#i so have to include this in the fic i'm writing now

[last-words-ofashootingstar]

Allure

Part Three: Smoke

❥ Park Seonghwa x fem reader x Kim Hongjoong

Part One & Part Two

➯a/n: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BEOOOOTCHESSS ITS HERE HOLD ONTO YOUR PANTIES. finally finally finally!! im so glad i got to write this, and if there's enough demand i'll spoil yall with pure smut of these three emotional wrecks 😎

✃ "This is home."

♫ "I don't smoke except for when I'm missing you." -Smoke, Mitski ♫ Allure Soundtrack ♫

✫彡wordcount: 13k (whoops)

(>ᴗ•)♡´･ᴗ･`♡genre: smut, yandere, a/b/o

ಠ_ಠwarning/content: i regret nothing GENERAL: alpha MATZ/omega reader, pack dynamics, family trouble, angst, heat induced illness, shmoking shweed 🍃, worshipping the moon, general werewolf things, briefly proof-read. SMUT: highlights include; hella dirty talk, heats and ruts, fingering, threesome, emotional sex, like seriously emotional on a soul level

⁂taglist: @stvrfir3 @tunaasan @marievllr-abg

ALLURE ⁂fic taglist: @potatomountain @spooo00oky @choichaeyiul @cheynalexilaiho @haven-cove @hwasbabygirl @gong-fourz @chaoticfloral @hyukssunflower @unlikelysublimekryptonite @tinybada

MATURE UNDER CUT MDNI

˚➶ ｡˚ PART THREE ˚➶ ｡˚

"You shouldn't smoke, y'know?"

The words slip up your throat and past your lips before you can stop them. That seems to be a common reoccurrence with your body now adjusting to having your blocker ripped out. You're starting to be less surprised with the thoughts that tumble out without your consent, but you still look a little shocked as you speak so plainly to the alpha.

"Sorry," you mumble, averting your eyes as Seonghwa looks directly at you while nursing the joint between his fingers.

"Why's that?" He asks tartly, a puff of the smoke rising into the air. It dances around his head as it slowly dissipates.

On the side of the road, you're sat on the edge of the concrete- with Seonghwa standing like a guard tower next to you. The van is just a few long strides away, and you can hear the chatter as San and Wooyoung fight about how to correctly change a tire.

"It's bad for you," you state simply, "for your lungs."

"I'm fine," he dismisses quickly, taking another long puff. "I'm a big bad wolf."

You huff out a laugh at his deadpan voice: so flat that you almost think he's serious, but when you look up at him you find a small smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah, okay, talk to me when you're coughing up a lung," you joke as you go back to facing the field, locking your gaze as you feel him move to sit next to you.

His legs sprawl out further than yours into the grass as he mirrors your position, leaning his weight back on his hands and looking at the vibrant summer colors.

"Can I ask you somethin', Omega?"

You hate the way your wolf prances in joy when he calls you by your status. Nobody ever does that anymore, only to Alphas to show respect. "Sure?"

"Tell me about your past packs. I want to know everything."

He doesn't say it like a question, but he doesn't use his commanding voice. It's a small gesture, really it's the bare minimum not to force you to tell your story, but you're still grateful for the opportunity to think it over before you open your mouth.

You don't do so for a few slow moments, but when you do, you tell the truth to him. "I hated them, mostly."

That seems to peek his interest, he draws in his legs and rests his arms on his knees as he leans towards you, flicking his joint to the road before his eyes become unblinking even though you never meet his stare.

"In my born pack, I never felt like I fit in. I was the first Omega born in a while, the only one there even. They didn't bother to teach me about anything. How to nest, hunt, none of that. I wasn't involved in rituals or even taken to The Thing. My mom was okay, I guess. She loved me, but I guess not as much as she would have loved me if I were a different status... cause when I turned eighteen they threw me to the curb."

You still remember it clearly, the look of disgust on your older sister's face as she finally got to tell you how disappointing you were to the family of strong Beta's.

"But my last pack... I was a lot happier. Alpha Fairchild was very sweet. He took me in under his wing when he found me. He and his wife taught me how to nest, how to control my fangs and claws, how to present if I ever got a mate, stuff I should've know all along... There were other Omegas there but still, we were a little, uh, different I guess, from the rest of the pack. They didn't let us do rituals, but I did start going to The Thing every year with the Fairchilds."

He watches, owl-eyed, as you speak softly, committing every word to memory as he absorbs them.

"But-" You clear your throat before you can get choked up on your emotions, "they passed a couple years ago. A rouge broke out of the prison and decided that I'd be a good snack. My Alpha fought him but... but age was catching up to him, he wasn't as fast as he used to be."

His wolf whines internally as he sees a tear roll down your cheek, deep regret settling in his bones as he remembers how they mocked your late Alpha.

      

"His wife got sick when their bond was broken, and she never recovered. Told me I should lead the pack in their absence, but honestly she had a fever so high it could have touched the moon."

The silence between you is only broken by the far off voices of his pack.

That is, until he speaks. "You'll be a great leader."

"Yeah, right-"

"I'm serious."

You finally meet his gaze, and you can see the sincerity swirling in the dark brown of his eyes. "You will be a great addition to this pack. Selene knows what she's doing, doesn't she? Every member of this pack is a leader in their own right, and you're no different, Omega. By our side, you could rule the world if you wanted to..."

He cups your cheek with all the gentleness in his heart, thumb stroking your cheek bone as he continues, "you're already feeling it, aren't you? I saw the dents in your tub, no little Omega on blockers could cause damage like that." Your heart skips a beat as his hand trails down slowly, tracing his bite with the pad of his index finger. "Mind, body, soul, and wolf... I can feel you, just like I feel Joong. Can't you feel us?"

You can't believe your eyes as you see the first born Alpha tearing up, caressing your neck like you're a piece of ancient fine china that will shatter at the slightest bit of pressure.

"Can't you feel me?"

The sounds of the others become muffled to you as he rests his forehead against yours, a tender gesture that makes your wolf melt into his.

"We are what we are. Why do you fight it, Omega?"

The affectionate bond is broke when someone shouts, making you jump back. "Hey, love birds! We fixed it!" Mingis voice pulls you away from Seonghwa, and you scramble back to the van with a heat on your cheeks and a lot on your mind.

As you climb into the vehicle, you catch a glimpse of the oldest member. Exactly where you left him, unmoving until Hongjoong grabs his shoulder and snaps him from his trance.

He blinks a few quick times, and the tears and tenderness are gone by the time the van lurches to life.

˚➶ ｡˚

The farm house staring back at you is giant. Compared to your house that's a lifetime away, it may as well be a mansion that's been plopped down in the middle of nowhere.

     The last few hours of the journey were awkward, more so than before your midnight rendezvous with Hongjoong and your mid-morning conversation with Seonghwa. So, you were grateful to be out of the cage on wheels.

     Lia and Wooyoung immediately jump out of the van, running up onto the wrap around porch and into the tall door. San and Mingi follow after, carrying the small amount of bags: all but yours which is clutched to your chest as you gape at the house.

     Under pretty much any other circumstances, you'd have been thrilled to start calling this place home. But Seonghwa places his hand on the small of your back, and you're reminded that this will most likely become the house that you're locked in for the foreseeable future; two criminal alphas and their pack along with them, trapping you.

   Hongjoong arm finds its way around your shoulders. "Welcome home, Dolly~" He chimes while bending to kiss your head.

      "You'll like it here," Seonghwa says in a much more lukewarm tone, "our pack isn't very big, but they'll respect you. You can have free rein of the estate, but if you try to pass the gates, you'll regret it." He moves his hand and grips the side of your head, kissing in a way that's akin to affection, to love. But it's much too forceful and piercing to your soul. Especially paired with his words.

     "Alpha!" A deep voice comes barreling towards you, and you look up from the dirt to see the tall figure that accompanies it. "Thank goodness!" He tackles Seonghwa off of you, into a crushing hug. "Thank the moon! I was about to lose my mind," he chuckles, and you almost miss the small, fond smile on the alphas lips as he pats the man's back.

      He turns and acknowledges you briefly with a hello and a bow before he gives Hongjoong the same treatment. He doesn't hide his glee like his other half does, he laughs softly and hugs him back just as tightly.

     "Holding down the fort for us?" He asks as they release each other.

     "Barely," he sighs before turning back to you, holding out his hand. "I'm Yunho, nice to- ow!"

    "No touching." The brunette alpha groans, pulling you into his side possessively.

     "Oh, of course! Sorry, sorry," he apologizes quickly, and while he's looking at you- it's clear that the apology is to his offended alpha. "Well, it's nice to meet you, we were all thrilled to hear."

    "Yeah..." The small pinch on your side courtesy of Seonghwa urges you to continue, "thank you. Nice to meet you too."

    "Well, uhm, Yeosang and Jongho are out by Greenes territory doing recon, why don't you both- sorry, you three all come in and get settled."

     You're too anxious and swarmed in thoughts to care about what they're talking about, just tightly holding onto your bag as you follow behind Yunho and Hongjoong.

    Your body doesn't seem to have trouble going up the stairs and onto the porch, but it halts at the doorway. You search the area visible to you. It's a warm looking home. Inviting. Lived in but not dirty. Decorated tastefully. It looks like a regular farm house. And that makes your stomach hurt, knowing that's far from the truth.

    "Let's go, omega. Hot as fuck out here." Seonghwas voice from behind you startles you back to life, and your legs comply as he pushes you into the building gently as he can manage.

   The slam of the door makes you flinch, holding your bag tighter to your chest.

     When he yells, you twitch away, stumbling further into the home even though it's not directed at you. "Jesus, a man leaves for a few weeks and his house becomes a reck!"

     "Sorry, man, we were kinda busy breaking you out from prison," San quips as he passes into the living room to your left.

     "Hey, omega!" Hongjoong bounds up to you with his ever present manic glee, grabbing your hand and almost making your drop your only earthly possessions. "I'll show you around!"

       The first floor is lively, everyone buzzing with energy from the alphas return. He shows you the day room, with a big colored tv which enamors you for a bit until you're drug to the large kitchen. He tells you that you have full access, but don't try anything dumb with the knives or they'll become off limits. There's a bathroom, a laundry room, and a door that has multiple locks on it. He tells you not to worry about that last one. 

   The second floor is a little more quiet. You only see Lia in the halls before she disappears into one of the many rooms. He opens up every door while he speaks a name. "Yunho," he explains at the room with a disheveled look, "hm, he needs to pick up before Hwa gets on his ass." The next door reveals a room with a huge bed and nearly nothing else, "Wooyoung." A room with a heavy smell which makes you shiver, "Yeosang," and you make a mental note to avoid that person when you meet them.

The next room makes up for it, the soft and comfortable smell of an omega washing away the fear briefly, "Mingi." The next room,which shocks you because, there's an obvious smell of a female beta, "Sannie and Cheonsa. She's probably outside tending to the animals." The next door is already open, and Lia waves to you. "Lia, as you can see," he waves back and leads you to the last door in the hall, "and her brother, Jongho."

     "That's all of us! You'll get used to a full house soon," he grabs your hand and leads you up the stairs to the third and final floor. "This one's all us." You know he means you, him, and Seonghwa. Because there's not even a hint of any other scent besides them despite being in the same house.

    It's overwhelming them.

    It's one straight hall coming up the stairs, and behind them is a small open library area. One door is the bathroom. One is an empty room, save for a few boxes. You try to push away the quick remark he makes about making it into a nursery, but that makes your stomach hurt as well. The second to last in the hall is an office area with two desks, overflowing with stacks of paper and files. He says you don't have to worry about what they do in here, but you know it has to do with their 'line of work'.

     The furthest door in the hall nearly makes you gag , but your wolf is howling and prancing excitedly. It smells, no, it reeks of the two alphas. He opens the door with a wide smile. A proud smile.

     You step in hesitantly. There's an open door, a closet with neatly hung clothes over a set of drawers. "We'll make some room for your clothes as well. Next time I go to town I'll get you some, you didn't pack a lot." The bed side tables on either side of the enormous bed have a lamp and little things strewn on their surface. On the left is a walkman, a nail file, a framed photo that you can't quite make out from this distance. On the right is an ashtray, a small vase with fake flowers in it, and a half burned candle.

"You can make yourself at home, I promise. I know it will take a while to get comfortable... But you can make this place your own as well." He urges you forward and takes your bag gingerly. "I'll help you unpack."

It's not an offer, you quickly realize as he unzips the large duffel bag. You stand there anxiously in the middle of the room as he takes your things out and sets them on the dark grey comforter that knocks another wave of their mixed scent into the air every time he sets your things on it. "If you need anything too, don't be afraid to ask." He smiles over his shoulder at you. "You won't be going anywhere for a while, so let us know how to make you comfy!"

The nonchalant aura around him makes you angry. Acting like you're a prized guest, and like they didn't forcefully bond with you and drag you more than half way across the country.

He notices your tears before you do, pausing with your own walkman in his hands as he turns around. He discards it on the bed and fully turns to you.

With a sigh, he sits on the edge of the mattress. "Come here."

When you make no move to come forward, only standing still and crying with your head down, he uses his commanding voice. "Omega, come."

Your wolf nearly breaks her hind legs with the force she pushes you forward with. And despite your deepest anxieties and fears nagging at you, you find yourself standing between his knees. "Omega, look at me," he does it again, forcing your eyes to meet his with only his words. "You scared?"

"Yes..." It's barely above a whisper. But he catches it. You could whisper at the volume of an ant and he would catch it.

"Omega, tell me something that would comfort you."

You fight the words on your tongue, but it's useless. You're only grateful they haven't used that voice to do darker things. "I want to be home."

    "Something else, omega."

    "I want to nest."

"Stay."

He leaves you quickly, and your feet are rooted in place despite your pout. You blink away the remaining tears in your eyes, tired of crying over that which can't be changed. You're here. You're mated to two criminals. You're stuck in the middle of nowhere.

     About seven internal wars later, he returns with his arms packed. "Here you go! Set it up wherever you like, Dolly."

     He drops everything on the floor, and you hesitate to break his command of 'stay' before taking a step toward the pile and looking curiously.

     "Can..."

      He looks up from the pile, eyes eager, "hm?"

    "Can I do it on my own...please?"

    It's as if you can see the way his wolf's ears drop along with his eyes, but he nods nonetheless and takes a finally glance at you before he closes the door behind him.

˚➶ ｡˚

      You wanted the corner of the room. Your wolf wanted the bed, arguing he said anywhere.

      Halfway through building your saftey nest in the far corner, you get tired of her incessant howling.

    You settle at the foot of the bed, building a small bed, just enough room for you incase they get ideas of joining you; they'd end up on the floor. You tuck your empty bag under your head, leaving your things where Hongjoong left them, too afraid to encroach on their space although they'd done much worse to you.

    If you focus hard enough, you can smell the faint memories on the fabric. Smells that remind you of home. Smells that lure you to fitful sleep.

     The sound of your soft, even breaths, reach Hongjoongs ears from his place in the office next door.

   "She's asleep," he informs the others in the room quietly, followed by a threat, "wake her up and I'll kill you."

     Yunho nods quietly, brining out a manilla file from his lap and setting it on the desk where Seonghwa is sat behind, and Hongjoong is sat ontop of. "Pictures of the Greene territory. Alpha's house is up on this hill, it's a good bit away but they'd hear any commotion, so we need to be in and out with whatever you've got planned."

     Hongjoong leans over disinterested and glances at the developed photos. "How many in the house?"

    "We've seen about six come and go, but Yeosang is out there now sniffing to pin point for sure."

    The eldest wolf simply hums an acknowledgment, glaring at the photos of the large, smiling pack.

    A silence drapes them gently while the leaders commit the layout to memory.

    "So-"

    "How-"

    The beta bows his head, letting the elder speak first. "How many sales since we left?"

    "About the same, some customers dropped when you guys' names hit the news. Only a few, though."

     "Okay. What were you going to say?"

    The brunette shifts in his seat, both of the alphas gazes now fixed on him, on his awkward heartbeat.

     "About your mate... I don't mean to be crass-"

    "Out with it." Hongjoong snaps, leaning towards him in an act of dominance, "what about her?"

      Yunhos face drops, his back pressing into the chair, "do you really know that she's meant to be yours? She seems so... docile."

     "You're questioning us?" Seonghwa grumbles, lip snarling upward, "has the few weeks of being in charge gone to your head?"

    "No, no!" He shouts, quickly placing a hand over his mouth and lowering his volume, "no, Alpha... I'm just worried for her. It doesn't seem like she'll fair well here. She seems... a bit weak."

     "She'll fair just fine, because we're going to take care of her. And you will as well. Everyone here is to treat her with the utmost respect and care. Yes, Yunho, we really know she's meant for us, ask something stupid like that again and you'll earn a trip to the basement."

    "S-sorry," he pouts to himself, wiping it away before he looks up, "am I excused? I haven't slept well the past few weeks, I'd like to rest."

   "Go," the alpha huffs, already beginning to sort through more papers.

    "And be quiet in the hall!" Follows the second man, whispering loudly as the beta scampers away.

˚➶ ｡˚

     A knock at the door is foreign. For you to hear, and for Seonghwa to do at his own door.

    He doesn't get a response as you groggily lift yourself up, so he comes in anyways, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he sees your state.

     "Dinners ready, we're waiting for you."

     You blink up at him, and become brave as you shake your head.

     "You aren't hungry? You need to eat, your heat is-"

    "Do you all eat together?"

    "We do, everyday except weekends. Wooyoung and Cheonsa are wonderful cooks."

     "That's nice..." You sniff the air in attempt to find the wafts of food, but find nothing. With your senses, you can't smell anything other than the scents of your mates permeating in the wallpaper. "I'm not hungry."

    "Come on, let get you some-" He reaches forward to your small nest, where you cower back even more, cutting him off-

     "I don't want to."

      A mute moment falls between you as he stares down at you, and you down at the floor. When you dare look up, your gut fills with regret.

    His lip is snarled up on one side, canine on display and eyes glinting dangerously in the filtered light from the curtains.

    You immediately lower your head, moving at a snails pace as you roll onto your side, then your knees, kneeling in your small nest. "Please, Alpha, I don-"

"You don't get a free pass to be disrespectful just because you're my mate. Pack dinner is non-negotiable, Omega. Do you understand?" You hear the movement from him, but you don't dare look at him again.

"Yes..."

Another beat of silence.

A pregnant pause.

His gaze burns your soul as he takes in every inch of you.

Your trembling fists at either side of your folded legs. Your lowered head, bites on both sides of your neck. Submitting to him so easily, making yourself small as you kneel on the little nest you've built in his space. Already smelling like him and his mate just by napping in their room.

He almost doesn't want to let the heavenly scent of you be tainted by leaving the room.

Almost.

You yip quietly as he tugs you up by your bicep, head still hanging low as you tune out his grumbling. He's careful going down the stairs, watching your feet closely as you descend.

His grip doesn't go away until you're standing infront of the table.

     "Oh my gosh!" A sweet and soft voice coos, and it's quickly followed by the warm embrace of two hands cupping your face. Both calloused and gentle as a spring breeze, the caressing makes you open your eyes wearily.

     The woman holding your face and smiling up at you immediately calms your anxious jitters, and your wolf is drawn into a sense of safety- one that feels like Hyolyn or Chungha, in a way. Like a fellow woman you could lean towards.

     She has shining grey eyes that crinkle with her smile and brown fluffy hair. "Oh, she's so cute!" She coos softly, petting your cheeks in a way that makes you simultaneously confused and comforted.

     "No touching, Cheonsa," Seonghwa chuckles from behind you, making the woman pout briefly as she steps back.

    For a moment, you wonder why he was less stern with her- but your curiosity it settled when her round belly comes into view. You blink at it a few times before you hear her laugh.

    "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to stare!" You move to bow, held upright by the man as the laughter spreads to the seated members of the pack.

    "It's okay, she's pretty big, huh? I'm only six months, she must take after her dad." She cradles her stomach as she moves away to take the seat next to the buff beta. He has an air of proudness around him as he smiles at her. "Sit down, dear, we won't bite."

    You rush to take the seat next to her, instead of the one next to Hongjoong and the unfamiliar man with green hair.

    Despite the fact that she couldn't have been much older than the rest of you, she had a motherly aura that made you feel less like you wanted to dive out of the nearest window.

     Seonghwa takes the seat you had passed up, giving Hongjoong a chaste kiss to the head which makes the smaller alpha beam.

     The table is octangular and a bit cramped, but nobody seems to mind besides you. Though you won't voice your thoughts, you won't even look up until prompted. Across from you, Hongjoong speaks while reaching over and handing you a plate, "we all serve one another during dinner, it's our own little ritual of respect."

      He begins loading the plate with a multitude of foods, a comfortable silence in the room. Comfortable for the pack, at least. You're starting to get restless as you watch his fingers effortlessly maneuver the serving chop sticks.

     Your eyes go up his arm and scan the tattoo on his inner arm before you finally land on his face. He has a smile on his lips. One that's not manic or worn with an edge. One that says he's content, happy.

     He gestures you to set the plate down, and hands you the chopsticks after you do so. "Serve anyone you like, Doll," the glint in his eyes clearly says he hopes you chose him, or Seonghwa even.

     You take a moment to survey the circle.

     Hongjoong and Seonghwa, who you won't serve for a list of reasons. The green haired man with an aura that almost seemed quiet, until you caught a whiff of his scent. Yeosang, your wolf connects as you remember the smell of the room you saw in your brief tour. San and Cheonsa, who you assumed wanted to serve one another. Wooyoung, Mingi, and Lia already had plates- apparently having served one another before your arrival. That left Yunho, who avoided your gaze, and a short and unfamiliar but strangely comforting man.

      With everyone else accounted for, this must be Jongho. He doesn't smell like a werewolf, upon a further sniff. Similar to Lia, in that way. Actually, similar to Lia in a lot of ways. Soft features, brown eyes and hair, chubby cheeks. Was he unfamiliar? You felt like you'd seen him before. Maybe in a news paper or something reporting the groups crimes-

    "Omega," Seonghwa hums, breaking your staring contest with the unwilling participant.

      "Sorry..." You took a deep breath and decided on Yeosang. If he was as scary as his scent came off as, it'd be best to show him some respect and get on his good side. You shakily clench a piece of meat in the chopsticks and hold it out in offering.

     He sits up straight and holds his plate up with both hands, seemingly surprised that you picked him out of any other open plate.

    The alphas seem similarly surprised, watching as you fill the other man's plate before carefully handing over the chopsticks.

He makes quick work of filling Seonghwa's plate, almost as nervous as you as the alphas glare at him. Hongjoongs glare quickly falls into a childish pout, turning to face your lowered head. "Why him?" He drags out.

"Uh?" You look up with wide eyes, "I dunno... He has cool hair."

Wooyoung cackles at the bewildered faces of the leaders, and the noise makes smiles spread across the entirety of the table.

˚➶ ｡˚

The smell of lust is that of overly salted caramel butterscotch.

    Seonghwa's is, at least.

        You bury your nose deeper in the fabric of your bag and whine.

      It's the dead of night, completely silence in the house. Darkness only broken by the moon filtering in through the windows. And you haven't gotten a wink of sleep.

      The smell of the room keeps your rowdy wolf rolling on her back and exposing her underbelly, begging for her mates. And it doesn't help that the sources keep it fresh and wafting. And it especially doesn't help that the elder alpha seems to be having a wet dream.

      You -against your best judgment- hold onto the end of the bed frame and peek your eyes over.

    Hongjoong is laying face down with one of your few pieces of clothing under his head, half under the blanket.

    Seonghwa is completely above the covers, on the other side of the bed and leaving a gap between them that they clearly left for you to fill.

     The sight of him makes you slick — slicker, that is.

    Only in his boxers, one leg bent to the side, tattooed fingers resting idly over the tent that-

   "Hm? 'Mega?" He hums sleepily, blinking down at you.

     You duck back into the false safety of your nest, breathing heavily like you just ran a marathon. Over the fast thrumming of your heart, you hear the bed creak ever so slightly. His steps, in reality are soft and somewhat clumsy from his newly woken state, but they feel like little individual earthquakes to you.

      "What are you doing awake?" He asks quietly, sniffing the air curiously. "Aww," he reaches and pats your head softly, earning a sound that you rarely ever heard yourself make. You purred.

       His smile was soft and earnest as he pets your head, taking a knee just outside of your little safe haven. "You need help?"

Yes! Your wolf wants to scream. Desperately, yes!

You shake your head, no.

He hums, clearly not convinced. His eyes trail down your body and to the little bed you've made. "That can't be as comfy as a bed, can it?"

You don't answer, simply staring up with wide eyes.

"Come lay with us, just until we can get you a mat or something and make your nest more comfortable, yeah?"

You can't lie to yourself, and you certainly can't lie to Seonghwa with his senses that listen to your heartbeat and pick up on every flutter of your eyelashes. Maybe it will help you sleep. You need a good night of rest.

"Okay..."

˚➶ ｡˚

     The first floor is a hive of activity, people to and from and here and there. A multitude of barely familiar scents mixing together. The clink of cutlery and the distant hum of voices.

    You're thankful that Seonghwa didn't drag you down like he did last night, they allowed you to come at your own pace; and if any of them notice you standing at the bottom of the stairs (they do), they don't say anything.

    "Why don't you get something to eat?" A soft suggestion comes from behind you. Lia, you turn to see. "We won't bite," she jokes as she slides past you.

    Unfortunately, you think, you do bite.

    You follow loosely behind her, taking a small bit of the food off the serving plates before standing awkwardly in the doorway.

      The chatter stops slowly and you can feel their eyes on you, but you try your hardest to ignore it as you over-think where to sit.

     Over the open seat between Hongjoong and Yunho, you choose the one between Mingi and Jongho.

    "How'd you sleep?" Cheonsa asks over the silence, clearly trying to break the ice.

    "Fine, thank you... and you?"

    "Oh, I was up and down all night — baby is acting I owe her money, kicking me like that," she laughs, bringing a small smile to your face.

     The chatter between the pack members returns, and you keep mostly to yourself as you eat.

    "- so he wants to see us in person to clear things up, shouldn't take us too long," Seonghwa says as he stands, catching your attention. He comes around the table to stand behind you and you freeze.

     It's quiet again, the members know better than to talk over their leader; especially when he has the stern look on his face.

    Your chair scrapes against the tile as he pulls you back, only a little bit.

     He slides his finger tips down your jaw and under your chin, tilting your head to look up at him. "Will you be okay while Hongjoong and I take care of some business?"

     You nod, hesitantly. You'll obviously be okay. But your wolf doesn't want them to leave.

   "I'll be fine," you force out a verbal response and he hums approvingly.

    Before he backs away though, he comes closer. Close enough to peck your lips gently, before backing away quickly and taking his plate to the kitchen.

    Hongjoong is on you next, and he seemingly forgot the meaning of "privacy", as he shamelessly grabs your hair and tilts your head to meet his eager lips. You jump in shock, although you don't try to pull away as he licks your tongue a few good times before finally pulling away.

      "Ooooh~" Wooyoung whistles, cut off by a hit to his chest from Mingi, "ow! Dickhead!"

     Their bantering is lost on you as Hongjoong speaks, "be good, Dolly."

     You face your plate once more as you feel your ear heating up with embarrassment- and something else.

     From the door, you hear Seonghwa shout, "Yunho, you're in charge!"

Thankfully, the remaining members leave you to your own devices again as everyone finishes up, slowly filtering out and leaving you at the table on your lonesome.

And you sit there. For a long time, you just sit. And you think. And then, you begin to cry.

Because it's only been an hour. And you find yourself missing your alphas.

You keep your noise to a minimum for the sake of the wolves that you can hear in the other room, but one thing slips your mind.

There's another alpha in the house, and he can smell your scent turning sour.

Within seconds, he's snuck up on you, a frown on his face at the smell of an upset omega.

"Hey..." Yeosang whispers as he pulls out a chair one away from you, slowly sitting so as not to spook you.

You mumble out a small, "sorry," as you try and wipe your flowing tears, turning away from him.

"Do you, uhm, do you wanna talk about it?"

"What?"

He looks around the room like he's never seen it before just to avoid your gaze.

You sigh before looking back down at the table you've stared at for more than an hour.

Silence.

Painfully awkward silence and the stench of tears.

A low grumble comes from his throat, seemingly without his knowledge because his eyes widen and he bows his head with an apology. "Sorry, sorry," he rambles, "I'm sorry, my wolf just hates when others are sad."

"Sorry..." You sniff, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh, no, no! Uhm, you know what, can I-" He holds his hand out, "can I just? May I?"

You look down at it cautiously, eyebrows screwed up in confusion, but your wolf tells you to take his hand. And so you do.

     He wraps his fingers around your hand gently and holds it, and you slowly do the same.

     Even more confusion paints itself on your face as your sadness fades into a dull tug in your heart strings. "How are you doing that?" You blurt out.

    "I'm from a pack of healing wolves, it's just second nature to us." He says in a soft tone, something sad in his eyes.

    "Thank you, Yeosang," you say simply.

    The sadness is gone when he smiles up at you.

˚➶ ｡˚

The alphas return sometime in the night, as you sit on the porch with Cheonsa and Lia, talking about simple things and listening to the bugs chirp.

"Welcome back!" Cheonsa says before you even notice they're approaching.

"Ladies," Hongjoong greets with a playfully bow.

"Everything good here," Seonghwa asks more formally, leaning over you and scenting your head.

"Yup, all quiet here."

"Good. Could you give us a moment with our mate, please?"

They're up and into the house before he even finishes his command, leaving you alone with them in the dusk breeze. You greet them with a small smile, and a simple, "you're back."

"What, you expect us to abandon you?" Hongjoong jokes as he sniffs the air, a look of distain quickly overcoming his smile,"hey-!"

"You smell like Yeosang, why?" Seonghwa interjects with a cold glare, both of their stares making you shrink up.

"Oh, he helped me-"

"Helped you?!" The blonde pounces on you and sniffs all over, trying to pinpoint the smell and letting out a growl as the wind prevents him from doing so. He pins your wrists to the wooden porch and moves his nose all along your neck and chest.

      "Not like that!" Your wolf whines at the mere thought of another alpha- another wolf touching you so intimately.

     Hongjoong pauses, and so does Seonghwa who was about to rip the door open to get to the man you smelled of. From above you, the younger tilts his head, his grip lessening enough for you to hold out your hand — where the smell is most potent.

    "I was crying, so he held my hand and did some healing stuff I don't totally understand, but it helped," you explain quickly, hoping to save Yeosangs head from winding up on a stick.

     "Aw, why were you sad?" Hongjoongs tone flips immediately as he helps you sit upright, dusting the dirt off of your back. Seonghwa sits down next to you both, ignoring all the furniture in favor of being on your level.

    "Cause I- my wolf, she missed you..." You admit with a hushed voice, shifting under their intense eyes.

    Something hits them after you say that. Hits their noses.

    Underneath Yeosangs strong alpha scent is you. More specifically, your arousal.

    "Oh," Hongjoong smirks, "she missed us, huh?"

    "Come." Seonghwa stands up quickly and grabs the door knob before turning back and picking you up, slinging you over his shoulder like a sack of feathers, "not fast enough." He growls as he opens the door, ignoring your (light) protests,  and ignores every thing and every one else as he carries you through the house and up the stairs; all the while Hongjoong follows with a aura of... something that can only be described as manic hunger.

      You land on the bed, and the brunette is above you before you even know what's happening. He straddles your chest and grabs your hand; grimacing at the smell of another wolf on you before nuzzling his cheek all over it. You almost gape at the sight of him rubbing against your hand like a cat, but his blond paramour distracts you — tugging away your pants with one fell swoop.

     You gasp as your slick soaked panties are exposed, the cold air that hits you has no business feeling so good. You cross your legs with an embarrassed whine, only for them to be pried right back open.

     "Don't hide, Dolly~" Hongjoong coos, trailing his nails up your legs teasingly.

      "They'll smell i-"

       "Let them."

     You can't argue with them, not when they've got you this worked up over such simple things. You take a deep breath before you do something you haven't in a long time, you let your wolf drive all of your actions.

     You take your wrist out of Seonghwa's control and slide it all along his neck, allowing yourself to purr as the foreign scent is overwhelmed by your mates.

    And overwhelmed it was, completely washed away and replaced by the mixed scents of the duo by the end of the night.

˚➶ ｡˚

    The next day, breakfast goes about the same. It's less awkward, more flowing conversation. It's just you, your alphas, and San by the time a car horn blares outside.

     "Ah, that's Jongho, he's taking us to Greene's territory so we can finalize our plan," Seonghwa speaks as he reaches across the table and goes to put more food on your plate.

     "Oh, I'm not hungry," you shake your head with a polite hand out to stop him, "thank you, though."

    "You've barely eaten," Hongjoong points out with a frown, looking up from where he was filing his claws. He points with one of them dramatically, "you eat. You're still in heat."

     "Maybe it's settled down, I don't have much of an appetite."

    "But we still haven't knotted y-"

    

     "I'll take your plates! You should get going!" You cut him off with a heat rising in your cheeks, "you have zero tact."

    "That's not a word!" He yells after you before looking toward Seonghwa, who's clearly just as confused and concerned. "Is that normal?" He turns to San, "no, right?"

     "No, heats don't just go away, especially fresh off of blockers and fresh mated." San has a thoughtful look, watching as you clean the plates.

    "Keep an eye on her," Seonghwa orders the beta, taking one last glance at you before leaving.

˚➶ ｡˚

You sit up with a sharp cry, tumbling off of the bed and onto the hardwood as you continue to fight your nightmare.

Downstairs, Yeosang flinches from the loud noise; dropping the basket of eggs Cheonsa was handing over.

Yunho, the designated leader in the alpha's absence, snaps into action. He leaps from his place on the couch and dashes up the stairs, telling commands all the while. "San, Wooyoung, check the borders! Cheonsa, hold up in the basement! Everyone else check the house!"

     Immediately, two wolves are above you. In your nightmare induced panic, you don't register that they are Yunho and Mingi.

You slap away the hands that come towards you, fighting yourself into the corner, where you pull your knees to your chest and hide.

"Hey..." Yunho whispers slowly, lowering himself to your level, "hey, you're okay." He takes a shaky breath and lets it out as a sigh. "Mingi, go and get some water, will you?"

With a nod, Mingi is running to carry out his orders.

     As your panic subsides, pain fills its place. A deep pinch in your stomach and a wave of unbearable heat across your entire body. You look around with wide eyes, searching for your alphas.

    "Where-" you double over and groan, claws digging into the nightstand, "alpha?"

    "I don't- I don't know, they were supposed to be back-"

     "Where is my alphas?!" You bare your teeth at him, forcing a growl back down your throat as you see the kind man flinch. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Yunho. But something is wrong!" You wail as a pain akin to being punched in the stomach hits you.

     "Yeosang!" It's your turn to jump as he yells out the open door.

      Your cries carry through the home, nothing but raw panic and pain.

     You see a blur of green, but that's all before your blurry vision gives out and leads you into darkness.

˚➶ ｡˚

      "Heat build up? I didn't even know that's a thing..." Wooyoung sighs, leaning against the doorway of the alphas bedroom.

    You're laid on the bed in a fitful unconsciousness, Mingi and Cheonsa working carefully to build a nest around you out of your mates clothes. "It's horrible," Mingi whispers, "I had it once, I should have seen this coming..."

    "It's no one's fault," Cheonsa contrasts, leaning back and resting her hands on her belly. "It's a messy situation."

    "Yeah, you could say that again," Lia quips with a pout as she turns a fan to face you.

    "I can't heal it?" Yeosang asks again, biting at the skin around his nails.

    "No," San and Mingi both reply, and the ladder continues; speaking from experience, "she needs to mate to get rid of it."

     "Where the hell are those knot heads?" Wooyoung grumbles, fishing in his pocket. He pulls out a blunt and a lighter earning a look from Cheonsa.

     "Is now really the time?"

     "I'm stressed out, okay?!"

    Your nose twitches in your sleep as he lights it, and as he begins to smoke it, your eyes peek open with a hopefully groan of, "Seonghwa?"

     "Hey, sweetie," Cheonsa greets you softly as you wake, "how are you feeling?"

     You curl up on your self and look for the source of the familiar smell, eyes landing on Wooyoung. "What is that?"

     "Ah, weed?" He answers like it's a question.

    "Want it, please?" You whine, eyes filling with tears. Seonghwa isn't here. Hongjoong isn't here. This is the next best thing, in your pain addled mind. Maybe it will taste like their kisses.

     "Yeah, yeah of course," he approaches slowly and carefully hands it over, all of them watching as you hesitantly wrap your lips around it and breathe in. You barely get enough to have it on your taste buds, but it's enough to trick your wolf into believing it's one of Seonghwa's fleeting pecks or Hongjoong's dominating french kisses.

    And that's enough to put you back to sleep for the time being.

˚➶ ｡˚

When you wake again, you can't stand the heat of the house; even with windows open to let in the breeze and a fan pointed at the sweat-soaked bed.

You allow San to carry you outside, although his touch burns your body. The relief of the cool summer breeze on your heated skin is worth it.

You lay on the porch, tucking a jacket that smells equally like the alphas under your head.

"Where are they..." You whine as another wave of pain settles in your gut, "they said it would be quick, they've been gone all day!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be back any time."

"How can you know that?"

"I know them."

You leave it at that, listening to natures nightlife in silence between other members of the pack coming to check on you.

It must be hours later. Others stopped coming and going a bit ago. The moon is high in the sky.

Even the bugs seem quieter.

"What the fuck is that smell?!" A bellowing shout nearly had you breaking your jelly-like bones to stand.

"Alpha!" You nearly screech, diving right into Seonghwa, wrapping your arms around him and scenting all over his chest — the dry blood splatter completely lost on you.

"Omega-" He can barely get a word out before you change targets and give Hongjoong the same treatment, also completely ignoring Jongho.

"Where the hell have you been?" San sighs a breath of relief, slumping in his chair where he'd faithfully been watching over you through all the hours of the night. "She has heat build up, she scared the shit out of us!"

"Greene spotted us so we improvised, took him out on the spot but his men blew our tires- heat build up?" Seonghwa's eyes darken, looking over to where you cling to Hongjoong.

His mixture of adrenaline, bloodlust, and the effects of his upcoming rut proves to be a deadly combination.

He snatches you from the younger alpha and growls as he pushes you to the wall of the house. "You stupid omega, I should have knotted you the second I was free. Do you know how dangerous heat build up can be?"

San shrinks up on himself as he hears the rumble in his leaders voice, quickly entering the house and gesturing for Jongho to follow.

"Dolly," Hongjoong begins with a similarly dark tone, "are you finally ready? Just say the word and we can make it all better~."

"Oh, please, yes-" Your words turn into muffled moans as Seonghwa's lips collide with yours roughly. He tastes like copper and cinnamon sugar as he forces his tongue into your mouth. You gladly grant him entrance, closing your eyes and opening your mouth to kiss him back just as passionately.

     Hongjoong slides behind you, sandwiching you between them. The aching in your body is beginning to melt into a deep longing, a burning primal urge. A loud moan comes up your throat and into Seonghwa mouth as Hongjoong slips a hand into your shorts.

You blink your eyes open as Seonghwa pulls away, his eyes deep red and his claws cradling your face. "Why'd you stop?"

"You taste like smoke," he observes, his hips having a mind of their own as they press to yours; subsequently grinding his bulge against Hongjoong's hand that's toying with you.

"It tastes like you, I missed you," you admit plainly, which earns a smirk from him as he looks down at the way your hips grind subconsciously.

"Poor Omega," Hongjoong purrs from behind you, "you're soaking my hand, this all for us?" You whine a 'yes' as his hand leaves your heat, watching closely with wide eyes as he brings his dripping fingers to the older alphas mouth.

He takes the offering, eagerly. Licking and slurping your essence from every bit of his hand, moaning all the while you continue to watch and grind.

"Please, Alpha," you cry, claws slicing his shirt as you clings to him and pull him closer. He either ignores or doesn't notice your pleas until you whimper, "mate."

His tongue pauses, as does the fingers prodding at it. Both of them are on the same wavelength, working wordlessly in tandem. Seonghwa lifts you by your waist, allowing Hongjoong to easily swoop you up into a bridal hold.

He looks down at you as he carries you quickly to the room, smiling almost wholesomely. "What a pretty mate Selene gave us~."

He lowers you into the mess of clothes on the bed, the nest you'd fixed up between fits of unconsciousness. The sound of fabric slicing makes you jump, and you notice then that Seonghwa has ripped your clothes from top to bottom in one single swipe. They work together to completely rid you of your clothes, one lifting while the other pulls away the torn fabric that offends them by shielding your body. Like they've done this a million times before, they work in fluid unison. And you simply let them, watching and admiring.

You whine once more as Seonghwa stands, beckoning him to come back. "Shhh," Hongjoong shushes you gently, lowering himself to lay next to you. He drapes a leg around yours, prying your legs further open. "Don't you worry, Dolly," he leaves soft kisses all over the side of your neck — his side, he thinks. He laps over the healing mark he's left while his hand finds your wetness once again. "Your mates will take good care of you."

With no resistance at all, two of his fingers find their way inside of you, curling right up on that spongey spot that makes you gasp as stars fill your vision. "Hongjoong!" You let out his name in a shaking howl as he keeps his fingers pressing against that beautiful bundle of nerves, slowly harder and harder and- "fuck!" You cry as a wave of pleasure crashes into you.

You barely hear Seonghwa chuckle over your own panting and whining, Hongjoong similarly letting out a soft laugh as he wraps his free arm around your shoulders.

You blink your blurry eyes, letting the blondes face come into focus above you. "Feeling better already, 'Mega?"

"M-more," you whisper needily, humping down on his fingers with reckless abandon.

"Don't you worry, gorgeous," Seonghwa comes into your view from the other side of the bed, making the mattress dip and drive you further onto the fingers that scissor inside of you. "We'll give you more, give you everything you need. You want a knot, hm?"

He coos darkly as you nod desperately, eyes widening as you take in his naked figure, "knot, yes! Yes, yes, please!"

"You want two knots?" Hongjoong muses, slipping another finger into your core with close to zero effort, making you arch your back to try and suck him deeper.

"Need them! I need you!" Your words are jumbled and fast, but they latch onto every syllable and commit them to memory.

"Hmm~" Seonghwa blinks at you with his red eyes burning into your soul, and you don't look away. "Can a little Omega like you take a rutting Alphas knot?" His words are teasing, but make you pout all the same.

Hongjoong is giggling like he's watching a comedy, like he's not bringing you ever closer to another orgasm, as you babble and beg. "I can! I can! Please, Seonghwa!"

"I might break you-"

"Oh, do it! Please!"

He trails his claws across your cheek with an adoring glint in his eyes before he speaks, "how can I say no to that?"

With the promise of his knot, you let your pleasure crest once more, digging your own claws into the fabric below you as you mewl loudly.

You distantly feel Hongjoong withdraw, a soft grumble of protest leaving you as his body warmth disappears. It's quickly replaced by Seonghwa's as he climbs ontop of you. A soft tap on your cheek makes you realize you've closed your eyes, and you peek them open to face him.

"This is your last chance to back out, Starlight," the new nickname makes your head spin and your heart flutter. He leans his forehead against yours, his eyes flicking between red and brown. "Once I'm inside of you, my wolf won't let me stop."

Hongjoong climbs back onto the bed with his clothes discarded, settling himself behind your head. He gently pets Seonghwa's messy hair back, gazing between the two of you.

"I need-" You stop yourself when your wolf corrects you, "I want you." You peek to the other alpha, "both of you. I have to have you."

"And have us you will," Hongjoong leans and kisses Seonghwa, making the man lurch forward to kiss him back passionately. You moan softly as you watch them, finding yourself clenching around nothing. "Elders first," he pulls back with a teasing quip, tracing down his neck to the years old mark, "unless you want me to-"

"I will throw you out the window," Seonghwa deadpans.

"Fair enough," Hongjoong chuckles before leaning back to give him space. Even he knows when to stop poking the proverbial bear. That bear, in this instance, being an alpha in a rut — a first born, at that. He may be his mate, but so are you, and he knows his wolf is fighting tooth and claw to knot with the pretty omega that bares his mark; because his wolf is too.

"C'mere," Seonghwa growls deeply, yanking you to the middle of the bed by your hips and making you yelp in surprise. "You're gonna be a good mate, take it all?" You nod quickly, desperately, wiggling your hips.

He groans as he has to lean down to rub his tip against your weeping heat, eyes flicking as his wolf howls for a better position. He has to stop himself from moving too quickly, claws still out and proud. He tenderly grabs the back of your thighs before ruthlessly folding you in half and bringing your hips up to what he deems an acceptable level.

You let out a fleeting gasp, quickly replaced by a sigh of relief as he pops his tip into your awaiting hole.

"Hold her," he orders as his eyes trace every inches of your body.

Hongjoong quickly complies, warm hands squishing down on the back of your thighs with a purr. He watches with eyes taken over by black as Seonghwa inches his hips forward; cherishing and savoring every slow moment as he fills you with a snaillike pace.

     You're sure you'll explode from the pure euphoria that races through your body as he stretches your walls, making you moan and whine and flutter around him.

      As his hips finally still, a deep rumbling sound comes from the depths of his chest.

    You, in all of your pleasure filled delirium, don't notice it as you pant and moan, sucking in sharp breaths as you feel your core molding itself to fit him perfectly.

     Hongjoong, however, has his ears tuned in to pick up on any little noise either of you make; so he lifts his head from its place in the crook of your neck to be sure he isn't hearing thing that aren't there.

    You let out a soft whine as his body warmth leaves its place by your side, and similarly look up to the eldest alpha.

    You blink up at him and tilt your head; and another deep rumble comes from the man.

    "Baby," Hongjoong glances at Seonghwa's blissed out face, his eyes sparkling, "you're purring?"

    He says it almost like a question, but it's most certainly a statement. The sound is weak and clumsy, but it's undeniably purring.

    "Shut up," Seonghwa growls between his teeth, breathing heavily. He places his clawed hands over Hongjoong's, pressing your legs to your chest rougher. He closes his eyes and nuzzles his head against your calf, another purr leaving his inked neck.

    "Seonghwa?" You whisper, making his eyes snap open.

He looks completely enraptured, like he's almost forgotten where he is, as he rakes his eyes over you once again.

"I was right, I should have done this a long time ago."

"Wha- oh fuck!" You shriek as he suddenly and without warning begins to pound into you. Your feet sway and bounce, your back arches off the bed, your jaw pried open with embarrassingly loud sounds of carnality. You bring both of your hands to your mouth to dull your noises, the heat on your face now burning all the way to your ears as the realization dawns on you that all the members of the pack might very well be woken up by the sound of the alphas ravishing your insides.

     The both of them growl, Seonghwa much louder than Hongjoong; who moves to grab your wrists.

     He pauses his rhythm to lean over your folded up figure, slotting himself under your legs so that they rest on his shoulders, as Hongjoong pins your hands above your head. "Don't you try and hide from us," he groans deeply, sniffing at your neck. "Aww, she's embarrassed," he looks down at you while chuckling darkly, "don't be embarrassed, Love."

    Your jaw drops as he starts his movements again, this time slow and intentional. "They all know you're in heat," he hums into your jaw before giving it a teasing lick. He leans up to gaze down at you, nails digging into your skin as he holds himself back.

    "And they all know we're fucking~" Hongjoong adds with a smirk as he traces one of his hands all the way down your body, "might as well let them know how well we do it, right, Alpha?" He meets eyes with Seonghwa, and the onslaught of pleasure returns ten fold.

     Seonghwa is pumping into you ruthlessly, the sound of wetness and skin on skin echoing with your wails of elation. Hongjoongs nimble fingers play with your clit like he's an expert on your body. And all you can do is writhe and moan; trapped beneath them in a whirlpool of lust.

    "Please, please, please," is the only word in your vocabulary until, "Alpha!"

You howl as the tension inside of you snaps and releases a gushing wave of slick onto the alphas' pelvis and hand. The heat is like you've been filled with a million blinking stars, unlike anything you've ever felt before.

    The blinding pleasure knocks you out of control and has your omega taking over, and you don't even realize the words that come from your own lips. "Knot me! Please! Oh, please, Alpha! I want your pups!"

     Your pleading sobs have Hongjoongs neglected member twitching and leaking, standing at full attention while he watches his mates fuck like a pair of rabbits.

     They have a similar effect on Seonghwa, whose wolf begs him to do as you ask. He manages to tear his eyes away from your fucked-out face and towards his other precious mate. "Fuck," he growls under his breath. He gives you one last good slam before withdrawing from you, making you sob.

     "No, no! Please, Seonghwa! Akma!" It takes all of his years of training his wolf not to bust out and knot your perfect body as you cry his name.

    You fidget and grind your hips in an attempt to get him back, but it's futile. "Shhh," he coos, clawed hand cradling your cheek and pushing it gently so you face the other alpha, "you'll get both of our knots by the end of this heat, I promise, Darling. But look at our Joongie, he needs some loving, huh?"

    You focus your eyes on the younger alpha, eyes flicking everywhere around his body with pure adoration until they land on his member. It's leaking on his stomach, rising and falling with his heavy breaths as he controls himself. "Uh-huh," you agree with Seonghwa with a half-there answer, licking your lips subconsciously.

      He moves away from you, letting your legs unfold from your body. "Have at her, Baby," he smirks as he hears his boy dive into you and begins kissing you sloppily. And then he settles himself with his back on the headboard to watch, fisting his own member slowly to keep his wolf appeased.

    Hongjoong is half on top of you, forcing his tongue into your awaiting mouth as his hands fondle your breasts with a mind of their own. His hips, similarly, move to grind his cock against your leg without his knowledge. Now that Seonghwa has given him permission, the lower ranking alpha is buzzing with excitement and anticipation, slowly sinking deeper and deeper into his wolf's control.

     You gasp and pant as he finally pulls away, his lips finding purpose in sucking little marks into your neck and shoulders that soon resemble a galaxy with how many he's leaving in his wake. "Joongie, please mate me," the soft pleading moan with his nickname makes him freeze.

    "Present for me." He blurts with a newfound obsession in his mind. "Will you do that for me, Dolly?"

    You blink. Once, twice. As you think. Presenting to a mate, especially to your alpha, is a big deal... Putting yourself in a completely vulnerable position and saying with that action that you trusted the other wolf to take care of you fully. Not just sexually, while of course that was part of it, but in every sense of the word. It's a vulnerable position, and putting yourself in that position says you put yourself fully in the others hands.

    They watch with bated breath as your mind moves a million miles an hour. Seonghwa knocks his foot against your arm, "you don't have to if you aren't ready, Gorgeous."

      Hongjoong nearly jumps out of his skin when you move under him, and he backs up to give you room, not wanting to spook you into stopping. 

       You turn yourself over, gazing up at Seonghwa as you settle yourself between his legs. You rest your head on his hip and close your eyes blissfully as you move to kneel. Your shoulders rest lower on his legs, slumping yourself with nothing but your bottom in the air. Then you move your hands behind your back, wrists crossed and ready to be held.

     "Knot me, Alpha," you whisper lustfully.

    Seonghwa is almost jealous that he didn't think to ask you to present first — be he knows he'll get his chance. Their poor little Omega, on blockers for so long and suddenly having it out made your heat bad enough. And then heat sickness multiplied it by a hundred. He'd be surprised if you allow them to leave the bed at all for at least two weeks. Really, he has to commend your willpower.

     But right now, he can only admire how beautiful you are, especially as you submit to his mate fully.

    Said mate is nearly bouncing off the walls, chest puffed out pridefully as he savors every second that he looks at you. Art truly imitates life, he thinks as he finds himself wishing that he could capture this moment in a sculpture, in a painting, even a measly photograph would suffice.

   He feels a pang in his gut and growls loudly, eyes stuck in a pure black void as he comes up behind you. His wolf is clawing at the walls of his enclosure, and he doesn't have the strength to fight him anymore. He lets the beast take control of his body.

      He's speared you open on his member before you even register that he's behind you, uncontrollable moans spilling past your lips and pilling up on Seonghwa's hip in the form of drool. When Hongjoongs clawed hands encase your wrists tenderly, you're a goner.

     Over your own babbles of ecstasy and mindless profanity, you don't take in the words he's saying. You can tell he's being just as talkative as you, praises upon praises purred toward you as he uses his grip on your arms to pull you back into his frantic thrusts.

    What finally makes you and your wolf listen is his deep rumble, followed by dark chuckle. "Oh, oh fuck~ Our pretty puppy sent me into an early rut," he mewls, eyes looking back into his head as your heat burns so pleasantly around his previously neglected member. 

      If it's the pet name or the words along with it, you can't tell, but you shake with an unexpected and sudden orgasm, soaking his legs and dripping on the sheets as you wail.

     "Oh you like that?" Seonghwa chirps, petting your sweaty hair away from your face, "little puppy likes being told how good she is for her Alphas?"

    You nod frantically, huffing and puffing to catch your breath as Hongjoong and his relentless wolf refuse to give you even a brief respite. Though your pussy feels like it can't take anymore pleasure, your omega brain knows it can and will. You can feel your heartbeat in your clit, and Hongjoong can feel it pulsing around him.

     He drops your hands and you let them fall boneless, allowing the wolf you presented yourself to do as he pleases. His claws find a home on your hips, just barely scratching you as he holds you in place to repeatedly stuff you to your limit. "Fuck," he begins growing and purring nonstop, switching between the two as pleasure completely clouds his mind.

     Seonghwa laces his fingers into yours, holding your hands tightly as you get your insides reshaped. You're mouthing and nipping at his hip, your eyes —when not screwed shut from the overwhelming pressure building in you once more— are glazed over and glowing. Not that barely there glow of an omega. No, not like that at all. They burn bright and blink like the stars that Selene handcrafted. Starlight begins to fit you more and more, he thinks with a grin.

"Look at you, Starlight," his praises continue, "taking a big bad alphas rutting cock." The words make your face burn hotter, how is it even possible? He knows his dirty talk has heavy effects on you, almost as much effects as Hongjoong dragging and knocking against that spongey spot inside of you that he found earlier. With every. Single. Thrust.

"You're gonna make me pop a knot early, Dolly," the blonde chimes in as well, making your cunt twitch in anticipation. He bends down and kisses across the scars on your back, purring something softer that makes your heart thrum with something different, "our Omega is such a warrior."

With those gentle words of admiration spoken while he has you in such a dominated position, you feel a burst of emotion blooming in your chest; making you cry out.

They feel it too, you realize as Hongjoongs hips stutter and Seonghwa's eyes grow soft with love.

You've finally let them in completely...

Mind, body, soul, and wolf.

You feel like a piece of thread, being woven in with them. You can feel their emotions, their intentions of protecting and providing for you. You feel the deep possessiveness they hold in their hearts for you. And you feel their power rushing through your veins.

All of these things, all at once.

Hongjoong wraps his arms around your chest from behind, staying deep inside of you; but you can barely feel it because something is deeper than that — the feeling of your souls being tied together, bound by the moon that shines in through the window, shining with pride at its job well done bringing you to your alphas. Bringing you to your fated pack. It shimmers, bathing you and your mates in its ethereal light. You finally feel something you've never felt before.

You felt like you were home.

Not a place, or a pillow to rest your head on at night. No, that's not home.

Home is the scent of happy wolves mingling in the living room. Home is serving each other at dinner. It's Cheonsa's warm aura, Lia and Jonghos chubby cheeks making their eyes wrinkle when they smile. Home is Wooyoungs humorous cackle, and San's watchful eye. Home feels like the softness in Yeosangs eyes as he takes his members pain. Home is like the fierceness with which Yunho snapped into action to protect the pack when he heard you cry. Home is the pack taking care of you after only a few days of knowing you.

Above all, though... Home is Seonghwa and Hongjoong. The smell of smoke lingering with the eldest alphas signature salted carmel. Roasted hazelnut coming so strongly off of the younger than you can almost taste it. The two of them mixing together to create a sweet scent that you want to drown in.

    It's Seonghwa's fierce possessive nature, and the small smile he has when you interact with his hand-picked pack. 

    It's Hongjoongs ever present manic glee and giggles, the way he tries so hard to make you feel at home.

It's the feeling of their claws caressing you with care, holding themselves back so as not to harm you. The weight of Hongjoong on your back, protecting your body as you're far off in your own head. The reassuring squeeze Seonghwa gives your hands and the smile tugging at his lips as he feels your bond being completed. The way they give you time to process all of this, and so much more. Their patience with you even as their wolves howl incessantly.

     Seeing you come back to yourself, Seonghwa slowly stops the soft pets he gave your head and smiles, "welcome home, Starlight."

    Hongjoong peeks at you from behind, a smile gleaming in the moonlight. Pride overflowing from his very being at the fact that he got your last wall down and helped to complete the bond.

    You have a smile of your own gracing your features as you look from Hongjoong back to Seonghwa, finally answering his question from days ago.

     "I can feel you."

˚➶ ｡˚ ALLURE ˚➶ ｡˚

˚➶ ｡˚ EPILOGUE ˚➶ ｡˚

      The kitchen and dining room is as lively as ever as Seonghwa carries you down from the third floor for the first time in three weeks. Everyone moves to work together seamlessly and set the table, the record player in the living turned up loud. "Hey, guys," he greets as you enter, "look who's back in business."

     Everyone pauses. But it's not like before. It's not awkward or tense. Everyone has a smile on their face as they see you for the first time in almost a month.

   Compared to last time they saw you, you were positively glowing. Not a trace of pain or anxiety on your face. Your scent didn't burn anyone's noses, instead it wafted gently and calmed them- much like the other pack omegas did.

    "Hey," you smile sheepishly, looking down at the table as Seonghwa sits you down.

     "Ah, praise Selene!" Cheonsa yelled with a laugh as she tackled you from the side in a hug.

    Lia came up on the other side of you, similarly embracing you, "we thought you'd never come down! We were stuck with these guys again it was horrible!"

     "Hey!" Wooyoung yelled offendedly before throwing you a smile as he handed you a full plate.

    "Thank you," you smiled kindly, one hand on each of the women's arms as they refused to let go of you.

    "C'mon, let the girl eat," Yunho swatted them away with the newspaper he held, shooting you a lopsided smile of his own.

   Everyone settles in their seats, and peace overcomes you at the table with the members that you can feel through your minds.

    Hongjoong comes bouncing down the stairs with a pep in his step, towel around his neck to catch the droplets of water that slide off his hair. "You left without me!"

     "The food smelled too good, I couldn't wait anymore!" You argue, pouting as you sip some juice.

      Seonghwa hides his prideful grin by taking a bite of his own. Not even a month ago, you couldn't smell the food from your bedroom no matter how hard you tried, and today it was what finally lured you out of the nest you've made of their bed.

     "Aw, how could I stay mad at that face?" He coos, cupping your jaw to kiss you passionately.

      "Zero tact," Mingi whispers to Yeosang, who nods.

    Hongjoong pulls back with his eyebrows pushed together, "that is not a word!"

...

     Minutes later, Jongho is leaned over a dictionary, and everyone crowded around him, some having placed bets.

     "Oh there it is!" San shouts, "it is a word!"

   "Tact: to talk or act carefully so as not to offend or disturb others," Lia reads with a chuckle.

     "Damn," Wooyoung slumps, digging in his pocket and slapping down a five dollar bill into Yunhos awaiting palm.

    "Told you," Mingi quips with a roll of his eyes, "Hongjoong has zero."

    "You little brat!" A chase ensues around the kitchen, joyous laughter filling the room.

   You rest your chin on your hand and watch fondly. You see Seonghwa do the same out of the corner of your eye, watching your mate chase the other omega around the table full of smiling faces.

   Yeah. You think. This is home.

˚➶ ｡˚ THANK YOU FOR READING ˚➶ ｡˚

[aidensolas]

STORED DATABASE (1) - A Forsaken Fic

Heya so I decided to keep writing as the conclusion I reached was just people being people like to ruin things that other people like due to hate. I want to say I might be distancing myself away from knowing about these types of things and just focus on what makes me happy. Enjoy the chapter!

Okay so you already pinched yourself 3 times and it seems like you aren't waking up so it's probably a lucid dream.

Anyways you might be wondering what's happening? Right John Doe and Elliot sitting neatly on your bed as John Doe looks at Elliot confused and staring at your figure he shrugs and looks around commenting on your room "Nice Room... for a runt." You held out your hand in a pointing motion and pointed it at John Doe which he responded to holding up his hands well... a hand and a spike up in a defeated motion "Can't take a playful 'poke'..." He said in a joking manner "So uhm... Hey? Where are we exactly?" Elliot suddenly piped in as you thought about the situation what's happening right now as you paced back and forth between the door of your room.

Okay so you might be wondering what exactly happened after they appeared in your bedroom? Well, I'm your mind! Here to recount things you never needed to remember again... So as they appeared in your room a series of silly events happened that involved John Doe trying to murder you and Elliot which was scary in itself then suddenly as he tried to pierce your stomach with his giant spike he suddenly got flung into the wall of your bedroom knocking down some shelves and cabinets full of your precious well... Whatever you keep in those as you were more scared about your home you realized the things once destroyed started to rearrange itself in a neat manner not knowing what to do you made up a bluff that no one can do anything in this house without your permission and if you break a rule you immediately get punished via getting ragdolled into walls which to your Suprise both Elliot and John Doe believed so now they're both setting on your bed.

Back to the current time! As you completely ignored Elliot's questioned (Rude.) "So where are you guys from and how did you guys exactly... Arrive here?" You asked not like you didn't know already you just thought that having prior information about them without them knowing who you are is weird so might as well keep the appearance that you don't know them.

"Ask the twerp beside me." John Doe nudged Elliot beside him "I can barely remember anything besides killing them over and over again." To which Elliot replied with a nervous laugh as John Doe nudged him "Well! About that it's uh... Hard to explain if you can give me some tim-" You raised your hand in front of Elliot before he could ramble on "No need. You don't need to explain if you aren't ready yet... Anyways would you kindly lea-" You got interrupted as well. Karma's a bitch ain't it? You heard the door open behind you as you quickly looked to turn around to see someone peeking in, wait is that Noob?... Dear God.

Okay you tap your foot in hurry as you paced around your main living room which was enough to accommodate the whole Forsaken cast including the out of place Mafioso who just randomly decided to show up despite being a variation skin of c00lkidd. Chance piped up seeing you walking around the room in a hurry as a coping mechanism of how your life is ruined now. "Hey... Uh your name whatever mind you settle down?" Okay you gather your thoughts and say down sighing as Builderman started to talk "This might be stressful and surprising to see various people you don't know inside your home and people with alarming looks to top it off of." he said as he discreetly looked at killers who were surprisingly not murdering anyone at the moment not like they can but you're surprised an attempt hasn't been made considering some things. "But we mean no harm and we would like to not bother you but when we tried to leave the front door a random pop-up would appear saying that we don't have access to do so. Would you happen to know anything about it?" Then Shedletsky decided to squeeze in a comment that's stated in a lighthearted joking manner "Who would wanna leave anyway have you seen this house?" Builderman replied by quickly stomping on his foot which made him wince as he grumbled "Okay... Okay... I get it." You squeeze your eyes shut as you cover your face with your hands as you resist the urge to cry into them. "I tried it as well. It said I can't open the door for at least another 7 days. First things first who are you guys." Yeah, you aren't asking them you were demanding an answer.

As they all introduced each other you quickly gave them their own lodgings and places to stay good thing you have a lot... Well, more than enough guest rooms to accommodate them since it was relatively late anyway you were preparing to sleep before you felt a tap behind you which revealed to be Dussekar "In my own lair, where dreams take flight, can I wield the brush to color my night?" What is bro saying? You thought about it for a second then realized he meant if he could decorate his own room to which you replied to "Go ahead it's all yours anyway for the time being." He nodded promptly before slowly floating away into his own room and closing the door. This is going to be a long week.

After waking up and feeling shit like always you decided to do your daily routine and as you leave your room you see Chance on the side of your door as you stumbled upon him he immediately takes your hand into his and drags you somewhere "Hey you never told me you had this." He said with a chuckle "Had what?" He then reaches a door to which he opens which reveals a whole ass casino. Wait... What. The. Hell. "Right and in case you forgot the name's Chance the best gambler you'll ever see." He said with pride as he closed his eyes striked a cool pose and flipped a coin the coin landed it rolling tails did make it a bit silly, but you won't ruin his day so you didn't mention it as he hid the coin, you nervously laughed to see people working inside the casino yet no other gamblers or people are present. "Yeah... I totally had this since the start, but you never asked, nor do we totally know each other... Haha.haha." to which then Chance looks back at you saying " That's fair but... Wanna go round all the people up and have a nice fun day in the casino? Well, it's yours so it wouldn't be a problem to treat us, right?" You never owned a casino, so you have no idea, but you felt like you were about to faint but, you gave Chance a giant totally not fake smile. "Sure, go ahead! Go call them up I'll treat all of you to some fun." Chance wasted no time bolting out the door and probably waking everyone up to drag them into this. You glanced at one of the workers who noticed you and it seemed to be the same people who you would see in a Roblox game but humanized or some sort... The worker stared at you and waved giving a small smile. Yeah.

This is definitely going to be a long week.

Notes:

Guys I'm sick so I couldn't promise the bulk of chapters I've written but most of it is done anyway so expect day by day and a random two-time x reader to pop up one day. Excuse my writing if it's on the wobbly side as I said I feel like absolute bunz anyways hope you enjoy this chapter. I wonder what happens next, I totally can't see into the future or anything, but I think it's going to be a casino chapter...

TAGLIST (raaaah)

@brain4stew @yukinaabutlazy @ilikedrinkingsoda @oniadopts @no-hearts-included @haveneulalie

Random note: Why do I feel like John Doe and Builderman would be great at telling Dad Jokes...

[midnightfruitsqueeze]

In spite of having spent years in fandom-adjacent online communities, I've always had a really hard time finding fanfictions I loved and getting into fanfic in general. Yours is the first one I find myself really enjoying! So thank you a lot for writing. I was wondering if you had any fanfic recs (Disco Elysium or others), as I'm now trying to broaden my horizon fanfic-wise?

thanks, that's really sweet! here are some DE fic recs:

Nothing to lose but our chains - think this one is pretty well-known. delivers well on the tag ‘ACAB no exceptions’. brutal. great casefic.

Revachol Real Estate - lovely conceit and worldbuilding, fun historical/real world inspiration included in the endnotes.

Shots From The Precipice - casefic/le retour fic, Harry/Kim, told from a couple of different perspectives. the last chapter of this one still fucks me up bad. the author writes a particularly good Judit.

Rememory - this fic should be getting a lot more praise and a lot more eager watching. the prose is delicious, tight, emotionally devastating. really solid, tactile, politically astute sense of Revachol as a setting.

Gain Item: Lieutenant’s Handkerchief/Creature of Pride – probably the best use of the game style & tone I’ve seen in DE fic, and it’s vomit porn. I massively respect the author for this and consider it solid evidence that the best art comes from niche fetishes. hot, too.

I Went To Martinaise And All I Got Was This Existential Crisis - the absolute bible of Kim Is A Lunatic. takes it to brilliant new heights. my Kim’s not the same as this Kim but I couldn’t have written my Kim without this fic. it's also a really good Kim/Harry/Jean story, and they fuck nasty.

[youhideastar]

hello!!! First I love love love your stories. I have read pretty much all of them and my faves like 10x. I’m currently obsessed with Concord, which I’ve read at least 20-30x times in the last few months. I really, really love the angst in Concord—the pain is so deep and real and felt, but they aren’t trying to be cruel to each other. I wonder if you have any recs for fics that feel the same way to you? Or fics that inspired you? I love good angst and would love any recs from you. No pressure and if you can’t think of anything but come up with something in six months, it’s an always open ask :) thank you again for sharing your writing with us. HNY!

Thank you so, so much for the kind words, and for the ask! I love the opportunity to rec some of my angsty favorites. 😄 (I'm keeping this to just The Untamed/MDZS but lmk if you want other fandoms as well.)

The Right to Care by @travelingneuritis: you cannot go wrong with any of travelingneuritis's work (shoutout also to when the sun goes out and In Imitation of Life), but this fic in particular has those Concord-esque "the relationship is the plot" and "everyone is trying and everything still hurts" aspects. It's a modern AU where, as the summary has it, "Rising young musician Lan Zhan and underpaid babysitter Wei Ying fall for each other hard." Also check out pentimento by orange_crushed - very similar vibes.

Discomfort, Revisited by @existentially-yibo: another great angsty modern AU, with a super cool flashback structure (and, bonus, great Chicago sense of place) and a Wei Ying who believes his whole life should be about other people.

keraunography by spookykingdomstarlight: a Pacific Rim fusion, also with a cool flashback structure, really brutally angsty with Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian each blaming himself for the horrible thing that tore them apart.

half agony, half hope by @queenklu: a Persuasion AU, with all the smothered yearning and long-nursed emotional wounds that a Persuasion AU should rightfully have. "Five years after their broken engagement, now widowed with a child, Wei Wuxian must navigate the re-entry of Captain Lan Wangji into his life." Sticks the landing, too, after more than 100,000 words, which is NOT easy to do.

the lantern by the door by Lirelyn: modern AU zhanchengxian, which, you know, if you want really juicy angst, that is a ship that's hard to beat. Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng figure out how to make their rough edges fit together after Wei Ying dies--and then each assume, when he turns out to be alive, that the other person will choose him over them. Outstanding. (shoutout also to this author's say it's here where our pieces fall into place, a wangxian kidfic modern AU that hurts sooooo good)

These Things Stay the Same by notevenyou: Modern AU where WWX is in a train crash after switching seats with Mo Xuanyu - WWX survives in a coma but everyone, including Lan Wangji, thinks he's dead. After he wakes up, he tries to figure out if his loved ones' lives still have a place for him. (They do, but it's a painful process.)

Enjoy!!

[11queensupreme11]

All this talk about reaction fics are getting me excited! I know you already said that Cerulean Cyanide will take place after act 2, but do you think you'll ever include the Percy babies in there? Like they were sent from the future? I just love them so much 🥺

EDIT: i added more stuff lmao

I'VE ACTUALLY BEEN THINKING OF DOING THAT!!! 😭😭😭😭

my initial idea is to set cerulean cyanide right after act 2, but now i lowkey wanna do it in the future with the setting being midnight morphine where percy's already a goddess, married to the yans, and with 15,000+ kids. the gods would've already known about the pjo verse and all, but they don't know the details of percy's life.

but i hesitate to do it cuz i really wanna publish cerulean cyanide after act 2 is completed and idk if i'll have the percy babies' personalities fleshed out.... especially since i won't start writing midnight morphine till waaaaay later, so i'd just have a basic profile for them to work with...........

(but then again, this is a reaction fic, so i don't really need to worry about character depth in these types of fics...)

also, that's gonna be a LOT of characters reacting. i'm already doing ror gods and humans, and now there's gonna be an additional 70-ish kids???

i could always just have some kids speak up in one chapter, and then another kids in the other chapter.... it's a lot easier than forcing 70+ kids' dialogues in one chapter......

but again, idk. my main concern is that i think my readers would be turned off by the presence of the kids tbh cuz not all of them go to my tumblr; they'd be missing so much context and they'd be SO confused LMAO

[dontcallpanic]

How nice is this that there are SO MANY more people to thank for changing my life than just 3. I've never been great at following rules so have like 10 or 11 people I'd like to thank from the bottom of my heart.

@gege-wondering-around - you were The very first person to be nice to me here and right at the beginning you sent me in the direction of some really incredible people. You are a ray of sunshine and I love your creative mind. You are absolutely the little sister I never had!

@oldefashioned - you are the kindest person in the world. Literally. I love how inclusive you are and early on you just sort of swept me along. I think you were the first person to include me in a tag games and got the interaction ball rolling. Anyway I owe you a huge amount. Thank you!

@greyhavenisback - I mean... Where do I start! From ghosts to cheerleading ily! You make my days infinitely brighter and I've had SO much fun avoiding smalltalk. Also you are THE MOST incredible writer and your mind is absolutely amazing. You are a total inspiration. Thank you for asking me to tell you a ghost story. Lineman wouldn't even be a thing without you and my cat is definitely a lot happier too!

@fuji09 - you were one of the very first people to be nice to me and interact with me! It was the first time I thought oh maybe I can stick around here! I love your teen wolf analysis, it's always so thoughtful and thought provoking. And the way you debate is so respectful and considered - and the way you stand up for yourself is absolute perfection. The world would be a better place if more people were like you.

@patolemus - I love your brain. So MUCH. Thanks for replying to my comments on your fic and setting off a year long sterek Meta/psychoanalysis (I think I still owe you a Derek and anger as an anchor reply now o think about it!) but also thanks for always being an absolute gem and always making me laugh! Your stories are some of my all time favorites and I will cheerlead you forever!

@cantchangemypast - you are a truly beautiful soul! You are so kind and sweet and you deserve the absolute world. Your resilience is completely inspiring and thanks for talking baking, bread and Wales and cultural traditions and sharing recipes. It always brightens my day to hear from you!

@hellameyers - oh my god you are the coolest, most badass person! I love your analysis, your taste in music and your stories! You are so fierce and so unbelievably kind and yeah just deeply, deeply cool!

@lil0ak - From ice sport to folklore and monster fuckery, I really really enjoy our chats and the Dorset Ooser will forever be on my mind now! Plus you are the most fantastic writer and tell it to my heart is just everything I get excited about rolled into one brilliant story!

@novemberhush - music moot!! You have the coolest taste in music AND I now go around singing country songs because of you! Thanks for including me in the fun stuff, I really appreciate it.

@all-or-nothing-baby - the nicest person with the absolute coolest artwork AND stories. Multi-talented and your monologues are phenomenal. Yours was one of the first fanfics I read - I think it was love yew! And it just set off a chain reaction. Thanks SO much!

@dear-massacre - Smart as a fucking whip, I'm totally in awe of you. Bruised like violets permanently changed my brain and somehow gave me everything I needed. It inspired me to start writing again after 8 years. I LOVE the way you write and the stories you tell. You take no bullshit and can still be valnerable. Your analysis is phenomenal and I love reading your takes. Just... Yup... Awe!

I mean there are so many more, I could literally go on and on and on and how Nice is that? This is such a super cool fandom and if you know me then know I'm totally greatful for you all on a daily basis - doesn't matter if we interact or not. Thanks for being awesome.

someone suggested that i ask people for three people in the fandom that changed their lives and changed their experience in the fandom (good experiences). people that helped you in this fandom and gave you a reason to stick around.

💜

[werewolfsmile]

I need to know your thoughts on what was going through werewolf!Eliot's mind wen the team was filming Howl Force, the werewolves-attack-NATO movie in "The Stork Job"

Ohhh myy goodnessss I completely forgot about that!!!!!!

Eliot took one look at the script and rolled his eyes so hard that it hurt.

He definitely encountered some local werewolves on the set and they all shared commiserating looks of can you believe we're producing this crap??

His training and discipline were the only things stopping him from interrupting filming with corrections every time the 'werewolves' did something completely inaccurate.

The pre-recorded howls used on the film set are not from wolves local to the region where the movie is set. Eliots tries really, really hard to let it go ... he can't.

"Wha- No! We're not changing the wolf howls just because you think it's the wrong wolf dialect or something. That doesn't even make sense."

"It's a very distinctive howl, Nate!"

"We're not even really making this movie!"

(fun fact: wolves actually do have different 'dialects' depending on where they live in the world!)

The only good thing to come out of that movie experience (y'know, aside from the con they were pulling) was knowing that none of the werewolf lore in the movie was accurate. Eliot doesn't have to worry about his secret being exposed in that way.

Later, when the Big Reveal happens, Hardison remembers this movie plot and how annoying Eliot was on the set when he wasn't conning Irina.

"Wait, Eliot, hold up. Howl Force is real??"

"Are you kiddin' me?? Y'think werewolves would have any reason to kill NATO troops? That movie was a disgrace!"

"I liked the howls."

"Dammit, Parker!"

Sophie is instantly bitter about the reminder of her lost reel.

[sluttyten]

I was working on a new fic that I was really looking forward to, but in light of recent revelations, I'm gonna be taking a step back I think

also i removed him from the member masterlist and all of his fics, excluding things like YIMA and the poly series which I'm considering re-editing to get rid of him

[whattheskyknows]

Was toying with the idea of planning a despair disease fic and it's turned into an entire chapter 3 rewrite,,, I don't know how this happened??

[necrotic-nephilim]

there is not enough femslash in batcest circles. the girls deserve to be just as weird about each other as the boys are. if BruDick gets to be weird father/son/brothers/lovers/friends/rivals/soulmates then it is only fair that Babs/Cass get to be mother/daughter/sisters/lovers too. Something about that deep intrinsic but undefinable love that is born out of trauma, especially if you consider Cass not knowing what healthy love looks like in the first place. i think it's fun and deserves just as much fandom content.

besides that, you can get even more niche with rarepairs like Helena/Steph. Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma is already a fantastic comic and even though it's their only real canon interaction it has so much potential. very comparable to TimJay in how Helena tries to get Steph to understand her morals and the corruption you could play with it.

batman: huntress/spoiler: blunt trauma (1998)

that comic also highlights on how both Steph and Helena are outcasts of the Batfamily and don't have the approval of Bruce to be doing what they do in "his city". I think there's so much Potential in Helena taking Steph under her wing because Bruce won't let her in and it becomes a weird codependent toxic sapphic mess. I think the protectiveness Helena feels over Steph from the get-go is so clear and the way she wants to look out for Steph, wants to make sure Steph understands the real world? I love them. Helena should be allowed to steal Steph, actually. I think it'd be fun.

there are a lot of other possibilities too like Babs/Steph or even getting weird with Helena Bertinelli/Helena Wayne and the existential question of "is it selfcest or not." But these two specifically live in my head rent-free, especially Helena/Steph and one day I'll convince everyone else to ship it too.

[strixcattus]

Don't use chatGPT to give you ideas for your fic. Do it the old-fashioned way and use xkcd 1525 to give you ideas instead.

[witchysniffles]

new year's eve

A/gathario ft. sick A/gatha being too stubborn for her own good. 8.7k words (💀) There WILL be a part 2 to this at some point, but given how long this took it might be a minute lol.

All of this was inspired by @flutterytickles's tags on this post about the idea of a professor AU and a New Year's Eve party, and when I say I took that and ran with it...😳

I am MORE than happy to yap about this AU forever, but really all you need to know for this is that everyone's teaching at a small, liberal arts college in Boston. A/gatha was hired as an English professor, but now mostly teaches American history through literature and print culture. R/io studied environmental science with a focus in botany and also poetry in school, and she took a pay cut specifically to teach at a school that would let her do both. Other than that, I feel like it's pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy!! <3

Please don't reblog to non-kink blogs! Minors DNI.

“So it’s not going to be a party,” Rio said. “At least not according to Lilia. But Alice and Jen will be there, and a few other faculty members and some of Lilia’s grad students, and Alice assured me there will be good food, lots of drinks, and probably karaoke if they can find a way to hook it up to Lilia’s TV. Sounds like it’ll be a good time.”

“Hmm,” Agatha hummed. Rio had her on speakerphone on her desk while she was tidying up her office, using the time that barely anyone was on campus to prep for the spring semester without anyone commenting on how many empty energy drink cans she was hauling out to the recycling bin.

“Well you know how I feel about karaoke,” Agatha said. Rio thought she heard the sound of her clearing her throat, but she chalked it up to static on the line. “But is Lilia actually inviting me or is this you asking me to come with you?”

“Both,” Rio said. “Lilia doesn’t have your number and she figured you wouldn’t be checking your work email over the holidays, so she asked me to ask you. And I would like it if you came with me.” Rio paused. “You know, if you want to.”

There was another little burst of noise on the line—this time it almost sounded like a sniffle—before Agatha spoke again.

“Well, I promised Nicky I’d take him to the parade and the fireworks at the Common tomorrow, but that’ll be over and done by eight.” Agatha paused and this time Rio was sure she heard a sniffle. “Let me talk to the kid next door, see if he can sit in after I put Nicky down and I’ll…”

Agatha trailed off, and Rio frowned.

“You’ll…?”

“Hh-hold on, I n-need—”

Rio could hear Agatha’s breath stutter, and then before she could even process what was happening, she heard what sounded like a poorly-stifled sneeze from a distance like Agatha was holding the phone away from her face.

“Bless you?” Rio still wasn’t a hundred percent sure she was hearing things right, but she still spoke loud enough for Agatha to hear and—she assumed—roll her eyes at. What she wasn’t expecting, though, was Agatha’s shaky voice when she brought the phone back.

“D-don’t,” she started. “I’m not…n-nah…not…hheh’EHTtschu!”

That was definitely, for sure a sneeze that time, and though Rio couldn’t see it, she could tell by the involuntary little groan that followed that Agatha wasn’t happy about it. Whether it was about sneezing in general or about Rio acknowledging it with another, more enthusiastic “Bless you!” was anyone’s guess.

“Ugh, sorry,” Agatha said after collecting herself again. “You were saying?”

“I think you were saying something about getting a babysitter? But, if you’re not feeling well we don’t have to—”

“I’m fine,” Agatha said firmly. “It’s just some gunk Nicky picked up somewhere. It’s probably just one of those twenty-four hour things, I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

Rio was pretty sure that wasn’t how colds worked, but Agatha’s tone told her the topic was not up for discussion, and Rio didn’t feel like pressing the issue would be helpful. This was Agatha, after all.

Last spring when they’d first gotten paired up to teach an interdisciplinary studies course on floral symbolism in classic American literature and poetry, Agatha had neglected to inform Rio that she was horribly allergic to about half the flowers they’d be talking about, so Rio hadn’t thought twice about showing up to the very first class with a fresh arrangement of native wildflowers to sit on the podium between them as they took turns going over the syllabus.

Agatha had done an admirable job downplaying her reaction for most of the hour-long class, only stifling the occasional sneeze into near-silence over her shoulder, but the second class was dismissed, she’d dissolved into the single most dramatic, drawn-out fit Rio had ever seen, blushing furiously the whole time and still insisting she was fine when she could gather enough breath to speak.

Rio had run up to her own office to grab her own bottle of Zyrtec, sure the whole time that this was going to get the whole class cancelled, and her partnership with Agatha would be over before it had even properly begun. With the meds in her system, though, Agatha had pulled herself together shockingly quickly to teach her afternoon class, and to Rio’s surprise, not only did their joint class proceed as planned (after a serious, Rio-initiated discussion of what parts of the syllabus Agatha was and wasn’t allergic to—which Agatha was also blushing furiously through—and an Agatha-initiated tacit threat to never speak of the incident again), but Agatha had been grateful enough for Rio’s help to offer to repay the favor by taking her out to dinner.

One thing led to another, and now, nearly a year later, they were dating, all because Agatha was enough of a stubborn bitch about her allergies to not keep antihistamines on her.

Rio had never actually seen Agatha sick before, but she assumed she probably wouldn’t handle that much better.

“Hh-ITSchu!”

Another sneeze from Agatha drew Rio from her thoughts.

“Ble—”

“Not yet, I…he’ETshiu! Ugh, fuck.”

“Salud,” Rio said.

“Shut up,” Agatha grumbled. “I’m fine. Just let me talk to the kid next door. I would never say this to his face, but he’s a total loser, there’s no way he’s got plans. I gotta check if Hanukkah changes anything, but I’ll text you when I know?”

“Sounds good. Love you, and get some rest!”

She could practically hear Agatha roll her eyes before she shot back a, “Love you too,” and ended the call.

Not half an hour later, Rio’s phone lit up with a text from Agatha.

Teen’s free to babysit. Pick me up at 9?

It’s a date, she replied.

~**~

Agatha was already waiting on the front steps when Rio’s overpriced Uber pulled up in front of the elegant Beacon Hill brownstone. Her hair was down, falling in loose waves over her shoulders, and she was wearing lipstick­, which wasn’t unheard of, but the deep raspberry red shade of it made something in Rio’s brain short out, and suddenly her only thought was about how badly she wanted to fuck it up at midnight.

As she drew closer, though, she realized that the lipstick was a distraction—and a damn good one at that—from the subtle little signs of illness on the rest of her face. Her makeup was impeccable, but up close, Rio could see the shadows of dark circles under her eyes, the barely-there pinkish tint at the tip of her nose, the subtle crease in her foundation that showed just how often she'd been—

Right on cue, Agatha scrunched up her nose with a small sniffle, and judging by the way her hands twitched at her sides, she was really fighting the urge not to rub it. Rio would never say it out loud, but she was pretty sure it was one of the cutest things she’d ever seen.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey, yourself,” Agatha said. Those raspberry lips twitched upwards, as Rio wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Her skin felt a little warm for someone outside in the middle of winter. Rio couldn’t be confident it was high enough to be a fever, but she filed the thought away for later.

“So…,” Rio started as she pulled out her phone to look up Lilia’s address. “How were the fireworks?”

Agatha sighed heavily. “We didn’t end up staying. Nicky didn’t sleep well last night, which meant I didn’t sleep well last night, and we only made it halfway through the parade before he decided he wanted to go home.” Agatha sniffled and scrunched up her nose again. “Poor kid was practically falling asleep on his dino nuggets. I put him to bed and hh’he was out like a li-ihh­-light.”

The slight hitch of her breath drew Rio’s gaze upwards, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Agatha scratching the bottom of her nose with her thumbnail.

“Oh poor thing,” Rio said, definitely not talking about Agatha; that would be ridiculous. “And how are you feeling? You sure you’re up for a wild party?”

Agatha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “I think I can hiih-handle whatever Lilia’s got planned.”

“You sure?” Rio lowered her phone and met Agatha’s eyes. “Because we can just stay in, especially if you didn’t get much sleep last night. I hear they’re letting Andy and Anderson drink on CNN again this year, and we could do those Lego flowers from Christmas and just take it easy.”

Yeah, Rio thought to herself; that was a safe angle to approach it from. Asking outright if she was under the weather was a surefire way to get her to dig her heels in deeper, and while Rio was pretty sure that was going to happen anyway, she wanted to make sure Agatha knew she had an out if she wanted it.

As Rio had predicted though, Agatha shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I’m fine. I already missed the baby fireworks, and I don’t even remember the last time I got to go out for New Year’s, so I’m not missing this.” She punctuated her statement by audibly clearing her throat, and she glared at Rio for noticing. “And I feel fine,” she snapped. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Ok,” Rio raised one hand in a mock surrender. “In that case, it looks like we have a choice between a pretty straightforward thirty minute walk, or we can take an Uber that’ll shave a whole five minutes off that time for…” she refreshed her app and her eyes widened in shock as she wordlessly showed Agatha the inflated price on the screen. “Suddenly I’m thinking it’s a great night for a walk. What about you?”

When she didn’t get an answer right away, Rio glanced up from her phone and took in the dazed look that had settled over Agatha’s features, the way those raspberry lips parted, one hand hovering in front of her mouth as her she scrunched up her nose once more in vain before—“hiET’SHhiew—‘ITSHhyu!” She aimed both sneezes into her elbow at the last second and then sniffled wetly as she rummaged around in her purse for…who the fuck still carried handkerchiefs in the twenty-first century?

“Bless you, bless you,” Rio said lightly, as Agatha blew her nose once, dabbing lightly at her nostrils to keep from completely destroying her foundation. Rio couldn’t help but notice that once she was done, she shoved the handkerchief in her pocket instead of putting it back in her purse.

 “Thanks,” Agatha muttered. “How long did you say the walk was?”

“Google says thirty minutes.”

Agatha gave a haughty sniff as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Closer to twenty if you walk like you live here,” she said. “I vote we do that.”

There was a part of Rio that thought about protesting further, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good, and besides that, Agatha was a grown woman who could listen to her own body. If she wanted to push herself for the sake of a stupid work party then who was Rio to stop her? And also, Rio selfishly really did want to mess up that lipstick against a backdrop of fireworks.

“Alright,” she sighed. “In that case, vámanos.”

With a swish of her long coat, Agatha set off down the block at such a pace that Rio had to jog to catch up.

~**~

Lilia lived on the top floor of a refurbished tenement building in the North End that was all decorative brick work and copper patina on the outside, with an interior that looked authentically pre-war. Which war exactly was anyone’s guess, but Rio was putting money on Civil.

The chilly night air had made both of their noses run, and they paused in front of the elevator to collect themselves. Rio pulled the sleeve of her sweater over her hand and swiped briefly at her nose. Agatha, on the other hand, took a bit longer to recover.

She’d been mostly alright on the walk over as far as Rio could tell—the fresh air really had seemed to be a good move—but now that they were back inside the dry heat of the building, it was clearly taking Agatha a second to gather herself. She had her handkerchief out and was running it on one finger under her eyes and around her nostrils, but her nose, it seemed had other ideas.

Her breath hitched once, twice, and she tipped her head back, her mouth just open enough that Rio could see she was pressing her tongue to the roof of her mouth to try to hold it back. It wasn’t enough, though, and Agatha let out a particularly vocal gasp right before she pitched forward with an itchy-sounding “hiih’IIShu!”

“Bless you,” Rio said.

“Ugh, thanks,” Agatha grumbled. “Must be the temperature change. I’m fine.”

She at least had the decency to flush as Rio eyed her skeptically, but before Rio could say anything else, Agatha was slipping the handkerchief back in her pocket, sliding open the metal grille in front of the elevator, and waving Rio inside.

“Can you just promise me something?” Rio asked as the elevator groaned and shuddered its way upwards. Agatha didn’t say anything, but she side-eyed Rio curiously. Rio took a deep breath and flexed her fingers at her sides as she said, “Promise me if you reach a point where you want to leave tonight for any reason you’ll tell me?”

“I’m—”

“I know you’re fine,” Rio said. “And I’ll let you be the judge of your own body. I’m just telling you that if you want an out you’ve got one, no questions asked.”

Agatha considered her words for a moment. Her lips were pressed in a thin line as she ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek, and then she sighed.

“Alright,” she said quietly. “Thank you.”

“Any time.”

The elevator jolted to a stop and they stepped out into a long hallway. There was music and laughter and a scent that Rio could only identify as ‘miscellaneous party food’ wafting from their left.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess that Lilia’s that way,” she said. She glanced over at Agatha who just tossed her hair over her shoulder, cleared her throat, and sniffed once more before nodding in the direction of the sound.

“Shall we?”

Rio hesitated for just a moment, captivated by the way Agatha’s mask slid so smoothly into place. She had hardly realized just how much she got to see when they were alone until suddenly she was faced with the Agatha that was ready to actually walk into the party.

The little signs were still there: the way that her foundation was starting to separate and smudge around the tip of her nose, the way her lips parted ever so slightly so that she could breathe without the air catching audibly on the building congestion in her sinuses.  It was an impressive performance. Frankly if Rio hadn’t seen evidence to the contrary, she might have even believed Agatha’s little act.

Of course, the fact that she had gotten to see that evidence to the contrary at all—even if Agatha was denying it the whole time—was also not lost on Rio. It made her stupid, lovesick heart flutter in her chest just realizing that Agatha trusted her that much. It was also mildly annoying knowing that it would be that much harder to tell if Agatha reached her limit tonight, but they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

She must have lingered a bit too long, though, because Agatha noticed she wasn’t following and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking pointedly at Rio’s hands.

Rio hadn’t even noticed that she was fluttering her fingers at her sides, but the sudden awareness made her stop and flex her hands.

“Yeah,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

Rio reached the door at the end of the hall first and knocked right below the brass 4F affixed to it. When no one answered right away, Agatha tried the knob and found that it was already unlocked. She glanced at Rio with a shrug before pushing it all the way open and leading the way inside. 

Rio's first impression upon stepping into Lilia's space was that it perfectly answered the question, "What if an eccentric gender studies professor with a fortune-telling side hustle had lived in the same rent-controlled apartment since the 70s?" which wasn't a question Rio had been asking, but it was nice to have an answer nonetheless. The entry way led into a spacious living room filled with squashy, mismatched furniture. Decorative lamps on various surfaces gave the room a soft, warm glow, and there were tapestries and artwork covering nearly inch of exposed wall. It was inviting and a little overwhelming in the same way that Lilia herself could be and Rio found that she kind of liked it.

Her second impression was that she and Lilia definitely had different ideas of what "not a party" meant. There were far more people than she had expected here. She vaguely recognized some other faculty members and a few of Lilia’s grad students and TAs who hung out around her office a lot, but she was only halfway through her second year of teaching, so there were still more unfamiliar faces than familiar ones.

"Soo…," Agatha started, leaning close to Rio's ear as she slipped out of her coat, "Are we sure that Lilia understands what a party is?”

Rio bit back a laugh as the hostess in question rounded the corner. “Did I hear a knock? I thought I—oh, Rio, you came!”

Before Rio could react, Lilia swept forward and enveloped her in a brief, but warm hug that had Agatha pressing herself flat against the wall to stay out of the way.

“Oh, I’m so glad you were able to make it,” Lilia said. It wasn’t until she stepped back that she seemed to notice Agatha. Something flickered behind her eyes for a fraction of a second before her wide smile was back in place. “Agatha, it’s nice to finally see you outside of the office for a change. Did you two come together?”

“Sort of,” Agatha said at the same instant Rio said, “Kind of.”

Lilia raised an eyebrow, and Rio glanced over at Agatha who was starting to get a sort of dazed look in her eyes, so Rio quickly took over.

“We split an Uber,” she said. “Those holiday prices are crazy, but if the alternative is the green line on New Year’s…” she trailed off with a shrug and an eye roll, and that seemed to be good enough for Lilia. Or at least, if she had further suspicions, she was good enough not to voice them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rio could see Agatha bring her hand in front of her mouth in a loose fist, her thumb resting along her jaw and her first finger pressed against the bottom of her nose. It wasn’t entirely out of the ordinary—one thing about Agatha, the woman was always touching her face—but Rio guessed from the way Agatha scrunched up her nose that it was a little more practical at the moment.

Rio was about to come up with some excuse to try to shoo Lilia away, when someone else called her name from elsewhere in the apartment. Lilia glanced in the direction of the voice and sighed.

“I suppose I should go see what all the fuss is about,” she said. "You two feel free to make yourselves at home. There's food in the dining room, drinks in the kitchen, and I think someone brought some..." she mimed smoking a joint as she trailed off, and Agatha snorted. "If you want to do that, though, just do me a favor and take it outside or on the fire escape. The scent lingers in here like nothing else.”

“Understood,” Rio said.

Lilia gave a satisfied nod before turning on her heel and disappearing back into the festivities.

Rio turned towards Agatha just in time to see her shove her face into her bunched up coat and muffle a forceful sneeze into it. She came up for air with a slightly dazed look on her face, her mouth still open in preparation, but after a long moment of anticipation, nothing else happened. Agatha exhaled with an angry huff and hung her coat up on an empty hanger.

Rio did the same after her, except she nearly dropped the hanger when Agatha suddenly swore behind her. Rio whirled around just in time to see Agatha crush her nose between her thumb and forefinger as she pitched forward with a pair of stifled sneezes that were nearly silent save for a soft, choked off little gasp.

 Rio almost felt a little guilty for it, but she couldn’t help noticing just how different these cold sneezes were from Agatha’s allergic fits. It was a strange thing to think about, but with her allergies, Agatha seemed to have some semblance of control, at least at the start. The tickle tended to be a slower, more torturous build that Agatha was shockingly good at hiding, and the sneezes themselves started off as soft, tickly little things that she was scary-good at keeping quiet. This cold, by contrast, seemed to keep her on her toes, sneaking up on her and then backing off just to come back with a vengeance, and Agatha was clearly already getting frustrated.

Agatha released her nose with a heavy sigh and a wet sniffle, and when she noticed Rio looking at her, she frowned.

“What?” she snapped.

“Nothing,” Rio said. “Bless you.”

That seemed to soften Agatha around the edges for a moment, and she muttered a quiet, “Thanks,” before she brushed past Rio into rest of the apartment. “Let’s find the kitchen,” she said. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.”

Rio rolled her eyes, but followed along anyway. It was less than two and a half hours to New Year’s, but she had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

~**~

When Lilia had said there were drinks in the kitchen, Rio had expected champagne, some prosecco, maybe some kind of fancy Italian wines and some seltzers in the fridge for the grad students. What she hadn’t expected was a downright undergrad-rager amount of boxed wine and a rainbow of Jell-O shots, but now that she was looking at the spread, she realized that yeah, actually, this kind of tracked.

There was indeed an array of random seltzers and cheap beer in the fridge along with a couple of bottles of something bubbly with sticky notes on them warning that they were not to be touched until midnight. Rio grabbed a mango White Claw and turned around to see Agatha debating between the wine and the shots like it was a matter of life and death. After a moment, she reached a compromise with herself in the form of downing a purple Jell-O shot and then immediately grabbing a plastic cup to fill with room-temperature Franzia, because sure, why not?

“Hey, Rio, you made it!”

Rio spun around to see Alice approaching with a beer in hand and a bright smile on her face.

“Of course,” Rio said. “I wouldn’t miss it!” She took a sip of her seltzer and surveyed the room. “Although there are a lot more people than I expected when Lilia told me specifically that this wasn’t a party.”

“That’s Lilia for you,” Alice said. “Anything less than a full-on rager doesn’t count as a party to her. But for what it’s worth, it’ll probably start to clear out by 11:30ish. Most people just use this as a rest stop for a bit and then walk to the waterfront to catch the fireworks. But they’re missing out because that’s usually about when Lilia gets stoned enough to break out the oracle cards and that’s worth sticking around for.”

“Sounds like fun.” Rio hadn’t even heard Agatha come up behind her, but there she was eyeing Alice over the rim of her plastic cup of cheap wine. “When do we break out the Ouija board and start telling ghost stories?”

“Oh hey, Agatha,” Alice said. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she glanced from Rio to Agatha and back again like she was trying to connect some invisible dots. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah, good to see you too,” Agatha said flatly. She took a long sip of her wine, and she held her cup in front of her face a second longer than strictly necessary to block her nose from view as it twitched just the slightest bit. A tense moment passed where Rio couldn’t tell if Agatha was actually going to sneeze or not, but she recovered quickly, lowering her cup and shouldering past Rio towards the dining room. “I’m gonna get some food.”

“Ok, bye, Agatha,” Alice said drily. She shot Rio a look. “I didn’t know you two…”

She trailed off, and the implied ellipsis hanging off Alice’s words felt like a set trap for Rio to walk into. She’d had the feeling that her officemates were starting to suspect something for a while—from the sounds of it there was even a betting pool now—but Rio wasn’t going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that easily.

It wasn’t so much that they were trying to keep it a secret—sneaking around like teenagers wasn’t really all it cracked up to be when they were both parties involved were closer to fifty than fifteen—but with a kid in the mix, and Rio being so new, and Agatha’s…well, being Agatha, they just…never really cared to make a grand announcement to their colleagues. At some point it would come out, that much they both knew, but for now it was still sort of thrilling to have such a secret that was theirs and theirs alone.

So it was with all of that in mind, that Rio managed to say, “Lilia’s the one who invited her.” She took a swig of her seltzer and wished she had grabbed something harder. “We just split an Uber here.”

“Ah, sure,” Alice said. “It’s just funny; Lilia’s been trying to get her to come to stuff for years now, but this is the first time she’s actually shown. I wonder what changed.”

“Yeah,” Rio mused as she watched Agatha disappear around a corner. “I wonder.”

“Ok, well…” Alice bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together as she took a slow step back. “I need to track down an HDMI cord to try to set up karaoke, but I’ll be around.”

“I’ll see you,” Rio said.

She gave Alice a half-hearted wave and then followed Agatha’s trail into the cramped dining room where she found Agatha trapped in conversation with a short woman with a neat blonde bob who Rio vaguely recognized from the…admissions office? Student life? Something like that.

Whatever they were talking about, Agatha hardly seemed to be in the mood for it, but the woman clearly wasn’t taking the hint. Agatha had her hand in front of her face again, the knuckle of her first finger moving slowly back and forth under her nose as she nodded absently, her attention clearly more on her nose than her conversation partner.

If Rio had felt a little guilty about watching before, she felt downright voyeuristic now. From the corner of the doorway, Rio had a perfect view of Agatha’s profile, and she watched with rapt attention as Agatha managed to wrestle the tickle back long enough to interject.

“That sounds great, Sharon, but you see, the problem is that I don’t want to, so…” she trailed off with a contemptuous, open-handed shrug, and the woman—Sharon, apparently—just laughed.

“Oh, I’ll get you one of these days!” She wagged a finger playfully in Agatha’s direction before glancing down at her empty cup. “I’m gonna get some more wine, but I’ll email you once we get back on campus!”

“I’ll delete it,” Agatha called after her in a mocking tone.

She waited until Sharon was safely out of the room before whirling around and coughing into her elbow. She recovered quickly enough, but kept her arm in front of her face for a moment too long. Rio could see her shoulders tense and then release as she smothered a trio of sneezes against her sleeve, each tripping over the next like they had taken umbrage at being held back for so long. “Hiih’TSHh!-h’TSHh-TCHhu!”

“Bless you,” Rio said.

Agatha startled at the sound of her voice and spun around to glare at her.

“I’m fine,” Agatha said through gritted teeth.

“I didn’t even ask.”

“Well you were thinking it and that’s bad enough,” Agatha snapped.

Her voice was starting to take on a more noticeably-congested edge, and Rio found herself wondering if she’d have to put her foot down at some point. Either Agatha was a better liar than Rio had thought if she had been feeling this bad this whole time, or she was going downhill faster than Rio had assumed she would, and frankly Rio wasn’t sure which was worse.

“Is this where the…oh. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Rio and Agatha both spun around to find Jennifer Kale smirking at them from the doorway like she very much hoped she was, in fact, interrupting something.

“You wish,” Agatha growled. “What do you want, Jen?”

“Maybe to socialize?” Jen said slowly like she was trying to explain the concept to a child. “At a social event? Although I can’t imagine you have much experience with those.”

“Can it, Kale,” Agatha snapped. She took a long sip of her wine and shouldered past Jen on her way back into the kitchen. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Nice to see you too, Agatha!” Jen called after her. She turned back to Rio and rolled her eyes. “You really can’t take her anywhere, can you?”

The question felt equal parts loaded and rhetorical, and given Jen’s…history with Agatha, Rio figured her safest option was to plead the fifth. She ignored Jen’s pointed smirk and took another long drink of her seltzer.

“Well, forget her,” Jen said. “I was actually hoping to run into you here. I heard back from my mother about those old Home Garden magazines we were talking about? She found some of my grandmother’s old issues, and she said she’ll send them out to me next week. I can bring them into the office when they get here if you want to go through them.”

“Oh, sweet!”  Rio had been working for most of the fall on a proposal for a class on Victory Gardens and the development of urban home gardening, and some of the earliest primary sources had proven to be a bit of a bitch to track down. “Yeah, I’ll be in and out of the office the next few weeks before the semester starts, but I’d love to get my hands on anything you’ve got.”

“Cool,” Jen said. “I’ll keep you posted.” She gave Rio a soft smile and looked like she was about to say something else, but Rio took the pause as an excuse to slip away.

“I’m gonna go mingle a bit more. You know, network or whatever, but I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah,” Jen said. “Yeah, I’ll see you.”

Rio grabbed a star-shaped sugar cookie off a platter at the end of the dining table and popped it into her mouth as she slipped out into the living room before Jen could say anything else.

Agatha was across the room, in another tense conversation with a woman Rio definitely recognized from the library, but she couldn’t quite place the name. Dottie? Sarah, maybe? Either way, Agatha saw Rio looking and shot her a sharp glare. Rio took the hint and headed over to where Alice was fussing with Lilia’s ancient CRT TV.

It turned out it didn’t even have an HDMI port, which meant the karaoke idea was getting nixed, but after a little bit of snooping in the cabinet underneath, Rio found a dusty plug-and-play joystick with a collection of old arcade games that was still in working order, and it only took a few rounds of Frogger before a full-on tournament broke out.

Rio lost sight of Agatha as a small crowd started to gather around the TV, but despite that, if she was being honest, she was kind of actually starting to have a good time. As the clock ticked ever closer to midnight, the crowd did in fact start to thin out, and those who were left were mostly reaching a pleasant state of being under their influence of choice. Conversation and laughter flowed easily, and Rio found herself suitably distracted from worrying about Agatha.

That was, at least, until she caught sight of Agatha slipping away from the rest of the party, making a beeline for the bathroom down the hall with her hand against her face.

That got Rio distracted enough that she ran Ms. Pacman straight into a pixelated ghost to a collective groan from her audience, but Rio found herself not really caring. She passed the joystick off to Alice who was going for the high score on Galaga, and picked her way out of the crowd.

“You good?” Jen asked.

“Yeah,” Rio said. “I’m just gonna grab another drink.”

She headed into the kitchen and grabbed another seltzer—a wild berry Truly this time—and made a pit stop in the dining room to grab a couple of those sugar cookies in a napkin before following Agatha’s path down the hall towards the bathroom. She was barely halfway to the door when she heard the unmistakable sounds of Agatha…well, struggling.

“Hih-TSSHhiu! Heihh-hhETshiw!” Rio heard what she assumed was a hand slamming down hard on the edge of the sink, followed by harsh fit of coughing that only seemed to feed back into the cycle as Agatha paused just long to inhale sharply before—“HHET’Sshiu! Motherfucker!”

“Agatha?” Rio knocked lightly on the door with her knuckle. “It’s just me. You ok?”

“F-fuck off,” Agatha growled. Her voice was really starting to go now—it sounded low and scratchy, cracking between syllables—and though she made a point of turning on the water in the sink, Rio could still hear her sniffling miserably.

“Agatha, come on, don’t do this to yourself.”

She got no response to that, presumably because Agatha knew that her voice wasn’t helping her case at this point. Rio checked the time on her phone; it was after eleven now. If she’d known a few hours ago that this was where they were going to end up, she’d have put her foot down at the start. She should have pushed harder when Agatha was still malleable. Now it felt like she was talking to a brick wall. Or a closed wooden door, she supposed.

Just as she was about to get up to go back to the party, she heard Agatha clear her throat.

“If I’b bothering you so mbuch you can just fucki’g leave,” she snapped.

“Agatha, that’s not…” Rio trailed off as Agatha’s words actually hit her.

Oh.

So that’s what this was all about.

“Listen,” Rio said. “I’m not leaving you. Not because of the party and definitely not because you’re sick. You’re kind of fucking stuck with me whether you like it or not, and I’ll give you space, but I’m not leaving you. Take as much time as you need. I’m heading back out to the living room, but I’ll be here for you whenever you’re ready.”

The water stopped running and Rio could hear Agatha sniffle again. She didn’t say anything, but then again, she didn’t really have to. It was enough just for Rio to know she was actually listening. As she started to turn away, she suddenly remembered the cookies in her hand.

“Oh, and I brought you a little something to eat. They’re right out here if you want them.”

There was a narrow little table with a collection of candles and crystals next to the bathroom door, and Rio set the napkin-wrapped cookies on edge before she headed back down the hallway. When she reached the end, she heard the bathroom door open and shut, and when she turned around, the cookies were gone.

~**~

By 11:30, the party was smaller, but rowdier than ever. Lilia, who had been out on the fire escape more than once, was giggling her way through a tarot reading for Jen over the arm of the other couch. There was music blasting from someone’s phone, and a cheer went up as Alice finally broke her high score. Everyone that was left was talking or laughing, and it was easy enough for Rio to slip back into the fray and plop herself on an overstuffed couch cushion without so much as a glance her way.

The minutes seemed to drag by impossibly slow. 11:45 turned to :50, turned to :55, and Rio was starting to think she might have to press her luck and check on Agatha again when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and speak of the devil, there she was. Her hair obscured most of her face so Rio couldn’t get a great look at her, but she tapped Rio’s shoulder and nodded towards the fire escape, and that was all Rio needed to scramble to her feet and follow her.

There was no one out there at this time of night; everyone left was inside, watching reluctantlyas Alice unplugged the game and tuned the TV in to the Times Square ball drop. Agatha slipped out the open window onto the metal platform, and before Rio could even process what they were doing, Agatha grabbed the railing of the narrow stairs leading up towards the roof and started to climb.

“Ok, not that I’m not glad you’re out here again, but what are the fuck are you doing?” Rio asked, trying not to notice just how high above the city streets they were.

Agatha paused and looked back at her. “I wa’t to watch the fireworks.”

She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, like it had been her plan this whole time, and though Rio hated the thought of setting foot on those narrow, creaking stairs, she had to admit that, yeah, she very much did want to watch the fireworks too.

She followed Agatha, and they both scrambled over the lip at the top. After the hazy warmth of Lilia’s apartment, the chill breeze was a welcome change, and Rio had to admit, the view was nice from up here. Rio checked the time on her phone. Two minutes to midnight, and she swore could feel it in the air.

“You don’t have to kiss mbe or adythi’g,” Agatha said. “I just thought this mbight be dice.”

Ninety seconds to midnight.

“Would you stop me if I did?” Rio asked.

Agatha scoffed. “You’d really risk catchi’g this?”

“What can I say?” Rio shrugged. “I’m feeling lucky this year.”

“But I’b gross.”

Rio pressed her cold hand against Agatha’s fever-warm cheek—oh yeah, she was definitely going downhill—and guided her gaze up so she could take her first good look at Agatha’s face in the moonlight.

Agatha’s bright blue eyes were watering so badly it looked like she was crying, and though her mascara had held up valiantly for the last few hours, it was starting to smudge in earnest now. The makeup around her nose was a patchy mess, clinging to the dry, reddened skin where it hadn’t been rubbed off entirely. Her lipstick had honestly held up surprisingly well, although the edges were starting to get fuzzy. All of that coupled with her irritated frown as she sniffled and wrinkled her nose again made her look so pathetically adorable that Rio could almost melt.

“See that’s the funny thing,” Rio said. “You’re saying gross, but all I’m seeing is the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Agatha blushed furiously, but she let Rio pull her closer.

Ten seconds to midnight.

The air was humming with electric energy. Rio was sure there was nowhere else on earth she’d rather be.

Five!

They could hear the countdown from all directions.

Four!

Agatha swore as her nose twitched and she aimed a loud “Hh-ITShoo!” into her shoulder.

Three!

Agatha sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

Two!

“Last cha’dce to back out.”

One!

Rio smirked. “Not on your life.”

Happy New Year!

All at once, the city erupted around them, but Rio hardly paid it any mind as her lips met Agatha’s, waiting and eager, and for a moment, they were the only two people in the world. Rio could taste the artificial vanilla of Agatha’s lipstick, could feel Agatha’s poor, abused nose against her cheek as she tangled her fingers in Agatha’s hair and savored absolutely everything about the moment.

Agatha was the first to turn away, gasping for breath that couldn’t break through the wall of congestion in her nose, but she didn’t pull away from Rio’s arms.

They stayed like that for a long moment, foreheads pressed together as the fireworks over the water lit up the night sky around them.

“Rio?” Agatha finally croaked.

“Yeah, love?”

 “I dod’t feel very well,” Agatha said. She let her shoulders drop and rested her head on Rio’s shoulder so that her next words came out even softer. “I thigk I’b ready to leave ndow.”

“Oh, you are, huh?”

Agatha nodded weakly against Rio’s neck. Rio bit back a chuckle and carded her fingers through Agatha’s hair, which just made Agatha press closer. She was for sure running a fever now, but Rio didn’t think she needed to say that part out loud.

The fireworks were starting to die down now. The city that slept by 10pm was already quieting again, and a cool breeze blew across the rooftop, making them both shiver. That was enough to finally spur Rio into action. Despite Agatha’s low whine of protest, Rio took a step back, and reached into Agatha’s pocket to find her crumpled handkerchief. She offered it to Agatha who rolled her rheumy eyes, but accepted it gratefully and set about wiping away the tear tracks and the smudged eye makeup. There wasn’t much she could do for her foundation at this point, but after a moment she managed to pull herself back to some semblance of her usual self.

“Ready?”

“H-hold on.” Agatha held up one finger as she inhaled a shaky breath. Her eyes fluttered shut, her lips parted, and she stayed like that for a long moment, before—

Fuck, I lost it.” Agatha scrubbed at her nose with the crumpled handkerchief in frustration before flipping her hair over her shoulder and following Rio to the edge of the roof to step gingerly back onto the fire escape.

The party was well and truly winding down now, but those that were left seemed occupied with champagne and company, so no one seemed to notice when Rio and Agatha slipped back inside. For a second, Rio almost thought they could make a clean break for it. They’d grab their coats and slip outside, and Rio would text Lilia a brief goodbye once they were in the Uber back to Agatha’s place.

That kind of luck didn’t seem to be on their side, though, because Lilia caught them as they passed the kitchen doorway.

“Oh, Rio, are you leaving?”

Rio stopped dead in her tracks like she’d been caught sneaking in after curfew. She could feel Agatha stiffen and clear her throat next to her.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Rio said with a nervous glance at Agatha. “It’s getting late and—”

“I have to let the babysitter go,” Agatha chimed in. “Rio offered to split a car.”

Her voice was fading in earnest now, but Rio noticed how carefully she was choosing her words so at least she didn’t sound too congested on top of it. Her explanation seemed to be enough for Lilia, who smiled at them both.

“Well, get home safe,” she said. “Happy New Year! And Agatha, I hope you feel better soon!”

Agatha’s jaw dropped and she looked like she was contemplating homicide or suicide or both, but Rio just gave her a shove in the direction of the door and gave Lilia a soft “Happy New Year,” and a shy wave in return.

She grabbed both of their coats out of the closet with one hand while she pulled up Uber on her phone with the other. No way they were doing that walk again tonight.

“Ok, driver’ll be here in three minutes,” Rio said.

When Agatha didn’t respond right away, Rio looked up to see her frozen in pre-sneeze torture, her lips parted, eyelashes fluttering, brows knitting together as she took a breath in, and then—

“Oh fuck mbe!” Agatha scowled and pinched the bridge of her nose hard.

“Oh, pobrecita,” Rio breathed. “Let’s get you home.”

Agatha rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, the lost sneeze snuck back up on her with a vengeance just as Jen and Alice passed by on their way to the kitchen.

“HHT’SCHiu!”

“Bless you, Agatha!”

“Fuck off, Jen!” Agatha called back.

With that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder, held her flaming cheeks high, and stalked out of Lilia’s apartment, leaving Rio to call out a soft, “Happy New Year, guys!” before jogging to catch up.

~**~

The ride back to Agatha’s place was short and quiet, and even though she hadn’t strictly been invited, Rio followed Agatha inside where Agatha paid the babysitter, kicked off her shoes, and tossed her coat in the vague direction of the coatrack before throwing herself down onto the couch in the parlor.

Rio had been in Agatha’s house more than a few times, but this—Agatha being this miserable in her own home—was new enough territory that she wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. She shed her own coat and shoes, and picked up Agatha’s so at least they wouldn’t be a tripping hazard later, and returned to stand behind the couch.

Agatha had one hand dangling towards the floor and the other over her eyes like if she blocked her vision, she could pretend the night had gone differently.

“So,” Rio started carefully. “What are you thinking? Do you want me to stay?”

Agatha moved the hand over her face and looked up at Rio with red, watery, exhausted eyes.

“I cad take care of byself,” she said.

“I know you can. That’s not what I’m asking.” Rio leaned over the back of the couch and reached one hand down to brush a lock of hair out of Agatha’s face, curling it gently around her finger. “Do you want me to stay?”

“You’ll get sick,” Agatha whined.

“Again, not what I’m asking. And for what it’s worth, you did have your tongue in my mouth less than an hour ago, so I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed.”

Agatha started to laugh, but it quickly turned into a cough that only seemed to irritate her nose as she quickly brought her hands up to cover an itchy sneeze. “hH-IItschu!”

“Salud, baby.”

“Thagks,” Agatha grumbled. She sniffled wetly and wiped her nose roughly on her sleeve. “Ugh, feel gross! I hate bei’g sick.”

Rio bit back a laugh. “I don’t think most people really enjoy it.” She had moved from playing with Agatha’s hair to scratching lightly at her scalp. Agatha’s eyes fell closed and she moaned into Rio’s touch.

“Let me ask a different way,” Rio said. “Do you want me to leave?”

Agatha’s eyes opened again, and when she looked up at Rio with her flushed cheeks and her sniffly nose, Rio felt like she could melt into a puddle on the spot. The flush in Agatha’s cheeks deepened as she slowly shook her head no.

“Ok,” Rio said. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Shut up,” Agatha muttered without any bite.

“Ignoring that because you’re sick,” Rio said.  “Now what do you say we get you somewhere more comfortable than the couch so you can get some actual rest, hm?”

It took a few more minutes of gentle prodding from Rio to get Agatha to her feet and up the stairs, but once she was moving, she seemed to be able to handle herself. She poked her head into Nicky’s room before heading to her own room to change while Rio busied herself digging around in the bathroom medicine cabinet.

All Agatha seemed to have was a bottle of Advil, a box of Zyrtec, and a mostly-empty bottle of grape-flavored children’s cold medicine that was missing the measuring cup. Rio vowed to make a supply run in the morning, but for now, the Advil was probably better than nothing. She filled a glass with water from the sink, and then grabbed the allergy meds for good measure and headed for Agatha’s bedroom.

Agatha had already changed into an oversized t-shirt with an ambiguous number three on it, and a pair of worn flannel shorts that were practically indecent. She’d pulled her hair into a loose bun, and she was just finishing wiping off the last of her makeup with a wipe that she tossed carelessly in the direction of the trash can. It missed by a long shot, but Rio thought it was cute that she’d tried.

“Here,” Rio said, holding out the water and two ibuprofen tablets. “You didn’t have much, but this should help keep your fever down.” Agatha took the meds and washed them down without protest, and Rio offered her the box of allergy meds. “I don’t know if these’ll do much, but they might at least take the edge off until I can run out to the store tomorrow.”

Agatha’s cheeks flushed a deeper pink. “About that…”

“What are you…?” Rio trailed off as she pulled the blister pack out of the box and found it completely empty. “Why was this still in the cabinet if you knew it was empty?”

“To remind myself to buy more,” Agatha said like it was completely obvious and not actually one of the most ridiculous things Rio had ever heard.

“Ok, scratch that then.” Rio tossed the empty package into the trash can. “Do you want anything else?”

Agatha shook her head as she set her water on the nightstand.

“Just hurry up and c’mere,” she said, making grabby hands in Rio’s general direction. It was quite possibly the cutest thing Rio had ever seen, and she wiggled out of her nice jeans and into a spare set of pajamas as fast as she could so she could crawl under the covers with Agatha, who immediately attached herself to Rio’s side.

“I’b sorry I was a bitch earlier,” Agatha mumbled.

Rio chuckled as she leaned her cheek against the top of Agatha’s head. “Lucky for you, I kind of like it when you’re a bitch, because I know you don’t mean it.” Agatha grumbled something unintelligible against her neck, but Rio continued, “And because the sooner you get being a bitch out of your system, the sooner we get to do this.”

“Love you,” Agatha mumbled sleepily.

“Y yo a ti, mi amor,” Rio said. She reached back to turn off the lamp on the bedside table and then pressed her lips against Agatha’s warm forehead as she settled back down.

Agatha was already out, her breathing coming in congested little snores that made Rio’s lips twitch into a smile as she felt her own eyes growing heavy. Her last conscious thought before she slipped into sleep herself was that there was nowhere else on earth she’d rather be starting the new year.

[calamitoustide]

new ship unlocked?

[yujeong]

Time was at a standstill. Vegas was holding his breath without noticing, and continued to hold it when he did - he was afraid of what would happen if he exhaled loudly enough to draw attention to himself. His gaze was shifting between Pete and the man who was standing before them in the doorway, blocking their entrance. Vegas had never seen him before, but even so, he recognized Pete in him enough to know who he was. A dangerous aura surrounded him. There was an edge to his presence that Vegas would only come across people of certain circles. He was a fighter. A muay khao. Pete's father. Shame coursed through Vegas' body, smearing his skin, settling in his lungs, rendering him speechless. I thought he was dead, he wanted to tell Pete if he could. He wanted to scream at him, I thought you killed him. Pete was the one who broke the stillness. As if awakened by something, he took a half-step back and made a motion with his arms, almost raising them to his chest, but not quite. In an instant, Pete reverted into the pet Vegas had been keeping at the safehouse, bound by handcuffs and afraid of his belt hitting flesh and drawing blood. A lump formed in Vegas' throat. "Have you stopped practicing? Your form is off." The uncanny similarities between Pete and his father appearance-wise didn't mean a thing when it came to their voices. Vegas shivered. Was this what Pete would sound like in a few decades? (Were these the condescending words he'd choose to spew? Was Pete going to embody his father? Was Vegas embodying his?) "What are you doing here?" Pete whispered. "They let me out for a few days, so I came here to collect some money. Imagine my surprise when I found out my offspring left the job someone found him worthy enough of doing to... do what exactly? Yaai didn't want to tell me." He crossed his arms, waiting for an answer. Vegas didn't know what he was allowed to say. If he was allowed to say anything at all. "It's none of your business." "I'd say it very much is my business, as well as yaai's business who was dependent on the money you were making being some rich asshole's human shield." A choked sound scratched Vegas' throat. He didn't like getting reminded of Pete being the main family's bodyguard, even though he stopped being one mere months ago. Especially like this. That was the first time Pete's father stopped looking at his son and turned his head to look at Vegas. For a moment, there seemed to be recognition in his eyes. Did he know who Vegas was? Did he care? A snort came out of his mouth. He leaned on the door. "Oh, I see how it is." He laughed, scratched his neck. "I never expected you to whore yourself out for money. Tell me, is it preferable to the path I carved out for you?" Vegas could sense the disgust in his voice. He could also see it on Pete's face. He was too astonished to share it, but not enough to be unable to speak. "Khun, there has been some misunderstanding-" "Don't bother. I can recognize a faggot when I see one." Pete's movements were too fast for Vegas to stop him. A direct jab to the nose; his father fell like a pack of cards, groaning like a wounded animal. Surprisingly, no blood - Pete held back. Vegas didn't know what to think about that. "That was a pathetic attack, even for you." "Get up." "We're not in the ring, son." Pete growled. Vegas could see his hands trembling as he was keeping them in the air, maintaining an offensive stance. "That never stopped you before." "You were too young to understand what I was doing back then. What I was preparing you for." Pete was silent. "The world isn't kind. It'll fuck you over one way or another." He got up, spat on the ground. "You still haven't learned a thing. You're too old to afford being naive." He turned around, and without sparing a look at Pete again, said: "Now get the fuck out of my house." (For @musictooth, whose posts about Pete's father have reignited my passion for this specific concept and for @wretchedamaranth, whose comments on my writing are always lovely and precious ❤️)

[200grandbeaverave]

It's a bit of a shame that the Dada Dog isn't a child of Lila. Considering the motif of the suffering dog and the thematic topics of abuse and lack of agency, and considering the fraternity's intentions when "creating" Lila, Garage Heathen could have incorporated the puppy mill practice as another symbol. A dog maintained by its owners just enough so that it may be indiscriminately bred and provide its owners with offspring, for the owners' benefit— certified Who's Lila moment

[sinful-karateka]

I'll bite and talk about something that doesn't get enough spotlight in general, which are Demetri's and Eli's family life. So obviously several fic authors have their own twists and flavors to this, but if I may sell you something for a sec.

So far into the series, what we've got are these facts:

Demetri's Mom is the only family member to be mentioned in the show.

Eli's parents were mentioned a couple of times.

That should be enough context to deduce two things:

Demetri could be an only child to a single mother, and;

Eli's parents involve themselves in the stuff that he does — including karate, who knows — though they tend to be tone deaf with his actual needs.

There's strong evidence to why the boys act the way they act (brain functions notwithstanding, but this isn't the post for that), which is why I think these deductions make sense. How their hypothetical upbringing is part and parcel to how characters behave in this series. Of course societal influence comes in second because obviously you've got a show that encourages learning karate as defense against bullies, but this show is also about generational chains and traumas! So why wouldn't their home life inform the way it informs the LaRusso's, Lawrence's, and Nichols'? But I digress.

In the span of the entire series, I've held onto this headcanon that Demetri's neuroticism and ability to anticipate his actions carefully stem from a household that needs these systems in place, much more for someone who likes to be on top of things. Since he's just a student, the only authoritative figure who can make executive decisions... is his mom. Add to the fact that she may be a working mom, so when Demetri tells Daniel about certain restrictions in learning karate, what could have made her decide to just write a letter instead vs. taking the time out to go with his son herself? I know I know it's narrative writing but like do you seeeee where I'm at here

Eli's family life is by far gave us early indications of his dynamic with his mother — but not so a father — in earlier seasons. It's possible that his mom is a stay-at-home one, but if I were to push the bounds of this box even further, I'd even speculate that she's retired early if it meant that Eli's dad is the one making most of the living. Like of course they'd get mad at Hawk for getting a tattoo at his age, I think any parent would! But the way he tells Aisha to exclude him from her stories tells us that there's not a lot that his parents know about the life he lives as Hawk. At this point we all know the kind of effort it takes to successfully carry it out because he has to go home every night. It's either he a) puts in a lot of effort into concealing this identity once he gets home, or b) his parents are rarely ever home, which again, feeds into another assumption that maybe Mrs. Moskowitz works certain hours.

All we know is they're never around a whole lot for these boys, which is sad! and also again, very Indicative of their classification as awkward nerds pre- and early karate. When I read along certain fics that consider and include how the rest of their characters besides the found families they've formed, it gives much more depth and potency to writing them, their flaws, and how they think.

For all we know, Mrs. Alexopoulos could be a lesbian making fun of her son for not slinging pussy like she does being rizzless unlike her, but don't let me explain that when we have @demetriandelibinaryboyfriends!