#i swear to god he's turned into somebody else entirely

[divngbell]

made the mistake of looking at his tag for me and now i want to kill myself LMFAO

[evilminji]

Oh shit :D ?

I just remembered! (Thank you, historical fantasy section!) But like? Serving and protecting The King, especially a HIGH KING, is quite literally not just an incredible honor... but it can sometimes be a person's Life Ambition?

Specificly a WORTHY king.

Perhaps they were denied in life. Perhaps they FAILED. And in their dying moments struggle with all they were to LIVE. To PROTECT. Perhaps the PREVIOUS king was a great and worthy ruler... but their heir is...

Unworthy.

Maybe they are born to an age without Rulers. Power shifting between hands in hidden halls. Unclear and murky. All they want is for their loyalty to MEAN something. For things to be SIMPLE.

The universe is large. The Infinite Realms? Unimaginably larger.

And Pariah Dark was a BASTARD.

Who would willingly swear to him? Fools! That's who! Every warrior soul worth ANYTHING gets as far AWAY from his Realm forsaken resting place as they can. Hides. Lest they be dragged in to his infernal, gods forsaken, cess pit of a so called "army"! *disgusted spitting noises*

But what does this mean? It means every trained FIGHTER... got the hell out of dodge. Oh, sure, a FEW refused. Like Pandora and her people. But most? The farthest side of NOWHERE, several layers down! Some still GOING! Better to be decried as cowards then have ANYTHING to do with THAT(said with loathing)!

It also means they weren't where Pariah could get to them when he woke. Couldn't help. Couldn't fight. Couldn't be commanded to kneel. Nothing. They removed themselves completely. Planned on CONTINUING to remove themselves. Preferably to the farthest reaches of forever, far beyond the bastard's gaze.

But! The whole REALM INFINITE felt it? When that... that hissing, acidic, malicious undertone? SLAMS back and away, like somebody's knocked a parasite from their backs. Replaced by coolness and starlight. Delicate balance and blood on your teeth. The pounding in your chest of HOPE.

It flutters so small across their backs, inside their chests. Washing away the old.

The King... feels tiny. Young.

.......what are they doing? Running like this. Hiding away like that will change anything. How long... when did...

There are so many of them now. A veritable army of souls, of all Ages and People's. Every armor and crest imaginable. They'd been so.. so REPULSED by Pariah... nothing else had mattered but to get AWAY. Where even ARE they? What YEAR is it? Does any of that matter?

The King.

Their Obsessions whisper. Loyalty. Service. Protection. Honor. You have left you post! Abandoned your DUTY! What are you DOING!?

They are AGHAST. They turn around at once. The King! How could they have ABANDONED the King!? Who is guarding him if they are all HERE?!

Himself!?

(Yes. Danny is fine. He is eating the "Thank You for keeping us all from dying to whatever the FUCK that was!" tamales Paulina's mom pushed into his arms on his way back home. He didn't even try arguing. He made eye contact and knew he would lose.)

(Why does he feel like something really, really bothersome is headed his way?)

It's UNACCEPTABLE. Unthinkable! The King? Unguarded? Where assassination attempts and nefarious PLOTS could occur?! What if someone tried to steal his eggs!? Or attacked him while his exoskeleton was molting!? They aren't entirely sure which species he is yet, but there are SO MANY NEFARIOUS PLOTS OUT THERE!!

*panicked honor guards*

Just? Imagine becoming king. And thinking "well, aside from the skeleton army I have to figure out, at least I don't have to manage anybody!" Only to *WABAM!* your ENTIRE GHOST COURT shows up like a week later. Turns out they were hiding from your predecessor.

You have a whole ass honor gaurd. Who REFUSE TO LEAVE YOUR SIDE. You have Chefs. Who WILL cry if you send them away. The Literal Best In The Multiverse are all following you around... YOU, a RANDOM TEENAGE, with Excited Shoujo Sparkles in their eyes... because you punched a jackass really, REALLY hard.

There is no way to make this stop. Your friends are laughing at you. The interior decorator wants you to look at swatches. What are swatches and why are you being harrased by them at 1am, you wonder? If you are Mean(tm) they throw themselves upon the floor and blame themselves for their Wicked, Evil, King-Upseting Ways and you can't even TELL if your being played here.

It's like being bullied by house elves. Or Miette.

Your parents are too excited by all the New Research (at least the reveal went well?) To SAVE THEIR SON, and your sister is HELPING THE ENEMY (Traitor!), so now you're being bullied into eating vegetables and studying more.

Then? THEN!! WHO SHOWS UP?! Like... five WEEKS late?! The Justice League. Gee! GREAT RESPONSE TIME, GUYS! Reeeal snappy! But ya, JUST missed the guy!

.......YES HES BEING SARCASTIC!!!

@hdgnj @stealingyourbones

[lightwing-s]

𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐔

pairing: jason todd x female! reader;

summary: jason loves you, always have, but you've always loved someone else. and even when he finds you broken, even when he could just put himself first and finally try to make you his, he decides he'd rather help you be yourself again over getting you in your lowest. he'll heal you up, then make you his.

word count: 1,7k warnings: swearing, quite a lot; depressive thoughts(?)

a/n: i didn't mean to write this, and neither that i'd make it this long. this was supposed to just be be writing something while trying to make myself sleep lol hope you enjoy it while i'll do my best to have part ii of "i want to k__ you" up by sunday ♡.

masterlist requests

that was low. that was the lowest, most painful thing someone had ever done to you. yet, why were you still crying because he left?

years of you life dedicated to a relationship, to somebody you thought was your world. who held your world in his hands. you spent years showing up when he needed it, making sure to be present in all of his greatest accomplishments. you were now living on a tight budget for the past few months and still for god knows how long, because you when fuck it, fuck traditions, you were going to propose to him. only for him to show up tonight, at your favorite restaurant, on the eve of your anniversary, with another girl in his arms, telling you that whatever you two had was now done for.

and you knew you shouldn’t have done it, that you should’ve been a better person, but all logic went past by you, and you begged him, you begged him to stay. you got on your knees in front of who knows how many people, and asked him to not throw it all away. but all he did was look at you, not even in your eyes. he just looked in our direction, with the single most disgusting expression of displeasure, turned on his back and left.

left you a mess, left you broken. left you feeling like the floor you were once standing on, that gave you stability and peace, was suddenly removed from beneath you and you started to fall. fall into god knows where, but somewhere deep, somewhere dark. somewhere you couldn’t imagine ever finding your way out, or ever find happiness again. a place where everyone, every single person, looked at you as those in the restaurant looked at you now, with that look that made you sick.

they were sorry for you, they felt pity. you hated pity. it made you feel stupid.

but oh god you were stupid. you threw the most shameless public display of desperation over a guy who must have clearly never even loved you. a guy who never, for almost five years, asked you how your work had been, or if you liked that movie or that meal, if you were alright. a guy who just waisted your time. you were stupid, pitiful, dumb, an idiot. you deserved those looks and the humiliation. you didn’t deserve shit.

you should have read the signs. you should have listened to your friends. you should have listened when your best friend told you, all the damn time, he treated you like shit. who always told you he could treat you better.

if he saw you, in this state, he’d be so disappointed. he saw you as someone strong, independent, but that was all a lie. all those years you were so dependent, emotionally and physically, on a guy who traded you as quickly as one did a car. honestly? even cars received better treatment by their owners. you were so afraid that jason would find you this way, afraid of what he was going to say. and you knew, whatever it was he voiced out, would be the utmost truth.

so, when you opened the door to your apartment, after letting out what may have accounted for the entire amazon river’s water from crying, and found him there, mouth full of the food you had left in the oven. and then, you felt all the emotions you had been trying so hard to contain, make their way back into your mind.

“y/n, finally! where did you put the hot sau…” Jason started asking, but then he looked at you. “y/n… what happened at your dinner?”

his voice was so soft, so careful, as if he was dealing with a delicate object he could break at any moment. but that was exctly how you felt. and in that moment, you broke. you couldn’t hold it anymore, and dropped to the floor, him rushing after you immediately. you could never lie to jason. never. you couldn’t face him and tell him you were fine, that it was nothing, you couldn’t hold your crying in front of him. your relationship, after all those year, was always so real, so full of trust, that lying to him was a locked possibility.

face buried on your knees, arms holding yourself tight, your body shook and you let out loud sobs that left him terrified. whatever happened, wasn’t some silly thing that had bothered you at work, wasn’t some foolish fight you had with your asshole of a boyfriend. it was big. it had you crying, and you fucking never cried. brainstorming all thee possibilities he could only imagine something bad had happened to a family member, or… what day was it today?

“y/n…” he called you, once he felt you body calming down a little. “what did he do?”

you could hear the anger on the way his voice trembled while he spoke his question. you could feel it in the way his jaw clenched on top of your head, and how he held you even tighter in his arms. “h-he found someone else”

no he didn’t. that piece of shit didn’t dump you on your fucking anniversary, did he? jason’s anger was up the walls. he was off of killing people but he could make an exception. just for you. he just need one word, one nod of your head, and that idiot would be gone in less than a minute. nobody, not a single fucking soul in this world, who have the privilege of living if they ever hurt his girl. but who was he kidding, you were never his.

you followed your answer with silence, letting your own words sink in. letting the fact that you were now all alone, fill you up. it didn’t feel real. it shouldn’t be.

“he’s just out of his mind” you tell him, abruptly standing up. “he’s just… he didn’t, he wouldn’t”. you tried to think of excuses. something that would explain his actions. he was bewitched, or his parents forced him. they never seemed to like you now that you think about it.

“y/n…”

“i just need a shower. i’ll be alright” drying your tears, he watched you run to your bathroom still from the floor. he knew you were in denial, that it’d take long for you to fully understand what happened. your life had always been crafted out with perfection, dating all your life’s accomplishments on your own personal timeline, and now part of it was ruined. the part that included building a family, having kids, all ruined because of an selfish son of a motherfucking bitch that had decided he was too good for you.

nobody was too good for you. you’re the one that is too good to anybody. not even him. no, he could never deserve you. no matter how much he loved you, all those years in secret, he could never be enough for you.

jason couldn’t begin to explain how much he loved you and how much seeing you in this state brought him so much pain, so much hurt. so much anger. it was like his heart was the one breaking, his own life that had been shattered. he was sure he’d never felt this much pain in his life, and he had fucking died before.

but he couldn’t tell you he loved you right now. not when you were in this much pain, and so vulnerable. he didn't want to take advantage of your situation, nor he didn't want to confuse you even more. and yet, he felt so desperate to tell you anything, like he was going to combust if he didn't do something.

throwing his common sense away, throwing everything he thought sensible out of the window, he busted into your bathroom.

the foggy glass that lead to you shower made only your silhuete visible, yet he could see your head hanging low as you stood under the warm water. carefully, he got closer and saw your shoulders shaking, and the quiet sniffing sounds of your cries. you're clearly not going to be okay.

you didn't notice him enter your bathroom. nor did you notice it when he slid in the shower box with you. you only noticed his presence when his strong arms wrapped around you bare waist and held the nape of your neck. wrapping your arms tightly around him in return, you bury your face on his soaked t-shirt, muffling the sound of your cries, stopping them from getting any louder.

you are thankful to have him by your side. jason must’ve been the only person in this world that made you feel a hundred percent comfortable with yourself, be it wearing comfy clothes and no make up around him, be it crying over the last puss in boots movie, or being a naked mess crying into his chest. you shouldn’t have been afraid of his reaction, but you aren’t anymore. as he caressed your hair and blew small kisses behind your ear, you let him help you forget. you let him try and take the pain away. even if, deep down, you know that right now, you won’t go so far.

jason was the best friend you never would've guessed you deserved. he was always there by your side. he held you up when your couldn't keep standing anymore. and he soothed your cries and calmed your heart.

“he didn’t deserve you” jason stated, whispering in your ear. “he never deserved ever laying his eyes on you. or touching you. he never deserved”.

"i don't know" you cried out.

"you will" he said against you hair. "i'll teach you".

jason was ready. now he was ready to wait days, weeks or months. hell, he’d even wait years. he’d wait a life time for you to heal.

he'd collect all the pieces of your broken heart, and glue them all together for you. he'd teach you to love yourself again, that you don't need anybody else to be happy with if you have yourself. and him. he'd help you, teach you, to be yourself again.

and then, once you’re healed, once you’re back to being the you he always love and cared for. then, he'd try to make you his.

.

alright this was unexpected lol

[wonwoosthetic]

omg i absolutely loved the new minnie and wonwoo chapter 😔 are you planning on posting a part 2 soon? I CANT WAIT AHHHH

No Words Should Be Left Unsaid || Minnie🌷

minnie masterlist

PART ONE

warnings – a bit of angst, one quick mention of the word ‘sex’

word count – 11k

A/N: Took longer than I would've wanted, but here it finally is and I'm happy to admit, that I've definitely gotten my inspiration back ˙ᵕ˙ I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter and that you all enjoy it ˙ᵕ˙

italics are spoken in english

The following day already started like hell. Minnie woke up with a pounding head, a scratchy throat, and burning eyes - all aftereffects from crying herself to sleep. It was a wonder she even got to fall asleep, but the exhaustion from the fight must've taken over her body. 

The fight. 

The screaming.

It all flashed back into the girl's mind as she sat up on the bed, cradling her face in her hands, running her fingers through her hair, and trying to loosen some of its knots.

 "I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF RIGHT NOW, MINNIE!"

"You've never given me reasons to not trust you before."

"I hope they send him to jail."

Wonwoo's hurtful words he shouted to her face only mere hours ago sliced through her heart like a hot knife. She couldn't exactly remember everything she had thrown at his head, but she knew they hadn't been any better.

What still echoed through her mind though was the exact scene that had her crumbling down.

"So what? You suddenly don't trust me anymore? You think I just did this... for- f- for I don't know... fun?"

"Looks like I should've questioned that a lot earlier."

The one thing she looked for in a relationship. The one thing she was always to come back to whenever she started losing herself. Trust. Loyalty. Never had she ever had to question either characteristic when it comes to Wonwoo. She thought he felt the same. But last night, he proved to her that she was in the wrong. He didn't trust her anymore. No matter what she would've done the night before, his words were already out in the world, they had already reached her ears and made her entire world fall and break into millions of pieces she so desperately wanted to hold together.

No matter how hard she wanted to cry about it again, how much her body was urging her to scream the pain out loud in hopes of saving her, nothing came out. There was nothing left in her. Not even a single teardrop could escape her eyes. She was empty.

Due to the blackout curtains, S.Coups had gotten for his room, there was no light seeping into the room, only adding to the depressing episode Minnie could feel herself falling into. Not again. Please, God, don't let me go through this again, she prayed. The darkness brought her back to the place she had been only two years ago. She couldn't let herself go back there. No, not like this.

Hastily, the girl shrugged the blanket off her body and rushed out of the room, opening the door to be met with the light walls and bright interior of the dorm her members shared. The familiar soft voices and gentle laughs rang through her ears, almost making her smile, only if there wasn't this heavyweight still pressing on her heart, not letting any emotion escape. Fuck, it was happening...

Just as Minnie was about to turn to enter the living space, Joshua's silhouette rounded the corner, stopping when he saw her form, frozen in the hallway.

"Oh, hey," he softly spoke to her. "You're awake."

Minnie nodded before realising she should probably also open her mouth. "Yeah," her voice was only a whisper, scared she would hurt her body or somebody else if she dared to speak any louder. The older member sent her a loving smile, nodding to where he had just come from,

"Come on. You should eat something." Waiting for the girl to follow him before he made his way back into the kitchen.

Did the female performer have an appetite? Absolutely not. Did she know she would have to put food into her body otherwise the others would start to worry once again? 100% yes. So there she was, walking into the kitchen, hot on Joshua's tracks, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she entered the shared room when all eyes fell on her. She met the comforting gazes of Seungcheol and, to her surprise, also Jeonghan and Seungkwan who must've joined them earlier in the day - if only she knew what the exact time was.

"Hey," she greeted them with a somewhat smile and a wave into the room, sitting down on one of the empty chairs by the table that Jeonghan pushed out for her.

"Hey," he smiled at her, "H-... how are you feeling?" The nervousness and uncertainty were clear in his voice - the members knew not to drown her in too many questions, remembering and respecting her sensitivity from the previous encounters they had with Minnie in a state like that.

The girl shrugged her shoulders, honestly not knowing what an honest answer to the question would be. Was she fine? Definitely not. Did she feel bad? Maybe a little. Was she miserable? ...Yes...

Before Jeonghan could continue a small talk, the leader beat him to it as he stood up and turned around to the cupboards.

"Is cereal fine?" He questioned her, to which she raised her head and nodded softly, followed by a quiet,

"Sure."

Seungcheol was just happy that she agreed to eat something.

As soon as she had joined the others in the kitchen, everyone could feel the tension spreading. The elephant was clear in the room with them, and she hated it. No one wanted to say what they were thinking, each one of them on edge in one way or another for the girl in the group. Joshua had left the four as he got ready in his own room. Jeonghan's hand was resting on the back of her chair, Cheol was preparing her bowl, cereal and milk, and Seungkwan was sitting in front of her, munching on his breakfast in silence - until it got too much for him.

"Wonwoo's an idiot." He suddenly blurted out, gaining the attention of the room.

"Seungkwan-" Cheol warned him in the strict voice all of them had gotten so accustomed to.

"What?" He shrugged, "It's the truth."

The leader brought the bowl to her, setting it down on the table. Minnie looked up at him,

"You told him?" He wasn't sure whether she was genuinely just curious or disappointed in the fact the other members now knew about the couple of the group having had the biggest fight they ever had. Coups sat back down in the chair next to the '98 Liner.

"Jeonghan asked why you were sleeping here, he saw you in my room, and when I explained it to him, Seungkwan came in. He overheard it," he explained.

She nodded as she held onto the spoon, moving it around in the bowl, suddenly at a complete loss of appetite. There was no way the food would make it down her throat. Suddenly, Minnie felt the soft hand of the '95 Liner next to her on her head as it brushed down the length of her hair.

"It's gonna be fine, princess." Using the name she had gained early on in their career. But all she could do was shake her head.

The female member got up to walk over to the fridge, her hand reaching out to grab a bottle of water, in the same moment, knocks from the front door echoed through the apartment.

"Got it!" Shua shouted before he opened the door, letting in whoever was behind it.

Minnie got back to her seat, now much more hydrated. Finally, her body would have enough fluid to create the tears again she so desperately wanted to let out. Jeonghan noticed the shaky deep breaths she took, still stirring her cereal, trying to suppress the sadness daring to seep out of her.

Joshua and another familiar voice got closer and closer. With one look to her left, she found the other member she shared a dorm with - Mingyu.

"Morning," he smiled into the room, only to change his facial expression once he noticed the still very tense aura in the room. "Hey," he nodded towards the girl, who sent him a nod. The concerned look in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by the second oldest who discreetly raised his hand with a nod to assure him that she was very well taken care of, even though he already knew that. Whenever she was with the members, didn't matter with whom specifically, she was in good hands.

"What do you need?" Cheol wondered why he had come to their dorm earlier than usual.

Mingyu raised his hands in synch. His right one held onto the female's phone while his left carried a bag. 

"You left this," looking at the dancer that was avoiding his eyes, he went ahead to place the phone in front of her, but before the device could touch the top of the table, she stopped him with her hand on his.

"I don't need it." She cleared her throat after noticing how scratchy her voice still was.

"You don't have to look at it, just have it by you-" he tried to reason with her, but she just pushed his hand further away.

"Keep it. I don't want it," Minnie looked up, the tears making her eyes glisten in the light coming from the window, "Please." She quietly begged him.

Her fellow '97 Liner nodded understandingly, not wanting to bring any more emotions up if they were able to keep her like this, he wasn't about to provoke her for no reason. He put her phone into his back pocket silently, nudging his head to the bag in his other hand.

"And... I brought you some things. I didn't know when you'd want to be back, so..." Mingyu wasn't sure how he wanted to finish the comment, so he decided to just not. His statement brought another wash of emotions over Minnie's body as she felt her eyes reacting and blinking rapidly, trying to push the tears back down as she kept her head low. Great... so the fight seemed as serious as she had perceived it as. Even Mingyu thought I wouldn't want to go back into their dorm... what have I done... her own voice kept repeating words in her head. Words she didn't want to hear.

The older '97 Liner took another look at her, getting nods from the other members, before retrieving back to the couch, taking the bag with him and sitting down on the side not occupied by Joshua, who was more focused on the little screen in his hand. While the four at the dining table sat in silence, eyes on the girl, Mingyu got a hold of the remote and turned on the TV on the wall. The screen lit up to show the news. Only that it was the wrong news for the current situation.

"-years probation as well as serving community service along with-" the voice of the female reporter filled the room, making all the heads turn to the living room, where they got a quick glimpse of no other than the man that was part of the reason for the fight that Minnie was still recovering from. Her gaze was fixed on the picture of Hanbin the report showed before it quickly switched to an action scene of a drama as Mingyu hastily changed the channel. He turned to the group on the table, fear in his eyes, as he was faced with the concerned look of Jeonghan, the disturbed glance on Seungkwan's face just screaming 'what the fuck is wrong with you, idiot' at him, and the warning frown forming on the leader's face.

"Sorry..." he softly apologised, immediately directing his attention to the girl, who kept a straight watch on the television, her eyes not letting them know what she was feeling because they looked empty. But that's exactly what she felt like. Empty. She was quick to lower her head again, afraid of what was to come next.

Cheol fixed his gaze on the spoon in her hand that wasn't stirring anymore, but was still tight in her grip - tighter than before. Her hair was covering the sides of her face that were getting redder as she tried to hold back the first sob of the day as hard as she possibly could, but everyone could see her shaking shoulders. Everyone's eyes were focused on her, Jeonghan had raised his hand softly, ready to brush over her back once the damn broke.

The unstable breath surprised the guys. "Good to know." Hadn't the room fallen so quiet, her whisper would've gone unnoticed. 

Before anyone could register what had happened, a loud sob escaped Minnie's lips as she pushed the bowl of cereal to the side and stood up, wanting nothing more than to leave the room and cry by herself, embarrassed by her outburst. The members were quick up on their feet, not even a second after she had gotten up, ready to go after her. The girl tried wiping away the tears that were suddenly falling uncontrollably, so she didn't notice the big stature of Mingyu, who was faster than the others and blocked her way into the hallway. She ran into him, stumbling back slightly before just coming to a halt, leaning her forehead against his chest. He didn't hesitate to raise his arms, wrapping them around her upper body, pulling her closer, making her hide her entire face in his shirt.

Mingyu let his cheek rest on her head, his right hand brushing the back of her hair, as he tried to shush her with his low voice.

"It's okay, Minnie-ya. It's okay."

She couldn't even bring herself to hug him back. All she was, was a limp body in his arms. Shaking and crying, needing to scream out into the world.

Her fellow '97 Liner could feel her mumblings something against his torso.

"What was that?" He wondered gently, giving the other guys a hand sign, letting them know he got her.

Minnie switched to lean her cheek against his chest, letting her speak more clearly. "He'll never forgive me." Followed by another crying round as she didn't even try to hold back the rush of emotions this time. Mingyu shut his eyes tightly, hating the feeling of having a weeping girl in his arms, knowing there was rarely anything he could do to make her feel better, other than just be there. He felt useless. His arms tightened around her, hoping it would do something, help her somehow. He just wanted her to stop crying. Make the pain stop. He started feeling tears welling up in his own eyes, knowing that two of his closest friends were hurting.

-

He came back into the hallway, shutting the door to S.Coups' room as quietly as he possibly could. His footsteps were soft against the hardwood floor, despite his muscular figure, as he walked back into the shared living space, where the members were now split up with Joshua and Seungkwan on the couch, while Seungcheol and Jeonghan were still at the dining table, all the dishes now gone. Even though it was an hour after Minnie had broken down in Mingyu's arms, the room was still just as tense as before.

"Did you get her to fall asleep?" The leader of the group wondered, making the tallest member sigh.

"Barely." He threw himself back onto the couch with a groan, his hand brushing over his face in frustration. Seungkwan patted his shoulder, trying to assure him of whatever he needed at the moment. You did well, he wanted to tell him, you're doing what you can.

"This is not good," Cheol stated, shaking his head, "This might be worse than I thought."

"It's not good?" The youngest in the room jumped up, "It's bad! It's really bad!"

"Seungkwan!" Jeonghan tried to shush him, but the '98 Liner didn't listen.

"Do you know how worried I am right now?! We haven't seen her like this for years, and all you're saying is 'this is not good'?!"

The leader copied his stand, "Well what do you want me to do?! I'm thinking, okay?! I'm trying to find something to help her, but I don't know what to do!"

"Guys!" The second oldest got up, holding out his hand to make both of the members shut their mouths, "Be quiet, for God's sake!"

S.Coups went back to sitting down, but Seungkwan stayed in his position, now nervously fumbling with his fingers.

"I-I'm sorry, hyung," he slightly stuttered. "I'm just really frustrated right now."

The '95 Liner nodded, "We all are." Then sighed out loud. "God... I knew this was gonna happen." All eyes turned towards him.

"What?" The youngest questioned him.

"I mean, it was bound to happen. They had to have their first fight, being so close all the time, I just didn't expect it to be... like that." The members nodded in agreement.

Seungkwan sat back down, letting out a chunk of air. "You know, for the fact that Hanbin isn't even in her life anymore, he sure makes her cry a lot."

"Well, but he still is. Kinda," Joshua spoke up, gaining the attention of the room. "Not physically, but she's still attached to him... in a way."

"Can you blame her?" Cheol asked him. "Their breakup was... not really normal. And definitely not natural. Who knows how long they would've stayed together if that scandal never happened."

"God, please don't start with that," Mingyu groaned, making the guys look at him in confusion, "I had to listen to that too much last night."

"What do you mean?" Jeonghan wondered.

The rapper got up to enter the kitchen, explaining himself on the way. "Minnie said that to Wonwoo last night, that she still cared about him because they didn't part in bad ways, but because they were kinda forced to. And then Wonwoo went on, on what if that never would've happened if they had still gotten together at some point, and obviously, she said how would she know that, because she can't, which is true. And... Wonwoo... didn't take that too well. So please," he came back into the living room, faced with stunned gazes, "Let's not wonder about that. What happened happened, and now Minnie and Wonwoo are together. And that's it."

The room fell silent for a good five seconds, the guys letting Mingyu's words sink in. He had to listen to every single word that came out of the couple's mouth, and he was probably remembering them better than the people involved since he hadn't been filled with anger in the heat of the moment. There were so many questions the members had for him, they wanted to know more. More details. More anything. But they also knew that it wouldn't be right to question him about that all too much.

Jeonghan was the first to break the stillness. "How is he?" Everyone knew who he was talking about.

"Hopefully miserable," Seungcheol sitting across from him, leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he scoffed.

"Coups..." his fellow '95 Liner spoke out his name with a slight warning tone.

"What?" The leader locked eyes with him, "You've seen the state she's in and you just heard what he asked her. I don't even want to know what other things he said to her. Do you really want him to just upstairs and not regret anything from last night?! I hope he's fucking sad, I hope he's in even more misery than her. But I know he probably isn't..." mumbling the last part.

With a deep breath, Jeonghan looked back at the other rapper, "Mingyu?" Who exchanged a quick glance with him before shrugging,

"I'm not sure, to be honest. He didn't talk to me last night, and I didn't hear him go to bed. Today I only passed his room and saw him sitting in front of the computer. But that's it."

"Did you even try talking to him?" The leader threw at him, making Mingyu roll his eyes.

"Of course. But nothing came back."

Cheol scoffed, eyeing Jeonghan again, "See! He doesn't even know what he did wrong."

"I don't know about that," the '97 Liner interrupted him.

"What?" The two oldest looked at him in confusion.

"I'm pretty sure he cried during their fight. I don't for sure, but it definitely sounded like it."

Seungkwan looked at him, his mouth slightly open. "But Wonwoo-hyung never cries."

"Exactly," Mingyu nodded, "But yesterday..."

"See." Jeonghan copied S.Coups' expression from before, showing him that both of them were somewhat right about the story. "You're just suddenly furious with him because he's quiet? As if that's surprising all of a sudden."

"I'm furious because he's not even trying to make it better."

Joshua spoke up, "Well... we don't know that. Maybe he's currently thinking about what to do as well."

Cheol scoffed as he stood up, "Is anyone here on my side?"

"There are no sides to be on, Coups!" Jeonghan tried to explain, "Both of them probably said things they regret now. We're not taking any sides, we're in the middle, and we have to figure out what we're gonna do now."

"They have to talk." Mingyu simply stated. "They have to talk like normal people, not scream at each other, because I can understand both sides, and I'm sure they can too, but they have to talk about it. Calmly."

Shua shook his head, "Not today, though. I don't even think we're gonna get her out of this apartment any time soon."

"She's supposed to be with Woozi tomorrow," S.Coups got up from his seat and started to roam the room. "But I don't know if she's still up for that. Then after that, we have practice for the live shows."

"The day after tomorrow?" Seungkwan asked, getting a nod from the leader in response.

"They're gonna talk," Jeonghan assured everyone in the room - or at least tried to. "They can't go longer than two days... right?"

Mingyu shrugged, "I wouldn't be surprised if they did, to be honest," making any bit of guarantee in the room evaporate.

-

Minnie slept for another good three hours on their free day. During that time, Jeonghan, Seungkwan, and Mingyu went back to their designated rooms after their group conversation had come to an end. They decided to not let the other guys know until the day they all had to be in the practice room together, in the hopes of the couple making up before that. It was a small spark of hope, but at least they had some. The other '97 Liner promised to try and talk to Wonwoo again, otherwise their leader would... and he wouldn't go easy on him - Jeonghan literally had to hold him back so he wouldn't sprint out of the door and ran upstairs, not afraid to let a fist or two fly. Yes, Wonwoo was his member and he loved him very dearly, but Minnie was his sister and he had promised her, his parents and her mother, to take care of her, and right now, it felt like he was failing.

After a two-hour-long phone call with his father, which his mother also quickly joined for a bit, he gained back the confidence he needed, not as a leader, but as a friend in the situation. That's who they needed. Not an annoying leader, but a trustworthy friend.

Joshua and Cheol made sure Minnie ate something after waking up, not pressuring her to talk any more than necessary and not watching her as if she was a fragile little newborn, but still keeping a protective eye on her throughout the day. The only movements she really did were from the bedroom to the kitchen, to the living room for a bit before disappearing into the bedroom again. She went to the bathroom to freshen up as well as possible but didn't even dare to think about going back to her place where she was being missed more than she could imagine.

-

The next day came quicker than the female performer would've wanted and after spending another night in Seungcheol's room, filled with some much-needed late-night deep-talk, she got herself together, ready for a day at the studio with her favourite producer. If there was one thing that could get her mood up, it was letting all of her frustration out on paper, writing lyrics and poems and whatever would come to mind before discussing each line with Woozi. She understood the other members' concern about her falling yet into another deep hole, and she, just as much as them, didn't want that. And she somewhat had the energy to fight against it.

Was she ready to face her boyfriend again? Probably not, but she also wasn't sure about how much longer she could endure the tension between the two.

The night before she almost reached for her phone to text him sorry and beg for his forgiveness, but the guys had reminded her that both parties were somewhat in the wrong and that she was in no position to give in.

'Take your time, think about it. You had a fight, that's normal. But you should still talk about everything. Don't hide what you truly think.'

'If he truly loves you, which he does, he loves all of you. Every single bit of you.'

The leader had offered to drive her, but she declined, already having called the manager, who had to visit their label's building anyway. After making sure she had everything she needed in her bag, a smaller one that Mingyu brought her, not expecting her to come upstairs to get it for herself, she exited the apartment and went down into the garage, greeting her manager with a small smile.

They fell into a somewhat comfortable small talk conversation after Minnie found more comfort in lying about how the past days had been for her. She wasn't gonna mention the fight. This was something between her and Wonwoo - she already felt bad enough that she dragged so many other members into it.

They left the car together and entered the building, their ways parting after the elevator opened for the first time, her manager exiting the small room before she went up a few more floors, already knowing the way to the producer's studio by heart.

She walked through the modern hallways, eyeing the floor the entire time, and stopping at the right door. Minnie knew to knock before entering even though there was a big chance Woozi would be wearing his headphones, not hearing a single thing, but much to her surprise, she got a muffled,

'Come in!' in return.

After opening the door, she came to sight with the producer she was expecting, as well as Bumzu standing in the room, hands in his pockets. They seemed to have been in a conversation, which ended as soon as Minnie had come in.

"Hey," she gave both men a soft smile, her hands clutching the strap of her bag on her shoulder tightly.

The older producer copied her facial expression, just much more brightly, greeting her with a wide grin.

"How are you?" Bumzu opened his left arm, inviting her for a hug she definitely needed, even though he didn't know about that. She gladly accepted it, wrapping both of her arms around the side of his torso, giving him not the usual squeeze she normally would.

"Alright," the girl mumbled before sitting down on the couch on the wall behind them, "You?"

Bumzu nodded, "All good. Was just on my out," he turned back to Woozi, discussing a few last things about their next session, then switched to Minnie, giving her a quick wave. "See ya, Min." Before seeing himself out.

A wave of silence washed over the room as the female propped her feet up on the small table in front of the sofa, getting her notebook and pen, laptop and phone out of her bag. Jihoon's eyes didn't leave her form, trying to read and see through her unusually slow movements. He let it slide, blaming his slight fatigue.

"So," he turned back around to the mixing table, "What you got for me?"

Minnie cleared her throat, "Ehm," and started flipping through her notebook, trying to find the loose piece of paper she was thinking of. "I still have this," she leaned forward as he turned to her, taking the napkin out of her hand. He chuckled with a shake of his head. Even after years of writing, this girl sometimes still used whatever was closest to her to write down what was going on in her head. Woozi remembered the time she ran over to him, showing him her arm that was covered in lyrics, around four years ago - she never changed.

"That was supposed to be for Crush, but I didn't like it in the end," she quietly explained, sitting back down comfortably on the couch.

He let her be by herself, alone with her thoughts for a few more minutes. It wasn't unusual that both of the members would work in silence next to each other. But never right from the beginning. Jihoon was used to hearing her talk about what she had seen on her way to the studio or about events from that morning, or even the evening before. Minnie would move around the room, walking back and forth as she dramatised whatever story she was telling him or even when she was just thinking. Having her sitting quietly in his studio didn't seem as natural.

"What's up?" He broke the quietness, making her hum.

"Not much," she mumbled once again. Her head was still down on her notebook, switching over to the laptop she had turned on.

Woozi turned his chair to look directly at you, "I didn't mean in general. I meant what's up with you."

Minnie looked up slowly, her eyes moving up first, followed by her head, her lips tightly pressed together as she shook her head. "Nothing."

With a sigh, he put the piece of paper back on the coffee table, sliding it over to the girl. "Then I don't want this until you tell me what's bothering you."

The '97 Liner scoffed and snatched the napkin back into her grip, throwing it onto the cushion next to her. "Then don't, Jesus Christ, your loss."

The producer raised his eyebrows, yep, something was definitely not okay with her. "Minnie, if you're gonna be like that, you can walk out and go back to the dorms, I don't need you in a bad mood here." He leaned back more comfortably, crossing his arms. "So either you tell me what's going on or you leave."

Minnie sighed in clear annoyance, "Can't I just sit here in silence and write?-"

"Not if you're gonna snap at me like that."

The girl shut her mouth, looking dead in the eyes of the '96 Liner before throwing her head back, realising there was no way out of the situation. Three days ago she was excited about spending some time with him in the studio, with no pressure of creating their next album, but just chilling and killing time, comfortably exchanging lyrics and recording demos for possible future songs. Now, she was sitting there, almost regretting her decision of coming, wanting nothing more than to just hide herself in the comfort of a bed again.

She brushed some hair behind her ear, glancing at him one more time, finding him still looking at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Wonwoo and I had a fight."

Jihoon's mouth opened and nodded 'There it is.'

"And I'm guessing it didn't end well?"

Minnie brought her legs ups, hugging her knees tightly to her body, shaking her head, already feeling her lips quivering again, only annoying her even more. She took a deep breath, hoping to contain some of the sadness.

"I haven't been to the apartment in two days."

Woozi was clearly taken aback by that statement. "Jesus..." he exclaimed, "What happened?"

"Just... stupid shit." He let her take her time, waiting patiently as she explained the events of that evening to him. She started with the moment in the practice room, all to the screaming that began in the kitchen, and the final shouting match they had in the living room, all until she left to stay in the 8th-floor dorm. Minnie surprised herself as she got through the story without crying, her body clearly dried out from all the tears she had shed throughout the past few days.

Woozi wanted to curse out loud, wanted to throw the most vile words into the room, but he knew it wouldn't make anything better and that it would in fact be the last thing the girl in front of him needed, so he did his best to stay calm. He looked around the room, forcing himself not to shake his head. "Wh-... Guys..."

"I know..." The dancer hid her face behind her knees. 

"What are you gonna do?"

He only got a shrug in response.

"You have to talk to him, Minnie."

The girl shook her head.

"Minn-"

"He said, he didn't trust me anymore!" She exclaimed.

"That was in the heat of the moment, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that..."

Woozi sighed, "Don't say that." But she didn't answer. Another few seconds passed in which they didn't share any words before the producer got out of the question that had been bothering him ever since she finished her story. "Why do you still care so much about him?"

"Hanbin?"

Woozi nodded.

Minnie rolled her eyes. "Why is it a crime to care about people?!"

"Hey," he stopped her, "I didn't say you're not allowed to, I asked you normally and genuinely want to know." His explanation made the girl feel bad about the outburst she almost had. He was just trying to be a good friend and here she was throwing accusations at him... similar to what she and Wonwoo had done to each other.

"I..." she started but stopped. If only the answer was easy as she wanted it to be. "W-... We were forced to break up. Neither one of us truly wanted it... but it happened... because of him... and because of what happened to him. And back then, I was so scared of what was going to happen and I... I still was because... we didn't end things on bad terms, you know?" Minnie looked up, finding the caring eyes immediately gazing at her, a gentle smile decorating Jihoon's face. "Of course, I was devastated, but... he had to do it and I understand why he did it, and I'm very thankful that he did it..." She took a deep, slightly shaky, breath, "He cared so much for me back then that he broke up with me to protect me... so w- why shouldn't I now care for him? We're friends?..." Making it sound more like a question as she wasn't even sure about the statement herself.

"Are you though?" Woozi suddenly threw into the room.

She glared at him, eyebrows scrunched, "What?"

"Are you and Hanbin really friends?" She waited for him to continue, "When was the last time he texted you, or talked to you or... I don't know, had some kind of interaction with you?"

Minnie shrugged, "H-He... hasn't. Not ever since back then."

"Then that's not a friend, Minnie," he stated but before she could interfere, he continued, "I understand why you wanted to be there for him, even if it was just through Bobby, asking how he was and stuff, I truly get that. But... I'm sorry, but... you have to let him go. He broke up with you for a reason. He didn't want you involved in his shit in any way. He cared enough about you to let you go... so you should do the same."

"B-But how?" Minnie whispered, suddenly the tears in her eyes as visible as ever before when Jihoon looked at her, dragging his chair a little closer to her. "How c-can I just... let him go," she sniffled, "If I don't even know if he's okay?"

"You just have to learn how to not care too much anymore," he got up to join her on the couch, placing a comforting hand on her knee as he let his head rest on the back of the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. "Do you still love him?- And before you give me the same answer like you gave Wonwoo, think about it." He quickly added, letting the girl know, that he was there to help and understand her. He wasn't blaming her.

Minnie shook her head, sniffling once again. "No." She assured Woozi, and herself, "Not like I did before. I love him... like... a friend would, but that's it. I promise." She moved her head to look at him. Jihoon saw her from the corner of his eye, turning his head to lock eyes with her.

"I know, you don't have to defend yourself in front of me. I'm not the one who needs to hear that. But... like I said... you're not friends with him anymore. I know it hurts. And I'm sorry. But it's the truth."

The female member nodded, finally letting the tears escape from her eyes, letting her head fall onto the man's shoulder.

"You lose people all throughout your life, Minnie. He was there, he made you happy, but you have someone new who loves you more than you could ever imagine," his arm had found its way around her shoulder. "Imagine how you would've reacted if the roles were reversed. You don't think you would've been jealous if Wonwoo was still caring so much about his ex?"

"But he never lost an ex like that."

"That's true," he nodded, "I understand that, but even if he did. Imagine him ignoring you, putting you second, just because he was so focused on making sure his ex was doing alright."

Minnie moved her head in understanding. She didn't even think about that.

"You both are jealous people in one way or another, and that's healthy to an extent. It just shows that you care about each other," he lifted her head from his shoulder, making her have to look into his eyes. "He cares so much about you, that's why he reacted that way. He just wanted to know that you feel the same way. Everyone needs that assurance every now and then."

The girl nodded, "I get that."

He patted her arm one more time before getting up again and sitting back down on his beloved chair. "Just remember who you wrote To You about. Or Crush. It better not have been about Hanbin, or it's coming off the album right now."

She couldn't help but let the giggle tumble from her lips, "No," she sniffled one last time, "Not, it wasn't about Hanbin."

"Good," he grinned, "Then it can stay."

Before he could turn back around the mixing table, her voice stopped him.

"Do you think he ever asked Bobby or any of the other guys how I was doing?" She know she shouldn't wonder about that, but that was the very last thing she needed closure on.

Woozi took a deep breath, "I'm sure he did at the beginning. You don't just suddenly not care about a person, especially if you've been together for as long as you guys were. But I also hope that he has gotten over it and that he's happy. Just like you should." Sending her a strict eye, making her nod.

"I know..."

-

Before leaving the studio later that night, she had to promise the '96 Liner that she would at least go back to her own apartment. She didn't have to go back to their lives and pretend like nothing had happened, but she should try to get back to what was once their normality. The couple still had to talk about what had happened, both of them still carried some kind of baggage with them and she swore to Woozi that she would, at some point in the very near future, confront Wonwoo about it.

What she didn't know about was the confrontation her boyfriend had with the two Chinese members over Facetime, who noticed very quickly that something was going on with the rapper, immediately squeezing out every answer they wanted from him. Just like Minnie, he opened up and shared the entire story with the two, letting them in on his feelings, which he rarely ever did. He needed guidance. He needed advice. And yet, he could not get himself to face one of the members in real life and ask them for that favour - it seemed so much easier over the phone.

The '96 Liner would still need some time to get himself together enough to confront her so openly, but he wanted to, God... he really wanted to.

Wonwoo was in the living room, close to dozing off, clearly bored by what was playing on the TV, while Mingyu was already asleep in his room - it was 2AM after all. The sound of the door unlocking made the rapper perk up, trying to listen to who had entered their apartment, desperately hoping it was who he expected it to be. He concentrated on the light footsteps, listening to the person settling the bag, softly smiling once he knew for sure it was who he hoped for. 

The steps got closer and closer, once they walked through the hallway, they stopped at the entrance to the living room. Wonwoo whipped his head to the side, finding Minnie frozen in place, surprised by the fact that it was him and not her fellow '97 Liner she would've expected to sit on the sofa.

"Hey," the rapper spoke first, breathing heavier than he would've liked to admit.

"Hi," the girl tried to force a smile, but it rarely showed.

Wonwoo gulped, sitting up straighter. "You're back."

"I... am," she looked around the room nervously. God, why was this more awkward than a first date. It shouldn't be like that. Both of them hated it. Minnie didn't notice when he was about to open his mouth, ready to talk to her, unknowingly interrupting him, "I-" he raised his eyebrows expectantly at her. "I'm... I'm gonna to bed. I'm... tired."

Okay... it looked like she wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

He nodded, "Yeah, yeah," he whispered. "I... I'll take the couch." Minnie gazed at him, her mouth slightly agape. She didn't expect that.

Okay... he wasn't ready to even be in the same room with her... that hurt.

She nodded, "Yeah... okay." Without wasting another second in the uncomfortable stillness, she turned to walk towards their usually shared bedroom, when his voice made her turn back to him.

"Minnie?"

"Yeah?" Her voice was filled with hope and desperation. Hope that he might change his mind and join her like he normally would. Desperate to feel his touch again.

His eyes found hers. But he couldn't read her. He was so scared to say the wrong thing yet again, so it would just be better to not say anything at all - or at least that's what his head told him.

"Good night."

Minnie sighed. There goes the hope. "Good night." She nodded, leaving him alone in the living room, where the only light was coming from the small lamp on the end table in the corner. Only a few days ago, Wonwoo could've sworn that that girl in front of him was brighter than any light he had ever seen. Her smile could light up an entire city. But right now... she looked duller than the deepness of an ocean.

Once she had reached their room and closed the door, throwing herself to lean back at it, she took a deep breath. She repeated Woozi's words in her head, trying to calm her racing thoughts and pumping heart.

'Give him time. Give yourself some time. You both need it.'

Just some time. She silently prayed for that 'some time' to be over soon.

-

The following started quietly, the three dormmates didn't share many words in the morning, deciding on sharing breakfast in silence after Mingyu exclaimed how happy he was to have the girl back in the apartment.

In the car on the way to the practice room, each one of them entertained themselves with their phones, some with their headphones in. Mingyu hated the clear tension and tried to loosen it up by talking to their manager in the driver's seat, directing questions to Wonwoo and Minnie every now and then, hoping the older man didn't notice it all too much.

Once they arrived in the practice room, each went their own way, Wonwoo sat down on the floor, his back against the wall, Mingyu talked to the choreographer that had become a good friend of the group and Minnie lowered her body to the floor to start stretching, getting ready for the practice-choreography for their upcoming live shows where they'd be performing 'Rock With You' without Jun and Minghao.

She felt a presence next to her, and looking up into the mirror in front of her revealed Seungkwan who rounded her sitting form and crouched down in front of her.

"And?"

"And what?" Minnie switched to stretch her other side.

"Did you two talk?" The '98 Liner wondered, sipping on the coffee he had brought along.

The girl sighed, "Does it look like we've talked?"

"Jeez..." he shook his head and stood back up, "Make-up quicker, you're no fun in this mood." As he brushed past her again, she smacked his calf, getting a surprised exclaim from him before he dared to fake kick her, walking back to Vernon, who had been eyeing them in confusion. 

The other members left her to be by herself, but she could feel their eyes on her, especially the '95 Liners' and Woozi's - Seungkwan seemed to leave her alone.

The woman with the camera entering the room alarmed Mingyu who confirmed his worry. He rushed over to the girl, leaning down behind her, surprising her at the sudden closeness as he mumbled into her ear.

"They're filming for Inside today, don't forget that." She looked back at the door, where the woman was getting the camera ready and let a sigh out.

"Oh, fuck, I forgot..."

The rapper patted her back, "Just act. You're good at acting," smiling at her through the mirror as he leaned back to nudge him, making him chuckle before his facial expression slightly shifted.

"Why didn't you guys talk last night?" Minnie looked at him with raised eyebrows. He continued, "I heard you come in, but you two spoke really quietly and since you almost didn't even look at each other this morning, I'm just guessing."

The girl crossed her legs, deciding that she had finished her stretching session for the day. She shook her head and fixed her hair,

"He didn't even want to be in the same room as me, how was I supposed to talk to him?"

"What? What makes you think that?" Remembering hearing the conversation he overheard as he passed Wonwoo's room, where Jun assured him that he should make the first move and apologise and Minghao letting him know that Minnie was most definitely just as miserable as he was. Why he hadn't followed their advice was a mystery to him.

The girl leaned back against his chest as his arms rested over her shoulders. "I told him I'd go to bed, and he just said he'll take the couch. He didn't even try and follow me. He wanted to be away from me..."

"Minnie..." he sighed, "I think you understood him wrong-"

"No, he could've at least tried, and he didn't even try to stay in the same room. He doesn't want to talk, so I'm not gonna try and make him."

Her fellow '97 Liner nodded softly. "Alright..." and stood back up, patting her shoulders before walking away from her. Minnie raised her head to look at herself in the mirror when she felt another pair of eyes on her. Her gaze drifted to the right where she found her boyfriend staring at her reflection, the phone in his hands long forgotten. She was about to force a smile when she saw Mingyu getting closer to him, taking a seat right next to his best friend. With a deep huff of breath, she pushed herself to stand up and walk further away from the duo.

-

The practice was in full swing, the group taking small breaks after each part they had finished performing in front of the mirror.

"Alright, for the time being," the choreographer explained, "We agreed on Minnie being lifted up, so let's try that." It would be the first time they tried that move.

The group got into their positions, with the girl on her way to the far left where five of the members were waiting for her.

"Be careful," she heard him whisper as she passed Wonwoo, looking back, she gave him a quick nod. 

She stopped once she had reached Dino and Joshua, who each held one arm open, welcoming her and ready to steady her back once she'd get lifted up. Carefully, she took a step forward, just about to step on their feet as the choreographer let her know exactly just how she should do it. On three Dino, Joshua, Mingyu, and Jeonghan all together lifted her up, making her chuckle at the feeling while she steadied herself with a hand on the '97 Liner's strong shoulder

"You're so light!" The youngest commented, making the two oldest exchange knowing glances, but they didn't comment any further. "Even lighter than Myungho," Dino added, making the girl chuckle nervously.

"You okay with doing that move, Minnie?" Youngjoon asked her, getting a quick nod in response as she straightened the front of her pants. "Good, and just don't forget to extend your arm forward."

-

The members fell to the floor, panting, desperately trying to catch more breath than physically possible after practice had officially ended. Minnie was laying on the floor, eyes closed, with her hands on her ribs, trying to execute the breathing exercises her pilates teacher had taught her.

Suddenly, the light was blocked by something and after opening her eyes again, the figure of her boyfriend revealed itself, holding out a bottle of water down at her. She eyed him for a second before he pushed it closer to her, "Take it."

The girl sat herself up and took the bottle out of his grasp, giving him a small, "Thank you," in response, along with a nod before he disappeared again. She opened it to take a quick sip, turning her head to the side to find Woozi and Seungcheol already looking at her. Both of the leaders grinned at her, to which she just rolled her eyes and got up from the floor to get ready to leave.

-

The female performer wasn't even able to get her jacket off once they got back home when her phone started ringing. With one quick look, Minnie saw 'Mum' lighting up the screen, making her sigh softly. Their conversation started normal: the mother asking her daughter about what work was like, with her asking the same in return, but it only took a few minutes before the older woman changed the subject.

"Why didn't you tell me that Wonwoo and you had a fight?" Her mum's voice rang through her ears from the other side of the phone.

"What?" Minnie wondered, "How do you know about that?"

"Seungcheol called me. You know, he was very worried about you. He got really scared," she explained. As much as the girl appreciated the worry leader showed for her, she couldn't help the slight annoyance of him talking to every living being about her misery - yes, it was her mother, but still... but she reminded herself that it was out of love, just like the woman had told her.

"It- I don't know... I hoped to clear it up myself, I guess." Minnie's fingers brushed through her hair as she leaned back against the chair at the dining table, her feet up and knees close to her body. "I messed up, now I have to fix it-"

"I don't know, Seungcheol said something else."

"Cheol is just annoyed. And I know he cares for me, so... yeah. But I really wasn't in the right either. Trust me, I did my part in the fight as well."

"Well, there's always two parties involved."

"Exactly."

She heard her mother sigh, "I just hope you don't take it too hard on yourself. Like I said, you two were part of it, so it takes two to make up for it again. Don't think that you have to fix whatever is going on between you two on your own. Work together, as a team."

"I know, I know... I'll try. Last night, he didn't really want to talk to me... I hope it'll be different soon," Minnie explained, finding a loose thread on her sock to pull on.

"And, you know, there's always make-up sex.“

"Mum!" The girl groaned in embarrassment.

"Oh, please," the woman exclaimed, "You're an adult now, let me talk to you like one!"

"Alright, alright," she chuckled, thankful for the person on the other side of the world, suddenly missing her even more than she usually does.

"Men would never say no to that. You just have to know how to initiate it."

Minnie laughed, "Okay, yeah, thanks. But... we should probably also talk about what happened, it's not something that... will be taken care of quickly, I think."

"You know him better than I do, and I'm sure you know what to do, so I trust you. And just know, it's not only you that did something wrong, so don't blame yourself too much."

The female member was about to respond when Wonwoo came into the room, passing the dining table to walk into the kitchen.

"Alright, maman, je dois y aller," (trans.: mum, I gotta go) she quickly switched to French, knowing her boyfriend could easily understand any English she'd speak now.

"Oh, Il est là?" (trans.: Is he here?") Minnie hummed to let her know she was right, and continued humming, as well as giving her a series of 'okay, okay' as they ended their call.

She placed her phone down, letting a quiet sigh out as she put her feet back onto the floor and leaned forward to rest her elbows on top of the table.

"Your mum?" Wonwoo suddenly broke the silence, making Minnie's ears and head perk up, surprised by the sudden conversation he was trying to start.

She nodded, "Yeah..."

The rapper continued chopping up the vegetables for whatever he had planned to make. "How is she?"

"Good," the girl took a deep breath, "They found a new place to open their next restaurant."

"Oh... cool," they both nodded in silence as they could feel the tension and awkwardness growing again.

With his back to the walkthrough leading to the living room, Wonwoo didn't notice Mingyu who was about to come in, but stopped abruptly when he noticed the couple in the room, and quickly walked back, ignoring the silent pleads from Minnie not to leave them alone.

Another minute went by, neither one of them saying a thing. The sound of the knife hitting the board was the only reason the room wasn't completely quiet.

"Min-"

"Listen-"

They both started at the same time and stopped in synch as they noticed the other one wanted to start.

"Sorry," Wonwoo was quick to apologise, putting the knife down, leaning back against the counter as he motioned towards the girl. "You go first."

"No," she hastily exclaimed, "No, you go. You were first."

He took a deep breath, looking down at the floor before locking eyes with his girlfriend. "I'm sorry. Last night... I-... I didn't..." he sighed in annoyance. Annoyed at himself that he couldn't find the right words. "I wanted to talk to you, but... you said you were tired and wanted to go to bed, so I thought you didn't want to talk."

"I wanted you to join me...," Minnie shyly explained, finding her nails to pick at.

Wonwoo nodded, "I was too blind to see that."

She cleared her throat, "I thought you didn't want to talk because you said you'd sleep on the couch-"

"I did that because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

A light switch turned on in the girl's head. That's why...

"But," he started again, "I... I'm sorry about the other day... I- ugh... I don't know."

Minnie's eyes never left his form while he drifted all around the room, mostly focusing on the floor. She looked at her destroyed nails, quickly brushing off the nervosity and speaking up.

"I-I'm sorry too... but... I mean... I'm sorry for what I said... to you," she looked up and was thankful to find his gaze on her. "I shouldn't have said some of those things... but... I'm- I'm not sorry for caring about him." Her voice was soft and quiet, scared of the reaction she might get, knowing he would probably disagree with her. To her surprise, Wonwoo nodded.

"I can't help it."

"But why?" He wondered gently, "Why do you still care about him so much? Am I not enough for you?"

"Wha- no, no no no," she quickly stopped him, "That has nothing to do with you." Minnie took a quick breath, reminding herself of what Woozi had told her, and to not repeat the exact words she had thrown at her boyfriend a few days ago. "He cared enough about me to end things," she could see Wonwoo's body tensing up, "So... I guess, it just feels right that I should also still care about him."

"But after two years, Minnie? Two years."

"I know," the girl whispered, hiding her face behind her hands, "God, I know... I'm sorry."

"What do I have to do?" He questioned, getting a confused look in return. "What do you need me to do, so you can finally keep him in the past."

"I-I don't know... I'm trying... I promise..." she stuttered, her breaths feeling heavier with each second.

Wonwoo crossed his arms in front of his chest, taking a quick glance into the living room. "You know I'd do anything for you. And I mean... anything."

Great, he just had to say something that would get Minnie's emotions to come back up again. His words reached her ears, sending a gentle chill down her spine, making her heart speed up just a bit. She hadn't lost him.

"I know," he almost overheard her shaky whisper as she brought her hands up to her face once again

"Then just tell me, and I'll do it. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I don't care enough about you, that he was the better boyfriend or whatever. Just tell me, and I'll prove to you-"

"No, God, please, it's not that-"

"Then, what is it?"

"I don't know!" She revealed her now red face and glassy eyes, taking him back to the night he wished never had happened. If he could take back the way he confronted her, he would. And here he finally had the chance to make everything right again.

Wonwoo rushed over to the weeping girl on the chair, "Hey, hey, don't cry," getting down on his knees right in front of her, "Please don't cry, jagi." He raised his hand to brush over the side of her head, pressing it down to make her lean into his body.

"I'm so sorry," she cried into his shoulder, "I love you, I promise-"

"Shh, I know," he comforted her, his hands on her body, pulling her close, "It's okay-"

She raised her head, "No, it's not okay-," she sniffled, "I love you, Wonwoo. I only love you."

"I know, it's okay, I shouldn't have questioned that."

"I don't love him anymore, I swear," Minnie steadied herself on his shoulders, "I-I don't, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that. But I promise."

His fingers grazed over her forehead and left eyebrow, down the side of her face, down to her jaw and chin.

"I know, babe. It's okay. I'm so sorry for not believing you."

"I'm sorry that I still care about him, I-I know I shouldn't, but... I can't help it-"

"No, I...," he sighed, "I understand it, I just... I got jealous... and I took it out on you, I'm sorry."

With a pained facial expression, Minnie let her head rest back on his shoulder, leaving the chair and letting herself fall into his arms, wrapping hers around his shoulders. His hands rubbed up and down her back, as he hid his face in her neck, breathing in the familiar scent of her perfume and shampoo he had so desperately been missing. Wonwoo could still feel her slightly shaking against his body, hoping his hug was comforting her. If he only knew how much it was helping Minnie, but that it was also the reason why she couldn't hold back her tears. The girl had been almost convinced of the fact that she was going to lose him and lose a part of her along with him.

"I'm sorry for making you feel like you couldn't trust me," she mumbled against his clothes, making him shake his head immediately.

"Don't say that. I've never not trusted you." His hands cradled her face to make her look at him again. "I promise." Her fingers wrapped around his wrists as she leaned her forehead against his.

"I can't lose you," she quietly admitted, the pain still clear in her voice.

The '96 Liner leaned back slightly to lift his head and place a loving kiss against her forehead, making sure to stay in that position for a few seconds before doing the same to her left cheek.

"You're not gonna lose me," he whispered back, his thumbs brushing over her cheeks. "I couldn't live with myself if I ever let go of the best thing that ever happened to me."

The girl sent him a sad smile, her eyes still glassy and her cheeks stained red.

"If I ever make you cry again, slap me, okay? I don't want to ever be the reason that you feel like this." His first sentence made Minnie chuckle, before she hugged him tightly again, needing to make up for the lost days when she couldn't hold him like this.

"I'm so sorry," she told him one last time as his hand found its way underneath her shirt, placing his palm on the naked skin of her back.

Another kiss was placed on the side of her head, "I'm sorry too." He let a few seconds pass, just enjoying the warmth of their bodies together before he spoke up again. "He's not going to jail, by the way."

She relieved him of the hug, leaning back while his hands stayed on her back, "I know. But I don't care," and shook her head, "I shouldn't care."

His right pointer finger came up to move away some of the hairs that had stuck to her forehead, "No, it's okay to care. Just shows that you have too big of a heart."

Minnie grinned, locking eyes with her boyfriend once again, relieved to feel no suspense and no awkward tension between them anymore.

"I love you," she let the words roll off her tongue easily, just like she normally would.

It didn't matter that it was probably the 400th time Wonwoo had heard the words, he'd never get enough of it, and them coming from her would never not make him smile.

"I love you too." Not hesitating to lean in and finally get the kiss both of them have been craving for for the past few days. To finally feel his lips move against hers again, let Minnie feel the ecstasy rushing through her body, making her only smile even more.

A few seconds later, they separated again, gazing into each other's eyes, still engulfed in their arms.

"You know what's in a week?" Wonwoo grinned up at her.

"Hm?" She tilted her head gently to the side as she let her fingers run along the side of his face, admiring his beauty like she sometimes did whenever they shared a bed.

"One year." Then it hit her.

She gasped softly, "Oh my God... already?" Wonwoo nodded happily, making her copy his expression. "One year together... what would you rate it, Sir Jeon?" Making him chuckle as he pretended to think about it for a second before continuing to smile at her.

"Could use a few more years." To which the girl couldn't hide her smile as well. "What do you say?" He wondered, making her nod.

"I agree. A few a lot more years, I'd say."

"That sounds about right," he grinned, leaning back into her to feel the softness of her lips on his again.

Almost one year. And many more to come, Minnie prayed silently as she let herself give into the kiss, drowning in the love flowing through their bodies.

Mimiwon👀👀

Taglist: @shrynkk @chaebb @lunarxsun @hoe4wonwoo @kimhyejin3108 @soobzao @billboard-singer @cosmicwintr @zwiehe ( @alixnsuperstxr ) @angie-x3 @smooore @allthings-fandoms

How are we after the comeback? Everyone still here? Currently posting this in a trance from the mv🥹

[allamericanb-tch]

marauders as eliza mclamb songs

** i limited myself to the ones she has on soundcloud because i did not want to go through her entire tiktok page to find links for all of her old songs sorry im a lazy queen.

pretend my explanations are not convoluted and poorly worded

the playlist of songs mentioned please go listen to it (with the marauders in mind !! ) i am obsessed with eliza mclamb currently. i tried to use every song on this playlist since i couldn’t use every song on her tiktok but i did skip some so. sorry? also the lyrics are just the ones i thought were the most them. i did not type out every single lyric to all these songs im not a MANIAC

james — look at me and lie / “daddy issues”

genuinely this song makes me tear up every time. it’s so jegulus from james pov coded which i think is absolutely devastating. in my mind this song is james thinking about regulus, knowing he has the mark, and regulus is wasting away knowing that he can’t be with james anymore, unknowing that james knows he has the mark. ugh it just breaks my heart every time.

i fucking hate when you look at me and lie // but i see it in your eyes you haven’t given up anything, except maybe the last three years of your life

—

jegulus 💔

i know i remind you of the life you couldn’t live, you make that pretty clear when you lose your shit weirdly i like that side of you better. // to see you angry is more fulfilling than the apathy

———

remus — wendy’s parking lot / autopilot / dial tone 

cigarettes i mean this is literally remus. but in all seriousness, this song is so remus feeling alone, very first and second year of him, before he really got on with the marauders.

smoke a single cigarette out the window // i want to go driving till i run out of gas, speed till i pass everybody in a baby blue subaru with their 401k’s // i don’t have anyone to cry to

—

remus trying to live his life after sirius leaves

doctor said i need routine // it’s time to drive around aimlessly and listen to music that used to make me cry, i wish it still did // i miss the feeling of feeling something

—

remus calling grant after sirius leaves

who can i call? // you don’t have to say anything at all // just stay on the line, to know somebody’s out there will do me fine

———

sirius — 2007 / haunted house

this song is sirius thinking about his time with regulus before hogwarts, and regulus idolizing his older brother and wanting to be just like him, and they grow up and grow apart, but really they’re scarily similar and sirius knows it and hates it because he hates himself.

you were still a baby, of course you’ll always be my little lady, but then you were freed // god, you’re turning into me // i want to hold your little face just look at you and say, ‘it’s not as good as it seems’ // it never gets better than being a kid with a dream

— 

this is sirius returning to his apartment he has with remus after he escapes azkaban

i swear this house is haunted, i can’t be here without wanting to go back ten years and do it all again. // i just can’t make myself fit back into place

———

peter — speak

this is peter being quiet and shy and following james around like a lost puppy dog because james has always been his only friend, and he couldn’t bear to lose him, so he goes along with everything james does.

i never could talk loud enough so i learned how to listen. // i find my place in other people’s shadows. // i wait for you to ask me, ‘how is it you forgot how to speak?’

———

mary — pornstar tits / anti-cinematic

this song is so mary being oversexualized by the fandom, and only used as a device to further the plot of wolfstar fics by being a rival love interest for sirius.

they trade that shit like pokémon cards, swapping my body with somebody else’s // it’s either jezebel or madonna and i’m not sure which one is worse

—

this i think is mary leaving the wizarding world, and losing all her friends (..because they died) and trying to go back to life as a muggle

what if my best years are behind me? // what if i just keep getting older and lonelier?

———

lily — elastic band / american wasteland

this song reminds me of lily reminiscing on her life before she found about wizards and magic and became involved in the war, and knowing she can’t go back to the life she once had.

so many memories i can’t recover existing in only a feeling // sometimes if i think real hard its like i’m there again // i’ll think i’ll stay in this moment for a while

—

american lily evans. there i said it. but this song actually feels more petunia to me. petunia after lily leaves, feeling out of place without her built in best friend.

two kids in a double wide // take the city bus home // get off at the next stop and walk the rest of the way home in the dark

———

marlene — twin flame

marlene and dorcas, dorcas and marlene.

i can read your mind like you can read mine // do i like you, or do i like that you’re fucked up like me?

———

regulus — hydroplaning

this is regulus being in love with james, and being so deep into his self-hatred that he can’t even fathom why someone like james would like someone like him.

something about you liking me just doesn’t sit right with me i think it probably means you have bad taste. // and then of course i’ll whine about how no one could ever love me.

———

evan — drunk in a fancy shower

evan at a party feeling out of place because party is drunk kissing other girls, and not drunk kissing him. poor evan :(

it’s so clear that i really don’t belong here // is it so cynical to think that no one would give a shit if i crawled out this window? // i need to get the fuck up, get back out there fill my cup up

———

barty — zoned out

this is so barty losing his mind slowly after evan’s death

i came back into my body to find somebody else in it // i hate that i can’t listen to you over the sound of my heartbeat // sometimes i just have to leave

———

pandora — witching hour / all alone

pandora is very much the kind of person who would find comfort in being alone in the middle of the night, and being awake while the world is asleep.

it must be the witching hour if i’m awake // it’s like the universe has picked me up, i’m a tiny baby in her cosmic cup. // i’m not scared of the unknown

—

pandora being self aware and knowing that people think she’s weird and creepy but knowing she is on the right path for her <3

all alone, in my little world. if it’s a one man universe i’m my favorite girl. // ‘you’re all alone, well aren’t you wasting time?’ no i’m just taking mine. 

———

dorcas — dreamgirl

dorcas being dorcas

i wanna be your dean girl // i like the version of me that lives in your mind // i’m still a mystery to you

———

[ajesterwrites]

6. the animal attack

summary: while at the bonfire, mysterious attacks on Vicki Donovan and a secret friend threaten your night of fun.

pairings: stefan salvatore x reader

word count: 2.5K

"Jeremy?" You called, pursuing his stumbling figure through the dark. You couldn't believe this. It was your first night out since you'd gotten back and you were stuck babysitting. "Jeremy! I swear to God when I get my hands on you-!"

"Leave me alone!" He shouted, speeding a bit. You snorted as he stumbled over something and fell to the ground, but it was what he said after that grabbed your attention. "Vicki?"

You stopped and gasped when you saw your brother looking straight at the unconscious face of Vicki Donovan. You hadn't seen her since...that night.

You stomach churned. You and Vicki used to be friends, which meant you regularly got high together, much to Matt's disdain. But after you found out she slept with Jeremy, some things went down. Things that you weren't entirely proud of. Things that Matt didn't know.

"Holy shit!" You yelled, running to Vicki's still body. You fell to her side and placed two fingers against the side of her neck, trying to feel for a pulse. And as if your hand emitted an electric spark, Vicki's eyes snapped open and she gasped loudly, then lost consciousness in an instant. You jerked your hand away and jumped back. "What the hell? Vicki, can you hear me? Vick?"

You muttered a string of curses and looked at Jeremy, who looked like he was going out of his mind. "Jer, I need you to help me get her up. We have to find help."

"I got her."

"Are you sure because I can-"

"Go!" Jeremy interrupted. You nodded and took off through the woods. Minus cheerleading, you were never much of an athlete, but here you were, sprinting through the woods to help a girl you didn't even like. Close behind her, you could hear Jeremy's footsteps and was slightly impressed by his ability to keep up while holding an 18-year-old girl in his arms.

"Somebody call 911!" You screamed, grabbing the full attention of your baffled peers. "Clear the table, we got a bloody unconscious girl coming through!" No one moved, paralyzed with shock. Now would be a great time for some adrenaline to kick in. "What, you've never seen someone passed out before? Move! And for God's sake, turn off that horrible music!"

Your schoolmates scrambled around, some rushing to cut off the music and others taking things off the table. Tyler Lockwood, Vicki's on-and-off boyfriend, wiped the table clean with his hand. Jeremy placed Vicki on the bench and you removed her necklace. You pressed two fingers against Vicki's neck. She had a pulse—a weak one, but a pulse nonetheless. You looked up to see Matt, Tyler, and Bonnie rushing to you.

"What the hell happened to her?" Matt demanded, his panicked eyes widened as they landed on her sister. More blood was seeping out of her neck wound and it didn't look like it would slow down any time soon.

"We don't know, we just found her."

"Somebody, call an ambulance!"

You pointed at a boy in the crowd. "You. Call 911." You'd learned from your father that during emergencies, it was best to ask a specific person to call 911—otherwise no one would, assuming that somebody else was already doing it. The boy fished through his pocket for his phone.

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler shouted, pushing slow bystanders away from the scene.

You pulled up a chair and sat down, studying Vicki's puncture wound. "It's her neck. Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood, we need to get an ambulance here now. Someone get me a cloth or something before she goes into hypovolemic shock!"

"I have a scarf!" Caroline offered, pulling it from around her neck and pushing past everyone as she held it out. You thanked her and grabbed the scarf. Jeremy lifted up Vicki's head so you could wrap it around her throat.

"Aren't you supposed to clean it with beer or something?" Matt asked.

"No, that can cause tissue damage and slow healing," You looked at Matt. "This should help stop the bleeding until the ambulance comes."

"What happened?" Caroline asked.

"It was probably just another animal attack. There's been a lot of those lately."

"Yeah but in the neck?"

"They're called throat clamps," You explained. You couldn't help but think of how proud your father would be. He'd always assumed you weren't listening, as he was the type to talk about his cases in massive detail. He hadn't known that you hung onto every word, storing it in your brain. "It involves an animal attacking its prey by the neck. Usually with its teeth, that's why there are two sets of bite marks. Whatever animal did this would've had to have gotten pretty close...I'm surprised no one heard her scream."

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Matt asked.

"There's never a guarantee but..." You nodded, giving him a small reassuring smile. "Yeah, I think she will."

You could practically feel the weight on his shoulders decrease as he drew a breath with ease. A few minutes later, a chaotic chorus of sirens blared through the woods. Soon police officers, an ambulance, and the Animal Control Unit arrived at the scene.

The party-goers were ordered to call their parents and clear out of the area. The crowd disbanded, but you stayed behind to see the paramedics roll Vicki into the ambulance. You watched as Matt hopped in after her and the vehicle zoomed off, its red and white lights zipping through the night.

"Y/N?" Someone called out. You turned to see Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes, Caroline's mother, coming to her. "Hello Jeremy. If you don't mind, I need to ask you both a few questions, get your statements."

You looked at your brother. All he did was nod so you spoke for him. "Yeah, whatever we can do to help."

"Do you want to do this now or go down to the station?"

"Now."

"Okay. Do you think you can walk me through what happened?"

"Of course. Jeremy and I were in the woods," You recounted to the sheriff, who pulled out a notepad to jot down information. "We got into a fight, I was chasing him down but then he tripped...and there she was. So Jeremy picked her up and I ran over here as fast as I could to get help."

"Are you the one that put the scarf around her neck?"

"Yeah," You confirmed. "It was Caroline's."

"Sheriff!" Someone shouted, and you both turned to see a young blonde officer standing by the edge of bushes, an indecipherable look on his face. "I think you're going to want to see this."

Liz nodded and turned back to you. "I called your aunt. She's on her way. You might wanna talk to her before she gets here... to calm her nerves."

"Okay. Thank you."

Sheriff Forbes nodded, offering up a tight-lipped smile and brief (slightly awkward) hug before walking away to join the officer. You turned to see Jeremy under a nearby gazebo, gripping a nearby beer bottle. Bonnie suddenly came to your side.

"Hey."

"Hey." Rough night.

"We're gonna go mainline coffee, wait for news," Bonnie said.

"Rain check," You replied. "I gotta take Jeremy home and Jenna's probably worried sick. But I'll call you when things cool down."

"Okay, I'll let you know when we get an update," Bonnie promised and you nodded. There was a beat of tense silence, but your mind was racing. You both shared a look, each wondering who'd be the first to speak up about the incident before the incident. "Y/N, there's no way I'm psychic. I know. But whatever I saw...or think I saw...I have this feeling... that's it just the beginning."

You opened your mouth to say something, but your attention was diverted when you noticed a brown-haired woman wearing a coroner's jacket. She rolled a stretcher past you, her lips stretched into a thin, grim line. You frowned and stepped closer to see who was in the body bag on the stretcher, but your heart stopped when the coroner zipped up the bag, just as you saw the victim's face.

Ryder?

Your heart dropped. Your lips trembled but you bit back the wail that threatened to escape. Your throat ached.

It couldn't be him...it had to be someone else. He looked like every other stranger in Mystic Falls—maybe you got it wrong.

Bonnie frowned as she witnessed the color drain from her friend's face. "Y/N? What's wrong?"

Slowly escaping your trance, you turned to Bonnie. "Nothing, sorry...just...thinking about how I'm never going to a party again."

Bonnie chuckled softly, but it didn't meet her eyes. A comfortable silence passed between the pair as you stood there, engulfed by your train of thoughts. When you finally departed, you loomed towards Jeremy, who was busy drinking. Even when he felt your presence beside him, he didn't look at you but lowered the bottle.

"You alright, Kearney?" You asked. "Stupid question, I know."

You expected him to agree and make a snarky comment like he usually did. But he didn't say anything. He just stared ahead. You cleared your throat, smoothly pulling the bottle from his grasp and taking a swig. This is when he finally looked at you.

"You haven't had a drink in months."

"Yeah, well, I think tonight calls for at least one," You reasoned, surprised that he even noticed. But you weren't surprised when he reached for the bottle. And he wasn't surprised when you slapped his hand away. "You just got out of middle school and this place is infested with cops."

"I don't care."

"Well, I do," You replied. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I care. So much. "People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They've moved on. We probably won't. But the least we can do is heal. It's what Mom and Dad would've wanted for us."

You put your hand on his shoulder to raise his spirits. He shrugged you off. A stabbing pain hit your heart, but you forced a smile.

"Jeremy? Y/N?" The siblings turned to see a beloved strawberry blonde standing a couple feet away. When she saw your faces, she sighed and smiled. She raced over and threw her arms around you and your brother. "I came here as fast I could. What happened? Sheriff Forbes said there was an accident and that you two might have to go down to the station and-"

"Everything's fine, Aunt Jenna," You stated reassuringly. "Vicki got attacked by some wild animal and we found her in the woods."

"Oh my god, is she okay? Are you okay?

"She's on her way to the hospital, and we're fine," You said, giving a smile to ease your aunt's worry. "Promise."

Jenna nodded. "Okay. Let's get you two home so you can rest."

Rest. That sounds nice.

Despite the events that recently transpired, the car ride was silent and... peaceful. You pushed aside all thoughts of Ryder, convincing yourself that he was fine. You didn't think of Vicki or the fact that Stefan had vanished into thin air (although it did take you a while to realize that one). Instead, you thought about the fact that for the first time since your parents sank, you felt like you had a family.

Regardless of the difficult adjustment, you were momentarily content. Your parents were gone, and they weren't coming back, but...it felt like a part of them was watching over you, and their memories would always live on. And the mere thought of that gave you all the satisfaction you needed to carry on.

When you and your arrived home, you ran to the bathroom and called Ryder. No response. He was probably sleeping. After all, it was all midnight.

Sighing, you stepped into the shower to cleanse your mind and hands of Vicki's blood. As the blood washed down the drain, memories jolted through your mind, but you buried them and scrubbed yourself clean.

When you finished bathing, you threw on a t-shirt and joggers, then collapsed into bed. You had a lot on your mind, and what better way to release your thoughts than spill them in your journal?

You didn't know how long you stayed up in the balcony, but by the time you were done writing, you'd filled up six pages with nothing but honesty. And it felt good.

After chatting with Bonnie on the phone a bit about how to get Caroline sober and receiving an update on Vicki's condition, you decided to rest your mind. But every chance of that diminished when you heard footsteps pounding against the road and opened your eyes to see Stefan standing outside of your balcony, staring right at you with his lips parted, as if contemplating whether or not he should speak. You sat up.

"Damn. And here I was about to pine for you Juliet-style," You teased. You went downstairs and opened the door. Stefan waited patiently on your porch steps. "I was starting to think that you were a ghost."

Stefan smiled at you. "I know it's late, but uh...I needed to know that you were okay."

"Mm-hmm."

"Are you?" He asked. "Okay, I mean?"

"Compared to Vicki, I'm great."

"How is she?"

"Um, she hasn't woken up yet, but the doctors say she's gonna be fine."

"That's good. You know I saw you out there. You were pretty incredible."

"I put a scarf on her neck," You said dryly, raising an eyebrow. "It's basic TV-med stuff. Anyone could do that."

"True. But not everyone knows that you aren't supposed to pour alcohol on the wound."

"My dad is the one to thank for that. The only reason I ever got into anything medical is because he's-" You paused. "Was a physician."

Stefan nodded, studying the pained look on your face. Four months. Four months since they passed, and you didn't think you were ever going to get used to referring to your parents in the past tense. I guess I really haven't moved on.

"Wow, it's...freezing out here," You suddenly said. "And you look like you need someone to talk to. Do you want to maybe come in?"

You shifted aside. Stefan looked down at the threshold, then up at your sparkling eyes. He smiled. "Yes," He answered and stepped inside.

But little did he know that his first steps inside your house would also be his first steps onto a long road of trouble and heartbreak.

A storm was brewing in Mystic Falls. And soon, it would sweep you away until all that was left was the debris of what once was.

[agirlwithdemonblood]

The Broken Fan - Chapter 5

Pairings: Jensen Ackles & Reader (Read as first person!)

Series Summary: Always a nobody, always invisible, will this convention change things?

Chapter Summary: I woke up in a place I never expected to, and thank god I did.

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety, fluff, mentions of crying, swearing

Series Masterlist here! Main masterlist here!

When my eyes finally flickered opened, I felt more refreshed and energized than I have been in a while, it was like I was in a whole new body.

The bright sunlight shined through the strange room causing a painful throbbing to appear in my head. I let my eyes adjust before sitting up and checking my surroundings, realizing I had no idea where I was or who took me here.

I looked down at myself and noticed the t-shirt that was certainly not mine, along with my pants removed. My stomach was turning in anxiety, trying to remember what the hell happened last night.

As I glanced around the room, slight relief filled me when I realized nobody else was here. Except for a suitcase and a bed that was made on the couch, I was alone.

My legs swung over the side of the bed and I brushed my hands through my hair before the noise of somebody opening the door caused me to jump up in fear.

When I spotted who it was, my heart sank in my chest.

Jensen.

Everything came flashing back at once in lightning speed.

The drinks, his eyes filled with concern and hurt, the hoarse sound of my voice screaming in his face, but most of all what came ringing back was his words that he said to me. "But I do know you, and I think maybe you know me too."

A small smile appeared on his face as he walked towards the side of the bed, placing a coffee and a bag on the nightstand and sitting on the edge.

His eyes were filled with concern, but not pity. He was worried about me. We stood in silence, unsure of what to say or how to go forward at this point, and without thinking, my hand reached to his and squeezed it tight, a light smile playing on my lips.

His head dropped slightly as he looked down at his coffee cup. "You're looking way better, how are you feeling?"

I laughed embarrassingly as I stared down at my feet and let go of his hand. "Uh, way better than I deserve I think."

His eyes lifted to mine, head tilting in confusion as he stood from his spot, stepping closer. Before he could reach me, I turned away from him and sighed deep in my chest. "I'm really sorry about last night Jensen."

He shook his head as he stepped closer, hand reaching my arm to turn me around. "You have nothing to apologize for honey, absolutely nothing you did or said last night was on you."

"I shouldn't have said those things." I admitted awkwardly, "I shouldn't have snapped at you when you were just trying to help."

His hands raised in surrender as he sat on the edge of the bed again, "Stop, don't apologize you did nothing wrong. Yesterday your entire life got turned upside down, people showed you how shitty the world could be and you suffered because of it. I would have had the same reaction, maybe even worse. I would have said some shit I didn't mean too."

I giggled and looked into his eyes, "You think I didn't mean what I said?"

He laughed as his hand reached forward and rested on my hip, successfully sending heat throughout my body. "I know you didn't mean what you said. I meant what I said last night, I know you felt the connection, the spark, I can feel it, there's no way you don't either."

I smiled widely and bit my lip before I leaned against the wall, quickly remembering the different clothing, and the lack of clothing I was being presented in.

"You wanna explain this Mr.Ackles?" I questioned suspiciously. He laughed nervously as his hand moved to scratch the back of his neck. I nearly missed the blush on his cheeks and the shyness in his eyes, but when I spotted it, my heart melted even more.

"Uh.. right, that. When you passed out last night, your pants and shirt got full of dirt and mud. I sent your clothing down to get washed and let you borrow my shirt, but all my sweatpants were dirty... Don't worry I didn't see anything when I changed you though, I'm a good boy."

I couldn't help but laugh at the way he stared back at me, so shy and vulnerable. It was a side to him I never thought existed considering how confident and silly he usually acted.

I clicked my tongue in disappointment, "Damn, that sucks."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I stepped closer and leaned towards him, "I was hoping you were a bad boy, but either way thank you for last night." I joked.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as his hand rested on my hip, so softly that for a second it didn't feel like he was even touching me. Something strange came over me, a wave of confidence and bravery, I wasn't worried about him rejecting me or judging me, because he was right, I knew him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as I straddled his lap, earning a very light gasp in approval. My breath caught in my throat as I stared inches from his face, begging him to make that first move, letting him take control.

His eyes flicked from my lips to my eyes before his hand rested on the back of my head, gently and slowly pulling me in. The wait was torture, every inch we got closer still felt like miles and my head was swimming in anticipation.

His hot breath landed on my lips in such a satisfying way that I had to stifle the pleased moan that wanted to escape. Finally, slowly then all at once his lips landed on mine and my entire body lit up in heat and pleasure.

When people would say that they felt fireworks during their first kiss, I never understood it until now. I could hear it, see it, fireworks shooting off in my mind, warming every inch of my body. His hands tightened on my waist as the kiss became hungry, and we ignored the breathy moans and gasps for air, desperate to continue.

I wrapped my legs tightly around him, and he read my mind as he stood from his spot and brought me to the wall, gently pushing my back against it. I could hear his breath catching as his lips moved to my neck, planting kiss after kiss on my skin. His kisses were passionate and deep, nearly therapeutic almost as if he was kissing away all the pain, all the loneliness and all the embarrassment. For once moment, I forgot that he was an actor and I was a fan, in this moment it felt like two humans filled with want and love.

His fingers trailed downwards near the edge of my shirt and I froze, insecurity taking over my mind. Regretfully, I grabbed his hand and pushed my head back. He smirked and kissed once more against my lips. I sighed and dropped my head, "I'm sorry, I think we should stop before it goes too far.."

Every man usually was disappointed to hear those words, they either get mad or frustrated or lose interest fast, I expected that from Jensen, but I never thought instead he would simply smile and kiss my lips again before placing my feet on the ground.

"Don't apologize. We got a little carried away there."

I smiled to myself and fought the tear that wanted to drop down due to his unbelievable kindness towards me. Was this really happening or was I dreaming?

Whatever the case, Don't wake me up.

The morning was spent in bed, cuddled closely to Jensen.

We wasted time laughing about everything, asking questions and getting to know each other and sharing stories about where we have been in life and I filled in some blanks on why I was where I was now.

I felt closer to him than I've ever felt to anybody and I knew how I felt now, I loved him and he loved me.

His laughter boomed through the hotel room as his head rested against my leg, "Wait so you would shower at the carwash yet not wash your car?"

I laughed in response and shook my head, "I'd wash it... sometimes. I never did really pay attention to the actual car though."

The room was filled with laughter and love, warmness and the sense of home. It was perfect, and I never wanted to leave.

But all good things come to an end as Jensen's phone rang, offically pulling us back to reality.

He rolled his eyes as he answered, putting it up to his ear. "Yeah?"

I watched the smile fade slightly before he spoke, "Okay right, yeah I'll be there shorty. Y/N? Oh she's alright, I've got her."

I couldn't stop the smile that reached my ears as I listened to Jensen talk about me so kindly and caring, it was definitely not something I was used to.

He hung up and sighed before his arm rested over his eyes. I smirked and shook his body, "Who was that?"

"Jared. I forgot we have a photoshoot to do, a quick panel, and then more signings. Last night of the convention so it's going to be a busy day."

My stomach dropped and I could feel the sadness creep in, how could I forget that he would of course be leaving when the convention was over, back to his own home in his own world.

I wanted to live this life a little longer, stay right here locked in our own personal heaven but I knew the risks of falling for a celebrity, I knew that he couldn't put his life on pause for me.

I could tell Jensen was becoming concerned with the way I zoned out and sadness filled my eyes but instead I offered a smile and moved to stand with distance, "Well, you have to shower and get ready for the day, and I should probably find some pants."

He nodded sadly stood from his spot before texting something on his phone. "They will bring up your clothes in a few moments so you can get dressed. Wait here for me?"

I nodded and bit back the tears that wanted to pour. As soon as the bathroom door shut, I couldn't fight it anymore and I let them fall as I thought about this ending.

It wasn't fair, it wasn't time.

We didn't get close enough, we didn't get the happily ever after that we were meant to have, and it shattered my heart but that is the reality of pinning for somebody who was completely different than I was.

The shower was turned off before I knew it, forcing me to wipe the tears away as fast as I could. The door open seconds later facing a surprisingly devastated looking Jensen.

I hugged my knees to my chest as my head turned quizzically. "What's wrong Jensen?"

He shrugged before moving to seat himself next to me, hand resting on my knee. His eyes stayed glued to the floor like a child, unsure and fearful of speaking his mind.

I smiled lightly as my hand dipped under his chin, turning his face towards me. "Whatever is wrong you can tell me."

He nodded as if he knew, and a light sigh escaped his mouth, easing some tension in his shoulders. "I'm kind of scared."

"Scared of what?" I questioned in a confused way, what could Jensen Ackles be scared of? The panel?

Another sigh escaped him but this time it was filled with heartache and stress, and I quickly took note of how his hands trembled when he combed his hair back. "Of losing you. I don't want to lose you."

I froze as the words floated in the open air, filling the room with mixed emotions. I had no idea what to say, of course I didn't want to lose him either, I just found him. But we are two different people in two different worlds, anybody on the outside would say it's bound to fail, quickly.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and gazed at the ceiling, begging the tears to stay put just for a little longer. "I don't want to lose you either Jensen, it sucks, I know."

His arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder as he pulled me into his chest, and I let a few tears fall. This may be the last memory we have together, and the very idea tore at my soul.

He cleared his throat and I could hear the emotion behind it, he was just as upset as I was, maybe more. "Listen, I want to say something." He nearly whispered before turning to face me on the bed.

"I'm not sure what the appropriate move here is, and I don't want to pressure you or put you in a position where your uncomfortable. My last day is today and I head back tomorrow, but I don't want to leave without you. I know it's not fair to ask and I may sound crazy but... I want you to come with me."

My mouth gaped open and closed like a fish, unsure if I heard him properly or if he was even serious, but when I paid attention to the way his hands trembled and his eyes were filled with anxiety and sadness, I knew in my heart he wanted this just as much as I did.

I smiled lightly and placed my hands on his cheeks, "I'll come with you."

His eyes were locked on mine intensely, and I wasn't even sure he heard me until a hope filled smile spread across his lips. "Seriously?"

"If you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you, then what's stopping us?"

His smile faltered slightly as he shrugged his shoulders, "I'd be asking you to uproot up your life to come with me. That's a big ask."

I shook my head and squeezed his hand in mine, "What life? I don't have a life without you, Jensen. You are the only one who's really seen me for who I am, your the only one who didn't turn your back on me even when I pushed you so hard. My life is you."

His head dropped to the floor and he sniffed, avoiding looking back at me. Confusion filled me before I pulled his head up and noticed the tears in his eyes.

Out of everything I've seen in my life, this was the worst. The look on his face and the anxiety filling him broke my heart in two. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve before facing me slightly.

"Jensen, are you sure you want to do this?"

He nodded frantically and sat up, "I do. I really do."

"Than why are you crying?"

He shrugged as an embarrassed smile appeared on his lips. "I wish more people could have noticed you, your an amazing person and it just kills me that you've had such a hard life."

My heart melted in my chest, "Thank you Jensen, that's sweet. You don't need to cry though, I'm okay now, with you."

Leaning closer, his lips hit mine softly, sweetly, passionately. Every movement felt like we were falling in love even more. I could feel his smile in the kiss and I had to stop myself from laughing at how damn adorable he was.

The phone rang loudly causing us to jump in our spot, bursting out into giggles before he picked it up.

"Hey. Yeah, I'm on my way home, calm yourself." He spoke assertively before hanging up and pressing one more kiss to my lips. "Sorry honey, duty calls."

"It's okay." I replied confidently, "Go give them some Dean Winchester."

He chuckled as he walked to the front door, pausing in his spot to turn back towards me, "Thank you for trusting me."

My smile spread wide as I nodded, "Thank you for not treating me like an outcast."

"Never." He winked, before leaving the hotel.

As soon as the door closed I laid back on the bed, excitement and giddiness filling me all at once.

This was happening, this was real life. Never once have I expected somebody like him to want somebody like me, but god, he loves me, he really loves me.

I have to be the luckiest girl in the world.

Again, if this is a dream, don't wake me up.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Like, comment & reblog -feedback is my fuel ❤️

The Broken Fan taglist: @magssteenkamp

@creative-writing92

[alchemist-shizun]

I was waiting you've been waiting ... MYATB final ep live reaction!

Somehow even later than last night, not only did I work for 6 hours again, I have guests over, but with no further ado let's begin!

first off i am terrified, somehow, even if im sure everything will be fine

STARTING OFF STRONG WITH THE HUAIBAO FANCAM. Does anybody look at first episodes Xiaobao expressions and how much of a genuine happy and warm smile he had, and now it's been SO LONG since we've seen one. Healthy happiness where are you?

Also. If I had a nickel for each time a danmei character falls off a cliff i'd be fucking rich let's BE REAL

lil meowmeow ...

XIAOBAO IS LOOKING FOR THE PENDANT SOMEBODY HOLD ME BACK

IT'S SOMEONE ELSE'S BLOOD XIAOBAO NO WORRIES this is so funny to me

Su Yin it's your turn for some character development come on I believe in you I know you won't disappoint me COME ON

My main question is why make him suffer so much things can be fixed so easily. so easily. oh my god.

Internally I'm also laughing a bit because Su Yin is just saying THIS MAN RUINED YOUR LIFE AND U WANT HIM BACK JUST HOW GOOD WAS THE DICK TELL ME. TELL ME

look at him, moisturized, in his lane, i dont know how the rest of the meme goes but you get it

OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. YOU NEED TWO PEOPLE WITH STRONG INTERNAL FORCES. OH MY G O D u mean to tell me both Huai'en and Su Yin need to help him, this makes my ot3 mind go insane. This is beautiful, thank you Que Siming, again, he fixes everything, he is insane

NNNNNNNNNNnNnNnim goinG INSANEEEEE SIMING'S LIL be careful TO JINBAOOOOOOOOOOOOO STOPPPPPP IM SO SOFTTTTTTTT WEEPS WEEPS WEEEEEEEEEEEEEPS.

A few words for Xiaobao in this scene because holy shit. My boy is wholly desperate he'd do anything just to let Huai'en live, his feelings have been a mess for so long but he still finds it in himself to care about him so deeply he's better than any of us

This entire drama has been either of them in bed suffering and the other watching over, beautiful

holy fucking shit they FINALLY kissed. I'm going insane. THEIR HANDS!! THEYRE SO SOFT. Huai'en looks so cute after being kissed, they're so I'm so insane. my children.

i love my sick wife (literally either of them)

THEIR LITTLE SMILESSSS THEYRE SO SOFT AND VULNERABLE I WILL CRY

"swear to god if u and i become like this i give you permission to kill me" the most homophobic gay ever

I think he might really be one of my favourite characters I swear. Give an award to his actor. he is so disgusted by everything I love him

OH WOW OKAY. BATH TIME? Oh my god Su Yin and Huai'en. Here we go. My immediate response is "just kiss about it" but I don't think they will. Their tension would bleed out so easily

OOOO ZHAOCAI'S A MEANIEEEEEEEEEE

huaibao: having a small moment. Su Yin: THIS AINT ABOUT YOU!! i love them all, good god, he is hilarious, his jealousy is visible from three hundred miles

The healing process is so interesting to watch, I could just stare at them work for hours

WHY IS THIS GUY STILL HERE. WHAT. Thats a lot of food for a prisoner. TELL HIM LI GONGXIANG. HE IS SO AWESOME. God I ucking hate this guy.WHY ARE THEY LEAVING HIS CELL DOOR OPEN

HAPPY LITTLE THINGS

"Who am I to be mad at you?" I KNEW ITTTTTT I KNEW YOU'D CAVE SU YIN I LOVE U. WOOOOOOOOO

Heeeeeeeeere comes the cocklockkkk

MY TRIO OF WONDERS TWT <3 MAN the best dumbass trio ever

this is so fucking funny those two are lounging and there the others go being dramatic

im going to cry over su yin and xiaobao's bond again? yes. i am.

Thank u for calling that man a freak xiaobao

SHAOYU?? also this is the first time I see some actual help for starving people, that's a nice touch.

That was the stupidest interaction ever thank you shaoyu

oh he knows. he knows.

XIAOYU EXTERIOR DESIGN PASSION

THE SHADOWS MOVED IN WITH THEM ZHAOCAI NO LONGER ALONE. Also the matching headpieces!

THEY SAVED HIM TWT SHADOWS MY BELOVEDSSSSS

HUAI'EN IS SO HAPPY ABOUT BEING HIS WIFE

xiaoyu istg- HFAHAHAHA SHES DOING IT ON PURPOS. WE'RE ALL LAUGHING AT THEM LIKE ZHAOCAI

PLEASE IM NEARLY CRYINGNFDSAJAHAHAH

HE CANNOT BE JEALOUS ABOUT SU YIN AFTER HE PROPOSED FSJ

NOOOOOOOO WDYM THATS IT??????? NOOOOOOOOO THEY BARELY GOT USED TO EACH OTHERS SMILE. AND NOW IT'S OVER TWT NOOOOOO well that was a wild ride

I dont know what it is about danmei novels and NOT SHOWING ME THEIR WEDDINGS!!! I WANT TO SEE THEM!!

Anyway. WE REACHED THE END. WOW. Insane. Incredible work to all who worked hard to give us our first uncensored Chinese bl, may it pave the path to many more! I had fun waiting for episodes each week, hadn't felt this elated in a long time. I'm sad I cannot look forward to more, but I might get inspired and create some art or fics for this series, who knows owo the actors are too pretty to pass on.

I'm extremely glad we got that Su Yin acceptance arc I have been mentioning, Shaoyu hasn't gotten more bearable but ig he has to mature yet. Xiaoyu was an icon all episode, I must admit, Zhaocai has found his new partner in crime. I also dearly missed Jinbao and Siming as soon as they left :( their energies were something stupendous. I also liked that Huai'en did not go back to see his foster father, he didn't give him the fucking satisfaction. As it should be.

I'm not smart enough to make much more introspection so I think this is where I'll leave it! Come talk to me if you too have nobody to discuss this series with lmao, askbox is always open. Time for a deepdive into the tag now. I hope I see more of this soon!

A big pat on the back to all those of us who suffered to this day. WORTH IT WORTH IT.

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT

[shonenkun309]

ᴛʜɪɴɢs ɪ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ ɪɴ ᴋᴏɢᴀ's sᴇǫᴜᴇʟ 'ᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪ ᴏғғɪᴄɪᴀʟʟʏ ʟᴏsᴛ ᴍʏ ᴍɪɴᴅ, ᴍʏ sᴀɴɪᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟsᴏ ᴍʏ ᴘᴀᴛɪᴇɴᴄᴇ :

WARNING : *It may contain some spoilers from the first ten chapters of the sequel, and ALL, I repeat ALL of it gonna be angsty. I warned you, I'm not responsible!* @randomf2p

Koga might lose everything, his home, his job, people's love for him..It was mentioned throughout the beginning of the sequel how much people loved and respected him, even giving him a different title than "San, Kun, or even Sama." And as far as I know, mentioning these matters at the beginning, may be negatively affected during the plot.

I have a feeling that Koga will give up everything and join the Senketai to "AVENGE" his father. As it turns out, Koga's dad "Ouga" was the first founder of the Senketai group but he abandoned them, joined the imperial army, became a soldier, and died, or in other words, was killed because he once opposed them for something...I have a feeling that Koga might bring out his vengeful personality and join the Senketai, claiming revenge, even though it is not his style.

I feel like Koga will become a cold character like Akiyasu for a while...I can never bear the thought of that smile disappearing from his beautiful face throughout the sequel. I will never bear it!😭💔

break up scene. There has to be a breakup. In any love story, The two heroes face difficulties during their love journey, and one of the two heroes makes a decision that the other will not like, which leads to their disagreement or breaking up...we can't call a couple "a couple" if this didn't happen...Don't mind me, recently I started rewatching old love series that I used to watch when I was a kid and I'm starting to understand their plot now...hehe...hmmm

Carnage form makes a comeback. How can we forget the best form of Koga in the entire game? This is 10,000% predictable, I mean...Koga is still taking the medicine from Yura, which means that the return of the carnage form is guaranteed. But if we take the matter further, he may appear with this transformation in public, or he may hurt Futaba again and realize this and run away, or he may speak through it, anything is possible, dear potatoes!

I might even imagine that Koga is about to die or that he died and Futaba's love for him brought him back to life or something... Oh my god! I hate my brain at 12 midnight! SOMEBODY SNACH THE PHONE FROM ME!

Koga's past self will show up, speaking with Koga like a school basketball player talking to his teammate...or scolding him for doing something to Futaba, Oh IMAGINE THEM ACTUALLY MEETING EACH OTHER AND THREW HANDS AT EACH OTHER!! I SHALL BRING POPCORN WITH ME WHILE READING THIS SCENE IN CASE IT HAPPENS!

They might use Koga for the Youjin experiments. The Youjin experiments got revealed in Koga's sequel apparently, because they appeared in the main story, but their identities were unknown and mysterious, and he and Yakumo might meet for the first time, as I always wished for, and who knows? Either they cooperate and stop the experiments or not.

Just noticed I didn't talk about Kiryu and Kagari until now, I think Kagari is the final boss and not the eye-patched Kiryu. Why? I don't know, I don't trust people with glasses in visual novels. Therefore, I expect that Kagari will turn against Kiryu and kill him, making it clear to us that Kagari is the final boss in the end.

If that situation that always goes through my head occurs in the sequel, I will sue the staff, writers, authors, artists, and game makers.

** Phew...I should stop or else I might spoil the sequel before it comes out hahaha 😂😂😂😂 **

But really... if any of this happens, I swear I will cry, but I don't know, either from joy because what I expected was true, or from sadness because Koga will be the one who will suffer from what I expected...I will leave the opinion to you.

[bobateastay]

soft bodies playing in the street (you've tasted love and it tasted sweet)

choi san & song mingi

cw: childhood friends/sweethearts!au, angst, brief fluff, fighting, blood, first kiss, implied/referenced suicide, last day alive

wc: 1.3k

title from ethel cain's god's country

Mingi is sitting in the road when San comes out of his house looking for him. It’s warm out, the kind of warmth that hasn’t really settled yet and so flits over your exposed skin, scared away by even the slightest of movements or shadow. The asphalt below his palms and butt is slowly warming up to the day. It won’t meet any tires today - the dead of summer rarely brings cars down their quiet street - but it does meet a second pair of feet, then hands, as San makes his way over and sits down beside him.

“Hey,” he greets the other, returning the small smile his neighbour gives him.

“Hey,” he replies, gently bumping shoulders with Mingi.

San sits cross-legged, meek and catlike the way he has been his whole life. He’s only just turned eighteen and is waiting eagerly for Mingi to catch up so they can do grown-up things together. Get beers. Smoke cigarettes. Rent a karaoke room in town. Enter the competitions listed on the back of cereal boxes. He won’t do any of it until Mingi has caught up to him. He won’t do any of it ever, really. He’s not fully aware of that yet, hasn’t quite grasped the concept of permanence and all of its consequences.

“You wanna go to the grocery store later? Yunho was talking about this new soda and I wanna try it,” Mingi says, picking up little pieces of gravel and tossing them across the road. He turns his head to look at San after a while, when the other still hasn’t said anything, and is met with a sight that makes goosebumps rise on his arms, even as the sun rubs its soothing palms over his skin.

San is red in the face from holding back tears, bottom lip quivering and eyes watery. His fists are clenched in his lap, white-knuckled and shaking. Mingi frowns.

“Are you okay? What happened?” he asks him.

He doesn’t know it yet, but by this time tomorrow San will be dead. There will be no noble cause of death like they’ve discussed on the nights when confronting their mortality seemed like it was light years away, only a stomach full of his mother’s sleeping pills and a once-beloved t-shirt covered in barf. Looking into the eyes of the boy who’s been his neighbour since before he was even born, Mingi doesn’t know this yet.

All he knows is that despite San’s puny limbs and bony structure, it hurts like a bitch when he swings his fist forward to hit him. The punch lands right upon Mingi’s eye and radiates there uncomfortably, hot and throbbing like the beginnings of a fever.

“What the fuck?!” he yells into the quiet of the street. San swings again but fails to connect because Mingi is swinging right back, knocking him back into the asphalt. They’re both scrawny, have been their entire lives, and so they’re evenly matched as they hit and kick and shove each other in the middle of the road.

Sharp elbows dig into temples, knobby knuckles crack as they make contact with rib cages. Mingi grunts and yells and swears, landing a punch square on San’s mouth right as the other yanks on his hair. He yowls like a cat and is pushed backwards onto the road. His head hits the ground and for a moment it hurts enough for him to forget about what is happening - that his best friend has suddenly turned on him. He barely registers the somebody straddling him until something wet lands on his cheek.

He’s quick to assume that it’s spit, but when he opens his eyes he’s met with something else. San’s tears roll quickly down his cheeks, dripping from his nose and chin and eyelashes only to land on Mingi’s face. They come fast, hot, fat tear drops that pull whimpers from San as they make their way down his face. They warm him even more than the sunshine does.

“San,” Mingi manages to choke out, breathless and confused. “What’s wrong? What the hell are you doing?”

San doesn’t answer him, at least not in the way he’d been expecting.

Mingi is still breathless, still confused, as San leans down and presses their lips together. His first thought is that San’s lips feel just as soft as they look (along with that thought comes the sudden realisation that he’s thought about San’s lips before). His second thought is that this is his first kiss. Is this San’s first kiss? He thinks it is. Unless you count that one time he kissed the corner of Wooyoung’s mouth for a dare (it was supposed to be a full kiss but everybody let it slide when they saw how red Wooyoung had gotten). His third thought is that oh, he definitely understands why Wooyoung turned so red.

He parts his lips for a moment, trying his best to follow San’s lead, and tastes metal on his tongue. Just like the tears that are pressed to his cheeks, the metal is warm, coating his lips and tongue in a heady but not unpleasant way. His hands find San’s head, and he strokes San’s hair without really knowing why. He seems to understand less and less of what’s going on by the second.

“I love you,” San says suddenly, breaking the kiss to sit up straight on Mingi. It is revealed that the metal Mingi has swallowed down is blood pouring from a cut in San’s lip. A cut from the punch Mingi landed on his mouth.

“Shit, did I hurt you?” Mingi asks, even though they’ve both done a number on each other.

“Do you love me?” San answers with his own question, voice shaking just as much as his hands are as he laces his fingers with Mingi’s. He kisses down Mingi’s wrists, the cut in his mouth leaving stains of red in its wake.

“‘Course I do,” Mingi says reluctantly, embarrassed by his own feelings and the strength of them. His stomach is warm as he watches San kiss his arms. It’s an intoxicating warmth, nestling around San’s blood that he swallowed from San’s mouth, and floods the rest of his body as he struggles to sit up. Awkwardly, he pulls San to him in a tight hug. “I love you. I thought you knew that, Sannie.”

San noses at the spot where he landed his first punch, breathes on a stinging cut that he left behind by trying to scratch Mingi’s face. Neither of them know it yet, but that cut will leave behind a scar. It will be dark at first but will slowly pale and smooth itself out until it’s practically indistinguishable from the rest of his skin. There will come a day when Mingi will spend hours upon hours looking for it in the mirror, looking for the last gift that San left him. He does not know this yet. San will never know this.

“I’m sorry,” San murmurs. “I forget.”

“Will you tell me one more time?” San asks.

“That’s okay,” Mingi says, even though it isn’t really. He doesn’t like the idea of San not knowing that he loves him. He decides he’ll fix that starting tomorrow, not knowing that tomorrow won’t come for San.

“I love you,” he repeats. He feels San smile against him.

“You wanna go get that soda Yunho talked about?”

The soda doesn’t taste as good as Yunho described, though that might be because of the blood that’s still in Mingi’s mouth. They kiss again and San’s lips taste sweeter than any soda Mingi’s ever tried.

Soon Mingi won’t have a lifelong best friend - someone who was waiting for him before he was even in the world, who has always waited for him through thick and thin. But he will have a scar by his eye, and the blood that he swallowed;

The soda bottle San left behind in his room that he will keep for the rest of his life;

And the memory of kissing his best friend until his lips hurt,

while the asphalt grew hotter

and hotter

and hotter

beneath them.

.

taglist: @i-luvsang @peanutpmingib @sannierio @lokai-fi @w-iill @cutie-wooyo @sanjoongie @songmingisthighs @talkbykhalid @itsjustwinter @aursmrt

[aleki-lives-here]

I am entirely convinced that most of my cooking hinges on the right order of panicked prayers to all the gods and fictional characters I can think of.

I am sure that the only reason this recipe worked was that I started it with praying to Xie Lian, then stopped and in a fit of panic tried to find anyone else to pray to because what the fuck is this it looks completely inedible there needs to be some huge divine intervention for this to work at all oh gods someone please this needs to be saved oh gods oh gods oh gods. and then back to praying to Xie Lian because there is no hope in this world but he may at least save me from dying of food poisoning. that's all i ask from a meal, after all, to not kill me with food poisoning. please let it not kill me with food poisoning i swear there'll be no weird experiments for a day after that i swear i'll stick to normal recipes for the time being please spare me.

And then it turned out to be the tastiest way to fry eggs I've ever tried! Like genuinely great food! Even if it looked like somebody had already tried to eat it and threw it back up. And I am completely alive and well and want more of it!

It's the prayers. It's definitely the prayers and the panic and some higher being taking pity on me. That's the only logical explanation for my cooking process that I will accept.

[ask-dametagala]

Infiltrating the castle!

▪︎Prologue.

▪︎Chapter 1: Stay in line!

▪︎Chapter 2: Inside the castle(s).

▪︎Chapter 3: The mysterious threat, Part 1:

"Hey Kibble, don't ya think this year's party is a little different than the ones we've had before?"

"Well, I find it odd that we're still celebrating the birth of an actual, real death god that tried to spread darkness all over Popstar but- What do you mean, Burning Leo?"

Balancing two plates on both hands, Leo swiftly maneuvers around the guests, walking to Sir Kibble's side.

"Well I mean, there's a bunch of strangers here, I don't think they're actually here for the party itself to be frank."

"That is true…I saw a team of cameramen snooping around the castle earlier, as if they were looking for someone."

The two reach several food stands placed in the Castle's courtyard. Apparently the buffet was being held outside, which provided the guest a nice view of the night sky.

"Are they trying to interview King Dedede, perhaps?"

"Deeefinitely not, they could've done that in the throne room! Heck, I don't even think anyone here cares for his majesty! When King Dedede made his opening speech, I swore I heard gossip about him!"

"Hmmmm….and when he went down to greet the guests, they looked bored. As if they only came for something else…"

"It must be the buffet! I swear, the waddle dees make the BEST food!"

"I don't think that's their motive, Burning Leo….haven't you figured it out yet? Ever since word of sir Galacta Knight being here was spread across the galaxy, outsiders have been traveling to Popstar nonstop recently. Everyday, there'd be at least 3 visitors from stars we don't even know about! But they'd all leave disappointed when they couldn't find him. Do you know what this means, Leo? This means they're using this party as an excuse to find sir Galacta Knight! "

"Huh? Whazat?"

Leo turned around to Sir Kibble, now with plates full of food. He was too busy grabbing servings the entire time the suit of armor was monologuing.

"Nevermind…."

"Eeeh?!?! What's with this sign?!"

A sudden shout was heard from afar, it was Kirby! Finally, after kicking all of the unwanted travelers away, he could enjoy the party with Bandana Dee. However, as they were about to step into the yard, Kirby spotted a sign plastered on the side of the brick wall:

No kirbys allowed!!

"Ah….right. The king didn't want you to eat here."

"Whaat?!? That selfish prick! How stingy could he be?!"

"Sorry Kirby….but he was probably afraid you'd eat all the food and leave nothing left for the guests!"

"Boooo…."

"B-but don't worry Kirby, I'll make it up to you. I'll cook anything you want tomorrow!"

"Thanks Dee…but I'm hungry now! I wanna eat!!!"

Kirby starts throwing a tantrum, somersaulting all over the place. He came all the way here for food and yet the King didn't let him have any, how unfair!

"That's it, I don't care about Dedede! I'll eat anyways!"

"W-wait Kirby!!! Control yourself!! D-don't inhale!!!!"

The pink puffball shoots out to the buffet, cheerfully running to the places with food. Bandana Dee immediately follows him, trying his best to make sure Kirby doesn't eat too much.

As they pass through tables, Kirby suddenly spots somebody familiar and stops. He looked up to see his old friends, Ribbon and Adeleine!

"Ribbon! Ado!!"

"Kirby! You made it! I'm so glad.."

Adeleine lets out a sigh of relief and jumps down from her chair to give Kirby a big hug. She was happy to see him again, especially after what happened earlier. The fairy giddly zips to their side, giving Kirby a huge smile.

"I knew those big jerks wouldn't stand a chance against you! They were so rude!"

"Ehehehe! Yeah! I beat them all up in no time!"

"Oh don't remind me of them…we've never dealt with anything like that before, it was horrible! Luckily, Sailor came out and helped us!"

"Who? Sailor Dee? The waddle dee who works for Meta Knight?" Adeleine asked with curiosity, she had only heard of him a few times when she and Ribbon were talking to King Dedede.

"Mhm, he came out with a microphone and a few speakers, said a few words and they all just…left!"

"Gee…I wonder what he said?"

Meanwhile, at the tower...

Despite Galacta Knight taking control of the situation, Meta Knight still felt uneasy. He had never felt anything so…dangerous before. Not only that, what he initially thought was his intuition was actually something else entirely. This feeling got more clearer every second, as if he was connected to something outside. He had never felt this way, not since he met……his dark counterpart. Meta Knight immediately realized what this meant and turned his head to the glass doors leading out the balcony. Perhaps he should stay nearby and see if he was correct…..but it would mean going against what Galacta Knight said earlier. However, he was far too curious to let this go.

Suddenly….

Something flew up the tower with great speed, before soaring back down towards the balcony. The warrior's eyes beam up at the sight of it, as if he was excited for its presence.

Galacta Knight reaches out, grabbing a hold of the other knight's hand as they gently land on the marble fence of the balcony.

It…was…..Dark Meta Knight…..his mirror counterpart……his shadow. Did Galacta Knight mistake him for….him? No, that's impossible. Anyone could tell them apart! Then why….why was he acting so familiar with him? He couldn't turn back now, he had to know what their relationship was like. Meta Knight quickly conceals himself just behind the walls next to the doors, quietly listening to what their conversation was going to be.

"Dark, you came!!"

"Indeed, I did."

[NEXT]

[darchildre]

So, because I have no impulse control and lack the patience to wait for an ILL (and had a gift card I had forgotten about), I went ahead and bought The Murderer Invisible. And then read about a third of it today. Points of interest so far:

Thing 1: The dude who's planning to become invisible is a) named William Carpenter, which is not at all a good monster name, b) has a secret lab in New Jersey of all places, c) wants to become invisible because i) he's ugly and is tired of people reacting negatively to it and ii) for REVENGE on...somebody for...something. The backstory for the REVENGE motive is pretty vague so far.

Thing 2: Carpenter, like Griffin Invisibleman, is an abrasive asshole that nobody really likes. Unlike Griffin, he is not completely broke and in fact appears to have a lot of money, which means he has a house and can maintain social connections. He has relationships with, like, three whole people (including his housekeeper, whom we will call Person 3).

Thing 3: Person 1 is his niece, Daryl, who shows up on Carpenter's doorstep in the first chapter because she is an orphan from North Dakota with nowhere else to go but to her uncle she's never met before. There is a lot of emphasis early in the book on the fact that her dad is Carpenter's adopted brother and therefore they aren't actually blood relations. Being hella ace and oblivious, it took me far too long to realize why the book was doing this. (Ick.)

Thing 4: Person 2 that Carpenter knows is the most ridiculous human being imaginable: his name is fucking Bromwell Baxter, I swear to god, and he is a) handsome, b) athletic (was a quarterback/tried to climb Mt Everest), c) one of those 1930s movie scientists who knows how to do All The Sciences, d) a person who talks like the lead in a screwball comedy. Baxter has been corresponding with Carpenter about his invisibility project for some time and has recently joined him and Daryl in the house to provide hands-on assistance and also fall in love with Daryl.

Thing 5: THERE IS AN INVISIBLE OCTOPUS IN THIS BOOK.

Thing 6:

...let us conceive of an invisible cobra. Dropped into a room filled with people for whom you have a certain animosity. ... Suppose we let loose a hungry tiger that is invisible. People on the street are knocked down - they scream - great rents are burst open in them -

An invisible dude is not actually particularly scary - he is necessarily naked and unarmed (and, if Griffin, probably has at least a mild cold). An invisible tiger is fucking terrifying.

Thing 7: Anyway, Carpenter has currently trapped both Baxter and Daryl in his cellar while he proceeds to makes himself invisible. He plans to then somehow convince Daryl to "love him" (the book is from 1931 and is therefore being very circumspect about sexual assault/rape, but that's definitely what's on the table), making this chronologically the first invisible person story I've thus encountered to actually contain sexual misconduct/violence. None of the peeping tom nonsense one associates with modern iterations of the trope, but dude isn't actually invisible yet, so that may still be coming.

Thing 8: As I left off, he is currently becoming invisible - he had to use Science to entirely bleach all his tissues first (?), then shaved off all the hair on his body (??). As of the end of chapter 3, Carpenter has taken his Invisibility Potion, but it has only turned the fleshy parts of him invisible, so he is currently a walking skeleton. The author is trying very hard to make me feel body horror feelings about the skeleton, but it is not quite working for me.

[unknownjpegs]

hot

Benny is grumbling about a beer when they all crash through the door, a flurry of limbs and laughing and hoots of annoyed grunts from the vampire. They’re all disgusting. Height of the summer when the city doesn’t even cool enough at night. Covered in blood and worse — Xavier’s hair looks the same but it’s dripping blood in the narrow entryway, making Maran feel a bit sick to the stomach.

Four sets of eyes narrow when Lark flicks the flat’s flickering ceiling light on. The four of them in a cramped circle, staring at each other with red-streaked faces. 

“Gross.” Maran notes thinly. There’s a vampire talon stuck in Benny’s jacket, hooked into the fabric and torn from the finger. “Ack, Ben, gross.”

 It is. They are. This work always makes his stomach turn. It’s nasty work, and Maran doesn’t like the feeling of being layered. Sometimes it’s hard to wash off, sometimes it lingers. He’ll find blood under his fingernails days later, or a splinter from a stake, and think no, I brought it home with me, it’s part of me now. It seeps into everything, and Maran doesn’t like that.

But it’s not…all entirely bad. Because this is nice. Maran likes this. Standing in the foyer, watching Xavier and Lark bat at each other over some jokes, feeling watched by Benny. Feeling in it, around it, surrounding in turn. That bubble of people and people noise.

Maran likes working with Benny’s crew when they need the extra help. He likes feeling welcome. Being somebody, even if that somebody is a piece meant to fit somewhere without space of his own. As far as whole things go, it’s a good whole to be a part of — even if he wasn’t there to begin with. 

Xavier catches Benny’s shoulder with a firm hand. He’s tried to slip past, meander into the living room. He’s tracking crimson bootprints on the hardwood, the most covered out of all them; Lark’s only got a few splatters here and there. 

“Ah-ah. Shower.” Xavier announces, waving his hand at the hall, towards Benny’s room. The blond takes a purposeful step in the opposite direction, forcing Xavier to push him back. “I will take you out back and hose you both if I have to. Swear to Christ.”

“Wh-Why’s that hot?” Benny wonders, brow pulled thoughtfully.

Lark, exasperated: “Ben, come on.” Benny shrugs.

“Floors are fuckin’ sparkling, mate, and I appreciate the effort to keep it nice—” Maran cheeks to Xavier a wry, lip-puckered half smile. “But if you think you’re getting them that deposit back, you are mad.” 

“Shut up,” Xavier eyerolls, his cheeks a little pink. “God, I know. Shut up.”

And even then he still makes them all kick off their shoes in a pile, trying to contain the mess as much as possible.

*

Maran goes to Benny’s room, because he usually does. And he ducks into the attached bathroom to shower. Not because he usually does — he’s only showered here twice before. Neither times for sex, although it had left him feeling shivery and awkward in a similar way. Vulnerable, in somebody else’s space. 

Nothing fun about those times, just circumstances similar to these. Asked along a hunt, accepting it with an eagerness he tried to temper. Getting abso-fucking-lutely splattered and made nasty for the trouble. 

So Maran slips into the bathroom. And out of habit, his hand reaches for the knob.

He pauses. He locks it not because he doesn’t trust Benny, but because yeah, motion’s habitual at this point. Old man thought locked doors meant trouble. Meant Maran was getting up to it, specifically. Meant he had things to hide. Once he moved in with Benji, spent more time around the Palanivels, he locked every fucking door he wanted. Bedroom, bathroom, his fuckin’ closet if he stepped inside. Go in, lights on, lock door. Maybe he was hiding trouble, maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he has something to hide, and maybe he — 

Maran’s fingers pause at the knob of Benny’s bathroom. His thumb circles the button, hesitates. And then his hand falls away. 

He nudges the bottom of it with a blood soaked sock, pulling it open another few centimeters. Light spills out from that crack into the bedroom. He hears Lark across the flat singing something, because Benny’s beddoor is cracked too. 

He gets lost in the water as it spills into the drain, hand still clutched around the pulled back curtain. And he thinks about — 

Fabric snaps into the back of his thigh, slightly off-mark. When he yelps and turns around, Benny’s shirtless and winding it around his fist in a knot. Prepped for another snap. Maran narrows his eyes warningly. Probably less effective how wide he’s grin. 

“Ben — do fucking not. I’m sore.”

“N-nice.” 

He feels a little less silly for the strength of it, because Benny’s doing the same. Mostly. It’s that  weirdly hot, sleazy-wide thing. There’s a hint of something softer in his stare, something beneath the evil mischief. Maran gulps, feeling like he sometimes does when he’s around the other man, at the pinpoint focus of his gaze. 

Maran doesn’t usually like grins like that. Xavier’s freaks him out sometimes. And he doesn’t usually care for blue eyes, either, even how Ben’s are. Little eerie that way, all pale in his already pale face, washing him out. Thin ice over winter water. 

But Maran’s doing things that he wouldn’t usually, like not locking the door. And tonight, like maybe not going home alone to flat that feels half-mausoleum.

He turns back to the shower. Twists it on, zones out. Sound’s a good distraction from how quiet it is, other than their breath. Maran’s panting, shit.

 He shucks his shirt off, and it goes to the tile with a sickening plop. He pauses again, this time for a much longer moment. Stands outside the curtain with his hand under the spray. His neck feels prickly — being observed with careful attention. 

Turns his chin, but not enough to see Benny behind him — he can’t look, not for this. 

“I’d ask ya,” Maran says adjusting the temperature a little. “Ask you how you prefer it, hot or cold.” He laughs breathily. “But that’d mean you actually showered, huh, Ben?”

It’s unspoken, but clear. I want you to join. This is going to be more than kissing.

He nearly leaps into the air when a hand cups the back of his neck. Maran shivers hard. Starts to turn, but the hand tightens. He goes tense, chews at his lower lip and hopes the huff of air that squeeze pulls rom him isn’t too loud.

“H-how do you like it?” 

Alright — that one was fuckin’ loud. Shit.

“Hot.” Maran blurts, throat hoarse. He doesn’t — he likes cold showers. But the sudden tension, the anticipation, makes his mouth move.

There’s a low laugh, barely audible over the shower if it weren’t right in his ear. Teeth there immediately after. Maran definitely makes another noise, and tries to pretend it didn’t happen.

Benny’s hand on the back of his neck stays firm and a little mean, keeping him looking forward. But he can still dart his eyes to the side, see the back of stringy blond hair, clumped with blood, near his hip. 

Tattooed knuckles twist the dial until steam starts to fit the tiny room. Hands pull his pants, knuckles brushing his stomach. Maran stares at a spot ahead of him, chest heaving as his briefs and socks are tugged off, dumped in the same tile-staining pile. And then his eyes slip shut, because more clothing follows. Ben’s — jeans that are probably ruined, black t-shirt that he inspected a little too close, because it’d been tight. They’re both — 

Benny suddenly nudges him forward, so forward he goes; hisses at the temperature change. He feels weight at his back, hand at his hip gripping harder than they need to for balance alone. 

Maran’s face heats of its own accord, those alien nerves back. Benny’s hands aren’t more naked than they usually are, but the touch on his body feels naked. Not just that it reminds him of his own nudity. Just that it feels live-wire raw. Barrierless.  

Facing him, Benny takes up most of the spray. At that realization, Maran’s eyes quickly dip down. 

He feels a little bludgeoned. Lips definitely parted, his face doing something he doesn’t want to picture. He’s gotta work harder for air. Blood and water sluice off them both in trails that swirl pink in the drain. Maran’s eyes crawl upwards slowly.

“Give me a hand.” He tips his head forward. They’re standing close; closer than necessary for the space, and the tilt brings his dishwater-blond mop of hair directly into Maran’s face. 

And Maran takes the offered shampoo without question, does as asked. Every appreciative sigh or filthy grunt drops into his stomach like a stone, sinking into the bottom. Hands rest on his waist, travel appreciatively and hungry over his chest and behind, touching must less innocently than hands in hair. 

He’s hard by the time Ben’s hair is rinsed, after the water runs clear, after they’ve twisted and turned and molded two bodies underneath one spray. 

Not without effort and certainly not at peak efficiency, but they’d done it. Maran likes that they’d had to bump awkwardly together. So he’s hard, and it’s a bit embarrassing, but there’d been too many roaming brushes and teasing grabs on both sides.

Benny’s head tips back under the spray. When he faces forward again, Maran reaches up to brush back the strands for him. 

“Favor for a favor?” He asks cheekily, chin tilting down. With hesitantly curious fingers, Maran touches at his stomach, his chest. Feels exhilarating. The newness but similarity of the body. Somehow he’s comforted again to know it’ll just be… like this, with Ben. Completely new, but at least familiar.

They’re standing even closer, nearly chest to chest, and Benny doesn’t let his eyes fall from Maran’s. Doesn’t look down to navigate between slick flesh. Just holds his gaze with that winter-cold stare and takes him in hand. Maran realizes real fucking fast that it is an expert, confident hand.

So it is really fucking quick, and that’s embarrassing too.

Maran enjoys the intimacy of a shared shower — this isn’t his first time for that, just the first with Ben. Who presses a smirking mouth to his slack, open one, who keeps an arm slung around his waist while the other’s hand teases, pets, and then roughly tugs him. Fucking expert. Maran clutches at pale shoulders, eventually running one hand up the back of his head and into hair. 

Ben watches him throughout it. Maran watches back. Can’t do anything but. 

His greedy, smug expression makes him look frightening-sexy in a way that Maran hadn’t thought to find sexy. Under the spray, water drips down the planes of Ben’s face. Feeling the desire to do something, to make himself useful, he repeatedly pets away the wet strands whenever they slip forward into his eyes, stick to his cheeks. He rakes shaking hands through it, clutches at the back of his head. Whines and pants deliriously. 

And yeah, fuck, is it quick, because it is very fucking good. Just a hand, but not just: Ben’s. Somehow, still better and more satisfying than some of the other stuff Maran has done. Some of the sex, if he’s honest. 

“Fuck,” he grunts suddenly. His eyes slip shut, chin back. Ben leans forward and kisses down to his bobbing adam’s apple. Teeth there, hinting scrape of them and nothing more. “Oh, fuck, Ben—”

Sets him off when a smirk presses to his throat, one last squeezing pull that’s somehow shy of both bad and good. Maran has to lift a hand from that corded, shifting shoulder. Slap it over his mouth, grind his jaw hard to stop the stuttery noises that threaten to punch out. The orgasm smacks into him. One of those real, proper good ones; flashing bright with hard tugs in his gut, an end that feels impossible to fight off. The sort he only gets alone, or really trying for it. 

The sort he gets if he holds his breath right before. When his vision fuzzes, his brain goes sweetly blank — 

Then he’s back to himself under that warm pelting water. Panting, thinking it’s over, he drops that hand from his mouth.

But the fist around him keeps its rhythm and it makes him moan. Even when the bone-deep satisfaction settles into Maran, after he’s come down fully, that hand moves.The water drums on the tile, onto his chest, in his face. Becomes so, so loud in his ears. He holds onto Ben harder. Nails digging in too hard, but he can’t soften it because it’s too much — it’s too fucking much. With a whine, Maran tries to pull away even as his hips punch forward. 

“Ben?” He tries with a gasp, voice rough and hiccuping. It hitches high on the end, an almost-whine that makes his face proper fucking red.

“You got it,” Benny encourages, jaw clicking against Maran’s ear. His hand slows into an appreciative, maddening pull. “You got it, you cute fucking thing, yeah, go on.” 

That makes him gasp — makes his fingernails tighten to a bicep. He feels himself jerk full-body. He drops his head forward against Ben’s shoulder because it’s swimming with something alcoholic and sweet. He looks down, mouth agape as he watches more weakly leave him with a twitch, more of a mess get made against the stupid hip tattoo. He knows immediately that he’ll be tapping into that memory in the future. 

Ben tilts back to rinse off, smug and casual, big palm swiping over his stomach to clean himself. Maran stands there watching, hazy-eyed and swaying, until he’s gently smacked in the cheek with a cupped hand of water.

He splutters, batting at Benny’s fingers as they come up around his cheeks. 

“Oi! Fuck off, what is your problem?” 

“You’re w-wet and now I know w-what your cum face looks like,” Benny snorts, grinning filthily. “Got no f-fucking problem.” 

He pats behind him for then water, which splutters out slow from the old, shit pipes. And then he holds Maran there for so long that he starts shivering, despite all the flesh pressed together.

Benny moves slow, and although he approaches Maran with a towel, he pauses. Sees something they’re worth studying. Instead of drying Maran off, he hands him the towel. It’s a tiny offer of privacy. He’s been so careful and obvious about his wariness for boundaries and all that. 

“Movie w-when you’re done?”

Maran laughs, holding the fabric to his chest awkwardly. “You just wanna fuckin’ make out, man. Don’t lie.”

Ben flicks his chin and doesn’t deny it. Then he throws a towel over his damp shoulder before strolling out of the bathroom.

Out of his bedroom, too.

“Aw, Benny! What the fuck, dude?” Maran hears Lark shout in disgust. Imagines him covering those weird red eyes. “Would you have some fucking class?”

[shadeedee]

Part 2 as promised, with a SHOCKING twist!

Curtain missed his son so much he wasn’t getting enough sleep. He fell asleep at his desk. He remembered the times he had when SQ was a baby. He didn’t know much about babies, but he tried his best. Baby SQ wriggled his toes and babbled. Curtain laughed. “Tickle tickle,” he said, and he tickled his belly. Baby SQ chuckled with delight. “Tickle tickle, tickle tickle..” he said sleepily. His executives stared at him, strangely. He jumped up suddenly. He had been talking in his sleep. “Oh, uh, get back to work!” he ordered. They sighed and left the room. Curtain looked out the window. Where on earth could his son be? Then, the phone rang. He rushed to it. “Hello?” he said. It was the search team. His face went pale and his blood ran cold. “You found what?” he stammered. He put the phone down, got his coat on and ran out of there. Curtain followed the directions they gave him over the phone. It led him to an abandoned farm. It looked scary and no place for children. He was shaking. Chills ran through him. A police car and a group of searchers were at the front of it. He ran over to them. “Please, please don’t tell me,” he said, almost in tears. A policewoman put her hand on his shoulder. The area was closed off with police tape. That could only mean one thing: a crime scene. “Dr Curtain sir, this is going to be hard for you to do, but we need you to identify the body we found,” she said. Curtain nodded and followed her into a shed. He couldn’t prepare himself for what he was about to see. A pool of blood stained the ground, and a sketchbook was found in a corner, the pages ripped out. A blue jacket was also found, covered in blood, over near another corner. And there, in the middle of the shed, lay his son. Covered in blood, sprawled out on the floor, and looking as if he was sleeping, but he wasn’t. Curtain’s mouth fell open, and he sobbed in despair. He threw himself on his son’s body, cradling him. “Oh god! Oh i’m so sorry! Oh my son! Who did this to you!? I swear to god when i find who did this!” he screamed. Even the police had a hard time controlling their emotions. “He, he was just a boy. What a waste of a young life,” the sheriff said. They sadly agreed. Who could have done this? And why? And why SQ? Perhaps it was some sort of revenge plan. To get back at Curtain. “Oh my god. Why didn’t they just take me, instead!?” he cried. The news of SQ’s death spread all over the Stonetown news. It shocked the entire community. Again, they looked at Curtain as the suspect. “That man hated his son. He treated him like garbage. I wouldn’t be surprised if he killed him,” a woman said. Others agreed. “Poor kid. Having Ledroptha Curtain for a dad,” a man said. Mr Benedict cried for days after hearing about his nephew. It was devastating. A week later, Curtain had to bury his son. He buried him beside his biological father. “I’m so sorry, Arthur. Take care of him in heaven for me,” Curtain said, tearfully. Mr Benedict stood beside Curtain. The two brothers didn’t say anything to each other for a while, then Mr Benedict turned to Curtain. “Nathaniel, i want you to tell me the truth. Did you do it?” Mr Benedict asked. Curtain was horrified. “What? No! Of course not!” he cried. Mr Benedict stared at him. “I don’t believe you for a second. I know you did this. Just admit it. There’s nobody else who could have done it. Just tell the truth, Nathaniel. Please.” Curtain backed away. “I’m not a murderer, I’m not. I didn’t do this. Nicholas, you’ve got to believe me,” he said. Mr Benedict shook his head. “You can’t even look me in the eye. Your eyes are darting all over the place. Your pupils are dilating. And you’re backing away. You said to Reynard, you cultivated a very special talent. To tell if somebody was lying. Now, you are the liar. Start with the truth, continue with the truth, and end with the truth, Nathaniel. Tell me, in every detail, how did you kill my nephew. Tell me. Right now. I want to know.” Curtain said nothing. He knew he was defeated. He shut his eyes. He looked at Mr Benedict. “Alright Nicholas, you win.”

[the-faramir]

"Wow, thanks for listening to me ramble on! Usually, people just nod and walk away when I get started. This is very therapeutic. I feel that I can trust you."

Midori gathered her thoughts. "Yeah, it's kinda weird how we haven't been completely wiped out yet. I mean, a bunch of carnies turned adventurers, tryin' to save the Starstone Isles an' maybe even the whole world from an extinction event? Facin' down xulgaths and demons and dinosaurs? It's like this whole plot was dreamed up by somebody who had snorted up too much o' that white powder they sold us in that tavern back in Kerrick. (Hoo, boy, THAT was a night!)

"But I guess the gods have given us their favor an' have helped us out along the way. Like when a bunch of us first escaped the Celestial Menagerie, we were runnin' through the woods on a 30-mile hike to Abberton with no food, no supplies, like two of us with weapons, an' a bunch o' circus people who have never left the circus grounds! Miraculously, we found a boat wrecked along the riverside with crates of supplies. I swear, it must have been Cayden Cailean listenin' to our plight who put that in our path. Y'know, in advance an' all like he planned it that way. Otherwise, we'd'a been SLAUGHTERED by those xulgaths we ran into by the Erran Tower. They had this big guy they called a SPINESNAPPER! If that isn't pants-soilin' scary, I don't know what is! Well, I guess we'd'a been slaughtered anyhow if it weren't for ol' Bufurug. Pullin' down lightning bolts from the sky to smite our enemies? AMAZING!

"Oh, an' then one time we were in an abandoned mine and we found this automaton all chained up. Like a metal box with a glass front, her belly full of racks of potions, an' a slot to put coins into to get the potions to come out. We unchained her, an' her faerie dragon companion started handin' out potions. So they decided to come with us when we left. Sometimes they help us out in battle when some o' the other adventurers need to be somewhere else. The automaton's named Buffy, and the dragon's named McBuffington. OH! An' sometimes Buffy can turn into an adamantine dragon and set our enemies ON FIRE with her breath! That's always fun. But, yeah, they help us out a lot."

Midori reached up and grabbed the hovering star orb from the air. "An' Orbison is indeed a cutie. See the eyes? Yeah, I figured he'd need to see better, so I looked for a store that sold googly eyes in Willowside. Did you know they have an entire Googly Eye Emporium there? So I walk in an' say, 'I want these eyes,' an' the creepy ol' storekeeper says, 'These eyes will look into your very soul! They come with a cost!' an' I say 'How much?' an' the storekeeper says, 'Three copper pieces, but there is another cost!' so I say, 'Well, I'll take this other set instead. How much?' an' she says, '…also three copper pieces, but they are not cursed.' So I bought 'em and I glued 'em onto Orbison an' showed the party: 'Look everyone! Orbison has googly eyes now!' an' they were all like 'Oooh,' but I don't think they were actually impressed."

She moved the star orb in her hand as if it were a puppet's head. She turned it so that it looked into her eyes. "What's that, Orbison? Oh, yeah, I should tell him what you do." She made the stone nod in agreement and turned it to face Midori's new friend.

"So Orbison is my familiar. Like the spellcasters have, but he's not an animal. I mean, clearly he's a mineral. Every day, I can do a trick with him that lets him do things. Usually, I give him flight. But also, every day, he can do this thing called an innate surge where he can replenish my magic and let me cast a kitsune spell that I've already spent. But we've been talking," she made Orbison nod again, "and he thinks that with a little more practice, he'll be able to do this thing called Killing Stone where he can shoot out a cloud of poison gas at our enemies." She made the orb nod firmly one last time and let it go back to hovering around.

"Oh, and the xulgaths, yeah. So I don't think they even remember the aeon stones from before. They've been conscripted by demons! Demons are behind this all! They corrupted the hermits at the Hermitage of Blessed Lightning. Their officers have been doing weird experiments with the aeon stones, like sapping their magic and perverting their use to their own goals. Although once, back in Abberton, there was this li'l demon guy we were fightin' and I joked about giving it a cloth sock so that it would join us. An' the li'l guy agreed! He was all 'gimme a sock an' I'll be your friend.' But you know what?" Midori stepped in closer and looked directly into Ferenir's eyes. "Kitsune don't wear socks. So I had nothing to trade! And the li'l guy went away. So I learned my lesson and now I always carry a pair o' socks in my pouch."

"And here I was wondering how to fill up this pretty day, I remembered you guys were holding a show these days.

Are there still shows scheduled?", the dragonblooded warrior crossed his arms and placed a finger on his chin. Was a long, long time since he had visited a circus.

"Are you also a performer by the way?"

@the-faramir