#i do NOT have time to replay this another 5 times in succession to get all the other Info alas so. here we are

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nothingkillsyoulikeyourmind105 · 1 year ago

Text

“The One That Got Away”

Master List

TW-Angsty

König x Fem! reader.

König please it wasn’t like that?”

“Then what then what was it!?”

“We were just talking and all he did was help me bandage up my leg that was all”

“He’s in love with someone else? He was asking for dating advice? That’s all I swear. Please my bear ask him that?

“(Y/N) I can’t do this with you, and don’t call me bear?”

“Don’t do this to me, don’t leave me?”

“I can’t marry you? You showed me that you’re not trust worthy and behind my back too.”

“König please don’t do this to us to me? What are you talking about König?

“Please tell me what did I do wrong?”

“I’m done, I’ll pick up my things in a few days.”

“König no no no don’t go. What did I do?!” “Tell me what did I do and I’ll fix it please?!”

(Y/N) pleaded with her lover to make him stay. König saw his lover flirting with another man to make it worst it was one of the guys from the task force. She tried to plead with him and show him it wasn’t like he expected. The rumors that brewed at the base were saying (y/n) was messing around with Soap.

König was easily swayed with them rumors. He never confronted her about them. She didn’t know about the rumors. All she was doing was giving Soap advice on how to approach his crush without sounding like a Buffoon.

That day Soap help bandage up her leg. He shared his news with her that he got a second date coming his way and that he need advice on what to wear and where to go.

(Y/N) became depressed for the next few months. She felt hopeless but she waited for him to come back. She held out hope that he would return and they would talk out what happened. And fix the miscommunication between them.

She waited.

3 Years and 6 Months, 5 Days Later.

The never ending nightmare replayed in his head. That was 3 years ago when König broke his first love heart. His sweet maus. He paid the price for leaving her.

The day he left was the worst mistake he made in his life. The way she looked at him when he gathered all of things up and walked out of her life for good.

The way she fell to the ground crying. She screamed as he walked away from her.

A few nights ago Soap ran into König at the bar. The TF had a successful mission and they saw him there drinking. Soap explained to him what had happened 2 years ago. Explaining to him that (y/n) was the reason Soap was happily married and with a child on the way.

*König made the biggest mistake in his life*

The string of broken one night stands hurt the most he found no comfort in the women he brought back to his hotel or apartment.

They all had meaningless sex with him and left. He never felt so empty in his life. He had to find her and make things right.

He returned back to the base where she was stationed at and he searched for her. He never should have let her go.

He had to find a way to get in contact with Captain Price the man in charge of The 141 TF.

“Captain Price I know I have no right to ask you this but have you by any chance know where (y/n) is at?”

“König you might want to sit down?”

Captain Price gestured for him to take a seat.

“(Y/N) she’s still with us but she’s currently in engaged.”

*This is her wedding invitation. Price set down a invitation. The style of paper and layout of everything was what she wanted. König picked it up and saw her name and another mans name on it with hers.*

“She was hurt when you left us. She stopped talking for 6 months and she was put out on leave after her accident. We all thought she finally cracked. She lost a lot of weight and all the guys were worried about her especially Soap and Ghost. They were all worried she wouldn’t make it when she collapsed on the field. She was shot 4 times and stabbed twice before she collapsed. She would go into the field and take her anger out on the enemy.”

“Ghost was angry about what you did to her. He told us if he saw you again he’s gonna kill you. Just a heads up mate. But you shouldn’t be here anymore.”

“Her wedding is in a few days”

“Leave her be she’s happy now and she’s expecting as well”

“She’s retiring for good this time”

König walked out of the base shocked. The plans they made were set in motion but he wasn’t apart of it. The news about her being pregnant with another man’s child made his heart break. He wanted children but with her. Only her.

*The Day Of The Wedding*

“(Y/N) you look beautiful my dear.”

“Thank you my love.”

(Y/N) look down to her small baby bump. She cradle her bump with her fiancé Clifton. I’m so scared I’m due anytime from now. The excitement showed on her face. I’m so nervous too. Her fiancé cradled her belly cooing to their child. She noticed someone across the street watching them. They looked familiar in a odd way but she ignored it.

König took his sniper hood off and wanted to see (y/n) for himself. There she stood she glowed. Her pregnancy was a thing of beauty. He was supposed to be the one to create a baby with her not him. They had plans to start a family. All he could do was stand on the outside and watch.

(Y/N) made their way back to their rental home and started to get ready for the evening. She had help from her family and friends getting dressed. She stood in front of the mirror in her wedding dress. Her mom helped put her veil on. Her make up was done by her sisters and her brother did her hair.

Finishing touches gonna be done an hour before the ceremony starts.

“(y/n)”

“König?”

“You look beautiful. You’re pregnant too.”

“Yeah, what are you doing here. How did you get in?”

She didn’t want to look at him. She turned away.

“I know I messed up and I let you go and I made the biggest mistakes. Can you hear me out please?”

She slams her hand down on her vanity.

“No, you don’t get to explain yourself to me. You walked away from me when I needed you most. You thought I lied to you and thought I was cheating. I waited for you and you didn’t let me talk that day. You have no idea what you did to me. You broke my heart and walked away from me.”

“Get out you’re gonna me cry and mess up my make up.”

“Why are you even here it took me 2 years to get passed what you did to me. I stopped eating and I prayed for death because you walked away from me. I asked about you everyday the first year. Everyone tried to convince to let you go. I couldn’t I held out hope for you that you would come back. Well guess what I moved on and met my fiancé Clifton.”

König stood before her. He didn’t know what to say to her. She spoke the truth. He caused her pain and didn’t think twice how much it was gonna hurt her.

“You look beautiful I know I have no right to tell you who you should love but I just want forgiveness. I know I’m too late to make you change your mind about us. Just know I will always love and if you need anything I’ll always be here.”

“I forgive you”

She didn’t want to look at him. He caused her so much pain. Tears rushed down her face. She couldn’t wipe them away. She waited till he left. She exhaled loudly with the breath she held in.

She didn’t want to see him but he was there begging for forgiveness.

König watched at a distance he saw (y/n)’s mom and dad give her away to her fiancé Clifton. She never looked more beautiful then she did today. Her pregnancy glow, her bump and the dress all made her look like a angel that fell from heaven.

He watched her kiss her husband. He couldn’t hold back his tears. She isn’t mine anymore.

König could stay around anymore. He pulled back his hood on and left. Walking to the nearest bar to drink his sorrows away and live in a memory where (y/n) was his girl. And no one could take her from him.

“She’s the one that got away”

2 Years Later

“Clifton honey”

“Yeah baby what’s-?”

“I’m pregnant!”

König stood outside (y/n) house. He spent his days watching over her. He stayed his days working with Kortac but his free time he watched over his past lover. Unable to move on he made it his mission to watch over her and her daughter.

“My girls”

“I love you and I’ll never let you go.”

a/n credit to the artist for the gif. Name is label beneath the gif. The picture for this one. The artist I cannot locate but credits to them. I will keep searching for them.

#konig fanfiction #konig x reader #konig mw2 #konig headcanons #colonel konig #konig cod #konig angsty #konig imagine #konig #konig x y/n #konig hcs #konig sad #konig modern warfare #konig fanfic

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eclipsingmoons · 4 months ago

Text

Hi there, this is my first post on this channel. It's a small comfort fiction about Overhaul I decided to write since there's truly not enough around. Excuse or correct some weird wording, I got all inspiration and motivation around midnight and wrote this for an hour.

I decided to make it a songfic using Invincible by Tool. I love (their) music and had to think of the character when listening to the song. I'll probably write some more in the future if I'm feeling up to it ^^

Feel free to leave comments, feedback and ideas in the comments or send it to me directly. I'd love to improve my writing :3

You can start reading here, I cropped it with the banner a little to make it look more organized. Much fun

Invincible

Long in tooth and soul

Longing for another win

Lurch into the fray

Weapon out and belly in

Visions haunted him again. Memories of a time not long past. He was running with Chronos- no, Hari and Eri in these ever changing, never ending hallways. The sound of battle, clashing blades and flowing fists rang in his ears. Never had he anticipated something like this to happen. Still, he tried his best to keep a calm mind and was rather successful surrounding that. After all, this was a scenario he had a plan for. A foolproof plan. Like any of his, of course. He won't go down without a fight, hells, he won't go down at all. Pathetic.

Warrior

Strugglin'

To remain

Consequential

Then, a lot happened at once. In one second, he was fighting that green kid, then Eri was away, in the arms of the kid with that Permeation Quirk. Was that even a kid anymore? His memories played tricks on him. Next thing that he sees is a white ceiling, the surrounding soundscape tells him he's in a car. Vision still blurry, he can only guess that there's heroes or doctors above his body. Why won't it move?

Bellow out loud

Bold and proud

Of where I've been

But here I am

The memory of Shigaraki replays. Slowly, his arm crumbles into dust. His mouth opens but there's no sound at all.

Beating chest and drums

Beating tired bones again

Age-old battle, mine

Weapon out and belly in

"Hey! Hey, wake up. Hello?" Right. It was all a dream. The kind that haunts you at night instead of processing the day. "You screamed, had a nightmare again? I'll get some water, wait here for a second"

Tales told of battles won

Of things we've done

Caligula would grin

He was breathing heavily, chest heaving and sinking in irregular patterns, his dry mouth trying desperate to catch some air to fill his lungs with. Beads of sweat were running down his back, his things, his forehead, his forearms. His....forearms.... Right. Even his own mind, his unconscious has to remind him of how far he's fallen.

Beating tired bones

Tripping through remember when

Once invincible

Now the armor's wearing thin

Heavy shield down

"I've got the water." You held still for a moment, staring at him. "You're hyperventilating again. Calm down please, let's do the breathing exercise again with me. You're safe now, it's okay." You put the glass down onto your nightstand.

"Breathe in."

"Hold 3 seconds."

"Breathe out."

"Breathe in."

"Hold 5 seconds."

"Breathe out."

"Breathe in."

"Hold it."

"And breathe out. Good job."

He did as told and after the final breath, he let his head fall back against the headboard.

Warrior

Strugglin'

To remain

Relevant

"It's okay now. Whatever it was, its over. It might come back some other time, but you made it through. Was it that day again?"

He slowly nodded. It hasn't been the first time that that particular nightmare, those particular memories made sleeping impossible. Those particular memories that remind him every time of his uselessness, his stupidity, his arrogance and loss.

Warrior

Strugglin'

To remain

Consequential

Was he really that blind? He should have seen it coming sooner. Should have paid more attention. Should have listened to his Father. Should have dealed with Eri differently. Should hav-

"You with me? Hello, Earth to Kai." You snapped with your fingers in front of his face to get the attention back on you. "Lost in thought again?" You knew the answer.

Cry aloud, bold and proud

O' where I've been

But here I am

Where I end

A first tear left one golden eye. A second followed. Without a single sound, as quiet as a grave, he started to cry. They made their path over his cheeks, down to his chin, over the small stubbles, down to the blanket.

Warrior

Strugglin'

To remain

Relevant

Only the rustling of the blankets and pillows was audible as you guided the man down to your lap, wrapped in your own blanket. Softly, his head rested on the sheets, eyes still staring into the void, never letting the flow of tears die out.

Warrior

Strugglin'

To remain

Consequential

Your hand moved slowly through the man's soft strands of hair, carefully scratching his scalp. In the past, this helped to soothe him a little. As soon as your fingertips met the skin of his scalp, his eyes relaxed and looked at your face. As if checking, that it's really you.

Tears in my eyes, chasing Ponce de Leon's phantom soul

Filled with hope, I can taste mythical fountains

False hope, perhaps

But the truth never got in my way

Before now, feel the sting, feeling time bearing down

It felt pathetic and nice at the same time. Never before was he treated like this. Noone dared to, else their existence would find a quick end. With you, it was different. Mostly, because he depended on you at first. Every action counted on your mercy and empathy for him, from eating to showering. It was as if a huge toddler lived with you. A huge toddler that committed countless atrocities. A huge toddler whose mind is in utter shambles. A huge toddler you...felt sorry for.

Tears in my eyes chasing Ponce de Leon's phantom soul

Filled with hope, I can taste mythical fountains

False hope, perhaps

But the truth never got in my way

Before now, feel the sting, feeling time bearing down

Why, for what possible reason, would you want to help him. Want to take care of him. That's what freaked him most at first. You weren't afraid of him, nor did you respect him like he was used to be respected. You saw neither a monster, nor a psychopath in him. Tartarus made him used to feel like an object. A mere nuisance. An existence, that isn't worth anyone's time or resources.

For the maybe second time in his life, he was seen as a person. Not as his villain alias or any other glorified title. Just as the man he was.

False hope perhaps

But the truth never got in my way

Before now, feel the sting, feeling time bearing down

Bearing down

"Thank you."

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

[Thank you for reading :3]

#overhaul #chisaki kai #kai chisaki #gender neutral reader #comfort #my first fic #bnha #bnha fanfiction #overhaul x reader #platonic #probably #invincible #tool band

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bahamutgames · 5 months ago

Text

Random Video Game Themed Question Prompts - Part 4

Alright let's just clear out my drafts already. Here's the last video game question prompt, coming in hot! As this is part 4, you can expect there to be a LOT of repeats from the other parts. I encourage you all to try this cause it's fun to talk about video games!!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

1 - Video Game Crush

Haha... Well... Yknow... Not that I have a LOT or anything. But currently, I've been REALLY into Princess Peach. And TTYD Remake reminded me how much I kind of want to be Goombella's little pet and-

Sorry what?

((for guy crushes, Sol Badguy is absolutely up there.))

2 - Game you're currently playing

I actually just started replaying Super Mario Galaxy 2 today! I haven't played this game in, maybe over a decade now it wouldn't surprise me. Just because I didn't have my copy for a while, but it's back now and I'm VERY overdue on a replay!

3 - Favorite Character

I feel like lately I've been losing some steam on this guy... But fuck it dude his new game looks so god damn cool, and with Mario RPG stocks being WAY up... Maybe it's okay to be hopeful for this dude again...

IT'S SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG AND ALL OF TEAM DARK I LOVE THOSE GUYS SO MUUUUUCH!!

4 - Game you started but didn't finish

There's been a few. Ones that stick out to me are Breath of Fire, Wild Arms, and Golden Sun. Which I wanted to get into but I just thought they were kinda boring (though I'm itching to give them another shot!!! Uh oh!!!!!)

Most recently I actually had to shelf Sushi Striker, which I really liked and got to the halfway point, but I just had to drop it cause it's a little too random feeling and I just wasn't enjoying it. Maybe I'll go back to it eventually, though.

5 - Best Soundtrack

To me, probably my favorite video game OST of all time probably has to go to Blue Dragon. Seriously, I know a lot of people only know it for Eternity (WHICH IS A FUCKING BANGER I WON'T HEAR IT) but the whole OST is really good. Waterside, The Seal is Broken, just to name some of the heavy hitters. But the whole OST is golden. It's the only OST I've been able to listen to the WHOLE thing on repeat. Sure, some games I can repeat some songs back to back. But the WHOLE OST!? Only Blue Dragon, baby!!!

6 - Favorite Villain

Mentioned this in Part 3, but I think right now I'd have to give it to Fawful! Best handled Mario Villain, great fights, super successful plan, good battle themes, one of my favorite final bosses ever? What's not to love?

Here's a bonus I didn't mention though, Lavos from Chrono Trigger. That thing is super interesting and the concept of "the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs is actually a fucked up evil alien still stuck inside the planet" has influenced an upsetting amount of my OC universes.

7 - Your first game ever played

Super Mario World! Or at the very least it's the one I have the earliest memories of playing. Specifically in a forest world! If I had to guess, Yoshi's Island, but for some reason I feel like it was Forest of Illusion lol. Hopefully my brother didn't do me like that though. Fun fact though, Animal Crossing is one of my earliest games ever and it taught me how to read! My mom didn't want to read all the dialogue for me so she told me to learn how to read it myself. Now look at me! I read so good! For sure!

8 - Favorite Genre

Once again, Turnbased RPGs are where it's at!!!! But if you don't know here's some of my other favorites as bonuses:

Platformers (3D especially)

Fighting Games (2D especially)

Shmups + On Rails

9 - A game everyone should play

In the last part I already said Tales of Vesperia. So I'll try to pick a different one... And honestly? Maybe Final Fantasy 9, I think it similarly has a really important message. And while it's maybe not a super crucial message about the world on the whole, it's a good message about life and death and living. Plus, I just fucking love that game.

10 - Favorite sidekick, pet, or companion

GOOD QUESTION!! There's a lot of fantastic companions throughout gaming. But lately there's one in specific I am ALWAYS obsessed with: Daxter. I LOVE Jak & Daxter and how they're best friends. And like, Daxter isn't jealous of Jak and how cool he is and how everyone loves him. They poke fun at eachother but there's never a tried moment where Daxter is like "OH Jak hogs all the glory" or anything boring like that. THEY'RE BROTHERS!! They love each other!! Daxter is annoying and showboating but he's Jak's best friend no matter what and he has his own hot GF and he stays in his lane and ALWAYS is there to help Jak. I just love him. Jak and Daxter are my good boys.

11 - Most annoying character

I feel like I should have an answer for this. In a previous part I mentioned Filbo from Bugsnax. But even still I really can't think of many who TRULY grate on my nerves. Maybe I'm just good at pushing them out of my mind. NO ONE THAT JUST CAME TO MY HEAD JUST NOW: GILGAMESH IN CHOCOBO GP!!! HE CONSTANTLY SHOWS UP AND THEY DO THE SAME "WHO ARE YOU?" JOKE EVERY TIME AND IT'S SO LONG AND SO UNFUNNY AAAAAAA

12 - A game you plan to play

THERE'S A LOT!!! A game I've been planning on playing for a while now but just haven't gotten to due to schedules and plans changing is Legend of Kay on PS2! Looks like a hidden gem I never see anyone talk about, but I think I'd really dig it.

13 - Current or recent game themed wallpaper

I'm still using that Shadow the Hedgehog one on PC. But on my phone I'm currently using art of Mewtwo for my lockscreen, and FF9 art of the whole cast in a big festival that scrolls along all the pages on my homescreen! I'd show you but I'm too lazy to get the screenshots + it's fanart I dont wanna repost :)

14 - Saddest game scene

Oof, just one? Well since I just finished playing the remake, so it's fresh in my head, I'll go ahead and throw the TEC-XX death scene on here. I LITERALLY know he survives but just "Peach... I love you..." right before he explodes... UGH... It's too much. And the remake adding the little Tec theme remix while you slowly walk away is too much, they had no right to do that shit to me. I love TEC a bunch and I didn't realize this time around that he mentions that he understands anger, but not love. That's so sad. The X-Nauts show him anger but no one ever showed him love. And I love that he really does realize that love isn't a desperate need to have the person to yourself, but to help them be with the people they love and do what's best for them. Bless Tec, dude, what a cute and fun character. I LOVE WEIRD ROMANCE BETWEEN ODD COUPLES SO MUCH!!!

15 - A game world you'd like to visit

I mentioned how much I wish I lived in the Mario World last time, so this time I'll give it up to Pokemon! My life would be SO massively improved if I lived in the Pokemon world and got to hang out with giant lizards all day.

16 - Disappointing sequel

yikes... Sadly I have too many to bring up. Immediately you could bring up the secondary Paper Mario Trilogy. Or Paper Jam. But I feel like those have all been talked to death. I still think Strive was the most disappointing follow up to Xrd, which is a shame cause hype for Strive's launch is what got me to play the whole series to prepare for it (I'm still a little bitter.) But ultimately I think I have to give it up to Luigi's Mansion 3. LM2 was GOOD!! I stand by that to this day! And so I was hyped for 3... And ultimately I liked pretty much nothing about it. It's boring to play, doesn't follow through on any cool story ideas or potential, I don't remember a single song from it, and I think a lot of the animation isn't as good as people say (not to say it's bad, but it's flawed at times). The only good thing I can say about it is that the Hellen boss fight was really good from what I recall and there was a pirate shark. AND WORST OF ALL!? EVERYONE LOVED IT!! I DONT GET IT!!! IT SUCKED!!!

17 - Best game to play with friends

So obviously I wanna say Smash Bros or Mario Kart or really any fighting game. I do LOVE playing those with friends and I think they're best enjoyed with friends. But man I gotta give it up to Minecraft and VR chat, it's insane how easy it is to get sucked into those games with friends for HOURS.

18 - Guilty pleasure game

Once again I don't have one. When I love a game I love it loud and proud (it's fortnite)

19 - Choose one ability or item to have irl

Ditto's shape shifting. I get to become pretty but I get to keep my eyes with my long eyelashes. Cool.

20 - What game should get a VR treatment

Oh this is an interesting question. I think Luigi's Mansion could be neat since horror works well for VR (though maybe it'd be motion sickness hell when ghosts are tumbling you around while you suck them up lol). Maybe something like Starfox? A Mario 3D Platformer in VR is what immediately came to mind personally! But I think what might be best is A Short Hike VR or Sludge Life VR. Just walking simulators where you do fuck all. But I'm actually there. God... Sludge Life VR could be the funniest fucking game ever made...

21 - A game that got you through a tough time

That's usually Super Smash Bros. I got Brawl during a very rough money time. I got Smash 4 during a very rough personal transitionary time for myself. I got ultimate during a tough (albeit exciting) time of moving on with my life. Smash Bros. is always there for me.

22 - Best art style or graphics

For me this always comes down to 3 different choices. For one, the Mario RPGs are all amazing looking. I actually love how Super Mario RPG looks, Paper Mario is adorable, and Mario & Luigi is consistently setting the bar for how games should look. Superstar Saga's sprites are simply iconic, BiS is one of my favorite looking games ever, DT is seriously underrated visually, and Brothership is looking NICE.

The other option is whatever the fuck Dragon Quest 11 was on. Being realistic anime and hyper saturated cartoon anime at the same time. DQ11 is genuinely one of the most gorgeous video games I've ever seen. I think more games need to look like that.

And lastly, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2... UGH, it's SO good!! Genuinely amazing visuals with the anime graphics that are so bright and charming and fun! How do they make it look 2D and 3D all at once!? WHEN WILL THESE GUYS MAKE A 2D SONIC FIGHTING GAME!! I LOVE how this game looks!

23 - A game that needs a reboot/remaster

For a reboot? I'd really love to see something new come from Starfox or F-ZERO. I know it's a basic answer but I would really love to see SOMETHING new from them that's more substantial (though I do appreciate FZERO 99) and I think at this point you may just have to reboot them (REBOOT THEM AGAIN IN THE CASE OF STARFOX LOL)

Remaster? I'd LOVE to see a new Demon's Crest game but I don't see anything brand new, so I'll take a remaster. Since I just played it recently, I feel like Solatorobo would do NUMBERS nowadays on modern consoles and with HD! It was a game that was MASSIVELY ahead of its time and I think it could be super successful now.

24 - What game made you rage quit

Sushi Strikers... Again maybe I'll come back to it eventually. I WANT to love it. It's fun and funny. But like, where I shelved it was just so frustrating. Every battle seemed random whether or not they'd LET you win. Idk.

25 - A gaming accomplishment you're proud of

Ooh, interesting question. I'm currently doing some gaming pet projects that I'll be VERY proud of whenever I finish. But as for one I've already done... I honestly can't really think of any. I just recently beat the Pit of 100 Trials for the first time in TTYD remake without dying once? So I guess we'll go with that. I may come update this later if I think of a better one!

26 - Best narrative

I said it before, but it's probably FF9. But for another one to be more unique. Let's go with the Ace Attorney games. Some of the best written and most clever stories I've ever seen. I'm LONG overdue to replay these bad boys. They're seriously some of my favorite stories in video games. The final case in every game somehow always manages to knock it out of the park and stick with me forever.

27 - Funniest game scene

IT'S NOT EVEN THAT FUNNY BUT THIS SCENE WILL NEVER LEAVE MY HEAD

28 - A moment that made you feel cool

Another really good question... I'm sure there's a better answer but what IMMEDIATELY comes to mind is in Metroid Zero Mission, after the Zero Suit section. Which is a HORRIFYING moment in the game, where you're just totally weak and useless. You get back your suit after completing the Chozo trial, and the feeling of power you get seeing all the enemies who were stalking you running and hiding in fear of your full abilities felt GREAT!! Zero Mission was so cool.

29 - Best gameplay

I said it before but I'll say it again. The Mario RPGs. Some of the best RPG gameplay ever, taking the format and expanding it in super creative ways that make them my favorites of the genre. I love lots of RPGs and every one of them really makes me appreciate how special these games are to me even more.

30 - Game you play to relax

A lot of times if I'm having a bad day, it's Smash Bros. That's what I fall back on. Just put on an easy little match with some CPUs, items, and your favorite stage? It's a mood cleaner for me. My go-tos for a bad day are Brawl or Ultimate, but I'll play any of them when the mood takes me :)

31 - Favorite game of all time

I SAID IT ONCE

I'LL SAY IT AGAIN

NEVER FORGET IT:

SUPER MARIO RPG : LEGEND OF THE SEVEN STARS

#prompt

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kanene-yaaay · 1 year ago

Note

Guess whose back, back again. This time with less of a headcannon and more of an AU because I replayed the game recently and need more tickle copium.

So as we all know Sunny was tired of practicing the violin so much for the recital that ruined our hopes and dreams. Didn't help that the poor boy never vocalized how much he hated practice and kept his emotions bottled up. So instead of those emotions being vented out in the worst way possible I propose an alternative.

One random day before the recital the sibling duo were practicing. Sunny was getting fed up of practice while Mari kept urging him to keep going (through varying tones). And to her credit it worked, for about 4 times until it stopped being as effective. Sunny wanted a break, and he was gonna get it one way or another.

So after Mari told Sunny to take 5 to allow her to get her bearing straight on the sheet music Sunny set his plan into action. Setting the violin down gently as to not make noise Sunny snuck up behind Mari, and with the sneaky reflexes of a ninja he jabbed his fingers on her side. Eliciting a loud shriek from his older sister which followed by a slew of melodious cackles. In her giggle filled state she was asking Sunny why he was doing this, but he ignored her question. He only wanted to hear one thing flow from her mouth... well besides her laughter that is. And it took 5 whole minutes of tickles for Mari to ask for a 'Break' to which Sunny stopped instantly said "Sounds good." Then sat beside her on the piano bench and leaned into her shoulder. He then let out a small smile, content that he found a way to make Mari take breaks.

And it would take about 5 different occurrences of this for it to fully sink in for Mari. There were times her workaholic mindset would take over, only for it to be squashed by Sunny's tickle attacks. After the 3rd time he stopped being sneaky about it and openly approached her with wiggling fingers, Mari pieced together what he was doing but couldn't move fast enough to stop it.

The 5th and final time ended with Mari trying to run away from Sunny, ending in an hour long play chase that ended with Mari and Sunny having the most fun they've had in months. And as the sibling duo were collapsed in a giggle filled heap on the couch Mari finally understood, the grand lesson in all of this 'Break Good. Break real good'.

So she incorporated more breaks into their practice schedule. Breaks that were filled up with Mari tickling the snot out of Sunny this time. Hey, the boy had 5 tickle attacks on her, she's gotta even it up or else her title of 'Ultimate Tickle Monster' was in jeopardy. That and she loves seeing her brother smile and hearing his laughter. He tried to fight back back but uhh... well stick with sneak attacks bud you're out matched in a head to head 1v1 Tickle Fight.

Yadda yadda yadda boo boo, the Recital was a success, the violin was metaphorically kicked away for a little while, and a celebratory sleep over was in order. Hero noted that Mari had more spring in her step recently than she had during the past few months and asked why that was. Sunny was about to answer but Mari shot him a look of 'If you tell them what happened I will murder you (with tickles)'. He got the message and thought about it for about 4 seconds until he decided to live dangerously and spill the beans.

And then he died. Died by merciless tickles at Mari's embarrassed hands. And written on Sunny's Epitaph that Kel wrote in crayon on a piece of paper was...

R.I.P Sunny. At least you made Mari take breaks.

OKay, okay, this headcanon could as well be a dessert because HOLY GOSH HOW SWEEEET!!!

Such a cute scenario fr!! Sunny getting enough of his sister's workaholic-ing and deciding to tickle her until getting a break is a very lovely ide and the fact that this became basically a tradition for them is very veryyyyyy bright!! Cute!! Adorably adorable, even!

Also the last part where he decides to live dangerously and tell's everyone about this sneakty sneaky tickles attack and promptly gets destroyed by tickles rip rip our soldier fought well xDDDD

He may have won the Silly Battles but lost The Silly War X))

Thank you for sharing this! Such a great hc!

#Kel is 100% right sdfghjhgfdfvgbhj #omori tickles #omori tickling #Lee!Mari #Ticklish!Mari #Ler!Sunny #omori tickle headcanons #Askys #Kanene's askys #starstorm2112 is precious

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astranauticus · 1 year ago

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ok one last post about the Project to truly exorcise it from my brain. just some process/design thoughts (also now that it's done if you want to read my liveblogged whinging for whatever reason here it is)

first off some stats because i kept stats like the nerd that i am:

time wise making this animatic took about 93.5 hours give or take (thanks procreate process replay) spread across exactly 2 months

anyway when i said i finished this project mostly through stubbornness and sunk cost fallacy this is what i meant lol like a lot of my thought process through this was just 'no way in hell am i letting some of these drawings disappear into my drafts forever'

on average each frame took about 2 hours 45 minutes but thats a bit of an overestimate since i forgot to count some of the animated bits from the first two lines (so id guess the actual number is more like.. 2 hours 20 minutes?)

btw that line with the starry apparition fading away? 12 hours total

the single longest and most painful frame to draw was the one of the crew walking through tu'narath (5 hours 30 minutes) because a. perspective b. architecture design c. for some reason i put a lot of detail into rendering the armour on all the githyanki i drew why on earth did i do that

(its especially painful bc that frame was one of the ones that didnt... feel like an important enough moment in the actual story of the show to be worth capturing the way the wish or even like, endellion is, i just needed to put that there for the storytelling flow or whatever of the animatic itself and it bothered me so much)

one other interesting little mishap was that i did all of these on canvas size 1080x720px (so that's why the youtube resolution isnt particularly high lmao) which is why procreate let me put an absolutely absurd amount of layers in one canvas (all 8 frames of with memories projected on the astral sea were done on one canvas. 159 layers) because the layer limit for that canvas size is 400 BUT. i accidentally started the starry apparition fade on an A4 canvas (my default canvas size for like all my normal fanart) and i only realised after finishing all the lineart and starting on colouring because i hit layer limit so i had to resize the canvas which did... interesting?? things to the lineart resolution

also if youre wondering how i drew K-LB that many times in something resembling timely fashion the answer is i sacrificed some... amount of sleep to 3d model and rig him in blender which. honestly? i consider it a roaring success

splitting the frames by bar was a Choice and certainly a choice ive.. had doubtsTM about but thats the kind of thing you cant really change without bringing the whole project crashing down so if the frames seem to move a bit too fast im so sorry there was really not much i could do there

idk if people actually noticed the very very tiny drawings of the crew moving around on the ship in the 4th line especially since they sometimes get obscured by the subtitles but the REASON for that is in my original drawings the subtitles went in the top left corner but they kept conflicting with other stuff so i just gave up and threw them to the bottom (also i originally included the chinese lyrics but then i got lazy lmao)

anyway that little detail like VR-LA angstily looking at the sea reminiscing about the JourneyTM and the crew sort of appearing along with the memories of their adventures together was one of those things that seemed SO COOL in my head but once i actually execute it its like. hmmmm not sure if that worked out the way you thought it would buddy. also the tiny crew was EXTREMELY hard to draw so put that down as another point in 'me subjecting myself to deeply painful and out there compositions for no good reason'

anyway i called this my magnum opus but i do actually have some thoughts about another one (a companion piece, if you will) for another song by the same band because now that i know what capcut can do im.. really itching to try something a little different because this like powerpoint presentation style? fully a product of me using iMovie as my only available video editing software for the past like 7 years of my life

#rwd #asto speaks #re: the projectTM #one last time using this dumbass tag lmao #honestly? also put another point in 'i worked on a project for so long it became just a Project to me and proceeded to get #absolutely blindsided by the emotional affect it has on people'#2 months. 2. months.#whatever actual emotion this idea was originally trying to draw from is long fucking gone buddy #like i did manage to re-experience some of it looking at the finished product but #i appreciate yalls screaming a lot i just truly did not anticipate it LMAO

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manonamora-if-reviews · 1 year ago

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Someone Else's Story by E. Joyce

============= Links

Play the game See other reviews of the game See other games by E. Joyce

============= Synopsis

Naples, 1973. The local Camorra are embroiled in a struggle against Russian mobsters trying to horn in on their territory. The boss thinks Katya Goncharova knows something, and Sofia has been ordered to find out what it is. But does she want to?

============= Other Info

Someone Else's Story is a Twine (SugarCube) game submitted to the Goncharov Game Jam.

Status: Completed Genre: Unreality, Goncharov

CW: unreality, implied organised crime

============= Playthrough

First Played: Dec 2022 Last Played: 1-Sept-2023 Playtime: around 30min Rating: 4 /5 Thoughts: How good of a honeypot will you be?

============= Review

Told from the point-of-view of Sofia, Someone Else's Story takes a look at the start of the relationship between two side characters: Sofia and Katya, two women linked to big characters whose actions will drive the "story"'s plot. Spanning a conversation, you were tasked to extract information from the lovely newcomer. Will you managed without her noticing?

Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.

Someone Else's Story is a fairly short game mixing choices, to drive the conversation forward, and hypertext*, to provide additional contextual information to the scene or about Sofia's state of mind. Each choice provide variation in the next screen, with some even adding an option to the choice-list. The combination of all choices made throughout the game will determine how the conversation between you and Katya ends.

To get information from Katya, you must ask the right questions, in the correct manner. Though you have multiple choice available to you, from flirty to pushy, the type of questions asked may tick Katya that something is up, or may just confuse her. She will comment on the matter, before ending the conversation and leaving for the night. You do not learn, however, whether how successful you were at your task. Though, as Katya warns, when one is this expendable, does it truly matter? (kinda yes... i always want to know how well i did.)

The game raises an interesting point, hinted by its title. Though you are the main character of this game, this short story, Katya may tell you that you are just a pawn in someone else's story. You may drive the plot in this beat, but someone - your boss - is pushing you to this point in time, requesting things from you to further his story. You may down the line have a relationship with Katya (not in-game), but it will still be framed around other more important players - your struggles being a continuation of theirs.

Still, the illusion of agency still hods, even after replays. You may not be a major player, but the game makes you feel like your actions actually matter in this story, that they actually may change the course of the night. Even if, ultimately, it won't - Katya will always try to change the subject, or look at her watch, signalling the end of the conversation. Your efforts don't feel in vain.

While the game will mention a few important characters to the main lore or themes, the strongest one emanating from this entry is the concept of time. You are limited in time to find information for your boss about Goncharov before he potentially makes a move, to extract information from Katya during the party, before time inevitably cuts your effort short - when the watch strikes "twelve". But there is maybe a more ominous limitation from Katya's final remark: the time left before you will get hurt (if you continue snooping, that is).

*Another entry in the game jam, Vespertine, used a similar interactive element, though more abundantly.

#Someone Else's Story #E. Joyce #interactive fiction #complete #2022 #twine game #goncharov #unreality #mafia

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mysticscrystalrevelation · 3 months ago

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Game 26 Synopsis Thurs, August 15 5:00pm EDT Washington @ Minnesota

Starting: WASH: Atkins, Austin, Dolson, Samuelson, Sykes MINN: Carleton, Collier, McBride, Smith, Williams

1st Quarter WE'RE BACK! AND who else is back?? The Starters. They've had only two games together this season. *2*! SYKES SWOOSHES A 3 in a shot clock pressure situation to open the game. In fact, Slim takes 4 shots in a row, 2 of 2, and the first time she shares it Stef hits a 3. Next play Karlie hits oh damn we are shooting threesssss. Unfortunately, the offense and defense are not locked in for the Mystics. Offense is looking improvisational and without easy chemistry. Defensive switches are slow, with the Lynx getting tons of open shots. Eric is getting plenty of subs in, whether that's a chemistry choice following the break in general or rest/reintegration for our long-term injured players, I don't mind it. By force we've been a bench team, and they have stepped up, let's stay a bench-strong team. We're still shooting 3s but they are not falling. Now it's a strong drive to the hoop from Diamond Miller in her first seconds. Austin and Samuelson combine to force a shot clock violation. 15-18 after 1. Low scoring, adjustments needed.

2nd Quarter The Lynx have been successful with double teams and our defense is still leaving open shots, so Eric calls timeout early. Shakira gets one out of the timeout and it looked like she needed that. Yikes Ceci Zandalisini is feeling it in her couple minutes on the floor. And Shakira gets a tech for yelling and-1 after another driving layup. Jado comes in and hits a 3 right away. A Jado signature drive pulls us ahead. Now a HUGE block from Shak. It's much better passing and also closer D at last. Mystics pass around the arc and Jado hits 3 again. She is in her Olympic medalist zone. 31-25. Ridiculous foul call against MHA after Court Williams hooked Jado. It's starting to get chippy and the refs' attempts to control it by calling more stuff is making it worse. Collier on a little run here. Yish again gets called for a foul, this time for getting Phee's elbow in her mouth. Stef breaks the 3 drought. Shakira reverses and Phee answers in kind. 37-35. Shooting is still not good.

3rd Quarter Tough start for the Mystics, we look slow mentally and physically. Lots of giving up early, the opposite of dawg energy—out of character for us. 9-2 run for the Lynx. Ariel is taking it on her back now. Natisha Hiedeman doing the same for the Lynx, who are beating us when they move with the ball. More sharing by DC on offense has been good, but it's actually runouts off turns that have kept us level. Alanna Smith blocks Myisha then Aaliyah blocks Dorka Juhasz. 58-58.

4th Quarter Shakira came out with more energy this quarter. It's been a bit physical which is fine, but also a bit messy. Earl blocks the much taller Alanna Smith. Coach Reeve challenges the ensuing OB possession call, but the officials say unsuccessful. The replay shows Earl's soccer defense skills, arms behind her back. 63-63 with 4:30 left. Rebounds will win this one I feel. Court hits a 3. Aaliyah is playing very well. Collier spins and makes an impressive shot. She gets a steal now and lays it up. 63-70. In my opinion the steal was a foul. Austin makes a crazy shot, falling over. Slim goes for an ill-advised drive and stays down after, leaving McBride open for an easy 3. 65-73 with 1:36 remaining. Now Earl has been popped in the face. Wow, there's a glimmer of hope as the Lynx pass the ball directly to Karlie, but then rip the ball back from Shakira and score and-1. 68-79 final. Disastrous 4th quarter. Well, it was certainly nobody's best game. I was hoping that the break would be a chance to figure out offense, but there is no evidence that happened at all. Rematch Saturday.

#wnba #washington mystics #mystics #game 26 #minnesota lynx

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colinlegameboy · 7 months ago

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Yammering About Star Wars: Dark Forces Fanmade Levels

It's only been 4, nearly 5 months into the year, but I already know that Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered is my GOTY. I don't care that it's just the same game with a couple tweaks. I have been madly in love with this game since childhood, and the ability to play it in a way I can stomach (controller support) has only made me love it more.

However... There's only so many levels in this game. And the replay value barely exists.

Very few games make me yearn for their gameplay. In fact, I can only count two- The Kingdom Hearts series, and Dark Forces. Thing is, KH still technically has a couple games I've never beaten (the DS ones). Dark Forces... It's one game, with a set amount of levels.

That is, a set amount of levels made by the devs.

For you see, when I was a child and obsessed with the game, I discovered the magical land of fanmade levels. I would ask my dad to download them for me all the time, although because I was babby I just used cheats and barely beat any of them. But just playing the game was enough for me.

Now, since I'm an adult and can do what I want, I can just go download aaaaaall the levels. But... There's a slight caveat. None of them work with the Remastered version by Nightdive.

Turns out they don't have to.

Completely separate from Nightdive's remaster, it turns out that a couple years ago, a fanmade remaster engine entered 1.0. This was The Force Engine, made by a lot of the same people who ran the website I got levels off of as a kid, DF-21. And it has controller support. And quicksaves, which the remaster doesn't have. Honestly the only thing the remaster has over Force Engine is the weapon wheel- They didn't seem to be able to properly translate the original's camera movement to the right stick, whereas Force Engine feels a lot more modern. Of course, since the game was made in a specific way, it does mean that you can pan the camera a bit too much, leading to flying enemies like Probe Droids turning into thin cardboard cutouts if they're directly above you. If anything that probably is why Nightdive didn't let you have full camera control- Official releases can't allow that sort of thing, I get it.

Anyway, another perk that the Force Engine has over the Nightdive remaster is the ability to use and play mods. There's a set of levels on DF-21 that specifically were tested in Force Engine, namely a bunch of iconic ones from way back then. Every level that had a consistent rating of 4-5 stars is tested and approved.

Now, I want to stress that I don't regret spending money on Nightdive's remaster. If that turns into a success, the chance is very high that Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and its expansion pack Mysteries of the Sith will also get a remaster. And that game does not have an equivalent to Force Engine, unfortunately. I'm really hoping Nightdive is allowed to tackle those games. Hell, with how archaic they are, it might turn into a full on remake.

Either way, I am extremely happy that I now have more Dark Forces to play. Unfortunately I am nearing the end of the available levels. I kinda hope that either the modding scene ramps up again, or someone is just straight up able to start modding for the remaster. We'll just have to see.

#yammering about #video games #star wars dark forces

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thedivinefish · 1 year ago

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TGIWednesday: It's just a chameleon...

TGIWednesday News

We were halfway through shopping for groceries when I discovered a live full grown chameleon inside the bottom of our little cart. I got that glance from the girlfriend and knew what I’d have to do next. Instead of struggling to catch him, we went back to the front of the grocery store and gently moved our items into another empty buggy. I then pushed the cart outside the store which in cartoon meme terms could have looked like taking the gecko for a stroll in his stroller. I went to the nearest patch of trees and shrubs and this little guy knew instinctively to drop through the holes in the cart onto the ground. During this season and beyond help/contribute to all those that you can in any way that you can. Expect nothing in return and enjoy this time of year and every day.

🎁 Good news! 🎁 We are extending the gift with purchase offer through December 31st! Buy any digital item and you'll receive this bonus.

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~ SHAPE SHIFTING ~ I believe, think, know and feel that I can re-adjust to any and all situations while being aware of the bright spots and moving past the negative in order to be more positive. I know, when where how and why to be in allowance and acceptance of what shows up next and shape shift myself to the level of energy, frequency and vibration to best deal with what is before me. I am ready, willing and able to take on my day while bending to the forces of nature and allowing for the very best to show up in my life here and now. I am asking in all languages and throughout all time lines and so it is. Know that if you’ll make a little daily progress, the rest of your life will be the best of your life!

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Join us for a December to remember Zoom extravaganza We make it fun by clearing odd blocks and weaknesses you may have never even considered! We go fast and deep and keep it to around 30 minutes and we make it a reasonable event at $22. AND... for this month only, it's a free gift for active My Daily Prayer subscribers (if that's you, check your inbox, the call link & confirmation email went out yesterday). ---> *If you sign up for MDP in December, Zoom registration is included as a bonus. WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 27TH 7:30PM ET/ 5:30 CT/ 4:30 PT (30 mins) Pre-register at Calendly for $22 (includes reminders and REPLAY) 👉 https://calendly.com/jmh-calls/december-2023

THEME: Receiving Ethereal Gifts

During this time of year with the overindulgence of eating, shopping and festivities, ground yourself just for a moment and drop into what intangible/non material gift would you really like to receive for yourself, your loved ones and for humanity and the planet?

Your 3 wishes for the Genie in the format below. Use words organic to you, keep it simple. After payment please email [email protected]

1) Ethereal Gifts for myself I'd like to have more ____in my life. peace of mind, everyday joy, romantic love, financial stability, higher levels of self-worth & confidence, prominence in my work/job/career field, deeper intuition, purpose & clarity,

2) Ethereal Gifts for others I love I'd like to see more_____for my loved ones. career success, peaceful life balance, sobriety, harmonious relationships, pain-free living, joy for life

3) Ethereal gifts for world humanity, planet Earth/Gaia For the world, I'd like to see_______ more kindness, more cultural unity, more peaceful resolutions, deeper consciousness, for earth to become replenished,cleaner air & water quality, decrease in our carbon footprint for posterity, more sustainability.

Join our fishing crew and welcome aboard as we delete the negative and download more positive to round out this year!

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It was such a wonderful experience having a session with you today. Thank you for the validation that you are the “real deal”. My friend who referred me to you had tears of gratitude today when I told her of my experience with you. Joyful Wishes" - Adrienne M.

Fish Food

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell the Fish - 365 Daily Inspirations and Affirmations - by Jimmy Mack Own this e-book so that you can read inspiration every day!

DECEMBER 13TH "Today I will appreciate what I have while striving to achieve more. I will see myself showing up at the right place, at the right time. I will network with friends, relatives and in all that I do to cultivate a better life for myself, my family and my world."

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Now that we are in the gift-giving season, it's a great time for a reminder that we offer digital Gift Certificates in the shop. Gift a 15, 30 or 60 minute private session, 30-days of daily prayers or clearing audios/videos to someone special. You simply select the denomination that matches the gift you'd like to give from the options on this page amounts from $19 - $225.

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Looking for a new job? Going through a court proceeding? Upcoming surgery scheduled for you or a loved one? Need help selling or buying a property? Troubled times in your relationship? These are just some of the life at the crossroads events that are ideal for My Daily Prayer program. Your name will be added to a special VIP Prayer list where Jimmy will use his intelligent computer software, src4you which runs 24/7, to delete the negative and increase the strength of the positive creating a higher probability of favorable outcomes for you. ---> *If you sign up for MDP in December, Zoom registration is included as a bonus.

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All are welcome to create a FREE account to access the NEW and IMPROVED MLF Basic Training Course and also know that the Anchors Away, Life Force Energy Masterclass and both Mastery & Practitioner courses have been UPGRADED with new information & lessons!

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Below is list of over 35 titles in the MyBeliefWorks Clearings audio series, monthly Zoom clearing call replays and Guided Energy Processess. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s), click on the link to read more. We had a lot of help downloading & channeling these over the years & they keep getting better and we are ALWAYS working on the next one. Don’t forget… you can share these with your immediate friends and family.

Freedom from Abuse Overcoming Addiction Receiving Abundance Body Scan: Head to Toe Healing Bountiful Harvest Igniting Creative Spark Discovering Your Destiny Daily GPS Reset Releasing Dark Energies/Fears Crossroads -Decision Making Diet & Exercise Support Education & Learning Support Empowering the Empath Enthusiasm for Life Financial Windfall Gold Coin: Money in All Forms Healing Family Relationships Healing Body Disorders High Cotton Abundance Joy of Money

IRS Stress & Taxes Relieving Holiday Stress Increasing Intuition Lucky 777 Finding Love & Romance Mental Stress Positive Money Mindset Moving Forward from Past Chronic Pain Relief Pet Healing Support Improving Sales & Success Improving Sex Improving Sleep Pro$perity Unlocked Traveling with Ease Treasure Chest Work & Career Success Weight Loss Support Restoring Youth & Vitality

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Healing and Grounding Mats for all occasions Yes even Lily my cat uses the pet one! View Grounding Mats here Use code: MyLiquidFishfs for Free Shipping

**We are NOT involved in the sales or shipping process of the 3rd party items, please contact them directly.

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divinefishingtips · 1 year ago

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TGIWednesday: It's just a chameleon...

TGIWednesday News

🎁 Good news! 🎁 We are extending the gift with purchase offer through December 31st! Buy any digital item and you'll receive this bonus.

"Infusing Energy Blessings for Your Totems and Good Luck Charms" video/mp3 (not sold separately, a $44 value) Sent in a separate email to buyers after your purchase.

VISIT THE SHOP HERE

TGIWednesday Video Download

December Zoom Event

THEME: Receiving Ethereal Gifts

Your 3 wishes for the Genie in the format below. Use words organic to you, keep it simple. After payment please email [email protected]

2) Ethereal Gifts for others I love I'd like to see more_____for my loved ones. career success, peaceful life balance, sobriety, harmonious relationships, pain-free living, joy for life

Join our fishing crew and welcome aboard as we delete the negative and download more positive to round out this year!

Pre-Register Here - $22

FREE Live Appearances

Watch and listen to hundreds of Radio Show replays for FREE here in the archives from the Jimmy Mack Healing Radio show.

https://thejimmymackhealingshow.com/

From the Fish Box

Fish Food

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell the Fish - 365 Daily Inspirations and Affirmations - by Jimmy Mack Own this e-book so that you can read inspiration every day!

Gift Certificates Are Now Available

Buy Gift Certificates Here

Receive 24/7 Prayers from Jimmy

You can add yourself and those living in your immediate household and yes you can include pets! Merely include everyone’s names and Jimmy will add them to his daily prayers.

Use PayPal for subscription Click here

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*Anytime prior to your next scheduled payment within the 30 days, you can cancel or pause this service via email request.

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**Can't See The Full Email? Click Here to View Online**

Visit our Online Training Center "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" - Lao Tzu

Visit now, Click Here!

The Fish Market

View Full Zoom Replay Collection The 5 Anchors Process The Purple Rain Process The Magical Golden Key

Healing and Grounding Mats for all occasions Yes even Lily my cat uses the pet one! View Grounding Mats here Use code: MyLiquidFishfs for Free Shipping

**We are NOT involved in the sales or shipping process of the 3rd party items, please contact them directly.

TGIFunny

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advancedthetapractitioner · 1 year ago

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TGIWednesday: It's just a chameleon...

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uncontrollablesphere · 1 year ago

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Living Dex Quest 2018—202?

I suddenly became possessed with the urge to record my progress like a week ago and wrote this in one day. Anyway, here's the goals, methods, hurdles, and current state of my living dex.

Goal

Obtain every single Pokémon of every stage and major form and put them in a single game (ultra sun or moon). Originally this goal was meant to update for each successive generation, but of course SwSh threw a wrench in that when it became the new standard to exclude certain Pokémon from being able to be transferred to certain games. I don’t want to pay for Pokémon home indefinitely, especially when I know it will eventually have its support cut just like bank, so I’ll just have gen 1-7 in a gen 7 game and gen 8 regional dex can stay in SwSh. Not sure I’ll do gen 9, I don’t even own SV and have no plans to.

Never really cared about the pokedex until I saw someone post a video of their living dex on here years ago, and a 5+ year quest was started. I really, really wanted to do it by playing a game from each gen and transferring Pokémon upwards in order to also have a complete regional dex in each game, thereby getting shiny charms where possible, but this is tedious and only practical if you have every game already. I used to.

Dealing with theft

In 2020, my progress was hindered when FRLG, DPPt, HGSS, XY, SUMO, USUM, two Nintendo ds, and more were stolen from me by my former roommate when I moved (everything listed above having a nearly or complete regional living dex on it as well as several long gone event exclusive mythical Pokémon). Five generations, hundreds of dollars, and those priceless mythical Pokémon, unobtainable in any game, lost instantly. To say this was demoralizing would be an understatement. I was slow to unpack my things after the move, so I was still finding out about new things that were stolen months after the fact. I was constantly reminded of a new “loss” every couple of weeks, as I was trying to get over it. I did not play Pokémon again for months, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to try again.

I got a second wind when I realized I had another option apart from buying back FRLG and HGSS and replaying all four: get the majority of gen I and II pokemon from Pokémon colosseum and XD, which luckily were among the games that were spared. This didn’t solve the mythical Pokémon problem, but it was a lot cheaper and more appetizing than playing the same games again (I only had to buy a gamecube/gba cable). Of course it did mean a lot of time spent transferring Pokémon to RSE and breeding since you can’t really catch multiples of most Pokémon in colosseum/XD, but it was different enough from what I’d been doing before to be fresh and exciting, plus I’d never actually beaten those games before! I got to do something I thought I’d never care to do, get the Mount Battle Ho oh (can’t be nicknamed unfortunately), and catch Shadow Lugia as possibly the most badass instances of each of those Pokémon (imo).

Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Pokémon colosseum extra disc containing jirachi, as a rare opportunity to get jirachi outside of an event. That disc is expensive nowadays and I don’t own it, and iirc jirachi was already available by that time in Pokémon go, so I figured it was overkill to get the disc. More on that later.

There are of course several Pokémon found in FRLG that I could not obtain between Colosseum, XD, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, but only one is exclusive to a single game…

So I did actually have to buy back Leaf Green, but I didn’t want to do a full play through twice to get both omanyte and kabuto, so I looked up how to speedrun it and did that for the first time ever. I won’t bore you with the details but it was casual as far as speedruns go, but I still completed the main story in only 16 hours, a record for me. In order to trade with RSE the game couldn’t stop at the credits so I had to do some of the sevii islands stuff, and that wasn’t too bad.

With gen I-III taken care of, it was time to start buying back games. I started with XY because I hadn’t replayed them the first time I completed their dex and hadn’t actually completed them since they came out, so it seemed like the most fun at the time. I wasn’t too enthused though because I didn’t find the games memorable, but to my surprise and delight they were actually really fun the second time around, perhaps in part due to my relatively new habit of planning teams ahead of time and sticking to pokemon I’ve never used before. I actually battled in set mode for once, and didn’t struggle too much. I’d still count them as the weakest in the core series outside SV perhaps which I haven’t played, but they’re fun enough that I actually have another play through planned just for fun soon. When it came time to play the opposite game for version exclusives, I lucked out: the copy of X I bought was already mostly complete, only one badge missing and with a (fairly balanced) team. One of them was even the fossil mon I hadn’t picked in Y, so I didn’t need to restart the game until it was time to get the third starter. I completed the game and got attached to the three Pokémon on that person’s team I hadn’t used before, a Slowbro named Meiklejohn, a Farfetch’d named Wilson, and an Aurorus named Hull, so they’ll be coming with me on my living dex quest, even though I already had a farfetch’d and slowbro.

But the real highlight of XY is of course…

The Vivillon Quest

As a kid I was never able to use GTS or anything because ds games required a WEP key to connect to wifi and my home wifi didn’t have that. I tried so many times to get it to work without understanding why it didn’t that I just assumed the 3ds wouldn’t connect either and so I never used online services with Pokémon except at friends’ houses. Anyway, at the time I was working on gen VI dex I was living in a rural area with no wifi or data, and the closest place to me with free wifi was a hotel a five minute drive away. So I drove to the parking lot of said hotel, tried connecting to their wifi, and lo and behold, not only did it work, but to that day (and this day as well) people are still on the gen VI GTS trading vivillons!

There are 20 patterns and each (aside from two event exclusives) are only obtainable in certain regions. It is possible to choose which region your 3ds is set to to a certain extent (limited by what overall region your 3ds is, IE JP, PAL, US, etc) but after that it’s one pattern per game. Manipulating this would be tedious and feel like cheating to me, plus I wouldn’t be able to get all the patterns this way anyway, so I caught ~30 scatterbug and evolved them into the not-at-all-uncommon High Plains pattern, then over the course of a week or two I drove to the hotel every night to scour the GTS for the patterns I needed.

Unfortunately most people putting their vivillons in GTS would specify which pattern they wanted in return and as I said, my native pattern is not uncommon. There’d be nothing stopping me from ignoring people’s requests and trading anyway, but I tried to respect their requests as id like others to respect mine (for the record, many, many people traded me their elegant patterns against my will, but whatever). In a few cases I did have to ignore those requests though as certain patterns were extremely rare and I was desperate lol.

A few I got off of the GTS, by trading with online passerby and frantically hovering over my vivillon box to try to communicate what I wanted, which was actually successful a few times. The last two (four) vivillon I got, sandstorm and I believe archipelago (as well as the two event patterns) i got due to tremendously lucky timing: I was playing close to international butterfly day (or something) and someone on reddit did/does a yearly vivillon giveaway on that day, taking requests for what patterns you need. Iirc they did do the 3ds region selection thing to get certain patterns which is not ideal but I feel like as long as they’re technically legitimate and I still had to trade for them, I’m satisfied with that. I did also accept a pokeball and fancy vivillon from them with the knowledge that they were cloned from legitimate event vivillon. Of course I’d rather have non-clones versions of those and I’m still not sure whether I’ll even transfer them upward, but it’s nice to have them anyway. I have no doubt that Pokémon go will eventually feature those two patterns and I won’t be able to transfer those back to USUM, so perhaps the clones can be my stand-ins.

The vivillon side quest may sound tedious but it was actually really fun and exciting, I loved interacting with what few (surprisingly many) people still cared about vivillon in 2021 when I did this, and it increased my appreciation tenfold for a Pokémon I never really cared for before. While it won’t be part of my living dex itself as it’s probably a clone, I even got a shiny savannah vivillon from one generous stranger! I’m thinking of using this in my next play through of X if I decide I want compound eyes for its ability.

Unfortunately for aspiring living dex collectors everywhere (or maybe just me), Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon each have an additional pokemon that is not available in the (story-wise) objectively superior games, Sun and Moon. Blacephalon and Stakataka. This is sad for me not just because I’d rather replay SUMO, but because I’d rather OWN SUMO. There’s no getting around it though (except maybe GTS, which ironically I didn’t think of) so I sucked it up and bought both of the “ultra” versions. I did have to play through to the post game of each to obtain the new ultra beasts, and I believe I spread these out between play throughs of other games to preserve my sanity.

A special little quirk of gen VII is that there is a lycanroc form that evolves from an event exclusive rockruff, BUT the evolution into this form is determined by rockruff’s ability. The nice thing about this is that people are wonderful and have bred many many more rockruffs with this ability and distribute them freely on GTS. This is actually an event pokemon I had myself back in the day, so it was a huge relief that people were so generous with their special rockruffs. In return, I bred a few extras of my own and sent them back out into the GTS wilds.

Another fun (real) little quirk of gen VII is the QR scanner. To this day, you can still obtain the mythical Pokémon Magearna by scanning the correct QR code, specific to your 3DS region! As well as, um, a partner cap pikachu, if you want it. Since my living dex is staying in USUM and I’m collecting all major form differences, I guess…I should include that…

Next up was gen IV, and I was a little bitter about having to play USUM instead of SUMO, so against my better judgment I bought platinum instead of Diamond or Pearl, even though BOTH Diamond and Pearl are necessary up to this point to get certain version exclusives. Joke’s on me; I had to replay all three anyway, at least up to the point that glameow and stunky became available. For this reason there was about a two year gap between my platinum and pearl playthroughs. I also played Diamond somewhere in the middle there; a friend of mine (hi Ryan) very generously gave me his copy of Diamond so I didn’t have to buy back that one.

At this point I had redone pretty much all of gen I, II, and IV, and luckily my gen III and V games were not stolen from me, so all that was left to have another complete natdex (aside from mythicals) was to play the poke transfer lab minigame to send ~490 Pokémon to Black 2. *strained smile* Fun!

Mythicals

Most mythical Pokémon can only be obtained through rare distribution events. Not being able to access Nintendo WFC as a kid, I missed most of these. However, for the 20th anniversary of the series, there was a lovely year-long string of distributions for every single mythical that existed at the time, straight into my copies of X and Y that would get stolen four years later *grumble grumble*

Luckily there are a few exceptions; mythicals that can be obtained in a core series game or a side game, at the time of their introduction or years later. Mew (my Pokémon ranch, pokeball plus), Celebi (crystal virtual console), jirachi (colosseum bonus disc), deoxys (ORAS), manaphy (pokemon ranger, BDSP, LA), darkrai (LA), Shaymin (LA), Arceus (LA), keldeo (SwSh), magearna (SUMO), etc. With the exception of magearna, all pokemon introduced after gen III are only currently available in games in gen VIII and above, meaning I won’t be able to have an actually for reals complete living dex in USUM with EVERY mythical without cheating or trading with someone very, very generous. To compensate, I’m allowing myself to just get whatever I can in USUM and other mythicals can be in SwSh with my gen VIII regional dex. Most mythicals are obtainable in Pokémon Go which I still actively play (pretty much exclusively for mythicals), and I do have every mythical that’s been released in Pogo in that game.

I’d like to have as many as possible in USUM though, so I did look into the above methods as well as some less salubrious methods. For mew, I mentioned above that you can get it in my Pokémon ranch (if you deposit 999 Pokémon in the game), but the Wii eshop has shut down, making it impossible to download ranch without homebrewing my Wii. Another option for mew that I thought was viable up until about a week ago is using the mew glitch in Pokémon blue virtual console and transferring it up through Pokémon bank. Seeing as it requires no external hardware and it is a very easy to perform glitch that I have done before, I would consider this mew legit. However, pokemon bank doesn’t, as it apparently checks both the OT and trainer id of any mew you attempt to transfer and will block it if it’s not correct. Soft-resetting for the correct trainer id is lower chances than soft resetting for a shiny and I don’t have the time for that. I don’t think I’d want to do it even if I did. There’s also glitches that can be used to change your trainer ID or the ID of a specific Pokémon, but that kind of manipulation does seem illegitimate to me and I’d rather not. So I’ll just live with my Pokémon Go mew.

Pokémon Ranger games can also send a manaphy egg — one per Pokémon ranger game, NOT one per save file — to a gen IV game. I already did that with my own copy (stolen) and the alternative is buying an unopened copy online. Again, I’m not trying to spend more money on this project than I need to, so I’ll just count the BDSP manaphy.

I also recently found out that some people have made an alternative to Nintendo WFC for Pokémon DS games, including online trading as well as running old event distributions. With a 3DS it is possible to connect DS games to wifi without a WEP key, so I checked that out and was able to get Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Victini, and Darkrai. These Pokémon are pretty much indistinguishable from their original legitimate counterparts except for the fact that I know otherwise, so again I’m not sure if I’ll transfer these upwards. I do have all of those Pokémon in Pogo and SwSh through legitimate means, so they could be stand-ins, like with my clone vivillons. I’ll have to think about it.

The only mythicals I don’t have in any game are volcanion and marshadow, which I’m just now realizing as I fact check this post apparently had three SwSh distributions each that flew over my head. More than likely they’ll eventually be available in Pogo, so I’m not stressing too much over that one.

Vivillon Quest…2!

As mentioned before, I have no doubts that pokeball and fancy vivillon will eventually appear in Pokémon go since all 18 other patterns are now available in it, but I suspect they’ll only be available after every other pattern has been obtained. I know some people have already done that, but perhaps there will be a special research story or somesuch with acquiring forms as a task. Maybe the fancy form will even be released as part of the staggered release of gen IX pokemon, since fancy vivillon are the native pattern of Paldea regardless of your game’s region (no I will not buy SV just for vivillon).

In Pokémon Go you acquire scatterbugs by acquiring multiples of postcards from each pattern’s region. Because pogo gameplay is centered around tedium and repetition (erm, I mean cooperation and engagement) they decided that scatterbug would take 25 candy to evolve into spewpa, which takes 100 candy to evolve into vivillon. Those numbers are analogous to the 125 candies it takes to fully evolve any starter Pokémon, which are actually generally good in battle. As a comparison, caterpie, another early game worm Pokémon, takes a total of 62 candies to fully evolve into butterfree. For the unaware, the only ways to get scatterbug candy are 1) Catching more scatterbug* (three candies per, 6 if using pinap berry), 2) traveling with scatterbug as your buddy (1 candy per kilometer); and converting rare candies to scatterbug candies. In order to fully evolve a vivillon of every form, you need a grand total of 2250 candies (2500 if the event patterns are given to us as scatterbugs).

*Scatterbug is not found in the wild. Currently the only method of encountering it is through postcards obtained in gifts from friends, which you can only receive one gift from each friend per day, and you have to receive a minimum of 3 postcards from a region before encountering that region’s scatterbug. After those first three, successive scatterbugs for the same region require 9 postcards, then 15. Vivillon is not particularly strong. There is no reason for this except to force engagement. It’s not fun. After almost a year, I have only 504 scatterbug candies. I’ve decided to take a break from actively working on this, though I do passively collect more scatterbug candy from my buddy.

Anyway, I just found out 3DS online is being cut off in April (excluding pokemon bank) so I lost all interest in all of that and spent this last weekend scouring reddit for friend safari codes in XY. TO BE CONTINUED

#living dex #pokemon #I think the biggest hurdle to continuing rn is I want the shiny charm in both B2 and W2 #and trading everything to W2 just for that sounds like a drag. but I'll be so mad at myself later if I don't #anyway if the readmore doesn't work I'm so fucking sorry

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wishesunderthestars · 3 years ago

Text

Eunoia // Ch. 18

eunoia (noun): beautiful thinking, the possession of a well-balanced mind, which exhibits goodwill and kindness

Pairings: Hybrid! BTS x reader

Summary: You are a world famous director and you have dedicated your life to your job.You have everything you could ever dream of; wealth, recognision, talent, your friends and family. But loneliness ins’t cured by success. So what happens when you somehow rescue seven hybrids? Can they fill the void?

Genre: Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, eventual smut

Word Count: 16.3k+

Warnings: past abuse, past sexual abuse, cursing

Masterlist

Chapter 1, Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17

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“There must have been a misunderstanding,” you said, pacing around your hotel room. If there had been a carpet on the floor, it would have been forever marked with the imprints of your panic. “I’m jumping to conclusions again, aren’t I? I need to remind myself that I’m not living in a movie. He must have meant something else. Maybe it’s some sort of show.”

“What kind of show?” John asked, a harsh line etched between his brows. He was sitting on an armchair in the sitting area of your room studying the card, but there was nothing to be deciphered from it. Only a location was printed on it in bold black letters and underneath that the hour and date.

“I don’t know. It could be anything! It doesn’t have to be an auction. An illegal auction.” Your legs ached from weeks of running around but both times you had attempted to sit down you had been up on your feet again in seconds. “Tell me that the weeks of promotions are affecting me and I’m imagining dramatic plots about hybrid auctions from simple conversations.”

John turned the card in his hands. “It wasn’t an innocent conversation. He said you might add another hybrid to your collection.”

You took a deep breath, stopping next to the floor-to-ceiling window that you favored and almost all modern luxury hotels seemed to have. Your heart wouldn’t stop racing, beating wildly in a race against something you couldn’t grasp. You were scared and you were tired. But you were angry too that someone dared to call them a collection. Being interviewed and attending events for more than half of your life, you had learned to not pick fights and keep your insults and sharp words to yourself. For once, you regretted it.

You massaged your temples, a headache was tugging at your skull. “Don’t remind me. I was dangerously close to tearing his mustache out. Why does my mind always come up with the worst scenarios?”

“I wouldn’t say that it’s your mind that’s the problem. It’s a logical conclusion after that conversation. What else could it be?”

“An adoption center could be having an event. It doesn’t have to be something illegal.”

You had been waiting for John’s deadpan look, you didn’t believe yourself either. “If it were an adoption center having an event, why wouldn’t he just say that outright? Why the vague invitation and the card that mentions no names and nothing about the event? If this was an event organized by an adoption center and it was one hundred percent legal, there would be no need for that.”

You couldn’t come up with any other explanation. Nothing else made sense. You replayed the conversation again and again, desperate to remember a detail you had overlooked that would prove you were overreacting and your imagination was getting too wild due to lack of sleep. There was nothing there, no details you could hold on to. He had been very clear about what he thought of hybrids and that whatever awaited for you tomorrow at the location printed on the card would be an opportunity for you to add one to your “collection”.

You bristled at that. A fucking collection. Is that what everyone thought you were doing? First your mother and now that bad rendition of a black and white movie villain. Hybrids weren’t cars or postcards or stamps, they were people. They weren’t something to be collected. It made white-hot rage course through your body, thinking of them as something to be displayed like they didn’t have feelings, like they didn’t have dreams and hopes. They were so close to humans and yet…

You mustn’t have made your stance on hybrid rights clear if there were people who believed you would treat hybrids like collectibles. It was a startling realization that you hadn’t done enough. It had seemed like a problem far removed from you, one you hadn’t known the extent of and hadn’t bothered to do enough research to learn more.

One thing you knew was that hybrid auctions were highly illegal, they had been outlawed a few years after the first hybrids had been adopted. The government had held the first few auctions before hybrid adoption centers took their place and they were deemed unnecessary and dangerous.

You collapsed on the couch, your knee bouncing. “What do we do now? Should we report that? I can’t act like nothing happened when there could be hybrids out there sold to the highest bidder, living in awful conditions. If those people aren’t above getting a hybrid illegally then I don’t reckon they will care very much about treating them like people.”

John set the card face-down on the round table, next to the blue and white vase in which a bouquet of fresh white roses was arranged. “The ones who get them the legal way don’t care much either. You want to report them to the police?”

“They will do something, won’t they?” you asked.

John’s lips were set in a tight line. “If the report comes from you, it’s likely. But it could put you in danger if they learn it was you who ratted them out.”

“How will they learn? I can do it anonymously, can’t I?”

“They could have someone in the police,” he said. “And we know no one here who can guarantee your safety.”

“You are here,” you offered. “You can keep me safe.”

The line of his mouth softened. “I always will. But I don’t have my whole team with me, there are only four of us here and that isn’t enough if something big happens.”

You looked outside the window, the bright lights of Seoul greeting you. They didn’t offer you any comfort tonight. “We’re thinking of the worst-case scenario again. It was the same with the fighting ring in Los Angeles. Nothing happened and everyone in the station knew that I was involved.”

“I warned you then too,” John said. “And the circumstances were different. Matters were more pressing and we had Diana.”

More pressing because of Yoongi. It had been a hard time but you were over that. Yoongi was safe back in Los Angeles with the pack. He was safe.

“Wait. Diana. We can call Diana!”

John frowned. “She has no jurisdiction here.”

“No, but she can advise us what to do.” You sighed. “John, please. I don’t think I will be able to live with myself if I don’t do anything about it. Those hybrids… We have no idea what they are going through, what they will go through when they are adopted.”

You imagined Jungkook in a cage, waiting to be auctioned off. Jimin on a stage, strangers holding up numbers and shouting how much they believed he was worth. Namjoon and Yoongi would try to fight back but after too long in the dark, maybe they would be able to break their spirits. You stopped yourself before you could create any more images to haunt you.

They were all safe. Jin was probably cooking right now or watching shows on the TV. Jungkook might be painting, he had moved a large canvas to the front yard because he wanted to paint the fountain. Namjoon would be outside, the only time he spent inside was for breakfast in the kitchen, for ‘pack time’ in the living room or the cinema room and to sleep. Hoseok and Jimin could be anywhere with any of them, in the garden or the living room or the game room, it was rare to find the two of them alone. Yoongi would be with them or playing the piano or sleeping in the shade somewhere in the gardens.

You blinked, thinking of them calmed you. “We have to do something.”

“Diana is going to tell you to report it,” John said. “She works in the police, what else would she tell you?”

“She could tell me how to approach the matter, who I should look for. Maybe I should ask for someone specifically. There could be someone in the station who specializes in these things.”

“Suspected illegal hybrid auctions reported by a foreigner?”

You ran a hand through your hair, it was stiff from the products the stylists had used to freeze it into loose curls. “Do you have any other ideas? Because I’m not letting any hybrids be auctioned off like that.”

You knew what he was doing, he was in defense mode. His job was to protect you and you were insisting on putting yourself in danger.

“You are going to report it anyway,” he said, looking you in the eye. “You have already decided. I know that face. And I knew from the moment you told me that you wouldn’t let it go. You always have to get involved, don’t you?”

There was a small smile on his face. It was all the more true this year. He picked up the card and held it out to you.

“Call Diana. Tell her I said hi.”

For once, the time difference was helpful. In Seoul, it was too late for anyone who wasn’t partying to be awake. In Los Angeles, people were arriving at work. Time zones were difficult to navigate but you were getting better at it the more you traveled. Your phone helped but you had also memorized the differences between different cities. Hours behind and hours ahead trickling down in a fragile hourglass.

Diana answered after the third ring, greeted you jovially, and congratulated you for the premiere of the new season of Paper Hearts. News related to you reached everyone with undeniable accuracy.

You didn’t dedicate much time to pleasantries, she was well aware there was a reason you were calling her.

“Excuse me for saying this.” Her voice was clear through the phone, confident and commanding. “But you either have very bad luck or very good luck depending on the perspective. First the hybrid fighting ring and now a hybrid auction. It seems like they’re following you.”

“Don’t ask me why. I have no idea either.” You had resumed your pacing. John watched you, arms crossed. “I might be overreacting but I haven’t come up with any other explanation. What else could he have meant?”

“No, I think you’re right,” Diana said. “This is most certainly a hybrid auction of some sort. These are exclusive, invitation-only events. High-class. You are the type of person who would fit right in. We didn’t share a lot of information about the hybrid fighting ring with the press, your name wasn’t mentioned at all.” She chuckled. “Look at their luck, inviting someone who worked with the police to dismantle a hybrid fighting ring.”

You had asked them specifically to remain anonymous, both for your protection in case someone involved with the fighting would want to retaliate and because the media would have a field day with this. Your name on every news outlet and gossip magazine was the last thing you needed.

Without the background information, not knowing the whole story, you could kind of see why people would think you were adopting hybrids just for the sake of it. Six hybrids in half a year was a lot, two hybrids were already considered a lot. It put into perspective the way people viewed you, what they thought your goals and wants were. The media had shaped a personality for you that was often so far from the truth that it was comical. Other times it was an idealization of your work ethic, passion, and confidence, what you aimed to become but weren’t there yet.

But people reached their own conclusions as well and that seemed to be the case for this.

“There is someone I know in the Korean police,” Diana said. “We worked together a couple of years ago on an international level case. As far as I know, she was promoted but still works in the hybrid department in Seoul. I will contact her and you can report it straight to her. She is incredible at her job and she can guarantee your anonymity.”

They said money makes the world go round, but connections do too. A myriad of problems could be solved if you knew the right person. You had a network of connections spanning around you, most of which you owed to Amelia. Your manager was the most well-connected person you had ever met and her friends were apparently the same.

When the call ended John got up from his chair. “We will have to work around your schedule tomorrow morning.”

You had a few hours of interviews and appearances with little to no breaks in-between. They had fit everything they could in your two-day stay in Seoul, leaving only the nights for you to enjoy. But you had to go to the police early, the sooner the better. The auction would take place tomorrow night (today if you considered how late it was) and you needed to give the police as much time as you could.

“I’ll come up with something,” you said. “Who knows? Maybe I lost my purse and I need to report it.”

Mirth danced around John’s eyes. “You rarely carry a purse with you.”

“I was carrying one last night.”

John looked somewhere behind you. “The one that’s right there?”

You followed his gaze to the armchair, the red Marc Jacobs purse was sitting upright on it like you hadn’t thrown it there without looking. “But no one knows but us. I’ll say I only noticed in the morning and I must rush to the police station. I’ll hide it in my suitcase.”

Your bodyguard looked mildly entertained. “You have everything figured out,” he joked before sobering up. “It’s late, you should go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, you’ll need your strength.”

Sleep would be a difficult companion tonight, the night was too loud. But John didn’t need your insomnia added to his problems. “I'll do my best. I can run on coffee and a few hours of sleep for days."

John scooped up his jacket from the couch. "It's already been days, we don't need to add any more. And you get irritable when you go too long without proper sleep. And you space out sometimes. Not good for interviews."

"I don't space out," you spluttered. "I get distracted that's all."

"Right, that's all." John threw his jacket over his arm and made his way to the door. "We don't want you getting distracted tomorrow. Remember that it's the last day, after that both of us can finally go home and get some real rest. You can make it through one more day."

"Sure can," you said, following him. You stood behind him as he opened the door. "Goodnight, John. And thank you."

He rubbed your shoulder. "You don't have to thank me. Have a good night and sweet dreams."

The door closed behind him and you breathed in deeply. Released the breath. The card was sitting on the table where you had left it. It was taunting you. A piece of paper was taunting you. It sounded ridiculous, like you were losing your mind but that's what it felt. And maybe you were losing your mind, you had drunk way too many cups of coffee the past few days and John was right, you were running on very few hours of sleep. Lack of sleep was a constant in your life but in Virginia, despite the many night shoots, you had been consistently sleeping better.

You were light-years from Virginia now, at least that's what it felt like. Reality was sinking in slowly. You had been invited to a hybrid auction. Some people genuinely believed you didn't care about hybrids other than using them to boost your ego. You should be offended but you were mostly hurt. If that's how the world view you then you must have done something wrong.

You changed into your pajamas and took off your makeup following a years-old night routine, one you didn't have to think about. Your thoughts were occupied with the auction and your upcoming visit to the police station. One day. You were one day away from going back to Los Angeles and forgetting your worries for a few weeks. Something as unbelievable as being invited to a hybrid auction by a man who looked like he had escaped a black and white spy movie of course had to happen. It was just your luck.

Deep breaths, you reminded yourself climbing on the bed. The temperature in the room was maintained at a level that allowed you to snuggle under a thin blanket. That was the case for most of the hotels you stayed at. You were grateful, your insomnia was already bad enough, the added heat made it unbearable. To sleep, you needed to be covered with something.

Closing your eyes, you gave it a try. And one more try. And one more.

No. No, it wasn't working. You were worn to the bone but the images behind your eyelids of hybrids in literal cages and being displayed like artifacts to a crowd of potential buyers wouldn't let you drift off.

You picked up your phone from the nightstand and hid under the blanket. The brightness of the screen made you flinch, your eyes stinging. It was way too late to be awake but if you continued like this you wouldn't be falling asleep any time soon.

It was nearing eleven in the morning in Los Angeles. You pressed the call button.

It rang three times.

"Hey," Namjoon sounded breathless like he had run a long way and very fast to pick it up.

“Hey.”

“I thought you wouldn’t call. What time is it over there?”

You glanced at the numbers on the top right corner of the screen. “Late enough that I shouldn’t be awake.”

“Can’t sleep?” he asked and you could practically hear him worrying.

Lowering the blanket, you laid on your back staring at the light gray ceiling. “Something happened today and it won’t let me rest. It’s all I’m thinking about and I’m afraid that even if I do fall asleep it will morph into a nightmare.”

“What happened? Are you okay? Where is John?” The questions came one after the other in quick succession.

“John is in his room. And I’m fine. Nothing happened to me,” you reassured him. The last thing you wanted was burdening someone else with your problems but you needed someone to talk to and Namjoon was the best option. Your fingers had been itching to call him for a while, to hear his voice. “Do you remember the party I told you we would be going after the promotions were over? It was nice, the place was beautiful, the host was friendly and funny… The actors were having a really good time but I was tired so I was looking for John and this man came up to me. It was the usual talk, telling me about how much he likes my movies and shows, asking about Paper Hearts, stuff like that. Almost like any other conversation I had tonight. Then-”

You stopped yourself, dragging your hand over your face. Namjoon knew what some people said about hybrids, he had witnessed it all first-hand but you still hesitated. Because he was used to it, it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt him.

“He started talking about you.” You let it hang in the air for a few seconds. “About how many hybrids I have. He said I have a nice collection.”

“You know you shouldn’t listen to them.”

“That’s not it. If it was just that, I would be angry but… He gave me a card, he invited me to a show, said I might get a seventh one. The card only has a location and time on it.”

A sharp intake of breath. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. John saw that I was uncomfortable and came to rescue me.” If John hadn’t been there, maybe you would have asked more questions. But knowing yourself, you would most likely have found a way to excuse yourself from the conversation. “I called Diana, I didn’t know what else to do. She agreed that it’s almost certainly a hybrid auction.”

You heard a muffled curse, you couldn’t understand which one it was. “What are you going to do?”

“Report it obviously,” you said. “What else would I do? Attend? Diana knows someone in the Seoul police department and I’ll meet up with her tomorrow. The police can do their job from there.”

“Just- Be careful. Dangerous people are involved in these things. The rich and powerful are behind these auctions and you know what that means.”

You did. It was the reason you and John were talking for so long, debating every option you had which admittedly weren’t many.

“I am rich and powerful,” you attempted to lighten up the mood.

“I didn’t say you aren’t. But we don’t know who is involved in the auction or how many connections they have. They might have someone working in the police.”

You threw an arm over your eyes. “That’s what John’s worried about. And that’s why I’ll go straight to Diana’s friend and make sure I’ll stay anonymous. After that, I can go back to the last few interviews. And the day after tomorrow I’ll be back in Los Angeles. I trust Diana, she kept all her promises when we were looking for Yoongi and I trust her judgment. In half an hour I will be done at the police station and go back to promotions.”

You could imagine him, his eyes half-closed, processing what you had told him. After stumbling upon one too many hybrids, it was a look you were familiar with. Namjoon had never stopped you from following your instincts but you knew it wasn’t easy for him.

“I should have expected it,” you heard him mutter.

“What?”

“I should have expected it,” he repeated. “These last couple of months have been too calm. With our luck, it shouldn’t take long until something happened.”

“It isn’t your luck that’s the problem. It’s mine, you can say it. I don’t know what’s going on this year, what went wrong or right or neither. I’m starting to wonder if I fell into one of my movies but my movies would never be that boring.”

He chuckled quietly and you closed your eyes, imagining you were there with him. Able to hug him and hold him, be enveloped by his calming presence. Your mind went to Jin and the thing growing between the three of you. You had promised yourself not to overthink it and you had mostly kept your promise. It would creep up to you in the in-betweens and you would chase it away until it would appear again. If you didn’t act quickly, it would stay and grow and fester and you wouldn’t be able to escape it.

You only needed one tiny crack and the rest would follow.

Virginia was almost like the fairytale your house had emerged from. In many ways, you had created a bubble for yourself. Your problems hadn’t disappeared but you had ignored most of them. You focused on the present, the lunch boxes, the flower crowns, the forest. Soft touches and kisses, pink cheeks.

Laying in a king bed alone in a hotel room that was too large for one person in a city on the other side of the world, it all seemed minuscule compared to the rest of your life. All the larger-than-life moments, the unrivaled achievements, Oscars, and Guinness World Records. You could list them all in your head, how you felt at each one, the excitement and happiness, the tears, and the waterproof mascara. They should feel more important, take up all the top spots of your best memories. They should. But nothing compared to the first kisses you shared with Namjoon and Jin or the laughter that filled the house at night, the movie nights and dinners and picnics and the piano notes drifting in the air.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

The chair was so comfortable you could fall asleep if you closed your eyes. To stop that from happening you played a game on your phone that didn’t need much thought and stared outside the window. Hak Yujin, head of Hybrid Rights and Protection department, had left to talk to some people after filing your report. Her office wasn’t what someone would call spacious, fitting a desk, three chairs, a bookcase that took up one of the walls, and not much else. Despite the lack of space, it didn’t feel crammed. The large window, the light gray walls, and the strategic furniture arrangement made the room look larger than it was.

John was waiting for you outside. The two of you had slipped away, using the purse excuse. You had missed a couple of interviews but that was the least of your worries. On this promotional tour, you had answered all the questions anyone could have about Season 5 of Paper Hearts and your involvement in it which was limited to writing scripts, many phone calls, and online conference calls.

Yujin walked in carrying two more folders she must have picked up on her crusade outside. She was wearing a simple white blouse over blue jeans and had her hair up on a tight bun at the base of her scalp. She looked only a few years older than you but to be in her position you guessed she was older than that.

“I talked with the captain,” she explained, sitting down behind the desk, placing the folders on it. Her English was impeccable. “We don’t have much time to study the case and plan our course of action. The resources we can use at such short notice and with so little time are limited.”

You crossed your arms in front of you, suddenly feeling defensive. “Does that mean you won’t do anything?”

Yujin shook her head firmly. “It means we can only do so much. We will do our best but it may not be enough.” She opened one of the files and glanced over it quickly. It was all written in Korean so you didn’t have any chance of understanding. “As I told you, we have been aware that someone is organizing hybrid auctions. They have been breeding hybrids illegally and selling them at astronomical prices. There have also been a few cases of kidnapping hybrid from hybrid centers, none of which we have been able to find.”

She pushed the folder closer to you. A blond hybrid with dimples smiled from the page.

“His name is Myeong, he was taken two months ago while he was in the garden playing. The caretaker who was watching over them said he was helping a cat hybrid climb down a tree when he heard him screaming. By the time he turned around, three men wearing black masks had taken him. He is an arctic fox hybrid, very rare. He is five.”

Your fingers hovered over the photo. “Five?” Hybrids that young were vulnerable. At the hands of those people their innocence would be stripped away and torn apart.

Yujin turned the page, this photo was of a girl with brown fluffy ears.

“This is Jiho, four months ago someone broke into the hybrid center and took her from her room. Wombat hybrid, the only one created. Seven years old.” She showed you two more photos. One more child taken and one teenager. “They are going after the rare breeds, it makes sense for an auction. The rarest the breed, the highest the bids. We suspect they have someone working in a hybrid center that sends them information about the hybrids or they send people in pretending they want to adopt. Hybrids under the age of ten can’t be adopted but people can meet them or they can ask about them.”

You felt sick to your stomach. “And you haven’t found any of them.”

Yujin gazed at the folder sadly before closing it. “We have tried everything in our power. But it isn’t enough. We haven’t been able to locate any of their hideouts and other than a few suspicions we don’t know who is organizing the auctions and who is involved. The only thing we could do is add some extra protection to the hybrid centers but we don’t want to alarm the hybrids or the workers there.”

“If four hybrids have been kidnapped in the last four months, I would believe they are already alarmed.”

She sighed, picking up a file from the stack. This one she kept to herself, not that you would have been able to read it. “Let me rephrase that, the adoption centers don’t want the people going in to adopt getting alarmed. And making the hybrids nervous and jittery around strangers will lower their chances of being adopted. We can’t go against their wishes.”

“That’s-” you stopped yourself before cursing. It wasn’t good form. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I agree,” she said. “But the fact remains that we haven’t made much progress until this.” Between two fingers, she held up the pink card. “This is our chance to rescue those hybrids before we lose sight of them again. But time is pressing in on us. The hotel the auction is taking place at is one of the largest and most prestigious establishments in the city. In the country. We don’t know which room the auction is taking place, which floor. We have nothing concrete, only the suspicion of a hybrid auction happening there. Even if we can get into the hotel without a warrant, which I’m not sure will be granted, we would have to search forty floors without any clue as to where we need to look. They could easily disappear without leaving any trace behind.”

A lump was forming in your throat, this wasn’t going the way you had expected it to. You had thought you would file the report and the police would ambush them at night and arrest everyone freeing the hybrids. You should have known better. Nothing was ever that simple.

“So what? You won’t even try?” you asked trying to keep your voice steady and professional.

Yujin pressed her lips together. “We will. But it’s very likely that we won’t accomplish anything. Not unless we have help.”

She looked at you pointedly and you understood. It was the way executives looked at you when they were about to hand you more work. Work you weren’t supposed to be the one doing.

“What kind of help?”

“I know it’s a lot to ask from you,” Yujin started and you could tell that she was hesitant. “You can walk right out the door and I won’t judge you. But I am being honest when I tell you that without your help, our chances of uncovering the hybrid auction are close to zero.” You motioned for her to continue. “We would send in someone from our team to gather intel but this is most likely an invite-only event, meaning they will be suspicious of someone they haven’t heard of before.”

“So you want me to go in and tell you where to look,” you concluded.

Yujin pushed the files aside, leaving the space between you empty. “I’ll say it again; it’s a lot to ask but we don’t have any other options. We need someone to go in, locate which room and floor the auction is taking place at, any exits we should know and if they have armed forces and how many. If you go, you will leave as soon as you can, contact me and go back to your hotel. You won’t be there when we break in and you won’t be involved in the altercations in any way.”

You sat up straighter, uncrossing your arms. You debated listening to her earlier statement, wishing her a good day, and walking out of the room. You could go back to your team, do a few more interviews, enjoy the rest of the day in Seoul.

No, you wouldn't enjoy it, you would be plagued by the thought of the hybrids you had sentenced to a life of imprisonment.

"I need to think about it."

John noticed that something was wrong the moment you walked out. As expected he wasn't a fan of the idea of sending you into the wolf's den. Yujin had agreed to let you think about it but you would have to decide soon. The auction was tonight and they would need to make preparations and adjust accordingly.

During the interviews you were barely paying attention, you had to ask the interviewers to repeat questions twice. The show’s producer was side-eyeing you for the duration of the last interview. Your co-workers thought you were so distracted over a lost purse when in reality losing your purse wouldn't affect you in any way other than making you feel stupid. To cover up your absent-minded behavior, you said that it was your favorite purse and it had sentimental value. The actors, sweet as they were, promised to buy you a prettier one for your birthday, which resulted in you feeling worse about lying to them. But you couldn’t exactly tell them you had to go to the police because you had been invited to an illegal hybrid auction. And that you were crazy enough to consider going undercover for them.

Lunchtime rolled around and you were invited for Korean BBQ, where one of the last few interviews of the day took place. You tried to focus on answering the questions and making small talk while stressing over the fact that you hadn’t decided what to do with the police. Difficult combination. Regardless, you were getting better at appearing like you weren’t lost in your head.

Attending the auction could be dangerous, you were completely aware of that. You could accidentally give yourself away or seem suspicious. You weren’t an actor, you didn’t have complete faith in yourself that you could give a flawless performance. Your facade could slip and the questions would follow. You had experience with putting on a mask for events, acting pleasant, and like you were enjoying yourself when in reality you were counting down the minutes until you could leave. But you never had to pretend you were perfectly happy when you were watching hybrids being sold like nothing more than an expensive vase.

Hybrid auctions and hybrid adoption centers had a few key differences. At their core, both of them were selling hybrids but their methods were different. Adoption centers had to follow the law. Hybrids younger than ten couldn’t be adopted, the people who adopted hybrids had to have a clean police record and if they didn’t their file would have to go through lengthy consideration progress. There were many rules like that, not that they were always followed but at least they were there.

On the other hand, the people organizing the auctions or buying hybrids from them didn’t have to follow any rules. They could treat hybrids however they wanted and no one would bat an eye. You had heard many horror stories about what they did to hybrids behind the scenes to prepare them for the “show”.

When the last interview ended, you told the show’s team you wanted to rest and went back to the hotel with John. In the car, you pulled out your phone and tapped on a contact. You didn’t wait long before Namjoon picked up.

“Can you gather everyone? There is something I want to discuss with you.”

Namjoon didn’t question you. You heard shuffling as he called the other hybrids and climbed up the stairs to the top floor. They greeted you cheerily, Namjoon hadn’t shared with them what you had told him last night. Maybe it would have been easier if he had.

Silence spread when you told them there was something important you had to share with them. You explained the story from the start, from your arrival at the party to the man with the mustache walking up to you, your suspicions and your talk with John in your hotel room, your call with Diana, and finally your visit to the police station. Halfway through, the car arrived at the hotel. You didn’t wait for John to open the door for you, getting out and heading for the entrance. John followed you inside and picked up both keys from the reception desk.

“She asked me to go and gather information for them or else they will be going in blind,” you finished, staring at your reflection in the mirror along the hallway’s wall. You wished you could see their faces, watch their reactions but there was only silence.

“What are you going to do?” Namjoon asked, his voice calm.

“What do you mean what is she going to do?” Jin asked, incredulous. “She can’t go, she will be putting herself in danger. Auctions- They are…”

You had expected that they wouldn’t want you to go just like John didn’t want you to go. You weren’t sure whether you wanted to go either.

“Can’t they send someone else? S-someone from the police?” Jungkook asked, stuttering. He stuttered when he was nervous or afraid and your heart clenched knowing it was because of you.

“They thought of that but it’s a private event and it would be suspicious if they showed up. They probably have my name and they will be waiting for me, not some stranger.”

“You can’t be seriously considering it,” Yoongi said forcefully. “If they get a whiff of you working with the police, you will never get out of that building. They will sniff you out the moment you walk inside. They can tell apart the ones as sick as them.”

“Can they? Because I was invited.”

You stopped in front of your room and opened the door. John entered behind you and closed it.

"Clearly, he wasn’t one of the brightest there. He isn’t the one holding the power.”

You threw your backpack on the coffee table and kicked off your shoes. John went to his chair texting someone on his phone. You wanted to scream.

“He must be someone they trust if they let him invite people based on his judgment,” you shot back. “I don’t think anyone can go around inviting whoever they like if it is such a private event with very specific guests.”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.” Yoongi’s voice was bordering on a growl. “I have dealt with people like that all my life and they-”

“Yoongi,” Hoseok cut him off firmly.

Blood was rushing to your ears, your heart beating quicker than it should. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, welcoming the darkness for a moment. Yoongi hadn’t raised his voice since the last time you fought, the last time he accused you of taking advantage of them. You hadn’t missed it.

John looked up from his phone. You shook your head.

“If I don’t go, those hybrids will go to the hands of men and women who will treat them like fancy jewelry at best. You know better than me what the worst is.” You steadied yourself with a hand on the glass wall. “They have children. Four children they took from adoption centers in the past few months. One of them is only five.”

“They can’t…” Jimin’s voice faded. “They can’t sell them. They are- They are too young.”

“They don’t care,” you said. “I don’t know if they will sell them now or if they will wait but whatever they are doing to them now might be worse than what they will go through when they are adopted. Yujin showed me their photos. I can’t forget their faces.”

The photos had made everything more real, more tangible. The lives that were at stake were no longer shadows. They had faces and ages, some were missing teeth and some were wearing ribbons in their hair.

“I’m going to call Yujin and tell her that I’ll go. That’s why I called you, I wanted you to know.”

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

After the phone call ended, Jin got up and went to his bedroom. It was late in Los Angeles, they had eaten dinner a few hours ago and they were preparing to go to sleep when you called. Namjoon had found Jin in his room scrolling through his phone and the sugar glider had followed him upstairs with bleary eyes. Namjoon could understand his sudden departure, the need to get away.

He made his way to the kitchen, opening the cupboard and taking a clear glass. He had been fortunate to never be involved with a hybrid auction in any capacity but the horror stories had followed him since he was young. Brutal documentaries and chilling testimonies. They were the boogeyman tales they told young hybrids to behave, sleep early and eat their food.

"Are you just going to let her go? Just like that?" Yoongi interrupted him while he was pouring himself a glass of water. He wasn't shouting but Namjoon could tell he wanted to.

"I'm not letting her go," he said, setting his glass on the counter. “If she decided to go, I can’t change her mind. It’s her choice regardless of whether I like it or not.”

Yoongi glared. “They will eat her alive. She doesn’t look like them, she doesn’t act like them. If they realize she is working with the police, there will be no way out for her. You will never see her again. She will take her last breath in that hotel.”

Namjoon gritted his teeth. Yoongi was pointing out each of his fears and throwing them in his face.

“I trust her,” he said. “If she says she can do it, I believe her. I trust her judgment.”

Yoongi’s eyes flashed, his tail standing still. “Aren’t you the alpha of the pack? You are supposed to be protecting them!”

It was a stab to his chest, the pain bordering on physical. “Protect her how? I can’t forbid her from going. She is on the other side of the world, sixteen time zones away! I knew she was going to agree the moment she told us what they asked of her. She can’t resist helping. She couldn’t resist when she saw two hybrids being beaten up in the street,” his voice wavered but he went on, “or when he saw a red cross on a door or when Jimin ran after you. What am I supposed to do? I can’t stop her. Weren’t you the one who said that she was controlling us? How am I supposed to stop her if she is the one controlling me?”

Namjoon regretted bringing it up the moment the words slipped past his lips. But he was losing his grip and the pain in his chest was flaring up. Being angry was easier than being hurt.

Yoongi flinched. “I was wrong! Alright?” He took a shaky breath. “But you can’t-”

“That’s enough!” Hoseok was standing at the doorway behind Yoongi, his face set. “I can’t believe that you’re fighting right now. What are you trying to accomplish? Make things worse for everyone?”

To Namjoon’s surprise, Yoongi bowed his head. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“I-it’s okay. I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

Yoongi dismissed his apology with a shake of his head. His tail had curled around his waist and he looked small in a way Namjoon had never seen him before. “You don’t know these people. They are all the same. They are the same as the ones behind the fence, paying to watch hybrids fight each other, kill each other. They are brutal and merciless and all they care about is themselves. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt, only their entertainment matters.”

His eyes were haunted and Namjoon was taking a step closer to him before he realized what he was doing. His scent was growing bitter, coffee going stale. Hoseok went to him, cupping his cheek and looking into his eyes.

“She can’t go there,” Yoongi said weakly.

“I don’t think any of us wants her going there,” Hoseok said. “But we can’t doubt her now. I don’t like it either but we have to trust her. I know. I know what you mean, I was right there with you. I see them almost every night, I can hear them laughing and shouting. But she won’t have to stay and they won’t send her in blind. The ring is gone and the auction will be gone too. That’s why she’s doing it.”

Hoseok nosed along Yoongi’s neck and the smaller hybrid trembled at the first touch before going still. Namjoon should have looked away but it was so very rare seeing Yoongi like this. Hoseok looked up at him and he nodded in silent understanding.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

His room was colder than it had been before he’d left. It might have been Jin’s imagination, a reflection of how he was feeling inside. It didn’t matter as he pulled the covers tighter around himself. His nest failing to provide what he needed. He had half a mind to get up and gather blankets and pillows and clothes, the ones that smelled like pack, and arrange them on his bed.

He had missed you, missed seeing you in the mornings and at night. Missed your touch and your kisses. You were forever busy but he selfishly wished that one day you wouldn’t have a million things to do, running after big projects and full-of-potential opportunities. There was a reason you were one of the most accomplished directors at such a young age and he could recognize that. But he didn’t have to like it.

He had been happy before Namjoon had called him. In two days you would be back in Los Angeles, this time without early mornings and late nights. This time you would stay, spend time with them without being chased by scripts and camera angles. That no longer mattered when tomorrow morning when he woke up you would be at the auction surrounded by devils in suits. How was he supposed to sleep with that knowledge?

Something inside him screamed to leave the room, curl himself around someone, and breath in their scent, leave his own behind. There was a part of him fighting the loneliness he was wrapping himself with and there was another part that was fighting tooth and nail to cling to it. He replayed Yoongi’s words over and over. If they found you out, you would never get out of the hotel. They would never see you again.

The air was stifling, filling his lungs and expanding, static and heavy.

A knock on the door cut through the suffocating silence, followed by another and another.

"Come in,” he called, lowering the blankets from over his head.

The door opened and Jimin and Jungkook walked in holding hands. They were dressed in their pajamas, Jimin’s white shorts and shirt with a large pink heart on it, and Jungkook’s purple set that was growing too small around his chest. Jimin was biting his lip, both of them looking troubled.

“Can we sleep here tonight?” Jimin asked quietly.

Jin sat up on the bed, surprised. Tonight, it would make more sense to sleep downstairs together close to Namjoon. The alpha’s presence had a calming effect on everyone on the pack, Jin didn’t know if it was because he was their alpha or because of Namjoon himself. That’s why he couldn’t understand why Jimin and Jungkook would seek him out when they were sharing a room with Namjoon.

“Of course,” Jin replied, regardless. If he could have their company then he was going to hold on to it tightly.

Jimin jumped on the bed, dragging Jungkook with him. The bunny hybrid was quick to get under the covers and glue himself to Jin’s side. Jungkook had grown comfortable in Jin’s room, he had been coming to him since the days he had been avoiding Jimin. Jin had done his best to give silent comfort to him. It had been a huge relief for everyone when they had made up, like the Castle became lighter and brighter again.

Jungkook hadn’t stopped coming to his room, often bringing Jimin along with him. Jin kept the moments close to his heart, sometimes complaining for the sake of masking how he gave in at their every demand.

Jimin laid on his other side, hooking his chin over Jin’s shoulder. “We should do something to surprise her when she comes back home. Buy a cake. And balloons.”

“We can invite Alice,” Jungkook added. “And her friends.”

“I think she’ll like that very much,” Jin said, ruffling Jungkook’s hair. It was falling freely over his eyes, following the shape of his neck and curling at the tips. “How are you going to pull that off in a day?”

Jimin’s fingers were feather-light as they climbed up Jin’s bare arms. “We have her credit card and Taylor’s phone number.”

“Is Taylor even here?”

“She is,” Jungkook said. “She said that she had to visit her when she came back. Or she could invite Taylor here.”

Jimin grinned. “See? I’ll call her tomorrow and ask her. We can put on music and bake something. Will you help us? She loves everything you make.”

“Because everything I make is delicious and made with love,” Jin said and Jimin snickered. He reached to his side swatting at him, the hit landing on his waist. “Are you doubting me?”

“I’m not, I’m not. You make everything with love. You must love us very much,” Jimin purred.

“It’s my fault I bother,” Jin said rather loudly over their chuckles. “Be quiet now, I need my beauty sleep.”

Strangely enough, they listened to him. The silence was less harsh, broken up by their breathing. Their scents were filling the room, so close to him, his lungs could overflow. It was the first time both of them would sleep in his room. Jimin preferred to go to your room the nights he wasn’t staying downstairs. He was the only one who had slept in your bedroom in the Castle and he did so consistently.

It must be nice sleeping next to you, having you close. Waking up and seeing you first, hair mussed from sleep and heavy eyes. Jin was too much of a coward to invite himself to your room. The possibility of asking him to leave, or worse letting him stay despite not wanting him there, was too much of a risk. One day maybe he would be braver.

The first knock could have been one of the weird sounds houses made for no reason. The second knock, Jin thought his mind was playing tricks on him.

Jimin made a sound from the back of his throat, brought back from the brink of sleep. “Hello?”

Namjoon peeked inside and Jin’s heart was suddenly preparing for the Olympics and aiming for the gold medal. “I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”

Jungkook, who was more awake than Jimin, shook his head. “A few minutes later you would have.”

The wolf hybrid smiled, shadows appearing under his dimples cast by the light of the corridor behind him and the fires on the balcony. “Not the worst timing then.” Jimin whined making grabby hands at him. “Someone is needy.”

He rounded the bed, kneeling next to Jimin, who tugged at his arm.

“He’s extremely sleepy,” Jin said.

“I can hear you,” Jimin mumbled, pulling Namjoon closer to him and nosing at his neck.

“I didn’t say anything bad,” Jin defended himself.

Namjoon massaged the back of Jimin’s neck, coaxing a stream of purrs out of him. “It’s okay. We are all tired. And a little needy. Bunny?”

Jungkook’s large doe eyes blinked at him. He reached for him intertwining their fingers, his body half laying on Jin. “Will you stay with us tonight?”

In the darkness, Namjoon’s eyes locked with Jin’s. It was his decision. Like Jin would ever turn him away.

“Come here,” he said, wrapping his hand around Namjoon’s bicep. Instead of laying on the bed, he leaned down pressing a kiss to Jin’s forehead. Right over his scent gland. Jin’s heart might win a gold medal after all. Next, Namjoon kissed Jungkook’s head, which had Jimin whining and asking for a kiss too. They fell asleep like that, entangled in each other like they were pieces of a whole pretending some of the pieces weren’t missing.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

You smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles of your emerald green dress, your hands gliding smoothly on the satin. You had only packed two evening dresses for the trip, one for each of the two events that weren’t considered part of the official schedule, one in Paris and the one in Seoul. The stylists couldn’t help you either because you couldn’t tell them what you needed the dress for. So you called for a car, linked your arm with John’s, and headed to the boutique the hotel manager had recommended. Going shopping for expensive dresses and jewelry wasn’t suspicious. On the contrary, it was expected of you.

Walking in, the boutique had come alive around you. A dozen assistants had rushed to help you and someone had notified the manager who appeared minuted after you arrived. You had gone along with it, looking at the dresses, tops, and pants they showed you. Deciding wasn’t hard, you didn’t care much what you would be wearing as long as it was appropriate. You chose a gold necklace to wear with the dress and another more casual outfit, paranoid of raising suspicions. John was laughing at you.

The plan was simple. Walk into the hotel and show the card at the reception or to whoever looked the most likely to be part of the auction. That was the part that concerned you the most, you wouldn’t put it past you to mistake who you should give the card to. John would join you as your bodyguard and you would demand that he stay with you even if they didn’t let him. They would give in, Yujin assured you. John was almost as recognizable as you. Yujin had offered to ask an officer to accompany you but it was very likely that they knew John’s face and they would suspect something if he wasn’t the one with you.

You weren’t putting only yourself in danger but John too. He had made it very clear that he wouldn’t let you go to the auction. Years ago, before your career had reached the heights it had now, John had promised your parents he would protect you like you were his daughter. He had and he continued to do so.

“Leave that dress alone, it’s fine,” John said, his reflection appearing behind you in the floor mirror. He was wearing a simple black tuxedo without a tie, which emphasized his bulging muscles.

You pulled your hands away from it, already missing having something to occupy yourself with. “I’m afraid I’ll be overdressed. Or under-dressed. I don’t know the dress code for these things. I guess it’s similar to the events my mother organizes. If it isn’t, well… How high are the chances that it’s just a casual thing?”

“Very low, given that it’s taking place in one of the most luxurious and over the top hotels in South Korea. And I doubt you will be under-dressed in this dress.”

You stopped yourself from going back to smoothing down the fabric. You had chosen this dress specifically for the reason that it wouldn’t look out of place in a variety of events. It didn’t have a ton of embellishments but it was eye-catching in its own way, hugging your frame and spilling on the floor.

You turned around facing John. “Did you call back home?” you asked.

“I did, a few hours ago. My monkey is sending you her love,” he said.

“I will cherish it very much. You should have told her I’m sending her my love too.”

John smiled. “She doesn’t need me to tell her. She’s already planning her next visit to your house. This time we’re going to play Taboo and she wants to be on Jungkook’s team. She’s very confident they’ll win.”

You went to the dresser, picking up your purse. “Jungkook is her favorite. I think she likes him more than me now and I’m offended. All it took was one morning. I’ve been spoiling her since she was born.”

“Unfortunately,” John said.

He had been asking you not to buy too many expensive things for his daughter and listening to her every whim. But it was hard when you were dealing with someone as cute as Alice. To her credit, she hadn’t let anything get to her head. The only notable incident was a couple of years ago. she had bragged to her classmates that she was friends with you and her teacher had called John’s wife telling her that her daughter shouldn’t be lying. She had to explain to the teacher that no, her daughter wasn’t lying. Her father was your bodyguard and Alice had known you all her life.

You had laughed so hard you couldn’t breathe when John told you.

“It’s almost time. Did you call everyone?” John asked, checking his watch.

You closed your purse after making sure everything you would need was there. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Earlier, you had called Taylor and your aunt. You hadn’t told them the truth of where you were going. It was dangerous information and they would be worried out of their mind if they knew. They would try to change your mind and it was too late for that. It was way too late in Los Angeles so you didn’t call Zayn. The only reason you had called Taylor was that she had texted you and you knew she was awake.

You had been itching to call back home too but by the time you had finished talking with Yujin and being rushed around the police station, it was too late. It was for the best. You would call them when you were successfully out of there.

“Then we should be going,” John said. He placed his hand on the doorknob but didn’t move to open the door. “Everything will be alright.”

“I know,” you said, trying to appear confident. There was no point really, John could see right through you.

John let go of the doorknob, placing a hand on your shoulder. “I will be right there with you every step of the way. We’ll be out before the police arrive and before you know it we will be back with our families. I’ll be by your side all the time. If it gets too much, tell me. We’ll figure something out.”

You wrapped your arms around him, holding him tightly. He didn’t hesitate to wrap you up in a hug making you feel like a kid again. “There is no one else I would rather have with me tonight. You were always there, we have faced everything together. I don’t know where I would be if you didn’t have my back.”

Your parents had been out of the picture since you were a kid and your aunt was kilometers away. John was the one driving you to University every day, delivering coffee and food during your exams when you were too absorbed in your textbooks, buying donuts and cake to celebrate the end of your exams. He had been there for your graduation, sitting next to his wife taking pictures. They were the only ones there for you, your aunt had broken her leg and she had been unable to fly to Los Angeles.

And you had been there at his important moments too. At the hospital, sitting in the waiting room for two hours while his wife was giving birth. They had called you inside and you would never forget Alice, wrapped up in a yellow blanket, her red chubby cheeks, and starry eyes. You had been afraid of holding her, fearing that you would drop her, but John had simply smiled tear tracks still visible on his face and gently placed her in your arms.

John was everything your parents had failed to be. He was the reason you were brave enough to follow through with this plan and not book an early flight to Los Angeles.

You stayed like that for a few moments, holding each other, before John pulled back, glancing at his watch. “We have to get going. Ready to play hero one more time?”

“It’s the last time. It isn’t good for my health.”

In the car, you climbed into the passenger seat. John was driving guided by a GPS. You had privately rented a car instead of hiring a driver, the fewer people knowing about where you were going the better. You looked outside the window at the buildings, some stores were closing for the night while most restaurants were bustling with life. Neon signs, dark parks, and people returning home. Fragments of life.

You imagined what life each person could lead. Where they came from, what their job was, their relationship with their loved ones. You built a story for them in your head, came up with their flaws and virtues. It was something a professor at your university had taught you. Create a life for people you see in the streets, in coffee shops. Create a story. You had been surprised to find out that it actually worked and the characters in your stories breathed and came to life, better and better.

It was a well-known fact that time moved faster when you were dreading what was about to come and distractions couldn’t do much.

John parked the car, and distracted as you were he opened your door before you could. The hotel was designed like a western castle, towers reaching eagerly towards the sky. It screamed extravagance and luxury, heaven for the ones who wished to brandish their wealth and social status. You walked through the front garden, passing trees and bushes shaped like animals and modern-art sculptures. It reminded you of Levens Hall in England, a garden spanning 10 acres featuring trees and bushes turned into art.

Your black heels clanked against the marble floor of the lobby as you let the mask fall over your face for the night. Blood red couches and armchairs decorated the large room and chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling with dozens of glass teardrops frozen in the air. A few people sporting the latest fashion trends were sitting on the couches, flipping through magazines. A family of five and a couple were in front of the reception desk talking to the receptionists.

Most eyes turned to you when you walked inside, most likely because of your dress. Initially. Some of them might recognize you if they looked long enough. The woman not occupied behind the desk bowed to you. Her black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, not a hair out of place, and she was wearing a black vest over a white dress shirt and black pants.

“Welcome,” she greeted you warmly. “What can I help you with?”

“I have been invited by some friends for a special occasion,” you said, handing her the pink card. You didn’t know what else to do. No one in the room seemed to be there specifically for the auction. Going to the reception desk was the most logical way to proceed.

The woman inspected the card then reached for her phone, expression unchanging. “Can I have a name?” You gave her your name and her eyes lit up in recognition. “Please wait for a moment, miss. Someone will be here shortly to escort you to the event.”

You thanked her and stepped to the side. You didn’t have to wait for long, a man with a well-kept beard appeared and led you through a few rooms and down a grand marble staircase. Hiding your calculations behind awe, you memorized every room and every turn, compiling the list of directions you would give to Yujin.

The way to the auction wasn’t dark and eerie, hungrily eating away the light like movies would have you believe. It made sense that it wasn’t. This auction wasn’t some sleazy event organized by someone who only cared about money and had a fondness for tunnels. This was a high class, not too different from the galas and balls your parents organized and were invited to.

Behind you, you spotted a few more people following you guided by another man wearing the hotel uniform. Two women, one of them carrying a giant fan painted in blues and purples, and a man. They were talking and laughing, a stark contrast to how you were feeling. This wasn’t anything more to them than a special opportunity to watch a few rare-breed hybrids and maybe buy one. They had no idea that if you did your job correctly, the police would be swarming the place before the auction was finished. You would have liked to watch their laughter disappear.

A large corridor was at the end of the staircase. Expensive paintings of green landscapes in golden frames decorated the cream-colored walls. Art of many different styles from many different painters. Your destination was in front of you. The double doors, white with veins of gold running through them in a way that looked both random and intentional, were thrown open. Inside, you could see women in long dresses and men in tuxedos mingling under the chandeliers. Soft music was playing from the speakers, the kind that could be mistaken for classical but wasn’t.

A tall man, that reminded you of a British actor you had worked with in the past, was standing next to the door. He bowed, his graying hair styled in a quiff wasn’t affected by gravity.

“May I have your names?” he asked in a smooth voice that could belong in a documentary. You told him your name and he searched through the list in his hand. “You can go right in, miss. But I can’t find the gentleman’s name. I will have to-”

“He’s her bodyguard,” a familiar voice intervened. You were sure you didn’t manage to conceal your surprise because there, walking towards you, was the actor who had invited you and the cast and crew of Paper Hearts to his apartment. Hyungjoon, you reminded yourself. He was dressed much in the same way as he had been last night, eyecatching in a red suit tailored snugly to his body. “Forgive me for neglecting to add his name to the list, it slipped my mind amidst the preparations. I am so glad you could make it, your presence is an honor to me. You look as beautiful as a forest nymph.”

“Thank you. I am pleased to be here,” you said plastering a smile to your face and placing your hand on the arm he was offering. “I admit I am surprised to see you. I didn’t know you were interested in hybrids. Are you the brilliant mind behind this?”

He sent you a dazzling smile. “I wouldn’t say that exactly, I try to stay humble after all, but I did organize everything. I had some help along the way but everything you see is mostly me. I had this vision for years and it’s finally come true.”

“You must feel very proud.”

Something was crawling in the back of your neck but you ignored it. This was the time to act. This conversation could determine everything. You weren’t an actor but you had been working with actors for a decade, advising them and instructing them. Pretending had become second nature to you when you were with your parents.

“I am,” he said. “You must be very familiar with the feeling after achieving something grand. Of course, there are my movies and dramas too but this… I have been intrigued by hybrids since I first heard of them. I couldn’t believe that we as people have managed to create something new, something alive, and determine its characteristics. Decide their gender, their breed. It’s incredible, inspiring.”

“I agree, it’s fascinating how far science has come.” And terrifying. “Do you have any hybrids yourself?” you asked.

He nodded. “I have two. I wanted more, but hybrids can be very demanding. Time-consuming. You must know that better than me. I got one as soon as I started making money from my films. It was such a joy. That was when I knew I made it.”

You had reached the buffet, long tables covered with red cloths. Floral centerpieces of various white flowers were sitting a few feet apart from each other, diamonds -real or fake you weren’t sure- dangled from some of them. The hors d'oeuvres were served in porcelain plates, you could recognize most of them but there were a few you had never seen before.

“I would recommend the caviar and crème fraîche tartlets, they are my favorites. Or the brussel sprouts with bacon jam if you are in the mood for something a little unconventional,” he said. A few people around you were looking at you, their attempts at being subtle were failing.

You picked up one of the tarts he had recommended. He was right, it was delicious.

“The taste is exquisite. My compliments to the chef,” you said.

“He is one of the top in Korea, a personal friend. He will be ecstatic to know you liked them. You must have dined in the most exquisite restaurants all around the world.”

“Not as much as someone would expect. I am usually very busy when I travel, we eat on set or wherever it’s the most convenient. But I have been fortunate enough to eat at a few incredible places.”

You surveyed the room from a new angle. A stage was set up against one of the walls and chairs were arranged in neat lines in front of it. There was a closed door close to it and you guessed that they would bring out the hybrids from there. You searched for John, finding him a few meters behind you. Your eyes met and a shot of courage ran through you.

“But this is magnificent,” you said, pretending to look around in awe. “How long did this take to plan? The food and the decorations… everything is beautiful.”

“And we haven’t reached the best part yet,” Hyungjoon bragged, pleased. You wanted to wipe the self-satisfied smile off his pretty face. “Excuse me,” he stopped a server taking two glasses of champagne from the tray he was carrying. “A drink for the lady. To a wonderful night.”

You clinked your glasses together and you took a sip. As tempting as it was to drink to relax, you were too afraid of your tongue loosening, therefore, increasing the chances of mistakes. It was expensive champagne, exported from Paris according to your host, but it was hard to appreciate it when your heart was in your throat. Champagne was losing its appeal the more galas and balls you attended.

Hyungjoon gulped down half of his glass. “I have been planning for this for a year. I didn’t do it all by myself though. I have some connections and they helped me move forward with this. There was a man, a great man who had been collecting rare hybrids, putting together a few casual auctions in the past. I persuaded him to sell them to me, he was growing old and he was looking for a quiet life. Such beautiful creatures deserve to find a home. They deserve to be displayed.”

Displayed like they are pieces of decor or paintings. Without feelings or thoughts. Nothing more than pretty things for people to gawk at.

“I really can’t wait for the main event, I can be a little impatient sometimes. I have a flight to Los Angeles tomorrow morning and I might have to leave early.” Yujin had told you to slip your early flight casually into conversations so it wouldn’t look suspicious when you left. No one could question you because it was the truth.

“It’s a pity you won’t spend more time here. I could show you some of the most beautiful places in Seoul,” he said. Like you would ever spend any more time with him than what was necessary. “But worry not, we will begin shortly. I believe you will fall in love with our collection. All of them are the rarest of breeds and absolutely stunning. They have been trained by some of the best. You didn’t tell me, are you looking for a new one or are you here for the show?”

Rage and disgust simmered underneath your skin in white-hot heat. The smile didn’t slip from your face. “I don’t rule anything out. I can’t say I am actively looking for a new one, the ones at home are enough for me, but if I see one that I can’t resist… Well, we’ll see then.”

Hyungjoon opened his mouth to speak but a Korean woman with long straight black hair walked up to you. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I am a very big fan of your work and I couldn’t miss the chance to speak to you.”

The host didn’t seem to mind that you had been interrupted instead jumping in on the conversation. More introductions followed. Everyone wanted to speak to you and compliment your work. It was so much like your mother’s gala it was uncomfortable. In a twisted way, they were one and the same with one stark difference, one was illegal. But hidden underneath, they were both about the same thing. Standing. Power.

You had failed to understand that when you had been younger, blinded by the glamor and the partial happiness at seeing your parents. It was always partial. Hissing underneath, there were the less pleasant feelings, ones you weren’t proud of and not very keen on exploring. The galas coaxed them out until they were a jumbled mess of glowing embers and sharp stones.

The man with the mustache greeted you as well. He was a close friend of Hyungjoon. This time you cataloged his name. Victor. You wouldn’t be forgetting it any time soon.

A man in a white suit climbed on stage and stood behind the podium. Speaking into the microphone, he asked for everyone to take a seat. The main attraction was about to begin.

Hyungjoon beamed. “It’s finally time. I haven’t felt like this since I first saw myself on the TV.” He chuckled, offering his arm to you again. "You must think I am overreacting but I have been dreaming of this for too long. It would be an honor if you would sit next to me to watch the show."

"Of course, it would be my pleasure,” you said. It would also be your pleasure to kick his teeth in.

He led you to the middle of the front row and you took the seat to his right. He called for John to sit next to you, you figured he really wanted to impress you. There must be a lot of important people here but not many bodyguards. It was true that they could blend in with the crowd but there was a certain air of arrogance most of the people here possessed that was hard to fake. Yours was well-practiced and it wouldn’t have been as effective as it was if a small part of it wasn’t genuine.

“You aren’t going to do the presentation?” you asked Hyungjoon.

“I have a welcoming speech prepared. Not anything too long don’t worry, I won’t leave you for long. Joshua will do the rest, he has been in the hybrid business much longer than me and he has trained many hybrids. He has overseen the training process and the last preparations for the hybrids you will see tonight. He can do the job better than I could. And as much as I enjoy theatrics, I would rather sit and watch the fruits of my labor.”

Sitting there in his red designer suit, you could see that he was too full of himself. He didn’t seem like the person who would put any more work in other than talking to a few people and choosing the colors of the decorations and the food. You might have been wrong but you doubted it. In your life, you had met a lot of people like him and they were true nightmares to work with. They put up a show and fooled everyone into thinking they were giving their all when in reality they barely raised their little fingers.

“I have something special prepared for you,” he whispered in your ear. You had to stop yourself from pushing him away. His breath trickled down your neck like sticky goo. “A pretty boy, just the way you like them. I arranged for him to be one of the first ones in the show so you won’t miss him because of your flight.”

“That’s very thoughtful,” you said, fighting the bile rising in the back of your throat.

Regardless of whether the police succeeded in capturing them, you should leave a good impression so no suspicions would fall on you in the future. You remained on your best behavior, you couldn’t afford to slip now.

The lights dimmed and you were handed a plaque with a number. One. Hyungjoon must have arranged that as well. He got up and headed to the stage to the sound of modest applause. His speech wasn’t anything extraordinary, he had been honest when he’d told you it wouldn’t be long. It was mainly about the effort he had to put into the auction and his love of hybrids. He went on about his joy at getting his first hybrid and how everyone in the audience deserved a well-trained and beautiful rare hybrid that would listen to them and keep them company.

You clapped as he climbed down the stairs, it was a weak sound. He winked at you before taking his seat and turning his attention to the stage.

The first hybrid was brought out, wrapped in fine black silk hugging her curves and spilling to the floor. Large slits on both sides exposed her legs. A red panda, Joshua announced proudly. She couldn’t be any older than fifteen. Her red hair was coiled into a crown around her head sprinkled with gold glitter. The makeup and the smoky eye made her look older but you weren’t deceived. And that wasn’t their intention because her age was one of the first things Joshua shared.

Fourteen. You had been right.

He listed her qualities like he was talking about a too expensive pet that could do a lot of tricks. The demonstration part followed. He ordered her to kneel, sit, stay while he boasted about how well-trained she was. In the end, he ordered her to dance. And she did, floating around the stage twirling and jumping. She was captivating. The applause this time was much louder and more enthusiastic.

The whole time her eyes were cast to the floor. She only raised her head once when Joshua ordered her to so the clients could look at her face and judge how much her beauty was worth.

You watched the bidding process with bated breath. They were enraptured by her, the price rising and rising. A quarter of the guests were bidding for her. The number grew smaller as the price grew higher until two men were going back and forth half a million at a time. Final price; nine million dollars, going to the man with the mustache.

She was one of the hybrids you couldn’t save. Your exit shouldn’t be too early, bidding on the second or third hybrid would be more appropriate. Yet the guilt was wrapping around your throat and seeping into your bones. A man gripped the arm of the girl and pulled her backstage, Victor followed them disappearing through the door. He wouldn’t escape you now that you had learned his name. He wouldn’t get away.

The second hybrid followed. A boy dressed in a see-through white shirt and form-fitting white pants. His lips were tinted red. Polar bear hybrid. Twelve.

You kept your composure. Anyone looking at you would see the perfect picture of control, calm with a tiny tilt of your lips, suggesting you were enjoying yourself. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. You glanced at John. He was the perfect image of a bodyguard, expressionless and uninterested. An image crafted over a lifetime of guarding ‘important’ people.

Hyungjoon leaned closer to you during the bidding. “He’s up next,” he said. “I would have put him up first but I wanted you to enjoy at least a little bit of the show. And see our two diamonds. I thought they might appeal to you.”

“They were surely lovely but not my type,” you said.

“I figured,” he said, smirking. “But worry not, the next one will be perfect for you. And if he isn’t, I promise I won’t take it personally. We have a lot more waiting for you. But if he is, I couldn’t help but feel a little smug.”

Smiling sharply, you said, “You will be welcome to.”

The hybrid went to a middle-aged woman wearing what looked like every jewelry piece a shop had to offer. Like the first one, they went through the door next to the stage.

Taking advantage of the time Hyungjoon had been bragging and businessmen, actors, and singers were introducing themselves to you, you had surveyed the space. The double doors and the door next to the stage were the only exits you had spotted unless there was a secret opening on the wall, which wasn’t as likely in real life as it was in movies. This meant that if you bought a hybrid, you would know where both doors led and how they were accessed.

You cataloged anything that might be of interest to the police, like the faces of the hotel staff that knew about the auction and the names of the guests you had met. Normally, you weren’t good with names but a purpose and a little motivation could go a long way.

One of the most important things that you had looked for was shotguns. There were no burly men carrying shotguns at the entrance or along the walls like in some of the wildest images your anxious mind had conjured up. There might be some people carrying concealed guns but they weren’t the large death machines Yujin had been worried about.

Lost in your head like you often were, you would have missed the next hybrid being brought to the stage if Hyungjoon hadn’t tapped your arm. Looking at the stage, your breath caught in your throat. Hyungjoon’s smile widened at your reaction. You scolded yourself for not having better control and for feeling anything at all other than disgust.

The hybrid walking on stage belonged in paintings hanging in museums, the artist mixing colors on his palette for hours until he could perfect the gold for his skin and ebony of his hair with its red undertones. He moved fluidly, the red and orange sheer silks swaying like flames around him failing to conceal anything other than his most private parts. Thin golden chains decorated his chest and arms and heavy bracelets were secured around his wrists and ankles. A different kind of handcuffs.

“Next up we have a South China Tiger hybrid, a critically endangered subspecies, extinct in the wild. In front of you, you are seeing the only success story of combining its genetic information with human DNA. The only South China Tiger hybrid, one of a kind. You won’t find one anywhere else,” he said, extending his arm theatrically towards the hybrid standing still in the middle of the stage. “His name is Taehyung and he is nineteen years old.”

“He is a little older than what most people prefer but he is in the age range you’re looking for, isn’t he?” Hyungjoon asked quietly while Joshua went on with his description.

You nodded.

Younger hybrids were more sought after, easier to mold and manipulate. It was no wonder that people who looked for hybrids at auctions preferred them. They wouldn’t realize they weren’t treated right if that’s all they knew. They wouldn’t know what was right and what was wrong.

“His training is excellent, obeying every order without question. He knows all the rules of hybrid etiquette, even the most obscure ones,” Joshua continued. “Taehyung, raise your head.”

The hybrid instantly obeyed. There were a couple of gasps. A woman in the row behind you opened her fan and fanned herself. Quite dramatic but you couldn’t blame her. His beauty was hard to describe, if there was one word you would use it would be ethereal. His eyelids were painted gold and his hair framed his face perfectly, curling at the tips and brushing his shoulder. His tiger ears and tail were as still as he was.

“Sit,” Joshua ordered. Taehyung fell to his knees, hands limp at his sides bowing his head. “Lay down. On your back.”

Taehyung did. He listened to every command. Roll over. Show your neck. You couldn’t look at him, it was too painful. But at the same time, you couldn’t look away. You were trapped in a battle with yourself and had no way to win.

You couldn’t wait until Hyungjoon’s smugness was wiped from his face in blue and red.

“We’re starting at five hundred thousand dollars,” Joshua said. “Can I have seven hundred and fifty?” A man in a black suit that blended in with everyone else raised his plaque. “Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars now. Seven hundred and fifty. Give me one million.” Another plaque raised by a man in his late fifties with a large bald spot that he was trying to conceal with hair from both sides of his head. He was staring at the hybrid hungrily, the way a wolf looks at sheep. “One million dollars now.”

You raised your plaque. “One point five million.”

You didn’t turn to look at Hyungjoon, his obvious satisfaction was rolling in waves.

“One point five million dollars, one point five million now. Do I hear two million?”

“Two million,” the first man called.

“Two million dollars now, two million dollars. Give me two million point five.”

Raising your plaque, you called, “Three million.”

Joshua leaned forward as if in anticipation, his forearms resting on the podium. “At three million dollars now.”

Another plaque raised. “Four million.”

“Four million dollars-”

“Five million dollars,” you called.

The bald man was looking at you. You could recognize a challenge when you saw it. You ignored him and turned your gaze to the stage. The hybrid was on his knees unmoving, not giving any indication of what he was feeling about being bidden on.

“Five million dollars now, five million dollars. Give me six million.”

“Six million,” the bald man said. His number was thirteen. You noticed he was alone, the man and woman standing next to him didn’t seem to know him. The ones alone could be the most dangerous.

You wouldn’t give him the pleasure. You could do this all day.

“Six million dollars, six million now.”

The echoes of the microphone whistled in your ears. You had bought a Castle to live in, a few million dollars were nothing when someone’s life was in your hands.

“Eight million.”

“Nine million.”

“Ten million.”

The numbers rose. The worth of someone’s life counted in millions. A sick game. And you weren’t going to lose.

You raised your plaque. “Fifteen million.”

The crowd was suddenly quiet, no whispers of who was going to get him, no gossip. The bald man’s face fell, a frown taking over. Joshua’s eyes widened before a wide smile stretched to his ears. “Fifteen million dollars. At fifteen million dollars. Going once, going twice.” No one countered your offer. “Sold to the beautiful lady at number one. Congratulations!”

Before you could get up, Hyungjoon whistled. “Now I feel very smug. I was sure you would love him but I didn’t imagine you would love him that much,” he said.

“I didn’t imagine that either.” John stood up and you knew it was time to leave. “Excuse me for rushing this but I have to get going. And take my purchase home.”

He came closer and you extended your hand. You weren’t confident that you wouldn’t strangle him if he went for a hug.

However, he didn’t shake your hand but brought it to his mouth and kissed it. “Until next time, my dear. The evening was lovely in your company.”

“Until next time,” you repeated.

You turned around and didn’t look back. They were talking about you, men and women glancing at you and whispering behind their hands. You could guess what they were saying, paraphrasing what the magazines published. For the first time, you were glad. No one was going to doubt you that way.

The door led to a small corridor that was lacking the luxuries of the one you had walked through to get to the ballroom. It was neat and clean with hidden ceiling lights and beige walls. You came across a couple more doors along the way. One of them was opened and a man dragged a hybrid out, another following behind. They were talking but they paused when they saw you, nodding their heads in acknowledgment.

Every sound was too loud. Your heels on the tiles. John’s steps. The soft buzz of electricity. Your heartbeat.

The exchange happened quickly in a large room similar to an office. Oak desk and shelves. You transferred the amount to the account they instructed you to. The woman behind the desk assured you that the money couldn’t be traced and if anything happened, they had cover stories ready. Her ponytail swished behind her as she talked, long nails tapping on the keyboard.

“He’s all yours,” she said motioning to Taehyung standing at a corner of the room. “Your car will be waiting for you outside. Have fun.” Her white teeth caught the light. Sharks, you thought.

Another corridor, this one smaller than the other two, and you were outside. The door closed behind you, leaving no trace of its existence. Correction, no obvious trace. The lines at the door’s edges on the brick wall were almost invisible in the dark but they were there.

“We are no longer at the hotel,” John said. “Look.”

The hotel was standing proudly across the garden, its lights shining through the night. Every day was a celebration for the ones staying there.

It was the perfect place for the auction with the perfect way out. The long corridors extended underneath the garden to the two-story building you were currently standing next to. A coffee shop during the day and conveniently closed during the night, a good distance away from any other establishment. No one would see you leaving.

“Let’s go,” you said. You were trembling, a mess of adrenaline, fear, and rage.

The wind had picked up. Behind you, the strips of silk Taehyung was still wearing were billowing around him. John took off his jacket and threw it over the hybrid’s shoulders. Taehyung didn’t react keeping his head lowered.

Your car was parked a few meters away. Someone from the auction must have driven it here to make your departure easier. John went to the driver’s seat and you climbed in the back, unwilling to leave Taehyung alone although he might not want you there. John turned the keys and the car came to life. He didn’t waste any time before driving off.

Air could finally reach your lungs. In the dim lights of the car, the pine scent from the tree-shaped air freshener tickling your nose, relief sweeter than ever before washed over you. You were out. You got out. Hopefully without raising any alarms. This night could have gone wrong in so many ways. You could have said the wrong thing, reacted the wrong way to Hyungjoon’s much-anticipated show. You could have doomed yourself and the hybrids trapped in there.

Calm down. Calm down and focus. You could lose it when you arrived at the hotel. When your part was over.

Taehyung had crossed his arms in his lap, taking up very little space in the car by making himself smaller. John’s jacket was enormous on him, blanketing his upper body. His black hair was falling in front of his face, concealing his features from your view.

You bent your head to catch his gaze but he wouldn’t look straight at you. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t reply. Of course, he wasn’t okay. What a stupid question to ask. But you didn’t have any other questions. This was a situation you weren’t prepared for. You had thought of everything that could happen at the auction, how you would react, what you would say. You had replayed thousands of scenarios in your head, coming up with answers to potential questions and practicing your smiles.

You hadn’t prepared yourself for the aftermath.

“Do you want anything? We’re going to the hotel I’m staying at now, is that alright?”

No reaction. You couldn’t get a read of him, his face carefully blank.

“He might not speak English,” John said, not taking his eyes off the road.

You face-palmed. You should have thought of that. “Of course, of course. What do we do now? Do we get a translator?”

You watched John raise an eyebrow through the rearview mirror. “Right now?”

“Right, right. Not right now.” You considered it for a moment. “Wait, Hoseok speaks Korean. He grew up here.”

Korean was Hoseok’s first language. He had taught you how to say a couple of words like hello and thank you before you had come to Korea. The language had rolled off his tongue in a foreign melody and you had been eager to listen more of it.

But Taehyung could understand Joshua’s orders and all of them had been in English. Maybe that was all the English he knew.

“Don’t you have someone to call?” he asked.

You fumbled with your purse. Opening it and closing it again. “I have but…”

“But?”

Perhaps you were paranoid. Perhaps you were already losing it. But you couldn’t be too careful. Someone else had driven the car while you had been at the auction. Which meant that someone had plenty of time to install a spy cam or a mic and could be listening in on your conversation. The police procedural shows you had watched had taught you that you had to always be on your guard. You couldn’t risk it now that you had got this far.

“Can we please stop somewhere? I would like to order some late-night takeout and get some air.”

John glanced at you through the mirror. “I saw a fast food place on our way. It isn’t far, we can stop there.”

You relaxed resting your back on the seat. John never doubted you, he could tell when he should ask questions and when to listen to you and wait.

He parked the car at the side of a quiet street close to a dark park. There were no people around, it was a part of the city that was dead at night. No open shops, restaurants, or clubs. No reasons to walk this street at this hour. John didn’t let you go out alone. More dangers lurked in empty streets than crowded squares. He got out of the car and locked it. The lights winked out of existence, Taehyung blurring into a shadow at the window. Locking the car was a caution both to prevent anyone from entering and Taehyung from running away. He was safer with you than running in the city with no destination.

You called Yujin, speaking to her at a low volume. In the silence, anything else would attract attention. From whom, that was up for debate. Long shadows and dark alleys hid cunning men and women.

The police had surrounded the hotel and Yujin send policemen to the coffee shop at your word. Soon they would charge in. A warrant had been granted and no one could stop them or question them. They would arrest everyone in the room and free the hybrids. You hoped your description of the way in wouldn’t let them down.

“Thank you,” Yujin said before ending the call. “Your help was invaluable. Without you, this operation wouldn’t have got off the ground. We will speak more after this is over. ”

You clutched your phone in your hand. John uncrossed his arms, ready to catch you when you slammed on him.

“We did it,” you whispered in disbelief.

“We did.” He squeezed you once with just enough force to ground you.

It was almost over. Later, you would go to the precinct to identify Hyungjoon and confirm his role in the auction. But that was hours away.

Now, your priority was Taehyung.

Please comment and reblog it motivates me to keep writing

#castlebangtan #bts #bts hybrid au #bts x reader #namjoon x reader #jimin x reader #jungkook x reader #hoseok x reader #seokjin x reader #taehyung x reader #yoongi x reader #poly!bts #poly!bts x reader #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #bts angst #bts hurt/comfort

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neoculturetravesty · 4 years ago

Text

He’s never called her pretty

Image taken from here.

Pairing: Doyoung x Florist!Reader Genre: Angst, Romance, Fluff Warnings: Might have dropped a couple of f bombs. Word Count: 4982

Summary: Doyoung has a cruel realization that being an idol has hindered him from being the best boyfriend to you.

A/N: This is my first fic ever, and I can’t really believe I’m doing this. But inspiration hit me and I had to let it all out. Let me know what you think!

“Has he ever even told you you’re pretty?” Doyoung hears through the curtains, and he knows he’s walked in on something he shouldn’t have. He doesn't know how he ended up here but he certainly can’t reveal himself now. He knows he shouldn’t be here but a pressing instinct tells him that the conversation concerns him and suddenly, he’s found himself rooted to the spot, unable to move his feet, sinfully listening in.

Moments ago, he had walked into the venue and for a while, he had just stopped and stared. He had known his girlfriend was talented, but watching her work for the very first time with his own two eyes took his breath away. People would talk about your skills all the time, but somehow, it never registered in his mind. He felt a bout of shame as he realized this. You weren’t just a florist, it seemed. You were an artist, because what Doyoung saw in front of him was unlike anything he had ever seen. That’s why people talked about you.

When an unassuming usher walked up to him and asked if he was a guest, all he could manage was “I’m looking for Y/N.” He had to remind himself that he was here to surprise you and he needed to make himself less conspicuous before someone recognized him. The fact that he was ogling at the decor whilst clutching onto a bouquet of red tulips didn’t help the matter. So he had tried to follow the usher’s instructions as best he could to find you. That’s how he found himself here, hidden behind a veil without meaning to be hidden.

It felt perverse, the fact that he was not letting his presence be known, but curiosity had him unable to walk away. He listened in.

“Well… not in so many words.” Doyoung feels his stomach drop before he hears the reply to the cruel question, because the voice that answered it was a voice that he had memorized perfectly in every part of his mind. It was yours.

He could hear you from miles away, that’s how attuned his ears were to the sound of your voice. He knew it was you that answered that foul question, as much as he stood in that moment, hoping it wasn’t because these were not the words he had ever expected to hear from you.

“How long have you guys been together, again?” He hears another pestering, unkind voice and his heart races.

“Not long, maybe about 5 months?” your voice is meek, Doyoung can sense your discomfort through the thin veil that hides him.

“Have you met his parents?” It’s a different voice this time, but this one is just as unkind. Doyoung wants to move, to say something but he’s not supposed to be here in the first place, and truth be told, he wants to remain hidden because he wants to know.

“Well, no. Not yet. They don’t live here, so not yet.” He can tell you’re cornered, you’re uncomfortable, you want to leave and you don’t have to say the words for Doyoung to know exactly how you feel.

“How about his brother?”

“Well, they’re both really busy, he’s just… never had a chance I guess.” Now, he should do it now. Doyoung should barge in and take you away from this. Who are these women anyway to be cornering you with such invasive questions?

“So you’re saying in the 5 months you’ve been together, he’s kept you a secret… even from his family.” A secret? He hasn’t kept you a secret, he’s just been waiting for the perfect time.

“I don’t think I’m a secret.” Doyoung’s heart leaps in his chest and he suddenly feels hopeful because you’ve said the words as if you heard his thoughts.

“Y/N… I don’t know how to tell you this, but I think he’s going to break up with you.” the unkind voice declares with a tone laced with feigned pity. It makes Doyoung sick.

“Yeah, Sooji is right. Y/N, sweetheart… men don’t wait that long if they’re in it for the long run.”

There is a shuffling of feet and then the first voice says “I’m so sorry, Y/N, but it would be better this way I think. I know men like him. He’s had his fun so now you’re a liability. I think he’s going to cut you off sooner rather than later.”

Doyoung hears the ruffling of clothes and more shuffling of feet before it all turns silent. Yet, he finds himself unmoving, his mind racing, his body still. He notices that he’s holding onto the red tulips a bit too tight. Red tulips. ‘You are my perfect love,’ that’s what he remembers you teaching him about them.

So why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you defend him?

Doyoung can’t explain it, but all he feels in this moment is anger and betrayal. Why did you let those women talk about him like that? To talk about the two of you like that? Why didn’t you speak up and tell them to keep their noses out of your business? Why didn’t you tell them to knock it off because they don’t know about you, about how the two of you were together? Unless…

Unless you believed them.

Had he ever told you that you were pretty? Doyoung thinks, really thinks about it. He thinks back to your first date. You had closed your flower shop early for him, to protect him from prying eyes and unwanted camera lenses. You had turned the blinds on the windows down and showed Doyoung your creations. You had worn a white sundress with your hair down and when you had smiled up at him from behind the sunflowers, Doyoung had actually found himself a loss for words. He had never felt that before, the feeling of losing his speech because a girl had actually taken his breath away, simply by smiling at him. He remembered stupidly wondering if he had fallen in love at that moment or if you were really just that beautiful that you turned his brain to mush. Had he told you that he thought you were pretty then? No, he hadn’t. Not in so many words, your answer replays in his mind with a sting.

But did you want to hear it? Doyoung hadn’t thought so. You were far beyond the need for meaningless expressions, he had presumed. It’s why he was drawn to you. Being with you was as easy as breathing. You were okay about the fact that the two of you couldn’t go on dates… or proper dates, in the way real people did. You always seemed comfortable enough sitting next to him on the couch as you lazily browsed through Netflix. You were never in a mood when Doyoung forgot to text you back because he was in the studio, and you always met him with warmth even as you waited because his practice went on for a bit too long. Doyoung didn’t think you were the kind who’d wait around for her boyfriend to tell her she was pretty.

‘Of course she wanted to hear it,’ Doyoung thinks in a moment of crippling realization. He was a fool. What woman wouldn’t want her boyfriend to tell her she was pretty! What woman wouldn’t want her boyfriend to take her on dates, on proper dates where she could doll up and be pampered? What woman wouldn’t want a boyfriend she could take pictures with and post them for the world to see? He was a fool. He had taken your kindness to mean something else. Comfort. Contentment. Complacence. He was a fool.

And now these women had convinced you that he wasn’t interested in you. And you had believed them. Why else would you have fallen silent? Truth be told, he hadn’t done much to show you what you meant to him. Now that he looks back, it was always you putting in the effort. He was a fool. And now here he was. Hidden quite literally behind a curtain in a room he wasn’t supposed to be in, head in his hands. ‘You are my perfect love,’ the tulips mock him so he drops them. He gets out of there, only one conclusive thought in his brain: ‘She deserves better.’

You loved events like these almost as much as you loved running the store. Your fingers were stained from creating the floral sculptures and your back ached a little. But your heart was happy. You stood back and looked at how you took a simple venue and turned it into something magical, if you might say so yourself. You saw the gleam in your client’s eyes and you felt proud of yourself. You had done well. You took a deep, content breath and let it out in a happy sigh. Decorating for events like these reminded you why you loved your job. What you didn’t like was that inevitably, at times like these, you were met with so many invasive questions.

“You work so much, don’t you get tired, Y/N?”

“Is being a florist really worth it?”

“Don’t you ever want a real job?”

“Are you dating someone, Y/N?”

“I know a guy, I could set you up on a blind date!”

Over the years, you had learnt to tune them out. They didn’t bother you, not really. You were happy in the true sense of the word, and meaningless gossip didn’t change that. You had learnt to work in silence, usually with your Airpods in, letting them out only when your trusted employees came to give you a hand.

You stood in front of your creation one last time, committing it to memory. It had taken you about a week to create all these floral sculptures but now that you stood here looking at the finished product, you felt it was worth it. You spent some more time taking pictures of what you’d made and proudly posted them on your Instagram.

You felt a sense of accomplishment, as one would feel at the end of a project that ended in success. You wanted to celebrate, have this tiring week end in an exhale. And if you asked yourself, there was no one else you wanted to share this happy moment with but Doyoung. You smiled as you thought of him. You realized that your mind somehow sneakingly thought of him every time you felt a surge of joy. Surely, that had to mean something.

He had said he’d meet you today after you were done and the two of you could celebrate together. You were in a happy daze as you went into the changing rooms to get out of your stained clothes and into something prettier. Not even the women that bombarded you with personal questions while you changed could get you out of your blissful state. You swiped some color on your lips and let them throw questions at you. You answered them on autopilot, just to be polite.

When you were ready, you went back to your makeshift workstation at the venue and looked at the leftover flowers. White carnations and anemones, an odd combination, but these are the only ones that remained. You put them together anyway and tied them with a ribbon when you were happy with what you made. Doyoung always appreciated it when you brought him flowers. He had joked how it was supposed to be his job, but what could he do when he was dating a florist. So you did all the bringing of flowers in the relationship. ‘He would surely like these’, you thought to yourself with a stupid grin on your face.

You clutched onto the flowers as you took the bus to your boyfriend’s apartment. You wondered if he had eaten. He had been so busy lately. Maybe you’d get him food when you got there. As you neared his building, you had a sudden bout of self awareness on how you might look. You were dolled up, holding onto a bouquet of flowers, making your way to an idol’s building. You looked so foolishly conspicuous that you almost had to stop to laugh at yourself. You giggled, mentally smacking yourself on the forehead, and took a detour. In your early days, Doyoung had taught you how to get to his building without being seen, because as you would have it, there were always a bunch of people with cameras camped outside, ready to catch a glimpse of him. He had explained this to you so apologetically that your heart had ached for him.

You would never admit it to anyone, but you kind of enjoyed the thrill of taking a roundabout way every time you came to see him. It made you feel like you were the heroin in your very own spy thriller. You took the back door of the next building and made your way to the fire escape, eyes on the landing of Doyoung’s building. The leap over was narrow and you managed it every time without fail.

“Success!” You thought to yourself, as you landed, creeping in the shadows of his building till you were finally inside, keeping one eye on the group of people camped outside. “Don’t catch a cold, guys,” you thought, still grinning to yourself as you finally made your way to his apartment on the fifth floor.

He had told you to let yourself in, so you punched in the code and finally stepped in. “It’s me!” You called out to let yourself be known. You made your way in and saw your boyfriend leaning over the kitchen counter, head bowed over a bowl of something. ‘Good. He’s finally eating’ you thought and walked towards him, giving him a kiss on the cheek “Hi, babe.” you smiled at him, cupping his face from the side.

You could see that he was clenching his jaw a little and the fact that he doesn’t look up from his bowl of porridge makes you wonder if he’s had a tough day. “I got you flowers, let me put them in a vase real quick.” You say, not wanting to push him. Maybe in a while, after he had eaten, you could hold him and ask him if something was the matter.

You turned to grab an empty vase, one you had gotten him, and filled it with water. For a while, the only sounds are the gentle rustling of leaves as you place your arrangement in the vase and Doyoung stirring his porridge. Suddenly, you hear his voice, his tone low. “What do these flowers mean?”

“Hmm…? Oh, these?” you give him a warm smile. Doyoung would ask you this every time you brought him something. So you’d make sure to bring him something new each time. “White carnations generally symbolize innocence and pure love. And these anemones… they symbolize sincerity. Although this little guy is stained a little pink, so it could also mean forsaken love. But it’s not it’s true color, so I’m going to let it slide.” you try to joke to lighten the heaviness you feel in the air.

Doyoung looks pensive, like he’s thinking your explanation over. “Forsaken love.” he repeats, like he’s feeling the weight of the words on his tongue.

“Hmm… but the clients ordered white anemones, I guess this one got a little stained on the way.” you say, trying to keep the tone conversational, but you can feel the air getting tenser, burdening down on the two of you. So you reach out a hand to stroke his hair “Are you okay?” you ask kindly but the words have barely left your lips when Doyoung flinches away and turns to face you.

Your heart drops. Something has changed, that much you can sense, but you’re so confused. “Doyoung?”

He looks impatient, but not with you. You can tell you’ve found him amidst a battle with himself. Like he was working out his thoughts but you walked in and interrupted and now it’s all messed up. “Don’t you ever want a real boyfriend?” he asks suddenly, looking down at you, eyes distant.

“A real boyfriend?” you repeat, looking up at him. You can’t help the concern that shines in your eyes, even if you try to downplay it. You just want to reach out to him but you dare not; not when he’s protecting himself from you.

“A real boyfriend.” He turns the phrase over. “Someone who wouldn’t hide you like he’s ashamed of you.” There is venom in his tone now.

“But you’re not ashamed of me, Doyoung.” You say his name, wanting him to hear you pronounce it with love and kindness. “You’re not hiding me because you’re ashamed of me. You’re hiding me to protect me.”

He scoffs then, looking away and places his hands on his waist. Like you’ve said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “Doesn’t it make you worry that you haven’t even met my family yet?”

You take a step closer to him but he moves away and your heart aches once again. You can’t help the hurt you feel. ‘But that’s what he wants.’ You have to tell yourself ‘He’s trying to hurt me because he’s hurting.’

“Do you want me to meet your family, Doyoung?” You ask carefully, saying his name once again, this time to anchor yourself. You never could say his name with disdain.

Doyoung laughs. It’s cold, the way he stands there to mock you. But you know him too well. He’s trying to be cruel, to block you out, and a strange part of you wants to know how long he can keep this facade up. “Wake up, Y/N. Don’t you think that if I wanted you to meet my family, it would’ve happened already?”

You look up at him and this time, you can’t hide the confusion that contorts your face. You were trying to be patient with him, trying to keep your calm and kindness while he spat venom at you. You knew he was hurting. You just wished you knew what brought this on. “Doyoung… what’s wrong? Can you please tell me what’s wrong?” You walk towards him, wanting nothing more than to close the gap between the two of you.

“Don’t you think that if I wanted to keep you, I would’ve… I would’ve… Y/N, don’t come any closer.” He blocks with his forearms as you reach for his face, turning his body away from you.

“Doyoung, look at me, please. Please.” You gently plead, still reaching out for his face while he blocks you and keeps moving away.

“Haven’t you wondered why I’ve never taken you out on a date? Why I’ve never been the one to bring you flowers? Why I’ve never stayed the night in your bed? Why I’ve never kept any sign of you in my room? Why I’ve never introduced you to my family?” He’s spitting at you now with his words, one sting after another, but you’re fighting back. You’re still reaching for him and he’s still moving away, he’s still blocking you, he’s still protecting himself. But you can see his walls faltering, you hear the tremors in his voice.

“Doyoung, please, just let me--”

“--Y/N, have I ever even told you you were pretty?” At that, relief washes over you as you finally understand what’s up. Those women. Had they tried to corrupt his mind as they had tried to corrupt yours?

“Don’t you see it, Y/N? I don’t wanna be with you, I don’t wanna be…” he’s breaking now, and you can tell he doesn’t have the energy to keep it up any longer because his lies end in a sob and he’s doubling over, like he can’t hold himself up anymore.

And so you hold him. You put your arms around his neck and kiss him on the cheek “Doyoung. It’s okay. Baby, it’s okay.” You kiss his cheekbone, you kiss his jawline, you take his face in your palms and make him look at you. You press a gentle kiss on his lips.

“It’s not okay.” He croaks, his chest heaving from the sobs.

“Shhh… baby, breathe.” You coo at him, standing on your tiptoes to kiss his forehead, combing his hair away from his face with your fingers. You kiss his cheek and then his lips tenderly, once, twice and a third time. You pull back to look at him.

He falls into you then, burying his face in the crook of your neck. “I’m sorry…” he sobs, and there is such sincerity in his voice that your heart breaks into a thousand pieces. You never wanted to see him like this.

You turn your head and keep pressing kisses to his temple while he remains buried in your neck. “Shhh, baby. I’m here. I’m right here.” You cradle the back of his head, run your hands across his back to soothe him till he calms.

He takes a deep breath and straightens, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand “I’m sorry.” He says again and you coo at him once more, shushing him, kissing him on the lips.

“You’re so cold.” You rub his shoulders as you notice him shivering. “Come, let’s get you to bed and warm you up.” He doesn’t protest as you take his hand and lead him to his room.

The house was quiet today and that told you no one was around. Doyoung’s room was as well kept as ever and you smiled as you saw the plant you had given him alive and thriving on his windowsill. ‘No sign of you in my room’ you scoff internally as his words play over in your mind. Doyoung was so bad at lying. You dimmed his lights and got into his bed, lifting the covers for him. “Come here.” You invite him in.

He obeys this time, like he doesn’t have the energy to fight anymore. He gets in, placing his head on your chest, throws an arm around your waist and a leg over your legs. You encircle him in your embrace. ‘He wants to be held.’ You thought and so you held him tight. Like you were trying to take his pain away. You tucked the covers around him, cocooning him in as he clung to you. You stroked his hair and kissed the top of his head over and over, wanting to let him know that he was loved. But you knew that soon you’d have to use your words.

So you took his hand in yours and pressed a kiss to the back of it before you said “I love you, Doyoung. So much. You’ve given me your heart. Don’t you know that’s enough?” But as soon as the words leave your mouth, you wish you hadn’t said them, at least not now, because a fresh pool of tears run down his eyes. You wipe them away with your thumb and kiss the top of his head, tucking it under your chin.

“It’s not enough.” He sniffles. “I can’t give you what another man can give you, Y/N. I can’t hold your hand and walk you home because I’d be worried someone with cameras would follow me. I can’t pick you up after work and take you to the movies because what if someone recognizes me. Fuck, I can’t even let you into my home by the front door. I have to make you jump between buildings and risk your safety like that because I’m such a selfish man and I need you. You don’t deserve any of this.”

Your poor, sweet boy. You press a palm to his forehead “I had no idea you had so many worries in this head of yours.” You muse, a smile in your voice.

“Any other man would show you off so proudly. He would take pictures with you and post them for the world to see. He would take you out to dinner, he would kiss you without fear of getting caught. He would visit you when you had an important day to cheer you on. I haven’t given you any of that. I can’t give you any of that. Do you know I didn’t even know how good you were at what you did until today? Because I can’t just show up to support you. It’s always you making all the effort. You’re the one that has to change your plans according to my schedule. You’re the one that has to come to me all the time. You’re the one that has to plan all our dates. You don’t deserve any of this.” There is so much regret in his voice, so much sadness that suddenly, you’re a bit irked. None of that means anything to you, so why is he feeling that way?

You frown at him now “Doyoung. What makes you think I want any of that? Do you think I’d be with you if that’s the life I wanted? If that was the kind of relationship I wanted?” you try to lift his chin to make him see your face so he knows your words are true.

He looks at you sadly then shakes his head “You shouldn’t have to settle, Y/N. Just because I can’t give you these things doesn’t mean you have to stop yourself from wanting them.”

You’re getting impatient now. Why doesn’t he get it? How could you possibly make him understand? You’ll just have to use your words. You sit up and pull him up with you so you could look at his face when you talked.

“Listen, you sweet, stupid, broody boy.” You smack him lightly on the head. “I don’t want any of that. I’ve never been one to like any of that. I don’t want a boyfriend that’s worried about performative grand gestures all the time. I hate that, and I know you know that about me. I don’t want fancy dates, I don’t want to post our pictures all over the internet. I never did that with any of my other relationships!” Doyoung makes a face when you mention this part, but you continue, “This,” you hold his hand in both of yours, “This is what I want. Just to sit next to you. To watch movies together cuddled on your couch. To come to see you at the end of the day and know you’ll be waiting for me. To sit together and talk about our day. To cook together and have Taeyong make fun of our failed attempts. To hold your hand and just… exist with you. This. This is what I want. Don’t you think that if I wanted something else I would have asked?” You didn’t expect it, but you are irritated at him. This was rare… this was something you hadn’t felt toward him before.

Doyoung’s expression has softened as he looks at you. He sighs “You have to bear so much because of me. I know people ask you questions. People wonder why you’re with me. They make assumptions about you. They spread rumours about you. You shouldn’t have to go through any of that.”

“Doyoung.” You say, and this time, he’s hurt your pride a little. He has underestimated you. So your voice is serious “Do you think that I’d be with you if I didn’t have an amount of determination? Do you think I lead my life worrying about what people say about me?”

He smiles then, a real smile, an amused smile and he leans over to stroke your head. “That you are. Determined and strong.” He tilts his head and kisses you and you kiss him back.

You pull back but keep his face in your palms. “Please don’t let other people’s opinions affect you, Doyoung. You know I love you. You know I am the happiest I’ve ever been. Who cares what other people say about us?”

He pulls you into his chest and holds you and lets out a deep exhale, like he was holding his breath this entire time and now the worst is past. He holds you contentedly, like he finally believes you are his for the keeping. He holds you like a relief and he can’t stop the swell of happiness in his chest or the smile that keeps growing on his lips. “What have I done to deserve a woman like you?”

“You must have been a saint in your past life. But for now, you can feed me. I’ve had a long day and all I want to do now is carb-load on Chinese takeout that my boyfriend will buy me.” You pout at him, narrowing your eyes.

He kisses the tip of your nose and says “I’ll get you everything on the menu.”

“That’s the spirit.” You pat his chest twice and get up “You make the order, I’ll go set the table.” You say, starting to move to the kitchen but Doyoung grabs your wrist to stop you.

“Y/N…” he says and stands up, making you turn around to face him. He comes closer and suddenly, your heart flutters. He tucks your hair behind your ears and looks at you so tenderly, you feel like your legs have turned to jelly.

“You are so beautiful.” he says in a voice barely above a whisper but it washes over your body like a thrilling chill first, followed by the warmth of spring sunshine. It’s stupid, the way you’re blushing like you were a silly teenager and you can’t possibly stop the grin that’s making it’s way on your face. Your eyes are sparkling as they look into Doyoung’s sincere ones. So this is how it felt. Maybe having your boyfriend tell you you were pretty wasn’t overrated after all.

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nelson-et-murdock · 4 years ago

Text

Home - Luke Alvez

*not my gif*

One-shot detailing the reader’s time with Luke and the BAU as they return from a 6-month sabbatical

Warnings: angst mixed with fluff, BAU! Reader, fem reader.

Didn’t proofread so possible occasional errors

Other Details: Reader has PhDs in Psychology and Anthropology with masters in Sociology and Criminal Justice

Pairing: Luke Alvez x fem BAU! Reader. Platonic team x reader. Maybe some mistakes here and there

Flashbacks/memories are in italics and bolded

Word Count: 4.6K

As you drove to Quantico, a familiar feeling started to consume you. It had been over 6 months since you last saw the inside of the BAU. As much as you missed the people you had grown to know, you were unsure of how smoothly your return would go. It wasn’t long before you pulled into the parking lot and made your way into the building and to the elevator. You weren’t officially reinstated to the unit yet due to delays in paperwork and had therefore only been in contact with Emily about your return. The feeling in your stomach as you approached the 6th floor was very reminiscent of your first day with the unit.

Despite having been part of the FBI for years, you still got first-day jitters when you approached the building. You had met with Emily Prentiss a few times prior when your name had been put in for the open position, but you had no idea who anyone else was or how they’d react to a new agent joining the team. You knew full well that the BAU was the crown jewel of the FBI and that there was going to be a lot of pressure to live up to any expectations.

As you made your way to the BAU, you fidgeted with the messenger bag you kept your things in, being in the FBI you found it much more useful than carrying around a purse. After calming your nerves you slowly made your way to Emily’s office, with the help of who would later learn was Spencer.

As you walked towards Emily’s office, Luke spotted you far before you spotted him. Quiet murmurs around the bullpen speculating who you were and what you needed to see Prentiss about were just out of earshot. The conversation with Prentiss was short before the two of you walked out of her office and into the conference room for Prentiss to introduce you to the team.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware we have a new agent joining us. This is Dr. y/n y/ln and I believe she’ll be an excellent addition to the team,” she stated. Quick individual introductions were done and the entire atmosphere was generally accepting yet professional. That was until you got to Luke and had to act like it was the first time you had met, well aware that no one on the team knew about your time spent with him.

“Luke Alvez, I look forward to working with you,” he said coldly, in a way that the team would chalk up to him having a bad day but that you knew was residual anger he had for you.

“Likewise,” you responded with a small smile despite the slight pang in your chest at the sight of the man you once knew.

Not long after you joined the BAU, Penelope had become suspicious of the way you acted around Luke. You had warmed up to everyone in the unit, except for him. One day she had wanted answers and the most she would get from either of you was “We just don’t get along Garcia it’s nothing important.” Even without being a profiler, Garcia could tell there was more to the story than that.

When she got a few spare minutes during a case she did a deep dive into your personal history, looking for anything in your past connecting to Luke.

Garcia didn’t know what to expect when she went digging into you, but it definitely wasn’t that you previously had an over 2-year long relationship with Luke. Garcia had gotten so caught up in finding out what went down between you and Luke that she didn’t hear footsteps approaching in time to close her search.

“Hey Garcia..” you started but tapered off as you saw the screens before you. “I - Prentiss needed - shit sorry I uh,” you tried to get Garcia back on topic for the case but fumbled on the words.

“No no don’t be sorry. I’m so sorry I did this. I know I shouldn’t have looked into your past with Newbie but I couldn’t understand why you guys don’t get along. I mean I get not liking him because he’s Newbie but you. You’re this little ray of sunshine girl wonder. I can’t believe he broke your heart like that-” she started to ramble on but you cut her off before she could continue.

“I left him,” you said hoping it would satiate her curiosity.

“Details? You can’t just drop that on me and not give me details. Did he do something? Was he a bad boyfriend? Should I hate him for it?”

“No, he did nothing wrong, it was all on me. I was scared he started talking about marriage and kids and he had the right to we had been together for nearly 3 years and I wasn’t sure if I was ready so I requested a transfer to a California field office and when it was approved I told him I got a job offer I couldn’t pass up and I left him.”

“Do you still love him?”

“I think part of me always will but Garcia this stays between us. I mean it, don’t tell anyone.”

“My lips are sealed. If you need anything the batcave is always open to have you,” she said as she stood up to embrace you in a hug.

Little did you know, Luke was having a very similar conversation with Matt down the hall.

The ding of the elevator signaling your arrival on the 6th floor shook you out of your thoughts. The closer you got to where you needed to be, the more anxious your return was making you. While you had come across a few bad cases, a few stuck out to you in particular, including the first one you had with the unit, which ultimately allowed you to reconnect with Luke.

The first difficult case for the team since you joined took more of a toll on you than you would like to admit. Once everyone was on the jet you took a seat and hoped to avoid any conversation about how you were feeling that day. You flashed a few small smiles at your colleagues in an attempt to let them know you were okay without actually saying anything. For the most part, your plan had been successful. That was until Luke had noticed the way you had been acting.

“Is it okay if I join you?” he asked motioning to the empty seat beside you. You silently nodded and avoided looking at him as he took a seat beside you. “I know we aren’t exactly close anymore but you can still come to me if you need anything,” he told you as you silently nodded.

“I know - I just. Can we talk about it later? I’d rather not talk about it right now,” you responded, finally looking his way.

“Of course. If you feel comfortable coming over tonight we can talk at my place. I know Roxy misses you,” he said with a smile.

“I’d like that. Thank you.” The rest of the time on the jet was spent in comfortable silence.

Upon getting back to the bullpen, you and Luke decided it would be best for him to drive you to his place after the two of you were done with the reports you had to write. As you sat at your desk and took out the files of papers you needed to complete, you couldn’t bring yourself to concentrate. As your mind kept replaying the events of the previous week, it was apparent you were becoming frustrated. It didn’t take Luke long to see that you were struggling and to tell Prentiss he was going to take you home for the night to make sure you were doing okay before heading over to your desk.

“You’ve done enough work today, let’s get out of here,” Luke whispered to you as you nodded. “I’ll meet you at the elevator in 5 minutes so no one thinks anything about us leaving at the same time,” he told you, knowing you wouldn’t like the idea of any possible attention on you that could come with the two of you leaving together.

The ride to Luke’s was much quicker than you had remembered it to be. Neither one of you two said very much and just let the radio play at a low volume. For most of the ride, you watched out the window while Luke focused on driving, occasionally looking your way to check that you were okay. As he pulled into his driveway, you realized how much you missed Luke and the sense of safety and comfort he provided for you.

The two of you talked about why the case had bothered you so much more than you had expected, and it soon turned to talking about whatever came to your mind. “I miss you. I know we work together now and that I’m the one who left but I really miss you, Luke. I miss spending time with you and the random updates we gave each other when you were gone and overall I just miss you. I think that’s why I struggled so much with this case when I didn’t hear back from you when you were in the field because I couldn’t live with myself if something happened and you didn’t know how I felt,” you started to ramble on.

“I’ve missed you too y/n,” Luke responded as he draped his arm around your shoulders pulling you closer to him, “I miss waking up and knowing you were either right next to me or that you were a phone call away.” Checking the time, Luke placed a kiss on your temple before whispering “Let’s get some sleep it’s getting late”

You nodded in response before the two of you got ready for bed. After changing into a pair of Luke’s sweatpants and an old shirt, you crawled into the bed the two of you had shared so many times before and eventually fell asleep in the arms you had previously grown to associate with comfort and safety.

As you walked down the hall, you passed the spot you were standing when you got an offer to lead a study and return to anthropology. It was a temporary out from profiling but it was something that you had missed doing. Upon getting the offer, a range of emotions flowed through you, yet it took nearly 2 weeks to tell Luke and another 2 weeks to tell anyone else.

The day started like any other day-off with Luke. The two of you slept until around noon and laid around just enjoying each other’s company. Working together didn’t allow for much personal time together as you had to remain professional when on cases. Prentiss didn’t mind when it was a paperwork day that you guys spent time at each other’s desks, so long as PDA was kept to a minimum, which it always was. However, it wasn’t the same as getting to just spend time together without having to worry about catching an unsub or fill out a report in time with no errors.

While laying in bed, the offer to lead an anthropological study at the University of Michigan kept eating at you. You had limited time to make a decision and respond to the offer. However, you couldn’t bring yourself to bring the topic up with Luke and you couldn’t make a decision without informing him of the offer first.

“Is everything okay princesa?” Luke asked, noticing the sudden change in your emotions.

“Yeah, there’s just something I need to talk to you about,” you responded looking up at him. “But I need you to hear me out and keep in mind that I haven’t made a decision yet and that nothing is final.”

“You’re beginning to worry me,” he started, “Are you sure nothing is wrong?”

“I was offered the chance to lead an anthropological study,” you stated, leaving him speechless. Memories of when you left him flooding back. You could tell by the look on his face that he was worried this was the beginning of the end for the two of you once again. “I know what you’re thinking and it isn’t like that this time. I know I did something similar when I left but I promise I’m different now. The study is through the University of Michigan and it’s only slated to take 6-months if not less. It’s primarily overseeing graduate students as they conduct a study. I’d be able to set my own office hours so that we can talk as often as possible. I just don’t know if I want to take the offer.”

“You sound invested in the study already. What would be keeping you from taking it?” he asked, his voice full of support for you. All he ever wanted was for you to achieve your dreams. When you didn’t immediately answer he spoke again, “Is it me? Is that why you might not take it?”

You slowly nodded in response, “I feel like I just got you back and now I might be leaving, and what if things don’t work out with us not in the same state?”

“Princesa, listen to me. If you promise that this is nothing like last time and that you aren’t doing this in an attempt to leave then I trust you. We can figure out us as the situation comes up and I’m confident we can work out this time around. Whatever you decide I am forever proud of you and in awe of all that you’ve accomplished.”

“I love you,” was all you could think to respond with.

“I love you too princesa,” Luke said, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead.

Two weeks had passed since you told Luke of the news when a really difficult case had seemed to take a toll on pretty much everyone. After the case, it was decided that those who were able to would come over to the house you shared with Luke to decompress. Spencer and Garcia came and spent the entire day, and much of the night, with the two of you. Having extended the invite to significant others, Matt brought Kristy by to visit with everyone after they found a sitter around 7:30.

Once everyone who planned on coming was there, it didn’t take long for everyone to get caught up in conversations about personal lives. The conversation started with asking Matt and Kristy about their kids and eventually, everyone started talking about overall changes in their lives. “So girl wonder,” Matt started, referring to you by a name originally bestowed on you by Garcia before it caught on to the rest of the team, “Luke said you got an offer to lead a pretty interesting study is that right?”

“Yeah. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone I haven’t made a decision yet. The department I’d be overseeing for it ran into some problems and the start date has been pushed back. It would be nice to get away from the dark and scary parts of this job and back to what I started with but I’d miss you guys too much.”

“Would it be permanent?” Spencer asked. The two of you had grown close since you joined the unit and while he wanted to be excited for you, he would be lying if he said the idea of you leaving didn’t upset him at all.

“No,” you started to say, “It’s slated to last 6-months but there’s no guarantee the study will be finished in time.”

“Are you still going to work at the BAU when you come back?” Garcia questioned.

“I’m not sure. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve been struggling with deciding lately if I’m a good fit for the unit, but I plan to stay with the bureau somehow,” you answered hesitantly.

The rest of the night was spent answering questions about the study and getting support from those around you. By the time everyone was ready to leave, you felt completely comfortable knowing that whatever decision you came to, you would have a support system of amazing friends.

Looking back, you should have noticed that the number of times you were having trouble with cases was more of a problem than you should have was a sign you needed to step away from the job. The cases themselves weren’t getting harder, but you personally were having a harder time with them. The longer you were with the unit, the more issues you had been having an increasingly difficult time coping after them. You would have thought they would have gotten easier to manage, but you found yourself struggling every time you felt a decision you made could have changed the outcome of a case. In your previous position before the BAU, you felt powerless as the victims were long gone and often one-off crimes and you felt switching to the BAU and being able to get killers off the street would make you feel better as you’d be helping get active killers off the street. However, you were extremely wrong, and the feeling that you could, no that you should, have stopped their killers before it was too late became too much for you and you decided to take a step back from the unit.

“Y/ln, we need to talk in my office,” Prentiss said as you entered the bullpen.

“Yes ma’am,” you responded, setting your go-bag down on your desk before you made your way to where she was standing. The entire team knew exactly what Prentiss needed to talk to you about and a few members even gave you sympathetic looks as you crossed the bullpen.

“Before we start I just want to say I’m sorry. I know what I did was against protocol,” you started.

“That’s not why you’re in here,” Emily cut you off. “While what you did was unacceptable, you’re here because I’m worried about you. In these past 2 cases, you’ve shown reckless behavior, as if you’re trying to get yourself hurt. I’m not mad at you, but I do need you to let me know if anything is going on that is affecting your ability to do this job.”

You silently nodded as she spoke. The more she said, the more you began to question your place in the unit. “Thank you. I’ve just had some personal problems the past week but I should be good to go now,” you said lying through your teeth.

“Just let me know if anything changes. Your health and personal well-being are more important than this job.”

The next week the BAU was called in to help with another tough case. While it wasn’t the first tough case you encountered in the time you had been with the BAU, this one was worse than others.

The victims are similar in both age and appearance to a close family member of yours and it had made it difficult for you to concentrate in the field the way you needed to. At one point you had even froze and almost didn’t get to a victim in time. For the entirety of the case, you were closed off from everyone when it didn’t involve work.

Upon returning to the BAU, everyone slowly dispersed their desks and you made your way to Prentiss’s office. Her door was open but you still knocked quietly before entering. “Can we talk?”

“Of course, come in.”

You could tell from the sympathetic look on her face that she knew what you needed to say. As you sat across from her she waited for you to speak. After letting out a small sigh you found the confidence to admit what was happening, “I think I need to step away from this job.”

With a silent nod, she grabbed the appropriate paperwork from her file cabinet, “I knew this day was coming. Luke told me you had been having nightmares lately. Fill out these papers and return them to me as soon as possible. If you opt for a sabbatical instead of completely leaving it should take roughly 2 weeks for it to be approved. In the meantime, you would still be a member of the team but be able to use the vacation days you have or you can be solely a desk agent and assist Garcia. Whichever one you choose I, as well as the rest of the team, will be here for you and have enjoyed working with you.”

Fighting tears that had started to form as she spoke, you nodded and said a quiet thank you before leaving her office. Setting the papers down on your desk on the way, you headed towards Garcia’s office to let her know you planned on leaving.

Once you were out of earshot, JJ had peeked at the papers you had set down. “What is it?” Spencer asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.

“Y/ln is leaving the unit,” she responded, voice full of confusion. As she spoke everyone turned to Luke and he nodded slightly in response, confirming you were leaving the family you had grown to love.

After your sabbatical was approved, you accepted the offer to lead the study. Much to your dismay, the team was insistent on throwing you a going-away party, despite knowing you were going to come back in 6 months. You told the team that if they insisted on having a gathering at Rossi’s place that it needed to be something that the members of the unit with kids could bring them with, feeling there was no point in, “saying goodbye to a family member” as Rossi had put it, without all of the family members being there.

“Remind me again why we have to make a big deal of me leaving? I already said goodbye to the team and I’ll be back and with the unit again in less than a year,” you wondered aloud to Luke as you pulled into Rossi’s driveway.

“Because princesa, it’ll make Rossi happy to get to throw you a party and its tradition, regardless of how long the leave will be. And besides, the kids want to see you before you leave for 6 months,” he reminded you.

“You got me there,” you said with a smile before kissing his cheek. “Let’s head in before we’re late.”

Shortly after you guys made your way inside and to the backyard, Matt and Kristy had arrived with their kids. The kids knew why you were having a going away party and instantly ran to you when they saw you. When you noticed the kids running up to you, both you and Luke knelt to prepare for the number of hugs you were about to get. Due to offering to babysit when Matt and Kristy needed time to themselves, the kids had grown to see you as an aunt and Luke as an uncle. The same could be said for Henry and Michael, who showed up with JJ and Will shortly after the Simmons had arrived. The next couple of minutes were spent answering any questions the kids could think to ask you, in the most kid-friendly way you could.

“You’ll be back by my birthday right?” David asked looking up at you. In the time you had known the kids, you hadn’t missed a birthday for any of them.

“Of course I will buddy,” you responded.

“What about our stories?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah who is gonna tell us our stories while you’re gone?” While they had the Simmons Stories, the ones you told were different. You told them stories of the different cultures you studied and the different ways parts of the universe were believed to have come into existence.

“I have them all written down. I can leave them with Luke and he can read them to you,” you reassured all of them.

As the night went on, many memories from your time with the unit were shared with the group. Even though you planned to come back as soon as the study was over, knowing they would spend the next 6 months without you seemed to make everyone nostalgic.

Near the end of the night, everyone started saying their goodbyes. It was particularly hard to say goodbye to Spencer, knowing nearly everyone else he had gotten close to had left him as well. “I’m sorry,” was the first thing you managed to say to him. “I know you hate goodbyes and struggle with change but I promise I will come back and if not to work with the unit at least for our weekly coffee shop visits.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You’re doing what you have to do,” he responded as you opened your arms to offer him a hug. You were always the first to initiate hugs and he usually accepted them.

“I’ll miss you, Spence. You already have my cell phone number and the phone number for my office for the next 6 months. Call me anytime you need me,” you told him while hugging him.

“I’m proud of you. I’ll miss you too y/nn,” he said as you pulled apart.

“See you in 6 months.”

As you made your way into the bullpen you took note of the date. It was 6 months and 4 days since you had seen any of the team face-to-face. While you kept personal contact with the entire team while you were away, you hadn’t told anyone except for Emily that you were planning on coming back to the team. Luke knew when the study would end and was expecting to see you at home later that night, assuming that the team didn’t get a case that pulled him away.

When you entered the bullpen, Matt was the first to notice your arrival. He was already standing at Luke’s desk to ask him a question related to a report he was writing and flashed a small smile in your direction before nudging Luke on the arm, “Why didn’t you tell anyone y/n was returning today?”

Not thinking you were actually there, Luke brushed off Matt. “She isn’t coming home until later tonight and told me even if she does return to the unit it would take some time for her to be reinstated,” he responded, not even looking up from his file.

Knowing he wouldn’t look up from his file right away, you talked quietly with everyone else before approaching his desk. You brought back small trinkets for everyone and placed a small handmade miniature Roxy in front of him. “One of the students I was overseeing made it when she saw a picture of you and Roxy as my phone background to help me cope with being away from you. I figured since I’m home now you could use it more,” you explained as if it wasn’t the first time you were seeing your boyfriend in over 6 months.

Luke watched silently as you spoke, a smile creeping onto his face when he processed you were actually there in front of him. As he stood up from his chair, he quickly wrapped his arms around you before pressing a kiss to your forehead. “You’re home?” he asked, trying to comprehend your arrival.

“I’m home,” you responded with a smile as you looked up at him.

“I’ve missed you so much, you can’t leave me for that long again,” he said with a smile.

Before you could respond, Garcia came speeding out of her office due to having heard of your return from JJ. “Girl wonder! You’re back! Are you staying with us? You can’t leave me with Newbie for that long ever again,” she exclaimed as she approached you.

“Yes, I’m back. Weaning back into the job and will be on desk duty here and helping you for the first 2 weeks but I’m back,” you told her.

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