#i think they should be allowed to branch out n replay some classes

[lovevalley45]

i think this is a reflection of the sw 5e ship mechanics rather than just ASO but i will say. for someone who can have mechanics like that go in one ear and out the other, they keep it engaging

[eerythingisshaka]

PTA III

[Trevante Rhodes x Reader]

Word Count: 2.2K

Summer had come and gone in the blink of an eye yet felt as long as finals week when you were earning your teaching degree.  School ended last quarter with a clumsy splat seeing as the first wave of virus knocked everything out of order very quick. You stressed out running lessons to the school for kids to pick up and working with families with limited to no internet access pulled your patience to its thinnest layer.

So when all had officially finished, you had to take the time to yourself as best as you could.  In a normal summer, you would plan a getaway to just about anywhere you hadn’t seen before and the more solo the better.  Sipping something alcoholic in a warm climate with the Sun toasting your skin to its peak melanated beauty was all you would need to pack you full of endorphins that could last you into the next year.

But that wasn’t the plan now.  Travel restrictions keep you from going out of town and you can’t even get a decent dinner anymore seeing as most restaurants are dine out only.  The only silver lining you can muster is the mask mandates allowing you to keep from smiling at strangers in awkward politeness when they get in your way.  It is a layer of protection for your sanity and solitude.  

However that wasn’t the only silver lining you have from the summer.  Mr. Rhodes, or Trevante as he has to still remind you, became very generous with his time with you outside of the classroom.  As much as you try to keep things professional for your jobs sake, he won’t let you be for any little thing.  Your email has message after message from him asking about simple math for everyday things that apparently Nemour needed refreshing on, followed by a ‘so how you been doing?’

Email 1

“Dear Ms. (Y/N), I am contacting you in regards to my son, Nemour.  While in the grocery today, we came across a sale for oranges, 3lb. for $5.  But then this other store has 5 lb. for $6.  Now he is itching to know what price would be the better one to go for?”

Your response:

“Dear Mr. Rhodes,  Although my primary concentration is History, you can tell Nemour that he should go for the second deal with 5lb.”

“Perfect, that’s why you’re the teacher!  So...how’ve you been?”

Sometimes you reply, and sometimes you leave him on read, it depends on how conversational you feel.  But as time progressed, you got excited to see his emails asking to remind him what the 3 branches of government are or what amendment means what?  He even got you on video chat to discuss.

“What?!  So slavery isn’t really abolished on that bullshit?”  Trevante exclaims in awe.

You throw your hands up, aghast as if you just learned it yourself.  “That’s the thing about American government.  They will throw a loophole where you least expect it and throw a parade like the shit ain’t bout to pop out.”

“Damn!  That’s like some Trojan horse shit honestly,”  he shakes his head, taking a swig of his beer.

You snap your finger, “Exactly, my man, exactly!  That’s why nobody can agree on anything worth a damn.  There’s gonna be a clause somewhere that adds some shit that makes the whole thing rotten. But you didn’t hear it from me, so don’t let Nemour know I’m saying this kind of stuff.”

He twists his face in confusion.  “Why wouldn’t I?  My son got a right to know about what this country is founded on.  Everyone does.”

“Yeah I know.  Just...when topics like these pop up it’s difficult to keep it all…” your voice trails off as you search your bedroom for the words you are looking for.

“Politically Incorrect?”  he offers.

You nod a little.  “Kinda, yeah.”

He sets down his beer, sitting a little closer to the screen.  “You shouldn’t have to worry about that.  History is literally set in stone.  If we didn’t have it, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves now.”

“Do we know what to do now though?”  you ask in a higher pitch, squinting like you stepped in hot coals.

Trevante took a minute looking at you before dipping his head down to chuckle.  You could hear the pounding baritone in his chest from your speakers.

“What?  What’s that about?”  you ask.

He sits up again, stroking his beard, “It’s cute when you make your face like that.  That’s all.”

You roll your eyes, pulling your scarf further down your forehead to make up for slipping.  

Trevante tuts at you.  “I need a bucket or something to catch these compliments you keep throwing away that I toss at you.  You don’t believe me or what?”

You give a very dignified look, “I believe I am beautiful.  I just don’t believe in entertaining a parent, is all.”

Trevante sighs.  “Summer don’t count (y/n).  You’re not his teacher now so what’s the issue?”

You look off to the side and back at him.  The crisp white t shirt he has on is obstructing more of the view of his body then you care for but the tightness at the sleeve around his bicep makes up for what you know is already there.

“Hello?”  he says.

You blink a few times, crossing your arms.  “Hm?”

“You go off into space a lot too.  What’s on your mind when you do that?”

His arms around your waist that tightly bind you to his body as you inhale his sweet cologne that is perfectly distributed from his neck to chest.

You scratch your neck, and tell a half lie.  “Oh, just this new school year.”

“See this is a perk of having a teacher friend.  Fill me in, what’s up?”

“Well, all I have right now is that we are doing hybrid learning, so some classes at the school and some at home.  Now the district just need to provide the materials for the kids to be able to do that.  The internet, the laptop/tablets, and make sure we can all connect and no one is behind on lessons.  And since I am on the front line, I have to get creative with the lesson plans and keep people on task and on time.”

Trevante nods.  “Well me and Nemour are excited to see what you have for us next year, whatever it is.”

You smirk at the encouragement.  “Thank you Tre, but I can’t guarantee we will be together for the next school year.  That’s decided at random.  Plus the grade he is in next year is the last one I teach.”

“Nah, we gonna be in there.  If I have to sign a petition or boycott like these hot breathed whites out here not wearing masks, we will be in your class this fall.”

You bust out laughing at his determination.  “Dang, Tre!  Don’t go starting a ruckus up there cuz of me!  He will still be taught well, whoever he has a teacher.”

He makes a cut it motion across his neck.  “Nah, we only rock with the best and that’s you up there.  I will make all the, what you call it?  Ruckus?  That shit!  So I will be seeing you first day in the fall, ok?”

You feel heat spread over your skin from shyness.  His brash attitude comes out and makes you feel like a superstar.  “Ok, I’ll hold you to it.  How’s Nemour doing anyway?”

Trevante nods, picking up his laptop as he changes rooms.  “He is doing well, being a regular kid.  Playing and doing his chores.”

You nod.  “Great!”

He closes a door behind him as he lays the laptop down, you can tell he is laying across his bed on his stomach as he speaks.

“He has been asking me a lot more questions about police and like, if they stop me or him, what’s gonna happen and what do we do?  Should we run away?  Can we not live by cops, stuff like that.”

You heart breaks hearing this. “Wow, and this is coming from a child?”

He nods, resting his chin on his forearm.  “It’s part my fault.  I’m always looking at the news and if he sitting at the table eating breakfast or whatever, he’s gonna see it.  I cut it off when they show bodycam footage though cuz that is nothing but toxic.”

“I can’t count how many times I had to see them replay that man dying in the street.  And in front of people watching, they don’t care who is watching cuz what can you do?  You can’t interfere or that’s a charge on you but he could’ve lived.”

Trevante looks spaced out for a second hearing this.  “I know, and that’s why it’s hard explaining to Nemour what everything is about.  I give him the basics though:  Do what the officer says, don’t argue, and don’t get into shit that’s gonna get the cops called  on you either.  But it sounds played out to even say.  What did everybody else do that’s dead now?”

“Nothing.  Sleep in their bed, going to the store, jogging.  Not a damn thing that warranted a bullet.”

Trevante gives a small shrug, looking sad like he is staring at his reflection in a pond.  “Yeah, so he been grappling with that and that’s a lot for a kid his age.  That’s why I want him to be your student still too cuz you’re one of the only Black teachers there and I honestly think he is uncomfortable with white people right now.  We went to the store the other day and he calls himself protecting me saying if the man getting bread bothers me, he put on his little Timbs so he can stomp him for me.”

You gasp at the thought, giving a weak smile.  “I mean, that would go viral for some child to curb stomp a big old white dude.”

Tre smiled some too.  “I think Nemour was this close to saying ‘Don’t worry bout it sweetheart.’  I can’t let him look at no internet again.”

You put your foot up and say, “He finna give him that SPLAHH!”

Trevante laughs heartily, wiping his eyes, “You more hip than I thought too.”

“I had some wine earlier, so that might’ve helped.”  You put a finger to your mouth and pull up the glass from the nightstand.  

“Oh shit!  So this is Turnt Teacher!  Go head then, don’t let me stop you”

You wave him off.  “You aren’t stopping anything.  If nothing else, you keeping me going.  All this house shit is working my last nerve, it’s nice to see a familiar face every once in a while.”

“I think so too.  You’ve been a great addition to some weeknights this summer.”

You put a thumbs up as you sip your wine.  “Are we still doing a movie tonight?  I think it’s my turn to pick.”

Trevante curls up a lip.  “Nah, I don’t think so.”

Your heart sank a little, already having queued up a selection to watch.  “That’s ok, it is late.”

“Yeah, but really I wanna see you in person.”

Your body tensed at the invitation.  Thinking over the last few months of chatting, he has warmed up to you as an individual, but you aren’t sure if that feeling can translate outside of a screen.  Behind the camera it’s safe, you can be cute and mysterious but vulnerable and clumsy and it all comes up roses for him.  In person, cute and mysterious can seem pretentious and vulnerable and clumsy could just be a weirdo geek to him.

“Well,” you start, “I would but...you know this...pandemic is just…”

“I know,” he says.

“...awful, right?  So I just don’t think I can comfortably do that...now?”

Trevante thinks for a second.  “We can stay within the parameters of the guidelines though right?  Six feet, masks, no crowded space.  If you want, we can do that.  I just…” he sighs heavily, looking tired as he rubs his eyes, “...I have been getting stir crazy and you are the main one I have been keeping contact with outside of family, yet I only spent time in person on Valentine’s Day that one meeting we had.  And you had a date later!”

You laugh at him, remembering their first meeting that could’ve been an email no doubt.

“Yeah, you’re right.” 

“Do you wanna go out with me?  Be honest!”

“Tre, I told you-”

“See?  You even call me Tre now.  We familiar right?  I don’t usually have to beg like this but ma’am, you almost got me on bended knee!”

“Uh…”  you start to feel bad but your mouth stops working under pressure.

“Six feet,” he reminds you.  If nothing else, that makes you less inclined to want to go because what can you do?  No kissing that’s for sure.

“I don’t want to confuse Nemour,”  you rebuttal.

“He will be watched by a guardian, trust me.  He won’t be cramping out grown folks business.”

You feel a flutter in your stomach that fuels your excitement.  A plan to go out, with a man no less!  This could turn the summer around or be a disaster on the horizon.

“Don’t overthink it.  You’re a smart woman, but I don’t want you to overcalculate this.  You wanna see me, I wanna see you.  We’ll play it safe, and finally see each other in some natural light.”

You nod slowly, a smile creeps across your face as his argument finally sways you.  “Ok, I’m in.  Pick the time and place.”

Tag you!

@chaneajoyyy​

[to-many-fandoms-cant-pick-one]

BLADE TO THE PULSE-

RZ!Michael Myers x Reader

Chapter 1:

Volunteer Hours Be Damned

—————————————————

1.de·lu·sion·al

/dəˈlo͞oZH(ə)nəl/

adjective

* characterized by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder.

2.psy·chot·ic

/sīˈkädik/

adjective

* psychotic

relating to, denoting, or suffering from a psychosis.

———————————————————

The first is even worst than the second

Because the second has the gall to be cruel when venting

The first is idiotic at best and naive at worst-

At least with the second you know it's only a matter of time

Before they burst...

———————————————————

"Yeah Mom, I know...I won't-ok...l-love you too. B-." Dial tone followed the abrupt ending to a call that had barely begun. Sighing I glanced up at the neon clock that dimly illuminated my half of the dorm room that I shared with my roommate Kat.

3:49 A.M.

'Why do I want to be a veterinarian again?' Groaning I let my head flop against the clammy light oak wood desk that was provided by the college- and immediately regretted the decision to be so reckless with my body as the tender tissue of my forehead throbbed violently.

"Fucking midterms," I whimpered'"I should've planned better for this." It wasn't that I didn't know the material- I knew it very well- it was my fragile 3.65 GPA, that was hanging in the balance, along with all of my scholarships.

Now here I was at- I glanced back up at the clock-

3:56 A.M.

On a Sunday night.

Suddenly tears of frustration pricked at the corners of my eyes, and I quickly pressed the heels of palms against my lids, because if I started crying now- I wouldn't be able to stop.

I glared at three textbooks spread out on the desk, that were equally judging me in their own way.

"Fuck it."

Dejectedly I closed my books and put them away in my backpack and decided to get ready for bed.

Shuffling sleepily across the 625 sq foot room I trudged past the shared area in the room and noticed the tv was still on, and began rummaging around attempting to locate the remote to turn off the waste of electricity; when then news report for earlier that night began to replay:

"Tonight, the small town of Haddonfield holds vigil for Judith Myers birthday. Judith Myers was 17 years old when she was killed by her 10 year old brother Michael Myers. Some 15 years later the community is still on shock. Judy would've been 32 this year. Michael is now 25 years old and is being held at the Smith's Grove Sanitarium-where he will live out the rest of his lif-"

Losing interest I turned of the tv (I heard about Michael every damn day from my mother), I resumed my nightly ritual of showering- dealing with my hair and picking out my outfit for next the next morning. When I did finally make it to my bed- the fatigue I'd been so keenly keeping at bay, washed over me and gently suffocated be down into the world of sleep.

———————————————————

1 WEEK LATER

———————————————————

Midterms went by smoother than anticipated and I felt a weight lift of my chest, as I made my way around campus. My biology professor Mrs. Whelhers had asked to speak with me regarding a matter for my thesis. And lack of volunteer hours. I looked up at the cloudless sky and sun filled my already impaired vision as I sped walked to the labs, certain that someone was going to jump me for walking alone. My rather feverish anxiousness seemed to roll over me in waves and I clung tighter to my leather crossbody messenger bag that was already digging painfully into my shoulder- the strap taut with the weight of my textbooks.

Luckily I finished my journey completely unscathed- and made my way over to my professors office.

"Mrs.Whelers?" I quietly knocked on the door before calling out again. "It's (Y/N)! You said you needed to speak to me regarding my thesis! I can come back if n-"

Mid sentence the door swung open to reveal a very VERY hungover Mrs.Whelers. I simply stared at her, dumbfounded as I attempted to make sense of her disheveled appearance.

She had heavy purple bags under her eyes- which were rimmed a violent red around her amber irises. Her usually neat strawberry blonde hair looked it was attacked by birds on her way to work, and as for her clothes the were wrinkled. I'd spotted more than on fraying hem and food stain along her skirt and sleeves of her chiffon blouse.

"M-Mrs.Wheler? Are you all right?" I murmured then proceeded to reiterate

What I'd stupidly said a few moments before. "If now isn't a good time for you I would gladly come back another day."

But deep down I also knew that my thesis would be due within the next 5 months and therefore I really couldn't dodge around whatever necessary information she had for me. Especially if it had to do with my volunteering.

Instead the 60 year old woman shook her head and gestured for me to enter the office and waved with a shaky left hand- her wedding ring gleaming in the sunlight that lazily drifted through the tall windows in her office.

Mrs.Whelers began speaking as she sat down, but her words fell on distracted,deaf ears. I'd begun drinking the appearance of the office, all rich maple built in that showed hints of a reddish glow under their glossy finish. 

My professor sighed heavily and immediately I was snapped out of my little trance. My eyes blurred, suddenly watery and after blinking hard to avoid a wave of exhaustion- they refocused with the  precision of a camera lens behind my harsh prescription glasses. 

"I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that...I was a bit caught up in a thought." I mumbled embarrassed that I'd allowed myself to be distracted so easily. Mrs.Whelers looked me up and down cautiously, her eyes narrowing slightly as though she was trying to read the fine print on a document. I stared back at her sheepishly, eyes meeting hers then flitting away nervously. 

I've always been this way when it came to eye contact- skittish and desperate to get away from it. If someone stares at me for too long- I begin to sweat profusely, nausea washing over me like a tsunami...then suddenly my skin feels like its on fire and I'll attempt to find anything on my body to pick at; my face, my arms, my nails, and by the end of it all I'm covered in nicks and scars from my own impulsiveness.

"I was saying Ms.(Y/L/N), that the volunteer hours needed along side your associates thesis are incomplete. Failure to complete said volunteer hours will result in the inability to graduate this upcoming June with the rest of class. More importantly- you will have to redo this past semester, out of your own pocket, your scholarship won't cover you."

"But that'a completely unfair!" I began to protest jumping up almost instantaneously. "I couldn't find the proper volunteer work, every clinic in a 50 mile radius was full for the next THREE MONTHS! I tried every which way possible to squeeze in somewhere; no exceptions could be made!" 

"Unfortunately Ms.(Y/L/N) that isn't my problem- you either find a way to make up the time- in a way that would be approved by the school, or you don't graduate this June. That's final." 

I felt tears swell in my eyes and rushed to grab my bag; I had every intention to run out the door before Mrs.Whelers put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. 

"I didn't call you here to be the bearer of bad news, I wanted to talk about what options you may have; that have been pre-approved by the board..."

I sniffled sitting back down in the white leather arm chair that was seated in front of Mrs.Whelers’ desk. "You already spoke to the board?"

"Yes, they were quite curious as to why a student that has managed to be in the top of her class the past two years, hasn't completed something as simple as her volunteer hours. They realized rather quickly it must've had something to do with the availably of hours, and came up with another idea."

I glanced up at her curiously, "Which is?"

She began to pace around behind her desk as she spoke,"Well considering spring break begins at the end of this Friday- and you will be home for the next week-"

I opened my mouth to tell her there where no clinics back at home that did volunteer work for college students-but she waved a hand dismissively before I could.

"We at the board decided that we would like for you start a branch of animal therapy at Smith's Grove, we know your mother works- so she could be a guide to helping you with patients at first, but this could look really good for your transcripts. What do you think?"

I considered the offer momentarily- I knew getting Mother to agree wouldn't be an issue in the slightest- she’d been trying to get me to work with her at Smith’s for years...

“I could speak to her about it.” I said definitively then added “I’ll email you if she approves of the arrangement.” With a soft smile I moved once more to grab my messenger crossbody and sling it over my shoulder.

“Should your mother accept the boards offer for your volunteer hours I will message to board directly on your behalf, alright?” Mrs. Whelers said leading me to the door. As she opened it I nodded as I passed by- relieved that this problem would most likely have a solution and as long as I completed my 100 hours of volunteer work in the next week, my scholarship and graduation that lie a few months ahead will be safe...

“Have a good spring break (Y/N)!”

“You too Mrs.Whelers...”

Volunteer hours be damned...

***********************************************

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Blade to the Pulse ☺️. I already have the next few chapters planned so expect an update within the next week or two...

[justimajin]

A Darker Shade of Red [2]

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Royalty! AU

Warnings: Character Death 

Words: 6986

Summary: Raised to live as an obedient proper princess who would always bring dignity to her kingdom proved to be difficult when all you wanted to do was go out and explore, but one day a fateful encounter with a boy in brown clothing gives you exactly what you wanted – a chance to see beyond the forest. Getting this opportunity meant everything to you, however you begin to learn the costs of your decision and learn what it truly means to be a princess…..

Note: Apologies for the delay! I hope you all enjoy and this will be the last of it, as it was only meant to be two parts.  

Holding your skirt up you tread carefully though the woods, moving around to avoid any branches that came near you. You were indeed still wearing red but managed to grab your brown cloak before leaving so you can conceal your identity somehow.  You were supposed to be having a literature lesson now, however you told your maid to cover up for you, so you could spend some time back in the forest.

Last night your mind wasn’t allowing you catch any wink of sleep even though you were supposed to get up in a couple of hours. Going into the forest and seeing what the commoners was experiencing, it hit you in a way you didn’t expect, after all you didn’t even know what happened outside the walls of your castle.

So here you were now, hands full of clothes, food and medicine you had snuck out from the castle and walked throughout the forest. You knew your efforts weren’t going to make a strong impact on the overall war but if you could just help those suffering – if you could just ease the pain they were feeling. Finally making it out the forest, you head in the direction of the marketplace.

“Well look who showed up again.” You don’t even need to turn to realize Taehyung is the one behind you, his footsteps trailing slowly behind yours.

“I told you I would come back, so here I am.”

“What’s all that your carrying?”

“Anything I could manage to get my hands on from the castle.”

He walks up in front and grabs one of the bags full of food from you, “My, my, the princess is pitying us now?”

You stop in your tracks and glare at him. “What is with you? Does my status bother you that much?”

“The moment you walked in here with that red dress, I didn’t think you would want to stick around with the lower class.” Taehyung says in a low voice.

“After all, how many royals do you see around here bothering to give us a second glance princess?”

He now glares at you and you’re at a loss of words, what he said in fact was true – the lower class was never taken into consideration when war broke out.

“I’m not like the other royals.” You state in a firm voice and continue walking, having the determination in you to prove him wrong.

Once you reach the marketplace, you’re shocked by what you see. The amount of people on the side of streets have doubled, some of them being clustered together in groups. Many of them were either coughing or in severe pain from being injured, their clothes were completely covered in dirt. In a single day, everything has just changed.

“This is what the war does.” Taehyung speaks up, “One moment things don’t seem too bad, but as the intenseness of the war increases so does our misery.”

The words sting at you, what was the point of taking over a kingdom if so many had to suffer as a result?

You see the women you had helped the other day and look down at her infected leg, which seemed to be getting worse by the moment. She looks up at you and smiles.

“You came back.” She whispers.

“Of course, I did.” You couch down to sit in front of her leg “And I didn’t come without bringing something for you.”

You pull out some herbal medicine to help with the swelling on her leg and grab a blanket to help her to keep warm. You also give some extra food, as you had always seen her eating some of it and setting the rest aside like she was saving it for someone.

“Can I ask why you always leave some of your food?” You ask.

“My daughter, I don’t want her going hungry, so I leave some for her.” She points over to a small girl in a light brown dress which was slightly covered in dust, walking around asking the others if they happened to have any medicine on them.

“Yuna, come over here!” The woman calls out to the girl and her ears perk up, she immediately runs over to you two.

“Yeah mommy?” She holds on tightly to the woman’s sleeve.

“This nice lady over here brought me some medicine, you don’t need to worry anymore sweetheart.”

“Really?!” She turns her eyes in your direction, as if you were the most amazing person she had ever seen. “Thank you so much for helping my mommy!” She attempts to reach out her arms to give you a hug and you let her engulf you into a hug.

“My name is Soomi and this is my daughter Yuna, what is your name?” The mother asks.

“Y/N.”

“Thank you, Y/N.” She pats you gently on the head and you smile.

You walk around and attend to those who were wounded first, many of them have infections and fractures that needed to be attended to immediately. As you went along, you mentally made a note of those whose injuries were severe because the medication you had provided to be ineffective for them. You were also beginning to run out of clothing and food fast, since the population had doubled recently you had really underestimated the amount of resources you need to bring.

“Seems like you’re a favourite now.” Taehyung approaches you with the young boy who you helped in his arms.

You smile at him, “A royal being a favourite? I don’t think so.” He smiles back at you and you feel a little surprised from the action, never seeing him smile in front of you.

“Y/N can I have something to eat?” A small voice pips up coming from the boy in his arms.

“Of course, you can, but how did you know my name?”

“Taetae told me!!” He pulls slightly on Taehyung’s hair and he yelps making you giggle.

“Jimin I told you not to do that!”

“Sorry….” Jimin pouts at him.

“Its fine…” Taehyung lets Jimin down beside you, so he can receive food from you and you’re mildly amused from Taehyung’s reaction.

“I didn’t know you were soft around children.” You smirk at him and Taehyung sighs.

“I am, because there so young and caught up in a war when they should really be spending their childhood in happier times, in a happier place.”

You stare at Taehyung for a moment, you felt you had been starting to understand him a bit better. He had a different side to him, the part that genuinely cared for everyone affected by this war. He saw what the war was truly doing, and he wanted to change it.

“What?” Taehyung catches you staring at him and you avert your eyes.

“Nothing.” You leave his side to continue helping out, but what Taehyung said still replays itself in your mind.

As you continued to keep working, you were beginning to notice that majority of what you had brought with you was quickly depleting, because there was just so many people who needed the resources. If this continued at this rate, you wouldn’t have enough to provide. You glance up to see Taehyung nearby and you decide it was a good opportunity to tell him.

“Taehyung!” He looks at you when he hears your voice.

“Yes princess?”

“I think we’re going to be running into a problem soon…”

“What do you mean?”

“We can’t help everyone here, I don’t have enough for all of them. I can only take so much from the castle without being noticed, plus there’s only so much I can carry with me here…”

“Then I’ll help you, I’ve stolen from royals before and I’m much stronger than you, so I can carry more.” He says trying to persuade you and your eyes light up at the answer.

“That could work…” You say and the both of you begin picking the empty bags you had brought with you up to fill them up again.

“Taetae are you leaving?” Jimin comes over and tugs on Taehyung’s sleeve.

“Jimin I have to get going now but I’ll come see you again.”

“Can Y/N come too??” Jimin says excitedly and Taehyung looks in your direction.

“Of course, she can.” Jimin giggles and he smiles at him. You can’t help but keep noticing how beautiful Taehyung’s smile is and wished he would smile more often.

He gestures in the direction of the forest, “Lead the way.”

You pace yourself through the forest and laugh at yourself, you had been dreaming for so long that you would get to experience this forest for the first time and here you were now constantly entering and leaving it. You wanted to go out and feel what freedom was like, but you were learning so much more about the lower class that was never bothered to be taught to you during your lessons in your kingdom. Learning along the way was nice to you but a part of you wished you were told this beforehand and not be blinded to it since there were always blinders put on your eyes to steer in the good of the kingdom’s direction only.

“What are you smiling about?” Taehyung asks.

“Just about how I got to see this forest for the first time, I would always stare at it from my balcony and I didn’t think the day would come when I would see it.”

“So that was your first time in the forest…” Taehyung whispers and you nod.

Taehyung put on a brown cloak to conceal himself and you pull over a long red robe. He pulls up the hood, so his face isn’t easily seen.

“You go inside and lead me into the rooms, I’ll grab everything we need.” Taehyung says.

“How are you so sure we won’t get caught?”

“Don’t worry I’ve stolen from here plenty of times.” He smiles at your shocked expression.

You shake your head and quickly run to the side, eyes darting left and right for any sign of guards roaming. Although Taehyung knew how to steal, you still needed to be careful of the amount of guards near you, most of them were incredibly skilled and there were countless of times civilians were caught intruding by them. A guard walks to the right of you two and you grab Taehyung’s sleeve towards the lefts, hiding in a small corridor only you knew existed.

“The kitchen and the healer’s room are towards the left of the lower level in the castle, if we can somehow get to that side quick enough it’ll be easy for me to walk in.” You whisper.

��Wouldn’t it look suspicious if you walked right in and demanded food and medicine?” Taehyung whispers, his face inches from yours. You agree with him, trying to figure out a way you wouldn’t seem out of place in the situation.

“What if you distract them? Without their attention on the room I’ll be able to get what we need.” He suggests.

“Alright, let’s go.” Both of you move instantly when another guard walk by you, hiding behind every corner you could possibly find in time. Eventually you make it to the healer’s room and you walk in to great the royal healer, a middle-aged woman wearing a royal red dress, who seemed be working on some herbs.

“Hi Ara.” She turns around and looks alarmed to see you.

“Princess Y/N why aren’t you in bed?”

“In bed?” You ask confused.

“You maid informed us you weren’t feeling very well.” Oh, you thought, that’s the excuse she used for you.

“Uh yes, well you see I needed some medicine for it.” You realize that this would be the perfect opportunity for you to ask without being seen as suspicious.

“Of course, your majesty right away!” She collects some herbs while occasionally asking you for symptoms to which you respond with needing pain relief, knowing it would useful to those injured.  

The moment you step out of the room, you find Taehyung hiding with herbs hidden underneath his cloak, so you hide some under yours as well. The two of you enter the kitchen and use the same strategy with you conversing and him taking the food. After you had gotten everything, you turn to leave through the same way you had come into the castle back into the forest.

“Taehyung are you sure you can carry all that?” You whisper to him, his arms and yours currently full of necessities but Taehyung decided to carry a heavier load out of the two of you.

“I’ll be fine, we need to get out of here quick.”

Taehyung turns, and you wish you both had been paying more attention, because you had walked straight into a guard’s line of sight.

“Hey! WHO ARE YOU?” The guard yells and you look at each other in panic.

Taehyung grabs your hand and pulls you out from your frozen state, speeding up so you can lose the guard trailing closely behind you. You accelerate your legs and you glance at the view before you, discovering that you were close to your chambers.

“Taehyung, this way!” You let of his hands and run in the right direction looking behind you to see he was still following you.

You reach your chambers and quickly open the door, pushing Taehyung inside before shutting the door closed and locking it. You place a hand on your beating heart and desperately try to regain your breath from all that running.

“Where are we?” Taehyung asks as he examines the interior of the room.

“These are my chambers.” You recall that your maid always stacked some blankets in your dressers in case you got cold, so you reach for those and take them out.

“I have these blankets we can use them” You catch Taehyung looking out your balcony.

“So, this is the view you have?” He asks.

“This is what I see everyday, it’s the closest I’ve gotten to see the forest.”

“But you’re a princess.” He says it almost as if he couldn’t believe you.

“I am, a princess who needs to uphold the dignity the kingdom requires, even if it means being stuck in the castle all the time.” Your lips tug into a sad smile.

“You had never seen a commoner then….”

“Before I met you, I had heard about commoners, but I wasn’t allowed to see them because of there status.”

“It all makes sense now,” Taehyung looks at you, “But why help us?”

“After hearing about how great the war was going for so long, it shocked me to see people suffering from it and I wanted to do something to change that.” You smile, and he returns it, as if he had been relieved from hearing your answer.

“WHERE DID THE INTRUDERS GO!?” Your eyes widen, and the guard still being around had completely slipped your mind.

“Taehyung how do we get out of here? We can’t leave through the door they’ll know its us!” Taehyung looks at you before shifting his eyes towards the balcony.

“Give me those blankets.” You hand them to him and he starts tying them together to form a long rope.

“I hope this stays together…” He whispers, tying it to the edge of the balcony and throwing the rope down. He then grabs all bags filled with material from the kitchen and the healer’s room and ties them around his waist.

“No… we can’t possibly…. “Taehyung grabs your hand and leads you to the balcony, kneeling down so you could climb onto his back.

“What Taehyung- “

“We don’t have a choice, either we do this, or we get caught.”

You hesitate, but you know he’s right and there’s no absolute way you were going to risk getting caught so you lace your hands around his neck. He picks you up and stands at the edge of the balcony, looking down to see how high the distance is.

“I’ll try to get down as quick as possible, just hold on tight and keep an eye out for any guards” Taehyung says, and you nod.

Taehyung grips onto the rope and you clutch tighter onto him, feeling terrified already from the high height. He begins to start moving down the rope and you take steady breaths, trying to keep watch of around you.

The both of you are almost all the way down until you hear a guard’s voice.

“THERE THEY ARE!” The guard yells and Taehyung let’s go of the rope, causing both of you to fall the rest of the way down. You land on the ground and slowly get up, realizing that Taehyung broke your fall.

“Oh my gosh Taehyung are you ok?” You look around to see most of the bags were open with the contents inside spilling out.

“Ouch…” He slowly gets up, “I’m fine…we need to get out of here now.”

The sounds of guards running soon reaches your ears and you hurriedly collect all of the supply before dashing into the forest with Taehyung. You keep running and look back, soon seeing the guards disappear the farther you got from the castle. Reaching the marketplace, you set down the bags you both carried and look through them to make sure nothing was left behind.

“We’re missing 2 bottles of medicine but everything else seems to be here…” You say as you and Taehyung search through the bags.

“We haven’t lost anything else, that’s good.” Taehyung says, and you look up, your eyes landing straight on his shoulder. You take a closer look and you discover his brown sleeves have been stained with blotches of a reddish-brown colour.

“Taehyung….are you hurt?” You lightly touch his shoulder and he winces in pain as if you had just electrocuted him.

“Oh my gosh you are, you need to be treated!”

He shakes his head and points in the direction of the more severely injured people.

“Its fine, those people need more help than I do.”

“But we need you and it’ll be hard for you to help if you’re in pain.” You say, and Taehyung looks at you.

“Alright.” He yanks down the sleeve of his shirt exposing the smooth caramel skin of his shoulder. You inspect the wound and it looks a lot worse than before, as if something hard had scratched the skin leading to excessive bleeding.

You quickly grab some herbs to apply onto and cover every inch of the wound you could find. You discover that the herbs could only temporarily heal him since the damage done was so deep, but you wanted to at least relieve him from some of the pain he was experiencing.

“It’s not enough to fix it, but it will help to heal the injury.”

You look up to see Taehyung staring at you and you realize that he must have been staring at you while you were applying the herbs.

“Thank you, Y/N.” Your eyes widen, and you wonder if your ears heard him correctly, because Taehyung had just said your name for the very first time. He continues to gaze at you and you look away with a slight tint of pink on your cheeks.

It seemed to be getting harder and harder to be around Taehyung….

******

As the days went by you had constantly been sneaking out and avoiding your lessons to go visit the forest. Your maid, who has been graciously been creating excuses for you, had warned you to not go so often for very long because if your parents had found out you would be in great trouble. You really didn’t want to admit though, but you had been getting close with everyone there, especially Soomi. She was the complete opposite of your mother or rather what you wish your mother would be like, so you had begun to feel comfortable around her. Her daughter Yuna wouldn’t stop thanking you for helping out her mom and would constantly cling onto to her, even getting to the point where she was scolded by her mother to let go of you. You would see Jimin occasionally, most of the time he would be by Taehyung’s side and pulling his hair.

You and Taehyung had also gotten a lot closer too, but it felt odd to you because your initial reaction to him wasn’t so great. He would still pass remarks your way, but he was proving to show he did care about you – he had started waiting and anticipating your arrival and would even enjoy talking to you. You were learning a lot more about him and it didn’t seem like he was all that bad you thought him out to be. It had almost felt as if he had been slowly opening up to you. When you first met him, he couldn’t stand the idea of you wanting to help the lower class and he would constantly pester you about your status, but now he doesn’t seem to throw any remarks at you.

You lower your head to avoid a branch above you and you look ahead to see Taehyung leaning on a tree waiting for you. You realized it was a habit of his to do that, and it was something you had first discovered when you met him in the forest for the first time. As you kept walking closer to him, you noticed he was looking at the ground and seemed upset.

“Why are we being so glum today?” You jokingly teased, but when you saw no reaction from Taehyung you were starting to get worried.

“Taehyung…” He looked up at you and you realized he had been crying, his eyes were red and swollen.

“Y/N… I’m sorry” He whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

“Taehyung what happened? What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry for the news I have to give to you…” He reaches out and holds your hand. “Y/N….Soomi is no more…”

The words hit you like a bullet, piercing their way into your heart and ripping into shreds within seconds.

“No…t-this couldn’t have happened…. SHE WAS GETTING BETTER!” You yelled, not caring if someone heard you.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Y/N.” Taehyung looks at the ground and light tears trail down his cheeks.

“No no no no!!” You begin to run in the direction of the marketplace while Taehyung calls after you from behind but upon reaching you see a small crowd gathered of to the side. You push yourself threw and see where Soomi originally used to always be, smiling at you and gently patting your head while she listened to you, lying on the ground covered by a small blanket. You see Yuna by her side, weeping next to her mother who was no more in this world.

Yuna sees you standing in front of her and she grabs onto you, crying out and you soon join her letting all your tears unleash. You hold her close to her, feeling all the pain she was experiencing in that one moment.

“T-the mean solider d-did all of this.” Yuna says in between her sobs and your eyebrows furrow.

“The mean solider?”

“T-the mean s-solider was trying to hurt me and Jimin, but-but mommy told him to stop a-and he hurt her, b-but he hurt her badly and mommy is gone now…” Yuna breaks down into sobs again and you hold her. You notice Jimin was also part of the crowd and he was trembling with tears in his eyes, so you call him over and hug him too.

No wonder, you thought, Soomi was getting better.

“T-the solider w-was red Y/N.” Yuna whispers and you suck in a breath, a solider from your kingdom did this…

You see Taehyung slowly walking towards you and you look away, trying to hide the tears that were spilling over your cheeks.

This was your fault; the kids don’t even know your a royal.

“This isn’t your fault” Taehyung says, and the kids look up at him confused.

“It is, its all my fault.” Not being able to bear the burden of your kingdom’s wrongdoing you get up and start backing up, needing to calm your racing heart down.

“Y/N!” Taehyung goes after you when you suddenly run away. You keep running until he grabs onto your arm and you bite your lip, attempting to stop your tears somehow. Taehyung catches you by surprise when he immerses you into a hug and you hold onto to him.

“Y/N listen to me, it wasn’t your fault, all you’ve ever done is try to help us.”

“Taehyung it is”, you wipe your tears on your sleeve and look at him “that solider, is my kingdom’s responsibility, a member of my people and what he did is my responsibility.”

“You didn’t order for him to do this, Y/N… he could have been under someone else’s order.” You look at Taehyung and you understand what he was trying to imply, the solider could have been following your parent’s orders.

“Your right, t-that could be possible.” Taehyung realizes that your shaking and he knows your in the depths of the woods where no one can see you, so he sits you down.

“I’m sorry Y/N, I couldn’t protect Soomi in time.” Taehyung closes his eyes as if he was holding his head down in shame.

“Taehyung, I understand, our soldiers are trained to be the best and nothing ever stands in their way.”

“I just can’t believe she’s gone.” You sniffle, your eyes now red.

“This is the second time I couldn’t protect someone.”

“Second time?” You look at him confused.

“My mother was the first, she died shielding me from a solider too.”

There’s a moment of brief silence, Taehyung giving a blank look and you mind flashes back to his house when you say the picture of the women hanging on his wall.

His mother had died…

“She would have had been incrediable proud of you.”

“What?” Taehyung snaps out of his daze and looks at you.

“For all this, all that you’ve done, you had been protecting these people like they were your own. Your mother would be proud.”

Taehyung stares at you and you see his eyes water before he casts his head down. You move forward and wrap him in your arms as he breaks down, desperately trying to keep all the pieces together. You know his pain and you know his sorrow, tears soon escaping your tears from what you had experienced today. Although Soomi was no more, you would never forget her and continue to protect the commoners for as long as you lived.

********

Taehyung drops you off near the castle, so you can leave, both of you feeling drained and exhausted from the events that occurred today.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Taehyung.” Before you go, Taehyung grabs your arm and pulls you close to him. He closes his eyes and his lips briefly touch yours.

“Thank you, Y/N.” He whispers, and a small smile makes its way to his face.

You begin walking and your cheeks are tinted with a bright red, not expecting him to lean into you suddenly like that. You quickly look behind you to see Taehyung still there and you still see him with a smile on his face, making you feel on top of the clouds.

You enter the castle and make your way to your chambers, feeling content with yourself. But that feeling soon disappeared, when you see your mother staring right at you.

“Mother, what are you doing in my room?”

“Is that really what you should be asking me Y/N, considering you’ve been disappearing with that commoner boy these days?”

“It seems you have been sick for too long Y/N.” Another voice resonates through the room and you see your father with some guards. But your eyes are drawn towards your maid, who looks at you apologetically.

“I-I’m sorry, princess Y/N.” Your maid says.

“The guards saw you escape Y/N, and your maid was nice enough to share the details with us.” Your mother says, her tone feeling cold to your ears.

“Who was that boy Y/N? And what were you doing with him?” She questions.

“N-nothing, I’ll never tell.” You state, glaring at her.

“Alright, we’ll tell you our good news for you then.”, you feel panic immediately run through you, “Y/N, we have arranged a marriage for you.”

“What?” Your heart races against your chest and your throat feels dry.

“Y/N, you can’t be running out on your own adventures because your duty is to us and this kingdom. And that duty is needed at times like this, the man you will be marrying has been divorced many times but marrying him will give us a direct path to winning this war.” Your father says, and you can’t believe those words were coming from him, the father who was always on your side.

The world feels like its crumbling right in front of you, everything you had ever hoped and dreamed from being snatched away from your very hands. You had already lost so much today and now you would love your freedom, the people you wanted to help, Taehyu-

Taehyung… you thought, you would never see him again…

“No.” You say, your voice moving on its own.

“What?” Both your parents say in disbelief.

“No. I won’t. I won’t be your puppet, I want to live my life on my own terms, I want to go out and help the lower class, the people who are really suffering from this war. All you two ever think about is how great this war is and the strategies you use to take over other kingdoms, but have you ever truly opened your eyes up and seen what you have been doing? People are getting hurt, people are severely injured, PEOPLE ARE DYING!!”

The last words sting at you, and you still feel the bitterness of them.

You see your father walk up to you and within seconds you feel a harsh sting at the side of your cheek, a loud sound echoing through the room. You hold your cheek and look up; your father had never laid a hand on you.

“YOU WILL MARRY HIM AND STOP WITH THE LOWER CLASS, THOSE PEASENTS DON’T DESERVE ANYTHING!” Your father roars and you tremble from the sound of his voice, never hearing it so loud.

“I need to win this war, so if I tell you to marry someone you will, otherwise your commoner boy won’t survive, just like that peasant lady didn’t.”

No… he doesn’t mean…

When he sees your reaction he smirks, “What did you think, I wouldn’t send someone to see what my lovely daughter was up to?”

The tears run down your cheeks when you run towards him, raising your hand but he grabs it and brings himself to your level.

“Now that you know what I’m capable of, you better not embarrass me Y/N.” Your father lets go and leaves the room, your mother having not said a word after leaving with him.

Your knees give out and you collapse onto the floor, you were about to lose everything you had ever wanted within days and there was nothing at all you could do about it. You felt useless, you couldn’t even control your life with your own hands, still being used as a chess piece – being maneuvered wherever you were needed. Your tears continue to overwhelm you and there was no stopping them, you had lost everything.

******

You ran.

Across from the swamp lining your kingdom, passing through the small crystal lake and into the heart of the woods. The rain continuously poured on you, soaking the perfection of your lengthy dress and the softness of your thick hair. It seeped through into the interior of your small crafted white parasol leading you with no protection. The dirt mixed with water stuck to your polished black shoes and stained the outskirts of your silk socks creating a dirty mess you knew your maid wouldn’t be appreciative of.

The wind constantly whipped at your pale skin making you shiver and clutch tighter onto your hand knitted bag. You close your eyes, hoping it would help you walk through the forest covered in water. You open them instantly when you hear the crackle of thunder from above you, as if threatening to remind you of the choice you made. Noticing the rapid beat of your heart, you try to calm down your breathing from how light headed you felt. You hear another roar of thunder causes you to yelp and you accelerate your legs to move even faster into the woods.

The branches of trees whish past you when everything turns into a blur. You feel yourself descending slowly into the darkness but you don’t allow yourself to, because you came out here with a motive, and you weren’t going to stop until you found him.

You compel your shaking hands forwards, grabbing onto a tree branch to steady yourself, but as another rumble of thunder lets out, so do you.

You close your eyes finally letting the darkness overtake you, but it grants you one chance before you ascend to feel his arms wrap themselves around you. You smile when you feel his damp hair touch your forehead and swiftly pick you up into his arms, letting you rest your head on his shoulder.

Mustering the energy you had left in yourself, you lightly whisper into his ear before letting the darkness consume you.

“Thank you, Taehyung…”

*****

You slowly open your eyes, straining them when rays of sunlight shine on you and you sit up, but your head feel heavy and your hold it in your hands.

“You’re finally awake.” You look up to see Taehyung sitting across from you.

“Taehyung what happened?”

“You tell me, what were you doing coming here when there was a rainstorm going on?” He comes to sit next to you, concern evident in his voice.

“I-I ran away…”

“What? From the castle? Why?”

“I was set to have an arranged marriage and I was told I had no say in it.”

“An arranged marriage.” Taehyung repeats the words as if he can’t believe you had just said them.

“Why are you suddenly getting married now?”

“The man I’m marrying will aid my father in the war.”

“Then this marriage is being used for an alliance to ensure the King’s victory…”

“Yes.” You look away from him, not being able to look him in the eye anymore.

“You know you can’t hide forever, right?”

“I rather hide forever then be forced into a marriage with someone twice my age.”

“Come on.” Taehyung stands up and hold out his hand, “Let’s take a walk.”

You walk through the woods and it feels so calming to you, you almost feel like at one point this all became a home for you, you didn’t feel bound to anything. You came out and say the reality for what it was, the reality the parents wouldn’t let you see because you were just a pawn to them – only used when needed. If your fate was in their hands, you would have never gotten out of the castle and would have been stuck, still staring out that balcony window for as long as you can remember.

You hear a branch snap and the both of you whirl around towards the sound, seeing men clothed in red coming near you. Taehyung looks at you nervously before he tugs your hand and you lift your skirt to run, but unfortunately Taehyung was always right.

You can’t hide forever.

The guards hold you down when you kick and scream, seeing Taehyung in front of you get handcuffed and getting mistreated from the guards. Just because he wasn’t like you, just because he was born as a commoner and not a royal.

“Kim Taehyung, is here by arrested for kidnapping Princess Y/N.”

What? Kidnapping?

“No he didn’t! I came here on my own terms!”

“Sorry princess, King’s orders.” Of course, who else’s?

****

Your soon brought into the grand hall alongside Taehyung and the other guards and you know exactly why they would bring you here.

He was here.

Your father and mother sit on their respective thrones and your father steps out, walking in Taehyung’s direction. The guards force Taehyung to kneel down and your surprised by the gesture, until your eyes are widening when you see your father pull out his sword.

“NO!! NOOO! FATHER PLEASE!”

“I LOVE HIM!!” Suddenly the attention is directed towards you, Taehyung included, and the words had just escaped your lips without much thought, but there was truth behind them.

“In Love? With this peasant boy?” Your father says, hatred leaking into each syllable.

“Never.”  He raises his sword again and you see Taehyung preparing for impact, in which you close your eyes being unbearable to watch.

You hear the sword slash through and you sob loudly, knowing the damage had been done.

“Y/N!!”

You open your eyes and are taken back when your mother hugs you, in tears herself.

“M-mother?” You look over to see Taehyung staring at you, but then you look next to him and you can’t believe your eyes.

Your father was on the ground slain with a sword.

Your mind automatically goes to Taehyung, thinking he must have done it but when you see he still has handcuffs, you know there was no possible way.

But your mother was hugging you, so that would mean….

Your mother lets go of you and looks you in the eyes, “Y/N are you okay?”

When you nod she smiles at you and you couldn’t remember the last time you saw your mother smile like that.

“Guards! Uncuff the boy.” You step back, a little shaken from what has just occurred.

“M-mother w-why did you….” You can’t complete the sentence, having all the courage taken away from you.

Your mother sighs, ““He wasn’t the man I thought he was after marriage, war ruins people and I can’t stand seeing it ruin my daughter too.” Your mother says and your simply speechless, you knew there was tension between your parents, but you never thought your mother would be against the war.

“It wasn’t just you Y/N, he had been getting corrupt ever since, and he wasn’t going to stop until the whole castle was painted in blood, so I kept an eye out.”

“But when he was going to kill the commoner for no reason, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.”

She gestures to the guard to bring Taehyung over.

“Thank you, for showing my daughter the lower class and helping to shape her into a better woman, someone fit to lead this kingdom unlike my husband.”

Taehyung bows in front of her, “To be completely honest your majesty, Y/N has always had it in her, she just needed the opportunity to find it.” He looks over at you and smiles to which you return.

“I’ll also be looking more into the lower class, to see if we can slowly repair the damage that had been done, of course with Y/N’s help that is.” Your mother says.

You hug your mother, because for once she understood you and recognized your abilities instead of trying to conform you into a “perfect princess”. Yes, you were a princess, but you were also Y/N and that part of you could never stay hidden for long.

~Some Months Later~

Having a banquet now wasn’t so tedious for you anymore especially now that you would soon be ruling over your Kingdom as its new queen and integrated your own new changes. The war had long died down since you took over the throne and you ensured that the lower class was able to rebuild themselves after suffering underneath your father’s actions for so long. You took in Jimin and Yuna, making sure they were given what they truly deserved – a childhood that didn’t involve the war, just like Taehyung had said.

You look around from your seat, trying to see if you could find the one person that started this all.

“Y/N, who are you looking for?” Your mother questions across from you.

“Taehyung, mother he doesn’t seem to be here yet.” You get up from your seat to go look for him.

You enter the castle and walk towards your chambers, your mind already having a clue of where he could possibly be. You open the doors and step instead, closing them and then walking towards your balcony.

That’s where you see him, leaning against the railing and looking up at the stars, the moonlight shining down on him illuminating his caramel skin. His long locks had since been dyed a dark blonde shade and he was dressed in formal royal wear, the red colour looking different yet surprisingly good on him – after all you’ve always seen him in brown commoner wear. He didn’t look like the boy you had initially met so long ago but he was still the same Taehyung.

“Are you going to continue to stare at me or say something?” Taehyung looks at you amused when you join him at the balcony.

“I’m still not used to the hair, can you blame me?” You lightly touch his hair.

“If I was going to start living like a royal might as well look like one.” He smiles at you.

“The red suits you.”

“Its incredibly uncomfortable, how do you wear this all the time?” He tugs at his red velvet robe and you giggle.

“You’ll get used to it.” He scoffs, and you laugh at him, the atmosphere between you having calmed down so long ago.

“Of course, Princess.” He smirks at you and you look at him.

“The name’s Y/N.”  

[athyrabunlord]

So I’m having major LLSHP AU withdrawal symptoms so I was wondering whatever blip you choose it could be from that universe? first choice is: 8. “Your smile is not as bright as it used to be.” Kanamari after Mari was attacked in Hogsmeade and her power had been drained Or either: 45. “I think I made a mistake.” (Kanan) 46. “Shut up, I am a delight!” (Mari)- Kanamari prequel When they first started dating if possible? As I’m desperate to know how their relationship started! Thank you!

“Shut up, I am a delight!” [Prompt List] (closed)A/N: I skipped 6 asks to do this one sorry XD;; Don’t worry, I’ll do all the existing asks. As said in this post, I’m glad to be asked about this AU Anon! A/N2: This would be a teaser from the prequel-Interlude “Delphinus”, which is about kanadiamari’s Hogwarts days prior to the main story, told in Mari’s POV.Words: 2,696As usual, “italicized words” = Mari’s Engrish

“What’s up with her…?”

Mari lowers her Omnioculars and fiddles with the buttons on the side before looking through them again. Her objective is jogging at a decent speed, not at all deterred by the bumpy and uneven shore around the Black Lake. The girl’s expression is one of utmost concentration, her dark-indigo ponytail fluttering behind her like a, well, pony’s tail. Dressed in jeans and a shabby hoodie, Kanan Matsuura looks like a lost Muggle who somehow wandered into Hogwarts grounds.

Alas, the carelessly strewn Gryffindor cloak and scarf beside a rock remind Mari that Kanan is indeed a fellow student, Muggleborn or not.

She sure can run… ugh, stupid tree in the way.

Mari narrows her eyes and shuffles from one hiding spot to another. They say curiosity kills the cat, but she happens to be quite resilient! Each and every one of her adventures make her into the shiny person she is today!

Once an idea has taken root, Mari is sure to follow it through until boredom wins and sends her elsewhere. So far, her observation of Kanan is, frankly, tedious. Other than learning her peer has seemingly inexhaustible stamina and appears to be unaffected by the cold weather, nothing exciting has happened.

Mari grumbles under her breath as she reapplies the Hot-Air Charm for the umpteenth time. Waking up at the ungodly hour of 5AM is horrible already, let alone on a friggin’ Sunday! And Kanan’s done nothing but jog around the Black Lake for over an hour now! After the first twenty minutes, Mari had given up sneaking around the bushes and merely settled for perching on a high vantage point so she could oversee the Lake’s perimeters.

Sighing, Mari uses the Omnioculars to slow down Kanan’s movement and watches the replay to see if she could find anything interesting. As expected of binoculars specifically made for Quidditch games, she could see every single detail clearly, such as how Kanan’s sweaty bangs are messy and her cheeks flushed from the jog.

Mari blinks, noticing a particular detail for the first time.

Is she… smiling?

She considers herself an active person, having flown around on her broom and her precious Hippogriff since she was a little girl, but all the fun had been obtained through magical means. She doesn’t understand what could be so enjoyable about something as mundane as just… running. It’s not a game of Tag, and there is no goal, no incentive as far as she can see.

What’s so fun about this?

Sure, Quidditch players are known to train around the Black Lake, but even they would not wake up this early on a Sunday (she really can’t get over this fact). At least, such outdoorsy and tenacious spirit fits the Gryffindor stereotype. Mari has always wondered why Kanan got Sorted into Gryffindor - she isn’t rowdy and prone to mischief; while she appears smart enough in lessons, she isn’t academic like the Ravenclaws; she certainly exhibits no ambition whatsoever like the Slytherins.

Really, Kanan should be an easygoing, peaceful Hufflepuff. From weeks of observation, Mari decides that most of her peers fit the norm, and everyone seems to be mingling just fine. It’s only their First Year at Hogwarts after all, so it takes a different amount of time for an individual to find his or her niche.

Mari herself is quite friendly with her fellow Ravenclaws, finding their intelligence on par with her own and thus making it easy to strike interesting conversations. And, if she gets a little bored, she would challenge the Gryffindors to Exploding Snaps or even secret duels (she has yet to get caught!). Chilling in front of the fireplace or enjoy the rare afternoon sun? No problem, she has a few Hufflepuff buddies to share that lazy but content sort of joy too!

And there’s always Dia Kurosawa to tease and prank. Really, the only reason Mari even tries so hard in tests is just so she could flaunt her scores over the studious Slytherin. They’re evenly matched so far, with her being slightly ahead at Transfiguration and Dia at Potions. Like the rest of the students, other Muggleborns have more or less settled in the daily routine of school life here at Hogwarts.

Yet, why does this Kanan Matsuura still seem out of place? It’s not like she gets ostracized in lessons, and she sometimes participates in class discussions or naps through droll lectures. She’s like any regular teenager, so why is there something off about her?

Chartreuse eyes blaze in determination. That’s why she, Mari Ohara, is here to solve the mystery! The Sorting Hat must have placed Kanan in the House of Gryffindor for a reason, surely not just because this jogging-maniac has muscles!

Oh, she’s finally stopped. Hmm, what’s she doing now?

Kanan has returned to the boulder where she had discarded her cloak and scarf earlier. Instead of donning them, she simply stands there with her hands in her hoodie’s pouch and is looking out towards the Lake. Since her back is facing Mari, this only gives the blonde Ravenclaw two options: go around the trees to another vantage point, or just go over to confront the girl in question!

Smirking, Mari nimbly hops down from a branch, utilizing Sticking Charms and other small tricks to muffle the noises from her movements. She’s tired of all this spying (totally not stalking) and is ready for some action!

She casts a few more Charms to ensure that her approach inaudible. She does hesitate for a moment when she notices the slightly forlorn expression on Kanan’s visage, but she quickly steels her resolve.

Eheh, I bet you weren’t expecting any spectator, are you, Miss Ponytail?

Mustering all her energy, Mari darts out from the bushes and leaps for her target when she’s close enough.

To her shock, Kanan somehow detects her pounce and dodges to the side. Their mutually startled eyes meet for a brief second before momentum pulls Mari towards the rocky shore.

“Shit!”

Though confident in her own swimming ability, Mari could feel her limbs cramping up under the icy lake water. Bubbles burst from her mouth as she panics, her uncooperative fingers unable to reach the wand in her pocket.

A muffled splash later, she glimpses a dark silhouette diving towards her. Strong arms wrap around her waist behind her and she faintly feels propelled upwards where the light is. As soon as she breaks the surface, she gulps for air and tries to swim but only ends up flailing about.

“Be still! You’re in no shape to swim. Try to relax, I’ll get you to shore.” A calm yet firm voice stops her movements.

With her mind muddled, Mari could only nod and allow her savior to lead. She struggles to drag herself ashore, though the drenched clothing is weighing her down more than she could ever imagine. Again, strong arms haul her up and soon, she finds herself seated atop the boulder where the Gryffindor cloak and scarf remain rumpled in a pile nearby.

“Just what were you thinking! Do you have any how dangerous that was?!”

Kanan looks and sounds furious, wearing a dark expression never before seen and thus surprises Mari into silence.

After opening and closing her mouth a few times, she could only mouth a word. “Sorry.”

Glaring, Kanan is probably about to scold some more when a chilly breeze blows past them, making Mari shudder and her teeth chatter.

Wordlessly, Kanan wraps her cloak around Mari and begins to dry her in brusque movements.

“Erm, you should dry yourself first-?”

Indeed, the soaked ponytail is plastered to Kanan’s equally sodden hoodie. A scowl is all Mari receives as Kanan continues to wipe at her head.

Honestly, Mari feels like a little kid under reprimand and in no position to argue.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Mari retrieves her wand and gives it a complicated wave. Kanan recoils, her amethyst eyes wary and her fists clenched even as Mari calmly directs the wand’s tip over her.

Her stance only relaxes when it’s obvious that the magic is simply drying her clothes via controlled hot air. Smiling, Mari then dries herself with this nifty Hot-Air Charm and holds up her hands akimbo.

“Tada~ See, no need to manually do it. It’d take forever to wring out the water, yes?”

“Right, what was I thinking. You’re a Witch and we’re at Hogwarts.” Kanan’s tone is oddly aloof, as if she doesn’t consider herself a fellow Witch as well.

“Yup! I can do this too,” she utilizes one of the more advanced Transfiguration spells and manages to conjure a jar from a piece of the Omniocular. Under Kanan’s watchful gaze, Mari smoothly aims Bluebell Flames into the container. “See? You can even carry this around if you get cold!”

“Useful, I suppose.” Again, Kanan’s voice is rather flat, not in a dismissive way but more like all of this has nothing to do with her. Her eyes are still trained on Mari, scrutinizing at her from the top and down to her feet.

“What?” Though unabashed most of the time, Mari feels quite self-conscious under such an intense gaze. “Am I so pretty that you can’t look away?”

Ha, she couldn’t help but add that cheeky remark.

Kanan, as expected, ignores her and points at her leg. “You got a spell for the cramp too?”

“Damn, you got me,” Mari playfully holds up her hands. “That’s for a Healer’s level.”

At last, Kanan’s hardened expression is replaced by a small smile. “See, it’s still necessary to do it yourself, rather than rely on magic.”

“U-um…” Again, Mari finds herself rendered speechless as Kanan begins to massage her leg. Her hands are well-practiced, as if knowing exactly where and how much pressure to apply.

“How do you feel? Does anywhere else hurt?”

Blinking out of her daze, Mari shakes her head. “You seem knowledgeable about this. Do you do this often? Is this a way to hit on girls?”

Kanan gives her a blank look. “Huh?”

Mari rolls her eyes. “Never mind that. So, this massage, the swimming, and all that, you seem like a professional-?”

At this, Kanan holds her head a bit higher. “I already have my lifeguard license, back in the Muggle world I mean. My grandpa… well, I used to work at a diving shop,” her voice falters a little but her enthusiasm quickly takes over again. “See, I live at this small town by the sea and-”

Always ready to learn new things, Mari becomes absorbed in Kanan’s story and especially her passion about the sea. Despite having quarter Muggle blood, the Ohara ojousama grew up in a magical community and mostly interacted with Pureblood peers. As she grew older, her father would take her around the world to build connections with foreign communities, hence she has some pen pals from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and even Ilvermorny. The acquaintances she does know from the Muggle world all have power and position, so she has yet to befriend a Muggleborn like this.

Well, she’s always been fascinated by Muggle contraptions anyway, so this could be her chance?

“Hey, teach me more!”

“What-?”

“Like, what were you doing around the Lake? Can’t be only jogging! It’s a Sunday!”

Kanan’s relaxed expression tenses again in annoyance. “I was just exercising! I do this every day, and that reminds me, what were you doing spying on me and-”

“Don’t mind don’t mind~ At least we’re talking now right? You chat with your Housemates and other students just fine but I notice you always pull away before the conversation gets any longer.”

“That’s- I was just-” Kanan furrows her brows. “How long have you been watching me? And why me?”

Honestly, Mari doesn’t know. She tends to go with her instincts and just rolls with it. Some would argue that is actually a Gryffindor trait, but hey, a shiny and creative mind like hers could only belong to Ravenclaw! Everyone has bits of qualities from each House, sì?

“It’s a secret~ To find out, all you have to do is teach me more about Muggle life style~” Mari ends her sentence with an award-winning wink.

Needless to say, Kanan appears unaffected. “I don’t really… besides, I can see that our personalities don’t match and-”

“Shut up! I’m a delight!” Mari pats Kanan’s shoulder and gives her a thumbs-up. “Stick with me and I promise your life here will be shiny every single day~”

Reluctance oozes from Kanan’s body language. “Surely there are other choices? Aren’t there some Muggleborns in Ravenclaw and I bet they’re smarter than me-”

“Nope. I’ve picked you, and that’s the end of the discussion.”

Kanan lets out a quiet and contemplative hum. “You sure are headstrong. What do I get out of this then?”

Shrugging, Mari glances at the blue fire flickering in the jar. “Hmm, I could teach you cool tricks like this? Whatever I can think of to help your daily exercise or something?”

“That… could be helpful,” Kanan mumbles and seems hesitant for the first time in their conversation. “Well, being a Muggleborn, there are some stuff I don’t quite get about the magical world, and I do have trouble with some of the assignments and spell works, so, um…”

“No problem!” Eager to be of help, Mari shakes Kanan’s warm hand and grins triumphantly. “Deal! We help each other out and, well, we’ll go from there, Kanan!”

“We’re on first-name basis already?” Kanan’s lips twitch in a hint of a smile, which Mari takes as a good sign.

“Of course~ We’re gonna be spending a lot of time together, so get used to it!” The blonde pauses when a thought occurs to her. “But, huh, I thought Gryffindor Lions would take you under their wing. Pride of Lions as they say, no?”

Kanan does not reply to that, her expression rigid. Mari puts that away to her To-Investigate List and waves it off.

“No matter, I’ll be a much better influence than those rowdy Cubs anyway, hehe. Oh, actually, I have a better idea.”

“What?” Kanan asks warily.

“I’d love to be the one tutoring you but my attention span isn’t long enough for that~” Her dear acquaintance and perhaps the only person she considers a friend would surely accept. Dia’s outstanding achievements in every class have already made her famous in the school, on top of her prestige as the heiress of an ancient Pureblood family. However, such distinguished status causes a distance between her and her peers, even her Housemates. They don’t dare to approach her out of reverence, and Dia likes to keep her personal space anyway.

Until Mari Ohara comes along, that is.

“I have the perfect candidate in mind. Why don’t we go to her right now?” Grinning, Mari tries to stand up but almost stumbles when her cramped leg refuses to cooperate. She could support her own weight, though the sensation of weakness is disconcerting enough to make her growl in frustration.

Where is her broom when she needs it!

Suddenly, she is lifted up as if she weighs nothing.

“First, we need to go to the Infirmary. Your leg still needs to get looked at properly,” Kanan says evenly, not at all out of breath as she begins to walk towards the castle.

It takes several moments for the gears in Mari’s head to resume functioning. Didn’t her morning start with trailing after this ponytailed Gryffindor? How did that lead to her being wrapped in the said Gryffindor’s cloak and carried like a princess?

“Okay, giddy-up!”

“I’m not your horse.”

“Go fetch!”

“I’m not your dog either.”

“What are you then?” Mari peers up at Kanan, fluttering her eyelashes theatrically.

Kanan looks down and huffs in exasperation. “I suppose, we’re… friends now?”

“Good answer! Ten points to Gryffindor!”

Kanan sighs and Mari giggles to herself. Perhaps, by sticking with Kanan, it is her life that will be shiny every single day!