#i guess if i was in either of their positions i wouldn't close the distance either

[floorpancakes]

im reaching new and concerning levels of understanding watanuki on a personal level

[maximotts]

firm hand, gentle touch ⁘ w. maximoff

based off of an ask from @leolionsblog that was supposed to be a short response, but turned into a full fic.. Also, I know it's been a little bit since I've written for Wanda and Doll, but quick reminder that it's a dark AU so pls heed warnings and expect the morally gray 🩶 warnings are clearly labeled, please don't add community filters

Doll House! AU. masterlist || main masterlist :: Thinking is a dangerous game; thinking you know better than Wanda... that's asking for pure trouble wc. 2.2k . cw: 18+ only, minors DNI. mommy!Wanda and doll!reader. imposed routines. piss play (coerced bedwetting). dumbification. general teasing. subtle manipulation. series typical pet names and squishy times. Wanda who is trying her best to be gentle and patient and not use her powers to control you as much as she had.

Imagine it's early on in Wanda's little hex; Doll's so rarely allowed to go anywhere without Wanda and most often, she doesn't have the desire to anyways. Still new to the privilege of talking, you don’t find it much of a problem -Wanda always knows what you need- until you want something Wanda doesn't want to acknowledge.

Wanda loves holding you at all times, whether it's your hand while on an afternoon walk or pulling you close as you fall asleep, once she lets that boundary down there’s hardly a moment you have to reach out too far to her. And bedtime is a new exception.

In the beginning, the brunette was firm with putting to your bed on your own, staying long enough to tuck you in before retiring to her separate room for the night. She’d reasoned to herself it was good to have time apart, to prove to herself both that she could trust you to stay put and her to establish a routine. Night after night of dragging you back up the hall to your room and dealing with your sleepy cries had worn her down— now you slept in either of your bedrooms, together.

Your shared days now ended with an abundance of gentle intimacy, a new routine created to account for the unexpected closeness. Despite the gray circumstances bringing you together, a secret, less confident piece of Wanda expected you to resent her and keep distance whenever you could the more free will she gave, but you continued to surprise her.

Unbeknown to you, he genuine devotion only seemed stoked her need to control.

Standard practice meant Wanda always asked if you had to use the bathroom after your evening bath, but tonight you'd refused, impatient to get into bed and snuggle with your mommy. There was gentle suggestion that you at least try, but when you looked seconds from stomping your foot, Wanda relented, not wanting to fight over something so simple.

Now though, you paid the price, squirming as as you struggled to find the most comfortable position, something that typically wasn’t so hard when Wanda was stroking your skin and telling you a story. Typically perfectly intuitive, you assumed she’d stop speaking and lead you to the bathroom, having expecting some gentle admonishment while she sat you tired form on the toilet, but Wanda ignored all your hints at discomfort.

Eventually the pressure was too much and guessed your punishment must be the confusion of being left to your own devices. Alas you guessed wrong and the moment you twisted to sit up, Wanda held you back.

"Lay still and close your eyes, dolly. It's time for bed." Playing dumb was cruel when Wanda so clearly knew what was wrong, skirting a hand under your sleep shirt before pressing lightly on your sensitive belly. Wanda liked to call them your wigglies, called them so whenever they cropped up, quickly inquiring which problem possessed you; a telltale sign she needed to check in. Tonight, she remained willfully ignorant.

You whined into her neck, hips rolling into her thigh as you shuffled clumsily atop her, hoping if you burrowed deeper she wouldn't be able to make it worse. It proved to be a false hope once that same devious thigh bent between yours. "Wanna get up.."

“Why’s that? Does your tummy hurt?” The shy nod was as far as you were willing to confirm, lifting your hips to keep away from her teasing. You were still sparing with your words, much more used to actions or motions to communicate, but as soon as Wanda started letting you speak she expected proper response when disciplining you. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby.”

Resting on your knees gave Wanda just enough space to splay her hand over your stomach as she did when it ached, but for your current plight the warmth of her palm atop your bladder felt too taunting. “Can I go pee, mommy? I’ll be quick!”

A speedy return was far from Wanda’s concerns; watching your struggle set off a new lightbulb within and exhausted as she was, she deferred to her curiosity.

Wanda’s subsequent too tight squeeze left you clamping your legs about her waist, focusing on holding that heavy, full feeling inside. If she’d stopped there you’d surely run as fast as your legs would let you, would surely think twice before stubbornly rejecting Wanda’s suggestions, but the basic behavior of minding her in the future wasn’t sating her interest. "You told me twice you didn't need to go; either you lied or you didn't know any better.”

You so rarely second guessed her, a quick scan of your thoughts earlier confirmed you only did so tonight in the name of skipping to another nightly cuddle… Poor thing, you really did always mean well, but sadistically, she longed to impose more memorable consequences. “From now on you're going to listen to me, aren't you?"

The resulting agreement was expected, your deference was almost always automatic particularly in quest to get what you wanted faster. Wanda would give it just, not how you imagined. "Go ahead then, sweetheart, you don’t have to get up. Let go and we can go to sleep."

Almost.

"But that's messy…" Surely she was joking; the messes you left on the floor or at the dinner table were the primary reasons you found yourself in trouble. Brain already stretched dozens of ways, you could only imagine she was waiting for you to slip up. There was the occasional time where your mommy would give you the opportunity to prove yourself, one choice she’d guided you towards once or twice and one obvious misstep you still sometimes mindlessly fell for.

Worriedly pouting lips betrayed your conflict, trapped body twisting more sloppily as the seconds ticked on. Admittedly, she acted a bit out of character in accessing how much progress she’d made with her new toy. Slowly the witch had been relinquishing her hold on your will, hoping it’d been long enough you’d bend to hers without struggle. At the very least, tonight was now an exercise in how far you’d come.

New freedoms aside, she didn’t want you to think, certainly not hard enough to debate her commands. “Did I ask you about the mess?”

Silence wasn’t enough, Wanda’s free hand tugging the ponytail she’d lovingly tied in your hair just over an hour ago. The swirling red tendrils forming in her irises signaled she meant business; whether Wanda’s eyes changed on purpose or not was a question you had yet to ask aloud, but you knew well enough she’d reached the end of her patience. “Speak up when I ask you a question.”

Combined physical and mental pressure was too intense to bear, pitiful whimpers catching in your throat. “N-no, you didn’t…”

“Then don’t worry your silly head.” Her fingers were so soft on your cheek, petting your rapidly heating cheeks and saying nothing of the tiny spot of wet that spilled atop her thigh as you faded into her— before you caught yourself. Either the missteps weren’t obvious enough or Wanda hadn’t done proper work on your hesitation. Wanda laughed at your panic, holding your jaw until you finally understood you needed to stop fighting her.

“I don’t have to go anymore,” The whisper was such a blatant lie, one Wanda nearly slapped you across the face for… but she’d resolved early on to never scare you so terribly again. Gentle things often did best with equally gentle punishments.

Your mommy took in the pathetic sight of her doll, stuck swimming in her struggling thoughts, and oh she felt bad. It’d be nothing to whisk thoughts thoughts away, to leave you again as nothing but a dumb thing without a care for any perceived standards. She feared you’d never learn if you didn’t do so for yourself and so, agitated as you were, Wanda decided to let you drown if you insisted on it.

“No? Such a fuss for only having to go a tiny bit,” she chided, loosening her grip despite your continued clinging. Guiding your lower half down alongside her leg, Wanda’s demeanor turned around, once brutal and probing now lighter than a feather and you felt as though you were suffering from severe whiplash.

It was obvious she didn’t believe you -you didn’t even convince yourself, legs still clenched desperately about Wanda- but she played pretend, shutting off the lone bedside lamp and shifting so you both laid down. “If you’re really all done then it’s past your bedtime. Shut your eyes and rest.”

And that was all she said. No goodnights or further affection, just lights out and quiet. You’d be a fool to think Wanda would let you slip away to the bathroom now, her only given solution hanging pendulous above your too fuzzy head. The longer you lay there, the more confusing refusing it seemed.

You didn’t know what tiny voice in your brain convinced you to suffer and think, but as the minutes ticked by in the dark, you grew to hate that sound. Whatever it was wasn’t your mommy, the only person you ever wanted to please. Listening to it only got you an awful tummy ache and distance between you and her, having spoiled your cozy moments with Wanda.

Letting Wanda decide was easier, much less work than the headaches resulting from making any right choice. Mind made up, your abdomen was the only thing nagging you now, but you were still bashful. “Mama?”

“What is it, little one?”

Her voice was the calm to your inner storm, tone sweet and oh so loving. “…maybe I have to pee more…”

“Be a good girl and do as mommy said.” A simple kiss sealed your fate, relinquishing the last bits of hesitancy in favor of your mommy’s soft lips on your forehead.

Gratefully she allows you to burrow into the crook of her neck, still a little too embarrassed to face Wanda as you relaxed, freeing your pent-up belly with a slow stream, spreading warmth growing on her hip. She praises you through it, comforting hands stroking the small of your back, distracting your overexerted brain from your damp underwear.

“There you go, now doesn’t that feel better?”

A subtle excitement lingered between your thighs, one you’d ask to explore another time when you had the energy. “It feels icky..”

Wanda cooed at your exhausted observation, patting your backside in an effort to keep you calm and quiet. “I meant for your poor tummy, but I’ll fix that too.”

Her favorite parts were always the consequence and the aftermath, savoring what an honor it was to take care of you long after you’d be able to care for yourself. That was her job, after all, tending to your needs and protecting you, even if sometimes it was from yourself. “I’ll clean you up in a bit, I promise.”

Your hazy gaze searched the brunette’s face with unfiltered confusion, desperate to be back under Wanda’s tender care. It was true; she always left every aspect seamless, never asked you to think about anything— so why were you? No more questioning her, you promised yourself for a final time, right then and there. “Are you mad at me, mommy? Did I mess up badly?”

“Oh, no no,” she soothed, rubbing your bare shoulders before tightening the plush comforter around them. “You did such a good job, sweet pea! I’m so proud of you.”

“Even though I lied?” Out of the corner of your eye, you caught Wanda unbuttoning her silk shirt and you wiggled down on instinct, ready to round out your bedtime routine. Preening under her affections was second nature, obedient and kept a state you were more than willing to accept.

“Yes, even then, but don’t do it again.” Wanda rewarded your eventual good behavior by guiding you down until wet lips captured her pert nipple. She knew her smart girl would come around sooner rather than later and as she studied your now fully unwound form, not a singular worry pecking at your cute head, the older woman basked in the genuine pride she held for her work. “I only want the best for you, my love. You’ve got the big job of telling me the truth so I can look after you properly, I know you can do that for me, can’t you?”

There was a muffled mhm from somewhere, much more preoccupied with the overwhelming comfort you basked in. You didn’t struggle to ignore anything now, head feeling lighter each second you melted further into your mommy, heavy lids fluttering closed under the gentle brush of stray hairs tucked behind your ear, her oh so soft hum of a melody that’s quickly become your favorite song…

Some time in the night you stirred, still heavily draped over Wanda’s sleeping form, and where you expected to feel sticky and uncomfortable, a shift of your thighs confirmed you were back to normal. You wore the same pajamas, woken in the exact position you’d dozed off in, and yet��� it was as if nothing happened. Wanda’s lax cuddle wound around your midsection tighter, nurturing squeeze prompting your head to lay back onto her chest. “I told you mama will always take care of you, dolly. Now go back to sleep.”

[redflagshipwriter]

Red Hot Ghouls

Chapter 12 part 2/2

masterpost

Danny leaned forward. “I am listening.” His grip tightened on his drink unintentionally until the plastic creaked. He withdrew his other hand from the bag of chips fragments and rolled the top of the bag shut.

She lifted a finger. “Option one is pretty selfish, in my opinion. But it would work. You could banish him from the Infinite Realms. Assuming he either never dies or dies and does not become a ghost, there are no consequences for this!” She made a cheerful gesture and crinkled her eyes shut along with a grin.

‘She’s so scary sometimes.’

“Assuming he never dies,” Danny repeated incredulously. He put his hands in his hair without even thinking of how he was seasoning himself with salt and vinegar. “Jazz- bestie, I don’t think we should bet on that one. I guess I could ask him if he feels like he’d be really good at not dying?” His voice lilted up. He touched the phone in his pocket, thinking about texting just that. Then he remembered that he was annoyed with Jason for hunting him down as Danny Fenton. He didn't know how Jason did that, but it was rude!

‘Should I tell her that he knows that?’ Danny absently wondered. ‘I don't know what he thinks. It can't be the right thing. Maybe he thinks I'm possessed or something. Maybe disguised, like Sinestra.’

She shrugged unrepentantly. “I said it was kinda selfish. It would totally solve your issue. No connection to the Infinite Realms would mean no channel for the bond between your souls-”

“Ew!”

“Or- okay, how are souls gross?” Jazz demanded.

Danny exaggerated his disgusted face even harder. “Uh, I don’t know, that’s a romantic and unscientific concept that I don’t believe in and feel offended by.” He crossed his arms across his chest to distance himself from that yucky shit. Ugh. Nasty.

“Soul is the literal term used in the reference books, so.” Jazz said dryly, as if that proved a point. Danny rolled his eyes but let it go. “My preferred option is that you marry him properly.”

Danny inhaled once. He steepled his fingers in front of his face.

His sister waited him out patiently, but he could tell that she was internally laughing at him.

“I wouldn't say that's a solution,” Danny finally managed to get out calmly. “Do you see how marrying the guy might be considered an escalation of the unwanted engagement?”

Jazz snickered and held up a hand. “See, that's the thing, you're not engaged. You're fully settled into your current relationship.”

His jaw dropped. “I’m what now?” His stomach lurched violently.

Jazz gave him a little bit of pity but she kept going. “You technically accepted the offering when you took him into your custody.”

Right. He got there and invited Jason into the Specter Speeder. He even took him into the castle. Shit.

‘This is my fault. How can I tell him that?’

He closed his eyes. He took another deep breath and put his hands over his face. “I need a minute,” he managed to get out through his fingers.

‘If I had just left him the fuck alone, I wouldn't have had to deal with this at all. I could have minded my own business. Maybe he would have gotten out of the Ghost Zone on his own, I don't know. I'm not his keeper.’

Oh. Danny winced again and drew his knees up so that he could think his head against it.

He was Jason's keeper. Holy fuckin crap. That weird sacrifice ritual had put Danny in a very real position of both power and stewardship over Jason.

‘I’m missing something,’ Danny realized, and felt like he might throw up. ‘It has to have an impact I don't know about. There's always a catch. But the catch isn't at my expense. What did I do to Jason?’

“Danny?” Jazz had switched to her softest voice. She put a hand on his shoulder. “You've been turtling for a while. What are you thinking?”

Danny bit his lip for a second. He lifted his face a little to watch her face. “There's no way something this messed up doesn't have a serious drawback for Jason. His consent wasn't required at any point. I've got some kind of leverage over him.” He felt a cold dread crawling up his back.

Saying it aloud made him feel like he had a literal rock in his stomach, and he would know! He'd eaten a moon rock before just to see what it was like, and then a few Earth rocks so he could make a useful comparison.

“Oh, Danny.” Jazz tugged him in for a half hug. “Yeah. I know. Do you wanna know the details?”

He drew his shoulders in closer. His chest felt tight. He should say yes. He was a coward for wanting to avoid knowing the details.

“We can come back to that later.” Jazz rubbed at his back. “It's okay.”

“Ahuh,” Danny choked out, thinking about Ember using her hypnotism to make him obsessed with Sam. Thinking about Sam made him think about Freakshow.

He clutched at his chest. It hurt, it felt tight. He swallowed hard. His heart rate started to climb. “I can't do this, Jazz,” he bit out. “I can't- I can't have control over another person like that-”

“Right, right, of course. That's what I mean.” Jazz fully folded him into a hug and pressed hard. He clung to the physical distraction, grounding himself in here and now. “That's what I mean. If you marry him, ghost wise or human side, that upgrades the relationship to one on equal footing. From there, you can dissolve it.”

Danny let out a humorless laugh. “And all I gotta do is get him to marry me, when what he wants is to get away.” He felt a headache coming on. “I think that if I was him, I'd think that was a trick or a trap.”

Jazz winced. “Yeah. Maybe so.”

[justwinginglife]

Just What The Doctor Ordered (A Soshiro Hoshina One Shot)

Y'all know the drill- it's NSFW time.

It's late afternoon and you're typing away at your computer, inputting your latest medical report. You document everything about your last patient, what findings you saw, how you treated the condition, your follow-up instructions for future treatment, the usual.

You're a doctor on base at the Third Division and though usually you see patients either one at a time for their annual check-up's or all at once after a massive battle, at this point in time you have an unusually large gap in your schedule and you plan to make the most of it. You enjoy the peace and quiet because you know that working here, anything could happen at any time and you could be called in the middle of the night if a Kaiju so happened to strike.

You finish your report and lean back in your chair, taking a bite out of an apple you'd rested on top of your desk. You never know when you'll be needed so you make sure to snack when you can to keep your energy up. You stare at the fruit in your hand and laugh to yourself, "Guess an apple a day doesn't scare the doctor away after all." You shrug and start organizing your medical supply cart when suddenly you hear the clinic door open.

You look up to see your favorite patient smirking at you, leaning against the door frame as he clutches his wounded arm. "Soshiro." You say, shaking your head at him, "Didn't I tell you to stop getting hurt?"

He chuckles and pulls himself off of the door frame, sauntering towards you, blood dripping down his skin. "You know I'd do anything to see my favorite doctor."

You knew that was true as you had slowly started noticing he'd become a frequent flyer at the medical clinic, some injuries large, some injuries small. He'd even come in for a papercut once, the cheeky bastard. And he'd always wait for you. There were other doctors and nurses available but even if he was on the verge of death he wouldn't let anyone touch him but you.

You pick up some bandages and something to disinfect his arm. You grab his arm forcefully, leaning in to examine it, to which he grins. "Love it when you man handle me."

You roll your eyes and start cleaning the wound, though the corner of your lips twitch into the beginnings of a smile. He watches as you carefully bandage the cut up. "There- good as new." You say to him, expecting him to flash you that smirk again, maybe press a kiss to your hand, and say "Until next time, doc" as he saunters off down the hallway. But he doesn't do that this time. His eyes remain on you, lips curling into a sly smile.

You raise an eyebrow at him. "Yes, Soshiro? What is it?"

He licks his lips, and leans back on the medical table, propping himself up by his hands resting behind him. His legs spread slightly, revealing a growing bulge in his pants. "Oh you know. I thought we could squeeze in some time for my physical."

You smirk. "Oh really now? And I suppose you'll want me to be extra thorough?"

He winks at you. "Oh baby, I want you to examine every inch of me."

You laugh, amused by his bold attitude today, but the laugh trails off as you realize he's slipped his raging boner out of his pants and wrapped his muscled hand around it.

"And I know exactly which inches you can start with." He whispers, leaning in towards you, his eyes daring yours not to look away as he strokes himself.

Something changes in you. You exhale loudly, the breath a little shaky, as you bite down on your lower lip hard. "Fuck." The sight of him edging himself on, rubbing that thumb of his across his own wet tip, causes a warm sensation to pool in your underwear. You desperately want to know what he tastes like.

He gives you a cocky grin as you get on your knees in front of him but you can tell his heart must be racing as fast as yours because he starts to flush a little at the sight of you positioned like this. In an instant, you close the distance and take his throbbing cock in your mouth. He groans and grips the edge of the medical table tight with one hand, pushing your head in deeper with the other hand. You choke a little and he thinks he might just cum now at the sight of your flushed face, saliva dripping from your mouth as you struggle to take all of his length in. He releases his hand from the back of your head and uses a finger to collect the saliva from your chin, bringing it up to his mouth to taste. He moans into his finger as you suck harder.

You love the taste of him, the way his precum slicks against your tongue, the way his dick gets acquainted with the back of your throat. Still gagging on him hard, you slide your knees apart slightly and slide a hand down in between your legs, slipping your soaked underwear down just slightly so you can finger your dripping pussy. His eyes widen at the sight and he grips the medical table harder, panting "Fucking hell."

For a moment, he just watches as you slide him in and out of your mouth while you touch yourself, his dick hardening itself further against the walls of your throat. Then he can't take it anymore. He balls up your hair in a fist and pulls you off his dripping cock. "That's enough now." He growls. He yanks you to your feet and your panties slip the rest of the way down your legs, crumpling on the floor. Then he gets on his knees and presses hungry kisses to your stomach and your hips before taking the rim of your skirt in his teeth and dragging it down your legs. He licks his lips as he eyes your cunt, bursting at the seams for him. He shoves two fingers deep into his mouth, thoroughly coating them, before he quickly shoves them into you. You yelp as you feel him enter you, his movements desperate and hungry. He savors the feeling of you clenching around him, slicking his fingers with your lust for him, as he pumps them in and out of you, curling his fingers slightly to hit just the right spot. He licks and sucks at your clit as he continues to finger you at a hard but steady pace.

"S-Soshiro." You moan. He pulls his head away from your clit, wanting to see what you look like moaning his name. He groans, not quite expecting the fire it lit in him. You're grasping your breast in one hand, thumb circling your nipple, and your head is thrown back in pleasure. He yanks his fingers out of you quickly, licking them clean as he stands up to face you. He wants that fucking neck of yours, it's like it was made for him the way it's arching like that. He wraps his hand around your throat and pulls you to him, gripping your hip hard with his other hand.

"God, when you fucking say my name." He snarls. Without another word, he's sucking and biting at your neck. The movements wet and messy as though he couldn't care less how he takes you in as long as he gets to devour you. He grinds up against your hips, his cock banging in between your legs as he marks up the length of your neck. He decides he wants to claim your mouth now so after a couple of nips at your jaw he dives into you with his tongue. The kisses are passionate and hungry. His tongue is needy, as though it's been set ablaze and the only thing that can save him is your tongue. He bites down on your lower lip, pulling it back a little with his teeth before releasing. "So fucking perfect." He murmurs as he begins to rub his thumb over the spot where he bit down on your bottom lip.

Then he decides he's had a better idea. He suddenly turns you around and bends you over the medical table. He admires the curve of your ass for a moment, giving it a squeeze, before he plunges his impatient cock into your pussy. You breathing gets heavy and the harsh sounds escaping your pretty lips drives him wild, causing him to thrust into you faster and harder. He digs his fingers into your hip and wraps his other hand around your marked up throat. It's just enough pressure to know he's there, but the sensation sends another moan tumbling out of your lips as more of your pussy dribbles onto his cock.

He smirks as he feels how wet you are. "Such a good fucking girl for me." He growls as he continues pumping into you vigorously.

You whimper and grab at your breast again, riding out the feeling. Then you feel it, a warmth that's started to burn in your core. "Ah fuck Soshiro!" You swear, the words coming out louder than you expected. You clap a hand over your mouth and he smirks again. He yanks the hand from your mouth and pins it roughly behind your back.

"None of that now, darling. I want to hear every filthy little thing that comes out of that pretty mouth of yours."

You groan hearing that and it earns you another sharp thrust. "Soshiro you better not fucking stop, I'm so fucking close goddamnit."

He chuckles darkly. "I wouldn't dream of it. Now be a good girl and soak my cock with your cum, yeah baby?"

You nod emphatically, "Yes baby, fuck yes baby." Your moans get louder as you start to convulse, your walls shuddering around his erection as your orgasm floods out of you. The feeling of the warm liquid dripping down his aching cock as he fucks you harder is enough to send him over the edge as well. With a couple more thrusts, he's soaked you in his cum. He collapses on top of your back, pressing a kiss to your shoulder as he groans, riding out the wave of ecstasy.

You pull away from each other finally, leaning on opposite ends of the medical table trying to catch your breath.

Then he smirks at you as he pulls his clothes back on. "Same time tomorrow, doc?"

You roll your eyes and move to grab a towel to clean yourself up.

He's hit with a sudden wave of possessiveness as he realizes you're trying to wipe away the mess he's made in and on you. He knows you need to get cleaned up but somehow he was hoping to see you drenched in him a little longer. He snatches your wrist suddenly, causing you to drop the towel.

"No one's cleaning you up but me." He pushes you down so that your back hits the medical table. Then he starts to lick his cum off of your inner thighs first. His eyes flit upwards to your soaked mound and an involuntary growl rumbles up his throat.

"Yeah forget about tomorrow. We're going for round two now."

[sgojoenthusiast]

virgin problem

✧.* geto x reader

summary:

geto hates when you talk about guys. guys who just want to use your virgin body and leave you heartbroken. his solution? use your virgin body himself. less heartbreak, and he gets the girl he’s pined after for years.

cw: smut, slight slapping & choking, dumbification, degrading, gentle sex, virginity loss, pussy eating,

word count: 2.3k

likes, comments and reposts are deeply appreciated! <3 enjoy.

-`♡´-

You could trust Suguru geto with your life. During your darkest times, he was your light and during the coldest weather, he was your warmth.

When he wasn't with you, you felt a piece of you missing and when he was, you were whole again.

Yet, you swore it wasn't love. Platonically, yes, you loved him dearly. However, anything more would be to risk your relationship with him, and just the thought alone was unnerving and made your heart split.

The idea of losing him felt like no other pain because the connection you had with him felt like the equivalent of heaven.

Every conversation, every joke, every moment where your eyes would meet felt undeserving because what had you done to deserve such a euphoric feeling?

It was moments like this that reassured these thoughts. Moments where you sat in your room, talking about nothing in particular because you felt you could tell him anything, big or small.

This time, you were talking to him about some guy you had been speaking to. However, the comfort you constantly feel around him overshadows his prominent tense shoulders and curt replies as you continue rambling about your date, not noticing his rigid behaviour.

"I'm serious, Sugu, he's so sweet and treats me well!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." he dismissed.

Soon enough, geto noticed your excitable energy begin to deflate into anxiety.

To him, your feelings felt like his own, your pain shifted into his and even though he couldn't tell what was wrong with your sudden mood change, he could still feel it as though it was his feelings. Like he was the one experiencing whatever was going through your anxious mind.

"Hey," he nudged your shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, i just," you began, "I guess I'm sorta nervous you know- like I've never been with a guy before so-"

"What, you a virgin?" he laughed, before noticing the embarrassment on your face. "You're a virgin?"

"Well- like, I guess so." you mumbled, the idea of talking like this with him was nerve wracking because he was just so...

"There's no in between, sweetheart. You've either been fucked or you haven't. Which is it?" He leaned in close to you, your noses were practically touching as you inhaled the same air he breathed like it was a drug, and with every moment that passed with you in this position, you grew more intoxicated on the drug that is Suguru Geto.

Attractive. He was so fucking attractive.

"No. No I haven't." you said meekly, though you tried to come off as confident as he was.

At your words, geto backed up into his previous spot next to you. "Why are you so nervous then? Bet this guy's just another perv looking for an innocent virgin like you to fuck 'n leave." he rolled his eyes and you gently slapped his arm.

"I told you he's nice! He wouldn't do that." you took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm nervous because I don't know what I'm doing when... well, you know-" you trailed off, not wanting to say it in protection of the little pride you had left from this humiliating conversation.

"And I told you that all men want is a sweet little virgin pussy, your man ain't any different, princess."

"You just sound jealous, Suguru. What, you wanna fuck me instead, huh?" you scoffed at his audacity yet trembled at his intensity.

"So what if I do?" he breathed, his cautious hands coming up to the side of your face, tilting your face towards his. "What? You'd rather a perv like him fuck you? Well if that's what you want, then I'll just leave. You're the one with the virgin problem, princess." he winked at you, before he distanced himself away from you, picking his jacket up on his way to your door.

"Wait." There was no hesitation as Geto stopped in the doorway, itching to hear your next words. though, he never turned around.

'What am I doing?' you asked yourself. For so long you had been pushing your real feelings away, due to the risk of losing someone so special to you. However, once you discovered Suguru's requited feelings, everything changed.

Every pushed down emotion of love, admiration and lust was set alight, sparking like fireworks within you. You had felt so alive in the short moments where Geto's face was inches away from yours, and in result of this, the you that had battled these feelings away had died as a casualty of a long lasting mental war, causing life within your true feelings towards him.

You had never craved something so much in your life. He truly was an intoxicating drug.

Treading carefully around your next words, you think of a way to tell him you need him. You think of a way to tell him you have already forgotten about the boy you had been speaking to, in fact, it was as though you had never known him, because all you wanted to know was Geto.

"I want you, not him." you crawled towards the edge of the bed, silently begging him to turn around. "I never wanted him, Suguru. Only you."

"So?" he said unmoving, prompting you. You knew what he wanted you to say, and god were you tempted to say it.

"So I want you to fuck me, Suguru." you said in a sultry voice, trying oh so hard to tempt him to come back, and when he did, you could feel every bone in your body rattling against your skin in anticipation of this moment.

His eyes met yours in an intense manner, searching for uncertainty or hesitation, yet he had yet to find any as he marched across the room, grabbing your face and kissing you fervently, unwilling to let you go.

"You got any idea how much I've wanted to do this? Fucking killed me listening to you bitch about all these guys who didn't work out when I was right here, baby." he muttered delicately against your lips as he begun to push you back down towards the bed, leaning over you.

He began to kiss down your body slowly, leaving careful caresses from the tips of his fingers behind as though he was trying to feel you in every way possible.

He tugged at your shirt, asking for permission. “Do you mind?” he asked. His eyes were wide and urgent. You nodded and smiled at him, which was enough for him to begin to remove your clothes.

Once you were bare beneath him, he continued to kiss your body, leaving slight marks wherever his lips would trace. As time moved on, his lips slowly began to make their way down your thighs, kissing you everywhere but where you wanted him.

His hands gripped firmly onto your thighs, pushing them up and pulling them apart, leaving him more than enough room for his head to hover over your aching pussy as his eyes pierced through yours.

He never took his eyes off you. Even as he licked straight up your pussy and circled his tongue around your clit, his eyes never left yours.

“Just watch baby. Gonna treat you so well ‘cause you’ve always been so good f’me, ain’t that right, princess?” he asked gently, though the air around him shifted when he lacked an answer from you. “Baby, I can't treat you well if you’re not gonna behave for me. You answer when I speak to you, got it? Now tell me how good you are for me if you want me to eat this sweet little pussy out.” Suguru demanded, and the thought of him leaving your pussy untouched could make you cry on the spot.

“I’m your good little girl, Sugu, always so good for you-“ you cut yourself off with a moan when his tongue began to glide through your pussy.

His hand left your thigh and his fingers trailed down towards your aching cunt. You cried and cried at the feeling of his tongue, but nothing could have prepared you for the feeling of one of his fingers slowly entering your desperate hole.

It never felt this good on your own. His fingers could reach places you had never been able to, and you were positive you wouldn’t ever be able to make yourself feel as good as Geto made you feel as he slipped in another finger and sucked on your pulsing clit.

You weren’t sure whether it was what he was doing, or if it was him that was doing it, but fuck you had you never felt so pleasured in your life.

Your body thrashed around, on the verge of an intense orgasm as you moaned and whined out suguru’s name and other incoherent words.

“Sugu, I’m g’nna-“

“Come on my face, princess.” he said immediately.

The vibrations of his voice against your pussy made your toes curl as your back arched off the bed, coming undone entirely on his face.

Your breathing is fast and your eyes are shut as geto leans over you, tilting your head towards his making you open your eyes.

You weren’t sure how such pleasure could possibly feel better. The way he worshipped you, kissing every inch of your honeyed skin as though the taste of you intoxicated his mind, which, if you asked him, it did.

Geto began to remove his own clothes above you, throwing everything carelessly to the side as his eyes remained locked on yours.

He leaned back down towards you, analysing your face for any features he had missed before he had been able to come so close to you.

“You still thinking about that guy now, baby? Hm?” he asked condescendingly, as though he already knew the answer from the way his name was the only thing that had left your lips since he began to eat you out.

However, your mind was foggy and his words sounded foreign.

A harsh slap to your face woke you up from your trance and earned a pained whine from your lips, confused as to why Suguru had begun to treat you so harshly.

Geto’s hand reached down towards your neck and began to squeeze, conveying a warning without his words that would shortly follow.

“See, I’m trying to be nice to you, baby, but you’re making it so fucking hard when you treat me with disrespect. This is the second damn time, you should have learned by now.” he said in a manner that with any other string of words would have sounded loving. “So next time, when I talk to you, ask you a fucking question, what are you gonna do?” his hand tightened around your throat.

“I'm sorry, Sugu! I'll answer! Next time I'll answer, I promise!” you cried, securing a satisfied humming noise from Geto as he released your neck and leaned down to press a gentle kiss where his hand had been. “Now, what do you have to say? Are you still thinking about that dickhead or not?” he asked.

“No, no, just you Suguru! Only ever you.”

“Such a good little girl. Now, are you ready for my cock? You want that, princess?”

Little words but agreements fell from your sweet lips that his mind had desired for years.

Geto intertwined your hands together either side of your head, your fingers lacing lustfully as he began to slowly enter you.

He muttered delicate praises in your ear about how good you were for him, how sweetly you took his big cock and how amazing you were doing.

The pain was almost unbearable, if Geto hadn’t been there to soothe you through it from the sensitive swipes of his thumb against your hand, and the saccharine kisses he left against your lips, face and neck, you never would’ve felt the eventual pleasure that blurred from the pain.

geto’s hips moved softly against yours, not even just for your own sake, but for his own. your pussy felt so, so good to him, he was losing himself. If he moved any faster he’d cum on the spot, and this night wouldn't end so soon if he could help it.

“God your pussy was made for me-“ he said in between moans and grunts, making you clench around him.

You looked up at him with your sultry and tear-filled eyes. “I want you to go faster, Suguru.” you said alluringly.

Like a dog, geto had no problem obeying your every order. Anything to make you feel better, even at the expense of him losing his shit.

His body moved fluently against yours, hitting that spot within you with every careful yet equally as fast thrust. He lost himself within you as your mind had nothing yet the thought of his body against yours. You moaned and gasped passionately as he whispered praises in your ear.

Geto let go of your hands and dragged his own down your body, kissing and touching you in every way you needed.

He pulled your legs from around his waist and pushed them up and over his shoulders to get better access to your beautiful cunt as your hands found his back, scratching and clawing in pure satisfaction.

Your back arched and his hands wandered to support you, whilst also pulling you closer than what was physically possible.

Your voice echoed dulcet moans throughout the room and his lips left sloppy, open mouthed kisses against your neck and jaw whilst he groaned and gasped at the feeling of you.

“Fuck- baby, you feel so amazing, i’m gonna cum. Can you do that too, baby? Can you cum with me?”

“Yes! Yes I’m so close Suguru pleasepleaseplease don't stop!”

In sync, the rope snapped within you as he unleashed himself inside your pussy. He filled you up completely, your name spilling uncontrollably from his pretty lips as your own hung open in a silent scream.

"What do ya say, pretty?” he asked, his voice and attitude just as testing as before because of how much he enjoyed teasing you. “Come on, use your manners.”

“Thank you Suguru.” you heaved, way too out of breath to fight back.

He pressed a chaste kiss against your cheek. “You’re welcome, baby. Don’t worry, this wasn’t the last time. You're mine now, you hear me?”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

a/n: i rushed the end lol

☾ ⋆･ﾟ:⋆･ﾟsgojoenthusiast

[kittyball23]

Could you please do a fanfic about Bruce and Brandi? I’ve always been in love with married couples and now I’m just in love with them and no one talks about them! It’s killing me! Maybe how they met or something but it’s okay if you can’t. ☺️

Sure thing! I like this ship, too :)

Meeting You (a Trolls fanfic)

Slowly, but surely, Spruce came back into consciousness.

He hadn’t quite remembered when he had been knocked out, and was still not in the right mindset to remember exactly how, either. His head was fuzzy, throbbing with a dull but persistent aching, and his whole body felt like someone had beaten him senseless. He willed himself to move, but was unable to find the energy to do so just yet. Everything seemed heavy, his muscles burning with soreness and protesting against anything that would require him to shift his position.

Suddenly, somewhere in his mind, he had a dreadful thought. Maybe I'm… dead.

But his conscience was adamant to not believe that. He couldn't be dead! The life he'd had was a short one, barely two decades worth of existence, and it would be unthinkable that it could end so soon. 

Straining to search for any sign that it wasn't true, Spruce honed in on his senses, trying to pick out anything indicative that he was not, perhaps, actually dead yet. It took a second, but soon he heard it - the sound of a voice, worried at that, and a little muffled, coming from nearby. And, as his hearing equalized back to its normal level of sharpness, he came to note that it was, in actuality, coming from right above him.

"Come on... wake up..."

He felt what seemed to be a large hand pressing down on his chest, pumping rhythmically up and down against his sternum.

"Come on," it came again, in a desperate whisper this time. The pumping continued and, with the building of pressure within him, Spruce felt a substance rise in his throat, salty and acidic, and finally a violent cough sputtered out of him. He gasped for air, hacking hard for a few moments before it finally subsided. Then, slowly, he forced open his heavy eyelids. His vision swam for a moment before focusing enough to make out the basic shapes composing a face. A tall, blurry, indistinct figure hovered over him, outlined by a stunning halo glow that, if possible, made him feel even more breathless than he already was. Hoarsely, he managed to find the ability to speak.

"Am... am I in heaven?"

A light, feminine laughter met him. "No... but I guess this place comes as a pretty close second."

This place? Spruce rubbed his eyes, blinked a few times to adjust to the harsh, bright lighting, and  squinted. Now that he could see clearer, he made out the powdery white sand underneath his body, and the thick jungle-like foliage some distance behind him. Blue waves crashed at a shoreline several yards away from where he lay, in the company of whom he presumed to have been his rescuer from whatever the accident was that he'd endured. She was not a Troll, that much was clear, but what creature she was, he couldn't say he had a clue. But, even with the intriguing felt texture of her skin, stringy yarned hair, and puppet-like features that devised her characteristics, there was still something awfully alluring about her.

She was staring down at him with large, dark eyes, her expression filled with concern. "I was worried I'd have to do CPR. Are you okay?" she asked.

Suddenly, even in his withered state, Spruce felt the need to turn up the charm. "Better, now that I'm with you," he purred seductively. Or, as seductively as he could. It was difficult to sound an ounce attractive when his voice sounded like it had been put through a meat grinder. Oh well. At least his abs would fill in where his words couldn't. He turned to lay fully on his back, so that the firm, pectoral muscles were very much visible, and continued. "But just to be sure, I wouldn't mind you performing some of that mouth-to-mouth." He winked and pursed his lips, waiting to see how she'd react.

There seemed to be a sparkling look in her eyes, like one of enchantment, and Spruce believed his captivating spell to be working... until she spoke.

"Hmm. I dunno, you seem pretty fine to me."

He took it in stride. "Oh, I am fine, baby. And so are you." Spruce smiled at her, and gave another quick wink. She laughed softly, rolling her eyes at him with obvious affection, and leaned over to gently pat him on the cheek. Spruce felt his insides flutter, though he remained outwardly cool. He didn't want to appear too eager - there was a certain method to his madness, after all.

A method, it seemed, that she wasn't going to so easily be played by.

"Nice try," she whispered, getting back up on her feet and starting to head off.

Spruce was surprised to see her go so quickly. "Wait! Miss, uhh... um..." He trailed off, not actually knowing what to call her.

"Brandy," she responded.

"Miss Brandy," he repeated smoothly, wondering if her lips tasted as subtly sweet as the drink that was her namesake, "you wouldn't just leave a gorgeous, hunk of man laying in the middle of the wilderness, would you?"

Brandy paused in her steps and turned to look back at him. She tilted her head and smirked. "Maybe," she said coyly, "if he was uninjured and more than capable of walking back to town after a few minutes of rest."

Shoot, Spruce groaned inwardly. While feeling a tad bit bruised from the rough waters that had tossed him in the first place, he sported no major traumas on his body. He'd be more than capable of doing what she'd said without so much as a problem. A tad exasperated that this was not going the way he'd wanted it to, Spruce sighed. "Come on, girl, I'm trying here!"

Brandy chuckled. "Well then, I guess you'll just have to try a little bit harder then, huh?"

Spruce watched her saunter towards the trees, a small grin stretching across his features as he remained mesmerized by the slight sway her hips made with every sashaying step she took. After a few moments, she called over her shoulder.

"You're welcome for saving your life, by the way!"

And with those parting words, she slipped into the treeline, leaving him alone to stammer one meager, lovestruck reply.

"Th-thanks!"

[crowhyun]

How I Met Your Father (Pt. 1)

Yeonjun x Reader

Words: 2.3k

Part One Genre: light hearted fluff

You were already running late for work. You didn't look or feel so good, and you were going to call out sick if it weren't for your nearly empty refrigerator.

Looking up at the digital signs at the metro station, you squinted your eyes to read the moving letters. You sighed upon finding out that there was maintenance scheduled at a stop right before your own. You'd either have to take a bus the rest of the way or walk to work from there, and with the dark impending clouds of doom, you didn't think that walking was much of an option.

Shuffling around in your bag, you failed to find your umbrella, remembering exactly where you had left it and groaning internally.

The next train was due to come around in around 5 minutes, so you stood there, shivering a bit at the cold. You tried to remain positive, the day not really starting off well for you. Despite having a rather uneventful desk job to look forward to later in the day, you found solace in the fact that you'd be able to stay seated in a warm building.

Feeling a but bored and awkward, you pulled out your phone from your jacket pocket, accidentally pulling out your keys, noticed by the sound it made when it dropped to the ground a foot away from you. Sucking your teeth in annoyance, you bent down to pick them up, only for a stranger to unknowingly step over them, moving them a bit further from you.

"Hey-" You frowned, and they turned back, apologizing before continuing on their way. You shook your head and bent down to pick them up again, only now noticing that they were a bit too close to the tracks. One of your biggest fears were falling onto the train tracks and getting stuck there, so you always managed a far distance, but getting your keys would require you to be a bit too close to the train that was coming now in one minute. "Oh..." You said to yourself. You wouldn't fall. Just a quick snatch of your keys, and all would be fine.

It was a rational solution for an itsy-bitsy problem, but were you still scared? Of course.

Someone must've noticed your hesitation, their hand swooping down to collect your keys for you. Before you could yelp in alarm at you being possibly robbed, you looked up to see the person banding your keys to your with a smile.

Damn.

He was a looker. Black shiny hair, a foxy smile, sparkling eyes, and a put together appearance. Not too often you'd see a person this good looking.

Sheepishly smiling back, you took your keys from him, mumbling a thank you.

"You're welcome." What a smooth voice. That was all of the interaction before he went back to his own business, but now you were painfully aware of his existence just a few feet behind you. Was he looking at you? Did he think you were weird?

The train finally appeared from the darkness of the tunnel, and you were glad, remembering how you had to get to work, and quickly.

Once the train stopped, you waiting for a crowd to get off before you stepped on, noticing that all the seats were taken. Just your luck. The train car was filling up fast, and you grabbed a pole, keeping your bag close in front of you. You guessed that a lot of people had to get to work at this time as the car crowded up, forcing you to be shoulder to shoulder with others.

Despite your very visible discomfort, someone decided to place themselves face to face with you, and you looked up to see none other than the handsome man who helped you with your keys. You made eye contact and he awkwardly smiled before you quickly looked down, eyes widening for a split second.

How did you get in this position, and why was it starting to get hot underneath your coat?

The train started moving with a jolt, and you were already embarrassed as you bumped into him, quickly mumbling an apology.

This day must've been cursed. You knew the ride was going to be bumpy and you had only hoped that he wasn't going to the same stop that you were going to.

Holding on to the pole for dear life with your leg muscles stinging from trying not to bump into him, you kept your head down, looking at your feet. There wasn't one moment that you were chill, and there wasn't going to be one the more the guy was standing in front of you.

Not expecting the particularly rough start after a stop, you fell onto him, releasing both hands from the pole you were holding to somehow catch yourself. He quickly wrapped his arm around you, both your hands flat against his chest.

Quickly noticing your position, you scrambled yourself back up, an apologetic look on your face, worried that you might have hurt him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" You asked him, and he chuckled.

"Don't be, it's alright." He said. "Are you okay? The rides a bit more rough than usual."

"I'm fine. Sorry, I keep bumping into you."

"I don't mind it." He said with a smile just as foxy as the first time you saw him. A little embarrassed you said nothing more, instead over thinking about how he said he "didn't mind it". He doesn't mind you bumping into him, or he just wants to reassure you? I mean you didn't really mind bumping into him either, but you were sure he didn't mind in the way you didn't mind.

He smelled of citrus and mahogany, a calm and refreshing scent that made you want to plunge onto his chest again and maybe stay there for a bit. These thoughts were not safe to think while he was in such close proximity and your stop wasn't for another 10 minutes, but did you have anything else to do?

You found yourself looking down at his shoes. They were black and shiny, probably expensive as well. He seemed to work a professional job, as seen by the peak of the grey suit underneath his long black peacoat.

You looked up from his suit to his neatly tied tie, every edge and fold of his suit neat and ironed. There was not a wrinkle in sight and there wasn't a hair out of place.

You hadn't noticed that he was watching you damn near examine him until you looked at his face and saw him looking directly at you with a smirk.

"I take it you like the suit?" He asked, and you awkwardly laughed.

"Sorry." You looked back down.

Shit! That was embarrassing. You were only two more stops away from where you had to get off, and you didnt even know if you could manage it.

"Don't be sorry. I have to dress to impress today, so it's nice to know that someone likes it." He shrugged.

"Ah..." You nodded your head. You wanted to inquire more about it, like what he had to do today, if today was important for him, was he going to make it on time due to the upcoming maintenance. But...you didn't want to seem nosy, so you just shut your mouth. Small talk wasn't your forte, and you'd only embarrass yourself. Again.

With the train pulling up to a station about 25 minutes from your workplace, you hopped off happily. Going up the subway stairs, your happiness was quickly dampened once you felt heavy raindrops fall upon your heard.

"Shit!" You grumbled to yourself, looking for cover. You had hoped that it wouldn't rain, but alas, here you are. Looking around, you noticed a bus stop on the corner, the last of a crowd hopping onto the bus. You widened your eyes once you noticed that that was the bus you were supposed to take. "Wait!" You yelled out for the bus driver, running to the stop. Did he see you? Did he care?

Apparently not, because the bus doors closed promptly, and with an annoying screech, the bus started on its way, right before you could get to the stop.

"Shit, shit-" You brushed your wet hair back with your hand in frustration, breathing heavy from the running you just did. You didn't know when the next bus would come, and you had to clock into work within the next ten minutes. You would have to walk.

"Ah, did I miss the bus?" You heard a familiar voice and a black umbrella hover over your head. Turning around, you noticed the man from the train. Was he following you? There's no way you could coincidently bump into him three times, already.

"Oh, uh, yeah." You sighed. "Do you know when the next bus might come?"

"Usually, the busses are about 20 minutes apart." He said, also seemingly a bit frustrated.

Furrowing your eyebrows and looking at your watch, you looked on the direction you'd have to walk, mentally preparing yourself for the way you'd get drenched in seconds.

"Are you, by chance, uh, walking to your destination?" He asked.

"Yeah," You shrugged. "I don't have much of a choice, anyways, I've got to get to work, and it's not too long of a walk."

"Surely, you don't plan on getting drenched in this cold rain," He frowned. "I'll walk with you. We're going in the same direction, anyways."

"O-oh, you don't have to worry about that, I'll be fine-"

"No, no, I insist." He said, a genuine look in his eyes. You paused for a second then sighed, chucking breathlessly.

"You've come to my rescue more than once today. Big thanks." You said, suddenly turning hot again. Big thanks...? Could you possibly get any more awkward?

"Only doing what feels right." He smiled. "Let's go," He said, nudging his head towards the direction.

The walk started off pretty silent. It felt like you were trying your hardest not to bump into him with every step you took, keeping your hands neatly folded in front of you, and staring straight ahead.

"So, if you don't mind me asking," He started to speak, slightly startling you. "What do you do? You said you had to get to work, I'm hoping they're not too strict." He laughed.

"Oh, I just work in sales." You shrugged. "My management isn't too strict with us, they'd understand my tardines. I just wish I would've been able to catch the bus."

"Ah, sales..." He nodded. "That's one thing we have in common."

"Really?" You smiled, looking up at him for a split second. "It's not the most awesome job, but I get by...oh, and thank you so much. I didn't realize exactly how much I'd appreciate an umbrella right now."

"So, you were really planning on walking to work in this rain? You're stronger than me, I could never." He laughed.

You shrugged. "Walking in the rain wouldn't make my day any worse than it actually is." You regretted saying that the moment it flew out of your mouth. Now he probably thinks you're about to trauma dump on him like no other.

"One of those days, huh?" He sighed, slightly tilting his umbrella more towards you, effecting blocking the rain from hitting your shoulder.

"I-I mean, it's alright." You chuckled nervously. "Your help surely makes it better so far."

"Good to hear." He said, smiling dorkishly. Cute.

The rest of the walk was quiet again, yet this time it was a bit more comfortable. You hadn't noticed how wet he was getting until you approached your building, feeling apologetic, as if it was your fault.

"This is me." You said, facing the tall, glass building you guys approached. "Once again, thank you so much, I really appreciate your help today."

"No problem." He smiled, closing his umbrella. "Also," He handed you the umbrella, and you just looked at him, confused. "You can keep this."

"Oh, no, that's okay, I couldn't-"

He gently placed it in your hands, anyway. "Don't worry about it." He laughed. "Maybe we can both use it again when we finish work today, hm? How about dinner? I know a great place down by the river."

You raised your brows, surprised by his forwardness.

"A-are you asking me out to dinner? With you?" You asked, just to make sure.

"Well...hopefully with me." You could tell he was starting to get a bit sheepish.

"Sure!" You said with a smile, still taken aback but pleasantly so. "I, uh, I get off at around 6 today, so I'm free after that."

"Okay, awesome!" He said. "I'll wait for you down here once you get off, then. See ya, pretty." With a curt wave of his hand, he turned around and went inside the building, you following him unknowingly before you stopped in your tracks, eyebrows furrowed as you watched him walk towards the elevators.

Then it dawned on you. "Oh...OH!" You exclaimed and you heard him laugh, back still turned as he went on about his way. He worked here! How did you not know that?

Eyes still wide as you stood there in the middle of the floor, you quickly brought out your phone, no longer caring about how late you were. Bringing up your best friend's contact, you furiously texted her about every single thing that happened this morning.

Your heart beat at a thousand miles, the smile never leaving your face as you made your way to the office, thumbs still gapping away at your phone.

What you thought was going to be a horrible day swiftly turned into a day you'd never forget, with the promise of what you only hoped to be, a good date around the corner.

‐-------

AN: OMG YAY GUYS! I finally finished something! I did it while I was working lol, but I wanted something a little light hearted and cute, and I'm surprised I managed to finish it. I think it's a good step to getting out of my writers block! I hope you guys enjoyed this, and let me know if you want a part two. I already have an idea for what part two can be and it's not as cute and lighthearted bcs Yeonjun makes me feel NSFW things and I like writing abt them lolol.

[ratatouillewastakendammit]

Regrets

Chapter 7

Next Chapter

Index/Warnings

After the day you had, you were a bit worried about the nightmares that would follow. Fortunately, you were way too tired. Sleep was just long and dark, just the way a good sleep should be.

Unfortunately, good things don't last long.

The mattress you were on was thin and flimsy, allowing the jagged rock from beneath to poke out slightly. It was probably just in case of emergencies since you guessed the Troupe didn't actually sleep here like some demented murder-school dorm situation. The tiny knot of pain flared in your brain when you sat up, a match pushed against the stiff paper of your skull to ignite it.

You jumped a little when you noticed you weren't alone, which also didn't help the headache.

Chrollo was sitting in a chair with one hand propping up his face, the arm supported by the seats handle. His legs were crossed and he was leaning back in a comfortable position. He was reading a book.

"Good morning." He acknowledged without looking up.

Your eyes trailed around the room, searching for any sort of window to hint as to what time of day it was. When you didn't find one, you reluctantly turned back to him.

"How long was I out?"

"Fourteen hours."

Shit.

"What do you want?"

"I figured you had questions." He snapped the book shut and placed it on the ground before standing up. "Am I correct?"

Yes.

You left out an annoyed huff.

He chuckled a bit at that, but continued moving closer to you. Thankfully, he stopped at a respectable distance, seeing that you weren't keen on being all that close to him. He got lucky yesterday since you were too tired to care. When you realized he was waiting for you to continue the mainly one-sided conversation, you looked up and began with the most important issue.

"What do you want with me?"

"In short, we're looking for the chain user."

"I won't be of any help with finding him or anything." You retorted, hoping to keep the conversation swift.

"That's alright, we know where he is."

They've already found him?

"Or, at least we know where he'll be." Chrollo took your confused expression as an indicator to continue. "In two days, he'll be in a small town in the Roto mountains. I'm sure you know what he's doing."

Your expression darkened slightly. "Then what do you need me for? I'll die before being used as some homing beacon so you can get to my friend."

"After that little show you put on yesterday I don't doubt you would. However, that's not why you're here. I assume you've been filled in on the consequence's of the judgement chain inside me?"

You nodded. "And I assume you've managed to find an exorcist?"

"With everyone still lingering from the auction, we were able to find someone to defuse your friends power enough for me to reunite with my colleagues. However, it was only sufficient to allow me use of my own abilities for a limited time. This particular exorcist requires the original castor to exterminate more powerful abilities, meaning I'd need to get in contact with the chain user again."

So that's why.

"Although we've been able to trace him, your friend doesn't stay very long in the same place." He continued. "However, I trust that with you there, we'll have enough time to allow the exorcist the remove the remaining nen."

"So, you need me to lie and distract my friend for your personal ability renewal?"

"Precisely."

You scoffed, a bit dumbfound, and folded your arms. "So you get your powers back. Then what, you kill him? Why would I ever help you?"

"For starters, I'll make sure no one from the Troupe interferes with either of you again, unless of course, your friend does someone else radical and decides to strike first. "

Although you remained steady, shock fazed through your previously spiteful tone as you carried on with questions of your own. "So, we really wouldn't have to worry about any of you? Even after the judgement chain is released?"

"No harm will come to you from anyone in this hideout, I give you my word. And as long as you're working for me, then I will also be able to guarantee your personal protection."

His words confused you. When you inquired why you would ever want to comply, the expected answer was something along the lines of 'we won't kill you.' Of course, the Phantom Troupe's amnesty was an insane benefit, especially after Kurapika succeeded in killing one of their members, whether it had been directly or not. However, would this be worth whatever he needed of you?

"I'm not gonna kill anyone. Or have anyone get hurt because of me."

The look he gave you was odd; it was calculating, yet interested. He took a moment to ponder it before giving you a response.

"Fine. I'll add onto our clause. As long as you're taking my orders, I won't kill anyone, unless they pose an immediate threat or you give me your permission."

This time, surprise actually did overtake you to the point where composure faltered; you blinked back, running his words over in your head to make sure they were heard correctly.

Of course, they could be just that: words.

It was pretty obvious he was a talented liar that hid behind the mask of a charming persona, but something told you that it wasn't a deception.

'I give you my word.'

Did you trust him? No, obviously not. However, something was off.

You still couldn't read his emotions at all, but your abilities weren't what were pushing you. This time, it was just plain intuition, nagging at you like a small child to make a bad decision. And it was probably a bad decision, an immensely stupid decision.

But you've made a lot of stupid decisions already.

"Alright, fine. Deal."

XxXxX

The next day and a half were tense.

A few of the Troupe members rotated the watch over you in order to prevent any attempts of escape. The act wasn't a surprise, but still unpleasant. You were already uncomfortable with them and having their eyes on you made it that much more awful, forcing a constant exhale of control over your own emotions. Some would try to make conversation or just plain snide remarks, but you didn't give them the time of day, refusing to even look in the direction of any of them.

Although you hated to say that you had one at all, your favorite member as of now was Machi, who didn't attempt to bother you very much. Instead, she would sit, gracefully balancing that iridescent silk between slim fingers. Neither of you were stupid and both knew she was quicker and much stronger than you, at least to the point where she could capture you without much fuss. So she kept her eyes on her hatsu, which was a refreshing change from the undignified feeling of being constantly babysat. Some might've even described it as a comfortable silence between the both of you.

It definitely wasn't friendliness, but rather a mutual agreement of respect between the two of you; you wouldn't try to run and she wouldn't bother herself with antagonizing you.

She was actually the one watching you when Franklin knocked on the door, letting you know that it was time to leave for the Roto Mountains. They were only a little over two hours away, so you went by car. Unfortunately, that also meant two hours in the car with the man you had come to know as Chrollo.

If you thought being constantly monitored within the hideout was bad, which you did, this was so much worse.

Troublesome emotions permeated the air like a poisonous gas, suffocating and heavy, much too overpowering for the confines of the vehicle.

His charming yet detached semblance made you squirm. It made it even harder that you couldn't begin to understand what lied beneath it. Knowing what others were thinking was like a safety net that allowed you to feel in control, or at least provided a heads up for when it was time to run. He had yet to seem hostile to you, but that made the apprehensive state of being in the dark more daunting.

On most long car rides, you took to the usual practice of napping, but you just couldn't with him.

Ignore, yes. Fully letting your guard down for an unprecedented amount of time? No way.

Instead, you did your best to disregard him, just focusing on the trailing foliage outside your window and letting your mind wander as far as it could without becoming overly careless. Still, you could never seem to escape the unnerving feeling of being so close to the Troupe's leader.

Thankfully, you at least had the barrior of a chair, with him being in the passenger and Nobunaga driving, yet another form of mental turmoil within the automobile. On the other hand, you sat next to the nen exorcist, a young man that went by the name of Abengane.

After what seemed like much longer than two hours, the small group finally managed to pull into a parking lot.

You surveyed the location, raising a tentative eyebrow. "A bar?"

"The chain user is giving payment to the man who tipped him off on the Kurta eyes location."

Your neck swiveled in the direction of the man in front of you, heart breaking just a bit at the unbothered way he mentioned the stolen body parts of your fallen kin. Of course, it was always easier to hide behind anger, so you answered with a curt,

"Fuck you."

And with that, you stepped outside of the car and made your way to the pub, slamming the door on your way out.

'The chain user is giving payment to the man who tipped him off on the Kurta eyes location.'

Yeah, I wonder why the fuck he had to do that in the first place.

Whatever, just get this over with.

An intense aroma of liquor and cigar smoke was the first thing that you noticed as you entered the bar, which now seemed more like a modern day speakeasy. Your nose unconsciously wrinkled at the fragrant assault. The room was dark and cold, despite the warmth of the many bodies inhabiting it or the fire blazing in the far corner. Although it certainly was loud, there was one voice you could make out over anyone else's.

"What are you doing here?"

XxXxX

You hadn't really been fond on letting Kurapika go after violently tackling him with an embrace. Of course, he had been momentarily stunned, and a bit apprehensive at the prospect of a possible assault, but after a few seconds he flung his arms around your back. Even though you weren't really known for hugs, it honestly seemed like the only thing you could do at the moment, and you allowed yourself to stay like this for a small while. Of course, Kurapika wasn't a very physical person in general either, so the fact that he himself indulged in it spoke to how much he missed you.

Now, however, you were both behind the bar, perched on a wooden picnic table Kurapika had led you too. The air was so much fresher than inside, giving you the chance to breath before jumping into dreaded conversation.

As you looked at the man in front of you, the pangs of ache and guilt were increasingly evident within his emotional aura, like little flecks of sorrow among the usual sheet of indifference. You weren't exactly keen on starting the discussion, but it was plainly obvious your friend was in the same boat.

"Why did you leave?"

He kept his head down, hands gripping one another a bit too harshly.

"Hey." You snuck a gloved palm over, entwining your fingers with his. "I'm not mad. I just... I just wanna know what I did."

"You didn't do anything. You've never done anything wrong." His eyes remained downward. "I just can't let you die."

"So, you left without telling me?"

"I didn't want to, but after everything with the Phantom Troupe... We have targets painted on our backs now, even with their leader out of commission."

"I'm sorry."

Regret swarmed through your body. Your leg began to bounce up and down like a jumping bean.

"It's not your fault. If you and Gon hadn't stepped in back then, I could be dead right now."

He's lying, just trying to make you feel better.

"No, not just for..." You let out a huff of frustration, not knowing what to say, or at least, whether to say it. Thankfully, he did.

"How did you even find me?"

"I heard about the movement of Kurta eyes a few cities away from here and managed to connect it to where you would come next." It was shameful how easily the lie slipped past your lips, but you still tried hard to make it believable. Despite your natural talent at improvising, Kurapika was always good at telling your fibs. "I'd been looking for a while."

He gave a lighthearted hum. "You never were very good at giving up, even when I was being foolish."

"Which is pretty often." You replied, happy that your prepared script was flowing into a more cheerful territory. "But you're still my best friend. I don't... I can't just sit and wonder if you're dead. And I know I'm not strong or smart or anything, but I want to help you, even if that means from the sidelines."

The offer made Kurapika him look up. But as you watched his hopeful expression pale into one of dread, it wasn't hard to understand something was wrong.

"What?" Then it hit you. "Shit!"

You had been so invested in the heartfelt conversation that you had somehow managed to ignore the tingly warmth of your eyes turning bright red.

Jolting upward, you smashed your hands against your face in a meager attempt to hide the abnormality. When they changed the usual feeling was that of fear, fear of any outsider noticing and somehow making a connection. Now, the only one you were worried about shared the same peculiar feature.

Said individual harshly grabbed your wrists before you could trip yourself over the bench. "Just try and calm down quickly. Did you forget to put in contacts today? Have you forgotten before?"

"No, I-I was-" forced to take them out by our worst enemy who I'm apparently in cahoots with. "Fuck!"

You had created the grand plan of giving however much time the exorcist needed and then hightailing it as far away from here as possible, but that was thrown out the window because of one stupid mistake and your uncontrollable emotions.

Fucking idiot.

He's gonna find out. He already knows something's up; maybe if you're honest it'll soften the blow.

I can't.

I need to think.

"Hey, stop."

What do I do?

Just calm down.

But you couldn't. Your hands were stilled by his, but at this point you couldn't stop panicking, anxiety you hadn't felt since his leave over half a year ago growing worse with every moment spent trying to decide what to say next.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

"What's going on?"

Mouth watering with verbal nausea, your brain cut to the nearest option.

"'Made a deal."

"A deal? Wait, with who?"

Guilty conscious is a self-accuser.

"Phantom Troupe."

He went silent, a cold and dark quiet that made your insides hollow as you waited for a response.

"You... you what?"

You can't stop now.

"They kidnapped me and said that they needed you to try and fix the nen dagger."

His hands dropped from yours and he backed away. "You're serious?"

You watched in despair as his expression turned sour, your heart becoming heavy as you realized how grave of a mistake you had let out into the open. The already-present panic began to grow bigger as remorse and worry hit you like a train. "They said... they said that they would leave us alone. And that they wouldn't kill anyone as long as I-"

"And you believed them?!" Shame washed over you, lowering your head as he scoffed.

"I... I know it sounds bad, but I just knew I could."

"How could you be so stupid?"

You tried advancing forward, but he backed away in disgust, like you were some contagious disease. Coherent thoughts transformed into slurred phrases as your downward slope of hysteria continued.

"I thought... I thought maybe we wouldn't have to worry anymore."

"What would Pairo think? And your mom? Huh?"

That was the breaking point.

Your heart shattered into pieces, carved out by the blade of his words. The dam cracks and tears begin to flow down your face when you look up at him. No matter how hard you tried to plug it back up, it just won't stop.

"No, no, no, Kurapika, please don't say that." You cried.

"Well, it's true! Isn't it?" He grabbed your wrist in an iron-clad grip. "They're dead because of the Phantom Troupe and you go off and make deals with them? Are you really that callous or just a fucking idiot?"

You tried to wriggle out of his painful clasp, but he held firm, eyes blazing so hard beneath his contacts that you thought they might melt away.

"This isn't her fault, you know."

Kurapika didn't turn around to meet Chrollo's eyes, but his grip somehow grew impossibly stronger. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I have no reason to lie. We did kidnap her and I have no intent on forgoing our deal."

His expression remained unchanged, either still in disbelief or at the point where the words didn't make a difference.

"Kurapika, p-please! I'm s-so sor-"

"I'll find you again someday." He grunted, ignoring you. "And when I do, I'll make sure to slit each of your throats individually."

He finally dropped your wrist, turning around to leave. You made a move to grab onto him and make him stop, but he slapped your arm away without enough force to make you stumble and fall onto the floor.

"Don't touch me."

"Kurapika-"

"As far as I'm concerned, you're one of them now."

You tried pleading with him to come back, to not leave you again, but he didn't hesitate, leaving you to sob on the concrete flooring of the patio. The pavement scraped against your hands as you drew them into fists.

He's not coming back

He hates you

The world melted away through a veil of unseen voices as you drowned in turmoil, letting out a cry of what one could only describe as pure despair.

And here you are, blubbering like an idiot

You're nothing but a pathetic bitch

it's no wonder he doesn't want you anymore

Who in the world would?

Your head was beginning to hurt as you continued to weep, but it was nothing compared to the agonizing pain in your chest. Breathing became almost impossible, just becoming wet heaves between sobs that were enough to drown out the light footsteps coming closer.

They stopped right in front of you, causing you to glance up and see Chrollo. His tall stature was enough to block out the sun, casting a dark shadow over you that made you grimace.

"Fuck. Off." You spat.

But he merely tilted his head, like an animal wordlessly expressing their confusion, then knelt down, taking away the shade with him. The sun pierced through your still-crimson eyes and you glanced away, already missing his cool shadow and cursing yourself for it.

"What do you want?"

"Would you like me to wait in the car instead?"

You stilled at his words for a moment.

"What?"

"Do you expect us to leave you here?"

This made you look up, surprised, only to be met with his outstretched hand. The scene from a few nights ago, one where physical exhaustion weighed you down rather than emotional, replayed in your head. You were certain this was worse, though.

Regardless, he still held his palm out expectantly, every broken part of you begging to take it, to take some form of comfort in any shape.

"I don't need your pity."

"I wasn't offering it." But his stance remained firm.

You eyed his hand, looking for any sign of a trick, even though you weren't really sure you would care if that was the case. He gave you the time, waiting patiently for you to push him away. But some part of you just couldn't, at least, not now.

Where else do I have to go?

So, you stood up, fueled only by the hopeless weight flaming in your stomach. You ignored his hand, but followed back to the car nonetheless, not giving much attention to whether the decision would end up with you dead.

[mapoeggplant]

Man, I am happy that shima is making progress but… the whole situation makes me nervous. There is this, idk how to explain it, menacing undertone through the whole chapter. He is finally acting on his wants, but making a lot of rush decisions largely based on jealousy and loneliness (the fact that we see again how people keep his distance from him. The class politics bit was funny but also kinda sad). The Frankenstein's monster kills people as an act of vengence, but essentially it's a desperate cry for love and attention born out of jealousy, abandonment and hurt. Something Shima relates to a lot. The thing is, while jealousy motivated him before in a positive way (joining the club, confronting ririka), it is not healthy when it's your main compelling force. Of course Shima isn't really doing anything wrong (or i guess it depends whether people agree with Yasaka's perspective) and he wants to hang out with Mitsumi because he enjoys her presence. But there is a lot of other very complicated feelings bubbling in Shima and he is still unable to communicate with her properly. I can't help but wonder what if it ends up hurting her again? And what if this time she really gets angry? We've seen them "fight" before - once when they didn't know each other that well and the second time when shima didn't stand up for her and she ended up kinda swallowing her own feelings. The thing is, Mitsumi is lovely, considerate and forgiving person, and she loves Shima, but she is only a human. In a way, getting angry and allowing herself that feeling would be an interesting development for her too. As for Shima if he were to hurt Mitsumi again, who would stand on his side? Not the girls, Mukai probably wouldn't be too happy with him either. In that scenario - wouldn't Shima prove to himself that he is a monster doomed for life of loneliness? Well, not really, because conflicts are part of any close relationship and I think Shima has to learn that. He is no Frankenstein's monster, just 16. I find it interesting that he will perform the play twice.. perhaps with a different interpretation each time?

That was a whole lot of speculation and watch me be completely wrong and their Kyoto date being the fluffiest and sweetest chapter lol. Also, so sorry for writing a whole as essay, i surprised myself there 😭 

hi! first, please don't be sorry, it's completely ok for you to send a big question to me like this!!

I totally understand and see your point. it is very difficult for shima to be dealing with feelings as heavy as these and to see himself as a monster. it's not healthy and it's not the best feeling in the world, and feeling jealous is always something that hurts a lot.

but I also want to give you a new perspective on this: he's finally acting on his own, be it for acting itself and for trying to express his feelings to mitsumi. he, for the first time, didn't kept it to himself and just stayed in the corner, sad and resentful. he acted a little spoiled and needy? yes, but it's not a terrible thing to act like that once in a while.

now I want to hit a point that you said and I understand where you're coming from: shima hurting mitsumi again. I'm not going to lie, ofc this stays in the back of my mind and I do think about this a lot, not only for the Kyoto trip, but their whole relationship. it's sad to see him not being able to understand his own feelings and acting out on impulse and risking loosing mitsumi but, if it ever comes to a point that he does hurt mitsumi and make her cry, shouldn't we hold him accountable for that?

listen, I'm a shima defender till I die. I'm on this boat for two years (and a half??????? I'm bad with dates, sorry LMFAO) now and I won't back down but if he eventually does something wrong, why would I stay by his side and deny he ever did something wrong? to love a character is to accept that they can fuck up and pick it back again. I won't ever put him in a standard of being perfect and not able to hurt mitsumi at all, but I won't also put him on fire because he made a mistake. he's a teenager. he's traumatized. he's carrying a pain that has been with him longer than his life without certain pain. ofc he will make mistakes and ofc he will fuck it up and...that's completely ok. that's fine. that's life.

I know he's fictional and that his actions are created by a person. he isn't real so like, there IS someone controlling him but for the whole narrative of skip to loafer, we saw characters that were very human, that made mistakes and stood back up, that got hurt, that have complex feelings. so I trust sensei to give me a character that can do something wrong, acknowledge that and fix it. my problem would be if she decides that shima can't do anything wrong anymore or make him commit a lot of mistakes and never realize them (which he never did. he knows were he was wrong, even on the situation between the other girls that left mitsumi sad. he knows he was wrong).

also, shima isn't a monster. him finding solace and seeing himself on frankenstein doesn't mean that he's going to act exactly like the monster himself. actually, in the chapter, he sees the monster's mistakes and reflect on them. he also sees the scientist mistakes. sometimes we find comfort in morally gray characters and that doesn't make us a bad person — what it does is how we act upon that and how we behave accordingly with it.

so, what I want to say with all this: shima is slowly finding his place on earth and trying to make his feelings fall into place. that means he won't ever make a mistake again? no, never. who knows, maybe he can fuck it up on the Kyoto trip and we, as readers and as people who love him, need to call him out. and honestly, I would be very glad if mitsumi was the one to call him out and say "listen, you are hurting me. I'm not going to put up with this". she's sweet, kind and open minded, but she can also stand up for herself, like she did other times as well.

shima is one of the most important characters for me in a whole while. I see myself a lot on his journey to self discovery and just love him and the way he's written, overall. as a writer, he's even my style of character, the type I love to write. so yeah, I will still be making analysis on him, will still defend him with my eyes closed and will still love him. but I will also recognize his mistakes, expose them and try to understand why he did it (all ofc analyzing him as a character, we need to remind us of that!! he's a character and the characters around him, mitsumi included, don't know about his traumas at all).

I hope I didn't sound rude in any way, because that's not what I meant to. I just wanted to be very frank and open with you, because I understand your frustrations and I see what you mean. honestly, it's hard to say "this and that is going to happen" right now, since we're in a very "open" part of the story, starting a new arc that's far from its climax. I hope you understood what I meant and that you can find some sort of comfort on my words.

well, i hope you feel comfortable enough to keep making questions and having a discussion with me!! reflecting on this was very fun and I loved it a lot. hope it was good for you too!

thank you 💛💛

[weaselle]

i'm really lucky, i am almost never exposed to illnesses because for my job i am either alone in the van or outside walking around with a whole pack of dogs nobody is allowed to get close to.

The only exception to this is when i'm picking up or dropping off dogs, and most of the time nobody is home and i basically just open the front door and the dogs are right there and i put a leash on them.

but Monday, i show up to a house to grab two dogs, and nobody answers the door and the dogs aren't at the door, so i go into the house (totally normal for the job) and walk through the kitchen to where the dog/baby gate is blocking off the living room, and i get there at the same time as the owner who is also coming to open the gate.

and she goes "oh no! keep your distance! I have covid!" and she's not wearing a mask or anything.

So of course i ditch outside right away, and call the dogs to me in the yard, but goddamn, you could have texted me that you had that shit and i wouldn't have walked all the way into your house and if you heard me calling the dogs from your kitchen door you could have put a mask on, jesus.

anyway, guess who tested positive for covid this morning.

and like. i don't even care that i'll basically have the flu (i mean i do care, this is going to suck, but) i'm healthy, i had a different variant of covid a couple years ago, i have no reason to believe this is going to hit me personally any harder than a normal flu.

But i'm going to miss several days of pay. And my boss looses a bunch of money each day i can't work (which endangers my entire job, we're an incredibly small operation) And more than any of that, i live with my elderly father and cancer-riddled mother and hate the thought of risking their lives with this illness.

All of which could have been avoided if this client had simply texted me "i have covid, let me know when you pull up and i'll put the dogs out in the front yard for you"

And it's not like she's unaware of how serious this still is, she got long covid when she caught it a couple years ago and still has complications from it.

This couple are actually my favorite clients, they are both so sweet and usually incredibly thoughtful and good about things, she just, christ she really dropped the ball on this one.

[raz-writes-the-thing]

Unpredictable // Chapter Two

Ian Malcolm x Original Female Character / masterlist / read it on ao3

Chapter Summary: Alan, Ellie and Lyanna meet key investor John Hammond who has an interesting proposition for the three of them...

Unpredictable tag list: (send an ask to be added to a tag list!)

When the helicopter didn't land a safe distance away from the uncovered dig, Alan, Ellie and Lyanna began to panic. Lyanna and Ellie shot off towards the dig and Alan took off to, well, take the head off the pilot, if Lyanna had to guess.

While Alan ran towards the landing chopper to get them to shut down the machine that was blowing sand all over the place and damaging the finds, Ellie and Lyanna ran to cover the historical site as fast as they could.

"Cover the site!" Lyanna all but screamed, reaching the area. She skidded to a stop, crashing painfully down onto the ground and reaching for the plastic tarp designed to weather winds and storms. The fossils may be stone, but they were easily damaged. Pain shot up her legs and she knew she’d have some very impressive bruises later on. With a quick readjustment of her positioning, she got to work.

She pulled the tarp over the fossilised bone as fast as she could with the help of some of the other volunteers. They tied it safely down to make sure it wouldn't fly off when Lyanna removed her hands. Ellie winced as sand whipped sharp as glass against her bare arms.

After the dig was secure, Lyanna stood up and strode over towards Alan and Ellie's RV, angry as she’d ever been. Landing so close to a valuable dig like this one- she could understand if it were an emergency, but as far as she knew, no one had called for emergency services.

By the same token, however, Lyanna knew that they didn't get all that many visitors this far out of town, particularly in the dead of Summer as it was right now, so whoever it was and whatever they wanted, it had to be either incredibly good or incredibly bad.

She practically jumped up the few sand-worn steps and all but yanked the door off its hinges in her haste to get inside and get to the bottom of what was actually going on here. Frustration coloured her cheeks, and there was sand in her eye that she couldn't rub out because the rest of her was also, surprise surprise, covered in sand, too.

"Alright. Who's the stupid fuck who-" Lyanna was cut off by her uncle who raised his hand in alarm, silently telling her to shut up. Lyanna clenched her jaw but did as she was told, glaring daggers. She'd definitely grown up with her mothers' temper.

"Ah, this is Lyanna Grant, my niece and one of our best," Alan said hastily, clapping a hand on her shoulder to knock her out of her stupor. Lyanna forced herself to wipe her angered expression from her face and pressed her lips into a tight smile.

"Lyanna, this is John Hammond," he said with an edge to his voice that stressed that Lyanna needed to be nice to the man before him. Lyanna had to think for a minute to figure out why that name sounded so familiar to her. 

"Oh,” she said, realising who the elderly man was. "Oh my god, I am so sorry about how I behaved just now," she apologised profusely, doing her best to dust off her hand on her jean shorts before shaking his own. An embarrassed flush appeared over her cheeks, forced smile turning awfully sheepish but no one was able to tell through the dust and grime coating her skin.

John Hammond was one of the main funders of their digs. He paid fifty thousand dollars a year to keep Alan’s projects from becoming bankrupt and essentially abandoned. No one said archaeology was an abounding field, unfortunately. Digs needed investors, and investors needed money.

Lyanna noticed that the old man had opened the bottle of champagne that the three of them had been saving and she frowned, though quickly covered it back up with a bashful expression. Given that he was currently funding their careers, she supposed he was entitled enough to their celebratory bottles if he wanted them. 

"Would you like a drink?" He asked her, raising the bottle and smiling. Without waiting for an answer, John fussed around the kitchen, getting Lyanna a glass of the sparkling liquid. She took in his appearance. He was wearing mostly white which she thought wasn’t such a good idea in the dusty Badlands. It would only take about five minutes before his pristine clothes were a sandy yellow. But that wasn’t her business, and she doubted a man like him would want to stay long enough to get his hands dirty anyway. Not that Lyanna would complain. Who liked having their bosses boss around?

"I'm sorry about the dramatic entrance," John apologised, interrupting Lyanna’s thoughts and handing her the glass, "but we were in a rush." Lyanna set her jaw. In such a rush they couldn’t land on the designated landing strip, it would seem. Then again, he paid for the circus so she supposed it was his prerogative to damage the lions if he wanted to.

"I've read your book, Lyanna. It was very thorough and informative," Hammond continued without waiting for a reply, lifting a finger from his glass to point at her.

"I aim to please," she smiled, unsure of where he was going with this, but still honoured to know he’d put the effort in to read her work. Always good to meet a fan, as they say.

"Yes, well, let's get right down to business," he paused, taking another sip from his glass. Behind her, Lyanna saw a flash of Ellie's blonde hair. She hadn't realised that she had joined them inside. Perhaps she'd only just got there.

"I like you. All of you," he paused to look at the three of them individually.

"I own an island off the coast of Costa Rica. I've leased it from the government and during the last five years, I've been setting up a biological preserve of sorts. Really spectacular. Spared no expense," he smiled wide, showing them his yellowing teeth. Lyanna fought the urge to squint suspiciously at the man. This was great and all, but if he wanted them to know about his new island, he could have sent an email. 

"It makes the one I've got down in Kenya look like a petting zoo. And there's no doubt that our attractions will drive kids out of their minds," he exclaimed excitedly, not taking pause to note their hesitantly curious expressions.

"What are those?" Alan asked, resting his hand on his knee.

"Small versions of adults, honey." Ellie sarcastically whispered to him in answer. Alan gave her a look before turning back to John. 

"We're planning to open next year but that's if the lawyers don't kill me first," John chuckled, rambling on. "I've got a particular one at the moment who's being a thorn in my side. He represents my investors. He says we need outside opinions," John shook his head irritably.

 

"What kind of opinions?" Lyanna asked, crossing her arms and taking a sip of her drink, becoming more interested in the old man's rambling by the second. What could any of this possibly have to do with their dig?

"Well, your kind, not to put too fine a point on it," he shifted his weight and took another sip, swallowing before he continued. "Let's face it, in your particular fields, you are the top minds- and if I could just persuade you to sign off on the park, give it your endorsement..." he trailed off for suspense.

"I could get back on schedule," he finished, eyes flashing between the three dusty scientists before him. 

"Why would they care what we think?" Ellie spoke up. At that, Lyanna raised her eyebrow. It was a fair question. Was it some sort of reptile zoo? Or a fancy museum? But then why would either of those need to be on their own secluded island?

"Yeah, what kind of park is this?" Alan added. They were both good questions. Ones that Lyanna had been wondering herself.

"It's right up your alley," John said conspiratorially, a knowing smile growing across his cheeks. That piqued Lyanna’s interest. Up their alley? They were palaeontologists... up their alley were dusty bones and fossilised remains... Maybe it was a museum then.

"Tell you what. Why don't the three of you come down for the weekend? I'd love to have the opinion of an extra palaeontologist as well," he said, gesturing to the three of us.

"I've got a jet standing by at Chateau," he explained, jumping onto the bench behind him and pouring himself another glass once he was seated.

"I don't know. I mean, we just dug up a new skeleton..." Alan trailed off, understandably hesitant. On top of that, they had only just met the man in person as well.

"I'd fully compensate you by fully funding your dig..."

"This is a very unusual time too..." Ellie added, looking justifiably unsure.

"For a further three years," John finished.

Lyanna turned to Ellie and Alan and seeing the hesitant but excited looks on their faces, she knew that Hammond had won them over. Money was an extremely powerful persuasion tool. And archaeology digs were expensive. Soon enough they were bound to run out of fresh-faced volunteers looking for a fun time. 

They began to jump and laugh excitedly. Ellie turned and gestured for Lyanna to join them.

"Oh no. I'm not the hugging type," Lyanna tried to reason, the infectious joy eating away at her resolve. Ellie didn't listen though and brought the both of them to Lyanna who chuckled and joined the group hug.

After the excitement dissipated, Lyanna escaped the tight hold that the two of them had on her and turned back to Hammond, who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"When's the plane leave?" she grinned right back.

[onomatopoetic101999]

Chapter Six: Irruption

Chapter Seven: Illumination

Ignis Fatuus Masterlist

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Irruption: a violent incursion or invasion

------

TW: This chapter includes violence, blood, wounds, and hospitals. If any of these things bother you, skip to the end for a summary!!

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You open the door to your shared room about 15 minutes after you've run away. Sam is there waiting, and he all but leaps up from his chair to meet you.

The tear tracks along your cheeks are obvious, and when Sam hesitantly reaches out to wipe them away, you let him. When you look up to meet his eyes, your heart twists. He looks devastated at how upset you are, and you try to find it in your heart not to blame him. He didn't do anything wrong; his plan worked, didn't it? Your sudden realization wasn't his fault; he didn't know any better.

You try to smile, to stop him from worrying, but it fails miserably. You just close your eyes and bury your head against his chest instead, unable to bear looking at him now that you've realized the predicament you're in.

He wraps his arms around you immediately, and the tension eases from his shoulders, as if he's relieved you're letting him touch you at all.

You'd ask yourself again how you hadn't realized your feelings until now, but you guess it doesn't matter anymore. He squeezes you, burying his face in your hair, and you try to remind yourself that he isn't doing it romantically. You take advantage of the closeness regardless, wrapping your arms around his waist to squeeze him right back.

After a few moments, Sam raises his head just enough to whisper.

"Dar-," he cuts himself off and starts over, beginning with your name instead. His voice is pained.

"I'm so sorry I forced you to do that. I should have thought of a different solution, or let you hide and get caught myself," he leans back then, raising his hands to cup your cheeks so you meet his eyes.

"After this is all over, I'll leave you alone, okay? I promise, you won't have to see me unless it's absolutely necessary."

You blink. What in the galaxy did he mean? You wouldn't have to see him...?

You analyze the look in his eyes. He seems overwhelmed with guilt, but why? Unless he... unless...

You grasp his wrists and pull them away from you, stepping back.

"You knew? You knew and you did it anyway?"

He knew you were in love with him and still kissed you? Still teased you the way he had the entire mission? 'I'm so sorry' wasn't good enough for a betrayal like that. No wonder he felt guilty. You run your hand through your hair and turn towards the bed, grabbing your pajamas before storming towards the bathroom. How could he?

You toss a, "yeah, keeping your distance would be nice," as you pass him, but when you slam the bathroom door, you again miss his expression, a confused look on his face.

--------

The next day is filled with tension. You wake up in a similar position as the previous mornings, but you get out of bed immediately, not caring if you wake him up.

He tries to catch your attention, but you ignore him.

He'd known you loved him. He'd known and still chose to make out with you? To hold you against him and sigh your name and call you 'Baby' and...

This whole week must have been a sick game to him. You knew he was older than you, you were shocked for the few moments you thought he returned your feelings, but you had never known him to be cruel. It was a complete invasion of a relationship you had long considered precious. A complete betrayal of who you thought he was.

He gets up with a defeated sigh and walks to the bathroom to get changed.

When he gets out, you brush past him without a word to get changed yourself, fuming.

You pack up to leave in silence and only put on a happy, loving persona when you go to the front desk to check out.

The same woman from the week before beams at you, either unable to sense the tension or too polite to address it.

"Did you two have a good vacation? I hope everything was to your liking!" Your smile is strained, but you agree that it was.

It isn't her fault Sam's a scumbag.

After checking out, you board your ship and start the trek back to Jemison.

It takes a few grav jumps, but you make it to orbit fairly quickly. You're thankful that at least the end of this horror show of a weekend had been peaceful. Just when you move to start the landing sequence, however, the alarm lights of your ship begin to blare, the words "ALERT. UNAUTHORIZED DOCKING." appearing in big red letters across your navigation screen.

You unbuckle and stand as quickly as you can before running towards the back of the ship where your docking station is. You crouch behind one of your storage boxes and take out your pistol, readying yourself for a fight. Sam is crouched behind the crate across from you. He nods grimly when you meet his eyes.

The airlock blocking the unknown ship from reaching you opens with a hiss and 8 Crimson Fleet pirates land on your deck with a clang. You immediately aim and fire, taking one out with a bullet to the head. That left 7. Sam stands and lets off two shots of his shot gun, each one taking out a pirate. 5. You stand from your hiding place again, and take out 2 more in rapid succession with a shot to the chest and the neck, respectively. 3. The pirates are returning fire, but their aim isn't as accurate as yours. Still, a broken clock is right twice a day. One of the pirates shoots, and the bullet zips past you, grazing your arm and leaving you bleeding. You let out a pained yell, and fire a shot back, taking him out. That left only 1. You take a breath and aim carefully again before shooting. The bullet hits its mark, and the last pirate falls. 0. You start to step forward to see what valuables the pirates had on them, but a pained wheeze coming from Sam's direction stops you.

He's on the ground, hand pressed tightly against his stomach, back against the ship wall. He's breathing, but each inhale is shallow. Scarlet blood is already seeping out onto the surrounding floor. Sam was... he was...

You dive forward, landing hard on your knees. You move his hands and see an enormous gash in his side. You rip your jacket off and push against the wound as hard as you can, trying to stop the blood flow. He winces at the added pressure. When you mutter an apology, Sam shakes his head at you.

"No... I'm sorry, Darlin'. I heard you get hurt and I got distracted. I sh... Should have paid better attention. The snake had just enough time to throw a knife before you got to him." Every word is stunted, every syllable pained.

You lean up to press a kiss to his forehead and apply more pressure to his side. "Don't try to talk, okay? Everything is gonna be alright. I just need to find an emergency kit" You push hard on your jacket, and when he sucks in harshly through his teeth, you wince with him.

You can tell he's lost a lot of blood; his face is getting paler by the second. An emergency kit is the only thing that could save him now, so you leave him to sprint to the crate behind you and grab one, ripping it open while you run so you're able to apply it the second you're back at Sam's side.

You remove your jacket, now soaked in Sam's blood, and press the kit to the wound. When it starts to knit Sam's skin back together, you look up to see how Sam is doing.

His eyes are lidded and hazy. When you see them start to close, you grab his face in both hands, shaking him back awake. His eyes flutter back open, and he looks at you with dazed eyes.

"You have to stay awake for me, okay? I've gotta let the emergency kit work but then I'm gonna get you to the New Atlantis Reliant Medical. Please, just... Just stay awake for me."

It isn't until Sam sluggishly raises a hand to wipe at your cheek that you realize you're crying. You know he's getting his blood on your face, but you couldn't care less. You cover his hand with yours to keep his palm there.

You keep talking, trying to get him to focus.

"Think about Cora. You don't want to leave your little girl here by herself, do you? You've gotta stay awake for her and the rest of Constellation. You're the heart of us, you gotta come home."

The emergency kit takes about 3 minutes to fully stitch Sam's wound up, and you talk to him the entire time, shaking him by the shoulders every time he starts to drift again.

When the emergency kit finally falls to the floor, the job finished, you sigh in relief. You don't want to leave his side, but you know he needs better care than what you have onboard. You run over to the navigation table and set the ship onto autopilot so it will land itself on Jemison without you guiding it. You grab the hand held communications allay as well before running straight back to Sam.

You sit on the floor next to him, and he immediately shifts, slowly and weakly moving to lay down, resting his head in your lap. You let him sleep, knowing he's out of immediate danger now that the emergency kit was finished. You run your fingers through his hair with one hand while setting up the distress beacon to broadcast the need for medical aid with the other, humming to him.

You're in the same position when the medics board. He's asleep, and their scans say he's stable. They try to tell you to stay behind, find another way to the hospital, but you refuse. You aren't leaving him for a second.

You sit next to him the entire ride there, holding his hand in both of yours, trying to remember how to breathe. They begin a synthetic blood transfusion the second he's in his own room, and you don't leave then either. Medics try to pull you away when they see your still bleeding arm, but you just grab Sam's hand tighter and insist they let you stay. You dig your free hand's fingers into the mattress next to his body as they stitch up your wound, but you still don't let go of his hand.

You don't leave his side once, barely glancing up when the rest of Constellation comes. Sarah tries to convince you to lay down, but you refuse. Cora sits with you for a while, the only one able to make you look away from him for a moment to stumble and cry your way through an apology, before going back to the Lodge with the rest of the group to sleep for the night. You remain unmovable. You aren't leaving until he wakes up.

You don't know exactly how long you stay there waiting. Sam keeps turning in his sleep at random intervals, clearly suffering. The hospital gave him all of the pain medicine they could, but even New Atlantis's most advanced tech couldn't completely numb a recently stitched wound. When the sky has fully darkened, you feel your eyelids start to droop. You fight it as long as you can, but eventually you succumb to sleep, arms resting on Sam's hospital bed, his hand still tight in yours.

------

TW Free Summary: Reader returns from crying, and she misunderstands Sam, assuming he knows about her feelings and had teased her all week anyway. They check out of the hotel and start heading back to the Lodge. When they arrive over Jemison, Scarlet Fleet pirates board the ship. Sam and Reader kill them all, but one of them severely wounded Sam. Reader stabilizes him with an Emergency Kit and then gets him to the hospital. The chapter ends with her asleep next to his bed, holding his hand.

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Chapter Seven: Illumination

[baronessblixen]

Saw your tags! I admit the angle about Bill knowing abt Scully's past relationships might be a stretch; but I find it interesting that from the get-go he intuits that Scully follows leadership "blindly" (as he sees it); and that she tends to "lose" herself in whatever "role" she's trying to fill before he even met Mulder or thoroughly assessed the situation. And it's no secret she and her father had pet names for each other, so it'd be easy for him to add 2 and 2 to get 4.

I can see him knowing about Jack Willis at least-- maybe not enough to care, but enough to know she was publicly dating and celebrating birthdays with him. Daniel's an if; but he was a big enough turn in Scully's life that she transferred out from under him and caused a big stink when recruited to the FBI. And Bill pegged Scully (not altogether rightly) as being a second mate to Mulder's insane quest, quietly judging the whole situation at Maggie's party.

I guess it wouldn't surprise me if preS1 and S1 Scully kept her family more in the loop, not having distanced herself because of her experiences: openly talking about her cute partner to Ellen, filling in Mulder on her own personal life, talking about her brothers casually in Roland's episode. I think reticence came later: before her abduction. she spoke her mind (little girl yelling at her brother and calling Mulder "Spooky" with her other peers before assignment, for instance.)

But I'm open to having my mind changed, of course~. ;))))

They don't seem particularly close to me and it's probably just a headcanon of mine, but I'm not sure how often they see each other. So I imagine Scully telling her mother - and before she died, her sister - things and then Maggie Scully slips that information into conversations with her other children. I wish we'd seen more of that whole family dynamic. Bill does seem a bit like he's trying to fill his father's shoes and be the head of the family after his death. So of course him not knowing something about one of his siblings would bother him.

Maybe he thinks she follows leadership blindly is because he doesn't understand what she does for work and he only sees her follow Mulder. Probably much like she used to follow their dad around and maybe even him when she was young. Do we know if their dad only had a nickname for her? Maybe each of them had a nickname.

I can't see Scully give Daniel as a reason why she's accepting the position at the FBI. I'm not sure the show intended it like that either. I think she and Melissa talk about it in a flashback and they're just talking about it being a challenge.

Totally agree that she probably kept them more in the loop pre her abduction. Especially pre-season 1. and can you blame her? What can she talk about? There isn't much. The only other person who fully gets it is Mulder. It's all very interesting and I really wish we could have had more of their family dynamics.

[backslashdelta]

fic line to guess: "Sebastian looks at him for a moment, silently, and Kurt sees his eyes flick down to his lips, then back up to his eyes for just a moment before he can taste Sebastian's lips, because the other man has closed the distance between them."

Oh good, Kurt and Sebastian kissing. Such a very unique thing to happen in so few of my fics this will be very easy to narrow down.

NOT.

Fuck me I am so bad at this shittt. Hmm.

Shot in the dark: Echoes of You. I don't think it's their first kiss because I'm pretty sure Kurt initiated that, but it could be when they're in Sebastian's apartment together.

WELP I was wrong. Kurt initiates that time too (which I was also pretty sure of, but thought this still could have happened at some point in that chapter). So already I've lost but I'm going to try to figure it out anyway.

My next guess was Unsteady, because that's Kurt wanting a distraction from Sebastian, so Sebastian may have taken a silent moment to consider Kurt and then kissed him. BUT that one is also wrong.

I'm pretty sure it's not Notes of an Old Mistake because I think Kurt initiates there as well (I'm correct - it's nice to be right about SOMETHING at least smh).

I'm giving up. I have no idea. This could be a line from just about any Kurtbastian fic I've written.

Enjoy your fucking drabble <3

"Can you put your arms out like this, please?" Kurt asks, holding his arms up and to his side to demonstrate. "Sure thing babe," the model, Sebastian, replies easily, lifting his arms. Kurt flushes a little, hoping Sebastian won't noticed. The other man doesn't say anything if he does. Since the moment Sebastian had walked into the room, he'd made it clear he was interested in Kurt. From the way he watched him to all the small (and not so small) comments, his intentions were clear. And it's not that Kurt wasn't attracted to him - he's literally a model, of course he's attractive, and Kurt is a man who likes men, he has eyes - it's that Kurt has a policy of not fraternizing with models. He'd been burned once before, and it was very messy, and he'd sworn it would never happen again. So he's been ignoring all the passes Sebastian has been making at him, hoping that the other man will get the hint eventually and give it up. But he's either very oblivious or very determined, because so far he's had no such luck. Kurt finishes measuring around his chest and waist. "You can put your arms down now," he says. Sebastian drops his arms to his sides. "Do you like bossing people around? You seem like the kind of guy people don't mind taking orders from. I certainly wouldn't mind." "I'm just trying to do my job," he says, flushing again. He crouches down in front of Sebastian, tape measure in hand, to continue his measurements, thankful for the excuse to no longer be eye level with the other man. He's taking Sebastian's inseam measurement before he realizes this is probably a worse position. "I can take the rest of my clothes off for this, if that would make your job easier," Sebastian offers not-so-helpfully. Kurt chooses not to respond to that particular remark, instead continuing on with his other measurements. Sebastian doesn't say too much more, just stays where he is and let's Kurt finish. When Kurt's done, he stands and walks to his desk, dropping the tape measure and his notebook there. "We're done here," he says, turning back to look at Sebastian. "We'll need you back next week for your fitting." "It's a date," Sebastian says with a wink as he grabs his shirt to pull on over his head. "It's definitely not," Kurt replies, though he can feel his cheeks burning. "Maybe not," Sebastian concedes, and Kurt thinks that maybe Sebastian is finally getting the hint before he continues, "but we'll get there eventually. I'm very, very good at getting what I want."

[thegodthief]

I closed my eyes for five hot seconds...

~~~

"It's been a while since I have had an audience to observe this, much less someone in a position to take advantage of it. I trust you to remember my exposition of how this can go wrong and what to do if it does."

"I have my fail-safes and you have yours, and everything can still go to shit in an avalanche, but you're still here and funny enough, so am I so I guess we're going to go though with it. I trust you to remember the goal of this endeavor and the obstacles that might arise to challenge you."

"One last thing as I get my fluttering nerves together and slip deeper into the process that you may note has already begun: Once I close my eyes, I will be absent. Even if I were to open them immediately, do not mistake the physical habits of my demeanor as being the result of any conscious will on my part. I trust you to remember the challenge and its counter."

"I trust you."

~~~

Suddenly feeling like I had been abandoned on the ocean's floor, I came to with a jerk and a desperate gasp for air. I only knew my eyes had been closed because the light in the room blinded me when they opened.

As I sat still, trying to regain my bearings and remember what it was I had meant to be doing, I realized that this wasn't the first time I had encountered that particular flash vision. But it was the first time that enough of the pieces came together long enough to create a scene.

But who was speaking and to whom they were speaking to eludes me. I heard my voice, but it wasn't my voice. I felt the sound in my throat but I also felt it slide across a table towards me as if someone else was speaking.

I feel like I am tracing the path of ripples from the far distance to the point where action intruded upon desire. This particular subject of the flashes of visions first splashed against me months ago, but it was only recently that a theme could be stitched together from the incongruous glimpses.

Normally, I wouldn't be making this post. Ain't a damn thing normal about me. I'm not ready to face the compulsion itself just as I'm not ready to face the undercurrent those words are flowing over.

Ah, well. Either I get to the core of the matter, or I don't. Either way, I go.

[psmd-lingering-shadows]

Part 5: This Curious Feeling

After a bit of time had passed, I ended up making it back to Serene Village. I don't exactly know how, but I somehow ended up running all the way back here. But, just like I expected, the moment I stopped running, I went into a massive panting fit. I was basically gasping for air for a while there. Cripes, I don't think I've ever run such a long distance before. Maybe that's a sign that I needed to start laying off the sweets and get into shape. I'm chubby enough as is...

After panting for a few more seconds, I managed to collect myself and took a deep breath. Then I took a look up at the sky, only to see that the sun was nearly out of sight and the moon was clearly visible. I stared in shock as I began to realize how much time had passed since school had let out earlier. Kids like me should've been home around half an hour ago, at the latest.

...Yeah, I'm totally in for it when I get home.

Pops is gonna yell my ear off the moment I step through the door, I'm sure of it. A part of me just wanted to stay in the plaza to prolong my inevitable doom. But I already knew that doing so would only make things worse for me in the end.

Ugh...I might as well head home and face my punishment...It's not like it would be the first time, so I should be used to it by now...

After letting out an obnoxious sigh, I slowly began making my way to our house.  I crossed the bridge and took a look at all of the houses in the area.  The doors were all closed and the lights were on inside, meaning that the villagers were inside and probably about to settle down for the night.  I noticed that the houses of my classmates were lit up, too.  Now that I think about it, Pancham and the rest of them ended up leaving right after me, right?  Did they end up making it back before I did somehow?  I wonder if they ended up getting in trouble with their parents, too?  Yeesh, if that's the case, I feel bad for them, especially Pancham.  His mom might be on the same level as Pops is when it comes to how scary they can be when they get upset.  But then again, he kinda put himself in that position in the first place by doing what he did, so...I guess it can be considered karma?

While I was thinking about all of this, I ended up freezing in my tracks when I noticed something that caught my attention.

The lights are on in Mr. Nuzleaf's house, too...

Wait, if his lights are on, then that means that he really is back from his trip!  It looks like Kokai was right.

...Oh, but wait.  Wouldn't that mean Kokai is inside, too?  He did say that he was staying with Mr. Nuzleaf, so he'd totally be inside right now, right?  In that case, maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a quick peek inside and see what he's up to...

...

No, what are you talking about, Nozomi?  Looking into someone else's house?  Isn't that an invasion of privacy?  Come on, even you wouldn't do something like that.

...

But...it would only be for a moment...and I do wanna see Kokai again, even if it's only for a few seconds...

...

N-no!  Come on, now.  You're better than that.  Besides, I shouldn't be wasting any more time.  I need to get home right now.

Managing to suppress my curiosity and my desire to see Kokai again, I forcefully shook my head and walked past Mr. Nuzleaf's house.  After taking only a few more steps, I found myself in front of my own house.  I looked at the door and, as expected, saw that it was closed.  I doubt it was locked though - Pops usually leaves it unlocked until it becomes completely dark outside.  Besides, I hadn't come home yet, so he wouldn't just lock me out.

"..."

Well, this is it.  Once I swing this door open, I'm gonna get scolded into total oblivion.  Maybe if I told him why I got home so late, he'd be at least a little more lenient.  It's worth a shot, at least.  Either way, what's about to happen next is gonna be pretty unpleasant for me.

Making a nervous gulp, I put the tip of my flipper on the knob and turned it, then slowly pushed the door open.  I only managed to takes two steps into the house before I immediately heard loud footsteps approaching from the other room.  Pops had gotten up from where he was and instantly ran over to see me.

"Nozomi!?" he said with a hint of relief in his voice.

I scratched the back of my head and gave him a sheepish smile before announcing that I was home.

When I did that, Pops's brow furrowed and an angry expression appeared on his face.  Oh, boy.  Here we go...

"You come home hours later than you were supposed to and THAT'S all you have to say?!  You little fool!  Where in the world were you?!  I was worried sick!" he yelled.

After initially flinching at how loud he was shouting, I began telling him what had happened once I had left school.  I told him just about everything - from me falling asleep in class and leaving later than everyone else, to me overhearing Shelmet and Deerling and following them to look for Goomy, to me ending up going through the Foreboding Forest with Pancham and meeting Kokai.  Even if he got more upset about me going against his warnings by going into the Foreboding Forest, I figured it was better if I was completely honest with him.  I at least owed him that much for making him worry so much.

When I was finished explaining everything that happened, Pops closed his eyes as though he was deep in thought, then let out a heavy sigh.

"Goodness, Nozomi.  You really do know how to get yourself into troublesome situations," he said.

I looked down at the ground and quietly apologized for making him worry about me for the millionth time.

He looked at me and shook his head.  "Hmph.  At this point, I'm used to it...though I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good thing," he said.

I looked back at him, remaining quiet for a moment, then took a risk by asking him how much trouble I was in.  In response to that, Pops paused, stared at me for an uncomfortably long time, then gave his answer.

"I will admit, I am rather upset with how you went about the situation.  Instead of coming to me or one of your classmate's parents, you all decided to handle the situation by yourselves.  The Foreboding Forest is no place for children to run around in.  There's no telling what could have happened to any of you if the rescue didn't go well," he lectured.

"..."

"But..."

Huh?

"...I do understand that you meant well and were only trying to do the right thing.  You saw that someone else was in trouble, and you decided to lend a helping hand.  I can understand the desire to help others, no matter how much danger is involved with doing so."

P-Pops...

"So, to answer your question, Nozomi, the answer is no.  You're not in any trouble...this time."

When he gave me that answer, I couldn't help but smile gleefully.  I couldn't believe my ears!  I thought for sure that I was totally done for!

"However..."

"...!"

"...You must promise me that if a situation like that ever happens again, you won't act so recklessly.  Let me or any other one of the adults from the village take care of it.  Is that understood?"

Ugh, I figured there would be some sort of catch.  Well, I guess that's just Pops for ya.  He acts like a stern old Pokémon, but I know that deep down, he's super protective of me.  A bit overly so sometimes, but I guess being a parent does that to you.  I'll be honest - I didn't like the idea of having to get an adult every time something bad goes down.  It kinda makes me think that Pops doesn't believe I'm capable of handling problems like this.  I mean, I know I can be pretty irresponsible sometimes, but that doesn't mean that I'm completely incompetent!  He probably doesn't mean it like that, and this is just him being him as always, but it still bothered me for some reason.  Still, it's not like I have a choice here.

I begrudgingly promised that I'd do what he told me to do, making him respond with a nod.

"Good," he said, seemingly satisfied.  "Now then, moving on from that...you must be quite famished after everything you've been through today," he said.

Before I could reply, I heard a low grumbling sound coming from my belly.  I looked down in embarrassment as Pops gave a small chuckle.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said as he started walking towards the kitchen counter.  "Very well, then.  I had planned on having you help me fix tonight's dinner, but I suppose you won't have enough energy to be of any help.  Just head into your room and wait while I fix everything, alright?"

I nodded and went into my room to wait.  It took a little longer than I expected, but Pops finally finished making everything.  The two of us spent the rest of that evening in the kitchen, chatting and eating his amazing food.  Overall, I was pretty happy with how today turned out.  I got to go on an adventure in Foreboding Forest, Goomy ended up getting rescued, I got to meet Kokai, I was able to bury the hatchet with Pancham, and despite turning up late, I still managed to spend some time with Pops.

...Heh, I don't think I've ever had such an awesome day like this before.

Once we had finished eating, I was about to head back into my room until a thought popped into my head.  I turned around and called out to Pops.

Pops, who was gathering the dishes from the table, looked up and tilted his head.  "Hmm?  What is it, Nozomi?"

"..."

"When did Mr. Nuzleaf come back from his trip?  Hmm...if I recall correctly, it was in the afternoon, a little while after school had been let out.  Based on what you told me earlier, you were still at the school while everyone else had already left," he replied.

Right...that makes sense.  Well, if Pops saw Mr. Nuzleaf, then...

"..."

"Oh?  You're wondering if I saw the child that was accompanying him?  You told me his name was Kokai, yes?"

I gave him a small nod.

"Well, I did catch a brief glimpse of both of them while I was out gathering ingredients for tonight.  They were both heading towards Mr. Nuzleaf's house.

Huh...I see...So, Mr. Nuzleaf left Serene Village for one of his usual trips, then ran into Kokai at some point during that time, and ended up taking him back with him?  But why?  What caused him to do something like that?  From what I can tell, Mr. Nuzleaf doesn't seem like the type of Pokémon who'd wanna care for a kid...

Realizing that I was lost in thought, Pops asked me a question.

"Why are you asking me all of this, anyway?  Are you perhaps curious about the young lad?"

"...!"

W-wow...Was it that obvious?

Well, I mean, why wouldn't I be? There's so much about him that I wanna know more about!  Where he came from, why Nuzleaf took him in, how he's so good at exploring...

...But, there are two things in particular that I wanna know more than anything else.

First off, when we had first introduced ourselves, and I had stared into his eyes, they were filled with such intense pain and sorrow.  I've never seen a pair of eyes hold so much emotion in them like that before.  I had only looked into his eyes for few seconds and I was able to feel everything he had felt at that moment...It was awful.  Why?  What could have caused him to feel like that?  Did something set it off?

And secondly, the whole time we were exploring, I couldn't shake this weird feeling I got whenever I would look at him.  This weird deja vu sensation...It was as though I had met him already.  But, there's no way that's the case.  I mean, if I had met him before, I definitely would have remembered.  There's no way I would have forgotten someone as unique as him!

...

Hold up...Now that I think about it...it's that exact same feeling I had when I had that dream last night!  Yeah, when I was talking to that weird voice!  I remember pointing out that it sounded familiar to me somehow...

Wait...don't tell me...could that voice be related to Kokai in some way?!

...

...

No...no, of course not.  Even if those two seem familiar to me, there's no way could be related.  I'm just being weird by coming up with these crazy theories...

"...Nozomi!"

"...!!"

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Pops shouting my name.  I looked up at him, seeing his confused and slightly concerned face.

"Are you alright?  What exactly are you thinking about?" he asked.

To that question, I looked down, paused for a brief moment, then looked back up at Pops with a slightly determined expression.

...I wanna know more about Kokai.

When I said that, Pops looked at me curiously.  "Oh?  Do you, now?" he asked.

I nodded vigorously.  Yeah, if I want answers to my questions, then I'll just have get them by seeing him again.  I'll be sure to find out more about him if we see each other again.  And of course, even if I don't get any info from him, just being able to spend time with him would be pretty nice...

Pops gave me a small smirk.  "Hmm, I see.  I didn't expect him to pique your interest that much.  Are you sure it's just curiosity that's making you so interested in this boy?" he asked.

...Huh?  What does he mean by...

...

...!!

WHA-?!

The moment I understood what Pops was trying to imply, a huge blush formed on my face.  I frantically shook my head in an attempt to tell him that it wasn't like that at all.  This only caused him to let out a hearty chuckle.

"Ahahahahaha!  There's no need to get so riled up.  It was a mere jest," he said.

I furrowed my brow and frowned at him.  That wasn't funny at all.  Geez...

Then Pops's expression shifted into a serious one.  "...That being said, if you were to try and pursue a relationship with someone, I would have to put a stop to it.  You're far too young to be involved in that sort of thing," he said.

C-CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS?!

After unintentionally blurting that out, Pops stared at me with slightly widened eyes, then awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Alright, alright.  I can see that I've embarrassed you enough for one night," he said, giving me another small smirk.

I turned away from him, crossed my arms, and pouted, making an obnoxious "Hmph!" in the process.

Pops let out a sigh before speaking again.  "In all seriousness, if you really are as interested in this child as you say you are, then by all means, go ahead and speak with him.  I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again."

Is that right?  I sure hope so...

...

*yawn*

Oh wow...I didn't realize how tired I was becoming.

Hearing me yawn so suddenly, Pops looked outside the window and realized how dark it had become.  Then he looked back at me and gave a small grunt.  "It's getting late.  You should head to bed soon.  We can talk about this more in the morning, if you'd like," he said.

I gave him a small nod before rubbing my eyes.  I ended up letting out another yawn, which prompted me to start walking towards my room.  I thanked Pops for dinner and wished him a good night before turning in for the night and drifting off to sleep -

...Oh, hold on!

I never told Pops about my dream!

So much stuff happened today that it caused me to forget to tell him!

Ugh...Oh well.  I'll just tell him tomorrow.

*yawn*

...Okay, I should really go to sleep now.  Wouldn't wanna add to my sleeping issues by staying up late...

...

...

...

THE NEXT MORNING...

...

...

"...zomi..."

...

"...Nozomi..."

...

"NOZOMI!"

...Huh?

...

...Bwuh!  Not again!

Hearing Pops shouting my name with that booming voice of his was enough to instantly make me realize what was going on.

I had overslept...again.

Geez Louise...this was starting to become a real headache…I wonder how much longer I can keep going like this?

I turned to look at Pops, who was motioning for me to get up.

"Hurry and get ready, Nozomi.  I'll prepare a quick breakfast for you so you won't have to go to school on an empty stomach."

I wanted to protest to that idea so I could have a better chance of arriving on time, but then I was quickly reminded of the last time I left for school without an actual meal.  Getting through the day with just an apple was pretty rough, and I'd rather not go through that again.  So I went along with what Pops said and slowly stood up so I could get ready.  I did a brief stretch to loosen up my body, then I grabbed my satchel and put my belongings in there, just like last time.  When I had gathered up everything, I went into the kitchen and sat at the table to wait for Pops to finish cooking.  After a few minutes, he had prepared a plate and set it down in front of me.  I looked down to see what he had made - some toasted bread with Chesto jam and some hash browns.

...I couldn’t help but grin as I realized he had intentionally used Chesto jam to help me keep my energy up. Nice one, Pops.

I quickly chomped down on the toast and gobbled up the hash browns.  Unfortunately, I failed to take into account the fact that they were freshly made, and therefore still pretty hot.  As a result, I ended up flailing around for the next thirty seconds trying to chew and swallow all of it while also trying not to let it burn the inside of my mouth.  Pops watched the entire scene unfold and couldn't help but let out a tired sigh.  Honestly, I couldn't blame him.  It was just the beginning of the day and he was already having to put up with my antics.

After recovering from that experience, I put my plate in the sink, ran up to Pops, gave him a brief hug, and thanked him for the meal before running out the door.  I heard Pops telling me to enjoy my day at school as I rushed out, and I couldn't help but let out a smile at what he said. 

Just like the other day this had happened, I hastily ran past the other houses, across the bridge, and through the plaza to get to school.  Hopefully, there was still some time left before the bell ends up ringing.  Even if there wasn't, maybe the teachers would be pretty understanding, considering they all know about my situation.  ...Well, at the very least, Miss Audino and Mr. Farfetch'd know.  But even if the other two don't, I could explain it to them.  I'm super sure Principal Simipour would understand.  Vice Principal Watchog, on the other hand...I honestly don't know how he'd react.  He'd probably find a way to still lecture me for being late...that definitely sounds like something he'd do.  Out of all the students at school, I'm the one who gets called out by him the most.  Even Pancham and Shelmet don't get in as much trouble with him compared to me.  I know it's because of my reputation, so it's pretty much my fault, but still...

As I got closer and closer to the school gate, I let out a confident smirk.  It looked like I was gonna arrive on time again, after all.

...Or at least, that’s what I had thought.

*RING RING RING*

"...!"

That was…the bell…

…

AW, NO!

Realizing that I had failed to make it to school on time, my running ended up turning into a full-blown sprint. I knew that it was kinda pointless to do so, since I was already late, but I wanted to believe that if I got there as quickly as possible, I wouldn’t be in as much trouble. I closed my eyes and put everything I had into my sprint. I was going so fast, it didn’t even feel like I was running anymore - I felt like I was using the move “Quick Attack”! Heh, I wonder if that’s how it really feels for other Pokémon who use it?

Unfortunately for me, I was so focused on my running, I initially didn’t realize that I had already zoomed past the school gate after a minute or so. It, uh, didn’t really help that I still had my eyes closed, too. I had finally wised up to that fact that I was there when I started hearing the surprised voices of my classmates and teachers. But by then, it was too late. The second I figured out that I had made it, a wave of confusion and panic washed over me. I had too much momentum to just stop in my tracks, and it seemed as though I was gonna crash straight into something at the speed I was going.

And, to my dismay, that’s exactly what happened.

…Well, kinda.

*thud*

“…?!”

A confused expression formed on my face as I was trying to process what just played out. Just like I was afraid of, I did end up making contact with something. But the impact wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. In fact, it kinda felt as though it had been…cushioned? It felt as though I had ran into something soft…and warm.

…Hold on.

Maybe it wasn’t “something” I ran into?

Rather…it was “someone”?

Once that thought had occurred to me, I slowly opened my eyes and looked at what - or rather, who - I had crashed into. And the instant I did, my confusion was completely replaced by total shock.

“G-good grief…I didn’t know you could run that fast.”

When I had opened my eyes, I ended making direct eye contact with Kokai. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I mean, I knew he was staying with Mr. Nuzleaf, but for whatever reason, I didn’t think I’d see him again so soon. Especially not here at school! What was he even doing here?

“…?”

Wait a sec…

…

Eh?

It was then that I realized that Kokai was grabbing both of my shoulders. It was a gentle, yet firm grip that had a lot of strength behind it. Hold on. Did Kokai… did he manage to stop my sprinting by grabbing me so suddenly like that? N-no way! He just supposed to be a Charmander, right?! Charmander aren’t supposed to be that strong! And yet, he managed to stop me like he was a full-grown Charizard! How in the -

“Oh, goodness!”

“…?!”

I turned to my left, only to see all of the teachers looking on at the scene that had just unfolded. Even Principal Simipour was there, who was looking at both of us with a curious expression on his face. Mr. Farfectch’d simply stared at us, not quite sure how to react to what just happened. Vice Principal Watchog had a mixture of shock and outrage on his face, most likely due to the fact that I had yet again caused another scene in front of the whole class. The only one who actually said anything was Miss Audino, who ended up blurting that out in surprise and concern.

“Kokai! Nozomi! Are you two alright?!” she asked.

Kokai turned to her and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he answered.

I looked at her and awkwardly nodded, confused as to what the heck was going on. Noticing my confusion, Principal Simipour gave me a warm smile and spoke.

“Good morning, Nozomi! It’s good to see that you managed to make it to class today. I was afraid that you wouldn’t be here for this special occasion,” he said.

I looked at him and questioningly tilted my head. Special occasion? What is he talking about?

“I was just announcing to the rest of the class that we had a new student here with us today. Though, from their earlier reactions, it seems as though most of them have already met him outside of class,” he said.

N-new student? Wait, is he talking about who I think he’s talking about?

I turned back to Kokai, who had let go of my shoulders and nodded his head, as though he knew what I was thinking.

“Yeah…it’s me,” he simply stated.

…

…

…

W-WHAAAAT?!

Did I hear that right?! Kokai is actually a student here now?! He’s gonna be coming here every day? That’s…

Before I could finish my thought, Principal Simipour continued with his explanation.

“Kokai here came here to Serene Village with Mr. Nuzleaf. He plans on staying here with him for a while, from what we heard from Mr. Nuzleaf. So with that being said, let’s all make sure he feels welcome here, not just at school, but in the village too.”

The rest of the class, who I didn’t pay any mind to until now, all responded in unison to Principal Simipour with a “Yes, sir!”.

Principal Simipour hummed in delight and turned to Mr. Farfetch’d. “Mr. Farfetch’d. Now that we’ve all been introduced to Kokai, would you mind starting class?” he asked.

Mr. Farfetch’d, still processing what just happened, stammered a bit before answering. “N-not at all, sir,” Mr. Farfetch’d replied.

“Alright, then. In that case, I’ll be heading back to the office. I hope you all enjoy listening to today’s lesson!” he said as he waved to everyone and walked back to his office. Vice Principal Watchog briefly looked at both Kokai and myself, then grunted and followed the principal back to the office.

Miss Audino stared at the two of us, making sure we weren’t hurt from what happened earlier. When she was done, she gave a small sigh of relief and waved at everyone before heading back to the nurse’s office, leaving just Mr. Farfetch’d to the rest of us. Mr. Farfetch’d awkwardly cleared his throat before managing to move on.

“W-well then…” he started, “…if everyone is ready proceed with the lesson, then we shall get started.” Then he turned to me. “Nozomi.”

“…!”

I quickly looked at him, waiting for him to speak again.

“I’m willing to excuse the fact that you were late to class if you simply take your seat and pay attention to the lesson,” he said.

…Oof. Looks like he remembered that I ended up coming to class late. I was hoping that me crashing into Kokai would cause him to forget, but I guess not.

I nodded and quickly headed to my desk, then plopped down in my seat. Mr. Farfetch’d then turned to Kokai. “Hmm, let’s see…Kokai, do you mind sitting next to Nozomi?” he asked.

He turned and looked at me with the same stoic expression he always seems to have, then shrugged. “…Sure,” he said as he walked over and casually sat at the desk that was right next to mine. Once he was settled in his seat, I couldn’t help but stare at him with a wide-eyed expression. I still couldn’t believe that he was actually here right now…

Kokai immediately noticed that I was staring at him and was about to say something, but was cut off by Mr. Farfetch’d.

“Oi, eyes up front, Nozomi! I expect you and everyone else to be on their best behavior today!” he shouted with a stern expression.

I turned back to the front and briefly apologized before sulking a bit in my seat. Kokai allowed his eyes to linger on me for a few seconds, then he did the same thing I did and quickly faced the front. And with that, Mr. Farfetch’d’s lesson began.

…

…

…

THAT AFTERNOON…

*RING RING RING*

“…And that is all for today. Class dismissed!” Mr. Farfetch’d announced before leaving the podium and walking to the office building. Once he had left, I felt myself finally relaxing since class had started. It had taken everything in me not to let myself become distracted during the entire day. It was even more difficult to do so today because of the Pokémon who was literally sitting next to me. I wanted to talk to him all day, but I knew if I tried getting his attention, Mr. Farfetch’d would have noticed and come down on me harder than a Snorlax using Body Slam on a Weedle.

Once I was done gathering up my belongings, I stood up from my seat and walked over to where Kokai was sitting. He was gathering his stuff too, so he didn’t notice that I was there until he looked up and saw me in front of his desk. His eyes widened slightly, but he quickly recovered and greeted me.

“Oh…Nozomi. Nice to see you again,” he said.

I greeted him with a friendly smile and asked how he was doing.

“Me? I’m doing well enough, I guess. Though, I didn’t expect that I’d end up attending classes here. Seriously, I have no idea why I’m even here. I don’t know why he’s being such as pain about all this…” he murmured the last part to himself.

I gave him a questioning look and asked who he was talking about.

Realizing that I had heard him say that, he calmly shook his head. “Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “And what about you? Are you doing alright?”

Before I could answer his question, I heard someone else shout Kokai’s name. I looked at where the voice was coming from, and saw Deerling and Goomy walking towards the two of us. Kokai turned around with a questioning look, wondering what they wanted.

“Deerling and Goomy. What’s up?” he asked.

Deerling paused for a moment before speaking again. “Well…we never got to thank you properly for rescuing Goomy in the Foreboding Forest, so we just wanted to say that we’re both really grateful for what you all did,” she said.

Goomy nodded. “Mm-hmm! Thank you again for saving me!” he said happily.

Kokai gave a small nod. “Don’t mention it. Pokémon are supposed to help each other out when they’re in trouble, aren’t they?”

Deerling smiled and let out a small giggle. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Still, I’m pretty curious about one thing though,” she said.

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“How did you even know that Goomy was in the Foreboding Forest to begin with?” she asked.

Kokai paused for a moment, then gave his answer.

“…I saw you and Shelmet arguing about it in the plaza. I couldn’t just walk away, so I ended up following you guys.”

Deerling’s eyes widened at Kokai’s response. “Wait, you followed us, too?” she asked.

Kokai gave her a confused expression. “Huh? What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s just that Nozomi did the same thing. She said she followed us right after we left the plaza,” Deerling explained. “Although, it’s a little weird that you two didn’t run into each other at all if you did the same thing. And now that I think about it, it’s even stranger that we didn’t see you near the entrance, since it’s the only way into the forest.”

“…!”

…!

Wait, now that I think about it, she’s right. Even if we somehow managed to miss each other when we both followed them, there’s no way we would have missed him heading into the forest. Even if he went in after Pancham and I did, Deerling and Shelmet were still at the entrance. They definitely would have seen him. But they didn’t recognize Kokai at all when the three of us returned to the entrance…

When he heard that, Kokai froze. He looked down for a moment, and even though he was trying to hide it, he has a slightly distressed look on his face. After a few more seconds, he returned to normal and simply shrugged.

“Is that so? Huh, how odd. Maybe I managed to get past you guys while your backs were turned or something,” he said.

Deerling and Goomy gave each other uncertain looks before Deerling spoke. “W-well, maybe, but-”

Kokai abruptly cut her off. “Anyway, I’m sorry to cut the conversation short, but I’m about to head out shortly. Nozomi wanted to hang out with me a little after school ended.”

…Wait, huh?!

Kokai turned to me and gave me a small smirk. “…That is why you approached me, right? So you could talk with me?” he asked.

W-well, yeah, but…how in the world did he know about that?!

Recovering from my initial shock, I looked away sheepishly and nodded my head. Kokai’s smiled widened ever so slightly and nodded. “Alright, then. If that’s the case, I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”

Deerling and Goomy stared at Kokai for a few more seconds before deciding to drop the earlier conversation entirely. “Well…alright then. If you two are planning on spending time with each other, then we won’t hold you up,” Deerling said.

Kokai nodded at her. “Thanks, you two.”

“Yeah, of course. Come on, Goomy, let’s go,” Deerling said as her and Goomy started to leave. They quickly said their goodbyes to the two of us before completely leaving the school.

Once they were gone, I turned to Kokai with a confused expression on my face. Man, there’s so much about this Charmander that makes me so curious about him. I’ve never met anyone like him before. I wonder if talking with him is really going to give me any insight as to who he is…

“…It’s not polite to stare, you know.”

“…?!”

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Kokai, who had noticed that I was looking at him. “You know, you were struggling not to look at me during class today, either. Is there something about me you find interesting?” he asked.

Eep! He noticed me looking at him during class, too?!

I couldn’t help but let out a small blush as I looked away and tried to collect myself. When I finally managed to, I looked at him with a slightly furrowed brow and frowned. This was apparently enough for him to get the message.

“Alright, alright, I’m done with the teasing…” for now.

“H-hmph!”

I gave him a glare started walking off on my own, expecting him to follow behind me.

Kokai watched me walk down the slope, then sighed to himself before looking down with a pained expression on his face.

“…”

“…Kokai?”

“…Huh?”

I ran back to where he was when I noticed that he was still there. Then, in a concerned tone, asked if he was alright.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, then nodded.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Sorry for the holdup. Let’s get going,” he said.

I nodded and the two of us walked down the slope together to leave the school.