#i hope that one is at least more tame. though im sure its still somehow connected to everything else which im p sure it is
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Hello journal, nice to meet you!
It's been about a week since I woke up here
I’ve decided to start writing in this journal to help me keep track of events and the timeline of what my life is now... I hope moms okay I wonder if she's worried not like I really reached out much. I’m not sure what month or year it is here and I lost track of time a lot back home. It’s been tough compared to my old life of wallowing alone but I already feel better I always thought I was more of a feral human it seems I was right the sky’s orange here which doesn't make sense since the sun’s still yellow but its kind of relaxing, my tinnitus is gone too although im not sure why. I think this world is going to be better for me in the long run
Here's everything different I've found about this world::
The sun is still yellow but the sky is a pale orange, the night sky is still mostly black but you can really see everything, it’s beautiful. There are new constellations to mark and it seems there's a north star here too, at least I assume its north I really have no way to know it seems there are no other humans here so I dont have to worry about my directions being wrong to others atleast
It is barren of cities, it's nice but off-putting sometimes once you’ve lived around thousands of faces every day it's hard to come to terms with the fact that everything you know is gone I haven’t wondered too far from my cave after the first day here I hope there's something sentient here or I might not be sane forever
Vegetation is largely the same, the leaves are a little different and the fruits tend to be sweeter but nothing huge.
Most of the same animals are here too although I've seen some new species im not sure what to make of them. Some are horrifying and probably lethal…
I’ve also found slimes are here and quite easily tamed they are very in tune with predators and have helped me stay alive so far all I need to do is give them food and they seem to be fine living in my cave
The trees are thick but there are some random patches of empty land, I’ve been worried to step there it might be some kind of trap door spider or worse, the sticks and rocks I've tossed yielded nothing but im not risking my life this early in
The air is so fresh, and everything about me has sped up to some degree it might be the survival instincts in me or the fact you can smell everything so strongly I wonder how these plants survive in such fresh carbonless air, I can't complain myself though
Magic is here, real magic the stuff I've dreamt of since I was a kid and it’s ridiculously intuitive like I was built for it or rather it was built for me. That's how I created this book and this paper, I wonder if I could print images too
Overall this seems like the ideal world for me I just wish it was the one I was born in, boredom's harder to fight I dont even have books to read
:
Today I managed to hunt some kind of boar and thanks to magic starting a fire was easy, the 2 slimes (I haven't named them yet) ate most of the bones which was a shock, they don't digest things normally my best guess is they immediately break down everything inside them and store it somehow.
Tomorrow I think I’m going to start mapping the area out I’m sure there's some way to measure distance with magic for an accurate map hopefully I can draw with spells too or it'll be messy
Plans for the map:
Scout around the forest as much as I can until afternoon maybe I could try wind magic to fly up and get a better view
I’ll mark everything down as I go
To whoever may find this -Nanesuma
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Once a Leader, Always a Leader
FanFiction: Sweet Home
Chapter 2 - ESCAPE
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13825734/2/
She was fed up by the military. The only thing they did was boss her around. Just like he used to do.
Lee Eun-Yu immediately saddened at the thought of her brother.
I need to escape. I don't feel safe at all. I have no idea where Cha Hyun-Su is... where Eun-Hyeok is.
She knew that her chances to survive out there are low. She didn't know how to fight, let alone properly run because of her ankle. But she didn't want to survive alone. She wants to at least try.
Eun-Yu always encouraged others in a very mean way, especially Eun-Hyeok, to be active and not just sit around. However, she didn't feel that brave and despite her desire to leave, she didn't think that she'd be capable of leaving a military base. The bunch that was rescued from Green Home was kept together for some time now because they were cut off by monsters. So, they were basically stuck, hoping that the army would be able to fight them off or to get help from somewhere else.
One late evening, Eun-Yu was sitting on her bunkbed, watching Son Hye-In who was petting her dog nervously.
"What's with you?" Eun-Yu couldn't hold it for her anymore. Hye-In sent her an awful look and said angrily: "Don't you see him? He's all worked up. Something is wrong!"
"Nonsen-"
Eun-Yu was interrupted by a deafening sound of the alarm going off. It took only seconds before everything turned into chaos. Lee Joon-Woo suddenly appeared at their door with a horrified expresion on his face.
"The monsters got in! They are killing everyone, fuck. I saw one in the corridor! We gotta hide!" he hollared but the moment he finished his sentence, something grabbed him by his back and threw him on the other side of the hallway.
Hye-In's dog began to bark loudly at the threat.
"Shut him up! Jesus!" Eun-Yu snapped, "I am outta here!"
Eun-Yu rose to her feet and tried to sneak out of the room. "Wait for me!" Hye-In whispered loudly and followed the girl quickly, not wanting to be left behind.
Gun shots were echoing through the building as the two women crept throught the hallway, trying to be as silent as possible. They had to pass the now dead corpse of Lee Joon-Woo which made Hye-In give out a weak whimper.
Eun-Yu tried to look around the corner to see what's ahead but that was a grave mistake since a monster just looked that away and started charging into her direction.
Cold sweat was dripping down her forehead as she started backing away.
"What?! What's there?" Hye-In cried out as she saw Eun-Yu's frozen expression while she was walking backwards slowly.
I have no weapon. My leg won't work. I am dead.
Hye-In wanted to follow Eun-Yu in her retreat but was stopped by a sudden appearance of a large figure. It didn't look like a monster nor a human, though. Hye-In wanted to shriek out but the moment, Eun-Yu bumped into it with her back, she stayed silent.
Eun-Yu's heartbeat rose, not only because she noticed the thing's claws on her shoulder, but also because the monster from before had caught up and was now standing in front of them.
Now did Hye-In give a proper scream out of her lungs, trying to run away pass the new creature that appeared but before she was able to escape, a firm grasp on her arm pulled her next to Eun-Yu. They both were let go, though, as the newcomer walked around them and fiercly attacked the monster that had multiple arms and very capable, strong legs. Overall, the monster seemed more likely to win. The other creature didn't seem fazed by the monster's dangerous looks, though, and the only thing he did was to give out a horrendously monstrous roar that made Eun-Yu and Hye-Im cover their ears while Bom, the dog, hid behind Hye-In.
Then it just stopped and with it, everything else went quiet. Even the shooting. And the multiarmed monster was lying on the ground, almost as if it was kneeling while shaking heavily.
With that, the tall human looking creature bend over to grab the monsters neck and smashed it against the wall, creating a huge crack in it.
Eun-Yu wasn't sure what the creature had done to it, but the monster seem to shrink slowly and then just fell apart. Hye-In found Eun-Yu's hand and tightly squeezed it.
The creature in front of them didn't turn back, as if it was hesitating.
"Who the hell are you?!" Eun-Yu's attitude made its way onto the surface yet again which made Hye-In squeeze her hand even tigher and gave her a panicked look. Eun-Yu shook her off, though, and walked closer to the tall 'creature'.
"What? Why did you save us? What's your deal?!" she cried out again angrily but was taken aback by a familiar chuckle.
"I am sorry I lied," he said sadly, still not turning around. Eun-Yu's eyes burned from the tears cummulating at once. No way.
"You bastard!" she cried out and started pounding into his back which made Hye-In yell out in surprise and also fear and run to tear Eun-Yu away.
Now, he turned around, looking down at Eun-Yu with compassion, trying to touch her shoulder again but Eun-Yu shook him and Hye-In off.
"Don't you touch me! Neither or you. Fuck," she screamed at them and wiped away her tears from the cheeks.
Hye-In finally looked up and after watching his face for a bit, she understood, too: "Lee Eun-Hyeok?"
He only nodded, keeping his well-known calm face which was now decorated by silver cold irises.
"How are you like this? You don't look like-" Hye-In began but her dog's unstoppable barking interrupted her, so she picked him up and continued: "You don't look like them..."
"Yeah, I know. What about we talk some more after we're somewhere else?"
"Leave the army?" Hye-In wondered.
"You can stay, if you want. But I can protect you better as it seems. And I also want to find Cha Hyun-Su in the meantime."
Eun-Yu raised her head at Cha Hyun-Su's mention and swallowed her tears. "You want to find him?"
His eyes landed on his sister as he nodded: "Of course, he always helped us out. He has to feel lonely now. I don't want that for him."
"Uhuh. The children are here somewhere...," Eun-Yu said, "Yoon Ji-Su probably, too..."
"What about Seo Yi-Kyung?" Eun-Hyeok asked as he was looking around.
"She stayed outside. She didn't come with us here," Hye-In informed him, receiving a small nod from him.
"Alright, let's go when the monsters are still tamed," he said and started walking away from them. The two women hurried to catch up.
"How did you do it? Tame them?" Hye-In wondered.
"Hm, it's just a thing I can do. Don't ask me why."
They walked along the hallway when suddenly Eun-Hyeok stopped.
"What?" Eun-Yu asked angrily as she almost bumped into him again.
"I think they are here somewhere," Eun-Hyeok said quietly and looked right to the damaged cabinet standing on the floor.
"Su-Yeong? Yeong-Su? Are you in there?" he bend himself down and almost wanted to open the cabinet, however the sight of his own fingers stopped him and turned back to his sister.
"Could you? I don't want to frighten them," he said quietly and stepped back.
Eun-Yu gave him a long look, finally taking in everything that was different. Somehow not wearing his glasses made him seem even more emotionally distanced than before. And I thought it's the glasses. His features in the face didn't change that much, not at least in comparison to his body which was just generally bigger and then of course, the clawed hands were something of an eyecatcher.
And when talking about an eye, his silvery eyes kept staring at her patiently which made her nervous a bit.
The cabinet door opened itself, though, and a small head popped out.
"Eun-Yu?" Su-Yeong said in a weak voice, holding onto her younger brother whose eyes were swollen up.
Eun-Yu sat down on her haunches and smiled at the children. "We're here to take you somewhere safe, okay? You remember my brother, right?" she gestured to her left.
"What happened to Oppa?" Su-Yeong asked carefully.
"Nothing much, just a change of style, come on out."
The children slowly got out of the cabinet and looked around.
"Where is Ji-Su? She told us to hide and then run away," Yeong-Su asked.
"We should look for her," Eun-Hyeok said and looked down at the kids.
"Hey," he said and lowered himself to be at the same height level as them, "I know I look a bit weird now but you'll forgive me that, right?"
The siblings looked at each other and the older sister nodded.
"Great, thank you. And just for moving faster, would you mind if I carried you so we can find Ji-Su as soon as possible?"
Yeong-Su replied with stretching out his arms towards Eun-Hyeok which made him smile.
"I am sorry, I got myself these ugly fingers, I hope it's alright," he said, his voice cracking a bit as he lifted the children, one locked in each arm.
Eun-Yun watched her brother how he carefully held the children so he wouldn't harm them with his claws and quickly looked to the side, trying to hide her glassy eyes. He went through such a change alone.
They walked around for a while, encountering a few monsters that have crouched away when Eun-Hyeok walked passed them. Both and Eun-Yun and Hye-In watched the monsters' reactions in awe.
"If he only turned earlier," Hye-In commented, remembering the lives they have lost. Eun-Hyeok stopped and turned around and looked straight at Hye-In, visibly sighing. He understood, him losing his humanity could've saved many lives. But it's too late to fix it.
Hye-In interpreted his reaction negatively and rose her hand in defense: "I didn't mean to off-"
"No, you are right, it's fine," he interrupted her and nodded to the metalic door in front of them, "I think she's in there."
"How do you know?" his sister asked suspiciously.
"Well, with those pretty eyes came also upgraded ears and my nose picks up specific smells, too. And I smell puss."
"Ew," Eun-Yu furrowed her brows at Eun-Hyeok who gave her an innocent smile in return.
"Kids, you stay here," he said and lowered himself so he could put them down.
"What are you going to do?" Su-Yeong asked anxiously.
"I'll go get her," he answered and smiled at them. His sister was faster, though, and was already trying to open the door.
"It's locked," she said angrily.
"Eun-Yu," her brother said calmly, "you shouldn't be this rash. She's not alone in there, the soldiers are with her. If you opened the door, they could've had killed you."
"Why would they shoot me, I am not a monster!" she said but immediately regreted her words. He is a monster now, too.
"Yeah, I know. But they are afriad. They won't probably act reasonably," he said and laid his hand on the door.
"We are here in peace, we just want to take Ji-Su. Are you there, Ji-Su? It's me, Eun-Hyeok," he said loudly and turned his ear to the door, waiting for a response.
"Why aren't they answering?" Hye-In asked nervously. Eun-Hyeok turned to her and shrugged. "They all seem to be tense."
"Alright, I'm going in, so please, save yourself the bullets," Eun-Hyeok informed them and looked at his sister, "you all go away from the door. They'll definitely be shooting."
"No, don't go! They'll kill you!" Yeong-Su ran to his calf and hugged it.
"Don't worry, I'll make it. And I'll bring Ji-Su, too."
Eun-Yu started at her brother who gently pushed the boy away from him and then continued to the metalic door. He slid his hand on it up and down, as if trying out the material and in a swift movement of his hand, he made its way through it. The shooting, of course, began as soon as he dug his sharp claws through it and the bullet shower continued as he ripped the door out of the frame, using it now as a shield against the bullets.
Eun-Hyeok didn't bother to say anything. He knew what the fear could do and he also knew how he had to look like to them. He focused only on the smell now - the heavy smell of puss.
How could've they leave it like that? She has to have it infected for days.
He located her promptly and looked to his right. They were holding her, covering her mouth so she couldn't have yelled out when he first tried to talk to her. With a few unnaturally fast and strong jumps, he was standing in front of the two soldiers who have been holding her down, not minding the wound they were opening with it.
"I'll be taking her off of your hands now," Eun-Hyeok said as politely as he could but still was hit by multiple bullets in his back. He couldn't help himself but to let out an animalistic grunt that made everyone feel more uneasy.
"Ji-Su," he said softly as she watched him with teary eyes, "God, look guys, I really-" a headshot stopped him from talking. He fell forward onto his door-shield, swearing: "Fuck," as he spit out the bullet that came into his head from behind.
Ji-Su started jerking around with her body, making it harder for the soliders to hold her down.
"Okay, okay," Eun-Hyeok rose to his feet again and grabbed each soilder by their arm, throwing them aside as if they were teddy-bears. Quickly, he pushed his hands beneath Ji-Su and lifted her up as she watched him in silence but her eyes were asking all the questions for her.
"Yeah, I know," he said and pulled her closer to his chest as he prepared to jump his way out of this storage room. A few bullets hit his back but otherwise nothing serious.
He met his sister's eyes who couldn't hide her worrisome look.
"We should probably head out," he said and balanced Ji-Su on his right arm as he dug his claws into a tall metalic cabinet, throwing it in front of the door frame.
"Could you carry the boy?" he turned to his sister who was still staring at the cabinet that he threw with ease at the door frame. She only nodded and automatically picked Yeong-Su.
They all headed to the garages where they found a big black van into which they all climbed in after Hye-In found the keys in a cupboard in a CCTV room.
Eun-Hyeok laid Ji-Su in the back and uncovered her wound. "Don't they have here some medicine? Or alcohol at least?" he asked.
"They told us that they have almost nothing left," Ji-Su said weakly.
"Yeah, we were supposed to be here only temporary. But the monsters were all around, we couldn't get out safely," Hye-Inn explained.
"Hm, I will have to get something for this later, then. Could you drive?" he asked the woman who was still holding tightly onto the dog.
"Me?" she said in shock, "why me?"
"Well, my sister is probably worse at driving than me, Ji-Su isn't feeling the best... and as you said before, there's a lot of monsters out there. I should be on the outside, taking care of them."
"Can't you just do the creepy scream?" Eun-Yu asked.
"That's what I am planning. But it won't reach that far. I'd have to scream all the way."
"Why don't you?"
"Try screaming for 5 minutes yourself, Eun-Yu," he said and stepped out of the car, about to close the door.
Eun-Yu quickly grabbed his wrist, looking up into his eyes. "Are you sure you can fight them alone?"
He smiled at her and put his other hand on hers. "I have to try, you guys can't fight them."
She looked away but didn't let go of his wrist.
"Please, don't leave like last time. Be creepy as you want. Just don't leave," she said quietly, surprising Eun-Hyeok with her honesty and nodded.
"I'll do everything to survive. As I did until now," he said, slipping out of her grip and closing the door. He opened the garage door. It was suspiciously quiet. He looked back at the car and sent them a smile, heading out first.
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Whisper Just For Me Ch. 15: Reunion
This chapter is SFW! This chapter is also available mirrored on my AO3.
Just having someone back in your presence doesn't always mean they're really there, especially when that someone is a ghost. How much of Dave is with you, and how much of him was affected by your time apart? Is it really a reunion when only one person is aware of the reuniting?
Your dreams were empty. You were holding out hope that Dave would visit you, would talk with you, would get rid of the lingering worry that clung to your mind like a sticky veil of spiderwebs. Instead you got repeats of different scenarios you've had in the past, strange distortions of shadow and light, a strange sequence of trying to buy a set of pants from a food stall only to find they didn't have your size, and your father trying to pass off one of his finest hats to you after it had been coated in peanut butter, blending the symbolic niceties of adulthood and achievement with a death threat. If you believed in omens it probably would have meant a lot. Good thing you don't believe in it without a gut feeling and the only feelings it gave you were confusion and a stomach ache.
You woke with your hand instinctively curled around the pendant as if trying to keep it warm, despite the material being plenty warm in your hand already, a reminder of who dwelled within it. Good, he was making some reactions now aside from just a loose sensation of presence.
“...Dave?” you said quietly, a sleepy murmur. “Dave, can you hear me in there?”
Silence.
“...Dave, I'm so sorry for what happened. If I was even remotely aware anything like that was going to happen I'd have done everything different somehow. I'm just glad we got there in time.”
More silence, but the warmth in your hand didn't diminish. Dave was definitely still in there. Maybe he was sleeping in too.
Your phone let out a few familiar tones to signal you had messages coming in, rapid fire texts that had you wondering just how many people were texting you at once till you could get at it and turn the screen on with a press of the button along the side. ...Huh. Okay, five texts in a row from a number you were sleepy enough to not recognize as Rose's for a moment.. No, six, your phone chimed again in your palm to try making you scroll down. Okay, maybe you wouldn't have recognized it was from Rose's number right away anyway, this was definitely not her normal way of texting.
TT: hey when you get this cn u like txt me back asap
TT: *can
TT: its roxy rose said i should hit u up again to like
TT: check in and shit about what happened
TT: srry for treating u like u two were gonna rob me blind but 2 be fair u were acting creepy
TT: is that ghost thing okay btw or is that not a gr8 thing to ask
Another few chimes as you were trying to formulate how to even reply, which left you marveling at the speed with which she could text. Was he okay? He still wasn't talking or glowing or.. much of anything beyond keeping the pendant warm. He wouldn't do that if he was sick right? ...Wait, do ghosts even get sick? What was the right word for this. Exhaustion? Strained? It couldn't last forever, he'd be back to normal soon surely.
TT: srry not ghost thing i guess i mean dave
TT: rose filled me in a bit but it still dsnt make much sense
TT: guess it makes more sense than me goin crzy tho
TT: *crazy lol
Yeah, no shit. Even this deep in everything there were times you worried you were just actually crazy and none of this unbelievable mess was real at all. Rubbing sleep from your eyes, you pushed yourself to sit upright in bed, put on your glasses, and started to slowly type out a reply with your pointer finger.
EB: hey, yeah, i'm here. sorry, i just woke up.
TT: o shit my bad lol
EB: no, it's no problem. thanks for getting in contact though. and sorry for uh.
EB: you know.
EB: barging into your apartment and alerting you to the whole concept of ghosts i guess?
TT: like i said dont worry abt it
TT: im just glad everythins back to normal in here
TT: I hadnt realized just how weird the place felt till now
TT: muties finally able to chillax again
EB: i'm still kind of amazed you believed us at all, but if you'd been feeling things for a while then i guess that would all just kind of line up, huh.
TT: just another day in the bullshit mines
TT: rose talks about stuff like this a lot but i kinda never rlly believed her
TT: hindsight 2020 foot does not taste gr8
You grinned at your phone and let the screen go dim once more before stuffing it into the pocket of some sweatpants you then wrangled on. Might as well not delay the inevitable and just get up. It took a few more tries than usual to get up, fatigue weighing heavy in your bones, but get up you eventually did to shuffle to the kitchen. A banana wound up in your other pocket, keeping your hands free for motoring around to thump down on the sofa. Jade perked up soon as you went down, shuffling her legs to get your weight off her feet and poking a head full of sleep wild hair out from underneath the throw.
“...S'it morning..?”
“Yeah. Or later, I didn't look at the time,” you admit, pulling your phone out of your pocket to peek as the banana was yanked out in a dual wielding motion. You bit the standing end of the banana and tipped it sideways till the peel cracked, making it easier to open one handed. Wisely, you waited till you had a bit mouth full of fruit to try talking more. “Closer to noon it look like. Oh, and Roxy wrote.”
“How'd she get your number?” Jade asked. She crawled to the floor to get at her purse, rummaging around for a brush to start taming the mass down enough to apply some strategically placed hair ties.
“Oh, no, she was writing from Rose's phone. I guess they met up today in one way or another? She said everything feels better at her place so.. I guess that at least shows Dave didn't dislodge somehow or anything.”
“Has he.. y'know. Said anything?”
You frowned and took another bite of banana, then another till it was gone, delaying as if the extra few seconds stalled would somehow give Dave enough incentive to interact again. No such luck.
“No. Nothing.. Oh! But the pendant's warm! He's definitely in there, just..”
Just what. Just tired? Just ghost broken? Did ghosts get sick? You sank down further in the sofa and let your leg slide further along the floor with a heavy sigh. This sucked. This really, really sucked.
“...I wish I knew enough about what was happening to fix it.”
“We could always ask Rose if you want. She seems to have good ideas on this stuff, maybe she'd understand what was happening,” said Jade, opening up a compact mirror to check and see if the low segmented pigtails were a good look that day. Verdict was a resounding yes from the way she snapped it shut with a happy grin and dropped the supplies back into the bag. “Or we can just wait and see what he does next on his own.”
“You make me sound like a helicopter parent when you put things like that, Jade.”
“Helicopter boyfriend.”
“Helicopter whatever! Same thing!”
“I mean-”
“You know that's not what I meant,” you frowned. “I just want to do what's best by him. I'm kind of responsible for him now, and I already fucked that up in a big way. Getting him back's like a second chance, but I can't do the second chance right from the very beginning if something's wrong.”
“Then call Rose,” shrugged Jade as she got up from the floor and sauntered off to pilfer breakfast from your fridge.
“Yeah but what if that just makes it worse somehow, what if we're supposed to wait for something to happen!”
“John either call her, let me call her, or shut up and relax! Holy shit, it's not the world ending, it's either getting more potential information from a verified source of accurate information, or making our own estimations based on study and other information sources. It's as if you've never heard of a reasonable hypothesis before,” she grumbled, then disappeared around the corner.
You frowned the way she went.
“You could've at least taken my banana peel with you!”
“Fuck your banana peel, you've got a leg and two arms that aren't broken!”
You immediately stuck your tongue out in her direction, already knowing she couldn't see it, but hoping she could feel your rankle even through the wall. Heaving another sigh, reveling in the dramatic for a moment, you turn your attention to your phone once more. It hadn't pinged again to signal an incoming flurry from Roxy, so you assumed it'd be safe to call Rose now. Jade was right. She'd probably know what to do.
The phone rang several times before you heard the familiar voice on the other line and smiled.
“Hello?”
“Rose?”
“Obviously.”
“Yeah. So. ..Uh.” Come on, spit it out, what if this was time sensitive or something? “Dave's home now... I think. But he's not talking or anything. No dream visits, no lights, no interacting with anything. The most he's done is warm the pendant up,” you start to explain. “I'm worried he's. I don't know. Sick? Exhausted? What happens now, how can I help fix him? I finally got him home but I can't even talk to him.”
Everything had started as a trickle before finishing in a rush of stress balled up into English and launched out of your mouth like cannon fire. You held your breath, listening closely for a response.
“Well.”
….Well that wasn't what you were hoping for. It takes effort to remain quiet and wait instead of pointing that out and being sarcastic. Stress sarcasm didn't tend to do the best things.
“I think he likely just needs rest. Roxy already caught me up to everything that happened prior to and just after him leaving. It's possible he just expended way too much energy while apart from you and needs to rest now. Perhaps even sap energy from his surroundings.”
You frowned and furrowed your brow in thought. It had felt harder to get out of bed today, but was that Dave already sapping from you, or was it just the reality of getting around on crutches for too long at a stretch?
“Is there anything I can do to help though? I mean. I guess if he's going to be doing that draining thing while this tired, is there anything I can do to make it easier for him to do it?”
You heard Rose sigh and the creak of whatever seat she was in.
“Hm. Well, not exactly anything you can DO. Not strictly speaking at least. You can make yourself more open to him, perhaps. Leave yourself like an open door, let him get at you easier. Keep him in range obviously. Make sure you eat and sleep often enough, perhaps rest up and take things a little easier. Be the reserve battery.”
You wet your lips and nodded, though obviously Rose couldn't see you. You hoped she'd get the feeling you nodded anyway.
“Is there any way I'll be able to tell when he's back to normal?”
“When he's back to scattering papers and bothering you, most likely,” Rose said, the soft sound of a chuckle flavoring her words. “But I think he'll make himself known when he's able to. The way you've talked about him makes it seem like he's probably just as excited to talk to you as you are to talk to him.”
It was a comforting though. Another few nods you hoped Rose was able to detect happened as you tried to collect the rest of your thoughts.
“When should I try telling him about the things Jade and I learned? About.. y'know, about his everything. His history and stuff.”
Rose was quiet for a moment. You could almost picture her biting her lip, pale teeth on black lipstick that somehow never seemed to smudge or get spotty.
“I'd recommend keeping your mouth shut about much of that until he's for certain stronger. It's hard to gauge his specific reaction, but the last thing you'd want to have happen is for the information to make him decide to go and then be unable to leave due to not having enough power.”
“So.. I just need to be a good battery and wait for him, and then get to the nitty gritty when he's all recovered and back to obnoxiously normal.”
“That's the gist of it, yes. Keep him close and in contact. Think of it as spoon feeding someone overtaken by illness while they recover.”
“I'm already recovering, I think I can handle a bit more of the resting. Hah, might make Jade happy to finally get off my feet and just take it easy for a while longer.”
She chuckled. “No doubt. I'd be interested to hear about your progress as things continue, actually. Will you be tracking things as you were before? That data is extremely useful to have on hand, it gives good insight on whether things that feel like they should work are actually beneficial. Who knows who might else wind up in a similar situation someday with a spirit and need to tend it before it can properly move on?”
“You make it sound like opening a ghost infirmary or rehabilitation place is an option, Rose.”
Another soft sound from the other end of the phone and far too long of a pause spanned silence till you laughed, awkward. “Rose. I was kidding.”
“Yes. Kidding. Still an intriguing idea. I wonder if spiritual rehabilitation could work in the case of negative spirits as we-”
“Rose, I'm gonna have to let you go for now,” you interrupted. “I'm sorry. I'll call back later on with updates, okay?”
“Have Jade call me later, if you could?”
“About Dave?”
“No, to make dinner plans. I think her phone may be drained, it just goes straight to voice mail.”
That wasn't like her. Maybe she turned it off instead of it dying. Either way, you nod and make a sound of confirmation just in case Rose wasn't psychic enough to understand just how earnestly you'd been nodding this entire time you'd been conversing.
“Sure thing. Thanks again, Rose. And uh.. Rose?”
“Yes?”
“...Could you tell Roxy to send me a bill for what all she'd need to get her laptop running again? I feel like it'd probably be better if I paid or helped pay for a good chunk of that. Even if it was an accident, just. ..Yeah.”
It was kind of the least you could do, considering someone innocent got caught in some pretty serious crossfire. Things could have easily given way to a fire, taken out the entire apartment building or gotten others killed.
“I'm sure she'll appreciate it. Between that and her phone, I think her run of bad luck took a bit more out of her than she'd be willing to admit. I'll just pass her your email address and she'll forward something.” A soft chuckle. “If she doesn't, then I'll figure it out and send the information your way instead.”
“Perfect. Thank you again, Rose.”
You hung up as Jade was coming back in with a bowl of cereal loaded to the brim, sipping milk from the edge where it precariously sat just waiting to spill all over the floor. She cast a green eyed glance your way to be sure she wouldn't squash anything before sitting down beside you on the sofa to crunch away. Apparently the back and forth sassing hadn't left any lingering bad tastes in her mouth towards you, at least judging by how close and comfortable she sat.
There was no mystery involved if Jade Harley was angry with you. You were very, very well aware.
“Rose said to treat myself like a good little battery and just wait on him to make the most of it. Give her updates.. and she wants you to call for dinner plans? Your phone's apparently off.”
Jade swallowed sideways and nearly choked on her cereal.
“What? Fuck. I forgot I did that. Right, don't worry about it, I'll call her soon as I finish this. ...But that's it, huh?”
“Apparently so. Take it easy, eat and sleep plenty, keep him close. I wonder if talking to him helps even if he can't respond yet. Would he be able to hear?”
“If he's awake he'll hear. Maybe he's just not strong enough to respond and he's actually wide awake worrying? Talking is a good idea.”
“Great, more excuses to talk to myself in public, exactly what I want.”
“Truly, you lead a charmed life,” she said with a grandiose gesture of her spoon before popping more cereal into her face. The mood seemed reset now that your obligations were complete. You had solved the mystery of how Dave died, of his origins. You'd gotten Dave back, though you weren't quite able to celebrate freely yet. You were going to repair damage done and set some debts right before they could become an issue. You had ideas on how to help fix things in a lot of ways.
All you needed was patience.
...Fuck does patience suck sometimes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You'd spent nearly two weeks being the best battery you were able to be. You ate plenty of decent food, took naps whenever you could, and otherwise gave yourself as much physical rest as you were able to on the sofa when not busy. The entire time you were also murmuring to yourself, talking softly towards the pendant you couldn't help but keep touching, narrating your life and your thoughts to a sleeping spirit that you were guarding. The stone remained comfortingly warm as a hand you could hold in your time alone, and a few times you swore you could feel a soft pulse of a presence coming from it. There had been no speaking however. No dreams being visited.
The paranoid part of your brain was worried enough that it started to offer up all kinds of awful scenarios that were possibly coming true, despite having clear evidence to the contrary that anything was going wrong. Dave was quiet, but he was there. You knew he was there. ...You just wished he'd react more than a pulse or warmth.
Dave granted your wish one night. While you worked on your laptop in bed, fucking around on a forum in one window, talking with friends in another, and doing a little research into some new devices for spirit communication that were making the rounds in the online sources, you failed to notice the slender trail of red light leaving the pendant. You also failed to notice the red ball form, only realizing something was up when the corner of your eye caught the red haze starting to take a different shape.
“Wh-. Dave?!”
Fumbling with your laptop, you sat bolt upright in bed and glanced down to the pendant before back towards the apparition that was struggling to form something specific. Humanoid was a good start, but it seemed like he was struggling a bit to settle on a specific shape for very long, unable to make up his mind.
“It's okay, you can stay an orb if you want! There's no rush!” you hurry to say, though he doesn't appear to acknowledge you. The red light strains and struggles, forming Dave's face before flickering and distorting grotesquely enough that you're taken aback. He keeps coming back to his own face, but between flashes of it are things you don't recognize. Monstrous half formed things, faces that belong to people you've never met, and even several times faces you recognized. You could have sworn you saw Jade in there a few times, and Roxy. You saw your own face once or twice before it ripped itself apart to bone and reformed as malleable as clay in the vapor.
“...Dave?” you whisper. It's the face of Dave's brother that glances at you sharp as broken glass, mouth set in a thin line as his outer edges twitched and spasmed, only to once more break apart at the seams. He looked like he was melting, and it took effort not to panic. Something was definitely wrong, it was obvious to see, but WHAT was wrong. What specifically was wrong? What could even be done about it? You wet your lips and tried to think clearly as you could.
Be open. Be a good battery. Dave had gone through a lot of strain before coming home, maybe this reforming problem was linked to that? It had to take a lot of power to form a specific shape as opposed to just forming out of habit. You were trying to think of any reasonable explanation you could, despite the taste of bile rising in the back of your throat.
“Dave,” you try again, keeping his attention this time. Maybe just act like business as usual? “I missed you so much. I'm sorry this happened, but.. you're here now! You're home! And I'm recovering, and everything can go back to normal now.”
A frown lit on Dave's ever changing face, but he seemed to be starting to decide on the features you were by now familiar with. His eyes were the things that stayed in place the most, barely there hints of lashes pale on a fairly normal shaped face. At least it wasn't splitting apart at the seams anymore.. His mouth still looked too big, too sharp, too inhuman, but it was progress. You gestured with your arms wide as if expecting a hug at any time to come your way, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, you'd get it to happen if you wished enough.
“I know things haven't been easy. And.. I understand if you're mad. Or scared. Or-”
Something was wrong. Words died on your lips as, finally, Dave's features went into the right order and appeared to hold steady yet the look in his eyes didn't change in the slightest. He looked at you as if looking through you, taking in the room as a whole as if he'd never seen it before in his life. If he was strong enough to form, why wasn't he talking to you at all? Or reaching for you?
“...Dave,” you try again, moving so your legs were over the edge of your mattress and one hand was reaching for your crutches. “Dave. Say something. Anything. Or.. uh. Knock something over. I'm listening close as I can for you, I promise, but I'm not hearing anything. Am I just not trying hard enough or are you just not talking for some reason?”
The spirit was glancing at his hands now, wispy trails of paleness caught in reddish mist that faded in and out of view between fully formed mass and smoke. Even with a fully open link, it still took a lot of energy to do that. You weren't surprised to hear the fan of your laptop suddenly kick into high gear behind you, cooling the inner workings down as it drew more power than usual from the wall. He didn't seem interested in talking, or in doing much at all. Compared to the spirit you were used to, how Dave was acting now just gave you the creeps. He hovered gently off the ground, face grim and expressionless as a doomed man, resolute and lost. A thousand yard stare at nothing at all.
This was Dave, but it was the least Dave-like Dave you thought you'd ever seen. And considering how much you'd learned about him so recently and all the time you'd spent together so far, you considered yourself a pretty damn good gauge of Dave-ness. An unaccounted for lack of Dave-ness with no guidance on what had caused it. Could you soft reset ghosts? Turn it off and on again till the appearance stuck right.
No, wait, that was a stupid idea. Focus, John. You shook your head hard to clear the thought from your head to focus on the other thoughts instead, the ones that felt instinctively like they might help. After all, you'd shared a body before, two minds in one form. You'd had his voice in your head, in your ear, in your heart. Maybe he just needed that..? Needed a touch, a push, a rekindling to remember properly after the traumatic time apart like someone might take their shoes off and flop on a sofa to make a place feel like home again after a return from a too long vacation. You picked up a single crutch and forced yourself upright to your feet, leaning your weight to keep balanced before taking a lumbering step forward, one hand out beseechingly.
“Dave. Come here for a second.”
He stared at you, through you again, then went back to looking at his hands as if they were foreign objects. Maybe they were. The thought chilled your blood, but you lumbered forward another careful step, nearly touching him. It would be okay. It'd be fine. You could do this.
Dave flinched when your hand went through him as if he'd not realized just how close you were. ...Wait, had he felt that? The contact had been chilly, vaguely electric, but welcome. Familiar. Just needed to keep contact up for it to be warm, right?
“Come on.. Here. Remember when we were at the aquarium?” you asked, pausing to grin at him. “Would yoooou... want to try that again? No cars this time. It was kind of fun in hindsight. Scary but interesting to back seat in my own body?”
Were you offering casual possession to an Not-Very-Dave-Like Dave? Yes. Yes you were. It felt important, the closest thing to a hug you could manage when all you craved was contact with someone who couldn't do the literal contact thing very well. Dave stared vacantly, but didn't seem like he was going to dart away anywhere, or at least attempt to given the limitations of the place he was still tethered to. A thought of taming timid woodland creatures crossed your mind as you held your hand out in offer, patient, quiet, smiling.
“Come on. Come closer. I've really missed you, I can see you, you can see me. I can't hear you and I'm dying for a chat.”
More staring. ...Okay, you weren't a very patient man in hindsight, but the attempt was still happening.
“Dave. Come here,” you said again.
More staring.
Well. Now or never. Acting quickly, you moved your crutch forward and lunged for the spirit in his red haze as if you were trying to bear hug him, forcing yourself to think as openly as you could. Welcoming as an open door, trying to recreate anything you could from the aquarium as you went right through him and lurched uncoordinatedly straight into your dresser drawers. Another hard wobble as you rebounded too hard in a panic of over-correcting and started to go backwards, passing through Dave a second time directly before starting to head for the floor.
Though you hadn't been able to see it, the first pass through Dave's body had had a definite effect, a small spark of reaction, memory, something familiar. He'd watched your graceless fumble as well as your rebound without really reacting much beyond observation, too busy trying to organize his own slowly waking thoughts to go further.
...Was he home? Where was this? He'd been somewhere else, right? This felt different, it looked different, there was no pink everywhere, no cat.. It felt familiar. Looked familiar. So did the person falling.
Falling?
Fuck, falling.
You were wide eyed and nearly to the floor when the hand extended your direction, and without a second thought you reached up to grab it. Foolish really, trying to grab the hand of a ghost. There was nothing there to really grab, nothing to hold on to or to use to stop the inevitable crash to the ground, but what could you say? When falling the urge to grab a hand was instinctive. Your hand felt like it was numb with cold before it suddenly surged hot, heat racing up your arm and down your spine, making your head swim. You were aware you were changing position and of the world changing place around you, but kept bracing for the impact on the back of your head.
It never came.
You felt pressure on your elbows, forearms, and good knee instead. The brunt of the impact was taken in your healthy limbs, injured leg awkwardly elevated and hovering an inch or two above the ground before slowly lowering down.
...Wow. That was pretty cool! You'd never even thought of turning like that, it was kind of like a stunt man's moves or something out of a movie. Most importantly, however, you hadn't bashed the back of your head in like a total idiot who'd tried to hug a ghost! Just needed to get up then.
…
Just. Needed to get up.
…
Preferably with the moving and the getting up actions actually happening instead of just waiting. You tried again, but failed to move out of the weight bearing stance that had successfully broken your fall. Nothing felt heavy or really out of place. More like it felt like your joints were a glimpse of what life was like as the Tin Man after being left out in the rain too long, immobilized. You could feel your glasses starting to slide off your nose towards the ground but couldn't catch and readjust them. They slowly slipped bit by bit off your face before thumping to the ground, leaving your vision blurry and soft.
...John?
“Dave?”
Well, at least talking was happening. You were grateful your mouth could move, but the talking wasn't very soothing in the face of suddenly being an immobilized statue on the floor.
“Dave, did. ..Wait, Dave, you're talking now! Where are you at, I can hear you really clearly now!” you realized, voice raising in pitch a bit as the excitement built. Shit, it'd been way too long since you last heard his voice, you hadn't really realized how great it would be to hear him again.
JOHN
“Yes, I can hear you! Dave, come down where I can see you, I can't move, I can't see shit at all.”
...Wait.
“...Dave are you why I can't move. Where are you at. I can't see shit,” you repeated, “let me see where you are.”
John John John John John John John
“Dave, I'm happy to hear you too but like. Seriously, did you do this?” Had to be. In hindsight there was no way you'd be able to do a cool mid-movement flip like that to avoid damaging yourself in a fall. You were not nearly that coordinated. You felt warmth blossom in your chest and down your spine again, down either leg. You could wiggle your toes for a moment before the statue effect was in place once more.
JOHN JOHN JOHN JOHN JOHN JOHN JOHN HOME JOHN HOME SAFE JOHN HOME
“Dave. Dave. Let me stand up! I'm gonna get a cramp! Do whatever you were doing a second ago, I could kinda move for a moment there! You can talk and yell at me all you want but just. Can we go to the bed again? I don't want my leg to hurt.”
The excited thrumming focused in your chest like a steady bouncing, or like one of those wacky weasel toys that wiggled the ferret on the motorized ball in random directions. You could still hear his voice as if it were getting further and further away before realizing the warmth was focusing centrally before trying to expand outward to each limb at the same time. This was very different from the experience at the aquarium but.. it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. It was kind of comforting actually, especially once you started to realize where things were and could hone in on where Dave was. It had forced you to stop acting automatically and to instead focus inwards at an acute angle that got rid of the borders around your body and the world around you.
Once again, your body housed two hearts for even a brief moment and you couldn't quite explain just how complete it actually made you feel compared to normal. Not too full but comfortable. Safer. ...Were you missing something, to feel this way? Or was it just a sign of you having a better capacity to work with others?
Or was it just Dave?
The warmth ran all the way to your fingertips, coursing through your veins and muscles till you could feel your arms wobble and then go limp. You face planted solidly against your glasses, mashing your nose into the frames hard enough that for a second you were scared you'd break them, pushing back up onto your hands with a sharp gasp. Okay. There was the movement again, but the warmth wasn't dissipating. You could still feel it in your chest, bouncing from side to side and up and down, spinning in circles as your own name was chanted in your ears excitedly.
JOHN John John JOHN home safe homehomehomesafejohn JOHN SAFE HOME JOHN JOHN JOHNJOHNJOHN!
You pushed upright to sit flat on your ass and picked up your glasses, taking a moment to rub them clean with the bottom edge of your shirt before putting them back into place. The room returned to crisp, clear outlines and familiar shapes. The pendant was all but burning at your neck, and you realized your lips were curled into a smile that was broad enough it made your cheeks hurt. You were.. happy. Absolutely happy. Whatever had happened between you and Dave, it had fixed the problem before it truly could get started and restored the world to its rightful state of reunion. This was what you'd missed last night when your worry hung in your mind as tangible as spoiled milk.
“I missed you, Dave,” you whispered, and hugged yourself as tightly as you could. The warmth stopped bouncing around to hold perfectly still for a moment before surging into both of your arms. You realized you couldn't move them again, both hands locked firmly to your upper arms before they began to make rubbing motions, not quite numb but not quite usable. You may have hugged yourself, but you didn't exactly expect 'yourself' to hug you back.
“Could you feel that too, Dave? Is that why you're doing this?”
This was unexplored territory, and held plenty of implications you were sure, but in the moment you didn't give a fuck. That fulfilled sensation, the warmth, the foreign feeling of your own hands on your arms that steadily trailed up towards your throat and then your own face as if they were the hands of another? All of it was new and all of it was just memories for the making and taking. You were getting to hug Dave in a flesh and blood way, even if it were only for the moment, and nothing could ever take that away from you. Nobody could claim it was impossible.
... John..
Were you. ..Were you crying? You weren't crying, were you? You were. You could feel hot trails on your face that cooled quickly, and the warmth in your chest was soon joined by a clenching that released in a huffed sob. It was relief, you told yourself. The full relief of everything being okay and returning to normal, of nothing being wrong finally, of questions being answered and of that all but overwhelming sensation of not being alone anymore in your own skin.
Your right hand lifted to rub your nose as you snorted in an ungainly way to clear your nose. Your left hand, outside of your control, carefully rubbed some of the water from your eyes with its fingertips.
...Don't cry...
“Don't tell me what to do,” you snuffed. “I'll cry if I feel like it, do you have any idea how scared I was that you were gone forever? And then I get you back and you-! And. And you acted like you weren't really there even when you were in front of me and now everything's just. Everything's okay! Everything's okay now!”
...Still crying...
“Shut up and let me have this,” you mumbled. Though the one hand stayed near your face, the arm you were able to move went to hug tight around your rib cage again, trying to hold everything together in case it somehow fell apart or flew away to the breeze. “Let me have this.. Let me have you,” you murmured.
The tension in your chest lifted and the warmth returned to your limbs, trying to spread to all four at once before it ricocheted around your rib cage again and went straight to your head. You didn't mind the dizziness or the slight ring in your ears, so long as you got to hug it out just a little bit longer.
“Stay with me like this. Even just a while longer, Dave. ..Please.”
The warmth stayed, solid and still as stone. You had a feeling it wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon and were grateful. You'd tell the good news to everyone else soon enough. For the time being, though, this happiness was all yours.
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Now I’m Addicted
Chapter Eight
Normally, Clarke really looks forward to getting away to the beach for a weekend, just her and Wells. This year, the thought makes her queasy.
Clarke had been partly relieved to move make home with Wells. Living in a hotel had kind of sucked, and living alone was even worse. She still doesn’t know if she made the right decision. But she promised him she’d try, so she’s going to try.
And yes, it’s Bellamy she really wants, and not Wells. But she can’t have Bellamy. Bellamy doesn’t want her, and Wells does. So maybe she’s settling for second best, but it’s better than being alone for the rest of her life.
Despite her best intentions, and the fact that she really is trying, she’s not ready to go away with Wells alone. She’s worried the trip will just magnify all the holes in their relationship, before they’ve had a chance to really fix them. She doesn’t want to cancel the trip completely, so she suggests inviting a few other people to join them. Wells agrees surprisingly easily. Actually, he’s been very accommodating the past couple of weeks, almost like he’s walking on eggshells around her, afraid she’ll up and run again. But the truth is he doesn’t really have anything to worry about. Now that Clarke knows she has no shot with Bellamy, she has no reason to leave him. She wishes there was some way to prove that to him, so they can get start getting back to normal.
The beach house is huge, and Clarke thinks it’s probably worth a hell of a lot of money if Wells ever decides to sell it. Thelonius Jaha had left most of his money to charity when he died, but he left Wells the beach house. Not to sound selfish, but if Clarke’s mom does that, she’s going to be super pissed.
Clarke invites Octavia and Raven, and they both decide they’re bringing their partners. Monty and Harper can’t make it, and Jasper and Miller don’t want to hang around a bunch of couples for the whole weekend. So Clarke figures it’s going to be six people in the five bedroom house, with each couple getting their own bathroom. She’s actually looking forward to it.
But then she gets a call from Bellamy. She’s on the train home from work, and she almost drops her phone when she sees his name pop up. She dithers for a moment, her heart pounding, before she finally decides to answer.
“Hi,” she says, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“Clarke,” he says, and the sound of her name on his tongue makes her knees go weak.
“What’s up?” she asks him. He’s obviously calling for a reason. And that reason is probably not to tell her how madly in love with her he is, however many times she’s envisioned that scenario in her mind’s eye.
“Uh, well…” he starts. “Octavia asked me if I wanted to come to the beach with you guys this weekend.”
“Oh.”
“I mean, I figured I should check if it was okay with you first.”
“You really want to come?” Clarke asks. She kind of figured he was avoiding her.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Bellamy says. “I could really do with a vacation,” he laughs. Clarke squeezes her eyes shut, her stomach twisting at the familiar sound of his laugh. How had she not figured out sooner that she was in love with him?
“Of course it’s fine,” Clarke says, because why wouldn’t it be? They aren’t sleeping together anymore, so they don’t have to worry about Wells. As far as either of them are concerned, they’re just distant friends. Or acquaintances maybe.
“Great,” Bellamy says. “Is it okay if I bring someone?”
Clarke hesitates, probably too long. “Sure,” she says quickly, hoping he hadn’t noticed her hesitation. No, she doesn’t want him to bring his girlfriend, and no, she doesn’t want to think about what it means that he’s only been dating Echo barely a month and yet he’s bringing her on a weekend away with all their friends.
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you Friday.”
“Okay,” Clarke swallows. “See you then.”
The prospect of seeing Bellamy scares Clarke to death. She hasn’t seen him since A: she realised she was in love with him, and B: he broke her fucking heart. So yeah, she’s a little nervous to say the least.
Wells doesn’t seem to notice, though she’s mostly silent on the drive to the beach house. Or perhaps he’s just letting her have her space. Either way, she’s glad he’s not questioning her about it. There’s only so many times a person can use the excuse I’m just tired before it starts to seem like a lie.
Clarke and Wells get there first and claim the master bedroom. Clarke unpacks her suitcase into the wardrobe, to keep herself busy. The task doesn’t really keep her mind off Bellamy though, and she keeps listening for a car in the driveway, her heart pounding rapidly.
Octavia, Niylah, Raven, and Shaw arrive together, and Clarke finally has a suitable distraction from her thoughts, as she’d introduced properly to Niylah for the first time, and Raven and Octavia start telling a story about The Worst Driver in the World they encountered on their way here.
She’s so caught up in Octavia’s theatrics, she doesn’t even notice at first when Bellamy and Echo walk in the front door. That is until Octavia cuts herself off midsentence to greet her brother.
“Hey, you made it!” she says, walking over and giving him a hug. Clarke freezes, her heart suddenly lodged in her throat. Bellamy’s eyes seem to scan over the group until they land on Clarke. She smiles weakly, feeling like a nervous wreck. Fucking hell, he looks so good. And if in the back of her mind she’d harboured some doubt about whether or not she’s actually in love with him, that vanishes when he smiles back at her, and her heart squeezes itself so tight she can’t breathe. Not only that, but he pussy starts to throb, as if it can sense he’s close. Yeah, letting him come here was a huge mistake.
“Bellamy,” Wells says, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
Oops. She may have forgotten to tell Wells. Or rather, purposefully not told him because it was too hard to even say Bellamy’s name out loud.
“I did ask Clarke if it was okay,” he mentions.
“He did,” Clarke manages, finding her voice. “I guess I forgot to tell you.”
“All good, I guess. You’re here now. And who is this?” Wells nods to the tall brunette standing next to Bellamy. Clarke hates her on sight. With one glance at Octavia, Clarke can tell she isn’t impressed with the arrival of Echo either.
“Ah, this is my girlfriend, Echo,” Bellamy introduces. “Echo, this is… everyone.”
Hearing Bellamy call Echo his girlfriend sends a dagger through Clarke’s heart. And it’s not like she hadn’t known she was his girlfriend. But hearing him actually say it out loud is something else entirely.
“Girlfriend, huh, Blake?” Raven teases. “Seems like someone is finally settling down.”
Bellamy rolls his eyes. “Give it a rest, Raven. We’ve only been dating a month.”
“Only a month and she’s already your girlfriend though,” Raven continues. She turns to Echo. “I guess you’re the one to finally tame the wild beast,” she winks.
Echo smirks. “We’ll see,” she says, glancing at Bellamy flirtatiously. Bellamy looks a little uncomfortable by the whole exchange. Clarke wants to throw up.
“Who wants alcohol?” she announces, heading for the kitchen where Wells had stocked the fridge with beer and cider earlier.
They all end up in the outdoor area out the back of the house, drinks in hand and an array of finger foods on the table in front of them. Echo is sitting in Bellamy’s lap, playing with his hair, laughing too hard at his jokes. Clarke tries to keep her eyes averted, but she burns with jealousy. She wants to be the one sitting in his lap and playing with his hair, feeling his hard cock pressing into her, teasing him until he can’t think straight. She also wants to kick Echo in the face. Instead, she tightens her grip on her bottle of cider and snuggles into Wells’ side. It’s not because she’s trying to make Bellamy jealous. She’s not dumb enough to think he would even care. But she doesn’t want him to know how much she’s affected by his new relationship. So she’s a little more affectionate with Wells than she normally is. The alcohol probably helps.
“Who wants to play a drinking game?” Octavia asks.
“I’m in,” Raven says. “What are we playing?”
“You know, I think I’m a little old for drinking games,” Bellamy grimaces. He looks to Echo. “You want to go to bed?”
“You know I do,” Echo says, leaning in to kiss him.
“Gross,” Octavia says, voicing Clarke’s thoughts for her. “We won’t miss you.”
“Hey, you invited me,” Bellamy reminds her as he and Echo stand up. Clarke watches them head inside, hand in hand. To her surprise, Bellamy glances back for a moment and meets her eyes. She quickly looks away, pressing a kiss to Wells’ cheek. Overcompensating maybe. When she looks back to Bellamy, he’s gone.
“Clarke? Wells? You want to play?” Octavia asks.
“I actually think maybe we should go to bed too,” Clarke says. Somehow the thought of Bellamy and Echo alone in their room is worse than actually being able to see them together, and Clarke feels totally sober all of a sudden.
“Sounds good to me,” Wells grins. “See you guys in the morning.”
“Party poopers!” Raven calls after them as they go back inside.
Despite what Wells might think, Clarke’s intentions are just to go straight to sleep. Only, once she’s in her pyjamas, and under the covers, she begins to hear… noises through the wall. More specifically, the sound of Echo moaning like a mad woman.
Clarke groans, putting her pillow over her face as Wells gets into bed beside her.
“God, I hope we don’t have to listen to that all night,” he says. “Surely he can’t be that good in bed?”
Clarke knows for a fact that he is that good. Although Echo does sound completely ridiculous moaning like that. Clarke likes to think her own moans are much sexier. She does realise that even though she can hear Echo quite clearly, she can’t really hear Bellamy at all. She takes some satisfaction in the notion that maybe he’s not having as much fun with Echo as he did with Clarke.
Clarke turns over on her side to face Wells. “Fuck me,” she commands him.
“Huh?”
“You heard me.”
“Are you actually turned on by that?” Wells snorts.
“I just think we can outdo them.”
“Clarke, you’re not that loud in bed. I don’t think you can outdo Echo,” Wells rolls his eyes. “You know, that name actually suits her come to think of it.”
Clarke snorts. As much as she’d like to hang shit on Echo and her ridiculous name for the rest of the night, what she really wants is to get fucked. “I can be loud,” Clarke tells him. “Watch me.”
Wells doesn’t need to be told twice. And okay, pretty much all of Clarke’s noises are fake. But she’s pretty sure a lot of Echo’s are too. Sure, Bellamy is great in bed, but Echo sounds like she’s literally being murdered in the next room.
Clarke pretends to come when Wells comes, but even then, they can still hear Echo through the walls.
“How are they still going?” Wells asks incredulously. Clarke rolls her eyes.
“Let’s just go to sleep now, okay?” she huffs. She squeezes her eyes shut tight and tries to drown out the sounds of Echo.
Clarke is awake early the next morning, long before anyone else will be up. Wells is still snoring softly next to her. It’s already warming up outside, and Clarke decides to take advantage of the solitude and go for a walk along the beach. She dresses in a pair of short shorts and a tank top and heads downstairs, stopping in the kitchen to grab a glass of water before she goes.
As she fills her glass at the sink, she looks out the kitchen window to see Bellamy lounging in the hammock on the front porch, reading, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts that Clarke swears are almost as tiny as her own. God, he’s so fucking sexy.
She lets herself watch him, his brow furrowed in concentration as he reads. She smiles to herself, her heart soft for him. So he has a girlfriend. She can still be in love with him and be his friend, right? It’s totally possible.
She puts down her glass and walks out onto the front porch. Bellamy looks up as the door slams behind her. He sits up, closing his book. His eyes rake over her body, lingering on her tits. She feels her clit twinge. So it’s not that he’s not attracted to her then.
“Hey,” she says. “I’m just going for a walk along the beach. Do you want to come?”
Bellamy considers. “Yeah, okay,” he agrees. He swings himself off the hammock, more gracefully than what Clarke would ever be able to manage, and follows her down the front steps.
They walk in silence towards the beach, Clarke with her hands in her back pockets for lack of something better to do with them. Because what she really wants to do is slip her hand into his. Or maybe just grab his face and kiss him.
It’s a five-minute walk until they reach the ocean, and it’s cooler out in the open air, and a little windy. The breeze blows through Bellamy’s already tousled locks, making him look like he’s in a beach themed photoshoot.
“So, uh, you and Echo, huh?” Clarke says. Why, she has no idea. She does not want to hear Bellamy gush about his girlfriend. “Seems like things are going well. If what I heard last night is anything to go by.”
Bellamy snorts. “You heard that, huh?”
“How could I not?”
“I will admit she’s a little over the top. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was faking it sometimes,” Bellamy admits.
“And how do you know better?”
Bellamy smirks. “Come on, Clarke. Don’t pretend like I didn’t make you come over and over and over.”
Clarke shivers. Fucking hell, does he have to make her want him so bad? “So we’re talking about that are we?”
Bellamy shrugs. “We don’t have to. How are things going with Wells, now that you’re…?”
“Back together?” Clarke finishes for him. Bellamy stops, staring at her. His jaw ticks.
“Back together?” he repeats. Clarke’s eyes widen as she realises what she’s said. “I was going to say monogamous.” Bellamy swallows. “You and Wells broke up? When? I mean… Octavia never said—”
“She doesn’t know,” Clarke says quickly. Her face burns. “I didn’t tell anyone. So please don’t mention it. No one knows.”
“Okay,” Bellamy nods. He seems unable to look at her now. They continue walking.
“It was right after… you ended things with me. And it was only for like a week. I guess I just wanted to see if being with Wells was what I really wanted,” Clarke shrugs.
Bellamy turns his head towards her sharply, his eyes piercing into her. “And it is, then?”
Clarke swallows. “Yes.”
An uncomfortable silence follows. Clarke isn’t sure why. All she knows is she’s completely on edge, half of her desperate to confess everything to him, the other half desperate to hold onto her pride. The prideful side of her wins out.
“You want to go swimming?” she says. Anything to break the silence.
“What?”
“The water looks so nice,” Clarke continues. She tilts her head at him, waiting to see if he’s coming.
“I think I’ll pass,” he says. Clarke shrugs, as if to say suit yourself, and then she pulls her tank top over her head and her shorts over her ass. She can feel him watching her strip down to her underwear, and she’s totally not doing this to get a reaction from him, but if it turns him on too then she’s not complaining.
She looks back over her shoulder as she heads towards the water. He’s still watching her. She can’t help a smirk from spreading across her face.
The water is freezing, but Clarke forces herself to wade in anyway. She reaches her waist then dives under the water. She breaks the surface again, gasping from the cold, flicking her hair out of her eyes. She stands up, the water just reaching her breasts.
“Come on!” she yells to Bellamy. “It’s not cold, I swear!”
“You’re lying!” he yells back, but he’s very clearly smiling.
“Don’t be such a chicken!”
Bellamy shakes his head, laughing. But then he’s walking towards her and into the water.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Bellamy swears as he gets deeper. “It’s fucking freezing, Clarke!”
“It’s not that bad!”
He dives under the water and surfaces half a metre from her. “You’re insane,” he tells her.
“Yet you followed me anyway.”
“You’re too persuasive.”
Clarke pokes her tongue out, and then splashes him. Bellamy raises an eyebrow, smirking.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Griffin,” he challenges, stepping towards her.
“Oh, what are you going to do?” she teases. He lunges for her and she turns away, trying to escape his grasp half-heartedly, but he grabs her around the waist, pulling her back flush against his chest.
“No, don’t!” she squeals, laughing.
“Do you surrender?” he asks, lips against her ear. Clarke squirms, trying not to think about his wet skin against hers. But it feels like he’s touching her everywhere, and her head swims and her cunt pulses with need. She wonders if he’s hard right now, but she doesn’t dare make a move to find out.
“I surrender,” she tells him, and he lets her go. She turns around, but she doesn’t put any distance between them. His eyes flick to her lips and she wills him to kiss her.
“Clarke,” he says hoarsely. “I really want to kiss you.”
“So kiss me,” she murmurs.
Bellamy shakes his head. “I have a girlfriend, Clarke. I’m not going to cheat on her.” Right, Echo. “We should head back,” Bellamy sighs, stepping away from her. Disappointed, but knowing it’s better this way, Clarke follows him back up to the sand. She grabs her clothes from the ground but doesn’t put them back on yet.
“We should wash the salt and sand off before we go,” Clarke says, nodding her head towards the public bathroom by the carpark. There’s an outdoor shower around the side of the brick building. Clarke gets under first, and the water is cold but not as cold as the ocean. She closes her eyes to let the water fall over her face, and opens them to find Bellamy looking at her strangely.
“What?” she asks.
“You know your underwear is totally see-through right now, right?”
Clarke had not known, but when she looks down now, she can see that he’s right. The white material of her bra and panties clings to her, the water having turned them so transparent it’s like she isn’t wearing anything at all.
“Oh,” she says. “You’re right.” She looks back up at him. “You waited a long time to tell me that,” she points out. He must have noticed as soon as they got out of the water. And he definitely hasn’t been not looking at her.
Bellamy flushes. “Clarke—”
“I guess there’s no point in wearing them at all then,” Clarke shrugs. She reaches behind her to unclasp her bra and lets it fall from her chest. Then she peels off her panties and throws them to the side where her shorts and tank top sit.
“Fucking hell, Clarke,” Bellamy groans, shaking his head.
“We’re wasting water,” Clarke says, she reaches out and grabs his arm, tugging him into the shower with her. He’s stronger than her, he could resist easily, if he wanted to. He doesn’t.
He doesn’t move to touch her, but he’s so close that her nipples brush his chest, and he’s looking down at her with dark eyes, filled with want.
“Why are you like this?” he asks. Is that an insult or a compliment?
“Like what?”
“Irresistible,” he murmurs. His hands come to rest of her waist, and then he leans down, capturing her lips between his. Clarke whimpers as she closes her eyes, her arms circling around his neck. The water shuts off automatically, but Clarke barely notices. Bellamy presses her against the brick wall behind her, crushing her tits against his chest. He’s kissing her like his life depends on it, desperate and messy, like he’s trying to remind her she’s alive. She’d almost forgotten what it’s like to be kissed by him, and now that she remembers she doesn’t ever want him to stop again. She needs him to remind her how it feels to be fucked, really fucked. She wants him to fill her throbbing cunt with his cock, and come with him deep inside her.
“Bell, fuck me,” she moans. “I need you, I need you.”
“You need me, huh?” he says. “You need your pussy filled? You need my cock inside you?”
“Yes. Please. Please.”
“Of course you do, baby,” he murmurs, slipping a hand between her legs. “Bet you missed being fucked properly, didn’t you?”
“Uh huh,” Clarke nods as Bellamy plays with her clit. “I missed you so much.”
“Missed me? Or missed my cock?” He pushes two fingers inside her and she gasps.
“Both,” she moans. She tugs at his shorts, and he helps her pull them down to free his cock. “Oh god,” she groans. “I forgot how big it is. I need it inside me.”
“I know, baby, I know,” Bellamy coos. He kisses her again, gripping her ass, hoisting her up so she can wrap her legs around him. He presses the bulging head of his cock against her entrance, and then he’s pushing inside her, stretching her pussy good and wide. Clarke almost comes right then.
Her back is against the bricks, and she clutches his back as he thrusts into her.
“Yes,” she gasps. “Fuck me, baby. Fuck me, fuck me.”
Bellamy moans and the sound sends shockwaves through her. He drives into her over and over, the pressure building inside her. She needs to come so bad, and she’s right there on the edge. I love you, she thinks. I love you, I love you. And it would be so easy to let it slip off her tongue right now, in this moment of bliss. But instead she just cries his name as she comes, her walls clenching around him as she comes all over his cock.
“Come inside me,” Clarke moans as he continues fucking her against the wall. “I need your come in me.”
“Anything you want,” Bellamy groans, letting his seed spill inside her, filling her up with his come. It leaks out of her as he pulls his cock out of her and lets her back onto the ground. Bellamy steps back, pulling his shorts back up, not bothering to clean himself up. She wonders if he’s feeling guilty. He grabs her clothes and hands them to her, and Clarke quickly puts her wet underwear back on and then her shorts and top. Bellamy looks away, as if he hadn’t just had his hands all over her naked body.
“Are you okay?” Clarke asks.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Bellamy nods.
“What about Echo?”
Bellamy considers. “She doesn’t have to know.”
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irksinbin anon) ahh thank you! If it isn't on twitter (I have a feeling it isn't since it's an ask answer), could you paste what you said about creating nsfw fics for beginners? i was the original asker of that post and used to look to it for inspiration.
First off, apologies for taking so long to answer this! I’ve actually been trying to find this post, and I’m not sure I’m finding the right one...?
I’ve copied two “maybe could be it” posts under the cut. If neither of these are right, do you remember any phrases I could use to search by? I really do wanna help you out with this!
(discussion of smut under the cut, nothing too explicit but you know, maybe keep out if you’re under 18)
Anonymous: in regards to #justsaydick I also kinda think that even with erotica, culturally up until like the last decade or two (hell if I know) in maybe mainstream stuff the saying of genitals or even things regarding sex was kind of frown on or people were more so embarrassed about saying it like it was. So you had to come up with adjectives to otherwise saying dick, cock or penis. But yeah, #justsaydick
Yeah, this is a very valid point. People can write about sex, but they can’t, you know, write about sex, that’s *whispers* dirty. So instead they disguise it in such flowery language that you can barely tell what’s happening at all.
That’s probably another part about why complicated euphemisms bother me. There’s nothing wrong with finding sex uncomfortable. I totally understand that and think all sexual content should be opt-in, not opt-out. Don’t just cram unannounced sex scenes into things. But if you are gonna write a sex scene… just write the sex scene! “I want to write about sex, but I don’t want to be dirty about it” doesn’t seem like it’d really please anyone, except perhaps similar people who are interested in reading about sex but don’t want to admit to themselves that they are. And that’s an unfortunate mindset to have, borne from society’s promotion of sex as something somehow simultaneously perfect and evil…
There are times were “cock” won’t work, I do admit that. I fling it around in stuff like gross monster porn, but it never feels right for me in more tender scenes that are more about the emotions than the act. But even then, there are better ways around that than “engorged pleasure center”. Yikes. My own tactic is to try to word things so I don’t have to call it anything at all, we all know how sex works, but I’m sure there are other options that are still better than that.
…and in the interest of fairness, I’d also like to point out that #justsaydick goes the other way around, because the euphemisms can also be too crass rather than too vague. You haven’t cried until you’ve read an anal scene that tries to unironically use the phrase “Hershey Highway.” please just say asshole. that shit’s no better
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Anonymous: yo i love your stuff and i have filthy fics to upload but its my first time and im not sure if uploading them to my usually fluffy account would be good aaaa. at the same time though i want people to know about it. thoughts?
First of all, thank you for the compliment! <3
I say knowing your follower base would be good - what kind of fandoms do you normally post? If you run a primarily OsoSan blog, posting NSFW shouldn’t be too bad because it’s an R-rated show anyway. I know that young teens do watch it, but still, it feels like a less abrupt switch from fluff to smut on an OsoSan blog than it would on something more aimed at a younger audience, and I would hope that most young teens would know that this fandom is mainly an adults’ playground and they need to be careful not to accidentally stumble or purposely sneak into attractions not meant for them. If you think you might have a younger fanbase, though, especially if your blog is for a fandom meant for a younger fanbase and care shouldn’t be so necessary for them, then I suggest making a sideblog. In either case, maybe you can make the sideblog and then link it from the main blog so people have to click a link before getting thwacked in the face with smut? Wherever you post it, then as long as you tag/warn appropriately, you should be good. For me personally, I used to post relatively tame NSFW on my main blog under copious amounts of text warnings and read more cuts, but once I started getting more into kink and wanted to start reblogging pictures, that’s when I made this blog, briefly linked to it from my main, and now I only give it out on request just because I want to at least try to keep under-18s out of here.
In any case, I encourage you to follow your filthy dreams and post them somewhere! I’m sure there’s people out there who want to read them, especially if they’ve already given positive reception to your smut!
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