#i met a new prof and i think she knows my face but hopefully my project has changed in a way that suit her interest now

[elvesofnoldor]

its funny how i was so eager in figuring out which profs i’d like to supervise my major research project back in September, but after the faculty actually presents to us first year MAs and MFAs about their own research interests and expertise in early October, I went radio silence for two whole weeks cause I was going through multiple crisis on developing my research project idea and I wasn’t sure about who to approach. Also i was an idiot and didn’t look at the dates earlier and only figure out I need to submit a list of preferences for supervisors and readers TODAY and I haven’t formally approached ANYONE  

[niawritess]

The Lovestruck~Chapter 2

{26 November}

You checked the time on your wristwatch and it was 8:22 where you instantly shoved your belongings inside your bag.

"Dan! Hurry up!" You slung your bag on your shoulder ready for your college, then heard his foot steps coming down from the stairs.

Your parents left for Scotland half an hour ago for your elder brother, Jaehyun's graduation for a week and now you were being an elder sister which was kind of a hard task.

You were about to open the door but he held your wrist as you looked at him questionly while he frowned. "Did you gave your number to that guy?"

"You're asking that now?"

"Just tell me."

"Of course, I didn't." You told him as you both got out of your house before a mischievous grin crept on your lips. "Wait, were you worried about me?"

"Oh, please." He scoffed and walked ahead of you and you chuckled seeing your brother's cute flustered expression.

A car stopped infront of you, then the car's side window rolled down, revealing your bestfriend Ria Song Smith. "Hey buddies!"

Ria is half Korean and half American as her mother is American and her father is Korean. You both met when she was transferred in your high school and was assigned your seat mate. You were too shy to initiate a conversation so, Ria being the confident one did it and since then you were inseparable.

"Hey!" You went to sit on the passenger's seat while daniel in the back before giving her a highfive as you both drove off.

______

10:11 am

Class started and you were listening carefully to the lecture until someone tapped you on the shoulder as you turned to the right side to see a guy smiling.

"Hey, could I borrow a pen? I actually left my pouch bag in the locker."

You nodded before handing him the pen. "Here you go."

"Thanks, by the way, i'm Rowoon." He smiled and held out his hand and you smiled back shaking his hand. "Y/n."

"No talking in class!" Your prof shouted startling you two as you both chuckled lightly before looking ahead.

The hour passed and the class ended where were taking your belongings and were about to go out but Rowoon stopped you holding out your pen. "Thanks.

You just nodded smiling as he smiled back. "If you need any help, you can ask me anytime."

With that, he left the class and you were also leaving but got stopped again by your prof. "Y/n could you help me put this book back in the library?"

"Yes, sure." You took the book from her hand and left the class to the library.

***

10:45 am

"Here!" Chanyeol yelled and Yixing passed the ball to him as he threw it in the basket making the goal.

"Yes!" He fist bumped with members before their coach halted them on their positions as all of them were standing in line.

"You must have heard about the match right? And again, we're gonna compete with that team." He trailed off looking at each of them. "We've won two years in a row, so this time too we're gonna give our best."

"So, keep practicing and let's win again, okay!"

"Yes!" All of them yelled but hearing chanyeol's loud voice, coach smiled at him.

"Our chanyeol always so passionate." He chuckled and members looked at him smiling before he turned serious again. "Okay! Focus!"

"Now continue with your practice." He said leaving the court.

"Okay! Focus!" Chanyeol pretended to be their coach guiding them, minseok hit him with the ball and he caught it.

"You want to be a coach that bad chanyeol?" They all turned around to see their coach and the ball slipped from chanyeol's hand as members were controlling their laugh seeing his face.

"Yes, he's aiming for it." Baekhyun smiled, earning a side glare from chanyeol and the Coach laughed. "Stop fooling around and?"

"Pratice hard!" Their voice chorused through the whole basket ball court and with that their coach left nodding.

"Wah! Chanyeol-ah, you should've seen your face!" Baekhyun laughed harder, chanyeol picked the ball before throwing at him but he dodged it and then ran around the court while chanyeol chasing him.

Junmyeon sighed. "They are driving me crazy."

_____

You entered the library and greeted the librarian before going inside while kept looking around to which book shelf you have to put the book in. You looked down reading the name if the book and a shoulder colided with yours making you stumble as both of your books fell.

"I'm sorry." You squated down without looking the person and picked the books.

"I'm really sorry." You heard a male voice and looked up to see a tall boy in a blue hoodie and pants with bunch of books in his hands.

"I was carrying these books so, i didn't see you." He explained and you stood up dusting off the book before handing him his books.

You shook your head. "It's okay, i wasn't looking too."

"And good luck with that." You eyed his books and passed by him going another way. He smiled to himself and went carefully by not bumping into anyone else.

***

Later, you and Ria sat on your table in the cafeteria by the window and as you were about to start, Rowoon passed by your table while waving at you before going to his table.

"What? What's happening? Why is Rowoon waving at you?" She questioned you impatiently and you shrugged shoving a spoon of rice in your mouth. "We had class together."

"What? How come i wasn't there?" She made a sad face and you chuckled sipping your juice. "You skipped that class."

"Why didn't you text me! We rarely see our seniors too." She sighed looking towards rowoon's direction and you shook your head at her words. "By the way, i took notes for you too, prof said it's gonna be in the test."

"Awe, you really worry for your bestfriend, don't you? ." She cooed locking her arms around your and you stared at her with a straight face. "No, because you're gonna give me a ride back home."

"Geez! Meanie!" She groaned, unlocking her arms and you giggled.

"Is this seat taken?"

You both looked up to see the boy you met in the library and Ria shook her head before he pulled back the chair opposite of you sitting.

"We met at the library remember?" He looked at you smiling and you nodded while Ria cocked her eyebrow at you.

"I'm Lee Mark." He held out his hand which you giving him a smile. "I'm y/n and she's Ria my best friend."

"You're really meeting boys today huh." Ria whispered to you with a smirk and you glared at her but you also thought the same thing.

"What are you two studying?" He asked.

"Literature." Ria answered. "And you?"

"Arts."

"I've never seen you here before, are you a new student?" She asked him.

He nodded. "It's been a week since i came here from new york."

You both widen your eyes and looked at eachother and then him as he chuckled at your reaction.

"So you're here to study instead of new york?" Ria emphasized the new york word, her eyes still widen and he shrugged. "It's just happened that way."

Then he got a call and picking it up he quickly left the cafeteria before waving bye to you both.

"He's handsome." Ria nodded after starting him till he left and you gave her a look before you both stood up walking out of the cafeteria.

***

2:35 pm

"Are you sure about that?" Rose held the stool tightly watching you climbing and You nodded giving the fused bulb to her as she threw it in trash can before going in the kitchen to grab a new one.

You were waiting for her but she was taking long, so you decided to check and while climbing down, you held the stool tightly as it suddenly started shaking but then stopped.

You looked down to see Baekhyun in a white shirt and pants with jacket over it, holding the stool while looking up at you confusingly. "What are you doing there?"

"Uh, I was changing the bulb."

"Why you are changing it? You should've called someone."

"It's just a bulb though and i've done it before too."

He sighed. "Okay, come down, i'll do that."

"Uh, okay."

He held out his hand and you looked at his hand then him before biting your lip as you hesitantly took his hand and came down. Letting of his hand, he climbed the stool before placing his bag on the counter and you held the stool for him.

"Did I took too-oh?" Rose stopped talking and smiled looking at the sight in front of her.

"When did you came?" She asked, giving you the bulb and you gave him.

"When she was about to fall." He answered while adjusting the bulb and rose looked at you worringly but then smiled.

"What a gentleman." Rose praised him and his corner of lips turned up before he jumped down.

"That, I am." He said looking at you while dusting off his hands and then Rose before he took the stool as he went to the kitchen while you glanced at rose to see her already looking at you with a smile.

"What happened?" Your forehead and she shook her head. "Nothing."

"So, how did it go?" You asked her and she sighed sitting at one of the tables.

"What? Did it went really bad?" Baekhyun asked her coming out from the kitchen and stood next to you at the counter.

"When I said hopefully, I really meant it." She glanced at you to see both of your quizzical face and chuckled. "I didn't even get to meet him, instead i met another man thinking it's him."

"What!?" You exclaimed, startling Baekhyun but a chuckle left your lips.

"It's not funny." She squinted her eyes at you and you smiled sheepishly. "Sorry but why did you thought it's him?"

"He was dressed in a suit and suddenly stood up when he saw me, i thought he is the man so i sat with him, he just began talking without asking my name," She sat up straight. "And we actually were having a good time until mom called and told me that her friend's son couldn't make it."

She folded arms to her chest. "That's when i went stiff and asked if his name was min ho but he denied and then i got to know that he was waiting for his model and mistook me for her."

"Wait.. then he must have found me pretty for mistaking me for a model." She smiled shyly tucking a hair behind her ear and you chuckled.

"Of course, you are pretty." Baekhyun grinned making her smile more but then her shoulder dropped. "I guess, i have no chance with men?"

"Why would you think that? There are alot of good men out there i'm sure you'll find someone good too." Baekhyun said and you nodded at his words before going to rose and sat opposite of her.

"Rose, don't feel down, like i said yesterday that you're an independent and an amazing woman, so it has to be someone awesome for you right? And i'm sure you'll meet him someday." You gave her a assuring smile as she smiled back at your words.

"So, just be happy and stop getting upset about that, what's meant for you, you'll surely get it." You added giving her a firm nod and she nodded smiling.

"Or just like you said, i should travel around so i can find someone like Big Boss." She giggled and you laughed. "Yeah, you should and let me come with you."

"Me too!" Baekhyun intruded and you all laughed.

"Okay enough talking, get back to work." She stood up, greeting the customer as he entrered.

"You really cheered her up." Baekhyun said to you after giving the customer his drink.

"I know right, even i didn't know i can cheer someone up." You looked at Rose, talking to a customer before you heard Baekhyun speaking. "I always thought you are good at cheering people."

You looked at him confused. "How?"

"Because Rose is always smiling or laughing whenever she talks to you, so you are a cheerful person." He smiled and you just stared at him.

"What's wrong?" He looked at you confusingly.

You shook your head and he nodded, continuing his work while you were still standing there with your burning cheeks as you always feel weird by compliments.

"He's really good at words." You muttered, calming your heart while looking at him and let out a big exhale as you shooed away your thoughts before continuing your work.

***

7:25 pm

"Good night rose!" You walked out of the Café and stood under the shade as a sigh escaped from your mouth when you saw rain pouring.

"Y/n, let me give you a ride back home." Rose said coming out of the Café after closing it with Baekhyun.

"No, Rose it's okay." You refused politely. "My house is that way and you'll have to make U turn while going to your home, so i'll just trouble you."

"No you won't, how-"

"Don't worry, i'll walk her home." Baekhyun interuppted and Rose smiled while you looked at him in surprise.

"Okay, be careful." She patted baekhyun's back and drove off in her car before waving at you.

"You don't have to and my house is ten minutes walk, i'll just call my brother." You said as were about to take your phone out but it was of no use as he was already standing beside you with an umbrella over you both.

He gestured you to take a step and you sighed while started walking beside him with a distance.

"So you have a brother?" He asked breaking the silence after walking for few seconds and you nodded. "I have two brothers."

"And you're last?"

"No, i'm the middle child and my younger brother is wait- how much younger he is.."

Baekhyun looked at you amused and chuckled watching you mumbling before he changed your positions as a car was passing by but you were too busy in your thoughts to notice it.

You looked at him and realized your changed positions but you just shrugged it off. "What about you? Do you have a brother?"

He nodded. "I have an older brother and he's married."

You frowned. "Why are you telling me that?"

"Just in case."

"What do you mean just in case? I'm wasn't even interested okay." You scoffed and he laughed making you frown.

Imersed in your conversation, you didn't realize that you reached home and the rain had stopped. You looked at him to say bye but got interuppted when you saw Daniel coming out from the house.

"Pota-." He stopped when he saw Baekhyun as he approached you two and looked back at you while signaling you to tell him about him.

"Ah, he's my little brother Daniel." You introduced him to Baekhyun and he nodded before holding out his hand as Daniel shook his head smiling. "I'm Baekhyun, who works with your sister at Café."

You looked at daniel. "But were you going somewhere?"

He nodded. "I was coming to get you."

"Right now?"

"The rain just stopped." He said innocently making Baekhyun smile.

You looked at him in disbelief and glared at him as you wanted to beat him that time but since Baekhyun was standing there, you couldn't do it.

You shifted your glaring eyes from Daniel to Baekhyun and your eyes soften. "Thank you for walking me home."

"No problem." He waved it off and looked at Daniel. "You should walk your sister back home, it could be dangerous for her since it's night time."

You looked at him with wide eyes and then Daniel who seemed to be confused but then smiled as he gave him a nod. "Yes, Hyung."

You looked at him shook as he called him Hyung and Baekhyun smiled before giving him a pat on his shoulder.

"Then i'll go now." He looked at you and you nodded. "Yes, reach safely."

You walked inside with Daniel behind you as you closed the door before something popped into your mind. "Ah right, did you changed the light bulb?

"What light bulb?"

"I told you to change the light bulb of my bathroom before leaving home." You looked at him with your patience going out of the hands and he sat on the couch before looking at you innocently. "Ah did you? I forgot."

"How can you forget that!?"

"It slipped from my mind."

"Slipped from your mind? I have to use washroom!" You said loudly.

"Just use any."

"Forget it! I'll do it myself and you know what? I gave you the perfect name, good for nothing!" You threw the pillow on his face before running upstairs.

"Yah!"

"Shut up!"

Baekhyun was still outside of your house as he was just close to walk away completely but stopped by your yelling and got surprised before he chuckled listening yours and Daniel's bickering.

"Light bulb." He muttered going home while a smile was plastered on his face.

___________

I had to write like this without spacing too much or I can't fit the whole chapter because it's long.

@wooya1224

[power-rings]

A Different Life

50 Years Ago...

-

Of what Shadow could see was all just a blur of colors as his escape pod entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the very thing that was keeping him from burning alive was falling to pieces as it continued to descend...very rapidly. 

The events before he escaped his home - The Space Colony A.R.K, it was literally hell. Gunfire after gunfire, his Creator disappearing from his eyesight within seconds after they were ambushed. Why was this happening? He never understood. Among all of that, Maria was under fire as well. He had hollered from his escape capsule for her to get to safety. Before he knew it, she had been shot.  In the chest. Words were exchanged between the two, and before he knew it, his escape pod was released. Was she... gone? Never to be seen again? 

Shadow braced for impact as the ground grew closer and closer. He blacked out momentarily, he shook his head as his ears started to ring. Cringing in pain, he glanced up to the blue sky. The hedgehog would be awed by the beauty if the circumstances were different. He scanned his surroundings, it looked like he was on some kind of Island... soon he found the strength to roam the island. There was no sign of another escape pod. Perhaps she landed elsewhere... he quietly hoped. The sound of commotion distracted his search for his companion. There were more men dressed in the same attire that attacked their home. A low growl escaped the hedgehog. What did they want?!

“Commander!  The lifeform just landed on the Island. Do you wish for us to capture?” Shadow’s ears pinned back, prepared for a fight. ��Yes, sir! We’ll need backup...” The human tensed up, as he raised his gun, loaded and ready to fire. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He muttered, as more men in uniform joined him. He fired a shot at the target, Shadow quickly dodged, and ran in the other direction. Forgetting there was a unwelcoming sea. He may be the ultimate lifeform, but he did not know anything about the ocean, except the creatures that lived in it.  He whirled around to face his enemy. Of course, they were quick to charge at him before he made a move. With the training he took at home, he was able to dodge every blow; only a few bullets brushing against his arm. The last soldier he kicked away, while another approached Shadow from behind...jabbing something sharp in his neck. Shadow swung a fist at the man, making contact with his jaw, he felt his neck. Odd. No blood? What did... oh wait, there it is. Everything around him started to spin out of control, he shook his head with no prevail. Before he knew it, he was shaking, and on his hands and knees while they gathered around him. Everything went completely black. He was out cold. 

When he woke up hours later... or was it the next day? Damn, at this point he didn’t care. What woke him was a familiar voice... Prof. Gerald Robotnik, better known to him as his creator. 

He was angry. 

“This was not the deal, at all! She had nothing to do with this!” Gerald shouted from down the hall. “He... listen! Damn you.. I built that place to protect this world. I created...-”

“What about....” whatever was said, it was inaudible to Shadow’s ears.

“...I did exactly as you selfish fools asked for, and paid me millions for. What I get in response? My granddaughter was shot for Christ’s sake! I see I made a mistake striking a deal with the likes of you....”

If anything else was spoken between the two, was muttered to Shadow as they moved to another room further from the one he was currently in. There were so many questions he had, what did his creator mean? They paid him? For what exactly?! Quite frankly, he only wanted to know if Maria was still alive. 

--

“Prison Island, really?” The elderly Professor scoffed, disgusted with the current circumstances. 

“A perfect place for criminals, don’t you think?” The commander eyed the shorter human.

“I am not a criminal.”

“That’s what they all say.” Prof. Gerald glared, “besides, you should be grateful before you leave this world... that your granddaughter’s life was spared. Oh, need I remind you before you blame my soldiers, she did intervene in the capture of Project: Shadow. Therefore, my soldier did his job like trained beforehand.”

“She’s still a child!” Gerald was furious about his last statement, despite his hate against the commander, he was relieved to hear Maria was alive. The commander guided him to her room where she was lying in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV, and various machines to keep her stable. She was still out of it, but all her vitals read normal.

--

“In the upcoming days, you will be granted a trial. Lucky you.  If you wish, you can say your goodbyes to your granddaughter. In the chair where you’ll be spend your last hour. Whatever you say will be recorded for legal purposes.” 

“Do you have any questions, Professor?” 

“I just want to see my granddaughter.” Gerald didn’t fight his consequences anymore, he had his plan ready for the years to come and that involved his greatest creation.  He had requested to have some of his former colleagues to join him in the lab that he use to work at a lot before this island became a prison. He told Maria he loved her, and as him and the other Professors watched her vitals, “you’re gonna go to sleep for awhile, ok? Once you wake up... maybe you’ll still see the beauty in this world. Somehow.” He held her hand, “I love you, my dear..” tears stung his eyes. Young and innocent. She was so blinded to the sins of this world. Oh how he wished he had felt that way. Maria looked up at him, there was a hint of panic in her eyes before falling into a deep slumber. The last thing he requested before being sent away to his death sentence, he wanted her to rest someplace a little more comfortable instead of the eerie Island they were on. 

Shadow too was preserved in a capsule, but remained on Prison Island because G.U.N was wary of how dangerous Shadow could be. He was sealed underneath the prison, to be remained untouched until the appropriate time came. 

-

Today...

Approximately, 30 years later Maria was found in Mystic Ruins when a group of people were investigating, soon she was taken to the hospital to be checked out. She was perfectly healthy...

Maria searched the room, there was a t.v displaying the news, info about the recent events around the world. The longer she watched the more she grew confused. How long has she been asleep? What happened to Shadow? And grandpa? Neither of which she knew the answers to. She got up from her bed, and stumbled to the windows, tugging at the cord to open the blinds. She was blinded by the sunlight. Once her eyes adjusted, she took in the surroundings and was in awe. Not exactly the beautiful forest she saw in books, instead she was welcomed to the busy life of the city. 

Hours, days and weeks passed by and Maria remained in the hospital, the doctors in awe of how she was still healthy after being asleep for roughly 30 years. They ran tests, poked and prodded her. Finally after the second week, the doctors left her be. Then, the cops came to ask her questions. She vaguely remembered much except her former home, save for the hellish events that almost took her life. Of course, she remembered her best friend... Shadow. But why wasn’t he in the hospital with her?  No one knew who she was talking about, of course. Eventually, she was released from the hospital and sent to a foster family had a close connection to the local orphanage. They of course welcomed her with loving arms. 

As she grew accustomed to her now current life on Earth, Maria attended the school located in Station Square, she fit right in with her classmates. She told them stories about living in space, but they didn’t believe her. Unfortunately, she had no evidence to prove her story. She would look at pictures they shared of space at school, then she would burst out where the A.R.K was located (to them it looked like a bright star). Her adopted parents listened to these stories, but was unaware of the existence of this creation.

No one took her seriously when she brought the subject up, that was until her “parents” met with her teacher at a local café to discuss her progress in school. “Yeah, she speaks about this place called... The Space Colony A.R.K, I’m not sure where she got this from-” They were interrupted by a tall gentleman in a uniform.

“Excuse me? Did you just say the Space Colony A.R.K?”

Slightly frightened, the wife confirmed his suspicions.

“...Strange. What’s your daughter’s name?“

“Maria...” The male at the table squinted at the taller individual.

“...R-Robotnik?!” 

“Why does her last name concern you?!” He stood up from the table, his eyes accusing the stranger.

“Mr. Tower, what the hell? Leave them be. We must head back to headquarters.” The other gentleman joined them, their uniforms similar.  This so called Mr. Tower muttered something under his breath before leaving with the soldier.

-

Roughly 10 years later, Shadow was found on Prison Island by Gerald Robotnik’s grandson...well-known as Dr.Eggman, his greatest plan was starting to unfold... 

Author’s note:

chapter 2 is coming hopefully. Ok it’s bedtime... Haha

[idreamtofthereaper]

Dream in a Dream

note: happy birthday baby jeno! you’re nctzens baby forever

UPDATE: obvs, this one was not written today and it’s obvious when I wrote it. anyways, here’s my new blog

–

When you came running to your parents at the age of 8 telling them how you had a nightmare, they immediately wanted you to tell it about them. 

When they sat you down and told them how you dreamed of a boy who got hit by a car. Your parents looked at each other and finally told you what they’re about.

Unlike before, dreams are not just dreams. People starts dreaming in different ages, and when they do, that means the fates have decided for your soulmate. And until you meet them, you will keep dreaming about them- or what happened to them.

And that’s how you first found out about soulmates and how you first met yours, by him getting hit by a car. For an 8 years old, that was pretty traumatizing, but you did dream about the kid again the next day in a hospital so you were sure he wasn’t dead.

Years passed by and that continued, dreaming about the same boy and seeing how his days passed by. You wondered what he sees in his, hopefully the fates have a filtering system.

You then reached college, and you knew he was in college too. Few months ago you saw him filling out papers and from what you could see, it was a school in Korea. Well, you’re not in Korea.

You haven’t met this boy, nor know his name. But you were sure when you see him, you would know him. He just has the most distinct, precious, honestly just adorable eye smile.

He reminded you of cats, so before you moved in to your apartment that you’re renting out with a friend, you adopted a cat. You named her miso (미소) for smile. Because why not? You did got a cat solely because of that boy, so why not name her after him?

It was another tiring day, and you were already clocked out for the night to even attend the party your friend invited you to go. 

After finishing taking a bath, you just did some school works and immediately head to sleep, can’t wait to see what your soulmate was up to.

Though you’ve been living with this ‘dreams’ for a while, you still don’t know how it works. You don’t know why you could see your soulmate as if you’re in 3rd perspective, how you could only see some parts of their day, and you also didn’t know how ‘latest’ they are. You weren’t sure if the events that occurred in the dream were just recent or 3 days ago or a month ago. 

You just dreamed.

It started as soon as you felt your body being weightless and any surface is just air. The darkness immediately being painted by blue, white, green until it was totally light. 

You saw your soulmate in a baby blue sweater, entering his college with another boy who had Pink hair, this one looking like a bunny.

In the dreams as well, some words are filtered. You would hear not the voices sometimes, but the birds or the chatter of the crowd. It’s weird really.

The scene twisted and skipped to their lunchbreak, where he was facing the lovely Pink haired boy. Both of them laughed and smiled and all of a sudden, a girl approached them along with Two more. Giving your soulmate a hi, did some small talk about ‘how hard the assignment was’ then left with a flirty smile.

You felt your actual body jerk. You were sure you were probably hitting the air right now in your bed, while you had your eyes closed and hugging a body pillow. 

“Hey, why don’t you go talk to her? Do you know how many people would want to be in your spot?” The Pink hair boy hushed as the group of girls turn away. 

Your cat guy just smiled and shook his head. “I can’t, someone might get mad.” He chuckled at his own words as he took another bite of his food. 

The Pink dude looked at him weirdly first then made an ‘O’ remembering how his friend already has dreams, he still hasn’t. “Oh yeah, she could probably see me. Hey!” Pink said, staring at your guy directly in the eyes before waving cutely in front of your guy.

Soulmate boy just laughed at his actions, “No, it doesn’t work like that.” Then your guy went on about explaining how the dreams work, how it’s not first person but third. 

Then the scene shifted again and now, you were in his room. You could recognize his room, you have been there multiple times already. And in there, your guy was writing in a paper with a lamp on, now dressed in a pair of pajamas.

He then looked over at his work again before putting a cap on the mark, standing up and going in the middle of his room while holding the paper horizontally. “I don’t know if this is going to work, but I’m Jeno. I guess it’s about time we know each other even just by name.” You heard him said, then your focus went to the paper. 

“I like your cat, what’s its name? I also have some” 

Then your dream ended, and you woke up. Ever since then, that’s how you communicated with Jeno, sometimes the voices would be gone so the paper was definitely a smart idea.

In a short time, you found out he has 3 cats, the Pink hair guy was Jaemin, and that he was taking commercial music in college, and is currently at Incheon South Korea. 

Then he also knew how you were majoring in literature and owns a cat called Miso, he asked why you named her smile, you just said because you always smile whenever looking at her. 

It remained like that, even managing to vent out to each other until one night, the scene was different. It was like he forgot about it as now, he was busy packing his bags- then the scene ended. And that was your only dream.

You woke up feeling nervous, writing a ‘something wrong? you okay?’ on a piece of paper and standing in the middle of your room for a while before leaving for your class, managing to get in before the bell rang.

It was another simple day, nothing unusual, though you couldn’t focus because j e n o. 

You got back to your apartment pretty early as your prof. decided to dismiss early, and now you were thinking and worrying about jeno related thing as your cat Miso was not around.

“Miso? Miso baby.” You called out, alerting your roommate who was in the bathroom. “Have you seen Miso?”

“Dude, you left the door slightly opened, I thought you brought Miso with you.” Your roommate and your eyes widened at this, immediately dropping your bag as your rushed out the apartment.

This was not the first time Miso ran away, but you made sure Miso wouldn’t ran away again since she would always be returned by a neighbor or you would see her just outside. You have been gone for hours.

You reached the park, already feeling frustrated at your missing cat. The area is mostly surrounded by dogs, so you don’t know 

I shouldn’t have named her after that boy.

“MISO!” You continued to yell out again, even cupping your hand to your mouth to increase your voice. 

You stopped at your tracks when you saw Miso- and her namesake feeding her while they sat beneath the tree.

Miso ran off from Jeno’s lap, who was looking and smiling widely, and watched as Miso slowly walked towards you and caressed your leg. You picked her up and rocked her while in your arms, looking back at Jeno who was now walking towards you.

“Hi.” He greeted, his signature eye smile appearing.

You smiled back as you felt Miso scrambling in your arms. “Hey, I can’t believe you met my cat before me.” You said with a smile, admiring his very nice face. 

“Technically, I met you. Remember when we were having dreams of each other?”

[dreamsafterhours]

college boyfriend!markhyuk au series: II (donghyuk’s pathway)

a universe in which roommates!markhyuk meet each other's s/o in class

markhyuk are roommates, my/n and dy/n are roommates, mark and dy/n take classes together and so do donghyuk and my/n — how will their fates intertwine?

genre: fluff pairings: platonic!mark+dy/n format: dotpoint AU universe: non idol, college best friend warning: a lil swearing (best get used to it lol)

masterlist

or click here to continue your friendship with paediatrics!haechan!

I ⇤ | II | ⇥ III

II: relationship consolidation.. it’s platonic i swear

the fellowship continues (mark + dy/n)

so the month that follows your first meeting

is full of

a mixture of crackheadedness and tortured artist vibes

a lot of it is sending lit memes and other shit to each other at 2am when u have an 8am the next morning and yelling at each other for keeping u up so late but then laughing again at whatever the ridiculous punchline was

“to quote shakespeare’s hamlet, act v, scene ii, line 270: no”

/deep inhale/ /unhinged laughter/

that’s your inside joke for a whole two weeks mark couldn’t get the numbers right the first few times uwu poor confused thing but he got it after a while so good on him

in the second class after the first day, you try your best to find in him the crowd of people lining up to go into the lecture theatre but you can’t and it’s almost time to go in and—

oop you’re getting swept by the current of the masses

you still try to look for him even then

and luckily your attempts pay off !bc you do see him further up the stairs

,, but he’s

,.talking to another person, sitting in a seat on the end of the row 

slightly disappointed that you can’t sit together and get to know him better and hopefully become friends but !! still optimistic that you’ll just make new friends

you file into an empty seat near his row a little further down the stairs from where he was sitting

you take out your materials and start to go over your notes from the day before when

someone plops himself down on the seat next to you

you look up and before you can smile in greeting, you recognise

it’s mark!!

he says “heyyy” in that rlly soft voice idk if you’ve seen the vid of him going ʰᶦ but that’s the voice he uses here

and you’re like “oh hi! wait i thought i saw you sitting over there” pointing behind u

and he’s like “oh i just met a friend and i was saving his girlfriend’s seat haha.. she just arrived so they kicked me out and i saw u and !!yeah”

and u nod at him like “nice nice i thought you ditched me” jokingly ofc

“no no i was actually trying to find you but.. you’re too short”

“i’m what”

/whispers/ “i’m sorry omg don’t kill me pls”

/stands up straighter to assert dominance/ “say that again, marcus. say that again”

ajsagdfo cuties

“ok then should we meet somewhere before the lectures”

so you decide on the benches outside the building as Your Spot™

the lecture’s just an introduction to the first text in the syllabus bc . second class

and so there’s quite a bit of note taking,, naturally

mark forgets what the prof says before he can write it down and this particular prof, you learn, is prone to talking fast and then switching the lecture slides before anyone can write anything important down

poor mark is doing a lot of looking up at the slides and then down at his notebook and :(((

so r u but u seem to have better memory than him so u either have the lecture slides up if you’re a typer with your notes or manage to write your notes and still listen to the prof if you’re a writer idk yalls preferences so

meanwhile mark whispers under his breath,, half to himself

“what” don’t we all,, mark.. don’t we all

and he does that a few times so you look over and he’s written barely anything so at that point he’s almost just resorted to listening to the prof and not taking notes at all

then he seems to catch himself and he starts writing down whatever key terms the prof is spewing and you realise

kid’s blanking out lmfao

so you tell him you’ll send your notes over to him after class and he’s like !! R U SURE im so sorry im not used to this sPEED and i can’t put my hand up and ask him to slow down someone else has to do that

and u just nod and tell him it’s all g

so class ends and you wave goodbye (confirming to meet at the benches next week too) to go to your tutorial class that happens to be right after the lecture and so does he,,

and this is your thought process for the next five or so minutes:

there’s only one exit so surely he’s only going outside and not the same way as me

oh look he’s going the same way as me.. i’m sure he’s just going to another building ooh that’s a pretty cool tree

hey we can walk to our next classes together and then split up where we have to go in different directions

is he turning left or right left or right i’m going left left or right left or—wait oh cool

ah there’s a bunch of classes in this building too surely he’s on a different floor. see he’s going up the stairs—wait he’s going up the stairs.. so am i..,,,

nah surely he’s going up another floor

wait if he’s going up another floor.. why isn’t he going on the elevator

does he have a fear of enclosed spaces

does he have childhood trauma in an elevator

maybe he keeps fit by climbing stairs

lol this is my floor, be funny if..

hang on a second

HANG ON A SECOND

“HANG ON A SECOND�� that wasn’t one of your thoughts btw that was. out loud

very loud

and he turns around, startled at your voice again

looking up from his phone and eyes getting wider than they were in their initial reaction

“wHAT THE—WAIT HOLD UP HOLD UP HOLD UP—”

he’s giggling at this point bc it’s so funny to him

“HOLD—YOU’RE?? in this tute too??”

“are we??—”

“—in the same class?” yall say that in unison bc that’s the proliferation of a Wholesome Friendship™ right there

u laugh bc wow this is my new best friend

“this is crazyyy”

“yeah what the f..” he highkey cuts himself off bc i mean day 2 guys

but then you

“exactly what the fuck...”

lmfao he knows then that it’s ok to swear with you

n e ways

y’all keep talking until your tutor arrives and lets you in the class

ofc you sit next to each other in the tute as well

you have a great time and class ends quicker than you thought bc you’re having fun and that’s always gewd

so the next few weeks u’re just vibing with each other

walking to class together after ur lectures

walking each other to other classes

studying together in the library in your spare time catching up on content and exploring ideas discussed in tutes for your shakespearean sonnets class

"o romeo, romeo, wherefore were thou and juliet teenage dumbfucks”

he couldn’t stop laughing at that for three days straight

“t..teENAGE /wheeze/ dUMBFUCKS HAHAHAHAHA”

getting pretty close basically

sharing hobbies and music tastes (u find out he plays guitar and it’s the biggest possession he brought into his dorm from his house and listens to frank ocean and john mayer a lot, watches fullmetal alchemist)

sometimes you’ll come to meet him at the benches full on catwalking down the path with your airpods in and resting bitch face on listening to some dope shit while the crowd parts for you and he’s just like O.O

how is she friends with me

he thinks you’re so cool it’s cute

but he’s also alr convinced himself that you’re so out of his league he highkey won’t dare try and make a move

n e ways

he sees ur airpods and he’s like “aren’t you afraid you’re gonna lose them one day”

and you just look at him and go “do i look like a fool, marcus”

he laughs so hard at that

complaining to you abt his roommate in real time over text like

marcus the fool 🤡: “dude he’s whining at me to ‘play with him’ i don’t want to play with him”

marcus the fool 🤡: “now he’s getting jealous of u”

marcus the fool 🤡: “he asks who u think u r”

you: “tell him i would fight him”

marcus the fool 🤡: “he says u won’t win”

you: “bet”

marcus the fool 🤡: “i told him u don’t need to fight for my attention bc uve alr got it”

marcus the fool 🤡: “now he’s fake crying”

marcus the fool 🤡: “he’s telling me to leave the house and leave the kids”

you: “am i a homewrecker now”

marcus the fool 🤡: “he calls u a homewrecker”

you: “tell him i’ll kiss it better”

one day like a month or so into your friendship

you rush to the benches with that look on your face that says you’re about to murder someone which usually disappears when you see him and take out your airpods bc rbf

so he ,, approaches with caution ,,, easy does it,,

yes he’s wondering if it’s your time of month

ngl it åctually was which makes things worse

t e n t a t i v e l y he asks on the way into the lecture theatre

“hey dy/n u ok?? u look.. ok nvm”

bc u lowkey glared at him but u didn’t mean to i swear u just looked at him but u were alr in a bad mood

so ure like “sorry yes i’m fine i didn’t have my coffee today so i may be a bit cranky”

“what happened? u sleep in or smth”

“yeah i slept at 4 last night”

“wHY did u do that”

“idK but i was running late just now and the line at the cafe was so long i stood in line for five minutes and i said nop class is abt to start”

“oh okey”

this keeps bugging him all throughout the lecture

so he turns to u when the lecture is over and he’s like

“u have another lecture next right”

“yes marcus i have another lecture that you’re taking with me”

“come ditch with me i’ll shout u a coffee”

“what really”

“for sure, we can catch up on the lecture in the library tonight”

and you remember that you’d made plans with your roommate my/n to go to the library that night anyway so you agree and let him know

so he’s like “oh rlly? can i bring my roomie along too he probs doesn’t have other plans anyway i hear they’re doing some kind of project so he better not be going anywhere” with a lil frown uwu angery mark

“sure don’t see why not. we’ll all study together”

“nice i’ll let him know”

“cool”

cool

u see where i’m going with this

waggles eyebrows

wink wink nudge nudge

click here to continue your friendship with paediatrics!haechan!

I ⇤ | II | ⇥ III

[theshatteredrose]

Relic Keepers: Awakening of the Red Lily (Chapter 2) - Original Fiction

AN: Wow, two updates this week; I’m on a roll. Anyway, hope you’ll enjoy reading~

Ao3 | Wattpad | Inkitt | FictionPress 

Chapter 2:

Eishirou had expected Zayne’s demeanour to change immediately after learning that his new roommate was a Passive. And for a brief moment, it did. He looked perturbed; his eyes somewhat vacant as his smile slipped. He soon recovered that smile, however, and nodded his head surprisingly nonchalantly.

“Ok, cool. Anyway, looks like you’re going to have to escort me to Hanger 12. New here. Don’t know where it is.” 

Well, he took it rather well. Although, that didn’t necessarily rule out the possibility that he would ask for another room later. So, it was best not to get too attached or interested in the guy.

Thinking about it, Eishirou hadn’t heard of an Elite rooming with a Passive. The administration preferred to keep the two classes separate. Why? Who knows. It was something they just did.

Maybe this was a test to a possible future change. Honestly, who knows what they had going around in their heads up there.

“Ah, makes sense,” Eishirou replied in a hopefully equally nonchalant way. “Just let me grab some things and we can take off. Mustn’t keep Ernesta waiting.” Not if they want to keep their heads.

They moved to their different sides of the bedroom after that. And worked in silence.

Eishirou grabbed the usual on-field gear; excavation tools (brush, hand shovel, etc), communicator, tablet to document findings, and more importantly his medical kit.

He was still classed as a rookie in regards to his Medic training, but he knew enough to heal minor wounds and injuries, and to fix a headache or two. He was still learning to do triage and hoped to eventually learn out to do out on the field operations. Though, he also hoped that he never had to use such skills!

With everything he needed in his carry bag, Eishirou lifted it up over his head and rested the strap across his chest. He then twisted the bag around so that it rested behind him rather than at his side.

“Right, ready to get going?” Eishirou asked as he turned around.

“Just a sec,” Zayne answered with his back to him. He took a moment to flare out his jacket and pulled it on.

White jacket with the Academy’s emblem etched onto the back, and it was over that emblem, stitched into the material sat a Wing Holster, allowing for Elites to concentrate their mana and take flight. The winged emblem of Elites was printed on the right leg of his black pants. The usual uniform for members of Elite Teams. Sat snug on his hips were two holsters. And he could see the stock and hilt of hand-held weaponry. Through the use of a mechanical devices called Mana Holsters, Elites were better able to manifest and manage their mana, turning it into physical manifestations of weapons.

Having two such devices was rare, even for Elites. The guy must be pretty good at what he did. Whatever that was. Well, that had to be a given, right? Especially if someone liked Ernesta hunted him down to get him on her team. If the rumours were to be believed.

After adjusting his jacket, Zayne glanced in his direction and gave him a quick grin. “Let’s go.”

The quickest way to reach the hangers was by jumping on the electric tram that intertwined throughout the entirety of the campus. The Academy sat smack in the middle of Araluen, and it was a town in of itself. To say that it would take an hour to hike from one end of the campus to the other was no exaggeration.

Thankfully, there was a tram station close to the entrance of the dorms.

The journey to the hangers was a relatively quiet one between Eishirou and Zayne. He appeared deep in thought, absentmindedly glancing at his surroundings. He was likely musing about what their assignment was going to entail. His role was far different than the one that Eishirou had, after all.

Finally, they reached the departing bays of the hangers. Despite the number, Hanger 12 was actually the closest to reach.

A group of people stood in the hanger, by the helicopter that would take them out to their assignment work site.

Professor Jacob Chryses was immediately recognisable. He was the tallest one there. Over six feet, likely nearing seven. Muscular man, with tanned skin that indicated that he had spent years upon years out in the field, getting his hands and boots dirty.

Jacob spoke with Ernesta. She was easily the tallest woman in all of the academy. She was also a rather practical woman. Blonde hair to her shoulders with a short fringe. Her clothing was sturdy, even around her rather large bust. She always wore a rather peaceful expression on her face. Even in the midst of battle. But that peaceful expression could turn dark at the drop of a hat. And she could be terrifying.

Eishirou, thankfully, hadn’t been on the receiving end of that dark stare. And he didn’t want to.

With her was the rest of Team 3.

Tatsu, the second tallest of the team. Short black hair, sharp green eyes, and a small grin that was oozing with confidence. Everything about him presented confidence, from his broad shoulders, to his wide leg stance. He, fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on point of view) he had the abilities to back up that confidence.

Next to him was the team’s other guy member, Leon. Short dark brown hair, square jawline, and light blue eyes. He was a fraction taller than Tatsu, and he did possess a strong sense of confidence. He was polite enough, though. Civil. Didn’t start any unwanted confrontations.

Finally, there was Rinka. Honestly, she looked completely out of place amongst the team. Short, quiet, meek in some ways. Her long hair was a light lavender in colour, and her eyes a vivid silver. By appearance, she didn’t look like she belonged on the team, yet alone out in the battlefield. But when she was in battled, her mana weapon engaged, her personality did a one-eighty. Still quiet, but lethally so.

Eishirou didn’t really like nor get along with Tatsu. He looked down at him. And he meant that figuratively and literally. He appeared polite in front of the others, but it was incredibly easy to tell that he just barely tolerated his presence.

He got along with the rest of them. He couldn’t necessarily say that they were friends. Acquaintances at best. Things were simply civil.

Ernesta was the first to notice their approach. A peaceful smile graced her lips as she turned her half-lidded, almost lazy eyes in their direction. “Good. You’re both here. We’re ready to board and leave.”

“Ah, Eishirou,” Jacob gave him one of his usual broad grins. “Just on time, as always. I see you’ve already met the newest member of Team 3.”

“Well, you see…” Eishirou was going to explain that he and Zayne were somehow roommates now when Ernesta interrupted.

“Jacob, best to board now,” she suggested as she folded her arms nonchalantly under her bust. “I need a moment to speak with my team.”

Her expression changed into that of realisation and she turned to face Jacob fully. “Before that, though. Professor Chryses, I must ask; Should the worst-case scenario occur, who is it that you wish for us to protect?”

Huh. That was a question Eishirou hadn’t heard asked before.

Jacob’s response was equally surprising.

“Eishirou.”

Eishirou was slightly startled at the lack of hesitation in Jacob’s response. “Come on, Jacob…”

“No arguing,” Jacob replied sternly and folded his arms across his chest to emphasize the point. “You are the only medic here. Besides, your skills are invaluable to the research community.”

Once again, Ernesta interrupted before Eishirou had to chance to say anything further. “Understood. Please board and make yourselves comfortable.”

The lack of scepticism in Ernesta’s reply was a little bit startling, too. But Eishirou knew he couldn’t argue against the both of them. Part of what Prof said was right; he was a medic. And appeared to be the only one on this assignment.

As Jacob turned to stepped onto the helicopter, Eishirou dutifully followed.

“Ground crew is already there,” Jacob explained as they took their seats. As Eishirou sat down in the seat in front of him, he pulled out a tablet and handed it toward him. “Here. Take this time to read through the notes.”

Eishirou rested his bag by his feet and retrieved the tablet. “Sure.”

He got himself comfortable in his seat and stretched his legs out in front of him. He switched the tablet on and started to flick through the documents and photos. 

First up was a photo of what he assumed was the stone tablet he was requested to help investigate. The stone was a rusty red in colour, and in many different pieces. Even so, there were visible etchings on the stone. Scrawling of patterns or words, it was hard to tell in the photo. Though, it did indicate that the stone had been weathered by the elements. So, it was safe to say it was old.

“So, an in and out assignment?” Eishirou asked as he flipped to a photo of the area where the stone was discovered.

“That’s what we’re planning at present,” Jacob answered as he leaned back into his seat, too. “Need to do a survey of the area before further investigation. ShadowDwellers are known to inhabit that location in particular.”

Honestly, the dangerous creatures were found everywhere outside the city. Sometimes inside, too.

From what the photos of the area indicated, it would be easy for a ShadowDweller or two to sneak up on them. The tall trees curled around the seemingly naturally formed paths. The bark of the trees was that of dark brown, but the leaves were a vivid green. The canopy appeared dense.

The assignment had better be quick if they didn’t want to contend with the darkness.

“What’s our work crew like?”

“Passives. Field researchers, mostly.”

Yeah, that made sense. From these documents, it appeared that they were planning to gather the remnants of the stone tablet and bring it back to the research facilities.

“Any thoughts?” Jacob asked him, something he usually did on their assignments.

“The etchings on the stones are unusual,” Eishirou replied. “But I should be able to work out what they mean when I lay my hands on the stones.”

“They don’t match those of the Main Land.”

Yeah, they didn’t.

Eishirou idly flipped back through the photos as Zayne and the other members of Team 3 boarded the helicopter. He was pulled from his research when Zayne surprisingly took a seat next to him, leaning back into it with his arm hanging over the back. The other members of his team sent him a perplexed look as they took their seats away from where Eishirou and Jacob sat.

“Finally,” Zayne practically whined. “I swear, no one warned me that the briefings were the most tedious thing about assignments.”

Eishirou made the small observation that Zayne’s arm was hanging over the back of his chair. “Tell me about it. Unfortunately, the vast majority of bodyguard assignments are also pretty boring. If everything goes well.”

“Still better than sitting there and listening to someone prattle on and on.”

A smile abruptly made its way to Eishirou’s lips. “Don’t let Ernesta hear that.”

Zayne winced. “Right.”

Just as those words left his lips, Ernesta walked down the aisle, causing Zayne to jump in his seat. Which, in turn, prompted Eishirou to snigger behind his tablet.

“Prepare for flight,” she ordered.

That simply meant ensure that your butt was fully planted on the seat while the helicopter manoeuvred from the hanger and into the air. Lift off and the landing was always the most troublesome of the flight. When in the air, the trip was smoother. Unless they encounter turbulence, of course.

Eishirou returned his attention back to the files in the tablet and idly flipped through the findings so far. Which honestly wasn’t much. It did detail notes on the surrounding area around the remains of the stone tablet. But little else.

As the flight smoothed out, Zayne leaned over in his direction to peer at the tablet, too. Making no attempt to hide his noisiness. “Is that your assignment?” he asked as his shoulder bumped against his.

Eishirou nodded as he returned to the photos. “Hm. A stone tablet was discovered. Seems that it might be pointing to a set of ruins that haven’t been documented yet.”

“C-can I see?”

The meek, feminine voice caused Eishirou to lift his head up. He lowered his tablet to find none other than Rinka before him. Her hands meekly fidgeting in front of him, a light flush to her cheeks, and looking rather shy.

“Hm? You’re interested?” Eishirou asked, surprise in his voice.

“Sure, why not?” Zayne was the one to answer, he having confusion in his voice.

Well, Elites had better things to think about. Usually. But it was nice that the two seemed curious.

Eishirou shrugged and flipped to the main photo of the stone tablet. “Alright. Here.”

He handed the tablet over to Rinka, who quickly received it. She then plopped herself down on the seat next to Zayne and rested the tablet on his lap. Zayne kept his arm hanging over the back of Eishirou’s chair as he leaned over in Rinka’s direction to look at the photo, too.

“Hmm, it looks like a pile of rubble to me,” he commented after a moment.

“Well, it is now.” Eishirou rolled his eyes. He leaned over, stretched his arm across Zayne to tap at the photo to enlarge it. “But there’s ancient writings on the stones. See?”

Zayne squinted his eyes. “Oh yeah.”

Rinka lifted her gaze from the tablet and looked over at Eishirou. “I-is it true that there are ancient relics that have been infused with mana?”

Oh, that was a surprising question.

“Yup,” Eishirou answered with a smile. “And some say that those relics had been infused with mana long before the Bombardment.”

“R-really?”

Hm. Rinka seemed genuinely interested. Better yet, Ernesta was letting her engage with him and his side of the assignment. For the rest of the journey, she allowed the three of them to chat amicably. Rinka meekly asked questions about relics and what it was that Chroniclers like Eishirou actually did.

She was very inquisitive. And Zayne seemed just as interested.

It was kinda nice.

But all good things had to come to an end.

“You two, time to prepare for landing,” Ernesta ordered, her tone surprisingly light. She seemed amused by the three of them, too.

Rinka returned the tablet to Eishirou, squeaking out a small ‘thanks’ before she got to her feet. She then made her way over to her teammates. Zayne uttered a huff as he pushed himself to his feet, too. He joined the others, too.

“The vegetation is too dense for the helicopter to land close to the investigation site,” Ernesta explained. “We’ll have to land in the nearest clearing and walk the rest of the way.”

With that said, Team 3 took on a defensive stance by the helicopter’s exit doors.

Eishirou took that time to return the tablet to Jacob and set about getting himself ready to disembark. The best thing he could do was to ensure that he kept out of the way of Team 3 and do his own job as efficiently as possible.

It took a few minutes for the helicopter to settle on a landing spot and to become still. Eishirou stayed in his seat, however. He knew the drill. The Elites would disembark first to secure the area. The other members of their quick excavation crew were already there, but better to be safe than sorry.

Finally, Ernesta gave them the all clear and Eishirou hopped out of the helicopter with Jacob close behind.

As he stepped out onto the green grass and out from beneath the helicopter blades, Eishirou took a moment to look around at his new surroundings.

The clearing of the helicopter landing was flat and green. A circle amongst a large, lush forest. The greenery was dotted with colourful flowers; reds, pinks, and blues. They stood out against the vivid green moss and golden bark of the trees.

The trees were tall, the trunks sturdy and thick. The roots spiralled outwards along the ground, intertwined with flowery shrubbery. The forest was quite old. Very old. It was likely that no one had trekked through those tall trees for a very long time.

But they were going in. The stone tablet wasn’t about to come to them, now was it?

“How far is it?” Eishirou asked.

Jacob pulled out his personal tablet and tapped at the screen. “Thankfully, it appears to be a ten-minute hike at the most.” A half grin appeared on his lips. “A two-minute return trip if we’re running.”

Well, he certainly hoped they didn’t have to run out of the forest screaming!

Ernesta took the lead once more. “I’ll take the lead with Professor Chryses and Tatsu will take the back. Zayne; take the left. Rinka, Leon, you take the right. Be prepared for ShadowDwellers. Everyone finds that acceptable?”

There was a chorus of agreeing replies, some of them begrudgingly.

Ernesta gave a placid smile. “Very well, let’s move forward, shall we?”

[sara-scribbles]

Soft Love (Part 1)

Seteth/F!Byleth Notes: Contains a lot of spoilers from the game

Church man has grown on me. I really like him as a character as he grows and develops through the game.

Part 1 Part 2 --------- Byleth stretched as a yawn escaped her mouth. The day had been long with nothing but a mountain of paperwork to finish. Even now her pile of papers were still stacked up high. Though she had worked without stop all day, she had barely made a dent in the mountain on her desk. 

Her stomach grumbled loudly, reminding her that she had skipped lunch in favor of trying to get more work done. As her tense joints popped and cracked, she glanced outside her window. It was dark, but hopefully it wasn’t too late for her to grab a bite to eat.

Leaving her office, she walked through the mostly quiet monastery. A few guards walking around on her patrol greeted her with stiff salutes. The dining hall was empty, but the kitchen was still open for her to make something. After cooking up a quick and simple meal, she took a seat at one of the empty tables. Eating dinner with others was a nice way to pass time; yet it had been a long time since she’d been able to share a meal with anyone.

Halfway through her dinner, Seteth walked in. “There you are…”

Looking up, a brief smile passed on her face. “Hello, Seteth. Would you like something to eat?”

The green haired man shook his head. “What are you doing here eating so late? Did you miss dinner again?”

“I lost track of time, that’s all. Did you need me for something?” Despite being her adviser, Seteth tended to reprimand her for working long hours without rest. He always went on about her taking better care. Her health was important.

Eyebrows furrowing, he gave her a stern look. “I realize how much responsibility you must feel being the new archbishop. However I do not believe your current work ethic is healthy for you. Have you had lunch today?”

“No. I thought I would skip lunch in order to make some progress in all the paperwork on my desk. I did have a bit of toast left from breakfast.” Watching as Seteth paced and frowned, she was reminded of a mother hen.

“Please, for your own sake, have at least three meals a day. The paperwork will always be there. It would not look good if the archbishop were to fall ill.” A single eyebrow went up as she finished her dinner.

Taking the dirty dishes, she nodded. “You worry too much, Seteth. I’ll be fine.”

“Prof-”

“You can call me Byleth. We’re colleagues after all.” A tiny smile formed on her lips before she headed to the kitchen to clean her dishes.

Mouth still open, he quickly closed it. Sometimes Byleth could be stubborn as a rock. He would just have to watch her carefully. Someone needed to look after her health if she did not. For someone who had helped win a war, she was careless when it came to herself. --------- Lorenz was going on a lengthy retelling of events from the past month. Byleth tried to keep herself attentive, but was finding it difficult to stay focused. His words were coming out muffled to her ears. The pounding headache she had woken up with had gotten worse as the day progressed. She felt uncomfortably hot in her archbishop robes; the collar felt like it was restricting her breathing.

“-think about this, Professor?”

Eyes blinking rapidly, dark spots danced in her field of vision. “Sorry, I missed the last part. What was the question?”

“I was asking what you thought about the current situation?” The purple haired man frowned.

Trying to remember what it was Lorenz had been talking about, she wracked her brain. “I think…”

“Are you feeling okay, Professor?” Hilda asked. “You’re looking paler than normal.”

“I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night.” She shook her head, but suddenly the room was spinning. It felt like something was beating the inside of her skull, and a loud buzzing sound filled her ears.

“...-sser?!”

The world tilted back as Byleth lost strength in her legs. “I feel so tired…” she thought vaguely. The scent of cinnamon and cardamom surrounded her as strong arms held her up. “...Seteth?”

“I’m sorry to cut this short, but Byleth needs some rest.” Excusing the others, the world shifted again before she felt herself being carried. “I told you to take care of yourself. When did you last eat?”

She leaned her head against his shoulder with her eyes closed. “...I don’t remember. The last couple of weeks have been...so busy.”

“That’s no excuse. Even I take better care of myself. Honestly…what am I to do with you?” He let out a weary sigh. “You’re to rest until I say you can work.”

In the infirmary, he set her on one of the empty beds. “My, what happened here?”

“Byleth is not to get up until she has some rest. Could you watch her for a while?” His warm scent faded as he moved away.

Manuela tsked as she helped Byleth into the bed. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.” She was too tired to argue with them. Instead she found herself sinking into the pillow with relief. Everything faded away and she fell into a dreamless sleep. --------- When Byleth woke again, it was quiet in the infirmary. Sitting up slowly, she looked around for Manuela. However the older woman was nowhere to be found. The setting sunlight filtered through the window. Her headache was gone, though her stomach rumbled loudly. After not having slept properly for a few days, Byleth felt a bit more energized.

The door to the infirmary opened and Seteth walked in with a tray of food. “You’re awake, good. I brought you dinner.” He set the tray down on the side table. “I expect you to eat everything.”

Picking up the bread roll, Byleth pulled it apart. “...thank you, Seteth. I want to apologize for being such a burden today.”

He sat down in the chair at the side of her bed. “You’re hardly a burden, Byleth. As the archbishop, you have many demanding duties. How can you take care of your duties if you don’t take care of yourself first?”

She dipped a piece of bread in her soup. “The war ended half a year ago, yet there’s still so much that needs to be done. I thought...I need to be able to do it all.” She stuffed the bread in her mouth and picked up the spoon.

Reaching for her hand, he looked her in the eye. “You don’t need to do it all at once. No one expects you to do everything. If you need help, ask me. I am your adviser after all.”

Staring at him, she released her tight hold on the spoon. “...you’re too kind, Seteth. Thank you for caring.” She smiled as a warm feeling settled in her chest. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Taken aback by her bright smile, he couldn’t look away. His face felt too warm, and he removed his hand from hers. “Well, I’ll leave you to your meal.”

He started to rise, but Byleth reached for his sleeve. “I wouldn’t mind if you stayed.”

Pausing, he slowly sat back down. “Food often does taste better when one has company.”

Most of the meal was filled with a companionable silence. Here and there Seteth would make comments, and she would nod as she ate. Eventually he walked her back to her room after they dropped off the empty tray in the kitchen. He kept an eye on her as they walked in case she decided to fall again.

Standing outside her room, Byleth turned to him. “Thank you again, Seteth. I’ll try to take care of myself better.”

“See that you do. Three meals a day and proper sleep. Please, for all of us, take care of yourself.” Stern yet concerned eyes studied her. “I’ll leave you to rest. Goodnight.” He nodded before leaving.

She watched as he walked off. There were many things she learned about Seteth. His caring nature was one of them. He showed it in his own ways despite being a bit curt. His reprimands weren’t harsh, and he always seemed to be looking out for her best interest. The road ahead would be a long and slow one; at least she had Seteth as her adviser. --------- A few months went by as Byleth continued her work. Most readily accepted her as the new archbishop. Perhaps they did so in hopes of some form of stability that she offered. Others did not accept her so quickly, and viewed her with thinly veiled contempt. They did not like how she was changing things in the church. Byleth believed tolerance was needed, as under Rhea’s guidance any discontent was met with the church’s wrath.

Seteth reassured her that those who were unhappy with the changes would eventually come around. If not they could leave the church and find a new place to join. Those who wished to join a different religion were welcome to without any retaliation from the Church of Seiros. After all tolerance meant accepting that not everyone wanted to be a part of the same religion. Though even that was met with some push back from some.

Byleth let out a tired sigh. Her temples throbbed as she massaged them. “What do we do, Seteth?”

Her adviser paced her office. “Obviously we would be met with some resistance. However, I did not think it would be...so much.”

“I don’t know how to deal with this. How do we make these people happy?” Leaning back in her chair, she stared up at the ceiling. “I sometimes wonder if I’m even suitable for this position,” she muttered.

The older man paused in his pacing. “Lady Rhea appointed you personally. She believed you would be able to take on her role.”

“I’ve never been very religious. Before I came to the monastery, I never prayed. Marianne taught me how to pray properly a few months into my teaching position.” She sat up and looked him in the eyes. “I feel like a fraud. I still do not pray regularly, nor do I really feel anything when in the church. How can I be the archbishop if I don’t have the same faith as those who follow the church?”

Walking over to her, he rested his hands on her shoulders. “You do not need to be the most faithful to be fit for your position. Though you may lack the conviction other believers have, it does not minimize your own belief. You are trying to do the best you can for the church. I believe you are doing good, Byleth. Do not let the words of a few deter you from what you are doing.”

Staring up at him, his eyes burned with a determined passion. Byleth felt warmth settle in her chest. “Thank you, Seteth.” She covered one of his hands with her own. “You are an invaluable adviser and friend. I don’t know what I would do without you here.” She smiled.

Her smile threw him off. It was filled with such warmth that he found himself speechless. Her sea green eyes glittered with the same warmth. Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, Seteth managed to spit out a “of course” before pulling his hands away. The softness of her touch was not lost on him.

Clearing his throat, he turned his back to her, hands clasped behind his back. “Well...I think it is time we both retire for the night. I will see you in the morning.”

“Good night, Seteth.” He forced himself to walk normally out of her office. Heart pounding in his ears, he let out a deep breath once the door shut behind him. Tugging at the collar of his shirt, he decided to take a walk as the brisk night air cooled his skin.

Byleth kept her eyes on the door for a moment longer. Seteth’s presence was a comfort. His scent, a mix of the four spice tea and something that reminded her of pine, relaxed her. She felt at ease when he was near. He was her voice of reason in this new position. The warmth that settled in her heart remained as she prepared for bed.

As she lay in bed looking at her ceiling, she could almost hear Sothis’ voice. “You like him! Maybe even love him. Are you so dense as to not realize your own feelings?!”

She wondered when her feelings for Seteth had changed. Perhaps when he acknowledged her as someone close to family. When he no longer held her at arm's length with suspicion, she was able to get to know him. He shared his most guarded secret with her because he trusted her; she was deeply touched. Even after the war he was always there; vocally and silently supporting her.

She let out a sigh. “...Seteth.” --------- Things between them did not change. Despite Byleth’s understanding of her feelings, she continued to treat Seteth the same. Yet she noticed more things about him whenever he was around. There was a small wrinkle between his brows when he was contemplating. Whenever he was dealing with something very bothersome, he would often close his eyes and take a deep breath. When he talked with Flayn his whole body relaxed and he always had a fond smile. He was far from the grouchy, no nonsense man she had thought he was when they first met.

Her observations did not go unnoticed. Claude took an interest in how Byleth’s gaze seemed to follow the green haired man around. He sidled up to her during lunch. “So how’s my favorite archbishop?”

She took a sip of her drink. “I’m good. How’s my favorite schemer?”

“Oh you know how diplomatic work goes. Lots of talking while going back and forth. Only to not complete anything really.” He sighed. “I’m sure Almyra and Fódlan will someday be good buddies. Until then, I still have a lot of work to do.”

Claude had been away in Almyra working on his next plan. Bringing Fódlan out of its isolation, he wanted both countries to become allies. It would take time, however he was determined to change the way Fódlan kept to themselves. He rarely visited the monastery, so his short visit was a nice surprise.

“So, what’s going on between you and Seteth?” he asked, watching for Byleth’s reaction.

Eyes darting over to where said man sat, she shook her head. “Nothing is going on between us. Seteth is simply serving as my adviser.”

“Awe, come on, Teach. You can’t lie to me like that. You’ve been watching him a lot for the past couple of days. I don’t even think Lady Rhea kept such a close eye on Seteth.” He nudged her arm, throwing her a wink.

She picked at her food. “I’m not lying. There is nothing going on between us. Seteth is just my adviser.”

“Okay, but you want more?” An eyebrow went up. “Unless you’re watching him so closely because you think he’s been replaced by a fake, then I can’t think of any other reason.”

“I..I just realized that I care about him.” She smiled at her food. “He makes me feel...warm.” Her hand drifted to her chest. Her unbeating heart felt full and ready to burst.

Giving a low whistle, Claude wrapped an arm around her. “You have it bad. When are you going to tell him?”

“I don’t know.” Her hand fell away. She leaned against his shoulder. “Should I even tell him? We work well as we are. I don’t want to disrupt that.”

“Well I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think Seteth would turn down your affections. You should talk with him.” The young man was looking right at Seteth, who had looked over at them. His mouth was pressed into a firm line and he was gripping his fork a bit too tightly. Meeting Claude’s gaze, he turned his attention back to his meal.

“Hmm…” Byleth sat up as she looked at Seteth’s back. “I’ll think about it.”

[purplesurveys]

608

1. What did you do in 2019 that you’d never done before? Lots of different things! I had an Actual™ photoshoot :o, I celebrated my girlfriend’s dad’s birthday with their family, I touched an Adobe app and learned that I’m pretty decent at it, I had a tooth extraction, I did shisha and vape (and found out I liked them, giving me an identity crisis for a while HAHAHA), I had my internship, I was fined by a traffic officer, etc. I had lots of grownup stuff to face this year, and it was all fun.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don’t make New Year’s resolutions... if I wanted to do something I’d plan them any time of the year. Plus making them at New Year’s just gives me a whole chunk of pressure, and I’d rather not live with that pressure.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I had a high school classmate give birth this year but I wasn’t close to her; Gabie was, though. Other than her, I don’t think there’s been anybody who had a kid in 2019.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Nacho. I still see him in everything, everyday.

5. What countries did you visit? Didn’t get to go out of the country this year. Hopefully that’ll change next year when I graduate!

6. What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019? I dunno, this year was already suuuuper hectic enough. I’d ask for more time to rest, but I’m literally graduating in 2020 and it will only get busier from there. The two things I’d ask for is to get to go to a different country again, and to have a road trip that isn’t going to Nasugbu for once (I’ve only had two long drives ever since I was allowed to have em, and both trips were to the same beach in Nasugbu).

7. What date from 2019 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Evening of September 28; it was when everybody was notified of Nacho’s passing. Toughest pill to swallow in my entire fucking life. My social media had never seemed so angry, so scared, so chaotic, so bleak, all at the same time. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? If we’re gonna be serious about ‘biggest,’ then probably not killing myself. Other than that, I was pretty proud of the way I handled and performed at my internship! I was never late to get to their ORTIGAS office (a tiny traffic hellhole in Metro Manila), I had a good relationship with everyone, and on my evaluations I saw that my supervisor wrote a lot of nice things :)

9. What was your biggest failure? I was a bad girlfriend on significant occasions. I also have two classes this sem in which my final grades are going to be held back because of supposed ‘deficiencies’ – but honestly I blame that on the prof because I think she held back final grades FROM EVERYONE ON ALL HER CLASSES this semester. Seriously, if you do that as a prof, don’t you think the problem is you and not us? I won’t call it a failure on my end, but I am pissed about it and needed a space to vent.

Another failure would be never getting to take out Gab’s mom out on a date. I already took her dad to an MMA pay-per-view and we had a lot of fun, but have never been able to do the same for her mom just yet. I really need to step up next year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had a bad slip in school early this year and I sprained my ankle. There was also one day I felt bad enough to have to skip class but it never became a full-blown fever, so I don’t know what that was.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I bought tooooooons of new tops this year and totally upgraded my wardrobe, so I was really happy about that. The other is a day pass to a beach resort in Nasugbu that I went to with Gab, Angela, and Sofie.

12. Where did most of your money go? Food to keep myself in school. That and gas.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Lots of things...I mean 2019 was a long-ass year. There was turning into a senior, doing my internship, getting invited to Gabie’s dad’s birthday dinner, going to my first few events to get me accustomed to the PR world, seeing my senior friends graduate college, I also went back to the National Museum this year so that was great, the aforementioned Nasugbu trip, etc etc blahblah.

14. What song will always remind you of 2019? Wonderwall by Oasis or Buwan by Juan Karlos, both because of Nacho. 15. Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Older or wiser? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer? (I don’t earn money yet, lol)

16. What do you wish you’d done more of? Seeing Angela. I probably saw her a grand total of 10 times this year, which is pretty fucking tragic.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of? [trigger warning: self-harm] Hurting myself. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my skin clean for a full year.

18. How did you spend Christmas? We will be spending Christmas Eve with one of my grand-aunts’ family. My mom is very close with her cousins on that side plus family from Vietnam is also coming over, so a get-together is certainly happening. On Christmas Day, we’d be spending the day with my mom’s sister-in-law’s family. They have a giant house and host the best party games which is why we like hanging out there. We’d spend the day with ALL of these people, but my grand-aunt and my tita (mom’s sister-in-law) have some weird friction going on so they can’t ever be in the same gathering lmfao.

19. What was your favorite TV program? I resurrected my love for Breaking Bad mostly because El Camino came out this year, but I definitely watched Friends the most. I have it on autoplay on Netflix 12-14 hours at a time these days because Netflix is taking it out on the 31st.

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Yes, the aforementioned professor who gave me two Incomplete marks this semester. Last year, she was just my enlistment adviser; now she’s a witch who is keeping me from having a decent Christmas.

I also stopped talking to my younger brother around February or March after he slapped me in the face, so there’s that. No plans to forgive him or talk to him any time soon whatsoever.

23. What was the best book you read? I didn’t read a lot this year :( 2019 was all about readings for my classes.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery? THE JAPANESE HOUSE. Without a shadow of a doubt.

25. What did you want and get? My dog living another year, my relationship still healthy and intact, good grades, my teeth finally treated hahaha, new members in my org!

26. What did you want and not get? Courage on my end to go to a therapist or psychiatrist. More travel.

27. What was your favorite film of this year? Portrait of a Lady on Fire will easily take the cake. That was just breathtaking.

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I spent it internally disappointed in Gab for not making it. Outwardly, my mom took us out for sushi (my request) for lunch, then we went home and in the evening, Angela and I went to Feliz so we can have Yabu for dinner then played at Timezone until the mall closed. Not a birthday I want to remember but Angela went above and beyond to give me a good time, and that I’ll always appreciate.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More opportunities and time to travel. I mean we did go out of town a lot, but I just can’t get enough of travelling to different places.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2019? Chic with a hint of haggard.

31. What kept you sane? My dog, my orgmates, my best friends, and good food.

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Kristen Stewart.

33. What issue stirred you the most? Duterte as a person is just one big fucking issue that riles everybody up in this country. I’m just waiting for him to die.

34. Who did you miss? Nacho.

35. Who was the best new person you met? My social history professor, Ma’am Luisa. I had always wanted to take a class that she handled, and she went above and beyond my expectations. I’m taking another class of hers next sem – history of women in the Philippines – so that ought to be fun. :)

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019: Call-out culture is bullshit. I haven’t done it much since Nacho passed, but I wish it did not take me this long to realize how bad of a strategy it is. 

People who mourned him went back to their old habits soon enough and are again publicly shaming people whenever they make a misstep on social media, and it’s embarrassing and infuriating.

[wiggly-blue-shite]

Chapter 31 From the Top!

(Prof H X Ted)

Hello Professor.

Hopefully we can discuss it in person soon

Henry woke up to Theodore still hugging him. Ted was still asleep so Henry didn't move. Don't want to wake him up before he has too. Everyone will be stressed enough as it is.

For a second Henry forgot everything that happened almost as if it was a dream. A really fucking shitty dream. Henry thought he had woken in Ted's arms after a very pleasant yet foggy day together. Perhaps that's what his dream was. He never did remember his dreams.

Henry loved Theodore. In that moment Henry had hope. He believed in Theodore. And he knew that Theodore believed in him. They got this.

Ted began to stir. He was waking up. Ted opened his eyes.

"Good morning." Henry smiled. Ted looked very messy having just woke up. Then again who looks good after waking up?

"Good morning." Ted yawned and rubbed his eye. He smiled back at Henry. Ted sat himself up in bed after letting go of Henry. Henry sat up as well.

"I love you." Henry needed him to know. They were in a situation where Henry didn't want a moment where Theodore didn't know his feelings. They might not make it out alive so it's important.

"I know." Ted chuckled a little bit.

"Rude! Really pulling a fucking Han Solo." Henry faked offended. He wanted to maintain this blissful mood because he knew it would be ruined really soon.

"I'm kidding. I love you more." Theodore smiled. He grabbed Henry's hand. Henry wanted this to be the rest of his life this moment. Nothing else. Not the infected. Not the media. Not biology. Just music and Theodore.

"Impossible." Henry kissed Theodore. Some of the pain had gone away. God that was cheesy wasn't it. I guess cheesy is nice.

"I'm scared." Ted's face dropped. Henry knew that they were in a serious situation but he just didn't want to focus on it.

"Me too." Henry has hope but not a lot of hope.

Paul came out of his bedroom. Emma following behind him. They looked in much better shape than they were last night.

"You guys can borrow some of my clothes." Paul offered as he walked into the kitchen.

"Well Henry's place is on the way. They can get clothes there." Emma sounded very tired. Henry guessed that she didn't sleep at all. Henry didn't blame her. He wouldn't have fallen asleep without Theodore there.

"Ok." Paul started pouring coffee.

The morning was very quiet. Everyone was freaking out silently to themselves. Paul and Emma were basically attached at the hip. Theodore and Henry were the same. None of them ate breakfast, just coffee.

Paul and Emma went back into their room to change.

Henry kissed Theodore's forehead. Henry was going to have to give him something to wear. It might be a little big but Ted will survive.

"Are you ready?" Ted asked.

"No."

"Me neither." Ted smiled sadly.

Emma and paul bolted out of their room clearly wearing whatever the first thing they touched was.

And they were off to Henry apartment. Henry held Ted's hand tightly.

When they got to his apartment Henry quickly rushed into his room to get dressed. He didn't want to hold everyone up. Ted followed behind.

"Here take this." Henry threw an old sweater at Theodore.

"A black turtleneck..." Theodore's voice trailed off.

It struck Henry. He had been wearing almost the exact same sweater that day 4 months ago. It's sweet that Ted remembers that.

Henry shook himself out if the sentimental stage of mind. They didn't have the time for this. The two men got dressed quickly. Henry tried not to stare at Ted changing.

With that they were in there way to the news station. Henry didn't know how this was going to work. He didn't know protocol for news shows. But he tried to maintain hope.

When they got to the studio where they filmed the show. Henry didn't know how this was going to work.

They walked inside. There was a secretary who barely gave them any attention when they walked in. There were a whole bunch of other people all probably with there own stories they want to put on the news.

Henry walked up to the front desk. He was still holding Ted's hand. He saw a couple of men jeering out of the corner of his eye. Henry presumed that they were homophobic assholes but they could also be jeering at the gaudy clothing they were wearing. Henry wanted to flip them off or to kiss Ted in front of them to get the point across but that would probably lower there chances of being put on air.

"What's you pitch?" The woman behind the desk did not look up from her computer.

"We are from hatchetfield. We were there that day." Henry squeezed Ted's hand as he said it. They were actually doing this.

The woman looked up from her computer screen. She looked skeptical.

"Everyone died from the hatchetfield incident." Her voice was serious.

"We didn't." Emma met the receptionist with a passive bitchiness.

"So then what happened?" That's exactly what Henry was fearing she'd ask. There's no way to not sound insane.

"We'll sound crazy but you need to here us out." Theodore replied. Henry was beyond nervous.

"We fear what happened in hatchetfield could spread if we don't raise any awareness." Henry tried to sound professional. Make her see them in a more serious light.

"You're lucky the producers want more hatchetfield news. Wait here." The receptionist gestured to the bench near her desk. She picked up her phone.

The four of them sat down on the bench. Across the room were the men who sneered at Henry and Ted. Henry didn't let go of Theodore's hand. The world might fucking end he can't let a couple homophobes ruin his love for Theodore.

Henry turned and kissed Ted in the cheek. Fuck you possible homophobes.

"What was that for?" Ted looked back at Henry and smiled.

"Nothing." He had obviously not noticed the asshole across the room. There was no need to point them out.

They sat there for a good twenty minutes. Every second was agony knowing the infected could be drawing ever closer. Ted's arm had moved around Henry's shoulder. This was a comfortable position to rest in. Henry kept his eyes on the other three and no one else in the room.

"Hatchetfielders." The receptionist called out. Everyone in the room looked up. Everyone's eyes were on them as they walked up to the front desk.

"Yes?" Paul was in front of the pack.

"The producers want to talk with you. Go through that door." The receptionist pointed to a door to her right. Ok wow they were doing this.

When they walked through the door they were met by a sharply dressed man and woman. They had note pads. They appeared surprisingly approachable, which Henry was not expecting.

"Hello my name's Raffael." The male producer stuck out his hand for someone to shake. They just kinda all took turns shaking his hand.

"And I'm Louise." The woman smiled not sticking her hand out after seeing the catastrophe of a handshake that happened previously.

"I'm Henry."

"I'm paul."

"Emma."

"Ted."

All of the introductions felt uncomfortable.

"So you're from hatchetfield." Louise sat back in her chair. Henry couldn't read her expression. He was too nervous.  Ahhh

Henry nodded. He was a little tongue tied. This is a stressful fucking situation.

"So let's cut to the chase. What happened?" Raffael took a pen out and put in to the page.

Henry had to not sound insane. If they didn't believe them they're fucked. The whole plan rides on getting other people to fight.

"Before I start we are not insane. I have a doctorate in biology. I know what I am talking about." Henry took a deep breath. If they didn't believe him, what could they do? "The asteroid that hit did not rupture a gas line. The asteroid carried an organism, a pathogen really. It infected the people of hatchetfield, rearranging their genetic structure, functionally rewiring their brain. The infected had a certain bloodlust to kill, and spread the pathogen. You may recall the claims of sailors near the island, claiming to hear music coming from the island. Well,  I did studies on the organism briefly, and it has an attraction to music, singing specifically."  The producers looked confused but they don't look skeptical.

"We think that the music that can be heard are the remaining infected." Ted took a breath, "sooner or later they will find a way off the island. Once they get off the island, we're fucked. Excuse my language."

The four of them sat in silence waiting for them to say something.

"We're are going to need you to say exactly that on air. Same inflection and everything." Louise pointed her pen at Henry. Oh god. Ok they did it holy shit.

Henry turned to the other four. They looked hopeful.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hidgens but there was nothing we could have done to save them." The doctor had a remorseful tone. He's probably had to say that at least 5 other times today alone.

"Thank you for trying." They're gone. Steve had left the hospital. Probably to go out to a bar. Henry contemplated going to stop him but he would do the same. Leighton was sitting there stunned.

Henry say down next to him. They could make it out of this, together.

Henry got off the set and the other three ambushed him with a group hug. It must have gone well.

Henry was completely dazed. He really tried to remember what happened but he just blacked out. Henry's brain was just slowly giving up on him really.

The four of them walked back to Emma and Paul's apartment. On the way Henry asked what happened but the other three insisted it went well and didn't say anything else.

"What do we do now?" Henry looked to Ted. Henry grabbed Theodore's hand. It felt like the quiet in the middle of the storm.

"We prepare." Ted kissed Henry's hand. It didn't really matter what happened. If the other three are this hopeful it couldn't have been that bad. Henry's confidence grew.

"I think I'm going to stay in my apartment tonight." They were already on Henry's block. He didn't need to be around everyone for comfort. He wants to spend some time in his own apartment before whatever happens when the infected get there.

"Oh ok." Emma smiled at Henry, "see you tomorrow."

"Take care of yourself, man." Paul patted Henry's shoulder awkwardly.

"I'll make sure of that." Theodore smiled. Of course Theodore was going to stay with Henry. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Emma and paul headed off to their apartment. Henry walked up to his apartment Ted following behind him.

"I'm really proud of you." Ted was too sweet sometimes, "You did great." They walked into the apartment. Henry was glad that Ted decided to stay with him. He got to think of something other than what's going to happen. He just had to think about Theodore.

"Thank you." Henry intertwined his hand with  Theodore's.

"You give me hope." Ted smiled softly. Henry let the world fall away while looking in Theodore's eyes. Henry knew that nothing could go wrong, nothing. Ted kissed Henry.

"I haven't eaten all day." Henry dragged Ted into the kitchen. It's not like Henry has any food. Theodore wants Henry to take care of himself and eating is  pretty important in self care.

"I'll cook you something." Ted leaned on the counter and smiled. Henry doesn't really have ingredients to anything.

"You don't have to do that." Henry leaned up against the same counter.

"I want to." They were very close to each other. Henry maintained eye contact with Theodore.

They kissed once again.

"Today has been too long." Henry chuckled a little bit. Henry was very tired. Really fucking tired.

Henry was glad that Theodore was with him. Life would really be insufferable right now without him. 

Everything will be alright.

~~~

Ohh long ass messy chapter! Idk what the fuck this really.

[chyeahnursey]

New Old Captain

Read here on ao3 (x)

Lardo was hunched over her laptop working on a write up for her final art project and Ford was across the table from her, finalizing room assignments for the boys’ upcoming (and final) roadie, when the front door opened and a voice called out, “Hello?”

“Jack?” Lardo scrambled out of her chair and into the front hallway. Ford leaned over to save Lardo’s document, then slowly followed after her. She didn't think she had met anyone on the team named Jack, but who else would be coming to the Haus? She ran through a mental roster of the team, but didn't come up with anything.

She found Lardo wrapped up in what looked like the world’s comfiest hug with a man who had to be a foot taller than her, and if he wasn't some sort of athlete, Ford would eat her rooming assignments. His arms, good lord.

“Who’s this, Ris?” He asked, catching sight of Ford.

“Ford, our new manager,” Lardo’s voice was muffled into his chest. “Ford, this is Jack. You should have told someone you were coming, Ransom and Holster made an extra practice today and everyone else is at the rink.”

Jack chuckled and released Lardo from the hug. “I actually came to see you, Bittle said this would probably be a good time since everyone else was out. But did I interrupt something you and Ford were working on?”

Lardo wrinkled her nose. “Well, Ford is working, I'm mostly just glaring at my laptop. What's up, is everything okay?”

“What, I'm not allowed to miss you?” Jack teased her. “Come on, show me what you're glaring at, maybe I can help.”

Jack and Lardo headed back into the kitchen, Ford trailing awkwardly after them, still not really sure who Jack was, and not sure if she was intruding or not, given that he had apparently come to the Haus just to see Lardo - or Ris, as he had called her. The two of them sat down, and Ford hovered awkwardly in the doorway for a modem the before Lardo saw her.

“You done the rooming assignments?”

“Um, almost?” Ford hated that it sounded like a question.

“Cool, come finish ‘em up and I'll take a look while Jack looks at my final.”

Ford sat down in the chair Lardo pushed out for her and Jack smiled at her from across the table.

“Sorry, I'm pretty terrible at introducing myself. I'm Jack, I was on the team last year.”

“I was on the team,” Lardo mocked him. “More like Captain of the team for the third year in a row, who got us to the Frozen Four twice.”

Jack shrugged good naturedly. “There were a lot of other guys on the team too,” he said.

“Whatever,” Lardo rolled her eyes and bumped him with her shoulder. “I'll just have to be proud for you then.” Ford would swear she saw Jack go red, just a little bit.

“I think you and Bittle have that covered,” he said. “Now, art final?”

“Solid deflection Zimmermann,” Lardo said, passing him her laptop. Lardo doodles contentedly in her sketchbook while Ford finishes the last the last two rooms, and Jack reads over her final. Ford waited while Lardo checked over the room assignments, and was pleased when Lardo gave her a thumbs up and put a little smiley face after the last room.

“You are going to do just fine with the rooms next year,” Lardo told her. “The new kids will probably throw you off for the first two or three roadies, then you’ll get it figured out. Don’t worry if that happens, okay?”

“Okay,” Ford said, writing a little note in the journal she had dedicated to hockey notes. New frogs will throw off rooming assignments - do not panic.

Jack laughed softly and Ford looked up to see him watching the two girls. “Remember the first time you did room assignments Ris? Me with Holster, Ransom with Shitty and Johnson with Marsh?”

“Disasters all around,” Lardo said sadly. “Hopefully this will save her from that.”

“You’re a great mentor,” Ford reassured her. “I definitely feel prepared.”

“That will last about 2 minutes in the actual season,” Lardo laughed. “But you’ll be good. It’s nice to know I don’t have to worry so much about the team next year,” she directed that last part to Jack.

“And to think, the team thinks you’re all stoic and tough, when really you’re a marshmallow,” Jack teased.

“I’m also stoic and tough,” Lardo corrected.

“And still down for froyo?” Jack asked.

“Um, yeah, always.” Lardo was already half out of the kitchen and ready to go, jamming her feet into her sneakers as she tried to grab her jacket. “You’re paying, right dude?”

“Of course, gotta help out the starving art student,” Jack said, handing Lardo her coat while he steadied her with one so she didn’t faceplant in the hall. “Are you coming Ford?”

“Oh, uh, sure, thanks,” Ford stumbled over her words as she joined them in the front hall and laced up her boots. As they walked out of the Haus, Jack between the two girls and one arm draped around Lardo’s shoulders, he said, “So, Ford, I hear you’re in theatre. Doing any plays this year?”

“We just finished one up, actually, but I’m, uh, not on stage, I do stage managing and backstage stuff mostly.”

“Oh, so that should help when you have to deal with the crazy team,” Jack smiled. “That’s awesome. So much goes on backstage and before the show even gets on stage and people don’t always realize how much you do, eh?”

“Um, yeah.” Ford blinked at him, surprised that he seemed to have even a general idea of how theatre worked.

Lardo snickered, and from his other side said, “His mom is Alicia Zimmermann.”

“What.” Ford stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh my gosh, I have a seriously bad bootleg of her in Twelfth Night. I love that play, she was so good as Olivia. Oh my gosh, that’s your mom?”

Jack laughed and he and Lardo stopped and waited for her to catch up. “I’ll have to tell her you liked it. She was always worried about doing Shakespeare, she felt like she spent too much time worrying about what the words meant instead of actually conveying it to the audience.”

Ford nodded, catching up to the other two. “Shakespeare can feel that way, definitely. I love it though, I have the whole Arden works and I tried to read a new one each semester, which is hard on top of all the other stuff we have to read for class, but I didn’t have a Shakespeare class this year and none of my profs really talked about him, because everyone talks about him, so I felt like I had to take it on myself? I actually made it through 3, well I guess The Merry Wives of Windsor doesn’t really count because I worked on it with a community theatre group in high school but it’s been a while.”

Jack hummed and nodded. “I’ll confess, I never understood him much.” He came to a stop in front of a sleek black car. “I think we should probably drive, looks like it might rain later.” Lardo fist pumped and dove into the front seat, while Ford slid into the back. The topic of conversation in the car changed to Lardo’s final project, Lardo trying to explain her vision of how it would be presented, Jack nodding and agreeing at the appropriate moments.

“So, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Lardo concluded as they pulled into the parking lot down the street from the froyo shop. “But don’t ask me what I’m doing next year, because I have no idea and I don’t want to think about it.”

Jack turned off the car and looked at Lardo. “You’ll figure it out,” he reassured her. “Even if it takes time, you’ll figure it out.”

“You and Shitty made it look so easy,” she muttered. “You still had to decide where you were going, but you know what you were doing. You had a plan.”

“You don’t have to have a plan yet,” Jack told her, squeezing her hand gently. “Hey, Ford?”

Ford started in surprise, somewhat convinced they’d forgotten she was there. “Yeah?”

“New assignment from the old captain. Make sure Ris is taking care of herself, and not just the team, okay?”

“Aye aye Cap,” Ford said, saluting him. Jack and Lardo both burst out laughing.

“Alright, froyo time,” Lardo declared. “And we’ll forget about the sappy bonding, at least for now.”

“As long as you teach me how to beat the guys at beer pong,” Ford said, climbing out of the car. “The theatre crew mostly does flip cup.”

“Don’t worry, young padawan, I won’t let the manager legacy fail,” Lardo said, draping her arm around Ford’s shoulders. “Now let’s see how much of Jack’s money we can spend on candy toppings.”

~~~

The three of them returned to the Haus almost two hours later, having demolished their froyo - Lardo and Ford did cover theirs in candy toppings, while Jack looked on in mild horror - and having talked the rest of the time. Lardo and Jack had told her more stories about Shitty and the team the year before, and Ford had laughed so hard she’d almost made herself sick. She’d found out why Jack looked familiar (his face was on about every billboard in Providence, and she’d been there a few times recently hunting down obscure theatre trappings) and Lardo had shown her photos of her bedazzling art final the year before.

They stumbled into the Haus together, laughing at one of Ford’s stories about the horrible lead actor she’d just finished a show with, and how one of the actresses had been so mad at him she’d broken a prop when she had to hit him in the final show, and found most of the team in the living room. Bitty practically vaulted over the couch as everyone else was yelling “JACK!” to give Jack a fist bump and drag him into the kitchen for some pie.

Ford gathered up the stuff she’d left behind, said goodbye to the boys, and headed back to her dorm to catch up on some theatre readings she’d been putting off. She’d barely hit the corner when Lardo caught up with her.

“Thanks for taking on those rooming assignments,” Lardo said.

“Thanks for showing me how to do them,” Ford replied. “I know it helps you a lot now but it’s gonna help me for next year, so.” She shrugged.

Lardo shrugged in return. “Well, I never had anyone to teach me this junk, the least I can do is pass on what I do know.”

“And your beer pong knowledge.”

“That too,” Lardo smiled at her.

“Hey, question.”

“Shoot.”

“Does Bitty… know that Jack likes him?”

Lardo stopped and stared at her. “What?”

“Jack. I’m pretty sure - no, I’m like, 99.9% sure that boy has a crush on Bitty. At first I thought he didn’t like him, because he kept calling him Bittle? But when Bitty came over to say hi, I could practically see the cartoon cupids around his head.”

Lardo kept staring at her, then burst out laughing.

“What?” Ford asked, a little defensively.

“No, I just… okay, hang on, I have to send a text and then I can explain.” Lardo pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text as they continued walking.

“Okay then. Wait, one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Are Jack’s hugs as cozy as they look?”

[afterthineownheart-blog]

Shabbat Shalom!

This was written as part of a series of letters to my family explaining the appointed times of Yehovah in a way that would be (hopefully) easy to understand. I will send these letters out on the date of each day in question, to help them understand the Messianic perspective of all the “Jewish” holy days.

The first mo'ed I would like to discuss with you is, ironically, the only one which does not have a specific date on God’s calendar. The Sabbath day (or Resting day) is a weekly event that corresponds to our Saturday. (While you might have never considered why it is on Saturday, we know that this is true because Jesus kept the Sabbath on Saturday, and the Western world has kept the same seven-day cycle since before Jesus was even born.)

You’ve no doubt heard of the Sabbath many, many times growing up in church. If your church has the Ten Commandments on display, you may know the Fourth Commandment by heart: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” This is found in Exodus 20:8-11,

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHVH your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days YHVH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore YHVH blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

This verse clearly lays out the reason for keeping the Sabbath—to memorialize God’s work as our Creator.

I think by now most of you have visited the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum. While I don’t know what each of you believes, my hope is that your visits to those places have convinced you of the Bible’s story of Creation, which we can read in Genesis 1:1-2:3. We see in those verses that God created the universe over a series of six days, and he set aside the seventh day as a day of resting. Why does God need to rest? you might ask. Of course God doesn’t need to rest, but he chose to do so. It is a way for him to set apart a day as holy. What does it mean to be holy? Holiness is just a word meaning “set apart”. In other words, my statement in the line above is redundant.

If you read the Old Testament, you will come across the terms “holy” and “profane” (or something similar). If something is “profane”, it is common or ordinary. If something is “holy”, it is set apart. God has created many profane (ordinary) things, but there are certain things which he has set apart as holy or sacred. There may be nothing obviously better about whatever thing God deems holy, but the very fact of setting it apart means it is important to him—and should be to us.

God has called us, his people, to be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Peter quotes that verse from the Law of Moses, wherein God says five times that we are to be holy. If we are to be set apart for God, then we should pay close attention to the things which God tells us are set apart. The rest of the world can wallow in its profanity, but we have a higher calling—to be holy as our God is holy. Concerning the Sabbath, there are at least seven reasons why we should still observe this instruction today.

God says it is a sign of his eternal covenant with us (Exodus 31:16). When we choose to keep his Sabbaths, we are aligning ourselves with his program. Consider this: There are seven days in a week. But if you work all seven days, then effectively there is no more week, since you work every single day without stop. Sure, you can probably make more money doing that, but God created us to need a day of resting. Now many Christians believe that Sunday (the first day) has replaced Saturday as the Sabbath. The Bible never says this, though. In fact, the Roman Catholic Church takes full credit for changing the Bible on this matter. Although it is up to you what you do, and I won’t look down on anyone for their choices, I would encourage you to consider if the Bible authorizes Church leaders to change God’s instructions.

Since the Sabbath is a day to remember Creation, we are declaring God the Creator by keeping it (Exodus 20:11). When we keep the Sabbath, we are proclaiming by our actions that YHVH God is the Creator of the universe. In a world that is immersed in Darwinian evolution and a universe that is supposedly over fourteen billion years old, this is a powerful testimony to the world.

God takes the Sabbath seriously. Take a moment and go to BibleGateway.com. Search for “profane Sabbath”. What you read may surprise you. Now I am not trying to scare you or shame you. I don’t want to hurt anyone by what I write. My goal is to encourage you to take stock of your life. We do the best we can. God is our Father; he loves us and wants to see us try. He knows we can’t do everything perfectly, but he enjoys seeing us try. I only want to encourage you to try.

Jesus and the Apostles kept the Sabbath. I could give dozens of references, but you can see for yourself by reading the Gospels and the Book of Acts. Most of Jesus’ and Paul’s sermons took place on the Sabbath, and all early Christians met in the Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath until non-believing Jews pushed them out. Even then, it wasn’t until a.d. 321 when the pseudo-Christian Emperor Constantine declared the first day of the week to be the “venerable day of the sun”, in honor of the god Sol Invictus, whom he appeared to think was Jesus by another name. Until the time of Constantine, nearly all Christians still worshiped on Saturday.

The Sabbath will continue throughout the reign of Jesus on Earth and into the New Creation. Isaiah 66 is about the New Creation. In verse 23, we read, “From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh will come to worship before me, declares YHVH.” The context of this verse is after God has destroyed this present Creation and has created a New Heaven and New Earth.

The Sabbath day gives us an amazing glimpse into God’s prophetic timeline regarding the return of Jesus. This point is a little speculative, but I believe it is true. In chapter 2 Peter 3, Peter tells us not to be concerned about how long it’s taking for Jesus to return. The early Christians believed they would be alive when Jesus returned. This is clear from reading their writings in the New Testament. They clearly expected the Messiah to return within their lifetimes. It has now been 2,000 years, and obviously Jesus hasn’t returned yet. While Peter didn’t know when the Lord would return, he had the wisdom to warn us not to be anxious about it, and encourage us that Jesus will return to bring God’s judgment—and our salvation. Just because God is patient with humanity doesn’t mean he won’t eventually judge us. Peter writes, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with YHVH one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). While this likely went right over the heads of his audience, it is very significant to us. I’ll explain why in the next point so we have seven altogether. 😉

The seven-day week is a prophetic picture of the entire timeline of this present age. The verse in 2 Peter 3 is key to understanding this. Whether or not Peter realized what he was saying, I believe that we can interpret his words to mean that God has established a 7,000-year timeline for this Creation. Besides 2 Peter 3:8, there are four other corroborating passages for this hypothesis.

Revelation 20:2,3,4,5,6,7. I separated these because each verse mentions that the reign of Jesus on Earth will be for one thousand years.

Hebrews 4:1-10. This passage describes a future Sabbath rest that believers may enter. When considered alongside Revelation 20:2-7, it appears that the author of Hebrews is referencing the same event.

Malachi 4:2. This verse describes the “sun of righteousness” coming with healing in his wings (literally: fringes, or tzitzit; the blue strings that I wear). The Jewish people rightly understood the “sun of righteousness” to be a Messianic title. Furthermore, they deduced that since the sun was created on the fourth day, the Messiah would come around the 4,000th year. That is exactly what happened. Jesus was born around the beginning of the year 4000 from Creation. He even came with healing in his tzitzit, as we see in Luke 8:43-48. In fact, the Jewish leaders were so sure that this was a Messianic prophecy, they took out 230 years from their histories to make it look like Jesus came too early to be the Messiah!

Hosea 6:1-2. This verse is quite intriguing. It is speaking for Israel, and she says, “Come, let us return to YHVH; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” It makes little sense if taken at face value, but if we understand 1 day = 1,000 years, it makes perfect sense! After the resurrection of Jesus, God allowed his temple to be destroyed and the Jewish people to be scattered. He did this in order to bring in the “multitude of the nations” (Genesis 48:19; Romans 11:25). God hasn’t abandoned Judah (the Jews), but for the past 2,000 years, his focus has been on the Gentiles. Near the end of 2,000 years, God has returned his sights to Judah. The present-day nation of Israel only represents about 25% of the true people of Israel; the rest of Israel is still dispersed. But after two “days”, God has raised up Judah, just as he promised through Hosea.

I don’t want to wax any longer than this. It is my hope that you will read these things and take them to heart. So I will close with this promise concerning the Sabbath:

“Thus says YHVH: ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation [yeshuah] will come, and my righteousness be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. … And the foreigners [Gentiles] who join themselves to YHVH, to minister to him, to love the name of YHVH, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.’”—Isaiah 56:1-2,6-7