ascended to an afterlife within the light. There, the cruel goddess controlled him as another one of her puppets. In her name, he ended the lives of many valiant souls who sought a world of freedom. Wherever he went, the goddess’s will followed in the form of a fiery arrow. To his dismay, he soon even surpassed the one who killed him, and became her new greatest warrior.

So, when a new living, breathing soul threatened her as he once did, it was this warrior’s duty to dispatch the threat. The threat was a young woman, much younger than he was when he took up arms against the goddess. He announced his arrival with the shining shot of a holy arrow into the air.

The woman… she seemed familiar to him. But, it was no time for distant memories. He had to carry out the will of the Goddess of Light, even if he did not want to. While a magic user, she was unique in how she wielded it. Rather than fight at a range, she fought up close. She lasted much longer than he had in his last fight, but even she too was felled. However, he too succumbed to her efforts. He lay there, burning by fiery arrows once more. In his final moments, he wondered, and feared, what awaited him in the death after death.

“Well, there’s your story. More satisfactory than the Phoenix Sword, hmm?”

“No.” Qrow deadpanned. “In fact, I’m gonna forget it. Well, I’ll forget it soon.” With that, he popped open the flask and downed it. He was hoping to ration it, but in all honesty, he’d rather not have to live with the fact that even his weapon was a sad mess. He was sure the alcoholic “soup” wasn’t going to be strong enough to actually help him forget, but, it was worth a shot.

“Underappreciated as usual.” Weiss sighed to himself.

“You’ll get used to it soon enough.” Qrow joked. “Come one, we’ve got kids to feed.”

Qrow carefully ascended the stairs, as to be sure he wouldn’t drop them. A cautious Kainé scrutinized a fry before taking a bite out of one. Her face lit up and she quickly shoved it into her mouth. The others quickly joined in on the indulgence, enjoying the simple treat as much as their voracious friend.

Nier threw money at him to get some more potatoes, and Yonah begged him to teach her how to make them. He was happy to oblige. It made him happy to see them all so energetic and pleased. He also made the book go with him to the shopping district so they could discuss some important matters.

All in all, Qrow was satisfied in how things were turning out. Sure. things could be better, but they definitely could have been a lot worse. So, this is a win in his book. It seemed odd that he felt so happy in this world, but he knew that he would have to leave this world soon. If anything, he preferred that. That way, he had less of a chance to ruin his time here, or ruin anything else. But, for now, he would enjoy this mission.

-

Qrow woke up feeling groggy, and was hit with a terrible headache. His first thought was that he had gotten stupid drunk before returning to Oz and was paying the price. But, as his senses came back to him, he noticed that he wasn’t at Beacon. He wasn’t sure where he was. He quickly got up and searched for his weapon. It was at the side of the bed he was on, and he quickly shifted it into its scythe form.

Cautiously, he went for the door. He found it odd that his capturers let him hold onto his weapon, but he wasn’t going to complain. Just as he was about to touch the handle to make sure it wasn’t rigged or anything, the door shot open.

“Hello there.” A woman greeted as she blocked the scythe with a suitcase. “Just on time. I was hoping to have a few words with you, if you don’t mind?”

Qrow really wasn’t going to take his chances entertaining this woman, so he figured that the best course of action was flying past her as a bird, which he did. Though, he didn’t get far. He flew straight into another suitcase and fell limp to the ground.

“Thank you Accord.”

“You’re welcome Accord.” cordially replied Accord. She walked over to pick up the knocked out bird, and took measurements and notes as she walked to her destination.

When Qrow awoke, a different woman was in front of him. She was eating some fries, sitting on her comfortable looking bed. She had off white hair, and silver eyes. Qrow shifted back into human form.

“Yonah?”

“Oh Qrow! It is you!” she shouted as she jumped up and pulled him in for a hug. “I almost didn’t believe Accord when she said you’d be here. I’m so glad you’re alright. I’m glad you remembered me too.”

“I’m glad you’re alright too. Couldn’t forget someone like you if I tried. But, uh, mind filling me in on all this?” he requested as she released him from the embrace.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah! I guess Accord didn’t have time to huh? Come and walk with me, and I’ll give you the basics.” she said as she picked up her sword, one with a phoenix motif, and then her fries.

“Still hooked onto those fries, huh?” he asked. He was glad to see a familiar face. It put him at ease. That, and he did not feel or sense any danger in this place. It felt safe. That was a good sign.

“Mmhm.” she said with a mouth full of fries before swallowing them. “I always remembered how to cook them how you taught me. In fact, because of you, this place has fries now.”

Qrow lightly laughed. It was an odd honor to have, but an honor nonetheless.

“So, what exactly is this place?” he asked, still smiling.

“This, is the base of the organization known as The Dragon Guard. Though, dragons are practically extinct in most timelines now. But, we do have Mikey. He’s funny. But anyways, our goal is to defeat god. His goal is to destroy humanity and our creation.”

“And naturally, you guys aren’t gonna let that slide, right?” Qrow stated. Yonah eagerly nodded.

“Yup! I was recruited a couple years ago. Though technically, its been millenia since then.” she said as if it were no big deal. Qrow looked at her, eyes wide with surprise. “It’s actually not that complicated if you want me to explain it.”

“I’m good. My head hurts enough as is.” he complained as he rubbed it.

“Yeah… Accord said that might happen.” Qrow looked at her curiously, almost concerned.

“Did you call for me?” they heard a voice say from behind. He jumped up with a yelp in shock.

“On time, as always. How are you Accord? Come across anything that needs some of my special attention?” Yonah casually asked.

“I’m good, as always.” Accord smiled. “Though, there have been reports of another dangerous interloper. This one wields elemental magic and a bunch of swords. But, I doubt you’ll need to take care of her. She’s in one of the timelines where the Seeds of Destruction activate the goddess.” Qrow wondered what the hell any of that meant.

“Another moment of rest for me then, I guess.” she sighed. “Hey, do we have time to spar real quick?” she asked Accord, who thought for a quick moment.

“Sure. I’ll be sure to set up an arena for you.”

“Thank you Accord. Alright, follow me!” she said as she excitedly led Qrow to what he assumed would be the training area.

They passed many different places on their way. There was a large mess hall, a weapons room Qrow would have to see if he could look at later, a magical test center, and he even saw Mikey. Apparently, the white dragon loved his fries, which he confirmed Yonah made perfectly just as he did. When they finally reached the training room, he was out of breath.

“Here,” she said as she pulled out a seat, “rest for a moment. Do you think you could watch my swordsmanship and critique it? Kainé said you were an amazing teacher.” Her face betrayed her cheerful voice, as a hint of sadness could be seen.

“That, I am. So show me what you’ve got.”

After watching her go toe to toe with an android in black, he could say he was very impressed. Her attacks were quick and precise. Additionally, some damage she took seemed to be shrugged off by her own attacks, as indicated by the health bars on display. As the battle ended with Yonah as the victor, he proudly made her way over to Qrow.

“So, what do you think?” she huffed excitedly.

“I’d say you’re even better than me.” he answered honestly. Time had been kind to her. He hoped it would stay that way. She deserved it.

“Really, you think so?” she asked. Qrow nodded his head to reaffirm. She squealed in joy. “I’m so glad you think so! It means so much to me!” she yanked him in for another hug. It was rough, but he didn’t mind too much.

Just then, they heard the door open, Accord walking in.

“Oh, you’re here early, er, on time, actually. I guess it just feels early.” Yonah said. Sadly.

“Your time’s almost up. The magic that brought you here is strong. We were lucky enough to even be able to intercept it.” Accord neutrally explained. “You know, you’re a singularity. Of sorts.”

“You’re someone who causes timelines to branch and split off. You even made a timeline that survived.” Yonah said happily.

“Yeah, an incredible feat. If I were you though, I wouldn’t feel bad about the ones that didn’t survive. Those ones were gonna fail regardless. But man, you did give me a lot of work, not that I mind though. It provided some nice data. That brings me to this: I’ve temporarily sealed off a majority of your memories from during your time away from your world. You have a choice. You can choose to remember or not. It will be a lot to take in, and you’ll have a nasty headache for a bit. So. what’s your choice, avian interloper?”

“I…” he wasn’t so sure. He had a bad feeling about this. But, something compelled him to choose to remember. It felt like he had a duty to remember. It felt somebody was convincing him it was the right choice. “I want to remember.”

“As you will.” Accord answered, pulling out her large phone. “Alright. Initiate code. MEM-3313.”

She was right when she said the headache would be nasty. But, the memories were worse. So many things made sense, and it was all saddening and terrifying. But, mixed in there, were some good memories, ones people wouldn’t trade for the world. There was little Yonah, so much like Ruby to him. Her, Nier, Kainé, Emil, Halua, Weiss, and Rubrum, were a part of many wonderful memories, memories of a world where he felt normal, even if just for a moment. And there they were, in a few terrible memories too, reminding him of his fears and hatred.

“We have another choice for you. Do you wish to keep your memories?” Accorded asked. “Regardless, I already have the important ones recorded, so don’t let us influence your choice.”

Those memories worth more than the world, weren’t worth more than all the suffering and sadness and betrayal he had witnessed so many times. He could barely handle it.

“Take them… take them all…”

“Are you sure?” Yonah asked this time.

“Kid… I’m sorry. I’m not that strong of a person.”

“You are a strong person, Mister Qrow, just not that kind of strong, and that’s alright.” she sat down to take a seat next to him. “The world is a pretty terrible place. And we can all only take so much. I don’t blame you, okay? Accord, transfer them to me.” Qrow looked at her in shock.

“You’re a good man Qrow. Don’t forget that. I know that someday, you’ll be stronger for the people who need you. I believe in you. You have someone who believes in you. Don’t forget that, okay? You have someone who believes in you.”

Qrow wasn’t sure what to say as she tearfully pulled him in for one last hug. He just noticed that he was crying too. He began to feel sleepy.

“Thank you for so many good memories, Qrow. You helped make those days with my brother and friends possible. …Thank you, and goodbye…”

“Goodbye. . .”

You have someone who believes in you.

[kriscme]

One Life To Live

Hi Readers, sorry for the longer interval that usual.  It took me awhile to work out where to go from here.  The hazard of not working to a plan.  Thanks as always to Ronja for allowing me to write fanfic of her Hunger Games fanfic “The Chance You Didn’t Take.”  You can read it on AO3 and Fanfiction.  Chapter 28 The following morning, I set out for work as usual.  All is quiet in the Village.  Peeta would still be sleeping off the effects of sleep syrup but there’s no sign of Johanna or Haymitch.  I modify my usual route to the school and walk down the main street, curious to see if Lace is working today.  She doesn’t open this early, but she can usually be seen behind her shop window bustling about, either sewing or sorting through fabrics.  Today there’s no sign of her.  Even more oddly, the tailor’s shop is closed.  Arthur starts early and finishes late, eager for as much business as possible to fund that factory he intends to own one day.   The bakery is open though.  Cass and Saffy are serving behind the counter.  Saffy replaced Sateen after she quit her job to marry Roy.  Her full name is Sapphire and she’s aptly named with dark blue eyes and pale blond hair.  She’s someone I might have been jealous of if Peeta hadn’t already been with Lace.   Very pretty, she flirts with everyone, male and female alike.  Peeta told me she had been training as a career before the war put an end to the Games.  Her favored weapon was the bow although she admits that she was only middling good at best. But if Glimmer – also from 1 – had made it through on good looks and charm, then why not her?  It’s the early morning rush and there’s quite a few people ahead of me.  While I wait, I take the opportunity to examine the contents of the display counters.  Bee stings must still be popular as they take up an entire shelf.  Below them are apple pastries and jelly slices.  Chocolate eclairs and fruit tarts, cupcakes and . . . yes, iced cookies, each decorated with a floral motif.  It’s clearly Peeta’s work.  In one corner of the bakery is a large glass case displaying a dazzling array of celebration cakes. “Amazing, aren’t they?”  says Cass behind me.  I look around and see that the other customers have left and there’s only me, Cass and Saffy, who is occupied packing loaves of bread onto shelves.   “We’re really lucky to have found him.  He could get work anywhere, if he wanted.”  He points to the central cake, a large multi-tiered wedding cake decorated with an intricate vine design in gold.  The pattern and the shape of the leaves stirs a memory, and I wonder if it had for Peeta too.  “We even got an order for one just like it to be shipped to the Capitol.” “The Capitol? Wow! That’s a long way to come for a wedding cake.   How did they know to look here?” Cass chuckles.   “She actually came in for the beestings.  She recognized us from our bakery in the Capitol.  But when she saw that cake, she just had to have it. It was the strangest thing.  The tattoo on her head was an exact match with the vine decoration on the cake.” “Oh, that is strange.   Did she say why she was in 12?  We don’t usually get tourists here.” “She didn’t say.  But the beestings was a treat for her crew, I know that much. Construction, maybe?  There’s a lot of that going on.” “Yeah, probably.” Despite my efforts to keep my voice even, I can’t help a sense of urgency creeping in.    “Did she ask to speak to Peeta?  You know, to talk about the cake?” “No.  She didn’t ask who iced it.”  Cass’s brow pinches in worry.  “Is there something wrong?” “Of course not,” I quickly assure him.  “Just curious, that’s all.  I thought she might have wondered how the cake and her tattoo happen to match.  But it’s probably a standard design.  Peeta likely saw it somewhere from his days in the Capitol.” His face relaxes into a smile.  “Well, there was plenty to choose from, fashions changed so fast.  None as popular as your Mockingjay symbol though.” “Yeah, it did seem to be everywhere.  Although I bet there’s a lot of people who regret they got a tattoo of it,” I say with a laugh.  I search for a change of subject. I really don’t want to revisit those days.  “Do you have any cheese buns ready?”   “A batch is due out of the oven now.   Just wait a minute and I’ll get them,” he says, and disappears into the rear of the bakery. The aroma of freshly baked cheese buns would normally have me salivating, but all I can think of is the woman who ordered that cake.  Cressida! What’s she doing in 12?  The last I heard, she and Pollux had been sent to the Districts to cover the wreckage of the war.  This was not long after the Capitol had fallen, Coin was in charge, Snow awaiting trial, and I was in hospital being treated for burns.  Maybe she’s here to do a story on District 12’s recovery. That would make sense.  I just hope Peeta and I aren’t the subject.   Paylor would certainly put a stop to it if we were, wouldn’t she?  She didn’t want me attracting any attention when I was in 8, after all.   I think as far as the government is concerned; we outlived our usefulness long ago.  Nowadays we’re more of an embarrassment. The lunatic who went berserk and kicked a fellow combatant into a pod to his death, and the lunatic who executed the wrong president.   I think, if the government have its way, we’ll never be heard of again.  No ill will, just please quietly fade into the sunset. Max sheds no further light on the Cressida mystery.  When asked if I’d missed anything while I was away, he only commented on Arthur’s uncharacteristic behavior at the pub on the Saturday night.  Max describes him as an odd mixture of concern and excitement. “Like he was happy about something, but felt bad that he was happy about it.   He didn’t stick around for long.  Said he had personal issues to attend to.”   Lace, probably.   That could explain why his shop wasn’t open as usual.  Arthur wouldn’t, would he?  Spend the night with her?  To give comfort, or maybe something more? Maybe he’s heeding his own advice: be adaptable, be open to possibilities.   “Lace and Peeta broke up,” I say, and wait for Max’s stunned reaction.  To my surprise I don’t get one.  Not beyond a raise of eyebrows and a sardonic laugh, that is.   “Did they now?  Well, you could see that coming.” “How?” I ask, disbelieving.   It’s so typical of Max to claim credit for knowing something after the fact.   Peeta and Lace were never anything less than a devoted couple.  No one could have seen it coming. I get a disbelieving look in return.  “You must have been too preoccupied with making plans for your weekend in the woods with Nature Man.   Because while their hands might have been all over each other their eyes weren’t.  His were on you and hers were on Arthur.  I was surprised Lace held out for as long as she did.  If looks could kill, Johanna would have been dead a dozen times over.” Max finishes collating the work sheets on the table and sets to work stapling them together.  “So, what’s between them? Obviously, they’re more than just acquaintances if he knew her secret before Psycho Boy did.” “They knew each other in 8.  They’re related through marriage,” is all I say. I doubt if Arthur would appreciate me giving away more than that.  Certainly not that he’s had a crush on Lace since childhood. “And stop calling people names.  It’s immature.  And unnecessary.” “But I like calling people names.  It’s fun.  You’re just jealous I haven’t one for you yet.  How about The Scowler? Yes, that fits,” he says, grinning at me. I try to wipe the scowl off my face but give up.  Max gives me so much to scowl at. “And now the big question is, who will she choose?  Nature Man or Psycho Boy?  It should be no contest but there’s no accounting for some women’s tastes.” “There is no choice,” I snap.  “And mind your own business.”  I plonk my still half-full cup of tea in the sink and stomp out of the staff room before remembering that I’ve just committed the grave offense of not washing my cup and placing it back on the self.  Maybe I can get back in time later to do it before Mrs. Matson sees it.  But I’m not going back in there right now.  Not while he’s in there, no matter the consequences.  That man annoys me so much.   And the most annoying thing about him is that he can see right through me. Because if I’m honest with myself, the thought had occurred to me too. Which is really, really dumb.  The situation bears no relationship whatsoever to the choice I had between Gale and Peeta.  Because then there really was a choice.  Two boys who were in love with me compared to one man who isn’t, and another I can’t say.   But somehow, I sense that there’s still a choice to be made.  I don’t know how, or why.  Just that at one point, I’ll have to make one.   If Max can be trusted with anything, it’s to spread information in the fastest time possible.  By lunchtime everyone knows.  I get a few looks, especially from the newest members of staff.  I suppose I’d better get used to it.  People will speculate and assume the way is clear now for Peeta and me.  In their minds, anything other than a star-crossed lovers union is unthinkable, an aberration that shouldn’t be tolerated.   It’s unfortunate for them that they’re going to be disappointed a second time. I walk home the way I came, down the main street.   Lace’s shop is still closed, but Arthur is open for business.  I watch him through the window as I walk past.  Arthur has really only one expression, but it manifests in varying degrees according to his mood and the situation.  Today it’s serious light, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s the barest hint of a smile at the corners of his lips.  It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.   Johanna calls by soon after I arrive home. Marcus isn’t here so I lead her into the sitting room where we can talk openly in comfort. “How is he?” I ask as soon as we’re seated. “Better.  There haven’t been any more flashbacks, at least.  I think the long sleep broke the cycle.  Not that I’ve seen much of him.  He kept to his room most of the day, except when he came down to talk to Aurelius on the phone.” “And?”  Neither of us pretend that Johanna hadn’t listened in.  We’re both shameless.  Johanna for eavesdropping and me for asking her to repeat it.  But justified, we tell ourselves, because we care about his welfare. Johanna’s forehead crinkles in concentration. “Well, I only heard Peeta’s side of it, of course.  And it was muffled at times.    But he talked about the flashbacks.  That’s how I know they’ve stopped.  And then about the break-up.  I got the impression he must have already talked to Aurelius about the possibility, because he didn’t explain why they broke up, just that they had, and he felt badly about it.  And then, all of a sudden, he started to cry.  He kept saying over and over that his life was ruined and he’ll never find a love like that again and that it was his own fault.” It’s a knife to the heart.  I know Peeta doesn’t love me anymore but he has some awareness that he once did, and that it was, by his own account, overwhelming in its intensity.  But Lace has supplanted me in that too.  She’s the love that can never be surpassed.   But something doesn’t quite make sense. Why break-up with her if he feels that way? She was the one who had to be forgiven.  Peeta did nothing wrong.  But then I remember what Peeta told Johanna when she asked him why they had broken-up.  He said they’d both lied.  Could Lace have initiated the break-up?  That whatever Peeta had lied about was a deal breaker for her?  And then I think about Arthur and his closed shop this morning and the little smile on his face when I saw him later in the day.  That’s more than relief for a disaster averted.  He’s had encouragement.  From Lace.   Poor Peeta.  Poor, poor Peeta.  Everything about her he adored – her laughter, her bright personality, her ambition.  He even liked that slobbering dog of hers.  And after everything he’s suffered. The Games, losing his leg, his torture at Snow’s hands.  And the loss of his entire family in the bombing too.  He had no one except Haymitch and me – a drunk and a depressed recluse, as battle scarred and broken as he.  And then he meets Lace.   The ray of light in the darkness.   And the amount of money he spent on that wedding!  To please her, to show her and the world how much he loves her.  And now, oh, how could she? “It was heartbreaking.  I just wanted to leap out and tell him that little bitch isn’t worth it.  But I couldn’t, you know.”  No, not without revealing yourself.  “But he calmed down eventually.  He talked about going the Capitol for treatment but I think Aurelius persuaded him to stay here.  And that’s about it.  Except to talk again tomorrow.   Oh, and Peeta promised to think about returning to work as soon as possible and to get out and see people.  And to continue to work on his memories.” That’s similar to the advice Dr Aurelius gave me when I told I was in love with Peeta.  To work on myself, to find my direction. “No, that’s not quite right,” Johanna adds.  “I left out an important detail.  He promised to work on his memories with her.  I guess Aurelius appreciated my input.  And he did make a lot more progress once I took over.  Sorry, Katniss, but he did.” I nod wearily.  It hurts, but it’s true.  All I managed to do was confirm what he had already convinced himself of. A disaster from start to finish.   “Are you going to see him?” asks Johanna. “I think it will help him to know that he still has friends.” I want to say no.  But I know that if the positions were reversed Peeta would put aside his own hurt feelings and support me any way he can.   “Yes, in a day or two maybe. I want to give him time to adjust first.”   It’s a lame response but Johanna seems to accept it.  If I were Peeta I could leave a bag of cookies or cheese buns at his front door as a convenient way of conveying support without having to actually engage. But I can’t think of anything I can give him that he’d want so I’ll have to face him.  I can’t delay it forever. I tell Johanna about the cake with the vine design and the woman who ordered one just like it.   And of my suspicions of who this woman might be. “Yeah, that’d be Cressida.  She’s been covering an ongoing story about Marcus and the national parks.  She comes around this time, just as Marcus is almost finished wrapping things up. Although, in 7, she was almost there from the start.  You know, because of all the trouble we had with the logging companies.  I don’t know if you saw it, but she did a special feature on me.  It was called “Johanna Mason – Environmental Activist.  Her Life After the Games.”  It was sensationalist rubbish really.  They kept on showing footage of me chained naked to a tree.  Even asked if I’d do the interview like that.   I did, but I want to be clear, it was their idea, not mine. And they tried to fabricate a love affair between me and Marcus too.  Marcus hated it.  Especially when memes appeared on social media transposing me naked against the tree with him next to me with his hands in various places.” “But why?” I’m aghast.  This is dreadful news.  If they did that to Johanna, what would they do to Marcus and me?  Or to Peeta and Lace?  Or to Peeta and me?  This is juicy fodder for the tabloid media.  “I thought they wanted us to lay low.  To just blend in and be ordinary people again.” Johanna looks at me askance.  “Well, maybe you and Peeta.  But not for the rest of us.  Beetee writes for a science magazine and does frequent guest appearances on “Cool Science” and Enobaria has her own reality show.  “Keeping Up with the Barbarian,” or something like that.   Annie likes to keep a low profile though.”   “Does Marcus know she’s here?” I barely whisper the words. Johanna shrugs.  “I don’t know.  Maybe not if she’s just arrived.  But he would have known she’d be here eventually.  Marcus doesn’t like it, but he relies on the publicity.   And when he goes to 13 next – “ “13?” “Well, yes.  He’s doing all the Districts.  You know that.  And 13’s practically virgin territory.  That’s one advantage in living underground I suppose, nothing on top gets damaged. He’ll want to move quickly to preserve the area most in need of conservation before developers make any more inroads.  I don’t envy him though.  That’s one place I never want to see again.”   Me neither.  There’re no good memories for me in 13.  And they hate me there. I killed their president. Johanna leaves shortly after, but not before extracting from me an assurance that I’ll visit Peeta soon.   I have about an hour before Marcus arrives home.  Enough time to use his computer to do some research.   I find the memes Johanna talked about.  One has Marcus with one hand at Johanna’s crotch and the other inside his trousers, pumping away.  I search Beetee’s name and find links to articles he’s written and his TV appearances.  There’s very little about his personal life other than he still lives in his home district of 3 and has investments in an electrical company.   Enobaria attracts the most publicity.  As well as her reality show, she’s a regular on the celebrity circuit, her trademark pointed teeth bared for maximum effect.   On Annie, there’s been no media reports since the War ended.  And there’s none for Haymitch, Peeta and me either.   I can understand why Peeta and I have been left alone.  At least, I thought I did. Haymitch and Annie would be fair game though.  Annie, slightly mad Annie, Victor and the widow of the handsome and seductive Finnick Odair, himself a Victor, the most notorious womaniser in Panem turned war hero.  Surely the birth of their son would have garnered some attention.  And Haymitch is a news story too.  A popular Victor and a prominent player in the Rebellion, you’d think they’d be some public curiosity about where he ended up.   But nothing.  Either there’s been no interest or it’s being squelched.  It dawns on me that maybe the lack of media attention isn’t just because we’re a national embarrassment.  It’s because we’re being protected.  Enobaria, Beetee and Johanna have chosen to be in the public eye, and they must take the bad with the good.  But not Annie, Haymitch, Peeta and I.   We’ve lived quiet lives, eschewing the lime-light.  I let out a long breath, not realizing that I’ve been holding it.  We’re safe then. Cressida will do her news story about Marcus and the new national park and then leave. Peeta and I have nothing to worry about.   A door opens and shuts and there’s footsteps in the hall.   I close the computer and replace everything as it was.   Marcus is home.

[therepairdepot]

fanfic time? fanfic time it has no title and a million plot holes enjoy

As the Isle O’ Hags only hazardous waste disposal facility, A.M. Industries had always been a bustling, busy place.

High above the processing floor, Adrian Miller’s boots trod heavily and with purpose upon the catwalk. He scanned his surroundings with as much of an eagle eye as he could muster. The foreman was not searching for anything in particular, he was simply making his rounds as usual.

A sharp whiff of a sour, rotten odor nearly took Adrian by surprise. It was not a foreign smell, in fact the foreman recognized it immediately. Caustic washing had begun in the facility.

A.M. Industries began its life as an offshoot of Hailfire Peaks Oil Refinery with Adrian among its first few employees. First encountering this foul odor was one of the most potent memories of his career; the choking gag noise he made upon his first encounter would probably never leave his memory. Now, the reek simply made him chuckle softly.

Toxic waste was an unavoidable part of the fuel refining process. Though dangerous and unpleasant, the job of treating it for disposal had to be done and that job was delegated to the facility that now bore the foreman’s name. Caustic wash waste turned out to only be the beginning, however, as requests from all over the Isle began to trickle in—sewage came first, closely followed by surplus explosives. As the once single-purpose facility grew, so did Adrian’s position on the management ladder. Once a pipe fitter with a knack for oxyacetylene, Adrian fought his way up the ranks to his current position as foreman... though it was not unusual to see him on the floor among his reports, torch in hand.

The catwalk creaked lightly as Adrian neared its end and began his descent into the office. Those responsible for the smell glanced up upon hearing the noise, then returned to their task, relieved that the foreman saw no need to bark an ill-tempered order. After all, Adrian was not exactly known for being a kind or patient man.

-

“O’Malley!”

The voice over the radio was sharp, frustrated and not one that Kevin O’Malley ever wanted to hear from the foreman. The Jinjo fumbled about his belt to retrieve the receiver at his side.

“What up, boss?”

“O’Malley, please come up to the cable room. I need to discuss something with you.”

-

Adrian awaited the Jinjo at the back of the cavernous chamber, dimly lit by the flashlight he held up to a handful of cables. His face was only visible in the dark when nearby LED indicators illuminated, leaving his safety vest and steel-toed boots hidden from view.

When he heard the door open and Kevin tread towards him, the foreman grumpily stated, “O’Malley, we have a problem.”

Kevin’s eyes drifted to the distal end of the wad Adrian clutched in his gloved hand. Each cable had been cleanly severed and the insulation around them had melted, as though the bundle was slashed with a hot knife. “This does NOT happen by accident.” Adrian then gestured to the neat label affixed to the board from which the damaged cables originated.

SECURITY CAMERAS — OUTDOOR

Kevin nodded in agreement. “Er—... yeah this ain’t right, but this damage isn’t too bad. We have plenty of heat-shrink tubing and I can have it all soldered up good as new in an hour.”

Adrian sighed heavily. “The repair doesn’t worry me, O’Malley. What concerns me is the deliberate, selective damage. Someone doesn’t want to be seen.”

-

Strapped securely in their safety harnesses, Jarvis and Kevin climbed the ladder to the top of the smokestack. The rabbit, being the nimbler of the two, hopped upon the grate first, followed by his coworker.

“You’ve had the boiler locked out, right Kevin?” The rabbit inquired, suddenly quite worried about being blasted sky-high by a gust of steam spouting from the stack.

The Jinjo laughed. “I wouldn’t drag you up here if I didn’t, Jarv.” He casually tossed his brushes onto the grate. “Now come on, Miller’s gonna have an aneurysm if he doesn’t get his grates cleaned.” Kevin brashly threw a stiff wire brush at Jarvis.

Silence took over for several minutes.

Jarvis lifted an ear. A whooshing noise had become audible.

“You hear that, Kevin?”

The Jinjo continued to scrape the grates as he replied, “Nah, what was it?

Jarvis sat back on his knees. “A whoosh. Sorta like an airplane.”

Before Kevin could respond, he himself heard the noise. It was at the base of the stack. The creatures exchanged looks, then peered over the edge.

The Winkybunions had arrived.

“A foul place, this factory is.”

“Quiet, Mingella, we won’t be long. Foul yes, but useless wrong! I’ve scoped it out for several days, its potential for us is worthy of praise. The Isle O Hags has no pollution, if we get this place, we have our solution.”

Jarvis looked over at Kevin. “She spoke in rhymes.”

Kevin stated back. “Dude, that’s what you’re worried about? She‘s been stalking the Industries for who knows how long!”

The rabbit shrugged. “Dunno, man, the rhymes are pretty weird.” Jarvis lifted his ear once more to listen to the conversation.

“We’ll find the boss and negotiate, if he backs down that would be great. After all we have more power than he, in a matter of minutes this place is for me!” Gruntilda cackled. Mingella simply nodded in approval.

High up on the smokestacks, Jarvis turned to Kevin. “We gotta find Miller before they do.”

Kevin chuckled. “I would LOVE to see them try to take AM Industries from him. This place is his baby. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t thwack the witch upside the head.” The Jinjo looked at their handiwork, satisfied. “This is fine. C’mon, let’s get to the Depot. Maybe we’ll see them fight.”

-

“OVER MY DEAD BODY!” A furious Adrian banged his fist on his workbench. His roar and metallic bang echoed off the walls of the Repair Depot.

Mingella rolled her eyes. “Perfect for our plan, this place is! Too safe it is, but a problem that isn’t.”

The foreman stood back, hands in the air. “PLEASE quit the broken English. I can barely understand you.”

“Don’t yell at my sister, you grumpy jerk! If you don’t agree, we’ll make it work. You have no choice in this matter, try to stop us, your head’ll be on a platter!”

Adrian sighed sharply, then swiftly turned around, tore his flint lighter from his belt and swept the acetylene torch head from its rig. In one swift motion, as though he’d done it thousands of times, he threw the fuel valve open and lit the torch. It blazed, sooty smoke from the reducing flame nearly blackening Adrian’s lighter. The foreman brandished the torch in front of him like a shield. “Get out of my factory!”

Gruntilda backed away—not in fear, but rather surprise. “Mingella, please deal with this pest. I’ll go and tackle all the rest. Mr. Miller, we will do as we please, get used to the name Grunty Industries!” With that command, Gruntilda fled with a terrible cackle, leaving Mingella alone with the foreman.

An indignant Adrian glared fiercely at Mingella. “I don’t know what your plan is, and I don’t care. Now kindly take your disgusting sisters and leave.” His grip on the torch, once firm and confident, was beginning to falter. Sweat dripped from his neck. One knee wasn’t far from giving out. He didn’t want to show it to the witch, but Adrian was petrified.

“Combative and uncooperative you are!” Mingella flipped her book open. “The perfect spell I have for a hot-tempered boss.”

Before Adrian could bark at her, he noticed a crackle of energy coalescing in her free hand. As Mingella’s spell grew, Adrian realized just how poorly matched he was. Still, he lifted the torch to the witch’s eye level, its flame still blazing before him, though it quivered as he began to tremble.

Fully intent on at least giving Mingella a savage burn, he rushed in, aiming for her face. If he could just damage her eyes...

His flames barely licked the tip of her nose before the spell she threw knocked the torch from his hands and into his chest.

From there, it was all a blur for Adrian.

His throat and chest burned and behind them his vertebrae made a terrible crackling sound. Every pop came with a pang of discomfort. All of his senses were being stripped away. As the pain in his back and jaw grew to a blinding, borderline electric sear, Adrian could barely stay conscious. Staying lucid would allow him to fight back, but letting himself pass out would mean he wouldn’t be aware of this ordeal. He let himself go limp.

It all happened so fast.

He wasn’t sure how long he was out.

Adrian’s consciousness returned in slow, plodding stages.

Pain was the first to return. His neck ached with an intensity that seemed disproportionate to his body. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t stop himself from uttering a single sharp, distressed yelp.

As that cry escaped him however, he noticed that he didn’t recognize the way his teeth fit together. Confused, he felt around gingerly with his tongue. Of all things, the witch seemed to have given him a mouthful of dreadful canines and a jaw that opened far enough to make him worry that his mandible would unhinge from his skull. Adrian’s inspection only stopped when he became aware of a sweet, garlicky and metallic smell.

His head shot up.

Garlic was not an odor any welder wanted to smell. Did the witches knock over an acetylene cylinder? He looked around, but did not spot anything that could have leaked. The torch he’d held was nowhere to be seen. When he began to hyperventilate, however, it became apparent that it was indeed acetylene that he smelled.

That’s my breath.

As he made the connection, his heart began to pound.

That is not my heart.

The last of Adrian’s senses to return was his hearing, and with its return came Mingella’s dreadful voice.

“Finally, awake you are!” She stopped repeatedly striking him with her spellbook—Adrian was correct, the pounding was indeed not his heart—and stood before him. “Important instructions I will give you. Guard our factory you will, an—“

Suddenly overcome with rage, Adrian lifted his head off the floor to snap, “OUR factory?!” He spat. “What gave you the idea that my facility is yours?! Was that the purpose of your dreadful spell?!” As he barked, he became acutely aware of how much he towered over Mingella and how odd it felt to be able to articulate his neck so much. He realized at this point that he was definitely no longer human.

“Grunty Industries this is, and a welding torch you are. Fused you with your own weapon, I have. Protect Grunty’s gold and fight off the bear and bird, you must!”

“That makes no sense.” Adrian snarled, partly in an attempt to convince himself that this was all a terrible, albeit tremendously lucid dream.

“All the sense in the world it makes.” Mingella tapped her tome against Adrian’s side. Instead of the soft thud he expected, the foreman heard a muted, metallic clunk.

Adrian could no longer take the suspense. He turned his head.

You... turned me into a welding torch. Adrian thought. Of all things. As he looked himself over, his musing continued. Clearly you’ve never seen a welding torch before.

“A threatening name, “Adrian” is not, but your new name, “Weldar”, is.” Mingella turned her back on him.

Not really. Weldar thought, but felt it may be better to hold his tongue for now. You’re quite lucky I haven’t figured out how to use this body, because I would love to roast you alive.

Weldar simply laid back down and watched out of one eye as the witch took off, soaring upon her broomstick out of the Repair Depot. Her final triumphant cackle made him cringe.

-

The first night was dreadful.

Weldar spent most of the time trying to find a position in which to sleep. Every time he managed to get comfortable, he would grow restless. Another new position. More restlessness. As a person, Adrian had always had a restless leg that wouldn’t ever be comfortable, but now, he wasn’t sure what to move. Near dawn, the foreman reached an epiphany: human behavior doesn’t work. He had to think differently.

Using his neck, he pushed himself upright. Immediately his nausea subsided. For the first time he could see just how much he towered over the room. It was unsettling. Weldar rested the coils of his neck between his regulators in an attempt to make himself smaller, closer to where he used to be. He nestled his head atop the pile of coils.

Clearly, he thought as he dozed off, I’m supposed to act like an acetylene torch now. The thought was so ridiculous, he couldn’t help but laugh.

[reekierevelator]

The Face of Tomorrow

Sitting, eyes red and head drooping, foot almost glued to the pedal, feeding the coarse material through the needle.  At last, she moved her foot away and let her head fall. Another piece finished.  Twenty shirts, all exactly the same, already today.

But before Ode could take a few moments to rest her arms and have a sip of water the foreman arrived to snatch away the finished shirt, saying ‘Atta girl, plenty more where that came from’, and pushed a sewing pattern down in front of her tired eyes. This was quickly followed by ‘Here you go then, next piece’ as he thrust a pile of cut-outs on to the heavily scratched beech wood of her small work desk.  The new pieces were in a dazzling shade of almost iridescent blue with a subtle pattern of thin black lines running through them. Ode sat up and stared, mesmerised. The foreman couldn’t understand it. ‘It’s the same shirt dear, just different material’ he explained slowly, as if Ode was some kind of simpleton.

Since leaving school Ode had spent long hours working in the dilapidated red brick building only the boss calls the Golden Garment Company factory.  Her fellow workers called it the workshop. Her old school friends called it the sweatshop. Long hours and poor pay, but ‘it’s a job’. And without qualifications Ode felt lucky to be employed at all.  She knew it was only because her mother had taught her the basic skills required – through making her sew and mend from a very young age, - that she’d got the job in the first place.  In her own family, new clothes were a rare and almost unheard of luxury. It had been that way since they had fled to escape the fighting, arriving in Britain from Nigeria when Ode was a small child.  

She had never owned the kind of on-trend fashionable clothes that she’d seen on some of the city’s girls. And she knew anyway that she was plain and unattractive. Fancy clothes wouldn’t hide that. People had never been backward in coming forward to tell her so.  

Once, she’d gone with her friend to try on expensive clothes in a posh shop – it was what they did, try them on, admire themselves in the mirrors, and then return the clothes to the rails.  Sometimes Ode took even longer as she examined the textiles, the way a particular fabric had been cut, sewn, pleated. It was much more valuable to examine the actual clothes, see exactly how they had been treated, cut on the bias or whatever, than to read about them in the odd fashion magazine that came her way. She could understand why her behaviour could irritate the woman in charge of the changing rooms and how she might get annoyed.  When Ode emerged wearing a floor length sequined gown the woman had carped ‘You don’t really fit the modelling mould, do you love? Not got the required features: not thin enough, not tall enough, and your legs are too short.’ It cut Ode to the bone, but still she couldn’t shake the obsession.

In fact she became quite acclimatised to cruel humiliation. ‘Your cheekbones are too low, nose is too big, your mouth is too wide, the shape and colour of your eyes is all wrong.’ In a way it made her more resilient. ‘You can’t squeeze into that dress my girl, even the bust’s not right.  In fact, your whole build is all wrong for those kinds of dresses. To be honest I can’t see even spending a fortune on make-up and cosmetics making much difference.’ Even when it left her almost in tears Ode found she could cope. That was just how her life was and since it was likely to stay that way she better get used to it.  

Somehow she just couldn’t help herself.  She inevitably found herself starting conversations with workmates, family, and sometimes even strangers at the bus stop by commenting on their clothes. She offered them her ideas on what might suit them better.  But what she considered sensible suggestions were often received as rudeness; unwarranted intrusions, impolite, offensive, insulting. On the odd occasions when she had ventured to make such suggestions to her friends they had either laughed out loud, asked what on earth she was thinking, or stared at her as if they thought he was going mad.  

But at least the meagre wages she was earning allowed her the very occasional luxury purchase. The unusual blue cloth triggered her desire.  At the end of the day she noticed the scrag end of a roll abandoned on the cutting room floor. She picked it up and approached the foreman.

‘Could I take this home with me?’ she asked

The foreman knew there was not enough material for another garment and that it would only be swept up and put in the refuse with the rest of the rubbish. He barked back ‘Of course not, it belongs to the company,’

‘I could pay for it,’ Ode answered timidly.

‘How much?’

‘I have six pounds saved,’ said Ode, rummaging in her pocket then stretching out her hand showing him the money.

The foreman cast his eyes furtively around the now empty room. ‘Sold’, he muttered, quickly grabbing the cash from Ode’s hand.

With the dress-making skills her mother had somewhat forcefully bequeathed to her Ode intended to cut the material into embellishments for her existing clothes.  But then she struck on the idea of unpicking the stitching of her own dress and using her own quirky ideas to remake it in a wholly new style, one she imagined would show off the blue material properly. The dress she created was highly unusual, a peculiar variation on the traditional dress of her ancestors, a new take on the sort of clothes her mother wore as if she still walked the Nigerian countryside every day. A matching gele, or headdress, completed the effect.

At first her best friend, Uma, impulsive and beautiful, with big eyes and an impish smile, was the only one she would allow to see her new ‘African’ dress. Then one day Uma said ‘Is real neat, yah. But what you gonna do wit it though – just sit at home wearin it, starin at youself in the mirror like you famous?  Shu, no girl like you ever gonna wear that kinda thing on the street.’

But maybe that was just the challenge Ode had been waiting for.  The very next Saturday she wore her highly original new dress while accompanying Uma to Harlesden market, shopping for yams, plantain, and cooking bananas.  She drew admiring glances from other girls, saying ‘Stunna, innit’ and ‘You got an ankara buba now Ode?’.  Even some of the boys approached her, passing comments like ‘That’s a wicked colour’, and ‘Cool dress’.  A white boy mentioned her ‘Impressive kaftan.’

Ode’s girlfriends were quick to convert to a full appreciation of the new style. They found themselves re-thinking the fashion advice Ode had tried to give them, which they’d previously rejected as ridiculously outlandish. It didn’t take long before they were asking her advice on materials, and arranging for Ode to run up clothes for them at home after they brought her the lengths of cloth they’d bought.

One Saturday afternoon Ode and Uma passed the unimposing little shopfront of a professional photographer.  They paused outside for a moment before Uma, on the spur of the moment, marched in, her friend trailing behind, and asked him to take photos of her. ‘For a fashion model portfolio?’ the photographer had joked, and Uma surprised herself when, the idea having been put in her head, she replied ‘Well yes.’ When she asked him for the names and addresses of modelling agencies her Ode’s laughter became uncontrollable. But still, he’d gamely suggested a few names while keeping his grin in check.

Uma collected the big glossy photos the next weekend and posted them off to New Vision Models, one of the names she’d remembered.  Surprisingly, the agency, under pressure to demonstrate greater ‘diversity’, invited her for an interview. But when Uma arrived to speak to Zelda it was quickly clear that she wasn’t really interested. Uma was glad she’d gone alone and that her friend wasn’t there to hear Zelda’s casual, acerbic comments on her height, weight, and the size of her feet.

Zelda’s phone rang.  It was an urgent request.  One of their clients had put together a mail order catalogue that had to go to print next day and they’d only just realized all the models they’d used were white. They couldn’t afford to be depicted as racially biased and they couldn’t afford to re-schedule the printing job.  In fact, business was so bad because of all the new online retailers that unless the catalogue brought in a lot of sales they knew the company was going to collapse anyway.  As a matter of fact they couldn’t even afford to pay the usual going rate for models but they desperately needed someone within the hour.

So for a minimal fee, from which Uma would earn only ‘experience’, the agency sent her to wear cheap clothes for some quickfire photographs which would be included in a mail order women’s clothes catalogue that would be printed in great haste on cheap paper. In their hurry a shot was taken of Uma wearing the dress in which she’d arrived, a dress designed and stitched together by Ode. The photo was included along with an arbitrary price the catalogue editor had made up on the spot.

Inevitably, the catalogue’s readers hated the clothes and bought very little.  But even while the company was folding, comments proliferated across the social media about one of the models, how she was so different to the usual mannequin-like catalogue clothes-horses and actually looked like a ‘normal lively girl’ for a change. As attention was directed towards Uma, more readers also commented that the only item of clothing in the catalogue that was worth buying was one that she modelled – a sort of esoteric take on traditional West African dress. Unusually, the dress was in bright pink rather than the usual primary colours and its pattern was picked out in subtle, swirling crimson and gold.  Surprisingly, the cut was for a casual dress style, a chiseled cut and only knee-length, with a rectangular neckline. Equally surprisingly, the dress was still somehow unmistakeably African.

While casually flicking through Instagram discussions a young man linked it to a message he sent to the husband of Phoebe, a young aspiring clothes designer. ‘People are saying there’s someone, something out there, that is “different” ‘.

When the husband brought it to her attention Phoebe investigated.  She checked Instagram. The nape of her neck prickled. She tracked down a copy of the printed catalogue.  She phoned the catalogue company, then the modelling agency, and then Uma herself. When she discovered who had made the catalogue’s one outstanding clothes item her sense of excitement went into overdrive. She ran out of her office in Jermyn Street and was soon on the Bakerloo Line heading north to Harlesden.  When she found the flat in the high-rise she confused Ode’s mother by asking to talk to the girl with the perfect eye.

The social media hubbub also reached Zelda.  She was quickly back in contact with Uma, offering her more work, and insisting the company could live up to its name of New Vision.

Ode handed in her notice at the sweatshop. The foreman told her to stay, warned her she’d regret leaving, since his own pay was linked to production and he knew how hard Ode worked. But Ode began working with Phoebe.  With Ode’s ideas and Phoebe’s business contacts it wasn’t long before they were selling vast numbers of new garments, not only throughout the UK but to the near two hundred million Nigerians and to other parts of West Africa.

Within a year Uma’s cheerful face was on billboards and the cover of Cosmopolitan. She was following in the footsteps of Iman and Naomi Campbell.

But Ode’s face, despite the cheekbones being too low, nose too big, mouth too wide, and shape and colour of the eyes all wrong, was the real face of tomorrow. It was already to be found on the inside pages of Business Today as well as StyleWatch, Glamour, and West Africa Now.  The world had moved on. The face of Britain was multicultural and not only was the West African market online, but the whole face of Africa was changing fast. Given the respect accorded a top class designer, business couldn’t be better.

[thebibliomancer]

50 More Days of Comics! 26/50: Alpha Flight #89 (1990)

This book’s marketing strategy: “HEY ANYONE LIKE THE ORIGINAL GUARDIAN? ANYONE? OKAY DAMMIT WE HAVE A WOLVERINE FOR YOU PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK! oh and Puck is back if that’s what you’re into…”

I know next to nothing about Alpha Flight.

I really should.

They’re the X-Spinoff that doesn’t put an X in the title. Someone on tvtropes was liveblogging it and I picked up a few unfortunate tidbits from that.

Recently Alpha Flight has gone from being my second favorite Canadian super-team to being Captain Marvel’s space team. Or Earth-orbit team. Since I happen to think, BENDIS, that a space team should be in space.

The bits of Alpha Flight I’ve read with them in this role I’ve liked. Although I can’t help but wonder if Carol just bought the team from Canada.

Anyway, I wish I knew more about the iteration of the team that’s in this book because it has the one-two whammy of being both continuity heavy and snapback heavy. Not only is current continuity a big thing, previous continuity is a big thing because its being returned to. Also part three of a four part story.

Which has several ongoing plot lines.

Eesh.

I know I say this a lot but this is what recap technology was designed for.

So in one plot line, Shaman, Talisman, Aurora, and Sasquatch are searching for their missing teammate Puck, who was taken by the self-titled Master of the World.

And, uh, they find him. He’s been given a kind of gross makeover with exposed veins and tentacle fingers. But they found him alright.

Sasquatch immediately suggests mercy killing Puck because I guess that’s what he jumps to but thanks to Aurora’s “cleansing burst of light” Talisman and Shaman are able to mystically touch his mind and discover what happened.

In a flurry of continuity, Puck was apparently a dwarf but then it was retconned that he was a dwarf because his body had a demon sealed inside it because of magic but he was injured by the Dream Queen but was healed through supernatural means but on Earth his body rejected the magic so he was dying but the Master of the World wanted to test the limits of the human form and also get revenge on Alpha Flight so he secretly had Puck injected with a genetic compound made of former Alpha Flight foe Scramble and a blood sample of Puck taken years ago when he was still a dwarf so the compound reshaped Puck into a dwarf again but did a bad job of it.

Phew!

Comics that are attempting to retcon things in always have too much information per panel.

Anyway, since Sasquatch used to be a biochemist he understood all of that and also poked around in the Master’s computers and discovered that the compound is still in Puck’s system. So with a little bit of reprogramming, Puck could be put back to normal but dwarf normal because that’s when the DNA sample was from, not whatever normal he had been recently. Sssssnapback!

Also, the strain of having his body restructured might kill him but Puck says to go for it.

So Puck is thrown into a science tube and Sasquatch lays down some technobabble that basically amounts to ‘hey y’all Puck will be a dwarf again and this will be permanent, swearsies.’

Just as the process is started, the Master of the World bursts in with his Remnant Men and scolds Alpha Flight for coming in without knocking, very rude, now gtfo and stop touching his things (explicitly including Puck in that).

Master (of the World): “I do not see this as a degradation then, but rather the contrary… I see this as a reaffirmation of my faith… Faith in pain.”

I know the Master (of the World) from two places: Carol Danvers shanking him during Kurt Busiek’s Avengers run and his run-in with the new Champions where he was rebuilding the melting glaciers by using human suffering. Or something. It’s a bit unclear.

Anyway, he’s a creepus and he’s sending his creeper army to attack the present Alpha Flighters.

But thankfully, just as they’re getting overwhelmed, Puck bursts healed, naked, and spread legged from the science tube with a convenient splash of censoring water.

Puck: “I’m back, eh? Now let’s make short work of this loser!!”

He gets to make short jokes.

Anyway, that’s the end of this plot thread in this issue but if Puck isn’t kicking the Master’s ass while bareassed in the next issue, comics as a medium have failed forever.

In the second plot thread, Vindicator and Wolverine are trying to track down someone named Wild Child who broke out of jail.

Wolverine manages to track Wild Child down to a run down Roxxon gas station bathroom and squats by the toilet to get some good whiffs (which most be horrible with his enhanced sense of smell) and determines that Gamma Flight was here with Wild Child.

Which presents a problem as Gamma Flight is a team and Wolverine and Vindicator are two people.

Vindicator: “Are we up against all of Gamma Flight?”

Wolverine: “Yup. Gotta give ‘em credit fer stickin’ together through this.”

Vindicator: “Credit? They were formed for all the wrong reasons and disbanded for all the right ones. Oh, what am I getting so upset for? I’m so tired – of everything… Why has this team become such a mess? Why am I doing all of this?”

But Wolverine believes in the him that believes in her, or something, and they continue on. At the very least, punching some people will be cathartic. Which I believe is at least 50% of how superheroes work.

Four hours later, they track Gamma Flight down to an abandoned factory. Wolverine immediately leaps into an ambush that he probably suspects is an ambush to force the issue and maybe as an application to the Teen Titans who never met a trap they didn’t waltz into.

Anyway, things get chaotic and incomprehensible for a bit, befitting an ambush. But Team Wolverine and Vindicator Is There Too handle the ambush with something resembling aplomb and when its over Gamma Flight lines up in a row so we can get a team shot and their leader Nemesis (who looks like a Lady Deadpool with a cape) monologues.

Nemesis: “Hello, Vindicator… Wolverine… What is it exactly that you’re looking for besides your own funeral? I hope it’s not Wild Child. I hope you don’t expect us to give him up after all the trouble we went through breaking him out of prison. Because if that’s the case then you’re going to have to answer to us. GAMMA FLIGHT – protects their own!”

Vindicator’s response? “I’m not going to disappoint you, Nemesis. We are here for Wildchild. And we’re going to get him… even if we have to roll over each and every one of you idiots to do it!”

Way to be outnumbered nearly two to one with also aplomb, Vindicator. But as appears to be the trend, if twice is a pattern which it probably is, we don’t get the fight this issue. That’s next issue’s deal.

There’s a loose page that roughly fits into this plot thread. Northstar and Persuasion (a daughter of Purple Man trying to be not a dick like him) are watching their friend Laura in the hospital. Laura was hurt badly by Wild Child which I guess explains why Vindicator is cruising to bruise him.

And Persuasion is sad because not only is her friend hurt but her stupid mind control powers couldn’t do anything to help her only friend.

And Laura is in bad condition. She’s lost a lot of blood and needs a new kidney.

But for arbitrary reasons, even though Laura is O-positive, because she’s a mutant she has weird blood and they need compatible family blood. But Laura sent her only known family, her sister Goblyn, to another dimension. For her own good.

JUST THEN, people claiming to be her parents walk in and ask if they’d be a suitable match. DUN DUN DUN! Dramaaaaaa!

And in tonight’s final plot thread, as the cover promised, the weird return of the original Guardian. His death was apparently one of the earliest big events of the book, happening in issue 12.

So why is he coming back after 77 issues and two in-universe years? God only knows but this is a hard snapback. And this is a hell of a retcon.

They played at bringing Guardian back before. For Reasons, in issues 25-28 per the editorial captions, a robot disguised itself as Guardian and claimed that the explosion that killed him had ripped a hole in time-space and threw Guardian through it. And that he was then saved by aliens and sent back to Earth and had to sleep for ten thousand years during the voyage.

Obviously, this was all a lie.

Samuel Higgins, Roxxon guy: “Ahem. Yes, well. A lie. Hmm. Ahem… well… that crazy story that the robot came up with? About Hudson getting thrust back in time and waking up on Jupiter’s moon – Ganymede – then sleeping cryogenically and getting sent on a spaceship back to Earth? That crazy, whacky, kooky story? Well… it was all true.”

I mean, that’s one way to do it. I wouldn’t personally but it is one way.

Once you start getting into “the lie was a lie!” territory you’ve convoluted a book up fierce. See also: Spider-Man’s Clone Sage 2: This Time Its 90s And Nobody Knows What They’re Doing.

Forge is on scene with Roxxon guy Windshear and Alpha Flighters Box and Diamond Lil and I think Forge puts it best.

Forge: “In this business, death has a habit of making a liar out of the truth.”

Anyway, the not-dead James Hudson aka Guardian is wired up underneath a Roxxon research facility and he’s putting out potent hacking waves that are causing the mechanisms of the facility to go haywire and attack people. And also causing Box to malfunction because he’s a guy in a suit who is a suit. Or something.

I’m not entirely sure. But he fuses with Forge so that Forge can override the hacking and reconfigure the Box suit to overcome Hudson’s various stratagems.

And with enough technobabble, it works! They close in on James Hudson’s cybernetic weirdly crucifix posed nearly naked body.

A lot of beefcake in this comic for people into that.

Box (Madison Jeffries) separates from Forge and attempts to monologue Hudson back to his senses.

Box: “Hudson – Jamie – it’s me – Madison Jeffries – you remember, right? You got me outta the V.A. hospital – told me what had happened in ‘Nam was cool – told me that sometimes things hit the fan and that’s the way it is. Well, I’m here t’tell you the same thing, Jamie.

“Mac – wake up, man! You’re messing things up bigtime here! C’mon – remember who you were – are – ‘member when you recruited me for Department H – I was only in Beta an’ you loved havin’ me hang around – cos’ we had one thing in common – we both loved machines… Guess we both took it sorta to extremes don’tchu think? Well, guess what? We have somethin’ else in common now… maybe we took that to extremes, too…

“Heather. Remember Heather? Yeah. I see your mental imaging. That’s how she looked when you first met her, eh? She looks so young, man… So innocent… beautiful… Uhm… I think I love her, too, now, Mac. She’s a special lady. She never gave up on yer dream when we though you’d died. She kept Alpha Flight goin’ – no matter how rough it got – all ‘cos o’ her faith and belief in your dream, Jamie – in you…”

And being reminded of his wife in short shorts and/or emotional appeal works because Hudson comes out from his stupor and tearfully and droolfully proclaims that he is alive!

Awww. I still don’t know who was clamoring for this character to be returned after so many issues but I’m a sucker for a big in-universe emotional appeal.

Still though. Trying to retcon the book back into shape is not a good environment to attract new readers.

But speaking of sexy Heather, she was drawn with nipple poking through her Vindicator costume in several panels so I’m going to side eye Michael Bair and Mike Manley super hard. It may be a spandex costume but there’s like twelve pounds of circuitry underneath, geez.

Though I guess they also gave the reader Puck lunging crotch first at the reader and Hudson hanging out in only his underwear. So an Attempt Was Made to be fair-handed, I guess?

[ravingwritinglunatic]

All Things Perfect

In theory, it sounds like the right choice, the best choice. When you lay it all out in a neat little line all pretty and polished the picture is quite brilliant. Everything and everybody in there place like boards on a privacy fence. So close nit you can't see the beast in the backyard. In theory, it sounded perfect and if you don't peak through the cracks it is.

 I don't know if I could picture a life before the war. A society based on how much you work or what family you were born into. A life where your next door neighbor had more or less than you based on where they clocked in and out. Where people suffered because they couldn't pay for medical when others were getting their noses replaced just because they wanted to. 

Its surprising they lasted as long as they did. Humans are greedy things. Greed is what lead them to their downfall. Two countries fighting over money, oil money. In 2019 the silent war between America and Iraq took a serious turn with the assassination of the prime minister in the name of Allah and oil. It sparked a divide between two sides, us and them, the world was devastated. It wasn't long after that when the bombs started falling. We lost more than three-fourths of the population in a feud over fossil fuel, something we don't even need anymore with the advance in alternative power sources. Idiots. 

By the end of 2020, the government transitioned from democracy to hierarchy when one man ended the divide and brought the remains of the human race to South America. He believed he could end the fight by putting everyone on a common ground. All humans as equals. Everyone would be placed in a work position that all would benefit from. In return, everyone would receive housing, food, and medical in voucher form. Nobody would have too much or too little with all funds split evenly in a monthly allowance for each person to spend as they wish. This new leader had everything figured out except one thing. Humans are greedy and no allowance would ever be enough.

They put me in a room with high ceilings and thick carpet. It stinks like fake flowers.  Too sweet. The air condition is nice though. It almost makes the pain in my wrists bearable. I could drift off but the heaviness of the chains and handcuffs keep me very awake and aware of the situation I've put myself in. Can't blame them. I'm a murderer. A record keeper enters through the door in front of me accompanied by two officers. She sits on the overstuffed couch across from me and smiles like she's excited to be here. Her cheery disposition is not contagious.

"don't be nervous dear," she says with a thick southern accent that matches her appearance "when a serious crime is committed we do a simple interview. Since you are a special case, being so young, the king is interested in seeing exactly how things went so wrong at an early age. So just start with your name, age, and basic information." she sets a recorder on the coffee table and nods to me "whenever you're ready sugar"

I open my mouth and nothing comes out so I close it and try again. I'm not ashamed of what I did. This is not a hard story to tell. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm just numb. 

"my name is Andy, Carmen Andy Winds, 16, from south central, I murdered four men and my father, I'm not sorry. To understand why I did the things I did you have to understand how I grew up. The oldest of three. Two younger sisters. My mother died 4 years ago in a factory fire so I've had to take up her roll in our home. My father was a good man, a strong man, our allowance was always used for the things we needed first then things we wanted. We had a good home life until my mother wasn't there anymore. Not long after she died things started going wrong. There was less food, less money. Things started going missing. We had strange men at our house in the middle of the night. My father got thinner, talked less, spent more time away. 

Three years ago my youngest sister fell ill, very ill, but our medical vouchers had disappeared. So she stayed sick. Waiting for the next month's vouchers but they never came. My father told us we never got them. When I went to file for missing vouchers he was angry, told me he would do it.  That's when I started to realize something was wrong. My sister was gone that next week. Dead from the common cold"

you could hear a pin drop in the stillness of the room. The record keeper was holding her breath. Its unheard of. Anybody dying from something treatable.

"Was this ever reported?" she asks as she lights a cigarette with shaking hands. The shock still settled on her face.

I smile and laugh lightly "A little late for that now don't cha think?" the authorities wouldn't have been fast enough to stop what was coming. 

"My baby sister is dead. She doesn't have to worry about what happens next" I move my hands so the metal of the cuffs don't bite as much and continue. "Two days after we buried our sister is when everything imploded in our perfect little home. I'm guessing my father had a deadline to meet with his provider, midnight maybe. A little after midnight four men came into our home and took Alex, my sister, the only family I had left. My father never tried to stop them. He helped them. The drugs made him nothing more than a walking corpse. He was already dead. Something in me broke as I watched them drag Alex's little body out of her bed and down the hallway. There was no fight left in her but I had plenty for both of us. I had used my last medical voucher last month to trade for a small handgun. I slipped out of bed and grabbed it from under my nightstand. I had a small fleeting thought that this was not a good idea. That I should walk away. But then I could hear her feet dragging on the tile. This is exactly what I wanted to do. I was done being silent. I was done being all things perfect. I walked down the hall, head high, no hiding, and shot a man point blank at the base of his skull. A man, a monster, an addict, our father. I then went on to shoot three of the four men in my living room. The last on the front lawn. I didn't feel a thing. I did what I had to and I'm not sorry. I murdered four men and my father. My sister is alive because I did."  I level my gaze at the record keeper who now has tears in her eyes.

She nods once, agreeing with me and what I've done.  "Thank you for your memory," she wipes her eyes.  "That'll do, dove."

 She turns the recorder off. Gathers her things and leaves the way she came in. I've heard many things since then. They've sentenced me to life on the island that used to be Hawaii. sort of a prison state for crazies. my sister writes once a month. she tells me the world is changing.  Crime rates are dropping. Drugs are disappearing. Kids are safer. Shes told me my actions caused the new world to look closer. To make things better. One of my guards told me that even the king cried over our tragic life story. He revised his allowance program to make things safer for the individual. hes named it The Winds Initiative.

 Things are changing and I had a hand in starting it. I'll gladly spend the rest of my life in chains if my sister is free and safe. It'll never be perfect but these new ways will be better. The king is a smart man but then again humans will always be creatures of greed. 

[g0dlovesuglyy]

It wasn’t all bad

there are times, not too often, that I miss my dad and everytime I find myself missing him, i am always faced with the decision of whether or not I should reaching out to him. I think its been 7 years since we last spoke, maybe even longer. I can’t even remember why I stopped talking to him, that’s not to say I didn’t have a reason, there were just so many things he had done at that point that I can’t remember what finally made me say enough. 

It wasn’t all bad, growing up I loved my dad. We were pretty close when I was younger, we watched the same movies and had the same sense of humor and listened to the same music. He gave me advise on school and boys and made me feel like he’d always protect me and be there for me. Not only as a child, but as a girl you should be able to rely on your dad. Your dad is supposed to be the one man you can count on, the one man you can trust 100%. As I got older, I saw more and more of the man he actually was and not the man I wished he’d be. 

Growing up I always heard stories of my dad and how he wasn’t a good man. My family from my mom’s side was always very vocal about what a piece of shit they thought he was. I heard stories about how he cheated on my mom time and time again, about how he was lazy and didn’t like to work to support his family, you name it I fucking heard it. I’m super pissed about it now, I mean thats not what a child should hear about their parent. It’s unacceptable and just by that you get an idea of how selfish my mom could be. She wanted me to see who he really was, despite what that might do to relationship. I still haven’t forgiven her for showing me that side of him. 

My dad was cool, he loved anime and watching Dragon Ball Z and Transformers and all kinds of other cartoons. We would share music with eachother, i would show him new music I had heard at school and he would show me some weird goofy song from the 80s. It was almost a game about who could make who laugh or who could impress who with their findings. We watched Will Farrel movies together and talked about tattoos and how we’d eventually get matching ones. My dad was cool... he understood me in a way my mom never did. 

Like i said, I’ve always heard about the type of man my dad was, but as a kid you never want to believe it. I had never seen my dad be a bad man so even though I heard stories, to me thats all they were. It was nothing that was confirmed for me. There were times when he would do something kind of shady with a lady from work or from our apartment complex, but there was always an explination or excuse and I always believed him. He wouldn’t lie to me...right? 

When my family moved to LA, i started to see a side of my dad I never thought existed. We were living in a house that was WAY out of our price range and we were struggling...bad! There were so many things he could be doing, like getting a second job or hustling a little bit harder on the side, something or anything to bring in extra income so we could afford food or bills or new clothes for school, but he never seemed phased by our situation. Yeah, things were really fucking tight but whatever, we would get through it, it was fine!... I got a job and started helping out, I bought a car, but i didn’t have a license so I couldn’t drive it, but whatever my dad or mom could use it. I started doing things that i shouldn’t have had to do and that made me resent him. I started talking back, I started pushing him to do more, but more never came. My mom started working at the same factory he was working at and I would go to their work place and hang out for a while because they had street vendors show up and sell fruit or tacos or whatever. During one of these visits a woman approached my mom and me and told us that my dad was fucking around on my mom with some girl there at the factory. This went on for like a week, i would be with my mom at her job before her shift started and some woman would come up and start talking about my piece of shit dad. I can’t even imagine how embarrassing that must have been for my mom, not only to be at work and have these rumors going around, but to have these rumors brought to you every fucking day in front of your kid?! some poeple have no fucking respect.  My resentment grew, I was pissed off all the time, but i still didn’t want to believe what i heard. For all i knew these were just rumors, i mean, i hadn’t seen anything, nothing was confirmed. 

my mom befrended a woman at work who seemed to have it rough. She was a single mother and “kept finding love in all the wrong places,” I don’t want to slut shame, but seeing as how this story ends with her running around with my father i’m going to call it like it is. She was fast and loose, she fucked around with several guys at work and then wondered why they never wanted anything serious wth her. I was never a fan of hers, but she was my moms friend so whatever. I’m not sure how my mom heard that her friend and my dad were talking, maybe she hadn’t heard at all and it was all intuition, i don’t know but my mom and i started spying on my dad. We would wait for him to fall asleep and then we’d go through his phone to see any phone calls or text messages, but we never found anything. This of course just proved that it was all rumors right? i mean we never found anything! One day, my dad told my mom her friend had called him, supposedly it was her moms birthday and she wanted to get her mom flowers but she didn’t want to leave her mom alone so she asked if my dad could do her a solid and buy some flowers and drop them off. She said he would pay him for this so he brought it up to my mom and said he was going to be going over that evening to drop off the flowers. IMMEDIATELY my mom was pissed and she gave me a look. I believed in him though, he was just going to drop off some flowers, no big deal, I said I would go with him, I wanted to practice driving anyway, two birds one stone. We had friends visiting from Mexico at that time and one of them said they would come too. So we all went and took my dad to drop off the flowers, she came out to pick them up and i watched her as she took the bouquet and talked to my dad for a few minutes. She held the bouquet in front of her face so I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she didn’t give him money, I saw that much. After my dad got in the car i asked about the money she was supposed to give him for the flowers and he said that she was going to pay him later. Even now I wonder if I had really been stupid enough and naive enough to literally drop off flowers to my dads lover. 

[yumenosakiacademy]

Moos In Bloom

Fandom: Achievement Hunter (Sky Factory AU) Pairing: minor Freewood (but it’s mostly small implications like gav n ry raising smth together in the future n ryan blushing twice so is it REALLY?) Characters: Gavin Free, Ryan Haywood, Michael Jones, Geoff Ramsey Rating: G Words: 2170 Summary: In which Gavin magically creates a moobloom with the power of botany and a good ol' Golden Delicious. A/N: howdy this is not only my first AH fic ever but also the first fic i've managed to complete in deadass years! anyway.. i thought it'd b nice for ryan n gav to hav a moobloom bc ry is the cow guy n gav is associated w the sun/gold so like!! bro hav u seen a moobloom... look it up on google they're from Minecraft Earth they look like cheese cows with flowers. AO3 link

"Geoff has like, thousands of magical chickens he creates! Surely I can create some sort of magical creature too. Like... a cat! Made of pure radiant light! Or— or a super chicken that generates ‘n stores solar power on its own! Like a solar panel, but it's a chicken! That'd be mental. Geoff'd like that a lot, wouldn't he?" Gavin looked up from the magical glowing flowers at his feet and excitedly looked over at Ryan, who was feeding Edgar and a few of the other cows that were gathered around him at the promise of food.

"I'm sure he would, but aren't chickens kind of his thing? I'd leave the chickens to him; they're kind of what he does." Ryan chuckled as Edgar seemed to moo in agreement and Gavin huffed.

"Well I'm sure he wouldn't mind it if it was an advance in bloody power. Surely he wouldn't be jealous of one little new chicken breed that wasn't his own." Ryan shrugged in response to the half-question and Gavin walked to look at the cows that seemed to be the focus of Ryan's attention.

Beside him, there was Edgar, a cow from Geoff's farm that Ryan had picked out himself and who wore a crown upon his bovine head, and a few other cows. There was one that seemed a bit younger than Edgar, who was white as opposed to Edgar's brown, and a small, white calf that seemed to be the child of the aforementioned white cow.

"Aw, this one's a small one, innit?" He leaned down to pet the fuzzy hide of the small calf as it looked up at him. "Just a little, wittle young'en! This one's the kid o' the one next to Edgar, yeah? They Edgar's kid too?" He looked up at Ryan as he stood up straight again after petting the calf.

"Not sure, to be honest. That’s a possibility, for sure, though. Geoff told me the white one's the mom a while back before going back to his chickens, so at least that much is known. He doesn't really care much about these cows but they seem to have taken a liking toward me, somehow. Actually, I'm surprised the mom let you touch her kid, honestly." Ryan gave an affectionate pat to the white cow as she flicked her tail.

"Hey!" Gavin glared at Ryan and leaned over to also pet the white cow, smiling when she didn't react violently to his action. "Maybe they can tell how close we are, Ry! And that's why they like me too."

Ryan hummed as if in thought to distract from the slight blush he got and pet the cow's head absentmindedly. "Probably not. It's most likely just your solar warmth."

Gavin suddenly looked down at the white calf that seemed to be ever closer to his legs and made a slight noise of realization. "Oh! Probably, yeah. But it could still be the other thing, Ryan! But golly, this little one seems t' like me a lot, huh? You want a treat, little one? Oh I bet you do!" He cooed like an excited mom to her baby and took a golden apple out of his silken bag as the baby took to munching on one of the nearby glowing yellow botany flowers. "Oi, Ryan. I've been noticin', but is it alright for 'em to eat these?"

"The flowers? I don't see why not. They're just flowers, and cows have a tendency to munch on those all the time."

"Yeah, but they're magic flowers. For Michael's botany 'n stuff. But they seem to be fine, so it's probably whatevs, yeah? Are ya enjoyin' the yummy flowers? Betchu are!" Gavin switched from his mildly concerned and confused tone to the cooing again, and Ryan would have rolled his eyes had it not been pretty cute as the calf gave a small moo back in response. "You want some dessert? I've got a golden apple with your name on it, little calfie!" He set the apple on a nearby chicken coop and took out his dark purple-black obsidian all-in-one tool, morphing it into a sword.

"Cutting it with a sword? Really? Gavin, you're gonna get hurt; I probably have a spare dagger or knife or something, just gimme a sec—"

"No no, I got this! Where's the fun in a normal knife anyway, Ry?"

Ryan looked on in concern as the young god tried to slice the apple to the best of his ability, only to nick his finger a second later n wince at the golden blood that dripped a bit onto the apple. He licked the small drips of blood off of his finger and gave a thumbs up to Ryan as Ryan's eyebrows furrowed a bit more and he heard Ryan mutter something along the lines of "idiot".

After a few more minutes, the apple was cut, albeit a bit shabbily, and Gavin extended a hand to the calf to give it one of the smaller, more smushed slices. The calf happily took it from his hand, gleefully munching on the golden fruit and  enjoying the sweet taste of something other than the dull grass or the odd glowing flowers. It gave a small moo in thanks and Gavin gave a giddy clap as he offered it another slice. Again, the calf snatched the slice from his hand and munched it down, to Gavin's delight, but as it was chewing away and before it could finish its second apple slice fully, it began to emit a strange glow, similar to Gavin's solar radiance.

"Uh." Ryan and Gavin stared down at the calf, who didn't seemed fazed as it swallowed its slice and looked up expectantly at Gavin for another.

"Ryan, were you wrong about those flowers after all? I saw it munching away at some of those yellow flowers a sec ago. Is it okay?" He looked down at the calf with a mix of concern and awe as he watched the calf continue to glow.

"But this one's alright...?" He pointed to the white cow next to him in confusion. "And so is Edgar, and lemme tell you, I saw him eat quite a few of those red ones before you came over."

"Hmm...” Gavin’s eyes lit up after he hummed in thought for a second. “Oh! Look, look, hey, the calf ‘n I match, Ry! Look, we both glow!" As he reached his arms out to gesture to himself, he knocked another slice off of the top of the chicken coop and the calf swiftly moved to the right to lean its head down and have another treat. As it bit into the slice again, the glowing intensified as some sort of magical vines seemed to rise up from the calf.

Gavin squeaked and he and Ryan backed up as they watched the calf. "Gav, what'd you DO?" His eyes flickered over to the fearful yet awed god, his voice incredulous.

"You think I bloody know?! I was just givin' the thing a snack!" His voice cracked as he tried to reach out a hand to the bright light and Ryan smacked his hand away. Lord knows that Gavin could either hurt himself or the calf.

The bright light caught the attention of nearby Geoff, who glared at them from where he was standing at some chicken pens a little ways away. "Y'all best not be doing any of your fucking magic in my farm! I told you guys to keep shit AWAY from the chickens, damn it!" He didn't move much to stop them, though, considering the magic was closer to the gate to the botany area than his chickens, and it wasn’t on such a big scale that he feared they were fucking with him and his beloved chickens.

In a flash of light, the air around them settled with a floral scent, stronger than before, and the tendrils of light shrank back down. In front of the gods stood the baby calf from before, but its hide a golden orange-ish yellow with patches of its former white color and bright, young sunflowers on its back, seeming freshly bloomed. Ryan and Gavin stared at the calf in silence for a second as it sniffed at the ground where the apple slice was, but the silence soon broke as Gavin squealed and leaned down to pick up the calf in his arms.

"Ohhh~! Ry!" He made a few high pitched noises as he swayed with the calf in his arms, ignoring its small moo at his radiating warmth, and held it out to Ryan. "It's so cute, Ryan! Look, Ry!"

"What... happened to it?" Ryan cautiously pet the calf's head, eyeing the flowers on its back. "Was it really the flowers? Maybe the golden ones are special or something."

"What're you guys fawnin' over?' They looked over to see Michael closing the door to the botany area and walking toward them with a cocked brow. "The fuck is that?"

"I fed a little calf some of a golden apple 'n it transformed into this! We think it might have somethin' t' do with the golden flowers it ate before the apple but! Innit so cute, Micoo?" Gavin cooed at the calf again as he looked over at Michael.

"'Golden flowers'? Oh, you mean some of the botany plants? I mean, it's possible. Flowers are used in botanical spells so if you combined it with something special like a golden apple then yeah, I guess it might be possible. Wack." He gave the calf a pat as the urging of Gavin's ecstatic, expecting look and scoffed as Gavin made another small squeal-like noise. "Oi, Geoff!" Gavin and the calf started at the sudden loud shout. "Wanna come see somethin' cool that got made on your farm? It's cute as fuck."

Geoff slowly set down the hiss-clucking gunpowder chicken he was holding down onto a pen and reluctantly made his way toward the slowly growing group of people on his farm. "What is it? Is it the source of all that magic glowing bullshit a second ago?" He froze when he saw the yellow calf in Gavin's arms and gasped. "Is that a yellow goddamn cow? Those exist?"

"Gav accidentally pulled some botany shit and made it. Cute as fuck, right?" Michael smirked at Geoff's adoring expression.

"Yeah, it's cute as dicks!" He made little baby voice noises at the cow as he lovingly pet its head and looked at the flowers on its back. "Can these things be bred? We might be able to use the flowers on its back for dye or decoration or something."

"Don't cut its flowers! Geoff, those are part of its body! Don't hurt our kid!" Gavin squawked and started to hover in panic, ready to fly away, thus startling the calf and making it flail.

"'Our'?" Ryan and Michael echoed each other, looking at Gavin and raising in eyebrow in question as Gavin steadied the calf in his arms and press it against his radiating chest.

"Yeah! Ry's kinda the cows' leader or caretaker or dad or whatever, 'n I made this thing what it is, so it's ours! Look, it's even bright yellow, just like the gold on my outfit and the sun! It's like a combo of Ryan 'n I." They watched as he raised the cow up into the air as the sun shone behind it, illuminating the calf's yellow hide in a warm sunny glow and looking like it was straight out of that one Lion King scene. "I shall name her... Daisy!" He lowered his arms as the calf squirmed and mooed in protest at being in the air and clumsily yet cautiously handed the calf to Ryan, who wasn't exactly prepared and scrabbled to hold the calf, letting it nestle in safety into his big arms and broad chest.

"Whoa, whoa, hang on. 'Daisy'? And since when did I agree to be this thing's dad?" He adjusted his arms and pet the calf once before setting it down, where it shakily walked toward its actual bovine mother and laid down between her and Edgar.

"Ryan, you're the cow guy! You were like its dad even before I came along 'n did my little botany whatchamacallit. 'N it looked so relaxed in your arms a second ago! Quite odd, though, considering you're the Dark God 'n all, innit?"

"Trust me, it liked you much more; well, until the whole 'lifting it up in the air' thing. It just felt relieved to be somewhere more secure."

"Well the bottom line is it's ours now, 'n we have to take take o' it. Isn't that right, miss Daisy?" He leaned down and let her nibble on another slice of apple that had fallen to the floor. As it nuzzled at Gavin's leg and Gavin drew Ryan in for a hug, Ryan sighed and flushed a bit. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"Soooo, can this thing's flowers be harvested, or not?"

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Reintroduction, Reconciliation and Rebirth

So apparently one of my followers asked me about the whole “Mary Grayson as a Talon” verse I’m working on: “What if Mary gave herself up to the Titans instead going on a revenge streak against the Court of Owls?” 

So then, I answered. 

@lightdusk, this is for you :-)  

Padding through the hallways on her bare feet and looking at the various photographs on their walls, Mary Elizabeth Lloyd Grayson was captivated by the people inside said photographs. Five teenagers, each different looking than the last all smiling and have the time of their lives whenever the camera went off for them. Among-st them where an African American with blue and silver cybernetics attached to him, a green skinned, fanged, pointed eared young man with a smile that can melt the heart of any rough roustabout, a deadpanning young girl having grey skin and an Indian style chakra gem on her forehead with a tiny smile next to the other two. Out of all five of these teens, however, none captured Mary’s attention as the golden/orange skinned red haired girl who was locking lips with her boyfriend…not just any boyfriend though. Said boyfriend with a domino mask covering his eyes and spiky black hair in a red vest and green tights, which was her son Richard, which was her Little Robin growing up and having friends outside of the circus, let alone an alien girlfriend like Starfire and having the time of his life in these photographs.

After examining the photos and their content, Mary continues walking through the halls of this ‘Titans Tower’ and wonders of now how did she arrive here under all places of her life…or rather her afterlife. That’s when the events leading to this moments hit her like a freight train in the middle of running through a dark tunnel in the Rocky Mountains. In other words, they hit her pretty hard. Mary remembers the deal she had made with the Owls and how her life will now be under their control instead of her then seven year old son’s, She remembers her ‘death’ falling from a great height to the sandy floor of the circus grounds below, most likely smashing various bones in her body and leaving a bloody mess for the coroners to clean up, all due to faulty trapeze wires the failed to hold her husband John and herself after the trademark ‘Flight of Death’.

Next came the electric pain that erupted all over her said, awakening her and allowing the electrum to do its job bringing life back into her lungs. Afterwards, the ‘indoctrination’ as the Owls slowly and painfully breaking her mind into submission for their control and to showcase her strength on all levels when faced with death causing conditions not limited to mental instability and various tortures. Then came the part the finally gave her some relief, the part in which she remembers who she was, why she was what they call a Talon in the first place, and how she not only escaped the Owls’ but made contact with The Titans, immediately surrendering to the authorities for multiple charges of first degree murder. On the day she was put into a police van with iron plated handcuffs, local villain Professor Chang tried robbing a Xenothium factory with the first Titans plus police stepping to clean it up in a snap. That was until the gunshots were heard and Chang contacted the rest outside the factory demanding he will go free from this stand off or all Titans will pay dearly. Mary, overhearing of her son and his friends in danger, immediately began slipping out of her cuffs and without boots, utility belt or her signature throwing knives and entered the factory without the police even noticing. About 7 minutes later, all five Titans immediately walked out of the factory with nothing more but a few scratches  while a barely dressed Mary walks out with Chang on her shoulder, thoroughly beaten to  a pulp, before Mary sets him down and extends her hands for the cuffs back.

In that one mission, Robin couldn’t help but ponder on an established fact made here: not only does the substantial amount of evidence point to his mother being alive again along with the fact she was under the mind control of an ancient conspiracy that most likely would’ve taken him hadn’t for his said mother making a deal with them but now even after all that brainwashing, torture at the hands of heartless bastards and years of assassination, she still loves him and the fact she didn’t even consider murdering Chang for threatening him no less proves that there does lie hope that Mary Grayson can be rehabilitated to society. Only thing is, she was not Mary Grayson as far as the police or general public know. Mary Grayson is long gone, being the victim of an ‘accident’ alongside her husband caused by mobsters due to a protection racket gone horribly wrong.  So with that fact, rehabilitating her into society will be…tricky at the least.

Robin was not the only one thinking of that however for his mother was thinking the same thing as well. Though for Mary, as her bare toes scuffled across the tile floor, she was contemplating  on not just the events in the last few days and the fact the Titans’ pledge for keeping an eye on her as ‘their prisoner’ but now on her own steps towards rehabilitating to society outside. What she needed was friends and connections never explored before since it’ll only be a matter of time before the Owls realize their prized Talon is missing from their ranks and start sending their agents after her.

CLANK.

“Aw man, Grass Stain!” Cyborg’s voice erupted across the halls from the Ops Room from which Mary can hear due to her hearing

“Dude, it wasn’t me! Even if it was, how the heck was I supposed to know that plate was slippery?”

“Well maybe if you hadn’t gone octopus like that out of the blue, maybe your hands could’ve had a better grip on it!”

“My hands so have a good grip, both tentacle and finger, I’ll have you know!”

“Yeah well not this time, now we got some porcelain on the ground that anybody can step on and that part of the floor in MY tower is ruined!”

“Yeah well maybe if you weren’t freaking out about Bumblebee coming over for just a simple dinner and not a dang date…!”

“Oh no, BB, You didn’t just say that you little..!”

By the time Cyborg and Beast Boy were preparing to tackle each other to the ground over the filthy state the kitchen was in, Mary by now finishes up cleaning the last plate that wasn’t broken and subtlety taps the two on the shoulders, causing the two to nearly fall over from shock, more so from Mary being right there as opposed to the fact now the kitchen was near spotless and the broken plate was safely removed from the spot it fell onto.

“Ahem, if I may be a bit a bug to you two, I helped out with the kitchen a bit and even started setting up the table for dinner tonight. Just thought I make sure you two have a big huge ‘super’ brawl here and potentially hurting yourselves” Mary says with a soft, motherly smile on her face with tweet of snarky sass in her speech.

Both Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at both her and each other with a sense of realization, they can be such idiots with trying to get their chores done, spending their time at each other’s hair instead of fixing the problem.

So after about half a minute of silence, Beast Boy speaks up,

“Eh, sorry man I lashed out like that.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Bros?” Beast Boy raises his hand making a fist for Cyborg to bump.

“Bros.” Cyborg says as he bumps in his own fist into Beast Boy’s.

Mary nods her head in assurance. These two clearly had a strong connection with each other and they clearly had done so much together over the years it was utterly admirable on all levels. These two remind Mary of her husband John and his friendship with their manager Mr. Haley, the way those sometimes can get into shenanigans with each other over the next performance or just hanging out with the rest of circus crew.

After settling that little shouting match, Mary proceeds onward to the rooftops of the Tower, hoping to get a good view of the city her son with his friends protected with dignity and prestige. Such a city it turned out to be though, the bright lights, the calm ocean breeze and the soft crashing of the waves below helped provide an atmosphere of calm and relaxation Mary hadn’t felt since her youthful days in which her family would take the annual road trip to the Black Sea coast in the Ukraine. It was days like that, walking through the beaches with her mother, her father, and eventually the man who became her husband that really speak dearly to Mary. Those were her family and now with that life long gone into the past, she now wonders not really if she can make a new life likes those memories but rather how she can.

Dangling her legs on the edge of the Tower’s rooftops and taking out a small mirror in her sweatpants’ pocket, she looks at the light grey skin color her body now takes in. In a way, this colors means to taunt her very existence as it not only screams ‘you’re technically an undead person not unlike zombies that your husband and his friends can enjoying watching on Halloween night, now you’re a woman who done unspeakable torture to little kids just because your ‘Masters’ didn’t like them talking crap about their cities.’ With that very long bit of depressing news in her mind, Mary spitefully closes her mirror.

“So, you’re enjoying the view out here?” Raven asks as she joins alongside Mary at her right side, her legs crossed and floating from the ground very slightly.

“I do very much” Mary replies before having a more downcast look on her face “but I know for a fact it’ll only be a matter of time before this city and all the people in it will suffer all because of me remember who I am.”

Raven peeks over to see Mary’s distress, “Mrs. Grayson, if anything does happen here, it won’t be your fault. Not now and not ever.”

“What makes you say something like that?” Mary asks with now a bit of questioning going into it. Raven always seems on the more interesting buts of the Titans Mary can see. Her usual gloomy and anti social behavior is as apparent as a tiger hunting for his own prey away from any sort of his own kind. Yet, for some reason, raven has had plenty of hope in her friends, always being around to provide them heavy support on their various missions and usually being the one to knock out an opponent of it wasn’t her son.

Raven pauses a brief ten seconds before gathering her thoughts and explaining herself, “Knowing all the terrible things my Father had me do shortly after my birthday and the prophecy surrounding it, I felt like I was going to hurt my friends, the only people who truly understood besides my own mother. I felt legitimately creepy instead of just different. For that month in my life, I was practically a monster.” She raises her head as the full moon begins shinning on the two “But your son, Robin and my best friend Star, they never gave up on me. Neither did Beast Boy or Cyborg. I would’ve had a fun bet if she were back to normal; Terra would’ve tried to help to. Why’s that? Because I’ve proven to them time and time again. I wasn’t a monster. I wasn’t even creepy or different to them. I was their friend and I choose what I did not for my…asshole of a father, but to protect my friends. They saved me with the entire universe and I’m forever grateful for what they gave me in light of all that.”

“What’ll that be?” Mary asks.

“A second chance to make it all up by my actions” Raven replies with a soft smile as she turns to Mary, who now see each other in clear view “I’m sure if the girl who brought about the End of the world itself can get a second at being a good person by Robin, whim I remind you by the way is your son, I’m sure he can let you get that chance too.”

A few hours later, Mary finds herself in bed within the ‘spare bedroom’ that was within the Tower’s newly built Special Lockdown Zone, meant for prisoners that can’t be transferred to high security just yet or most likely for allies that potentially lose control over their actions. She definitely fits into the latter category since by now the bulk of the Titans have seen her composure and motherly nature across the Tower since they took her in. As she was cracking her toes with her hands on bed, Mary had thought of Raven’s words that she was given during their conservation on the rooftop. The thought of her son giving second chances for anything isn’t all that new. When he was younger, the Grayson caught a rat trying to eat their cereal within the family trailer. Rather than calling for it being finished off by John, Richard wanted to instead release it back into the wild far away from human contact where it won’t be pest jus for surviving. So, John takes the captured rat out to the field and does so. The rat never came to the circus grounds ever again, mostly likely living a peaceful life out in the wild. This compassion was always present for Richard from what she can remember and it was showing right now with the way not only they kept her in the Tower under their watchful eye, but the fact her room was on almost exact replica of her old bedroom back at the circus, right down the placement of the Flying Graysons poster hanging over her pillows.

By now the Titans had gone off to bed and it was her turn to do so. With that, Mary shut off the lamp right on her dresser, lays down her head on the pillows and, not even bothering with the blankets provided for her, shuts her eyes.

Unfortunately, her mind was not so kind for her tonight.

As soon as her breathing evened out, Mary began whimpering. Soft whispers of ‘I didn’t mean to’ in Romani poured out of her mouth. Sweat starts pouring down as those whispers started getting slightly louder. Mary then begins tossing back and forth, grabbing tightly to her arms and scrunching her bare toes tightly on the blankets towards the end of the mattress. Finally, Mary starts biting into her pillow rather angrily yet sorrowfully as tears began rolling down her face intensely.

I didn’t mean to! I tried my best to save you! I’m sorry, Little Robin! I’m so sorry…The inner voice Mary cries with anguish and absolute pain at the sight she sees: mounts of bloody bones, organs and all impaled with knives, her knives. These children, their parents, innocent people and numerous others she can’t even fathom, all are gather at her bare feet and slowly getting bigger and bigger until they start losing stability…they start falling unto her…

“Mom?  Mom?!”

With those words spoken, Mary’s eyes snapped open and they dart across her room until settling on a certain black haired, blue eyed young man with said blue eyes looking in worry.

“R-(sob) Richard?”

“Y-Yeah, Mom it’s me. I saw you on the cameras having a nightmare. Are you okay?”

Not even bothering with an answer, Mary grabs her son and pulls him onto her chest while she buries her face onto his shoulder, sobbing her eyes out. Richard can do nothing else but wrap his own arms around his mother and gently rub her back in an effort to calm her.

‘Robin?” a soft female voice says as Robin looks up. On the door to this room was Starfire, dressed in her pink and purple PJs and fuzzy slippers for her own bare feet since said feet are volatile in their ticklishness to anything. Robin, clad in a blue T shirt with black sweatpants and nothing coating his own bare feet, nods in Star’s direction saying

“My Mom just had a nightmare; it’s not too bad but if you like…”

Before Robin can finish that sentence, Starfire goes up to the two Graysons and wraps her arms on Mary’s back, joining her boyfriend effort at calming down her Earth In law.

Eventually their efforts pay off as Mary’s sobs began to calm  and she’s finally able to look at her son and his alien friend with read veined albeit golden eyes.

“S-sorry for that, it was just…very bad and I might’ve overreacted without knowing about it” Mary says as she begins to get her composure slowly back, tuning to her son she says “Mama’s okay right now Little Robin, she can handle the rest of the night.” Mary finished with a tearful soft smile trying to reassure her son.

Richard, of course, doesn’t take this sort of attitude so easily. Rather than going, her allows himself being let go from Mary’s arms but still sits cross legged on her bed.

“Mom, whatever you went through was physically hurting you badly. If this is what you can go through when you’re trying to get some shut eye, you need to someone to talk to about it.”

“Agreed friend” Starfire chirps in “Though friendships and bonds outside of family are rare on my home world, it is quite common for mothers and their warrior children to discuss of night terrors that would’ve plagued them. Robin and I shall wish to aid you of this burden Madam Grayson.”

“Are you sure? Because I think I can take it...” Mary tries pitifully to counter with tears (both regular and bloody) still leaking.

Starfire couldn’t help but slightly giggle ‘Nonsense my friend.”  

The two had a firm but soft smirks on their faces that say ‘You can trust us; we’ve been literal Hell and Back’ and also remembering Raven’s words in which reassure that trust, Mary breathes out

“Alright then, it’ll quite a long story, probably enough that you two will fall asleep before I finish it all the way…” Mary says, not evening finishing before Starfire leaves the two with her slippers next to the bed.

“She’s just getting the spare futons we use whenever we crash in another’s room” Robin says with a toothy grin on his face.

Mary, probably for the first time in a while, chuckles at that statement “Well, lady friends typically tend to do that.”

“Mom?” Robin asks.

“Yes, Richard?”

“Was your dream about…all the stuff you did…while under their control?”

“Well…yes. It—it was horrible.”

“What did you see?”

“Mountains and piles of …bones…children, women, any kind…just their bones piled at my feet and getting bigger. I did all of that. All I wanted was to make sure you didn’t do any of it. But all those lives…I thought you were never going to forgive me for…”

Mary was cut off at that moment for Richard proceeds to wrap his arms around her to prevent another breakdown.

“I get what you’re feeling Mom. I’ve done one or two things I regret that were meant to protect my teacher and my friends. I honestly thought they won’t forgive me for it, but while it took quite a bit…they did, not the ‘took quite a bit’ for my teacher. You gave up everything for me and made I was found by the right hands but you don’t need to punish yourself for it. I’m happy that…I have a mom and two dads in my life. I don’t ever replace you or devalue you just because of what you did.”

“What are you saying, Little Robin?”

“You’re my mama. I forgive you even though we do this to you. Just want to let you know no matter how many bad things you did, you did it for me and I appreciate it, just like what you did for me…before the ‘accident’.”

“So...can you help me? Maybe get a new name or something when I go out soon?” Mary asks with a sad look of curiosity.

Richard look at her with a soft smile “Well yeah, mama. Sure the whole world’s heard of aliens, demonic abominations, super criminals and guys wearing red and blue strongman uniforms  flying around with an S on his chest, but I don’t necessarily think living undead circus acrobats is quite up there yet.”

Mary once again found herself chuckling at her son’s wisecracks

“Well, that’s definitely your father speaking right there.”

“Which dad are we talking about, the acrobat or the Bat?”

More chuckling between the two ensure just as Starfire reenters the rooms, on her shoulders being big pillows, blankets and futons ready for the two of them.

Shortly afterward, all three began settling down for the night, Starfire taking the futon on the floor while Robin, while tempted at first for the second, just straight out fell asleep on his mother’s side with his stuffed elephant Peanut in his arms. Mary looks at the two with much softness and happiness. These two were inseparable and  even if on different beds, they were sticking together  almost every night an everywhere they go, much like how John and her were before Richard’s birth.

So starting tomorrow, they would begin finding the Romani tribe the Lloyds descended from and Mary will become said tribe’s personal bodyguard under a new name. All that was needed was a new ID, a new name, basically all that legal mumbo jumbo that both Cyborg and this so called ‘Batman’ can work on. For now though, with her Little Robin in her arms and sleepiness once again taking a firm grip on her, Mary Lloyd Grayson begins shutting her eyes and slowing down her breathing…

…maybe Devin Grayson can work? Nah, too obvious….

Took me quite a while to finish it but I hope this satisfies your appetite for stories sadly neither of the Big Two are willing to take  instead going for either Bat-worship or ‘Buy our next event comic where heroes will lose or fight each other instead of the bad guys, now every two months.” 

Dedicated to @lightdusk, @nightglider124, @fireflyxrebel, @kryallaorchid and so many others. 

[isoscele]

Child’s Play Chapter 17

The Moves Like Dagger Badge

Knives can be useful tools, but are also important in a fight. Understanding how to use one is a staple of a Lumberjane's experience.

(ok so there are 3 chapters that i never ended up posting to tumblr but did end up posting to ao3. i would really recommend that you read chapters 14-16 before reading this. you can find them here

AO3  other chapters

warning for blood, death, and minor suicidal thoughts)

Mal drew a quivering line in the dirt. “I just- I don’t know.”

Molly squeezed her shoulders. “We trust you.”

“If we stay here-,” Mal started, then shook her head. “We should keep moving, right?”

April squinted from between sunlit chinks of hair, angled awkwardly across Jo’s torso. “We can’t run forever.”

A sharp pain in her scalp brought Jen back to reality. “Careful,” she said, one hand drifting up to protect her hair from Ripley’s fingers. She hadn’t seen a brush in ages and was beginning to question the sense in letting Ripley braid it.

“Sorry,” Ripley said. “Do you think the District One boy and the District Two girl are friends?”

“Probably not,” Jen said. “Their alliance isn’t like ours, remember.” Still, a nagging corner of her mind supplied an image of them laughing together, teenagers on top of the damn world. They’d gotten this far, but surely they knew that only one of them could go home.

“I vote we end it,” Jo said. “There are more of us than them, especially if one kills the other. Stay here, let them come for us, and be ready when they do.”

An uneasy silence settled over the group. There was certain finality to Jo’s words that none of them were quite ready for, acknowledgment that however this stupid game ended, it was going to end, and it was looking like it would end soon, with twenty-three cannons and money trading hands in the Capitol.

“So if we stay here . . .” Mal said, crouching down to draw a few trees in rough correlation to each other, “. . . and we position ourselves here, here, and here. . .”

“What if someone comes from this direction?” Jen asked. She crawled forward to place a twig on the ground, much to Ripley’s dismay.

“We can’t predict which way they’ll come from,” Jo said. Her eyes were closed and her forearms had dug into the dirt. “We need to be able to get them no matter what.”

Bored with Jen’s hair, Ripley scooted over to the bags, which lay mostly forgotten on Molly’s other side. She pulled the one marked with a bold 4 until it touched the corners of her knees and started to poke through it.

“I’ve seen them move, though,” April said. She shifted her weight, drawing a soft “oof” from Jo. “They’re both crazy fast. No way we could catch either of them without their spotting us first.”

“Guys!” Ripley interrupted, flinging herself into the middle of their semicircle. Dust curled up against her clothes like some sort of ignition. “Look!”

Curled tight in her hands were several knots of rope.

Slowly, April reached over and took one of them, running a finger over its length. “Huh,” she said.

“We could make a trap!” Ripley said. “With this and April’s amaaaazzzing netmaking skills!”

“I could actually . . .” April held the rope up to the sunlight and squinted. “That might work.”

Jen had a sudden, vivid image of the April in her dream, hanging loosely from a bloodstained rope. She shook her head. “Really?”

“I don’t see why not.” April twisted the rope around her hands until her veins popped. “I’m not sure what we could use it for, though.”

Molly laughed and nudged Mal with the tip of her foot. “I bet I know someone who is.”

Mal scratched the back of her neck, trying to hide her pink face. “We’d need to figure out a trigger.”

Something rose, bright and messy, in Jen’s throat. She’d never let herself believe they would make it this far, never let herself get her hopes up.

There were two more people in the Games, two more people with blood under their fingernails and an ocean of sponsors. They outnumbered her, and it would be done soon. One way or another, this long, exhausting charade would end tonight. It was a terrifying idea, but also relieving. No more playing the Capitol’s game.

Mal started to talk, outlining a sketchy plan in jolted flashes of inspiration. She rocked forward on her heels to draw diagrams in the dirt, letting Ripley trace the trees and smiling stick figures. Something insane and visceral was pulling itself together under them, and Jen was too proud to speak.

“What if she came in over here?” Jo said, poking one of the stick girls. “We’d need to change positions too quickly to pull it off.”

“Not necessarily,” Molly said. She squatted next to the drawings and traced a swooping arrow from a figure that was probably supposed to be April to a different tree. “If we had someone here instead, they could cover both spots.”

Mal pushed her fingers through her shaggy undercut. “That could work! Molly, you’re a genius.”

Molly blushed. “It’s a really good plan.”

“Just kiss already,” April stage-whispered to Jo, who giggled.

Dusk came in the way it always did, the sky tripping over itself. Eventually, Ripley scuffed over the illustrations, whispering a quiet goodbye to the stick figures and silence fell.

“Should we take our positions?” April said, voice so quiet it broke Jen’s heart.

She swallowed. She had to be the adult here, had to rub their shaking hands and give reassurances to their unspoken worries. It was undoubtedly the hardest thing she’d ever done when all she wanted to do was curl up in her mom’s lap and go to sleep.

“Yeah,” she said, hoping the catch of her voice wasn’t noticeable. “Yeah, I think- I think that would be best.”

“So this is it, then,” Jo said.

“This is it,” Jen repeated.

“We should do some kind of cheer,” Molly said. “Like- I don’t know.”

“My mama used to call me her little lumberjane,” Ripley said. “Like a girl lumberjack. That could be us.”

“Cutting down trees and bad guys,” Mal said in a low voice that sounded remarkably like her Caesar impression. If Jen heard the tears, she didn’t say anything.

“It’s settled,” April said with a sort of forced cheer that she shouldn’t have had to learn for years. “Everyone, put your hand in the center. We have to do it for good luck.”

Luck was one thing that nobody reaped for the Games had. Jen placed her hand atop the sweaty pile of limbs. “On my count,” she said. “One, two, three . . .”

“Lumberjanes!” they whisper-shouted, throwing their hands into the air. She was sure it looked silly, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. They needed this. They needed to be children, just this once, before that too was taken from them.

Jen traced the stark white whorls of the tree. She wanted something to do with her hands. She wanted the factory, the soothing rumble of machinery, of thousands of pieces fitting together perfectly. If a product came out malformed or broken, it was always easy to tell where it had gone wrong, and she yearned for that now, some small certainty.

Ripley and April were locked in a furious match of rock-paper-scissors. There was a decided swiftness of their motions, no looking back. Neither was smiling, which felt so wrong that it made Jen’s chest ache. What was wrong with people, trying to take smiles away? Which machine broke while making the Capitol, turning the people shrewd and twisted?

Something wasn’t working in her brain. They’d gone over their plan a hundred times, but it felt disjointed when she tried to call it up. This couldn’t be real, none of it could. In the real world, girls like her died in spades. In the real world, she never would have gotten here, to this tree and this clearing and this sickening anticipation, humid in the air around them.

Maybe when you died, there was some part of you that pretended to keep living, like a dream or the way you feel after you get off a train, like the world’s still rushing by and paying you no mind. Maybe there was a part of you that kept wandering around, kept trying to survive in motions rife with pity. Maybe the whole world was filled with ghosts who believed themselves to be immortal.

The cannon rang in her ears. It took several seconds for her to figure out what it meant.

Somewhere below her, Mal gasped, very quiet. Maybe the world around you eventually began to fall apart, little pieces breaking off and disappearing forever, so slow that you couldn’t remember exactly when things stopped making sense.

Someone was dead and someone else was coming. Their plans, their stick-figure diagrams paled in comparison to the actual moment.

“It’s okay,” Jen heard herself whisper. “Remember what we talked about.”

Ripley nodded, confident in herself if Jen was. She wanted to take all of them right now, wanted to climb down and lead them far, far away from the arena and all of its poison. She wanted to walk to the very edges of this place and hammer on the walls, scream until she was hoarse. She wanted to make noise until someone carried them away. She wanted to take them to District Four and build a raft so they could sail to a better place, one that appreciated kids as something other than a creative way to punish their parents.

She didn’t. She clutched the branches of her tree with sweaty, scraped hands and waited like she had all her life. If she made it out of here, she wouldn’t let anything come to her. She would meet it in the middle, fists raised.

A very long time seemed to pass, but the sky stayed the same. A cloud passed over the stars, and Jen squeezed her eyes shut. It was stupid and childish, but she didn’t want the stars to see whatever was about to happen. The beautiful Pleiades, impassive Orion. She needed them to stay pure.

Footsteps, quick and sharp. Jen could pick out the snap of each individual twig, but there was no reason for anyone to be quiet now, was there? Stealth was for hunters with challenging prey- game, she supposed. The very word made her want to peel her eyes out.

“You can’t hide!” someone shrieked. It was the girl, from District Two. Jen tried not to imagine the boy, a slash across his throat, eyes still wide with surprise. “I was born to be a Victor!”

It hurt to imagine her as a baby, still filled with hope for this desiccated world. No one was born to do this.

She was drawing nearer. If she looked up, just once, she would see Ripley’s eyes, wide as dinner plates, or Molly’s hair, silvery in the moonlight. If she looked up just once, it would all be over.

There was no God, only Panem. That was what you were told, from a very young age. God would not save your children, your crops, you. Only the Capitol had the power to save anyone.

No one was getting saved tonight.

The girl did not look up.

Pretty soon, she would be too far away for the plan to work. They had backup plans, too, but those were messier, harder, more chaotic. There were elements they couldn’t control.

Jen cupped her hands around her mouth and whistled, a few short notes that resembled a birdcall. The girl stopped and glanced upwards. She had time to lock eyes with Jen, eyes filled with more hatred then she had ever seen, and a dawning fear.

Jen couldn’t look away, even though her every cell screamed to. Where was Ripley, where was Mal, they should be moving by now, had they forgotten, were they stuck?

Ripley shrieked, animalistic and so powerful it gave Jen goosebumps. She turned and saw Ripley leave Mal’s arms, kicking off with enough force to push Mal backwards. She yelled something Jen couldn’t make sense of, a blurred mix of syllables and emphasis that sounded something like a war cry.

She watched as if in her living room in District Eight, curled into her sleeping mother and chewing her thumbnail. She watched as if she were just another citizen of Panem, anxious for the whole charade to end so she could get back to her life. Her last year, and then she would be safe.

She watched the way everyone else was as Ripley landed an off-center kick, clipping the girl’s shoulder and almost falling as she did, and Jen couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t breathe, why had she engineered this plan so she was so damn useless? Why was she allowing them to take her risks?

Jo grabbed Ripley under the arms and pulled her to safety, a messy tangle of limbs. Ripley still wasn’t smiling, her big eyes, and the blue in her hair almost gone. It was too much, all of it.

The cloud passed and the stars gazed down as the District Two girl stumbled backwards. Her lips quirked into the start of a victorious smile, believing it was all they had. She was still standing, and she was going to kill them.

Her foot caught the snare. Netting burst from all sides, like some flower curling around her and swallowing her whole.

There was a beat of heavy silence. The girl thrashed around, clawing at the rope and snarling, actually snarling. Blood dripped from her lip, an old injury, maybe from her fight with the boy. She painted the ground with her victories, her losses.

Jen eased herself down, clinging close to the trunk. All of this, and she still couldn’t climb a tree. Everything had gone very quiet suddenly, and very far away. Frogs were singing somewhere, how could they sing at a time like this? Even the girl in April’s well-constructed net felt surreal, just another hallucination. The arena did that to you, it built you things to keep the Capitol entertained.

She’d managed to extract a dagger from her pocket and was trying to saw through the rope. She would have to work hard to get there, and even so, there were hundreds of little squares. The knife would be dull before the net released her.

Jen wormed a few fingers in through the largest gap. The girl slashed wildly at her hand, splitting the skin over and over again. Somewhere, Ripley shouted her name, still so concerned. Didn’t she see? It was only blood, it was only ever blood. The Capitol needed blood, and Jen understood need.

She closed her shaking fingers around the handle and yanked it free. The girl was crying, salt and iron crusting together on her upper lip. Humans were made of carbon and nitrogen, cells and nerve and tissue. Panem never could appreciate a good miracle. It was such a stupid thing to forget.

“I was born to be a Victor,” the girl said again. “You don’t understand! I was a Career, I trained for years-,”

She did everything right. You weren’t supposed to die if you did everything right. Dimly, Jen registered the rustle of leaves and old branches as her girls joined her, facing their net and their trap and District Two’s deadly Career. Six and one, it was six and one and Jen felt sorry for her. Maybe if she’d had an alliance that wouldn’t turn on her, that didn’t have that hardwired suspicion, these Games would have turned out differently.

Someone had to kill her. Nothing would ever end if they left her in limbo, and it had to end.

“I’m sorry,” Jen croaked. She felt pitiful, the teenager who thought that friendship could solve everything. She tried not to think of her mom. It was late, maybe she was asleep. Maybe she wouldn’t have to watch her daughter do this.

She pressed the tip of the blade to the girl’s throat. Maybe all of Panem was asleep, and she could be alone in her shame.

The girl slowly touched the indentations just below her chin. Her fingers weren’t trembling. “Across the trachea,” she said. “Right here.”

Jen swallowed, acutely aware of her own neck. “I don’t- I didn’t want to-,”

“I know,” the girl said. “Please, just- make it fast.”

“I’ll try,” Jen said. She couldn’t cry, couldn’t blur her vision. She didn’t want it to be painful, but the knife was awfully small.

Later, she wouldn’t remember very much of what followed.

It was painful, and it wasn’t fast. Her hand slipped, the knife shook, and the blood kept coming. She wanted to cover her girls’ eyes, their ears. She wanted to hold them and rock them, gentle and soft. She wanted to tell them that it was okay.

The District Two girl was mostly quiet, only screaming or grunting a few times. Jen hated it. She should’ve been shouting, fighting, trying to knock the knife out of Jen’s hand.

The most awful part was that she didn’t hear the cannon right away, so she kept sawing. It was dark, and she couldn’t see the sputtering rise and fall of the girl’s chest, nor its absence.

A face lit up the sky and Jen tried not to look at it. The boy was grinning in his picture, cocky and confident. The girl wasn’t.

She dropped the knife and turned, bleak and anxious, towards her girls. They were standing in a protective half-circle, watching her.

Several terrible seconds passed in which nobody said anything. How could Jen ever have pretended to be protecting them? She was a curse on them, a weight on their shoulders. She couldn’t contribute to their plans, couldn’t shelter them from the arena.

She didn’t realize she was crying until the force of the tears made her sit down, crouched in the dirt. She scratched at her eyelids, her cheeks, everything that made up the murderer that she was. She gasped and sobbed, trying to cover her face from her girls. They were so young, but so was she, really. So were they all.

She recognized Ripley’s skinny frame and warm arms without opening her eyes. Ripley, tiny hopeful Ripley. Her fastball.

“We love you, Jen!” Ripley shouted, very close to Jen’s ear. “We love you!”

The others joined in, squeezing her neck and waist. Ten hands on her shoulders, ten arms pressed tight. Five hearts beating in tandem with hers, and five voices shouting affirmations until the air was thick with their love for her.

“I love you,” she said, unable to articulate quite how much. “I love all of you, I- I can’t-,”

“It’s okay,” Molly said, quiet because that was how Molly was sometimes. “It’s okay.” Understanding passed between them, the understanding of killers who loved with all their hearts.

The faces in the sky disappeared. A helicopter dipped down, giant and monstrous, reaching its cold arms to pick up the net and the mangled girl within. Jen watched her go, sorry and sad and filled with too much emotion for one person.

Ripley fell asleep and Jen picked her up. They walked until they found a place with no blood, no sweat or tears, clean of the pain of the arena.

“Someone should keep watch,” Jen mumbled. “I- it’s not over yet.”

“It’s over when we say it’s over,” April said and Jen wanted to cry again. Her girls, her beautiful, brave, strong girls. It was over when they said it was over. For once, the Capitol was at their mercy, not the other way around.

They slept in a pile, and Jen listened for their breaths in the sweet, still night. There was still so much that could kill them, but they wouldn’t die alone.

That was all she could ask for, really.