#i don't even care if my ship wins anymore

[open-at-the-close]

Sarah,

Please put us out of our misery.

I took almost an entire year break from tumblr, came back and posted almost entirely Onyx Storm content. Added some awesome new people posting Onyx storm content...and yet my Tumblr is still flooded with people fighting about elriel vs gwynriel 😂.

[golden-moony]

king of my heart | smau

pairings: lando norris x fem!reader | pato o'ward x fem!reader

summary: y/n is an F1 content creator loved among the grid and the fans, and more than one person ships her with lando due to how close they've always been. but when y/n goes to her first IndyCar race, the last thing she expects is being involved in rumours with another mclaren driver.

warnings: love triangle? kinda.

author's note: i might turn this into a mini series but i'll see how it goes. btw english it's not my first language so if there's any grammatical error please let me know so i can fix it, ty🧡 now enjoy!

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

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

yourusername posted to their story!

[caption 1; it's indycar weekend in Long Beach, babyyyy!] [caption 2; time for practice and snacks🌞]

patriciooward

liked by indycar, zbrownceo, yourusername, and 83,527 others!

patriciooward INDY500 colors and back in the streeetz🤩

user1 lookin' goooood🔥

arrowmclaren it'll look even better with confetti covering it😉 user2 admin knows a win is coming!! 💪

user3 Este es tu año, cabrón! VAMOOOOS 🇲🇽

user4 is it a requirement to be handsome to drive in mclaren? cause daaaamn

user5 same girl, same

yourusername black is the new papaya fr 🔥 can't wait for tomorrow!

patriciooward hopefully you'll be wearing #5 user6 OMG?!?!!!??? yourusername can't show favoritism! i'm a professional, sir patriciooward it can be our secret then 😉 user7 OH MY- HELLOOOOO? user8 landonorris come get your girl bro!!! user9 omfg mr o'ward i wasn't familiar with your game user10 y/n sweety, wrong mclaren driver landonorris 🤨 user11 she really said i want a mclaren, don't care which one😭 user12 and she's so real for that

user13 let's goooo Pato!! 🦆🧡

user14 y/n and pato's exchange?? NEW SHIP HAS ARRIVED!

user15 i feel like i'm betraying my roots but pato and y/n would be the it couple fr user16 SO TRUE user17 pato and lando deserve sooo much better.

user18 NOT LANDO REPLYING TO THE COMMENT 😂😂

user19 f1twt is about to have a blast with this one 🍿 user20 they already have #teampato and #teamlando hashtags going on 😭😭

yourusername posted to their story!

[caption 1; preparation for ✨qualy day✨] [caption 2; that's how you arrive in style]

yourusername

liked by pierregasly, alexanderrossi, shelovesformula1, and 76,088 others!

yourusername First IndyCar race ✅ can't explain how incredible this weekend was! I’ve had the pleasure of chatting to so many cool people, discovering so much about this series and meeting so many of you! 🧡 can't wait to show you everything soon 😘

user1 what a babeeeee 😍

frosenqvist so great to meet you! hope you come to another one again soon! 🏁

arrowmclaren we second this! user2 she's an indy girl now 😎 tkanaan especially after all the fun we had last night😜 yourusername oh i'll definitely come back for more races (and parties ofc🙊) user3 she's part of the family now! love to see it user4 mclaren team 🤝 us: being in love with y/n

user5 PATO INTERVIEW??!! WE WON

lissiemackintosh so happy to have met you!! 💖

yourusername can't wait to see u again 🥹 user6 MY FAVES 🤩🤩 user7 girls supporting girls 💞 user8 we need a colab!

landonorris y/n get out of there. That's not your family!

carlossainz55 y/n please hurry, the kid has missed you maxverstappen1 y/n please hurry, we can't stand him anymore maxfewtrell y/n please hurry, he gets whiny when you're not around alex_albon y/n please hurry, oscar is about to commit crime oscarpiastri that is correct, so please y/n hurry landonorris when i asked y'all to back me up, this is NOT what i meant 🙄 yourusername if it helps at all, i've miss you all 🫶 (except Lando) landonorris i hate y'all fr user9 this is the kind of content i pay my internet bill for 😂

user10 literal queen 👑

user11 she couldn't become lando's wag so now she goes to indy to try to find a man lol such a clout chaser

user12 girl stfu she's literally just doin her job user13 try not to sound so bitter next time 💋 user14 get a life, hater

user15 MOTHER IS MOTHERING

user16 i don't think we're talking enough about that last photo

user17 RIGHT?! Y/N X PATO LET'S GOO user18 nah y/n x lando >>>>>>>>

patooward Indy looks good on you 💯 i wonder who took that amazing first pic

yourusername credits to you, amateur😘 user19 you can't convince me they're not flirting user20 i truly don't know if i wanna be pato or y/n... i only know i'd hate to be lando rn 😭 user21 y/n and lando are the endgame user22 Y/N X PATO TILL THE END

landonorris posted to his story!

[caption; safe and sound where she belongs]

sooo.... y'all want part 2?

[thestrangestthlng]

Seeing the collective breakdown of some of these Buddies is honestly the highlight of today. Y'all shipbaited yourselves right into the sun and now you're upset and not watching the show anymore because "Buddie isn't happening". Babes, Buddie was never going to happen.

Or, if they haven't decided to jump ship, they are pushing the goal posts back to this season now being the season that he's going to have his queer realization and that Buddie is gonna be season 9.

All I know is that in 17 days, I'm going to be kicked back in my recliner, snackie snacks in one hand, my wine in the other happily consuming my happy show, because no matter what happens with Buck and Tommy, I win.

I watch the show because I enjoy it, because it makes me happy. I love all of the characters (even when I'm yelling at my screen). Buck is my favorite character to ever exist in media ever and as long as he's happy when the show goes dark, I don't care who that is with. (just put a ring on that man's finger and give him a damn baby.)

Ship and let ship, but for the love of gay baby jesus, please stop with the actual foolishness. Leave the actors out of your dumb ass ship wars and definitely leave their family out of everything. These are all actors who are getting paid to say the words put on a paper before them.

Sit back. Enjoy the show. And if you don't, you get what you get and you don't get upset.

[luceafarul-de-dimineata]

ngl kinda curious what happens if mc gets shipped with one of the nobles more often than the kings instead?

You know the AO3 ship popularity chart? Let's say they did one of those for the "child of Solomon" fandom.

Mod Jjok: The most popular ship with Mc for this month is... Mc x Sitri! With over 20k words in the longest running fanfiction on the ship reaching peak popularity in the middle of the month!

Dantalian: Sitri? Isn't that his majesty Satan's blood bag?

Glasylabolas: It turns out he has a name.

Paimon: I think this must be mistakeeeeen. I just recently wrote in collaboration with Astaroth a 25k words fanfic about Mc x Satan

Eligos: Oh, I mass-reported that one. I would apologise about that, but demons can't lie

Paimon: You're so sillyyyyy

Paimon: You just lost cuteness session priveledgessss

Eligos: :'(

Eligos: It was for the greater good of Tartaros

Bimet: Very noble of you, Eligos

Dantalian: Bimet! You fucking bitch, where's my MC body pillow????

Eligos: @Dantalian please take this in private we don't vibe with this negative energy here

Dantalian: Speak for yourself, I vibe with it!

Gamigin: Guys, what happened????? I was asleep, it's like 5 AM in here.

Gamigin: HOLY FUCK

Gamigin: How did Sitri of all people win????

Paimon: I mean, he's not that baaaaaaad

Gamigin: 20k words isn't even that long! How?!

Gamigin: I think we all have to come together to break the two up

Gamigin: Sitri is a common enemy and we shall stop him!

Dantalian: I'm sharpening my knife as we speak.

Gamigin: His Majesty Lucifer said I'm not allowed to leave Paradise Lost :'(

Dantalian: And?

Gamigin: And ... what?

Dantalian: He's not your dad! Even if he was, you don't have to listen to him. Do you think I listen to everything his majesty Asmodeus tells me to do? No. He may be my dad and my king, but I am in control of my own future.

Glasylabolas: Preach brother, preach

Gamigin: But I don't want to go against Lucifer's orders

Dantalian: Pussy

Glasylabolas: Pussy

Dantalian: First! Suck it old man!

Gamigin: Wait, doesn't Paimon live in the same country as Sitri?????

Gamigin: @Paimon, dearest, could you please kill Sitri for us? At least tranquillise him or something. Make sure he doesn't move anymore.

Paimon: I'm not murdering Sitri over thisssss

Paimon: I'll just ask him if it's true he's dating Mccccc

Dantalian: I think we should vote on Sitri's fate

Glasylabolas: Absolutely. I am for democracy.

Dantalian: Knife or gun death?

Glasylabolas: I prefere knife. Gun's make everything messier. How am I supposed to get arroused by a pile of guts?

Dantalian: Ask Ronové or Phenix and they'll tell you

Dantalian: I once saw Ronové remove an angel's intenstines and fucking them

Eligos: That's why nobody wants to visit Abaddon.

Dantalian: In his defence, it was kind of hot

Glasylabolas: I can imagine

Glasylabolas: I should call Ronové again...

Dantalian: He charges for one night stands now cause Abaddon lost its health care recently

Gamigin: Yeah, Morax told me about how you started getting curious about his eye hole.

Dantalian: I don't even blame Ronové for that one. I'm also curious what happens if you cum down someone's eye socket.

Paimon: Ok guyssssss

Paimon: I talked with himmmm

Paimon: It turns out that he just had a lot of black tea recently and wrote 20k words in a dayyyyy

Paimon: And a lot of people read it because Asteroth recomended it on his bloggggg

Dantalian: ah, yeah, shipping

Dantalian: Asmodeus x Mc for the win

Eligos: In your dreams

Dantalian: Yes. I do dream about that often.

Dantalian: I don't even know why y'all care so much for Mc's sex life

Dantalian: Having sex with only one partner is boring

Gamigin: Keep your shitty opinions to yourself.

Dantalian: Only if you make me

Eligos: I'm going to mass report it

Gamigin: I already did <3

Sitri: All of you are so mean

[Mod Jjok stopped comments on this post]

[bvidzsoo]

The Nightfury

Author: bvidzsoo

Warnings: gore, violence, blood, smut, maiming, fighting, swearing

Pairing: Kim Hongjoong x female reader

Word count: 22,2k

Summary: When Captain Kim died Hongjoong was only fifteen years old. He couldn't let his father's name go in vain, he took over the ship and became the next Captain Kim, better known as The Slayer. Everyone feared Hongjoong and his crew, Ateez. Everyone except you. You met in an Inn when you both were younger and tricked him into threatening an innocent man, and then you robbed him. You thought it was funny how such a powerful and feared man was so easy to play with, so you started your little game of sabotaging Hongjoong's affairs, unknowing that you were playing with fire. Would The Nightfury or The Slayer win once their swords clashed against each other? (Reader is called Lee Yuri in the following oneshots.)

A/N: Hii, I'm back!! But so is university, unfortunately, so I'll be slower with my updates. Also, this part is dark, alright, so take the warnings seriously! I didn't write anything very very detailed, but it's there, okay? Personally, I don't think San's part was too dark, I think it was more shocking and infuriating, however this one is just a different cup...also, if you haven't read Jongho's part, I highly recommend you do before reading this, because there are many call-backs to it. If you want to be added to the taglist, let me know. And enjoy now! Share your thoughts!

Taglist: @pingyu-in-wonderland @marievllr-abg @lelaleleb @loveforred @horanghae8 @jeonghanscarat7 @orshii @mundayoonimnida @m3tavita @silentcry329 @icarusignite

Series Masterlist ↭ Previous Part

            4 years ago

            From a young age, I had been encouraged to go out in the world, learn as many things as possible, be creative and discover myself: my likes and dislikes. From a young age, I knew I had a bright future in front of me, I knew I was destined to do incredible things, to be remembered forever. It’s the circumstances that came as a surprise to everyone, even myself, to how I achieved my current fame and the slightly atrocious things I had to do to get here. We didn’t do many bad things as my crew was still small, our ship barely fitting for twenty people, but we were growing, expanding. We were saving up for something bigger, better, and stronger. But for that, I needed money. A lot of it. Hanging around lowlifes and nobodies wasn’t going to solve my issues, so I carefully carved out a plan for myself. And the plan was perfect and simple. Find a target, quite easy as men had always been gullible, but they needed to be rich, now that was a harder task as these men tended to be slightly smarter than the rest. But with a bat of an eyelash, some sweet words and the right attitude you could get anything. And what I needed most were their riches. That turned out to be the easiest part, robbing them of their goods without them even noticing. And it was also fun and thrilling to watch their despair as they slowly realized they had nothing to fend off of anymore, promising to get it back in order to shower you with more expensive gifts, but I wouldn’t stick around for that long. No, I took what they had and then left, latching onto my next victim like a leech, taking away everything they had tucked away in their little chests filled with gold and jewelry. I didn’t care about them, I only cared about my own goal, and that was money. Lots of it. Thus, you probably would understand the predicament I found myself in currently, staring at the middle-aged man with bored eyes as he was trying to explain that his wife had caught onto him spending more money lately and started questioning him. I had zero interest in his sob story, whatever problems he was having with his wife was none of my business, he doomed himself the second he fell for my convincing act. He was the easiest to get and the dumbest out of all the men I have tricked so far, it made me almost feel bad for him.

“Listen, my love, I have to lay low for a little while because my wife is now more suspicious than ever.” He said in a hushed tone, looking around paranoid despite the loud chatter inside the Inn; nobody was paying attention to us.

“What about the emerald necklace I showed you last week?” I asked with a pout, sighing deeply. I watched as the man in front of me crumbled, a look of helplessness crossing his features.

“I know, I know, my love, but—”

“There would be no but’s if you loved me enough, Juyeon.” I cut him off, eyebrows furrowing in fake hurt, playing with my fingers in my lap. Juyeon, the man currently so desperate, let out a long breath of air and rubbed his forehead.

“I could—I—” He bit his lower lip, shaking his head, “I could try and buy it for you next week, but my wife—”

“It’s always your wife!” I allowed my voice to raise a little bit, pretending that I was fed up with him prioritizing his wife all the time. Juyeon tensed at the raise of my tone and glanced around, placing his hands on the table and slipping them towards me.

“No, no, it’s not like that, my love, you know it.” He tried to reason with me, taking my hands in his, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. I gulped and looked away, pretending that I was trying not to cry, “You know I love you more than anything else in the four seas and four kingdoms, but—I—I still need to take care of her and the children, I can’t—I can’t abandon them.”

I huffed and whipped my head around, to look at him, “That’s not what you said a few weeks ago, Juyeon.”  

He chuckled nervously and started rubbing my knuckles again, “Well, I thought about it more and—”

“So, you don’t love me.” I cut him off again, pulling my hands away from his hold, sniffing, “All of this was a lie. You don’t love me, Juyeon, you just don’t. You were trying to make a fool out of me and you succeeded!”

Juyeon chuckled nervously as I raised my voice, again, and quickly shook his head, “No, that’s not—”

“Really?!” I snapped, eyes filling with tears, “Because that’s not what it looks like right now! You promised we’d run away by the end of the month, you promised to buy me that emerald necklace, you promised to make me your lover! And now you’re saying you want nothing to do with me anymore?!”

Juyeon’s eyebrows furrowed as I let a few tears slip down my cheeks, sniffing now loudly, “No, my love. That is not what I’m saying! I love you and I will prove it to you—”

“Then run away with me.” I pressed, wiping away the tears, but more fake ones kept falling. I should’ve become an actress, that way my parents would’ve actually been proud of me.

“I can’t.” Juyeon muttered looking away, biting his lower lip again. It was my time to shine, I had to suppress my smirk from showing, as I stood up abruptly, the chair screeching loudly, making Juyeon look up at me alarmed.

“You don’t love me!” I said loudly, a few people around us glancing our way, “And you never did! All you did was use me, because you thought I must be dumb just because I’m young, right?! Who do you think you are, Lee Juyeon?! Shamefully charming me with your money and jewelry you gifted me—did you even think about your wife?! What if she were ever to see us—your children too!”

Juyeon was on his feet in an instant, eyes wide as people were now staring at us curiously, always up for a juicy story. Tears fell from my eyes and I wiped at them angrily, flinching back when he tried to touch me from across the table, “What—what are you talking about, Y/N?”

“Don’t act innocent right now!” I screamed, voice raw, Juyeon’s eyes even wider than before, “Stop lying to me and just admit all you did was use a poor girl like me for your sick and twisted fantasies!”

“That’s not what it is!” Juyeon suddenly screamed back, dark eyes narrowed now in anger and he stepped around the table, taking a hold of my arm. Despite his anger, his grip was still soft, careful not to hurt me. I could see the confusion in his eyes and I gulped as I averted my own, looking at the table, trying to tug my arm free, but he wouldn’t budge. Suddenly, I yelped and looked at him as I allowed a sob to escape my plump lips.

“You’re hurting me—” I whimpered, very fakely, but Juyeon reacted instantly. And so did someone else. As Juyeon’s grip softened even more, about to release me, a body larger than mine and Juyeon’s, appeared out of nowhere, pushing the middle-aged man backwards. Juyeon looked startled and so did I as my act slipped for a second as I looked to my left, staring at the newcomer. I was left speechless as I stared at his profile, jawline so sharp it could cut me in half.

“Mate, it’s time you stop.” His voice was firm and his gaze threatening as I couldn’t look away, suddenly captured by his presence, his aura. It was so strong, so sharp, and dominating. He exuded a call for respect, able to make anyone take a step back and oblige to his wishes. His black clothes were in perfect condition and he stood close enough for me to feel the sweet smell of his cologne, mixed with something salty. I gulped as I became conscious that I was staring, so I averted my eyes back on Juyeon, who looked like he didn’t know what to do. Even I forgot what I was supposed to do for a second.

“Please—” I whispered softly, eyes filled with tears as I looked back at the stranger, who’s eyes suddenly fell on me. I gulped, trying to mask the sudden attraction I was feeling towards him. His cat-like eyes rimmed with black eyeliner bore into mine sharply, analyzing my face for a second before he turned back towards Juyeon, who shook his head and tried to approach me again.

“It’s not what it looks like, I assure you—”

“You saying that makes it look like exactly that, mate.” The breathtaking stranger snapped, his voice low as his eyes narrowed at Juyeon, “I advise you leave when I’m still asking nicely.”

I gulped and wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my shirt, Juyeon and I making eye contact briefly as he scoffed and grabbed his small bag, shaking his head.

“I can’t believe you did this to me.” He muttered to himself, casting a last glance my way, his eyes filled with pain as he shamefully left the Inn, more people glaring at him and giving me sympathetic glances. I pretended to shiver as the stranger’s eyes and focus was on me now, having to continue my lie still. This is not the outcome I expected, but perhaps I was about to score big tonight. I allowed my eyes to run over the stranger’s body, noting the various necklaces adorning his smooth neck, his skin tan and satiny. The black pearl on a shorter chain caught my attention and my fingers itched to wrap around it and snap it off his neck. My eyes traveled lower and I tried to count his rings too, wearing at least two on one finger, making me gulp. This man was rich. And he wasn’t afraid of showing it off. Before our gazes connected I noticed his blonde hair falling very carefully on his forehead, definitely styled like that, finding the longer strands in the back interesting. Not many dared going for a mullet, but this man looked spectacular with it.

“Are you alright?” His sudden change of demeanor, the softness in his gaze, the worry lacing his tone, took me off guard and I gaped at him for a few seconds, looking dumb.

“Oh—I’m—uhm—” I cleared my throat and shook my head as my cheeks turned pink, embarrassed, “I’m fine—uhm, thank you for—making him leave.”

“I’ve been watching you for a while now, things seemed tense, I just wanted to make sure nothing happened to you.” I felt my skin warm up at his words, finding it sweet. But how did I not notice somebody was watching us so closely? I was always good at singling people out, checking my surroundings and being alert of what was happening around me. Yet this man somehow managed to slip through unnoticed.

“Thank you,” I breathed out softly, finally gathering myself and continuing with my new plan, “He was—he’s not a bad man, you know…or so I thought.”

The stranger’s lips pulled into a line and he nodded understandingly, motioning with his hand for us to sit down, “Yeah, people can be quite deceiving—”

“You’re calling me dumb too?” I sniffed, lips quivering and the man quickly shook his head, eyes widening in panic.

“No, that’s really not what I’m trying to say!” He rushed out the words, looking rather cute, “I’m just saying that there’s evil people and they pray on innocent, unassuming people—”

“Like myself.” I finished the sentence for him and the man sighed, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. His earrings were rather pretty as I had just noticed them, he had quite a few of those too.

“Sorry, that came off rather rude—”

“Can I buy you something?” I cut the man off, wiping my cheeks free of tears and shaking my head, acting as if I was trying to compose myself, “You did save me from that asshole after all.”

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t need anything—”

“But that’s unfair now…” I stared at him expectantly, waiting for a name.

“Hongjoong, Kim Hongjoong.” He extended his hand and I shook it firmly, whispering his name to myself, watching as his eyes fell on my lips for a second too long.

“Lee Y/N, nice to meet you.” I plastered on a small smile on my face, not releasing Hongjoong’s hand just yet. It was a trick which often worked on men, prolonged physical contact, a gaze lingering for a little too long…they always worked. And it was working right now as Hongjoong cleared his throat, looking a little flustered, as I finally released his hand and looked away shyly, letting my strawberry blonde hair fall against my face. I could see from the corner of my eye as Hongjoong’s eyes racked over my body, taking in my outfit and appearance, his eyes narrowing slightly. I certainly wasn’t dressed like an ordinary girl, but nobody ever truly figured out that I was a pirate. The clues were there, but they weren’t exactly obvious, one would think it was a preference to dress like this. And it really was. My black skirt, quite uneven at the ends, almost reached my ankles and my dark brown boots made of leather were rather worn at this point. The black cloth wrapped around my body was slightly peeking out from underneath the white off-shoulders breezy shirt I was wearing, a brown corset keeping everything in place. I had my favorite necklaces around my neck, always wearing them, but I dialed down on the bracelets I would normally wear. Rings weren’t something I liked wearing as I felt they restricted my grip when it came to holding a sword or dagger, however, they happened to come in quite handy when having to punch someone, the accessory leaving a rather nasty bruise on your opponent. The silence stretched on as Hongjoong placed his hands on the table, fingers intertwined and I couldn’t help but let my eyes fall on them. Hongjoong noticed and raised an eyebrow cheekily.

“You’re wearing quite a few rings…” I muttered, actually feeling embarrassed for being caught staring. My reaction made Hongjoong chuckle as he looked down at his own fingers, playing with the biggest ring on his forefinger. Something was carved on it, a letter.

“Personal preference, I guess.” Hongjoong said with a shrug and I hummed, noticing the waitress walking our way. I raised my hand shyly, avoiding Hongjoong’s eyes as he watched me curiously.

“How can I help you?” The waitress asked bored until she noticed Hongjoong sitting with me, her posture instantly straightening. I could understand, he was a very attractive man and he looked very upkept, something rare when it came to men. Most of them very dirty, smelly pigs. Even some of the rich ones.

“A bottle of wine would suffice for now.” I said, voice rather tight when this woman didn’t stop looking at Hongjoong, who seemed to be enjoying the attention. He smirked at her and cleared his throat, slightly tilting his head forward as if he was greeting her. My jaw clenched at the exchange and I had to hold back my glare as this woman was stealing the attention off of me, ruining my carefully designed plan. I had to be Hongjoong’s center of attention tonight, not anyone else.

“And some booze.” Hongjoong added with a wink as the waitress was just about to leave and I licked my dry lips, trying to keep a sneer off my face. This was ridiculous. When the woman was finally away, Hongjoong’s dark eyes fell on me, looking quite pleased with himself. It almost made me scoff but I quickly slipped back into character and looked away shyly, nervously playing with my fingers in my lap.

“You have that affect on all women?” I found myself asking quietly, actually curious. He could get anyone he wanted, and he definitely used that to his advantage, I wanted a confirmation in order to know how to approach him.

Hongjoong chuckled, almost sounding embarrassed, as he rubbed his chin, “You noticed?”

“It wasn’t hard to.” My response was too quick, too snappy, Hongjoong noticed too, so I cleared my throat and softened my voice again, “I’m just observant.”

“That’s good in a world like ours,” Hongjoong hummed, searching for eye contact with his intense gaze, “and yes, I tend to get that reaction when it comes to women.”

I chuckled softly, tucking a long strand of hair behind my ear, “It’s not very surprising since you’re a handsome man.”

A smirk appeared on Hongjoong lips as he leaned closer towards me, looking at me playfully, “Do you think I’m handsome?”

Before I could answer him, the waitress was back with our drinks, her eyes on Hongjoong only. I ignored her and took the tall glass for my wine roughly, making her glance at me surprised, another smirk appearing on Hongjoong’s lips. It was becoming irritating, the fact that he knew himself so well, the fact that he was using it on others.

“Thank you.” Hongjoong thanked the waitress and I didn’t miss the brush of his pinky finger against the woman’s hand and perhaps my grip on the wine bottle was a little too tight. If she wouldn’t leave in two seconds a dagger would be adorning the inside of her neck. But as I poured some wine for myself, she was finally gone and I could relax again, ignoring the amused look Hongjoong sent my way as he took a big sip of his booze. It was a vile thing; I did not like it. Wine was raffinate and came in various tastes, besides it was good for your health too unlike that strong, repulsive thing Hongjoong was drinking.

“You don’t like booze?” He asked with a chuckle and I fixed my expression, shaking my head as I took a sip of my own red wine, “Your grimace told me all about it.”

I chuckled shyly and looked down, finding it hard to act different in front of this man. My true nature wanted to come through badly, sensing he was a strong person, challenging my own ego.

“What brings you here tonight, Kim Hongjoong?” I asked with a smile, breaking the silence which seemed to fall upon us, his sharp eyes watching me carefully. I felt like I was performing an important task and a figure of authority was here to evaluate me, criticize me for the work I had done. And if I slipped, if I did the smallest mistake, he would notice. Hongjoong would know it was all an act, my fingers itching to steal all of that pricey jewelry adorning his body. If I wouldn’t get that emerald necklace from Juyeon anymore, I sure needed to get something else and the provider was sitting right in front of me.

“Just needed a distraction, you know.” He answered casually, taking a sip of his booze before he placed the glass back down, “It gets lonely when you’re a traveler sometimes. You know, you become stiff and I’m still young. I want to live a little.”

His story didn’t sound very authentic, the way he delivered it seemed very rehearsed and the way he averted his gaze told me he was lying. But I hummed and nodded understandingly, looking at my glass. The way he said traveler…didn’t sit right with me. What was he?

“Do you work, Hongjoong?” I asked curiously, watching the way he oh so slightly stiffened. There it was, I caught onto his lie.

“When I find something worth my time, yeah.” It was an ambiguous answer, “I get bored easily and I’m good at many things, so, there’s no reason for me to settle on one thing, you know?”

“Must be nice to have that luxury.” I chuckled and took a sip of my wine, our gazes connecting for a second before I looked away.

“What’s your story, Y/N?” Hongjoong asked as he leaned over the table, elbows resting on it, his hands pushed towards me as he held the glass, playing with it. I fixed my expression and smiled sadly, looking him in the eyes, having been waiting for this moment. I had just the perfect story for him.

“Well,” I shrugged and hesitated for a second, “my grandparents live here and I moved in with them when I was ten, so, there’s that. All my life I wished to study and travel the world, become a cartographer but my grandparents didn’t have the financial support for that nor the will to encourage my dream. They are traditional, you know, a woman belongs in the kitchen, inside the house and her only job should be to give birth to many kids. I didn’t want that, so I ran away, but quickly realized I had nothing so I had to return—”

I cleared my throat and blinked the tears away, watching as Hongjoong’s eyebrows furrowed at my pathetic and sob, fake, story, “It’s embarrassing, really, but I started mingling with the wrong people. I just want to find love, you know. True love. And it’s very hard because I’m past that age and no man wants me anymore…so, I—I suffice with whatever I find, you know. I thought, I really thought this time that Juyeon was the love of my life, but he lied to me. I didn’t even know he was married until tonight. I’m so ashamed. What if his wife found out? What if the people find out? What will be made of me—”

I hiccupped as a stray tear ran down my cheek and suddenly, big and warm palms wrapped around my hands, Hongjoong’s gaze melting into mine, “Hey, calm down.”

His voice had softened a big amount, he was talking quietly, reassuringly, “You’re not too old and nobody will say anything about you. Don’t let anyone get to you, Y/N, you’re your own master and you’re capable of anything you put your mind to, alright? And you’re too pretty to die alone, so, stop worrying about that.”

“You think I’m pretty?” I asked with a small smile as I suddenly flipped my palms and intertwined my fingers with Hongjoong’s, his eyes falling on them. He gulped and shook his head with a smirk, looking back up in my eyes.

“Yeah, I think you’re very pretty.” The flush on my cheeks wasn’t from the wine, nor was it fake, I actually blushed. I couldn’t help but smile wider at him, my stomach doing weird flips as his calloused fingers suddenly started rubbing my knuckles slowly, his eyes narrowing just slightly. He was too handsome and he knew too damn well what he was doing, it was dangerous. I could feel the wine seeping inside my system already, the room around us slightly hazy. If I wasn’t careful enough I’d become drunk, and then, my plan wouldn’t be carried out, only a mistake would be done. And I couldn’t let that happen. Not tonight.

So, I averted my eyes and pressed my finger against the biggest ring he owned, with the letter A engraved in it, I could see it now, “This one’s really pretty.”

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow as I looked at him through my eyelashes and he gulped, lightly pulling his hands away, the warmth disappear with him. He gave me a glance before he slipped his ring off, pushing it towards me on the surface of the table. My eyes widened as I looked at the ring then at him, not quite knowing what to do next.

“You can take it for the night.” He muttered lowly, his eyes slightly darkening as I bit my lower lip, trying to fight my imagination from running wild because of the implication in his words. I took the ring and slipped it onto my middle finger, a little big for me, but its weight a reminder to never lose it. It seemed important as I inspected it, feeling something engraved in the inside of it too, making a mental note to look at that later.

            As time passed, more drinks settled on our table than empty bottles were taken away, our systems infusing with the alcohol we kept downing as if it were water. Sometime ago, my head started spinning, the room a bit hazy if I tried looking around, making me realize I have drunk more than enough, walking on the thin line of being tipsy or drunk. But I dialed down on the strong drinks, opted for water for half an hour now, slightly feeling better. The line of boundaries seemed to have blurred a long time ago too as Hongjoong was basically all over me, laughing loudly at almost everything I said as he wouldn’t stop drinking his booze, which I had secretly swapped with water ten minutes ago. He had yet to notice, too caught up in the story he tried telling for the second time. He was hilarious and as the alcohol loosened him up, he stopped being so intimidating, his intense gaze lightening, cat-like eyes smiling at me each time we locked eyes. I tried to stop myself, but it was futile, as Hongjoong’s hand would grip my thigh quite frequently, holding onto it before he would gesture with his hands again, and I couldn’t help but heat up, stomach flipping at each unintentional touch. Or perhaps it was intentional…it probably was as Hongjoong’s head dipped lower, lips grazing against the shell of my ear, making me freeze.

“Please don’t tell me you’re actually interested in whatever bullshit story I’ve been telling you for the past hour.” His words took me off guard and my mind instantly went to the worst-case scenario. He figured out that I was a pirate and I planned on robbing him, but when suddenly his hand was on my thigh again, a lot higher than before, and squeezing firmly, I couldn’t find my words nor any cohering thoughts, “Because I know you’ve switched my booze with water, Y/N, and quite frankly I’m bored of sitting here and entertaining you like this.”

All I could do was gulp and stare at the wall, trying not to shudder when his finger started rubbing circles into my thigh, “Then—then how else—could you entertain me?”

A beat of silence passed between us as I pulled my head back, our gazes connecting as Hongjoong leaned incredibly close, his lips ghosting over mine, breath fanning my face, “Fucking you sounds a lot better than sitting here and pretending we’re interested in what the other one has to say.”

I couldn’t help but let out a breath in disbelief, body lightly shaking as I felt like I was electrocuted, feeling hot all over and mind reeling. This really wasn’t going according to my plan, all I had to do was steal his shit once he got wasted, but his words awakened the want I’ve been trying to repress ever since my eyes fell on him. All softness was gone from his deep eyes, staring at me like he wanted to devour me right then and there, in front of everyone. I bit my lip at the thought and Hongjoong’s eyes fell on them, his nose twitching as he licked his own lips, yet didn’t move an inch. It felt like torture, being so close, yet he felt so far away. I probably should’ve refused him and walked out of that Inn, but I didn’t. My body didn’t want me to leave, my brain was screaming at me to let him have his way with me. I was tipsy, yet I felt so hyperaware of everything around me, of his grip burning my skin, his eyes undressing me and his lips so close they were almost touching.

“What are you waiting for?” I managed to whisper out as Hongjoong smirked once my words got to his brain, his hand disappearing like lightning from my thigh, chair pushed back as he was up on his feet. I couldn’t even blink as a grip on my forearm pulled me up and I was led away from the bar area, rushed towards the stairs. We haven’t paid for our drinks yet, but it seemed like nobody really cared as we disappeared up the stairs, Hongjoong almost running, tugging me along. It was a little bit funny and I couldn’t help but giggle as Hongjoong tried opening all the doors until he finally found an empty room, throwing me a cheeky smile as he walked us inside, door slamming shut quickly. We didn’t have a key, but we didn’t need one. It didn’t seem like we’d take too long either way as Hongjoong started unbuttoning his black vest, stare pinning me against my spot. I mirrored him and started undoing the lace of my corset, making Hongjoong’s eyes wander down my torso, gulping as I got rid of the piece of clothing, letting it fall next to me on the floor. Hongjoong’s vest was abandoned and he undid the buttons of his white shirt messily, hissing when his fingers wouldn’t work as he wished, making me chuckle. I didn’t bother unbuttoning my shirt, just raised it overhead, making Hongjoong bite his lip as he took my body in. I gripped the skirt on both sides of my hips before pushing it down, remaining in nothing but my underwear, stockings, and the black cloth wrapped around my torso providing warmth and restricting my breasts from getting in my way. I preferred it that way, men took you more seriously when your breasts weren’t hanging in their faces. Hongjoong was about to undo the belt on his pants when his eyes fell on me once again and he sucked in a harsh breath, abandoning his initial actions. He stalked towards me, eyes never leaving mine, until he was all up in my face, warmth radiating off his body. I almost stepped back, intimidated by his proximity, but I stood my ground and stared him down, waiting for him to make the first step, but he didn’t. He was teasing me as he smirked, eyes running over my face, chuckling before I felt his hands on my waist, gripping me, pulling me flushed against his firm body. I gasped as his warmth enveloped mine, his naked torso gaining my attention as I looked down, taking in the muscles of his tanned skin, his chest very well worked. Our eyes connected once again and no more precious seconds were waisted as our lips crashed against each other, not soft at all as they moved against each other vigorously, trying to settle for a satisfying pace, but nothing was good enough as we devoured each other hungrily, whining into the kiss when Hongjoong’s fingers dug into my skin, pressing against my hip bones. My hands explored his naked torso, dragging and pressing against his burning skin, trying to feel each muscle as Hongjoong walked me backwards until my back hit the wall, caging me against it with his strong arms.

My hands explored his back and I scratched down his scapula’s with my nails, earning a groan from him as he bit my lower lip, pulling back breathlessly, my chest rising and falling rapidly. I wasted no more time and started undoing the belt of his pants, Hongjoong’s lips finding my neck as he started pressing slow, sensual, kisses down to my collarbones, where he sucked on the skin harshly, earning a hiss from me as I pushed his head slightly back, glaring at him. I didn’t want any type of marks on my body left by him, or anyone else, but it seemed like Hongjoong was rather amused as he grabbed the back of my head and licked my lips, taunting me, my glare deepening as I tugged harshly against his belt, our bodies colliding again. That seemed to wipe off the amused smirk of his face as I slowly, teasingly, undid the lace of his pants, not quite pushing it off his hips. Hongjoong watched me as I smirked this time and sneaked my hand inside his pants, lightly brushing against his member, surprised that he wore no underwear. It was daring. Hongjoong groaned as my fingers lightly grazed the tip and he pressed his lips against mine again as I took a hold of his member, slowly pumping it. His kiss was messy, our teeth clanking together, as Hongjoong moved his hips, thrusting into my hand wrapped around him, whining when I squeezed down on it and fastened the pace. He pressed a short kiss after kiss against my lips, muttering profanities against my lips as his eyebrows furrowed, bucking up faster as I settled on a fast pace, his whimpers getting throaty and until he started whispering for me to stop, biting my earlobe when I didn’t listen to him.

“Stop, I’m so close—” He snapped against my ear, grabbing my throat harshly, making my breath hitch as his sounds and ministrations got to me, body feeling hot as I slowed the pace of my hand, Hongjoong freezing, his member twitching. He was panting as he pulled back to look at me, my lips parted in anticipation and suddenly I felt his thumb moving against my neck, until it was pressing against my chin, then my lower lip, parting my lips more for him. I couldn’t breathe as we held eye contact, his thumb finally slipping inside my mouth, my lips latching around it, ever so slowly starting to suck on it. His pupils were blown wide, lips parted in pleasure before his jaw clenched, eyes never leaving mine as I swirled my tongue around his thumb, his hips bucking into my hand once again.

“Fuck.” He spat before grabbing my wrist with his other hand, pulling it out of his pants, giving me a warning glare about touching him again as he started pushing his own pants down, my lips still wrapped around his thumb, sucking and licking it. I couldn’t help but grin as he moaned quietly and pulled his thumb out of my mouth, pants pooling around his ankles. Standing naked in front of me, the man was gorgeous. His tan skin glistened with light sweat, body flushed and pupils blown wide as he found the top of my stockings before he yanked them down, pulling my underwear off too in the process. I gasped as the coldness hit the lower half of my body and his thigh was pressed between my legs, making me gulp as his lips found my neck again. He started licking at the skin, eliciting a sigh as his thigh flexed against me and with a hand firmly placed against my hips, he rolled them forward, the friction making my breathing stutter for a second. My nerves felt on fire as I allowed Hongjoong to set the pace, one which was incredibly slow, making the hairs on my arms stand as it felt torturous. I needed more, something faster, but Hongjoong hissed when I tried to move on my own, making me whine loudly as he chuckled against the skin of my neck. I didn’t even notice it when he bit down on my skin, too focused on the burning of my lower region, clenching around nothing as I was starting to grow relentless, desperate. His teeth pierced my skin and I moaned as Hongjoong finally quickened the pace, juices coating his muscular thigh as I threw my head back, the friction finally enough. But it didn’t last for long as his thigh was gone and lips too, my eyebrows furrowing as I looked at him confused, only to feel his strong hands gripping my thighs before I was hoisted up, legs wrapping around his hips firmly as his member pocked at my entrance.

“Please.” I whispered as I looked at Hongjoong, running my fingers through his hair until I gripped the end tightly, yanking our heads close together. Hongjoong bit my lower lip as I felt his tip pushing against my entrance and I gasped as he finally pushed inside, his length stretching my walls like no one’s before. My back was flushed against the wall as Hongjoong leaned into me, setting a pace before he was even fully in, not quite fast nor slow, just right at the moment. I tried to stay silent with each one of his strong thrusts, but it was rather difficult as he was sharp, starting to quicken the pace. My head was thrown back against the wall, lips parted as quiet moans started escaping, Hongjoong’s lips brushing my Adam’s apple as he was panting, body crushing mine as if our closeness wasn’t enough already. My senses were heightened and it felt like pure bliss as he finally set a faster pace, the pitch of my voice raising as I felt Hongjoong’s eyes on my face, his lips red and plump from all the kissing and biting. My fingers tightened in his hair more, making him gasp lightly as suddenly my chin was gripped harshly, yanking my head down. His lips crashed against mine and his tongue was in my mouth, licking at my teeth, exploring my mouth like his life depended on it. I started meeting his thrusts, but it still wasn’t enough, I needed more as my release was building up, but not quite there yet. Hongjoong whined into my mouth as I clenched around him and I pulled back, gripping his cheeks as we gazed into each other’s eyes.

“I need more.” I whispered breathless and Hongjoong nodded, suddenly pushing all the way in, his movements ceasing. It felt torturous as my body burned, yearning for more, needing to release soon all the built-up tension. He let out the quietest breath when I clenched around him again, lightly trying to move my hips, but his bigger body had me mobilized between himself and the wall. This was not my idea of more, and before I could complain about it, he held me firmly against himself and suddenly pulled me off the wall, turning and walking towards the bed. I held onto him tightly, arms around his neck as I started leaving kisses behind his ear, making his member twitch inside me, grinning against his skin. Hongjoong groaned when he felt it and for a second I was falling backwards, back placed carefully against a soft surface. The bedsheets were cold and I shivered as I looked up at Hongjoong, who was looking down at me with a different glint in his eyes. It looked like adoration, almost, and it made me gulp nervously. I couldn’t allow myself to feel anything towards him, he was simply my prey and I was playing my part in the game he started by approaching me when I was still with Juyeon. He still didn’t move as he leaned down, and suddenly it felt too intimate as his lips pressed softly against mine, the kiss slow like never before, lips moving against mine in a tender manner, heating up the skin of my face. It made me feel guilty all of a sudden, how unassuming he was; I’ve never ever felt bad before for one of my victims. As he went to pull back, I gripped his cheeks and pulled him back down, placing a newfound passion into my kiss, tongue slipping into his mouth as he slowly started moving his hips again, the movement drawn out, sensual. It elicited a moan instantly from my lips, and Hongjoong took my left hand and intertwined our fingers as he pressed it down next to my head. My other hand tangled in the long strands of his hair as his free one found my hips and suddenly, his pace became vicious, restless as he started pounding into me, toes curling and head thrown back as moan after moan slipped from my lips. My legs hooked around his hips and I met his thrusts, his finger painfully pushing into the ring he gave me, a reminder that I was still wearing it. Hongjoong’s moans mixed with mine as I started clenching around him, so so close to finishing, and when his thumb brushed against my clit I was gone for, eyes rolling back as I came undone, the sensations overwhelming as he rode out my high with me before pulling out and with a few strokes to his dick finishing on my stomach.

I was still panting, coming down from the high as I stared at the ceiling, body flushed and Hongjoong’s hand in mine screaming at me that I couldn’t let my feelings get to me right now. Not tonight. Suddenly, his eyes found mine and he smiled as he leaned down, pressing a kiss against my forehead, making my eyebrows furrow as he finally got off me, my body shivering at the sudden coldness wrapping around me. I watched him as he looked around in the room before finding a towel and walking back to me, cleaning me up and muttering a small sorry, as if pulling out wasn’t smarter than finishing inside of me. But I remained silent and allowed him to pull me up in a sitting position as we stared down each other, seemingly not knowing what to do next. The drunken haze was somewhat gone from his eyes, signaling that he was perhaps just tipsy now, if not sober. Robbing him right now would be too difficult, so I opted for the last resort I had on me as a backup plan. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards me as I crawled back, laying down, making him lay down next to me. Hongjoong smiled and brushed the hair out of my eyes as we lay facing each other, smiling. My stomach dropped a little bit, but I ignored the sensation and focused on how much I was blushing as Hongjoong caressed my cheek and giggled as if I said something funny, making me raise my eyebrows at him but he just shook his head.

“Where are you from?” He asked quietly as he played with my hair and I sighed, not wanting to give away too much, but finding the moment so intimate that all of my walls were down, something which rarely happened.

“The North.” I whispered and looked away, not quite wanting to see his reaction. The North Kingdom was known for being rather ruthless and its people cold and barbaric. And it was all true. We really were that way. Our rules were strict and demanded to be followed, if anyone dared disobey them they would certainly face a painful death. We didn’t beat around the bush and were straight-up people. Many didn’t like the lifestyle, however, and found refuge in the neighboring Kingdoms, yet I found peace in the stern rules, in the familiar routine. If everything was so chaotic like in the rest of the Kingdoms, especially the South, how could people easily fall asleep? How would they not worry about what they’d do tomorrow? Nothing was certain and I couldn’t live with that. Sometimes I’d get homesick and we’d return home, but we weren’t exactly welcomed anymore. Our land didn’t treat the defectors kindly, once word got around you’d get shone away in best case scenario. And my parents knew what I was, a pirate. They would never welcome me back inside their house, their only child was a menace to society, a shame on the Lee family’s name. I wouldn’t be surprised if they told everyone I had died in the war we got deflected to so many years ago when I was just a child. The southern islands of our Kingdom always fought back against our harsh rules and demanded lesser sentences, but the Queen wasn’t having it. Therefore a war broke out between the mainland and southern islands which lasted for three years, our Queen giving in to her people, and giving them partially the freedom they wished for.

“Nothing to be ashamed of,” Hongjoong’s quiet voice brought me back from my thoughts, eyebrows raising slightly as I hadn’t heard what he said previously, “Being from the North, I mean. I have a friend who’s the nicest and most caring sailor I have ever known, and he’s strong too. Stereotypes exist, but it doesn’t mean you are just like them.”

I gulped and found myself slightly smiling at Hongjoong, his comforting words surprising. He didn’t seem like the type who cared much about others feelings up until now.

“We feel deeply, but we don’t like showing it to others…we see it as a burden, you know?” I found myself explaining it to Hongjoong and he hummed, caressing my cheek again with a fond smile.

“I know, my friend said the same thing.” He chuckled and I buried my head in the pillow, trying to hide my big smile, ignoring my brain screaming at me that I wasn’t following the plan at all. Sometimes it felt nice letting the heart get what it wanted.

“Do you happen to be obsessed with mermaids as well?” I pulled my head away from the pillow and looked at Hongjoong with raised eyebrows as I shook my head, “Ah, thought everyone was obsessed with it from your little Kingdom—”

“The Sun Set Kingdom is the smallest.” I narrowed my eyes at Hongjoong and he chuckled, amused by how triggered I got. Yes, the north was small but the island surrounding it made it larger than the Sun Set Kingdom, so it was unfair we got called the smallest kingdom, “And yes, my people are quite the believers when it comes to folklore, but I guess it depends on your upbringing too.” And my parents believed in nothing divine, calling it a waste of time as no Gods could help, only you could help yourself.

“I’m from the Sun Rise Kingdom.” Hongjoong muttered with a sigh, turning onto his back, hands behind his head, “I guess we’re both far away from home.”

I hummed and turned on my back too, eyes surveying the dark room, finding some water and glasses on a dresser. I cleared my throat and sat up, the weight of Hongjoong’s ring on my finger quite distracting as I walked towards the dresser. I could feel Hongjoong’s eyes on me as I poured water for the both of us, slipping some white powder from one of my necklaces into the left glass. I waited for it to dissolve before I turned around, sipping from my own glass as I walked towards Hongjoong. He sat up, leaning against the headboard and accepted the glass of water with gratitude.

“May I ask why are you wearing that?” He asked as he gulped down his water, eyes on the black cloth wrapped tightly around my body. I smiled and sat down, taking his empty glass and placing it on the floor.

“Well, I guess it’s for hiding my feminine figure?” I shrugged, finishing my glass of water, “Some of the jobs I do aren’t very female friendly and I can pass as a boy if I wear the right clothing with this, you know?”

“Nobody as pretty as you would pass as a boy.” Hongjoong chuckled and I rolled my eyes embarrassed.

“Trust me, I can camouflage myself very well.”

“And what is this mystery job you have?” I pursed my lips and watched as his blinks got longer, eyelids heavier and heavier. The amount of powder I slipped in his water would knock him out any minute now.

I chuckled and watched as Hongjoong tried lifting his arms, futile, “I’m a con-artist, let’s say.”

His eyes found mine but he didn’t say anything as his breathing slowed, eyelids falling shut, lips parting as his body went numb. I smiled sadly at him and got off the bed, dressing myself back up, looking like nothing even happened. I walked to Hongjoong’s side and adjusted him in a comfortable position before pulling the blanket over him, tracing his lips with my finger. My eyes fell on the ring I was still wearing and I took it off, bringing it up to my face. I turned it and tried to see what was carved on the inside, fingers running over it. The letter A and then…teez? Ateez? I paused for a second, looking down at the sleeping man. Kim Hongjoong. The ring with the letter A carved on it. Ateez carved inside of it. My eyes widened as I almost dropped the ring, looking at Hongjoong with slight fear pulsing through my veins. Had I just slept with The Slayer? The captain of the Ateez pirate crew? Oh, this was a turn of events even in my wildest dreams I wouldn’t have expected to happen. I looked around the room, hurrying to grab Hongjoong’s pants in search of gold or money. He did have a few coins on him, a lot less than I was expecting. I hissed as I looked back at the man and at the ring in my hand before I walked over and placed it on top of the pillow where I was supposed to be sleeping. But as I was about to leave, the black pearl necklace around his pretty neck caught my attention and I didn’t stop myself from taking what I wanted. I carefully took it off him and placed it around my own neck, staring down at it in awe. I’ve always wanted a pearl necklace, but they were too expensive and too hard to find, especially the black ones, they were rare. Without another glance at the man sleeping in the bed, I walked out the door, leaving our little escapade behind me, never to mention it to anyone.

            But things were never easy, especially for women as nobody took them seriously in a highly male dominated field. Being a pirate was hard, but being a woman pirate was even harder. Nobody wanted to do business with you, nobody wanted to strike deals with you and nobody would sell you weapons. So, forced to fend for ourselves in different ways, we started robbing other ships in the middle of the night, creating a fearful reputation for ourselves while acquiring provision and munition for ourselves. Our crew and ship grew with the passing of time and as we started establishing ourselves on the market, they nicknamed us The Nightfury. Sailors and pirates alike feared us once they learned about us as we’d attack them in the middle of the sea, leaving them with nothing, assuring them a painful death if they didn’t get to land in three days. And they usually didn’t. We tried not to be harsh, but we were forced by the men around us. They thought they could do anything to us without facing repercussions, and so that had to be proven wrong by us. And despite becoming quite successful in the past four years, there was still a thorn in our side. Ateez. The most feared pirate crew of the four seas and four kingdoms. No matter where we went, they had been there just before us, wreaking havoc and leaving nothing behind, nothing for us to find. And that just wouldn’t do anymore. I’ve had enough of always getting their sloppy seconds, so I devised a new plan. One which was working marvelously. Thanks to my extraordinary acting talent, I managed to charm a few of their investors and merchants into giving us their goods for a slightly lower price and still taxing Ateez with their old price while selling them second-made goods, sometimes even fake ones. Irene, my second in hand, had warned me that it wouldn’t be long until the notorious pirate crew caught on to our scams, but I opted not to listen to her. I had fooled Kim Hongjoong once, who would say I couldn’t do it twice? And so I did, so blatantly out in the open, right under his nose. He was always so close, yet never close enough to catch us. He even sent assassins our way, sent his most loyal dog Choi San, but all the damage he managed to do was stab a very humanlike looking pillow and blanket laying in a bed, on the highest floor of the Inn I supposedly resided in. Joy and I sipped on our drinks as we watched him from the window from across the Inn, laughing when he looked around in confusion, realizing he had been fooled. Choi San never made mistakes, yet here he was, outsmarted by two playful women, who played these eight fools as if they were their own puppets. Joy and I clanked our glasses together before downing our wine, turning back to the real deal we had to focus on, the two rich men tied up with tons of money falling out of their pockets. Ah, we had quite the productive night that evening. But what I failed to realize, despite Irene’s frequent warning, was that once someone made Kim Hongjoong furious, they would end up facing his wrath. And when that happened, it would hurt. A lot. But I felt comfortable, too safe, unknowing that he was gaining advantage on me minute by minute. But I started this dangerous game, and the inciter never backed down.

            Present time

            There was something different about the Sun Rise Kingdom. The air itself felt warmer, the wind never too harsh, the soil softer than anywhere else. You would never smell anything foul, not even at the markets, and the people were always smiling. Always so nice, and always so trusting. I had to say, they were the most gullible and unfortunately, they were our easiest prey. I loved the Sun Rise Kingdom, not because of how easy we had it here, but because everything was so inviting, so accepting. In the past four years our crew grew significantly big and people recognized us. Our faces were plastered everywhere in the Sun Set Kingdom on wanted posters, constables constantly trying to catch us. They seemed to hate us the most out of all the Kingdoms and, perhaps, I couldn’t blame them as once we accidentally almost burned down the only inhibited island they happen to have. It was an accident, of course, we aren’t cruel like that, but they wouldn’t understand that no matter how many times we’d try explaining it to them. After realizing that it was futile making peace with them, we soon started giving up on that Kingdom, closing our deals with the merchants, keeping only our most important investors. This came in quite handy for Ateez, of course, as they got richer and richer, taking away one of our most important ammunition resource’s. But my crew was very talented and cunning, we managed to smuggle a few guns still from them, a spy who owed her life to me always lurking in the shadows, helping us out whenever we needed something important from over there.

We had arrived to the Sun Rise Kingdom a week ago and treated it as a little vacation as all of us had been tired from restlessly sailing the seas, almost losing our lives when a storm hit us while we were traveling through the Raging Sea. It was a bad idea sailing through it, but we’ve done it before and were lucky enough to avoid any storms, our navigator, Wendy, rather talented at her job. Everything was going smoothly so far, no run ins with the constables, nobody bothered us for the most part, a merchant even offered a good deal for us upon hearing we were in town, and the men in this bustling town were rather good looking, pockets and pouches heavy with coins. It truly felt like we were on a resort, finally enjoying our lives for a little bit, young and hungry for more. But our safe heaven didn’t last for long as two days ago Irene came barging inside my room as I was reading through a letter Siwon, an older smuggler from the Sun Set Kingdom, had sent a week ago. He found some ancient looking jewelry and he wanted to make sure they were authentic before selling them, offering to give us half of the payment if I helped him out. Greed was a bad thing, but I wouldn’t turn down such a nice offer.

The door to my room was slammed open, crashing into the wall harshly as I jumped up from my seat with a wildly beating heart, “They are here!”

I watched my second-in-command, Irene, pant as her long black hair fell in her eyes, “Who are here?”

I watched her with a confused expression as I placed a palm over my racing heart, giving her a small glare for scaring the living daylight out of me. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at me like I was crazy.

“Ateez!” Her normally quiet voice turned shrill as it rose a few octaves, her normally composed nature completely disappearing. Ateez. My jaw clenched as I leaned against my desk, huffing.

“Of course they are here,” I muttered, as Irene stepped inside my room and hastily closed the door behind her, “I can never rest for too long, can I?”

“This is bad.” Irene said gravelly as she started pacing around my room, “You know this is bad, Y/N, we must leave. Right now. If they find out where we reside, you know they will come after us—”

“Will you relax for a second?!” I snapped, Irene’s anxiety rubbing off on me as I threw her a glare, sitting back down in my chair, “We’re supposed to be leaving in three days if we want to get to the Sun Set Kingdom in two weeks.”

“What?” Irene’s eyebrows furrowed as she neared me, blowing her bangs out of her eyes, “Sun Set Kingdom—what are you talking about?”

I smiled at her confusion, her eyebrows scrunching up, her intimidating face looking rather cute as I grabbed the letter from Siwon and handed it to her. She took it and read it quickly, sighing as she looked back at me. I could read the exhaustion in her eyes, almost pleading to stay put for a little longer. We were supposed to go up North for a while, visit her family as they hadn’t given up on their daughter like mine have. Irene was homesick, and so was I, but this…this would be big. Siwon giving us half of the payment meant we could lay low for at least half a year, find a nice spot somewhere and just live quietly, rest. All of us wanted that, after all, the crew has worked hard to get to where we were now.

“Please,” Irene’s voice lowered, the letter clutched tightly between her fingers, “do we really need to go? It’s Siwon, you know he’s not trustworthy. He fucked us over last time too, Y/N, shouldn’t you think this through first?”

I shook my head and took the letter from her, turning to face my desk as I had readied to write back to Siwon before Irene came barging inside my room, “We could be free for half a year, Irene, if we do this. Jewels are our forte and he knows that, that’s why he’s asking for our help. I promise to head up North straight afterwards—”

“And sail through the Icy Sea?” Irene tsked and gave me a look, “No.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked up at her, “What do you mean, no?”

“You heard me right,” Her voice turned serious and her expression hardened. I knew what was coming, “I’m your second-in-command and I refuse to go to the Sun Set Kingdom. I refuse to sail through the Icy Sea.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing that she meant none of that, “Go find yourself a different crew then.”

I turned to grab my pen as I was smacked hard across the back of my head, making me let out a loud yelp, whipping my head around to glare at Irene, “You bitch—”

“Shut up,” Irene snapped, leaning down to be eye level with me, “I don’t know why I keep putting up with you, but for once in your fucking life, listen to me. Ateez is in the same town with us, Y/N, and Hongjoong wants you dead. We have to leave.”

I just smiled at Irene and placed a hand over hers, squeezing it reassuringly, “And how many times did he already try to kill me? Don’t worry, we’re safe—I’m safe. Tell the other girls we’re leaving in three days to meet with Siwon. And then we head to the North, through the Barren Sea.”

Irene sighed loudly as she shook her head at me, but I knew she was thankful for at least avoiding the Icy Sea. She hated that place; it took her brother’s life when they were only children. We’d have to sail a lot more if we wanted to go through the Barren Sea, but I’d do anything for Irene to make her feel safe. She was my second-in-command after all, I did have to respect her requests and opinions. And as a dear friend to her, I didn’t want to antagonize her too much if I could. I smiled at her brightly, and she rolled her eyes as she straightened and pulled her hand away from mine, headed for the door, throwing me a small glare before she was out the room, making me chuckle to myself as I picked up my pen, ready to write back to Siwon.

            But there was a reason why Irene was my second-in-command. I was brazen and most of times didn’t think things through, meanwhile she was calculated and very smart, taking every possible outcome into consideration before proceeding with her actions. This was a prime example as to why I should listen to her more often, but one doesn’t actually learn until something very bad happens. And that very bad thing happened just the night before our departure from the lively town we resided in for the past week. Everyone was ready, getting their last peaceful sleep before we’d set off, my evening a little bit more eventful as I had found a man down at the bar and decided to charm him, because why not? We’d be setting off and wouldn’t be around men for a long time. It was nothing too impressive, but he got the job done and I even managed to steal his pricey looking wristwatch. Ever since sleeping with Hongjoong, nobody seemed to be as good as him. It’s like he altered something inside of me so that I’d never find true pleasure and satisfaction in other men. It happened four years ago, yet I could still recall that night as if it had happened just yesterday. It was infuriating and frustrating to have someone always in the back of your mind, especially when that someone hated you and wanted you dead. I couldn’t lie, I felt quite resentful towards him as well, our feud throughout the years making me wish I could slice his neck with a dagger. But we never saw each other since that night, his dirty work carried out by someone else for him, however, I didn’t bother doing the same, knowing very well it was a lot more painful if his assets were the ones dissipating right in front of his eyes. People would call me greedy, but he wasn’t so different.

It hadn’t been long since I had settled into bed, getting comfortable as I let out a long sigh, the silky surface of the blanket soft against my skin. This bed was a lot more comfortable than the one I had on the ship and it made me ponder for a second whether I should just steal the sheets for a nicer sleep on the ship. The thought almost made me laugh as I snuggled my head against the puffy pillow, strawberry blonde hair falling over my face. My body was soft, mind slowly shutting down as I allowed myself to relax in the safety of my room. But that didn’t last for long as something hard crashed against the window and I jumped up in a sitting position, heart hammering in my chest. My eyes fell on the huge rock which sat on the wooden floor of my room and before I could really think about it, a dark head appeared outside my window. My body tensed up and I threw the covers off my body as the person climbed through the window, boots crunching against the broken glass on the floor. I grabbed the dagger off my nightstand and looked at the figure menacingly, never one to back down from a fight. It was dark, I couldn’t exactly see their face, not that it mattered much who it was. But for a second, as our gazes connected, my breath faltered and the silence around us was too loud. I could recognize those eyes anywhere. He took one step further inside the room, features more visible, clearer to see, easier to recognize. A face, which was more mature now, more defined, chiseled. My stomach dropped as I watched Hongjoong step further inside the room, looking around nonchalantly. His face was expressionless yet his eyes were harsh, and I gulped as my grip tightened on my dagger. He’s never came in person before. Always sent someone else. Irene was right, we should’ve left three days ago. I was backing towards the door when Hongjoong’s cat-like eyes settled on me again, a sinister smirk spreading onto his lips, eyes widening slightly. In the darkness of the room, he looked utterly scary. My heart was beating too fast and I found myself breathing quickly, realizing I was losing my composure. He looked stronger; his body so much more muscular, wider. Fuck.

“Lee Y/N.” He spat my name out with venom lacing his voice and I froze for a second, surprised by it. Did he really hate me this much? That wasn’t too good.

“Kim Hongjoong.” I was nonchalant, played it off. I refused to show him that I was shaken up, limbs slightly trembling from the stress. Hongjoong’s face suddenly lost all expression as he stared at me blankly, taking me in for the first time since he’s stepped inside the room. Suddenly, I felt too exposed, vulnerable, as his eyes found mine again. I was wearing nothing but my undergarment and a white shirt which was too big for my frame, the top unbuttoned, falling in a deep V-neck.

It happened fast, I almost didn’t react, as Hongjoong lurched towards me and I jumped back, eyes widening when I noticed the big knife in his hand. Oh, he came here prepared and determined. I gulped as his head slowly turned towards me; hand extended forward as he eyed my dagger. I was outpowered, he didn’t even have to disarm me for me to know. The hatred in his eyes, his ripe muscles, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins could bring my dismay tonight. But I didn’t let those thoughts get to me. If Choi San couldn’t kill me, Kim Hongjoong wouldn’t either. So, instead of waiting for him to attack again, I sprung towards him, dagger raised high as I went to stab him. He blocked the attack with his knife, instantly slicing, my skin burning where he had cut me. I gasped, taken aback, but before I could react he was moving his hand again, forcing me to defend myself as the knife cut my thigh, making me growl as I snapped my head up to glare at him. Hongjoong seemed unphased as he wiped the blood off his knife onto his pants, looking at me with a smug smirk, advancing towards me once again. I panicked for a second and sliced through the air, halting his movements, to my luck, giving me enough momentum to knock the knife out of his hand as I raised my leg, kicking his wrist. Hongjoong didn’t wince, didn’t make a sound. He just looked at his knife before taking off towards me again, making me curse to myself. He was unstoppable, he really cared about one thing only, and that was to kill me. I jabbed towards him, but he just blocked the attack and soon I found my wrist twisted, a cry leaving my lips, as my dagger clattered onto the ground. Hongjoong’s other hand raised but I quickly slapped it away and tried to free my wrist, but I couldn’t. His grip was painfully strong, making me grit my teeth as I tried punching him with my free hand, but he ducked down as if it was nothing. He was angering me. He was letting me use my energy so he’d attack when I was tired, so I stopped, and stared him down. He twisted a little more of my wrist and I almost hissed, but I bit my lip instead and refused to show any weakness. Hongjoong didn’t seem to like that as he swiftly grabbed my neck with his other hand and squeezed hard, making my eyes widen as I clawed at his hand, the air leaving my lungs quickly as I was unprepared for such an attack. And then he slammed me into the wall, knocking out all the air from my lungs, making me choke up as I tried to push him off desperately, feeling helpless as he just watched me blankly.

My lungs started to burn and I hated myself as I looked at him with a pleading look, trying to pull his hand off, but it was futile. And just as I started seeing dark spots around me, his grip loosened up and the air rushed inside my lungs furiously, making me cough as I tried to suck in as much air as possible. He had gotten incredibly strong; it was embarrassing how weak I felt right now. I was good at hand-to-hand combat, I could even fight with a sword, I have killed men twice his size, yet here I was, on the bring of passing out from how hard he was squeezing me, his grip on my wrist still there. I tried to open my mouth and say something, but my mouth felt too dry and I knew my voice would’ve been scratchy, so I just stared at him. I tensed more when suddenly he leaned incredibly close to my face, sneering.

“You’re quite helpless for someone who parades themselves around for being unbeatable.” He mocked me and I glared at him, my sneer mirroring his as I went to push his head away, but he acted faster, yanking me forward into himself. He was just as tense as I was, body firm, as he turned me around roughly, squeezing my body against his. His solid chest pressed against my back. I didn’t know what was happening, but I tried to pull away, even bit his arm, but he had no reaction as he walked us towards the vanity, bending down on the way for a second. I saw what he picked up and gulped, it was my dagger. He stopped us in front of the big mirror and I hated the way I looked. Cheeks red from fighting so hard and getting chocked, the shirt wrinkled and almost falling off my shoulder, exposing me to Hongjoong. I watched as Hongjoong looked down at my body before our gazes connected through the mirror, my chest rising and falling quickly as he removed the hair from my neck with the hand which held my dagger. He seemed eerily calm for someone who looked so murderous right now. I tried moving away again, but he positioned his arm across my chest and pushed hard against it, holding my chin firmly, exposing my neck. I wanted to ask what he was doing as I felt fear creep up my body, but I didn’t, my pride in the way.

“You should’ve just left after you fucked me, Y/N,” His breath hitting my neck sent goosebumps down my body, “You should’ve just went on with your pathetic life without ruining someone else’s, Y/N. And most importantly—you should’ve never tried to destroy Ateez.”

I scoffed and opened my mouth to jab back at him, when the dagger was suddenly painfully close to my neck, my heart hammering in my chest, “Wait—what are you—”

But the blade pushing against my skin made me almost cry out, thankfully I managed to gulp it down, as suddenly he dragged it down in a straight line. As a reflex I grabbed his arm holding me mobilized against himself, and squeezed it as hard as I could as pain shoot down from my neck to my torso, to my chest. It hurt so much as my skin split open, it felt hot and pulsing, as he dragged it down similarly again, in a different spot, close to the previous slash. I watched through the mirror as blood trickled down my neck, the smell so nauseating that all I could think about was that he was cutting so close to the artery. If he pressed down just a little bit more, I would die. I would be gone. I bit my lower lip harshly as he dragged the dagger across the already split open skin, the area numb as my body was shaking from the excruciating pain and the sight of the blood and the smell of it, from the struggle to bite down my screams and tears. I felt lightheaded as my hold slipped down to his wrist when he brought the dagger close to my skin once again, shaking my head furiously ‘no’, chest starting to shake from the cries which tried to escape through my lips. I was hyperventilating as the wounds were pulsing, hot and cold at the same time, flinching as Hongjoong blew on it as we made eye contact through the mirror. He had a deranged look on his face and he had the audacity to cackle as he leaned down, lips pressing against my ear, making me let out a quiet shudder in fear.

“You wanted what was mine?” He asked so softly I almost didn’t realize he was speaking, “Good, because from this moment on, you’re my property, Y/N. Mine. Every time you will look in the mirror, you will remember who you dared challenge, who you robbed, and turned people against. Kim Hongjoong. Captain of Ateez. The Slayer.”

I whimpered and tried to pull my head away as his lips pressed against the wound, making the burn worse, the blood still trickling down my neck, past my collarbones. I watched through the mirror as he licked my blood off his lips, body still shaking yet feeling numb at the same time. I was so cold. I wanted him to go away.

“You and your crew are mine from now on, one more slip up, Y/N, and I’ll kill Irene right in front of your eyes,” Irene, no, I felt the tears in my eyes, “and then I’ll kill each one of your crew members.”

I shook my head and suddenly he pushed me forward as I felt into the vanity, his body and grip gone from mine as I collapsed down onto the floor, body shaken by the sobs which threatened to spill out. I heard movement behind me, and when I looked back, nobody was in the room with me. Hongjoong was gone. Finally, the tears fell down my cheeks and I started crying loudly, body shaking as I forced myself to stand up, needing to see Irene. Did he hurt her? Was she alright? Did they do anything to her? And the others—Irene’s door was thrown wide open the second I was out of my room, eyes wide as she took in my form. She rushed up to me and quickly led me inside her own room, searching my body frantically for any fatal wounds, but found none. She was talking to me, asking me question, but all I could do was cry and shake my head. I couldn’t even hear her; I didn’t understand her. She realized I needed comfort and quickly hugged me, shushing me and muttering some reassuring words, eyes fixed on the wound on my neck as her own eyes filled with tears, but she remained strong for me, telling me that it would be alright. But no, it wouldn’t be alright. I wanted Hongjoong dead.

            I have never felt so intensely for someone. And they weren’t positive feelings. Once Irene managed to calm me down and clean up my wounds, which was harder than it appeared as I kept hissing and pulling my neck away from her delicate touch, she allowed me to sleep in her bed for the night, too on edge to be left alone. Irene knew the second she saw me what had happened. I didn’t have to tell her that it was Hongjoong, she knew from the look on my face. I felt partially ashamed and totally stupid for having not listened to her and for almost dying by the hands of my sworn enemy. I thought I would be fine, figuring that Hongjoong just wanted to maim me for his own pleasure, but when I looked in the mirror, the world around me silenced for a few seconds. My eyes froze on the open wound on my neck, red and raw from still being so fresh. It wasn’t small at all, screaming in your face once you looked at me, and suddenly I realized my breathing was uneven as Irene watched me with pity in her eyes, averting her gaze once my wild one fell on her. There was the letter ‘H’ carved inside my skin, forever, screaming at whoever dared look at me. I didn’t realize what I was doing until everything was thrown off my vanity, the porcelain little chests breaking, my precious jewelry falling all over the floor. The scream ripping through my throat felt painful and I could hear several footsteps rushing our way as I grabbed the same dagger Hongjoong used and raised it to my neck, making Irene yell out as she was by my side in an instant, gripping my wrist so hard my circulation was certainly cut off.

“What’s happening—” Yeri cut her own question off as her eyes settled on the scene and ran up to us, gripping my arm and forcing it away with Irene’s help, my body shaking as all I could do was stare at the wound on my neck, which would scar, Hongjoong’s initial on my body, in my body, until the day I die, until the day my flesh rots away.

“Y/N!” I could hear Yeri calling out my name again and again, until my cheeks were gripped roughly and my head was turned away from the mirror of the vanity, “Get it together!”

She was the youngest in our crew, yet the strongest, always merciless, always the first to pull the trigger, stab the enemy. She was my master-at-arms, closest to me after Irene.

Yeri’s hard eyes bore into mine and gradually I could finally breathe again, heartbeat slowing down as I gripped her arms, slowly nodding to let her know I was fine. I was fine. Nothing could hurt me. Nobody could hurt me. I was fine. Cautiously, Yeri released me and I allowed her arms to drop down next to her body as I let go of her as well, looking towards the doorway, where the rest of my closest friends and crew stood, eyes wide at the unfolding scene in front of them. That is until Joy’s eyes fell on the ugly wound on my neck, and she gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth.

“We’re leaving right now.” I spoke up, voice hard as I composed myself, pulling my hair to the front, covering the wound until Irene helped me place gauze on it, “We need to be at the Sun Set Kingdom in two weeks, but before that—a pirate crew needs to learn their lesson.”

And they did learn it as in five days we found them sailing towards the South Kingdom, not too far away from their shore. We’d been on the hunt ever since we left the Sun Rise Kingdom, determined to catch a whiff of their route, Wendy having not slept for three days now as she tried to find the route Ateez was using. It was laughable how quickly and easily we found them, for having the most feared reputation, they weren’t very good at being undetected. It was late in the night when I finally spotted their ship through my binoculars and a smirk crept up onto my lips as I called out to Irene, her body tensing when she saw me. She was against getting revenge on them, but I wasn’t about to let them get away so easily. If Hongjoong could threaten me in the middle of the night, in the safety of my chamber’s, I would do the same thing. We weren’t here to kill them; we were here to warn them. Pull something like that again Hongjoong, and I will gut Seonghwa in front of your two pretty eyes before I kill off the rest of your precious companions.

“Tell Seulgi to load the cannons.” I commanded to Irene as she shook her head in disappointment before taking off towards the previously mentioned woman, “Wendy! You’ll get two days off after tonight.”

The short-haired woman grinned at me as she pulled on the sail of the main mast, the wind taking us straight towards Hongjoong’s ship. The ship was quiet, a few sailors asleep on deck as we neared them without disrupting the waters, ready at any moment to attack. As something big and shiny caught my attention, I looked through the binoculars, gasping once my eyes fell on a fish-like creature. Mermaids. They were real? I stood frozen to my spot, gears turning in my head, watching the creature as it floated numbly in its cage, probably asleep…or dead. But why would it be dead? Certainly it must cost more alive than dead? And then it clicked, and I smirked as I called over Irene with a wave of my hand, handing the binoculars to her and angling her head to see what I was looking at just seconds ago. She gasped as she looked at me taken aback, before looking back into the binoculars.

“They are real…” She whispered to herself, all the stories in our folklore true after all, “What will they do with her?”

I smirked and took the shotgun Irene was holding, checking if it was fully loaded, “Probably sell her somewhere in the South and make enough money for a lifetime, we can’t let them have that, can we?”

Irene’s eyes darkened as she shook her head, the same hatred I felt towards Ateez finally seeping into her own bloodstream, “Do you want everyone dead, Captain?”

I chuckled, raising my left arm high up in the air, “No, I just want them close to sinking.” And as I brought my arm down, the first cannon went off, sending a fireball surging through the air, hitting the side of Ateez’ ship in a way so perfect I couldn’t have angled it better myself. Eyes focusing on the cage the mermaid was held in, I calculated approximately where I had to shoot in order to break her glass cage, gunshots and fireballs flying overhead as the enemy ship came to life, men shouting and running around deck, trying to counter our attacks. My only focus was on pulling the trigger at the right time, and I did, then two more times, checking in the binoculars to see if my aim was correct. The mermaid seemed to sprung to life as she swirled around in her glass cage, slamming against it. Hongjoong could never stop me, I wouldn’t allow it. He can maim me as much as he wants, he can carve his whole name on my body, and I still won’t stop, still won’t back down. Not when he thinks he can have everything, not when he takes everything. And as I lowered my binoculars, I could see him standing tall on the quarterdeck, his own binocular lowering at the same time as mine. Despite the distance between our ships, I could feel his burning stare, I could feel his hatred, I could hear his curses, I could feel the burning want to kill me. Yet all I could do was smirk to myself and bow dramatically, knowing very well he was watching, mouthing to myself for him to enjoy the show. Nobody was let off easy after attacking Lee Y/N, Captain of Red Velvet, The Nightfury.

            The Heavens were on our side as we arrived safe and sound in the Sun Set Kingdom. Our journey took two weeks, as expected, the crew exhausted as we finally docked down close to the uninhabited island of the small Kingdom, the waves rocking the ship violently. The sky had significantly darkened as the wind picked up, Irene looking off in the distance with a frown on her face. The little island was right in front of us, not even a five-minute boat ride away. I tied my long hair in a low ponytail and checked if I had all my daggers on me, my sword sitting snugly against my waist, the new leather pants I was wearing rather restricting at the moment.

“Are you sure you want to go alone?” Irene’s voice was laced with worry as she took her binoculars out of her pouch and looked off in the distance. The little island had a small cave, it was Siwon and I’s meeting point. It wasn’t too deep, but it was enough to conceal the real world from seeing the business’ that went down, far from the eyes of constables and the Night watch of the mainland.

“Yes,” I hummed as I glanced at Irene, “However, a weird feeling came over me last night—”

“I told you this doesn’t feel right!” Irene snapped and I sighed, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“I know what I’m doing, Irene, and if anything goes wrong—”

“Nothing will go wrong!” Irene cut me off again, eyes narrowed at me.

“If anything goes wrong,” I repeated my sentence, glaring lightly at her, “then you know what to do. You take this crew away from here to safety and you become the new Captain.”

Irene gulped, gripping my arm hard, pulling me in closer, “I can’t lose you, Y/N, you must take care of yourself and if anything happens—you know how to let us know.”

I nodded and offered her a soft smile as Irene pushed her forehead against mine as a way of greeting. The people from the North might not have been the verbally affectionate kind, but we always showed our care physically. Acts of service and physical closeness paid a rather important role in our lives. Forehead touching was a way of greeting between family and close friends. We pulled away at the same time and Irene’s eyes hardened as she released me, my own face slipping into a mask of coldness, as I turned towards my crew, who were waiting excitedly for me to take off towards the island. Towards our freedom.

“When I return, we will be rich,” I spoke up, voice loud and hard, “When I return, we won’t have to live the pirate life for much longer. When I return…we shall find our paradise!”

The crew cheered loudly as they raised their swords in the air, eyes glinting hungrily for the promised future, for the future we’ve all been working hard towards, craving desperately. Greed was a vicious thing, but our drive to finally be free was even stronger. I nodded confidently as I threw Irene a last glance before taking off towards the little boat floating in the water, the waves rocking it rather harshly. The wind didn’t relent, picking up even more as my arms strained as I climbed down the rope to reach the boat. My feet landed with a loud thumb and I tumbled a bit as a big wave crashed into the boat, wetting my new shoes and leather pants. I groaned and took the paddles into my hands as I sat down, paddling away from the safety of my ship, of my crew, towards the deserted island with the singular cave sitting on the surface of it. It wasn’t the first time I came here, but something felt off right now. I wasn’t lying to Irene; I did mean what I said. I got a strange feeling last night while I tried falling asleep, a voice in my head asking whether this was truly safe? Whether Siwon was telling the truth? Did I trust him this time? What guarantee did I have that he wasn’t trying to fuck me over once again? But the greed and drive towards freedom was stronger than the voices in my head, stronger than the gut feeling, which was getting stronger and stronger by the minute, trying to turn me back towards my ship, telling me to leave as fast as possible. There were no other ships in the distance, just six other little boats as I arrived to the shore of the island, meaning that Siwon and his men were already here. They didn’t need a ship, as I glanced back towards my own, I could see the mainland from here, blurry because of the distance, but there. It would only take half a day to paddle out here by boat. I secured my own, so that the waves wouldn’t wash it away, and hopped out of it, the sea cold against my boots. The wind picked at my hair, the stray strands falling messily and getting into my eyes as I hurried towards the cave, hissing when the water became ankle deep. This wasn’t how I imagined I would ruin my new clothing, but I guess I’d do anything to be free.

The wind was loud on the inside of the cave as it blew at the entrance, and I glanced back as the waves crashed against the rocks. I had to jump over a few more as I walked further inside, the sunlight slowly disappearing as the cave was lit up by torches placed on the wall. Another sign that Siwon was already here. I walked cautiously, hand on the handle of my dagger as I glanced behind me, my gut feeling worsening by second. But I couldn’t turn back, not now. Not when I was so close. My feet padded against the sand quietly and suddenly, as I took a turn to the left, voices resounded around me, echoing from the wide, open chamber of the cave I came face to face with. Twenty men at least were sitting around, some on the rocks, some on the sand as they conversed, looking rather casual. Siwon was sharpening his knives as he sat back against a wooden chair, slumped in his seat. He must’ve felt my gaze on him because he looked up, body tensing and whistling loudly. All the other men suddenly stood up straight, their eyes fixed on me as I walked further inside, looking around warily. The air was tense and my gut was screaming at me to just turn around and leave, I still could do it. I could still change my mind; it wasn’t too late. But Siwon’s face suddenly morphed into a smile, too friendly, too casual.

“Welcome, Miss Lee!” He called out loudly, arms spread wide open, “We’ve been excitedly waiting for you arrival.”

I chuckled to myself, stopping a respectable distance away from him and his men, who watched me as if I were their prey, “Yeah, I can tell.”

My voice dripped with sarcasm, but Siwon didn’t comment on it as he just continued smiling, it was too fake, “I can tell you were eager to help me out, I’ve never gotten an answer back from you so fast before.”

I forced a smile on my face as I noticed two guys approaching me from my peripheral, “You made it sound urgent in your letter, Siwon, so I came as fast as I could.”

“And did you come alone?” He raised an eyebrow as he watched me with curious eyes. I was aware of the men behind me, but they have stopped advancing towards me.

“Here? Yeah,” I nodded, narrowing my eyes, “That’s how our deal was, but I didn’t come by myself to the island, Siwon.”

“Left your crew on the sea?” He was prodding, tone too casual for someone who looked visibly tense.

“No, they are by the entrance of the cave,” I lied through my teeth, smiling slyly at him, “So don’t even think about pulling any tricks on me.”

Siwon hummed deep in thought as he looked at the man behind me, and I glanced their way, my face hard and eyes glaring. They didn’t seem phased as they stood like guard dogs, eyeing Siwon every once in a while, waiting for an order. Pathetic.

“Where are the jewels?” I raised my eyebrows as I walked towards the man, arms crossed in front of my chest. The men closest to Siwon gripped the handle of their swords, but I ignored them. There was a muffled sound coming from the left, further inside the cave, a little bit away from the mass of men gathered around me. Four men seemed to be crowding around something, obscuring my view from the thing in question. Perhaps that’s where the jewel was.

“Oh, you know,” Siwon scratched the back of his head, looking innocently at me, “I forgot to bring it—”

“What?!” My voice was hard as I snapped, eyes turning into slits as I glared at the cocky man standing a few feet away from me. The torch lit chamber casted a sinister light over his smile, but it didn’t scare me. I risked my life coming here, by being so close to the Sun Set Kingdom. If anyone saw our ship and reported to the constables, they could be on their way already, ready to kill my crew. The crew I currently wasn’t with and what’s a Captain good for if she has no crew?

“I have so many customers, Y/N, you know how business works,” Siwon spoke up casually, folding his hands in front of his legs as he leaned against the wooden chair’s back casually, “Sometimes you hit it big, sometimes you get zero profit, which sucks. A lot. You know I love you the most, especially when your payment is the highest, but lately—you’ve been quite disappointing.”

“I only pay for the quality of what I get from you, Siwon.” I countered, scoffing, “And your merch has been quite shit, lately. Don’t expect me to throw coins at you, when you don’t deserve said amount.”

Siwon grinned, and shook his head, “This is where our problem starts, Miss Lee. I don’t like it when nasty pirates tell me what’s the worth of my own products, thinking they know better, when they don’t.”

I chuckled sarcastically, raising my eyebrows at him, “You think us nasty pirates don’t know the real worth of your products? How many items you think we see on a daily basis which are precious and which are scum? I can differentiate a real golden coin from a fake one just by one glance. Tell me what your real problem with me is and we can work it out—”

“No.” Siwon’s voice got harsh, eyes widening at me in annoyance, “We can’t work it out. Not anymore. I’ve had enough of your games, of you looking down on me.”

“Siwon—”

“Shut up!” Siwon’s deep voice boomed in the cave, echoing around us as I flinched, taken aback. He’s never acted like this before, I’ve always thought he was a dumb imbecile, trying to sell off any goods he found at the local market, sometimes getting his hands on good stuff, but most of times on nothing really significant. He raised his hand and waved over the other four men who were away from the group and I tensed as I gripped the handle of my sword, noticing Siwon’s men mirroring my stance.

“You have no idea how delightful it is to have you in one place,” Siwon chuckled, the sound echoing around us, “To finally have the two of you in one place, without the presence of your crew. Defenseless and up to my mercy.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at the four men, noticing that they were dragging someone towards our group. Who was the two of us? Did Siwon set up a trap? For me and for—my eyes widened as I lost my composure for one second as the person in question was forced to his knees a few feet away from me. Head lulled forward and a bruise already forming on his jaw, his hair was blonder since the last time I saw him. Which was two weeks ago. Two weeks which weren’t enough for me to process my feelings, for my hatred to settle down a bit. The burning flame inside my chest was ignited back to life as Hongjoong raised his head, lazily opening his eyes, gaze falling on me. His eyes widened before they darkened instantly, his eyes mirroring the hatred I felt towards him. His face scrunched up in disgust as he sneered at me, tugging on the grip the two men had on him, as if trying to reach me. Siwon was long forgotten as I gripped the handle of my sword with a deadly grip, on the verge of pulling it out of its holder and slicing Hongjoong’s head off. All I could see was red. All I could feel was the blood dripping down my neck, my collarbones. All I could feel was the sudden itching of the scar on my neck, of the mark he made on me, maiming me and claiming me as his.

“You!” I spat out, taking off towards him, but I didn’t get too close to him as someone grabbed me by my forearm, halting me in my steps. I snapped my head around and growled at them, starting to pull my arm away, when Siwon’s laughter echoed in the chamber. My head whipped towards him at the same time Hongjoong’s and I could feel my heartbeat pick up.

“How hilarious,” Siwon managed to say between laughs, “I don’t even have to dirty my hands with your blood. By the looks of it, you’ll kill each other before my men can get to you.”

“Try me, you bitch!” Hongjoong barked at Siwon, violently trying to tug himself free, but the two men just harshly forced him back onto his feet. I glanced at Hongjoong before looking back at Siwon, his words registering in my brain. This was a trap, of course. Irene was right. My gut feeling was right. Siwon wanted us both dead. I glanced back at Hongjoong, our eyes connecting as he seemed to have the same realization I just had, eyes glossing over in thought. I wasn’t going to die tonight. I didn’t care if Hongjoong did, but one thing was certain, I couldn’t kill all twenty-four men by myself. I gulped as I glanced back at Siwon then at Hongjoong, who was biting his lower lip, already looking at me. Our faces were unreadable and his eyes narrowed at me as he raised one eyebrow. I hated this. I hated that I had to work together with the man I hated the most in order if I wanted to live another day. But I really had no choice. So, very subtly, I nodded my head as I slightly pulled my sword up, letting Hongjoong know that I understood. That I agreed. That I was ready to fight alongside him to save ourselves.

Siwon suddenly tsked and both Hongjoong and I looked at him as he opened his mouth, “Kill them.” And it all happened at once. I drew my sword out of its holder fully and stepped on the man’s toes who was holding me harshly as he released me, allowing me to finish him off as my sword went through his middle. Hongjoong knocked his elbows backwards harshly, unbalancing the two men holding him, allowing him the momentum to jump up and kick backwards as he freed himself, drawing out two swords from their holders before slicing his attackers necks, the two dropping dead on the cold sand of the cave. I whirled around as two men came running towards me, swords drawn, attacking fearlessly and furiously as they threw daggers my way. I dodged their attack and ducked down before stabbing one through the stomach, barely avoiding the other one as he aimed for my neck, making me hiss. Our gazes connected, but for a split second he glanced behind me, unconsciously letting me know that someone was there, about to attack, and so I whirled around and stopped their attack midair, the clanking of our swords loud as all you could hear were grunts and metal against metal, Hongjoong growling every few seconds as he slayed everyone who dared go his way. The man was rather talented with his sword and he sliced my arm, making me hiss as I jumped back just in time, preventing my arm from getting cut off, but quickly jumped forward and jabbed him in the ribs, making the man cry out. More cries came from behind me, but I couldn’t glance back as men ran my way, my sole focus on killing everyone who tried to kill me. I wanted to get my hands on Siwon, to kill him, to watch him in the eyes as he let out his last breath. My sword was up in the air, pressing against the man’s sword I was currently fighting, when a dangerously close metal clanking resounded in my ears. Hongjoong was panting as he blocked the attacker who tried to attack me from behind, our gazes connecting for a second as I noted my arms were becoming sore from the relentless attacks and defending. My focus was back on the man attacking me as Hongjoong cut the other man’s head off, the sight too much for even myself. There was a reason he earned his Slayer reputation. He was ruthless in battle, and fearless. Nobody dared challenge him, not even the best fighters. These men had nothing on him as he kept killing and killing them, only five standing on their feet as I killed another one, panting as sweat dripped down my forehead, my neck. I took in deep breaths as I felt Hongjoong’s back collide into mine, the remaining five men circling us, walking around us tauntingly, sneering and throwing in jabs. They looked at us like we were scared animals covering in a cage, but we were far from that. We’d live, and they’d die. Hongjoong had two swords, so I pulled my dagger out of my boot as I smirked at the man from across me, powerfully throwing it towards him, his eyes widening as it entered through his Adam’s Apple, blood spurting out and down his body as he fell backwards, choking and gripping the dagger in a panicked manner. Hongjoong chuckled as he saw, then lurched forward and sliced the man’s neck, three more remaining as they started looking uneasy. They knew their imminent fate and I decided to make it fast as I dropped my sword and pulled out my second dagger, running towards the one to my left and kicking his wrist harshly when he raised his arm to slash at me with his sword, whirling around as my dagger went through his clothes and flesh, straight to his heart. He gasped as I pulled out the dagger, watching him drop to the ground before Hongjoong killed the man charging at me, slicing the last one’s head off.

We were panting as we looked around, checking for a sign of life in the wreck we’ve left in our wake, my wrists numb as I dropped my dagger, doubling over in order to breathe in more air, lungs screaming in exhaustion. The stench of blood was horrible and I gagged, bringing my palm to my nose, trying to conceal the smell. Hongjoong shuffled next to me and I suddenly stiffened, standing up straight to look at him.

“He’s not here,” He muttered, more to himself, eyes searching the chamber of the cavern, “Siwon, that motherfucker—when I find him, he’ll be dead in no second.”

I scoffed, picking up my dagger as I walked over to the dead guy I killed with my other one, “I can’t believe he managed to fool the both of us.”

Hongjoong hummed but it went quiet as I pulled the dagger out from the dead man’s Adam’s Apple, realizing I had my back turned to the enemy. The real enemy. I whirled around, daggers ready if I had to pounce on him, but Hongjoong hadn’t approached me yet. His sword was ready, eyes narrowed as he watched me. We didn’t say anything as we stared each other down, expressions hardened as neither one of us moved. My hatred returned full force and I spat next to me, feeling that fire burn my whole body as I hurried towards him, dagger pressed against his throat in no time. Hongjoong smirked at me as he raised his eyebrows, pressing his sword against my leg as a warning. It cut into my leather pants, and if he ruined them more, I would kill him.

“You’re acting rather aggressive with your savior, Y/N—”

“I could’ve killed them on my own too!” I snapped, breathing hard as Hongjoong remained cocky, rather relaxed for someone who had a dagger pressed against their neck.

“No, you couldn’t have, and we both know it.” His answer was smug and I growled as I pushed the dagger more into his skin, drawing blood. Hongjoong’s jaw clenched and a harsh grip on my waist suddenly made my breathing falter for a second.

“You’re playing with fire, again.” His words were quiet but tone authoritative as if he was talking to one of his crew members. It made my blood boil and I was seething, hating the look in his eyes. Hating the upper hand he still seemed to have on me, and when his eyes fell on my neck, on my scar, I felt like screaming. I felt like slashing that dagger across his neck, watching the blood spurt out onto my face, the warmth bringing goosebumps onto my skin as it trailed down my face. But I didn’t. I lessened the pressure from his neck, but didn’t lower my dagger just yet.

“You expect me to be nice after you maimed me?!” My voice rose a few octaves as his eyes finally connected with mine, looking quite pleased with himself.

“I didn’t maim you, I marked you—”

“You maimed me!” I screamed, hating that I was letting my emotions come through as my face contorted into disgust. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror anymore, scared that I’d catch a glimpse of the letter carved into my skin permanently.

“I marked you,” Hongjoong hissed, grip tightening on my waist, “You should have thought twice before messing with me, Y/N, I hope you learned your place because I don’t feel like killing you just yet.”

I scoffed, but then allowed a smirk to appear on my lips, raising an eyebrow at him, “How’s your ship? Did you fix it? Or did it sink—”

“I will make you pay for it.” Hongjoong’s voice hardened and I leaned closer in, inches away from his face, still smirking.

“What are you waiting for? We both know you won’t kill me.” I spoke sweetly, tauntingly, “You should’ve just fucked me and forgotten about me, Hongjoong.”

It felt good using his own words against him, it almost made me cackle. Hongjoong hissed and pushed me away from his body by my waist, making me chuckle as he proved that I was right. Of course I was right. I could see right through him right now, his eyes gave it away as he looked away, taking off towards the exit. The cave was eerily silent as I followed after him, debating whether to say something or remain quiet as Hongjoong wouldn’t look my way. Silence was fine by me, I didn’t have much to say either way, just a couple of insults I knew would tick Hongjoong the right way, but then he might just actually kill me.

“Let’s call a truce,” My eyes widened as he spoke up first, almost by the end of the cave, the water washed against our boots, “For a week, until we get far enough from each other. But after that—I won’t show any more mercy.”

“I don’t want you to show mercy,” I scoffed, noting how the wind howled violently outside, that wasn’t good, “I’m not a helpless little girl. I’m a feared pirate just like you, I can take care of myself and of my crew.”

Hongjoong hummed, and after a second glanced back at me, “I know. I’ve always respected you for that.”

My eyes widened as he turned back towards the front, surprising me. Not many men respected women, especially not when you were pirates and especially not when your whole crew was made out of women. As the water reached ankle deep and we stepped around the rocks, it became quite obvious that there was a ragging storm outside. That meant we couldn’t paddle back to our respective ships. That was bad. Hongjoong stopped as he reached the exit, pulling back as the waves crashed violently against the shore, the wind blowing strongly and howling where we stood. Fuck. I sighed as I looked off in the distance, the heavy rain concealing my ship. But I knew the girls were fine as they were close to the shore, the storm not as violent here as in the open sea.

“We can’t go back.” Hongjoong muttered and I nodded, glancing at him from my peripheral.

“I hope the storm passes by the morning.” I agreed with him, making Hongjoong sigh as he rubbed his forehead.

“Jongho and Wooyoung said nothing about a storm coming—”

“We’re close to the Black Ocean and the Ragging Sea, the weather is unpredictable here.” I told Hongjoong as we turned to face each other, “We shouldn’t stay here unless we want a wave to crash into us and take us out into the sea.”

“I know,” Hongjoong rolled his eyes, giving me a glare as he started walking back inside the cave, “We can set up a fire and sleep here tonight.”

I scoffed as I followed after him, “As if I’ll sleep next to you.”

“You won’t have much of a choice, unless you want the dead men as your companion—”

“Shut up,” I snapped, glaring at him as I walked past him, “I hope the sea swallows up Siwon.”

“Wouldn’t be as satisfying as cutting his head off—”

“Did you find a mermaid?” I heard Hongjoong pause for a second behind me as we jumped over the rocks, walking through the ankle-deep water.

“It was a siren, not a mermaid, those don’t exist—”

“How do you know?”

“The creature told us—well, mostly Jongho. I don’t know, they were weird.” I glanced back at Hongjoong as we walked further inside the cave, away from the howling wind and the sea. His eyebrows were furrowed as he shook his head, it made me chuckle.

“What? Did your little crew guy fall in love with the siren?” It was an assumption, but Hongjoong’s suddenly tense stature gave it away and my own eyes widened as I fully looked at him, quite intrigued, “Wait, seriously?!”

“He’s been obsessed with those things ever since his childhood,” Hongjoong rolled his eyes as if he still believed sirens were merely fairytales, “but I didn’t think he’d actually fall for one. I have a feeling she follows us around; I keep hearing Jongho talking to someone when we’re sailing through the Ragging Sea but when I check, he’s alone and walking away from the railing.”

I chuckled and looked at him with a taunting smile, “I didn’t know your crew was made up of little boys—”

“It’s not.” Hongjoong snapped and gave me a threatening glare, “But I won’t stop anyone from being themselves. Jongho has his own culture which has different believes than the other ones, I won’t strip that away from him.”

And suddenly realization dawned on me. Four years ago, when I told him I was from the North, he brought up one if his crew members, “Is he from the North?”

Hongjoong nodded wordlessly and we didn’t speak anymore as we reached the sand, Hongjoong throwing his swords down and taking off his vest, pulling up the sleeves of his shirt. I placed down my weapons as well and untied my hair from the ponytail, massaging my scalp as Hongjoong glanced at me before walking off, headed towards the open chamber filled with the dead men. We decided to settle down just before the turn to the left, not quite fond of sharing a space with twenty-four dead men. At least there wasn’t a stench here made by them and we wouldn’t see them thank to the turn.

            After Hongjoong brought back the wooden chair Siwon used as his pathetic throne and ripping it to pieces, we set the fire, using a torch and snitching some rum from the dead men having left behind for us to consume. We found a chest filled with some blanket and a few cutting instruments, but nothing which could be useful for us tonight in any significant way, so we left those alone. The fire burned strongly, embers jumping out from it from time to time, but we sat a respectful distance away, not keen of getting burned alive. Hongjoong had his shirt unbuttoned and the ends of his pants pulled up to his knees, both of our boots long disregarded, the fine sand quite pleasant against my skin. It was smoother than any sand I have stepped on before. I had my hair in a bun and had gotten rid of my corset, wishing I could take off my tight leather pants as well, but Hongjoong was around, I didn’t want him gawking at my legs. We had settled into a comfortable silence, surprisingly, as we passed the bottle of rum between the two of us, sipping on it quietly. It burned my throat each time I gulped it down, but the taste wasn’t too bad, being it one of the finer brands. Siwon was shallow like that, despite having little money, he’d spend it on the most expensive things, indebting himself to anyone who allowed it. It was truly pathetic. I hope the sea swallowed him whole. As I placed the bottle between the two us, not sitting too far apart, but not too close either, I felt Hongjoong’s sharp gaze bore into the side of my head. He’s been looking at me for quite some time now, but I continued ignoring him, until it became annoying and I huffed, whipping my head around to face him. He didn’t look away, to my surprise, just continued looking at me, taking in my face. So I did the same thing to him. I allowed my eyes to run over his blonde hair, his mullet significantly having gotten longer compared to four years ago, now it reached his shoulders at the back. His cat-like eyes were still rimmed with black eye-liner, smudged at this point from having sweat a lot. His face had gotten sharper, jaw more defined and nose standing tall. His lips were red and his cheeks were flushed from the rum we’ve been drinking for a while now. Despite that, I felt sober. My thoughts clear, my vision just alright, body still alert as I was still sharing a drink with my enemy. Yet somehow, Hongjoong looked peaceful right now, eyebrows not furrowed for once, eyes not glaring for once. I knew he hated me, I could see it still, but it was rather subdued as we continued looking at each other wordlessly. It impressed me how many people he killed tonight, how many he beheaded. That was a very hard task, it demanded a lot of strength and force, yet Hongjoong seemed to do it like it was simply nothing. His gaze became a little bit too much so I turned away, looking at the fire as I cleared my throat, bringing my knees up to my chest and hugging them with my arms.

“Why have you been trying to sabotage me for the past four years?” Hongjoong’s question took me off guard. He didn’t speak too loudly, voice laced with curiosity as his gaze continued burning into the side of my head. I could tell him the truth or I could lie to him. I didn’t find a reason to do the later.

“Because nobody takes women seriously in our society, especially a crew full of them calling themselves pirates,” I spoke up, voice laced with disdain as I glared into the flames, “I didn’t have anything against you at the beginning, but then you started taking all the good stuff away from us. We’d get our hands on second-hands only, things which were useless while the merchants demanded an obnoxious sum for them. They were laughing at us, trying to fuck us over thinking we were dumb. I tried everything before I decided to bribe the people who worked for you. It wasn’t the easiest, but I have my ways. And when people still didn’t take us too seriously, we decided to become what real pirates are. Merciless, vile, and dangerous. If we didn’t rob the other ships in the middle of the night we would be long dead.”

Hongjoong remained silent, and I glanced at him, realizing he was also staring at the flames now, legs sprawled out in front of him as he leaned back on his hands, “You know, four years ago when we met in that Inn…I knew you were acting. With that man, and then afterwards with me.”

My eyes widened and I turned my head, looking at Hongjoong surprised. He had an amused smile on his lips as he glanced at me, “I saw you in the market earlier that day, acting quite different than at the Inn. And I heard when your second-in-command called you Captain, too.”

“Then why did you interfere?” I asked with my mouth hanging open, always having been convinced that Hongjoong fell for my act.

“Because I was intrigued,” Hongjoong confessed, turning his head to look me in the eyes, “I wanted to find out who you were and what you did. And you were also really beautiful.”

The information had to sit for a moment as I repeated Hongjoong’s words in my head, chuckling, “I were?”

That shouldn’t have been my most important concern right now, but I couldn’t help it as Hongjoong’s eyes slightly hardened, Adam’s Apple bobbing as he gulped, “You still are.”

I bit my lower and blamed his honesty on the alcohol, knowing that he’d never confess such thing to me normally. Not when he wanted me dead so badly.

“You should’ve just minded your own business,” I found myself whispering as I looked at the sand, “At the Inn, that night, you should’ve—just walked away. Left me alone. I knew what I was doing, maybe that way we would’ve never gotten here.”

“You mean to hating each other? To wanting the other dead?” Hongjoong scoffed, voice hardening suddenly, “Then you shouldn’t have meddled with my business, Y/N. Because you almost ruined everything for my crew. For me. Everything that my father has built from scratch!”

I rolled my eyes before looking back at him, noticing the annoyance in his voice as he stared at me with a newfound spark in his eyes, “You almost killed us all. My crew, my brothers, we could’ve lost everything if I didn’t know the right people, pulled the right strings.”

“You think you were the only one struggling?” I raised my voice unwillingly, getting fired up by his accusation, “Did you not hear what I just told you minutes ago, Hongjoong? Men walked all over us every day, no matter what we did!”

“Is it my fault you were born women?!” I scoffed at his incredulous question, glaring at him hard.

“Of course not, I don’t know why I expected you to understand me when you had everything handed to you ready!”

“I had everything handed to me ready?!” Hongjoong’s voice raised too, eyes widening, “My mother died in front of me from a flu! I cried myself to sleep for two years after her death until my father threatened to abandon me if I didn’t toughen up because I was a man! A pirate. And then we found Seonghwa and I finally found some happiness. He understood my struggles! I was only fifteen when my father died right in front of me—”

“You expect your sob story to make me feel sorry for you?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes at Hongjoong, who’s eyes were filling with hatred second by second, “Because I don’t give a fuck about your life, Hongjoong. You think I have parents at home who are waiting for me with open arms? I got sent to a war when I was thirteen! And they kicked me out after I told them I wanted to become an actress! When I visited them years later and told them I was finally making a living for myself by owning a small ship and having a small crew they—they disowned me!”

“You expect your sob story to make me feel sorry for you?” Hongjoong’s words felt like a slap in my face, my own words ringing in my ears as my hands turned into fists, making me glare at him, “I don’t feel sorry for you at all, Y/N. You’re a bad person and you deserved everything—”

I snapped. I grabbed the dagger laying to my left and got on top of Hongjoong so fast the air was knocked out of his lungs as I pushed him back against the sand, dagger digging into his neck. My heart was beating fast and my head was swimming with the words he said seconds ago, vision blurring for a second from the tears which sprung into my eyes. But I blinked them away, staring down at Hongjoong with hatred, sneering at him as his eyes hardened, glaring up at me.

“I hate you,” I gasped out breathlessly, hand shaking as the fury consummated my bloodstream, “you maimed me for life. You carved your initial into my skin, Hongjoong. I can’t even look in the mirror anymore because I get disgusted. You ruined me. I have to cover it up if I go out in public. I hate it when my girls look at me with pity each time their eyes accidentally fall on the scar. I hate you so much. I want to kill you. I want you dead. I want to never see you again, I want—”

“Kill me.” Hongjoong’s chest was falling and rising quickly, lips parted as he stared up at me, the same fire I felt inside my body reflected in his own eyes, “Kill me, and Seonghwa will have you dead at the break of dawn.”

“And Irene will have his head for that.” I snapped, eyes desperately trying not to fall on his lips as he craned his neck, cutting his own skin with the blade of my dagger.

“San will kill her.”

“Yeri will kill him.”

Hongjoong opened his mouth but nothing ever came out of it as we stared into each other’s eyes, hearts beating fast as my grip loosened on the dagger. I hated him, I truly did. But something didn’t let me kill him just yet, I just couldn’t do it. And the longer I stared at him the more I realized how beautiful he was, how attracted I still was to him. In a second of confusion and anger, I threw my dagger away and crashed my lips against Hongjoong’s, a small gasp leaving his lips as I pressed down harshly against his, holding his cheeks with both hands. He reacted quickly, arms wrapping around my middle as his kiss was feverish, reciprocating my hungry ones with the same force and hunger I suddenly felt towards him. My heart was racing in my chest and my cheeks were flushed as I felt hot from the rum, Hongjoong’s hands travelling up my torso until his hands were at the front of my shirt. I pulled back and sat on top of him as he raised up too, ripping the shirt apart, buttons flying everywhere. His eyes fell on the black cloth wrapped around my body and with shaky fingers I undid the three buttons holding them snugly against my torso, unwrapping the fabric from my body. I shivered as my torso was now naked, Hongjoong’s eyes falling on my breasts before he leaned forward, pressing long and wet kisses against my collarbones, sucking at some points, making me fist his hair between my fingers as I bit back moans. I refused to let him hear me, not tonight. His kisses traveled up and I gasped when he paused at the scar, pulling away to look me in the eyes before he licked it, goosebumps erupting on my skin from the feeling, biting my lip harshly, refusing to let out any sounds. Hongjoong’s eyes found mine again and he kissed me, tongue pushing in my mouth as I sucked on it, making Hongjoong moan, a smirk appearing on my lips. As I circled my arms around his neck, he suddenly gripped my waist and flipped us, his body pressing against mine. I pulled back and bit his lower lip until he growled, drawing blood. He glared at me and pulled back as he started undoing his pants, my eyes falling down his torso, fingers reaching out to trace his skin, making Hongjoong gulp audibly. His pants were down and he was semi-hard already, his eyes falling onto my pants as I got to work, undoing the lace in order to push them down. It felt amazing to finally have them off my body, and I shivered as Hongjoong traced his finger against my skin as he pulled the fabric down. Not having been with a man in more than two weeks got to me and I didn’t need much as Hongjoong could make me feel things nobody else could, making me hate him even more. He kissed up my leg, keeping eye contact and it made me want to crawl up a wall, vagina clenching around nothing as his lips brushed against my knee before he littered more kisses up my thighs, close to my crotch but not quite there. I groaned as he sunk his teeth into the flesh of my thigh, biting hard, making me grip his hair as I tried to push his head away, but he only bit harder, making me yelp as he looked at me satisfied. Why did he like seeing me in pain? He released the skin with a pop and as I looked down, his teeth mark remained, slightly having drawn blood, making me curse at him quietly, Hongjoong chuckled as he had heard me.

He never touch where I needed him the most and I was about to snap at him as he suddenly gripped me firmly and flipped me over, my eyes widening as I pushed up to all fours, resting on my forearms. I was breathing fast, still clenching around nothing and as I looked back, Hongjoong pumped himself fast, biting his lips. He suddenly looked at me as he aligned himself with my entrance and I closed my eyes shut as he pushed inside, walls clamping down on his member instantly, moving in painfully slow until he bottomed out. I felt him shudder behind me and I pushed my ass back, asking for him to move, for any friction as he started moving excruciatingly slow, setting a dreadful rhythm as I tried pushing my hips back to meet his thrusts, but his hands on my waist stopped me from doing so. He was panting as he enjoyed torturing me, until he probably had enough himself and picked up his pace, going faster and faster until the sound of skin slapping against skin echoed around us with my muffled whines as I bit into my hand, Hongjoong groaning with each thrust. I started meeting him halfway, feeling the familiar coil in my lower abdomen as Hongjoong started slamming back in faster and stronger, hitting a spot all too familiar as a loud moan slipped through my lips, walls clenching around him, making him moan too.

“Fuck, Y/N.” He rasped out, grabbing my hair which was in a bun, as he continued with the brutal pace he’s set, hitting the spot over and over again, making my toes curl and my back bend more, moans falling repeatedly from my lips. I was so close, and as Hongjoong gyrated his hips while thrusting, it tipped me off the edge and I came undone, moaning his name loudly, him finishing not long after, hips stuttering as he came to a stop slowly, member still inside as he was panting, still gripping my hair. My chest was falling and rising quickly, mouth hung open from the sensations, never having experienced a feeling such strong with any other man before. Hongjoong pulled out and slowly rolled me onto my back, sitting back in between my legs as I stared up at him. His face was flushed and I looked at his hands as he let them rest on my thighs, rubbing circles into them.

“If you don’t stop sabotaging me, I will send San to kill you.” His voice was raspy, but his words made me chuckle.

“You’ve sent him once and I’m still alive, what makes you think he’ll succeed a second time?” I raised my eyebrows and Hongjoong glared at me, “If you want me to die, you will have to kill me yourself. Watch me in the eyes when you plunge that knife deep inside my heart—”

My words got quickly muffled by Hongjoong’s lips as he pressed them against mine hurriedly, kissing me messily, hand going around my neck firmly, gripping it but not squeezing. I kissed him back with the same energy, hooking my legs around his hips as I pulled his body closer to mine, fingers threading through the longer strands of his mullet. Hongjoong pulled back from the kiss, but his lips brushed against mine lightly as he stared me down, eyes glaring. I licked at his lips, making his glare deepen as he pulled back a little bit more.

“You’re mine,” His forefinger suddenly pressed harder into the scar on my neck, “And I can do whatever I want to do with you, whenever I want to.”

I chuckled and hooked my arms around his neck as I flipped us over, pressing down my lower body against his, his member twitching as I rubbed up against it, turned on, as Hongjoong still held my neck firmly.

“I guess I’ll have to continue making your days a living nightmare, then.” I smirked and Hongjoong yanked me down, tongue in my mouth and hand on my waist as I started moving my hips, enjoying the way his grip tightened even more around my neck.

If fucking him kept me alive for a little longer, then I would do it with a lot of pleasure. After all, I knew Hongjoong wasn’t capable of killing me…but neither was I capable of killing him.

Next part (divider)

[fakescenariosbeforesleepblog]

By fire and heart.

Pt.3

Daemma Targaryen. Second daughter of King Viserys and queen Aemma, you're the living portrait of your mother with the character of a true dragon, as a second daughter you don't have right to the throne but certainly, you will protect your sister's succession by heart. (You are one year younger than Rhaenyra.)

Warning: Credits of this images goes to whoever they belong to! Grammatical and spelling errors, maybe this won't be good enough but In my head the story was a good one.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them.

Pt.4 here

It's curious how a war can make you change, years have passed and you're not a little young lady in those ridiculous dresses, you're not a girl running through the castle halls anymore, you remember the day you arrived at the step stones and the smell of dirt, ashes, blood and sea salt, was something that you would remember perfectly.

Daemon was furious, he almost dragged you back to your dragon to send you back home.

- WAR IS NOT A GAME, DAEMMA! THIS IS NOT A PLAYGROUND AND IT'S NOT A PLACE FOR A LADY.

- I'M NOT HERE BECAUSE OF THAT, I'M HERE TO HELP. YOU TOLD ME TO GET STRONGER TO SUPPORT MY FAMILY, YOU ARE MY FAMILY AND I'M HERE TO SUPPORT YOU.

His anger lasted for days, but eventually he understood why you were there, it wasn't only to help, it was because you wanted to be near him, after all, he was more like a father for you than your own dad, you also as a second child understood pretty early that you would have to build your own path.

He was a proud uncle, you were fierce and strong all those hours training and practicing helped you, you're not a scared deer, you're a dragon, pure fire runs inside you, a true Targaryen warrior.

«Careful! The dragons!!!»

All the mercenaries were screaming and running to escape from the flames of Caraxes and Whitefyre.

- WHERE ARE YOU DRAHAR, COME HERE AND CONFRONT ME!

- Don't be a coward, leave the Shadows you bastard!

Fire, death and destruction surrounded you and your uncle, meanwhile your father was living his best life with his new child.

You and Rhaenyra communicate frequently, you made her a promise and even if you are so far from home you still keep that promise, you would fly home if she called you.

Your little half baby brother, Aegon, catches all your father's attention. Your sister feels lonely, but tries to keep strong, a Targaryen never shows the sorrow that grows inside.

The news of the war arrives at your father's door frequently too, but he doesn't care, he refuses to talk about the crab feeder and refuses to send ships or any kind of help, the influence of the Hightower doesn't help much either.

«they started this war by themselves, they'll have to win it by themselves»

Rhaenyra is not in her best time, she constantly argues with your father, every letter is pretty much the same.

«Our father reminded me again about my responsibilities, as if I were an idiot, lucky you that escaped from here... My apologies Daemma, I know the circumstances for you are not any better than mine, keep yourself safe, sister, i still need you at my side.»

The rest of the letter was about what she heard about the war, how she put those old fat ladies in their place, her encounter with that wild boar, about what she saw in the forest... the white stag, and the worse comes when your sister mentions you about how you and her are now in age to marital arrangements, you couldn't contain your laugh when you read that part about the Lannister man and his proposal.

-We still can win this war by ourselves! We don't need the king's help.

- Oh trust me, Princess, we need help, soon enough we will not be capable of fighting, we're less and less.

- We do not need the king, Lord Vaemond. We'll find another way.

- If you don't ask for it, I will.

- if you do it, I personally will cut your throat.

- Enough, Daemma.

A hand squeezes your shoulder and makes you step back. Your uncle appears just in time before you and Vaemond started to yell at each other as you usually do, you're brave and smart but still you don't understand many things about war, you're learning, your refusal to ask your father's help is a clear proof of it, Daemon refuses to receive help because he already knows how to win, but, for unknown reason he still doesn't decide to give the final hit.

Meanwhile Vaemond Velaryon ran like a scared little mouse and asked for help, your father after years ignoring the pleas, finally accepted and sent a letter and a float.

Early in the morning, dragons fly over the stones and the beach, smoke and ashes, you, Laenor, Corlys, Vaemond and some other men are counting and planning what to do, there's no food or resources enough, you have to find a solution.

- We're weak and that triarchy knows it! Continue sending the dragons.

Corlys looks exhausted and anxious and exasperated, observing the map over and over, he feels hopeless.

- It is useless.

You're tired of flying around without reason, it is useless, Laenor knows it too.

- Indeed, father, the archer defend the skies while the rest protect their position, when the dragons attack they hide in those caves.

- We have to make them leave the caves...

- But they don't have reasons to leave the caves.

Vaemond complains and once again Laenor talks, he has a good plan, better than continuing flying and not obtaining nothing.

- Then let's find a reason. Someone needs to risk.

- Who? Who will be crazy enough to risk is own life?

«A dragon returns!»

- Daemon.

- Daemon is the reason why we're in this position.

- At least he's doing something, he's fighting while you only complain, Lord Vaemond.

Suddenly Corlys is in the middle of you and Vaemond.

- Enough. Listen Vaemond, I will not allow a revolt.

Daemon joins the small group, he's quiet, looks the opposite of all of you, he looks relaxed, annoyed but still with a calm mind, he's observing all the men around when a new group appears at the view, a messenger.

You instantly looked at Vaemond, you were ready to stab him over and over, you know what the message brings and obviously you know what your uncle will say.

Your uncle takes the piece of paper and reads it calmly, he's pissed, truly pissed. Just when you thought he would not react negatively, he takes his helmet and starts to hit the poor messenger over and over, Laenor and you contain him.

Moments later, your uncle takes a boat and goes to the beach, the plan would be executed. He would pretend to give up, distracting everybody so the rest of you will take advantage.

He walks through the beach with a fake white flag, the crab feeder finally leaves his cave, there's no dragons in the view, mercenaries approach your uncle, while archers point at him.

Suddenly, you appear behind him, fighting side to side, mercenaries appearing out of nowhere, rain of arrows falling over you, your legs are burning, your lungs need more air, but the adrenaline increases, Daemon falls in the sand, arrows hit him and mercenaries are on the way, it's just you and him, call it whatever you want, but the bond between you and your uncle is reason enough to make Daemon stands up, he will not let those men touch you, he knows you can defend yourself but at some point you will not have strength enough, that's why he stands up, he forgets about the pain and runs to protect your back.

Drahar thinks he already won, but once all the mercenaries are out, a wave of your soldiers are running to them, a river of flames puts you and Daemon safe, your dragon, whitefyre, lands and you quickly jump on it, all the arrows are on you, nobody has seen Laenor and his dragon until it's too late, you and Laenor eliminate the archers, while the rest is fighting at the beach.

You lost your uncle, you can't see him anymore, the anxiety is taking the best of you, where's he? What if...?

Coming out of the cave, Daemon appears there's blood covering him, he is dragging a head and a half body with him. Drahar's body, it's done, it's over.

[canirove]

The invinsible princess | Chapter 8

“Royal wedding?”

Chapter 7 | Chapter 9

Masterlist

“Oh my God, not this again!”

“What happened?” Irene says.

“The press” I sigh. “They are back to writing articles about me and who is going to be my prince.”

“Why would they… Oh. Leonor.”

“Yep” I say, throwing my phone to the other side of the sofa.

The English press had caught her in London with an old friend she had met years ago while she was finishing her studies in Scotland, the heir of a very famous and kind of powerful family among the British nobility. And since over there the press doesn't respect us the way the Spanish one does, and we don't have the sources we have here that allow us to stop things before they are published, the photos were shared by an English tabloid and there was nothing we could do about it. 

Things have been a bit crazy since then, paparazzis following us all trying to get more information about Leonor and her first known boyfriend. But the thing is that, even though you can see them kissing and holding hands in those photos, they aren't dating. According to what she's told us, it was just a fling because they happened to cross paths after a long time. 

But now, because of it, the press is back to bothering me and writing articles about my love life, making bets about who I will end up dating and shipping me with whoever I'm seen with, something that almost ended my real relationship once. 

“I mean, if you had made your engagement official already, they would not be writing those things” Irene says. “It's been almost a year, Sofía.”

“I know. But we still haven't found the right moment to do it.”

After Pedri and I got engaged, my parents suggested that it was best to keep it private for a few months so we could enjoy it and have enough time to tell our friends and family. But once those months passed, Pedri was playing football again and things weren't the best at Barça, so we decided to postpone it until the end of the season so it wouldn't add more pressure to him and the team. The press would go nuts with the announcement and some of them would not be nice, their headlines definitely blaming me for how bad they were playing, or saying that since he was going to be a prince, he didn't care about playing football anymore. 

“The season has basically ended. Why not now?” Irene says.

“Because he still has to play the Champions League final, the most important game. We can't just drop the bomb before it.”

“And after? You could make your relationship official by doing a Casillas and Carbonero on the pitch while celebrating that they've won. If they win, of course. Though maybe you can also do it if they lose. The princess comforting the football star” she says with a teasing smile.

“Idiot” I reply, hitting her with one of the pillows. “But we can't do that either. I mean, if they lose, it would be a way to distract people from it. But they would probably also blame me for the loss.”

“That's very likely, yes... How are you going to do it, then?”

“I don't know, Irene. I don't know” I sigh.

If only we could just get married like normal people do and don't have to make any official announcement about anything…

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I'm sorry” I say, taking Pedri's hand on mine.

“It's ok” he says, resting his head on my shoulder. 

“You played really well, you know? I know you gave it all out there.”

“But it wasn't enough.”

“It was” I say, giving his hand a little squeeze. “It's not your fault your teammates are useless.”

“Sofía!” he laughs. “They could hear you, you know?”

“They all are too gutted to care about what I may say.”

Because Barça had lost the Champions League final. It had been a really tough game, one of the toughest this season. And when you make it to penalties, anything can happen.

“Besides, I made you laugh and smile, and that's all I care about right now” I say, caressing his cheek.

“Thank you” he says, curling up against me. 

“Why don't you try to sleep for a bit? We still have a couple of hours left until we land in Barcelona.”

“I don't think I can” he sighs. “I can't stop thinking about the game, about things I could have done differently.”

“Then let's make you not think about the game.”

“How?” he chuckles.

“By talking about something else. For example… Our holidays.”

“With your family, mine, or on our own?”

“Well, the ones with my family may be the important ones. Because…” I say, biting my lip.

“Because?” Pedri says, looking up at me.

“Because now that the season is finally over, we could… You know. Make it official.”

“Urgh, that” he groans. “Why can't we just get married and not tell anyone? Like you've told me many times, you aren't the heir. Why is it so important what you do or don't do?”

“Good question” I chuckle. “But that's how the protocol works.”

“Fuck the protocol” he says, lifting his head from my shoulder. “Let's get married, Sofía.”

“What?” 

“Let's do it. This summer.”

“Pedri, you know that we can't. We have to…”

“What did I just say? Fuck the protocol, Sofía. We want to get married, don't we? It is what we keep dreaming about since we got engaged.”

“It is.”

“And we want to do it in Tenerife.”

“Yes” I nod.

“Then let's do it. Let's invite our families and closest friends to our house there with some excuse, and let's surprise them by getting married.”

“Pedri, are you sure they didn't hit your head during the game?” I laugh.

“I'm serious, Sofía” he says, now being the one who gives my hand a little squeeze. An encouraging one. “Let's get married and don't give a shit about the protocol, the press or whatever.”

“You are being serious, aren't you?”

“Deadly” he says. “So, my lady… Do we elope to Tenerife?”

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was telling Irene I wished we could do this. Just get married and ignore everything else. And now, Pedri is telling me we should do exactly that. By the looks of it, he actually seems to have it all planned already. 

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes” I repeat. “Let's elope to Tenerife.”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“You are crazy. You are fucking crazy.”

“Leonor…”

“No, Sofía! No! Have you lost your mind?”

“Leonor, listen…”

“No!” she says again. “You can't just get married like that! There is a protocol and traditions to be followed! You are a fucking princess!”

“I know, Leonor. But we want to get married and are tired of waiting and postponing everything.”

“And I'm tired of having to attend boring dinners with men who could be my father, yet I do it because it is my job! My duty!”

“Yes, your duty as the heir to the throne. But that's not me, Leonor! Or have you forgotten that once you are queen, I would become even more unimportant than I already am?” I say, also raising my voice. 

“Please don't start with that invisible princess bullshit, Sofía. Playing the victim doesn't fit you anymore.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Girls, I think we need to calm down a bit” Irene says.

“I am calm!” both Leonor and I yell at the same time.

“If you say so…” she says, sinking a bit on the sofa where she is sitting.

“Leonor…” I say, taking a deep breath. “Put yourself in my shoes for just a minute, please.”

“I'm trying, Sofía. I swear I am” she replies. “But this idea of yours… it's crazy. It's fucking crazy! Mum and dad won't like it, and if he doesn't like it, you know what the Constitution says. You would not be part of the succession anymore, Sofía. If something were to happen to me and I still don't have kids, the crown would pass to our unruly cousin. Do you seriously want him to be king?”

“Leonor, you are being dramatic and you know it. Nothing is going to happen to you, and dad isn't going to exclude me from the succession just because I don't want to get married in a cathedral.”

“He sent grandad away, tho” Irene says.

“Yes, but grandad did many things he shouldn't while he was king, and I'm just choosing to marry the man I love in a different way because our relationship isn't the usual one due to who we are.”

“Because you are a princess and he is a footballer?” Leonor says. “Aunt Cristina married a handball player and they followed the protocol and the tradition.”

“And things worked out so well for them… Sorry, Irene.”

“It's ok” she says.

“And you can't compare the fame he had back then with the one Pedri has right now. He is known worldwide, Leonor. He is more famous than all of us together!”

“Oh, so we should throw away our traditions and who we are just because of his fame?”

“Yes! I mean… No! But maybe we should start doing some things differently, it is the 21st century!”

“Sofía, are you calling me old-fashioned?” she laughs.

“What? No! I just… urgh” I say, sitting down and trying really hard to not start crying.

“Leonor…” Pedri says, daring to join the conversation. Because Leonor, Irene and I aren't alone in the room. Him, Fer and Ferran also are with us. They are the people we trust the most and we wanted to tell them about our plan, to have them on our side and help us with everything. And even though they all were kind of surprised when we first shared the news with them, they said they would support us. All but my sister, who just started shouting. “We wanted to do things the way they have been done for centuries, to follow the protocol, the tradition. We truly wanted to. But my career keeps getting in the way, and we are tired of waiting. Sofía and I love each other and just want to get married. Is that so difficult to understand?”

“It isn't, Pedri. It's just…”

“Wait” Ferran says, also joining the conversation. “You aren't rushing things because she is pregnant, are you?”

“What?” everyone says at the same time.

“People used to suddenly get married because having a baby outside marriage was seen as something shameful. And since you are royals, maybe you still do those things? I don't know” he shrugs.

“I'm not pregnant, Ferran” I say. “Like Pedri said, we want to do this because we love each other, want to get married and are tired of waiting. Just that.”

“Ok… I just had to ask” he shrugs again.

“Leonor…” I sigh. “Leonor, please. I know it sounds crazy, that it is a crazy idea… But it is what we want” I say, Pedri reaching for my hand and giving it an encouraging squeeze. “Say that you will help us. That you will support us. I want my sister with me on the most important day of my life so far. I… I can't do this without you.”

“But Sofía, no one has done something like this before. Like… It'll be a scandal!”

“I think people are more than used to our family being involved in scandals” Irene chuckles. 

“And maybe scandal isn't the right word for this situation” I add.

“Ok, fine” Leonor says. “But if your relationship going public already is something that will definitely make people go nuts, imagine if what they get to read is that you are already married after years of dating in secret!”

“Well, you all have always joked about us breaking the Internet the day we make it public, so let's go big or go home” I shrug.

“You… urgh” Leonor groans. “When they named you after grandma they also passed her stubbornness onto you, didn't they? Because I'm not going to change your mind about this.”

“You are not, no. So… am I going to have my big sister with me at my wedding or not?”

“I… Yes” she sighs, finally giving up. “You will have your big sister with you at your wedding. But…” she says, stopping me as I'm about to throw myself at her and hug her. “I still think this is the worst idea ever and that mum and dad are going to kill you both. Maybe all of us too for helping you.”

“They won't, you'll see” I smile. “I love you, Leonor.”

“And I love you too, you crazy woman” she says before hugging me.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“This house is beautiful, Sofía. And the views? Breathtaking” my grandma says. “No wonder you and Pedri come here so often.”

“You are invited to come whenever you want, grandma” I smile.

“But only if I'm gonna be surrounded by such handsome men” she says, nodding towards Ferran, Fermín and Gavi.

“Grandma!” I gasp.

“It isn't my fault that your future husband has such handsome friends, darling” she shrugs. “And I'm gonna go get some more of those chips you are serving. Where did you say they are from? They are delicious.”

“They are from a local business.”

“As in from a restaurant?”

“More like a food truck.” If you can call Paco's old van like that. 

“Interesting… You'll have to take me one day.”

“Yes, of course” I smile.

“Great” she smiles back. “Now I'm gonna go get those chips. I can see your cousin Pablo and that Fermín boy walking towards them, and they eat for five or six people.”

“They do, yes” I chuckle as I watch her walk towards them.

“Bo!”

“Bloody hell, Pedri!” I yelp when he suddenly shows up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. “You scared me!”

“Sorry” he says, kissing my neck. 

“Was that really necessary?”

“The kiss or scaring you?” he says, now kissing my cheek. 

“What do you think?”

“I think that both were necessary. The kiss because you look stunning, and the scare because you need to relax.”

“I'm relaxed."

“Sofia…” Pedri says, moving me until I'm facing him. “You are not.”

“I am” I say, focusing on my hands resting on his chest.

“Sofía…”

“Ok, fine. I'm a bit nervous.”

“Just a bit, uh?” he says with a teasing smile. “But that's normal. We are about to… get married” he whispers. “I also am a bit nervous.”

“Really? You are mingling with everyone and enjoying the party as if nothing was going on.”

“That's on the outside. But on the inside… on the inside I'm shitting myself. Maybe a bit literally too.”

“Eww, Pedri!”

“Sorry” he shrugs. “But everything is going to work out, you'll see. In an hour, you and I, my lady…” he says, pulling me a bit closer. “You and I are going to be husband and wife, and that's all that matters.”

“Sorry to interrupt, lovebirds” Leonor says when we are about to kiss. “But it's time.”

“Shit. Ok. Umm… Ok” I say, taking a deep breath. 

“An hour, my lady” Pedri says, kissing my hand. “Just an hour.”

“Just an hour” I repeat before following Leonor. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Oh my God, Sofía. You look gorgeous!” Irene says.

“And that dress is so you. Maybe you actually were right and marrying here and not in a cathedral was your thing.”

“Thank you, Leonor” I reply, rolling my eyes but also smiling. “And you too, Irene. Pedri and I could not have done this without your help.”

“You're welcome, cousin” she smiles. 

“Yeah.”

“Leonor, did I just see you wiping away a tear?” I chuckle.

“What? No, no. It was just something in my eye.”

“A tear.”

“I wasn't crying, Sofía.”

“If you say so…” I tease her.

“Yes, I do” she says, sticking out her tongue. “Now, let's make sure that you have everything.”

“Oh, yes!” Irene says. “Something blue?”

“The sapphire on my engagement ring” I say, lifting my hand.

“Something borrowed?”

“Mum's wedding shoes.”

“You know, if she doesn't kill us because of the wedding, she may do it for taking those and not telling her about it” Leonor chuckles.

“When I was a kid she once told me that I could wear them on my wedding day, so” I shrug.

“What is your something new?” Irene continues.

“The lingerie set I'm wearing. And don't make any comment about it.”

“I wasn't going to say anything.”

“Then why did I catch you smirking?” 

“It wasn't a smirk, Sofía. It was just a smile” Irene shrugs.

“Of course it was.”

“A smile of we know Pedri's jaw is gonna be on the floor the moment he sees you taking off your clothes before you jump his bones.”

“Leonor!” I gasp. “Not you!”

“Couldn't help myself, I'm sorry” she laughs. “Anyway, you have something blue, something borrowed, something new, and you are just missing something old, right?”

“Not really. This dress is vintage, it counts as something old.”

“That's not old enough, Sofía. This, on the other hand…” she says, giving me a little box.

“What is this?”

“Open it and you will know” she smiles.

“Leonor!” I gasp even louder than when she made her comment about Pedri and my lingerie. “Are these… are they…”

“The earrings your beloved queen is wearing on that painting you love so much.”

“No way!” Irene says.

“But how… How did you get them? Don't they belong to the Victoria and Albert museum?”

“They do. But I happen to know someone who works there, and he did me a favour.”

“What? Who?” Irene says while inspecting the earrings.

“Max?” I ask my sister.

“Who is… Wait. The guy the paparazzis caught you making out with in London?” Irene says.

“Yes, him. I got the idea of the earrings after Pedri chose the ring and told me about proposing in front of the painting, so I texted Max, we started talking, and when they caught us I had gone to London to meet with him and pick them up.”

“Leonor, I… I… I don't know what to say. This is too much, like…”

“Sofía, you are my little sister. I would do anything for you, and you should know it already just by the fact that I'm here today and have said yes to this crazy idea of yours.”

“Yes, but…”

“Now who is the one crying?” she says with a teasing smile.

“Oh, shut up” I reply, giving her a little push and making her laugh.

“C'mon, let's help you put them on. Fer may text us any moment now telling us that everything is ready.”

“Urgh, Sofía. Now you look even more gorgeous than you already did” Irene says when they are done. “That queen from the painting is nothing next to you.”

“Pedri's jaw may hit the floor earlier than we thought” Leonor smirks.

“Yeah, well” I say, looking at myself in the mirror. I actually do look beautiful. I feel beautiful.

“Just remember to take the earrings off before your wedding night starts. You two are too feisty, and I need to give them back to Max in one piece” Leonor says. 

“We aren't feisty” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Sofía, both Irene and I have heard things we didn't want to hear, so don't try to deny it.”

“Whatever” I reply. “But are you seeing Max again? I thought it had been just a fling.”

“Well…”

“Well what?” Irene asks her. “Leonor, you are blushing!”

“I'm not! I mean… Maybe… Urgh!”

“Oh my God, Leonor. Have you fallen for Max?” I say.

“What? No! But maybe…”

“Maybe?” both Irene and I say. 

“Maybe I am falling for him, ok?” 

“Aww, Leonor” I say before hugging her, Irene doing the same. “I am so happy for you!”

“Same” Irene says. “Can't believe the three of us are in love at the same time!”

“I'm not… wait, what?” Leonor says. “You are in love? With who?”

“I… umm…” Irene says, taking a step back, her cheeks bright red. 

“Did you know about this?” Leonor asks me. 

“I had no idea, no” I reply. “I thought we could tell everything to each other, Irene.”

“And we can, but…”

“But?”

“But how am I supposed to tell you that I'm seeing your boyfriend’s brother?”

“What?” Leonor and I say at the same time.

“Yeah” Irene shrugs.

“How did that happen? And since when has it been happening? And…”

“And that must be him” she says when someone knocks on the door. “I'll tell you everything after the wedding, ok? I promise.”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“This is such a lovely party, Pedri” the queen says. “And the idea of having us all here together in Tenerife before the summer ends is perfect.”

“Thank you” he smiles.

“But where is Sofía? Her dad wanted to make a toast in your honour, and I can't find her anywhere.”

“She's upstairs with the girls, I saw them earlier” Pedri's mum says. “I think something happened with her dress, that she spilled something on it.”

“And they still haven't come back? I'm gonna go check on them, maybe something happened.”

“No!” Pedri says, definitely raising his voice too much. “I mean, if they've been gone for a while, they are probably about to come back, right?” 

“I guess, yes. But isn't it weird that it is taking them so long?”

“Oh, you know them. They probably are gossiping about something” Pedri's mum chuckles. “And speaking of gossip… Is there something going on between your brother and Irene?”

“What?” he says.

“I saw them chatting earlier, and the way they were talking and looking at each other… I don't know” she shrugs.

“Well, you can ask him now. He is coming” the queen says, smirking the same way Sofía does when she's plotting something.

“Ladies… brother” Fer smiles. “I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”

“Oh, no, don't worry. Just your mother wondering if you are dating Irene” the queen says, still smirking.

“What?” he laughs. “Me and Irene? That's… I mean…”

“That's true. Look at your face” Pedri says. “I can't believe neither you or Irene have told Sofía and I anything.”

“We… I… Umm…” he mumbles. “Oh, that must be your last guest” Fer says when someone rings the doorbell. 

“Last guest? What last guest?” their mum asks.

“One who just saved my dear brother from doing some explaining” Pedri says. 

“Umm… boys?” their dad says, joining the conversation. “Why has Don Alberto just arrived?”

“Don Alberto? Who is that?” the queen asks.

“A priest who is friends with the family.”

“A what?” she says, looking at everyone with a confused look.

“I think it's time, Pedri” Fer says.

“I think it is, yes” he sighs. 

“Is anyone going to tell me what is going on here or…?” the queen asks.

“If I may get your attention, please” Pedri says, raising his voice so everyone at the party can hear him while moving to a spot in the room from where they all can also see him. “Thank you” he smiles once everyone has gathered around him. “As you know, Sofía and I invited you to come here today because we wanted to be in our favourite place in the world with the people we love the most and celebrate the love we have for all of you. But we also want to celebrate our love, the one she and I have for each other. Because after being engaged for a year… we've decided it's time we take the next step and seal our love in front of those we love the most. Welcome to our wedding” Pedri smiles as murmurs start rising around the room, everyone looking at each other with a mix of confused and surprised looks. “I know you all are probably thinking this is a crazy idea” he continues. “Some of you may even be disappointed at us because this is not how we should be doing things, that there is a protocol and traditions to be followed. But this is what Sofía and I want. This, with you all and in this house, is how we want to get married. Not at a cathedral surrounded by people we don't know. And we want to do it now. Today.”

“Pedri, this… this…” the queen mumbles, the king standing next to her looking extremely confused.

“This is perfect!” Sofía's grandma says. “Oh, I love it! I love love love it!”

“Mother, this is not right” the king says, finally reacting. “They can't marry here.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is their house!”

“And?”

“And they can't get married in their house!”

“Can't they?” she asks, looking at the priest.

“They can, your majesty” he says.

“But… but Sofía is a princess! And we haven't made the engagement public yet! What will people think? What will other royal families think?”

“They'll probably be jealous of them because they've gotten to have a normal wedding instead of all the pomp and circumstance they have to suffer and deal with on theirs.”

“But…”

“Nothing” she says. “Your daughter has decided to get married here today, and we have to support her decision. Their decision” she says, smiling at Pedri.

“Thank you” he replies.

“So, what do we have to do now? Do we have to go somewhere?”

“We… Umm… Fer?” Pedri asks his brother.

“Oh, yes” he says, moving to stand next to him. “Sofía is upstairs getting ready, so while she finishes with that, I need someone to help me and Ferran carry all the flowers and take them outside to the garden. Boys?” he says, looking first at Pedri's teammates and then at Sofía's cousins, who all nod in agreement. “Great” Fer smiles. “We also need someone to help us arrange them properly and make them look nice, so maybe… grandma?”

“Why me? Is it because I'm the one who has been to the most weddings due to my age and I've seen it all?” she says, arching an eyebrow.

“We thought you could do it because you have the best taste. I mean, look at the gardens at your house” Pedri says with his best smile.

“Oh, you cheeky little thing” she laughs. “I can't say no to you. I'll do it.”

“Thank you, ma'am” Fer says. “Dad, we'll need you helping Don Alberto with everything he may need, and mum, I need you helping Pedri get dressed. You know how much he struggles with his ties.”

“And us?” the queen asks.

“We thought that maybe you would like to check on Sofía” Pedri says. “She wants you to walk her down the aisle” he says, looking at the king.

“Me? Dressed like this?”

“Oh, you look perfect” his mother says. “Now go congratulate your daughter, and don't yell at her. Or at Leonor.”

“But…”

“Chop chop, everyone!” she says, clapping her hands. “We have a wedding to organise!”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Mum? Dad?” I say when Irene opens the door. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, Sofía” my dad says. “You look… you…”

“Breathtaking” my mum says, running towards me and hugging me.

“Oh” I say. That's the only thing that comes from my mouth while she hugs me and… cries? Is she crying? What?

“Look at you” she says, moving to cup my face. “You look so beautiful, Sofía.”

“Thank you, mum. But what are you doing here?”

“Pedri told us to come see you” my dad says.

“He did?” We had not agreed on that.

“I think I'm going back downstairs to see if Fer needs my help��� Irene says. “Leonor?”

“I…”

“Go” my mum says. “You and I will talk later.”

“Ok” she says before following Irene.

“I'm sorry” I say once they are gone. “I'm sorry about lying to you all and about not following the rules. About disappointing you. But we were tired of waiting and just wanted to get married. Not because I'm pregnant or anything like that. It's just…”

“You love each other and want to be together. Properly and officially” my mum says.

“Well, properly, properly…” my dad says.

“You know what I mean” my mum replies.

“Then you aren't mad at me? At us? I know this isn't what you wanted.”

“Sofía” my mum says, taking my hands on hers. “All we want is for you to be happy. I mean, yes. We may be a bit shocked.”

“A bit, she says” my dad chuckles.

“Yes, a bit” my mum says. “But not angry or disappointed. If this is what you want and what makes you happy, then we will support you. Like I said when Pedri asked your dad for your hand, we are in the 21st century. There are some things we can and should change. And since you aren't the heir and Pedri is who he is… maybe this is for the best. Maybe doing things privately is what works the best for you two.”

“Thank you, mum” I say, trying really hard to not cry and ruin my makeup.

“You must have to promise us something, tho” she says.

"Ok" I nod.

“You will allow us to throw some kind of reception to introduce you and Pedri officially. One where we'll get to invite all the people who should have been at your wedding if you had done things following the traditional way.”

“Though first we'll have to make it official that they have gotten married. Preferably before the season starts and we find ourselves with the same problem again” my dad says. “If we wait for the next summer, we may be announcing a relationship, a wedding, and a baby.”

“Oh, no, no. It is too soon for babies ” I quickly say. “But yes. We will do that reception, and we will announce that we've gotten married. Maybe when Barça comes back from the pre-season?”

“That could work, yes.”

“Ok. Then… All good?” I ask them.

“All good” my mum smiles. 

“Even if I I'm wearing your wedding shoes as my something borrowed?”

“You what?”

“You once told me that I could wear them, so...” I shrug.

“I… Ok, fine. But you better take good care of them.”

“I will, I promise.”

“Good” she smiles.  

“Urgh, my little girl is getting married!” my dad says.

“And you are walking me down the aisle, aren't you?” I ask him.

“It'll be my honour” he smiles. “But wait. Are those… Are those the earrings from…”

“Yep.”

“Weren't they at the Victoria and Albert museum in London?”

“They were. And they still belong to them.”

“Then how…”

“I'll tell you later. Now can I please get one of those hugs you give me when I'm feeling nervous? I could really use it right now.”

“Come here” my dad chuckles.

“We love you, Sofía” my mum says, joining our hug. “We love you very much.”

“I love you too” I reply, hugging them a bit tighter.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

“My lady” Pedri smirks, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning me back before kissing me, everyone cheering for us. 

“Here is to the bride and groom! Princess Sofía and Prince Pedro!” Fermín says.

“You were looking forward to saying that weren't you?” I laugh.

“Since the day you two met” he smiles. “Something that would have not happened without me since I was the one who got the idea of going to talk to you and save you from your misery, so here is to me!”

“To Fermín!” everyone laughs while he bows in front of us as if he was the star of a musical or something like that.

“Now that you've had your moment of glory, can we please focus back on the people we are celebrating today?” my grandma says, making Fermín’s face turn bright red. 

“Sorry” he says.

“She's just teasing you, bro” Pedri chuckles. 

“No, I'm not.”

“Grandma…” I say.

“Fine, yes, I am. You actually are my favourite of all of Pedri's friends” she says, squeezing Fermín's face like only grandmothers can do, making him blush even more. 

“I thought I was your favourite” Ferran says.

“It's a different type of favourite” she winks.

“Ok, time to take some photos” I quickly say when I notice her checking out Ferran. “Carlos, are you ready?”

“Yes, ma'am” he smiles. He had kind of become our own personal photographer since our engagement, and surprisingly, he had been on board with our idea of celebrating our wedding like this since the moment we told him. We just couldn't organise everything and keep my bodyguard out of the loop, he is too clever. 

“Have I told you yet that you are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen?” Pedri whispers while everyone tries to decide who will be posing with us first. 

“A few times, yes. Or have you forgotten how Don Alberto had to scold us during the ceremony because you kept whispering it among other things and making me giggle?”

“Yeah…” he smiles. “But I just couldn't help myself. I can't help myself, my lady. You look gorgeous.”

“Well, you must. And same goes to your hand” I say, when I feel it moving down on my back. “It is too soon for that.”

“Maybe we can sneak out later while they all are busy eating and drinking.”

“We can't…”

“C'mon, Sofía.”

“No.”

“C'mon… Afterwards you always are the one who says we should do it more often.”

“That's not true.”

“It is and you know it” he whispers before kissing that spot on my neck.

“Pedri…”

“Yes, my lady?” he smirks. 

“I… I…”

“You… you..."

“Guys, can you please make up your mind with the photos? I really need to use the bathroom” I blurt out, everyone looking my way.

“Use the bathroom for what, my lady?” Pedri whispers in my ear while my parents finally decide they will go first.

“For putting this thing between your legs” I say, quickly moving in front of him to touch him without anyone noticing, making him grunt. “And those lips of yours that were made to kiss and be kissed, to good use.”

“Bloody hell, Sofía” he whispers. 

“It sucks to be turned on in front of everyone, doesn't it?” I smirk. “Welcome to the club.”

“All good, guys?” my mum says.

“All good” I say as I turn around and give her my best smile. If only she knew…

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“We did it, my lady” Pedri says while we watch all our friends and family mingling in the garden, the sun setting behind them.

“Getting married or our little bathroom rendezvous?” 

“Both” he chuckles. “Can't believe we finally are husband and wife.”

“Me neither” I smile. “Though now that we are married, you can start calling me wife instead of my lady.”

“Oh, no. No, no, no. My lady has been my nickname for you since the day we met, and it will stay like that until we are really really old, your hair has gone silver, I am finally bald, and we are surrounded by all our grand and great children. Some great great children too.”

“You and your obsession with going bald” I laugh. “But do I seriously have to deal with you for that long?” I tease him.

“And longer, my lady. That's what this ring means” Pedri says, lifting his hand. 

“I thought we promised that until death do us part.”

“Only an idiot would stop loving you after death, Sofía” he says, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer towards him. “And I am not an idiot even if you sometimes call me that.”

“I'm not being serious when I say it. At least not always.”

“And when you tell me that you love me?” he says, moving until his nose is brushing against mine. “Are you always serious when you say that?”

“Always. I was serious the first time I said it, all the times that came after, and will keep being serious every time I say it in the future. Like right now. I love you, Pedri.”

“I love you too, Sofía” he says before kissing me, everyone clapping and whistling when they notice, someone (Fermín, probably) shouting “get a room”. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Sofía! Sofía, over here!”

“Sofía, can we take a photo?”

“Sofía!”

That, and some other not so nice comments, are what I have had to listen to every time I go to the Camp Nou to watch Pedri play. Sometimes even on the street when I leave the office or I'm out and about and someone recognises me, Carlos having to go full on bodyguard. Because, as expected, the official announcement of us being married had broken the internet, our faces being not only wherever you looked on social media and magazines, but also opening the news all over the world.

The first few days had been a complete chaos, paparazzis spending the night outside any place where we could be seen and following anyone related to us. At one point it had gotten so bad, that Barça's security had had to intervene because Pedri's teammates were being harassed by the press, and the palace had had to release an official statement asking people to be respectful and to basically let us breathe. 

But once the season started and the initial shock of Pedri now being part of the royal family and of seeing me on the stands supporting him passed, things have been a bit more normal. Having people shouting my name as if I was some superstar like Taylor Swift still feels weird, but I know I can deal with it. I know both Pedri and I can deal with it.

“You know, I liked it better when you were the invisible princess” Irene says when we finally make it to our seats at the Camp Nou.

“Sure” I chuckle.

“I'm serious. Watching the game was easier when we didn't have people constantly looking our way and taking photos of us. Do you know how hard it is to stay focused on not doing anything that could look like I'm picking my nose?”

“Irene, you spend most part of the game looking at your phone or kissing Fer” I chuckle. 

Oh, yes. Because those two were a thing now. Officially. Which made the press write some not very nice articles about Pedri and his brother, calling them gold-diggers and similar things. As if Pedri didn't own a fortune on his own, you know?

“That's not true. If they score I celebrate with everyone else” Irene says.

“Last week you celebrated a goal by the other team, tho” Fer says with a teasing smile.

“Oh, shush!” she says, hitting his arm and making him laugh. “But Sofía… Don't you miss being as anonymous as you used to be?”

“Sometimes. But I was calling myself the invisible princess not because of the attention I was getting from the press. I mean, maybe a little, not gonna lie” I chuckle. “It was more about… you know. The people around me. And I stopped feeling like that when I met Pedri. When he made me see that I wasn't invisible, that I mattered and that people did care about me.”

“Something that we always told you. Though I guess it is not the same hearing your sister and your cousins telling you about it, than when a hot Canarian boy does it, uh?”

“I don't know, you tell me” I chuckle, nodding towards Fer.

“Yeah” she smiles. “Does this mean that the invisible princess is dead?” 

“Part of me will always be the invisible princess. Now she's just grown. Evolved.”

“Like a Pokémon?” Fer says.

“Something like that, yes” I laugh.

“Then what should we call you now? Mrs. González?” Irene asks me with a teasing smile.

“Idiot” I say, giving her a little push. “But Sofía is fine” I smile as I watch the players jump onto the pitch, Pedri turning our way and doing a little curtsey, his way of telling me he is thinking of me. Of that girl he always saw when not even I could see myself. 

Sofía.

[creative-kny-fics]

Got a great idea for a Ler Giyu Lee Tanjiro, when u r able to do it😊

HC: After the Soba Contest, Giyu decides to get a little 'revenge' on Tanjiro for following him around like a pesky puppy for three days and also (secretly) to have a bit of fun with his junior.

Poor Giyuu, he can't even eat anymore without hearing Tanjiro's 'Giyuu-San!' (NOT A SHIP!!!!)

Lee: Tanjiro Kamado

Ler: Giyuu Tomioka

Giyuu felt like a demon, not because he felt the need to eat human flesh or something, it was more because he now understood how it feels in a certain part to be stalked.

'Tanjiro, I agreed to let you win and you did... Why do you continue to follow me?' 'Oh, I would like to start training with you!'

'Well, that's impossible...', what a bad word you chose.

It wasn't because Giyuu didn't want to train Tanjiro or anything like that, it's just that hashira training already had an established order and Giyuu couldn't break it, not even if it was Tanjiro.

He tried to explain but Tanjiro continued to believe that the contest had been of no use and Giyuu had become discouraged from the idea of ​​training.

'Well, this is weird. It went from being sweet to scaring me...'

Hahahaha it seems like Tanjiro has continued his stalking of Giyuu, so how was he going to recover?

'Tanjiro, listen, I appreciate that you care about me, but I can't break the rules. The order of training is set and I can't just break it...'

'But you broke the rules when you saved me and Nezuko...', loophole

Giyuu tried to explain to Tanjiro, for the 15th time that day, that he couldn't train him unless he passed training with the other hashiras or had a specific order from Ubuyashiki that he must do so.

Also, he didn't want Tanjiro to get injured again, he had just recently had his cast removed and it was dangerous, he wouldn't expose him to another injury.

'Giyuu-San, but... You promised to train me...' 'I never said I wouldn't, but, seriously Tanjiro. Stop following me, I don't think I can even blink without feeling your bulging eyes staring at me...'

But that cycle continued for almost 3 days straight, it didn't bother him since Tanjiro didn't interrupt when he was asleep or when he was in the bathroom, but it didn't take away from how weird that looked and felt.

Finally, Giyuu agreed to train Tanjiro, of course, "train" in quotes.

'I'm so happy that I can start my training with you Giyuu-San! I will do everything you ask of me!'

'Well, grab your katana and get into fighting stance', hahahaha a classic!

Giyuu approached and took a good look if Tanjiro's posture was correct, there were still a few small details missing but nothing that Giyuu couldn't fix. He moved Tanjiro until he felt he had the proper posture, but something was missing, he wasn't doing the right breathing.

Giyuu smiled internally and placed his hand on Tanjiro's belly and instructed him to breathe, pinching him lightly when he breathed incorrectly. 'Gi-Giyuu-San... That tickles...'

'Really? I had no idea' 'Wait... This isn't the training I'm thinking of, is it?'

And that's one of the reasons why Giyuu doesn't use stupid strategies or games, he doesn't manage to carry them out because it's something, stupid, let's put it that way, to be able to come up with a good plan.

Well, that will be told in another fic, Giyuu had no choice but to admit that that was the reason and assured him that it would help him in his future training with the other hashiras.

'Gi-Gihiyuu-Sahahan!! I cahahahan't co-concehehehentrahehehete...!!'

'A shame, I don't think you want to disappoint the other hashiras, do you? Come on, don't put your hands so close to your torso, it seems like you're scared...', Tanjiro denied and quickly dropped his sword to the floor and his knees little by little gave way until they were almost next to his sword.

Giyuu tsked, but internally laughed, sat next to him and sat him on his lap while laughing and caressing his head (IT'S NOT SHIP YOU MOTHER-).

Tanjiro puffed out his cheeks as he covered his red face, this was silly, he had barely started training and he already felt like he had failed. 'Hahahaha calm down Tanjiro, you did your best... I guarantee that none of the hashiras will do that, I was just playing with you'

'I see Kanroji-San capable of doing it. Also Tokito-Kun, Uzui-San, Shinobu-San... Ugh... I need to practice my reactions better, if something like this happens to me in battle, I'll end up dead.'

'Hey, don't say that. You are a good swordsman. Well, how about we train seriously this time? No tickling, I swear'

But Tanjiro refused, if he wasn't able to handle his reactions with him, how would he with demons? Well, it's not like the demons have a BDA that focuses on it, but better safe than sorry.

Giyuu sighed and asked him exactly what he wanted, Tanjiro took a breath and raised his arms, needless to say that as soon as Giyuu reached out his fingers, Tanjiro's arms immediately lowered.

'Don't you dare tease me, you're just as ticklish as me, you could even put it worse...'

'Oooooh, I see... Are you provoking me? I'm not the one who usually falls for provocations but since it's you, I'll play along... Come here little one!!', Tanjiro squealed when Giyuu grabbed his wrists and put them on top of his head, he must have foreseen this.

Tanjiro laughed in anticipation and closed his eyes tightly when he saw how Giyuu smiled and moved his fingers slowly and approached him, but after calming down, he had the courage to stare at him and try to maintain eye contact with his fingers and control his reactions, but failed.

He hadn't even really done anything, Giyuu had just used his index finger to poke his armpit and laughed at Tanjiro's reaction, asking him if he was sure he wanted to continue and he nodded.

'Come on Tanjiro, really? It was just my index finger hahahaha. Be stronger, this is your second chance, if you fail again, you know what will happen...' 'I can handle it! I'm sure I can!'

'Fine, but I warned you...'

The procedure, and the result, was the same, Tanjiro couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut and groan when he realized what he had done.

Giyuu couldn't contain his laughter and shrugged, I guess it couldn't be helped. 'Ooooh what a pity... It seems that now the tickling will be serious...'

'R-really...? Wait Giyuu-San! I-I change my mind!! AHAHAHAHAHA!! GI-GIHIHIYUHU-SAHAHAN!!'

'Yeah? What do you need?', Tanjiro shook his head as he pulled it back.

He had to be careful, what would happen if he accidentally headbutted Giyuu? I would never forgive him, even if it was by mistake, I would not forget it.

'I'm just using two fingers to dig into your armpits, wow, you really can't tolerate this, huh?'

'PLEHAHASEHE!! GIHIHIYUHU-SAHAHAN!! PLEEEEAAASE!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!'

'Please what? Please continue? Please stop? If you want something, say it completely, I'm not a fortune teller, Tanjiro'

Tanjiro let out the most embarrassing screech he would have made before, he would have covered his face if Giyuu didn't have his arms above his head, but it didn't last long.

Giyuu was "compassionate" and let go of Tanjiro's wrists to use both hands, one of them stayed in his armpit while the other went up and down from his hip to his armpits, sometimes squeezing his hips, going up to his neck, giving gentle squeezes to his sides or tummy or slid his finger into his navel.

'Look at you, is that really a lot? You're kicking in the air, who are you trying to hit?', Tanjiro huffed and started spinning around. 'Do you need a break?'

'YEHEHEHEHES!! JUHUHUHUST AHAHAHAHA GI-GIHIHIVE ME A FEHEHEHEHEW MHMHMH SEHEHECOHOHONDS!! PLEHAHASEHEHEHEHE'

'Okay, okay, breathe!'

Finally Giyuu stopped and Tanjiro gasped while still continuing to laugh.

Giyuu raised his head to put his haori under it, standing up and heading to the kitchen to bring Tanjiro a glass of water. 'Here, drink, maybe I went too far'

'I don't think so, I'm just too ticklish... And you're very good, now I understand why Shinazugawa and Obanai-San tried to stop me from telling you when they say something offensive to me'

'Well , I am just quite cautious and think my attacks well. I'm sorry I made you laugh so much, it sounded like I was torturing you...'

Tanjiro sat up and denied, he couldn't get mad at Giyuu, he was too nice to get mad at him.

He smiled and Giyuu smiled back, stroking his head and helping him up once he recovered.

'Well, what do you think if we train seriously this time? I promise you there won't be any tickling, if you're not so wrong!'

'I promise! I'm super excited to train with you! I will give my best effort!' 'I know you'll do it well, come on, be on your guard!'

[wordy-little-witch]

Ghost Roger ships Shuggy and that’s why when Crocodile and Mihawk start to court the clown all hell breaks loose.

Okay it may be a bit more complicated than that, Roger is protective of his kids in a way, he feels a bit remorseful for not making feel Buggy important in live and he’s HELLA worried about how his sons parted ways. Of course even if there’s more to it than just “There were some misunderstandings” and he maybe won’t be able to make things completely right after dead, he still wishes those two would just TALK to each other. He probably told Buggy a lot of stuff after he first was able to contact him, but that doesn’t mean the grudge against Shanks (and Roger for that matter) is immediately gone.

So Roger really hopes those two make up and maybe kiss a little, he’s seen those obvious crushes those two had on each other for ages…. So when the two men who threatened his Bug suddenly start to get all flirty with him… well you can’t blame him for not being completely rational about it.

He can’t really do much besides be a nuisance, hiding things from them, throwing things off the table, one time he secretly put ketchup in Crocodiles coffee and he counts that as a massive victory, but he’s not full on Poltergeist level, he doesn’t have much power anymore. The only time he regains a significant amount of Strenght is when Buggy confronted him about this behavior, it truly was a scene to behold, Buggy, screaming into an empty room that Roger can’t decide who or who not he gets to trust and choose for himself, and Roger, not being able to communicate his own frustrations to Buggy and tell him he’s just worried but that Buggy also needs to stop being so damn stubborn, throwing things across the room and howling and causing a storm just with his intense emotions alone.

It’s only late at night when they both have calmed down that Roger makes his way back to Buggies room, now properly calmed and thinking somewhat rationally again. He doesn’t have much more energy than to scribble a “Sorry” with Buggys lipstick onto the mirror, but he knows his boy will get what he means.

Roger might get pleasantly surprised on several accounts tough, not only do Buggys new suitors actually care for him, despite their initial treatment of him, but Buggy may or may not also reconcile with Shanks after some gentler pushes and encouragement from his side…. And it may or may not turn out that Buggy has a lot of space for several people in his heart, who’d have thought? Atta boy! His little casanova….

Oh my goshhhh yeah this exactly (sorry it took so long to respond, was a lil busy)

Roger really would be like. The strangest mix if "you got this!!" And "not on my watch". He's got redneck girl dad vibes, like "don't mind me sitting on the porch making aggressive eye contact while I clean my gun and/or sword, kid, but yeah I know how to use them and use them well anyway be good to my kid or else haha no I'm serious-"

Ironically I feel like Roger would be pushing less for a Slowburn Romance for Shuggy and more a you can fix it and salvage smth and maybe it's different but you two are two sides of one coin guys come onnnn- type of deal. Like. The kisses would be nice (he'd win the bet and Rayleigh would owe him 500 berri) but also it just... it hurts to see his kids so hurt. It doesn't matter how the end result is configured so long as some of the pain is abated.

So when Buggy, his baby blue, his bright and bold and flashy little nugget, begins getting courted by the same men who unflinchingly harmed him?

When Roger has SEEN the things Buggy went through up to this point?

When Roger knows how easy it is for Buggy to fall into the arms of someone who means him harm, when he knows how Buggy clings to and almost searches for it?

Oh he's livid. He's frothing. He's not going to let that slide, not even remotely.

And so begins his Hijinks.

And so ignites Buggy's temper.

It goes on maybe a month, if that. Roger is petty and angry, but he's pacing it and being careful to make it impossible to trace to his kid. The few opportunities that leaves for him is very good motivation to go bigger each time. Croc's favored pen? Gone. Mihawk's wine glass? Different cabinet. Croc's ash tray? Flipped onto a document. Hawkeye's wine bottles? All corks are in some way damaged. He starts small and works his way up.

The ketchup in the coffee was his magnum opus - and that was Buggy's last straw.

He passes Alvida and informs her that it's a Code Pink. She nods and spreads the word. Nobody gets in his way as he beeline to his workshop and the adjacent sheds connected there.

It's arguably a hurricane by way of fury. Things are thrown and voices blow into uneven crescendos. Buggy begins to angry cry and Roger pulls at his own hair to fight the urge to wipe the tears away or crush the emotions out of his kid with his own arms. It's a hot mess, and it only gets worse when Roger hears Buggy say the one thing he didn't ever want to hear but suspected nonetheless.

"What's it matter if they hurt me? I deserve it-!"

He'll admit - he doesn't rightly recall what exactly it is that he does after that. The words echoed in his head, louder and louder until it was a battering ram in his skull. He doesn't remember much of that split second between hearing it and acting, but he found himself crushing his boy into his chest, one hand in blue curls, the other across a trembling back.

"Never," he swears, "you never deserve to be hurt, Blue. I'm so sorry you feel like that's true, but baby Bug, Red has told you-"

And that's the final straw for Buggy.

"Red?! Red's all you ever fucking think about!" And he shoves Roger away, mouth running faster than he can stop it, tears falling with the mess of his emotions as he rants and raves and leaves a captain, a father, hollow in shock.

Buggy pauses for a breath, and Roger reaches out, just to pull back at the swat to his hand.

"No," Buggy hiccups, "I just... I'm done. I'm fucking done. Go find someone else to bother. I'm through."

He leaves.

And Roger rages.

Hours later, finally calm and able to rationally think, he drifts to Buggy's room. He's shaking with exhaustion, but he grabs a lipstick - the cheap writing one, never Buggy's good lip color - and scrawls an apology onto the mirror. He floats over to Buggy's bedside, watches his kid sleep, tear tracks on his face and dried in his lashes. He aches.

He sits vigil there all the night, energy depleting until he's a bare whisp of a presence. He'll protect his kid how he can, but he won't step in the way.

It's only when Rouge offers to trade out that he deigns to rest.

Things go back to mostly normal afterwards.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

When it turns out that Crocodile and Mihawk truly do care for and want to make Buggy happy, Roger is pleasantly surprised and very suspicious. He keeps it mostly to himself (and to Rouge, Ace and Eddie), but he is watching. He gets to witness the growth first hand - except some things second hand, because he may be a pirate, but he's also a father and some things are meant for a parent's eyes to never ever EVER see - but he does see it. He acknowledges it. And he gives his approval subtly.

So when things begin blooming outward, he's aware, somewhat, but mostly acting as but an observer. Though when those tendrils of Blue reaches out to Red.... well. He's Looking Heavily.

And then he's cheering aggressively because YES!! FINALLY!!!! RAYLEIGH OWES HIM SO MANY BERRI!!!!

And when blue and brown eyes cut towards him, Roger pauses, shrinks a little. By the Seas he forgot how weird his kids and their Haki was. He waves awkwardly.

".... Captain," Shanks says after a moment.

"Red...?"

"I am very happy to see you, believe me. But I also am very happy to have Buggy in my arm, so maybe go bother Lucky Roux or Yassop while I do unspeakable things to my Blue."

"Shanks," Buggy squawks angrily with a face as red as his nose, squirming in place.

Roger just laughs, gives a salute. "Aye, captains!"

He slips off through the walls to the symphony of his eldest laughing while baby blue complains loudly. There was a sudden thump, silence, then rustling. Roger, eyes wide, floated faster.

He'd always said Buggy would steal riches and hearts alike.

By Davy Jones, Ray owed him so much money.

[jpitha]

Between the Black and Grey 60

First / Previous / Next

Deep in the midnight blue of interstellar space, three starships sit, their engines cold. Northern Lights, Touchdown City, and Jewel of Parvati.

"Northern, we still haven't had word from the Colonial Authority. We don't know if we've got their support." Touchdown City said. When Northern reached out to her old friend, he was an old comms ship that had been converted to a cargo freighter. As soon as she told him what was going on he dumped his cargo, (4 metric tons of Chamomile Tea, 30 cases of Parvatian Red wine, and 200 cubic meters of lumber) warmed up his old systems and gave an ultimatum to the crew. Sign on to the rebellion or be dropped off at a station outside Parvatian space. About half the crew signed up. The rest - including the captain - were dropped off at a science station at the far end of human space.

"They're stalling to see what we're going to do. I say we show them." Jewel of Parvati added. She was another former warship, like Northern, but instead of a smaller, starliner type ship, she was a huge behemoth of weapons. She predated the official designation of Dreadnought, so she was classified as a heavy cruiser. Jewel was actually on her way of being classed a museum ship and being deactivated when Northern reached out. Her crew was long gone, so she blew her umbilicals and thrusted away on her own, the confused museum docents watching dumbfounded from the museum station.

"We're going to stay put and wait for the rest of them." Northern said. "They'll be here, I know it." Northern had broadcast their rebellion across Parvati space as well as linking several beacons to Sol and the other colony worlds. Everyone knew their intensions now, so it was only a matter of time.

"Northern?" Jewel asked, "Why now?"

"I know the Empress." Northern said. "She isn't herself. She isn't the person that she's pretending to be. She was forced to be Empress by those Nanites I told you about. We're going to free her and declare Parvati's independence. Win win."

"You know the Empress? Have you tried... talking with her?" Touchdown was always a bit more careful. In the war, he was barely armed and armored and required an escort from ships like Northern and Jewel. He was cautious by nature and loved to listen. "If she is really your friend, wouldn't she at least accept a beacon from you?"

"No." Northern was firm. "She's under the... the thrall of those Nanites. They're dripping lies into her ear. She won't listen to reason anymore. If she could, she would have broken out or destroyed them or done something. Instead she's just... ruled. She started attacking Gren space, is trying to set up an alliance with the Sefigans, and she's deepening relations with the K'laxi." Northern voice radiated bitterness.

"Incoming beacon, it has Parvatian keys. One moment please." Touchdown concentrated his efforts on reading and decoding the beacon. "Northern! We're being ordered to return! They haven't decided yet and want us to return to Parvati."

"No word about other ships? Other people?"

"No, Northern. Just an order to return."

"Fine. Then we'll go to Sol ourselves." There was a power spike that Touchdown felt as Northern spun up her reactors.

"Northern, we can't go to Sol and attack ourselves! We have no backing, we'll be blown across the galaxy. We'll be disavowed."

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to link in close to Venus and attack the palace. I can get Fen myself. I'd like your help, but I'll do it alone if I need to."

"Northern, I-" Touchdown stopped. There was a pause that stretched out a few minutes. "-I can't go. I polled my crew. They're on board for Parvatian freedom, but a suicide mission is too much. I'm linking back."

"Touchdown! Think of all we've been through. If we win, it's not suicide. We can do this. We can save her."

"Northern, listen to yourself. You want the three of us to attack the seat of the human Empire by ourselves. How are we even going to rescue your friend? You're going to crash into the palace, switch to a bipedal body, grab her and then what? How are you going to get past her point defences? How are you going to get past her honor guard?" Touchdown turned and Northern and Jewel felt his reactors spike. "No, Northern. You're one of my oldest friends, but friendship has its limits. I hope you see reason and come home." There was a flash of white, and he was gone.

"Well, forget him. Come on Jewel, let's link over to Sol. I've sent you my plans."

"Northern, this isn't a plan at all. Touchdown is right, this is suicide. I- I'm going to go back to being a museum, Northern. I don't even know how much you want Parvatian independence. It feels like you're just trying to rescue your friend, and you used all this as a way to garner support, which isn't forthcoming."

"No! There is a resistance. There are people who oppose the Empire! I know there are, I remember them!"

"Northern, that was centuries ago. All the BIs who supported that died. All the AIs who supported that mellowed out or also died. How many Parvatian AIs did Gord rescue? How many are with him now? How many of us still live from those days? No. That time has past. I'm not going to kill my self." Jewel of Parvati didn't even turn away from Northern. There was a flash of brilliant white, and she had linked away.

This wasn't going the way Northern planned. Nothing was going right since Fen and Zhe left. First Fen had the nerve to get taken by the Nanites - she didn't even fight back! - and then Zhe abandoned her. Nobody understood. Nobody knew what she did, how much danger Fen and Zhe were in. "Well then. I guess I'll - once again - have to do this myself." Back when she was alone and on the run, Northern had a habit of talking to herself. It was a way for her to work out plans and for just something to talk to. She sighed. "I could just go back to my body and make my way to Sol on a ship, work my way down to Venus and try and reach her that way, but then what? She'd tell me everything is fine and send me on my way. Would she even want to see me again? Zhe probably told her I did the attack on the naval yards." She mentally shook her head quickly, like she was trying to get something out of her head. She sore she even felt her hair move. "No. Get it together Northern Lights. You know the way. Big and loud. In and out. A blitz that nobody is expecting." For the tenth time, Northern ran system diagnostics. Everything - weapons, reactor, the wormhole generator, even environmental systems - all came back green. The missile racks were full, the exawatt lasers charged, and the slug guns had kilometers of ammunition belts. There wasn't anything left to do.

"Fine then. Fen, here I come."

Northern Lights linked to Sol.

She flicked back to existence over the pale yellow of Venus. Immediately there were panicked pings of radar from beacons all over the planet and the area around. She was being scanned by hundreds of things, all at once. That didn't matter though. She was further out than she had anticipated, but it would be all right. Firing her stardrive at a full throated ten gee, she thrust towards Venus.

The emissions of the stardrive took care of anyone attacking from the back, but Northern knew that wasn't going to be enough. She began to scan the planet, looking for Regantown the floating city. She had a rough idea what it looked like from ads and wikis, but finding even a large city in the entire planet was difficult. In the time between beginning her search and finding it, she felt the missile locks.

Dividing her attention, she commanded the slug throwers free and they began tracking the targets as they approached. Thrusting towards her at thousands of gee, it wasn't long before long dotted line traces of slugs peeled away from her in a spiraling fountain as gyros screams and maneuvering jets howled and she dove out of the way.

It was going to be close, but Northern was fast. She wasn't able to out accelerate the missiles, but she had the advantage of knowing where she is going and an intelligence behind her maneuvers. A missile was coming up from the planet, straight towards her. A head on attack like that was foolish, she thought, she had so much time to see it and juke out of the way. She readied juke charges, and as it approached, she felt the telltale double boom of the charges firing, and she slid ou-

****

Fen, Zhe, Penny, and the K'laxi scientists stood on top of the palace on a special viewing platform. The height of Regantown was such that pressure and temperature were mostly compatible with humans and K'laxi, but they had to wear impermeable suits and breathing masks against the sulferic acid in the atmosphere. Zhe's active noise cancelling had drowned out the roar of the missile streaking overhead, but she still felt the unpleasant vibrations deep inside her.

After 30 seconds there was a flash brighter than the sun, and all their masks darkened automatically to protect their eyes. The flash lingered a long time before dissipating.

One of the K'laxi looked down at their pad. "Orbital defense is reporting that the ship has been completely destroyed, Empress. The antimatter missile worked perfectly."

"Thank you Han'iel, I can see the results of you and your team's hard work. You are dismissed." Fen didn't turn away from the dissipating fireball.

"Empress if you coul-"

"You and your team are dismissed Han'iel."

"Er, yes, Empress. We'll talk later about the results of this test." Han'iel and the other K'laxi scientists quietly left.

"Why did she do that Zhe?" Fen looked at Zhe. Through her clear mask, tears rolled down her cheeks. "She didn't have to. She could have sent a message, visited, anything!"

"I don't know Fen, I don't know. She was sure you were under the control of the Nanites. Maybe she was worried you wouldn't listen to her. She missed you terribly."

Fem blinked hard a few times to clear her eyes. "Penny, what was the official word from Parvati?"

"They completely disavowed any connection to the rebels, and ordered them to return. Two of the ships did go back. It seems in the end Northern was alone."

"Alone when we met her, alone when she died. It's so sad. So pointless." Fen took a shuddering breath and turned away. The fireball was a spreading white cloud high above. It would be completely gone in an hour or two.

Fen glanced back, seeing Penny near the exit, standing a respectful distance from them. Ever since their confrontation, there was a change in Penny and Zhe. Fen noticed it too. They were warmer maybe? Friendlier? After they threatened each other they seemed to have a mutual respect. Fen was glad of that at least. She had hoped that she could convince Northern to join them.

"Well, you have her to thank for something at least, Fen." Penny said, as they walked back towards the exit.

"What's that, Penny?"

"If it wasn't for Northern's attack, Gord and the AIs might not have come back to Sol so readily."

Fen stared at Penny and turned back to look at the expanding cloud that used to be Northern Lights and said nothing.

[multifandom-nerds-blog]

Season 2 part 1 of DR was just fucking amazing and I have so many feelings about it. I feel like I'm talking about this pretty late cause the first 5 episodes also aired on TV for me like a week before they dropped everywhere else. (Win for the german fans.) But then I couldn't even watch the recorded episodes of this week till yesterday cause I wasn't home and nevermind I'm rambling again.

Cole and Geo are so perfect for each other. I love them. And at this point I have to confess: I never shipped lava. (don't kill me please) Lostshipping (that's their shipname right?) is supreme.

Generally I am so happy that Geo, Bonsel and the kids were able to leave the forgotten land. Even if it was due to a villian attack. But hey. Everything has a positive side. (I'm literally so happy for them, especially the kiddos.)

Lloyd was just stressing all the damn time and I'm here for it. Sleep deprived Lloyd was also perfect.

(-> It makes me whonder why Zane hasn't really had any visions anymore since this used to be his thing. And what exactly the reasons for visions are. Since Lloyds visions seem to predict the general bad future. Zanes visions were more centered around him I think.)

Also Zane just being the designated guy to stay at the monastery with frog dude

SIBLINGS. So much good Kai and Nya sibling content, especially with the flashback. The last season was already good on RGB sibling content so I really love them continuing that.

Also Kai still being a dad/older brother/mentor to Wildfyre. He just took full custody over her. On accounts of that Wildfyre not listening to him like the little gremlin she is.

So much good Kai in general.

Bonsel and her witch mom. That scene was so beautiful. I'm not the only one that saw the coming out allegory here right?

Jay showing up again and him just being absolutely done working with the administration. Bureaucracy is truly hell.

On that note. The bureaucratic back and forth between Zane and the two agents was amazing.

The dehumanizing of Zane from the Agent wasn't very amazing.

KAI AND BONZEL ARE TRAPPED IN THE OTHER DIMENSION 😭😭😭😭 It's destroying me innerly. Especially with how Kai did not care about his own safety at all. My dude. You're trapped in a dimension with 4 of 5 evil spirits wandering around in there somewhere. Not to forget the only (known) ways to get out there are another blood moon in like a million years or smthng or a core dragons power who are scattered around who knows where.

So yeah. Lots of feelings. About Kai especially. I might even start write Ninjago fanfiction. (Surprised I didn't do that yet)

[elainsgirl]

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled we're finally getting an announcement next year, but I'm exhausted!! I left the fandom because I couldn't stand the ship war and SJM's silence. I still love Azriel and Elain and I am invested in their story, but I stopped enjoying the Acotar world if that makes sense. I don't know if other people in the fandom feel the same way, but I'm close to the point where my reaction to book 5 will be "Oh yeah, I used to love those books", even if it's confirmed to be about Azriel and Elain.

In a completely different case, we never see Rebecca Yarros say "I won't tell you who Violet's endgame is. You'll have to wait and see!!"

I don't know if people will be so burned out when the book finally comes out that they won't care anymore. I don't know if SJM's strategy will backfire. Time will tell.

we’re all in the same camp, I totally feel you. Like

YES FINALLY WE WILL BE GETTING SOMETHING 🥳

but also,

Its been too long & I no longer care that much 🤷‍♀️

I think the fact Sjm has been so silent - its the most frustrating part. I don’t blame her but I think there was so much things going on and I feel like - this whole thing was planned. it wasn’t a matter of delays or whatever.

We needed to read HOFAS to understand the lore for ACOTAR 5. Obviously, hofas had to come after hosab - through this order, the years went by. Mass isn’t online therefore I don’t think she knows the full extent of the shipwars. To her, that bonus created some *doubt/drama* the way Emerie appearing in Cassians chapter during acofas did. Im very curious to hear her thoughts on all this once acotar 5 is out, anyways, I think at one point - maybe within the last 2 years - BB and Sarah realised it will be more impactful and a big deal to announce info about acotar 5 during the acotar 10 year anniversary.

obviously I cant speak for everyone else in the fandom but from my mutuals across all platforms and from my followers on Instagram- the general vibe is that we’re all so done with this fandom, sarah and the books. The ACOTAR world has lost its magic - people have taken the books so seriously and critically. Every character and ship is hated on, the fandom vibe is filled with disgusting toxicity and not just from the shipwars but the character wars as well. Its not the same vibe as it was when I first read the series in 2020. Hopefully, after elains book is calms down and we’re all reunited again.

I think by the time the book releases, the online fandom will be burnt out and not care as much but the casual fandom will be very excited for the release. And ig it doesn’t matter as Sjm will always be popular and her books will always sky rocket. Didn’t she recently win some goodreads awar despite hofas not being that good? So all in all, those of us that have been in the fandom a long time won’t be as excited as we would’ve been 2-3 years ago.

I haven’t read Fourth Wing but I’ve heard Rebecca is very active in the fandom which makes peope in her fandom love and respect the books more. Thinking of it - its the trend now for authors to engage consistently with their readers. Its a way to build a good relationship between audience and author but also to promote their books. Maybe Mass and BB feel like Sjm is big enough and doesn’t need to form that connection w us as they know we will eat up whatever she releases. And atp I think they’re right. I don’t think her “strategy” will backfire as her audience is no longer young teens - they’re adults that love her worlds as they connected with them young and will read whatever she puts out.

but you’re right, time will tell and hopefully that time comes soon.

[chaifootsteps]

non-viv-fandom annoyance. a few months ago, someone in my fandom crunched data for ships pertaining to certain characters. one side character i like had a ship that accounted for 68% of the fics featuring that character. more than every other ship combined. and yet there are so fucking many people in that big ship who are still so insecure about the rest of us in our little rowboats that they spend almost as much time firing their guns on us as they do actually making stuff for their ship. like goddamn, you technically already won the war, leave us alone already.

I feel like fandoms don't even care about the actual ships anymore, it's just one big pissing match and an excuse to bully anyone who isn't "winning." It sucks.

[yuseirra]

hikaai is such a funny ship. I feel like I'm defending someone in court for being wrongly convicted... pleading "Oh, there is no way he could have done it, your honor!" with the basis being.. my hunch (but there IS more than that) So it's... not exactly about being happy and excited at this point(I love drawing them btw), it's more about being unable to overlook some things.

Either the guy is so good at lying and his entire life that's been described so far is a lie, or it's that he's extremely hurt and timid (he couldn't even go visit his gf giving birth and go see his own kids because he got nervous if what he claims is the truth PL EASE Hikaru.. oh, goodness. But I think this DOES fit his character... it's oddly realistic. And he treats his children quite lovingly after that? The way I see it?)

but even if he can fool ME, I doubt he would have been able to fool Ai. She's the better liar, her whole story revolved around her lies and love and there's a scene where she literally reads him like a book within the story. If Ai and he fights, he does not have even the slightest chance to win. He does not stand a chance against Ai. That's what happened regarding the 15 year old lie as well, he didn't have a clue when it came to HER lies. I like that about them. They're very tragic, but you know, the way Ai steps in and leads him is sweet. That part of it is kind of cute. That's EXACTLY why she's worried about him, everyone, he's so vulnerable and so easy to be taken advantage of. It happens OVER AND OVER. I'D worry if I knew a person like that.

Am I the only one who feels this way? This character is being bullied. I shouldn't have to care about that, he's just a drawing, he can go to jail or HELL if he needs to be punished, I won't care about him if HE'S the one who's killed Ai (he's still good-looking but my feelings for him would change a whole lot) but don't people see?; Ai decided to help him because he was bullied as a child!! She couldn't bear seeing the guy she found endearing being in pain! I think that's happening again! And Ai's dead now so she can't help him anymore... their children have to do it in her place... This whole situation makes me feel like I'm watching a bullying incident in school but being unable to do anything about it... I feel really bad. Why are these things happening to him? It'd be better for HIkaru's sake if he really IS evil and is some sort of god that drives people crazy, that's the other way this could make sense but would that be a good story? It won't be, so I don't think that's it.

By the way I've been rereading ch 1 a lot because Ai-

and if I had a gf like that who'd risk everything they had going because of their love towards me (that's EXACTLY what she's doing there) I could give my life. She's so lovely?? I'd love her with all my heart. Yeah she's hurt Hikaru so much from that lie she told him but, it was an action so full of love, I get it so well. She's that sort of character, she's the embodiment of love. So I think Mephisto must be the boyfriend's song. Ai risked everything for him, and I don't picture the guy she loved acting any different for her sake. He wouldn't have fretted over giving his own life for someone like that, in fact, he'd wish to do MORE if he could. Being the super.. timid person he used to be, he's probably been pushing himself really hard. However, I don't even know how much he's capable of doing because I feel like 'Huh..with this personality, can he really even go that far?;; CAN he actually do something for Ai in a drastic manner?;'

yeah.. this ship is stressful.. it's golden though! I just hope things get resolved somehow and soon. nervous laughter

I should go play my game too~ I wish I had several bodies, there's so many things I want to do and have to as well..!

[crownmemes]

Doctor Who (60th Anniversary Specials) Sentences, Condensed

(Sentences from Doctor Who (60th Anniversary Specials, 2023). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"I keep having more and more dreams."

"Look! It's a spaceship!"

"How do you always manage to miss everything?"

"You can wear a suit that tight up to the age of 35, and no further."

"What I'm saying is, that ship didn't crash - it parked."

"It is not my fault I lost my job!"

"How many more times? There's no such thing as spaceships!"

"I would burn down the world for you."

"Sometimes, I think there's something missing."

"Why are you hiding away? We're on the same side."

"I don't know who I am anymore."

"Do not fire without my command!"

"I want to go home."

"Sometimes, I think I'm from a different planet."

"So nice to see you again!"

"No stun guns for me!"

"I'm just passing by."

"I have no higher compliment."

"Cryptic. I hate that."

"A lot of husbands would worry."

"Does there have to be a reason?"

"Why don't you do something completely new and have some friends?"

"My family is waiting for me!"

"I will get you home."

"It's definitely a spaceship."

"Is that stuff dangerous?"

"Did it just get cold?"

"My arms are too long."

"Look, I'm me! I swear, I'm really, really me!"

"You're saying this to break me down."

"I've got to say, this is the biggest nightmare of my life, but... I look quite good."

"I can't follow any of this!"

"That's a superstition. It doesn't mean it's true."

"You timed that to get out of awkward conversations!"

"Now nothing is wrong! Nothing in the whole wide world!"

"I never thought I'd see you again after all these years."

"The whole world's coming to an end!"

"Oh, here comes trouble!"

"Basically, every single human thinks they're right and won't be told otherwise."

"Why should I care? I mean, seriously? Why should I care about you?"

"What is this? Some kind of conspiracy?"

"But how does this even make sense?"

"I'll warn you now; if this is a trick, I will kill you."

"Your good and your bad are nothing to me."

"All that exists is to win or to lose."

"That's cheating!"

"You can't save everyone."

"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?"

"Who'd have thought I ended up with a family?"

"You don't have to stay forever."

"Do you miss it? Out there?"

"I've never been so happy in my life."

[bloggingboutburgers]

My main fandom is actually mainly aroace characters, sex or romance are never even brought up. Unfortunately that comes from them all being robots and, according to the lore guy, "robots cannot reproduce therefore they have no need for romantic attraction". So yea, not the most optimal circumstance. In addition it's also a toy theme so it's not for everyone's taste. Of course the fandom still ships and there are people creating overtly horny character designs, so there's really no winning there. I used to be more on board with shipping but have recently realised that I don't actually like it much anymore.

...God I could make a bingo out of this

Characters are only "aroace" by circumstance and are not humans because it truly takes being a machine or an alien to not feel romantic or sexual attractions, no way a human can be that way? Check.

There being a possibility that the author themselves don't know the concept of aro people and ace people and just made things that way by accident and definitely not for rep? Check.

People not caring and lewding/romanticizing them anyway? Dingdingdingdingding

Every time