#i mean hes old and he has no social contacts except for his weird sister and his orchestra

[minzapinza]

I actually think my dad is like 2 months away from turning into a fascist. It's so insane

[whereisten]

Heal

A Kun fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: Doctor Qian Kun is a young and successful doctor who works miracles. And you are no exception when you become his patient.

Pairing: Doctor! Kun x female reader

Genre: romance, angst, fantasy, horror

Word Count: 5.6k

Warnings: blood, manipulation

(A/N: Thank you guys so much for your support with our Halloween fics! Hope you enjoy the adventures of y/n and Doctor Kun!)

___

You were no stranger to visits to the Neo Hospital in your hometown. When you were a baby, you basically lived at the hospital. You were prone to colds and fevers. You always experienced body aches and fatigue. You were born with a chronic autoimmune disorder that left many doctors baffled. They were only able to provide you with medications to alleviate your pains temporarily. You were confined to stay at home, to be homeschooled by your parents, and make friends online. Your childhood was far from normal.

You were a college junior now and you’ve been strictly online. If it wasn’t for the Internet, you probably would’ve lost your mind by now.

You had contact with the outside world but not physical contact. It’s what you longed for the most.

You resented your family. Your older and younger siblings could go out whenever they pleased. How did they get so lucky? Why were you the only sibling that got the short end of the stick?

Everyone in your family always interacted with you carefully, using hand sanitizer and always washing their hands prior to helping you with something. They treated you like a fine, porcelain doll that had to be preserved. It was irritating on your best days and unbearable on your worst. You felt like an abomination sometimes.

However, throughout the years, you would rebel. You would run away from home when your parents eyes wandered for a moment. The farthest you’d get before getting caught was the park. You were lucky that you didn’t develop any harsh symptoms from those times you ran away. However, you would be punished for taking such risks. You’d get your phone and internet privileges taken away for a month every time.

Last week, you succeeded in your most ambitious escape yet: you made it to Target to buy the new Ariana Grande CD. You thought that the one trip to Target couldn’t hurt you. By no means was it crowded and no one got into your space.

Well, you were wrong to think that you’d be fine.

Now you came down with a fever and you’d been placed on bed rest at your all-too familiar Room 1196 on the eleventh floor of the hospital.

You resented your body. A lot of people could recover from a fever and carry on with their day-to-day lives but you? Not so much.

Your parents made a whole spectacle of getting you to be seen by the best doctors but these doctors couldn’t help you the way you’d hoped.

However, this time, you awoke the next morning after your intake and felt...nothing.

Like you never had a fever in the first place.

You spent the morning checking your social media. Your crush/online classmate Sicheng was on a weekend hiking trip with his friends. He was with a bunch of beautiful, healthy people in North Carolina. You were even more bummed to be in the hospital now.

You wondered what life would be like if you didn’t have your condition. Where could you have gone? Who would you be now?

You’ve always wanted to go to the beach by yourself. To the supermarket. Hell, across the street. You wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere. Without anyone coddling you and watching your every move.

You wished for freedom from the body you were born with. To find a new one, somehow.

Because you had no hope for your current body to change.

“Y/n? Can I come in?” A male voice was heard from the door.

“Sure.” You sat upright on the bed.

The person at the door entered and he was the prettiest healthcare provider you’d ever laid your eyes on. He had warm, brown eyes and a radiant smile. His dark blue hair was wavy.

Suddenly, you regretted not brushing your hair that morning.

He donned a lab coat with the hospital’s name on it. His name tag was in a lanyard: Dr. Qian Kun, MD, DOM, PharmD.

He looked very young...And to have all of those titles? Your head was spinning.

He frowned as he saw how confused you looked. “Are you alright?”

You nodded. “I am.”

He sat on the chair beside your bed. “It’s nice to meet you, y/n. I’m Dr. Qian Kun but you can call me Kun.”

You blinked a few times. “Are you really a doctor?”

He laughed, confused. “What?”

“You don’t seem that much older than me…”

He sighed. “I get that a lot. I’m twenty-four. I graduated early from university...Earned my titles...Now here I am.”

“That’s amazing. You are probably the youngest doctor ever.”

Kun shook his head. “Afraid not. Bala Ambati became a doctor at seventeen.”

You shook your head. “Still...You have three doctorates. That means triple the sleep deprivation. Hats off to you.”

Kun chuckled as he looked at your information in his clipboard. “Your vitals have improved a lot since yesterday.”

You looked down at your hands. “Yeah...That’s impossible…”

Kun shook his head, noting how down you looked. “It is possible, y/n.”

You met his gaze. “How?”

He smiled. “Are you familiar with oriental medicine?”

He sure was charming, you thought. You reminded yourself to answer his question. “No, I’m not.”

Kun got up from his seat. “Well, there are many different practices that a doctor of oriental medicine can utilize, like acupuncture, meditation, and herbal therapy...To restore harmony to the human body. I specialize in herbal therapy.”

“I see…”

“I have created an herbal mixture that has worked efficiently to get my patients back up on their feet.”

Incredulous still, you managed to say, “That’s great, Doctor.”

He lifted an eyebrow.

“I mean, Kun.”

Kun resumed, “And I‘ve provided you with the herbal mixture and from the looks of it, the results have quickly taken effect.”

You were speechless. “That’s…”

“I know it’s hard to believe, y/n. But sometimes doctors fail to find other alternatives to help their patients. Which is why I’m glad I’m your primary physician now.”

“Wait, what about Doctor Morris?” Doctor Morris had been your primary physician since you were five years old.

“She’s retired. I’ve been taking on a couple of her patients now.”

“I see…”

Kun looked out your room’s window and smiled to himself. “You don’t trust me.”

“Don’t take it personally. I don’t trust any medical professional. No one has been able to understand my condition yet so…”

Kun replied, “You’ve been let down too many times.”

“Exactly. Doctors just can’t figure me out.”

He turned to you and grinned. “Allow me to prove you wrong, then.”

___

At the recommendation of Doctor Kun, you were assigned to stay in the hospital for the next few weeks to see how the herbal mixture would affect your body if you took it for a longer period of time.

Every passing day, you felt more alive. It was weird to say this but you felt more alive at the hospital than you did before. You were beginning to suspect that Kun’s herbal mixture was actually working.

The herbal mixture was made of feverfew among other medicinal herbs. It had certainly done the trick to reduce your fever overnight. You wondered just what this mixture was made of.

You just finished your online linguistics lecture and closed your laptop. You found Kun waiting at the door. “You free?”

You nodded. “Yes.”

He sat down next to you and pulled some of your favorite candy out of his pocket.

He put the candy bar in your hand. His fingers lightly touched your palm. Your face warmed up at his proximity. “Happy Halloween, y/n.”

Your eyes nearly bugged out. How did he know you loved Twix? You took the candy bar into your hand and almost cried.

“Y/n?” He asked, worried.

You wiped a tear away. “Sorry...It’s just that this time of the year is hard because...I want to celebrate it. Go out and trick or treat...I know that time has gone for me but I hate that I missed out, you know…”

“Y/n…”

You sniffled and took a bite of the chocolate bar. “My parents never wanted me to feel like I was missing out so they would bring the holiday home to me. I was never in need of M&Ms, Skittles, Twix, or Sour Patch Kids…They even helped me make the best Halloween costumes. We would watch a bunch of horror movies all month long...But I wanted to be a kid. I wanted to go out with my friends and go door to door…”

Kun’s heart went out to you. He hated seeing you so down and so deprived of a life that everyone should have. “Y/n, you will be able to do all of the things you want to do in life.”

You looked at Kun and he had a determined look on his face. “How can you be so sure?”

“I’ve worked with people with conditions like yours...They thought they would be attached to the hospital forever one way or another. But with my methods, I was able to help them turn their life around. And now they’re living normally and fully.”

You sighed. “I’m happy to hear that...I just don’t think I’ll be one of them.”

Kun placed his hand over yours. “Trust me, y/n. I won’t let you down.”

You met his eyes, then, and you smiled. “Thanks, Kun. I’ve gotta hand it to you. You’re my favorite doctor.”

He beamed. “Is that so?”

You nodded. “Yeah...None of the other doctors ever gave me so much as a lollipop Even though that seems to be the norm on TV…”

Kun chuckled. “There’s more where that came from, y/n.”

___

It has been a month since you’ve entered the hospital. The medical bills were covered by an anonymous benefactor. Your family didn’t have to worry about the financial strain of your hospital stay.

Your family came to visit you and they were stunned at how radiant you looked. They were surprised at how much more ALIVE you looked when they expected you to be weak and miserable because you were at the hospital. Something about you was different.

“Doctor Kun is a miracle worker, isn’t he?” Your dad asked.

“I heard he’s a sight for sore eyes, too...Don’t you think so, y/n?” Your older sister Sydney teased.

You mom shook her head and helped fluff your pillows. “How are you, sweetheart?”

You smiled. “I’m better, actually. I think Kun’s methods are working.”

“Oh, are you two on a first name basis?” Your sister joked.

You rolled your eyes. “He told me to call him Kun. If you saw him, you’d feel weird calling him Doctor, actually.”

“He’s quite young, y/n. He graduated from a top university in Beijing at age 10. Then, he went to medical school right after. He’s been a practicing doctor for a couple of years now. He’s unbelievable,” you dad said.

Kun entered the room, then. “I hope I’m not interrupting. I’m Doctor Qian Kun. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Your mom was in love with him. Your dad was in shock at how young he was. Your sister wanted his number. You broke their stunned silence. “Kun, these are my parents Donna and Andrew. And this is my sister, Sydney.”

Kun greeted them. “I’m glad you are all here so I can tell you the good news.”

Everyone was shocked at the phrase “good news”. What good news could he possibly have to share?

Kun continued, “Y/n, your vitals are working at optimum level and we want to see how well you can fare by discharging you.”

You asked, “What?”

Kun smiled. “You can start having a normal life...In which you can attend in-person classes, go to the supermarket, take up a sport…”

You weren’t sure about the last thing he offered but everything else he suggested made you jump out of your bed. “Serious?”

Kun’s smile grew. “Yes.”

Your parents gave each other looks.

Your dad started. “Doctor, are you sure about this...y/n has lived all of her life in our home. The only outside world she’s ever known is our backyard and this hospital.”

Kun nodded. “I am sure. I’ve worked with several patients with similar cases as y/n’s and I would like to put the effect of the herbal mixture to the test. If there is any risk, she will immediately be brought back to the hospital and I will up the dosage for the herbs.”

After a few more minutes of discussion, your parents reluctantly agreed to take you home. To alleviate their concerns, you promised to consult with Kun once a week so he could monitor your progress.

You would be going home tomorrow and you had been given the green light to live a normal life. Outside. Go to classes. See your friends. Go to the beach. Buy fruits at the grocery store.

You packed up your belongings and Kun visited you one last time before you left. “Hey.”

You smiled brightly at him. “Hi!”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better than I ever have, honestly. And I have you to thank for that. Look, I’m not sure if this will work out in the end but the fact that I can take the chance and go out there...Thank you.”

Kun ruffled your hair. “I’m here for you, y/n.”

You did admit to yourself that you’d had a little crush on Dr. Kun but who were you kidding? He was so out of your league. You’d had a friend in him and you would always be thankful to him. “I have something for you.”

Kun’s eyes widened. “For me?”

“I wasn’t sure it’d get to my house in time but my mom got the package today. I told her to bring it today when everyone visited so…”

You pulled out a small gift bag with Kun’s present inside.

Kun smiled. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” “You’ve done a lot for me, Kun. I may have my doubts but I don’t doubt your intentions. And they're nothing but good. You’ve been doing so much for me. You’re setting me free...In a way.”

You handed the bag to Kun. He pulled out a little wrapped box from inside. He looked at you as he mocked suspicion.

He removed the wrapping to find a pair of AirPods. He gaped. “Y/n…”

You smiled. “For whenever you need to escape the noise…”

Kun had told you that sometimes he would get overwhelmed with his duties at the hospital and you’d asked him what gave him comfort. He told you it was music. So you figured something as light and portable as AirPods could help Kun calm down whenever he needed it throughout the day.

He smiled brightly at you and surprised you by wrapping his arms around you. “Y/n, thank you...You shouldn’t have…”

You froze. Kun’s toned body was against yours and you could feel the racing of his heart. Your heart probably beat twice as fast. You felt yourself get warmer and warmer. You pulled away from him, his hands on your arms.

He blushed. “Sorry…”

You cleared your throat. “Don’t worry about it…”

Your dad returned to the hospital room. “Y/n, you ready?”

Perfect timing, dad, you thought.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

___

It may have been the second semester of your junior year but you felt as nervous as an incoming college freshman as you entered Neo University’s grounds for the first time. You were meeting some of your friends for the first time ever.

It was one thing to see them on the screen but your heart accelerated thinking of what it would be like to see them in the flesh.

You’ve been doing well so far with the herbs Kun had sent you home with. You were able to go grocery shopping with your mom. She was still considering whether or not you could go to the beach yet. You hoped that your progress would continue so she would say yes.

You felt healthier than ever. You could breathe well through your nose. You felt no body aches. You were ready to cartwheel across the quadrangle.

First, you had to learn how to cartwheel, though.

“Y/n!!!!!” Jungeun called out to you.

Your blonde best friend ran up to you and jumped you from behind. “Ah!”

“Jungeun!” You gasped.

She laughed. “You said I could touch you so I wasn’t about to hold back.”

You hugged each other tightly.

“Y/n, it’s so good to see you!”

You and Jungeun have been friends since middle school so you were already a sobbing mess on your first day.

“Stop crying, y/n or else I’m gonna…” She started crying, too.

“Enough with the tears, already,” Dejun added.

You and Jungeun hugged Dejun to bother him, then.

He laughed. “Y/n, welcome to Neo U.”

“Thanks,” you said, smiling.

You three went to your seminar together and you were just so in awe of being in a classroom, you had trouble focusing on the lecture. You were even more distracted when you saw that Sicheng was in the same class.

He recognized you and waved. You were yelling so loudly on the inside.

Before this semester, you had the occasional online class that you shared. You saw Sicheng for the first time a year ago and your crush on him grew from there. He was one of the most popular guys on campus, according to Jungeun. You had a group project with him last semester and he was so...Perfect.

He was intelligent and down-to-earth. His smile was so sweet and his eyes pierced into your soul. He was talking poetry. It felt like you were seeing your favorite celebrity in person.

When class ended, you went to lunch with your friends and Sicheng joined you.

“How are you, y/n?” He asked.

“I’m great. Never been better,” you replied.

He smiled. “I’m glad. If you ever need anything, please let me know. You have my number.”

You nodded. “Of course. Same here. If you ever need anything. I’m here for you, too.”

Sicheng chuckled. “Great.”

When you finished lunch, Jungeun couldn’t stop poking fun at you. Sicheng left early for a club meeting. “I’m surprised he didn’t ask you out, then!”

You rolled your eyes. “Ask who out?”

Dejun added. “Me, of course.”

Jungeun continued. “The ‘you have my number’ couldn’t have been more obvious. He wants you in his dorm yesterday.”

You frowned. “And what would we do? Fix his bed?”

Jungeun and Dejun laughed. Jungeun added, “The opposite, y/n.”

Your face heated up then. “Oh.”

Since you have basically spent most of your life either at home or at the hospital, you never even considered the possibility of a love life. You tried to convince yourself that dating sims would’ve been enough.

“Don’t worry, y/n...You and Sicheng can take it slow...He’s no incubus who is trying to take your soul,” Dejun offered.

“True,” you said.

That was if Sicheng saw you that way in the first place.

___

A few weeks had passed. You’d been seeing Kun regularly to check in and everything had gone as expected. You were fine. You weren’t exhibiting any flare-ups. So long as you kept taking the prescribed herbs, you would be fine.

“How is everything, y/n?” He asked.

“Pretty good, actually. School is still school, even if it’s in person. But I got to go to a skating rink for the first time.”

He laughed. “How was it?”

“I am terrible.” You showed your legs. “It explains these bruises.”

Kun shook his head and chuckled. “I’m glad you’re getting out more, y/n. Try and take it one step at a time.”

“Oh, geez. I wish you said that sooner. I already joined a blood cult and I’m getting married next week.”

Kun rolled his eyes as he finished taking notes from your consultation.

“How is everything with you, doc?”

Kun’s eyes widened. “Me?”

“Surely, you’re not always at the hospital.”

Kun sighed. “Well, y/n...it just so happens that I’ve taken residence up on the top floor. The whole floor is my apartment. Don’t really get to spend much time there because I’m almost always on call.”

Your jaw dropped. “What? Kun, that’s abuse. You shouldn’t be working so many hours. It’s against the-“

Kun couldn’t help his smile appearing.

“You sneaky bastard,” you said.

You both laughed, then.

Sometimes you forgot Kun was a successful doctor. Sometimes he felt like your infinitely smarter senior at college.

He was a million worlds away from yours.

Kun answered, “Well, I’m doing fine, y/n. I meet up with friends once in a while and go white-water rafting.”

“That sounds like fun!”

Kun shook his head. “It’s challenging but exciting. I get a rush every time I go.”

You thought out loud. “I’d love to try it sometime…”

Kun pat you in the back. “When you are at one hundred perfect, I’ll give you the green light. Sounds good?”

You nod.

___

You’d wrapped up your midterm and you were ready to head home and take a nap. You walked through the student quad.

“Y/n!” Sicheng called out to you.

You turned around and found Sicheng running towards you.

You smiled, already warm in the face. “Hi.”

“I was wondering if you were free right now…”

“Really? Me?”

He smiled, confused at your question. “Yeah, you. Want to go to the movies with me?”

You nodded. “Absolutely.”

Sicheng drove you guys to the movies. He bought the tickets and the snacks. He let you pick the movie. You picked The Blair Witch Project. It came out over twenty years ago but the theater was doing a limited time screening of it.

You and Sicheng couldn’t shut up throughout the whole movie as you whispered to each and made each other laugh. You’d almost gotten kicked out of the theater.

You left the theater together and he asked you to dinner. You said yes. You were starting to think that this was a date.

“Y/n, this is a date, right?” He asked you at dinner.

You stopped eating your chicken parmigiana and looked at him with big eyes. “I think...Is it?”

Sicheng sighed. “I wanted it to be…”

You laughed. “Oh, thank God. I thought it was all in my head for a second. Maybe you were this nice to all of your friends.”

He pointed out, “I am not this nice to my friends, I can promise you that.”

Sicheng drove you home and kissed you goodnight before you entered your house. You felt like you were floating on a cloud now.

___

Two days later, there was a campus alert that Sicheng had gone missing. His face was all over the news. The last time he was heard from was when he told his best friend Jaehyun that he was going to ask you out to the movies. The last time he was seen was when he took you home.

Sicheng’s car was found a mile away from the dorms. The key was still in the ignition and his wallet and phone were left behind.

You were brought into the police station for questioning and you told them everything that happened the night Sicheng disappeared.

You were worried. What could have happened to him? Would he be alright? Would he be able to come back home? You missed him so much.

You took an evening stroll around your neighborhood to try and calm down. You reached the park where there was no other soul in sight.

Suddenly, you felt a tingly sensation in the back of your neck. You felt that someone was following you.  

You began to walk faster. Suddenly, you were pinned to the ground and everything turned black.

___

You woke up in Room 1196, then. Wait...It wasn’t 1196...It was a different room in Neo Hospital. The room was dark and you could only hear the sound of your breathing. It grew more hysterical with each second.

You felt a burning sensation in your neck. You cried out in pain. You cried out, “Help me, please.”

“Y/n…” You recognized Kun’s voice.

You nearly yelled out in pain but restrained yourself. “What...happened?”

“An animal attack,” he started.

You frowned. “What?”

Kun sighed. “It was good that I was there to help you in time, y/n…”

“What?”

Kun moved your hair out of your face. “I was in the neighborhood when I saw the beast attack your neck.”

“A beast?” You frowned.

“Sicheng, was it?”

Your eyes widened. “How do you-“

“You can’t hide anything from me, y/n...You know that’s not how our relationship works.”

“What are you talking about? Ahhhhh.” The pain was getting to be too much for you.

“Can you put two and two together, y/n? Sicheng bit you.”

You shook your head furiously. “No, he wouldn’t-“

Kun snapped his fingers and Sicheng entered the hospital room. His bright expression nowhere to be found. His eyes were a bright red and his lips had traces of blood on them.

“Sicheng?!” You asked.

Sicheng smiled, showing fangs in his teeth. “Hi, y/n…”

“Oh, my God!” You started.

Kun grew annoyed. “Alright, that’s enough pleasantries for my taste. Go.”

Sicheng walked away at his command.

You began, “What the-“

Kun smiled brightly at you then. This time, his straight white teeth displayed his own fangs. “Y/n...Sicheng has put you in a bit of a bind, hasn’t he?”

You tried backing away from Kun and getting off of the bed but it was almost as if the pain kept you from moving.

Kun ran the back of his hand down your cheek. “When a newborn vampire bites you, the bite is lethal...You could die anywhere between minutes and hours...It depends on the bitten, really…”

You flinched at his touch. “What...did you do to me?”

Kun inched closer to you and you winced. He lathered up the blood that leaked from your neck down to your collarbone.

“What had to be done, y/n. From the moment I first saw you, I knew that I had to have you.”

You cried out in pain. “Somebody help me, please! Sicheng, please!”

Kun, annoyed over you mentioning Sicheng, shut the door to the hospital room. “It’s useless, y/n. Sicheng wouldn’t be in this mess if he hadn’t infiltrated what is mine. Now Sicheng must endure the consequences and be at my mercy. I turned him so now he looks to me for instructions. Until I release him...Perhaps in the next millennium...”

You sobbed. “Kun, please make this pain stop! I can’t take it!”

He cooed. “I know, baby. I want to help you. Just say the word and I’ll make the pain go away.”

The pain dominated your senses so you couldn’t process how exactly he would make it go away. “Okay! Just do it!”

Kun got up onto the bed and straddled you. He leaned down towards your neck and bit into you.

You cried out again but this time the excruciating pain turned into a euphoria so glorious, you never wanted it to end. You wrapped your arms around Kun as he continued to drink your blood.

___

It was morning when you had woken up. You were in Room 1196 now. You shot up from your bed and found Kun seated right beside you.

“Good morning, darling,” he started.

You glared at him. “Bite me. Oh, wait, you already did.”

He smiled. “I see your energy is up. That’s good to see.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’m going home…”

Suddenly, you stopped right at the door and your throat started to burn. Your senses heightened and you could sense that one of the nurses was walking right past your room’s door. You wondered what she would taste like if you caught her by surprise right then and there and…

What the holy hell were you thinking?

Kun sighed. “Don’t kill Joyce. She’s the most competent nurse on the staff.”

You ran into your bathroom door and looked at yourself in the mirror.

But you couldn’t.

You put a hand over your mouth and sobbed. “Kun!!!!!”

Kun joined you in the bathroom. “Ah, yes. You won’t be able to gain access to your reflection for another twenty years.”

“Twenty years...What is going on?”

“But what else, y/n? I turned you. To save your life.”

“Turned me into what, Kun?! Say it!”

Kun smiled. “Darling, you already know. Just admit it to yourself.”

You cried. “No…”

“You’ve always wanted a new body. A new life, y/n. And I’ve given it to you. I’ve made you the most powerful creature on this damned planet: a vampire.”

You fell to the ground. You could feel your fangs against your tongue.“Kun! Why did you do this to me? What did I ever do to you?”

Kun sat with you on the ground. “Because I love you, y/n. I never want to be apart from you again.”

You spat in his face. “You made me into a monster.”

Kun, unbothered, wiped your spit away with the sleeve of his coat. “I did not. I made you the best version of yourself you can be. Time for you has become infinite. Your body is immune to all illnesses now. You can see clearly. Your metabolism is in top shape. You are a goddess now.”

You shook your head. “Kun, take it back.”

He chuckled. “You’ve seen enough movies to know that that’s not how it works, y/n...You are mine now. Forever. Just like Sicheng. Just like a lot of the staff in this hospital.”

You shook your head rapidly. “Like hell I’m yours.”

“Y/n, I have been very generous up until this point. Using my blood to help you overcome your chronic condition. Funding your hospital bills...The least you can do is submit to me....”

It was hard to process all of the truths he just delivered. “Your blood?”

He laughed. “You mean you couldn’t taste my blood in the herbal mixture?”

You were about to throw up.

He chuckled darkly. “Admit it, y/n. You loved it.”

“Fuck you, Kun!”

He smiled. “We’ll get to that…”

You sneered. “You are despicable.”

His smile faded. “And you are testing my patience…”  He snapped his fingers at you. “On your knees…”

You stayed on the floor with your arms crossed across your chest.

He frowned as he snapped again. “On your knees, y/n.”

“I don’t think so,” you said.

Kun looked taken aback. “What? How?”

You got up from the ground and looked at him. “I will never submit to you for as long as I live..” If vampires were even considered living.

You ran quickly out of the hospital room, realizing you had superhuman speed now. You were able to leave the historial without facing any temptation to bite someone.

But your thirst had to be satisfied somehow and you had to find a way to quench it without hurting anyone.

___

[2 years later]

You’d skipped town not long after you turned. You sent letters to your family without a return address so as not to risk their safety.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m so sorry I ran away. I had no choice. If I didn’t leave, you all would’ve been in danger. One day, I hope to explain it all to you but in the meantime, live your lives fully and love each other. Don’t take anything for granted. I love you so much and will see you again.

Love,

y/n

You had become an infamous blood bag bandit as you moved across the country, running away from Kun. He would occasionally try and track you. Or he would send his henchman like Sicheng to do it for him.

You were lucky so far. You had never attacked a human being and sustained yourself on some blood bags you were able to nab from donating trucks.

The reason why you didn’t submit yourself to Kun that day was indeed because of his blood. Consumption of his blood made you immune to his influence. He couldn’t have you like he had wanted all along.

Kun had been obsessed with you from the very beginning. When you were discharged from the hospital the time you met him, he continuously stalked you. At college, at the grocery store, at your home...It would explain why he was able to send Sicheng to attack you.

He always knew where you were back then.

Kun commanded Sicheng to bite you then and put you at risk of dying. Kun’s plan was to save you, make you his vampire queen, and control you.

It was a shame he failed to see that his creation of medicinal herbs was the one thing that would lead to his plan’s failure.

You were immune to his commands and you weren’t going to stick around and see how else he would try and “win you over”.

According to your research, in all public records, Kun was now twenty-six. A blatant lie since he couldn’t age. So you wondered how long he would remain in your hometown. You kept a careful eye on your family every now and then. You’ve made some contacts to track your family occasionally, as well.

Kun had stooped low and you prayed he wouldn’t stoop even lower to get you.

You worked hard every day to work on your rapidly growing vampiric abilities. You couldn’t stick around anywhere for too long without arousing suspicion.

Now you weren’t confined to one space anymore.

You were confined to running.

You hoped to one day bring it this madness to an end and take Kun down. Save Sicheng and Kun’s other minions.

And for you to truly be free.

[Fin]

[saphyhowl]

Chapter one: Encounter

Here it is. I know it’s not very long but I will continue tomorrow for part two. The fic I asked your thoughts about. Hope you like it. Again sorry for the long wait.

Edit: I added part two

“And on your right, you may admire the work of Jacques-Louis David, “the Coronation of Napoleon” painted in 1807. It took the artist two years to finish the painting. It is not only imposing because of its size but also by the…”

A young woman in a formal suit guided a group of visitors through the gallery in the Denon part of the Louvre museum. While the visitors admired the painting, the guide waved discreetly at a young man standing on the sidelines. He looked visibly bored but managed a timid smile as the woman waved at him. He strode towards her, his boredom noticeable even in the way he walked.

“I’ll be done in a few hours, why don’t you grab something to eat or maybe take a stroll outside. I know museums are not the funniest thing to see for a 19-year-old,” the woman said with a chuckle.

“No worries sis, I’ll grab something to eat at the “Paul” bakery. Text me when you’re done?” the young man answered.

The sister nodded and went on to describe the other paintings to her group. She glanced one last time at her brother’s figure among the visitors. The young man put his headphones on as he strode towards the exit. He scrolled through his phone to find the playlist that would suit his mood and nearly bumped into an elegant-looking man.

“Sorry,” he mouthed at the elegant man and continued walking.

A moment later he sat on a bench munching on a sandwich. Someone sat next to him but he paid them no mind. A tap on his arm. He looked up. It was the elegant man from before.

“Well, we meet again,” said the elegant man.

The brother smiled politely and took another bite from his sandwich.

“You can call me Comte,” the gentleman added as he stretched out his hand.

“Louis,” answered the young man as he stared at Comte’s outstretched hand, visibly refusing to shake it.

“What is your favorite painting in the Louvre museum?” Comte asked.

“None. I don’t like museums,” Louis answered as he immediately took another bite from his sandwich. Hopefully, that way the weird man would stop talking to him.

“I thought so. A pity. Paintings are a heritage, they have many stories to tell us,” Comte commented.

“I am sure they do sir,” Louis said as he looked away in annoyance.

“Le Sacre de Napoleon is a masterpiece. However, you must visit the Musée d’Orsay as well. The paintings there are filled with life,”

“I will,” Louis said with a loud sigh.

“Make sure to go with a knowledgeable guide, otherwise you might miss a few gems,” Comte added.

Louis nodded and continued to munch on his sandwich.

“Well, then Louis. I bid you farewell. Take in my beautiful city of Paris, she has yet to offer you plenty of treasures,” Comte nodded his head and walked away.

“What a freak,” Louis mumbled to himself.

He was about to reach for his soda bottle as he noticed a leather wallet next to him. Louis cursed under his breath as he knew what he was about to do.

A few hours later.

“Are you sure he never left the Denon area?” a young woman asked the security guard as he replayed the security footage.

“No Mademoiselle Sophie,” the security guard answered.

Sophie saw the footage for the fifth time. There was her brother passing through the gates leading to the Denon area at 1:32 pm. She held her head in her hand.

“This cannot be happening,” she whispered.

“It’s been past closing time Mademoiselle. Have you tried his cellphone again?” the security guard inquired.

She nodded and took out her phone. She tapped on her brother’s contact and held her phone to her ear.

“Come on. Come on. Answer idiot…”

She heard the familiar beeping that announced her call had gone straight to voicemail.

“Maybe he went already home Sophie?” suggested someone behind her. It was Alicia, one of Sophie’s colleagues.

“Maybe you are right Alicia. I will go check and if not then I will go straight to the police. He knows nothing about Paris and it’s getting late,” Sophie decided as she went to grab her bag and coat.

Sophie watched the city lights pass by the window as she sat in the subway. The closer she got to her stop the more nervously her knees jumped up and down. She practically ran towards her tiny apartment. She dropped her keys a few times because her hands trembled with anticipation. She opened the door and shouted her brother’s name. She shouted again as she entered her apartment. The apartment was dark and was exactly as she had left it before heading to work this morning. She shouted her brother’s name again storming into each room. No one.

Sophie crouched down and called her brother’s phone one more time. Voicemail. She looked at her phone and selected another contact. The sharp light from her phone hurt her eyes or maybe the tears she held back started to sting her eyes.

“Hello?” a voice came out of the speaker.

“Mom? I-I lost Louis,” Sophie managed to say before bursting into tears.

A few hours later, Sophie sat in front of a police officer, telling the middle-aged officer what had occurred. Sophie tried her best to recall any detail that could be decisive for the investigation. Another officer handed her a paper cup with what seemed to be coffee. She gave them a faint smile. The middle-aged officer spoke with Sophie it took her a moment to understand their explanations. All of this seemed surreal. The busy police station even at night, the neon lights. The office was busy with people doing paperwork. Sophie was sitting there filing a missing person report for her younger brother just like in any trailer movie. However, the heavy truth was nowhere comparable to what any series could transmit. She had lost her brother for whom she had always looked out for. Sophie felt as if part of herself went missing for good that day as well.

The police officer gave her a business card with a number on it.

“If you need to talk, we have a few people here who are specialized in helping families cope with the situation,” the officer explained.

Sophie took the business card and thanked the police officer.

“We will be at the Louvre tomorrow to investigate possible leads. We will let you know if we find something,” the other officer added.

Sophie managed to blurt out a few words of gratitude and exited the station. She caught sight of a familiar man leaning against a car.

“Antoine,” Sophie whispered and smiled.

The man named Antoine held out his hands to take hers. She rested her forehead against his shoulder.

“This is a nightmare,” she said as series of sobs took over.

Antoine held her in his arms until she had calmed down a little.

“It is not your fault. He will show up again, ok? Let’s go back to your place and get some rest,” Antoine suggested as he opened the door of his car.

The next day, at the police station.

“Our colleagues have scanned every profile of the visitors and staff on that day and none of them match with the man we see here,” explained the policewoman to his lieutenant as she circled the zoomed face of an elegant-looking man.

The lieutenant gazed at the different screenshots from the security footage showing the missing Louis with an unidentified man.

“How could anyone pass the heavy security of the Museum?” the lieutenant wondered.

“We found something else,” the policewoman showed him another screenshot.

The lieutenant looked closer and recognized Louis. The young man was following the suspect through a door.

“Where does that door lead?”

The policewoman turned pale.

“Now now Marie, it cannot be that bad,” the lieutenant encouraged the policewoman.

“Nothing,” she answered.

“What do you mean exactly with nothing?” the lieutenant asked.

“A storage room for flyers and whatnot. There are no windows, no shafts, nothing that could lead them out, except the same door they went through,” Marie explained.

The lieutenant sat back in his chair. He had seen a lot of cases in his lengthy career. However, this one was fairly new and slightly worrying.

“I’ll make a call. This, dear Marie, is bigger than I anticipated,” the lieutenant added before getting up to make a call. This case was out of his hands.

 #Trouverlouis

Paris was on fire. At least the social network was. The social media of every Parisian was showing and sharing one hashtag, a plea for help from a desperate sister. Sophie was in the kitchen, her phone on the table could not stop buzzing ever since she had followed her friends' advice. She had placed her faith in the algorithms of Instagram and every other network that might help to obtain hints on her brother’s whereabouts. However, after a month, the shares and posts resulted in lots of public empathy but few leads.

Sophie sat on a chair and stared at a picture hanging on her fridge door. The unidentified man who took away her brother Louis. She remembered the day she went to the police station with her mother this time. After they had told them another unit had taken over the case because of the lack of leads, her mother had thrown a tantrum. She insulted every policeman with every imaginable name. However, all the commotion dulled out as she saw the portrait one police officer had handed to her, explaining that she was allowed to use it to see if anyone in her circle could identify him. Ironically, no one recognized him.

Sophie looked at the portrait, eyes filled with pure hate. The pure-hearted, art and history passionate Sophie had made a vow to personally strangle the life out of this man. She grabbed her purse and went to the Louvre as she did every day for work. However, this time she went to stand for the umpteenth time in front of the door through which her brother never came back.

The door looked insignificant as usual, noted Sophie. She was alone in the area, it was yet too early for the storm of visitors to invade the halls of the Louvre Museum. Sophie sighed. The police had explained that it was a mere storage room of two square feet. She had looked at it many times during the past weeks. She lazily put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door, she knew what to expect.

Sophie let out a scream. The stack of cardboard from yesterday was gone, the pile of flyers and maps as well. The storage room looked more like an old corridor from the Louvre with a velvet rug, old paintings on each side of the walls.

“Mademoiselle Sophie,” a voice whispered. It came from the far end of the corridor.

Sophie fumbled with her purse and took out her phone to take a picture.

“Mademoiselle Sophie,” the voice repeated.

Sophie searched through her phone and was about to leave a voice message to her boyfriend Antoine.

“Sophie” another voice whispered.

Sophie shuddered; she knew that voice very well. It belonged to Louis.

“Antoine, I think I found a lead. I’ll send you a picture,” Sophie whispered on her phone, her voice a mix of fear and joy.

She released her finger from the recording button. She was about to tap onto the picture she had just taken to send it to Antoine. Something or someone pushed her into the corridor causing her to drop her phone. The door slammed behind her and Sophie was drawn towards the other end.

“No no no no. Let me out! Let me go! Please let me go! Alicia! Anyone! Get me out of here, please!”

On the other side of the storage door, Sophie’s phone rested on the floor. The screen shifted as a call entered, the name “ANTOINE” appeared on the screen. The phone buzzed in the still empty museum.

[pls-let-me-out]

The Selection

For thirthy-five youngers, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince William.

But for Niccolò Jackson, formerly di Angelo, being Selected is a nightmare. It means leaving his home to enter a fierce competition for a crown he doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. Especially when he knows that his family has rebel affiliations. Just one slip as he talks of them, and he will be executed for treason. So, when he is chosen to participate, he has a simple plan: get in, don’t do absolutely anything to attract the Prince’s attention, and be sent home after the first week.

Of course, things start going down-hill since the first day.

 After saying good-bye to his younger sister Hazel, with the promise of writing, the last thing Nico wants to do is socializing with the other suitors. Not only would it be absolutely tiring, but he also finds it useless, as they are meant to be competitors for the same prize. None of them will cultivate any long-lasting relationship. Not that the others are too heartbroken to see him disappear, they have been eyeing him weirdly since he first set foot down the plane. He isn’t the one from the lowest cast, but most of the others are from the higher ones.

Nico is a Six, or has been so for the last few years. It’s the cast of workers. He doesn’t know how much of a background-check they’ve done at the Palace, how much the Prince actually knows about him. However, it has taken Nico exactly a look at the other two suitors from the lower castes (Elise, a Seven, a manual laborer; James, a fellow Six) to know that they are the charity cases. Every time a Selection is held, people from all castes (except Eights) are brought to the Palace, but it’s always clear that they won’t stay for long. They are often ignored by the other suitors and the Royals. It’s fine by Nico. He will be paid for staying a week.

The gardens are at least pretty. Nico has to admit as much. There’s a maze somewhere, which he doesn’t want to see even from afar, and old statues in white marble are scattered around. If Hazel were here, she would love the place. Nico finds it a bit overboard. There’s a golden plaque on the ground. Nico bends to read the descriptions.

“Forgive me,” someone says, and Nico almost jumps out of his skin. “Are you lost, sir?”

Nico turns around, hiding the cigarette behind himself. Useless, since it just makes the smoke come from behind him. The person he comes face to face with has widened blue eyes. Oh shit.

So much for not being noticed, Nico thinks. In complete silence, he stares at the Prince, and the Prince stares right back at him. Nico hopes that, if he gets away from the situation at hand quickly enough, the Prince will forget his face. Poor people probably look all the same to pricks like him, anyway.

“Hey!” The Prince exclaims, and a smile brightens his features. “You are one of the suitors, aren’t you? I’m Prince William, it’s nice to meet you.”

Prince William extends a hand, and Nico has to switch the cigarette in the other hand to shake it.

“Niccolò Jackson,” Nico says. Should he say that it’s nice to meet him? How is he supposed to know how to greet a Prince? He lets go of the Prince’s hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” the Prince continues. “However, shouldn’t you be socializing with the other suitors?”

Nico sighs. “It’s not really my scene. Sorry.” He shrugs.

“Oh.” The Prince rubs the back of his neck, looking around uncomfortably.

“You don’t have to stay,” Nico says. He craves peace and quiet, and he can’t get it when the whole reason he has been taken away from the family in the first place is right in front of him. “You can just go. I’m sure you have very important things to do.”

“I do, as a matter of fact. Greeting every suitor, for example.”

“Consider me greeted.” Nico nods one last time at the Prince, before giving him his back and inhaling the smoke of his cigarette. He really hopes they aren’t being filmed right now, or Sally will kick his ass once he gets home.

“I – you shouldn’t be smoking,” the Prince continues.

“Will you put me in jail if I do?”

The Prince seems even more taken aback, and Nico is starting to feel impatient. He wants to go home and sleep for the next few years, but he can’t, because of course he just had to be one of thirty-five idiots sorted from the whole kingdom. That’s just the kind of luck that follows him around these days.

“Well?” Nico asks again. “Will you put me in jail?”

“Of course no! But it’s bad for-”

“Bad for me, so mind your own business.”

And with that, Nico stomps away. They won’t even notice I’m there, Nico told Hazel before leaving, when she was still in bed with her hair wrapped in her scarf. I’ll be a shadow. I’ll sneak something out of the Palace for you, though. She laughed, until her lungs started burning again, and she got cut off by a heavy round of coughs.

 Nico shares his suite with a guy named something he can’t pronounce. He’s a Two, an actor. He informs Nico of that himself, and also asks whether Nico wants an autograph. It’s almost heartbreaking, how Nico has to inform him that he has never seen any of his movies.

“It must be such an upgrade for you,” the guy continues, from where he is perched on the sofa, watching him unpack through the open door of the bedroom. “Passing from being a Six to a Three. You know you will be a Three when this is all over, don’t you? Of course I will remain a Two, unless the Prince chooses me. Then I’d be a One. Don’t you find it so-?”

Nico doesn’t hear the rest. He closes the door, muttering something about taking a bath. He just sits on the bed, and lets the hours pass. He doesn’t get out of his room until it’s dinner time, when they are brought food into the suite. Actor-boy tells him that he will be dining with the girls in the next suite, and leaves Nico behind.

 The following day the suitors have breakfast together. Only one place is left vacant at the table, by the time food arrives.

“Is it for the Prince?” The girl next to him asks another. “Should we wait for him?”

The other shakes her head. “Oh, no. It’s for Drew Tanaka. She will be having breakfast with her family, though.”

Nico furrows his eyebrows, sipping his coffee quietly. Shouldn’t that not be allowed? They can keep their phones and contact their families, also post on social media, but they shouldn’t be traveling home. And does she intend on traveling home every day?

“Her father’s a lord,” the second girl responds. “Her family lives here.” She snorts. “Didn’t you research anything about the other suitors?”

“I didn’t think it was allowed.”

“And it isn’t,” a third girl says. She sighs. “Honestly. Just don’t talk about breaking the rules so openly at the breakfast table. You don’t even know who is listening.”

Nico feels her eyes on his face, but he doesn’t look up from his coffee. Once again, he wishes he were in his own home, even if it means having to deal with Percy and his obnoxiousness. Maybe he can stay just for a few days, thinking better about it.

When breakfast is over, they are brought to a circular room. The smell of flowers in there is almost nauseating, and Nico wishes he could open the windows. But Jasmine – the woman who showed them around yesterday – is already giving him weird looks. If he were to step closer to the window, she would probably think him in the middle of a robbery of windows. So he walks around the room while he waits for his turn, stopping every once in a while to admire the paintings on the walls.

“You aren’t a Five, are you?”

Nico almost jumps out of his skin. Again. This time at least it isn’t the Prince in front of him, but the third girl from the breakfast table. Nico shakes his head.

“Six,” he says. “But not only Fives can watch art, you know.”

“I guess,” she responds, shrugging a bare shoulder. The girls are wearing elegant dresses, and hers has a particularly large gown. Nico is in a suit, which he looks like an idiot in. “I’m Lou Ellen, Two.”

“Niccolò Jackson,” Nico says. “Six.”

“You already said that.”

Nico shrugs, without anything left to say. He turns back to the painting.

“You don’t look particularly happy to be here,” she continues. “Don’t you want to woo Will?”

Nico turns back to her. “Who’s Will?”

“Prince William.” She doesn’t hide a smile. “He’s a friend of mine. So, are you going to woo him?”

“That’s just the least my charming personality can do,” Nico replies. There’s a smudge of something in the corner of the painting, which is in equal measure disgusting for the viewers and horrifically disrespectful to the artist.

Lou Ellen laughs. “I guess so. Why are you here if you don’t think you can woo him?”

Nico shrugs. “Aren’t they paying us?”

“Chapeau,” Lou Ellen concedes. She takes a deep breath. “You don’t seem very interested in making friends.”

“That’s because we won’t be friends for long. Ten go away after this first week, or fifteen, I didn’t really read all that well. After that, everyone who has stayed will try their best to remain again, beat the others somehow. At some point, people will just be stabbing each other in the back.”

“Will you?”

Nico scoffs. “I won’t stay that long. Me, the other Six, and the girl from Seven. We are the three everyone is certain will leave after this week. We are placeholders.”

Lou Ellen is called in next. They’re going by order of the castes, so Nico is the third-last to go in. He finds the Prince seated at the round table, the breeze entering from the window is ruffling his blond hair. His lips are already pulled in a smile when Nico enters. It makes him shiver.

���Mr. Jackson,” the Prince says. “It’s very nice to see you again.”

The Prince gestures to the enormous teapot and the two empty mugs. There are also many types of sweets, and the lemon-cake Hazel likes so much. Just thinking of her has nostalgia blossom in Nico’s chest, and they have only been apart for a day.

“Are you glaring at the lemon cake?” The Prince asks.

Nico startles. He quickly sits at the free chair. “No.”

“Are you allergic?”

“No.” Nico clears his throat.

“May I offer you some tea?”

“I really despise tea,” Nico replies. He crosses his arms on the chest, leaning back. The Prince pours some for himself. “Also, isn’t it your thirty-third cup?”

The Prince smiles. “Yup. Believe it or not, there are people who enjoy a good cup of tea.”

“I can believe that, but thirty-three in a morning is a bit of a stretch. Won’t you get indigestion or something?”

“Is that a threat?”

“From the one who thought that it would be alright to let you drink thirty-three cups of tea in a morning, maybe,” Nico replies. He grins. “Not for the poor soul who is just the witness. Should I tell the thirty-fifth to let you take a toilet break?”

The Prince laughs. “I really hope you know we are being filmed, and this is a live-stream.”

Nico taps his foot on the ground. He isn’t used to being on camera anymore, although Hazel often posts short videos in which he also appears on her profiles on social media. He doesn’t have to talk in those, though.

“You really know how to put people at ease,” Nico comments. “What are you going to tell me next, that your parents are watching in the next room, ready to intervene if I ask you too much about your toilet habits?”

“They only intervene if you are unreasonably sarcastic.”

“That’s a very charming and fancy way of telling me to shut up.”

“Oh dear – tell me you aren’t one of those eat the royal folks.”

“Didn’t you run a background check on me or something?”

“Well, yes, but I wasn’t shown any of that,” the Prince admits. He shrugs. “So, uh. I don’t know much about you.”

Nico nods, and stares at the table. It’s covered by a really horrible, red and golden tablecloth. It’s exactly the type of thing Nico should have expected to find in the Palace.

“Cool,” Nico says.

“What’s cool?”

Not this tablecloth. He doesn’t say that. “Not much.”

The Prince nods. “Alright.” He clears his throat.

There’s a long, awkward silence. Nico should deal better with awkward, really. That’s all conversations ever are with him. There are stilted words, long, stretching silences. He wishes the ground would open under him.

“How much longer do I have to stay?” Nico finally asks.

“Where?”

In this hellish hole. “Here. Now. In the tea-room, I mean.”

“We should go for a walk,” the Prince says.

“Not together, right?”

“Ah.”

“I mean, no offense, but this is frankly embarrassing,” Nico says. He leans forward in his seat. “I just really need a cigarette.”

“I’ve never smoked one.”

“I really hope you aren’t trying to get one of mine.”

“I was just trying to make conversation.”

And the Prince makes a strange kind of puppy eyes, which Nico has only ever seen Hazel make. And Percy, occasionally, but his just annoy Nico to an unbelievable level.

“So, what do you do in your free-time?” Nico blurts out, hoping to erase the Prince’s eyes.

“Oh, I study,” the Prince says. “I really enjoy reading, and learning in general. I particularly enjoy Philosophy, which I usually study on my own. I have tutors, of course. Although at the moment I am having some problems with Physics. I have also tried studying French a couple of years back, but I wasn’t really good at that. It was just so horrible.”

“Learning French sucks,” Nico concedes, thinking back to his own struggles with the language. “But not as much as learning Latin.”

“You know Latin?”

Nico shrugs. He shouldn’t have said that, should he? The Prince has already said that he doesn’t know much of his background, so maybe he also doesn’t know that Nico hasn’t always been a Six. Hell, he wasn’t even always called Niccolò Jackson.

“I know Ancient Greek.”

Nico nods. “Sounds fancy.” He doesn’t say that he knows that, too.

The Prince almost seems to be having problems controlling all his energy. His finger curl and uncurl around the armrests of the chair. His gaze shifts more than once to the windows and the gardens. When Nico follows his eyes, he doesn’t see anything, though.

A bell rings, startling the Prince out of his reverie.

“It seems that our time is up,” the Prince says.

The Prince stands, and Nico does the same, giving him an even-more-than-awkward nod, and turning to leave.

“It was really nice meeting you!” The Prince continues, when Nico’s hand is already on the doorknob.

Nico turns back, to give him a tight-lipped smile, catching the Prince empty the mug of tea out of the window. It startles a laugh out of him. The Prince turns, his eyes widened at having been caught in the act. His cheeks dust in red, and it only makes Nico laugh harder.

“So you aren’t poisoning yourself with thirty-five cups of tea, only the soil outside,” he says. “Good to know.”

“It’s considered polite to offer people tea,” the Prince replies smoothly.

Nico’s smile tightens. “Well, let me tell you, Your Highness, maybe the Twos, Threes, maybe even Fours or Fives, care about drinking tea and making small talk. Sixes and Sevens? We don’t really care whether you stuff yourself in tea and lemon cakes. Actually, most people from home would probably much rather you not waste so much food when everyone has already been served plentiful breakfast.” Nico makes a mocking wave with his hand. “With your gracious permission.”

He doesn’t slam the door behind himself, even if his cheeks are red and his ears ring. Sally should be proud of him, honestly.

[btschooseafic]

Hey you, what’s your dream?

Pairing: platonic!oc x ot7

Details: manager!oc, predebut/idolverse, partial BTS World!verse

Summary: The Bangtan lineup is finalized. Aviva gets a promotion.

Warnings: This is a fictional story based on real events. The characters presented here are not the same as their real life counterparts. [Masterlist]

Track 8: The Final Lineup

 Dream Team - Niykee Heaton

 “Stand up if you fucking with the underdogs

Dream team, if you're new, come and fuck with us”

 September 2012

“Namjoon-ah! Namjoon-ah! Namjoon-ah!” Aviva said, her shoes squeaking as she turned the corner running towards him. A few doors opened as she ran, staff and trainees muttering curiously.

The studio door popped open. Aviva jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting hit in the face. “What? Aviva-yah?” He looked over her shoulder at the others eyeing them and pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind them. “What’s going on, is everything okay?”

“Sort of? I don’t know…” She took a deep breath. “Listen, I’ve been promoted—“

“That’s great news!” Namjoon said, pulling her into a hug.

“Namjoon!” She squeaked into his chest, pulling at the back of his shirt.

“What?” He pulled away from her slightly, his arms still around her.

“This is serious!” She said.

Namjoon blinked. “Okay… But isn’t it a good thing? Why do you seem so scared?”

Aviva gripped tighter at his shirt. “I’m the General Manager of BTS…” she said, so quietly he almost didn’t hear her.

“What?” He stared at her.

“What? What?” She mocked him, slipping out from his arms and crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “Is that all you can say?” She ran her hand through her hair. “I mean, I was shocked too. I’m still shocked… apparently Bang-PD has been planning this from the start? That’s why he kept transferring me around to the different managing departments, to get varied experience. And apparently all those sunbaenims reported that I’d done well…”

Slowly, a smile spread over his face.

“Siljangnim.”

“What? No—“ She hit him on the arm. “Namjoon, don’t address me so formally, I’m your age, you’re my friend.”

“Yeah, and I’m happy for my friend!” Namjoon said, catching her hand and squeezing it in his. “This is great news! You’ve been part of this from the start, now it’s just a little more official.”

First things first, Aviva gathered all the members in the conference room. They sat at the table, staring around at each other.

Aviva was staring at Jin and Jimin, who were eating a giant lollipop and a popsicle, respectively. She wondered if they were nervous eating. She wondered if they could find her something sweet to eat. She felt stiff as a board. No one was saying anything, it was so awkward!

“So…” Taehyung said slowly. “When are we eating lunch?” Aviva’s eyes lit up.

“That’s it!” She pulled out her wallet. “I have a company card, let’s treat ourselves for making it to the final lineup!” The boys all cheered. Yoongi snorted.

“You know, it’s cute when you get excited,” he said quietly as they left the room. She blinked at him, her face flushing. He just laughed and kept walking, his hands in his pockets. She shook her head.

“Okay,” Aviva said as Jin poked at the meat sizzling at the center of the table, the rest of the boys watching in anticipation. “I know we all know each other, but maybe we should start with introductions to make it official. Seokjin-ssi, you can start first since you are the oldest member—”

“Eh? Why are you using such formal speech? And just call me Jin-oppa as usual, Aviva-yah,” Jin said. “Anyway, I want to talk about the group name first.”

“I like it!” Jimin said.

“Yeah, whatever Jiminie said,” Taehyung said, clearly not really paying attention.

“Hmm.” Hoseok hummed uncertainly. “It could be better.”

“I’m just glad it’s not Bullet Proof Boyz anymore,” Namjoon muttered.

“Ah!” Hoseok pointed at him. “You’re right. BTS is way better than BPB.”

Jimin’s nose wrinkled. “BPB?” He repeated. “That’s not cute at all.”

“I just don’t get Bangtan Sonyeodan,” Jin continued. “Why are we boy scouts?”

“Cause boyz with a z is outdated?” Aviva wondered.

“Hm. I thought Bang-PD just liked the rhythm of it. Like, bah-bah, bah-bah-bah,” Yoongi counted out, tapping his finger on the table. “It’s not bad.”

“Hmmm, well, alliterative names are popular at the moment. Also names that can be shortened into something cute and chant-able,” Aviva said, flipping through her notebook.

“Chant-able?” Yoongi repeated, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Give her a break, Korean’s not her first language,” Namjoon said, though he was smirking a bit as well. She shushed them.

“But I always liked the bulletproof part,” Hoseok admitted. “Like we’re superheroes, or something.”

“Ah.” Namjoon nodded, rubbing his chin. “What was it he said? Something like ‘wanting us to be a shield against the oppression that youth is facing.’?”

“Something like that,” Aviva agreed.

“When’s it gonna be done?” Yoongi asked Jin. Aviva sighed.

“Guys, we didn’t even start the introductions!”

“Like you said, we all know each other,” Yoongi said, unconcerned. “Maybe you’d better go check on Jungkookie instead.”

“What?” She looked at Jungkook’s empty seat, just realizing he was missing.

“I think I saw him leave a little while ago,” Taehyung said. “But I was distracted by the meat, so I wasn’t really paying attention.”

“Meat,” Yoongi agreed, making grabby hands at the food. Aviva sighed.

“I’ll go look for him.”

“Try that way, manager-noona,” Taehyung said, pointing.

“Jungkook-ah?” Aviva called out, looking around.

“…Over here,” a voice called back quietly. Aviva stepped through an open door to find Jungkook sitting on a staircase, his head in his hands.

“What are you doing over here?” Aviva said. “We’ve all been looking for you.”

Jungkook muttered something, avoiding eye contact and hugging his arms around himself. “I’m sorry… It was too awkward…”

Aviva sat down next to him. “Dude, you’re practically dating my younger sister, I would say we’re way past awkward,” she thought. He laughed nervously. “Anyway, you’ve known these guys for a while, why is it different now?”

Jungkook looked at her. “Cause it’s official? I don’t know.” He shrugged. Aviva ruffled his hair. He put his hands on his hips. “Please don’t treat me like a child.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to comfort you somehow.” Jungkook sighed. “How about you come back and eat? That might make you feel a little better.”

Back at the table, the conversation finally started to flow. Jimin and Jungkook spoke about growing up in Busan, while Namjoon and Yoongi were talking about an old Hip Hop site they both used to use, and friends from the old days.

“Oh, how’s Soonyoung-noona?” Hoseok asked Aviva. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She’s been hired by Big Hit as producer,” Aviva told him, smiling proudly.

“What?” Yoongi said sharply. “But I asked Bang-PD-nim recently, and he said they weren’t looking for any producers at the moment.”

“Aw, hyung, were you gonna ditch us for producing?” Hoseok said.

“In a heartbeat,” Yoongi deadpanned.

Aviva snorted.

“They aren’t looking for any more producers,” she elaborated. “Soonyoung asked him months ago, but I think part of the reason they got in was as a diversity hire, since the production team is all men except for her.”

Yoongi groaned.

“I still think it’s weird they keep the girls and boys trainees so separate,” Namjoon thought. “And that they discourage dating—do you know what one of the most popular song topics is?”

“Love?” Taehyung suggested, making a little heart with his fingers. Namjoon nodded, pointing at him.

“Exactly. How are we supposed to be able to write love songs if they don’t let us fall in love?”

“Then write about that,” Aviva suggested. “Use what you’ve got.” Namjoon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Aviva looked at her phone. “Anyway, back to the group name, we can’t change it, cause I’ve just got an email that our social media platforms have been registered under that name.”

[mercheswan]

Steospooktober - Ouija

Also in - AO3

Stiles arrives to the Raeken's Manor to try to help the Ghost who lives there to find peace.

The Ghost, Tara, wants to talk with her little brother. Theodore Raeken.

Why is Tara pointing out how cute Stiles is to her brother?!

Stiles liked to call himself a supernatural investigator. One of his favourite things to do was visiting, allegued Haunted Houses. That was how he ended up in the Raeken Manor. 

The Raeken’s were a wealthy family, the mansion was secluded and it covered an extensive land. 

Stiles heard that the ghost haunting the house was female, and thanks to Stiles research he was pretty sure that it was the ghost of Tara Raeken. The Raeken’s had two children, Tara the oldest and Theodore the youngest. Tara died in her teens, apparently from an accident as no one was prosecuted for it. 

Stiles accommodated himself in one of the rooms of the House, a teenage boy’s room which probably belonged to Theodore. He totally broke into the House and he was hoping not to have problems with the police and/or the ghost. The house was basically intact, the Raeken’s must have fled the place to forget about the death of their daughter. 

On the first night Stiles tried to contact the ghost, but there was no luck, still Stiles did believe that someone else was with him in the house, he got pretty good at feeling the supernatural. 

It was on the fourth night that the ouija board he used moved. The ghost was indeed the one of Tara Raeken and she seemed to like him which made things much more easy. After several days of conversation Stiles figured out that, what Tara wanted was to speak with Theo, her brother. 

“Well let me see... oh here Theo Raeken, he has a Facebook page. Oh he is a resident in a hospital and... oh he is hot” Stiles said looking at Theo’s profile picture. Stiles could swear that he felt a pat in his shoulder. “Got it, not ogling the baby bro” Stiles snorted. 

Stiles wasn’t sure how to make Theo come to the house so he could speak with his dead sister. He decided that he could pretend to buy the house, it has been on sale for many years but no one has ever bought it because of the ghost. 

Stiles met with Theo at the entrance, the Raeken man seemed hesitant to enter, he must have not visited his old house in a very long time. 

“Mr Stilinski?” Theo asked. 

“Call me Stiles” Stiles said shaking Theo’s hand. 

“You’re not what I expected” Theo commented. Stiles raised his eyebrow amused. “You’re young and you look normal...” Theo added

Stiles chuckled. “Thanks?” 

“I mean, I’ve never managed to sell the house cause all the people who claim to be interested are weirdos thinking that it’s haunted or something” Theo said. 

“You don’t believe in ghosts Mr Raeken?” Stiles asked. That would make things a little bit more complicated. 

“Theo please. I guess I’m a man of science” Theo responded. 

“They say the ghost could be your sister's?” Stiles said nonchalantly. But he clearly made a mistake, Theo became rigid and looked at him with an unfriendly expression. Stiles kept messing up. 

“My sister did not die in here” Was all Theo said. 

Stiles thought that the only way to make Theo believe would be to be direct with his approach. 

“Look, I’m actually a supernatural investigator...” Stiles muttered. 

Theo snorted angrily. “Of course you’re one of the freaks. I would have to ask you to leave Mr Stilinski” Theo said coldly. 

“Wait... you... please, I’ve been talking to your sister...” Stiles explained.

“You’ve been what!? Oh god you’re crazy, I’m calling the cops” Theo declared reaching out to his phone. Stiles made a movement to try and stop him and at moment a vase broke, starling the two men. 

“I told you, she wants to speak with you, she’s always asking about you” Stiles insisted. 

“Did you put a trap in there? Why are you doing this! Let the dead be dead!” Theo shouted furiously. 

“I’m trying to help her! And you! She’s obviously has something she needs to tell you! That’s why she is trapped here!” Stiles shouted back. 

“She would not be wanting to speak with me. IT’S MY FAULT SHE IS DEAD!” Theo stormed off the house. 

Stiles stood watching at the open door to which Theo exited. The room’s wood floor made a noise. Tara. Stiles ran to catch Theo. 

“Theo wait. Wait!!” Stiles exclaimed. “Please you have to believe me, I’m not doing this to open old scars or to create drama, I really want to help her, Tara it’s been nice, believe me, I’ve deal with much more horrible ghost that her. I’m sure she doesn’t blame you for whatever happened, she wants to say good bye” Stiles said meeting Theo’s wet eyes. 

Theo huffed turning around but not moving away from Stiles. “It was my fault... she... she didn’t die here, she died in a lake in the woods, we were playing, I left, I stopped looking for her, and she was hurt and couldn’t get out...” Theo cried. So it was an accident, but It could have been prevented.

Stiles raised his hand and hesitantly placed it on Theo’s shoulders. “Come with me, we can talk to her through my ouija” Stiles declared. 

“You’re just a charlatan trying to get some money, I’ll give it to you, but stop with the nonsense” Theo muttered still crying. 

“I don’t want your money. I swear” Stiles claimed taking Theo’s hand. 

Theo reluctantly flowed Stiles. Stiles set the Ouija board. “Do you know the rules?” Stiles asked. Theo nodded.

“Hello Tara” Stiles said to the air. 

The ouija moved. 

“You’re moving it” Theo accused. 

“No I’m not” Stiles assured. 

Theo. The words in the ouija showed. Dreadful brother. Was the next world it showed. Stiles felt cold suddenly. He really thought that Tara wanted to say goodbye to his brother, not to insult him, Stiles did not want to see Theo suffer more.

Theo exhaled and Stiles saw that he had a smile on his face. Weird. “How did you know about that?” Theo asked meeting Stiles eyes. 

“What?” Stiles questioned.

“She used to call me that, to her friends, pretending I was a nuisance” Theo huffed. “Is it really you Tara?” Theo asked.

Yes. The ouija answered. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” Theo cried. 

I love you. It wasn’t your fault. You good doctor. 

Theo laughed. “How does she know that I’m a doctor?” 

“Well... I-I might have been staying here for the last couple of weeks...” Stiles admitted. Theo raised his eyebrows in shocked expression. “I’ll pay for the electricity and the water! I wanted to see see what was the problem and why she stayed linked to the house” Stiles said. 

Stiles nice. 

“Oh thank you sweetheart” Stiles laughed.

He cute. 

Theo snorted. “Are you seriously playing matchmaker right now?!” 

“Oh you like boys too...” Stiles muttered. Theo smirked amused. Stiles refused to blush. 

The fire of candles on the table grew stronger. It was getting hotter and not only because of the fire, Stiles was suddenly very aware of Theo’s hands touching his. 

I have to go. The Ouija said. 

“Wait! No, I want to talk more! We waisted so much time!” Theo complained. 

You good. I’m free. 

“Tara...” Theo whispered. 

Stiles placed his hands on top of Theo squeezing them, the later met his eyes. “It’s time to say goodbye” Stiles smiled kindly. 

Theo nodded at Stiles and they both moved the their hands to the goodbye words written in the ouija board. Stiles could swear that he listed a soft female voice whispering goodbye, and just like that, the Haunted House was no more.

Stiles was relieved that in the end all Tara wanted was to help his brother deal with the guilt inside him. 

“You can’t contact her again, can you?” Theo asked his eyes covered in tears.

Stiles denied with his head. “She’s gone” Stiles said. Theo covered his face with his hands. “Theo… she is where she is supposed to be, whatever that is…” Stiles tried to console Theo. 

Theo hugged Stiles placing his chin on the supernatural investigador’s shoulder. Stiles caught off guard by Theo’s sudden need of physical contact, but he hugged the doctor back.

“Thank you” Theo whispered into Stiles’s neck.

“What for?” Stiles questioned in a hushed voice. Theo’s closeness was begining to be distracting.

“For insisting although I called you a freak and a fraud” Theo explained.

Stiles chuckled. “Not the first one” Theo snorted too. “Are you okay? I know saying goodbye it’s hard, but she really loved you, and she was really proud of what you achieved” Stiles said.

“You investigated me for her?” Theo smirked.

“O-only stuff that you can find online… Like where did you study, where you lived, what were you doing for a living… I checked your social media” Stiles admitted.

“I’m clearly in disadvanyage here, I know nothing about you except for the fact that you have a very peculiar occupation, that you are very persistant and that my sister liked you” Theo chuckled. Stiles huffed a laugh. After a few seconds in which Theo looked at Stiles with a curious glare like he wanted to figure out Stiles, he asked “You’re not buying the house, aren’t you?” Stiles laughed out loud and Theo smiled, Stiles mouthed no between laughs. “I guess I’ll keep it for now” Theo said.

“It’s a nice house” Stiles agreed.

“If you’re not getting the house I can’t let you go empty handed” Theo stated. Stiles looked at him with a confused and amused expression. “How about dinner?” Theo proposed. Oh. Was he flirting? “And you can tell me a little bit more about my sister…” Theo added. Oh. he is not flirting. “And what you thought about my gym pics” Theo grinned seductively. Oh.

“S-sure!” Stiles agreed.

Sometimes there was good in goodbyes. Wherever Tara was she surely was happy about his little brothers choice of boyfriend. 

[italian-pastry]

Rambling about the Family Tree

Here’s the Family Tree!

And under the cut is all my rambling about designs or whatever! (this ended up not being about designs too much. Hm)

OK WE NEED TO BE ORGANIZED HERE I’ll be going generation by generation, from left to right. Everyone will be here, just for organization sake. Of course, some people are more important than others, so be warned for long rambles (in generation 2 especially) OK LET’S GO

Generation 1: Iida Parents: Idk man. They don’t even have designs. They’re probably cool Enji: He doesn’t deserve to be drawn well :) That and he doesn’t deserve to meet his grandkids :)) Rei: She deserves to be pretty and be a cool grandma. Her grandkids adore her. Hisashi: This mans is kinda wildin’ in my universe. Whatever he’s up to, it’s not being Inko’s husband. Inko: Soft grandma!!!!! We love her and she loves her grandkids and husband. Toshinori: He deserves to retire and settle down and be happy with his family and be adored by his gandkids. Emiko’s Father: He and Yukie got married (and Yukie got pregnant with Emiko) almost right out of highschool. He expected Yukie to give up her career to care for Emiko, but that didn’t gel with Yukie, so she divorced him when Emiko was little. Idk where he is now. Yukie: We love her. I love her. She’s super sweet and super cool and super short and that’s all you need to know. She also looks a lot like Eijirou (or, at least I tried to make them look similar) Crimson Riot: I subscribe to the Dad-Crimson theory, so here we are. After Emiko started elementary school, Yukie tried to get her career back together, but after meeting and having a thing with Crimson Riot and getting pregnant with Eijirou, she gave it up to be able to care for her kids. Nadie: An American journalist who moved to Japan for work! She and Yukie met and got married when Eijirou was 9-10. She has 3 kids from her previous marriage (that ended in disaster). Christopher Skyline: (Yes, THE Christopher “Captain Celebrity” Skyline. We’re just ignoring the Vigilantes canon over here.) Nadie’s ex-husband and the father of Hanae, Etsuko, and Suzume. He was a serial cheater, and the kids was a desperate attempt made by Nadie to try to make him stick around. Sperm Donor: Just a sperm donor. Mitsuki: Still looks SUPER young. She doesn’t like it when her grandkids call her “Grandma” or anything like that because it makes her feel old. Masaru: Loves being called “Grandpa” or whatever by his grandkids. He loves them, and likes to visit them a lot. Mika: Still quiet and chill. We love her. Kyotoku: Still loud and fun. He’s a cool dude, and he got them smile lines Beru: Her head is weird. I’m sorry queen, but it freaked me out. Ganma: He freaked me out even more. He was my least favorite to draw. Sorry bro. Uraraka’s Parents: Her dad reminds me of my dad (vaguely). They don’t have names, but they’re cool. Also, Ochako was able to get them a nice house, so good for them. Shouta: Just go look at @nartothelar‘s Silver Fox AU that was my main inspiration. He a grumpy old man who only likes his kids and grandkids and family. Hizashi: Same thing as Shouto. I like to think that all of his hair has grayed, so his hair is like Platinum Blond now.

Ok! Gen 1 done, and it was mostly me rambling about Eijirou’s parents. Maybe one day I’ll dedicate a post to them.

Generation 2: Tenya: I had him grow his hair out because 1.) I thought it was cute and 2.) it represents him loosening up a lil�� after school. He wears contacts during Hero Work, but wears his glasses casually. Tensei: Literally just the same dude. He’s Tensei and he’s chill and he’s cool. Dabi: I gave him an eyebrow piercing and a fun new cut. (Fun fact: That’s his Fantasy AU fairstyle) Fuyumi: I hope her hair looks very Teacher-y and Motherly. I think she looks super cute. Natsuo: A simple dude. He finds a cut that works and sticks with it. Although I did give him sideburns and a lil’ touch of beard. Shouta: Instead of shaving his red side, he combs the white side over it. Also, I hc that in his left eye, he’s half blind. Izuku: Yikes. He got the wound early in his hero career. He went blind in his right eye, so he and Shouta together are like 1 and 1/4 blind. Emiko: Eijirou’s older half sister. I would say she’s Girlboss and Natsuo is Malewife, and I think that’s accurate - even if only a little. She’s a social service worker, and met Natsuo in college. I had an old design before, but I like this one A LOT more Eijirou: I am a simp for long hair Eijirou, so here we are. ALSO freckles!!!! I love freckley eijirou. Also stubly beard and cool new scar. He is very dad. Hanae: The chill little sister. Probably a lawyer or professor or something smart like that. Etsuko: The crazy sister. She works in the hero field! If as hero support or as an actual pro, idk yet! Suzume: The ex-crybaby sister. She’s prolly doing something fun and artsy. Also, HUGE demigirl vibes Kane: The energetic little brother! He has most certainly gone pro, since he’s like very early 20s now. Fun Fact!: He was 6 when Mieko was born, so a lot of people thought they were siblings. It only got worse when Akio rolled around. Katsuki: hehe Undercut Bakugou. Also, hearing aids! I put his eyebrow scar there so he and his hubby are matchy matchy. Actually, both of their scars are pretty matchy matchy.... huh. Also, I’m totally not saying he was invloved in the fight that gave Izuku his scar, definitely not. Mashirao: STOP SAYING HE’S PLAIN AND ORDINARY. HE’S BEAUTIFUL DAMMIT. Every time I draw him I think about how darn pretty he is and that he could be like a KPop star or smth Tooru: It’s tooru! Super fun lil’ lady. What a queen. Mina: Look at that kick-ass scar I gave her. It’s what she deserves. Although, that eye may be a lil fucked up. Ah well, at least it looks cool. Yuuga: LOOK AT HIS HAIR. I am so happy with how it turned out! He so pretty. He and Mina are DEFINATELY Girlboss and Malewife. Hado: Also a simple lady. Prolly also needed to stick to her brand of long hair. She still super pretty tho. Lowkey disappointed I didn’t give her the stereotypical Anime-Protag’s-Mom hairstyle Haya: Completely shaved her head, and got more piercings! Like, 100% more Punk Rock. Itsuka: FRECKLES FRECKLES FRECKLES. And short hair!!!!!! Sigh, I love her. Tetsutetsu: I tried to make him look like Ejirou, even if just the face structure. I like how his hair and scar turned out tho. What a lad. Mezo: What a cool dude! Got a sick nasty scar, but covers it with his hair. I think, even with a majority of his face covered, he is still very handsome Miya: She has a name now!!!!!! What an icon. She’s a Hero Costume Designer, and she has a spider mutation. Wolf Spider, specifically (I think). She is so adorable and spunky I love her. Momo: Short hair!!!!!!1!1!1!11! God, what a goddess. We love her so so so much. Also, she gets to have a cool scar, too Kyouka: While she’s in UA, she straightens her hair, but after she graduates, she doesn’t care abt it. Momo rlly likes it curly. She also has that thing going on where you shave all of ur head except for ur bangs (and the side thingies). Oh! And eyebrow piercing! Satsuki: Pretty! Also, I made sure that all the girls who would’ve been 6-7 during the current time all had ponytails now (Satsuki, Etsuko, and Eri) Samidare: He’s super cool, and I decided to give him long hair to make him cooler. Also, Demiboy vibes, anyone? Tsuyu: A queen!!!!!! I love her so much!!!!!!! When her hair is down, it reaches to her shoulder blades. Ochako: SHE LOOKS SO BADASS I AM SO HAPPY. Look at her, with those cool scars, and that cool hair! What a queen! Mirio: Classic Mirio! Tbh, idk if I’ll give Mirio his quirk back. Like a lot of the stuff in the recent arc I’ve ignored, soooo......... Tamaki: He has SO MUCH HAIR. It ridiculous. Since growing it out, he uses it to hide behind if it’s left down. So Mirio likes to do stuff with his hair and make it look cute. Nikko helps, too! Eri: A queen!!!!!!!!!! Idk if she’ll be a Pro Hero or doctor that specializes with pro heroes, but I want her to be happy and help people! Hitoshi: Hanta and Denki weaves flowers into his hair a la Rapunzel all the time. The braid is really loose and shitty a lot of the time tho. Ah well. Denki: Because I moved his black stripe to down the center of his hair, my little sister keeps calling Denki and Race Car. And I agree. He got those scars because he was able to train himself to really not fry his brain anymore, but that means if he overloads, his electricity escapes some other way, so through his ears and into his face. Hanta: That scar was very strategically places because I am a firm believe that Sero will uncannily resemble Shouta when he gets older. I hadn’t done a really good job at that tho....... hm.

Gen 2 is done!!!!!! It was my fave generation to draw UwU. I’m not sure what to say with Gen 3, since I’ve already talked about them a lot. Jeez, idk. I’ll think about something to ramble about later.

@questionableholidayreally Tozen rlly said “I am literally just vibing ;)”

[originofjaehyun]

Prelude: After Story | Part 1 | Punch

Prelude: After Story Masterlist

Word count: 2,929

Warnings: None

Part 1 | Punch

“‘Cause I’m a clean fighter.”

Next

Read Interlude: No More Drama

Tag list: @justineasian​ @elauniesdream 

“Make sure you tell him how you felt.”

The remark only received a giggle from the other party. “I’m not promising anything, Yuta. It will take time.”

Yuta took a final glance. There’s a hint of despair in the way he looked at her. “You packed everything?”

She nods. “I think so. Let me know if I left something. Well, that if you don’t mind. Else, you can throw them away.”

“Alright, I’ll let you know.” He smirked. There’s a pregnant pause before he continues. “I’ll see you when I see you, [Y/N]. Until then, please be well.”

Yuta could see she welled up, holding up her tears. He wished he could hug her and tell her that it will be fine, but that only contradicted the brave front he showed to her.

She finally waves her final goodbye, closing the door. It is a signal for Yuta to finally embrace his sadness. Legs gave in, he immediately crouched down, sighing.

“Damn, who would’ve thought I could fall for someone this much?” Brushing the hair that covers his forehead, he asked himself, with no one to answer.

Yuta walked to his bathroom, thinking that he would cool his head by taking a brisk shower. He took off his shirt, pausing in front of the sink before he entered the shower booth. He stared at his own reflection, blankly. No thoughts, head is empty. He just needs his time to process and to cope with his own heartbreak.

There are few objects that don't belong to him, and by then he noticed that she forgot to visit the bathroom when she cleared her stuff, leaving her toothbrush behind. He curled one side of his lips up, sighing regretfully before throwing the toothbrush to the trash bin nearby.

This is so I can forget about her faster.

Yuta taught to himself, before spotting another foreign item.

A pair of rose gold stud earrings. Yuta knows his pieces of jewelry because he never took off his. The simple design of the earrings is also a bit too plain for his liking, and the owner of them is no other than the person who just left this place.

He grabs it, about to throw them away. But hesitates, gripping the earrings inside his palm. 

Yuta looks at the earring once more.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the only part of you that I could keep?

–

Days pass per normal for Yuta. Except that the people around him notice that he’s anything but it.

“You alright, bro?” Doyoung tapped his shoulder, waking Yuta from his daze.

“What do you mean?” Yuta leans to the wall, inhaling his IQOS.

“I don’t know man, you’re off these days.” Doyoung took a sip of his grapefruit drink. “It seems like you have something on your mind. Have you talked to [Y/N] about it?”

Ah, so she hasn’t told him.

Yuta thought to himself, not responding to Doyoung as he drew out a translucent smoke.

“She might not be the best at giving advice, cause even she had a hard time figuring out herself. But I promise she’s a good listener, I’m sure she'll be able to give you some sort of comfort.”

Yuta just nodded to his statement.

He nodded because he himself knew how comfortable it was to be around her.

–

Yuta holds grudges. It was hard for him to admit it at first, but eventually, he accepts the annoying part of his personality. Fast forward five months after she left, Yuta still refused to go out. This clearly weirded everyone out since Yuta is the social butterfly. For him to reject their offer to visit the bar after office makes the lines on their foreheads more apparent than ever.

Yuta just needs some time, alone. He doesn’t know for how long, but what he knows is that he’s just not in the mood to put on a fake happy smile when his own heart is like a shipwreck.

So he spent another night in at his apartment, opening a bottle of rye whiskey. Truthfully, Yuta prefers sweeter booze –something that is more fruity like his usual Cassis Orange. However these days, those cocktails couldn’t shred his woe. He needs something stronger. He needs to be able to feel the burning sensation on his chest, replacing the pain of his heartache.

He went off to flump into the leather couch, putting down the glass of whiskey. He grabs the remote, browsing through the Netflix catalog. He stops, at one move named Kimi no Na wa.

He probably already watched this for million times. He loves this movie. Not only because of the well-executed animation and storyline, but it also reminds him of home.

And it painfully reminds him of her too. How she loved anime, and how her eyes glimmered every time Yuta told her a fun fact about Japanese culture.

“Did you know there’s a trivia behind her name?”

“Who? Mitsuha?”

Yuta nods, “Her name means three leaves. Funnily enough, it started from her grandmother, Hitoha which means one leaf. And you guessed it, her mother’s name, Futaba, means two leaves and her little sister, Yotsuha, is four leaves.”

“Whoa!” She shrieked excitedly. “That’s cute!”

Yuta laughed at the sight of her getting excited over something simple like this. It’s nothing much for a Japanese man like him, but for her it’s something new and Yuta finds it very adorable.

If she was still here, he would cross his arm over her shoulder. Cuddling her.

But right now, all he could do is to rest his arm on the backrest of his couch. The only warmth that he could feel is from the whiskey.

Unable to focus on the movie, so he diverted his attention to see his phone.

Oh, how he regrets it.

He saw her social. She was with a group of people that Yuta knew from that party. But his finger reactively clicked on one of the tagged name’s profiles.

Just to see him posted a photo of her. It was a candid photo, the person captured in the picture seemingly asked the photographer to stop. Her hands were blurred because she attempted to cover her mouth.

But she wasn’t quick enough to stop the photographer from capturing her smile. A smile so bright Yuta knew he wasn’t able to create. A smile that Yuta definitely misses.

The agony he felt amplified once he read the capture below the photo.

“I was yours, before I knew; and you have always been mine too.”

Yuta rolled his tongue over his front teeth. He knew he shouldn’t feel this way, not when he is the one who let her go. But he is pissed, throwing his phone away. 

He moves his palms to cover his eyes, resting his head. He lets out another sigh, but no matter how much he exhaled, no matter how much alcohol he drank, the rain cloud seems to follow him around.

“Fuck this shit.” He hummed to himself.

He took his phone again, this time opening a different app. It took him a bit longer this time, but at least whatever he was doing, managed to put a smile on Yuta’s face.

He then proceeds to dial a number.

“Hello, Doy? I’ll take a week off. I’m flying to Osaka tomorrow.”

–

“How could you come back home without noticing us?”

Yuta puts down his bag, worn out from the flight, “I can’t even visit my own home now, Nee-san?”

“What I meant was,” His sister crossed his arm. “Last time you visited Osaka, you’d stay at the hotel because you wouldn’t stay long. Mostly due to your business trip. What makes you suddenly miss home?”

“I just feel like taking some days off, Nee-san.” He replied without looking at this sister, busy unpacking his stuff. “Also, Imouto has been texting me, telling me to bring her some signed goods from TVXQ.”

“Well if you said so,”  Her sister knows how stubborn Yuta is, so she decides that she won’t press him further. “Come down when you’re ready. If only you told us you were coming earlier, mom would’ve cooked us Nabe. But we don’t have the ingredients, so you have to settle with curry tonight.”

Yuta finally looked back to smile at his sister, “Curry sounds great, Nee-san.”

–

It’s great to be home, Yuta thought to himself. 

The familiar road. People talking in his mother language. Food that is catered to fit his taste buds. He loves Korea, and everything it has to offer, but nothing could replace home.

“My, Yuta is that you?!” An elderly woman called for him, snapping him from his day daze.

“Oh, Baa-chan!” Yuta subconsciously lets out his signature radiant smile. “How are you? I hope your back is fine now.”

“Oh, you’re as sweet as I could remember, Yuta!” She giggled. “You never visit your home, this Baa-chan misses you a lot, you know? I don’t know how to use… what do they call those these days? Line?”

Yuta laughed. “Yes, Line, Baa-chan.”

“Right, I can’t contact you! You should come home more often. I could write you a letter but I don’t know your address in Korea.”

“I miss you too, Baa-chan. Sorry, I promise to visit again.”

Baa-chan sells taiyaki in his neighborhood. Yuta is her regular customer, and she has witnessed how much Yuta grew from a small boy who aspires to be an Ultraman to a successful businessman he is right now. Yuta settled on the bench in front of Baa-chan’s store, filling her with the missing information pieces where Yuta finally left home for his career.

“Now take this,” She offered him a bag of taiyakis.

“Oh, no Baa-chan. Let me pay,” He rustles his pant pocket, trying to find his wallet.

“My dear Yuta!” She pushes the paper bag to him, “This is a gift from me, as a thank you for visiting this old lady. Next time, bring your friend here so they can pay instead. Baa-chan wants to see your friends, I want to make sure they are good people.”

He lets out a soft chuckle. Baa-chan is always kind, and it touches his heart. Yuta treats her like she’s her own grandmother. “I’ll note that, Baa-chan.”

He waves goodbye to her and marches his way to a nearby park. The park used to be so big for the small Yuta. He used to think it would take forever to catch a ball that flies after his friend kicked it too high. But now that he’s a full-grown man, he even wonders how the hell he was able to play soccer with his friend in this field. 

He sits down at the bench, taking a bite of the fresh taiyaki. Baa-chan’s taiyaki is the best. It might be a biased opinion, but every bite is like a memory lane for Yuta. The irreplaceable taste of childhood.

The dusk is near, and there is no child laughter at these hours since all of them have their curfews. With nothing to keep him entertained, he unlocked his phone, casually browsing through his social before pausing his munching at one post.

“Can’t believe this man asked me to spend the rest of my life with him while I’m about to throw the trash away. I hope your future daughter will experience a much more romantic proposal, you weirdo.”

Involuntarily the red bean paste from his bread squirted out, due to the fact Yuta unconsciously squeezed them. Was it out of anger? Out of disappointment? Or out of regret?

His blood is boiling, and with nobody around, nothing stops him. Yuta is usually calm, but right now he just wants to transfer the excessive anger somewhere. Heck, the tree next to him can be his punching bag.

My mom always told me to finish my meal so you’re not leaving until you eat everything.

But right now, Yuta is unable to take another bite. He even forced whatever he had left on his mouth down to his throat.

Why did I let you go?

He scoffed, mocking his own thought, “Damn, what a pathetic person you are, Yuta.”

-

Your first impression on Yuta is probably how strong his aura is. His gaze is sharp, complemented with a well-chiseled jawline. So you would never think that the same person has a sensitive soul. Ever since his trip to Japan, the Nakamato residence in Seoul is always decorated with fresh flowers, handpicked by Yuta himself. This is his way of finding peace. He always wanted to have a pet, but his busy schedule makes him unable to own one. Instead, he’s been paying more attention to greeneries in his home. He said it was a therapy for him, and having a living plant makes the place alive, so he claims.

The bell on the door jingles after Yuta pushes the door open, cueing the staff who were busy arranging a bouquet to greet him.

“Welcome to Paradise!”

Yuta nods at the staff, telling her to continue with her arrangement and let him browse the flower catalog by himself.

Soon after, the bell jingles once more —only to reveal a young man with a sparkly eyes.

“Sorry, __! Taeyong left his apron behind so I have to make a visit to Kitchen Beat first.”

The person at the counter chuckled, “Don’t sweat it, Mark. We’re not that busy today anyway.”

“Let me put my bag first, then I’ll help to cut the stems of the carnations—“ Mark’s eyes grow bigger once he sees the familiar figure. “Yuta-hyung? Ah, I mean, Sir!”

Yuta turned at the sound of his name. “Oh, if it isn’t Mark!”

“Didn’t expect you to come here, Sir.”

“You can talk to me comfortably, Mark. We’re no strangers.” Yuta smiles. “Fancy seeing you here, too. Are you part-timing here?”

Mark nods. “Other than my job as an English tutor, working here actually calms me down. Maybe the flower gives the peaceful atmosphere?”

Yuta hummed, agreeing with his statement.

“Also, I can rest a bit because working here is not as busy as working at a cafe.” Mark continues, “Though we’re going to be busy pretty soon since Jaehyun-hyung ordered so many orchids for his wedding. Man, not just any orchid! If only he knows how difficult it is to obtain—“

Mark stopped at the sight of Yuta’s awkward face.

“Shit, Mark, how could you forget that he was your Noona’s ex-lover.”

He whispered to himself, but the store was fairly quiet with only faint instrumental song in the background —enabling Yuta to listen to each of his words clearly.

Your noona.

“Mark, go change to your uniform.” A female voice breaks the tension, flinching Mark who reactively gives Yuta a deep bow afterward.

Yuta definitely needs time to process what just happened. Pressing his lips together while occasionally biting the skin.

“A cheerful young boy, isn’t he?”

Yuta woke up from his daydream following her calm voice. “Mark is energetic, and I love how positive his energy is. Though sometimes, that can cause him to be slightly dense, too.”

Yuta couldn’t help but to let a single soft chuckle.

“So please forgive him, yeah? I’m sorry I couldn’t help but to overheard your conversation. Don’t take it to the heart, Mark was probably too excited. He didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know. No offense is taken. I just need some time to digest it.”

“Take your time,” she continued with her bouquet, tying up the ribbon as the final touch. “Though, if I could suggest, I think our daffodils are very pretty today.”

“Daffodils?”

“Yes, the yellow ones on that corner,” she pointed at a bunch of yellow flowers. “I’ll help you with a bunch. It’s on a house, as an apology from making you uncomfortable just now. Are you going to put it on a vase like the usual or are you going to give it to someone?”

Yuta widened his eyes, quickly shook his head, “Oh please no need, I’m not offended by all means.”

“As the owner of this shop, I insist, Sir.”

Yuta hesitates, but eventually gives in. “The usual. Actually, a single bloom is fine. I would feel bad, you know, if you're going to give me a bunch. Business is still business after all.”

His remarks only caused the other party to scoff, “Our business is doing well, Sir. So please don’t fret on it. Anyway, it would mean a different thing if I don’t give you in a bunch.”

“Different thing?”

“Ah,” She closes her mouth with her hand. “Don’t mind too much on it.”

-

After spending the whole day outside, all Yuta needs is a refreshing shower to wash down his sweat. He placed his new floral arrangement on his dining table, before taking his shirt off when he walked towards the bathroom. He threw his shirt to the laundry bag, and unlocked his phone, ready to play his shower playlist.

Bunch of daffodils?

He suddenly remembered how the florist mentioned the different meaning of daffodils. He quickly changed the tab, typing the question on Google.

Smirk appeared on his face, after so many days shied away from the surface.

“Rebirth and new beginnings, huh?” He said to himself. “How cheeky.”

He puts down his phone on the countertop, resting his arms at the sink before looking at himself in the mirror.

Yuta is determined.

He picks up his phone once more, dialing a number.

“Doyoung, do you know the best hair salon here?”

A/N: We’re back with this!! I’m so so excited to continue this hehe~ To be honest... continuing this series gives me a lot of anxiety. What if the audience don’t like it? What if the one who loves Interlude won’t like my approach on continuing the story in Yuta’s POV? At some point it was difficult for me to write this, but as I persistently write this, it became more and more enjoyable and eventually those thoughts don’t appear as much!

Another thing to note, to prevent any confusion, the reader for Prelude will be ___ instead of the usual [Y/N]. [Y/N] belongs to Interlude! So think of her as another character for Prelude!

Also again, I’d like to remind you guys again since there’s only three additional songs, this would be a mini-series instead of a full series like Interlude. But hopefully, you would still give Prelude tons of love too!

[mrs-i-have-too-many-biases]

{1} Sorry, there goes your image >> S.C.

Scenario: *BREAKING* Youtuber couple Seo Changbin and Y/n Y/l/n are going viral! And that all because our favourite gamer girl has exposed her dark rapper boyfriend to be an actual softie! Type of content: Headcanons AU: Youtubers!AU || Dark Rapper Youtuber!Changbin || Wholesome gamer Youtuber!Reader || Tropes: Best friends to Lovers Genre: Fluff/ Humour Pairing: Seo Changbin X Female Reader Word count: 4K Special Credit: Shout out to @klynvan for helping me setting up the story

Introduction <> Next

AU Masterlist

“AAAH!”

ゞ◎Д◎ヾ

“WHAT?” Changbin yelled

As he hurried into her room

“I GOT AN ISLAND WITH PEACH TREES!” SHE SQEUALED

⊂( ・ ̫・)⊃

Whilst waving her Nintendo switch

(❀｣╹□╹)｣*･

In her best friend’s face

He sighed

And shook his head

Whilst smiling fondly

Y/n and Changbin had known each other for years

They went to school together

And people could always see

A huge aesthetic gap between the two

Changbin loved to wear black

(;¬_¬)

Sometimes there would be a bit of red

or any other dark tinted colour peeking through his outfits

But the dark aesthetic matched his image as rapper

He never talked to anyone

And he always seemed to have a frown

Plastered on his face

He was pretty much an outcast

And people were bothered by that

Y/n on the other hand

♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

Was known as the lovable girl

who everyone seemed to be crushing on when she started to

hang out with Changbin

Before that

She was quite geeky

She still is

But back then

Nobody seemed to be actually interested in her

She was usually alone

Y/n was known to be shy besides

People thought she had ‘weird’ interests such as

Her huge love for flowers and plants

Video games were also something Y/n had always loved

And now

Boys loved the fact that she was obsessed with video games

She especially loves Mario games,

Minecraft,

animal crossing,

the sims series and many others

They would ask her to play games together

But no one seemed to be actually interested

to approach her

Mostly because her best friend

Changbin

wouldn’t let them

People just couldn’t wrap it around their finger

the fact that

a girl like Y/n was spending most of her time

with a guy like Changbin

Girls were jealous of Y/n

Thinking that she acted the way she acted

to get Bin’s attention

Changbin was hot

No one could deny that

Boys envied Changbin’s muscles

He was often seen at the gym

Where he would be working on his biceps

Making the girls swoon who were there at the scene

Y/n would be there sometimes as well

Usually she was cheering him on

And holding onto his water

She admits that she looked kind of goofy

But Bin loved having her around

And she loved being around him

He would have her try to pick up one of the dumbbells

She was quite strong

(ง •̀_•́)ง

And was able to lift weights

But she couldn’t compete with the muscles Changbin had created

They both remember

It clear as day:

The day when and how they met

Changbin was strolling through the halls

Minding his own business as usual

He heard some voices echoing through the place

But he shrugged it off since he was in a public area

He recognised the voices

They were the jocks of the school

And if Changbin heard it clearly

They were bothering someone

“Can I go through?” A small voice was to be heard

“Oh she can talk! Such a pretty voice, you should talk more for us sweetheart.”

One of them smirks as they caressed Y/n’s cheek

“Please leave me alone.”

“But we want to get to know you better-“

“She asked to be left alone.” Changbin had interrupted

as he decided to interfere

“And who the hell do you think you are?”

“Someone who doesn’t harass other people.”

Changbin replied smartly,

Catching the jocks off guard.

Y/n in the meantime was shaking and

on the brim of tears

The jocks eventually scoffed and walked off

Leaving Changbin with an overwhelmed Y/n

“Are you alright?” He asked her carefully

o(╥﹏╥)o

“N-NO DON’T CRY!”

“HNNG I’M SORRY!”

｡･ﾟ(ﾟ⊃ω⊂ﾟ)ﾟ･｡w

Changbin couldn’t hold up his act as dark and mysterious

As soon as he came in contact with her

He was taken back when she pulled him into an embrace

As she continued to cry

And he didn’t know

What else to do

Except patting her back comfortingly

And that was the very beginning of Bin realising that he

Indeed had a soft spot

And that spot was specially reserved for

Y/n and Y/n ONLY

(ﾉ≧∇≦)ﾉ ﾐ ┸━┸

Time passed and

Their time at school sooner but later had ended

They two had graduated together

Around that time

When they had their finals

And basically had to decide 

what they wanted to do with their lives

the two had been joking about beginning a YouTube channel

People around them would laugh at them

And were certain of the fact that they would fail

That they shouldn’t even bother to try

The inseparable pair would share a look

And often shrug other people’s comments

About their new shared dream

This made people think even more differently of them

The two outsiders

Who want to do something with their life

That hasn’t have a guarantee of having a stable financial state

Later on in their life

They all just thought they were insane

Changbin’s parents thought so too

His older sister joked and told him to do it

(￣ω￣)

Mostly so she could be the ‘success’ of their family

She never meant it in a harmful way

She loved Y/n

So did the rest of the Seo family

Y/n had a very sweet and wholesome effect on Changbin

Which was something they hadn’t witnessed

Ever since he turned 14

His sister supported him through thick and thin

And eventually helped their parents support him as well

Y/n hadn’t had any difficulties talking to her grandmother

About her change in career path

Her grandmother,

who she grew up living with,

wanted Y/n to be happy

To enjoy the little things as long as it last

She would always tell Y/n that

even if she wanted to simply

a dog walker for the rest of her life

because she likes it

she wouldn’t dare to stop supporting her

she loved her too much for that

｡ﾟ(*´□`)ﾟ｡

And so

Y/n and Changbin’s journey began as youtubers

The beginning of their career

Was quite awkward and tricky

As they didn’t own any big platforms yet

One day

Changbin had decided to put his rapping skills aside

For one video

To cover a song

He didn’t think too much of it

But sooner enough the video went viral

“Dark rapper with multiple talents”

He couldn’t believe it

And Y/n couldn’t be happier for him

♥｡･ﾟ(ﾟ⊃ω⊂ﾟ)ﾟ･｡♥

Not much later

As Y/n was streaming whilst gaming

He appeared into her room

To check up on her

“CAN YOU STOP FUCKING SCREAMING-“

( #`⌂´)/┌┛

“HDHBAF DON’T SWEAR I’M STREAMING-“

(((ง’ω’)و三 ง’ω’)ڡ≡

“WELL STOP SCREAMING THEN”

“BUT THEY’RE KILLING ME!”

“THEN KILL THEM BACK!”

“IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

“I’M PLAYING MINECRAFT!”

“OH!”

(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

…

“and did you kill him?”

“no I had to respawn”

｡ﾟ(ﾟ∩´﹏`∩ﾟ)ﾟ｡

“MOVE I GOT THIS!”

y/n: (づ￣ ³￣)づ

A couple days later yet another article about them was written

As this time

Y/n’s stream went viral

To people loving their banter

They saw the clove in between their aesthetics

And the public became obsessed

And that was only the start of their success

Y/n had gained thousands of followers and subscribers

Changbin did as well

People now were actually appreciating

And cheering onto Changbin’s music

He felt happy that there now were finally others

Beside his family and Y/n who loved the music he produced

Y/n was also gaining attention

Due to her lovable personality and sweet interactions with her fans

She loved talking to them as she streamed

or whenever she catches them on social media

People felt included

and they loved that about her

And because so many people had requested

To Y/n and Bin to make videos together

They started their shared channel

Where they actually rarely uploaded on

“GIVE US A VIDEO TOGETHER”

“WE NEED MORE BINXY/N VIDEOS”

“DO Y’ALL ACTUALLY LIVE TOGETHER?!?

BECAUSE IT SURE ENOUGH DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT”

….

Y/n:

Bin:

*A-cup-of-Y/n notification*: Watch me look for my favourite animal crossing villagers!

*Seo Changbin notification*: Trying to produce a rap in an hour *STRESSFUL*

Fans: (」ﾟДﾟ)」

They loved the content anyway

“Y/N! WE’RE OUT OF COFFEE!”

┻━┻ミ＼（≧ロ≦＼）

“SEO CHANGBIN PUT THAT TABLE BACK ON HIS PLACE!”

“BUT COFFEE-“

“CHANGBIN!”

‎(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

Bin: (つ﹏<。)

Y/n: =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ﾍ( ´Д`)ﾉ

“AAAH YOU BIG BABY WE’LL GET YOUR DARNED COFFEE THEN”

Bin: ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

And so the two of them went to their closest café

To give Bin his addition to his caffeine addiction

Bin was smiling like crazy

As he waited impatiently for his best friend

To get her stuff

“CAN YOU BE ANY SLOWER?!”

(˃̥̥ω˂̥̥̥)

“CAN YOU BE ANY BRATTIER?”

(((c=(°ロ°;q

(」゜ロ゜)」

“HUSH I NEED CAFFEINE”

“WELL IF YOU DIDN’T CHUCK THE ENTIRE THING LAST NIGHT

TO PRODUCE ON YOUR STREAM

WE WOULDN’T BE IN THIS POSITION RIGHT NOW!”

@(。・0・)@

“HEY THE SONG TURNED OUT TO BE A BOP!”

((งง •̀•̀__•́•́))งง

“AND YOU WOKE UP SO LATE TODAY I THOUGHT YOU DIED!”

o(╥﹏╥)o

“ENOUGH TALKING LET’S GET COFFEE!”

There was one thing Bin forgot

Since it was 2am in the morning

And there was almost certainly not any coffee made at this hour at most café

They had to travel half across the city

To finally stumble upon an unknown café

Changbin stormed in and didn’t hesitate to order his usual:

An iced americano

Y/n chuckled slightly to herself

As she watched her friend

Who couldn’t be more delighted with his coffee

“Wait? Y/n?” A sudden voice called out

Snapping Y/n out of her thoughts

She made eye contact with the barista

and recognised the old classmate

“Hey! I didn’t notice you!

How are you?

Aren’t you tired?

It’s almost like three o’clock!”

Y/n bombarded him with questions as she smiled brightly

Changbin looked up from his phone

And looked back and fort

between Y/n and the guy behind the display

Changbin also recognised the guy

And recalls a sudden memory of him as well

He was one of the people who dared to call out

his and Y/n future failures

he was one of the few people as well who

liked to pester them

with the idea back then that they wouldn’t be able

to make a career out of it

Changbin wanted to shove it in his dirty little face

‘HA LOOK WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE YOU CERTAINLY AREN’T

WE’RE OVER HERE BEING LOVED BY THE WORLD! SUCCESFUL AS EVER

AND YET HERE YOU ARE STANDING SADLY BEHIND A COUNTER,

DOING PROBABLY NOT MUCH WITH YOUR LIFE!’

ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ┌┛Σ(ノ´Д`)ノ

Is what Changbin would have loved to yell into his face

But the universe had something else in mind.

“Look, I don’t know if you remember, but I was a dick back in high school. I said some terrible things to you guys and I wanted to apologise. I hope you can forgive me for my unthoughtful and foolish acts back then.”

He said.

Changbin didn’t buy it

But Y/n felt like everyone deserved a second chance

Her heart was simply too big

And too willing to forgive

“That’s okay, we were all young once,

we all made mistakes and if you learned something from it

and if you cringe when you think back about it,

that only means you’ve grown.”

(＾▽＾ʃƪ)

Barista: 

╥﹏╥

“WHY ARE YOU SO NICE!?!?”

(」｡≧□≦)」

“doesn’t everyone deserve a little act of kindness?”

Barista pt2:

ಥ_ಥ

In the meantime Bin was watching his friend comforting

Their old classmate

He shook his head slightly

‘You’re too good for this world.’

He said to himself

“(>ლ)”

But he was sure that many people knew as well

That Y/n had a heart of gold

The barista had told them to wait for a little longer and sooner enough came back with a hot cup of hot chocolate for Y/n

“It’s on the house, I’m sorry once again.”

“Hey you were mean to me too back then? Don’t I get a free drink?”

Bin asked with his head cocked to the side.

“Y-you already paid for you drink.”

(´ ˙○˙ `)

He stuttered

Still clearly intimidated by Changbin

“I can give you a cupcake?”

“Will do.”

The pair were setting up their equipment

To shoot a QNA that had been highly requested

They realised that they never really had sat down

And talked about their school years together

So they went on their Instagram and asked their fans

What they wanted to know about them

Sooner enough the two were sat in front of the camera

And laughing at the questions they received

‘What is something that everyone looks stupid doing?’

“WAIT WAIT”

（〇o〇；） ！！

Y/n started

Bin looked at her in horror as he knew what she was going to say

He had his face already hidden in his hands as she began to speak

Or well more rant

“this one time

When we were still in school

And we were on our winter break

This bean was too lazy to go out

And get a hair cut

And he didn’t wanted anyone to do it for him

Because he was too scared that someone would mess it up

So instead, he grew it out.

It grew so long in such a short time that he could wear it in a ponytail.

This kid,

He put his hair in a ponytail and I watched him do it

And it looks so stupid

Like why do we bend over so far to do it

It looks idiotic

AND THEN

He comes out of the shower with his pants on and his towel wrapped

On his head

Like most girls or other people with long hair will do, but

I realised how dumb we actually look

It’s honestly even funnier when you see him do it-

Wait I might have pictures-“

“JAFDJGBKF ENOUGH, NEXT!”

（三・o・）

“BUT I-“

“YEAH YOU’VE EMBARRESED ME ENOUGH AND NEVER AGAIN.”

(┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻

‘What is your best high school memory together?’

Y/n thought for a while before sharing a look with Changbin

They smiled at each other as they exactly knew

“Okay this is another story

Our year was obsessed with the idea of having a prom

And since we live in South Korea

It isn’t much of a thing over here

So, we all saved up and had a prom in some rich kid’s backyard

Because he didn’t live in an apartment like most of us do.

The ‘prom’ was quite fun to be honest.

People looked gorgeous and everyone seemed to be having a great time.”

“Yet we weren’t.” Bin chuckled

“Yup, we weren’t really enjoying ourselves.

As you guys know,

we were pretty much the outcasts.

Nobody was talking to us

Or even looking at us

We were fine and trying to enjoy ourselves

But we decided to get out early

Even though we put our own money into the event.

Bin and I would’ve gone to the nearest subway and took it to the park

Where we just sat in our formal wear

We laughed

We ate

And we just had a great time

With just us being together as a pair

We got some weird looks from bystanders

But we didn’t care

I think big crowds were never really something meant for us

We just enjoy each other’s company the best

And that’s what made that night so memorable.”

‘Who is the bigger foodie?’

“Have you seen this muscle pig-“

三ヾ(ヽ*ω*)┌┛★

“EXCUSE ME”

“BOI HAVE YOU SEEN YOURSELF

YOU NEED FOOD TO GROW-“

“STOP INSULTING MY HEIGHT-“

“I WAS TALKING ABOUT YOUR BICEPS!’

ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ┌┛Σ(ノ `Д´)ノ

The video went on with some more questions

And even a small promotion of Changbin’s rap/ produce unit

3RACHA

He would tell the viewers to check out his livestream

that he was planning on streaming later this weak

after the QNA had uploaded

The day it came out

There were thousands of people watching him

produce new music for the unit

He was deeply concentrated

And asked people for their opinion

as he was carried away in the process

Until Y/n suddenly bardged through the door

with a hot plate of cookies in her hand

That she had made for her own channel

“Y/n, I’m busy- are those COOKIES?”

(*⌒ڡ⌒*)

She laughed as she set the plate in front of him

Before taking a seat closely next to him

She asked what he was up to

And he proudly showed off what he had up to now

As he was showing off

A coupe of fans’ true colour shined through

As they began to send toxic words into the comment section of the stream

Sooner enough Changbin had noticed and read them

(WARNING: VILE WORDS AHEAD PURELY FOR FICTION PURPOSE ONLY)

‘Such an attention seeking whore, why is she even living with him? I bet she’s just doing it for clout.’

‘Pathetic bitch, are your views low lately? Is that why you appear in our Binnie’s streams?’

‘Gtfo we’re not here to see your ugly pathetic face, you’re lucky Bin outshines you, or else everyone would be gagging.’

‘So pathetic to see someone act innocent and cute when she in reality manipulates everyone for clout and views. She’s doing this all for the fame people, don’t be fooled!’

Changbin had enough and couldn’t read anymore

He had sat back and wrapped an arm around Y/n

“Alright, we’re going to stop right now with the fucking hate comments.

I will report them all and ban you from this site.

Leave her the fuck alone, am I understood?”

Bin’s tone was deep and intimidating

and immediately stopped the toxic.

Fortunately there weren’t just toxic people watching the stream

But there were many people

Who loved Changbin’s and Y/n’s dynamic

They loved the contrast between the two

And they admired Changbin’s passion for music

And Y/n sweet, soft and supporting personality

They complimented each other so well

And the fans couldn’t get enough of them

Fans were also quick to defend Y/n

And her kind image

Spreading loving words to her

As they had noticed the sadness in her eyes

They knew she had read the comments

Bin knew she had read the comments

｡ﾟ･（>﹏<）･ﾟ｡

“Don’t listen to them, you know you’re worth so much more.”

He whispered into her hair a he hugged her from the side

Making the comment section freak out

At their bond

The stream would end soon after

Since Changbin didn’t had the concentration anymore

And he felt like he needed to be comforting Y/n right now

She had moved to the couch and sat there sulking

Bin felt his heart ache a little

He’s so used to see Y/n in a glee

That he rarely saw her upset

He tried to cheer her up by teasing her a little

Squishing her cheeks

Ruffling her hair

Doing funny faces

You name it

But nothing seemed to work

But then he knew it

“You want to go out for dinner?”

Her head shot to his directions

(;•͈́༚•͈̀)

As she looked at him with big glossy eyes

Cutely nodding yes

Before they walked out the door

Not much later they were sat at a nice restaurant

Munching on some dumplings

Y/n had her face stuffed with them

Making Bin laugh cutely at her

“You want some more dumplings, Dumpling?”

Y/n almost choked at the sound of her old nickname

Making her lean back and whine cutely

(⊃‿⊂)

“NOOOO~”

(((ೕ( ･ㅂ･)و )))

“YESSSSS~”

They would fall into a fit of laughter again

(ノ＞▽＜。)ノ(ノ＞▽＜。)ノ

Before they continued to eat

He was relieved that she felt a little better

But he knew that her mind was still on the toxicity

that the comments had left

After dinner

She assumed that the two would go home

But instead

(。･o･｡)

Changbin had grabbed her wrist

And pulled her to their favourite arcade hall

She shot him a smile

And hugged him

Whispering a ‘thank you’ before they ran off to have some more fun

The two would kill it at a dancing game

They would drum their ears off at Taiko no Tatsujin

Changbin also won themselves a price by getting a new high score

As he tested his strength

They also spend half of the money they brought on claw machines

Y/n won something as well

Which she was super excited about

♪((└|o^▽^o|┐))

“I WON!”

“at what cost? You spend like 20 bucks on that thing, we could’ve gotten that in a store for 15-“

ヽ(*´∀`)ﾉ┌┛

“BUT WHAT’S THE POINT I EARNED THIS.”

“Whatever you say.”

He chuckled

The two would walk on and Y/n’s attention was caught

By a big duck that was laid in an extra-large claw machine

Changbin had noticed her staring

And he knew that she wanted the duck

But the two were quite tired after a long day

And he also was aware of her not having enough money on her

To actually be able to win it

“Y/n, can you get us a drink?”

He asked as he almost shoved the money into her hands

( ¬_¬)

“What is there something wrong with your feet?”

She sassed back

“No, but I don’t want to interact with other humans~” He whined

Making Y/n roll her eyes

“Fine.”

She took the money and left to find a vending machine

As soon as she was out of view

Changbin took out his card

He swiped it on the machine

And got ready to play

But to his surprise

He got the duck in one go

(ﾉﾟοﾟ)ﾉ

He just stared at the shining ‘winner’ sign

And laughed loudly to himself

Before he quickly took out the huge duck that costed him less than 5 bucks.

Y/n was back

But sooner enough greeted by not Changbin

But a big fluffy duck that almost hid Changbin entirely behind itself

“Hey sorry, I went to the toilet as well,

I just had to post this cute win on Instagra-DAJADGA BIN?”

She squealed out in surprise when she met eyes with a big ass duck

“Behind it!” He said with a muffled scream

Before he turned

So they could look each other in the eye

ლ(^o^ლ)

…..

“WHAT EVEN-“

“I saw you looking at it, I knew you wanted it.”

‧˚₊*̥(∗*⁰͈꒨⁰͈)‧˚₊*̥

“YOU WON THIS FOR ME?”

“of course, why would I want a duck?”

‧˚₊*̥(* ⁰̷̴͈꒨⁰̷̴͈)‧˚₊*̥

“KJFHGDFBGSFDJGDNFGD”

“Was that a thank you?”

ෆ╹ .̮ ╹ෆ

“JKGTHANK YOU YOU’RE THE BEST HNNNNG!”

She squealed before she ran up to him to side-hug him

‘Everything for you.’

´͈ ᵕ `͈ ♡°◌̊

Gifs aren’t mine

Introduction <> Next

AU Masterlist

[sierraraeck]

How to Make Friends (Pt.2)

Spencer x OC Aundreya

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Summary: Spencer’s had a problem with Aundreya since the start. How is she going to earn his respect? Story four.

Category: Some angst, some fluff.

Warnings: Cussing. Quick mention of normal CM stuff and the quick retelling of two rough childhoods. Mentions of bullying.

Word Count: 3.0k

I slept until noon the next day. That wasn’t typical behavior for me, because I always enjoyed being up around seven in the morning so I could feel like I was doing something more productive than sleeping. However, I didn’t get back to my apartment until around three am and figured that I was going to need more that four hours of sleep if I was going to make it through an entire dinner with Doctor Grumpy.

The government finally trusted me enough to have a work phone after four weeks, especially because a case of ours almost ended in a dead ten year old because I didn’t have a phone to call the team on when I had new information. I’d already gotten myself a personal phone that the government didn’t know about, and neither did Dalton. It’s not like I actually used it for anything, except for personal texts from the team and occasional calls, but as you can imagine those didn’t happen frequently. Aaron turned a blind eye as long as I gave Garcia full monitoring permissions. Not like she actually needed my permission to hack into my phone and get my records or anything. He did make me agree not to have anyone ‘firewall’ it and I made the convincing case that it has a GPS, so as Dalton was slowly removed from his duties, the team would always have a way of tracking me. Plus, he didn’t think it was a terrible idea to have a secondary contact for me in case something happened.

However, today was one of those days that I used it.

It’s Reid. How’s Fabi’s?

He’d sent the text at 5:30 in the morning. Why was he up?

Good. How’s 6?

I quickly replied and put my phone down. I didn’t bother eating because I didn’t care enough. I threw on some workout stuff and went down to the clubhouse gym. I worked out practically every day. When I was younger, I always wanted to play college volleyball. I had just started training when my life went awry, and one of the things that kept me sane, that kept me connected to my humanity, was continuing that training. I did high intensity workouts everyday on the streets. I was then roped in to a mixed martial arts gym that I would visit regularly, which is where I met Sydney for the first time. It’s how I got involved with the Cloaks. Once I was thrown in prison, working out was one of the only things we could do. We had limited reading material, limited social time, limited gym time. But the nice thing about working out is that you don’t necessarily need a gym.

I was about to start my final set of squats when Dalton blasted into the gym.

“Have you been here this whole time!” His face had a slight pink color to it, like he’d been holding his breath for far too long.

“Yes.”

“Jesus Christ! Did you forget that today was a check in day?”

Yes. “No. I just thought that I’d be finished by two and was counting on you being late.”

“When have I ever been late?” he asked me, dumbfounded. It was a valid question considering it only happened once and it was only by about five minutes. I didn’t call him on it then, but I figured I would now.

“Uh, let’s see. How about that one time that you were late to the airport picking me up because you were having a good time with your lady friend.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

He sighed. “Dammit. When you didn’t say anything I thought that you were too tired to notice and hopefully too tired to remember. I should have known better.”

“Yes you should have.”

“Wait, how’d you know I was with someone? I’ve never even told you anything about me.” He didn’t sound irritated, which I figured he might be, but all I heard was curiosity.

“Come on. I’m working as a profiler for the BAU and before that my life depended on my ability to pick up on the slightest details,” I reminded him. He nodded. Then just for fun, I added, “Plus, I’m also a really good spy and private investigator.”

“What’re you saying?”

“I’m not saying anything.”

“Have you been watching me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you implied it.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.” I always found a bit of extra pleasure from messing with my trusty watch-dog. “Have you actually been following me?”

“Definitely not. That would be weird and completely inappropriate,” I said with a wink. I walked past him, deciding to cut myself one set short.

“Seriously?”

“Bye, Dalton,” I said in a sultry tone, halfway out the door.

“Don’t forget, I’ll be back Sunday!” he called after me.

“I’m counting on it. Tell Renee hi for me!” I said, letting the door slowly close behind me.

“Aundreya!” I turned and waved to him through the glass doors, a big grin spreading across my face.

When I returned to my apartment, I checked my phone for a response from Reid.

Good.

That was all I got. At least we were keeping it simple.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

I got to the restaurant about five minutes early, refusing to be late to my own dinner. I walked in and looked around to see if Spencer was there yet. He wasn’t. I thought about waiting for him, but instead I just got us a table. I slicked my dress down under my legs as I sat. I’d picked out a cute, black, pencil dress with an arrowhead necklace and combat boots. Someone kill me if I ever voluntarily wear heels for longer than a few minutes. I had never gotten my ears pierced, so I didn’t have any other jewelry. I also didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard.

He came in wearing a dress shirt and a tie, but no jacket. He looked nice. He spotted me quickly and came to sit down.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hi.” We sat there in awkward silence while the waitress came and put water glasses down in front of us. We both immediately took a sip.

He decided to break the silence first. “I just want to apologize for-”

“Don’t even worry about it,” I cut him off. I had a good idea as to where that sentence was going and it was unnecessary.

“No, I am going to worry about it. I want to apologize for how I’ve treated you. I immediately judged you for your label without actually getting to know you. That was wrong of me and I’m hoping we can start over.” His voice was steady and his eyes were calm. I gave him a small smile and a nod.

“I can definitely work with that. What do you want to know first?”

“You just want me to ask you questions?”

“Yeah. I’ve found that that works the best. I want to start where you’re the most interested.”

“Um, okay,” he swallowed. “You said you ended up on the streets when you were fourteen?”

“Yep.”

“So tell me what happened before that.” I smiled at him. It was a great starting point.

“Okay. I grew up with divorced parents. They got divorced when I was six. My father was abusive, mostly verbally-”

“Mostly?” he asked.

“Yeah. Mostly,” I replied. I wasn’t ready yet to talk about what happened on the other end of the ‘mostly’. He saw it too. “I stopped living with him when I was nine or ten. My sister decided to stay in contact with him over the phone and occasionally in person after that, but I completely cut him out. I haven’t seen or talked to him since, except for the times that he showed up at my school or sporting events unannounced and unwanted.”

Spencer was shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m sorry.”

“I appreciate that. From ten to fourteen, I lived happily. I was solely with my mom and I was going to school, planning my future. At the start of the year, I walked into the right place at the wrong time. I witnessed one of the biggest serial slaughters ever committed, by one of the FBI’s most wanted.”

“The Storefront Slaughterer,” Reid said.

I nodded. “I don’t know how, but he didn’t realize he left a survivor. Somehow my face got leaked to the press so my family and I had to go into witness protection. Long story short, by the end of that year, he’d found us before the FBI found him. He burned our house down and I was the only one who got out.”

“So then you decided to live on the streets?” his voice was soft, not a hint of judgement like I’d imagined in my head before having this conversation.

“Yeah. My options were to go back and live with my father or fend for myself on the streets. I was willing to take my chances and I wanted to help catch the man that took everything from me.”

“That was very brave of you.”

“Thanks.”

“Didn’t the FBI catch him the following year with the help of an-”

“Anonymous tipper? Yeah, they did.”

“That was you?” his eyes got bigger as realization set in.

“Sure was. I’d spend my first year on the streets making connections and setting a trap for the Storefront Slaughterer. Everyday I got up and I did more digging. That’s how I got good at private investigating and spying. Once the final pieces of my plan came together, I tipped off the FBI and they were able to catch him.”

“Once they caught him, didn’t that mean you could get off the streets and go back to normal?”

I smiled at how intrigued he seemed to be. “Not really. Nothing was normal for me anymore. I’d spent a year in witness protection and another on the streets trying to catch this guy. Plus, I still would have had to go back and live with my father, and at that point, I had just gotten comfortable out on the streets. People babied me at first because of my age. I realized that, but I also realized I looked older than I was, so I started lying to people about my age and I earned massive respect for my talents and catching the Slaughterer. I made the decision that things might end up better for me on the streets then going back to how things were. The streets became my new normal.”

“Wow, that’s…” he trailed off.

“Crazy?” I offered.

“No. Well, kind of. But I was going to say incredible. I mean, you were already one of the smartest and most skilled informants on the streets at the age of fourteen.”

I laughed. “Well I hear you weren't doing too bad yourself at age fourteen.”

“That’s true,” he smiled, “but I wasn’t having to learn street survival skills.”

“No, you were doing something much harder.” There was that sweet sound of laughter again. He told me all about his childhood, which honestly seemed non-existent, and I realized how much we actually had in common. His dad left him when he was young, his mother has schizophrenia, he practically raised himself, was constantly bullied, and despite all that he was still able to be successful. It amazed me and I told him that.

“Thank you. That means a lot,” he said, humbly. I could tell he didn’t fully believe the words himself, which made me sad.

“You know I mean that, right?”

“Yes.”

“So why don’t you believe it?”

He looked up at me. “No one’s asked me that before.”

“If you don’t want to answer me that’s fine. I’m just wondering because despite being one of the coolest people I’ve met, and I’ve met a lot of people, you still don’t seem to resonate with my praises.”

He let out a huge sigh. “My dad had told me many times that I was smart and important and deserving of a good life. But he then turned around and told me that I was too hard to care for and he left. Ever since then, it’s hard for me to believe anyone when they compliment me because I never know if they mean it. On top of that, being constantly bullied didn’t help my self-confidence,” he met my eyes, his own glistening. It hurt me to think that someone who overcame so much and is probably one of the smartest people on the planet didn’t think he was all that. I had already respected him, but that feeling continued to grow the more I got to know him.

“Let me tell you something. If you get nothing else out of this dinner, get this. You and I were in very similar situations when we were younger. You were strong enough to overcome all of the obstacles put in your way and came out the other side as a caring genius who saves lives. Someone else in your situation, someone like myself, wasn’t as mentally strong as you and chose the wrong path. Sure, I’m here now, but you stayed the course and made it here yourself. No one had to come and save you, you saved yourself. And I’d say that’s something to be pretty damn proud of.” I was dead serious and I needed him to know that. An unfamiliar feeling surged through me that I wasn’t able to immediately put my finger on.

Admiration. I admired him. He was who I wanted to be before my life got flipped upside down and I was forced to change my ideals.

I barely heard him when he whispered, “Thank you.”

I nodded and our waitress came over to place the bill on the table. Spencer started to reach for it before I quickly put my hand down on it, sliding it my way. “Nuh, uh. I’m taking you to dinner, remember?”

“But you’ve paid for everyone else-”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a wink.

“Oh you two make such a nice couple,” the waitress said. She was a woman in her late fifties and appeared to be swooning over what she thought was young love.

I gave a single nervous laugh, slipping my dollar bills in the fold, before replying, “No, ma’am, we’re not a couple.”

“Sure you’re not. Just keep telling yourselves that,” she said, taking the bill and cash from me, strutting away. Spencer and I made confused eye contact and we both started laughing.

“That was bold,” he said.

“You’re telling me. I think we should inform her that we’re the profilers here,” I said, and we both laughed again.

“Hey, I have one more question for you,” he said, attitude quickly shifting back to serious.

“Shoot.”

“Why’d you step in the other day?”

I was confused for a moment before remembering what he was most likely referencing. “Oh you mean with Kristy? It wasn’t a big deal, she seemed like a bitch anyways.”

“Anyway,” he corrected with a smirk.

“Okay. Fine. You got me on that one, Doctor Genius,” I said, playfully rolling my eyes.

“But seriously, why did you? And how could you tell before everyone else that I was uncomfortable?”

“I guess I’ve been able to pick up on a tell that no one else has learned to pay attention to. And I stepped in because I saw you were uncomfortable and figured you had enough of that going on with me around,” I replied. I made a small joke out of it, hoping he wouldn’t press me farther, because I honestly didn’t know why I stepped in. Sure, I was curious as to who she was, why she was making him uneasy, and it was a means of extending an olive branch, but there was something else. I respected him, and I wanted him to respect me (I don’t know why it actually mattered that much to me) but I didn’t think that was it either. Plus, I would have done that for any of the team members.

Probably.

I sighed, not willing to dig further into my psyche, at least not today and definitely not now.

The waitress returned with my change, giving Spencer and I a longing look. I smiled to myself, wondering what happened to this poor woman that she felt the desire to watch us exit the restaurant together. We walked toward the parking lot in silence.

“Thank you again,” Reid said to me. There was an undertone that implied he was thanking me for more than just the food.

I gave him a half smile. “Of course. Thank you for agreeing to go out with me.”

He nodded, but before he turned away, I caught him with one last question.

“Just out of curiosity, how much of that did you already know?”

He looked at me, confusion apparent on his face. “None of it.”

“Really? The team didn’t tell you anything?” It was my turn to be confused.

“Well they tried, but it didn’t feel right. I figured whatever it was, you’d tell me on your own terms. I wouldn’t have wanted them sharing things with you that I wasn’t ready to have you know about me yet. I owed you the same courtesy.” With that, he turned around and continued on to his car. I was bewildered by his gentlemanly manners, especially since they held up in a situation regarding a criminal he loathed. Or at least he used to loathe.

That thought made me smile.

“Goodnight, Spencer,” I called over as he was getting into his vehicle.

“Goodnight, Aundreya.”

I returned home, able to fall asleep feeling better about my life than I had in awhile.

[border-spam]

AU Troy Character Timeline

Right, so I saw an incredible breakdown of Troy’s mental journey/state of ego last night ( that I’ll see if I can get permission to post at some point ) that really kicked my confidence into overdrive for writing out a definitive timeline for the version of him I write about in drabbles/fics etc as it was so amazingly similar. This isn’t complete, it couldn’t be because man I have a lot of stuff for this guy, but I hope it’s interesting for people maybe looking for a somewhat logical bunch of HC content that works well with the info we were given ingame. 

Writing this was like doing a jigsaw puzzle. Except ten pieces are missing, and you have 2 dominos and a Mrs Cupcake card instead. If you like any of this, feel free to use it. I’ll eventually expand on it in my own works.

Pre Pandora Era - 28  years pre BL3

Severe self esteem / image issues from very early childhood. Leda’s death left Typhon both terrified of Tyreen and desperately paranoid about her safety, leaving Troy to feel far less valued and loved as he found himself constantly failing to compete for attention from his remaining parent. 

Typhon never outright called Troy a freak, but he overheard plenty of discussions with his mother and with Tyreen explaining why he was so sick all the time, why he looked the way he did, why he was broken. He never discussed these, they festered in the back of his mind for the rest of his life. 

Strived from an early age to be useful, being useful gave him the belief he was valued, and a “Great job kid!” from his father felt good enough that it could almost replace feeling loved.

Misses his mother intensely from the day she died, for the rest of his life. Had no one else to have platonic intimacy with bar his sister, which never felt as freely given as with his mother. 

Developed an extremely crippled sense of social behavior and rules. The only people the Twins could interact with till they landed on Pandora ( which I HC was between 18 -19 ) were each other, and their Father. 

Left alone on a giant empty planet with no one to tell them no, or instill an understanding of social rules to them regarding others, left them with only a feeling of personal value for each other. This is an extremely dangerous state of mind for any person who will need to function in a social structure, especially a person in power. 

Had it hammered into them over and over by their father that the galaxy outside their home was filled with murderers. Animals. Bandit filth. Not like them, not like their parents, horrible, vicious things that would kill them the second they could. 

Internalised that to the point where it was a crucial part of their development of self as children. The twins would genuinely struggle to comprehend any other human they met was a person, because they were told their whole developing lives that no one they would meet bar their father would be.

 Pre COV - 8 years pre BL3

Lands on Pandora with Tyreen. Woefully underprepared and worried sick, didn’t want to leave Nekro but had no other choice but to go with his sister or die. Misses his father immediately, but avoids talking about it, knowing it will cause an argument.

Disliked that their father had kept them on Nekro intensely, but not enough to hate him the way Tyreen did. This never changed and the regret for leaving him only rotted inside him over the years. 

Very excited to finally meet new people, but his social skills are learned through watching old echos and while he can mimic them, he doesn’t understand social intricacies as well as he’d hoped. This sabotages their first few attempts to communicate with Pandoran non bandit natives. 

Comes across as weird. Stutters, not good with eye contact, awkward in body language and very unnatural in appearance. Extremely tall (6″7), very thin and sickly looking with sallow skin and dark under eyes. His missing arm and quarter of his shoulder draw far more attention than he had ever expected and he becomes instantly self conscious of the damage to his right side, strongly disliking how it’s pointed out every time they try and interact with one of these idiots.  

The twins only had the clothes they had travelled in and at this point they are pretty much rags patched together over nearly 2 decades. Didn’t understand how much appearances were going to matter, Troy had been sure he’d be able to “Mingle with the locals no problem.”, and now feels like he’s letting his sister down by failing to perform the way he’d been so sure of. They move onto the bandit clans once they get laughed out of the first small town they try to impress.

Their first few interactions with bandits have very bad results. They both get mocked a lot, Troy gets insulted even more. This is the first time in his life he’s met other men bar his father and the harsh reality that he is not like other men is really starting to hit hard. He’s monstrously tall, he has no muscle, he’s bony and sick and the bandits make very clear to him that he’s a freak.

Unable to defend himself verbally to people that don’t seem to speak a coherent language, he feels impotent and emasculated. Troy’s gift with words has always been his strong point, something he was proud of, and the bandits barely even understand what he’s saying. Any interest he’d had towards them as other people gets quashed. They clearly aren’t the same as he and Ty, they are beneath them. Savages. They aren’t people after all. His dad was right.

This is the point where he fully switches to seeing almost all others as non-persons. They aren’t people, they aren’t what he and Tyreen are, or they wouldn’t act like this in response to the twins. Any possible empathy he could have developed over time is aborted at this point, and he begins to craft the God King persona he understands he will need to disguise his shortcomings under if he’s going to be in the public’s eye.

Begins to create it piece by piece. Designs their outfits, designs his tattoos and mods, his monstrous arm, their name. 

The Calypso twins are born, and the COV with them.

Early COV Era - 7 years pre BL3

As he learns how to communicate with bandits and craft a persona for Tyreen that they will be drawn to, the COV starts to form. While the huge majority of their followers are people they see as not even being the same species as them, they do also begin to fill the higher ranks with people they are meeting over time that they see as having value. 

People with skills in categories they don’t, engineers, media experts, accountants, are drawn to the COV for the same reasons as the bandits. Opportunity, just a different sort.

Joining in the early days means having the twin’s ears, and those who have excellent ideas, or bring talent to the upper echelon that the twin's don’t have themselves, eventually end up as high priests and Saints. Department leaders (eg: Mouthpiece ). These are the kind of people he sees as people, though still not on par with himself or his sister in value. These are the few he would be capable of having functional conversations with, building simple relationships. 

He has found value in his ability to be very useful within the COV. Leading the Media and Propaganda department has given him a huge amount of power, even if he still physically feels extremely frail. 

He’s settled into living in Tyreen’s shadow, she’s the star, but he’s the puppeteer, and he’s happy for it to be that way for the most part. While she can sometimes step out of line or treat him like he’s not equal, he’s quick to remind her of her place during these outbursts, and their relationship is relatively stable.

Troy is fiercely loyal and surprisingly gentle with people he has a bond with. Despite his desperation to have meaningful connections, to be cared for and liked as himself, they don’t stay around him long.

No matter how hard he tries to give them what he thinks they want, they eventually leave, and he doesn’t understand that they are distancing themself because of how he treats other people, not them.

Troy’s complete inability to view the vast majority of people as people means he has a total lack of empathy towards almost everyone else, and this is a terrifying thing to experience first hand. He doesn’t understand this is why his “friends” leave, why they stop being friendly with him, or request to be transferred to another district.  

“Why did you do that to them..?” - “Huh? Ohhhh, relax haha, it’s just a bandit.” - “What do you mean, just a bandit, they felt that Troy, what’s wrong with you?’ - "The hell? No, it’s a b.a.n.d.i.t. It’s not like us, it’s not like you, it’s just.. you know, a bandit! Doesn’t matter what I do to em.” -shrug- - “-horrified silence-”

He blames himself each time this happens and damages his already fractured self esteem further. He can’t comprehend that his actions are the problem, because he simply has no way to understand his actions are bad. 

Each time someone close to him leaves, it’s another hit to his already crumbling self worth. He has absolutely no strong bonds with anyone bar his sister, who at times seems to barely like him, and he is genuinely desperate for validation and care from someone who likes Troy, not Calypso, not the God he pretends to be.

Every time another one of his “friends” vanishes, another of his little connections to his own humanity breaks. He gets angrier, and sadder, the God King a little more snarling and quicker to snap. It’s a sore point Tyreen tends to dig in during arguments too.

She doesn’t need anyone else, but she’s seen the near manic excitement and happiness he has when he connects with another person over a shared interest or they show actual genuine kindness towards him and not his title. If that person then becomes upset with his lack of empathy, or scared of it and abandons him, it’s another open wound on the already dying soul inside him that’s barely still breathing.

He has a complete and defined understanding of right and wrong, but those rules only apply to people, and his social development from infant to adult left his comprehension of other people so stunted, he cannot fathom that the vast majority of others are people. 

God King Calypso is a fucking nightmare to anyone bar the select view he sees as “people like him”. A feral, cackling monster, as likely to airdrop a million dollars onto a tiny village and record the reaction, as he is to rip a bandits arms off during a raid and live steam them bleeding out. All the same to him. Just background NPCs in his game. Placeholder actors in his life. They don’t matter. All that does matter is how they make him feel, or how they further his sister’s goals.

Every year that passes by leaves the God King more polished and defined, more in control a persona, while inside its impenetrable shell Troy DeLeon is slowly being suffocated by the weight of his own sins, without having the ability to understand he had been sinning at all.

God King Era - 4 years pre Bl3

By this point, Troy’s isolation is now deadly. He is a deity, worshipped by billions, with absolutely no points of human contact in his life to anchor himself to reality. No one to help him understand how to apply his sense of right and wrong to his followers, only his sister, who is even more toxic and vicious than he is.

Every day since starting the COV, he’s distanced himself further from the worshippers, the bandits, the acolytes. They are screaming war meat now, they are chips to barter with, numbers on a viewer count, flesh to tear into when he wants to feel something.

His relationship with Tyreen is crumbling. She’s quicker now to imply he’s not as important, he’s not the Siren. She’s called him a parasite in front of a merger board, a burden during a discussion with department heads. Each new crack at his inner ego only strengthens the persona further. Makes it more attention seeking, more willing to lash out at others, more vicious.

His “friends"are long gone, either fled from the behemoth the COV now is, or far away in other districts, planets, cities. The people he is close with now in working relationships are held at arms length. He doesn’t let anyone near him anymore, he’s afraid they will leave too if he does. 

The isolation pushes him further into the God King persona every day. If he’s Troy Calypso, he doesn’t NEED anyone else. The further he sinks into it, the more aggressive, the more twisted his actions become, but he doesn't see it that way. This is what his followers want, so it must be fine. Why wouldn’t it be fine to ravenously tear into heretics on livestream if 8 billion people are tuning in to watch?

He’s becoming cruel, he’s becoming vicious, but the man he was before he reached Pandora is still whispering that Tyreen is treating him wrong. That this isn’t how it was meant to be, that he’s not weak or a burden.

But listening to that voice means also having to listen to the one telling him he’s warped into something disgusting that his mother would be so let down by, that his father was right about him being a broken monstrosity. He continues to ignore it, and he loses himself further every day.

The deeper he recedes into the God King, the more he starts having nightmares, the more those whispers in the back of his mind get louder. He does what he can to ignore them, but sometimes something will set him off.

An argument with Tyreen, a momentary feeling of regret for leaving his home, a pang of loneliness. He often can’t sleep, and he knows if he starts to wonder why, clarity for the horrors he’s done could crush him.

Drugs, sex, bloodlust, he tries anything to take his mind off the intrusive thoughts that grow day by day. That he’s a failure. He’s a freak. He’s a cold blooded murder, but every now and then he’ll wake up in a cold sweat and hate himself so much that he wishes he’d never been born. 

The feeling passes very quickly as the God King shifts back into place and swallows it down, but while it’s there it’s horrific. He see’s himself from other people’s eyes for just a moment and god what has he turned into. What has he done. He’s a fucking monster.

The man he had been is so damaged under the mantle of this vicious God he’s wearing as a skin that it’s barely alive anymore, and it’s what begs him to kill it in those fleeting moments where he sees past his own facade, where he just for a second realises how many people he has hurt.

He tore his throat out a couple of years before the start of the game story in a moment of lucidity after being sleep deprived for days on end. Tyreen reached him in time when his implanted vitals tracker each twin keeps for the other alerted her to his condition, but it was close enough that he was bedridden for days after her energy transfer closed the wound.

She had been furious with him and made sure it was was kept hushed, the rest of the clergy believing he was on reprieve. Only the twins know the truth of what happened.

He never takes the collars off anymore now, the scars are still there. Convincing Tyreen that it had had happened during a nightmare when he’d left his prosthetic on by mistake was easy. Convincing himself to try and forget he’d been lucid and how it still feels like the right thing to do, is not. 

By the point the story begins, Troy is in a constant state of exhaustion, and knows deep down everything he has been through and done to others was for nothing. Tyreen doesn’t care about him the way he does her. She may never have, or she changed, he doesn’t know anymore. 

What he does know, is that he won't ever be a real God, and that the only reason he’s still alive is because he is useful. 

Maybe he should never have tried so hard to be useful.

 Phew.

I guess in a nutshell, my Troy’s greatest downfall is the God King persona.

As long as that shit is active, as long as it’s being worshipped, he’s never going to snap into reality. The reality that other people are there, that he’s been hurt so badly as a person, it’s all impossible long as he is being treated as, and believes, he is a God. 

The manic moments of clarity he has in the later stages of the COV rule are few and far between, but they eat him alive as he can’t understand why he suddenly feels so terrible, why he’s filled with such consuming remorse.

Peel the God King off the broken man underneath it and you leave him bare, confused, scared. You make him have to deal with reality, with people, with himself. That’s when you get him to show regret, and understand what he’s done, and understand what Ty has done to him.

That’s the redemption.

When he realises the game he was playing was real for billions, and suffers for it. It ends where it ends as my Troy ain’t dyin’ :P I’ll get to my rewrite eventually.  I hope to keep exploring these ideas in the future. Just desperately wish I’d as much to work with for Tyreen as I do Troy. GB YOU HEAR THAT? YOU HEAR THATTTT??

[moonstruckbucky]

Rant Fest

So for the past couple of months, my “in-laws” (we’ll call them that even though my SO and I aren’t married *whispers* yet) have been driving me up a wall and then some.

His mom? Super sweet, loving... but a helicopter. And I don’t mean one of those dinky little news helicopters. I’m talking full-out military style, equipped with heat-seeking missiles kind of helicopter. She hovers a lot. Calls my SO multiple times a day, for no real good reason at all except to check up on him. Mind, he’s 30 - he’s a big boy.

Things have been a little stagnant for him since he had his seizure two months ago - he’s stranded without a car (totaled in the accident) and without a license (if you have a seizure MA state law dictates you automatically surrender your license for 6 months). So he’s been getting rides from her when he needs to, or his grandmother. 

(Gonna throw a read more on this puppy. We now resume our regular scheduled dash scrolling).

Anyway. Besides the hovering, which has undoubtedly gotten worse since his accident, she gets a little too touchy with him that bothers me. Pinching his behind (again - he’s 30), and just all over him in general. I get because he’s the first born, she’s probably super attached to him - plus, he fell 15 or so feet when he was 2, so we think that’s what spurred her hovering because at the time I don’t think she was watching him; he ended up spending two weeks in the hospital after bonking his head. She doesn’t really act like this with her youngest son, who’s a year older than me at 28, but because he’s had issues with drugs/drinking in the past, she hovers over him too and clearly doesn’t trust him all that much.

Which, not that it’s my business, I have a problem with, because she isn’t giving him the chance to earn her trust back at all.

Then came Baxter, our one year old lab pup, who we got for free because we studded out our 6 year old male to a guy who’d grown up breeding coonhounds - so a responsible breeder. We took him home over Labor Day weekend last year. From the get-go she was all over us about training him, and what we should or shouldn’t do. A little note: I have my Associate’s in animal care, had to take hours of classes on dog training and behavior, so I like to think I know my shit about dogs, okay? Okay. It bothered the fuck out of me.

Cut to less than a month later, Nick’s grandmother gets out of bed in the middle of the night, takes a wrong turn and ends up falling down the stairs. Breaks her fingers on one hand and doing some other damage to her other arm.

First thing out of his mom’s mouth? “Did she trip over that dog?” I was livid. As if she couldn’t trust that we’d keep Baxter with us in his room at night - he was fast asleep when this happened. Even Nick (SO) was annoyed that she’d asked that.

Jump to this past weekend, and here’s a long background to this event.

About two months ago, Nick’s brother and his ex - not even his girlfriend anymore - decided they were going to get a puppy. Now, I think it was Jake’s idea to get the dog, and then the ex just maybe saw an opportunity to stick around, and voila, their puppy.

Who is a backyard bred pit bull puppy bred by a guy either by accidental pregnancy or because he “just wanted to try and breed his dogs”. Either way, these are key signs of an irresponsible breeder. Next sign? The fact he told them both they could take him at 5 weeks of age. When the normal age to take home dogs is 7-8 weeks. We took Bax home at 7 weeks. So not only is he missing out on crucial socialization skills such as bite inhibition and when to cool his jets with corrections from mom, but he’s incredibly small, the runt probably. And then begin the seizures. 5 week old puppy is now on anti-seizure meds - the same ones Nick is on actually.

What’s worse? Jake and his ex didn’t even pay for the fucking dog - Nick did, because Jake didn’t have the money. Makes me wonder how the fuck they’re paying vet fees for a sick dog.

You angry yet?

Jump to a few weeks later. This puppy is a fucking menace. Has zero bite inhibition and those puppy teeth are like razors. He was actually fucking vicious about it as well. Would only let you pet him so he could turn and nail you. Even. Worse? His “parents” encouraged this fucking behavior! Every time he began biting people, even if he was in someone else’s arms, “mom” would take him from them and cuddle him - thus, if you know a little about dog training, is seen as a reward by the dog. Even when I put him down on the floor when he started biting, she picked him up and cuddled him while trying to tell him “no”.

It doesn’t fucking work like that.

So you’ll understand why I get nervous as he gets bigger around Baxter. Having the reputation pits do (I don’t hate them; I just think not everyone should be allowed to own them if they’re not going to take training seriously - and even then, you can’t guarantee they won’t display some genetic aggression later in life), and I brought it to Nick. He’s convinced they’ll “be fine”, and frankly, I don’t want to take that risk because Baxter? Is a softie. He’s a wimp (sorry bubba, but you are), and he won’t stand up for himself - and I don’t want him to be in that position with another dog’s teeth in his neck, where he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do. Because by the time he figures it out, he might be dead (I’m gonna cry just thinking of that possibility).

So I keep an eye on them when they play. Jump to this weekend. The whole point of this rant. Sundays are for family dinner, and the puppy usually accompanies his parents. Why the ex still comes to fucking family dinner, I have no idea - she was his plus one to his sister’s wedding, which multiple people thought was fucking weird, myself included. Anyway, our boys are blocked off from the kitchen while we eat so the puppy can roam and we can keep an eye on him.

Then after dinner we let everyone in the kitchen. Well, Hydro (the 6 year old and Baxter’s father/sire) is at the table looking for scraps (bad habit, I know) when the puppy wanders over.

Now, let me mention this: Hydro was trained and raised as a hunting dog, so while he is socialized, he isn’t a very social dog with other dogs or even strange people. When Baxter was a puppy learning about boundaries, he pushed Hydro too far, and Hydro nailed him - picked him up by the head and tossed him. Baxter was fine, but he kind of got the gist. I was concerned, but at the same time I know it’s how a dog communicates enough is enough. Baxter still pushes boundaries but he’s a jerk like that. It isn’t for lack of trying.

So, puppy wanders over to Hydro, who gives a low warning growl to tell him he’s too close, he needs to back off. Adult dogs don’t very much like puppies to begin with because they have absolutely no manners. It’s crucial in dog development for them to be able to be taught by older dogs in their own way what is right and what is wrong.

Well, puppy made a wrong move not backing off, and Hydro snarled and snapped his teeth at him. He ended up catching him on the snout. Puppy starts screaming because he probably hasn’t had a dog do this before, and it’s bedlam. Hydro ducks under the table thinking he’s going to be punished for communicating in a way the puppy will understand. “Mom” scoops up the puppy, in goddamn tears (fucking please), acting like Hydro just tried to maul him. I’m watching this whole thing happen trying not to roll my eyes at everyone losing their minds.

I feel terrible for Hydro, so I’m the only one (even Nick wasn’t assuring him he wasn’t a bad dog right away, and that dog is attached to his hip) worried about Hydro. So I give him love and attention and tell him he’s okay, he’s not a bad dog. You can’t punish a dog for communicating that he’s had enough, for setting his own boundaries - and “mom” coddling the puppy isn’t helping him either, but he did learn. He was a little nervous about Baxter approaching him, but I’m glad his instinct wasn’t to bite. Had Hydro wanted to hurt him, he would have.

The puppy has to learn - even Baxter was trying to get away from him and everyone was just letting the puppy leap at him. Now granted, I read this morning you shouldn’t do that - if your older dog is trying to get away, you need to separate them.

Anyway, the family, besides Nana and Nick, kept giving Hydro wary glances every time he entered the room in case he was going to just up and attack the puppy. Which pissed me off.

What made it worse? Nick’s mother claiming Hydro wasn’t “socialized”, and the fourth time she said it, I corrected her with, “He’s socialized just fine. The puppy has to learn that dogs have boundaries. Not all of them are going to be like Baxter.”

(Spoiler alert: he would’ve learned this had he been allowed to stay with mom those extra 3 weeks)

So I’ve come to the decision that when Nick and I move to Maine next year, the dogs are staying home, and I’ll be minimizing contact between them. I don’t trust at all that they’re going to take the puppy’s training seriously, especially for a breed that’s so stigmatized like pit bulls. 7% of the dog population and they’re  number 1 in fatalities? There’s something wrong there. 

Anyway, this is my giant rant that’s been building up.

OH, and when we move to Maine, I’m going to do a happy dance because it means Nick’s mom can’t drop in unexpectedly all the fucking time and disrupt my domestic life. I can’t wait.

Uh, yeah, so y’all asked for it and here it is. Go wild on feedback, thoughts, agreements, whatever.

[81scorp]

From the diary of Angela Baker

(Originally posted on Deviantart Oct 30, 2017)

Warning: This fanfic contains SPOILERS for the 1983 horrorfilm Sleepaway Camp directed by Robert Hiltzik.

---------------------------------------- Dear Diary My name is Angela Baker and I... have lived an interesting life. When I was little my dad and brother Peter died in a motorboat accident. It scarred me mentally and the next eight years was a very hard time in my life. I was adopted not long after the accident and lived with my aunt, Dr. Martha Thomas, and my cousin Ricky. My aunt is actually very nice and positive... a little TOO positive. She`s kinda like Snow white... if Snow white was a stepford wife who had taken too much Prozac. My cousin Ricky is OK, he always looks after me. Anyway, after having been raised and homeschooled by my quirky aunt for eight years She thought it was a good idea to send Ricky and me away to summercamp. She thought it might help me come out of my shell since I had been very introverted for all those years. Summercamp was not as bad as I had feared, I met some nice people and started to open up a bit.Then people started to die.At first the deaths seemed to be accidents, but then it became clear that they weren`t. To make a long story short, the killer was caught and I turned out to be a guy.I should probably go back to the beginning and explain a few things.I remember when I first met my aunt Martha she was so optimistic of having a new kid in the house. I don`t remember everything she said, but the gist of it was that she had always wanted a girl. I remember the last thing that she said very clearly though. "Angela... Such a lovely name... Why I believe it means Angel! Why yes I`m sure it does! I know you`re going to like that name. Won`t you Peter?" So... the part where I said that my brother Peter died? Change it to "sister Angela" and you have the correct picture. My aunt liked my sister more, but since she was gone my aunt decided to take advantage of my traumatized psyche and raise me as a girl in her place. And the killer? That was me, I killed all those people. In my defense though, most of those people were mean to me. Anyway, I was sent to an insane asylum... for about a couple of months. One of the doctors declared me sane and let me out. To be honest, I don´t think I was fully cured, but I guess they just needed the extra bed. I wasn`t the only one he let out. There was another guy who was older than me (old enough to be my dad). He and I discussed what we were gonna do now that our old lives had ended and our new lives just begun. To (once again) make a long story short: he is now my new legal guardian. I like him a lot more than my aunt Martha. Sure, she was nice and all but that lady was crazy! This new guy is mental health personified compared to her! He runs a motel and his name is Norman, Norman Bates. I call him "Uncle Norm".He is nice and, like I said earlier, WAY more balanced than aunt Martha but there is one downside to living in the same house as him. His mom. I`ve never met her but I can sometimes hear her voice through the walls. She shouts a lot and says such awful things to Uncle Norm when they`re in the same room. Poor guy, he doesn`t deserve her treatment. Sure, she has her moments when she treats him with kindness, but those moments are few. Maybe I could take care of her like I did to those mean people at summercamp? I could make it look like an accident. But that will have to wait for another day. The doctor that declared me sane helped me get in contact with a guy who can provide me with estrogen. I`m going through puberty and I`ve done this Angela thing for so long that going back to living as a guy again would just feel weird. Another thing I`m not gonna go back to is being homeschooled. That`s right, I`m gonna start going to public school a week from today. If I`m gonna learn to be more social and open up I need to spend time with real people. When it`s gymclass I`ll just do what I did at summercamp: not shower with the other girls, just wait till they`re done. Completly foolproof. Just think about it, my first day at a real high school, one week from today! Eek! I`m so excited!

Peace. Angela

- - - - - - It`s been one week since I started high school today. Forks High School to be precise. Not as great and exciting as I hoped it would be, but, thank god, not as horrible as I had feared.I`ve made some friends. Their names are Jessica Stanley, Tyler Crowley, Mike Newton, Angela Weber and Bella Swan. It was very easy to build a circle of friends. All it took for me was to befriend Jessica and she introduced me to the rest. They`re all fun to hang around with... except Bella. She`s not a mean person or anything but she seems very disinterested in hanging with the group. Then there`s this weird guy who doesn`t come to school every day, only the cloudy days. He has pale skin, a stupid haircut (What`s the deal with his hair? Who would willingly style their hair like that?) and looks, for lack of a better word, almost vampiric. I don`t like the way he looks at me. I heard from Jessica that his name is Edward. Edward Cullen.

- - - - - - I almost died today.I was standing at my school`s parkinglot and some guy who was in a hurry lost control of his car. I was almost crushed between his car and one that was parked behind me. But then that Edward Cullen guy showed up out of nowhere, grabbed me and stopped the car from slamming in to me. At least that what I think happened. Everything happened so fast and when I finally realized that I had been just a second away from death he was gone. All that was left was a big dent in the door of the car and it`s driver wondering if I was OK.If that really was Edward then there`s more to him than meets the eye, and maybe he`s not as bad as I thought he was.

- - - - - - I take back everything nice I`ve ever said about Edward Cullen. It has been one week since he saved me from being crushed by that car and after that he has only gotten more interested in me. He stares at me, follows me around, appears mysteriously out of nowhere one second and disappears without a trace the next. I think he even snuck into my bedroom and watched me when I was asleep. He scares me. I`m afraid that he`ll find out about my secret. Then again, maybe he already knows and has no problems with it. The guy IS supernatural after all, it`s possible that maybe he has supersmell and can smell the small amount of male hormones I have. But that leads me to the other thing about him that scares me: He`s a stalker with superhuman speed and strength, and I`m just an ordinary mortal. If I want to get rid of him he`ll see me coming and stop me before I`ve even been able to scratch his skin. I`m scared. So scared.

I felt I had to tell someone. It may not get rid of Edward but at least I won`t feel alone, so I decided to tell our school`s guidance counselor miss Summers. I don`t know her first name but I`m sure it starts with a B and ends with a Y. It`s either Betty or Buffy. She`s a little younger than most of the teachers at school, probably in her early twenties, and is a real good listener. I told her about Edward but I left out the part about him having superpowers. I described him as "that pale guy with a creepy stare, stupid haircut, really stupid haircut" and I also mentioned "almost vampiric". I`m not sure but I think I noticed something in her eyes when I mentioned that last part. She told me not to worry and that she would keep an eye on him. I hope that`s enough. - - - - - - It has now been two weeks since the last time I wrote and there has been no sign of Edward Cullen in the school or even in the entire town. Whatever it was that miss Summers did it sure was effective. Turns out that thing that happened to me, being saved from a car by Edward only to be spied on by him later, happened to another girl a month before me. The girl in question was one of my classmates, Bella Swan. Now that Edward`s gone Bella`s all torn up about about it, as if she`s "lost the love of her life". Please! First: the guy was a creepy stalker, second: you weren`t the only one he stalked. So basically, he cheated on you. There are better guys out there than him. Unfortunately Bella hasn`t come to that realization yet, she`s been inconsolable since the day it became clear that he wasn`t gonna come back. I wanted to help her and gave her the number to the best therapist I know, the guy who helped me and uncle Norm get out of the insane asylum, Dr Hannibal Lecter. - - - - - - Two weeks have now passed since the last time I wrote. What has happened since then? Oh yeah, about a week ago Bella decided to take my advice and visit Dr Lecter and I haven`t seen her since. Wonder what happened? Oh well. I and the rest of my friends had a halloween party at Jessica`s house yesterday. I came dressed as Cleopatra. We did the mash. We did the monster mash. The monster mash. It was a graveyard smash.

Fun times were had. I have really grown as person these last months. I have come a long way from the shy, introverted non-girl that was too afraid to reach out and make new friends. I just hope they never find out my secret. If they do... Oh well, guess I`ll just have to make it look like an accident. Gotta go now, uncle Norm is shouting that the dinner is ready. We`re having pancakes. (Yay!)

Peace.

Angela

[beesmygod]

this is what riverdale is about (part 3)

part 1

part 2

first, i have to start this description of the first season by begging you to stay with me for all 3 seasons; the first season is hilariously quaint in hindsight to whatever the fuck i just watched in season 3. the first season does deal with some weirdly heavy subjects for a comic that was at one point about getting a malt down at the shop with your best girl (for example, a plot point in season 1 is a predatory teacher/student relationship) but the third season is freaked out on pcp comparatively. the descent into madness this show demonstrates as time goes on should act as a warning to all who desire to write fanfiction: there but for the grace of god goes YOU.

anyway, my approach to doing this is that i will describe each episode of the season briefly. in some episodes, nothing of major consequence happens. in some, i will describe interactions i found especially bizarre or accidentally funny or iconic. you may want to keep the list of characters handy but i will try to explain the new, incidental ones as they pop up.

an odd side note: you will notice many of the episode titles are taken from movie titles. “riverdale” LOVES making references to movies. i mean hell, so do i, but you will notice some of the references are............on the nose.

images are from the riverdale wiki

SEASON ONE (PART 1):

the river’s edge: jughead, as the series narrator, describes a july 4th boating incident that led to the death of jason blossom, cheryl’s twin brother. cheryl is found by some off-brand boy scouts on the riverbank looking like a fabulous drowned rat. when the town comes to gawk at the spectacle, betty’s mother is hella pumped at the idea of jason being dead because he broke up with betty’s sister, polly (betty’s mom is later revealed to be prejudiced against all redheads, including archie). jason’s body is not recovered.

veronica and her mother arrive at riverdale to stay in a 5 star hotel that inexplicably exists in this podunk little shithole of a town. they discuss her father’s recent arrest for various financial crimes and decide to get a burger. betty, across town, is thinking the same thing...but love is on her mind...

betty wants to confess her feelings to archie, who she watches dress from the house next door. he is huge and beefy, having worked on his dad’s construction site during the summer. betty on the other hand, organized a toni morrison release party (?!), which she describes to archie as they catch up over a burger. archie wants to make music now. music is the ONLY thing that gives his life meaning (spoilers: he only feels this way for about half a season), except for football. betty is about to confess her feelings but veronica busts the door open and ruins everything.

there is an insane scene here where veronica meets kevin at school the next day and “concludes” he’s gay using her powers of deduction and also the fact that he talked to her about a gay bar in town (i cannot believe the riverdale gay bar has never come up again wtf). based on this information alone, she wants to be best friends. great stuff.

archie tries to join the pussycats and they tell him to fuck right off. josie gets a weird monologue about her cat ears. archie makes weird eye contact with the music teacher at riverdale high, ms. grundy (who is like 22 years old and hot now, instead of ancient and withered), who is revealed to have had a VERY uncomfortable sexual relationship with him. the visual coding of the flashback scene is bananas; she’s wearing the heart-shaped pink “lolita” glasses from the kubrick movie. 

through a flashback scene, it is revealed that one of archie and grundy’s sexual trysts that took place on the date and location jason died was interrupted by a gunshot. meanwhile, betty and veronica gay kiss to try to get on the cheerleading team but cheryl is unimpressed, commenting that it is SO 1990s. nevertheless, they make the team.

at the semi-formal, betty confesses to archie, who reacts like she handed him a dead fish wrapped in newspaper. cheryl thinks this is hella funny and sets up a scenario at her after party that gets veronica and archie together for a round of “7 minutes in heaven”. betty flees. jughead writes his novel in pop tate’s chocklit shoppe. kevin and moose (a closeted football player) try to fuck down by the murder river but the mood is ruined by jason’s body floating to the shore.

OKAY that’s the longest one. we had to establish a bunch of shit. stick with me now.

a touch of evil: archie confronts grundy about the gunshot they heard, now that it is certain that jason was killed by a gunshot to the head. betty and archie make up and become friends again, beginning the cycle of riverdale drama that wraps itself up in less than 12 hours. cheryl uses the school p.a. system to demand the killer reveal himself so they can put him in the chair. alice cooper pays off the mortician for information about jason’s corpse so she can run an expose about the murder in the front page of the local newspaper. jughead witnesses archie sharing a way too intimate hug with grundy. veronica’s mom works at pop tate’s and meets archie for the first time at work, commenting on how handsome he is, like his father. archie andrews is certified milf-bait for whatever reason.

betty invites cheryl to her house for mani-pedis to spite veronica. cheryl uses the opportunity to accuse betty’s sister of killing jason. betty responds by telling cheryl to get out or she’ll fucking kill her. normal stuff. meanwhile, jughead confronts archie about grundy and finds out pretty much everything, from the inappropriate relationship to the gunshot. he urges archie to go to the cops but archie won’t do it because *~what he and grundy has is sPeCiAl~*. jughead tells archie he’s a fucking idiot and brushes off archie’s attempts to threaten him.

betty asks about her sister, who is revealed to be in a mental hospital in a catatonic state as a result of the relationship breakdown between her and jason.

jughead gets brutally owned by jocks who call him “donnie darko” and “suicide squad” while implying he fucked jason’s corpse. archie defends jughead and they make up right before the pep rally. the heartless bastards at riverdale high inexplicably gave archie jason’s football jersey instead of retiring it and cheryl has a real meltdown about her brother’s death, fleeing into the girl’s locker room to sob her heart out. she confesses to veronica, the only person who goes to comfort her, that jason was supposed to come back.

the next day, the cops arrest cheryl in the middle of class and handcuff her. it turns out jason didn’t die july 4th, but a week after.

body double: despite confessing to being guilty at the end of the last ep, cheryl starts this ep by saying “let me clarify what i meant by guilty” which is the first of many times riverdale immediately recons its own writing for no apparent reason. cheryl confesses she lied about what happened the day of his disappearance; they weren’t simply having a little boat ride, but trying to facilitate jason’s escape to a farm away from the clutches of his family. he was supposed to contact cheryl once he got somewhere safe, but he didn’t. meanwhile, betty’s mom apparently didn’t get the “not guilty” memo and publishes a sensational article about jason accusing cheryl of being the murderer. through this, it is revealed to the audience that betty’s mom and dad own and operate the local newspaper. just them. no one else. cool.

archie finally tells the sheriff about the gunshot but lies about grundy’s existence. kevin comments offhandedly that everyone should re-watch “making a murderer” on netflix, making this what i think is the first plug of an irl property/brand in the show. from here on out they get more brazen and batshit. veronica reveals she has a date with the football coach’s son, chuck clayton, but everyone warns her he’s a player. betty re-opens the school newspaper to compete with her parents and get the REAL story out. she hires jughead to interview the kids who found cheryl the day jason disappeared.

okay, dear readers, please listen to me attempt to explain the next part of this episode. veronica goes on a chaste date with chuck which ends in some light making out. the next day, it is all over social media that chuck gave her a “sticky maple” which is, as far as i can tell, some maple syrup photoshopped onto a photo of her to replicate cum. this is impossible to explain via text, so please look at this helpful screencap.

the theme of this episode suddenly sidewinds from “we must solve jasons murder” to “we must avenge veronica being slut-shamed”. they consider going to the authorities briefly but decide to storm into the boys locker room which accomplishes nothing. this story line is briefly put on hold so jughead can unsuccessfully interview some not-boy scouts and cheryl can repay archie’s attempt to clear her name by setting him up with music lessons from josie and the pussycats.

ethel muggs, a slightly more unpopular and more dowdy girl who pops up from time to time in the plot over the course of the three seasons, reveals that she is one of chuck’s victims too. she tells of a “playbook” kept by chuck that details sex acts the football team engages in (presumably with girls and not each other). 

jughead successfully squeezes a not-boy scout into revealing that the scoutmaster (who is like a 15 year old boy) fired the shot everyone heard at the river, but he was just practicing on targets he set up. the scoutmaster is a hardcore survivalist (a fact that becomes vital in later seasons). so ultimately the gunshot meant nothing.

archie offers to write songs for the pussycats and josie tells him to shut the fuck up, white boy.

kevin, betty, veronica and ethel break into the school after hours to find the playbook. cheryl inexplicably shows up wearing red thigh high boots to help them. no one except for me, the audience, is excited about this development. the book they find reveals that jason had a sexual relationship with betty’s sister, implying a sort of pump and dump situation between the two. betty goes apeshit and pledges revenge against chuck.

okay. just. stay with me now.

betty puts on red lipstick and somehow successfully convinces chuck to have sex with her at ethel’s house while ethel and her parents are out of town. when chuck arrives, veronica is there, claiming that she and betty want to “share” chuck. i cannot believe he falls for this for real. betty then comes out wearing a uma thurman “pulp fiction” wig and lingerie.

betty then roofies chuck, who wakes up handcuffed to the hot tub. while veronica records the scene, betty threatens to boil him alive in the hot tub and waterboards him with maple syrup unless he confesses to his crimes, the crimes of jason and for “destroying her”. after torturing him for an uncomfortable amount of time, they take their evidence to the principal. why they didn’t just do this in the first place i’ll never know. anyway chuck leaves the school and cheryl says, out loud, “#justiceforethel”. 

meanwhile, archie gets a soundproof place in the garage to practice his music after spending the episode arguing with his dad. dilton doiley, the scoutmaster, tells jughead and betty he saw grundy’s car at the river the day of jason disappearance. episode END.

this turned out to be so much longer than i thought it would be, so i’m splitting it here. these are so long im sorry. god bless you and im sorry you had to read this. we still have like 10 eps left. i didnt know it would be like this but i need you to understand and believe how insane this series is.

thanks for readin

[poisonivysparks]

Drugged Up Confessions {Peter Maximoff X Reader}

People stared at me while they drove by. I was laying in a ditch on the side of the road, left for dead. Sure, I looked almost completely different from a normal person, but it was no reason not to do anything about a person stuck on the side of the road.

I looked different because I was purple, had sharp teeth, bright gold eyes, and a long, spade-like tail. Over the course of ten years, I had been experimented on, tested, and tortured in a lab with other people, just like me.

The only person I had really seen, was a man with curly, red hair and lots of freckles on his chubby cheeks. He had disappeared about a year ago and I hadn’t seen him since then.

I curled up into a fetal position in a futile attempt to keep myself warm, since the winds were howling above me. I tried to think of when times were better, even though they were still kind of bad. I thought of my times in the Munich Circus with my twin, Kurt, or Nightcrawler as they called him back then.

We had been close, up until the time I had been bought by a man named Bolivar Trask. I was sent to his laboratory in America, it was one of the most horrible things that had ever happened to me.

I still had a slight German accent from my time in Germany, it had never gone away, nor faltered.

Suddenly, a car stopped and somebody got out.

“Are you okay?” An unfamiliar man’s voice asked, in a tender tone.

“I-I’m alright.” I sat up, sniffling. He looked really nice, nerdy glasses, a tiny bit of stubble, and a kind face. He had a yellow aura around him, meaning that he was happy.

“I-I can take you to a safe place, for people like us, I promise that I won’t hurt you. I’m Hank McCoy, a teacher there.” He said, putting a hand out for me to grab.

“What do you mean, ‘like us?’” I asked him, pulling myself up.

“We’re mutants, I work at a school for mutants.” He told me, walking over to his car.

“A-are you sure you are not going to hurt me?” I asked, following him wearily.

“I promise.” He said simply, opening the passenger door for me.

I entered the car, trusting him completely, I could always teleport out if I wanted to.

We drove for a while in silence, I felt quite awkward. He ended up pulling down a nice looking driveway with trees around it.

A few teens, about my age, were hanging around the trees, smoking and laughing with their friends, it was winter, but they didn’t seem to mind. They were all happy, a yellow aura around them.

Little patches of snow were on the ground since it was January. The air was frigid and cold, ice covering the road.

Hank turned into a garage, parking the car right after, went over to the passenger side door, and opened it for me.

“Th-thank you.” I stuttered, getting out of the car, my long and outgrown hair flowing behind me.

“It’s no problem. Now, come with me, the Professor will want to see you.” He told me, walking out of the garage, out into the freezing air.

“The Professor?” I asked, following him. He went up to a large, oak door and knocked.

“You’ll see in a second.” He told me, a happy aura around him, just like everybody else on the property.

“Hank?” A British voice said as the door opened, he had brown hair, blue eyes, and was in a wheelchair. “Why are you knocking?”

Hank motioned to me, and the Brit’s eyes widened at the sight of me. “I found her on the side of the road, she might’ve been from the old Trask Industries laboratory.”

The Brit turned his attention to me. “What’s your name, dear?” He asked me tenderly.

“Y/n Wagner.” I said, a little self-conscious about my accent.

“Hello, Y/n.” He smiled kindly. “I’m Professor Charles Xavier, and this is my school.” We walked inside, well, Charles rolled. I followed Charles into, what looked like, an office. “Would you mind telling me what happened before Hank found you?”

“Well, up until I was about nine, I was in ze circus with my twin, Kurt. Then, I was bought by Bolivar Trask, and tested on in America. Oh, I also saw this boy, he had curly, red hair, lots of freckles and kind of chubby cheeks.” I told them as their faces dropped.

“Sean? Was his name Sean?” Charles asked, looking frantic.

“I do not know, I’m sorry,” I told them.

“Well, I think we need to get you a room.” Charles smiled sadly, a blue aura around him.

~Time Skip to June~

I had been living on the campus for six months and made a friend, just one, her name was Jean. She was also a social outcast, just like me, except she didn’t have any appearance altering powers. We had somehow made friends with the new kid, Scott. Jean obviously liked him, her aura turning pink whenever she was around him. I admired their subtle affections towards each other.

I hadn’t told anybody, except Jean, about what happened before I got to the school, I hid all of my emotions behind a smile and took on everybody else’s problems to cover my own.

I was sitting on a couch with Jubilee and Jean, Scott had gone off to do God-knows-what.

I heard two sets of approaching footsteps and looked up from the conversation we were having. I saw Scott walk through and- my breath caught in my throat, it seemed like I was suffocating, quickly, I leap to my feet.

“K-Kurt? B-bruder(brother)?” My voice cracked as tears sprung to my eyes. Yellow eyes, mirroring my own, made contact with me.

“Schwester? (Sister)” I ran up to Kurt and tackled him into a hug. We tumbled across the floor slightly as we held each other close and twined our tails as a sign of affection. Happy tears streamed down my face as we hugged each other sitting on the ground. He had a bright yellow aura around him and tears in his eyes.

“Bruder, es war zu lang. Ich habe dich sehr vermisst.” (Brother, it has been too long. I have missed you dearly.) We started a small conversation in German as we still held each other, craving the contact of the other half of our souls, even if we weren’t twins we would have been very close, but being twins just made us even closer.

I heard a cough interrupt our conversation, I looked up to see Jean, Jubilee, and Scott staring, they seemed to be speechless at our heartfelt reunion.

“Sorry, sorry. This is my twin, Kurt Vagner.” We stood up, our tails still intertwined, as if we let go the other would disappear, which is quite possible because we could both teleport.

“We can tell...” Scott said as I put my five-fingered hand into Kurt’s three-fingered one.

“I still can’t believe that it’s been ten years since I’ve seen you, Y/n.” Kurt said, looking at me.

“I know, I’ve missed you,” I told him as he hugged me tightly.

“Y’know, these two have never been to a mall before, why don’t we show them some real American culture?” Scott said, and the two girls agreed.

“I heard the new Star Wars movie is in theaters, we could get the two some new clothes,” Jean suggested.

“Does anybody know where the Professor keeps his cars?” Scott asked, looking at all of us.

“I do.” I raised my hand up.

“Great.” He smiled evilly.

~Time Skip~

It was now August and super hot, me and Kurt had become practically attached at the hip. He knew all of my secrets and I knew all of his. Peter and I had also become close, we had been assigned as roommates since the boys’ dorms were all full. I had a slight crush on Peter, but I knew he wouldn’t love me back.

“Ich weiß, dass du ihn magst. (I know you like him)” Kurt told me as we sat down on a bench in the hedge maze.

“Kurt, Ich tue nicht. (I do not)” I told him, my cheeks heating up.

“Ja, Sie tun, versuchen Sie es nicht zu leugnen. (Yes, you do, don’t deny it)” He told me, poking at my sides. I laughed and slapped his hand away.

A silver blur crossed by us and I knew exactly who it was. Peter.

“Why do you guys always talk in German? Nobody ever knows what the hell you’re saying.” Peter said, squishing between me and the arm of the concrete bench.

“That’s the point.” I smiled at him, and a weird purple aura appearing around him, I had no idea what it meant.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like it.” He huffed, the purple becoming green, I didn’t know what the green meant either.

“Well, you have to deal with it.” I told him, crossing my arms playfully. Suddenly, the loud bell rang, signaling that we were late for our next class, which just happened to be training.

“Fuck, why am I always late?” He said and sped off, leaving me and Kurt to teleport there.

We did just that and got scolded a little bit by Mystique, she didn’t seem to like us very much.

Mr. McCoy started up the Danger Room and robots emerged from the wall, all we had to do was fight them for a while.

My brother and I were teaming up on the robot, while the others had their own robots to fight. Kurt and I were doing really well, until, suddenly, the robot swung at me, knocking me against the wall.

I fell to the ground and tried to teleport, but I just flashed red and stayed in the same spot.

Mystique and Kurt immediately ran over to me.

“No! My baby.” Mystique ran to my side and started stroking my hair, her aura was blue and pink, sadness and love.

“Why did you call me that?” I asked, coughing up a little bit of blood.

“I-I....” She trailed off and then I noticed the slight similarities between her and Kurt’s face.

“Are you my” I asked, suddenly realizing something. “Mutter?” (Mother)

She nodded, and Kurt looked at her in shock.

I felt extremely tired, and closed my eyes. “No! Y/n, please don’t fall asleep.” Kurt’s voice sounded distant and echoey.

~!Peter’s PoV!~

I sat next to Y/n’s unconscious body, she had gotten knocked out earlier that day and had only woken up in two-minute segments, spouting absolute nonsense, because of the medicine McCoy gave her. Kurt and Mystique were in and out, they both started crying when they saw her, though.

I saw her eyes flutter open and she sits up a bit, seeming to be in a daze. She looks over to me with a puzzled look on her face and I heard her speak.

“Kevin? Is that you?” Wait… who the hell is Kevin? I thought to myself, But she continued to babble, thinking I was this Kevin person.

“Kevin, I need to get something off of my chest.” She slurred to me.

“I am madly in love, with an oblivious idiot that can’t take a hintttt…” She elongated the word hint. Wait… I looked into her eyes.

“Who is the idiot you're in love with (Y/n)?”

“His name is Peter, I like to call him Quicksilver though.” She slurred to me, and my face turned bright pink.

“He doesn’t realize that I like him, zough, because he can’t take a hint” She whined like a child to me and my face became redder than it was already.

“I’m sure he likes you too (Y/n).” As I tried to get her to lay down to sleep again, red faced as a tomato.

“Do you really think that?” She asked, closing her eyes.

“Yes, I really do.” Her breathing slowed and her whole body relaxed.

| Y/n’s PoV | (In a Nightmare)

I was trapped in a room, crying. All of my closest friends, Jean, Scott, Jubilee, my family, Kurt and Mystique, and the one person that I loved with all of my heart, Peter.

They were all screaming in agony, held down by leather straps and being electrocuted. The big window in front of me was all I could look through, and it terrified me, their auras were all bright red, they were in intense pain. I tried to teleport out of there, do something, but I couldn’t.

“That’s horrible.” A voice said from beside me, I turned my head to see Sean.

“Everybody I know is in there.” I told him, tears leaking out of my eyes.

“You do realize that Trask industries closed down last month, right?” He crossed his arms and I looked at him in shock.

“W-what is this then?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“Some people call it a hallucination, but most people call it a dream.” He leaned up against the wall, arms crossed.

“How do I get out?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“I dunno, I’m just kinda here.” He shrugged his shoulders, walking around freely.

“I heard that some people have to die to get out of their dreams,” I told him, trying to move my legs and succeeding. I walked over to him and tried to touch him, but he was transparent and ghost-like.

“Wake up, Y/n, please.” I heard an echoey voice from somewhere far off, I couldn’t tell who it was. “Everybody’s worried about you.”

The voice sounded familiar, but it was distorted and seemed lower than it was supposed to be.

I looked through the window and saw that Peter was gone, the straps were still tied and nothing had moved, but Peter was not there.

I curled up into a fetal position, completely scared of what would happen, I stayed there for what seemed like hours, the voice fading away.

Quickly, I closed my eyes, hoping to go back to the real world, where I could be with my family and my friends.

~In the Real World~

I sat up, my eyes wide open, nobody was in the bland, all white, infirmary. “Peter? Kurt? Jean? Mystique?” I called out, my voice echoing throughout the room.

I heard footsteps and a ‘bamf.’

“Y/n!” Kurt’s accented voice rang out and he hugged me tightly, his aura was bright yellow.

“Kurt, you are squishing me.” I told him as he let go.

“Sorry,” He apologized. “You passed out about six hours ago and I vas worried about you.” He said.

Mystique rushed in, about a minute after her son and her aura the same as her sons. “We heard your voice.” She said, hugging me.

“I’m okay, I promise,” I told them, hugging her tightly.

“Peter was in here for a while.” Kurt told me and my cheeks flushed fuchsia. “He was worried, just like the rest of us, stayed here longer than any of us.”

“He was?” I asked, a hopeful tone in my voice.

“Well, yeah.” Kurt said plainly as I tried to get up. He held me down and pushed me into the hard bed.

“Kurt! I want to get up! I’m feeling a lot better.” I told him, crossing my arms and pouting.

“I’m not sure if it’s such a good idea, Y/n.” Mystique told me, sitting down on the bedside chair.

“Why can’t we just ask Mr. McCoy?” I asked, a little mad.

“I can go ask him.” Kurt volunteered, raising his hand.

“Thank you. Kurt.” I hugged him and he bamfed away.

He came back after a few minutes, Hank in tow. Hank quickly went over to the IV machine that was hooked up to my arm, his aura was a soft yellow.

“You’re vital’s are good, does anything hurt?” He asked and I nodded.

“I’m a little sore, but otherwise, I’m good. May I get out of this bed now?” I smiled at him, trying to use my adorableness in my favor.

“Yeah, you can, just don’t do anything drastic, you’re in recovery.” He told me, unhooking the IV from my vein.

“Thank you!” I got up and hugged him, my limbs incredibly sore.

I teleported to Kurt’s side and our tails intertwined.

“You guys are adorable.” Mystique said, laughing a little bit. “My two babies.”

Hank looked completely lost and confused, looking between Me, Kurt, and Mystique. “Did something happen, or..?”

“Are really that blind, Hank?” Mystique asked, laughing.

“I don’t know, I mean, I do wear glasses.” He said, adjusting his glasses.

“These are my kids.” She laughed as Hank’s eyes widened.

“W-what?” He stuttered. “So, um, you guys are Darkhölme’s?”

“I-I guess so.” Kurt said, resting his elbow on the top of my head.

“Get is off of me, Kurt. I am not a baby.” I grumpily pushed his arm off, giving Kurt the stink eye.

“Okay, Y/n, you should probably go get some exercise,” Hank said, smiling at me and Kurt.

“Alright.” I smiled back at him and bamfed out of the room and into the garden, leaving Kurt behind.

Peter was sitting on the same concrete bench that Kurt and I were sitting on earlier that day, a few purple flowers in his hands. It was almost completely dark outside and he looked kind of sad, his aura was blue with green tips.

“Peter!” I yelled waving my hand.

He heard my voice and looked right at me, his aura turning a bright yellow. “Y/n! You’re awake! I was worried that you wouldn’t wake up.” He ran over and hugged me, purple tips appearing around him. He easily lifted me up in the air and my cheeks turned a bright fuschia.

“Peter, you’re squishing me.” I told him, laughing a little bit. The flowers laid slightly damaged in his hands.

“Oh, sorry.” He said, his aura becoming slightly more purple. He set me down, me being very short compared to him.

“It’s alright.” I smiled, showing off my fangs a little bit.

“These are kind of for you, sorry that they’re squished.” His cheeks turned pink and the tips of his purple/yellow aura also became pink.

“It’s alright,” I told him, graciously taking the flowers from him. “They are beautiful, even if they are a little squished.”

“I found them and I wanted to give them to you.” He said, taking a step away from me.

“Thank you.” I told them, smelling the slightly damaged flowers.

“I want to show you something. Come with me, please?” He asked, excitement evident in his hazel eyes.

“Alright.” I smiled and he held me, his hand behind my neck.

“We’ll be there in a second, okay?” He said, a little concerned.

“Okay.” I said and he rushed off, stopping in a very thick patch of trees.

“We’re almost there, it’s just up ahead.” He told me, taking my hand in his and walking at a, surprisingly, slow pace.

“What is it, Peter?” I asked, following him towards a particularly thin patch of trees.

“I can’t tell you that.” He smiled, a mischievous look in his eyes.

We walked into the middle of the thin patch of trees, where a very comfy looking blanket was lying down on the ground.

“I come here almost every night, and just stargaze.” He told me, lying down on the blanket.

“I’ve only been stargazing once in my life, Kurt and I ended up getting in trouble. It vas nice while it lasted.” I told him, lying down next to him, the blanket was very fluffy and warm. His aura turned slightly green, but still yellow.

“Well, now you get to do it with me.” He booped my nose and I giggled slightly.

We watched the stars for a while, pointing out all of the constellations that we knew and some that we didn’t.

“You’re adorable, y’know that?” He said, looking at me, while I pointed out another constellation that I made up.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked, flustered as his aura turned completely pink.

“You. I love you.” He said, looking away from me and back up at the stars. “I love how innocent and adorable you are, I love the faraway look you always have in your eyes. You smile so much and I was so worried that you wouldn’t wake up. Sometimes, it makes me jealous because of the relationship that you have with your brother. You two are adorable and when you talk in German it kinda turns me on. I just love you and I feel like this is all so sudden and I just…”

His words made my cheeks flush and my brain not be able to think clearly. I had no idea what to do so I crashed my lips into his, taking the speedster by surprise.

He kissed me back and it felt like the stars were shining and cheering for us, as if they knew it was going to happen. He easily dominated me, rolling on top as I was pushed even farther into the cosy blanket.

Our lips moved together ravenously, my hands were tangled into his slightly fluffy, silver hair and my tail was curled around his torso. His hands were resting on my hips, barely squeezing, but I could feel it.

We pulled away, breathing heavily, and our foreheads were touching.

“I love you too, Peter.” I smiled while he caressed my purple cheek.

“I think you said that already with your lips.” He chuckled, his hair completely messed up, and I laughed with him.

“I’ve sort of had a crush on you ever since we started sharing a room together.” I told him, embarrassed that I was actually telling him that.

“Yeah, well, I’ve had a crush ever since I first saw you in that facility.” He told me. “And then when I first saw you laughing at my ‘I still live in my mom’s basement’ joke, I was completely head over heels.”

“You’re so sweet.” I hugged him and tackled him to the ground.

He flipped me over, very easily and gave me his signature cocky smirk. “You’ll never beat me, y’know.”

“I know.”  

Masterlist

[lightandwinged]

Short version: Isaac is being evaluated for ASD. Yay.

So!

The twins have been developmentally delayed their entire lives because that’s what happens when you’re born six weeks early. You were supposed to do six more weeks on the inside, you popped out, you’re not ready to breathe or eat or be alive yet, so even four months after you’re born, you end up looking like fatty tumor gremlins with faces instead of human infants:

We’ve had Early Intervention working with them since Isaac was about 3-4 months old because he had a condition called torticollis, which basically meant that he could not turn his head except to the right because of how he was positioned in my uterus (read: with his sister sitting on his head). They’ve both made really great progress throughout their course of therapies, and for the most part, they’re about where they should be without even adjusting for their prematurity.

Or, well. Carrie is.

Isaac had been my rock star, surging ahead in his development and leaving Carrie in the dust, and then he... just wasn’t. What I really noticed, though, was the stimming. He rocks, almost violently at times, and does it all. the. time. And to some extent, young kids all rock--it’s an interesting sensation, they like to stimulate the inner ear, it’s good times. 

Isaac, though, did it a lot. And while I figured “eh, it’s probably nothing” because he is very sweet and social, Early Intervention offered to do an evaluation of him just in case. 

The first evaluation was the Autism Screening Questionnaire, or ASQ. On that one, a score of 0-50(ish? it seems wrong, but that’s what I remember?) is little concern, 50-65 is moderate concern, and 65+ is qualified for the next stage of testing. Carrie had the test because it’s just standard at the evaluation closest to the 18 month mark, and she scored a 30--not even close to autistic. 

Isaac, meanwhile, scored a 95.

What struck me about the ASQ was how many items were things I’d never have considered, things like his absolute lack of a sense of stranger danger or his always stiff muscles or his alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea. I knew we’d have questions about stimming and eye contact and socialization, but the other items took me by surprise. 

So scoring high on the ASQ qualified him for the M-CHAT, which he’s not technically supposed to have until he’s 18 months (they’re 16 months yesterday), but he scored high enough there that the Early Intervention autism specialist is coming out to do her own eval one of these days to see if he should be fast tracked into the UMass diagnosis program or if we can just add our names to the (very, very, VERY long) list. 

I have a bunch of feelings on the whole thing, most of which are preventing me from even dipping a toe into any group for parents of kids with autism.

First, I’m not even slightly surprised because I’m (not officially diagnosed, but still) on the spectrum, both my parents are on the spectrum, my sister and brother are both on the spectrum, so it would’ve been weirder if none of my kids even had anything besides tendencies. Sam’s in the clear, with nothing to even suggest autism besides dietary issues; Carrie’s in the same boat. But Isaac has always struck me as having that sort of familiar weirdness, like looking into a slightly distorted mirror and seeing my own quirks reflected back at me. 

Which brings me to the second part, that I’m glad he’s my kid and not the kid of a neurotypical parent. It sounds awful to say it that way, but it’s like... I get how his brain is working, what’s behind things like stimming and lacking stranger danger and communication delays; and I get it because that’s how my brain works. So that’s a twofold feeling: glad that if he is autistic, he’s got a mom whose brain works the same way his does; and glad that if he is autistic, I’ve got a kid whose brain works the same way mine does.

And third, even though I don’t want him to have to deal with the obnoxiousness of life with autism (like being so tired at the end of the day from consciously processing so many bits of sensory input that neurotypical people just filter automatically), I’m hoping he scores high enough on his next evaluation to get him into the UMass screening program sooner rather than later, just to let us know one way or another. If he doesn’t score high enough, the wait could be months or years; if he IS autistic, I want to be able to give him what he needs even before that point, whether it’s noise cancelling headphones or just a signal to let us know when he needs a break or is feeling overstimulated; and if he’s NOT autistic, I want to be able to put the matter to bed sooner rather than later.

And FOURTH, I’m afraid of two things: first of him having therapists who will force bullshit like ABA on him and second of Autism Moms (TM). I don’t want to adjust his behavior and make him act more neurotypical; I DO want him to learn coping skills so that if he’s overstimulated or having a hard time, he can help himself, even if I’m not around to help him. I want him to understand the quirks in his brain and be able to work with them instead of fighting against them. And I’m afraid of coming up against brick walls where that’s concerned because everyone will want to force him into a neurotypical mold and I just cannot do that to my baby. He is who he is; he needs people to teach him coping skills, not people to force him into being someone he isn’t.

And related to that, AUTISM MOMS. Every time I encounter one in the wild, it ends up getting ugly, usually with me being like “look, little Brexitleigh has autism, which doesn’t change the fact that THEY ARE A PERSON AND HAVE EMOTIONS, which means that your comment of ‘I wouldn’t wish my autistic child on my worst enemy’ WAS A REALLY DICKISH THING TO SAY.” And then they claim that I don’t understand autism and can’t possibly be anything near to autistic and blah blah blah.

I am all about the parenting village, but I swear to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph that if I have to deal with Autism Moms (TM) at any point in this journey, I’m going to absolutely lose it and destroy something.

So that’s where we are.